#Sol/Nemmie

[theskella]

That's New - An Exocolonist Fic

I recently played I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, and I absolutely adore it.

But there’s criminally little fic and content regarding my good good Squat Queen.

So I wrote a fic myself.

The punishingly dry air of Dust stings Sol’s near-sleepless eyes as he finally leaves his room, having abandoned making up for lost sleep. Groggy and stompy bootsteps bring him out to the overly-familiar sight of the multicoloured Vertumnan sky above, and the colony he has spent eons building and rebuilding from just off on the sidelines below. The noises of late morning activity on the farm serve to lightly annoy the tired teen. Is it too much to ask that I be allowed a restful sleep every now and then? He thought. I mean these folks owe me that much, surely. There were a few lifetimes that Sol bitterly considered how little credit he was allowed for managing so many lives, caring for the tapestry of the exocolonists' story here. Having staved off disaster after disaster, all without being believed that he was the weaver.

Familiarity breeds contempt. An old adage he despised crept its unwelcome way to Sol’s forebrain. There was another that Sol learned – from a cartoon, no less – that he’d often turn to to quiet the worming, malicious thought.

When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

Sol looks over the railing to the colony. He’d subtly influenced so much to award himself this view, the greatest view of the colony, from where he could see all of his friends, and the infinite; though arduously realized, potentials they have. But chief among these, for this, the last, and so many other innumerable lifetimes, Sol’s eyes fall thus again to Nemmie. Her shock of vibrant red hair is easy to spot. Leading the jogging group of Helios, ahead even of Vace, a fact that – from its gilded frame in the hall of his most precious memories – reminds Sol that Vace seethes over. Sol chuckles, mentally viewing the thought, pondering over its fine-tuned aesthetic distance. When probed, Vace used to erroneously claim that it’s to ‘watch her go’, but Sol knows from thousands of lives that Nemmie is just naturally faster. Even he has struggled to keep up with her in their many foot-races from childhood to now.

Fortunately, Sol had already crested the hump, Nemmie had broken up with Vace a few weeks ago. This time an argument over having another man’s name tattooed on her arm lit the fuse. Nemmie’s stalwart defense of the personally important tattoo earned a terminal bout of silent treatment from which their already unhealthy relationship would not recover. Of course, Sol had to play a part. A part that once seemed difficult and uncomfortable; but with recitation and understanding of his motivation, he no longer felt or acknowledged that difficulty. Separating Nemmie from a woefully ill person in such a delicate time was the easiest of the boundless choices Sol makes.

Sol’s groggy waking movements begin to pick up as the still-overbearing heat of Dust bids his blood to pump. He passes Cal, pushing a heavily laden wheelbarrow outside Geoponics. Sol stops him from his work to hand him a Bobberfruit, clapping him on his unyielding shoulder.

“Man, Dust always makes me wish I had your augment!” Sol jokes as he repeatedly flaps the hem of his shirt to cool himself. Sol keeps up chit-chat until Cal idly bites into the fruit, letting Sol know that he’d devour it shortly. Despite his love of food, Cal’s dedication to work often has him skipping meals, a fact Sol has never quite been able to influence beyond joining Tammy in regularly putting food in his hands. As he jogs away letting Cal get back to it, Sol quickly pulls his holopalm up to update Tammy in the private chat they keep to let her know. A moment later she sends back two emotes, a sandwich, and the custom Tangent emote that Marz convinced Nomi to make as part of a set for all of them. Sol sends back a selfie: a single hand held in prayer in front of a bashful smile in thanks.

Next on Sol’s walk he passes Rex and Marz sitting casually on the steps up to Command. It’s always fun to try to get a reaction from the highly charismatic duo. Let’s see how they like this. Sol happily doffs his shirt with relief and enters their field of view, muscles aglow with beads of sweat, prompting a hearty, familiar and welcome howl from Rex. Marz soon joins in, similarly enjoying the show. Sol draws his hands up and down his rugged torso, mimicking some of the salacious videos Rex had shown him and Marz and taking more and more dramatic poses earning excited whoops and hollers. After wheeling around from flaunting his tush, the realization comes too late that Rex has advanced the bit and is racing toward him. It’s too late to brace and the collision brings the two young men to the ground, tumbling. All three laugh at the scene. From the ground for a brief moment, Dys can be seen peeking from over the hill the gate stands upon. Sol finds his eyes just long enough to convey a greeting in passing– Dys’ preferred morning interaction. Rex has gotten up and grips Sol’s forearm to pull him to his feet and brushes him off, cheekily spending more time than needed pawing at his body. 

“Sorry, can’t help but chase juicy pieces of meat.” Rex says with his wolfish grin, his eyes don’t make contact with Sol’s, choosing to linger elsewhere. The emphasis is a little too thick but that’s to be expected. Sol replaces his shirt, ruffles Rex’s piebald hair a bit and softly pushes his head back toward Marz. Looking to where she’s lounging on the stairs, Sol returns the smile and sultry wave she gives him as their eyes meet. Her attention turns back to Rex as he starts hustling toward her, before turning to give a goodbye wave to Sol with a huge smile on his face.

Moments later Nomi Nomi suddenly bursts into Sol’s’ vision in an eruption of shiny and colourful clothing, loud-but-lovely hair and inexhaustible energy.

“HEY SOL! Guess what! Guess guess guess!” They greet with far more energy than should be allowed this early.

Without even waiting for a guess they immediately launch into a story about a thread of comments that the stories they’ve been writing together are getting. People really seem to enjoy them, as Nomi all but squeals to him. 

“I can’t tell you how I know, but even some of the Helios kids are being nice!” Nomi pulls Sol’s sleeve to lower his ear to their face “I… snooped a little and they’re even writing fanfics based on our stories!” they say in a hushed, conspiratorial tone.

Sol encouragingly offers that perhaps the Helios aren’t as violent as they seem, and it’s a matter of perception that paints them as such. Nomi excitedly agrees and rushes off, yelling over their shoulder that they have a duty then, to encourage this creativity.

Gazing over to the Garrison shows the joggers are still running a few laps. I probably have some time then. He livens his pace a little toward the Engineering building. When he arrives he is happy to be greeted by Tangent and Tammy together in the hall. Tang is sat on the floor, busied by interfacing with her holo-eye, and taking breaks to chug from an energy drink. Tammy for her part is taking advantage of Tang’s hyperfocus to swap the energy drink for water, and keep a stream of idle chatter to distract her from the moments Tammy holds a sandwich half to Tang’s lips, prompting her to bite. Tammy catches Sol’s eye and gives a pronounced sarcastic eye roll and warm smile. Sol puts his hand to his heart and mouths ‘thank you’.

It didn’t take much to get Tammy to agree that Tang takes poor care of herself, but there was significant coaxing into convincing Tammy that Sol would help keep Cal fed if Tammy helped Tang in turn. Cal’s issue was in not stopping to eat, while Tang’s was thinking anything you eat would do for nutrition. Tammy’s significant culinary ability would be better spent keeping Tangent off of an all-protein bar diet. Tammy was reticent at first, knowing Tang’s past bitter refusal to be cared for. Sol did eventually convince her to give it a shot, saying that slowly but surely, Tang’s gotten over that attitude. As Sol approaches, he pings Tangent from his holopalm to ‘look up’. She does so, and is a little surprised by Tammy’s presence. Tammy reflexively stiffens, but Tangent is– however removed from the situation she may be– thankful for the food, and takes it from Tammy to continue eating. Tammy sighs in relief as she rises to her feet while being careful to keep the energy drink she’s protecting Tang from hidden behind her. The sweet girl places a gentle hand on Sol’s shoulder before excusing herself to the Creche.

“How are the tests for the modified pomoea batatas going?” Tangent asks, rapidly switching from tasks to attention to Sol.

“Things look good so far, they’re able to take to Vertumnan soil now. However, Cal let me know that they are also being singled out by an endemic fungus.” Tang curses under her breath as Sol speaks, clearly disappointed but in a way one could have expected.

Sol is mindful to mention “Cal thinks their enhanced nutritional load is prompting the targeted parasitism. You should talk to him about it, he’s really come into his own in terms of the science of farming.”

Tangent, quite without knowing it, pays Cal a compliment, “Yes, he has been helpful. I will do so.” It isn’t much, but Sol knows better than most to take careful measure of the words Tangent uses, she’s likely already considered their meaning 3 or 4 times before saying them.

Sol wishes her well as he leaves, watching over his shoulder to see Tang munching on the last bit of her sandwich with a surprising vim. It comes as a huge relief, she’s seemed much healthier overall, since Sol stood by her side against Lum’s push for a plague.

Sol exits the Engineering wing into the none-waned heat to see with shielded eyes the Garrison clearing out from the track. Nemmie is punching arms and waving goodbyes before she looks up and spots Sol, she exaggerates her waving to him in a way just familiar enough to when they were kids that it makes his chest flutter. A beat passes before Nemmie starts bouncing into a run toward him. He starts to bob along to meet her. Though, Sol notes, she’s gradually picking up the pace as she nears. Sol realizes then, this isn’t a run– it’s a charge! Ignited with a youthful flame, Sol sets his form like he used to when the Garrison was mostly an official excuse for him and Nemmie to rough-house. Before the fall of the Strato. Before the arrival of the Heliopause and before Vace made the entire space feel coarse and– ironically, alien.

Nemmie is approaching at a blitz, Sol looks for any sort of indication of the opening volley– a tackle? A flying kick? What’s her plan? The heavy footfalls Nemmie makes reach Sol’s ears now, his fingers twitch in anticipation. Nemmie is within 4 meters and his defensive posture stiffens, a stoic-looking Nemmie kicks off the ground, turning to the side and sailing through the air to deliver– nothing? She’s just flying toward– OH SHIT! Unsuspecting arms reach out to catch his friend, but the force is just a little too much and Sol is taken to the ground. Nemmie lands in a ball on top of him before bursting out laughing, a sound he hasn’t heard for far too long.

“You’re supposed to catch me null-head!” Nemmie’s eyes peer up from where her head rests on Sol’s chest, behind the tangled, beautifully chaotic mass of red curls that coil and tumble over his chest. The sight reminded him of more treasured memories, desperately and excitedly piecing together fractions of his wife’s face from behind those same curls, grown out and allowed to be wild once more. He forced his current-self to compose again, before things got inappropriate.

He fires back. “I was expecting you to hit me!”

She tosses her hair out of her face with the back of her hand, then presses into Sol’s chest to extricate herself. “You gotta be ready for anything, farmboy. Expect me to run this drill again.”

The smirk she wears now is knowing, Sol’s aware, she’s aware. Before leaving the Garrison, Sol outranked her– fair enough, he was intimately familiar with bolstering his performance– in fact thinking about it, even now she is one rank lower than he was, who is she to assign drills? She’s taunting him.

He’s not having it.

His fingers find Nemmie’s sides and rub, dig and grind prompting a flurry of jerky movements and fits of laughter. Despite all her training, Nemmie has always been ticklish. All the training did was make Sol have to work for it. The giggly girl desperately paws, punches and slaps away at the offensive, but to little avail. Soon Sol has pushed himself off the ground and over Nemmie, who is laughing and rolling about, fully at his mercy.

These dear, childhood friends carry this on for a few more moments, the less fun passerbys scoff and give a wide berth. Eventually Nemmie taps, completely robbed of breath and laying on her back to catch it. Sol is similarly posed beside her, relishing his best friend’s returning energy.

“Hey have you eaten?” He says, tapping his knuckles on her shoulder. “I’ve got Xeno Eggs at my place– Cal’s certain they’re for eating.”

Nemmie almost starts an excuse, Sol knows the tells. Her hand raises toward her head to run her fingers through her hair. But– it stops. Her hand is paused in the air. There’s a moment in Sol’s mind that feel’s… a bristling discomfort, almost a chill. Nemmie is up on her feet before Sol’s given a chance to dwell on it.

“That sounds great! I’m starving.” Nemmie reaches that same hand towards him. He cranes forward to reach for it, but Nemmie reels it back before his grip can find her, awkwardly spending Sol’s effort and making him look foolish. She’s back to laughing.

A classic Nemmie rug-pull. Her laughter plays like music in Sol’s ears as he grins and gets up on his own, playfully batting away renewed offers to help him up.

“But hey– I’ve gotta shower and change first, I’ve already worn these fatigues for a solid week, and I stink.” She says pulling at her collar and fanning her face in mock disgust. Sol hadn’t even noticed.

“It’s no big deal, You can shower at my place, and I think I still have a set of your sweats from last Wet. Clean, of course.” Sol offers up, not wanting to waste any of her time, he knows how dedicated she’s made herself to the Garrison.

The pair trek back, retracing Sol’s earlier walk until they arrive at his home. His parents are going to be working, so they essentially have free run. All the while through the walk, Nemmie is– at least by comparison to earlier this month, in high spirits. She asks about Sol’s expeditions, and how he’s doing with his photophoner practice. She’d gifted him that very same photophoner when they were kids, and he’s kept immaculate care of it since. Sol’s glad to talk about anything non-military with her. He’s surprised when passing Cal. Nemmie sends a small, brief wave back when Cal greets Sol. It apparently surprises Cal too, as he nods back at her with a quizzical look on his face.

Once inside, Nemmie beelines immediately to the shower. Calling back to Sol that she won’t be long and to just toss the sweats in when he gets the chance. Sol makes for the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients and supplies for omelettes from the fridge and preheating the pan. Swiftly, Sol retrieves the sweats that had indeed been left when Nemmie got caught in a bad rainstorm and sheltered here, wearing some yet-to-be-returned clothes of his to get back to the Garrison when there was a break in the rainfall.

Sol approaches the bathroom door, calling out “Delivery” before momentarily cracking the door and throwing in the clothes, then going out to the kitchen again.

Benefited by the lifetimes he’s spent helping in the cafeteria kitchens, it’s a trivial thing to prepare some Xeno omelettes. So his mind comfortably wanders as he moves on autopilot. Something’s been nagging at the very cusp of his mind since he felt that chill, but he can’t pin it down. He abandons the quest when he realizes he should ask Nemmie what cheese she wants, some colony kids take issue with floatcow cheese. He rounds the corner to the hall the bathroom door is in and is greeted with a Nemmie fresh out of the shower, just starting to pull the sweater down over her slick, rugged abs, freezing him in place.

“Oh, sorry!” Nemmie blushes, tugging the sweater down over her  “I rushed out when I smelled the food” she exclaims, trying to change the subject.

“Speaking of shredded; what kind of cheese would you like on your omelette?” Sol asks, holding the pan with the nearly cooked eggs inside. He punctuates with a teasing wink. She punches his arm in answer to this teasing when she walks over. 

“Floatcow’s fine. Stars, it really does smell fantastic in here. Lucky me– having a renowned cook-off champion as a best friend.” Nemmie boasts with a grin.

After finishing the omelettes with cheese and neatly folding them, Sol leads Nemmie into the den, choosing to eat on a comfy couch. The pair wordlessly adopt an arrangement they’ve had for a long time: sat facing each other, Sol cross-legged and reclined on the arm of the sofa and Nemmie laid out with the soles of her feet pressed against his stomach. Many cartoon marathons in the lounge of the Strato were enjoyed just like this. Between bites, Nemmie heaps praise on Sol for his cooking, and wishes she had the time to learn to cook like this. Sol offers to just cook for her and Nemmie lets out a singular laugh with her mouth full.

“Imagine, my own personal chef.” she says, a lilt of joking wistfulness in her voice before swallowing.

“Marz would be so jealous.” Sol points out before taking another forkfull. Something about Sol’s comment gives Nemmie pause, her eyes dart about and blink rapidly.

“Thank you, Sol.” Nemmie’s tone shifts, growing more serious as she continues, “I know that you put a lot of effort into making sure we’re all… just– thank you. You’re the best, most caring person on this planet. And I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Her foot idly presses and rubs against his stomach.

Sol places his plate on the coffee table and gently places his hands on Nemmie’s legs, warming toward answering her sudden candour, “Nemmie is everything alright?”

She smiles somberly. Her eyes are cast down on the empty plate she’s fiddling with. She takes a few breaths before saying “Yeah. Yeah, things are… better. I’m just–” she pauses. A long moment ticks by in the measure of her breathing before she finishes her thought.

“Everything made sense to me when I was with Vace–” she puts her hands out defensively in front of her and quickly covers– “I know, I know, he was awful. But things were easy. It’s hard to describe. It’s like, I was already angry and hurting, so Vace just felt like more of the same. I could deal with it, it was just part of the norm. And I’m happier now, but– without Vace I can see how lonely I was, how alone I made myself by tying myself up in his approval, and I’m… I’m scared that the person I was– who I let myself be when I was with him…”

Sol’s squeezes on her calf, trying to silently convey his empathy, to make it more tangible to her that he was listening. Nemmie’s feet swing suddenly over the edge of the couch, she spins to her knees sending her plate clattering to the ground and her falling toward Sol, catching him in a hug. 

Her eyes are welling up, and she sniffles into Sol’s chest before continuing to speak, though the words are laden with effort to keep her tears back. “I don’t want to be that lonely person,” she manages to squeak out in a whisper. Sol’s arms went around her in reflex, and tighten now as he’s clueing into what she’s trying to say. He hushes her. Letting her know it’s ok. He lets her breathe for a moment, comforting her until he can compose what he wants to say.

“Nemmie. Nothing could change so drastically that I– or any of us for that matter– would hate you,” She wetly sniffles some more, trembling but still holding tightly.

“We know who you are, and… as bad as things seemed sometimes, we knew that it wasn’t– that it’s not who you are,” his hand cups the back of her head, stroking her hair. “We were sad, and it hurt. But I promise that we love you. And it’s because we love you that it hurt to see you acting that way.” His own words are beginning to choke in his throat, but he tries to keep it together.

“How can you know?” her question is heavy with worry.

Sol can’t tell her. Not that she’d even believe him, that he’s already grown up with them countless times, and nothing has ever truly torn them apart. They’ve strained, frayed at the edges and shown wear and tear, but the tapestry remains beautiful– mending, patches and all.

“Because I know my friends. You’ll have to trust me.” Sol offers instead, though it’s not what he wishes he could say. 

She lifts her head up to look him in the eye, though his chest is no lighter for it. Tears have left trails down her freckled and scaled cheeks. Her eyes are puffy and red and searching his. The hug tightens on her subconsciously.

“I– I do,” her voice is steady now as she answers.

Then, quite brashly and without warning– Nemmie brings her lips to Sol’s. A moment cast in the haze of elation passes before Sol gently separates her from him.

“Nemmie wait–” he’s at once cursing himself and eagerly encouraging his next words– “you’re… you’re going through a lot right now. Are you sure– I mean, I don’t want you to…”

The faintest expression of doubt passes over the face of his best friend. Sol didn’t want her to jump into something like this out of stress. Wait–

“You’re right, I’m a wreck right now,” she starts softly and straightens herself up, pushing back off of him. Sol wants to disagree with her words, but she doesn’t give him a chance. “But you’re here for me. You’ve always been there, even when I thought I didn’t want you to be.” She starts out whispering, but she reaches her hand forward, her fingers barely graze against the arms that held her, and the quiet voice dissipates as she finds her confidence. And her hand gently but firmly grasps Sol’s wrist

“I’ve been thinking about this. You’re caring, you’re funny, I–” she takes a deep breath. “I don’t feel lonely with you. You’ve been my best friend for as long as we could walk. You’ve never once forgotten my birthday. I can talk to you about anything.” Her words fluctuate in volume and tone, it’s clear that she has thought about it, but the thoughts are coming out in a random priority.

It’s adorable.

“And– you make me feel safe.” She finally exhales.

Sol’s neck hair stands on end, as he finally catches that evasive, errant thought. Or rather it rockets toward him, a collision that shakes every corner of his consciousness.

“I– I’m in love with you, Sol.” Her brilliant, purple eyes lock with his, and he feels unable to breathe.

She’s never been the one to confess–

That’s new.

And that’s all for now. I want to continue writing this, but I felt like this was a good enough point to post a Part One.

comments in good faith welcome

[eggplant-crusader]

SHE'S FREE!

(I WAS A TEENAGE EXOCOLONIST SPOILERS / MY NEMMIE MELTDOWN)

SHE DISMANTLES THE WALLS!!!!

SHE'S THE NEXT KOM!!!!!!!!!

SHE GOES BACK TO HER CHILDHOOD PASSION!!!!!!!!

THEY LITERALLY TELL YOU SHE LIVES A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Imma take a break from this game now but when I come back (AND I WILL) I think I might have to avoid her forever lol, there's no way I could handle getting details about her in the ending that are not THIS.

I'm so happy. I did it. She's not a fascist, she's not a victim, she's COOL AUNT NEMMIE, BREAKER OF WALLS, BALLER OF SPORTS

I hope she knows she means everything to me.

[brainicusrotticus]

continuation of vace’s first medical appointment—

sol: okay. and your augment, please?

vace: well-endowed.

sol, regretting everything: …what the fuck does that mean.

vace: *leans back, smirks, subtly increases the manspread*

vace: …i think we’d both prefer i show you.

sol: …

sol: so, in about *checks watch* four minutes, i’m going to be squeezing your balls and asking you to cough. are you sure you want to lose this much dignity ahead of time?

vace: …what?

sol: great. i’ll step out of the room while you get changed. *sets the holofolder down in plain sight and leaves*

—and then, a few hours later, while sol is checking the announcement board—

tang: …why did anemone come into my lab to ask me all about penile fractures today?

sol: oh, vace tried to put the moves on me by claiming he’s above average. so i made sure to include in his chart that he’s at an increased risk for penile fractures.

tang: …the difference would be completely negligible, if one exists at all.

sol: yeah, i know that.

[ghost--cafe]

Are vine compilations cool anymore? who cares!

[ukuraichu]

i'm doomed I fear

[pika-bitch-iii]

Here have this I Was a Teenage Exocolonist oneshot since I couldn’t get it out of my neurodivergent little brain

MAJOR GAME SPOILERS!

[hirokiyuu]

i lov nem a lot im just thinking abt her.......... traumatized girls always end up being highkey faves of mine so like, no wonder

[cosmocove]

its so funny how often exocolonist gives contradictory information about small things

[nordictwin]

Hi I just read your post about your IWATA Stratos Kids AU and I was wondering if you had any further developments for that because I adore the concept

Yes yes yes, let me tell you all about it!

Sorry this took a little while, but there was a lot more to type out, once I really got going.

So I don't know if you've read any of my other info-dumps in the reblogs of the OG post, but to recap on that: none of the Stratos-Helios kids know Sol is also aware of the timeloops. They get so caught up in protecting Sol's happiness, they forget to consider "if we remember, does Sol remember too?", while Sol has been so used to being alone with this, they don't really think the others might know as well.

The only one fully in the loop is Sym, and Sym thinks the entire situation is too hilarious to let anyone know. And then Congruence also rather quickly catches on, and she's of a similar mindset.

Now, further developments:

The Stratos Kids:

Marz: in my mind, Marz will always be Marz - no matter the situation. But Marz in this AU is very aware that, although words don't mean anything to her, they sure do mean a lot to the people around her. So while still brutally honest, and with her memories of past politics, this is a Marz who's just a little bit softer around the edges. Better at using her words, better at using her leadership skills to help on a much wider scale than just further her own interests. Much to Eudicot's delight, this Marz - while she'll still complain and whine about any sort of work - still contributes to the colony. Particularly, she becomes quite the little helper and organizer around the offices. What they don't realize, however, is that she's also quite good at listening, and she never stops paying attention - meaning she picks up a lot more secrets than they realize.

Tang: like Marz, Tangent has also been given a serious reality check as to her attitude and actions. Particularly how her words impact her relationship with Dys, and how it will end if she doesn't change. Cue extreme mutual hovering and clinginess (which the adults chalk up to the two bonding after the crash), as well as an increased effort to communicate with help from Tammy and Marz. Aside from this, Tang has also wisened up to Instance not really being an ideal role-model, instead turning to Professor Hal and Congruence for guidance on more matters - not just academia. She also gets a lot more respect for both Dys and Cal, relying heavily on the data they can bring back to the labs, and she even dares to venture out on a few expeditions herself.

Dys: he's a matched pair with Tang after the crash, getting hit particularly hard with the memories of lives where they reconcile. And with Tang actively reaching out to him, actually trying to understand him, well... he feels like he owes it to her to return the gesture. This is a Dys who's suddenly become aware that what happened with their mom was wrong, but that people do care what happens to him. He bonds with Tang over engineering and being uncomfortable in their own bodies, but without letting that dysphoria define their actions. They're a unit, and with their combined intelligence - Tang's book-smarts and Dys' knowledge about Vertumna - they're a force to be reckoned with. Dys in this context is better at taking care of himself, but he also reminds Tang to do the same, and it becomes common to see the two napping together in the sunlight. Sometimes the two of them, but often all of the Stratos Kids join in, with Sol right there in the middle of the pile.

Nemmie: oh boy, Anemone. Like Marz, Nemmie will always be Nemmie. But this Nemmie has all of the trauma of her past lives to deal with, and at first? Not great. It manifests in separation anxiety and a near self-destructive need to protect. This is where her friendship with Cal and Tammy proves so extremely valuable, because their combined efforts serve to ground her and keep her fears an anxieties in check. Once out in the open about their memories, and apologies have been made for past rifts, she and Cal (and sometimes Dys) eventually get to discuss their different points of view and why they follow their different beliefs. It's through these chats that both come to a conclusion that neither of them is right or wrong, that it's all about balance - the world isn't black and white, it's grey. For Nemmie, this means she has a much clearer understanding of what and who she's fighting for. She splits her time between the Garrison, athletics, and - surprisingly - the medical wing. Because fighting is all fine and good, but what use is it, if she can't help those who have already been hurt? And isn't it better that, if she's already out fighting and someone gets hurt, she can be there to help them? That's right - it's Paladin Nemmie time, Vertumna's first combat medic. (Of course, the end goal is as little fighting as possible, but with Helios on the way... she'd rather be prepared for anything).

Cal: make way for Vertumna's newest master of agriculture and xeno-botany. Cal is here to stop the famine and possibly help Tang with the shimmer or so help him. If the boy was a good farmer before, he's leveled up considerably now that he's got knowledge of past lives. Much to Noctiluscent's fury, this boy is neck and neck with them in the duel of "feed the humans vs. starve the humans", if not a few steps ahead even. He teams up with Tang, Dys and Tammy to create new food solutions and contingency plans, should anything fail. His parents and Sol's all worry he'll burn out, but fortunately he's got his chats with Nemmie and regular nap-sessions with the other kids to keep him from destroying his own body. And whenever Sol is in need of anything, he'll gladly drop everything to come help them.

Tammy: perhaps the one who benefits the most from remembering her past lives is, surprisingly, our very own Aspartame. Sick and tired of having always been afraid, Tammy finds a new strength in her many new memories. Oh, she still loves the babies, still loves caring for the kids and dreams of motherhood. But her new mindset has her going "why can't I be both mother and brave?", resulting in a new interest in health and medicine. Studying intensely under Antecedent's watchful eye in the kitchen, Tirah's patient teachings in the medlab and enduring Professor Instance's harsh criticism, Tammy eventually grows to be a brilliant doctor in her own right, despite her learning difficulties. It helps that she knows it's working early on. Her efforts with Tang and Dys, helping them communicate and care for their bodies properly and watching the results, is a massive confidence boost, and eventually even Instance must acknowledge her skills.

Sol: Sol is just out here living their best life. Seriously, things have never been this easy, it's awesome! Sure, they got knocked out before they could fix the shields this time, but they're not really feeling up for being an engineer this time around, and anyways it seems like things are going fine? Better than fine, things are great! They don't recall Tang and Dys getting along this well, Tammy went and got cotton candy with them this life, and they're always invited to nap-piles. It's awesome! .......Sol may be a little oblivious this time around, but who can blame them? They've been through a lot, they deserve a nice break from being the hero.

The Helios Kids:

Vace: coming in as a close second to who benefits the most remembering past lives, we've got Vace. Vace, by all means, is still an asshole. He's still an angry kid with a lot of issues, but the memories have tempered that. This is a Vace who comes to Vertumna with a LOT of reality checks pre-installed, and he's a lot more questioning of the actions of the government he's supposed to serve - he just knows not to ask them where someone can hear. He's not quite a human-supremacist anymore. Like Nemmie, it comes down to wanting to protect people, but he's still very unsure of the why and what he's fighting for, and for countless lives all he's really had was the xenos. But he's had his eyes opened to humans being as capable of being monsters as the animals on Vertumna, and yes, that includes himself. He steers as clear of Nemmie as he can, especially once its out in the open that the Stratos kids also know their past lives, and he's got a not-quite-friendship with Rex and Nomi. The end result for him is, if Nemmie's a paladin-like soldier, as more of a fighter or a guardian, with some knowledge about engineering after somehow befriending Dys and Tang while on guard duty during their expeditions to the Ridge.

Rex: Rex is and always will be a good, happy boy. In all honesty, out of all the kids, Rex is the one who changes the least from his knowledge of the past lives. Well, there's one major change: Vace never broke Rex's arm and isn't actively going after him and Nomi-Nomi, but they're not the best of friends. By all means, Rex wants to be friends, but Vace has given enough hints that he's afraid of himself and his past behavior to truly befriend Rex. This all means that Rex is living a life getting beaten up a lot less, which honestly suits him just fine. Instead he's already well on his way to becoming a brilliant caretaker by the time the Heliopause lands, and while he still works construction and opens his bar, he's also seen with the little kids much more early on... and he may be a tad bit attached at the hip with Sol.

Nomi-Nomi: is the textbook definition of "jack of all trades, master of none - but better than a master of none"... well, except art and writing, they're an absolute master at that, but they latched on to all the different things they tried in their past lives and decides to get better at them - heck, they decide to try many more things, and by the time the Heliopause crashes, Nomi's one of the go-to people for smaller issues that need fixing. They like fixing things and exploring with Dys, they like assisting Tang and Cal in the lab and gardens, they like helping out in the kitchen - Nomi-Nomi just likes helping in general. With Marz's help, they make a case for the arts becoming an important part of the colony, and if they tear up a little every time Sol praises them with that genuine wonder in their eyes (as they have so many times before), well... that's just Nomi-Nomi being their usual emotional self.

Bonus - the Gardeners:

Sym: Sym is having the time of his eternal life. No, seriously, this is the most fun he's had in aeons. First the new species landing upon the planet - fascinating! Then the little ones - Dysthymia and Tangent - sneaking outside of the walls, seeking him out and speaking of knowing past lives - curious! And they wish to protect their precious friend. Sure, they want their new home to be safe, but specifically this one friend, because apparently they deserve the world, and they don't know the others remember their past lives - admirable and adorable, like little hopeyes protecting their flock! And then that very same friend comes outside the walls and seeks him out too, and wouldn't you know it, they also remember their past lives? But don't tell Dys and the others, nobody knows about them having this knowledge. Oh - oh no. This is isn't just interesting - it's hilarious, and he is invested. And suddenly there are all these little ones following him around at various times, and he's going to protect these kids with his life now. Noctilucent and the Overseer can come at him if they dare. (He's pretty sure brilliant little Tang and Cal could hack into the Array and stop them from trying, anyways.)

Noctilucent: Noct isn't having a good time. They're having the worst time ever, in fact. Sym better wipe that damn smirk off of his face, because they're at their limit - they want these parasites off of Vertumna, and they want them gone now. But the young parasites attach themselves to Sym like fungi, and then the kid with white and black fur on her head suddenly finds him and starts asking all these questions about the planet that are honestly rather engaging, and would they mind if she brought another friend to ask more questions later, and well... they suppose these little things are rather adorable, in their tenacity. .....oh, for the love of the ancients, stop smirking Sym!

[leastdatablebracket]

QUARTER FINALS, MATCH 2

Propaganda under the cut!

Vace

Propaganda

well you (the pollrunner) already know cause hes ur icon but i will say that at least he is meant to suck as a romantic partner with only one ending (two if you include astronaut) having him and sol (the player character) staying together on the other end tho there's three ways to start dating him one is to make him go to therapy n then start dating after he is no longer abusing his girlfriend (either breaking them up by convincing him to dump nemmie or convincing nemmie that hes the scumbag he is n she deserves better) another is to be his side piece and the third way is getting him so mad he drags sol off by the neck to beat the shit out of them with this event ending with either him n sol sleeping together (also causing him and nemmie to break up) sol getting the living daylights beat out of them (to the point they got knocked out n needed medical care) with the implicit threat of vace will do this again if they dont stay out of his way and sol avoiding both of those things but being so shaken by the experience that theyre struggling to breath until theyre outside and fully away from him which gives a very different undertone to hooking up with him in this event

Kevan

Propaganda

this fucker tries to kill you 90% of the time unless you find out about all the incest he does and tell him you know about the incest and then if you do that he marries you and honestly i just don't know what to do with that other than go "hey what the fuck" also sometimes he tries to kill you EVEN IF you tell him you know about the incest

[creepyfruit]

hiii so glad u had fun playing iwatex! im sending this from my main but my iwatex blog is dillypillars <3 what endings have you gotten so far and how do you feel about them?

Hi, I actually love your blog omg

I haven't had many runs in the game yet, rn I'm in the first year of my fourth, but here's the three runs I've done so far.

1st run:

Bestie: Cal

Romance: Tang

Ending: tangent's cure

Alignment: 80 Loyalty

Augment: Eagle Eyes

Like I already mentioned in a previous post tangent's cure traumatized me to the point were I haven't gotten over 30 hearts with my girl tang in any other play through. The whole ecocide that I help cause paired with the fact that Cal (who gets shot and killed in that ending) was my bestie and also all the regular first play through deaths (Tammy, Uncle Tonin, Kom, the old governor I forgot her name, both of Sol's parents, professor Hal) made me feel so horrible. Your home girl managed to eradicate a whole planet and half the cast in one play through 😍🤞.

The one thing I absolutely loved about this ending was the angst. Romancing Tangent and seeing that vision/dream in one of the later years with the planet bare of life and her crying and apologizing was so confusing but hurtful. And then I actually got the ending and omg my hearttt. Poor Tang crying while that lunatic Lum pulled her up on stage and praised and congratulated her broke me. But the icing on the cake is what came after, Sol following Tang after she run of stage. Honestly I might go back to that save to try the other dialogue options but the whole scene of Sol finding out she helped cause this and then the truth about how Lum was forcing them do it and finally Sol forgiving Tang and telling her she still loves her. Ouch

2nd run

Bestie: Nem

Romance: Marz

Ending: Standard Ending as a Novelist

Alignment: 100 rebellion

Augment: Calm Temperament

My second play through was much more uneventful and light-hearted. I still managed to somehow forget to save uncle Tonin and I couldn't save my parents but the fact that Tammy was alive and that I focused on all the yellow stats set me up for a peaceful run. I worked in places I hadn't touched before and therefore I got a lot of fun and cute little work events. My absolute favourite thing about this run (beside the Marz romance ofc) was the whole secret club thing. It was soooo cute and such a sweet reminder that, hey these are still a bunch of little kids. Also the art piece of them solving that mystery is so close to my heart simply because of how adorable Tang looks in it.

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't stay with Marz in the end but it makes for a realistic story that's for sure (also Marz getting with Tang for a short while after the break up made me giggle, my ship has sailed) I also didn't mange to work at the bar enough so the twins didn't get their moment.

3rd run:

Bestie: Dys

Romance: Nem

Ending: Disabling the Array

Alignment: 80 rebellion

Augment: Super Strength

My latest play through was interesting to say the least. I managed to save my mom finally although I didn't have high enough empathy at the time my dad died (stupid shimmer I have no idea how to cure it yet) and our relationship went to shit. I really wanted to focus on explorations and meeting Sym and I achieved that. I actually thought that disabling the array was a great compromise and I would consider it the best ending if it didn't force me to become besties with Vace in the epilogue, minus points for nemmie breaking up with me as well. I don't like Sym but I still felt kinda bad for taking away his immortality but at the end of the day between submission to the stupid gardeners and constant glow attacks I'll take this ending without a doubt.

Yet another ending were I couldn't keep Dys at the colony because he, yet again, disappeared and was never seen again. I was pretty certain that he wouldn't like this path given how much he sympathises with the gardeners for reasons I still can't understand but it still sucked to see him go since him and Sol spent so much time as expedition buddies. I honestly wish the creators didn't push this ending as the "asshole military dude who wants to kill all the poor animals". Like no I just want to leave peacefully while admiring and coexisting with the planet's native flora and fauna without having the ai soldiers over my head trying to kill me very year.

[reader010]

New hyperfixation means new tumblr post to inspire me to write something! @nordictwin's I was a Teenage Exocolonist Stratos Kid Time Loop AU got me thinking: why do the kids in the AU suddenly have the power to remember? And when I start thinking I start scheming... what if it wasn't an accident that they remember? What if our lovable little scamp Sol tried a few new things across the loops and may have *accidentally* transcended a bunch of their friends with our favorite Faceless + Wormhole wombo combo?

So anyway: here is a short writing dump about Sol and Anemone borrowing from one of the original loyalty scenes in the game. (Nemmie is my favorite so that's who you all get) - enjoy!

---

"The adults say we're not supposed t’ go outside the colony unless it's on expedition…" Anemone didn’t take her eyes off the teenage-shaped speck receding over the distant cliffside; wordlessly, she extended an open hand to the other and waited expectantly. The heft of her holoculars being returned to her is all the answer she needs before instinctively looping the device back around her neck. "And Dys just goes whenever he wants! What if he gets hurt? What if he dies?"

Or worse… Anemone wrinkled her nose, her mind filling in the pieces of just what worse could possibly entail. "What if he picks up a weird alien disease and comes back with three heads?"

Beside her, her lookout partner chuckled cheerfully – as if three-head-making alien diseases was a laughing matter –and Anemone’s cheeks flushed with the knee-jerk reaction that it’s her whose being laughed at. Maybe… maybe she’d didn’t know as much about what’s out there as the explorers – but hey, it hadn’t been proved there weren’t three-head-making alien viruses on Vertumna.

Anemone idly scratched her cheek, itching at the dry spot caused from her acne turned scales. “Ow,” she muttered instinctually; the jolt of pain snapped her back into the moment, where her eyes leapt up to the clifftop. No sign of Dys anymore. "I just… dunno what to do about it," Anemone admitted, "what do you think?"

They’re quiet for a moment: there’s a pause that’s full of uncertainty and hesitation, but when her friend spoke, the words are filled with something that Anemone couldn’t quite place.

"We should go after him."

It’s finally enough to take Anemone’s attention off the valley; she whipped her head towards Sol and couldn’t stop herself from staring at the other girl as if she had three heads.

"What?! Outside the colony? By ourselves?”

There was a glow in Sol’s eyes. Again, that sensation that Anemone just couldn’t place. Sol’s words were insanity – clearly meant to be a joke – but something in them looked… strangely… hopeful?

Anemone hadn’t really… Anemone didn’t leave the colony. Sure, she was 13 years old, and that meant she was old enough to join the expeditions team… but that’s not where she was meant to be. She liked watch duty. She was training to be like Kom and Rhett.

Exploring this weird alien planet – going out of her way to deal with its weird crazy animals and environment that wanted to kill them – she’d leave that stuff to those more suited for the task. Like Utopia and Uncle Tonin. Like Dys (as much as she hated to admit it). And… well, Sol.

Not her. Not Anemone.

“No way!” She shook her head profusely. And Sol laughed, but that little light twinkling in her eye had disappeared, so quickly dashed by Anemone’s words that she wondered whether it had ever been there at all. “Nuh uh!" Anemone repeated.

Sol teased her Nemmie some more, but somewhere deep inside, Anemone couldn’t help but wonder that her best friend seemed… disappointed?

---

“Nemmie… do you trust me?”

At the time, it had seemed like a silly question. Anemone’s response, “Of course I trust you,” had been immediate. Automatic. Trust was implicit between the two at this point in their lives.

By their late teens, Sol had done more for Anemone then… anyone. She was at her side defending against every attack; she helped the colony’s scientists cure the Shimmer, and its farmers stave off famine. Sol had even convinced her to break off her toxic relationship with Vace.

“I need you to do something for me.”

So yeah, Anemone figured she could trust Sol, her best friend since diapers, to not do or suggest anything that would betray that trust.

“Nemmie… I need you to sneak out with me during Glow season.”

[brainicusrotticus]

the crucial event that tied doc!sol and vace together:

they set off for the subaqueous swamp. sol drives the transport vehicle, and brings a bag for storing samples. he practically forced a second bag on vace, but that’s alright because vace forced sol to carry a plaspistol, in addition to bringing his own plasrifle, stun gloves, and a hunting knife.

they get to the swamp, and go about doing their thing. vace gets a bit twitchy a few times, but sol gives him the stern “don’t shoot at shit unless we’re about to die” look, and it’s enough to settle him down.

they’re there for hours. sol darting from plant to plant, vace just following and keeping an eye out.

it gets within about two hours of sundown, which means they’re going to need to leave soon. there’s also a heavy looking storm moving in, so sol is trying to get some last readings from another new species of plant that seems to have solid healing properties.

vace seems on edge. he’s usually been quietly pacing about, always looking out for shit. but sol takes a quick breather from this plant, and realizes vace is standing very nearby, and very still.

something feels off, but vace can’t tell what it is. and that’s not good.

sol takes him seriously, because that’s what vace is there for. he unholsters his plaspistol (for show, because it’s not like he actually know how to use the thing), goes for a sample of this last plant, and then they’ll get moving back to the transport.

first rule of vertumna: it’s never just a plant.

this plant turns out to be the hook for a creature fairly reminiscent of a snapbladder. and the second sol touches it, the trap springs.

it gets a decent clamp on sol. across his left shoulder and chest. it’s clearly not sized for human prey, but it’s bite is strong enough. it’ll bruise, and its teeth break the skin, but it’s not all that worrying.

it lets go when vace fires some non-lethal shots into it, and scurried away. vace goes to check on the doc, who assures him that it’s all fine.

but they haven’t been unnoticed. all day, noctilucent has been keeping tabs on them. waiting for a good opportunity to strike. and what better opening than worried distraction?

but he’s mean. he aims for the hard hits.

he drops a tree on them.

vace manages to swing the doc out of the way, and takes the full force of a falling tree on himself. not that solane being present would’ve changed that, then they’d just both take the full force of a falling tree. and it would end much worse for one of them.

it’ll leave some bruises on him. might’ve even left a few small cracks in the bones. but this is vace. he’ll be fine.

there’s only one major problem.

his legs are pinned under it. and he’s strong, but not super strong, and it’s hard to get proper leverage when you’re face down on the ground. sol is managed to catch his breath after being thrown to the ground (really just failing to catch himself), and is about to get up and go to vace…

but noctilucent emerges from the bushes. still dripping, like he’d crawled right out of the swamp water.

(he did)

sol hasn’t met noct before, but he knows about gardeners from sym

particularly that there are a number of gardeners who want the whole colony gone. and who think “dead” is good enough.

and in this particular scenario? he doesn’t really get the feeling this is going to be a friendly chat. he wonders if noct was the one responsible for the looming stormclouds.

noct knows how to threat assess. also, he’s been watching them all day. he knows that one of these individuals knows how to use a gun, and the other is a goddamn nerd. so vace presently being stuck under a tree? means that problem can be dealt with immediately.

so noct goes to him.

and stomps on vace’s head with those ugly ass hooves of his.

but, it’s vace. he’s built different. it’ll leave a bump, and left a little split in the skin that bleeds a bit, but it’s probably not even enough for a concussion.

(sol definitely has that brief moment of “i just witnessed a murder” before he remembered vace’s augment)

but noct keeps going. he gets another 3-4 in before sol throws himself on vace, literally wrapping around noctilucent’s leg like an octopus. screaming for him to stop.

and noct backs up a step. mostly because he’s surprised by the sheer audacity sol is showing.

and sol covers vace’s body with his own.

he doesn’t know how to fight. his plaspistol isn’t in reach, he can’t see vace’s plasrifle, the only thing he has is the knowledge that gardeners don’t die when their body is killed. he isn’t a soldier.

but he has to be.

vace is out of it. he seems to be wavering on consciousness, but his legs are still stuck and he definitely has at least a concussion now.

sol is the only one who can help them right now.

he’s shaking and sobbing, pressed overtop of vace. he can see something like amusement in noct’s eyes, and it pushes him that much further.

noct leans down. he wants to meet this human eye to eye, to mock sol for this before he kills them both. he’s absolutely focused on the full-faced misery of sol.

it’s classic, really. a common trick used by magicians in old holovids.

misdirection.

noct doesn’t see sol work vace’s knife free of the belt. he isn’t as guarded with sol. this human has only ventured beyond the colony a handful of times, and has never shown any prowess for combat.

sol isn’t a threat.

and as the doctor, lightning quick, wraps a hand around the back of noctilucent’s neck and slices so deep he leaves a cut across his own palm, he wonders if noct will remember this. feel some primal unease the next time he sees solane. or if, like his recent memories, all sense of threat melts away with his body.

the sprinkling rain is starting to grow heavier. sol uses a thick branch to leverage the tree off of vace, and wishes desperately that he had the time to fully exam the damage.

but he doesn’t. utopia will probably realize something is wrong soon—probably sent a message to the transport when stratos picked up on the storm moving in, and is waiting for a response that indicates they’re heading back to the colony.

when it doesn’t come, she’ll report them as missing. normal protocol is a search and rescue party.

but the storm would make for hostile conditions. if it raises the water too much, there are parts of the road that’ll flood, and they might not even be able to get a squad to the swamp. unless the storm blows over in minutes (which is possible, if not likely), it’ll be nightfall or later by the time anyone can make it.

and nighttime isn’t a good time for a rescue squad. it just puts more people at risk. in most cases, they’d wait until day. rhett wouldn’t get any sleep over the worry and guilt, but he’d make the choice anyway.

except, maybe, for sol.

he’s a doctor. the only one who knows what to do besides instance. he has more old-school knowledge than instance, and a xenobotanist background. he’s valuable, and he hates knowing that. that someone might consider it worthwhile to risk other lives to save his own.

but others can be trained. medbeds can handle just about any problem, as long as they stay functional. rhett knows that, as much as he knows sol wouldn’t want others to risk themselves unnecessarily for him.

the doctor honestly doesn’t know what choice rhett will make, and doesn’t envy him having to make it.

(he’ll buy something nice for the security chief, if he gets out of this.)

(when. it has to be when.)

vace is conscious enough to move, a little. support his own weight, hopefully. but that’s about it.

sol gets him up, supports his weight on one side. vace has about eight inches and ninety pounds on sol, which is a fucking problem.

sol puts on his best rhett voice, and barks orders at vace. “time to push it, soldier! if you don’t, we’re both dead!”

he can’t honestly tell if it helped. he knows vace can’t do much. he knows he was mostly saying it for himself.

because if sol can’t manage this, they’re both dead.

they might get lucky. rhett might send a squad after all. nem might defy orders to come after them herself. dys might come for sol’s sake, with her or own his own. he might even get word to sym.

but sol can’t act like help is coming. can’t let himself do anything less than as much as he fucking can.

the sun has set by the time he gets them back to the transport, drenched and muddy and shaking. he barely manages to open the sliding door with one hand, and then has to lay vace on the floor from outside, get in, and drag him the rest of the way. he pulls wads of fabric from between his own teeth, put there to keep his teeth from cracking when he clenched it shut.

he can barely get the scraps out, with how tightly wound the muscles are. that’ll hurt in the morning.

(he’ll just add it to the list.)

he locks them inside the transport, and takes a chance to examine vace. he’s semi-conscious, definitely has a concussion. he can talk, a little, and vaguely understand context.

(he swears, mostly. given the context, yeah. sounds about right.)

the bleeding has stopped. there are some cracks in his skull, but nothing that feels imminently dangerous. already bruises and a hell of a black eye, and sol is pretty sure there’s a fracture along his left orbital bone. but those are all things a medbed can handle just fine. as long as he makes it to one.

sol straps vace into one of the bench seats, and gets the transport started. as expected, there’s several messages from utopia, and one from rhett. the storm interferes too much with comms for much to get through, but sol does what he can. a distress signal, canceled after three seconds. three seconds of silence, and then the signal sent again, canceled after three seconds. deliberate enough for them to know it’s a message.

he starts the transport home.

about ten minutes of slow travel down the road, it’s flooded. sol isn’t going to risk it, not after what he just went through. he parks them.

he unbuckles vace so he can lay the soldier down on the seats, and try to get some sleep. sol takes the floor, and sleeps in fits.

eventually, he jolts awake to the sound of a quiet drizzle.

he straps vace back in. he’s relieved to hear the mumbled complaints about ruining his sleep.

the floods come fast in the swamp, but they leave that way, too.

it takes another hour and a half, but eventually he sees the lights of the colony.

utopia and rhett are already at the outer post, pacing and watching the road. they see the approaching transport before the lookouts do, but not before dys and nem.

both of whom are sequestered right next to the security chief, and looking rather dour.

sol can see how much self restraint it takes to wait for the transport to roll in, and not just run to it.

as soon as it’s parked, someone starts trying to yank the door open.

(it’s locked and dead bolted, because sol wasn’t taking any chances.)

he unlocks it, and rhett yanks it open before sol can. all the doctor manages to say is vace’s name, before he’s being unbuckled and carried out in rhett’s arms.

held like a princess, limp and soaked in a way that makes his clothes and hair cling to him, vace looks like the kid he is. barely sixteen, too young to be dealing with this shit.

(they both are. hell, all of them are.)

sol doesn’t need help to move. he knows he looks like shit, but his adrenaline has been running so high for so long that he sprints ahead to prepare a medbed.

instance is waiting, but she knows someone who needs work when she sees it. she’ll be the one who cleans and cares for sol’s own wounds later, in the quiet silence of an active medbed. tang will uncurl from the corner where she’d been watching owlishly, to play the part of nursing assistant.

vace will be under for three days. it’ll heal all the worrying injuries, but sol knows the soldier can’t stand to spend forever in a medbed, even if he doesn’t remember it.

(and he doesn’t remember the medbed. but he does remember a surprising amount of that day. remembers the dissonance of hearing sol sobbing while also feeling deft fingers work his knife loose. knows noct died, and he couldn’t have been the one to do it. gets flashes of the slog back, of sol carrying him when he could only feel frustration at his weak, sluggish legs slipping in the mud.)

they’re different, after that. sol never acts like vace owes him anything, and starts taking self-defense lessons. neither one of them actually suggested it. they just made eye contact across the cafeteria one morning a week after the event, and walked to the garrison together to start.

vace trusts sol to do what’s necessary, and to know what that is. it’s hard not to, when you know the empathetic, xeno-loving doctor willingly killed a gardener. his trust grows from there.

and sol trusts vace to have subtlety, and sympathy. he never says more about that day than what sol himself admits, even after he tells sol he remembers it. he seems to pick up on the days when it’s really bothering the doctor, and finds a way to hover nearby. whether it makes sol feel safe, or reminds him that he saved someone, vace doesn’t know.

seeing the most trusted kids from each ship suddenly get along has a deep impact on not just their peers, but the adults too.

(lum hates it. he never managed to scare them, but he could usually get them to cooperate. now they do nothing less than exactly what they think is right, and the few times he’s tried to control them, they both just fixed him with a stare that said he was a problem they could solve the moment they decided to.)

it’s the start of a new era for stratos-helios relations.

the violent soldier who toughened the kind doctor, and let himself be soothed in return.

(nothing changed in them. not really.)

(they just learned how to balance.)

(and everyone else followed suit.)

[ghost--cafe]

Part two babey!!

(Plus I fixed the one I messed up last time)

[jammatown919]

I absolutely adore all the customization options in I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, but God I wish I knew how to mod games so I could add a custom genetic enhancement and some custom interactions/dialogues/actions based on it.

I usually choose eagle eyes, which I like and don't want to get rid of, but the PC's hair tends to read as generally featherlike/birdlike to me in its shape and color, so I think it would be really fun if their enhancement was just being part bird the same way Rex is part dog. The eyes and heightened perception would still be their main ability, but it would be cool if they also grew feathers on their arms that could be expressive/stylish/just funny depending on the situation. Specifically, I was imagining them sometimes leaving feathers places, either because they pluck them due to stress or because they just fall off sometimes and regrow, and then because I always choose Nemmie for romance I was like "it would be SO funny if they sometimes left their feathers stuck on Nemmie's clothes or hair and everyone was just giggling like schoolkids and Vace was quietly losing his shit in the background".

I can all too easily imagine a flirting option where Nemmie points out how they keep leaving their feathers in her bed or on her and it's just "that's how I mark my territory".

It would also be really cute if one of those "I think we should spend some time together" romance scenes was just Nemmie having built up a little collection of all the feathers Sol has been leaving around her space and with enough creativity Sol can help her make a little bracelet or other accessory out of them.

[restlessreveries]

Been feeling a bit rough today so I’m gonna yell about things that makes me happy.

So, scrambled headcanons about introductions/reactions/futures of Sym living in the colony after the negotiated peace ending. Because the game doesn’t elaborate nearly enough on this and I feel robbed. 

(Yes I will assume a romantic Sym/Sol relationship here because I need the happy brain chemicals and that is a threat.)

Cal: Let’s start by kinda easing ourselves into this by starting with the character that I’ve got the least to say about. ‘Cause let’s face it, Cal and Sym would just get along. Probably be agriculture buddies. Sym’s got a lot to teach about Vertumna’s flora and fauna and Cal is there for it.

Anemore: Probably a rough start, let’s be fair. She did lose her brother to the Gardeners’ attacks so she’s probably not exactly eager to jump into a deep friendship. I reckon it takes some years even in the best of cases before she starts feeling at ease around this weird purple guy. 

Then kind of out of the blue to everyone else, she beans him in the head with a sportsball (maybe a little bit harder than needed) and calls for him to return the ball and get on the court ‘cause they’re a player short. She doesn’t go easy on him from there though, but it’s a start and maybe it helps a bit that she gets some lowkey revenge by destroying him at sportsball.

In endings where she and Vace stuck with one another for too long she probably appreciates his support in helping look after the kiddos and just, you know, being a friend who is emotionally invested and supportive which she’d kinda need after Vace.

... I kinda like to picture a bit of a lowkey Sym/Nemmie thing but let’s store that thought away...

Tangent: Oh boy, um... gods I don’t even know how this one would go. I reckon it’s a really slow and rough start though, especially depending on if Dys went through with becoming a Gardener and isn’t there anymore. And then we’ve got the guilt of her almost having engineered a plague... I’m not sure if they ever get close tbh, but she might appreciate his expertise in all things Vertumnan and maybe share some soft comforting moments down the line where he’s helping her actually see the beauty of all the weird stuff that’s out there on Vertumna in a way that gives her more of an understanding of Dys’s perspective. On that topic...

Dys: You know, I said Cal was gonna be the one I had the least input on, but... I mean, they know each other already. They’ve got a good functioning thing. I’m not sure how Dys would take to Sym taking a much more active interest in human life by moving in there and hanging out with a wider crowd. 

Maybe that other Sym/Dys/Sol path ends up elaborating a bit on this? But I don’t know... I kind of assume Dys goes the Gardener route eventually regardless.

Marz: She’s designing a new outfit for him within an hour of being properly introduced. I will stand and die by this line of thought. Honestly, I think she’d take fairly well to Sym, appreciating his attentiveness and questions as taking an interest in her life (which she always craves) even if she writes it off as just mantaining good relations with the Gardener’s representative because she’s into politics now, this is important. But yeah, she’s going to teach Sym about the finer more sophisticated points of humanity (or at least what she deems such).

... And I kinda like to headcanon that the kid she ends up having as a surrogate is for Sol and Sym to raise. “RAISE NONE OF YOUR OWN” GAME I SWEAR!. LET SYM BE A DAD! (obviously not genetically but you know what I mean)

Or you know what? People fuck about with their genetics so much in this game I bet they could add some Vertumnan DNA as an augment if nothing else. Tang can make it work. She owes me a solid favor anyway.

... Okay um, let’s get back on track.

Tammy: Bit of a rocky start since she’s kind of scared of everything Vertumnan. This lasts until about 4 seconds into the proper introduction when Sol mentions Tammy by name and Sym immediately starts going on about how much he loves her work and how splendid her craftsmanship is. Truly amazing, unmatched even. Tammy (and probably Cal) are confused as fuck until Sol, who is hysterially laughing, managed to share that they’ve been sneaking him Tammy’s baked goods for years now. +10 to Tammy’s confidence.

Also, you know, turns out Sym loves kids, him and Tammy will 500% bond over that. Even if she’s a little bit hesitant at first. But the kids just adores him too so hey, +1 babysitter too!

Rex: Once Rex is over the harsh realizarion that Sol beat him to getting with an alien I can only imagine that they get along well. It’s honestly kinda funny to imagine Sym being the one shamelessly flirted with and kind of unable to keep up with it. Wouldn’t surprise me terribly if they get casual with one another down the line in the case of an open to poly Sol.

Nomi: Gods above and below, I’m almost scared of the thought of these two hanging out together. You know they’d get along well. Sym might not match Nomi’s boundless energy, but I have no doubts he’d take well to their interests and have hour long discussions about anime and games. Sym trying to roleplay in that one game would be hilarious too, I bet he’d go actual ye olde english since he’s got recordings of human history.

Vace: ... I kind of like to imagine Vace coming face to face with Sym in a non-violent scenario and being faced with an intense existential crisis in that he finds Sym unmistakably hot and that he’s now got an alarmingly real interest in xenobiology that he just doesn’t know what to do with.

On a more realistic note, he’d probably be upsetti about a xeno living in the colony and tbh he can die mad about it.

Geranium & Fluorescent (aka dad and mom):  Kinda shook, understandably. I mean, their kid has been dating an alien for a while now. How do you deal with that? I don’t even know, it’d probably take a while for it to even sink in.

I will however share the thought of Geranium trying to sit Sym down to give him the shovel talk and Sym being all excited about it because he’s seen this scenario in literature and it’s gonna be so fun to actually experience.

Flulu checks on them an hour later and finds that the nerds have just devolved into fanboying about plants, both Vertumnan and Earthen(?). Facepalms and has to try to do it right herself, but let’s be honest, the moment is kinda ruined. Things run pretty smoothly from there on then though.

... and this is unrelated to any canonical thing but just, if you’ve read this far and didn’t skip the Marz section. I like to imagine that a Sol/Sym kid is named “Noctem” just so Sym gets to see Noctilucent’s reaction on finding out that a human kid got named after him (them?).

And much to Noctilucent’s frustration, it’s strangely difficult to hate the kid.