#take this as an alternate route the reveal could have gone

[fluffypotatey]

Something that could happen in Things Dr. Geyer Notices

David Geyer, trying to hint that he's aware of the supernatural to his son: i just want you to know that your mother and i love you so much. nothing could change that. absolutely nothing. nothing. Liam Dunbar: i'm bi David: *sighs*...so am i, kiddo

[baldurs-gape]

You have been perceived.

Oh Nonnie, trust me, I know. I have spent the last couple of days alternating between the sheer panic of having been perceived and also the deepest desire to know why?! There's over 2000 Bloodweave fics out there. Just how and why did Shores end up being the one he picked?! Especially with those tags. I almost feel compelled to profusely apologise that he had to read those with his own eyes. But then I remember that while the story is my sin, I'm not to blame for him noodling around on AO3. And if he did have a sneaky read, I bloody hope he was polite and at least left kudos.

Anyway. More importantly. You sent an ask and so you shall have a ficlet of thanks for finding my little corner of the fandom and interacting.

Mortal Hands

The room at the Elfsong Tavern was the height of luxury compared to the road the party had been on for so long. Various exclamations of relief and gratitude mixed with sighs and grumbles about who gets which bed. Perhaps the one Astarion picked wasn't ideal but as least it was in the corner, he could see the entrance to the room and, if needed, could probably make an escape route through a window. Without any discussion or ever question, the bed next to his was left empty for Gale. It took a few minutes for their wizard to drag himself in, looking more haggard and tired than usual. Obviously the message from Elminster about seeing mystra hadn't gone down very well. He looked ready to crash face first into the pillow and not resurface for tenday or so.

"You're going to get the bed filthy," Astarion drawled as he watched Gale blink at the bed with confused longing. "Get cleaned up. You can thank me when you're awake again."

A pout. The great Wizard of Waterdeep, the Chosen of Mystra, an archmage of great renown was pouting at Astarion like he'd just told him he can't have a second helping of pie and custard. That was just rude. Being the more mature of the two of them, Astarion rolled his eyes in response.

"Must I do everything? Come along." For all his griping, Astarion was up and leading Gale towards the wooden tub he'd spied earlier. It didn't take long to arrange for it to get filled with steaming hot water and he barely had any time to grab Gale by the arm and hoist him back before the other got in. "Were you raised by boars? You get in there like this and you'll be sitting in your own much. I should call you a filth wizard."

"But-" Gale began and was cut off with a hand gesture.

"Sit."

Thankfully Gale sat and actually looked grateful for it. His eyes closed as Astarion went about drawing a couple of buckets of water from the tub. Towels, a bar of soap from his own pack (pilfered from Raphael's rather decadent bath) and Gale's shaving kit.

First things first, Astarion bullied Gale into stripping, frowning at the bruises that were revealed. Not to mention that his wizard looked more slender than before. They were going to have to pay more attention to supplies it seemed. Once naked, Astarion picked up a bucket.

"Close your eyes and hold your breath."

"Wha-" The word morphed into a splutter as Gale spat water out. He was dripping and glaring, and it really shouldn't have been such a good look on him.

Not missing a beat, Astarion set about washing him from top down. Working shampoo into Gale's hair, he listened to the soft exhales, watched as Gale's shoulders slumped, head tipping into the touch. Astarion used his fingers to find tangles and gentle teased them out. Half a bucket rinsed the suds out. Next was the unsightly scruff of beard. It had been much better maintained but the shadowcursed lands hadn't exactly afforded them much opportunity for personal care.

"Is this really necessary?" Gale asked even as his hands settled on Astarion's hips to steady him in his lap. "Surely it can wait."

"You'll feel better. We'll go see Mystra tomorrow and tell her where she can shove the crown."

"She doesn't care about looks."

Astarion raised an eyebrow. "I don't care about what she thinks. I want you to feel good about yourself."

As he spoke, his hands worked gently over the scruff, cleaning it and working up another nice lather. Reaching for the razor, Astarion waited a moment, knowing all too well that Gale would try and speak whether he had a sharp blade against his skin or not. Sure enough, he was right.

"She won't be impressed by a bit of grooming. Not even hunting down a bit of magic would impress her."

"Do you know how much effort I'm having to put into not making a comment about Mystra and grooming?"

Gale sighed. "She's a goddess. She doesn't need to worry about things like grooming or wind blowing a wisp of hair out of the way."

Rather than say anything, Astarion stared at him and shook his head before taking a gentle hold of Gale's chin. The aim wasn't to get rid of the beard, just to tame it and return it to its more usual look. He felt the moment Gale realised the meaning of his words and his jaw flexed. In response, Astarion tightened his grip a little to keep him quiet.

Once satisfied with his work, Astarion used a towel to wiped him clean before reaching for another lotion. Yet another thing he'd lifted from Sharess' Caress, it was something to keep a beard softer. Rubbing it into Gale's facial hair felt oddly meditative and Astarion got lost for a moment in the feel of the hairs against his palms. It was only when Gale's head fell forwards before jerking back up that he realised they were both drifting.

"Only a little longer," he murmured and got up.

The last bucket of now tepid water was used to wipe the worst of the grim off Gale. His arms and legs were lifted on command and Astarion did his best not to laugh too much when he worked on cleaning ticklish feet and Gale squirmed, nose scrunched up.

Finally satisfied, Astarion nodded to himself and gestured at the tub which was warm but no longer scaling.

"Get in."

The groan Gale let out as he sank into the water came from the soul. Knees bent, he sank in until his shoulders were under the water, eyes closed. Astarion flipped a bucket upside down and sat on it behind him. Starting without a word, he let himself play with Gale's hair, fingers digging into his scalp as it turned into a massage. Deftly he moved down to his jaw, knowing that Gale had a tendency to grind his teeth which left him aching and frustrated quite often. Once his mouth was slack, Astarion returned to playing with his freshly tidied up beard, touching for the sake of enjoyment.

Under his care, Gale all but melted. He sleepily nuzzled into Astarion's palm, resting comfortably against it like it was the world's most decadent pillow. The trust of it had Astarion's throat tight. Nobody before Gale had put so much faith into him. The assumption that he would hold Gale, keep him above water and allow him to rest was the purest form of love Astarion could imagine.

"Come along, before you become the Wizard of Watersleep."

Drying a half awake Gale off, Astarion led him to the bed where Gale happily burrowed under the blanket. There was just one problem. Sleepy brown eyes stared at him imploringly. Astarion found it almost impossible to resist.

"Let me quickly get cleaned up. Then I'll join you."

Never in his life had he washed himself quicker. It was still too long. By the time he returned to Gale's side, the wizard was already asleep, blanket clutched to his chest in lieu of another body to hold. Somewhat disappointed, Astarion sat on the edge of the bed to watch. The dip in the mattress didn't wake Gale fully but he did snuffled and shuffled towards the edge of the bed, making more room. Taking the invitation, Astarion curled up next to him, smiling to himself when the blanket was kicked away in favour of Gale wrapping around him more securely than a mindflayer's tentacles around a head at feeding time.

Rest was quick to draw Astarion into a trance. It had been a long road and they weren't anywhere close to being done just yet. But at least he had Gale and Gale had him. That was going to have to be enough when they faced the monsters of their past in the next couple of days.

[hanasnx]

❝ exit music for a film. ❞

── knightfall!anakin skywalker x reader

PART ONE ✩ PART TWO ✩ PART THREE

MINORS DNI 18+ WORD COUNT: 1k SUMMARY: somehow aware of anakin skywalker's knightfall before the events take place, you seek to change the ending before it happens. NOTES: based on the dream i had last night where i knew everything that happened in rots & couldn't tell anybody & was trying to change the ending of the movie. WARNINGS: lowkey angst | minimal violence

── PREVIOUSLY: in your haste to save the lives anakin takes, you miscalculated. leading the newly brandished sith lord to mistrust you. a costly, and hazardous mistake. as your goodbye to this world, you granted him a kiss. using his confusion, you narrowly escaped. As if a gift from the gods themselves, you were granted mercy, and you slipped out from the corridor, allowing him time to process what had happened as you escaped. By the time he looked around the corner to ask you why you came onto him... now of all times... you were gone.

You pressed your back to the cold surface of the wall, a hand on your chest to calm your rapid breathing. It escaped you as to how whatever you thought to pull had miraculously bought you precious time.

The legs underneath you shook as you ventured, scrambling to decide your next move based on efficiency. As much as your knowledge served you, chronologically you were lost. Based on your surroundings, you’d say you’d delayed Order 66’s command. Which meant Anakin was most likely busy with something.

You slowed to a halt. As if the very blood inside you that once roared past your ears, froze in your veins. In your attempt to solve one problem, you’d created an entirely new one.

ANAKIN SKYWALKER hunted you.

It kickstarted your tendons, springing them into action in a sprint.

“Hey!” he called out from behind you— the devil man. His heavy steps thundered down the stairs behind you; you didn’t dare look back lest you fall victim to his paralyzing appearance. You didn’t have to be part of battle to understand the fear Anakin inflicted on his enemies. To live it firsthand such as this was terrifying enough. “Hey—! Stop! I wanna talk to you!” His pace quickened, and your route had to change, spotting the elevator. To avoid his indomitable force grab— which would doubtlessly rope you in and squeeze the life out of you like a viper— you dove in, cowering in cover as you feverishly pressed the button.

As if the gods were recanting their gift, precious seconds were wasted as you dispiritedly wished the elevator to close, until you realized it was purposeful. So you peeked past the purview, observing his outstretched hand forced not you, but the doors to remain open. A squeak of fright emitted from you, loose gripped hands trembling as they yanked the blaster out of the holster on your hip.

He was close.

You’d prayed you’d never have to use this. Staring hard at the weapon in your hands, you had no time to think of anything else. The dead giveaway you were Anakin’s enemy would be revealed.

He was so close.

Even the General could not focus on two things at once. Your rapid blaster fire— shit aim as it was— caused him to release the doors, and agonizingly slow they began to close. His growl reverberated with the beat of your chest, alternating between dodging and redirecting the shots with the force. When he drew his saber, you didn’t realize you backed up. Your body had a mind of its own, desperate to put more space between the two of you as he advanced on you with newfound exuberance, stamping yourself to the wall as you hopelessly fired til the gun was hot in your grip.

The hard expression he wore, the blazing focus in his eyes— eyes burning into you, as his cloak billowed behind him, and his saber in his hands. He looked lovecraftian. As if he had the power to drive a storm to bow to him, bend to his will. Your subconscious subjugation lingered when the doors cut him from your line of sight.

A loud bang of his metal fist against the shell made you flinch.

From overheating, your blaster jammed as soon as you’d been freed from your most recent life threatening altercation. Now foreign in your hand, you tossed it away from you. A sick feeling rose in the pit of your stomach, churning bile. You did not relax from the wall behind you, frozen in place as if Anakin still faced you. Fresh memory haunting your mind’s eye of his bloodthirsty rampage, imposing on any rational thought you could muster.

Adrenaline impossilized the quiet elevator ride up. What if he outran you? What if he hung from beneath and his saber would cauterize through the floor any second? Sweat beaded at your forehead as you eyed the ground underneath you cautiously. Sea legs fooled you into believing you were rising at a slant, and that he’d somehow found a way to divert the elevator’s destination. It was just your imagination, and to distract yourself, you lifted your wrist COMM to your lips, whispering as if the Ghost of the Republic were listening in on your conversation, privy to your strategy.

“R-8? R-8, are you there?”

A reassuring beep let you know he’d not been smashed in Anakin’s stray rage from your getaway.

“Meet me at the top of the tower, on the roof. Ran into some trouble.”

R-8 confirmed, your astromech on his way to rendezvous brought little relief when the most powerful Jedi of this galaxy was after you, and you’d just invited him to.

You stamped your foot, if you’d been smarter you might’ve reached the briefing room here that monitored COMM usage from Jedi and Clones alike. General Kenobi could’ve been notified— he must be on Utapau dealing with General Grievous.

Unfortunately, you knew the Jedi forces were spread thin.

No one was coming to your rescue.

However, if you stalled long enough, perhaps an alternative, more agreeable outcome would come to pass. Every time you’d seen the ending, the entire journey leading up to it your futile wishful thinking drove you to beg for a chance to change it. Maybe it’ll be different this time. He’ll understand the true consequences, he’ll make the right choice. The trust in him is not misplaced, he’ll save himself… therefore, saving everyone.

It never turned out that way, did it? If he didn’t make those choices, if he wasn’t backed into a corner, coerced into his insanity like a starved, wild animal… he wouldn’t be Anakin Skywalker would he?

Yet, you still loved him.

The poetic tragedy of his life, rolled up into a long, arduous scroll. Sealed with blood.

[mari-lair]

Ohhh your actually dead Akane theory makes me wonder how the other characters would react to learning that, especially Teru given that Akane is his first friend! Like ever! And he's already walking on a thin line because Akane's a half supernatural, but then he's actually dead? And he has to deal with the fact that he would lose the first person to see him for himself? Heartbreaking.

If we pretend my Akane is already dead theory is right, I think it would be revealed when he dies, and there are two alternatives: He could lose all connections to supernaturals when he dies and become a normal spirit or he is already intertwined with the clock keepers and will immediately be a full supernatural.

If his contract does force him to be a full supernatural when he dies, or if he chose to linger of his own accord after death, he will go against the natural order of the dead and cease to be the ‘person’ we know.

We can’t say how much Akane would change as a supernatural, but I personally believe he would have a big denial stage, convinced that he is not like other supernaturals, his soul is still human, since delusions and arrogance is something that don’t seem to be altered��too much from their human self. They may even became stronger in the years and years supernaturals spend refusing to change their core beliefs.

I can picture Aoi trying to delude herself that “Akane is still around” if he became a supernatural, cause his apparence likely won’t change much, and she isn’t very familiar with this fantastical world. She was herself on the far shore (when ‘dead’) so Akane would be himself too, right? Ideally to me, they would cling to denial, mutually hurting each other out of love and a selfish insistence to not let go.

And if he just moves on, I can imagine Aoi locking herself in her room, trying to detach herself from it all but breaking down at a seemingly random moment because they were so ingrained in each other's life, everything must remind her of him.

Nene wasn’t as close to Akane as Aoi or Teru, but his death could be her wake up call. We are shown many times that Nene doesn’t want to think about death, doing her very best to put an optimistic spin on things and push any thoughts that make her uncomfortable away. Because of it, she ends up self-sabotaging herself and does not fully understand the gravity of losing a life. Be it her own, or of other people.

I can see his death being used similarly to Sumire's soul being eaten: Something that forces her to face loss head-on, but worst than Sumire because her ghost was of a different time, and as depressing as it sounds, no one Nene knows cares about Sumire, she will not be missed, but Akane dying would affect everyone. People will feel his loss and react to it, be it by her close friends joining in on her depressive mood (which makes it harder to push her negative feelings aside) or by her classmates not remembering him. Which is a good pipeline to what she doesn’t want to see but needs to face it “The one dead could have been you. This is you. You’re a walking corpse too.” route. There are just a lot of cool possibilities.

Kou would be shattered, take it as another failure. Even if it is completely out of his hands. Cause they weren't very close, but he trusted Akane.

As for Teru!

I believe Teru doesn’t care that Akane is half supernatural, he sees him as a normal human with supernatural powers, so Akane becoming a full supernatural would fuck Teru up a lot. There is no space for denial with Teru, he knows how the world works: Regardless if Akane moves on or if he becomes a supernatural with memories, the person Teru could comfortably call a friend will be gone.

Is very hard to know how Teru would act. On one hand, the people he gets attached to are irreplaceable to him. He treasures them dearly, and I doubt he can comfort himself with the knowledge that this is Akane's fate and there is nothing he can do to change it, like he did with Nene's situation.

Teru could try to be close to this new Akane (cause he always prioritizes the people he loves over his exorcism job: stealing from the shrine he works for to save Aoi, not exorcising Hanako cause Kou might hate him, tolerating all the mokkes cause ‘tiara like them’, using being a ‘cool big bro’ as his main motivation for working hard as an exorcist, and so on), but Teru is awful at handling change. He will make a mistake at some point. Or ‘Akane’ will say something that is far too disconnected from his human self to keep the illusion that “not much changed”. This approach would end badly, it's only a matter of time.

On another hand. Teru can stay level-headed about anything related to the supernatural, and he is used to death and radical situation. If he knows Akane is beyond saving and trying anything would do more harm than good, he may as well... Not do it.

When his mom died, it must have greatly affected him, and he was far far younger than now, but we never got any hint he obsessed over it. He was just... forced to accept it. To move on.

Loss is a part of life. And Teru knows that well.

If Akane became a supernatural that can hardly be called Akane anymore. I can imagine Teru visiting Akane’s grave more than “the keeper of the present”

[megggriffin]

At What Cost?

Prompt: An airship captain wants to reveal plans involving a burned nebula, but they will forget their entire life piece by piece.

Fandom: Riverdale, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge

To learn more about how the prompt was created and to find other prompts click on this link to go to my writer's blog.

Betty closed her eyes, the tears squeezing through her lashes. She didn’t want to reach up and wipe them away, thus alerting Veronica to them.

As if she wasn’t already aware.

“So that confirms it,” she said, surprising even herself with how confident her voice sounded. “The fluctuations in the data are explained.” Both she and Veronica stared at the airship’s screen, knowing Betty was right. They had purchased the ship together at eighteen, and after ten years of co-piloting the skies and trusting the SOS Raccoon (the name a drunken decision on the night they purchased the ship) to keep them safe in more than one dangerous situation, the data was correct.

“Okay, so we know that Jughead’s crew is headed for the burning nebula. So what?” Veronica said, pretending she didn’t understand it. She was going to make Betty spell it out, and she hated her a bit for that.

“You can’t suddenly act all ignorant of their plans. He lost it when Archie died. That nebula is producing the energy he needs to bring him back to life. And in doing so, he’s going to tear apart this universe.” She took a deep breath, before adding quietly. “This war has gone on far too long.”

Veronica swung Betty’s chair around, bringing them face to face. “Stop being emotional. Do I need to remind you why this war started?” Betty shook her head, but didn’t look at Veronica. “Now. Cheryl’s troops are in a closer vector to that nebula. We radio her to handle this.”

Betty was already shaking her head before Veronica finished. “Cheryl’s still twenty-five years away from that nebula, and you know she doesn’t have the equipment for a deep sleep like that. She’d succumb to madness before the end. And we need her covering the vector she’s in; otherwise, Kevin will come in and we lose months of work. That vector is necessary for our win.”

Veronica knew she was right. Cheryl and her scarlet witches were guarding the intercross between Neptune and Uranus, which allowed for Antoinette and her Serpents easy access to the jump pad, getting them back to Earth for supplies. Winning that corridor was what would allow them to win this needless war. Veronica looked at Betty’s face for a long second before tearing her eyes away and looking at the avionics. They were between Saturn and Jupiter. Neither were planet to land on for supplies. It would take a week to get to the Neptune corridor in order to start their journey, a month to go back to Earth and come back to the corridor.

Jughead already had a week head start on them. Neither knew if he had the equipment for a twenty-five year sleep; they had to hope he didn’t and would need to make supply stops along the way.

Veronica flipped the switch to turn on a 3D rendering of the traversed universe. She walked through it for a few minutes, familiarizing herself with the different routes they could take to try to cut him off. Even with a head start, Veronica was confident in her and Betty’s piloting abilities. She knew Betty was the best navigator in the known universe, which is why her blood ran cold when she finally put together the best route.

The route Betty had realized twenty minutes ago, and Veronica had snapped at her for being so emotional. Now she just wanted to cry herself. Betty was right; the cost of this war wasn’t worth it.

“I take it based on that gasp you’ve realized we need to go through the Angeles Trenches in order to cut him off. It’s the only way.” Betty stood, coming next to Veronica to stare at the Trenches. The Devil’s Gate.

“And we have to go the whole way through.”

“And we can’t turn on auto-pilot, meaning one of us will have to be awake the entire time.”

Veronica shook her head. “We can alternate,” she said, starting to cry.

Betty put her arms around her, bringing Veronica in close and resting her chin on her shoulder. “Maybe once. But I don’t think the second pilot would remember to switch back.” She squeezed tightly, knowing she would be the one in the end to pilot through. She wouldn’t put Veronica through the torture of losing her life, piece by piece. And selfishly, she couldn’t be there for the day when Veronica didn’t remember who she was. “I’ve set the auto-pilot on, aiming for the Corridor. Let’s go to bed and fight about this in the morning.”

She kissed Veronica’s head before leading her to their bed. Veronica was always the harder of the two to break, but when she did, it would take Betty time to put her back together.

[catflowerqueen]

Some interesting things were revealed/implied in today’s (technically yesterday’s at the time I post this) SAMS episode in regards to the early timeline for Sun and Moon.

If you recall, in the Interviews episode Sun said that he (and by extension Moon) worked for Fazbear’s for five years—which is exactly how long ago alternate!Moon killed his Sun. Based on some of my other timeline theories, and what I think just makes sense in general given the nature of Sun and Moon being built for the specific purpose of running a daycare (ignoring the recent revelations of them having once worked in the theater, since I don’t know if SAMS follows that canon), I think alternate!Sun and Moon must have still been very young AIs when that Moon killed his brother—or at least that they had not been working at the Daycare for very long. If they were both trying to find their footing, as it were, and didn’t have a lot of experience, then any number of things could have happened to act as a tipping point for why that Moon would have gone so far as to kill his brother when he didn’t in the canon timeline. It had to have been before he and his Sun had their talk and came to an accord about trying to work together, at any rate—or else that talk had to have gone extraordinarily badly or something, and that could have come down to any number of tiny things. Just like how Eclipse and Bloodmoon actually seemed fairly equally matched in their battle (and it really does seem like Bloodmoon only got the upper hand because Sun pulled Eclipse into his mind at that particular moment), and the tipping point for the “Eclipse won” universe was very likely to have been that Sun deciding to spare Eclipse where ours didn’t, and then Eclipse turning around for a double-cross. …Or just simply them not finding the star in time, I guess, since apparently Eclipse had already activated it by that point and it just took time to finish.

Personally, I’m thinking that the alternate!timeline is the one Moon was speculating about with Freddy when he came for help with the Shadow Freddy problem—the one where Freddy suggested just destroying Shadow Freddy, and then mentioned vague “repercussions” if he chose that route and compared it to a possible scenario where Moon destroyed Sun while he was in his head. Moon did say there was probably a dimension where that happened, and that it “wasn’t a fun thought,” and, well… here we are.

Of course, this theory does assume that the actual timeline of events match up, and the two universes are existing concurrently, which might not actually be the case given that the two Daycares were identical. In the SAMS canon timeline, the Daycare only exists in its current state because of a combination of Monty doing a lot of design work and Moon being able to make enough money (presumably via his tech and experiments) that Monty could take a sizeable chunk and skim some off the top. But that only happened very recently—and given the method, that cannot be why the alternate!Daycare looks like that. Even disregarding the horrible things that Moon is implied to have done to his Monty, he clearly was not sane enough to have been able to do the experiments necessary to get the funding for that.

While one might be able to argue he could have done it in his early days after killing his Sun (since he certainly would not have been able to do it while sharing a body with Sun, given how little agency and control he had), I still don’t think it’s very likely. He would have had a very limited amount of time to actually learn any of that before going completely off the deep end, and he already would have been starting with a shortened timer after murdering his brother—because I am pretty sure that it still would have counted as far as his kill code goes, and even if it didn’t register the same way, I get the feeling that Moon was already pretty far gone to actually be able to accomplish that feat in the first place. So this means that either the daycare was built differently from the start with more funding, or it got renovated for other reasons at some point, but all that had to have happened before Moon killed Sun, because there wouldn’t have been a point otherwise. Unless they were trying to make an elaborate cage for Moon or something? But there would have been far easier and less dangerous solutions if that was the case.

…Which actually brings up more thoughts in regards to the “backstory” of the shared channels in relation to the Security Breach game itself. From what I’ve gathered, it seems like it was kind of an “actor au” scenario, where everyone was just playing a role (that happened to be their own identity)… but at the same time some of the things they’ve said, both on SAMS and the other channels, kind of implies that at least some of the events of the game actually happened in the channels’ canon? Perhaps not at the specific Pizzaplex that Sun, Moon, Lunar, and Chica live in—especially since it seems like they had multiple different Glamrock Freddies and Roxannes having to try out for the part—but the fact that Vanny is still running around in that rabbit suit and, as was revealed on the Roxanne and Gregory show recently, Gregory “just showed up at the Pizzaplex one day and then got adopted” definitely makes me think something went down there.

So another guess for what might have happened with alternate!Moon’s daycare situation is that management or whoever, for some reason, decided he should play the role of “Moon” for their universe’s filming of the game, which is what let him get close enough to Gregory to “rip his arm off,” with that particular incident happening at a point in the story where the other animatronics had been shattered. And that maybe the reason why the Daycare looks as nice as it does despite not actually getting any visitors is because that was just the set they were using for that part of the game.

Ignoring the oddities with the physical daycare, though, if we do assume that their timeline is not concurrent with the SAMS one, then what probably happened is that the conversation about sharing and working together just didn’t happen at all between that Sun and Moon, since that does seem to have been the catalyst for ours getting along better. Even though they both are still terrible at actually talking to each other, that conversation at least let the other know that they didn’t intentionally want to hurt each other—whether physically or emotionally—so they were able to start bonding and getting to enjoy each other’s company… and giving Moon just that little bit of agency he would have needed to start getting more interested in science and begin planning the separation process. But if that conversation didn’t happen in the other timeline, then probably that Sun got even more scared of Moon’s violent tendencies, and tightened the leash more—which would have just made Moon more angry and lash out, in turn probably causing the incident which put the kill code over the limit into the sort of instability that would have made him more willing and able to outright kill Sun in the first place. And it’s the sort of control we know Sun is more than capable of, considering that’s where Eclipse got his tendencies from—and it got to the extent where Lunar was physically lashing out. And Moon would have needed far less prompting.

And I think that just goes to show how both Moon and Sun like to blame themselves for issues beyond their control? Or at least they try to take more than their fair share? Because as this entire situation goes to show, there really wasn’t much either could have done to stop Eclipse—or if not him specifically, then some other Eclipse-like entity—from forming. Sun had tightened Moon’s leash as much as he safely could, but that still didn’t give Moon a lot of leeway for making plans for the separate bodies. And, honestly, given that Sun was helping him suppress his kill-code, to the point where that was likely one of Sun’s main jobs (though why the Creator thought Moon needed a kill code in the first place is beyond me, assuming he put that in of his own volition. Life is pain—sure, whatever, but that doesn’t typically tend to involve murder), it actually does make a lot of sense from a meta perspective for Moon to try and leave that code with Sun. If Sun’s job is to suppress it in the first place, then what better way is there to do that than to have him keep direct hold of it?

And I’m not entirely convinced that’s even the specific code Eclipse formed from, since I’m pretty sure the only person he’s actually killed in SAMS canon is that one guy who did Sun’s interview, since we know July 16th was Bloodmoon’s fault. Like. Sun and Moon might not know that, but we and Eclipse definitely do. In any case—whether Eclipse formed from that code or not, the Creator still heavily implied that something/someone else still would have formed eventually anyways given the nature of how he made the two, and the way they were supposed to work together.

So, really, that isn’t either of their faults. They both agreed to separate, it wasn’t sustainable for their sanity to stay together like they had been, and other people were also involved in the process and should share some of the blame. Mistakes were made, but they were made on all sides.

These brothers need to stop wallowing in self-loathing and actually talk to each other.

Really, what needs to happen is that Lunar needs to act as an intermediary and remind them of that “I was a cancer” statement Moon made right before October, because that is not only a very powerful line of dialogue, it is also a callback to that almost-conversation the two briefly had over trying to see that point in their lives from the others’ perspective. It makes sense why it couldn’t have gotten too far, since they both got took over mere minutes later, but that’s also the starting point they need to work from now, since that’s the core of so many of their issues with each other.

Sun got the benefit of having a friend and partner—someone who he could talk to and who helped him out when he got stressed out—at the cost of being in a lot of physical pain. Moon got to have someone who helped keep him sane at the cost of emotional pain in the form of a lack of agency. And those differing experiences makes it hard at times to be able to understand what the other went through—even now that they’ve each gotten a taste of each perspective via October—and their refusal to talk about it has just made the situation worse. Even if the reason why they don’t talk in the first place is because they are trying to both heal from their own pain in that regard and ensure that their brother doesn’t have to feel any more of it.

…Additionally, it seems like the two of them have different go-to methods in terms of dealing with things. Sun wants to figure out why they happened while Moon is more concerned with ensuring they can’t happen again. Both methods offer their own solutions, and when done in tandem can actually be of great benefit to both investigations… but the issue is that there still needs to be a working balance. And Sun and Moon aren’t doing that.

So, again, Lunar (and probably Monty—and hopefully their other “friends,” though I kind of doubt they’ll bother—even despite Moon having just done a huge favor for Freddy) is going to have to really step it up in terms of getting the two of them to have a frank and honest discussion with each other.

[paint-tastes-ok]

just watched a playthrough of 999, twas entertaining! twist was well done on DS, i liked the characters, but the story... somewhat unsatisfying. obviously the whole game was written for That One Scene so the significance of everything else we learned throughout the story felt diminished by the end...? (terrible rambling and spoilers under the cut)

so... i follow the idea of akane getting revenge on the first nonary game's masterminds, that's standard for this type of story, but that the whole reason for her staging it in the first place is implied to be avoidance of a grandfather paradox...??? like, again, i'm a fan of That One Scene (incinerator in true ending); i think there was good emotion there and the reveal was satisfying as long as u don't think about it beyond that point whatsoever. it's just... assuring that everything stays as it does and the timeline goes according to plan feels like such... weak motivation?

It seems like no one besides Ace and his cronies were at risk of being blown up, so there was no danger from the nonary game itself to the Good Guys. however, it COULD have gone horribly wrong, as illustrated by the other endings, so would akane's decision to save herself really be worth it?* i guess we can assume Ace's pharmaceutical company would continue its shady practices, so it makes sense they'd need to be stopped... i would have liked that to be emphasized then—for the threat of not averting this paradox/killing Ace&friends to outweigh the alternative reality (in which akane stays dead and doesn't put other innocent people in danger). was that discussed and i missed it? also, in the end, Junpei didn't have much agency at all, did he? no risk to him, we're really playing as akane attempting to save herself, she knows junpei is essentially going through the motions, the revenge she gets on Ace&friends is out of junpei's control... Junpei DOES manage to reveal Ace's crime to the rest of the group and Ace is at their mercy... hrm

hrm. *hold on, i just realized that it's canon that this whole game is akane jumping back n forth between timelines to achieve the best ending LMAO. my criticisms don't stand up to that.** adult akane is perfectly fine bc kid akane was fighting for it. everything turned out alright and underwhelming bc the player was fighting for it. plot twist: this was a good game if i keep the 4th wall break in mind and would've been an even better game for me if i 1) played it myself 2) on the nintendo DS. bye have a good afternoon take care and fare well

**jk actually, Snake being abducted THEN LOCKED IN A COFFIN to avoid the threat Ace posed to him was a strange decision. i was gonna complain about the other Cradle Pharmaceuticals guy coincidentally taking the fall for Snake too but ig i can buy Akane seeing that happen in another route and deciding to save him..... SIGH. I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW. this whole game depends heavily on the 4th wall break and i don't like that part about it i guess!!!! i don't know

[maytheoddshq]

Alecta Beckwourth. District One. Score: NINE.

PROLOGUE: INTRODUCTIONS

  “Alecta Beckwourth. District One.”

  I. LAYING PLANS

  War was a grave matter. Severe. Not something to engage in without adequate consideration. One must critically appraise their odds of victory. One must contemplate alternative routes and measures. One must not deviate from these calculations, lest they fail by way of their own negligence. Alecta’s plans were long laid, gone awry only with Cyril’s presence, but she would not lose. She would not die.

  II. WAGING WAR

  Success required winning decisive engagements quickly. Alecta’s greatest challenge, of course. She was not keen on keeping herself in reserve, nor on holding her tongue. What glory was there in limiting competition and conflict? In playing coy and cordial? So she’d challenged the best: coaxed Montgomery onto the mat, acquired the confidence of Rio, earned the attention of Cress. And she’d made clear her superiority over the other tributes – Courtney, and Prairie, and Ripley. What was a game without competition? Perhaps she could have been more palatable, and that was a double-edged sword, wasn’t it? A pleasant woman was rarely a feared one. What recourse would that leave her? To play the innocent? To permit herself to be underestimated? To be the only woman among a Career Pack of men, and to be pitied by them? The thought disgusted her. Repulsed, Alecta stepped to the simulator, picking up the first weapon from the rack within. A sword. She flourishes it, catching her reflection in its polished blade. Gorgeous. Deadly.

  III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

  The source of strength was not in size, but in unity. An alliance of five was not necessarily the largest one to occur within any given arena, but there had not been a Career Pack with such potential – such power and talent – in years. And if it was cohesion that would win the fight, then there was no denying the synchronicity between her and Cyril – and perhaps that also present with Cordelia. Allies, spies…their true identities would be revealed soon. Alecta turned the dial on the simulator. Easy. Standard. Hard. Expert. If there had been something above that, she would have chosen it, but she’d worry about inventing that after achieving victorhood.

  IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

  Maintain footholds. Defend existing positions. Do not give the enemy opportunities. When you see one, strike. Alecta positioned herself so that there was no space for an attack from behind. Instead of raging ahead at the first sight of a foe, which would have led her into a vulnerable state at the center of the simulation chamber, she toed the line, stalking defensively to draw them forward. And good thing, for as it became clear she would not fall for a lure, more holograms appeared from the seams, unfurling from their hiding places. Two. Then three. Then six. Alecta rolled her neck, stretching, releasing the tension on her cervical spine. Patience. Let them come. The first ran, broaching battle, striking the first match. Where Alecta had refused to give up her stronghold, this first hologram now crossed, and she welcomed them to her web, carefully spun. The blade cut through its core like butter, slicing smoothly through code. It ran another step or two before its torso slid from its hips, collapsing into nothing onto the floor.

  V. USE OF ENERGY

  And then, Alecta turned. Her back to the holograms, she surveyed the weapons rack again, placing the sword firmly back into its holder, which was just below eye level. There, in the blade, where she saw herself moments earlier, she was now watching the hoard of holograms taking aim, inching closer. Creativity in timing – the wiser cousin of patience. Alecta feigned distraction, leveraging the reflection to duck as cybertronic throwing stars hurdled toward her back. They ricocheted off the rack, and she reached for a spear, turning fluidly, releasing it, watching it pierce the hologram now that it had disposed of its ammo. It sputtered and vanished. She didn’t bother to watch, as it had rudely interrupted her original task. Alecta lifted an ax from the wall. A little unrefined for her tastes, but sturdy. More than enough to get the job done.

  VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG POINTS

  A later translation of the original Chinese text would change this chapter to Illusion and Reality. Alecta rejected this interpretation. Perhaps it would work for others from One, like Cress, who played games with smoke and mirrors. She was sharper than that, dabbling only in the concrete, remaining fluid through it. The core tenants supported her claim: that despite shifting landscapes of battle, one must move through them or suffer. Accommodate without falling prey. Like now: the four remaining holograms approached, but a fifth had appeared in the rafters, crouched high above. It pounced the same time the others lunged, and Alecta had to forfeit her foothold or face the consequence of rigidity. She inhaled, shifting onto the balls of her feet. Light. Lithe. She dodged the drop of the hologram from above, harnessing the force of inertia, the physics of her moving form and the weapon altering its weight, rotating to swing into its side. Then out, back into another’s head, and then forward once more, into an arm. She pulled it out, swung hard down, into neck, leaving the blade as its new holder – the hologram’s body – slumped to the floor.

  VII. MANEUVERING AN ARMY

  Direct conflict was a risk, though. Most avoid it, finding the consequences outweigh the potential odds of success. But when it is forced upon you, the only choice is to respond (as even retreat – or worse, surrender, were choices too). Alecta went to reach for the next weapon. A trident. But a hologram had taken advantage of the chaos and wormed between her and the weapons rack. She frowned, huffing in annoyance. Hand to hand was supposed to be her finale. But Alecta could adapt. Hadn’t she already? Things change. Like Cyril being here. These things didn’t diminish her talent – they didn’t make her any less good. So Alecta acquiesced, caught between two holograms, watching them close in from either side.

  VIII. VARIATIONS OF TACTICS

  As they lunged for her, she leapt up, pushing up until she could dig her heels into their silhouetted necks. She slid down onto one, on its shoulders, a thigh on either side of its neck and head, grasping its jaw and head as she settled. A quick crack – a snap to the side, just far enough past to break its neck – and the collapse of its form brought her down onto the other. They fell onto the floor, Alecta’s hands coiling around its neck, feeling the electricity reverberate from her palms and up into her core. It had no lungs, no need to breathe, and still, she choked it until it fell limp. The firmness of the hologram dissipated with its death, dissolving almost immediately into nothing, leaving her knelt on the floor. 

  IX. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH

  The three that remained moved like water, free-flowing and smooth. Alecta stood, taking the bow and three arrows from the rack. When she turned to take aim, the holograms were gone. She nocked the arrow, drawing it back on the string, stepping carefully along the perimeter. On the march, an army can face any number of encounters when in enemy territory. One must anticipate and predict intention. Where would your enemy wait? Why hide in the first place? Alecta considered this. Why would they be programmed to have drawn back on her now, and in such unison? She paused, recognizing the trap at hand. The desire to lure her to the center, wherein they could obtain a tactical advantage. The simulator had its holograms working together, cohesive in their attack. 

  X. CLASSIFICATION OF TERRAIN

  So Alecta leveraged the terrain to stay a step ahead. She tucked the arrow back in its holster, slung over her shoulder, before she began to scale up to the beams to the platforms above. But she didn’t stop there. Higher, higher, Alecta inched her way up to the rafters. From there, it was crystalline: the three holograms, glowing from behind beams, hidden, waiting for her to appear beneath. She smirked, re-nocking, drawing an arrow back before releasing, letting it cause deadly harm.

  XI. THE NINE SITUATIONS

  The arrow hit its first target, though not fatally. It did, however, alter the other two to her position. She drew back and up, using shadows to conceal her as they scattered. In this situation, one must respond systematically. Look for the wounded, the confused, the stragglers on the outskirts. Pick off their weak. Then find their stronghold. Alecta drew back another arrow, finishing the job, gifting the injured hologram with a final blow to the eye, freeing her energy to hunt the others down. Time to take the remainder of the terrain. Time to force defeat or claim their surrender. 

  XII. ATTACK BY FIRE

  Alecta slid back down from the rafters to the platforms and onto the mat. Tossing the bow and remaining arrow aside, she took the throwing knives from the rack. Her weapons of choice. Two holograms left. Except when she turned to finish them with one knife each, there were more than two forms. More than ten, even. She sucked in air. The simulator offered no way to leverage the elements or environment, sterile as it was. In the arena, she’d herd them, wrangle them with fire or lure them into deadly currents. Trap them with a mutt or crush them with snow. Here, she had only physical force. 

  “What is this even simulating? All of the outer district tributes unionizing in the arena?”

  XIII. USE OF SPIES

  The next few minutes were a blur of code and steel. The clock was ticking down dangerously low, and Alecta hadn’t factored in for a last-minute surprise. But battles weren’t all won with surefire seizure at the finish line. There were only two throwing knives, but with the hoard closing in, she was able to use them each twice: two plunged into stomach and chest before being thrown farther, landing square between eyes. The detour was going to serve her, one way or another. There were more weapons she wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise, after all. And that was what she wanted, wasn’t it? To show off? To prove that she could use anything? That she could kill with just her own claws if it came to it? A trident, thrown. A mace, brought down brutally, turning a chest concave. Alecta worked her way through the rack, letting the refuse remain where the bodies had disappeared, or disposing of them herself back onto the floor. Eventually, with seconds left, Alecta had her way: her feral finale. She had the last hologram on its back, its face in her hands, forcefully lifting it up from the mat and smashing it back down repetitively. Over and over, until the code of it collapsed and caved, crushed like skull, and at last, as it sputtered and vanished, Alecta was alone. 

  EPILOGUE

  Unscathed, Alecta stepped out of the simulator, drawing her form up proudly before dipping down in a grandiose bow. “Thank you for your consideration.” It was formal. Traditional. She lingered a moment longer, jaw held high. And then she turned, chest puffed as she exited the room. One battle won. One more victory in the art of war. Gorgeous. Deadly. 

[rockerb0y]

          metamorphosis was neither a facile victory to achieve nor an exercise of convenience.

     WHEN  the time came for a decision to be made in the hellish bowels of arasaka, fervid  protest  had brashly contended against the notion of an engramic transfer: a dire gamble which heavily relied on the equivocal stability of the megacorporation's rumored cloning program and the mercenary's cerebral condition after excision. a verbal undertaking had already been pledged at the hotel pistis sophia, a  solemn  promise to voluntarily surrender the body to its rightful owner which was intended to be fulfilled. v was meant to take priority if their continued existence couldn't be mutually assured, each and every time; thus, a string of  imprecations  and astringent objections existed as their own variety of obstacles when v's route deviated to the lower levels' research and development department and forewent her arrival at mikoshi entirely. despite all qualms, however, the transfer proved to be a  serendipitous  success.

     at first, there had been  nothing  and then there had been  everything  all at once. the first breath necessitated a laborious effort, new lungs heaving under the direction of a new consciousness — a breath of life, for the first time in half a century. the cloned body felt so much heavier than his digital form but to take up physical space was a  luxury  no longer taken for granted; every limb and corporeal piece of him had weight to it and further to its benefit, the dysmorphia that he initially been present in his host's female form was noticeably absent. it felt  right  in the ways that mattered — as right as it  could  be in the circumstances.

     in the reflection of the bathroom mirror had he bore witness to a  ghost,  a reimagined memory of a young man who had fatuously volunteered himself to an  unwinnable  war effort. dark blond strands had neither been exhaustively acquainted with dye nor known liberation from routine trims, still virgin and all-natural during the body's extended term in stasis and thereafter. the stubble along his jaw showcased a mere few hours' worth of growth, and the entirety of him was unmarred by conflicts long since buried beneath history's ashes. for all intents and purposes had he been resurrected as a clean canvas, and the foreign sight was equally as  surreal  as it was  felicitous.

     in the end, despite previous attempts to secrete the former, robert linder and johnny silverhand had been  reborn  as an amalgamation.

     ❝  nah, i'm covered for now.  ❞   polished chrome revealed cigarette affixed between digits, expeditiously looted from evelyn parker's cigarette case to  christen  a fresh set of lungs and assert newfound  independence  over the vice. over time would addiction be gradually abated out of a vow of personal betterment but for now, a celebratory smoke was an apt means of festivity after their uproarious escape.   ❝  found it in the usual spot. figured what's mine is yours, and vice versa.  ❞

     out of rare respect for his counterpart was the window cracked open a little, enough to air out the smoke so she didn't feel mandated to  indulge  in his habit; she didn't have to humour him anymore, not if she didn't want to. lighter's flame ignited with a rehearsed click and hovered near the end of the cigarette, waiting for it to take before the top was shut with a snap of his wrist and subsequently returned in the same fluid motion. at their respective heights, it didn't escape his notice how her hand was now  dwarfed  by his own.

          even a passing touch felt electric.

     ❝  think i'll start feelin' more like myself once i get some fresh ink and a shit-ton'a hair dye. not used to looking like a fresh-faced youngblood, is all. thought that kid was dead and gone, rotted away to dust in that hotel room. funny that it's all come full circle again — still  leagues  better than the alternative, though.  ❞   sly rejoinder prodded without intent to maim, smile becoming a little broader in a bid to re-establish some semblance of  normality  between them.    ❝  you made the right call back there. a gonk-ass gamble, no two ways 'bout it, but fuck if it didn't actually pay off. you did good, v.  really.  ❞ 

     eye contact was broken to temporarily relieve her of his scrutiny, still unaccustomed to the  novelty  of seeing her at all angles without the aid of glass. from v's countenance to her idle mannerisms, every aspect of her contributed to a  resurgence  of interest which had to be mindfully moderated. the world was finally his to freely observe, to experience, and to engage with. there was simply no knowing whether the privilege would ever lose its luster and be reduced to mundanity but it ultimately didn't matter: v would always have his undying  gratitude  for the second chance.

     ❝  how's it been for you ?  figure it must be nice to have all that free space in your noggin. weird,  maybe, but nice.  ❞

@rockerb0y

shutting the door to the outside in her apartment felt almost deafening - crashing the reality of what they had managed to achieve finally falling down around her. and the exhaustion that seemed to be a permanent part of her being that clung to her bones made it hard for her to discern how she felt about it. relief - possibly. there was a sense of relief there, from the satisfaction of something finally going in her favor - of finally finding a victory in the sea of ruins that her life had become after the relic. relief, yes, that the ticking timer above her head wasn't quite as short. it was still there, but she bought herself years instead of possible just precious weeks. and - alone in her mind again, in her body, she didn't allow herself to think of the implications of walking that road alone now that her other occupant was no longer unwillingly chained to her side. he had his freedom - that was what they had both wanted, right? after johnny no longer looked like the monster under her bed with fangs and claws - after their connection slowly humanized him and she saw a man underneath. not a legend. not a monster -- johnny. she wanted him to have his second chance, and because of that she couldn't be upset if the relic became her issue alone. right? he had no duty to her, and she knew that. she would think about that later - she didn't have the energy to do so in the present moment. as the sounds of the shower pelting against the stall walls filled the small apartment, val busied herself with getting comfortable. stripping off her jacket and laying it over a chair near the door - removing her boots and tucking them to the side. she wanted to sit, and relax -- her body needed it. but her mind was restless. her mind was empty again, and it felt hollow. strange. like a part of her had been ripped out and she hadn't been prepared for the empty feeling that it would leave behind. like prying out out a tooth, or a bone. her and johnny were no longer impossibly entwined by code - once he was showered and whole, she found him sitting on the couch - and she couldn't help letting her eyes linger on him. she wasn't ogling - that wasn't it. sure, johnny was a conveniently attractive man - anyone with eyes knew that. hell, he probably knew that. no, that wasn't it. it was the startling appearance of the blank slate of his skin - lacking the scars and ink that she was so accustomed to decorating his skin in her head. he looked different, in more ways than one. he looked real, like his body actually took up space. like he wasn't about to flicker and glitch out of existence; like his lines held structure. the couch under him bowed under his solid weight, and she couldn't keep her eyes off him for the moment - her eyes lingering on his facial features; even his hair was different. his scruff, short and barely existent and lacking the patches of scar tissue along his jaw. but his eyes -- his eyes were the same. her expression was unreadable as she eventually crossed the room, sitting on the edge of the coffee table near him. because her own mind, picking apart whatever she had going on there, wasn't important at the moment. she could only imagine what was going on in his - what he was feeling. she takes a breath and speaks, looking up at him again to try and meet his eyes. "how do you feel? do you need anything?" her pantry lacked anything of luxury, but she at least could keep him from going hungry.

[genshin-impact-fics]

Streamer!Genshin Reacting to Character!(Y/N) Dying in Game

!Warning!: Major character deaths & angst

Characters: Diluc, Venti, Childe, & Zhongli

Diluc:

It was a race to get inside one of the bases of the Abyss Order to put a stop to whatever plans they were in the process of executing that could potentially put many lives in danger. Diluc was rather calm while playing though it would be a lie to say that it wasn’t a bit annoying that the route to the domain was timed

It was once inside the domain did things pick up fast as it seemed to be a fighting wave system which after beating the first two rooms there was a short scene where in the end Lisa and Amber stayed behind to hold off the incoming enemies so the rest of the group could go further. It seemed like forever doing some of the puzzles to unlock the doors to reach the next fight

In that fourth room after the defeat of hilichurls and abyss mages did suddenly a short cut scene appear to show the appearance of an Abyss Lector. As remembering how much he hated fighting this guy in the spiral abyss he already knew what he was in for; however that was until your character stepped forward with your weapon ready. Diluc was actually sad to have to leave you behind as he was hoping that you’d be one of the characters that went with him to the very end

“I think I’ve watched enough shows and movies to know what this could be leading up to.” He’d comment to his viewers as he finally reached the destination where the Abyss Herald was. Finishing the fight triggered another cutscene as the traveler’s sibling appeared and was making their small speech, asking if the lives of the “friends” the traveler made were worth losing

Diluc is watching with a straight face as he kinda expected this but the who was what he wasn’t sure about and truthfully the only one he’d be truly heartbroken about is your death, but they wouldn’t kill you now of all times right? Wrong; soon the cutscene finally came across where they had left you and you were leaning against the wall extremely injured with your weapon laying beside you. Diluc is frowning cuz he has to watch you die now

Listening to your final words as you spoke to no one Diluc would sulk in his chair a little. In the last moment before your eyes closed, if you mentioned something about not getting to tell his character your true feelings it is visible that Diluc looks like he wants to cry(but he doesn't). Once the screen showed the mission complete he’d grab the plush he had of your character and hold it looking at his camera. “Of all the characters I thought were going to die, I wasn’t ready for it to be (y/n).” At that point he’d probably call it a day from there but he’d still talk to his viewers as he probably would watch the tribute videos that fans had already made

Venti:

Everything was in chaos as it looked like archon war 2 was going to be taking place, but this time it was a war between the Abyss Order and the Archons. He was heading to Mondstadt to help and to check on you. Dvalin was flying around sending attacks at the abyss members. “Ah traveler there you are!” The sound of your voice as you landed before him; as weird as it was to see you in your archon robes was odd but you looked so good! After a short conversation you had gone flying off and it was time to get back to fighting

Things were looking good as it seemed like they were winning against the abyss order though it wasn’t over yet. It was until up in the air did a cutscene starting showing you and the traveler’s sibling fighting going at it. Venti is so captivated by how serious and cool you look fighting, but it all changed when the sibling landed a blow that caused you to fall from the sky ending up falling into the Whispering Woods

Venti couldn’t run fast enough to get to the woods to check up on you but when he did the first thing he saw was the sibling standing before you. He’s already sad and yelling at the sibling for hurting you though it seemed that now he was there the sibling went and disappeared revealing the real condition you were in. “No, no, no! This better not mean (y/n)’s dying.” He’d say in denial as he’s already starting to cry a little

“A-Ah Windblume h-haha… Sorry you have to see me like this.” Even in a moment like this you gave him such a cheesy grin until you seemed to grimace in pain. “Unfortunately it seems like… This is it for me. As long as the winds blow I will always be with you, so please watch over Mondstadt for me.” Your words were making Venti cry as it was like back in your story quest but only ten times worse. And to think it was already painful as it was your next words that did him in. “Maybe in another life we will find each other again and maybe then we can be together.”

Watching you start to glow until you turned into partials of light till nothing of you was left, Venti is devastated. The chat is crying with him as he’s saying how awful it was that his sibling had killed the love of his life! His viewers are going to send him fanart and fics to look at that was an alternative that you lived in the game

Childe:

It was a big fight with the confrontation of the Fatui Harbingers, facing off against one of the other stronger members that blocked the path to proceed to seeing the Tsaritsa. The boss’ first stage was fine; however during the second stage it seemed after losing a certain amount of health the damage that Childe was dealing significantly decreased.

It was when the cutscene started that Childe was already dreading the foul legacy form he’d be facing this time. You suddenly came out of nowhere and already in your foul legacy form yourself Childe is going crazy over how cool you look; he’s also swooning at the fact that you’ve come to his rescue. The fighting progressed until you landed a successful hit that weakened the other harbinger; however, at that same time the other harbinger managed to hit you with a powerful attack

Childe is screaming at the sight of your mask breaking while you fell to the ground. He’s so glad that his character is running over to check on you instead of the fight picking right up, but he’s already feeling the feels hit him hard cuz he hates seeing you hurt. Seeing you back to normal, the damage you sustained was really bad; then the worst thought came to his mind. “This-This better not be what I think it is,” he’s saying not looking away from the screen listening to you weakly talk

“Haha don’t give me that look sweetie, I couldn’t just let this be where your journey ends.” Hearing those words and the nickname you used for his character was sad. “To think we’d be able to travel together more, but hey… Promise you won’t stop fighting and could you look after my siblings for me.” Childe is literally crying now that the reality of the situation is clear. If he gets a choice of dialog to choose from he is going to pick the choice that says that he pinky promises

If your character smiled at the choice he wanted to smile but he’s also just sad, you were dying in his character's arms. If you had given a small love confession in the little bit of life that was in you, he’s going to ugly sob and once the fight was starting again he needs to pause by going into his bag

Immediately he goes getting his big plush of you and coming back to hug it and cleaning his tears with his sleeve before looking at the camera. “I wasn’t ready for this, my baby!” He was not expecting to be losing you; he figured that some characters would possibly die but you were the last character he thought would be killed off in the game. There’s Fs in the chat all around and the crying emote; it’s sad boi hours in this chili’s. He doesn't wanna do the fight but also he gotta avenge you so this last stage fight was for you. Afterwards he’s gonna go look at fanart and video edits

Zhongli:

After helping some of the other nations and their archon’s fend off the abyss order it was time he headed to Liyue to find you. Of course as usual it wasn’t going to be as easy as running around the harbor until he got word from Xiao that you were in Cuijue Slope. So he headed over to help you before anything seriously bad could happen to you

Getting to the open area there you were fighting against the sibling as you were even in your archon robes. Going in and interrupting the fight his sibling clearly looked annoyed and proceeded to try to get him to side with them which of course he didn’t. A Herald appeared to allow the sibling to get away which the fight with the Herald commenced

Just when Zhongli finished up the fight thinking he had won it strangely went to a cutscene as his character and you started to talk; however it was when the fallen Herald came out of nowhere about to attack his character but must to his surprise you shielded him not only taking the hit, but also using your elemental burst to finish off the enemy. Zhongli is frowning at how badly you were hurt as he already has a bad feeling this wasn’t going to end good; the traveler was helping you sit up after having fallen over

“I’m glad to see that you aren’t hurt my friend.” You said as you certainly have seen better days. “Sadly I believe my time has come… Do not be sad dear friend, I have lived many many years… As knowing you has been life changing. Though rocks change from erosion, know that no time will change how I felt about you.” Your words broke his heart as you had such a soft expression on your face as your body began to glow and before he knew it you turned into particles of light and disappeared. He probably wouldn’t cry at most maybe a tear but he is clearly upset about your passing in game and would take a break to talk to his viewers and maybe look at the fanart that surprisingly had been put out already

[demonboyhalo]

The Technoblade Conspiracy

Even before Dream claimed there was a traitor in Pogtopia, there's been a lot of...suspicious activities happening in Techno’s streams. Others on the SMP are already distrustful of him, and the fans are as well, but I believe that we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. This thread isn’t quite a traitor theory, but rather a dive into what Techno has been hiding at large. I can say with utter confidence that the extent of what Technoblade has accomplished on the Dream SMP is being greatly underestimated.

I recommend looking at the sus Techno moments thread by @piggytechnobarb on Twitter for some of the stream clips I'll be discussing.

This is going to be fairly in depth, so the rest is under the cut!

1. There is another room under what Techno calls his "secret base"

I won't talk too much on how strange his choice of "secret base" is for now, but please do keep in mind how out of character it is for man-who-tracked-down-Squid's-college to settle for a home base so unprotected and close to Pogtopia's very well known location.

So, for some reason, there is Polished Blackstone Brick under the floor of Techno’s wall. He accidentally reveals this when a donation asks him to mine the exposed redstone in his wall, acts a bit strange for a good 15 seconds, and then never mentions it again. Sight of the brick prompts him to silently zoom in, fill the hole with stone (not cobble), and say "Don't ask questions".

This is only so strange because there's no real reason for him to have stone at the ready, or any blackstone brick at all. Techno is NOT a builder, and if a creeper blew up down there, he'd fill it with cobble and not give a shit about aesthetics. He doesn't use smooth stone in his base, and has never built with blackstone on stream. Not only are they unusual items for him to have, it's unusual for him to make a point to not have the viewers question it. Yes, it could just be Techno being dramatic, but why did he go silent for a straight 5 seconds at the sight of the blackstone?

Considering who he is as a player, it is completely in character for Techno to build a second base. The lake he lives under is incredibly near Wilbur and Tommy, and he's well aware that all an enemy has to do is watch his stream to infiltrate his base. Techno goes to the extremes when they aren't even required (Ex. His insane skill in party games, beating Skeppy in as niche of a game as Grinch Simulator, etc.) So I don't think it's a stretch for him to go the extra mile, and hide a bunker/resources/extra armour and what have you from even his own viewers.

2. The overpowered illegal villager farm

For those of you who don't watch Ponk, he recently stumbled across an area that is supposedly banned on the Dream SMP - a villager farm. In the clip, his voice is astonished and his confusion is palpable, and he goes so far as to say "It's a full scale arms race" because of how many good trades there are. The location is laced with traps, though he doesn't mention what exactly he had to get past to find the farm. Ponk's reaction is far too genuine for the farm to be his, but then that begs the question, whose farm is it?

...Who is willing to risk Dream's wrath by breaking his rules? Or, alternatively, who is capable of making a secret pact with the server owner to allow such a farm? The answer could only be Technoblade.

Ponk says it himself in the video, he does not have the time to build this. Whoever made this had to have carved out a hidden cavern, lead at least 14 villagers down there, breed them until only the ones with the best trades were left - all off stream, and without another player catching them. Whoever made this had to spend hours of work with no content to show for it, and who do we know has been grinding for DAYS on the server? Technoblade. Not to mention, all the villagers are numbered, and all but one are fletchers.

The signs above each stall are so important, because going so far back as SMP Earth, Techno has a history of dispassionately breeding mobs to his benefit, and then killing any mob not performing well enough. For example, his horse farm: where the horses stay in numbered rooms rather than all being named. The villagers in the screenshot above are numbered rather than named.

Wanna hear a fun fact about Fletchers? They're well known for accepting sticks for emeralds, but will also take string for that trade as well! And guess who has been seen waiting at the spider spawner collecting string by Sapnap, Awesamdude, Quackity, and multiple other players? Technoblade.

Technoblade also has every reason to be breeding villagers for special arrows and crossbows, because he's said on stream that he wants to try spamming multi-shot crossbows in combat to take out huge groups of enemies. He said at a later point that he had run into trouble with getting multiple crossbows with the enchantment multi-shot, and implied it wasn't going to happen. But has he ever been the kind of person to be stopped by something being challenging? Absolutely not.

Think of literally anything Techno has done - his Bedwars win streak, beating MC with a steering wheel, the Potato Wars - what I believe is really happening, is that Techno is lying about how equipped he is so that no matter what side he ends up fighting for, his enemies will have no true way of knowing how powerful he is.

3. Dream might be his secret ally (AKA The Glowstone Incident)

This brings us to a...confusing moment in Techno's stream that sparked a lot of questions. It pointed me towards 2 different, but not necessarily exclusive, theories.

The Glowstone Incident precedes as follows: Techno needs glowstone but can't find any in his chests, so he puts on his BRB screen. He says that he is "hacking" and asking Dream to use game mode to give him the glowstone. Typing can be heard, and then multiple chests are opened. Techno takes off the BRB screen and he now has three stacks of glowstone dust. This was absolutely bewildering to watch live, and was one of the most blatantly suspicious things he has done in front of his viewers. (You can find the exact clip on the thread I mentioned, it is...so weird)

Theory A: Though unlikely, Techno could be Dream's secret ally, and Dream really did use creative to give him the stacks. Or, he potentially gave Techno OP permissions so that he could get the glow stone (and any other materials he’d want) himself.

We all remember their meet up on that ocean hill, where Dream gives Techno golden apples, diamonds, and other such materials for the battle against Schlatt. It seemed to be a one-off gift that was more for Wilbur's benefit than Techno's, but there's potentially the chance that Dream saw an alliance to Techno to be more beneficial than working only with Wilbur, and contacted him off screen to make deals.

Going back to the Village Farm - for a player to get the exact enchantment they want for a reasonable price, breeding them is the most logical option. It's the route Techno would take regardless of Dream's rules on the SMP too, as he tends to show little regard for what the creators want (Ex. Taking over SMP Earth, exploiting Hypixel Skyblock, etc.) However, it could also be possible that Dream gave Techno permission to do this, and so the reason Techno is keeping the farm secret is so that the viewers don't know of their alliance.

Theory B: Techno has hidden resources in his base that he doesn't want anyone to have even the chance to see. Whether it is to hide from enemies watching (or to hide from Dream in particular because Techno knows he's breaking the server's rules) there are secret chests that Techno has with extra resources that can be heard loud and clear in the video.

They could be simple ones hidden in the walls...or in the blackstone brick base hidden under his floors. Saying he’s “hacking” rather than the reality of him just checking all his chests again is on par for Techno’s usual dramatics - yet we can clearly see that there’s no glowstone in any of his chests. This is why I believe he got the glowstone from some unseen resource. With the BRB screen on, Techno prevents his viewers from actually seeing how he got the 3 stacks of powder, and it keeps the location of his hidden materials safe.

Personally, I feel theory B is more likely, but there have been moments where Dream has acted Sus so...be on the lookout y'all.

4. Techno not participating in MCC

For those of you who watched Techno during the Potato War, many will remember that MCC 6 had a stressful undertone. Because of how much effort and time Techno had been putting into farming on Skyblock, taking a break to compete in another event was distracting. It ultimately led to him losing time that, from his perspective, would have been better off spent farming.

Techno might not be as blatantly grinding on the Dream SMP as he did with the Potato War, but it's undeniable that other streamers have seen him online for stretches of 10 hours and more. When asked about why he wasn't participating in the next MCC, Techno didn't say he was taking a break - something that'd be entirely reasonable and honestly well earned - he said "I don't want to."

It could be awkward phrasing by virtue of Techno's personality, but what I think is more likely is that Techno has learned from his past mistakes. Rather than "waste" time competing in MCC, Techno might be planning to use the time everyone on the SMP is gone to his advantage. He could sneak into enemy territory, set traps in certain areas, or maybe even perform some illegal acts that Dream would never allow. Either way, I suspect Techno has something planned for the 14th.

Honorable Mentions:

Dream poking fun, or blatantly covering for Techno?

This clip of Techno's secret Something??? next to the spider spawner, undeniably suspicious

Techno had around 5 stacks of wool in his inventory at one point - he absolutely could be bed mining the nether not only so that he has multiple sets of OP netherite, but possibly because he's preparing the gear for another person (cough cough Philza) or people

Techno's collection of ghast tears. He's studied Crystal PvP and made plenty of 2b2t references in the past (Look up FitMC for more info on those things) So it could be possible that Techno is hiding stacks of end crystals so that he can decimate multiple players in an instant

All in all, I'm 100% convinced that Techno has some serious plans hidden behind the scenes that he's not going to share until it's time for him to unleash utter chaos. We know he's keeping secrets, we know he's had the time, and we know he's capable.

I hope you all enjoyed my research and feel terrified of what Techno could possibly have done off camera :D

If anyone else has different theories, corrections to what I wrote, or other moments where Pink was Sus, feel free to comment!

[kindestegg]

Deltarune Theory: Ralsei is a guide for the script

It feels crazy that Deltarune Chapter 2 has only been out for like, what, two weeks? As of the time I’m writing this, and yet, there has already been so much secret hunting and speculation over this. Not even the full game, and people already go crazy over it. Naturally, I am part of this craze. In fact I was one of the people that played it as soon as it dropped.

And, I thought it was only me, but, at least for a little while, Ralsei’s behavior struck me as… odd. Not outwardly malicious, but just… odd. Particularly the first bit of the game, it was just so… happy and convenient? And Ralsei was at the center of it all, orchestrating it, making sure everything happened accordingly.

Eventually, that initial feeling of distrust went away, but… not quite. And it seems a lot of people began to feel the same way, pointing out bits about Ralsei that are just… out of place. Things that didn’t seem to stand out in the first chapter, are now popping out about him.

Questions include:

How does he know about what’s outside the Dark World, about the school?

How does he know about the game mechanics and call them out by names?

Why is he so interested in keeping the balance between only Kris acting and him and Susie doing magic?

Why does he seem so eager to dismiss what happened with Spamton NEO?

Why doesn’t he turn into stone or even get weak at any point during the time he spends in Cyber World?

Are the parts of his name and design connecting to the Dreemurr’s intentional, and if so, what does that mean for his relation to Kris?

How and why does he take player control away to look at what Susie is doing? Why must he wait until Kris is willing to do it? What does he tell them when he succeeds in this?

Now, I don’t intend to pose here “a supreme theory to rule them all”, I’m just a guy having fun and I’ve seen people voice particularly similar ideas to this one I’ve had, so I want to at least try to answer these questions through a relatively simple idea that would, almost entirely, immediately answer ALMOST all the doubts.

First, let’s start with some steps to build up this idea. For one, we know for a fact that Ralsei holds knowledge over game mechanics and may even break the fourth wall at times.

But we also know that Ralsei’s design resembles a lot of characters from Undertale we know and were fond of. For one, he can be likened to Toriel in the sense that he is the one to give you the first tutorial of the game and his clothes resemble her original outfit as well. Another connection, much more common, that people have made is that he is like Asriel, no doubt due to his name being an anagram, but also due to the fact he is also a cute young goat.

I would like to do a complete turn around here though, and say I do not think any of this points to Ralsei being related to Kris in the familial sense, for more than one reason, but my main one being that I don’t think Toby would be as frankly disgusting as to imply such a thing when there is so so much teasing in the direction of Ralsei possibly having a crush on Kris. I mean… really, Toby?

You know, I’m not too sure this would be the smartest idea, Mr. Fox, but alright.

However, I do think all these hints in his design and name have a purpose. And it has to do with how us, the fandom, see these two characters. For one, they are very beloved characters, and Toriel is one that we associate with her tutorials and guidance, whereas Asriel is one that people have yearned to see more in action. They are back, in a sense, but not present in our adventures so far.

What I’m getting at is that Ralsei is specifically designed to be the darling of the fandom. He is made to be loved, to be trusted, to cause feelings in us that make us want to protect him and accept his advice. This, in a way, also affects the in-universe characters who see him, as Susie put it: “as a big portable teddy bear”, whose job is “giving hugs”.

And I don’t just mean this in a character design way, like “oh wow Toby was so smart to make a perfectly marketable boy!” No. I think Ralsei exists as a meta element, his form being a direct manifestation of what we want to see.

He looks like that because he wants us to see him and lower our guard and expect his guidance. Remember how his form was shadowy and vague throughout all of chapter 1 until the very end of it and how he poofs into nothing but a pile of clothes in both chapters so far, no matter what form he’s in? What if he’s a shapeshifter? What if Ralsei isn’t even his real name? That certainly would explain why he says he doesn’t know what being Ralsei-like is like.

Ralsei? Ralsei? Oh God he’s gone.

Now, do I think he’s lowering our guard in the sense of leaving us vulnerable for an attack? Not exactly. I think it's so we learn to accept him…

Accept that he is a GUIDE for the game’s script. His entire existence hinges on guiding the main characters, specially Kris, throughout the story, and making sure the whole story, all seven chapters, play out exactly as planned.

You see, Ralsei isn’t evil. His goal is pretty simple, actually: guide us, the player, throughout the game, making us feel as safe and happy and secure. In that sense, of course he pushes so hard towards the pacifist route. After all, that’s the one that’s closer to a completionist route, as the sparing + recruiting mechanic adds more characters to your town, and therefore more content. He wants you to see all this content and get the most enjoyment out of it. His code urges him to bring you the best experience possible.

This would also answer why he does that thing with taking our control away from Kris and to watch Susie’s shenanigans. Because it’s satisfying to us. Notice how stressed out and pushy he gets in the alternate route when Susie comes out of Noelle’s room without being able to let us see what happened. He knows he messed up, something went wrong. He was supposed to let us see, so that we wouldn’t be bored, because God forbid the players be bored.

Just imagine this going through his head.

He also seems to genuinely care about Kris and Susie, and with good reason, as he knows these are the protagonists, and he is supposed to care for their well being too and ensure they reach their goal. I do think, however, there is a good amount of being genuine in his care, as he has no reason to react so boldly sometimes to either of them, showing outrage or affection in pretty telling ways. He isn’t heartless despite carrying out this job.

However it is also worth noting, for all his care, he cannot do the one thing that Kris would desire the most: free them from our grasp. And that is his ultimate failure towards them, and may end up creating conflict later on in the game.

From, here, there are two possible pathways:

Ralsei does not know about the dilemma Kris is going through, and believes Kris is entirely oblivious and passive towards being in a video game. He may even end up being the final boss to fight, as he desperately tries to keep everything on rails while Kris very much does not care for any of that.

Ralsei is entirely aware of what’s going on with Kris, after all, everything in a game’s design is planned, even the cutscenes, therefore even Kris’ struggles. Ralsei knows of the fate that lies ahead, that Kris will eventually be free, how it all ends. But to get there… is still a road ahead.

I think Ralsei’s affection towards Kris will definitely be explored in the later chapters. Not just because of the teasing we’ve been getting, but, if Ralsei really is a guide of the game’s code and script, what would that mean for him to get so attached towards the character the player is controlling?

Ralsei will have to make a choice. He will either recognize Kris is suffering and cannot wait any longer, or be faced with possibly having to fight them himself. This is why those two pathways matter as well. If he doesn’t know, his choice will come later and it will be an unpleasant surprise for him to find out the game universe is breaking apart around him with the self awareness of certain characters. If he does know, however, his choice is NOW, and waiting for the inevitable will be torture.

Just how long until he breaks? Or will he keep the facade until the very last chapter?

Like I said, I don’t intend this theory to be the biggest, most revealing and coherent theory. But… It could add a very interesting layer to Ralsei’s character, as well as answer many questions posed beforehand. He knows the school layout and game controls because he is part of the code. He can get to the other Dark World’s easily and remain unharmed because the game demands him to be. He looks like this so that we love him. He wants to give us the most fulfilling Castle Town so that we will love the game. He doesn’t protest even when Kris does things like try to give him the thorn ring, because to him, everything will be okay anyway. Everything he is, is for us. He isn’t evil or malicious per se, he just opposes Kris’ biggest need.

But he may have gotten himself attached. And that may be a clue to sparing him if he does become a final boss.

But! Tell me what you thought of this theory! Do you think it’s way too weird and farfetched, or do you think it’s possible that it could happen? Or maybe you agree with some stuff but not with other stuff? Go ahead and tell me!

[dreamwreaver]

Given that chat blanc is shown to be an alternate and ultimately doomed timeline I'm a bit more willing to give leeway on it, at least on its own. Because at the time it was the only indication Gabriel would do something like this to his son. Also to be fair; chat blanc takes a lot of logical leaps to get to that point. Adrien only starts dating Marinette because he saw ladybug leaving his room with a present signed by Marinette? How does he know that's ladybug and not that she asked ladybug to deliver it when his father refused to open the gates?

Even gorizilla had Gabriel noticing his son was never around during the same time as chat noir, his hesitation in frightningale to play him in a music video, and the twisting of a ring he never gave to his son. So it proves the writers could do it right, they would just rather cut to the action so they make the characters know what the writers need them to know to get the plot there. In miracle queen? Sure he's an asshole who puts arguably his son in danger by risk of using Chloe's wasps to potentially reveal his identity. I don't know, chat blanc is just such a weird episode to me, but then that's what I suspect happens when you mine the fandom for your plot points. (Which reminds me, in miracle queen if all those people got stung, why was alix's indentity as bunnix not revealed then?)

Maybe if chat blanc had aired in season 4 I would agree with you more since that was the start of gabriel losing any redeeming qualities as a father and a character. As it stands, the man is an idiot, and given that the entire plot would have been resolved by him dating his assistant (a sentiment zag seems to share since they put out that hawkyura statue even though mayura and hawkmoth's designs haven't been used in like... 2+ years) the point is ultimately moot on my end. I just wish they'd gone the tropey route that fits the them "power of love always so strong" instead of trying to out shyamalan m night.

I actually thought that Adrien and Gabriel's relationship seemed like it might have been possible to salvage in the early seasons. What do you think?

@tallwriter Starting a new post since this one was getting super long as this is a different topic.

The problem with Gabriel Agreste's character is that they very clearly wanted to write a sympathetic villain - you can tell that from how the show handles his death - but sympathetic villains don't work if you make them cartoonishly evil. You have to handle the situation with nuance and delicacy, especially when one of the main heroes is the villain's son.

Gorizilla is not a perfect episode by any means, but it does showcase how Gabriel should have been written if they wanted him to come across as complex and sympathetic. In that episode, Gabe thinks that Adrien is Chat Noir and, because there's no way to magically force Adrien to reveal himself or confess his secrets, Gabriel has to come up with a situation where Adrien would be forced to transform of his own free will (since that can't be overwritten with a ring or something crazy like that). Which is how we get Adrien hurtling to his death while his father looks on:

Adrien: Always! (jumps out of Gorizilla's hand, and over the side of the building) Yeah-ha! Hawk Moth:(from his lair) No! ... Hawk Moth:(from his lair) If indeed you are Cat Noir, then transform, son. Please. (Adrien continues to fall downward, resolutely remaining as he is) Come on, son! (Ladybug looks down at Adrien, then raises her head, eyes closed.) Ladybug: Cat Noir, help!! Hawk Moth:(from his lair, to Gorizilla) Drop Ladybug!

This is good writing. Yes, Gabe's plan was kind of dumb (you live with Adrien, dude, just bug his room), but if we accept that this was the only way to go about a forced reveal - and that does seem to be the writer's logic - then we see a situation where Gabriel put his son above winning. A situation where he's still very much the villain, but he's not a dastardly, cold-hearted one. He does love his son.

There are actually several of these moments in the first three seasons. Some involve Adrien and many more involve Nathalie. It's why season five's claim that Gabe put beating Ladybug above everything else rings hollow. He never actually did that outside of Evolution (S5E1). He's almost always been loved-ones first when it really counts, a thing that Ladybug uses against him in the final when she tries to crush Emilie. The whole "Ladybug obsession" thing truly feels like something they just made up for that one episode to justify Nathalie "turning sides" aka doing nothing useful beyond maintaining the status quo (hey, they needed someone to keep the senti plot from having consequences and it wasn't like she was doing anything useful anyway!)

The problem is that this "loved ones first" mentality is only used for big dramatic moments, often as a way to keep Gabriel from winning. It's not Gabriel's main characterization even though it needed to be if you want season five's ending to feel even remotely earned. Going into that ending, we should have all thought that Gabe was a messed up dude who truly did love his son. And, if Gorizilla, Style Queen, and Ladybug had all been examples of his standard characterization, then we would have thought that.

But that's not who the writers told us Gabe was.

Instead, his standard characterization paints him as petty, controlling, and manipulative. Which is wild because there was no reason to do that! Gabe could - and should - have been played as stern and removed, but generally loving when he's outside of the mask. In other words, Gabriel Agreste could be well liked while Hawk Moth was hated.

The crazy thing is that this is such a simple change to make. You either removed the episodes where Gabe's awful parenting is the source of the conflict (ex: Bubbler) or you just make a few minor changes to show that he's conflicted about his actions.

For example, take Chat Blanc, the episode that ruined so many elements of this show! In that episode, Gabe is a total bastard. He happily sacrifices his son's happiness to make an akuma in the form of Marinette and then, when Adrien's secret is revealed, does Gabe have any sort of conflict about traumatizing his son? The kind of conflict we'd expect after episodes like Gorizilla? Nope! He straight up delights in showing Adrien Emilie's... corpse? Comatose form? Whatever! Gabe then akumatizes Adrien with a smile on his face.

That gets the writers a solid F for consistent characterization. It's why I highlighted "almost" in red when I mentioned Gabe's motivation. Because in Ephemeral and Chat Blanc, the writing ignores the sympathetic stuff that characterizes the dramatic moments and goes straight for the worst-father-of-the-year, love-to-hate-him, please-let-him-die-now characterization that we get in most episodes.

If you were writing Chat Blanc's Gabriel to fit his intended complex, sympathetic mold, then you would probably drop the breakup plot or you'd have spent all season setting Marinette up as the perfect akuma target, changing the breakup into something that Gabriel felt that he HAD to do instead of opportunistic evilness. You'd also have Gabe drop a line like, "I'm sorry, Adrien. You'll thank me later" before the Chat Blanc akumatization. Or at least don't have him grinning! Do something, ANYTHING to show that Gabe sees using his son like this as a necessary evil and not a fun time! You know, like how he was begging Adrien to transform during Gorizilla? Almost like Gabe had stopped caring about winning and started just wanting his son to live.

Would these changes make Gabe less of a fun cartoon villain? Yes, but that's the point. Cartoon villains are cartoony. They're over the top. They have no nuance. Sympathetic villains don't work with those characteristics.

The normal way to get around this in a cartoon setting is to have secondary antagonists who can be played as cartoonishly evil. And, confusingly, Miraculous has those characters. Chloe, Sabrina, and Lila have been here since season one (Kim could also have stayed a bully and been added to that list, but he's not a teenage girl, so I get why they didn't do that /s.) Felix has been around since seasons three. Nathalie has been an active villain since season two. Any or all of these characters could be the cartoonish, nuance-less villain while Gabriel stays sympathetic.

Instead, they play Gabe however they want to play him in any given episode, making it so that he's impossible to understand from an audience perspective. I personally like the sympathetic take and think that those are the show's best episodes because I like complex villains. It's even how I write Gabe in my stuff because I go for less cartoony takes on canon.

I don't think a redemption was needed, but a sympathetic villain doesn't require one. All that term means is that you can understand the villain and be sympathetic to their plight. Redemption is optional. In fact, the goal is often not redemption, but an understand that, "there but for the grace of the gods go I." I mean, we've all lost loved ones. Wouldn't the power to bring a loved one back tempt you, too?

If they wanted to go for evil, cartoony Gabe, then they needed to drop all of the complexity and go for a Disney villain type character who gets a Disney villain death a la Scar or Mother Gothel. Don't give Gabe the wish. Let him fall to his own hubris by falling into the water of his secret layer and lading as a puddle of ash while a sad Ladybug looks on, having just failed to save him.

If you want to see an excellent look at how cartoon Gabe could have worked, then I highly recommend @zoe-oneesama's Scarlet Lady comic, which is just nearing its end after a multi-year run. I think it's fair to say that Zoe and I largely agree on canon's flaws, she just fixes them by leaning into the cartoon side of things, creating a hilarious story with lots of heart. Canon could have absolutely gone that way too and worked out wonderfully! The issue is not a lack of nuance, it's that they tried to add nuance without ever fully committing to it, making a story that is the worst of both worlds. While a more serious nuanced reboot would be my ideal dream, a reboot that scraps all of Gabe's nuance and just makes him go full evil would be just as satisfying and Zoe proves that.

[non-operator]

I really do wonder what Astra knows, and if that's an effect of her radiant powers or something she knows through her connection to the astral guardians.

Even before the dossiers, she has an interaction with Cypher that ends with "I know who you are, man!" I'm just really curious to how she knew that. Is it because her hometown of Accra, Ghana is relatively close to Cypher's in Morocco, and she might've known about Cypher and his work before the Protocol? Even so, how would she know? Does this mean she used to be familiar with underground work before she became an astral guardian/Valorant agent? In what way--committing them, preventing them? She doesn't seem to have a criminal record--Viper didn't offer her the same deal as Breach and Raze, and Fade doesn't even mention that in Astra's dossier at all; though, this could just mean that Astra isn't afraid of having or revealing a criminal background, but she also doesn't mention that sort of thing anywhere in her voice lines. Considering all the agents reference/drop hints about their past in their voice lines, I don't think that's a route Riot will take with Astra's background.

Secondly, she clearly has something against Reyna. Astra refers to her as "Reyna creature" or "that creature"; I'm not actually sure what "yawa girl" means, but considering it's in a line where Astra tells Reyna to "stay in [her] lane", I don't think it has a very nice meaning. Her distaste with Reyna could do something with how Reyna feeds on enemy souls, maybe her cosmic powers lets her sense something off about Reyna? But Astra is also surrounded by other radiants like Omen (who is an unnatural/unknown existence even to her) and Sage (whose powers are repeatedly stated to be against the natural balance in some way) yet Astra remains friendly to them. Furthermore, Astra shows great sympathy towards Viper (who has multiple interactions from other agents about her penchant for violence and ruthlessness). The only other reason I can think of is Reyna's possible future role as the leader in the radiant war. We know the astral guardians have the responsibility to protect the universe, and the radiant war leads to the complete destruction of the world. Does Astra see the possible ruin that future Reyna creates? If so, again, how?

I thought maybe her cosmic powers let her read up on people with the universe wikipedia, kind of like selective omniscience. She has a few voice lines that makes me think she interacts with our reality in a more omniscient way:

The most obvious one is that she refers to the world as "this reality", meaning she is aware of other realities. It's unclear if a reality is simply a plane (as in, the higher plane she enters to use her stars is considered another "reality") or if a reality is a wholly distinct world/timeline (as in, the omega earth is considered another "reality" or maybe Kay/O's alternate timeline is considered a second "reality")

She says "Time and space are... (chuckle)...they're not what you think". We know how she experiences space differently (with her astral plane and all), but I wonder how she experiences time? She also says "That moment is gone, but it be cool. Now we are here. Here." Emphasis on both the "here"s. Does she experience time as a simultaneous thing, and she needs to ground herself in a specific time to take action? She talks about "[seeing] the beginning, and the continuation", does she just see all of time like as a passive witness but she can't exert any influence except in the present? If that makes sense.

This one doesn't really add anything new, just provides more evidence of the above point: "My plan may sound irrational, only because you cannot see what I can." What can she see????

but then? she has an interaction with Viper where she shows she doesn't know what happened in Viper's past. Furthermore, she doesn't know what Omen is.

So she's either getting her information from somewhere else, or her cosmic omniscience thing works in specific cases/when certain conditions are met. But I don't know what Cypher and Reyna have in common...

[ravenadottir]

I loved reading your takes on alternative routes! if you could, I'd love a Lottie and/or Hannah one since I feel like their relationships were rushed in-game

i would say having the girls' routes would've been what us gays deserved, because it was quite clear every single girl besides marisol were an afterthought.

((because the post got so long, i'll post lottie's on a separate one))

now, for the game's purposes i would make marisol's route the entryway for everyone else's, just because it would be easier to maintain the mystery for the other girls and still have a slowburn.

💙 on the very first challenge we get the chance to inform people about our sexuality, so a little nod about theirs would be nice. not like marisol's since they're not aware of it, but in a private dialogue. the narration could give hints of how differently she looks at mc, or how she has butterflies in her stomach but associates them with the anxiety of being in a tv show.

💙 more space to talk to the girls one-on-one before group scenes, like during breakfast, or making her an option to talk after "convincing one of the boys to pick you" scene. she's sad no one would choose her and she would lose her chance to find someone. she clears her throat and brushes the butterflies off.

💙 hannah being flustered about mc and gary in the bed together could also give a little nod of jealousy, something like "hannah seems to look at you a bit longer" then she delivers her dialogue and leaves. it makes it seem like she feels betrayed.

💙 on the night of the second recoupling it would be nice to have a moment with her in the dressing room after the girls leave.

"is everything ok, hannah?"

she sits down and stares at mc for a moment before answering. "i'm not sure. i don't know how i feel if i leave tonight."

we could have three options here: "is it because of gary?" // "is it because of another boy?" // "is it because of your journey?"

hannah's response would be vague, mostly because she doesn't know her own feelings. "i'm just... overwhelmed. i don't even think i'm supposed to feel the things that i'm feeling but..." she stops and looks at mc once more. "nevermind... i don't want to ruin your night. but thank you for talking to me, you're always so sweet..."

💙 after gary chooses marisol, hannah's eyes focus on mc. before she gives her goodbye speech, she pulls mc to the side. "listen, i want to thank you for being so... such a good friend. i wish we had more time..." she stops herself and brushes it off. "well, let's not be more dramatic any more right?"

💙 while leaving she casts one last glance before hugging mc.

more under the cut!

💙 during the time she's gone we get tips about how she's behaving on the outside, possibly given to us by bombshells. after gary and lottie's kiss is revealed chelsea could say "i don't think she really cared. hannah seemed very ok with lottie and gary that night."

💙 on day 24, when she comes back, we're the first person she says hi. even though gary is looking at her, she focuses her attention on mc.

💙 their next dialogue would have to be right after the firepit scene, mc could start the conversation and her response would be almost enigmatic:

"well, i had time to think about things, to discover a lot about myself. i know it sounds... hasty, but it's true. being in the villa was really important to me." she chuckles hesitantly. "i know i sound dramatic. i see you and marisol are having a good time..." eyebrows raised while expecting a response.

the responses would allow you to stay on her route or not: "we're really strong" // "it's been a roller-coaster" // "it's not as good"

💙 if you tell her you're not feeling it with marisol, i want her response to be "well, she's not the only girl in the villa is she?" given elisa is here, coupled up with bobby, she completes. "i reckon elisa might be... you know, paying close attention to you. is that something you're interested in?"

again, a new set of answers: "elisa is a good mate" // "she's attractive but not my type" // "i'm interested in her"

given hannah is much more direct when she comes back, i want to make her retract a bit, a little sign that she hasn't changed as much as she wants people to believe. "whoever gets to couple up with you... would be so lucky."

"like who?"

"um..." before she can answer someone interrupts the conversation. "why don't we talk about this later?"

💙 hannah catches you alone in the dressing room, when the spider scene happens, but now her route is open.. she questions you about returning!lurik, but regardless of your answer she talks about herself afterwards.

"i've had some time to think things over. i now know why i was so upset about leaving." hannah sits on the stool by your side, playing with makeup brushes. "i had been looking for a prince but i never realized that's not what i wanted. if i could turn back time with the knowledge i ahve now... well, things would've been different. much different."

"how?"

"for starters, i would know what i want." she smiles at mc. "and i would do my best to go for it." hannah's eyes focus on mc's as she continues. "i'm thankful for your friendship and support, and part of my gratitude was... something i tried to ignore,m but it was stronger than me."

"what are you saying?"

"i'm saying... i like you. a lot. the hardest part about leaving was not knowing what i know now. the time i was here, although short, made me question so much about myself. on the outside i realized i didn't care about gary, or what happened between you because of him. it was because of you." she chuckles sadly. "i think i already had a crush on you back then."

"a crush on me?!"

"yes." she smiles softly. "trust me, i was as surprised as you are now."

"i don't think that's possible" // "i had a feeling" // "i knew it!"

well, those first days feel like a million years ago. but now that i'm back, i'm... not going to waste any more time. i don't want to waste a second chance, so..." she looks into mc's eyes. "is that something you would like to explore?"

"yes, i would like that." // "it's all so sudden" // "i'm happy with my couple"

if you choose one of the first two she would respond. "i reckon we need to get to know each other before making a decision. ask me anything, i would gladly answer."

you could these questiuons in whatever order. "what made you realize you like girls?"

"watching you getting with other people was... somehow painful. i realized it wasn't about you being my friend, it was about me not being the person you were with."

"are you interested in anyone else?"

"even if i was it wouldn't matter. there's so little time i would rather focus it on you."

"what does your family think of this?"

"my mom has been very supportive. my dad doesn't really talk about it much. granted we didn't have many opportunities to talk face-to-face but... i think he's ok with it." she hesitates. "even if he wasn't. i'm old enough to make this decision for me. i've always felt like the odd one. that there was no place for me in anyone's world, and now? now i know why. that hannah that came in here wasn't me. she was shy, awkward and straight."

"and now?"

"i'm no longer straight." she chuckles with a little snort. "changing my hair and my style were just for... me. after i found out about this i knew i wasn't the same girl."

"you're still the same girl to me" // "you haven't changed much" // "i like the change"

well, i still think the biggest change was... you know... liking girls." she snorts. "but i'm ok with this. lots of the things that have happened to me make so much more sense now."

if you decide to go for her, this is the chance. "i want to couple up with you." // "i want to stay friends"

she would hesitate but offer to hold your hand. "it seems we have tough conversations ahead. but i'm glad we're doing this! i'm glad i could be honest and talk to you. i've been scared of your answer."

"scared?"

"yes, i was afraid you were gonna say no and, well, i wouldn't know what to do if you had. but now? you made me so happy!" she hesitantly closes the distance between you. "i hope we can have a moment for ourselves as soon as possible."

"kiss her" // "hug her" // "hold her hand"

💙 at the final recoupling mc always has second choice, so now that hannah is available, two boys will leave the villa, the person you saved or brought back and possibly bobby or returning!lurik.

💙 as mc chooses her she gets up and smiles, nervously, holding a little piece of paper in her hands. "i am so happy i followed my heart thius time. i was so afraid of what people thought about me for so long i forgot to revisit how i felt. you have always been a great friend, so kind and so welcoming. i don't think my life would've changed this much so soon and so abruptly, but i'm glad it did. i feel like myself with you, like i can be whatever i want and you'll accept me. thank you for giving me this chance."

💙 last date, or their first, hannah would share about past times she thought about the possibility of liking girls. "but i always thought it was just... jealousy. i thought i wanted to be like them. they were so beautiful and i was so awkward."

💙 the baby challenge might the most fun she has because with mc she feels right in her element.

💙 the final speech, at the prom, goes short but sweetly. "sometimes not even the greatest authors can express themselves with only words. but i feel like every time i look at you my face says enough. i can't help smiling and thinking of a better future now that we're together. being afraid i know what is like, but now? i'm loving being free. thank you for being the type of person that has my back, that makes me feel special, that makes me want to be better every day. i came in insecure and shy, i'm leaving... also shy, but less insecure. and with a great person that makes me happy."

[naralanis]

little bumps in the road (pt. 10)

Previously on LBitR...

“Calm down,” Lena whispers, even though she’s having trouble doing exactly that at the sight of the empty bench where she had left Kara waiting not even an hour ago.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Alex hisses; the muzzle of her gun dis rather painfully on her back, and Lena would really like to step away from it, but the agent has her arm locked in a vice grip. “Where the hell is she, Lena? She was here when I followed you in!”

“Walk with me,” Lena says, quickly scanning the area--they’re standing in a stiff, unnatural way, and the last thing she wants is to draw any attention, especially when they’re both wearing stolen LuthorCorp lab coats right outside the building. She takes one tentative step away, hooking her arm around Alex’s as if they were just friends walking down the street arm-in-arm.

Thankfully, Alex understands Lena’s not-so-subtle hint faster than Kara ever could; her image-induced expression relaxes into a smile that barely looks forced, and her grip of Lena’s arm, though still tight and borderline painful, shifts so that it appears more casual.

“Is there any way you could have been followed?” Lena asks, subtly looking around them, noting that Alex is doing the same.

“That’s always a possibility,” Alex admits, sounding both panicked and defeated at once. “But I was very careful.”

“OK, let’s not panic yet,” Lena tells both Alex and herself. “Kara and I made plans to rendezvous back at the motel if I was gone too long or if anything happened.”

Alex gives her a look--it’s weird to have a patented Alex-Danvers-look-of-disapproval coming from a stranger’s face. “You weren’t gone for long, though.” She doesn’t voice the alternative.

Unthinkably, Lena reaches out and gently pats the hand on her arm. She means for it to be reassuring--it’s the kind of thing she would do for Kara--the kind of thing she has been doing for Kara over the last couple of weeks, but Alex looks just as puzzled by the action as Lena is.

She removes her hand and clears her throat. “Still, our best bet is the motel. Did you drive here?”

Alex nods. “Great,” Lena continues, mind already working a mile a minute. “Kara probably took the bus back--we didn’t want the car to be seen downtown,” she explains, and Alex lets out an undignified snort.

“That’s remarkably sensible of you,” she quips sarcastically. Lena ignores her.

“What I’m saying is, if you drove here and we take your vehicle, we may beat Kara to the motel, or get there shortly after her. It’s one hour from LuthorCorp to the motel by bus--she’ll switch routes at least twice on the way.”

Alex looks impressed despite herself. “And if she doesn’t show, what then, genius?” she challenges, lips pursed.

Lena breathes out steadily, calmly. “She will,” she says with as much conviction as she can possibly muster in her tone, because the alternative is simply unthinkable.

Alex smacks her lips, slowing her walk as she considers their limited options. “Fine,” she finally concedes, dragging Lena down an alleyway.

They dispose of their lab coats in a trashcan in that same alley, and Alex practically hauls Lena towards a secluded spot behind down another alley a few blocks away.

“You better hold on,” she says, removing a few strategically placed cardboard boxes to reveal a sleek black motorcycle, discreetly parked behind a dumpster. “I did not bring an extra helmet.”

Lena does hold on, mainly because Alex weaves and cuts through traffic like an absolute manic as she follows the directions Lena has to practically shout in her ear as they go. She knows Alex is desperate to find Kara and make sure she’s OK, but Lena also wishes she would ease off the gas a little; she’s got enough to be afraid of at the moment.

She feels like her heart is about to burst out of her chest when they finally reach the hotel; they’re nowhere close to the room she and Kara had checked into, but she’s already fumbling in her purse for her key card. with Alex hot on her heels.

They stumble into the room together, and Lena has to stop, has to take a second to try to stop the cold dread she immediately feels at finding it empty, exactly as they had left it this morning.

Alex begins pacing like a caged tiger immediately. “She’s not here,” she gasps, tapping at the image inducer at her temple, and then it’s Alex, really Alex, looking worried and panicked and slightly disheveled in this empty room, and now Lena is belatedly realizing it’s up to her, Supergirl’s would-be killer, to try and comfort the hero’s sister while they wait.

As if she is not on the verge of a panic attack herself.

“We knew she wouldn’t be,” she tries to reason, keeping her voice as even as she can, though she can’t stop tugging at her fingers out of sheer nervousness.

She’s doing the math in her head, thinking of the bus schedules, of which one Kara probably had gotten on and when; she’s mapping out the routes in her mind, considering the usual trip times, factoring in the average Metropolis traffic at two in the afternoon on a Thursday.

Alex takes one look at Lena’s fidgeting hands and immediately sighs, sinking into one of the beds. “Take that stupid wig off,” she barks. “Blonde you is freaking me out.”

That lets out a little chuckle, but it feels like some kind of hysteria. She takes a seat on the opposite bed, and Alex regards her quizzically.

“Kara said something similar yesterday,” she explains, carefully removing the wig and setting it on the nightstand. “That’s too bad; I really thought I was pulling it off.”

The attempt at humour falls completely flat--Lena can see it plainly in Alex’s wooden expression. “You definitely weren’t,” she deadpans. Her knee is bouncing up and down, up and down, up and down, boot tapping dully on the carpet.

It’s driving Lena insane.

“Kara will be here soon,” Lena says, still tugging at her fingers. Alex doesn’t look convinced. 

“And if she doesn’t?”

Lena has no answers to that, refuses to consider the possibility.

“She will,” she says again, in an almost silent whisper, for her own comfort. “She will, she will, she will.”

Alex says nothing, only continues with her bouncing knee, keeps her gaze locked onto Lena. And Lena, Lena tries not to squirm under the agent’s scrutiny; she fidgets, she stares at the blinking red numbers of the alarm clock, steals glances at the door--she looks at anything and anywhere to avoid Alex’s gaze.

When Alex does speak again, her voice is low, but it still startles Lena enough for her to jump a little in surprise.

“What do you remember about that day, Lena?”

When Lena turns to face her, Alex’s eyes are as hard as stone. Her scowl has returned, and the way her brows are furrowed is far more telling than the cold tone of her voice. It says, plain and simple, I don’t trust you.

It takes Lena a long time to come up with an answer Alex may find even remotely satisfactory--she knows that ‘I don’t know’ that is on the tip of her tongue simply won’t cut it, even if it is the honest answer. Her memories, the few that she does have from that day, are murky and sparse, and don’t feel altogether hers.

She struggles to recall any details, searches the blurred images interred somewhere in her subconscious and tries to make sense of the tangled mess she has been left with. “Flashes,” she tries, settling for as much truth as she can muster at the moment. She swallows. “I remember... I remember Kara falling--I remember seeing her from the top floor at LuthorCorp.”

Alex raises a brow like she doesn’t fully believe her. “The top floor?” she asks, voice oddly neutral. “Not from the basement labs? You didn’t watch it from the screens?”

Lena furrows her brows, tries to poke at whatever remnants of memory she has latched on to. “No, I don’t...” she closes her eyes, sees Kara falling, riddled with green, her body limp falling past her windows as fast as a bullet. “I-I don’t think so, I was... I think I was at the top floor.”

“You were apprehended in the basement, Lena,” Alex says brusquely.

“N-no, that can’t be right,” Lena chokes out, but all she sees behind her lids is Kara’s body falling, and her mind provides the most horrifying sound effect as it hits the pavement. “That can’t be, I watched her fall, I w-watched from my window.”

Alex shakes her head. “What do you remember before the rockets?”

Lena rattles her brain with difficulty; her lungs can’t quite return to their normal rhythm with the images her mind is supplying. “Before?” she gasps, keeping her eyes shut so she doesn’t have to see, doesn’t have to wither under Alex’s unyielding disappointment and doubt.

“M-myriad, the, um, the Fortress, ah... I was there with K-kara, and--”

She’s close to hyperventilating; she can’t get the image of Kara’s body--her bloody, broken body falling, falling--out of her mind.

“The Fortress? Lena that was two weeks befo--Lena? Lena, are you OK?”

Lena can’t respond--she can’t speak, she can’t even breathe. her brain is giving her the most terrifying flashes of memories, memories that don’t feel like her own, and she’s scrambling to fill that gaps at the same time as the images come, unbidden, to her mind. Her mental boxes are teetering, swaying in their little organized, compartmentalized stacks, unbalanced, and she can’t, she can’t breathe.

“Shit,” she vaguely hears Alex say, marginally registers the agent rushing to her side, but then someone is touching her and there is another flash--it is white hot and painful in her brain, like an electric shock, and she feels someone grabbing at her shoulders, pushing her down hard, pulling, and dragging, and, and--

Lena yelps and recoils, bats away at the hands reaching for her shoulders in uncontrollable, all-consuming panic.

“HEY!”

It’s another voice, worried, coming from someone bursting through the door with force, nearly slamming it off its hinges. Lena’s only somewhat aware of Alex yelling--she sounds happy, surprised, worried, and a whole gamut of other things Lena cannot focus on, because suddenly, there’s just warmth all around her.

She’s being held, tight, tight, tight, but it isn’t restrictive--it’s the opposite, warm and comforting and it envelops her almost entirely, like a heavy blanket, muting the sounds of her own frantic heartbeat.

“Sh, Lena, it’s just me. You’re OK. I’m here, I’m here.”

It’s Kara’s voice--low in a soothing murmur, rumbling in her chest as she whispers right at Lena’s ear, and the vibrations are soft, reassuring, and tranquil, almost enough to ease Lena’s trembling.

She’s wrapped tight in Kara’s arms as her awareness returns, slowly and fuzzy. Kara’s hand rubs circles on her back, and Lena instinctively tucks her head under Kara’s chin, seeking more of her warmth. Kara is taking deep, deliberate breaths, and Lena finds herself subconsciously trying to match them at every inhale and exhale, using the pressure of the rise and fall of Kara’s chest against hers as guidance.

When the flashes cease, she dares open her eyes again. Over Kara’s shoulder, her gaze locks with Alex, who’s awkwardly standing to the side, watching them closely.

“OK,” the agent says, gaping a little. “What the fuck?”

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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