#and a chance for ME to make up some renegade points in a way that makes sense

[revvethasmythh]

omega dlc is just an excuse for shep to finally let her hair down for a while and be the asshole she was always meant to be without worrying about causing an intergalactic incident because of it. this is real enrichment for her enclosure

[kalinara]

So I've mentioned before that I'm really enjoying the Phoenix ongoing. I think the creators are doing a really great job of balancing the idea of Jean as a human being and Jean as a space goddess, and giving her challenges that actually feel epic enough to BE a challenge, while also giving me adorable moments with her grasshopper concubine husband.

I'm hoping they'll be able to continue this for a long time, but I am somewhat realistic. There is likely to be a point where they run out of ideas as to how to write stories about a literal cosmic space goddess, and we're likely to get one of three things happen: Jean dies (I hope not, as it's been done. Multiple times!), Jean as the Phoenix goes flying off into the aether to do god-things elsewhere and MAYBE she'll occasionally pop up in other books as long as she doesn't de-stabilize the plot (which is better, but in practice, I suppose will basically look the same as option one), or be depowered - hopefully to about the level she was in the 90s, where she could be a significant and powerful part of a team without being a total game-breaker - whereupon she's likely to join whichever X-team that Scott is on. (IMO, this is the best option as there'll still be plenty to explore with her.)

So yeah, I'm basically assuming Phoenix will have a fairly limited run time and I'll consider whatever length it ends up being a happy gift to me.

I do have one wishlist item that I really want the series to tackle before its end. And surprise, perhaps, it doesn't actually involve my favorite character as a suffering damsel in distress to fuel Jean's character development. (Mostly because I feel like that's likely to happen anyway.)

My wishlist is this:

I WANT THE FUCKING GREYS BACK.

End of Greys was an incredibly mean-spirited book. I said it and I meant it. Even if you accept that it had to exist to give Rachel more angst and trauma, (I'd point out that she doesn't need it, but well, she IS a Summers), and it DID facilitate a reconciliation between Rachel and Scott - as she finally moved past her anger at him for everything after Jean's death, there is no fucking reason they couldn't have killed them off off-panel.

There was no fucking reason we had to watch the entire fucking family die, one by one, in gruesome ways, until poor Elaine loses her fucking mind and starts yelling at Rachel (because Rachel must suffer - which again, fair, and makes a kind of funny/terrible parallel with Jono's death, cursing Scott's name, in Rosenberg's X-run.)

But anyway, we're decades past that in real time. Rachel and Scott have brand new traumas to bond over. It became yet another pressure to freak out poor teen Jean, but she's gone back to the past and adult Jean is back and a fucking goddess of resurrection.

So let's bring them back!

I don't really care how we do it. Maybe their deaths were faked! The Shi'ar took them for study to try to reproduce whatever led to Jean's Phoenixing to begin with!

Maybe some renegade Shi'ar scientist cloned them, and the clones are off in space awaiting rescue. (I'd probably want to throw in a cloned Katherine Summers, just because I'm greedy and she deserves a chance to have adventures too!)

Maybe Jean just fucking wills them back to life. I don't care. I want John, Elaine, Liam, Sara, and all the countless other Grey relatives back damnit.

[anghraine]

Meanwhile in Mass Effect, I reached one of my favorite missions for a Paragade Shepard with the Mindoir-Torfan backstories. Naturally, I stayed up until two in the morning just to get to some of my favorite Renegade options:

[Image ID: in the first image, a batarian mercenary and slave raider named Charn tries to calm things down by saying, "Look, I'm just doing my job here. Hijacking this rock wasn't my idea."

In the second image, he gestures slightly and continues, "I signed on to make a little profit. A quick slave grab. Nothing more."

In the third image, a scarred Commander Shepard replies, "That's reason enough for me." /.end ID]

And then there's even more!

For context, the Mindoir origin = Commander Shepard comes from a remote human space colony which was attacked by batarian slave raiders. They enslaved some of her people in brutal conditions, and massacred the rest, not realizing the 16-year-old Shepard was still alive beneath some rubble. She joined the human military two years later.

The Torfan backstory = after further slave raids and attempted massacres of human settlements, the Alliance struck back at the various batarian raider organizations (funded by the batarian government). The Alliance had superior air power, so many of the raiders retreated into highly defensible regions beneath the surface of the moon Torfan, forcing the Alliance to send ground troops after them against difficult odds. Shepard led this assault and lost nearly all her soldiers wiping out the raiders; as the battle turned in her favor, some slavers tried to surrender and she killed them.

Anyway, the final fight with Charn's boss, Balak, begins with him disgustedly saying "You humans" and triggering a cut scene:

[Image ID: in the first image, Balak says, "You're almost more trouble than you're worth."

In the second, most of Shepard's body is visible in white and silver armor, while she has multiple guns strapped to her back. She dusts off her hands in the game, though it's not visible here, and says, "I'm just getting started." /.End ID]

Balak realized his evil plan wasn't going to work and switched to his escape plan, instead:

[Image ID: in the first image, Balak says, "I'm leaving this asteroid. If you try to stop me, I'll detonate these charges and your helper and her friends are all going to die."

In the second, her expression even more steely than before, Shepard says, "You don't get to leave, Balak. Not after what you've done." /.End ID]

He then tried to justify his plot to murder millions of innocent civilians by bringing up ~Shepard's past~:

[Image ID: in the first image, Balak replies to Shepard, "I could ask you the same thing. How many innocent batarians died at Torfan?"

In the second image, we see Shepard again as Balak says, "Or had you forgotten about that?" Her reply is highlighted: "Have you forgotten?" /.End ID]

She refused to send him on his merry way in exchange for the hostages and he did, in fact, explode a bomb where the hostages were being kept, instantly killing them. After she defeated his various troops, an injured Balak tried to insist he had the moral ground in all this:

[Image ID: in the first image, Balak grunts in pain while the uninjured Shepard stands straight. He says, "You humans think you're so superior."

In the second image, the camera closes in on his lowered face as he says, "But you're not better than us. I gave you a chance to save them and you threw it away. *cough* Who's the real terrorist here?"

In the third image, Shepard (backed by her krogan buddy Wrex) points her gun at Balak and says, "You. But you're dead." /.End ID]

[deusexlachina]

MENR: Citadel 1 - Fail to have sex with my therapist

To stop Saren, we talk to his manager. We appeal to the Council, the government of the entire Galaxy, which is represented by all three races - Turian (mean bird), Salarian (nerdy frog) and Asari (sexy nonbinary blue people). What about humans? Well, we're not ready to be a Council Race because we just discovered long-distance space travel. And all the other aliens also aren't ready to be Council Races because fuck'em I guess.

To meet with the Council, we go to the Citadel, the hub of galactic civilization built by mysterious aliens in the distant past for reasons we implicitly trust. The Council refuse to Cancel Saren on the grounds that I have no proof that Saren is evil besides my word and that of a traumatized dock worker. And also his evil cybernetics, his fellow Spectre dying under mysterious circumstances in the same location, and Saren necessarily having been mysteriously absent because he flew away on a Reaper, meaning the Council either saw that or aren't keeping any kind of tabs on their Elite Force Above The Law That Answers Only To Them, or the fact that he talks like a villain.

Wait, he gets to phone in? Why did we have to use interstellar travel to come here? This Meeting Could Have Been A Hologram Call.

All seems lost, until we learn that a Quarian woman, Tali, has evidence against Saren, so she tells the Council but they're racist against pretty much everyone who isn't a Council Race so that doesn't go anywhere. So she tries to tell the Shadow Broker, a mysterious spymaster who is of shockingly little relevance to this game. To get to the Shadow Broker, she goes to his underling, Fist, but Fist has been bribed to work for Saren and is instead trying to murder her, so the Shadow Broker hires a bounty hunter, Wrex, to kill Fist and, independently, a policeman on the Citadel Security Force (C-Sec), Garrus, is trying to expose Fist.

Did you...follow that? Because I didn't on the first playthrough.

Wrex joins up with me because we're both trying to take down Fist. I've given him the "berserker" armour design, which is black with visible green stimulants that look like Mountain Dew. It's the ultimate armour for a gamer, and Wrex's favourite game is WAR. He tells me not to killsteal. As with Ashley and Kaidan, Wrex is the more "Renegade" of this pair.

Garrus, who I've made a knight in pinkish-orange armour, jumps at the chance to work with The Butcher Of Torfan because it means less regulations. If you don't know any real cops, you might wonder why a cop would hate rules, but for Garrus, it's because rules get in the way of killing people, his true passion. This is the more Paragon of the new recruits. Apparently.

He isn't too unusual. Another C-Sec officer tells me that they use my attack on Torfan as a case study. The attack where I got three quarters of my own squad killed and took no prisoners. I would make some snide comment like "Oh, you look up to The Butcher Of Torfan???" but this is special dialogue for Ruthless Shepard, and he's dropping Torfan by name, so that's just explicitly what he's saying.

With my squad of The Butcher Of Torfan, Bloodthirsty Mercenary and Killer Cop, we raid Fist's bar, because he was operating behind a bar apparently. There are more guards deeper inside, but this is where my dreadful reputation comes in handy:

Because I've accumulated enough Bad Girl Points, I can just threaten them and they immediately decide they're not being paid enough for this. Wrex expresses his disappointment that The Butcher Of Torfan left any survivors, but there's no approval mechanic, so this is fine. Garrus chides him, saying not everything has to be solved with violence. He doesn't cite any specific examples, presumably because he doesn't know any. But like. On principle. There's probably some other alternative besides shooting people.

After this riveting symposium on the ethics of war, we meet, and beat, Fist, who tells us the Quarian wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker directly, wisely not trusting him but unwisely trusting whoever she met alone to be the Shadow Broker. She's been set up to meet with Saren's men, who are going to kill her. Having gotten this useful information, Wrex shoots him like he said he was going to. You can express your disapproval, but honestly it would feel a bit hypocritical.

With that human life out of the way, we rush to save Tali from her own bad decisions. We get there in time to witness a conversation between her and Saren's goon, who she doesn't trust because the subtitles just call him "Assassin."

We save her from Assassin and his Assassin friends. After meeting with one group of killers who wanted the evidence and being directed to meet with another group of killers who wanted the evidence, me and my group of killers [good] demand the evidence.

Tali is understandably distrustful, but we take her to the embassy and she gives us the evidence. We go to meet the Council, but not before I do some odd jobs for a magical sex worker who gives me a Seemingly Useless Trinket and gives me an affirmation of who I am, which, because I am the Butcher Of Torfan, consists of her telling me I'm a very bad girl.

I thank her for looking into my soul and appreciating who I am (murderer who kills people). If you're dismissive about her words, she outright has sex with you, which I missed because my own politeness bled through. Ah well. No regrets!

I now present my extremely damning recording to the Council, which consists of Saren and Matriarch Benezia (another hot Asari but she's evil) talking about how they're going to bring back the Reapers, an ancient race that drove the Protheans to extinction. Strangely, they believe that Saren is a traitor but not that Reapers are real. Instead, they think he's just using them as a story to appease the Geth, who worship Reapers, in order to use them to get the Conduit, some mysterious artifact that presumably has nothing to do with Reapers even though Saren & Benny outright said it did. What.

But Saren has retreated into the Terminus Systems, eluding justice before the Council could realize that Obviously He's The Bad Guy. Not wanting to risk war with the Terminus Systems outside of their border, the Council instead make me a Spectre, which makes me above the law, and send me to discreetly investigate Saren, figure out the Conduit and hopefully not start any wars.

Hopefully.

[noodyl-blasstal]

Hide and go Splat

It's @taznovembercelebration day 10 and the card I drew was "hide". Welcome to the world of hide and seek paintball!

Read below or on Ao3, you can find yesterday's prompt here.

-

"One, two, three, four..."

Taako runs, sprints even, hurdles some of the bales of hay and swings himself up into the tree he scoped out on the way here. Flip wizard! Unstoppable! Apart from...

"Ow!" Someone very solid and very in Taako's tree says as he slams into them.

An arm reaches out and snakes round his waist, pulling them tight together at the hip.

"You're in Taako's tree!" Taako says, not making any effort at all to move - he's absolutely not planning to get any paint on him today and the branch is big, but not large enough for them to leave any space between them. Also Taako can't lie, the sensation of a strong arm wrapped around his waist, a yielding hip pressed to his, not bad. Definitely not bad. If this guy would just take off his visor Taako could assess whether this was a first date or not. Chances look good based on the bottom of his face. Lup did say Taako should try being more creative about how he met guys, she’ll be so pleased.

"I'd say, arguably, you're in my tree, considering I was here first." Interesting, the tree thief has an accent.

It doesn't necessarily sound like an on purpose accent, Taako's fairly sure that it's a bad impression of Cockney, but it's interesting nonetheless. He's from the green team, although all his gear is definitely the darkest shade he could find. A few brighter stripes on his forearms and the green t-shirt are the only indicators that he's not just some tree stealing renegade and is actually meant to be here. Taako searches the memory banks, honestly, he was paying more attention to finding the best hiding spot than who else was playing, but he definitely remembered giving one member of the green team a lingering once over instead of paying complete attention to the safety talk. This seemed like the same dude.

"So, what's a guy like you doing in a nice place like this?"

The man snorts. "I thought that was supposed to be a complimentary line?"

"You laughed, didn't you?"

"I thought maybe you were trying to charm me into letting my guard down so you could get me?"

"The only thing Taako wants to hit is the target. Then he can go home and get comfy."

The man inclines his head like he's thinking about the prospect of getting comfy, hopefully with Taako. Lup's gonna be so proud if he manages to pick up a guy in a tree.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." He does sound regretful.

"Why not?" Taako's happy to chat, honestly, if he keeps a member of another team distracted it's still playing the game.

"The rules, Taako? The point of us being here today?"

Oh, he was a rules guy. Bad, terrible actually. Taako couldn't date a rules guy.

Taako sighs, loud and obnoxious (no one's nearby, he checked first). "What if you just didn't stop me though?"

"Why?"

"Cha'boy would really like to hit the target. Think of how nice the cheers would be. Ta-ko! Ta-ko! Ta-ko!" He chant whispers, throwing his arms up in imaginary triumph.

"And why would I want them chanting your name instead of mine?" Taako can't see the top of his face through his visor, but he can feel the questioning eyebrow that's definitely raised.

"You'd have to tell me what it is so I know how it'd sound chanted. Ta-ko is hard to beat."

"It's Kravitz."

"Kra-vitz! Kra-vitz! Kra-vitz!" Taako does a test whisper cheer. "Fine, yours is pretty good too."

"Thank you!" Kravitz sounds pleased that Taako's acknowledged the chant-ability of his name. "So you can see why I can't let you do it?" Kravitz asks. He even sounds a little sorry.

"Counterpoint..." Taako is nothing if not great at making airtight, logically sound arguments. "... Blue team sucks."

Taako's got him here, he can tell.

"Mmhm." Kravitz says, keeping his cards close to his chest.

"Greens can't beat blues, but the mighty reds can." He's never above using people's hatred of the blues for his own personal gain.

"You can?" There's the hopeful note. Taako wills Kravitz to let the hatred flow through him.

"Uh huh. If you let cha'boy tag the target we're sitting pretty. I can guarantee my teammates are out there taking people down as we speak and they always go blue first." He wasn’t lying, Lup and Barry worked together and rarely missed; Magnus was terrifyingly quiet for someone of his stature; and Davenport was a master of drawing enemy fire to the space they could have sworn he'd been a few seconds before - he’d find their position based on the trajectory of their shots. Edward and Lydia and whatever 'friends' they'd hired that week could only get so far with their money. Well... there was all the umpires they'd bribed, but Taako could barely think about that without acidy injustice rage boiling in his stomach and he was all out of Tums.

"I should just hit you." Kravitz sounds like he's trying to convince himself.

"Mutually assured destruction, handsome, Taako's dexterous, cha’boy is speedy." Taako's pretty sure Kravitz was the one whose ass he was more concerned with than safety earlier, It seems prudent to alert him to Taako's relevant skillset.

"Oh does he now?" There's a playful challenge in Kravitz's tone, Taako can work with this.

"You can find out exactly how flexible Taako is if you want."

Judging by the way Kravitz's hand tightens on Taako's waist, he might just want.

“What if we both hit the target?”

“If you think you’ve got the skills to get it from here, stud.” Taako winks, even though Kravitz probably can’t see it through his visor.

“From here? You can’t.”

“Watch me.” Taako grabs his slingshot and a paintball in a smooth motion.

“You weren’t lying about being quick.”

“I’d take my time with you.”

“What?” Kravitz sounds like he’s worried he misunderstood, but his arm hasn’t moved, so Taako assumes it’s not revulsion.

“Nothing!” Maybe that was too much, he needs to reign it back in, Kravitz might not realise this definitely is a date yet. “So, about my superb target powers?”

“How about we make a deal?” Kravitz seems to be wiggling slightly, like when Taako gets to talk about why all caramel is salted. Taako doesn’t know if he’s supposed to be able to tell or not, but the excitement is infectious.

“Tell me more, tell me more.”

“If you hit the target from here, I won’t tag you.”

“If I don’t?”

“I’ll tag you… and get your number?”

“You can have that either way, handsome.” Taako says,hopes it’s smooth enough to counteract the way he lurches across Kravitz, winds up, and sends the paintball spinning. He’s out of Kravitz’s lap by the time the cheer goes up a few moments later.

“Green takes the target!” The announcer’s voice is projected across the pitch. “The blue spotter is searching, but to no avail. He has 5 seconds of danger time left, 4, 3, 2, 1. The green player is clear!”

“Fuck.” Mutters Kravitz.

“Have you got a pen?”

“What?”

“I thought you wanted Taako’s digits?” Maybe Taako misunderstood. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Can’t you just put it in my phone?” Kravitz wiggles for a second and grabs his phone from his pocket.

“Krav! What if someone’s tracking you?” Taako’s aghast.

“What if I see some cool birds I need to take a photo of? Or want to get a video of Lydia and Edward yelling at each other when they both get hit?”

“All good points.” Taako taps dutifully, grabs a terrifying mask-heavy selfie, and saves his contact to Kravitz’s phone before handing it back and grabbing his own phone.

“Hey! What if someone’s tracking you? You’ve got yours as well!”

“What if there’s a handsome guy whose number I need to get?”

Kravitz makes a pleased sound. “You make a great point, here.” Kravitz taps in his details then hands the phone back.

“So we’ve got at least another 10 minutes before the run back starts.”

“Seems prudent to stay here, wouldn’t you say?” Kravitz keeps his voice light, casual.

“However shall we pass the time?” Taako places his hand lightly on Kravitz’s thigh.

“I’m sure you have some wonderful ideas.” Kravitz’s voice is warm and rumbly and…

“You forgot your accent.”

“What?”

“You were Cockney like 10 minutes ago.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Oooh he’s fun to tease.

Taako takes his hand back. “Okay, well then, I guess…”

“That’s my hide and seek paintball accent.” Interrupts him.

“Run that by me one more time?” Taako’s going to marry this idiot. Right here in this tree.

“You know. An accent, a persona, to help with the…” Kravitz waves his hand in the general direction of the field and the occasional screams reaching them.

“Nope, cha’boy hasn’t got a clue what you’re on about. You’re perfect.”

“Fuck.” Kravitz hisses.

Taako’s about to ask what’s going on, but before he can he’s in Kravitz’s lap. This was moving slightly faster than the trajectory he’d assumed for them because of the tree and the need to hide and the witnesses and all, but he was absolutely on board with it. Toot toot, Taako and Kravitz are pulling out of the station. He places his arms round Kravitz’s neck. “Hey.”

Kravitz presses a finger to Taako’s lips. “Sssh.”

Less talking, more action, Taako can get behind that.

But now Kravitz is pointing, and, yes, there’s Lydia prowling around below them. Fucking Lydia. Of course she ruins this for him. A shot will give away their position, but if they’re careful… They exchange a look, Kravitz clearly doing the same maths in his head. Where Lydia is Edward isn’t usually far behind and that means two targets to take down. Good job there’s two of them.

“Oh Taako darling.” Lydia coos below them, focusing mistakenly on the pile of hay bales to their right. “I know it has to be you that tagged the target. Come out, come out wherever you are!”

Kravitz grimaces, matching Taako’s own. She inspires it in people. Taako wants to get her. Badly. But they have to get eyes on Edward first.

Taako shifts onto his feet and stands as quietly as possible. Kravitz looks up at him, clearly alarmed, and offers a hand for balance. It isn’t necessary really, Taako can do a tightrope blindfolded, a slack line backwards in the dark, run up a tree branch any day any time, but it’s nice. There’s a strong, welcoming hand, someone watching out for him, a handsome face looking up at him, someone that wants to help him do a paintball murder. That’s romance probably.

It takes them what feels like an age to get sights on Edward. It’s probably more like seconds of frantic scanning. He’s slotted between some hay bales further back than Taako would have expected, Lydia must be bait. Edward’s staring intently, poised and ready to fire. What he’s not ready for, is Taako giving Kravitz a nod, a mime, and them both dropping into place. Kravitz is fast loading, not as fast as Taako, natch, but he can appreciate talent.

Taako does the count down silently, uses his fingers to mark time.

Lydia screams when the paintball smashes across her chest plate, smearing her face too. Kravitz must have put spin on it somehow, beautiful clever man. Edward just looks disappointed when the red paint blooms across his front.

“Now that that’s taken care of?” Taako shifts back to the broadest section of the bough. “We should probably get back to, the, you know... ” He indicates the spot they’d settled in earlier.

Kravitz sits back down. “It’s important no one sees us.” Kravitz pulls Taako closer until he’s straddling his legs. “Better go back to the most streamlined position. We wouldn’t want to get spotted.”

Taako eases himself into Kravitz’s lap. “Safety first.”

Kravitz smiles, truly smiles, wide and goofy and toothy.

“I believe you were holding on, you know, to be extra safe.” Kravitz guides Taako’s arms back round his neck, drawing Taako in closer. “I’d better hold on too.” Kravitz grabs Taako’s thighs, pulls him forward firmly. He could get used to this, the man handling. Kravitz is strong, sure, but soft in the best places too, Taako can’t wait to explore every inch of him.

Taako leans in slowly, giving Kravitz time to move away if he’s misread the situation. Kravitz moves forward instead, eager and handsome and…

"MAGNUS!" Screams Magnus, as he drops down from a higher branch, hanging by his knees.

"No! Wait!" Taako puts his hand out too late. Magnus has already loosed his paintball, it flies straight for Kravitz's head.

"Fuck." Says Kravitz as it thwacks him square on the helmet. "Great shot." There’s a moment’s pause then he eyes Taako. "Now... Where were we?"

"Absolutely not, no, you're on your way to a date with a shower. You can meet Taako in the winner’s circle after."

Kravitz pouts. “But I'll miss you.”

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you got paint all over you."

"I was a little distracted, if you remember." Kravitz has an edge in his voice, a hint of petulance, ooooh he cannot fail at anything.

"Not really, you'll have to remind me."

"Well I was somewhere around here." Kravitz catches on quickly, lifts a hand to cup Taako's face, stroke a thumb across his cheek bone. It's disgustingly tender. He hates how much he loves it.

Magnus rocks gently in the breeze. "Er, Taako? Sorry to interrupt, but I think I'm stuck."

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, Legion’s loyalty mission:

-Of course the heretics are inhabiting a former quarian station. There are plenty of other abandoned stations, but when have the geth ever chosen an alternative if the quarians are an option?

There’s probably an essay that can be written here about children that feel cut off from their heritage, but that is outside of my league.

-It took at least 10 years to rebuild the station, so the heretics have been outside of the Veil for some time.

Given the extent of Saren’s plans, the timeline (for once) adds up. It must have taken years for Saren to build the base on Virmire, develop a cure for the genophage, find and hatch a rachni egg, etc.

-Legion doesn’t inform you that the station has little air or gravity until after you land.

To be fair he probably didn’t know, but informing you of the possibility would still have been helpful.

-Legion refers to what to do with the heretics as “the heretics question”. Loaded language much?

-If the virus is complete, why haven’t the heretics used it against the true geth already?

-Legion sure is quick to inform you that there’s an alternative to destroying the heretics.

For all he hems and haws through the mission, it’s implied that the true geth really want the heretics back. They’re just not quite sure it’s safe.

-In the same conversation, Legion is far more receptive to rewriting the geth (renegade) than opposing it (paragon).

On the surface it feels like it’s about the logic.

If you go renegade, you say organic ethics don’t apply to synthetics. He agrees. Every species should be taken individually. Then he notes that changing organics takes time and effort, but changing synthetics only requires a data file.

If you go paragon, he says that whether synthetics should be treated like organics is irrelevant. If you don’t rewrite them, you’ll destroy them. And by the way the heretics will kill all organics because their gods tell you to. And they don’t have emotions to appeal to.

The undercurrent is that Legion doesn’t want to go with destroy. If you support rewriting, he points out how easily synthetics can be changed. If you oppose it, he emphasizes that the alternative is killing them. Then he throws in that the heretics want to kill organics and can’t be negotiated with as if he doesn’t want you to feel bad about your choice.

The vibe is he’s nudging you to rewrite, even if he isn’t quite willing to say it outright. Isn’t willing to admit it to himself, maybe.

-As a general rule throughout this mission, you learn more about the geth if you go renegade than paragon.

-As others have pointed out: Why does a heretic station have med kits scattered all over it?

-Another apology to Project Overlord: The geth do (infrequently) make geth noises.

I still maintain that Cerberus should know they can talk too.

-Legion’s eagerness to talk about the geth to Shepard reminds me of Tali explaining the quarians to Shepard in ME1.

A bit ironic that the quarians and the geth are both badly misunderstood and desperate to talk the ear off of anyone that shows the slightest sympathy to them.

-Legion describes programs as being reduced when they’re in platforms.

I wonder if there are programs that never want to be in platforms to avoid it?

And possibly others that seek it out – maybe they’re seen as weirdos? - because it offers them the chance to experience the world first hand in a way they can’t from a server.

-At the salvage hub, if you go paragon Legion speaks like it’s a given that the heretics will be rewritten.

If you mention that it might be traumatic, he hedges that the geth aren’t sure they can be traumatized. (Spoilers: They’re already deeply traumatized. Complex PTSD or regular PTSD? You decide!)

If you say they might feel guilty once the heretics rejoin, he says that once the decision is made it’s made. It requires careful thought. He never directly responds to the statement about guilt.

-If you go renegade, you compare the heretics to a rogue limb and rewriting the heretics to reattaching a severed arm.

Legion has an interesting line: To use your metaphor, they removed themselves from our body. Took their perspective. Their judgment.

That sounds an awful lot like the geth might be upset at the heretics for leaving.

Legion just spoke about how geth feel reduced in platforms because they’re linked to fewer programs. Now he’s speaking about how the heretics left – which implicitly means that the geth whole was reduced. He claims it was a peaceful parting, but I’m getting the vibe there are some unhappy programs.

-If you say they’re not missing much by losing the heretics, Legion says all points of view are useful.

Than he comments that analyzing organic self-deception has been helpful, which feels an awful lot like a jab at Shepard for them insulting the heretics’ judgment.

-If you comment on possibly losing the heretics point of view if they’re rewritten, Legion acknowledges the risk. The virus changes the possibility of all outcomes, not just the outcome of worshiping the Reapers.

So in other words, the geth’s concern about the virus might be the other impacts it can have besides rewriting the heretics. The ones that favor destroy might not be opposed to the rewriting but concerned about the other possible consequences.

-When you find the heretics’ databases, Legion says they must have runtimes in the geth’s networks.

How have the geth not realized this???

-Legion: The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us.

“We allowed it” is yet another charged phrase. The geth allowed the heretics to leave. The heretics didn’t have the right to leave; it was a privilege the geth gave them.

I would love to hear the heretics’ point of view about what went down.

-Legion struggles to understood how the heretics are so different from when they last met. He doesn’t seem to grasp how time and experience can shape people differently.

I suppose that’s a natural side effect when you’re the sum of thousands programs that can read each other’s minds 24/7. When everyone is you, how do you understand people that are not you? How much experience do the geth have in meeting people after a separation?

-Legion, if you go renegade: We are not fully individuals. There are pieces of us in the heretics. One of those may be at fault.

I need Legion to take more time to explain this, because what part of the geth are in the heretics? The geth are one set of programs, there heretics are a different set. So what’s the overlap Legion is speaking about it? Functions they share? Libraries? I’m going to need more detail to make sense of this.

-Legion, at the end of the conversation: This topic is irrelevant. We must return to the mission.

I think this is very relevant, actually, but Legion’s clearly not ready to speak about this more.

-The combat here is awful if you’re a vanguard. You can’t charge the geth until they’re on the same floor as you.

Also, I got no ammo reloads through this section. How am I supposed to fight multiple waves as a vanguard if I can’t reload my guns???

-The geth can’t agree on rewriting or destroy, but they do agree on making it Shepard’s problems.

I’m getting strong vibes of control and destroy here. But there’s no third option for a synthesis.

-I went with rewrite with great doubts.

I do think it’s unethical, but I want to see the fall out of rewriting the geth with a more critical eye. They obviously retain some individuality since it makes the geth more willing to rejoin the Reapers in ME3.

On the other hand, it also makes peace with the quarins more difficult and I always want to achieve that.

-And mirroring the start of the mission, Legion waits until after he’s set off the virus to tell you the side effects may be harmful to organics.

We need to have some words with him about advanced warnings.

Normandy

-I consider Legion correct in the argument with Tali. Her people were torturing the geth to learn how to kill them. That’s something the geth have the right to know.

-Shepard does make a valid argument that it could result in a war between the quarians and the geth right when the Reapers are about to attack, which is bad for both of them.

Unfortunately, the quarians choose to attack anyway so all failing to prepare the geth achieved is making them decide to ally with the Reapers.

-Sovereign contacted many species over the millennia. How does Legion know this? What happened to the other species? Why do I suspect they’re all dead?

-So a single Reaper does consist of many minds. I thought I remembered that from somewhere.

However, we see later that Reapers are created by turning a species to goo. How does that goo consist of many minds?

And how is any Reaper sane​ after being made out of a species that was murdered?

-Huh. If I investigate first, I can’t speak to Legion. Whelp, time to reload.

-Legion quotes Sovereign from Virmire. How does he know the exact words Sovereign said?

I suppose he could have learned this from a broadcast. Which indicates someone was recording that conversation. Why didn’t anyone record Virgil on Illos?

-The geth want to understand organics better so they can understand the quarians’ actions during Morning War.

-I’d like to know why Legion never fixes the other hole in his platform. Surely that counts as a “structural weakness”?

Collector Raid

-As others have noted, the excuse to get Shepard and the companions off the ship is terrible. How does the entire squad even fit in a single shuttle? Who is sitting in whose lap?

-Kudos to Joker, he shows tremendous courage during this section.

-Shepard and Edi already sound married.

-Why doesn’t Edi ask other crew members for help?

When Joker gets to the Engine room, the Collectors are carry a crew member out of it. That means they must have already been in there. They could have done what Edi asked Joker to to do.

[lightninghikaru]

I loved the IDW version of the Swap you did and how about you do something similar but with the Sonic Prime ending.

Where Shadow gives his prism energy to restore the Shattered and Sonic has to carry it.

This is my proposal and I hope you read it.

I'm glad you liked that one! It was a deep one for sure. Hmmm this one might be tricky, the foundation of how Shadow broke the prism would be different. He's not as reckless as Sonic.

So we'll just take that specific scene and swap them. (Overdid it again)

“Stop!” Shadow blocked the Egg Council’s attack aimed at Nine. He knew Nine was the only one who had the schematics for the prism. They needed him.

“You would protect him?” Rusty asked, robotic voice increasing in volume.

“Yes,” Shadow said, standing firmly. He glances over at Sonic giving him a nod.

“The black rodent has finally lost it! Very well, we’ll destroy you both!” Mr. Doctor Eggman said.

“In a few minutes there won’t be anything left to fight over.” Shadow said with a snarl, still shielding Nine with his body.

“The Hedgehog makes a good point.” Doctor Deep said. They all stand back only slightly, just in case. Sonic stays next to Rebel wanting to stand next to Shadow but worried Nine might become hostile.

“You must understand. Their worlds have been shattered, their homes destroyed. And it won’t be long before this place shares that fate.” Shadow kneels down to look Nine in the eye. “So how do we stop it?”

Nine looks through the scattered people all watching him. His ears droop seeing Sonic look away from him… he had hurt him too… “I-I pushed it too far. This wasn’t supposed to happen… I-I’m sorry Shadow… Without the complete prism… it’s over.”

Everyone looked at one another, as the forcefield continued to shrink ever closer. Some holding each other and others whimpering or crying. Rebel grabbed Renegade’s arm and looked into his eyes, they held each other for a moment, words not enough to express their feelings. The Rose’s grasp hands together. The Council is a sobbing mess.

“You said a part of the prism’s energy is inside me, right?” Shadow asked,

“Yes?” Nine said,

“Then take it out.” Shadow said, jumping onto the extracting platform.

“Wait… Shadow…” Sonic stepped forward,

Shadow shakes his head at Sonic before turning back towards Nine. “Can you do it?”

“You’d trust me to do that?” Nine asked, “After everything?”

“I still consider you a friend. Even if we got off on the wrong foot.” Shadow said,

“Regardless of what happens to me. After the spaces have returned, leave Nine to his peace here on the Grim.” Shadow called out. Ignoring Mr. Doctor Eggman’s comments about invading.

“That includes you Nine,” Shadow said,

“How can we trust him?” Renegade asked,

“You don’t. But I’m the only chance you got so all you have is my word.” Nine said,

“Don’t make me regret it.” Rebel hissed.

Nine runs over to his computer. “If I extract the remaining prism energy inside him, I can use it to fully reform the paradox prism.” He explained,

“Then what?” Dr. Deep asked,

“Then the prism will finally be stable. I can save everything.” Nine said,

“You heard him, we have a plan. Let’s do this.” Shadow said,

“I agree with the rat. Do it already.” Mr. Doctor Eggeman demanded.

“There’s a risk, If I remove the energy he may fall apart.” Nine warned. “Without the prism energy binding him… I’m not sure he’ll make it.” He looked at Shadow with an apologetic look.

Shadow takes a deep breath. If sacrificing himself will save his friends, his family. So be it. “I’m ready.”

“No, I won’t let you sacrifice yourself!” Sonic moved forward but both Renegade and Rebel grabbed him and pulled him back, “Let me go!”

“It’s the only way.” Shadow said, looking at his partner.

“Let him do this Sonic!” Rebel said,

Nine begins to type on the computer getting everything ready. Sonic doesn’t stop struggling from their grip as he looks up at Shadow with tears in his eyes. “I can’t lose you too.” He choked back a sob.

“I know.” Shadow gave him a smile before turning back to Nine who was ready. “Do it.”

Nine presses the button and they see prismatic lights surround and envelope Shadow. Letting out a yell of pain. His gloves and hover shoes glitch in and out of existence. The paradox prism pieces start to stitch back together as the gear Nine made Shadow blips into oblivion. He and the prism explode into a blast of white light. The Paradox Prism was finally whole.

Shadow collapses, his body a lighter shade as he almost looked transparent. “Let me go!” Sonic screamed as finally they listened and Sonic’s immediately by Shadow’s side. Tears were already streaming down his face.

“Shadow?” Nine called out, Shadow lets out an exhale of pain before starting to sit up with Sonic’s help.

“I’m still here.” Shadow looks at his hand and can faintly see through it. Sonic was making physical contact with him but who knew how long that would last. “For now…”

“He didn’t Shatter!” Rebel rejoiced as Renegade rushed over to help Sonic get Shadow off the platform. They both feel Shadow’s body glitch against them. The sound of static popping in their ears as Shadow winces in pain.

“His prismatic energy has been extracted. The prism is whole.” Nine said walking closer. “His body is holding together But I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before…”

Sonic gives Renegade a look, he gives a nod and lets Shadow lean against him. “Could my Chaos energy restore him?” Sonic asked,

“I still don’t know what Chaos energy is and even if…”

“While you work on that We’ve got this!” Mr. Doctor Eggman said, gesturing to the Prism. The Council all stand defending the prism from them.

Nine runs over trying to get to the computer to stop them. But Doctor Babble grabs him by the tails and throws him back towards the others. Dr. Deep points his sword right at Sonic before he has a chance to react.

“Stand down blue gumball. I don’t trust one Hedgehog let alone two.” He said as Sonic growled at him.

“Doctor Don’t! Triangulate whatever is left of New Yolk City.” Mr. Doctor Eggman ordered.

“Once I calibrate the coordinates, we’re outta here.” Doctor Don’t said.

Nine gets ready to attack but Doctor Done-it points his weapon at him. “Ah-ah-ah! Careful! Look at your friend, he’s in no shape to fight.” Shadow snakes knowing he’s right.

“You may be right. But if Nine could barely handle the power of the prism, you clowns have no hope.” Shadow said.

“Now, now! We all must accept when our time is over.” Doctor Deep said. “But who knows? Perhaps when I wield the power of the prism, I’ll create a version of you that’s more agreeable.”

Sonic’s quills rise at that statement, but doesn’t have a chance to object when Doctor Don’t is already cutting in. “When you wield the prism? Wait till you see the VR world I’ve been planning. I’ll call it the Egg-a-verse.”

“In your dreams you no good whippersnapper!” Doctor Done-it chimed in.

“What’s a whippersnapper?” Doctor Don’t asked,

Doctor Babble also starts adding their two cents.

“Oh, cram it with walnuts ya big baby!” Doctor Done-it strikes Doctor Babbles mech. “Or I’ll give you a permanent timeout!”

“Enough you fools!” Mr. Doctor Eggman said, his head popping out of the top of his mech suit. “We stand at the precipice of a new world. And you would ruin my moment?”

“Your moment? Why you sanctimonious-” Doctor Deep dodges a surprise attack from Doctor babble. All of them move out of the infant Doctors' attack.

They all start fighting against each other as the rest just watch. Sonic prepares to lunge in and take them all out when Rebel steps beside him, “Hold on, Sonic. Let’s see how this plays out.” She gives a mischievous grin. One he was very familiar with.

“Stop! Stop, you morons!” Mr. Doctor Eggman demanded,

“Arghhh, Should we do something?” Dread asked,

“Not yet. This is like candy to me.” Renegade said with a satisfied smile.

The Doctors continue to fight. Nine looks over at Shadow, seeing him glitch with a pained expression. They were wasting time. He had to do something! Sneaking past the fighting he reaches his computer.

Putting coordinates out into the void he creates a portal right behind the fighting doctors. Doctor Babble strikes Doctor Deep right into it. “Babbles, no! Bad baby!” Mr. Doctor Eggman said.

“Can I smash now?” Sonic asked, looking at Rebel excitedly as she gave him a smile.

“Knock yourself out.” She said,

“Wo!” Sonic spins dashes Doctor Babble from the back, knocking him and Doctor Done-it into the portal. Leaving only Mr. Doctor Eggman and Doctor Don’t. They look and see they are outnumbered and they all move closer pushing them towards the void.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m out!” Doctor Don’t said, floating himself into the void without a fight.

Shadow pulls his arm away from Renegade, giving him a nod to join the final strike. “Now we do something.” Renegade said excitedly.

He, Rusty, and Rebel continue to corner him as Nine steps forward as well “No!” This belongs to me!” Mr. Doctor Eggman yelled. “I’ll defeat all of-”

Renegade punches the robot, stopping his monologue. Rusty uppercuts him into the air. Tails strikes him to angel him into position with the portal and Rebel makes the final strike, sending Mr. Doctor Eggman into the void.

“You haven’t heard the last of us! Just wait! We will amass an even greater army and destroy-”

Nine closes the portal and everyone cheers. “Good riddance.” Nine said,

Shadow lets out a groan of pain and starts to collapse. Sonic was there before he could hit the ground. Shadow’s body glitching again and starting to look more transparent. “Shadow?” Sonic looks terrified,

“Nine was right…” Shadow said, the glitch started to get worse. “With out the prism energy, I can’t exist in the Shatter spaces.”

“With the prism whole again, If I start the reformation process, theoretically, there’s still a chance I can bring back Green Hill.” Nine said, frantically typing away on his computer,

“Green Hill?” Sonic looked surprised.

“Here goes.” The Paradox Prism lets out a blast of white energy that causes them all to have to cover their eyes from blinding them. They all look up…

“The Prism! It be-” Batton was too stunned.

“Gone!” Rusty finished as they all looked terrified.

Did this mean the end of all their worlds?

“Look!” Nine points out to the sky as they see all the Shatter spaces reform. Sonic helps Shadow walk outside to see the Shatter space slowly become whole.

The gate way the furthest away from the Grim was Green Hills. Their home.

“You did it Nine.” Shadow congratulated, “Though with how far it is… I’m not sure I can outrun this…”

“Yes you can, if you leave now!” Nine said.

“Nine’s right. You get to your home; we’ll get to ours.” Rebel said,

“I got you.” Sonic said, tightening his hold on Shadow.

“You’re not doing it alone.” Renegade said, “Not when you got friends here to help.

Sonic almost loses his footing as Nine embraces Shadow. Shadow returns the hug before Nine just as quickly lets go, “Now hurry.” He said holding back a sob. “That gateway won’t be there forever.”

“Roses! Get them to their destination. Fly! And know we’ll be rooting for ya.” Dread said,

“Take care of each other.” Shadow said.

The Roses pull up the leviathan and Shadow and Sonic climb aboard. They head towards the Green Hills Gate as fast as the ship can muster.

“Hold onto your backsides! We’re gonna pick up the pace!” Black Rose said, pushing the leviathan past its limits.

There was so much debris that it kept striking into the ship slowing them down. “Hurry! He’s not going to make it!” Thorn panicked.

“Hold on Shadow." Sonic pleaded, barely managing to keep them both from being tossed around from the jolts.

“I’m doin me best! But this bucket of bolts is barely holding together!” Black Rose said.

“Keep it steady! I will clear a path!” Rusty said, shooting any debris from hitting the ship.

Unfortunately, one of the debris was too large and it took out the engine. “No! I’m losing speed!” Black Rose yelled.

Shadow was fading, the groans of pain coming out were fractured and broken, his body, a sickly grey hue with barely any life. He looked like a ghost.

“Black Rose, you brought us far enough.” Sonic said, standing up pulling Shadow’s arm over his shoulder. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Shadow gives them a nod goodbye before Sonic begins leading them closer to the portal.

jumping from rock to rock.

Sonic skids and Shadow crumples to one knee. He scoops Shadow into his arms and quickens his pace. Chaos energy sparking out of him as he goes at full speed. “Sonic… If I don’t make it…” Shadow winces as another glitch jolts through him.

“You’re going to make it! I won’t lose you!” Sonic forced himself to go faster. Shadow’s arm fell limply and his eyes shut from exhaustion. His body started to fade completely.

With one final push sonic breaks the sound barrier, shattering any of the nearby debris and he’s rocketing towards the Green Hills gateway. “Hang on, Shadow!”

They hit the gate and everything goes white.

Shadow grabs his head looking around slowly, beginning to recognize his surroundings, “Sonic?” Shadow called out seeing he was back in the cavern the paradox prism was discovered.

Time had reset and the previous fight was being put into motion. Shadow warps on top of Eggman’s mech and pulls him out before he could rip out the Prism. “Not this time.” Shadow snarled, taking Eggman by surprise.

“What do you mean this time?”

“That’s not any of your concern.” Shadow said. He made sure Eggman stayed in place while the others finished their battles.

“You and your friends are adorable when you try this hard hedgehog. But the result is Inevitable." Eggman taunted. But Shadow wasn’t going to take the bait. He knew how volatile the paradox prism was and would let him anywhere near it.

Shadow notices at the mouth of the cave stood Sonic, holding the green Chaos Emerald. He gives Shadow a relieved smile as he returns it with a nod.

“Don’t ignore me Shadow! This world is mine!”

Sonic warps on top of the Paradox Prism taking Eggman and the others by surprise. “Huh? Sonic? What that heck are you doing here?”

“I’m Sonic the Hedgehog! I go wherever I want.” He gave a taunting grim as he placed a grasped hand onto the Paradox Prism. “Chaos Control!”

And with a blip, Sonic and the Paradox Prism disappear.

“No! What have you done?” Eggman screamed,

“Looks like you lose Eggman,” Shadow said,

“You haven’t heard the last of me, Shadow!” He just rolls his eyes to the threat, “Cubot, Orbot! We’re gonna need a bigger fleet!” Eggman said, running away.

The others cheer as Shadow lets out a sigh of relief. “Are you alright Shadow?” Tails asked, looking at his brother worried.

“I will be now that everything appears to be back to normal.” Shadow said.

“Did we miss something?” Knuckles asked,

“A lot actually. But let’s get out of here, I’ll explain it all later.”

✨

There’s a frantic knocking at Shadow’s door as he opens it. Barely managing to stay upright as Sonic tackles him into a tight embrace. “I thought I lost you.” Sonic held back a sob.

“It’s alright, we’re both here in one piece.” Shadow said, letting Sonic nuzzle into his cheek with a loud purr. “The Prism?”

“Hidden far away. Made sure it was in a place only I could find it.” Sonic said with a smile. “It’s best if only I know where it is… I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

“For once, I agree.” Shadow said, pulling his partner into a kiss.

The world was put back together and the Paradox Prism was saved away from Eggman’s clutches. Now to return to a more normal routine for a while… at least normal for them.

[wrongcaitlyn]

hiiiii tawny I had free time for the first time in like WEEKS and so I caught up on your solangelo au week posts and now for my thoughts:

so american: YES. I LOVE. SO WORTH THE WAIT. NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY THE VIBES WERE VIBING. I read this as soon as it came out so the thoughts have left my head but trust I loved it.

renegades au: omg I love it. v v excited to see where it goes. also may have convinced me that I need to read renegades?? but I love the dynamic that the anarchists have. also I love scientist percy for some reason like it’s def not the easiest power you could’ve went with but I like the idea of him being a more behind-the-scenes guy bc I think that’s what he’d choose for himself if given the chance. also your percabeth dynamics are on point in literally every fic from this week (even tho they’re just in the background lmao).

new rome au: I think this route for nico is like. actually way more plausible than what happened canonically. like he DOES have way more friends in new rome than in chb. dont get me wrong im glad he stayed in canon but this was SO INTERESTING. I love the idea of nico healing on his own and separate from will. I feel like it takes away some of the… unhealthy codependency of their relationship LOL. once again the percabeth dynamics🫶🏻 also I feel like some space from percy and then seeing him while he and annabeth are in college more often would be good for their friendship??? like idk I am a big fan of taking ur space when needed. also risk is SUCH a will song. boy was in love with a dude before they even had a conversation.

nerds au: as a nerd a nerds au is something that can be so special LMAO I love this dynamic perhaps bc it is also my life (esp in hs). all of the character dynamics in this fic were just. chef’s kiss. I loved. I think you translated nico’s unhealthy habits from canon into a hs au in a really interesting, believable way bc nico WOULD stay up late to do hw out of spite. maybe not canon nico but a nico who grew up in the (possible public) school system. also I love the quiz bowl addition (at my hs it was called scholar bowl so sorry if I type that instead LOL) bc I had so much fun in quiz bowl. I made some of my best friends thru it :) are u in quiz bowl?!? the rules were way too accurate to be written by someone unfamiliar with it lol.

long story short I love all ur fics and will forever be excited to see an update to any one of them <3

oh my GOD. you have literally made me die dead. kicking my feet and giggling at this AHHGSDF

i'm SO glad that you liked so american!!!! was highly anticipating ur response bc u convinced me to actually write it so!!!! i'm so happy <33

ABSOLUTELY READ RENEGADES. srsly it's such a good series like i will recommend it to EVERYONE. the anarchists dynamic is so😭😭 keep in mind that this is a heavy au of renegades, so the dynamic is slightly different (+ a very different ending in the series, i took a lot of creative liberties) but i'm so glad that you liked it!! and YESLKSDJF i just realized that i had background percabeth in all of my solangelo week fics. which like. THEYRE SO ICONIC THEY HAVE TO BE EVERYWHERE i think there are some couples that i absolutely LOVE but i prefer to actually write them as background couples?? like i obsess over their dynamics, but i like it from an outsider's perspective and not as the main plotline (at least when writing fics) so i very much enjoyed including them in all of these

honestly SAME with the new rome au. like. absolutely love that nico managed to make a home in chb, but like?? reyna jason AND hazel were all in new rome... i honestly wouldn't have blamed him if he took that opportunity instead!!! i think this would be a really cool au to expand on and like actually make a full multichap but i am trying desperately to not turn everything into 100k monstrosities. i tried limiting myself to 5k words and didn't even manage that so. but i definitely think he would've grown a lot + gotten some healthier coping mechanisms when living with all of his friends, then meeting percy a year later, and THEN going into a relationship with will - and ofc, will is happy with whatever ends with a solangelo endgame. he's their own number one shipper!!

I'M SO GLAD U LIKED THE NERDS AU nico's characterization was definitely something that i considered (and, tbh, that i consider in all au's, because trauma and coping mechanisms do not often translate the exact same over universes - characters are always going to behave slightly different in other situations, so it's always exciting to see how that works!!). one thing that DOES translate throughout every universe is that he has no semblance of a sleep schedule; this time it's just due to hw instead of tartarus nightmares! SAME WITH THE QUIZ BOWL and yes i am part of the club!!! genuinely made my friend group through that, and we actually did what was in the fic irl - as in, we made a discord server and like quizzed each other over that. my team lost be an insane amount. i am nowhere near as skilled as nico and will. i maybe have gotten, like, 4 questions right in my two years of being part of the club (though i will use the excuse that my anxiety makes it VERY hard to hit the buzzer. i hate being wrong more than not answeringslkdf) but!!!! i do think nico and will would SLAY at quiz bowl, they both definitely feel like people who have random encyclopedic knowledge on the most niche topics

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH ILY <333

[intertexts]

GMORNING !!!!! u know what time it is

EPISODE 8 TRIVIA:

- the big monster they fought in the beginning was called a Crawling Apocalypse which looks like this. terrifying !!!

- bizly really liked that william banished it. he was originally not gonna let him do that but then "i realized your character can do so little and that was cool so i said fuck it" we love william pity points he is such a loser and he rolls so terribly <3

- they start talking about one piece because grizzlys saying things abt how certain parts of dakota are inspired by luffy and bizly goes "ive never watched anime" which is the biggest lie in the world

- grizzly: "yknow we were about an hour into the episode before i realized wow i havent done anything productive yet"

condi: "you just hit on vyncents mom for like 20 minutes!!!!"

- and then they start talking about how dakota and chip (bizlys pc from riptide) would either be best friends or hate each other which is really funny bc there are now MULTIPLE what if crossover episodes where they meet and interact and thats exactly the dynamic . i love them

- condi wasnt expecting his dad to be dead, he thought theyd have to fight him

- he kind of hesitated taking the sword !! vyncent doesnt really know how to feel about using something that belonged to his father

- he wasnt entirely Present for the part where his dad betrayed the party, he was sort of fading in and out of consciousness so theres a chance he didnt actually get the full picture. condi knows this out of character and vyncent knows it in the back of his mind somewhere that his dad might not actually be fully evil but hes too angry to come to terms with that yet

- hes struggling a lot with the fact that his mom.doesnt know about the betrayal. he doesnt want to tell her because "its not his fathers pride at stake, its his mother's memory of him" and that makes me so . :(

- THE GREATS!!!!!!!! THE GREATS ARE HERE i love the greats. surely nothing bad is happening to them

- they have a couple theories as to whats going on with the greats:

-- condi: theyre in this state because vyncent took too long getting them back here out of his head

-- condi: they were killed when they got transported to the other world and there was no way to get them back completely

-- charlie: something happened in the time where vyncent was transported to prime and the greats had died, so someone did something to keep them alive by putting them in his head. maybe they could only be kept alive by being in vyncents head

- grizzly tries to insight check bizly irl to see if any of their theories are close so far. this does not work . he rolled a 17 btw

- none of them trust minerva they think she might be secretly working with the lich. bizly defends her by saying "shes also in the middle of basically an apocalypse i think shes allowed to be a little mean to you"

- le frog is the only french person ever. this is brought up with NO context no explanation

- bizly is sharing some of the thumbnail art from youtube because this was right around the time the first few episodes were being put up publically !! most of them are just the same as the official refs but the most important one is le frog bc im not actually sure if youve seen his offical design yet . also tide used to be white. we dont have to talk about white tide

- bizly says pd feels more like a DC comic than a Marvel comic. hes right about this

- charlie starts talking about marissa meyer books and this is important 2 me because the lunar chronicles was an extremely formative piece of media for me . she apparently has a book called renegades thats superhero themed and i have not read it yet but i put it on my list specifically because of this. wahoo!

tgis is SUCH good trivia for this ep thank u dude... ouagh. really solid meal here. i love these last couple episodes so much.. there's so much fun stuff happening here i'm enjoying all of the greats stuff & getting like a solid Vyncent Moment for a while.

i LOVE the william pity points its great! it WAS cool as fuck!! also i gain +5 hp every time a gm goes "who give a shit if this isn't technically how the game mechanics should work, it's fun for everyone at the table & makes for something cool and makes sense narratively."

that being said. i DID take SO MUCH PSYCHIC DAMAGE from how long dakota spent hitting on his fucking mom. Please. Please king !!! sob.

I ALSO WAS EXPECTING THEM TO FIGHT VYN'S DAD???? still not unconvinced that some lich undead bullshit isn't going to happen with that. god i'm so invested in figuring out what HAPPENED there... i love this type of murder mystery situation. & i also was genuinely unsure if he would take the sword or not!! really kind of an ohhh shit! moment when he did. imo. vyncent virion sol i love u.... also it's still INCREDIBLY funny 2 me that he's still in his normal clothes. i have not forgotten that he is just doin his fantasy bullshit thing in the just some guy drip. (<- i might have forgotten something but i've been assuming they no longer have/wear Official Hero Drip since they're no longer really sanctioned or on great terms w/ them? also i've been assuming that the episode-specific clothes & shit isn't really permanent... now that im thinking about it though please tell me wiwi hardcore blue flame black leather kickass spiky biker jacket remains. it's too cool for him. but. still.)

I LOVE THE GREATS SO MUCH... i hope nothing permanently bad happens to them :( i like them so dearly..... you know they r really solid folks because they spent a YEAR and change living in a teenager's brain & came out of the experience still bein so nice 2 him.... augh. also in general big fan of the system-adjacent bullshit :] i love it when theres. guy with guys in his head. etc. will b sad ab their departure but i hope they r OKAY and return 2 Being Alive & shit!! nervous laughter. also god i can't wait to find out what Actually Happened with them. hhrhrghghgghh.

THIS IS SO TRUE ALSO???? free my girl minerva she did nothing but have Literally Normal Reactions to TERRIBLE things happening!!!

I DON'T LIKE THAT LEFROG FACT. it raises the question of is he actually even french or like, is there even a point of reference for his behavior. like. What is going on there. Horrifying thank you!!!! also man this entire degree im working on would be useless! well. maybe prime quebec exists. somehow. independently of a hypothetical europe. HIS DESIGN IS SO FUN BTW. its so cute.. i WAS kind of imagining a mutant Big Real Fucking Frog situation but i think this is a lot more reasonable. also literally ignoring white tide I Do Not See it. It Does Not Exist.

ALSO. NOT GOING TO START TALKING AB COMICS FOR EVEN MORE PARAGRAPHS. BUT. he is so so so right. (<- dc comics guy with Opinions. well. technically im not even much of a dc guy im just a vertigo guy. but. still.) hghghghbhgh.

[finite-breakpoints]

trust issues (Angstpril 2024, #9)

[ Previously: emotionally distant // no way out // never see you again ]

"What is this place?"

Paige hates the unsteadiness in her voice, echoing even at a whisper -- this isn't the time or place for fear, let alone displaying it. Standing here in a long-abandoned building on the edge of a city no longer familiar, where no one will hear if she calls for help, shivering in the cold.

But if not now… when?

"Temporary accommodations. Used to be an off-cycle stopover for the light-rail, before the track got re-routed." For a program who seemingly spends most of their time committing sedition and thinking of new ways to instigate civil unrest, Signal's voice is surprisingly soft. "Might be some network programs around, if we're lucky. Last I knew, there were a few of 'em crashing here, in and out."

They look more like a data processor than a hardened revolutionary. Maybe that's the point. But Paige can see it too clearly for it to be entirely a facade -- cautious in their movements; a fastidiousness about their appearance; sandy hair pinned back with studied precision. Not very tall, kind of spindly. Not exactly built for fighting.

But then again… neither is she.

"If we're lucky, huh?"

"Sure. They're friendly, mostly harmless. Good kids." Signal hands her the heated canister they've just finished preparing. "Here. This should help. Might be a bit strong, though."

"Thanks." She waits a moment first; and they notice, making a point of pouring the rest into their own glass with a playful grin. She wonders what's hiding underneath it -- watching as they skim through the documents on the data cube. Faster than should be possible, but she has no doubt they're taking in every word.

Sips at the concentrated energy idly, feels the warmth of it even out in her circuits. It is strong stuff, the kind you only need in unpowered places like this… or when your energy processing's been altered by constant direct input. Straight into your circuits, for cycles on end, until your body and mind start to give out.

Yeah. Data processor for sure. Or at least they used to be. She'd bet on the presence of those telltale silver scars at the base of their neck and across their shoulders. Not many of them left, not now. She worked with so many of them at the medical center -- sealing re-opened ports, tapering down their energy levels as safely as she could. It's entirely possible that Signal was one of them.

"…Who knows you're here, Paige?"

Oh, there it is. Her hands are shaking, and not from the cold. Keep it together -- but what does she have to hold together, anymore?

"Lie," hisses the sharp voice in the back of her mind. But what's the point? Tesler will be hunting for her soon, once he realizes what she's done. She has no home to welcome her. No sense of purpose, not now. No friends to lean on for support. Nowhere to go, and no one she can trust.

Only one program's offered her a way out of this.

"No one," she says. "I'm a program of my word."

"So I hear." And that smile turns to something a little less reassuring. "But Tesler seems to know -- and that means General Advan does, too. I don't know if she'll cooperate, if he decides he wants to look for you. But I'd rather not take that chance."

"…What do you mean?"

"I mean that you need to hide, and quickly. They'll be tracking your data signature. We need to fix that… and your metadata, too. Let me see your disc."

"No." She steps back, purely out of instinct, as an acute sense of danger grips her. But she can take them in a fight, if it comes to that. "Not happening."

"Won't hurt a bit, promise. I've done it myself enough times." They pull up a tool -- something that takes her a moment to recognize. It's a wrench, and not an entirely unfamiliar one. But this looks heavier than the ones Mara keeps in her garage, or even the one the Renegade would carry with him. Older, maybe.

But Signal holds it differently. Not with the casual nonchalance of the Renegade, or even the curiosity of Argon's mechanics, but with the same careful attention that Paige remembers having for her own tools. The sort of respect -- reverence, even -- that you have when your tools are capable of both wonderful and terrible things.

"You're not touching my disc," she says quietly.

"Alright, fair enough. But if you aren't careful, they will find you. I know you don't trust me -- and maybe you're right not to. But I can help keep you hidden, if you'll let me."

"I'll take my chances." Fights back the creeping panic, feeling that sharp and slithering pain, as if those code worms have returned, burrowing into her database. "I'm not doing that again."

By the time she realizes that it's slipped out, it's too late.

"…Oh." Signal rezzes down the not-a-wrench. For a tick or two, they seem unusually at a loss for words… and not quite sure what to do about it. "I wondered about that. Barbaric of them. I'm sorry."

"…What are you talking about?"

"There's a scar, under your eye. I'd guess your render usually compensates for it, but you're starting to run low on energy. For all I know, you might not even have known it was there." They regard her with something just short of pity, sharp grey eyes clouding over with emotion… or a memory. "You stayed there even after they did that to you -- and then you came all the way out here, you gave everything up. There was a reason, wasn't there?"

It's not really a question. She doesn't answer.

"I think you left because Tesler lied to you." Their tone implies no moral judgement -- although she suspects, given what she's read over the cycles, that Signal might be holding back a little. "I never will."

And for just a clock-cycle, she very nearly believes them.

[kitausu]

Kit's MM *Spicy* Book Rec List

Because I need basically zero encouragement to make a book rec list, and @thepixiepaige mentioned that a rec list would be appreciated, here is a rec list of some of my favorite MM spicy books that I've read in the last few years.

*Note: Please check content/trigger warnings as needed. Not all, or even most, of these will be everyone's cup of tea. Many contain kink, age gaps, and some contain sibling relationships.*

Cara Dee's The Game series

Forever and always my go to spicy rec. This series has me by the throat and there's just so many of them and they're all amazing! There are currently 16 and counting...

The Game Series is a BDSM series where romance meets the reality of kink. Sometimes we fall for someone we don’t match with, sometimes vanilla business gets in the way of kinky pleasure, and sometimes we have to compromise and push ourselves to overcome trauma and insecurities. No matter what, two things are certain. This is not a perfect world, and life never turns out the way you planned.

Other Cara Dee Books

Nora Phoenix's The White House Men series, Perfect Hands series, and Kinky Boys series

Nora Phoenix is often hit or miss for me. Sometimes I love the books (like the ones pictured here) and sometimes they're a little meh. She writes daddy kink though in a way that consistently hits, so if that's your thing, these three are excellent reads and can be mostly read as standalones (although The White House Men series less so)

Avon Gale's Scoring Chances series

Below is the blurb for the first book. Each series deals with different players on the team. This is my go to hockey romance and I read all of these SO quickly.

Drafted to play for the Jacksonville Sea Storm, an NHL affiliate, twenty-year-old Lane Courtnall’s future looks bright, apart from the awkwardness he feels as a gay man playing on a minor league hockey team. He's put his foot in his mouth a few times and alienated his teammates. Then, during a rivalry game, Lane throws off his gloves against Jared Shore, enforcer for the Savannah Renegades. It’s a strange way to begin a relationship.   Jared’s been playing minor league hockey for most of his career. He’s bisexual and doesn’t care if anyone knows. But he’s determined to avoid another love affair after the last one left him devastated. Out of nowhere a one-nighter with rookie Lane Courtnall gives him second thoughts. Lane reminds Jared why he loves the game and why love might be worth the risk. In turn, Jared hopes to show Lane how to be comfortable with himself on and off the ice. But they’re at different points in their careers, and both men will have to decide what they value most.

N.R. Walker's Thomas Elkin trilogy

Each book is only about 100ish pages, so really this is just one book broken up into three parts. Just very sweet and indulgent and architecture as a setting feels very unusual!

Even the strongest of buildings start out as plans on paper, and every architect knows that sometimes plans need to change. Sometimes, these lessons are learned on the job. A successful New York architect, Thomas Elkin almost has it all. Coming out as gay and ending his marriage before his fortieth birthday, he needed to start living his life. Now, four years later, with his relationship with his son back on track, and after a few short-lived romances, this esteemed traditional draftsman thought he knew everything about architecture, about life. Cooper Jones, twenty-two years old, is about to take the architect world by storm. Talented, professional, driven, and completely infuriating, Cooper is the definition of Generation Y. Starting an internship working with Thomas, Cooper is about to knock Tom’s world off its axis. Tom can teach Cooper about the industry, but Cooper is about to teach Tom a few things about life.

Annabeth Albert's Out of Uniform series

Listen, I wouldn't rec a Navy SEAL series if it wasn't great, and these are GREAT. The blurb here is for the first one, but I loved them all.

After trading the barracks for a fixer-upper rental, navy SEAL Zack Nelson wants peace, not a roommate—especially not Pike, who sees things about Zack he most wants to hide. Pike’s flirting puts virgin Zack on edge. And the questions Pike’s arrival would spark from Zack’s teammates about his own sexuality? Nope. Not going there. But Zack can’t refuse. Pike Reynolds knows there won’t be a warm welcome in his new home. What can he say? He’s an acquired taste. But he needs this chance to get his life together. Also, teasing the uptight SEAL will be hella fun. Still, Pike has to tread carefully; he’s had his fill of tourists in the past, and he can’t risk his heart on another, not even one as hot, as built—and, okay, yeah, as adorable—as Zack. Living with Pike crumbles Zack’s restraint and fuels his curiosity. He discovers how well they fit together in bed…in the shower…in the hallway… He needs Pike more than he could have imagined, yet he doesn’t know how to be the man Pike deserves.

Keira Andrews

Another author who is often hit or miss for me, but these are really fun! She does the age gap romance that I crave.

Specific Books

All of these are standalones, although many are part of a "series," and all of them are kinky and spicy af.

[cresvalkyrie]

general thoughts on karma files/favorite route?

...Well, damn, this is going to be a long answer. Putting everything under readmore in case it veers off into spoiler territory.

So I prefer the paragon route, generally speaking, but I can see why you guys might like the renegade route more.

What I know is from watching playthroughs of the renegade route on youtube, but the way the plot that route is leading towards does lowkey intrigue me. Especially how the two route exclusive(-ish?) characters are connected (from what I understood, after M2 attacked the MC's host in the Plane of Dissonance, she was spirited away by Karma and placed into the body of the renegade route's Melia while the paragon post-PM Melia somehow ended up in M2's original body where she wandered around for a bit with the MC's host until she was given the chance to return to the point where she left off. Not to mention that the paragon and renegade MCs seem to be in cahoots with each other, with the End of Night spell and the Red Chain trade).

.Karma files on the other hand? I absolutely adore it. I love how in the paragon route we get the chance to bond with the main cast, either through the main story or through sidequests like the Xenogene movie. And we finally get some well-needed Crescent lore! Before v13.5 I didn't really care much for her since she felt more like a plot device and deus ex machina to bail the MC out of tight spots than an actual character, but in the current version she feels more human and def way more involved (the part where she intervenes in Helojak was fucking awesome, have I ever mentioned that? And then there's also where you talk to her after the Valor Summit incident, which feels more... I don't know, real? At least it got me more invested in her than v13 did and maybe a smidgen of guilt).

Can I just say that Crescent is adorkable? She's now one of my top fav rejuv characters, right behind Erin.

And then there's the Renegade stuff. I don't really have much to say about the main story stuff, but the events leading to the final boss was... interesting, to say the least. Spacea and Tiempa were Interceptors from the era of the Old Earth, who later became Overseers of the System by merging with Palkia and Dialga respectively? So it does imply that they're either something like a prototype for the Interceptor MC, or they're only "Interceptors" in the sense that they were beings summoned from foreign worlds to serve as wildcards to give them an edge. The final part of the Missing Children sidequest does seem to give the second possibility some credence with V, who claimed to be an "Interceptor" by virtue of being from another world but since they weren't chosen by the System like the MC and Crescent did they had no real power beyond the ability to interfere with another's fate.

On an unrelated note, the space hags are fucking cheaters in both the Paragon and Renegade versions of their battle. It's a neat concept in theory, but in gameplay it makes me want to throttle them. Spacea steals your Pokemon and Tiempa (perhaps the most bs mechanic in rejuv imo) would fucking reset your team like how a player would spam f12 to get the rng in their favour. Maybe it's payback for us abusing tf out of the game's quicksave function, but it sure doesn't feel nice (in a humourous "Only I can heal in battle, not the NPC Bosses" kind of way).

tl;dr I think .Karma Files is awesome, and my fav route is the Paragon Route (Renegade is great too, and in some areas more fascinating that Paragon, but I just don't have the heart to do all that effed up stuff lmao)

[copics-and-renegades]

Interrupting our scheduled Whumptober program to introduce y'all to this little brain bug that's been biting me for months now and that I've been quietly developing further AND that's now becoming relevant context for quite a bunch of Whumptober pieces I've prepared so far.

Let me tell y'all about.

Whumper!Yuan AU

Yes, it's got such a creative name. I guess its full title is "That One Terribad Unhinged Whumper!Yuan AU".

So what's it about? Let me tell you way more than you ever wanted to know! Basically, the spark to this whole AU came to me in a dream (no, really), where I dreamed up the gist and like a few scenes, and then I got up and was like "holy shit" and then I told my friend about it and he was like "holy shit" and then I started writing down stuff for it and even made a comic I never posted (until now).

The tl;dr is: Whumper!Yuan and Whumpee!Botta. (Really twisted setup tbh.) Modern setting. A series of bad coincidences and also bad active decisions happen that lead to a fist fight escalating to Yuan... basically chaining Botta up in his basement. That's it. That's the gist.

The more detailed description (and I'm still making some of this stuff up as I go or don't have an answer yet) is as follows:

Modern setting AU. No Renegades, no Cruxis either afaik. However, there is half-elf discrimination.

Mixing and matching the canon situation of half-elves and putting them in a modern context, half-elves are at the bottom of society's hierarchy. While open slavery like in the recent past of Canon!Sylvarant is, hm, not really practiced anymore and probably somewhat frowned upon? other discriminatory systems such as a whole economy of indentured servitude, lack of voting rights, exclusion from certain jobs or education, ... , you name it, is in place to keep them down. Like in Canon!Tethe'Alla, half-elves are also always one (1) misstep away from serious legal repercussions. Probably no death penalty on the regular, but harsh prison sentences, loss of rights, pretty much no chance of social recovery from a criminal record at all, that kind of stuff is the norm.

Half-elves have no right to bear, well, pretty much any weapon of self-defence at all, either.

Our man Yuan actually holds a "proper" job and has an income. He lives in a run-down little house in a pretty depopulated area he got for cheap somehow. He's working IT Support at some office and everyone is constantly pushing him around. He's above the half-elves cleaning the place or stocking the supplies, but wayyy below any human at all. For a half-elf, he's pretty privileged. As a whole? He struggles and struggles to be The Good Half-Elf, reaching and always slipping on the societal ladder, constantly beaten back down even though he's trying to convince himself he is just trying HARDER than all those other half-elves that don't even get their own shitty desk.

He's a mess and an asshole lol. His pent-up stress and rage are always at the point of finally overwhelming him. He makes himself look proper on the outside, for his human work contacts, he is A Good Half-Elf after all, but in truth he sustains himself on nothing but half-heated convenience store meals and caffeine in every form he can get a hold of. His sleep cycle is shit, the only hobby he feeds is getting mad at videogames he specifically is bad at, he has no social circle, no friends, family estranged, clutter heaping up in his house and pretty much all of it just shit that's been already there when he got it... You get the picture. He's a mess. (He's Canon!Yuan when he doesn't have someone to guide his relentless energy lmao.)

One day after work, circumstances I have not yet fully decided on lead to him meeting and CLASHING HARD WITH a half-elf called Botta.

Botta is also a bit of an asshole lol. He's NOT holding a steady job, maybe never has (he's against letting his labour be exploited by human society duh), he's homeless and always on the run. He gets along relatively fine like that, tho.

When they meet a second time, it's pretty much on Yuan's front lawn and Botta is currently fleeing from the cops. Probably for some petty crime he actually did commit lol. Yuan and Botta get into an argument, somehow. Maybe Botta is expecting help from a fellow half-elf, but Yuan is APPALLED to be put onto the same level as an uncivilised, criminal thug, WHO IS ALSO RUINING IT FOR THE REST OF US OK. (Yay, internalized bigotry and lateral discrimination, yay! Yay, respectability politics!)

One things leads to another, I don't have all details yet, the argument escalates to a fist fight that Botta is DOMINATING SO HARD because Yuan is a little office dweeb and Botta has been fighting for his life on the streets since forever. All under the time pressure of the cops around the corner.

In a fit of anger and desperation, Yuan finally pulls out a taser he is NOT supposed to have and ZAPS the other man at point-blank. Botta goes down, HARD, hits his head and is out like a light.

Oh shit.

Cop getting closer.

Yuan has just assaulted someone with a weapon he is banned from as much as touching, maybe even looking at.

Yuan does the only thing that is rational in this situation: Breaks into a run, catches the cop head-on as far away from the crime scene as he can get, and does the whole "Officer, sir, good sir, officer. There was a suspicious half-elf running past JUST that way, sir, suspicious half-elf. Always happy to assist the police, officer, good day to you, officer, sir."

Somehow that works.

When he returns to his front door, that living evidence of him a) illegally owning a weapon, b) illegally USING the weapon he illegally owns, and c) being obviously uncontrolled, untrustworthy and DANGEROUS enough to enact violence against a person (plus d) being brazen and CRIMINAL enought to lie to a good upholder of the law DIRECTLY TO THEIR FACE, unprompted!!)... Yeah, that living, breathing, but very out-of-it evidence is still THERE.

Yuan does the OTHER only thing that is rational in his situation: Chains that asshole up in his basement, because he SO had it coming. And also that level of power over someone?? When you've always been the one other people had power over?? Fucking hell, it feels GOOD. Vindicating. Intoxicating. GOOD.

Very quickly Yuan has to realize, tho, that he can't count on an element of sheer dumb luck and surprise to keep subduing a VERY angry, VERY uhm passionate PRISONER IN HIS OWN BASEMENT (also taser cartridges are expensive and hard to get, and for a rechargeable stun gun to be an option he'd have to get well within arm's range EVERY TIME), so he's lucky enough to somehow procure one of those shock collars for, well, very large (and in this setting possibly monstrous) dogs. which maybe belonged to the previous owner of the house?? and put it on his hissing, spitting, extremely "I'm going to break your spine LET ME GO!!!" uhm new involuntary roommate.

Said new "roommate" gets over the shock (hehe) but not the anger of all of this happening to him soon-ish enough, when he takes a good long look at That Unpredictable Weirdo Freak and starts asking (and asking and asking) the question that's REALLY pressing into his conscious mind now: "Damn Bitch, You Live Like This??"

:DD

Aaand that's how the initial situation came to be.

Whumper!Yuan AU.

Now how it's developing is, well, the topic of way too many of my thoughts. (Which I'm going to be filling y'all in bit by bit around here, I would assume.) To put it mildly, it's an uneven, unhinged, toxic AND ABSOLUTELY DARKLY HILARIOUS dynamic THAT IS SO MUCH FUN FOR ME TO EXPLORE YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Like, all their interactions are the American Chopper meme. I shouldn't laugh at my own jokes, I guess, but I do. It's such a fun AU to explore.

I've already drawn up a bunch of stuff for Whumptober that I'm going to share this month. (Which is also why I finally made this huge introduction post. For context. Context!!)

But brain is empty for now. Will post more on the whole thing later, in snippets and art and stuff. For now just. Be prepared. For Whumper!Yuan AU on my blog.

:D

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

Well I didn't expect a subsequent development to happen so fast. In the early morning, there was a semi-controlled dream where I ended up in Spargus City and Cricket was with me, only he wasn't welcome much to my surprise.

Cricket approached Terra to share the shock-horror of Jak's mood with him, and then Selvian stepped in with some further insight and then some extended counselling:

I'm not putting too many tags in this post because I don't want to affect and/or influence other peoples' timelines. So if you found this post, congratulations!

-----------------------

Cricket (DG) [ISFJ]: "Terra, I wanted your advice on something. I landed in some place called Spargus City with Karla this morning. A bit of a grungy hard-yards desert so to speak".

Terra (DG) [INFP]: "That's good! That actually means you've made some progress. And that's your own intuition that made you start in a world outside Kingdom Hearts".

Cricket (DG): "It's about Jak though. Karla and I came across him and he didn't look too happy to see me, not about the fact that I was with her. Like he was totally cold and disinterested and looking down on me like some kind of outcast".

Terra (DG): "Ah, I see. That would definitely serve as a discouragement when you've just started to change your way of thinking. In all honesty, Jak is a very volatile person, and even though he means well, his emotions do control him. Remember also that you haven't spent time with us, and so he hasn't gotten the chance to know you properly".

Selvian [INFJ]: "Uh, Terra sir, you might be slipping a bit...? What you said was right, but that sounded rusty".

Terra (DG): "Sorry. Maybe you can help us out a bit?".

Selvian: "Okay. So Cricket, the ABTD obviously picked up the fact that Karla added Jak as one of your D-Links, and is now finally deciding to allow you free passage to this world. Only because we've had to intervene with you so much to get you to that point, Jak's time has been sacrificed, and he may have atrophied himself".

Terra (DG): "As much as I give validation to that statement, Jak has still linked on to the ABTD many times this year in an automatic manner. I think he, Riku and myself all have that ability now".

Selvian: "What I mean is atrophy in the waking life component. Due to the restrictive energies since 2023, you only make progress in a behavioural and social sense if we bolster it in waking life, or at least commit to remaining independently active while we are working on someone else. Riku and Terra have found ways to integrate themselves into your development; Jak has not, and he took the idea of 'giving you space' to a maximum".

Cricket (DG): "So are you saying in a sense that Jak has reverted to how he was before he met Karla?".

Selvian: "Partially. Maybe if it was just her who approached him, he may have been communicative somewhat. But where Jak is coming from, to you, is 'I've seen what you do, and I don't like it'".

Cricket (DG): "Oh... I have particular thoughts on that, but there's no point beating myself up again after yesterday. I know that not everyone's out to get me".

Selvian: "It's like what Terra was trying to point out to you. It's just who Jak is, and he is a very unforgiving person. You must remember all the trauma he went through in 'Renegade' as well as surrounding the death of his father, Damas. Jak is a very damaged person, but like many of you, started to feel a sense of hope when he came here. When Jak feels threatened, he lashes out or just places you in the garbage can".

Cricket (DG): "It's not my fault though, is it?".

Selvian: "Not if you directly didn't say anything to him, which you haven't, nor have you ever spoken about him. So by you not involving yourself with him, you cannot be blamed for how he thinks about you, Cricket, but that is the same even in your home country. We use these thoughts and opinions to better ourselves, but never to be controlled by them and affect our self-worth".

Cricket (DG): "I see. What Karla and my master are trying to convey to me is the courage to be disliked and to not be afraid to try things and get them wrong sometimes".

Selvian: "Yes. You are a perfectionist? Then you are your own worst enemy. Also how do you think that Karla made it through the gauntlet that her own dad put her through, for four straight years, without exercising what you just stated? Her father aimed to break her through low self-esteem, but he lost because God expired that chapter. Yet he bears no physical consequences; so that was the best outcome".

Cricket (DG): "Oh! Speaking about that, Jak also gave Karla's father the same treatment as he's now giving me".

Selvian: "Good pickup, Cricket. Jak wanted to rip that man right in half, but he knew it would do more harm than good, especially if someone so highly principled like Riku couldn't fix him. But Jak was still angry that his dreamer was being mistreated, so he made sure deep down that <Ian> knew he had absolutely none of Jak's support. Jak couldn't destroy him, but he abandoned or rejected him, or simply the notion of him. And then why am I telling you about this? Because you came in 2024, so you didn't see when Jak was passionate at his best, and just how he works in a general social setting to any situation like that".

Cricket (DG): "That doesn't sound very promising then. How am I supposed to function in a group with that dynamic, especially if someone constantly incriminates me in a sense?".

Selvian: "You can go back to Jak's world at any time. Just stay away from him until we sort something out. You must be brave enough to prove to Jak that you are not who he thinks you are. Being a group of four, you are at an advantage as you have both Riku and Terra to anchor to; so perhaps you two should focus on your relationship with them until you get to the other side and have the expanded capacity to do things. We will see if we can get you and Jak on the same page, especially during the remainder of your study period where we have the most access into the situation; but like Terra says, we will not stress out if it doesn't work, so as not to put anybody off".

Cricket (DG): "I appreciate Terra's patience with me, and the willingness to include me despite all that I've done".

Selvian: "Exactly, focus on those who 'like' you rather than those who don't. Terra is an N type, so outside the extreme trauma that happened to him, he is able to see situations for what they are without his emotions getting the better of him. Trust me, Cricket, if you hang around with Terra long enough and also do most of what he says, you'll shoot up loads".

Cricket (DG): "It's strange how Terra's the one I've been avoiding the most, yet he seems to understand me the most, and it felt like he unlocked something within me. He's the reason I had my first successful astral travel last night, although I didn't make the right location choice...".

Selvian: "That is in hindsight, Cricket. Who knew that Jak was going to forget about us and give you such a cold reception? But then again... We were barely present before your time. So maybe Jak's ashamed because you activated the military so to speak, and maybe that is a valid concern from him. But again, turn it into something good. Again, don't let one little thing put you off".

Cricket (DG): "Thanks Selv, and thank you Terra".

Terra (DG): "Mmm".

Selvian: "Cricket. Astral travel with her [me] to more places and do whatever is required to keep her safe or participate with her. This is how you will unlock all the lessons that need to be mastered for your Kung Fu journey".

Cricket (DG): "Right! Just like how I learned today that Kung Fu can be exercised anywhere around the world, whenever I please".

Selvian: "Exactly. Like they say in Kingdom Hearts, let the sleeping keyholes guide you. And if loss of clarity becomes too much for the both of you that the mistress also struggles, then go to Terra for help, because he knows exactly what you're going through, and the implications of it".

Cricket (DG): "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!".

[nights-nonsensical-ramblings]

Knuckles’ repeating phrase being “I don’t need the details, just tell me who to smash” has not been sitting right with me. It feels pulled right out of those portrayals that paint Knuckles as nothing more than the angry dumb, punchy guy.

And it’s especially weird when you consider the shatter verse versions of him.

Like to me Renegade Knucks feels like the regular Knuckles put through an urban an cynical filter. (This kinda makes him sit in the uncanny valley for me.) Yes, he does get angry, but all of them are at reasonable points and mostly tied to people breaking his and others trust, but we see he’s still willing to give sonic multiple chances and can be pretty chill (as chill as someone can be In an Eggman ruled dystopia)

I don’t have as much to say in Gnarly, but he can be taken as Knuckles’ the side of him that struggles with trusting others in a personal vulnerability sense and all the stress he must feel with the threat of people coming after the m.e turned up to the extreme.

And then there’s Dread. I could go on and on about how much I love Dread as a mirror self ‘this is who Knuckles is not’ He is introduced as someone overly cheerful with no sense of duty or responsibility. Completely the opposite to Knuckles who’s diligence to his role is one of his core characteristics and how it often leads to him being in a bad mood. Then Dread is shown to be a coward, and by Sonic’s reaction this is clearly meant to be a ‘this ain’t Knuckles’ moment. Then Dread goes and abandons the crew on a sinking boat, the group has multiple flyers, they definitely could have worked something out to get everyone to safety, but no. Dread is selfish and takes it for himself, and yet again in the scene this is called out as ‘not a Knuckles thing’ and once he comes back sonic has the line of ‘not abandoning his crew’ and Dread immediately contradicting that with the ‘not for his crew’ line with a sinister grin and a shot that lingers just long enough to feel off.

So then what’s with this line?

I am so hoping what I’m I’ve come up with is intentional and not me looking deeper than the writers did

So in Sonic prime Sonic’s thoughts on Knuckles are interesting. There the running gag of ‘I’ll even take Knuckles.’ Running joke playing to their rivalry? Yeah, maybe. But could also be to show that Sonic doesn’t know Knuckles that well. Plus when Sonic’s talking about his friends all he can say is “Knuckles and his… Knuckles.” When he even comes up for things for Rouge and then there’s there’s him going that ‘he’s even happy to see knuckles’ when in the ghosty place.

Here’s my thoughts. Those lines aren’t meant to be a representation on the characters, but instead they what Sonic’s perception of them is.

I have clearer thoughts on some of these, but others are a bit shaky 

“As long as I’m around you’ll always have a wingman” - To Sonic Tails is his little buddy, a sidekick, the way he interacts with Nine seems to support this.

“The forest is the most beautiful place on earth” - he sees Amy as someone who’s really sweet and kind

“You may not like the way I do things but I get things done.” - Him seeing Rouge being willing to steal

“No problem sonic” - a very npc line. How well does he really know Big

And that brings us back to Knuckles 

His line can fit really well if Sonic doesn’t really know him that well and hasn’t got a chance to get to know the side of Knuckles that he keeps yo himself.

Please please please let this be what’s going on here. They’ve been getting him so good elsewhere I’d hate for them to screw him up here.

[likeadevils]

Have you explained your evermore cinematic universe before? I’ve see you mention it a few times but I don’t know the lore

I HAVEN’T EXPLAINED IT ALL BEFORE BUT I WOULD LOVE TO

so we start our story with champagne problems. during their first year of college, dorothea and her soon-to-be ex go home to visit their families, and dorothea’s soon-to-be ex proposes on thanksgiving. dorothea turns her down and decides to move to LA instead of continuing college. dorothea’s ex travels back alone

(brief time skip of 3/4 years)

we meet back up with dorothea for gold rush— she has met an exciting, slightly maddening stranger who i call “the cowboy” at some industry party. she is trying not to have Feelings about it

we breeze through their courtship with willow, as the cowboy cuts through dorothea like a knife and matches her trick for trick

we briefly hop over to dorotheas ex for right where you left me— dorothea has come home for the holidays and is catching up with her friends at dinner, and dorothea’s ex has Feelings about her dating the cowboy

back to dorothea for cowboy like me— her and the cowboy are in love and engaged and it’s adorable. there’s seriously no mind games being played at all it’s not like she’s waiting up at night for him to call her

and we’re back to the ex for dorothea— she’s been spending this year’s holidays in LA. it’s fine it’s whatever i’m sure she’s happier over there

and now we’re at tolerate it. there was maybe, in retrospect, some mind games being played. it’s starting to become a problem

until we hit tis the damn season— dorothea’s back for the holidays this year, without the cowboy. she has a little affair as a treat

brief optional interlude from the ex for some renegade action after they find out dorothea isn’t actually separated from the cowboy yet

the pass the first half of the year in a ivy state of mind. dorothea wants the ex to tell her to break up with the cowboy. the ex wants her to make that decision for herself. dorothea is flying back and forth whenever she gets the chance

she hits the breaking point with it’s time to go, but then, there’s also some happiness worked in there as well

we get the cowboy’s point of view with coney island— he’s realizing all the times he didnt show up for her and regrets it, but it’s too late

and then we have evermore. dorothea speands the second half of the year slowly recovering after her life in LA fell apart, and slowly finding her way back to her ex

and we conclude with long story short— it was a bad time, and she survived

i also have a playlist if you want taylor to tell you the story herself