#i'm currently sick and a little feverish so brains a bit mushed

[bloo-the-dragon]

out ooffff curiosity

in quite a few fics with your mer au with eclipse its frequently referenced that he has "episodes"

what happens during those episodes? is there something specific that triggers them or is it something stress induced? does ruin have any ways to help or does he try to stay out of the way until its over?

*cracks knuckles* Prepare thineself for a text wall lmao

So first of all i'm gonna give some context here- Eclipse to put it shortly has the robot equivalent of brain damage. His code is pretty messed up which affects his behaviours and other side effects. This is a result of him having been decommissioned (basically killed) when he was still 'sun and moon' and then brought back again as a mish-mash of both codes.

He was not intended to have a long work life, his expiry being estimated for about 2-3 years and this is primarily due to the fact that his specific model/ai was always intended to function with two ai - so if we look at the eclipse (solar) and lunar from my runaways au, they are a paired ai and if one was to die the other would eventually follow.

Anyways so during his worklife Eclipse's already unstable code was messed up even more due to electrocution from tasers by his owners plus his natural slow deterioration from not having a counterpart (before meeting Ruin which while saved his life, did not fix all the issues). Only reason he survived as long as he did was because he is a mix of two previously paired ai which helped extent his initial lifespan (and the fact he's a stubborn ass)

Ok context concluded i'll now answer the details:

What happens during these episodes?

Moodswings, seizures and at worst crashes. Almost always these result in some form of memory loss. The moodswings tend to be the most common and they can make him act out/say things in an various ways, most often aggressive/angry ones and he doesn't always remember them when they occur due to the memory files being corrupted.

The seizures he has tend to be the absense type though sometimes he may experience a tonic/atonic one. Unlike the crashing in which he experiences a full shutdown and reboot (which he never remembers) the seizures at most can cause soft reboots and minor memory loss.

What are the Triggers?

Stress is the primary cause, but they can happen without warning even if he is feeling fine. The frequency of these episodes in this context is thankfully not too often but usually occur at least a couple times a month.

The immediate causes though? Electricity. The sight of it and the sound of it (this can include thunderstorms but they arn't as bad unless he directly sees the lighting flash in the sky) this is due to traumas of being electrocuted. Also unexpected physical contact like being roughly grabbed or otherwise touched without warning, especially if near his neck/head. This is also related to the traumas with electricity.

How does Ruin help, if he can? Or does he stay out of the way?

Ruin helps however he can when he can! If Eclipse is having an angry moodswing, he will keep out of his way and try not to make too much noise but keeps a close eye just in case it does turn into a seizure. If it's a more depressed/sad one then he'll stay by Eclipse side offering nuzzles, preens and lots of reassurances.

If Eclipse does have a seizure (absense) Ruin will try to guide Eclipse either to the sofa or bed (or floor if nothing else) - this may not always work but Ruin will stay with him regardless, talking with him until Eclipse comes out of it again.

If its a tonic/atonic one and Eclipse collapses, Ruin would attempt to catch him or cushion his fall and would remain with Eclipse until he woke up. Basically using the same methods of talking/cheeping til he does.