#manifesting. not predicting. i make no predictions

[puckpocketed]

love and light they want to get wekky extended .ive never felt more secure and at peace in my life thats OUR guy. give him his 8x8 be done with it gmmg!!!!!!!!!!!

[whollyjoly]

so aisha just tweeted this....

and im looking at those last two emojis 😐😳....

and i remember that lou said this....

...and this....

...

...what does it MEAN??

[the-milgram-sideblog-396]

I was gonna make predictions about song of the prisoners but the only one I really have is that Kazui’s song is either called “Heart” (Half + Cat) or an even more obvious term for a submissive gay man

[x-i-l-verify]

Linked Universe Daemon AU Headcanons

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 1: The concept of daemons is borrowed from the His Dark Materials series. A daemon is a person’s soul manifested outside of their body in a tangible, physical form, which permanently settles into the form of the animal that most resembles them in character as the individual matures. Person and daemon are not separate beings, but two halves of one mental coin, which means that they each know everything the other does, thinks, and senses. Daemons are almost always the opposite gender of their person and have a distinct personality than the person to a certain degree, as person and daemon represent different aspects of the same whole. Touching someone’s daemon without their permission is taboo, considered a violation tantamount to rape in most cultures.

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 2: All Links have the same name for their daemon: Ellanharai (composed of the Old German elements ellan “courage” and heri “army”). However, because all the Links are their own person, their daemon’s form settles on something different with each incarnation. Just as the Links in the Chain go by different titles to differentiate them all, so, too, do their daemons. Links tend to settle early (12-13 years), as they generally know who they are and what they want from a young age.

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 3: The Dark World/Twili crystal magic combines someone and their daemon into one physical body. This new body has the form of the daemon but the gender of the person with size alterations or different markings/coloration and is controlled by the person, with the daemon part of their mind taking a backseat. For example, Legend is larger as a rabbit than his daemon usually is, and of course, her natural color is not bright pink. The lingering effects of this transformation only physically affect the person side of the person/daemon pair once they are returned to normal. 

---

SKY + PSALM (RED-CROWNED CRANE)

Red-crowned cranes are renowned for their lasting and affectionate pair bonds, having come to represent longevity and devotion in many cultures; they are cooperative and low-aggression birds, quite tolerant and relaxed around other animals, and only really become territorial and protective over their nesting sites and chicks.

Psalm is impatient, mischievous, and fierce. Sky is more easygoing, considerate, and gentle.

Sky and Psalm are very outwardly affectionate with each other, and both can often be found napping together in a patch of sunlight, Psalm resting her head in Sky’s lap or draping a wing over him. As the physically tallest daemon of the bunch, Psalm delights in teasing fawning over her smaller daemon sisters, especially the younger ones. She will often sit on someone and happily brood, and while some may outwardly protest, everyone secretly enjoys it.

---

FOUR + RHYME (ITALIAN HEBRAN HONEYBEE)

Four's daemon is an industrious, adaptable, cooperative, sociable species of honeybee, known for being assertive but not aggressive insects; they have a high threshold for what they consider threats, and will communicate using pheromones, body language, and vocalizations to make themselves as clearly understood as possible, but they will not hesitate to defend themselves if something is deemed a threat.

Four is empathetic, observant, passionate, and composed. Rhyme is the emotional, pragmatic, impulsive, competitive part of his personality.

Rhyme is usually kept in a protective case Four wears around his neck to prevent any harm from coming to her either in battle or out of it, due to her diminutive size, but he will happily let her out to stretch her wings when around people he trusts. While she is too small to outright cuddle with her sisters, Rhyme loves perching on their heads or burrowing into feathers or fur when it’s chilly, and she’s surprisingly expressive with her body language, though one might have to squint to see it.

When Four splits into his Colors, Rhyme also splits. Which means instead of one being in two bodies, they’re now one being in eight bodies. As in LU canon, none of the Colors is their own individual in this AU, merely a fraction of a larger whole. In turn, each iteration of Rhyme is an alternate part of each of the Colors, with Four’s soul fragmenting into smaller and smaller individual pieces the deeper you go down.

---

TIME + MELODY (SPANISH FARON MASTIFF)

While menacing in appearance due to their sheer size and bulk, Spanish mastiffs are actually known for being protective, affectionate, quiet dogs, with a long history of guarding livestock; they are patient, easygoing, and surprisingly playful, good with children and tolerant of other animals, though their strong wills and stubbornness make them a challenge to handle for first-time dog owners.

Time is authoritative, jaded, and stoic, while Melody embodies his nurturing, hopeful, mischievous side.

Melody can often be found at Time’s side with one of his hands resting on her head or back. As the largest daemon in the group paired with the tallest person, they make for quite the intimidating pair and are downright deadly in battle together. Outside of battle, though, Melody becomes a big teddy bear, utterly content to let her daughters sisters use her as a pillow or mode of transportation, quietly communicating all the warm care and tenderness Time is sometimes too awkward to openly express. She is the one who introduced the musical motif the other Ellanharais also adopted when coming up with nicknames for themselves.

---

TWILIGHT + ARIA (GRAY WOLF)

Twilight’s daemon is a social, cooperative, dedicated apex predator, who routinely work together to raise their young, defend their territories, and chase down their prey over vast distances; they are not overly aggressive and prefer to avoid conflict whenever they can, using body language, sent marking, and howling to diffuse tense situations and prevent costly fights between packs or individuals.

Twilight is focused, cautious, and opinionated. Aria is his easygoing, empathetic, people-pleasing side.

Aria instantly adopts most of the younger daemons in the group and dotes on them as much as they’ll allow. However, she turns into a big, besotted puppy whenever Time and Melody come into the picture and becomes adorably bashful around Malon’s pigeon daemon Rosamu. She is often found at Twilights right side, guarding his flank and watching his back while he focuses his attention on what’s in front of him. She also loves scritches and belly rubs and has nearly smothered Twilight more than once by sprawling on top of him too heavily while they sleep. While their initial transformation into Wolfie was traumatic and scarring at first, they have both grown to enjoy the occasional opportunity to truly travel, fight, and exist as one.

---

WILD + TRILL (WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE)

Wild’s daemon is a loyal, resourceful, resilient species of raptor that is often found alone or in monogamous pairs, but will freely cooperate together with groups of up to 15 other eagles to take down larger prey; they are straightforward and communicative with their vocalizations and displays and also surprisingly playful, wrestling or playing food games with each other.

Trill is Wild’s dutiful, reserved, focused side, while Wild is the impulsive, playful, lackadaisical side.

Trill is rather choosy with and to whom she shows open affection. She can be very standoffish, preferring to let Wild do the talking for both of them, but once she trusts someone, she will often become very chatty and physically affectionate. It is common to see her riding around or napping on Aria's back, but she has begun opening up more to the others as well.

Because Wild lost all his memories in the Shrine of Resurrection, Trill had become unsettled when they finally woke up, taking the most basic shape a daemon can take, normally only seen with very young children: a small, floating, glowing ball of golden Dust. As they regained their memories during Wild’s quest and discovered more about themselves, Trill began taking on some of their old favored forms before eventually resettling for good as her original settled form, the wedge-tailed eagle. Despite physically being the same, though, there’s still that distance between who they are now and who they used to be, most evident in how their personalities have seemed to switch; Wild used to be more serious, focused, and responsible, and Trill used to embody the impulsivity, rowdiness, and wanderlust he kept tightly tamped down for the sake of duty and appearances. Both of them are still coming to terms with how much they have changed.

---

LEGEND + LYRIC (EUROPEAN HYLIAN RABBIT)

Legend's daemon settled as a hardy, wary, sociable, territorial species of rabbit, able to survive and thrive in almost any environment; they are a keystone prey species, a vital part of almost any ecosystem they find themselves in, who must stay ever vigilant and rely on their speed, wits, and determination to stay alive.

Legend is blunt, private, and practical, while Lyric is the sensitive, sociable, sentimental side of him.

Legend has… a complicated relationship with his daemon’s form. He initially hides her away from the rest of the Chain out of paranoia and insecurity, keeping her in his pack at all times. What would Hyrule they think of the renowned Hero of Legend having a defenseless, soft little rabbit as a daemon? They would lose all respect for him, or worse, be disappointed. It isn’t until after the Twili crystal incident, and Twilight and Sky find out about Lyric’s form, that he starts to come out of his shell.

After the ice has been broken, Lyric leaps at the chance to interact with the other deamons more. She goads Aria or even Melody into games of chase, can finally properly pounce on Warriors’ daemon the next time she teases her, curls up into a little fuzzy ball with Hyrule’s daemon to nap, leaps up on Trill or Psalm or Wind’s daemon’s backs and coax them into giving her a ride, and holds Rhyme in her little paws to gloat that she finally knows a daemon smaller than her (Rhyme is not amused). She is the one who came up with the name for their group of daemons, which is a chorus, just like a group of Links is a chain.

---

HYRULE + CADENCE (YELLOW-BELLIED GLIDER)

Hyrule’s daemon is a small, nocturnal glider species that is selectively social, close-bonding, and expressive, utilizing a number of chirps, whirrs, whistles, and growls to keep away intruders and keep tabs on each other; yellow-bellied gliders are incredibly active, hard-working creatures, spending up to 90% of their time awake foraging, and they can travel up to 2 kilometers in just 4 hours through a combination of climbing and gliding.

Hyrule is independent, wary, and agreeable. Cadence represents his dependent, connected, feisty side.

Cadence is generally quite a skittish daemon, who can normally be found clinging wide-eyed to Hyrule’s back, shoulders, chest, or arms, or hidden inside his tunic or pack. She has not interacted closely with many other daemons in her time (fairies do not have daemons), so she is still getting used to the physical affection the others offer. She does not dislike it; it is simply a lot. But she is gradually learning to love being nuzzled, cuddled, and carried, and she greatly enjoys riding around on the other larger daemons.

---

WIND + SHANTY (MILITARY MACAW)

Wind settled just a couple months before the events of Linked Universe as a resourceful, gregarious, deeply loyal species of macaw; like all macaws, they can be quite loud, communicative, and expressive, and they have generally been described as having friendly, confident, playful dispositions, albeit with the occasional temperamental mood swing.

Shanty is Wind's meticulous, perceptive, down-to-earth side, while Wind is reckless, curious, and carefree.

As is befitting for a parrot daemon, Shanty spends much of her time perched on Wind’s shoulders or arms, though she does love being held and cuddled, too. She is still getting used to her settled form, and sometimes forgets she cannot shift like she once did, leading to some hilarious mishaps when she faceplanted on the ground trying to turn into a hermit crab, or one memorable instance where she nearly drowned while trying to become a yellowtail snapper. She gets very starry-eyed over the other demons and thinks all of them are the coolest for different reasons. She desperately wants to impress them and prove she’s just as badass as they are, so she can sometimes chafe under their well-meaning coddling.

---

WARRIORS + BALLAD (RED FOX)

Warriors’ daemon settled as the confident, dependable, independent red fox, the most widespread and successful carnivore in the world, found in just about every available habitat, from jungle to tundra; despite being mainly solitary, these animals have a complex social hierarchy and can be seen in a wide variety of group settings, with vixens sometimes coming together during the breeding season to help raise each other’s cubs, and their mates bringing them food and also helping parent the new cubs.

Warriors is shrewd, charming, and diplomatic, while Ballad is more brash, cheeky, and candid.

Ballad, while generally friendly and warm with the other daemons (especially the younger ones), is also strangely skittish around them. She is fine initiating touch or curling up for a nice nap around or with someone else, but if touched unexpectedly, she tends to either bristle, growl, and retreat behind Warriors, or go very still and quiet. She shies away from any human hands except Warriors' (and even then there are days he doesn't touch her directly). They bring to mind other hands. Slim, small, elegant, painted hands that hurt, that took, that tainted- ...It’s fine. She’s fine. They’re fine. Everything’s fine.

---

Resources:

Red-crowned crane analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24990

Italian honeybee analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23882

Tibetan mastiff analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24552

Spanish mastiff information: https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/spanish-mastiff

Gray wolf analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23828

Wedge tailed eagle analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26686

European rabbit analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23718

Yellow bellied glider analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24968

Military macaw analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26591

Red fox analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24946

Art belongs to @/linkeduniverse

[ungodlysaltyinfrastructure]

Oh, who's this made out of clay?

[savior-of-the-ink]

*hits you*

*vibrates like a cartoon, emitting a very distinct metal sound, eventually dropping dead on the ground and causing his Ghost to come and revive him*

And THAT is pure comedy genius, I tip my hat to you. Also THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE WTFFFFFF I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT 😭😭😭

Anyways, some time ago I had an enlightenment regarding chapter 5, so we can start from there. And we are going through bullet points because I can't, for the love of me, construct a coherent exposition. like ever.

Warning: long post. like no joking this is L O N G

(+ obligatory disclaimer that this is all conceptual, so some parts might be highly unrealistic)

Prologue: Guess Who Is Irremediably Screwed?

we wake up from the Red Smoke, restrained and with our Grab Pack nowhere to be seen

we'll be here from a while, so we might a well get comfortable

Harley is here! Of course he is— you believed he'd die so easily? Yeah, didn't think so— and he is scolding Huggy Wuggy for having almost chomped our head off, saying that we are too much of a valuable asset to simply have us killed

Harley notices we are awake, taunts us for a short moment about how "you really thought, in ten years spent rotting down in this hellhole, I wouldn't be smart enough to construct a backup? God, you are so small-minded is pitiful..."

then the Prototype arrives (barely visible from where we are standing, so no reveal yet), genuinely bewildered by the Doctor's presence, saying how he shouldn't be here, that he thought he had died— Harley cuts him short saying that. he's here now, so they might as well get to work on that little thing they had been going on?

(yes, Harley totally manipulated us into "killing" him so he could follow us undetected while the Prototype believed him to be dead. works everytime)

the Prototype reluctantly agrees, making another comment on time running out, but tells him to tend to Huggy before sending him back on the field to track down Poppy, Kissy and whatever allies they have left (just as promised)

Harley acquired lab access! Finally! He's very happy about it!

he celebrates by mocking us some more before knocking us out with more Red Smoke, getting ready to relocate our body

the game begins now

Part 1: We Are On An Acid Trip

we wake up... during the factory days?

yep, the factory is pretty much alive and kicking. people walking around and working and all of that

somebody calls for our attention, we turn around and see a human Harley Sawyer, his face obstructed by a glitchy screen, causing the scene to quickly deteriorate around us before we awake for real this time

we are in a different room, still restrained but to an operating table this time

Harley immediately resumes monologuing about the "with your skills, how did you even went undetected for so long?" discourse and can't yet find a good reason why you would be back

WE CAN ANSWER THIS TIME! WE GOT DIALOGUE CHOICES! (no voice acting tho)

whatever you reply, Harley states that is going to be digging through the files and find our ID

on the bright(?) side, he says we will meet the author of the letter soon... so at least we have that??

from now on, the sequence gets a little repetitive: Harley puts us under with the Smoke, we experience some hallucinations/flashbacks that progressively get longer as they give us more insight on who we were and our role in the factory, then we awake and a different scene plays out everytime

the second time we wake up, Harley is talking with the Prototype. Surprisingly, 1006 is being very soft about the Doctor, showing some genuine distraught at the thought of his death, you see a clawed hand barely grazing his shoulder before he pulls away... There is also a substantial effort from him to maintain Elliot Ludwig's voice, albeit it often slips into others, Ollie's particularly

at this point you have either the choice to stay quiet or shout out Ollie's name: in both cases, Harley realizes you are awake, basically roars at the Prototype to leave and puts us under the Smoke again

the third time, Rich Lovitz is there! He was spared during the Hour of Joy, is a little older and shows clear signs of brainwashing from the Prototype's propaganda, but he is as defensive of the orphans as ever (also, he is the one who wrote the letter, it is revealed). We only catch half of the conversation he is having with the Doctor regarding the Prototype's conditions before being dismissed

Harley holds us awake a little longer this time, stating that he can't, for the love of God, find any information about us. and it's driving him mad

brief moment where he basically threatens to strangle us yes please, before stating that he will find a use to us, and down in dreamland we go again

the fourth time is a little bit trippier and we are not fully awake, the borders of our vision still red, but we recognize the metal clanging of the Prototype standing at the bedside. He speaks in Elliot's and Ollie's voices still, saying that he never expected us to return, that he wishes he could send us back, but knows we won't be so easily persuaded

we pass out exactly when Elliot speaks the words: "Your siblings well be dealt with. The picture will be once again complete. I promise that."

Part 2: We Have Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion At Home

we wake up and... Poppy is there??

also Harley... huh

we are not in the labs anymore and the landscape is twisted: floating walls and paths, colors juxtaposed in weird combinations, general weird things going about...

Harley assures that he has no idea of what is going either (he doesn't seem to be lying), assuming instead we all ended up in some Smoke-induced shared dream, probably the Prototype finding a way to connect our consciousnesses

Poppy is already panicking because she doesn't want to be any near 1006, but the Doctor promptly reprimands and exhorts her to not lose her head in such a dire situation, also because they are all in here together so it will probably be expected from them to work together

(here is my favorite scene, where Harley scoops Poppy in his palm and drop her on his shoulder. like they have done it a million times before. like it is the norm for them. they are siblings, your honor)

rejoice! we have our Grab Pack back! and because the path is littered with puzzles, we are very relieved

here comes the heavy puzzle part of the chapter

basically, the three of us have to cooperate and everybody has a different ability to progress: Harley has electricity manipulation, Poppy can create paths with flower petals and we can fly for short periods of time

there are also some GLARING hints that we are actually made of "toy parts" (Harley spells it out towards the ending section, sounding quite disappointed in himself for not realizing it sooner but also fascinated by the implications)

meanwhile, the landscape gets progressively less scattered and starts pulling itself together, resembling now a cute little village actually

we start meeting a lot of toys and kids as well, even those who are long dead: the Critters, Bunzo, the Mini Wuggies, Mommy, DogDay... we even get a freaking jumpscare from Yarnaby chasing around with CatNap (he stops by to get a few pats from Harley too before resuming to play)

eventually, we reach the big house at the center, get inside and oh God, the tapestry is the same as Poppy's room

Poppy starts freaking out, Harley is oddly quiet, we simply press forward... the lights are growing dimmer... we reach another door...

Part 3: Elliot's Tea Party Of Delusions

there is a room, the only lights coming from candles scattered around, with a table set clearly for what seems like a tea party, three chairs vacant and labeled: Poppy's is all cute and fancy and has a pile of cushions on hers, Harley's is sober and made in metal, ours has the name scribbled out and mockingly displays a pair of white wings at the sides

and sitting at the other end? Elliot Ludwig, the Prototype's legs barely hidden in the room's darkness, just like his face

beside him, the seat opposed to Poppy's, is a kid that hasn't been seen before, but the dialogue choice popping out makes it all clearer: Ollie

Ollie barely lifts his head when we call him and you hear a clanking sound as one of the Prototype's legs starts moving... yeah, it is pretty clear what is going on here

Elliot invites us to take a seat. against any predictions, Harley is the first one to comply. you and Poppy follow his example

here follows a long dialogue scene that has to be summarized in a few points:

yes, Harley did kill Elliot back in the day and Playtime (specifically, Leith Pierre's father) had an operation carried out to save his consciousness into the mechanical and organic amalgamation they had been experimenting on for a few years now (aka: 1006), consequentially losing his memory but still retaining his core personality and a phantom of his original goal, growing so utterly disgusted and angry at the betrayal of Playtime in the regards of his mission of bringing joy to children that eventually it overrode Ollie's consciousness, causing them to fuse into what now can be properly called the Prototype

it is also revealed that we are, for a fact, Ollie's older brother (1006 was the vessel of his essence) and he is actually the reason why we returned in the first place (I made a whole separate post about this branch of the narrative for a good reason): the hope was finding enough parts and perhaps Harley's help as well (who we knew was alive) to separate the two entities and build a human disguise much like our own, so we could have had our brother back in one piece

at this point comes Elliot's proposal. he spent the last ten years working on this fabricated world where we are standing now and asks all of us: would we like to stay?

his argument is that we really have no other place to be and we belong to each other, to this family. sure, some aspects of the world are still a work in progress, but we could all contribuite to the project until it's perfect. then we could be happy like we could never be back in our time. he can finally fulfil his goal, even bring all the orphans and toys with us (no, we don't know how the bastard found a way to resuscitate the dead toys and plug them all in the same dream... speak of "becoming a part of him")

we glance at our companions and... Harley? why do you look like you are considering, Harley? no, don't fall into the clear trap, don't listen to a word he's saying—

we get up, slam our fists on the table and call out for Ollie, tell him to snap out of it, that this is his body and Elliot is just a parasite who lost his mind long ago, but we know our brother is still in there. that we came all this way just for him and we are not leaving him behind now

Ollie— Ollie this time— says that we are really sweet and our determination is remarkable, but again (here it speaks in a mix of Mommy's, DogDay's and Doey's voices):

there is nothing left to save here.

at that point, Harley flips the table over, hurling it towards Elliot with as much strength as it can muster. the Prototype roars and retreats his puppets, immediately fleeing the scene

Poppy snaps at Harley the following second because "were you seriously listening to him? what happened to 'don't lose your head'?!"

he angrily replies she has no idea of the things he did to him, but we say that we understand

"he would talk of you often. cursing you out, crying over the boy he had lost..."

we understand his feeling of betrayal too. we say that, in a way, he was a father to us as well

Harley chuckles and bitterly replies that "he really brainwashed us good, all of us"

now we can proceed with the gameplay, so we follow the Prototype into the whole in the wall, walk through another puzzle (cue a comment from Harley on how we are getting used to this) until we find a large room filled with beds, with all the children and toys (mostly, the parts that weren't lost) asleep in them, with our, Harley's and Poppy's bodies at the center, surrounded in a patch of poppy flowers

Harley assumes this is where the link to the physical bodies is preserved and imagines that destroying it would awake us from this nightmare (à la Inception, y'know?)

another short puzzle where we manage to overcharge the electric panel, we set fire to the house and then all goes black

Part 5: Final Confrotation With The Prototype, Let's Fucking Goooo

we seemingly awake last, with Harley unplugging us from whatever weird machinery that held us all together

we realize we are in a room with a similar arrangement of the one of the dream, with all the orphans laying in their beds and asleep (curiously enough, there no toy in sight...)

at this point, the plan remains the same: charge the factory's foundations with Red Smoke, blow it up and take the orphans away

we split up: Harley and Poppy will gather the children while we redirect the Smoke and keep in touch with a brand new walkie-talkie that Harley provides us

cue another string of corridors and puzzles and the Prototype sending Huggy to stalk us while also calling out to us with Ollie's voice and trying to persuade us into betraying the plan because we are the only one of the trio that can understand the pain of being an abused orphan, immediately followed by our snapping that Elliot is the one that ruined our life so

there is a dialogue from Harley where he suggests that perhaps we never saw a redemption for ourselves in coming back to the factory, that we feel guilty for doing nothing back then and being led solely by our selfish gain, willingly closing our eyes to the cruelty that was perpetrated on the orphans if it meant that we could get our brother out of there

somewhere in all of this Rich should show up with a gun, trying to hinder with Harley's and Poppy's part (you hear shooting over the comms, also Harley's Very British™ swearing), so there is that too

once we are almost done with our task, the Prototype jumps on us

1006 DESIGN REVEAL! and it is exactly what you think: an amalgamation of mechanical components, bones and tissues, with toy parts from dead Bigger Bodies and with Elliot's body hanging like a puppet (basically a skeleton with rotten meat and dressed in one of his suits)

the Smoke container is broken and the room quickly fills with it, but we are so used to it at this point we can move freely and only hallucinate of the dream world and the real world mixing together

here follows a somewhat nebulous scene, where in order: "Ollie" tries to convince us to stay but we run; we are told that the gas is just enough to shake the fundaments and trigger an earthquake that should cause the factory to plummet down in Hell; Rich shows up with the gun in place of his arm (is it real? who can tell); Huggy should eventually turn on our side, possibly with a short non-verbal conversation with Kissy, and kills Rich

eventually, when we reach the last container, we see a heavily-distorted Prototype, with Elliot's frame on the front, holding Ollie by the shoulders

1006 simply states that sending that letter to us was a mistake, then a short fight ensues (we basically have to lure the Prototype far enough to shot at the container while avoiding various claws from various toys trying to grab and rip at us)

we succeed! the first explosion sends us crashing against the wall, then the room starts collapsing

short scene where Ollie (just Ollie, as in his robotic child experiment self) is desperately crying and calling out for us and we fly to his side. Elliot's body is just lying there like a deflated balloon, half covered in rubble, the spider legs spread and broken all around like plucked petals

as the place won't stop violently shaking and collapsing all around, we tightly hug our brother, saying we are not leaving him alone again

we also have the choice to remain silent after that or utter a low and pathetic "I'm sorry, everybody. I was never your savior."

another explosion. the screen goes white with a loud whistle, then black and silent

Epilogue: Have I Mentioned This Doesn't Have An Happy Ending?

we are being carried, hearing the sound of hard metallic footsteps

guess what? Harley saved us from ourselves

he says that it would have been a waste to die for a ghost long gone

"besides, don't believe I'm going to take the fall for anybody here: we will all be paying for our crimes in the end"

the Smoke is long gone at this point. also one of our legs feels weird and we are limping a lot

minor puzzle sequence where we climb all the way up to the first floor again, reactivating all the elevators while having a few other philosophical exchanges on the meaning of all of this, if it's fair to leave it all buried or denounce the cruelty of Playtime Co so that history can not repeat itself

we are back at the Game Station! how long have we spent down there, God gracious, we are so tired...

Poppy, Kissy and Huggy welcome us while helping the children board the train

(we are not having a dialogue option for all of them, I'm not that patient)

apparently we are just in time for the last ride before the place completely collapses on itself (everything has been shaking and exploding like crazy throughout the entire ascension), so we get on board, sitting with Harley on the outside of the last wagon

only now Harley decides to remind us that he is probably going to die with the factory once everything goes off, that it is a miracle he is still standing but he will surely collapse once he is far enough from his energy source. he doesn't seem sad talking about all of this, he did admit it was always the plan

"I fear you must be the one to take a fall for me instead"

suddenly there is a louder explosion and, just like that, the Prototype appears?? reduced to his barest component, but crawling at an impressive speed on the railway, Elliot's voice shouting for Poppy's name while remnants of Ollie's accuse us of lying and beg us to return to him

we manage to put some distance before the train stops and we sprint to the head while the children hastily get off the wagons, rushing towards the exit

the floor starts to crack and collapse, Harley is falling behind, but the door is just up ahead

everybody is out, we can still make it, we can—

the ground collapses beneath our feet, but we manage to hold ourselves with the Grab Pack while with the other hand we grab Harley who is about to fall, the Prototype clutching him like a parasite, now only gurgling garbage coming out of his speaker

the Grab Pack is giving way and Harley notices. there is a frightening abyss beneath us, splitting the earth in two like the entrance to Hell itself

at this point, Harley says "always with you, bro" and cuts off the straps holding our Grab Pack, falling in slow motion alongside the Prototype while Wasteland by Royal and the Serpent starts playing— wait, no, wrong script...

anyways, the scene is pretty similar, so I suppose we are going for that (sorry for rekindling the trauma, Arcane fans)

the screen fades to red

eventually we emerge from the rubble of the factory, back to the entrance, which suffered from all the quakes

Poppy rushes at your side, she's talking but everything is muffled

we limp towards the door as the blasting sound of sirens echoes louder and louder

we finally walk outside...

... and the police is there!

we stand amongst a swarm of children, with Poppy sitting on Kissy's shoulder and Huggy growling at the agents while we are held at gunpoint and ambulances are starting to pull up as well

suddenly, coming from the front line, a familiar voice rings out in the air:

"I did say that our company prided itself in its security, did I not?"

roll the credits

yeah, we are leaving the movie and spin-off games to answer any questions that were left unanswered

that's capitalism for you

those toys aren't gonna sell themselves

also there is totally a post-credit scene of a TV head lying in the open, half covered in debris, that suddenly turns on (because we are operating on sci-fi magic at this point) and shows Harley's eye, then the screen goes black and you only hear Baldwin go "mmmmh" like he's annoyed at the thought of still being alive

and then it ends

yeah, it's a pretty shitty ending, but I think it's for the best

(it was even more angsty in my head tbh)

the game is not set to end in a good way. not with all the sins that still weight on our soul. we don't deserve an happy ending

and I'd argue Harley playing hero at the end is barely a redemption for him. he was going to die anyways. he simply allows us to live so Playtime can have a speaker to expose their crimes

too bad Leith being still alive is going to mess that one up...

sequel opportunities?? it basically writes itself???

I think I'm headed in a good direction but this post took so long to write so I'll wrap it up

see ya with more crazy predictions and shameless manifesting ✨

[dazais-guardian-angel]

This post made me realize that with the Walking Alone episode, I can recreate what Aya probably looked like during the new chapter...

...and maybe the next chapter...

But most importantly, what she'll hopefully look like many chapters down the road from now :)

[lkluvsu]

they’re edging us because they’re planning to kiss on the mouth next season

brb booking a ticket to every game they play next season

[aprilblossomgirl]

My GMMTV2025 Wishlist

Unprompted I know but I need to make one this time.

WinnySatang new series as solo leads no ensemble please -- I don't have any specific thought for the director, but I do wish for a good script, obviously (either adaptation or original work is fine with me but let's have the enemy to lover trope).

Winny's series with P'Fon as the director (yes, this one I am very specific) with genre similar to either Home School or High School Frenemy.

A series in which I could have Jamie or View or both as the main leads (I know the rumors about their respective possible new partner, but a girl can wish).

AJJJPloy series as main leads without messing with AJ's character this time give me a character close to Wasuwat! I am being super serious with this one.

The only ensembles I would happily accept (with decent scripts) are either the Hia Gang series (JimmySea ForceBook), the OG trio series (KristSingto TayNew OffGun), or a series with the (not so) newbie SeaKeen ChokunPahn.

I used to always wish for Season 2 of Home School but since Jane left, I will pretend I ever wanted this.

If GMMTV is doing another JDrama adaptation, I wanted to see them adapting Love Shuffle but make it full QL but with no branded pairs.

Now I'm gonna start my prayer circle for tomorrow.

[stormyoceans]

MONICA!! GMM2024 in less than 24 hours!! What are your predictions/hopes???

HI SAM HIIIIII!!!!!!! HONESTLY IT STILL DOESN’T SEEM REAL TO ME THAT GMMTV 2024 IS ALREADY TOMORROW HOW ARE WE FEELING FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!

a couple of weeks ago i actually made two bingo cards with my personal wishes and my predictions for the new line up, but it was before they announced the event was gonna have multiple parts (and before prigkhing announced she was leaving GMMTV 🥲), so im using this as an excuse to post a small updated version of them!!!

i realize it's probably all very boring and too generic, but honestly the three things i want the most are more GLs, papang kissing men in a leading role, and of course A NEW JIMMYSEA SERIES which. listen. i KNOW we're gonna get one. and okay, maybe it's not gonna be tomorrow, especially since last twilight hasn't aired yet and p'jojo is taking a break until part 2, but is this going to stop me from clowning until the very end?? ABSOLUTELY NOT

IM RIDING INTO BATTLE TOMORROW WITH MY CLOWN ARMOR ON AND THE POWER OF DELUSION ON MY SIDE

[timelordian-disaster-126]

Okay so I'm gonna sound dramatic for a moment, but I just know, and have known since I learned beep the meep was gonna be in the 60th special that I will absolutely NEED a plushie of him at some point, like..if I don't get a plushie of him sooner or later within my life time I will just not die until I do, I will just simply refuse to die without one 🥲 LIKE HE'S SO CUTE?? and yes I've read the comics with him and I still need one, either it be of the comic version or the show version idc I just need to cuddle the hell outta him! If it comes down to the fact I'll have to make my own plushie of him so be it but it will NOT be pretty.. 💀

[crueclown22]

i'm crossing my fingers for u, and wish u the best

thank you, ill most likely be updating on here. trying to stay hopeful and not be a doomer. just vote vote vote vote. mostly gonna be political stuff for the next day or two

i feel like ill jinx it if i saw anything, but you know who i (and the entire world tbh) am depending on winning this

[phoephoenix]

Sooolo I’ve kinda already done everything there was to do in Hades 2 but I still love the game so much and want to play more even though there’s nothing else to do. I really wish we’d get another hades 2 update, like, it doesn’t have to be a big one. Just give me some new pics and new dialogue and I’ll go wild in my little enclosure. Enrichment and all that

[brailsthesmolgurl]

VISAGE

PREVIEW: She thought she had it all within her grasp, with Sylus by her side, she is practically untouchable. However, there had always been a thought lurking in the back of her mind ever since Sylus had gotten himself acquainted with a deepspace hunter. For someone who is as mundane as y/n, with no skills and power, what would happen if she were to allow those fears to manifest? It burrows, it festers, rots her from inside out and perhaps, just perhaps, Sylus will no longer be her safe haven anymore.

WARNINGS: Heavy angst that makes your blood curdle, reader is not mc!, suggestive themes, heavy gore.

P.S: Yes I know darlings, it has been a long time since I have been updating my works on here. Work and a lack of motivation got to me T-T. Introducing the debutante for this piece, the daddy himself Sylus! This piece is heavily inspired by those storylines that involves romance and also somewhat slightly related to Howl's Moving Castle vibes? I dunno heh I have some weird ideas cooking in my brain sometimes, hence the lack of frontal lobe growth I guess :,) And yes, there shall be a part two to this but I needed to get this spat out first!

Part two

Dividers sourced from here!

There is always a saying that whenever one wakes up to the sound of birds chirping in the morning, thus marks the start of a beautiful, sunny day ahead. However, that is not the case for y/n when she wakes up to Mephisto trying his best to do 'chirpings' but ends up cawing like a dying bird. Y/n sighed, pushing herself off of the plush bed to invite whatever the weather has to offer to her. Mephisto is not a bird and it cannot sing, so it sure as hell cannot predict the weather. The curtains are drawn close, a reminder of her intimate sessions with her lover in the bed last night, privacy shielded behind two drapes of heavy fabric.

Yawning, she waved her hand in the air and Mephisto leaves the room as if on cue, not wanting to be punished by his master for having a peek at what belongs to him. Y/n pulled on her silk nightgown, the material cooling to her skin and touch and she waddled out of the room. The smell of breakfast immediately wafts into her nose, it smells like buttermilk pancakes and she is sure that he is the one that is preparing the breakfast as there are times when Sylus would cook himself rather than having the chef prep the meals.

The man himself owns a big kitchen, but his sheer height and built makes the kitchen feel mid to his size. Y/n quietly sneaks up behind him, watching him humming while manhandling the pan, flipping the pancakes with ease. As she was about to attack him with her hands, the man had already beaten her to it, his evol stopping her hands from touching the sides of his torso and he turned, hair messy from waking up but still as good looking as ever. "Good morning, y/n." Voice still raspy, he retreats his evol and leans down to peck her lips softly. "Your sneak attacks are too predictable."

"How did you even heard me coming? I made sure I am extra secretive this time." She pouted, bottom lips jutting out and arms crossed over her chest. She watched as the man turned from the stove to the counter, serving the slices of pancakes onto the plain white plates. The image of soft, jiggly pancakes set onto the dark marble countertop, framed within the kitchen of mostly dark colours made it stood out awkwardly. But given the opulent kitchen exhales nothing less of elegance, perhaps, a plate of pancakes is all that it needs to breath a sense of life and humanity within this nearly aphotic abode of Sylus'.

"The moment you stopped snoring is the moment I knew you were going to wake up soon enough." His taunt got her gasping in return, embarassment littered all over her face. Offended, she slapped his taut arm and he chuckled in return. "I admire your effort, but next time, it would just be better if you were to greet me normally and lessen your failure rates." He swiftly wrapped his arms around her small waist and carefully guided her towards the dining table, with a plate in his other free hand. "Here, have some of your favourite."

He walked back towards the kitchen to grab his plate and seated himself next to her. "Did you taught Mephistos on how to chirp?" She asked him as she was cutting into the pancake. Then, that marks the start for their seemingly mundane daily conversations. Chuckles and teasing jokes filled the atmosphere of the once sterile looking kitchen.

Back in the days, this man would never be the type to say yes to making meals of any kind for nary, let alone waking up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast, Sylus yields to nobody. One might also wonder how did she even got associated with him in the first place? As she is only a mundane and the furious leader of the N109 zone was never the type to lay eyes on someone who poses no utility to him. Or so that was what he had once strongly believed in.

Since the day he had laid eyes upon her, in the basement of another clan, tied up against a pole in a mangled fashion, his aether core ached, a cord so tight that it tugged against every fibre of his being. He had never felt this way about anyone, let alone a hostage like y/n. She looked frail, sick and is scared of everything and anything except for the darkness. Sylus recalled the time when he grabbed her arm and she started kicking with all of her might, her wails coming out in low moans, kicks that barely does any damage to insects. She is dying, but Sylus felt like he could not leave her alone. The undulating thumps of his aether core in his eye, was a rare occurence that it overthrew his logic of killing her to ease her of her pain.

The initial idea of bringing her back to nourish her back to health was perished when Sylus realised that he had slowly started to be smitten with her. Within the hollow and scrawny shell of hers, she still possesses a fighting spirit and it is only applicable when she thinks that her life is hanging off of the balance. Although at first Sylus had detested her, warning her multiple times that he only took her in out of pity. However, she had only thanked him, either it would be via verbally or physically, no snap backs, no retaliation, she is just plainly grateful to be alive even if she were to be held up in another unfamiliar place. She would prefer anything else than to be tortured back in that dank basement.

With a little digging, Sylus had only retrieved information about her lineage and everything about it seemed all too mundane for him to be suspicious of anything. On the day he had fished her out of that hell hole, he brought her straight to his handyman to get her checked out for any core abnormalities. There must be a reason why she would be held hostage, kept alive only to be tortured. Sylus likes a challenge, but this challenge holds a mystery that remains unraveled when the handyman came back with a reading that denotes her to be nothing special. When asked about how she was kidnapped, her pallor suggested that she probably had her memory wiped clean amidst the torture or due to extreme post traumatic stress disorder.

After a couple of weeks being around his abode, she had found out a method to thank him and it involves cooking. However, her cooking is absolutely horrible, but Sylus still eats it to uphold his sense of politesse. It took some courage and serious toilet trips for him to finally decide that it is time to get an in-house chef for meal preps. The chef's first day to work was met with a confused y/n, standing at the front of the door with a big kitchen knife aimed towards him.

After explanations were given from the threatened chef, she realised that Sylus did not enjoyed her cooking and that led her to sulk. It went on for days, masked behind her dull appearance and it forced Sylus to use his evol on her only then he realised that this girl had already gotten a grip on him. The leader of the N109 zone had softened up a lot, wanting to know what she has to think, what was going on behind her blank expressions.

The pity for her faltered day by day, and it was slowly replenished with infatuation towards this mundane that he had stayed with for months. Luke and Kieran also teased him sometimes, stating that the unwavering leader of theirs now has a soft spot. Sylus had stopped denying it to a certain extent, it was like the man had lost all sense of rationale when it comes to discussing about her. "Boss, you do like her don't you?" One of the twins would urge, Sylus can clearly imagine their wriggling eyebrows underneath those masks.

"That is none of your business." The leader would scoff, feigning ignorance towards his underlings when they would boo him for not being truthful to himself. As much as he enjoyed their curiosity, he does not feel the need to continue this conversation, as he is a man of few words. "I suggest you both find something to do before I lose my patience." And that sent the both of them careening out of his room in full speed.

"You said you have something to tend to tonight, so I suppose I will not be expecting you for dinner?" Cocking her head aside, a small, curious smile hung on her curved lips. Sylus catches her gaze, the woman he is looking at now being a whole different person than who she was when he first brought her back. Her eyes now gleamed with excitement whenever she sees him, her smile and laughter both contagious, and her heart only directs towards him and only him.

The man nodded. "Yes, I will be out with the hunter tonight." He laid down his fork and fetched a napkin from across the table. Afterwards, he leaned towards his lover slightly and rubbed the napkin across her lips, muttering under his breath about the slight brown tint of maple syrup she had left sitting on the corners of her upturned lips. "Is there something the matter?"

Y/n hesitated, not sure if she should be telling him about her opinion. Ever since she had gotten here, she had learned that voicing out opinions are allowed here and that she could have a say in anything she is unhappy about. With enough courage, it started out with rejection, then it went on to providing her own opinions and now it's time for her to be honest with her feelings. These are values that Sylus had taught her about, and being the stubborn man he is, he does not expect himself to be repeating his words.

"It's just, you had been spending a lot of time with her, Sylus." She blurted out, lips becoming numb after the sentence when she expected vituperation from the crimson-orbed lover of hers. Not that he had ever cursed at her, or had been abusive with her, but it was the probability of him doing so is what scares her. Furthermore, it is clear that she still harbors malicious memories of her past. Just the mere thought of being stuck in that basement had gotten her wincing uncomfortably.

"You mean that hunter?" His eyebrow curved upwards, head slightly tilted as he tried to get a better look at her. He could sense her hesitation, her regret after the end of her sentence. Swiftly, Sylus traced a finger down her temples, trailing downwards and leaving goosebumps in its trail till it stopped beneath her chin. He tilted her head upwards so that her gaze would be aligned with his, yet she was staring at the walls right behind him. "The hunter and I are tending to a ruckus that had happened downtown and she is helping me with the investigation."

His explanation although was to soothe her, it only got her feeling on edge, teeth chattered as she struggled to think logically. She had never felt this sort of emotion; one closely related to jealousy, possessiveness and envy. "Why her?" Her fists tightened, hidden beneath the table cloth. "I can be of use to your investigations too." Couple of blinks to push back the tears, she looked into his gaze, to search for an answer she was expecting. "Why does it have to be her?"

The man sighed, not being the type to want to overexplain issues and he stood up from his seat, collecting his plate at the same moment. "You are not exactly useful when it comes to an actual battlefield." Voice although calm, but words of his pierced through her, reminding her of the reality she is really in. Sylus finds no use in her other than her existing as a pretty little thing next to him. Like an eccentric jewel on display on a pedestal but could never get off of it because she is not 'useful'. An angered y/n stood up, her chair screeched against the hardwood flooring and she angrily stomped off, her usually hushed footsteps resonated through the ornated hallways and leaving Sylus sat alone in the kitchen.

If one were to wonder over what the man thinks, he also spoke of facts. He sees her not being an object to aid in his investigation, but he only views her as someone that he wants to protect, and wants to come home to. A prized possession of his, if one dares to admit. Sylus too got up from his seat and started to tail behind her, watching her outline from behind, disappearing into their shared chambers. He watched her plopped face down onto the pillow, her actions almost comical. "Y/n." He called out her name but received no response. As expected. "I do not find any means to utilise you." He approached her, finding his seat next to her outstretched legs. He then places his hand onto the back of her thigh, thumb drawing aimless circles. "In fact, I do not want to use you at all."

"Just get out." Her voice was muffled but her tone seethed with anger. "Just go and do whatever it is that you wanted to do with the hunter if she is much more worthy on the battlefield with you." Her voice cracked unintentionally at the end and Sylus sighed, hand leaving her thigh. He could tell that he had messed up, said something that he had failed to filter and caused her to be so upset. As much as Sylus would like to stay behind and to comfort her, the hunter and his mission awaits. A mission that he is dwelling into for the sake of y/n. A mission that would ensure her safety once and for all.

“I have to go now, but I promise that I will make it up to you later.” With a quick kiss to the back of her neck, she could only hear the heavy footsteps of his disappearing after the clicking shut of the door. A part of her did not want to be jealous just because he is doing business with another female counterpart. Another part of her however, shaped like a devil, whispered sinful nothings into her ear, coaxing her to be jealous, to practice distrust upon her relationship with Sylus just like how she never had the courage to trust anyone. Dissolving into her pillow, her tears blended into the mix of polyester and cotton, her sobs quiet but reverberated within the four walls of their shared room. Mephisto landed on a branch directly outside of her window, guarding her but quietly and patiently stayed outside whilst accompanying her with the whistling winds.

Sylus’ meet up with the deepspace hunter was supposedly to be nothing more than just business. After the raid where Sylus had rescued —much like kidnapped— y/n, deepspace hunters were on a hunt for y/n and a particular deepspace hunter stumbled upon a lead on Sylus being the raid leader and without fear, she confronted him only to land a deal between the both of them. Sylus did weighed on the deal, whether was it worth his effort to involve someone from the government but he knew that her database would come in handy for him to continue conducting raids on the gangs that had any connections to the capturing of his lover. You see, there is one thing that still bothers the white haired man from the day he got her back. Now, with the deepspace hunters on the hunt for her, it only further proved his suspicion and he is planning to utilise the deepspace hunter’s database to get to what he is actually seeking for.

So far, is Sylus impressed? No, because he knew that he could easily do that with the amount of moles he has in this undercity but he needed something to give the deepspace hunter a sense of purpose, to trail for a sense of achievement before he gets what he needs from her and then he shall disappear within the bat of an eye. To Sylus, it just makes the chase more interesting, especially with a deepspace hunter right within his grasp. A mere deepspace hunter like her poses no threat to him afterall. “Still nothing?” His voice rumbled through his chest as he stepped onto bits of broken glass, to get to the entryway that leads to the basement. They are currently at an abandoned motel, in search of the supposed gang members. But Sylus is here for another reason. A reply came from below and he hastened his steps to make it to the bottom.

“I found a safe here, but there are only some sketches, and maybe some formulations or reports for something technological?” The deepspace hunter’s voice hesitated, standing up and showing him the papers that she had found. “Why would these be in a safe? It seemed to be something out of a nightmare.” Sylus took the papers from her hand and studied them. The creature sketched onto the papers with charcoal resembled somewhat of an uncanny human being. Messy, seemingly rushed handwritings were etched onto the side to form notes. ‘DANGEROUS, UNSTABLE AND UNCONTAINABLE’ were the words that he was able to make out while the rest of it are scribbled formulations for who knows what. The creature was drawn out roughly, with hollow dark eyes that bled with tar black substance, elongated and bony body proportions, alongside with a forced smile to make up its final look. The ends of Sylus’ lips twitched as he stared at the drawing. It seemed almost…familiar to him but he just could not quite catch what it resembled.

“Have you ever thought maybe because it is nightmarish hence they would keep it in a safe?” He retorted, a sigh leaving his lips when he realised that common sense may not be equipped within the brains of some deepspace hunters. He folded the papers and shoved them into the pockets of his leather jacket, the deepspace hunter however, held out her hand and beckoned her palm at him, wanting the papers to be within her grasp. “It is better for me to hold onto it as it may not impose any usage for you deepspace hunters.” Seeing her unyielding palm, he continued. “If I received news about this creature you will be the first to know so you may report it back to your HQ.” Her pupils lit up at his suggestion, a sign of agreement.

Stepping out of the abandoned motel, they headed towards their respective vehicles. As they were about to hitch onto their rides, shots were fired. “Duck! We are getting ambushed!” The deepspace hunter shouted and then they both ducked behind their motorbikes, trying to cover themselves from bullets and to sought out the shooters amidst the dark. “There, behind the trees!” Right when she said that, another bullet ricochet and then followed a searing sizzle. Sylus took the opportunity to jump onto his bike and he roared the engine to life, twisting the handle and throttling the bike towards the deepspace hunter.

The wheels screeched in rejection against the tar road and he angled the bike towards the road. The fizzling sound of the broken exhaust notes a ticking time bomb for the bike. Sylus fuelled the bike of his and it started lurching forward, propagating him towards the road. Along the way, he grabbed the deepspace hunter by the neckline of her leather jacket and he heaved her onto his bike with the strength of only an arm. The female squeaked in surprise but quickly reacted by grabbing hold of his bike’s seat and hoisted herself up onto the back seat. Securing her arms around his waist, they both faded into the covers of the darkness as the bike they left behind went off with a deafening explosion.

“Where are we going?!” The deepspace hunter called out from behind, the wind beating against her rubicund cheeks as he shifted the gears to turn a sharp corner. Home. That was all the man could think of. Leaving his lover behind in shreds, with tears depicting strokes of her loneliness, rolled up in bundles of borrowed warmth from satin sheets is not the last scene he would want to encounter upon departing onto a mission. He felt like he had somewhat betrayed her, perhaps even, made her felt unwanted. This man now reeks of self guilt, silently cursing at himself only within the confines of his own mind. There, he left the woman behind him in obsolete silence. Yet, the direction of his motorbike suggested another location he had in his mind.

Y/n's chest felt tight, an unbearable weight pressed against her small body as she struggled to break free from the grasp of an unknown force. A voice travelled through the void, calling out for her. "You're sinking in the mire of your own twisted fate." The voice panned onto her, and her restrained wrists started burning, making her wince in response. "Love was never an option for you, bereft suits you better." An amorphous outline formed, bulky and large, symbolising nary of a man but more of a beast. Two orbs formed at the top of the silhouette and y/n recognised those eyes anywhere, the bright crimson orbs are hard to miss. "If you do not remember, fate always reminds." And a jaw snapped opened, darting straight towards her and she screamed.

Snapping herself awake in bed, y/n could feel her heart slamming against the walls of her chest cavity, begging to be set free. Her wrists still scorched, a memory she had never really freed herself from that dank dungeon. Her tears pierced the back of her eyes, vision blurring in the progress. There were no signs of Sylus in the room and the deep maroon walls swallowed her plangent cries. She could hear the voice echoed in her mind, muttering imprecations repetitively to put her under a trance. Y/n grabbed the roots of her hair and started to tug brutally, aching to pull off her scalp if she was given the chance to.

Luke and Kieran dashed in, horrified at her actions and they both did not hesitate, for they knew if Sylus comes back to this, they are both as good as cadavers. "Y/n!" They both shouted in sync, jumping onto the bed to restrain her but it only agonised her, her body hunched forward and tears spilled onto her clothes. None of the twins knew of her nightmares, how Sylus would sometimes wake up to her crying in the middle of the night, how the word 'somnambulist' was not just another fancy nickname their boss picked up from the lexicon to address her in a teasing manner, and how sometimes she would showcase uncontrolled enmity towards herself in the covers of the night by holding herself at gunpoint. It was also at times Sylus thought that bringing her out of the dungeon may just be the worst decision he has ever made but that did not stop him from wanting to pursue her, to put on the veil of a saint not just to quench his ego for a hero complex, but to hold love for someone who he used to love. The man may have been hurled at life multiple times, reincarnated into different lives and different statuses in different times, but one thing he knew for sure, is that in this life, he met a gaze that he could never forget even if his memories were wiped. For she, held that gaze. The linger that made him see himself, the linger that reminded him of every lifetime, that there is that someone that gave him the warmth that he could never quite grasp, a feel that he has to seek for in every parallel life of his.

"We have to call boss!" Kieran exclaimed, his hand kept rubbing her back in hopes of soothing her as she wailed into her palms. None of the twins knew what to do and Kieran had decided that patting her back could be the best way. Luke careened out of the room hastily, in search of his phone. His hands trembled with every press of a button and he pressed the phone to his ear when the dial tone goes through. However, the call did not manage to get through and Luke stumbled back into the room, his footsteps the only sounds heard throughout the empty manor and it made him wondered if Kieran had done some sort of voodoo magic to calm her cries down. "Luke, no!" Kieran's voice echoed from the room and there goes a deafening blast, sending Luke flying through the air and landing onto the floor like a cordless puppet.

Sylus wasted no time in arriving at the location of a secret auction. One where he knows that he would be able to find the man whom would bear the fair description of non compos mentis, a mad scientist who owns adulations for his 'creations' that shall be witnessed at this auction tonight. The hunter beside him craned her neck upwards, her mouth moving, hushed whispers followed. "Is this where we can find that crazy guy you mentioned just now?" She had been forced to change into an exquisite attire and was given a last minute identity to fit the occasion.

"No more questions from now on." Sylus' brusqueness tied the hunter's lips and she could sense his irritation radiating off of him. He offered his arm to her and she wrap one of her arms around it as they approached the grand entrance of the manor. The manor is gigantic, spanning probably a few acres of land, with patterned bonzai tress and manicured bushes lining the front yard and two large golden statues signifying a nude man and woman guarding the main door. The manor seemed to be a casting location straight out of a cult movie. A footman stood at the entryway, a clipboard in hand.

"Hello, welcome to the Prescott Manor." The footman probably around in his twenties spoke, his voice a welcoming baritone. "May I get your names please as this is an invitation ONLY party."

"Sylus," He replied swiftly and his gaze followed the footman's, landing on the female counterpart next to him. "This is my partner for the night." The footman nodded and trailed his pen on the piece of paper on the clipboard, reading through names before stopping at the alphabetical S and he ticked a small check box next to it.

Smiling, he greeted the both of them and ushered them towards a row of safes located next to the coat room. "Welcome Mr. Sylus and Miss MC to the Prescott Manor. Before you head in, we would like you to kindly surrender your electronic devices and any sort of weapons into any of the locker of your choice here." Seeing the slightly raised eyebrow of Sylus', the footman swallowed and quickly followed up with an inept explanation. "This is a charitable night and we have children around. It is to ensure the utmost safety of all of the guests tonight."

Both Sylus and the hunter started shedding themselves of their electronic devices and weapons. The locker slowly piling up with all of their belongings. "Miss, that includes that claymore tucked in your thigh holster." One of the footman's eye gleamed an unusual cerulean, indicating he is equipped with X-Ray vision to conduct body scans. The hunter scoffed and grabbed the claymore out of her thigh holster and chucked it into the locker, the clang of metals made the footman grinned in satisfaction.

The huge doorway welcomes guests into the expansive hall, chandeliers crafted out of translucent protocores hung high above the ceiling, shimmering and refracting patterned lights across the polished marble floors. One may be in awe at this view but Sylus is too used to this, not to mention he himself is an owner of a manor himself. The hunter however, was in a state of shock, her throat tightened as she struggled to not vomit. Glass cabinets arranged all over the hall displayed preserved creatures, not human nor beasts alike. It closely resembled a sick combination of genes from humans and wanderers.

"I am going to excuse myself." Hand slapped against her mouth, the hunter scampered off to the nearest toilet available while Sylus just rubs his nose bridge and sighed in disappointment. He certainly did not expect a hunter to have a weak stomach given the nature of their work.

A shadow loomed beside him and he was quick to snap his neck over. "Fancy seeing you here." The man of the hour, Dr. Prescott stood next to Sylus, height on par with the Onychinus leader. His piercing grey eyes, hidden behind a pair of sleek glasses pranced with curiosity as he wondered why the leader of Onychinus would appear at this auction for illegal hybrids. "What brings the most feared individual in the N109 zone to my humble abode?" His voice, smooth and commanding makes one hard to discern his true intentions.

The enigmatic doctor has always been one to operate in the shadows, always conducting experiments that makes life and death a blurred maze. In the zone full of villainy, Dr. Prescott stands out not just for his freaky science experiments, but also for his twisted advocation for 'bio-weapons' that shall reform warfares in the future. And that, makes even the nefarious Sylus look like a novice. However, it is his perilious experiments that grants him the trademark, and makes him an easy target.

Sylus adjusted his cufflinks then finally meet the eyes of the man standing next to him. "I came here for answers." His eyes narrowed. "Answers that you would be able to provide." Dr. Prescott, bemused with the demand, tilted his head upwards and started weaving through the crowd. Sylus followed in suit, his senses are heightened when he started noticing the crowd had their glances set on him. "However, I'd like to say, it's very daunting of you to step into my territory with that deepspace hunter."

Part two here!

[seekingserenity333]

Astrology Observations - 2

Thanks for the big love and people who's given me input in the replies in my other posts! I'm an amateur so take what I say with a grain of salt and take what resonates!

1- Aquarius risings tend to have big foreheads, if not diamond shaped faces. They can alienate themselves during intense situations like an argument and may find it hard to take stuff seriously once they're out. This is not a bad thing as they can be an objective observant and make sound decisions

2- Gemini risings/dominated people usually have small noses and very youthful faces. Also tend to look very mischievous. They also usually learn a second language by themselves at a young age and grasp internet culture early on. There isn't much they already haven't heard of

3- Moon - Pluto hard aspects might make it harder for the native to accept their feminine side, they might feel ashamed of their own feminine qualities and also shame other people who have them. This can also manifest as intense relationship with mother, mother figures or women/feminine people in general. This isn't all bad as these experiences might transform the native to identify and accept their feminine qualities and have better relationship with women/feminine people.

4- Mars in the 1st house can manifest as having an athletic body and gaining muscle mass easily. Likely to have upturned, intense eyebrows. Their sex appeal is most likely off the charts but depending on other placements this can be bothersome as constantly being sexualized might take a toll on them

5- Speaking of being sexualized, Lilith in the 2nd can be a victim of that. They might get sexualized by people they had never thought of in random places

6- Neptune/Pisces dominants might look past a lot of red flags in people. They almost may create a persona for people around them and pretend that's the reality. Neptune blurs the boundaries and that might make the native give out too much of their energy to people around them while receiving much less back

7- You can't fool a Scorpio dominant easily. Their minds can subconsciously pick up many little details and present them as intuition, so once they have a gut feeling it's might be their subconscious telling them to catch up, which they do. Great for anything that requires research and problem solving. This can be a curse in disguise as trying to automatically predict the future or knowing secrets can be very overwhelming

8- Leo dominants usually thrive on attention that is constant. Their playful personalities tend to allow them to achieve just that. People will feel wanted and seen by them and keep giving them their attention. If they don't receive it they may see this as energy wasted and feel unwanted easily after

9- Venus dominated/Taurus sun/rising people might have very melaninated lips, it can look like they're wearing a subtle lipstick.

[harrysfolklore]

Imagine max x driver!reader with the whole fia and swearing situation they’d be such a power couple. Manifesting more max fics!! I love all your work esp little bitch and honorary wag💓

okay this is teeeny tiny piece but i just had tooo. max is too iconic

You're sitting beside Max, your boyfriend and teammate, in the press conference room after the qualifying session in Singapore. The air feels thick with humidity and tension, though most of the tension is radiating off Max.

His latest penalty from the FIA—a fine and community service for swearing —has him fuming. He made it very clear on the way in that he wasn’t going to play nice. Today was going to be a day of vague, shady responses, and you were more than happy to back him up.

The moderator starts with the usual question for Max about how he felt securing P2.

“It was fine,” Max replies, voice completely flat. No elaboration, no typical analysis. Just that.

The reporter stares at him, clearly expecting more, but Max leans back in his chair, eyes narrowing slightly as if daring anyone to push him further.

To your right, Lando is barely holding it together, his mouth twitching as he watches the whole scene unfold. You catch his eye and he shoots you a look like, Is this real?

The next question is directed at you. Something predictable about how you’re feeling being P3, your thoughts on tomorrow’s race strategy.

“Well,” you start, raising an eyebrow, “I guess the plan is… to go fast and not crash.”

There’s an awkward silence in the room, the journalist blinking at you as if he didn’t hear you correctly. Lando makes a noise that’s somewhere between a laugh and a cough, struggling to contain himself as you sit there, completely straight-faced.

“And the tire strategy?” the moderator presses, trying to steer things back into something vaguely professional.

“Use them until they wear out, I suppose.” You lean back in your chair, mimicking Max’s posture, crossing your legs casually as if you’ve just given a perfectly reasonable answer. Max looks at you with a cocky and proud smile, you discretely wink at him.

"Max, can you elaborate on your car's performance today?" another reporter tries.

Max tilts his head, considering for a moment. "It went forward when I pushed the pedal, and stopped when I hit the brakes. Very efficient, really."

You can't help but smirk at his response, and you notice Lando has given up on maintaining composure, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

The moderator, looking increasingly uncomfortable, turns to you again. "YN, how do you feel about potentially challenging your teammate for position tomorrow?"

You lean forward, adopting a serious expression. "Well, I've been told it's important to keep things clean on track. Wouldn't want to use any… inappropriate maneuvers."

"Absolutely. We're all about clean racing now. Very family-friendly." Max adds

The reporters exchange glances, clearly unsure how to handle this united front of sarcasm and vague responses. Lando, meanwhile, has resorted to covering his face with his hands, his shoulders visibly shaking with suppressed laughter.

As the press conference draws to a close, you and Max stand up together, your body language mirroring each other's. Before leaving, you turn to the room with a final statement:

"Just want to thank everyone for their thoughtful questions today. This has been a very enlightening experience. Almost as enlightening as some recent FIA decisions."

As you exit the room, hand in hand with Max, you can hear the burst of chatter from the journalists behind you, no doubt trying to decipher the subtext of your responses. Lando catches up with you in the hallway, finally letting out the laugh he's been holding in.

"You two are unbelievable," he wheezes, wiping tears from his eyes. "I thought I was going to lose it in there!"

Max grins, his earlier tension now replaced with a sense of satisfaction. "Well, we aim to entertain," he says, giving your hand a squeeze.