#and an epilouge i guess

[scratchandplaster]

Stack The Deck - PART 9

CW: regretful Whumper, Lima syndrom, trauma, paranoia

PART 8 ⇽ [Masterlist] ⇾ PART 10

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Things had gone worse during the short break they took from each other. Morris came back to look at him, silent and frantic, while gathering his luggage.

Everything went by quickly after that, Elliot being lifted from the mattress and stashed away in the Civic's backseat, waiting to be picked up. He couldn't overhear the mysterious call Morris made in the next room, but whoever he spoke to made quite an impact on his behavior. Amber; she had to be it this time. He deserved to live after all, the high court decided.

Wordlessly, Morris had joined him in the car just moments later. Quiet curses roamed through the space between, his eyes always fixed on the man in the windshield's reflection. 

It felt like a dream, entering the daylight again. Melting snow coated the meadows and industrial structures that slipped past them with anxious pace, hinting at the first signs of winter. It's Sunday, he realized, the first Advent.

Just a few more rehearsals, and their performance would be flawless. He couldn't wait to see the joy they always brought to the audience, the more reserved admirers of their art had their own way to express that.

Suddenly, the car came to a stop. Elliot faintly recognized the area, a few miles away from suburbia; he was closer to home than he imagined. As he admired the gentle blanket of white that glazed the street, an ice-cold gust of air surprised him. Morris pushed himself out of the driver's side to open the rear door, with a firm grab on his coat collar, he was pulled out to stand.

"Up you go, Ell!"

The soft crunch of snow underneath felt surreal, like it didn't belong there. Swaying lightly in the frosty breeze, boiling up from the inside but breathing out nothing more than little clouds, Elliot was held up by strong hands.

It was Advent Sunday in the deserted wilderness, nobody in sight. A perfect place to get rid of someone.

With a painful frown in his features, Morris continued to search for eye contact and was rewarded with a glassy stare. He prayed to never meet him again, to be something else than the stopgap.

"Ell, you're a decent guy. I wished we had met under nicer circumstances."

Silence. Elliot thought about spring, and his mother. He doesn't call often enough.

"I will end your life, if any of this gets to the authorities."

Nodding synchronously to his heartbeat, he didn't dare to take the chance.

It's a trick, he's going to put a bullet into my head the second I turn around. The fact that Morris was way more fond of everything that could stab didn't convince him otherwise. It's a trick.

"I thought - you know, I had this whole plan made up... Fuck! It's going to be okay." Pulling the sad piece of dried up cotton out of his pocket, Morris began draping the scarf around Elliot's neck, back to its original purpose. Fingers plucked at it, fluffing it up and around to offer the best protection.

"Listen, it doesn't matter how you feel about me right now, the second you're downtown, you need to go to a hospital."

"Yeah." A caw was all he would get out anymore.

"Nonono, listen. You go to the ER and tell them you, I don't know, slammed your hand in a car door. They won't believe a word, but that doesn't matter. Stick to that story, and they will stop asking eventually." 

Morris had other worries right now, planning to delete all his unnoticed messages before anyone would lay an eye on it, a witness to his failure.

"Don't call her, okay? That's not your problem anymore."

Amber didn't use to be his problem for quite a while, actually, not until two days ago. He had pressed her and the little quirks she brought far away, the walls had ripped open now, bleeding inside and out.

Brown eyes dead focused on the asphalt, skin red with infection.

"Okay?"

Only nodding, again.

"Two miles, this way," Morris whispered closely and pointed to the steeple in the distance. It was a fast gesture, nearly over in a blink of an eye, but Elliot could still sense the firm hug Morris gave him, pressing into his shoulders to send shockwaves down his spine.

"In another life, I'm sure we would've had a great time together, right?" Putting the phone back into Elliot's pocket, Amber's number deleted just in case, he held the weak figure at his waist to keep it upright. There was a lot to say, an apology or maybe just a lonely goodbye, but nothing came over Morris' lips.

The pressure left Elliot, standing on his own. It would happen any second, he knew that now, a quick stab between the ribs to let it all out. Morris wouldn't drag this out, he was a decent man too, after all. Watching the sky, blues and grays mixing together in the morning sun, he waited for the end of his suffering.

The motor that never stopped running sounded so far away suddenly, just a buzz in the shell of his ear. He waited.

I don't call mom often enough, really.

Through the back mirror, Morris traced the abandoned man at the edge of the road. He looked so tiny against the open nature, vulnerable to the forces of nature.

Even if he had the nerve left to look at the license plates, he seemed to pass on this opportunity. They would be changed in the near future anyway. Before making it around a curve, he could see how his legs started to stumble forward, too bruised and stiff to bend correctly, but still going. He was expected back home; at least that he had to get right, the rest was irrelevant.

--------

Elliot couldn't remember how he made it back to his apartment building, the world drifted around him in a blur of colors. At one point, he carried himself into a subway station, leaning against the handrails like a wasted lunatic. 

He heard laughter far away, normally anxious it could be about him, but these thoughts were nowhere near. He was glad nobody spoke to him, no help, no nervous interest. Morris would be back, and everyone who suspected foul play regarding the injuries put themselves at the same risk he lived through.

Just me, just me and nobody else. Nobody can know-

Struggling to get the door open, his forehead pressed violently against the wood to keep balance, until the keys finally slipped in to enter the only place left untainted. With a clumsy kick of his foot, it slammed shut again.

Elliot would have fallen asleep, if a silent hop hadn't greeted him near instantly. It felt wrong to have Ginkgo's soft hair next to his agony-ridden body, her noiseless presence coming over him in a wave of peace. She must have been starving by now, neglected for days.

What am I even good for?

Silently apologizing over and over again, he let his unmarked hand pet over her back, smearing wayward fluids all through her precious gray-brown fur. Any minute now, it's not safe.

So caught in his fear he tasted at the back of his throat, he tried to remember something that was promised just a few minutes earlier.

The rabbit's tiny snout nibbled and licked at his elbow, kissing away some scattered drops of blood. Oh, I forgot the yogurt drops.

Half of him wasn't present anymore, gone with time. He was a stain on the mattress, a pool on the bathroom floor. It's a trick, he will come back again. Lost in the feverish heat of his own grimy body, he continued to lay still, only being roused by Ginkgo from time to time. 

I need to feed her.

Acting on autopilot again, his body moved towards the pantry. He watched himself fill her bowl up with fresh water along with hay and her usual muesli, ending the basic task by sitting next to her on the floor, breathing heavily. 

"You're okay," he gasped, not sure who of the two he meant, "you're going to be okay!"

The whole left side of his body was numb, its mere existence scrapped from the mind's perception, like it didn't belong to him.

He needed to prepare for his captor's return: barricade the door, get a knife - a hammer, anything to protect himself. Later, his screaming muscles dictated, letting the husk of a person sink into the ground beneath.

Elliot was allowed to rest now, although his suffering was for nothing. Alas, that's the nature of it.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Thanks for reading 🤍 [Febuwhump 2023 Masterlist]

@febuwhump, @whatwasmyprevioususername

[hollyhomburg]

Can we get any hints about the epilouge of bily🥺

would you like a sneak peek instead?

[eyndr-stories]

Ive got a little somethin to share with yall once i’m reunited with my laptop :^D

[13tinysocks]

WDYM ITS TOMORROW IN 45 MINUTES

its midnight in the east cost in 12 minutes! so technically, ill post the epilogue tomorrow

[orphiclovers]

Okay. Long incoherent rambling theory post ahead. Specifically, I want to talk about how the Han Sooyoung 'split' happened/how Han Sooyoung got the avatar skill, extrapolating from canon where I can and headcanoning the rest.

Let's start from what she herself says on the topic. 3rd rounds Han Sooyoung tells Kim Dokja, in a conversation about how 'Avatar' works, that the very first time she made an avatar, she gave it too many memories and it 'went out of control' and ran off. This was a friendly conversation and hsy brought it up herself, so there's not really a reason for her to lie here - this is probably close to how she actually remembers the situation.

Which is interesting because 1863rd rounds Han Sooyoung denies this fact and says SHE is the main body and that she left an avatar behind to act as her. Now 1863 could be lying here to unbalance kdj, they were having a battle of words at the time with lying being an explicit part of the game, but she could also be telling the truth and maybe 3rd just doesn't know she's an avatar (like 49%). we don't get a comfirmation either way so that is left ambigous. So. That's a dead end.

Then, how does the Avatar skill evolve in general?

Kim Dokja says the requirements to evolve it is that you need to be in a creative field of some kind (so you have an 'Author' attribute) + under enough psychological distress for your mind to 'split' in a way that orv compares to DID (in not the most tactful way). It's a rare skill so I'm guessing it probably requires both of these to be true at the same time. A key hint is that we do actually get one other example of someone evolving the Avatar skill on screen. 1863rd rounds Yoo Joonghyuk. It goes like this:

So...not exactly a fun time. But actually I'm sensing a pattern here. Both Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung, after evolving and using the avatar skill for the first time end up as two sepetate autonomous entities with their own free will - 1863rd!hsy and 3rd!hsy and white and black coat wearing yjh respectively (Kim Dokja too actually - with 49% 51%). So, I think this might be how the skill functions, spontaneously splitting you in half the first time and then both halves of you can make avatars at will after that. Let's assume this is true for the sake of the theory. This conflicts with the way both Han Sooyoungs describe it - they both say they 'created' an avatar the first time BUT I think neither of them were being entirely truthful.

Let's talk about that second parameter. 'Severe psychological distress' in a way similar to that of DID. How I interpret this, based on what we see of 1863rd!yjh, is that there needs to be some fundemental dissonance of core beliefs that cannot exist or be held at the same time, so requires the soul to split in half. For Yoo Joonghyuk it's 'I want to live/I want to die.' (Although Kim Dokja doesnt get the skill in the natural way, I think this concept still holds true. His dissonance is not so explicitly stated but maybe it's something along the lines of 'epilouge/eternity' i.e 'happily ever after OR atonement for his (percieved) sins'.)

But also there's an element of, how do I say this...'purifying self-destruction' to how we see our trio use Avatar. Yoo Joonghyuk takes the blackened and traumatized part of him that wants to die and kills it with a sword, leaving only the part of him that still has hope to regress to the 3rd round, free and unburdened by the weight of bad memories.

You could interpret 51%/49% this way too. The inherent act of Kim Dokja choosing to use this skill to split his soul in half means he did not see another way foward - that psychological distress and belief dissonance is an inherent part of this skill. 49%, the one who get's the 'happily ever after' does not remember needing Ways of Survival, maybe because Kim Dokja couldn't imagine himself having a happy ending with the weight of those specific memories.

But coming back to Han Sooyoung. Just look at the way she uses Avatar in kaizenix. She is a person who does not enjoy being emotionally vulnerable so in any heavy situation she clings to her dry and witty personality like a shield.

Let's just fully realize what she's saying here. When she says she erased the memories of her life deliberately, what she means is that she created an avatar, a sort of 'black coat wearing han sooyoung' and killed it again and again, every year, so she could keep that sarcastic and light hearted attiude. Otherwise she would have become someone like 1863rd rounds Han Sooyoung - hardened and unhappy. And I mean that she literally was on the path of becoming her - she even got 1863rds skill.

She deliberatley brushes off Kim Dokja and doesn't acknowledge the weight of her actions in kaizenix, both waiting for 50 years and killing parts of herself over and over.

And I think this is the sort of mindset she had while telling Kim Dokja about 'creating' an avatar for the first time. She doesn't see the point in potraying herself as vulnerable, so she probably would obscure some details of that story, for example if she was on her knees clutching her head a la 1863rd turns Yoo Joonghyuk at the time. This would seem like a pointless detail to add when the point of the story was that her avatar ran off.

So FINALLY, here's my headcanon on what I think the original belief dissonance was for Han Sooyoung and how she got the Avatar skill.

The split happened very early on in the scenarios. And well, there is one obvious Big Event that might cause someone to have a mental breakdown/identity crisis. The first scenario. I think whoever Han Sooyoung killed, she couldn't deal with the fact she had become a murderer and 'exorcised' those memories - and so 1863 was born, with blood on her hands, in an already destroyed world.

[mellarked-katnisseverdeen]

So, guess I am back. Hi?

Feel like some explaining is in order. Or venting, whatever you wanna call it. Just want to get this off my chest.

Recently got in a chat with another fan about spesifically the scene where Katniss is daydreaming about Peetas child in CF. And how, Katniss does not in fact see herself as this childs mother. This fan actually DID change my mind. Thier idea was reasonable and def supported by canon. They were also polite so, they aren't the issue here not even a little bit.

It, ended up changeing how I read...just about everything relating to the epilouge. For the worst. Without some kind of notion of Katniss at least...having some desire to want children even if she can't it makes the way I see her having her kids so much less joyful or exciting.

DO NOT hear what I didn't say: No, I do not think Katniss was forced into anything in the least bit, nor did she in any way not want kids in my mind. It just feels...off, and less happy if this is the case. If there isn't any indication she might have wanted this if things were different shown in an explictly postivie light.

It just. Makes any of these really happy thoughts or ideas I have around it not supported by anything in canon. There is really nothing to support how happy and excited I (used to) see Katniss be as a mom.

So yea. That hasn't been the funnest.

What this means? I don't know. For now it looks like me cringing at my old posts and fanfics, and not being nervous and unsure if I should do any more at all around this subject.

[ashl-3-y]

We work in the same office. He always catches my attention. One thing I noticed that he is always writing. Holding his diary in one hand, while the other holds the pen. Sometimes I catch him glancing at me, sometimes I am the one whose eyes draft towards him. 

In the morning we usually greet eachother, sometimes I ran into him in the break room and chat about small things, before we head back to our work.  

Right now I'm sitting in the coffe shop near our company. He is sitting in the corner of the shop, writing. His glasses sitting on his nose. Pen in one hand. Eyes fixated on the paper, blonde hair falling on his forehead.  

I always wonder what is on his mind. What makes him so occupied in his thoughts. I sip my coffe and glance towards his way. I see him stand up and leave in a hurry. Forgetting half his stuff behind. I call after him, but he is already gone.  

Picking up his stuff, I manage to let his diary slip through my fingers. Opening on the latest page he was working on. I pick it up and my eyes run through the words.  

Most of the time I write it is about ordinary days of my life. 

Thankfully, it all changed since I met her. 

She became my muse. 

She does not know it, and she probably will not know it. 

She is like a piece of art. Getting my attention even with the smallest thing. 

Her sweet greetings in the morning feels like honey in sour tea. 

She probably does not aware of the fact how breathtaking she is. 

Her small glances makes my heart pound. 

Her eyes, oh her eyes are so precious to me. 

When they meet mine, I feel like she is reading me like an open book. 

I am afraid, one day she will see in them the love I feel towards her.

Before I could continue to read the beautiful words he puts on paper the diary is snatched from my hand. He is standing there, out of breath. His glasses slipped down on his nose, he must be running to get his forgotten stuff. 

Without a word he is putting away his things.  

“How much did you see?” he asks, back facing me. 

“I only read the last page.” I can see his back muscles tense up under his shirt. I try to  releasse the tension with the words first coming to my mind.  

“Your writing, it is beautiful.” Silence. 

He turns around, his eyes meet mine. I can see the wrinkles around his eyes as he sends a smile towards me. 

“I thank your kindness.” he says softly and pushes his glasses upwards. I can see he is willing to talk. So I ask him. 

“Who is your muse? I can feel through the pages that you really do adore that person.” he averts his eyes. “If you do not mind me asking!” I say and put my hands up in defense. 

He does not answer, but his eyes does anyway as they meet my own. I feel the skin on my face burn as he continues his stare. Golden brown eyes looking at me.  

“I guess you figured out.” 

Epilouge: 

I am currently making tea for my husband, who is already in bed holding a book in one hand. I make my steps towards him and see that he is actually writing something. A smile crawls on my face. 

I put down the cup on the nightstand. Before sitting down on the bed. 

“What are you writing?” he glances up at me from under his glasses. 

“A love letter for the woman dear to my heart.” he says simply and puts down the book on the nightstand. He sits up correctly and takes my hands in his. “Even though you already have a million of those.” A smile spreads across his face, his thumbs caressing my knuckles. 

A chuckle escapes from my lips. “I could never get tired of your writing.” He smiles at me fondly and his lips brushes mine.  

[static-sulker]

Okay so. How I think the bg3 companions hug. If you even care. If you ever wanted to know I guess….

Karlach? Oh she’s a STRONG hugger. At first after her engine is more or less settled, she’d be a very big hugger but she wouldn’t be the best at it at first. Like she has the energy but doesn’t know what to do with her hands at first. She has been wanting to give affection or hug or literally do anything with people for 10 years, so she is a bit excited to try it all out. She does learn quickly though due to so many fuckin options for hugging. She has a warm embrace type of thing going on which is pretty nice in mix of Astarion or maybe Shadowheart? Also, she is a LONG hugger. Type to have your limbs swaying all about if you get hugged by her.

Wyll is a very good hugger. The type who does a little sway during the hug. Like he’s normally the one rocking the other or soothing your back or something. It's less that he takes charge, but he does try and comfort first. He’s just a nice guy for a good hug. let’s be honest he’s a really nice guy. FUCK I love Wyll. He doesn’t do it all the time, but he doesn’t detest hugs, so if you ask he’s gonna give you a hug. He’s the blade of frontiers, so he is gonna be giving buddies hugs. Part of the code and shit.

so Astarion is changing with the arc here. Act one? If you even get the chance, he may hug you but it’s nothing to long or intimate. It’s usually just a step to something else or more of…A grapple I guess????Unless needed or brought up by somebody else, he's not up for hugs in a platonic or less sexual fashion. Act two he is not gonna be the one initiating the hug still but won’t try and squeeze out as often. Kinda just tucks himself in and can almost relax. Act three and epilouge? Oh bro is just lookin for hugs at that point. Not from anybody mind you, but from the people he trusts? A good hug seems to settle him. He's a bit cold so it's nice for hot days or after a burning battle or something. Normally the one getting hugged, so he has a bit of trouble sometimes taking charge in the hug but bro sometimes tries.

Lae'zel has probably never been hugged in her fucking life. She probably doesn't care for it greatly, probably batting you away at first. She seems the type of hugger to more shield instead of soothe? Like would wrap an arm around somebody when like yelling at an aggressor like an angry sister or parent would. Intimacy that isn't a trick or just sexual doesn't seem to fit well for Lae'zel usually, but I don't really know if she'd HATE hugs. would probably get ringed into one by Karlach a few too many times tho.

Gale is probably a GREAT hugger, not one to go out and give them all around willy nilly but would do like a cradle type situation. Just wrap you in and sway a bit. Definitely a LONG hugger and seems pretty invested in affection. Will put his entire self into the hug just outta nowhere. Like "Oh, thank you for giving me that artifact this morning, it truly was a lovely gesture." and just give you a heart-throbbing hug. His entire thing is that he will do anything for people he cares for and that probably bleeds into his hugs. Also, it's noticeable that Gale wasn't given much physical connection with Mystra, more of the spiritual kind that he describes in his romance scene. He's probably a bit new to it and DEFINITELY starved for it.

Shadowheart is a bit complicated. Act one? Like B-grade hugger. Isn't asking for any and probably won't give many, but she would be okay at em. Hasn't been given any in a long while, probably sense she got taken by shar's followers. If she continues to follow Shar, shitty ass hugs. No doubt it's just quiet and nothing ad no real intimacy. Shar denier? OH THE BEST HUG. Soft and supportive. It's a wild card with Shadowheart. Either the sweetest little hug you'll get after a soft moment or like cold and way to fast.

[eferhilda-drake]

So I finished watching the trailer, and oh my God. I absolutely hate Alastor and Charlie's voice. I don't care for Vaggie, but her voice might just grow on me. Keith David voicing Husk still seems out a place for me.

Also isn't season 1 like 8 episodes. They really go through that much stuff for 8 episodes? What is season 2 supposed to be about then if the angels is coming down on season 1? Let me guess. It's gonna be like Helluva where season 2 episode 1 should've been an epilouge to season 1. What even is this writing?

[wilting-fl0wer]

wanted to post this meme i made awhile ago but i completly forgot hhhh

this is practically a summary of my every playthrough LMAO

Tw below: rant and opinions

lil fun fact bout my playthoughs! i actually never had Tammy and Cal date, not even once. i accidently spoiled myself about their potential relationship long before i got the game, and since i had my eyes set on Cal i was like "like hell i'll let that happen". Plus in my opinion i feel like they're much, much happier apart, especially Tammy since i feel like she's the happiest when she's poly rather than with Cal. I know many people feel really guilty about "breaking them up" (also i feel like everyone is exagerrating quite a lot about the severity of preventing them from dating, honestly) and i'm probably the only person here who didn't feel a speck of guilt while coming between them each playthrough so i can date Cal (no idea what this says about me as a person but i digress). It's a process but it's worth it since they both end up happy (maybe even happier!) in the epilouge with their own family units, it always makes me happy when i read the line where Tammy gushes to Sol that she's the happiest she has ever been when she's poly and not with Cal, and meanwhile Cal and Sol have children and grow old together.

whew, sorry for ranting but i had to get this off my chest, remember this is just my own experience and my own opinion, if you like them together, that's fine! personally, i don't, i don't think they're a good fit for each other, and guess what? that's fine too! everyone has their opinions at the end of the day and this is mine. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk *drops mic*

[davekat-sucks]

homestuck's fanbase is really making me feel like giving up on the story as a whole... Jesus, I might just call it quits soon. Listening to idiots try to defend how shit Homestuck's story became is too exhausting. It reminds me of when I was listening to lectures of, people who hardly counted as, writers go off about how important it is to prioritize representation over all else. They never realized if you do a terrible job with writing a story, you do a terrible job of representing women, different racial groups, gay men, ext. They don't want to write female characters like they're people who make mistakes and grow. Those authors wanted women to always be perfect and always in the right and her biggest obstacle is that men don't believe in her. You can see that in Star Wars with Rei or Captain Marvel as an example of the mindset I'm talking about.

I liked homestuck because so many of the female characters had challenges and flaws. Aradia, Terezi, Rose... They had amazing stories and their flaws made them interesting.

Homestuck could have been a story about different people who have completely different mindsets coming together for a common goal. Homestuck is just... soap opera drama and shitty teen romance at the end of the story where the characters just wait for the story to finish and most of the audience left. In the epilogue, it feels like all of the characters gave up. I suppose Kanaya did put in effort to find Rose and make sure she is safe, I'll give the story credit there. Dirk wants something too. Dirk's goal is just to close the loop and create the first universe in the first place but all you ever hear people talking about is how his motivations have something to do with the shitty meta fiction gimmick the story has going on. "Gotta keep the story going or else the characters fade out of memory" That is such bullshit concept. Sounds like a justification for why there are so many Star Wars shows now. Sounds like milking an IP. Quantity of quality kind of excuse.

And, for the record, my beef isn't with how the fandom represents it's own headcanons or interpretations of the characters, my beef is with how people talk about the canon. Fandom and canon should be two different things. But people act like the fandom should influence canon. I thought the point of both of the cherubs were to show that is a bad idea. Fanon being in canon feels like it derails the story, even the homosuck part that Caliborn came up with.

I'm getting tired of trying to even find a space in this fandom. It's occupying too much of my freetime now. I have so much nostalgia for homestuck but now it feels like trying to get back on the swings of a playground, too old for this shit. Fuck, I adulted too hard and I outgrew fandom I guess. Shit sucks.

Ah well, at least they fans are having fun. But how much fun can you really have when Rose screwed over Kanaya in two timelines? Kanaya felt like a better character in the epilouge cause she's given a challenge to face that is unique to her and her relationship with her wife. Rose's dad brainwashed(?) her to leave her wife, wow, Kanaya that's some shit. Just sucks that she is getting cucked AGAIN. Is it a universal constant that Kanaya is just going to keep falling for women who don't respect her? Maybe she should have stuck with Vriska. All of this Kanaya Rose drama is a bad sign of what's to come. I think it's disrespectful to the fans that are still sticking around. I'm not really included in this bunch. My horse tapped out of the race years ago. People who are still holding out for hope this story is going somewhere are either the most optimistic people out there or the most beaten down.

It's no wonder so many people who worked on homestuck abandoned ship. Toby looks like he's having a good career and Hussie looks like he's afraid of what he created. Maybe there is poetic justice to be gleaned from all of this.

It had lot of creative ideas and talent. But through it, there are cracks and messes that can't be ignored. Even now, the same kind of messes appear again in present times and I think people are scared to talk about it in fear that the thing they love was not as great as they though it was. We really are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Even when moments in the series and narrative itself that tells the audience that we were stupid to even care, we stayed because we loved it for what it was back then before the meta shit kicked in. The whole revival of the series so it won't fade away and being comparable to Star Wars is a good way to describe it. The team not taking risks to actually go outside of the Homestuck cast, tell a new story, or even trying to focus on the base webcomic alone that made it popular in the first place. They can't even put more focus on Hiveswap just yet because they know people know Homestuck first before Hiveswap, despite said game could make a better introduction or entryway for people to get interested in the webcomic. I'm not sure what is going on through Hussie or James Roach's mind for all this.

[audrey-carr1]

You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling (epilouge)

Part 1

Summary: After years of not knowing what happened to you, Hetty gets closure on the relationship in an unexpected way. (Set after Part 1 of You'd have to stop the world)

Warnings: fem!reader, Original Character, fluff, no hurt only comfort,

Present day

“Hetty you have a letter in a bottle!” Sam exclaims in excitement.  

“What in heavens is that?” Hetty says looking at dust covered bottle in her niece’s hand. 

Sam holds the bottle under better lighting, and thats when Hetty sees her own name written on a small card in familiar scrawl. Hetty tries not to get to excited, but she cannot deny the small flutter of butterflies at the possibility. 

“It could be nothing,” Hetty tells herself.

Sam shrugs before saying, “There’s only one way to find out. Why don’t we go upstairs to figure out how to open this.”

While Sam is trying to pry the wax away from the bottle, the chime of the front door brings her attention to the foyer. Sam places the bottle on the counter, before wiping her hands on her jeans. She quickly leaves the kitchen to great the guest, leaving Hetty behind. 

“Hello are you checking in?” Sam asks.

“Yes, I am,” the young womans says approaching the front desk. 

“What brings you in?” Sam says while searching through the reservations. 

“Well actually you do,” the young woman says.

Sam tries to keep calm, but she knows the panic must show on her face. Anytime someone had said that, something hinky happens.  

“I know that may sound weird, but I think our family may be connected,” 

“Oh great not again. Do I not deserve peace?” Sam thinks to herself.

The young woman continues speaking, “My name is Antoinette, and my great-great-great-great grandmother was your great-great-great-great aunt Hetty’s best friend. I found a box of what I assume are old letters between them. I thought you might want them. I did some research on the family name, and I was able to track you down through your recently published book. I assumed you may want some family memorabilia,” 

Hetty gets a bit impatient waiting for Sam to check the guest in. She decides to leave the bottle and find Sam. 

“Samantha I-” Hetty stops at the sight of the guest. She feels as if her heart is about to launch from her chest. That face. 

“I’d know that face anywhere. But how can that be? Is it possible to be haunted in the afterlife?” Hetty thinks to herself.

“y/n,” Hetty whispers. 

Sam quickly glances at Hetty and almost double glances when sees Hetty almost in tears.

“You know before I bother you with questions, why don’t you take your things to your room, and we can talk more in the kitchen once you’re settled.” Samantha says handing Antoinette her keys. 

“Sure, I’d love to,” Antoinette makes her way upstairs. Once she’s out of ear shot Sam turns to Hetty.

“Where did that she come from?” Hetty asks in a harsh whisper.

“Oh well judging by her accent, England,” Sam says in attempt to lighten the mood.

“Where would be without your astute observations,” Hetty quips, ”I may sound crazy, but she looks like an old friend of mine, (y/n).” Hetty says turning her gaze towards the stairs the young woman just climbed. 

“Well she says that was her grandmother,” Samantha says

Hetty’s head whips back around to face Sam and stares at her in shock, at the thought of you having a child. Hetty can’t remember you saying anything about being with child let alone having one. Hetty’s mind races with questions, that need to be answered at once. 

“Are you okay there Hetty?” Sam asks

“What is she doing here?” Hetty answers Sam’s question with another. 

“She said that there is a box full of letters between the two of you. She thinks that I would like them,”

“Ofcourse I want them! I mean -” Hetty quickly slips a mask in place, “ Did she say what was in those letters?”

“No, but I’ll guess we’ll find out,” Samantha says. 

Sam, Hetty, and Antoinette spend a good portion of the morning into the afternoon trading family history. 

Albeit it’s mainly Antoinette answering questions that Hetty has Samantha ask. While they were talking 

“That’s my necklace! Sam you must get it back for me,” Hetty urges Sam.

“Antoinette, you have an ‘H’ on your necklace, is that in regards to you having a special someone?” Sam asks.

“Oh this?” Antoinette says looking down at her necklace,  “ Actually it stands for my middle name: Henrietta. My full name is Antoinette Henrietta Marie. The grandmother in these letters name was Henrietta Marie Antoinette. The first born girl of each generation obtains the middle name “Henrietta Marie”, but my mother decided to give me my grandmother’s full name with a bit of remixing. This necklace is has passed down for generations too and, I recieved it on my 16th birthday. I was hoping to inherit my grandmother’s ring, but I recently discovered she was buried with it. Total bummer, but hey I still have a wicked family heirloom.” 

“It’s a locket, I put pictures of me and (y/n) inside, ” Hetty urges Sam. 

“It looks like a locket, have you opened it?” Sam says. 

“Honestly I never examined it that thoroughly all these years,” Antoinette says taking the necklace from her person. 

Hetty waits with baited breath for Antoinette to open the locket. When the locket clicks open, Hetty is almost overcome with joy. There within the locket are a picture of her and (y/n).

“Oh my,” Antoniette begins but doesn’t finish,” That’s them isn’t it,”

“It sure is,” Hetty replies to Antoniette even though Hetty knows the girl can’t hear her. 

Sam glances at Hetty and notices the tears in her eyes. Before Sam can speak Antoinette phone begins to ring, “Excuse me I have to take this.”

Antoinette gets up from the table and leaves the locket behind for Sam to look at.

Sam turns back to Hetty and asks, “How do you think I should get the necklace back?”

Hetty quickly dabs the tears from her eyes, “No it’s fine. Let her keep it. It is a family heirloom afterall.”

Hetty never expected for your lives to still be connected after all of these years. Hetty often wondered what became of you after your death, and to now have answers has given her closure she wasn’t sure she needed. Hetty continues to admire the necklace, and is awe of how much Antoinette looks like her grandmother. It is almost uncanny. 

“It must be pretty cool to hear that you have namesakes, generations of them actually. She even still wrote you after your passing,” Sam says in awe,  “You and (y/n) must have been very close,” 

“Yes, yes we were” Hetty says with a full heart. 

Antoinette came back from the phone call, and urged Sam to read the letters while she took care of the business matter that called her away in the first place. Sam and Hetty then spend the next couple of hours reading through as many letters as they can. 

______________________________________________________________

1895

Henrietta,

You will not believe the news that I’ve been given as of late. I’m with child! The doctor suspects that I am 3 months along. I assumed my lack of menses and continued melancholy was due to your passing.  

There are still some days that I struggle to get out of bed. Now when I want to eat, I can barely manage to keep things down. I was hoping that I had missed the child bearing years, but it seems that this one has snuck up on me. I am not sure how I will get through the next six months. 

I can only imagine how excited you would have been. I know you will make an excellent guardian angel.

_____________________________________________________________

1896

Hetty,

I have been blessed with a daughter. I am still coming to terms that I am now a mother. It all seems so odd now that the child is actually born, and what a labour that was. I do not think I shall have more. My husband and I are still debating on names. He says that he will love whatever I pick, and I wish he was more of help. He knows that I can be a bit indecisive. I think I’m going to name her Henrietta Marie Antoinette. Another little Hetty can you imagine that!

______________________________________________________________

1902

Hetty,

Your “niece” continues to ask questions about her Aunt Hetty. She wonders what you look like, where you live, and so much more. I never knew children to be filled with so many questions. It’s as if as soon as she turned seven, all of the questions of the world must be answered at once. Nevertheless, Little Hetty grows smarter by the day.  I wish I had our pictures together to show her, but I believe my photobox is in New York. I must remember to grab it the next time I visit. 

Mostly her attributes favor mine except her hair. Her hair favors her father as she has the most beautiful mop of curly hair that I’ve ever laid eyes on. I hope it does not give her governess grief when it is time to dress her hair for events. She also reads very fluently for her age and has taken up lessons in violin and piano. I assume she will be very ahead in her studies in the near future. I laugh whenever I hear Little Hetty say she is going to college, I remember what you used to say about women going to college. I’m sure if you were here, you would fund her endeavors without a doubt. As well as any of her other whims. I have to remind her father, that she cannot have everything she asks for. 

We have found that she is very quick witted and slightly tempermental, like her name-sake. Her teeth even have the same little gap yours had. There are some days when she speaks, and it seems as if you are talking through her. However, I hope she won’t inherit any of your other mischievous attributes. Lord help us all if she does. 

______________________________________________________________

1906

Henrietta,

Thomas recently  paid us a visit here in London, and I must say he is a natural with children. He was very eager to dote and spoil his young “cousin”. He even brought a gift for her 16th birthday, it was the necklace your mother gave you on your 16th birthday. The golden locket that bears an “H”on the front. It was to our surprise to see that pictures of you and I were still neatly tucked inside. 

He has even nicknamed her Letty, a variation on her nickname of Little Hetty. Letty is overjoyed to finally know what you look like. She treats the locket with the utmost care, and is very protective over it. She says she wearing it helps her feel closer to you. Oh Hetty you would have adore her. Though you hate to admit, you did have a motherly instinct. I wish you had the chance to use it more, and if you were still here you would have wasted no time using said instinct on Letty I can hear you requesting that she come and spend summers with you now. 

______________________________________________________________

Back to present day...Later that night

“Hetty I finally managed to get that bottle open,” Samantha says

“Please bring it over,” Hetty says beckoning Samantha over. 

Sam sits next to Hetty on the couch, and pours carefully pulls the letter out from the bottle. Upon further inspection, Samantha sees that is a ring inside and shakes that from the bottle as well. 

“Huh a letter and a ring,” Sam says holding the ring in her finger for Hetty to inspect.

“That’s her engagement ring. She never took it off what is it doing in a bottle?” Hetty questions.

“Maybe that is what the letter is for,” Sam suggests.

“My eyes are too tired from reading the other ones, can you read it to me?” Hetty asks.

Hetty knew that allowing Samantha to read the letter may open would expose her relationship with (y/n), but truthfully Hetty is tired of hiding the one person who loved her as a “friend” when she was much more.

-END-

A/N: The way I wanted to end it was with Hetty being "sucked off" in the middle of the night, but I felt that was too cliche lol. I still don't like the ending entirely so I might revise it lol.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this fluff. Don't worry I have something so angsty in my drafts that you might fight me about it.

[eldragon-x]

I recently mentioned that I love stories about hope and I gotta say I really admire how In Stars and Time excels at being hopeless and upsetting without being needlessly cruel.

I already knew going into this game that it's gonna take more than beating the King to break the timeloop but it truly felt more and more hopless the longer it went on. At some point I really wondered if this game would have any sort of good ending and even during the epilouge I was on edge.

In the middle of the game you have to spend time with Siffrin's party and it's a very nice part of the game where they all bond and you learn more about each of the individual characters and their personal lives but it's all undone by another loop, proving that the game really isn't afraid to undo significant developments.

But guess what. The epilouge does end with the loop broken because undoing everything that led up to this would be meaningless. The narrative is resolved and the cause of the loops figured out. But the true timeline is still the one that started with Siffrin being cruel to their friends and pushing them away because of the toll the loops have taken on them. And it's sad and messy and gutwrenching but it finally works out.

And then there's Loop, the representation of what might be the worst case scenario for Siffrin. We never really see their tragedy unfold until after Siffrin's problem is resolved which causes them to snap. But no matter wether you win or loose that last battle against them, they too get a hopeful ending after all the suffering they've endured. Idk man I just really love in stars and time

[impossiblesuitcase]

ALRIGHT so like after rereading the stars above epilouge i’ve been reminded of one of my like biggest head cannon question and it’s when how does kaider announce to their friends they’re engaged? AND I FEEL LIKE YOU WOULD KNOW SO I PUR MY TRUST IN YOU BITCH 🫶🫶

You're no longer Ken! 😂

Ugh, I struggle with scenes like these! It's the same reason I never write weddings or proposals for characters: I'm content to leave those things as unknowns because if I try to boil it down to one idea I always feel it's too important a moment to be captured. So in this case, I think it could go so many ways!

I do love a simple just telling their friends over dinner. Say they all reunite again a few months after Wolflet's wedding. Everyone yelling over the top of each other, arguing to pass the bread rolls, 'stop hogging the salad' and Thorne trying to steal Jacin's seat. Cinder and Kai stand up, waiting for the chaos to subside. It doesn't, so Kai shouts, "hey! listen!" They all fall silent. Kai and Cinder smile giddily, link hands and announce, "we're engaged!" And of course chaos breaks out. Good this time.

Another version is a little more crack.

Cinder just starts wearing the engagement ring around her friends. But since they are all spread out over the galaxy, it's a gradual process. Kaider have fun with this. Once their friends notice, they ask them to stay quiet to see how long it takes for the others. Cinder told Iko personally, so she's bursting at the seams but restrains herself. Scarlet notices first and is of course ecstatic. Wolf doesn't notice the ring but does notice Scarlet's high heart rate as she struggles not to blab to him. He keeps asking if she's okay, then she points at Cinder, and he eventually figures it out. "Oh," he says finally. "Oh?!" Scarlet yells, "how did you not notice?" Wolf admits that he doesn't pay much attention to things other than her. Winter is next. She says something like "oh dear cousin, every little soldier in my frozen palette manufacturing plant is rejoicing at this news." And Cinder just has the lady processing maths face and asks, "so you're...happy for us?" Cress doesn't notice. Thorne does and, after whooping and congratulating them, immediately inspects the ring and starts guessing how much it would sell for on the black market. Cinder doesn't let him near it after that. Cress looks on--confused--and whispers to Kai, "is the ring important?" Kai smirks and replies, "well I suppose, but I hope she didn't say yes only for the ring." Then comes the, "wait, did you propose?" and the squealing. With her sheltered upbringing, Cress forgot which hand the wedding ring is on and didn't pay attention to it. So then all that's left is Jacin. He didn't notice when Winter did, and he didn't notice when they were all together for dinner on Luna. He doesn't notice at the peace ball, or Winter's diplomatic mission to the Commonwealth, or even when they are all playing cards and the ring is adamantly on the display. Months pass and everyone is frustrated waiting for this guy to get a clue. Meanwhile, Thorne likes to make a game out of it: "Cinder is engaged...in a very serious work meeting." "Can you believe Kai is moving onto his second wife already? At his age?" Winter is the most frustrated of all because she can't speak of wedding plans with the one person she speaks to the most. So one day she pulls up a photo of Cinder and Kai, hand visible, and asks, "do you notice anything different about them, Jacin?" Jacin snorts and says, "yeah, Kai looks stupid in those pink sunglasses." "No, they're engaged!" Anyway Jacin knew the whole time. He just never acknowledged it because he never cared. At least, that's what everyone else thinks. But Jacin was having lots of fun with it.

As I said I just can't settle on anything definite! So I want to hear everyone's headcanons for it!

[gentlegiantdreamer]

If you don't mind me asking. What would siffren stint as the "king" be like? How long would it take for the party and how many loops to get through to siffren?

What would he do if someone tried to hurt his family (in either au)?

Also what does siffren do to pass the time since bro is now bigger than the castle lol?

Sorry for many questions lol.

Oooo dont worry I love having questions its fun! so lets see...

So I dont think its more they have to get to him as more of he lets them roam and live in the castle but if they try to leave he will loop them back inside. Its very much we can live here forever because ive trapped the house maiden so she cant force us to go back. i imagine he controls where he loops to so its always at the start of the castle but he made sure they knew that oh i will loop you back so while they never are sure how many times they do loop back they have a guess from how siffrin acts

2. if its the bad end au then he would go livid and kill whatever tried, i imagine the sadness dont try to because they are so terrfied of siffrin and he will destroy them with his fist. if its the epilouge then siffrin panics badly and puts himself infront, now that he's big hes def a tank and take the hits. the others get upset at him though if he thinks that oh i can be a shield now! they want him to take care of himself too so they try to soothe him and tell him its ok if they step in

3. Siffrin tends to try and bond with the others or will just boredly play with the environment around him. sometimes he picks the castle up to move around to test to see how far they can go before they loop (he loops if he tries to step out of vaugaurd) so he tends to just sit and watch his actors in their little stage play

[orphiclovers]

yk, I was goaded into reading Self-Cest for the Danny Phantom fandom (it was a good read and I stalked the author’s entire dischoreography afterward) but now I’m wondering how that would go for Han Sooyoung and her avatars. Specifically 1863rd Han Sooyoung.

How would they get over the dispute over who the true hsy is? Would they conclude that they’re just two different people because the 1963rd was only possessing the other hsy to write? Would they be able to differentiate? Questions questions questions

The fic was by Dream_Trance if ur curious

'goaded' I like that word. I too have goaded people into reading selfcest content I think.

I'm guessing you read my recent Han Sooyoung meta where I talk about how I think their split happened and then sent this ask. You got me absolutely right in that case, there IS a secret selfcest version of that post I didn't include because of woke (well, actually because I want people to focus on the theory lol and weird selfcest shipping distracts from that).

The thing orv does with the alt universe selves that is sooo interesting to me is all of them, and I do mean all, have these twisted and complicated feeling about their other selves. And that's all canon, all I do is tint those feelings in a slightly more romantic direction. for fun. (despite all appearances I'm secretly a canon purist. no, not really. but imagine if I was)

So, what is Han Sooyoung's whole deal?

From what we see in orv, their whole dynamic is basically.... 1863 is cool smart badass powerful protagonist-like and 3rd is the 'rip-off' constantly trying to catch up to her awesomeness / keep up / 'plagirizing' her. This happens a lot, starting from when Han Sooyoung is 13 years old and accidentally plagirises herself for the 1st time.

1863 writes Ways of Survival? 3rd gets vague dream-memories and writes SSSSS grade infinite regressor.

1863 becomes a constellation named Architect of the False Last Act? guess what 3rd does.

See how the narration always mentions 'btw 1863 did this first' - I'm not making this up. 3rd even plagiarizes 1863's lost memories into existence again !!

So if there is one 'true' Han Sooyoung...it is pretty clear who that would be. But crucially, 1863 does not mind at all being ripped off and isn't bitter about it. (unlike sp, who is very bitter at first.)

When Kim Dokja comes to her like 'someone plagiarized your novel!!1!!1!' han sooyoung says lol idc because she knows its just 'daytime ego'/3rd.

Even during the scenarios, 1863 is constantly helping her out because she sees 3rd as a bit of an idiot who does not know anything (very sp style) so OBVIOUSLY she needs to come along and save her while pretending its a huge hassle and she totally doesn't want to. (very 'this will be the last time i help you' for spyjh).

Like, for example, way before 3rd gets Predictive Plagiarism, 1863 is giving cryptic dream hints to help her, and when that doesn't work just straight up temporarily passing on the skill.

but she's totally doing it for fun and because she likes to throw a wrench in others plans haha and not because she cares or anything. totally.

And ALSO let's just talk about this epilouge moment that drives me crazy. 3rd is doubting herself and crumbling under the pressure so 1863 emerges from their subconscious to help her one last time and says LET ME DO IT. Aargh!!!

selfcest yuri...

So yeah, this is a brief look on how I interpret the 3rd/1863rd relationship (Han Sooyoung version.) I have more thoughts on them during the epilouge specifically and the avatar skill but. different post.