#LND chapter 4

[shadofiredragon]

Legends Never Die

{ I would like to award @000marie198 for excellent performance as beta reader and editorial supporter. Another wonderful chapter because of your great work friend. }

Part 1 ~ Immortal Escape

Chapter 4 - Hacked~

( Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 )

Kit strolled through the dark halls, his ears flicking back and forth on high alert for any sounds of approaching footsteps.

He'd already passed by three scientists, two guards and a postman. None of which payed him any mind. It was too early for anyone else to be up, and even Kit was finding it hard to keep his eyelids from drooping.

"How much longer?" a voice whined in his ear, instantly kicking his mind back into wakefulness.

"Not much longer," Kit whispered, glancing down an adjoining hall before turning left, "Quit your whining."

A tiny huff and a hardly audible mumbling could be heard from the communication device tucked inside his ear. The voice apparently not willing to argue at the moment.

Kit was glad for the silence, his senses scanning his surroundings for any possible dangers.

Eventually he came across a hall, lined on each side by windows embedded with a chain link mesh; a cheap way out of buying legitimate bullet proof glass. Though, Kit would admit, the glass would at least stop anyone physically trying to brute force their way into the rooms beyond.

Behind the glass, were dark rooms, completely unoccupied at the moment. Tall, whirring machinery sat idling against the walls, their lights blinking on and off as the processors spun to life. The box-like machines were protected by a heavy duty plastic, and long desks stood in rows in front of them. Black wires attached the machines to ports propped on the desks, leading to computer like devices with curving black screens.

No one was there.

Kit turned to one of the doors, turning its handle with a resounding click. The door opened silently, and Kit glanced up and down the empty hall before stepping inside, closing the door behind him with yet another jarring click.

His eyes scanned the rows of desks and lifeless screens before picking one farther back to the right. Relatively out of sight from the doorway, and a place he assumed would be least conspicuous.

Hurrying his way to the port, he sat himself down in the swivel chair, the wheels rumbling as he slid up to the desk in one smooth motion. With a flourish he clicked the power button, a green light at the top of the screen blinking on.

He waited for the screen to light up, bathing his face in blue hues.

A code bar popped up, requiring a password. Kit typed it in, almost rolling his eyes at how easy it was.

"You'd think they'd at least make me hack it," he muttered.

"What was that?" The voice over the intercom asked teasingly, "Don't tell me you're bored out there playing undercover cop!"

Kit didn't respond, watching as the screen notified him to several different running programs as well as a tab requesting him to wait patiently while it fully connected to G.U.P database.

"Because that's certainly not how I would feel. But hey! You could stay back here if that'd help!"

"We both know that's not an option."

Silence. Then a suspicious,

"Do we...?"

"Well I do. And I've tried to tell you. So it's not my fault if you haven't been listening."

"Yeesh... Someone needs their coffee..."

Kit didn't respond, but an amused smile tempted the corner of his muzzle.

A long sigh in his ear. "Will it be much longer now?”

"Be patient, I'm connecting to the main server."

"Can't you just plug 'Mega in right now and get it started?"

"This incessant speech is causing unnecessary distraction. Requesting permission to mute him." Omega's voice came over the comm now.

Kit snickered at the indignant sputtering from the other voice.

"That's alright, Omega. I think I've lived with him long enough now that I've built an immunity to his nonstop talking."

"Hey!"

"Very well."

A huff. "So... Why can't you just plug Omega in and let him get a head start.?"

Kit released a breath, "Because for as amazingly unprotected these computers are, they're terribly finicky. If I plug the drive in, and Omega tries to access the computer before it's fully connected, the whole thing will shut down."

A thoughtful, "Oh."

The screen whirred. Finally the connection had completed and Kit grinned giddily, folding his hands together and stretching them out, the joints of his fingers letting out muted pops.

"I'm in."

"About time..." The voice muttered.

Kit decided to ignore him, reaching into his uniform's chest pocket and pulling out the uniquely marked device.

Pressing a tiny button on the side, a tiny antennae flipped up, and with a quick swipe he plugged the device into the computer port.

"Okay, 'Mega. Let's get cracking."

"Affirmative. Initiating download."

Dead silence could be heard over the comm. Omega's computer consciousness busy navigating the G.U.P database, and Tails busy breaking through as many coded files as possible.

"...Well, as fascinating as it is to sit here and listen to you both wordlessly hack into the most pretentious government agency on Mobius- I think I'm going to make some breakfast. I'm famished."

Kit chuckled, "No one's stopping you."

"Stopping who?"

Kit nearly lifted three inches off the chair, his whole body jerking to face the voice that had suddenly materialized beside him.

A grey wolf stood next to him, his posture relaxed with one hand shoved in his uniform pocket and another holding a mug with the words 'Computer Nerd #1' scrawled across the side. Despite the heaviness in his eyes his ears were pointed forward, curiosity dragging his hazel gaze between the fox and the glowing screen.

"Oh, uuuhh," Kit glanced at the screen, grateful that the words were small and the open windows stacked haphazardly on top of each other, "N-no one."

He laughed awkwardly, leaning forward and propping his elbow onto the desk, which in turn propped up his head.

"It's just early. And with no one else here, it's hard not to strike up a conversation with the equipment."

"Mmm."

The wolf took a loud sip from his coffee. Looking perfectly comfortable where he was.

"Tails? You good? Did someone catch you?! You need me to bail you out?! Blink twice if you need me to bail you out! I'll be there in five seconds!"

Kit tried not to react to the incessant voice in his ear, which was sounding way more excited than it should have.

Kit patted the desk with his free hand, leaning back so his head wasn't resting on his hand.

"Ya know how it is right? Sometimes these girls just need a bit of encouragement in the morning." He gestured to the computer.

The wolf's eyes seemed to lighten a bit.

"Oh yeah. I talk to my girl all the time. Got the fastest processor in this Bestia tech-center. I upgraded her myself."

Kit found himself relaxing, until a flash of suspicion crossed the wolf's hazel stare.

"But what are you doing here? I don't recognize you. And usually the interns or volunteers arrive later in the day."

"Oh, well, you see..."

"I just realized I can't actually see if you've blinked twice, so you'll have to tell me. Now tell me the truth-! Have you blinked twice?!"

Kit resisted the urge to grind his teeth.

"I've- actually been here for a while now. I'm mostly just moved around to inspect the bases and such. Ya know, make sure the training programs are up to current protocol, updating software systems, double checking sanitation standards."

Kit shrugged.

"And, ya know. Make sure things run smoothly."

The wolf's eyes had widened in awe and surprise.

"Dang," he whistled. "Sounds like a rough job."

Kit exhaled, relieved that his cover story was still working.

"They make you work insane hours too?" The wolf slowly began to amble away, though his face was still respectfully turned to face the fox.

Kit nodded, purposefully turning his gaze back to the screen, and tapping on the keyboard.

"Actually, I'm headed somewhere else later today. But I haven't been able to check the computer systems yet, so I wanted to get that done before I left."

"Absolutely understandable. My station's over here."

Kit only stole a side glance, noting with satisfaction that the station was ahead and to the far left, across the room from him.

"If you need anything, just let me know!"

"Thanks," Kit replied, his voice nearly a mutter.

"You still haven't answered me-!" A small gasp. "Are they keeping you from talking?! Don't worry, I'll be right there-"

"Don't even think about it," Kit hissed, keeping his voice low and ears erect. He wasn't too keen on being caught unawares a second time.

A low mutter he couldn't quite make out was mumbled with much chagrin. Kit promptly ignored it.

"Omega, what's your progress.?"

A beat of silence.

"I have thoroughly scanned and reviewed all available documents."

"And?"

"No beneficial data has been detected."

Kit felt himself deflate.

"What about, like, the high security stuff?" The voice in his ear offered uncertainly, "Aren't there usually some top secret files or something?"

Kit shook his head, "None that we haven't been able to hack into," he breathed, ear twitching in irritation.

"I cannot help but question how much G.U.N actually trusts this inferior organization. All of the information I have collected from our multiple infiltrations have been vastly disappointing."

"Trust..." Kit muttered, Omega's words tickling a thought in his brain. "Inferior..."

His head jerked up with a gasp, which he quickly tried to stifle before the wolf noticed, his hand clapping over his muzzle.

His eyes darted over to the wolf's station, but the Mobian hadn't seemed to notice. Relief pooled in his chest as he pulled his transmitting device out of its slot, wiping the computer's log of activity and powering it down.

He stood up, pushing the chair away from the desk and tucking the drive back into his vest pocket.

Glancing around once, he stretched and nonchalantly headed out the door.

"All good here!"

"Sweet!" The wolf swiveled around in his chair, giving Kit a thumbs up, "Hey, put in a good word for me to the big guys?"

Kit hesitated, hand on the handle. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

He stepped back out into the hallway, the door clicking closed behind him.

"Soooooo you got a plan?"

Kit grimaced, striding through the maze of a base.

"If you want to call it that."

"Will it involve taking the offensive?"

"Not in the way you mean."

"What're you thinking.?"

"Remember my theory about the government slowly disassociating Mobians from Humans?"

A long groan.

"Come on. That's just a conspiracy!"

"A well calculated one, if my resources are accurately documented."

"Conspiracy or not, I wouldn't put it past G.U.N to back it up. And based on the way they've specifically separated Mobians and Humans in their G.U.P bases, it wouldn't surprise me at all."

Kit turned down another hall, noting the gradual growth of activity as more Mobians began to roam the halls.

"Okay, so what? Even if any of that stuff were true, which I think is ridiculous, how is that gonna help us?"

Kit nodded respectfully to two female operatives passing him.

"It's all about trust. If G.U.N is really starting to lean toward discrimination against Mobians, it makes sense that they'd limit Mobian access to their database."

"So you're gonna break into the Human's half, and hope their database has what we're looking for."

Kit found the hall opening up into a sort of lobby. Elevators lined one wall, and he eyed the ceiling, his sharp eyes searching for cameras. There were several.

"Yup. That's the plan," his eyes probed the shadows, "Omega? Can you hack the cameras at the elevators?"

"I am capable of completing the request. Five seconds."

Kit started the clock in his head.

"And what if G.U.N simply doesn't like sharing its top secret information with its much smaller organization?"

Kit bit his lip.

"Then, we'll have to figure that out..." Which meant they'd probably have to break into G.U.N directly.

"Cameras no longer pose a threat. I suggest you proceed quickly."

"I call getting to bust into G.U.N HQ first!"

Kit's snout wrinkled, the voice, besides rudely overlapping Omega's, sounded way too cheerful. He strode forward, hoping no one would see him.

You belong here. You have authority. There's no reason to question you, repeated inside his mind as he straightened his posture and headed toward the wall of elevators.

"I'm not going over this again," he muttered, jabbing the button with his thumb.

"Why not? You seem to be able to go over it every other time I want to have fun."

"Then you know why my answer stays 'no'."

There was a defeated sigh, and Kit almost felt bad as he heard the spark of excitement die out of the voice.

"Okay okay. So, how are you planning to get through the human section?"

A chime sounded and the doors opened smoothly to the sides. Kit stepped in, the warm yellow light greeting him as he jammed the button to close the doors.

"Do you require assistance in locating the computer facility for the human sector?"

Kit exhaled. "Actually- yeah. That would be nice."

"Acknowledged. Pulling up base blueprints."

The elevator doors slid closed and Kit exhaled a breath of relief before unbuckling his belt and slipping his pants down.

"I'm gonna have to disguise myself."

He fiddled with the pant legs, trying to gauge whether one was larger than the other. Dubbing that neither were more favorable than the other, he decided that his left leg would better handle the discomfort he was about to place himself in.

"Disguise? What are you… No. No way. You can't be serious!”

Kit grimaced, twisting around and pulling his soft fox tail into his hands, smoothing the fur down as the elevator smoothly ascended.

"Serious as the last turkey on thanksgiving."

"But- how are you- what about-!"

The panic was overly evident. And it only made Kit more frustrated as he gently pushed his tail into his left pant leg, trying to wrap the appendage around his leg and smooth it down so it was as small as possible.

"Yes I'm fully aware. I'm already working on it."

"Working on it?! What does that even mean?!"

"I am also curious as to the nature of your solution to this problem."

Kit sighed, patting down some of the fur turned backwards in an attempt to make himself as close to comfortable as possible.

"I'm stuffing it in my pant leg."

"And how do you know that'll work?”

Kit tediously began to pull the pants back up, guiding it over the additional appendage.

"I don't. But I don't really have many other ideas."

"Tails,” the voice was dead serious, "If someone notices-“

"They won't."

Kit refastened the pants securely around his waist, straightening and smoothing out the uniform. He took a deep breath, letting it out slow. He didn't have a mirror. The shiny interior of the elevator would have to do.

The elevator slowed to a gentle stop.

Now or never.

He focused on his appearance, imagining a short man. Freckles. Dusty blonde hair with a strawberry tint.

The doors slid open and Kit stiffened. Humans. Walking casually past him. Not giving him a second thought. As their chattering figures retreated down the adjoining hall, Kit poked his head out of the elevator.

"'Mega, you're in the system still?"

"Affirmative. Though I only have limited access."

"Can you see me in the cameras?"

"If you can, pull the feed up here will you 'Mega?"

"Request acknowledged. Processing. Visual connection established."

"Okay, I'm at the elevator. I'm going to step out- you need to tell me if I'm all good to go. Okay?"

"Got it."

"Affirmative."

Kit glanced both ways one last time before timidly stepping out of the safe confines of the metal elevator.

"Well..?" he whispered.

"Well. You did it."

Kit felt a weight slide off his shoulders.

"Perfect." He strode forward more confidently. He belonged here. "Omega? I'll be needing those directions if you don't mind."

"Affirmative. At the next hall take a left."

Kit obeyed.

"You look weird as a human…”

"No criticizing my disguise, I couldn't see myself clearly in the elevator," he turned left, noticing another branching hallway ahead of him, "Turn here?"

"Negative. At the next juncture you will need to take a right."

"Got it."

If the Mobian section of the base was a maze, the human section was a labyrinth. It was frustrating that G.U.P seemed to refuse to use a similar floor plan, making each base uniquely confusing. Even Omega would get him turned around, the blueprints going against what was actually constructed. A couple of times Kit had to nervously pardon himself from suspicious glances, laughing at how confusing the place was for someone so new. Thankfully no one pressed him any further. Content to ignore the idiotic new recruit in favor of getting back to their jobs.

As he walked, Kit kept adding more increments to his height. Slowly growing from a little-more-than-waist-high-midget, to just-a-little-shorter-than-shoulders-average. It was weird seeing the world from a higher height. He could have easily looked over a crowd of average mobians.

Was this how Vector felt..?

"The computer lab is located directly ahead to the left."

It wasn't two seconds after Omega made the comment, that Kit spotted his objective.

Long windows lined the wall giving passersby a clear view into the large room packed full of desks, monitors and humming machinery. There was a station for phone calls, the humans behind those desks outfitted with their own headsets as they clacked away at their computers.

Others sat at their monitors while a human would shuffle papers back and forth, seemingly at random.

Kit knew there had to be a reason so many people were in there at once, he just wished he knew what it was.

He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and gripped the handle.

"Omega? Can you unlock the door.?"

"I am fully capable. However, doing so may alert security, considering the amount of tampering I have already partaken in."

"And using my Mobian clearance badge would almost definitely alert security. Probably a lot faster than hacking it."

"Tails-"

"Just do it Omega."

"…Unlocking computer room door momentarily."

The light turned green and the handle clicked with the sound of the lock disengaging. Taking a sharp inhale, Kit opened the door and stepped inside. A chorus of tapping keys and mumbling voices enveloped him.

"Careful in there.."

When was he not.?

Kit pushed back the irritation, forcing himself to keep a bored expression.

He belonged here. He'd done this before. There was nothing special or memorable about him.

He slid into an empty space, not daring to look at the human two seats to his right. More humans slid into the room and if Kit had fur it would've bristled and a strange chill skittered down his spine when his ears didn't twitch towards the noise.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. The fur on his tail scraped and poked at his bare, human skin, making his seated position even more itchy and uncomfortable. A bead of nervous sweat dripped down the side of his face as he hacked past G.U.P's firewalls, praying that past at all he would find a mutual server, linking both networks together.

The computer screen lit up, and Kit had to bite back a cheer of victory as relief lifted his heart in a flood of emotion.

"This is it.! I'm in!" He whispered, glancing to his left and right cautiously while he reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out the device from before. Half a second was all he needed to find a port, and the device was plugged in.

He and Omega raced against the clock, checking file after file, folder after folder, digging deeper and deeper into G.U.N.'s database.

Every second that passed felt like a step closer to finding what they were looking for- but for every file they broke into, Kit felt a terrible sense of dread. Every moment he sat there, was a moment more for someone to catch on. For someone in G.U.P defense to realize that a malfunction occurred in the tech lab's door lock. That an unknown AI was surging through their network. That an imposter was surfing their most private, top secret files.

Even worse, Kit was worried that G.U.N would notice someone hacking into their system from within their own child organization. That they'd cut him off. That they'd figure out what he wanted. And then everything would be for naught.

He gnawed his lower lip, fighting back the urge to twist his tail nervously.

He broke into another file, hacking past the protection protocols and 'top secret' failsafes like a technological lumberjack.

The file burst open. A slew of detailed records, journal entries, photos, even clipped videos.

Kit's eyes widened, and he immediately hurried to download the file onto the drive.

Stress crashed against excitement, and he wasn't aware of his foot tapping hurriedly against the floor as he watched the percentage slowly tick upwards.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the computer let out a happy ding. The download bar read 100% and as quickly as it was in, Kit took it out.

His heart pounded in his ears while he wiped the computer, erasing any evidence of his hack, and powered it off. He desperately hoped that he didn't look as panicked as he felt, pushing away from the desk and walking towards the door.

Even striding through the corridors with the drive pressed in his palm was enough to make him feel dizzy.

They did it. Finally, after all these years, they'd found him.

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[slimepuparibaba]

LnDS HCs: Sylus (General HCs)

HI! I HAVE TOO MANY HEADCANONS FOR SYLUS SO PLEASE TAKE THEM!! THEY WILL DEFO NOT BE ACCURATE COME JULY BUT STILL IM USING WHAT SCRAPS OF INFO I HAVE RN AND IF HE TURNS OUT LIKE THIS APOLLO GAVE ME THE GIFT OF PROPHECY

IF THIS IS INACCURATE I WILL COMMIT CHAPTER 4 OKOK

GENERAL HC DUMP / PREDICTIONS (MAYBE DONT COUNT ON IT)

Okay, we all agree he comes off as the type of guy that would burn the world for you.

BUT!

Big but here.

I don't think he's a terrible boyfriend or anything. In fact, he genuinely does love you.

I believe, me personally, you are the one weakness this man has and he will treat you with care. Is the way he treats you rough around the edges and comes off a little different than most? Yes.

But he won't ever actually hurt you. He watches you from afar like a silent protector to make sure you aren't hurt, even using his Evol to make sure you STAY alive.

I personally think he might actually treat you kinda like one of his men, like an equal in terms of "you can definitely handle yourself and I know you're strong", but he'll still keep an eye on you just because you're that important to him. He trusts you.

...okay, so like, maybe not completely trust you because let's be honest here, you're kiiiinda prone to trying dumb shit on him, but it's funny. He'll forgive it. The smug bastard.

From what I've seen, he comes off cool, suave, knows what he's doing. Cocky.

Bad boy. He's a bad boy in all sense of the word.

He knows what he's doing, he's confident, he's charming. Knows what to say and do. He's also a CEO so dealing with people? Basically easy for him.

When it comes to you? He will flirt. Because he likes getting a reaction out of you.

I bet he teases you a TON. You hate him? Good. At least you have him in your thoughts.

Love is war with him. You try to scheme? He already has a counter. Man is 100 steps ahead of you, but just likes seeing you make a complete fool of yourself.

You know when he gets the upper hand he'll have that signature smirk of his that just screams "kiss me to shut me up and I'll consider this your win".

You thought Rafayel had an ego? Nah. NAH, THIS DUDE HAS AN E G O.

Sparring sessions with him are very likely. He'd probably be like "alright, but not going easy on you" or something cocky like that with a smug smirk on his face.

Man genuinely treats you as his equal though when training. Teaches you everything he knows and points out some techniques you might be rusty on.

Rizz is off the charts. He's lived in the N109 Zone and breathed it for so long. He's a sweet talker, so be prepared for him to know how to make you melt.

But also, he will actually spoil you. Will he make you work for it? Yes. He will give you an entire runaround (make you say please, make you verbalize it, etc), but he does it because he loves you.

You are genuinely his soft spot, and I CANNOT stress this enough.

The things he does in the dark are things he does FOR YOU. His reason for being REVOLVES around you, you just don't know it yet. Don't let him being the leader of Onichynus get to your head—he has method to his madness.

[sylusheart]

`let's talk about caleb/xia yizhou

i've decided to complie a (sort of) categorised list of all the theories so far regarding caleb's character/identity (and his possible importance to the story of lnds in the future) from posts i've gathered from other players here on tumblr, reddit, and on twt, including some of my own personal theories/questions that i haven't seen anyone speak about yet (to my knowledge) and wanna share, feel free to tell me your thoughts too! oh and please let me know if there’s any potential theories regarding caleb/xyz that i haven’t included in this list yet, i’ll be sure to add them as soon as i can :3 anywho~ let's start off a little simple... ૮˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ♡

ᰔ caleb will return

as a caleb girlie i have ruthlessly hunted around for anything and everything that i can find to support this idea (of course) but let's begin with some small details that a lot of people have noticed.

he's the first character to have a phone call with the mc, as well as a text message conversation. only the love interests have these types of interactions with mc so far so it sets him apart from the usual side characters. infold are clearly doing as much as they can to intergrate caleb into the mc's life, further signifying how much of an important character he is to the mc and to the story.

there's also many visual scenes of his character model doing all sorts of animations, not even tara or any of the other male side characters like thomas or jeremiah have this many (or at all). and yeah, most of these animations are probably just default ones which may also be the exact ones used for the boys but even so, why would infold put a lot of time in animating him (and his multiple changing expressions) if they were truly just going to kill him off seconds later?

his design was made as carefully as xavier, zayne, and rafayel's designs were - the proof of this is his original outfit. not too sure why they decided to change it (maybe it was too 'dark'? it might've been too much of a in-your-face hint that caleb would return as a possible antagonist?) but it was clear that they went through the effort of changing it for a reason... personally i love his og outfit more, it makes his necklace stand out more and he just looks so itty bitty scrunkly wunkly.

there's some other things i want to add. we know that mc gave caleb the 'when u come back' necklace before he left for skyhaven and after the explosion, caleb sort of 'returns' it. and by returns i mean when the explosion happens caleb's necklace is found right in front of her. with the engraving, it sort of foreshadows him coming back. now, to analyse the explosion a bit more, it happens very suddenly - like as soon as caleb goes into the house and closes the door. of course this makes it seem like he was affected by the explosion but how come caleb's necklace was found in one piece right in front of her? he was wearing it after all, so for it to be the only thing (other than caleb's... remains) in front of her makes it seems like him 'dropping/leaving' the necklace was kind of intentional. we see caleb using his gravitational/telekenisis-like evol in a segment of chapter 4 when he takes the necklace from her, so it makes sense for him to use it again when he's giving it back to her, right? adding onto this little theory about caleb using his evol in the explosion, mc was pretty close to the house when it exploded but is quite far from it after the explosion. now obviously this is due to the explosion blasting her back, but i did see someone mention that caleb possibily used his evol to push her away so that the explosion wouldn't severly hurt her. this makes sense, seeing as she was only slightly injured from the explosion, nothing too serious. but then again, we don't know the true extent of caleb's evol, is he powerful enough to be able to do that? i wouldn't put it past him though, seeing as he is a deepspace pilot and i'm sure he uses his evol for work which means he must've been training with it. going back to my previous point about him using his evol to intefere with the explosion, if he really did push mc away then it's possible he managed to keep himself safe from the explosion using his evol too. but if he managed to get himself and mc to safety then what about grandma? with her condition it's probably not possible that she managed to escape on her own and we don't know whether during that time where caleb and mc were outside if she was still in the house or not. could she have been kidnapped? i'll add more about what i think about the relationship between grandma and caleb further down in another section...

and who exactly was that guy that injured mc in early chapter 4 before caleb found her? from what we can gather with such little info we have, he could've been sent by sylus/onychinus or maybe even caleb himself. the attacker/random guy makes a comment which gives off the sense that he knows mc and this is probably because whoever sent him ordered the attacker guy to be a diversion and lure mc out of the house, via the wanderer/energy fluctuations. if caleb was the one who 'sent' this guy, why would he make that quip about avenging mc for that guy hurting her? is he keeping up with some sort of false façade so mc doesn't question his motives? it seems unlikely though... i think he was genuinely upset over seeing her get hurt and how she proceeded to lie about it to him.

another thing to add, the explosion doesn't go off as soon as caleb and mc are out of sight, this means that the aim wasn't to kill just the grandma but caleb too seeing as it happens as soon as caleb enters the house. but with this theory, it means he had no idea about the attack. in a way this all adds up, meaning that him using his evol to push mc out of safety was out of impulse. we can assume that an important part of the explosion was to ensure mc was kept alive, and this futher implies that the explosion could've been the work of onychinus or more specifically sylus. they're interested in finding the aether core after all (from what’s implied), but if it really was them, how would they know mc has it? only a few people like zayne, dr.noah, and grandma/joesphine (and also maybe xavier, jeremiah, and rafayel? it's not too certain in this timeline...) know that mc's heart is infused with the aether core. i do have a feeling caleb knows as well, it just makes sense as he’s the ‘older brother’ figure so he must know certain ‘family matters’, but then again as caleb is so secretive we don’t have a concrete answer on what he does and doesn’t know which is what makes him suspicious. could he be the one who potentially/accidentally implied or informed sylus/onychinus about the aether core having to do something with mc? is that why he faked his death, so that they’d assume caleb and mc were the ones in the explosion and not caleb and grandma? i’ll also make a seperate post on sylus seeing as there's one month left until he will be officially introduced (i am so very excited) as he’s after the aether core (perhaps he was the one that put it into mc’s heart in the first place? or he created it?)

back to caleb, him 'losing' his necklace admist the explosion is almost like him letting go to his past self (?) is he going to use this explosion as some sort of... rebirth or character development? will he let go of his soft, puppy-like persona? it sounds like a bit of a stretch but i do think he has something shady going on. maybe letting go of the necklace is like letting go of the 'big brother' title so that he can return into mc's life as a love interest and not as an older sibling-like figure. i think caleb tries to show us that he's upset mc still see's him as a 'brother' just because they grew up together. comments are thrown around, like how she should just trust him now that they're grown up and how they're not little kids anymore - this all makes it seem like they don't have to keep seeing each other like they're siblings and that they're mature enough to articulate their feelings.

also, i'm not sure if anyone's played mr. love queen's choice (it's another otome game made by infold and lnds is set in the future of the same universe that queen's choice was set in) but killing off their LIs and bringing them back to life isn't something they haven't done before so... take what you will from that. not to mention, caleb's name has been trademarked/copyrighted by infold...

ᰔ caleb's 'arguement' with mc was forced/intentional

so there's a part in the beginning of chapter 4 where caleb informs grandma and mc that he submitted an application for a long-term care ward for grandma (did he do this to keep grandma out of the way? knowing that she could interfere?) mc is suprised about this, as is joesphine (grandma) and when mc asks him why he didn't say anything to her about it all he does is laugh and look away - brushing it off. later on, when mc decides to hide/lie about the fact that she got attacked by someone caleb gets quite defensive and hurt over her not telling him about it. in the moment, mc doesn't mention the fact that he has kept things from her too (such as the care ward thing) probably because it slipped her mind due to caleb reacting the way he did, or because if she did mention his hypocrisy, it would probably make things worse or end a little more bitterly than it did.

however, we know (from the phone call with caleb at end of chapter 1, as well as a part in chapter 4) that these two are aware that they both tend to keep things from each other. claiming it to be 'top-secret' or 'classified information', but then again this is to do with work related sort of stuff - getting hurt by some random dude on the street or submitting an application to a care ward isn't exactly associated with their positions as a hunter/pilot.

i think it's pretty obvious that the reason caleb joined mc when she left to search for wanderers wasn't because he needed to collect some groceries. if you want some visual proof - when he confronts mc he isn't holding any grocercy bags or anything, nor does he bother making a joke about how the store didn't have any of the things she requested or how he forgot to bring his card with him, and that's probably because he wasn't gonna bother keeping up that act seeing as mc had already caught onto it when she told him not to follow her. again, mc doesn't point out any of this and maybe it's because she's too caught up with the emotions in the conversation or maybe it’s because caleb’s reaction/behaviour is sorta making her feel guilty and in the wrong.

so why did caleb follow her? was it because he wanted to speak with her alone? it was clear he had something on his mind before he hesitated (more on that later) or was it because he needed to buy some time so that the 'bomb' could be placed and set off? anyway, the reason why i'm suggesting the 'arguement' was forced is because maybe caleb wanted mc to despise him so that she would be less hurt over his 'death'? or that when he returns she'd forgive him instantly because she would regret the way things ended before his 'death'... i'm not too sure on the reason, but the way he went about the situation was kiiinda suspect, like he was purposefully trying to rile up emotions.

ᰔ caleb the villain

do i think caleb will return as an antagonist? yep. and if you think about it, like reaaaally think about it, it makes a lot of sense because why would he need to fake his death in the first place if not for something shady. no deepspace pilot needs to be doing all of that. but if, for some reason, he stays dead (... guys c'mon he won't trust me) then he merely was just a civillian that fell victim to a wanderer-associated explosion. not a shred of evil in his soul. i’ll add more onto the idea of evil/dark caleb later but for now i'm going to expand more on this in the section below~

ᰔ caleb is (not) sylus?

i've seen a lot of players debate over the idea of the shadowy figure at the end of chapter 8 being either caleb or sylus... or both? personally, voice wise (english voiceover) ... i think they're pretty similar. i haven't compared both mysterious guy and caleb's voice in the other languages yet, but if all the other voiceovers had similar caleb's and sylus' i'd assume more people would've put more attention on that, as that would sort of be a little bit of confirmation that the similar sounding voices were intentional or something. but still, it wouldn't be enough. now appearance wise, i also think they look quite alike. yes, the hairstyles are different but if caleb really did fake his death then he'd change up his appearance and embody a sort of new persona, right? i mean he'd still be the same caleb we love and know, but i feel like there would just be a new aura to him. i saw another player saying that perhaps the chapter 8 guy probably is caleb but with his face surgically modified due to the explosion which sounds like a really good theory, seeing as these brightened photos of the mysterious guy just looks like a more sharper/defined version of caleb's puppy-like face.

a lot of other players also said that the mysterious guy might be thomas, as it would make sense for rafayel to be talking to thomas but i really think that's not the case. now do i think caleb is sylus? maybe. but truly, i think caleb is most likely just working closely with sylus/onychinus meaning that sylus and caleb are in fact two different people (perhaps they’re actually twins or related somehow??)

however, after chapter 8 came out and the devs made this post on weibo:

a lot of people took this in as confirmation that the mysterious guy from chapter 8 was not in fact sylus. so could it be caleb instead? but then that would go against the theory of caleb being sylus, seeing as this post says that sylus has not appeared yet...

ᰔ caleb is (not) sylus? [part 2, as of june 20/21st post-sylus announcement]

now that sylus' model has officially been shown, we can confirm that chapter 8 guy really isn't sylus and so i suppose it's time to debunk all the 'sylus = caleb' theories. though it still confuses me on how sylus character profile was unlocked in the hunters encyclopedia (? spacepedia was it) right after the completion of chapter 8 , i think that's why we were all so quick to believe that the mysterious figure at the end was sylus. but anyway, personally for me now i'm way more convinced mr. shadowy figure dude really was caleb and i really want to know if caleb is working against or with sylus and if sylus has anything to do with caleb having this... alter ego.

ᰔ the apple motif

a player pointed out that we're seeing some sort of re-telling of fairytales through the love interests, i.e. sleeping beauty, ice queen, the little mermaid, etc. and that caleb is the 'snow white' of this theory, you know, with the apple and all. i like this theory because it suggests mc being the knight in shining armour, having to save her boys. and i'm a little (very) curious on what sylus' fairytale would be too, or if he’ll be an iconic sort of villain/morally grey character like maleficent? i feel like we'll see more of these 'apples' throughout the story... even if caleb stays dead (he won't) also, kind of unrelated, but one of my favourite book series - which is sorta like a fairytale to begin with (it's called once upon a broken heart by stephanie garber, if you end up wanting to read it don't physically go and buy it/support the author... she's a z!onist, i can give you an epub file to the book so you can read it for free so that it doesn't give her any money lol) - has a character who's got a curse where his kisses are deadly, and if he kisses anyone who isn't his 'one true love' then they'll die. the thing is, he doesn't know who his 'one true love' is or if this person will even be someone he reciprocates feelings for. he surpresses his urges to kiss by eating these magical (?) apples and somehow it's enough for him to not go on a murdering spree. again, as this is off-topic and of course will most likely not happen, i'm mentioning this only because it'll be interesting to see if there's some sort of significance to why caleb likes apples so much? is it because mc likes them? we know that mc likes apples through a line she says to xavier in one of his memories:

but also when caleb steals the necklace mc got/made him and he mentions that it's in a style that she really likes. which is probably refering to the little apple pendant thingy? but yeah, maybe it has something to do with their childhood i'm not too sure. besides that, if you look closely in some scenes where mc is in her apartment you can see a framed picture/painting of an apple in her bedroom. did caleb give that to her? or was it commissioned?

ᰔ what's the beef between grandma and caleb?

so as far as we know, grandma took in mc and caleb. she was looking for mc and found her in an orphanage/foster home (?) and took her in because mc recognised her somehow despite all of the experiments she endured and the 'incident' (chronorift catastrophe) that happened in linkon city, i'm not too sure if we know how grandma found caleb (though if anyone knows where it may have been mentioned pls let me know), but for now let's assume they were taken in at around the same time or similar. if that were the case, then perhaps caleb was also a subject for the 'experiments' that joesphine and her colleagues were conducting. since mc has her memories wiped regarding that time, which was most likely due to her aether core or her evol, i think if caleb was truly a victim in these 'experiments' then maybe he might still have memory of this? though, why would he allow joesphine to take him in if he knew what she did/does? or maybe he was too young to understand anything and only later came to a realisation when he grew up - probably after finding some files/photos that tied joesphine to mc/himself before the 'incident'. we all know caleb is pretty secretive, so if he did find something out he would've not made it obvious. but then again, mc did tell zayne (i think, or maybe it was monologue) that there was barely any trace of joesphine's research/work around their (old) home. so if caleb did find something out, then it must've been from an outside source - and i get the feeling an outside source would be someone from the N109 zone.

whatever happened, i think grandma is weary of caleb, like she knows that he's been associating himself with the wrong kind of people or that he'll end up not being a constant in mc's life e.g. his sudden death (if it was planned/faked in the first place) which is why she entrusts mc to zayne instead of caleb. it seems that she really wants to match-make zayne and mc together - we know from her trying to get mc and zayne to have lunch together if she had to be placed into a hospital, and from her telling zayne to look after mc when she passes. maybe she actually knows more about zayne (and his past lives) than we think, which is why she's more reliant on leaving mc to zayne because she feels she knows more about him rather than caleb because as i said, she appears to be a bit skeptical of him. there's even a part in the 'world underneath' stories where she hesitates to say caleb's name, (maybe because that's not even his real name??) but that's to assume if she was even referring to caleb here:

ᰔ what was that flash of light that made caleb change his mind from explaining to mc?

i haven't seen anyone mention this i think but caleb seems to give up on what he was saying as soon as something flashes by. it's almost like he comes to a certain realisation as soon as this happens. he looks really sad and hurt, so what was he about to say? if you listen closely to chapter 4 segment 3 'within reach', the flash of light that passes by and is reflected on his face is acompanied by the sound of a car going past. he doesn't look at this car, but is he somehow reminded of zayne? as far as we know he's the only male love interest (other than rafayel, but caleb doesn't know rafayel... right?) that drives a car (he has multiple actually… rich daddy) and as well as this, doesn't zayne live close by to caleb's/mc's childhood home? (i'm not too sure on this, correct me if i'm wrong...) so it could actually be him. i assume that since lnds is set in the future - public transport would be much more advanced and faster than how it is now which is why many people would opt to use it more often rather than using personal vehicles, so it's possibile caleb could have recognised the sound/look of zayne's car? which is why he decided to put an end of the conversation there - being reminded of zayne and his position in mc’s life, probably thinking that zayne would be mc's first choice if she were to confide in someone. but of course, if that really was zayne we may never know. caleb sort of laughs/scoffs (?) to himself and looks down right after he pauses and the flash of light passes by. it's like he's coming to terms with something, maybe accepting the fact that in mc's eyes he'll always be seen as the 'brother' figure and he can't have what he really and truly wants. aaaand drumroll, this brings me to my next point...

ᰔ caleb and his relations with zayne

their designs are pretty similar, in fact they could even pass off as twins seeing as their hairstyles sort of just mirror each other. but no, i don't think they're actually related, though i do get the sense that there might be some sort of jealousy going on (?) maybe not so much from zayne's side but the way caleb says the line "even the world's busiest guy has to eat. i haven't seen him in a looong time. we should invite him over for dinner, right?" (in chapter 4 segment 1 'family') it sounds a bit... strange to me. the way he says it is like how one would challenge prey into enemy territory. but then again, i really think i'm just looking too far into it. caleb naturally has a spontaneous and joke-y way of talking anyway, so maybe it probably is nothing malicious, but give it a listen if you really want to.

we don't know caleb's exact age (yet) and i don't know if he'd be older or younger than zayne, but hopefully in the future there's more on what their relationship is like - seeing as they're almost like polar opposites, i feel like their dynamic would be fun to witness. i presume those two didn't keep in touch over text/call like how caleb does with mc, so it would be nice to see them finally interact after so long. even a flashback with mc, caleb, and zayne as kids would be good... i'm begging for anything at this point...

that's all i have for now, i'm probably missing a lot of potential lore that could help with these supposed theories because the only myth cards i've completed so far is zayne's foreseer myth. i think in the lumiere myth cards there was a bit about the 'incident/catastrophe' (?) but since i lost the 50/50 to raf i've been a bit pouty and haven't watched a reupload of it or anything (i really wanted his solar pair ok...) anywho, i'll perhaps edit/correct this as more of the story comes out or if you guys want me to add/change anything :3 thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed me rambling on about caleb. this is basically my manifestation post so that he comes home... we miss you xia yizhou. "૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა

[rainbowsalt0412]

THE NEW UPDATE

Just got back from a trip and guess what, Sylus has the entire LnDs Nation in a chokehold, and I kinda knew this was gonna happen, so buckle up this is gonna be a long one.

First things first, He is SO HOTTTTTTTTTT!

Mannnn, when he was first revealed a couple of weeks ago, I had already posted about how he might surpass others to be my top, and guess what, I was not wrong, he is already making me doubt my loyalty to Zayne when he hasn't even debuted yet, but hey it's just a game so I'll be fine.

Second thing that I noticed in his trailers and the 2.0 preview livestream was that they did reveal his certain characteristics.

He is definitely 'Hard on the outside, soft on the inside' kind of guy. This conclusion was made with what the Kitty Cat told us about him when he was out in N109 Zone collecting information and how Sylus placed him softly on the ground after picking him off from top of a building and telling him its no place for soft Cats like him, and then he was seen walking past a flower when he could have easily stepped on it like some other Bad Guys like to do, but he didn't, someone (I don't know who exactly, I might have reblogged their post) even mentioned that the flower kind of reflected MC and how Sylus might just make her have an insight into his lifestyle rather then just killing her after she was captured the the last chapter.

Other thing that I noticed was that his Evol might not be Blood, instead it's Energy Manipulation or something like that, which could be a possibility as he is a leader of an organization that focus on Protocores, I'm still not sure, guess we'll have to wait to see what is it exactly.

He also might be the only LI as of now who is an actual combatant apart from Xavier, i.e., he has actual combat skills, maybe because of his position and surroundings. Like I know we can choose our companions during battle but when it comes to Main Story thing, not all LIs are fit for fighting skills, Xavier has to be the best combatant of them all due to his job, and now I can say the same for Sylus as well, if not, he can be better than Xavier as well, specially how he is the only one who is actually teaching the MC how to fight in his memories.

Apart from that, he also can cook, has a thing for singing (his karaoke 4-Star memory reference, if you might have noticed), and can and does ride Bikes, but despite that he is a walking Red flag, but I don't blame him, and would still love him if it came to that.

One thing I noticed in LnDs, which is also my favorite thing about them is the Detailing, so of course Sylus has his own as well. When I first saw him in his preview from a couple of weeks ago, I kind of thought that he looked similar to Zayne but that's not the case, maybe it was the lighting and angles that made me think that, but not anymore. I think that the LIs are made to look the way their characters are, like when I first saw Xavier in an AD, I immediately thought of a high class individual or a bodyguard with a soft side who is also jealous of whom you meet and talk to or something like that, and Zayne seemed like a Cold beauty, and it did turned to be similar to that when I started playing the game, So yes I'm gonna analyze Sylus as well (It might not be 100% true cause I'm just making assumptions which could be true).

Unlike Zayne who has a cold yet soft looks similar to his character (As he is the closest to Sylus in terms of looks and characters I'll take him for comparison), Sylus has more of 'Rough on the edge' looks, someone who has a Bad, Traumatic and Rough childhood. He seemed like the guy who didn't wanted to be here but had no choice as well, and that doesn't mean he's innocent, he has his fair share of crimes and evil doings, and would gladly take the wrong thing into consideration if it gives him his desired results.

HE WEARS A F*CKING CHOKER!!!!!!

AND IS DOMINET AS HELL, I CAN FEEL IT!!!!!!

With the showcase of his pair memories, I doubt he was with the MC in any other timeline because unlike any other boy, his pair seemed to be a part of the present timeline, and I think he is suppose to be the Bad Guy for this timeline, or he could be the bad guy for other LIs who didn't let him meet the MC in any other timeline.

Other thing that I noticed about him is that he is very much self dependent person, whether you talk about his cooking skills, his combat skills, etc. Like he does have a chef doing his food, but he could very much cook himself as well, unlike someone, *Coughs* Xavier (That prince treatment did that to you I see) *Cough*, which makes me think he has spent most of his early life alone, or maybe his entire life alone in general, and didn't have much help from others either. This also tells us that he instead trusts himself rather than others to do his work, except when he can't, maybe because he couldn't trust many people in his line of work.

OR this all could just be a hobby as well...

The 'Mechanical Crow' thing tells me that maybe he could be a good Mechanic as well, if you know what I mean, like he could have just designed and created that himself as well, and is interested in designing and creating, like come on he is the leader of Onychinus, he is a Modern Technology guy. I can see him working on his Bike every now or then.

And of course, he is a top priority target for UNICRONS.

That's what I noticed for now, so keeping his character aside for now, let's talk about the new features.

I didn't understand much about the wish system, like are we suppose to use normal wishes only cause I don't have much and enough diamonds to buy those, I bought the special ones instead cause I though that would be the one we'll have to use.

New battle system is a great feature for F2Ps like me, though I did not understand much of it as well and still do not have my memories enough ranked up yet.

How are some people already done with their Orbital when I'm here stuck on 50 or something of every orbit for past month? I'm not even halfway there.

I'm glad we'll get Sylus's first 5-Star pair and 4-Star pair in the permanent wish pool, which would gladly be his two Primary dominant colors.

You know what, I did not understand much of anything the new 2.0 version would be bringing to us, I'll just have to wait and see it for myself to get a hold of it.

ANNNNNNDDDDD, we are getting branches for every LI starting this Sept., which is an exciting part as well cause I almost thought we wouldn't have that system here. I still don't understand why Sylus was not included there, maybe because he would be a recent addition.

And Last but not the least, the letter in the end made me tear up. This shows just how much effort and time they put into the game and that they do care about us, The Players. I just wanna give a piece of my mind to the person responsible for Sylus's leak. Thank the lord I didn't see anything other than the one actually uploaded on the official channel. It must be very hard to give that level of production, not to mention they have a reputation to maintain as the world's first 3-D Otome Game, so it must have been really upsetting that someone ruined their upcoming surprise project like that when they might not even had any part in it.

When the last review mail was up I gave them 1-Star in every category because of how frustrated I was of not pulling much from any limited banner at that time because as an F2P, I literally harvest the diamond so I'm very careful about spending them so getting nothing in return took a troll on me. So if a review mail is up again in this next update, I'll gladly give them 5-Star everywhere possible, considering they did took the advice of F2Ps like us well, and it's not just that but this new update would give me an opportunity to earn diamonds a little bit easily.

And it's not like I don't want to spend, it's just I can't spend now as I'm focused on some real life resources which are really important for me, not to mention the game is really expensive. So in future if I do get a chance, I'll gladly spend some.

That's all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts on Sylus, and this new update as well in the comment section, I'll love to discuss.

(Tumblr pulled a B*tch, and didn't save my earlier draft resulting in me doing this entire thing again, took me a day to recall, might have missed some points but that okay.)

[madamedestler]

Hehee :>>>>>

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

😎 What fics do you prefer on a scale of canon compliant to wildly original?

💡How many WIPs do you currently have?

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

🤔 Would you ever want to write something canon if you got the opportunity?

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see? (I would ask this personally 💦)

💥 Christine staying with Erik in PotO. She should have chosen both Erik and Raoul! Imagine the potential of all three of them! Erik’s smarts, Raoul’s money and Christine’s talent. Yeah, they could make do very well.

👻 I don’t quite know if I have a super wild one. I guess I’ll choose that Erik has a vast collection of very heavily annotated erotica books.

😎 Give me wild. If I wanted canon, I would read the book and watch the adaptations, stage production, movie, etc. Give me what is deep in your brain that is begging to come out! Give me what you are ashamed to post!

💡 6 fanfics. I have 4 partially completed long fics, “The Phantom’s Atonement”, “Guardian Angel”, “Domestic Engagement”, and “A Lucky Star’s Above”. Also working on a sequel to “Corpus Christi” and a LND inspired one shot. On top of my fanfics, I also have 2 original works, one will be a novella unless the plot takes another route as I’m daydreaming at work, and one a regular novel. Waaaay too much but it keeps me going. If I get bored of one, I work on another.

🎬Gosh, I’m going to choose “Guardian Angel” to keep it simple as there are only like 4 characters in it but I’ll only do Erik and Christine. So for Christine, Anya Taylor-Joy. I think she could pull off Christine’s personality in that fic. For Erik, gosh, I’m not very good at casting but I’ll choose either Sam Riley or Kit Harrington 🤔 maybe James McAvoy. Like I said, I’m not good at casting 🤭

🤔 I am not very smart so I don’t quite know what this means but I’m assuming my own work. Yes, I am writing 2 books right now.

💌 Strangers to Friends to Lovers. One of my faves in the whole world!

🎨 The end of the first scene in chapter 11 of “Guardian Angel” when Christine just stitched up Erik and is laying next to him, hoping he doesn’t die. So heart wrenching and would love to see it come to life.

Thank you for asking me! Loved answering these!

[rose-tinted-kalopsia]

none of you know which lnds req i'm working on writing right now but know that i had to revisit chapter 4 for it and now my heart hurts 🫶

[thewriterinthebatcave]

So, I read The Phantom Of Manthattan

In its entirety. @baepsyche had tried to dissuade me, she did her best, but I wanted to wade through the sewage that book is by myself and form my own opinion on it. I mean, I had a very clear image of how bad it would be when I heard @lindsayetumbls give the rundown in the Musicalsplaining episode of Love Never Dies, but I had no idea how bad it could actually be!

TL:DR The book is a mess that makes no sense as a sequel to whatever, nor it makes sense on its own because of how it’s structured and written. It sucks, it’s poorly written and isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Love Never Dies is a fucking masterpiece worth of all the awards for musical theater out there in comparison.

I mean... I’ve read bad books in my life. Once upon another time I handled a blog dedicated to poor literature - both printed and online - I’ve read my big fat share of bad literature, I binged on the Fifty Shades trilogy but Sweet Jesus Christ POM makes 50 Shades look like high art! 

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

1. Too many POV characters. There’s like... the Phantom, three different journalists two of which are there for one chapter alone and never return, there’s the priest, and a couple more I forgot. But... WHY? Why so many different POV characters in a book so short I literally finished it in a couple half hour long sessions? WHY? It makes no sense from a narration standpoint, it’s crowded and confusing and voyeuristic! Also, never including Christine’s POV you diminish her character to a paper thin token. Also, where’s Raoul?

2. Speaking of which, Raoul. Poor guy, the book shits on him from chapter 1 (the only barely readable chapter of the book), and by doing so right in the beginning the “big reveal” of Pierre/Gustave true parentage feels more of a “captain obvious” joke rather than a “I would have never guessed!”. Not that it is such a grand plot twist in Love Never Dies I mean, but Jesus, not like this! 

3. Yeah, speaking of that. People shit on Love Never Dies for “Beneath A Moonless Sky” and the sex scene that never was, but this is way worse! At least the song gives you a context, a moment you can at least imagine what the hell happened and maybe even why, but here? Nothing! They don’t even TALK about that, let alone explain to the reader that those two had sex! What the fuck! Pierre just happened to be born and Raoul never even questioned his parentage! Or maybe he does, he just doesn’t care since he fullfills the nobility’s expectations of a male heir, who knows. HE DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING RELEVANT IN THE WHOLE BOOK! No wonder in LND they turned him in the abusive alcoholic, they had no material to build on in this... thing. 

4. The Phantom and the backstory. I appreciate the fact that they tried to give him a past, and I really liked the fact that Forsythe took his time to even give at least a fraction of time/place context to the original book that hasn’t one by figuring out Leroux had a post-electricity Palais Garnier in mind, but the backstory for the Phantom... I’ve read more interesting fanfics. I haven’t read Kay’s Phantom, I have it but I haven’t started it yet so I can’t make comparisons, but seriously, I’ve really read fanfics retellings of Erik’s past more imaginative and fleshed out that this book.

Which leads me to...

5. Satanism? Really? Satanism? Of all the shock cards Forsythe could have dropped on the table, Satanism? Listen guys, I’m a metalhead, I listen to stuff that people have called “the music of the devil” (classic rock, blues and jazz included) for the past fifty years on daily basis, one of my favourite songs of all time is Emperor’s “Inno A Satana” which literally means “Hymn to Satan” in Italian. My parents were scared to death when I started dabbling in heavy metal because of the whole “satanism” thing, I know my shit about satanism (I actually have done my research), and let me tell you that shit is old. Like, dusty and moldy old, not just not fashionable, it’s such an old story no one finds it so shocking anymore. So... WHY? It makes no sense, drives no point in the story, it’s a damn McGuffin that isn’t even relevant anymore! It wasn’t at the time the book was published (the whole trial to Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne had happened like... 10 years prior the book was written so... meh) and I really hope it will never be again because... seriously... nope, it’s stupid and pointless, why on Earth it was used as a plot device I have no fuckin’ idea. 

6. Darius. Dude has no backstory, no descriptor except his greed and “devotion” to money and wealth. Oh and he smokes hashish. That’s it. We’ve got no other data on him. Jesus Christ, for the antagonist of the story he surely is kind of... bland? I mean, he’s non existent! Such a cop out, like really... WHY! At least Meg falling for the Phantom and getting all jealous crazy makes a teeny tiny bit of sense, but this guy? Bland, children’s book cutout satanism aside, which is a terrible choice of moving force for reasons above, the dude himself is so terribly fleshed out (ID, he isn’t) that his motivations are unclear at best and laughable at worst. You are the Phantom’s face in the world, he has so much money that if you start putting a side a grand here and a grand there he wouldn’t notice, you have power to make deals in his behalf, why don’t you just get the money and go? Have you learned nothing by working with the Phantom? Can’t you make your own money and become filthy rich yourself so you can honor your damn god  on your fucking own? Don’t you think your god would appreciate more you making your own wealth instead of pigging on the Phantom’s back and take only morsels of his own wealth? Fuck this book is a mess. 

7. Christine. I mean, she’s rarely there, for the time she is she’s either a hysterical mess or a an angel on stage, and she is supposed to be the reason everything happens. In reality, it looks like everything happens in spite of her. She has no power on her own, she’s like a piece of wood floating in the sea during a storm. 

8... No, I’m not going further with this. I could shit on this book for the whole day, but I have other things to do, better things to do. 

I’m going to wash my eyes with bleach now. 

[and-muses]

1-4 for raoul, john, and ethan?

1: What is the biggest headcanon deviation from canon material that you have incorporated into the way you write your muse? Why did you come up with it?

Raoul: I think for him it’s probably the fact that I don’t write him as a complete dick and I don’t write him as entirely soft. It feels like it either goes one way or another with portrayals of Raoul (That said, I am going based off of the actual actors who play him as there’s a lot of variation from production to production and I do not acknowledge LND)

John: So John is a character that I tend to make up quite a bit myself lmao. He doesn’t have a lot in canon now that I think about it, but maybe I could say that I think I write him as a bit more aware of how he acts socially and how it’s a bit different than social norms. He knows it’s off but like as seen in canon he doesn’t quite care.

Ethan: His gender. I just like projecting onto characters so my ethan is a nonbinary trans masculine person like me because I felt like it. 

2: Do you have any controversial headcanons that go against what is generally accepted by the fandom? Do you incorporate this into writing your muse or keep it to yourself?

Raoul: I don’t entirely know what headcanons are more accepted and which aren’t. Maybe the fact that I completely ignore LND or maybe the fact that I do consider his brother to be canon and I do kinda consider the idea that he would blame himself for what happens to his brother.

John: I don’t see him as incredibly impulsive. Because he’s not, he’s self sacrificing but he’s not impulsive. You don’t become a general being an impulsive idiot. He’s thought through his plans and about three others in the time it’s taken him to decide that the best choice is the one where he sacrifices himself in some way to save however many others. I do definitely incorporate this in some way shape or form.

Ethan: Again, I don’t quite know the common headcanons but I do know he kind of comes off as a dumbass and I don’t think he is. It’s probably due to similarities I see in myself from Ethan but I don’t think he’s a dumbass just because he says stuff that isn’t book smart. Spelling is hard. Grammar is hard. So he doesn’t quite know book stuff, but hands on stuff? Fixing things? People? He’s great at it. I do keep this in how I write him 

3:What is something that was never addressed at all in the canon material that you have independently developed for your muse?

Raoul: How the phantom affects him. We never see how Raoul reacts to the phantom and how it affects him in the end unless the actor chooses to show it (other than his anger) but like.... getting almost hung and almost watching your fiance sacrifice herself for you is gonna mess with you.

John: His relationships with other peip agents. I have whole stories written my dudes, i love him interacting with other peip agents. I also have like, a decent amount of backstory and stuff written for him.

Ethan: Again, probably his gender but also backstory.

4:Have you made any outright changes to the canon material in order to write your muse the way you wanted (entire scenes you chose to omit, chapters you say never existed, things you assume were never said, etc.)?

Raoul: Fuck lnd. that didn’t happen.

John: He doesn’t die. well sometimes he does but I have a whole au about that. Maybe doesn’t die permanently.

Ethan: he doesn’t die. well he does in some aus but like whatever. At least doesn’t die permanetly. 

[chris--daae]

4, 6, 21 :)

4 and 6Already answered!21- Which PotO collectibles do you own?None, unfortunately, but I really want a Erik plush and the Funko toy.I have some physical media: two copies of the original book, one in English and another in Portuguese; a printed copy of the extra chapter in English; Kay's book in English; a physical copy of the phic Seeing is Believing; Roseblood; the 1925 movie, the 2004 movie, and D. P. Mann's movie (American); 1943 blu-ray (Brazilian); dvds of 1962, 1989, 1990, the 25th and LND (Brazilian); and one random audio recording of ALW (Brazilian).

[seriestrash]

London’s Calling

1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 ||

Chapter Six: This is my life now

Word Count: 1486

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

☼ 11:47am ☼  NYC         [Sunday]         LND ☽ 4:47pm ☾

Three hours later... 

Like clockwork Riley’s laptop rings with a video call request from Lucas. 

“Helllllooo,” Riley sings upon answering.

“Hello,” Lucas smiles at her chipper mood. 

“How was your day?” Riley asks, “What did you all get up to?” 

“Good,” Lucas nods, “We went to the bakery and then saw a movie.” 

“You know you don’t have to be brief with me?” Riley half smiles, “I like to hear what you’re all doing.” 

“I know,” Lucas gives her a small smile, “I just don’t want to upset you.” 

“I’m appreciative of that, but if I can’t be there with you I’d at least like to hear about it in great detail from you,” Riley lets out a quiet giggle. 

“Maybe later,” Lucas chuckles, “I cant believe we haven't already brought up-” 

“Don’t you dare tease me about my new uniform,” Riley buries her face in her palms. “Maya has been texting me jokes about it since I sent her the picture!”  

“I can see it hanging up behind you,” Lucas points to where he sees it on his screen. 

Riley tilts her head back to look at it in her room and groans. “I can’t believe uniforms are now apart of my daily life.” 

“Come on, it’s really not that bad,” Lucas says with a coaxed head. 

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Riley squints. 

“Cross my heart,” Lucas brushes his index finger against his chest making an ‘X’. “You looked fine.” He says it sweetly, it’s not too much to make Riley embarrassed or send their conversation into an awkward down spiral. It’s just enough to make her feel better about it because she knew he meant more than ‘fine’ by the way he said it and she was right in thinking that because Lucas did know better than to say, “You look beautiful in anything.” 

“Thanks,” Riley says swaying nervously. Maybe saying fine was still enough to make her giddy. 

“So, do you know much about your new school?” Lucas asks. 

“Not really,” Riley shakes her head, “Just that it’s some fancy pants private school that my moms partner at the office recommended.” 

“Sounds posh,” Lucas holds out his pinky with a chuckle. 

“Positively,” Riley says in her best british accent and they continue to giggle together. 

“Are you nervous?” Lucas asks quietly once their laughter tapered off.

“Honestly, a little,” Riley stares at her hands in her lap as she fiddles nervously with her fingers, “It’s a completely new school in a different country and my dad won't even be there to look out for me..” 

Lucas knew already that Mr. Matthews got a new teaching position at a different school to the one Riley was enrolled in. Still, seeing her so nervous made his heart ache. 

“Kinda makes me sound like a baby doesn’t it?” Riley lets out a quiet scoff at herself, “That I rely on my daddy so much...” 

“Not at all,” Lucas tries to soothe her, “I was terrified on my first day when I transferred to John Quincy Adams...” 

“You didn’t look it,” Riley glances up at the screen. 

“I was trying to play cool,” Lucas folds his arms and gives Riley a wink. His attempt to make her laugh works and she lets out a giggle at his silliness. “We’re human, the nerves thing are apart of the package.” 

“I guess so,” Riley nods. 

“You’re loving London so far. Who’s to say you won't love your new school just as much?” Lucas continues to try and put the brunette at ease. 

“It’s starting to feel like less of a vacation now and more like my life...” Riley musters up a weak smile. “I mean... Sightseeing everyday, exploring, it was all so fun and exciting but now everything is slowing down and I’m realising that this is it now. This is my life. That’s scary.” 

Lucas gives her a sympathetic smile. He knows what she’s going through, maybe on a lesser scale since his big move was within the same country but he could at least sympathise with her to an extent. The two go back and forth for while. Riley showing obvious nerves about her pending change and Lucas does his best to comfort her. Eventually Riley says she should probably turn in and get some rest. Lucas understands and wishes her well. 

“Oh and Lucas..” Riley says and the Texan stops just shy of the end call button. 

“Yeah?” He matches her soft tone. 

“I just wanted to say that I miss you... With all the excitement the past few months I’m not sure I’ve said it enough but I just wanted you to know that even with the adventure, I still miss you.” Riley says quietly. 

“I miss you too,” Lucas smiles sweetly.

After the two hang up the call Lucas gets up from his desk and flops down on his bed. Riley was only being nice with her closing statement during the call but something about it made Lucas realise, for the first time properly since she’s left that they’re not together anymore. Not the physical kind of together, that he felt the loss of all the time, like the past week in school for example. Even the new History teacher sparked an ache in Lucas’ chest.  Riley’s ‘I miss you’, her fears about this being her life now, it made Lucas realise that they were broken up. He too just felt like she was on vacation, like she would be coming home soon. Lucas had almost been living the adventure with Riley the past few months. On a strange level he almost felt more connected to her with their calls then he had to her before she left. 

Lucas then worries that their conversations, their virtual communication the past few months was just two teens desperate attempts at holding onto something that no longer existed. Quickly, Lucas shakes his head at the thought. They were still them, even in different countries they were still Riley and Lucas. Nothing could change that, right?

The following morning Riley prepares herself for school. After dressing she combs her hair into pigtails on either side of her head. After nervously fidgeting with her uniform in the mirror a million times her phone beeping finally breaks her attention away. 

Topanga calls out to Riley saying it’s time to leave. Riley reaches her phone and checks the message. It’s Lucas. Grabbing her backpack she replies and keeps her eyes glued to the screen as she makes her way to the living room. 

Before Riley could respond to Lucas’ sweetness Topanga clears her throat. 

“Sorry mom,” Riley tries to contain her smile, “It was just Lucas wishing me luck.” 

“That’s very sweet of him,” Topanga says and Riley finally looks up from her screen and notices her mother is standing by a complete stranger. A boy around her age, also wearing a uniform. 

“Oh, sorry,” Riley is embarrassed she hadn’t noticed the unfamiliar persons presence. She slips her phone into her blazer pocket and looks to her mother for an introduction. 

“Riley, this is Finn,” Topanga says, “He’s Anne’s son, you know my partner at the firm?” 

“Oh right. You said she had a son that attends my new school.” Riley nods and turns her attention to the boy, “I’m Riley.” 

“Nice to meet you, Riley,” He wears a slight smirk and his accent - even though she’s been hearing them for months now - still makes the American giggle internally. 

“Finn is here to escort you to school on your first day,” Topanga says almost cautiously. 

“What?” Riley furrows her brows. 

“I’m taking Auggie to his school before work..” Topanga explains. 

“I know, I thought dad would take me,” Riley frowns. 

“It’s my first day too, kiddo,” Cory - whom had been flitting around the room getting ready - comes over to kiss Riley’s forehead, “I have to go. Good luck today.” After kissing his wife and son he disappears out the door. 

“Finn will ensure you’re taken care of this morning, honey,” Topanga says, “Come on, I’ll walk us all out.” 

Everyone exits the apartment and part ways on the street. Riley goes to walk towards her closet tube station but Finn stops her. 

“Where you going?” He asks with a raised brow. 

“To the station,” Riley pokes her thumb over her shoulder. 

“Not today,” Finn chuckles, “We’re taking the car.” 

Riley looks in the direction he’s pointing. She finds a black car across the street and a driver waiting by. Riley’s eyes widen in disbelief almost. Finn finds this amusing and nudges her arm with his shoulder. 

“We do things a bit differently here,” He says as he leads the way over. 

Different indeed. Better or worse? Riley couldn’t say, all she could do as she trailed behind Finn was remind herself of one thing, this is my life now.

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

End Note: I don’t mean this is my life now as in Riley is smancy now. She’s just reminding herself that she has no power over what comes, it’s all new territory so she has to embrace it for what it is. 

As always I ask to review and let me know if you want more! Yes I do check reblogs and tags on the story so that counts ;) 

Next Chapter: Finn. Lucas. School. Time passes. The vacation is definitely over.

[vlightndarkv]

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Characters: Katsuki Yuuri, Victor Nikiforov, Phichit Chulanont Additional Tags: Friendship, Misunderstandings, epic journey, Jealousy, Magic, Lonliness Summary:

Victor and Yuuri have been friends since they were kids. They do everything together, one rarely seen without the other. Now adults, a misunderstanding puts their friendship to the test and causes Victor to disappear with the Lord of Winter, a being that was only supposed to exist in stories. Yuuri embarks on a journey to find his friend, but between winter refusing to bow out to spring and the Lord of Winter pushing back at every turn it's not going to be easy. But what really has Yuuri worried is whether or not Victor will even listen to him once he finds him.

Dear god I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last updated this. @.@ *sigh* Really need to get better at keeping up with this... Oh well, chapter 4 is up!

[myjosephine123blog-blog]

Global Neutron Detectors Industry 2017 Market Research Report

Summary

In this report, the global Neutron Detectors market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.

Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Neutron Detectors in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Global Neutron Detectors market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including Rhombus Power Arktis Radiation Detectors Silverside Detectors Leidos Symetrica Ltd Mirion Technologies Scientifica International LND Proportional Technologies Kromek Group On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Lithium Large-Area Neutron Detector Fast Neutron Detectors Scintillation Neutron Detectors Semiconductor Neutron Detectors On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Neutron Detectors for each application, including Nuclear Power Aerospace & Defense Urban Detection Networks Other

The Global Neutron Detectors Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Neutron Detectors industry.

Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Neutron Detectors market analysis is provided for the international market including competitive landscape analysis, and major regions’development status.

Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (America, Europe and China), and other regions can be added.

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Table of Contents

1 Industry Overview of Neutron Detectors

2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Neutron Detectors

3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Neutron Detectors

4 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Neutron Detectors by Regions and Manufacturers

5 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Neutron Detectors by Regions and Manufacturers

6 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Neutron Detectors by Regions and Applications

7 Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Neutron Detectors

8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Neutron Detectors

9 Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Neutron Detectors

10 Industry Chain Analysis of Neutron Detectors

Main chapter showed:

4 Global Neutron Detectors Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)

   4.1 Global Neutron Detectors Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)

   4.2 North America Neutron Detectors Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)

   4.3 Europe Neutron Detectors Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)

5 Global Neutron Detectors Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

   5.1 Global Neutron Detectors Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)

   5.2 Global Neutron Detectors Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)

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[chris--daae]

Relationship Challenge - E/C

From what canon? Eh, most of them in one way or another. A special love for the ones in which Erik is not a psycho.

What kind of relationship? (otp, brotp, family bond, rivalry/enemies, etc) Otp and brotp, "linked souls".

What I like in it: So. Soooo. Like many people here, I shipped them a lot when watching the 2004 movie for the first time as a kid, then revisited the story as an adult and realized they are not really a fairytale cute couple. Well, when it comes to the original story and most adaptations, shipping them as a romantic couple feels just very wrong to me, if we are following the canon. It's still a very fascinating relationship. Christine fears Erik but does not hate him, she wants to escape from him but at the same time she does not want to leave him to suffer alone. Erik seems to project all his ideals of love, that are not much based on reality as he never experienced it himself, on her and makes all these plans, all these fantasies, but at first he is also content in only spending some time with her once in a while, certainly not considering himself deserving of her. Their relationship brought something good for both for a while, but it was based on lies and deceit from the start. Then come the threats, the kidnapping, the emotional blackmail, the actual blackmail, and all the stuff. But Christine does forgive Erik in the end, and well I don't really need to say how beautiful and meaningful the ending is as we all know it very well. ALW shows this relationship in a much less creepy way, which makes it much more attractive for me, while still keeping the core of it. It still includes threats and blackmail, it is still based on lies, but Christine is more torn between her choices. And the power Erik has over Christine seems to be much less based on pity too. It is still not healthy in any way but it's fascinating anyway. Then there's Y/K, in which this is my actual otp and I don't even care. Their relationship is much more healthy, and not based on lies (only a few secrets) and Christine actually sings a whole song about loving Erik and. I am still mad about the ending, okay. The same applies to 1990, but in there Christine's feelings for Erik are purely platonic, and the kind of love he was looking for could also not necessarily be romantic, and once again, I am mad. On the opposite end, we have 1989 and Erik's unhealthy obsession with Christine. While it's much simpler than the original, I also find this interesting in its own way. The whole "linked souls" things is special is one of my favorite concepts. 1943 is also fascinating, starting as a harmless crush of an older man for a younger woman, escalating to an obsession as he loses everything and goes to insanity. Not something I would ever ship in a romantic way, but interesting. Nothing in 1962 and 1983 caught much my attention, and LND and Kay also don't add anything interesting to this. Then we had the what-ifs. What if Erik was a better person, what if Christine loved him back, what if they met in a different way. A lot of fanfiction explores these in a lot of interesting ways. I must admit that I like this pairing more in fanworks than in canon. And in AU territory, I really like imagining many different possibilities of relationships for these two. I would like to read more about them as friends, in special. In general, I think they have the potential to bring out the best in each other, and though this happens very rarely in canon, I still enjoy imagining it.

Headcanons:

- Canon compliant

(ALW) Christine always wonders what would have happen if she had stayed. She never finds out what happened to Erik, but she knows he wasn't captured what gives her the biggest relief.

(Y/K) If there's one regret Christine has in life, it's her reaction to seeing Erik's face. She never forgives herself for it.

(2004) Erik kept watching over Christine from afar, never daring to approach her or her family again. Well, he may have interfered one or twice for her children, but never revealing himself.

(1943) Whenever she hears someone refering to Erique as a killer or a madman, Christine interferes and tell them they should remember him as the kind man and talented violinist he once was.

- Domestic

Christine is very messy and disorganized with her things, which makes Erik very annoyed.

They adopt cats. A lot of them.

Erik has never been one to remember dates well, but he always remember every single one that has to do with Christine and gives her the biggest surprises every year.

- AU(s)

Platonic soulmates. They are platonic soulmates.

assorted headcanons x x x x x

a tag for them

Fics I wrote about it:

For Now - E/C ending AU

Por Enquanto - For Now in Portuguese

I’ll give you a massage - fluff

Forever - 1989 post ending (not romantic)

Gymnophoria - Pre unmasking

In sleep he sang to me... - April Fools’ spin off to New Life

Deepest Urges - Seduction scene of Don Juan Triumphant

Would you like some tea? - Platonic 

tag Prologue Chapter One

Fics I recommend about it:

Long:

Devil’s Little Face - Family fic. Ongoing.

The Angel of Persia - A what-if type. Completed.

Seeing is Believing - A what-if type. Completed.

A Gypsy Caravan - A what-if type. Completed.

One-shots:

Creatures of Quirks - Married fic.

Twice Blessed, Pearl Anniversary, Peace in the Night - Family fic 

An Icy Grip - Hurt/comfort

A Touch of Comfort - Hurt/comfort

A Strange Bliss - Hurt/comfort

The Branded Heart - Modern AU hurt/comfort

Backstage - High school AU

His Other Half - Hurt/comfort

Vanity - Humourous fluff

Safeguard to Paradise - Hurt/comfort

Burn - Alternate ending type AU

The Talking Teacup - Fluff

among the stones - Post canon

Of Angels and Of Love - Fluff

A Walk in the Bois - Fluff

The Paint on his Skin - Fluff

Gifts and Wrappings - Actually a 4-shot. Fluff.

1990:

The Hidden Man

Denouement

There are many other good ones but I am sleepy and too lazy to search for all

[seriestrash]

London’s Calling

1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 

Chapter Five: The Honeymoon Period 

Word Count: 2262

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

(Picks right up where the last chapter finished, on the phone to Lucas) 

☼ 3:34pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 8:34pm ☾

“Now tell me about London...” Lucas insists through the phone.

“Well, it’s not New York..” Riley laughs nervously.

“It isn’t?” Lucas teases with a gasp, “I had no idea.”

Riley giggles in response, “It’s so weird.”

“Weird how?” Lucas continues to press.

“Weird-good I guess,” Riley relaxes into their conversation. “It’s strange having learnt about places like this and knowing of all the things like red telephone boxes and Big Ben it’s just so..”

“Weird seeing it all in real life?” Lucas finishes her sentence.

“Exactly!” Riley exclaims.

“I totally understand,” Lucas nods, “I felt the same way when I came to New York. I’d only ever seen things in pictures but suddenly I’m standing right in front of The Empire State Building. It’s surreal.”

“Exactly,” Riley says excited again, “You understand.”

“Yeah,” Lucas smiles to himself, “So tell me about them, surreal or not,” he chuckles, “Did you take lots of pictures?”

“Yeah I did, I’ll send them through to you,” Riley gets him to wait a moment while she sends him all the photos she’s taken. She would eventually start documenting her escapades via her instagram but for now she just wanted to tell Lucas about it.

“Got em,” Lucas says and he begins to scroll through the various pictures. Chuckling at a few of her goofy tourist shots. 

Riley begins to tell him about everything she saw in great detail. Including her ride on the London Eye - which she forgot the name of and described as the big wheel thing by the river- to which Lucas chuckles and reminds her of it’s correct name. She describes her early dinner in Trafalgar Square and they laugh over her failed attempt to climb the lion.

“It wouldn’t be a trip for you unless you actually tripped, would it?” He chuckles and Riley laughs along with him.

“Where’s your mom? Lucas asks. 

“I think she’s in the kitchen,” Riley answers. 

“Not now,” Lucas laughs, “In the photos, she’s not in any of them.” 

“Oh,” Riley laughs nervously but deflates quickly, “She had to go to her new office for paperwork or something..” 

“You bummed she missed sightseeing?” Lucas asks delicately after assessing her mood change. 

“Kinda,” Riley shrugs knowing Lucas can’t see it, “But we live here now so what’s the rush?” 

“Right,” Lucas tries to sound positive but the reminder that this wasn’t a ‘trip’ like he put it earlier dampened his mood as well. 

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

The following day Riley begins to share her travels with the world. Lucas watches Riley’s trip unfold through her social media accounts but he always got sent the special photos. No nothing dirty, just the extra photos like purposely ‘ugly’ selfies taken in places. The kind you try to look as silly as possible in. The kind that has Lucas in fits of laughter every time she sends one. 

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

A week passes and Riley continues to document her escapades... 

Both Lucas and Maya were right in saying things would get easier for Riley. In the weeks that passed since the American landed on foreign soil, things certainly have gotten easier for her in regards to communication with her friends.

Riley would text constantly with her friends, that, she managed to juggle quite easily with her constant exploring and actual phone calls she managed to swing at least three times a week. 

Luckily for Riley, since it’s summer vacation back home her friends have an abundance of time and are more frequently than not, together. So those group calls that Lucas mentioned were easier to come by.

Lucas continues to follow Riley through her social medias and continues to receive the odd extra photos that didn’t make the cut. Through watching the ones that did make the cut though, Lucas notices when Riley removes his name from her bio. He knew such a thing was so juvenile but he couldn’t help but feel sad when he realised. Just another reminder of what distance took away from them. 

Although distance did him dirty Lucas still feels close to Riley in an emotional connection sense. Riley feels the same way. Over the days that have passed they find themselves texting one another, even when they know the other is asleep or occupied elsewhere, just a little text to send a thought they had and wanted to share. 

☼ 5:23am ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 10:23am ☾

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

☼ 12:11pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 5:11pm ☾

Riley had been gone for a little over three weeks now and the entire time she’d been in and out of her hotel exploring the new city. Riley was comfortable with her surroundings now, in a way that she didn’t feel so lost trying to get from one place to the next. Having grown up in a big city she found adapting to a new one quite easy. 

Riley is sitting on the floral sofa watching her little brother play on his handheld video game. Riley had just ended a lengthy call with Maya and thought now would be a good time to try and FaceTime with Lucas. 

Back in New York, Lucas and Zay have been at the batting cages all morning. They’re sitting for a breather when Riley's goofy selfie appears on the screen requesting to FaceTime.

“Hey, Riley,” Lucas answers, holding his phone out to show himself. 

“Tell her I’m here,” Zay tugs at Lucas’ arm. “Hi Riley!” He says loudly putting his face close to Lucas’ cheek so he could be seen too. 

“Hi Zay!” Riley replies back excitedly. “Two for the price of one. Lucky me!” Riley giggles.

“I think I’m the lucky one,” Zay makes a joking bashful sway in his seat which earns him a shove in the arm from Lucas. The pair chuckle amongst themselves.

“Did I catch you guys at a bad time?” Riley asks laughing along.

“No, we are just taking a break at the batting cages.” Lucas assures her.

“Got to practice if you want to keep up with Zay this year,” Riley teases.

“Man, I like her!” Zay chuckles and pokes Lucas arm repeatedly to agitate him.

Lucas rolls his eyes and shrugs Zay off. “So how was your day, it’s still pretty early in the evening there isn’t it?”

“Almost dinner,” Riley nods, “had a spare few minutes so I thought I’d call.”

“What did you get up to?” Zay asks.

“Auggie and I spent all afternoon at Hyde park whilst mom and dad went to look at apartments.” Riley says facing the camera to Auggie for a moment, he manages a slight wave before returning his focus back to the game. “It was so lovely, even if he looks less than excited!”

“Oh yeah, I saw the photo you posted,” Lucas nods, “Looks very picturesque.”

The door unlocking causes Riley to turn her head back for a moment, “Gotta go, my parents are back with take out I hope!”

“Bye, Riley!!!” Zay says in a goofy tone, “Lurve you.” 

Riley giggles at his goofiness, “Lurve you too, Zay.” 

“Have a good night, Riley, talk soon,” Lucas says sweetly. 

“Tell her you lurve her,” Zay gives Lucas a knowing look and Lucas glares at him, eying him with a ‘shut up look’ and Zay mocks back silently with funny faces.

“You know FaceTime means I can see you right?” Riley laughs nervously. 

Both Texans return their gazes back to the screen with looks of embarrassment and end the call. 

“Why didn’t you say it?” Zay continues to tease his best friend. 

“It would be weird if I said it,” Lucas avoids his gaze. 

“Because you mean it?” Zay smirks. 

“Shut up,” Lucas huffs and folds his arms. 

“You loveeee Riley,” Zay chuckles. 

“Riley lives 3459 miles away,” Lucas says bluntly and Zay’s laughter tapers off. All feelings aside there was still that small detail of distance.  

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

A few days later... 

☼ 6:41pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 11:41pm ☾

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

A week later...

☼ 1:02pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 6:02pm ☾

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

Three Weeks Later... 

☼ 2:33pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 7:33pm ☾

Riley sits at the desk in her new apartment and video chats with Lucas from her laptop. They haven't found time to do anything but text in the past week so both teens were really looking forward to this. 

“Riley!” Lucas beams when her laggy self comes into view. 

“Hi,” Riley smiles sweetly, “How are you?” 

“Bored actually,” Lucas lets out a quiet laugh, “Well not anymore now that I’m talking to you.” 

“What have you been up to today?” Riley asks. 

“I spent the morning with my mom, we went shopping for school supplies,” Lucas lets out a little groan. 

“Already?” Riley shrieks. 

“School starts in less than two weeks,” Lucas frowns. 

“Wow, really?” Riley creases her brows, “I guess I’ve lost track of time..” 

“Doesn’t surprise me, your life is so jam packed with adventure!” Lucas remains upbeat, “You’ve been going on day trips, daily!” 

Riley giggles at his use of words, “With dad being off work we’ve really been making the most of it.” 

“I’ve seen! Brighton, and where’s that place you just got back from?” Lucas asks, “The one from your last Instagram pictures.” 

“It’s this place called Castle Comb,” Riley explains, “Some call it ‘The prettiest village in England’ and I’m going to have to agree.” 

“The couple of pictures you sent do look pretty,” Lucas nods. 

“Oh Lucas, you have no idea,” Riley gushes, “I mean you grew up in an extremely beautiful countryside so I’m sure you probably do have an idea..” 

“Texas and English villages would be quite different I imagine,” Lucas chuckles. 

“You’re probably right,” Riley laughs too, “But it’s so beautiful and everywhere, not just in the country town, anywhere where there’s grass really there are just patches of daisies and it’s so.. magical.” 

“Magical, huh?” Lucas coaxes his head, in awe of how cute she looks gushing about everything. 

“Yeah,” Riley softens, looking up from her hands to the screen. 

“Tell me more,” Lucas smiles back at her. 

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

Two Weeks Later... 

☼ 3:45pm ☼  NYC          ||          LND ☽ 8:45pm ☾

Riley calls Lucas that evening to find out how his first day as a sophomore was. Riley wasn’t set to start school the following week but still wanted to check in on her friends. Lucas tries to give her a watered down version of his day, he didn’t want to make her upset that she wasn’t apart of it to which she’s thankful for because her heart was aching hearing each of her friends talk about getting back to the life she left behind. 

Lucas throws the attention off himself and presses Riley for details on her day. 

“So what magnificent day trip did you partake in today?” Lucas asks, “You said your dad was planning a surprise.” 

“Right!” Riley bounces in her seat like she almost forgot. “We went to Windsor Castle. I know we’ve seen Buckingham Palace already but Windsor Castle is like a proper castle that you’d imagine princess and dragons and...” Riley was getting lost in her excitement. 

“The whole fairytale experience,” Lucas bites down on his lip trying not to laugh. 

“Yes,” Riley nods quickly to herself and begins to go into detail about her day. Lucas asks for photos and she takes a moment to send him some through. 

Lucas admires them for a moment. 

“Maybe I should call you Princess Dancing Sunshine,” Lucas jokes. 

“Hey can I steal that?” Riley giggles, “I’ve been trying to think of a caption to post with it on Instagram.” 

“I stole it from you, so go ahead,” Lucas says. 

Riley is obviously distracted for a moment as she posts her new photo. 

Quickly, the pair get back to talking. 

“You know Paris is just an hours flight away?” Riley asks. 

“Hmm?” Lucas is confused. 

“Today we met a family from France and they were saying how it takes just a little over an hour to fly from Paris, they come to England for weekend trips,” Riley explains, “How strange is it that a whole different country is so close but we have states that take hours to get to- days if you’re driving.”

“You're not thinking of going to Paris without me are you?” Lucas shrieks.

“I would never!” Riley giggles, “Even if my family does go I’ll refuse to go until you come and visit so we can go to Paris together.”

“When I come and visit?” Lucas pricks up a brow.

“You will come visit wont you?” Riley asks almost worried that he seemed so surprised, “If I have to live here and come home to visit surely you’ll make the-“

“Of course I’ll come visit,” Lucas gently cuts her off but states firmly.

“Good, because I’ve been holding on to that Paris thing since the seventh grade.”

“Moi aussi,” Lucas says without a single struggle and Riley blanks on the other end of the line. (google translate says that means me too sorry if it doesn’t)

“Bonjour, Lucas,” Riley nervously chuckles like she had all those years ago and Lucas laughs along too at the memory.

The pair return to regular conversation until Riley gasps when she notices the time and how they got carried away. 

“Lucas, I’m so sorry I promised I’d call Maya,” Riley realises she’s more then forty minutes late to call her. 

“It’s fine, I understand,” Lucas says calmly. 

“Talk soon, okay?” Riley says still not hanging up. 

“Absolutely,” Lucas nods. 

“Okay, enjoy the rest of your night.. Maddog,” With a giggle she hangs up. 

End Note: I hope this was easy to follow along with. I think this goes without saying because I tried to make it clear but Lucas and Riley are obviously still text flirty with each other. Those feelings don’t just go away because of distance. This is important to the story. 

The title of this chapter is referring to how exciting everything is while it’s all new and Riley’s on vacation. She’s also managed to keep up with regular contact with her friends. Next chapter: The Honeymoon is over. School starts. Things change. 

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO REVIEW THE STORY!! Tell me how you’re liking it so far and if you want me!  Again, I’m sorry I took so long to post this! Trying to structure the chapter as time passing with visual aids was a lot harder than I thought. 

!!!!!!!!!!!! Much love xxx