#sol says a whole lot of nothing. what's new?

[smallgodzilla]

may was the sad month, but JUNE... she is the "FIGHT FOR YOUR DAMN LIFE YOU LITTLE CREATURE, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" month, it seems.

[oshalittlestar]

saw a lot of TheAc. criticals post from angry/disappointed fans going around my dashboard these past few days -? tumblr algorythm when i catch you - whose recurring (and sometimes only) argument against it, is that Osha is OOC, (mostly starting from ep5) and would never have acted/done this kind of stuff to Sol, betraying the jedi, and mainly that [ep5 to 6] ruined the show.

and okay. okay. if you didnt like the turn and direction the show's taken, i understand, i have my beefs with other series/movies too, so here i'm only trying to share my own perspective on Osha's development, that some may have considered too 'sudden' and 'ooc',

and i completely get why others might see it differently and not be comfortable with it. their feelings are just as valid and legitimate.

but, her being out of character is something i just cannot quite 'accept', if only for the sake of 'rightful' criticism the show may have toward the end:

Osha [and by extension the Acolyte too, but this post is abt Osha] is a brand new character we just been introduced to for the very first time, no old reference, no comics, nothing. and that's something important to note, because in the 4 episodes we had before the 'infamous' ep5, the most we got on Osha's characterization was very 'scarce' in reality, and not really 'set in stone' by the narrative

( contrary to Anakin skywalker, for example: notice the stark difference between how they portrayed him in the 3 prequels movies, and the Clone wars cartoon - 2008. Here, we had 3 long ass movies to get used to Anakin's character, his story, his relationship with Obi Wan and Padme, and how his fall played out, and it was credible. What wasn't though, (beside the fact the cartoon did some blatant damage to how people now view Anidala and Anakin - cough cough sorry cough cough it was my first otp -) was that they heard some..fans didnt like the not 'virile' enough Anakin from AotC/Rots and thought, well, lets take the worst of him in the movie, all his flaws, his dark emotions, and lets mix it to give the fans some kind of jock/popular-aligned/macho-light w/ anger issues/possessive of his girl/action stoic/terminator hero, and nevermind the characterization already etablished by the 3 movies.!)

so, back to Osha in the first 4 eps:

first, from her interaction with her meknek 'bud', Fillik. She's friendly enough - not that much, she didnt went out with her crew/ nor she wanted to share her doings with him (yeah, you can put that on her preferring her privacy/but also: her Jedi's teachings! it did take roots in her very being, her mind and consequently her everyday's life after!), but she knows how to level the mood, and doesnt hesitate to go toward something ..dangerous, if it need to be repared, even if this something is trauma related, like fire...(mmmh. im not saying it's forshadowing, but it was without doubt the first indication that she wasnt at peace with her past - and vice versa, that she's have to confront it)

second, from Yord. it's the first figure from her 'second' past life we/she see. She's a little playful, teasing him, not even a little wary when she sees him again after all this time, and most importantly she seems to trust him from the get go, thats why it hurts her that way! - and it matters, that it was him first, i think. Sol wouldnt have had the same - ah! - detachment, ironically as Yord. Yord, with whom she likely used to train with as a Padawan, and who didnt see her for 6 whole years after she left the Order. so for him to not trust immediately her words, her, it highlights from the start that the connection she had with the Jedi Order is no more, -at the very best holding on a veeery light thread- since she left it behind all these years ago; and even if in the 3 following episodes, Jecki, Sol, Yord (to some extent venestra) believe her, there's always this gap in the back of her/our mind, between her and the Order, that she cant seem to fill...

thirdly, from Sol. do i need to say more?? okay, i will only say that: blind trust. there's nothing this man could do to make Osha dislike him, or acting ill toward him, he held the truth, 'controlled - take this word with a grain of salt, when i say 'controlled', it holds no malicious intent from Sol, - the narrative, for years ! (and here im not saying he was a villain, i am not demonizing him nor am i saying he was an abusive piece of shit at ALL just so we're clear. ik my words may seem cold and harsh) but, indeed, Osha had no special reason to be mad at him, there was this parental/father figure she saw in him, replacing what she had lost on Brendok... ( but the savior hold as much weight to their relation me think.)

and lastly, from the twins/her coven's interactions, and how she (and we, watchers!) interpreted a lot of things 'wrong' because..povs !! To name just a few :

Osha is literally torturing the poor insect: Mae copying her and since Osha is the one calling her out on it, her sister is seen in a bad light by the viewer, since we identify a lot more with Osha, the 'light' twin

Osha getting mad at Mae for taking a sneekpeak at her drawingbook (she needs the space from her sister, who wont give it to her, who's becoming too much, too close, she needs to breathe alone, and it gives the impression that Osha is trapped, in some kind of 'prison')

Osha seeing her sister lighting it on fire just after locking her up, aaaand the fire expanding, fast (we dont see Mae panicking!!!) i'll admit, the show did a good fucking job at trolling us, into thinking Mae was some sort of... 'unhinged' and 'deranged' sister, who set the entire coven on fire 'just' to keep Osha : thats why i also cant get behind these 'ooc' accusations, because, as flawed as the writing might have gotten at some parts - and other things, but i wont dwelve on that here, the Acolyte was, from start to finish, headed in one direction, fully centered on Osha/Mae subversion arcs, and Osha ascension to the dark side: its all the emotional unbalance i mentioned above, in her interactions with Sol, Yord, her family, and how the serie choose to present us with Osha's version of the story first.

and finally, the fact everyone is throwing 'OOC' around to describe Osha's actions is, very mid 'critic' at best, and inherently contradicting the core message of the Acolyte, which is that everyone can do 'evil' and destructive acts in the name of what they may consider the greater good, whether they're justified or not (Sol/Mae parallels go hard in that sense), and inversely the most 'evil' character can be all in all, very honest -Qimir, even back in Khofar didnt really lie did he? - and vulnerable in his presentation: the revealing of his intention toward Osha etc etc..)

aaand im done i dont know if what i wrote made sense (i dont want to cringe so im not rereading this but know that if there're any typos or weird turn of phrase then its normal :)

[lonelydiary]

2. Courage

They say it takes a lot of courage to fight dangerous enemies with lethal weapons. And Kara can wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. She had lost count just how many enemies twice her size she had fought (not that she is bragging, stop snickering Alex!) and this was certainly not a simple work.

It also takes courage and inner strength to adapt, learn and love a whole new planet, with a whole new rules and laws.

You can also call a fifteen years old girl courageous for watching her home and her parents perish and realizing - there's nothing she can do to stop this. It also takes courage to forgive her parents, because they were the ones, responsible for the tragedy.

Yes, you can call one person courageous in these and many other situations.

But what about situation, when you can't tell your best friend your deepest secret and it suffocating and killing you inside, because you cant fantom the thought of losing her? Too weak to be in the world, where she isn't? What about situation, when it all goes to hell and she's hurting you the only way she knows would matter? Could you find that courage to tell her, that you are hurting?

Could you find the courage to know that she goes the dark path and to know you could do nothing? Nothing to protect her and yourself? Could you find the courage to forgive and heal, when she is standing in front of you, suffocating and trembling and begging?

What would you call yourself, when you can't sometimes find this courage? Would it matter, that you don't care, as long as she is here, in your arms, smiling at you, like only Sol would.

No, Kara thinks, I guess the courage to love is what matters the most. And we are both courageous.

[mytyldotwav]

FREEEEEEEESIAAAAAAA

Freesia is a song from Guilty Gear XRD. But it could have been released in Strive and still hit just as fucking hard. That's because it's applicable to multiple aspects of the story.

Sol Badguy is one of the most powerful characters in the GG universe. At least, he's in the top 10 (probably??). Despite that, he's a grown man who is a grief-stricken mess and has questionable direction to his life.

In my opinion, this song is best interpreted as coming from Frederick. Not Sol, the Badass god-like gear that has saved the world on several occasions. Frederick Bulsara, the man that lost everything important to him.

The start of Freesia is someone reaching out to Frederick. Because really? Frederick does a lot of brooding and self-isolation. He wouldn't reach out to someone otherwise. His head isn't in the clouds, it's in space, drifting aimlessly amongst the stars.

But everything is fine, Frederick says. There's enough air for at least 2 people where he's at, and he's alone. So everything is ok. Frederick, or more accurately, Sol, has everything he needs. He's achieved great feats normal humans only could dream of achieving. He's reached greater heights than anyone ever has, and yet? Something is still missing.

There's enough air for 2 people up there. Boundless information. Wisdom beyond that of any normal human. But there's enough air for 2 people. And he knows why, but he can't bring himself to say it.

"The whole world is kind to me"

Yes, Sol has reason to be happy. Everyone has rewarded him for saving the world. Everyone appreciates what he has done in some way, and every day brings fresh start. The world has been ushered into a new era of peace; but there's someone missing. But Frederick can't bring himself to tell anyone what it is.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

It'd be ungrateful for him to imply something was missing, or that something could be wrong. Sol apologizes, but laments his cowardice.

This next portion feels more like Frederick reaching out, or at least telling someone in passing about how miserable he is:

"The world may crumble down with just one piece missing"

Now, he is (to the best of his ability) trying to be genuine and honest about how life's trials have affected him. Frederick is saying that if he can't get that one thing back, if he can't reach his goals, why continue? Without this thing he's been pursuing for DECADES, actually being obtainable, his life has no purpose. He's just a shell of a man looking for comfort in the past.

This is where the dam breaks. This is where Frederick and Sol's lives converge into one. Frederick Bulsara is Sol Badguy and vice versa. He can't pretend that his reasons for fighting and living don't come from a place of loss and pain. He's not just bounty hunting for money, not just traveling the world because he can. His emotional strength isn't there because he's fixed all of his problems. His experiences have made him physically stronger, but mentally? He's exhausted and desperate for rest. Everything he has done up to this point has been for Aria Hale. But if she's gone, everything falls apart. There is no point.

That's why the song is named Freesia. A Freesia is a flower from South Africa that is commonly seen at weddings. They typically convey deep trust, friendship, thoughtfulness and sometimes purity.

And then the line hits. You know the one.

This moment in the song is an outburst of love, both platonic and romantic. This is the moment where Sol can't hide that he's still Frederick. He's still human. And damn it, he still loves that woman-- as Aria or Jack-O.

"Here I am" is a resignation. He tried ignoring the emotions building up inside of him for so long, neglected his humanity, acted as nothing but a weapon for so long, and he is tired. The mask falls off. He is finally allowing himself to be vulnerable and honest with the world.

Sol isn't proud of it.

He shouldn't have isolated himself for so long.

He shouldn't have lied about his emotions.

He shouldn't have pushed so many kind people away.

If he had done those things, maybe there would be less blood on his hands. Maybe he would have lived a more normal life.

But he knows that's not true. Aria meant too much to him. Sol would still miss her as desperately, even if he continued down a different path.

Yes, he had reasons to feel the things he felt. But at the same time, there were also so many people willing to help him start again. and he sees it now, as clear as day. Aria had been his world for so long. But he was missing so many beautiful things because of it. Frederick had spent so much time trying to save Aria that he became single minded in his endeavor. It led him to become isolated. It kept him from living his own life and that's what Aria wanted for him so badly. She didn't want to weigh on his mind, she wanted the happy memories of them to help Frederick continue living.

So the apologies tumble out again for the last time.

Frederick was surrounded by, and floating through galaxies. Worlds of people surrounded him and yet everything was touch and go. A passing greeting. A quick handshake. Knowing glances. He had recognition, respect, power, and yet, when the fight was over? Sol would leave it all behind again and move back to Aria. But that isn't what she would have wanted.

Reading through the lyrics, I initially thought Frederick was saying that he couldn't protect or save Aria, and that was what the final line meant. But I believe that's not the whole message. Frederick wasn't able to prove himself to Aria: Sol didn't keep living on like she wanted him to. He forgot her final wishes in his grief, and for the first time, he sees that. Now, finally, Frederick is ready to fulfill them.

• ○ ● Thanks for reading! ● ○ ●

[darling-heffron]

Hello all, and welcome to the first chapter of Momento Mori!! I hope you are all excited for this new AU, I know Sol☀️ and I are very excited to be sharing this with you all. We will be posting chapters weekly and hopefully we will be able to keep on top of the workload ahaha. We will update you if this does change.

Also an overall disclaimer that this story will involve violence, gore, swearing, abuse, SA, death, non-con, family trauma, parental abuse, dead dove: do not eat, just a lot of bad things, please inform us if we have missed anything and we will add it. (We will not be adding this to every chapter, only if we think one needs some extra disclaimers, or if it going to be very bad, we will let you know. We will have a full disclaimer list on the masterlist when it gets posted.)

Also also, this work is purely fictional, based on the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters and no hate to the men who served in WW2.

Taglist: please let us know if you want to be added!

Chapter One: The Plan

“Do you hear me, soldier?” The Lieutenant bent forward as he screamed in Sam’s face, as if she couldn’t hear him. 

She tried her best to not recoil from him as his salvia landed on her cheek. Sam wondered what her father would say this time, another infringement in just one week. Surely, he would have some choice words for her, when doesn’t he? 

Sam couldn’t believe she spent her whole life trying to please that sorry excuse for a man. God, everything she had ever done had been for him. 

The tall woman thought she was finally earning the praise she so desired when he suggested she join the army. All for it to be about him and not her. God, how could she have been so foolish, constantly trying to please that man. 

Well now she had woken up, and Sam was angry. The blonde woman would not beg anymore, she was better than that. She would not let him treat her like she was gum on the bottom of his shoe. 

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” Lieutenant Jones boomed. 

“Yes, sir.” Sam yelled back, looking past the man. 

“The General will be hearing about this, Jackson.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“Get your pack and get your ass moving, Jackson. I don’t want to see you back here until you are throwing up all over your boots!” Sam bit her tongue to keep from spitting back a retort, things were going to plan so far, she didn’t need her temper getting the best of her now.   

“Yes, sir!” Sam yelled, turning to grab her gear, hauling the heavy pack onto her back and slinging the gun over her shoulder. 

The girl moved quickly out of the barracks into the open expanse of ground that the base covered. She ran down the road into the open field, heading towards the woods at the furthest end of the territory. She couldn’t help the smirk that pulled to her lips. 

Everything was falling perfectly into place. 

Sam’s punishment had purpose, she had intentionally been sloppy all day; her bed wasn’t made, her uniform incorrect, she spoke back brazenly to her superiors, it all had snowballed to this moment. 

The blonde needed the punishment to be bad enough to get a full pack run, but it was harder than she thought. Sam had tried earlier in the week, but falling from the top of the class to the bottom was hard. She had made a name for herself for being the best of the best and so the officers turned a blind eye to her misdoings, thinking she was just having an off day. 

But when she kept up the behaviour for the second week, the officers started to notice. Sam noted that was the first time she had ever been yelled at like that by an officer. 

It wasn’t her first time being scolded, Sam’s father didn’t join the military for nothing. She had only ever known him as a cold strict man, she had never seen him smile once, not for her anyway. 

Sam didn’t see her father often though, Robert was a busy man and didn’t make time for his daughter.  

Isolated from a young age, Sam often was alone. Her own mother didn’t even make time for her, all Sam was to them was an accessory. She could count the times on one hand the amount of instances they were all together as a family. 

After her mother and father divorced, most families would fight over taking custody of their child, for Sam, she was forgotten about entirely.

Samantha’s legs moved faster carrying her towards the back fence, she checked her watch 1300hrs on the dot. She made it to the fence, slinging her pack off her back and sliding it through the cut hole at the bottom, she pushed it through to the other slide, following after it on her belly. 

She got to her feet brushing the dust from her clothes and bag before putting it on her back again. The girl needed to move away from the compound before she was spotted by one of the patrolling guards. 

If she had timed it right no one would realise she had disappeared, the next guard wasn’t due until 1330 and her Lieutenant wouldn’t be expecting her back for another hour. 

Woods surrounded the base, the dense brush hiding the whole facility. Sam slipped further into the bush, making her way towards the only main road close to the base. 

Before emerging from the bushes she redressed into more casual clothes, she didn’t need her whole attire to scream, ‘Hey look over here, I’ve just deserted and I’m running away!’

Sam stood on the side of the road, scanning up and down for one lone car. 

“Jesus Christ, what’s taking him so long?” Sam muttered to herself checking her watch for the millionth time. He was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago, if he wasn’t here soon she would have to move to plan B, and plan B was not her favourite. 

Sam sighed, her foot tapping impatiently on the tarmac. Screeching tires pulled her gaze down the street again. 

“Finally!” She said exasperatedly.

The girl watched the car zig-zag down the road. The man who was coming to pick up some army goods she had stolen for him was now careening down the street towards her. 

Why she used Craigslist she didn’t know but she was desperate for money and he seemed to be the only buyer interested in her items she had put up for sale, and he was offering her top dollar for it. 

Sam needed enough money to get her out of state and at least a few meals, then she was going to change her name and start a new life, one where she wasn’t tied to her horrible family or past. 

But now this guy was swerving all over the road, Sam watched the car speed from one side to the other. Everytime the car looked like it was just about to fly off the side of the street it swerved back onto the other side again. 

“Fucking hell, what is this crazy motherfucker doing?” Sam shook her head. The car never slowed as it came closer to her, in fact it seemed as if it was speeding up the nearer it got. 

“Hey, slow down!” She called, not thinking it would actually do anything, he couldn’t hear her yells from outside the vehicle. The car was heading towards her now, full speed, not looking like it was about to stop. 

“Fuck!” Sam screamed, leaping out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. 

She watched the events play in slow motion, the car screeched past her ploughing through the exact spot she stood only moments before. Sam crashed to the ground, her eyes never leaving the car as it sped past her. 

The blonde lay on the grass panting as the car smashed into the line of trees that bordered the road. Sam winced watching the collision, the whole front of the car imploded on impact with the trunks, the car halved in size. The whole front bonnet was now in the driver's seat. 

“Oh my fucking god!” Sam got to her feet running over to the smoking vehicle. She rounded the car to the front, the driver’s top half was sprawled across the bonnet, unmoving. 

The man clearly wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, his whole body impaled with glass, the pool of blood quickly spreading around him. 

Sam hesitated, she didn’t know what made her pause, her hand outstretched ready to check the responsiveness of the driver. But she didn’t want to touch him for some reason, he seemed off, everything about this situation seemed odd. 

She slung the gun from her shoulder, extending it forward, Sam gently nudged the man with the barrel of her weapon. The man didn’t move or react, so she tried again but harder. 

“Hey! Dude!” Sam called to him, trying to rouse him from his unconscious state. The man’s shoulders rose and fell, was he breathing? Sam couldn’t tell. She stepped closer again, eyes trained on the driver. 

“Sir?” She uttered under her breath. 

The man’s head shot up, his bloodshot eyes staring into hers. Sam stumbled backwards, the sudden movement from the person made her heart drop. A strangled groan or gasp left the man’s lips, it didn’t sound human, almost animal-like. 

Feral. 

Sam out of instinct raised her gun again, but it wasn’t loaded, all of the ammo she had was neatly tucked away in her pack. 

The driver’s eye never left hers, but he began to move. Surely all of his limbs were broken or injured, but the man wrangled his arms back to his sides. His movements were sharp and jerky, Sam had never seen someone move like that before. A loud crack nearly made her gag as she watched the man move his backwards leg back into place. 

“What the actual fuck!” She whispered under her breath. She took small steps back from the car, trying not to alert the man of her current escape. 

Ragged breathing from the driver grew louder, she watched in horror as he lifted himself off the bonnet, a long piece of glass from the windshield halted his movement forward. Sam’s eye bulged as the man pushed himself up, removing himself from the glass that was slicing into his flesh, fresh blood pooled underneath him. Questions flooded through Sam’s head but a louder voice spoke over them. 

‘RUN!’ Her mind screamed at her to move, but she stayed planted in place, watching the driver. 

In that same moment the man had gotten himself free, by the time Sam looked up again at him, he was standing in front of the wreckage. He jolted forward in a gurgling roar, Sam didn’t look back as she sprinted her way through the trees. 

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and ragged breaths spilled from her lips. She ran as fast as she could from him. He pursued her quickly and she could hear his rabid noises following her through the trees. 

Sam darted and weaved through the branches, hoping that the uneven terrain would slow down her pursuer. The wire fence came into view, if she crawled back she could hold him off and get some assistance, it was nearly time for patrol so there would be someone in the field that she could call over. 

Sam threw her pack off her shoulder, pushing it through the cut in the fence as she had only done moments before. The footfalls of the rabid man grew closer, his snarls and screaming sending shivers up her spine. Sam used her boot to shove her bag under the fence, but it was stuck. Her now entrance to safety was blocked by the bulky army bag. Her urgency rose even further as the man was so close she could see him charging through the trees in the distance. Sam kicked harder, using both of her feet, looking over her shoulder constantly to find the man coming closer and closer with each passing second. 

“Fucking hell!” Sam cried, willing the bag to just move at her effort, “Please!” She begged, putting her full strength into her legs. 

The rabid man now almost to the fence as well, growled loudly making his presence known. The bag came free moving from the hole, Sam moved quickly sliding under the wire as well, not wanting to look back at how close he had come to catching her. 

The girl got to her feet moving back from the fence as the man charged at full speed, never slowing. The driver launched himself at Sam, arms stretched wide, jaw hanging agape. She had never seen anything like it, no person has ever acted this way. 

The rabid man didn’t get very far in his attack, the chain link stopping him in his path, he ricocheted backwards landing in a heap on the ground. But much to Sam’s surprise he was back on his feet in no time, clawing and yanking at the barrier between them.      

“Hey, you!” A loud voice called from behind her, pulling her eyes from the crazy driver that gurgled and groaned. A guard walked towards her, his hand on his hip, ready to draw at any second. She raised her hands to show she meant no harm. 

“Sir, I can explain.” She replied breathlessly, but the guard's attention was drawn away from her as the driver roared loudly. 

They both turned to see the man had found his way under the fence, he clawed at the ground ferociously. 

Sam cringed, she could see from here the man’s fingernails ripping away from his flesh. 

Before she could even warn the guard, the driver had wiggled his way in. The driver leapt like he did before when he was coming after Sam, but this time there was nothing stopping his attack, the guard didn’t even have time to draw his weapon. 

The rabid man’s body crashed into the guards tackling them to the ground. Sam stepped back towards the fence. The driver baring his teeth, teared into the guard’s neck, blood spurting from the carotid artery that he had found so easily. 

The guard wailed in pain, trying to get the man off him. More voices sounded from across the field; the man's screams of pain had alerted the other guards.

Sam watched, her back pressed against the fence, as the driver lifted his head. The man stood focussing on the guards approaching, standing over the man who clutched at his neck choking breaths leaving his mouth. 

The driver once more sprinted towards the guards who came closer, but Sam didn’t need to see the rest, she had to get out of there. Once again she slid under the chain link fence, tugging her bag through with her. 

Sam ran quickly back to the road, her gun bouncing over her shoulder. She examined the car but it was completely totaled, she wouldn’t be able to drive it anywhere. The girl didn’t waste any time, she swung open the back doors, noting nothing of use. 

“Guess its plan fucking B then.”  

Authors note:

What did we all think of the first chapter?! Please let us know in the comments. Also stay tuned as the next chapter will be out shortly, if you would like to be notified when we post please let us know and we can add you to the tag list!! Did we scare you? Are you creeped out? Do you like Sam? hehehheehe

Love Esra ✨

[iamacolor]

my take on sweet mobster is different I like it but every post on twitter about the show since basically the start is a variation or more precisely not a variation of "SJH is a such a looser in love" and that's not a good sign for me if the entire thing the fans are taking away from the show is how down bad the guy and him being pathetic means the the drama is focusing on that to a very high degree and my idea or a romantic lead is a not a dude who spends his time blushing and kicking his feet over a girl I'm sorry if there's not a specific reason for it or if she's not matching his freak in every instance. In this case I don't feel like they are at all yeah she likes him but they're showing that he likes her a lot more in so many ways it's not even close you cannot tell me you think they've shown the same degree of caring for each other because it's not true.

hi anon! I think you're raising an important point by pointing out the fandom's reaction to the show (and I have to say I only caught up with it last week so I've not really been aware of what people have been saying about it until this week) but to me that's something that's observed in kdrama fandom no matter what the show is, it sometimes go so far as to direct criticism towards the female lead whenever she doesn't stick to her more passive traditional role (I remember seeing people criticise sol from lovely runner for trying to go back in time again to save the ml and for taking away their first meeting because it wasn't his choice when she was clearly doing things that no one would've criticised from a male lead and when she clearly had the main goal of saving him no matter what because she loved him sooo much) and in this previous ask I've talked more in details about the traditional gender roles in kdrama as a genre when it comes to how female and male leads are expected to show affection (where women are supposed to be more passive and men more active and more intense and be romantic and devoted etc which I don't think is good) if you're interested. so I do think this is often an issue in the writing but to me a fandom's reaction isn't necessarily representative of what's actually written especially when a kdrama's fandom is often composed of people more willing to fawn over a new man (although why is loser in love the new keyword like can't we find something else lol nothing about loving a woman is a loss of dignity and it feels very overused now) than to appreciate the nuance in a woman's personality. I've seen entire fandoms of many different types of shows or movies focus on a random secondary or imaginary ship or go as far as to turn a vilain into a simply misunderstood man while constantly criticising everything the female lead does so fandoms can be very volatile and irrational

as for the kind of romantic lead that jihwan is, I personally don't think the whole blushing and kicking his feet over a woman disqualify him as a romantic lead and it's fine if he isn't your cup of tea, there are plenty of heroes who don't do that and who are also very interesting and entertaining and intense in their own ways - I know I couldn't watch just these kinds of leads all the time I like to see different types of characters - but that's not an issue that's just a question of personal preferences

as for what I can or cannot tell you, I've never said that they've been shown to have the same degree of caring - I said that I think their dynamic is more "he falls first" (which necessarily implies we're going to see more of his feelings) than "he's the only devoted one" and that yes he's the one who gets flustered the most because it takes more time for her (and also they're different people who react differently to things). I agree that his feelings are definitely the ones pushed forward for entertainment purposes (especially for comedy purposes) but the narrative we're on right now balances that out. until ep10 (which I haven't watched yet so maybe that changes things) she's the first one who has admitted to someone else that she has feelings and who has approached those feelings with him by saying she doesn't want to be confused, that she's hurt and that she liked the time in his house and specifically the time spent with him, who's calling him out for his inconsistencies precisely because he's shown many times he cares and yet he says nothing about his feelings (and that's after many times where she shows she clearly cares for him, is curious about him, wants to defend him, wants him to take better care of himself - the hospital scene was a really big step in shifting their dynamic to me -, is attracted to him, finds him funny, enjoys teasing him, is willing to put herself at risk for him when he goes missing etc which isn't always the case with female leads). she's also clearly been shown to be jealous several times - and that was clear to him - and so has he. I'm not pretending the show doesn't rely a lot on him having no idea how to handle his feelings and making a mess of it (most of which she doesn't even see so it's mostly for us viewers) while also protecting her and caring for her and being a very romantic brooding hero but the writing also gives eunha a lot more agency than expected and an actual voice over her relationship with him and I feel like we're progressively getting to see different layers of her that makes this whole thing much more balanced than what is usual in kdrama and also more nuanced than how the show started out. I'm not just going "oh this is good because it's a little bit more than what we usually get" I also genuinely feel a progression in the show itself. I purposefully pointed out examples of her actively caring for him precisely because for a non viewer most of what the fandom highlights are jihwan's actions when many of eunha's actions don't get the same treatment

there's another imbalance that's caused by the fact that he already knows she's his childhood friend but she's still in the dark about hyunwoo - and so obviously that adds a depth to his feelings that she can't show even though it's there but that's obviously meant to change

[vertumnanaturalis]

A lot of people seemed to like my last one, so woe! More fic ideas be upon all ye again; compilation of au ideas I posted in LQ and haven't been edited to be easier to read edition!

(below the cut, because theres like 12 of them and its a big messy mess)

Nem?Tang fic where they wake up in some ancient convergent domain plant device with only hazy memories of how they got there but nothing solid enough to work off of, and also why is their hair so long, and where are their clothes, and where is the goddamn colony? Because oopsie daisy! it seems that somebody put them in the ancient alien magitech healing goo and forgot to take them out when they were done, and now two hundred years have passed and everybody else they know and love are long dead, and also apparently some giant ass fleet of earth guys tried to land while they were having a snooze but! oh! whoopsie! yet again! somebody sent them the wrong information about how to safely get through the wormhole and the majority of the fleet did not make it to the surface in one piece!!! and the some of the survivors may or may not have folk stories about people that may or may not be Nem and Tang’s loved ones doing either great or terrible things during those two hundred years they were sleeping through!!

mermaid au where Besk was a mermaid trapped in a research facility and Instance broke her out during her ecoterrorist days but Besk couldn’t go back to the ocean because (hand waves) so she stayed with Instance as a slightly-more-free test subject who could technically come and go as she pleases, and she did, and eventually came back from one of her outings with two whole goddamn babies, and despite their both their hopes both babies seem to be pretty much normal human babies except for the occasional weird non-human thing, like eating whole raw eggs or Tangent having an overnight sex change shortly after saying she’s a girl, and feeling like she’s the only mermaid left in the world eventually leads Besk to doing the same thing she always does, and now Instance is stuck with two ambiguously half-human grieving kindergartners, and now it’s the world’s words hybrid of Wolf Children and The Thirteenth Year (with a mild dose of human experimentation sprinkled on top)

modern day/modern-ish all humans on earth au fic where Sym is a pre-school teacher(or aid??) who just moved to a new town with his beloved edgelord of a boyfriend who never wants to talk about his past or childhood and Sym only knows bits and pieces that he’s mentioned over the past few years (but that’s fine he’s just got his secrets nothing new there), and at his new job with his new class there’s a young single parent of twins that also moved into town only a little bit after he did, and apparently they don’t have anybody in their life besides their kids, they don’t have any family and the kids dad isn’t in the picture, so he does the nice friendly thing and offers to lend a hand if they need help with anything, and one afternoon as he’s supposed to be leaving work after making sure that the kids are all picked up, he spots said single parent and said beloved edgelord talking/arguing about something, because apparently they used to know each other but haven’t seen each other in a long while, and his boyfriend doesn’t wanna hear what “actually super important and kinda immediately relevant” thing that his old friend wants to talk about, and before Sym can really stop them the two kids go running to greet their parent, and look we all know where this plot is heading fellas

(not sure if this one should follow Tang or Dys primarily but Imma go with Tang side for this) fic where there’s more people than canon but they’re still on Vertumna with little research on it & Sol has dream memories (maybe use part of the old idea about the Helio arriving as part of a mini fleet instead of a lone ship?), and Tang’s intelligence is lauded like in canon and she’s put into the best position to learn smarty smarts stuff, while Dys’ rebelliousness gets him no favors with the Man and gets himself marked as a troubled kid and moved away from his sister, with Tang being told that she can seek him out once she’s an adult if she still wants to but for now not to waste her time or energy on worrying about him and focus on her studies. She keeps hearing him being mentioned in passing as being part of some big secret alien-centric program to so she knows that he hasn’t gone awol, but she still doesn’t see him for the next 3 to 5 years even tho she still gets to see most of the other kids (bar Sol, who was also yoinked by the secret alien program). Fast forward to her being an adult enough adult who seems appropriately level headed for doing amoral sciences, so she’s invited to see the big important secret alien project, and “_so Tangent, you know how some of the xenofauna can pass information and feeling between individuals of different species through physical contact, and that there’s some functional technology leftover from the alien civilization that lived here beforehand? And that your brother spent a lot of time exploring ruins? And how sometimes science needs sacrifices? For the greater good and all that? :)?” and Tang gets to see her brother as one of the star subjects of the project’s attempt to recreate a messy version of the array (while not even understanding what it actually is)

like 3 different variants (Geranium, Flulu, and Hal+Tonin+Sol’s she group on a field trip” of “like 3 weeks after landing somebody falls into a mini wormhole and comes out 25 years into the future, except none of them went missing in the second timeline, and now they’re in the future having to deal with the way life actually turned out, and they don’t even know all of the stuff that their other selves do/did, because they may or may not be alive still in this other timeline”. (Actually what got me into working on all those future kid things because I wanted to know who’d be doing what when and with who)

au where Besk blacks out shortly before her suicide attempt and wakes up in a cave on Vertumna, having 0 idea where she is or how she got there, and stumbles around thinking she’s dead until one of the surveyors finds her, and upon getting back to the colony she finds out that she’s supposed to have been dead for the last 11 or so years, with her two five year olds now being sixteen (the same age as her when she left Earth & also how long she spent on the Strato), and she has to learn how to adapt to everything and being alive when she shouldn’t be while there are so many others who died and aren’t magically alive again, and also has to do all this while more or less locked under constant observation, because BOY nobody is going to casually leave her alone for like, so many reasons

fic that opens with Kom waking up in the medbay after the age 14 glow attack and Nem and their younger brothers and all his friends are so unbelievably glad he’s awake and ok, but he keeps learning about the not canon possible things that happened either during the attack or while he was healing (like his mom dying while helping the kids evacuate the creche or chief Rhett and Sol’s parents having died defending geoponics), and he’s just stuck with this unending feeling that he’s supposed to be dead right now, but he’s not, and I’m not sure where to go with the story past that

au where Kom wakes up five years before the Strato reaches the wormhole with the knowledge that he’s going to die ten years from now, and it more or less follows a dreamer Kom story except that he knows that his story only has one conclusion, and rather than trying to prevent his own death he spends that time trying to save and protect as many people in his life as he can (maybe prequel to above scenario?)

obligatory single “nice” modern au fic except that nice has to be in quotation marks because technically it’d be about Dys breaking into Sym’s house after committing a major felony and definitely in a big hurty thinking that it was abandoned, but like surprise! it’s not! and even tho Dys fully expects Sym to call the cops on him and wake up in jail he instead wakes up in Sym’s guest room and immediately assumes that he either died already, accidentally tripped into the fae realm, or Sym is some kinda polite hannibal ass serial killer, and it’d be just a whole bunch of Sym being genuinely kind and nice to Dys while Dys is just “y tho like literally what is wrong with you”, and it takes like 2 years and several more major felonies for them to get together. also this might’ve spawned off of the earlier pre school teacher one but it’s not 100% attached to it so that’s why it has it’s own bulletpoint

2.5 flavors of a Hunger Games AU, which are "special games where its announced that this year each district has to send two siblings/other close family members, and the twins get reaped in their district", "one of the younger boys gets reaped but Kom volunteers in their place", and "Tang watching as Dys gets reaped the first year he's applicable for it and she can't do anything about it, and then having to watch as Kom (in his last year of being applicable) volunteers in her brother's place and all of his siblings are now freaking out" which only came to me as I was sharing the first two.

also have this flawless related image

au where Sym sees videos of wild animals in urban areas being relocated to a better habitat on the data thing Sol gives him and he comes up with a fresh new idea; cut to his two favorite humans (age 13/14) waking up on a strange beach some few thousand kilometers away from the colony several weeks later with 0 idea how they got there (ark opening tune starts to play)

also whatever this is

anyways, that's definately not all of the random au ideas I've had and don't include some of the more developed ones I've actually made effort to work on/flesh out, but these were on hand and I wanted to share them too

[brainicusrotticus]

prologue to the crucial moment that tied vace and sol together, because this was supposed to be about that but then i just kept typing:

the swamp was barely explored yet. the only scout who had really gone there was dys, and utopia didn’t want to sanction it, but we all know he would’ve just wandered off and done it himself anyway. so he goes sometimes, and she makes sure he has the equipment he needs.

and they know the swamp is among the most dangerous regions around the colony. but dys seems to do pretty fine, almost certainly because he’s dys, he’s more a part of the planet than not.

well, dys finds lots of medicinal plants that grow there. and, knowing how his roommate also loves medicinal plants, shares the good news.

and, naturally, sol has to go check it out.

but rhett and utopia aren’t having it. sol isn’t trained in combat, hasn’t scouted more than a few times in the past few years, and is the only doctor in the colony.

so sol pulls the good ol’ dys treatment. he will go check out the swamp. it’s up to them whether he has any support doing it, or if he’s just going to hike it there.

(this… may have been a bluff. he needs to see those plants, and their environment… but he knows the colony needs him.)

rhett finally relents, as long as sol takes a protection detail. sol refuses to babysit a squadron of soldiers who will get spooked and shoot everything that moves, because there will be hands thrown if someone kills something without threat of imminent doom.

they eventually come to a compromise. one soldier.

but it’s going to be vace, because he’s the best they’ve got.

sol hasn’t had many interactions with vace outside of medical events. he’s still got that lasting first impression, so he figures it won’t be a particularly fun excursion. but it’s better than a whole group traipsing all over the wildlife.

vace, meanwhile, has been keeping tabs on sol ever since his first appointment. and he’s figured out that sol radiates kindness, cares about everything around him, is highly empathetic, and always has a little sarcasm to spare.

and he’s also realized that solane is terrifying.

kom pulled vace aside the same month they landed, because vace was already being a shithead. and the talk he gave vace didn’t scare him, but it did make him feel respect for the guy, and set him a bit straight. he realized later that kom knew damn well vace was going to run things one day, and his sister would be working under him. that’s really the main reason kom gave him the talk.

what he didn’t realize, at least initially, is that someone else was giving other troublesome helios kids a very similar talk. he noticed some of them seemed to cool their jets, but assumed it was being planetside. then one kid, about a year older than vace, seemed to have a nervous breakdown practically overnight. seemed suddenly paranoid and timid, like he was afraid to make a wrong move. a couple other helios kids were ribbing him about it, and things went just a little too far—someone broke his nose. an accident, supposedly.

but vace sent someone to get the doc, because this really shouldn’t happen, but goddamnit, they had protocols for this and rhett would shout him up one side and down the other if vace didn’t follow them. frankly, it was wasting less of his time to just comply.

but when doc sol got there, the kid seemed worse. blanched pale fucking white, and barely seemed to breathe while the doctor worked on him. just a broken nose, nothing dangerous. something to stop the bleeding, a few antiseptic wipes to clean him up, and a hard shell bandage to protect it.

and sol is being quietly reassuring the whole time, but this kid seems scared shitless. and vace is wondering if he really did just crack that hard. until sol finishes up, and as vace walks over to talk to the doc and his soldier, solane puts a hand on the kid’s shoulder, gives him a light shake and a smile, and says “you’re doing good, kid. i’m proud of you for turning it around.”

…and this seems to make the soldier more relaxed immediately. and then sol quietly asks who was pushing the kid around, because sol knows when an injury is “accidental”, and that’s what earns you a shovel talk.

and the kid doesn’t even say, but he does glance at them nervously for a split second. and sol stands up, doesn’t say a single word to vace, just walks over to the two soldiers who were instigating, grabs them each by the sleeve, and walks them into a separate room. the door closes, and vace is… not quite concerned. because he hasn’t had enough dots to connect yet. but… perplexed.

and then about eight minutes later, all three of them emerge. and the soldiers look shaken, but the doctor doesn’t look any different from when he went in.

so vace connects some things. and he drags sol into that same room, barking at the two soldiers to get back to training, and then asks sol what the fuck he’s been doing to the helios kids.

and sol says he’s just been talking to them. “the same talk kom gave you. just to the ones who are causing trouble.”

and vace is so confused. kom’s talk was honestly a lot about needing to be better because he’s the fucking example, because neither half of the colony is going to survive without the other, because vace has enough influence over his age group that everyone here might very well live or die based on the image he gives off.

and he did threaten to bury his ass under geoponics where no one would ever find it (and there was such a genuine earnestness there that vace had to believe him, even if kom was still learning how to move a wheelchair around the bumpier outdoor terrain). but none of that should frighten a helios soldier.

and he says as much to sol. or, a brief summary, at least.

and sol just looks at him with a raised eyebrow. and makes a quiet “hm” noise. and then the doctor just replies, “i guess kom and i have different standards.”

and all vace can think to respond is to spit out, “you’re a doctor.”

and solane stares right at him. and there is a coldness there. a bite that he hasn’t seen before. something that feels dangerous. and all solane says is, “yes. and i protect this colony.”

and turns and leaves the garrison, without waiting for so much as a look from vace. which isn’t something anyone does in his barracks. all the soldiers know better, and all the civilians respect him enough not to just leave.

but this doctor. this kid who’s a little younger than vace, who’s on the short side, who doesn’t know much about fighting beyond the basic self defense shit. who is kind and empathetic to every single one of his patients, who has absolutely cried over how damn cute his pet vriki is, and who has just enough sarcasm to keep things light.

has some sort of speech that has straightened up the soldiers he singled out, and scares some of them completely shitless to boot.

vace has been intrigued by solane since that first appointment. he likes to see spine. he’s always known solane has one, because he had no hesitation about squaring vace even when the soldier was the big new shit in the creek. he’s certainly taken himself to the medbay over injuries he wouldn’t normally sweat, just to see solane at work. because he feels drawn to the doctor, and hasn’t known why.

but then he sees the claws. the bite, and the sharp teeth behind it. he catches a snarl, and he realizes this unassuming doctor is a new kind of scary to the helios brats. they haven’t dealt with someone like that before. he’s willing to bet none of the stratos crew have either, because they’ve had no reason to.

and vace realizes he likes danger. he craves a little show of teeth. someone he could show teeth with, who wouldn’t be afraid.

and so comes this research trip. and he’s very interested to see more of who this doctor is.

[our-destiny]

Solomon scenarios for his birthday <3

A lot of these are from @creativepromptsforwriting so credit to them, this is very ooc and probably not written well.

. ☪︎* ☁︎. . * ✰ .· ☁︎ . *  ✯. ☪︎* ☁︎. . * ✰ .· ☁︎ .

• Playing Just Dance together, during couple dances he plays as the girl and you end up having to dip him, which doesn't end well.

• Cooking together, which ends in you two rolling on the ground throwing flour at each other, using wooden spoons as swords, having a food fight and getting batter all over each other.

• Cleaning up afterwards, doing the dishes and having a water fight, throwing soap on each other, whipping each other with the towels, making an even bigger mess to the point Raphael has to come and clean up after you two while you're in the shower.

• Going shopping together, Solomon picking up the most hideous things he could find and going "this would look good on you." Getting him to try on a dress as pay back (he felt beautiful in it and almost bought it).

• Running around House of Lamentation while Lucifer is out, chasing each other like little kids, sliding down banisters. Putting on songs like Macerena and YMCA and dancing in the hallways.

• Watching horror movies and comically screaming when there's a jumpscare, even if you don't get scared.

• Doing each others makeup, Sol purposely messing yours up making you look terrible, him constantly moving when you're doing his not letting you work in peace.

• Going golfing and being really competitive, at one point you were thinking of hitting him over the head with the club, alternatively playing Wii sports and almost hitting each other with the remote.

• Going ice skating, but you're both terrible and end up clinging onto each other for dear life. When one of you falls, you both go down, Solomon purposely tripping you and pushing you around.

• Going to a zoo together, Solomon pointing at one of the gorillas and saying "that looks like you." When a bird squaks at you, squaking back, the two of you going back and forth squaking at each other, getting weird looks from other people.

• Going to restaurants and fake proposing to each other just so you can get free food. Solomon telling the waiter that it's your birthday, so you can get free cake and to embarass you.

• Painting each other, Sol making it his life mission to make you look terrible, giving you a butt chin and a unibrow, wonky eyes and a huge forehead.

• Doing this ^ but making Mii's instead, and playing Wii sports with them.

• Doing the yoga challenge, constantly falling and yelling at each other to do it right.

• Going swimming, splashing each other, trying to drown each other.

• Going stand up paddle boarding together, constantly falling in the water, deliberately pushing the other in.

• Going to a waterpark together, playing hide and seek in it.

• Giving each other fashion shows, doing your best catwalk and hyping each other up.

• Playing board games, being competitive, almost flipping the table at one point, accusing each other of cheating.

• Movie marathons, complete with a pillow fort, popcorn, and staying up until 6am. Having a night dedicated to scary movies, one to childhood / Disney movies, one to action movies, etc.

• Going to an escape room and coming up with the weirdest solutions. "Maybe we have to make out with the skeleton!" "What if I just throw you at the door, will that open it?", etc.

• Taking dance classes together, making up a whole back story about your characters, how they met, the relationship with each other (the dance instructor is fed up with you two).

• Visiting an old cemetery and making up stories for the different graves, what their hobbies were, what dark secrets they took to the grave.

• Visiting a museum about something you know nothing about and acting like a tour guide to the other person, making up an explanation for all the artifacts, guessing what they are and how they were used.

• Trying to learn a new skill together, a pointless one like riding a unicycle, juggling, etc.

• Watching Drag Race together, yelling at the TV, pretending you were judges, singing along during the lip sync for your life.

• Having a girls night, with face masks, painting each others nails, drinks, and telling each other all the gossip. When you don't have anything to talk about you make up drama, fake people and relationships.

[aniraklova]

Chester Madden for @slothseasims Love is Blind

* Creative * Evil * Goofball * Age: in his 40s Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: Heterosexual Location: Del-Sol-Valley Occupation: Record producer (Artist in past) Chester lives and works in Del-Sol-Valley. He’s a record producer in one of the record studios there. Many musicians and bands went through him. Chester’s character is quite an emotional ocean. He could kick whole bands out of the studio during the recording process because they were awful or didn’t satisfy Chester at all. After a few minutes he’d laugh and be in a great mood, like nothing happened at all. Despite his rather messy nature, Chester was born to work at recording studio.He has many good feedbacks and a lot of requests from different musicians and bands. He spends his free time at night clubs, drinking, smoking and dancing or drawing pictures at night. “I’m also a damn artist after all”. His first occupation was an artist and he used to make money drawing and selling his pictures. Now it’s just a hobby to relieve stress. His way of painting is quite chaotic, which includes throwing buckets of paint and more. Chester had only one relationship 10 years ago and it wasn’t a good experience. All was good at start, but later his partner started to steal and cheat on him. He’s not that guy who will close eyes on such things, so it led to a loud split up. After that Chester for a long time didn’t want to start any new relationship due to what he experienced in past. Despite his quite hard character, Chester stays loyal no matter what and will ask for the same in return. Now he thinks he’s ready for a new relationship. Will it be a good idea? “Maybe. Maybe not. I won’t know if I don’t try, it’s simple as that. I can’t say I fear if some shit happens like in past again, but if so, let’s say in a very mild way, I would be really upset. Anyway, I feel like everything is going to be good. Very good.“

[countessofravenclaw]

Puede la ondulación cambiar una marea? part nine

Have you ever imagined what would happen if instead of of making Ambar Sol, Sharon would have aproached her problem with more level-headedness? What if, instead of throwing her daughter's life into a curve she just fires the Valentes, in hopes that they go back to Mexico and never find out the truth? Well, it was never going to be that easy, "everything you want you can achieve" being the family motto and all the for the Valentes after all. Monica and Miguel, could easily find another job, and so they do, with another family. A family that ends up being a bit of a surprise for Luna and all her friends.

“Jazmin, honestly, I don’t know.” Ambar shook her head while speaking on her phone. “Pack what you need so you don’t need to waltz around naked. I honestly don’t care otherwise. You aren’t even skating.”

“Ambar!!!” She stopped on her tracks on the stairs as she heard the voice of her godmother. “Dinner is ready!”

“Sorry Jazmin, I need to go,” She said to the phone, “I don’t know, Madrina is calling me, ask Delfi. See you tomorrow.”

“Ambar, you were late.” Sharon said as Ambar took her seat at the dinner table. 

“Sorry, I was on the phone.” Ambar said shortly, she didn’t want to start anything with her godmother. Things had been, say the least, tense between them ever since the fire had happened. Ambar had maybe hoped that Sharon would have actually shown at least some concern for her, but almost nothing that changed. 

Ambar started to honestly get sick of it. Luna’s parents were in the literal jail and still she was getting shown care, love and concern, by people who were complete strangers to her eight months ago. 

Ambar's own mother couldn’t do that to her apparently. Sharon really didn’t care, especially as she was so obsessive over the whole legal battle. Ambar hadn’t even told her about the acceptance letter to the UCA, which she had applied to after the fire.

“Talking on the phone when you know there are other things is very disrespectful.” Sharon said coldly. 

“Sharon, don’t be so uptight.” Alfredo appeared at the table. “Let the girl live. Who were you talking to?”

“Just Jazmin,” Ambar answered as Amanda brough the food to the table. Their new cook was terrible, but what could you do? They couldn’t starve and the food was edible. “We were talking about tomorrow. There are a lot of things to organize so we can leave.” 

“Leave where?” Sharon raised her head. 

“To Cancun.” Ambar answered, “The team is competing in the Roda Fest final. We’re leaving tommorrow.”

“Why was I not informed about this?” Sharon stared. “I haven’t given permission.”

“I did tell you, Madrina.” Ambar sighed, “And I don’t need permission. I am not a minor.”

Ambar had never shown Sharon any of the forms related to the Cancun trip—because she hadn’t needed to… She was 18 now, and tomorrow they would be boarding the plane, exactly like Juliana had required. She had written down Amanda as the emergency contact, because Sharon would have had her head if Ambar had started writing down her personal information, especially without asking. 

She wanted this to go as smoothly as possible, because Ambar was really looking forward to actually going to Cancun. She wanted to flatten out the Sliders as much as everyone else, especially that obnoxious goth girl, but she also was just looking forward to some time away. Away from everything back home. Cancun also was a super pretty place, Simon had told her about super beautiful sunsets. 

“You still should have asked.” Sharon continued. 

“No, I didn’t need to.” Ambar decided to protest. “I won’t be going alone. We’re going as a team, and our coach will be with us.”

“So, Luna is going too?” Alfredo interjected. 

“Yes, the whole team will be there.” 

“I am still so glad that Valentes found such a balanced place of employment.” Alfredo continued and Ambar stared at her plate. How was he still so blissfully unaware that Sharon had gotten the Valentes in JAIL, and that Luna was cosplaying as a daughter of one of Buenos Aires’s most promising upcoming dynasties. Well, Ambar wasn’t going to be one to tell him that and deal with the fallout. 

“Can we not talk about that family?” Sharon sighed, “We are at the dinner table.” 

“I do not understand what you have against Valentes' new employers?” Alfredo—against his better judgment, at least in Ambar’s mind—continued. “Young and attractive people like them who are hard workers will go far for a reason. They seem like very nice people, and quite a couple.” 

“Por favor Papa,” Sharon scoffed, “There is nothing more unprofessional than public shows of affection. But not surprising, considering where they are from. They don’t know how to act or control—”

“Well, Sharon, you can’t blame them for being in love,” Alfredo continued. Ambar tried really hard not to sigh. She agreed with him, but this wasn’t wise to aggravate Madrina. “Only rare people possess that true spark that lasts, and absolutely should let that show. Reminds me of Lili and Bernie. Oh, they were always such a joy to watch—”

“How many times do I have to say that we don’t talk about the past in this house!” 

This time Ambar sighed almost audibly. Thank god she got out of here tomorrow. She had already agreed with Delfi that she would give her a ride, given that Delfi now had a fresh driver's license. Maybe Ambar should get one for herself as well. 

***

“Rey!” Sharon called as the dining room became empty.

“What can I do for you Senora?” Rey walked in. “The solicitor called. They want to meet with you tomorrow to discuss—”

“I don’t care,” Sharon waved a hand to silence him. “You tell him that he needs to do his job.”

“Okay,” Rey nodded, “But I think it would be beneficiary… The case is sitting on a standstill Senora Benson and I don’t think we can move it on our favor if we don’t—”

“Like I said, I don’t care,” Sharon shook her head, “Now do as you’re told.”

“Well, what do you wish for me to do?” 

“I need you to contact the Ministro Pistarini International Airport… Anonymously.”

***

“Okay, Isla and I know that you know Cancun, but don’t go wandering off. Also have your phone on all the time, so we can reach you. Are you sure you have everything you need?”

“Yeah, I got it. Thanks Marco.” Luna nodded toward him, who had driven her and Gastón to the Roller, as she pulled the handle of her suitcase up. “I made triple sure I have everything.”

“Good. I would give this same spiel to Gastón, but apparently, he’s an adult now, so he can handle it.” 

“Hey!” Gastón, who had been pulling his own bags from the car, protested. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Marco laughed, “Just some friendly advice: don’t do anything stupid.”

“Why would I?”

“Hopefully neither of us has to find that out.” Marco squeezed his shoulder briefly. “Have fun, both of you. Good luck for the competition.” 

“Finally!” Matteo grabbed Gastón by the shoulder as he and Luna walked into Roller. “What took you so long?” 

“Dad wanted to give a lecture,” he rolled his eyes. “I should have driven us here myself.” 

“Then you would have needed to leave the car here for two weeks,” Nina, who had also joined them as they reached the cafeteria, noted after kissing him on the cheek, “You’re not late anyway, Jazmin is still not here either.” 

“Nor is Simon…” Luna looked around. 

“Oh, you can’t count on those three to ever be on time.” Juliana shook her head, “Simon, Pedro and Nico forgot a drumstick and went to get it. I didn’t want to ask why. Now, I can mark you two: Luna and Gastón, off my list. No one is allowed to leave this building until we leave for the airport!” 

“I’m here, I’m here!!!” Jazmin suddenly dashed through the door. 

“Good.” Juliana gave her a tight smile. “Now… I almost wanna leave those three stranded, if they don’t—”

“Never fear, the Roller Band is here!” Simon, Nico and Pedro crashed through the door like a three-headed dog. 

“I wish your brains would also be,” Juliana sighed. “Okay, now, everyone! Make a circle. We don’t have much time.”

“We’re doing this as fast as we can,” Ramiro remarked, “Are we chased by fire…?”

The room fell dead silent for a moment. 

“I realize that that was extremely insensitive. Sorry about that.” Ramiro quickly looked at Luna, Ambar and Gastón. “But, Juliana, what’s the rush?”

“I was informed this morning that many airlines in Mexico, specifically the ones operating in Cancun, are on strike this week, starting today.” Juliana sighed. 

“Wait…?” Luna’s face grew worried. “Are we not able to go? The competition…?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Juliana looked at her. “Most of the flights are canceled starting tomorrow, but thankfully, ours were booked enough ahead of time that this doesn’t affect us directly. Our flight is the only one to Cancun for this week. But if we miss it, because, I don’t know, someone does something stupid and we’ll be late, then there are no guarantees.” 

“Well, in that case we won’t miss it,” Ambar crossed her arms and addressed everyone. “Right guys?”

“Oh, of course not,” Jazmin started blabbing, “I can’t miss my chance to be the chicest Argentinian in Mexico.”

“Don’t worry Juliana,” Luna nodded as well, “We are not gonna miss our chance to show the Sliders. So, are we gonna win or what?”

“Jam & Roller!!”

“Okay, now, let's settle down,” Juliana started speaking, “Now, you all need to get yourselves and your things into the bus that’s waiting outside. Everyone needs to have their passports on hand when we enter the airport. I presume all of you have flown before, so you all know how you need to behave while going through security and everything. Otherwise, I will leave you in the terminal”

“Woohoo, lets go!!” Simon yelled as the team grabbed their bags and started filing out of the Roller and toward the bus. 

“Simon, can you believe it!!” Luna grabbed his arm. “We are going to Mexico!! Home!!”

“I honestly can’t wait,” Simon hugged her. “I get to see my family. We’re going home!”

“I’m so happy we’re doing this.” Luna jumped on the first step while getting on the bus and dropped her backpack. “Uuups!”

“Well, your trip’s gonna end really fast if you lose your passport.” Simon handed Luna her folder of important papers. “You have a lot of papers.”

“I know,” Luna laughed as she took the folder from Simon, “All the immigration stuff, visas, passport, custody agreement what nots… I can’t believe it honestly.” 

“Me either,” Simon shook his head as they climbed onto the bus. “You are terrible at paperwork.”

“Okay, is everyone here?” Juliana climbed onto the bus. “Lets do this quickly, say here when I say the letter of your first name. A!”

“Here!” Ambar spoke. 

“B! C! D!”

“Here.”

“E! F! G!”

“Here!” 

“H! I! J!”

“I’m here!”

“Ready!!” 

“K! L!

“Ready for Mexico!!” Luna yelled.

 M!”

“Here!”

“N!”

“Here.”

“Here as well!”

“O! P!” 

“Here!” 

“Q! R! S!”

“Here!”

“T! U! V! X! Y!”

“Here!” Yam was the last one to speak. 

“Okay, and I know that no one here is named after Z so we can go.” Juliana said to the bus driver and the vehicle finally started moving. 

“Simon.” Luna said as the bus was driving on a freeway. 

“What?” Simon looked at her concerned. 

“I just, I just realized that I have never flown alone.” Luna continued. “What do we do when we go there?”

“Well, I mean I have an idea, but I don’t know how to explain it,” Simon scratched his head. “Uh, Nina!”

“What?” Nina raised her head, from the other side of the bus’s aisle where she was sitting with Gastón, about two rows ahead of Simon and Luna.

“Everything okay?” Gastón also turned his head. 

“What do you exactly do at an airport?” Luna asked. 

“We’ll do the check in at a counter, and then go through security.” Nina explained, “Then we board at the gate after they call us. Pretty simple.”

“That’s if you're traveling economy, which we are.” Gastón mentioned. “The other classes are actually usually more complicated, if you…but like it’s not important because we won’t be facing any trouble.”

“Everyone keep track of your bags!!” Juliana yelled from the front. “We’ll be there shortly.”

Luna held the handle of her bag tightly as everyone filed into the parking lot and then inside of the airport. She was going to Mexico!!! She was so excited. 

Right now it felt like nothing could stop her. Everything was going to be okay.

“Luna, it is your turn.” Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Luna looked up and saw Juliana gesture toward the check-in desk. 

“Oh, yeah,” Luna nodded and walked up to the desk. “Hi!”

“Passport?” The agent in the window asked.

“Oh here.” Luna handed the booklet to the woman.

“Valente, Luna?” The official asked. She opened and then looked at Luna and then the passport again. This happened a few times more, which kind of weirded Luna out. 

“Yeah.” Luna nodded. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” the official tapped something on the computer, looked at Luna again, but then gave her boarding pass and her passport. “Have a pleasant journey.” 

Luna just shrugged and started walking back to the others. 

“What took you so long?” Jim asked as Luna caught up with everyone at the TSA queue entrance.

“I don’t know,” Luna shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. So do we go there next?”

“Yep,” Juliana nodded, “Try to make this as nicely as you are able. We are on…”

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Ramiro remarked, “We are on a time crunch.”

The TSA checkpoint went on without a hitch… Although Luna kind of felt like the agents were again kind of looking at her, but that was probably just completely normal. Weren’t these people supposed to look for anything suspicious. 

They probably weren’t even looking at her specifically, 

“Okay, we have about 40 minutes until we board.” Juliana said as the team got to their gate. 

“Then what was with the rush?” Nico asked, while sitting down on a chair. 

“I have had to factor in a margin of error with you lot.” Juliana sighed. “Okay, now, you can go see around the airport, but be here in 30 minutes, AND no one goes anywhere alone.”

“Simon, let's go grab some juice,” Luna pulled Simon by the arm after the group scattered. “I saw one booth not far away from here.”

“Okay, let's go.” Simon nodded. 

“Wow, this is super good,” Luna exclaimed as she slurped her strawberry lime juice with a straw. “Honestly, I’d drink this every daa—Oh sorry.”

Luna had twirled around and almost crashed into some sort of person who clearly was an official of some sort of the airport. At least it looked like it according to the man's uniform. 

“Excuse me.” To Luna’s surprise the official addressed her. “Are you Luna Valente?”

“Uh, yes.” Luna answered confused. “Can I help you?”

The official didn’t answer anything, but instead made some sort of hand gesture. Suddenly two big security guards appeared on either side of Luna, took her by the arm, and started dragging her following the official. 

“Hey!!” Luna tried to protest, panic rising in her. “What are you doing?” 

The guards released Luna as they got into an emptier area from the shops, into some sort of security desk. 

“We need to check that you have the correct authorization to travel internationally, as an unaccompanied minor.” The official read something off his laptop. 

“Oh, well I have permission.” Luna had zero idea what all what the official had just said to her had meant, but she most certainly knew that she had permission. She quickly pulled the plastic folder from her backpack and handed the appropriate paper to the official guy. It should settle things pretty easily—

“You really think we’re gonna believe this?” Luna's face fell when the official said those words.

***

“So, I asked Simon what time the best sunsets can be seen,” Gastón squeezed Nina's hand as they were walking toward their gate. “So, I thought we’d sneak out in the evening and go get some pictures.”

“That sounds amazing,” Nina responded, “I didn’t take the better camera with me though, I should have…”

“Don't worry about it,” Gastón stopped and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, “I took the DSLR with us. Dad gave me permission. Apparently, with the right settings, the picture can glow almost like it’s magic. ”

Nina was about to respond something, when Simon suddenly ran past them. “Juliana!!”

“What?” Juliana looked up annoyed at Simon from her papers. “Do I want to know?”

“Luna got grabbed.”

“What are you talking about?” Juliana sighed. “What did she grab? The last thing I need is dealing with one of you getting caught for shoplifting…”

“No, she got grabbed.” Simon repeated. “Some security people just took her.”

“What?” Juliana stared and Gastón and Nina exchanged glances. “Why?”

“I don’t know, but you need to do something.”

“Okay, where did they go?”

“There are some people gathered on that security station,” Nina pointed toward left of their gate. 

“I’ll go see,” Juliana got up from her chair. “This is probably a mistake.”

“What happened?” Nina asked Simon after, while tightening her grip on Gastón’s arm. 

“I don’t know,” He shook his head, “We were just having juice and then just some official looking guy came to us and asked if she was Luna Valente and then they took her away.”

“What’s going on?” Jim, Yam and Matteo had appeared at the gate. “Is Luna in trouble?”

“Hopefully not,” Nina looked at Gastón, “This could be a misunderstanding, right?” 

“Maybe she mismarked her luggage somehow. Hopefully anyway, we don’t have much time.”

Nothing happened for almost 15 minutes, during which everyone had arrived at the gate. 

“The boarding will start soon,” Ambar noted, “What’s taking so long?”

“Maybe we should go and see,” Matteo suggested. Everyone in the group nodded and they started walking closer to the security checkpoint. 

When they got there, Juliana saw them and walked to meet them. “What are you doing here?”

“We want to know what’s going on,” Simon stated. 

“Still trying to figure that out,” Juliana sighed. 

“What are we gonna do?” Ambar asked, “We’ll soon miss our flight if this takes any longer.”

“You won’t,” Juliana looked at everyone sternly. “Okay, here’s what we will do. I will text our schedule, the hotel information, training rink’s booking and the competition forms to…to Delfi. Ambar, Delfi, Gastón, Jazmin, Matteo, Nico, Pedro and Simon, you will board the plane no matter what. Nina, Jim and Yam, try to get your parents to write you some sort of statement that you're allowed to travel as unaccompanied minors. Do it now.”

“What will you and Luna do?” Jim asked while holding her phone on her other ear for a phone call. “You said that there were no other flights due to the strike.”

“We’ll figure it out. We can possibly go to Mexico City and come by road, but we will lose time…”

“I am not leaving without Luna.” Simon stated.

“Simon, we need as full of a team as possible.” Juliana shook her head, “We don’t have time for this.”

“But what are they holding Luna for?” Nina asked again, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know if I am at liberty to disclose this to you.” Juliana looked very frustrated. “With her situation—”

“You need to tell!” Simon insisted.

“Simon, insistence doesn’t get you anywhere with this.”

“Juliana, I am the closest family member she has right now here,” Gastón suddenly spoke again. “I need to know, especially given the situation.” 

“Okay,” Juliana nodded, “They are claiming that Luna does not have proper permissions to travel out of the country. 

“What?” Nina stared, before looking at Gastón again “That doesn’t even make sense. She shouldn’t need any and she has a written statement of consent. I was there when your mother gave it to her.” 

“Yeah, I know.” He said while looking at her, “They mentioned it to me too.”

“Then why on earth are these people questioning her?” Matteo joined the conversation. “There is no way the papers don’t hold up.”

“There is no way,” Gastón stared out of the window, “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Nina asked him. 

“Unless the problem is not that the papers don’t hold up, but the fact that these people think that it is forged or something…” Gastón sighed. 

“What do you mean?” Simon asked, confused. 

“Well, my parents seem very childfree for the outside world,” Gastón shook his head, “So, to outsiders, it might seem very strange that some random girl is claiming that they are her guardians, especially given that we are talking about legal custody agreements. They wouldn’t be questioning my birth certificate…but I don’t know why they are questioning her in the first place.”

“Can you call your parents? So, they can clear this up?” Nina suggested. 

“I mean I can, but if they are questioning their signatures, it won’t be solved over the phone. They need to come here, and that will take too long, and the flight will be missed.” Gastón shook his head again, super annoyed, “Dad is gonna hate this…” 

“What? What are you thinking?” Nina asked as Gastón’s voice trailed off. 

“There is something I can do.” Gastón nodded and started walking toward where the people were standing. He could identify the official, who had been running the whole “arresting” show, very easily, given the uniform. So that would be the one he would need to target. “Luna’s papers are completely legitimate.”

“I’m sorry, but who are you…?” The official, whose name tag read Simsom, and he was apparently some sort of passenger affairs manager, turned toward Gastón. As soon as he saw him, his face flushed at least three shades of purple and blue. 

Good. The effect had already been achieved.

“Hi.” Gastón continued. “Gastón, Perida. I think you know my dad, or actually I know that you do.”

“Uh… I’m sorry, but…” The official staggered something. 

“I don’t care, honestly.” Gastón interrupted him. “I can tell you though, that my father, Marco Perida—but you know that—won’t appreciate one bit that you are over here questioning the official document that he and his wife have signed about Luna, their daughter. Nor will he like that you’re wasting our time, making us miss our flight.”

Gastón knew that everyone, from the guards and the official to Luna and the team, were staring at him, but he did not care. 

“I—I am so sorry…” The official staggered again, now flushed completely pale. “We had no idea… This…this has been a huge misunderstanding and I apologize profusely.”

“You better,” Gastón nodded, “We need to get going.”

“Of course, of course,” It was a good thing that the official didn’t bow. “I am sorry. Please have a pleasant journey.”

“Come on,” Gastón grabbed Luna—who had been staring with a confused expression the whole time the exchange had gone on—by the arm and started walking away.

“What was that?” Luna stopped on her tracks.

“Honestly I don't know either.” Gastón shook his head, “Dad has always said that people working here are a bunch of idiot snobs. They still would never risk destroying their reputation to their boss—”

“What are you talking about?” Luna still seemed really confused. “How did you come up with that?”

“With what?” Now it was Gastón’s turn to be confused for a sec…before he realized. “Dad’s part of the administrator board of this airport.”

“What? You weren’t bluffing?”

“Has that seriously never come up?” 

“No,” Luna shook her head, “I thought he did something with finance. ”

“Oh, he does. Mom and Dad both work like a trillion different jobs, for other people and their own companies, individually and together. I stopped keeping track a long time ago.” 

“Okay…” Luna stared blankly as they kept walking. 

“Luna! You okay?” Simon reached them. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Luna nodded before she hugged Gastón, “Thank you.”

“I never thought I would get to see you pull “Do you know who I am?” at someone.” Matteo laughed as he patted Gastón on the back. “But that…was worth it.” 

“My intention was never to do that, but we can’t miss our flight.” He shook his head, “But I had no choice. We look out for our family.”

“That was very good thinking.” Nina also hugged him.

“Well, now I need to write a very lengthy text to Mom and Dad about this before we board,” Gastón sighed, “So they don’t think our house is bugged or something.” 

“Okay, everyone!!!” Juliana demanded everyone's attention. “Now that all the excitement is over, can we form a neat line so we can start boarding.”

Everyone lined up at the gate. Gastón stayed at the end of it, because he needed time to type some sort of an explanation to his parents before taking off. If they heard about this and he was unreachable, they would get worried sick. 

“I am not sure what you did, but thank you,” Juliana appeared on his side. 

“They can question official papers, but they can’t question my face,” He looked at her, “I look like my dad, a lot. Our last name is not exactly common, I think we are the only ones who have it. We couldn’t possibly go and win the Roda Fest without our captain.” 

***

Luna was floating in the air. It was almost like she was in the middle of space. 

“Sun will always come out.” It was the same voice that had been in her dreams before. “You know the way. Follow the path…”

“But what is the path?” Luna asked, even though she didn’t know from whom. 

There was no answer. 

Suddenly a moon, that looked exactly like her necklace, appeared in front of her. Then something golden flew past her and settled in the middle of the moon’s crescent. It was a bright sun. 

“Your answer is in front of you, you just need to find it. It is near, it is far. The sun will show you the truth”. 

“Luna, Luna!!!” Luna shook awake from Simon’s voice. 

“What?” She blinked a few times to get her eyes accustomed to the bright lights inside the airplane cabin. 

“We are landing soon.” Simon explained from next to her. “You were pretty dead asleep.”

“Oh yeah,” Luna tugged on the end of her braid. Her hair was on two pigtails—Isla had said it was more practical for long journeys. “I guess I fell asleep.”

“You okay?” Simon asked, looking at her a little more concerned, “You were tossing and mumbling something.”

“I just had a weird dream.” Luna shook her head, “I don’t understand.”

“What was it about?” Simon asked while tapping Nina, who was sitting on front of him, on the shoulder. 

“It was super weird.” Luna continued. “I was like in space, and all the sudden there was a moon in front of me and in the middle of it was a sun.”

“So, like your necklace?” Nina questioned. 

“Yeah,” Luna nodded, “but like that was not the weird part. There was some voice, a woman…she sounded like familiar, but I can’t figure out from where. She said that I have to follow a path and that the sun will show me the truth. I don’t get what that means.”

“Well, maybe I do,” Nina continued, “You said that the sun appeared with the moon and there should be a sun charm in your necklace as well. It is about your biological family. You are the moon and the sun represents them.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense…” Luna pondered, “So they have something with a sun?”

“Well, that doesn’t help us a lot,” Simon laughed, “Unless there is a family somewhere called the Sunshines. Luna, I know this is really important to you, but I don’t think there is a lot we can do about it right now.”

“I agree with Simon,” Nina nodded. “You need to focus on the competition, enjoy Cancun and have fun. Luna, you out of everyone, with everything you’ve been through. You deserve a vacation. We’ll look really into this when we get back, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Luna smiled, “You’re right. I just wish I could just record my dreams and show you, like create a video or something. So, we could rewind and everything.”

“It would be useful.”

***

“Okay. After you have checked yourself off the list, all of you can go check-in independently and you’ll be given your keys. Luna, Nina, Jim and Yam, you need to come with me.” Juliana spoke as the team had gathered in the lobby of the hotel. “Otherwise, we will go visit the rink today at 7 pm, otherwise today is free. Always tell me if you leave the hotel.”

“Okay,” Gastón said while taking the two keycards from the check-in desk. He turned toward Matteo, “Don’t lose this.”

“Hermano, since when have I been losing keys?” Matteo rolled his eyes at him. 

“I don’t know, you’ve kind of been prone to making stupid decisions lately,” Gastón shook his head. 

“Just give me a key.” Matteo huffed, “Matteo Balsano doesn’t lose things.”

“Oh, you wanna bet?” They heard laughter coming from behind them. Luna and Nina appeared on their side. “Chico Fresa surely has lost something.”

“I swear, never.” Matteo rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t think we have time to have this argument.” Nina and Gastón shared a look. “Where is your room?”

“The hallway B,” Gastón looked at the keycard. ‘

“Ours too.” Nina responded. “I think we’re the only ones there.”

“That is convenient, in an extremely nice way…” Gastón grabbed her hand. 

“And I don’t want any shenanigans!” Juliana’s voice boomed again, “Everyone needs to sleep in their own beds.” 

“And that was convenient in a very awkward way,” Matteo remarked, and then looked at his best friend. “Should we go up?”

“Luna, we need to drop our stuff really quickly, because we need to get going.” Simon showed up next to Luna. 

“Where are you going?” Gastón asked. 

“Oh, Juliana asked us to represent the Roller Team in an interview,” Luna explained, “Which is…very soon! We really do need to get going!”

“Try to keep out of trouble,” Gastón remarked jokingly, “I can’t really pull that airport stunt here again, to get you out.”

“I’ll try, but no promises.” Luna laughed, “But you know me.”

“Yep, sometimes unavoidable. At least remember to keep your phone on.”

“Yep, I will!!” Luna waved when she disappeared with Simon. 

“I’ll go drop my stuff off as well,” Nina squeezed Gastón’s hand, “See you later.”

“Yeah, let's go grab something to eat before we head to the rink.” Gastón kissed her on her forehead before Nina started following Luna toward their room. 

“So, I think we are gonna need a signal,” Matteo remarked as he dropped his suitcase on the bed in their room. 

“What are you talking about?” Gastón looked at him confused. 

“Well, a signal for when you want me out of here,” Matteo rolled his eyes. “I am not stupid, nor do I plan on standing in the way of you and Nina. I am not a cockblock and I don’t want to walk into anything. So, text me one of those Scandinavian letters?”

“That will take way too long,” Gastón shook his head, “The # would be easier.”

“Works for me, as long as I don’t need to walk into anything.” 

“You are always terrible to have this conversation—” Gastón started, but suddenly his phone rang. 

“Darling,” His parents showed up on the screen in the video call. “We caught you. We tried to approximate when your flight would have landed.”

“Yeah, we landed about an hour ago,” Gastón responded, “At the hotel now… You got my text?”

“We did,” his dad sighed. “I can’t believe it.”

“Us neither, and we were there.” Matteo remarked from behind Gastón.

“What happened?” He asked. “Did you figure it out?”

“Well,” Marco continued, shaking his head. Gastón watched his mother place her hand on his father’s nape, stroking her thumb in a soothing circular motion, like she always did when he was getting overwhelmed. “Apparently, there had been an anonymous tip the day before about an unaccompanied minor trying to travel out of the country without the appropriate permissions. It is absolutely ridiculous. The anonymous complaints need to always be taken with a grain of salt—unless it is a bomb threat—because anyone can make them. The personnel should know better. I’ve had some heavy words with Simsom and the whole department, although the head of that, Servane, is the worst, so I don’t wonder one bit why the personnel don’t know the policies.”

“But why was Luna identified out of everyone?”

“The tip was apparently about a teenage girl with brown hair.” 

“That must apply to like a thousand people in the airport alone.” Matteo questioned, “That makes zero sense.”

“Yep,” Gastón nodded, “By that criteria, Nina could have been tagged.”

“Or Delfi,” Matteo suggested while sitting next to Gastón, so he saw the call better, “which would have probably been the best option. She could have just proved them wrong, because she is not a minor.” 

“It is extremely hard to investigate where the intelligence for that even came from,” Marco started saying, “Especially as this is personal for me, it can’t be argued that looking into it would benefit the company, even if I think that it would.” 

“Well, the important thing is that you got there safely in the end.” Isla spoke.

“We did in the end, but it was close that Luna missed the flight.”

“He was a hero though.” Matteo grabbed Gastón on the shoulders. 

“I don’t know about that.” Gastón shook his head, before looking at his parents again. “It was the only thing that came into my mind that would solve it. The Simsom guy knows that you have a child now… So sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.” Isla nodded, “You did the right thing, and you're not exactly a child anymore. We have to get used to the fact that you don’t need as much protection.”

“I did tell Simsom that he better not go to any tabloids if he wants to keep his job.” Marco pointed out. 

“That is something I can agree with.” Gastón nodded, “Have you talked to Luna?”

“Not yet. We wanted to talk to you first. We’ll call her next.”

“You probably won’t be able to reach her for a while. Juliana asked her and Simon to do some interview.”

“We’ll ask her when she can talk. It was good to hear that you’re okay.”

“Yeah, I’m totally fine.” Gastón responded. 

“So, how can I get your parents to adopt me?” Matteo asked jokingly after the call ended. “I am getting even more jealous now.”

“Get your parents arrested.” Gastón suggested, “Although, it is too late for you.”

“You think I didn’t try to invent a hundred ways to get Dad arrested when we first moved here,” Matteo answered laughing. “I never succeeded.”

“How sad,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “This honestly shouldn’t be funny.”

“I know.” Matteo nodded, “I wish I could do something for Luna.”

“But there really isn’t anything,” Gaston shook his head, “Mom and Dad don’t tell me all the details either, but the courts drag during the summer even more. I think that Alexei is maybe trying to find a way to disprove the case’s existence entirely, but I don’t know. Only thing we can do is to support her… What is going on with you and Luna anymore? You don’t talk about her that much anymore.”

“I still love her, but she’s made it extremely clear on where we stand.” Matteo sighed, “She’s right… I’ve messed up pretty badly, and this isn’t the time to be selfish. I need to support her as a friend and maybe someday she’ll give me a chance again.”

“Is this self-reflection from Matteo Balsano?” Gastón looked at his friend amused. 

“I guess so,” Matteo smirked, “I guess, I need to be happy with what I got, her friendship. At least we get along well enough that we can handle the maid of honor and best man duties like the pros that we are, so you and Nina don’t need to worry about that.”

“What are you talking about?” Gastón raised an eyebrow. 

“You know what,” Matteo looked at him. “I don’t have any faith that you can hold on longer than maybe a few years at this point. Don’t tell you haven’t thought about it?”

“Of course I have.” Gastón smiled, “In a couple years. Nina needs to graduate, and I need to get out of my parents’ place…”

“You know we could go scour some jewelry stores while being here.” Matteo jokingly suggested. 

“You know Maria would kill me for it.” Gastón threw at Matteo with a pillow. “But back to you and Luna and the topic at hand… Maybe that’s for the best right now. I mean, If the worst happens, you wouldn’t be able to ask her hand from her dad as it is… Someone someday might need to ask my dad, but I don’t know. It’s gonna be Luna’s choice.

***

“We are so happy to be back in Cancun and we are ready for the competition.” Luna said to the microphone that the interviewer was holding for her. 

“We are gonna beat the Sliders,” Simon nodded, “but don’t tell them that.”

“Well, thank you guys.” The interviewer smiled after the camera had been shut off. “We will see you at the rink.”

“That was awesome!” Luna jumped into the air. “Okay, what do we do next? Beach? Tacos?”

“Both actually,” Simon grabbed her hand. “Mom texted me after we had just landed. We are “politely” forced to come for dinner.”

“OMG!!!” Luna looked at him, “Why didn't you say sooner?” 

“It was supposed to be a surprise.” Simon started pulling Luna along. “We are not in a hurry, so let's walk by the beach.”

“I have missed these views,” Luna sighed as she and Simon walked along the ocean shoreline of Cancun. “It’s beautiful.” Luna raised her phone up and snapped a few pictures, before starting to type some sort of message. 

“Who are you sending those to?” Simon asked, confused, because surely Luna wasn't able to send those to her parents, but it looked like she was writing a text message to some sort of group chat.

“Oh, Isla and Marco told me that they’ve never been to Cancun.” Luna raised her head from her phone. “So, I’m sending them pictures.”

“You text?” Simon looked at Luna’s phone, as she showed him the group chat. “Waiiiitt…what has happened to your phone? This is bigger…”

“Did I not tell you?” Luna scrunched her eyebrows, “Or did I only tell Nina? Mine stopped working and Marco though it was smoke damage—”

“They bought you a new phone?” Simon questioned while looking at the phone.

“I mean yeah.” Luna shrugged, “They said that I can’t just not have one that doesn’t work. What about it?”

“Nothing honestly…notes are expensive though.” Simon sighed, “It makes sense. I just didn’t realize you were that close, with them—Gastón’s parents, I mean.” 

“I don’t really get what you mean?” Luna looked at him a little confused. “I live with them… By the way, I probably never told you that they play the piano, both of them. They’re really good too.”

“Can we stop for a moment?” Simon stopped in front of a wooden dock.

“Oh, sure.” Luna nodded and sat down on the dock. “What’s up?”

“We just haven’t talked, just the two of us, in a while.” Simon sat down next to Luna, “You’ve seemed really happy lately. Obviously, since stuff has been really going down… I just don’t want you to feel like you need to pretend, when you don’t, not with me.”

“I know that I don’t and I am not pretending.” Luna looked up at him. “The thing is that… I have been happy. I mean, I miss Mom and Dad every day and I wish they’d be here cheering me on and that I could talk to them about how excited I am about this competition right now, instead of waiting on the hour on the phone or a meeting in a small room where I can’t even hug them…and I am so mad that they are being held against their will…but… I have to hope that everything will be okay, and the truth will always come out. I guess, besides that, I can’t stop living my life. I have to do that, for Mom and Dad and for myself. I guess I’m kind of in a good place. Isla and Marco, they’re really nice and they care about me. They have been really good to me, even since we got to that house.”

“I—I see that,” Simon nodded, “You know that, when you’re happy, I’m happy. It just seems such a different life, with these fancy people.”

“Fancy?” Luna started laughing. “Simon please, they aren’t fancy.”

Simon was about to say something when his phone rang. 

“Simon!!” A voice came from the phone. “Where are you?”

“Oh, sorry Mom.” Simon responded to the phone. “We are on our way.”

“Hi Carla!!” Luna yelled on the phone. 

“Get here! Food’s done soon.”

“We need to get going before Mom blows a casket.” Simon laughed and got up from the dock. 

“Simon!” Maria and Rika, Simon’s younger twin sisters ran to hug him as soon as he and Luna walked to the yard of Simon’s family house. 

“Hey!!” Simon hugged them. “I missed you.”

“Your fault because you ran off to Argentina.”

“Girls,” Simon’s sisters were shooed away by his father and mother, Diego and Carla Alvarez, “Let him breathe. Good to see you son.”

“Hi!” Simon hugged his father and his mother at the same time.

“It’s so good to see you,” Carled eyed his beanie, “Remember that no hats in the dinner table.”

“Yeah, sure.” Simon rolled his eyes affectionately.

“Luna!” Carla turned around and Luna was pulled into a crushing hug that only Simon’s mom could give. “So nice to see you as well. Now come in, you must be starving.” 

“Where is everyone?” Simon asked as they walked into the house. 

“Both Julio and Rico are out with friends.” Diego explained, “Apparently they forgot that you were coming today.”

“Of course they did.” Simon shook his head laughing. 

“They will be coming to the competition,” Carla noted, “We’ll make sure of that. But now we can talk in peace, so there is good in everything. Surely there are a lot of things you have to tell us.”

“Yeeeepp…” Simon said while glancing at Luna. 

“...and that’s how we convinced Juliana to take us back as the team.” Luna finished telling the story and dunked the glass of orange juice down her throat. 

“Then she made us work like slaves, but here we are.” Simon added. “Still working our butts off.”

“You don’t gain victory with no sweat,” Diego pointed out. “How’s the job?”

“I haven't gotten fired if that’s what you're asking, so I have improved from my last job.” Simon remarked, “We’re doing fine.” 

“That is good to hear,” Carla nodded, “We never know if what you tell over the phone is actually what is happening, knowing you.”

“Simon has been doing extremely well,” Luna nodded, “The Roller Band will be the hottest thing on this side of the Ocean.”

“It was great that you could come here too Luna—” Carla and Diego exchanged some sort of a look with each other “—because there has been something we’ve been wondering about.”

“Oh,” Luna looked at them, “What is it?”

“Honestly, it could be nothing,” Carla continued, “but it has kind of been strange how we’ve been absolutely unable to reach your parents lately. I’ve been trying to call Monica multiple times, but everything goes unanswered. Trying not to get too worried here, so has their contact information changed?”

“Uh…” Luna opened her mouth, but no words came out. 

“You don’t have to tell them.” Simon placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Tell us what?” Carla and Diego looked really worried now. 

“It’s okay,” Luna shook her head and looked at Simon’s parents again. “It’s really complicated and really hard to explain.” 

“Start from the beginning.”

“Okay, well…” Luna started. “Uh, Mom and Dad got fired during the fall.”

“Fired?” Diego questioned, “You mean by the lady who owns the mansion here?”

“Yes, Senora Sharon” Luna nodded, “It was super unfair…”

“But they found new employment?” Carla asked on her turn. 

“Yeah, they did.” Luna continued. “It was actually quite funny—”

“Funny?”

“The funny part is that Monica and Miguels new employers’ son had been our friend for the past year and is in the team and everything,” Simon explained, “but no one had any idea about it.”

“Oh okay.” Simon’s parents nodded. “So are your parents under some sort of NDA, or their job is so confidential that they aren’t allowed to talk to people in different countries?”

“Oh no, they’re in jail.” 

“WHAT?!?!”

“I don’t think this was the best way to relay the news.” Simon whispered to Luna as they watched his parents' flabbergasted faces.

“You!” Carla turned toward Simon, “Simon, you should have told us!”

“This hasn’t been my thing to share, Mom.” 

“Okay, we understand that, but this is serious. What is going on? Why have Monica and Miguel been arrested?” 

“Well, you see,” Luna started, “Senora Sharon—”

“Their former employer?”

“Yes, her. She’s accusing them of something they haven’t done, but I guess it is not that easily disproved so… They’re in jail.”

“But…but…” Diego and Carla still looked confused. “This is serious. Luna, are you okay? What are you…? Are you safe and being fed? Who is looking after you? Don’t say you’ve been staying with Simon.”

“Hey!” Simon protested. 

“We really need to have a conversation about your living situation,” Carla looked at her son sharply. “Other time. Luna, this is serious. We need to contact the authorities if there isn’t someone taking care of you.”

“Oh, no no no,” Luna shook her head, “I am being taken care of.” 

“By whom?” 

“After Mom and Dad got arrested, their employers defended them and they signed some paper or something so I could stay with them. There was no one else who could have really done that.”

“The new employers of Monica and Miguel are your legal guardians?” Diego asked, “That is…little unusual. Have you been treated well?” 

“Yeah, absolutely.” Luna nodded. “They’re really nice and like we said, their son is literally in our team and my best friend's boyfriend. I had just never met his parents before the fall.”

Carla sighed in some sort of relief. “What are their names?”

“Isla and Marco Perida.”

When Luna had said that, Simon’s dad seemed to almost choke on his coffee. 

“Diego, what is it?” Carla turned to him confused. 

“Nothing, I’m okay. I think I just heard wrong.” Diego shook his head. “You didn’t say Perida, did you?”

“I did…” Luna repeated the names. 

“What are you talking about?” Carla looked at her husband confused. “Do you know them?”

“Of them.” Diego nodded. “Whenever me and my partners have talked about that Argentina expansion pipe dream for the restaurant, the advice we have gotten is that if you get in the favor of Marco Perida, you are gonna be set investment wise, but that’s impossible because he is busy and hard to reach. He and his wife are regarded as quite of icons in the business and real estate world of Argentina. Simon, what sort of circles have you ended up in?”

“I ask that of myself every day.” Simon shook his head laughing, “Trust me, Dad.”

“Well, Monica and Miguel are more than reputable as workers to attract millionaires like that to require their services.” Carla noted. “I would love to say that we are “happy for you”, but this still isn’t a great situation, but it is good to hear that you are safe. This is very gracious of them. Could you give us their phone numbers, so we could maybe talk to them. They could tell us more about the situation.”

“Uhm.” Luna hesitated for a moment. “I mean, I think it is a good idea, but I’m not sure…”

***

“Has anyone seen my lip gloss?” Jim dashed around the dressing room. 

There was approximately 30 minutes till the competition was to begin, so there was complete chaos in the midst of the Team of Jam & Roller. 

“It always surprises me that we actually always make it on the rink on time,” Gastón laughed. 

“We just have the talent.” Matteo shrugged as he slung his skates on his shoulder. “That’s if Juliana actually lets us get on the rink…there is still time.”

“She’s warmed up to us.” Gastón patted him on the back. 

“Hey!” Nina walked into the dressing room and straight to Gastón. “I was just heading to the audience but wanted to talk to you first.”

“Okay, sure.” He nodded. Nina grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the others, close to the door. 

And without saying anything, she kissed him. “For luck.”

“That was for luck?” Gastón smiled at her and pulled her closer and kissed her again, this time longer. “I think I need some more of that.”

“You’re gonna do just fine.” Nina continued, “You have all worked so hard for this. You especially—” She ran her fingers over his right forearm. The only sign of the burn was some discoloration and wrinkles on the skin. “—given what sort of condition you were two months ago.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me to hear you say that.”

“Gastón!!!” Suddenly Jazmin appeared next to them. “Come on. We need to get that horror thing on your forehead covered up.”

“Do your worst.” Gastón grimaced slightly and let Jazmin drag him away while Nina laughed. 

“Nina! Good thing you’re here.” Luna suddenly appeared next to her. “I need your help!!” 

“Okay, with what?” She looked at her. “I’m not gonna be any help with makeup, but if you need me to hold bobby pins or something, I can do that.” 

“No, this has nothing to do with the competition.” Luna said, and started whispering to Nina’s ear. 

“Oh, okay.” Nina nodded, “But, Luna, you could have asked that of him yourself days ago.”

“But they want to meet him.” Luna responded.

“But you still could have given him a heads up—” Nina countered, “—and get the answer beforehand.”

“Now that you’re saying it like that it makes sense,” Luna rolled her eyes, “But you know me. I can barely keep my head together as it is.”

“Okay, of course I’ll help, if that’s what you want.” Nina continued, “But seriously Luna, you can just talk to him, instead of making things this complicated. He’s basically your brother…something I never thought I’d say, but it sounds pretty nice.”

“I know.” Luna laughed again, “but I am Luna Valente and I complicate things.”

***

“Uuuff!” Ambar let the laces of her skates fall on the floor. What did her skates have against her today, because tying them had proved to be extremely difficult all the sudden. Reason for which she had no idea, because she knew how to tie the freaking skates. 

“Ambar? Everything okay?” Simon suddenly sat next to her at the couch. 

“Yes.” Ambar sighed again, “These stupid laces are refusing to cooperate.”

“Your left one is stuck on the wheel.”

“How did I not notice that?” Ambar shook her head about, “No wonder it was too short.”

“Here.” Simon pulled the lace from behind Ambar’s skate’s wheel and handed it to her. 

“Thanks.” Ambar smiled at him. 

“How have you liked Cancun?” Simon continued asking. “Did you ever go see that place you asked about?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head. “I will, after we win. Can you draw me a map or something so I can find it? Or come and show me?”

“Maybe…” Simon pondered.

“You know Simon, has something been bothering you lately?” Ambar decided to ask him… Not for any particular reason, but because he was her skating partner and if he was performing poorly, she would perform poorly. “You’ve been a little unfocused lately, and in 15 minutes, I need you sharp.”

“I’m good.” Simon nodded, “Just been worried about Luna.”

“She has plenty of people to worry about her,” Ambar responded, “Let Nina and Gastón…and I guess Matteo as well—I have zero idea what is going on with that honestly—do that for a while. You live for yourself for a while, like celebrating our victory in the evening.”

***

The Roller Team lost the RodaFest, because of course they did. There is no reason why this author would go and change that.

***

“Seriously, it had to be rigged or something.” Matteo complained as he and Gastón were taking their skates off.

They had lost the Roda Fest, so everyone was feeling really down at the moment. 

“This sucks.” Gastón shook his head as well, “We worked so hard.”

“Hey! I need you for a sec.” Nina suddenly walked into the dressing room again and addressed Gastón. 

“Okay…” Matteo made a few faces. “I know that we are all devastated, but like I have zero intentions to keep out of our room tonight so…”

“No, nothing…like that—” Nina looked at him with some sort of flush of disbelief and embarrassment.”—I just need to talk to him.”

“Sure.” Matteo rolled his eyes a little bit. 

“Ignore him.” Gastón got up. “What is it?”

“Come on.” Nina grabbed his hand and started pulling him along, down the hallway of the competition venue. 

“Hey! Wait!” Gastón tried to protest. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing a favor here. There are people who you should meet.”

“To who? And who?” Gastón was getting very confused. The confusion was not cleared up when Nina ended up pulling him into the lobby where Luna was apparently waiting for them with two people who Gastón had never seen in his life. A man and a woman probably in their 50s—they looked about 10 to 15 years older than his own parents. Simon was also there, looking kind of awkward. “Uh, hi?”

“Thanks Nina.” Luna was the first one to speak. 

“Let me guess, Luna was the one that the “favor” was for.” Gastón looked at Nina again, before looking at Luna. “What’s going on and why did my girlfriend have to drag me here?”

“We asked if we could meet you.” The woman started speaking.

“Me?” Gastón was still confused. “Okay, first of all, who are you?”

“Oh, right,” Luna seemed to pipe up, “These are Carla and Diego Alvarez.”

“Okay…” Gastón looked at them again before looking at Simon. He should have realized it sooner. “Your parents right? We should really be aware of the names of each other's parents at this point, it would really save us a lot of confusion.”

Simon just nodded. 

“Luna has told us about the situation with her parents.” The man, whose name apparently was Diego, said. “Monica and Miguel have been close friends of ours for years. Apparently, it is your parents who are looking after Luna now.”

“Yeah, that’s the case.” Gastón nodded, “They were their employers. It is a terrible situation. Uh, but like, I don’t know that much more about it than anyone else. I’m only 18, so Mom and Dad don’t exactly tell me everything or treat me as an adult yet.”

“We were wondering if they’d be willing to speak with us, but Isla and Marco Perida are probably pretty hard to reach.”

“Let me guess, you know who they are.” Gastón sighed slightly. “Of course you do. Who doesn’t? But yeah, they are hard to reach—”

“I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to give their personal phone numbers.” Luna mentioned, “Because like, aren’t those secret or something?”

“Yeah, they’re like operator protected.” Gastón clarified. “If they were public, they’d never get any peace. Mom and Dad can barely part with their handsfrees as it is. But for this sort of situation, I don’t see an issue. I know that they’d be more than happy to speak with anyone from Luna’s life… Nina, do you have paper?”

“Yeah, I do.” Nina pulled a page out of her notebook. 

“Thanks,” Gastón took it and started writing on it. “I can give you the phone numbers, but there is no guarantee that they will ever respond… So, here’s also their private emails that’s actually their preferred way of communication with people they don’t know.”

***

Luna followed Gastón as he opened the door to the house. No one had been able to pick them up, Luna was not sure how this exactly had worked, but Marco had arranged a car for them at the airport which Gastón had driven back. 

“You’re back?” Isla came to meet them as soon as they walked into the living room. 

“Were you in a meeting?” Gastón asked and Luna noticed too that Isla was wearing her earpiece. 

“In between two calls, so your timing was perfect.” She quickly hugged her son. “Don’t have that much time to talk though, so you can tell me everything in the evening.” 

“Okay.” Gastón just nodded and started dragging his suitcase upstairs. 

“Wait a moment,” Luna was about to do the same when Isla stopped her. 

“What?” 

“Gastón told us, when we spoke on the phone a few days ago, about… They were parents of that friends of yours right?” 

“Carla and Diego, yeah.” Luna nodded, “I told them about what has happened.”

“Thats what he said.”

“I hope it was okay that we gav—”

“Of course it was.” Isla smiled. “You could have just asked about that directly too.”

“Yeah, I know, but it just didn’t come to my mind then.” Luna laughed, “Oh, I almost forgot!” She pulled a letter from her bag that Carla had given her the day before they had left Cancun. “They wanted me to give you this.” 

“Okay,” Isla looked at the letter before glancing at her phone quickly, “You know what, is it okay if I won’t look at it now? Marco is in a seminar the whole evening, giving it to be precise, and I have at least two more calls I need to make today and one launch plan to review. How about you go and leave it in our room, we’ll look at it together later?”

“Yeah, that works.” Luna nodded, “In your room?”

“Not saying not would get lost, but there are a million papers all over the office right now, so let's not take our chances.” Isla responded. “Leave it on a nightstand for example.”

“Sure,” Luna nodded again before looking up toward the stairs, “You room was…?”

“You don’t know where it is?”

“This house is a maze.”

“It kind of is. Upstairs, the double doors. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“There are two upstairs in this house,” Luna kept pondering. 

“That is true too,” Isla laughed, “the second floor, not the highest. You got it?”

“Yeah. I think so.” Luna nodded and started climbing the stairs.

She looked around on the middle floor. Honestly, she hadn’t spent much time on the upstairs of this house, even though she had lived here for almost a year. Nina had said that the highest floor had like three bedrooms, but there probably were rooms on other floors as well. 

Isla had been right, Luna spotted the double doors on the other side of the hall, really quickly. The doors opened up to a giant room, with more of those big windows. The view opened up to the small forest behind the house. 

Luna walked in headed toward the bed to leave the letter on the nightstand when some picture frames on a chest of drawers drew her attention. Concrete pictures shouldn’t be that surprising anymore, it was clearly this family’s thing.

Luna walked closer and looked at the pictures. Two of them were of Gastón in various ages, Matteo featured in one of them…again. The third picture was a one that clearly was from Isla and Marco’s wedding. 

The fourth picture was the one that had drawn Luna’s attention. It had golden frames and in that one Isla and Marco looked really young, so it was probably from the time they had started dating. The picture was really cute…

Luna wasn’t the most detail-oriented person in the world, but this detail in the photo really drew her eye. There was an image of a sun drawn by black ink on Isla’s left wrist. Luna had never realized that she had a tattoo, but maybe it had just been covered by a watch or a bracelet since she wore a lot of those. 

“The sun will show you the truth.” The voice from Luna’s dream echoed in her mind suddenly, while she kept staring at the picture. 

Luna shook her head and placed the envelope that held Carla’s letter next to the picture frames. 

As she closed the door and walked back into the hall, she looked out of the window. The actual sun had come out from behind the clouds. 

If she wasn’t kind of feeling weird enough as it was, suddenly she noticed a golden glimmer shining from the middle of the carpet. Luna walked closer, and noticed that what was reflecting the light was a ring.

Luna held the golden ring, that got thicker in the middle, in her hand. She had seen ones like it in history class; they were called “signet” rings that were used to stamp wax seals in old times. 

There was only one person who this could belong to, and… What was even stranger was the fact that the design on top of the ring was another sun.

Could this truly be a coincidence anymore?

{}

Well, well, well... It though it would be a time for some good fashion cliffhanger again, because who doesn't love those. Coincedence? I think—yeah, yes, it actually is. This is not a spoiler, because we know what all the sun imagenery actually is standing for (that Luna is Sol), but Luna doesn't know that. So she comes to her own conclusions, which are... You really though I'd tell you? Nooo, way too early for that. That's what the cliffhanger is for. Leave your interpretations on what Luna is thinking right now in the comments. Also, if you are thinking right now how convinient the ring thing is and how I just came up with it in the fly, I did not. The golden signet ring that has a sun on it and it's accopanying lore has existed since December 2022 (You can go read Christmas is the time for joy and unexpected events for the extended lore). Same thing applies to the whole airport thing, because how has that not come up? Gastón's dad being an Airport Administrator was first brough up in 2021 (Chapter 13: Back Together of Memories of Time) in the same time as when Marco Perida was first brough up by name, so I didn't just make it up for the bit. All paths are coming together now. Okay, what else? Simon's parent finally got to be involved with plot, because I genuingly feel so bad for them on canon, because Simon probably doesn't tell them anything. Actually, Nina was originally supposed to be part of that scene where they go visit and she was supposed to be the one to point out for Luna that she might not be able to give out the phone number. I cut her out of the scene, because I just couldn't get it to flow right with her there. And I thought, I should give Luna some credit and have her herself realize that she wasn't sure if she was allowed to give out private information of two millionaires very much in public eye. It goes to show that Isla and Marco have become important to Luna, and she cares about them and values thier privacy enough to stop and think before acting, even if SHE trusts Simon's parents. I think I promised in the last A/N that we'd talk about Simon later, so lets talk about Simon shall we, because you probably have noticed that he hasn't seemed all that jazzed about the situation with Luna and Gastón's parents. Well, the thing is that Simon is a honest to good working class boy who has never been in a personal level with any millionares and I guess has some hard time seeing them as people he can trust, because he doesn't know them and is maybe having little hard time getting past of this preconcieved notion over what kind of people whealty white collar people are. He hasn't been excatly sitting down to eat dinner with them. So it is kind of odd from him that Luna is basically part of their family now, or is as far as the Peridas are concerned, because to him is such a different world that Luna kind if now belongs to. And maybe it also is a little bit of a harder pill to swallow, because after their failed pseudo romance Simon has been this borther figure for Luna, but she basically now has a legally appointed older brother in Gastón now and he is able to look out for her in ways Simon can't do. This is not to say that there is something wrong with Simon for feeling like this, this is just an unothodox situation.m In end he just loves Luna and wants the best for her. He just is unable to see that this is the best for her, because it is such a different world. Obviously, the best for Luna would be her own parents (nothing about this fic is supposed to be slander Monica and Miguel or thgem as Luna's parents), we can't have that at the moment. Obviously, Simon is the most untoxic person ever, and this won't change that, but I sometimes feel like Simon isn't that nuanced. He's just a good boy, which we love to see, but when it comes to conflicts, they're always about someone else: Daniela, Matteo, Ambar. It is never about just him, so here is some internal cionflict for our boy. Also, I feel like this is pretty good base for some Simbar, in a way that maybe they can help each other.

[plumbobtv]

Plumbob Inside - Interview

Lauren, you have some news for us to share... Tell us... Haha, yes... I am joining the ladies for season 8 as a fulltime wife. After 7 years of not being on the show, I am back... And drama is in session.

Oh that’s amazing news! Have you girls started filming yet? Yes, we’re now filming pick up scenes. And our first cast event is coming up next weekend... But I just filmed my introduction back on the show.

Tell us, what made you decide to come back this season? Uhm... Well, I already filmed some scenes last season & really enjoyed those moments with these ladies. And a few months ago production called and asked if I was interested in coming back. And I feel like it was the right time, my life has changed majorly since season one and I can’t wait to share it.

What do you look forward the most for filming season eight? The friendships, last time I was on the show I was in an all time low in my life... I wasn’t confident in my love life and my friendships and that showed. This time I wanna make new friendships and nothing is stopping me.

Saffron wasn’t too happy seeing you last season, how do you think she will feel now that you’re returning fulltime? I’m not sure, I haven’t seen or spoken to her... But I think she will have to deal with her issues with me and see if there is a way we can move forward. Because listen, I don’t want drama with her. I wanna make things right, but two sims are needed for a friendship.

You haven’t been on the show with Heather, Mila and Courtney yet... How do you feel about them from what you have seen? I’m really excited to get to know Heather better, we have been around each other before, but we aren’t close. Courtney and Mila I both don’t know, I have heard that Mila is very dramatic... But I am going in with an open mind and I will see what happens.

The last time the show ruined your friendship with Octavia, aren’t you scared that will happen again? No, because we’re way closer now then 7 years ago. We have talked through our issues and... I am confident that we have secured a very steady friendship now, so I am not scared of that.

What do you bring to the show that it needs now? Well, I think with Victoria and Judith both of the show... There was a pretty big gap, because they had a lot of drama last season. And I think I’m a pretty strong character that fills in that gap quite nicely. Because I also say what’s on my mind and I will always tell the truth, no bullshit... I will call them out on their lies... And I think that was something this cast was missing.

By the way, do you know if more new sims are joining? No, I don’t know... We have just begon filming, so everything is pretty new and we haven’t even been together with the whole cast. So who know...

So, the first group event is this weekend... What’s happening? It’s Heather’s housewarming, she moved a couple of weeks ago and she has invited all of us to see her new home. It’s very pretty I heard, high in the Del Sol Valley hills...

Thank you for doing this interview Lauren & we can’t wait to see you on the show next season. Good luck filming. Thank you so much, I’m gonna give y’all a show to watch haha.

[wander-wren]

one thing i’m really excited for in Three of Swords (po3 rewrite) is figuring out how to balance fanon and canon interpretations of characters. especially since i have to choose which fanon interpretations to use!

i got into warriors around what i’m unofficially dubbing the middle age, bc i like naming things, it’s fun. this coming after the golden age of the fandom, yknow, firestar doesnt like waffles and sss warrior cats and emo scourge and cringe ocs. to my eyes, the fandom culture after that was focused on improving art (better animation and art and fanfic overall, i remember a ton of guides on how to avoid common fanfic mistakes) but still had a lot of the same trappings of early fandom. especially in the opinions about characters—remember everyone hating dovewing and loving ivypool?

then in the past few years its like things have shifted. the demographic as a whole feels older now, but maybe that’s just me—i don’t know how popular wc is with the current eleven year olds. but i’ve seen a lot of “x character deserved better” and “i was wrong about y character” type sentiments (i was one of them! sorry, dovewing). some of the same topics keep being retread, but the consensus on them has changed. there’s probably an essay in there somewhere.

but back to Three of Swords. i haven’t actually reread po3 in a while (it’s on my list, lol), so all my own thoughts are also colored by nostalgia and years of fanon. i have a lot of space here to explore breezepelt, since the story will be windclan-centric, and i have to decide what to keep from canon and from fanon, as well as deciding what role i want him to play. i want to make the Three a little scarier, more powerful and more mystical, really set apart from their clanmates, but i don’t want to lose too much of their canon personalities.

even starclan could go several ways. are they malevolent, benevolent? powerful or incompetent? with crowfeather now being the three’s mother and nightcloud being present but not directly a parent, how does that change their characters? i still think crowfeather was absolutely unprepared to be a parent to breezepelt, but the circumstances are wildly different now.

and what about onestar and firestar? with the three in windclan and firestar still receiving the kin of kin prophecy, how long will it take to put together, and what does that do to clan relations? what version of onestar do i even want to write, with how inconsistent he is?

and i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: what the hell am i supposed to do with sol? i definitely want him to play a bigger role, but i’m still throwing around ideas as to how to do that and how he ties into the larger dark forest plot.

the final thing i’m really adamant about is portraying these cats as, well, young. nightcloud, crowfeather, leafpool, and squirrelflight all started the new prophecy as apprentices. in my rewrite, by the time the Three are born they’ve only been warriors (or medicine cats) for 4-5 moons. that makes them adults for a little less than a year by the time the Three are apprenticed, which is when i’m thinking of starting Three of Swords unless i can think of something interesting to do in their kithood.

they’re very young and have had really tumultuous apprenticeships/early adulthoods, and that’s not stopping anytime soon. the Three are incredibly young, and every individual thing they deal with would be a lot, but all of it? i know the fandom view on hollyleaf specifically has been shifting from this sort of badass murder queen to the scared, confused kid making bad choices she was, and i want to write about that. and give lionblaze a character beyond “fighty man goes dark side.” and give jayfeather a character other than “grumpy snark. also is blind.”

annnnd this got away from me oops. happy anniversary. i have a love-hate relationship with po3 because it’s got SO MUCH happening but also NOTHING happening.

[lava-bros]

How are you guys?

Probably not the answer you're expecting but I feel like there's probably some form of closure I should give this blog. I definitely went very ambitious with the development I wanted to do with these characters, at the time obviously I had the energy and desire to make the stories so I'm not faulting myself for doing it. It was fun at the time and that's what these blogs are about!

So here's some fun story bits that were in the works before I moved on to other creative things. If you DO end up reading this, be prepared it's pretty lengthy. There's some old thumbnails of updates that I never got to finish, along with a few designs of story elements.

As well as a few trigger warnings, there's some talk about death, loss, substance abuse(in a magical sense), a lot of fire, emotional trauma. I think that covers it, so if you're fine with that continue on!

Sol was made to be this sort of slimy two faced asshole that used people for his thirst for knowledge without care of what happened to the people he left behind in the process. He pushes the limits of his relationships until they either break or start to bend to him whim. There was a long time he wasn't a good person, and his friends suffered for it.

BEFORE THAT THOUGH, we're going to time skip backwards a bit before he was introduced to the blogs. Sol used to be a slimy single faced asshole that actually had friends. He was on top of the world, gave no shits about who knew him, who liked him, who hated him. He'd escaped from the lab he was created from and he wanted to experience life to the fullest because this man honest to god believed NOTHING could hurt him. He ended up forming a crew, they got up to some hijinks, they had a great time doing it, and they were a big family. This was supposed to be explored with the "Remember your sins" meme, but lost the drive pretty quick after starting. I did some digging around and I found some of the old thumbnails

Essentially it filled in some of the missing pieces of Sol getting backstabbed by one of his crew members and learning that he's not as invincible as he thought. This was also where the explanation of the White and Black Cores come in. Black cores I was able to finish with the explaination, white cores I unfortunately never got around to. I'm sure there's some roughs floating around or at least on paper. But basically white cores plays in the opposite of the black cores. Black cores are too much magic, so white is not enough. So Sol witnessed having his core broken into and he lost an huge amount of his magic which threatened his existence. His body went into panic mode, and he went absolutely nuts and killed his family(or so he thought). He set the whole place on fire, and definitely Skip died because when he finally came too he just sort of stuck around her corpse and spired into a depression. He went through some stuff it wasn't a good year(or decade I can't remember) for him.

Skip ahead to his next phase, rebuild. So after all that shit, he picked himself back up, made a new identity, tried to rebuild his empire. Got mixed up with some not so good relationships(the not so good being on his end), finding himself unable to trust again because of obvious previous shit. He still didn't know who it was that betrayed him, and so he gave up that shit to be a new brand of asshole. The kind that DOESN'T actually want to make friends anymore.

That's where we jump to Sol adopting kids and it's the worst idea. This plot point I honestly kinda wished I did so differently. It was such a missed opportunity for Boom and Pom to have a parental figure, regardless if he was so bad at being on. Whenever I make AUs with these three now, their dynamic is so different, Piper(Pom) adores Sol regardless if he sucks at taking care of any sort of organic creature. That's all I really have to say about that. Boom sees him more like a boss and Pom hates him but slowly builds into being okay with him later on in the blogs.

So now I'll get into the present/future stuff. A big part of what the blog was going towards was this project called "the interviews" and man I wish I had all the thumbs for it, but I think a lot of it was on paper. Here's just some of the beginning ones:

Shout out to Simon's very obvious in check emotions.

Anyways, so this was going to be a series of updates in regards to looking for new hires. Along the way it would cut back and forth between Bob and Sol, Bob who's trying to move forward while Sol who's still held back by the past and can't move on. The above section was basically going to be what Bob was going through.

Meanwhile with Sol, he would meet Skip who's been haunting the warehouse as a Boo, unable to move on because of her ties of anger and regret for what Sol had done. She'd go on talking about how she'd been there since she died, hating Sol quietly and learning her new powers to find a way to get revenge. But as she watched him grovel for nearly a decade over her body, she decided that he'd done a better job torturing himself over and over enough times that she didn't need to do anything. But she reconciles with him, telling her friend that it's time for him to move on. Sol argues that he's unable to, how could he after what he's done, and wishing it hadn't happen. He goes on mentioning that he couldn't control himself, he wouldn't have done that even if she betrayed him by breaking his core. That's when Skip reveals that it wasn't her, it was Po, the snowpokey of their team.

Learning this, Sol is furious, but keeps his cool for the time being. Him and Skip have a bit of a bonding moment, reminiscing about the past, then Sol offers Skip one of the jobs. She reluctantly agrees, since she's stuck there anyways, and she becomes the new security. Sol brings her to Bob, and he has an emotional moment with her too, seeing that one of his friends did in fact pass away at the incident.

That was as much as I had solid plans for, at least with Sol's arc. Rough ideas was Sol going to confront Po on his own, and turns out Po's resented him for years. They fight and as Po looks about to win Bob comes in and shows off his own frustrations that he'd been keeping. He loses it and beats Po to an inch of his life sort of deal, Sol stops him, and he offers Po an opportunity to change, which he declines. Maybe later on he changes his mind, unsure. Didn't get that far into it. But yeah that was pretty much Sol's whole arc. Pretty long. A lot of bummer city stuff, but becomes pretty chill at the end.

NOW SIMON. Honestly his was a lot tamer in the sense of just his own self discovery. His arc is essentially feeling abandoned by Sol when he escaped whatever vague lab they were from. He's always felt Sol could connect with people a lot easier than he could. Sol was full of a lot of sympathy where as Simon was empathy. He couldn't exactly relate to a lot of what people felt. Unlike Sol, that you could argue was created with a lot of emotion, Simon was made with very little. It made him desperate to feel what others did, and from that it made him feel empty. So to fill that void, he filled it with the only thing he knew he could. Magic. Thus it lead to him consuming magic constantly, and furiously.

Simon developed these 'black core' symptoms very early on, where he has a constant hunger to consume magic and it's completely messed up his way of thinking because of it. Though his ultimate goal had always been to basically combine with Sol, because in his eyes, Sol is everything he wants to be. So ultimately at one point, he does. It's right during the big arc where Boom loses his arm in the fight. They lose and Simon and Sol combine to make this guy.

It was during the time I unfortunately pretty burnt out on trying to produce all this content on my spare time. So doing huge updates and big arcs were getting harder and harder to do. I missed just having a funny blog to draw silly answers for, so I skipped over all this, and instead just planned on it all being talked about in past tense. That's when Bob and Scotty suddenly came in.

As for the rest of Simon's arc, part of it was shown on the blog. Scotty helped separate the two after combining, and turns out everything he thought would fix him came crashing down. It didn't work, he didn't feel how he wanted to, and he hit a low point in just having no idea what to do anymore. His thoughts consumed by this hunger that can't be satisfied, and he can't grasp the concept of love or what it is to love.

He slowly comes back to with Scotty's help, showing him compassion and forgiveness for his actions. Teaching him that there is nothing wrong with not understanding. There is nothing wrong with not having those feelings. It takes time and experience to understand and find yourself. So she helps him rebuild, helping him do the things he enjoys that doesn't, you know, hurt others with an ending violent hunger for power. He officially gets his weird uncle status badge. Hooray!

Now a character I didn't get much opportunity to explore, Scotty. She doesn't exactly have "end game" planned, because she's definitely more of a supporting cast for these two. So she was created in the same facility, you know the vague unnamed one, after Sol left. She was given a little less magic so she didn't, you know, go nuts like Simon, and perhaps a little less emotional than Sol. She was supposed to be the in between but basically the "better" version of them. And then Simon lost it and destroyed the vague unnamed facility and broke her core. That's what the grabby hands represented in this post

But with still a little magic left, she wasn't gone. There was a vague concept of either Bob or Sol returning to the facility and finding her core. Probably Bob if I think about it now, to look for some answers about what Sol is and how to get him to be less... uh... fire. And sort of repairs Scotty while he's there and just sort of leaves her to figure out her thing. Then upon Simon and Sol combining, Scotty arrives, using her ability to separate them through means. I honestly cannot remember how.

But that's it! Those are the arcs that I had planned for this blog that I never got to, and honestly never will get to. I do still love these characters deeply, I use them all the time in AUs I will sometimes post on my main art blog. They're my self indulgent characters, and I love them dearly.

They've grown a lot since this blog began, or heck, even before this blog began. Sol was made to be a throw away character, made just to be Boom's really terrible abusive boss in his early years. Christ look at this absolute piece of shit. My whole design concept was literally "sleazey car salesman"

And Simon was literally a joke. I misspelled Splorch once, and he was created from it. He was meant to be the opposite of Sol in every way, and he honestly still is.

What a lovely walk down memory lane. Thanks for sticking around for those that got this far. I honestly enjoyed the time I had with these blogs, they were truly a lot of fun. I met some great people from them, and it's lead to some really great friendships. Aside from that shit though, gave me these characters, and they're going to stick with me for a long time.

Thanks for all the support that this obscure blog received over the years. This one hit so much different than BoomPom did. I felt like this one was more of my own, and less tied to the popularity of other much bigger blogs. It honestly shocks me that people sent asks here, and people took interest in these characters. Means a lot to me if you did and for all the asks this blog received in it's life span.

I hope you have a pleasant day, you deserve it.

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic the Comic Liveblog: Issue 48

Continuing where we left off last time with the Sandopolis story!

It can regenerate! Makes me wonder how it can be defeated then

Bonk

Ahh, that’s how you defeat it. You’d think it’d be careful of the quicksand

Interesting lore. By ancient people does he mean echidnas?

Well, that contradicts something from last issue’s Captain Plunder story. They made a big deal out of the fact that Filch can pass through walls but he can also interacts with objects if he wants since he’s a poltergeist. Idk maybe it takes a lot of effort and a whole room of treasure would be too much for him?

Ghost gets scared of ghosts

Gee Knuckles, good thing those ancient texts weren’t full of shit about the secret exit.

Lmao

Hadn’t had an interesting news article in this magazine in a while, but here’s one talking about the 32X and the Saturn! I feel like this is the signifier that the comic is starting to move into the mid-late 90s era of Sonic. Even if we don’t see characters like the Chaotix or Team Hooligan in the comics for a little while yet, StC may soon be discussing the games they feature in.

Y’know, I’ve heard of the Sonic Pico, but I don’t really know much about it. From the picture here it reminds me of the LeapPad I had a kid in the early 2000s… god I miss that thing, wonder what happened to it.

Onto a new Tails story, and aww, is he sucking his thumb in his sleep? He really is just a small kid, but the writers keep putting him in Situations

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!

Also hi Sab!

I mean, it looks like snow, but they could pull a Doctor Who and say it’s actually ash or something

I still maintain that Sol Furic is one of the best pun names that’s ever been in Sonic. Also I hope nothing has actually happened to Sab and her posse of buff sheep, I like them a lot

Returning to the Captain Plunder story, I can’t say I expected the story of him trying to escape Robotnik’s ship to suddenly turn into a court drama.

Idk man, maybe you can say you’re a really dedicated cosplayer?

I’m still puzzled on what animal Plunder is supposed to be anyway. I was leaning slightly towards boar because of the tusks but the lawyer here looks to be a boar or a pig and they’re rather different.

Robotnik is a fan of Judge Judy type shows

Gotta love a bit of dark humour sometimes.

…also is this guy wearing two sets of glasses??

Long lost siblings

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

Server storytime: Memories of Bronze, and also boats

[February 13-14, 2023]

{Brespawn:}

What's the Forbidden 9th badge in Bronze? :tppS:

{Newbie:}

yeah, what's this about dummied out kanto in bronze?

{Denne:}

so i can't explain this very well because i wasn't uhhhh There for a lot of the run and i have very bad memory, but basically bronze was a gold hack and Pieces of kanto were still accessible which we abused to go fight sabrina

i dont remember HOW we got into kanto but pieces of it got very fucked up

{Tranzi}

i believe you still could casually enter it but most gyms were purposefully blocked

and going in some areas would result in softlocks

{Denne:}

saffron was pretty normal but here's vermilion for example. and we went on the anne Multiple times which was a softlock and made my glitch brain very happy. depicted: talking to our evil twin (?) and going to hell (??).

(disclaimer of Video Contains A Couple People Who Are Banned For Various Reasons lol. tpp)

{Newbie:}

...i see poor fifer was misgendered

{Denne:}

also while this missingno is an official fakemon it was pretty cool that the kid with a glitch friend went spelunking in glitch worl

bronze was a short run (like, it could even keep up with modern standards) and i'm sad i missed lots of it but i loved this part it was so cool to me

{Sol:}

enter the boat

die with the boat

{Brespawn:}

:DewfonBoat:

{Tranzi:}

this is where liji died the first time

:tppWait:

{Denne:}

i love that TPP's Very Bad Luck With Going To Hell On Boats was an established thing years before the meme. anicrys -> this -> trihard emerald -> THEN dewfon becomes a thing. ⛴

{Haji:}

Yes :Jebaited:

Also looking at my poorly made summary we always had access to Kanto just not the full map

Had to go to Oak's lab to get the Pokedex because we're a new Trainer and that's just what Trainers do

I think legit we could go as far as Cerulean and then the game was supposed to block us off?? But tiles didn't line right so we slipped by anyway and got to explore wrecked Kanto iirc

Which of course is where we find hell ship

{Sol:}

you can expand that list further actually

don't forget Burning Red

where we found the TM Case crash on the SS Anne

{Denne:}

burning red 💖

{Sol:}

TPP really just has a bad history with boats huh :Kappa:

when you think about it the fact the whole joke around Dewfon was the fact that nothing bad was ever going to happen

maybe Dewfon was the redemption arc :Kappa:

{Newbie:}

...when it's all laid out like this, why on earth didn't something like dewfon become a thing earlier

{Sol:}

the thing with Dewfon is that it happened because of a very weird user who was only around for basically just Sirius

it wasn't actual wide-spread paranoia of a softlock, it was one continuous typo turned copypasta turned ascended meme

{Trollkitten:}

I think TPP's first boat incident was in FireRed where we joked about Alice going on the 'nice boat' with our at-the-time arch-nemesis Bill

{Haji:}

Oh that's right!

So in Fire Red and Leaf Green, the early Sevii Islands are optional. Bill shows up at Cinnabar Island and asks for help, which you can no to. If you say yes though, I think you're stuck out there until you complete the first three island quest.

And iirc just like with elevators, chat kept A spamming the sailor at the dock so it was like "Now One Island, no Three Island, now Two Island, wait Three Island" without ever making it out of the port. :tppLUL: