#saving throw save data team spoilers

[uwillbeefoundtonight]

Those "bandits" are getting mentioned a lot, wonder if they're shatters or some other group we already know?

Also the help us is definitely linked to something in the missing, idk what but I'm assuming there's something or someone down there that took the rest of a party hostage if I had to guess and only one escaped? I don't want the townspeople to be in on it but man an I sus.

Saving throw my beloved, I'm going to start vaguely live blogging the episodes I swear i need people to talk about my silly lil dnd show with

(Note: I am a YouTube Watcher unless I give up on waiting so this is the video that was just uploaded)

Already obsessed with Chiron's whole "was built" line like omg hehehe I'm thinking warforged would be cool or some kind of undead? Idk but I love learning about my fav cryptic masked guy tm

Also the whole "I love our backstories lining up" is so me and my dm, sometimes things don't end up matching but also we just jump off of what we give eachother and its so fun ie I wanted my character backstory to explain my characters amnesia and it ended up being almost exactly how I imagined it without explicitly asking. I am so intrigued and so excited about what it could possibly mean!

[auroralwriting]

if you feel it, chase it

spencer reid x fem!reader (twisters! au)

storm chasing was the intent, falling in love was not.

word count: 4.0k

warnings: do not read if you don't want twisters spoilers, it's the whole fic so beware, spencer is tyler and reader is kate basically, spencer is still himself with a touch of tyler, sort of enemies/strangers to lovers, this has more romance than the movie and it has the kiss we all wanted, no use of y/n

You promised yourself long ago you’d never storm chase again.

After the losses of Elle, Jason, and Haley, it was too much to bare. You’d been the sole survivor of the tornado. Of course, your friend Derek had also survived, but he didn’t experience what you did. He could never understand.

You’d moved from Oklahoma to New York in hopes of moving on, but when Derek came to you five years later, asking you to help his team, you found yourself on a flight back home before you could even reconsider. Going back home after all this time sort of scared you, but Derek and his fifteen missed calls, twenty messages, and one voice message really seemed to convince you.

Derek’s team was for a company run by an investor named Erin Strauss. You’d only overheard her name, but she was using the data collected by Derek’s team to help predict storms before they happened. It seemed like the best idea. It could help save a lot of lives.

The team was small, but included Derek and storm chasers David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Mateo Cruz, and Jennifer Jareau. Now, it also included you. For the week, you reminded yourself.

You stood with the team as Derek introduced you. Suddenly, a loud stream of music approached quickly. You all watched as a truck and van pulled up. JJ scoffed, “Ignore them. They’re just some famous youtube storm chasers. They’re just in this for the trill of the storm.”

It was inevitable that you continued to stare. The group looked interesting, especially their leader, as you’d guessed. He was tall, curly dark hair, and was yelling something the crowd chanted back. If you feel it, chase it.

"They call themselves the BAU. Boundary Advection Units."

Deciding to ignore them, you walked out to the empty field to stare at the sky. Where would the best storm be…

“West looks good,” A voice said behind you. You turned to see the man from minutes ago, now staring at the sky. “East looks like it could be something.. maybe. High risk, high reward."

“Air’s thicker east, looks like a lot of empty space for a storms to grow.” You commented. “You’ll get a nice show that way for your fans. West is fine, but don't be surprised if they choke each other out, though."

The man stepped closer as you two looked at each other. “I’m, uh, Spencer Reid.” He introduced.

“I have a job to get to,” You scoffed, walking passed him. “East’s got the best chances, take ‘em!”

Approaching your somewhat team, you turned to Derek. “West, we have to go west.”

Rossi scrunched his eyebrows together, “But west has the best air quality for tornados. It looks like there could be several-"

"We go west. Come on, let's get in the vans." Derek said quickly.

Fireworks. They lit off fucking fireworks into the tornado. That had to be some kind of hazard, right? You were a little pissed at yourself for becoming so scared of the tornado. It was simple, an E2. It wouldn't have hurt you. You should have let Derek place the device down to get data.

Derek walked along the path with you to the hotel. He'd asked you to hang out, but you declined. It was too much, too soon. Actually, it wasn't too soon. It reminded you too much of the past. It could never happen. You weren't back. It was just one week.

As you walked up the stairs to your room, you were stopped by Spencer.

"Hey," He called. "The cells to the west will choke each other out, she said. The one in the east will put on a show."

You shrugged, "It didn't throw you off the scent."

"That's what makes Spencer so famous," A woman beside Spencer said. "Hi, I'm Penelope."

Eyebrow raised, you leaned on the railing. "You mean on YouTube?"

"On- Yeah, yeah. We have a million followers!" Penelope cheered with the rest of the crowd. "You know Spencer, but that's Tara, Luke, Alex, and Kate." They all waved and you gave a forced smile. "You made a good call earlier. On my devices, the other cell looked stronger but the cap never broke."

"Where did you all meet? Did you study meteorology in college together?" You asked.

They all laughed, "Nah, only Spencer has a degree, a whole ass PhD in meteorology." Luke laughed. "We all just like to go with the flow. Or, his flow, I guess."

"Our crew isn't quite like your crew. We don't need PhDs and fancy gadgets to do what we do." Spencer said. "I guarantee that these guys," Spencer pointed to the clearly homemade windcatchers, "have seen more tornadoes than anyone here."

"Is that right?" You asked sarcastically.

Spencer turned to you once more, but this time, it was awkwardly. "If you want, uh, maybe we can put you in one of our episodes."

You feigned a clearly fake awe, "Wow. I guess you can always trust a guy who puts his crew on a tee-shirt."

"Hey, I did that!" Penelope called as the rest of the group ooh'd at your comment about Spencer.

You began to walk up to your room as Spencer was quick to follow. "Hey, it wasn't my idea to start the channel." He frowned as you grabbed the key. "I just do it to get my knowledge out there."

"What knowledge?" You ask.

"I have an eidetic memory," Spencer awkwardly said. "That and my PhD. I, uh, know a lot about tornadoes. I want to inform people. Knowledge is power."

With a shake of your head, you open the door. "But knowledge isn't everything, right?" You asked, going inside and shutting the door behind you.

Spencer stood outside for a moment, reeling from your comment. Maybe his friends had been influencing him too much.

It was twins, a whole set of twin tornadoes. Luckily, you'd picked the right one, and Spencer didn't. Unluckily, the tornado almost flipped the truck you and Derek shared. Even worse, it damaged a nearby town.

Everything had been destroyed. Derek and the team were handing out cards to the people as you looked around, helping people find their belongings and returning them.

You knew what it felt like to have everything taken from you, just like that. It was horrible. This was the first tornado you'd been caught in since the last, and you truly thought you were going to die, too. You remembered the looks on your friends faces as the wind swept them up and away. You were truly scared.

Of course, the BAU showed up, too. They set up a merch table. It made you sick to see them selling their merchandise minutes after a life-changing event took place. It made you even angrier to know these people were being taken advantage of.

"Nice play on the left twin." Spencer said as he walked up to you.

"Yeah, well it didn't help these people any." You sighed, looking around.

Spencer watched as Strauss gave her business card to a man. "I wasn't aware that Storm Par was in the helping business." Spencer bitterly stated.

"Well, from what I see they're trying to make a difference." Slowly, you approached Spencer. His well-fitted shirt looked good on him. You took notice of his different-colored converse. It was oddly charming.

"That's one way of putting it." Spencer replied.

"What?"

Spencer paused, "Do you even know who you're chasing for?"

What did he mean? You knew of Strauss, and it was for Derek. "What are you talking about?"

"How much more do these people have to lose?" Spencer angrily asked, walking closer to you. "Is this what you call making a difference?"

"Sorry," You chuckled bitterly, "Says the guy setting up shop selling tee-shirts and mugs after the storms hit."

Spencer ran a hand through his hair, "I have a dog to find." With that, he walked away leaving you more confused than you had been.

What did he mean? Was there something he knew that you didn't? Even if you didn't know anything, you knew you didn't like Spencer getting angry with you. It didn't suit him, the anger. He looked too sweet to be so upset. Maybe you needed to do some digging and find out what he knew.

Right as you walked back to your truck, Kate ran up to you calling your name. "Hey, take some food."

"Oh, don't have any cash." You replied, looking at the girls outstretched arm.

Kate gave you a confused look, "It's free. That's why we're always selling those tee-shirts."

It hit you that maybe you were being the ass. You looked back to the stand to see people getting food and water. You felt your stomach churn. You turned back to Kate. "Oh. Well, save it in case you run low."

"Okay," Kate softly agreed, "At least take some water, stay hydrated."

"Thanks," You replied softly.

"Yeah, see ya." Kate ran back over to her group as you watched. Something wasn't right. You were misinformed. Yeah, it was definitely research time.

WE BUY LAND.

The slogan of the website made you feel like you'd betrayed the whole world as you stared at Strauss' figure standing over a pile of rubble. That's what this was for. It wasn't to help people, it was to buy their land after the tornado came through. It wasn't to stop the tornado, it was just to track it.

Derek knew that wasn't what you were about. It never used to be what he was about. He had to know, so the real question was why would he lie to you?

A knock at your motel door interrupted your thoughts. You shut your laptop and stood up to walk to the door. You opened it to see Spencer standing awkwardly with a box of pizza. His hair was messy and he gave you a crooked smile.

"Thought you might be hungry." He offered. Hesitantly, you took the pizza. You ended up shutting the door without a word and walking back over to your bed.

You opened it, suddenly feeling the urge to see if maybe he wanted some. You needed to tell him you weren't like them. Why his opinion of you mattered so highly, you didn't quite understand.

Opening the door, he was still standing there. "You find that dog?"

"Of course," Spencer nodded. "I wouldn't have left until I did. How you doing after all that?"

You tsked, "It doesn't matter. It's those people who matter."

"Well, you've seen the worst of this place." Spencer hesitated. "I thought that, uh, maybe it would be nice to show you something good. That's if you want to go, of course. It's late and tornado chasing can make you tired-"

"I'll go." You nodded, cutting him off. "Let me get my shoes."

Spencer ended up taking you to a rodeo. You sat in the stands watching. "This isn't, uh, really my speed to be honest." He admitted, awkwardly smiling at you.

"What is your speed then?" You asked, now interested in getting to know him better.

"I like museums. Books, uh, research. That's what I wanted to do. But my mom got sick, so I came back here to help her. Got into chasing." Spencer answered. "I still want to do research. Maybe at a college, somewhere. And I can still chase."

You nodded, "You'd like it. It seems up your alley. Use those smarts to inform the people about tornados and shit."

Spencer chuckled, "Yeah, and shit." After a moment, he asked "Is this your speed?"

"I grew up out here, this isn't my first rodeo." You joked. Spencer chuckled too. It warmed you to know you two had connected.

"Look at that, we're learning things about each other." Spencer commented.

"I didn't know she was buying land," You admitted to him. "I looked it up. Derek just asked me to help his team, we've been friends for years so I just said yes."

Spencer nodded. He looked compassionate. "You didn't strike me as the type to do something like that."

"I'm not," You agreed.

All of a sudden, the wind picked up strongly. It made you shiver. Wait, the weather man didn't predict strong winds. Your heart stopped as you turned to Spencer, who was already looking at you with the same look you adorned. "Were you tracking cells out this way?" Spencer didn't reply, he just slowly turned to the sky. You did the same, staring up. "Air feels heavy, this isn't good."

The same alarm blared from the stands. It was your phones. You opened it to see the bold letters, Tornado Warning. The sirens began to echo throughout the vast space and your heart rate increased.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've just received word a tornado has touched down near the area! Please evacuate this arena right now!"

Spencer quickly grabbed your hand to help lead you out through the crowd of people. "Come on," He muttered your name a few times. "Hold on, come on." As the crowed began to run, so did you both. A woman fell in front of you and you both helped her up quickly. "Hurry, come on!" Spencer said with more urgency.

It was a disaster. People were scrambling, cars were hitting each other. Spencer held your hand tightly and pulled you closer to him. The lightning lit up the sky, and you could see the tornado.

"Spencer, we have no time!" You yelled.

Right as you went to cross the street, cars almost hit you. Spencer jumped out in front of them, yelling for them to stop as the two of you ran across. You ran into some ranky motel where the front counter worker was arguing with some customers. You'd managed to grab their attention and run outside. After a small scan, you realized there was really nowhere safe to go.

You had to think outside the box, where would be the safest?

Once your eyes fell on the pool, you knew. "The pool! Come on!" You yelled as everyone ran.

The three from the motel ended up running to car. You couldn't stop them. So, you focused on the mom and child you came across, helping them down. Spencer was the last, and right as he made it down, a large chunk of metal hit the ladder and you yanked his arm, pulling him close to you. Quickly, you ran to the end of the pool and held onto the metal pipes as the tornado finally made its way to you.

Please, don't let me die. Not here, not now.

Spencer held on above you, shielding you with his own body.

The moment it was over, you made your way up the ladder to see that everything was utterly destroyed. The Storm Par van you recognized as Derek's drove up. A moment later, he was sprinting out of the car and to you.

"God," He muttered your name as he pulled you into a tight hug. "I thought I lost you."

"Derek," You pulled back. "Why didn't you tell me about Strauss?" You looked over his shoulder to see her speaking with a couple, probably the owners of the land. "She's profiting off their loss."

Derek furrowed his brows, "The way I see it, she's helping them restart."

"By taking all they have left?" You questioned. "That's not helping."

"Yeah?" Derek challenged, anger taking over his features. "How would you know what losing everything you have is?" The moment the words left his mouth, he froze. "I didn't.. I didn't mean--"

You shook your head, "No, Derek. I understand perfectly fine." Slowly, you began to back away. You took the keys from his hand quickly and ran to the van, Derek yelling behind you.

Without a second thought, you started the vehicle and began to drive away. You could still hear Derek yelling apologizes, but what caught your eye was Spencer watching you drive away with a look on his face you couldn't quite understand.

Back at home, your mother welcomed you with open arms. She even left your science experiments in the barn, exactly how you left it all five years ago. It was comforting to be back at home, but at the same time it brought back those painful memories you tried so hard to bury deep, deep down.

The next morning, your mom came to let you know a scrawny, handsome man was here to see you. You simply sighed, telling her to let him come to you.

You stared at your tornado machine from middle school, remembering how happy you were when you'd won first place. Footsteps echoed behind you, and you knew it was Spencer.

"A tornado machine," He stepped close, leaning over to observe it. "The hydraulics on this thing are amazing. Plus, the art is really good too."

"It was my middle school science fair project," You hummed, watching as he carefully picked up one of the small houses, setting it back up.

Spencer turned back around with a geeky smile, "Did you win?"

"What do you think?" You replied with a small smile matching his.

"It's definitely no volcano," Spencer joked as he walked back over to you. "It was Penelope who recognized your name from the news a few years back. I'm sorry about your friends." Spencer said as he eyes a photo that was tacked to the barn's walls. It was one with you, Derek, and your friends. He looked back to you with a look you hadn't seen him give you before. If you would've thought about it, you would've known it was adoration.

You shrugged, shoving your hands in your pockets. "It was my fault. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"It wasn't your fault," Spencer shook his head, walking closer to you.

"It wasn't supposed to be an E5. It was supposed to be smaller, easier to manipulate and be around. I convinced them all to do it." You argued.

Spencer took one of your notebooks and began looking through it, "You theorized you could stop a tornado with polymers that would suck up the moisture." Spencer said as he flipped through the pages.

"It didn't work." You casually replied.

"Well, maybe it could." Spencer looked up, "Maybe you just need a new model. This has a genuine chance of working if you just--"

You held out a hand, closing your eyes as you sucked in a breath. "Spencer, no. That's in the past. I can't-- I just can't."

"You should try," Spencer encouraged. "Imagine the difference you could make with this."

Spencer's words struck a chord with you. That had been your goal, and it was his, too. Even so, it was too risky. It was too painful after what had happened. There was no way you could do it again, let alone rope in Spencer to help you. "I just can't." You finally said after a moment. "It won't." After another moment, you swallowed the lump in your throat. "Stay for dinner, and stay the night. You shouldn't be driving so late during tornado season by yourself."

"I don't want to intrude--"

"Please?"

Spencer looked to you, his eyes wider than normal at your plead. "Okay," He nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay."

You couldn't let anything happen to Spencer, too, you decided.

El Reno was about to be hit with the biggest fucking tornado you'd ever seen. Not only did it just hit a power plant and set on fire, but it was headed to small town with no warnings.

Spencer and you sped to the town, Luke's RV trailing right behind you. The second you got there, it was about finding shelter for people. His team and you all directed people to the storm shelters, but there was just so many people.

"Hey, the shelters are all full." Luke ran up to inform you and Spencer. "We gotta direct them to the theater."

"That won't be any better than standing outside," You shook your head. "There has to be another way."

Luke called Penelope over who typed into her phone at rapid speed, "There's nowhere else without windows." Penelope informed. "Theater is the best place we can take them."

You looked to Spencer, nervously biting your lip. He nodded at you as you took a deep breath, "Okay, let's move them fast. Keep them in the middle, hold onto seats when the walls cave."

The theater became so full, it felt like you were moving through a mosh crowd. This wasn't safe, with the number of people and size of tornado, it was bound to kill everyone. You ran to one side of the building, checking to see if there was shelter.

To your surprise, Derek met up with you and Spencer. "Other side has nothing." Derek said quickly. You knew he'd choose the right way.

"Okay, we gotta get these people in safer positions." Spencer said quickly. As the two ran off, you couldn't help but stare at the tornado.

Maybe Spencer was right. Maybe you could make a difference. After all, this tornado was bound to kill you all. Might as well die trying, right? You took a look at his truck that still had the barrels of your concoction loaded on the back. Quickly, you ran to it, trying your best to not get swept up by the wind. The second you got inside, you knew there was no going back from this.

Spencer began to look for you, asking Derek if he'd seen you. When he saw his truck out in the field, driving right for the tornado, his heart nearly stopped beating right then and there. He yelled your name, desperately trying to get to you. Derek and Luke had to hold him back to keep him inside and safe.

He didn't even realize until that moment how infatuated he'd become with you. You were his dream girl, the one he'd been chasing. And now, you were going to be gone.

You, on the other hand, tried your best not to think about Spencer. It was hard enough leaving him. You felt a connection with him you didn't quite understand, but now was not the time to decode it.

Time felt like it passed by so quickly. The next thing you knew, you were clawing your way outside of the flipped truck. If you were alive, that was a good thing, right? Unless you were dead and you were about to see tornado Jesus right in front of your eyes.

The sunlight hurt, you definitely had some sort of head injury. You reached your hand outside and felt someone grab it. They began to pull you out, another hand grabbing your other arm once your torso was out of the truck.

"Oh my god," You heard Spencer's lovely voice mumble as you finally were freed.

"Is one of you tornado Jesus?" You muttered, blinking back the pain.

A laugh came from Alex, "I thought you were a goner for sure,"

"You did it," Spencer said as he knelt down next to you. "It worked. You fucking did it." His words echoed in your mind as he pulled you into a hug. You didn't even realize you were already hugging back by the time you thought you should. Quickly, you grabbed Spencer's face and pulled him into a kiss.

A howl came from Luke as Spencer pulled back with his gorgeous wide eyes. "We did it."

At your words, Spencer smiled and, this time, pulled you into a kiss. "Okay, back off, let me see my best friend after she almost died." You chucked at Derek's words as he came to hug you, nearly pushing Spencer away. "Never do that again."

"Can't promise that," You chuckled, staring at Spencer over Derek's shoulder as his cheeks warmed at your stare. "Because I think we may just have ourselves a new storm chasing crew." As the group whooped at the victory, you pulled back from Derek and turned to Spencer. "If you feel it..."

"Chase it." Spencer smiled back as he gently set a hand on your face, causing you to smile even wider at your storm-chasing boy.

[dr-cross]

Some Bunny Man Facts and Fun

Thought I’d throw my hat in the ring here since I prefer to use Twitter to browse funny stuff, save cool art, and look at news. It’s been 2 months since Tales of the Bunny Man released and from what I’ve seen, it was received very positively with the hope for a sequel of sorts coming sometime. The latter is happening, but not for a while since the team are sort of in recess to some extent. (We’re working when we can.)

Let me hit you with a big fact; did you know the game had to be remade because my PC died? The graphics for 90% of the modelling was done on a laptop, so it was ultimately a case of “it works, let’s move on” with that period of time. There won’t be a repeat of that this time. I’m actually in a mindset of remaking the models; keeping the designs the same, just improving and getting shit together. I’m glad my PC died because what we have now is better than what we could’ve had, and it would’ve been awful on my end.

Another fun fact is originally this wasn’t going to be a game. When we first thought of ideas for it. Zeriq proposed it to be analog horror at first, while I suggested we have an entry for a game somewhere. Suffice to say, it’s kind of both, minus the realistic monochrome eyes and the crappy vhs filter.

Sparky the dog is in the game somewhere. He exists and is very real.

If the sequel does come to fruition and releases, then this game will be the only one with a custom night. Since people only play for challenges, we’ve got you covered and there will be quite a variety.

At one point, a Weezer themed cheat screen existed during the old version’s development. It was designed to erase your data if you changed certain troll values in the saves.

The reason Poltergeist isn’t like the other Phantoms is because it’s more tangible than the others, meaning it is as close to a physical entity as they get. Phantom Fredbear, BB, or Puppet aren’t a thing because spoilers.

Vincent’s fate is unknown.

The main day segments didn’t have the markers to show your objectives, but they got added during testing. Thank goodness.

JJ was set to appear at one point during development, but it wouldn’t make sense to add another kid to the pile of possessed characters already.

Outside of the additional Mimic stuff, the story and plans have remained consistent for two years straight. Suffice to say, having a document to reference is a very good thing. We’re continuing to use these.

Originally, the gameplay was going to be free roaming with an At Dead of Night style to it. Since the building is so small and there are up to six roaming characters, it wouldn’t work logically. Post-night tasks were going to be a thing too, but those would mess with the pace of the story. This was before we had everything written down.

Development started with me setting a challenge to Zeriq. I said we weren’t allowed to have a phone guy at all and no other door in the office, so that the player feels cornered constantly. That’s where the comics and the idea of giving characters different behaviours came from. These may return in some ways.

Lastly, Tales of the Bunny Man is the game that’s sort of made me like FNaF again. At times, the boat was shaky and uncertain, but we locked in and made something that Dawko of all people took interest in. A project that for once, I know I’m happy with and one that outdoes anything I’ve done before on a serious level. Things are getting better going forward, so stay for the ride if you feel inclined.

That’s a lot of rambling, but I felt this was the best outlet to spill some beans, say some facts off the top of my head, and allude to the future. What comes next? You’ll have to bark up another tree for that answer.

See ya.

[recalcitrantbeetroot]

Look, I still don't know how to use Tumblr correctly, but this seems like the place to put late night, rambling, fanfic planning, head cannon-y, speculative brain rot. Normally, I just put this in the notes section of my phone, but I'm... I dunno, I'm trying this blog thing or whatever.

Sorta, kinda spoilers for my ME3 fanfiction that I absolutelywillwriteandpostsomedayIswear. If you don't want to know my Shepard too much ahead of time at least.

So I have gone "on record" about loving all my Mass Effect squad members and team mates and other NPCs before, and largely that's true. I don't even hate Allers, though I think they did Emily Wong dirty and I'm still mad about that. But there are definitely characters who I rarely pick for missions and because my fanfiction is going to follow pretty closely to how I play my ideal ME run (because it makes me happy damnit), I have been trying to understand why my Shep picks who she picks and why she leaves certain characters behind a lot.

Enter Javik.

I think he's an interesting character, but I personally find him an Oscar the Grouch and there are squaddies I would much rather take because I enjoy their banter and personalities more. But why would Shep not take him? Especially when his experience with actually killing Reapers would probably be pretty useful. (Side note: wasted character potential here not having Javik be more useful with Reaper killing advice. I know he's a DLC character but still.) Working with difficult, stubborn people isn't new. Neither are vengeful teammates or overly violent aliens that she has no real authority over. And my girl is more than stubborn enough to lock horns with him regularly over their moral differences, so that's not an issue. I think it really boils down to the fact that he makes her really effing uncomfortable because she feels like she could have BEEN him.

Erin didn't want to wake him up on Eden Prime.

At all.

Here is someone who really should be dead, about to be brought back into a galaxy he won't recognize, without any prior knowledge of his beliefs and without his consent. In that moment, Liara is all giddy and Shepard is experiencing the ghost of what would be flashbacks if she remembered her death and the Cerberus experimentation that followed. On top of having her brain hijacked by those terminals with Prothean data on them.

Alliance Command gave her orders to pick up the "artifact" and Cerberus will do goodness knows what with an actual, living Prothean, so in spite of the moral implications, waking him up to at lease give him a say in what happens to him seems like a halfway decent choice. But those implications weigh heavily on Erin, someone who spent all of ME2 not dealing with the fact that nothing she knew was the same as before her death and really wishing she hadn't been brought back.

Eden Prime really puts her six months of intensive therapy while incarcerated to the test.

And then Javik wakes up and he's an imperialistic, genocidal, vendetta bound weapon of vengeance ... and it all hits a little too close to home. Because if a few things had gone a little different in ME2 ... if Cerberus had been able to wake her up properly and spent time brainwashing her ... maybe she would have been the same.

Not that it actually would have happened, because she's Commander Shepard. And while her perspective is suggestable, her moral compass is not. But Commander Mothereffing Erin Shepard is still just one woman who now has to save the whole damn galaxy and is also madly in love with a man who still thinks she's a Cerberus puppet and it's throwing her for a bit of a loop so she spends the first part of ME3 having a crisis of confidence. *deep breath* She hates waking up Javik and mostly leaves him to brood until Thessia. Maybe I'll have him be more involved earlier, because you know I'm not sticking to the two squad mates only bs on every mission. But so far that's all minus some finale stuff and on ship interactions obviously.

If you made it this far. You're super cool and I love you. And I'm sorry for the inherent weirdness that will continue to be a constant presence on anything I touch on this platform.

[kilyra]

Grounded

A/N: This is my first venture into the land of Star Wars fic, but the inspo just wouldn’t leave me alone, so here we are. EDIT: Part 2, “Still Grounded” can be found in the masterlist!

Although you two have become close, things get heated after a mission when Poe confronts you for disobeying his order. 

Warnings: Kinda bad language and flaring tempers . No spoilers but it takes place after The Last Jedi. I did do a bit of research so hopefully there’s nothing jarringly out of place!

If you want to be on my tag lists, (all or just a character) just let me know! (Credit for this amazing gif goes to @isaac-oscars​. Thank you SO much!)

As your X-wing gently kissed the ground, you could hardly wait to throw open the canopy but your fingers had turned into a fumbling mess. Your body hummed with the adrenaline that flooded your veins, and there wasn't a single part of you that wasn't shaking. Up until the smooth landing, you had kept it under control but...but landing at base changed everything. You were back home. And your mission was officially a success.

The warm but fresh air of Ajan Kill filled your lungs as you hopped out of the cockpit and scrambled to the ground. Your feet hardly seemed to touch the steps, you were just flying into the waiting hands of your fellow pilots who were already roughly patting your back and helmet.

“You did it! I can't believe it!”

“You're crazy! I wish I coulda seen the look on their faces when you raced through all their loading bays like that! Ha!”

“When those First Order bastards showed up, I thought we were done for sure.”

In the chorus of praise and marvelling, it was hard to tell who said what in the group crowding around you. You did notice one face that was missing though...Poe Dameron.

Looking back, you saw one of the ground crew extracting your droid from the back of the ship. “Hey! Hey, careful with him, alright? Everything we got from those guys is sitting in his data banks.”

She absently nodded but was suddenly using both hands to guide the unit to the ground.

Pulling your gloves off and tucking them under your arm, you pushed your helmet back off your head and scruffed your fingers over your hair. As exhilarating as it was to be in the thick of it, it was always nice to peel everything off and let the air dry the pooling sweat. Dropping the gloves in the helmet, you cradled it against your side as you chatted with your peers and waited for your droid.

If any of them knew you were about to face a world of trouble, they didn't breathe a word of it to you.

With your droid at your side and a few of the other pilots trailing behind, you made your way to the communications centre. No one knew exactly what information you had been sent to extract, but that team would know what to do with it. You were already inside when you heard it.

“Y/n!” Poe barked your name so sharply, you nearly jumped out of your flight suit as you turned towards his voice.

Your stomach dropped when you spotted him marching up from a side hall. Not only was the vein on the side of his neck pulsating so violently you could see it from where you stood, but the fury in his eyes was burning a hole right through you. Even his dark curls seemed to bounce with anger from every stomp. When he came closer, he growled, “Tactics room.”

“But I'm taking my droid to commun-”

“Now!”

He didn't even slow as he stormed past you and the others after shooting you a final, withering glare. Swallowing back your sentence, you blinked rapidly and looked down at your droid who was still and watching you. Looking from the droid to the others, your mouth dropped open but you couldn't form words.

“You'd better be following, L/n,” Poe added without glancing back to check.

There was a firm nudge on your arm as one of the pilots muttered under his breath. “I got this, just go.”

Numbly, you hurried to catch up, trying to ignore how your boots suddenly felt like they were lined with weights. The door was still open to the small meeting room as you sat down, but Poe circled back to slam it shut. Snapping your eyes closed, you failed to stop the flinch.

But you managed to keep your voice steady. “Commander, what's going on?”

Spinning back to face you, his eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head your direction. “Oh. So now I'm Commander?”

It was a trap.

You knew it was a trap but, as he stared expectantly at you for an answer, you had no idea how to get out of it. The wince was already on your face when you finally answered. "Yes?"

Nodding, he ran his tongue along the edge of his lip as he hummed an agreement. “Mhmm, great. And so what was I when I ordered you to abort?”

It was a bewildering slap in the face. Your fingers clenched the edge of the helmet in your lap as you forced yourself to stay seated. “Are you serious? That's what this is about? But I got the intel we've been after for weeks! I-”

“You're not answering the question. What was I on that mission, hmm? When I ordered you to abort?” The edges of his calm words vibrated as he paced at the front of the room, pressing his palm to his forehead before letting his arm drop.

“I was right there!”

“So were they!” Lurching forward, he shoved the chair at the head of the table, sending it crashing against the wall as it landed on its side.

Colour pulsated over your vision, and you had to speak over the rushing in your ears. He pulled the plug shortly after the First Order ships showed up and made it clear it wasn't a coincidence. Someone had either sold out the Resistance or gotten careless, but you had already made contact with the informant and were about to start the data transfer. Poe endlessly repeated himself to abort and get out, but you turned down your comm and finished. Apparently he didn't like that...

But dammit, you knew it had been the right thing to do.

“Yeah! They were! That was the risk we all knew we were taking. A risk, by the way, that the informant was taking too. I wasn't about to let all our efforts be in vain when I was already at the drop point.”

His eyes flashed at your defiance as he gripped the edge of the table. “And what good would it have done to download everything into your droid if you were shot down or captured trying to leave, huh? The smarter play, the play I wanted, was to misdirect and try again.”

It was all you could do to stop your eyes from rolling back. Instead, your insides knotted tightly. “Right, and how far back would that have set us? Assuming the informant resurfaced at all. I don't get what your problem is, everything worked out just fine.”

“Just fine? Your joy ride through all of their cargo bays was just fine?” The breathy tone tumbled from his lips as he pushed himself back from the table.

Before you could jump in, he continued his rant, gaining more heat with every word until he was yelling again. “Sure! Fine. And I'm sure people will be just thrilled to try and help us again. I mean, other than the damage you caused their base and the explosions from downed First Order ships giving chase, it was just fine! Never mind the fact that you could have - you should have - died from that stunt alone!”

This was getting ridiculous. You gripped your helmet tighter and steeled yourself against the creeping guilt.

“Maybe I would have crashed if I was anything less than a damn good pilot. But I am a damn...good...pilot,” you said through grit teeth.

“A damn good pilot that can't...no, that refuses to listen!”

“I was right there!”

“Yeah? Well, now you're grounded!” Poe shouted as leaned over the table, loudly pounding it with his gloved fist before shoving his finger your direction to drive the point home.

“What!?” Jumping to your feet and slamming your helmet down, your chair toppled behind you and crashed onto the floor.

Not even batting an eye at your outrage, he moved closer and continued with a raised voice. "Oh, you heard me. We can't afford to lose damn good pilots. Especially not to their own ego.”

Scoffing, you threw your hands up. “So you're grounding me? You're still losing a pilot!”

“Only until you learn to leave your comm on and listen to orders!” The vein in his neck looked ready to burst as his dark eyes bore into yours.

“This is bullshit! I saved the Resistance from weeks of trying to set up a new drop. Maybe from losing this intel altogether! I did good today and you damn well know it!” Heat flooded your face as you shouted. It was all you could do to stop yourself from flying across the table at him.

“And you could have died!”

Smashing your helmet into the table, you pressed on. “You're always coming down on me, but if Ello or Nien had been in my place, they would have done the exact same thing! You telling me you'd ground them too?”

“No.”

“Why n-”

“Because I don't love them!”

Poe froze at his own words, staring at you with wide eyes before shifting his gaze to the side. His chest heaved as he sharply exhaled. “I-I...don't...”

For a moment, the rush in your ears won and all you could hear was your own heartbeat hammering away. All those times...all those moments in the conferences as you hatched plans or the cantina when everyone was relaxing, but you seemed to just stay focused on each other. The laughter, the lingering stares, the way it was just so much easier to talk to him than anyone else at base...it was all real. He felt the connection as strongly as you did, even though neither of you dared to voice it.

And, instead of those feelings coming out in a sweet moment to cherish...they came out in a heated, twisted mess.

“Y-you don't love...them...” You echoed.

Rubbing his hand along the stubble of his chin, he chewed his bottom lip as he looked back at you. His eyes were glued to yours, but he stayed silent.

Your heart fluttered at his stare, but your stomach rolled as a quiet anger continued to needle you. “So you don't....love...them. And...and so I get punished for that? You have feelings and I get punished? How...how is that fair?”

Sighing, he ran his fingers up into his thick curls, giving them a soft tug before resting his hand on the back of his neck. His free hand went to his hip, pushing his jacket back as the fight visibly drained from his body. Soon, his gaze shifted to the floor, although his eyes didn't stay still. He was utterly lost in deep concentration, clearly sifting through his racing thoughts.

The silence stretched out for several moments before he huffed another sigh through his nose. “It's not.”

His soft statement was enough to stop your attack, but frustration still thrummed through your body as you waited for him to at least take your punishment back.

Swallowing heavily, Poe scanned over the room before his gaze settled on the door. Your hands balled into fists. He wouldn't dare...

His eyes quickly darted back to yours before snapping back to the exit. “I have to go.”

Before you could protest, he was out of the room in just a few long strides. Dumbfounded, you stared out the open door, too stunned to call after him.

A growl ripped from your throat as you grabbed your helmet with both hands and smashed it into the table.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

As you lifted the helmet, you saw a small dent in the table's metal surface. Letting out a frustrated grunt, you threw it as hard as you could across the room, dumping your gloves on the floor as it crashed against the chair Poe had turned over.

Grabbing a chair that was still on its feet, you shifted and sank into it as you cupped your head in your propped hands. It was impossible to tear one feeling from another as everything swirled into a muddled mess inside your chest. There was only one thing you knew for sure.

You were grounded.

Taglist:  @foreverfaeries​  @flower-two​  @getlostinyourparadise​   @selfishkiddo​  @angelicshinigami​  @parkersbabey​

[kim-lexie]

‘start up’: week-by-week playback

here is a week-by-week playback of events from ‘start up’ and my unfiltered feelings. hope you enjoy! if you want to see somewhat cohesive thoughts on ‘start up’ check out my official review. here :) 

*spoiler alert*

ep 1

ladies and gents it’s going to be a good one. i loved being able to see this backstory to lay all the groundwork for the future of the drama.

his story is devastating as a young individual unable to make his way into the world and then making a way to find it isn’t how he expected and lost a real thing he had with the relationship with the her grandmother. but the redemption when he goes to see her again.

her family becoming broken. her sister severing the relationship and chalking it up to being ‘oh i made the better choice’. and her father dying while getting her chicken and trying to get an investment to not let his daughter go hungry and to bring his family together.

to him making up a character that got her through hard times. and then trying to find him again. this is going to be great. and i know i’m going to be devastated bc she fell in love with the other man to begin with, and now she will see this new person.

soooooo much happened and i’m clearly not ready.

ep 2

why? why do we lie? we know nothing good will come of it. if anything this jipyeong is who she loves. but why lie? literally you can own up to it and start over boo.

disappointed in our sweet grandma for lying to dalmi for so long.

her sister is awful. and so is this ‘mother’.

this man just wanted to start up his start up but he was like nah don’t want to help you even though i need you. feel in love with the girl in the letters and showed up bc of the goodness of his heart. hope he doesn’t get lost in the fantasy of it.

their business, samsan tech, is going to be wild and great and he missed his opportunity.

ep 3

her mother saying she is the same as her dad not having a plan is so wack, and makes me want her to slap her.

aren’t you curious? why aren’t you asking why i am like this? because that is my concept the quiet good looking type. i can’t with him hahaha

i love that he asked about the music box. i wish it was really him that wrote the letters, because this will be heartbreaking when she finds out.

‘it wouldn’t be bad to sail off without a map even if we got lost, if it’s with you.’

this kid, dosan, is too funny.

i cannot believe her ‘father’ just throw her under the bus and had her oppa takes over the Korean branch of her company that she formed.

dang it. girl quits her job because he started his own company

they got first place. is that enough inkling for you?!?!?

they both like her. but only one of them will admit his feelings so he will win in the end. i’m so excited to see all of their relationships develop.

the cringe level of the edit of her winning her award. i cannot even. they’re charming everyone loves it.

ep 4

him learning how to be a hot shot ceo. i can’t. the placemats he is struggling.

his friend breaking the 3rd wall and telling us how dosan drives away all the ladies in university.

poor guy the only things she likes about him aren’t him at all but jipyeong.

she is going to be their ceo isn’t she. bc he said that he can’t be ceo. she’d kill it. what a queen.

yes boo! there it is we know who you’re going to pick. bc she wants them to recruit you not the other way around.

ep 5

this was a stellar episode. from both teams using the same data set and coming up with wildly different ideas to samsan tech almost crashing down. but setting a fire to dosan to do better and be more ambitious. i’m so excited.

our girl killed her presentation yes queen. you got this. the fact that the boys created a whole new software. these folks would be crazy to not invest.

this alex guy really believes in them i’m excited to see if there will be rivalry between the two hot shot ceo’s

the fact that her grandma doesn’t regret not sending her to college but rather regrets not meeting him earlier to support and encourage him made me cry.

ep 6

this was a great episode. so much happened in the development of their little company. disorder and disagreements led to stronger relations within the company.

i love how she picked the mentor. like yup i know alex is the biggest deal since slice bread but you’re our homie.

the fact that dosan was ready to come clean about the letters but overheard the grandmother get a sad report from the doctors and wanted to protect her and her granddaughter. so sad.

ep 7

i really need more than a second male lead for this man. i can’t stand the way he looks at her. he loves her and is trying so hard to shut off his heart to her.

i love the bickering between the two male leads. like seriously hilarious.

i love the sweet relationship that nam dosan will now have with her grandmother. and i love the idea concept he had for their business. a beautiful heart behind the machine.

dosan standing up for her and standing against this horrible man out to exploit their talent.  

this ending scene i can’t. they’re cute too. and precious.

he kept the plant and is going to give it nutrients to keep it well. please do the same with your relationship with her honey.

ep 8

i really love jipyeong and need them together.

i cannot with their ceo step dad. like isn’t this too much.

i want the boss lady at sandbox to know that dalmi is the sandbox girl!!!

ep 9

the wind turned into a heavy storm that destroyed his self esteem. he feels himself falling apart bc of his secret.

she was attacked!

‘i made a wrong turn and stumbled upon fireworks’ nam dosan.

he brought them to the beach after reading that review of wanting to see more beauty that the world has to offer. i need him to own up to his feelings and make a move.

don’t lie bro we know you like dalmi. and of course it’s raining. bc that’s how it is.

we still get a scene with them running through the rain the chul-san and yong-san.

my heart is crumbling into a million pieces. jipyeong’s there and dosan isn’t. what are we going to do. this ain’t the moment of revelation we wanted.

ep 10

jipyeong is so great. 10 out of 10.

i don’t know what it is but i really am not about dosan’s character for some reason. i really just want jipyeong to be honest from the start and he could have ended up with her.

my heart. our dalmi.

‘i wanted to be the person you wanted. but it was too hard to bear.’

‘the person i want. i don’t know who that is.’

is the sibling of the member that died in their group?

do-san can’t leave his boys!!

‘does my dream have to be success. can’t it be a person?’

he just confesses to liking her while he was mixing their noodles. i can’t with him. love that he’s finally being honest. now it’s all up to dalmi.

everyone encouraging her before she has to promote their company. she did this. she is the ceo. she’s got this.

what the even?!? jipyeong was the one that was harsh to him. and it led his brother to commit suicide. oh no. and now they’re in the elevator together what’s going to happen?!?!

now she has two plan b?!? one from the investor and one from dosan and the big tech company.

they both confessed to the nice lady at the bar. hahaha i love these epilogue moments.

ep 11

yong-san’s brother story is so sad.

his dad standing up for the present he desperately wants to keep. and being the bridge for innovation.

their software worked on alex’s scheme!!!

and they won demo day.

oh no but alex isn’t as great as we thought he was...

chul-san and sa-ha are dating. i cannot even. this is the best!!!

they’re such a good team. brainstorming after their win. they cannot disband them.

i thought our man was going to get to them

in time to stop them from signing. but he didn’t.

ep 12

bro. alex is awful i hate this man.

the moments between. hjp and mrs. choi you are brilliant and heart breaking. i really want them to continue to grow into a better person and end up with dalmi.

why y’all got to fight why is dosan doing this. bro you’re not getting any brownie points by being like this dude.

i really love this side story with chulsan and saha. they’re cute. well we can share the vanilla latte. cute!!!!  

chulsan made her a video of numbers to help her fall asleep. he’s too cute i want her to admit that she likes him. ahhhhhhhhh

the fact that they ended up going and we’ll have a three year gap errrrks me. like our boy jhp is going to finally start making moves and dosan is going to run in and save the day. like bro you’re a mess.

i hope they were able to save the app for her grandmother.

her applying to her sisters company i’m excited.

ep 13

lolol they used his cousin for the commercial and injae looks sooo cute. frozen inspired.

i love how she had /iced vanilla latte lover’ as chul-san’s contact name and the vlogs!!!

hjp our man saved her from the insurance guy.

now they all play go stop together!!!!

she tucked him in and he gets to stay

youngsil calling him out to just swing the bat and don’t hesitate or he’ll lose. is this foreshadowing our man losing dalmi?!?

they finally got to eat at the bbq restaurant that was below their original building

frick my life. why is his timing always wack.

at least chulson and saha can sail.

the whole gang is back together!

it was the twins that hacked it wasn’t it?!?

he stopped him. come on baby.

ep 14

i love his man listening to her cry. hiding her because she didn’t want her staff to see. and telling her to chill until she is ready. i love this man.

that’s right honey. don’t answer that phone move on.

their little photoshoot was faboulous, them as RGB

yes queen. she went to confront her family. and be like boo you thought i didn’t chance. honey you’re in for it.

her mother wanting to pay back her mother-in-law for raising her daughter in her steed.

dosan turned her down her offer to be their AI specialists at her company.

i love that his father saved the baseball.

me finally accepting my ship won’t sail when their girl walked 5 hours in the woods to get to dosan.

yong-san apologizing for saying that jhp killed his brother. they both are apologizing.

they all end up joining her company!!!!

ep 15

their self driving car passed the test. they’re too cute in their celebration.

she doesn’t want to lose her team again if they lose their bid.

sa ha is finally falling for chulsan. he’s so precious. him being like oh wait you’re asking me out.

of course it would be this trip getting stuck in an elevator together.

sailing off without a map. never will regret it. -dosan

injae absolved her adoption after seeing her grandmother.

he tired to out so all their memories with that one thing alone his big hands. hahah oh do san.

my hjp finally let go. he took his losses and kept the money tree and letters. it isn’t enough honey boo.

stop feeling inferior to me. work on your self esteem and look at dalmi again. then you’ll know who she really likes. with those hands alone, you beat our memories. -hjp

because it’s you. you’re the reason. that’s it. -dalmi on liking dosan

i really don’t like them together. but whatever i shall not have my way in this. it’s fine hjp is mine.

i love the sisters together. they’re precious talking about the sandbox girl.

is this article going to frick up their bid?!? but it was his hackers that did it the twins!!!

is hjp going to save the day?!?

ep 16

dalmi and dosan are a dream team. and they just served that reporter one great tell all.

i still can’t process bc i love hjp.

i feel like it hit mrs. choi when they were all talking dosan and dalmi when are finally saw dosan after a few years that her good boy would feel alone. TT

‘don’t become any lonelier jipyeong...’ their relationship makes me cry. i love that

i can’t everyone saying what they’ll do if they win. PROPOSE. say who their boyfriend is?!?!

i’m excited to see this start up to connect orphanages with a sponsor to help them in that transition. it’s a perfect fit for him. ‘i like your voice’, because it sounds like young-sil the voice of the app/help device. he’s going to personally invest and help them with their business plan. and then sponser kids!!! he is seriously a dream.

chulsan and saha are too cute. i love that she introduced him as her boyfriend. he was not expecting that. she finally found someone who she’s been looking for!

was that their goodbye? he isn’t the dosan from the letters? huh?

in jae is such a queen serving those papers to her dad at the q and a session, that no one showed up to. 

them all crying in their old rooftop office. they’re such dorks i love them

his father took the sign to replace it with the one from the math competition.

dalmi and injae’s relationship is too precious.

he’s going to invest in their company. and dosan accepted hjp’s investment.

i want to change the world. follow your dream.

i liked this one.

i wonder if they won.......oh the epilogue!!!

they got married. and they kept the baseball. chul-san and saha revealed they were a couple. chul-san shaved his hair! i loved that we saw it all though pictures on their desk!! that was a creative way to fit everything in!

shareholders meeting!!! the gang taking over the world!

[clonewarsreturns]

Season 7 episode 2: A distant Echo!!

Oh my god y’all this could be a new number one.

Spoilers!!

Where to freaking begin.

The new transition style with the recaps is just amazing

Rex clearly is so focused on his son and it hurts.

Anakins FaceTime and the little gestures he made to Rex to remind him killed me

Rex awkwardly standing guard hOLY

Obi wan smiling and waving like “hi good Rex!!” So cute

Padme holding her TUMMY

HER BEING TEAM REX

REX KNOWING ABOUT PADME

Oh god his failed attempt of lies

We not even five minutes in and I’m crying.

WRECKER HOLDING MY FAVORITE FREAKING DROID IN THE UNIVERSE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR GONK

AND HOW HE CAREFULLY PLACED IT DOWN INSTEAD OF THROWING IT

I CRIED

Y’all know my thoughts on the entire “don’t run out there” sequence so skipping ahead

Look. I’m not gonna lie hunter was pretty attractive with how badass he was.

Anakin being a mess. “We’re gonna have a SLIGHT communication problem”

The bad batch is just so cool you guys like their plans are so clever!

Tech speaking the language is cute.

Aight YALL everything about the ridge scene.

Crosshairs making it super hard to like him lol I try but MAN I wanted to punch him. I did like how he realllly got under Rex’s skin with the “You left him behind” comment. You can HEAR the despair in Rex’s voice. 

Rex beating the shit out of him like hell yes. Wrecker stresses me out with the neck grab though like dude gonna accidentally break someone. And then:

“YOU’RE GONNA BE A LOT SMALLER WHEN IM THROUGH WITH YOU”

____that made me feel something and im not afraid to say it LOL REX YOU HECKIN BADASS GOING CHEST TO CHEST WITH SOMEONE TWICE YOUR SIZE AND STARRING THEM DOWN MY LORD

I do appreciate how-soft? anakin is when it comes to rex this episode. Honestly it’s probably because it’s the first time Rex has ever had a stake in something they did. Rex is not himself and it’s made even more evident in the way DBB says “I KNOW it.” never have we heard Rex beg, he sounded similar to Fives in his last scene! I really like anakin listening to Rex and having a fatherly presence cause literally everyone has just been like “Rex u dumb yo friend dead get over it” but anakin knows more than anyone how it feels to know someone you love is in danger and there’s nothing you can do.

ALSO I LOVE WHEN CHARACTER’S HAVE WEAKNESSES AND WRECKER BEING SCARED OF HEIGHTS IS SO INTERESTING!!!! The other night I literally was thinking of weaknesses for each of the batchers (Hunter-prone to sensory overload, has sound dampeners in his helmet, Tech-can’t seperate data from emotion, Crosshairs deaf with implants, and lacks most senses like touch and taste.) 

These new droids are so funny looking I love it

SCOOTER TAMBOR IS BACK LOL I FREAKING LOVE HIS WEIRD WHEELS

Tech losing the signal again and Rex panicking a bit like “???????” 

Crosshairs is still dope, dang it.

This is the first time I think we’ve heard the term prisoner of war in clone wars and that’s so interesting. Up until this point that wasn’t really an idea for the republic or seperatists, Echo is the first to be given that value in the eyes of the enemy.

Rex straight up that LET ME IIIIIN MEME

Anakin telling tech to get the door open for Rex made me soft. 

Alright. The moment. I held my breath the entire time right up to the hatch opening. So chilling. Echos’ eyes glitching and the ice particles on his skin-

Rex had such a similar expression to the Fives scene and it hurt. sad parallel. 

Echo repeating his lines from the Citadel hurt even more, he’s been stuck in a loop.

Echo’s hopeful voice when he asked rex if he came back for him and Rex defeatedly agreeing. He technically did but not the way he thought. just a couple years late

“You’re coming home.” I cried real tears. The music, this felt like fucking Saving Private Ryan up here. A CARTOON MADE ME HAVE THE SAME EMOTION AS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY ACCLAIMED WAR MOVIES OF ALL TIME! PERFECTION. CLONE WARS IS PERFECTION.

This seriously is up there as one of if not my favorite episodes of the series because it was so Rex centric and really just highlighted he and anakin’s relationship. I feel like we never got to see this before since with Ahsoka around, Rex tended to be attached to her on missions while Anakin would be attached to Obi wan. It’s a fantastic change of pace and I’m overjoyed.

I really hope this arc ends with Echo joining the Bad Batch cause I just don’t fucking trust Kamino in the slightest after Fives and Tup. 

I feel like the wait for the next episode won’t hurt as bad since now we have a mini movie worth of episodes to watch :D Those are my thoughts. More will come as I think more. All and All fantastic.

[moodysnowflake]

Let’s rant about - Fugou Keiji

This is the most disorganized post I could possibly write. Nice. Spoiler alert guys, if you’re not caught up to episode 5 of Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited.

I did warn you.

When I recognized the armored limo, I thought ‘It makes sort of sense, ‘cause since he’s not driving the Cadillac, and he’s traveling with the President, he’s automatically in a life-threatening situation as well.’ We can all argue that his car might not be armored, but come on… I bet my tonsil (they are extremely useful organs if you have still functioning ones)that the Cadillac has to; you just don’t stroll around in a vehicle equipped with military level stuff in it and don’t have it disaster-proofed. And speaking about military…we might finally have some clue, or it is better to say a clearer lead, on the Kambe family business: security and/or military related. He provided the president with freakin HMMWV - High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, a.k.a. Humvee - vehicles and other special protection equipment. That might explain why there doesn’t seem to be a damn bottom in his wallet, nor limits his power can’t overcome. Well, until now, but I’m gonna rant about it later. It makes sense, ‘cause this area is way more lucrative than any other. Stark Industries and the Yard division of Wayne Enterprises showed us as much, right? I scrunched up my face when Daisuke said “I’m simply here as proxy for my grandmother.” I connected the dot ‘Oh, so that’s why he was looking so cold/pensive (laughing fit because my stupid brain made the connection between pensive and Purple Hyacinth [if you don’t know this webcomic, please check it out on Webtoon, it’s a good story]) with the news at the beginning of the episode. Granny Kambe was sick or something, so she might have persuaded him into going.’ I still don’t get why Haru didn’t know, but I’m sure Daisuke had his reasons… I also thought that Daisuke is not the only one available, right? What about best girl Suzue? Daisuke is not exactly a people person, but what do we know, maybe she was going to go and Daisuke got in the way to not have her have to deal with nasty issues.

What I was definitely not see coming was Daisuke’s “No. There will not be a day where I succeed as head of the family.”

My plot bunny had a seizure right then and there. Daisuke? Sir? I replayed it again and again, and I was struck by a new idea every time I did, and his cold-blooded tone, robotic aseptic expression didn’t help in the least. He’s impassive while he speaks, he’s emotionless. And that’s terrifying. It’s a horrible display, at least for me, because episode 4 showed us he cares, he’s capable of feeling emotions, and pretty strong ones too.

I need to focus on this because I think it’s important; everybody saw episode 4 as it was the most randomic, epic fujo-bait episode ever. Welp, sorry for disrupting the rose-tinted dream, but no. I mean, yes it was, but it wasn’t as well. I’ll try to elaborate, because I think that episode shouldn’t be discarded as just another episode. I think Fugou Keiji is very similar to Id:Invaded in this respect: nothing is thrown there by chance, nothing happens without a purpose, everything has a meaning. This is an one core show, with 11 episodes scheduled, which a pretty odd number, and if the story is meant to end in 11 episode (which I think it is), that means you can’t fuck around with filler episodes. [If you haven’t seen Id:Invaded, you should give it a chance. It’s rated R-17, so please proceed with caution. I mean it; it’s not just a very physically violent show. There are shades of ‘Dead Dove: Do Not Eat’ level shit in there.]

The progression might feel a bit fast to an old school, at least 2 core, 25+ episodes trained anime watcher like me, but as long as it’s organic, that’s totally fine. Episode 1 introduced our MC, said us ‘look, there’s this angry fluff boi, which is called Katou Haru, ad there’s this dripping ice-cold asshole boi called Kambe Daisuke: Shenanigans ensures.’ From episode 2, evolution started, as it should have. We needed to reach the end of the episode to see it, but we got it; when Haru roughs Daisuke up, we expected for him to have no reaction, and many may think that’s what happened, but I think that’s not the case. I think Daisuke was seriously ruminating about Haru’s overreaction, and his look was a deep thinking one. He’s not an impassive robot anymore. Episode 3 cemented it, showing us am astounding variety of emotions effectively coming out: he’s annoyed (glare shoot while Haru’s running him mouth, blabbering about being a good senpai), angry (Haru snitching him, then having to formally thank and ask for guidance), tired (sighing at Haru, stuck  dangling by the pole), salty (”Are you working hard, Inspector Katou?” [Can we blame him? Haru snitched him out, then the next day he had to hear from Kamei that he needed backup. I still think that he might have been waiting for him outside the station from the beginning, and just got confirmation from Kamei. Which made him, obviously, even saltier.], “This is precisely the moment I would like some coaching.”). Also, incredibly trusting and perceptive; he’s watching Haru like a hawk, giving him access to HEUSC (which he didn’t have to, but he thought he had to give him a chance), helping getting into the Shinkansen (he gave his mask to Haru, either because he knew the smoke used was not really harmful, or because he trained to hold his breath long enough to get himself out of its range), giving him his gun and - last but not least - getting himself between Haru and a gun. Granted, all of his suits have to be bulletproof - you cannot make me think otherwise -, but if you get shot, it still hurts as fuck, and you can get bruised, or even slightly crack a rib if the shot is close enough. So yeah, it wouldn’t have been pleasant. What’s the purpose of episode 4 then, except for fangirls to drool over it? Hands out, I’m not insulting the category, I’m gonna speak about it later, so put that on hold and don’t chew me for the time being. Like everybody perceived, episode 4 served other various purposes. Like the metaphors of dog: Daisuke is kind of a 27-years old puppy, because he can’t survive in the outside world without help. He can use rocket grapples, breach police communications, erase data from the internet, use a torch to melt a windshield, fire a rocket launched and Karma only knows what else, but he can’t do groceries to save his life, nor cut a potato without almost chopping his fingers off [insert Cloud’s pouting “I’m doing my best…” icon here]. He’s snarky, but soft (to Haru, the kids (ep3 and ep4 ones), and Suzue). He’s spoiled, but open-minded (he appreciate convenience store ramen, he values Haru’s cooking over pre-packed food). He’s cautious, but yields if he feels (reasonably) reassured (You think the kid is good? Fine by me, I’m gonna help. You think he’s not gonna shoot? Fair enough, I believe you. You need HEUSC to snoop up something to prove he’s okay? Just ask it. You think I don’t need a band-aid and lick the cut? Bit weird, but okay.). Like a dog, he can behead you with a bite, but if he trusts you, you can belly rub him to death. Episode 3 was Daisuke’s “I’ve got your back.” as well as episode 4 was Haru’s “I’ve got yours too.” This is what episode 4 is too: it’s Haru having Daisuke’s back. It’s Haru having patience and understanding, after Daisuke giving him his absolute trust and resources. Unlimited. They started sensing each other out from episode 1. With not really good results at the beginning, but it’s an understandable situation. Think from each other’s perspective: Haru’s a experienced police officer, who has Daisuke crashing into his life with very unorthodox methods and no chills, throwing money around without a second thought, pretentious and disrespectful. It’s almost physiological for him to try to deck him down at first glance. From Daisuke’s point of view, he might not know better, he’s socially awkward, civilian life interaction none existent. But most of all, we don’t know why he chose MCPD, nor how was he trained. Heck we have come clues, but not guarantees until we hear it from his mouth.

Yeah, I’m talking about you, Nakamura Chosuke, from that weird-ass look you gave each other in episode 2 coming out of the interrogation rooms, from the fact that in the OP you’re standing still while the rest of the team is moving forward and only Daisuke is going the opposite way towards you, from the fact that you might know way more than we may be comfortable with. You and Daisuke know each other, or at least know what’s up, and we’re gonna find out. Preferably soon, without having one of you dying. Please.

Daisuke needs to test the waters, to see who can be trusted and who can’t; it is very likely that he’s a pretty serious issue, something which he need someone to trust his life with. That, and also that his ‘training’ might have made him ‘somewhat selfish’, sometimes too cold, too unresponsive for his own good. But watch my words, he might be like this sometimes, because reasons, but he’s always on his toes, and he’s always listening. He listened to Haru while he ranted at him in episode 2, he listened to Haru while he asked him for help in episode 3, he listened to Haru while he herded him around in episode 4. Episode 4 served to provide Daisuke an alternative. It was not just about a tantrum. Story-wise, it gives Daisuke a space in which he feels safe, a zone his Kambe life can’t break into, as long as he doesn’t want it to reach him. Or at least, this is what he perceives.

Like someone said, when he’s saying that he’s not gonna inherit the Kambe Group, he’s talking with an indifferent, apathetic look. Mechanical, stolid, like when he talks with Kikuko. It’s the exact same face. Precisely. He doesn’t feel, he doesn’t react, if not prodded. Either because: 1. He really doesn’t want: he’s not a violent person, he doesn’t enjoy hurting others. He could just pay his way out of a murder, if he wanted to. He never acts to kill or harm. It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to be the heir of such a vicious empire. At least from what we know until now… 2. He’s been prevented or not supposed to: he might want to do it, but it might not be possible, because he might not be the designed one (OP’s women?), or be who we think he is. Maybe he really is ‘Shiro’s brother’, a replacement for someone else.

In both cases, it makes sense that he’s not granted access to weaponry/military information. It would also make sense to keep them from him in order to kill him. This leads into episode 5. He might have been trapped in Kikuko’s place, and grandma Kambe might not have anything to do with it, but at this moment everything could be possible. That being said, HEUSC confirmed Daisuke - and revealed us - that he’s disposable, a spare paw that can be disposed of at any given time, without concern nor regrets; he very well might have known this all along. He looks (really) slightly troubled to have to prod HEUSC for information about the bomb, because the AI butler is actually not interacting that much. And…Daisuke is like…going to die in the next 4 minutes? And Suzue is not coming? And that SHOULD be a problem, right? Daisuke dying SHOULD be in the ‘NO GOOD’ list in HEUSC programming. HEUSC SHOULD be trying its hardest to help him. Right? Daisuke is of course maintaining his collected cool, but surely the other two doofuses yapping around aren’t helping him. Put it with HEUSC not being helpful, it’s understandable for him to snap at it, asking for blueprints and directions. Because he was expecting them from the very beginning… When HEUSC answers come, he’s not shocked. We saw him alarmed, that’s not how his scared face looks like. He just seems disappointed, a hopeless realization, borderline frustrated, like he’s thinking “Is it? This is really the truth, they’re letting me die here”. Then he morphs into some sort of cold resolution, like “Bitch no, I’m not gonna kick the bucket without trying.” When I heard we were dealing with VX gas I said ‘Welp, someone really wants to be sure you dead, Mr. President.’

As some of you might be wondering, what is Daisuke doing? Why is he flooding the bathroom? Why is he drowning his jacket? The bomb is a gas one, and VX, also known as sarin gas, is one the deadliest chemical ever created. Basically what it does is shutting down your neurotransmissions, which means no impulse flowing, which stops every brain function and muscle in your body. Heart and diaphramm included, so no blood circulating and no oxigen.Not good. 10mg can kill a man. So, what they said in the episode is not fantasy, guys. That’s really bad juju. If it gets onto your skin (but for the love of Karma, I hope you’ll never have to experience it), you have to get it off as fast as you can washing and with a binding powder. In the meantime, you have two(three actually) guys to keep working: heart and lungs. As long as they run, there’s hope. Therefore, inject atropin every 10-15 minutes until resolution (to keep your heart galloping as fast as it can), pralidoxime (to actively compete with the substrate the gas attacks and help your diaphram and lungs not to stop) and diazepam (for the rest of your muscles not to tear themselves apart because of the other two compounds trying to save your life but not doing a really great job at keeping everything else in check). If you inhale that shit without atropin within arm’s reach, you have less than 2/3 minutes.

That’s why Daisuke unceremoniously tackles Haru out of the way.

So, why the jacket? Simply enough, soaking it, he creates a sort of barrier, or to be more specific, a medium (water) in which the gas is going to be trapped into before being released into the air. In the first seconds,the molecules produced by the canisters will be dissolved into the water, effectively trapping the gas withing the fabric of the jacket, as long as the water saturates. After that, if the gas continues to go, there would be a point were there’s gonna be too much of it in the water, and some of it will start to escape into the air. It takes time, depending on the pressure applied and the amount of water that the fabric can hold. That’s why Daisuke is keeping the jacket under the sink until the very last moment; the more water clinging, the better chances to survive. Even if, like the guard said, it’s not gonna work for long. I’m still not really sure why he’s going for the punch tho. He loosens the bow and the shirt to likely be able to pull it over his face just in case, since he is the one IN FRONT of the fucking bomb. The only option I can think of is that he’s trying to break the pump (and possibly bend a tube); VX is liquid at room temperature, so as long as you don’t inflate the canister and vaporize it into the air, you’re not in immediate danger. He’s hoping so hard for this to work, because he doesn’t want to die, as opposed of what he might have been thinking up until now. Because now, contrarily to what he said us in the very first line of episode 1, the boredom is gone. Now he has something to fight for (a truth he’s looking for) and someone to care of.

Yes, he might have not-so-gently wacked Haru away, but he was also pretty sure not be able to see the Sun again. He lost his composure and almost yelled at Haru for help. We can see that Haru doesn’t argue further, he immediately gets that something’s dangerous is going on, because if it makes Daisuke worry, that’s definitely not good. How can we be sure it’s gonna work? As they were being lead into the room, the guard explained that that was a NBC proof room: Nuclear Biological Chemical proof room. Which means it can withstand a nuclear blast, radiations, biological agents (viruses, bacteria, molds, other nasty living beings, organically poisonous compounds) and chemical agents (inorganic gases, hazardous solutions like strong acids or bases, explosives, corrosives etc…) because it’s airtight and has its own air and water independent reservoirs and systems. NOTHING can get in. Which also means that NOTHING can get out. Therefore, even if the gas is released, it’s contained.

For all the previously said things, that’s the reason Daisuke looks sad, discouraged and tired when he’s standing outside the embassy, with his hands in his pocket, his shoulder almost sagging down, the circle under his eyes darker than they have ever been. Because yes, you might not have noticed it but he always had those, except from ONE time, specifically one morning. I’ll let you guess which one… Then he snaps out of it hearing Suzue’s voice, probably not to worry her. Yes, I think that Suzue might be a watchdog, to make sure Daisuke fulfill his role and gets him out of trouble when he can’t, help him when he needs, but I think that as soon as he will be marked as not useful anymore, she might meet the same fate. She grew attached, she cares. Best girl might not even know it, and if she knows, she’s definitely doing her best to help him as much as she can. We all love you so much Suzue. Please don’t die. Please please please.

Episode 5 is the catalyst. Now Daisuke can’t trust anything anymore. He might not have done it in the first place, but now everything got shattered. If HEUSC has not authorized him, it means the AI butler is also monitoring the access. Which means Daisuke is gonna be under surveillance (or at least, stricter than it already was).

If episode 4 didn’t happen, Daisuke will be dead, or almost drowning in desperation, because he would have no one to turn to, no safe place to go to. We know this is not the case. We know Haru can help. Daisuke might not be a fan of this, and it might take a bit for him to put himself back together and explain, but we know it’s gonna happen. We know Haru is gonna listen, and he’s very much gonna want to help him. Now Daisuke knows it too, because he experienced it. We also know that Daisuke listens to Haur’s words, so I’m sure he remembers even Haru’s druk rambling about being a hero and a civil servant, and he’s gonna pull that out at some point. He might get something mixed up, since he was a bit fazed, but not enough not to flinch at Haru’s questioning… even if he wormed into the bathtub to sleep XD Best of all, he’s not even fazed by it. He just open his eyes and wakes up. Also, he sits by the table SLOUCHING. Kambe Daisuke. Slouching. In the morning. I love him so much. Haru taking care of him all the freaking way, feeding him and teaching him the ways of the peasant’s world. I love him just as much. Daisuke listens and processes; when Haru says him that, even if there’s almost no chance to find Shiro, he says that he’s gonna try regardless. Daisuke responds with “I see.”. Which means ‘You’ll keep trying, so I should do that as well.’ This is Japan guys. Read the air. There’s as much stuff unsaid that said.

A question is Kikuko then: is she best grandma or are we dealing with another Aizen situation (I made you strong so I could have a decent challenge)?

Nakamura Chosuke, Sir, you need to start singing soon…

Now, I have a very strong fear: in the OP, there’s the same scene repeating itself: at the beginning with Haru, Daisuke and Shizue in a room, then Haru is not there anymore. I’m still recovering from Banana Fish, and I watched it while it was airing…

Last thing, before I forget. About fangirls. You might have guessed, by the amount of word vomit I garbled over, that I am one as well. Everybody can react to the story as they want. I squeaked like a hamster too when I saw Daisuke wearing the ‘boyfriend outfit’, when he winced when he cut himself and licked his cut, when he waited for Haru to start eating before doing it himself, when he praised him for the cooking, when he understood why he replaced Shiro, when he lent him the money to return home, when he smiled to Hattori and Suzue, and when he used Haru’s natto recipes. I’m here for the ride as much as you are. I’m here for the fluff we’re obviously not gonna get. I’m here for a whipped Daisuke, wrapped around Haru’s finger, screaming in pain because of the loss, pleading to save the detective and take him instead. I’m here for the fall from grace, I’m here for him realizing he’s been living a beautiful nightmare, that justice is more than meets the eyes, that there’s so much more that he can be. I’m here for him realizing all of this with Haru being taken away, triggerim him into madness.

The wind exists even if you can’t see it.

[thebeauregardbros]

LFRP: Alus Beauregard | Crystal Server

THE BASICS ––– –– –

Occupation: Free Paladin | Field Medic | Café Proprietor

Hobbies: Fashion | Tea Brewing | Pastry Creation | Jewelry Making | Reading Faerie Tales

Race: Miqo’te (Sunseeker Descent)

Sexuality/Romance: Asexual / Panromantic

Relationship Status: Single; never married

Languages: Eorzean | Common. Understands all languages; possesses The Echo.

Alignment: Neutral Good

PERSONAL ––– –– –

Alias: “Alice” (💢)

Residence: The Goblet, Ward 8 : Sultana’s Breath Apartments; Wing 1; Apartment #21

Place of Work: Café Nobilitea: Lavender Beds Ward 20, Lot #8 | Anywhere his Eorzean Grand Company sends him.

Birthplace: ??? (Grew up in Eorzea; particularly in the Thanalan area)

Fears: Slugs | Failing to keep his comrades safe | Failing to save his enemies from themselves

APPEARANCE ––– –– –

Height: “Tall for a miqo’te” (5′8″/173cm)

Build: Barrel-chested, muscular; untoned muscles | Long legs, wide shoulders, slender hips.

Age: Unknown; nameday 20 yrs ago. Approximately 23 summers old.

Gender: Male

Skin tone: Tan; Gold Undertone

Eye color: Heterochromia; Deep Fuschia (Right) | Golden Yellow (Left)

Hair color: Golden Blonde

Body Mods: Pierced ears.

Distinguishing Marks: [SPOILER] Large amounts of large-scale bruises and scars all over his body. They are almost always covered up with his clothing. There are no visible scars on his face, neck, or hands.

Common Accessories: Large amounts of gold jewelry; Excessive rings, bracelets, pocket watch chains, earrings, tiaras, circlets, crowns | Large amounts of fresh and/or fake flowers; On his lapel, coming out of his pockets, warn as a flower crown, tucked in his hair, tucked amongst the buttons on his outfits, etc.

BODY LANGUAGE ––– –– –

Walk: Excellent posture; he carries his upper body with strength, while his legs nearly cross in his stride like an elegant female runway model.

Voice: His voice is often strong, clear, deep, and commanding, with the slightest hinge of huskiness. While off-guard, however, his voice cracks into a higher pitched and goofier voice. His quiet tones are very soft and sweet, like a warm fuzzy blanket wrapping you up in it on a cold winter’s night. (Voiceclaim/reference: Johnny Yong Bosch, particularly his roles as Vash from Trigun and Zero from Marvel vs. Capcom.)

Tics or Mannerisms: His speech consists of a shakepearian inspired word usage with a consistent disuse of contractions, similar to Urianger. | He tends to step-dance or become especially physically clumsy while nervous in social situations. | He will elegantly dodge all physical contact, even minor, unless he is comfortable enough with you to make the first contact.

Smell: Gardenia (Jasmine) / Cuttlebone dust

Posture: Constantly straight and erect; shoulders rolled back, chest out. Never looks truly relaxed, even while sitting. A model of good posture.

Disabilities: [SPOILER] Surface numbness on his scar tissue. Mild numbness in his left-hand fingertips.

RELATIONSHIPS ––– –– –

Romantic Partner: (None.)

Parents: Gwenneg Beauregard (Adoptive) (Deceased)

Siblings: Arc Beauregard (Twin Brother) (Alive)

Children: (None.)

Extended Family: (Unknown.)

Pets: Various unnamed wild songbirds and a fledgling Dodo that followed him home. He keeps feeding them, so they keep coming back, but he does not claim ownership of any of them. | He has also developed a relationship with a wild white horse he’s named Marion who consistently comes to his call. | His military-issued chocobo is named Erminia.

Other: Alus considers everyone he meets to be a friend.

PERSONALITY TRAITS ––– –– –

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Addictive / In Between / Nonaddictive

RP HOOKS ––– –– –

Café Nobilitea: Alus is the proprietor of a western-style teahouse with a distinct theme for elegance, royalty, and other-worldliness - His café is bright, full of flowers, and always playing soft kind-hearted piano music; the type of place a person could become lost in whence they’ve become tired of the grueling and dark outer world; a real heaven and haven. He often spends his free time there and enjoys sitting with his customers to get to know them.

Grand Company Militia: Alus is a very active member with the Eorzean grand companies in fighting against the Garlean empire and any other threats to the peace there might be upon the world. It’s very possible your character might have teamed up with him at some point in active duty.

The Prince on a White Horse: Alus patrols random fields often in order to keep the peace. Your character or someone your character knows might have been saved by the mysterious ‘Prince on a white horse’ while being attacked by bandits or beastmen, who oft leaves without giving his name.

A Fellow Warrior Of Light: Alus has helped out the Scions of the Seventh Dawn on occasion due to his status as a Warrior of Light; one of many.

LOOKING FOR ––– –– –

Long-Term ANYTHING!: Friendships, rivalries, casual familiarities, romances, anything. Alus has lived a long life without any PC RP interactions, and I feel his writing suffers for it. I want someone who will be there for the long run and get to know him. I want stories to develop. I want Alus to grow because of other people.

Open-minded villains!: Alus has the patience of a saint and will befriend the nastiest of criminals no matter what. Alus will stop them from directly committing serious crimes he may be there to witness (murder, kidnapping, robbery, etc.), but will ultimately be very forgiving and calm when dealing with these topics. He wants to genuinely make a connection with people he doesn’t understand and strives his best to soften anybody’s heart, no matter how hard. His ultimate goal is to change their ways for the better through patience and understanding.

Platonic flirts!: Alus has a lot of love to give and happy to give it to nearly everyone and anyone. He throws around the words ‘I love you’ quite easily, and if he is especially crushing on someone, he will hold their hands and hug them openly despite his normal dislike of physical touch. He is most happy when he has a large circle of queerplatonic relationships, but will be absolutely exclusive to their ‘steady’ when he has made that romantic commitment.

Distant family members!: Alus knows very little of the Beauregards; his adoptive father and surnamesake did not speak of them much. Alus is fascinated with Elezen culture and considers himself one of them. He would be incredibly happy to find anyone with the same last name who would welcome him to his adopted ancestor’s information.

ADVENTURE!: Once in awhile, let’s RP somewhere other than a unmoving place. Let’s RP in a dungeon. Let’s RP while doing gold saucer chores. Let’s RP while talking to random minor NPCs. Let’s RP while doing something other than just sitting! It can help a lot with improvisation and keep the creative juices flowing.

ABOUT THE MUN ––– –– –

Who I am: Hey, my name’s Will. I’m a 24 y/o prep cook living in Alaska. My family’s straight-up wiccan, I got 3 black cats, I love super flashy ridiculous fashion, 1980s comedies, and my favorite game’s Bayonetta. I’m a queer Aquarius with mild ADHD. Buddhism and pacifism are super important to me. I love the McElroys?? and uh. I yell in caps a lot. i WILL make you a playlist of music if you ask for recommendations, don’t fuckin tempt me. I’m a casual goofus fuck. here’s my ‘me’ tag on my personal,

Server: Balmung, Crystal Data Center

Time Zone: Alaska (GMT-8)

Availability: 11AM-2AM (subject to change)

Writing Style: Rapidfire! 95WPM. I like to RP just like I type normally - as thoughts pop up, I type ‘em, just like if I was talking. I’m not a big fan of waiting for turns; I have an anxiety disorder and that particularly makes me extremely anxious! However, I am happy to do short paragraph RP with you if we’ve been RPing long enough. Huge paragraph RP is 100% OK on Discord!

Platforms: In-game(preferred) or Discord.

Restrictions ––– –– –

No ERP!

No Permadeath! I really do not want to RP with anyone who intends to eventually kill off their character, either. This is a legitimate trigger for me.

RP Fighting...? I’ve never done this before. I’m not a fan of physical injury so it’s unlikely I would want to, either. But if the situation really calls for it, I’m open to learning. I will not allow you to permanently disfigure or disable my character - temporary injury is alright, but please talk to me about it first.

Mature Themes...? This is okay for me. Swearing, murder, prostitution, drugs.. I’m an adult! I don’t mind these themes being mentioned or being used as a backdrop to a prompt. Alus isn’t a fan of these things though! So just keep that in mind.

Sexual Assault...? For the most part, NO. However, a forceful kiss? An inappropriate touching that stops as soon as my character says no? Maybe. Ask me beforehand and be clear about what you’re thinking, no surprises.

More Info ––– –– –

Click here for Alus’ RP blog and all the memes and asks I’ve written for him!

tags;

@ffxiv-crystal-rp @crystalxivrp @mooglemeet​

[orbemnews]

How to Vaccinate Homebound Seniors? Take the Shots to Them. One vial of vaccine. Five elderly homebound patients. Six hours to get to them before the vaccine spoiled. Doctors at Northwell Health, the largest heath care provider in New York State, set out last week to solve one of the most vexing medical and logistical challenges of the campaign to get Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus: how to inoculate millions of seniors who live at home and are too frail or disabled to go to a clinic or queue up at a vaccination site. Members of the network’s house calls program had prepared for their first run. A supply of the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine made the operation easier, because one visit would do the trick. A medical team mapped out a route that would include a cluster of homes not too far from one another, starting with older patients in underserved communities hard hit by the virus. The doctors contacted the patients well ahead of the visits, knowing they’d need plenty of time to consult with their families about whether to get vaccinated. Only a few turned them down; most were enthusiastic. Before the doctors hit the road, they screened patients on the phone to make sure they were relatively healthy. Any unexpected problems had to be avoided. The doctors were racing against the clock: Once they punctured the seal on the vial and drew the first dose, they had only six hours to use the remaining vaccine, or they would have to throw it out. “We’ll be running a tight ship, I think, but very compassionately,” said Dr. Karen Abrashkin, the program’s medical director, as a bulky, high-tech cooler — actually, a car refrigerator — was loaded onto the back seat of her car last Wednesday and plugged in to a cigarette lighter. Inside was a vial the size of a thimble, containing five doses of vaccine. “It’s a historic moment,” she said. Her first stop was a twofer, the home of a married couple in Hempstead, N.Y. Hector Hernandez, 81, a retired window cleaner who used to scrub high-rise buildings in Manhattan, and his wife, Irma, 80, a retired seamstress, had decided to get vaccinated, after sorting through a potpourri of conflicting advice from friends and family. “First I was skeptical — is it safe?” Mr. Hernandez said. Two friends had warned him to be careful because the vaccine was new. But Mrs. Hernandez’s cardiologist assured the couple it was safe, and another friend seemed confident that getting the vaccine was better than not getting it. The couple’s granddaughters, including one who was laid up with Covid-19 for two weeks, advised waiting to see if the vaccine had long-term side effects. In the end, Mr. Hernandez said, their daughter persuaded them to get vaccinated. “She called and said, ‘You have to get it done, because if you ever get Covid, it can be really bad — you can’t breathe,’” Mr. Hernandez said. As Dr. Abrashkin punctured the vial’s seal with a syringe, Lorraine Richardson, a social worker accompanying her, jotted down the time: 10:11 a.m. The two would monitor the Hernandezes for side effects for 15 minutes, and then hit the road. They had until 4:11 p.m. to reach three more patients. At least two million Americans like the Hernandezes are homebound, a population all but invisible. Most suffer from multiple chronic conditions, but cannot get primary care services in their home. They frequently wind up in hospitals, and their ailments leave them vulnerable to the coronavirus. Updated  March 22, 2021, 1:21 p.m. ET When public health officials drew up plans for distributing vaccines, priority was given to the roughly five million residents and employees of congregate settings like nursing homes, where the coronavirus spread like wildfire during the early days of the pandemic. The virus killed at least 172,0000 residents and employees, accounting for about one-third of all Covid-19 deaths in the United States. A vast majority of Americans over 65, however, do not live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, but in the community, where it’s more challenging to reach them. There is no central registry of the homebound elderly. Geographically dispersed and isolated, they are often difficult to find. “This could be the next big hurdle for the older population,” said Tricia Neuman, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “So much of the vaccination rollout has been a patchwork at the state or local level, but this presents a whole different set of challenges.” Vaccination rates among seniors have risen quickly, with at least 60 percent inoculated so far. But there is no system in place for reaching the homebound, Dr. Neuman noted: “Some people simply cannot get themselves to a vaccination site, so the challenge is getting the vaccine to them, where they live.” In the absence of a centrally coordinated campaign targeting the homebound, local initiatives have sprung up around the country. Fire Department paramedics are administering vaccines to homebound seniors in Miami Beach, Fla., and in Chicago. A visiting nurse service vaccinates older adults located through the Meals on Wheels program in East St. Louis, Ill. Several health systems, like Geisinger Health in Pennsylvania and Boston Medical Center, have identified hundreds of homebound Americans and sent vaccines to them. In Minnesota, nonprofits have started pop-up vaccination clinics at senior apartment buildings and adult day care centers. On Monday, New York City announced that it was expanding efforts to go door-to-door to vaccinate homebound seniors, with plans to reach at least 23,000 residents. The visiting doctors program at Mount Sinai in New York, which cares for 1,200 homebound residents, has vaccinated 185 patients and has been given the greenlight to vaccinate the seniors’ caregivers as well, according to Dr. Linda DeCherrie, the clinical director of the Mount Sinai at Home program. Northwell’s house calls program, which cares for patients in Queens, Manhattan and Long Island, plans to vaccinate 100 patients a week over the next 10 weeks, a timetable that could be accelerated if nurses are allowed to carry rescue medications in case patients develop adverse reactions like anaphylactic shock. While Dr. Abrashkin was administering vaccines on Long Island last week, Dr. Konstantinos Deligiannidis, a colleague, was vaccinating five elderly women in the Brentwood, N.Y., area over the course of four hours. “They were so relieved,” he said. “They had all been worried — how could they get the vaccine since they couldn’t get out of the house?” Dr. Abrashkin and Ms. Richardson visited — and vaccinated — two more elderly women on Wednesday before making their last stop at the sunny, plant-filled kitchen of Juanita Midgette, 73, a retired computer science and business teacher living with arthritis who counts Eddie Murphy among her past students. (Spoiler alert: He was a respectful student, she said, and she recommended his new movie, “Coming 2 America.”) It was 12:31 p.m. when they knocked on the door. Ms. Midgette had heard mixed reviews about the coronavirus vaccine, and had been squabbling with her sister about it. But she had been unable to travel to her native North Carolina and visit with relatives since the pandemic hit, and she was hopeful the vaccine would give her the freedom to do so. She believed in God, and in science. Ms. Midgette said her research into the vaccine led her to conclude that “the positivity greatly outweighs the negativity.” “My research tells me they are doing the best with the data they have collected so far to save lives,” Ms. Midgette said. “It reminds me of when we had the first computers, and they were so large, but we started teaching with them,” she said. “Now they fit in the palm of your hand. Had they waited until they got something smaller, the world would look different than it does today.” After getting the shot, she asked Dr. Abrashkin: “Is it all over?” “It’s hard to be isolated,” Ms. Midgette said. “I’m looking forward to being able to mingle again, in some way, somehow.” Source link Orbem News #homebound #seniors #shots #Vaccinate

[uwillbeefoundtonight]

"Chris you've put us in a terrible situation"

Chris: *Innocent little face*

OOOOO I'm so interested, it's so interesting cause everything looks bad - split and you're suddenly at a lot more at risk in such a dangerous place. Leave and you could be ignoring the letter but stay and you're risking the people on the ship and also clearly something is wrong. I love this so much omg hehe my beloved.

I'm not sure on my own thoughts on it - I think they made the correct decision as everything else would off looked sus af but also maybe someone should of stayed behind. I'm so hyped though!

Also everyone assumed that the people asking for help are trustworthy but what if they're the ones who are causing issues. They wanted them to stay in the town and caused the ship to fall? Unlikely but we can see.

Also someone does not what them here, doesn't want them to intervene. I wonder if they're going to try and somehow free some of the scary stuff down there/use them for their own power.

Idk I'm just saying bullshit now lol

[technoturian]

I finally finished Picard. I enjoyed about 80% of it but felt like it stumbled at the final hurdle, tbh. My main issues below...

- For a show that started with Picard and Data, it felt like the show’s main emotional line was Data/Picard and Soji/Data and that it would connect Data and Soji as strongly as it started to do with Dahj before she died. But then after they left the Troi-Rikers it felt like Data was completely absent from the story and it became not about who Soji is as a person but who Soji is as a synthetic, a basic “synthetics vs. organics” argument rather than about what makes a person alive and an individual and what made Soji in particular so special. Soji became less about being Data’s daughter and more about being part of Soong’s collective of synthetics.

It was so muddled what the message even was beyond that very surface level debate, to the point where Soong found out his daughter killed one of her own he goes, “they’re just as bad as us” -- once again lumping them all together -- and chooses to “switch sides” and stop them by force. Instead of, y’know, *talking* to the rest of his children after the one individual that was clearly evil and influencing them was out of the way.

If anyone had told Soji that Narek hadn’t been the one to kill Saga, wouldn’t it have been much easier to convince her? But that would’ve undercut the big fight and their big message that.. to be honest just didn’t make sense to me at all. Soji felt completely lost as a character the second the homeworld entered the picture. Suddenly she knew things and felt things because the story needed her to.

- And let’s talk about this clearly evil android sister of hers. Why does she look just like Soji except because of all the heavy handed twin metaphors? I thought that face was like... specifically designed by Data in his painting? I’m so confused. I’m incredibly confused about the timeline of events at this point. And I’m confused as to why the Data-like androids are so capable of emotion and obviously far superior to Data, but Data could not be rebuilt. I’m confused as to why Soji and Dahj were made, superior even to these new androids, and then mindwiped and shoved off to chase shadows rather than just getting some actual humans to do that spying and protecting these incredibly precious creations. I’m confused as to why no others like Soji and Dahj were made afterwards. I’m confused as to how Narek and the others even heard about Soji or Dahj without knowing where they came from, yet they were certain there were more like them (spoiler, there weren’t even more like them, so why did Narek’s group have that impression?).

- Speaking of Narek, what even happened to him at the end? Did I just miss it? I’ve been waiting this whole show for his boring manipulative ass to die, please don’t tell me they’re going to try to bring him back. I don’t need a discount CW Romulan “I did murders but I also cried so I’m sympathetic” Kylo Ren who thinks having a British accent and a leather jacket is the same as having a personality showing up AGAIN and sucking the air out of MORE scenes.

- There were a lot of things that felt unearned in the last episode, but Picard’s “death” is a big one. Riker just goes “Okay bye!” and then Picard dies and they’re playing it off like this old man dying surrounded by his loved ones but as much as they tried to build it up with all of those goodbyes, he met half of them like a week ago. His second in command for years just nopes out of the scene so some kid he read Dumas to once over a decade ago can be the family in this situation? This is supposed to feel meaningful and earned? It wasn’t. It would have been better earned if it had been solely between Soji and Picard, as they had invested most in this relationship, and them ‘having each other’, and yet the idea of Soji finding belonging with Picard was practically thrown by the wayside in those last two episodes to ask “bigger” but less emotionally satisfying questions about her status as a synthetic. So in what should be the most emotional scene in the entire season, he just dies with a half-hearted “aww, you guys” to the new team and I felt... not much. And then it doesn’t even count! And then we’re having a funeral, but now it’s for Data? The same Data who y’all forgot to even talk about during most of that synthetics vs. organics dialogue??? It was nice to see Data again, but completely unearned by the events of the episode.

- Speaking of unearned... This show’s handling of its ‘romances’ is abysmal. It’s kind of sad that Agnes and Rios are the romance with the most buildup simply by virtue of the two of them actually having a FULL conversation with one another before making out. I really disliked Agnes and Rios in the end, partially because I don’t think they adequately built it up (even though like I said, it’s sadly the relationship they put the most effort into building), but also partially because I selfishly want Rios to die so Picard can captain and we can just have more of the great hologram Rioses because they’re way more fun. And also I love holograms more than people. Blame the Holodoc.

Soji/Narek was cringe-inducing garbage, an absolutely artless manipulation from a guy with zero charisma whose entire existence depends on him seducing a girl and him doing so by being evasive, distant and moody. Just the worst. And somehow that makes her like him instead of running for the hills, because he throws in the odd non-sequitur love confession two days into their relationship.

I thought Maddox was Agnes’ father in that old vid until she kissed him and that was. Woof. That was a real gross brain switch. In any case, not a fan, but I will say MAYBE this relationship should really earn the ‘most developed’ title because they were actually in a relationship. And she literally murdered him.

And don’t get me started on Seven and Raffi coyly threading fingers together in the final scene after, to my recollection, not even having a single conversation together??? Why do this? Why? *Why* do this. If you wanted to get them together but you know you’ve done no work on it, save it for a possible second season or *don’t do it at all*. Seven and Raffi being randomly paired off at the end made me wonder why they didn’t just throw in Soji/Elnor too for the whole set. Raffi/Agnes is more believable than Seven/Raffi because at least she gave her cake. Seven/Rios is more believable because they had that one shoe-horned heart-to-heart.

While we’re talking about alternate pairings, I personally think they all should be paired off with a member of Rios’ holosuite. Including Picard. INCLUDING RIOS. Because Santiago Cabrera is too hot for words and there are SIX of him on that ship.

- Another reason Seven/Raffi being thrown together was kind of infuriating to me is it felt the same as the scene where she said she had no one, and basically any scene that was like “Seven is completely alone and adrift and THIS is her new family! Just forget that she’s only had one random heart-to-heart with Rios and a few cute dialogues with Elnor and other than that absolutely no contact with any of these people.”

Where the heck are the rest of the Voyager crew? Okay, so nobody liked Chakotay with Seven. Okay, so Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan didn’t get along so it would be unlikely to ever see them together on-screen. But Janeway literally loved Seven so much she rewrote time just to save her life or whatever that series finale was about. The Doctor, who knows *exactly* how it feels to be disenfranchised and dehumanized, is her best friend. Naomi Freakin’ Wildman who Seven called family who would absolutely have been there for her if she needed her. Why did they make her so sad and throw away all the rest of Voyager’s crew to do it?

I loved a lot of the stuff with Seven more than I thought I would after some of the things I’ve heard. But when I read someone say how “sad” they’d made her life, I have to agree. And mashing her into this crew at the end without putting in the time to show how she can fit aside from a few scenes with Elnor feels wrong and sloppy. If anything I would’ve liked her to leave with the borg at the end and then she could make another amazing grand entrance near the beginning of season two. Because basically the best things about Seven in this show were her kicking in the door scenes.

[phantomchick]

Tony Stark Fic Recs

Burning Candles - by kerravon Hurt/comfort, exhaustion, concussions, hurt tony, steve is a bro, nick fury being morally shady, the avengers! Summary: A few months have passed since the Avengers fought the Chitauri, and the team is coming together, except for Tony, who seems to be coming apart. At first, Steve assumes that he's just being irresponsible and annoying, but then JARVIS clues him in.

Fifth Time Lucky - by Arkada oneshot, fluff, this fic is short, sweet and a lot of fun. Well worth the read. Summary:  Tony Stark has five soulmates, but he gave up on finding any of them a long time ago.

Hide A Heart Of War - by RayShippouUchiha Tony Centric 2 chapter fic. Flower soul mark au. EXCELLENT ANGST.  Lots of feels, there’s also a slow burn romance in the background. Rhodey is a good bro. Loving all the descriptions of the soulmarks. Summary:  “You’ve got war in your heart boy,” Howard sneers, “don’t ever try and pretend to be anything but what you are.” Tony feels the familiar burn of a flower mark being etched into his skin but he doesn’t look, doesn’t try and check to see what it is. Instead he keeps his eyes on Howard and his hands cupped around his bleeding mouth and nose.

The (Not So) Great Pretender - by RayShippouUchiha Complete, secret identities, tony/bucky which i don’t usually ship but hey this author really makes it worth it. Oblivious Avengers. Hilarious but also angsty? Summary: Basically no one believes Tony when he tells them he’s Iron Man so he’s just... reluctantly keeping his secret identity going? It’s super funny.

To Victor Goes the Spoils - by tisfan Tony Stark/Victor von Doom, 10 chapters, complete, secret identities. Summary: In which Doom finds himself at a super hero masked ball... and gaining the attentions of the handsome and charming Tony Stark...Just one dance... just one kiss... before Doom unleashes his evil plot. Backstory: I accidentally stumbled on this doom x iron man fic so i thought i’d read it for laughs but then the fic itself was really good and I was suckered into shipping it. Now I’m in rarepair hell. The end. 

Iron Man Yes, Tony Stark...Not Recommended - by lilsmartass Gen. Complete. 9 chapters. Angst, lots of angst. Hurt/comfort. Unintentional bullying. Rhodey is the captain of the tony stark defence squad. AND HE WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE. Summary: Clint and Steve have both seen Natasha’s report on Tony and expect him to be a certain way. With Pepper now out of the picture, Bruce in India and Thor is Asgard they have no one to show them just how wrong first impressions can be.

That Which Kills Us - by Ironlawyer Ultimates!verse, steve/tony, oneshot, internalised homophobia, Tony is not a good patient. Summary: Sometimes Tony hates being alive as much as he hates dying. Trying to juggle duties to The Ultimates and a terminal illness isn’t exactly easy. Throw in an irate Steve Rogers and things just get too damn complicated.

Doomed To Failure - by DobbyRocksSocks Oneshot, excellent content, i read this fic and then i had to sit in my chair and be like ‘whoa’ for a while. This au is very well done! Summary: Everyone is born with their soulmate on one wrist, and their mortal enemy on the other. What do you do when it's the same person?

Say Goodbye to Yesterday - by melonbutterfly 4 chapter fic, complete, time loop, team building, alien invasion. time travel is a trope i keel over for this you must learn. Summary:  The day after the invasion Tony wakes up and his tower is intact again; everything is exactly the way it was before this whole mess went down. 

Don't Bet Against the House - by AlexTheShipper 2 chapter fic, complete, protective Jarvis, team dynamics, fluff Summary:  In which jokes about the arc reactor are not taken lightly, not by JARVIS who will never again sit trapped in his servers as someone attempts to kill Sir.

From A to Z - by Rachel500 26 chapter fic.Complete. Very very good, *sips fruit juice out of my champaigne glass* a classic of the genre! I’m a sucker for time travel as a trope, pair that with fixing the disaster that was the mcu chronology? BUDDY I’M SOLD.\ Summary: “OK, hypothetically, you get sent back in time one year. Does that make a difference?” Strange asked. “Two? Three? Could you live through the worst experience of your life again to preserve enough of the timeline to continue? Could you stand aside and let someone you love live through a bad experience in their life?” “OK. I get it. Bad idea.” Tony smirked at Strange to cover for his unease. “So. Plan B?” Strange grinned but there was a serious glint in his eyes. “How about we make it plan Z?”

Acceptable Risk Is Not - by izumi2 Super bamf tony, oneshot, Maria Hill redemption arc. Captain america the winter soldier. Not steve friendly but this can be blamed on the plot of the movie making zero sense with hindsight. Summary: what if someone considered an alternate solution to the data drop?  THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE FICS FOR REASONS SO PLEASE TRY IT.

The Course of Reason - by Infie Oneshot, aftermath of captain america civil war, Carol Danvers is a relateable ho whom I stan, the saltiest of all possible responses to that film. YESSSS. This is it. The fic that finally knocked me over the edge onto the civil war team iron man side of the fence. BEHOLD. It’s greatness. Summary: The UN has asked Tony to discuss their options with the Fugitive Avengers. It does not go the way they expect it to.

Uncompromising Principles - by Kizmet 19 chapter fic, it’s completed and it’s very well done, legal drama, Tony/Pepper, Steve is... a good person who made mistakes, he’s trying anyway, i can’t say more without spoilers, but it’s A Ride, like you’ll read this and it’ll make you have Feelings and Thoughts and it’s very clever in how it goes about making those Feelings and Thoughts happen. Captain America: civil war aftermath fic. Summary: After leaving Siberia Captain America begins his plans to overturn the Accords. But not all is as it seems.Not compliant with the end of "Civil War".

To intervene - by apathyinreverie Currently at 15 chapters, ongoing, a lot of fun, tony stark has a heart, tony and rhodey, civil war team iron man, mutant kind, pro accords. Summary: The one where Rhodey stages an intervention after the whole Ultron fiasco.

Veni, Vidi, Amavi - by Maedlin Treat yo’self. It’s a Time travel fic. ONE OF THE BEST: Bamf Tony Stark, Bamf Jarvis, Palladium Poisoning, Complete, 26 chapter fic, but you’ll wish it was longer by the time you’re done. (Luckily there’s an ongoing sequel series to enjoy!) THIS FIC IS SUPREMELY GOOD! And HEAVY on the Jarvis love! DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR AND TRY IT SERIOUSLY YOU WON’T REGRET READING THIS. Highest of recs goes to this. Summary:  (We came, we saw, we loved.) Tony's not the hero type. To suggest otherwise would be outlandish and fantastic, clearly.  Yet somehow, he's the one that's responsible for saving the universe. Now, he's a decade in the past. He's just revealed to the world he's Iron Man.  Tony finds himself facing dozens of old problems, and as time passes the ripple effect of his presence generates ever more new issues. All the while, the impending threat of Thanos looms ever-closer.

With One More Try (Can We Start Again) - by Infinite_Monkeys 5 Chapter fic, and it’s Completed. Time travel fix it, not strictly tony stark-centric but still a firm fave, A masterpiece. Definitely in my top 5 time travel fics and i’ve read a LOT so that’s saying something! Contains: That Good Loki Content. Summary: Loki's attempt to conquer Earth has, to his great dismay, succeeded spectacularly. When Thanos sends him to collect the Time Stone, he strikes a deal with the Stone's keeper: He'll be sent back to the beginning of the invasion, and this time, armed with knowledge about his opponents, he can lose properly. Or: a time loop fic in which Loki does increasingly desperate things to try and get the Avengers to defeat him already.

(Science) Bros before (HYDRA) Hoes - by Kizmet Tony is the captain of the Bruce Banner defence squad, Legal Shenanigans, It’s marked as Ongoing but what’s there is satisfying enough on its own I promise, basically a huge callout for Johannesburg, Hulk deserves a hug. Summary: The Hulk isn’t taken from the planet after AoU, there’s no one conveniently out of reach to take the fall for Johannesburg… A choice is going to have to be made: Wanda or the Hulk. 

A Larger Matter - by TheSovereigntyofReality Oneshot. Consequences! The ‘Steve’s blood’ scene in the agent carter tv show always pissed me off so this fic was uh Cathartic shall we say, but honestly you can read it and have it make perfect sense even without having seen the show, Howard Stark, teenaged Tony, Team Stark. Woohoo. Summary: When Peggy Carter tipped out Steve's blood, she had no idea the hornet's nest she just kicked.

Who in their Right Mind... - by AnonEhouse Crackfic, Oneshot Summary: Dum-E saves the universe

Catching Butterflies - by GremlinSR Ongoing, 6 chapters and counting, very very good content, like you wouldn’t think so from the summary which is a little bland but it’s actually very very good. Believe me when I tell you: It contains The Good Stuff. Time Travel fix it, Bamf Tony Stark, Bamf yet confused T’Challa. Summary: Tony snaps his fingers...and wakes up five days before the events that led to the death of JARVIS and the creation of Ultron. He decides he won't let the future he lived come to pass, no matter how thoroughly he has to destroy the timeline.

The War is Far From Over Now - by Dont_call_me_Carrie Ongoing, 40 dhapters and counting, this fic is clearly the author’s baby and they put so much work into it so watching it grow is a pleasure. Protective Jarvis, Protective Stark Industries Employees who like their boss. Rhodey is a good Bro, Awesome Pepper Potts. Fix it via Accidental World Domination. Summary: In which Tony does not, in fact, intend to take over the world.... unfortunately, everyone else missed that particular memo.

Can I Quote You On This? - by Wix Oneshot, Mcu critical, Avengers Critical, salty, extremely salty. Uncovering Plot Holes is easy when the road’s full of them. Summary:  Christine was sent in to just do a puff piece about the Avengers. What she uncovers instead is so much more interesting.

Strong Enough to Bend - by Kizmet Oneshot, salt and shade, tony stark & steve rogers, the author has Opinions about mcu steve so if that’s not your thing i wouldn’t rec it, not steve friendly? Summary: Steve ‘watches’ the videos on Tony Stark that Shield provides him with

Take that Away and What are You? - by Kizmet Oneshot, kidnapping, bamf tony stark, not steve friendly, I love this fic Summary: Tony and Steve get kidnapped. Since Tony’s wearing a tux, Steve figures it’s all up to him to get them out of this mess. Steve never really thought much about the conditions under which Tony built the Mach I.

Facing the devil (and the deep, blue sea) - by petroltogo Oneshot, au, not steve friendly, steve isn’t a good person in this fic, but it’s juicy, soulmate au, soulmarks Summary:  Alternate title: No obvious truth  Post-CACW: In an alternate universe where everyone has the name of their soulmate and the name of their greatest enemy written on their wrists, recently captured ex-Avenger Steve Rogers receives an unexpected visitor two days before the start of his trial. [The trick is figuring out which name is tied to which fate.] [The trick is realising you’ll never know.]

Asking Why - by Kizmet Oneshot. the relief and catharsis of logic. Nat, Hill, Cho, Rhodey and Pepper sit Tony down to talk about what led to the creation of Ultron. Scapegoating is stupid: The Fanfic edition. Summary: Applying analytical techniques in the aftermath of Ultron

[3w-writer-with-wings]

The end of VRAINS season 2, why was Lightning a failure and future predictions.

To those of you who follow my theories and predictions for future VRAINS episodes and are wondering why I haven’t posted anything lately - there are two reasons:

1) This show is continuing to surprise me, by throwing the most insane plotlines on me that I simply don’t even know what to think anymore. Shin Yoshida is truly a talented scriptwriter and I’m both terrified and excited about what he’ll think of next. Barian Arc and ARC V manga were just a warm-up - VRAINS is the real deal.

2) I still haven’t got over how both Bowman’s duels that were completely underwhelming and made to win. I mean I get it, he is supposed to be an AI that can learn and had to win, but not like that! I was sort of okay with Blue Maiden’s defeat, but Takeru? It was downright disgusting to watch him pull the exact cards he needed and got rid of damage or direct attacks with complete luck. If you want to show off his duelling skills, then do so - not make him overpowered just because he has to be. You basically made him cheat and sure if he was an episodic villain, that’s okay but for a major boss opponent that’s a bit no-no for me. It felt like Pegasus duel (who mind read every one and practically killed off Yugi in order to win) and Don Thousand duel (who actually had a card that makes you LOSE the duel automatically if you didn’t do something), so that was one of the major flaws in the otherwise a really intense round of episodes.

 Okay, now that I have this out of my system, I can finally focus on the main topic - what will happen next. So I am one of those people who checks the cast lists and episode summaries every Tuesday, so if you don’t want any spoilers to stop reading at this point. I apologize, but my thoughts will be heavily centred around the info that came with the summaries for what appears to be the final episodes of season 2.

So where are we right now? Team Playmaker has been massively reduced to only Yusaku, Ai, Ryoken and Ryoken’s loyal generals aka. Faust, Vyra and Dr. Genome. Bowman has absorbed four Ignis, including Earth. I was a bit confused about how he got Earth when I remembered back in episode 79 during the conversation between Windy and Lightning, it was mentioned that Bowman was on a “special mission” and that mission was probably to hack in SOL and take Earth’s data. Ryoken brought it up many times that SOL is not even close to as experienced as he is, so it was most likely really easy for Bowman to get Earth.

Then there’s Yusaku who has just been through another traumatizing experience. The duel between him and Kusanagi has shown just how little Yusaku actually knows about himself as it was clear that he knew something like this would happen, but when it actually happened, he froze completely. As sad as it was, it was shown really realistically since this is something that is very likely to happen to victims of past abuse like Yusaku. I was already impressed by the Takeru vs. Ryoken duel - the pure emotion and amazing pacing and Yusaku’s reaction to the duel with Kusanagi was even better. It showed that no matter how strong Yusaku makes himself to be, he is just a traumatized child underneath a superhero suit. The pain he suffered was the one he was trying so hard to avoid hence why he was reluctant to call Kusanagi his friend or make friends in the first place - he was afraid of the pain of loss. At the moment Ryoken and Lightning are facing off in a duel that will likely last three full episodes and here’s what I think - Ryoken will be the next one to fall.

But why Ryoken? Well several reasons. I’m not saying Ryoken will lose due to a poor strategy - Lightning will most likely play dirty. The summaries revealed that Lightning will use Jin as a hostage and knowing Ryoken, it will work. The guy might’ve been one of the most ruthless rivals so far but at the same time he is also the one to suffer the most. His brutality has been always projected towards the Ignis, namely Windy who killed/seriously injured his partner and Lightning who is using Jin as a puppet. Ryoken might not show it, but he has a great sympathy for the Lost Incident victims and despite him stating that he “regretted saving them” I think that he still believes that he did the right thing by reporting the incident. It was revealed that Jin will be speaking in both episodes as well, so if Lightning pulls a cruel trick like threatening to destroy Jin’s soul right in front of him or use Jin in some other sickening way. It is also possible that there will be a draw or something else will happen to Ryoken. It was also revealed that even Ryoken’s generals will sacrificed themselves to stop Bowman. Akira and Emma might also be absorbed in that data storm that takes the souls of the people logged in VRAINS - awfully similar to how those charms for Earthbound Immortals in 5Ds worked. 

And the result of all this - Yusaku and Ai are completly on their own against Bowman. This will be the final boss of this season. Yusuku will not only have to be the hero everyone depends on, but will have to keep his emotions under tight control. If Kusanagi’s death wasn’t enough, just think how will he react to Ryoken’s death - a person who has been his symbol of hope for the past ten years is gone too. I imagine it will be a really intense reaction which will cause yet another breakdown, but unlike with Kusanagi, I believe Ryoken will say something really meaningful just before he will fade away or even give him three reasons to defeat Bowman and Yusaku will use that as a coping mechanism to defeat Bowman. How will this duel conclude - I have no idea really. At this point, Yusaku will have to win - too many people had died in front of his eyes and this very same person plans to go after more people and change the world to his perfect image. And there’s another thing that sort of bugs me:

Bowman and Haru strangely look a lot like Shoichi and younger Jin. It is probably becuase Jin is Lightning’s Origin and because Shoichi was likely Jin’s three reasons. Also Lightning most likely didn’t have much to chose from when designing new AIs. Though this may have a much deeper meaning - I already kinda brought it up with my Haru is Real Jin theory, but just think - what if this has to do with the reason why Lightning was the only Ignis with no bright future with humans? Why did Light Ignis become an error in the first place? I believe it is because Jin gave up first. Apart from Yusaku, Takeru, Specter and Miyu, we don’t know much what was going on over those excruciating months, but I think Jin has lost his will to fight far before Lost Incident was over. Shoichi described him as a cheerful and kind person, a lot like Yuya and Yuma, and if those two would be put through such hell, they would likely break the most and give up at one point. Jin’s Ignis therefore didn’t recieve all necessary data to be properly developed like other Ignis. This may also be the reason why he kiddnaped Jin - using him as a puppet is a sort of a punishment since he probably blames him for all of this. “It is your fault I have no future! So you will spend the eternity as my prisoner.” 

Another less believable theory is that Lightning represents Jin’s anger. Because really, we’ve only seen Lightning being pissed off in the last few episodes. Before that he was calm and collected, like highly educated person in charge. But the second his insecurities were brought up, he completly lost it. Maybe Jin did develop strong hatred during the Lost Incident, resulting in Lightning’s own rage. Maybe Jin broke down at some point, crying and asking why that happened to him. After some time those tears might’ve turned into anger and swore to punish the people who did that to him, but then more time passed and Jin realized it was impossible and instead of plotting revenge he slowly became an empty shell of himself until he was rescued. That pushed down anger was then passed to Lightning.

One last detail that I would like to point out - Kusanagi Shoichi. Ryoken specifically ordered Faust that he has to get Shoichi. But why? Why would he need him for? One reason is kinda obvious - he needed him to wake up Yusaku. Faust and Dr. Genome entered the truck with unconscius Shoichi and after a while Yusaku woke up after hearing Shoichi’s voice. Coincidence? I think not - Faust and Dr. Genome did soemthing to wake Yusaku up. Let’s not forget - both Yusaku and Takeru are also in the truck, logged in VRAINS. Could be possible that they wired Shoichi’s duel disk to Yusaku’s chamber or something?

Plus that might not be the only reason why Ryoken needs him. The summories stated that Lightning will use Jin as a hostage. What if Ryoken will use Kusanagi’s body and his consciusness data that Ai holds in order to save Jin? What if Shoichi is in fact the ultimate weapon against Lightning? There is a high possibility that Jin was kidnapped while Shoich was looking after him, hence why he blames himself so much. Maybe Jin kept calling after his brother for months and Shoichi so became Jin’s three reasons. This may be the reason why Bowman looks like toughed up Shoichi - he represents the perfect savior. So what would happen when Jin sees his big brother? Will he manage to break through Lightning’s prison and finally be free of his hold? Breaking through the mind prison has been a common theme in yugioh so I won’t be surprised if VRAINS uses it as well. Maybe that’s what will lead to the happy screenshot in the new ending, of the two of them watching stars together. 

But what were to become of Yusaku, Ai and other Ignis. I imagine that no matter what happens, Bowman will absorb Lightning and maybe Ryoken as well (that way we will actually have Yusaku indirectly fighting all Ignis except for Ai, his entire team plus Specter and Blood Shepard - kinda like how possessed Yuya fought all of his friends) and the final battle will occur. Playmaker will have to save VRAINS once more.

And then? Maybe Bowman will give human society one more chance after his defeat. Considering how developed and honorable he has become in the last few episodes, I believe that he will realize that humans cannot be surpassed by AIs since they have something he will never be able to have. Bowman so releases everyone that he has absorbed and restores VRAINS back to the way it was, returning the souls back to the people who were sacrificed during the duel. Then he lets himself being absorbed in VRAINS, saying he won’t be alone since Haru is in there somewhere. This may be the last calm before the storm that is SOL (that still deserves to pay for all of their crimes!). And judging from this screenshot from the new ending, only Ai will be left.

 Now another source of what we may see is the new ending that is actually a one big tease. Right after Ai is shown, mourning after other Ignis, the scene switches to Roboppi watching the stars as the shooting star crosses the sky. What if that shooting star was Ai? What if this is the hint that Ai will sacrifice himself for others? There’s even a scene with Yusaku’s duel disk without Ai. The Dark Ignis has become really protective of Yusaku, so what would happen in the next fight against SOL, if something happens to Yusaku? Queen has proven to be the most merciless memeber of SOL, willing to kill a living being and risk an employee’s life for the good of the company. What is stopping her from getting her hands on the last Ignis in order to power up their own Artificial Ignis. SOL basically means sun and when you get too close to it, you get burnt. There’s no doubt Yusaku will do anything to keep his promise to Ai, especially now that he is the only one left. But what if SOL will discover Yusaku’s real identity and attack him in the real world? What if that will anger Ai to the point of turning completely against humans and become the very Ignis that Dr. Kogami was so afraid of?

Ai already hates SOL for killing Earth, so just imagine what he would do if they would capture and torture Yusaku, like Akira did in the first first few episodes. Maybe they will make it even more emotional by showing the flashbacks of how Yusaku was tortured during the Lost Incident while Ai’s eye couldn only observe. I often see Ai and Yusaku as Astral and Yuma and Astral has sacrificed himself for Yuma and also became corrupted. Shin Yoshida wrote a lot of Zexal episodes with such scenes, so there is a great possibility he will be in charge of the concluding story. 

What I would like to see? Ai becoming that terrifying Ignis when SOL invokes him by hurting Yusaku. Maybe Ai loses it to the point that he starts attacking everyone and Yusaku duels him in order to get him back to his senses. Maybe this last ending flashes before his eyes - showing the perfect reality where Ignis never existed and knowing that as long as he is there, more harm will come to Yusaku and the people he knows. So my prediction is - Yusaku will defeat Ai in one last duel to bring him to his old self and when it seems like Ai will be willing to recreate Cyberse and stay there, Ai will ultimately change his mind and instead sacrifice himself to wipe up any signs of Ignis research and data. The Lost Incident will once again become lost, but maybe this will be finally a chance for Yusaku and others to move one and live peacefully.

Happy, sad or bittersweet ending - I don’t really care as long as it is conclusive.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

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“Tag Game: Post the last sentence you wrote and tag as many people as...”

MASS EFFECTYRATH???

So when I play ME sometimes my partner hangs out in my room with me and I commentate to him, and he was hanging out with me while I was doing the Reaper IFF mission in ME2. And if you click around during that mission you can find the journal fragments from the scientists who boarded the dead Reaper and fell under its indoctrination, which features one of the most DOWNRIGHT CHILLING lines of the entire series: "Chandana said the ship was dead....but even a dead god can dream. A god--a real god--is a verb....it's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does."

And I paused the game, abominations and husks all over my team, and turned to my partner who knew nothing about the Kencyrath, and said very intensely "I AM GOING TO WRITE A KENCYRATH AU OF THIS WHERE TORI IS SHEPARD AND THE REAPERS ARE PERIMAL DARKLING AND JAME IS THE VANGUARD OF THEIR INVASION WHO BROKE FREE AND RAN, AND I AM GOING TO TITLE IT 'EVEN DEAD GODS DREAM'"

And now I am doing exactly that. Some high points below the cut, in which I approach Mass Effect canon with my usual tender disregard for the rules and Kencyrath with an uncommon disregard for spoilers.

High Councillor Gerridon was one of a long-extinct, broadly human-like alien species, looked to as brilliant scientists and the creators of the mass relays and the Citadel by the current Council races.  His people, the Shanir, were wiped from existence mysteriously about fifty thousand years ago, and no one knows why.  The truth of the matter is that Gerridon betrayed the previous Citadel to the Reapers in return for immortality.  He sort of got it--he's the heart of the Master, a Reaper made from the genetic material of his people.  Jamethiel Dream-weaver was his twin and consort, who aided him in the annihilation of the Citadel and everyone aboard by using her species' natural biotic abilities to hold the entire populace in thrall until the Reapers came.  For this service, and for the potential she showed to be a weapon in future cycles, she was spared.  However, this massive expenditure of power began to erode her control over her abilities, and in turn her mind, and so Jamethiel was placed in stasis when it became too much for her to bear, until the next cycle came to an end and the Master decided to try a new method of harvest.

The new method of harvesting a cycle is named Jamethiel, for her mother, and when she's seven years old, the blood of her mother's ancient race finally comes to full bloom.  Jame sees her father, the disgraced general of the First Contact War who has been court martialed and drummed out of the Alliance for his recklessness that obliterated the Fifth Fleet, point a gun at her nursemaid's head, and without help, without an implant, without anything, she throws up a suddenly clawed hand and hurls Ganth into a bulkhead with a biotic shove.  The explosion of power is gone as quickly as it appears, and when Ganth picks himself up, he drives his daughter out into the void in an escape pod.  Aliens are less than animals, in Ganth's opinion, and while lashing out against him might be an unforgivable betrayal, it's the new, strange claws on Jame's hands that earns her exile.

Jame hasn't lost all her memories entirely, although they're horrifically hazy for the first decade and change after her escape pod is lost in the black.  Something about indoctrination at such a young age seems to have eaten away her ability to form memories at the time, although she's retained quite a few skills whose origins she's not quite sure of.  Somewhere in that fuzzy time period, she was given a biotic implant lightyears more advanced than anything the Council races can boast, so that she could focus her abilities with more ease--the splice of human and Shanir is dicey at times, and she seems to have gotten all the power and none of the biological road blocks that would normally keep her from becoming a living supernova.  It took a long time, the labor of years, for Jame to pull herself out of the endless black water of indoctrination.  One breath at a time, building biotic walls around herself.  It was impossible.  She did it anyway.  Then she heard that the latest cycle was almost ready for harvest....

Back on Ganth's ship of exile, Torisen grows up.  People die.  Torisen is not a biotic, is not an alien, is nothing like his sister.  He is a loyal and obedient son.  Until he's not.  Torisen Talissen, possessing the clothes on his back and not a single credit more, finds the turians before he finds the Alliance, and it's Primarch Adric Ardeth who sees to it that this young boy doesn't starve before he's old enough to become a soldier.  It's also Primarch Ardeth who gets him into the Alliance.  There are more strings on that arrangement than Torisen knows.

His father's name is Torisen Talissen's greatest secret, when he finally reaches Earth, the Alliance, because Ganth Knorth is a war criminal whose methods in the First Contact War were notoriously brutal, whose final stand with the Fifth Fleet cost thousands upon thousands of lives and left every ship under his command shattered and drifting.  Only a small handful of his commanders know the truth, and then Torisen is hand-selected for N-7 and half his life is classified anyway.  He's not a biotic, he's not an alien, he's a good soldier and the most stubborn bastard any of his comrades have ever seen, and the mystery of where he came from fades under the glamour of his exploits.  The Urakarn colony is the one everyone knows about.  No one questions why Torisen fights tooth and nail to take Burr, his most trusted lieutenant, and Rowan, the medic he dragged from the sand, everywhere with him, after Urakarn.  Even when he's assigned as XO on the Gothregor, second in command to Captain Sheth Sharptongue, they go with him.  

On the Gothregor's maiden voyage, they're assigned to Spectre Ashe, no last name given, an asari that Torisen knows as a friend of a friend (the friend is Harn, he's already on board because Ashe requested some muscle), and orders to take her to Eden Prime.

While the Gothregor plots her jump to the first mass relay, Jame steals a data chip and her armor and the first assault rifle she gets her hands on, and runs, not stopping even when she blunders into a Beacon that the Master has been experimenting with.  Her shuttle's navigation doesn't survive her rather explosive escape from the Master, so she slaves the thing to the first geth ship she sees and hopes for the best.

The geth ship is headed for Eden Prime.

Other highlights:

Tori actually super is a biotic, don't tell him, Shanir bloodlines allow limited biotic use without an implant and he's been unintentionally using it for years

I wanted Harn to be the captain of the Gothregor before she's given to Tori, but then I realized that the Best Outcome here is that Harn and Marc are both krogans but on diametrically opposed ends of the Self Control Spectrum.  Harn is your classic krogan berserker, Marc is a really good cook who is also prepared to fuck you up with a shotgun if you mess with Jame.  Also I just.  Really love Sheth and wanted him to be here.

Pereden is Saren, the Ardeths are all turians, you know I'm right

Torisen is the first human Spectre

The first narrative arc here (the contents of the first game) mostly feature Tori's in-group as squad mates, ft: 

Lt Burr, a sniper/assault rifle specialist

Kirien J'ran, an asari biotic who specializes in the history of the Shanir

Harn Griphard, a krogan mercenary whose record is actually pretty legit, shotgun specialist and berserker

Lt Cmdr Donkerri Caineron, disgraced grandson of an Alliance admiral, assigned to the Gothregor as a spy, pistol/shotgun specialist, he dies on Virmire

Grimly nar Weald, an upbeat quarian machinist, a friend of Tori's who's been on his Pilgrimage for a bit, a shotgun/tech specialist

Not a squadmate, but in the whole first arc the pilot of the ship is very quiet and unwilling to talk but over the course of the narrative Bel-tairi warms up to people a little

Jame is not a squadmate, she and Tori are both main characters in the first arc and if this was a game you'd have to take both always, but Jame is a biotic powerhouse and Tori is an assault rifle/melee specialist, don't question me

Tori and Jame stop Sovereign the Horde and still no one believes them about the Reapers, even though they make Torisen a whole-ass Council member and Jame a whole-ass Spectre (she doesn't even HAVE a military rank, she's not even PART of the Alliance, everyone on her ship calls her "boss" or "Jame")

It somehow does not improve things, re: Jame and Tori's relationship, to be more or less imprisoned on a ship together fighting the geth, and they'd die for each other but also everyone learns real quick to keep their heads down when they start fighting, until....

The Gothregor is destroyed not long after the Horde, and Jame Knorth (Tori and Jame take their real last name again, after everything, might as well redeem the family line while they're at it) is one of the casualties, killed saving Bel-tairi.  Tori has two years to become intimately familiar with the fact that he may, actually, have fucked up.  Then his sister shows up in his office with a new ship called the Tagmeth, new scars lacing her face and shoulder, and new horrible information about the fate of the galaxy.

Admiral Caineron is not actually running nearly as much as he thinks he is, he is being puppeteered by Matriarch Rawneth of the asari, but he's the one bankrolling the Tentir program and technically speaking Brier and Rue are his spies.  In the second arc, squadmates include:

Marcarn, an unnaturally calm krogan mercenary who's an intermittent presence in the first game and takes an intense interest in making sure Jame eats regular meals, shotgun specialist and Local Tank

Brier Ironthorn, genetically engineered perfect soldier, stolen from her father by her mother at a young age, orphaned not that much later (Tori brought her mother’s tags back to her), Tentir officer assigned as Jame's XO who turns on Caineron pretty quick-like, biotic mostly specializing in your standard push/lift/slam assortment rather than Jame's more intense reave/warp/singularity skillset, she refused to place a control chip in Jame's implant during the resurrection

Rue Mindrear, Tentir officer and self-appointed quartermaster of the Tagmeth because Jame has no idea what she's doing, assault rifle/tech specialist

Bane, ex-prisoner with unusually erratic biotic abilities (Jack, okay, he's Jack, Ishtier tried to replicate legends of Shanir biotic powers and Bane hates/loves Jame enormously even before they figure out that they're related, he dies on the suicide run no matter what)

Grimly again, he and Jame are kinda tight by now and she politely pretends not to know that he's keeping Tori elaborately posted on their activities

Timmon Ardeth, grandson of the Primarch, looking to prove his father's ultimate innocence, sniper/electronics specialist, insufferable due to constantly hitting on Jame

Kindrie Walker, not a squadmate but the new medic, who grows a spine over the course of a year of yelling at Jame to sit down and let him look at her broken ribs, Rowan got a job at Huerta so she could be close to Torisen

Aerulan, a geth mobile platform named after the quarian word for Legion, sniper/electronics specialist

Probably some other people but Jesus this is long already

Tori comes back to the Tagmeth for the third arc, after the Reapers start to hit hard, because he's in some minor-to-moderate hot water with the Council on account of using his accesses to help Bel steal the Tagmeth and break his sister out of her own trial.  This is also where they finally get to make full use of the datachip Jame stole waaaaaay back at the beginning, because the Reapers are here and she is the only person in the galaxy who has a record of previous cycles, including some odd schematics they can’t unravel.

They find a Shanir in stasis, his name is Terribend, and while he's too weak to fight for them, he might be able to help decode some of those schematics...especially the one labeled as the Ivory Knife.

The third game includes a Greatest Hits squad assembly of those left living and also features Jame and Tori actually functionally working together for once.

Um...I have no idea if I'll ever write this whole thing because I’m realizing it would be forty bazillion words, but I'll probably yeet snippets of it into the void from time to time.

[jira-chii]

World 1 story summary

A friend needed a summary of story mode ASAP so I quickly wrote this up in about a week.

Very obvious spoiler warning.

Some notes:

This is by no means a perfect recount of World 1. In fact, it is not even based on my actual experience (I watched this playlist by Shinchan, and viewed each video in its entirety exactly once). 

This version of World 1 is fully voiced and uses the Shoumetsu Toshi 2 tutorial, which I did not experience when I first played story mode back in 2015. However, I imagine this is the version most players would now be familiar with. (Honestly though, from what I remember, apart from the beginning the changes are very minor, so you’re not missing much).   

I do still want to replay main story for myself, take screenshots, and rewrite this post eventually. In particular, I want to go into more detail about the gameplay mechanics that contribute to the story (like literally having to move back a few chapters to progress at one stage of the story).

As this is a summary focused on giving an overview of the story only, I have most certainly missed out on many nuances in the character dialogue. These are not necessary to understand the story, however they add a lot more depth to character personalities and motives. This will be something else I will pay more attention to when I replay the game. But not now.

I have not recounted each chapter exactly as it plays out in the game, because 1) I was writing this in a rush, and 2) there is a lot of repetition. I have tried to keep everything thematically consistent, although this means I may have shifted the order of some of the information you find out. Therefore, if you are using this as a guide for your first playthrough, do not read my chapter summaries until you have actually finished the entirety of said chapter (which are the sections on the map which have the character 話 at the end of them), or else there may be experience-ruining spoilers.

Alright, enjoy.

Shoumetsu Toshi's opening literally throws you right into the action. In fact, you are informed, it's the final battle to save the world! Yuki tells you to collect spheres while she uses tamashii to fight against ????. It is in this moment of intense tension that you are given a tutorial on how to play the game.

Just as you are getting the hang of things, ???? reveals  a new power. A panicked Yuki exclaims it feels similar to when the city “disappeared”.

Suddenly, as ???? is about to attack, the game freezes and the screen glitches. We pan out to a shot of the city in time to see a silent explosion.

The narration explains this “second Shoumetsu” brought about a new world and the start of a new story. It all began with the “first Shoumetsu” that happened in that city, which we will now turn to.

Three years after the initial Shoumetsu, inside a mysterious organisation, hooded figures panic as they search for an intruder..on a scooter?

Takuya is a courier with a request to save a girl and get her out of the facility. The girl's name is Yuki and she is able to summon these beings called tamashii. Takuya doesn't stress the details though, and just follows her instructions to keep driving and collect spheres. After all, his mission will end once he delivers her to his client and they won't have to see each other ever again.

Takuya brings Yuki to a research facility, where they meet up with a scientist. Scientist researched “parallel worlds” with Yuki's father. And it seems like he's not done with Takuya just yet.

Scientist explains that three years ago, a city disappeared (“Shoumetsu” means disappearance/extinction/annihilation). They now call that area “Lost”, and he wants Takuya to take Yuki there. Takuya accepts the job after making sure the reward is worth it.

After the opening sequence, we find out the hooded figures from the organisation are after the two of them to get Yuki back.

PART 1: Searching for Nakama

Chapter 1

Takuya communicates with Scientist through a mobile phone while he drives his scooter. First he wants to know why Yuki wants to go to the place where a city disappeared, the Shoumetsu Toshi, Lost.

Scientist said Yuki's father, who should have disappeared in the incident three years ago, sent a message to Yuki saying he is waiting at Lost.

During battle Takuya asks Yuki about the tamashii. They are the “wills” of people who disappeared in Lost. There are even little girls, who probably aren't even aware they have turned into tamashii. But some tamashii are also able to realise their unfulfilled dreams in this form, as was the case with a singer we fight.

Yuki can summon tamashii in battle if she is able to visualise their “wills” or “feelings”. For that, she needs to know a little bit of their background information, so Takuya takes her to an information broker he knows, called Headhunter.

Headhunter has a list of all the people who disappeared in the Shoumetsu. He is a businessman who works only when money is involved. According to his introductory bio, he also likes anmitsu and geisha.

Chapter 2

After the visit, scientist calls again, with another request. He wants Takuya to retrieve some stolen data, on Yuki's father's research. The culprits are the mysterious organisation that Takuya rescued Yuki from.

Takuya happens to have a friend called Geek who is great at finding information. But when he tries to call him, Geek doesn't pick up.

Yuki and Takuya's relationship is still tense, with neither completely trusting the other yet. Yuki comments that all of Takuya's acquaintances are weird people. Takuya refuses to talk to her about anything unrelated to the job. So when he asks Yuki to explain her dad's research she is unwilling to say anything. Until Takuya makes her realise he is putting his own life on the line to help her, so the least she could do is let him know why.

Yuki's father was researching how to make tamashii stronger.  But that's strange, because tamashii didn't exist until after Lost, so how could her father be researching them before the Shoumetsu happened? Yuki won't tell him anymore though, because he won't open up about himself either.

The two finally arrive at Geek's place. Geek managed to get the data but he is very scared. He doesn't want to be involved anymore. He doesn't want anything to do with Yuki, the girl involved in Lost. He agrees to give them the data if they leave asap.

The men from the organisation find out their computers were hacked, but they definitely won't make another mistake. They won't hand over the  “evolution” data.

Well, guess what our next mission is.

Chapter 3

Scientist had planted a spy in the organisation who is currently stealing the evolution data. Takuya and Yuki are to meet up with them to retrieve it.

Yuki is still feeling hurt over what Geek said, but she says she's used to it. A lot of people said hurtful things to her out of fear in the three years after the Shoumetsu. Takuya knows it's also impossible to like everyone you meet, so he reassured her it's OK.

There are a lot of grass enemies in the area so the best element to put in our team is fire. Like the guy in the suit Yuki first summoned. Yuki clarifies his name is Akira, but won't go further into their relationship.

Takuya changes topics and asks about the mysterious organisation. They did experiments on Yuki to get her power. Takuya knows they are a dangerous group to mess with, because he used to be involved with them, before he became a courier. That’s why he knows they don't let off traitors easily. So we should probably be wary of Scientist, who was gutsy enough to plant a spy in there. What kind of man is Scientist, and is he really trustworthy?

Yuki admits even she sometimes can't tell what Scientist is thinking, but he is the last living person carrying on her father's will. They have no choice but to rely on him.

Takuya gives her a piece of advice, which is to be true to yourself. What an uncharacteristically useful thing to say. Well actually he didn't come up with it himself, he read it in a book.

Yuki wonders what Takuya was doing before he became a courier. He was in a detective group, but he doesn't want to tell her why he quit. She asks if he still keeps in contact with his friends from back then. Takuya gives an unconvincing answer of “sometimes”.

Takuya and Yuki arrive, but there is nobody around to greet them. Then they find a corpse. It looks like the organisation is onto them. But they have the data now. The spy hid it inside their mouth so the enemy wouldn't find out. But how important is this mission to need everyone to go to such lengths?

Takuya tells Yuki to go outside and take some deep breaths to calm down while he sends the data to Scientist.

The hooded guys from the organisation realise Takuya and Yuki must have gotten the data. Their next strategy is use their network, the detective group.

Chapter 4

Takuya is furious at Scientist. Clearly he knew what was up, so why would he keep quiet and subject a young girl to a scene like that? Scientist explains it was because he didn't want to risk Takuya pulling out of the job after knowing the dangers. Takuya makes it clear he is definitely going to see the job through to the end, so he doesn't want to see Yuki hurt anymore.

Poor Yuki is still in shock. Takuya diverts the topic to another acquaintance of his they are going to get help from. Researcher is his childhood friend and an expert at gathering data. She was also his colleague in the detective group. The truth is, he never wanted to contact her again, but Yuki taught him that relying on people once in a while is not such a bad thing. He hasn't talked to her in a while because “it's complicated”, but he assures her Researcher is trustworthy.

Why did Takuya leave the detective agency even with someone as trustworthy as Researcher in it? Takuya still won't tell the details, but he claims he was put in charge of a big case, was told by his higher ups to pull out, got made to take responsibility for it and was consequently kicked out of the group. It sounds bad, but in a big organisation it isn't strange for one person’s happiness to be sacrificed for the group collective. But Yuki probably won't understand until she's older.

Researcher greets the two of them at the pub, and says she has good news and bad news. The bad news is that she has reported them to the higher ups in the agency. They want Takuya to hand over Yuki. But the good news is, if he does so, they will consider everything he's done water under the bridge, and let him back into the group.

So the detective group was affiliated with the mysterious organisation after all. Takuya is furious at Researcher's betrayal, tells her to forget everything and never appear in front of him again.

As the two make their escape, Takuya apologises to Yuki. He truly thought Researcher was able to be trusted. Yuki doesn't mind though. She asks if they dated. A woman's intuition is a scary thing. Just once, Takuya says.

It's a shame how things turned out, but Yuki doesn't think it was wrong for Takuya to have tried to trust her.

Suddenly they get a message..from Researcher: “Head in the two o'clock direction.” But can this message be trusted? Yuki says yes and that's good enough reason for Takuya to do so too.

On the way they see a very strong tamashii called Hazuki, who emanates an intense feeling of regret, that never disappeared even when she became a tamashii.

Researcher immediately apologises when we meet up. Takuya knows she didn't mean it, but it’s hard to trust her now that she’s put them in danger. Researcher admits that just now, she quit the group, and won’t leak any more information to the organisation. She is completely on our side now. But...why?

“It's because I like you” she simply states with a smile.

The organisation lost their source of information from their detective group network. But, they did locate the man who hacked their computers and stole their data…

Chapter 5

Geek is in danger! Takuya and Yuki race to his rescue. But when they get there, there's someone else's corpse at the entrance. Did Geek do that?

No, a little boy of all people came and killed the henchman from the organisation. Who is he? Scientists seems to know. He warns Yuki that what lies ahead is a reality she may find hard to accept. But Yuki will move on regardless, because she has to.

Takuya is grateful to Yuki for tagging along to save Geek. While it's true Geek said some hurtful things to her, she knows he is an important person to Takuya.

Takuya and Yuki resolve to make a move against the organisation. After all, the hunter is stronger than the hunted.

Chapter 6

Takuya had a reaction when Geek mentioned the mysterious boy. Actually, the big case he worked on as a detective was an investigation on a boy who used strange powers to kill people.

Headhunter managed to get some info on him. There is a rumour he is also heading for Lost.

We also find out the organisation planted a bug on Geek, so he knows everything. It looks like a fight with the boy will be inevitable.

The confrontation with the boy comes with an unwelcome shock for Yuki. He is her younger brother, Souma. Souma figures out she is with Takuya because she is not “perfect” like him and so needs Takuya to collect spheres.

Souma doesn't want Yuki meeting their dad in Lost. What is his goal? Souma says he is “making the world right”, and he will kill everyone who gets in his way, even his own sister.

Are we going to make Yuki fight her own brother? Yes. She pleads for Takuya to not give up, and bring her to Lost no matter what.

After the fight, Souma concedes he can't beat us in his “current body”, but he won't let us off so easily next time. He is no longer the Souma Yuki knows, and will only get stronger and stronger.

He also tells Yuki not to be fooled by Takuya, who still hasn’t revealed much about himself to Yuki.

Finally, before he leaves, Souma tells Yuki she can't change the past. Their dad is gone, and there's nothing they can do about it.  

Takuya demands answers from Scientist. Why is he making Yuki do this? Scientist replies: “there is no other choice.” On top of saving the world, there is another consequence for Yuki that she isn't even aware of yet. Yuki is actually deeply connected to Lost, so if it expands it will suck her life energy. That is, if nothing is done about Lost, Yuki will die.

PART TWO: Evolution

Chapter 7

We now know the enemy tamashii are being summoned by Yuki's brother, Souma. Defeating him is a necessary sacrifice to ensure Yuki gets to Lost. The enemies are strong, but Takuya advises we don't panic, and proceed to get stronger at our own pace.

Yuki and Takuya try to figure out what happened to Souma, but the truth is Yuki doesn't know much of what happened after the Shoumetsu. Takuya is actually in the same boat. He recalls that on the day he was close by, possibly observing someone. But he can't remember who he was observing, and why. How strange that neither Takuya nor Yuki remember the events of that day.

Now that Takuya is aware of the stakes, he asks Yuki once more to explain the purpose of their journey. Why was her father researching tamashii?

The truth is something hard to believe. Yuki's dad got his data from the future. Which means even if he should have disappeared, even if he shouldn't be alive right now, there's a possibility he is. Everything will become clear only once we meet him. So for now we can only trust his message, that he is waiting for Yuki at Lost.

It seems like Souma also wants to meet his dad, so why can't the siblings talk it out? Yuki feels Souma is different now, she isn't even sure he is her brother anymore. Though he looks exactly the same as her brother, he behaves differently. It's like he doesn't even see Yuki the same way as before anymore.

Takuya has his suspicions someone else is pulling the strings. Souma doesn't act like a kid his age should.

Yuki talks about how her brother used to be. He gets lonely easily. He used to drag a blanket around the house, and Yuki and her dad would laugh and say he was like an anime character. On that topic, Takuya mentions he never really got into anime, but he would read his older sister's manga. Yuki giggles. Shoujo manga seems somehow fitting for Takuya.

Yuki now turns to her concern for Souma. When tamashii get hurt, their summoners also take damage. To think that Souma may be getting hurt because of them is unpleasant. But we can only move on. There is no time to worry about the enemy.

Meanwhile, Souma himself is also powering up, as indicated by the more evolved tamashii standing in Takuya and Yuki’s way. But it's still not enough. They are still being defeated one after the other. It's almost driving him mad. Suddenly a mysterious man appears and tell him he's done enough. Enough to show he's useless. Souma asks for another chance from the man, Taiyou. Taiyou says he is free to try harder. But depending on the result he may “fix” Souma. For example, maybe he'd be more useful if he was made immune to fear of pain, and able to summon tamashii continuously until the very limits of his mental ability?

Chapter 8

Takuya wonders what will happen if they get to Lost, but don't find Yuki's dad. Yuki assures him she is fairly sure of where he would be: on “the other side” of Lost.

Lost looks like a hole, but that hole is actually connected to another world, a “parallel world”.

Do you know about Schrodinger's cat? If you put a cat in a box and close the lid, you won't know if it is dead or alive until you open the lid. The cat is technically alive and dead at the same time.

In a similar way, Lost leads to a parallel world that shows a different “possibility” of this world. Poor Takuya still doesn't quite get it, but in a nutshell, the enemies are coming from another world.

Yuki apologises for involving Takuya in such a dangerous job. But Takuya says he has no regrets. The job is pretty interesting, and he doesn't mind being with Yuki either. So instead of apologising and saying “sorry”, he wants her to say “thank you”.

At the organisation, Souma is being pushed to his limit. Even the hooded henchmen are getting concerned. The boy is too young, and can't handle the power.

Meanwhile Geek gets a visit from a woman. Her name is Tsuki and she is Taiyou's partner. Tsuki knows Geek is the hacker and she wants information on Takuya.

Yuki is feeling conflicted about Souma. Is it really alright to move forward knowing you will be harming your own brother? But she has no choice. She can only pray that he gives up eventually.

Yuki thinks the next time they meet she will try to talk to him normally. Souma also went through Lost, so he must have had to endure many horrible things, just like Yuki did.

There are many evolved tamashii in our way. It's happening abnormally quickly. With the defeat of the next enemy we cut back to Souma at the organisation. He's started to go crazy, continuously repeating the phrase “I won't forgive you”.

Chapter 9

From threatening Geek, Tsuki learns Takuya is not related to Yuki in any way, which is hard to believe. Geek says Takuya has always been like that, a kind person at heart, even to complete strangers.  

Tsuki figures he isn't lying. But she does get one piece of useful information: Takuya and Yuki can't fight unless they're together. Before she leaves, Tsuki calmly requests that Geek stop hacking the organisation, or else she will kill him. But of course he won't give up that easily.

Geek contacts Takuya and Yuki to tell them about Tsuki. He also informs them Souma is in a bad condition and his mental state can't take the pain anymore.

Yuki needs to prepare for the worst. She doesn't want to fight Souma, but if she doesn't the world might disappear. This is news to Takuya. Yuki explains Lost connects two worlds, but the two worlds cannot support each other's existence. One will suck out the possibilities of the other, and destroy it, turning everyone into tamashii. Yuki's dad hopefully has a solution to avoid this catastrophe, but truthfully Yuki isn't sure what can be done.

Headhunter investigated Souma. The boy should be dead. He even has a corpse, albeit a missing one. He hasn't investigated why it went missing yet, because that's out of scope of his request. Researcher pays him to continue the research.

So, Souma should be dead, but somebody has forcefully resurrected him. Yuki doesn't want to believe it, but Takuya tells her she must make a choice now, because to not decide anything is the worst thing that can happen.

Yuki asks what Takuya will do, to which he replies he will follow his contract to the end, like he has always done.

As we fight the next evolved tamashii enemy, Yuki is concerned Souma must be in a lot of pain. He probably doesn't want this either.

We cut to Tsuki and Taiyou, who are having a strange conversation. Tsuki says she's always been jealous of big breasts, but now she finally has them she's realised how much they make her shoulders hurt. Taiyou berates her for not choosing a body similar to her parallel self.

They then talk about what to do with the “corpse”.

Souma is not just in a lot of pain. He's snapped mentally, muttering things as if in a trance: “play with me… I'm lonely… don't come… quick, let's play…” He probably can’t do much more in that state, but Taiyou thinks it a waste to just throw his body away. Furthermore, the “Apocalypse calendar” is also looking forward to him.

Yuki makes a decision. She will fight and move forward, no matter how painful it gets. She tells Takuya that no matter what happens, he can't give up on her, because she needs him.

Yuki tells Takuya her mother died soon after her and Souma were born. Her father worked hard to raise them and do his research at the same time, but Yuki hated it. She hated not having her mother there and often cried a lot about it, causing her father a lot of grief. That's why she wants to save him, but to do that means hurting Souma...

Chapter 10

Yuki needs a small break after defeating Souma. She asks Takuya to lend her his back (so she can cry). Takuya asks her what she wants to do once everything is over. The thought had never even crossed her mind. Takuya says they should find her a new house in a new city, so she can start a new life. Yuki can go to school, and make friends her own age. Such an ordinary life should be everyone's right. Yuki agrees, that it would be nice to have such a life.

Yuki continues thinking about the ideal future Takuya outlined for her. Will she be able to make friends her own age? Will Takuya visit? Takuya also joins in the fantasising. He will visit her occasionally, but he's still got a job so he can't look after her all the time. Yuki gets a little annoyed he's treating her like a child. Takuya says he'll definitely make that future, that dream come true. We fight a Judo girl, who fulfilled her dream to get stronger as a tamashii. Takuya says he and Yuki will fulfil their dreams too, not as tamashii, but as humans.

Yuki is a little conflicted, but Takuya tells her the most important thing to success is to believe, even if that is a lie. He convinces Yuki to believe in this little dream they have created. When Takuya comes to visit, maybe she'll make him breakfast. Takuya doesn't think Yuki looks capable of making anything complex. He tells her he'll settle for anything as long as there's coffee.  Yuki berates him. If it's breakfast in the morning, it's got to be rice.

In this chapter, Takuya and Yuki also noticed something strange about the tamashii. Even though they defeated Souma, the enemies keep getting stronger.

Actually, Souma is being forced to summon them. He is in a lot of pain but Tsuki tells him to be a good boy and endure it. He's the only one who can summon tamashii for them, so they need him to keep working.

Meanwhile, Researcher finds out from Headhunter that Yuki and Scientist are hiding something very important from Takuya (Headhunter doesn't tell Takuya directly because he knows Researcher will pay good money to know anything concerning Takuya's wellbeing).

Researcher calls Takuya at the end of the chapter and pleads for him to stop the job: If Takuya continues the journey to Lost, his life will be in danger.

Chapter 11

Many people who investigated Lost have died, and the small amount of survivors suffered damage to their memory and mentality. There is a type of energy wave emanating from Lost that has negative effects on people. Yuki probably knew this, but she didn't tell Takuya.

Takuya asks Yuki how meeting her dad will help stop Lost. According to her father’s research, Yuki’s power is an important key to closing Lost. When Yuki summons tamashii with her power, she is essentially opening a gate to the other world. By the same logic, she should be able to ‘close’ that gate that is Lost.

Our next enemy is not evolved, so the enemy must be getting weaker. Takuya and Yuki are also getting closer to Lost.

Takuya talks about his philosophy around contracts again. He has pride in fulfilling his contract. The higher the hurdle the better. Takuya acknowledges he has a dangerous job, but to fail even once means loss of credibility, and no more jobs. So he will definitely fulfil his contract with Yuki, no matter what obstacles lie in the way.

Takuya's pride is a troublesome thing, but it's what keeps him going. He remarks it might be good to settle down after all this, but Yuki asks if he's scared he won't even make it back. Takuya reminds her they decided they wouldn't regret anything. To falter even a little bit means death.

On Tsuki and Taiyou's side we get confirmation that they are tamashii from the other side, who have successfully taken over bodies from this side. Also there are 30 seconds left on the ‘Clock of the End’, but Lost is spreading too slowly. The Noah plan won't succeed like this.

Souma is also now able to summon even stronger tamashii, even though he should have hit his limit long ago. Taiyou seems to know more.

Souma's ramblings are now about the sister he loves. Tsuki thinks it's kind of gross a corpse is talking about his sister.

Chapter 12

Scientist is concerned Takuya will not help them anymore now that he knows about the dangerous waves, but Yuki knows he is stronger than that, and will go on. Even knowing there is a good chance he will lose his memories, and possibly his life.

It seems Yuki is now conflicted between having Takuya continue to help or, or having him give up and preserve his life. She asks him if he has any regrets. Takuya says instead of thinking about the painful near future, it is much better to think of the happy future when everything is over, even if that future is a lie.

The next enemy is Akira, the SP who guarded Yuki and Souma's dad. Which means Souma is still summoning the tamashii.

Yuki is in shock, she can't even give advice normally anymore, instead delegating that task to Takuya to advise us on what we should focus on next for our team building.

Researcher relays the news to Headhunter that Takuya won't stop, because he's found out from Scientist that Yuki will die if he does. Headhunter doesn't understand how one can stake their life on just a contract, but that's Takuya for you.

Souma's condition has gotten to the point even Tsuki is becoming concerned about him. But Taiyou doesn't care if his body breaks or his sanity is destroyed. As long as they can get power out of him. Tsuki conceded he is correct, too correct. But she still secretly lets him go before he evolves.

Yuki is horrified when she sees Souma. He's gone crazy. He's no longer her brother. And she has to defeat him.

After the battle Yuki tearfully apologises. “I'm sorry I couldn't save you. But I have things I have to do. I can't stop here, I have to go ahead.”

Now Takuya and Yuki have reached the vicinity of Lost. No matter what happens, Taiyou will ensure the Noah plan goes ahead. Taiyou thinks the waves around Lost will be enough to get rid of the two of them, but just in case, he tells Tsuki it is her turn next.

PART 3: Towards Lost

Chapter 13

Tsuki has no choice. It's her turn next. She wonders how there could be people idiotic enough to sacrifice themselves just to reach Lost. What a stupid story this is becoming…

Takuya and Yuki are feeling the impact of the waves. Both already have splitting headaches, and the enemies are getting stronger.

Tsuki makes her appearance. She tells them to stop but ofc they don't. They're the exact type of idiots she was talking about earlier. We beat her once, then she escapes to get stronger. She tells Taiyou the waves might not be enough to stop them. Taiyou says they have to do everything they can to stop them, which is bad news for Tsuki. Tsuki doesn't say anything. She’s scared of what will happen to her.

Yuki feels like the scenery around her is familiar, and it's too clear to be Deja Vu. She can even see what is going to happen from here on, as if she was seeing another memory. Something like this had already been happening to her, it was why she always had a bad feeling right before an enemy was about to appear.

These are actually the memories of her parallel world version flowing into her. Takuya asks what will happen next. In a desolate tone, Yuki says the two of them will be defeated by a powerful enemy. It’s Tsuki.

Scientist's tamashii research lab was invaded by some men from the organisation. He managed to chase them away, but not before they destroyed some of his equipment. He clearly identified them as from “the other side”. Geek tells him to not give up. They'll give the organisation some dummy data and find an alternate route to keep supporting Takuya and Yuki.

Tsuki is amazed Takuya and Yuki are still going to challenge her, even though Yuki's memories say they will die by her hands. The two confidently tell her things will go differently, because this is a different world and they are not like their parallel world selves.

Against all odds, they do defeat Tsuki, sending her into a bit of a panic. She doesn't want to keep going, she doesn't want more power, she doesn't want to become like Souma…

Chapter 14

Taiyou thinks it odd that Takuya and Yuki are still able to maintain their sanity after so long. As Takuya and Yuki get closer, their pain increases.

Scientist finally explains the nature of these waves. They are the memories of their parallel world versions. But if Takuya and Yuki can handle it, they will absorb the wills from the parallel world and grow even stronger. It's incredibly dangerous, but in the end it's a battle of wills, and Scientist is willing to bet on that miracle.

Yuki becomes concerned about the possibility of losing her memories. What if she forgets her purpose for journeying with Takuya in the first place? How will she be able to keep moving forward?

Takuya is also in a bad situation. His head hurts and his mouth is dry. But somehow, he still has this feeling that despite all that, they will still win. Even if their current selves forget everything, they only have to trust in their past selves, who have been able to endure everything up to now, to get them to this point.

Yuki makes a revelation about the tamashii in our party. Even though we should only have capacity for five in our party there's always one more, the helper tamashii. We know now, it's another version of us, helping each other from different parallel worlds. So even if Takuya and Yuki lose their memories, they won't lose their strong will.

Tsuki comes back. Yuki can sense conflict within her. Tsuki is afraid of fighting us, but she doesn't say anything. Taiyou steps in and says even if she loses her self, as long as she has power left she will stop the two of them. Tsuki gets pushed to her limits under Taiyou's command, and evolves into something that isn't even human anymore.

Chapter 15

After taking down Tsuki, it’s Taiyou’s turn in the ring. The strange but powerful man is able to induce a headache purely through his aura. We win anyway. Taiyou retreats to get more power.

Geek has finally found a way for communication to reach us inside Lost. But Takuya and Yuki no longer remember him, nor Headhunter, nor Researcher, nor Scientist.

But all of them assure the two they have a team of allies ready to support them, and offer various pieces of advice. Who are these people and why are they helping us? Can we even believe them? But Takuya says he is willing to take a gamble on them, and Yuki agrees, that trust is truly a wonderful thing.  

Yuki admits that sometimes, she would suddenly forget her reason for continuing to move forward, and become very worried. But then she sees that Takuya is there, right in front of her, and she trusts him completely. Likewise, Takuya says when he feels Yuki’s chest against his back, he remembers he has to keep moving forward. This elicits a less than friendly reaction from Yuki.

We have the final fight against Tsuki, and another fight against Taiyou.

Also random trivia we learn: the quote “we still have bullets left”, which we often hear Akira say, is from a movie that Yuki likes.  

Chapter 16

Yuki becomes concerned about her own wellbeing. If they continue to fight like this, will she become a tamashii like the one we just defeated? Will she become like crazy, like Souma and Tsuki and now Taiyou?

Researcher and Scientist echo similar worries. Yuki will be in danger if she keeps fighting, and may suffer intense mental damage. But they cannot stop them, they have to keep going forward. Scientist also says he feels the two are different from their parallel world counterparts, who perished halfway.

Taiyou wants more power. He claims the calculations from the Apocalypse calendar shouldn’t be wrong. He shouldn’t lose anymore.

We can see the waves impacting on Takuya and Yuki’s memories a little bit more now. Yuki becomes concerned again. Should we really keep going? What if it’s the wrong choice? But, like Takuya said, the worst thing to do is to make no decision at all. She had just forgotten it.

When Yuki realises, she apologises. But Takuya tells her not to say sorry, but thank you. Yuki wonders why that phrase sounds so nostalgic. Takuya wonders if somebody important to her said that to her once. He has forgotten that person was himself.

Even Taiyou is being affected. He doesn’t quite remember who Takuya and Yuki are, but he knows he will destroy anyone in his way.

Once we defeat Taiyou, he begins to mutter what sounds like gibberish: the communication ship should not reach the bulb…?

Taiyou makes his escape once again. Then Researcher calls. Though neither Takuya nor Yuki remember her, she tells them how to make sure they don't lose their goal. She tells them to remember their image of the happy future, grasp onto it and never let it go. Scientist later explains to her that if the two of them are able to hold onto just one memory, even if they lose all their other memories, they will keep their sanity. This is the only way they will be able to maintain their purpose.

Taiyou evolves. The hooded henchmen of the organisation talk amongst themselves. If Yuki touches the core, Lost will close. But the organisation hasn’t lost yet. Taiyou is growing ever more powerful, to the point he breaks his body. As he reaches his final evolution, the men say it is time for Plan B.

Chapter 17

Yuki and Takuya are now inside Lost. The mysterious organisation know that if Yuki manages to touch the core of Lost, a contradiction in the calculations of the Apocalypse calendar will cause Lost to close. They are unsure if Taiyou can even stop them now, so they are initiating Plan B, which is to make Takuya and Yuki disappear, along with the rest of this world. Then according to the “Third War” (which seems to be what the Noah plan is), the world will become a place humans can no longer live on. They will then have to abandon this world, and find another timeline to inhabit. This is probably harder than it sounds, but everything will be fine. Because they have “God” on their side.

Inside Lost, Takuya and Yuki can see many parallel worlds. Takuya cannot stop driving, otherwise they could fall in the gaps between the worlds. But after a while, the scenery has not changed, and it feels like they are stuck driving in circles. Yuki’s father is also nowhere in sight. Here, the signals of Geek’s communication device cannot reach them, so their allies can only pray for their safety and success.

Taiyou continues growing stronger. He trembles with power as he absorbs the memories of all the lost souls. He utters “everything will go according to the Apocalypse calendar”.

Taiyou approaches and Yuki can feel her sanity slipping away. She asks Takuya to forgive her, if she uses up too much power in battle, and ends up forgetting him.

We fight Taiyou, we beat Taiyou. Then he evolves into a...fetus?

We defeat the monstrous baby, but at a dear cost: Yuki has lost her memories.

Chapter 18

Poor Yuki has lost her memories of Takuya, of Lost, of her journey. She says: “I don’t know who you are, but I know we have to go. That’s what’s important to us.”

As Takuya continues driving, Yuki hears a voice, telling her that she has done enough. She has worked hard, gone through so much pain, but it’s alright to forget everything and rest now. It’s her dad.

Yuki’s dad apologises for not being a good father, always being too busy to care for her. He doesn’t want Yuki to feel pain anymore. He invites her to stop moving forward, and rest her weary body in this warm and happy place. Just the word “happy�� triggers Yuki into wanting to accept the tempting offer, but Takuya stops her. Taiyou is still not defeated, they can’t afford to rest just yet, there is still unfinished business left to do. It’s the less comfortable choice, but it’s the one Yuki has to make. She can’t rest like her dad just yet.

Taiyou is still alive gdi. Men in hoods explain he has totally abandoned his body, to become a corrupt being. The man (if he can still be called one), cannot be stopped now. The world will be destroyed.

They also explain that getting power from Yuki’s father, who has become one with the core, is their Plan B. The core contains the wills of everything. With that much power, the organisation will destroy this world. They have confidence that Yuki will not be able to touch the core in time, because she has to get past the will of her own father first.

Yuki is definitely tired. Her dad’s voice becomes more powerful. If you are tired, you should rest. Besides, there is no proof that what you are doing is even the right thing. Good and evil do not exist in this world; they are just concepts we created, they all boil down to electrical impulses in the brain. Instead of doing noble things, we should each just chase after our own happiness, and maintain the balance of the world.

Yuki cries hearing her dad talk of happiness, but she doesn’t know why. But Takuya does. He urges her to remember, the reason they move forward, is to grab their own happiness. A peaceful life in a different town, and delicious coffee in the morning! Yuki tells him it shouldn’t be coffee, it should be rice. And with that she’s back, just in time for the final fight against Taiyou.

After beating Taiyou, Yuki's memories come back. She has to touch the core to get rid of Lost, but getting that close means she might not be able to escape in time, and will disappear along with the rest of Lost. But she will do it. Her father is holding the core so it's power doesn't escape, but this means he has been trapped like that for a long time. Yuki wants to release him, and tell him it's OK for him to rest. So she asks Takuya once more, to please take her to the core, and then run.

Yuki's dad tells her to stop, but she won't. When we see him he takes on the appearance of a grotesque wall of objects. In order to stop Lost spreading, he absorbed everything around him to the point of losing his mind and body. Yuki gently tells her dad, she's different from the old Yuki. She now understands many things: the bonds between people, what a strong will is, and what a happy dream looks like. With those things, she is able to do anything. She can keep moving forward forever. And to move forward, is what it means to live. Yuki is grateful for learning those things, and she is grateful to her dad, for giving her life, and for being her dad to the end.

Yuki's dad is defeated, revealing the core. But Takuya keeps driving. He's not letting Yuki off just yet. He will fulfil his contract, and bring her right up to the core, staying with her until the end.

If both of them get that close, there's a good chance neither will survive. Yuki becomes very sad, and lets out a bit of an emotional confession. It's because of Takuya that she was able to come this far. Before she met him, she was always alone. Her first impression of him was a very rude and unreasonable man, dragging her around without any explanation, doing anything he wants without a care for others. He rode a weird scooter and also stunk slightly of sweat.

Takuya realises what tsundere Yuki is saying and says he's glad to have met her too. His last words before the credits are: “Even if you touch the core, I'll keep moving on. So grab onto me tight, I'll save you. And after everything is over, we'll get out of here.”

After the credits, we hear some thoughts from Yuki's dad. In his hazy consciousness he saw his daughter. Lost will disappear in time and the world will be saved. He has no more power to continue watching this ‘story', but he is glad he got to see Yuki in the end. Thank you, Yuki.

PART 4

Chapter 19

One year after Lost disappeared, Yuki has locked herself in her room, depressed. She doesn't want to see anyone and doesn't want to go outside. The reason is that she feels responsible for another catastrophe that occurred after Lost disappeared and the world was supposed to be saved: the town turned into stone, and the area into an uninhabitable wasteland. And it's slowly spreading.

Meanwhile, a woman approaches Takuya, claiming to have been searching for him. It's Lisa, an executive of the detective agency Takuya used to work for.

Lisa claims she has cut ties with the agency, and now needs Takuya to head north, in order to protect Yuki. Takuya now has to drag an unwilling Yuki to go on another journey with him.

Our enemy are still tamashii. Yuki still remembers how to fight them, even though she wanted so much to forget all about them.

Yuki talks about how people around them have moved on with their lives. Apparently Headhunter started a new business, healing the hearts of those who were harmed by Lost. He does this by altering people's memories to remove their trauma. Yuki might be thinking of doing the same.

They meet up with Lisa. She praises Takuya for his speed, though that was something she taught him. Lisa explains that in the north is a place called Lost Zero. According to a mysterious note called the Isoya Report, there is a group who are planning to destroy the world with their Plan B. The start of that destruction is Lost Zero. So she wants the two of them to go there and stop it.

Yuki never said she would help Takuya, she didn’t want to go on another journey, and she doesn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to save the world before, but then look what happened. So why is Takuya so willing to believe what Lisa is saying, with no basis at all?

Takuya tries to explain that it's fine if it turns out to be a lie and nothing happens, but what if it's not? Yuki accuses him of actually wishing for the end of the world. He just wants to believe there is something else he can do to save the world. She thinks he wants to erase his sins, and that's why he hopes the note will be true, so he can redeem himself.

Takuya claims it's not about saving the world. He just wants to protect the people close to him, even those that didn’t ask to be saved. It could just be his ego, but he wants to do it. If he doesn’t he will surely regret it.

However Yuki does not think like that. She doesn't want to save anyone anymore, because she doesn't want to let down those expectations. She doesn't believe in the note, and she doesn't want to go on this journey. But Lisa asked her to trust in her, for just six days. So once those six days are up, she will go to Headhunter, and ask him to erase her memories. She just wants to forget it all.

Lisa also meets up with another new character in this new chapter. Kouta used to be a talented rookie in the detective agency, and now works as a courier. He feels competitive around Takuya, who is basically his senpai.

He thinks this new job involving Takuya will be troublesome. But Lisa assures him it's completely safe. Unless he gets caught by the enemy, of course. Then he's dead. But worry about that when the time comes. For now she just needs him to get some information on Ginga and Souya. Or was it Touma?

The goal of the mysterious organisation is to erase this world, because they think it “should” disappear. That was supposed to be its fate, it's pre-written history. But Takuya changed that ‘history' by preventing its destruction. So now they are trying to fix it to the way it was supposed to be. They are aware Takuya and Yuki are on the move again, but this time they are sure “Ginga” will defeat them.

Ginga is the new enemy character. He is a mysterious old man who came from a parallel world after hearing about Taiyou's defeat. Ginga says the fact part of the city turned to stone is proof that this world should not even exist at all, and so he will destroy it himself. There is no time. He will not allow Takuya and Yuki to get to Lost Zero. He will not let them break the “fourth wall”.

Yuki knows when she lays eyes on Ginga that he is too powerful to fight against. Ginga affirms this. Takuya and Yuki will not win against him, this is the end of the story.

The screen turns black. When Takuya regains consciousness he and Yuki are back inside Lost. Ahead is a very bad ‘fate’ for the two of them. How will they go ahead? Yuki says she needs “our” power…

Chapter 20

Takuya has to stop the erasure of the world. He needs to go to Lost Zero. He needs to save Yuki.

Suddenly Kouta yells his name. Takuya is surprised, the two haven't been in touch since he left the detective agency. But Kouta acts like they've been together for ages.

Takuya's got no time to worry about the strange things Kouta is saying though, he's got a world to save. So he leaves him behind and drives off.

But curiously, even Yuki seems to know Kouta, and calls Takuya weird for forgetting they met with him only yesterday. So today is not the second day of their journey, but the third day? Takuya begins to realise he has lost a whole day's worth of memories.

Kouta catches up to Takuya. Takuya is still suspicious of him. Why is he tagging along? Kouta says he doesn't want to be with him either, but it was an order from Lisa. He's the only one who can help Takuya right now, in fact Takuya requested his help only the day before!

Takuya calls Scientist, hoping for an explanation for what is happening. But Scientist apologises, says he cannot help him, and also asks Takuya to not contact him again.

Takuya tries to contact Geek but gets a very strange outburst from him. Geek can't help, but on top of that, claims he hates Takuya for always taking advantage of him whenever it suits him.

A call to researcher also results in rejection. “I'm sorry I can't help you, and I can't tell you why either. We're walking different paths. This is our fate.”

Takuya is sad he got rejected by all his friends. Yuki wonders if it's his personality. Takuya should be more honest. Takuya wonders if Yuki will also walk a different path to him. Unfortunately Yuki can't guarantee anything, especially with how strange Takuya is acting right now. She isn't sure if it's still alright for her to be with him. But, the fact is she cannot fight without Takuya, so she can only rely on him.

Yuki was also pretty nonchalant about moving ahead without the help of our allies. Takuya is confused Yuki wants to go ahead at all, considering how she was so against this journey on day one. Yuki says she already told Takuya her reason, but it looks like he forgot. She's doing it for her “precious person”. She wants to meet him and apologise.

Takuya eventually agrees to accept Kouta’s help. He is able to tell us the enemies up ahead are all water element, so we should build a grass element team. Takuya is puzzled Kouta knows what enemies lie ahead. Kouta is puzzled Takuya doesn't know, because he was the one gave Kouta this information in the first place.

Kouta later also gets some information on Ginga, and Souma, who is summoning the enemy tamashii. Ginga can control the waves that Lost emitted, meaning he can remove people's memories. Takuya figures the source of his memory loss must be Ginga, and maybe he took away the memories of all their allies too.

The enemies begin to overwhelm the two of them. There’s even Akira, confirming Souma is still the one doing the summoning. Yuki is almost at her limit, but suddenly Kouta comes through with a new route and allows them to escape to regroup with Lisa.

Lisa doesn't reject Takuya like the others, so he explains the problem to her. She admires that he didn’t give up even though all his friends betrayed him, but did they really? The route that they escaped through just now was actually discovered by Geek, Scientist gave advice on tamashii, and Researcher scouted out the path ahead. The truth is, Ginga has intercepted their communication lines, meaning it would be dangerous if he discovered the allies that were working for Takuya. How did they know this? Well, Takuya told them. Unfortunately Lisa can’t really explain what happened to him, but she assures us she will always be our ally.  

Chapter 21

This chapter opens where chapter 19 left off. Ginga states Takuya and Yuki cannot win against him, and this is the end of their story. He then orders them to close their eyes. But then out of nowhere, Takuya has an epiphany. He gets it now, and he tells Ginga things won’t go according to his plan. Ginga is stunned because he hasn’t even told them his name yet. Even more, Takuya knows Ginga has the power to erase memories. Ginga escapes.

Yuki has a lot of questions, but it’s complicated, time is scarce, and Takuya asks her to just trust him. Yuki says she will only be around for five more days, confirming we are on day two.

Takuya asks if Yuki is really fine with running away: turning a blind eye to the world’s destruction and not doing the things only she could have done.

Takuya and Yuki meet up with Lisa, who appears to have been expecting them. So she has noticed Takuya’s “will” can “transcend” time. Lisa asks Takuya if he would believe, that she met Takuya from the future?

Lisa looks depressed for a moment as she thinks to herself. This is a fate she cannot escape from, so there is no point being depressed. Lisa offers to get Kouta to assist the two of them, but Takuya knew that already.

Takuya asks Kouta for his help without even a greeting. There is no time to lose, he tells them about what will happen tomorrow, the memory loss, and the enemies they will face. Kouta is understandably confused, but it’s alright if he doesn’t believe it, he just has to remember.

Finally, Takuya sincerely thanks him, which feels kind of weird for Kouta.

Yuki comments that it is rare to see Takuya trusting somebody so easily. Takuya tells her Kouta is reliable, and the only person who can help them. So even if the time comes when she is no longer able to trust Takuya, she can trust Kouta.

Yuki notices there are a lot of water enemies, and wonder if this is a plan by the enemy to prevent her using Akira, meaning they know about her connection with Akira? Takuya says it’s likely her brother is still fighting for the enemy, so she should prepare for the worst.

In a strangely random but excited outburst, Takuya calls the final evolution of Gambler Yuri the “Gamblest”.

Scientist calls because he has noticed there are a lot of enemy tamashii. He only knows Yuki and Souma who can do this. Takuya asks him to find out more, but also to stop contacting him. In fact, if he does try to contact him again, Scientist should reject him.

Researcher calls after hearing Kouta is helping Takuya, and offers her help too. But he doesn’t want it. Instead he wants her to “put on an act”, and pretend she is not helping him.

Yuki asks why Takuya is rejecting the help of their friends. He explains the “strategy” he will use to make it them seem like they are not helping him, in order to protect them from getting their memories wiped by Ginga. He tells her not to reveal the strategy to anyone, to pretend she doesn’t know anything. Yuki asks if she can blame it on his personality. Takuya says he will be sad, but if he just thinks of it like she is acting, he will be ok with it.

Scientist implied Souma could still be fighting for the enemy after being forcefully resurrected, which makes bad memories resurface in Yuki’s head. But if this is the Souma we already defeated, maybe things can still work out if we talk it over. Maybe he could even fight alongside us.

Souma is being forced by the organisation to continue summoning. A grunt from the organisation explains to Ginga there was a lot of resistance from him, especially when he heard his sister was involved. They are now torturing him by tying him up and ripping his fingernails off one by one. But this can only go on for so long.

At the end of the day, Takuya and Yuki regroup with Kouta. Takuya informs him that the Takuya of day three knows nothing, so he asks that Kouta support Yuki. Kouta still has no idea what he’s talking about, but Takuya says everything will become clear by tomorrow. So if everything Takuya is saying is the truth, where will his will fly next? The fourth day?

Chapter 22

Takuya’s will did not go to the fourth day as planned. It is actually day five, and Yuki is struggling against him to get off the bike. She doesn’t know why enemies are attacking them, she doesn’t know why she has to fight against them, and she doesn’t know who Takuya is.

Yuki is very distressed. She claims she never wanted anything to do with tamashii, she just wanted to live her life peacefully. Takuya tries to make her remember about Lost, about how the world turned to stone. But she doesn’t remember, and even calls Takuya horrible for accusing her of being responsible for turning the city to stone.

Takuya then gets a succession of calls from his former ‘allies’. Scientist claims Lost is just an urban legend, and Researcher calls him the worst for kidnapping a girl with no basis.

Did Ginga’s plan succeed? Takuya has to defeat Ginga to get everyone’s memories back. But it’s hard when your partner is calling you a liar and wants desperately to escape… Not even talking about Yuki’s dad will bring her to her senses.

Was everything just a dream? Did the city really disappear? Are we just believing in some made-up world we saw in a game?

I understand it’s hard to believe, but everything will be ok. Let’s calm down, good, and now take a deep breath. Let it all out, forget everything, breathe... It’s just a game. So stop touching the screen...Just stop...Stop it...Stop.

Takuya begins to doubt himself. Are his memories fake? Is this really just a game? Is he actually the one going crazy?

But then he steels himself. No, there is no way this is all a lie. He is going to move forward no matter what, to Lost Zero. In fact, even if everything is a lie, that’s still fine.

Then, Geek calls. And, he didn’t lose his memory! It looks like for some reason Ginga didn’t think he was Takuya’s ally. Lisa and Kouta are ok as well, and have gone ahead to the north. Takuya is going to catch-up to them now, and he’s bringing Yuki with him whether she likes it or not.

Takuya tells Yuki the one summoning tamashii is definitely her brother Souma. This puts even more distress on the poor girl because 1, how does this man know about Souma? And 2, why does she have to fight her own brother? Takuya also now seems like an even more horrible person in her eyes.

At the mysterious organisation, we get confirmation that Ginga has managed to wipe out everyone’s memories of Lost. He has also wiped all of Souma’s memories. The boy is no longer human, but just a tool to summon tamashii. Ginga claims he feels remorseful, but he had no other choice. He hopes in the next timeline there will be no more sacrifices like Souma.  

Yuki has flashbacks of Souma before everything happened. He was always so understanding, but also lonely. When Yuki got depressed thinking about their mother, he told her they had to survive and live on. When their father was working late again, he said he would be ok, because Yuki was with him. Another flashback shows him being worried when Yuki came home late, because being by himself was lonely. How could Yuki fight him? Why would Takuya make her do this? It doesn’t make sense to her at all.

We defeat Souma, but Ginga claims their fate will not change. Yuki wants to escape from her painful reality, so he will let her forget everything. Then he orders Yuki to close her eyes, so he can take her memories…

Chapter 23

We return to the day before, day four. Takuya tells Lisa what will happen on day five, meaning today is the day everyone will lose their memories. But Takuya won’t give up. Lisa tells her the fifth day he saw may have a different meaning…

The plan is now to lock away Yuki’s memories before Ginga can get to her, i.e. make her temporarily forget them. Because you can’t remove memories if they aren’t there, right? Lisa paid Headhunter a large sum of money to get him to help them.

Yuki is understandably concerned at this prospect. Because she doesn’t want to forget about Takuya. Knowing she will soon lose her memories also makes her remember other ones about their journey thus far.

Yuki’s first impressions of Takuya were not good. This man came out of nowhere, and forcibly dragged her around with no explanation. He seemed weird, and cold. But she knows now that was because he was bad at expressing his real feelings.

She remembered that when she first met Geek, he hated her, and Takuya had to comfort her.

Yuki is worried that when she forgets everything, she will be unable to face painful things. Kouta knows she is especially worried about forgetting Takuya, because she likes him (she denies this, of course). But he assures her that Takuya will definitely get her memories back, and she will definitely remember Takuya again.

Yuki saves her most heartfelt memories for last. She remembers it was Takuya who taught her not to say sorry, but thank you. She thanks him for journeying with her. Though she knows it will be hard from now on, though she knows there is a good chance she will have to confront Souma again, after everything is over she wants to say thank you to him. So until then, even if she loses all her memories, she will not say sorry.

As the two journey to Headhunter’s, Ginga is going around memory-wiping everyone. He manages to track down Scientist and Researcher. Researcher leaves him with a beautiful quote summing up her belief in Takuya: “Even if my memory disappears, my will will remain.” But Ginga responds with “the hands of the clock will not turn backwards”.

When he gets to Geek though, he becomes confused. According to his sources, one of Takuya’s allies should be around here. Somebody with powerful engineering skills and networking knowledge. Somebody with great ability, intelligence and judgement. But it looks like he is not there. He even tells Geek to get out of his way as he continues searching. Geek is incredibly offended, but it seems he was saved?

Lisa wants to speak to Yuki in private before they get to Headhunter’s. First, she laments that Yuki’s beautiful hair is getting all messed up as she rides around with Takuya. Next she tells her that she knows without a doubt, that this story will have a happy ending. All the bad guys will go away, and Yuki will live happily ever after, so there is nothing for her to worry about. But don't tell the others. A story won’t be interesting anymore if you know the ending.

The chapter ends with Yuki getting her memories wiped by Headhunter. Yuki says she is prepared, and she vows to get her memories back, no matter how much pain waits ahead. Lisa chimes in that it’s because Takuya is there with her. Takuya asks Lisa if he is footing the bill for this one.

Chapter 24

It is now the sixth day, and Takuya is trying to restore Yuki’s memories. Headhunter had said there should be no issues getting it back, it will just take some time. Takuya keeps checking in on her, to make sure she is ok. Yuki seems tired and confused, and doesn’t say much.

Though Takuya is comforting her, he himself is plagued with worries. What if Ginga was able to destroy the locked up memories too? He recalls how much pain Yuki was in just now after taking down Souma. She had said she would rather die than be exposed to such a painful feeling.

On the way Takuya keeps urging her to remember, she said so herself that she would. But Yuki right now doesn’t want to remember at all. It’s just too painful.

Lisa and Kouta are currently chasing after Ginga. Takuya catches up to Kouta and relays the bad news about Yuki. They don’t have much of a choice but to continue north in hopes of catching Ginga. Takuya thanks Kouta for just being there. The man is probably the only person there keeping him sane at the moment. Kouta claims he’s not doing it for Takuya’s sake, but he does get annoyed seeing him so depressed.

Yuki is having an inner battle with her mind. She lost her loved ones one by one. She never did anything wrong, just wanted to live peacefully, so why does she have to remember all these painful things? Souma surfaces in her mind. Didn’t she decide to kill him and move forward? Where did all that determination go? But Yuki claims she never decided on anything.

Scientist appears in her thoughts. Everything is a battle of will. If Yuki can make the decision, everything will go well. But why does it have to be her?

Geek pops up now. Yuki right now is not the Yuki he knows. The Yuki he knows is strong, and always moves forward. Instead of inspiring her, this makes Yuki even more desolate. She couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations. She isn’t the person everyone thinks she is.

A flurry of characters appear, overwhelming her thoughts. Takuya, Kouta and Lisa are all urging her to remember. Didn’t she decide on that? Didn’t she decide to remember Takuya, and keep going forward?

Yuki cries out in pain. She wanted to forget so badly, she could finally run away from everything, so why is everyone forcing her to remember?

Suddenly she hears her dad’s voice. It was hard, it was painful, but she doesn’t have to do it anymore. Yuki agrees. She’s done her best, and it’s alright to give up now.

But then another Yuki stops her. A stronger Yuki, who doesn’t want to give up. She wants to keep going. She wants to save the world. She wants to keep journeying together with Takuya.

Yuki begins to unearth the deeper reason to her motives. She said to herself that she came with Takuya on this new journey in order to erase her sin of turning the city to stone. But that was not her real reason. Takuya was the one who accepted her. She was so happy being with him. That’s why she journeyed with him, defeated tamashii, and even took down her own brother.

On cue Souma’s image surfaces. He accuses her of using the excuse of saving the world, to be with Takuya. She wanted to be together with Takuya so much, and that was why she killed her very own brother. Yuki tries to deny it, it’s not true. But the other Yuki does not lie. It is true. When she talks to Takuya her heart skips a beat. Yuki has fallen in love with Takuya.

Yuki comes to terms with herself, accepting all her memories and her true self. She admits that she wasn’t journeying with Takuya for the sake of the world, nor for other people. She was doing it for herself. But is that really so bad? Takuya thinks it’s fine. Nobody will hate her for it. Not even her brother.

Now Ginga is coming, but Yuki knows just her and Takuya’s power alone cannot defeat him. The two of them do not have the power to continue the story alone. But she wants to live. She will accept the part of her that shouldn’t be forgiven. And she will continue to fight, to win and grasp her happy future.

We defeat Ginga, and he has figured out, that no matter how strong he gets, we will always be stronger. Takuya's memories are still intact because the fourth wall has opened, and a very powerful will, the Observer, is helping Takuya, because the Observer wants to see the continuation of the “story”, and saving Takuya is the only way to do so. Obsever’s will is so powerful it can even bend time, meaning Takuya and Yuki have all the time in the world to get stronger. There is no way Ginga can win…against “us”.

The screen turns black, and Ginga speaks as if addressing the player, the Observer, directly. We can't pretend to be an outsider to the game anymore. Our fingers continue to touch the black screen which we see our own faces reflected in. Ginga orders us to stop being involved in this world. Stop touching them, stop touching the screen. But we do not stop. We keep tapping.

The black screen reverts to the main screen. The main menu screen and BGM then start to glitch. We see flashes of Lost, of Yuki’s face, of a desolate wasteland. Then back to black.

We then hear Yuki’s voice. “Hey, why do you pretend not to know anything? I’m here in so much pain. I need you. Please, I’m praying from the bottom of my heart. Please, won’t you help us?”

PART 5：Goodbye

Chapter 25

The chapter opens with a flashback of Tsuki saying of course she is scared. But Taiyou told her their bodies are just a facade. Even if they lose the body, their minds will remain in this world. To see the mission through to the end is their “freedom”.

Yuki regains unconsciousness and sees an unfamiliar scenery. The landscape all around her is a desert. She realises while fighting Ginga, her power must have gone haywire again, and caused this.

Yuki becomes disheartened once more. Fighting Ginga was inevitable, but did it even do anything? He could still be alive. So what’s the point in fighting? Takuya says right now we have no choice but to believe in Lisa’s note and head to Lost Zero. But should we even be going? Should the note be trusted? Should Yuki keep fighting? What will happen if the same destructive phenomenon happens again? Takuya wants to keep going, but will it be possible to continue onwards without hurting anyone else?

As we take on more tamashii, Yuki thinks about how they are the reflections of dreams that were never fulfilled, and futures that never happened. And we are using those wills to destroy the world. She wonders if it is right to rely on the strength of the tamashii. It could be dangerous. Suddenly she hears a voice in her head. She tells it to go away, but it won’t.

Kouta is glad to see Takuya alive and well, and vice versa. He explains Yuki’s power only impacted a small area so the desert is not that big. Everyone else is also alright. But it is concerning to think that the world could be destroyed by Yuki’s hand before the actual end of the world. Kouta then asks Takuya if he will really sacrifice Yuki to move on for the sake of believing a note that has no basis, because Kouta can’t bring himself to. Instead, he chooses to search for Ginga.

Lisa anticipated that nobody would believe her, and she does not have the right to force them to. What Takuya should do from now on is something he has to decide for himself. Will he go on to Lost Zero, or give up? Incidentally, the enemy after this is Satoru.

Takuya decides to goes on, so Yuki continues to fight.

Yuki asks for a quick break. She knows they don't have a lot of time to get to Lost Zero, but she is feeling very tired, and has a bit of a headache.

Also, the disturbing voice in her head is getting stronger. It becomes even more disturbing when Yuki starts talking about a communication ship that won’t reach.

The next day the two meet with Lisa. Lisa realises that Yuki is having trouble controlling her power, and that there may be somebody trying to gain control of her mind. Somebody who might be trying to get their hands on the note.

It is a frightening thing to not have control over your own body. If Yuki’s consciousness is being controlled, how can she believe these feelings of wanting to save the world, of wanting to trust Takuya, are true? Takuya tells her to believe in him. They’ve been together so long, Takuya knows this is the real Yuki. When Yuki feels concerned, she should just rely on Takuya. He echoes a memory from long ago when he felt having Yuki rely on him was annoying. But since then he’s found that being relied on once in a while doesn’t feel so bad after all. We also get a flashback about believing in the future, even if it’s a lie.

But Yuki is still concerned. She doesn’t even know if she is truly herself anymore. How long will Takuya be able to trust her?

Behind the scenes, Taiyou is encouraging Yuki to believe in herself. A human without doubts can become anything. That is their freedom.

Ginga feels Taiyou beginning to move. The end of the world is in motion. Ginga will also fight, as will Souma, who is not much more than an empty shell at this point. Souma only says two things in this scene: “Taiyou” and “Uchuu”.

Yuki feels the power of Ginga’s waves. Her will wavers among her panic and she starts saying more phrases from someone else’s memory, Taiyou’s memory. Takuya is getting scared. They stop for a break and contact Kouta.

Takuya apologises for his outburst at Kouta before. He is willing to accept his help now. Kouta’s got a plan. Ginga is probably with Souma right now, so while Takuya and Yuki distract Ginga, Kouta can save Souma.

The plan gives them some hope and Yuki is able to focus better. She has to do her best, for Kouta’s sake too.

Scientist reviews the information he has. Yuki’s power turning everything into a desert, Taiyou’s mental resurrection, the increasing number of “replicants”...with a sinking feeling he realises it is everything Lisa predicted. Meaning everything is now up to Takuya and Yuki.

Chapter 26

Now that Scientist has realised the note’s predictions were correct, he is willing to believe in it with no scientific basis. Lisa confirms that the note predicts the future, and she got it from a precious person. Scientist will offer his help to get Lisa to Lost Zero, but both know her chances are not good.

Unfortunately, Scientist is probably Lisa’s only other ally. Researcher doesn’t believe in the note. She doesn’t want Takuya to go to such a dangerous place like Lost Zero, and she doesn’t want to see Yuki suffer more as she fights. Researcher can tell that Yuki is worried about her powers going berserk again. She tells her that worrying is a good thing, because it is proof you are alive. But she really doesn’t think anything good will come of Yuki and Takuya chasing after a baseless note.

However she also knows she cannot stop them. She sends them Kouta’s location. He was successful in rescuing Souma, but he is currently being chased by Ginga, so he went into hiding. It is likely we will have to fight the old man again.

Kouta has a pretty bad headache. Ginga is powerful, and there are many enemies after them. Kouta tells Souma his sister is coming, and he won’t let the bad guys use him anymore. He promises Souma will be happy. But actually he is powerless against the enemy, and if Takuya and Yuki don’t arrive soon, they will be in trouble. Unexpectedly, Souma tries to tell him it will be ok, and even calls him “big brother”. It works to cheer him up.

Yuki is still worried about losing control of her powers. She apologises for putting everyone in danger. Takuya, of course, tells her to stop saying sorry. Yuki thinks that her consciousness won’t wander if she is able to hold onto her memories of Takuya. So she thanks him, for being with her the whole time.

Taiyou’s words are getting so strong they escape the bounds of proper formatting. Yuki begs him to leave him alone. Her pain gets worse. Takuya offers to stop for a break, but they’re running out of time!

Geek and Researcher come to Takuya and Yuki’s rescue. They will stall the enemy, and find a path with less tamashii. Before they head off, though, Researcher and Yuki have a quick talk,  but Yuki won’t tell Takuya what it was about. She does assure him though that she will now be able to maintain control over her mind.

Researcher actually gave Yuki some pills. The medicine will allow her to suppress her powers. However they come with side effects. While they will protect Yuki mentally, they will break her body down physically. Researcher gave her five pills, but told her not to eat them all, or she will die. Yuki is able to move forward thinking Ginga is the final enemy, and everything will be over once he is defeated.

Ginga starts to say some pretty cryptic things as he prepares for battle. He notes Taiyou intends to see everything to the end. Everything will go according to Uchuu’s will. Taiyou is now a figure closer to Uchuu than he is. Taiyou is now a higher being than Ginga. Ginga will destroy Takuya and Yuki, if that is what Uchuu wishes. Ginga will use all his power to stop them.

We fight Ginga, who accuses Yuki of standing up to him just to satisfy her ego. There is no proof that the note is real. Even then she will sacrifice her body in order to fight him. Takuya is shocked to hear Yuki is sacrificing herself and demands to know what is happening after the fight.

Ginga is still alive, by the way. He is furious. At Yuki for standing in his way. At us Observers for continuing to watch. And at Taiyou too, who is also only observing. Taiyou knows Ginga cannot beat them alone. But if Ginga and Taiyou combine powers, they can win. That was supposed to be the plan from the start. Taiyou’s power is that strong. He will surpass the fourth wall, he will surpass the bulb.

The game glitches as Ginga’s body descends into corruption.

Chapter 27

Taiyou and Ginga’s voices combine to symbolise their powers fusing. They become stronger and stronger. Their power is overflowing. Takuya and Yuki can only run.

They go to Lisa for advice, who urges them to not touch Ginga, and go to Lost Zero instead. But Takuya is conflicted. So many people are against him following the note, and he doesn’t want to put Yuki in any more danger. And if they can just defeat Ginga, won’t everything will be finally over? Lisa knows she cannot force him to believe in the note. But regardless of what he chooses, she will go to Lost Zero.

Takuya has made his decision, but has he really? Yuki wants to know that he is fighting Ginga instead of going after Lisa because he really wants to, and not just because he is concerned about Yuki and the medicine. Takuya demands to know everything about the medicine. He knows there must be side effects, because otherwise Scientist would have passed it to them earlier. He is mad that Yuki ingested the pills knowing those side effects. He also says that after winning against Ginga, they should head for Lost Zero, if it is still possible to do so.

Takuya calls Researcher to yell at her for not understanding Yuki’s feelings and making her sacrifice herself. Researcher retorts that the one who doesn’t understand Yuki is Takuya. Yuki is no longer a child. She feels responsible for causing the desert, and the thought of it happening again has been tormenting her the whole time. To continue on in that situation would be impossible. So Researcher asks Takuya once again, to forget about the note, and believe everything will be over once they defeat Ginga.

Unfortunately this is juxtaposed with a flashback between Lisa and Kouta. Lisa tells him defeating Ginga won’t end everything, because another Shoumetsu will occur at Lost Zero. Sadly, Kouta still doesn’t believe the note, and is dismayed that Lisa continues to hurt herself. But Lisa will still go to Lost Zero, because she made a promise.

Kouta wants to stop Lisa so badly, but he is stuck being surrounded by enemies. He can’t do anything with his power. Souma tells him not to cry.

Everything will be over once Ginga is defeated. This is the only thing we have left to do. And we have the support of everyone to do it. According to Geek’s information, Ginga is very powerful, but that power is unstable, and follows a wave-like pattern. We have to attack him when he is at his weakest for a chance at victory.

Among the enemies on our way to Ginga, there is Akira, who seems confused and then sad when he realises he couldn't protect Yuki. She wonders if defeating Ginga will free tamashii like him of their pain too.

Ginga needs more power. Suddenly he hears a voice, that he can only hear because his consciousness and Taiyou's are now one. It's Uchuu.

After hearing Uchuu, Ginga becomes stronger. But if we hurry and get to him before his power reaches its peak we can still win.

Yuki is still wavering about Lisa and Lost Zero. But Takuya tells her she has the right to live her life the way she wants to, and weave her own future: the peaceful future that she and Takuya dreamt up together. To do that we need to defeat Ginga.

As Yuki's will continues to waver, Lisa approaches Lost Zero. And Uchuu finds her. Lisa claims she isn’t scared though, because she believes in Takuya. But that man is currently distracted fighting Ginga.

Kouta realises Scientist let Lisa go to Lost Zero. He is furious, accusing him of treating Lisa like a test subject. Unable to bear knowing Lisa is in danger, Kouta resolves to go to Lost Zero to stop her.

Lost Zero seems to be getting stronger. Lisa suspects it is reacting to Ginga's power. Lisa realises she is probably not going to survive after completing her mission. She wonders what Takuya would do in her situation. Bear the danger and get closer, or run? Obviously though, she can't run, or else Lost Zero's power will overflow and Ginga will become unstoppable. So she will use what little power she has to do what she can. Because she doesn't want to regret anything. Lisa will sacrifice her life for the hope of a better future. Finally, she asks for Takuya to believe in her.

The power flowing into Ginga suddenly stops, giving Takuya and Yuki a chance to beat him.

We hear some of Lisa's final thoughts, as a message to Takuya. “Takuya I will go to Lost Zero. To truly save the world, I need your power. I wonder if it will be ok to leave the future to you.

Hey Takuya, to tell the truth, it's actually just a little bit scary. I always seem strong, but even I want to be held by someone sometimes. Someone who will stroke my head, and tell me not to be afraid. But I guess I have no choice but to live this life. Ahh, Takuya, I actually really would have liked to have a boyfriend like you.”

Kouta arrives just in time to see Lost Zero disappear. He was too late. Lisa is gone. And he won't forgive whoever made her do this.

Chapter 28

We see a confused jumble of flashbacks and glitchy words: Yuki wondering if it is really alright to ignore the note; Lisa sacrificing her life to make a small but significant difference toward hope; Kouta vowing to never forgive those who did this to Lisa.

We then get some sort of meta philosophical pondering as, over a montage of real photos, Yuki asks if we think tomorrow will always come like a normal day. It is something we always take for granted, but the truth is, such normality can disappear in the blink of an eye. Just like what happened the day of the Shoumetsu.

The Shoumetsu Toshi logo appears, but Yuki’s silhouette disappears from it.

Scientist told Takuya Lost Zero is storing a huge amount of energy, so despite defeating Ginga, despite believing everything would be over now, Takuya and Yuki must now head over there.

Yuki is in a lot of pain though. It's so bad even collecting spheres will hurt her, something that has never happened before.  

They take a break and Yuki takes her second last pill. Takuya wants Yuki to give him her last pill, but she won't. This last pill represents her life. So she wants to hold onto it with her own hands. She wants to be the one to determine her own fate.

We hear Yuki's silent thoughts to Takuya. “Hey Takuya, don't worry. If I have to take the last pill, I'll take it in secret. Because I know, that if you find out I am going to die, you will be very sad. You won't be able to smile anymore. You probably think I'm a troublesome woman right now. And you would be right.”

Yuki no longer feels concerned over taking the medicine. Because she knows once she takes it, she will disappear.

Kouta is still furious over Lisa, but his rage is beginning to manifest itself in a strange way. He continues to repeat the words “unforgivable”. And then we see an image of Taiyou overlaid over his.

Kouta is filled with so much anger with no one to direct it to. So he goes around to everyone: Scientist, Researcher and Geek, accusing them of abandoning Lisa to die. They must have planned to sacrifice her from the beginning. Pushed all the responsibility onto her and just watched from a safe place.

A conversation between henchmen of the organisation confirms that Taiyou has taken over Kouta's body as the new “vessel”. The intention was to steal the “replicant's” body but that was difficult so he took over the body of the one closest to him. As the images of Kouta and Taiyou alternate, the hooded men explain that “that person” cannot even think right now. He has no idea what he is doing. Engulfed by hatred, he will continuously desire power, and be lost until Uchuu erases him. Why does he go so far for that power? It is even destroying his consciousness. What a poor fellow.

Taiyou and Kouta's voices merge in a similar way to how Taiyou took over Ginga. Kouta begins to repeat Taiyou's phrase. But it seems different. The communication ship is turning in the starry sky. The stars are twinkling.

Yuki gets a bad feeling when she feels a strong power emanating from the place where Lisa disappeared. It feels like malice.

Takuya and Yuki get an urgent call from Geek. Kouta is acting strange. Scientist calls Yuki to tell her there is only one way to save him, but it involves sacrificing somebody else: Souma.

Taiyou is controlling Kouta from within Souma. If we force Taiyou’s will back into Souma's body, taking down Souma should kill both of them. However, it is risky: if we fail to kill him he would gain access to Souma's summoning abilities and become even more powerful.

Yuki remembers in the past, Souma used to complain about their dad’s job. It was painful not being able to see him while he was at work, but it was a very important job only he could do. There was no other choice, just like now. Yuki resolves to kill her brother, because to defeat Taiyou, someone must be sacrificed, and between Kouta and Souma it is clear who should be the one to survive. Because no matter how much Yuki loves Souma, the fact is that he should have died that day.

Researcher will use a special technique to knock out Kouta. The moment he loses consciousness, Taiyou will be forced into Souma, and that will be our only chance to beat him. According to Takuya, once Researcher uses her special technique on Kouta, his stomach will hurt so much he will be unable to stand for days.

Yuki and Takuya cross the bridge leading to Lost Zero, the beginning of the end of the world. There is no more land, only sea. They spot Souma.

Yuki needs Takuya to give her the courage to stand up to her brother. She trembles as she asks him to not look back. Look forward, so she can too. Neither can afford to falter for even a second.

Souma has likely noticed something is up with “big brother” Kouta. He is scared and lonely and cries for his sister to save him.

Taiyou and Souma's wills begin to merge. As Taiyou craves more power, Souma calls out to Yuki for help. It's lonely, it hurts. Why isn't Yuki saving him? Why can't he be happy? He doesn't want Taiyou inside him. It feels bad, it feels good. He wants to disappear, he wants to die. He wants more power. More and more and more….

As Taiyou's consciousness rampages within Souma, he begins to multiply.

We fight the Souma replicants, and after taking down each one we get a snippet of their thoughts. “Will you smile and like me?”; “If only I just worked harder, and harder”; “Even though I tried so hard, even though I endured more than anyone else”; “Please, look at me. Pay attention to me. Like me”; “Don't come over here.”

And with each version of her brother that falls, Yuki has a reply: “I'm sorry, I must defeat you”; “I know it must be painful, but it's alright, I'll lay you to rest”; “you can hate me, it's ok”; “I'll end it, I'll end your battle with my own hands.”

And her final message: “Goodbye Souma, and thank you. Thank you for being born, for being my brother, thank you so, so much.”

When all the replicant battles are over, Yuki cries. Did it really have to end this way? Was there really no other way? She misses him, she wants to see him again so badly.

A flashback shows Souma agreeing to endure the pain of not being able to see their dad, because he believes that one day, when everything is over and their dad doesn't have to work as hard anymore, the three of them can live happily, together.

Instead of heading straight for Kouta, Takuya drives around a little longer. He tells Yuki if she wants to cry, she can. He'll even lend her his back. Yuki calls him awful for being nice now.

Kouta makes sure to apologise when he does regain consciousness. Takuya says it wasn't his fault. But they can no longer fight because there is only one medicine pill left and Yuki will die if she takes it. What should he do?

Kouta berates him for being uncharacteristically sad. Use your head Takuya, you have a special power! Jump to the past, and do what Lisa wanted you to do!

Chapter 29

Takuya and Yuki must go back to the past now, to the gap in their memories right after Yuki turns everything into a desert. They are relying on the ‘God' on their side to help them do so. We, as their ‘God’, have been with them and watched them grow since the start of the journey. We will take them back to the past where they need to go. Because this is not just Takuya and Yuki's story, it's ours too.

The screen glitches as we attempt the time travel process. It's not quite strong enough yet. Yuki and Takuya's prayers have to reach us, and then we need to transmit those through our own thoughts (just keep tapping).

It works, but time is scarce. They've got to beat Ginga first, but if they've done it once, they can do it again. Ginga curses us after the battle, telling “Observer” he will be back.

Lisa is alive and well here, but she knows what Takuya and Yuki are trying to do, and that they can't do it. What has been decided already cannot be changed. The two of them are only watching the past. She tells them the time they should have returned to is not now, but one year ago, when they escaped Lost, and got the note.

The Isoya Report collates the research of Yuki's father and records the disappearance of the world. Takuya and Yuki must go back and escape Lost again, to get the note, pass it onto Lisa, and set everything in motion.

Lisa gives one final warning: don't think of changing anything. Any action their current selves make in the past is a contradiction in the timeline of this world. If the two of them think of doing anything other than passing on the note (such as saving somebody who was meant to perish), this world might disappear due to taking on more contradictions than it can handle.

Takuya and Yuki don't actually remember how they escaped Lost at the end of their journey one year ago, but that is exactly why they can now travel back to that period. After another prayer session, they time jump to the moment right after Yuki's dad is defeated. Now they need to find him.

Takuya drives towards the place the two of them fought him. Yuki hears her dad's voice, as well as someone else's.

It's Tsuki, meaning we didn't complete defeat her. She sounds lost without Taiyou to guide her. And in a lot of pain. Everything went wrong. It shouldn't be this way, she doesn't want this kind of fate.

After beating Tsuki, we see the note. Yuki has a final conversation with her dad, apologising for not being able to save him. Her father thanks her, saying he was glad to see her in the end. But now she must escape, because Lost is disappearing and he cannot maintain this form for long. Before she leaves Yuki assures him she is no longer the same Yuki from the past.

A flashback illustrates this point. Yuki's mother took her to the amusement park, but she didn’t want to go home, so she pretended to sleep for longer. Current Yuki wonders what the purpose of her journey is. Who does she journey for? What does she gain after all this pain? Lisa told her the past couldn't be changed, but is that true? Is it really not possible to save her dad and Souma, and live together happily again? Because if that is not possible, where is she going to return to once everything is over?

Takuya knows in the present, Yuki’s body is reaching its limit, but he won’t let her eat the last pill. If Yuki has to sacrifice her future, this whole journey would be pointless.

Lisa’s philosophy was that there are no “right” choices, we can only try to make them right after the choice is made. Takuya wonders how to make the “right” choice. Will everything really be good as long as he hands Lisa the note? What choice will they make after everything is over?

Takuya and Yuki now need to find Lisa and hand her the note. They also have to tell the unsuspecting Lisa all about the painful truth and her fate. We realise now that Lisa actually knew everything. She knew she was going to die, but she went ahead and sacrificed herself anyway, because Takuya was the one who gave her the note, and she trusted him.

On their way to get out of Lost, Takuya and Yuki have to fight Taiyou again. Taiyou agrees that there is no right choice, only choices we make right. And that is why he seeks power.

Souma still haunts Yuki’s mentally. He asks her why does she keep moving forward? Where is she going? Will she become happy like that? Is what she is doing truly happiness? Even though Souma himself wanted happiness so badly.

Yuki admits she doesn’t know if this is the right choice. She has lost many things, but right now there are other things she does not want to lose. That is her reason for moving forward. She wants to keep journeying, with Takuya. She wants that happy future. She apologises for being selfish, but for the very first time in her life, she has a dream she absolutely does not want to let go of. She pleads forgiveness for her selfishness, which has been the cause of her progress up to now.

After beating Taiyou, we hear Takuya’s thoughts. He also does not know what is right, only that he wants to protect the small life behind him.

If Takuya had never passed the note onto Lisa, she wouldn’t have been involved in Lost Zero, meaning she probably wouldn’t have died. Should we really give the note to her then? But while not giving the note to Lisa could save her, it could also result in a heap of other changes. Takuya and Yuki would never have set off on this second journey, they would never have stopped Ginga, and Lost Zero may have erased the world. Lisa would probably have chosen to save the world too.

As Lost is disappearing, Yuki’s dad who has lost his conscious thought, approaches for a fight. Yuki is very unwilling to fight her father, again. Then Akira’s tamashii reaches her, saying he can hear her father asking her to kill him. Akira also tells Yuki that it is okay to be selfish. The person most important to her should be herself, and she has every right to a happy future. This time, Akira will protect her.

Yuki thanks Akira and resolves to not waver anymore. No matter the sacrifice, she will move on, for the sake of her own happiness.

We beat her dad but his will is still alive. If we do not bring him down for good, he will be consumed by Lost, and become like Taiyou. So poor Yuki has to fight him again. It does not help that his last words are: “It hurts. Why Yuki? I don’t want to die.” Yuki tells her dad she will work hard and make sure his will does not go to waste. Somehow her and Takuya have ended up carrying the wills and expectations of many people. But that is why they have to believe in themselves and move on.

Yuki asks Takuya to promise to be with her until the end. Takuya confirms he will definitely fulfil his contract, and make her happy. It was here that Takuya also secretly made a decision, about who was most important to him, and who he wanted to protect the most. Takuya thinks cryptically to himself. He will be the one to make the hard decision. He will be the one to end this journey.

The two meet up with Lisa and she is understandably skeptical. But Takuya and Yuki don't have much time left so they can only relay what they know. Lisa does ask a difficult question though: why her? If she accepts the note, even if she doesn’t believe it, she will never stop thinking about it day and night. Why would Takuya wish something so tragic onto her? She ultimately takes the note though.

The next time in history we jump to is back to right after Yuki’s powers turn a part of the city into desert. Lisa had indeed been thinking about the note the whole time, and now that she’s seen its prediction about the desert was true, she will probably go through with what she has to do. Takuya apologises but she brushes it off. She does tell him though, that to save the world, one needs to be determined enough to sacrifice even the person most important to them. Takuya vows to save the world, earning praise from Lisa that he’s reliable. She also tells him that she really wanted a boyfriend like him.

Takuya and Yuki leave to return to their original time period, knowing that they will not be able to return. So they can only believe that the choice they make here is right.

Thank you, Lisa, and goodbye.

Chapter 30

Scientist recaps what is happening in the present. Lisa is approaching Lost Zero with the intention of sacrificing herself. She will disappear, and use her power as a tamashii to suppress Lost Zero erasing the world. But she can only do so for a few hours.

Additionally, Yuki’s body is also at her limit. It is turning to stone, like the city. There is one pill left but it will kill her if she takes it.

Scientist relays his final request to Takuya: Go to Lost Zero and stop the erasure of the world, no matter what. Takuya accepts the job.

Time is running out, for the world, and for Yuki. Takuya wonders cryptically to himself when will be the last time he will say goodbye to Yuki forever. He remembers that, after so long avoiding people after leaving the detective agency, it was only after meeting Yuki that he learnt to connect with people again. That’s why he had forgotten just how painful it is to say goodbye.

Yuki notices Takuya is losing focus. The reason for this was actually hinted at in the previous chapter. Lisa sacrificed herself in order to open a path to the source of everything: Lost World. To end everything, what Takuya really needs to do is not stop Lost Zero, but go to the parallel world, Lost World. There, a being called Uchuu is controlling everything. He has to defeat her, or there will be no way to stop Shoumetsu from reoccurring. However, to do so requires Takuya to make a very difficult decision.

As the two approach Lost Zero, Takuya asks Yuki if she is still ok to fight. Yuki confirms that when she is with Takuya, she feels like she can do anything. This draws a conflicted reaction from him.

Takuya asks Yuki if she still remembers her dream to live peacefully after everything is over. Of course, Yuki never forgot. Takuya tells her to chase that future, he wants her to be happy. But to Yuki, that alone is not enough for her to be happy: she wants Takuya’s happiness too. Won’t he stop taking on dangerous contracts after this, and settle down like her?

Takuya admits it would be easier if he did do so. Incidentally, the enemy we fight when he says this is Luna, the ultimate symbol of not being honest to yourself.

Takuya thinks to himself, that he can never see Yuki’s face directly, because she is always behind him. Is she sad? Is she thinking about something? Has she noticed the truth already? That Takuya cannot bring Yuki with him on his next journey.

Only one person is able to go to Lost World, where Uchuu is waiting. Takuya isn’t afraid of going. It’s almost shocking how unafraid he feels. But he does feel that the thought of leaving this world, and never being able to see everyone again, is very painful.

Takuya has in fact already said his farewells to the others. But not Yuki. He claims he doesn’t want to put her in danger anymore, but it was he who didn’t understand. Yuki has clearly noticed something is up, and Takuya is only pretending not to notice.

Yuki tries to convince Takuya to stay. She reiterates how much of a good thing it is to have him there with her. If Takuya never came for her, she would still be alone. But Takuya argues she isn’t alone anymore. She has lots of friends now, who will support her. But that’s all because of Takuya, Yuki counters. In stark contrast to how she thought at the very beginning of this story mode, Yuki says she now believes that good people gather around Takuya.

Takuya tells Yuki the happiest meeting for him, was meeting her. But Yuki picks up on the past tense. Why did he say “happiest”? Why did he say it in a way that sounded like things were ending?

She pushes him. “Hey Takuya, you won’t go, right? We’ll be together forever?” Takuya avoids lying by saying he will fight with her until the end. But Yuki sees through it. And then what? What will you do? Takuya avoids answering by telling her to focus on what’s in front.

Takuya never said goodbye to Yuki properly, because he didn’t know how to say it. But that’s a lie. He ran from telling her the truth, because he couldn’t bear to see her sad.

When Takuya said goodbye to Headhunter, he gave him one key piece of advice: If you are going to disappear, don’t say anything. Don't make promises you know you can't keep. That would be the most horrible thing to do to anyone. But then he also getsTakuya to promise to return all the money he owes him eventually. Because that’s separate business.

Back at the organisation, two members discuss how Lost Zero has stopped spreading. But this is fine. They just have to open the next Lost. Uchuu has enough power to make it happen.

As if on cue, we hear the voice of Uchuu, saying she is bored. One of the men then disappear. The other, realising what has happened, starts to beg for his life. But Uchuu eliminates him too.

Uchuu waits in Lost World. She tells us to hurry up, unless... (cue fucking jump scare) “are you scared?”

Uchuu loves Takuya, does Takuya like Uchuu?

Yuki asks if Takuya is crying. She’s always behind him, so she can never see his face. That’s why she hates his back.

Takuya resolves to tell her the truth. Yuki is devastated, begging it to be a lie. When she finds out it isn’t, she predictably asks to go with him. When he tells her she can’t she gets even sadder. What is she supposed to do? It’s not as if she could forget about him. Yuki’s happy future, that the two of them came up with, was one of the few things keeping her going. And in that dream, Takuya was right there by her side, smiling next to her. Yuki asks a whole bunch of “why” questions: Why are you going by yourself? Why can’t you be with me? Why aren’t you saying anything?

Takuya finally speaks. He tries to explain to Yuki that in life, people have to say goodbye. And then they have to move on. It’s something she will understand when she’s older. But Yuki right now doesn’t understand. There is no way there will ever be a replacement for her memories of this journey, and of Takuya. Takuya thanks her, and says he won’t forget what she said.

The final boss battle of World 1 is Lost Zero, with Lisa trapped in it. Its defeat signals the end of our gameplay, the end of Takuya’s contract, and the end of his partnership with Yuki.

Takuya must now say his final goodbyes to Yuki. He tells her not to be sad. As she grows older, she will make many more memories. Her journey with Takuya will eventually become one small memory in a huge mountain. Once in a while, Yuki might remember, and she will be sad for a moment, but that’s alright, because that is what it means to face the future, and move on.

Takuya’s speech does nothing to lift Yuki’s spirits. She is still sad. She still doesn’t understand. She still clings on to hope. She asks: “Hey Takuya, it’s not the end, right? We’ll meet again, right?”

Headhunter’s final piece of advice flashes into Takuya’s mind: don’t make promises you can't keep.

Takuya tells Yuki they will definitely meet again, bringing a smile back to her face. Yuki says she will believe it, forever.

Takuya: “Thank you, Yuki.”

Yuki: “Thank you, Takuya. For coming with me on this journey, for fighting with me, for giving me a dream...Thank you so much.”

But when Takuya leaves, she drops the smile.

The credits roll, and we see the Shoumetsu Toshi logo again. This time, we know the meaning behind Yuki’s silhouette disappearing.

The epilogue plays in between the credits. Researcher and Scientist note that Yuki is still feeling empty, but she will be ok. When they were her age, they also made many memories, but they only occasionally remember those days now. It will surely be the same for Yuki. That is what Takuya hopes for the most.

We also find out Headhunter is paying Yuki’s living fees. He can do this because it’s going to Takuya’s bill, who will pay him back ‘eventually’.

Geek is incredibly depressed Takuya is gone, because Takuya was his one and only friend in this world. But when Kouta offers his friendship, Geek rejects him. Poor Kouta.

Appropriately, the final person we see is Yuki. After some time, she took another look at the note, the Isoya Report. In addition to her father’s actual research, there was information Takuya noted for Lisa. And on the last page, was a short letter from Takuya to Yuki.

Dear Yuki, I’m sorry I couldn’t live in the world peacefully with you. I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfil our promise. But there are things I need to do, to make sure you and everyone else can live peacefully.

The truth is I am a little excited about going to a parallel world. What if in that world, the secrets of the Ancient Civilisation have all been uncovered? I would definitely find a way to bring that back. Sorry, but this will be my last contract. Look forward to when I get in contact with you guys about it.

Thank you, Yuki.

Yuki: “You’re such an idiot.”

World 1 story mode finishes with a preview of Lost World. We see someone who appears to be Yuki with red hair, talking to ???? from the tutorial.