#the daedalus project

[thecat-inthehat]

7. Morsel

I swear this prompt made more sense when I was originally thinking of it. Uh. Content warnings for post EW duel injuries, medically induced miscarriage, next of kin being forced to make medical decisions, the whole shebang.

(1208 words)

--

“I can’t-- I can’t do this,” Helisent said, and feebly collapsed into a chair that was next to the two beds. The sheets were stained with blood, bandages strewn about over the bodies that lay there and across the floor, and her hands were sticky with viscera as she pulled her hair out of her sweaty face. Her fingers were shaking from the sheer amount of aether that she’d expended so far, her skin tight over her bones and her stomach cramping from spending twelve hours at the bedside. 

Her sister, Nive, lay in one of the beds. The other held Zenos. Both had shown up on the Ragnarok after the Dawn of Tomorrow bloomed, beaten and battered bloody, with their breath and heartbeats in synch. Trying to save only Nive didn’t work, until Helisent and Alphinaud had realized that the two of them were aetherically linked; one could not be saved without the other. No one knew what happened either -- Shining and Helisent had flown away on the tails of Meteion’s Dawn, and it wasn’t until they were back on the ship that they realized Nive still hadn’t returned. They had been found curled together akin to lovers under the new sun, but everything about their look had said that they had tried to fight to the death. 

“Shining will be here with food and ethers for us both soon,” Alphinaud said, his noutliths flicking around the room as he attempted to repair part of Zenos’ spine. He twitched a finger, and the devices created a screen of aether that cut off his lower body, and he started to delicately repair the spinal cord without having to worry that it would affect something up above. The medical screens of the Ragnarok held a layout of the bodies, and Alphinaud was checking it studiously as he worked. Healingway was currently synthesizing more blood for the two of them, and had left the room. It was just Helisent and Alphinaud. 

“I -- I know. But this--” Helisent said, and her voice choked on tears. “Alphinaud, Nive’s pregnant.”

Alphinaud was too well trained to let his nouliths slip from his grasp, but he went utterly still as he sucked a breath in through his teeth. His offhand clenched tightly, and he shut his eyes. He took a shuddering breath, and overwhelmed tears slipped through his lashes and down his cheeks. 

“Did you know before?” He said, and his professionalism was as fragile as spun glass and liable to break at any moment. They could not be emotional about this. (He was going to break anyways.)

Helisent staggered to her feet and her fingers trembled as she set her hands on Nive’s belly. “I suspected. Hythlodaeus had made a strange comment while we were in Elpis, and it kept ringing around in my head. But I didn’t… Twelve above, if she’s as far along as I think, it must’ve happened while we were in Garlemald.” 

Alphinaud finished with repairing the bent spinal cord on Zenos and caused his nouliths to spin around the former Prince and create a stasis shield around him. He flicked his fingers free of blood and came to stand on the opposite side of Helisent, his fingers already glowing with magic as he tried to access the damage. 

“Twelve forfend, she has four kits?” Alphinaud said, and his voice cracked. 

“Her father was a hrothgar from Bozja,” Helisent sniffled, but it didn’t stop her from joining in the diagnostics. “They’re predisposed to litters, rather than one or two like miqo’te. She already has some health issues from it, apparently two of her little siblings didn’t survive their first winters.” 

Alphinaud’s brow furrowed. “There’s… something wrong with the aether…” 

“One isn’t viable,” Helisent said thickly, and sniffled again so she could talk better. “The others, I’m not sure. I… it feels like garlean aether pa…tter…ns…” 

Helisent and Alphinaud met eyes over Nive’s form, the realization hitting them both like a sack of bricks, then looked at Zenos behind them. 

“Right. Right, okay,” Helisent said, and shook herself. When she spoke again, her voice was firmer, more the Stillglade Fen trained healer that she was. “Three viable kits, all half garlean.” 

“Can she even bear the strain of three?” Alphinaud said. 

“... No. She can’t.” Helisent said, and took a breath. “Her body’s eating itself alive trying to heal, even with everything we’ve done, and she can’t handle three.” 

“Fuck.” Alphinaud’s swear was soft, and he buried his face in his hands. It was the only time Helisent had ever heard him truly swear, and she couldn’t begrudge him for it. 

“I don’t even know if she wanted to keep one, let alone three,” Helisent said and didn’t bother to wipe the tears that were falling down her cheeks. It wasn’t even sadness at this point, just sheer exhaustion and the crash of high emotion that was getting to her. But she couldn’t stop now, or her sister would die. 

“There wasn’t exactly time, was there?” Alphinaud said, and his eyes were just as red as her own as he wiped his exhaustion back and returned to assessing the situation. “Everything happened so quickly, there was hardly any time for us to really check in with one another.” 

“No, there wasn’t,” Helisent agreed, and let out a shuddering breath. “How many can we save without risking her life-- that’s the question.” 

“Not three.” Alphinaud said, and his eyes slipped shut as he concentrated. “Two… It could be done, but I don’t… I don’t want to risk it, with how delicate her vitals are.” 

“Then we save one.” Helisent said grimly. “We save the one with the highest chance of survival, understood?” 

“Understood.” Alphinaud nodded, and did not pay attention to his trembling, nor the way his soul screamed at how unfair this all was. He was a healer, and this was, unfortunately, a decision that he had to make. There was no one else on the Ragnarok who could; not between Y’shtola caring for everyone else’s injuries and the rest of their retinue exhausted from torment that was Ultima Thule and the battle prayer against the Endsinger. 

There would be time for screams and sobs later, for now they both had a job to do. 

Helisent’s eyes slipped shut, and her head cocked to the side as she considered their predicament. She turned her hand up a little, and Alphinaud could sense the one she was pointing out. “This one, they’re tinier than the others, but the aether signature is just as strong.” 

“The one to the left has a higher weight,” Alphinaud said, as if they were not talking a difference of mere onzes. His voice barely trembled. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to save that one?” 

“Nive already lost so much weight, I’m not sure if she can handle a big child,” Helisent admitted, and her lips wobbled around her words. “With how much healing she’ll have to go through… Oscheon’s staff, I can’t-- I can’t--” 

“I’ll make the decision. Just follow my lead,” Alphinaud soothed. She’d been strong for him before, the least he could do was be strong in return. He had no choice, really. 

“Right. Your lead.” Helisent said, and wiped the tears away again. “Go.”

[loverboylen]

the daedalus project

[quasi-normalcy]

"Discovery" is just like...

Introduce cool-looking background cyborg

Finally give her some character development nine episodes into the second season

Reveal that she's actually the most interesting character on the ship

Immediately kill her

[directedbyjonathanfrakes]

[poebrey]

rewatching disco has been a gift because knowing what happens in the overarching plot means I get to stop being mad at different thematic issues and stop and appreciate every episode individually for what they are and some of the go so much harder when I’m not sitting around mad that Michael still isn’t captain or we’re on the 7th consecutive episode of no real mystery resolution or there’s yet another interpersonal conflict that’s mildly uncomfortable to watch

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

I love the Daedalus project so much. It literally was "What if the richest and worst avatars all came together and made the world's most fucked up spaceship" where two of the three participants just joined in just for shits and giggles and the last wanted to make an anti-sun using the power of space darkness.

[tropinano]

List of As Many Fiction Podcasts As I Could Think Of

NOT ORGANIZED! This is a big list of fiction podcasts with no descriptions, meant for the sole purpose of picking one based on the title and just trying it out. Just a big ol' list of titles. Kindof like a blind date! Explore a couple of the ones that intrigue you and come back later for more.

The Hotel

The Night Post

I am in Eskew

Whisperling

Residents of Proserpina Park

The Daedalus Compound

EOS10

The Magnus Archives

Francis Forever

SMILE GROVE

Janus Descending

The Godfrey Audio Guide

Old Gods of Appalachia

Camp Here & There

The Way We Haunt Now

Jack of All Trades

SUPERSUITS

Illuminati Interns

Death by Dying

Life with Leo(h)

Hello from the Hallowoods

Malevolent

The 12:37

Spirit Box Radio

Lost Terminal

Desperado

Neighbourly

The Switchboard

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity and Mortality

Aurora Everlasting

The Swashbuckling Ladies Debate Society

CARAVAN

The Amelia Project

Jar of Rebuke

Monstrous Agonies

Where the Stars Fell

Kisses In The Dark

The Town Whispers

Uncommon Commons

The Author's Anathema

Elevator Pitch

Brimstone Valley Mall

Kane & Feels

Middle:Below

The McIlwraith Statements

Caledonian Gothic

I have seen Niagara

Petrified

In Darkness Vast

The Outside Tapes

Seren

Gather the Suspects

This Foul Earth

John from Home

Glasgow Ghost Stories

The Tower

The Antique Shop

either

Tales from Aletheian Society

The Secret of St Kilda

The Green Horizon

Road X

THE NOWHERE MALL

Seven of Hearts

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio

SubverCity Transmit

The Nuclear Solution

Inkwyrm

Jim Robbie and the Wanderers

Burst

With Caulk and Candles

This Planet Needs a Name

The Glass Appeal

Mar's Best Brisket

Nym's Nebulous Notions

Midnight Radio

The Bright Sessions

When Angels Visit Armadillo

The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Bertie's Botanarium

Nowhere, On Air

Dark Ages

Welcome to Night Vale

The Silt Verses

Care & Feeding of Werewolves

The Bridge

The Far Meridian

ars PARADOXICA

Among the Stars and Bones

Counterbalance

Primordial Deep

Hannahpocalypse

Someone dies in this Elevator

Mabel

Seen and Not Heard

Abyss FM

Bodies in Space

Among the Stacks

Station Arcadia

Station Blue

Mnemosyne

Wolf 359

Tranthologies

Mx Bad Luck

SAYER

Limetown

What will be here?

Wake of Corrosion

The Pasithea Powder

SINKHOLE

Tell No Tales

The Vesta Clinic

Dreamboy

Georgie Romero is Done For

The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd

Alice isn't Dead

Stellar Firma

Unwell

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Heart of Ether

The Orbiting Human Circus

Wooden Overcoats

Greater Boston

Valence

Moonbase Theta Out

The Penumbra Podcast

Desert Skies

Deviser

Leaving Corvat

Red Valley

Back Again Back Again

Sidequesting

[fangirl-writes]

You’re the voice I hear inside my head

Damien Haas x GN!Voice Actor!Reader

Warning(s): none

Notes: I know nothing about the process of voice acting so this is gonna be so incorrect, but we’re rolling with it.

Summary: You’re a voice actor on a new project and Damien can’t get your voice out of his head. If only he had a face to go along with it.

“The voice actor for Phoenix already recorded their lines so you’ll have their recording to play off of,” the director said, walking Damien through the studio.

“Okay, sweet,” Damien replied, almost bouncing with excitement to get in the booth.

He got cast to voice Icarus in a new video game in development called Fire and Brimstone. It was a Hades-like game about Icarus with many liberties taken and characters added.

One being the character of Phoenix, a fire deity and disciple of Apollo that Icarus meets on his journey and is the character's love interest.

Damien put on the headphones and set his script up.

“We’re starting on page 45,” the director said through the mic.

Damien gave a thumbs up and turned to the right page.

One of Phoenix’s lines was first so he awaited the recording to come through.

“Mortals don’t often enter this domain. What are you doing here?”

Damien’s eyes widened, and he near genuinely said, “Who’re you?”

The voice was warm, but had that hint of ice, creating the perfect voice for a deity. It gave him chills.

The recording went on, “I am Phoenix, the guardian of this temple. Who are you?”

“Icarus of Athens.”

“Son of Daedalus?”

“You know my father? I’m looking for him. Have you seen him?”

“Yes. He passed through this temple not long before you. He asked for the gift of my fire.”

“Did he say what for?”

“No. Only that he would treat it with care. I guided him through the temple after. Where he went from here I cannot say.”

“Would you grant me the same kindness? Of leading me through the temple. I must find him.”

“I can see into your heart, Icarus, and I can tell it is true. I will lead you through the temple. But you must leave a tribute to Apollo, as your father did.”

The recording stopped, signaling the end of the scene and Damien looked up.

“That was great,” the director said. “We’re going to run through it once more, just for multiple options and then we’ll move on.”

They did so and Damien felt himself being captured by Phoenix’s voice.

Every day he went in to record his lines, he became more and more curious about them.

Which came to a head the day that they would meet.

"We're having Phoenix's voice actor, Y/N L/N, come in and record this last bit opposite you," the director said as Damien pulled the headphones off. "We want to try the dynamic to let you two play off of each other."

The last scene would be Icarus meeting Phoenix again after the deity sacrificed themselves to Apollo in exchange for Icarus' safe passage from Crete.

Icarus would travel to the underworld and ask Hades and Persephone to return Phoenix to Earth, in which they would give him the same task as Orpheus.

The player then has the option to complete the task and not look at Phoenix as they make the long trek out of Hades, without knowing whether the gods had kept their word, or to turn around and look at Phoenix, which would send them back.

This last recording would be at the end of the game, if the player succeeds in not turning around, that has Phoenix and Icarus seeing each other again after a portion of the game apart.

Damien was practically bouncing with excitement.

"You're in a good mood today," Shayne observed, smiling at his friend as they left the set of a Games video.

Damien nodded. "I'm meeting Phoenix tomorrow."

He wasn't shy about telling his friends at Smosh about the project and telling Shayne and Court about his small crush on the character (or their voice more specifically).

"Really?" Shayne said, eyebrows raising. "That's awesome."

“Who’s Y/N?” Angela asked, catching up with them.

“A voice actor I’m working with,” Damien replied.

“And who he’s got a big ol’ crush on,” Shayne teased.

He blushed as Angela said, “Aww.”

“I’m just excited to finally meet them. I kinda haven’t been able to get their voice out of my head.”

“Your the voice I hear inside my head,” Angela and Shayne sang in silly voices. “I gotta find you, I need to find you.”

Damien rolled his eyes good naturedly and smiled.

“I need to know what this mystery person sounds like now,” Angela said. “What was their name again?”

Damien had unashamedly googled Y/N after the director had told him their name.

They had voiced characters in some other video games, anime, even a few cartoons, which was cool. But this seemed to be their first larger role, which was also cool.

He definitely overthought everything the day they were to meet, nervous for some reason (it was the crush).

He dressed a little nicer than he usually wood, very business casual, put on his best smelling cologne, his hottest earrings, grabbed a cup of coffee on his way to the studio.

Were they already there? He wondered as he opened the door. Or did he get there first?

"Hey, everyone," Damien greeted, walking into the recording room. "Am I late?"

"Right on time," the sound operator replied. "Y/N's over getting coffee in the kitchen if you want to say hello."

Damien takes that as a cue and heads towards the kitchen...and almost chokes on air.

Y/N was the prettiest person he'd ever seen, the crush intensifying tenfold.

Damien blinked a few times and cleared his throat, making Y/N look up from stirring their coffee and smile.

"Hi, Damien, right?"

Their voice sounded the same but also different, but perfect. It made Damien’s heart flutter.

"Yeah," he replied. "Y/N, right?"

"That's me," they said, walking over to shake his hand.

It felt right when their hands slotted together, but Damien shook it off.

"Ready for this?" he asked, hoping his face hadn’t gone too red.

"Yeah! I've been excited to do this and to meet you," they said.

"Really?" Damien asked, a little too surprised. "I mean, uh, cool. Me too.”

They don't seem to notice and the two of them head back to the recording room.

“Okay, we’ll have Damien turn around and face Y/N when we give you the cue, that’s when you say your lines. Good?”

The two of them gave the director a thumbs up, which made them laugh as they did it at the same time.

Damien slid on his headphones and turned his back to Y/N.

He was nervous, wiping his hands on his pants and trying to shift into character.

Okay. You’re Icarus, who has just made the trek up from the underworld saving the deity you love and haven’t been able to confirm that they were following you, and you’re worried that when you turn around they’ll be gone. Got it. Okay.

“And action,” the director says, hitting record.

Damien waits a beat or two, heart pounding, before he takes a deep breath and turns around.

Y/N is standing before their microphone, headphones on and smiling at him. “Hello,” they say, voice shifting perfectly into character.

Damien lets out a relieved laugh. “Hi!”

It’s at this point that Icarus is to pull Phoenix into a hug, so Damien just pretends to pick someone up in a hug, grunts accompanying.

The two of them laugh, imagining how the scene would look in the game.

The recording stops and the director’s voice comes through, “That was good, but can we try where you actually hug Y/N, Damien? I think it’ll sound more natural that way.”

“Only if you’re okay with it,” Damien replied, looking to Y/N.

They shrug. “Sure, why not. It will probably be more natural.”

So, the big mics are swapped out for smaller ones and the two of them step around the stands where their scripts are laying to stand in front of each other.

“Okay, action.”

Damien repeats his actions from before, turning around to see Y/N standing there.

But this time they’re closer than before, and he lets out an almost surprised gasp as Y/N grins and says, “Hello.”

Damien laughs. “Hi!”

Then he just scoops them up into a hug that makes them both laugh.

It should’ve been awkward, but it oddly wasn’t.

Maybe it was the two of them being in character, or maybe it was something else entirely.

Whatever the case, Damien didn’t fully let go when he set Y/N down, hands lingering on their shoulders, until the director spoke again.

“Great, that was great you guys. We just want to try a few more scenes with you together to see which versions we like the best.”

That’s how most of the morning went, the two of them bouncing off of each other as they read lines, doing their best not to ad lib since it was, after all, a video game.

They flowed together well.

When all was said and done, the director clapped their hands and smiled.

“I think that’s a wrap, you two! Great job today.”

Y/N beamed at Damien, who could’ve melted into a puddle at that moment.

“Hey, before we go, do you think we can get a selfie? I loved working with you and I usually get one with my cast mates after a project," Damien said, smiling.

“Sure!” Y/N replied, setting down their now empty coffee cup to slide up next to Damien for the photo.

He hoped he wasn’t too red as he lifted his phone and snapped a shot of them together, both grinning ear to ear and Y/N holding up a silly little peace sign that made him laugh.

“Cool,” he said. “You don’t mind if I post it when the game’s announced do you?”

“Only if you send it to me, so I can do the same,” they replied.

“Of course, what’s your number?”

Y/N told him and Damien quickly entered it in as a new contact, sending the picture as well in succession.

Y/N’s phone buzzed in their pocket. “You work fast,” they joked.

Damien chuckled. “If, uh, if you’re not doing anything after this, I’d love to take you to lunch. As a sort of congratulations on the project being wrapped. And I’d love to get to know you better.”

They smiled. “I’d love that.”

As it turned out, Damien and Y/N had a lot in common, besides their voice talents and their affinity for the thumbs up.

It was amazing how well they got on for only knowing each other for the one day.

After that, they texted frequently, and started hanging out more.

It effected Damien's mood and everyone noticed that he was happier as of late.

"How's Y/N?" Shayne asked, slyly, at Smosh lunch one day.

Damien looked up from his phone where he was, indeed, texting Y/N. "...fine."

Shayne laughed.

"You should totally just ask them out, already," Courtney encouraged. "Make it official."

"What? No, it's too soon."

"You guys are practically in the dating stage already," Courtney continued. "You even go on dates."

"They're not dates! We just hang out," Damien protested.

Courtney raised a brow at him. "Hanging out, just the two of you, having dinner and watching movies?"

Damien must've been red. "We're just friends!"

"But you want to be more, don't you?"

It was obvious. Obviously.

He'd had a crush on Y/N since before they'd even met and now that they were "hanging out" it was worse than ever.

But Damien wasn't great at gaging romantic feelings, let alone the feelings of someone that he liked in a romantic way. It was natural for him to feel like they don't feel the same way, right?

"I think you should go for it," Shayne said. "If it ends up bad, then you guys are early enough in the friend stage that if it ends the friendship, so be it, and if it doesn't, great."

He had a point there.

Damien hadn't know Y/N long enough for the end of this friendship to ruin him completely. Sure, he'd be sad, but he could bounce back from it.

Still, there was that fear.

"Maybe," he finally said, taking a bite of his lunch to avoid saying anything else.

Shourtney seemed to accept that as an answer and let the subject drop, but it remained in the back of Damien's mind for the rest of the day.

Every time Y/N texted him, he thought about it.

Heck, he even drafted a text asking them out but deleted it, deciding if he was gonna do it, he should do it in person.

He let it go all the way to the games release announcement and he finally posted that picture he’d spent more time staring at than he’d care to admit.

“Icarus is flying too close to the sun,” He wrote in the caption. “It was an honor to be chosen as the main character for this game and I can’t wait for you guys to get to play it.”

Y/N posted not long after him, a similar post with a screenshot of the release on Variety, a picture of themselves with a photo of Phoenix, a picture of them in the booth, and, of course, the one with Damien.

“Phoenix I’ll always love you but not as much as Icarus,” they wrote in the caption.

Damien liked it immediately and commented. “Fire (literally) 🔥

The likes and comments began flooding in so he closed the app and made his way to set for a games video.

"On the day that we're filming this Damien just announced he's the voice of the main character in the new game Fire and Brimstone!" Shayne said and everyone at the table clapped for him.

Damien smiled, not expecting the comment. "Yeah, it was a really cool experience to work on and I think everyone's gonna love it."

"You worked with Y/N L/N, right?" Angela asked and Damien immediately wondered if it was on purpose.

But he rolled with it. "Yeah, they're really cool as well, we worked together in the booth a bit and had some fun."

"Sweet."

"So, let's get into it," Shayne said before explaining the rules of Werewolf quickly, as it was a common game for the channel.

As fun as it was, Damien was definitely distracted the whole time, he just hoped that it didn't show on camera.

He couldn't stop thinking about them.

We still on for the coffee shop? Y/N texted later that day.

Damien's fingers hovered over his phone's keyboard, debating on what to text back.

I mean, of course he wanted to still go to the coffee shop with them, but he was planning on asking then. And he was nervous, debating on backing out, making some excuse as to why he couldn't make it anymore.

He took a deep breath.

You know it

Okay. There it was. No backing out now. Not unless he wanted to seem like a huge dick.

He could do this.

Right?

"I'm gonna do it." Damien said, seriously.

Shayne looked over at him from his desk. "Oh, shit, really?"

Damien nodded.

"Do what?" Spencer asked, leaning back in his chair and sipping his Mountain Dew Kickstart.

"He's gonna ask Y/N out."

"Really? Good for you, man."

"Thanks," Damien replied, but his nervousness was clear.

"Don't sweat it, dude, they're gonna say yes," Shayne said.

"And if they don't?"

Shayne shrugged. "Then it's not meant to be."

Damien was realizing he hated when people gave him the same advice he'd give them.

"Hey!"

Y/N brightened upon seeing him, breaking out in a smile as a greeting.

"Hey, I ordered you coffee, you wanted the usual, right?"

Damien nodded, sitting across from them.

He'd been nervous on the way there, but Y/N's demeanor had a way of putting him at ease.

“You okay?” They asked.

Damien’s heart soared. God they were perfect.

“Would you wanna go out with me?” He blurted, all the plans he’d made on the way over thrown out the window.

Y/N seemed taken aback for a moment, eyes widened at the outburst, and he feared the worst, but the expression soon cracked into a smile.

Their beautiful smile.

“Officially?”

Damien smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, officially. I want you to be my partner. Exclusively.”

They laughed. “Yes. Absolutely, positively yes.”

And that was a relief.

“Thank god,” Damien said, making Y/N laugh again.

They reached across the table and held his hand and Damien could’ve died happily right then.

“Hey, let’s take a photo,” they suggested, taking out their phone.

Damien eagerly leaned in for the photo, smiling broadly.

Y/N typed on their phone rapidly before handing it to him.

It was the photo as a draft for an Instagram story with the words “Phoenix + Icarus = ❤️‍🔥”

“That okay?” They asked.

Damien nodded. “It’s perfect.”

[cdroloisms]

been thinking about post-prison c!dream again and i feel like ... characterizations of him after pandora smtimes can lean vindictive. and it's not like there's no proof for this being the case, lol, this man has quite a few angry speeches post-prison about getting his Revenge! and such, and obviously has Feelings about the whole being left to rot and be tortured thing. that being said, i think it's worth pointing out how what a character thinks they believe and what their actions show can have some...pretty apparent discrepancies, and i think that c!dream's stated desires to take his revenge as well as a "us against them, you're either with me or against me" viewpoint of the server as a whole don't necessarily match up with his behavior post-prison

for one, i think it's worth pointing out how often c!dream's anger in these cases is obviously emotional to the point of incoherence--it's often been stated that his speech in the logstedshire chase scene screams of projection in the midst of a panic attack, which, i mean? yeah? he's making assumptions about what c!tommy thinks and basically repeating what c!quackity said in that cell almost word for word and making the kill-and-revive-you-over-and-over-and-over threat that he definitely wasn't going to go through with (though, is kind of interesting retrospectively considering we know that he literally did that to himself). then there's his rant to c!sam in daedalus one which literally includes his threatening c!sam with c!quackity, a claim so absurd that c!sam himself points it out as making no sense. and then there's his speech with c!quackity where he says he's going to torture...las nevadas? as in, the country? dream that's. dream it's a country. it can't feel pain. dream.

in this, a clear pattern is established where a lot of these angry threats are...bluffs. hot air. even if c!dream is genuine when he makes these threats, they're really not plausible (like, uh, please tell me how youre gonna convince quackity to torture sam for you king.) and it's not like c!dream doesn't have a pattern of being A Whole Lotta Bark when you have him in a position where he feels cornered, either. but with this, there's a precedent that's established where c!dream's threats, particularly threats where he's literally just listing shit out like that, should be taken with a grain of salt. less evidence of true plans and more an attempt to bare his teeth at you until you back the fuck away.

of course, this in itself isn't enough to claim that all of his claims of more vindictive actions should be dismissed. that being said, across the board, when you look at c!dream's actual actions post-prison...well, the amount of actual revenge this guy gets is. very small. very small. in fact, contrary to what one might think due to his paranoia and the huge breach of trust that had happened as a result of the prison, c!dream actually seems quite willing to establish connections with other people--friendly interactions, even alliances to a certain degree. looking at the following list of interactions w/ people post-prison:

He immediately gives the axe of peace to c!Techno in Snowchester after they part ways at the Arctic Commune--though the lack of favors between them indicates that there's no real explicit reason to call on each other in the immediate future, he does show very clearly that their parting hasn't made himself unwilling to cooperate with c!Techno at all.

Punz is self-evident--he speaks with his ally and reaffirms that the plan is still on track (a plan made before the negative effects that prison had on his. uh .everything)

The aforementioned conflict with c!Tommy, where he makes a lot of threats in ways that seem like a pretty damn deliberate mirror of c!Quackity and makes no effort to follow through on, particularly in tems of the killing-and-reviving shit and keeping tommy in exile and whatever else he was saying there

The interaction with Sapnap, where he is clearly gauging c!Sapnap's reaction and flees shortly after things appear to grow in hostility, once again making overtures at a threat that he will never follow up on (even considering he could very easily follow Sapnap to find Kinoko and could as such attack it quite simply even with just, a couple flint & steels tbh)

An interaction with Eryn where he makes no effort to be hostile at any point, hiding behind his shield and then exchanging items when Eryn offers them. The entire time, c!Dream's actions are defensive and purposefully nonthreatening and at no point does he attempt to engage a fight--even when not asked for payment, he gives a valuable item in exchange. Clearly more an attempt to be friendly than any outright hostility, though he is also obviously wary.

Daedalus also quite self-explanatory--again, it should be emphasized that letting Sam go in any capacity with any lives is explicitly an act of mercy. Left alone, Sam would have died in the prison for good; he set his spawn in the prison, a fact Dream would've known when he escorted him out. He makes a lot of threats, including some that are quite incoherent, and at the end he kills Sam once and then escorts him out of the prison grounds alive. Interestingly enough, conversations in Daedalus also seem pretty explicitly from a perspective of trying to get c!Sam to understand him in some respects--like, c!Dream isn't seeking division here. Even in consideration of the fact that he needed to get the keycards, c!Dream's continued emphasis on trying to get c!Sam to see him is...interesting, in view of how much of what went wrong being explicitly because of c!Sam's betrayal.

He warns Bad and Skeppy away from the prison shortly after beginning to reside there on a permanent basis. He gives them quite a sum of gifts (iirc, a block of netherite and a totem of undying) despite firing arrows at them; even though he has a reason to be aggressive towards c!Bad as one of the prison guards (something both c!Bad and c!Skeppy point out) he makes no effort to kill them and outright gives them valuable items while warning them to stay away from the prison

scrapped lore, whenever it was meant to happen, was an obvious "revenge" attempt against quackity...which goes, badly. a clue into the State that he was in in terms of his revenge quests. also, whatever interaction he has with c!wilbur later, obviously c!Wilbur doesn't end up worse for wear physically from it.

In inconsolable differences, c!Dream is more preoccupied with keeping a "feeling" of power over c!Wilbur over taking outright control over the room and therefore complies with c!Wilbur's orders. He does attack, but despite having more than the necessary means to kill both c!Wilbur and c!Tommy while he's there, does not do so. Neither does he manage to keep them trapped in the prison, something that he absolutely could've done if he so chose. Instead, he values a (imaginary) symbol of his continued alliance with c!Wilbur over any kind of hostile action, imprisonment, or killing of either person (and explicitly values c!Wilbur's life over just about everything, there.)

In his interaction with c!Foolish, he's outright trying to get c!Foolish to consider him beyond what other people have said about him. He's trying to establish some form of an alliance and offers...well, quite a lot in order to have one (in order to have a five minute warning of c!Quackity's location. like, he's putting himself in c!Foolish's service quite explicitly here, offering to become his hitman or bodyguard). He's obviously wary, but also obviously trying to be friendly and largely interacts with c!Foolish by trying to establish a rapport, not by trying to threaten him into something or attack him in any way. Even with c!Sam, the amount of outright threatening behavior from c!Dream isn't all that large--mostly, he's being petty? You could make an argument about c!Dream's vague threat to c!Sam's island, but clearly Sam loses no lives from Dream in any interaction they might have after they leave the summer home.

I consider the whole interaction with c!Aimsey canon bc literally everyone was playing as their characters there--c!Dream outright goes out of his way to try and protect a total stranger here with no obvious personal benefit. He literally inserts himself into the conflict to try and prevent c!Aimsey's death, which is kinda wild for someone to do as someone who allegedly wants people to die on the server. He attacks (and even kills c!George) c!snf here, but it's all in a scene where they get distracted from their whole "blowing shit up" moment because they want to chase c!Dream, and c!Dream specifically uses very little melee combat here--a lot of ranged stuff, which is far from his specific specialty. Further, there's a scene in this fight where c!Dream is acting entirely defensively, backed up against a wall with his shield in front of him as c!snf attack, and at the end he just runs away--all behavior that doesn't seem to be about killing anyone or profiting from anyone's deaths in any way.

LN5, threats similarly nonsensical, and he dips as soon as things start going south. For all of his seeming confidence, he's not the one that continues the chase in an attempt to kill c!Quackity, and the fight evidently freaks him out considering how he ends up not realizing he's being stalked by c!Tommy and then hides in the prison for a solid while (while still being stalked by c!Tommy)

Despite apparently wanting them to decide who to die in the saw trap (which had a premise that is frankly, quite hard to believe), c!clingy are given the exact items that could've facilitated their escape. He certainly could've killed both or one at any point in time, even if he wanted a message to be spread to the server (something easily done with one guy)--instead, he monologues at them, then conveniently leaves so that they can get away (and they could've with the literal items he gave them if tommy didn't burn their food.) When c!Tommy returns the following day, c!Dream makes it clear he expected both of them to have gotten out

Despite being clearly unable to stand c!Tommy, blaming him for most if not all of his problems on the server, and outright saying to c!Tommy that c!Tommy would never agree to help him (after they had a shouting match literally one day ago), gives quite the sales pitch to get c!Tommy on the same page as them.

I'm probably missing stuff, but you get my point--even when presented golden opportunities to kill off a player post-prison, c!Dream doesn't take it. He outright spares c!Sam when he could've easily died from the Revengers' tactic. When meeting with strangers, he prioritizes establishing a friendly rapport with them through things like gifts over, in his distrust, treating them badly so that they're scared of him and therefore don't fuck with him yadayada. His behavior, instead of exuding an aura of anger and vengeance and vying for destruction, tends to send a message of trying to be outright unthreatening, please-don't-attack-me. He's not going everywhere holding his big fuck off axe, he's seeing a new person and ducking behind his shield.

Oftentimes, I feel like this quote is pulled or paraphrased from No Way Home to show how c!Dream has become distrusting of people, vindictive, post-prison

And if that means we have to kill everybody— and ev— everybody that doesn't wanna go along with what me and Punz have to say? Everyone that doesn't want to figure it out? Then, fine! You can be simple-minded and you can die simple-minded. But! If you wanna actually know what's going on in this world, and you wanna fix it, and make it the best that we can be, and live forever? Then they can join us.

And while I'm not saying we should dismiss the whole quote as just being disingenous bluffing, I think when taken into the context of post-prison c!Dream's actions (or, well, c!Dream's actions as a whole) as well as his actions in the finale itself (such as his appealing to c!Tommy in the next stream), rather than putting the emphasis on the idea of "everyone who disagrees with me should die," c!Dream seems far more preoccupied with the idea of trying to find people who are willing to work with him to "fix" everything. People who will help him make it so that they can "live forever"--a desire he expresses in the fourth finale stream as well.

like, it's not to say that c!dream isn't vengeful. he is. i mean, i'd say moreso than vengeful, he's angry--just like how a lot of his overtures at friendliness are so deeply rooted in fear. the prison made him angry and the prison made him scared, and the anger has to be repurposed into revenge because revenge is power that he certainly didn't have when he was on his knees begging for mercy. but far from being closed off and unwilling to work with other people post-prison due to his experiences in Pandora (which. would make sense. i mean. like, he was left in there, and tortured, and betrayed. anger and revenge and a general distrust towards everyone and a desire to destroy a world that condemned him would be very easy to understand in this scenario), i'd say c!dream's interactions with people post-prison scream of a general lack of a desire to actually go through with killing people. hell, he even revives c!tommy--c!tommy! who just killed him! who c!dream outright blames for like, basically ruining his life! when revivals are literally apparently destabilizing the universe!--shortly after killing him. generally, he meets people who are dealing with him aggressively with a desire to flee moreso than with murderous intent (in genuine finale 2, for example, this guy was sure more focused on running the fuck away than he was on killing either of c!clingy), and even moreso deals with other people on the server by acting defensively and even in a manner that seems deliberately designed to get them to be more willing to work with him, or at least deal with him in a friendly way. despite his paranoia and how deeply pandora cut as a betrayal and his obvious wariness towards all people as a result (there's hardly a single interaction on the list above, after all, that doesn't have c!dream's obvious fear of people leaking all over the damn carpet), he seems to be much more focused on the idea of finding possible allies than he is on the idea of killing everyone possible.

which, i mean, makes sense. as he himself states:

[smileyobrien]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY | 2.09 "Project Daedalus"

[thecat-inthehat]

1. Steer

Dunno how much I'll do for this year, considering all my other projects and also job hunting, but! Here we are.

(1100 words)

--

“Emet-Selch. With me.” Shining’s sonorous voice rang out across the clearing, even through the static nature of the Tower’s scrying systems. 

“Oh? And to what do I owe the pleasure, Lady Warrior?” The Ascians’ waspish, breathy voice grating to the Crystal Exarch’s hooded ears. He did nothing as she stepped up to him and took his arm in her own, merely lifted a brow in surprise. 

“Come.” Shining said, and her sculpted lips curved up into a smile. “I wish to speak with you in private.” 

The Crystal Exarch drew his staff in a half circle, and the image zoomed out once more to show the two of them walking sedately through the forest of Rak’tika. The Light dappled through the trees in slow moving waves that always seemed so sinfully lazy; even nigh on a century of the golden waves it never stopped being so tempting to simply curl up underneath a beam that stretched through the canopy. 

Emet-Selch had his hand tucked in her arm as demurely as any gentle noblewoman, his other hand lifting up the hem of his robes, and it was with some surprise that the Exarch realized how careful he was to step around the blue flowers that lay along the path to Fannow. 

“Yes, my dear?” Emet-Selch asked. “You know, if you wished to get me alone for more, hm, intimate purposes, you should’ve asked me sooner.” 

Shining laughed softly, a tinkling sound that buzzed through the Tower’s systems. “Hardly. You are not my type, Emet-Selch. Though I do appreciate your love of theater.” 

“Like recognizes like,” Emet chuckled. “Two peas in a pod we are, are we not?” 

“Debatable, but I shall let you have this,” Shining said, with a devious twist to her lips. “Now, as to why I wished to speak with you…” 

“I take it this is about your sister?” Emet-Selch asked politely. 

“Oh, look at you, you do have a brain somewhere in those coiffed locks of yours,” Shining chuckled, and stopped them in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by wildflowers. “Do you prefer to lead or follow?” 

The Ascian was quiet for just a touch too long, and the Exarch wished once again for a clearer picture, if only to see the expression that must have been flitting across Emet’s face. He really needed to upgrade the Tower’s systems if he was to keep spying on the Warriors Three in such a way. 

“This isn’t a test, Emet,” she said with no small amusement. “I’m not about to analyze you on your dancing habits.” 

“Yet that is precisely what someone who would analyze me would say,” Emet sighed, but assumed a follower’s position among the two of them, with Shining’s hand resting lightly on his waist. 

The Exarch ruthlessly squashed down the feeble feeling that niggled in his chest at the sight. 

The two of them, Warrior and Ascian, stepped into a fluid dance that kicked up petals among the flowers with the hems of their clothing. It was a waltz of some kind that the Exarch didn’t recognize, but he set the Tower to record as Shining twirled Emet around with ease, and did not react to the soft smile flitting across Emet’s lips. There was no music, which surprised the Exarch, given Shining’s predilection for such things, but it meant that he could hear their conversation clearly. 

“So, my sister,” Shining said pleasantly. 

“Which one?” Emet replied, just as genial. 

“Don’t play coy with me, Solus, you’re not cute,” Shining said, and her voice was just shy of being sharp. “You look at Nive as if she were a diamond in some pigsty. Enticing, yet you cannot bring yourself to get close. Who was she to you?” 

“Bold,” Emet said, but did not deny the accusation. “And why should I tell you? Can a man not keep secrets close to his chest?” 

“You can,” Shining agreed pleasantly, and when she twirled Emet around once more she dipped him. 

There was a flash of light that short circuited the Tower’s recording magic, yet the sound of Emet’s pained gasp was all too loud in the void. 

“But I will not let you entice her away from her duty,” Shining’s sibilant cadence slithered through the woods, undercut by birdsong and the omnipresent sound of the Light. “And you know this, you’re a smart man. You would not have lived so long otherwise. So why is it, Emet-Selch, that you are so dead set on leading her astray?” 

The scrying spell slowly repaired itself, pixel by distorted pixel, and another half circle of the Exarch’s staff zoomed in on the conversation. She held him under her power, dipped towards the forest floor and the blooming blue blossoms, his hair a haphazard disarray as he panted for breath. It almost looked scandalous, with how his chest heaved and the way her larger hand cradled the arch of his back. But the glimmering Light from her palm, the way her eyes flashed and distorted the image, twas anything but. 

“... I knew her.” He said, finally. “A color such as that stands out, does it not?” 

“... That it does,” Shining agreed, and spun them to be upright once more, with him collapsing against her chest at the sudden movement. She made no move to dislodge him and simply waited for him to catch his breath, her fingers gently smoothing his hair back from his face. The scrying panel flickered once more, and the Exarch could see how her nail traced a line of Light from Emet’s temple to his jaw. A jaw that flexed dangerously under her touch. 

“You are quite bold,” Emet-Selch repeated, and sounded almost bored. 

“I am what I need to be,” Shining responded. “Consider this your only warning. Nive and Helisent might think that your overtures of friendship and cooperation could be genuine, but will not be swayed. Are we clear?” 

“You wish me to stop,” Emet-Selch chuckled. 

“Hardly,” Shining said, and her Light-burning eyes squinted in mirth. “Merely be prepared for the consequences.” 

“Very well. I do so enjoy a challenge,” Emet-Selch said, and pulled back to place his hand on her shoulder once more. “Shall we continue? It’s been many years since I’ve had the pleasure.” 

“But of course.” The Warrior of Light said, and did not bother to hide her bell like laugh. 

The Exarch tapped his staff against the floor, and the image went dark. He did not afford himself jealousy. It would not aid him. 

But he could not get the image of their dance out of his head for hours. 

[betweenlands]

i've tried to combine / these pieces that won't fit at one time / so here i go -- Kenadian's on a secured train to Daedalus's Vault. Sven's in charge of making sure they get there. And if there's one thing SeenSven is good at, it's being a prison warden.

happy belated two-year anniversary to The Train Escape! here's a fic.

[bleue-flora]

Index — Prison Arc

⬦ Lore ⬥ Essay ⬩Additional/Asks 💠 Favs ⬦ Canon? ⬥ Non-Essay 🔹Unsolved ⬦ Map

⬥ Just because It’s a prison doesn’t make it Justice. 💠 The crazy cruelty of the prison arc 💠 Dream never did escape prison in the end ⬦ Quotes about starvation 💠 Pandora’s Box vs Pandora’s Vault ⬥ Dream replacing his old house 💠 Why I think Dream put himself in prison ⬩ 🔹 Why switch from steak to potatoes 🔹 Multiple reasons to commission a prison? ⬩ ⬩ ⬩ ⬦ Where does Bad give Ranboo blueprints?

Pandora's Vault

💠 Living in an obsidian box ⬩ 💠 Super hot cell ⬩ ⬦ Dream punching glass ⬦ Dream punching obsidian ⬦ Prison Guardians ⬦ Breaking out of prison

Sapnap

⬥ Sapnap vs Sam’s betrayal  ⬦ Changes topics from torture to book ⬥ Sapnap & real word view on prisons ⬩ 💠 Micheal asking the real questions

Quackity

⬥ Comparing Dream & Quackity as Villains ⬥ Does Quackity have empathy? ⬩ ⬩ ⬦ Quackity’s white shirt 🔹 What emotion did he have while torturing ⬦ Quackity sneaking to a hiding Dream ⬦ Quackity's unsigned waivers 💠 Quackity talking about torture with Bad 🔹 Seasons/Weather?

Torture Box

⬦ Ceiling height ⬩ ⬦ Why no chains in the cell? 🔹 Why do you need a hoe & shovel Sam?! ⬩ ⬩ ⬩ ⬩ ⬦ Warden's Mercy... ⬦ Prison chest implications ⬦ Did Q use potions? 🔹 The chair 💠 Torture tools 🔹 Framed Potato ⬦ The knife & chair ⬦ Why is Sam's axe named a hammer?

Sam

⬥ Sam’s need for control ⬥ Sam liked it 💠 Sam's ultimate engineering project ⬥ Significance of the small cells ⬦ Prison books everywhere

Daedalus

⬥ The switch in Daedalus ⬥ Daedalus wasn't about revenge ⬥ Manipulation in Daedalus ⬥ The message of Sam's scar ⬥ Sam entitlement to food ⬥ No more than books ⬥ Not allowed to even hate 💠 Why does Dream let Sam out? 🔹 Home away from home?

[directedbyjonathanfrakes]

[paraster]

Sonic Destruction Full Semi-Coherent Lore/Plot Summary

Had to extrapolate a lot in some places but I'm happy with how this turned out. Please watch the original videos.

Please feel free to share any questions about contradictions or plot points I didn't cover.

Years ago, an unknown government began the Daedalus Initiative, a project to produce a super soldier. Headed by Gerald Robotnik, who saw it as a path to his personal goal of creating the "Ultimate Lifeform," the Initiative aimed to achieve this by creating a being that combined the attributes of a human and a hedgehog. In order to achieve this, though, they had to collect hedgehog genetic material…so their eyes fell on Soleanna.

The kingdom of Soleanna (which was maybe ruled by a royal family of humans? I'm not 100% convinced Destruction!Elise isn't a hedgehog herself) was a haven for hedgehog-kind. The kingdom's young princess, Elise, was very close friends with a young black hedgehog named Shadow.

One day, though, when the two were on a class trip, the Daedalus Initiative sent their country's military to kidnap hedgehogs. The military was led by Gerald's son Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.

While they technically succeeded in this, Shadow among those captured, the mission went south and Soleanna ended up razed, which Eggman became the scapegoat for. Elise was left behind in the ruins, left to lament the loss of her home and her best friend.

It's unknown how many beings were produced by the Daedalus Initiative while it was active, but at least three would be created and go on to live through the Initiative's destruction. All three were at least partially clones from Shadow the Hedgehog and possessed some of his memories, particularly of Elise.

First was an exact duplicate of Shadow. Second was a being who, despite not being considered the Daedalus Initiative's biggest success, grew fiercely devoted to the Initiative's mission, to the point where he named himself "Daedalus." Third was the culmination of the Initiative's work--Silver the Hedgehog. Despite appearing to be just a white hedgehog, he apparently possessed enough human traits to be considered the first true success of the Initiative.

There was something more to Silver, though. Somehow, he developed psychic powers that led the Initiative--composed of scientists, remember--to conclude that he was an incarnation of Satan himself. It's unclear how and why this happened--if this was the natural result of a "hedgehog with a human mind," if Satan deliberately chose to manifest through Silver, or if it was a freak coincidence--but in any case, Silver the Hedgehog was the Devil himself.

Despite this demonic hiccup, things proceeded well enough for a time--until Daedalus interfered. Deciding the Initiative's leaders weren't harnessing Silver's psychic powers enough, he set about testing and training Silver to unlock his full potential. However, this ultimately resulted in Silver's powers going haywire and obliterating much of the Initiative--not just destroying it, but wiping most of it from existence.

The only known survivors were Gerald Robotnik, Shadow, Shadow 2, Daedalus, and Silver himself. Daedalus used his own powers to make the others think he had died, while Silver's memories were scrambled further through psychic trauma from the event.

The government collected what few files remained and wrote off the Daedalus Initiative, successfully covering it up--with one exception. As a fun side project, some of the Initiative's staff had created a video game with Shadow as the protagonist, and this game was eventually leaked to the public. The government took advantage of this and had it officially published, hoping it would help muddy the waters around the Initiative further--though they were perpetually annoyed at this symbol of their failure.

Gerald would go on to become the right-hand man of his son, Dr. Eggman. Since leaving the military in the wake of the Soleanna disaster, he had become a scientist himself and now sought to conquer the world through robots. On the side, Gerald continued his mission of creating the Ultimate Lifeform, now deciding to create a brand-new creature rather than a derivative of pre-existing species.

The Eggman Empire was opposed by the hero Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, who would eventually be joined by Shadow and Silver. Shadow 2 decided he wanted to live a normal life and stayed out of the action and adventure. (Sonic, incidentally, would become the protagonist of a series of video games spun off from the Shadow game.)

Daedalus, meanwhile, began to study magic (inspired by Silver's demonic powers) through the writings of the Harbingers, a cult that worshipped the evil god Dark Gaia. He became obsessed with prophecy, concluding the Daedalus Initiative's mission was a divine one and that a "human hedgehog" would be the herald of the end times. He also came to believe, though, that Silver was only a stepping stone to that.

Daedalus composed a "Book of Prophecies" and set about gathering resources and allies to fulfill his prophecies and bring about doomsday. In particular, he killed Shadow and impersonated him to manipulate "Team Sonic."

Daedalus's chance came when Eggman began preparing his most elaborate and dangerous plan yet. Princess Elise had learned Shadow was still alive and tried to find him, but she was intercepted by Eggman and brainwashed into thinking Shadow had destroyed Soleanna.

Eggman prepared for an attack on the city of Station Square--Elise, riding a robot dragon, would lead an army of his newest robots, with Gerald's complete Ultimate Lifeform in the wings as a secret weapon.

Daedalus manipulated Sonic into infiltrating the Gunhold alone while his friends fought Elise and the robots. This led to Sonic fighting the Ultimate Lifeform on a ship en route to the city. As Sonic's friends weren't prepared to fight without him, the battle went poorly and Station Square was decimated.

Eggman, already having doubts about the effects of his efforts on the world, was horrified by the level of destruction and made a truce with Team Sonic and Jason King, the mayor of Station Square (who had previously defended Eggman when he was on trial for Soleanna's destruction, despite believing Eggman did do it).

Ultimately, Sonic sacrificed himself to destroy the Ultimate Lifeform and Elise's dragon in one fell swoop, his body carried off into space by Eggman's ship afterwards. Elise was freed from her brainwashing and asked to go back home to Soleanna with "Shadow." He complied in order to keep his cover.

Eggman's ship was intercepted by Daedalus's minions. Sonic, in his current state, was vulnerable to an unholy ritual that would both revive him and transform him into a human, which Daedalus believed was the true way to fulfill his prophecy. The resurrected human Sonic was returned to Station Square while Jason King met with Eggman and some of Sonic's friends.

Thanks to some brainwashing making him more evil and vicious, Sonic was compelled to kill Jason King and take over the city (as the prophecy's next step regarded the human-hedgehog killing "a king standing among his burning kingdom" and conquering said "kingdom"), but Sonic resisted enough to leave King alive and fled.

Later, Sonic managed to rendezvous with "Shadow" and Chaotix. Sonic was overwhelmed with everything that had happened, especially the alterations to his mind he still struggled to resist. Daedalus, set off by Sonic's "self-righteousness," accidentally exposed himself and subsequently revealed the real Shadow was dead.

Daedalus, despite his anger at his prophecy being subverted, had other matters on his mind. He needed to find and kill Gerald, who knew the most about the Initiative and had the best chance of devising a plan against Daedalus.

He used his connections as Shadow with the government surveillance group Chaotix to track down Gerald, who had fled during the Station Square attack to a research station called Skygard. Gerald managed to escape, though, and fled to Station Square.

While this happened, Silver's exposure to the Shadow video game sparked some of his memories about being a clone of Shadow. Silver explained Shadow's history to Knuckles the Echidna, though since his memories were still scrambled, he couldn't recall all the details and his explanation was very confusing.

Eggman then used a device of his to hook the minds of Sonic's friends into the Shadow the Hedgehog video game, hoping they could comb through the code to find secrets about the Daedalus Initiative, but something went wrong and everyone present save for Jason King was knocked out.

Gerald arrived and explained the full history of the Daedalus Initiative to King. While King questioned whether he should kill Silver for being the Devil, Eggman and Team Sonic woke up. However, the accident caused Knuckles and Miles "Tails" Prower's minds to devolve into bestial, non-sapient animals.

[oatmealdaydreams]

I'm having Thoughts. Imagine Ford as Icarus, Fiddleford as Daedalus, Bill as the Sun. Stay with me.

This turned into a silly little drabble, so it's gonna be titled "Greek Myths".

(Edit: ao3 link)

[tw: burns, toxic relationship, major character death, implied death]

-----

Icarus was always an ambitious soul. He wanted to reach further and further, beyond anything anyone else has ever gone. He wants to meet the Sun. He wants to join the Sun. The Sun is so high in the sky, with knowledge endless, with sights unseen by human eyes. The Sun tempts Icarus.

"I will give the knowledge of the cosmos," the Sun says, a promise, "but you must come to me. Create wings made of wax to fly up to my rays. I will guide your hand, and you will fly up to me. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, of course!" Icarus agrees, because he trusts the Sun with an optimistic smile. "Guide me, my celestial, and I will join you. I will fly up to you."

"Until you fall?"

"Until I fall."

Icarus asked Daedalus for help with his Wax Wings Project, knowing his inventive brilliance will be of great importance. Daedalus agreed, because how could he not, and he helped his dear Icarus with his Icarus. They made a pair for Icarus and a pair for Daedalus.

Meanwhile, the Sun kept whispering to Icarus in his dreams. It told him of things beyond this world. It told him of the Gods. It told him of the constellations. It told him of things yet to pass, of things so wonderful, of things so beautiful. The Sun pushed Icarus to make the wings faster. At times, the Sun was harsh with its words. Icarus brushed it off as impatience. While Icarus was sleeping, the Sun would leave little sunspot-like burns to mark the ambitious soul as its own. Icarus did not know where the burns came from. The Sun made up stories, excuses, lies that it was all a part of protecting Icarus. The Sun never told him that protection didn't look like burning embers, but like worried warnings. The Sun couldn't have its sparrow trying to seek someone else, now could it?

Daedalus offered to do a test run for Icarus. They had to make sure the wings worked well enough to truly fly. If only to make sure Icarus would be safe. If only to make sure Icarus would not fall into the sea. Daedalus didn't know about the Sun and its whispers.

Daedalus strapped on his wings made of wax. They were lightweight, enough to be carried by the winds. He stood up on a cliff face. He jumped. He soared, glided through the air with a wonder...before he plummeted. He screamed, and the Sun grew hotter that day, cutting through the clouds. Its rays reached for Daedalus as he fell, cutting little burns into his face.

"Don't distract Icarus, foul little mouse. You will only get hurt the closer you come to me. The churning seas are far more forgiving," it threatened in whispers that hurt Daedalus' ears.

The Sun pulled its rays away just as Icarus came looking for his friend. Daedalus thudded onto a piece of land near the bottom of the cliff. Grassy sands and salty waves. Icarus raced down the cliff side, down to Daedalus, fretting around him as he sank to his knees by his side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "What was flying like? What did you see out above the sea?"

Daedalus yanked the wax wings off himself as he sat up, wincing at the burns on his face. He threw his wings into the vast sea, and Icarus only shouted in confusion as to why anyone would ever throw away the chance to fly.

"Do not fly with wax wings, Icarus," Daedalus warns, wild eyes, "Do not fly too close to the Sun."

Icarus scowled, "I will fly with these wings. I want to reach the Sun. Why are you so against this? What happened? Maybe we just need to adjust--"

"No! You cannot get too close to the Sun."

"That is the whole reason for these wings! If you're so scared of it, then don't fly. But you cannot tell me not to chase my dreams."

"You will fall."

"I won't."

"The sea will kill you."

"I won't fall."

"The Sun will burn you alive."

"The Sun is my celestial, it will not harm me."

Daedalus did all he could to warn Icarus of the Sun's truest nature, but Icarus would not listen. So, worried and defeated and scared, Daedalus left the ambitious soul. Icarus did not try to get him back. He thought Daedalus was jealous, in his way, that it would be better if he wasn't there anyway. The Sun only enabled and reinforced these thoughts, no matter how untrue they were. The Sun wanted to keep its sparrow for itself.

Soon after, Icarus stood on the same cliff face, wearing a pair of wax wings, ready to soar. And he flew! He flew above the sea, past little birds, past little boats, and he aimed for the clouds. He aimed for the Sun.

He went up...and up...and up...

And Icarus fell.

The Sun cackled as his wings melted in its rays. It called him silly, and foolish, and naïve.

"You promised you'd give me the knowledge of the cosmos!" Icarus cried as he fell.

"Our deal was if you could reach me, little sparrow. It was only until you fell. You said so! It's your own fault you couldn't reach your own ambitions," the Sun taunted.

"You promised!"

"Don't put trust in promises, sparrow."

And as the sea swallowed Icarus whole, churning and storming as the Sun disappeared behind flashing clouds, all he could think about was the warning Daedalus had given him.