#this is in theor second first year

[here-we-go-again-fic]

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/644129/complete?cd=AYoQa71auz

[autogyne-redacted]

Let's Talk About Security Culture: Why Keeping Secrets is Cool and Sexy

It's a natural impulse -- if you love crime -- to want to talk about how great it is. And if you hate America, it's only natural to want to share your dreams for its future with the rest of tumblr dot com. It can feel brave and transgressive. And there is a drive to share your soul with the world at the heart of social media. Surely I should be posting the most concrete implications of my politics, right? This is the poster's curse.

Security Culture refers to a set of "best practices" developed over the past several decades, largely (in a US context) coming out of radical environmental groups as they faced intense state repression, infiltration and entrapment. If you're not familiar, there's some fascinating crimethinc write ups to give you a window into that world:

Much of it boils down to: don't talk about crimes, past or forthcoming with people who don't need to know about them, and be mindful of the possibility of surveillance and infiltration. And, we can support each other as a community in minimizing risks, with an eye towards enabling bold action rather than getting bogged down in fears and anxieties. The guidelines that make sense for AG-based trouble-makers are different from the guidelines that make sense for posters, but plenty of common principles apply. To speak briefly to our position here as posters:

First, it bears saying that long term anonymity is extremely nearly impossible to maintain. Unless you've never accessed Tumblr without a vpn, and avoided connections with other ppl who can be associated with you/your location, and never shared pictures without scrubbing metadata, and a bunch of other 100% consistent steps, it's trivial for the state to know who you are.

Second, just because something isn't actively being prosecuted now doesn't mean it can't be prosecuted later. The priorities of the state change and a shift in power towards the right or a growth in radical action from the left can suddenly make it a priority to destroy anarchist networks or just find a few ppl to prosecute as examples (who probably weren't that plugged into larger networks before getting arrested. Advocating for specific anti-government crimes or declarations of intent to commit such crimes are likely prosecutable even if charges don't stick they're an easy vector for legal harassment.

Third, it's worth thinking about heat as separate from prosecutability. There are modes of engagement that may not be directly criminalized but signal that you are someone worth watching. Some people choose to be public in ways that make heat unavoidable. But it's worth noting that heat isn't strictly individualized, that it persists over time but also is going to shrink over time.

It's easy on here, ime, to see yourself as a proud member of the crime fandom but not much of a content creator. And it's easy to feel like you've generated an amount of heat where you're locked into that role. But heat you generated 10 years ago is probably pretty well gone. Heat you generated 5 years ago has faded substantially. It's worth thinking about how the world might shift in the coming years and what doors you want to keep open.

The non-individualized nature of heat also means that leaning into the spiciest of anti-state positions will make it a bad idea for people who are acting out those positions end up tied to you. Loudly talking about how "more people should be doing [X/Y/Z]" unfortunately sets you up to remain distant from people who might be doing or thinking about doing such things.

Which brings me back to: keeping secrets is sexy. Not spelling everything out builds intrigue. You can lay out a theoretical position and leave working out the practical implications of that as an exercise for the reader. There's value in opacity. The poster's curse and the drive to confess are extremely convenient for the state, but we can resist them. We can hold dreams in our hearts that we refuse to offer up to the posting spectacle.

[rafesslxt]

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 🐅🐆

(n)sfw | masterlist | words: 724

🐾 she‘s pureblood and from an old money family like Theo

🐾 she attends the Ilvermorny school since her family lives in America

🐾 they met through a gala when they were around the age of 13, hosted by her parents. Theo‘s family attended since their family‘s are old friends.

🐾 when he first laid eyes on her, his face fell together with his jaw almost to the floor. he had never seen such a beautiful creature in his life before, suddenly forgetting all of the other pretty girls in hogwarts

🐾 since then he would try to convince his parents every holiday to meet up with your family just so he could see you.

🐾 he quieckly noticed your obsession with animal prints and the animals like tigers and leopards itself. She would always wear something with the print and If it weren‘t clothes, it would be her nails, shoes or jewerly.

🐾 he always found it cringe cause usually older women would wear them but when he saw them on you, he found it cute and the older he got the sexier he found them

🐾 Theo often found himself staring at you and then blushing for the first time in his life when you caught him with a teasing little smirk on your face

🐾 when their parents talked about business, they often send Theo and y/n outside to "take a walk". But secretly they didn‘t want them to hear anything about the dark lord and also tried to couple them up

🐾 she liked Theo but didn‘t tell him cause she thought it would be for the best since they saw eacv other only over the holidays

🐾 y/n‘s strong, confident, independent, loyal, cussing, ambitious, clever and cunning

🐾 and Theodore loved every aspect of it no matter If she outsmarted him or always had the last word. He adored her to no end and the older the two got the deeper his feeling has gotten.

🐾 one night they both sneaked out and met at a secret little lake in the forest. The air around them was thick and warm from the previous sun. She wore a little bikini in (of course) her usual print style and he had to look away to not come right here and there in his swimming trousers.

🐾 to his luck it was dark and without any lights around them but the moon so it was hard to see his boner he tried to hide and thinking of something like Professor Snape to get it gone

🐾 she smirked to herself because of course she would notice how stiff he suddenly became around her, trying to keep some space between theor swimming bodys.

🐾 while Theo tried to not look at her cleavage or thighs when you floated at the surface, her mind was at ease and even tho she never told him but it was because of him. He always brought such an peaceful aura to her that no matter how mad she was about a previous fight with her parents, as soon as she laid her eyes on him, her anger was gone

🐾 but at the same time she loved teasing him and stirring up his control a little by brushing past him and whispering innocent things into his ear but not without her lip brushing against his ear.

🐾 she swam towards him and around him, playing with his mind a little. The nearer she came the harder his heart pounded inside his chest, forgetting everything else around him.

🐾 she let her manicured nails slowly gaze over his shoulders and neck, lightly pulling at the hair at the back until a low groan left his lips and a huge redness spilled over his cheeks.

🐾 oh how many nights there were when he had his fist around his hard on after you teasingly brushed against him in your tight little tiger printed dress.

🐾 at his last year in hogwarts, he was thrilled to graduate and move back to italy where your parents moved back to after living in America.

🐾 when the day finally came he already missed his friends and the walls of his second home but his mind couldn‘t stop thinking about all of the opportunities he had now especially with you in the same town.

i‘m thinking about a part 2? got inspired to do this when i saw these pictures on pinterest 💋

taglist: @sofa-couch26 @itsarajr @hisparentsgallerryy @mixvchelle @ummmmmmm-username @belle-blue @beautywine @sagetakami @simp-for-fantasy @i-like-pandas5 @themissingweasley26 @justarandomcanadiantransdude @helendeath @thatonepansexual2000 @imabee-oralizard @supernaturaldawning @yourenogoodforme

xoxo sarah <3

[mollysunder]

For Valentine's Day, it's time to get real about Silco and Singed and the unfulfilled emotional affair they've been carrying out for years. For years, likely over a decade these men have known each other. At first, they most certainly relied on each other out of convenience because who else would have these men that fell from grace?

A disgraced academic and a gangster betrayed by the one closest to him who's living on borrowed time. And yet they found eachother and made it work. Did anyone believe in the potential of Shimmer before Silco supported him? Were there any real pathways to successfully intimidate Piltover before Singed created Shimmer? The worst tragedies of their lives led them to one another, and through each other they enabled their drive and fruition of their deepest desires.

Through the years their partnership never waned, Singed didn't even have hard feelings towards Jinx over the explosion, Silco is comfortable to let her get a second opinion from him. I like to think when Silco adopted Jinx, it unlocked this last barrier to an emotional connection that Silco and Singed were capable of. It wasn't Silco and Singed's escapades in bastardry that enabled eachother's ruthless drive, it was the love both had for their children is what humanized them best to the other.

Now all I can think about is if after saving Jinx's life, when Singed learns that Silco died, he might feel frustration at losing a stable long-term partner. But when Singed learns that it was Jinx who killed Silco, he'll be relieved, because if one had to die that day, it's best for a parent to go than watch theor child do so, Singed can say from experience.

I don't know how to end this.

Tldr: Silco and Singed are the real old man yaoi of Arcane. Happy Valentine's Day!

[thediktatortot]

Eddie/Billy Omegaverse kidfic

Eddie and Billy find out they probably shouldn't have tried to use the pullout method.

Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Happy Ending, Beta Eddie, Omega Billy

AO3

1,964 words

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Billy always thought he was an only child, but after he and Eddie get a little lax with the protection and he realizes he's pregnant he soon finds out that twins run in his family according to the hospital records that get sent over from California when he goes for his first appointment in Indianapolis.

Not having known that he had a twin at birth who didn't make it, his mom and dad having never told him about it because it was hard for the both of them anyway and they didn't feel the need to let Billy know. He doesn't know why Neil never used it against him, never told him about the brother he'd somehow killed or it was all his fault.

Billy will probably never know why Neil didn't say anything and to be completely honest? He's tired of feeling so tied to Neil, always second guessing himself and putting himself down all the time because of him.

He want's to forget Niel. He wants to go out and live his fucking life without giving a shit what he thinks about him. It's a scary thought but he's so tired of trying to keep a relationship with his dad that's never going to get better.

By the time it would take to get better between them Billy might actually be in a happier place by then if he just finally cuts the cord and lives his fucking life. Neil be damned. He can do his own shit with is own life, Billy doesn't want or need his attempts at "doing better".

Neil's the reason he never considered himself the Omega type, never having felt in touch with that part of his body and frankly didn't care too until recently, wanting to stop feeling so ashamed over the things other people do all the time.

It takes almost fifteen minutes of Billy panicking silently in the closed off room before he asks the nurse to get Eddie.

Billy feels nauseous even as Eddie steps into the room, the two catching each other's eyes. They don't really say much, neither knowing what to do as they check out and get back into Eddie's van. Billy barely heard the nurse's voice as she tried to give him information as they left.

Eddie is a mixture of both fear and joy.

He's never been a "kid guy", but there's a deep seated desire that he's always had in the wake of his own father's lack of fathering that he always felt that he wanted to change for someone else. "Be the change you want to see" sort of thing he holds deep in his heart that his little metal Head persona has paved over in order to look cool and survive through Highschool.

Now he just feels sort of nauseous, the reality of whats happening is frightening on so many different levels. Billy looks about the same, a little green around the gills and a bit wide eyed.

Eddie's only 24 and Billy's only 21, almost 22 in a few months.

They have only one argument. Not really even an argument, more of a few seconds of fear that makes Billy bark out "What the fuck am I going to do?" before hitting the dash and Eddie to jump and snap, "I don't know!"

They leave off in silence after that, the two of them stewing silently in theor own minds as they both see the end of their years as young guys with no cares in the world coming to a halting stop right before their eyes.

Billy wants to find happiness in the moment, wants to know that this shouldn't be such a bad feeling, but he can't help but want to get out of the car and cry out in anger, throw a tantrum or something like a kid. That's how he feels at least still, like a kid, not old enough to feel as though he's experienced life in any truly adult way, but also young enough to have thought he was adult enough to play around like he did.

He didn't really think about the consequences. Adults think about consequences and Billy does not feel like he's earned the title of adult, even if he hates to admit that.

Eddie's practically vibrating in the drivers seat, nervous energy washing off him in waves as he berates himself in his head for being so stupid.

He should have known better.

He should have thought about these things.

He should have been smarter, should have taken the fucking time to slow down and not just get into things without thinking like he never does.

He shouldn't have let his dick get the say in things and he definitely shouldn't have gotten Billy into this because now Billy's going to discover how much of a useless piece of shit he is.

Eddie knows he's freaking out and he knows he's just projecting the things everyone says about him onto himself, but it's a part of himself he has a hard time fully accepting. But it's the part of him that wants to live life and experience things, wants to be smart and loved and admired for the things he does, knowing he deserves just as much as the next guy.

It's also why he wants to be so cool all the time, why he wants people to see a facade he puts on. He doesn't want people to see he's a total fucking scaredy cat when it comes to anything serious.

Billy just feels numb now. Eddie feels like he's going to explode.

Eddie drops Billy off at home, Neil is mostly out of the picture after Billy was holed up in the hospital after shit went down those years ago, now he gives Susan a hundred bucks a month and pays for his own food and shit. His room is about as small as his closet when they lived in California, but he often ends up falling asleep at Eddie's now a days.

"I'll...call you, okay? Tonight? Can you let me...can tell me-" Eddie says after he parks the van in front of Billy's house and a few seconds of silence pass.

"I think I need a few uhm....days, to..." Billy just needs to be alone for a little bit, needs time to hide from everyone for at least a day. He feels overwhelmed and he knows he's not long from making a fucking fool of himself in front of Eddie and probably everyone in the trailer.

"I need to just, think about this...on my own for- for a few days."

Eddie feels cold flush down him like ice-water, the feeling of rejection pressing hard at his throat. He gets it, he knows Billy. He knows Billy needs alone time and probably just needs to let off some steam.

"Okay." He nods, voice tight as Billy nods quietly in return and gets out, leaving Eddie to head home alone.

It takes two days for Billy to let reality sink in and to accept his new place in life.

He's gotten good at accepting whatever comes his way while growing up in the life he had, and he doesn't see any reason that it can't work for this.

The only reason this time feels different is because he's trying to convince himself to be happy for once.

He's always had his dream of getting out from under Neil, doing whatever it is he ended up doing just to prove to Neil he would survive on his own. He usually used this dream to keep him from doing something reckless in retaliation to Neil so he could go on living another day, just needing to get buy until...until one day he'd be on his own.

He didn't expect it all too happen so quickly.

It takes a third day for Billy to come out on the other side of things, having almost bitten off Max's head a handful of times and snapped at Susan.

He apologized a few hours later, the Neil shaped voice in his head telling him to apologize having turned into his own guilty and ashamed voice pretty recently.

He calls Eddie and tells him to come pick him up, their going driving.

Eddie's there in less than thirty seconds, probably sitting by the phone for the last thre days. That and they only live a few trailers down from each other.

Billy gets in the van and takes a deep breath as Eddie's getting the van in gear, and unable to sit in silence any longer, Billy just goes for it.

"Let's move in together. Just the two of us."

Eddie grinds the gears but their driving, Eddie looks a few parts surprised, scared and excited all at the same time. "Okay...but...uhm Eddie says nervously, "Wouldn't it be more...uh, cheaper for the both of us to stay at our families houses?"

Billy wants to snap at Eddie but he can't seem to find the energy too.

"What's the point? Constantly living in our fucking families fucked up trailers trying to raise two kids with everyone breathing down your back the whole time?" Billy takes a deep breath and adjust in his seat, his face beat red as if he's admitting to something he shouldn't be scared to admit.

"I don't want that man, I don't want anyone judging me for everything I do and I'm already gonna have you around who's going to so far up my asshole the whole time- don't even try to deny it, you were smiling when you walked into that room the other day." Billy can feel his cheeks tense as he holds his smile back.

He feels like he should feel bad or guilty about even attempting to be happy in this situation, guilty the most, like what he's feeling is taboo to him because he never felt like he was allowed to be himself.

Never allowed to feel like he liked himself either.

He's liked Eddie for a while now, finally having the nerve to admit that fact to Eddie even if in a round about way.

Eddie wants to stay scared, wants to keep pittying himself like he normally does but he can't muster the feeling while looking at Billy against the sunny backdrop of the van window, his golden hair glowing in the light.

Eddie can feel Billy's nervous excitement rolling off him, saw the little twitch of his lip as he held back a smile and can't stop staring at those blue eyes that always feel so expressive. He's feeling like he's never wanted to step out into the sun and burn for someone so much as he does right now.

It's a romantic thought and Eddie can't help but grin goofily and cover his mouth. It feels good actually. Feels really good. Billy's cheeks are tight as he fights back a smile, both of them let out a shy laugh.

"Stop laughing!" Billy is smiling as he hits Eddie on the arm, hard, the two of them devolving into a fit of laughter as Eddie swerves.

"Oh come-...okay maybe that's fair."

"Stop it you dickhead! I'm fucking driving all of us now." Both of them are smiling, the van silent as get their heads in order.

"Your gonna actually have to pick your fucking underwear up off the ground though or your getting a fucking wedgie if I step on them." Billy says with what Eddie can only describe as a pout.

"Your damn right it's fair. Don't think just because I'm asking to get all domestic and shit doesn't mean I'm still not pissed."

The laugh dies down as the seriousness returns. It's calm though, like they've both gotten past some part of the moment that feels like everything is going to be okay.

"We're gonna need a bigger bed."

--The End--

I've had my brain on the whole Omegaverse vs AI thing and this is what became of it lol. Maybe I'll do more slices of life in the future with this particular AU.

[darkshrimpemotions]

So to recap:

Prentiss's entire character this season is wrapped up in Being the Boss. We never see her outside of work or hear about anything she has going on outside of work. She doesn't really interact with the team in a friend capacity anymore.

JJ's arc this season has been all about her and Will's relationship adjusting to new things, like them aging and things like illness becoming a problem, time and complacency lulling them into forgetting to spend time together, and theor kids growing up and being far more aware of their jobs and what those jobs entail. Frankly this is the only arc this season that doesn't make me want to eat glass.

Rossi has been robbed of all the warmth and mischief that made him so fun as a character. He's a mean old man, and tbh his character feels like it belongs in a far grittier crime procedural than the one he's in. I'll give credit where it's due and admit that at least in his case there's a reason for the change that makes sense, and Joe Mantegna is absolutely killing every scene where they give him more to do than glare at everything. But it's still pretty shitty of them to write him a whole speech about how he has nothing left when he has a wholeass daughter and grandson out there who presumably still love and miss him.

Tara is possibly the second most egregious character assassination by this mess of a season. Gone is the driven, determined woman who takes no shit from anyone, is fiercely dedicated to her work, and will leave a toxic love interest in the dust without flinching. This Tara's spark has been replaced by the glow of new love, but that glow quickly soured for me when the writers had Tara's girlfriend Rebecca issue an ultimatum Tara couldn't comply with even if she wanted to, and then dump her for things she couldn't actually control. Then, instead of Tara telling her to go fuck herself like she should have done, they had Tara pine after her to the point of neglecting her job and apologize for revealing that Rebecca's whole career was built on arresting and imprisoning the wrong man. OG Tara would have shed deadweight Becky like a bad jacket, but "Evolved" Tara? She doesn't even correct the woman when she pronounces her name wrong!

Luke's character is criminally underutilized this season, though given what's been done to the characters who got attention from the writers, I'm beginning to think I ought to be glad of that. We've learned nothing really new about his character this season except that he and Penelope went on their date, and it was awkward, and they never tried again. Adam is doing the most for us with his facial expressions this season, but even that only twists the knife in context. Which brings me to...

Garcia. Oh my god, Penelope, what have these bastards DONE to you? At first I was excited to see how Penelope had changed, having gained a centered assertiveness that she lacked in the original show while still remaining the ultimately caring, compassionate person we all knew and loved. But then the writers decided that "leaving a job that was ultimately a form of self-harm in the name of heroics" meant "pursuing what feels good at the cost of all else," and in the course of a few episode Penelope went from my all-time favorite member of the BAU to someone I can barely stand to watch. From sleeping with a material witness (something she knows is wrong on multiple levels, as she warned Derek about getting too involved with witnesses and victims' families years ago) and putting the entire BAU at risk, to the frankly callous and cruel way she treats Luke like an afterthought with no feelings to hurt at every turn, the "Evolved" Penelope is a selfish, irresponsible, reckless person that I want far away from the rest of the BAU before she can do them any more damage.

[davidshawnsown]

USA BASEBALL/COLLEGE SUMMER BASEBALL - and - SAVANNAH BANANAS ONE SHOT RPF - Savannahskaya Kadrovsky??!! -

(AN: 2022 turned out to be FIRST ever year and now just the only year following one of the more fun teams in college summer ball - the iconic and funny Savannah Bananas of the Coastal Plain League, which in the past few years have spun off two pro teams in theor umbrella playing their own take on baseball, Banana Ball. Now they are committed to play that form year round and leaving the CPL, but the memories of those first years of CPL play will forever go down as part of its history. I therefore present to the fans this one shot RPF featuring these guys from Savannah and the fun ways they have played baseball in these past years up to today and the first Ukraine-set fic of many featuring these guys in yellow, including a full blown RPF fic of their POV of the events in that country. To link up the fics with the wider universe I've included Scott Hatteberg, a former teammate of Eric Byrnes with the A's - and a Team USA Baseball CNT alumnus. This is dedicated to Dalton Maudin and Tanner Thomas - the two members of the Bananas organization and its constituent teams that have been bringing out weekly vlogs on Youtube, you better check them both, as well as Dalton's music there as well and on Spotify!)

SOMEWHERE IN POLTAVA OBLAST

SUNDAY MAY 22, 2022

1400H EEST

"The regiment from Savannah has done it again?!!"

That is the reaction from no less than BG Mark deRosa, the operational commander of US forces in Ukraine under the 46th Command. That regiment, the 716th Savannah, established in the spring of 2015, and led by its now newly promoted commander COL Byrnes, who took over this year from its first commandant, COL Cole, now a honorary Brigadier General and its first ever regimental colonel now retired even at a young age, had been in Ukraine since April, among the first of the collegiate units to be sent to the country to assist the war effort, fight alongside Americans in the International Legion of Territorial Defense and with Ukrainians in the Armed Forces and the National Guard, and also to give the young guys a taste of what their service to the nation entalls.

"Yeah indeed," replied COL Garza. "Those boys whose regiment carries yellow and white colors. They did it again!"

He and others on an ongoing meeting of the command staff in northern Poltava Oblast were referring to those TikTok and Twitter videos, as well as those on Telegram, featuring the boys of this young formation.

It is the sole infantry regiment among the formations of the 351st Southeastern Coastal Infantry Brigade, activated 1997 and whose numeral honors the North Carolina based Coastal Militia Rifles, a militia formation raised in 1935 which in 1936 was granted affilation with what is now the 169th Corps of the 46th Mobilization Command, US Army Reserve, affilated to the Southern Defense Command during the Second World War as a territorial defense brigade which lasted until the early 1950s. Their nickname of Bananas is a nod to the agricultural past of their home city and their full dresss honors partly its Union liberators during the Civil War and its home front efforts in both World Wars.

They began as a ROTC company in late 2015. Almost a year later, the 716th Infantry Battalion was activated, and within 5 years, evolved from a Humvee-armed unit into wheeled mechanized infantry, armed with the Stryker systems, and as a three battalion regiment, with its 2nd and 3rd battalions including minority and immigrant personnel to reflect its home city's character. One battalion each is made up of reservists and the Georgia Army National Guard, making up for a total of 5 battalions.

But these boys' Tiktok combat videos, set to popular Western pop tunes, have got the people motivated to know what is going on in the Ukrainian frontlines. They have been for weeks now in a tense battle for popularity against the Chechen National Guardsmen from Chechnya in Russia, which have been in the Ukrainian front since the onset of the invasion, as well as several of the Ukrainian frontline brigades and militia units, which have similar pop content. These so-called "Yellowshirts" after the yellow and white colors during its foundation today wear the same uniform as those deployed to Ukraine but with a yellow and white armband with the regimental DUI on it as well as the arms of their home city.

The 46th's Ukrainian operational HQ and elements of the 78th Brigade Combat Team had been watching what the boys had been doing on and off the field, while recieving word that their actions in the Soledar front have helped the local Ukrainian forces get motivated to continue the struggle in the weeks prior. Now they have been rotated out with a new assignment north of Kramatorsk City as a reserve formation ready to fight in the Donbas region. They will be on R&R before returning to their then brand new barracks located in Kovel in Volyn Oblast for equipment resupplies as well as to await the arrival of the local maintenance battalion from their home city. The town was chosen as it is a sister city to Chamblee, just northwest of Atlanta, the state capital. Just as in the other American and Canadian formations they were given a Ukrainian advisory team - in that case with officers and NCOs from the 14th Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Volodymyr City, Volyn Oblast.

Thus the brigadier general had during the meeting phoned the now retired BG Jessie Cole, the newly appointed regimental colonel, on what the boys have had been doing in the frontlines. They were there since early April assigned there in Kovel town, with the 2nd battalion of the 72nd Atlanta based there as well and the local battalion based in Savannah from said regiment, both since early May. They chose that city to keep their ties to Georgia state and its traditions while in country as the first of the collegiate summer service units and the only regiment of its kind so far to fight for the cause of Ukraine in the opening months of the war. He had just arrived in Kramatosk that day with his wife Emily to check on the boys before joining them on the journey back to Kovel.

"I have with me one of COL Byrnes' friends and one who served with him in Oakland. This is now LTC Scott Hatteberg. This year I called for the man to return to service after retiring as a battalion XO almost two decades ago in Oakland. He will be our liason officer on behalf of the brigade, Mr. Cole, with your regiment as its new commander was a friend of his," said the brigadier general on the mobile phone.

"Understood Mark, I now will bring in Eric," Jesse responded. As usual he wore his variant yellow working dress but without the top hat he wore replacing the kepi beginning with his early retirement. The kepi had been worn alternately with the bicorne by officers of the regiment when in full dress in ceremonial events to honor the military history of its home city.

"Thanks sir."

Then Eric got on the cellphone.

"Morning, sir, Colonel Byrnes here of the 716th Infantry Regiment."

"IS THAT YOU ERIC BYRNES? This is Brigadier General Mark DeRosa of the 78th Brigade Combat Team based out of Cary, NC, I have one of your buddies in Oakland with me who is a graduate of the brigade's training program."

"Yes I am, sir. And is that guy with you, sir, Scott Hatteberg?"

"Affirmative colonel Byrnes. How's your regiment now on R&R after all those weeks in Soledar?"

"Nice so far, the American people and the people of Savannah have enjoyed the antics of the men of the 1st Battalion and also our combat videos all this time, which have awakened Americans on what we are supposed to do to aid Ukraine at this time."

"Regarding those in between combat dancing videos on TikTok and Twitter of your boys, as well as on Telegram, are they all true?!"

"Yes, DeRosa, and the people have loved it."

"Cannot believe this, but you boys are better than those Chechens. Dancing, singing, having fun in the field but fighting better than them and the Russians. And who suggested these?"

"Our first battalion commander LTC Gilliam, who has been with us since it was a battalion, and our long time A Company commander soon to be captain Bill Leroy, who's a 1LT by now alongside his faithful XO 1LT Kyle Luigs. The two began with the regiment on secondment from their colleges, last year, following their graduation, when I was appointed regimental commander to replace Jesse who retired a Brigadier General, he recommended that the two be granted permanent status due to their long service with 1st Battalion, and indeed they were permanenty assigned since then."

"1st Platoon commander?"

"1LT Jackson Olson, sir, joined the regiment early this year."

"2nd Platoon is led by whose officer?"

"1LT Dalton Cornett. All officers, NCO and enlisted here, general, were selected for permanent duty in the years after it became a regiment from being a battalion and these people and others from the past 5 years who served on secondment from their respective colleges and universities before with the local lads recruited from within the state were the once I asked, upon the urging of the regimental colonel, to join the 1st Battalion on permanent status. Some of these officers here in the battalion, DeRo, as well as NCOs and enlisted with no collegiate service here nor even direct ties, were recruited on national lines thanks to the efforts of our depot battalion personnel, while the regiment still retains its seconded personnel from the colleges and universities."

"3rd platoon commanding officer is.."

"Turner Pruitt. Was with the regiment in 2021 and is a 1LT. 2LT Bryce Madron from Cowley College's battalion, seconded from his alma mater's unit, joined the regiment on its Ukrainian deployment as the 4th platoon's commander."

"Your PAO chief?"

"CPT Biko Skalla."

"The A Company first sergeant?"

"SFC Malachi Mitchell."

"Acknowleged colonel, will have to bring in LTC Scott Hatteberg. I am damn proud of all of them for their efforts to help Ukraine's ongoing fight by any means. And regarding retired MSGT Bill Lee, your honorary regimental sergeant major for a few months now, he's at home in Connecticut, but has come to Savannah when the regiment was around for months before the departure to Ukraine, I've been told."

"Mark, Bill Lee was appointed by the regiment to serve in a honorary capacity due to his age, but his strength and fitness was still the same when he served with the 1st Boston and the Montreal City Fusiliers. And sir, he sent you an email yesterday thanking you all in the 78th for the support given to his secondary home of Savannah and the 716th Infantry. He was there in the sendoff ceremony last March. He still takes time to visit Grayson Barracks to visit our depot battalion and those recruits who have finished basic training."

"Was a pleasure. Tell him we are forever grateful for his service with the 846th Command and the 169th Corps and we also congratulate him for his appointment as honorary sergeant major."

"Noted, sir."

Then Scott got the phone to talk to Eric, whom he formerly served with.

"Scott Hatteberg here, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. Just been returned to service after retirement. Now a part of the 78th Brigade Combat Team. It's because I was a part of the collegiate training unit under that platoon years before. You still remember me from those years?" he started up the chat.

"Yes Scott, this is Eric, I still remember those days in the Oakland barracks and training fields together with others. Glad you're back in uniform again. How's your regiment going?"

"Been a tough few weeks in Soledar, but boy, these were tough but happy days for the boys in yellow. Fighting against Russians and the Chechen allies at the front, but we never waivered, we never gave up hope in the fight with our Ukrainian allies."

"You guys going back to Kovel after this to recharge for the trip home and then to prepare to return here for the summer offensives?"

"You bet we are, Scott."

"I am thankful to you for having been a part of those years I spent in Oakland, as well as to General DeRosa for giving me this chance to coordinate jointly our efforts as well as with the other US and Canadian forces fighting with our Ukrainian allies. I'm sure this is the start of a great partnership together, especially that the general has given me this assignment to coordinate our efforts to help Ukraine fight its way to victory."

"You're welcome Scott, make sure there will be new videos coming out from you guys in the weeks to come." "Yes sir, there's more where they came from, colonel. BTW who was behind all of these aside from those in battalion and company leadership?"

"MAJ Frongillo, part of regimental staff. He's the one who came out with that idea."

"Well, congrats to him as well. I expect more from Zack in the coming weeks as well as to the PAO team led by Biko. Who's the main videographer of the regiment?"

"SFC Breaux. He's in charge of the video and film duties for Public Affairs. Also, I have to inform you that two of the guys in A Company - CPL Maudin who joined last year and was a part of 1st Platoon and CPL Thomas, a newbie of 2nd Platoon and a direct entry corporal with the unit - have been putting in superb combat videos and vlogs on Telegram and Youtube. They and many of the 1st and 2nd platoon boys whose stories have become the living witness to the ongoing war have inspired many not just to continue helping Ukraine but also to encourage others to dedicate themselves in service to the nation. If you check Telegram and Instagram, their English posts have opened many to the reality of the war they are fighting in and many of the young men and women are already following their journey so far."

"All the best for you guys, sir, Hatteberg out."

"Byrnes out sir."

"I'm sure there's more of that coming up," Scott stated to the gathered personnel from brigade command after watching the video of elements of A Company and the battalion staff dancing with their regimental commander and regimental colonel from his cellphone. And that was after Jesse spoke on video to those who have followed their journey so far on Tiktok and Twitter, as well as on the regiment's Telegram channel, expressing his gratitude and that of COL Byrnes to everyone who have supported them in every way possible on their journey to fight Russians in Ukrainian lands together with elements of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as to those who have already given their time to support the country in her time of need. That short dance clip stunned everyone watching and confirmed everyone of what the online world had been talking about. He finishes with "I am certain the regiment has been going good in the PAO side of things and am glad to report that their regimental depot battalion CO has emailed me that their efforts, as well as the stories they shared online, has led up to a massive recruitment effort there in the city not just for this regiment but for the other military units in Savannah. And many who are trying to join the 716th are coming from all over the country!"

"That's incredible news," BG Maxwell stated.

"So are you sure that these new recruits, after finishing basic training and getting assigned here on their own wishes, will be serving in Ukraine with the regiment soon?" asked SGM Pollock.

"Affirmative, they will be there soon."

And when asked by COL Bianco on whose concept it was, the LTC replied that it was an officer of regimental staff, MAJ Traczuk, who helped the sergeant first class pitch that idea to Public Affairs and it was based on the post-exercise recreation and fun the boys had stateside since it was a battalion.

COL Bloomquist added, "You have a tough job ahead of you, colonel. But soon you will learn more about those boys."

"Got that, one day I will check them before they leave for home to welcome a new batch of summer enlistees who will be serving this time, given that the regiment is forward deployed to Ukraine, with the 4th and 5th battalions based stateside."

These boys from Savannah, who were selected from every corner of the nation to fight in this ongoing war, are not just contributing to the fight for Ukraine's independence, they are dancing their way to victory.

"And one thing's for sure," adds the lieutenant colonel from Salem in Oregon, "Dalton and Tanner, and the rest of their company, will lead more young people in realizing Ukraine and democracy all over the world are both worth fighting for, and we have to help defend Ukraine and our allies no matter what it takes. I'm sure you all watched their appeal to the people of Savannah and the nation lately. Now that I've been appointed liason to this unit and those units preparing to serve in Ukraine whose personnel are either ROTC or college regiment personnel, I will do my best to coordinate our efforts towards this goal."

@kiinghanalister @travisdermotts @lukeexplorer

[siriuslyprincesssarah]

Preview of Chapter 35: Closure (2006) coming in two weeks!

Harry was doing paperwork in his office when an interoffice memo fluttered onto his desk. He was being summoned by Unspeakable 64 in the Department of Mysteries. The message stated it was urgent; they suspected a break-in at the Death room. With yesterday’s report of two people being found catatonic with suspected dementor kisses, Harry grabbed his robe, wasting no time heading down to the DoM in case they were connected.

Reaching the door, Harry opened it, and the eerie silence of the place always put him on edge as memories came rushing back from his fifth year. When he reached the room with multiple doors, he uttered the password the unspeakable had given to him. One of the doors lit up, and as Harry reached for the handle, the doors spun. Harry kept an eye on the spinning lit-up door, and the doors slowed down as the light went out.

Opening the door, he stepped inside, and as soon as he did, the door slammed shut behind him with a thud, “Shite.”

Looking forward, he was transported to the girl’s lavatory in his first year, which made his blood run cold. The troll was in front of him, club high in the air.

“Hermione!” Harry yelled as the club came down on her, crushing her. Rushing towards her, it was like the Earth quaked, and he was standing next to Hermione as they solved Snape’s potion riddle.

Hermione tipped back the potion and collapsed as he caught her in his arms, lifeless.

The horror repeated over and over. Each time, Harry had to watch Hermione die differently. Choking on a hairball when she was a cat, being killed instead of petrified by the basilisk, seeing herself while using the time turner and killing herself, being killed by werewolf Remus, being struck by the dragon’s tail during his first task, drowning in the lake during the second task, perishing in the Department of Mysteries, dying in the battle of the Astronomy tower, dying during the battle of the seven Potters, eating bad mushrooms, snatchers killing her, Bellatrix killing her, dying in the Battle of Hogwarts. Each time the room changed, it was more horrific than the last. Each time he couldn’t save her, no matter how hard he tried, she died right in front of him.

Suddenly, he felt strong hands pulling him. The room shifted, and he fell onto a cold stone floor, retching onto it.

“Harry! Harry! Can you hear me? It’s Theo,” Theor’s voice broke through the haze of his torment.

“Hermione! Hermione! Is she dead? Oh God, Theo, I killed her. Is she dead?” Harry’s eyes were wild with terror.

“No, she is fine. She’s alive and safe. It was just the time room messing with your worst fears,” Theo reassured him, pressing a glass of water into his trembling hands.

Harry blinked, and the reality of where he was slowly came back to him as he focused on the dais in the Death room, “No, no, I’m still stuck there,” He mumbled, his mind still reeling with visions of his past. Suddenly, he jumped up and ran towards the dais, “Sirius! Sirius!”

Theo grabbed him around the middle and threw Harry to the floor. Harry barely heard Theo yell into his badge for backup as his voice got hoarse from screaming, “Sirius! Hermione! I killed them both!” Harry sobbed, curling up into the fetal position as he yelled their names repeatedly.

“Harry, listen to me,” Theo said firmly, “You’re safe. Hermione is safe. You didn’t kill anyone.”

Backup arrived, and Draco ran over to help Theo restrain Harry. Draco pulled Harry to his feet.

“Get him out of here!” Theo yelled at Draco.

Draco pulled Harry, limp and unfocused, to the lift, and he hit the floor as soon as they were inside. His eyes were unfocused as he stared out the lift, “I killed her, Draco. It’s all my fault.”

“Department for the Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures!” Draco yelled.

The lift moved, and Draco pulled Harry out onto Hermione’s floor. “Hermione! Hermione!”

Hermione came out of her office, “Draco?” Hermione asked, dropping what she had in her hands as she ran over, “Draco! What’s wrong with Harry?”

“He went to the Department of Mysteries and got stuck in the time room. He is delirious,” Draco told her as she hit the floor before Harry.

“Harry, Harry, it's me. Can you hear me?” Hermione asked, touching his face.

“Hermione?” Harry asked as he focused on her, “You're dead.”

“No, I’m here. I don’t know what you saw, but I’m here,” Hermione said, pulling him into her arms.

Harry put his head on her chest and sobbed.

[b-sai-des]

Lush Arpeggios and Nervous Twists – “Bending Hectic”

When thinking about a song to do a deep dive in, there were a variety of really evocative ones that went through my head – the tragic, operatic, synth-filled “At the Door” by The Strokes, the epic odyssey of “Fire on High” by ELO. I almost decided to write about the wild, strange, and dangerous speed chase of “Sugar/Tzu” by Black Midi, but my mind just kept coming back to—

"Bending Hectic" music video, an animation by Sabrina Nichols and Stanley Donwood.

I talked a bunch about The Smile, the band trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner, in my blog post about their tour this summer (still wish I could’ve gone in person!), and I think I already talked a little bit about “Bending Hectic” there. The Smile is going to be releasing their second album in January, which I'm super pumped about. This song is funny because I knew even before my Spotify Wrapped dropped that this would be my top track, and indeed it was with 131 listens this year.

“Bending Hectic” is immensely cinematic, beginning with hushed lyrics from Thom Yorke in this incredibly evocative, emotionally moving experience, and it eventually turns into a soaring and jagged heavy metal climax. The specific emotions that this song as a whole evokes in how it sounds are very particular. There are very specific songs I associate with that vibe like “Bending Hectic” such as "Aruarian Dance" by Nujabes (and the song that samples, "The Lamp Is Low" by Laurindo Almeida), “Night Lights (1965 Version)” by The Gerry Mulligan Sextet, “Mojo Pin” by Jeff Buckley, and “Darkest Dreaming” by David Sylvian.  

Love this song, so comforting.

It's cool to hear the original sample to get the original context and how Nujabes utilized it. This song is such a vibe too.

Bending Hectic was my top song this year. This was my top song last year.

Really serene yet pained, it also transitions between soothing chorus to more a more direct chorus.

This one makes you feel like you're floating in the night sky and lying in bed at the same time.

The ultimate comfort song, like an emotional lullaby.

Big nighttime vibes, or a rainy day, or any calm, maybe nature-oriented, atmosphere. The actual lyrics of "Bending Hectic" mention driving along the Italian mountainside. It's very intimate. Warm in that sense, also but very calm and tranquil, a cool, deep purplish blue.

I first heard this live performance of the song a few months before the studio version released, and seeing the stage lighting may have affected my perception of the "color" of the song.

There’s a lot of really interesting things about "Bending Hectic," like that genre shift, percussion, and use of strings, but its most curious feature is the lush, calming main guitar chord cycle which always ends with an off-kilter high twisting and turning, as if Jonny Greenwood is tuning the guitar. In this eight-minute track, more than four minutes have this tune playing, the first of two stretches of it being nearly three minutes, and it really informs the whole feeling of the song because of that even despite the big mood transition towards the end. 

The song begins with the guitar chords, accompanied by a deep, sentimental bass tune, low jangling and gentle, rising crash cymbal sounds. (A quick aside about the bass, it really is a big contributor to that tranquil, emotional feeling, very comforting, and it periodically rises up in a kind of searching, yearning way). When you hear that twisting higher and higher at the end of the chord cycle for the first time, it really throws you off-kilter considering how soothing the tune is. This is the backbone of the song thematically, and we’ll see how it complements the lyrics and how other parts of the song echo it. 

From what immensely little I know about music theory outside of Carnatic music (even there I have much to learn), I suspected that the chord cycle is an arpeggio, and my sister (who plays piano) confirmed this. When she heard the off-kilter guitar tuning part, she said that it was not really part of the arpeggio, but rather the same note being tuned higher and higher. With this we can distinguish the arpeggio and the guitar bending. 

On r/thesmile I came across someone pointing out the incredible similarity of the arpeggio of "Bending Hectic" and this song, which is super cool. If you were to remove the guitar bending of Bending Hectic's main chord cycle it would give a similar feeling to this.

Possible inspiration for Bending Hectic verse chords byu/smithsonian44 inTheSmile

The distinction made by my sister is formal music-theory-wise, but emotionally it’s felt too. With the particular feeling of the arpeggio, my sister mentioned a song that had a similar-sounding arpeggio as well. I bring this up because despite that similarity note-wise, it feels different, and that may come down to the type of guitar. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find what specific guitar is used for this track, but the song my sister talked about had a sharper, acoustic sound compared to lusher sound of "Bending Hectic." The looseness of these chords makes it feel more raw. Key may play a component too, with "Bending Hectic" being in a lower key.  It evokes much more soothing feelings, as if things are okay, like you’re taking a moment to relax, just taking it all in. (Like I said before, purplish-blue, RIGHT? ....No, just me?) 

See! Purplish-blue.

Also mentioned earlier was how the song talks about driving along the Italian mountains, time being frozen as “you’re gazing at the view,” and it’s a genuinely beautiful feeling. ...Except when Thom Yorke says “Italian mountainside,” it’s “a sheer drop down the Italian mountainside.” It’s a car crash in slow motion. "I swear I'm seeing double, ohohh...." (I really love how Thom sings this line in particular - it brings this aching, accepting quality that matches the chilling string notes). It's weird because despite the danger of the lyrics, the arpeggio is telling you: "it's okay, you can rest now." You just want to float.... The arpeggio’s serene comfort is so essential to the feeling of the song, which makes the guitar bending that much more noticeable. The guitar bending out of tune goes higher and higher at some times, and at other times it goes lower and lower. Both give this growing nervous feeling, gnawing at you despite the calm. The threat of the car skidding “‘round the hairpin.” Every time the arpeggio plays out its vulnerability lulls you into a sense of security and, but then every time guitar bending concludes the arpeggio that security gets thrown off. Then when the arpeggio comes again it lulls you again and you say despite the nervousness “no one’s gonna bring me down,” but then you realize that determination is not to keep on going but instead to “let go of the wheel,” and he's fed up and wants to crash…etcetera etcetera. It’s a wobbling feeling of constantly having these two conflicting forces, and it’s unsteady despite feeling smooth overall. This three-minute beginning part of the song before the first chorus swings back and forth in tempo, starting slow, rapidly speeding up, and then slowing down. When the arpeggio speeds up with its lushness it feels like a wave of relief; when the guitar bending speeds up higher that nervousness tightens more and more. 

A pic of Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner, and Thom Yorke released along with the announcement of The Smile's 2nd album Wall of Eyes, which "Bending Hectic" will be on as well. The newest single released, which is the title track for the album, and it definitely has that dichotomy of calm and panic too lol.

The portion of the song (at the timestamp 4:14) following the first chorus returns to that arpeggio again, but this time at a steady tempo in line with the stable drum beat. The guitar tuning end of the arpeggio cycle plays on the down beat with the drums. Here, it’s stable, even with that off-kilter bending, which plays on the off-beat consistently. As I thought about this, I got the idea that the foreboding bending could now be something we’ve become comfortable with, but as I thought more about it while discussing with my sister, it’s more so continuing to creep up and threaten the stability that’s been constructed. The warm, optimistic strings cut out, and we’re back to just the guitar, drums and bass again. The bass stays low and steady in a foreboding manner. Lyrically it’s becoming more tense too – Thom says “the ground is coming for me now. I’ve gone over the edge. If you’ve got something to say…say it now.” With the guitar bending the song is slowly ratcheting up tension, as within the stable, narrow tempo and low wavering bass line there’s something simmering, that twisting nervousness remains even still – yes we may be used to it now but it’s also threatening to go careening off-course. 

That’s exactly what does happen after Thom concludes the verse by saying again “I’m letting go of the wheel,” and all instruments cut out as strings are re-introduced. They're at first expressing concern, and then they turn shrill, horrifying, straight out of a horror movie. (The Shining comes to mind).

Michael Giacchino cooked so hard with The Batman score...the rising strings here!

This is when the song goes full metal mode. Though the arpeggio doesn’t return again, as this is the final climactic stretch, the same bending tuning comes back in the form of Thom’s vocals and the exploding guitar. He goes “Tuuuuuuurrnnnn” as his voice twists higher and higher, and the guitar matches him. I’m reminded of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s theme for The Joker in the score for The Dark Knight – the track has a similar nervous twisting off-kilter rising electric guitar. 

I think it’s really cool how the central arpeggio and guitar tuning sound of this song forms the backbone of its “bending” motif, which all comes together in its final chorus thematically. It all converges here – in the thick of the car crash, despite the “slings” and “arrows” and obstacles, the crisis that we’ve been thinking would happen, we force ourselves to push through, and that turning wheel to avoid death is expressed with the same high-pitched bending guitar we’ve been hearing throughout the song. The line “I’ve got these slings, I’ve got these arrows” in the first chorus made it seem like “I force myself to turn” was an act of wanting the crash, but now it’s “despite these slings, despite these arrows,” and trying to turn has now become an act of perseverance, an effort to survive. It’s interesting because even though the “turn” is said with hope, in the same sentiment of “no one’s gonna bring me down, no” the foreboding guitar bending we've heard all this time and now hear again suggests that the crash and burn is inevitable. Maybe you can’t escape the crash you wanted so desperately before. The song ends with that feeling in a distorted gnarl of defeat. But the merging of incoming, inevitable pain with perseverance as done using the central guitar bending and concluding lyrics give an ambiguity, not entirely shutting that hope out entirely. It’s a specific line that two of The Smile’s members have walked with their bandmates in Radiohead in songs like “Let Down,” “How to Disappear Completely,” and “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi.” The Smile's newest single for Wall of Eyes also has that, though its sentimentality is more superficial compared to its jaded outlook.

That dichotomy of hope and despair seems to always come back. One side never quite wins entirely.

[lightsblooming]

hi! this is an independent low-activity rp blog for a child oc! enjoy your stay!

                                          ❀❀❀

 as a girl so much smaller than her peers, mary is a quiet child that has grown up in her very few years of life being invisible to everyone around her. accustomed to neglect at the orphanage, she's developed the habit of internalizing her thoughts and needs; now driven by her anxieties, to the point where just about everything brings her fear.

despite her comfortability with being a background character, she's also an aspiring princess who tries her best to be kind and friendly - hoping to one day become an expert at hosting the kind of fancy tea parties where everyone is invited so that no one has to feel alone.

from an unfavored start to suddenly being thrust into the beginning of the rest of her life, mary's story is one about navigating the fragility of childhood, the perserverance of heart in the face of cowardice, and the journey of girlhood in a world that does so little to protect it.

at the end of this story, mary will never be brave. she will grow, as all little girls who learn to love themselves do, and eventually she'll come to realize within herself that maybe fear isn't a tragedy, at all—but a strength.

❀ RULES ❀

this is a low-activity child rp blog!

i have beta editor only.

PLOTTING IS NECESSARY. it will take all of two seconds and consists of two questions: 1. is mary under your muse’s care? 2. and if you’d prefer that she isn’t, what is your muse’s relationship to hers? ( optional; see: here ) … all done!

multiverse; mary is an ordinary girl that can fit into any canon

i’m aware that child oc blogs are kind of dependent on other muses, so i am least likely to follow blogs first, with a few exceptions to other kid muses and related characters

if you’d like to create a verse together with your muse, feel free to let me know! this is what the flexibility of my oc is for!

I WILL UNFOLLOW BLOGS that don’t plot / write with me

DNI: pr0ship losers, minors, non-mutuals

be nice : )

thanks for reading!

❀ BIOGRAPHY ❀

Name: mary Birth date: march 17 Gender: cis girl Sexuality: hetero

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Age: 4-5 years old Weight: 43 lbs. Height: 3'5" Body build: slim Shape of face: round Eye color: brown Glasses or contacts: none Ethnicity: unknown ( ambiguous ) Skin tone: beige, tanned Distinguishing marks: none Predominant features: large, bright eyes, long eyelashes Hair color: brown & light brown Type of hair: mostly straight, medium-thick, curly at the ends Hairstyle: shoulder length cut, loose sweeping bangs, sometimes wears double buns Voice: soft, high Disabilities/disorders: anxiety, ptsd Usual fashion of dress: dresses, shoes, ribbons, soft colors Favorite outfit: frilly yellow dress, white stocking / socks, babydoll shoes, hair ribbons, glitter polish Jewelry or accessories: ribbons, bows, barrettes, stickers, earrings, bracelets, rings

PERSONALITY Good personality traits: friendly, curious, helpful, polite Bad personality traits: shy, afraid, anxious, doesn’t speak up about needs Mood character is most often in: calm, happy, dreamy, cautious

FAVORITES Color: yellow, pink, cream Least favorite color: green, black Music: music box, sing-a-longs Food: peanut butter and honey sandwiches

HABITS Hobbies: dolls, dress up, tea parties Plays a musical instrument? no, but might want to Plays a sport? no How he/she would spend a rainy day: playing pretend in her room Nervous tics: hiding, crying, fidgeting hands, looking down, thumb sucking Usual body posture: correct posture, tucked to herself Mannerisms: lots of careful nodding and headshakes, expressive eyes, gripping the hem of her dress, gentle touching Peculiarities: hoards flowers, silent mover

TRAITS Optimist or pessimist? optimist Introvert or extrovert? introvert Daredevil or cautious? cautious Logical or emotional? emotional Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? both Confident or unsure? unsure Animal lover? mostly in a theoretical sense, not practical

RELATIONSHIPS W/ OTHERS Opinion of other people in general: strangers are scary, but everyone is important Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others?: yes, because she has trouble speaking up about her needs and sharing her opinions Person character most hates: bullies and monsters Best friend(s): n/a but probably an imaginary friend or a stuffed animal Love interest(s): n/a Person character goes to for advice: stuffed animal Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: toys Person character feels shy or awkward around: everyone Person character openly admires: pretty people, brave people

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: Wwx and LQR get deaged. They keep their memories, but have the mental age of theor bodies

Wwx is a genius 5 yo who keeps falling into cookie jars bcs he forgets they're taller than him and LQR is disgruntled to discover that, as a 13 yo w no impulse control or experience to hone his anger, he's still the oldest person in the room

Sonata no. 159 in C Major - ao3

(series: Variations on WWX & LQR in Assorted Keys)

Wei Wuxian knew what had happened the second he opened his eyes and felt the urge to start crying in embarrassment. Putting aside embarrassment, which wasn’t exactly an emotion he was all too familiar with, he hadn’t had the urge to simply burst into tears and mindlessly sob since he was very young.

Even in the worst moments of his life – the fall of the Lotus Pier, Jiang Yanli’s death, his own death – he’d retained his rationality as he wept, his too-quick mind repeating all the possible consequences over and over again; it had never been an urge to cry simply to vent his frustrations. He hadn’t done something like that since before his parents had died, when he had learned the hard way that crying didn’t necessarily mean you would get help from anyone.

But Wei Wuxian felt like crying now.

Not just crying, but that pointless ‘someone come help me’ crying that all children did until they learned that wasn’t the way to get what they wanted…and that meant that the array he’d been fiddling around with had worked.

Worked too well, even.

He’d only been trying to figure out what it was that Wen Ruohan had used to keep his appearance in his mid-twenties for such a long time – whatever else might be said about the man, mad and bloodthirsty tyrant that he was, he had been incredibly powerful, brilliant at both swordplay and arrays, an offensive powerhouse capable of flattening armies entirely on his own. So when Wei Wuixan had found some books stamped with the Wen sect’s seal in the Lan sect library, real books and not just propaganda copies of those awful Wen sect utterances, he’d been intrigued enough to smuggle them back to the jingshi and start picking his way through them.

They were all written in a beautiful flowing hand by what must have been an array master: the designs were drawn out in full but the accompanying explanations were sparse and abrupt, full of assumptions that the reader had sufficient underlying knowledge to fill in what was missing. Wei Wuxian wasn’t actually enough of an array master himself to do that, but he thought he knew enough and he didn’t especially want to have to ask one of the Lan sect’s array masters for help, lest they ask him what he was up to. He was clever and good at deduction; he figured that could figure out some of the inferences, extrapolate the rest, and he’d been more or less hoping for the best as he put the final touches on the array…

At first, nothing had happened.

He’d poked at it – again, nothing.

He’d been just about ready to give up on the whole thing when there had been the sound of someone right outside the door – he’d called out a welcome automatically, his mind mostly focused on the puzzling inertness of the clearly active array – and then, the very moment they’d walked in…

Boom.

And now Wei Wuxian was young again. Too young, even: Wen Ruohan had skillfully kept his age firmly at his early twenties, looking even younger than the dissipated louts he called sons, but Wei Wuxian…

He looked down at pudgy fingers.

He was five at best, he concluded glumly. At least he hadn’t lost his mind –

“What just happened,” someone said emotionlessly.

Wei Wuxian looked up. There was a thirteen-year-old Lan sect member in front of him, vaguely reminiscent of a young Lan Wangji – he had the same handsome features, though not quite the right ones, but unfortunately that meant this could be any of Lan Wangji’s relatives. The clothing, of course, was useless for identification, classic Lan sect robes, but there had been an unusual accent to the words that gave Wei Wuxian a moment of pause; he didn’t know if he knew anyone who talked like that. Like all those born and raised in the Lan sect, the boy spoke with an accent faintly reminiscent of the sweet tones of Gusu, inescapable no matter how harshly the sect sought to corral their speech into something more respectable, but his voice was also strangely atonal and flat, lacking something of the normal melody of speech and making the words a little more difficult to understand.

Wei Wuxian had no idea who this was.

“I made a mistake,” he said, trying to keep from sniffling while also wracking his brain to figure out who this was – the resemblance to Lan Wangji, now that he looked at it, was very strong; could this be Lan Xichen? Well, it didn’t really matter, as long as it wasn’t…

“Of course you did,” the boy said, voice completely flat. He closed his eyes and pinched the brow of his nose in an extremely familiar gesture of irritation.

Well, crap.

Wei Wuxian’s shoulders went up to his ears as he ducked his head. “…m’sorry, Teacher Lan.”

“An apology is worthless if it is not backed by action,” Lan Qiren said, and maybe he was trying for stern but for some reason it just came out as flat again. Had Lan Qiren had some sort of speaking impediment when he’d been younger? “If you do not stop what you are doing, your apology is meaningless. And if you will not stop, you would do well to at least take care to minimize the harm inevitably caused by your behavior.”

Wei Wuixan felt tears welling up in his eyes. Horrified, he tried to scrub at them, but it was no use: as far as his body was concerned, he was five years old, and it was time to cry.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” he tried to explain, noticing that Lan Qiren was looking at him as if he were doing something extremely strange – understandable enough, sine Wei Wuxian wasn’t exactly a crier. “I just wanted to try something out…”

“Harm doesn’t have to be intentional for it to be harm,” Lan Qiren said, his voice still flat. He didn’t look quite so sour, though; now he looked more nervous than anything else. “Please stop crying.”

“I’m trying,” Wei Wuxian wailed. “I can’t help it! My mind’s the same as ever, but my brain’s a five-year-old brain!”

Lan Qiren grimaced. “Is there something that would help you?”

Wei Wuxian tried to think through what felt like unbearable desolation. When he really had been this age, had there been anything that had helped? He didn’t remember – curse his terrible memory!

Well, something more recent, then. What had helped A-Yuan, when he’d been at the Burial Mounds?

“…a hug?”

Lan Qiren flinched.

Wei Wuxian was nearly startled out of his tears.

A moment later, though, Lan Qiren resumed his regular expression as if nothing had happened. “Very well,” he said stiffly, and knelt down, holding out his arms.

Wei Wuxian intended to resist, at least until he figured out what that bizarre reaction of Lan Qiren’s meant, but found himself lunging forward at once, too eager for comfort to be able to hold back. He could feel Lan Qiren flinching again, but his arms were warm and comforting regardless, and children were always a little selfish.

After a few moments Lan Qiren began to awkwardly brush his hand over Wei Wuxian’s hair, smoothing it down, and that was even better.

“Didn’t you do this when Lan Zhan was a kid?” he asked, voice muffled by Lan Qiren’s sleeve.

“Just as you are affected by the transformation, so too am I,” Lan Qiren responded. “At this age, I had not yet learned to overcome my aversion, as I had by the time my nephews were born.”

Overcome could mean many things, from actually getting over to simply learning to endure, but Wei Wuxian didn’t ask. It seemed like it would be rude, and he really had been trying not to anger Lan Qiren more than he already had – the old man had a tendency to cough up blood just from looking at him, and while at first Wei Wuxian had felt it was merely exaggeration and unnecessary dramatics, he quickly noticed how worried the other Lan sect disciples were over Lan Qiren’s health.

“That must have been terrible,” he said instead, thinking of how much he enjoyed contact with others – the casual touching in the Lotus Pier, and even now his tendency to snuggle up with Lan Wangji whenever he could, hanging off of him like a monkey. Even in the Burial Mounds, all the others were careful to welcome him with hands on shoulders or friendly, and he had at least had A-Yuan to pick up and hold whenever he felt lonely…and he had so often felt lonely. “Did you always react like that every time people hugged you?”

“People did not hug me,” Lan Qiren said. “So it was not an issue.”

“I meant your family,” Wei Wuxian clarified.

“As did I,” Lan Qiren said. “We were not close.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him.

“…it is not a secret,” Lan Qiren said, blinking down at him as if surprised by his surprise. “Anyone would be able to tell you.”

Wei Wuxian’s mouth moved – he wanted to say something all of a sudden, wanted to blurt out how could they not hug you, they were your family. If he hadn’t known it would be making it worse, he would try to hug Lan Qiren again the way he used to hug Jiang Cheng when he was upset over his father again.

Wei Wuxian had long ago guiltily admitted to himself that Jiang Fengmian might have been the best uncle in the world but was far from the best father; it hadn’t been a realization he’d been capable of making when he was younger, too blind and arrogant and reassured by Jiang Fengmian’s love for him, and it had only been when he’d been caring for little A-Yuan and listening to Wen Qing’s scolding on how important touch was to a child of that age that he’d realized the depths of how unfair it had been to them both. Even back when he was young, he’d known instinctively that it was his job to make up for how little Jiang Fengmian touched Jiang Cheng – to make up for being there, for being the one who was loved so much and so clearly when Jiang Cheng was left behind.

But…

“Didn’t you have anyone?” Wei Wuxian asked, voice small.

Lan Qiren shrugged and did not answer. “You seem to be feeling better,” he observed, and Wei Wuxian found that he did. Lan Qiren released him. “What was it that you used to cause this, and can we reverse it?”

Wei Wuxian scratched his nose. “I found a book on arrays,” he said. “It was marked with the Wen sect’s seal.”

“Ah,” Lan Qiren said. “Wen Ruohan.”

“Exactly! I wanted to figure out what he did – how he stayed young. I thought these books might have some insight…why do you have Wen sect books, anyway? Were they left behind by the Wen sect when they invaded?”

“No. They were part of my personal collection, which was not burned.” Lan Qiren paused. “In fact, I suspect it was not burned because it included these books. Wen Ruohan has always prized the works of his hands above all other considerations, however illogical.”

“Wait,” Wei Wuxian said. “Those books were Wen Ruohan’s? As in, by him? He was the array master that wrote them?”

At Lan Qiren’s nod, Wei Wuxian marveled a little: he’d known the murderous madman was a genius in his own way, but really, wow. Those books were seriously impressive – he would’ve thought they’d have been written by some great ancestor. Not to mention the fact that they were all painstakingly handwritten, which he couldn’t imagine Wen Ruohan doing so lightly.

“How did you manage to get ahold of something like that?” he asked.

“They were a gift,” Lan Qiren said, and his face twisted a little with pain he did not seem able to suppress. “‘From one sect leader to another’, he liked to say. Later, when things went badly for him, he preferred celebrating the date of my investiture as interim sect leader over my date of birth.”

The date of Lan Qiren’s investiture? But Lan Qiren hadn’t been raised to be sect leader following a hand-off from the prior generation, the way it had been for Lan Xichen, or even following the suitable mourning period reserved for the death of his predecessor – he had been named interim sect leader because of what had happened with Lan Wangji’s parents.

Which meant that Wen Ruohan had had a habit of sending gifts on the anniversary of Lan Wangji’s parents’ disaster.

“…ouch,” Wei Wuxian said. He’d never gotten the impression that Lan Qiren had particularly enjoyed the role of sect leader, and that wince just now suggested that his elevation to that position had been even less welcome than he might have thought. “That’s bullshit.”

“No profanities.”

“That is definitely not a rule!”

“You are currently too young,” Lan Qiren clarified. “Although your mind remains that of an adult, your appearance does not. It would serve as a bad example for others if you were seen or heard.”

That made a certain amount of sense.

“Our first priority is to figure out how to reverse the effects of the array,” Lan Qiren declared, his voice still flat and unmoved, something that became even more apparent as he continued to speak at length. “I do not know if the array was deliberately designed incorrectly as a means of punishing the reader, which is possible, or if you erred in the creation thereof. Do not touch anything. I will ask one of the disciples to fetch the sect’s array masters, as well as clothing –”

“Why do you talk like that?” Wei Wuxian blurted out, fascinated.

Lan Qiren stopped, and his cheeks slowly flushed red. “You are young and controlled by your impulses,” he said shortly, and it took Wei Wuxian a few moments to realize that he was angry because his voice still did not change in tone. “But your mind is intact. You are capable of not being rude, and should manage yourself better.”

With that, he shook his sleeves – an effect ruined by them being far too big for him – and went outside to flag someone down to go get help.

Wei Wuxian initially wondered if they would listen to him, given that Lan Qiren didn’t look like himself, but apparently ‘Wei Wuixan has done something’ was all they needed to hear before they were willing to listen to instructions from just about anyone.

Rude.

…as his question had been, yes. He slunk over to Lan Qiren, finding as he did that being next to the older boy made him feel reassured and less nervous – even if it was clear that Lan Qiren was still fuming.

Several array masters arrived swiftly, as did new clothing in their current sizes.

Not far behind them were a set of doctors.

Wei Wuxian reluctantly submitted to being poked and prodded, his only consolation being that Lan Qiren was suffering from similar treatment, and handling it notably less well.

Maybe it was because of that touch aversion.

“I’m fine,” Lan Qiren finally barked after a few minutes, clearly pushed past the point of endurance. “There was nothing wrong with me at the age of thirteen!”

“But Teacher Lan –”

“Enough!”

“Teacher Lan, we need to see –”

Lan Qiren looked like he was about to have a fit.

“Cease,” a stern but welcome voice rang out from the door, and the doctors abruptly scattered like a flock of quail.

Lan Wangji looked like a terrifying god as he swept into the room, glaring. Wei Wuxian was happy to see him, overjoyed to the point of wanting to giggle, but also felt the abrupt urge to duck behind Lan Qiren and hide his face – it was a strange mixture of glee and shyness, none of which made the slightest amount of sense as a reaction to seeing his husband be awesome.

Being five years old was the worst.

Lan Wangji handled the whole thing quite well, keeping his face impassive. The only sign of surprise he let on was the fact that he looked for a long moment at Wei Wuxian, who waved jauntily at him, and then at Lan Qiren for an equally long moment.

“Shufu,” he finally said.

“Wangji,” Lan Qiren responded, and put his hands behind his back in proper Lan sect fashion. Or, well, it would have been proper Lan sect fashion, only Wei Wuxian was standing behind his back and could see how his hands were shaking. “Now that our health has been confirmed, we should examine the array. The sooner this is reversed, the better.”

Lan Wangji nodded and turned his gaze on the doctors, who crept out with their tails between their legs, ashamed – as they should be, for upsetting Lan Qiren like that. Wei Wuxian made a rude gesture after their backs, or tried, anyway; Lan Qiren grabbed his hand without even looking and covered it up.

Lan Wangji didn’t smile, but he looked amused, to those who could tell such things. The expression soon passed, however, and he went back to looking serious.

“Shufu, I can supervise the array masters in reviewing the array and starting to determine how to reverse the effects,” he said. “You are welcome to stay if you wish, but do not feel as though you must.”

Wei Wuxian expected Lan Qiren to stay, but instead he nodded and said, “I will leave the initial work to you. Feel free to consult me if you have any questions.”

And then, using the hand he already had on Wei Wuixan, he started walking out, dragging Wei Wuxian behind him.

“Hey, wait,” Wei Wuxian protested, noticing that no one, not even Lan Wangji, was making any move to help him. “Don’t they need my help? I’m the one who set it up! How will they recreate my process without me?”

“You take notes,” Lan Qiren pointed out, and Wei Wuxian pouted: he did, and good ones, too. “Anyway, do you really think you will be able to maintain focus and not distract them?”

“I could. That’s how I do things, I’m frazzled and distracted right up until I focus, and then I focus really well,” Wei Wuxian argued, although he stopped fighting to stay and started walking with Lan Qiren instead, giving in implicitly. And maybe Lan Qiren had a point, actually, because he felt much better now that they were in motion – he’d forgotten how much he thoroughly detested sitting still as a child…

He had the sudden memory, coming out of nowhere, that his mother had once called him her little wild monkey, climbing on everything. The thought made him smile. He’d thought he’d forgotten everything about her, given his poor memory, but it seemed not everything was lost.

They walked in silence for a little, with Wei Wuxian fiddling as they went with the many layers of a Lan sect robe, which was a little less complicated for a child but still more than what they’d used in the Jiang sect. After a while, though, that restless urge came upon him again.

“Soooooo –”

“Are you truly incapable of silence?” Lan Qiren asked. He did not sound angry, merely curious. “Does it cause you discomfort to refrain from speaking? Or is it merely that you dislike introspection and wish to avoid it whenever possible?”

Wei Wuxian disliked this conversational topic, that’s what he disliked.

Besides, there was something he needed to ask. He tugged on Lan Qiren’s hand, which he had not released and from which Lan Qiren had not shaken him off.

“Why were your hands shaking when you saw Lan Zhan?” he asked. It was a rude question, he knew, and overly blunt, but if there was one thing that he wasn’t willing to compromise on, it was Lan Wangji. If Lan Qiren was still angry at Lan Wangji, whether over what had happened all those years ago or for his role in Wei Wuxian’s presence in the Cloud Recesses, that was something Wei Wuxian wanted to know right away so he could deal with it. “Are you angry at him?”

Lan Qiren was silent for a moment, and when Wei Wuxian snuck a glance at him, he seemed to be thinking the question over thoughtfully.

After a moment, instead of responding, he turned off the path they were following and led them both off into a less-frequented part of the Cloud Recesses.

“If you’re bringing me here to silence me, I want you to know that I can be really loud,” Wei Wuxian said, smiling a little – he wasn’t actually afraid Lan Qiren would try to drown him or anything like that, even if it was mostly because he knew the old man wouldn’t break the Lan sect rules like that. No taking lives within the premises. “There’s nowhere you can take me that people won’t hear me if I try hard enough…”

“I would appreciate it if you would not try,” Lan Qiren said, coming to a halt near a small garden. “Similarly, I would appreciate it if you refrained from mentioning what you saw to Wangji.”

“What I saw…you mean your hands shaking?” Wei Wuxian frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Lan Qiren was silent for a few moments.

After a while, he sighed. “It was not anger that caused my hands to shake, but fear.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him.

“Not at Wangji himself, of course,” Lan Qiren said, and the world, which had momentarily gone off its axis, resumed spinning in the normal course of things. “And as mentioned, of course, part of the issue relates purely to the physical side effects of being this age, as well as the mental regression involved. Despite that, I would prefer, if possible, to avoid Wangji being aware of – of the fact that there is – a certain resemblance –”

Wei Wuxian might have the brain of a five-year-old, but he had been a genius even then.

“He looks like his father?” he asked, and Lan Qiren looked upset enough that he knew he’d guessed right. “Was he older than you? By how much?”

“Ten years, give or take,” Lan Qiren said, and seemed relieved not to have to explain further.

Wei Wuxian nodded, and wondered how bad, exactly, the relationship between Lan Qiren and his older brother had been. No matter his sudden burning curiosity, there was really no point in asking; there was nothing he could do about it – Lan Wangji’s father had died long ago, and Lan Qiren wouldn’t appreciate the reminder. But at the same time…

Well, despite everything that happened between him and Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have reacted like that to seeing him.

“Wangji is not unaware that he has the family features,” Lan Qiren said, filling the silence. “And Xichen as well. It has not bothered me in the past, and I do not wish for them to think, incorrectly, that I have harbored any sense of revulsion towards them previously for something like this, which is wholly out of their control. Not only is it incorrect, it could cause them undue distress.”

“I won’t tell,” Wei Wuxian said, thinking to himself that Lan Qiren was probably deluding himself if he thought Lan Wangji hadn’t already noticed, “but even if they know, I don’t think they’d take it to heart. You raised very perceptive, thoughtful nephews.”

Lan Qiren looked pleased by that, even if it did look like it was a little despite himself.

“Maintain your own self-discipline,” he said regardless, then started walking again. “I will repair my conduct. In the meantime, what can be done for you?”

“For me?” Wei Wuxian asked, surprised. He wasn’t the one stuck in some sort of childhood nightmare – he’d been quite happy at the age of five, since his parents hadn’t died until he was seven. “What about me? I don’t need anything.”

“Mm,” Lan Qiren said, and somehow they ended up in the Lan sect kitchens visiting what is, apparently, their secret cookie stash, something Wei Wuxian had not known about and was, quite frankly, shocked and appalled at the horrible oversight of him not having been informed about this earlier.

“The children are sworn to secrecy, particularly as to those from other sects,” Lan Qiren explained. “It makes them feel good to know that they can be trusted with ‘sect secrets’, and encourages cohesiveness within the sect. Now that you are married in, you are of course permitted to know, only as an adult they likely had no reason to think to tell you, while the children assume you already know.”

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi certainly seemed to assume Wei Wuxian knew everything. He was going to have to do something especially wicked to them on their next night-hunt together to get revenge.

“I do feel better,” Wei Wuixan said, munching on another cookie. “I don’t know why, it wasn’t that I was feeling bad before, but still…better.”

“At that age you are spending most of your energy growing. It is tiring work.”

That made sense. Wei Wuxian nodded.

“We’re going to keep that thing about me nearly falling out the window between ourselves, right?” he asked, and Lan Qiren nodded, looking amused. “It’s just this body, you know, I’m clumsy now…”

“Is it your body? Or Mo Xuanyu’s?”

“…you know, I have no idea,” Wei Wuxian confessed, blinking. “I don’t actually remember what I looked like at this age.”

He thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Does it matter?”

“I suppose not,” Lan Qiren said. “Come, let us return. Now that you are calmer, if you wish to go assist Wangji, I do not object.”

“No, no, I want to spend time with you,” Wei Wuxian said, and it was even true. Lan Qiren made for an excellent big brother. “I’m surprised you didn’t want to be there, supervising.”

“Mm, it is the nature of the work, and its author.”

“Oh?”

Lan Qiren shrugged and took a bite of his cookie as well, somehow managing to make it seem graceful in a way Wei Wuxian was pretty sure thirteen-year-old boys innately weren’t. “Wen Ruohan was once quite charming. Even in his desire for dominion, he had a way about him that was highly engaging, and once I took the position of interim sect leader, we were obligated through circumstances to spend a great deal of time together, comparatively speaking. I dislike reminders of that time.”

Wei Wuxian could understand that. To go from something that was almost friendship, or at least a little bit of admiration, to something as traumatic as the burning of the Cloud Recesses…

“His work is genius,” he said. “If nothing else.”

“It is that. Those books were from before he lost his mind entirely, when he could still think of things beyond conquering the world…he was never kind, you understand; he was often cruel and selfish, even then. But not – in the same way, as it was after.”

Wei Wuxian’s interest was piqued. “You make it sound as if there were some incident you could point to that marked the shift.”

“Oh, there was, and very specific,” Lan Qiren said. “His murder of the former Nie sect leader, who had once been his good friend. He was never the same after that.”

“Wait, they were friends? Then why…?”

Lan Qiren shrugged.

Wei Wuxian considered it for a moment, then shrugged. He wasn’t really in any position to comment.

“I hope they fix this soon,” he said.

“As do I,” Lan Qiren said. “Better health is not worth going through adolescence a second time.”

“That’s arguable,” Wei Wuxian said, little fireworks going off in his brain: what if they could somehow keep the improved health of the current bodies when they resumed their future selves? Wouldn’t that be a great way to deal with chronic health problems like Lan Qiren’s? Maybe there would be a way – actually, now that he thought about it, maybe Lan Qiren being affected by the array wasn’t just an accident. Maybe the array specifically required two people to be involved… “I think I do want to go join Lan Zhan, actually. I have an idea!”

“I’m sure you do,” Lan Qiren sighed. “Please try not to break it worse this time. You are tolerable as a five-year-old, but I assure you, no one wants to see you when you were an infant.”

“Maybe I was a nice, quiet infant!”

“No infant is nice and quiet.”

Wei Wuxian cackled, suddenly realizing something wonderful. “You can tell me stories about Lan Zhan when he was younger!” he exclaimed, clapping. “Oh, this is wonderful! I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before – I want to know everything!”

He and Lan Qiren were going to be very good friends going forward, he decided beneficently. Very good.

[goforth-ladymidnight]

A Masterlist of Stuff I’ve Made

My artsy sideblog: @ladymidnight-goesforth

My vibe-y sideblog: @nocturnal-moodboard

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My “A Court of Thorns and Roses” Fanfiction on AO3 and Tumblr:

Feycien

A Court of Frost and Embers (ACOFAE): a retelling of ACOTAR featuring the rare pairing of Feyre x Lucien. In progress.

Together for Solstice: the ACOFAE Christmas/Solstice special featuring Feyre x Lucien. Complete.

Feylin

I Will See You Again: an ACOTAR AU one-shot featuring Feyre x Tamlin, in which she tells him she loves him before the seven times seven years are up. Complete, but may be expanded upon in the future.

Forever: a canon-compliant one-shot featuring the Feylin engagement scene we heard about but never saw. Inspired by this prompt. Complete.

The Perfect Gift: a holiday one-shot in which Feyre tries to give Tamlin something special for Solstice, but what do you give someone who already has everything? Complete.

The Gown: a Tumblr-inspired Feylin-positive one-shot that shows how Tamlin reacted to Feyre’s gown when he first saw it. Complete. 

Brilin

A Garden of Thorns: a Beauty and the Beast retelling that takes place after ACOWAR. A Tamlin x Briar story. Please know that this is not a Tamlin redemption arc story. This is a story of healing for two lost people who happen to find each other. (The prompt that inspired this work is here.) In progress, on hiatus.

“Take me away from here, please”. Based on a writing prompt featuring Briar and Tamlin, exclusive to Tumblr. Complete.

A Winter Court Tradition: a Christmas-y one-shot inspired by this fanart, featuring Briar and Tamlin on the eve of Winter Solstice. Complete.

Love Bite: a spicy Brilin one-shot inspired by this kiss prompt. Complete.

Stay the Night: the emotional hurt/comfort sequel to “Love Bite”, this time from Briar’s POV, inspired by this prompt. Complete.

Tamcien

Still Beautiful, Still Mine: a Tamlin x Lucien oneshot inspired by this image as drawn for Tamlin Week 2023, in which Tamlin comforts a grieving Lucien over the loss of his eye. Complete.

A Second Chance: a gift fic written for the ACOTAR Secret Santa Gift Exchange, Christmas 2023. This modern holiday AU (with detective noir vibes) finds Tamlin and Lucien reconnecting in ways they never expected, and features Jurian x Vassa in supporting roles. In progress.

Elucien

The Golden Thread: a Solstice-themed ACOFAS AU one-shot, inspired by this writing prompt, in which Elain and Lucien finally air out their grievances. Complete.

The Third Night of Solstice: a gift fic written for the ACOTAR Secret Santa Gift Exchange, Christmas 2022. A dual POV in which Elain and Lucien struggle to give each other what they think the other wants. Complete.

Helion x LoA (Lady of Autumn)

The Faintest Blush of Rose: a pre-ACOTAR fic that explores how the Lady of Autumn (named Melora) met Helion and what happened to her afterwards. In progress; on hiatus.

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Please note: I am a Pro-Tamlin writer. I refuse to turn him into a villain, even if SJM has, just so you know what you’re getting yourself into. He’s a flawed, fascinating character that I enjoy writing about. I also like to expound on the worldbuilding and lore, especially in ACOFAE. Thank you!

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My Thoughts on Writing and the World of ACOTAR

An essay on ACOTAR faeries and lying (and why removing that aspect weakens the story)

A short rant about ACOTAR faeries and aging (and a suggestion to make it consistent)

An essay about ACOTAR faeries and the power of names (and what I think could have made the original story better)

My thoughts on the official ACOTAR Coloring Book (and what I would have done differently)

A mini-rant about the Ballad of Tam Lin and ACOTAR

Thoughts on Feyre’s wedding dress in ACOMAF

Theory (with proof): Tamlin sent the music to Feyre’s cell UTM

Theory (with proof): Rhysand’s appearance on Fire Night was edited in

Theory (with proof): Nesta and Lucien were endgame ft. foxglove

A Nesta/Lucien Headcanon (my thoughts)

Theory: Amarantha is the reason Rhysand’s family was killed

Thoughts on Amarantha’s backstory (future fic idea)

Thoughts on Amarantha as a villain (a Book 2 AU)

What I would do differently in Book 2 if Feylin was endgame

Headcanon re: the Dusk Court (that doesn’t involve SJM’s multi-series crossover)

[aquamarinescarlet]

Don’t give up just yet

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word count: ~3.6k

Warnings: two curse word (I think), brief mentions of sex and cheating, angst (bare in mind these warnings don’t apply the way you think they do, you’ll have to read to understand)

Summary: The classic soulmate AU, sentences written on each other’s wrists, but with a twist.

Author’s note: This was basically an excuse for me to reinvent the soulmate AU with the wrist tattoos thing. It’s sorta angsty, but I just thought the ending was too funny. Just experimenting here, tell me what you think.

PSA: Dividers are the count down till the day: black is reader focused, red is wanda focused, gold/yellow is also reader focused, but I thought it deserved a little spark.

“You should call her, y’know.”

“Why would I do that? She made her point very clear.”

“It’s her wedding day, Y/N,” Mia reasoned, “and this fight was months ago, you have to get over it.”

You rolled your eyes at her insistence. This discussion has been happening every day for the past two weeks.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, why am I the one who should get over it?” You emphasized.

“He is her soulmate, and she is your sister, the least you could do is pretend.”

“Ugh,” you let out a guttural scream, “I can’t do this anymore Mia, I stand by what I said. That man is an asshole and this soulmate thing is stupid. I don’t trust him, no matter what the words on both their wrists say, and I’m not gonna watch her go down with this and not do anything about it.”

Mia didn’t respond, she knew she’d reached your last nerve. You watched as the woman left your office, sending a last sympathetic glance your way before walking into the hall. 

Mia was right in some points, and you knew that. She was right about it being your sister’s wedding day and that you should be there to support her. She was wrong about you needing to be the one to apologize though. The way people manipulated their lives to fit this whole twisted Soulmate Theory made your blood boil.

The Soulmate Theory was quite simple: everyone was born with a sentence written on their wrists, popular belief is that those are the first words your soulmate will say to you. It was cute, and it worked most of the time, not for your sister though. Or at least you thought so.

Oli's soulmate was Isaac. They had met three years ago and eventually started dating. Oli was a firm believer of the Soulmate Theory and had never dated anyone before, so it was all new and exciting.

You started noticing the patterns roughly one year after they started dating. He was controlling her, discreetly, barely noticeable, but it was there. 

First with clothes, Oli had made it a habit to always ask for his opinions on her clothing, and he would tell her he hated something, regardless of her telling him over and over again she had liked it. You made little comments here and there about his actions, mostly jokes but with some truth behind, she didn’t notice.

Second was friends, Isaac would always want to meet Oli’s friends, and if she went out with one he didn’t know he would make her feel guilty. You started giving more serious warnings, pointing out what he was doing more clearly, she didn’t care and called you crazy.

Third was her feelings, he had his mind set on what her role should be in his life. He praised Oli endlessly when she cooked or cleaned. Other than that, he didn’t care, didn’t pay attention to her stories, didn’t appreciate her paintings and drawings… 

It got to the point where she wouldn’t want to paint anymore, when she was telling a story it would be without her usual excitement. Her smile no longer reached her eyes, she was constantly tired. 

You confronted her about it, several times, but it was of no use. You’d point out the facts and she’d retort with ‘he is my soulmate, the universe bound us together, he wouldn’t do this to me!’

Three months ago was the last time you two talked. She told you he asked her hand. She knew you would be against it, she tried to ease you into the idea of her being with Isaac for the rest of her life. You weren’t having any of it. 

After hours of screaming, arguing and loads of tears, she told you not to come to the wedding, and you said you wouldn’t. 

It’s now four days from the date and you’re not going as long as he’s the one she’s marrying.

You stared at the words on your own wrist. ‘It’s you’. That sentence haunted you for years. What a stupid set of words for your soulmate to say.

As a kid you adored the Soulmate Theory, you paid meticulous attention to the first words you’d exchange with anyone, you made new friends nearly every day in hopes of hearing those words, but they never came.

Until they came. At first it was exhilarating, but the ones you said didn’t match the ones on the person’s wrist. You were extremely disappointed. And then you heard them again, and again, and again… It became almost routine. Every single person you met would say ‘it’s you’ or some variation of it. 

You being who you are certainly didn’t help. During college you had started a tech company and now it had grown to be one of the biggest and most important in the field. The new inventions did win you several prizes and a lot of money. You were also stupid famous, being the young brilliant CEO and all. 

Ever since, you gave up on looking for your soulmate. It seemed counter productive to get yourself all worked up just for it not to happen every single day. You made your peace with it, although a small part of you just wanted to meet said person.

The situation with Isaac and Oli helped. Seeing that it could end up hurting you made it easier to not fixate on finding your soulmate. Nonetheless, the desire was there; hidden, pushed to the back of your mind, but still there.

You just wished your sister could see it too, that the Soulmate Theory is not the solution to all her problems. 

“Relax Steve, it’s all taken care of.” 

“What about the flowers? Did you book the buffet? Did you check with the band? And the decorations? I saw some people didn’t RSVP yet, should I redo the seating charts?” Steve rambled on as Wanda just laughed.

“The flower problem is solved, the buffet confirmed, so did the band, the wedding planner is working on the decorations and redoing the whole seating chart seems… unnecessary, they still have three days to confirm their presence.” She reassured the man who was more stressed than her about the whole situation.

“Okay, sorry, I just want to make sure everything is perfect.” He huffed, taking a seat on the couch. 

“It’s going to be perfect, don’t worry.” She couldn’t help the weirdness that surged upon uttering those words.

“How are you so calm?” Wanda just shrugged, not really sure how to answer. 

Steve took a deep breath and gazed at the red head, offering her a smile. 

“I’m going to sleep, all this wedding stuff has been stressing me all day.” 

“Okay,” Steve made his way to his bedroom but she called him before he reached the hallway, “thanks for the help Rogers.” 

“No worries.” He shot a last smile before disappearing. 

Wanda found herself alone in the living room, the silence only making her thoughts scream louder.

She would be married in three days. It seemed unbelievable. After losing her parents, being experimented on at Hydra, fighting along Ultron, losing her brother and becoming an Avenger, she never thought she would have time to fall in love.

Yet, here she is. Although the feeling wasn’t quite what she thought it would be. It wasn’t exciting, or nerve racking. She felt no different than any other day of her life. Steve seemed like the one who was getting married, not her. 

Vision is sweet and caring, she feels so happy around him. Then what is causing all these doubts to haunt her?

She knows what it is, she just doesn’t want to admit it.

Those words. Those stupid words painted forever on her wrist. ‘Don’t do this’. Ever since joining the Avengers she started using several bracelets to hide them, but they still burned on her skin every single day.

She’d heard of the Soulmate Theory at a very young age. Her parents had explained how those were the first words she’d hear from the love of her life. She would spend hours daydreaming all sorts of scenarios in which someone would say those words to her and they’d fall in love.

After her parent’s death, that stopped being her priority. At the Hydra base she’d only see her brother and a couple dozen different Hydra soldiers, too old and mean for a soulmate. 

Gaining powers was a game changer. She was older then. Stronger. They finally allowed her and Pietro to leave the base and create chaos in Hydra’s name. “Do good” in Hydra’s name. She believed she was doing the right thing. She truly did. 

Hearing her first ‘Don’t do this’ made her question everything. It came from a little kid nonetheless. A scared little kid. It must’ve been a mistake, she thought at the time. But that mistake happened, again, and again, and again… 

When she joined the Avengers her eyes were opened to all the pain and terror she had caused. All the people she hurt. Then it dawned on her, what if one of those ‘Don’t do this’ came from her soulmate? What if she had hurt them, or worse, killed them?

The idea terrified her. So she hid those words on her wrist. A reminder of the evil she’s done and the love she’ll never have. She promised herself to never look for her soulmate, she already caused them enough pain, they didn’t deserve to get tangled in the mess that was her life.

And then Vision was created. Him and Wanda got along greatly. He made her happy. They fell in love, or at least that’s what Wanda told herself, that she fell in love with him. It was possible, there’s no rule on the Soulmate Theory that says you can only fall in love with your soulmate. Plus, Vision is not human, so he doesn’t have words written on his wrist, he doesn’t have a predestined soulmate, technically he doesn’t even have an actual soul for this sort of thing. They could be each other’s soulmate. A loophole on this stupid theory.

Why didn’t it feel like that though? Why was she questioning it so much? And why now? Three days before her wedding?

She took off the bracelets and stared at the ink, brushing her fingers lightly over it. She loved Vision, she affirmed to herself. She wants to marry him. This is what she wants. And she believes in these words, for a while. Long enough for her to fall asleep, turning off her brain from overthinking the situation too much.

Work has had you occupied all week. With back to back meetings and loads of paperwork to fill out, you’ve barely had time to think of anything else.

But now it seems like everything is done and you have more free time than you’d like. 

You left the office early, not having much to do there anymore, and, instead of spending all afternoon home alone, you decided to go out for some coffee.

You were sitting on your usual table in the small coffee shop close to your place. It was calm, quiet and homely, a nice contrast between the places you frequent. The warm cup on your hands did nothing to distract you though.

The book you’d brought was long forgotten on the table as you glanced at your phone every few seconds. It’s two days till the wedding and, even though you tried not to think about it, you hoped your sister would text you saying she broke it off. It was unlikely, but wishing she could get some sense knocked into her wouldn’t kill.

You were so focused on your thoughts that you didn’t notice a woman glancing at you until you caught her trying to call your attention.

“It’s you!” She said, astonished, pointing to the cover of a magazine showing a picture of you.

Recognizing that issue as being a rather old one, you just nodded and offered the woman a friendly smile. She took that as an opportunity to approach you.

“Hi. Sorry,” she sounded excited and also nervous for bothering you, “I just wanted to say what an inspiration you are to women all around, to me especially. I’ve been opening my own business and seeing what you do has been such an encouragement to me. So, thank you!” 

You were surprised by how nice she was. You’d expected her to ask you to invest in her business or something, like everyone who approaches you does, but she didn’t and it was a nice change of pace for once.

“What kind of business are you opening?” You asked. Listen to her talk would be a good distraction, plus, you could use the company.

“Oh, no, that’s ok,” she said, “I don’t want to bother you any further.”

“Please,” you urged, “I have the rest of my day off and I could use someone to talk to. Unless you’re busy, then I wouldn’t want to be a burden to you.” You laughed to ease the woman’s nerves.

“Sure?” You nodded and gestured to the empty seat across from you. 

She accepted it and you spent at least an hour talking before she had to leave. It was a pleasant conversation, she praised your work but didn’t refrain from giving some interesting criticism on your business. The topic of an investment or a partnership never even came up. 

It got your sister out of your mind for a while, although it didn’t last long.

Laying on your bed, your eyes fought to stay open, your mind swirling with all possible scenarios regarding Oli. She would be miserable if she went through with this, and you couldn’t do anything about it.

You love your sister, you care so much about her, but she refuses to listen to your warnings. You could swallow your pride and go to the wedding. You could try and support her. But that would just make an accomplice to her stupidity and you’re not going to just stand there and pretend that that’s ok.

You thought about texting her, way too many times. But your relationship is already rocky as it is, the least you could do is hope she gets some clarity on her own.

One day till the wedding. She’s 24 hours away from the happiest day of her life. Why is it, then, that Wanda doesn’t feel as happy as she should be. 

She didn’t have to fake a smile, she was happy, but that smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

None of the others seemed to notice it. They just thought it was the nervousness of having everything set so the day could run smoothly. Vision even brought up the possibility of her having cold feet about it, but she denied it thoroughly, assuring him she wanted this.

And she does. She wants to get married, have kids and build up a family of her own. She wants it all. 

It still seemed weird though. Like something was off. 

“Steve just called,” Nat interrupted her thoughts, walking back into the room, “everything is set, prepped and organized for tomorrow.”

“Let’s try on the dress then.” Carol urged the girl to put on the piece of clothing for the millionth time.

It did her justice. Slim at the top and flowy at the bottom, accentuating all her curves perfectly. It wasn’t big and puffy but light and delicate. She smiled at her own reflection as the other women crammed around her to take a look.

“You look beautiful.” Pepper said in awe. 

“She does, doesn’t she.” Laura agreed, even though she’s the one that helped her choose it.

Wanda didn’t say anything, just smiling and appreciating her own image, excitement growing on her chest from wearing it in front of everyone the next day.

The girls spent hours planning how they would do her hair and makeup. There were so many ideas, disagreements and arguments that Wanda was completely drained by the end of the day. She was happy though, to see her friends being there for her, eager to help and make sure everything was perfect.

It was nice to have people around since she lost so much throughout the years.

After the women were gone and she found herself alone, Wanda’s thoughts from the beginning of the day came back, hitting her like a train.

Was she really more excited about wearing a dress than about getting married? Was this a sign of her actually getting cold feet? 

She shrugged them away, affirming to herself these are just stupid uncertanties people always get before their wedding day. At least that’s what happens in movies, so nothing to worry about... right?

Thankfully your work slump had subsided as now a gigantic pile of papers sat on your table. Some contracts had to be restructured and a set of stores had to be chosen to distribute your newest technology. 

You thrived in that scenario, with countless reports and 2D drawings of the prototypes scattered about the room. Your mind was going a thousand miles a minute, seemingly unaware of the events that would take place later that day.

That peace, however, was short lived. Your brain short circuited for a second when you checked what had caused your phone to buzz.

Two voicemails. 

From none other than Isaac. 

It was right then that it dawned on you: Oli was marrying that asshole today. In only a couple of hours actually.

Before listening to the messages you started to record your phone screen, maybe he would try to threaten you or something and you could use that to convince Oli to break things off with him. It wouldn’t kill to be precautious.

The first one was sweet, although it almost made you gag, it was sent with good intentions. Isaac was asking you to go easy on Oli, regardless of your feelings towards him, you should be supportive of her and her decisions. Too pretentious for your liking, but sent with good intentions nonetheless.

The second one started awfully weird. Some muffled sounds, things you couldn’t quite make out. Until you heard a loud moan, your eyes going wide as you pushed your phone away from your face. Isn’t it technically ‘bad luck’ to see the bride on the wedding day? You didn’t have time to dwell on those thoughts as the voice on the phone started to moan each other’s names. The woman didn’t sound anything like Oli, because it wasn’t Oli. Isaac was cheating on your sister? And on their wedding day!?

Oh you weren’t about to just let that go. You stopped the recording, thanking your intuition, and quickly ringed Oli.

It rang once… twice… three times… and then voicemail. You tried at least four more times until you figured she just didn’t want to talk to you.

“Marie can you come in here please?” You called your secretary.

A few seconds later she popped her head inside your office.

“How can I help?”

“Can I use your phone!?” You sounded more exasperated than you wished.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to call your sister today?” Damn, that woman knows you too well. You sighed loudly.

“Please… I just…” You trailed off, sounding desperate this time around.

Thankfully Marie gave in and lent you her phone. You typed Oli’s number and rang it, several times, she didn’t pick up once. You were starting to get truly desperate now.

“Do you have the address?” You handed Marie her phone back.

“Here.” She handed you a piece of paper from her pocket. 

It was on the other side of the city, at least a one hour drive. You quickly grabbed your coat, purse and phone, rushing out of the office, only being stopped by a hand wrapping around your wrist.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” You gave her a reassuring smile and a quick nod before making your way to your car. Marie has been working with you since the beginning, she always knew when you were up to nothing good. She also knew that when you set your mind to something, there was no stopping you.

The drive was excruciating. You kept making stupid mistakes and taking wrong turns. Everything seemed to work against you, being it: accidents, red lights, slow drivers, pedestrians. Even the birds chirping around were pissing you off.

You finally reached the venue and stopped the car messily in the front entrance. You quickly ran up the stairs, and almost tripped and fell when you heard the officiant was already performing the ceremony.

You reached the doors and yanked them open, hopefully interrupting the wedding before it was too late.

“Don’t do this!” You screamed at the top of your lungs, nearly breathless. 

The guests all turned towards you, surprised. So did the couple on the podium.

Except those people weren’t Oli and Isaac. You recognized them, Vision and Scarlet Witch, or at least that’s the names they went for on television. You’ve seen them before, doing business with Stark had its perks, but had never been introduced.

You could’ve felt bad, but your stomach was a turmoil of faith and nausea. You were either really early or really late to stop Oli.

“Sorry,” you said, trying to catch your breath, “wrong wedding, carry on.” You turned around to leave, but not before noticing the bride glancing at her own wrist.

You didn’t get the chance to take a single step out the door before her voice filled the silence that had settled.

“It’s you.” You stopped dead on your tracks. Your wrist burning slightly, not the kind of pain to cause discomfort, just enough to be noticeable.

Those words. 

Her looking at her wrist.

Your’s burning now.

You turned back around, earning all kinds of confused glances from the guests. Your eyes fell on the woman, a smirk plastered on your lips.

“Seems like this isn’t the wrong wedding after all.”

[vgfm]

Everyman Theory Part 3: Picking Up the Pieces

HEY EVERY___!

A lot has changed, hasn’t it? Last year I wrote a massive theory post on Everyman’s role in the Undertale/Deltarune series, and a month later I made a follow-up post that went further down the rabbit hole and explored Everyman’s possible relationship to Gaster.

With the release of Deltarune Chapter 2 I debated making a third part to this analysis, but it turned out there’s more to talk about than I could’ve imagined.

One reason this post took so long was that there was a lot of ground to cover and many disparate ideas to explore that never quite came together. To make things easier for you to read and easier for me to write, I decided to divide my original concept for this post into separate “fragments” that each deal with a main topic. The first fragment was my theory about Kris and this second fragment will focus on Everyman, the initial catalyst for this theory series.

Before we delve right into things, let’s recap my original theory once more for those who don’t want to sift through two 40+ page analyses:

Everyman theory, speedrun version:

Everyman was the bullet attack from the Reaper Bird amalgamate in Undertale’s True Lab (the one whose head got eaten by butterflies)

Amalgamates generally follow the pattern of being made from 1 named/important monster combined with several generic monsters

Keeping the above pattern in mind, Everyman was likely an actual person/monster who became part of an amalgamate like Snowdrake’s mother and Shyren’s sister did

Everyman appears multiple times in Deltarune, implying that he’s alive and well (unlike the other amalgamate monsters) and will play a greater role in the full game

Everyman is referenced in both the light and dark worlds, implying that he’s a lightner who’s been traveling between both worlds

Everyman could be connected to “The Knight” who’s creating fountains in Deltarune (we’ll go over this in a bit)

Everyman is connected to butterfly imagery. Notably, the butterflies that eat his head in Undertale are unique sprites named after him and they are distinct from Whimsun/Whimsalot’s butterfly attacks

Jevil and the King of Spades make reference to both the Knight and Everyman, implying they could be the same person

The word “strange” is associated with Everyman; his sprite in Undertale is called “strangeman” and Seam first refers to the Knight as a “strange knight”

The word “strange” is used very selectively in Deltarune Chapter 1, usually referring to mysterious dark-world characters like Jevil or the Knight

Everyman is associated with knight-like characters—the Reaper Bird amalgamate is made from the armor-clad “sword and sorcery” enemies from the Core and Everyman is grouped with Knight Knight and Whimsalot in the official Undertale art book

Everyman is probably connected to Gaster, since they’re both connected to the True Lab

Everyman and Gaster are two of only six characters in Undertale referred to as “man” in the game files. This list includes strangeman (Everyman), mysteryman (Gaster), riverman (River Person), watchingman (bed amalgamate in True Lab), darkman (overworld sprite for Core enemies), and snowman (gives snowman piece)

In short, the broad stroke of my theory was “Everyman will be important,” but the main crux or “hook” was that Everyman is the Knight who’s pulling up dark fountains in Hometown. Chapter 2 has featured more appearances by Everyman and we’ve learned some new Knight lore, so let’s take a look at what this means for my theor—

Oh right, I keep forgetting.

Needless to say Chapter 2’s ending has complicated things. So much so that I needed to create a whole separate theory post (my longest ever) to address whether Kris might be the Knight or not. To simplify this post, I will not be addressing Kris’ “knighthood” here since I’ve gone over that in great detail already.

Regardless of whether Everyman is the Knight or not, I’m more convinced than ever that he’ll continue to appear in future chapters. Before I unpack all of Chapter 2’s implications for my Everyman theory, let’s do a quick rundown of what my original theory got wrong, what it got right, and what’s still up in the air:

What I got wrong

The Knight must have visited dark worlds personally

I assumed that the three kings at Card Castle were imprisoned in Chapter 1 as a direct result of the Knight’s actions within the dark world. However, Chapter 2 shows Kris creating a dark world in their house without needing to step inside of it. Moreover, the Queen explains how the Knight appeared to her as an outstretched hand in the sky, implying that the Knight was outside of the proto-dark world the whole time. It’s possible the Knight has been inside of dark worlds before (regardless of who they are), but it is no longer explicitly necessary as a device to explain away their actions, how they create fountains, or how darkners know of them.

The Knight’s pronouns

Chapter 2 consistently refers to the Knight with they, them, and it pronouns. Seam’s dialogue about the Knight in Chapter 1 made me assume the Knight was the “him” referred to when discussing how the Spade King came into power.

[Image transcript: A dialogue box from Seam that reads “But, recently, a strange knight appeared… And three of the kings were locked away. The remaining king put him and his strange son into power. End image transcript]

I’m now more inclined to think this line should be read as “the king put him[self] and his strange son into power.” The line is still phrased awkwardly this way, but Toby seems to have backed away from this line having any significance, so it was likely a simple error or fluke that I read too much into. Speaking of which…

The Knight’s “strange son”

I was already highly skeptical of this line and now I’m forced to conclude that it was always intended to refer to Lancer. Nothing is mentioned at all about a “strange son” in Chapter 2 and this line would be completely incompatible with the case Chapter 2 is making for Kris being the Knight, regardless of whether they’re a red herring or not (more on that in my Kris post).

Jevil isn’t “aware” of what’s outside his cell

While I haven’t been 100% proven wrong on this in regards to Jevil, Chapter 2 introduces several darkner characters who inexplicably have awareness of not only other beings within their own dark worlds but who also have prior history with darkners from other dark worlds. Most notably, the King of Spades is shown to have previous ties with Queen, and Spamton makes cryptic references to Jevil.

[Image transcript: Two screenshots. On the left, Queen taunts King, saying “You Slept Curled Up On A Dirty Throne Every Day.” On the right, Spamton says “SOON I’LL EVEN SURPASS THAT DAMNED [[Clown Around Town!]]” End image transcript]

It’s now far likelier that Jevil would know about the Knight without needing to meet them personally or be directly told about them.

Chapter 2 would take place in the Hometown’s hospital

A lot of people (myself included) assumed this due to the “tender loving care” act in the Virovirokun fight that was shown in early screenshots of Chapter 2, along with Noelle’s implied importance in early previews.

[Image transcript: Two preview images of Deltarune Chapter 2. On the left, the party dresses up as nurses and the narration states “Everyone treated the enemy with tender loving care!! All the enemies felt great!!” On the right is a Toby Fox tweet from September 15, 2019 of Noelle’s dark world form. End image transcript]

The fact that this chapter still introduced a few medical-themed enemies makes me think that a future hospital dark world is now less likely, otherwise those enemies would’ve been saved for then. This wasn’t an essential part of my original theory by any means, though it does majorly impact a certain Everyman/Knight suspect.

The Warrior will be important

I feel like it’s self-explanatory why this one isn’t true, and the less said about our favorite inscrutable pizza maker the better. We did find out where “giasfclfebrehber” came from in the Monster Kidz Word Search, so that’s a nice consolation prize.

[Image transcript: Kris solving a speak and spell puzzle. The solution is “GIASFELFEBREHBER”. Ice-E’s face is on the screen. End image transcript]

Sans and Gaster may be darkners

This was more of an aside and only tangentially connected to my original theory, but this hypothesis seems far less likely now that the workings of darkners have been elaborated on in Chapter 2. Unless the game establishes that there are “special” darkners who won’t turn into objects or statues outside of a dark world (besides Ralsei, maybe?) then this idea will have to sit on the backburner

What I got right

Dark fountains are created by Lightners

Even before Chapter 2, many theories have suggested that the Knight is a lightner character, but I don’t recall seeing many specifically posit that the Knight has to be a lightner. Queen attempts to create a new “Knight” but only lists lightner characters as potential candidates. Moreover, this revelation seemingly discredits other theories which posited that only humans can create dark worlds. Berdly’s weapon glows with power as he attempts to create a dark world before being stopped by Ralsei.

[Image transcript: Berdly raises his halberd, saying “I will make a new Fountain…” End image transcript]

Apparently Ralsei considers monsters just as capable of making fountains as humans, and Ralsei knows more about fountains than anyone else we’ve met so far.

Dark fountains were made in the light world

This one is mostly correct, since we see Kris create a dark world inside their own living room, but Berdly did attempt to create a fountain within a dark world. There’s no telling what a dark world created within a dark world would look like, but it seems unlikely that any of the current fountains were created inside of existing dark worlds, given how they’re mostly isolated from one another (with the possible exception of the two in the school).

Everyman has made more appearances

I was expecting to get one more Everyman cameo in Chapter 2, but now we’ve gotten two. I’ll discuss these in a bit, but suffice it to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Darkners can voluntarily turn into objects and back

I theorized Gaster could be doing this if he’s a darkner and if he’s the one who hands you an “egg.” While the jury is still out on that, we do see Lancer intentionally turn into a card to fit into Kris’ pocket and then turn back, showing that (presumably) all darkners can do this voluntarily at any time and not just when removed from a fountain.

[Image transcript: Two screenshots. On the left, narration states “LANCER was added to your Key Items.” On the right, Lancer drops out of Kris’ pocket as a playing card. End image transcript]

It’s also not an ability that’s exclusive to “special” characters like Jevil or Spamton when they’re defeated, though their case may still be special because they each have two different items that they can turn into (which may or may not be their “true” forms).

Father Alvin is related to Gerson

This one hardly counts because it was one of those theories that was 99% likely to be true in Chapter 1, like the “theory” that Noelle’s mom is the mayor. However…

The drawing in the unused classroom was of Gerson

This was a 50/50 chance (with the other possibility being that it was Alvin’s self-portrait). However, this does carry significant implications for Alvin as a character, which I’ll elaborate on at another time.

What’s still up in the air

Is Kris the only Knight?

If opening a fountain is what it takes to be considered a Knight, then there’s no question that Kris qualifies. But are they the only “Knight” out there? If so, then will that remain the case for the rest of the game? Hmm, maybe I have a theory post to answer that…

How much do darkners know about the light world?

Certain darkners seem to have memories that go back before the creation of their home fountains. The King of Spades remembers being previously abandoned by lightners and the Queen has footage of her own world’s creation, to say nothing of her prior relationship with King. Seam’s interactions with Jevil seem to have occurred before the Knight (and their fountain?) appeared. Ralsei in particular seems to have keen knowledge of what goes on outside of Castle Town. I don’t have answers to these questions, but they’re something to think about in future chapters.

Is the “strange someone” Gaster and/or the Knight?

In my original theory I suggested the possibility that the “strange someone” who Jevil met could’ve been the Knight. This was mainly to answer the question of how Jevil knew about the Knight after being locked up. Chapter 2 seems to provide more evidence that the “strange someone” could be Gaster or at least strongly connected to him, but we have no idea whether this means Gaster, this “someone,” and/or the Knight are one in the same or if they’re at least related. Time will tell.

The meaning of the term “strange”

Chapter 2 continues the trend of using the word “strange” selectively and in relation to key characters. I won’t go over all of the instances here, but suffice it to say there still seems to be an intention behind the word’s use.

Why were the previous fountains made in those locations and who would have access to them?

Even though we’ve learned a lot about how fountains are made, we still don’t know what the Knight’s motive is for making them or why they were made in the locations we’ve seen so far. Kris undoubtedly created the fountain in their house, but it’s relevant to ask whether they or any other Knight suspect had the means, motive, and opportunity to create the previous fountains we’ve seen so far.

Headshots in Pop-Ups

[Image transcript: Kris fighting Poppup. One of Poppup’s attacks is a browser window with Everyman’s face. End image transcript]

Everyman makes two on-screen appearances in Chapter 2: first as a pop-up ad during encounters with the Poppup enemy, and again as a profile picture during Queen’s PFP/“drama” attack. I haven’t tested these attack cameos extensively, but they both seem to follow the pattern of being rare encounters like the Jevil carousel cameo in Chapter 1. This rare encounter rate, again, implies to me that Everyman’s presence is significant.

Right off the bat I will say that the implications of these Chapter 2 appearances are a little harder to parse than the cameos in Chapter 1 due to the nature of the Cyber dark world. Cyber World contains search results and other personalized content created from (presumably) all of Hometown’s residents. This means that the line is a little blurred as to which dark world constructs are physical objects in the library and which ones are manifestations of data that came from the internet. However, each of these Everyman cameos has a “tell” that caries major implications for the character once we look at the context.

First up, the Poppup attack with Everyman is just one of several possible pop-ups. The other pop-ups include cameos of Maus, Virovirokun’s “demon” attack, the Addisons, and Poppup itself.

[Image transcript: Four Poppup attack windows. From left to right they include: a Poppup, an Addison with a tooth brush, several of Virovirokun’s devil bullets, and a swarm of Maus (Maice?). End image transcript]

Note that these are all dark-world entities. Everyman’s presence here implies that he is known in the dark world as well—not necessarily as a darkner, but as someone who has visited a dark world and interacted with darkners before.

One very interesting detail about the Everyman pop-up is that it resembles the Reaper Bird bullet sprite from Undertale but it’s actually different.

As you can see, the shape of the nose and the neck don’t quite match. This means that an all-new sprite was made just for this attack. This could mean that the Reaper Bird bullet sprite isn’t that different from Everyman’s actual appearance, or at least the head part of it. It’s possible that he could be wearing a helmet or mask of some kind, albeit one that covers his neck as well.

On the other hand, we do see one of Virovirokun’s bullet attacks in another pop-up.

[Image transcript: Kris and Noelle battling Virovirokun, dodging their pink devil bullets. End image transcript]

So it’s possible that the Everyman pop-up may just be another Everyman bullet attack rather than the man himself. This would track with Everyman’s original appearance in Undertale also being as an attack bullet. Still, this implies that Everyman was in the dark world either way since we only see lightners cast magic inside of dark worlds, meaning none of the darkners would’ve been able to see this bullet if Everyman hadn’t set foot inside the dark world first.

Everyman’s Drama-Free Life

Next we have the Queen’s Profile Picture (PFP) attacks. Their sprite filenames include “pfp” so that’s why I call them that. Everyman’s head appears as one of the icons, though this is a random chance. There are several interesting tidbits to be gleaned from this attack. Most noticeable is that Everyman’s icon is the only one that never hurls chat attacks at you, even when the Queen’s icon has enraged the other icons with “drama.”

[Image transcript: Profile pictures scrolling during one of Queen’s attacks. All of them are spouting text except for the two Everyman portraits, which are silent. End image transcript]

Something else to note is that, in most scenarios, Queen uses this PFP attack immediately after she mentions the Knight.

[Image transcript: Queen fighting the fun gang, saying “Is What I Wondered. Until The KNIGHT appeared…” End image transcript]

This isn’t always the case, since the order of Queen’s attacks can vary depending on the progress of the fight and whether her acid shield is up or down, but in most of my playthroughs she used it right after mentioning the Knight. This is not unlike how King showed off his butterfly cloak after mentioning the Knight in the final turn of his boss fight.

[Image transcript: Nine profile pictures from Queen’s attack. In order, they are: a frog, a bunny, Toriel, a sun with a face, Everyman, a human, a bird, a cat, and a dog. End image transcript]

What I find most intriguing about the Queen’s PFP attack is that the profile pictures (minus Queen’s) all seem to represent lightners. There’s a pfp that looks like Toriel and another that looks like a human (implying that humans are commonplace in Deltarune’s universe). This is one of the few times in all of Chapter 2 when outside lightners are visually represented in the cyber world—almost everything else is either a darkner, a dark world construct/building, or some sort of abstract symbol/ad. As mentioned before, even the pop-up ads are pictures of dark world enemies and attacks.

Given how these profile pictures stand out from other pictures in the cyber world, I’m inclined to think these are meant to represent actual lightners and not just abstract characters (i.e., like how a real-life person may have a profile picture of their favorite fictional character). The lone possible exception (besides Queen) is a profile picture that features a sun. However, the Undertale art book shows that Toby has considered sun-based monster designs in the past, so it’s not out of the question.

[Image transcript: Two images from the Undertale Artbook. Both are Toby’s doodles of an unused monster named Mr. Sunshine. The left description reads “Hard mode enemy sketches. I only regret not being able to include Mr. Sunshine and the Troubleboys. The right description reads “Hey, it’s Mr. Sunshine!” Mr Sunshine: “SHUT UP!!!!!” End image transcript]

So what does this all imply? The profile picture attacks imply that Everyman is a lightner, and this fits with my prior theory that Everyman is a monster who lives in Hometown. The Poppup ads imply that Everyman has been to a dark world before, which would be fitting for the Knight. We’ve seen Susie, Noelle, and Berdly’s first times entering a dark world. If Kris is the Knight then that carries the implication that they’ve been to (or at least known of) dark worlds before the events of the game. But, if Kris isn’t the first Knight then that necessitates that some other character has created and visited dark fountains before they did.

Strange Crew

In previous parts of my theory I’ve gone over the significance of the word “strange” in Deltarune Chapter 1. In total, the word is used five times in association with Jevil, twice when referring to Kris’ actions/reactions, once when the Knight is first mentioned, once in regards to the “strange someone” Jevil met, and at least once for Lancer. There is a line from Seam about a “strange son” that the Spade King put into power—this is likely another reference to Lancer but the wording is unclear.

The pattern we saw in Chapter 1 was that “strange” seems reserved for the big players in the Deltarune universe: Kris, the Knight, Jevil, and the “strange someone” he met, with Lancer seemingly being an outlier (barring some greater significance in later chapters).

In Chapter 2, “strange” is used more often than in Chapter 1 but it’s also used more broadly, referring to Spamton (5), shadow crystals (2), Kris (3), the dark world (3), the fountain (2), Ralsei’s conversation with Kris on the swan boat (3), Noelle’s internet searches(1), the Ice-E’s word search puzzle (1), the giant toilet (1), Top Chef and his bakery’s tools (3), and the “Twisted Blade” item crafted from the purified crystal and thorn ring (1).

[Image transcript: Four screenshots. In the first, Kris reaches inside a hole as the narration says “(You reached inside and found something alongside a strange piece of glass…)”. In the second screenshot, the item LoadedDisk is highlighted in the key item menu. The description says “A strange disk. You can feel it smiling in your hand.” The third screenshot is Ralsei saying “Kris, this looks like a strange word, but…” and the final screenshot is of Malius’ crafting menu with the item “TwistedSwd” highlighted. The description says “A strange blade” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Four screenshots of Kris and Ralsei riding on a swan boat in Queen’s acid lake. Ralsei says “… is it s-strange to say… It’s nice spending time alone with you like this…?” A dialogue choice is presented. The left choice reads “I feel the same” while the right, highlighted choice reads “It’s strange.” Ralsei responds “Ah, s-sarcastic! I was just being sarcastic!” End image transcript]

The Ice-E reference is of dubious importance, since it’s used to describe the “strange” word that Kris must spell in the Cyber world—a word very similar to the long gibberish word featured in the Ice-E’s word search in Undertale. Noelle’s “strange and sad” internet searches are also of interest because the “sad” part implies that these searches may relate to her sister Dess, who will likely loom over what we learn in future chapters about Kris and Noelle’s pasts.

Top Chef and the toilet appear to be outliers this time like Lancer was before, given their overall goofy/comical nature. However, it’s been pointed out that Top Chef has some obscure dialogue that’s very, well, strange:

[Image transcript: A series of dialogue boxes from Top Chef. The dialogue reads: “Mama miba! You returned my cake to me… Mwah! I will never forget your kindness!! Every day, I will give you dizzying flavors! Every day, the flavors will become stronger! That’s the power of [Baker’s Arms]!” The words “Baker’s Arms” are written in brackets like Spamton’s speech. Flavor text reads “(You got Spincake.)” Top Chef resumes speaking, saying “Would you like to take my cake for a spin? Like night and day, the cake and the world revolve!” End image transcript]

In a short span Top Chef references Spamton’s bracketed speech and Jevil’s battle theme, The World Revolving. I have no idea if these lines are pure coincidence or if Top Chef will have some bigger role later in the story. It seems unlikely but who can predict where Toby will take a story these days?

One pattern I’ve noticed with the word “strange” is that Shadow Crystal holders Jevil and Spamton got the lion’s share of “strange” references in each chapter, in keeping with the theme of the “strange someone” that Jevil met. “Strange” only ever seems to refer to dark world characters and concepts, with the possible exception of Kris. Of course, Kris may have history with dark worlds that we aren’t aware of, especially if they’re the Knight.

Previously I tried to link the significance of “strange” to the Knight, in part to tie into the fact that the filename for Everyman’s sprite in Undertale is titled “strangeman.” While this could still be relevant, it seems like “strange” is more closely associated with shadow crystals now and the “strange knight” moniker has been dropped in favor of the “Roaring Knight.” Could the Knight still be the “strange someone” that Jevil met? That’s possible, especially since “strange knight” was written with emphasis in Chapter 1 and it was the first time that the Knight and the word “strange” had been mentioned in Deltarune. Still, I’m far more iffy on this idea than I was previously, if only because of the new hints we’ve gotten regarding that “strange someone” that feel more Gaster-leaning. It’s possible that “strange knight” might’ve been a false positive, and it wouldn’t be the first.

False Sightings

Since the time I made my initial Everyman theory posts I’ve found more analyses surrounding the character—some older than mine and some newer than Chapter 2. I’m happy to see that more fans are aware of this character and discussing his potential meaning—this was the main goal of my initial theory, even if many fans don’t agree with my points.

However, in this Everyman fervor I’ve noticed a few recurring “Pro-Everyman” arguments and pieces of evidence from other fans that don’t quite add up to me. First off is what I’d call “false Everyman sightings,” meaning props or characters that people have associated with Everyman that likely bear no connection. One of the most frequent examples I see is the dolls in Asriel’s room in the Ruins and New Home.

I’ve seen people claim these are Everyman dolls due to their simple facial features and snouts, but evidence seems to suggest that these are just boss monster dolls with simplified features. I think this is most evident by the dolls’ ears, which match those of a boss monster but differ entirely from Everyman (who has no noticeable ears). We can see from Temmie’s original concept art (on the bottom) that the original doll design was even more like a boss monster:

Another example I’ve seen tossed around is training dummies.

[Image transcript: Undertale’s encounter with the training dummy. The narration says “You encountered the Dummy.” End image transcript]

While I could sort of see the resemblance with Asriel’s dolls, I really don’t know what the connection here is. Lots of monsters have snouts and long faces, so Everyman is hardly unique in that regard. Moreover, the Mad Dummy has both eyes facing the same way, whereas Everyman’s face has distinct wall eyes.

[Image transcript: Undertale’s encounter with the Mad Dummy. The narration says “Mad Dummy blocks the way!” End image transcript]

The normal training dummy in the Ruins is a bit more ambiguous with its facial features—you could maybe squint and argue there’s a resemblance, but I think the dummy is simple enough that you could map several characters onto it. Heck, I’ve heard people argue that Susie and the Mad Dummy are related just because their faces sort of look alike, so take that line of reasoning for what it’s worth.

One other false positive I’ve seen, albeit one that’s very rare, is the claim that the swan boat you ride in Queen’s mansion is meant to resemble Everyman. I think this is the easiest to dismiss because the swan’s design is far more specific than the dolls or training dummies. Honestly it just looks like a swan to me.

If I really, really wanted to stretch things I could claim there’s some symbolic significance to the swan, given that Rouxls Kaard (whose face vaguely resembles Gaster’s) rides on top of the Thrash Machine (which may symbolize the discarded Vessel) and he fights you over an overview of a small town (perhaps foreshadowing the Titans awaking over Hometown?).

[Image transcript: An edited collage of the Rouxls Kaard fight. Ralsei’s head has been replaced with Asriel’s God of Hyperdeath form, Kris has scary red eyes, the Swan boat’s head is Everyman, Rouxls Kaard has Gaster’s face, the Thrash Machine has the Goner Maker Vessel’s head lazily pasted on, and Susie is doing her “where the hell are we?” pose in the center while the Titans look overhead. On top of this is clickbait text that reads “deltarune ENDING REVEALED?!” End image transcript]

In that context where everything needs to symbolize something then I could see Everyman/the Knight being slotted into the role of the swan (foreshadowing some eventual team-up against Gaster or Kris fully taking on the Knight role themself?) but that is a huge, huge reach. Keep in mind that I’m not saying I believe a word of that, but that’s the only possible scenario where I could see a connection between the swan and Everyman coming into play or having any meaning. Sometimes a swan is just a swan.

I think some of these false positives tie into the idea I’ve seen floated by fans that Everyman is supposed to be monsterkind’s equivalent to a stick figure. While this is an intriguing idea, I can’t say that I fully agree. However, this is less something that I can outright disprove and more something that remains to be proven, in my estimation.

It’s true that Everyman’s features are very simple, but its shape feels more defined and solid than a stick figure’s. Moreover, stick figures already exist in Deltarune’s world. Queen uses stick figures to illustrate that teens are merely big children.

[Image transcript: Queen shows a picture of a small stick figure labeled “STUPID” and a larger stick figure labeled “BIG STUPID.” She says “Tens Are Merely Big Children And Adults Are Even Bigger Children” End image transcript]

While Queen isn’t a monster, she’s clearly not referring to herself here since she was never a kid.

[Image transcript: Continued from the screenshot above, Queen brings up a picture of two computers labeled “SMART” while saying “No I Am: A Computer (Smart)” End image transcript]

We know that Queen pulls her information from lightners and their internet, so the stick figures she uses can be presumed to match what lightners use for visual shorthand.

However, we know that humans exist in Deltarune’s world, so is there a possible cultural difference where humans use stick figures and monsters use Everyman? I can’t fully rule that out, but that seems unlikely to me since later in Cyber World we see signs with horned figures that also resemble stick figures.

[Image transcript: The Fun Gang looks at a green sign of a stick figure with horns.” End image transcript]

We don’t see many horned darkners, so the implication is that these figures are meant to resemble monsters.

Later on we also see green stick figures in the carnival ad signs (which can appear elsewhere during Snowgrave):

[Image transcript: Noelle and Kris are at the cyber fair. Above one of the stands is a sign with a green stick figure. End image transcript]

I definitely get why people associate Everyman with the idea of a stick figure—just the name “Everyman” screams “one size fits all” and his simplistic design lends him well to that. However, I just find that idea difficult to square with Everyman’s relative absence in Undertale (outside of the True Lab) and the Hometown graffiti of him. I mean, how often does someone spray-paint a stick figure on a wall and label it “stick figure”? Bonus points if they’re not being ironic or “avant-garde” about it.

[Image transcript: A Hometown alleyway with graffiti of Everyman with “Everyman” written alongside it. End image transcript]

Amalgamate Word Association

To close things out, let’s take one more look at where this all started: Reaper Bird. This was the very first enemy to have an Everyman attack, and the only one in all of Undertale. Now Everyman attacks have become a recurring trend in Deltarune chapters. At first I thought Reaper Bird held very few secrets due to its recycled dialogue from the Core mercenary enemies, but over time I’ve only found more and more interesting tidbits.

For starters, the enemies that make up Reaper Bird (Astigmatism, Final Froggit, and Whimsalot) have unique flavor text when you encounter them all together in the Core:

[Image transcript: An Undertale encounter with Final Froggit, Astigmatism, and Whimsalot. The narration says “What a nightmare!” End image transcript]

“Nightmare” is another term that’s used very rarely in Undertale and Deltarune. In Undertale it’s only used three times—once here, and once by Aaron and Papyrus in more humorous contexts. There’s also the title of Flowey’s boss theme, Your Best Nightmare, but this is never stated in the game’s dialogue. In Deltarune, “nightmare” is also said three times: once in Werewire’s check description, once by Noelle recounting her experiences in the Snowgrave run, and once by Jevil:

[Image transcript: Two screenshots of Jevil speaking after being defeated. He says “FROM NOW, A NIGHTMARE WILL AWAKEN IN YOUR HEARTS. IN THE SHADOW OF THE KNIGHT’S HAND…” End image transcript]

While this could be coincidental phrasing, keep in mind that the Core also has Knight Knight as an enemy, who makes puns equating “night” with “knight.”

[Image transcript: An Undertale encounter with Knight Knight. She says “Good knight,” using the spelling for a medieval knight rather than the time of day. End image transcript]

Toby also composed the theme for “Nightmare Knight” from Cucumber Quest—he’s no stranger to equating the two terms.

There was another bit of flavor text related to Reaper Bird that I’ve been holding onto ever since the end of my last Everyman analysis.

[Image transcript: The fight with Reaper Bird in Undertale. The Check description states “REAPER BIRD – ATK ?? DEF ?? This relentless future finally looks brighter and brighter.” End image transcript]

Reaper Bird’s check text, which states “This relentless future finally looks brighter and brighter,” uses parallel language to Entry No 17. Specifically, “brighter and brighter” is parallel to “darker, yet darker.”

“Darkness” in Deltarune can be taken as not only the opposite of light but also the opposite of the future. This idea originally came to me from Chapter 1’s Game Over text, where choosing to continue prompts the (Gaster?) voice to say “THEN THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS,” while quitting results in the voice saying “THEN THE WORLD WAS COVERED IN DARKNESS.”

[Image transcript: Two screenshots of Deltarune Chapter 1’s game over screens. In the left, the mysterious voice says “THEN, THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS.” In the right, the voice says “THEN THE WORLD WAS COVERED IN DARKNESS.” End image transcript]

This dichotomy is further reinforced by Ralsei referring to the heroes’ quest as one to bring about a peaceful future.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “As heroes, we have the power to make a peaceful future.” End image transcript]

Given that Ralsei’s legend was “whispered by time and space,” he’s likely on the same page as Gaster(?) about this, at least ideologically: future good, darkness bad.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “And fulfill the ancient prophecy, foretold by time and space.” End image transcript]

Now, it’s unclear whether this “brighter” future is somehow related to the Reaper Bird or, rather, if it has come about due to the absence of the Reaper Bird’s component monsters. If Everyman is the Knight and Everyman is part of Reaper Bird, then the future of Undertale’s world would be “brighter” because the Knight of that universe has been rendered inert inside of an amalgamate and can (presumably) no longer focus his will on creating dark fountains due to sharing his consciousness with the Core mercenary monsters.

In part 2 of my analysis I pointed out that although “darker yet darker” is often associated with Gaster, the phrase doesn’t necessarily represent Gaster’s goals or what he wants. Given how Gaster and the red soul’s goal involves sealing fountains, I think it’s more likely that “darker yet darker” represents a problem that Gaster is looking to solve. Likewise, although “brighter and brighter” is currently associated with Reaper Bird, that phrase might also represent something that Reaper Bird (or at least its Everyman component) was working against.

As if to reaffirm this idea, the pre-release Twitter messages for Chapter 2 mentioned how “DELTARUNE GLOWS BRIGHTLY FROM YOUR HOPE.”

Gaster praises the red soul (presumably) for their actions thus far, saying “YOU HAVE DONE EXCELLENTLY TO PERSEVERE.” 

If Gaster is the man behind the tree who gives eggs then his interactions in Chapter 2 also imply that he has a far more positive and friendly attitude towards Kris/the Soul than he did previously. 

[Image transcript: Two screenshots of the secret egg tree in Chapter 2 and two screenshots of Kris talking to one of the cars at the start of Chapter 2. The narration in the tree screenshots says “Well, there is a man here.” The narration in the car screenshots says “(There is even a man inside this one.) (He waves at you happily.)” End image transcript]

This strongly implies that Gaster and the red soul have been on the same page since day one and that sealing dark fountains is not only the red soul’s goal but also Gaster’s desired path to a better future.

Towards the end of Chapter 2 there’s a line from Berdly that plays with this bright/dark dichotomy. As he’s about to create a new fountain, Berdly talks about unleashing a bright future, but then clarifies that this future’s brightness is born from darkness. 

[Image transcript: Four screenshots of Berdly raising his glowing halberd, saying “I will make a new Fountain… And unleash a bright future! A future that shines for US! A future whose brightness… is born from DARKNESS!” End image transcript]

While this line is likely meant to carry some irony, it’s a possible nod to the true nature of the fountains.

As I’ve said previously, dark fountains have been associated with holiness. The King calls them “holy” fountains and the name of the fountain theme is “the holy.” 

[Image transcript: King saying “Holy fountains, whose shadows are creating a new world…” End image transcript]

We’ve also seen a “holy” element in the Chapter 2 game files but no indication of whether this is meant to represent a “light” or “dark” enemy.

[Image transcript: Unused narration that states “SkyMantle. A cape that shimmers fluorescently. Protects against Elec and Holy attacks.” End image transcript]

Holiness doesn’t really seem to fit Gaster’s MO as a mysterious scientist whose favorite number is 666, whereas the Angel’s Heaven is firmly associated with the creation of dark fountains and, presumably, the Knight. Each Chapter boss has protected the Knight’s fountains. Even Spamton, despite his possible ties to Gaster, intervenes to protect the Cyber World fountain in the Snowgrave route. He’s also referred to by one of the Swatches as praying frequently.

[Image transcript: A Swatch saying “Eventually, he just spent all his time in the basement… praying.” End image transcript]

Spamton seemingly makes this gesture multiple times during his fights.

[Image transcript: Two screenshots. In the left, Spamton bows his head with his hands together. In the right, the narration during the Spamton Neo fight says “Spamton begs to the audience, Spamton prays to the audience.” End image transcript]

On the subject of prayer, I recently remembered that Reaper Bird (and Whimsalot) have pray ACTs that are required for sparing them.

[Image transcript: Two Undertale battles. In the left, flavor text states “You kneel and pray for safety. Reaper Bird seems to remember something.” In the right, the text says “You kneel and pray for safety. Whimsalot remembers its conscience.” End image transcript]

Not only does praying prompt Reaper Bird to “remember something” once all spare conditions are met, but these two are the only enemies with this ACT, which is the only mention of praying in all of Undertale. By comparison, Deltarune seems to have many more references to religion than Undertale does. The only explicit religious references in Undertale (barring casual phrases like “go to hell” or “oh my God”) are all related to Deltarune in some way:

Gerson explains the angel in the Deltarune symbol…

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “Legend has it, an ‘angel’ who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.” End image transcript]

Riverperson echoes this idea of the angel…

[Image transcript: River Person saying “Tra la la. The angel is coming… Tra la la.” End image transcript]

…and Whimsalot/Reaper Bird each react to prayer.

Now, I’m trying to remember if there’s a character in Deltarune strongly connected with prayer.

[Image transcript: A dialogue box that reads “Let us pray that the Angel will smile upon her.” End image transcript]

Maybe someone who associates with knights or knight-like characters the way that a certain “strange” man might have in Undertale? Bonus points if it’s in an environment like the Core or a small town suburb where knights seemingly shouldn’t be commonplace.

[Image transcript: Royal Guard 1 and 2 in Hometown, stating “Nothing like admiring the great paintjob, me and my bro did on our church.” End image transcript]

Someone with a background or connection to a “swords and sorcery” fantasy aesthetic that comes with knighthood?

[Image transcript: A dialogue box that reads “Fans of his famous book series, Lord of the Hammer…” End image transcript]

Maybe someone whose past history of “poor” drawing ability could have conceivably created a nondescript character like Everyman?

[Image transcript: Narration that reads “(It’s a yellowed, poorly-drawn picture of a green turtle.)” End image transcript]

Finally, some kind of visual association with amalgamates that might imply what became of Reaper Bird, or rather who took its “spot” in Deltarune’s setting would be helpful.

[Image transcript: Father Alvin standing in the graveyard with headstones for Gerson and the amalgamate monsters. End image transcript]

A character like that could easily take up a whole theory post. Maybe I already started writing that post. Maybe I had to break it off of this one because there was too much to talk about. And maybe that post is fast approaching.

[manwhacrossoverfamilybecauseyes]

A list of characters and the years they are in

First year:

the school guide

Juvelian (Thenstheon x Cassia)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Jeanette (Anastasius x Penelope)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Cayena (Claude x Diana)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Erich (Helio x Elizabeth)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Hari (Helio x Elizabeth)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Irene (Eith x Leyrin)

✒︎ Magic department

Asterias (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ Magic department

Noel (Gallahan x Camila)

✒︎ Magic department

Lapel (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Blance (Astair x Kyla)

✒︎ Politic department

Aylet (Reynold x Shuli)

✒︎ Magic department

Aria (Siegren x Penelope)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Anastasia (Siegren x Penelope)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Second year:

Rubert (Anastasius x Penelope)

✒︎ Magic department

Arista (Arwin x Latte)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Abel (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Rafael (Eith x Leyrin)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Rayed (Eith x Leyrin)

✒︎ Politic department

Decald (Eith x Leyrin)

✒︎ Magic department

Dietrich (Gallahan x Camila)

✒︎ Politic department

Prinz (Astair x Kyla)

✒︎ Magic department

Third year:

Erudian (Thenstheon x Cassia)

✒︎ Magic department

Felix (Abel x Charlize)

✒︎ Magic department

Claudia (Abel x Charlize)

✒︎ Magic department

Irene (Cassis x Lilian)

✒︎ Magic department

Nadricka (Helio x Elizabeth)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Kairos (Zachary x Rosentine)

✒︎ Magic department

Calliope (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Damian (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Theor (Eith x Leyrin)

✒︎ The "normal"

Louise (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Izana (Gallahan x Camila)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Jeremy

✒︎ Magic department

Erden (Astair x Kyla)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Yerenica (Siegren x Shuli)

✒︎ Politic department

Vivian (Reynold x Shuli)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Fourth year:

Melissa (Cassis x Lilian)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Elvia

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Yona (Helio x Elizabeth)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Camelia (Zachary x Rosentine)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Camelius (Zachary x Rosentine)

✒︎ Politic department

Ian (Abel x Charlize)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Heinry (Claude x Diana)

✒︎ Magic department

Noah (Gallahan x Camila)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Penia (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Yuric (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Eunice (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ Magic department

Regina (Astair x Kyla)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Herman (Reynold x Shuli)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Fifth year:

Rudbeckia (Claude x Diana)

✒︎ Politic department

Therdeo

✒︎ Politic department

Maribelle (Able x Charlize)

✒︎ Politic department

Rashta

✒︎ The "normal" department

Meldenik (Anastasius x Penelope)

✒︎ The "normal" department

Louis (Zachary x Rosentine)

✒︎ Politic department

Adalicia (Damian x Cecilia)

✒︎ Magic department

Veronica (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Artizea

✒︎ Politic department

Medea

✒︎ Politic department

Dylan (Astair x Kyla)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Illyanya

✒︎ Magic department

Carnelia (Reynold x Shuli)

✒︎ Politic department

Rosica (Siegren x Penelope)

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Dion

✒︎ Swordsmanship department

Special year 1:

Navier

✒︎ Politic department

Ludwig

✒︎ Politic department

Aseph (Anastasius x Penelope)

✒︎ Politic department

Special year 2:

Stan (Cassis x Lilian)

✒︎ Politic department

Clevian

✒︎ Politic department

Vinter (Regis x Leatrice)

✒︎ Magic department

[themadauthorshatter]

After the MONSTER that was Arc 2, time to wrap this up!

RED SCHOOL AU/UA STORY/HEADCANONS ARC 3!

This is hopefully going to wrap up Red School, so buckle in.

We begin in Rhian's 'office' as the two trios explain what happened: The Beast just burst through the trees and began attacking, out of the blue just like that.

He asks if there's anything else they noticed, and Cal mentions the red eyes and the fact he looked like he drowned. Rhian finds that odd because The Beast was never the best swimmer.

Tedros also mentions the incident before with Nicholas. Agatha vouches for him, saying she'd probably be dead, if Tedros didn't stop him, Sophie giving Agatha the stink eye as she inches closer to Cal, who fights a cringe.

Regardless, Rhian mutters how it can't be and tells them all to just be careful. Mare, however, notices his unease and knows he's BS-ing.

Either way, Rhian excuses them and watched them leave, though he does ask Agatha and Sophie to stay, to answer some questions. Tedros glances back at them as he leaves, giving Agatha 'please stay' eyes until Maven pats his back and says that, if he wants, he can watch Cal and Maven train, so he can help Maven kick Cal's ass next time they fight.

Back with the girls, Sophie despairs at her princes leaving, but Rhian clears his throat and asks if either have had anything to do with The Beast ending up in the state he's in. Agatha immediately objects, saying she couldn't have because her punishment in Good is a scolding and being locked in her room. He asks Sophie and she shakes her head; she just got her hair butchered and was on her merry way. Rhisn remarks that it's funny because a lot of the Nevers stating that The Beast disappeared around the same time Sophoe was sent to thevDoom Room, so either she's lying or someone else decided he needed to swim with the fishes. Someone more vain than she is.

Neither speaks on it, so Rhian excuses Sophie, though warns her to not do anything fishie with Cal; neither school has forgotten her misadventures with courting Tedros.

He tells Agatha to stay, however, because he wants to ask her about that question she asked Lucas, about leaving with the Silvers.

Semi-embarrassed, Agatha admits, that, yes, she did ask that question. Even if her only way out is a fairytale ending, maybe the Silvers are that ending, even if it's a loophole ending.

Rhian commends her for her cunning, but affirms that won't help. If she wants to go home, she'd better be ready to strap into and study like her life depends on it, because, in a fairytale, it will.

Agatha nods and asks him one question, just one this time, not a bunch of mini questions and one big question. If he knows how everyone's story ends, why not just tell them. Rhian shakes his head. He doesn't know when how storoes end, but if he told everyone theor endings, then the ending will change. They'll either strive for more than what their old ending is or become unmotivated and not strive at all.

With that, Agatha leaves, giving a glance to the Storian before doing so.

When she catches up with Sophie, Tedros, and the others, she finds ths boys having a three-way fight, Maven and Cal trying to roast each other while Tedros blocks with some magic and his sword.

Sophie watches them and drifts off into fantasy land while Mare and Agatha talk about what happened, since Sophie couldn't care less.

She explains that The Beast disappeared a little while back and no one's seen him until today. And people have been getting weird lately, which Mare gets confused by.

Even while he fights, Tedros explains that students have been getting red eyed and violent, attacking each other for, really, no reason.

Intrigued, Cal wonders if it's a apell gone wrong, even asking of their magic can get that powerful. Agatha shows him that they can do a lot of things, i.e. mogrify into animals, use spells to refurbish plants or for self defense. She's seen students do some crazy stuff, but admits that she doesn't think a fellow student could do it.

Maven muses that it all seems weird, but does admit that maybe the School Master has something to do it.

This grabs both Sophie's and Tedros's attention, Tedros noting that Agatha and Sophie were thought to be in the wrong schools, but really might not be a mistake(Sophie disagrees with this) and Sophie admits that if he put her and Agatha in the schools they're in-by 'accident'- maybe he got bored and cast a spell to throw in a new adventure, and brought the Silvers to join in on the fun.

Agatha's not certain, but knows one thing: they need to be careful.

They all agree and Tedros contemplates getting the jump on Cal, which leads to Cal grabbing him and throwing him to the ground, just enough to surprise him, nothing more.

As they get back into it, Agatha asks Mare a question, quietly so Sophie doesn't stop her: Is there a chance Mare can get Agatha and Sophie on their ship and take them away from the school? In return, she can help Mare get back home to her family.

Mare almost snaps at her, but Agatha explains that Mare isn't the only one that wants to go home.

She'll think on it, asking if Agatha can really help, and Agatha admits that she's not too sure, but she'll still try.

With an exchange of 'thank yous,' they watch Maven and Tedros duke it out with Cal both reffing and instructing them as Sophie watches, the two glad to be watching rather than participating because Cal is a brutal teacher.

From here, we get something of a time hump woth shenanigans like Evangeline and the other High House children observing the classes, Mare being hounded by Evergirls that offer her a change of makeup, because her foundation will clog her pores, Cal traching the Everbous more efficient combat techniques that won't get them in trouble, and even the main six hanging out, though Cal makes it clear to Sophie that he's flattered, but he's betrothed, so his hands are tied.

There is a close call when Agatha and Mare are having lunch together and run into Sophie, who's pissed at losing another prince, and not only realizes that Agatha's been cautious around Elara, but also that Mare and Cal are very close, for people betrothed to someone else. She pits two and two together and races off to a teacher, any one will do, but Agatha and Mare give chase, Mare being faster and catching up to Sophie and tackling her to the floor and practically shouting that Sophie had better not tell anyone, or else she'll be killed, along with herself, Agatha, both their families, and anyone remotely close to them, and being dead means no princes, so she'd better wise up.

Sophie agrees and they let bygones be bygones.

Mire time passes, and we get another red mist possessed fight with a wolf, in which Sophie jumps in to help, kind of, by mogrifying as a large bird to distract the wolf. They report it once again to Rhian, who's getting worried about the occurrence of this mist, but talks to Mare is a slightly altered version of this conversation you can read right here.

More time passes, and we get more Tagatha, some Marecal, some Evangeline being a bitch, some friendship, and, most importantly, Maven and Elara still talking about their plan, which is on hold because things are fishy and Elara's feeling a little less like herself. (Hmmmm?)

I know I'm rushing through all this, but trust me, you'll get why in a second.

Fast forward, and it's been about a month since the Silvers left Norta. Tibe, Cal, and Maven realize how long it's been and decide they need to head back.

Rhian understands, and offers them a proper send off to show the rest of Norta: a ball in the School for Good to show the unity of Norta and the School for Good and Evil. The rest of the High Houses, 1 child accompanied by 1 chaperone, have already been invited and preparations are already being made.

Tibe is incredibly flattered by this and thanks Rhian for such an act, though the School Master thanks Tibe in return for showing him what's beyond the Endless Woods.

From her place a few feet back, Mare notices Elara standing at the window and fighting a coughing fit as she stares back at Mare, red blood dripping from her nose.

I'm sure she's fine, BECAUSE WE CUT TO THE BALL!!!

It's just as extravagant as what happens in the or original comic, though at first the Silvers are weary until they warm up and relax.

We also get a sort of glare/stare off between Maven and Elara after she reads Mare's mind and Mare glaring at Tibe after his speech of peace and cooperation, and he simply gives her a look of 'what're you going to do about it?'

(Turns on a megaphone)WE DO NOT GET THAT SHIRTLESS WRESTLING MATCH BETWEEN CAL AND TEDROS! THIS IS A FORMAL EVENT, SO THEY SIMPLY TALK AND EXCHANGE NICETIES!(Puts the megaphone away.)

In a scene of set up and pay off, the sides begin to dance and have a good time, though Sophie tries dancing with Cal, but ends up her Hort, who actually emells nice for a change, but she's pretending not to notice because she wants to be with Cal.

Mare and Maven talk about this whole journey and admit it'll be a little sad to leave when the ball is over. Mare spots Agatha and Tedros in the fray, sees them smiling and happy, and agrees. It will be sad, but, as Maven points out, they're visitors. They always had to leave.

With Rgian and Tibe, Rhian asmits that this was possibly the most entertaining revel he's seen or had in a very long time. Tibe asks if it's two or three years, as a joke, and Rhian admits it's been half a century since the last GOOD revel, like one he'd go to and have all over again because of how fun it was.

It weirds Tibe out, but he notices something else that actually freaks him out: Elara's gone.

Back on the floor, Hort glares at Tedros as Lucas and Ptolemus have a muttered conversation about smelling smoke and Ptolemus thinking there's a bomb somewhere. Lucas disagrees; some of the students might be crazy, but none of them would openly try regicide.

The two spot the red mist, Hort noticing a second later. Rhian sees it, too, and shouts at all three to get away from the door.

Too late!

All three get possessed, Hort going into his Man-wolf form as Lucas and Ptolemus simply decide to rip and tear EVERYONE IN SIGHT.

Tedros tries taking care of Hort, but gets yeeted in the process, as Cal takes on Lucas and Evangeline tries to snap Ptolemus out of it.

The entire ballroom goes to shit with students and Silvers going off on each other as the red mist possesses them. Cal, Maven, and Mare are all fighting for their lives and wondering what the hell is going on, but quickly deduce that this is what's been bothering the school since a while ago.

Now why aren't Tibe and Rhian doimg anything? They're fighting they're own fight, Rhian with his magic and Tibe with his Burner ability; he was going to use hus sword, but Rhian told him not to because they couldn't have a body count.

Tibe demands to know if Rhian had anything to do with this and Rhian snaps if it looks like he did, gesturing to the students with wide arms and a panicked look.

Getting overwhelmed, the trio decide, very reluctantly to make a break for it, getting stopped by Ptolemus and Hort.

Good thing Evangeline decudes to be a good person and lend a hand before they attack her instead.

Cal shouts for her to come with, but Evangeline yells back that he'd better not die because he wouldn't run.

They leave just as they see Evangeline get swarmed by red mist possessed Silvers and students.

Agatha, Sophie and Tedros did escape, but it's not shown so we build tension😈

The RQ trio run out and get seperated, Cal chased by Lucas, a strongarm, and Hort, Maven chased by a couple wolves, and Mare chased by Elane, the coven, and Sonya.

We cut back to Rhian and Tibe, the former noting the fact that the mist is moving faster than he thought, and is stronger than before, as he heals a student who got knocked out cold. Tibe asks where his sons and Mare are, but Rhian says they should be fine. They're capable and are close with each other.

Tibe agrees and asks what they should do, seeing what's becoming of the students and Silvers. Rhian states that there's no time to get to his office, so he needs Tibe to be his shield as he heals as many prople as he can.

Tibe asks what's in the office, but we cut to Cal, before we get the answer. He's running through the halls of Good, and avoiding any runners(I know they're called zombies, but when I think 'zombie' I think of walkers from the Walking Dead, and these mofo's don't walk that much) he can, hiding behind walls and in classrooms to do so; it bugs the hell out of him, but he's not beating up any females and schoolchildren.

When the runners are gone, he slips down the hall and scoffs at the fact that almost everything he's looking at is candy and is both insane and a hazard, especially when he sees that bits and pieces of the wall are missing. (Really wonder which Evergirl did that one?)

Cal sneaks down more halls, but stops when he hears someone running down the next hall, crouching behind a wall. The footsteps slow and stop, also behind the wall.

After a minute, and with a head shake, Cal sparks up his hand and shouts as he wheels around the wall.

Maven yelps and falls back, covering his head; 6'3" of pure muscle with a killer instinct and fire powers, you'd have to have balls made of an allot made of iron, steel, and tungsten to not be afraid that jumping out at you from behind a corner.

They see that neither has the evil red eyes and reunite, hugging and sayimg they're glad the other's safe before asking where Mare is. Maven thought she was with Cal and Cal thought she was with Maven.

Good thing I bring up Mare because she's sprinting around the corner, leading Beatrix, Anadil, Tristan and Nicholas down the hall. No time for reunions because Lucas and Dot are right behind them, Dot casting chocolate onto the floor so no one can run while Lucas harpoons anyone he sees.

Yeah, time to go.

Like before, the students are unfortunately left behind, but this time, when they run up to Merlin's Menagerie, it's Mare who wants to go back and help them, but Maven pulls her outside as Cal slams and welds the door shut.

She yells that they could have saved them, but Maven argues that there wouldn't have been time.

They're all silent for a second, about to shake off what happened, but all get defensive again when they hear a twig snap, Cal holding out a blazing hand as he demands for whoever's out to show themself.

SURPRISE!!! The SGE trio is alive, though Tedros has some scratches from Hort on hus arm and chest.

They reunite again, glad everyone's alright, including Sophie, who gets a, 'Yay, you're alive🙄, happy to see you, too, now stay focused' from Cal as they see what's become of the school.

Yeah... Everything is shit, but as they qonder what the next plan of action should be Maven notices a bunch of red lights appearing in the School Master's tower, which Mare points to, and they agree they need to find a way inside.

They sonewhat argue on who should go, noting the airship/blimp/whatever aircraft available used to bring the other High House children and the fact the SGE trio can mogrify, but before they get a solid plan, runners burst outside, forcing them to run towards the aircraft.

Cal and Tedros fall vack every now and again to keep the runners back, buying them a couple minutes at most, but Maven runs into Mare, who's standing with a look of pure fear and despair on her face. The airship is too far for them to reach and is getting mauled by stymphs, who shred it and tear it down.

Thank goodbess Agatha comes up with a new plan by leaping off the roof and grabbing a stymoh, which has some rope caught on it. She makes it crash back onto the roof and saddles up-though, it'smore bare-backing here- as she explains they can ride the stymphs to the tower. Maven shouts that she's out of her mind, but Mare's on board because they have no other options and more stymphs are coming, some being normal and hollow eyed while the rest are pissed and red eyed.

Tedros kicks back a mist possessed Ravan and agrees as he and Cal race toward the rest of the group.

So there are three stymphs, which lead to them forming groups of two, and before Sophie can dream again, Agatha grabs her, pulls her onto a Stymph and takes flight, Mare and Maven following and shouting for Cal and Tedros to hurry up because theirs is taking off without them.

They jump for it and while Tedros manages to get on its back, but Cal isn't as lucky, instead having to grab its claw/foot and hope for the best.

His job's about to become harder because Hort, still in Man-Wolf form, leaps off the menagerie and bites onto Cal, around and slightly above his ankle.

Cal shouts and almost lets go before Tedros grabs his wrist. Cal apologizes abd kicks Hort off him, which not only makes Hort fall, but also makes the bite worse than it already is.

Don't worry, Hort lands safely on a tree a greenie summoned and got back inside the school.

The group makes it a good distance toward the tower, but get ambushed by mire red mist possessed stymphs that make them crash through a window on a lower level of the tower.

Everyone gets up and gets their bearings, but quickly have an 'oh shit' moment when they see the bite Cal got. They all wonder if he's going to get possessed, but Tedros doesn't think so, having seen how people get possessed, which is by the host 'giving' the red mist by making the person "inhale" the mist, and by inhale I mean the mist goes up their nose and into their mouth and down their throat, which leads to their possession.

Mare backs his play, having seen the same happen with Nicholas and Tristan, and they conclude that Cal's safe, as long as he doesn't bleed out.

Mare acts quickly and tears off parts of her dress to use as a bandage until they can get a proper healer, and Tedros flips out at the fact she's Red; Hort scratched her up too, and when Tedros asked earlier, she simply replied that it wasn't hers.

Regardless, Maven and Mare help up Cal and continue towards the tower until they reach Rhian's office, Cal and Tedros staying behind as lookouts so Sophie, Agatha, Mare, and Maven progress and see what or who is causing this all to happen.

Surprise, it's Elara, who's über possessed and writes with the Storian as it tries continuously to get away.

Mare's surprised by the fact Elara's been possessed, but is still surprised to see the Storian moving of its own accord.

They quickly form a plan, and convince a very disturbed Maven, who agrees, despite his instincts telling him not to because that's his mother and he still loves her.

They plan to dogpile her, but Cal and Tedros get attacked by Dovey, who's also possessed. Cal may has standards, but Tedros kicks Dovey's feet out from under her before they rush into the office, Cal limping a little.

It gets everyone else's attention and Mare and Tedros got right into attack mode. Too bad she deflects them like flies and casts spells and Maven, Sophie, Cal, and Agatha, to subdue them.

Elara, possessed, tells her to stop, because they're injured enough to do nothing, so Dovey simply magics them all to the floor.

Mare asks who this is, the person that isn't Elara, and why they're doing this.

Rhian, who the spirit(who we all know is Rafal, though his identity wouldn't be known as of yet) refers to as his darling, dimwitted brother, is foolish if he believes there can be such a thing as peace in times like these, where the Schools for Good and Evil can really be united and stay united with the introduction of the Silvers and their powers. Stories aren't meant to be peaceful, there must be discourse, and there can't always be happy endings.

Tedros argues that for every Good ending, there's an Evil ending that follows. Everything has to stay in balance, that's how it's always been.

Rafal scoffs and tells him he's more of a fool than he realized, if that's really how he thinks.

Maven's turn to ask a question, out of panic and emotions: Why Elara, of all people?

Rafal admits that he's glad Maven asked and leaves Elara's body and possesses him instead, which is painful.

'Maven' stands and Rafal explains that with the students and the Silvers of Norta, he had a lot of people to choose from, from the broken and empty Maven to the one-tracked thinker that is Cal to vain, selfish, beautiful Sophie to lying, prideful, foolish Tedros to Agatha and Mare, who are both eager and desperate to return to the dirt piles they called home, possessing each of them as he explains before returning to Elara, who tries crawling away before she's possessed again.

Rafal explains very sharply that the Queen was the best candidate for his plan, having seen how power hungry and rutheless she is, and sneers that he had tried to reach his goodie two shoes brother, but the two trios kept screwing it up for him.

Mare asks if he's going to kill them, and Rafal uses Elara's whisper ability to torture Mare into silence before her raises a hand, finger and palm filling with black magic as he dare her to guess.

With a quick apology to Maven, Cal tackles Elara/Rafal to the ground, and Dovey prepares to shoot a spell at him. Tedros shoves her just as Rafal backhands Cal off.

Before any more damage can be done, Maven pulls Elara off Cal, Rafal knocking him back with magic. Mare shoots some lightning at him, demanding he return the storian(he'sbeen holding it this whole time), as Cal and Maven stand with flaming hands, and their battle begins.

Meanwhile, the SGE trio deal with a possessed Professor Dovey, who cries at them that she's sorry and how they need to run as she casts a spell at them, one they dodge in time before anyone gets singed.

Thinking quickly, Agatha tells Tedros to give her and Sophie time, to defend them with his word, since he isn't the best with magic.

He does so, though Dovey fights back barehanded.

Seeing this as life or death, and finally putting her Evil to good use, Sophie tells Agatha to stand back and sings, summoning wasps, locusts and hornets to the tower and whistling them attack Dovey.

Back with the RQ trio, Rafal uses magic to fight off Cal and Mare, throwing them into a wall before approaching a weak and slightly injured Maven, grabbing his throat and picking him up, calling him weak and saying it's no wonder Tibe chose Cal to seat the throne and not a child like Maven.

Mare, who's been sneaking forward, grabs Rafal and knees him before electrocuting him(don't worry, Maven's fine). He casts a spell to the wall, grabs the cape Elara's been wearing, and magics out of there instead.

Mare gives chase with Agatha, Cal, and Maven behind her; Sophie and Tedros stay behind to keep Dovey busy.

The chase ends on the roof with Agatha catching up to Mare to assist.

Rafal ain't having that and uses Elara to control Agatha, who casts numerous spells at her and chases her around the roof before one hits her in the chest, sending her to the edge of the roof.

Cal calls for them both, but Rafal smirks at him as Dovey snatches him and pulls back in the tower.

Back on the roof, Rafal watches Mare dangle a little and saying she would have made a lovely fairytale, if only she hadn't interfered. He then grabs and commands Agatha to finish the job and make Mare fall, tightening his grip when she refuses.

Through the possession, Agatha cries and apologizes, but Mare does, too, because she electricutes them both, making Agatha and Elara fall back, amd forcing Rafal to drop the Storian.

Mare falls back and grabs for it, Agatha screaming and falling after her, much to the shock of Cal, Maven, Tedros, Sophie, and Dovey.

They both fall, disappearing into the mist for a second before the mist fades and the two rise, Agatha having mogrifed into a condor or a vulture as she carries Mare, who holds her claw and she holds the Storian.

They pick up Elara as she begins to come to before landing in Rhian's office, reuniting with everyone, and crying while doing so, but the boys won't admit it.

Outside, the mist falls. Silvers, Reds, Evers, and Nevers all drop and shake out of their haze. In the ballroom, Hort shifts back into a human and groans as he pushes himself up, Rhian handing him his cloak and saying he's alright, and will be okay. Tibe watches everyone come to and turns to Rhian, who says he knew they could do it, referring to Cal, Maven, Mare, Sophie, Agatha, and Tedros, and explains that regardless of which side it is, or who wins, there's always a happy ending.

Back with the two trios, they stop hugging and watch Elara cough and gag, red smoke spewing out of her nose and mouth until it takes the shape of Rhian, who charges at all of them.

The Storian stops him and, in its own words, tells him to get lost.

As the sin rises, Rafal vanishes, though retreats into the woods, leaving them all in shock and awe.

We get something of a montage of the group reuniting with Tibe and Rhian, everyone getting healed, the group hanging out in the infirmary, even as Hort apologizes to Val for biting him, but Cal tells him it's gine and shouldn't worry about it, Tibe commending Cal, Mare, AND MAVEN for their efforts, which is a shicker for both Maven and Mare, the Storian reporting to Rhian, and finally, the group, Tibe, Rhian, and Dovey confenting Elara, who's in Silent Stone manacles.

When told to explain, she states she was possessed, that jealousy had gotten the better of her. It started off as pleasant conversation, but soon, the voice in her own head started speaking of something that she had to refuse. Little did she know, Rafal is a narcissistic ass and took control of her. Rhuan asks what she means, and she responds that she remebered him talking about balance and the futility of appealing to both sides, speaking of how his brother was a fool and was never good at learning his lessons.

Rhian tries to pull the 'I don't know this spirit' card, but Sophie agrees, saying Rafal spoke of Rhian very poorly when they confronted him.

Slightly ashamed, Rhain admits that, yes, the spirit was his brother, who lost the war and died, and yes. By war he means the one that took place centuries ago.

He had tried to keep the spirit under wraps by using spells and charms around the school, but figures that something must've happened to one of the charms that allowed Rafal's spirit to return.

The gears in Cal's head start turning, but Rhian has Elara freed, much to the dismay of all the fandom, and commends all of the group for their bravery and efforts, saying the Woods is indebted to the Silvers, though more specifically Cal, Maven, and Mare, who admits that Tedros, Agatha, and Sophie deserve some credit, too, as they would've been minced meet without them.

Tibe thanks them, and says in return they can have anything they want, excluding Cal or Maven or Mare(pulls out the megaphine again for Sophie) BECAUSE THEY'RE BETROTHED(puts the megaphine away).

Agatha's about to take Tibe's offer amd ask if he can take her and Sophie home or to Norta, but stops when she sees Tedros struggle to keep smiling, Sophie waiting for the final blow that they're leaving Tedros and Cal behind forever, and Mare, who's just waiting to see where this goes.

She asks if they can keep writing to each other, seeing as how the Silvers are leaving tomorrow.

Tibe and Rhian agree, Rhian admitting he can show them a technique for sending letters, but on the condition that only Tedros, Agatha, and Sophie can write letters and no one else.

They agree.

Time jump to a creak as the group hangs out one last time, Mare and Agatha sitting on a log as they watch Sophie find wild flowers to press for her letters and the boys just goofing around, Tedros and Maven swimming as Cal struggles to get in the water, though to be fair, Maven is knee deep in the water.

Mare asks Agatha what made her change her mind about taking the trip back, seeing as how all she wanted was to go home.

Agatha sighs and ecplains that she still does, but, having heard what Rhian said, she now fears for what would happen if she and Sophie left. The other Evergirls aren't the best with magic and if the schools are taken over again, the Silvers aren't there, and Agatha and Sophie are in Gavaldon, they're all basically fucked. Besides, it would actually hurt Tedros's feelings, which Agatha admits as she watches him and Maven drag and throw Cal into the water and laugh as he scurries out, screeching at the top if his lungs.

Mare notices and asks Agatha if she has athing for Tedros, having noticed their little glances at each other and how Tedros gets when he's with her.

Agatha, flustered, counters Mare gets the same way with Cal and Maven, so she's no better.

Speaking of Tedros, Cal, and Maven, Mare and Agatha watch as Cal carries a flailing Maven over his shoulder and wrangles Tedros into his other arm before throwing them into the water, Tedros not really minding, but Maven screaming because the water's freezing.

Mare admits that she's pretty sure Cal's going to miss having Tedros around, at least, but Agatha reassures her that if Mare's a Red with powers in the Endless Woods, then anything's possible. The SGE is for fairytales, after all.

Time jump to the next day. Mare visits her room and falls back onto her bed, letting it swallow her up so she's stuck when someone walks into her room.

Agatha asks if she needs help and Mare accepts, letting Agatha pull her up, before the two hug; they've only known each other alfor a little more than a month, but they're friends, damn it.

Outside the school, everyone exchanges their goodbyes, some crying and some trying not not to cry because Silvers don't cry.

Tedros plays it cool when he says goodbye to Cal, holding out his hand and leaving his other hand resting on the hilt of his sword, claiming that he's looking forward to the next time they meet, so he can kick Cal's ass next time they spar.

Cal, upon seeing how shaky Tedros's hand is and how glassy his eyes are, ruffles his hair instead and reminds him that they can still write to each other. That's enough to make Tedros crack and hug Cal, who obviously hugs back.

Sophie says goodbye as well, to both Cal and Maven, saying she hopes they're happy with their betrotheds. Maven asks if she's finally got the point of what betrothed means, but Sophie reminds him to be careful, as she could always send a spider in their letters. Cal remarks that it wouldn't be very Good of her, but does tell her to stay out of trouble, as much as she can, at least. Sophie only folds her arms and dares THEM to try being good when attending the School for Evil.

Tibe and Rhian exchange their goodbyes as well, Tibe thanking the School Master for his hospitality and Rhian thanking Tibe for sending the Swift and the Eye a while back; he can't remeber the last time things were so entertaining at the school.

The Silvers all take thier seats in their carriages and wave goodbye to the students and Rhian, though Tedros, Sophie, and Agatha sort of run after the carriage Cal, Maven, Mare, and Evangeline are in, because they're teens and will miss the presence of their new friends.

They wave back, but Cal's smile drops as he gets to thinking about what Rhian said, about the charms around the school. As Evangeline, Mare, and Maven talk, Cal starts putting the pieces together and the realization he has makes him feel sick to his stomach.

When they board the ship, he tells Mare and Maven immediately:

When they first arrived, the Swift or Eye must've moved a charm, which allowed Rafal to take over.

Rafal appearing was a direct result of the Silvers.

Maven peers over Elara's shoulder to see her smirking at him, whispering to him that they need to talk again, but this time it's more important.

The three stare at the Endless Woods as they leave, the scene zooming in on the woods until we find an engraved rock on the ground, which Sophie picks up.

She hears a whisper in her ear as Agatha asks if she's coming back to the school or what, Sophie looking between her and the rock she found.

AND THAT ENDS RED SCHOOL! Holy shit! I did not expect this to take as long as it did, but I just turned a 100 page comic into a full fledged book, so of course this is long as hell.

Ibrelly hope you guys enjoyed this, I never thought I'd be doing this and get it done. And if Victoria Aveyard, Soman Chainani or Joel Gennari are reading this, THIS WAS JUST A FAN THING BECAUSE I GET BORED WITH MYSELF, PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME!!!😫🙏

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, amd I hope you enjoyed!!!!!