#safe from infection. and everything else. forever

[birthclod]

the "hey wouldn't it be funny if zote was actually a failed vessel (this is barely feasible)" to "...actually I should make my own failed vessel" pipeline

[tonythr]

We need to talk about the Pale King's foresight ability

Ok, I waited a very long time to make this post. The story of the Pale King is my favorite aspect of the whole narrative of Hollow Knight, and there's so much mystery surrounding it that I can't not think about it on a daily basis. There are a bunch of questions left unanswered, and I believe that most (if not all) answers were left in the game specifically so that players could interpret them the way they think is best. So I wanna see what interpretations ARE there and maybe pick one (or two. or three. or all of them. or maybe really just one.) I dunno. Anyway, the point is, this is probably gonna be a long one. Big shoutout to anyone who makes it all the way to the end.

Now, enough with the rambling. To the point.

It all starts with the mushrooms.

The part that started all this train of thought was this particular line.

Unlike other areas of the game, Fungal Wastes don't have a boss that correlates with the area's native species. The shrooms don't have a higher being they worship. They don't have a civilization. They don't have a Dreamer. All they have is this big old mushroom elder that sleeps eternally with this one thought in their mind. All this to say that this line here is *probably* hella important.

The lore tablets of the Wastes also echo it.

So keep this in mind: when the Wyrm, reincarnated as the Pale King, started building and expanding his Kingdom (it's safe to assume that he started doing that AFTER he turned into his bug form) and got to the part where he had to make an alliance with The Mushrooms, they agreed to be a part of Hallownest ONLY because they knew that the Pale King had an ability to predict the future. Remember, they looked down on all the bugs that weren't part of their mycelium-sharedSelf-mindUnited thing. They were perfectly happy with their way of life. They didn't need the Pale King's gift of mind. The only reason they agreed to accept his will was because of his foresight ability. They assumed that, since he can see what's going to happen in the future, he will protect them (along with the rest of his Kingdom) from any possible danger. And that was a smart decision.

And yet, it didn't work out. And not just for them. For the whole Kingdom.

The main question is why.

From the way the mushrooms talk about the Wyrm, we can assume that his foresight ability didn't quite suck, which is to say that he really COULD see a big part of what's going to happen. So basically, we have two possibilities:

A. The PK's foresight didn't allow him to see *too* far into the future. It had its limitations. Maybe he could see what was going to happen in an age from now, but he couldn't predict *everything*.

B. The PK's foresight could reach as far as all eternity, meaning he knew the 'Eternal Kingdom' was doomed to fail from the moment he started building it.

In any case, Elder Mushroom's words suggest that, at one point, PK actually KNEW his Kingdom was going to fail.

And, since the most important part of his story is his battle with the Radiance (like, what else would the Mushroom be talking about?), I think it means that he potentially knew that the Hollow Knight was going to fail, but created and Sealed it anyway. So, the question is:

If the Pale King could see that his plan of creating an empty vessel to seal the Radiance would inevitably fail, why did he go through with it in the first place?

Here's the first, most simple answer.

He knew that the Infection was inevitable, so he decided to postpone it indefinitely. Hit the snooze button, but make it last forever.

Actually, that's not even an answer. This is just a straight-up fact.

Hallownest is literally frozen in time.

(Actually, I think it's so frozen that sometimes it makes rocks levitate)

The Hollow Knight's sacrifice was made SPECIFICALLY so the inevitable arrival of the Infection could be set back for all eternity. That's why the game has a big leitmotif of night and day.

That's why the Radiance's main goal is for the Dawn to Break. Because she's the Sun, and what she's fighting against is an eternal night.

But now we're entering the mystery zone. There are two questions about PK's foresight ability that have to be answered in order to understand what's actually happening.

Question 1. Does freezing time also freeze the foresight? If the Kingdom is left in a stasis without a changing future, can PK still see past that stasis? Could he see when it would end? If so, could he see what will happen after it ends?

Question 2. Is Time actually predictable? Is there just one timeline where everything that happens was doomed to happen in the first place, OR are there infinite possibilities and some room for the free will? If so, can the future be changed if one knows what actions will have what consequences? And if so, are there things that are actually inevitable, no matter the choices?

Whatever the answers to both of those questions are, I want to emphasize this:

Those lines spoken by the Radiance, along with the Elder Mushroom's words about a demise unavoidable, as well as some other things I'll mention later, make me think that the Infection and the Radiance's rise to power is an event that was truly inevitable.

Here, it doesn't matter if the free will is real or not. Remember: in the Pantheon of Hallownest, the Radiance ranks higher than the Pale King. She is a candidate for a God of Gods title, the highest of the Higher Beings. So maybe PK could shape the future with his knowledge of it. Maybe his foresight actually protected his Kingdom by preventing some bad things that he, as a Pale Being, had power over. But the power of the Radiance was stronger than that. She had the strength to assert her dominating will in every possible timeline, so that, even with his foresight, the Wyrm couldn't do anything to stop the Dawn from Breaking. After all, it's the power of Nature itself - the day always inevitably comes to replace the night.

So that's the entire reason the King decided to use the Void in his battle with the Radiance. The Forgotten Light had the ability to conquer Fate. But the Void, in his own words, had the ability to deny Time itself.

So, even if the Infection was inevitable, the power of Void could either prevent it, postpone it, or straight-up defeat it. I think that the reason for this is that the Void possesses a will that is stronger than any Higher Being. The Night and Day can follow each other, but the force that represents the End itself is beyond that.

So, now we're gonna ask the REAL question.

With the Void being able to deny Time, could the Pale King see the future the Void's actions will bring?

And for that, I have two facts that suggest that PK, in fact, couldn't at least foresee SOME of the Void's choices.

The first one is the fact that the game has multiple endings.

Look into those eyes and tell me that they're looking at something that could have been predicted and prevented by a dead monarch, albeit a godly one. The existence of multiple endings tells us that free will IS real, at least for The Knight/The Shade Lord.

Oh and speaking of dead monarchs, here's the next fact.

That man is fucking dead.

The Pale King's whole deal was to last eternally, right? To build a life that would ensure his endless reign. To achieve immortality.

So if he could see what was going to happen after he let the Void into the picture, why would he still try that despite it clearly leading to his demise?

The nature of PK's death is mysterious, to say the least. He didn't just die of old age. He tried to run away, bringing his whole Palace along with him to the Dream World. He tried to run away from something - probably from the consequences of his own actions. But even that escape didn't save him from being killed. And what killed him was most definitely the Void.

The throne room is dark.

In fact, it's so dark that the Kinght has to pull out the lumafly lantern. The only other room in the entire White Palace where that happens is the workshop, where PK worked on creating the Kingsmoulds and the Wingsmoulds. The space is filled with black smoke and black particles - the same ones that are seen in the Abyss and many areas that are located above it. When the Kinght strikes the Pale King's body with the Nail, it sounds the same as striking a training dummy outside of Oro's hut, which is made out of a lifeless husk. It's like the Pale King's body was literally hollowed out.

The form that was given to the Void by the Pale King to create the Kingsmoulds guarding the throne room is lost here, implying that it gained some other will that was beyond the Pale King's control.

And again, the only other place we see something like that is the Palace Grounds in the waking world.

...Which are located just above the Void Sea. Also, the same smoke and particles surround the place, and black tentacle-like vines reach inside the body of the Kingsmould containing the Palace.

No need to doubt. It was definitely the Void that killed the Pale King.

But what does it mean?

Well, here's some important info about the Void. It is a manifestation of this world's regrets.

If you look deep enough, it makes a lot of sense for the Void to symbolize literal regret. The Shade is a manifestation of the Knight's regrets about what went wrong on its journey. The Void Sea in the Abyss is probably the regrets of the Ancient Civilization's dead bugs. And the Void that surrounds the Palace Grounds and the Pale King's throne room is a manifestation of his own regrets. That's why he couldn't escape from the Void even in the Dream World. Because you can't escape your own guilt, your own darkness, your own regret. That's also the reason why the Knight has the right to sit on the throne after striking down the Pale King: it's because, at that point, the Kinght is set on a path that includes facing its own regrets, accepting them and uniting them under its will. Something the Pale King failed to do.

But the question remains: what exactly were those regrets that the Pale King was running from and that ultimately killed him? I mean, of course, it's the whole deal with the vessels that he regretted, but I think there's more to that. I want to lay down a list of theories about his foresight. Each of them can also explain which specific regret got him the most.

Each theory would also change the interpretation of this famous line:

...Which is important. Obviously, this line refers to the Vessels being sacrificed in order to create a Pure one, but, depending on the possible range of PK's future vision, it can have an additional, deeper meaning. You'll see what I mean.

But first, there's some other issue here that needs to be addressed, that makes this whole discussion twice as complicated. It's all about this one line:

So, here's another fucking question. Does harnessing the Void by creating the Vessels and the Moulds make those creations a part of what the Pale King could see with his foresight ability?

There's some kind of scale here that varies from 'There are multiple endings that depend on that one Vessel's choice, so that means the Void is outside of the PK's ability to predict the future' to 'The Vessels and the Moulds are the Void that is harnessed by the Pale King, so his future vision applies to them as well; it's just that the Knight gains the power to choose the ending only when it takes control over its own Void by gaining the Void Heart'. So, what if the Pale King could foresee that the Knight would be able to defeat the Radiance in the dream world? What if he couldn't see the Knight's arrival at all? What if he COULD see it, but his vision only applied to the events of the Hollow Knight ending, the only one that doesn't include the Void Heart? What if even the Embrace the Void ending was visible to the Pale King after all, as one of many possibilities he didn't pay too much attention to?

But the Knight is one thing. What about the Hollow Knight? Was its failure a part of the future PK could see? Or, since THK is a Vessel too, its choices were off limits as well? What about the Kingsmoulds? Was the fact that they would succumb to the Void that was going to kill PK available for him?

None of these questions have a clear answer. Probably. Or maybe they do. But there are multiple explanations for what was really going on. I'll try to present them as a list of theories. Each of them will give us a different interpretation of the Pale King's foresight ability's true nature.

PK didn't know what the Void would do but decided to try using it anyway.

PK only saw that the Void would help the Hollow Knight seal the Radiance, but his vision was limited (either because it was limited by its nature (option A, see above), or because the stasis created by the void limited his abilities (question 1, see above)), and so he didn't see that the Hollow Knight would break.

PK knew the Hollow Knight was going to fail but doomed his Kingdom anyway.

PK only saw the timeline where the Knight seals the Radiance without killing her. Every other ending besides The Hollow Knight was beyond PK's foresight.

PK knew that there were multiple possibilities once the Pandora's box was opened, but he saw that one of those possibilities was the Void successfully sealing the Radiance and/or killing her, so he decided to roll the dice. So he could see that Dream No More was possible, but he didn't consider Embrace the Void.

Each of these theories holds some interesting interpretations. Let's take a closer look.

I'll use a timeline to mark the possible range of PK's vision for each theory:

Just to clear things out: when I talk about what PK could or couldn't see, I mean what he could or couldn't see while using his powers at any point before his death. It IS possible that he saw some things when it was already too late to do something. That's what I was talking about when discussing possibilities A and B above (so maybe he saw that THK would break before he even made the Vessels, or maybe he figured it out only after it got sealed). Every theory accounts for that. It's complicated. You know what? Nevermind this whole disclaimer. I'll get to it.

Theory 1. The Void neutralizes the future vision

Basically, what this means is that once the Void got into the picture, the Pale King could no longer use his powers in any meaningful way. The Void, being a will that denies Time, created too many different possibilities for the King to account for, yet he decided to go through with the Hollow Knight plan just because he didn't see any other option.

The line 'No cost too great' in this case might refer not only to the Vessels being sacrificed, but to PK's foresight ability itself. The cost is his future vision, sacrificed to a state of uncertainty that might or might not bring salvation.

If this theory is true, the Pale King's story is a story about a monarch who, in his efforts to save his Kingdom from a wild force of radiant nature, accidentally unleashed something far beyond anyone's control and paid for it not only with his main ability, but with his life as well. Both the Vessels' and the Abyss' actions couldn't have been predicted, and that's why PK accidentally allowed for the Hollow Knight to break and for the forces of the Abyss to overpower him with his regrets about the countless children he murdered.

The risk he took is his main regret.

The flaw of this theory is that, if it's true, it means that:

a) The Elder Mushroom was completely wrong about PK being able to foresee the second coming of the Infection.

b) Harnessing the Void doesn't do shit besides changing its form. Even while being contained inside a semi-sentient Vessel, its actions don't bend to the Pale King's will or his foresight ability.

All in all, this theory basically means that both Pale King's powers and his judgment sucked, and the whole collapse of Hallownest happened because he was incompetent, reckless and stupid.

(That's why I don't like it)

TL;DR: The Void does what it pleases regardless of the Pale King's future vision, and he was stupid for trying to use it.

Theory 2. The Hollow Knight's failure was beyond the Pale King's future vision

This is probably a very controversial one, but it does have some interesting implications. The point is that PK didn't see that the Hollow Knight would fail, and so he went through with the plan thinking it was flawless.

In this case, the Hollow Knight counts as a 'harnessed' part of the Void, so its actions up until its breaking were completely predictable. The Pale King saw that the Infection would be sealed successfully, and that a stasis would be created. He got what he wanted, but at some point (could be any point) he realized that he didn't know if anything was going to happen next.

That could happen for one of the two reasons:

The stasis created by the Pale King literally meant that the time was frozen, which meant that nothing relevant wasn't going to happen unless this stasis would somehow break. But, while inside this state of stasis, the Pale King himself couldn't see anything beyond that state. What future vision is there if there's no actual future?

The future vision was clouded by the Pale King's inevitable death. It's possible that, while looking into the future, PK couldn't see the Hollow Knight breaking simply because his future vision doesn't allow him to see beyond the moment of his own death.

Anyway, what this theory suggests is that the main thing the Pale King didn't or couldn't predict was his own death. Or maybe at some later point he saw it was coming and tried to run away from it by hiding his Palace, but the Void got him anyway. It happened because the Void that destroyed the Kingsmoulds' bodies and killed the Pale King was a force beyond anyone's control an beyond PK's foresight.

A major proof of that is the situation with this guy:

Notice how they apologize directly to the Pale King, and how the Void slowly took over their mind. This guy was a royal retainer, which means the King probably ordered them to keep the lighthouse running himself.

The question is, why did he take such a half-assed measure to keep a whole Sea of raw dark power at bay? It looks so stupid! Just one lighthouse for a whole unchecked Void Sea? And just ONE lighthouse keeper who couldn't even resist the Call of the Void? Why such carelessness?

The answer is right here. That was because the Pale King simply DID NOT KNOW what the Void Sea was actually capable of, because its power (unlike the power of the Void trapped inside the King's children's bodies) was beyond his foresight. Without a clear answer from his future vision, he figured that this Void might or might not be an issue and decided that he had more important stuff to deal with instead of even hiring a whole team to watch one lighthouse.

So, while he managed to reach his goal creating a stasis that would keep his Kingdom lasting eternally, there was one thing he didn't account for, and that was the vengeful wrath of the dark force he dared to use as his plaything. The lighthouse was turned off, and the Void soon started to rise up through the rocks of the Ancient Basin towards the White Palace. The King tried to run, hiding himself and his Palace inside the Dream World, but the Void seeped in easily, killing the monarch. After all, the Kingsmould that was used as a gate to the Palace was also made out of Void.

If this theory is true, then the line 'No cost too great' could refer not only to the Vessels, but also to himself. If he didn't know that the Hollow Knight would break, then he probably thought that his Kingdom WOULD last forever, and that even his own death wouldn't change that. So he sacrificed his own life, gave in to his regrets about everything bad he had done, but managed to save one glimmer of pride, thinking that, even though he killed a bunch of children and abused the Void, he still managed to deliver eternal happiness to all his subjects.

But the thing about this theory is that now we also need to explain why the Radiance broke free despite everything the Pale King thought he did. Here, this theory divides into two additional theories (I'm really sorry for this long-ass post):

Theory 2.1: The Radiance is like 'Nah, I'd win'

Basically, PK's plan to achieve eternal life for his Kingdom at the cost of his own life was actually good. There was no flaw in it, and it should've worked perfectly. But we know that the Radiance might be a being that is higher than PK on the power scale. So, just like the Void, her actions might be beyond what PK's foresight ability could help him see. PK did everything right (not morally), but the Radiance broke through anyway because she's just... that much better.

Theory 2.2: The death of the King is what triggered the whole thing

Going back to the Void's actions messing with the future the Pale King could predict, I say it's possible that his own death, caused by the Void, is what made the stasis wear off.

Think of it this way. The Hollow Knight contained the Infection, but that merely eliminates the possibility of a HIGHER FORCE enacting some sort of change. Preventing EVERYTHING ELSE from breaking the stasis is the job for the Pale King himself. But, once the Void (another higher force) kills him, there's no one that could keep the stasis running, and it just... ends. That gives the Radiance (as a force of change, opposed to a state of frozen time) an opportunity to break free.

Or maybe it was the Sealed Vessel that was affected by the Pale King's death. After all, we probably know what its only thought (the one that ruined everything) was:

So, the Pale King dies, the Hollow Knight senses that a familiar presence is starting to slip away, which makes the Vessel panic (or something like that), and the Radiance makes her move, infecting its mind.

OR it could be both of those things! Maybe the Hollow Knight's attachment to its father AND the Radiance's insane higher power both played a role in filling up the power vacuum that was left after PK died.

Anyway yeah, that's it for this theory. The only thing left to discuss is the new interpretation it gives us for the line spoken by the Elder Mushroom:

'A demise unavoidable', in this case, refers to the demise of the Pale King himself. He didn't necessarily foresee that his death would lead to the destruction of Hallownest, but at some point he might've figured out that the Void was coming to get him but decided to stick with his plan anyway. But then it raises the question of when and how the Elder Mushroom learned about the Pale King's demise, and why they assumed that he could see it coming. That's the main issue with this whole theory: it just doesn't explain how the Mushroom's line fits into all of this.

TL;DR: The Void killing the Pale King is the only thing that he couldn't foresee in the long run, and even if he could do that at some point, the consequences of his death AND/OR the Radiance's actions were beyond his control.

Theory 3. Self-fulfilling prophecy

Ok, so now we're on the theory that I personally consider the closest to canon, or at least the implications of canon that we have. This is also the one theory that brings (some kind of) consistency to this whole question. This is because it explains the earlier question of how the future vision actually works.

See, there's no way the Pale King actually knew that the Hollow Knight would break from the very start, right?

Why would he doom his Kingdom when all of his actions were meant to prevent that? In fact, that's exactly the question that the Elder Mushroom is asking.

"Pale Wyrm... What good to foresee a demise unavoidable?"

Well, the answer here is actually kinda simple this time.

He saw it coming, and he tried to postpone it.

This is the simplest explanation possible, because we already have all the proof right here on the table.

The King sees that the Infection will come, and that it is inevitable (the inevitability is the key part).

He knows that, when the predicted moment comes, the Radiance will return and wreck his shit. No matter the timeline, no matter the choice. The flow of Time itself inevitably leads to the Infection happening.

The only option is to use a force that is able to deny time itself. The solution is to use the Void to metaphysically freeze the very flow of Time itself. The plan is not to try to change what is meant to happen, but to create a stasis that makes it so that it never comes to it. The timer never reaches zero. The eternal snooze button.

The stasis, however, dampens the foresight ability. If there's no flow of Time, the King can't see what's going to happen.

[A little digression: For the purpose of proving this theory, let's say that the foresight ability works better the closer the observer is to the moment that is being observed.

For example, while looking into the future from a point in time before a big war, the observer CAN see that the war will end on a certain date, but only when that date comes closer to them can they see HOW the war will end, and WHO will end it, and any other detail.]

The stasis wears off because of the Radiance's power (like in theory 2.1).

The King is finally able to see the exact nature of the Infection breaking free. He sees that the Hollow Knight itself, the Vessel he personally created to be the only key to the Kingdom's salvation, will be the reason everything goes to hell.

Wracked with guilt and regret, he escapes to the dream realm before the break happens so that he can at least save himself and his palace.

The Void makes a move that the King could or couldn't foresee, killing him. He thinks about the 'no cost too great' philosophy one last time before realizing that it is, in fact, utter bullshit. He dies with a feeling of everything he built crumbling to dust and his core belief being proven faulty.

The Infection breaks free, having harnessed the Hollow Knight, as inevitable as always. With the King being dead, there's no power to uphold the time stasis, which becomes the final push. The Vessel breaks.

Only then the Kingdom sees the arrival of a void being that has the potential to actually change things from their set course. The Knight, being a part of the Void that was beyond the Pale King's future vision range, enacts an end of its own choosing.

This ties to the game's themes of determinism, and flashes out the Kinght's strength to break free from the fate's chains, empowering the player and making the whole plot twist with the final battle against the Radiance even more epic.

The monarch who justified killing his own children by his desire to prevent the higher will from destroying his artificially made Kingdom has succumbed to a force beyond his control, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The chosen hair of its father's will becomes the reason why the inevitable finally happens. The only one who is free of obligations, desires and beliefs becomes the one to save the Kingdom once and for all, avenging the deaths of its kin. Beautiful.

And the Mushrooms who probably just didn't believe in the stasis from the start turned out to be right, smugly reminding us that it was always inevitable and PK couldn't do shit. There's no good in seeing a demise unavoidable, and it's foolish to make sacrifices to postpone it.

What the Pale King lacked was acceptance. The ability to embrace the true nature of things.

Something that is the main ability and the main character arc for the Knight, whose nature is to consume and to use its will to make even the darkest shadows become a part of it.

A little spoiler though: this theory has another variation that is even cooler. I'll leave it for the very end.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Infection was inevitable from the very start. He tried to postpone it. He failed, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. When he figured it out, it was already too late, so he fled and was then killed by the Void.

Theory 4. The Masterplan

Ok, so, while the previous theory was probably the one closest to the canon implications, there are still a couple of possibilities that make this WHOLE thought process worth the time spent on it, because the mere CHANCE of this one theory being true makes the whole game feel even more nuanced. It's not even necessarily correct, but it's not about that. Team Cherry made the lore surrounding the Pale King's foresight ability vague enough for us to feel it's POSSIBLE that the whole plot was predicted by him. And that's how this narrative works: it allows the players to come up with different interpretations of itself, never proving or disproving any of the theories that it inevitably creates inside our heads.

So anyway yeah, what if the Pale King knew that another Vessel would usurp the Hollow Knight? What if THAT was his plan all along?

So, let's discuss a very important question.

How was the Hollow Knight chosen among other vessels? Why did that one child become the Pure Vessel while millions of others were left behind?

Well, judging by these lines and by the Birthplace cutscene, the trial to be chosen as the Hollow Knight was to climb up from the Abyss.

But why? How does scaling a huge pit prove a vessel hollow, and devoid of thought? Is it about the strength? Is it about not caring about other siblings who fall down? Is it about controlling one's inner Void in order to not succumb to the regret of the whole situation? Is it something like a sperm and an egg thing? A bug thing? Maybe it's all of those things. Maybe it's none of them. One thing we can assume, though, is this:

The Knight also passed this trial. It could have become the Hollow Knight. The reason it didn't was because the Pale King didn't see it and the Hollow Knight didn't care about it.

But in the end, it was the same reason why the Kinght became a more worthy candidate.

Think about it this way. If the Void is what is needed to seal the Light, and if the Void is created and channeled through regrets and past pain, what could be a better fuel for it than a father's abandonment and a sibling's indifference? Passing the life's trial but losing a chance to live anyway creates the strongest darkness, and that darkness is the reason the Knight becomes the best Vessel possible to do this task.

But it's not the only trial the Knight had to pass in order to qualify for this role.

(Notice the phrasing used in the Quirrel comic - 'ascend to that fabled land')

We don't know how it happened (Team Cherry teased us once about revealing it), but the Knight not only escaped the Abyss through some other path, but managed to leave Hallownest and then come back, purified by the mind-wiping winds. That's what Hornet says about it, too - she specifically states that the Knight's resilience was born of two voids: the one that's outside of the Kingdom and the one that's below it.

And we also know that many other Vessels attempted the same thing.

So basically, had any of them been more successful at the quest the Knight did succeed at, the Kingdom could have had a greater, if not near-infinite, amount of replacements for the Sealed Vessel. One Knight takes the Infection inside of itself, holds it in until the Infection inevitably starts to break free, but then another Knight arrives, answering its sibling's call for help, and the cycle continues. Convenient, huh?

Sounds like a thing some very perceptive godlike monarch could come up with as a plan to save his Kingdom.

It could ALSO explain why there are SO MANY Vessels in the Abyss. Maybe it's not about the White Lady being crazy horny. Maybe it was a part of the plan (which included the White Lady being crazy horny) all along. A way to measure up to eternity by creating an amount of heirs that no one would be able to count. Yes, it IS finite, but with THIS many spare Vessels it wouldn't really matter.

That said, there ARE some flaws in this theory. First, there's no live Vessels in the Abyss, so the ones that survived the Pale King's trial probably either died or left the Abyss already. And it's likely that there weren't too many of those who escaped, so maybe there weren't enough vessels after all. But then again, it only takes one to save the Kingdom for multiple ages, so who knows how that would work.

Second, as far as we know, the Knight was the only one who had the potential to actually seal the Radiance once and for all. Letting weaker vessels try to usurp the Hollow Knight would mean risking the Kingdom. But then again, that's what Hornet was there for. On the other hand, even she was surprised with how the Knight was able to defeat her, so either she didn't know about the Masterplan, or it was never real in the first place, and the Knight IS the one unique Vessel who has the strength to save Hallownest for good.

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree with the latter assumption solely because of the narrative weight of the Birthplace cutscene. I mean, there was no other vessel that was in the same position as the Knight. No one else had that same experience of passing the Abyss trial just in time to see the first Hollow Knight walk away with its father, who then shut the door in their face.

But anyway, this theory is still pretty valid. If it's correct, it would mean that:

a) The 'No cost too great' line spoken by PK at the moment of his death basically means 'Whatever bitches, I may be dead but Hallownest WILL last eternally because I had those Vessels ALL FIGURED OUT, and there's SHIT you can do about it now!'

b) All who doubted PK's plan are proven wrong, and the Mushrooms' smugness is worth nothing.

c) The Pale King's future vision is fucking OP.

...Whiiiich yeah, makes the Pale King look like the coolest mastermind in all fiction, but at the same time takes away the tragedy of his whole story and the uniqueness of our dear beloved Ghost Knight. Still fun to think about it tho.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Hollow Knight would break, so he had every other possible Vessel in mind as a replacement. The new Vessel would be the one who survived the Abyss, escaped, left Hallownest, and returned at the call of the previous Vessel. With millions of Vessels born, the cycle could have been repeated so many times that it wouldn't matter when the Abyss would run out of Vessels.

Theory 5. The Masterplan but cooler

Now THAT's what I personally consider a big stretch.

See, for THAT theory to be correct, the Pale King should have known the EXACT moves the Knight (and only the Knight) would take in order to defeat the Radiance one way or another. He should have accounted for things such as:

The Knight being left in the Abyss in the exact way that it was; broken mentally by the chance that was taken away from it.

His own death.

The Knight arriving to Hallownest, passing all the tests, getting the Dreamnail, breaking the Dreamers' Seals.

The Knight becoming the new Sealed Vessel in at least two of the possible timelines.

The White Lady gifting the Knight her part of Kingsoul.

The Knight successfully entering the White Palace, finding the King's corpse, and taking the second half of Kingsoul.

The Knight returning to the Birthplace, getting the Void Heart and uniting the Void.

The Knight entering the Hollow Knight's dream with Hornet's help and actually killing the Radiance by making the Void consume it.

I think there's exactly a 0.00001% chance of that being the case. But hey, it's possible!

Actually, I don't believe that. It just doesn't feel like that's what the canon implications are about. And then again, if that theory is correct, why couldn't the King predict the Embrace the Void ending? And I do believe that SHADE LORD wasn't on ANYONE'S bingo card at all (except for maybe that one goth bug who gives us the Shade Cloak). Or did the King just decide to risk it all by defeating one God of Gods by creating another, much stronger one? I really don't think so.

I think the Void's will, as well as the Knight's, has the nature to defy any type of fate or future vision. And once the Knight gains the power of the Void Heart, the future of Hallownest is entirely in its hands, and its choice is now inherently outside of anyone's foresight.

TL;DR: The King predicted everything. Could he predict the Shade Lord though?

Theory 6 (the secret one). The 'human' factor

Ok, so, up until now, I discussed the possibilities the Pale King had with his future vision, and how said possibilities could influence his actions and the history of Hallownest as a whole, with the Self-fulfilling prophecy theory (of which this one will be an extension of) being the most plausible one. There's just one thing though. None of those theories really accounted for the possibility that, at some point, Pale King could've just not used his powers, or, more realistically, used them but chose to do something despite the information he got.

But why? What could possibly make him do that? The literal God of Mind, not being rational? Sounds like something that Team Cherry wouldn't fail to include in the game as an emphasized plot point. A lore piece so important must've been given some significant place, perhaps even locked behind some insane platforming gauntlet...

I swear, this one moment drives me crazy.

The Pure Vessel. The Sealed sacrifice. The Empty God. The Hollow Knight was created to be the one and only savior of Hallownest, of everything the Pale King worked so hard on. It was created not as an heir to its father's throne, not as his child, but as a tool to win a war that had been going on for ages. And we all know that it failed because it gained a mind, a will to live, a desire to crave happiness.

And this moment at the end of Path of Pain tells us exactly how it happened. The Pale King, being a god whose main power is to give bugs the ability to think, shared exactly one moment of pure fatherly affection with his empty creation. And that's all that was needed to plant the seeds of a mind-conquering disaster.

And right now I want to focus on the Pale King himself here. If you watch the cutscene, you'll notice that he is the first to turn his head towards the Hollow Knight. He was the one who initiated this moment.

And one might ask: why? Didn't he know that that could lead to the Vessel having a thought that was terminal for the whole plan? Couldn't he PREDICT that him showing even an ounce of affection towards this hollowed-out child would ruin everything he built? His whole Kingdom, his whole dream, his whole civilization? WAS HE STUPID?

But hear me out. What if what we're looking at here is not the Pale King messing up his entire career as a monarch, but him actually achieving the only thing that could satisfy him? Think about it. Who knows how much time he spent in his workshop trying to harness the Void. Millions of his children were left for dead, locked inside a horrible bottomless pit as bones and shadows. Three of the Kingdom's greatest bugs agreed to sacrifice their lives for the King's plan. All so he could achieve what he considered perfection. The impossible ideal. All the struggles of this Kingdom led to the creation of that one being. And when the Pale King knew he had succeeded, there was nothing left to strive for. Finally, he could allow himself to be satisfied. To forget about the greater good. To forget the never-ending battle. To live.

To love.

And maybe at that point he refused to use his future vision. Or maybe he knew that this would ruin everything. Maybe he always knew. For that moment, none of it mattered. The god of mind finally experienced something that had nothing to do with rationality. And once that happened, nothing else mattered anymore. No cost was too great for this one moment.

And so, nothing that happened after that mattered as well. The King's radiant enemy would soon take his Kingdom. His beloved Queen would go into exile. He himself would not be able to fight the regrets of his dark past and would soon cowardly flee from the waking realm, only to be killed on his throne by the very power he so foolishly used to achieve his goal. But at that point that goal didn't matter to him anymore. He was ready for the eternal Void, because he had already achieved the only thing worth achieving.

Too bad that meant he would doom millions (if not billions) of live creatures and make the only being he could actually love experience the cruelest torture unimaginable. Too bad that, when gods attempt to achieve a higher ideal, countless souls must suffer. Too bad that because of that one achievement everything Hallownest was had to end.

But everything ends at some point. That's one of the main themes of this game, and the idea that I believe is represented by the Void. The Knight arrives to reap the sins of its creator, witness secrets sealed, bring some hope to a ruined land, and enact the end of an era. Only a silent agent of change is there to witness the dark consequences of the Wyrm's quest for happiness.

Neat theory, right? Now guess which one is my favorite!

TL;DR: The Pale King realized that the act of loving his child is worth sacrificing everything he worked for, so, even knowing that sealing the No-More-Hollow Knight would doom Hallownest, he decided that his life has already peaked anyway and that there's no point in trying to do anything anymore. He knew that he was cooked though, so he fled and died only with the closest circle of family and friends to keep him company.

----

The post is over now. Big, bigger, yet bigger, the biggest thanks to anyone who genuinely made it through to the end. My grammar is probably flawed as fuck tho, because English is not my native language, so please cut me some slack in that regard. I hope what I was saying there was at least somewhat cohesive. I also hope that the more obscure bits of information I used (like cut dream dialogue) didn't throw anyone off the thought train. It's probably gonna be a big deal when I release this post, so I probably will be coming back to it. Any discussion, as well as disagreement, is always welcome! Please just let me know I didn't write all this for nothing lol. Thanks again!

TL;DR: Skill issue.

[lunaralight09]

Hey! based on the recent 096 thing,, what if you were immortal/immune to abnormal affects/effects? How would SCPs (such as 096, 106, 173, 049, and 035) react?

035

They both like and hate it. I mean if something happens to the host when they're near you, you'll just straight up put them on your face which WILL(probably) result to your death. And they do not want that to happen. And the bad thing... they can't read your mind properly(I mean they're probably interested and invested about what's happening in others life. It's the only good entertainment they can get in here).

Other than that, it's going to just adore you and your immunity to it. Like there weren't anyone who could look at it and not fall for their charm(manipulations), but look at you. Standing there alive and it's not even mad at you! Because it cares about you.

049

Oh it's not really a surprise to him, since there were and are some people that aren't afflicted with the pestilence(aren't dead from his touch). And he doesn't even need to lecture his cured patients about hurting you. They are always so docile with you, not getting rowdy. How convenient.

Before anything he does NOT want you to interact with many people(at all), since... what if they infect you? He won't like to see that, knowing that you're suffering from that wretched disease. But he can't exactly make you stay with him forever. He will hint and/or outright say that you need to stay away from certain people, however it's you decision to listen or not listen. You can make your own decisions. Even if that makes Doctor uncomfortable... with those 'intrusive' thoughts.

096

They are the calmest they have been in their entire existence, while someone looks at their face that is. And that does bring them some sort of comfort knowing that YOU of all creatures aren't going to die from their hands(unless some sort of accident happenS- WHO SAID THAT). The hands that killed too many.

And from those thoughts, the clinging begins. Knowing that you're 100% safe from being mutilated and turned into chunks of meat, they would want to spend a bit more time with you. Following, sitting or laying near you, anything. They are going to love it. The idea of listening to your heartbeat as a comfort thing is perfect for them. Whether they lay on you or you lay or rest on them(just don't forget to breathe).

106

Well That's not interesting(for him). His sadistic side fucking hates it. On one hand he can just grab you and squeeze your neck until you stop moving. But on other hand he (likes)tolerates you enough to not do it. Even if everything in his body tells him to fucking do it. Watch as your little life is slowly taken away from your desperate hands.

He'll more often than not will mostly ignore your presence. Especially if in a room/hallway there's a person(really hurt, showing it or 10-25 year old) and YOU, he'll always choose to go after the first option. And there's a possibility that he bumps into you, it's probably not intentional(i mean do you expect this corpse to walk straight and not bump and hit into things/people?)

173

(173 doesn't really have anomalous effects somewhat similar to other 4. But the best i can go is this):

Having 173 practically ignoring your existence and still moving while you look is.. good? Well for you, that is. You can't help anyone else, it's just a cold lie that you can look while they try to get away or clean the cell.

If you want to know it's thoughts about it. Well I mean it's not often that it has any thoughts(Literally head empty). Thoughts that usually appear are how it's next target's face going to look like as they're getting closer and closer. Oh and how their 'resting' face is going to look like.

Going back to your immunity, it knows, kinda acknowledge your existence in it's own weird way. Like it won't push you and just go a different path if you're blocking- let's say a door way. Or if you want to help some poor soul from dying, by just standing in the corner and that person being behind you. And surprise, surprise 173 looses it's interest entirely. How thoughtful of it.

[diminuel]

Considering Crocodile likes the finer things life has to offer. I imagine he's a good cook (he's also paranoid enough to not trust many people to cook his food without poisoning him), but also if he's gonna eat it will taste good. I also see him as someone who has problems not being good or excellent at things, so naturally he at one point in time went on a whole hyper fixation induce time period where he got really good at cooking. Regardless eventually cooking becomes a nice relaxing part of his day, to destress and listen to music and he learns to love cooking. (He'd probably hate the monstrous appetite Monkey D's have though).

But when the kids get older, cooking becomes a time when they either sit/help their Baba in the kitchen. They talk about their days and work and anything else. If they had homework (do Crocodile and Dragon actually teach them or send them to school? Or they forever wild jungle kids?) they could do it then. Eventually when they are teens, I feel Crocodile makes it his mission to teach his children at least the basics of cooking. No child of his will not know how to season whatever they catch with spices or at the very least know when meat is cooked, what you can eat raw safely, and which mushrooms are the best.

This probably has varying degrees of effect. Ace probably has a tendency to overcook things by cooking them to hot or too fast. Sabo is fine. If Merry (Baby 2) is a thing (depending on AU) she might be the best or the worst. Luffy probably is okay maybe was taught some self restrain to cook one or two more complicated dishes that are his favorites Baba makes...I feel Luffy would have more restrain if cooking for others, by himself he'd just roast meat likely.

But imagine Sanji gets sick or hurt. The other strawhats are debating who should cook now, and without being asked or really thinking much about it, Luffy steps up and cooks for his crew, as his crew argues about who should cook. Luffy makes that one dish his Baba taught, that Luffy likes to cook. Maybe it's curry or something using those Alabasta spices as it's what Baba always liked to use or a simple stew to help Sanji feel better. But Luffy stepping up because he can and as Captain it's his responsibility to help his crew and Sanji shouldn't worry about the crew eating when he's not well. I don't know how the strawhats actually react to their captain doing this, but I feel it would be amusing.

Dragon should probably be banned from the kitchen. Burns everything. He can cook meat over a campfire, and that's it. The man burns his toast no matter what. Poor guy.

Oooh, I love it!

He does love to cook, but preparing Monkey D. appropriate meals is probably quite a bit harder due to the sheer quantity they consume.

I love the idea of cooking time being family time too (and yes, I do imagine that the kids get sent to school. Maybe Dragon wouldn't be too fussed about it but the jungle can't teach them everything they need to know so Crocodile would insist on school.) and that the kids would learn to cook.

And yes! Luffy cooking for his crew when Sanji can't is so good and I do think they'd be rather shocked about it because he never lifts a finger to cook otherwise so they just assumed he couldn't do more than put meat over a fire (which is generally the thing with Luffy, also in this AU I think. He doesn't share information that isn't relevant or do things that aren't necessary - why cook if they have a cook, why navigate if they have a navigator, etc etc).

Dragon's banned from the kitchen for more than one reason. Not only does he seem to be cursed to always burn his toast (maybe he actually IS cursed *lol* Garp has probably made enough enemies for one of the other curse aimed at his bloodline or firstborn to stick) but the curse will infect Crocodile too! (It's not because Dragon is so distracting, with wandering hands and kisses pressed against his neck~) If the kids don't want burnt food they have to get Dad out of the kitchen *lol*

(When it's Dragon's turn to watch the kids on his own they all know it's time to go hunt for food and cook it over a campfire X'D If they need something else they can go to Makino *lol*)

[centuryberry]

lowkwy Highkey need to analyse those visions of the future and past Yue had like

You have no one else to blame but yourself! You did this! You’re the reason why she’s gone-!”

First of all I have so many guesses on who this could be I'm tweaking

“We shall leave it to the Four Guardian Beasts to ensure that balance is kept in the world. This is the only way to keep everyone safe. From them.”

Like those guardian animals guarding Nuwa's stones in LMK season 5?

From who????

Is this a celestial or is it not a celestial? Maybe Buddha or Guanyin? Or Nuwa? Maybe the Empress Mother

“Erase it. Erase every trace of her until the world forgets her name. I don’t care how you do it! Just erase it all!”

Jade Emperor dur

“Not my son! Please! Have mercy on my son! He has done nothing to offend you! Why are you doing this? And you! How can you call yourself a father when you’re standing aside and letting them–?”

Are they talking about Red Son here or someone else?

Sons: Nezha, Redson, MK, Ao something, one of the twins (but I doubt it)

“Look at what they’ve done to him! A pale shade of what he was! This isn’t justice, this is about control! My love, this is not the time to be careful. This is the time to –”

PIF is that you??

“Uncle! You have gone too far with this! They are just–!”

Nezha what happened?

Is he a thrall pls say nah

“I am sorry, my child. I have failed you.”

This is so vague 😭

Deadass could be anyone with a child and I'm too tired to write that my top 5 though: Nuwa, PIF, Empress Mother, Ao Lie, or literally any other parent.

“ – stay dormant through generations as long as the rings are secure and hidden. And before you say anything, this was because of your mistake. This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t intervened! This is the best outcome considering the circumstances. For the good of–”

Whos mistake?

Also who or what's staying dormant? The Samadhi Fire?

Honestly the Samadhi fire prolly most likely gonna play a big ass role in this ice zombie apocalypse lmao they're literally White Walkers like the ones from Game of Thrones

“...seal…under the mountain…”

The Bull fam or Wukong

“ –spreading uncontrollably! It can’t be contained! At this rate, this will reach–!”

The infection

now for the futureee wtfd wjqkwbkqkq

"We remember. Even when Heaven wants us to forget you, we will always remember. Even after all the temples were destroyed, we still lit a candle for you.”

We know that was Ma about our girl

“...banished some, executed the others, and subdued the rest. We didn’t understand everything that was happening since we were so young, but we knew that much. So much suffering…”

The twins most likely

😭 give them their talkkkk

“...Island…Lantern…Moon…Scroll…find them all and release…from his shackles...”

Island - Wukong? Similar to the LMK series where flower fruit moment is

Lantern - Macaque oof he is probably been stuck their for centuries imagine waking up and your family's gone to shit most are dead or basically dead, your kids are grown up without you yikes.

I mean it's the same for the rest of them too yikes but damn the guilt from the parents is gonna be real

I thought this wasn't gonna be another major angst fic 😭

Curse you! There better NOT be major character death if any of my hoe's die PERMANENTLY like in "With a Little Soul That Could" imma find where you live 😭 and force you to rewrite that shit now

“Foolish child! This is greater than your petty grudges and old wrongs!”

Damn who we talking to?

“Learn your place, you filthy animals.”

I got nothing a celestial maybe?

“...even…fall…nothing lasts forever…never forgave…”

I feel like I should know but I don't

“Because I love you so much, I’ll give you a hint. What’s the lucky number? C’mon, babe, this is easy stuff! You’re the one who taught me, remember? What’s the lucky number?”

🤯😱

Xiaotian Fragment that you?!!!!

Or is it like those Tony stark pre death hologram videos

One of his clones?

Is it Xiaotian or am I tripping?

“...this world isn’t worth saving…”

Huh.

Lowkey highkey very ominous

Isn't that what Yue and LBD were thinking?

Can Yue hear thoughts or did someone say this aloud?

“Godkiller.”

Our Queen Yue 🎉

I cannot believe I am following another fic of yours 😭 I love it though incredibel writing and the foreshadowing is actually insane

You can't stOP mE frOm makinG My TheORies

Oh my god, "Little Soul" mention on a Tuesday morning???? I can't believe you followed me from the Undertale fandom to the LMK fandom.

Well, as a veteran of my older works, I'll briefly step away from my "no spoiler" stance to reveal this: Queen of the Mountain will have a happy ending. None of that bittersweet tragedy. It will have a happy ending. I will not kill off anyone important to Yue. The Monkey Fam will be together again. (Honestly, I wrote myself into a corner when writing "Little Soul" so I had to pick between forcing a happy ending or keeping the integral message even if the ending was tragic. That won't happen again. I've written so, so many fluffy AUs as an apology for that ending.)

Now, onto the commentary about your theories: These are super detailed! I love the thought you put into your guesses and your comments! We'll see how many of these theories come true in the coming chapters!

[unseededtoast]

Turtle Doves | Joel Miller x F!oc

Part One

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

wc: 2.9k

a/n: Thank you for checking out this story! This is by far one of my favorites that I've ever written and I am beyond ecstatic to finally be able to share it with you all. I will be uploading a new part every week, and let me know if you'd like to be tagged! Once again thank you so much!

"What do you think of all this?" My voice is unusually hoarse as I take in the images before me. There have been reports of some sickness going around, mainly in the bigger cities, far enough from here to make us feel safe, for now.

(use this link for geographical reference points)

Upbeat music sounds through the house, bright sunshine beaming through the open windows. The crisp breeze whips in every few seconds, blowing the sheer curtains and cooling the house. It all makes it seem more real that summer is finally here. I lightly bob my head to the beat, enjoying the first day of warmth and excited for our first cookout of the year. I hear a few of the guests in the back yard already, laughing and clinking bottles together.

I turn around and open the freezer door, grabbing the ice tray off the top shelf and breaking up the frozen water inside, so that I can dump the cubes into the glass pitcher sitting on the kitchen counter. The ice clings as it falls to the bottom of the pitcher, and I go to fill it with water to finish the lemonade. With another gust of wind, the smell of grilled burgers floats in, making me all too excited to get back out there.

The doorbell rings out and I quickly turn the water off so that the lemonade doesn't overflow into the sink. I set the pitcher off to the side and dry my hands on the towel laying on the counter. Quickly, I make my way to the door and open it, greeting the next arrivals with a wide smile on my face.

"Thank you guys for coming, please make yourselves at home! I think the burgers are just about done out back." I say and close the door behind them, grabbing a dish from my friend's full hands and placing it on the counter. Her daughter toddles through the house, mumbling about something that's apparently very important to her. I smile softly at the little girl and turn my attention to my friend, who I haven't seen in forever. Her husband quickly finds his way to the back yard with the other guests.

"Sorry we're late, someone did not want to wear shoes today." She breathily laughs, setting down a diaper bag as she watches her daughter walk around the house.

"I understand, shoes are a pain." I joke with her and open the fridge to grab a chilled bottle. I hand the wine cooler to her and she pops the cap, taking a sip. I look at my friend, who I notice looks tired and stressed, more than usual. There are dark circles under her eyes and her hair is haphazardly thrown up into a bun. Her appearance is out of character for her, she's typically always primped and dressed for the occasion.

"Tell me about it. I was half tempted to just let her come barefoot. How's Lucas?" She asks about my son, taking another sip. I turn my head to look out the back door, seeing my son being held by my husband.

"He's loving all the attention out there, that's for sure. How are things going, Lisa? I feel like I haven't seen you since last year." I inquire, casually grabbing the lemonade pitcher and setting it beside the veggie tray I took from her. She sighs,

"Things have been better. John has been working more hours lately. Which is fine, it's just that I feel like I never sleep anymore." She tries to joke, but I can sense the exhaustion in her. Her husband works as a physician at a local hospital, and has been on call for the past two weeks. I offer her a small smile and put a hand on her shoulder,

"You and little miss Amelia are welcome here anytime. Lucas would enjoy the company and I know you'd enjoy the rest. I mean it, I don't mind watching her." I tell her, knowing that she will likely never take me up on the offer. Lisa doesn't like to impose on people, though she wouldn't be imposing at all.

"I appreciate it Noelle, thank you." She nods gratefully. Amelia finds her way to the back door and puts her slobber-covered hands on the glass, mumbling nonsense but making it clear she wants out there with everyone else. I laugh at her silliness and balance the veggie tray in one hand and grab the lemonade in the other.

"I think Amelia wants to get out there. Feel free to just relax, we can watch over her. Enjoy yourself, mama." I say and make my way to the backdoor and expertly open it with my elbow. Amelia squeals and runs out onto the grass with the other kids.

Lisa goes to sit on the couch, taking another drink, and I close the door behind me. I set the veggie tray down on a foldable table where the other side dishes are and place the cold lemonade beside the other beverages. The burgers smell amazing and I can't help but glance over to the grill to see if they're done yet. To my disappointment, they're not ready, so I walk over to my husband Ryan, who has Lucas in his arms.

"Do you want me to take him?" I ask, knowing that even though Lucas is a small kid, he gets quite heavy after a while. Ryan nods and hands him off to me, kissing me on the forehead before he goes to grab a beer out of the cooler. Lucas lays his head on my shoulder and I can tell he's ready for his afternoon nap.

I go back in the house to find Lisa chilling on the couch, her drink empty in hand and her head resting back on the cushion with her eyes closed. Quietly, I make my way to Lucas' room and lay him down in bed. Of course, as soon as he's on the mattress he's starts to throw a fit, because he's so obviously not tired.

"Shhh, it's okay." I soothe him, running a hand through his short hair and tucking a light sheet around him while he curls his tiny little hand around my fingers. He always likes to be holding someone's hand as he falls asleep, I think it must be some sort of security thing for him. And thankfully, he's out in just a few minutes. Skillfully, I wiggle my hand from his grasp and close his door softly, hoping he'll sleep for at least an hour or two.

Lisa is now sitting up on the couch, her elbows resting on her knees as she leans forward, listening intensely to whatever is on. Something on the TV must have caught her attention.

I go to the fridge and grab a drink, wanting to indulge a little since Lucas is down for a nap. The words on the TV pique my interest, and I go to sit beside Lisa, who only glances at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Los Angeles is the latest city to be placed under Martial Law. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed two hundred. And according to a leaked report from the World Health Organization, recent vaccination attempts have failed." The reporter seems uptight and rigid as she speaks. Absentmindedly, I take another sip of my drink, feeling uneasy about what I'm hearing. The upbeat music from the yard starkly contrasts the severity of what's on the television.

The news broadcast switches to a helicopter view of Los Angeles and shows a temporary military camp being set up. Large armored trucks line the streets and soldiers instruct people where they need to go. There's smoke in the air from fires that have been set, and it looks like some foreign, war-torn country.

"What do you think of all this?" My voice is unusually hoarse as I take in the images before me. There have been reports of some sickness going around, mainly in the bigger cities, far enough from here to make us feel safe, for now. But seeing the devastation and panic of those in New York, Detroit, and now Los Angeles is making me more uneasy about the whole thing.

"I don't like it. John says we shouldn't worry about it. Whatever it is, they'll find a cure for it soon. He says he hasn't seen anything come through the hospital yet and that we're okay. But I don't know, I can't help but worry, you understand." Lisa's voice is soft, but serious. She tears her eyes away from the screen and looks to me as she finishes her sentence, and I nod my head.

"I understand. Ryan says the same thing. But we aren't that far from Detroit, really. I mean what, a few hours by car? I told him we should at least stock up on some canned goods, just in case." I say, knowing that we share the same anxiety about this mysterious sickness. The back door slides open quickly,

"Burgers are done!" Ryan's voice calls out into the house, snapping Lisa and I out of our contemplation. I clear my throat and take another drink before standing and offering Lisa my hand. She takes it and I help her up as well, and we both go outside, trying to forget what we just saw on the screen.

We join the others in the back yard and Lisa makes quick work to fix Amelia a plate. I urge others to get a plate before I do, feeling unnerved from the news report. After everyone goes through the line, I grab a plate as well, but can only bring myself to put some fruit on it, and that's just for show.

I join Ryan at the patio table and he's tucking into his burger with all the fixings. I take another drink and try my absolute best to act perfectly normal and unperturbed. Ryan swallows and looks between my plate and my face, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Only fruit?" I nod my head, knowing it's out of my usual to not load up with a burger, chips, and some type of sweet.

"Just not feeling too well." I passively offer as an explanation and take a strawberry into my mouth. He takes another bite of his burger, keeping his eyes on me. I know he can see through my lie, but I know he won't push it in front of people. He puts a hand on my thigh and gives it a squeeze, and I place my hand on top of his.

I take another strawberry and look out into our back yard, seeing Amelia happily nibbling on a bun Lisa gave her. Another little kid sits beside Amelia, Ethan is his name, and he is content with his bowl of chips his mother gave him. Ethan's mother, Rebecca, met Lisa and I at a birthing education group a few years back and we all clicked together instantly. Rebecca's husband, Tim, fit right in with our husbands as well.

Others mill about the yard, associates of Ryan who I don't know very well, but they're friendly enough and I don't mind them. I've never been able to connect with them too well, seeing as there's a sizable age gap between me and the majority of them. Plus, they're all lawyers and I'm a florist, there's not much common ground between the two. Sometimes I wish I had more in common with Ryan's friends, but over time I've accepted that it's okay for us to have differences.

My eyes drift from the people to my flower beds, which are all manicured to perfection. Luckily, all the flowers are vibrant and full, adding more life to the yard it sometimes lacks in the colder months.

After a while, I go about collecting plates and cleaning up the food as the sun begins to disappear behind the horizon. Ryan is entertaining a newly energized Lucas as Lisa and I pack away the leftovers and hunt out the s'mores supplies. No Allen family cookout is complete without s'mores.

I turned the television off as soon as we started bringing things in, not being able to bear the words and images that were sure to be there. If I can just push those thoughts from my mind for another couple hours and make sure people enjoy the cookout, then I can worry about it for the rest of the night after they leave.

Lisa hands me a platter of leftover burgers to put in the fridge and breaks the silence,

"Your flowers are beautiful this year, I really like the tulips you have here." She compliments my fresh pink tulips on the counter. I had picked them this morning before everyone got here so they looked their best. I smile, appreciating the compliment.

"Thank you, I tried to pick the best ones. You can take those with you if you want. I have plenty." I say, motioning to the backyard. It's true, I have an abundance of flowers to choose from, and I want Lisa to have something nice for herself, she deserves it.

"Oh no, I couldn't. You worked hard on those." She dismisses with a wave of her hand, but I give her a stern look.

"Lisa, please take the flowers or I will make sure John takes them." I say, pushing the vase across the counter to her. She knows she's not going to win this argument and concedes, taking the vase in her hands.

"Thank you, Noelle." Her voice is quiet, and I give her a nod.

"Don't mention it. Now let's get these kids full of sugar before bed!" I laugh and hand her some of the s'mores ingredients to take out.

A few of the men had started the fire and have it at a nice height, it should last us long enough to get the s'mores made and for people to say their goodbyes for the night. I hand out the skewers and place the ingredients on the foldable tables, allowing people to help themselves.

Lucas waddles over to me with a marshmallow in his tiny hand, and I smile, knowing he wants me to toast it for him. I grab him in my arms and take his marshmallow, placing it on a skewer before sitting us on a chair close to the fire. Lucas is on my lap as I watch the marshmallow to ensure I don't burn it, but toast it perfectly for him. Lucas is kind of a marshmallow snob, he won't eat one that's been burnt or under-toasted, he only wants the golden-brown ones.

After rotating the marshmallow with patience, I think it's finally good enough for his standards. I grab it off the skewer and blow on it so that he doesn't burn his mouth on the hot sugar. His hands reach towards it, but I lean away to cool it off as much as possible. I can tell he's getting frustrated, and so as soon as I'm sure it's an acceptable temperature, I give it to him. He wastes no time in shoving it in his mouth, a wide, gummy smile on his face with tiny little teeth barely visible.

I watch him lovingly, enjoying seeing him so happy with something so simple. As Lucas finishes his marshmallow, some people begin filtering out for the night. I wave goodbye to them and take Lucas inside to clean him up before bed. His hands and face are sticky with marshmallow fluff, and the last thing I want is for him to touch everything in his reach and get everything coated in stickiness.

I set him up on the counter beside the sink and grab a fresh rag, wetting it lightly so I can get the gross off of him. Rebecca, Tim, and Ethan are the next ones to leave, and I wish them a safe drive home, and thank them once more for coming. Lisa, John, and Amelia are the last ones to leave, and I make sure Lisa takes the tulips with her despite her protests.

After Lucas is cleaned up and Ryan has tidied the back yard, I'm ready for bed. My eyelids are heavy with sleep, and I can't wait to get underneath my warm covers. Lucas fights his bedtime as per usual, but finally lays down for me after minutes of whining.

I close his door and turn off the main lights in the house and ensure the night lights are on, just in case Lucas gets up in the night and needs to get to our room. I rub my eyes as I enter my bedroom and go to the bathroom to do my nightly routine. Ryan is already in bed, flipping through channels to find something.

I rush through my routine and get underneath the covers, sighing with relief as I feel my spine decompress from the day. Rolling over into Ryan's side, I rest my head on his shoulder and look at the television screen. Immediately, I'm displeased with what I see. A bold headline is front and center and it reads 'Death Toll Rises, When Will This End?'. Luckily the TV is on mute so I can't hear what the news reporter is saying.

"I think we need to stock up on things tomorrow. I don't like how this is looking." I say, standing my ground this time. Ryan can believe whatever he wants about this sickness, but I won't risk Lucas going without food or any necessity if things get bad.

"First thing in the morning we can go." Ryan's voice is raspy, and he turns the TV off, not bothering to watch anything else. He adjusts his position and pulls me into him, kissing me goodnight before he rolls over to turn off his bedside lamp.

I cuddle into his side, enjoying the safety I feel in his arms and close my eyes, ready to fall asleep. As I feel myself drifting off, I hear muffled sirens in the distance.

Part Two

[dandizettes]

HIIII TALK TO ME ABOUT IZZY W OCD BC ITS SO REAL AND TRUE AND WE NEED TO SPREAD THE WORD sorry for yelling

This is hard for me to pinpoint in general but especially now because, hilariously, the OCD symptoms are making it hard to discuss the OCD symptoms. However! I shall attempt, because we INDEED must spread the good word.

I think The Thing that I point to and go “hmmmmmm” with Izzy is the like………….. self-constructed anxiety box that he Must Live Inside Of Or Else—he is not just a pirate taking piracy very seriously, (though he also does that) he is, specifically, living under this rigid internal logic of Being A First Mate, with the binary opposite of Being A Piece Of Shit Who Should Kill Himself (see: yelling at the unicorn for failing to protect the ship, self-destruction suicidal spiral after perceived failure To Be A First Mate, etc etc.) And that all feels to me. Well. More familiar than I’d like, save for the particular role in question—but that idea that, like, you must adhere to a set of rules, you must stay within particular boundaries to be Good, and if you cross them you enter being Bad, you become Nothing—and this is an infection which you are always in danger of contracting, you must practice constant vigilance to stave off this infecting creeping Badness forever and ever and ever, you are only ever safe from the Badness if you are appropriately performing Goodness, which means living in the box—well. That’s the sauce, unfortunately!

And of course, lots of his middle-management responsibilities are genuinely life or death stakes—yeah, Ed DOES need to have a plan, he DOES need to not be so unhinged he is actively endangering the lives of everyone around him, but because Izzy obv holds himself responsible for regulating Ed’s ability to do both those things, it makes this delicious horrible guilt soup, and that is the irrational brain-lying-to-you bit here. Yes, the stakes are actually very high, but it is still quite literally impossible for Izzy to dictate what Ed does or does not do—but HE absolutely believes it is, to a degree that reads to me again like that binary logic (which of course is fed and reinforced by Ed, even if unintentionally, due to the everything about their dynamic.)

[moonpoolcat]

Looks to the Moon (Safe version)

Due to the votes on a pole I created here is a sfw version that is safe to repost. I learned from my slight error so any posts going forward will be using this version while the not so safe version is spoiled. I know the majority voted for they don't give a fuck however it's tumblir folks in the rainworld community are younger then me- by a lot sheesh some of you are still in school... An I'd rather stay on the safe side. (Headphone\ volume warning!!!!)

Quick Backstory (Short version)

Lttm is a gen 1 iterator an current senior to the Twilight local group. After the death of SOS, Moon was left feeling compelled to pick up where she left off the best she could. In this timeline Moon would not collapse like in game but instead be saved by an iterator who's can that is the first of it's kind was mobile. Along with NSH and Hunter. She could forgive Pebbles desire to escape, but she could never forgive his act of purposely ignoring her please for mercy, therefore Pebbles was exiled from the local group till further notice for not only attempted murder but the infection of the rot towards himself but her apprentice Unparalleled Innocence was affected as well. Later on she was secretly relieved the both of them had been cured by SRS an was happy to find out her brother was being looked after by Chasing Winds. This event forever tarnish, destroying everything she had ever believed in her entire life.

With a new perspective LTTM began to suspect her local group members were working against her? At first she didn't want to believe such accusations were true until NSH had hacked into their private group chat revealing they were part of the anti sliverists orchestrated by an unknown admin. Someone had premeditated this... In retaliation Moon would gather up these traitors an behead them in front of thousands of iterators during gathering, setting an example for anyone else who dared to harm her again. But the admins were not safe either for it was also discovered they to had planned her downfall so they had met the same fate essentially turning this even into the blood moon genocide.

As if it couldn't get any worse. Her UI had been the one responsible for Pebbles rot. For that, she was beheaded as well then was forced to carry out the rest of Pebbles sentence as punishment. With the weight of being admin, her lover gone, her brother traumatized, and anti- sliverists at war with each other- Something within Moon snapped! She became forever cold, merciless, relentless, and vengeful showing no remorse for anyone. Not even her own local group is safe from this iterators eternal wrath. Those below an only loyal to Moon shall not have to fear the queens endless quest for vengeance. The only goal this Moon has is to be rid the planet of anti sliverists that threaten everything she an Sliver worked so hard to create vowing to hunt down her killer if it's the last thing she'll do. Even if it means hurting the ones she cares about. For the ones that tread on stained waters will be the first to drown.

Explanation behind the design:

Look I like pogo legs but I needed this au to make sense if I'm going to be able to explain everything else. There were exactly 3 redraws of her dress as I attempted to go for a regal look but it had failed so I went for an egyptian look instead to set myself apart from the other Moons. Someone said she looked like a genie so I just rolled with it. The antlers were my attempt at matriarchy as I felt that it fit her since she is the oldest of iterators. The tail is for esthetics and for anyone wanting to draw her idrc if you don't draw it or not. The tattoo on her face on the mini casual is just a mark that only appears when she's not walking around trying to look professional.

Relations

Five Pebbles: Cares very much for him. He is recovering from cycles of isolation. Is slightly traumatized from Moon beheading UI. Has forgiven SRS.

SRS: Moon has little to no trust in Suns, she denied him admin role because of their poor mental health after exiling their abusive mentor. To her he is merely used as a means of brute force during situations where she does not want to spill blood. But on the inside she cares deeply for them nonethless worried whenever they have an explosive episode or any form of metal psychosis.

NSH: They use to be lovers before she half collapsed. Annoying as he may be Sig is the only iterator who she had given admin privileges to. However does not accept him as her equal because of memory loss. His speed is useful in keeping tabs on all the territories so nothing goes unnoticed. His two face nature and super speed makes it perfect to infiltrate places an come out unscathed.

Chasing Winds: He was the apprentice to SOS. He left the group after she died. Moon doesn't get along with him because he does not enjoy her violent tendacies creating fear setting a bad influence on the younger group members.

UI: Moon wants nothing to do with her. A lost cause and a waste of time thinking she could ever raise an iterator to one day take her role as admin.

Enlightened overturned silk: Wants dead immediately. (Keep an eye on this guy he's important)

Other local groups

Oasis local group: Allies

Zodius local group: Allies

Jaded local group: Not on good terms. Moon would rather see them dead.

Stormfall local group: Neutral due to Chasing Winds being Admin Moon wants no conflict with them.

Sliverist group: The only group she trusts to protect Slivers can. She took it upon herself to train them personally into the most lethal local group in the area an heads to Moons calls as they trust her enough to obey orders only because she was with Sliver the longest.

Anti-Sliverists: Wanta dead at all cost. Anyone who spots one are to kill them on site with no hesitation. Failure to report an a siting or incident are to be reported to Moon immediately.

Extra

The colored pearls on her antlers are her way of keeping up with who's in her local group, they're personal keepsakes that she forbids anyone from touching.

Neuron flies will forever circle her when she is wearing clothing. Otherwise they vanish when taken off. She keeps them around in case something happens an it is a means of a last resort of staying alive. They can be used an shaped into a projectile and will take one minute to reproduce a new one.

Weapon of choice: Scythe; It carries the weight of 100 leviathans. Only SOS, SRS an NSH have been the only ones known to be able to lift it off the ground.

Moon ironically can camouflage when it's dark, the downside being the ability is most weak during the day.

Morph form: Should have been obvious it's a deer.

Moon has a sister named Illuminated diamond Twilight, they're cycles older than Pebbles. Funny that her local group was named after her. Not on good terms when mentioned though.

Her antlers can retract at will, although she has to take every pearl off which is time consuming but worth it since it's just used as presentation.

If angered for to long Moon will enter a wendigo like state an will not stop until whatever had angered is either dead or has fled the area. It is recommended to not annoy her at all.

Moons lore is out go read it.

[ghostwritesthings]

The Strength of A Mothers Love

Summary: Your daughter is taken by fireflies who have one goal in mind, you aren’t letting them. No matter what it takes, as you’re there you run into some other people.

Warnings// canon violence, guns, mentions of blood, knife, implied past trauma??, readers age isn’t mentioned but she’s able to have children, only readers daughter has a specified age which is 3 years old , reader isn’t described but daughter has red hair, readers last name is Woods but first name isn’t specified just Y/N.

I believe that’s all but let me know if I missed anything:)

“You aren’t taking her, you won’t ruin her life like you did mine.”

“Don’t you understand this could change the world.”

———————————————————————————

You feel like an outsider looking in when in reality it’s you doing this. You have one goal in mind, save her. You walk through the halls emotionless, disconnected as you gun down everyone that comes along until you switch to your knife, and pick up guns along the way. You have blood splattered on you but you don’t even recognize it’s theirs. You make it to the operating room and silently look through the glass window, what you find isn’t what you were expecting.

“Unhook them.”

Doctor Andersen looks up at me, “Woods.. How’d you get here.”

“1 said unhook them NOW”

“I can’t let you do tha-“

A single gunshot as the nurses scream but I don’t care, all I see is them.

“Unhook the girls, you on the left go to her. You on the right unhook the teenager and I’ll let y’all go.” I sound calmer than I feel. I glance at the man who’s staring at me as if I’m from his imagination and not actually here.

“Cover their arms and step away facing that wall.” They soon do as asked and before they can let out a scream I’ve shot them both, I feel nothing for them. I walk to the man, I put my gun in my waistband and raise my hands slowly,

“I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m gonna cut your ties and if you don’t hurt me I won’t hurt you got it?”

He simply nods almost unnoticeable but I see it. I kneel and that’s when I notice what he looks at, my bicep. The mark that has haunted me every night since it happened, when the infected took everything from me and left me to survive it alone. I say nothing as I untie him he deserves to see his girl too. We exchange a look as he gets up that says everything it needs to ,a silent thank you for helping me when you didn’t have to.

I walk to the table on the left, my little girl looking so peaceful, unaware of all the violence I committed to protect her.

“Maxine” I say so breathlessly, barely a whisper slipping past my lips. I scoop her up one arm supporting her head where her beautiful red hair falls just a bit in her face, the other underneath her legs to cradle her as I turn to leave. What I don’t see is the man, whose name I still don’t even know, doing the exact same to his girl silent as he feels his relief.

I turn to look and decide to speak up first,

“Everyone in the building is gone, I don’t know where Marlene is though so watch out for her, take this gun it’s fully loaded.”

I wasn’t expecting a response but

“Names Joel, if you want you can come with us… I’ve got a car and somewhere safe you can take her. It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Let’s make it out of here first then we can talk about it.”

We both head to the door in our own little worlds holding our girls, I follow him down to the parking garage where there is in fact a running car. As we begin to walk over to the car she appears.

“You can’t keep them safe forever…”

I begin tuning her out, looking for an out. No one else is arou-

“Y/N, you really think you can protect Maxine for the rest of her life? What happens when you can’t get to her in time..what happens when raiders get a hold on her they don’t hold back because she’s a kid. What happens when she goes through what you did with your mother, who will care for her then?”

Marlene’s gun is pointed straight into the center of my chest, I know she would never pull the trigger, she’s known me since I was a child, knew my mother, she could never kill me.

“I am her mother, I will protect her until the day I fucking die and this isn’t your choice, she’s three fucking years old. You ruined my life the day you found out about my immunity, you never cared for what my mother would’ve wanted for me and I know my mom would’ve done the same for me in this moment. You don’t get to try to turn this shit on me because you want to look for a cure that doesn’t exist.”

She goes to speak again but within seconds my gun has gone off and she’s fallen to the ground. I don’t register it at first, almost like second nature at this point. Joel and I walk towards the car as he sets the teenager into the passenger seat as I put Maxine in the passenger seat to hold her. Marlene lets out a grunt and as Maxine is now set safely in the passenger seat I walk towards her. Joel right behind me following,

“Y/N please don’t..”

“I know you will just come after them and that’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”

She attempts one more plea but my gun goes off to put one last bullet through her head. Joel silently wonders to himself, why does she care so much about a girl she’s never met?

As we ride off in the car all I can do is look down at Maxine for a while, Joel and I sitting in a comfortable quiet processing everything that happened before he speaks up.

“My names Joel that’s Ellie” he says as he checks on her through the rear view mirror.

“I’m Y/N, this is my daughter Maxine.”

“What did Marlene want with your daughter if you don’t mind me askin’”

“I’m immune and she’s my biological daughter, they wanted to open her up and see if my immunity could transfer to my children and since she was born they’ve been after me. I’ve been running for years but they managed to catch up to me and take her.”

He tells me about Ellie and how they met and Marlene tasked him to get her there without telling him how it would happen.

“My brothers got a place in Wyoming, I can get you there and into a home with Maxine. Got runnin water, electricity and plenty of food, you can raise her up without worrying about anything again. It’s completely safe and it’s the least I can do for you for saving me n her.”

Looking over at him for a moment in silence I mull it over a bit. Doesn’t seem bad and he seems honest, raising Max somewhere I can guarantee her safety is the only thing I’ve wanted since the day she was born, I couldn’t protect everyone else but I can protect her.

“I’d like that, you don’t owe me anything that girl is a child, she can’t make a decision like that without knowing everything.”

As we drive I feel that maybe everything will be ok again, I feel a bond forming with the stranger I met in an operating room who’s daughter I saved and maybe this new chapter will be good for Maxine and I.

———————————————————————————

Authors note// here’s a really bad fic lol I tried my best I’m still learning so don’t be too hard please? Let me know if anyone wants me to write something for them:)

[raintemper]

the promised nine sols ending-ish ramble yippee some of this might just be a word vomit there will be spoilers.

WOW IT HURTS I want to address the parallels of the events between Yi and Heng back then and Yi and Shuanshuan in the present. Obviously Yi very much fits that protective older brother role, the one who wants to take care of everything and keep his siblings safe.

He made the choices for Heng back then, dismissing much of her own thoughts and opinions as he thought himself older and wiser. This becomes very apparent in the final altercation between Yi and Heng, when he gave her an ultimatum to choose between leaving with him or staying and severing all ties. We learn that he was not able to follow up on seeing her before the departure for reasons out of his control, ow.

This is very similar to right before the final boss where Yi made the decision he thought would be safest for Shuanshuan, sending him away to the pale blue planet with the rest of the apemen. Where Shuanshuan absolutely refuses, wanting to choose to stay with Yi. (In contrast with Heng who did not want to go with Yi) He also makes a promise to see him again as to show Shuanshuan that he is not abandoning him forever, he is taking into consideration what he is saying. (That's a huge death flag though.) Of course, (true ending) Yi is also not able to follow up on that promise to see Shuanshuan again. But this time it is on his terms.

The roles kind of swap with Yi here. He is now in Heng's shoes. The one being left behind, but this is their will. It is not something someone forced them to do, they chose this for themselves. They were both alone (in the physical sense) in their final moments. But both achieved peace in their decisions. Not to mention, Yi was able to speak to Shuanshuan again. Something that he was not able to do with Heng, he couldn't explain himself to her or express that despite his harsh words he still cared so much for her. This is him finding closure.

I will also note Yi's self imposed isolation before the final fight, is a lot like how he was isolated from his family back on Penglai. Both Heng and his parents didn't see eye to eye with his beliefs and he kind responded in kind to theirs. Despite having a loving sister, there was definitely a distance there that came with not trying to listen and understand her all through their life. But while that isolation was not his intention, the second time it was. Being alone in New Kunlun meant that everyone else was safe.

This end also shows more how Yi finally learned the importance of feeling and home. He knew the only way to finally absolve him of all the wrongs in his life was to die with the infected roots, putting an end to the prolonged suffering of it all. Even if everyone else already forgave him for what he did, the only person who couldn't was himself. Heng chose to stay and die on Penglai because that was their home and she believed it was how things were meant to be. And Yi dying on New Kunlun, a little part of their home, was him dying in a place that his ideas started and now will end. This was one of the biggest achievements of his life and his greatest pain. He is finally awake.

He returns the apemen back to the pale blue planet, so that they may live and die in their home planet. Something that Yi and the other solarians are not able to do.

I will also mention, Yi started this entire journey for revenge. And as told many times before, when someone dedicates their life to revenge, the aftermath is not good. Once they achieve that revenge, there is nothing else keeping them going. You can argue that he has Shuanshuan, but Yi has already expressed to him before that he is not a good person. Yi no longer views himself in a good light, he is not the hero that will save the day. Some part of him is as much of a villain as he saw in the other sols in the beginning. The others have already been judged by him, he is the only one left. And in Yi's mind, perhaps he had made the gravest offense of them all. He has witnessed and lived those consequences. Of course, Yi's end is not seen in such a negative light. But it is a fitting conclusion for him, I think he has cleared most of his regrets. I like how he finally accepts the Tao and the return to nature, something that they all tried to defy for so long. That only prolonged their suffering and misery, no one was truly happy in New Kunlun.

Also a little side tidbit, the Shanhai 9000 that's looking for their friend. That had set them free and then killed by their friend, now a mutant. I felt this also set a little bit of foreshadowing for the true ending at least. Yi sending the apemen back to their homeplanet and ensuring their freedom even if it meant sacrificing his own life. All parties involved are free from the solarians suffering and their lifelong mission, even if they can't all be there to see it happen.

I didn't like the normal ending. There was no release, no sense of closure. He's back on Penglai, for what? It took all 10 council members to barely scrape together an unsuccessful plan to prolong the virus. As brilliant as Yi is, it just doesn't seem feasible for him to create a cure all by himself. Not to mention, now that the roots are gone, he very much can die and be infected by the tianhuo. How is he able to, in good conscience, continue harvesting apemen brain to power the already proven failed dreamscape as well as continuing to trample on Heng's wishes and peace? He's just pulled the wool back over his eyes. It is not a happy or fulfilling ending, it's just sad(in a bad way). Yi's refusal to accept reality, to accept anything that isn't within his control, which is exactly the same as he was in the beginning. There is no character growth, which makes everything feel a little meaningless.

[gamerbearmira]

More resident evil 8 Au things!

First I think with Julieta if she infects food it will heal any infected person but it can only be safely eaten by people who are infected if you're not and you eat her infected food then you get very sick, so sick in fact that most people would die if it wasn't for the fact that Julieta still has her gift and heals them before they do.

I also appreciate your opinion on the Miranda and Mirabel experiment situation. Miranda is 100% obsessed with Mirabel and I do feel like as she got older it would get worse, Miranda barely tolerated her family when she first got them and only really got her family as a way to control/manipulate her more but I feel like after a couple years Miranda would start to get jealous of her family and become almost possessive of Mirabel because to her Mirabel is perfect and is so close to being the vessel for her child in her mind. Which made me have a thought what if in one of her crazy moments Miranda tried to create a new original vessel using a bit of Mirabel's DNA and a little bit of Eva's original DNA or maybe even some of her own, almost trying to recreate Evelyn but instead of just using purely her or Eva's original DNA she's hoping that mirabel's "perfect DNA" would counterbalance any imperfections that might happen and make sure that another Evelyn doesn't happen obviously it wouldn't work if she did it and if it would actually result in anything I not entirely sure probably not but it is something I could see her doing/trying to do. I would like your opinion on that though it feels like something she would do and it feels like a crazy/delusional thought she would have but how it would be executed and what exactly it would result in if it resulted in anything I'm still not entirely sure.

In my Au everything for Ethan stays the same up until after his done in Castle Dimitrescu except for the fact that when he first meets the Lord's mirabel is there. Ethan meets Mirabel again after he's done in Dimitrescu castle in my Au There are no Rose flasks so there is no moment between him and Duke telling him to "take a closer look" (I agree with you when that happened it pissed me off so badly.) instead what happens is that Ethan leaves the castle and is in that weird little area with the Duke and Maribel (who physically looks 20ish and will probably forever look 20ish) is there with the Duke (she's a little sad that he had to kill Alcina and her daughter's but she knows that he didn't have a choice). The first thing she does when she sees him is apologize for not finding him before anyone else had, her family had been rounding up The villagers from their little encanto to bring them to safety as fast as they could because they were told very late that the attack on the village was going to happen so they were also fighting off lycans at the same time, and while her family was doing that she was with Miranda convincing her not to split baby rose into separate parts. Which she was able to obviously do as there's no rose flasks instead she was able to convince Miranda that they have to put little baby rose in a weird blackmold-womb like thing so that Eva can be reborn. (It was the only thing Mirabel could think of at the moment to say that Miranda might actually go along with and she was desperate to keep Rose safe) so Miranda has rose in her weird house/church thing deep underground inside the weird Blackmold-womb thing. Mirabel tells Ethan all of this right then and there Ethan obviously being the great dad that he is wants to immediately go to Miranda and fight her but mirabel stops him because he's extraordinarily injured and tells him that she knows for a fact that Rose is not being harmed in it and that Miranda has truly lost her mind at this point and can't see that what is happening is not working and she basically forcefully takes him to her house to rest for a little bit. From there Ethan goes and fights Monroe (Mirabel told Ethan that Monroe would side with Miranda no matter what and would make his fight harder with her which he would) and then later Donna (it pains me to do it it really does but I can't imagine her being outside of the village she's just extremely unstable and I don't see her betraying Miranda like that). When Ethan goes to Karl it isn't to kill him/get the piece back of Rose it's to see if he would join them against Miranda which Karl was all for which made Ethan happy (big army) but then Karl started talking about using his daughter as a weapon and then Ethan was like "on second thought nevermind" Karl got insulted and then they ended up fighting so kind of like in the game but the reason Ethan was there was different. Also add in the fact that everyone in the family is helping him out along the way. At the end fight with Miranda and Ethan the family joins in except for Alma (she's too old and weak for that) who takes little baby rose and stands off to the sides and kind of watches them fight.

As always any and all artwork is appreciated!

YEAHHHH I LOVE IT‼️‼️‼️ this took way too long and. I apologize I got busy 😭

So, Julieta’s food, that would make sense <<333 glad we agree on that it heals infected people, I just wasn’t sure about regular folks, but it makes sense that they get sick I mean it’s a biological weapon essentially 💀💀

Miranda needs to get a grip, but we both know she won’t. I mean even after see what happened with Eveline, she was on some demon time. And Mirabel STILL wants to try again, like it’s insane to me how she can do this. Also, I do have an idea now that you mention Eveline. Maybe she’s tried several times to use Mirabel’s DNA. I think the first time might’ve been when she was 10 (because that’s when her daughter died, Eva was 10 I’m pretty sure), but it just. Didn’t work. She tried at least 2 more times, but it just didn’t work. Also think that at 10, Miranda kept Hawkeyes on Mirabel, because maybe she was half expecting something to happen to Mirabel like what happened to Eva lmaoooo 🗿 but the family is obviously against this. Julieta and Agustín especially. They already don’t like Miranda, but they find it so creepy that Miranda is so…obsessed. They are protective of her (as are the warm couple), and constantly clash with her.

I’m glad Mirabel was apple to convince Miranda to keep Rose in one piece. The Duke was soooooo annoying 🌚 I’m also glad she was able to convince Ethan to not do anything stupid and get him healthier than he was before. At least before he goes out and does some dangerous bs. He’s not Leon or Ada 💀 I do feel bad for Donna, but yeah, I agree that she’s still siding with Miranda, no matter how lonely she feels. It’s sort of sad if I’m being honest. Moreau, I have no sympathy for him, I just can’t muster any 🌚 And good on the Madrigals on helping him fight Miranda. They must have a lot of pent up rage and some major beef to settle 🧌🧌 W Alma for being moral support with Rose 🕴️🕴️

Art‼️‼️‼️ Just Mirabel tryna get Ethan to use common sense 💪💪

[kukkakisu]

Here are my Lethal company Medic/Xenobiologist OCs, Nathaniel and Vultur! Nate is heavily involved in Copycat's story and Vultur is part of @lethalcontracts's retrieval crew. Some additional details of them below (a lot of text!)

The two are foils for each other and have a big rivalry going on given that they are in a similar field and have highly contrasting morals and approaches to their studies. They both have lost a crew in the past and it continues to affect them to this day. They also have their own labs on Gordion and get paid extra for any new data they can provide to the Company.

Nate is very gentle at heart despite his blunt and strict nature. While visiting the dangerous moons, he makes sure everything goes as planned and if there are signs of unexpected danger-- he will not hesitate to cancel the mission if it means the crew goes back home alive. Will teleport you back to the ship, just in case, a little too early, because it's better to be safe than sorry.

Although he has a lot of worry and compassion for others, he often remains calm in dangerous situations for the sake of others. He always has a sharp eye on the monitor and all of his team members and after losing his crew once, nobody has been left behind. Even if it means he will have to go inside to get them back himself. You can always rely on him to keep the team safe, whether it's practically by making sure everyone is out of the building in one piece or listening and soothing them after a scary situation.

He uses mainly stun grenades and always has a walkie-talkie with him. It is very important to him to be able to communicate with his team, and he wants to avoid causing harm to the creatures unless it's a life-or-death situation. "Stun and run", as he would say is better than risking your life in a fight.

Nathaniel is taking care of Copycat and although he claims he is just an assistant to him, he does care about the masked deeply. CC lets him study his body and brings him data on the creatures he encounters and in exchange, Nate has learned to pause his body's decaying process indefinitely. He also makes sure his colleagues don't get their hands on him and that the eager creature doesn't end up on missions that are too dangerous for him. They often swap places in their usual team depending on the danger level of the Moons. While CC is on the ship, Nate resides in his laboratory on Gordion and when it's his time to step in, CC returns to visit his creature friends on Rend.

Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows though, as Nate has been infected by an unknown creature for quite some time now. While he has managed to stabilize his condition in a way that the infection doesn't spread, it's not yet fully removed. He is trying to find out what caused it and how to cure it, if possible. This is kept a secret from everyone else, of course as he doesn't want to add more burdens on their shoulders. As a more lighthearted fact, he adores cute things. Especially cats. Which is partially the reason CC was named the way he is.

Vultur. Oh Vultur. Where Nate is full of gentle warmth he wants to share with others, this guy is a black hole that will only stare back at you coldly in your times of grief. After the loss of his team, he completely closed off emotionally. They hesitated once after that, and that caused him to lose half of his face to a Bracken, leaving scars that will forever remind them of their mistake. One they will not repeat ever again. He views feelings, especially during dire situations to be a distraction that must be dulled down. Something that shouldn't affect your decisions. It never leads to good things and he very much has personal experience of that.

After seeing his team convert because they couldn't kill their friend on time, he now seeks to know anything he can about the creatures of those snowy moons. Vultur will do anything they can to get that information. Whether it's locking masked into the ship and experimenting on them, or dragging them all the way back to Gordion to his laboratory-- nothing is off limits for them. They feel no remorse for what they do, as they still despise the maskeds who took his team from them. While he sees them as resources and more valuable alive, they won't hesitate to kill them on sight if they pose a danger to themselves or their team.

Most often Vultur uses a tranquilizer gun along with stun grenades to take down any Masked that wander in the ship. If he sees no value in them or there is the above mentioned danger, he will rip out the mask from their face and save it for later use. He is not above using regular shells either, so you will never truly know whether you're getting shot with a sedative or a life-ending bullet.

Just like Nate, Vultur remains calm in situations where many would otherwise stumble. Despite their cold nature, they do take good care of their crew and take pride in their work. No injuries go unnoticed and their team will be kept in top condition. Though they might think it's because untreated injuries pose a threat to the whole group and slow them down, there is still a heart deep down his chest. He doesn't want to lose another crew and while they aren't able to admit it to themselves, they do care. A lot more than they're comfortable with admitting.

[multiplicity-positivity]

Ok so

I'm sure by the time you get to this everything we're going through will be over (if not I think I would genuinely be dead) (no like literally) (I mean it's rare but--) (I'm gonna stop) but I would be curious to see what you think about this situation.

So we got "sick". It's an ear infection, actually, but it's close enough. This ear infection has been worse than any we've had in the past (were oddly prone to these things and have had at least 3 (including the current one) in the past 3 years or so) and it has taken pretty much everything energy-wise from us. We've skipped two days of school from this too. We were also in the ER yesterday for it. That makes it sound really bad, but it was just for IV antibiotics so they would take effect quicker. Doctor recommended it.

Anyways. Because of this, we have literally no clue who's fronting and haven't since this started. I don't know who I am typing this. It's just been a blurry mess.

That's what im curious about. What do we do when all of our energy is being spent on just making it through the day (oh btw we've gotten treatment and it's looking good), but... I still want to know who's fronting.

There's been no access to headspace at all, not that we normally have much, and we were just getting to the point that we could hear each other even when we're not fronting sometimes. I'm worried this will backtrack our progress. It's been 2 years that we've been working on this, and it took so long to get to this point. I don't want it to all go down the drain because of one particularly severe ear infection.

Anyways. Respond, or don't. I won't mind either way, really.

-???? (Via @cloverstarsys )

Hiya! Yowch, we’re really sorry y’all have been going through a rough time! We hope that your ear infection will recover smoothly and y’all will be able to get some rest soon! >_<

When it comes to figuring out who’s fronting… the safety and well-being of your system should come first always! Y’all might just have to take some uncomfortable time without knowing whose fronting until you reach a point where you’re stable, safe, and pain-free once again!

We know that’s not really a good answer, especially if not knowing who is fronting is seriously bothering you. But please remember that the safety of your system and your own survival is more important than anything else, including knowing who’s fronting!

We do really love this article by Kella Hanna-Wayne on the ways their system figures out who’s in front:

Some of their suggestions could easily be done even when overwhelmed, like looking over a list of headmate names, thinking about what you want to do, or listening to different kinds of music! :3

We want to reassure you that blurriness likely will not last forever! So even if these tips don’t help and you still feel blurry afterwards, we hope you can find the strength to wait it out in the hopes that, as you recover, you may gain some more clarity about who you are.

Gosh, we really hope y’all start to feel better soon! We really don’t think that all your hard work and efforts will go to waste. Progress is not linear and just because y’all feel like you’ve been set back doesn’t mean that any of your accomplishments are undone!! Please try to get some rest and remember!! Your health should come first always!! >w<

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 9

Time for Savannah and Mercedes to head off for their first day of school while Cassandra battles a bug.

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Mercedes has a speech delay and may get words wrong, correct wording will be in brackets if that is the case Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

Cluckton: *crows* Hear ye, hear ye! First day of school for the kiddos

Squidge: *clucks* so what

Cluckton: *clucks* don’t sass me young lady, you’re still young enough to peck

The girls get up and ready. Since the lot has simple living turned on it’s leftovers for breakfast rather than cereal.

Rahul: Why are you in here Mercedes

Mercedes: I know mama is sick, I just want to tell her I love her before school

Rahul: The watcher won’t let her die from a cold, I promise

After a while Cassandra wakes and hugs Mercedes for good measure before heading for the shower.

Mercedes: Papa?

Rahul: Yes little ladybug

Mercedes: What if no one likes me at school

Rahul: What makes you think anyone wouldn’t like you

Mercedes: I get my words mixed

Rahul: Mercedes, you are a wonderful unique girl and anyone who can’t see that doesn’t deserve a friend as special as you

Mercedes: Are we still going to the doctor after school

Rahul: Yes, just to make sure your mama and I are doing everything we can to support you. Come on, I want a photo of my girls in their new uniforms

Here they are! Off to Henford public school, looking neat as pins. Savannah is excited and promises to stick with her more nervous twin for the day. They become best friends forever!

Rahul: What are you doing

Cassandra: Changing and feeding Viola

Rahul: But my darling you’re sick

Cassandra: Yes but I have the day off work now-

Rahul: Because you’re sick...

Cassandra: *sighs* fine big guy, I’ll nap, will that make you happy

Rahul: Yes please. Pass Viola here, I can watch over her for today

Cassandra: Thank you. I love you

Rahul: I love you to, say bye bye Viola. Can you say bye bye mama

Viola babbles but still no words yet. She stays in the back carrier while Rahul sorts out his own breakfast and washes up.

Rahul: You know green bean, you can’t keep quiet forever. You’ll have to talk to me some day

Viola: be la du du (bubbles tickle)

Rahul: Who wants duckie? Can you say duckie for papa

Viola: ah ah (duckie)

Rahul: Alright Viola. I have to take care of the animals for mama so you’ll have to stay on your playmat

Viola: ge lu doo (but that chicken is looking at me)

Rahul: Come one, come all! Food time friends! Food time!

Cluckton: *crows* you heard the man

Viola giggles and begins to play on her mat while the animals mill around her, bleating clucking and crowing at her. Rahul collects the eggs and discovers someone laid a golden egg! Not a hatchable one but a good sign for the future.

Rahul: Charlie! Are you here for a cutting of something

Charlie: Just wanted a break from the snow. The garden is going pretty good though

Rahul: I can’t believe you’re doing an indoor garden, surely that’s going against nature

Charlie: The saplings wouldn’t like the snow Rahul

Rahul: Still, there are plants that grow in the snow and-

Charlie: Umm… is your infant meant to look like that

Viola: *whimpers* de na loo (why do I hurt)

Rahul: Oh no! Viola, are you alright? Papa is here. Oh damn, Cass is sick, I better take her to the doctors just to be safe

Charlie: Feel better soon little one. Give my love to Cass yeah

Rahul: Will do. Come here green bean, up we go!

After her nap Cassandra is feeling brighter so decides to try and finish her latest piano song. After a while Rahul brings Viola in. Apparently the poor love has an ear infection. He’s given her the antibiotics but there’s not much else to do but wait. Cassandra tries to distract her with singing and playing and Viola manages to push herself up on all fours now and then.

After having a… moment when she arrived home, Mercedes goes with Rahul to the psychologist. Savannah meanwhile settles down to do her homework by the pile of presents that came in the mail. Rahul and Mercedes get home with the news that Mercedes is a gifted student. This will come with benefits and consequences. While Henford public school may be able to cater to her, there is the possibility of sending her somewhere more academic focused if that’s what she wants.

Savannah: Does this mean you’ll be the smartest kid in class

Mercedes: I don’t know, my words are still trippy (tricky)

Savannah: Not everything needs words though. Hey if you can understand math give me some help okay

Mercedes: I still have to be learned (taught) things first. But they said I might be able to get into a flash school

Savannah: Wait… then we’d be apart!

Mercedes: I didn’t say I would

Savannah: I mean I want you to be good but you’re my twin, I want to be with my bestie every day

Rahul: Girls! Dinner! Come and get it

Savannah: Papa does Mercedes have to go to a different school

Rahul: Not if she doesn’t want to

Mercedes: I don’t want to be away from Savannah

Rahul: Your mama has been too sick to talk to but I imagine she’ll agree it’s best to wait and see how you settle into Henford first

Savannah: Good! We had such fun tricking kids on the playground today

Rahul: *not amused* Did you now

Mercedes: Yes! We both imagined (pretended) to be one person

Previous ... Next

[autisticlalna]

i went insane in avid's comments again so here's the weekly wall of text:

the remodeled control room is supposed to get a stronger signal down into the Void-- and, potentially, to what's below it. everything glitches out like when Avid has flashbacks(?) to Limbo. Avid's confused, worried, and then glitches into his OSSHA uniform and is eerily calm. "They're not safe. I need to stop them. They can't fall in. If they fall in, I… I can't leave, I can't- I can save all of them. I will save all of them."

THEN WE HAVE THE MYSTERY ROOM. this has already been pointed out elsewhere in the comments, but that specific palette harkens back to areas under control by Olm, the Old One from the Avid Adventures series. there's a very memorable boss intro where you walk through a beautiful cathedral in darkness as tendrils of something worryingly fleshy spread across the walls and floor behind you. the fact that Olm's infection is here, of all places, is frightening-- and where IS here? is this part of OSSHA HQ? it's pretty hard to build hidden places in Skyblock, but… has this been here all along?

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you, Trog. You'll never fall in the Void again! None of them… will ever fall in the Void again." TROG'S BEEN TUBED!! THEY'VE BEEN PICKLED!! AAAUGH!! the worst part is, Trog might've been gone for a while! the last we've seen of them (in episodes / "in-character", anyway) was when they stopped by Cherry Kingdom to negotiate a trade deal, and that was… um. nearly three weeks ago. that would track with how oxidized their tube is, too.

and the thing is, Avid knows about Trog's trip to the Void. in Trog's POV, they reach the bottom of the Void, find someone there, and then get pulled back by the OSSHA station when Avid last turned on the machine. Trog told Avid about what they saw, and that might've been what spurred Avid into action to kidnap them: they got too close. Avid thinks he's protecting them (after all, the only reason they came back up was because of external influence-- what if they were trapped down there Forever? wouldn't that be awful? isn't that terrifying? Avid's doing them a favor, surely.) while his boss wants Trog out of the picture entirely before they can poke further into the carefully-constructed trap Avid is caught in.

there's still a lot to unpack that I don't have the keys to: "I can't leave", what exactly Avid saw or heard and why it pushed him to check in on Trog in stasis, how much time is lost between glitch segments (in the sense of "Avid is skipping from place to place, so we're probably skipping over things being said and things he's seeing as well"), if anyone else has been put in stasis yet.

[thesmpisonfire]

Okay so. What I'm gathering is

There's 4 parties. Federation, Resistance, and Cucurojo + Eye Guy (who have ties with the Feds but AREN'T the Feds). The Dark Matter is a thing, a virus, and it's not really aligned with anyone as it's a fungus, spreading and consuming

The Resistance could see that the dark matter was spreading, and their contact in the Federation probably told them the Feds were barely doing anything to stop it. So they sent Codeflippa over to start Protocol AB, who is basically a protocol to start an emergency relocation of the islanders to somewhere safe through the portals. The Feds decided to run along with it, starting preparations but very slowly. This alerted Cucurojo, who is in control of the Nether and probably someone that used to be from the Feds but now has easy access to the Feds way of transportation

The Nether is the in between space, its why Protocol AB was also in the Nether. It's the rails to get out of Quesadilla to others. Cucurojo wasn't happy with Forever maybe messing their plan to destroy the Feds, so it just infected Forever with dark matter before giving him the Judas offer

The Federation has multiple islands, their main one being Quesadilla but others being for back ups and emergencies, like Egg Island. The kids probably have an in built Protocol AB to run to those emergency islands in case of danger, and they sensed the dark matter arriving. Here is where Cucurojo and Eye Guy enter

The eggs tried to get to Egg Island as programmed, but Cucurojo interrupted them and they ran back home all bruised and dirty without memories since it was just automatic and not their want at all. They wanted to stay, but at night their protocol activated again and they ran to Egg Island, Eye Guy immediately snatching them

Eye Guy is very likely someone who used to be from the Feds but went rogue, both them and Cucurojo probably infected with dark matter themselves bc of the Nether. It was supposed to keep this island a paradise (which it IS. Purgatory is SO DAMN PRETTY) in case the islanders needed it for emergency. When the eggs arrived, it took them and immediately cut comms, leaving the Feds in the dark about where they could have been

And then they only contacted Pato, and made a deal over the islanders heads. Cucurojo and Eye Guy could make the islanders stop revolting, they just needed some access to set up everything, and they'd even give the eggs back after all was over, if the islanders went to Egg Island to get them back. Pato agreeded, and so Cucurojo was allowed to play their chaotic game of roulette and slowly manipulate and terrify the islanders. They have some control over the Dark Matter, making it send the eggs messages from Egg Island, and then using dice to give the tickets to the islanders

All while it was getting clearer and clearer Protocol AB had to start way before they realized

So now, the islanders are off. And Pato is upset at this, being passive aggressive at his message, but he also knew the kids were hostage there so he teased the islanders to hurry and get them. He knew Egg Island used to be a paradise, but now its in the hands of Eye Guy, so who can say for sure. The thing is, he made it behind the Federations back, so the Feds have no clue about Eye Guy and everything else