#you couldn't make me finish that game at gunpoint

[circesoracle]

I loved reading about your tavs!

I've played three times but only beat bg3 once. My first character I usually make in games is what I would want to be like if I existed in the world, so I played a high elf divination wizard (very original), but I somehow fucked up my game and the druid grove got blocked off so I couldn't recruit anyone except shadowheart astarion and gale until jaheira! So I had a ton of fun running double wizards lol

My current playthrough is based off my dnd character that we just finished the campaign for. She's an air genasi (but half elf in the game cause they don't have genasi races yet) way of the four elements monk and she is so fun! She's a cartographer who wants to explore everywhere! (I downloaded all party members mod for this playthrough cause I finally was able to recruit everyone lol)

I also did a mini playthrough with some friends where we played a football team. We had 3 barbarians and one gnome who was the ball, and we would just throw them at everything. We didn't get far but it was super fun

I hope your break is going well if you're done exams!

anon your mind is beautiful and wondrous to behold I will now delight in imagining gnome football for the rest of the day

i know you joke but any kind of wizard that isnt evocation is genuinely original because i think if someone held me at gunpoint and told me to make a wizard that isnt evocation i would eat the gun.

also fuck i hope they add more races (they won't) but every day I think about getting eladrin in the game (we won't) and how much I want to make my old archfey patron warlock eladrin and how excited I will be when Larian adds more races (they won't) genasi would be up there I think for ones would be easily achievable, balanced, and fun if they ever did add more races, along with like elardrin, aasimar, and "enemy" races like goblins (I *know* some of their racial traits are broke I don't *care*) and hobgoblins and bugbears. firbolgs would be the dream but they'd be resource and time intensive

akldsfjg I actually just submitted my last project for the semester so as of this morning I am on break!! alas, i work retail so "break" is relative but it means I can do nothing but work and bake and play games which is nice

[slickricklj]

It’s like all the bad fics/takes produced by fans became reality, because with typical fashion with a range of Japanese game developers, they just refuse to let their “key” women age, let alone develop fine lines or even have a less than a smooth, “soft” image.

This is the same bunch that before even revealing Rebecca in Vendetta, made an announcement about how she’s still “young” and pretty, as if that is the only thing that mattered. Don’t even get me started on members of the production team fetishizing her during one of their sit down interviews about the film, or the FACT, that they took the baseline CONCEPT of "Professor Chambers" from her role in the Stage Play, but then proceeded to ERASE that Rebecca had become an advisor to the BSAA, as early as at least 2005, and had been on SEVERAL field missions, and used weapons/could be prepared to defend herself. But I guess it's too much to ask for someone who's actively trying to disrupt the "bioweapons" people are distributing, to have at least a weapon in case she's attacked, or even a little security?

Rebecca in 2005. Not even being portrayed as if she's someone on Chris and Jill's level, but just someone COMPETENT enough to hold her own when it counts. Which is all of what SOME of us are wanting for characters who've survived hellish events, as it makes SENSE for them, in a world where they could be a victim or target, to be prepared!

^Case in point!

^In that story's present day, she was secretly investigating a case, which is why she was teaching at this university - it was a cover. Despite not having field work in a couple of years (2010), she had enough competency when it mattered, even when struggling with having to put down zombified students of hers.

In Vendetta, they invalidated all of this, by having her state in the film, that she kinda always wanted to get into medical science, and then one day post STARS (the spec. ops unit referred to here), she decided to combat bioterrorism a different way than Chris, using her mind. Which, that makes sense she would use her best talents, BUT this to me was not simply her "natural progression," this was more them trying to establish why you would not see her getting any action, and justify her becoming a damsel for convenience, as in EVERY single cgi film thus far, the veteran female was made to spend time around one of the main baddies, so they could have screen time for those characters to reveal their real intentions to us viewers, and then be OUT of the way so Leon (and Chris) can continue to play their "hero" roles. Rebecca has on some outfit that looks similar to her STARS uniform, but she's not equipped, or even remotely prepared to defend herself or anyone else, EVEN AFTER she's been attacked! it's just "cute" she has something "STARS" esque on, yeah just like it's "cute" Jill is wearing clothes VERY similiar to the outfit she said she was gonna BURN in RE3make.

Hell Jill was no longer only going after Umbrella she wanted to pursue Nicholai's other client (which I think was possibly the Connections...which has retroactively been made part of series canon in this RE engine era). God forbid Jill not want to, you know, PREPARE for the fight of her life ahead post RC. This woman having been held at gunpoint by both Wesker and Nicholai, isolated, spied on, targeted for assassination, etc...

They went out of their way to make sure that in the end not only would Chris be the one to finish Arias off, but he also got to save Rebecca. Rebecca was there as a prop for the main hero, and the main villian. This is no different than the more passive role Claire took on in both cgi outings. Infinite Darkness had Claire SIT there and just wait for the acid to rise up to her feet, and only THEN decide to move. Then she couldn't make a tiny ass jump, only to separate from Leon AGAIN, be Injured (which also happened in Degeneration) AND knocked out, for CONVENIENCE!!! Leon got to play HERO AND get all of the action. Claire's role was pointless fanservice. She was not needed. Shen Mei was more important than she was even...even though she too was just a plot prop and killed off once she served her purpose for Jason and Leon's stories.

Again, no one is saying Rebecca needs to be a top combatant, but to try and act like she shouldn't or wouldn't want to be prepared to defend herself, especially when she's ACTIVELY trying to ruin the plans of bioterrorists, even by making vaccines for their products (again she was TARGETED because of her work in Vendetta!). Then again some in this fandom act like Jill can't have a punching bag to train with in her own apartment, only Chris can do that shit (which he hasn't even had in canon mind you, only a viral ad for RE5). NEVERMIND Jill LITERALLY had all of her moving boxes she was packing up in RE3make, and she was moving out of the city. She was NOT going to look for Chris....something some people still can't grasp. RE3make CHANGED the lore around!!!! IT CHANGED!

^Jill always thinking about the bigger picture.

Now I've always said certain things they couldn't get away with with Jill. Jill is put in survival situations in her stories, and if you notice, her roles take heed to what happened to her beforehand. She's never just been some easy insert, like Chris or Leon. Her role was never to be the big strong hero rescuing the damsel etc (I.e Chris saving Rebecca, Claire, Jill or Leon with all those women in his stories etc, or even Ethan with Mia and Rose), but she is a qualified action girl as well. Sadly that doesn't change the fact women just continue to be treated like absolute shit in this franchise, and she's not immune to the fuckery! 

With Jill, with what they are saying here, what pisses me off is they specifically put her in this timeline, I feel, partly to justify making a sequel to a garbage film (to validate reusing Leon and of course Chris, and since Koboyashi was around for this film, you know he was involved with that decision), that was a rehash of the same tired, formula based plot every last one of these films has had, but also to use this crap as an excuse to JUSTIFY Jill’s 14+ yr absence in the timeline. Even worse is they have erased the PHYSICAL changes done to her in RE5, for the sake of recycling assets (hell we have character models from two different previous projects being used even) based on RE3make (and this film was written right after that game dropped), to preserve a “younger” look for Jill.

^Someone made a comparison on Twitter. She looks a bit older here IMO, so it's not like she stopped aging since 1998 (Rev and RE5 already contradict this), but this is not only lazy character design, but it's erasing part of her story.

Project Umbrella's translation of Jill's letter to Barry.

I bring this up, to point out how Jill makes it clear her letter was written shortly after RE5. Meaning it was still in 2009! She's even the one who setup Barry to get his new samurai edge in Rev2. Jill was about to get into rehab, and expected to be back on the field "soon." But based on the info they've posted, Jill sounds like she's been wasting away, and THAT is their justification for her having no involvement in anything since RE5...where she was a prisoner in her own body and a puppet. Not really having spent much time, actively, doing anything for the BSAA....which NOW is corrupt.

Jill was not “infected” with the t-virus during RE5′s storyline. The strain she had was from Nemesis infecting her, and it was DORMANT upon vaccination (some people need to look up what that means apparently), and it did not reactivate until AFTER Wesker put her in cryosleep. 

What is also being ignored is the FACT that her body had ALREADY developed antibodies DURING the period the virus was dormant, and it WIPED the virus OUT of her body! Key words here are “soon vanished.” There was no long period where the virus was just active in her again. No, her body wiped that virus the hell out. This is why Wesker kept Jill alive longer, now that he could no longer test his virus out on her. He used her antibodies to make his virus less toxic to humans.

I’ll even throw in the actual english localization text

The t-virus was NOT ACTIVE again for some long period, and THEN suddenly she developed antibodies. Her body ALREADY had them, which is why AFTER having SUDDENLY awakened during her cryosleep, the virus was wiped out COMPLETELY, leaving behind ONLY potent antibodies, STRONG enough to make even Jill NOT able to be a test subject for Uroboros!!! I’d sooner buy that Jill’s pale skin and blonde hair came from the moment the virus reactivated, especially since according to Rev2′s letter from her she still had the same appearance even after going through testing, but that appears to have been retconned. I guess we'll see if it's even addressed.

Jill eventually had P-30 used on her for Wesker’s personal desire to torture her, but the other scientists were also curious about the possible long term damage of the chemical, if administered continuously (as it otherwise would wear off).

If Jill was going to have slowed aging, it would’ve come from P-30, but that was not something observed, esp. with the chemical just being a "performance enhancer." P-30 was not something that lingered, the body expelled it relatively quickly. They were looking to see if there would be long term DAMAGE by having this chemical in her system for longer periods. Slowed aging would be a mutation in her system. They are suggesting this all stems from T-virus. THIS is a RETCON! It's not respecting her story, it's changing it to justify this bs with her appearance. What next, Moira (who's fully adapted to T-phobos), Claire, Rebecca, etc (all women) will somehow not age too?

Jill’s body was resisting the T-virus infection even in Raccoon City, this is why she didn’t turn as quickly as many others. This is even mentioned in Nicholai’s notes in the RE3make! She had no brain rot, or anything else develop. 

There were no changes to her body, and if there had’ve been she wouldn’t have aged like SHE clearly damn did AFTER RE3. Wesker, and all those other scientists, would’ve noticed some shit like that. 

I'm here for some exploration of her headspace, and what she was forced to do, what her body was used for (and Jill is the one who is repulsed by Wesker and other scientists experimenting on people as well which is another irony in their story), as Jill went through a hell no one else has experienced, and it was personally done to her on top of it. It still annoys me how Jill not only didn't get to directly get her vengeance, or at LEAST talk shit like Carla did to Simmons (and be acknowledged for ruining his plans), but Jill didn't even get to SPEAK to Wesker! Then all that hissing shit when facing Chris and Sheva, after her overdose! It's bullshit!!!

Them trying to JUSTIFY wasting Jill now, with this sexist/ageist bullshit is not okay. We may still have to SEE what all exactly is gonna happen, but their track record of actually properly exploring any character has been terrible at best, especially in these films. It's always the most shallow, surface level crap. I'd love to be surprised by something actually good happening, but Capcom has yet to earn that trust.

Yes, I'm thrilled Jill and Chris will get to interact again, and Jill FINALLY will interact with important characters who ARE NOT from STARS, after 25+ years!!!! Just a crying shame it took this long. Hell I'd love to see them put a take on that UC Novel convo between Chris and Jill, where she questioned if she could ever live a life where she could get married, grow old and have kids and grandkids. Especially since the LAST casual convo we saw them have ON SCREEN, was her talking about getting "older" since the mansion incident!

But I'm not banking on them REALLY doing anything to properly explore these characters in meaningful ways.

But again to be clear, the women deserve SO MUCH better in this series. RE8 already had me smdh with its BS, but Jill definitely deserved better than this crap. I want more for the guys too, but this crap is just repulsive.

^Speaks volumes honestly. This disgusting shit is not new in this series, but canonically trying to "preserve" ANOTHER female's youth....it's disgusting. Bad enough they killed off the OLD and conveniently "sick" original Alex, just to put a "copy" of her into the body of a young girl. She couldn't actually have superhuman abilities like Albert's in her original body...smdh!!!

I wonder why someone would want to shelve a character like that...

Anyway, RIP Jill's chest scars, and longer blonde hair, aka remnants of a survivor who beat so many odds. I'm here for character vulnerability, just hope it doesn't result in more bullshit like this, and not mean anything in the end.

Some translations provided by Alex Aniel aka cvxfreak from Twitter. Jill being thru the ringer mentally is certainly no surprise after the events of re5. Glad to see some of it addressed here in her summary. Definitely still looking forward to the movie with seeing her a part of a mission post re5, working with Chris again and finally getting to interact with Leon after all this time!

[solanuuma]

watching The Missed Potential of Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies without having played the whole game and eggtempest foreshadowing whatever they did to with Apollo is so scary its so so scary

[jungw8ns]

GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM WITH ENHYPEN !

PAIRING: boyfriend!enha x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WARNINGS: profanity (not that much tho), mentions of death (?). WORD COUNT: 100 - 200 each member.

HEESEUNG:

the two of you were so pumped playing an escape room together for the first time that the other people in line had to calm you guys down (which was trully embarrassing to say the least 🤐🤐)

he was looking at the ranking board filled with pictures of players that had succeeded in the shortest amount of time and he just wanted nothing more than to see both your faces on there

but anyways, we all know how competitive heeseung gets 🕴️

oh boy let me tell you, this guy WAS SPEEDRUNNING IT but not the kind you were thinking

the second the timer had started he was literally SPRINTING AROUND THE ROOM LOOKING FOR CLUES YET COMPLETELY MISSING THEM 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

while he was busy running around, you were picking up the little details in the room and in no time managed to open a few locks

"y/n look i found– oh 😐😑😐"

HE WAS SULKING PLSSS 😭😭😭

when you noticed him standing from afar staring at you with his arms crossed, you called him to solve this one puzzle you already did

*gasps* "oh no! babe i don't understand how to do this, please help me 😔😔🤥🙏🙏"

he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from letting out that cocky grin but it got out eventually

"oh it's so easy sweetheart, just put this here and then voila! 😉"

when the two of you escaped you suprisingly got to take a polaroid with him home after ranking 2nd in the records

heeseung was the one who held onto it tho, placing it underneath his clear phonecase for safekeeping <3

JAY:

GOD THIS DUDE

THE ESCAPE ROOM WASN'T EVEN THAT SCARY AND YET EVERYTIME YOU GUYS OPEN A LOCK OR A DOOR HIS FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCTS COME UP 😭😭👊👊

"y/n stay behind me >:(("

"um, babe, you do realize that's just a door right?"

"WE'LL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY?? THE STAFF COULD'VE PROGRAMMED IT TO GROW LEGS?? 😵🧐🧐"

you knew you shouldn't have played horror games with him a few nights ago cause he looked like he was about to lose his mind 😔

you had to shove his ass aside and move on to the next mission cause the both of you knew that he was stalling 🏌️‍♀️

jay was being extra clingy the whole time you were playing, he'd either link arms with you or hold hands (he's literally so adorable) 💞💞

BUT THEN YOU THOUGHT OF DOING A PRANK ON HIM

while you were roaming around the room trying to solve a puzzle, you saw this horse mask on a nearby table

and so you made sure jay was distracted and put on the mask

you could've NOT worn the dusty old thing but where was the fun in that?

"jay can you come here for a sec?"

you hid behind the wall beside the door frame waiting for him to come into your sight and attacked him

now, how about we guess what happens next?

a. he faints

b. he runs away

or c. he slaps you in the face and forces you to buy him food for the rest of the night

if you guessed c then YAY! YOU'RE CORRECT 🥳🎉🎉🎊

THIS HOE SLAPS YOU AS HE SHOULD

"$##/@+(+'£%(:?!!)&£**/*%@"

when he finally takes off the mask like those scenes in scooby doo he's never felt so betrayed in his life

"i- I TRUSTED YOU 😭😭😭 YOU BETTER BUY ME FOOD LATER, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, THE BETRAYAL???? LITERALLY UNPROVOKED?????"

he wouldn't stop side eyeing you until you guys finally pulled up on the mcdonalds drive thru

"hi, can i get two um– bts meals please? 😒😒 and two oreo mc flurries 🙄🙄 and also large fries 😐😐"

sane (1/3)

would be trailing behind you like a little puppy (i love him so much 😭😭😭)

he either has his arm linked with yours or held hands every five minutes

JAKE:

really focused on the puzzles he's doing but the second he hears you call out his name for help he's there beside you with the sweetest smile

but anyways, mans was POPPING OFF the entire time you were playing

he was solving problem after problem in no time (he wanted to impress you is why he activated his inner flash ⚡⚡) but he did let you play tho, the last thing he wanted to do was make you pissed at him for hogging all the games

def buried jake with compliments and forehead kisses right after ❤️__❤️

and so the two of you got out in like an hour and a few which you were very proud of

"you were so cool today babe, good job !!"

"aww thank you angel 😊��"

sane (2/3)

SUNGHOON:

would be linking pinkies with you the whole time, only letting go whenever the both of you had to solve something that needed two or more people

there was this one game tho where he had to arm wrestle this literal hand lever to open the door to the last room (yea...don’t ask why, the staffs were pretty weird 😬😬) 

it made him enjoy the experience a bit more as it was only the two of you playing instead of getting accompanied by strangers

HGAWAHSGDHSGHDA PLSS THIS GUY

“oh this’ll be easy, y/n step aside, i’ll handle this 😏😏😏”

idk if you were supposed to think about how handsome he looked with his serious expression on and his veiny hands coming into frame or be worried for him because the lever was REAL HARD to pull that his veins looked like they were going to pop any second soon, you stepped in and helped him tho cause you were a good s/o <3

from a spectators point of view, the two of you looked like y’all were about shit your pants but the two of you eventually succeeded on beating it, immediately dragging him to the next room which had a sofa in it, laying down to catch your breaths

cliché moment ahead ⚠️⚠️

the two of you shared a few laughs before standing up on the empty space, held hands and started to jump in circles to celebrate your success 💃💃

yupp, y’all were never going back to that hellhole again

very stubborn at first, he wanted nothing to do with the game but then you held him at gunpoint by saying:

SUNOO:

"please just this once or else i'll revoke your mint choco ice cream rights 🔫🔫🔫"

"BUT IT'S SCARY IN THERE BABE :((("

"it won't be that scary sunshine, besides, i'll be ready to 🤜💥 yk?? trust me babe i would never let anyone hurt you <33"

kinda pissed since you blackmailed him into the place and also bc he wanted to play bumper cars and dance mania but he yea he caved in pretty quick 😋😋

(y/n let him play his games in peace tf >:(((( )

once you guys got in tho he realized how normal it was and that it was not terrifying at all

THE EPITOME OF CLINGY OMFG

he wouldn't stop back hugging you and you couldn't bring yourself to push him away to play the games so you just let him walk behind you with his arms on your shoulders 😩😩

(y'all were walking kinda funny but don't tell sunoo that 🤫🤫🤫)

yea the two of you ended up escaping with a whopping 2 hours and a few minutes

but it was the effort that counts so A+++++ for the both if you 😜👍👍👍

sane (3/3)

JUNGWON:

was the one who suggested going, he even searched on naver about really good escape room places to visit and was overall really looking forward it

he liked going to places and having fun with you so it wasn't a shock how his eyes were literally crescents and his dimples were so evident

yea he literally rushed the both of you to the place that you were the first in line 😵

while waiting for the staff to finish setting up he was playing with your connected hands like 🖐️✊🖐️✊ (so precious 💞💞)

"y/n why are you taking so long 😭😭 what if they close and we end up not solving a single lock, hurry up por favorrr 😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏"

when they finally lead you to the room he was kind of surprised that they had separated the two of you into different spaces (like the one with txt where they had the answers to the other member's puzzles yk???)

he was locked inside a telephone stand while you were handcuffed in the main room

dw the two of you reunited after a few minutes cause jungwon was rushing his lock to get to you 🤭

you both were progressing at an average pace and it made you guys a lot more closer (not that you guys weren't before but you get what i mean)

after you guys escaped the two of you went to eat curry and talked about the whole experience 😋✌️✌️✌️

this boy literally dragged you in the escape room with him

NIKI:

HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU TIME TO REFUSE HE JUST 😐👉🚪

"ok masterchefs, in order to test your abilities we must go through series of puzzles and make it out alive, understood?"

he tried ignoring how confused you were and went on to try and get you guys to escape

HE'S LAUGHING AT YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON AND OBV YOU LAUGH ASWELL CAUSE WHO WOULDN'T??? his laugh is so contagious pls 🤖🤖 he was so close to d wording cause he couldn't breathe from laughing too much

yea.. you guys spent so much time laughing at each other for being so dumb at this that you ended up playing 'till closing time

spoiler alert: he fails on doing anything cause the second you made eye contact with him this child collapses 😍🤩

GIRL SO EMBARRASSING 🤡🤡

THE STAFF KICKED THE BOTH OF YOU OUT AND NOW YOU GUYS WERE BANNED FROM THE PLACE ☠️☠️

"haunted house next weekend???"

"BET"

NOTE – god they were WAY funnier in my head but yeah.... i love them so much AND OMFG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HEESEUNG’S SELCAS LAST NIGHT???!?@??#?@?!?@ HE’S NOT REAL WTF ⁉️❓❓⁉️

also, idk why BUT EVERY TIME I SAVE A DRAFT the paragraphs get scrambled?? £!?) 6=6) 🤣😂💔💔🤣🤣😂💔 it's so annoying but anyways, ilysm pls stay safe and have a great day <33

[triplethreatsonic]

Triple Threat Drabble: The Stranger

Here it is, the drabble I said I’d share with you guys! I’ve done a sort of hybrid thing with this where there are one or two images integrated into the text that are basically like comic panels. (think Diary of a Wimpy Kid but hopefully more classy.) So make sure you pay attention to them as you read! 

Also, this is a work in progress. So please don’t judge it too harshly :) 

Hope you guys enjoy this! 

___

Sonic was not a slow eater. He hadn't been one as a child, and at age seventeen he certainly wasn't one now. The hedgehog rarely spent more than a few minutes to inhale his food during lunch period. Today was no different— after making quick work of the cafeteria's lasagna, Sonic had pushed his plate aside and was now settled with his left leg comfortably draped on top of his right, one hand fiddling with his shoelace. 

Across the table from him sat his friend, Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles, who was one of the slowest eaters Sonic had ever seen, still had half his meal on his tray and was gradually picking away at a small bunch of grapes. "Probably." His eyes stayed on his hands as he smiled. "I don't think it'll be too bad, though; I'm looking forward to the history paper."

Sonic smirked. "I bet you are. I wonder what you'll write about this time. Maybe"—he cocked an eyebrow—"the ancient echidnas?"

"How'd you guess?" Knuckles smile widened as he dropped the now-empty grape stem onto his tray. Then he sighed, stretching his shoulders back. "I doubt the library has any new books on the topic, though. Seriously, they need an upgrade."

“Man, you're telling me. The other day, I—!" Sonic's thought was suddenly cut short.  If you had asked him what he'd just been talking about, he probably couldn't have told you. 

"No way..."

Something, or rather someone, had caught his attention— someone on the opposite side of the cafeteria, who had just sat down at a faraway table perpendicular to Sonic's position. 

It was a male hedgehog— that much was obvious. Looking at him, Sonic could make out his dark jeans, white t-shirt, and thin red-and-black striped flannel with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The stranger sat, seemingly in silence, listening to a white female bat sitting across from him. 

None of this was what made Sonic stare, however; it was his quills.

Their coloring wasn't necessarily unnatural for a hedgehog, but it was certainly unusual. They were black, the top of each quill traced by a long red stripe. Sonic had never seen anything like them. 

Except that he had-- several times. He'd seen them in his dream. 

"Hey, Sonic! You ok?"

Knuckles words yanked Sonic out of his trance and back into the buzzing world of the lunch room. "Wha—? Oh, sorry man. Heh, guess I kinda zoned out for a second."

"What were you staring at?" Knuckles turned in his seat to scan the room behind him. 

"Nothing!" The word flew out of Sonic's mouth much quicker than he would have liked. He quickly brushed it off with a shrug. "I just remembered something I gotta do before lunch is over. I'd better run—see you later, alright?"

Knuckles looked like he didn't quite believe him. "What do you gotta do?"

Sonic’s face smiled as his brain racked for an answer. "Uh, homework. Never ends, am I right?"

Now it was Knuckles turn to smirk. "Heh, right." He picked up his mini milk carton and took a swig. "Well, good luck. I'll see you in fifth."

"Later, Knux!" Sonic grinned and picked up his tray from the table, keeping his movements casual as he made his way to the garbage cans. Behind his calm exterior, however, Sonic's mind was racing. It was a coincidence. It was a weird coincidence. But that's all it could be, right? Just a really weird, off-putting coincidence that meant nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. 

So why was he so antsy all of a sudden? 

Frankly, Sonic didn't even know why he had left Knuckles in such a hurry with that dumb fib about homework. What was he hoping to do? Was he planning to talk to the Weird-Coincidence Guy? 

Well… it wasn't the worst idea. 

Sonic's eyes flicked upwards from his tray; the black-and-red hedgehog was easy to pick out now that he knew he was there. Sonic's hands moved automatically, scraping his plates as he kept his eyes fixed on the stranger. The white bat across from him finished her sentence, waved, and then left, walking out through the cafeteria's main double doors. The black hedgehog watched her leave, a soda can held tightly in his hands. He barely moved at all.  

Sonic dropped his plate unceremoniously into the designated bin. Now that the idea had entered his mind, he couldn’t shake it: he had to talk to him. As nonchalantly as he could, Sonic began weaving around chairs, backpacks and tables, gradually making his way to the strange hedgehog. 

He was practically on top of him now. Sonic stopped walking, the black hedgehog a mere four feet ahead of him. He was facing away, hands still holding that soda can. Without so much as a second thought, Sonic smiled and said the first, most natural thing that came to his mind: “Hey!” 

What happened next was the last thing Sonic had expected. The black hedgehog turned at his voice, saw him, and froze. His face paled and his eyes went wide. Something like an electric shock seemed to go through him, and the can in his hands crunched.  

Brrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiing! The five-minute bell shouted rudely across the cafeteria, startling them both, and they were drowned in a wave of standing students. The black hedgehog was instantly blocked from view as three hundred teenagers, Human and Animal, began gathering their things and preparing to leave for classes. 

“H-hey, wait a sec!” Sonic tried to see past the masses of knees and elbows, but quickly found that to be useless. He wasn’t one to give up easily, however; in seconds, Sonic had jumped onto the nearest table and was craning his neck to see over the sea of heads. Where could that guy have gone so quickly? Suddenly—there! Sonic barely caught sight of striped flannel as its wearer ducked around the corner of an adjacent hallway.

"Hey, dude, wait up!" Sonic was down in a flash. After shoving his way through the crowd he sprinted into the hall just as his target ran left down another. He called after him. "Yo, black hedgehog!" It became a game of cat and mouse as they chased each other down seemingly countless hallways and past endless classrooms. Sonic was fast on the track—the fastest in the state, in fact— but somehow this guy kept eluding him with all his constant turns. 

Sonic finally whipped right around the ten-billionth corner only to come to an abrupt halt— the hallway ended just twenty feet in front of him. Sonic looked over his shoulder, then back at the dead end. He was positive this was the direction the hedgehog had dodged... so where did he go? 

"Hello? Uh, you down here, man?" Sonic slowly walked forward as his question echoed in the empty hall. "I just wanna talk for a second."

Silence. 

Then out of nowhere a blur of movement slammed into Sonic's chest, smashing him against a line of lockers. Sonic's breath was knocked out of him, and it took him a second to realize what had happened: standing there, with his forearm crushing Sonic’s ribs, was the black hedgehog. His eyes were mere inches away from his own. They were a bight crimson— to Sonic's astonishment, the color he expected them to be— with a ferocious, wild expression in them. There was also the depth of something that Sonic couldn’t quite name. 

"Why are you following me?” he demanded. 

Sonic’s hands flew up like a man held at gunpoint. "Woah, dude! Chill! I'm … I'm sorry!” It was still difficult to breathe. "I'm just… I just wanna… wanna talk!"

They stood there locked in place for a moment, both hedgehogs panting. A minute passed, and gradually something seemed to shift in the black hedgehog's eyes. He glanced downward at the arm that pinned Sonic, then back up at the hedgehog's face. Then he backed a few paces, his hands lowering to his sides. 

Sonic pushed himself off the lockers and rubbed his chest. "Wow, you hit hard! You play football or something?" He gave the guy a smile. "Sorry. I probably really weirded you out back there—I said hi, but then the bell rang and you ran off and—"

"And you chased me." The hedgehog's voice was deeper than Sonic's when he spoke, with a sharp edge to it. The guy looked close to graduating— frankly, with his stern face, he barely looked like he belonged in high school at all. His arms moved to cross in front of his chest. "What do you want?" 

"Uh..." Sonics brain suddenly froze. In that moment he realized that beyond his first hello, he hadn't actually thought of what he wanted to say to this guy. "I… I'm not sure. I just wanted to say hi, I guess." 

"Why?"

"Well, um... aw, shoot, this sounds really stupid now." Sonic's smile turned sheepish. "I wanted to talk 'cause… you look kinda familiar?" 

Other than a slight eyebrow raise, the black hedgehog didn’t move. His voice dripped with contempt. "Where on earth would I have met you before?" 

"Heh, funny you should ask." Sonic shoved his thumbs in his pockets. "Uh, how long've you been at the school?"

"Three weeks." 

Sonic did a double take. “Wait— really? Like, it's your first semester? But… you look like a senior." 

"And?" 

"Oh, I dunno... I guess thats just kinda rare, you know? New seniors? I'm a junior, myself." Sonic smiled, but the black hedgehog didn't flinch. He cleared his throat. "Well, anyway… You really do look super familiar to me. It's kinda freaky, actually."

The dark hedgehog's eyes narrowed. "And why would you say that?"

Sonic wasn't sure what reaction he'd been waiting for— maybe a good laugh, if anything— but it certainly wasn't what the black hedgehog was doing now. His shoulders hitched, fingers digging into his forearms. Even more surprising was his face; it had that same haunted look Sonic had glimpsed before— back in the cafeteria, right when the stranger had first seen him. 

And then all at once it was gone, replaced by the earlier scowl. "That's ridiculous.” 

Sonic’s hand dropped down from where it had been resting behind his head. “Um… yeah. Yeah, it is.”

They stood there in a heavy silence. The black hedgehog drummed his fingers against his arm. “Is that all?”  

Sonic stared back at him. “… Yes.” 

The other hedgehog looked at Sonic a moment longer, annoyed expression unchanging. Then with a ‘hmph’, he turned away abruptly, walking back towards the hallway through which they had come. 

Sonic watched him leave. He felt the urge to say something, but nothing came to mind. Well, that was weird. What had he been expecting though, really? The whole reason for him talking to the guy was weird to begin with. It was funny; though Sonic was usually very confident around strangers, this whole conversation— which he himself had initiated— had made even him uncomfortable. 

Sonic began to turn the in the opposite direction to head to his own class— only find himself staring at the dead-end hallway again. Whoops. There was only one other way to go. 

The black hedgehog’s ear perked as footsteps echoed behind him, and he turned his head sharply. Sonic’s hands shot back up in the air again upon being caught. “Sorry, ignore me—my class is this way too.” 

The stranger glared at Sonic a moment, then turned back and kept walking. Sonic waited a second, allowing for some space, then continued on behind. 

There was almost no other sound as the two of them made their way down the hall. Sonic slipped his thumbs back into his pockets, trying not to look at the stranger. Eventually, he let his eyes drift to the back of the hedgehog’s head. What was up with the guy, anyway? He sure was a tough nut to crack— tougher than even Knuckles had been when they’d first met, and that was saying something. This guy refused to be warmed up in any way, shape, or form. Sonic had nothing to work with here, and it left him at a loss. 

Eventually Sonic couldn’t stand the silence anymore. “Hey,” he ventured, “sorry I got on your nerves back there."

If the other hedgehog heard him, he gave no sign of it.

A few more seconds passed. Sonic took a breath. "I probably shouldn’t have bothered you. It was kinda silly to say anything at all, to be honest. I probably wouldn’t’ve, either, if I’d only had the dream once. It's just weird, you know? ‘Cause I don’t even know you, but this guy that looks exactly like you is in the dream every single time, along with that other hedgehog—”  

“I don’t care!” 

Instantly, the black hedgehog was in Sonic’s face. Teeth bared, fangs showing, a threatening finger nearly stabbed Sonic in the eye. “I’m going to say this once, Blue Hedgehog. I don’t care about your dreams. I don’t care if I was in it, or that white hedgehog, or you, or anybody! And I’m tired of hearing about it.” 

They stood there a moment, with Sonic for once in his life standing perfectly still. The black hedgehog’s finger lowered as he growled. “Are we clear?” 

With the finger out of his face, Sonic slowly straightened. Ok, talking more was definitely not going to take any tension out of the air. He opened his mouth to give a simple reply. 

Then something clicked. “Wait... How did you know the hedgehog was white?”

The scowl on the stranger’s face faded slightly, the air seeming to still. “What?” he breathed. 

“The other hedgehog,” said Sonic, "I never mentioned what color his fur was.” Now he leaned forward, studying the stranger. He met his eyes. "How did you know it was white?”

The stranger gave no response. The blood had slowly drained from his face, leaving it ghostly pale as his mouth hung open wordlessly. 

Then suddenly his face clenched, and a hand jerked out to slap Sonic away. “Enough!” 

He dashed off. It took Sonic a second to recover from the unexpected shove. “Wha- Hey, dude, wait!" He sprinted around the corner ahead. "Where are you going—?!"

The black hedgehog was gone. 

Sonic stood staring blankly down the empty hallway.  What the heck? Thoughts swirled around his brain—half of them were questions, and the other half were answers that didn’t make sense. He leaned his left arm against the rough brick wall next to him. 

Had “white” simply been a guess? A stab in the dark? Was that the color everybody thought of when they pictured the average hedgehog? 

Or did he know, too?

Another blaring brrrring! from the bell startled Sonic out of his thoughts. “Aw, shoot.” He was late for chemistry. He took off at a sprint. 

A few minutes later, Sonic would come rushing through his classroom door. He wouldn’t remember that he needed to grab his textbook from his locker until he was already inside. No excuse would be given when when his teacher scolded him, declaring solemnly that being the school’s track star did not justify him arriving late to class. Later, when everyone was paired up for experiments, Tails would ask him where he’d been; cutting it close was normal for Sonic, but arriving seven minutes after the bell was not. Sonic would hesitate a moment. Then he’d give his best friend a smile, ruffling the fur on his head. “It’s not really important,” he’d say, “no worries. Let’s just get these reactions done.” 

Hours later, in dark of his bedroom, Sonic would still be thinking about that black hedgehog.