#can't go long without these two

[demaparbat-hp]

Almost

[necrotic-nephilim]

as an apology for being gone for a month, have a uquiz i spent a week making! pls feel free to reblog with which character you got, i worked way too hard on this silly little thing. there are eight different characters you can get that are varying levels of unknown, with comic recommendations for each character <3

[mechazushi]

God, you're dense [Affectionate].

{a Kn8 short story}

Hoshina wasn't one to play games. Sure, he liked to have fun, but playing with people's emotions and perceptions wasn't something he could get into. He raised himself on the belief that being straight forward on something was the best course of action. If someone couldn't get on the same page as him, that was on them. He worked in a position where the best moves forward and anyone else that can't keep up with him were best left behind. Of course, much like most rules in life, there were exceptions to the rule. His biggest fault to everything he stood for was a tall, jolly, brute of a beast named Kafka. Kafka would be an exception to most everything he would die on a hill for. On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, was one person that he held to the highest accordance of his standards. His brother.

Hoshina made a point not to talk to his brother after he got accepted into the defense force. The restrictions on that got tighter after he got accepted as Mina's Vice Captain. Since before, he still showed up to family gatherings at the least to entertain his mother's concerns about his livelihood in the Third Division. Still, just because he didn't make attempts to contact his family, doesn't mean his family doesn't make attempts to contact him. It was always inevitable (because they don't tell him ahead of time) always with the supposed best of intentions (Because what quality road to hell isn't paved with them) and always at the most inconvenient times (an ability that seemed to be an inbred skill in every other family member). Between catching up on chores that should have been done yesterday, decaf in the communal coffee machine, and his third favorite pen breaking, Hoshina found he wasn't in the mood to talk. So obviously it was a perfect time to be visited by his least favorite person.

Walking down the hallway with a mountain of signed paperwork, his pace was intended to be brisk, but felt sluggish all the same. As he passed an intersection in hallways, he noticed the large frame of a burly friend catching up behind him. As Kafka slowed his pace to match his commander's, Hoshina tilted his face in his direction and flashed what was hoped to be a casual and respectful smile.

"Had a feeling you'd feel like that once I heard about the incident at the coffee machine. Here. Brought this for ya." Kafka said as he handed over a steaming mug of dark tan coffee.

"Oh, I already had coffee today." Hoshina tried to politely decline. he guessed his smile wasn't as bright as it should have been if Kafka could see he was feeling off.

"Yeah, but that was decaf." he insisted as he held the mug by its rim and pointed its handle temptingly toward its intended recipient.

Hoshina stiffed its steam heavily as it wafted under his nose. The smell of a caffeinated brew being much more rejuvenating than the bland swill he choked down this morning. He didn't think twice as he shifted the paper load more securely under his arm and took the offered mug greedily. There was a low, grateful moan as the hot, searing, and just lightly sweetened liquid burned pleasantly down the back of his throat.

'You might've just saved my mental state yet again, Kafka." Hoshina finally muttered after nearly downing half of the mug.

Kafka just chuckled as he walked in time with him, and after a while, held out a hand in an offer to carry the paperwork. Hoshina politely refused again, feeling genuinely better now that he had something more stimulating coursing throughout his system. Walking side by side, they engaged in pleasant idle chatter as they continued down the hallway. Without checking how far they had walked, they neared an area that had a lobby that was sparsely populated. As they got closer, an irritatingly familiar voice rang clear in the partially echoey room.

"Brother Dearest!" Soichiro Hoshina, Soshiro's older brother, was leaning against the desk in the back center of the lobby, relaxing like he deserved the space he was taking up.

"Oh God, why aren't I being delivered from evil like I ask every Shrine visit?" Soshiro muttered as soon as he realized who was occupying the open room with them.

"That's your brother?" Kafka asked as he laid eyes on the visitor.

"Unfortunately." Soshiro said with every letter somehow overflowing with distain and loudly enough to be heard by the other person.

"Come on, brother! You had to have known that one of these visits was to have to happen soon? It's been, what, months since you've even sent at minimum a hello to Mother." Soichino's words were playful, a clear difference in demeanor to the attitude his younger brother was radiating. A second had passed as he clearly gave the plus one an interested once-over after he lifted his sunglasses off his face.

"Well, hello soldier. And who might you be?" A salacious smile slithered coolly over Soichiro's glossy, thin lips. His tongue flicked out and over his teeth teasingly as he continued to stare down Kafka with a darkened sense of interest. Kafka bowed deeply in greeting before he introduced himself.

"Kafka Hibino. Officer of the Third Division." was his militantly clipped response.

"Kafka... Kafka... Where have I heard that name before?" Soichiro drawled out as he shifted over to Kafka's side, poking his shoulder with the arm of his sunglasses with playful emphases.

"He's our Kaiju Number Eight, you salacious cur. Now what are you doing here?" Soshiro snarked as he took another sip of his coffee. His brother made no move to acknowledge the comment as he continued to speak directly to Kafka.

"Kaiju Number Eight, huh! So you're the beast on the battlefield. Is it too much for me to ask if you're a beast anywhere else?" That Cheshire smile never left his face as his eyes turned into a more evaluating gaze.

"Well, I'm the Division's only on call Kaiju. It's pretty safe to say that I'm always the beast when it's needed." Kafka smiled bashfully as a hand came up to scratch the back of his neck. Soichiro practically giggled as a hand came up to mischievously smack the other shoulder.

"Look at you! Making out to be something that strong and powerful as a humble brag!" the older brother seemed to slide in closer to Kafka's personal space, with Kafka playing it off as business as usual. Soshiro could feel the handle of the mug creaking under his tightened grip as he looked on at his brother's shameless display.

"Ya know, I had originally cleared out my schedule to take my brother out on a lunch date, but I've just realized he's been a horrible brother and hasn't shown me around the Third Division's main facilities not once!", Soichiro saddled up impossibly closer and even had the audacity to slip a hand around the back of Kafka's forearm, "Why don't I be a good Captain and help clear yours so you can show me around? I'm sure any tour by you would be far more interesting than what he could provide." Soshiro watched as he saw the offer being sealed with an obviously flirty wink.

"Well, I'd be happy to! That is, if it's alright with my Vice Captain?" Kafka asked as he looked innocently toward the younger brother, seemingly unaware or unaffected by the attention he was currently being given.

"No Kafka, that won't be necessary, If my brother is going to come out all this way to see me, then he's just going to have to settle for my company alone." Soshiro said as he placed his paperwork and his coffee mug on the abandoned reception desk.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe some other time?" Kafka asked as he looked at the older Hoshina brother.

"Such a shame. Don't be surprised if I take you up on that offer." Soichiro tittered as he patted the other side of the forearm he was still holding onto. The two brothers watched intently as Kafka turned around and walked down the hallway. Soshiro waited until he was out of every possible hearing range before he decided to speak.

"Alright, you bottle-platinum harlot. What the hell was that display all about?" Soshiro made no attempts to restrain his irritation at his brother's expense. He had no idea what game his brother was trying to play with him, but he wouldn't stand for it since it seemed to involve a very close and personal friend of his.

"I don't know what you mean." Soichiro said as he kept tittering. His posture and demeanor revealing to his younger brother that there was a plan brewing behind those evil eyes.

"I will not have you seducing my strongest man over to your division while I'm here." Soshiro commanded as he leveled a piercing gaze at the other person.

"Excuse me, 'Your man'? I'm sorry, but I didn't see a ring on his finger." Soichiro teased as he turned to face his brother.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, you vile rake." Soshiro spat the words out in an attempt to dissuade any further conversation on the topic.

"So catty today, are we brother? I was simply taking in the local selection. I'm not surprised you're interested in him." Soichiro chatted as he teasingly bit on the arm of his sunglasses.

"I also see you've decided to take up slander as a hobby since last we met." Soshiro grumbled as he found himself forced into a position where he had to talk to his brother in person for more than a minute.

"Oh, please! You know our family has a history of liking them sweet and dumb. How do you think Mother's marriage has lasted this long?" Soichiro continued as he leveled a knowing stare at him.

"If you're going to keep insinuating things that don't exist, I'm going to order you to cancel the lunch date and leave." the younger brother retorted as he turned around to drink the last sips from the coffee mug.

"What do you think I'm insinuating?" Soichiro purred as his sight never left his brother.

"Don't toy with me today, you troglodytic trollup. I am in no mood to bat around this string of yarn you're trying to spin here." Soshina kept snapping back as he took the opportunity to avoid eye contact as he shuffled around the stack of papers.

"Why all the denial, Brother Dearest? Especially since we're so far from Egypt. Besides, it's not slander saying you like a coworker as if your interactions weren't displayed all over the news two weeks ago." The grin broke into a full blown, toothy smile of superiority as the Captain of the Sixth Division draped himself over the desk's top next to Soshiro.

"What... interactions?" the Vice Captain hissed as he slowly turned his head to side-eye his brother

"Should I reenact it for you?" Soichiro giggled before flopping onto his back and dramatically fainting, "Oh! I seem to have taken a terrible fall and broken both of my legs! Oh, is there some dark, handsome, Knight in living armour that can princess-carry my oh so fragile body to the farthest fucking ambulance on scene and completely bypass three others that were unoccupied and were going to take me to the same fucking hospital!" It was clear that he was taking a massive amount of joy retelling his version of events that he saw on the news as his voice raised in volume with every reveal.

"I didn't break my legs, I dislocated my ankles! What would you have me do, walk?" Soshiro started to match his brother's volume and had now fully turned to him to confront this problem of point-of-views head on.

"The cameras clearly show you two having a conversation where it shows you convincing him to carry you!" The two of them were so close to each other's faces now their noses could touch.

"I was trying to convince him not to!" Soshiro returned.

"Because the cameras were rolling?" Soichiro asked.

"Yes!" his brother answered.

"AND BECAUSE YOU TWO ARE IN LOVE! Why else be camera shy about being carried around in public?" The eldest returned triumphantly as he poked him in the chest.

"NO." Soshiro shouted back as he shoved his brother backwards, "We are not in love! What part of this do you think it's okay to date someone like him?"

"Oh don't act like you can't because he's under your position. He makes his own precedent as he breathes! And you are the right type of rebellious, attention craving, delinquent punk that would absolutely fall for someone that is perfect for you in all the right ways, while also him being a human anomaly in every sense of the word! He turns into something our family has been training it's young to kill for centuries so of course you're going to deviate from the norm and be practically head over heels for him!" The Captain couldn't stop himself from cackling as his lungs quaked from talking for so long without breath.

There wasn't anything left on the matter that Soshiro could say to make his brother change his mind, so he decided to let his fists do the talking for him as he sent a vicious right hook. His fist connected to his brother's left eye and caught him off guard for a second. Before he could speak out against the assault, the younger brother wasted no time in jumping onto his brother and throwing his fists left and right. The two soon became a mass of tangled limbs and colorful curse words on the floor. It wasn't like this for long as two other people came across the fight and helped break up the fray.

"Alright, alright! Break it UP!" You two are grown up men, and Defense Force officers at that! ACT LIKE IT!" Okonogi reprimanded them as Aoi held them off the ground by their jacket collars.

"Yes, Okonogi." The brothers said in unison. As they were set back on the ground, they straightened their outfits and waited to see if their new company would leave. When they didn't, Soichiro decided to speak what was left on his mind anyway.

"The lunch date is still on, by the way. Mother's orders. How about I give us an hour to cool down and we try this whole 'conversation' thing again?" he tried to say with as much possible conviction in his smile. Soshiro just glared violently as he picked up the stack of papers from the desk.

"I do what I damn well please, you leporid bunk bunny." he said as he stormed off. Everyone watched as he walked away before his older brother spoke up again.

"He'll be fine."

 𓈒   𑁍 𓈒

It was a little after seven thirty before Hoshina felt fine enough to interact with anyone. Spending some time in the gym helped him feel better after dealing with the Lunch Date From Hell. It also helped that he got to meet his favorite punching bag for sparring.

"Look -huff- I get you -huff- don't like your brother -huff-, but did you really -huff- need to literally -huff- kick my ass?" Kafka's lungs heaved after spending what felt like hours defending himself from his Vice Captain's volley of blows.

"Ya snooze, ya loose Kafka. Intense training is for your own good." Hoshina quipped back as he walked over to his duffle for water bottles. Kafka shambled behind him slowly and sat down on the bench the bag was next to.

"Intense training, my entire bruised ass. That last chokehold felt personal." Kafka began to regulate his breathing by the time Hoshina made it over with the water bottles.

As Hoshina drank from his, he subtly tried to look at Kafka as he poured some of the bottle's contents onto himself. He watched as the water made his partner's bangs stick to his forehead at odd angles and made a swift attempt to cool his fiery red cheeks. Hoshina didn't let his imagination run too far away from him as he thought about Kafka looking worn out and sweaty for a different reason. Of course he denied everything that was said earlier that was concerning the situation between him and Kafka. Mainly because it all implied that Kafka felt the same way he did. Had it been a complete stranger talking to him this morning, it would have shocked everyone that knew him once they heard how different his answers would have been.

As Kafka finished rubbing the cool water into his face and straightened his back and arms out into an intense looking stretch, Hoshina forced himself to look away from the rippling of muscle and the straining of his tank top around said muscles. In moments like this, when he was sure no one would be looking or they were alone, Hoshina liked to play a little game with Kafka. It wasn't one that you could win with points or anything. Hell, some days it made Hoshina feel like all he did was lose by playing, but he couldn't deny that conniving little twitch that begged for him to play over and over again. All so he could see that dumb little smile.

"Still improving as slow as always." Hoshina said after a minute of relaxing on the bench.

"Hey, at least I am still improving, right?" Kafka returned as he looked back at his Vice Captain.

There was a smile, sure, but it wan't big. He could do better.

"Can't say I don't find you to be consistent at least 1% of the time." Hoshina offered as a response, deciding to bring up a well used joke between them. He turned back to look out at the empty gym in front of them.

"God, I still haven't gotten higher than that, haven't I?" Kafka chuckled out of the side of his mouth.

"It was a good thing we found out you were a kaiju when we did. Could you imagine what would have happened if you couldn't raise that percentage up high enough in three months?" Hoshina thought the comment sounded funnier in his head, but once he heard it out loud he wanted to smack himself for it. Everyone knew that it was a horrible thought, thinking about Kafka not being around anymore. Even that was something Hoshina couldn't bring himself to deny or joke about.

"I do every day." Kafka sighed heavily, "Everyday I wake up here." He closed his eyes for a second as he smiled softly, his head coming to rest against the back wall the bench was against.

Hoshina turned back to look at him, taking Kafka's moment of vulnerability to look at him fully this time. He thought about it too. A life in the Defense Force where he didn't get to see Kafka everyday. A life where he didn't bring him coffee or hear his laugh or have drinks with him after work hours. Hoshina could feel his heart squeeze at the thought of Kafka not being in the Defense Force, or worse, suddenly living at a different Division. Being close by technicality, but feeling oh so very far.

"Did you notice my brother was flirting with you at all?" Hoshina felt himself ask before he could take the words back. He felt himself brace for the answer in the brief moments in between his heartbeats.

"Wait... really?" Kafka asked with genuine interest. Hoshina could feel his face twist into something between curiosity and mild disgust. Kafka couldn't tell he was being flirted with? And was okay with it coming from his brother?

"Ye-yeah?" Hoshina returned hesitantly.

"You sure? 'Cuz I mean... wow. He's... actually interested? In me?" Kafka's smile grew bigger and more wonky as he processed what he was told.

"You're okay with this?" Hoshina questioned incredulously. He could not believe what he was seeing, and was actively praying that this wasn't the case.

"Are you kidding? Of course! You're brother is frickin' hot!" Kafka replied with joy, "Is he, like, still around? I mean, I know he's not here kinda around, but I mean, is he like, nearby? Like in a hotel or something? Nah, that would be creepy. Oh! Could you let me have his number?" Kafka prattled on as Hoshina continued to become more and more disgusted. Sure, he was a little happy to hear that Kafka was cool with being hit on by guys, (and clearly reciprocated the sentiment) but felt absolutely horrified at hearing Kafka wanting his brother's number. So much so that he immediately stood on the bench seat so he could get a good enough vantage to stomp on Kafka to stop his train of thought.

"You! Will! NOT! Be! Dating! My! BROTHER!" Hoshina shouted out between the stomping.

"Jesus! And here I thought you wouldn't be having a problem with me liking guys! Yah know, since you told me about it!" Kafka shouted back as he tried to defend himself from the onslaught.

"I don't have a problem with you dating guys! I have a problem with you dating my brother!" Hoshina said as he pressed his foot down firmly onto Kafka's hands that were protecting his head.

'Well then, who would you rather have me date?" Kafka returned rhetorically.

"Me for starters!" Hoshina finally admitted. Once he did, he let the pressure off of his foot and just stayed in the position for a hot minute, feeling as awkward as a school girl admitting to her first crush. Kafka just held onto the foot as he looked up at his commander with wide, unbelieving eyes. All Hoshina could bring himself to do was look away, his cheeks flushing hot and bright. Kafka helped lower the foot down as he got up from his seat to face him from the front.

"Have... have you been flirting with me too?" Kafka asked. Hoshina still couldn't look at him or answer, so his cheeks answered for him.

"How long have you been flirting with me?" Kafka asked again.

"Two... two years." Hoshina answered quietly.

"We've known each other for two years." Kafka responded. Hoshina still hadn't made a move, only crossed his arms defensively.

"YOU'VE BEEN FLIRTING WITH ME SINCE WE MET?" Kafka shouted as he made the realization.

"To be fair, I don't flirt like a normal person and you clearly can't read context clues." Hoshina said as he finally regained some control over his mouth. He just wished he had better control over what it said.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Kafka sounded incredulous at the thought of how he could have been dating the most amazing person on base before now, had be been able to read between the lines.

" I kept thinking it was funny?" Hoshina responded in a shy, quivering voice as more blood rushed to his face and made it redder.

"Okay, now I have to ask. What about me do you like? Do you think I'm handsome, or do you really just like to think I'm funny?" Kafka questioned as he waved his hands around animatedly.

"Honestly? I just really like that you're funny." Hoshina said as he relaxed and playfully shrugged. Now feeling better about having all of this out in the open.

" So, just, fuck my face then." Kafka said in a sarcastically irritated manner while turning around and waving his arms.

"I would if you'd stop talking." Hoshina accidentally let slip.

He wasn't ashamed of saying it, but probably should have found a better time to say it. It didn't seem to matter anyway as Kafka took a second to stop his flailing and slowly turned around to face his commander again. A sly smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his eyes darkened at the play on words they stumbled into.

"Well alright then." Kafka chuckled darkly as he strode over to where Hoshina was still standing. He grabbed his legs and threw him over his shoulder, holding onto Hoshina's calves for dear life as he carried his thrashing lover out of the gym.

"Wha-what do you think you're doing?" Hoshina cried as he tried to look back at his kidnapper. Kafka returned the most intensely flirtatious side-eye back at him as they walked out of the gym.

"Moving training to your place, so you can properly shut me up."

"Wha-what, no dinner first?" Hoshina stuttered nervously as he continued to be paraded down the hall on Kafka's shoulder. He got even more nervous as Okonogi slid past his line of sight and watched them walk away.

"You've been flirting with me for two years. Dinner can wait." Kafka growled as the other hand came up and audibly smacked Hoshina on the ass.

[sindar-princeling]

I've been anxious for so long and so brave about it this year and I'm really hoping it will allow me to not have to brave for a while because. jesus fucking christ

[brick-van-dyke]

As the US election closes in and the final states take to the polls, I want to remind people to turn out and protest.

Yep, protest. Strike, disrupt, be out there on the street regardless of who you voted for or who wins. I expect to see you all out there demanding; access to abortion nation wide, protections against discrimination, free universal healthcare, a free Palestine, anti war, prison abolition, to increase the minimum wage, and for a US free of the electoral college and that counts votes as votes.

Yes, you can say "you should vote for Harris" and do so as much as you like, but do not forget the power you have through your own everyday actions away from the polls and that of protesting. Do not use the excuse that your right to vote means it's somehow more foundational or important than the right to protest. You have the ability to create direct action and that is so so important, please don't just expect a rich representative to stick to their promises every time you vote; you have power too, never forget that.

This system will not change until we, the people, make it. There is NO representative that can ever change the system that allowed them in, and likewise; this system will never allow a candidate that would stop it from continuing and/or ensuring its designated purpose of oppression and subjugation. Resist, regardless of the results.

Long live the resistance.

[dxxtruction]

Louis does see Armand for all his flaws, and yet still chooses him, and loves him, but when he sees them for what they really were, and really entailed, he no longer can. Oh, gradations of evil. Louis had in ways bought into it.

[maryasmorevna]

why are you, as an adult in 2024, still hung up on reylo. why are you still mocking the shippers. why do you believe yourself to be superior only because you dislike a stupid ship from a fucking space fairytale. girl (gnc) get a grip

[txfeline720]

So I only seen episode 10 of season 2 so far, but I do know that the season 1 bots are coming back. I think it would be very funny if this was how some of them would feel when they catch sight of Red Blitz after being freed from the Metal Breath.

[aflawedfashion]

Jason Brown withdrawing from US nationals makes me sad, but he can't really afford not to do well at another competition. Because he doesn’t have quads, he pretty much has to skate perfectly to maintain such a high world standing, and his whole reputation is based on impeccable skating. It’s a lot to live up to, and the US federation will probably send him to worlds without going to nationals if he wants it (and I don't know if he does). He has come through at the end of the season before.

[vulturevanity]

I feel like SV girlies haven't seriously considered "codependent mutually obsessive JuliNemo" yet and that's a shame, really. I've seen a lot of wholesome ChampionRank (really cute but a rehash of every wholesome yuri I've ever seen, not much original content here and that's okay) and one-sided obsessive yandere!Nemona ChampionRank (REALLY do not like the villainization of Nemona's neurodivergence but eh, you can do whatever you want forever) but not as much "these two get on like a house on fire. and boy, it's dry season" ChampionRank.

Where is "battle-hungry socially starved trainwrecks who have no one but each other" JuliNemo. Where is "oh god these two exacerbate each others issues into the stratosphere and this can only end in disaster but I can't look away" JuliNemo. Where is "bringing out the worst in each other and scaring the hoes" JuliNemo. Where is "you two are perfect for each other. Never change, just never involve anyone else in any of this" JuliNemo. There's so much potential here. Toxic codependent yuri save me

[licorishh]

Zhongli 🤝 Neuvillette

Insanely powerful ancient dragon guys who come off as serious/unfeeling but are actually super nice and caring and make everyone go "Awwwwwwww" on a regular basis and have heart-wrenching story quests that make you wanna throw yourself off a roof and then give them both a hug and also they cannot shut up about certain drinks

[crowroboros]

Two Mentally ill Men in Games that I like

I'm drafting up a post about Moebius, Ouroboros, Alpha and their role in shaping Aionios and how they tie into the messages and themes of the Xenoblade series but I'm taking a break from that because I just can't look past how similar Consul N and Leo's arcs are.

MASSIVE Echo (Leo's Route) and Xenoblade 3 spoilers. I mean absolutely earth-shattering spoilers. You have been warned.

Also this is being written on the spot and in one sitting and while I'm sleep deprived so it might be messy and a bit incoherent to anyone but me. Maybe I'll touch it up a bit in the future. This is also long as hell.

TLDR; N and Leo:

Are both obsessed with their romantic partner

Are both mentally beaten down and manipulated by their circumstances which slowly strengthens their obsession and makes them spiral further

Are both possessive of their romantic partner to the point of manipulation and control to keep them by their side

Both commit atrocities in the name of their obsession (To be fair to Leo, Consul N is MUCH MUCH worse in this regard)

Both reach their breaking point towards the end of their game

Both indirectly kill their romantic partner/love interest

Are both incapable of moving on when their relationship ends, leaving them stuck in the past.

Are both a major part of a game all about "going in circles", "cycles", and the human condition

Both perpetuate the aforementioned cycle

Both put on a front of being stable and collected to hide intense shame, regret, and turmoil going on within them.

Leo and Noah are two shades of the same color so to speak. Now let me be clear, Mio and Chase are nothing alike and their roles in Noah's and Leo's respective obsession with them are very very different. Chase directly had a role by texting and sexting Leo while drunk, continually fueling Leo's hope that the pair would get back together. Mio on the other hand, alongside Noah, was forcibly reincarnated again and again by Moebius. They kept meeting, falling in love, and having their lives ripped away from them by war. Mio's involvement begins and ends with her just trying to survive like everyone else.

Noah, in all these past lives, seems to be the last of the pair to die. And even thought the memories of each life were wiped upon rebirth, those memories and their complimentary feelings still lay dormant deep within him. Hundreds of memories and feelings stacked up deep within his subconscious.

Each time Noah loses Mio is more painful than the last and it culminates when the pair, in a new incarnation, lose the hope to fight against Moebius and ending the war; instead deciding to go into hiding. They have a son, Ghondor, together and hope to live out the rest of their lives in peace. Alas Mio again dies, this time from her Term Marker reaching the end. And Noah is absolutely distraught. It only gets worse with Noah's death a year or two later, for he is brought before Moebius Z and forced to witness all of his past lives; Every time he and Mio met, fell in love, fought by each other's side with the Lost Numbers...only to get killed again and again.

Noah in this moment is forced to realize that he exists in an inescapable cycle, and becomes despaired of ever ending it. Z, seeing Noah at his lowest, offers him the option to live out eternity with Mio. Noah, if he is to take the offer, will get immortality, power, and he'll even bring back Mio to live alongside him; All he has to do is become Moebius, and completely destroy the inhabitants of The City. And to Noah — having just relived the pain and suffering of hundreds of past lives and being told that nothing he does can change the world — accepts. After all, why wouldn't he? If nothing he does matters in the end, if Moebius will keep the inhabitants of Aionios stuck in this cycle of bloodshed for all eternity, then why can't he at least live out that eternity with the one he loves?

When Noah becomes Consul N and destroys The City as well as killing most of its inhabitants — including his and Mio's now adult son Ghondor — Z does keep his promise, bringing Mio back as Moebius M. But she's absolutely horrified by his actions, lashing out at him and pushing him away. Noah at this point already regrets his actions, never having truly agreed with Z on the goals of Moebius. He's disgusted and ashamed of himself over what he had just done, and it's only made worse by Mio's response. But instead of repenting or accepting that what he is doing is horrific, he puts on a front. He buries his regret deep and pretends to believe in a cause that he never truly could get behind. He spends the next thousand years carrying on as the very thing he and Mio were so desperate to destroy and internally it's killing him. N becomes despondent and hateful, relying on Mio's existence to keep himself happy all while he presents himself outwardly as stoic and collected, pretending to be content with his choice. On the other hand, Mio openly hates the life she has now been forced into — taking lives and perpetuation the cycle of war that grips Aionios to fuel her own existence — and she too falls into a depression.

On the Echo side of things, this is equivalent to the prank Chase and Jenna pulled on Leo as well as the three years that Chase and Leo kept having a long distance "on-again-off-again" thing going on. Pretending that Chase was cheating on Leo, the breaking of Chase's phone, Chase never directly saying that the pair have broken up — only saying that he's going to Pueblo — and then limiting contact for the following three years to just drunken sexts doesn't offer Leo any real closure on the relationship. Leo has based so much of his own happiness on the idea of his relationship with Chase and the bond they had together, and now he's desperate to have that back, even going as far as to continue to wear the anchor bracelet that he and Chase wore to symbolize their relationship all these years later.

Just like N deludes himself into thinking that what he is doing as Moebius is what is good for himself, Mio, and the people of Aionios, Leo is deluding himself with the false hope of rekindling his relationship with Chase. They're both holding on to their own desire for a relationship long dead and are ruining themselves in the process. Both are perpetuating the cycle that holds their respective worlds captive: Consul N with the Endless Now and the war between Keves and Agnus, and Leo (albeit on a much smaller scale) with the inability to grow and change.

Both Aionios and Echo are locations that get their identity from their stagnation and decay. Aionios has been in an endless war since its creation with the collision between the universes of Bionis/Mechonis and Alrest, slowly getting chipped away at by the Annihilation Events. Echo was once a thriving town that over the years has failed to keep up with the changing world and now sits in a state of decline with only ~50 residents by the time of Echo VN.

And in this state of eternity, both Leo and Noah are given the opportunity to embrace change and to accept that nothing will be the same forever. For Leo it's when Chase leaves Echo, and for Noah it's when Mio dies in the last natural reincarnation. But both of them are too afraid of what it means to move on and let go. So instead, both cling to what's familiar and end up back at square one.

This refusal to move on isn't just detrimental for Leo and N alone, but it is detrimental for everyone around them. Aionios and its war persists for at least another millennium at the hands of N, resulting in the prolonged suffering of the people of Keves and Agnus. While Leo's obsession over Chase results in the manifestation of The Embrace, which stalks people such as Duke and Dale and drives them to some level of paranoia. And it all reaches the breaking point when it gets the person they love most — the object of their obsession — is killed.

To briefly provide context before this next section; Sometime across the thousands of years between when Consul N and M came into existence and the main game of Xenoblade 3, N and M's repressed hope and ideals of a better world manifested as separate entities all of their own as the pair sunk deeper into despair and self-loathing. (Origin is essentially a Conduit emulator and there is a bunch of Xenoblade lore that makes this already long post even longer so just know that under certain conditions and with access to certain things, one's willpower can cause physical change or manifest as a physical entity.) These newly formed entities are the protagonists of Xenoblade 3: Noah and Mio. Functionally, it is the same as the cycle of reincarnation that all inhabitants of Aionios experience except with the caveat that the originals are still alive. From here on out, the Noah and Mio who became Moebius will be referred to as N and M, while the protagonists of Xenoblade 3 will be called Noah and Mio.

When the protagonists get absolutely fucked up when fighting against Consul N, Consul M sees potential within the group and spots an out. She is presented with a second chance to hopefully put an end to the world's suffering. M ends up revealing everything to Mio; The memories of their past lives, what Consul N did and his reasons, and ultimately what M wants from this: To die. The two switch places, with Mio taking M's place and M taking Mio's.

M, masquerading as Mio, spends a month in prison where she and the rest of Ouroboros are psychologically tormented and taunted by Consul N. Whereas M saw Ouroboros as a second chance, N sees the group as a threat to the familiar. A threat to the eternity he gained with M. To him, M is his property to hold close. So he spends that month breaking down the group's hope, putting them in the same place he was moments before he was given the offer to become Moebius. He wants them to fall victim to the same cycle he has.

And when that month is up, M dies in Mio's place at the Homecoming. She dissolves into light and her soul is set free from the reach of Moebius and the cycle of reincarnation. She has escaped the cycle and embraced an unknown future in the form of Mio.

And when N realizes who just died, he crumbles. For much of the final act of Xenoblade 3, N is inconsolable. He sits alone within Origin, not speaking or moving from his place in the Amphitheater. He knows that everything he has done up to this point had just been erased, for M is now gone. He is forced out of the past he lived in and is thrust into the future alone. But rather than admit that, he only dives deeper into the mask he wears, pretending that it isn't him clinging to the past that led to her demise but instead the changing world brought about by Ouroboros.

Over in Echo when Chase, Jenna, and TJ return for spring break it is Leo who takes action and gets the entire group back together. After all, this is exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for! He can get the group back together after three years and try his hand at getting Chase back as well! Over the course of Leo's route, the wolf gets increasingly more aggressive and protective of Chase and by the end of his route, he's outright threatening anyone he views as potentially taking Chase away from him again; using his size and gun to intimidate them.

In Leo's bad ending, this culminates when Chase once again leaves the status of his and Leo's relationship ambiguous. When trying to jump on a train to escape Echo, Leo grabs and pulls Chase off the train. This causes Chase's legs to swing under the rails and for both of his legs to be severed at his calves.

It's here that N and Leo begin to differ, at least in this ending of Leo's route. Whereas N was in full control of what he was doing, Leo is undoubtedly influenced in part by the hysteria over Echo. Leo's obsession, possessiveness, overprotectiveness, and his aggression is all him, however it is likely that as the hysteria takes hold of the town, these traits are exasperated by the supernatural. It's why N falls into a near comatose state out of grief, and Leo loses grip on his own sense of reality, failing to grasp the gravity of Chase's injuries. Leo takes Chase to his house and bandages his wounds thinking it'll be enough. Chase slowly bleeds out and eventually dies, though Leo doesn't seem to be able to grasp this. In fact, Leo's actions and behavior after Chase loses his legs could be seen as analogous for when N decided to become Moebius. It is when Leo fully resigns himself to Echo, thrusting himself and Chase into reliving their past together. Literally in Chase's case, as he flashes back to various memories of his and Leo's relationship as he dies.

Despite the difference, thematically N and Leo's situation here is the same. They both refused to step forward into the future and the center of their greatest desire died because of it. For N, it was the possibility of a future without M. If Moebius was stopped and Origin rebooted to allow for the safe reconstruction of Bionis/Mechonis and Alrest, there is a chance that he'd never see M again. There's a chance that the rebooting of Origin's systems won't even work and the two worlds will cease to be. And for him, that possibility is too much to bear for he bases his entire sense of self around M and his relationship with her.

With Leo, when he asks Chase if the otter will stay with him after they escape Echo, he needs a concrete answer. The past three years has had Leo in a sea of uncertainty in regards to his relationship status with Chase, and as Leo says himself "seeing you leave on that train was too much."

For Leo, getting on that train meant leaving all that he and Chase went through in Echo behind for a future that neither of them can predict. He's terrified of what that could mean; Maybe they'll work out, maybe they won't. Maybe they'll be friends, maybe they'll never talk again. Why take that risk when the two can stay in Echo? Echo, just like Aionios, is stagnant and decaying; things stay the same and end up right where they began. Stuck in a cycle.

But Leo's good ending follows a different path. Here, Chase directly and unquestionably cuts things off with Leo. Chase forces Leo to move on by giving him a hard answer, making sure that the wolf simply cannot continue to hold onto the idea of their relationship rekindling.

And what does Leo do in response? Nothing. As Chase and the others flee on the train, Leo stands and stares; Dejected.

In this ending, Chase lives. However it is more similar to M's death in terms of what it does to Leo and the overall narrative. Just as M's death did for N, Chase's rejection forced Leo from the perfect eternity he tried so desperately to craft for the two of them. Leo is forced to move on without Chase, and it crushes him. In his despair and grief, he is left alone by the side of the tracks in the dark.

Two years later, Chase returns to Echo with Kudzu to formally say goodbye to the town and Leo. In these two years, Leo has undergone a lot of change. He too is leaving Echo, moving back in with his parents, and he's no longer wearing the anchor bracelet. In these past two years, Leo has come to terms with the fact that he and Chase are over.

Leo has managed to escape the cycle and has come to accept the future that awaits him. He's no longer wearing that anchor bracelet; which not only symbolized Leo and Chase's bond, but also the way it tied Leo down. it symbolizes the way the weight of what the past meant for him kept Leo from moving forward and embracing the changing world around him.

And his route ends with the pair parting ways.

Through both leaving Echo and moving on from Chase, Leo is stepping into an unpredictable and uncertain future. He doesn't know what will happen or whether he'll ever see Chase again, but he's content with that. In a town where all you can do is go in circles, he has managed to get free of that burden and forge his own path in life.

Over in Aionios, Ouroboros make their way within Origin and confront N. When they find the Consul, he's no longer sulking alone, but standing ready for a fight. Now that M is gone, now that all he has sacrificed for hundreds upon hundreds of years has been for nothing, he feels empty.

It doesn't matter what happens to N anymore, he just wants to make others feel the same pain and suffering he's feeling. This is comparable to the two years Leo spent dealing with Chase's absence post-Echo. Rather than wallowing alone however, N is taking out his sorrow and guilt on Ouroboros. He's lashing out, as he knows that his eternity is gone.

Ouroboros and Consul N fight, and after a long battle N is defeated again. It is here that N and Ouroboros — in particular Noah and Mio — have a heart-to-heart with him, serving as his inner conscious in a manner similar to that of self-reflection. The pair get N to realize that he fucked up, and nothing he does will bring M back nor will it make everything he has done right. But importantly, they empathize with him, understanding his reasons and how hard it was for him to keep up that act. They convince him to not allow the past to define him and to instead atone for his actions and move forward. And their words, as well as M's, finally get through to him.

N and Noah fuse together, giving N a chance not to redeem himself, but to atone and move forward with his life. He joins Ouroboros to destroy the last remaining Moebius, Moebius Z, and to set the world free from stagnation.

Moebius and Ouroboros, the symbols themselves, are two sides of the same coin. Both are cycles, seemingly endless paths looping in on themselves. But whereas a Moebius strip ends where it started, an Ouroboros ends one loop with the birth of something new. Moebius is an endless cycle of stagnation. Ouroboros is the endless cycle of change and rebirth.

Ouroboros goes on to destroy Moebius Z, the collective unconscious given physical form by the dense collection of fear and anxiety over the fate of their worlds that the respective people of Bionis and Alrest within Origin's systems felt as their universes threatened the other with oblivion.

As Origin reboots and Aionios falls apart, Ouroboros separate as they're dragged along with their respective universe. N has done it. He, similar to Leo, has managed to move on from eternity. he has allowed Aionios to be destroyed and has stepped into an uncertain tomorrow. From here, no one knows what will happen. Maybe Origin will fail and both universes cease to be. Maybe everything will go to plan and the worlds no longer are at risk of destroying each other. If it does succeed and the universes safely merge together again, there's a chance that Noah, Mio, and the rest of Ouroboros won't be alive to see it, thus never meeting each other again.

But they're content with that.

Consul N from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Leo Alvarez from Echo Project's Echo VN are both complex and interesting characters that explore the human desire to cling to what's familiar and reject painful or unsatisfactory change. And through them, we see how staying in the past can be harmful not just to the self, but to those around you. Through these two characters, Monolithsoft and the Echo Project team tell the audience that it's okay to be afraid of how things might turn out, that it's okay to want to stay close to what's familiar. But if you resist change, if you do everything in your power to keep yourself in an endless now, that you'll do nothing but cause harm. So look forward to tomorrow, for it is a bundle of possibilities. And just

Walk on.

[windwardstar]

honestly at this point someone should just hire me to find where their system breaks down. because if there is a crack in the system I will somehow miraculously fall through it.

[gingerpeachtea]

there are two moments that are too anticlimactic that are driving me up the FUCKING WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bc other than that the fic is READY TO POST. BUT THOSE TWO MOMENTS. GOD

[boxchewr]

.

wanting to make more adult facing accounts and wanting to post that sort of art again but then remembering it's going to become illegal soon so i. can't i wasted too much time to be able to do it. augh

[machabre]

Uughhdvjs crocodile gonna make me actually finish OP some way or another