#WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LIKE IN PRIVATE WHILE BY THEMSELF

[rayofmisfortune]

*confused crying*

Rayyyyy they're being mean to the British baby againnn

Moon's going on a killing spree based on WORD OF MOUTH IMPLICATIONS from A VILLAIN who would FIND ENJOYMENT IN WATCHING HIM RUN AROUND IN LITTLE CIRCLES. THEY HAVE ZERO EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM ASIDE FROM CIRCUMSTANCIAL AND HIM BEING A QUIRKY LIL MAN

Poor Sun trying to talk him down, too- @ikamigami was right (at least I think it was them) Moon is paranoid and going off the deep end

I'm on the verge of making a "the canon is not real if I do not look at it" AU so I can pretend the AU is canon and my babies can be happy

Blorbos confiscated. If they can't play nice with their own characters, then they can't play with them anymore :(

(insert free invitation to rant at me)

I WILL GLADLY TAKE THAT RAJT INVITATION MY DEAR FRIEND (oh my gosh I haven't followed you hsve I 😭 AAAAAH GONNA FIX THAT IM SKRRY AH)

This'll be a little long so, the whole rant and ramble is under cut hehe

MY ROSE TINTED GLASSES HAVE BEEN SHATTERED DUDE 😭

I refuse to accept canon as canon so- *drags over RJ AU Ruin Eclipse* THEY ARE THE CANON RUIN NOW I DON'T MAKE THE RULES

BUT TO BE FAIR... I've noticed a few things that should've been a glaring red flag to Ruin still being a little off the rails I guess-

It's a thing we love about them and it makes then unique i guess... but.. but THEIR ACCEPT STAYING THE SAME SHOULD'VE BEEN A GIVEAWAY THE MOMENT THEY CAME BACK ONLINE AFTER REBOOTING

We've HEARD the actuals Ruin Eclipse before on.. very few occasions.. BUT WE HAVE HEARD THEM! (In the episode where Ruin rescued Foxy and the first Interview with Jigsaw) it wasn't for a long time but... the ACTUAL Ruin Eclipse had talked through Ruin on few occasions.

Linking them below here

With this ^ one, I think that when they start chanting "save me" it was already Jigsaw back in full control.

BUT WHAT I MEANT! Do we hear a poor british accent in any of these instances? NO WE DO NOT!

With this one v

I'm not sure what this one meant. When the video first came out I thought we were hearing Ruin Sun and Moon talking through Ruin who was going on and on about needing to get back to connection and internet..

I mean.. from the Ruin DLC, we know they can probably seperate and talk for themselves?? As seen with Sun who thanked Cassie after being rebooted into Eclipse. (Yes I'm dragging the canon dca into this, Ruin WAS based on that DCA itteration after all..)

And what do we hear when Ruin gets rebooted?

RUIN'S BRITISH ACCENT! I'm probably looking too deep into just how their voice sounded at first vs now... by all means they could've changed their voice over time (as was seen with Puppet). But... I dunno... if they really were just playing everyone a fool this whole time.. I don't think the voice is something we should overlook.

Granted... I believe a lot of things with Ruin may have been retconned or rewritten after the DLC came out. (As canon Eclipse acte nothing like the teams Ruin at the time)

ANYWHO WHY DID I DRAG THIS BEAN OVER HERE YOU ASK? *gestures to RJ AU Ruin Eclipse* well!

Because of a little theory and hc of mine I've slapped onto them! The antivirus DID NOT get rid of the virus as a whole. RJ Ruin Clipsy over here needs to take periodical dosages of the cure to keep the virus at bay and chip away at it to finally be rid of it!

That... that's what I'm gonna hold onto as the reasoning behind how Ruin acts. The actual Eclipse (and even Sun and Moon) is still somewhere in there. As seen in the clips listed above.

Just- PLEASE I NEED THEM HERE W/ ME

[angstmachine-rw]

Disconnected - Chapter 2: Spitfire

No Significant Harassment sat in his chamber, watching his overseers' feeds anxiously. It had been a good few cycles since Suns' messenger had been redirected to his can, and he could only hope that they made it in one piece.

Suddenly, he heard one of his transport pipes spring to life. Looking up, he saw a little pink head staring back at him.

"Oh, hello, little spitfire!" He said, lowering the creature to the floor gently. "How are you faring?"

The creature stared at Sig blankly in return. They scratched at their back for a moment, before walking towards the puppet.

"Here, do you want me to pet you?"

The creature's ears perked up, and soon enough they found themself on his lap… where they barely fit.

Sig couldn't help but chuckle. "Such a strange creature, you are. Just several cycles ago, you were wandering around my can, as wild as any other creature. Now, you practically beg for attention from me.

The creature made a low, grumbling noise, as if to say, 'Get on with it, would you?'

"Alright, alright." Sig began to pet the creature's back. He seemed to relax a bit with the motion. "I will be keeping an eye out for your new friend in the meantime. Please be nice to them when they come, they haven't really met any creatures like you before."

Sig paused for a moment. Huh, that's strange. He glanced down at the creature, rubbing his hand over the spot. The creature seemed to wince as he felt it. It was hard, lumpy.

"Oh… is this why you wanted me to scratch your back?"

They only responded with a quiet "wa".

"Poor guy… don't worry, I can help. We probably have a bit of time until your friend gets here. You'll be good as new!~"

The creature seemed to melt into Sig's puppet, making a deep, vibratory noise as it dozed off into sleep.

"I'll miss you, little spitfire," Sig muttered, before pulling up a message box alongside his overseers' views. ---

[DIRECT BROADCAST] - PRIVATE No Significant Harassment, Seven Red Suns NSH: There is a bit of a problem with my messenger. SRS: I knew using the local wildlife would be a bad idea. NSH: No! I mean. Not really. NSH: Spitfire just has a lump on their back, is all. It's hard to tell if it's malignant or not, but it's at minimum making them uncomfortable. SRS: ... SRS: You named it. NSH: Of course I did. They are quite charming creatures, you know. NSH: Maybe they deserve more attention from iterators, although you'd probably know a thing or two about that. SRS: You know the world outside our cans is dangerous, right? What if it doesn't come back? NSH: It wouldn't be the first time. But that's beside the point. NSH: How far along is your messenger, anyways? SRS: They're almost there. Do you have the slag keys? NSH: Oh, really? And yes, I've had them ready for a while. I even showed them to Spitfire, although I think the intricacies went over their head. SRS: Please stop using that name with them. They aren't a pet, they have a job to do. NSH: And so do we. And yet we fret about with nicknames and rescue missions instead of the Great Problem. NSH: Besides, I don't want to treat them as tools. Stars know that's how our administrators treated us. SRS: ... SRS: You're right, I suppose. I'm *not* naming my messenger, though NSH: Suit yourself.

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[feretra]

Please read all of this and don't just ignore what I write. And understand this comes from a place of concern for you AND Gig.

I understand that Gig did things that made you uncomfortable and forgot to tag certain kinks and I'm also sorry that you're sick to this extent and I hope you get better. I do feel as though you threw some exaggerated accusations out because you were hurt. Which, being hurt is valid and that's fine, but to try and completely ruin someone over your triggers is a little hurtful and makes me frightened to interact with you.

Then after you stopped being friends with Gig you accused them of sending themself anons (ones I sent them) and then you further claimed that they stalked you when YOU sought out THEIR private blogs and Twitter looking for vague posts about yourself.

Don't get me wrong. I understand wanting to look into previous friends and see what they're saying about you. But you can't blame them for venting and using their personal social media to vent. They didn't even mention you by name. Everyone on all sides is allowed to be sad and is allowed to vent.

I don't want to guilt you or tell you what to do, but you should consider deleting the post and making a public apology for your part in this. You both did wrong here. Bringing up the Georgie from IT cosplay was unnecessary and superfluous and being indigenous has nothing to do with gunplay. I'm sorry, but that's a common kink. I don't have it as I'm Ace, but many do.

Gig should be less guilt trippy and vague. And they should always tag triggers and kinks. But none of that should be cancellable.

Again. I'm sorry you were hurt and I'm very sorry you're sick. But taking responsibility is important. Please consider what I'm saying. Feel better soon.

“Frightened” to interact with me? Bullshit. You’ve sent me literal essays both on and off anonymous trying to do the same thing Gig has been, you just have different tactics and terrible comprehension skills. You don’t follow me, or interact with me, nor will you ever. My friends and I, we don’t have this kind of relationship. You’d know that if you did actually know me.

Regardless —

#1) This is a lot of text to tell me that, weeks later, that you still don’t understand what the actual crux of my issue with Sam was. So allow me to do my donation to charity services and hold your hand through it:

It was not just gunkink. Sam was not tagging graphic, life-altering violence against women. This was not just kink. It was horrific violence I have experienced and it results in death if executed correctly. So while you want to talk as if you are the final arbiter of the Indigenous experience? You do not get to decide that my experiences in my body were invalid. I have severe PTSD as a result of them. I have boundaries set in place to keep me safe when I have to skate near my triggers. And while it was a spat? I thought Sam and I solved this instance in what I thought was amicable terms.

Except that Sam encouraged her friends to engage me in fights. Just like, surprise, we’re now. Because Sam wants to be the victim. And when I found out, suddenly I was “so nice and sweet” and she couldn’t understand why they were attacking me. Except that Sam knew damn well why, because she had been the one to goad them in the first place, and then made them look the fool when Sam wouldn’t even defend them.

It is not the lack of tagging. It isn’t even the violence. It’s her manipulation of other people to guilt and victimize herself when someone is firm on their boundaries. I had them. @raphaeni had them. @laceratiio had them. These are things we will not write. These are topics we do not want to explore. Topics I do not want to see on my dash are these, so please do not follow me or engage me in writing if you want to do this sort of thing.

Sam blatantly lied and said she did not engage with any of these until she got close enough to feel comfortable. Then they come out. You can maturely tell her that you are not comfortable and are parting ways, but despite the fact she will seem very amicable? She will demonize and distort what was said, you’ll get a spike in crude anons, and then magically you have a ton of vague posting about how you crushed her spirit and did her dirty. There is no consideration for how she made you feel, or if there is, it is only in the context of how shitty of a friend she was and how it can be spun for pity.

I have the right to call out bad behaviour. Especially when it is a pattern and can be established as such. I have the right to warn people, especially when she all but proved the other callout true with her behaviour. Numerous people have showed me her attempting to imply I’d be the reason for her unaliving herself. If anything, I hope this sets a goddamn precedent for the help she clearly needs and isn’t getting.

She wants her boundaries respected but she never respected anyone else’s so long as we carried a pretty face she could write a problematic Neri ship with.

#2) Everyone wants non-screencapped proof, but manipulators wipe their evidence. I can give what I have, all collected in literally under a whole hour of my time over one day, but then I’m a bully and a stalker for playing into what you want, right? You can’t have both.

#3) If you respected my boundaries, you’d leave me alone after nearly two goddamn weeks. Knowing damn well I almost just had to be hospitalized. You don’t. You’re more concerned with getting the outcome you want.

You haven’t figured out yet that telling me to do shit is the most surefire way to make me never do it.

[loving-apparitions]

If requests are open, could we maybe get hcs on Djss proposing to his s/o, maybe how he is on the wedding day?

Proposal:

It takes him a while to consider proposing, like two years at the least probably. It's not that he's afraid of commitment or doesn't like you, it's just...he needs some time to process the fact his emotions and the significance of a step like that. DJSS isn't exactly in tune with his emotions or how to handle them, so it probably takes a lot of closeness and comfort with you on top of multiple "oh I'm very in love" moments before he starts considering marriage.

He starts looking at rings and tuxes before he's even decided to propose. He's actually very excited by the idea well before giving it serious thought. DJ Subatomic Supernova, daydreaming about their ideal future? It actually happens quite a lot. And they're thinking you'd look very nice in formal wear...you each with matching symbols of love...maybe you'd like if he dressed up...

If he doesn't already know your ring size, he asks. He won't tell you why - if you ask, he'll just say in case he finds one that would look nice on you.

It doesn't have to be a ring, though. If you've given any indication that you'd rather have a different piece when you get married, or just simply don't like rings, he'll be looking at a different matching accessory you could each have. While tradition is his first choice, he's open to doing something different. (For simplicity, I do say “rings” in the rest of the post, but replace with the proper accessory)

If you've given him any indication before what kind of jewelry you like, he tries to find something that matches your preferences and that he likes for himself as well. He tries to narrow down first by how simple or elegant it should be, by color or gems. Then he looks for something unique and meaningful: We know he loves space, and he could find something astronomy related, but he will also look for something pertaining to a shared interest with you, or something related to a memory you made together, or using any symbols or phrases you two have used before as symbols of your relationship.

Expect him to custom order an engraving on the inside, using your names or special names you've given each other.

(His personal preference for a ring is something fairly sleek and classy, in gold, with some sort of unique feature or sentimental aspect.)

It's not until he's about to finally go through with purchasing the rings does he think, "Wait what if they don't want to do this?" Even if you've mentioned before that you'd like to marry him, he needs some assurance that he's not going to make you uncomfortable. He tries to figure it out without making it obvious. Would you like living together? Do you feel confident in the relationship? Even asking you what you think of weddings and marriage, what would need to change upon getting married - he tries to not ask everything at once in hopes you won't catch on that he has anything planned yet.

Although DJSS likes to make a show of themself, and they're proud of your relationship, they don't really want a public proposal. He doesn't want that pressure on either of you.

They do however want the proposal to be a special moment. They pick a significant date - perhaps the anniversary of when you met, or your first date; Maybe during an eclipse or the peak viewing of a rare comet. They give you a lovely, quiet date, and wait until a private moment to start steering the conversation into sentiments. They’re quite nervous, but manage to speak something poetic and loving before drawing your attention to themself and revealing the specially picked ring.

When you say yes, he’s relieved, and he’s thrilled. Expect him to keep hugging and cuddling you for the rest of the day.

.

Wedding:

DJSS will absolutely have a hand in preparations. He wants this to be perfect for you both. While he’s open to hearing your ideas and letting you handle some aspects, he keeps checking in to make sure everything is falling into place.

He wants your help in picking the perfect date and time for it, of course.

As for invitations, he doesn’t exactly want a huge gathering. As proud as he is of your relationship, this isn’t a party for anyone to join. He really doesn’t have many to invite himself, just a few close friends and family.

He also can’t help but to announce the wedding to the other NSR artists. He’s excited. And he wants to brag. Thankfully everyone can look past his cockiness to congratulate him (and you too, if they have a chance to speak with you).

Contrary to the expectation of many, he does not DJ his own wedding. Well, not entirely. This is his celebration too and he doesn’t think he should have to work during it. He picks out several songs during preparations that he thinks would do well, and asks for your opinion as well. He’d really like for you to pick out the first dance music together. Then he gets someone he trusts - perhaps one of the other artists - to handle actually setting up the speakers and playing the correct music at the right times in the ceremony.

For attire, he’d actually like to do something a little different than the normal. He still wants formal, but perhaps something with more color than the standard black and white. How about coordinating a color theme? He wants to wear something masculine like a tux, though.

It’s a similar case with the wedding theme - something a bit fun but still elegant. And no, it doesn’t have to be space.

During preparations, he is easily irritated. He just wants everything done correctly, and done now. It’s not you he’s irritated with, it’s always the people on the phone, the emails, everything that takes too long to get a confirmation of and anything that doesn’t go smoothly. Please remind him you have plenty of time until the big day.

Oh, and he arranges for someone else to be in charge of setup and cleanup. He doesn’t want to do all that himself, or for you to work on your special day. He does however want to arrive early enough to make sure everything is being set up correctly.

And on the wedding day, he doesn’t seem too emotional. Truthfully, he promised himself he wouldn’t be “typical” and cry. He’s still taken aback by how lovely you look, and how many people show up with genuine well wishes. It’s when you’re saying your vows that it sinks in how deep your love is, and how special it is that the two of you met. He chokes up saying his own vows.

They’re also pretty quiet while guests give warm wishes and speeches. He honestly didn’t anticipate such kind sentiments from so many people. He becomes oddly sociable afterwards - he’s enjoying reconnecting with people who seem to actually care about him.

When it comes to talking, as usual he’s interested in talking about himself and updating everyone on his life. But he also talks a lot about you. You’re very important to him, and today is really reminding him of that. He has a lot of high praise for you. He’s actually pretty friendly with the guests though - they’re important to you and to him, after all. He has a much warmer attitude than he usually does with people, and actually listens to the stories others have.

By late reception though, they will likely be getting tired. It’s a lot of activity and socializing! They begin following you more, talking less, and occasionally leaning against you. When the wedding is over, they’re ready to go home. Expect him to sleep hard that night.

It’s the day after that everything really hits them. You’re married now. That’s his spouse next to him in bed. And he’s so, so lucky. Now he’s crying.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Know: How well does your OC know themself—their wants, their goals, their motivations? Do they engage in any sort of self-reflection? Is there anything about themself they willfully ignore?

Intimacy: Is your OC the type of person to engage in long-term relationships, or are they more casual in their intimacy and affection? How do they feel about intimacy and relationships in general?

Partner: Does your OC currently have a partner? Multiple partners? How did they meet, and what is that relationship like?

:]]

Thanks so much for sending this in! I sent some back from my main (the one with Joey King as the pfp). ________________

Disco-Spider OC Asks - Part 2

Know: How well does your OC know themself—their wants, their goals, their motivations? Do they engage in any sort of self-reflection? Is there anything about themself they willfully ignore?

For the most part, Disco knows what she wants, and what means the most to her. She a communist - raised Marxist - and she cares about the health of the community over the health of herself. That leads to little self-reflection on her needs and wants. She's always in motion, so it's easy to just 'never have the time'. She'll willfully ignore her own wants for the Spider Society, and Miguel, and sometimes that backfires.

Intimacy: Is your OC the type of person to engage in long-term relationships, or are they more casual in their intimacy and affection? How do they feel about intimacy and relationships in general?

Unlike some people, Diane loves consistency. But she loves independence as a black woman too. She's poly, and not really for labels - not until she knows it's serious. Disco operates under the no-face-no-case model. When it comes to intimacy, she's surprisingly private. With Spider Society heavily regulating things like 'canon romances', and with Jess on her ass 24/7, it's just easier that way. And more fun in her opinion. The whole 'lovey-dovey groupie persona is a good cover for this'. Hobie and Diane aren't outwardly romantic, don't have a name for what they are, and if asked Hobie will say 'She's my bird.' and Diane will say 'I know him.' or 'We talk.'

Partner: Does your OC currently have a partner? Multiple partners? How did they meet, and what is that relationship like?

It's complicated.

Contrary to what they'll let on, Hobie and Diane have dated in the past. And they fought for two weeks straight, recorded a great album, then broke up. Immediately after, they were back to normal, and back to their normal flirting. They just suck at labels. Only Gwen knows about this. Most of the arguments stemmed from the fact that Hobie deeply dislikes Diane's dedication to the society. And over time he tells her that they're purposely taking advantage of her. But in her eyes, Jess is like her family - she assumes they just want what's best for her. And thing can get heated when Hobie says that canon events aren't real. She says it makes her feel like her pain means nothing. But Diane and Hobie are close in a lot of ways. Both are far leftists, with experience in oppressive governments. They're both from the same era. And the thing they bond most over, is their music The two of them are huge muses for each other - even though the music they make is completely different from each other. While Diane plays smooth funk and Hobie plays hard rock, they're both a big part of the others creative process. Every now and again they'll feature as bass or guitar on the other's songs, or Disco will do uncredited vocals - but they're no Cher and Sonny. They're not each other's supporting act, but each other's biggest fans. Which is like, the perfect way to describe their relationship. Even if they're not dating, they're kinda riding each other's frequency. If you've ever seen Morgan and Garcia from Criminal Minds, it's like that. Except sometimes they make-out at parties if they get really drunk. Diane finally breaks out of the Society's coding and leaves shortly after Gwen gets sent home. She's still adjusting to losing her 'family' and place in the society. But she's thankful to Hobie for his help and honesty, so they're going from there

[lavenoon]

For those of us who may want to write fics including Robin but are too nervous... Can we have some tips for how to characterize them? What are their vibes, are there some things to think of/remember when writing them?

I once described them as "tryhard, repressed trust issues, craves connection. aloof with anyone who poses a (perceived) threat to them, kind of awkward when not" (not on here, so no one needs to look gfhdj) but I'll go into a bit more detail!

First, I wanna state that while I left their family situation vague for self insert purposes, they way anything AU related is written, they aren't close with their family. The duplex is inherited, but they don't grieve the previous owner by the time they move in. I won't specify when this person died or who it was, as it's really just to set up the premise, and you can invent whatever for your purposes!

They're still distant, laying the groundwork for Robin's inevitable loneliness. They live alone, in a city they didn't grow up in, where they don't know anyone. When they first move in, they're excited for the possibilities! The world's their oyster and they sure are nonbinary (/ref), so they set out and explore. Happen to get scouted by a private intelligence firm, and hey, why not! (Better than getting in trouble for technically trespassing, oops).

They've always enjoyed spy movies and series, they do parkour, so of course they enjoy the secret agent life. They get a kick out of finding the craziest, most impressive way to do something - think macgyver in the sense that they like to work with what they have, but also kim possible in that they love highly specific gadgets too. Bonus points if personalized

With time, they start internalizing that enthusiasm more and more when it isn't met in kind by the people around them. That's when they start to withdraw socially, and the isolation really kicks in. After having their energy be met with scorn they start mistrusting people, refusing to really show themself, and stick more to the star agent role they earned. No one can take that from them, even if they make fun of their methods.

And so they lean into that, extremely so. They work hard, they aim higher and higher, until they feel like no one can take this success from them. But they also don't care to talk to anyone anymore, having been burnt too often, and they pretend they're fine with it, really.

Robin falls into a monotony, chasing after happiness at work because that's their only source for it, not realizing just how damaging this lifestyle is to them in the long run. They're completely isolated after years of this - and then they gain a rival, and a few short months later, a neighbor (and later, both <3)

With their rival, Robin is not on good terms before ever even speaking to him. There's a rookie, who after just a few short months gains such a reputation to be considered almost as good as them, after putting in years of work? They don't know him, and if he's another one of those stuck up idiots who ridicule them for what brings brought them joy, then they have no interest in humoring him, either. That's why they react with hostility, and take a while to warm up to their respective rival (mostly once they see his quirks, too. Dusk and his gimmick and playful attitude, Dawn and his flashy suits and flair for the dramatic). Then it's on (in Dusk's case. rip rival Dawn, you could've had it all) and they enjoy the banter and the races and the bets <3

With their neighbor they basically scramble for anything. "Nice person living next to me. My tenant? I don't know how landlords act there are no cool landlord movies. Uhhhh okay no neighbor is close enough. Offer eggs or sugar? Wait, animatronics don't eat. What do I do?" So they don't have any scripts for this situation, because they can't counter it with just polite small talk like you'd do with the cashier of the grocery store, or the aloof attitude they keep towards other agents, and those are the only types of socialization they get. They do try to be nice, and don't mean to overstep, but when faced with friendly, civilian contact? They crave that more than they even know, and get just a bit clingy among the awkwardness. It helps that their neighbor seems just as awkward, but in the end nice - so they feel reassured, and safe enough to continue trying, until they figure out again just how exactly friends work <3

[proloser-spiral]

an idea i've had for a while. umineko spoilers. gotta be at least past episode 7 tea party for it to even make sense. I was gonna write a fic but... idk i feel like i just gotta get the idea out there before i explode because every time i try and write it properly i give up.

Basically, a universe where Lion survives that starts almost identically to what we know of the 1/2,578,917 they come from; after the funeral for Beatrice, the parents are challenged by Kinzo to solve the epitaph riddle. However, for some reason in this fragment (let's call it 1/5,153,834) Lion returns to the mansion while the parents are still in the middle of solving it, probably just forgetting something from their room, and decides to stay and help. Like before, they all solve it together and go to the Golden Land together, now with Lion in tow.

When things start to go chaotic this time, however, two things happen. For one, the trigger becomes stuck, set to explode. Secondly, in a panic, Lion barricades themself alone in the escape tunnel directly after seeing Natsuhi shot. The door gets stuck and it's impossible for anyone to get in or out either way. From that point, we don't know what happens to anyone else on Rokkenjima, only Lion alone. It's a catbox sealed only by a stubborn door.

Aware of the explosion to come, and with no other choice, Lion heads towards Kuwadorian for safety. There, they're met with the prison their own birth mother was kept in, but with no knowledge of their actual lineage that was only given to them through an invasion from the meta world, they are simply left in this sad and dusty little house left to wonder what it was for and how they could live on Rokkenjima their whole life and not know about it. Maybe there's a photo of Beatrice- either Castiglioni or Ushiromiya -around to give them some idea of who might have lived here, but they would only have context of the confusing funeral their grandfather had put on the previous day to relate it to.

From there, their position resembles that of Eva after the events on Rokkenjima. As the last remaining relative and technically an adult at 19, they are both recipient of whatever fortune Kinzo kept off of the island and made guardian of Ange. And of course, rumours swell as they always do. People question whether Lion was ever 'successor-sama' really, it would make it seem like they were innocent if they were ALWAYS bound to get the fortune, now wouldn't it? And why would a random grandchild get that position? They're not a direct child (from all anyone knows), and they're not even the first born grandchild! So it makes more sense to everyone that 'successor-sama' is a lie to cover up the true motive of inheriting the wealth.

I'm not sure exactly how Lion would be faced with the responsibility of being a parent, after the trauma of losing their own. Plus suddenly going from privately beloved child to the most scrutinised public figure. That and I think they might have a harder time fighting off Ange's other side of the family. They for sure wouldn't be the same kind of bitter as Eva, but it's hard to say exactly who Lion would be through trauma like that without the encouragement of someone like Will and the knowledge of being a shining light for someone else.

If there's blueprint, I'd say they'd reflect a bit more of Sayo at that point. Of course, Sayo was traumatised from a child, and built her whole life around said trauma, where Lion had that idealistic childhood that Sayo dreamt of, and each grew into distinctly different people because of it, but also I think that even with that much nurture there's still some nature that connects the two that could come out in these kinds of moments. So I'd say that perhaps Lion also reaches towards the fictional.

Honestly, if I was trying to tie it around, I could see Lion getting into Van Dine's work. They're mysteries that click in their mind the same way that mysteries clicked for Sayo. Perhaps they could be trying to reframe the tragedy they went through in this lense of a mystery, of there being a culprit and a scheme, of there being a reason, even though they were there and knew that death was ensured by terrible accident. It's them looking back at the tragedy the way Sayo looked forward at it. And, of course, specifically Van Dine because of Mr Willard H. Wright. Maybe Lion conjures him in a similar way that Ange conjures the seven sisters. He's just a personification of their mind based on this writing. It's sad and it's lonely but... they get to be together even in this world.

Anyway, that's the thoughts thanks for reading.

[2030kamenriders]

Alright, a list of some stuff we know (or don't know?) for sure. This might be completely wrong though, and it's probably incomplete, so feel free to add your thoughts!

(SPOILERS FOR W under the read-more line! I tried to keep it minimal, but I don't think it worked. So I put a read-more line instead.)

Another W exists in the Another-W timeline, and can't co-exist with W.

Dopants do exist in the Another-W timeline, meaning so do Gaia Memories.

Judging by how Another W seems to have 2 overlapping voices, they're probably 2 people, just like regular W.

However, we don't know who Another W are.

Futo City has went to chaos in this world.

(not stated by cannon, but gonna be an important part of the world, so I'll put it here anyway): since Futo City is messed up, the city's mascot has turned into a monstrous SIC-figure form to reflect that. However, Futo-kun themself is still good.

If Dopants can exist, but W can't, then there are likely a lot more dopants, and a higher level of Gaia Memory use. Meaning more teens using Gaia Memories, which Kirihiho is against. He probably still dies in the attempt to protest against this.

Yukie Sudo likely has a similar stance to her brother. The main difference is that Kirihiko attempted to persuade Saeko to agree with him, while Yukie will probably just want revenge.

We don't know who Memory Dopant is.

The Fumen Cart master exists.

Fumen Cart master is on good enough terms with Shotaro to hold his ridewatch. Meaning that Shotaro also exists as a good guy, and is probably very-much alive (although busy). We just don't know if he's a proper private detective or not.

We don't know, however, if Mr. Narumi is alive, since we also don't know the events of Begins Night.

This means that we don't quite know what's going on with Phillip. He's probably still got his Planet Bookshelf powers, but where does he stand morally? Does he know about his past? Is he even alive at all?

Adding some of the above points together... there's a terrifyingly high possibility that the Cyclone Half of Another W is Raito. (And there's a reason I say "Raito" specifically.)

I'm not exactly a Shroud expert, so I don't know what her stance is. But I imagine that she wouldn't stand for whatever Terror is doing to Raito. However, if W can't exist, then she's probably going to rely more on the help of other Kamen Riders or dopants.

Akiko... Some might argue that she would stay in Osaka for safety. However, she seems like someone who is very curious and fearless, and will walk into danger if it means helping people out. So she's probably gonna show up to Futo at some point. Especially if something bad happens to Mr. Narumi or the detective agency itself.

And for those saying I'm being too generous to Akiko: she snuck into the Sonozaki mansion, which is protected by the terrifying aura of Terror Dopant. And she doesn't even have superpowers! The word "fear" simply doesn't exist in her vocabulary.

Weather definitely exists in the world, but there's a good chance that he dies of Gaia Memory abuse. The exception is if the Another-W timeline has a way for him to survive despite using so many Gaia Memories. Either way, he's probably having a grand time in this timeline.

On the flip-side, Ryu Terui is having a terrible time. And with the original W ripped in half, he's likely not gonna be the same Terui we all know and love. Chances are, he either dies or worse — probably worse. Like, this guy is probably gonna murder someone in a revenge-fueled rage.

That being said, if Ryu manages to find out about the OG timeline, especially late in the game, he's probably gonna do all he can to reach for it. That being said, his redemption arc is going to be pretty messy, if he even manages to survive to that point.

With that all being said — and it pains me to say this — Haruna Terui probably isn't supposed to exist in this timeline. At least, not unless there's some really crazy storyline stuff going on.

We don't know what all of the Sonozakis think about this whole situation. Or at least, what they would think if they knew about the OG timeline. Sure, initially, they're gonna be making big bucks off all of the Gaia Memories they're selling. And they are likely gonna be allied with Another W if one half of him really is Raito. But eventually, there's probably gonna be some unavoidable conflicts within the family.

These inter-family conflicts are gonna be really complicated once Yukie shows up to town, considering how Kirihiko died.

[medicinemane]

I suppose in the end, here's what it all boils down to

It's very nice to think that any given problem in someone's life has a solution, and if they just start doing such and such things will get better

That's not how life works though, sometimes you find someone where they're doing everything they can and life just keeps kicking them in the teeth. Whatever the situation, hard worker who can't find a job, incredible person who just can't find a relationship, someone who takes such good care of their body and just keeps getting sicker. There are so many people I see not getting what they deserve in life

Life isn't fair. It's chaotic, it's a mess, and there's a lot of systems being run either poorly or maliciously by people at the top

So for me, I'd rather not try and say "well, this is your problem, and this is your fix". I don't know their life, I don't know everything they've tried. So often I'll hear the most confidently given advice and be like "man, you don't even realize that's already been tried ages ago"

I very rarely can fix situations. Even putting everything that I have at someone's disposal, what I have isn't a lot. That's why I try to at least be willing to sit with them in the discomfort as best I can, try to focus on pointing out places they're doing stuff right, that sort of thing

No idea how much it helps, probably varies person to person, situation to situation, but... hopefully at least it's something not having someone there saying "well here's how you fix this"

Catch all solutions stated as fact just really really frustrated me, especially when it's implied it's someone fault they're dealing with whatever, cause I've known far too many people where it's just not true

...makes me think of someone I knew on here where... I think they've legitimately had the hardest life of anyone I've ever talked with. So much horrible stuff, absolutely won't elaborate cause to me that would be a huge violation of trust but... it was so unfair. Everytime they'd try and get up again... I mean, just again and again with truly horrific stuff. I can't even convey it without going into details, and all the details feel way to private to share but... one thing in particular that happened to them was just tragic to an unholy degree

My god, what were they supposed to do? The system wasn't helping them, the system allowed them to keep winding up with people who were known to be dangerous to them. They had so many problems with their physical health that they needed help, and they were barely getting anything

Sometimes it's time to stop giving advice and just get stuck in and help

I could do jack shit really. I could just talk, try and sit with them, try and give them a different perspective that disagreed with all the poison that people had put into their head about themself. Drop them stuff to listen to when I could, cause once again not to go into details, but like I said they were dealing with unsympathetic systems that often made things worse and sometimes it was hard to get ahold of mp3s they could listen to offline

Plus while we weren't far away, we weren't even in the same country

So yeah, maybe I managed to do jack shit in the end, but at least I wasn't constantly hounding them with ways they could fix things if they'd just do this or that. We'd talk about what they could do sometimes, but it was always a discussion, like with me listening when they explained why something wouldn't work, and then I'd just redirect instead of dwelling on it... not sure how much good I ever did, but there it is

So I don't know... you don't like someone doesn't have friends, then befriend them (not force your company on to them, I mean be a friend to them)

You don't like someone's filthy house? Offer to help clean it and listen if they ask you to stop

Stop just being hollow words

You don't like something about someone's situation, offer a hand or if you can't do that, then at least grant them the blessing of silence

I am not enough to fix this world's problems, I doubt anyone who reads this is. I don't think any of us run in the circles that can pull major strings

When people I like here need money... I don't have that, the days I was able to send money to people aren't here anymore, and will probably take a long while to come back if ever

I can't... get my friends out of being stuck with lets be honest, shitty families (not always the whole family, but at least one parent just is kind of shit)

I can't promise one of my friends on here who is extremely capable that they'll get a good job or get good grades, even though I have a literal mountain of evidence that says anyone who hired them probably would have just hired the best member of their team. I doubt I could even be a reference successfully, even though I could say "when they said they couldn't keep doing the work they were doing for their college cause they needed to find a job, the department decided to make it a paid position so they'd stay"

Like there, there's so little I can do for them practically speaking, but I can at least talk with them, check in when I can, and say "my god are things stressful for you, and you've needed a break for years, but I'm telling you that you over and over manage to take care of what you have to, and you'll do that here too"... and they always have taken care of it too. That last bit doesn't have anything to do with me, that's just who they are

I'm not saying if what I do helps or not, I'm just saying at least I don't just tell them this or that piece of brilliant advice that... oh, oops, turns out that's hyperspecific to my personal experience and doesn't help them at all. At least I actually try to listen and hear what's going on for them

So at it's core, in a way even more than what I said in that post about "if you don't have friends it's because you're mean" as an idea, this is what bothers me most of all

I'm so sick of people who sling advice all day but never actually reach out a hand and help

I look around and there's so many people who are having trouble keeping their heads above water... I don't know how much longer they'll last, by damn it all we shouldn't wait to find out

I can't do much, but I'll do what I can when I can. I'm not just going to toss around instructions on how to fix things before I know people's situations because honestly people are smart, and many have at least considered whatever I'm about to say... and even if it's the best course of action, if they won't do it, then that means it's not actually a course of action and we need to find new options

I just get tired I suppose

[rayofmisfortune]

NO ONE FRIGGIN BLINK

TODAY IS LORE EPISODE DAY AND I SWEAR IF WE DON'T GET A FULL EPISODE FROM RUIN CLIPSY'S POV I'M THROWING OVER A FEW TABLES

I guess this can be considered my prediction for a future "RESCUING RUIN ECLIPSE in VRChat" episode I GUESS???

~

But basically, imagine an episode from Ruin Eclipse's pov, we get to see new Eclipse friggin torturing them and whatever else. They'd beg for him to stop, insisting that the others would come for them, that they were looking for them.

Eclipse would laugh in their face, not without zoning out at least 3 times during the thing and questioning why the hell he's doing any of this. He'd then leave off to wherever tf he goes.

We'd get a moment of Ruin Eclipse's internal private thoughts, but of course, they'd be guarded because they (hc time) KNOW they are being watched. But I'd imagine with what Eclipse put them through, they would hardly care for what some invisible broadcasting all seeing eye thought of them.

Then, after this, we'd see (still from Ruin Eclipse's pov) Solar and Moon entering the holding cells area. Ruin Eclipse would not let a peep out, unsure, even when they kept on insisting to Eclipse, if they really are getting rescued or aren't just seeing some cruel last hope of freedom made up by their desperate mind.

Solar and Moon would look around, check all the holding cells, because this is the likeliest area of where the alternate bot could be, no? They'd eventually find their way up the stairs, closer and closer towards Ruin Eclipse, who lays defeated on the ground, refusing to so much as move a finger as everything hurts, (hc) again.

Haha uhhh yea that's it, I like theorizing of the script for future episodes, I know I'm probably (more like totally) wrong but it's fun to do so ^^

~

Explanation for the hc's:

hc: Probably something a lot of people theorize about, Ruin and by extension Ruin Eclipse can see the viewers, or at least the cameras when they're watching. We obviously never get to see any of them OUTSIDE of the camera's view, so... I'd imagine Ruin Eclipse is more careful of what they do when they are being watched.

hc: I hc that while Ruin Eclipse were still broken, they were in constant pain from all the open cracked and shattered holes in their casing, not to mention their gosh darn leg and hands. If they- if they got broken again, got to feel the persistent pain they thought they were rid of by fixing themself up? Gosh, haha wooo angst

~

If anyone likes this little idea of mine, I'm not opposed to people making their own take of this if they feel like doing so! Pretty please lmk if anyone does (no pressure ofc) I'd love to see it!

[ascalonianlightbringer]

Last headcanon time, Tybalt and Gwen headed out onto the plains of Ashford for their Ascalon day trip. Gwen did manage not to attack anyone but Flame Legion, ghosts, and Separatists. Partway through the journey through Ashford, Gwen's private tumult was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger with two letters for her from a mysterious "herald."

The herald introduced themself as an admirer and story collector known to Logan, and familiar with the history of Destiny's Edge. They also told Gwen that Eir, the Norn member of the guild, had recently made a beeline for the Ascalonian catacombs in Ashford, likely aggravating her Charr former guild mate, Rytlock, as a head's up. Tybalt wanted to check out what was going on and Gwen, with some reservations, agreed.

Yup, it's dungeon time!

As Gwen and Tybalt head towards Phasmatis Corridor, an idea seems to strike him and he turns to her.

"Hmm, that's a thought. Gwen, you were there during the, ah, meeting between Rytlock Brimstone and the rest of Destiny's Edge?"

A little perplexed, she says, "Yes. Logan wasn't sure what to expect from Caithe, so I went with him, as his friend."

"That's what I thought," says Tybalt, adjusting his rifle. "Okay, then you don't need to be all raspberries and applesauce if we run into Rytlock. In fact, it'd be a bad idea."

"Raspberries and applesauce...?" says a deeply puzzled Gwen.

"Erm, well—pleasant and all. Nice. The way you usually are."

She blinks.

"It won't do you any favors with him, especially not when he saw you just a few days ago with Thackeray. He doesn't forget a face."

"Even a human one?" says Gwen—not as a jibe, really, but more honestly curious.

"Particularly a human one," Tybalt replies. "He's going to know your main impression of him comes from Thackeray, so it'll be pretty suspicious if you're all—"

"—raspberries and applesauce. I see," says Gwen. "Well, you'd know better than me. How should I act?"

He thinks over it a bit as they're fighting and avoiding ghosts while trying to hurry northeast.

"A bit prickly," he says. "You'd take Thackeray's side, so you'd have no reason to think well of Rytlock. We can be upfront enough about you hearing that Eir had gone into the catacombs. You're suspicious and want to limit the upheaval she causes, especially with a Priory camp not far away."

Gwen nods. "What about you? What brings an appleseller to the catacombs?"

She can see ruins in the distance, past a stream, jabbing upwards towards the sky and down further than she can make out. The idea of venturing into her people's burial grounds and disturbing what little rest they can get is abruptly very real. She swallows.

"We're business partners," he says after a moment. "Fruit grows a bit better out in Queensdale. 'Specially apples. You make the deals on the human side, I have contacts in Lion's Arch, profit. So when you rushed off with hardly any warning, I followed to make sure you didn't get yourself and our business deals destroyed."

"Someone has to keep the wheels of commerce turning," says Gwen. "Got it."

So off they go to the catacombs. Rytlock is waiting near the entrance.

Rytlock glances from Gwen to Tybalt, his eyes narrowing.

"You're the reinforcements?" he snaps. "A mouse and a ... what's your legion, soldier?"

"I'm no soldier," mumbles Tybalt, with a glance at his left arm. Belatedly, he adds, "Tribune."

Rytlock's gaze returns to Gwen.

"You're Thackeray's lackey. What do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm Logan's friend," she says. "I heard his old guild mate was here disturbing my people's rest and figured I'd pitch in."

Rytlock gives her a hard stare. "Rest? Run along back to Logan, mouse. You're no good here. These catacombs will tear you up. And this civilian—"

"This is Tybalt," she says, "my business partner, and a good hand with a rifle."

Tybalt hoists the rifle.

Rytlock pauses, but the area beyond them remains empty, and he gives a low growl.

"You have a name, mouse?"

Gwen smiles, showing as many of her teeth as she can. "Gwen."

With a roll of his eyes, Rytlock sighs. "Of course. You worth anything in combat?"

"I'm devastating," she says sweetly. "If you're not afraid of a little magic, great tribune."

His reaction to this might have been worse, but at that point, two other Charr show up, trailed by a breathless Asura in Priory clothes, desperately trying to catch up.

"March into the catacombs for a bunch of angry murdered ghosts, they said," the Asura mutters. "It'll be a chance for great discoveries, they said. Ha! A chance for my legs to fall off, more like. What are the odds we make it out?"

Rytlock heaves a greater sigh. "All right, you all. I'd prefer strength and numbers, but you'll have to do. That fool Norn Eir has stirred up the ghosts down here."

Gwen has figured as much, but she's still on edge, thinking of the fate of the ghosts. Hunted and murdered in life, cursed in death, their little rest now disturbed by some reckless Norn who doesn't understand or care what they've been through.

"Let me brief you," says Rytlock. "This place has a history, and I don't want your ignorance getting us killed. This was originally Charr land."

The Asura gives a little cough. "Well, technically—"

Rytlock ignores him. "The humans pushed us out and built Ascalon on top of it. Over two hundred years ago, we took our lands back."

Tybalt's advice to act prickly instead of pleasant might be the easiest she's ever taken. Gwen's hands tighten.

"So that's what you tell yourselves," she says. "Does that make it easier to live with the gains of countless atrocities? I've always wondered."

The last sentence is a lie. She's never wondered what Charr feel about anything until Tybalt.

Tybalt himself winces. "Gwen, not helping here—"

"You, mouse, can stop whining or go crying back to Kryta," says Rytlock.

"I'm not going anywhere," says Gwen.

He clearly would like to throw her out and just as clearly can't afford to with so few here. His breath hisses out his fangs.

"Fine. But you'll take the lead. I don't want a sword in my back. Just try not to die right away." He turns back to the others. "The human king, Adelbern, watched his soldiers panic as we breached the city gates. Facing certain defeat, the doomed king refused to surrender. Adelbern smashed his ancient blade Magdaer, and cursed Ascalon."

That much matches the stories Gwen knew.

"The blast incinerated the attacking legions and turned the defending humans into vengeful spirits," Rytlock goes on. "The ghosts see the living as invaders. They show no mercy and no weariness—only blind hatred. Adelbern's hatred."

Not just his, Gwen thinks. Maybe it's easier to place all the consequences of all their atrocities at the feet of one person. And the curse was certainly Adelbern's doing, after he went mad. But she's pretty sure there were ghosts who already hated the invaders, Adelbern or no Adelbern. And it's very noticeable that he's not saying anything about the Searing. There was a reason Adelbern lost his mind. There's a reason that the Ascalonian people refuse to forget what the Charr did to conquer Ascalon—to civilians, children, everyone, in the Searing and afterwards, for two hundred and fifty years.

We'll never forget it, living or dead, she thinks, only half-conscious of Tybalt at her side. And never forgive.

"And now Eir's gone right into the dead king's lair. What a mess." His focus returns to the group. "We're going after her. She's causing trouble, and I don't want anyone dying because of her foolishness."

The two Charr she doesn't know nod. The Asura says,

"Reasonable enough."

Gwen adds coolly, "How noble of you."

Tybalt gives her a light jab and hisses, "Gwen."

The stranger-Charr glance around. One, the larger of the two, looks nervous.

"We don't need a hindrance, Gwen," says Rytlock. "Lead the way or get out of it."

Gwen takes a deep breath and draws her swords. Despite her intense dislike of Rytlock and his Charr-approved version of history, she knows she'd have no chance in a fight against him—or at least not against Sohothin, even if no others were there. With one last distrustful glance, she turns to the catacombs and strides forwards.

"She's not a Separatist," Tybalt is assuring Rytlock in a low voice. "We're partners, after all! And she's been an advocate for the crown of Kryta, she's just touchy."

"I don't care, as long as she fights the ghosts," says Rytlock.

"She will," says Tybalt. "I mean, they'll kill her otherwise, so."

Rytlock actually gives a sort of low growl of a laugh. "All right, the rest of you. Follow me. The sooner we can find that fool Norn, the sooner we can quit this foul place. We need to stop her from shaking the hornet's nest."

As they head down into the cold, damp, stone passageways of the catacombs, the Priory scholar says,

"Oh, are there hornets down here?"

"No," says Rytlock irritably. "The ghosts haunting this cesspool are angry."

Yeah, good for them, thinks Gwen. Her hands are clenched on her swords.

"Eir's meddling will get them all riled up," Rytlock goes on. "I want to keep them down here, where they do minimal damage."

"Ah, that makes sense," says the scholar.

They're fairly quiet, Tybalt loping near Gwen, as they navigate around the various traps, puzzles, and obstacles throughout the catacombs. Gwen, who is used to sneaking around dimly-lit places she's not supposed to be in, is good at picking up on slight clicks and hisses to navigate around. Soon enough, she's not just leading as a safety measure/meat shield, but half-guiding the others safely, even the non-Tybalt Charr. She hears them muttering, but as long as Tybalt can keep them from murdering her, she doesn't really care.

(Much as Rytlock doesn't really care about her motivations, though she'd hate the comparison.)

They successfully fight Napa, guardian of the mystical gate, and manage to open it and disable the many, many traps, then move on through the dimness and arrive at a gate with a pressure plate.

"Put something heavy on the pressure plate," says Rytlock. "Or you can stay on it, mouse."

"You won't get me killed that easily," she says, almost lightly.

The Priory scholar grumbles and puts a shield he's picked up and meant to study on the pressure plate.

Beyond that, Gwen takes the lead again, and is the first to see a towering shadow amidst the lighter shadows that permeate the catacombs. She braces herself, expecting some particularly dreadful attack, and the rest of the group nearly runs right into her. Gwen silently gestures towards the shadow.

"Do ghosts cast shadows?" she whispers. She's pretty sure not.

The shadow seems to pick up on even the slight sound and turns in their direction. If it is some sort of underworld being, it's accompanied by another one, some sort of wolf-shaped animal whose growl echoes around them.

"Rytlock?" the shadow calls out, and moves forwards into the low light of the torches and ghostly blue flickers. Now, Gwen can make out the figure's deep red hair and sheer size. A Norn—and, unmistakably, Eir Stegalkin.

Eir exclaims, "What are you doing here?"

[nightingaelic]

fnv companions + major faction leaders react to the courier telling them they trust them enough to let them in on a big secret. they go somewhere private and courier reveals themself to be an eldritch abomination

"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation, independent, free of all weaknesses. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."

~ Sovereign, Mass Effect 1

"It's called Gypsum Cave," the courier explained, sliding down the steep embankment of rock that led deeper into the earth. "Or it used to be. Back before the war, scientists would come down here looking for the bones of long-dead species. Wolves, bighorners, sloths... all sorts. Now, it's just another tomb."

They turned to where their companion had settled, on the shelf of rock that overlooked the cavern's twisted ceiling, descending further into the earth. "There was something I needed to tell you, just us two. We've known each other a while now, and I think... hell, let's just get this over with."

The courier held out their hand. There was something in it, but before their companion could properly examine it, it opened itself, revealing an eye staring back at them. It brightened and blinked, and eyes began to open all along the courier's arm, each turning a rapid pupil to its observer before spilling forth a ray of white light. The courier threw their head back, let every inch of their skin open up in ringing silence, let the taste of an unreachable star pour into the emptiness of Gypsum Cave: Bands and beams and wavelengths and spectrums indescribable that each sang with a different longing and an uncertain future. In that silence they stretched their true form once, only once, before they swallowed everything that they were again and leveled the last pair of glowing eyes upon the one who shared their road.

Arcade Gannon: The only thing that crossed Arcade's mind, addled as it was with fear at this display, was a faint self-congratulation that he hadn't screamed. He took a step back.

The courier shrugged, but they didn't pursue him. "I'm still me."

"I don't know who- what you are," Arcade whispered. "But I don't want any part of it."

This answer appeared to disappoint the person he'd thought was a friend- and, until recently, a person. They sighed. "Okay. Too much all at once. Again. Um. I don't know... what... I am either, anymore. If that helps. It probably doesn't, but there it is."

Craig Boone: Without hesitation, Boone whipped his rifle up and fired a single shot into the courier's head. It paired nicely with the scar on the other side of their temple, but it also didn't kill them.

Having staggered back from the blast of the point blank shot, the courier resumed their stance and looked at the sniper reproachfully. "Seriously? I show you one inch of my actual being, and you try to do me in like some Legion patrol?"

Boone's lower lip twitched, but he shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"Ugh." The courier put a hand to their face, and their eyes began to dim again. "You NCR types are all the same."

Lily Bowen: Lily crossed her arms. "Be careful, sweetie. You're looking a little like the Master, these days. And you know how Grandma feels about the Master."

The courier immediately diminished their presence. "Yeah, that's... about what I expected, if I'm being honest. You're something else, Lily."

"We are all something else," Lily replied sorrowfully. "But that doesn't mean we have to be hurtful, or poke at things we shouldn't."

"I know." The courier smiled up at her, back to their outwardly-human self. "You taught me that."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Raul crossed himself. He hadn't done such a thing since he'd lost Rafaela, but the familiar motion awoke in him, in the face of the courier's secret. "En... en el nombre del Padre, y del H-hijo, y del-"

"They aren't here." The courier's eyes were still glowing, betraying the power beneath their skin. "If they're out there, I've never met them, or they aren't concerned with me."

The careless comment snapped Raul back into the present. "You know, not everything is about you, boss," he said, before realizing he'd just talked back to some cosmic horror.

The commentary only made the courier smile. "Oh, I know. Lo sabría mejor que la mayoría."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Fucking..." Cass fumbled with her shotgun, but she managed to flip the safety off and unleash two blasts that buried themselves in the entity before her. They absorbed the damage, of course, but the look on their face was one of intense emotional pain.

"Don't you trust me?" they asked, while the gunshots echoed through the cavern.

"I did," Cass said bitterly. "Then you sprouted a million little holes of fire. What are you?"

"Nothing that I could easily explain," the courier answered. Their eyes still shone faintly in the dim setting, but they were pouting like they'd just lost their puppy.

"Then maybe I don't want to know," Cass replied, slowly backing away.

Veronica Santangelo: "Should I b-be... bowing?" Veronica squeaked.

"If it helps," the courier rumbled, in a voice that shook the cavern. They cleared their throat, and the low-frequency distortion went away. "Ahem. Sorry."

"Y-you should be." Veronica couldn't contain the quiver in her voice, even if she managed to bravely cross her arms. "I've read s-some Lovecraft. You're lucky you didn't... didn't melt my brain, Six."

She held a hand out between them and watched it shake with fascination. "N-not gonna be able to fight f-for shit."

ED-E: A cascade of computational errors overwhelmed the courier's eyebot, causing it to shut down all non-essential processes and clear out a space for the new information. It scanned the courier as it had a million times, but none of its sensors read anything beyond what it already knew. Still, they stood there with glowing eyes and a patient smile, looking at ED-E as if they expected it to understand.

ED-E beeped its question, and the courier crossed their arms. "There isn't a name for me. I just... am. But aside from that, I'm still Courier Six. My job hasn't changed."

ED-E, unsatisfied, let out a blat of disappointment. The courier laughed. "I know, I'm sorry. But hey, that's how I know what you're saying. You never found that strange?"

Rex: Rex turned tail and ran. Whatever he'd just seen was beyond him, beyond any of the cybernetics or brain backup systems he'd been given so long ago, and in the face of such a creature, he was just one dog. He didn't stop running until he was back on the doorstep of the King's School of Impersonation, where Pacer opened the door for him with a surprised look.

"Rexie, you're back," the King said with the same surprise. "Something spook you?"

Rex barked once and faced the door. The fur along his spine stood on end. Over the next few days he kept vigilant, growling each time the doorknob turned, but eventually he calmed down. The courier, for their part, never came back.

Benny Gecko: Benny turned white as a sheet and whipped out Maria. He couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger, though: It hadn't worked the first time, so why would it now?

The courier smirked at his apparent panic. "Oh, yes. You found out the hard way that I'm less than amenable to getting put in the ground, didn't you, Benny? You did your best, though. Points for effort, and a few for style."

"S-style was always my thing," Benny admitted, smiling weakly back. "But if I'd known I was about to goose it into Weirdsville, I'd have left House his chip and s-skipped town. What's a bad dream like you want with a turkey like me?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." The courier made a show of examining their nails. "Just a leg up in legitimacy. I've got plans for New Vegas, you see."

Yes Man: As with everything else, Yes Man took the reveal with grace and unbridled enthusiasm. "Well that was an unexpected twist!" he said, rolling his Securitron frame back and forth as if nervously excited. "I've gotta say, I thought maybe you were done surprising me once you managed to kick House out of his own mainframe and install me as the new manager of the Lucky 38, but this blows all of that way out of the water!"

The courier grinned and put a hand on their hip. "Nothing fazes you, Yes Man."

"So now what?" the AI asked. "Nuclear control? Global domination? Interstellar war? I am at your service!"

"Mmm." The courier shook their head. "I was honestly trying to get away from all of... that. Let's just play House's plan out and see what happens. I have all the time in the universe to mess around."

Robert House: "Ahem." The man on the other end of Victor's speakers cleared his throat, in a way that suggested he was mildly shaken. "I wish you'd been more forthcoming with your... talents, courier. One wonders why you failed to deliver me the platinum chip in the first place."

The courier rolled their luminous eyes. "Always about the bottom line for you, House? I'm not beholden to anyone, least of all you. I've been around long enough to know when to share a secret and when to keep my cards close to my chest."

"Now you sound like Benny." The face on Victor's screen was static, but the courier could tell House was smirking. "Were you hoping to use this revelation to convince me of something more important than my current plans for New Vegas? This changes nothing, save a few calculations about the statistical likelihood of intelligent life beyond our planet. Calculations can be adjusted."

Caesar: For all his high-minded plans and hopes of immortal empire, when faced with real immortality, Caesar fell to his knees. "Ancora imparo," he said faintly.

"Always," the courier agreed, approaching the Legion's founder with the grace of a being not tied to the earth they walked. "It's why I came here. Why I sought you out, as you sought me."

"What could I possibly offer something like you?" Caesar asked, looking up at them with bewildered awe.

The courier put a hand out, tilted his chin up familiarly. "More than you'll ever know, Edward. Even after its own fall, humanity adapts and grows, and that is something we just cannot abide."

[dabi-the-burnt]

So i saw the insta messages before their Twitter (they'd blocked me on Twitter I guess) so get ready because we're going to look at this.

Had I seen the Twitter messages first I probably wouldn't have been so polite.

For starters, I have dm'd with them before.

Those screenshots are a few months old.

Anyway. That account got banned and they are claiming we never talked but whatever.

My Twitter threads that they claim are harassment are simply statements of very Public knowledge compiled along with my own personal experiences with that person added along. I do not condone harassing them or anyone and have been clear about that. See threads here.

Also I don't know what they're talking about with "getting involved in something with birf" (which, they got themself involved by taking all of birfs art but whatever) as I have said that I don't speak for birf. They didn't tell me to talk about it. I only involved myself of my own accord because my art was also taken, and what truly got me worked up was seeing my friends art taken (which was not properly credited).

Anyway, back to birf- I want to once again say that they haven't asked me to do any of this. The most I've ever interacted with them is the occasional reply to comments and liking posts that they're either directly mentioned or tagged in. I am a fan of their work and that is all.

And quite frankly, the threads and posts were not made on their behalf. It was made by me for me and for artists in general.

Anyone who has spent more than five seconds looking at birfs stuff would know that they don't go about asking for posts to be made to harass others or cancel them. They're actually pretty closed off in their corner of the internet.

Now let's forget about birf and talk about the art "not being stolen". To put it simply, giving credit is not the same as having permission. Taking someone's work and reposting it is still theft whether or not you state that youre not the creator. Fandom spaces tend to forget that.

Also the assumption that I've never been harassed online is ridiculous. I've definitely had my fair share of getting shat on. While I do understand that it was most likely just them being scared by the sudden attention and Twitter threads about them (which I get that- that's scary), that doesn't mean you should tell creators "fuck off :)" or bitch at them for asking politely to have work removed.

If it takes multiple threads and posts exposing your behavior to get you to remove it then you're not just being nice. Nice would be apologizing and removing it AS SOON AS ASKED TO. Not only after being called out and the call out gets some attention.

As for "reach out to me instead of posting about it" how do you expect me to do that when you constantly leave comments off and don't accept dms? I tried to reach out to you and I have before. This time though, I posted about it. Because we'd been over this before.

Also you can't say "I removed it. Go check. But I'm not unprivating for you to see." I can't see when it's private.

Ultimately though, they did unprivate for me to see. I didn't sit and dig though. From what I saw, some was removed though.

Anyway, give me one second to get my screenshots of the Instagram messages to talk about those.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

Mrs. Jones vs. Alan Blunt in the TV Show

One thing I found interesting is the way Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt are portrayed.

They're less villainous than in the books. In the books, Alan Blunt is constantly plotting how to get Alex involved. Mrs. Jones has reservations about it and is more willing to just let him live his life, but she does engage in quite a bit emotional manipulation.

In the series, neither wants him involved. I suppose a future season could reveal this all to be a plot by Blunt to push Alex toward a certain destiny, but I don't see that coming just yet. However, here's what I found uncomfortable: Mrs. Jones is still portrayed as better than Blunt.

In the books, while both are evil, the reader is led to like Mrs. Jones better, even though her actions are just as bad as Blunt. However, I think that while the screenwriters want you to like Mrs. Jones, an analysis shows Blunt being the better person. Blunt is clearly meant to be the bad guy. He doesn't help Alex. He's a dick to him. He even seems to be getting private information from Alex's therapist. But he tries to push Alex out of this world. Blunt believes Alex deserves a better life, and all of his actions toward him are to cut Alex off from the world of espionage. I was sort of wondering if it was some kind of mind game where Blunt was isolating him to push him to the point where he'd willingly engage in a mission, but it doesn't seem to be that way.

Mrs. Jones, however, does the opposite. She knows Alex is out there endangering himself, and while she keeps some tabs on him, until the end, she does absolutely nothing to help him or keep him out of harm's way. The viewer is led to see her more favorably since she ultimately helps Alex and believes him when Blunt doesn't, but she really only chips in at the end.

She could have had Alex kept under watch and kept at home, but she didn't, leading to his, Tom's, and Kyra's almost deaths. She may not have been able to go behind Blunt's back and go after Cray entirely, but she has enough control that she could have done more.

Yes, Alex ultimately saved millions of people, but he shouldn't have needed to. I don't see her as better than Blunt in the tv show. I see her as worse because she's the one letting teenagers risk their lives doing her job. Blunt at least tried to stop them. He should have gone after Cray himself, but that's a separate issue.

Then that end where Mrs. Jones presented Jack with the guardianship and dual citizenship papers...again, it's seen as her being a good guy. But we all know that she can just as easily undo it.

Anyway, what really concerns me about the way this is going is that it seems to be veering away from the overall books in terms of message. For the books, the message is clear: MI6 completely ruined Alex's life. Teenagers should not be forced to endanger themself over and over again to save the world. The tv show seems to be pushing a somewhat cheerfuller version than the books. Other than the PTSD parts in the early episodes, it seems to be more of teens save the world and all's well that end's well. Now, granted, Eagle Strike is the one book where MI6 actually doesn't try to get Alex to work for them, so maybe it's a fluke. But I'm worried that the adaptation is going to be significantly less dark and psychologically complex.

[thatgoshdarnhippieshow]

Hello, lovely listeners. You may have noticed that we haven't done an episode of That Gosh Darn Hippie Show for a long time. A very long time. Maybe even too long without any kind of update. And also that I've been largely absent from any kind of social media, even my private ones. Well, there's a few reasons for that, but.. There's kinda one major big reason that I've been kinda beating around the bush even admitting even to the close friends in my day-to-day life, and mostly because I've been scared to even say it out loud. I need a change. I'm not entirely sure what that change is. I don't know if that change is changing the show, changing the characters, or stopping all together, but there needs to be some kind of change. This also unfortunately isn't something that I can have others make input on, either, because it's related to something that's been deeply personal, but I can't make a decision until that personal thing is resolved. I've been living entirely on my own for the past two years in lockdown because of the pandemic, away from outside influence, with a lot of time to myself to just... think. Meditate. Focus on myself. And.. I think DJ Hippie, much like the character Oracle when he made his coming-of-age journey, might need that journey themself. Only, rather than traveling around the globe, this is more a journey of figuring out who they are. Or, rather who I am. Truth be told, while DJ Hippie is indeed a character, they're still very based on me when I first started radio, and who I was (or thought I was) at the time. I've been able to brush them off as just a character separate from myself for a while, but.. Every year it just kinda felt worse and worse to play them. Even when I tried bringing in little hints of who I was growing into, it still stopped feeling right a while ago. But I ignored it, and I kept going on, until I just couldn't stand doing it anymore. I love radio, and I love the characters that we've created, and I love all of the wacky adventures they've been on. I'm not saying I don't. But.. Maybe Hippie is a little more feminine than I actually am.. And maybe I'm a little more masculine than I thought initially. I've kinda just slapped labels on this feeling like "nonbinary" and "genderqueer" and didn't give it much thought after that, mostly because I've never had a chance to sit down and take the time to figure out who I actually am (And for people who want to say "There are only two genders" or "these extra labels are dumb" or whatever, they aren't. They're important for many people and many people are nonbinary/genderqueer/ect. I'm.. Just not 100% sure if I am right now). But yeah.. I kinda want to just.. Have a moment to explore who I am, and what I want to do about it. What exactly I am, I'm not going to worry about tossing a label at it for now, but.. I just know I may not entirely be a woman. And this isn't a journey that I want to broadcast on the air or show step-by-step on social media because I want to take this journey on my own and figure out what works for me without worrying about what other people think during the whole process, which is the reason why I've been avoiding this conversation with myself and others for this long. I know it sounds cliche, but I truly do feel like I've been living a lie, and I want to take the time to figure out my truth.Thank you so much to everyone for your patience, understanding, and hopefully tolerance. And most of all, thank you for the music. Thank you for the laughter. Thank you for the seven beautiful years of this chaos. -(Possibly formerly) Kiki Willows,Voice of DJ Hippie, director, head writer, and disk jockey of That Gosh Darn Hippie Show

[angrelysimpping]

What's one gotta do for some soft Avery goodness in DoL ;-;. Hopefully we get some more Avery content in the next update or two. Any ideas for soft Avery content (kind of a request)? I'm thinking we might be able to visit their mansion but might be a while before we can actually move in, I guess.

Soft Avery is rare until they trust you. They're paying you for your affections, after all. But once you've endeared yourself to them, they're more likely to be soft with you. Not in public, though. They're not that big on PDA.

In private, they like having you in close proximity to them. Even while doing something else, they like knowing you want to be near them.

I can't help but think they'd really like it if while they were sitting on a couch, reading or something, you sat next to them and leaned on them. They might put an arm around your shoulders or pull you so you're laying with your head on their lap.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again: Avery is a sleep cuddler. They cuddle in their sleep and they don't know this about themself. It's better for you if you just cuddle up with them as soon as they're asleep because otherwise you'll get woken up by them dragging you to them while they're half awake.

They end up playing with your hair a lot. Will have their phone in one hand, reading emails. Their other hand is on top of your head.

Most affectionate when they've just woken up. On their days off, they'd like to just lounge in bed with you for a while. Maybe have a late breakfast together.