#but yeah. yes. let's get some weird consequences in here

[aroaceleovaldez]

(based on your recent post about Nico) what do we think about. Nico going on a sort of quest for healing with the cacodemons. something something they are outside of him so that he can more thoroughly analyze his issues and once he has processed them and learned how to accept them and move on, they reabsorb into him. but in a way that he like. Can't Feel Grief until he learns how to respect that emotion, etc etc. do you see my vision

(yes I know your post was not about healing but in fact making him worse. however: you have sparked the most canon-compliant thought I've had about tsats since. well one year ago today when I read tsats.)

god. mood @ that second half.

I love that idea though - let's have Nico grapple with some consequences of having a literal aspect of him be physically separated and turned into an immortal being. That's kind of A Lot and should really have some side-effects when you think about it. Together we can make it Weirder.

I've also been consistently rotating in my brain ever since I read TSATS - cause I thought while reading it that it was the route they were gonna go with the cacodaemon stuff - the concept of instead of the cacodaemons being separate and not how cacodaemons work in mythology, Nico himself is turned into a cacodaemon that's a personification of his own suffering and it's like. a whole metaphor about "you are not your trauma" and Will having an arc about seeing Nico past the ways he's been hurt and separating being Nico's doctor from being Nico's boyfriend. Cause cacodaemons are specifically negative embodiment of some thing (and also humanoid and shapeshifters. that's a very notable important part for me and part of why i dislike the TSATS cacodaemons). And it's like a whole once Nico calms down he goes from being a shapeshifting monstrous cacodaemon to being just a normal daemon, cause daemons are neutral and if they embody a negative thing it can also be like, the inverse of that thing or reprieve/protection from that thing, so Nico being a cacodaemon of his own trauma then goes to Nico being a daemon of reprieve from suffering. Also fun bonus part of "whoops Nico's a little immortal now. dont worry about it"

There are interesting theme potentials with the cacodaemons we just gotta excavate them. And ignore large chunks of TSATS. Possibly all of it. I'm working on it. I have a shovel. We'll get there eventually.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also if only the physical copy of how to disappear completely & never be found i first encountered & read a few years ago (sort of [roughly avg age ten] reader book, not any similarly titled How To) hadn't disappeared completely & not been found since, probably b/c i put it somewhere i intended to be For Safekeeping, which is also how my binder vanished....b/c it's one of those like. those book for late elementary/middle school readers when they just weave in this unrealism which makes for a delightful range & unpredicability? and with a cynical protagonist girl like off to the races like wow her mom is depressed asf & smoking? and it's about A Family History Secrets Mystery so blatantly a haunting that the inciting incident is basically introducing a haunted [family history secrets mystery] house. and spoilers don't matter like it's stemming from there being this missing uncle who grew up so in contrast to the Winsome Winning Sibling Who Does It All Right while seeing his own affiliation with rats that he tried to disappear completely & never be found which led to this Tragedy which led to this more unintended disappearance of his & he haunts this house & wants to be left alone & only goes out at night with this [ambiguous Is That A Giant Rat Or Weird Small Dog (protagonist affected by these family situations who expresses her preoccupation with an awareness of how fate can Strike and Get you with this interest with roving packs of killer chihuahuas. people think she's weird though she spontaneously befriends this other girl struck with this bolt from the blue & a bit weird / outcast & then Insightful who i wish was in it more)] & plays into the hauntedness danger like playing into the [something's Wrong with you then] until having to take yet more action where the urge to express the truth comes out more both b/c living that hidden is more threatened but also b/c now the niece children are more threatened as well. ft. a sort of preternatural blurring of time b/c of only being communicated with through this uncle via his comic pages (that he paints?) of dubiously accurate translations of irl events that are created so quickly it seems to verge on foresight, imagine like "hmm what's this painting. it's me standing in this room looking at this painting??? as someone ominous lurks in the shadows right behind me?" in both [now how could you know this & paint it really fast ahead of time] and [horror]

[starb3rrys]

Hiii I'm kinda new to Tumblr so idk how stuff really works here😭 but anyway are your requests open? If so, then I'd like to make a req but if not just ignore this!!

Umm so basically an nsfw oneshot(idk what you call it) or headcanons of how bsd men would react/deal the situation when you two are hiding in a very tight space and your crotches accidentally rub together? RHRHHT it's kinda weird describing it but let's just say [character] pushed you along with him into a locker/box with you sitting on top of his lap OR with you too close ttp that you two could feel each other with every inch you move

Uhhh and yeah that's it and feel free to add some touches and changes on the scenario, and I'd greatly appreciate it if maybe you add Nikolai in it😁🙏AND AGAIN IF U DON'T FEEL LIKE DOING MY REQ OR ISN'T ACCEPTING REQS RN THEN FEEL FREE TO IGNORE I HONESTLY DON'T MIND!!/lh /srs

OMG YES?! Ugh, I love this request! I wanted to add some more characters as well, So I picked the DOA (sorry) ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／

If y’all want a part 2 with different characters just let me know, Im at your service! <3

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

A Tight Fit~

Ft. Nikolai, Sigma, Fyodor

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

Nikolai

Scenario: You were out on a mission with Nikolai, it should’ve been an easy “break in and grab important documents” type mission. But now, you two were squeezed together in a small closet, fearing that any small movement would get you two caught.

“Stay quiet...” Nikolai said as he listened closely, his face looked concentrated and serious, a change from his usual happy and calm face

You quietly nod, as you press against the wall behind you to try and get some more space in between you two

The closet is pretty small, hence why nikolai is leaning down, his hands are pressed firmly on each side of your head, inevitably pinning you in place

Nikolai thinks of a way for both of you to escape this situation without being spotted, “maybe I can teleport something”, he thought to himself

He reaches for his cape, unintentionally pressing against you

Your eyes widen as you feel something press against your area, you slowly look up to see if Nikolai noticed

His cheeks are flushed, hes frozen in place and there is an obvious smirk forming on his face

Yeah he definitely noticed.

You start to speak “Niko-… you’re so clo-“, he cuts you off as he places his hand over your lips

“Shh...” He says as he places a finger against his own lips with a small smirk

Moments later you hear the door of the office close, you two are now alone

“They’re gone now...” Nikolai says in a quiet gentle tone, he turns to you “But, i mean…we could just stay in here~” he says with a mischievous grin

Even after you two get out of that closet, he would keep on teasing and reminding you of the “incident”, he will make sure you never forget!~

Sigma

Scenario: You really don’t know how you got in this situation, one second you and Sigma were walking the streets of the city at night, after your wonderful date. The next, you were hiding in a small dark alley, your body pressed tightly against sigmas as you both hid from a certain jester.

“Damn it.” Sigma cursed under his breath as he kept his guard up, looking around frantically with a worried yet annoyed look

You looked up at Sigma, “Why are we hiding?” You whispered

Sigma looked down at you as he let out a sigh “I saw Nikolai roaming the streets, We can’t be seen together by anyone in the decay, if they were to find out about us...I’m sure horrible consequences would follow” he explained

You nod in agreement, “I understand..but um, why did we have to hide in such a...tight space.” You say as you look away, you can feel his body pressed tightly against yours, you can feel his every breath, his every shuffle and every slight movement

Sigma realizes this and blushes as his eyes widen, “I’m sorry, I didn’t even notice our position in the heat of the moment”

As he says this, you hear a slight noise come from the alley which causes you to slightly jump in a fright

Sigma let’s out a small grunt as he feels your crotch roughly brush against his, he grips your shoulders and holds you in place “Love please…try and stay still…at least for now” he pleads as his face flushes

Your eyes widen as you feel something slightly poke you “Sigm-“ you’re cut off as his hand covers your mouth, “Keep quiet..” he whispers as you hear footsteps around the corner

You feel him press more onto you, trying to hide your body from view as he lays his head against you shoulder, next to your ear

You slightly shuffle which causes sigma to groan in response, he quickly grips your hips with slight force

“Keep still..” he says in a low tone

Once you two finally get out of the alley way…let’s just say- his head was full of scenarios that caused him to blush profusely, as he practically dragged you to your apartment…

Fyodor

Scenario: Work has been so busy lately, new mission reports coming in everyday. Piles of finished and unfinished documents decorate your desk. All of this caused you to become stressed and overwhelmed, which caused you to become clumsy. So clumsy that you didn’t even seem to notice Fyodor turning the corner, not until it was too late.

**THUD**, is all that can be heard as your bodies crash together and fall to the floor

You feel extreme pain on your head as you let out a small groan of pain

You soothe your head and begin to slowly open your eyes, you try and comprehend what just happened as you hear a soft pained groan come from under you

You slowly begin to look down, your face flushes when you and Fyodor’s eyes meet

His eyes show slight shock as they quickly return to their neutral state, he just stares up at you…not uttering a word

You take a minute to process what is currently happening…and thats when you feel it, you feel something pressing against your area

You quickly get off Fyodor as you begin to apologize, “I’m so sorry! I should’ve been paying more attention!”, you ramble on apologies as you quickly stand up

He lets out a small chuckle as he stands up and brushes himself off , “No worries, more importantly…are you alright?” He asks with a bit of concern present in his tone

You nod as your face grows red, you begin to remember what you felt under you as you pray to god he didn’t notice

But, its like he can read you like a book, he smirks as he reaches for your chin, making you look at him “Yes,…I did notice and feel it” he says with a sly tone

You freeze in place as he says this, he then pulls away and softly smiles “Just be more careful and aware in the future, alright?”

He narrows his eyes as his tone changes to a more stern one, “Next time I won’t be so forgiving…~” he says as he begins to walk off

You’re left standing there shocked and frozen in place

He definitely enjoyed it, especially your cute reaction when you thought he didn’t notice. But for your sake he won’t bring it up, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t think about it constantly…~

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

Hi Hi! Sorry for the delay, work has been getting in the way but no worries im clearing out my requests!

I changed the scenario up a bit for Fyodor! (Sorry)

I appreciate everyone sending in requests! Love yall! <3

[theminecraftbee]

Doc wakes up slowly. He's had a lovely night of sleep, cozy in bed, dreaming of fantastical misuses of withers. Hotguy gave him an autograph and personally thanked him for finally blowing up Scarland's sound system and getting one over on anyone who might make a button. For some reason, Scar's alien from season six was also there, and then it exploded. That was pretty great too. And everyone had clapped for him, and told him he was the best, most important creeper in the world, and that all of his enemies were just haters, and that they would absolutely listen to all of his opinions, which were perfect, always. And they covered the Hermitcraft server in fresh, ripened tomatoes, and everyone helped him garden them.

It really was a lovely dream. He didn't particularly want to wake up, except perhaps to tell everyone about all of the aforementioned perfect opinions. But alas, even after a perfect, lovely, cozy night of sleep, mad doctors must wake up--

--and scream, as a menacing figure holding a knife looms over his bed. He throws a punch at whoever the person is before thinking and hisses, overestimating his strength and knocking them over. He scrambles for his light.

"Owww," says someone from the floor. Wait.

Doc peers over the edge of his bed. "Grian? What on earth are you doing, man?"

"Almost falling on my knife. You know, this is harder than I thought it would be," Grian says. He is holding his knife in one hand and cradling his now very crooked, bleeding nose with the other. Doc would feel bad, but... ehhh, it's Grian. Who had been standing over his bed with a knife. He probably deserved it for... something or other, Doc'll figure it out.

"You need help?" Doc asks.

"Right. No. Let's get back to this," Grian says, standing up and brandishing the knife again. The effect is much less frightening now that the lights are on, there's blood dripping down the front of Grian's sweater, and it's clear Grian is a bit uncertain of how to look intimidating. "I need you to know Mumbo only has one best friend."

Doc blinks.

"...okay, man?" Doc says.

"What?" Grian says.

"Yeah, like, I don't know what you're talking about. Mumbo and I sometimes talk about redstone, but--"

"You talk about redstone? How dare you! Mumbo is mine, you hear? Mine!"

Doc blinks again, slower. He considers pinching himself. This would be an odd addition to an otherwise lovely, perfect dream, but dreams can become weird nightmares pretty quickly, you know? That would explain why Grian's doing whatever this is.

"I mean, I don't know, he normally comes to me about it?" Doc says.

"Cheater..." Grian says.

"What?" Doc says.

"I can't believe you two! Guh! That was my offended noise!" Grian says.

"Look, uh, I don't really understand what you're doing here man--"

"I'm warning you off of Mumbo! I heard around the block you're his best friend now, so I'm going to kill you now unless you stop that."

Doc squints. "With the knife?" he asks.

"Yes, with the knife!"

"And why am I his best friend?" Doc asks.

"You got the crown! Mumbo said whoever got the purple crown would be his best friend! That's not allowed, only I'm allowed to be his best friend! So I'm, I'm being all threatening! And stuff! Please tell me I'm being threatening," Grian says. "It's been a while since I had to do something like this, I'm modeling off of a different guy I knew, but you know, it's very important to me that you're warned off properly! So there!"

Doc looks at Grian for a while.

"Yeah, uh, man, sure. I'm... really threatened," he says.

"Really?" Grian says.

"Yeah. Really. Very threatened. Hey, uh, my elevator buttons are Grian-proof, supposedly, but I don't know if--"

"Are you--are you trying to distract me by offering me buttons? I'll have you know that doesn't work anymore! Not when it comes to Mumbo!" Grian says. "Although. Hypothetically. If you were telling me there were buttons I could press that you think wouldn't have consequences no matter what I did. That sounds like a challenge."

"Yeah, man, I mean, uh. No. Don't press my buttons--"

"Gotta go bye," Grian says, very quickly, and he shoots out of Doc's bedroom. Doc stares after him through the door.

"I'm going back to fucking bed," Doc says, because frankly, this has convinced him he doesn't need to be awake. And also a security system. A security system that can roast pesky birds. He's sure he can come up with something. Mm. Roast bird. He falls back asleep, vaguely convinced he'd dreamed up the whole incident.

(In the morning, he finds a very grumpy Grian stuck in his elevator. Well. He supposes having to fix it is worth the expression on Grian's face there.)

[coquitokisses]

Trusting Again | chapter 003: the truth

Word count: 3232

series masterlist • previous chapter • next chapter

📍Berlin

So after we arrived at the place, thankfully we weren’t cuffed anymore, but we weren’t in the clear either. We’re kinda in trouble.

“So we’re going to prison.” I looked at Sam and Steve as we walked to the place where they were gonna let us be in

“No, we’re not.” Steve answered

“Well this kinda looks like we are.”

“This isn’t prison.” Steve said

“I cannot believe my first time being arrested was because I decided to follow two idiots and go against the law.”

“Ow, what? You regret it now?” Steve pouted

I just rolled my eyes. “Shut up, this is your fault.”

“My fault?!”

“Yes! We should’ve let the CIA catch Bucky, why the hell did we even bother going to Bucharest? Look where we ended up, and where’s Bucky? Arrested.”

“Oh please.” Sam rolled his eyes “Even you said that this didn’t make any sense.”

“You shut up, tú lo que eres es un lambe ojos, I don’t wanna hear it.” I told him

“Hey, don’t talk to me in Spanish.” He pointed at me

“You’re a kiss ass.”

“Oh look who’s talking.” He looked at Steve and they chuckled

I sighed. “I hate you both.”

We saw Natasha walking in our direction and she approached us.

“You” she pointed at me “Aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Well if I would’ve known it was gonna get this bad, I wouldn’t have come.” I shrugged

“Liar.” Sam looked at me

“For the record, this is what making things worse looks like.” She said in a low voice

“He's alive.” Steve told her

We walked into the office and we saw Tony talking on the phone.

“Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences” Tony said while looking at us three “Obviously you can quote me on that cause I just said it, anything else?... Thank you, sir.” He said before hanging up the call

"Consequences?" Steve said

“Secretary Ross wants the three of you prosecuted, had to give him something.” He shrugged as he started to walk away

“I'm not getting that shield back, am I?”

“Technically it's the government's property” Natasha said “Wings too.” she looked at Sam

“That's cold.” Sam shook his head

“Warmer than jail!” Tony said

“Well, he's got a point.” I sighed “What the hell are we supposed to do now anyways? Die of boredom?”

“Well you can always play Stop with Sam.” Steve looked at me “I’m sure there are some papers and pens laying around somewhere.”

“That'll be great.” I looked at Sam

“Fine, but only because I'll probably die of boredom too.” he said

“Guess we'll be playing Stop then, wanna join, grandpa?” I looked at Steve

“I'm good.” He chuckled “Good luck.”

(...)

It’s been like an hour. I’m getting bored and I honestly want to leave. I just can’t be sitting around doing nothing, I get bored. We're now in the office, the three of us and Sharon, as we watch that doctor evaluate Bucky.

“Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?” Steve spoke breaking the silence

“Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?” Sharon shrugged

“Right.” Steve nodded “Its a good way to flush a guy out of hiding, set off a bomb, get your picture taken, get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.”

“You're saying someone framed him to find him?” I asked him

“Steve, we looked for the guy for almost a year after Austria and found nothing.” Sam told him

“We didn't bomb the UN, that turns a lot of heads.” Steve said

“Yeah but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him, it guarantees we would.” Sharon replied and then frowned kinda getting all the pieces together

“Yeah.” Steve turned to look back at the monitor

“Tell me Bucky, you've seen a great deal, haven't you?” Zemo asked Bucky

“I don't wanna talk about it.” Bucky responded

“You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop.” Zemo replied

I kinda don't like this.

“I got a bad feeling.” I whispered to Sam as I leaned my elbows on the table

“About what?” He whispered back

“All this.” I sighed “It’s just.. it’s kinda weird.”

“Don't worry” Zemo added “We only have to talk about one.”

And just seconds after that, the power went out and the whole office was dark. Sam and I looked at each other and we kinda already knew that something was not right.

“Bad feeling alright.” Sam looked at me

“What the fuck?” I said and Steve turned around looking at Sharon

“Sub-level five, east wing.” She told him and he immediately looked at me like telling me to go with him

“Just go.” I said

Sam and Steve both stormed out of the office and I stayed there for a few minutes. I saw that Tony and Natasha were walking towards the door and Sharon saw them too.

“Come on.” She said to me

I got up and followed her. When we got out, we were kinda in like a lobby or some shit and there was Bucky just punching anyone who tried to stop him.

“Forget it, I’d rather get arrested.” I said after seeing how Bucky fought with Tony, but the poor man ended up on the floor.

I was really thinking about turning around and going back to where I came from, but before I could even think about leaving, Sharon grabbed my arm.

“You’re not leaving.” She said

“I’m sorry, but who was the one who almost died last time when he appeared in Washington?” She opened her mouth to talk, but I didn’t let her “Exactly, this time I’ll watch everything from a very far distance.”

“But you’re trained better than me.” She looked at me.

“You’re working for the CIA.”

“Cat! You gotta help me.”

I just rolled my eyes. “I should’ve stayed in New York.” I said starting to go down the stairs and she followed me

He might succeed and kill me this time.

When we first got there, Sharon was the first to kick him and I had no other choice than to follow her. It didn’t take long before Bucky was throwing her onto a table, breaking it, and grabbing me by the neck with his metal arm and pushing me onto one of the other tables there. I tried to get him off me once he started choking the shit out of me, but it was obviously impossible to even push him away.

“You could at least recognize me.” I managed to say, words barely coming out of me, as I tried to breath and also get him off me

My sight was starting to get all blurry and then I finally felt his hand releasing my neck. I rolled off the table coughing trying to catch my breath and when I managed to get on my feet again, I ran out of there trying to look for Sam and Steve. I even went outside but there were too many people running and screaming that it was literally impossible to find someone. I just opted to get the hell away from there and ended up walking for almost 40 minutes, also, trying to not get caught by the freaking helicopter that was looking for us.

I arrived at what looked like a small bookstore and decided to call Sam because I had no idea where they might be.

“Hey.” He answered

“Are you guys okay?” I asked him “Where the hell did you go?”

“I sent you the location of where we are.” He said “Come quick tho.”

“On my way.”

I hung up and went straight to Sam's conversation, I saw the pin and realized it wasn't so far from where I was so I decided to walk there and I literally arrived in almost 20 minutes. It was like an old auto shop kinda?

I got in and I saw Steve, Sam and Bucky inside.

“Took you forever.” Sam said

“Y'all literally vanished.” I rolled my eyes “And also, I had to make sure nobody saw me, there's a fucking helicopter looking for us, did you guys know that?”

“Are you okay?” Steve asked

“I’m fine.” I nodded and then I looked over at Bucky

Now that I have him closer and he's not trying to kill me, I definitely noticed that he looked a little different than the last time I saw him. Starting with his hair, which is a little longer.

If it wasn’t because he's a super soldier, I would smash my fist straight into that perfect face of his right now.

“And we meet again, soldat.” I stood in front of him folding my arms “So much for not wanting to be found, huh.”

“Not that I was planning on running into you three, specially not you.” He responded

“Well look at us now.” I gave him the most sarcastic smile ever

“Alright, that’s enough.” Steve said and I just stepped away from Bucky “I see Cat made quite the first impression.” He looked at his friend

“You don’t say.” Bucky sighed

“Oh he did too, trust me.” I scoffed “You do know we all have a fucking target on our backs, right?” I looked at Steve

“He didn't do it.” He said

“Oh I knew that since the moment we saw the news.” I nodded “I just can't really comprehend why the fuck would you go through all this shit when we already have secretary Ross on our asses because of the fucking accords and now we also have the CIA looking for us!”

“No offense, but that's a little hypocrite coming from you.” Bucky said to me “Why do you care so much about following orders now?”

“Offense and listen, you really shouldn't be talking shit after what's been happening.” I turned to look at him “You should've listened to me when you had the chance.”

“You really wanna do this now?” He raised an eyebrow

“Alright, enough.” Steve sighed

“You know what? I kinda want to.” I stepped closer to him, completely ignoring Steve

Not that I wanted to ignore him, but I'm actually kinda mad so my mind is only focusing on Bucky.

“Then why don't you do it, agent?” Bucky said to me

I just sighed. “You really are starting to get on my last nerve, who would’ve thought.”

“Shut up, both of you.” Steve said in a more serious tone “That's enough.”

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” I turned around looking now at Steve

“That's why we called you.” Sam said

“I'm not tryna put my ass on the line again! We got enough with the accords to also be dealing with escaping from the fucking CIA.”

“What? You regret it now? Cause if that's the case, by all means, go talk to Tony, I’m sure he’ll welcome you with open arms.” He said folding his arms

“Don't be ridiculous, I’ve always been on your side, but this is fucking insane.”

“And don’t you think I know that? I’m tryna think of what to do now.” He said and I let out a sigh

“I just don’t want us to end up worst than we already are.. if that’s even possible.”

“It is, we could be in jail.” Sam said

“Relax, it won’t happen.” He said and I just leaned on the wall without saying anything else. “Who was that guy?” He asked Bucky

“I don't know.” He responded

“People are dead.” Steve started saying “The bombing, the setup.. the doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you, I need you to do better than "I don't know".”

“He wanted to know about Siberia, where I was kept.” He said after a few seconds “He wanted to know exactly where.”

“Why would he need to know that?” Steve asked

“Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier.” he replied

“Woah, hang the fuck on.” I shook my head

“Cat.” Steve looked at me

“No, wait, I'm with her on this one.” Sam spoke “You're saying there are more like you?” He asked Bucky

“Yes.” He nodded

“Who were they?” Steve asked

“Their most elite death squad” Bucky replied “More kills than anyone in HYDRA history and that was before the serum.”

“They all turned out like you?” I asked him

“Worse.” He looked at me

“The doctor, could he control them?” Steve questioned

“Enough.”

“He said he wanted to see an empire fall.” Steve added

“With these guys he could do it.” Bucky nodded “They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, they can take a whole country down in one night and you'd never see them coming.”

“Well this is just great.” I said with sarcasm

“This would've been a lot easier a week ago.” Sam walked over to Steve and I

“If we call Tony..” Steve started saying and I scoffed

“I don’t think we’ll believe us.” I cut him off

“Even if he did..”

“Who knows if the accords would let him help.” I said and Steve let out a sigh

“We're on our own then.” He looked at the both of us

“Maybe not.” Sam shrugged and we both looked at him “I know a guy.”

“So” I looked at Steve “What's next, Cap?”

“I need to make a few calls.” He said “And we need to get out of here.”

“We gotta stay low tho.” Sam said

“Yeah, very low.” I nodded

“I'll be right back.” Steve walked out, I supposed so that he could make "a few calls"

Sam walked out too and I took a deep breath. This is insane.

I looked at Bucky and then I sat on the floor in front of him.

“So” I crossed my legs “Being framed is fun huh.”

“You have no idea.” He sighed “How'd you know it wasn't me?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been tracking you.” I replied “…From a distance, of course.”

“Of course you have.” He said not at all surprised “Does Steve knows?”

“No, of course not.” I shook my head

“Why? Felt guilty?”

I let out a sigh. “A little.”

“He’s gonna find out eventually.”

“Yeah, I know.” I nodded “I’ve been thinking about telling him, but I just don’t know how he’s gonna react.”

I should tell him. I really should because maybe we wouldn't be in this mess right now if it wasn't for me.

“You have a certain look on your face, agent.” Bucky said in almost a whisper “What is it?”

“I just.. I think I better tell him now.”

“He's not gonna be happy.”

“I know.” I sighed “But I have to.. better late than never.”

I looked back and saw Steve standing next to Sam, who was actually talking on the phone.

“Steve.” I cleared my throat and I stood up from the floor “I, um.. can we talk?” I said and he looked at me “I kinda need to tell you something.”

“Yeah, of course.” He nodded “Wanna go outside?”

“Well I don’t want the police to see us, so here it’s fine.”

I was really anxious. I didn’t even know how to start.

“What is it?” He asked when he saw that I was pretty impatient

“Okay, I’m just gonna say it.” I sighed “Remember when I went with Sam to Europe? To find Bucky.”

“Yeah, what happened?”

“Okay, well remember that we did found him, right? We told you we were in Austria.”

“Yes, Cat, I remember everything, where are you going with this?”

“I didn't lost him.. I, uh..” I bit my lip nervously “I let him go.” I finally confessed, he looked at me a little confused

“What are you talking about?” He frowned and then looked at Bucky “What is she talking about?” He pointed at me

“I was the one who talked to him that day.”

“Yeah and if I remember correctly, he got all defensive and threw you across the room, you were all bruised and even had a cut.” He said “What do you mean you let him go?”

“I talked to him, he said that he needed time and I just.. I simply decided to let him go.”

“Simply decided?” He raised an eyebrow

“Look, I’m sorry.”

“What the hell happened exactly for you to let him go like that?”

“Don't be mad at her, it's my fault.” Bucky interrupted us and Steve looked at him “I was just trying to remember everything on my own.”

“Stop.” I looked at him “I should've knocked the fuck out of you and drag you out of there.”

“Yeah, you should have.” Steve nodded “You realize that because you let him go we’re in this position now, right?”

“Yes!” I raised my voice “I made a mistake, I know and I'm sorry, okay? I didn't think it was too big of a deal at the moment, he just wanted to remember everything on his own and I thought that was okay.”

“Well it clearly wasn't.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t.” I sighed “But at least my intuition was right! He didn't do anything.”

“But look where we are now!”

“But that’s not entirely my fault now, is it?” I said “I mean, the fucker who messed with his head is the real responsible here, he could’ve done it even if Bucky was with us.”

“That’s not the point…”

“It is! It kinda is.” I cut him off

“Cat, you’re not realizing the consequences that your actions had.”

“I am! Trust me, I am realizing it and I knew what I was getting myself into when I made that decision.”

He clicked his tongue. “I just can’t believe you could do something like this knowing it would have consequences. I just..” he sighed “I can't believe that you, out of all people, could do this.”

“I know it was wrong but I just..”

“What?” He looked at me with his hands on his hips

I let out a sigh. “You're really mad at me, aren't you?”

“A little.” He nodded “And a little disappointed too, you were supposed to do your job and I asked you to do it because I knew you were the only one who would do it no questions asked.”

“I know and I'm sorry.”

“We could've prevented this.”

“I know.” I sighed feeling guilty as hell “I really am sorry.. trust me if I could go back in time and change what happened, I would.”

He let out a sigh. “I'll go see if Sam's done so we can get the hell out of here.” He said walking out again before we could say something else

I just sighed and then leaned on the wall. Bucky's eyes found mine and he took a deep breath as he sat straight.

“I'm sorry for trying to kill you.” He said looking at my neck

“It's fine.” I said “Not the first time anyway.”

“Sorry.”

“At least you’re apologizing now.”

“Apology accepted then?”

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it.” I sat on the floor facing him “I tend to hold grudges.”

“Well that’s not good.”

“Do I look like I care?” I tilted my head

“You got issues, you know?”

“Well.. that makes two of us.” I shrugged

“…Can't argue with that.” He shook his head and I chuckled

Likes and reblogs will be appreciated!

previous chapter • next chapter

[the-writer]

(Disclaimer, I suck at remembering pronouns, so in the times I forgot, I used they/them. If that makes you uncomfortable in any way, please tell me and I will write myself a note) Tw: mention of blood

______________________________________________

Mars and Samah were sitting down for drinks. That's all it was, a few people sitting down for a nice drink, well, that's what it was supposed to be.

"Come on Mary, join us!" Mars encouraged Mary to sit down with them, and with a cheary "Okay!!"  they did. Samah also seemed happy to have Mary join them for drinks, responding to their actions with a " Yay!"

"The gimmick doctor may not be here, eh, but I can still find the drinks," Mars said while searching through the cabinets of the doctor's lab. Mars was trying to be kind and respectful to the doctors stuff, moving only non important looking things. 

"Eh, sure just remember to make it non alcoholic." Samah said, breaking the silence of the room. They sat there, fiddling their thumbs, knowing something was off about this situation, but continued to play along with whatever Mars had planned.

Mars grabbed out the bottles, making sure to hide the second bottle from both Mary and Samah's view. "Of course!" Mars discreetly pours out a bottle of a drink into two glasses, hiding it away without the other two noticing then getting another bottle of juice out to pour into the third glass. Both liquids looked similar. He takes his own glass and steps back to let them take their glasses.

"Please let this work I swear if it doesn't-" Mars thought, knowing that this might be his only chance.

Samah takes their glass, glancing at it for only a few moments before looking back up at Mars, a newly found smirk on their face.

"Is this the cure me and Mary made, or your poisonous one?" No matter Mars's answer, they knew that they were not going to be drinking it.

Mars, now realizing that Samah knew his plan all along, tried to play it off.

"The poisonous one" he said with a small chuckle. "No, it's just a thing for calming down y'all's hyper state. Helps me sometimes- thought it might do the same for you?" He tried keeping his calm demeanor up, knowing that at any slip up, everything would be ruined.

Mary took a look at their drink and pushed it aside. "Yeah, I'm not drinking that, it has a weird texture to it."

Mars looked over at Mary, with a hint of sympathy before he started to pour another drink. "Here, you can have the same drink I'm having, it's less thick."

Mary started to drink the new drink given to them without a second thought, and without consequence.

Samah, not even taking a second glance at the drink that was just handed to them, pushes it away, spilling some of the contents on the table. "Well, I suspected it from the beginning" they said with a small smug grin on their face.

Mars, now both puzzled and intrigued on what Samah was thinking, decided to ask them what they meant. "Suspected what?"

"That you were trying to cure me and Mary from rabies, once and for all. I am not drinking that"

Mars, now slightly irritated by Samah's response, lets out a small sigh. "Ugh- fine. Do you want some juice though? This one actually tastes pretty nice." He slowly takes a large sip of his drink.

Samah shrugs at Mars's offer. "Nah, I only really did this to chat with you" they turn and start talking to Mary, who had been quiet this entire time.

Mars shrugs back. "Meh- I'm an over thinker y'know? And sometimes, that's a good thing." He takes out a small little water gun and sprays it into Samah's mouth while they're talking to Mary. "Knew that wouldn't work- but hey! One singular particle of that on your tongue and my goal's accomplished hun"

Samah, both in shock that they just got sprayed by a mini water gun and Mars's words raises an eyebrow. "Would this even work? You know, considering my whole thing is 'me being the host to all the rabies?-"

Mars, letting a genuine smile across his face, was happy to answer their question. "Actually, yes! After all, this cure was made specifically for you..."

"Pardon?"

"It. Was. Made. Specifically. For. You. A special cure- all for you" Mars said, his smile growing even bigger.

Samah started to stumble on their words, not knowing how to respond to that statement. "I....uh..."

"What? Cure got your tongue?" 

Samah sits there for a second before remembering something. Something they had overlooked this entire conversation. "Wait, mars... You're in your... Semi-human form right now... Right?"

"Nahh, planet form." He then gestures to himself, definitely in semi-human form. "Yes! Obviously I'm in my semi human form!"

Without a second to pass by, Samah bit down on Mars's neck, leaving two prominent bite marks. Mars stumbled backwards a little bit, mostly out of shock. "Dairy Queen turned me into a vampire earlier, so hah-!"

"Do you know what being a semi-human means for a planet? It means they are immune to most things, including being turned into a vampire" he touched his neck, noticing the red rusty blood dripping from where he got bitten, his blood running down his arm. "You just made me bleed gosh dangit! Hand me some bandages- the strong kind. This is iron oxide, and I'm trying to hold it in.”

______________________________________________

Hope you liked it! Sorry I kinda had to pick one chain of reblogs cause I was getting confused. I also changed some parts so it would be easier on me. (I also didn't include any cussing due to religion)

Characters: @the-red-planet-mars @thee0ne-with-rabies @maryland-officially

[mangoposts]

" We can’t do this Chris, it’s just too complicated and what if - "

You couldn’t even finish your sentence Chris’s lips were already on yours, kissing you passionately, slowly fighting is tongue down your throat.

" Nothing is too complicated, you’ll deal with it "

3 months ago you and Chris started to hook up on the down low, no one knew and it was just sex, no strings attached. But you were starting to catch feelings and knew that Chris wasn’t ready for a relationship . So you ghosted him, avoided hanging out with the Triplets to not make things awkward with Chris .

Messages

Chris

How long are you planning on ignoring me?

It’s been almost two weeks since Chris been texting and calling you nonstop. But I couldn’t risk spoiling everything between us because of my feelings so i thought that waiting would work, turns out it didn’t, it actually got worse, I can’t stop thinking about him, so I replied…

You

Sorry been busy

Woop woop, liar.

Chris

Hm okay come by my house nobody’s here.

You

I can’t I have to work

Chris

Are you planning on building a spaceship or sum

I’m sure whatever you’re doing is worth waiting for me.

I am obviously a very bad liar and now terribly horny. I grabbed my car keys and headed to his house.

Chris welcomes you in, he was wearing black sweatpants and a black t-shirt . You could tell he missed you, he was all smiley and kept yapping about cows for some reason.

" You want anything ? We could watch a movie if you want "

" yeah sure a movie sounds good "

Obviously no, neither of us cared about watching a movie and we both knew that . Anyways, we head downstairs to his room.

My heart was racing, I was having second thoughts, this isn’t good for me and it’s clearly not helping with the all forgetting him thing. I was absorbed in my own thoughts, and I wasn’t paying attention to anything around me.

" Y/N ?"

"Yes sorry"

You apologize trying not to look too suspicious.

"Are you okay ? What’s going on, you’ve been acting weird ever since you got here."

"We should stop this"

I boldly replied.

"Are you seeing somebody else"

Chris says.

His face dropped, he had no facial expression.

No, it’s not that, it’s just that-

You were struggling getting your words out, trying not to drop the I love you bomb so that he doesn’t freak out.

He steppes closer to you.

"It’s just what "

" We can’t do this Chris, it’s just too complicated and what if - "

Stopping you from finishing your sentence before kissing you.

" Nothing is too complicated, you’ll deal with it "

He says before going back to your lips. You kiss him back. His hands are all over your body, your hair, your back, your waist…your ass.

He grabs you by your ass and lift you up while making out roughly. He drops you on his bed, placing himself on top of you. He takes off his shirt before taking yours off. He goes back to kissing you, going from your mouth, to your neck, leaving a couple hickeys, to your chest. He slides his tongue around your nipple making you let out a soft moan.

It felt so good you didn’t realize Chris was already taking your pants and panties off .

" you wanna stop but your pussy say otherwise "

" so wet, you’ll never get enough of me "

I hated that he was right. Chris was so good at it, he knew how and where to use his mouth, especially his tongue. He teased me by kissing my thighs.

" please Chris "

" you deserve to get punished don’t you think? trying to avoid me and shit now you pay the consequences baby "

He replies to my needy self before turning me around leaving me ass up face down.

" fuck "

He said while slapping your ass. You can hear him unbuttoning his pants.

MOREEEEEEEEE

[batsplat]

still the same anon here. so what if instead of The Devil™️ it is a demon instead? valentino still strikes a faustian bargain and all we’re 100% keeping that. and yeah yzr-m1 is the manifestation of that demonic spirit. you know that valentino tribute video which is from the bike’s pov? “I’d been waiting for somebody like you for so long. I was nervous, but it was love at first sight for both of us. I knew instantly our relationship would be something truly special. We had that undeniable once-in-a-lifetime spark, and all the pieces of the puzzle just came together. I will never forget how we stopped on the grass in Welkom in 2004. Just the two of us, realising that you and me together was right – and that this was only the beginning….” etc. like this was so insane I think about it a lot. anyways, yzr-m1 is not exactly like a malicious presence, and obviously loves valentino but it is inhuman! and valentino chooses to give it…..or her? his heart and that turns him a lil bit inhuman too….. and let’s remember that irl valentino keeps this fucking bike in his bedroom…….very “character who keeps the cursed artifact, which is the source of their power, close” of him. and also talks to her before every race…..

the ducati years is yzr-m1 cursing valentino for abandoning it/her btw.

ummmmm what possessed me to write all this I don’t know btw

(x, x) no go on, anon... that bike letter is so. so.... I also think about it too often. the fact they literally got someone to read this stuff out loud... they gave the bike a voice... what a sport. *pinches bridge of nose* anyway. I think!! the bike can be a little bit demonic. but it can also like... reflect something of the rider back at the rider - so that as a Part of the rider, it ends up becoming an externalisation of some of their most notable traits, a way of emphasising them as well as distorting them. it whispers back at you what's already in your soul... and if you pour a part of yourself into that machine, then this is what your machine will inevitably become. so it's a bit... the nature of competition, right, ensures that this naked desire to win will end up being transmitted to the machine. but then if you draw your desire to win from spite specifically... if you have, for instance, switched manufacturers and wish to prove the entire world wrong, to make your former employer miserable, to show up your rivals and make them suffer... then eventually, that desire will fester within the machine and its nature will be twisted and corrupted accordingly

though I do like valentino's yamaha being Special and Weird!! adores valentino, is possessive of valentino, is unnatural and by definition inhuman, is already kinda inclined towards malice, calls valentino away from honda... again, it's a way of representing what the step from honda to yamaha actually Means in narrative terms, how it's this process of self-actualisation with both good and not so good consequences... like!! it was the perfect marriage between a giant of the sport in ill-health and a champion who desperately required a new challenge. some purpose. so if you have a capricious, maltreated bike that simply finds the concept of valentino - uh, *clears throat* riding it too attractive to resist... then why not tempt the two-time defending champion to make the switch? to take the leap into the unknown? to give himself over to this new adventure? and, yes, this bike will not take kindly to being abandoned...

anyway yeah there's a happy middle ground there somewhere in where the malevolence Comes From. something already kinda creepy, unnatural about the yamaha that then is encouraged by valentino - who talks to it before every race, imposes his own will on the machine and gets some of his malice and spite reflected back at him. valentino whispers to the bike and the bike whispers back... he keeps it close to him, as it now contains a part of his soul. a mutuality here, a symbiosis... it's coming into your own as a bike and as a rider by embracing the cruelty of competition to the fullest. a partnership that is extraordinarily successful but also morally corrosive. a "once in a lifetime spark", if you will

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/757099430517309440/when-i-said-earlier-that-this-shows-promotions?source=share

Hahahahahah! Sure will scold if it reaches to that. Just kidding but point isn't only about jokers. It's aslo about armys in general. We are really expecting rational thinking from people which I'm sorry to say is not a cup of tea for everyone. Leaving aside a few, don't ask but observe how fandom responsonds to these two ships and these three in general. This may offend some people but majority of fandom is sheeps here. If company shows them taekook are not longer close they believe it, no one bothers about weird angle and set captions. It's not even about believing them as couple but if such a beloved pair seems distant on screen and together backstage there must be something wrong with what is portrayed. Right? But all of these are cult talks for them. Company tells them jkk are always together, share cars and stuff, now this narrative floats and people think it as nature's law. But there is another factor i.e. Taehyung. He is shown to be aloof and not caring of members especially Jungkook. Remember wings tour and JK's injury. Perfect set up for hate. See these things may look small and insignificant but the consistency affects you subconsciously. Result is Tae is most hated and gets the harsher treatment, Jungkook is always hyped but can't get above BTS and Jimin is an angel who needs to be protected.

It's not like JKk became this cult in a day. They were as normal as any other ship (obnoxious yes, but normal). In fact at a time, it was tkkrs who went beyond limits trying to prove their ship when content was lacking in comparison. But this subtle but constant feeding by the company created this cult what we see today. Why do you think most armys prefer Jkk and can come out as Tae anti. Nobody joined fandom deciding this. Now, how does this effect beside member getting hate? They will always move for someone who think is a victim. It affects others image outside fandom, affect charts and opportunities in the long run. Now in this case you decide who is their perceived victim. Why do they do this? Because they want to feel good about themselves. Classic psychology 101.

You may say but a large part of the fandom is not on social media and stan Twitter are more voiced but sorry to say in today's world most voiced is most heard. No one has time for truth. The way armys are working for Jimin they should have worked for everyone. If someone comes and tells me, but every member gets hate, yeah, but not like Tae, I am sure everyone has seen the demo recently.

My whole point is no one gets bersek, they are made like that when they are promised to be fed which company always been doing it and unfortunately Tae will be set up for more hate. I also understand your point that it is an individual responsibility to check themselves but people really understimate external influence and mass opinions.

Sorry for the long text wall but I just wanted to keep my point how company is marketing without thinking of consequences it brings for some of its members or maybe knowing that (who knows with them).

P.S. I don't know if you have ever read works of Daniel Kahneman. He got nobel prize for theory of irrationality which sounds obvious but people understimate it.

Hi again anon!

Let me preface this by saying I am fully convinced that Jk and Jm are genuine close friends. I've gotten a lot of asks from Jkkrs and neutrals (presumably neutrals...?) talking about how us mentioning company content is automatically undermining Jm and Jk's friendship. It is not. Everyone who has watched reality shows (outside of bts fandom) knows how a narrative can be created. Everything we see in offical content has been a choice, even backstage footage we've seen has been a choice. To think that BH isn't aware of that, or chooses to not follow those tactics is naive. There's things they want us to see and there's things they do not want us to see. They show us more Jkk because that is what they want us to see, they show us less Tkk because they don't want us to see.

So I agree with you that there's a certain idea they wanted to get across. I am pretty convinced the company wanted us to believe Tae and Jk were distant. I am very convinced that they never were. I'd even go as far as to say the company is glad that Jkk balances out Tkk in a way. I'd not go as far as to say they want people to actually believe Jk and Jm are together.

The way I've always seen it is that I think they company gives the incentives, and lets fandom take over from there. They pair Jk and Jm up, they focus on them, we get a lot of JmJk moments.. so it's easy for Jkkrs to build on that. I don't actually feel that Jk and Jm have a romantic feel about them, and I think outside Jkkrs people would agree. So basically I think the company just counts on Jkkrs to do the hard work here.

I do blame the company for how it turned out. I think it's safe to say that the extreme hate Tae gets comes from how they've handled this. Tae is called an attention seeker, a leach, a queer baiter.. all sorts of things, and that comes from people believing Tae and Jk aren't actually as close as they are. I think people hating on Jm also comes from the same root. Because Jm does get a lot of hate from Tkkrs who have picked up on how hurt Tae got by seeing Jkk at times. It is certainly unfair and I think it has caused a lot of damage. It is no wonder that Jk is so protective.

I agree that the company wants this ship to thrive. It's good for business. They have a duo with great, genuine chemistry... and they definitely make use of it. I agree that they should have put more boundaries on it though, because I think at this point it has gone too far and it actually hurts Tae, Jm, and Jk. I'm not sure if they can put a stop at it though, unless they would say to Jm and Jk.. no, you can't do this and you can't do that, because Jkkrs have to be put to a hold. I think Jm and Jk wanted to do the travel show, and I do not want them to hold back because of some insane part of fandom. I believe Tae, Jm and Jk would have talked about things like this, and I think they put their friendship and freedom to interact as they want before fandom. Imo, that's how it should be.

Having said that, and yes I'm being glass half full here, I fully expect the travle show to have continueous debunking moments. That is basically what we always see. Jkkrs are going to brush over it ofcourse. But I fully expect to see mentions that point out how Jk and Jm are just friends. Close, connected, cuddly, caring friends.. but friends indeed.

[undergaunts]

Call Me Baby (Chapter 2) (Chapter 1 here)

Sebastian Sallow x Ominis Gaunt (Modern!AU)

Summary: The text chat logs between Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt during their 6th and 7th year at Hogwarts. (or Sebastian and Ominis can't bear to be apart for longer than 5 minutes, so spend their entire summer, winter and spring breaks texting and calling each other)

Rating: Teen & Up (this will go up in the next chapter!)

Word count: 6.4k

Recommended to read on AO3 as the layout is better but it’s also below the cut <3

SUMMER

July 1st, 6:14pm

sebastian changed their name to ss

July 2nd, 10:02am

Ominis

Hello Sebastian. I just wanted to let you know I have one of your books. You’d left it in Transfiguration so Professor Weasley gave it to me. I tried to tell her but she wouldn’t listen. I’ll pass it on to Anne when we get back to school. 

From anne ^_^ to Ominis

July 4th, 11:07am

anne ^_^

has he responded yet? 

Ominis

No. I’m not surprised.

anne ^_^

to be honest me neither.

he’s such an idiot, I’m sorry. 

Ominis

It isn’t your fault, Anne. We both know how he can be when he’s upset. 

anne ^_^

yeah but to go like, what, 3 months now? hardly talking to you is SO weird.

he gets annoyed and is super stubborn a lot but to go this long being the way he is is just off

Ominis

It is how it is, I suppose. I can only see that he felt we were pushing boundaries too far and had to take a step back.

anne ^_^

but not like this, and what do you mean? 

Ominis

After we changed our display names, apparently several of our classmates contacted him asking if we were dating, or assuming we were. We do - did - spend a lot of time together, but the name change was purely a joke. I think it may have had more consequences than expected for Sebastian. 

anne ^_^

but he was the one who told you to do it, no?

Ominis

Yes.

anne ^_^

so why was it too far?

Ominis

I think it was more the questions of us being a couple. It’s a preposterous idea but if pushed too far, some people may believe it and unfortunately people did. I think he’s really just wanted to distance himself from me to prove it wasn’t true. 

anne ^_^

hmm. i just can’t see that being the issue though

he’s always been so touchy feely with you, just changing your names and having people ask if you’re dating doesn’t seem like something he’d just stop being your friend over.

and you never argued?

Ominis

Oh, we argued. A fair amount. But not recent to our last conversation. 

anne ^_^

and he didnt say anything to you over the phone or anything?

Ominis

No. Truly, Anne, I believe my theory wholeheartedly. And it’s fine. I still have you. I hope, at least. 

anne ^_^

oh ominis, always!

but he’s been really cold to me too, so i think there’s more going on. I’m certain it’s not just what you think. give me a couple days to try and speak to him, ok?

let me know if you want to talk at any point <3

Ominis

Of course. Thank you :)

from anne ^_^ to ss

July 5th, 11:15am

anne ^_^

where r u?

ss

dw

anne ^_^ 

smh where r u

ss

why?

anne ^_^

ffs seb

do i need to ask a third time

ss

on a walk it’s a nice day

anne ^_^

ok but where

ss

gods anne do u want me to just send my location or something ?!

anne ^_^

please

ss

really?? look i just want to be alone today ok

anne ^_^

uve wanted to be alone everyday for like 3 months

ss

im good company, what can i say

anne ^_^

not the way uve been moping about ur not. me and ominis r really worried abt u

ss

whats he got to do with it?

anne ^_^

everything???? he’s ur best friend and suddenly u act like u wld rather try to tame 50 graphorns at once than be around him.

look we r just worried ok? just want to know whats going on

ss 

anne im fine. look im just trying to come to terms with some things and id rather do it alone

anne ^_^

what? ur dramatic ass honestly

like what?

ss

like leaving hogwarts next year 

and stuff

anne ^_^

so u ignore ur favourite thing about it ?!

ss

what? hes not

there r other things i like way more than him

anne ^_^

such as ???!!

since the moment u met ominis u havent shut up about him, u used to wake up everyday at school and the first thing u would do would be go and wake him up because u didnt want to do anything without him

i mean just this last year u spent 24/7 with him at hogwarts and then u get home aND CONTINUE TO TALK TO HIM 24/7

and i know u didnt have an argument or anything, all that happened was that people thought u were dating for like 5 minutes and then u stop talking 

like if it wasn’t so insane to suggest id swear u were in love with him and people worked it out before u which made u work it out so now u cant deal with being around him and dont want to talk to anyone in case they mention him LOL

11:51am

anne ^_^

seb

12:07

anne ^_^

seb

12:12

anne ^_^

seb

ss

:/

anne ^_^

??

ss

…

anne ^_^

what?

ss

…

anne ^_^

WHAT?

oh

oh seb

im sorry i didnt mean to laugh i really didnt think

oh please come back home :( or at least tell me where u r. i dont wanna do this over text :(

ss

id much rather text, i think i would cry in person

anne ^_^

:( ok

im really sorry, i wish u wouldve told me

i knew u loved him i just didnt realise in that way

i mean ok maybe i sort of did if i guessed that but Gods seb :(

ss

yeah i guess everyone sort of knew before me then? which has been the craziest thing

when everyone was sending me messages asking if we were dating i was so confused cos the whole name thing was clearly a joke, then it hit me like a tonne of bricks and i realised it just wasn’t. i dont think it’s ever been a joke. like ive told people no no it was a joke stop acting weird

but the only one acting weird is me

anne ^_^

seb :(

i cant imagine how uve been feeling

i wish u wouldve told me at least, even if u werent totally sure i could’ve helped, i couldve still supported u

ss

im sorry, genuinely, its just been hard

i mean i assumed i only liked girls for my whole life, and i do, i think they’re pretty and stuff but then i realised every girl ive ever dated ive ditched to be with him? and when i have gone on a date ive just talked about him.

all i do is think about him

ive kept rereading our texts and merlin all i do is flirt, badly but still

it’s just so stupid 

fuck sorry it’s all sort of just coming out

anne ^_^

literally

ss

huh

anne ^_^

coming out, literally

ss

oh 

LMAO thanks i laughed out loud for probs the first time in months

anne ^_^

:D

sorry haha i didn’t mean to cut u off please continue

ss

no it’s ok

hes my best friend and ive ruined it by being in love, and then ive ruined it even more by just not talking to him. ugh I just...what do i even do? u kno he messaged me the other day and it made me cry. i was sitting on a rock by the lake crying like a loser. like wtf. i still haven’t replied

anne ^_^

i think he just wants u back. he really misses u. honestly he won’t admit it because hes sort of just accepted u hate him 

and u know how proper he is haha but he’s devastated

ss

u think?

anne ^_^

r u dumb?

don’t answer tht. of course he is. ur literally his best friend. his entire world. he loves u

it might not be in the way u want but he would die for u I reckon. PLEASE talk to him :( Ik it’s going to be hard but ur best friends at the end of the day, to throw it all away would be silly

ss

i know ur right. if i reply to him i might vomit

anne ^_^

worth it please?

ss

let me think. but i probably will at some point. ur right. he is my best friend first

gods im sorry

anne ^_^

don’t need to apologise to me but i think u should apologise to him

ss

yeah i will

thank u

anne ^_^

love u. come back home ??

ss

love u 2. i will soon

anne ^_^

<3

From anne ^_^ to Ominis

July 5th 2:43pm

anne ^_^

hey 

so news - he’s ok, he’s just dumb. he’s gonna message you soon

Ominis

Just dumb? I’m not sure I know what you mean. But I’m glad he’s well. 

anne ^_^

ah i’m not sure how i could explain it. it’s not really my thing to explain, but hopefully he will. well, he better or I’ll whack him over the head

Ominis

Could you do that anyway?

anne ^_^

LOL tempting

Ominis

Well thank you Anne.  I’m glad you got to the bottom of it, even if you won’t tell me!

anne ^_^

promise he will, one way or another. either he will or ive got a good sized book on magical beasts that might get his brain into working order 

Ominis

Haha. I shall look out for his message then. Thank you again. 

anne ^_^

no problem. speak soon :)

From Ominis to ss

July 2nd, 10:02am

Ominis

Hello Sebastian. I just wanted to let you know I have one of your books. You’d left it in Transfiguration so Professor Weasley gave it to me. I tried to tell her but she wouldn’t listen. I’ll pass it on to Anne when we get back to school. 

July 6th, 4:37am

ss

hi thank you that means a lot

sorry i didnt respond sooner

u can pass it on to me if it’s easier

<3

haha

8:45am

Ominis

Good morning Sebastian. I think I shall do that then. Thank you. 

9:23am

ss

kewl. sweet. sounds good

9:28am

ss

so are you

how have you

look im really sorry for acting the way i did recently. i know it probably seemed like i was angry at u but I wasnt, i was just going through something and i got a bit weird. but ive realised im stupid and im so sorry

i understand if u don’t want to talk to me anymore. i really do miss you. cutting you out like that was really horrible. ur my best friend and im really sorry :(

Ominis

I wish you would’ve spoken to me, Sebastian. If you were going through something - whatever it is - you know I’m here for you. Just like you’ve always been there for me. We can still speak about it, if you would like, but there’s no pressure. You don’t need to apologise. But I would like to go back to how things were, if possible? 

And you are also my best friend, by the way. You know I’m not one for sentimentality, but it’s true. 

ss

:’)

im honoured

sentimentominis haha

it’s really not important, im over it now

ok not really but

i would love to go back to how it was

but I love.

would u hate me if.

ive really missed u dude 

Ominis

And I you. Let’s put it behind us. But only if you promise not to shut me out again like that. Agreed?

ss

agreed :D

July 8th, 10:52am

ss

morning :)

Ominis

Good morning. 

ss

how u?

Ominis

Well. My mother, father and sister had gone to visit my brother for a fortnight, so I have the entire place to myself for the next five days. How are you?

ss

im good :) that’s cool haha why didnt u get dragged along?

Ominis

They left just before I returned from Hogwarts, thankfully. I may actually use their absence to my advantage this afternoon and choose a book from my father’s study. I’m not often allowed in there you see. 

ss

damn u sooooo rebellious 

well i guess u acc r with not being a bigot and stuff lol.

but i go looking for treasure in catacombs in the middle of the night and u go borrow a book from ur dad

Ominis

One must start somewhere. With your influence I may start a criminal trading ring. 

ss

wht wld u trade?

Ominis

Books, of course. The first book traded will be the one I pilfer from my father. The rest will then follow. 

ss

can i join?

Ominis

You’re my partner in this, so of course.

ss 

what kind of partner?

of course, travelling all over the country

Ominis

All over the world. On the run, mostly from my father for stealing that first book, but from all of the people we’ve swindled as well. It’s just the two of us, versus everyone else. 

ss

gods i love

Haha r u drunk?

Ominis

No. It seems like I should be though, doesn’t it?

ss

yes lol

so if ur home alone

ok crazy question, ik what ur probably gonna say but ill ask anyway - if ur on ur own why don’t i come over?

i mean i don’t have to come to the mAnOr but maybe we could walk around ur village or smth

it cant be that bad can it lol, i don’t have to stay over or anything, just might be nice to see u :)

Ominis

I’d like that. 

ss

really???? sure????????

Ominis

My house isn’t the nicest, I must forewarn you. It’s very old and rather grim and I’m certain is falling apart in places. It might be better to stay away from it, but I could probably at least show you the outside. 

ss

don’t care, have you seen mine lmao, me and anne literally had to nail the window closed because it just wouldn’t shut. trust me idc

Ominis

Mine may be worse than that. How does tomorrow around eleven sound?

ss

:D, yes perfect can’t wait 

Ominis

Wonderful. I look forward to it. 

July 9th, 11:43pm

ss

ik ur probably asleep but i just wanted to say i had so much fun today. ur house is so big haha im not susprised u used to get lost as a kid. but thank u for letting me see it and see u mostly

sleep well baby boy :)

July 12th, 5:18am

ss changed their display name to SEB!

SEB!

gmornin

9:22am

Ominis

Good morning. Did you sleep well? You were up early. 

SEB! 

kinda, someone has a rooster in the village so it woke me up bright and early lol there’s already plans to start a riot i think

Ominis

Well we can’t have that. Sebastian Sallow needs his beauty sleep. 

SEB!

oh you think im. so you do think im

im slowly growing uglier day by day as the rooster grows stronger, feeding off my youth 

Ominis

Ah, I actually don’t think it’s possible, your beauty is eternal, you see, but without any sleep you will not have the strength to fight back against the evil rooster and prevent it from world domination. 

SEB!

fuck so you do think im

swear ur drunk again haha

Ominis

I think it’s the fact I’m not having to deal with my mother and father, combined with the varying chemicals I’m certain are in the water here that are getting me ‘high’. 

SEB!

oh jeez haha srs? maybe u should come stay with me again then

Ominis

No. Well, there could be, but I don’t think that’s why I’m acting strange. I think I’m just happy to be talking to you again, in all honesty. :)

SEB!

i

ur

:)

what happened to Mr I’m-Not-One-For-Sentimentality?

Ominis

It seems I’ve grown soft, doesn’t it?

SEB!

is there another reason other than just

yea it’s weird!!

Ominis

I shall stop then. 

SEB!

no i love

no i like this Ominis :)

Ominis

If you’re sure. 

SEB!

totally, but i wasnt joking about u coming to stay again. could come stay the last 2 weeks again if u wanted

or even longer, up to u

Ominis

I’ll ask my father. But I would like that. I enjoyed last year, a lot. 

SEB!

me too, and this is our last summer at school so we should make the most of it!

Ominis

You’re right. I’ll see what I can do. 

SEB!

lmk wen u kno

Ominis

Will do. <3

SEB!

<3

<3

fuck

<3

July 16th, 10:32pm

Ominis

Would you like hear about my horrendous day?

SEB!

do tell. hold on

10:37pm

SEB!

ok, i have a cup of tea and some biscuits so im ready to listen lol

Ominis

I was very rudely awoken this morning by my sister, rather than the usual house elf, and ushered downstairs to where my entire family were huddled in the drawing room, as if someone had passed away. You see, apparently, after someone had tipped him off, my father had found out that the girl Marvolo was to marry was not pureblood at all!

SEB!

HORSE GIRL?

whaaaat really?

Ominis

Well, according to them, not pure enough. On her Mother’s side, her great, great grandmother was actually muggle-born. Which means her great, great, great grandparents were muggles. 

SEB!

oh my hahahahahahahaah oh i bet theyr all fuming

Ominis

That’s putting it lightly. Apparently the mother had not even told her husband or daughter about this until very recently, but they were still determined to go ahead with this marriage.

Of course my father and brother were out for blood. More so than ever before. Imagine what would’ve happened if the Gaunt name was tarnished by a minuscule percentage of muggle blood! And, God forbid, if she and Marvolo had ever had children, an even smaller percentage, ruining millennia of perfection!

SEB!

oh this is brilliant, i can imagine u standing there smiling the whole time

Ominis

I certainly would’ve, however we were then rushed to Paris by floo to call the whole thing off, if you can even describe it as ‘calling it off’. I wouldn’t have wished the sounds on my worst enemy, Sebastian. 

SEB!

all 5 of u??? wtf wait what happened, sorry i thought this was a funny story

Ominis

Thankfully I didn’t have to partake in anything this time around. Not like before. My sister made sure of that, I thank the gods for her. I know my mother wasn’t happy I didn’t stay to ‘help protect the Gaunt name’ as she put it. All I know was as soon as the doors closed, I’ve never heard sounds like it. And they tried to fight back. Of course they would, they’re wizards, not muggles, they’re not as easy to break. It was horrible. I hate them, this is so fucked up. Gods. I just 

SEB!

what?

Ominis r u home? R u ok????

Ominis

I’m home now, yes. I’m sorry. Saying it out loud has made me realise just what happened. It was utterly awful. 

SEB!

can i call?

Ominis

Please. 

SEB is calling Ominis

Call accepted

Call ended, 3hr, 11min

July 17th, 1:59am

Ominis

Thank you. For staying so long. You must go rest now, especially if that rooster is still about. 

SEB!

it is still here lol but idc, i wld stay on the phone all day with u if u wanted me to, ur so so undeserving of all this shit. u have done nothing wrong ok? ever. plz dont blame urself

ur so important to me. i promise this time next year u will be out of there. i will do whatever it takes. 

ur my

ur my baby boy and i love u lots

:)

Ominis

Thank you. I’m sorry. 

Love you too. 

Sweetheart. 

:)

SEB!

<3

7:34am

SEB!

i just read those messages again, and i mean it. I love you, Ominis. Like, full homo haha

i genuinely meant it when I said I love you, did you?

i love you in a gay way btw

marry me?

im not ever going to send any of these messages so idk why im even typing

July 19th, 10:33am

Ominis

Hi. Hope you slept well. Can we call when you're available?

SEB!

ofc!!

SEB! is calling Ominis

Call accepted

Call ended, 2hr 42mins

July 20th, 11:21am

Ominis

Good morning. Are you free to talk?

SEB! 

yea !!! 

SEB! is calling Ominis

Call accepted

Call ended, 3hr, 29mins

July 21st, 12:22pm

Ominis

Call?

SEB!

<3

Ominis is calling SEB!

Call accepted

Call ended, 4hr 2min

July 22nd, 11:15am

SEB!

Call me when ur around

Ominis is calling SEB!

Call accepted

Call ended, 4hr 19min

July 23rd, 10:48am

Ominis

Up

SEB! is calling Ominis

Call accepted

Call ended, 4hr 57min

July 24th, 5:01pm

SEB!

going for a walk can call?

Ominis

Please.

SEB! is calling Ominis

Call accepted

Call ended, 5hr 51min

10:53pm

SEB!

oh damn haha new record didn’t even realise

Ominis

What?

SEB! 

we were on the phone for almost 6 hours

Ominis

Merlin, really? What on Earth do we even talk about?

SEB! 

absolutely nothing. it’s great

Ominis

At this rate we won’t have anything to talk about when we get back to Hogwarts. 

SEB!

but u know we will. we could easily break that record tomorrow 

and the day after

and the day after that

Ominis

I think you are right. It’s a wonder I’m not sick of you. 

SEB! 

i love

same here

somehow I forgot to ask but did u ask ur dad if u can come stay solomon doesn’t care, he was like ‘ur almost 18 do what u want’

Ominis

Ah, no, not yet. He and Marvolo are, well, honestly, I have no idea what they are doing. As you well know I’ve spent most of my time in my room talking to you. I’m just trying to keep out of the way as I usually do. But when I’ve tried to speak to him he has mostly brushed me off. Again, as he usually does. 

I’ll try again at some point. There’s nothing more I want to do than to come and stay with you, but you know how my family can be. 

SEB!

i

yea that’s cool dude, whenever u can, if u can

anne keeps asking me about us

anne keeps asking like when is ominis coming and im like idk lay off!! lmao

Ominis

I’m clearly a wanted man. 

SEB!

yeah i want u so bad u don’t even kno lol imagine if i sent that

it’s our last summer at school, we wanna hang out with u :)

Ominis

Soon. Promise.

SEB! 

fingers and toes and arms and legs and eyes and wands all crossed  <3

July 30th, 7:54am

Ominis

How would you feel about me staying for a month?

8:23am

SEB!

overjoyed, ecstatic, thrilled, etc etc

why?

Ominis

My father pretty much said I could come for as long as I wanted. Not in so many words, but I think he’s far too focused on other things at the moment to worry about what I’m doing with myself. 

SEB!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ominis

Are you busy this afternoon?

SEB!

NO! NOW? TODAY?

Ominis

That is what I meant by this afternoon. Would that be ok? I’d wait another day or two but I don’t think I really can. Haha. 

SEB!

please come whenever

come now !!

Ominis

Are you certain?

SEB!

Super certain. I can’t wait to see you. 

Ominis

:) I’ll pack my things. I’ll let you know when I’m coming. 

SEB!

i’ll let anne and solomon know haha brb

8:27am

SEB!

anne’s really excited!! solomon got annoyed i woke him up hahaha but he doesn’t care he’s probably gonna be off somewhere in a few days anyway so

ahhhhh this is great news to wake up to, can’t wait to see u baby boy it feels like forever. only 3 weeks but 

9:04am

Ominis

On my way Sweetheart. <3

WINTER

December 23rd, 6:33pm

SEB! changed their display name to sebauble

sebauble

hello lovely

did u get back ok?

7:04pm

Ominis

Yes, thank you. Thank you to you, Anne and Solomon for having me. I’m sorry I had to return back home so soon. I would’ve liked to have stayed for the entirety of the break and not miss Christmas with you. 

But I suppose there is New Years, at least. 

sebauble

ik :( sucks

i don’t get ur family, one year they don’t care if ur there or not the next you HAVE to come home

so strange

but yeah new years woo woo

Ominis

It’s not as if we really celebrate the holiday. There’s a meal in the evening, but we usually spend the days to ourselves, gather in silence to eat and then return to our rooms. 

It’s certainly not a traditional Christmas. 

sebauble

EXACTLY

damn gaunts bunch of weirdos haha

Ominis

Careful, I’m still a Gaunt whether I like it or not. 

sebauble

o_o

no no i like to think of u as a sallow

my husb

like my brother

LOL

Ominis

I told you, don’t call me your brother. 

Or sister, before you start. 

sebauble

fine, but ur still a sallow in my eyes

Ominis

How so? As your husband? Do I marry in to the Sallow name? Or is it just an honorary title?

sebauble

oh fuck did u

yes just marry me

merlin did u just

yes u can be my husband

hm it would solve lots of problems

no gaunt surname, no dealing with ur family, im a pureblood so they wouldn’t care, u could live here, wouldn’t have to be married off to someone you hate

what say u

marry me baby?

shit I’m only joking

no I’m not

Ominis

I thought you’d never ask! Haha. 

Or I could just marry Anne. Be a modern gentleman and take her name. 

sebauble

oh

yeah that could work too

we would have to see if she would agree though

Ominis

I’m sure she would. I’m certainly the better choice than half the boys in our year. And we are already great friends, it seems like a good match!

sebauble

please don’t be in love with my sister i would die

Is this ur way of telling me u want to date anne or something haha

Ominis

Oh absolutely not, Sebastian!

No offence to her, but Anne is not quite my type. I thought we were joking?

sebauble

thank Merlin

wait so

Haha yeah i am lol

so what is ur type then lol

i shouldn’t have sent that fuck

Ominis

Oh, er, I don’t really know. I haven’t put much thought into it. 

sebauble

just enough to know def not my sister then

lol poor Anne

Ominis

I suppose so.

sebauble

THANK FUCK

So like

if u had to date someone in our year who would it be

How do u even know what ur type is when u can’t see

Is it just personality? face feel?

you’ve felt my face before, did u like it?

Ominis

I really haven’t put much thought into it.

sebauble

ok but u must like someone right ?

or have in the past

u seem to get on with poppy quite well

and there’s that girl in 6th who is always nice to u and she’s pretty fit, kinda boring but

Ominis

Look, Sebastian, I don’t know and I don’t really want to talk about this. We haven’t before, and I don’t particularly want to start now.

sebauble

sorry

i won’t bring it up again

i was just being nosy

Ominis

Let’s just leave it. I’ve got to go for supper anyway. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. 

sebauble

im a fucking idiot

now u hate me

ok, sorry

speak tomorrow

December 24th, 1:37pm

sebauble

hellooooo

8:22pm

Ominis

Good evening. Sorry for not getting in contact with you sooner. I’ve been rather busy today. 

sebauble

it’s ok!!

i thought u might be annoyed at me

did u do anything fun?

Ominis

My dear Aunt Noctua has come for Christmas. It was why my parents demanded me home, so I forgive them now. Haha. 

I’ve spent a long time talking to her today. She doesn’t often visit anymore so it has been a pleasure to be in her company again. 

sebauble

ahh that’s cute im glad she’s there !!!

how is she

Ominis

Very busy, as always. She was telling my sister and I multiple stories of her childhood with my father. He used to be quite kind, surprisingly. He wasn’t there to hear, though, or I fear how he would’ve reacted. 

sebauble

NO WAY 

Ominis

Indeed. He used to read her stories to help her fall asleep when they were both young. Unfortunately the weight of the Gaunt name and the expectations from my grandfather soon caught up to him and, well, you know the rest. 

sebauble

that sucks

is she staying long?

Ominis

Only until Boxing Day. Then she’s back to her travels.

sebauble

ah that’s a shame

but at least u get to see her

makes up for u not being here tomorrow haha

Ominis

Yes, I suppose it does. 

Well, not entirely. I’d much rather be with you, Anne and Noctua. That would be a much more pleasant Christmas. 

sebauble

maybe one day :)

8:52pm

Ominis

Sebastian? 

sebauble

…yeah? 

Ominis

I’m sorry for the way I reacted yesterday. 

sebauble

oh about the

no, i should be sorry. i was prying.

Ominis

Not at all. We’re best friends, I think it’s perfectly normal to talk about things like that. Especially at our age.

sebauble

yeah

i know we dont really

it’s just

im in love with y

we have almost finished school and u have never gone on a date or anything 

and don’t say no girls would date u cos they totally would

Ominis

I think that’s where the issue may lie. 

sebauble

wdym?

Ominis

I think my issue here is er the girls. 

sebauble

oh right 

none of them are taking ur fancy 

idk if u gave that 6th year a chance she might be alright 

or just date me lol

Ominis

That’s really not what I’m trying to say.

sebauble

ok then i don’t get it

Ominis

Merlin’s beard Sebastian I thought you were intelligent. Do I really have to spell it out?

I don’t like girls. I don’t want to date girls. They’re perfectly fine and I’m sure are very pretty, and actually I have been asked out before and didn’t tell you because I never went.

Because I like boys. 

sebauble

oh

Ominis

And I’m sorry I never told you but it’s just something I’ve had to keep to myself for a long time because I just never knew how to bring it up. 

I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable now, I really hope it doesn’t. You’re the first person I’ve told. 

sebauble

oh

Ominis

Well don’t just keep saying oh, say something, anything, I beg of you. 

sebauble

sorry

me too, i like boys too, i like girls as well but i really like boys, i mean u boys, u r a boy and i like u, i love u actually, fuck sake

Ominis, it took me a long time to see it, but I’ve been in love with you for years, you’re the person I want to spend every waking moment with and talk to about everything and oh gods i can’t do it

Ominis

Are you typing? Can you just respond please, other than just sorry?

sebauble

dude i

sorry

that’s cool!!!

u should’ve told me before

didn’t need to keep this kind of secret

i would’ve set u up lol

Ominis

With someone from our school? Disgusting, the lot of them. Filthy, smelly boys. 

sebauble

even me?

then how do u kno u even like boys???

Ominis

Well. That’s a good question. It’s just something I know, I suppose. Yep, that’s it, definitely. 

sebauble

oh no no no no no no no no please say no

…oh i see right through u

there IS someone u like

Ominis

Alright. Maybe. 

But don’t go pushing me, I’m not going to tell you. 

sebauble

fuck fuck fuck fuck just kill me

tell me who it is now, ill kill them

i wont. thats what the amortentia is for

i’ll get u to smell it, tell me what u smell and then ill work it out

im very smart

Ominis

You’d have to torture that out of me, Sebastian. 

sebauble

if it gets u on a date with someone then itll be worth it >:)

Ominis

That’s the other issue. I don’t think this person is interested in boys. 

At all. 

sebauble

dude

I have to know now

let me help

Ominis

I think we should really leave it.

sebauble

…

alright

only because im nice and respectful of ur privacy

sometimes lol

but if u need my help

i am here

Ominis

Thank you. I mean it, for not hating me. For being supportive. 

sebauble

ur my best friend

why would i hate u over this? don’t be daft

i could never hate u baby

in fact i

Ominis

:) Thank you. 

Well, I should go wallow in my own self pity now, it’s been a long day. I’ll talk to you in the morning?

sebauble

speak tomorrow

sleep well

love u

<3

Ominis

Love you too.

<3

December 25th, 9:31am

sebauble

CHRISTMAS

WAKE UP

Ominis

I’m awake! 

Merry Christmas Sebastian :)

sebauble

MEERY CHRISTMAS OMINIS

Ominis

Don’t forget to open the gift I got you. 

And the one for Anne, too. 

sebauble

I WONT

CAN I OPEN NOW?

Ominis

Yes!

9:36am

sebauble

oh dude thank you

i fucking love it

just what i wanted

Ominis

Is it the right one?

sebauble

YES

super cool

i wanted this quidditch jumper for forever 

so thank you

it’s perfect 

ITS GOT MY NAME ON THE BACK

i just saw

Hahahahah even more perfect 

brilliant

<333333

Ominis 

I’m so glad you like it. I had to get Anne’s help. Did she like her gift?

sebauble

hold on

yes she loves it thank you

she said ‘id been wanting this diary for ages, thank you ominis, u really shouldn’t have’

u need to stop being so generous dude

im sorry i couldn’t really afford to get u anything

Ominis

I just want to make you happy, it’s not about getting anything in return, honestly. 

I’m glad she likes it. Merry Christmas to you both. 

sebauble

…

Ominis

What?

sebauble

check ur bag

Ominis

What?

sebauble

just check it

9:45am

Ominis

What is this? 

sebauble

did u open it?

Ominis

No, what have you done?

sebauble

open it

9:47am

Ominis

I’ve opened it. It feels like a photo frame. What is it?

sebauble

so if u run ur hands over the whole thing it u should be able to feel some bits feel different to the other bits

Ominis

Yes, I can feel that. Some bits are raised and other bits aren’t. 

sebauble

yeah

its basically a picture with the outlines raised up so you can feel it. sort of like a drawing but u can trace over it so u can ‘see’ it

Ominis

What’s it a picture of?

sebauble

us

from mine and anne's birthday party

idk if u remember

she took the picture outside the dorm

i think we were both drunk but yeah

i just loved the picture

and wanted u to see it somehow

Ominis

Oh Sebastian. 

sebauble

is it any good?

can u sort of feel it?

im on the left side and ur on the right 

if it’s no good u don’t have to keep it

Ominis

Sebastian. 

sebauble

yeah?

Ominis

This is the most wonderful gift I’ve ever received. 

sabauble

haha

really?

Ominis

This is the most thoughtful, amazing thing I’ve ever been given. I can’t believe it. You shouldn’t have spent the money on me. 

sebauble

as u said earlier ‘i just want to make u happy’

Ominis

Sebastian. You’ve made me cry. 

sebauble

don’t cry :(

plz

sorry

Ominis

You idiot. I’m not sad. I just cannot believe someone has done something this wonderful for me. And for you to be the one to do it, well, is not surprising but.

I don’t think I can thank you enough. 

I love you.

sebauble

i

you

i love you too so much

Ominis

But probably not in the way I love you. 

sebauble

????

Ominis

Gods, I apologise, I didn’t mean to send that. Stupid phone.

Please ignore that message. How do you delete a message? I can’t delete the message, why won’t it delete it? Oh it’s still listening to me, for fuck

sebauble

what

Ominis

Please Sebastian, please ignore it. I think it must’ve heard me wrong or something, I’m sorry.

Just ignore it, I can’t delete it for some stupid reason but you’ve already seen it anyway so it doesn’t

I apologise. I don’t understand why it listens to me sometimes and then doesn’t the other. 

I hate these stupid things.

Just forget it. 

sebauble

do you

are you in love with me or something?

Ominis

I said just ignore it. Please. 

sebauble

no, just tell me

are you?

when u said there’s someone u like yesterday

did u mean me?

Ominis

Sebastian, please.

sebauble

tell me

please

u have to tell me

I’m begging u

Ominis

I can’t do this Sebastian

sebauble

please

please because if i say i feel the same way and u say u were joking i think i would die

Ominis

You feel the same way?

sebauble

i do

ominis please

im stupidly desperately in love with you and i truthfully have no idea for how long but all i know is that i love you with every fibre of my being and i spend every second without u wishing i was with u and every second with u wishing i was closer to u

all the times I’ve called you baby and perfect and gorgeous i was never joking

please tell me u weren’t joking

please

Ominis

I wasn’t joking. I didn’t mean to send it but I am serious. 

Are you serious?

sebauble

ofc i am 

i swear

Merlin

I love you Ominis

Ominis

Can I call?

sebauble

yes

please

Ominis is calling sebauble

Call accepted

[ruinedsam]

I have so many thoughts concerning a supernatural where Hallucifer was actually part of Lucifer, so I’ll do multiple asks to prevent an essay in your inbox. There’s even more potential angst of Hallucifer also being a bit of Lucifer tagging along with Sam out of the Cage when we get to season 11. Most of the seasons proceeded as in canon, except Lucifer has been there the whole time for Sam because Castiel was unable to fully remove Lucifer’s grace because weakened or not, Lucifer’s an archangel and there’s a bond between Lucifer and his true vessel that Castiel can’t fully break. Castiel and Sam had a fairly tense dynamic for a while because Sam understandably had issues here over Castiel nearly breaking his mind, knowing what was at stake because Castiel was one of the people warning Dean over the possible consequences. But they eventually reach what they do in canon and consider each other friends, and we get to the point when Sam enters the cage. Lucifer has been aware of everything topside, because part of his Grace has been with Sam the whole time, and we see just how well Lucifer and Sam have grown to know one another over the years. I think we should have seen some kind of bond exist between angel and true vessel, so yeah, there’s this weird sense of “I know you because you are me” and Sam occasionally gets flickers of Lucifer’s thoughts because Lucifer has been a part of Sam this whole time; Sam has explicitly linked it to the demon blood at some point in a parallel of “I can’t ever rip it out or scrub it clean.” Demon blood vs angelic possession but this angel is considered the father of demons and Sam was only fed the demon blood so Lucifer could rise. But vessel shenanigans are going on and over time, we’ve seen Sam gradually adopt some of Lucifer’s mannerisms. Dean sees him one day and just can’t shake this feeling of dread crawling up his spine but he doesn’t know why, Sam’s actions are at once terrifyingly familiar and jarringly strange; he goes to his room and we see a flashback of Lucifer!Sam in “The End,” with current!Sam’s behavior being something Dean saw Lucifer do then. Anyways, Sam still heads to the Cage and says no, but Castiel says yes as in canon. It needs to be that Sam and Cas have only recently gotten to a stable place in which Sam actually trusts him, so that right when they’ve recovered from Cas breaking his wall, Castiel chooses to let Lucifer in; he is the one who didn’t notice Lucifer was there with Sam when he got Sam’s body out of the Cage, he is the one who broke Sam’s mind to neutralize Dean and Bobby, and now he is the guy who almost let Lucifer around Sam unknowingly. But I also think that due to having spent years with Lucifer, Sam knows Lucifer, better than anyone, so when Lucifer!Castiel shows up the first time, Sam immediately knows who it is and calls him out. And far from being upset or angry that his disguise was blown, Lucifer is thrilled because here is the undeniable proof that Sam knows Lucifer, Sam will never be able to ignore this now because Dean was fooled yet Sam knew within a minute. 1/4

👀👀👀👀👀

Oooh this is delicous 🥰That there is some inextrincable bond between an angel and their vessel would make so much sense! I really like the way this dooms Sam. He's Lucifer's true vessel and there's no way to escape that. Lucifer will always be with him in some way. And of course Castiel wouldn't be able to break (or necessarily even recognize) this bond, he's just a regular angel.

Oh man I would have so loved to see this on screen! Jared is so good with subtle but noticeable mannerisms that distinguish the different characters, it would be amazing to see this over the course of some time, obviously not all viewers would catch it but for those who'd do the payoff of the reveal would be so good!

I find it really interesting to think about how Sam would perceive these things, especially when he has these flickers of thought from Lucifer. I like the idea of him not being aware of it at all, he and Lucifer are so enmeshed it doesn't register that thought didn't come from himself. But I also like the idea of Sam being aware of it and interpreting it as a trauma response and being like help I'm so fucked up I'm starting to think like Lucifer. Or he could be aware that he's receiving thoughts from the actual Lucifer, having to face that he and Lucifer are still linked, he may be out of the cage but that doesn't mean he's escaped from Lucifer...

Castiel letting Lucifer free behind Sam and Dean's back just after he and Sam started to have a good relationship is evil, so obviously I love it. And yeah Sam should notice it's Lucifer and Lucifer should be so pleased it about it!!! Sam and Lucifer knowing each other in ways no one else does is so close to my heart <333

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Chapter 2 (His POV)

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support cybird by buying their stories. SPOILERS under the cut. Expect mistakes.

(Sounds like a pain in the ass.)

I muttered this to myself as I left the guest room.

(I can’t let her flimsy sense of justice get in my way.)

(She said she was from the countryside, but I guess I need to be on the lookout for now.)

I was always suspicious of anyone who came near me.

Even when I see no major issues, I remain on my guard because I understand that even the slightest thing can lead to unintended consequences.

(If it’s nothing, so be it.)

(It’s just better to be cautious.)

Kicho: “Show the new maid in the guest room to her room.”

Subordinate 1: “Yes, sir.”

I ordered my men, waiting outside the room.

Subordinate 2: “Lord Kicho, thank you for waiting. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Kicho: “Yeah, no problem. Thank you.”

Kicho: “Let’s head for the port. I can’t keep my business partner waiting forever.”

Kicho: “He’s not feeling well?”

Subordinate 2: “Yes. The captain has a fever and needs a doctor.”

Subordinate 2: “He doesn’t want anyone on board to meet with the others if the reason is still unknown.”

Kicho: “He’s right. If we were to get sick too, we wouldn’t be able to make a deal here either.”

(I noticed a lot of fuss, but it looks like he’s just sick.)

(The business meeting will have to wait until later.)

Kicho: “Let’s go back. There’s no point in staying here.”

Subordinate: “Yes, sir.”

We turned on our heels and headed back home.

(My schedule has gone south. As soon as I get home, I’ll have to rework the contract for the next business meeting.)

(The attack on Azuchi Castle is already a success, and skirmishes are intensifying all over the country.)

(I can’t let this sort of thing interfere with my plans.)

I furrowed my eyebrows lightly, faintly annoyed.

(Anyway, we need more weapons now.)

(More...)

------------Flashback------------

Mai: “I think conflicts will happen if more people get their hands on weapons.”

Kicho: “That is my goal.”

Kicho: “I’ll incite the forces of various regions and disturb Japan. This trading post is for that purpose.”

Mai: “A lot of people are going to die.”

Kicho: “………….”

Kicho: “It’s a necessary sacrifice.”

---------Flashback Ends---------

Kicho: “.............”

(Why do I remember that woman’s words now?)

The wrinkles between my eyebrows deepened, and I quickened my pace, my heart burning with a feeling similar to irritation.

When I returned to the trading post, a maid happened to pass by and looked at me in surprise.

Maid: “You’re back early. Are you expecting a visitor?”

Kicho: “No, but is there something wrong?”

Maid: “Yes. I left her to clean the furniture while you were gone.”

Maid: “The one who just arrived today.”

(Mai, huh?)

(What the hell is that woman up to?)

After hearing the story from the maid, I looked for Mai.

(Is she dedicated to her work, or is she working for some purpose?)

(From the very first day, she’s been acting weirdly and suspiciously.)

As I reached the end of the hallway and was about to turn around the corner一

Mai’s voice: “I-I’m sorry!”

(There you are.)

I heard Mai’s voice and hid.

Mai’s voice: “Um, thank you for the warning.”

(It sounds like she’s talking to someone. Who is she talking to...?)

Shojumaru’s voice: “Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Shojumaru.”

(This voice belongs to Motonari. I see, so he’s here.)

Motonari, of course, had no intention of revealing himself to Mai and took the name he used for his trading business.

(Weird. He doesn't usually speak to the maids here.)

(What was Mai doing?)

Curious, I peeked out from the shadows to see what was happening.

Luckily, Mai had her back to me and was looking up at Motonari, who was smiling.

(That look in his eyes says he’s probing.)

Shojumaru: “I’m a trader, so I often come here.”

Mai: “I see. My name is Mai. I work here as a maid.”

Shojumaru: “Lady Mai, huh? And what are you doing now?”

Mai: “Well, as you can see, I’m cleaning.”

Shojumaru: “I didn’t mean that.”

Shojumaru: “You were thinking pretty hard about something, so I thought maybe you have something else you want to do.”

Mai: “------!”

(Thinking, huh?)

I didn’t miss the slight jerk of her shoulders at Motonari’s words. It seemed like Mai was trying to push down her agitation as she continued speaking.

Mai: “I was just worried I’d get lost here.”

Mai: “I was trying to remember the route I took so that I could at least return to my room properly.”

Shojumaru: “I see.”

Shojumaru: “As I said before, I often come here, so if you have any questions, just ask.”

Mai: “Okay, thank you!”

(He’s a good actor.)

From Mai’s point of view, Motonari must have looked like a good person.

Even though I couldn’t see her face, I could tell that she was relieved.

(Well, it’s about time.)

Deciding that, this time, I turned around the corner.

Mai: “By the way, are you here for some business?”

Mai: “If you want to see Kicho, he went to the port a while ago.”

Shojumaru: “Port?”

Mai: “Yes. So, if you’re looking for Kicho一”

Kicho: “I’m listening.”

Mai: “That’s right. Wait, what!?”

Mai turned around and took a step back, surprised to see me standing behind her.

(You mentioned me right where I was intended.)

Mai: “Are you done with your work?”

Kicho: “No, it got pushed back to a later date. Apparently, the captain is not feeling well.”

Mai: “I see.”

Kicho: “Shojumaru. If you need me, I’ll be in my room.”

Shojumaru: “No, it’s okay. I’m just here to pick up something.”

Shojumaru: "More importantly, Lady Mai there seemed to have something to say."

Mai: “Huh?”

(I think it's better to pretend I don't know anything about it.)

Kicho: "Oh, what is it?

Mai: "No. I didn't一"

Shojumaru: "She's worried that she might get lost because this place is too big."

I listened to Motonari’s explanation while Mai watched the two of us with a flustered look on her face until the conversation was over.

Kicho: "I see. Then, Mai."

Mai: "Yes?"

Kicho: "Follow me. I'll show you around."

(Just the excuse I needed. I'll observe this woman while I'm showing her around.)

Mai frantically shook her head at my suggestion.

Mai: "You don't need to do that! I'll just ask the other maids."

Shojumaru: "This is also the job of the head of this place, right?"

Kicho: "Yeah. You also need to keep this information in your head."

Motonari realized what I was trying to do and cut off Mai's escape route.

Mai: "I guess."

Shojumaru: "Good luck with your work."

After seeing Motonari off, I took Mai and left the place.

Kicho: "That's all for the first floor."

Kicho: "There are a few rooms for visitors, but for the most part, they are reserved for those who work in this building."

Kicho: "You’ll be using them every day. Remember that."

Mai: "I understand. Still, this place is very spacious."

Using a piece of paper and a brush I had given her, Mai wrote down a simple floor plan of the building, noting the location of the kitchen, her room, the parlor, and the hall.

(It looks like she's got it all figured out. Now she won't be able to say that she got lost.)

Mai: "Oh..."

(Hm?)

When I looked at the paper, the line got cut off.

Mai, looking troubled, dipped the tip of her brush into a small portable inkstone and slid it onto the paper again, repeating the gesture somewhat awkwardly.

Mai: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Kicho: "It's okay. Have you never used a brush that much?"

Mai: "Yes. I've been in that kind of environment all my life."

(It looks like she can write without difficulty, but it's taking her too long.)

(Is it because of her environment?)

(What the heck has she been using to write things?)

Feeling uncomfortable with the topic, Mai blurted out something while moving her brush.

Mai: "If only there was a brush that never ran out of ink, it would be useful in this situation."

Kicho: "You're right. If I had a ballpoint pen right now, I'd lend it to you."

(That was a useful one. I don't think this person would get it even if I told her.)

(Okay, all idle chatter aside, I've got to check it.)

I turned to Mai, who had finished writing.

Kicho: "By the way, Mai."

Mai: "Y-Yes. What is it?"

Kicho: "Shojumaru told me earlier that you were cleaning up."

Kicho: "I already told you that you don't have to do anything today. Why were you wandering around the building?"

Mai: "That's..."

Mai: "I was rude to you earlier. I didn't want you to fire me, so I decided to help."

Kicho: "You already said that earlier. Does it bother you that much?"

Mai: "Yes. If I get kicked out on my first day, I don't know how to face everyone back home."

Mai: "Well, going home might not be the right way to describe it."

Kicho: "..............."

(I see she's not lying.)

(There seems to be a reason, but I don't see the need to press the issue here.)

Kicho: “Okay. I understand.”

I asked nothing more and nodded before walking down the hallway again, followed by Mai, who seemed to have relaxed.

Without any further conversation, we reached the end of the second floor, and I stopped.

Kicho: "The second floor is basically used for guests, document storage, etc."

Kicho: "I'll skip this part since you won't be using it much, but just keep this in mind."

Mai: "Okay. What about this room?"

Kicho: "This is my room. Never enter it for any reason."

Saying this, I inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it firmly.

Kicho: "Wait here for a moment."

(I'm sure I already received it.)

(I think it's on this shelf.)

I quickly found it, picked it up, and left the room.

Kicho: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Mai tilted her head slightly as I returned with a small wooden box.

Mai: "No, it's okay. What's that?"

Kicho: "It's called perfume. It's a fragrance you can put on yourself by spraying the liquid inside."

Kicho: "I prepared it as a gift for you."

(Frankly, I don't like it, but a strong scent will let me know where she is and where she's been.)

I handed Mai the wooden box, not caring about her surprise, and urged her to open it by looking at her.

Mai: "Oh..."

An elegant and distinctive sweet aroma wafted over the place.

(The smell is still strong. It smells like a flower spreading poison around.)

(It probably doesn’t suit this woman’s style, but I don’t have a choice.)

I almost frowned, but continued with my explanation.

Kicho: "It's an item made abroad. In some places, the fragrance is considered part of one's appearance."

Kicho: "It's important to make a good impression, so I always order everyone to wear this when dealing with VIPs."

Mai: "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Mai nodded her head in agreement and bowed politely.

Kicho: "Yeah. Well, this is the end of the tour."

Kicho: "This time, you can rest in your room."

I said that and turned on my heel.

As if on cue, I heard the voice of my subordinate calling out to me and strode in that direction.

That evening一

I received some news.

Kicho: "I see. You caught their tails."

Subordinate: "Yes, the others are already waiting over there."

Kicho: "Okay. I'll be right there."

Subordinate: "We have information that there will be a transaction today in this area."

Subordinate: "They're gonna show up soon."

Kicho: "Okay. You stay here for a while."

Kicho: "If they show up, don't catch them immediately. We need to get some solid evidence."

Subordinate: "Yes, sir."

I left my subordinate, who responded firmly while keeping his voice low, and continued down the street with only the moon as a light.

(I better avoid running into them.)

I carefully moved down the narrow alleyway, not making a sound with my footsteps.

(I can hear them talking. It sounds like they're just around the corner.)

Man's voice 1: "Three Matchlocks. I'll pay you in advance."

Man's voice 2: "Yeah, okay. Then, tomorrow morning."

(Matchlock? Those are the guys I've been looking for.)

Kicho: "............"

I suddenly stopped as a flowery scent reached my nose, spreading like poison.

(Don't tell me...)

Looking closely, I could faintly see a figure in the darkness just around the corner.

(Why are you here?)

(Are you aware of the situation this place is in right now?)

Angered by her defenseless back, I reached out and一

Kicho: "Mai."

Mai: "Mhmp!?"

Previous Part╏Masterlist╏Next Part

[rawliverandgoronspice]

"…minimize the toll of time taken on both of them the same way it did for Zelda, especially since they semi-turn to stone immediately after. There are a lot of dialogue bits that feel like they are here for damage control and reassure us that the nice things are nice and the bad things are bad…"

So much yesssss. I honestly wonder if they did that because the story plays in a way where Link at no point feels like an active participant in any of what is happening.

Like "Oh yes there are consequences… but don't worry nothing is really gonna happen until we're in the present time with Link." It's weird how it almost feels like the game doesn't even acknowledge calamity Ganon. Not saying we need this huge cutscene about it, but imagine just showing Calamity Ganon being born at the same time as Zelda turns into a dragon. Showing the immediate negative consequences, and how Hyrule now has to wait millennia for totk-Link to finish what was started.

Hey, thanks for the ask, and sorry for the wait!

Yeah, I think there *was* a way to connect past and present more efficiently --using the past as revealing new information to guide objectives in the present-- but I think it would have gone against their open world philosophy (which didn't really mesh with the kind of story they tried to tell). As a consequence, nothing in the present really happens either honestly? The consequence to restoring a region involves giving you a tactical advantage and having some key players moving to the main Lookout Camp, but fundamentally you could skip all of it and lose almost nothing plot-wise, because the philosophy is: you can beat the game in any way you want.

And while I think it worked for BotW, where rediscovering that world you lost is never mandatory but it does give you emotional stakes in the fight ahead on top of helping you prepare your final battle, here it just feels... meandery? Your main goal is to find Zelda, but you don't actually have to find Zelda. You can finish the whole game without having invested a single thought into finding Zelda beyond the tutorial area. The overarching objective to Destroy Ganon worked in BotW because it remained the core pillar all the way, literally staring you in the eye from all across the map: every other quest objective is nested in the first one and optional by default, and it is made abundantly clear what the game expects of you while guiding you to opportunities to make your journey easier and more grounded as you rediscover Hyrule (gradually mastering the land, your own abilities, and your understanding of your place in that land to give you the best possible chance --mastering the Wild and becoming part of it, if you may).

But here? The game *tries* to hide its core objective (which is to Destroy Ganondorf: this is what actually triggers the ending credits sequence, not finding Zelda, which triggers... nothing at all actually) in a mystery the game... isn't actually that invested in gameplay-wise.

For example: you go handle the issues in the various regions because there are problems to fix and maybe you'll get information on where she is, which is honestly an assumption that is kind of based on... nothing? Why would the ritos facing an unnatural ice storm or the gorons facing a drug problem give you a clue on Zelda's location? Like yes, surely there is something weird going on and it might be linked to the same phenomenon that made Zelda disappear, but what makes you think going there will give you any hint of where she is? Honestly, the Lucky Clover sidequests almost feel like they should be the main quest given they actually involve Zelda sightings directly, but the fact that the game extra-diegetically categorize them as sidequests lets you immediately know these are all red herrings before you actually complete them...

But honestly: it would make sense to go look for her.... where she was last seen. Which is under Hyrule's Castle. And I didn't go there immediately, not because the game convinced me it was not necessary, or was too dangerous and I wasn't prepared yet, but because I knew for sure it was where Ganondorf would be, and so I pretended to be stupid so I would let the game lead me to its interest points while ignoring the glowing red hole under the core landmark of Hyrule where I had last seen Zelda and Ganondorf.

Sure, there was a glowing red boar in BotW screeching into the night, but. The game told me it's where the final boss was. Immediately. It was not trying to surprise me with that information. TotK, on the other hand, does an awkward little song and dance being like "oooooo I wooonder what you'll have to dooooo neeeext" and... it's pretty damn lame that I need to consciously course-correct the bad job the game does at leading me places to have a good time with it, using game design literacy to assume what I should and shouldn't do not to ruin my own experience as I play (same could be said for the Dragon's Tears as well, and it does an even worse job at it since I *did* spoil myself almost immediately, because I trusted the open world philosophy to carry into the memories like in BotW --and the fact that they are linear??? somehow?? without telling you and it's the only linear thing in the entire game?? is just so so so Not Good).

When I say the quest design of this game is a complete mess, I do mean it. It's layers upon layers of these baffling decisions, and I don't understand why they didn't apply any of the lessons learned in Breath of the Wild, given they were genuinely good and interesting lessons that have guided open world quest design ever since the game was released.

[seldaryne]

overall i think i enjoy the multiple protag au stuff even if it's making me go back and forth on some of my preferred worldstate choices.

however, it also kind of makes that decision for me in some areas i think?

in general, the characters i've ran so far & have been the loudest in my head, don't neglect that part lmfao have tended to stray more to the side of letting shadowheart's parents die in her personal quest. she's ended up leaving shar each time, yeah, but that's been consistent. with haelryne, she felt so weird about overstepping like that. her personal relationship with her parents is... pretty fine? but as a general rule i think she's someone who leans towards a more hands-off approach with everyone's choices. yes, she's got opinions & will voice them if appropriate, but she's acutely aware that it's Not her or her life & she doesn't entirely trust that she can have some of those opinions with her context as an outsider. she's not part of that family, how is she supposed to form a rebuttal when they ask shadowheart to let them die?

velrith is kind of the same, except oh my God the choice paralysis in this moment. absolutely insane. because up until then she's been relying heavily on her oath & if not that, pure pragmatism. usually a combination of the two. but this feels like a no-win situation to her & it's not one that's covered by either of her typical decision-making mechanisms. she's also personally just got a lot of baggage surrounding family, despite not remembering it actively or being aware of it (something about cell memory or stains on the soul, take your pick). she also feels deeply out of her element here & can't even begin wrapping her head around a choice like this. because letting the die for the sake of freeing her friend from shar makes sense to her! they're telling shadowheart to do it & it seems to come from a place of love, she can see that her mother is actively deteriorating, and it also takes care of that wound on her hand. but she doubts herself, because she can also see how emotionally taxing this is even if she lacks that frame of personal reference & that feels bad. maybe the logical choice on paper isn't actually What she should allow here, even if it seems to be better on an individual level...? she killed her parents, even if it was compelled out of her. she doesn't think this should be up to her & ultimately finds that she's unable to say anything at all.

and then tertiary to all that, you have ashlanna, who is Fully acting on a selfish impulse when she's like '??? are you serious? get them Down we can solve your hand later, i refuse to believe there isn't a loophole & it's not worth letting them go after everything in your life you've suffered.' like. she loves shadowheart & yes she is notably vain & selfish and doesn't apologize for this, but she's also surprisingly family-oriented. she loves her own father so damn much & wouldn't hesitate or feel the need to ask the audience if she were in shadowheart's position. it seems like a no-brainer & i honestly can't see her being able to keep quiet while this conversation was happening. unlike the others, she's not hung up on making choices for other people; she runs theatrical productions on a regular basis. if she's not in charge, she's probably incapacitated because other people simply Cannot get anything right, not without heavy guidance from her anyway. which absolutely Can get annoying at times & i think there's probably also a part of shadowheart that's even miffed in the moment but also like. thank god for Someone at least feeling an appropriate amount of 'what the Fuck?' towards the whole thing & sure yeah maybe she's smug about what she did but it's coming from a loving place.

so i think yeah this is definitely something that changes wildly depending on who's there. sometimes you need your unhinged theatre girlfriend to cut you off mid-sentence to shake you out of your emotional ruminating, consequences of your actions be damned.

[malimangle]

Pilgrim Aiden + Sentient Volatile Crane

AKA: I have a VERY long and convoluted explanation for how Kyle Crane could be a father-figure to Aiden that I shared with my two buddies, and I am now deeply entrenched in + committed to the bit. So I made father-son content, naturally. It’s mostly senseless gjfkdg

For this story, imagine that we open with Crane’s backstory. His perspective—this whole deal traces his life from Harran and upwards, his various fights and how terribly lonely he is as he travels through the slowly deteriorating world, searching half-heartedly for some half-baked cure for what he’s been reduced to. Like every other man on earth, buddy.

All the while, yes, he’s a Volatile that goes into a fit of what can only be described as insistent monkey brain at nighttime, but he’s still a man, dammit. He craves human connection, and as he always has, he wants to protect + help people. Unfortunately, he can only achieve the latter half. It’s a half-rate substitute for the foremost desire, but that doesn’t change that it’s better than nothing. 

As we go over his backstory, we view as he tries―and fails― to save a settlement. They didn’t listen to his warning about approaching Volatiles, and as a consequence, they get slaughtered, with many dying entirely and a solid third becoming infected. The lot of the survivors become Virals. He sorta leaves them alone after that, counseling the Virals as they, over time, begin to lose their human minds to the virus (there’s some INTERESTING world building where human facilities don’t fully shut down til at least a couple weeks into the virus, and Crane gets to talk people through the transition and watch them OFFICIALLY die.) 

Well. Some days later a kid comes LITERALLY falling into the settlement, provoking all 21 Virals, and Crane has to put them all down prematurely as they wail at him to just kill them so they don’t hurt this kid.

Aiden initially tries to run from Crane and actually gives him a run for his money, but Jesus, this kid can’t be older than 14, so when Aiden finally thinks he’s lost this ‘weird infected motherfucker’, that’s when Crane springs at him, lifts him by the scruff of his shirt, and--immediately uses his weird telepathy to essentially strip Aiden the fuck down for being completely fucking unattended in the wastes at ‘his age’ and demand that he goes back to his Settlement IMMEDIATELY.

(” Listen, kid--stop screaming, dammit, I get it, I know--LISTEN. Jesus Christ. I know I’m some monster to you but the real problem is the reason why your sorry ass is out here ALONE! What the hell are you doing, kid!?”

“...What the fuck are you????”)

Just imagine Aiden hanging there, mid-air, goggling at this fucking Volatile-adjacent man who is standing in broad daylight and chastising him after chasing him several hundred meters.

“I don’t know what fucking girl you were sweet on here, but I guarantee she’s dead now, and I guarantee that going to have a fucking booty call with her in this day and age is NOT worth your goddamn death. Go HOME.”

Eventually Aiden scrambles together some brain cells thru the shock and he ends up squawking, the picture of baffled indignance, “What the hell are you--I don’t fucking BELONG ANYWHERE, let GO of me, asshole!”

Yeah. Crane initially finds that very hard to believe, but eventually as their conversation continues, he’s forced to accept that, no, Aiden’s fucking serious. He sorta…bluescreens over it. What the hell, he thinks. This 13 year old kid only comes up to my fucking elbow, and he’s out here alone??? Trying to ‘find his sister??’ You must be joking. No way in hell am I leaving this little guy to his own devices.

So, obviously, Crane wants to take Aiden to a settlement to settle in and not be in the wastes anymore, because he knows trying to find anyone in this day and age is a Fool’s Errand, especially someone you haven’t seen in a solid decade. 

He feels a bit bad about it, but mostly has zero qualms about telling Aiden so, to which Aiden is like “fuck you no” but either way, Crane eventually “succeeds” in cajoling Aiden into talking to a Settlement. Problem is--Crane didn’t actually succeed. Aiden KNOWS this Settlement is Hostile to Pilgrims. Crane didn’t accept Aiden’s claim that they’d be mean to him because he’s not REALLY a pilgrim (yes he is—Crane doesn’t believe it! The fucking nerve!) and like…”wHoS gOiNg To Be CrUeL tO a KiD, AiDeN??”

Yeah, I’m sure we can guess Aiden’s plan, here. Crane, however, is blissfully unaware of the can of bullshit Aiden’s about to open. This is not going to be softened at all by the fact that, during the travel to the settlement, Aiden and Crane kinda become grudging pals (grudging in that Aiden is softening to Crane over time and VERY angry about it, and Crane is endlessly exasperated by Aiden’s teenagism but also unwillingly(!!) amused by it.)

Soon enough, we’ve got our day of Reckoning. They reach the bigger Settlement. As we and Aiden both expect, they are immediately hostile to Aiden when he reveals he’s a pilgrim—and our poor, previously unaware Crane, in turn, immediately realizes Aiden wasn’t being dramatic, actually, and tries very hard to get Aiden to get the hell out of there and come back over to him without revealing himself to the settlers, because showing himself would cause a panic. Guess who isn’t aware of that because he’s a dumb thirteen year old and the novelty of Crane wore off, like, a week ago? Ding ding ding. It’s Aiden. 

Yeah, so, with rising hysteria Crane is trying to get Aiden to bail. Alas, the teenager in Aiden is coming out HARD and, wanting to REALLY prove his point to Crane, who has NOT been listening to his judgment at ALL, Aiden is very showy about calling out to the settlement guards and basically begs for a crossbow bolt between the eyes while Crane literally screams at him mentally. 

Right, so. Consequences, here we come. Aiden is so busy being a jerkoff thirteen year old that he’s completely blindsided when one of the Settlers does, indeed ACTUALLY shoot Aiden, right in the front of the shoulder.

A stunned silence. The Settlers look amongst each other, wide-eyed and quiet, but then--as one--almost immediately they decide to commit to the bit. Ohhhh FUCK.

Crane doesn’t even hesitate once that group-decision becomes clear— with some unholy shriek, he leaps into action, and not only swipes the guards off the wall, but flings himself off the wall and seizes Aiden by the middle, loping both of them off into the distance while Aiden screams and shouts for multiple reasons, kicking his dumb little feet. 

They have an argument as Crane runs from the Infected he’s accidentally sent into a frenzy between his sudden energy and the smell of Aiden’s blood, and Crane doubles down—he’s like, kid, some people are just assholes, not everyone is like that and no one’ll turn away a KID--especially not one who’s bleeding profusely from the shoulder, now, Jesus Christ, we got to sit down and take care of that soon--and Aiden tells him once more, this time with incredulous insistence, that no, he hadn’t been kidding before and wasn’t kidding now, EVERY fucking settlement this way is hostile as hell to Pilgrims, and after the scene HE made, they were probably going to be on the lookout!

Crane doesn’t want to believe it, but now that truth is starting to actually dawn on him, and he’s just not ready for it. Instead, they eventually lose the Chase and Crane props up Aiden on a car to help him clumsily patch up as best as he can with the materials he’s got on hand from previous finds in hospitals and clinics along the road.

Obviously, it’s a pretty hackneyed job―especially since Aiden botches the fuck out of pulling out the arrow and he can’t give himself stitches. Unnoticed, while Aiden thrashed in pain over the arrow removal, he scrapes the fuck out of his shoulders on the rusty ass car door and gets some minor abrasions—IMPORTANT LATER. 

Story marches on. Crane tries to prove Aiden wrong about people being jerks to teenage pilgrims, but it’s pretty obviously a doomed venture when they reach settlement after settlement, and one by one, all of them box Aiden out. Crane gets increasingly frustrated, which comes to a head when he comes raring out and YELLING at the guards who won’t take Aiden in despite his injuries after the twelfth turn-away, which results in a BIG conflict that ends with Crane breaking in, wrecking some shit, and carting Aiden away over his shoulder. 

Well, Crane’s meltdown is just the precursor to Aiden blowing up on him, because Crane has only JUST understood what Aiden’s been telling him the whole fucking time! Listen--Aiden’s not sure WHY Crane has been so obstinate about getting him into a settlement, but what he DOES know is that he’s in pain, he’s thirsty, his shoulder and head are killing him, he hasn’t eaten in days, and he’s VERY pissed at Crane. So. While Crane tries to find them a place to hole up for the night and check in on Aiden’s shoulder, they get INTO IT.

This is The Fight. Where Aiden hammers home his goals, and how Crane can’t change his mind. This is the broad strokes of how it goes—this is NOT the dialogue, but essentially what is said:

“It’s not my fault you think it’s stupid, and it’s not my fault you don’t have a Fucking goal.”

“You don't think I have a goal? What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time!? Fuck, kid—I’ve been traveling with you for over a month, you think I’ve just been doing that for the hell of it? I want you to be SAFE!” 

“and I’m TELLING you that I REFUSE to be safe until I see this through, and there’s JACK SHIT you can do about it! Either you’re with me, or against me, and there is zero fucking in between. So save yourself the trouble and just LEAVE already! I know you’ve been dying to get rid of me anyway! (stroke of abandonment issue—Crane trying to foist Aiden upon settlements has come across, to him, as an adult he grudgingly trusts trying to abandon him. He thinks Crane is eager to get rid of him)” 

“I’m not—what?! Aiden, I’m NOT fucking leaving you, you’re injured and I happen to give a shit about you! You think I want to up and fucking dump you somewhere, that I’d just leave you for dead like this?! Are you joking?! (Crane has misunderstood, a little, but he sounds so earnest here that it throws Aiden off)”

“Well—! If you really gave a shit the way I NEED you to, you’d know just how fucking important Mia is to me, and you wouldn’t tell me over and over again that my one goal in life, my one reason for LIVING, is STUPID. You’ve been nothing but an asshole about this the entire Fucking time and I’m sick of it!” 

“… (Crane, being the adult, realizes Aiden is right and accepts ownership of his relentless, though inadvertent assholery) …You’re right, kid. I HAVE been an asshole about this. But fuck, man, look around you. EVERYONE is dead. I have lost so many people, people that meant the world to me, and if that’s pain I can get you to avoid—especially when pursuing it might KILL YOU, I just…I wanted to try.” 

“And I want to know what happened.” 

“(Crane realizes getting Aiden to give up on this is going to take a lot more time than a single month, and uneasily settles into ‘agreeing’ to help him, because this is stupid but he cares enough about this punk ass kid to want to stick around.) Okay. Alright. Fine. Then I’ll help you find her. For real, this time.”

With that cleared, they finally chill the fuck out. Crane awkwardly leaves Aiden to mope it out while he goes and gets them dinner, because Aiden hasn’t eaten in awhile and he needs sustenance. He goes and manages to take down a couple rabbits, raids a nearby settlement for veggies bcus they pissed him off, and Crane goes back to Aiden to find the kid miserably dozing in the big master’s bed, smelling like he’s in pain. He clumsily makes a rabbit stew and brings it to Aiden, who says in a surly tone, “I’m not hungry.”

Initially Crane assumes Aiden’s doing that classic teenager thing and—since he’s still feeling like an asshole about earlier—he’s gentle with it. He’s like, “Aiden, listen, dude. I know you’re probably pissed off. I would be pissed, hell, I’d be fucking livid if I were you. But even if that’s true, in this day and age, it’s never a good idea to refuse hot food. You can glare daggers at me the whole time, but please just eat something.”

To which Aiden says, with appropriate shame and a much softer face, “Yeah, you got me, I’ve done that before, but I’m not being a hardass for funsies right now.” He sounds a little troubled as he admits, “I’m actually not hungry.”

“Aiden, you’ve barely eaten these last couple days. I want to believe you, kid, but you’re a teenager--there’s no way in hell you’re not hungry, unless somethings wrong.” The rising anxiousness in Crane’s tone prevents Aiden’s hackles from going up entirely, so he just snips, 

“Didn’t we just argue about you not fucking listening to me? I’m serious, I really don’t want to eat right now.” 

Crane’s heart hammers a bit, “…Do you think something might be wrong?”

“My head just hurts, and my stomach’s in knots, probably over the argument.” Crane feels a distinctly hard twinge of guilt. “I just don’t like fighting. This is  probably nothing special. I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Crane eventually cajoles Aiden into eating—he pushes the stew around and manages to get down like half of it, which just worries Crane more. He puts it up in the miraculously still-working fridge and goes to settle for the night. Well. Some hours later—when it’s 2am and Crane’s still in stupid-mode (remember: that’s how he is as a Sentient Volatile—he doesn’t get bloodlust. Stupid Insistent Monkey Brain because I can’t handle violent Crane), he’s woken by the sound of his kid hurling over the side of the bed. 

He lopes into the room in a hurry like “!!! What ! The fuck ! hurt?!” and Aiden tries to wave him off like “I just don’t think the rabbit sat well with me.” But he’s trembling, sweating, listing a little bit, and pale as fuck. Crane immediately feels his face—he’s sodden with sweat, and boiling. Oh fuck, he’s feverish. He goes to manhandle Aiden out of the blankets and curls his hand carefully around Aiden’s injured shoulder, avoiding the front—but when he grabs the back of Aiden’s shoulder, the kid nearly Fucking convulses. 

Oh fuck.

Remember that scrape he got on his back from the rusty car door when he pulled the arrow out of the front of the shoulder? 

Yeah. Turns out one of the scrapes was a proper cut, and it got infected with bacteria. Aiden missed it because he doesn’t have eyes back there and, yknow, the front of his shoulder was in such overwhelming pain, and Crane missed it because he was so fixated on the front too. But now there’s visible pus in it and even though Crane is still in stupid-mode, he’s still got the faculties to think to himself a very emphatic, “Fuck.”

He’s like “we need! Pills! Medicine!” and Aiden’s like “so long as it’s not penicillin it’s fine” and Cranes like “?!?!? WHAT.” to which Aiden explains that, for some godforsaken reason, he’s allergic as hell to the one (1) antibiotic that is still around in abundance—penicillin. Cranes like “where! The fuck!! Am I gonna find an antibiotic that’s NOT ! Penicillin! Fuck!”

They start with the first Crane finds—Doxycycline hyclate. It was manufactured in 2022 — it’s 2032. Unfortunately, they don’t really do shit. They went over the expiry for them, and though SOME might still be effective, ultimately they just barely make a dent in the infection. Things are starting to look dire, and the area is starting to clog up with migrating infected and bandits, so they gotta move. 

Crane ends up rigging together, basically, a baby carrier for his back to keep Aiden hoisted securely on him using bungee cords and other materials he raids from a hiking store in a Volatile Hive mall. By this point, Aiden is so feverish he can barely speak, much less travel. So he gets Aiden secured, grabs their shit, and in a last ditch effort makes it to a Very large hospital-turned-hive, and basically sets Aiden up in a room, secures it, and fucking destroys all of the Infected in there while staying in tune with Aiden’s struggling heartbeats and deteriorating mind. 

Eventually the hospital is secure, Crane reboots the UV lights to keep the nasties out, and rifles through what remains. Blessedly, he finds not only proper I.V needles and fluid, but ALSO Ciprofloxacin, which can last 142 months after expiry before it really is dangerous. It was made in June 2024– it’s February 2032. Only 92 months, well within the limit. 

He sets Aiden up with the IV, and with the antibiotics―which he very carefully coaxes the boy into swallowing. By the time Aiden takes these, he’s dangerously close to death’s door, and not altogether there. So at some point he wakes in a hospital room, with shit shoved in his arm, very disoriented, woozy, and hot.

So. Very understandably he loses his absolute fucking shit. Which gives me the opportunity for some VERY heart-wrenching whumpy bullshit wherein Crane gets to cradle a very-nearly wailing Aiden and calm him down from, essentially, a post-traumatic meltdown. Just like I wish my parents woulda done with me, hahaha. 

Jesus Christ.

Well. Anyway. Between the IV keeping him hydrated, the antibiotics finally working to fight the infection and compounding on the mild effect the previous ones had, and the comfortable bed, Aiden’s condition does rapidly improve. By the time two days go by, the fever finally diminishes enough for Aiden to be fully coherent. He’s still absolutely miserable, but at least he’s back with it, right? Mmn. It would be nice if he didn’t have to contend with Crane’s deep and almost frantic doting concern, which was exponentially worsened by his flip-out over simply being in a hospital bed. 

Eventually: “So you, uh…I didn’t want to bring it up too fast, but I don’t know if you remember―you had a pretty strong reaction to being in a hospital bed, buddy. What uh. What’s going on there?”

Aiden puts down his comic book and squeezes his eyes shut. Fuuuck. 

So they’re having this conversation. Awesome. Well. Crane just saved his absolute dick and ass, and went above and beyond to care for him. And like…the guy’s alright. He’s clearly in this for the long haul, so Aiden guesses he sorta owes the dude the full explanation. So he gets into it. Talking about the experiments Waltz was running on the GRE’s dime for some fucking reason, and all the awful shit he was put through. 

Crane is.

AGHAST. 

 ...I’m not even going to comment on,, all of THAT, because there’s jack shit I can say to--well. Y’know. Just, holy fuck. Holy fuck. But uh. Make no mistake kid―not your fault, I don’t judge you for that―I mean, look at me, how am I gonna judge someone?--and--and those people fucking suck. I hope you know you’re getting babied forever now though. Fuck, dude.”

“...”

“ᴺᵃᶦˡᵉᵈ ᶦᵗ”

“Ur not my fucking dad, Crane.”

“Yeah, I’m glad! I got a bone to pick with that dude.”

“Jesus. Whatever, look―is babying me going to involve that weird baby carrier thing you were doing the other day?”

“...Holy shit, you remember that?”

It does, indeed, entail the baby carrier thing, though admittedly it’s more for the hell of it. They both come to realize that Crane can travel a helluva lot faster than Aiden can, and if they can trade off on who’s leading, they can travel way farther and waste less time. So they develop a routine―during the day, Crane helps Aiden scavenge―goes where Aiden cannot―while Aiden works on gathering info on his sister and Waltz, does errands, and basically does life maintenance. 

By the time sunset rolls around, Aiden and Crane pack up, strap Aiden to his back, pad him a lil bit, and essentially just let Stupid Brain Crane jettison through the night and get his zoomies out with Aiden secured to him. Aiden comes to sleep exceptionally well whilst having the Fuck shook out of him, and only really sleep good when Crane’s there. 

Aiden pretends to hate the baby carrier--he tries real hard. Crane figures out pretty quick that he's full of shit. He lets it alone tho lol

Wintering is kinda cute―they make, essentially, a gigantic soft nest to appeal to Crane, and they essentially hibernate together. Just like that, Crane acquires the human connection he craves and like, a weird quirked-up whiteboy of a son. And Aiden gets an adult who protects him and loves him like their own, giving him a parent. So cute. Wow. Love it. 

So obviously this gets a little fucked up once they get to Villedor almost nine years later. Aiden’s 21 now, going on 22. 

Crane has to make a very tough call―he’s not…going into the city with Aiden. At first, Aiden’s really betrayed―he came this far, just to leave him behind here? What the fuck? Crane quickly explains that he’d love to stay with Aiden, but this is a city full of people. There’s no way in hell Crane can fly under the radar here, and…Aiden has finally found where Mia is. But he won’t find her without acceptance from the locals. And the thought that Crane could fuck that up for him without even trying? Hell no. Crane couldn’t bear it.

And, well…Aiden can’t really argue with that. He wants to, desperately, because Crane’s been by his side for like, a third of his life! The thought of being apart from him after all this time feels weird, wrong, and anxiety-inducing. For BOTH of them. So Crane’s quick to assure― 

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m not going to up and lope off into the fucking sunset. You know this radio station we’re in, right now? I’ll just roost here. Make a nice nest and everything. And when you find her, and when you’re ready to either leave or stay, you can just come visit whenever. I’ll work on clearing the metro and putting in UV lights if you leave me any, just so your path out stays open, alright?”

“...And you’ll stay on the radio?” Aiden asks in this small voice. 

“Kid… you know I can’t actually talk, right? All I’ve got is this weird mind-link shit, and once you’re out of range, well…”

“But I can talk to YOU. And you―you can do clicks and stuff, yeah? I’ll just ask yes or no questions―two clicks for yes, one for no.”

And hey, that works. They get Crane set up, and while Aiden sets up the bed and gets ready to sleep for the night, Crane scopes out the metro at sunset and goes apeshit on the Volatiles in there. Sets up some UV lights and secures the area, if only so his boy doesn’t get his ass handed to him. Heads back. Now they usually share the bed―Crane’ll be a warm wall of flesh behind Aiden, cover his back and all. They usually reserve the Whole Ticket for winter when it's too damn cold.

For this last night, they indulge in the winter cuddle. Aiden curls up straight in Crane’s lap, head tucked into his neck, and basically sleeps sprawled across the guy’s chest.

As Aiden sleeps, Crane actually cries a little. Softly, with tear ducts that don’t work anyway. He’s really going to miss this kid, and the reality of not seeing him for awhile―possibly not ever again, if Aiden’s unlucky enough―is really starting to hit the dude. 

It’s hard to let him go the next day, but he knows this means the world to Aiden, so he doesn’t say a word to stop him. He watches Aiden head towards Villedor the next morning after one last hug. His slowly heaving heart fills with dread.

---

I'm not quite sure how I want to approach Villedor in this one: I DO want Aiden to go thru the story and all that, but I'm not sure how or when I want him to get Infected, nor how often I want Crane to come into play.

I DO want there to be a consistent subplot of Crane befriending a shitload of feral cats and becoming the ultimate catdad whilst he mopes about missing his kid. 

I do also really want Aiden to employ diplomacy and get the PK to retreat from Old Villedor without extensive bloodshed since being around Crane has given him the (in Dodger’s words, coconut-sized) balls to defy authority (especially because not being able to try diplomacy in the canon game makes me very sad--so many human lives wasted!)

And I DO want Crane to swoop in and save Aiden from Waltz at the electric car factory and basically scream something to the effect of, "GET THE FUCK OFF MY SON YOU FUCKING ANIMAL." @ Waltz before bailing and forcibly seizing Lawan in one arm, Aiden in the other, as Crane jettisons them to the Central Loop. 

(Lawan flips the fuck out over this random Infected, and it is utterly, comically side-burnered by Aiden reuniting with his 'dad', Crane, despite the objective insanity of the happenstance)

Aiden, sobbing: so much terrible shit has happened, a random man broke my heart, I fucking hate this city, I missed you so much, this sucks 

Crane, soothingly: If you want to bail for now, it's okay, you can come home with me and the cats for awhile and try again later. We have time. 

Aiden: Wait, cats? Cats, plural? 

Lawan:

Last but not least I ALSO know that I want Crane to eventually give up on totally behaving himself and instead venture into Villedor regularly--initially 'just to find cat food' but eventually just to sweep the Infected off the streets, throw useful shit into strongholds, and save as many people as possible. 

An urban legend starts to thrum thru all of the city--there is a talking Volatile man who eats other Infected, throws antibiotics at people, and gives absolutely fuckall 0 shits about UV light. Apparently he is usually toting around cat products--toys, litter, kibble, nip, etc--and is very friendly. People are terrified out of their wits at first, but the more he talks about his alleged four cats and doesn't rip people into ribbons, the more the fear fades. 

Aiden hears about this and, with a very amused nose-exhale, thinks to himself, 'oh man, wonder who that could be. what a mystery. so intriguing. Ah, good on you, old man.'

[ganymedesclock]

The Sonic Series' kitchen sink elements are really... well, "kitchen sink" is a good way to put them. You got Shadow's backstory over here, characters stuck in particular eras or mediums, humans in some games but not others, etc, etc.

All that to ask this: how do you go about harmonizing the desperate elements of StH's various incarnations without doing what Frontiers did?

The short pithy funny answer is 'will it blend?'

The longer answer is. I think a lot of big long-running legacy franchises like Sonic, that have a zillion different branches and continuities and different this-and-thats that sometimes contradict each other and have about eighteen versions of the same story at any given time- think also most superhero media- are really, really fun to get into. People dread and fret if a particular incarnation is mediocre or too weird for their tastes, but I think the fun part of it is there's something worthwhile and interesting in almost all of these. Like I personally don't care for Sonic Chronicles very much at all, but I like Shade's visual design and I thought the alien designs were pretty neat, even if I don't think their lore fits well into the bigger Sonic universe and for the most part disregard them.

And there are zero consequences to me doing so! Basically, the franchise is your oyster. Take what you love and mix it up. This is why my personal longstanding Sonic AU has been what it is- it's not an exercise in me feeling like I'm "fixing the canon" because that's silly, it's not broken, but rather just making myself a fun smoothie out of the bits I really like.

It is so, so, so fun to me, to be in a world where stuff like Sonic Unleashed exists, that we can go, "yeah there was a whole game where Sonic was just a werewolf. yes he also had stretchy arms". The works both official and fannish that I've enjoyed the most tend to be ones that aren't afraid of being a little silly or digging into "worse" installments of the franchise to play with them.

I think it's very important that the Sonic series isn't afraid to be silly. At the end of the day it is a story about hedgehogs in running shoes fighting evil robot armies. This premise is never going to be stodgy and respectable and it doesn't need to be. It absolutely has it within itself to tell both serious and silly stories, and mix them together.

To also answer your question about reconciling, honestly, being willing to take a bunch of silly stuff from odd franchises and glue them together to make a more complete picture works wonders. Like, in pre-reboot archie comics- I'm talking back in the gag-a-day bizarre early stories- they just threw in a worldbuilding detail that Mobius has a colossal number of moons full of weird stuff; when the games have established Little Planet, Lost Hex, and Space Colony ARK as things floating around Mobius's general vicinity, taking that otherwise forgettable detail would line up a bunch of different things, and it lets me be cheeky about the thing where in the game canon, there's a blatant continuity error with the moon having a hole shot in it back in Adventure 2 and then in Shadow The Hedgehog, a game that heavily references the plot of Adventure 2, the full moon is very prominently featured.... with no missing chunk whatsoever. I can go, well, in my personal fanon, that's just a completely different moon!