#the stars that gazed back

[acourtofquestions]

A lovely girl gazing at the stars,

She looked up at the sky and whispered, take anything away from me, take it all if you want to; but please- please, let me keep this one thing

and the stars who gazed back.

[lunarmoves]

Can't stop thinking of the scenario where y/n leaves the Pizzaplex feeling like Sun honestly wanted them gone, and Sun becomes obsessed with finding them and also leads a robot apocalypse. What would happen if y/n caught wind that Sun is looking specifically for them and seeing all that has happened with the robots takes that as "Oh no, I thought he tolerated me but turns out he dislikes me so much he personally wants to get rid of me himself" so they try extra hard to go into hiding out of fear of what will happen if they're captured and taken to him?

ohhh my goddd nonnie u are so big brained!!!!!!! thank u for sending this in bc honestly i have also been thinking about this au for a while LMAO. if i was strong enough i would write a 50k fic spliced into two arcs (im thinking about it so hard u have no idea!!!!!!) for this but alas.... /stares at my incomplete wips/ i am not </3

(added in from future shay: what have u done nonnie this became so much longer than i'd intended, u basically get the whole fic outline here. cw for death and murder n stuff, typical fnaf. also spoilers for a fic i may or may not write?? like. this is me brainstorming and shoving all my ideas here lol. literally all of them)

okay so... let us set the stage a little bc i can't help myself. arc1 of this hypothetical fic would of course involve the pizzaplex where reader and sun get "closer" over the course of like a year. maybe more. well sun feels close to you. you, on the other hand, do not. why would you? this robot has been so passive aggressive with you and though it seems like he's nice enough to you (in comparison to the other humans), you really don't like how he treats you some days. what he says about humanity as a whole. you can't help it! yeah humanity sucks sometimes and robots were built to be everything that humans aren't, but he can't generalize in the way that he does at times and forget that these are people!! with feelings and ambitions and dreams! 'superiority complex' doesn't even begin to cover his issues, gahh!!

(the fact that he's been treated like absolute shit, working in the daycare does not help whatsoever. the mean parents, the kids who don't listen to him, the staff tht does the bare minimum on him in terms of maintenance because he's the daycare robot and not one of the glamrocks. it grinds his gears)

i imagine the reader in this fic believes that robots are indeed sentient, which is why you try to get sun to recognize and acknowledge his own emotions/feelings (which he vehemently denies, even tho there are literal riots happening worldwide regarding robot sentience. he's lying to you. you know he's lying to you. but you don't know why he denies it so much. ((maybe this is the point where he catches feels for reader and is denying the fact tht he's crushing on a human lol)). the government is not happy about these uprisings, of course, and every day the news shows more and more chaos unfolding as robots get tired of the conditions they are in). but eventually, things boil over and you end up leaving. that, and it's becoming more dangerous, living in this area, with everything going on. maybe your parents are trying to convince you to move elsewhere. maybe there are other external circumstances. in any case, you leave. there is nothing at the pizzaplex for you anymore, sun has made that clear.

(and moon... well, moon has been quiet lately. too quiet. you don't know what happened to him, he won't even look at you when you manage to get some time with him when the lights go out after your shift)

((i imagine this is maybe around when they get infected. that makes everything even more complicated. if you thought sun was obsessive before, then that's nothing compared to a glitched out sun unforch. it just amplifies the more questionable aspects of his entire personality. and like, he doesn't even have vanny/afton commanding him bc as soon as he gets the virus? he kills both of them))

(((also im imagining moon and sun don't really get along in this au bc they have differing ideals/views. like to balance out sun's unhingedness, moon is significantly quieter and softer and deffo does not believe in robot superiority lol. if anything, maybe he has an inferiority complex pfft poor guy. doesn't help when he gets glitchtrap'd and wakes up with blood on his hands)))

okay so you leave, right? and a few weeks later, you see the news on your phone--the pizzaplex has burned down. you don't know how to feel about it. sure you've been friendly to the glamrocks and stuff, but you find yourself thinking about sun and moon. there's a mention of one death--a blond woman, who died from her neck snapping before the flames could reach her. you don't want to think of the implications of that. there's no mention of the glamrocks--of sun or moon or the dj. you're not sure if the news anchors are just excluding robots, but either way, it makes your heart sink. you take a moment to mourn. bc at the end of the day.... you did know sun for over a year.

not even a few days after that, there is a robot uprising in your city. it's... bad. you're at home, watching the news with your apartment half in shambles from your plan on moving back home with your parents. in my head, since utah is home to fazco (a megacorporation with hands in the development of a LOT of the robots seen in society), it also means it's a hotspot for robot riots and the like. fazco vehemently denies robot sentience because it would mean a loss of money in acknowledging their workers are people yk how it is. as such, there are maany protests and riots and stuff, from both humans and robots. it's a shitshow.

ANYWAYS you're at home and it becomes evidently clear that you need to get out of dodge as soon as you can. they were killing people. the robots, built by human hands, were killing. it brings about absolute chaos. in prior riots/protests there were never deaths. injuries, maybe, but never deaths. people start evacuating like crazy.

you catch a glimpse on the news that the violent uprising in utah caused a chainlink reaction to extend all across the nation. maybe even the world. you're scrambling all over your apartment with the tv on the news, doing your best to pack up the essentials. there's live coverage on the tv from a helicopter somewhere not far from your apartment complex. and you're able to catch a glimpse of bright rays and a cheshire, white smile on the screen--leading what looks like an army of robots--before it cuts out.

you don't even know what to think. the image is seared into your eyes, the blood that painted yellow hands and a crescent face.

you get the hell out of your apartment and book it as far as you can. communications are down everywhere--the thing about robots? they know exactly where to hit humans to cause a catastrophe. as such, your phone is useless. they've hijacked the satellites and took down certain powergrids. having a phone on you would only be a detriment, so you ditch it. there's only you now. you must survive.

and then there's a bit of a time skip to start arc2. in this duration, you're long gone from that city in utah, living with a small survival group. if you've read my summer camp au fic, this is where i'll bring in "OCs" such as vincent (a play on 2015 vincent) and jeremy (fitzgerald or the VR guy tht used to work for fazco), maybe michael if i really wanna au fudge everything. you all live day by day, trying to run away from the robots.

at this point, a majority of humanity has either been killed or has gone into hiding. i think while the robots don't want to eradicate humanity completely (after all, there are certain tasks that need humans n such), they definitely want to make them a minority. they are a little more than halfway through their goal.

it's very difficult to evade robot surveillance. there are drones everywhere. all cameras are hijacked. i'm imagining a kind of cyberpunk type world. you have EMPs and tasers that you can use to disable electronics, but they're made from scraps you and your group scavenged. and upon immediately using one, all robots in the area are informed of your presence, so they can only be used in rare and desperate circumstances. they are all connected to the same network, which means they can have a hive mind, at times. life is scary, in this regard. big brother is watching.

you've heard rumors of a human base underground somewhere--a place safe from robots with the proper defenses. accepting to any and all. the only tough thing was finding the damn place, but you've seen the clues in graffiti and hidden messages designed to trick AI (think: captcha). you and your group just wants to get to that damn base and stop living in fear all the time, being out in the open or crawling as stealthily as you can through empty streets.

the one thing sun used to emphasize to you? the way robots are more efficient. and that they are. you see it in the way a new metropolis shines like a beacon on the horizon. they've already built their own kingdom of sorts. and their ruler? you grimace as you think about sharp rays and wide, white eyes. you haven't seen him in ages--not since that initial broadcast. but you hear the whispered rumors and news. how he has created a robot haven--the celestial city. how he scorns humans. you blame yourself sometimes. maybe if you had stayed and tried harder to convince sun that humans aren't all too bad, none of this would have happened.

(a memory comes to you--of your time back at the pizzaplex. of you sitting atop the security desk and kicking your feet lightly as you entertain sun's... uniqueness. ambitions--that you did not take as seriously as you should have.

"okay, i'll bite," you said in amusement. "what would a robot takeover look like for you?"

sun cocked his head, hands fidgeting with a plush. "hmm. well. i suppose it would be a very quick thing, for one. hit hard and fast." he squeezed the plush. "take down comms. strike power sources. go for those in power first, then the weaker ones." he gave you a shrug and an unreadable smile. "from then on, carnage."

and you--silly silly you--just rolled your damn eyes at him like he was joking around with you and asked him about more hypotheticals. picking his brain, in a way. it was exact with how it played out in real time. you thought about this often, at the dead of night.

it was all your fucking fault)

and then, one day, the scout/informant of your little group--jeremy probably--comes back with some news. the celestial ruler--sun--has been taking human hostages. it's been happening for a while now, apparently, almost nearly as long as the uprising. jeremy pulls out some hazy photographs he's gotten from some of the other humans he exchanges info with. you look at them, the hostages.

after a minute or two of staring, you realize something.

they all sort of resemble you.

there's a clear pattern actually. your hair or your face shape or your eyes or your smile. some combination of them. but never actually you. you ask jeremy what it all means, and he hesitatingly says that it looks like sun is looking for someone. it's clear to everyone who it is as they all stare at you.

and you? you're panicking.

he's looking specifically for you. just you. you've never heard of the robots taking hostages, and you have no idea what he's doing with them, but it can't be anything good. especially since he keeps taking more and more of your lookalikes hostage. you think back to your time at the pizzaplex--so distant, now, that it almost feels like a dream.

he wants to kill you himself. you're sure of it.

now you're trying even harder to get to that underground base. you go completely dark, doing your best to evade detection--and i imagine there are quite a few close calls, definitely a few instances where your face is captured on camera or you have to use an EMP. until finally, you and your group manage to integrate into the underground human base.

'base' doesn't even properly describe it. it's a whole city, actually, with unsteady houses made of wood and cloth. it's the perfect place to hide.

you spend a while down there, occasionally venturing up when you're allowed to by the guards (it's rare, very very rare). the city has strict rules that must be followed to ensure it's not found. the ones in charge are constantly looking for news on the actions of sun and the majority of robots. they don't really keep the citizens updated--it would cause too much chaos, you think. but you hear whispers now and then. (the robots have expanded territory. france is completely gone. australia's still holding out. most of china and india have been taken over and their factories have all been transformed to mass produce more robots)

for the first time in a while, you think you can find peace down here. it was only inevitable that this would be ruined one day.

you wake up to chaos.

the underground is under siege. the robots have found you.

you run out of your makeshift house and have to dodge crumbling stone. explosions rock through the air, sending dust and debris everywhere. you're scared for your life--your only instinct is to run run run get out it's not safe! you don't know where your friends are. you don't know if they're alive. for a moment, you hesitate. and then you're bolting to try to find them. they had their own little homes not too far from you. you can find them. no man left behind.

you can hear bullets and the hum of energy everywhere. people are screaming and crying all around you. you see people dying before your eyes, impaled by beams of light or stray bullets. it's all you can do to dodge and weave towards vincent's house.

but before you can get there, something tackles you from behind. you roll across dirt, and find yourself pinned under a robot--a staffbot from the pizzaplex, you realize. except it looks--different. more high tech.

it seems to scan your face. and just before it can finish, you manage to grab a stray metal rod laying on the ground next to you and stab it right through the eye.

you scramble, getting as far away as you can from the thing. but-- you run right into the path of a crumbling building. it buries you halfway under thick wood, and something sears its way through your leg. you're trapped. you're trapped and there's no one around to help you.

and just when you're on the brink of passing out, you see him. standing in front of you a ways away. those same star-patterned pants and dangling cap. but he's different somehow, he looks different. you can't place it, your vision blurring into red and purple.

moon looks at you as though you are the last thing he wants to see. and then you faint.

when you wake up, you're in a bedroom. your leg is in a cast and there are crutches near your bed.

it's... the nicest room you've seen in a while. the windows are covered by thick curtains that let in a sliver of light. you have to blink a bit to let your eyes adjust. and then you get up, noticing you aren't in the same ratty, dirty clothes you'd been wearing for forever.

you try the door first. it's locked. there's a sinking sensation in your gut that gets stronger and stronger the closer you get to the window. and when you pull open the curtains, you gasp at the towering buildings, bright green and blue light, and flying drones.

you are in the middle of the celestial city.

you panic hard. and then you notice the camera in the corner of the room, looking right at you. big brother is definitely watching. you give him the bird.

you wallow around in the bedroom for a bit. you are hungry, you cannot deny. and there is only a glass of water for you set on your nightstand.

but eventually, the door opens of its own accord. an automatic lock, you suppose. and it swings open into a dark hall. you do not have any other choice but to follow. it's clear you are being summoned.

there are no places for you to run or hide. you travel down a long hallway and end up in a wide room with someone tall standing at the far end by the window. it's a scene straight out of a movie. you are not impressed.

the figure turns around, and you do a double take. it's sun--yet it's not.

he looks different. taller, stronger. with clawed fingers and rays that look deadly to the touch. his smile is sharper, his torso has all sorts of compartments and attachments. he was modded to all hell, just like that staffbot you saw earlier. it had to have been self inflicted.

he only stares at you, really. white eyes rake up and down your form, taking you in. you don't say a word, only look back at him. and then you flinch slightly when someone emerges from the shadows next to sun.

it's... moon. looking just as modded as sun. you're confused. when did they become separate? but honestly, you think it makes sense. they never really liked each other. it makes sense that sun would want to be separated as soon as possible--and they had the resources to do so. you just wonder why they're still working together. comfort in the familiarity, maybe.

moon doesn't meet your eye. you notice his is different--the red tinged with purple. sun doesn't look away from you. it makes you uneasy.

you don't know why you're here, but one thing's clear: you are not getting out of here anytime soon.

i'm honestly not sure how to end things, but in my head there's a lot of reconciliation that needs to happen. obv sun is so incredibly down bad for you at this point (and moon), but there are many issues that need to be tackled first.

sun doesn't understand why you're so wary around him. moon keeps avoiding you at every turn. there's still an entire revolution and remaking of society happening. you are constantly being watched by cameras in the building. i can't picture things as returning to normal--post uprising--but i also don't know how to end things on a happy note LOL, though i do want to instead of killing off reader or sun/moon. maybe it'll be a bittersweet sort of end, maybe reader finally gets through to sun. maybe eclipse will make an appearance (jk, idk how i would even do that, this might be an eclipse-less fic).

in any case, the next bit would be a lot of sun and reader connecting better than they had in the pizzaplex, a lot of sun trying to understand humans better cuz he's trying to court you-- and has long come to accept his emotions tbh. tho he's still kind of mad at you for leaving, so there needs to be a conversation of sorts about why you left before sun can really begin to understand how he appears to you. idk!

i also feel like moon isnt nearly fleshed out as sun is?? i dunno, i might have to think some more about him. i just know he's terrified of hurting you, esp with him still having the virus (and sun, but he has better control of it). gonna be a lot of work on your part to get him to be comfortable around you again. also, he doesn't like the fact that society has come to this. he lowkey resents sun, but he doesn't have anyone else. what's a bot to do?

also there may be a scene where your survival group tries to save you lol, maybe with an army that tries to seize control of the celestial city. which may work. this would be a bad end, i think, cuz there's no way sun's getting out of that alive.

anyways yeah. i rambled enough LMAOO whoopsie! i rly just regurgitated all the thoughts in my head. no promises that this will be a fic, i've got enough on my plate as is LOL

[pixelatedraindrops]

A highly feverish Yuma and Makoto 🌡️ (39.05 c)

This was an art trade I received from BBQchap0 on twitter ✨

Small Rambling below

original and copy, same body, same mind, same frail immune system (they often get sick at the same time)

The 2 worlds greatest minds are going to have to take some time off working today. They’ve unfortunately both been afflicted by a sudden spiking fever and can hardly move. As they lay in bed, fatigued, aching, and sweating through their clothes, they could only struggle to try to help themselves.

This is such an attractive piece. I think I’m in love...

I could go on about this but, I'm literally about to combust 😳💦

In shorter words:

This is the most lovely art trade I have ever gotten and one of the most gorgeous pieces of art I've ever gotten in my entire life.

I cannot praise it enough, this belongs in a legit art gallery... I'm so honored to have gotten something this pretty I could cry...

💕💦(┬┬﹏┬┬) 💦💕

HOW did they make these disheveled sick boys look so BEAUTIFUL??? I can legit FEEL their struggle, its too good I could die

What a vision…makoto's uninterested yet tired expression...yuma with the thermometer in his mouth as his clone weakly assists him...and those glorious skin flush tints of red and pink coupled with the beads of sweat and messy hair…

AND THOSE COLORS…

Yeah. I’m not normal 🫠

Its…perfection

[varilien]

since when did the stars stop shining so brightly?

Palestine: Funds | Action | eSims | Info Sudan Resources | Congo Resource | Lebanese Red Cross

[kitnita]

well, let's leave this all behind us on the road

ty dellandrea, gm jim nill agreed ‘it was time’ to part ways ahead of trade to san jose by lia assimakopoulos for the dallas morning news, june 24, 2024; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea on locker cleanout day via the dallas stars, june 4, 2024; "october" by HAPPY LANDING; dallas stars vs. san jose sharks in dallas, texas on october 15, 2024; ty dellandrea & jake oettinger pose for jake's 100th win on february 29, 2024 via the dallas stars; stars’ jake oettinger and ty dellandrea share a special bond: ‘we’ve done it all’ by saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; jake oettinger is at home with the stars by matthew defranks for the dallas morning news, october 10, 2022; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea pose with their first nhl goal & first nhl win pucks via jeff toates, january 28, 2021; jake oettinger on ty dellandrea after game 4 vs. vegas, april 29, 2024; "blue" by laura elliot; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea on the bench after practice via the dallas stars, march 8, 2024; "rearview" by brenn!; jake oettinger with his arm around ty dellandrea after game 5 vs. vegas via trey hill, may 27, 2023; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; lia assimakopoulos for the dallas morning news, june 24, 2024; sharks sign ty dellandrea for nhl.com, july 4, 2024; ty dellandrea cradling jake oettinger's face via jake oettinger's instagram, june 19, 2024; "rearview" by brenn!; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea before morning skate via saad yousuf, january 10, 2024; jake oettinger on ty dellandrea after game 4 vs. vegas, april 29, 2024; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea pose with their first nhl goal & first nhl win pucks via jake oettinger's instagram, january 28, 2021; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; "october" by HAPPY LANDING.

[tremendouskoalachild]

dialogue references to the original trilogy :)

[vv-ispy]

In a better world nb and Venti would have gone on midnight dates together

[novasjaneway]

[gazelessmenagerie]

" You worthless insects will Suffer me now. "

[acourtofquestions]

I imagine Celaena finally seeing the sun after a year in Endovier must’ve looked a lot like this…

…The utter joy to see the sky & marveling at the world. The wonder of it still managing to light up the eyes of someone who has seen the very worst of it. It’s no wonder both Chaol & Dorian fell in love with her … how could you not love that?

[lunarmoves]

Going feral over Bleeding Wires and ngl as much as I GET the reader's freeze response, I'd at some point give into the impulse to deadpan at Sun. /pos

Like "Dude, you're making me feel like a prey animal." Or "Ya know. When Moon says that, it sounds like an intrusive thought. When you say it, it sounds like a threat."

Also separately giggling about him pondering my habit of tacking on "Be safe" to goodbyes and not Getting it until the revolution. Woe, memory of it being used for him too be upon him.

LMAOO BROOO that's understandable. and okay okay well. let me give u a small example of what would happen if you said that after sun says some generic evil AI bullshit:

"sun," you say carefully, wary of the way his smile sharpens in the fluorescent lighting. "you do realize that sounds like a threat, right?"

his eyes curve into crescents, rays giving a little spin about his face. "that is because it is one, friend."

you pause. "right," you reply after a moment. "i have to go make a phone call now, see you later."

[0.5 seconds after you've left the daycare and dialed security]

"yeah the daycare attendant's making super threatening comments about humanity and i kind of fear for my life," you whisper hurriedly into your phone. you'd scurried as far away as possible from the daycare entrance, though you can still see sun standing in the same place you'd left him in--staring at you through the window. you turn away. "maybe get him down to maintenance soon??"

yeah that wouldn't end well.

during the entirety of arc1, there are a lot of protests happening and talks about revolution from the robots, so if fazco catches wind that one of their own bots is saying shit like that? immediate memory wipe and/or scrapping. sorry sun</3 no chances are taken by the megacorporation

(and yeah, sure, maybe a law was passed a while ago saying that it's illegal to wipe a bot's memory without their permission (bc of course sun would be vehemently against that). but when has fazco ever given a shit about the law LMFAOO)

anyways, a more serious answer about reader's reactions... it hasnt been something i've really thought about? but now that i have... i think at the start maybe you brush off his comments easily. you make little jabs back at him or you go /raises eyebrow/ "srsly man?" but as time goes on and sun continues saying shit... you start to realize that oh. he's not just joking. he's being serious about his revolution ruminations or backhanded comments about humans. and so your reactions go from "lmao u know thats a threat right" to "haha im in danger." ESPECIALLY since u are very much vividly aware of how much stronger he is than you. and its not like fazco has the cleanest track record either yk? people go missing. it'd make anyone shit bricks

as for your "be safe" bit... assuming i've interpreted it correctly-- yeah i think he'd be like "oh. i have taken that for granted" in the face of the revolution. bc i can imagine him being like "??? 'be safe'?? no human can harm me" while you and him are still in the pizzaplex. and then he comes face to face with all the nasties of an uprising and the violence and human military etc etc and he thinks about you telling him to be safe. can picture it vividly in his mind, really. and he's like, "ah, i will never hear those words again. i have to make sure i am safe until i can see them again." i think it would haunt him fr

[skania]

#TBH would love to see your opinion on akane getting the star eyes#other than just ‘she’s copying ai’ bc I think that’s a bit of a cop out#sure i think she highly empathizes with ai#but I think there’s more too it but idk how to put it in words

Thank you so much for bringing this up @verimin because this is another thing I see a lot and I just. don't. get it!

We see Akane acting as Ai twice in the manga. The first time she does it because she needs to put on a role, and the girls suggest she act as Aqua's ideal woman.

That's it, that's all there is to it. Akane was just playing a role.

The second time is, again, all about playing a role. She is auditioning to play Ai, so she obviously acts as Ai.

These are by no means the only instances where we have seen Akane with the star eyes though.

(Spoilers for the entire manga below the cut!)

Whenever she becomes one with the character she is playing, she gets the starry eyes.

This is also the case for these two instances:

In both cases here, Akane is channeling the emotions of a character that she has made her own. She is empathizing with Ai to the point that she feels her emotions, but it's only because she constructed Ai's profile and character so thoroughly in her mind.

So basically, it's once again about acting.

This one instance could be the only outlier, but it actually fits the same pattern.

Her experience during Love Now taught her that she needs to play a role in front of the camera to protect herself.

Before Love Now, Akane was always just herself in front of the camera and that almost killed her. Now, she knows better than to show her vulnerability.

So instead of showing how nervous she is, she acts collected.

And so, since she is still acting, she gets the star eyes.

It's not that Akane is imitating Ai, it's that what she went through during Love Now changed her. She didn't only learn to lie in front of the camera, she also gained the confidence to do the kind of acting that commands all the attention to herself.

So you could say that doing a psychological analysis of Ai made some of Ai's confidence and her ability to tell convincing lies rub-off on her, but that's about it.

Besides, while it may have contributed to bringing her out of her shell, the fact that Akane is able to pull it off so effortlessly shows she was born with it.

All in all, saying that Akane is copying Ai makes no sense because we can clearly see Akane do a 180° whenever she plays her lol

[cloud-makers-make-pollution]

One day when I have a partner and we’re adults we’re going on a stargazing date this is beautiful

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

☆ Put this star into the inbox of your favorite blogs. It's time to spread positivity!

Here you go! For you, an amazing artist and creator who always hides your best things in the tags!

!!! !!!!! my tablet is Dead but rest assured i am holding the star over my head and staring very hard at it!!!

[bogglebabbles]

I sometimes think to myself, "I miss having a dog," but idk that I miss having a dog so much as I miss having Lux.

[journey-to-the-attic]

ok, so I love zhaolu with all my heart BUT I'm curious, did you ever consider making dialuci into a real thing in jtta? Like, I know that's not what you're going for, but did it ever cross your mind? 👀

i think the idea of doing so did, but i don't think i ever considered actually doing it - it just didn't really appeal to me at the time. fun fact, i went into the fic fully intending not to include any romance apart from wizlecto's established relationship (which as we all know has now fallen through)

generally i'm not the biggest fan of their romantic dynamic - i feel like if i were to push them in a more intimate direction, they'd be more of a qpr