#UI POV: All

[mossmurdock]

Toxic gfs please 😖

TOXIC GIRLFRIENDSSSSSS

anon, my love, my world, how could i see this without immediately thinking about mei mei??

i was literally thinking about this ask all day, so a lot crossed my mind!! but what i really ended up latching onto was a childhood friends sort of au (v canon divergent)

obvs, i feel like having any sort of relationship with mei mei that lasts this long is going to turn sort of twisty and complicated. she's so honest about her greed, and i feel there's def an always present insecurity surrounding the reader concerning their value to her. not a pressing one, but one that's simply there. addressed so rarely that it's become dust covered and logical.

the tests start off small, like her asking you to do certain tasks for her. little acts of service like grabbing her snacks for lunch, or doing her work, or offering your gym clothes when she forgets her own. the people around you call you a pushover and a doormat. but things have always been this way, and the benefits are so easily identifiable.

she's kind to you. and despite what everyone else says, you're aware that once you turn your back that it's hypocrisy that fuels their attitudes, because it's your shoulder bumping against mei mei's when the two of you leave the room.

you're turned golden with the connection. she's always had midas on her side, tucked into her lashes, her teeth, her nails, any part of her that she can drag along your skin.

it's a hot summers day when she brings you out to an abandoned train track. she's brought you to the edge of a thicket. the old rusting tracks look like they're the ageing borders to another world.

something in your stomach croaks as mei mei playfully balances along the steel rail. your feet remain carefully planted into the loose gravel. the sound of hollow metal and rock clashing against each other is a pleasant one. despite your subconscious unease, you briefly close your eyes and take in the warm air around you as she reaches out to grab onto your hand whenever she misplaces her balance.

she brought you out here to celebrate getting through another year together. your ears had burned at her words: together. so much implication behind such a simple word. you found your mind running as she brought you out without any other explanation. it wouldn't matter as long as you were together. as long as you were there whenever she threatened to tip over while treading along the thin metal beneath her with her arms splayed out like an elegant bird's.

the thicket walks along with you both, never ending in its length. just as mei mei hops off the rails and stops walking, you wonder just how she stumbled upon this place.

"we're here." she circles you languidly as your steps also slow.

"here?" you question dryly as she stands behind you.

you're facing the thicket head on now, eyes sucked into a whirlpool of sameness and obscurity. the endless and thick lanes of bark all mold into something foreign. the birds have ceased to chirp. something rancid seems to waft out of its clearing, like a gaping mouth that's feasted and starved.

"yes," mei mei whispers. her mouth is dangerously close to your ear.

she rests her head on your shoulder lightly, staring up at you with a look you've seen a thousand times before.

your head rests against hers, leaning into the touch.

"what is it?" you ask. eager, and perfectly pliant.

she chuckles softly, raising her hands to block your vision. they act as a blindfold, though her palms seem softer than any fabric.

"a surprise," she answers cheekily.

she makes contact with your skin, completely darkening your vision. your senses frenzy as one is dampened. for a moment, all you're able to register is mei mei's body against yours.

there's the faint chance of her perfection melding into whatever it is you've made of yourself.

the chance is however eradicated by the sudden rise of a rank smell. it oppresses the other scents around you so strongly that the feeling of it sliding down your throat has you choking on your own breath and spit.

with the loss of your sight, the rot in the air grows heavy with every passing second, stalking its blind prey.

your expression twists beneath mei mei's palms and she seems to feel the shift of every muscle in your skin. her fingers separate from themselves slowly, allowing light to creep into your vision through her command and nothing else.

what hobbles across the train tracks turns the spit in your mouth rancid.

what you can only identify as a discoloured mound of flesh and teeth writhes between the thick trunks of the thicket ahead of you. its skin gleams with bright and volcanic cysts, oozing the smell of rotten and overly ripened fruit.

"mei—"

"shh," she hushes. her lips are so close that they're able to graze your ears now, her breath fanning across your face. she smells sweet, like lollipops.

"just look," she demands. her voice progressively becoming shrouded by the caws of birds

her hands have hardened around your skin and if you weren't so frozen by fear you would recognize the testing and prodding of her fingertips. they try to spot any flaking, any fools gold feathered across you.

when she finds nothing, when your feet remain planted into the ground and you remain in her clutches, when you mold and gouge against her instead of crumbling, mei mei finds herself smiling.

she turns your body towards her just as crows manically dive into the monster and begin to merge each other into a pool of unidentifiable gore.

you've gone weak in the knees, but she catches you, still grasping you by your soft cheeks. the fear in your eyes glints against the excitement of hers as her thumbs brush the sweat and tears off your face.

there's a sort of ownership in her hold that's never felt safer to you before now.

[runelocked]

@ladyseidr LIKED FOR A FAZTASTIC CHRISTMAS STARTER !

WILLIAM WON’T LIE TO HIMSELF: YES, HE’D STAYED UP FOR TWO DAYS STRAIGHT TO DECORATE THE DORM ROOM SPECIFICALLY FOR HENRY. Yes, he has a slight infatuation with the other boy. Yes, he has four essays due in six days and things are fine, his priorities are fine, and he’s fine, thank you very much. Covered in twinkling lights, emptily - smiling ornaments, and all kinds of tinsel and beads, William only has seconds to admire the dorm room before he hears the sound of Henry’s keys fumbling in the door.

Shit ! He’s not ready yet. Darting skittishly out of sight to pull on an irritatingly scratchy Christmas sweater, he paints a smile on his face: this will make up for their argument, he’s sure of it. After all, there is nothing even minorly irritating about coming home after a long day to find your roommate has some half - baked scheme to plead for your festive forgiveness. William has even made a Christmas cake: the fruits of his labor sits dejectedly on the centre coffee table, and he gets a burst of pride every time he looks at it. If he ignores the fact it was supposed to be shaped like a tree, and sort of just looks like an indistinct mass. And the fact it’s burnt. Whatever. None of that matters ! Christmas is supposed to be about the GIVING, right ? ———

Because Henry’s pushing the door open, and William is flicking all the lights on in a blinding display of hard work, a smug grin on his face as he loiters proudly in the middle of the room, arms crossed, awaiting his reward from Henry. Something that shows how much Henry appreciates his hard work. The other jumping into his arms and kissing him passionately. Or proposal. Or anything in between. “ I decided I do like the festive period after all, ” he says cheerfully, “ I wanted to celebrate properly for once. Happy Christmas, darling. ”

[skelekular-frequentcy]

Making a Pocket Monster game! It will include noncutesy (sav) and many different forms of pokemon styles, iterations, and more. The game consists of 200 Gyms and 500 Islands and 500 surrounding wild area from the pedestrial zone. Multiple Safari Zones. Choose from 200 starter Characters and interact the story from your POV! Each Character has unique explorations as well. Pokemon meeting storylines too. It's done in a high resolation stretchable landscape similar to fire red and emerald! All Gens and many customs. Styled Party Contests. The game is never ending but there are always milestones. The max level of the pokémon is 500. Well, these are actually Pocket Monsters and have ability and stat buildings unlike seen before. Legendaries and Shinies? More colors of each Pocket you can imagine. Hunt! Please contact to work with me on ideas, art, ui, features, stories, music, development

[mahaguro]

JJK 252 THOUGHTS

First thing I noticed was the art style on a number of pages. Last time this happened was when Maki fought the Zenin Clan and at the time I thought it was a stylistic choice. However, it was most likely due to Gege not having enough time illustrating all of it. Although I’d say this unintentional style is unironically too perfect given the chaos that is happening in Shinjuku.

Turns out Yuta didn’t actually get cooked. Still sustained heavy injuries, but was capable of letting out a signal for Maki to strike Sukuna from behind. And the fact has not disappeared suggests Yuta is still alive.

Ui Ui is working a 9-5 with every new casualty. Hopefully they could rejoin the battle later on.

Side note: Saw some “revival” theories yet again. Of all people who’ll most likely return to battle, I cannot see Gojo being one of them. As great as it would be, there’s no shot given the kind of sendoff he got. From a narrative perspective, it’s closer to wishful thinking.

Great to see that Soul Split Katana is lethal, making it harder for Sukuna to RCT his way out of this. A couple more direct hits and we’ll see heavy damages, perhaps even similar to what Yuji and Yuta were able to do within the domain.

Yuji is taking it rough 😭 Overexertion + relative novice to RCT healing doesn’t sound like a good mix at all. Also Choso’s alive??!! Turns out survived Sukuna’s piercing attack from many chapters ago!

Maki is holding up well against Sukuna. Way better than I thought, but I should expect no less from a fully realized Maki. Flipped his ass on his head. Ahh, great to see ☺️

Sukuna recognizes that Maki isn’t no bore of a sorcerer as she can see his technique better than the others. I’m curious to how this plays out and what more damages she’ll be able to inflict onto him.

She landed a direct hit through the heart and he’s not going down………….smh. The guy is just way too persistent.

POV SWITCH. Doesn’t seem like Gege is putting too much focus on Hakari vs Uraume. Just for the vicariously glazing Sukuna through Uraume. I’m maybe slightly interested as to how they’ll fair against Hakari’s barrage of attacks.

*Sigh*—I’m starting to think maybe Gege doesn’t want the protagonists to win.

Like, what do you mean by “still not using his full power” ? What more could there be besides black box / Fuga? Sukuna’s backstory is still unknown and with every new ability under his sleeve, I begin to wonder how he attained it.

Realistically, how do they expect to win? It seems like most of Jujutsu High’s cards has been shown and they’re only running out of surprises. Hopefully they’ll be able to come out with something new to counter the King of Curses. From how It appears Sukuna has one more thing in store.

Follow Twitter/X: @Mahaguro

[1heavy-heart]

𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 - 𝗣𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗶 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝘇𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘇  🌹

english is not my native language, if there is any mistake here please tell me 😘

.............................................................................................................................

pov: where s/n and Pedri are chosen to be best men at the wedding but they don't get along very well.

pov y/n

It's been about 5 months since Ferran and his girlfriend Sira got engaged, and since then they've been choosing their godparents and godparents for the wedding. They called me via video last week to invite me to this role, I was very happy, after all I've been friends with Sira since I arrived in Barcelona, ​​which has been about 4 years and Ferran is an incredible guy.

I was curious to know who the other chosen ones would be, I had some guesses like Gavi and a few other players from Barcelona, ​​who are good friends with Ferran. I just hoped Pedri Gonzalez wouldn't be chosen, but I already knew that was impossible, as the two are close friends.

I hear my cell phone ring and I answer:

-Hey y/n, how are you?

-Hi Sira, I'm fine and you?

-I'm fine too, friend, you're invited to dinner tonight, Ferran and I decided to gather the godparents and godparents to talk, get to know each other.

-Oh that's great friend, I was going to ask you who were the other chosen ones. - I laugh.

-Let's take the opportunity and decide on the pairs of godparents, for those who are single. - She was up to something just by the tone of her voice.

-And how will it be? Will you decide or will it be a draw?

-you'll know at the time, friend, don't worry. - she giggles.

After she told me the time and place for dinner, we said goodbye.

Sira's lack of information made me anxious, I know her and I know when she's up to something, the time passed quickly, soon it was 6:30 pm and I went to take a shower and then get ready for dinner, which would be at 20:00 at Ferran's house (mansion actually, right). After a long shower, I decided to wear a black top and skirt set with golden sandals, I did a basic make-up and when I saw it it was already 7:45 pm, with luck I wouldn't be late.

Despite the traffic I arrived at Ferran's house at 20:01, I rang the bell and Sira welcomed me, when I entered I saw that there were several people I didn't know, it would be good to socialize with new people. Gavi saw me with Sira and came to my side hugging me and said:

-Hey, how are you my dear friend? If you want to come with us, we're sitting by the pool outside.

-I'm fine, of course I'm coming. - I said and smiled.

After greeting and being introduced to people I didn't know, Sira took me to where the boys were, I said hello to everyone and I sat down, I was grateful that Pedri wasn't there, but I was surprised at the same time, but a poor man's happiness doesn't last long and soon I see him walk through the door, he faces me and comes to my side.

-and it's not like the most annoying girl in the world came too, just missing you, as always. - He loved teasing me because he knew I got irritated easily.

-And you, for a change, have a sharp tongue, you know, I want to see it when I cut it out.

-ui, how is she mad today, is she tpm?

- It doesn't interest you. - I was already trying to put my finger in his face when Gavi enters between the two of us:

-Enough Enough, the little show is over, it's still early. - He laughs and pulls Pedri telling him to keep to himself.

I talked with the boys for a long time and we had dinner, then Sira and Ferran wanted to share the godparents who were without a partner, everyone gathered in a circle and Sira said it would be a draw. There were several people included in the draw, besides me there was Gavi, Ansu, de Jong, some of the couple's friends, Sira's friends and the unbearable Pedri.

-Let's start guys, the first pair is Ansu and Alicia - (Sira's fictional friend kk) - said Ferran.

-My turn to draw love, De Jong and Jane - (another fictional friend)

The draw continued and I was hoping to win with Gavi, because we were very good friends or anyone else other than Pedri.

-And now we have Pedri with…. a (y/n) - Sira announced and I looked at her with an indignant face, she just shrugged. I felt that she had set this up with Ferran, they've been trying to smooth over our rivalry for a long time.

Pedri came close to me and sat next to me, saying: - I think I'm very unlucky and so are you.

-If you didn't like it, ask to change it. - I shrugged.

-You didn't like it either, why do I have to ask?

-Because you're immature and don't accept it, unlike me who force myself to be mature and agree, after all I'm not like you who throw a tantrum over everything.

-I think you loved it and now you're using excuses not to show it.

-Shut up Pedri.

-You shut up.

-Shut me up. - I said and I regretted it because he came as if he was going to kiss me on the mouth, knocking down the angry pose I was.

-You thought I was going to kiss you, didn't you? - He laughs in my face.

-No, you're an idiot. - I roll my eyes.

-If you want me to kiss you, just ask, you don't have to be nervous when I get so close.

-unbearable, Gonzalez, that's what you are. - I roll my eyes one more time.

Now I was just thinking about this wedding, how am I going to bear being the date of a guy as boring as Pedri Gonzalez

[strawhattery]

hi!!! i love UI, it's such a good fanfic im going to literally mourn when it ends. ANYWAYS, i have a silly question. idk if you have said it anywhere (maybe it's implied but my austict ass cannot decipher things unless they are explicitly said)but, since UI is in the a/b/o work, what are the other characters secondary genders?? (yk, all the ones that have been mentioned except from the main ones). sorry for the long parapragh and any typos. KEEP UP WITH THE GOOD STUFF AND THANKS FOR THE FOOD!!!

i LOVE getting to talk about world building/lore questions like this one so thank you for asking (and for the kind words about UI 😭💕)!

there are only a few characters who i explicitly assign presentations to within the narrative—sanji, zoro, vivi, franky, and robin to name a few. sanji has to navigate the world without really knowing (except when his instincts kick in or when people conform to various stereotypes), so i think it's cool for readers to experience kind of the same thing since the story is from his limited POV.

that being said, during the writing process i DID keep kind of a running tracker of what i thought some characters' presentation might be, just in case i needed to leverage it for story purposes at any time. here's what that looked like:

alphas - sanji, zoro, vivi, luffy, franky, koby, kidd, kaku

betas - nami, usopp, killer, helmeppo, zeff

omegas - law, robin, kaya

i didn't give much thought to balancing the numbers, i just went off of vibes or i could leverage for certain plot purposes.

thanks again for the question, i love being able to talk about UI 🥺

[kattywonders]

KIKUFUKU

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

The sun was already to focused on the earth to care about the moon. Smothered by the shadow of Saturo Gojo, a name to grand to shine a grain of light on Itsuki Gojo. The younger sister of strongest sorcerer Jujutsu in modern history who can never measure up to the height of her brother. Traveling through the word of cursed spirits, teenage feelings, guilt, loss, and complex family issues. Chapter one Uploaded !!

⋆⭒˚｡⋆READ BEFORE CHAPTER ONE !!⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Hello! I am Kat, the author of this fic! Before we start, I want to explain a few things! First of all, which may make or break who will read. In this fic, I will try to not make it too tropey (no clue if that’s how it’s spelled). But I cannot promise anything; I will try my best! Another make-or-break is grammar. I will use checkers and stuff, but grammar is my weak spot, and I don’t want that to stop me from writing! Now, talk about the fic itself, which, of course, will contain spoilers for the second season, movie, first season, and manga.

The story may be written in the third person from Itsuki’s POV all the time, unless it changes from time to time. It follows Itsuki Gojo and her life in the JJK world. It will focus on all of her relationships with the people around her in the story! There will be no smut because I am uncomfortable with writing such and most of the characters are underage, and no weird sibling relationships besides UI UI and Mei Mei. I am using a fan-made technique from Reddit, so all the credit for Itsuki’s technique goes to Callum-AL02! I will explain the technique when she uses it! The story of JJK and its characters goes to Gege, as it is his work! I will aim to make the characters as close to their show personalities as I can! I will add TW to the chapters if needed, but if I forget any, remind me!

If you have read this far, thank you! I will try to finish the first chapter as quickly as I can! This was mainly for forewarning for readers! If you have any questions, ask away, and I will try to answer. Thanks for reading!!  This fic can also be found on AO3 that I will link !!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/noNameFound/profile

[oneiricgarden]

zurui onna, hidoi otoko and the like crazy cover are connected to underground idol, specifically junrie HEAR ME OUT

zurui onna is sung from the perspective of junji. some verses are about rie and others are about another woman who junji is involved with. this would make sense with the dialogue that they have in because (source: because behind the scenes)

after junji and rie fight, junji goes to his other lover's house (like crazy cover) one last time. this especially fits with the opening lines - "she's saying, 'baby, come and follow me, there's not a bad thing here tonight ... stay with me a little while'". he tells her that while he does like her, he can't sustain a relationship where they're both being unfaithful (zurui onna), and contemplates how he should have just stayed with rie all the time. i feel like the ending shot of like crazy is him leaving for the last time, after having a parting kiss with his other lover. he feels ashamed that even after his fight with rie and the realization that he should be with rie instead, he still was intimate with her. that's why he wipes his lips in an attempt to wipe away her kiss.

ooo's work is not very chronological at all so i also think that this scene, and the scenes of him in the denim jacket in general, have to do with rie. here he's standing outside his doorstep, contemplating if he should knock.

he doesn't knock. him and rie smooth things over later on instead, at the pool scene in because. this is also reminiscent of seoul drift, and how throughout ui junji the one approaching rie and initiating things with him, and rie finally reciprocated in seoul drift.

and finally, a note on hidoi otoko. i think it's their first and only (so far) song to explicitly refer to their lover as male, and it definitely feels sung from the perspective of rie. lyrically it describes being in an on-and-off relationship with someone, and wanting to stay with them forever instead of the instability they have now. the lover doesn't listen - reminds me of this line in the because mv

rie wants to talk about the issues in their relationship so that it can last longer, but junji is impulsive and only wants things to be perfect now. (he realizes this was a mistake after the fight).

also it wld make sense for a jp release specifically to be from their povs bc their stage names are japanese

anyway lyOns (and orbits) (and the other 2,000,000 fandoms im in) pls follow me i wanna get on ooo tumblr 🫡 thank you for reading my silly rant

[geonppangi]

zb1 as ontario universities + programs

yes this is an incredibly niche topic but this has now become my chosen coping mechanism for uni decisions

sung hanbin - queens health science

such a pretty campus

a lot of historic buildings and freshly manicured lawns that i think would fit hanbin perfectly

and like imagine him with soft academia

it’s just a really nice school and its health sci program is one of the best in ontario

like it’s very neutral good

and he feels like he would make a really good doctor, like pov sung hanbin is your family doctor LMFAO

and like i think he’d do a great job, probably has the prettiest notes and always does his part during group projects

zhang hao - queens commerce

ofc i had to keep haobin together

but dw neither is sacrificing their education for the other person (remember kids the only person who can get you your degree is you)

queens commerce is also one of the best business schools in ontario

ik that zhang hao is a music kid but that felt like cheating so this is an alternative!

out of all of zb1 he feels like the most business type person?

like he’s so smart and always plans ahead

so i feel like he could be successful in anything he tried but especially business because it’s so lucrative and opens the door to so many paths

like hanbin i think he suits the clean and historic school vibes

they both have a very curated?? for lack of better word image and i think they’d look like they were in a photoshoot every time they step out on campus

park gunwook - uoft criminology, law and society

university of toronto!!

i’m just saying, debate is literally the gateway to law

and i’d be willing to bet that he has done or considered mock trial so i think this would fit super well

he knows a lot about history and philosophy, so i can see him being interested in studying a humanity

in canada, you need to get a bachelors before going to law school, so a lot of people do something related

this is basically as good as you can get

i also think gunwook would do well in uoft

it can be a kind of isolating experience because the school is so big and a lot of people commute so there isn’t much of a social scene

but as the resident social butterfly, i feel like gunwook would be able to establish a good circle

and also i think he would like the energy of the city

there’s always something to do and both city hall and parliament are literally right next to the campus

alternatively, i considered university of ottawa, which is good for its social science since you know, it’s literally in the capital city of canada so its law program is really good

but honestly there’s not much undergrad wise

i could see him going for graduate school though

i don’t know lawyer gunwook just feels right

he’s good at making decisions, works well under pressure, has the fundamentals down, and is a hard worker so i can definitely see him making it into law school

kim taerae - waterloo computer science

listen

listen

i know that taerae isn’t that genre of nerd

but the glasses

him being losercore

like you can’t tell me he wouldn’t go to the most loser of all loser schools in ontario

(btw waterloo is not bad, it’s actually really good for engineering and comp sci but also everybody there has no life hence the loser allegations)

(also because if you do eng or comp sci you are inherently a loser i’m so sorry pls continue to run tumblr though)

but yeah i can definitely see him doing comp sci maybe like ui ux stuff

actually the more i think about it the more it makes sense for me

he’s also the only thinking (mbti) in zb1 and his fashion sense would fit in perfectly with the rest of the department

seok matthew - mcmaster nursing

like hanbin, i really do see him doing something healthcare related

mcmaster is second for nursing, after uoft, but i don’t think matthew would like toronto as much

from what i’ve heard, vancouver is a lot greener, more laid back, and hiking culture is big there

toronto kind of offers none of that, with the addition of pretty bad air quality comparatively (still pretty good though because canada’s pretty sparsely populated)

mcmaster though is in a smaller town that’s essentially just a university town and also has a trail literally right on campus

it’s a smaller, more tight knit community and nursing is a pretty small program so it’d be even closer

i think he would have a really good time with mcmaster’s social scene

it’s also right by lake ontario and has pretty decent weather

ricky shen - uoft rotman

another business student, are we surprised?

i also considered art but our only really good art school is ocad and as far as i know it doesn’t focus on traditional art as much

so anyways mr young and rich tall and handsome is going to go the business route

uoft is really international student friendly, mostly because they accept a lot of international students and because toronto is also pretty diverse

like you can truly get any type of cuisine here and we have a really big asian population too

so as a person who also immigrated here, i’d say it’s not a terrible transition

definitely the most diverse of any of the ontario schools

once again, the social life at uoft is not great but usually the business schools are better

han yujin - still in high school

han yujin - university of guelph kinesiology

since yujin’s currently studying dance at his school, i thought that kinesiology would be a good fit

for those who don’t know, it’s essentially like sports science?? or studying the way people move and so forth

he also plays soccer and just gives off like sporty vibes?

like the quiet kid who is surprisingly the fastest on the team

once again, uoft is technically the best for this, but it’s kind of a scary place to go into alone so i can see yujin choosing a quieter school

i’d say guelph is even more closely knit than mcmaster by virtue of it being a smaller city and a smaller school

they have a solid health science program though and good student support too, which i think he’d benefit from

kim jiwoong - uoft english literature

so

i know that he is an actor

and i considered having him go the performing arts route

however, i know nothing about those schools and once again i think it’d be too easy

so to make my life harder, instead of having jiwoong perform shakespeare plays, i’m making him read and analyze them instead

he gives off like that one english teacher you had who changed your life and helped you rekindle your love of reading after your gifted burnout yknow

but yeah i see him going into english lit to go be a teacher

and uoft would be perfect for that because it not only has i believe one of the largest libraries in north america, but also a really big teachers college once he’s done getting his bachelors

he also seems like he would be able to fit in in any environment, so i don’t see uoft’s size or atmosphere being a problem for him

kim gyuvin - toronto metropolitan university performance: acting

i saved the best for last

ik i literally just said that i wasn’t going to do performing arts for jiwoong but this is different

something about his performance during the musical segment of boys planet changed the way i viewed him forever

like??????? how is he that good for like the most random challenge ever

i think he’d be really good at acting seriously so anyways!

also tmu (formerly known as ryerson) is just a very fun vibe

it’s in the more downtown area of toronto compared to uoft and right by the entertainment district

the nightlife is so good and gyuvin would probably be the life of the party

tmu’s also like uoft’s funkier younger cousin so i think that fits his vibe well

[bentosandbox]

More sporadic Lone Trail ramblings/TLs

prev one here this time more about the saria/kirsten/mumu trio and fanservice and the CGs in general spoiler warning etc etc

1

(From 4-END) Silence asks Saria if she's incapable of standing against Rhine Lab because deep inside she's the same as them and when she finally answers she's like

......I'm sorry, Silence. I did think about it thoroughly, but I can't give you a definitive answer. If Kirsten's experiment does touch a law that should not have been, then I will stop her, just like all the mistakes Rhine Lab has committed over the years-- they ought to be corrected, for I have always believed, the more power one holds, the less they should act recklessly. But if I were to go back in time, to the moment where Kirsten and I first met, when everything had yet to transpire...I would not have stopped her then, nor the birth of Rhine Lab. Yes, even if I knew that Rhine Lab would create this many Catastrophes, even if I could have predicted that Kirsten, Parvis and Ferdinand would eventually grow out of control-- I would still have stood together with them as I did.

(From 5-END) Mumu:

Did you know? Back then, Saria and I even picked out Kirsten's clothes. Yup, Saria cares about fashion more than she does! (Control truly only has 1[or 2 lol] things in her brain)

Yara (HR and the one responsible for Silence2's outfit) is basically kind of a parent figure to Kirsten 🥹 (so I guess they're a parallel to Silence and Iffy...)

uhm what else. the 3 of them used to go stargazing together and in a flashback mumu picks up a (shiny) rock

Mumu: Kirsten, see that rock on the ground? What does it look like? Kirsten: ...... Mumu: It's like Saria, right? It's so hard(like, firm) and yet it shines so 'perfectly'! Kirsten: ...Like the stars.

idk how global is going to do this part but in CN (and in JP?) Rhine Lab is literally 'Rhine Life' and mumu asks if Kirsten really wants to name it that instead of something like 'Rhine Physics' since she 'just wants to fly to the sky' and she says no, RL is good, because

I want to know what exactly are the stars we see. I want to know what lies beyond the barrier wrapping around us. I want to know...to see just what kind of land do we live in, if I can really take a look while standing among the stars.......Most of the answers I want are about 'us'.

oh one last one quote out of context for you fic writers Saria (to mumu): You're the same as always. The moment you get a little nervous, you forget just how frail your body is.

2

Love the idea of mumu being doc's bestie/oomfie but her and hol's lines/whatever else have irreparably damaged the AK ecosystem fr tbqhwyf and i thought skadol was bad lol. Now we'll have triple the NTR jokes great amazing wonderful (i launch myself into space)

'But its rationalized they're all the last of their kind!!!!' Justification doesn't fucking matter the damage has been done to their (perceived) characters i want my insane morally fucked up scientists not some generic lonely gf that steals the mc from other girls or some harem bullshit forgot what the term was and i dont want to know

Imagine getting a generic ass cg of 'pov mumu is so sad and helpless and needs your help to rescue her!!' (this happens after and not getting one for the extremely kino saria and mumu fight where you find out more about just how inter-connected the 3 of them were (are…?) and saria is first overwhelmed by all the water and she remarks how shes has never seen water(from mm) this turbulent before but within the waves she cant find the elf and all she finds is are sad eyes and tears…I can only feel pity for Mumu fans who don't give a damn about shipping themselves for her. speaking of CGs...

3

AK is clearly inspired and references a lot of IRL media and it shows with their graphic design work (UI, motion graphics etc) here's a link to a Lone Trail analysis but....for some reason the story CGs are quite bereft of the same energy (dare i say passion even lol) imo

ofc CGs are to immerse you in the story etc etc and they're really pretty but

how immersive is a fucking practically copypasted photobashed kirsten (the CG is very beautiful otherwise I love aZling4's rendering style sm.. probably my second favourite CG after the depressing 2nd lobby one you get post-ST4 where......shes also in the same pose.........motherfuckers)

Like man could you not have posed him any other way than hand in pocket with average cosplayer photoshoot lighting

this CG of hol almost getting rekt by saria is pretty weak imo that grip is non-existent nothing much to say (atm) about hol but that i love fanart where she looks/acts like a freak instead of (90% of fanart)

saria literally just fell from almost space back to earth and she looks almost unscathed lol mumu's water can't possibly be that rejuvenating

Maybe it's meant to be kind of incomprehensible but uh when the story went tonight the truth is finally glimpsed by humans for the first time or something I was like ....what is even happening in this picture lol

idk like doing partitioned CGs like how limbus does it would be so good tbh sometimes all they just show is a face and its like ? all that space? I'm guessing the artists have to do the concept/compositions themselves and some just have fresher ideas than others or time constraints etc basically i would just love to see CGs that are references to kino movie shots or something, they love movies so much right??? what about some good cinematography????

Dont want to sound like im flexing my useless veterans card or whatever but like. im a day 0 fan, i played their OBT, i started my acc on day 1, i remember being so excited about this game being so different from the other mobages, i didn't like how GFL was becoming way way more fanservicey then so AK was like a literal noah's ark with a whole bunch of artists ive revered from my touhou days, and now seeing it (inevitably!) slide towards GFL and the average mobage has me like 'well im glad limbus exists they let their women wear pants and be irredeemably insane(looking at you talulah 🥲)'

regardless of all that complaining this might beat italiano perros for favourite event because i was one of those kids with a space phase and something about the trio's dynamic.... (brain chugging) something about water unable to move unshakeable earth (but it can soften though...) that in turn can never reach the sky you know you know just like how a tiger can never be on the same level as a dragon 'real' animal vs mythical

[booburry]

Echoes in Time Chapter 6: The past is only there to haunt us.

Summary: Time spent apart only provides Sam & Mallory time to reflect on their past and present lives.

A/N: I had a lot of fun with this chapter! It was enjoyable switching between POV's and I truly (read: I am delusional) thought this would fall under 7k. ALSO keep in mind, I actually had this chapter longer and cut the last third off.

WC: 9,903

CW: Lillian is a fucking bitch.

Mallory wrote as much detail into her plan for the interview as possible, not only so it would be easy for Walter to execute, but also out of habit from her old job.

Like her previous boss, and despite how Mallory felt of men like Walter from her time, she knew he was a competent man and would follow what she wrote to a T—only making necessary improvements as he saw fit.

Writing the list also helped her stay distracted from what happened at The Lodge, with Sam and that woman.

She needed to get this ball rolling so that she could then focus on getting back home.

The thought, despite Mallory vehemently trying to convince herself it was what she wanted, brought a tightness to her mouth and a flare to her nostrils. Her eyes stung as she quickly wiped away her tears, trying to tell herself to refuse to cry over that man anymore.

Sarah, thankfully, was okay with the lack of conversation as she was busy focusing on her documentation, sitting at the small table in the single hab of the Frontier. When Mallory was finally done writing out her plans, she ripped the pages from her journal and approached Sarah.

“How do I get these to Walter?” Mallory asked Sarah, who slowly brought her gaze to look at what Mallory was extending to her, her eyes pressed in confusion before looking exhausted.

“You wrote it down?” She asked Mallory for clarification—as one would speak to someone who was about to be told how stupid they were.

“I...uhm—” Mallory tried to defend herself but what other option was there? The only computer she had seen was Cora’s, and that thing had like 5 screens and Mallory recognized none of the UI. Pen and paper was...really all she knew.

“I guess you don’t know any better.” Sarah muttered, coming to the same conclusion as Mallory. “I would have told you to use the terminal in the cockpit.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Honestly?” Sarah bluntly asked. “I thought you were writing in your journal about whatever occurred between you and Sam.”

“There’s nothing to write about in that regard.” Sarah just cocked an eyebrow at her, visibly not believing her words, and seemingly about to tell Mallory why.

“Is that so? Nothing about what occurred within the last 24 hours is noteworthy?” Sarah paused long enough for her to stand up, Mallory quickly glancing down at what Sarah was reading. She was able to catch a few words—'Crimson Fleet’ and ‘Lillian’.

Mallory’s stomach fell as she realized Sam must have sent in a report to Sarah on their way back to New Atlantis.

“Because, from what I read, you just faced down certain death. You killed for the first time, both with unbound accuracy and in complete disarray. You went from a novice pilot to somehow pulling off a manoeuvre that even Sam wouldn’t have thought of. And that’s not even getting to your, obvious, personal turmoil.” Mallory pursed her lips, not enjoying how her experience was summarized or the reference to her tremendous ‘personal turmoil’.

“Well, guess there is no point writing it down if you have it in writing already.” She muttered.

“I am concerned, Mallory, that you are being reckless right now. And recklessness can get you killed.”

“How am I being reckless?" Mallory bellowed, her pent-up anger finally having a target. “I’m getting the damn artifacts, I’m doing what is being asked of me. I am just trying to get home!”

“No,” Sarah corrected, her tone still managing to be a bit patronizing, “you are trying to get away from him—”

“What the fuck am I to do, Sarah! Tell me. What the fuck—” Mallory let out a seething sigh before pushing her hair back from her face.

“Are you two just blind or willingly ignoring your feelings for each other? Because we all see it.” Mallory scrunched her face, trying to still her emotions, to calm herself as it wouldn’t be helpful to blow up on the only person she was going to be around for a few days.

“When he had—” Mallory cleared her throat, feeling it strain itself from her stress. “When he had the chance to choose, to defend myself or her, he chose her, Sarah. I mean—” Mallory let a sarcastic, pained, exhale break her speech. “Who am I to come between a mother, a father and their daughter? I just need to get out of their lives, and get them out of mine.”

Mallory walked towards the cockpit, scanning all of the different screens.

“It’s to your left.” Sarah called out, having returned to her seated position and going back to reading her report. Mallory spent the rest of her time standing in front of that terminal, even well after she had finished sending Walter her message.

--xx--

Sam slept horribly, if at all, the first night after Mallory left. The way she had looked at him burned into his brain, bringing a hitch to his breath and a weight to his chest every time it forced him to see it again or relive that moment.

With a sense of foolish hope, and once he could no longer convince himself he could still fall asleep, he got up to check Mallory’s room. Maybe she had returned, or changed her mind or Sarah had convinced her to return. None of those options made sense, hence it being foolish to think she would be in there.

But...he just had to check. He just...had to know.

He left three small knocks on the door, waiting, and waiting...and waiting, until it was long enough for him to be assured she wasn’t there. He felt that weight back on his chest as he opened the door, his eyes falling to the floor, the rush of happy and exciting memories of the last time he stood right here flooding his senses.

He felt his face flinch before he took a deep breath, lifting his hat to push his hair back along his head.

“Get it together, Sam.” He muttered to himself as he placed his hat back on his head and flicked on the lights in her room. He noticed it was a lot cleaner than when they had both been here before, as his eyes scanned the room, looking for any glimpse of her.

But there was nothing. Most of her clothes were left behind, along with most of the shoes he had helped her purchase. He wasn’t upset at all that she left them, at first he thought maybe she did so with the intent to come back, until his eyes fell to the nightstand with his necklace and a note and he realized she left it all behind.

A pit grew in his stomach as he approached the necklace, his eyes on the note, petrified to read what Mallory had written him. Knowing just how vicious—justified, but vicious—her words had been to him, only made him fear how her written ones would make him feel.

However, when he realized the note was addressed to Mallory, from Cora, Sam deeply wished it had only contained words meant to lacerate him.

To see Cora say how happy he had been, how happy that made her and how much the both of them cared about Mallory nearly broke the man. He fell to sit on the side of Mallory’s bed, his hand clutching the necklace while his eyes desperately took in every detail of the letter.

Mallory must have read this too, he could tell by the crinkling present on the paper before he got it, knowing that Cora would have left it in pristine condition. He also noticed that some of the ink was blotted, with small patches present on the paper as if they dried from being wet.

It became quite evident that Mallory had been crying as she held this note. He didn’t have to question what it was that had her so upset, he only had to count how many things he had done to hurt her.

He didn’t keep her safe and was the reason they were in that dogfight in the first place. He forced Lillian upon her, knowing it wasn’t going to end well—however, never thought it would go like this...

Then he didn’t stand up for her, or defend her and then told her she was out of line when he knew what she was saying was true. Lillian wasn’t thinking about Cora when she demanded him to keep her away from Mallory, he understood that then and now, but what he didn’t get was why he told her to back down.

And if that wasn’t enough, he then left her on her own for the rest of the trip, didn’t get to her before she left and then when he finally did get to The Lodge...oh god. Sam felt like was going to be sick when the realization came to him that Mallory must have heard Lillian, who had bizarrely—to him at the time—spoken well above the necessary volume.

So Mallory would hear. Sam felt the thought burn into his brain, ironed and etched as if to never forget this betrayal. Sam had thought Lillian wanted to stay there as another attempt to sleep with him, but no...it had been much more devious than that.

She had done it to drive Mallory away.

Sam had never felt pain like this or guilt. Never with his father, never with his life as a smuggler or his times on Neon...hell, not even with Lillian or Cora—and god knows how many times he felt like he let his daughter down.

But to know that he had, without a doubt in his mind, ripped the very sense of safety Mallory had managed to gain in this world, ruined him. Sam clutched the letter and necklace to his chest—unknowingly just as Mallory had done herself—before lying down on her bed.

It was almost unbearable how he felt, and all it made him wish for was to have her here with him, her presence alone would provide him enough comfort. To hear her laugh, to see her lips purse and nose scrunch when he teased or when she didn’t want to admit he was right...to see the hope behind her eyes every time he had promised he would convince her to stay.

And now she was gone.

Because of him.

Sam tried, for a brief moment, to convince himself that he wished he was the brooding, cut-off, emotionally unavailable man he had once been, lying that it would be easier that way—until he thought of his daughter.

With the thought of Cora brought his mind back to the letter he clutched. This then brought him back to thinking of Mallory, and thinking of Mallory only brought the excruciating weight back onto his chest and a sharp sting to his eyes.

Sam was never a man to allow himself to cry, even in front of Cora he always wanted to be strong for her, and it had only been a few nights when he couldn’t stop it. This would have to be another.

Slowly Sam raised his hat to cover his face, the light in her room still on, the objects held in his hand pressed to his chest, as Sam allowed the first few tears to fall.

He laid there long enough to silently let out the pain, hoping it would make him feel better but it didn’t.

All it did was bring him slumber once the storm inside of him settled.

“Dad?” Cora’s voice woke him up. Sam sat up in shock, his hat having fallen off his face, and as he raised his chest, the note and necklace fell to the floor.

“Hey sweetie.” Sam croaked as his squinty eyes slowly opened to see Cora’s sad expression, every alert in his body going off. “You okay? What happened—”

“Nothing...” She quickly informed him as she slowly walked to sit on the bed beside him. “I saw the light on and just thought maybe Mallory had come back home.” Sam felt a gut punch at Cora’s last word, another guilty realization of what driving Mallory away also took from her.

“I was hoping so too.” Sam admitted, pained and extremely conscious of the words his daughter had written Mallory. He was aware that Cora cared about Mallory, and acutely mindful Cora was aware—to some degree, or maybe all degrees—of what Mallory meant to Sam.

Both Coes sat in silence, Cora’s legs lightly swinging as her feet didn’t quite touch the ground. Sam watched the motion, finding himself wishing that Cora was young again. Young enough, at least, where all of this wouldn’t affect her as much—Lillian, Mallory...him.

He knew how much Cora worried about him, he tried to always reassure her that he was alright, that he was fine, but with her written request to Mallory to take care of him made it obvious he had done a poor job at that too.

“Does Mallory not like us anymore?” Cora finally asked, her tone giving away her hesitation to the question but hinting there was more. Sam waited a moment, knowing his daughter well enough that she wasn’t done. “Did...uh, did I make her leave cause of my note?”

Sam hugged his daughter fiercely before speaking any reassuring words.

“No, Cora, not at all.” Sam let go of Cora to cup his daughter's small and delicate face within his large hands.  “I truly think you were the hardest thing for her to leave behind.” Cora’s eyes immediately welled.

“So she’s gone!?” She blurted out, immediately distressed, Sam instantly panged with guilt at his wrong choice of words. He hugged his daughter again, knowing he had to lie.

“I misspoke, she’ll be back.” He lied while taking another deep breath. “She just...I think she wanted some space from...well, me.” Sam finally blurted out, unsure of how to avoid talking about what actually happened, trying to spare Cora from the monotonous details of adult life and the complexities that came with such relationships, but it felt impossible to do.

Cora pulled away from him, looking at her father with confusion.

“But I thought you liked each other.” She stated, not even allowing those words to be a question.

“We do.” Sam said instinctively before questioning if that was still true on Mallory’s part—he truthfully wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see him again.

“Is...is it because mom is here?” Cora slowly asked, Sam closing his eyes with a sigh, oddly wishing his kid wasn’t so smart and observant.

“I am sure it doesn’t help things for Mallory but...we can’t hold that against your mother.” He found himself saying, desperately not wanting to be the reason Cora hated her mother, yet equally despising himself for defending that wretched woman.

“Dad...why is mom here?” Sam took another deep breath, Cora’s curiosity never giving him a break, and once again, he was left to either lie for Lillian’s sake or tell Cora his truth and possibly tarnish her mother’s image.

“I don’t know hun-bun.” Sam slowly said, settling on a half-truth. “She says she has had a change of heart, about the three of us.” Sam continued, again settling for a half-truth and secretly, with a healthy amount of guilt, hoping that the lie from Lillian would be the thing to separate the both of them from her. Permanently.

“Oh...” Cora remarked, Sam not being able to help the small smile he found himself having at one of his favourite sounds his daughter made. It always meant the same thing: that she didn’t quite understand but was trying to figure it all out in her head.

Sam sighed with a small amount of relief, holding Cora to his side, almost thankful he didn’t have to deal with having that much brains inside his head.

“Dad?” Cora asked, Sam waited a moment as he expected her to continue before looking down to see her bear a worried expression. He immediately knew that look. She was scared to be honest, scared that her feelings would hurt someone else and therefore she shouldn’t say it.

A habit, he had always thought was due to her being an unusually observant kid...but now, with Lillian’s veil finally starting to lift from Sam, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was something she had instilled in Cora.

He felt venom want to sink its way into his very being at the thought but with one look at his daughter's worried and anxious expression, he brought his focus back to her.

“Talk to me.” He encouraged her, adding a loving squeeze to her body. This right here was exactly what he was afraid of.

“I, uh...is it bad or...does it make me a bad person if I don’t want that?” He heard the crack in her voice at her need to cry, the fear that he was going to be angry with her, and Sam felt like his heart had simultaneously plummeted into his stomach and stopped beating.

Immediately he dropped to his knees in front of Cora, making sure he bent down far enough so their eyes were level.

“God no, Cora, I—” Sam let out a small, hitched, gasp as he felt paralyzed by his daughter's visible confliction. He ran a hand over her hair before resting it lovingly against her cheek. “Remember how I tell you that what you want in life is most important, because it means you are being true to yourself?” He asked her, his voice calm and smooth, his intent to soothe his daughter and temper her panic and pain. Cora just nodded with a small sniffle. “The same goes for how you feel, Stringbean.” Cora huffed a small laugh.

“I don’t feel like a bean.” She muttered, looking up to her dad with a small smirk, Sam breaking out a small, easy, laugh in return. She surely was his daughter, and that thought brought so much love and light into his life. He immediately hugged her, knowing that her importance to him weighed on her yet not being able to stop the overwhelming love and protectiveness he felt over his daughter.

“If that is how you feel Cora, then there is nothing wrong about it. You understand?” Sam managed to calmly say to her while he still hugged her tightly, feeling her nod into his chest as her small arms tried to reach around him but barely got past halfway.

“So...you wouldn’t be mad if I told you that I wished Mallory was here instead of Mom?” Cora whispered into Sam’s chest and he felt a pain like no other at the question, at his thoughts returning to Mallory and how important she had become to his daughter.

He felt the restriction in his throat, and the sting in his eyes returning with aggressive force.

“No, my sweet, loving, daughter.” He pulled her away from him so he could look at her, feeling a tear escape him, giving Cora a weak smile with his fullest efforts. They both reflected the same heartbreak and loss at each other. “That’s exactly what I want too.”

--xx--

The only thing Mallory could think of as she walked through Cydonia on Mars was just how much she wished Sam was with her.

Wondering about all of the stupid jokes he would make that would have her laughing, all of the questions he would ask as they walked through the settlement that she finally had more information to share. This was, after all, the last project she had worked on before being thrown into the future—the blueprints for the airlock having sat on her desk a few days before her disappearance.

Or so Mallory remembered it as such, her concept of time around that event still very blurry.

All of the questions Cora would have had for her—that thought was a gut punch.

Mallory hated how much she missed them, miserable by the hole they left in her already bleak and barren existence.

And being around a monument of the life she was ‘apparently’ excited to get back to made her misery tenfold worse.

She didn’t want to be here, or well...not there.

All she wanted was to be among the stars with Sam again, seeing the galaxy and all it beholds, exploring endlessly in search of anything new and unknown. With Cora.

As a family, she bitterly thought to herself, so angry that she wanted that, angry that Sam had led her to believe it could be hers before immediately ripping it away.

It was so confounding to her how he could comfort her so easily, yet still stand up for a, frankly, abusive woman—both to Sam and to Cora. Mallory recalled with perfect clarity the tone with which she spoke to Sam with, like he was an idiot, an incapable man who had to only focus on being a parent to Cora. Which was, in Mallory’s opinion, fucking rich coming from a woman who can’t even bother to put either of them first for a second.

It was disgusting to Mallory, and she hated to know that Sam had convinced himself that this treatment of him was not only normal, but deserved. It broke her to know how little he thought of himself, of his own need for happiness.

It killed her to know that he had found it with her, she saw it in the ways he spoke to her, looked at her...held her. Was she being too stubborn? Should she return and be the one to fight?

No. That firm voice inside of her head told her—the skeptic, the protector—reminding her immediately of the reasons why not to do that and to stay her course.

The way he had shut her down, the way he had told her to back off with her truths, how he chose a woman like that over her...well, that shifted a few things for her.

For the first time, Mallory saw Sam in an unfavourable light. He protected the abuser of his child, and Mallory could only extend a certain amount of empathy towards Sam—wholly due to her own childhood trauma and mommy issues—knowing that he too was being just as abused by her as Cora was.

“Sarah—” Mallory croaked as they took off their helmets, feeling a sudden need to do something. She gave Mallory a direct look, showing she had her attention.

But her mind fell short. What was she to say? Tell Sarah to do the thing she wasn’t willing to do? The thing Sam wasn’t willing to do? No...

It’s his mess Mallory, leave him with it. She forced herself to think before taking in a deep breath.

“How long do you think we will be here for?” She asked, trying to make it seem like that was the question she intended but there, really, was no point in trying to fool Sarah.

“Depends on how much persuasion the bartender needs to give us our lead.” She stiffly remarked before eyeing Mallory suspiciously. “Why?”

“I, uh...thought I may take a look around? Won’t be suspicious but...I have to look at this place Sarah. Please?” Mallory asked, and Sarah reluctantly agreed. Thankfully Mallory had the thought to tell Sarah that her boss was one of the three executives leading the project for the colonization of Mars and for building the settlement of Cydonia.

So with that knowledge, Mallory suspected, Sarah agreed to a plan she would have otherwise refused.

And so, with a nod, Mallory was off. She walked down the ramp, noting the bar that Sarah was walking into, before venturing further into the settlement. Lots of the features looked familiar by shape but the 3D renders she recalled were far more pristine than what she saw now—but the girl looked good for almost 300 years of use!

Mallory looked down into the large mining area, seeing the miners hard at work and hearing the heavy machinery, but it was nowhere near the capacity they had originally planned for with these mines. Mallory couldn’t help but wonder if they managed to over mine but...by her boss’s original calculations, they should have at least another few hundred years of supplies if well mined and managed.

Mallory, leaving the view of the mines, sauntered by the few stores until she found her way into the residential quarters—which didn’t fill her with a lot of joy.

If she thought the outside of here was in bad shape, the residential quarters were almost derelict. Most ‘homes’ she was able to glance into were glorified storage containers with absolutely no windows. These people lived in...boxes.

And they didn’t seem well off either.

It honestly reminded Mallory of walking through a slum and it brought her such a great sadness to see something that should be a great monument for the human species being left to...well, the dust.

As Mallory was talking down a corridor, she spotted a child sitting alone—the image immediately reminding her of Cora caused her heart to sink. The child looked towards Mallory and sighed.

“All those sad people out there.” They said with a frown. “I wish I could help them but...my parents said I can’t leave the house.” Mallory saw the upset behind the child’s eyes, and with the endearing cause being a wish to help others—the same depressed ‘others’ Mallory had seen—brought an immediate need to assist.

“Any ideas on what could help? Maybe I could do something?” The child’s face lit up before frowning again.

“My parent’s told me I shouldn’t talk to people I don’t know but I am sooooooooo bored! So maybe if I talk to you then I can get to know you and then I won’t get in trouble. Right?” Mallory chuckled, immediately being reminded of Cora—with a slight pang of sadness knowing how much Cora would have loved to be here. “I’m Renee!”

“Mallory.” She said in return with a soft smile. “And that seems like some pretty sound logic.” Renee’s face lit up.

“See! Now we’re friends and my parents can't get upset with me!” Renee rejoiced before immediately gaining a serious expression. “Okay, so...normally I put up some of my drawings to brighten people’s day but I can’t leave here and put them up. I was thinking that maybe as my new friend, you would be willing to put up these posters for me?”

Mallory feigned a notion of feeling honoured by this request.

“To me, that sounds like the most important thing I can do today.” Mallory stuck out her hand to receive the posters. “I’m on the job, boss.” Renee giggled before handing Mallory 5 unrolled posters—the first she could see was of an adorable frog.

“Just post them where you think a lot of people will see them—okay? And then when you come back, we can talk about all our favourite things!” Mallory smiled, somewhat hoping that there would be enough time for that but she, at the very least, needed to rush to get these posters up before Sarah found her and—no doubt—drag her away from this mission.

“You got it, Renee!” Mallory said with a smile as she rushed through Cydonia looking for the best places to hang these adorable Space Frog posters.

--x--

Sam sat alone at the bar within The Lodge, throwing back his third whiskey of the day, knowing that Cora was going to be out in New Atlantis with her mother until the evening.

He was alone, as he wanted, left to his thoughts and the emptiness that had been growing inside of him. Every time he looked down at his glass, or poured more liquor into it, his eyes peeked at the note and necklace Mallory had left behind—the fool keeping it on him in hopes it would change things when he finally saw her again.

If he got to see her again.

That thought brought him more thirst for drink.

“Hey there, partner.” Barrett greeted Sam, his over-enthusiastic cheerfulness not being a welcome presence, but Sam also wasn’t about to send away one of his closest friends.

“Saddle up.” Sam advised, placing the bottle of whiskey between the two men. Barrett grabbed a glass and poured himself a full glass and topped Sam’s up to the brim as well.

“That should do ya for the day, huh?” He asked while putting the bottle out of Sam’s reach.

“I can just walk around the bar to get it later...” Sam retorted, trying to tell Barrett his actions were useless but he understood why he did it. A few times Sam would sit at this bar and get this sauced but...that’s what heartbreak does to a man with the vices Sam Coe has.

After a short break in the conversation, both men sat next to the other in silence as they both sipped on their drinks.

“So, Sam,” Barrett started, his tone shifting to a matter-of-fact way that told Sam he was about to get to a point Sam didn’t want to discuss. “Why’re you here?” Sam just sighed before taking a large gulp.

“Because I somehow found myself going from one manipulator to another and for me to realize that depressing truth? Took about 15 years and the loss of a woman I actually love.” He admitted, surprised at his honesty yet he gave it in such a self-deprecating way that it made it ok to say.

He took another big sip before Barrett brought his hand down to rest Sam’s glass on the counter.

“I don’t think you’ve lost her, Sam.” Barrett softly tried to advise but Sam just huffed in anger and disbelief.

“You don’t know what happened.” Sam bit back venomously, Barrett immediately taking a peaceful defence.

“No, I definitely do not.” He agreed, however, Sam knew there was a ‘but’ coming. “But,” there it was, “what I do know is love. Luckily had it before, once, and it doesn’t go away so easily.” Sam just sighed and hung his head.

He understood what Barrett was trying to say, trying to do, but it wasn’t going to work. Sam knew, from the look on her face, from the tone of her voice, from the prolonged silence she gave him, that Mallory wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

It was done. It...it was over.

He ruined it.

“Sam, if I can give you a single piece of advice?” Barrett’s words cut through his self-loathing.

“Sure, but I doubt it will do a helluva lot. I fucked it all up, Barrett.” Sam returned his glass to his lips, slamming back what remained. “Like always.” He muttered under his breath, hearing Barrett sigh.

“Sure, you made a mistake Sam, a big one,” where’s your ‘but’, old friend? “But,” Sam felt a sarcastic, pained, smile flash across his lips as he raised his glass once more only to realize it was empty, “you could also say that the infinite possibilities of the universe are full of everything but coincidences.”

Sam was too drunk to listen to that many words.

“What the hell is that supposta’ mean?” He barked at Barrett, the man just smiling at his friend which only infuriated Sam more.

Barrett then swapped their drinks, making Sam a little less irritated.

“That it is no coincidence that you and Mallory found each other.” Barrett clarified, the words sinking into Sam like a golden light of hope—he had said the same thing to her the night he took her to see the stars. Sam released his grip on his new glass to look up and meet Barrett’s calming, soft, eyes. “Sam, the woman travelled through time. Time. How can you not see that as fate?”

Fate. Sam thought with a scowl, immediately returning to his drink.

“Yeah...well, never had much luck with fate.” Sam growled, bitterly thinking about how meeting Lillian was fate, how everything in his life had been ‘fate’, but it just left him—aside from Cora—with nothing but misery. And the guilt he felt by putting his happiness onto his daughter, onto her existence? He knew it was beyond unfair.

God, he just desperately wanted Mallory to be beside him.

“You’ll never know if you don’t chase after it, after her.” Barrett must have sensed his thoughts—or maybe his moping had made it that obvious too. Sam, bringing his mind back to Mallory and away from Lillian, felt his anger calm. He took a moment before asking a question he desperately wanted to know and feared to have the answer to.

“How has she been?” He finally croaked before taking a deep drink.

Sam heard Barrett chuckle.

“About as miserable as you but...not as open about it. Sarah says she keeps herself busy so she doesn’t have to think, while you—”

“Drink.” Sam cut him off, pressing the glass away from himself as the thought slipped into his mind...

He wouldn’t want Mallory to see him like this.

--x--

Mallory let out a pleased and satisfied sigh as she put up the last Space Frog poster. She had to admit, it felt nice to help people—and this was something she could confidently do.

Thankfully there was no high-tech futuristic-poster-upper-machine, or whatever.

“Just the ol’ stick it to a wall and go.” Mallory said to herself with a smile, turning around to return to Renee before being smack-dab in front of Sarah.

“You’re hanging posters?” She asked with a half amused, half annoyed, tone.

“I’m helping a friend.” Mallory quickly defended, however instantly regretting that she was now going to have to explain who her new ‘friend’ was.

“A friend, you say?” Sarah asked—damnit! Mallory thought to herself with a sigh.

“Look, okay it was—there was a kid and they looked sad—”

“Reminded you of another kid we know?” Sarah summarized before Mallory rambled on. She smiled at Constellation’s leader, appreciating the summary and wondering if Mallory hadn’t given enough credit to how well the others knew her, too.

“Perhaps.” Mallory shyly admitted with a small rock of her feet. “Look, I’ll be quick! I just need to go tell Renee that the posters are up, okay?” Sarah pondered this for a moment, Mallory hazarding a guess that it may have even been playfully long.

“Alright then, but no more detours. We have a direct path to where we need to go.”

“Roger that, Captain!” Mallory said with a salute, Sarah immediately snatched her arm and lowered it.

“Don’t do that.” She harshly whispered, Mallory unsure if for personal reasons or because it was something highly inappropriate as far as future manners or customs are considered. From the lack of strange looks around them, Mallory hazarded another guess that it was a personal request.

Renee was overjoyed to hear that Mallory had put up the posters, the two of them exchanging some pieces of information before Sarah started pulling Mallory away as she started giving very ‘bizarre’ answers to her favourite book, TV show or artist.

“Wait!” Renee ran after Mallory, who managed to pull away from Sarah for a moment. “It’s not much, but I wanted to say thank you for helping me today.” Renee smiled at Mallory with a brightness only a child could contain. “I can’t think of a stranger that would have stopped to help, so here.”

Renee placed a small, rectangle-shaped, microchip into her hand. Mallory smiled, looking back up to Renee—whatever this junk may be, she still appreciated being given something of value to the child.

“Thank you, I will treasure this...gift.” Mallory said with an earnest smile until Renee gave her a worrying look before shrugging.

“It’s just 15 Creds, I didn’t think it would matter that much.” Renee commented before Mallory felt Sarah pull her up from the back of her space suit.

“We’re getting out of here.” She advised, Mallory seeing a few more people staring at the two of them than before, a sudden knot in her stomach as she reminded herself she needed to be careful or she would be in danger.

Damn, maybe I am being reckless...

--x--

Sam hated how happy he felt when Barrett casually informed him that Sarah and Mallory would be back later in the day. Not because he didn’t want to feel happy, but only because he knew this joy would only lead to further pain for him.

Pain he would have to silently endure.

It was now within the hour that they, she, would walk through the front doors of The Lodge and Sam had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. He had spent more time than he will ever admit fussing over his hair, tugging at his clothes so they fit better—trying his best to push away his thoughts of self-doubt over the man he saw in the mirror.

But once he was finally over that, Sam then became plagued with the thought of where to be when she arrived. Where would be a place that was casual or seemed likely that he would be, but still give him a vantage point to see her? Or should he even be out at all? Would it be better for him to stay hidden in his room?

That thought made him immediately recoil as he remembered who currently occupied his room.

“My, Sam Coe looking like he fussed all mornin’” Lillian’s wretchedness came from behind him, Sam feeling his body immediately stiffen.

“What do you want?” He asked her coldly, feeling like she had more than overstayed her welcome at this point, but he knew Cora was enjoying her time alone with her mother.

He definitely knew she wasn’t enjoying the times that he and her mother were within close proximity together or conversing.

“What? I’m not allowed to talk to you anymore? Make idle chit-chat?” Lillian asked her passive-aggressive questions, setting Sam’s teeth on edge.

“Not if I have a choice in it.” Sam replied and started to walk away but he heard her footsteps follow.

“Yet you reply now.” She gave her smart-ass reply, Sam immediately turned on his heels and stuck out his hands, ready to choke her, before immediately restraining himself.

“Would you just—” His speech broke off when he looked at Lillian and saw a familiar fire and spark behind her eye. She was enjoying this, and even more so, getting turned on by Sam’s reaction. He immediately deflated. “Leave me alone, Lillian.” He asked of her before going down the stairs.

“How is she this important, Sam?” Lillian bellowed, having replaced all of her playful taunts with anger. “How is that woman any better than me?”

“That woman!” Sam immediately yelled, knowing he would regret it later but he also refused to let Lillian disrespect Mallory any further. “Has a fucking name and you will respect it while under this roof! Got it?” His voice was firm, his tone curt and he felt the flames of anger flick off his tongue with every word.

Lillian just smiled, deeply, her eyes darkening. Sam just grimaced.

He hated her, and he hated himself for never seeing it before.

And he would have yelled further, said worse, except he caught a glimpse of his daughter, looking anxious and scared, and he immediately felt guilty. He went to walk towards her, to reassure her and comfort her when the door started to open. Sam stopped in his tracks, while Cora sprinted to stand next to him.

Sarah entered with the artifact.

Then closed the door.

Sam honestly felt like he was going to throw up. Never had he experienced such a reaction before, so couldn’t say why, but he just felt sick to his stomach beyond repair that Mallory hadn’t also walked through that door.

“Where’s Mallory?” Cora immediately asked the question they both wanted to know. Sam heard Sarah sigh and he would have looked at her if he didn’t have the immediate instinct to look up at Lillian—who bore an exaggerated scowl at Cora’s immediate and earnest question.

“She wanted to visit The Eye.” Sarah informed, Cora letting out a small sound of disappointment while Sam just watched Lillian’s scowl deepen with jealousy. “She has her eye on another Artifact, so I don’t think she is coming back right now.” Sarah informed Cora, her tone full of compassion as she has when speaking to his kid. Something he would normally show a gesture of gratitude for, if it weren’t for the fact that he was glued to Lillian. She was slowly descending the stairs, a glint of pride or—well, Sam would say happiness, but he no longer thought her capable of that emotion.

Lillian came to stand next to Sam, everything about her oozing smugness. He couldn’t help but give a few biting words, the woman always being able to pull out his venom—something he was quickly realizing was what she seemed to crave.

“Do you even care how sad this makes Cora or are you just happy for yourself?” He whispered as he watched his daughter wipe away a few tears as she quietly talked to Sarah. He just heard Lillian smile.

“Cora, darlin’, I have a great idea to get your mind off things.” Lillian started and Sam immediately felt a lump in his throat. Cora turned to look at her mother with a sniffle, Sarah immediately shooting a glance at Sam. “You, your father and I are going to Paradiso for a week! I already got everything booked.”

Lillian turned to look at Sam, a smile on her face with nothing but contempt in her eyes.

“Oh, ok.” Cora said, hesitant but in a sweet and excited tone that Sam knew was forced, but Lillian didn’t seem to catch on, but of course she wouldn’t—she’d have to be around to understand her daughter like that.

But Sam knew that, with how Cora said those two words, this ‘trip’ was the last thing she wanted. He signed, knowing he would have to convince Lillian of this fact, already knowing he would fail.

--x--

The Eye was quite an interesting place to be. Mallory had, truly, never been more aware of the gravitation systems within a ship—or whatever this is—as she was when walking around here. To have her head pointing towards the planet just felt...off.

But Vlad was good company, and thankfully treated Mallory with, quite literally, no special treatment. Plus, Walter was here, and he had been a person Mallory had also grown to enjoy the company of.

“The deal with SSNN is almost finalized, I just need you to sign—” Mallory grabbed the pen and signed right away, Walter just stuttering in surprise. “You don’t want to read it?” He asked her, credulously. Mallory just shrugged.

“I’m not going to be around for long enough for most of it to matter and I know you would have my best interest in mind Walter.” Mallory informed him with a smile, he just scowled in return.

“And how, exactly, do you know that I would?” He slowly asked her, seeking clarification, in his old, proper, grumpy ways. Mallory just smiled—he reminded her of the grandfather she always had wanted.

“Well, Pops,” Mallory smiled while Walter frowned further—it would stick, “what is in my best interest, is also in yours. And I know you wouldn’t let me get fucked over by some big corporate himbo’s.” Walter looked almost proud at what Mallory was saying until the end of her sentence.

“Himbo?” He slowly asked.

“A male bimbo.” Mallory informed with a sudden tug at her smirk. “Maybe not actually relevant here...” Mallory began to mutter before Vlad’s howl of laughter cut the tension.

“HIMBO!” Vlad yelled before cackling into a drawn-out sigh. “Oooooh, that’s a good one.” Walter and Mallory just looked back at each other before both giving a motion they would move on.

“You are correct that I did get you the best deal. What you were asking for was...well to be perfectly honest, would have been insulting for my lawyers to offer such terms.” Mallory snorted, both at Walter’s frankness and being deadly curious at how greedy he was going to tell her she had been.

She knew 500,000 Credits was a lot to ask for, but she figured her story was unique and that should be enough money for Sam to be able to get a new ship—and even with everything that happened between them she still wanted to honour that thought and intention.

Selfishly, she knew it would mean that even once she returned, there would always be a piece of her with him. Something to keep her in his memory.

All Mallory could hope for was at least enough credits for him to get a decent ship. What that number was, exactly? She had no idea.

“So we will start with an upfront payment of 10 million credits...also opened a bank account for you, since you now have money.” Walter stated, his voice rising at the end of his sentence as it always did, a cadence Mallory had come to enjoy. This time, however, she didn’t stop to enjoy it as her mind halted at the fact an ‘upfront payment of 10 million fucking credits’ was deposited now? Into her bank?

What, the actual, fuck???

With a deep breath of accepting that she had to come to terms with this arrangement, quickly—as she had already signed the document—had Mallory scrambling.

“Wish you read the document?” Walter teased, Mallory just blankly nodding. “SSNN will own the rights to use your story and likeness for TV Shows, Movies and the merchandise from those. With that, I got you 20% royalties—because without you that revenue would never exist—along with a payment of 50 million credits once the interview has been conducted.” Mallory felt her mind go blank.

“Uh, Walter...”

“No, ‘thank you’?” He scolded her, a small twitch in the corner of his mouth giving away his true feelings. Mallory smiled and waved a hand towards him while bending into a deep bow.

“Yes, yes, thank you! Thank you oooh great lord businessman of great prowess for getting me this unfathomable and, most definitely, crushing fortune.” Mallory sarcastically dragged on, Walter just chucking with amusement.

“It feels nice to finally be seen.” He cheerfully retorted. Mallory snorted at her response, covering her mouth, shocked yet so grateful for Walter’s sense of humour to keep things light for her. Especially because of the thing she wished to bring up.

“What, uh...what exactly do I do with that type of money? Like...is it a lot?” Walter just smiled at Mallory, in a way that could either be endearment or amusement. “Cause I, uhm, want to buy a ship, or well...custom order one? Is that possible? Can I do that?” Walter watched Mallory for a short moment, studying her or pondering his words carefully.

“Are you asking me if you can purchase a ship with your 10 million credits?” He slowly asked, Mallory just awkwardly smiling, guessing from his tone that she now sat on a substantial amount of wealth.

“I take that as a yes, I can.” Mallory muttered, the stress of this ‘gift’ almost suffocating her. She had never been one to seek a life of extravagance, always lived below her means and usually gave away any excess wealth she didn’t think she required. To have 60 million credits?? “What do I even do with that type of money Walter?” She found herself saying, looking at the older man with nothing but fear and desperation.

He seemed taken aback by her reaction. Perhaps he had not seen many fear being wealthy.

“If you wish, there are ways to invest your fortune so it is self-sustaining—custom ship included,” he added with a smirk, a gesture Mallory deeply appreciated, “charity organizations, or—”

“What would it take to revitalize Cydonia?” Mallory immediately asked, the gears turning in her head as she began thinking of ways to give away her fortune—something she was great at.

“Cydonia?” Walter asked, intrigued but shocked. Mallory absently rubbed one of her elbows awkwardly.

“Yeah, I just...uh. It kind of made me really sad to see, Walter.” Mallory slowly admitted, unsure how she could play around her vulnerability, but something in the way the old geezer looked at Mallory as she spoke made her feel comfortable. With great hesitation, she leaned in. “To see the last standing thing of my past, of the life I came from in such disrepair? To see the hovels the people have to live in? The depressed expressions on mostly everyone was just...if I can do anything to help them. I would want to.”

Walter gave a soft, gentle, smile before clapping a hand onto Mallory’s shoulder.

“I’ll have my people look into some things.” He reassured her. “Also, if this whole ‘going back to your time’ thing doesn’t work out, I would love for you to come to work for us at Stroud-Ekland. I’m sure I could convince my partner to add you to the executive board.” Mallory gawked at Walter before shaking her head with a smile.

“You’re a crazy old man, you know that?” They shared a laugh before Walter gave another loving pat, again, as one would expect from a loving and proud grandparent.

“Be back at The Lodge in five days for the interview, okay? I’ll have my men start the construction in a few days.”

“Sounds good—thank you, Walter.”

He left with a chuckle.

--x--

Sam had tried to talk to Lillian about them not going to Paradiso but it hadn’t gone well. It ended with Sam telling her that Cora and him were not going and that it was ‘the end of the discussion’ before walking out. He hated how she looked at him in those moments, hated the person it reminded him of—the person he had once been.

He laid on his back on Mallory’s bed, still finding it hard to be in here but it was better than any alternative. He let out a large sigh. On top of his argument with Lillian, Barrett had also let him know that he was set to go out with Mallory to get another Artifact—something Sam was greatly against at this moment.

And despite how everyone thought it was because he wanted Mallory here—which was true—he was truly worried about her touching another one of those damn things too soon.

Sarah had reported that Mallory had passed out when touching the one they brought back, that Sarah was OK to hold the artifact after Mallory had touched it, or that the person who had it before was OK to touch it as well. There was something about Mallory and these hunks of space metal that did not go well.

And if Mallory passing out wasn’t enough of a reason for her to not go for another, Sarah had said she had been out for half the ride home! Half a day, just sleeping, making odd noises and murmuring nonsense...and they wanted her to go get another one??

Sam bit his tongue, however, when in the meeting with them all. Despite how much he worried for Mallory, he also knew he had no say. If he tried to enforce his wishes it would, painfully, be overstepping. The term not being lost on Sam at all—as he very well may have had a say if he hadn’t shut Mallory out.

I would have been there with her. He bitterly thought to himself, but with a click of the handle, Sam was pulled from any further thoughts.

For a moment, fool-hearted as ever, Sam thought it would be Mallory.

How disappointed he was to see his ex instead.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone?” Sam asked her, immediately sitting up. “Also, don’t be in here. Just—”

“What?” Lillian snapped. “Be in the space of your delicate Earth woman.” Lillian spat and Sam knew she was baiting him. He just closed his eyes and forced his breathing to remain stable. He suddenly felt a force upon his body—opening his eyes to see Lillian, in her underwear, pressed against him. “I miss us, Sam. Don’t you?” She asked as she looked up at him. Sam felt absolutely frozen in shock and disgust. “The heated discussions, the rising tension...” she trailed a finger along his chest, “doesn’t it make you want to...get some frustrations out?” Sam snatched her hand and took a step back.

“This ends, Liliian.” He told her coldly, Lillian almost writhing at his tone.

“Jumping right back in, are we?” She purred, Sam just released her hand and walked towards the door.

“Whatever this could be called that has been between us Lillian, is done.” He told her sternly, pausing a moment before shaking his head lightly. “You know...heh,” Sam let out a deep, heavy, sarcastic laugh, “she told me this would happen.”

“Who?” Lillian couldn’t help but interject.

“Mallory.” Sam said her name, furious that Lillian still refused to use it. He felt his temper hit a boiling point of no return. “When she left she told me that you were here for me, not Cora! But I didn’t want to believe it.” Sam paused, watching Lillian, for once, look uncomfortable as he tried to steady his emotions. “I wanted to think that, for once, for once! You could put MY daughter first, but you can’t and you never could.” Lillian just growled in anger, fury igniting behind her eyes.

“So you throw all of this away for a whore?” Lillian screamed, ripping open the door so that her words could travel. Sam could have shot her, if she was some nobody constantly disgracing and insulting an amazing woman.

But, unfortunately, she was the mother of his daughter, and Sarah wouldn’t be happy with fresh blood on the flooring.

So Sam settled to give her a look telling her to keep quiet, to shut up, even though he was already sure Cora was hearing them without the door open.

“I do this because Mallory taught me I deserve better. That Cora and I deserve better—and that you were never capable of that.”

--x--

Cora sat in her bed, tightly hugging the stuffy Mallory had found on the Crimson Fleet ship, while listening to her parents argue upstairs. She didn’t want to go to Paradiso with them. Dad? Sure! He’s been wanting to go there for a while, always talking about it and Cora knew he would enjoy it! But Mom?

No...Cora didn’t feel like that would be much fun. She didn’t even know if she liked swimming! Did she even own a bathing suit?

It all just felt weird to Cora. She didn’t understand what was going on, and as she hugged the stuffed animal, it just made her miss Mallory more. She hated not understanding things, and people were the hardest cause she couldn’t really read a book on them.

At least not the ones in her time.

But Mallory always made it make sense to Cora. Mallory always made her feel better, and helped her understand, and Cora was sure that Mallory would be able to stop her parents from fighting.

Or at least make her feel better while they did.

“...you were here for me, not Cora!” She heard her Dad yell, immediately realizing that he meant to say that her mom wasn’t here for her...

That hurt.

A lot.

And it only fueled a determination that if Cora couldn’t feel safe here, if she didn’t want to be here, then she would do the same as Mallory—leave. She would go to The Eye and be with Mallory there. And Vlad! He’s cool.

Cora felt herself smile at her thought, enjoying the feeling she would have to be around them and not her parents. But then she frowned, thinking of how worried her dad would be when he found she wasn’t here.

With that thought, Cora leaped from her bed to grab one of her many journals, ripping out a page and writing a note for her dad.

Hey Dad,

I’m really sorry. I know you are probably already worried about me by the time you find this. I just didn’t want to be here anymore. Not with both of you.

I don’t like how mom makes you act, and I can tell she makes you unhappy.

That makes me unhappy.

And it hurt to know that she didn’t come here to spend time with me... I tried not to listen.

I went to The Eye to see Mallory. I will be taking the Frontier (haven’t done that yet) and will bring Vasco (so that way you aren’t too scared for me).

Love you, and please don’t ground me,

Cora xoxo Coe

Cora read through her note to make sure there were no mistakes, but of course, there wasn’t. She then tucked it in a specific spot that was meant for her to put anything she wanted to tell her dad but couldn’t—she used it a lot when she was younger and had a hard time talking about her feelings.

With a big sigh and reconfirming to herself that this was what she wanted to do, Cora starting to doubt herself.

“Do you throw all of this away for a whore?” Cora heard her mother scream, knowing that the ‘whore’ she referred to was Mallory and Cora didn’t like that at all.

Mallory had been the best thing for Cora and her dad since he joined Constellation! So it greatly upset Cora that her mother didn’t seem to understand that.

With the new reinvigoration for her desire to leave, to be away from here, Cora sought out Vasco who was in ‘sleep mode’ in his usual spot.

“I need you to take me to The Eye, Vasco,” Cora asked in a hushed whisper, not wanting to alert her parents despite them continuing to yell upstairs. At Cora’s voice and question towards the robot, Vasco powered up to look at the child with its lens.

“It is not wise for a human as young as yourself, Cora Coe, to be leaving home at this hour or without a parent.” The robot logically retorted, but Cora was quick enough to know how to use logic to get Vasco on the side of her mission.

“It’s also not wise to let a kid go out of their own, and I’m going, so...really, you should be accompanying me. My parents are pretty occupied at the moment.” Cora muttered the last part, briefly glancing back at her room and at the object she hid her note under.

“Yes, indeed they are. Well...it seems your logic makes the most sense. I will follow you, Captain, until our mission is done.” Core smiled widely. “Captain...” she whispered in glee before heading out of The Lodge, into The Well, to only find her way to The Frontier and up to see Mallory.

[spaceyflowerswriting]

Imagine Y/n who’s a badass like UI Daniel? How would DG or Gun or Daniel react? 🥺🔫

lookism boys with a badass s/o

details: gender neutral reader but written in 2nd pov, reader has been dating character for a while

a/n: thank u for the request >:] this is a bit similar to the ask i got a while ago but with reader actually being conscious and being able to fight like they have UI 😭

×

dg / james

> appreciates a good fighter; he's just glad you can defend yourself

> as long as you don't go around causing trouble, he doesn't blink an eye at your insane fighting skills

> for your own convenience, he generally doesn't want you fighting much in the first place. he knows you'll be able to take care of yourself no problem, but it'd be a pain if you catch the eyes of certain people and they're able to link you and 1st generation legend james lee together 😭 (it's why he doesn't do much fighting himself these days unless absolutely necessary)

> also doesn't want other certain people (read: gun.) around him to know how much of a capable fighter you are,, you might be used as a chess piece for something or dragged into things if said certain people find out ;;

> still, he doesn't really mind if you fight. if you come back from a fight with a few injuries, he'll tease you while patching you up with, "i thought you were an untouchable fighter, what happened?~"

> concerning the previous request i got about james's s/o getting kidnapped... in this scenario, if you get kidnapped and your kidnappers contact james to tell him, "we have your partner trapped with us--" he's going to say, "nah, you're trapped with them," and hang up the phone <3

> if you ask to fight with him, he'll accept out of amusement

> actually i don't think he would mind occasional play fighting at all but keep the environmental damage to a minimum please 😭

gun

> your fighting skills are one of the first things that made him feel attracted to you ^_^

> he's relieved he never has to worry about you if you ever get in danger because you're one of the best fighters he knows

> loves loves loves taking you around with him and beating people up (if needed by his job; he's not just beating up strangers with you lmao). i mean if you don't want to he doesn't really force you but he'll be ecstatic if you agree <3

> "goo's just a coworker, you're my actual partner. in a romantic and work way." <- what he thinks if you like fighting alongside him

> speaking of that, while he loves fighting alongside you, he also loves just watching you fight. your fighting style is ruthless, it's majestic, it's art to gun 💖

> says yes immediately if you ask to spar with him

> quietly and humbly boasts about you, if that makes sense

> if appropriately suited, he talks to charles about you and offers you a position within his work. might as well put your skills to use, right?

daniel

> beyond impressed with you; "woah!! i can fight like that, too!! but... only when i'm unconscious T_T"

> asks about how you got so strong and vaguely wonders if you're in a situation like him

> knows he doesn't have to worry about you if you get in a fight but he can't help it as a caring person; cue the looping of "oh no my partner's in trouble!!" and then seeing you send someone across the room with a punch and going, "oh. right"

> also knows his friends are very capable of defending themselves but he still asks you to look out for them if you can

> he's happy he has you and his friends to depend on though :] even if he doesn't want you guys to be in danger ;;

> if you want to practice fighting with him, he accepts with a nervous smile but he probably won't say yes the first time you ask because 1. he's lowkey scared of your fighting skills and 2. he'll probably be the one getting hurt but he's still worried about hurting you. either way, he'd love to see if he can learn something from you!

> curious about what would happen if you fought his UI state but at the same time he doesn't want to find out and hopes he never will 😭

> if you follow daniel along the canon story and meet gun, the guy'll offer you to become his successor the way he's asked daniel before. daniel swoons a little when you reject gun's offer <3 (and if you do accept... why? 😭💔)

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Okay, okay, so–

My novel requires a re-write of the 24 chapters I already have done-ish (which aren’t even covering all the plot I have planned)

The final 6-10 chapters (not yet written, just loads of notes) are supposed to be a complete genre-swap

And I have been really into RPG-Maker type games recently

I was thinking… what I have planned as the final arc of my novel would make a fine story to be put into an RPG-Maker style basic RPG

I’m hoping RPG Maker MZ goes on sale sometime soon (maybe when Steam has its next huge sale in general)

Story summarised without spoiling too much:

Player Character (PC) & Player’s Partner (PP) are a happy couple

Evil Mother (EM) kidnaps PP

PP’s Best Friend (BF) accuses PC

PP sends a covert message to forget about them

PC and BF get into fights with each other

PC and BF stake out EM’s house

It looks like EM is brainwashing PP

PC wants to involve police

BF want to break PP out themself

Observation looks like PP is barely hanging on

PC and BF team up

Over-dramatised breakout and subsequent escaping the city

BF concedes that maybe PC is right for PP after all

The three live happily ever after

In the novel writing-notes this includes a non-amorous/ aromantic polycule and obviously none of the characters is straight (I’m a tumblr user after all)

But I figure with the drama, the fighting, the “quest” to rescue PP and everything, it would maybe make a nice little RPG and the way the story is planned for the novel, PP would be bigender (which in a game would mean the player gets to choose whether their Love Interest used “he/him” or “she/her”) and overall it’s just very queer, which could all translate into simple variations being all up to the player (like Player Character’s pronouns, Love Interest’s pronouns, type of relationship, etc.)

And I figure the sprite of the PP would get a drastic change as EM is forcing them to adapt to what she demands rather than allowing PP to be themself

Initially PP looks more androgynous (hence up to the player which pronouns are used) and after the abduction, PP would have hair cut short and forced to conform to the gender binary – I just realised, this is basically a “forced detransition” storyline, because in my OG version PP is she/he nonbinary. oof. yikes.

I’m a writer, not a game-maker or artist, though

I haven’t looked into what a basic RPG Maker game takes but would a storyline like this be of interest for anyone?

I know a few people I could ask to help with GIs and character sprites;

And I think I can figure the rest out, depending on RPG Maker’s UI

As I said, I hope RPG Maker MZ goes on sale sometime soon and that I can figure it out pretty intuitively

I know my storyboard, as a writer I tend to focus on dialogue (aka script), and I already made some notes

I want high customisation at the beginning, like, as a feature, that there are default names but the player can also choose to name the PC and PP, like how the player can pick the characters’ pronouns, because I assume that’d create some more emotional attachement

Default names I intend so far are Aleks and Emory (not related to the novel draft I pull this whole plotline from)

The first few minutes are going to be a “week” of PC interacting with PP and their shared home to also further attachment/ make the player care about the love interest; as well as adding some context on the relationship, giving the player time to figure out controls, etc.

That “first week” is supposed to include some simple choices about interacting with the love interest, emphasising the affection between PC and PP (like “cuddle on the couch”, “share food”, “join for shower”)

And I want to utilise a color filter/ overlay because the ‘secondary perspective’ relevant character is colorblind, which would be signified through that color overlay (also to make POV changes easily recognisable)

[nyctoaerah]

TWTWTWTWTW: Spoilers

HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW LEAKS QUEEN? OUR GLORIOUS KING IS BACK RAHHHH! GOJO SATORU FOR THE WIN🔥🔥🔥

BECAUSE Gojos 'corpse' has been teleportedby Ui Ui, to Shoko, and it probably happened very soon after he got cut in half like mui and Utahime's ct is probably boosting Shoko's output to 200%. AND SINCE SUKUNA SAW GOJO, I THINK THAT HE'S DEFINETELY GONNA COME BACK

-🦬

OKOKOK I'VE SEEN IT, AND I HAVE A THEORY TOO, SINCE SHOKO IS PROBABLY REVIVING SATORU WITH THE HELP OF UTAHIME, I think that there's a chance that they'll be able to revive Satoru. BUT, SINCE ON SUKUNA'S POV WHERE HE SAW SATORU, it only shows one eye, SO I HAVE A THEORY, that what if Satoru traded one of his six eyes on a binding vow? SO THEREFORE, SATORU WILL COME BACK, DADDY'S HOME EVERYONE🗣️🔥🔥🔥

Not sure but satoru may have found a way to temporarily return to the battlefield. And given what we know of him, he is paranoid enough and traumatized enough (by toji) to have planned for some afterlife contingency. Plus I'm pretty sure that utahime and shoko will do everything in their power to revive satoru, BECAUSE SATORU IS THE STRONGEST SORCERER AFTER ALL

The narrator made it clear that the strongest ghost that Sukuna buried all by himself has now returned too, so it’s definitely possible that shoko & utahime had succeeded

(i am totally ignoring the fact that sukuna only saw the strongest’s ghost and it was never said that shoko and utahime is trying to revive satoru and live in my delusions)

[manonamora-if]

It's Sunday again! DST is kicking my butt...

Good thing that the SeedComp! is over, because the scope of this game ended up being much larger than I thought (when doesn't it...). I thought it wouldn't take me that much time to finish and add the missing content to the game, but I was once more fooled...

As of now, [Act2]'s word count has passed [Act1]'s, and it is still missing half of the NPCs' interviews (passed 10k yall...). And both accounts for the variation in choice (you can fail to interview NPC...). Expect a lot of reading lol...

Since the SeedComp! is still a ranked comp, some reviewers on the IntFic Forum have been taking the time to review the entries. And I was also lucky to get a lovely one too!

So yeah, progress is coming a long. Expect an update soon!

In the meantime, check out the other SeedComp! games and consider voting for them :) (the deadline is the end of the month...)

There is not much to say for this week. MelS is working worked on the missing variation (there is another little investigating bit in this chapter...). I just got the full file back, putting on my editor glasses and commenting on everything! TIME FOR EDITS!!

As it looks now, Chapter 4 will be the middle point of the story. It's all downhill from there... /jk

I have updated and fixed all notifications this week! There were so many... holy hell...

Also getting close to the end with the fixes. I've started working on the Codex, giving it a new design (pls vote the poll!) and still make it viable with the keybinding (that's been a headache...).

SpringThing title reveal: The Roads Not Taken

I am not quite ready to talk about the plot or the game play just yet, but know that it will be quite different to what I've done in the past. Not much in terms of genre, but more of gameplay. I am going back to a 2nd POV with this game too...

I have the base UI and code ready and tested (yay it works :D) and the intro is almost completely written. I am trying my best to keep the variation to a minimum, otherwise it will become unmanageable again...

I have about 3 more weeks to finish it all. Wish me luck!

~~~~

That's it for this week... Toodles~

[roy-dcm2]

DBS Super Hero Reaction

I finally watched Dragon Ball Super Hero. Here’s my thoughts.

I think it’s weird that in a movie with the term “Super Hero” in the title, that LOVES to make overt references to the past, we don’t get any mention of Great Saiyaman 1 / 2. Of course, it’s all an allusion to Gamma 1 / 2 as Tokosatsu-style heroes.

Honestly, it’s really fun to see Magenta POV from the outside looking in and telling us what some people THINK is going on with Capsule Corp. I imagine he put this together from the scraps of information that he could glean from Dr. Gero’s observations. It does track.

People know about Nappa and Vegeta arriving. The Saiyan’s pod ended up at CC. And it would be easy for people to spot the Namekians living in Capsule Corp. So, you could conclude that Bulma is getting access to Alien Tech. But, Magenta also assumes that the Capsule technology is rooted in alien tech. As far as we know, it isn’t. And then Magenta jumps to the conclusion that CC is paving the way for an alien invasion… without evidence.

Obviously, Magenta is biased. Being a military organization, everything looks like a battle. He can’t contemplate that the Saiyans and Namekians are essentially refugees, and CC is just being philanthropic.

Overall, the movie is just fun! It has those original Dragonaball references for old fans like me, and the Tokusatsu stuff for the younger audience (in Japan). They are being cheeky with the Goku and Vegeta stuff. Whis forces them to fight without transforming because they had no idea what was happening in the manga. (They made this movie in the middle of the Granola arc, even though it takes place AFTER it). So, they couldn’t show off Ultra Instinct / Ego.

As I like to say, the movies are just more, and this movie gave us a bunch of really great Piccolo scenes. Him chastising Gohan, pretending to be a Red Ribbon solider, all the stuff with him and Pan. The main event fight doesn’t start until about an hour in… so, we get more time of them NOT fighting than fighting. I love it.

This is Piccolo's movie... and I don't want to hear any BS about "Piccolo is Gohan's real dad." As much as I like Piccolo. Piccolo spends half the movie telling the audience that Gohan isn't good enough. Then at the climax, Piccolo just expects Gohan to find it in himself to defeat Cell Max. Which is the the EXACT same thing Goku did during the Cell Games! Except Goku ALWAYS believed in his son!

With that all being said… I kinda wish this wasn’t canon.

Mainly, because as good as the set up is, the conclusion feels unearned. It might be a consequence of being a movie, but (in my opinion) when you have two big character developments, at least one of them should feel triumphant.

First, it irks me that Piccolo wishes to unlock his hidden power and Shenron “throws in something else.” Why can’t it just be his hidden power? Now I’m wondering what the fuck that symbol is. And this is the second time someone has WISHED for a power-up. It feels really lame and unearned. It kinda sucked when they did it for Super Saiyan God, then it sucked again when SS Blue just happened. Now, we have Orange Piccolo on that list.

Maybe they’ll explain it better in the manga, but what made SSj1 (and SSJ2 to a different extent) was how well they seeded them before they appeared. (SSJ3 sucks because they didn’t build up to it correctly.)

My theory is that it's a mix of Ultra Instinct / Ego, but it still doesn't explain how he managed to tap into either of them. You could say because Gohan talks about practicing the "demon drill" in secret, he's also been training with UI-UE in secret too.

Then there’s Beast Gohan. 25 min into the battle, Piccolo gets bodied, and Gohan rages out. I’d like to know why this isn’t just the SSJ2 transformation? What is this transformation? Where did it come from? I have my theories… but from a narrative perspective, it’s just a dues ex machina. SSJ1 was not a dues ex machine – it had real ramifications after it happened. Beast Gohan appeared to resolve the plot and then disappeared.

They need to do what they did with Slug and say - that wasn’t a real transformation. Then actually explain what "Beast Mode" is supposed to be.

7/10 – The spectacle is great, but the best part is the first half. Feel free to leave your comments (and theories about Beast Gohan) in the comments below!