#Sorry for the complete lack of context in the story. If you wanna know more you can go to cosmoknightchaos dot tumblr dot com slash ask

[cosmoknightchaos]

hi I dunno if you’re taking requests for the drabbles but,,, “Be you. No one else can.” with anything you want,,,,

Um actually I'm not taking requests. Yeah. Sorry.

Word Count: 1362 feat. Paisley Harris, Kat, Marci, and Vincent Sonemeir (Project Scepsis OS)

Prompt #50-

"Be you. No one else can."

Kat stared at him. "What?"

"Well, there's only one alien girl living on planet Earth who looks and talks like you." Vincent looked over his shoulder, waving the screwdriver in the air. "That's who you are. No one else can be that."

"This isn't how I look. Or how I sound. I stole from others.”

"And those people aren't going to come after you wanting those appendages back, now are they?"

Paisley, who was sitting on the ground in front of Vincent, turned around and frowned at him. "What? I'm correct. Now turn back around before you disconnect something."

Vincent turned back to his work. During their last fight, the Creator unit that was hunting the group had electrocuted Paisley in the right shoulder, shutting down the entire right side of their upper body and frying their vocal implants. After narrowly escaping, Marci had "commandeered" an empty apartment in a nearby town for the four of them to recover in. Vincent had managed to get Paisley online and partially fix their shoulder joint after a few days of work, but was struggling to fully repair the machine without any extra parts. Now, they were sitting in front of Vincent, the plates for the right side of their back removed so he could work on their circuitry.

"That doesn't matter. I can't 'be me' because I don't have a ‘myself’. I don't have a way I'm supposed to look or sound the way you or Paisley do. I'm just... whatever I take from other people."

"I'm not talking about how you look." Vincent switched to sitting on his knees. "Harris, bend over more, I need to reach your spine."

Paisley did as they were told. Vincent put down the screwdriver and dug his hands into their back, locating their vocal box. "Oh, shit."

The room went silent as Vincent continued his work. He moved from the vocal box to Paisley's arm, assessing what to do next.

"Is that it?" Kat snapped.

"Huh?"

"You don't mean how I look? Is that all? Do I have to figure out the rest on my own?"

Vincent turned to look at her, keeping one hand inside Paisley's arm and an uninterested look on his face. "Your personality, Kat. I mean your personality."

Kat crossed her arms.

"That's what makes people different. Everyone else has had their own experiences and choices, and it's how they respond to those experiences that make a personality. Sure, your physical appearance might be the same as someone else's, but guess what? So is Paisley's."

Paisley started to turn around and Vincent promptly grabbed their shoulder with his other hand, forcing them back. "My hand is in your right shoulder joint, Harris. Don't move it."

He leaned over Paisley's shoulder and started fiddling with the inner workings. "Paisley is one of many mass-produced machines, all made with the same intent, for the same purpose, and with the exact same technology. And yet, they function entirely different than any other Creator unit would, because they've been given the chance to have feelings. And opinions. Regardless of how awful they are."

Paisley twitched their shoulder and Vincent yanked his hands out. They tilted their head and shook, as if laughing.

"You asshole. Don't do that. You can cut my fingers off if you move too much.”

They gave him a pouty face and Vincent glared at them. “Do you want me to fix you or not? Because I will gladly leave you like this.”

Paisley sighed silently and relaxed their arm, allowing Vincent to continue. “Paisley, despite having some misconceived assumptions about how the world works and some poor opinions because of that, has developed a strong personality. They’re irrational, impulsive, and the biggest optimist I’ve ever met. Which isn’t a bad thing,” he said through gritted teeth, as Paisley moved their left arm as a quiet threat. “It makes them their own person. And I’m sure if they could speak right now, they’d list off a whole bunch of insulting adjectives that make up my personality, such as arrogant, sadistic, and selfish.”

Paisley gave the other two a thumbs up.

“So… I have to make my own personality,” Kat stated, unsure of her words.

Vincent was still for a moment, then sighed. “No. You already have a personality. Everyone has a personality from the moment they are able to think.”

“But everything that makes up me I took from other people. Including how I act. I just copied other people until I figured out how to fit in.”

Vincent didn’t respond. He had moved back over to the top of Paisley’s spine, and was working on their vocal box.

“...I just don’t get it. How do I be myself while being made of everything but me? Who even am I?”

Still no response. Vincent reached for the screwdriver again, stopped, and turned to look at Kat. “That was a rhetorical question, right? Please tell me that was a rhetorical question.”

When Kat didn’t speak, Vincent scoffed and stood up. “Kat, I’m an engineer, not a philosopher. But, if you really want to know, I think you're a cannibalistic shapeshifter alien whose entire species is considered a high-level threat on this planet. You’re a wanted criminal on most of the planets we’ve talked to, and if you weren’t already, you’re certainly a criminal here on Earth for kidnapping a high security programmer from one of the most safely guarded establishments in this solar system!” He paused and took a breath. Paisley had turned around and was sitting criss-cross, watching Vincent lose his cool with a shit-eating grin. “You’re also incredibly insecure, and you worry enough to cover the three of us. You’re uncomfortably introspective and you’ve looked like you’re on the verge of a mental breakdown since I met you. Is that good enough or should I continue?”

Kat opened her mouth and then closed it, a dejected look in her eyes. Vincent stood with his arms crossed.

“So… that's who I am?”

Vincent’s arms dropped to his sides. “Fucking… no?? Well, yeah, that’s everything I know about you, and it’s all factual, but that doesn’t have to be.. you. It doesn't have to be all of you. You can be more. Or, if you’re fine with that, then yeah! That's you!” He shrugged, clearly fed up. “But you have to figure that out yourself.”

“But… what if I can’t? Or what if people don’t like it? At least with whatever I am now, people like me, but if I change that, what-”

“Paisley Harris,” Vincent said firmly. “Do you consider me to be a good person?”

Paisley, incredibly giddy, pointed their thumb down.

“Do I, in your opinion, have any sort of redeeming qualities?”

Paisley gave that a vigorous shake of the head and a thumbs down.

“And, from what you remember of your time in the Preservation, did any of my coworkers like me? The investors don't count."

They paused, thinking, then shrugged and pointed their thumb down.

"Off the top of my head, the only person I worked with there who would actually like me would be Daniel Ederudge, who I've known since college. Now, Harris, do I give off the impression that I dislike any of those facts?"

Paisley gave a slightly-less-eager thumbs down.

"Thank you Harris. Now, my point is, who gives a damn what other people think about you? As long as who you are makes you happy, it doesn't matter. You don't even have to be someone big. You don't have to make any sort of impact on anyone else. You don't have to be something special. Just... be what makes you happy. Be... yeah. Be you."

Behind them, Marci, who had been asleep on a table, opened one of its eyes. "That's easy for you to say, doc."

Vincent's jaw snapped shut. He stood very still for a moment, then bent over and picked up his screwdriver. Paisley quickly turned around as Vincent sat back down, resuming his work on their arm.

"So... I just have to figure out who I like being?" Kat asked.

Vincent did not respond.

[callmegaith]

I just saw something that looked similar to your portrait of Dan, Mills, and Curtis but it was just Dan and Curtis. It made me realize how different Killer7 would have been if KiD was more well known within the fanbase, and how much things would have changed if the BETA content didn't get cut out. It's like you're living in an alternative universe where that story did happen. If you think about it, if it had, Mills and Dan would have been THE ship instead of Dan and Coyote, because, imo, they basically have the same dynamic.

What I'm trying to say is, it's such a shame Mills got the short end of the stick with all this story getting cut out because he probably suffered under Curtis just as Dan has but doesn't get acknowledged in the storyline since all that stuff got cut out. your art is like a glimpse of what could have been. It's good to see some appreciation for Mills.

Hope you have a nice day, and I'm sorry if this sounds stupid.

Do you mean this one?

Yeah it's a shame that a big chunk of the story got tossed out because it would have provided a whole lotta context and given Mills a lot more background. Obviously as a big fan of Mills (I'm very normal about him) I do want to see his character explored more. Don't wanna keep my hopes up for a "Killer7 Complete edition" but, you know... Never say never.

I do have to disagree with "Mills and Dan have the same dynamic as Dan and Coyote" tho. Dan and Coyote are on the same playing field when it comes to power dynamic and toxicity, while Mills has seemingly always just let people dog him around cuz he would rather conform and avoid conflict. The reason Dan/Coyote is fun is because of their personalities and how well they clash with each other. It's a true rivalry and who doesn't love a good enemies to lovers?? They're mutually toxic

But Dan and Mills lacks that flair cuz Mills isn't someone who fights back. He bows his head like a good little boy until he has a mental breakdown about it (which I talked about before that I think is so funny he has a mental breakdown about how abused he felt by Dan and Dan just going "okay and??" 😂)

One of my favorite movie quotes is "it's not a fight if one of you doesn't fight back, right?" And I think that's what makes Coyote/Dan THE toxic yaoi ship. It's because they both fight back.

I've always seen Dan and Mills more as adoptive siblings suffering from an abusive cycle (as the father does to the son, the son does to the brother). I've made a "comic" about it and all

Anyway I can ramble about this all day long but I'm glad you enjoy my art c:

A thing I like about entering niche fandoms and liking smaller characters is I'm able to provide art for a very specific group of people. I love Mills sm, and I'm happy I get to make things about him that people enjoy!

[voidscarredadjudicator]

Hey guys. Sorry for being quiet for a month. Hopping on here to let y'all know that I do still have a pulse. Things have been... fine? I guess? Here's a bit of a wordy update on my situation right now, but the tl;dr is, I'm good, HE is still on hiatus, but I'll get back into the groove soon hopefully. Also happy holidays!

The mysterious and vague 'personal life stuff' is still ongoing, and I really don't know how long it'll be something that I have to deal with. I'm continuing to not elaborate because it is very much a personal life thing, but I can assure you that nobody's dying or anything grim like that.

On an only somewhat related note, my expendable income has shrank dramatically in the past few months, so I've been having to get a lot more stingy with what I spend money on. I'm not poverty stricken; I can still afford rent and bills and groceries and whatnot, I just gotta cut corners where I can so I can actually build up my savings.

What does this mean for Humanity's Endling? Well, it's... still on hiatus, technically. But really it just means I'm picking up more shifts than I'd usually care to, which means less time to actually work on it. If work were being done on it to begin with. I'm also cutting out my NSO subscription, which unfortunately means I will not be playing Splatoon 3 much at all anymore. Granted, I was kinda taking a break from it already, so it's not like I've been getting my money's worth of the subscription anyways. So if you were curious about my absence during this most recent Big Run, or the lack of a lengthy season observation/headcanon post like last time, that is why.

All of that said, it's not like I haven't been writing at all - just been hard focusing what creative juices I'm still able to generate given my situation on the accursed TTRPG I've mentioned in prior rambles, as that's an actively running thing that I kinda need to constantly pump stuff out for.

Speaking of which, I pulled a Super Mario Galaxy and wrote a whole ass children's book for the players to find as a lore thing. It was written with the intention of just being a normal children's book in a bubble, but when viewed with the context of the entire campaign thus far, takes on a completely different meaning. Which is to say, you don't need to know a damn thing about the campaign to appreciate the story - a theory I tested by having two people who aren't players read it.

One almost cried. The other actually cried. And when the players found it in our most recent session, one of them also cried, and we had to take a breather after the fact.

Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I feel like that's one hell of an achievement. So I am pretty proud of myself for that. If you guys are interested, I might clean it up a bit and post it either on Ao3 as an original work or just straight onto this tumblr. It's only about 2k words, so it should fit nicely in a single post.

That's all I can really think of to say at the moment. Again, even though I might seem a bit quiet, I am still here. I take a peek at tumblr at least once a day to see if anyone's sent any asks or anything like that, so don't be afraid to toss something into my inbox if you have a question.

Oh, and for the anon who sent an ask suggesting me to upload what I have of Act II done already - I don't exactly plan my stories in a linear fashion, nor do I write them as such either. It's closer to me thinking of the major moments I wanna do, plotting out how to connect them, refining, refining, refining, rearranging, refining, scrap half of what I have done, rearranging, suddenly having an epiphany, scrapping another chunk... yeah, it's a bit chaotic. I see what you're trying to say though, and I do appreciate the suggestion, but it can't really be done with the way I go about writing.

That's it from me. Happy Holidays. Play Cyberpunk 2077. It's a good game, I swear. Or Undertale Yellow if you own a toaster. It's me, I own a toaster. I played Cyberpunk on my brother's computer. Thanks, bro. Love you.

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

2021 FIC YEAR IN REVIEW

I saw @clotpolesonly doing this and she encouraged me to try!

Total number of completed works: 263

Total word count: 314, 601

Fandoms written in: I don’t even know how many fandoms but I can guess the more active fandoms were Marvel, Doctor Who, Yuri!!! on Ice, Harry Potter, Tenet (2020), Teen Titans, BTVS, Avatar: Legend of Korra, DC Comics, His Dark Materials, The Witcher (TV), Once Upon a Time, Supergirl, IT Movies, Wandavision, TFATWS, SK8 the Infinity, Venom (Movies), Star Wars, Hannibal (TV), Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone, Loki (TV), Supernatural...

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?: I actually think I wrote a less amount of fanfics than last year! That bums me out a little but also,,,,, ffs

What’s your own favorite story of the year?: I HAVE A FEW FAVES. The Ending Is The Beginning (Neil/The Protagonist, Tenet 2020, Explicit)... Thrills and Chills (Barry Allen/Leonard Snart/Iris West, The Flash (TV 2014), Explicit)... Sorry, I Like You (Azula/Ty Lee, A:TLA, Teen)... mostly because I love how the writing turned out. I couldn’t be happier.

Did you take any writing risks this year?: A ton of,,,, failed AO3 fests.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year?: In all seriousness, I wanna finish up my chapter stories. I’m sorry it’s taking so long.

Most popular story of the year?: In My Head With You (Venom/Eddie Brock - Venom 2018-2021 Movies, Explicit) I believe has the higher view count of 9757. I hammered it out in time for Venom 2 just dropping into theaters.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: omg if anyone is interested please read Night-Fall (Todd Anderson/Neil Parry, Dead Poets Society, Mature) because I haven’t gotten to interact with more of the fandom and I feel like this fic got skipped over and Devil Caught Your Eye (Wanda Maximoff/Sylvie, MCU, Teen) because they’re two of my favorite characters in the MCU next to Yelena and I think I did a fantastic scenario of them meeting up!

Most fun story to write: I had way too much fun doing the “Alina pegs the Darkling” fic which is Surprise Me (The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, Shadow and Bone (TV), Explicit) like I’m sorry,,,, I’m not,,,, but it had to be done. He NEEDED to get railed!!

Most unintentionally telling story: I don’t know what “unintentionally telling” is supposed to mean in this context,,,, so imma just recommend Blackthorn (Kim Possible/Shego, Kim Possible, No Rating) because it’s telling you it’s gay. It’s very gay. Please enjoy.

Biggest disappointment: I guess myself and the lack of time-management and commitment I would usually practice. 

Biggest surprise: HOW ABOUT GETTING 1200+ KUDOS AND 9500+ VIEWS ON MY PETER-3/PETER-2(/PETER-1) FIC FOR SPIDERMAN NWH???? HOLY SHIT?? yall were so ready to go feral and ship any level of Spideycest if it had some kind of canon basis (I mean I was too but that’s besides the point!!!) 

I’m tagging @glove23 @merlinsbed @asajjvxntress @not-so-mundane-after-all-97 @sheherlocked @rapha-reads @delphiniumblooms and any writer who sees this!

[felikatze]

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the brainworms you have been giving me and my friends for the past few hours about Ayin and all the analyses you've been doing about him.

I have been losing my mind in the middle of the night thinking about all the things you've said, turning it over like crazy and trying to compare it with the gameplay I've had of Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina.

Please do more analysis and share more of your ideas! Please? Please, with cherry on top? Please, I beg of you?

Especially if you have in-depth ideas of analyses for the Sephirah and how it relates to both their own characters and Ayin and Angela.

I thank you greatly in advance!

the implication that i've infected an entire friend group with my brainworms is power that will 100% go to my head i feel amazing. what else is analysis posting except trying to inflict people with the same thoughts bouncing around your skull on repeat

i DO have shit on the sephirah but mostly netzach, because i love netzach, and i in fact found my discord ramble about him (and chesed)

i dont have things on how they relate to A and Angela specifically because I mainly kept thinking abt Reverbaration Ensemble parallels... i have so many thoughs abt Netzach and Bremen.

(but if you want me to talk about, say, a specific core supression, or floor realization... i have a lot of thoughts on floor realizations.)

First off I am so sorry that you seem to think I'm smart because that means i have the perfect opportunity to inflict you with this

okay now we can get to the serious stuff

[transcript:

containment breach:

quick ramble abt lor again but i love the ensemble receptions so much. i'm at chesed's rn, and i know he's been chill the entire game, but him just refusing to comment on jae-hoon's tragedy seems, out of context, a dick move, but also is so important for chesed to do? he recognizes that another's suffering is not related to him, that he can't do anything about it, and that this is fine. The closest i'd describe chesed in lobcorp would be "activist burnout." Due to betraying the lab from garion's pressure, chesed was so consumed by guilt, he just blamed himself for everything and became more callous because it's already his fault, right? There's nothing he can do. But in lor, he knows what his responsibilities are, and allows himself joy where he can find it. I love the ensemble receptions bcuz they are just examplary of each patron libriarian's growth and i iqbfjc (sobs)

GOD this sure is a paragraph

also have to salute netzach for carrying his scene all by himself as the musicians of bremen just (animal noises) :pray:

ykno being online i realize that i'm not quiet at all i am a complete and utter chatterbox /end]

[transcript:

containment breach:

thinking abt netzach's scene where he doesn't talk to bremen, because he can't, but recognizes this who has not only lost themself in their own art but also their own suffering

i just i love netzach so much his entire character arc is abt learning to live with depression and learning to want to live again

so he becomes unable to understand, really, why someone would sacrifice themselves for their own art

when he started out just, similar yet different from bremen, completely submerged in his own misery

musicians of bremen reminds me i still have bremen bon bons at home i should eat those. they r tasty /end]

i wanna specifically dig into this scene more because i love that scene, a lot.

Art as we get to know it in the City is irrevocably tied to violence. Puppets are made of human bodies, music is played on bones and sinews. To the artists of the City, to create art is to make someone suffer. Rewatching Netzach's story bits, Roland describes it as doing nothing but seeking stimulation and being provocative.

Furthermore, there is a direct comparison between art and alcohol. To paraphrase more, the Pianist must've been one hell of a stimulant, like getting hit by a strong booze. A performance some are still hungover from.

Netzach's main struggle was addiction because of depression, and his growing appreciation for art is a continuation of that arc. He says himself that art and alcohol are linked.

However, alcohol is a step down from hard drugs. Netzach hasn't quit, but just that step down shows he learned moderation, which makes me very proud of him.

Moderation is what the other.. let's just call them artists, lack. I said in the screencaps above, initially, Netzach was lost in his own suffering, and the musicians of bremen are lost in their art. And if art is seen as equal to suffering, that just means Netzach and Bremen are more similar than expected. (Especially considering what we see of the musicians previously; they’re always trying to chase the same high they experienced listening to the Pianist by any means necessary. The addiction parallels are not suprising.)

I rewatched most of Netzach's lor scenes, and what rlly gets me is that in his first one, he seems almost the exact same as in lobcorp. He doesn't want to work, he got dragged into this against his will, he feels as if his accomplishments are futile.

But! He eventually invites Roland for drinks. He's not drinking to forget alone anymore, he's doing it as social activity. Furthermore, the more time he spends as Patron Librarian of Arts, the more he grows to appreciate art. Art is tied to suffering, still, but it is an expression of suffering. It does not produce any. Or should not, in any case. He sure wishes it wouldn’t.

So we arrive at his Ensemble Reception. This one makes a rather interesting comparison: art as the pursuit of the light. Let me elaborate.

To quote, “Honestly, I wanna tell people to stop doing the kind of art that requires ‘em to immolate themselves and others. Although, on the other hand... I can kinda see where they’re coming from. Art narrows your vision, after all.

You stop caring about the things around you. That’s how most artists seem to act, I think. And so, you indulge in the craft, not realizing that you’re throwing yourself and your surroundings into the fire you started.”

I pose this: Netzach speaks of his experience as Giovanni. Giovanni was a researcher who, when push came to shove, willingly sacrificed himself to advance the project, in hopes of seeing the light, seeing Carmen, again.

Though he dislikes Bremen’s actions, he does not judge them for it, because he recognized that it would be hypocritical. Even so, what shows that he’s grown is that he.. doesn’t want to see people harm themselves anymore. The focus here isn’t if Bremen hurt other people, which they have, but how much of themselves they’ve given up for their performance. He condemns the act, and not the people.

“If I can see that light once more... If I have to muster up the courage to reach it, I’ll gladly do it. It’s easier said than done, though; you need a lot of fearlessness for it.

And I guess you saw the same kind of light I was so desperate to see, yeah? Even if yours was a twisted creature... [...] Though, I don’t think I can tell you off like the others. At least I can see the reason behind it.”

He even explicitly mentions the light. The funny thing is, both Giovanni and Bremen tried to reach the Seed of Light, and Carmen. It’s tragically hilarious that we know Carmen is the voice the Distortions hear.

Hell, the more I think about it, the more you can just compare the Ensemble as a whole to the Outskirts Lab crew, down to Angelica’s puppet body and Carmen’s desecrated corpse.

“And I know pretty well that we have no right to devilishly pick apart each other’s way of art. I’m not very proud of mine, really...”

Netzach just.. gets it. I can’t remember atm, but I don’t think the other Patron Librarians really draw parallels like that. I’m seeing all the parallels now and I can’t unsee them ever. Bro.

His “art,” his way of protecting the light, is still violent. But he sees that perhaps it didn’t have to be, or rather shouldn’t be. I fucking love Netzach so much. His arc just means a lot to me personally, and I’d wager a lot of people who’ve struggled with mental illness would agree.

I’m not gonna get into Netzach’s floor realization here because this post is already long enough, but like, look at the specific flashback of Angela shown in Netzach’s story bits and contrast it to his arc of learning to want to live, and. Yeah.

[kamuiboyfriends]

Top 5 Romance Club Love Interests

CONTEXT: The only stories I’ve fully caught with up as of the making of this post and therefore, met the LIs of their stories firsthand are the following:

Sails in the Fog S3E9

Moonborn S2E1

Shadows of Saintfour COMPLETED

Wave Patrol COMPLETED

Seduced by the Rhythm COMPLETED

Chasing You S1E2 (RIP lmao)

Heaven’s Secret COMPLETED

Rage of the Titans S2E8

Gladiator Chronicles S1E7

Heart of Trespia S1E7

The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire S1E2

Thanks to @somin-yin for the tagging for this! Now with my limited experience, lemme see if I can craft a top 5😂

(I blame Gladiator Chronicles for having currently little to no confirmation on LIs so if a “Love Interest” from that book happens to show up, I’m just assuming they’re a LI.)

Disclaimer: This list was kinda spontaneously made and on the spot so… yeah. Also I don’t have pictures so they were picked of off the wiki so quality of photos will be meh.

LIST BELOW THE CUT (It gets wordy. Sorry about that😅

Tagging: … I once again don’t know who to tag because everyone seemed to have done this by now. So I guess if you see this and haven’t already been tagged… feel free to make your own top 5!

5. CHARLES (SBTR)

I just like the little backstory of MC and Charles. The whole close bond together in their teens but they get separated due to unfortunate events, then reunites in the future? I kinda like that. Also, he’s hot and sweet which is quite a combo! Then why is he low on the list? Simply put, other stories attracted me more to them and their respective LIs.

4. SAMUEL MAKOTO (CY)

Despite being unfortunately in a story I only have two chapters of experience, I really enjoyed some of the screenshots I saw! (which were mostly about him and Alex being sus but enough about that.) That plus the small time I get to see him in HS. He was one of the few LIs I saw when I was just a newbie to this app and I was just drawn to him, let that speak for itself.

3. MURPHY / JASON (ROTT)

Yeah… I’m putting these two in a tie. As someone who is undecided in their LI in this story, combined with Ares making me wanna act up, I’m literally that meme of the guy sweating because he didn’t know what button to press. For Murphy? Do I need to explain? Man is so damn hot and also quite the softie too! For Jason? I honestly don’t know😆 I was just drawn to him from the start and I REALLY want to explore his route, despite its non-existency but I can wait for as long as I can… I think…

Also yeah I’m probably the one Jason stan in this whole app😀 But this lack of screentime makes me second guess myself cause wtf…

2. HOTCH (GC) (I hope…)

The Jan 2022 update only further cemented my want for this man to be confirmed of LI status. In Episode 7, he was kinda giving flirty and confident vibes? I like that! Am I grasping at straws on a character that might not even be an LI? Probably but that doesn’t mean I like him any less. Also he’s a spy… that’s cool!

1. MALBONTE (HS)

Though I’m not alone in this, I can definitely say that this was a landslide for me. If you can draw me to a whole new app and then exceed my expectations on your character and the story you’re in the way Malbonte did, you’re going on top 1 for me. Why do I like him? There’s something about instilling fear on everyone just by existing that I find attractive LMAO. He’s also REALLY beautiful AND the path I was going for in HS was where I had to balance Angel and Demon points, which was conveniently named the “Path of Malbonte”… You can’t tell me that’s not fate.

END OF POST

[kachinnate]

,,,,okay i know i just said i wasn’t going to talk about the deh movie but actually yeah imma talk about it for just a sec bc y’all actually make me legitimately distressed sajkfndsmjkgds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ_A0H1otc i dont have the braincells to do a shot by shot analysis right now but here’s what we’re lookin at

under a readmore because ghhhhhhh

firstly, let me lead with this: yes, from what we know, there’s a lot of things wrong with this movie. 

the worst, in my humble opinion, being the bts treatment of the (very few) actors of color, and the lack altogether of any production team members of color. that’s something that should be acknowledged, talked about, and fucking dug into especially at the current fucking period of time we’re living in. it’s unsurprising, but disgusting nonetheless, and it set this movie up for failure from the very beginning. i’m a white person so by no means so i feel inclined or like i have any authority in saying what one should feel wrt all of that, however i will say if there’s to be a boycott in not watching this movie, that should 100% be the reason why. it’s fully poc’s choice whether or not to forgive the production team or give this movie a chance for the irredeemable shit it did in regards to handling the movie’s production. the movie imo definitely doesn’t deserve their forgiveness, but again, that is not for me to say. 

there’s some little things too that i can’t fully think of off the top of my head - like, the whole making larry connor’s stepdad thing fucking irks me, for example, but, like...... listen.

if you know me like at all, you know my favorite word is nuance.

so, i’m going to say it outright: the way you people are approaching this three minute trailer shows literally.... none?? no nuance ??? is it no-nuance november over here or ???? like i’m begging you i’m BEGGING YOU to put aside your pre-determined prejudices against this movie and like stop pretending to be a renowned film critic for ten seconds because it’s really not as outright fucking abysmal as you are saying!! and also it’s possible to have opinions that aren’t completely fucking polarized to one side because guess what, the deh movie? a piece of media! what is the shit y’all are constantly preaching about having the ability to consume media critically ? because you’re trying to cancel a fucking trailer based on the contents of the trailer alone !!!!! hello !!!!!!!!

media is bound to be problematic. if y’all were as quick to judge any movie as you did this one, guess what you wouldn’t be watching any movies like ever <3 

anyway lets get into the parts that are probably going to get me cancelled lmao 

ben platt - listen. LISTEN. listen i know he’s too old to be reprising evan we ALL know he’s too old to be reprising evan i’ve heard this same argument since the announcement was made we get it we all know. haha he’s a grandpa yes bestie ur so right ur so funny wow. i do agree that we should’ve maybe had a not-ben-platt evan moment but here’s some things to keep in mind: the arguments of “oooh ABF is right there !!!!!!” 1. who’s to say he was available? 2. the environment of a movie is so, SO much different than that of a musical -- as much as you wanna pretend you know everything from just a trailer, there’s no way of knowing what scenes were added that might’ve made the movie like.. idk possibly more intense story-wise not even COUNTING the fact that just inherently a movie set is different than a musical one? like yes ben platt might be just being used as a device but that’s probably not the sole and only reason. Also, if i see One (1) more comment about his FUCKING HAIR 😃 first of all it’s not that deep like... if you’re so distracted by an actor having their hair different that’s on you, but going as far as to call it bad or distracting or being like Vehemently a way about it? y’all i know it’s most likely not your intention but that is literally just ben platt’s natural fuckin ETHNICALLY JEWISH hair sajknfgkjds!!!! i’m not the first to make this point, but like dsjnfkjdsg!??! y’all are being so mean about it and for WHAT? again, maybe not intentional, but it reads as like high key Very antisemetic and you should.... maybe not 😳 be that way

connor. the thing about a trailer is that they don’t show you all the scenes because they want you to come see the movie. right? can we agree on that? all the connor scenes in the trailer had SEVERAL hard cuts, omitting a lot of the scene -- like the computer lab scene! we see the beginning of it, there’s a VERY obvious hard cut, and then he’s running out! in my opinion my first watch through of this trailer i had a very like “:// hmm all these actors feel a lil like dry”, but man oh man the comments ive seen about connor. holy shit guys. this boy gets 7 minutes of stage time in the actual musical, and the whole thing is we DON’T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HIM. not to burst your bubble, and i by no means hate connor, i love me some good connor lives fics and stuff, but everything we write with connor being alive? that is !! speculation on our part !!!! those are headcanons and us using the little context we have!! connor doesn’t have any significant development IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL that is being adapted into a movie !!! you 1. can’t fully judge a character with already limited screentime in a 3 minute trailer, 2. can’t really call what connor has canonically in the musical as in depth character development !! what is his arc then !!!! he pushes evan, goes to the computer lab, has an outcast loner kid moment, gets upset, takes the letter, DIES. sorry stans, that’s just how it is !! and, AND, everything in between, all the idiosyncracies, that depends on the actor playing connor! speaking of, you know who the actor is playing connor in the movie? that’s right, colton ryan! so, i don’t know, maybe... have some trust in the process, in an actor who ALREADY has played connor on broadway???? and also trust that you will get more connor content then u are seeing from a 3 minute trailer!! dhgnijsdg and some of the comments on like his appearance specifically? like are you really made that he doesn’t have long hair?? they kept his nails and his rings but nahhh the hair was apparently a MUST HAVE (even though like.. not all connor actors on broadway always had/have long hair but w/e).. REGARDLESS. tldr on THAT , the movie would have to do a pretty shitty job if they want to take something from someone who doesn’t have much to begin with and i think y’all are being extremely harsh on this point 

jared. honestly i’m a bit worried too about the like... name change, because it does have the potential to be taking out some representation, but... they did change the name to fit the actor’s ethnicity? it’s a really [hmm] topic because, again, from a trailer and from what we have been told we don’t KNOW a lot of the context, but i think it’s important to remember that uh.. jewish people aren’t just? always white ?? there’s a possibility they changed the last name to fit with the [ethnicity] while keeping him jewish?? ofc there’s the possibility that they Didn’t and ... again hm that’s its own thing altogether but just reiterates the point that you can’t knock a whole movie just based on the trailer. you can’t talk about things you know nothing about. 

alana. same thing as before, you can’t.... completely bash a character based on a 3 minute trailer. there was discussion about how she seemed ‘shy’ when talking to evan, which like.. maybe she is but also that scene was them talking in a library like if u actually take notice of what’s happening in the scene jdskngsd though i do share the general consensus with many others that she won’t get a lot of screen-time but that’s neither here nor there 😔 moving on

scenes and the setting. one of the things i was most like.. tentative about in regards to a switch from a musical to a movie was how they were like... going to do certain scenes? naturally, a lot has to be different when we’re going from a minimal stage set to an entire movie with like.. settings. there are going to be new scenes because a movie lends to have like, physical places that aren’t just [evan’s bedroom] and [murphy kitchen] and [implied school]. so new scenes, new conversations, slightly different pacing.. this is all to be expected right like are y’all geneuinely surprised here or ........

there’s a lot we aren’t seeing yet because this is a TRAILER. again i already mentioned this re: connor but like... again, y’all are making some Claims that just... fucking outlandish. there are so many moments in the trailer that are very obvious Hard Cuts. you don’t have all the information yet. you are angry at a tiny fragment of something that is confusing you because you don’t have all the context. is there a chance that some of this shit is just genuinely Bad? yeah but you really cannot 100000% say it with your chest and gauge it without seeing the movie and understanding what that scene is in context. lowkey uhhh saw some jokes about the zoe scene in the car and :’))) ? jesus? christ????

concluding thoughts because my brain hurts but like. you don’t have to like the movie. you don’t have to WATCH the movie. like all media if you choose to consume the movie you should do so with some CRITICAL THOUGHT. but, just like the novel (and i do not want to have any discussions about that i don’t care if you think it’s good Or bad that’s not what this is about) you guys are going in this WANTING to believe it’s bad and completely polarizing your thoughts on what this is going to be. yeah, maybe there shouldn’t be a movie. i genuinely think we could’ve gone without. but it’s just a piece of media, it’s not a progression like all your (musical is good, novel is bad, MOVIE IS WORSE OH NO) posts are suggesting. they are all just. different pieces of media stemming from a source. at the end of the day it’s just a fucking movie. if you already hate it so much, guess what? you don’t have to watch it! you don’t have to put so much needless fucking hate into a 3 MINUTE TRAILER. you can stop being performative and dissing it for its poor treatment of POC while then going on to make fun of ben platt’s hair and just targeting a different group like! please !!!

i’m not trying to be a fuckin’ advocate for this movie because there’s so much opportunity for it to suck, i do Not have high hopes for it, and i’m not even really sure i want to watch it (i bought the novel when it came out and have yet to read it, and i’m sure the movie will like.. elicit very similar vibes from me lsdngjkdsg like im just not uhhh feeling it) but y’know what? watching the trailer did not bring forth the fucking onslaught of hatred in me that apparently has fuckin posessed all of y’all and like djnsgjksdg plagued my dashboard for this whole evening. don’t come into my inbox trying to like.. argue with me about this (preemptively im turning off anon because i like i Can’t lmao) this is just like... a rant i needed to get out of me real quick. 

SO. tldr for now: have critical thought about shit you consume, there’s no ethical consumption under [the film industry], you can’t judge a movie entirely on its trailer, and y’all need to calm the fuck down 

[mieczyhale]

.

gonna be completely honest: “character walks by a doorway and overhears other character say Bad Thing completely out of context, then walks away before they hear that the rest of the thing wasn’t actually bad” or plots along those lines, the misunderstanding that leads to hurt that leads to comfort, gotta be one of my favorite things in fiction. 

a character (especially the kind who is insecure / has trust / abandonment issues) getting hurt emotionally by something they heard or saw, double when it involves someone they love/trust that they thought loved/trusted them in return?? reading about their pain?? and then the person they overheard not knowing whats happened and being worried about the person because they’re acting different or avoiding them or whatever?? actions??? situations?? emotions?? everything involved with the concept - all the possibilities - that then end with the resolution / misunderstanding being fixed and the comfort and love and reassurance-

it’s good shit

the hurt/comfort of it all. the drama of it all. the hurt/comfort of it all. 

idc if people think its a “lazy” trope (which btw what the fuck is a lazy trope?? shut the fuck up lmao) or that “miscommunication plots are dumb / make me mad” okay well that’s entirely a /you/ problem, its got nothing to do with anyone else, so maybe control the content you take in and leave writers alone you can enjoy your healthy, communication filled, conflict-less* story (”but there are other conflict options!” DONT CARE. “lack of communication isnt a good conflict” TO YOU. it isn’t a good conflict to you) but i wont. TO ME that sounds dull. “they just need to talk” yes but they wont!! because they’re (probably) human beings!! who are flawed and fucked up and strong but fragile and full of love and miscommunication / misunderstandings / accidentally hurting the people you love are all very real life things!! and i wanna read about it happening to my favorite characters, just as much as i wanna read about them involved in physical pain or end of the world problems.

 *again: i don’t care that there are other conflict options, i KNOW they exist, i read a lot of them. love me a good conflict. but as this post is about a specific KIND, because y’all are shitting on it and hate when people write it, the lack of it is what i meant by ‘conflict-less’ (i feel like i’m not explaining that well AT ALL but whatever. i fucking know what i mean)

(but also like.. y’all really do sound like you hate all unhealthy things when you bitch about this topic. like you want your story to be Pure and Lacking Conflict or whatever. the same vibe as people who bitch about “unhealthy / toxic” ships and the “if you write it you must endorse it” crowd. y’all sound the same)

this is exhausting

irritating too, yes, but also just.... ughh?? not just the bitching about it part, because that’s on me, but reading that kind of stuff. those kinds of takes.

i’ve been in fandom too long for this (which means you’d think i wouldn’t care about opinions anymore, and normally i don’t - not enough to post about them anyway - but i’m in A Mood so *gestures at whole post*)

anyway

note:: if none of this actually makes sense, bc i absolutely kept losing focus while typing, then sorry. but im not trying to make this nice, this is more about me needing to vent and less about you getting my opinion. that’s just a bonus - or a negative. your choice.

[ryuichirou]

Hi, Ryu❤️ Hope u’r doing well❤️

Since u’r talking about ships lately, I’m really curious to hear your opinion about Aru//Ani, its execution, development and progression throughout the whole plot👀, if it’s not a problem and especially if u have the time to. Its shippers claim Isym has been doing a great build up since FT arc (???) and that, despite the lack of development onscreen, the dynamic makes sense (???) cause they “complete” each other and they learnt how to “love and respect” each other throughout the past 4 years (???!!!).

And... I don’t know, Ryu: I really tried to consider their pov, even reread the A/A interactions and look at the dynamic with shipping goggles on, but I really failed to see and understand what they claim. Actually, I keep seeing this dynamic as insulting not just for Armin and Annie’s characters in first place, but also for Eren, Mikasa, Hitch and Berthold. Moreover, it seems nothing but an addiction made out for fanservice, cause it serves absolutely nothing to the plot: if u cut their interactions post 131ch, the story wouldn’t change in the least. Also, their interactions weren’t even that romantic and weren’t focused at all about their supposed “crush” for each other. I personally believe Armin is using Annie as coping mechanism and/or just a mean to substitute Eren; whereas Annie is substituting Armin with her father, cause she feels adrift and desperate, and seeks for someone who cherishes her and appreciates her for the person she is no matter the harsh things she did in the past (I’m crying for Hitch in the mid time....). Other than that, I’m believing also in Berthold’s influence on Armin, cause it’s the only explanation for the sudden interest of boy towards girl, that happen to begin exactly after he ate Berthold: it can’t be just a coincidence imo.

So yeah, at the end of the day, I’m pretty sad cause I used to love both the characters and now I’m much conflicted atm, cause I see nothing but a huge derailment for both and a waste for Annie’s one, who’s developing literally over a love interest... And it’s a very huge pity to me.

Sorry for the big ask, lol... I have this weight on my chest and I confess it’s actually ruining my love for SnK: I feel like everything after 131ch started sucking pretty hard... Plus, the fandom became more toxic than ever😔😔😔

I was waiting for someone to ask me about them eventually, and honestly... Anon, you're such a big mood lol

You’ve guessed correctly: I don’t like AruAni. Not because we personally don’t ship it, but because it doesn’t make sense and (for now) it’s unclear what it the purpose of this storyline and if there’s even going to be a purpose. I don’t recommend anyone shipping them reading my reply.

Basically, Anon, you’ve described everything perfectly, so I’m just going to agree with all your points. I also don’t see a reason for Armin to have this type of love for Annie. I see a coping mechanism, I see something to escape to from the Eren problem, I can even see a self-punishment of sorts, but I don’t see that sweet crush we’re led to believe is there. See, Armin didn’t even know Annie that well. They talked like twice, and then the Female Titan thing happened, and then… he was talking to her for years, but he still never learnt anything about her. How can he love her if he doesn’t even know who the fuck Annie is? And yeah, it’s convenient Bertold timing, I wonder if it’s going to come up later.

We feel like it’s unfair to other characters. It’s also extremely unfair to Hitch that’s also been here for Annie for all those years but didn’t get the special treatment for some reason. Like... their reasoning would be pretty much the same, they could’ve made Hitch her love interest for all the same reasons.

It’s unfair to Annie herself, because, based on what we know about her, she’s drawn to stubborn idiots going against the flow. Because she herself could never do that. This is the point of her character: she could never stand against what people asked her to do, even when she knew it was useless or wrong. This is why Eren intrigues her, this is why Marlo intrigues her.

Of course I’m biased here, and don’t get me wrong: I don’t see EreAnnie becoming a canon thing either lol and I talked about how I don’t care about ships being canon in general a bunch of times already. I’m saying this as an example of a dynamic that actually... works for her type of character. But all the development Annie’s got was kickstarted by Eren being interested in her fighting style and being the first person who legitimately interested her on this island (and who was interested in her too to some extent, at least interested in something she was proud of and deeply loved). She also deeply appreciated it, they had funny dialogues together, and he was the first and only person she had flirted with, which is a huge step for a character as shy, distant and serious as Annie. Seeing her now blushing for Armin looks like a joke when you keep these things in mind. You can listen to his stories all you want, but it’s strictly one-sided. And, like I said, Hitch can also have the same chances with this type of logic. Their pie-eating scene has more chemistry than all AruAni moments.

The “good person/bad person” dialogue with Armin doesn’t feel like a development to me because they were just mirroring each other’s thoughts, so it’s like talking to yourself…

Ok, that was a little bit off topic lol. But yeah, this is why for now we think that either there will be a twist of sorts (i’ll take killing Armin as a twist) or the editor just made Isayama push this narrative, since Isayama doesn’t strike me as a type who likes romance that much or ships his own characters, plus he used romance for proving the cruel world motif so many times already. Or this is just exactly what it is, a last minute het romance, and we’ll end up sitting there like bitter losers being all upset, Anon haha

The fandom’s always going toxic and pretty feral as soon as het couples pop up, and in general huge fanbases mean nothing good unless you want that sweet clout to make money or get attention, so the only thing I can advice you is to distance yourself from them so that it won’t ruin your SnK experience even more. I don’t know you or your feelings, but I think you’re just upset about AruAni thing, this is why the manga sucks to you right now (well, you basically said it yourself, if I got you correctly). And that’s fine and we’re annoyed by this thing a lot too, so we can definitely understand this sentiment. Personally, we pretend like this bs romance never happened so it won’t ruin our experience, and we’ll see what to think about it when SnK is over. Like, what if it’s just a plot device and we get ourselves worried about nothing? I wanna believe that... :”)

And can I just… use this chance to say how frustrated I am that the majority of Annie content there is is either AruAni or BerAni (or the trio)? It’s like she isn’t important when she’s not in the context of those relationships… It upsets me a lot.

Let me just say this… Reiner had more development with Annie than Armin and Bertolt combined. There, I said it. And Reiner’s fucking gay.

Overall, we’ll see how everything plays out, and then you can come again to us and we’ll bitch together lol

[twoidiotwriters1]

Déjà Vu (Or are we losing our minds?) VI -Modern!Shirbert

Words: 2,292

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Six: Kindred Spirits.

Anne to ‘Golden Trio’: I know you were looking forward to our party this weekend but I just got my period and I’m DYING so… rain check?

Cole: Bitch—

Diana: Oh, no! :( I hate when that happens, but it’s okay, we can wait!

Cole: I just want you to appreciate my friendship right now cause I’m on the verge of throwing myself over a cliff but fine, I have no uterus, no opinion. I’ll have to stand these beasts a while longer

Diana: Those are your nieces, nephews and siblings you’re talking about, Cole…

Cole: And I love them but doesn’t mean they don’t suck

Anne: I love you so much Cole, I promise next week it’s on!

Anne dropped her phone on her nightstand, then it buzzed once more, she groaned but picked it up anyway, Josie's name on the screen.

Josie: Ruby’s having a crisis. Waiter guy won’t answer his phone and now she’s on the verge of shaving her head.

Anne: goddamit I just got my period, I’m still on my pj’s!

Josie: We can go to your place? I really don’t want to deal with Ruby on my own...

Anne bit her lip, she had the tendency to lack patience during her periods, but the girls needed her, so she couldn’t say no.

Anne to ‘Golden Trio’: If you guys feel like witnessing some drama Josie’s heading to my place with a "Pink Crisis."

Cole: Fuck, did that waiter broke things off with Ruby already?

Anne: Apparently he’s not answering her texts and Ruby’s about to go crazy.

Cole: I’m in. Anything as long as I can leave the house.

Diana: Sorry, I was talking with Minnie May

Diana: btw I’m in too, let me see if I can take the car and I’ll pick you up @Cole

Cole: Cool, text me when you’re coming.

Anne dropped her phone again, this time on her pillow, and got up to let tell Marilla and Matthew that the girls plus Cole were coming. 

A strange thought came to her as she got up from bed. She felt like there was something missing, something was out of place, or unfinished. Was she supposed to text someone? Had she missed an appointment?

‘A doctor's appointment,’ said a voice at the back of her head.

Anne snorted at the absurdity of that, she knew there was no doctor's appointment scheduled, what the hell was wrong with her? Maybe it was just the hormones...

___________________

Bash was still not over the fact that Gilbert had had a “wet dream” about Moody’s girl and kept teasing whenever he could. It wasn’t Ruby though, Gilbert knew that, somehow.

He was sure that the girl in his dreams had red hair and grey eyes. Or blue, he couldn’t remember well. Either way, as the afternoon went away he started to forget. Sure enough, it’d been nice, he woke up feeling some sort of strange joy for the rest of his shift until it was time to close the diner, then his mind drifted to the dishes he needed to clean and the bills they had to pay.

While Mary was upstairs putting Delly to bed Bash sat next to him on the living room, making sure to mess up the comfortable position Gilbert was in by putting his legs on the boy's lap and laying on the whole lenght of the couch.

“Sometimes I feel like you’re the real twenty-year-old in this house and I’m the parent,” Gilbert rolled his eyes, pushing Bash’s legs away.

“That’s cause you’re always grumpy. You know why you always grumpy, Blythe?” Bash smirked.

“I don’t want to know.”

“It’s because you need to get laid.”

“There we go…”

“Why can’t you be a normal young adult and get one of those apps to hook up?”

“Because everytime I try it, all I think about is how I could end up murdered or sick- Do you want me to die of syphilis, Bash? Is that what you want?”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I’m not that desperate for sex, anyway.”

“I don’t wanna know the context of that sentence at all,” Mary walked in holding a basket full of Delly’s clothes. “But since you have all this free time to talk about your sex life, why don’t you help me with the girl’s stuff and fold them while I make myself a cup of tea?”

“Sure,” Gilbert agreed, happy to change the subject.

___________________

“Am I asking too much? Does god hate me?”

The group groaned in exasperation at Ruby’s inquires.

“I think you should finish your tea and breathe,” Diana said patiently.

“What she needs is to get her shit together and understand that it’s the twenty-first century. No man is going to propose to you after a drunk make-out session, Ruby!” Josie rolled her eyes.

“I know that!” Ruby said defensively. “But he’d been so nice even before that... I thought he liked me!”

“Maybe he does,” Anne said. “You have to remember that it’s Christmas, maybe he’s shopping? Maybe his phone got busted? I don’t know, give him the benefit of the doubt!”

“You know what my advice is,” Cole said simply.

“Yes,” Diana and Anne said at the same time.

“I’m gonna say it anyway. Dump the idiot and live your best life. Why are you trying to have a serious relationship when half of the boys in college are desperately trying to get in your pants?”

“Are you trying to get her pregnant or with syphilis? Because that’s how you do it, that's how you get syphilis,” Anne said crossed her arms. “She doesn’t have to sleep around to be happy! She just needs to be logical!”

“Okay, Dr. Heart, what do you recommend?” Josie huffed.

Anne whined and curled up under the covers. Ruby and Josie were sitting at the edge of her bed while Diana and Cole laid casually on the floor, their heads against the pillows Anne had given them so they weren’t completely flat on the ground.

“I don’t know, I’ve never dated a guy for more than a month.”

“Ew, Roy,” Cole said instantly.

“But maybe… I don’t know, do you have his intagram or something?”

“I do,” Ruby sniffed. “I haven’t checked it cause I didn’t want to look desperate and you know how I always accidentally like old pictures…”

“Facebook?”

“No...”

“If you have his instagram, you have his facebook,” Cole said.

“How come?”

“Give me your phone,” His hand lifted from the ground, Ruby gave it to him.

“Okay, so we decided to go full stalker then,” Josie said bluntly.

“It’s either this or…” Anne stopped herself before saying ‘or hearing Ruby mop for another three hours’ but managed to hold her tongue just in time.

“This is for the best,” Diana replied almost as if talking of a medical procedure.

“Can someone go to the bathroom and fetch me the painkillers?” Anne groaned.

“I’ll go, see if I can drown myself in the toilet,” Josie mumbled. “I can’t believe you guys are my best friends…”

Anne laughed at that. Truth be told, Josie and her weren’t exactly close during their youth, Josie even sort of made her life a living hell for a whole year during Junior high, then some random dude tried to take advantage of her during a school dance and Anne stood up for her in front of the whole school. Josie spent the rest of her highschool years making up for her bad actions by defending Anne from any nasty comments anyone would throw her way.

She kept this up even during college, and Anne would’ve gladly told her it wasn’t necessary if it wasn’t because Josie seemed to get more insulted whenever Anne tried to point it out than if she was actually insulting her.

“You know what I’d love to have right now?” Anne yawned.

“A nap?”

“I’d love to have one of those god awful pancakes they used to make in our highschool’s cafeteria. God, they were awful, but for some reason I’m craving those fucking pancakes...”

“You ever crave flowers?” Diana asked absentmindedly.

“What?” Anne laughed. “What do you mean?”

“Like, you walk past a flower shop and you see a gorgeous bouquet, and then some random day you’re like, ‘Man, I wish I had the bouquet, it’d look amazing on my coffee table'”

“I… no– wow, I think it’s the first time you've beat me, Diana. That was the weirdest thing I’ve heard in a while.”

“Oh please, you love flowers, you must have felt that way at some point!”

“No, I swear,” Anne sat up. “I mean, maybe because if I see pretty flowers I just buy them, never been one to say no to buying flowers.”

“That’s the reason why our flat always stinks like gardenia, or roses, or lilies…” Cole adds distractedly.

“You know,” Ruby said, a bit calmer than before. “No boy has ever given me a bouquet.”

“That makes two of us,” Anne patted her knee.

“Three,” said Cole.

___________________

“So, Moody got mugged as soon as he left the bus station yesterday,” Gilbert sighed.

“Oh god, is he alright?” Winnie asked through the phone.

Winifred was back in town for the holidays, and she had many stories to tell about Paris and the girls she’d met there. She was one of Gilbert’s best friends from highschool, if not the only he still had from that time apart from Moody.

They were planning to have lunch the next day, but she’d called him to let him know she was home now, safe and sound, and they were chatting the night away.

“Yeah, a black eye and no phone or wallet, but fine,” Gilbert chuckled. “What’s worse is that he’s not even mad about that, he's upset that he won’t be able to text his girl...”

“What?!” She gasped. “I didn’t know Moody had a girlfriend!”

“He doesn’t,” The boy squinted. “Well, I think they saw each other the other night at the bar and they kissed, but I’m not so sure.”

“Right, because you were utterly shit-faced.”

“Yup.”

He heard her laugh.

“I miss you two so much! Honestly, sometimes I feel like french guys lack sense of humor.”

“Oh, but I bet the girls were quite amusing, considering you oficially dated at least two of them throughout the semester,” He teased.

“Didn’t say I wasn’t having fun,” Winnie replied, he could pictured her smirking. “Looks like the only one who’s got no game is Canada’s Golden Boy! What’s the matter, Gilbert? No girl is worthy of your charms? Are you waiting until marriage?”

“Not quite,” He grinned. “I’ve been busy studying, that’s all.”

“I worry about you, don’t want to see you in ten years all grey and grumpy.”

“That's awfully rude, Bash is not grey and he’s ten years older than us!”

“Yeah but I’ve heard that if you don’t have sex you die faster.”

“That’s the biggest slander I’ve ever heard. Don’t try to scare the future Doctor with fake news!”

“Well, future Doctor, I just want to make sure you don’t end up as the spinster of our group. Not that is bad, if you want to be alone that’s cool, but please don’t be a bitter one, you know, like those old librarians?”

“So what should I be then, the old spinster that invites you to have tea every sunday?”

“Yeah, you could even own a coffee shop- oh wait, you do!”

“Rude,” Gilbert frowned, but he was still smiling. “The Orchard is not a coffee shop, just so you know.“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Winnie chuckled. “See you tomorrow?”

“Totally.”

“Got it!”

___________________

The girls straightened up at Cole’s announcement, all of them excited.

“And?” Diana urged him.

“Good news or bad news?”

“Bad news,” Cole looked up. “He posted this five hours ago…”

He handed the phone to Diana, then she gave it to Anne, there she read the most recent post on his page:

‘Someone stole my phone and wallet, please block the number in the meantime. If you need me you can send a private message here.’

“Could’ve been worse,” Anne gave the phone back to Ruby so she could read what it said.

Ruby sighed heavily.

“He doesn’t hate me.”

“Of course not, you’re a ray of freaking sunshine,” Josie retorted.

“I still think this is god giving you the opportunity to reconsider,” Cole replied. “Don’t commit, Ruby, you’re too young to get married–”

“She won’t get married!” Diana slapped his arm, then hesitated. “Well, at least not anytime soon... right, Ruby?”

“It’s late, children,” Marilla peeked through the door. “You can have dinner here if you want, we have room for all of you, but if you don’t then I suggest you to say your goodbyes now...”

“Thank you Marilla,” Anne smiled. “They’ll be on their way.”

“You can stay the night if you want as well,” Marilla added. “Matthew and I missed the fuss you kids make around the house whenever Anne invites you.”

“That’s so kind, thank you,” Ruby beamed.

Marilla left and Anne turned to look at the group.

“So any of you want to stay?”

“You know I do,” Cole smirked.

“Same,” Josie admitted. “My mom's being a pain right now: ‘Are you dating someone, love?’ ‘Will you ever give me grandchildren?’”

“I’d like to stay too,” Ruby said, deep in thought. “I know he’s not avoiding me, but I really don’t want to sleep alone tonight…”

“You have two younger sisters, Ruby.”

“It’s not the same!”

“See?” Cole said. “Ruby gets it!”

“I’ll have to pass,” Diana sighed. “My dad needs the car tomorrow morning, last minute shopping.”

“We still have next week,” Anne assured her with a small smile.

Taglist.

@ninizkd @http-itsrebecca @fuckthisshitimoutyall @just-here-to-escape-from-reality​​ @little-boats-on-a-lake

[weevil-wallflower]

Robotnik: Into the multiverse (part 1/?)

Word count: 12,395

A/N: a little-big story that was the result of a little roleplay me and my friends did. For some context btw, I’m going to mention who played which characters:

My characters: Zinnia Frost, Theodore Collins, Tweety & Dr Ivo Robotnik (aka Robotnik #2, who’s from another universe). @jimbotnik: Emil Sobel, Agent Stone, Dozy & Dr Robotnik (aka Robotnik #1, who’s from this universe). @blood-on-my-paws: Zonic the Zone Cop, an alternate version of Sonic. @stuffedfoxwiththewifipassword: John Constantine and Liam Constantine.

Have fun reading this convoluted mess of a story uwu. And yes, it loosely follows the movie-verse.

After Robotnik successfully made it into this universe, it took him barely an hour to locate Zinnia and his other self, along with a few unpleasant individuals. Instead of contacting them outright however, he first set up a base deep in the woods up in mountains a few miles from Zinnia’s house.

The mess that he’ll later find himself into, started with a series of text messages:

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter So Zinnia is your assistant. It seems I’ve crossed into another universe. A minor setback but it can be easily corrected.

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Precisely! You just toddle back into your universe before you ruin everything for me.

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Everyone How the FUCK did two Robotniks end up in the same universe?!

Dr Frost To: Everyone I’m sorry, what? OwO And who are you?!

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Everyone I’m a zone cop, and I have to get these guys back to their worlds...

Dr Robotnik To: Everyone Nice, TWO hedgehogs...

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Everyone I don’t get paid enough for this

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter Wait, you have your assistant but I don’t?! That’s unacceptable! I’m taking yours! She’s mine now!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Just go ahead and try. Your head will be on a pike in my personal surveillance room if you go anywhere near her. She's MINE.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter I always like a good challenge.

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Have you ever tracked another man on foot through the moonlit forest, each breath burning your lungs, adrenaline racing as you close in? Have you ever been transfixed by the light of pure, primal terror in your victim's eyes? By the hitch of their breath as the knife goes in, the one shortly followed by a scream louder than they've ever produced? Have you ever truly relished the way that their cries for mercy and their begging give way to bestial vocalizations of fatal agony?

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot I look forward to meeting you.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter That’s quite a reply. I think you should relax. You don’t need to prove anything. We both know that I am the better one of the two of us.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 So, there’s two of you now? OwO So different dimensions do exist! I’ve always been fascinated by this.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia Yes, unfortunately there is two of me. Although, you don’t exist in my universe anymore... But that can be easily rectified!

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 How exactly? OwO

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia You’ll come with me back to my universe, of course!

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 Ummm, no. Thank you for asking though.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia That wasn’t a question

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Robotnik #02 and Zinnia Do not steal people from their universes!

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Robotnik #02 If you don’t stop I’m going to arrest you

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Hedgehog cop Oh great. Another hedgehog. Just what I needed. It seems you can’t leave me alone even in another dimension! But don’t worry, I’ll deal with you later.

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Robotnik #02 I’m trying to protect the dimensions, that’s why!

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Hedgehog cop Not for long.

Zonic the Zone Cop To: Robotnik #02 I’m... I’m not gonna argue with you. But if you don’t go back to your world, I’ll take you back there

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Hedgehog cop You’re more than welcome to try.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 The other you wants to take me back to his universe. But I don’t wanna go QwQ

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia I can see that. This sad imitation of me doesn't seem to realize that I can read his messages... It looks like he takes a lot of things for granted, actually. I'm on my way to your home, and I'm sending a fleet of drones and ground cover ahead of me. Hide someplace secure, and use your boyfriend as a distraction.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 If Teddy found out there’s more of you, he’s going to have a breakdown. He already doesn’t like you 😞

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia TO HELL WITH HIM, THEN! I WON'T LET MY DOPPELGANGER STEAL YOU!!!!!!!!!

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 I don’t want to get stolen either QwQ

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot You're outclassed, you lack passion, and you're not exactly playing in your home court, either. You're unworthy of my violent tendencies.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter Bold of you to assume I’m not always prepared.

John To: Zinna Oi, just saw Robotnik at the cafe and he didn't yell "GO BACK TO BRITIAN, LIMEY TWINK" is he alright?

Dr Frost To: John Yeah, that must be the Robotnik from another universe.

John To: Zinna ...May I have his phone number?

John To: Other Robotnik I'm John Constantine. I heard you're another Robotnik, eh?

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Constantine That’s classified.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter So I see you have your assistant’s house surrounded by drones. What makes her so special that you’re willing to go out of your way to defend her, I wonder.

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Come try to find out. Oh, and don't mind the whiny, poorly dressed British man. He hates fun.

Agent Stone To: Dr Robotnik Doctor! I just spotted the blue hedgehog in the compound! He was wearing an ugly helmet. I'm not sure what that's all about...

Dr Robotnik To: Agent Stone Did you catch him? Is THAT why you're bothering me?! I'M VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW!!!

Agent Stone To: Dr Robotnik Sorry, Doctor. 😔

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 Uhhh, I saw you outside my house just now. Or was it the other you? OwO

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia I'll prove it's me! Now open up! [sends a picture of his ungloved hand, showing the fucked-up finger that Tweety gave him]

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 Oh okay, it really is you. Can’t be too sure now that there’s another one of you.

“Okay, so my agents and my machines are staked out in all of the houses in your immediate area, and all of the entryways into the subdivision are being watched. No one is coming anywhere near you without my knowledge!” Robotnik now stood in Zinnia’s living room after he proved to her that he was their Robotnik by showing her his scarred finger that her parrot gave him. Agent Stone was there as well, standing to the side, waiting for the doctor to give him further orders. 

Emil glared at him, standing at a safe distance so he won’t end up doing something he’ll regret. “The only reason I haven't kicked your ass by now is because Zinnia hates violence. You're on thin ice, Ivo!” His growl turned into a shout when the scientist picked up Dozy. “PUT MY CAT DOWN!!”

“No. He likes me. See?” He held the cat closer as if to prove his point.

Zinnia on the other hand, looked on in mild confusion before speaking up. “Okay...does this mean I won’t be going to work? Can I go anywhere at all...?”

Robotnik’s response was quick and firm. “Unless you're accompanied by me, you're not allowed to leave the house. It's for your own good!”

A feeling other than confusion washed over her. Was it worry? Fear? It was difficult to tell. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine here on my own. There’s all your agents and drones watching.”

"Zinnia, this is for your own good! Don't you want to stay in this universe with your stupid boyfriend? The other Robotnik is inferior to me, but that doesn't mean he's completely stupid...” He trailed off, while still cuddling Dozy. Said cat didn’t care what was going on. As long as he was given affection, he was content.

“Of course I want to stay here! I don’t wanna lose Teddy and my friends. And for what it’s worth, I don’t wanna lose you...” There was anxiety in her quiet voice now that she finally registered the gravity of the situation at hand.

Hearing her say that, Robotnik was overcome with a feeling he didn’t really understood. But it wasn’t a bad feeling. Quite the opposite actually. It was pleasant enough to make him put the cat down, go over to where Zinnia stood, hesitate a bit before enveloping her in a hug in spite of Emil glaring at him.

The young woman didn’t hesitate though. She instantly wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him back. She needed all the comfort she could get. “I don’t understand why he’s so interested in me...” she whispered in despair.

“AHA! FOUND YOU!” What appeared to be a blue, mobian hedgehog, suddenly appeared in Zinnia’s living room, all his attention focused on Robotnik. The hedgehog was wearing some sort of red helmet and armour. It was Zonic the Zone Cop; an inter-dimensional counterpart of Sonic.

The scientist instantly pulled out his pistol. “Ohh you sure did!” He shoved Zinnia behind him and opened fire.

“Oh my God!” The young woman gasped and quickly moved away to stand next to Emil.

“MY CHILDREN! ATTACK THAT MOBIAN!!” Apparently, a pistol wasn’t enough because with a command using his gloves, Robotnik summoned all his drones that were guarding Zinnia’s suburb, into her home in order to catch the hedgehog.

Emil on the other hand, didn’t look amused one bit. “Do you really have to call them your children?”

“What the hell is going on?!” Theodore, Zinnia’s boyfriend, stood in the open doorway, observing at the chaos. His face twisted in anger and disbelief. He never expected to see his girlfriend’s employer in her home, along with his drones, trying to capture what looked like a blue, humanoid hedgehog. ‘I just wanted a relaxing evening with Zinnia...’ 

Zinnia did not waste a single second and ran into her boyfriend’s arms, clinging to him tightly. “I don’t know!” Her voice shook with distress as he wrapped his arms around her and caressed her back to sooth her. Before he could say anything else, Emil yelled out.

“WE NEED TO GO, NOW!!” He scooped up Dozy while frantically looking around for Tweety. “Where's the bird?!” He’d decided that they must leave for their own good lest they were caught in the crossfire.

Zinnia pulled away from her boyfriend and called out to the bird. “Tweety, over here!” Seconds later, the bird flew over from wherever he happened to be perched at that moment and gracefully landed on her shoulder. And with that, her, Theodore, Emil, Dozy and Tweety were all out of the still open front door.

But before they could go farther than the walkway, a car pulled in front of her house. And inside, was Robotnik. “Your saviour is here! Get in if you want to escape.” He called out to them, a bit too enthusiastically, through the lowered side window.

“What the fuck?!” Emil exclaimed. He couldn’t believe his eyes as. There was another Robotnik!?

“Oh no! It’s him...” Zinnia whispered in fright and clung to Theodore’s arm, pressing her body as close to his as possible. She did not like the way he was looking at her, his intense dark eyes boring into her. If she’s learned anything from their Robotnik, is that he’s unpredictable. His inter-dimensional counterpart may be just as unpredictable as him, if not more. Not to mention, she knows the Robotnik of this universe. The new one however, she knew nothing about.

Theodore was just as shocked as Emil, if not more. “Zinnia what...why are there two of them??” He questioned incredulously. Judging by her reaction, it seemed she knew who he was. But who, exactly? ‘Did that crazy employer of hers clone himself or something?’

“That’s a long story...” She murmured a reply back, never taking her eyes off the other Robotnik. The man who threatened- no, promised to take her away just hours prior. And unfortunately for them, their Robotnik had dedicated all his firepower into catching Zonic, effectively leaving them helpless. Something which the inter-dimensional Robotnik had decided to use to his full advantage.

Even Zinnia’s parrot, Tweety, looked surprised upon seeing the same man that was still in the house. ‘Unless he can teleport...’ His crest was raised in attention as he observed the scientist. No...It was not the same person. He looked identical but the bird could sense that he was different.

Back inside the house, Stone had unholstered his handgun and was firing shot after shot at the hedgehog. One of those shots successfully hit his intended target, causing Zonic to be shot on his side and fall back with a pained grunt

He stood back up, not expecting the aggressive attack in the first place. “Good Chaos, I was just going to give you a warning!” Unfortunately, unlike his other self, Zonic did not possess super speed, due to which he tried and failed to dodge the other bullets. “STOP!”

“FINALLY!” Robotnik shouted in triumph. “Agent Stone, you dependable little fool...” He grabbed Zonic by the arm and roughly hauled him to his feet. “Agent Stone! Cuff him and search him for anything that even looks like a weapon.”

“NO.” Zonic shouted in protest, despite the immense pain he was in. “OH MY CHAOS I’M JUST TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR WORLDS” He tried to escape from the house but the front entrance was guarded by the drones. “Where’s my team when I need them?!”

Zinnia shot a worried look back at the chaos occurring in her house then directed her attention at her friend. “Emil, what do we do?”

“You listen to me, of course!” The other Robotnik called out to them, sounding so sure of himself.

“The last thing we need is another Ivo in our lives...” Emil moved to stand between him and Zinnia.

“I’m trying to help you, you idiot!” The doppelganger just barely stopped himself from letting out an impatient snarl. “But by all means, if you want to stay here and get killed in the crossfire, be my guest.”

Emil weighed their options. The certainly did not have to leave with Robotnik. They could leave in his car, which was right there- “They shot up my fucking car...” He clenched his fists in anger. This felt planned. “Whichever one of them did this is dead. Wait... it's... I don't hear anymore gunfire...”

“Do...do we leave with him...?” Zinnia asked, looking from Robotnik to her house and then towards Emil, uncertain of what to do.

“I don't think we should. I don't trust this one any more than the other...Let's just go back in the house for now.” Emil said, turning to face the house, to which Zinnia replied with a small “Okay...”

The Robotnik in the car inwardly cursed, seeing as they were about to go inside, and quickly stepped out of his car and made his way over to them.

Emil was ready for that as he was quick to face him. “Time to see if this one's any stronger than the real Ivo.” He grabbed a roll of quarters from his pocket and clenched his fist around it. “COME ON! LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!”

Robotnik #2 didn’t appear to be threatened one bit. Instead, he looked mildly irritated as he spoke in a deadpan voice. “If I was here to fight, you’d be dead by now.”

“Then why are you here?” Zinnia timidly spoke up despite her apprehension.

His attention switched from Emil to Zinnia. “Oh, I figured you all could use a little help to escape from my other, more volatile self.” He shrugged “innocently” and grinned down at her. It was meant to be disarming but to her it felt anything but that, causing her to unconsciously squish herself even closer to Theodore if that was even possible. His hands on her waist automatically drew her close, molding her body against his.

Robotnik stood in front of them, mesmerised by Zinnia, seeing her in the flesh after so long...It really was her. The same brown hair framing her beautiful face. The same fresh olive skin...Even the same voice. And those eyes...the very brown eyes he gazed into as he witnessed the life from them leave...His Zinnia was gone from his life, leaving a void no one could fill...Until he found her here...His fingers itched to reach out to her, brush through her silky hair, caress her soft skin. It had been far too long since he’d last had his hands on her. He comforted himself with the knowledge that he’d never have to wait this long again.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when as he noticed the pale, green-eyed man next to her draw her closer. So, this was the “poorly dressed British man” as his counterpart had put it. Robotnik’s laser focus now set on Theodore, observing him with narrowed eyes. He must be her boyfriend. Jealousy reared its ugly head but at the same time, he was gratified to know that this universe’s Robotnik and Zinnia are not together which meant he won’t have to worry about competing with his other self. After all, it’s not like he would care if his doppelganger took away the woman he does not even love.

“We already know how to deal with him. You, on the other hand? You're not one of us. Why are you even here?” Emil questioned further, pulling Robotnik out of his thoughts, to which he answered in a monotone voice, keeping a straight face, “There was a minor miscalculation in my latest experiment which transported me to this universe.” That was of course, a lie. He was not going to tell them that he had mastered inter-dimensional travel. He’s here for one thing and one thing only. And this is his only chance because Zinnia only exists in this certain universe besides his, out of many others.

“And LET me guess--you're either unable or unwilling to go back.” Emil crossed his arms, only to notice that his cat had wandered off. “WAIT! DOZY, GET BACK HERE!!”

Robotnik #2 took full advantage of that. He quickly snatched up the cat and held a knife to his throat. “That’s it! I don’t have time for this! Now you’ll all come with me! Or the cat dies!!” 

Emil saw red. “You son of a bitch...” He seethed as if he was off his meds. He looked at Zinnia and Theo.

“No, stop!” The young woman was quick to speak up. She could not let Dozy get hurt! He was just an innocent cat. “Don’t hurt him! We’ll come with you...”

“Oh, and the boyfriend stays.” Robotnik nodded his head at Theodore. That was jealousy speaking. He simply could not imagine his Zinnia being with someone else. Especially this someone. He remembered all too well how her boyfriend almost murdered her. Oh, how much he wanted to kill Theodore where he stood. But that would only upset her and make him look worse in her eyes. She already looked scared enough. Hence, it was better if the boyfriend stayed behind. That Emil guy, though? Well, he needed something to use as leverage against her if he ends up killing the cat.

Theodore obviously did not like his demand. “What?! No—” He was quick to protest but Zinnia cut him off. 

“—Theodore please!” She stared up at him pleadingly, silently begging him to do as the other Robotnik said.

Theodore internally seethed, his jaw clenching and his grip on her waist momentarily became tight enough to hurt. ‘Are they seriously going to listen to that madman because of a cat?’ His grip on Zinnia softened when he glanced down at her, genuine distress in her face. ‘Well, at least right now, it’s only the cat he’s threatening.’ He couldn’t care less what happens to the cat but who’s to say he won’t turn on any one of them afterwards?

So, Theodore nodded and, even though it pained him to do so, released his grip on his girlfriend, allowing her to step away. Emil grabbed Zinnia's hand and held it tightly for both her and his comfort. “I'll protect you, Zinny. I got your back.”

“Take care of her.” Theodore looked at him seriously. Emil nodded gravely as a reply.

“So we go then... Don’t worry, Theo. I’ll be okay...” The young woman’s doe eyes looked lovingly into his.

“Okay...I—” He was interrupted by Robotnik’s impatient growl.

“Come on! Enough of the niceties! Let’s move!” He hated the way the couple stared at one another. But even more than that, he hated how frightened Zinnia appeared. He knew his methods weren’t...conventional. Something a little like guilt tugged at his insides and he mentally swatted it away. He’d gone too far, was in too deep to be having regrets. He’d long since accepted that this was the only way.

Emil slowly approached this other Robotnik with Zinnia's hand in his, all the while keeping wary eyes trained on him.

“Get in. Now!” The doctor pressed the knife closer to Dozy to force them to move faster.

“Okay, okay! We’re going!” Zinnia scrambled to get in the car’s back seat, pulling Emil along with her.

“We're following orders. Now give me the cat.” Emil demanded once they were settled in the car.

“Not until we get to our destination. Now shut up!” Robotnik #2 yelled as he hopped in the front and carelessly deposited Dozy in the passenger seat.

Back inside the house, Zonic was cuffed and was barely able to stand upright due to the gunshot wounds he’d sustained, which were still bleeding. But he still put up a brave face. “No one’s going to listen to me, but for the sake of the balance of the multiverse, please go back to your worlds.” Stone did not like the way he spoke, however.

“Don't speak to the doctor. You don't have the privilege.” The agent kicked Zonic back into his knees.

“Excuse you, I’m an elite zone cop.” Zonic still spoke, a little too confidently for someone who was bleeding from several gunshot wounds.

“Should I kill him, doctor?” The agent asked all too eagerly.

“No, he's already been bound and incapacitated. Let's...” Robotnik paused and looked around the living room. “Where's Zinnia?”

“... WAIT DON’T GO WITH HIM! STOP!” Zonic mustered enough strength to  shout when he looked outside the still open front door to see Emil and Zinnia entering the other Robotnik’s car.

Zonic wasn’t the only one who noticed as Robotnik bellowed out, “ZINNIA! This is Emil's doing... Agent Stone! Take the blue rat back to the compound!” He ordered before marching out the front door. The doctor decided he would deal with the hedgehog later. Right now, stopping the inter-dimensional Robotnik was his priority.

The blue hedgehog coughed up blood, the crimson liquid staining his face. “F-fuck, stop! Your universes are in danger! Am I speaking Greek here?!” He choked out.

“I don’t care about the universes!” Outside, Robotnik #2 yelled back to Zonic before he turned his and looked over his shoulder at Zinnia sitting in the back. “I have everything I need now...” His voice had dropped to a low, sensual octave, the tone sending gooseflesh rippling along Zinnia’s arms and caused her to look away.

Agent Stone exited the house as well, dragging Zonic back to his SUV. “Just cooperate, and the doctor might be a little merciful with you...” He trailed off as their Robotnik fired at the other Robotnik, aiming for his head.

“Well don’t say I didn’t warn y- WHAT THE FUCK!?” Zonic let out a surprised shout as he witnessed that.

The bullet, however, missed the other doctor by inches. He cursed and hit the gas, driving off.

“You idiots will destroy your own worlds and timelines!” The hedgehog cop exclaimed. Despite being fatally injured and captured by the enemy, he cared more about the balance of the universe.

“TIME ISN'T LINEAR, YOU MORON!” Robotnik shouted back and sprinted towards his vehicle. He shoved Agent Stone aside and got in the Suburban.

“Excuse me, who is the universe expert in here? I am! I- you know what? Fuck this shit...” Seeing as no one was listening to anything he said, poor Zonic decided to just give up for now.

“Hey!” Theodore ran up to Robotnik before he could drive off. “If you’re done arguing with a blue hedgehog, you’ll notice that Zinnia and Emil have been abducted!”

“GET IN! You and Agent Stone are my gunmen!!! Get the rat into the car so I can follow them!!”

“Fine. Hand me a gun then...”

The two men did as instructed and soon, they're racing after the other Robotnik's vehicle. “AIM FOR THE TIRES!!” Their Robotnik yelled at his ‘gunmen’.

“Yes, thank you for stating the obvious.” Theodore said in a deadpan voice before he took aim through the vehicle’s window and fired the handgun.

At the very back of the Suburban, Zonic sat, mumbles a song, delirious due to blood loss before wondering out loud, “Am I dead yet?”

“Not until the doctor decides to kill you!” Agent Stone answered as a matter of fact while grinning as he opened fire as well. The hedgehog simply hummed in response.

“Damnit!” The other Robotnik swerved the car as the bullets miss by the tyres inches. “He’s not giving up, is he?”

Zinnia didn’t say anything as she got out her phone and proceeded to text her boss aka their Robotnik:

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 I have been kidnapped. In broad daylight. I’m scared QwQ

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia I'm close behind him and I'm not alone. I have a lot in store for that sad, pathetic imitation of me...

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 I’d appreciate it if there’s no bloodshed QwQ

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia Then politely ask him to pull over, and make sure you're buckled in since he'll invariably say no.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 If he’s anything like you, convincing him will be difficult OwO

Dr Robotnik To: Dr Zinnia Just try it anyway before he runs himself into a ravine!!!

Zinnia decided to take her boss’s advice and spoke up, voice a little wobbly. “Stop! You’ll end up hurting all of us!”

Robotnik #2 shouted back, enraged. “And lose you after I just got you?! Never!”

“What??” The young woman mumbled, wide-eyed and stunned to silence. She was both frightened and confused. She didn’t know what exactly he wanted from her. But judging be his behaviour towards her...she was afraid to ask...

Next to her, Emil listened in as he begun praying under his breath in mangled Hebrew, barely being able to keep himself under control.

Back in the Suburban, Robotnik #1 was seething in rage at the other Robotnik’s audacity to abduct Emil and Zinnia. He decided to text his double himself seeing as he probably did not listen to anything Zinnia had to say:

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot You have NO IDEA how badly you've fucked up...

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter Hm, by taking Zinnia? She’s just your assistant. I’m sure you can get another one.

His idiotic imitation thinks that he doesn’t care about Zinnia. But little does he know... “KEEP FIRING!! HE'S TOO STUPID TO KNOW HE'S OUTCLASSED!!!” He bellowed out to Theodore and Stone before texting him again:

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot You might have a better idea than I thought. What's the matter? Did something happen to your Zinnia?

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter I lost her... But now I have a chance to get her back. And I’m not giving up!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Ohhh... You happened to her, didn't you? You killed her!

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter IT WAS NEVER MY INTENTION TO!!! I loved her...

“They’re getting away!” Theodore interrupted his texting spree. A subtle hint of panic could be detected in his voice.

Robotnik floored it, the vehicle speeding up even more. “KEEP SHOOTING! I'll crash into it before I let him take them to his hell-dimension!!”

At the same moment, the other Robotnik took a sharp turn to throw them off. It caused Zinnia to jerk to the side and collide into Emil. “Just stop already! This is crazy...”

That turned out successful. Robotnik #1 barely avoided rolling the car as he swerved “You bastard...” he swore before he continued the messages to try and ‘reason’ with him aka taunt him. He does appear to be getting steadily more and more unhinged. If he can get him to stop...

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Was it your reckless driving that killed her? Your fits of rage? Your utter hatred for the world and everyone within it? Tell me

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter It’s none of your business! And don’t act like you care about her!!!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Did you hit her too hard? Did you shake her until her neck snapped? Were you paranoid? Jealous? You just couldn't stand to let her out of your sight... Death was her only relief from your suffocating grasp, and oh, how dearly you must have made her pay for that bitter end...

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter I... I never hurt her! I could never... IT WAS AN ACCUDENT!!!

The messages almost triggered a very unpleasant memory, causing the inter-dimensional Robotnik to get distressed. He barely managed to stop from colliding into another car.

“Oh my God!” Came Zinnia’s frightened cry from the back of the car. She tightly wrapped her arms around Emil held on to him for dear life.

Their Robotnik was quick to notice as he sped after his counterpart. “He's becoming distraught... Don't give up yet!!” His messages were working...

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot It's never an accident. Not with you, and not with me. You know that, Ivo. Did she have time to beg for mercy? To scream, even?

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter I loved her...

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot No. You thought that you owned her. She was simply yours. You barely understand what it means to love someone! The closest you can manage is unmitigated obsession.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter So you know how I felt. Still feel... I made a mistake, I’ll admit that. But now I have a chance to start over!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Listen to yourself! You think that she's replaceable. The woman that you've taken against her will is just a replacement part to you, isn't she? Any attempt that you make to start over will be forced at best. She'll wish that she could meet the same end as "your" Zinnia. She might even bring about her own end to escape your pathetic, crazed desperation.

The final message was the last straw. It triggered a flashback of his Zinnia dying:

=========== le flashback ===========

In San Francisco, what appeared to be a normal was interrupted by a shocking scene: an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog was running through the city at breathtaking speed while a flying machine called the Eggpod piloted by a moustached scientist dressed gave chase and fired explosive energy blasts at said hedgehog. Despite the Eggpod matching Sonic’s super speed, most of its lasers missed due to the hedgehog’s agility and instead caused immense destruction around the city. The lasers tore apart roads, blew up cars, killed and injured several innocent bystanders. Robotnik was unconcerned about all of that. That is, until one of the energy blasts struck a building a certain someone happened to be standing next to.

Zinnia had followed Robotnik to San Francisco, hoping to stop him from doing something he may come to regret. She had foolishly hoped she could stop him from putting anyone’s life at risk, including his own. But she was a bit too late. The fight, or the high-speed chase, had already begun. And Robotnik...was too far gone in his obsession and madness. He didn’t care about anything else other than capturing the hedgehog. Didn’t care who’s blood he had to spill as long as he successfully captures the hedgehog. The doctor didn’t take anyone into consideration. Not even Zinnia when she tried to knock some sense into him earlier. And that was his biggest mistake.

Zinnia stood next to the building as she looked up towards the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of the red blur that was the Eggpod. By the time she noticed one laser blast coming towards her direction, it was too late. The laser struck the building above her and the impact brought part of the structure directly down on her. The young woman had only enough time to take one retreating step before she was crushed under it. It all happened so fast.

The manic grin on Robotnik’s face was replaced by shock. At once, he stopped chasing Sonic and steered his Eggpod to where Zinnia stood earlier and brought it to a stop near the collapsed building. He hopped out and sprinted closer towards the destruction, trying to find Zinnia. When the dust cleared, he saw her lying on her back, among the wreckage, her lower half crushed under heavy rubble including an enormous metal beam. 

Zinnia whimpered in agony. Her face contorted in a grimace of pain and her breaths coming in little gasps. Her glasses laid off in the distance, the lenses broken. Everything looked blurry as if she was looking through a fogged window. She was trapped, in pain and was unable to see her surroundings well. All those feelings mixed up and panic swelled within her. Near hyperventilating, she tried to draw in deep breaths but instead, tears started spilling from her eyes and a choked sob tore from her throat. It hurt to simply breathe. Every breath she inhaled sent excruciating pain flaring through her entire body.

Her hands shook as she moved them lower and futilely tried to remove the structures pinning her to the ground. But they were too heavy. They didn’t move an inch. The simple movement caused her chest to heave in exertion and more pain flared up in her body.

“Zinnia!” Someone was calling for her. Her head weakly lolled to the side and she saw a red, blurry figure running towards her. Only when he came within three feet of her, she recognised who it was. 

“Oh no, Zinnia! No, no, no...” Robotnik got to work and managed to remove most of the debris but no matter how much he tried, he was unable to move the large metal beam. Not that it would have helped. Her lower half, including her lower spine, was already crushed. She was already losing the feelings in her legs.

“Ivo...I’m so sorry... the baby...” Zinnia weakly mumbled out while Robotnik was frantically removing the debris, immediately catching his attention.

“You’re sorry?!” He asked in disbelief as he kneeled down next to her. “Sugar plum, you don’t have anything to be sorry for!” Even while she was lying there, barely able to breath, all she cared about was the baby. He remembered how joyful she was when she discovered she was pregnant... He had never felt the need for children. But seeing her so happy like that made him happy...

The young woman shook her head in despair. “I-I lost...lost our b-baby!” she sobbed, as her hand unconsciously reached down to her belly but instead landed on the metal beam she was crushed under. She couldn’t even touch her belly. It brought even more tears to her voice.

“No, no! This is not your fault.” Robotnik reached over and held her hand. His larger one completely engulfing hers as he gave a gentle squeeze. “Don’t cry please, save your strength.”

But it was useless. What strength she previously had; it was no more. The pain in her body slowly turned to numbness. Her breathing slowed down. She only had enough strength to weakly whisper out one last sentence. “I-I... I love you...”

“And I love you! I’m so sorry! This is all my fault. I’m—”

—But alas, it was at that moment that Zinnia took her last breath and the light left her dark brown eyes, leaving then to stare vacantly up at the sky.

“—sorry... Please...forgive me.” A choked sob tore from his throat when he noticed she wasn’t breathing. “Zinnia? Zinnia...? Zinnia, please! Don’t-Don’t leave me! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

She was his wife! He was supposed to protect her! But instead, he brought upon her horrifying death. He killed her... And in spite of having all this immense wealth and power in his possession, he could not save the woman he loved. Still loves... He remembered how she cried and pleaded with him to not go after the hedgehog. How she clung to him and begged him to not go down that road. But he just brushed her aside. How could be do that? How could he stare into her tearful eyes and push her away as if she was nothing. He was so consumed by his madness and greed for more, he didn’t realise he already had the greatest gift anyone could ever have: Love. If only he’d listened to her in the first place. This would not have happened. Despite what many people believed, both him and Zinnia were so happy together. He was even starting to change for the better all because of her. And he was finally going to have something he never had but always wanted; A family. But he destroyed it before it could even have a chance to grow. He let his greed control him. And it cost him his sugar plum...He remembered how that name came about. She loves...loved plums...These thoughts and regrets were raging in his mind now. The loss he had just suffered by his own hand no less, brought upon the most overwhelming feeling of self-hatred. The likes of which he had never felt before. 

Robotnik could not tolerate to look in her blank eyes anymore. It felt as though they stared right into his wretched soul. The doctor’s hand shook as he raised it to gently close her eyes. Now if it wasn’t for the blood slowly trickling out of her nose and mouth, one would mistake her to be peacefully asleep. Oh, how he wished that was the case. He wished he could wake up and find out it was all a horrible nightmare. But alas, it was not. Now, he could do nothing but kiss her cold lips one last time, lay his head on her lifeless body and weep. He was useless.

========== flashback end ==========

So caught up he was in this horrendous memory, he didn’t notice the car to slow down and swerve until it was too late.

“If you two don't disable that fucking car he's--fuck!!”  Robotnik #1 was not just seething with rage anymore. An intense fear was crawling through him as well. The fear of not being able to stop his other self in time.

But just at that moment, Theodore was able to shoot one of the tyres. “I think I hit it...”

“God damnit! No!” The other Robotnik bellowed out in frustration as the tyres screeched and his car came to a jerking stop.

“IT'S OVER YOU SON OF A BITCH!!” Their Robotnik screeched to a halt a few feet away and he wasted no time in jumping out of the car, and sprinting toward the imposter's car.

“Oh, thank God...” Zinnia on the other hand, tried to calm her nerves as she slowly stepped out of the car, only to be grabbed by said imposter.

“Let us leave and no one needs to get hurt!” The other Robotnik snarled as he pulled Zinnia closer with both arms around her body, gripping her tightly but not enough to be painful. That however did nothing to ease the young woman’s fears. She was practically trembling.

Fortunately, Emil came to her rescue. With his face a mask of cold, focused rage, he struck Robotnik's double with a rabbit punch. The force staggered him back, making him let go of Zinnia. “No... No!” Then he remembered his gloves. Assuming both him and his counterpart had identical technology. It was worth a try... He punched a few buttons on his glove with practised ease and successfully activated the drones, commanding them to fire at the others, except Zinnia, of course.

But sadly, she still got shot in the side as she ran away. Her body seized under the white hot pain she felt, causing her to fall with a pained scream. 

Robotnik #1 tackled his doppelganger in spite of the sudden hail of bullets, and he laid into him with his fists. Zinnia's scream only stoked the rage and hatred in his eyes...

“THEO! Go grab her! I'll draw them to me!” Stone started providing cover fire the same time as Theodore bellowed out Zinnia’s name and sprinted towards where she had fallen and now laid on the road, unable to move due to the immense pain she felt in her waist’s left side.

Theodore quickly kneeled down next to her and put pressure on her wound. “Hey, I got you.”

“Oh God... it hurts...” She barely managed to speak, her eyes screwed shut and face scrunched up in pain.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I need you to breath” her boyfriend cradled her close and kept pressure on her wound.

“Stop touching me...” She whimpered and tried to blindly push away his hands as the pressure aggravated her pain.

“Zinnia, I need to make sure you don’t bleed out. Take deep breaths.”

Back with the two Robotnik’s, the fistfight came to an end because the second Robotnik had managed to get out his taser and fired it at the first Robotnik, successfully incapacitating him and pushed him away, “GET OFF ME!”

But he wasn’t out of the water yet. Emil strode closer, his eyes as crazed as Ivo's as he stomped on the imposter's chest with all his strength which definitely fractured a rib or two. He grunted in pain before grabbing Emil’s leg, and managed to throw him off his feet and stood up.

Agent Stone noticed and took aim at the other Robotnik and nicked him in the leg, causing him to lose his footing. He looked back, enraged and directed a drone to shoot at Stone, who promptly took cover behind the car.

While the others were distracted, the other Robotnik took it as an opportunity to escape. He limped towards an abandoned car, probably left behind in a panic by a terrified civilian, hopped in and drove off. ‘Today didn’t go as planned. But I will not give up...’  While racing away in the car, he was torn up between wanting to go back and make sure Zinnia was alright, to help her but he knew if he didn’t escape now, he would never get another chance. He never expected his other self to care this much about her, to be this passionate when it came to protecting her considering she happened to be in a relationship with a man who’s not him. But it may work in his favour. Knowing this, he hoped his other self would do everything in his power to make sure she would be fine.  

Meanwhile, their Robotnik was still on the ground, barely able to breathe but he tried to struggle to his feet anyway. He was helped up to his feet by Emil, who brought him closer to Zinnia. The misty air was condensing into a soft drizzle. “Did he hit any organs? Is she gonna be alright?!” Emil frantically questioned.

“No, nothing vital. But we need to have the wound treated...” Theodore answered, worry evident in his voice.

“We... Oh Jesus... Uhh, we have a hospital wing back at the compound. I think it might be the closest place.”

“Good idea... we should move.” Honestly, the compound was the last place he wanted Zinnia to be, but looking at the condition she was in, Theodore was quick to agree.

Robotnik fell to his knees next to Zinnia, opposite of Theo. He was as pale as a burial shroud. “Zinnia...” 

“H-hey...” The young woman managed to give Robotnik a smile despite her pain when she saw how worried he looked. “I-I’ll be fine...“

Robotnik started to say something to Agent Stone, but he couldn’t get the words out. He started sobbing, and he was mortified that he could not make it stop. Seeing Zinnia like that, he was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.

Zinnia’s eyebrows knitted together in a little worried frown. “Don’t c-cry! It wasn’t your fault!” She tried to reassure him but to avail.

“Uhh, do you... I can help you carry her if you need...” Emil asked Theodore before staring at Robotnik. In shock at the sobbing mess he’d become. “Ah Christ, Ivo!”

“No, it’s alright. I got her.” Theodore stood with Zinnia in his arms, wincing at the pained gasp she let out.

“Y-yeah, you l-look after Rob...” Zinnia told Emil, breathing heavily. “I-I’m starting to feel sick...” Nausea was creeping in.

Emil assured her while removing Dozy from the car. “Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him. Stone, can you drive us?”

Agent Stone looked the SUV over for damage before answering. “I should be able to, yeah.”

“Emil... take Tweety with you too, p-please...” Zinnia requested when she noticed him getting Dozy. The poor parrot was still in the car, probably in shock after the crazy car ride.

“C'mon buddy. You can sit with me n' Dozy...” Emil cautiously held out his forearm to the cockatoo who hesitated before perching on Emil’s arm. The bird was very worried about Zinnia. She sounded like she was in distress and he could detect the smell of blood...

“Alright... let’s leave. Quickly now! The bleeding is getting worse.” Theodore hurried over to the SUV with Zinnia in his arms. He settled them both in, with her lying on his lap, making sure she was as comfortable as possible. He noticed her bleeding had gotten worse. The entire left side of her black shirt now completely soaked in her blood. He quickly removed his jacket and pressed it to her wound, causing her face to contort in pain. Hopefully, it will help slow down the bleeding.

Robotnik was very quiet as he got inside the SUV after Theo and Zinnia. He sat as near to them as possible.

“Alright, I think everyone's accounted for, right?” Emil closed the door after climbing in the front seat next to Agent Stone, who immediately had to give Dozy ear scritches before driving away.

The car ride was quiet for a while until Zonic, who had been in the back the entire time, started messing around with his communicator, trying to make any contact with his team while mumbling to himself. “Fucking idiots. This is so bad. Destroying your own universes like this... ughh.”

“Shut up back there! What are you doing?” Agent Stone called out from the front before turning to look at the man next to him. “Emil--”

“I got it...” Emil climbed out of his seat and into the very back where Zonic was and reached over. “Just gimme that... whatever that is. I don't wanna hurt you, but I will. I've had an EXTREMELY long day.”

Despite his still untreated wounds, the hedgehog oozed confidence and lazily looked at Emil. “Talking to me?” Or perhaps it was the blood loss.

Emil grabbed him by the wrist. “No, asshole! The blue alien midget behind you! Why the fuck didn't you take this off him, Stone?!” He yelled at the Agent as he tried to grab the communicator.

“Good Chaos, just take it, don’t break it! I never thought I would miss being alone in an office...” Zonic managed to send one message before Emil snatched it away. “... welp, you can take it now. And I’m a multiverse guardian, also known as a zone cop, thank you very much.”

“Pfft, whatever, space-pig. I fuckin hate cops... You're lucky Ivo wants you alive!” Emil just scoffed before returning to his seat.

“I’d rather be dead.” The hedgehog replied in a serious tone.

The silence was broken once again, by Zinnia this time. “A-Are we...t-there yet? I’m n-not feeling...so good...” She mumbled, starting to feel weaker.

“WHY AREN'T YOU DRIVING FASTER?! STEP ON IT!!” Robotnik was quick to shout at Stone. Seeing Zinnia like that...he felt so helpless...

“Hey, stay awake. We’ll be there soon, okay?” Theodore gently held her limp hand. “I’m here.”

“I feel so tired...” she just whispered in response, her eyes starting to close on their own. 

“Zinnia, no! Try to stay awake for a little longer, please.” Her boyfriend urged her.

At the same time, Robotnik was also quick to keep her from closing her eyes as he practically yelled. “NO! You can't close your eyes! Look at your boyfriend or something!”

“Hmm...” Zinnia opened her eyes weakly. “But I just want to sleep...”  The blood loss was making her feel weak and faint. But they could not let her fall asleep. Because if they did, she may never wake up...

“I know. Please stay awake for a little longer. You can sleep all you want after we get there.” Theodore squeezed her hand, trying to get her to stay awake.

“Okay guys, we're almost to the parking garage! A team of medics will be there to get her to the hospital wing.” Stone informed them as he drove past the compound gates.

“Good, we’re here...I just...wanna sleep...” Zinnia faintly mumbled.

“DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! YOU'RE STAYING AWAKE UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN FALL ASLEEP!!” Robotnik wasted no time in jumping out of the car and screamed at the nearest emt. “GET HER INTO THE HOSPITAL! QUIT STANDING AROUND!!”

Theodore was quick to exit next, carrying Zinnia in his arms and followed Robotnik towards one of the awaiting emt’s. Agent Stone must’ve called ahead and informed them of the situation.

<->-<->-<->-<->-<->

As soon as other Robotnik retreated to his hidden base and treated his injuries, he messaged his inter-dimensional counterpart. As much as he loathed to talk to him, he had to find out if Zinnia was alright. It was unlikely he would get a clear answer from him but he was desperate...:

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter How is she? Tell me she’s okay!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot Well, considering the fact that you shot her while she fled terrified from you, what do you think?

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter This would not have happened if you hadn’t intervened! Everything was fine until you showed up! Why could you not have let me taken her? You don’t even love her like I do!

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot You're right. I don't love her like you do. Maybe that's why she wanted me to protect her from you. Nothing was fine. Even you, in your delusional state, must acknowledge that she had to be threatened and coerced into entering that car with you. What would you even do if you'd gotten away with her? Please, enlighten me as to how you'd force her to love you!

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter Please... Just tell me if she’s alive or not. Nothing else matters to me more than knowing whether she’s okay.

Dr Robotnik To: Fraudulent Idiot You're an idiot. She'd say the same thing if she could.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: The Imposter “If she could”??? Is she..

Dr Robotnik [message left on read]

Back at the compound, Robotnik had moved to Zinnia’s hospital room soon after her gunshot wound was treated. He brought his work with him as well. He was not letting her out of his sight until he knows that the other Robotnik is either dead or never coming back.

Theodore sat on the hospital bed, holding Zinnia close to him while she slept and gave Robotnik a strange look. “What are you still doing here?”

Robotnik was furiously typing away at a portable workstation as he answered. “What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to work! There's a lot to do before that idiot shows up again. He's been texting me non-stop... I made it sound like she's dead.” He paused to look up at Theo and smiled grimly. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's a little unstable!”

The other man appeared a bit uncertain. “You made it sound like she’s dead...? If he’s anything like you, I don’t think that will be enough to deter him. What does he want with her anyway?”

The scientist scoffed. “He loves her, allegedly. He did something to his universe's Zinnia, and now he wants ours. He thinks that he loves her, but this is how he goes about it...” He shook his head. “If there's anything I know about myself, it's that I wouldn't know love if it slapped me in the face. I'd never pretend to know...” He fell quiet and stopped typing for a moment. Then, he went back to work.

Unaware to either of them, Zinnia was awake and was listening to their conversation. She pretended to be asleep for a little longer, lying on the bed with her body tucked against Theodore’s, trying to get the raging emotions within her to calm down.

“Do you? Love her, I mean?” Since they were speaking, Theodore took it as an opportunity to probe further.

Robotnik gave Theo a deadpan expression. “If I loved her, then she'd be about as miserable as Liz, if not more. I'm sure you've heard about what I did to her. Emil isn't a discreet person.” His answer only managed to baffle the other man even more, causing him to shake his head in confusion.

“Then why do you care about her so much?” During the time Theodore has known Robotnik, he has seen the scientist to show genuine concern for only a select few people. Zinnia being one of them.

Robotnik’s gaze shifted from Theodore to Zinnia as he looked at her sadly. “I respect her. I want her to be safe and happy. I don't want to push her away like I've done with everyone else in my life.” What Robotnik didn’t realise however, was that is exactly what love is. Zinnia on the other hand, did as she silently listened to what he said. She couldn’t help but feel content at what she heard. 

Theodore just nodded silently and decided not to inquire further.

After a few minutes of silence, Zinnia decided she was unable to fall back to sleep, despite the fatigue she felt in her entire body. She groaned and rolls to her back, immediately regretting it as pain flares up in her waist. “Ugh, what time is it?”

“Zinnia!” Robotnik's out of his seat and by her side immediately. “Stop moving around so much. A bullet tore through your body just a few hours ago! You're a doctor--tell her to stop!”

“He’s right, Zinnia. You need to be on bed rest for a few more days.” Theodore gently held her shoulder to stop her from moving too much.”

“I wanna go home...” Zinnia whispered, feeling overwhelmed, before bursting into tears, cuddling close to Theodore.

“Hey, Zinnia...” He softly whispered and gently held her closer. “It’ll be alright.”

Robotnik just watched silently from his seat by the bed and hoped she’ll be alright soon.

<->-<->-<->-<->-<->

The next day, Zinnia had not one but two unexpected visitors.

The door to the hospital room burst open and there stood John Constantine, “ZINNA HOLY FUCK!!!!!! LOOK AT MY SON!!!” He held up a little boy high in his hands in an imitation of Lion king.

The young woman was resting on her bed and was startled a bit due to John’s loud entry before she looked at the baby in wonder. “Oh my God, so cute! What’s his name?”

“Liam Mary Constantine...” John replied proudly.

Robotnik took that moment to enter the room as well, yelling at John all the while. “GET OUT OF HERE!! Can't you see she's recovering from a bullet wound?!” He noticed the baby in the other man’s hands. “Will you PLEASE remove that infant from the premises!”

“Can I hold him?” Zinnia reached out her hands towards John before looking at Robotnik with her wide, doe eyes. “He’s just a baby.”

“Be gentle, Zinna...” John ignored Robotnik and handed over little Liam to Zinnia.

“Of course!” The young woman held the baby close as she cooed. “Aww he’s so cute!” That unfortunately, prompted Robotnik to let out another outburst.

“Don't let it touch you! A newborn's immune system is weak so that child is a walking disease vector. ZINNIA'S BOYFRIEND! SAY SOMETHING!!”

“What?? It’s fine!” Theodore just gave Robotnik an amused look.

“Liam was born a few days ago, Robotnik, he's perfectly fine!!!” John shot back, smiling proudly.

The scientist growled in frustration before redirecting his attention towards Zinnia. “Fine! Just don't rupture your stitches!” Zinnia however, didn’t seem to pay attention to him as she cuddled the baby close. She noticed something very interesting. Little Liam had one blue eye and one dark brown eye. “Oohhh heterochromia! That’s neat!”

“Heh...Are you alright? What happened???” John worriedly questioned, causing Zinnia to stop smiling and turn gloomy all of a sudden. She looked to her boyfriend and he answered for her. “She got shot in an incident regarding the other Robotnik.”

“The coward fled. He couldn't bear to witness the consequences of his actions...” Robotnik seethed.

“A part of me thinks he’ll be back. After all, from what I’ve seen, you’re not one to give up easily...” Theodore shot the scientist a serious look.

“Oh bollocks. Sorry luv. Can I getcha anythin'?” John asked Zinnia, expressing his sympathy.

“Nothing really... I just want to go home...” Robotnik was quick to disagree with what she said.

“You're not safe there! He knows where you live!!”

“...I could kill 'im if ya need....” John offered, which Zinnia was highly against.

“...John please... I don’t want any bloodshed.” 

“Alrigh'...” The mage sat down on a spare chair. “So...What are we gonna do? The bastard hurt my friend, he's gonna pay.”

Robotnik spoke in a grumbling voice. “Why don't you just call him and set him on fire?”

“I would, but since your the same person I'd need his DNA so I don't set you on fire. Lock of hair, fingerprint...”

“No, no. Please, no setting anyone on fire!” Zinnia frantically shook her head.

“Alright. C-can I have my son back...??”

“Oh,” The young woman noticed she still had Liam in her arms. “Of course!” She gently handed him over to John before turning her attention towards Robotnik, her expression determined. “Oh and just so you know, if I’m staying here, so is Teddy.”

“Hm? Oh, right. The boyfriend, of course he can stay here.” The doctor was surprisingly quick to agree.

“I have a name, you know.” Theodore shot him an annoyed look, while in the background, John was talking to Liam using a baby voice. “Hello little hellion. Who’s daddy's little hellion??”

“Of course you do! Anyway,” Robotnik turned towards John. “I'm sure whoever have birth to that child would like to see him, right? I'll have one of my agents show you out.”

“Bloody rude.” John grumbled but agreed to being escorted out, waving them goodbye.

Zinnia waved back before asking Robotnik a question that had been in her mind for a while. “Hey, I just remembered, what happened to that blue hedgehog?”

“Oh, well, he's under surveillance by Agents Sobel and Stone. We need him alive right now, I'm sure he's fine.”

“Last time I saw him, he was hurt pretty badly...” She remembered how he had suffered gunshot wounds, much like her.

“I have some vet technicians working on him. He'll be fine...” The scientist clenched his fist. “He'd better be, for their sake.”

“So... why do you want him alive?”

“The off-brand me has the ability to travel between dimensions, and so does the hedgehog. I'm going to track that bastard down and strangle him with my bare hands...”

“Okay...” The young woman hesitated a bit. “Do you know why the off-brand you was after me specifically?” She already knew but wanted to see what he’ll say.

“He's under the impression that he's going to make you love him. That alone is proof that his intellect is crippled compared to mine.”

“What... but why?...” Zinnia appeared to be deep in thought. “He and the me from that universe were together?”

“So he says.” Robotnik shrugged. “Honestly? I can't imagine any version of you who's stupid enough to fall in love with me. Maybe he’s making it up because he fell for you when he saw you.”

“Hmm...I don’t think he is. He wouldn’t have risked his life like that for something made up.” She suddenly looked at him with a teasing smile. “Are you saying that I’m smart?”

He smirked, feeling so much affection for her at that moment that he didn’t know what to do except pinch her cheek. “What if he made it all up on the spot when he first saw you? And of course you're smart! I don't hire idiots!!”

She giggled while lightly batting his hand away. “I doubt that. Why would anyone make something like that up. And mayhaps I’m not as smart as you say I am, considering I do...love you. Not like that, but as a friend...I do.”

Meanwhile, Theodore was silently watching their exchange with a raised eyebrow, his expression unreadable.

Robotnik was genuinely taken aback by what Zinnia said, and it showed. He literally had no idea how to handle that unknown emotion he was feeling. He hugged her briefly before he stood up and returned to his workstation. “I should let you get done rest. You've had a long day.”

Her smile fades a bit as she looked at him worriedly. “Hey, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable...”

“I'm... I'm not uncomfortable! I just have to ensure that the knockoff version of me doesn't hijack my machines again!”

“Oh! Right, he was able to take control over your drones. Same technology probably...” Zinnia appeared to be deep in thought. “I do wonder, what exactly happened to this other version of me. He told me that I don’t exist in that universe anymore...”

“I have a few ideas as to what happened, and all of them are his doing. I know myself, and by extension I know him better than he knows himself. That man is adrift in a sea of self-delusion.” He scoffed.

“But you’re not like that... Something terrible must’ve happened for him to become this desperate...” She sighed. “So anyway, I guess I should move my stuff to my old room here. The stuff which is back at my house...”

“Not until you're recovered! Or maybe Theo can do it. It's not like he's going to be abducted!”

“Yeah, I can bring all your stuff here. No worries” Theodore readily agreed.

“Oh, and you think I can maybe... get a room with a window this time?” Zinnia asked Robotnik a bit timidly, not knowing how he would react. “My previous one doesn’t have one and it can be a bit suffocating sometimes.”

“Of course you can! And it won't just be a studio apartment, either. I'll make sure that it's nice and homey for you!” The scientist was smiling, overjoyed at the thought of having Zinnia live under his roof again.

“Really?” The young woman smiled brightly. “That would be great, if it’s not too much trouble of course!”

“Of course it isn't! You can even let Theo live with you! And... that fucking bird...”

“Oh yeah! I think he’s with Emil right now. And... I get that you still have a grudge against him. I’m sorry once again that he bit you. But look on the bright side, now we have something we can use to differentiate between you and your other self!” She giggled.

<->-<->-<->-<->-<->

The next day, Zinnia was visited by Agent Stone. She got up from her bed to greet him. After doing so, he asked about Robotnik. “Has anyone seen the doctor? I don't think he's eaten in the past 24 hours and that's upsetting...”

“He hasn’t?? He’s been so worried about me lately. I feel kinda bad. Her boss was so busy looking after her, he neglected to take care of himself.

“Right--that other doctor shot you! Are you feeling better? ... Do you think there's another Agent Stone?”

“I’m much better. It still hurts a bit but other than that, I’m okay. Hmm I don’t know actually. There could be a possibility if there’s another me.” She answered.

“Two doctors... Imagine...” Stone looked lost in his thoughts all of a sudden, which caused Zinnia to give him a deadpan look.

“Stone... please stop.”

“Sorry! I wouldn't leave this dimension anyway, not since I'm finally allowed to talk to my daughter! She's a freshman at UC Berkeley!” Agent Stone said with pride in his voice.

Upon hearing that, Zinnia perked up looked at him curiously. “Oh really? I didn’t know you had kids. What’s her name?”

“Just the one. Her name is Sina Contreras. She, well, she took her mother's name. And that's fine!” He took an old photo out of his wallet. “She's grown so much since I took this picture of her...”

The young woman smiled brightly as she took a look at the photo. “Oh, she’s adorable!”

“She really is! And she lets me call her every week now. I finally was able to give her all of the letters I'd written to her all these years--”

“Agent Stone! What are you doing in here?! You're supposed to be guarding that blue rat!!” Robotnik barged into the room.

“That’s great! I’m so happy for you--” Zinnia’s attention turned towards her boss. “Oh hey, he was telling me that you haven’t eaten anything in a while.”

“Sorry, doctor! I'll just leave now...” And with that, Agent Stone left the room.

“Please do. And I've eaten! See all of those bottles over there?!” The scientist pointed to a bunch of empty Soylent bottles on his desk that he had set up in her room.

“What?? That’s not real food! I can cook something for you if you want.” She offered.

“YOU CAN'T LEAVE YOUR BED! What if you tear your stitches? What if you fall?! You!” He pointed at Theo as soon as he entered the room. “Tell her! You're the one who's her boyfriend!”

Said boyfriend sighed in mild exasperation. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit too overprotective?”

“Yeah...like there’s no need for all the cushion mats and stuff.” Zinnia gestured around her room. Earlier, Robotnik had ordered his custodians to put down cushioned mats on the floor and padding on all the corners, as if he was having the room baby-proofed.

“Of course not! She can do whatever the hell she wants! If "Doctor Theodore" says it's alright, you can run around as much as you want!” The scientist threw up his hands and walked out of the room, only to poke his head back in a minute later. “Just don't leave the compound yet, not until I'm standing over my dead lookalike with his blood dripping from my hands.” Then finally, he left, leaving Zinnia to stare after him with wide eyes.

The silence was broken by Theodore. “Well, that was...something.”

A few hours later, after everything had finally calmed down, Zinnia received a text message while she was laying in bed and just passing time on her phone. It was from the other Robotnik:

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia Zinnia, you’re alive! That bastard made me think you were dead! But you got shot... I’m so sorry.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 It’s fine... I’m better now. But how did you find out...?

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia I saw you... with that infant... You have no idea how good it felt to see you in person yesterday, after so long...

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 Listen, I understand it was very difficult to lose your Zinnia but you have to understand that I’m not her.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia But you can be her. No, you are her.

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #2 I’m not! I don’t belong in your universe. My home is here.

Dr Ivo Robotnik To: Zinnia Here with that uptight British man who clearly doesn’t deserve you? With my other extremely more volatile self?! None of those people deserve you! I expect you to trust me and know that I know what’s best. I can look after you better than they can! That’s what I’m trying to do!

Dr Frost [left on read, feeling very scared indeed]

Dr Frost To: Dr Robotnik #1 He knows I’m alive. And that I’m here in your compound. I’m scared QwQ

Robotnik was in a room nearby, about to have a quick nap, but the moment he read Zinnia's text he was off the couch and back by her side in an instant. “He's insane if he thinks that he's going to bypass all of my automated defence systems! All of my private agents have been informed of the situation and if they see anyone who looks even a little like me then they're instructed to detain him if he can't supply them with the right passphrase. I'm going to issue your boyfriend a sidearm of his own in case I'm not here, okay? That lunatic will never get his hands on you!”

The young woman sighed sadly and nodded while sporting a very depressed expression. “So we just...wait now? I’m scared...”

"Hey..." Robotnik sat down on the bed next to her and took her hand. "We won't have to wait very long. I'm sure he has some idiotic plan to invade my compound, and he's a very rash and impatient man from what I've seen. When he finally shows his face and tries to use my own creations against me, we'll detain him and humanely dispose of him." he gave Theo a wink over Zinnia's head, and he didn't even attempt to hide the excitement he felt about the opportunity to kill his inferior self.

Zinnia looked up, still with that gloomy expression when she felt her hand being held by a larger one. She first thought it was Theodore but the feel of the glove suggested otherwise. She didn’t expect Robotnik to show this much affection towards her but then again, he’s been overly affectionate ever since she was abducted by him. She shuddered to think about the messages he sent her. She cleared her throat nervously and unconsciously squeezed his hand before speaking up. “You’re right. He has been... but he’s still basically you. He knows everything that you do. The odds right now... aren’t looking good.”

Theodore raised an eyebrow and gave the scientist an amused look but otherwise stayed silent and listened to whatever he had to say.

"He's in enemy territory though, and he knows that you don't want to leave with him. And what I've gleaned from taking with him makes me suspect that your interdimensional counterpart's demise might have been his fault. He probably lost his temper, or he treated her like an object even more than he does now... I know him better than he knows himself. Whatever his upbringing was, I can only assume that it wasn't quite like mine." His expression was grim. He didn't look at either of them. "Unlike him, I know what I am and what I'm capable of. I don't deny my true self."

“But...you don’t treat me badly,” Zinnia mumbled with a far-off in her eyes. “You both are identical...and yet different. I wonder exactly what lead him to become like this...”

Off in the distance, deep in the woods up in the mountains a few miles from Zinnia’s house was the other Robotnik. He had set up a temporary base, hidden within the mountains. Not many people travelled this far and even if some did, all they would see would be trees and land due to his cloaking device. And if for some reason they were to venture closer, his security drones would dispose of them.

The scientist himself was currently recovering from the injuries he had sustained during his fight with his other self and that strange Emil person. He has him to thank for his fractured ribs. While he recovered, he had successfully gained access into the other Robotnik’s security cameras. All his worries and rage dissipated, a soft smile replacing his frown as soon as he saw Zinnia in a hospital room, looking a bit weak and pale but alive. She was holding an infant. That image almost brought tears to his eyes as he was reminded of his late Zinnia who was expecting a child of their own. If he hadn’t screwed everything over, his Zinnia would be alive right now, along with their child. In fact, the child would be three years of age now...But he still has another chance to not only have Zinnia back but their child as well. 

’So that bastard lied to me.’ His mind went to that moment when his other self made him believe that she died. Considering he and Zinnia aren’t together in this universe, he was not expecting the response the other one showed when he abducted her. And he loathed to admit that he was unprepared for it. Looks like he’d have to hop back to his universe and get everything he needed to prepare himself for the next time. Because there will be a next time. He will never give up until he has her.

===to be continued? OwO===

[rosesisupposes]

Other Half

hi i was haunted with the idea of subverting a soulmate trope after a chat with @potestessemagishomosexualitatis and it evolved in like a day on discord so here y’all go!

relationships: brotherly prinxiety, QPR moceit, romantic royality, implied/eventual anxceit

content tags: musician roman, techie/sound-guy Virgil, deaf Patton, QPRs, amatonormativity, soulmates & lack thereof, happy ending

word count: 2,847

read on ao3

Roman has half a soulmark, waiting to make skin contact with his Soulmate to finally be completed.

His brother, not so much.

Context: In this world, soulmates have half a symbol somewhere on their skin, each with one half. When soulmates have skin contact for the first time, both marks complete. The amatonormativity (prioritizing romantic love) is very strong, despite the fact that soulmates have frequently been platonic, not just romantic. It’s still a rather progressive idea, similar to gay marriage, and the traditions and stories are all centered around that romantic ideal. In that vein, some people have thirds or fourth of a mark would need to contact all their soulmates to have a complete mark. Marks are very much for One Person (or, occasionally, Two or Three Specific People), and so not everyone meets their mate. Not everyone has the means. They could be anywhere in the world! But unfortunately, there's still an idea that even if you're with a partner, you'd leave them if you met your soulmate, and that other relationship are just settling.

⁂

Enter two brothers.

Roman goes starry-eyed over stories of meet-cutes and surprise soulmates. He wants to know if he'll feel it, as his mark completes. Someday, when he meets his Someone™️!!!

And then his brother, Virgil.

Virgil... doesn't have a mark. He's not sure he's heard of that before. He has some freckles, but those fade with the seasons. Soulmarks don't fade.

Roman has half a circle, and it either has petals or rays around it. A flower or a sun, he thinks. It's right on his bicep, so he frequently goes sleeveless, and greets new people by taking both their hands in his every time. Just in case.

Lots of people do that- but it makes Virgil uncomfortable. Even if he knows he'll never be the one to trigger someone's mark, he hates knowing that's what everyone expects. He'd rather keep his hands to himself. He wears his big baggy hoodie to avoid the expectant stares of people looking for his mark, and avoids skin contact as much as he can.

They grow up in a family without a ton of resources, so neither can afford to take the 'Soul Year' some teens do where they travel before going into higher education. But Roman's determined that his career will help him meet hundreds, no, thousands of people, and he will find his soulmate!

Virgil really doesn't love the whole soulmate thing, the obsession with it, the constant reminder that he doesn’t have one and will never have one. But he does love his brother.

He tries, sometimes, to temper Roman's excitement just to make sure it doesn't hurt too much if he never finds The One. But mostly he just listens as Roman waxes poetic about his hypothetical love.

Roman, for several years, went silent, assuming Virgil wouldn't want to hear it. But Virgil has just kinda accepted it, you know? He's basically like everyone who never ends up meeting their mate, except he gets to skip the years of doubt and worry that their mate might suddenly appear at any time. He knows from the get-go. He’ll never have to look back with regret or sorrow, never have to worry about disrupted relationships, never need to mourn that his hypothetical mate might have died before he could meet them. It’s fine, really.

Roman becomes a singer and songwriter, and acts on the side. Virgil does his cover art and helps him with the sound-mixing. They're a great team - and they always have been.

Virgil makes friends with the roadies and techies, happy to leave Roman in the spotlight. He dates, sometimes. It's easier when they go on tour- a short international stay means no promises, no uncomfortable conversations about the future, no intrusive knowledge of a partner's Someone™️ out there.

After years of touring, Roman is internationally known and recognized. But he's also starting to lose hope.

He's lost count of all the meet-and-greets he's been to, how many hands he's grabbed from the stage into the crowd. He makes sure to at least high-five every roadie and tech, every opening act or announcer. His songs range from fantastical to domestic, from sweet and bubbly to sorrowful and yearning, and he loves creating, he does. But he knows there's someone out there for him, and he wants to meet them so, so badly.

They're in Paris for a show, and Virgil and Roman are strolling along the Seine. It's Spring, Roman's favorite time of year, and all the trees are in bloom. It looks like something out of a Hallmark movie.

Roman sighs heavily.

Virgil bumps him with an elbow. "Hey, no moping. That's my aesthetic, no stealing."

"Vee, what if I don't ever meet them?"

"Ro-"

"I know I should keep hoping, but- I've touched so many people and still haven't found them, what if I never will?"

"Then you'll be like most of us, Ro. Find love & companionship the new way: with hard work and dating apps."

Roman nods, but sighs again. "I just... really wanna, Vee." His voice is small, like a pouting kid. 

"I know. I hope you do."

They keep walking, but Roman's practically shuffling. On the one hand, he is a fucking drama queen.

On the other hand, Virgil wants him to feel better. 

Rolling his eyes, Virgil orders ice cream from a vendor in clumsy but serviceable French and presents Roman with his sprinkle-covered cone. Just like he knew it would, it perks him up immediately.

"Chocolate! My favorite!!"

"How are you possibly older than me. You are five."

"I just have childlike wonder, not a well of ennui!"

"Fuckin' dork."

"Edgy poser."

"Prima donna."

"Nerd."

Distracted, Roman walks straight into a man looking off at the river. He stumbles and trips and they both fall.

"Oh goodness gracious, forgive me, excusez moi, je suis desole! Pardonnez-moi!" he rattles off.

The man smiles, and his hands dance. Virgil realizes he's signing. Sorry, I didn't see you there!

 Luckily, Virgil understands it - he’s taken classes in ASL, just for kicks.

Roman knows very little sign, but he learned a couple of phrases. Sorry!

Virgil adds, It was our fault, we weren't watching.

Virgil recognizes the starry-eyed look on his brother's face. It's yet another Infatuation At First Sight, where he throws his whole heart into hoping. 

"Vee, Vee, ask him his name please?" he says, smiling for all he's worth at the curly-haired man in front of him.

Before Virgil gets a chance, he sees the man's eyes flick up and past them, and he breaks into a sunny smile. (Virgil might actually understand his brother's infatuation, for once)

Another person comes over, holding two ice creams. Virgil does a slight double-take. Like him, this newcomer chooses not to show very much skin. But they've covered even their hands. Ice cream somehow looks funny in a gloved hand.

Handing one to the first man, they start signing with one hand, far faster than he can follow. He catches a couple of signs he recognizes - gestures to himself & Roman, are you okay, something that either is we're late or shoo.

The first man is still smiling, though, and whatever he says must be okay, because the newcomer turns to them. They speak with a lilting accent, something not quite Parisian. "Please forgive my barging in- I can't exactly call for Patton from across the walkway.  My name is Dante. And you are?"

"I'm Roman, and this is Virgil, and it is wonderful to meet you!"

Virgil signs along with his brother's words, and sees Patton's eyes crinkle happily as he greets them both.

Roman has clearly also noticed Dante's gloves, but turns to Patton. With a slight bit of hesitation, he speaks and signs at once, "May I shake your hand?"

Virgil is sure he's not imagining the minute pursing of Dante's lips, but Patton's nodding and reaching out and so is Roman.

Roman is clearly holding his breath, and Virgil is too, both braced for opposite outcomes. But Patton's small, tan hand is wrapped in Roman's larger one and both sets of eyes are huge. 

Virgil's eyes flick to Roman's bicep, exposed as always, the white mark a stark contrast to his dark skin, looking like a sun or maybe a flower and-

"Holy shit-" Virgil breathes.

Roman, however, is not looking at his arm. He's staring directly into Patton's dark eyes with a smile that looks confused and elated all at once, and their hands haven't parted. 

Patton's eyes are just a huge, even huger thanks to his glasses.

"It's you," Roman says, wonder in his voice. Patton seems to read his lips, because he smiles somehow even bigger than before and signs It's you! back.

And sure enough, the mark on Roman's arm is a full circle, a full sun or flower, and Virgil's head is reeling.

Virgil's not sure what to say- the two soulmates seem content to keep staring and smiling and holding hands. But Virgil's just... nervous. Soulmate or not, this ‘Patton’ is a stranger, but Roman looks like he might never move from his side. Fuck, they can't even communicate both ways, Roman knows practically no sign and he just used up the only full sentence he’s ever learned.

He looks nervously at Patton's companion. Dante is staring too, seemingly unaware of the ice cream dripping down their glove.

Dante starts to sign something, realizes Patton can't see them, reaches out to tap Patton on the shoulder, then stops before they can touch, hand falling to their side. They look down and finally notice their ice cream, and blanch, pulling out napkins to clean their glove before it stains.

Virgil digs into his knapsack and pulls out a wet wipe and offers it. "This might help more."

Dante looks up, staring at Virgil without a shred of comprehension until Virgil waves the wipe once more. They take it with a quiet, "Merci."

They turn away, wiping off their glove and tossing the rest of their ice cream into the trash. They wiggle their fingers, clearly uncomfortable with the damp fabric. 

Virgil shifts awkwardly. He should say something, but what do you even say in this situation? He has no idea what their relation is to Pat- oh fuck, what if they were dating and Roman's just swooped in and ruined it?

In his tried-and-true method of awkward small talk with new roadies in new cities, he says, in French, "So, Paris, yeah? Know any good cafes near here?"

Dante shakes themself a bit and turns to look at Virgil. "Ah, yes. There's a patisserie just on the next block. Shall we relocate them and stop blocking the tourists?"

Virgil nods and looks over at his brother. He weighs his options of interruption, and decides on flicking Roman in the temple.

"Ow! Fuck! Vee!?!"

"You're blocking traffic, dumbass."

"I'm having a moment."

"Well come have a mocha. You can keep having your moment and I can have coffee. C'mon." 

He sees Dante signing to Patton too, explaining the plan but much more politely. Roman and Patton continue holding hands, but follow them down the block.

They get Roman and Patton sitting at a table in a picturesque cafe, and walk to the bar to order. Virgil orders his go-to of a double shot and gets Roman his mocha. Dante orders themself a latte and a vanilla cappuccino for Patton. Sitting at the bar waiting, Virgil looks over.

"So. That lunkhead over there is my brother."

Dante nods. "And Patton is my. Well. You might not know what it means, so don't immediately freak out, okay? But it's called a queerplatonic partner."

Virgil can feel the nervousness melt away. "Oh, phew. Yeah, I know what it means. So Roman's not homewrecking by being a discovered soulmate?"

"Well. I certainly hope not. But I know not everyone really, uh. Gets it. Especially with the soulmate sh- stuff. Things."

Virgil grins. "You were about to say soulmate shit, weren't you."

"...No."

"You're a terrible liar."

Dante winks. "I might surprise you."

Virgil raises an eyebrow. "Oh that's how we're gonna play it?"

"I don't play, monsieur. I just win."

"Okay then, here's a test. Why the gloves?"

Dante automatically goes to adjust them, and looks up at Virgil. Their eyes drift down to his hoodie and back up. "I think you know exactly why."

"You don't have-?"

"Nope. I don't have one either."

"I thought I was-"

"The only one?"

"Apparently not."

Virgil looks over at Patton, sitting with Roman. They don't seem to be even attempting to talk still, just staring and holding hands.

"With the QPP- are you aromantic? Do you think that's why?" He gestures vaguely at their whole body, but he’s never been quite as elegant in his gestures as Roman is.

Dante opens their mouth to speak, but stops, and sighs. "That's what I've been saying. It was easier, to say maybe this was for a purpose. And I do love Patton with all my platonic heart and I will kill your brother if he hurts him."

"The feeling’s mutual."

"But, no. I'm not fully aro. I still have romantic attraction and all that, I've just been guaranteed that even if I want it, I'll always be someone's secondary love so. Might as well lean in, right? Make the system work somewhat in my favor?"

Virgil opens his mouth to respond, to object, when the barista calls out their drinks, and then they're carefully carrying full mugs across the cafe and finding a table next to the couple.

Patton appears to be teaching Roman how to sign his name. Roman is even managing to pay attention.

"I get that, uh, reluctance. The playing-it-safe thing," Virgil says quietly, so only Dante can hear. "We travel a lot. That's a good excuse to avoid the whole fucking system. No conversations about who'll leave who when the mark shows up, because I'll be leaving in a month, tops. And people looking for hookups barely poke you to check for the mark before just... getting on with life. No expectations, no holding their breath or unrealistic disappointment."

Dante smiles weakly. "Well, good to know for when I need to start dating. I think I'm about to have a lot more free time."

"Until Roman needs to travel on again. We're here for three full weeks, but-"

"What is it you do, that you both travel so much?"

"You know Sun Prince, the singer?"

"Yeah?"

"You're looking at him," Virgil says wryly, tipping his head in Roman's direction.

Dante's eyes go wide. "Oh, that's why he looks familiar."

"So Patton probably didn’t recognize him either?"

"Nah, he tends to like EDM and electronic things the most, for the bassline. Clubbing with a deaf partner is great - the priority is just feeling the music, and we don't have to yell to hear each other."

Virgil and Dante continue to chat quietly on casual topics, but Virgil's leg is bouncing. He wants to ask the bigger questions, but it feel like prying. It's none of his business, really, right? 

But it's Roman's happiness on the line. And Virgil will do anything and everything to protect his brother. Even if it means awkwardness.

"So, uh. Did y'all have the Conversation™️ before now?"

Dante raises a questioning eyebrow in response.

"The 'what happens if he meets his soulmate' conversation. Don't tell me Pat's the only one you've ever dated?"

Dante blinks in a way that implies that were they a lesser being, they might have blushed. "Actually, he is. But yes, we've had that conversation. I'll never get in the way of Pat's romantic love and his soulmate… destiny, ou comme tu veux. I just want to still have a part in his life."

They're tugging at their gloves again, even though their face remains smooth. Virgil recognizes a nervous tic when he sees one. And god does he recognize the sentiment.

Not that any of his past partners had ever wanted to stick around in return. Why would they? He wasn't their soulmate. They hadn't decided to "settle" yet.

"I can't speak for him, but- I think Roman will be open to that," Virgil offers. "He loves performing, so we'll probably still be traveling a fair amount. But I mean. I think he'd understand that you two are a unit the same way me and him are. Like, yeah, we're brothers, but we've been each other's lifeline our whole lives, and that's not about to change. Even if he's finally found his Other Half."

Dante looks up gratefully. "I can tell you love him. And- I hope you're right."

"I should be. If Roman's a dick about it, I'll smack him upside the head."

That surprises a laugh out of Dante. They finally pull off their glove entirely, shaking it out and letting it dry on the table. "I won't interfere with them, you'll encourage Roman to not interfere with us. Do we have a deal, then?"

They offer their bare hand to shake. For once, Virgil doesn't hesitate, but takes it immediately.

Skin hits skin. Virgil finds an agreeable little shudder running down his spine as he appreciates for the first time how attractive this person is. Elegant chestnut curls, heterochromatic eyes that are dancing with delight, and disarming smile. 

Dante winks as they withdraw their hand. "What, not going to check for your completed mark now, just in case?"

Virgil grins back. "No, but I can help you look for yours later, if you want."

"Is that a proposition? Monsieur, goodness, you move fast," Dante replies, fluttering their eyelashes.

Virgil shrugs. "It could be one. You know, we're clearly gonna be around each other a lot. They found each other the old fashioned way. Maybe we could try something a bit... less traditional."

Dante smiles. "I'd like that a lot, Virgil. Should we break into cloud nine over there and ask them about the future now?"

Virgil nods. Soulmark or not, the future's looking pretty good.

tag list: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt ​@thelowlysatsuma @adorably-angsty @max-is-tired @almostoveranalyzed @hawthornshadow @mariniacipher and obligatory royality tag @notveryglittery and anxceit tag @vintage-squid

[modestlyabsurd]

Reversed (Loki x Reader)

In a world, where gAHDAMMOTHAFUKIN INFINITYWARANDENDGAMENEVERHAPPENED

...

ahem, excuse me.

In a world where the genocide of 2018 was reversed and humanity was restored in full, there fought a team against all forces of adversarial motives. A broadened team; a team of heroes.

~

Including foes turned heroes.

Such was what Loki Odinson thought on a daily basis, especially at this moment.

The gifts bestowed upon him from his mother - a keen hindsight, superior knowledge, and even a bit of witchery - have allowed him a new perception of things. Well, and not to mention the time travelling thing that The Avengers finally figured out with their human technology. That contributed to his outlook as well. Otherwise he'd be dead - or worse.

Nowadays it's hard to imagine how life was then. The duties of being a true Avenger are more than enough to keep his mind busy. But from time to time it drifts off to that place. Like now. He supposes it always will.

He thinks of what state the universe was in, and albeit narcissistic, how it was his fault. How he tried to fix it in the only way he knew possible. And now knowing that his sacrifice those years ago would've inevitably been for naught, if hadn't been for them.

But in the same thought it fills him with an eternal sense of awe and gratitude that this team of somewhat gifted humans were able to successfully reverse it. That he, among half of humanity, lived to see another day. Another five years.

It is nothing short of a miracle.

He'd proven his gratitude by asking to be recruited in their team of good intentions. Make no mistake, it took swallowing every ounce of his pride to do so, which was no easy task. But alas, he's done it.

Echoes ... nothing but these strange echoes ...

Back and forth Loki's mind goes. Locked in place, imprisoned indefinitely, what more can it do? The weight of reality tends to sit heaviest at the most inconvenient of times.

The bitter truth is that half of humanity was eradicated in spite of him; his attempt at redemption, at reversing what he'd done. And it took the will of others to stop the madness. The helplessness; that's what still lingers.

Along with the pain.

It's all he can sense. It's all he can feel. He can't see, he doesn't have energy enough to decipher what he's hearing, and he cannot speak. Just his thoughts, and the pain. This evil, immobilizing pain.

How did I get here? he thinks, somehow conscious of the circumstance despite his current state.

It was some time ago. How long ago is inconceivable at the moment. But he does concentrate, and accesses the last memory in his mind.

"All units in position?" said Stark through their communication line.

"Copy that."

The exchange between Stark and Rogers brought Loki to high alert. He sits on the rooftop of a building half the height of the skyscrapers surrounding it. Exactly how he liked. High enough to see below, low enough to see above, and ideal for taking cover.

The wind blows through his ears, and for a moment he sees some amount of beauty in the setting New York sun. But only for a split second.

And only because you'd always spoke of it.

"Uh, hello - that was a question to all units. I need everyone to copy if you don't mind," Stark persists.

"Sorry! I copy," the Spiderling chirps.

"So do I," the Black Widow murmurs.

"Roger that," says the Winter Soldier, turned Avenger.

A second passes before Stark asks, "Clint?"

"Copy," he says.

"Alright - who am I missing? Uh ... oh! Y/N, do you copy?"

"Ten-four," your voice comes through, and Loki releases the breath held in his chest. "I still don't know why you're making me do this, I hate being the bait."

"Good, you can be the bait from now on." When there's silence in return, Stark softens his tone and says free of sarcasm, "Look, you're gonna be fine. All you have to do is put the moves on this guy, bring him to the car and lead him to us. If things get too serious, you know the code."

"Remind me of it again?"

"Dizzy. Just somehow in some context say the word dizzy and we'll be there before you know it."

Loki's shoulders tighten at the idea of things "getting too serious". It seems completely unfair to have someone without the same training to handle such a high caliber of criminals as the lure. Especially without him there - or, someone there, to assist.

But he doesn't make the rules, of course. To add insult to injury, he's charged with following the rules as well.

"I expect a bonus for this," you grumbled. "And you're still forgetting someone."

"You sure? I could've sworn that was everyone - " Stark pauses, clearly for dramatic effect, "Ohhhh, right. Silly me. Thor?"

Loki smirks. Yet another of Stark's frequent, petty jabs at him. The entire team was aware that Thor was currently in New Asgard organizing a new and proper government with the Valkyrie, Brunnhilde. (Which will of course require some fine tuning on Loki's part due to the brute irrationality that both of them act upon solely, but to worry over another day.)

He could practically hear you rolling your eyes through the line. "Loki? Are you in position?" you ask exasperatedly.

"As always, love."

"Ugh," someone groaned.

He smiles outwardly, where no one else could see. Yes, indeed, Loki was in love.

It was certainly one of the most beautiful things he'd ever experienced, yet the most painful. Never more so than in times as these, when you're put in danger.

Stark sighs dreadfully, "Alright, Agent Y/L/N. Whenever you're ready."

Loki watched from his aerial view as the luxury black vehicle begun to move through traffic. It was you, driving the car that Stark cared the least for.

That could be destroyed if necessary. He swallows.

At that moment Loki's memory cuts out.

... ugh! Echoes, but of what, exactly? These sounds are so foreign ...

Frustrated that pieces of the story are missing, but unable to do anything about it. All he is aware of are these faint, mechanical noises, and this undetermined amount of consciousness; and the pain.

Blackness. He suddenly becomes aware of the blackness surrounding him. He even tries to use his Seidr to possibly help, to no avail.

He thinks hard. Something happened, he somehow knows. Something happened to someone.

Slowly ... Another piece. A sound.

A voice.

Laced with fear and feigned sighs of passion.

"I'm feeling a little dizzy ... "

"Go!"

And after that, he remembers the feelings. the blur of adrenaline, the invincibility, the angst.

The feeling of his heart sinking and sinking until he finally found you, until he saved you from harm. The red anger upon seeing the source of harm and the second wave of unfiltered adrenaline as he sought to eliminate it; and then, nothing.

Nothing. He felt nothing, in an instant.

... The echoes are getting louder, clearer. A steady repetitive sound, grounding him to whatever piece of reality he had in his grasp. He now can hear the distant sound of voices - familiar voices, at least - but cannot make out what they're saying.

What in Odin's name is that noise?

He begins to hear it more and more and the smallest amount of light slowly pours through a tunnel, growing bigger and bigger and brighter; so bright it's nearly blinding - until it does indeed blind him.

No, Loki realizes, he is not blinded. But rather, he can see.

... beep ... beep ... beep ... beep ... beep ...

Oh, Norns. He'd rather be back dead. Or whatever he was just seconds ago. Back to a place where such a nuisance was light years away.

And Gods, this light ...

He can't see. But he can see. It hurts to look. In fact, everything hurts.

His eyes flutter before blinking the last bits of unconsciousness. The first thing he sees is a white ceiling, and he quickly he notices that he cannot move his head.

Both hands fly up to his head before a second thought passes by and the alarming sounds of whatever machinery he's surrounded by startle him even more, making him thrash his legs and head when a stinging pain spreads from his shoulder and a person leans over his body.

"Good to see you're awake," says Bruce Banner - who sounds like he's under water - holding a syringe as Loki relaxes into a chemical drowse. "You've been out of it for almost two days."

After relaxing his jaws, Banner hands him a cup with a straw sticking out of it. "That also means you haven't spoken in almost two days. This should cure that, and then after we can talk. In the meantime, I need to update Tony on your progress."

"Where - " Loki tries, but falls into a violent coughing fit as searing hot pain encases his neck and throat.

"What'd I tell you? Look, we'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now, don't talk - drink."

As Banner pulls out his phone, Loki hesitantly takes a sip from the cup. Lacking the capacity to argue anything further due to whatever Bruce injected in him, he finds the water to be quite soothing to the sore dryness in his throat. He feels it cooling him, from his mouth all the way down before it sloshes in his empty stomach.

"He's awake. ... Vitals are stable but I had to give him an inhuman amount of midazolam since he freaked out a little bit when he came to. ... Nothing adverse. ... Movement's properly restricted. ... Too soon to tell. I think he knows something, but I don't know what or how much. ... She doesn't know yet, she just left earlier to go home and shower. ... I know Tony, but she's gonna wanna know."

Loki cloudedly wonders who Bruce is talking about. He wished to be informed fully of what's happening, but the water is helping more than answers ever could at the moment. Somewhere distant, he notices some kind of contraption is wrapped around his neck and he feels it every time he swallows.

Oh well. It appears he's finished his cup anyway.

~

The Avengers have been so kind as to give Loki a hospital room with a television in it, complete with hundreds of channels on which all are speaking about the same thing - New York's New Hero. And apparently they have been for days.

Midgardians cling to the most ridiculous things. Anyone who goes into a tavern in a fit of love-driven madness to rescue their significant other and bring a band of terroristic criminals to the surface is deemed a hero.

Even if "anyone" is Loki Odinson.

More alert as the sedatives have begun to subside, he chews an ice cube and watches boredly as reporters speak of the events. News hasn't yet been released that he's awakened from his injuries but it's only a matter of time. He shudders to think of how the public will react to that. Like moths to a flame, he dreads.

Loki shakes the cup of ice to get another piece as Banner knocks and enters the room. "How you feeling?" he asks while washing his hands in the nearby sink.

He honestly wasn't sure how he felt. Ill? Tired? Slightly confused? Dead? Unable to articulate himself and frankly without energy enough to try, he shrugs.

Bruce pulls something out of the complimentary miniature refrigerator before asking, "Feeling good enough for pudding?"

Loki's brows knit together with suspect. Ready to interrogate Bruce, he tries yet again to speak but nothing more than a pitiful cough comes out. Bruce takes his ice cup and explains, "Y/N said that's what you'd likely eat first. She said you love pudding."

Y/N ... Y/N!

"Whe - "

Suddenly, three loud knocks come from the door before it bursts open and a frantic heaving figure emerges from the outside. Damp hair, disheveled clothing, duffel bag sloppily thrown over the shoulder.

"Y/N," Loki croaks.

You smile a huge, breathless smile.

"Hey," you finally breathe, dropping your bags and easing over to the hospital bed. Holding back tears as you see those bright green eyes open and alive, albeit drugged.

You instinctively take one of Loki's hands into both of yours, beaming. He's overjoyed as well, eyes smiling with what could only be love. A satisfied little grin. As handsome as ever, even in a hospital gown with dirty hair and a big, bulky neck brace.

"How're you doing?" you whisper.

Loki sighs, "Much better now."

Bruce respectfully gave the two of you a moment of privacy. As soon as the door shut, Loki squeezed your hand. "I missed you," he murmurs.

"Yeah," you laugh, "I missed you too." You really did, more than words can say. "I was so worried," you choke out, as the horror you've kept bottled inside from two days ago washes over you unexpectedly.

Loki slowly whispers, "What happened, dear? I haven't quite put it all together yet."

"What do you remember?"

"Most of everything leading up to ... how I ended up here."

That's good. You wouldn't have to go over the entire flop of a mission then. It wasn't actually a flop since the dudes lost, but considering the outcome you're left with here, pretty much a flop in your eyes.

"Well, you singlehandedly got me out of there, away from that creep of a criminal. You all got the rest, too - killed some, apprehended some - then as we were headed back to the quinjet, you fell forward on the ground and couldn't stand back up. You said you couldn't feel your limbs," tears do spill when you have to relive that moment.

Loki, absorbing the recollection, closes his eyes in devastation. Not out of self-pity, but out of heartbreak that you went through all of this. His lip quivers as he remembers.

"After they examined you in the quinjet, and then here, they found that you somehow reinjured the fractures in your neck from ... "

... No ...

"B-but, but that was reversed - "

"That's what I said too. But apparently, they couldn't undo the injury back then. They could only undo the outcome."

How? And why hadn't he been told before now? Loki's mouth opens and closes but forms no explanation. His eyes dart back and forth to search his brain for an answer, when he feels a warm droplet fall onto the back of his hand.

"Oh love, don't cry. I hate it when you cry," he cooes, cupping your wet cheek with one hand. He swipes the tears away with his thumb.

Looking up you meet his encouraging gaze, and can't resist resting your head in his hand. It's amazing how such a small gesture can make you feel so protected and loved.

"I'm sorry," you laugh nervously, pulling yourself together. "But y'know, look at the bright side. Now you're New York's New Hero."

Funny how the tables can turn.

Loki drops his hand and looks past you, "I don't feel like a hero."

"Well, you are one." You make him look you in the eye and whisper, "You're my hero."

In a matter of seconds a million things swim through Loki's eyes. Disbelief at your words, feeling unworthy, undeserving of you, yet gratitude, and adoration. In an even shorter instant he thickly swallows his emotions down against the neck brace.

It is quickly replaced with mischief.

"Come closer," he mumbles. You comply, questioning. "Closer," he says.

You do, and you're less than a foot away.

"Closer," he whispers again with lidded eyes. Now with you only inches away, he says it again. "Closer ... "

You can't help giggling at this point. Your noses touch, and you feel Loki's breath as he says, "I adore you."

Needless to say, you learned very quickly how to kiss him around a neck brace.

~

tag list: @sydneyss-worlddd @afinedilemma @fire-in-her-veinz @belladonnabarnes @drakesfiance @internetgremlin @dragon-chica @triggeredpossum @tarynkauai

[tttinytrash]

(Another skelesnake, I’m on a roll with them as of late. Most of the headcanons associated with how they work is still lifted from Shamedump, cause they’re neat. My demiromantic, ace ass found a lack of platonic noms, but if you wanna take this as a budding romance I won’t stop you. And I was also using this as an experiment with second person POV, since I’ve never used it. Anywho, I’ll shut up and get to the story.)

-----

God, you hated retail.

You let yourself plonk heavily into one of the cheap patio chairs provided in the break room, pulling out your phone. You glanced around the room as you wrestled your phone out of your pants pocket, and made the mistake of locking eyes with Jerry.

Every retail store has one. The one worker that’s slow, lazy, and all around a pain. No one ever knows how they keep a job but there they are. That’s Jerry. A spindly, older man that was made all the more bitter by never escaping retail, blaming everyone else when he was clearly the problem. You were saved an awkward conversation by the new hire walking in.

Well, slithering to be more accurate.

Sans was a naga skeleton. Monsters had been reintroduced to humanity a few years back. Thank God the laws were finally in place and the monsters’ citizenship finally granted after a legal battle that took far too long in your opinion.

Jerry’s open sneer proved he was aligned with those who had fought to deny that citizenship. Sans ignored you both (as he tended to ignore everyone unless specifically asked.) and went to his locker. He left right after, but Jerry leapt at the opportunity to talk to you since you were freshly alone again. Damnit.

“I can’t believe they let that thing work with people.” Jerry spat. This wasn’t the first similar sentiment you’d heard. Especially not from Jerry.

You tried to stay out of it, hoping your lack of engagement would shut the racist up.

No such luck. “The thing can’t even do it’s damn job! Can’t use a forklift, why do they let it stock shelves?! It’s a burden!”

“HE,” you put obvious emphasis on the proper pronoun, “uses his magic instead. He works alongside everyone else just fine.” You feel the anger boiling, especially after last week’s incident where Jerry nearly ran over Sans’s tail with said forklift on “accident.” (Not that corporate would do anything without “sufficient proof.”) You realize you’ve already said too much and try to bite your tongue.

“It shouldn’t be around people in the first place! Our ancestors sealed them away, why don’t we do it again?”

That does it! “My God Jerry, get a life. All you do these days is bitch about monsters. They’ve done nothing wrong! They’re people who just want to be left alone to live their lives, and I can’t believe you’ve taken up such issue with that. If you don’t like monsters so much, just leave them alone! Because I’m sure they’d all be happy to not have to deal with you, I swear!”

You feel the adrenaline wear off, and look back at a stunned Jerry. You decide that’s enough of a break, and storm out of the room.

As you exit, you see Sans on a lone patio chair out in the hall. Guess he was taking his own break, and elected to steer clear of Jerry. You feel the blush on your cheeks like fire as you immediately wonder how much he heard of your snap. You shuffle past in a rush and nearly trip when you hear Sans voice a casual “thanks.”

You stop long enough to look back to see him looking at you with a small smile, throw him and awkward one of your own coupled with a rushed nod, and continue your shuffle away back to the sales floor.

God, what’s HR gonna do with you?

-----

HR didn’t do much.

Not that that’s surprising, in retrospect. Jerry and you both got called in, given a verbal slap on the wrist, but neither one got a write up.

While that outcome was anticlimactic, you did get a positive result elsewhere. Sans had started talking to you at work, and eventually you two exchanged numbers. Nearly a year later, you were hanging out outside of work. It was a nice friendship you two had going, and you guess you had to thank Jerry for it, which was ironic.

You were both at your house, playing a video game together. It was a Co-Op game you both had interest in but no one else to play with, so this wasn’t the first time he’d been over for a gaming session. You both laughed when you fell off the stage and died, but the mirth was cut short by the power cutting out.

“the hell?” Sans voiced, conjuring a glowing red bone to cast at least some dim light into the dark room.

“Lemme see.” You respond, pulling out your phone. You check for scheduled outages or weather notifications. “Crap. The snowstorm that was supposed to brush by changed course. Whiteout.”

“welp. guess i’m sticking around, eh?”

“Yep. If you think I’m letting you leave in a white out you’re batshit. I’ll grab some blankets.”

-----

You’d decided to sleep downstairs to be a better host, and Sans had insisted you take the couch. He had a pillow nest on the floor using literally every pillow and plushie you owned save the one you were using. He swore he was comfortable in the pile, so you two had grabbed every blanket you had and divided the hoard in half. Both sufficiently burritoed against the chill settling into the house with the heater down, you tried to sleep.

You woke up who knows how long later, freezing.

You were shivering, and evidently the blankets and fuzzy PJs hadn’t been enough. Your toes were numb when you checked, but Sans seemed ok when you glanced over.

Maybe grabbing your heavy winter jacket would help. You got up to go hunting by the light of your phone but whirled around at the sound of abrupt motion behind you.

It was just Sans, he’d whipped up from his spot and had summoned a bone in his hand, looking around wildly before his eyelights settled on you. “jeez, kid.” he breathed in obvious relief. He let the bone disappear.

“Sorry, I thought I was quiet.”

“ya were. i sleep light, old habit from underground. couldn’t sleep?”

“I’m freezing my ass off. Well, more my toes. I was gonna grab a jacket. You doing ok temperature wise?”

“all good. perks of being a skeleton. in fact, c’mere.”

He adjusted a spot in his nest, looping his coils to leave a loose circle of tail.

“Y-you want me to lie there?” You ask, teeth already starting to chatter.

“i’m warm, you ain’t. seems obvious.” Sans shrugged, gesturing to the space he’d made.

You gingerly lay yourself where indicted, and he closes his coils around you loosely, then tosses the blanket over the both of you. You thank him, and apologize when he flinches away from the touch of your icy extremities. He brushes off the apology and instructs you to make sure to keep them in contact with the glowing red magic of his tail. You reluctantly do so after a bit feeling comes back as pins and needles, but you do feel better. You try to sleep again.

But can’t stop shivering enough to actually slip into sleep.

Eventually, after a few more apologies and the realization that you won’t be able to sleep the rest of the night settles in for both of you, Sans seems to have an idea. “kid, you trust me?”

“Yeah, why?”

“i have a solution. it’s no biggie for nagas, or it was at least before we were sealed away. quickly figured it ain’t so much for humans.”

“Now I’m curious. Spit it out.”

Sans laughed, “heh. more of a pun than you know.”

You just look at him confusedly.

“i could swallow you, kid.”

You tense up. “What?”

“relax. told you, it’s normal for nagas. before the underground, we’d do it with our kids or heal friends and family that way. shit, it’s even part of courting in the right context.”

“...And this context would be?”

“a friend is fuckin cold and i can help is the context, kid. unless you’re cool with not sleeping.”

You hesitated. “This is safe? You’re sure?”

“i did it to paps when he was a babybones, and he’s still around. been awhile, but yeah. it’s safe.”

You fiddled with your hands. You did trust him, even if your instincts were revolting at the idea of allowing yourself to be eaten. No, this was a stupid debate. You knew you were being irrational. You took a breath before nodding. “Ok. Let’s do it.”

Sans uncoiled from around you, and you found yourself already missing the heat. At his request you sat up straight in front of him, and gave him your hands. He guided them into his mouth, and you flinched when your fingers brushed against his tongue. 

He let you flinch away, and waited for you to make the first move to start again. Shaking just a bit, you laid your hands back in his mouth. Given this go ahead he used his hands to guide them farther back until you felt the back of your hand touch what felt like a throat. How did a skeleton have a...?

You didn’t really complete the thought as a swallow drew your hands and upper arms into his gullet, and you were brought face to face with the monster. His jaw popped and unhinged, and he guided your head to duck under his sharp teeth and follow your arms into his maw.

He swallowed again and your head was now in his throat, and that sort of felt like the point of no return. Oddly, that brought a sense of calm over you rather than dread and your curiosity came to the forefront. The material around you was warm and fleshy like his tail, but just like his coils it didn’t quite feel “right” for flesh. It was slicker and almost felt like a heated waterbed with a thick rubber or silicone membrane. 

That train of thought also died at another swallow, and now you could feel your hips balancing on his teeth. You were spared the spikes of his fangs by what seemed to be his tongue laid over them, which you were grateful for. His skull tilted back, and you sunk deeper into the tight confines. Simultaneously, your hands felt an even tighter squeeze before the pressure let up completely. 

Another swallow above and you were pushed down past that same tightness before being released into an open chamber beyond. A final gulp and your legs joined you. You heard a deep breath around you, apparently that had taken some effort. You felt like you should be scared, but despite the adrenaline you felt more numb. Maybe it was just the dregs of fight or flight? Anyway, you used your heightened senses to take in all the stimuli around you. It was wonderfully warm, and the air was easily breathable. The area was more open than his esophagus for sure, but your body filled most of the available space. You used some of your limited movement capabilities to lightly push at the wall, to find it was pliable to pressure and your hand sunk in. It was slick and almost felt wet, but you could tell that your body was in no way damp. You felt Sans press in over the space your own hand was pressing out, and the odd numb feeling dissipated into calm.

“you ok in there, kid?” Sans finally asked, voice both close and muffled.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You were right, this is much warmer.”

“heh, told ya. aight, i’m gonna get comfortable myself.”

You felt movement around you, but it was brief. He seemed to coil back up in what was probably the nest and then movement ceased. You’d pulled your hand back when he’d started moving, but now curiosity had your palm back out, running it along the wall as a test of texture.

Red made an odd growling sound, and you clenched into a ball in reaction. “What’s that?” You ask in mild alarm.

“sorry, just me. couldn’t help it, ...that felt nice.” Sans answered, the latter half pretty reluctantly.”

“This?” You clarify, running your fingers down the wall in front of you again.

Sans didn’t verbally answer, but that growl came again. 

“Are you... purring?”

“you ain’t gonna make me say that, are ya?” Sans sounded desperate and mortified, and you couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

“yeah, yeah. get your laughs in kid.” Sans says with a chuckle, and you both seem happy for the newfound levity in such an odd situation (for you at least).

“What? You want me to stop?” You tease and rub at the walls more. 

“shut up, you little shit.” His insult held no real bite, and only drew a giggle from you.

You let him off the hook though, just letting your hands explore around you. He seemed happy to concede the banter and just enjoy the quiet, and after a little time under your ministrations the tissue got softer under your hands. It seemed he was actually relaxing, which was gratifying.

After a bit the purring hitched as Sans yawned, and you surprised yourself by yawning in reply. Oh right, it was the middle of the night.

“you ok to sleep?” Sans asked.

You nod, before realizing your mistake and instead calling “Yeah, I am.” You pull your hands back again and adjust to a comfortable sleeping position. “Thanks, again.”

“don’t mention it kid. night.”

“Goodnight.”

You drift to sleep in record time, warm and safe.

[bangtanfancamp]

✨This or That!✨

Hello loves, I was tagged literal ages ago by @curly-bangtan (who is such a sweet human btw! Thank you for the tag :’) it’s impossibly sweet of you) and am in the backseat while road trippin so I’ve finally got some free time to fill this out! I’m so excited !! I love these things !so without further ado🙃 Lessss gooooo

• slow burn or love at first sight

I guess to clarify, I love an instant spark of attraction and a long treacherous road to resolution- while also being painfully obvious that there is attraction and also while being overtly flirty but no one has the emotional motor skills to just be upfront about it already

•fake dating or secret dating

Oh, 1,000,000% fake dating. It is one of the single greatest regrets of my life that no one has ever asked me to be their fake date or gf. Because I would have been F A N T A S T I C at it. But I guess I’ll never get to live out that pretend to real slowburn in real life after all.... also, secret dating can feel really sucky and isolating so I don’t recommend.

•enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers

Oh god, must I really pick between my children? My whole life it was best friends to lovers. Now that I am currently dating the guy who was my best friend, I really melt over the fiery tension of enemies to lovers ... GOD! it’s so satisfying!!! But I think best friends to lovers still has to squeak by just by an ounce. (I’m a softy at heart, what can I say?)

•oh no! There’s only one bed or long distance with correspondence

Oh far and away, the one bed trope! No contest. I also deeply regret that I haven’t figured out how to make myself attractive enough for someone to try to pull this one over on me. *sigh* well, what can you do? .... also, did a long distance relationship for...6.5 years? And yeah, if you’re a romantic like me- it is dreadfully unfulfilling, let me tell you.

•Hurt/comfort or Amnesia

Mother freaking amnesia A L W A Y S !!! Heck yes! Are there amnesia fics??? 🤭I’ve never found one! But I absolutely love this trope in stories and movies. One of my all time favorites- which AGAIN- has not had the decency to actually come to fulfillment in my real life: Like why has park Jimin never showed up spontaneously at one of my doctors appointments trying to convince me that we’ve been best friends who were secretly in love with other since we were 14 and we finally just got engaged or married a month ago and his life is incomplete without me but he’ll patiently wait for me to love him in return again in my own time but in the meantime, he’ll love me in any and every little way he can until I fall for him again? Huh? Where is it! .... was that too specific😅?

•Fantasy au or modern au

no contest. Give me medieval maidens and dragons any day. I live in modern day. Lemme tell you- she ain’t that special.

•mutual pining or domestic bliss

cue Schmidt from new girl-“I can do this AWL day, son- AWLLL DAY!!” Yessssss!!! Mutual pining is my crack! Give it to me! Always! Gimme it! (Why can’t I have the things that I want!) okay this is just a Schmidt quote/rant post now. ..... I really want to love domestic bliss. And some of the writers who are excellent at it absolutely take my breath away at how beautifully they romanticize the every day. But outside of their writing, I have no scope of how to conjure that wonder up on my own. It is a skill I deeply lack. In real life, I just wind up feeling like the bliss is boring- gimme some pining! Some angst! Some tension!!! Even if I do love me some fluff. Someone once I told me that I was in love with the idea of someone being in love with me. Gotta say, he’s not wrong.

•canon compliant or fix it fic

Honestly, I can’t say I’ve read very many of either. But I do like to see how people flex their creativity.

•alternate universe or future fic

My favorite tv show of all time is Fringe (god bless you, JJ Abrams). Your girl LOVES alternate timelines, multiple universes, flashpoint, paradox, butterfly/ripple effect- all of it!! Dear god, yes! Give it to me! (Also, every time I have a crush or dream that doesn’t work out, I comfort myself with the thought that somewhere out there, there’s an alternate timeline version of me that is happily existing with said boy or flourishing in said dream endeavor. It’s a tremendous source of comfort).

Although, I must say, in the comic realm, alternate universes can sometimes frustrate me- like genuinely, could we not just make the alpha timeline the most incredible one? Instead of the best relationships and plot threads never being actual canon?! Can we get it together??? Or are alternate timelines just the comic industry’s way of writing their own fix it fics, generations after the original protagonist has been painted into a corner. Also, how hard must that be? To write endlessly for the same character for 60+ years? We write one fic or a couple books for the same character... could you IMAGINE having to supply 60 years worth of consistent weekly or monthly context!!! Wild

•one shot or multi chapter

I prefer multi chapter because I prefer getting engrossed in an entire work/world. Usually I am left wanting with a well written one shot, because they’ve made it so real that I can’t stand not having more- so my greedy butt loves the feast of multi chapter so I can have as many delicious moments and details with these characters as possible.

I do however deeply admire the skill and brevity it takes to made a succinct one shot. @underthejoon and @kpopfanfictrash are both brilliant as heck at that. And it is admirable as all get out.

•kid fic or road trip fic

honestly, considering how much I swoon over men who are good with children in real life, and how much I look forward to being both pregnant and a mom one day, I really never get into kid or pregnancy fics. I just don’t? Don’t know why. But a road trip!???? Oh heck yes!!! 👏🏽Where 👏🏽do 👏🏽I 👏🏽sign 👏🏽up!!???👏🏽

•reincarnation or character death

Oh absolutely reincarnation. I love that. I blame sailor moon for that.....But also, I think it’s just very in line with my love of alternate universes and timelines. I love how everything is connected/weaves together and feels predestined in the best way. I’m a complete sucker for it

•arranged marriage or accidental marriage

Like @curly-bangtan I legit had no clue accidental marriage was a thing? Unless you count being drunk at Vegas and waking up with a ring or we’re on some Jacob and Leah/Rachel level ish (which is really and truly the WILDEST™️ story ever ya’ll) ..... but I love a good arranged marriage scenario. The tension/push pull and inevitable relenting is so fun. But will say though, why the heck do women always fight it? Like there’s literally a whole Kim taehyung or Kim Namjoon offering to voluntarily love you and you wanna whine about it???!?! How dare you

•high school romance or Middle Aged romance

This, again, one is a pretty firm, resolute one for me. I’ll take high school. I’ve always felt a little oddly uncomfortable with more mature™️ romance stories? Not sure why. But I think the really beautiful ones always hark back to the beauty of their feelings being refreshing like the innocence of their first love. I know I personally can over glorify youth, but I love coming of age romance (high school, college, twenties) and no one can stop me!!!! I will say though, I have a secret soft spot for the niche of story where people have loved the same person since they were young and the timing just never works out but they finally find each other when they’re older. (One day is like that, and film or movie, it will absolutely rip your heart out-my god, it’s beautiful)

•Time travel or isolated together

These are both freaking AMAZING! But if anything has been established in this post, I think it’s my deep love of alternate timeline/reincarnation/time travel stories. I think they’re all from the same cloth. I adore them (I just haven’t written one because I’m not sure I could do the subtlety of it any justice.) maybe one day. My favorite writers are rumored to have the same Myers’s Briggs type as me so maybe I too could someday have a fraction of their world building skill.

I 100% love both of these so neither is a loser. But give me isolated together AND one bed in the same fic???? Speakers blown

•neighbors or roommates

I have never had the pleasure of having an attractive neighbor, though I often pined for it. (I have a bomb idea for a neighbor Hobi fic though) I did have a cute neighborhood boy who occasionally cut the grass for us in high school. But that doesn’t really count.... anyway! I LOVE the idea of being roommates with an attractive boy!!! Like holy guac, can I please????? Cocktailing this trope makes me swoon harder than none other- best friends to lovers + roommates? Yes. Enemies to lovers + roommates? Holy heck. Soulmate au + roomates???? Hold my sweet tea. MUTUAL PINING AND ROOMATES!!!! Pregnant. Fantasy/magic au+ mutual pining + best friends to lovers + soulmate au + reincarnation + roommate au!?!?!?!! frickin dead in the streets, homie.

I cannot say enough how much I enjoy roomate au. In a serious conversation, I once legitimately told my current boyfriend that the idea of marriage freaks me out- but the idea of being best friend roomates with sexual tension sounds like a dream come true. God help me.

•sci fi or magic au

I love sci fi. Deeply. But I will never love logic more than magic. Ever. (All my infp’s! come join me in the comments. 🙈)

•body swap or gender bend

Body swap has always deeply intrigued me. Especially in film. But I’ve never seen it in a fic. I’ve always wanted somebody to be able to switch into my body to feel physically, mentally and emotionally like i do. The deepest level of empathy & jean grey telepathy if you ask me, even if the trope is generally used for comedy. But the idea of switching into a dudes body and having to deal with their anatomy low key freaks me the eff out. If I got stuck in jungkooks body, I don’t think I’d pee or shower for a week 🙈 sorry everybody. I was really sheltered ok? Please don’t come for me. Lol...... also, have never seen a gender bend fic. Not sure how that would work. Not my favorite idea.

•angst or crack

Angst is my crack.

Honestly though, if it’s well written, it doesn’t feel ‘angsty’- cuz that means whiny or clunky to me. Well written ‘angst’ just feels emotionally compelling, I think. My writing weirdly leans toward what I hope is real angst (I e solid, genuine conflict and not petulance), but when I seek out a read, I look for crack honestly.

• apocalyptic or mundane

I offer you one better- a love story of the beauty of the mundane amidst the apocalyptic.

*mic drop*

Seriously though, the setting provides enough tension usually. Especially if it’s zombie apocalyptic. Just let jungkook’s fingers delicately trace my palm and smile, sweet and lopsided at me in the candle light, while we hide away in our little bomb shelter that I’ve turned into a jungle garden to bring life into this wasteland a la secret life of arrietty. sigh. Maybe I need to write this....

My gosh!!! We made it to the end! That was so much fun! Thank you for tagging me, sweetness!💕✨ 🙂

I’ll add a tag list shortly- @laurelevermore @lamourche @bts-fantasy @urlocalkpoptrash @thedreaming-poet @kimcheeeeeeeeee @hayjeon @outrotearot7 @lorengarcia-yut @bts-luvvv @chicpalestinian @flyingchixenwing @glodenclosetau @space-mermaid-in-love @thiccasswonhoruinedmylife @minminslittlemonster

Copy and paste if you can. Or if you’re dealing with a piece of technological antiquity like me and it won’t let you, then screen record/screenshot it and pop back and forth between the tabs 😅(also Thanks for dealing with the completely unnecessary treatise I added beneath every bullet point. It was just so much for fun to explain WHY I chose each one than to just say yes/no. I’ve said it before, written brevity is just not my strong suit.)

[hopelesstvaddict]

The Last of the Starks - Random thoughts on Episode 4

It started so promising though

This fourth episode opened with the aftermath of the Battle of Winterfell and a tearful funeral to bid farewell to the departed characters. Ramin Djawadi offers some more of his genius to score the scene… and that’s about his only meaningful contribution to the episode. What a shame after the mastery he displayed in the previous episode. The rest of this one is underscored with reused bits and pieces that sometimes work (Brienne and Jaime were scored by an unreleased cue that worked - but strangely previously accompanied Tyrion, Shae and Sansa at their wedding and later during Tyrion’s trial; Littlefinger’s theme reappears as Sansa makes the decision to tell Tyrion about Jon’s parentage) and frankly sometimes are total misses. Take the scene where Cersei and Dany’s forces face off at the gates of King’s Landing. It’s scored by a mashup of a cue that was previously used for the Boltons and a snippet from The Spoils of War intertwined with I Choose Violence. And to top it off the credits that roll right after a scene that should be deemed as tragic are accompanied by Shall We Begin, the same that ended Dany’s arrival at Dragonstone in 7x01. Hardly fitting, right ?

I have read that Missandei’s death reminds the viewers of Ned’s death. Well, Ned’s death was followed by Goodbye Brother, a sorrowful and quiet variation of the Stark theme - proper for mourning. Finishing here with this triumphant variation of the Targaryen theme removes any occasion to mourn for Missandei; some other episodes even finished off without any music at all. And if they really wanted a triumphant cue, the triumph is all for Cersei here so a variation of The Rains of Castamere would have worked better than Dany’s theme. This is absolutely not a victory for Dany here

Please do yourself a favor and go listen to I’m Sorry For Today by Ramin Djawadi. Then tell me this is not a better cue to end this episode. Wanna know something else ? It’s Greyworm and Missandei’s love theme. So… I just want to say a big no-no to whoever was in charge of music here

And then it spiraled down

Time constraints are back and it makes everyone worry about the rest of the season. The show already struggled during its entire seventh season with these problems of days/weeks spanning within minutes of an episode not to mention characters maddeningly being able to teleport literally anywhere they were needed to be. Well, it’s back on and it hurts everyone from the audience to the story to the characters themselves. While the first three episodes seemed to have learned from the previous mistakes by allowing the gravity of the situation at Winterfell to be really felt - giving the battle against the dead and the loss of characters much more impact - this installment reverts to what drew audience away from S7 by trying to pack too much in an episode that suffers from the lack of impact these developments should - in theory - have on viewers. In previous seasons, this episode would probably have been divided into two or even three episodes. I’ll say it again, I still don’t understand why HBO allowed the seasons to be shorter when 10 episodes per season was clearly a good rhythm. This decision to cut S7 and S8 down did nothing good to the show

Anyway we lose more characters here and that’s the big problem. It seems that the previous episode pulled back its punches and restrained from killing too many just to create an effect of surprise and shock in this one. But that’s just about it. There’s shock but no lasting emotional punch. We lose Rhaegal and Missandei but we hardly feel anything other than pure shock. There is no sadness, no real emotion. They’re just gone and on we move. It’s like the whole Viserion situation all over again only worse. Losing Rhaegal so soon and in such an unceremonious way serves in theory to create shock. Except the fact is, it only comes off as writing off an asset that is not needed anymore. And very poorly at that. What use was Rhaegal then apart from having Jon fly him for a few cool scenes ? In this case I’d have preferred him to die in the Battle of Winterfell

Since Dany lost Rhaegal, I don’t really see any point in her losing Missandei as well. Her dragon is largely enough to make her tip over the edge. Unless Missandei’s death furthers Greyworm’s story instead. Dany is already on her way to end up completely alone, having lost Jorah, most of her army, now her confidante and it remains to be seen how her commander will react to the death of his love. That was even confirmed by the producers as something very intentional. Varys is also lost to her and on the verge of taking Tyrion with him. On a positive note, Lena Headey continues to shine but I think Emilia does a tremendous job as well in portraying Dany’s descent into darkness

Jon and Dany are sinking and drag everyone with them

In any case, Dany and Jon seem headed for disaster. He still cannot say I love you back and what little faith I have left in Jon compels me to think he at least will not participate in the mass murder Dany seems to be leaning into. This at least is an aspect I am glad was not rushed over. The gradual transition of Dany from hero to tragic and morally questionable protagonist (to avoid the V word) is not - as some claim - too sudden to be credible; we have seen the seeds planted firmly in S7 and even earlier. Dany has my sympathy because I can still recognize her story as a tragic one and I feel for the losses she suffered. But in terms of ruling and politics, she’s no match to Sansa whom the remaining players still seem to take no notice of, as one of the best fitted rulers around (if not the only one)

Notice that Jon and Dany’s one-on-one scene is silent. There’s no music there, no Truth variation (thankfully!) to underscore it, a big contrast to the Jaime/Brienne scene. There was no romantic context to read here. Another observation : she uses touch as a means to get to Jon, just like Sansa did

Then there’s the Jon problem. I don’t know what to say about him because I hardly recognize the character. Who is this man who doesn’t even pet his direwolf ? Now I’m happy that Ghost gets a better ending than Rhaegal but this is a big disservice to a character that used to be much more important not just for the story but to Jon as well. Plus he keeps pushing his allegiance to Dany on his siblings and I bet Sansa was THIS close to blurt out loud that this was HIS allegiance, not HERS

And I can’t even begin with Jon still constantly shutting Sansa down. Anyone can literally understand the benefits of letting soldiers rest. And it’s not ‘provoking’ as Tyrion later states. It’s basic human concern mingled with a touch of military savvy. I wonder why everyone misinterprets literally what comes out of her mouth. It doesn’t take an A++ military strategist to come up with this kind of suggestion. Yet BOTH Dany and Jon shut down this basic guideline from Military 101. Sansa can’t even be bothered to argue with Jon anymore and honestly I don’t blame her. It’s up to Arya to call him on his bullshit

On a positive note, once again, Arya and Sansa synchronize themselves by holding their hands behind their back at the war council - a nice way to present a united front. Notice however that this time around, Arya is better at hiding her displeasure at Dany than her sister when in S7 she was pretty vocal about the Northern lords. Usually Sansa is the more diplomatic one, yet this season she can’t help but speak up to Dany. One then remembers Sophie Turner’s comments on a ‘more passionate fight’ this season than a political one. Sansa ‘loses it’ because she is triggered about Jon and Dany

And for an episode called The Last of the Starks its pivotal scene feels a lot underwhelming. First let this fact sink in : this is the FIRST AND ONLY time that all the Starks share some screen time alone and speak as a family. Yes these kids have never interacted onscreen before. Anyway, Arya and Sansa finally learn the truth of Jon’s parentage. Yet we’re denied the actual telling and their reactions. Jon doesn’t even do the deed himself; instead Bran does it. Was Jon ever really needed then ? I’ve seen speculation that Jon specifically refrained from telling them himself so that he could technically keep his word to Dany. Why not but still frustrating

The next time we see Arya, she’s on her way south. So is Jon. Only Sansa seems really affected by what she has learnt. And for a house that places so much importance on the pack as family, you have once again a family that is not only divided because of Jon’s parentage, his allegiance to someone all of his siblings haven’t praised a single time but also geographically as two head south - possibly to never return - and two stay home, one of whom is not really part of the family anymore. So what happens to 'The pack survives’? Are they even a pack anymore ? Were they ever ? Sansa alone seems to still cling onto this futile notion. Jon leaves everything that ties him to the North behind, from Ghost to Sam and Tormund, not to mention his cousins. And yet, there’s still NO GOODBYES

I’d speculated before that Jon and Sansa might argue more over his Starkness. That seems unlikely now since the two haven’t had any one-on-one scene since the first episode. Given how Jon treats her I kind of stick by my point that he doesn’t deserve her. With only two episodes left, even if Jon magically reveals that he was playing some kind of game, this late in the endgame would feel cheap and effectively rendered less impactful

And on Sansa, again the time jumping does a great disservice to her - but that’s not the only time her character is dealt a poorly with. The framing of this installment makes it like Sansa couldn’t wait to snitch on Jon to Tyrion. Instead, a lot of time has passed per the producers who told us that this was a very thoroughly thought decision on her part. Well, that wasn’t what transpired on screen and if really some time has passed, then her onscreen upset appearance is not even a reaction to Jon’s secret

Anyway Tyrion asks her if she is alright. She is not. Cue the parallel to Littlefinger’s ‘what do you want that you do not have ? Why aren’t you happy ?’ This episode clearly points out Jon as the answer. And it’s not just her protectiveness over him - also, wasn’t HE supposed to be the one who protects her? - it’s the look of pure unaldultered adoration and fondness she shoots at him during the celebrations only to be tarnished by what everyone interprets - rightly - as jealousy over Dany. Notice that when she’s had enough and goes, Jon notices. Why she keeps being so faithful to him is a bit beyond me honestly but hey I don’t have Sansa’s patience with everyone else’s bullshit

On Jaime and Brienne : I was happy they got together and then mad at Jaime for going but I can’t blame him really. Sitting out the rest of the war was never a viable option for him and I like to think that Sansa subtly prompted him to go with her comment on Cersei

Logics fly out of the window

As many pointed out, the logistics of I-Can-Magically-Teleport-Myself -And-My-Fleet-Euron are all but credible and the odds of hitting a flying dragon not once, not twice but three times in a row and then miraculously miss one dragon with a dozen simultaneous arrows are downright ridiculously low. But then again… a flying Dany could not spot the Iron Fleet when she was airborne. So let’s just not dwell too long on this one

Sansa did not catch on PolJon. When Arya tells Jon she respects his decision to kneel in order to bring Dany’s forces north, Sansa is stunned. But previously, we thought that she had understood why Jon did it when she was conversing with Dany. Apparently not

Not a bad episode really. But clearly, the lesser of S8 so far and one that’s very worrying over the final two that have so much to wrap up.