#mayor eclipse has powers too

[sourtomatola]

I had to do another cosmic Chaos Comic ^^ (first one I did here)

Thank you @enigmaticcattic for letting me play with your AU, it helped me get through this week ^^

(superhero AU here)

[quitealotofsodapop]

So in Post Jttw... what if it was Macaque who got possessed by LBD? The consequences of Macaque's actions, so to speak, being that when the Samhadi Fire goes wrong (as it's bound to with the Mayor), Macaque tries one last desperate ploy to protect bis family by doing the exact same thing Wukong had done in canon. I also imagine Wukong might not have known about Mei's Ring of Samhadi because, well, presumably, the entirety of heaven knew of his condition when the ritual took place... so instead of Wukong being there, Macaque had taken his place because no way in hell was Nez Ha letting his pregnant brother (altho he wouldn't have admitted it at such a time) near such a dangerous ritual. Macaque was the one who slipped up, he was distracted by the distant sound of Wukong collapsing from the strain of his egg, the Egg was reacting to the primordial energy even far enough away to be out of range!

And Wukong still ends up having to fight Macaque, because if Macaque is Wukong's equal on battle than no way could Nez Ha fight against him and win and Wikong would be the only one capable of fighting Macaque. He only pauses long enough to return to FFM for his armor, not wanting to risk the baby. Luckily, he isn't heavily pregnant, but it's still noticeable enough and late enough that some caution is necessary. Nobody likes this at all, but MK gets his stubbornness from somewhere, and it certainly isn't his dad.

Ohohohoho!

Flip the script!

Macaque feeling like he's failed Wukong and his cubs so much that he ends up being the one to try and confront LBD directly when Mei's Ring of Samadhi is activated.

Macaque could not protect Ao Lie all those centuries ago because he was distracted by his mate's pained cries - the Egg sensing a terrible power, still tried to absorb it despite being some distance away. Part of this "screw-up" is why Macaque feels that he needs to disappear and find a way to destroy LBD for good; he feels that Wukong is safer when Macaque isn't there to "ruin" things.

And of course Macaque refuses to harm the little girl LBD has hostage as her host.

The Lady Bone Demon takes her champion.

Nezha and the Eclipse Twins end up being the ones to capture and interrogate the Mayor. The Mayor gets a solid punch to the face from MK himself, too frustrated and angry to hold himself back. The thrall laughs manically as the heroes call up the Underworld to collect him.

Wukong and Macaque are forced to fight each other head-on for the first time in centuries. A terrifying reminder of how they fought before Macaque realised that his mate was carrying an Egg.

Wukong manages to break Macaque's possession with one simple action - placing his mate's hand on his stomach. The six ears of the shadow monkey twitching as it focuses on heartbeats within. Almost how it happened back during the Journey.

The blue glow in Macaque's eyes quickly fade, his face blooming into a smile that falls into a guilt frown - how could he have hurt his mate this way?! After all he did to protect him and their cubs! The married monkeys hug and smooch as they make up entirely.

The Lady Bone Demon is left confused and de-powered enough for the rest of the family/troupe to get the drop on her.

[icy-watch]

Good lord, Icy. What have you been drinking and where can I get some?? I mean, when you start analyzing the wood?? Hello??? And you mention the Underworld??? 😭 Okay those meanings are kind of insane, maybe hold onto them. Interpretive freedom and all. Is it too late to convince you this has nothing to do with Wukong (as if all of LMK hasn't already had to do with him) and is just a reference to the opening theme lyrics Familiar Tales, New Adventures? XD I referenced it before because I knew it was sneaky enough heh. Last episode, Mac dragged in the Not-Mayor like your street cat bringing dead things into the house, this episode he is the house cat caught 10 seconds before disaster tied up in a ball of yarn. Kidding kidding, but true as well. Remember the "tied up in his own shadows and chains?" Yeah, weird. So apparently (and keep in mind, sometimes flashbacks can be biased!) that bit really did happen and Wukong was there to see it. It's not just everyone they've fought against, it seems to be...a memory almost, wouldn't you say, Icy? Macaque tied up like that, the tear/blood drop I promised you? The especially evident "Monkey, no violence!" you hear after? Tripitaka and the fillet??? Also Wukong's face when seeing his friend <3 <3 <3 and his instinctive yell when hearing Tripitaka OOOH 👀 omg. I'm all over that. Does it still bother him? I mean with how often the headband dug into his head, how much it hurt, oh he's got lasting issues. Rip </3 your turn to get trauma triggered. Oh yeah, also the translation. Mac here says, "You're nothing!" Like, I think I said it reflected what he told MK in The Winning Side. As a theory for what he told Wukong. "Your staff's gone, your power and freedom's gone. You're not the Monkey King, you're nothing!" if he found him with the pilgrims. But his line and Nezha's are taken from previous episodes, so are they meant to be parallels of the further/not recent past or, just chosen from there? We're pretty split on how Mac reacted tbh, and the Chinese dub has him say "You abandoned me!" which changes the meaning entirely. And falls in line with Shadow Play. The new characters' lines are pretty solidly from the past so eh. Maybe both. I talk a lot about the monkeys (and I'll probably refer to them as shadowpeach for convenience's sake when speaking of their scenes together despite it being a ship name, their duo name is eclipse/sundial duo but we're all just too used to the former.) anyways, this is meant to say that this season, for the sake of a certain someone in your note's favorite antagonist, I will be rewatching s4 to sort them out :P I think its worth the effort, what with fandom repeatedly being extra weird with your fav, I get it, so may as well explain what the heck might be going on.

Little teenage Icy went thru a witch phase to try and curse people. I learned about different woods and stuff. My tarot knowledge came out of this time in my life too.

Miiiiiiight be a little too late lol.

Oh, that's interesting. Memories. Hmmmm...

[doofnoof]

Warning for Sleuth Jesters Spoilers!!! Too chicken to put this in Naff's asks but by god I'm gonna rant on my own damn blog, just wanted to give Naff kudos for making a fic that absolutely refuses to un-stick from my brain

I'm especially fond of the themes of freedom and imprisonment, and how there's more to it than just physically being imprisoned, there's a mental and emotional aspect to it too!

Especially since Eclipse took Y/N's freedom mentally (they couldn't figure out how to beat him nor could they escape thoughts of him while they ran,) emotionally (can't play their games with Sun and Moon anymore because Eclipse made them feel as if they had to hide their past from the boys in order to keep them; a past that had imprisoned them, that they'd burnt to the ground to escape from) and physically, by keeping them in a room, destroying their sense of time, and eventually burning their safehouses to a crisp. Y/N was even imprisoned in their own skin, because of how Eclipse had dressed them and marked them with bruises top to bottom, making Y/N sore and uncomfortable whenever they'd move.

Y/N became The Vigilante because of their desire to free people who are imprisoned by poverty and greed (mostly because of the Crime Families paying off the people meant to protect the normal folks, like the Police or the Mayor) because they were in a similar situation when the Afton Family got a hold of them; they were a homeless, starving child scooped off of the streets and delievered right into Afton's hands by hospital staff and a police officer for a stack of cash, both of which having promised to keep Y/N safe. Eclipse wants to imprison those same people (impoverished and those in power alike) with debts and favors so he would retain his own freedom, one Hard Fought For since robots had only recently been given rights.

My favorite thing about Y/N is that even when faced with their own death, backed into a wall, they'd still throw themselves whole-heartedly at the harder-to-escape, more grim option than sacrifice the life of someone they swore they'd protect (unlike the hospital staff. Kinda explains why they hate the idea of going to the hospital so much while they were bleeding out in Moon's tub too.) They would put up with killing an animal, or someone that was already gunning for their life, but once they realized that Gregory was a human child they chose the option they assumed they could never go back from; they decided to save him even though it meant Eclipse was going to destroy the freedom they'd fought for.

Eclipse also tried to control Sun and Moon, by paying for their schooling to get into into the Detective Agency, and then a second time by trying to control Y/N (who Sun and Moon were clearly heads-over-heels for.) I imagine he figured he'd have more control over Sun and Moon if he kept Y/N under his wing, imperiled, but his major character flaw is his arrogance, in assuming that Y/N could be controlled, and his assumption that Sun and Moon had rejected him on a whim and wouldn't have been ready (and downright thrilled!) to take him back if he gave up on the violence and cruelty. He assumed Y/N was just like him and only needed a push to become the Dog they were during their Afton days again, and his wrongful assumption cost him his life.

Probably not making much sense here but I love how everyone has a specific theme.

Sun and Moon's seem to be Forgiveness (they forgive an awful lot, and they feel guilty that they didn't take care of Eclipse sooner because they'd hoped he'd change his ways, at which point he'd be Forgiven, how Y/N is afraid of losing them because they'd done something they perceived as Unforgivable in the past, Moon forgives Sun for lying to him about where the Celestial Wire came from, how they seemed to expect Freddy to forgive Y/N for what they'd done in the past because they'd saved Gregory in the present, etc.), Eclipse seems to be driven by an arrogant need for Control (so he wouldn't be alone, so that Y/N could never leave him the way Sun and Moon had) and Y/N's theme is Freedom (their whole Thing™ is that they're impossible to catch, Eclipse couldn't control them, and they killed the one person who ever did find a way to keep them in check.) It's an incredibly well done fanfic and I can't wait to re-read it and see if I can pick up any more little tidbits I hadn't noticed before.

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 141

Hello, Mage of Light Nick Card here. I have seen the light atop the mountain. Let me share it.

Too Mnay Bnuuy

On Easter Sunday, a great deal of buneary arrived in Unity Village. For most of the day, they were mostly just a curiosity, but once night fell, a veritable stampede eclipsed the village under their fluff. Needless to say, those who stayed inside stayed safe from the relentless flurry. Netnavi Enker, using their copybot, managed to get bowled over in the crossfire, losing their head in the process. The head is still missing, but at least its not as serious of an issue as it appears to be. Witch of Heart Cyrus managed to capture a buneary and is now caring for it as a pet. They named the buneary Ticket. After roughly an hour, the buneary dispersed and ran off to various places. Some were spotted in Gene's Garden, and some were reportedly dumped out from charcherry hangar by an anonymous temporic. Apparently there is one buneary that is still located in Gene's Garden, which the bar mice have tentatively adopted, if only because removal has become so difficult. Buneary are known to be very mistrusting of new trainers, codified in the games as having a supremely low default friendship rating. As with most rabbits, it is highly advised that you become aware of the commitment needed if you plan to adopt one. And please, do not gift one to anyone for this spring season.

Aura Master Tempus has been returned to the Aurelia dimension, after an extended stay on Mt. Phoenix. Reportedly, Heir of Time Thoren and Page of Mind Samm spent the night at Tempus's moon garden before returning home the next day. Tempus has been given a device that will allow them to still contact our group here while outside of paradox space.

Quest for the Legends (and Aspects)

Pokemon Trainer Nate appeared in Unity Village the other day, knees down covered in ice. Your dear newsletter writer defrosted their legs with Sunburst the Larvesta, who simply used passive heat for safest results. Reportedly, there was an incident involving Rogue of Heart Charles and Legendary Pokemon Kyurem that led to this. Gym Leader Jovin carried Nate to the pokemon center to be healed by Sylph of Life Nurse Eden. The next day, a team of dungeon crashers were sent to the location of pink kyurem, who had flown off to the paradoxically new ruins located at magnetic north. The initial team that took this trip included Netnavi Enker, using a backup copybot that actually has an intact head, Bounty hunter Samus Kitten, her wife Witch of Time Katyleen Kitten, Unity Mayor Brae Emit, Prince of Time and mayor's assistant Aeons Edgeworth. Upon arriving, they were challenged to a battle by pink Kyurem, who erected an energy shield of some sorts. The team struck the energy shield until they finally broke it, allowing Samus to split Kyurem from Charles using a DNA Splicer. After the battle, it was discovered that the location had a series of circles that lit up when stood upon by certain Powers that fulfilled certain requirements. There is reportedly a circle for every major type, which responds to Legendary Pokemon of a certain power level, only if defeated in fair combat. There are also 12 aspect circles, which appear to respond to two assumed conditions: - High association with a given aspect - Has made a successful visit to a corresponding aspected wonder of the world

A number of players and legendaries were summoned here to try and light up some circles, though there was a noted sense of frustration from some, due to the cryptic nature of the aspect circle requirements. After this, all involved returned home, incidental artifacts confiscated for safety.

413 things in one day

On April 13th, Heir of Breath June Egbert and Maid of Life Jane Crocker celebrated their birthdays. The iterations currently visiting are at different ages than they would be if they were entirely synced to our timeflow. Reportedly their shared birthday did not have much fanfare, due to the date being charged with enough importance to make multiple significant events occur on that day. They did however both get a blueberry pie each.

It was on this date that None Pizza With Left Beef Chapter 2 was released in full, adding part 2 to the already released part 1 of that game. As of writing, it has been downloaded six times in total, and has been bugfixed after a series of reports from a particular player. I also took the liberty to blaze the tumblr post with the link to the game, though only got thirteen notes in total, possibly because only the lowest tier was used. More than likely it was due to it being presented without context, while being the back-half of the sequel to a game that relies upon homestuck post-canon to make sense.

At the end of the day, Thoren Emit and their wife Lord of Rage Raine Emit celebrated their wedding anniversary in private, taking off to a location only known as "Cheese World". Reportedly they will be there for a week before returning.

An Illuminating Visit

The next day, your dear newsletter writer, having been told about the Kyurem Charles battle and the circles of the Powers, decided to trek to the top of Enlightenment Mountain, to attempt to obtain the blessing of the light aspect, to hopefully fulfill the requirements needed to light the Light circle. Joining me on this journey was Page of Rage and Gym Leader Jovin. We took the transportalizer link from charcherry hangar to make the trip much faster. After a rather smooth hike, and an encounter with a solrock that was bypassed with a basic polite request, we arrived at the summit. To make sure it would be safe, Jovin volunteered to sit in the Light Spot first. He received a number of visions of importance. the following were reported by Jovin: - A denizen with accompaniment issuing a challenge - A village to the south with a different gym leader - A warm city in a possibly volcanically active location, with both bears and temporics present

After confirming the safety of the spot, I was given a turn to sit upon the Light Spot. It was... intense. It felt as if a great massive amount of important knowledge was right there in front of me. It was a lot to handle, but somehow I was able to focus enough to figure some things out. The following visions were experienced personally: - A certain heir of time giving a speech on an open air stage in a desert town, possibly on korous - A deep sea pokemon in a dark cave - A number of children listening to a book reading at the local Unity Library - an egg in shallow water, discovered by two recognizable figures, only to be stolen by two robed figures that match the descriptions of two voidco agents

After this, me and Jovin descended back to the transportalizer pad and went back home. I assume these visions will become important eventually, though not all of them have the needed context to know why they're important.

And that's all for now. I think Aeons had an important existential moment at some point they wanted to mention, but it didn't quite fit in there. They plan on working on some mapping stuff, and possibly even a pokemon game if they have the time to do so. Meanwhile, I have a flash movie that may have more importance than I thought... https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/371/charcherry-weekly-issue-141

[naffeclipse]

I suddenly has this idea about Eclipse USING the fact that Y/N ran off with his kill. (Gregory)

Twisting it. making THEM look like the bad guy. The kidnapper. Maybe even saying HE asked them to take the kid.

Just to get that power and control back... And to manipulate others into giving him stuff he wants. Sounds like the Mayor might listen to him now.

Of course he doesn't have to hurt anyone... Just hand over the keys to the city.

If the police also go nuts hunting down "crazed kidnapper" Y/N down for him. That's good too.

"Detective Sun and Moon said Y/N is working with them?... heheh... What do you think I TOLD them to say."

Ah ha, so, about that...

Eclipse has something to tell the Mayor, and it's not good news

[karama9]

Sabrina the Teenage Corrupt Police System

This is not about the witch, it's about the character in Miraculous Ladybug, Sabrina Raincomprix.

I just sort of realized something about her. Thomas Astruc is being downright savage to rich apologists, abuser apologists, and the police system, and he did it in a way he knew would not immediately spark controversy while still instilling the message that this type of behaviour is not healthy or reasonable.

I'm not saying Sabrina will not eventually free herself from Chloe in a more durable way that she did in season 1. The following is just about where she is right now, a few episodes into season 4. I don't know whether she'll evolve in any significant way or not - the writers may decide to go that way or not, I don't think it's part of the main plot so I figure it's a toss of the dice whether they want and have time to give her an actual arc or just keep her as the symbol she currently is.

And what she is right now is a symbol of the subservience of cops and by extension the legal system to The Rich, and furthermore, of everyone who excuses money hoarding, general selfishness, self importance and abuse of others from the rich, just because they are supposedly "important" or because every now and then, they show a glimmer of being nice to them.

The show didn't show Roger Raincomprix doing the mayor's bidding. Just the opposite in Rogercop, because well, in a kid's show, you wouldn't get away with the only cop you bother naming and giving a talking part to being so obviously corrupt. He's not shown as being particularly great or nothing, but he's not really shown as being corrupt as such either.

However. Things get interesting with Sabrina.

I always felt the idea that she'd want to be dedicated to something came from her Dad. He's dedicated to law and order, he raised her to devote herself to something.

But it finally dawned on me I was being way too general. Sabrina is not dedicated to any grand principle or moral value, she is devoted to the point of servility to one single person, Chloe. And her Dad downright encourages it.

They can't show the actual cop bending the knee to the bourgeoisie, so they show evidence that he's raising his daughter to think that serving a rich person is normal, healthy and even noble. The person who represents law is raising his daughter to be a willing servant to the richest person she can find who'll have her.

That's already a bold statement, and it goes further. Sabrina is repeatedly shown being abused by Chloe and being unhappy about it. She looks sad or upset fairly often. She is stressed by the requirements and demands. She's not shown having any interests or pursuit of her own except once in the New York special and when she revolted against Chloe due to Marinette's attempt at getting her to stand up for herself.

Her idea of society is so messed up that she has no idea how to adapt her behaviour to being friends with Marinette. She simultaneously tries to serve Marinette like she did Chloe, but also, possibly because she sees Marinette as a social equal rather than a 'superior class', she gets super demanding of Marinette's time, and unforgiving. She tolerated Chloe being straight up abusive and by the end of the episode goes back to her, but from her non rich peer? Nothing is tolerated. The slightest hint of having some of the same flaws as Chloe is unforgiveable, even if it's not ultimately the flaws that were Chloe's worst faults. Some of that is that Sabrina doesn't take to being alone well, but of course she doesn't: she spent who knows how long defining herself as strictly Chloe's 'friend'.

And she accepts all that. Two small escapes, one when Chloe was asleep and therefore not in need of her and one very short lived one where mostly, it turned out buying her back was incredibly easy for Chloe. Otherwise, nothing but servility and devotion because she doesn't see the bad things Chloe does as bad, she sees them as things Chloe is entitled to do because of who she is. Every small kindness is proof that Chloe is a great friend, every order, demand and meanness is fine. The proportion of one to the other is irrelevant: in Sabrina's mind, Chloe doesn't have to be kind at all so when she is, it's proof positive that she's wonderful. When she isn't, even if that's most of the time, well, it's her right.

And that's how people excuse billionaires for the billions they hoard and hail them when they donate a fraction of their fortune, even if they're still left with WAY more money than they or their children, or grandchildren, or great grand children, can EVER spend. "They don't have to give ANY of it", so basically, they get to stay insanely rich while a lot of people can't afford to both eat and have shelter, and they get to buy approval, love, and assurance against a revolt.

Abuser can get excused by their victims in much the same way. Redemption through small acts of kindness lets them get away with... anything.

And it's not like Sabrina is alone in this attitude. Some Chloe fans are downright furious that Chloe didn't get a redemption arc (yet anyway, I have no idea whether she'll start improving later) because the small good things she did completely eclipses all the horrible stuff she does in their mind, or at least utterly outweighs it.

So yeah, savage on both the rich and those who enable them, excuse them, and choose to serve them, especially when they're supposed to be serving the public instead. And a powerful example of how it's not a good thing to allow others to use and abuse you, regardless of who they are.

[thedarklingxalina]

A Darklina fic I'm playing about with but not committing to yet. This would be the first chapter. I need to finish Dark Guardian first but this idea wouldn't leave me alone.

Eclipse

Summary: Alina is an investigative journalist, investigating the death of her childhood friend, Mal.

Alina is reunited with her other childhood friend, Aleksander - known to the world as Kirigan, a famous actor and grisha rights activist. All too quickly though, Alina begins to discover Aleksander is hiding a dark secret.

Modern Grisha AU. Everyone has their powers. Mentions of suicide. Mild torture.

Saints, give me strength. 

Alina stared at the rusty mesh gates through the rain speckled windscreen. A barrage of warning signs prohibiting entrance were pinned across the fencing. Keep out. Danger. Risk to life. On one fence was a display of withered flowers entwined around the metal, with hand-made laminated pleads to stay away, to remember that someone out there loves you. 

It was a somber sight. Careful reminders of the danger that lurked behind that run-down gate, past the abandoned warehouses, looming at the end of decrepit wooden bridges. Even from here Alina could see the mass of swirling shadows, an endless stretch of darkness that tore Ravka in two.

And here she was armed with wire cutters, ready to break in. Foolish, reckless, stupid. Exactly what she had been told not to do. 

This is for Mal, she reminded herself.  

Alina took in a deep breath and left the warmth and safety of her car. She put on her medical face mask, slipped on a pair of disposable gloves and tucked her camera inside her satchel. 

She didn't plan on staying here long, but seeing as research into the side effects of prolonged exposure to the Fold was ongoing, she decided to err on the side of caution. 

Gravel crunched under her boots as she approached the fence, making her way to a part hidden by the treeline. There she cut a reasonable size hole for herself to squeeze through. 

So far, getting into the site was easy. Too easy really, considering the dangers of this place.

Abandoned heavy equipment littered the rubble ridden grounds. Metallic, battle-worn Skiffs (centuries ago once manned by Squallers before new technological advancements replaced them) laid in ruins around the site; rust-encrusted, dented and torn up. The warehouses were dilapidated, weathered down and overgrown with weeds. 

And that wasn't even mentioning the bridges that crossed the ten foot moat, giving unhindered access to the Unsea and the monsters within. 

This place was a death trap. 

"Why in the Saints name did you come back here, Mal?" Alina asked. 

He had loathed this place. Everyone in Os Atla had. There had been vocal opposition from the public for decades, demanding the site be shut down. The residents of the city uncomfortable with an access point to the Fold being right on their doorstep. 

This skiffyard's infamous reputation for being the most dangerous, certainly hadn't endeared it to people, no matter the flow of trade it provided. It had the highest fatality and injury rate of an skiffyard. Budget cuts producing poorly made Skiffs that broke down frequently and were east pickings for Volcra. Breaching person capacity on each trip to increase profit. Bribing of safety inspectors. Understaffed. Overworking their employees to exhaustion. 

The place had been a nightmare. The stories Mal had told Alina about it over the years still made her recoil. 

The final nail in the coffin for Skiffyard 13 had been when three urban explorers had snuck into the docks, using it to bypass the the forest and ten foot moat separating the Fold from the city - deterrents erected over a century prior, to keep the public safe. The three individuals, the youngest only fourteen years old, had never came out again. 

The dock had been shut down. Workers like Mal had been relocated to other docks outside the city.

Yet despite this, the site had never been dismantled. It was too expensive, was the frequent excuse. The go to excuse for all failures in protecting the general public from the dangers of the Unsea. 

Now, it was the easiest access point to the Fold. No workers to sneak past, no checkpoints, and no maintenance to the gates and various deterrents. There wasn't even video surveillance or electrical fencing, as electronics were unreliable this close the Fold. And much to the people of Os Atla's grief, no armed patrols or guards dogs to keep trespassers like her out.  

Oh, the mayor promised they would upgrade the security on access points to the Fold regularly. But those promises seemed to be forgotten after the elections had passed. Funny that. 

As Alina scanned the deserted skiffyard, the Fold a short walk away, she realized the bitter irony of it all.

It didn't take long for Alina to find the place she was looking. Dock Six. The last place Mal had last been seen alive. 

Alina took a shuddering breath, her grip on her satchel tightening. she closed her eyes, feeling the sting of tears at her eyes.

Another life lost to the Fold, the news reporter had said. A tragic suicide, the police had decided, he left a farewell note on the dock.

A farewell note that doesn't mention me? His childhood best friend. That doesn't mention his girlfriend Lucy who he had planned to propose to on her birthday? 

But Alina's protests had fallen on deaf ears. She was nothing but a grieving girl in denial to them. Even Lucy had tried to discourage her, wanting her to accept-

No. Alina wouldn't hear it. Mal didn't take his own life. He hadn't. He wouldn't. Alina had spoken to him days before. There had been something he had wanted to tell her, something he hadn't felt safe discussing over phone or email. A story, he had said, that people need to know. Then that phone call the night he vanished. That desperate, breathless voice pleading with her through a breaking line. 

Alina... don't... Atla... away- 

Mal? Mal, is that you? I can't hear you, the line is terrible. Where are you? 

Distant shouting, five loud bangs, more static.

Mal? Mal!

Stay away... sorry... sorry...

Something had happened to Mal that night. Something awful that the police were refusing to look into. Alina was sure of it. And come hell or high water, she was going to find out what. She owed it to Mal, to Lucy, to herself. 

Alina scouted the area, alighting her hand with a soft glow to light her way.

It took a while, but the Saints finally took pity on her and Alina found something. Something that she suspected to be the source of the bangs in that final phone call. Gouged into a floorboard of the dock, into a post, and a concrete wall. 

Bullet holes.

They weren't old. The moss overgrowing the post and floorboards having been blasted off with the impact, yet to have grown back. 

Alina snapped some photos. 

After an hour prowling around each bullet hole site, sometimes on hands and knees, getting caked in dust and mud, Alina was ready to give up when an idea sprung to mind. She summoned her light, shining it across the ground until something silver glinted back. 

A bullet, hidden among the overgrown weeds. Alina took more photos before putting the bullet in a labeled ziplock bag. 

Suicide in deed, Alina mused bitterly. Had the police even bothered to check the scene? 

"I'll find out what happened to you, Mal. I swear it."

Alina rose to her feet, dusting her trousers.

Mal had come here for a reason, and whatever it was, someone had killed him for it. But what could be here that was worth killing over? 

There was only one warehouse stable enough to enter. Warehouse three. Alina didn't bother to pick the lock, just melted it off its hinges then crept in. 

The warehouse was massive and surprisingly well maintained. Everything was clean. There was no debris. Creates and boxes were stacked high and neatly.

Alina frowned, extinguishing her light in favor of using a battery powered torch.

If there were people here, she didn't need them knowing she was Grisha. That element of surprise could be the difference that mattered. Besides, there were too many out there that despised her kind; having people know you were Grisha was like walking around with a bullseye on your back. 

Alina crept behind a row of shelves, occasionally taking photos. She stopped at an easy to reach pile of boxes and pulled back the lids. 

Oxygen canisters, boxes of personal protective equipment, bullets (but not the same as the one that she found outside; these were longer and bigger, meant for something... larger.) 

This is all essential items for crossings, Alina realised. And it's all new. 

Someone had to making illegal crossings across the Fold, using these docks as their access point. 

Alina closed the lid, a dreadful unease settling over her. 

What are they taking across the Fold that requires all the secrecy? 

Maybe the answer was in another crate. Alina moved to open another- 

A sharp tug on her heart stilled her, making her choke for air. Alina fell to her knees, the energy in her body bleeding from her.

As darkness consumed her, one though flickered through her mind. 

Saints above, she hated Heartrenders.

☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑

Alina was no stranger to danger. Her investigative journalism had gotten her into many a difficult situation. But nothing ever quite this bad. 

When Alina had awoken, it was to find herself tied to a chair, her hands separated and bound to a steel bar (rendering her powers useless). She was blind folded; inconvenient and certainly unnerving, but it gave her some hope. Whoever had assaulted her, cared if she saw their faces. If they were going to kill her a blindfold wasn't necessary.

"Who are you?" A man asked. Middle aged by the deep roughness. Ravkan by the accent. A grumpy git, by the tone. 

Not the person you're looking for, Alina wants to snark, but thinks better of it. They might not be fans of Star Wars references and honestly, she is too exhausted to try and be smart. Besides, snarky quips and teasing here would only charm her way into a pair of cement boots and a dip in the river. Or the Unsea. 

Alina tried not to shiver. 

"I said who are you?" Grumpy demands. 

"Alina Starkov. Investigative Journalist for the Ketterdam Express News."

There's no point lying. They probably already know who she is with a quick internet search. Lying will only make them mad. 

"What's a small-time news journalist doing in Os Atla?"

Alina twitches at his comment. 

This time the man who speaks is younger. He has a scratchy voice and bratty attitude that made Alina want to kick him in the shin. 

"I'm looking for a friend of mine. Nothing more. He went missing three months ago and was last spotted working at the docks you snatched me from." 

Wouldn't happen to have seen him, would you? Put a bullet through his head perhaps? 

"Name?" Grumpy asks.

"Mal Oretsev."

"Never heard of him. Seems you've wasted your time, Nancy Drew," Bratty said. 

I doubt that, Alina mused bitterly. She had clearly stumbled onto something if they were willing to kidnap and interrogate her. 

"That's a shame," Alina said with exaggerated glumness. "Well, if you could just untie me I can head off. Wouldn't want to keep you guys later than need be."

Grumpy snorted. Bratty let out a nasty chuckle (Alina would wager a week on gossip column duty, that Bratty had a very punchable face).

"We can't have snoopy reporters buzzing around here," Bratty says.

Don't panic, Alina tells herself. Don't-

Alina hears the rustle of fabric, then the dreaded sound of a gun's safety clicking off. 

-starting to panic.

"And you think a dead one will prevent that?" Alina swallowed down the hysteria threatening to overwhelm her, but there was still a frantic edge to her voice. "There are people who know where I am and know to call the police if I don't make it back soon. Within an hour this place will be swarming!" 

"She's bluffing." 

"You think I'm stupid enough not to have a back up plan in case something like this happened?" 

If she said it strongly enough, maybe even she would believe it. Because really, a smart journalist would have done that. 

"You were stupid enough to get caught."

Prick.

"You have a heartrender, that's cheat-" 

Someone slapped her, Bratty she would bet. Alina cries out as pain flares hot on her cheek.

That'll leave a bruise, Alina muses bitterly.

"That's enough," Grumpy snapped, his footsteps loud as he got closer. "Tell us, what information do you have on Project Likhoradka?"

Alina frowned. The name rung a bell, but it was too distant to make out. Likhoradka... why would they think she had any information on it? Was it because she had mentioned Mal? Did it have something to do with the illegal Fold crossings? 

"I don't know anything about-" 

Someone slapped her again, worse than before. Where his hand had connected, her skin burned and ached.

Bastard, bastard, bastard, Alina thinks, gritting her teeth.

"I don't know anything! One of you is a heartrender, you know I'm telling the truth!" Alina snarled. 

Alina strained against the bonds on her wrist, tied behind her back. If only she could melt through them. She could distract them with a flash of blinding light, turn invisible, then flee into the night. Had they known she was Grisha and that was why they bound her this way? Or was it just a precaution?

A phone buzzed, cutting the interrogation short. A moment later, Grumpy spoke again. "The boss is here."

Alina heard the whirling grate of the warehouses large doors lifting. A brief wind tickled her face. Then a new set of footsteps, slow and precise, made their way closer. 

Damn it. How many of them where their now? Three inside, but could more be waiting outside? More heartrenders or maybe other Grisha? Infernis, Squallers, more heartrenders?

Alina swallowed hard, sniffing back the tears welling behind her eyes. Hope of making it out of this alive was dimming like a setting sun. 

"And what is this?" A voice asked. He had a pleasing voice; gentle, smooth, young, yet firm. The boss, she'd guess. Boss of what though?

"Nosey reporter from Kansas-"

"Ketterdam, I'm not Dorothy," Alina muttered. But Bratty would certainly make a perfect Scarescrow; no brains and all.

Bratty smacked her again; this time across the head, more chiding than malicious. Speak when spoken to, the message was clear. 

"Does she know anything?" The leader asked. 

"Don't know yet. But she said she's friends with Oretsev." So much for not knowing him. "We figure she has to know something about-"

Bratty stops talking. Footsteps come closer and Alina holds her breath as someone takes a delicate hold of her chin. She gets the impression they are studying her features intently. Long fingers brush aside the hair from her face, lightly tracing the scar on her forehead. 

A scar she had gotten when she was a child, when a group of bullies found out she was different from them. Witch, demon, freak... stones flying through the air... frightened shrieks and tears... and a little boy with onyx eyes, arms out stretched, shielding her from it all... 

The man inhales sharply. 

The heartrender knocked her out again. 

[kaaramel]

As a request, can you please explain the history of Town, or at least Fortitude?. I'm afraid that I might not be understanding something, and I really like how you explain things about Chuubo's, so if you could that would be a great help.

it would absolutely be my pleasure! under cut for Length

The original inhabitants of Town are the Jotun, fox-people, swan-people, assorted youkai, and so on. They lived on the shores of an inland lake with no sun, just a perpetual twilight. They prayed to a pair of deities, the gods of dream and nightmare; it's ambiguous how large a role of direction, protection, etc. dream and nightmare actually played in their lives, because most information about them has been lost in the modern day.

Humans began colonizing Town... (shuffles papers around) I don't think we have a solid Gregorian-calendar date for this. The earliest settlers were Russian and Japanese sailors; the site of the original settlement is now the Fortitude region. Many of the first residents, Jotun in particular, attempted to drive humans back out. The human-youkai war ended when the human Elizaveta sewed a pair of pants that caught the attention and favor of a swan-person, who declared Elizaveta "worthy" and by extension the whole human species. The story is related in more detail in a couple of places; the tie-in novel Fable of the Swan goes into it the most heavily.

Things settled into sort of uneasy cohabitation; humans were still a small presence without much social/legal power. The vampire Alexandrel Celdinar arrived in Town (a note in By the Docks of Big Lake estimates his emergence at roughly the 1800s) and saw an opportunity; recall that at this point the sun, a pretty fatal weakness to basically all but the strongest vampires in the setting, still never rises in Town.

Celdinar brought in more vampires and more humans (as a ruling class and as workers, respectively) and founded Night London, which he attempted to modernize in a slightly wacky zeppelins-and-steampunk way. The Celdinar Mayorality lasted... (paper shuffling again) "for a while," long enough to erect buildings and factories and so on... and, according to legend, the gods of dream and nightmare turned against him. A major earthquake wrecked a central district of Night London; the region that received the most damage is now Old Molder (which has been reclaimed by greenery at such an unnatural rate that only the upper floors are really inhabited), and the remainder has been resettled as Horizon, the gloomy Victorian Gothic-flavored region.

Mayor Celdinar might still have rallied and rebuilt, except, soon after that, the sun rose for the first time, marking the angel Jade Irinka's arrival in Town. At some point temple to Jade was built on Little Island. The sun is, variously, her chariot, her mansion, or her face; also it sets vampires on fire. The youkai lost power during Celdinar's rule, and have also been gradually interbreeding and assimilating with the human population. Humans become, and remain to the modern day, Town's most prominent and numerous residents.

The official timelines I'm looking at kind of gloss over the next period of Town's history; I assume there are some kind of events in Jenna's back pocket but they weren't considered relevant to the Glassmaker's Dragon campaign. There is, purportedly, a 'golden age,' but basically I've got nothing from here until the time when campaign-relevant events start happening. From here on out a lot of what I describe are going to include explicitly flexpoint which are heavily customizable (wrt people’s motives as well as exact chronological placement) for the needs and tastes of a given group.

Lord Entropy the First built Horizon's School... mm, again, a date isn't given but I'm actually going to assert it likely hasn't been in operation for more than 30-40 years. (Specifically I'm extrapolating from "No sooner did [School's SEED program] begin to bear fruit than he did," in CMWGE core, referring to Entropy's 22-year-old child.) In 1997, Entropy I died under mysterious circumstances, almost certainly expedited by Entropy II, who inherited his position as Principal of School and incidentally the King of Evil. Fable of the Swan implies that the Bleak Academy, an institution on the far side of unreality which trains Excrucian Riders to kill the world, was founded in opposition to Entropy's School. I am not sure to what extent this is poetic license and also time is less meaningful in the void.

Jade Irinka fell in love with the Headmaster of the Bleak Academy; the union bore at least one child, possibly two depending on how you count Arikel; after something like 3-8 years (flexpoints again) the Headmaster shoots Jade out of the sky with a black arrow, and the sun is temporarily extinguished, seen from Earth as a solar eclipse on March 7, 1997. A new sun appears in the sky, tied to Jade's daughter Jasper Irinka, and life carries on. Jade falls out of reality and fundamentally alters the cosmology.

This is a whoooole complicated event that is too much to get into on an already-too-long post, but to try and summarize the effects: there is no longer a clear division between real things and not-real things, there is just a dissolute fog of things-you-increasingly-don't-know-or-understand, referred to as the Outside. Town is possibly the last piece of reality unpolluted by the Outside but it's equally possible that this is a thing that varies with your point of view. Also, the change ripples over the timeline in such a way that this is effectively how it's always been, or at least families in Town have now been passing down techniques for mitigating Outside pollution for several generations. It's a massive headache and I'm sorry.

I think I will actually stop there instead of continuing to get more granular but I am more than happy to clarify and expand points if you have more specific questions!

[journal-of-an-outlaw]

Price to be Paid - Chapter 27

Read on AO3 here

The confusion of realizing Cornelius Staten was somehow mixed up in all of this mess rang around your head for the next few days. Things moved in a strange sense of time and you never got a chance to rest. The guilt from how you acted during the O’Driscoll attack never left your shoulders and kept you up at night to the point of burning eyes and many long hours spent staring at the ceiling. Dutch had Arthur working so hard he barely noticed but you never blamed him, the group leader seemed to be on some kind of bender lately and took every opportunity to throw people at a job to scrape some money together. 

Every time Micah saw you around camp he patted his left jacket pocket and sneered, reminding you that he held a sick power over you. At first you sneered back, but after the third time you just rolled your eyes and walked by. Let him think he had a secret that could unravel everything you had fought so hard for. He did, but only part of it and the missing pieces were ones you would hold on to with your life. 

One thing you couldn’t shake was the encounter you had with Cornelius Stated. What in the world did he have to do with all of this mess? The refined gentleman you met back in the Rhodes saloon seemed out of place in the world of Pinkertons versus Van der Linde versus O’Driscoll. He was like you, on the run to escape a life that he had outgrown. Had he lied? Was he really working inside to get you and bring you in? You sat with him for a while that night and he had more than one opportunity to bring you in yet drank and enjoyed the evening instead. around your head for the next few days. Things moved in a strange sense of time and you never got a chance to rest. The guilt from how you acted during the O’Driscoll attack never left your shoulders and kept you up at night to the point of burning eyes and many long hours spent staring at the ceiling. Dutch had Arthur working so hard he barely noticed but you never blamed him, the group leader seemed to be on some kind of bender lately and took every opportunity to throw people at a job to scrape some money together. 

Things felt simpler back in Rhodes. How had it spiralled out of control so spectacularly?

Dutch had made good on his promise to keep your secret just between the two of you. No one at camp had changed their behavior towards you or made any comments and you fell into an easy routine of waking up, doing chores, eating when you could, and falling into bed at night next to Arthur who was just as tired as you were. 

The riverboat scheme was pulled off marvelously. Everyone returned safely and Javier quietly explained how things happened as you carried sacks of horse feed one morning. You struggled with the one and Javier easily held two, laughing softly as you threw the grain onto the ground with a grunt. 

You sucked in a full breath after the weight was gone. “I had...no idea...you were so strong, Javier.”

He laughed and rolled his shoulder back. The two of you had known each other long enough that he didn’t take your words as an insult. “There’s a lot people don’t know about me. They assume I’m just a quick gun hand and only good for a song around the campfire. I pack a lot of muscle under these shirts.” 

“I’ll let Grimshaw know you can chop all the firewood from now on and to let me do something easier. Like haul these bags all day long.” You leaned back against the wooden rails near the horses and observed the morning. “How do you see things going?”

Javier cast you a strange look. “We’ve pulled in a lot of money lately, should be close to being able to leave. I’m looking forward to lying on a beach somewhere and just…”

“Not having to constantly watch your back?” 

He nodded and leaned next to you as his horse approached. Boaz nuzzled his midsection affectionately asking for a treat, which Javier pulled out of his pocket with no hesitation. “I’ve been on the run for a long time YN, to be honest I’m looking forward to not worrying about our next spot. Sure, I love the adventure but I agreed to that life as a very young man. Now I kind of...want something different.” 

“I get that. It’s barely been a year and I’m already hoping to not be like this much longer. I very much want to settle down, start a family, you know?” 

Javier looked slighted. “But this is your family now. You and Arthur belong here, like John and Abigail. You’re just a section of the whole family and think about how nice it would be to raise your kids with so many of us looking after them. Probably a lot safer, too. Never too far out of sight.” 

“I don’t know about all of that,” you rubbed your arm absentmindedly. “Arthur made some comments about not wanting to raise children, so I don’t know how that will turn out for us.”

Javier let out a loud laugh and moved to start walking towards the house. “With the way you too go at it I’m honestly surprised nothing has happened. Not to be crass but you’re not exactly quiet about it.”

You flushed and groaned, drawing another laugh from Javier. The two of you walked back to the house together and you tried to change the subject as quickly as you could. 

“How did things go on the riverboat? I keep forgetting to ask Arthur.”

“Good, easy in and out. I thought it was a good haul from what Arthur won at the game and what we were able to swipe from the safe, Trelawney actually came through for once. And even Strauss held it together.”

“I don’t know him very well,” you looked over to see the older man quietly eating by the campfire. “I don’t think Arthur likes him very much.”

“With good reason. Strauss finds people who need help and acts like their last string of hope. The loans he gives come with a high price that not everyone can repay. Arthur is usually recruited to collect it. He’s big and can be scary and folks find it’s hard to say no when he’s threatening to beat you for it.”

“That can’t be all he does for the gang, surely.”

Javier shrugged. “Never seen him do too much else and I’ve been here awhile.” He waved you goodbye and headed to grab more bags of horse feed while you decided to give your back a break. 

You sat down in a chair on the front porch of the house, wincing at the pain of the hard wood against your back but sighing at finally being off your feet. The morning had fully arrived and even your sleepy eyes could see the beauty in the way the sun burned through the fog. The trees acted like fingers, pushing away the nuisance in an attempt to reach the sunlight they desperately craved. It had spent most of last week raining so the sun was a welcomed visitor. 

“Morning’ YN. You have any plans for the day?”

You smiled brightly up at Arthur, a warm fluttering set off in your belly. His deep blue eyes still made your heart contract with happiness at their sight and you knew you had made a wonderful choice at agreeing to spend the rest of your life gazing into them. 

“Nothing yet! Just helping around here I guess. Why? You going into the city for something?”

Arthur nodded and helped you stand. “Going to meet someone, hoped you would want to come along.”

“You know I always do.”

After grabbing a quick breakfast and some coffee, the two of you rode out of camp and headed for Saint Denis. The day was shaping up to be another hot one and you pulled at your collar as sweat formed on your back. It was uncomfortable riding in the heat like this and you were sure Eclipse hated it as well. Arthur suggested leaving the horses in the stables while you met with whoever he had planned and you agreed to walk the rest of the way, thankful for the cooling breezes underneath the trees if nothing else. 

“Who are we meeting now? And what’s it about?”

Arthur took your arm in his elbow and stolled along. You noticed his eyes darting around and hoped it wasn’t dangerous. 

“You remember that man from the mayor’s party? The one I spoke with about needing a favor? His name is Evelyn Miller. I ran into him in town and he wanted to meet but couldn't say why. I’m getting real tired of being pulled every which way and not knowing why,” Arthur rubbed his face with his hands. “Anyways. Said it was about some folks who needed help and...you know the usual.”

“You couldn’t say no?” You squeezed his arm a little closer to your own, admiring the blush that worked its way up his neck at the admission. Arthur was brimming with goodness, it was just sometimes he got caught up in his loyalty and a need to protect those around him. 

“Something like that. I think that’s them up there.”

Leaning against a brick wall was Evelyn Miller, wearing a wide brimmed hat which he kept pulling down over his eyes as people passed by. Two other men were with him, one pacing back and forth while the other stood tall next to Miller. 

“Mr. Morgan! You made it. I do hope the journey was safe.” The two shook hands heartilly and Evelyn pulled Arthur in close before his eyes fell onto you. “And who is this?”

“My fiance, YN Moore. I don’t believe you two met at the mayor’s party.” You reached out and Evelyn took your hand gently, pressing a chaste kiss to the skin before standing upright.

“Splendid! Well, I hate to ask in front of the lady but do you mind if I say something rude?”

You scoffed and crossed your arms over your chest, eager to hear what Evelyn Miller had to say. Arthur must have been thinking the same thing and threw you a half smile as he spoke. 

“This lady has seen her fair share of rude, so go ahead.”

“The mayor thinks you robbed him.” 

The younger of the two men off to the side laughed behind his hand, and you took them in for the first time. The younger had on a patterned shirt and a vest with his long hair pulled back behind him in the same manner that yours was. His arms were crossed and he looked bored, ready to be doing something else. The older man wore a wide floppy hat and had mostly black clothing on. A bright red feather was woven into his hair and hung proudly in the front of his locks. 

“To be clear, he wasn’t very upset about it,” Evelyn laughed. “He rather liked you.”

Arthur looked hesitant but prompted Evelyn to continue. The man shuffled his feet before speaking again. 

“Do you...well, I mean to say, can you steal things?”

Your eyebrows shot up to your hairline as Arthur responded. “Is there a reason you’re asking me to incriminate myself in front of my fiance and these strangers, Mr. Miller?”

Evelyn took a step back and for the first time looked at his companions. “Well, I’m sorry. Have you met? This is Rains Fall, a great chief, and his son Eagle Flies.” 

Arthur murmured a greeting and the three men nodded their heads at one another. Both Rains Fall and Eagle Flies made sure to greet you separately, not moving from their spots against the brick wall. 

Rains Fall spoke, a deep gravelly voice that could hold a room captive. “We saw you on the wagon trail crossing the river at Cumberland Falls. And at the party you were upstairs.”

You were swept back in time to when the gang was able to leave Colter and escape the bitter cold all those months ago. It was back before being with Arthur was even a thought in your mind, before anyone trusted you, and when simply surviving had been the ultimate goal. Hosea and Charles had spoken about the poor treatment these people had received and what it meant to hold the title of Native American. There was a primal urge of pride to associate with whatever group you could belong to because humans are social creatures by nature. But when that group had been so poorly treated, literally shoved aside in every decision that affected them and their way of life, some had a hard time being proud in that title. It was a notion you agreed with but could never fully understand, in that respect not much had changed since you bounced along in the back of that wooden wagon over the falls. 

“I remember you,” you spoke up softly after breaking out of thought. “The wheel had fallen off when we tried to get through the river and we had to stop and fix it. That’s when Hosea saw you up on the ridge, you’re very observant.”

Rains Fall nodded and gave you a small smile. “Yes, my people, if we even are a people anymore, have fought hard, we’ve made peace treaties and those treaties were broken. We’ve been moved and punished and...punished and moved.”

While Rains Fall spoke his son stared straight ahead, blind to the pain in his father’s voice. You noticed the lines etched into the dark skin and wondered how heavy the weight must be for him to support his people. 

Arthur replied back to Rains Fall that he was sure it was hard. 

“And now,” Rains Fall and Eagle Flies both shifted and stood a bit straighter, “I am told we are to be moved again.”

“Clearly contravening the peace treaty they signed just three years ago!” Evelyn spoke. 

Eagle Flies puffed his chest out as he spoke, “This will lead to war.”

“No, my son,” he placed a hand on his shoulder, “it will not. We cannot fight another war. They have got stronger and we have become far weaker. Mr. Morgan and Ms. Moore.”

“It’s to do with oil. I know it is, but I need the proof.” Evelyn watched Arthur as he spoke, knowing he was the one he had to convince. “I believe there were some prospectors who were on their land a few months ago who have filed reports with Leviticus Cornwall and the State Government claiming huge reserves of oil under their land.”

Arthur groaned and looked down the street. “So you want me to try and steal it?”

“Obviously they can’t,” Evelyn joked. “And even more obviously I would be useless. Listen, I realize this is a ridiculous request but we’re very desperate.”

You and Arthur spoke at the same time to answer Evelyn’s request, looking at each other in surprise. 

“Of course we’ll help Mr. Miller -”

“I’m not a do-gooder -”

Arthur excused the two of you for a moment and walked across the street with his hand on your elbow. 

“Arthur what do you mean we won’t help?” You hissed.

“I’m not running around and putting you in danger. Yes, those folks need help but let them find it from somebody else, I’m through watching you and knowing one of these times it might be the last.”

“Arthur Morgan,” you flushed and tried to keep your composure. “You know we will be fine. I’m not worried about stealing some papers. Mr. Miller is right, these people are desperate and what good is being able to help if you sit and worry on the side lines? I want to help them, it’s just some silly papers. How hard could it be?”

“I’m not sure if you realize but the two people we are running from are Leviticus Cornwall and the Government. This is both of them in one place, you want to rethink us being fine?”

You opened your mouth to speak but didn’t make a sound. Arthur was right, it was naive to think everything would be fine but you couldn’t ignore the voice in your head telling you the right thing to do. 

“It weighs out, the reward is greater than the risk. Think of what will happen to their people if that report goes through?” 

It was silent as Arthur watched you, and you could see the wheels spinning in his mind. The street around you was filled with life and sounds and yet none of it could break your attention. Arthur had to change his mind. It was the right thing to do. 

“Fine,” he broke with a sigh. “But you stay outside with Rains Fall and Eagle Flies. I’m quick enough to keep any guards off of me but I can’t be worrying about you, too.”

You pressed a kiss to Arthur’s lips and held his cheek in your hand. “I’m to be your wife, I know you’ll always worry. Just know I worry too, and I love you. Thank you for this.”

As you walked back over Arthur leaned down to speak in your ear, “I’ve been thinking we should quit dragging our feet and...you know...set a date.” You whipped your head to look at Arthur but Evelyn Miller interrupted the moment. 

“Any decisions then?”

Before you could speak Rains Fall said, “We’re willing to pay handsomely.”

Arthur rocked back on his heels and slung his hands through his belt. “How much?”

“I told you,” Eagle Flies spit, “they’re all mercenaries.”

Arthur laughed darkly before speaking. “There’s a price on my head in two states, my friends. The government doesn’t like me any more than it does you. Like you, I’ve been on the run as long as I can remember, and like you my time here is nigh on done.”

The father and son exchanged glances and an agreement passed between them. “We understand and we will pay. You meet my son in a few days near Citadel Rock just west of the oil fields. We are very grateful for your help.”

“Gentlemen,” Evenly cut in, “that appointment with the senator, we should head over there.”

“It’s a waste of our time. And his.” Eagle Flies looked sad and bitter. He had to be around your age but lived a life that was strange and forgien to you. He must be filled with pain knowing his existence was a point of argument. 

“No,” Eagle Flies grabbed his son’s shoulder again, “we must try everything. Come alone.”

Evelyn Miller led the two with him into the building as they were called for their appointment, throwing another “thank you!” out to you and Arthur as he moved out of sight. 

“Poor fools. Eagle Flies is right, it’s just a waste of time ain’t nobody changing how things are,” Arthur said as you walked down the street. 

“That’s a terrible way to see things! Sometimes you have to jump through the hoops, just to say you did it before things get more drastic. Maybe Mr. Miller has a better plan cooking for them after you get that report.”

“Realistic don’t mean terrible, YN. Sometimes it’s just how things are.”

You wanted to fight the notion but knew Arthur was right. Instead you wanted to bring up something new. 

“So when do you think we should have our wedding? What does a wedding in the gang even look like? I’m not sure what Abigail and John did.”

“Well, I’m not too sure. They aren’t married, you know.” You looked at him shocked for a moment. “But I figured we could find a quiet moment, sober up the Reverend, and uh, get married.” 

You loved watching Arthur talk about it because a smile always crept onto his face. It made you light up inside to know he loved you so much that it brought joy every time he mentioned finally being married to you. It almost made the stress of the past melt away. 

“When are we going to find a quiet moment in all of this mess?” You sat next to Arthur on a park bench as you planned. “The O’Driscoll attack, losing Kieran, Dutch asking us to pull in more money, we won’t have a moment to ourselves for a year at this rate.”

“I’ll figure something out, don’t you worry. I’m not waiting that long to be your husband.” The words made your stomach warm. “I’ve been thinking...I want someone from your family to be there. I want to meet them, if just your mother. I don’t think I could control myself around your father after what you’ve told me but you should have someone from home to be with you at your wedding.”

You grabbed Arthur’s hand and hesitated. There had been a lot of late night conversations going into detail about what growing up had been like for you. You avoided names in case he put two and two together, but you did miss your mother and the woman she used to be. Maybe after all this time you would be able to get through to her, but it was too risky. 

“No. Honestly, I would love nothing more than to have my mother there but I can’t risk him being there too. I love the idea though, Arthur. Thank you.” 

He nodded in understanding. “Well, you know I’ll share my family with you. Figure Abigail likes you better now anyways.”

You laughed and wiped a small tear that had formed from your eye. You didn’t realise how painful some of those losses still were. 

After wandering around the park for a while you saw Arthur watching something out of the corner of his eye. 

“I was supposed to meet Dutch for a job. Remember him talking about that trolley station? The one Bronte told us about? He wanted me to go along with him and Lenny to rob it but I told him I couldn't. Didn’t like the last minute change in plans but I figured this meeting with Miller was important too.”

You were surprised. Arthur never ignored Dutch’s requests no matter how small. “Won’t he be upset?”

Arthur shrugged. “Sounds like these fellas will pay a lot too so I think he’ll be okay with it.”

You spent a few more hours in town, pawning items for cash and picking up some meat for camp. Arthur watched you pickpocket a few rich folk and you left with a good haul, feeling proud of how the day had gone. 

Back at camp you arrived before Dutch and the others and unloaded your goods to spread around. Pearson was genuinely happy about the variety of meat he would be able to cook and not just make a stew and most of the others were too. Molly had mentioned breaking a hand mirror and you had found one in the pawn show. She was delighted when you gave it to her and  smiled for what seemed the first time in ages. 

Camp had settled down for the evening when Lenny came riding in on a strange wagon hollering for Grimshaw. 

“Hey, I need some help here! Dutch smacked his head and he’s not doing so well.”

“I’m fine,” you heard the gruff voice call as you approached the commotion. “Just need help getting down from the wagon.”

Grimshaw rushed to help Dutch down, calling Arthur over for assistance. The two got him upstairs and into his bed much to the older man’s protests as he insisted he would be fine and didn’t need to be cared after. You found Lenny walking the horses by himself. 

“What happened in town? Are you okay?”

Lenny shrugged his shoulders and winced in pain. “We tried to rob the trolley station Bronte told us about but were set up. They ambushed us almost immediately and we didn’t stand a chance.”

Once he was done with the horses you convinced him to sit by the fire and eat with you. “Just you and Dutch? That’s crazy, you’re good but no one is that good.”

“Nah, Micah was there too. Not much help but he can shoot.” 

You played with your food for a few minutes before asking your next question. “How did Dutch hit his head?”

Lenny sighed and hung his own head. “I’ll walk you through the whole thing. We met in the alley across the street. Dutch is convinced that we just need one big score and we can be free to sail away to Australia or Tahiti or wherever, even has a captain ready to take us out. Just need money for passage and some land. Anyways, we got in there and the station was dry. Barely enough cash to justify robbing the place. Micah opened the safe and found forty five dollars right as the cops showed up, and we ran out back to take a trolley. We ended up driving through the whole damn city shooting at them and trying to escape until we crashed into a wagon and this giant stone wall. Micah broke the breaks so we hit it full force, going sideways and just everything smashed. Dutch flew across the isle and hit the metal, Micah was lucky and rolled out and I just fell a foot or so onto the floor. Had to steal that wagon to get out and even then we killed a whole lot more of them. Micah took off and Dutch and I came straight back here.”

The young man sitting before you was aged beyond the short twenty years he had been alive. You weren’t sure exactly how long Lenny had been running with the gang but he sure had to grow up fast in order to earn his spot. 

You placed your hand over Lenny’s and squeezed, earning a smile in return. “You did good Lenny.”

Arthur left the house and you excused yourself to follow. He walked around the back of the house and sat out on the dock, watching the water slowly move in the evening breeze. 

“Dutch tell you about the trolley station?” You asked. 

Arthur nodded. “It was a setup. Bronte knew the whole time. Sure glad Lenny was there, he’s a good kid.”

“He is.” You fidgeted with a small hole in your pants leg before continuing. “Arthur, Dutch already has a plan in place to leave. Told Lenny and Micah about it, a boat going to Australia or Tahiti.”

“Where’s Tahiti?”

“South Pacific,” you answered automatically. “I know we briefly talked about this, but I’m not sure I want to live there. What would we even do?”

“I’m not too sure. If I’m being honest my life plan up until now has just been to follow Dutch and live free...but things have changed.” Arthur reached over and grabbed your hand, rubbing the back of it absentmindedly with his thumb. “You’re my future now. I know that. If the right thing for us is to move on, I guess I could come to terms with that.” 

You leaned your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes, enjoying the evening sounds of the rustling grass and the frogs singing. A fish jumped off in the distance, and as the evening progressed the fading sunlight was replaced by the beautiful beams of fireflies. 

“Not interrupting anything, am I?”

You groaned internally at the sound of Micah’s boots nearing on the dock. Arthur pulled you to a stand next to him and glared at the blonde man.

“What you want, Bell?” 

Micah held his hands up in fake surrender and laughed. “Always so serious with you two. I wanted to talk about a plan Dutch came up with, see how we get it rolling.”

“And what plan would that be?”

Micah sat down on a crate and began carving an apple from his pocket with a knife. You and Arthur stood in front of him with arms crossed, doubts obvious in what he was saying. 

“Dutch wants us to have one big score, the big score before we can get out of this hell hole. Needs a lot of cash and fast so he wants to hit the bank in town, but it’s highly guarded of course. I was hoping I could borrow YN for a few hours tomorrow to scout the place out. Back in Clemen’s Point I promised we would work a job together and well, this is it.”

“No.”

“Arthur, I can decide for myself. What’s the plan?” You spoke hesitantly. Micah was most likely a snake but you had agreed to work with him and you were true to your word. 

“It’ll be quick. Take the wagon into town, scout where things could go wrong. Then head back to camp. No funny business I promise.”

It didn’t sound ideal, but there was a low risk factor and you would be in and out. If this fulfilled your promise to Micah then it was the best option. 

“I’ll do it. When should we leave?”

“YN,” Arthur growled. 

“How’s about before noon? I’ll come find you, think we should be back before supper.” Micah tipped his hat to you and walked away slowly, enjoying the victory of angering Arthur.

“You know you ain’t going,” Arthur started but you cut him off. 

“I am. I told him I would work a job, one job, with him and if this is it I’ll take it. Few hours to scope out the bank? No risk. I’ll be safe.”

“Why can’t I go with you instead?”

You stared at him and fought the urge to roll your eyes. “You think you would be okay with him going on a run instead of you?” 

“You know I love you, but I do hate how much sense you talk into me.” Arthur spoke after a few moments. He rubbed his chin and chuckled at his own joke. “I guess this is one of those things I’ll just have to agree with even if I hate it.”

“Guess so, cowboy.” 

The next day you woke up earlier than usual, anxious about riding out with Micah. Instead of getting up and starting the day to keep your mind occupied you opted to lay in bed with Arthur, his arm draped across you and his gently snores rhythmically sounding like clockwork. Outside you could hear chickens pecking and chattering around, and someone’s footsteps as they walked by on patrol. 

A strange feeling took over and you rolled to your back slowly, careful to keep Arthur’s arm around you. Looking down you placed a hand on your belly and imagined what it would be like to grow a person inside of you. You moved the cloth away and touched your bare skin, thinking about what your life would be like. Women always swore they could feel the baby kick, and you knew Arthur would swell with pride the first time he felt it too. Maybe he would change his mind and want children after all. Recently the desire to have a family had settled heavy into your bones and refused to leave. 

You knew Arthur’s hesitation came from a place of self doubt and not a resentment of children. He behaved so well around Jack that you knew he would fall perfectly into the role. Javier’s words echoed in your mind that you and Arthur had been together for long enough that there was a chance you could be pregnant. Normally you were careful about making sure Arthur finished outside of you but lately you enjoyed the feeling of his release emptying inside, even with the risks involved. 

Next to you Arthur stirred. He pulled you close and laid his head on your shoulder, breathing deeply as he woke to the morning. 

“Morning sweetheart. You been up long?” You shook your head and laughed as the soft hair tickled Arthur’s nose. He snorted and pulled back, bringing his hand up to grip your chin softly for a kiss. 

It didn’t take long for it to deepen. Before you knew it Arthur had hauled himself over you and lazily moved your nightdress up over your arms. The warm air prickled your skin and you grabbed Arthur’s arms for support, enjoying the turn the morning had taken. Facing Micah would be much easier after this. 

Arthur ran a hand down your arm to your stomach and landed on your thigh, squeezing just a bit too tightly as his urges started to take control. The soft skin below his fingers were just enough to get him going as he loved the way you felt beneath him. His fingers slowly traced designs into you as the other hand held the back of your head against his, his mouth leaving open mouthed kisses along your lips and jaw. He knew you secretly loved hearing him make noise so he made an effort to groan into your ear as his arousal became obvious. 

Your nails dug into his back as one finger moved inside of you, soon followed by a second. Arthur murmured into your ear as his hand worked in and out, pulling you closer to where he wanted you to be. The sounds you would have made if you hadn’t bitten your lip in silence were obscene and Arthur tried to coax them out of you. Mostly you ignored it, knowing it wasn’t right to make a scene with so many others around but it just felt that good.

“C’mon, darlin’. Let them know you’re mine.” 

You shook your head and he pouted, the look from the tough man drew a laugh. It was quickly changed to a gasp as his hand sped up its work at your core. 

“You like that?” You nodded and moved your hands to grip the sheets tightly. “What about if we try this?” He slowly removed his fingers and started to scoot down the bed, an evil grin playing on his lips. 

“Arthur, what are you - oh!” He placed his lips at your entrance and began moving his tongue around in circles, a new sensation that nearly drove you over the edge. It was heaven as the pressure in your stomach continued to build to be almost too much. Your hands worked through his hair as you bit your lip, trying hard not to make a sound. 

It didn’t take long for your orgasm to rip through you, causing you to nearly sit up in the small bed. You fell back panting and watched Arthur who stared down victoriously. He raised his eyebrows at you and you nodded in return. 

Arthur pulled your legs up and around his waist, lining himself up with your entrance. He watched you as he slowly pushed himself into the hilt, drinking up your mews and sounds. The first few pumps after you came always felt incredible like the last few waves still had to move through you. The sensation was quickly overtaken by the new feelings of Arthur moving within you, slow but hard. His control was quickly slipping as he bit his own lip to hold back his sounds. 

His face turned red but he fought hard to keep his breathing under control, eager to draw out your time together. With a grunt Arthur flipped you over to your stomach and you squealed as he pulled your hips up to his again leaving your hands to grab at the blankets below you. He wasted no time and immediately pumped hard and fast into you. 

It was difficult not to make noises, but the sensation of Arthur fucking you over and over pushed past your lips in small gasps and moans. Behind you Arthur gripped your hips and you knew it would bruise but in the moment you didn’t care. 

“I’m getting close darlin’, you want me to…?”

“No,” you nearly choked out. “Stay inside.”

Arthur nodded and leaned over your back. His chest was warm and scratchy from his hair moving across the tender skin. You felt the coil tighten inside of you as Arthur hit that perfect spot, and it took only moments for you to bite the back of your arm to cover the cries as Arthur made you orgasm again. He didn’t take long to follow, his hot seed spilling inside of you. 

You both fell to the bed, breathing heavily and flushed. Rolling onto your back you looked over at Arthur and met his eyes. 

“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll, you know…?” He didn’t sound fearful. Hesitant, maybe, but it wasn’t resentment that you heard in his voice. 

“I don’t know, I thought you didn’t want a family?”

Arthur grunted and propped himself up on his elbow to look at you. “I’ve never thought I had anything to teach a child, that they’d be better off without me bringing them down. My own father was terrible and I never wanted to be like him. But…” As Arthur thought he ran a hand through his hair. “You’re changing me, darlin’, for the better. I think I’d be okay making a family as long as it's with you.”

The kind words brought tears to your eyes and you smiled up at the handsome man. “I’d love that, Arthur, truly. Although we should be wed first, otherwise people start to talk.”

Arthur let out a gruff laugh. “We’ve been sleeping in the same bed for months, and I like doing these things with you more than I should admit. We’ve broken all of the normal rules I don’t think anyone will bat an eye if you start showing before we get married.”

“You think I’m already pregnant?” 

The thought sent a strange chill through you, excitement and fear are wrapped into one. 

“No, I-I was just saying…” Arthur let out a deep sigh before moving to sit up in the bed. “What we have ain’t normal. But I didn’t want normal, we don’t live a normal life. I didn’t have time to court you and have our families meet and wait a normal time before we got engaged. We tend to grab what we like and take it with us, hoping it works. And we do work, of that I’m sure.” 

Arthur leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple before standing and stretching, ready to start the day. You smiled to yourself at his words and how much they truly meant. Normal was boring, and when you ran away from Blackwater you knew it would never be something you achieved for again. 

Micah was waiting for you outside of Shady Belle and the two of you ate breakfast in silence before leaving. Arthur kept a cool eye on him until you left, and he cast you a curt nod which you tried to ignore because you knew it came from a place of love and worry.

“Well, what’s the plan for today then?”

Micah huffed beside you. “Like I said, we roll into town, scope out the bank, and leave. I might have one meeting but you can wait while I do that.”

You fought the urge to roll your eyes but agreed. As long as you and Micah weren’t fighting, things were going well. Most of the ride in was quiet with you asking questions sparingly and Micah reluctantly answering. Eventually you told him he would need to cooperate to make this work and he agreed. 

“So when are you and Morgan tying the knot?” He asked out of the blue. 

“Soon. No date yet, but I don't really want to wait.” you answered honestly.

Micah looked you up and down before speaking. “Why’s that? Got something hiding under that dress of yours?” 

“No, why does everyone keep asking?” You covered your midsection self consciously at the jab and Micah laughed. 

“I was just thinking, we could call it Princess Pinkerton like you if it’s a girl,” and he roared with laughter. It wasn’t that funny but you stared ahead until he stopped so you wouldn’t say something you regretted. 

“With everything going on you think that’s a good idea to joke about? Dutch sounds like he’s at his wits end, we’re running from at least three separate parties, and who knows where we’ll be in a few months' time. Sounds like a new country or something.”

“Hey,” Micah held up his hands. “I’m just saying. Ain’t like Dutch to be down for too long. He hit his head mighty hard in that trolley, said he’s still having trouble seeing straight but he knows what to do. The real enemy here is Angelo Bronte, that damn foreigner thinking he’s the king of the town. That trolley station was a setup. That’s why you and I are scoping out this bank, it’s our best shot of a lot of money so we can get the hell out of here.”

“You really want to start a life in Tahiti?”

“Wherever Dutch leads, I follow.”

His blind loyalty felt fake, like a thin veil laying on top of his words. Micah hadn’t been with the gang for years, he hadn’t earned Dutch’s ear like Arthur or John had. Acting seemed to be the way he made up for the time he didn’t know he had lost. 

“Here’s the bank. I’ll hitch the wagon over a street and we can walk back.”

Once the wagon had stopped you hopped down and wrapped your arm through Micah’s, much to your disgust. He insisted it was necessary to go unnoticed but looking at the amount of dirt on your shoes, Micah’s unbathed self, and the quick look in his eyes you could name a million other reasons that people wouldn’t believe you. 

The bank was two stories tall and painted a brilliant white and yellow. LEMOYNE NATIONAL BANK was carved across the top in what looked like golden paint, a show of how wealthy the area truly was. 

“We’re planning on hitting that? It’s huge how could we ever pull that off?” You whispered to Micah sharply. 

“That’s what we’re here to figure out. Now hush, if we’re caught we’re dead.”

The two of you strolled around the block and you tried to mentally remember where anyone could position themselves to block an escape or shoot at an angle. You tried to keep your questions to a minimum but knew they would be helpful in the long run. Micah must have unwillingly agreed because he actually tried to figure out the best routes with you. 

Finally Micah said you had enough notes and you turned to leave but he stopped you. “I need you to make yourself busy for about an hour. You can go shopping or do whatever women do, but meet me back at the wagon then. Like I said I have to meet someone.”

“Why can’t I come with you?” You crossed your arms over your chest. “It’s suspicious that you don’t want me there.”

Micah grabbed your upper arm just a bit too tightly and pulled you in. “Way I see it, you owe me a few favors due to this whole secret I’m sitting on. As long as I’m in charge you’ll do what I say. This works out and I won’t breathe a word to your precious friends.”

You yanked your arm free, heart pounding in your chest. Micah was right, you could leave him alone for this meeting but it didn’t mean you would do anything he asked. You rubbed the tender spot and spoke. “Fine. Go. I’ll be here in an hour.”

He gave you a wide smile that didn’t fit his face and crossed the street to head off to his meeting. Part of you wanted to follow him, but you knew the cost if you were caught. Losing Arthur and Charles and Abigail would be too much, so with the choices mentally weighed you turned and walked off alone, your footsteps loud on the brick sidewalk. 

All around you the bustle of Saint Denis life blew by, from the chirping of the birds to the bell from the trolley to the sounds of a trumpet far away. You wandered until you found an old bookstore, one filled with classic tales of heroes overcoming the villains. 

Wandering the isles made you wish life could be just a bit more black and white. Why were the villains always painted with shades of color to make them more human? Why did the heros have doubts and secrets and pasts they couldn't reveal? As you stared at the covers of some of your favorite tales you realized why reading was be such an escape. 

But this was real life, and it had unfortunately become more tangled and twisted then you ever would have imagined.

[uhxrp]

these streets

as the third anniversary of the protection act approaches, a devious group has stirred up troubles for the supernaturals in new orleans. as they take to the streets in protest, a supernatural activist group meets them head on.

after the emergence of supernaturals, those who worked within the political world and police forces, or simply in any kind of shop, were targeted. attempting to live normal lives, and having served in public spaces (sometimes for decades), these beings now faced a growing world of hate and destruction. the rising civil unrest led to an unsettling fear–a wonder if it was even safe for them to go outside in the world anymore.

fearing for the lives, the supernaturals fled to the pro-supernatural city of new orleans in mass.

despite many settling into camps and relief centres across the city, many found the resources limited and supplies scarce, leading to desperation in the government-ran camps. some, refusing to live in such conditions, entered the black market, looking for whatever could get them by. while others were forced to live out on the streets, begging for any kind of support that might be provided.

the deprivation became a hot point at gatherings, in the city councils, and on the news screens. and not being seen, not being helped, not heard—that anger built up. soon, discussions turned sour, with supernaturals expressing the idea that humans thought the world belonged only to them—and that someone ought to teach them a lesson about power.

but such a radical notion wasn’t wholly accepted, and soon a branch of like-minded individuals split off from the gatherings. after the passing of the hunter mandate, they flooded the streets. taking up the upcoming lunar eclipse as their symbol, they named themselves the blood moon party. they destroyed property, left signs with their demands, and set off bombs within the newly established hunter offices.

and for it, the government branded them terrorists, releasing funds for anyone who would give them information on the groups.

but the anti-human group only wanted justice for their kind. a demand, one soaked in the blood of their loved ones—that humans and hunters had no right to kill them. and furthermore, they deserved the same rights as humans.

it was a sentiment that brought many to their cause, as they called to bring protests to the streets again. but while the group focused on bringing the rights of supernaturals to the same level as humans, some parts of the group desired to be above mankind—for humans are weak, magic-less beings.

those who despised humans, and felt as though the violence done to them should be brought to the humans in-kind, begun to slowly influence the groups protest and sit downs.

the once-peaceful rallies became lit with flashes of smoke grenades, lobbed against the human police force, while fights and bricks broke out, silencing those who were trying to maintain the peace. and as the humans responded in a similar fashion, their bodies ended up on the street, mutilated with unforgiving force.

with the uptick in violence, the government finally stepped in; they had no choice but to work with their counterparts, to listen to the demands of the supernaturals in order to prevent further violence. finally, in 2017, the supernatural beings protection act was passed. a step in the right direction, but not enough to truly make the supernaturals feel like they had a place.

but after, humans flooded the streets of capitol hill, leading to one of the biggest protest in u.s. history. in giving the supernaturals rights, humanity felt betrayed to its core—as if the government had signed their death warrants. soon, their rights would vanish, and supernaturals would be allow run wild with their violent natures.

the against-supernatural-forces once again mustered, ready to defend their small towns and cities. violence bubbled, but now the human police were forced to intervene on behalf of the supernaturals.

and such protection only made the humans more bitter.

groups began to splinter, with those who would talk of the stories from when they were young; tales of creatures with ultimate power and lust for domination, stores that would keep them awake at night as children. they hated these unnatural beings to their very core, wishing they were gone from the world, so their slumber could be peaceful once again.

in the dark streets of new orleans, started by a group of hunters frustrated at the city’s tolerant attitude, prometheus was born, named for the champion of humankind. they too would defy the gods and steal fire, all to help their civilisation grow.

on february 8th 2020, prometheus launched an attack on fellowship of all beings’ head office, killing 41 and injuring more in the storm of gunfire. their aim was to make humans afraid of supporting the supernaturals, and to disrupt the social work of the society. after, they sent a letter to the mayor’s office, threatening the city with violence if it did not cease its pro-supernatural agenda.

but their biggest plan would soon hatch, involving the third anniversary of the act’s passing—a day they desire to sour for the supernaturals. by making sure the world will turn them, in using their own powers against them.

and when the streets turn red with blood, they will say, i told you so, i said you can’t trust these demons.

participants

BLOOD MOON PARTY

PARTY LEADER: first last SECOND IN COMMAND: first last THIRD IN COMMAND: first last

MEMBERS

first last first last

PROMETHEUS

THE CHIEF: first last THE TACTICIAN: first last THE ENGINEER: first last

MEMBERS

first last first last

[sprut6]

The Society Thoughts and Theories

Lots of spoilers if you haven’t finished season 1! This show is bananas and I absolutely love theorizing things like this where we don’t know what’s going on. I have some ideas below and some way more out there than others. Would love to hear what others think!

Where are they:

1. Parallel Universe – I feel like the show was pushing this hard with the strange solar eclipse, bringing it up multiple times (more than other theories). For that reason, I don’t think that will be what it is. However, I loved the twist about the eclipse. I really feel like they pushed PU hard in S1 even though people also threw around other ideas I still felt like this one was pushed the most. I think in S2 they’ll push a different theory to take us in a different direction and I think we’re seeing that with how S1 ended.

2. Kidnapped – I think this is a strong theory and where the show really wants us to go in assuming they’ve been taken and are being held hostage for ransom. I’ve seen some theories about the season finale saying that we don’t know what the dog represents and I agree but I definitely think that’s what the writers want us to assume – the dog is the same dog so it’s earth and the dog was able to get from New Ham to West Ham somehow. I think this will be the main theory for S2 that everyone will work around.

3. Afterlife – A reasonable theory now that we know that West Ham still exists and there is a memorial to the kids. But it’s too similar to (SPOILER – even though the show has been over for almost a decade) Lost. I think it would be disappointing if they copied it and I just think that everyone is alive.

4. Dream – I actually really like this theory. I could even see it being something like they wake back up on the bus and they (and the viewer) don’t know if it was a dream or what really happened although as a viewer that would be frustrating if we don’t have closure.

5. Simulation – They were kidnapped and they’re in a coma/simulation where this is all playing out while they’re being held for ransom. I actually was just like eh/maybe about this theory but as I was thinking it through more I think I’m getting more behind this one. (More thoughts on this below). At the moment this is my front runner.

6. Experiment – I actually don’t like this one but still wanted to include it. Again (spoiler) it’s copying The Village kind of and I just don’t know how likely I think it would be especially if the parents are supposed to be involved. Just bizarre all around if this was it.

 Theories:

1. Now that we know their parents aren’t dead, I’m thinking we’re going to see the parents a lot in S2. I think it’ll flip back and forth between perspectives between New Ham and West Ham. Maybe even some flashbacks leading up to field trip day.

2. We’ll get a new mayor. I don’t see Harry/Lexie staying mayor throughout. I think Allie will be re-elected at some point in S2 or we’ll see a breakdown of the system and she or someone else will take back over. 

3. We’ll learn who Eden’s biological father is. I strongly felt like it was Luke (because of problems it would create) until the Thanksgiving episode. When Luke and Helena announced they were getting married it showed Becca as really happy and I’m not sure that would have been authentic if it was Luke. I think the creators would have either showed a slower response or not shown her at all. I think Campbell is a stronger possibility because of Becca asking Sam to never ask her that again. I think she regrets whomever she slept with. If it’s Campbell I think it would be pretty devastating to her relationship with Sam. Even though they’ve never been in a romantic relationship she has seen how Campbell has treated Sam over the years and I think Sam will be hurt that his best friend slept with his abuser/bully. I think it would really change their dynamic and could possibly push Sam away from Becca.

4. Luke and Helena’s wedding doesn’t happen or gets postponed. I think their relationship will breakdown. It could be if Luke is the father but I don’t think they’re going to go that route because of how S1 ends and Luke having to side with Campbell. I think Helena will learn what really happened and she’ll have strong feelings about Luke lying to her.

5. I think we’ll see more side characters added. The cast is large already but we’ll need to continue to see alliances made between sides and new problems added so I think they’ll introduce more people who have been in the background just like we saw Lexie take a more prominent role right at the end. 

6. We’ll learn more about Pfieffer. I’m not convinced that’s a person. I’m wondering if that’s a code word, company name, etc.

7. Kelly and Harry’s parents aren’t having an affair. I think the meeting at the hotel will actually be a meeting between council members surrounding the smell/blackmail/mystery, etc. I think the group will start expanding on the council knowing more leading up to the field trip and they’ll start looking at other council member’s offices, homes and find more were at the hotel meeting.

8. The parents are working on a plan but the show might not let us know that. If the show wants us to think it’s possible the group is dead then I don’t think they’ll show us much of the parents but I’m thinking we might see S2 pick up with the parents. We have only a few parents in the library as opposed to a large group like an official memorial. I think its council members meeting. I think they know the kids are alive and they’re being extorted for money or something that is very difficult for them to get.

9. Harry knows something. He called this all a game and he’s inferred several times that everything would be okay. I think he knows something more specific or his parents said something to him to make him think that something could possibly happen but that everything would be okay. He also was one of the few that wasn’t worried at all in those early days.

10. I really debated mentioning this theory because I worried some people might think I was victim blaming or glamorizing Campbell but bear with me. I think it’s possible Elle has a mental disorder and she is actually harming herself and not Campbell. We know Campbell is a diagnosed psychopath but the show hasn’t shown us the physical abuse they’ve led us to believe is happening. It didn’t show him branding her or hitting her. Elle also hasn’t specifically stated that Campbell is hurting her, she lets people infer it. I think there’s a reason for both and I think it’s because he didn’t do it and it was actually Elle who branded herself with the C. Also, remember the dog. If the dog is the same then Campbell didn’t kill it as we were originally led to assume. If Elle has a diagnosed mental illness then most likely she hasn’t been on medication for months. I think we’ll find out more about what her home life like in S2 because as it stands she is the most central character that we know the least about in regards to backstory. It also would add another layer of complexity to the show. The group might have to decide, do they hold someone against their will if they consider them to be a danger to themselves or others (she tried to kill Campbell). In S1 we saw how they had to handle illnesses like a snake bite, poisoning, pregnancy but they didn’t deal with mental illness outside of Harry’s depression. I could see them tackling something like schizophrenia and the stigma around mental illnesses.

11. Maybe no one is dead. If it is a simulation maybe the deaths are the parents getting kids out/rescued. This is hard because of Allie and Cassandra and the idea that a parent would have to choose a child to rescue and leave another behind (at least for now) except Cassandra had a serious heart condition. Maybe the parents would pay her ransom first because of her illness and have to wait longer for Allie. I just think in a lot of shows there are reasons why characters have illnesses, etc and it’s because the show is going to use them later but Cassandra’s was never really used because she died so quickly and in a way that had nothing to do with her heart so why even have the character with that issue? But if there had to be a reason why one child would be chosen and another left then illness could be a factor. Also, maybe two parents paid at the same time – Cassandra’s and Dewey’s and that’s why their deaths are somewhat tied together. I’ll admit, this is pretty out there. I totally get that but I like the idea that no one is dead.

 Questions I want the kids to start asking themselves:

1. Where did the bus drivers go? They dropped them off and then the buses left. If they’re not in town then that should mean there’s a way out.

2. Why is the power still on and water running? We’ve seen multiple shots showing electricity and water but both should be off at this point without anyone running those systems. Power and water plants won’t run for months on their own.

 Random thoughts:

Love the nods to different forms of governing. Really interesting and smart insights!

I see some parallels to Animal Farm. Especially with how power corrupts.

Kind of pondering if the literature/movie references are important. 500 Days of Summer has a nod because of the creator but we’re seeing some of the books and movies in certain shots and just curious if there are more to them than face value. For example, The Princess Bride is a story within a story...which brings me back around to the simulation theory.

I told you, the series is bananas.

[pbwsports]

Is Tua Tagovailoa ready to become Miami's biggest star since Dan Marino?

Leaps into swimming pools. Emotional moments of jubilation. Tears of joy. Fifteen words delivered by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- "With the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins select Tua Tagovailoa" -- elicited all that plus a belief the moment will change the Dolphins' franchise forever.

Over the past month, there has been an innate buzz burgeoning nationally, but especially in South Florida, that can be summed up as a Tua frenzy. An 11-minute fan-generated YouTube video provides a visual.

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"Tua is far by himself -- never seen anything like this buzz from a draft pick here. There's no close second," said Dolphins color commentator and radio host Joe Rose, who played for the franchise alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino from 1983 to 1985. "We have a rock star here in Tua. This team has been in mediocrity for so long. It's lacked the Dan Marino star power, the Ricky Williams star power. Tua's the next guy in that group."

Despite the love, it's too early to crown Tagovailoa. He hasn't even played an NFL game. Tagovailoa's arrival is defined by hope and hype.

Even in his first month as a Dolphins quarterback, it is clear that if Tagovailoa lives up to expectations, he will be the face of South Florida sports for a while.

How will Tagovailoa manage the pressure, the buzz, overwhelming positivity, eventual negativity and everything that comes with being hailed as the next big thing in a city starving for its latest sports superstar?

"The great thing for Tua is Dan Marino retired 20 years ago," Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon said. "So it's not like he's following right behind a legend like Aaron Rodgers following Brett Favre or whoever follows Tom Brady. He just has to be himself. He can't be Dan Marino. Just be yourself and rely on the people around you."

'It's going to be Dolphins town'

A Mount Rushmore of athletes who have led South Florida pro teams probably starts with Marino and the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, but the initial expectations weren't as high with either legend.

Wade remembers it wasn't until after he led the Heat to their first championship in 2006 that he became the face of South Florida sports. He returned to Miami and hopped in his convertible with a buddy. Fans sighted him and rushed the car. He couldn't drive another block.

"I looked at my friend and said, 'Yo, this is different,'" Wade said. "I enjoyed it. But I knew it would never be normal in this city from that point on. I had to get used to being a celebrity. The perks were great, but the non-privacy was not so great."

"Wade County" was born and didn't slow down. His presence remains large in Miami, but since he retired following the 2018-19 season, there has been an active-superstar void.

Enter Tagovailoa.

"He's a hell of a player. Miami, especially at the QB position, really needs that. They need a leader. They need a player," Wade said. "To come in as a young player and win a game in the second half of a national championship game -- that shows some grit, that shows some balls. People have to really believe in you. Miami needs that. The Dolphins need that. Even though I'm a [Chicago] Bears fan, I was rooting for them to get him because Miami needs to get back to where the basketball program is."

Wade's advice to Tagovailoa centers on how to handle fame; the future Hall of Fame guard says he would often deal with anxiety when he left the house. He felt the need to always be on as D-Wade even when he wanted to just be Dwyane. Wade said even though he wasn't expected to "save the franchise," once he became a fan favorite, he had to "figure out how to enjoy what you worked hard for, but keep a level of sanity at the same time."

The last 5th overall pick to Miami did some cool things. Congrts @Tuaamann can’t wait to watch your journey.

3,032 people are talking about this

Wade is optimistic Tagovailoa will lift the Dolphins to a place they never reached while he was with the Heat.

"If the Dolphins get it going, it's going to be Dolphins town. We did as much to make it a basketball town as possible, and Miami Heat is there to stay. But let's not get it twisted: Florida is football. Once they get their s--- together, they are going to be big and bigger," Wade said. "But those Heat guys -- Bam [Adebayo], Tyler Herro -- are going to battle him for it. He's got to earn it.

"How you put yourself in that conversation is doing something great, something that people have never seen before, and obviously winning."

Marino was a 'rock star'

Tagovailoa passed his first test by eschewing his college No. 13 -- Marino's number in Miami. Instead, Tagovailoa is paving his own path by becoming the first Dolphins QB to wear No. 1.

"I understand No. 13 is retired, and it should be. Dan Marino, he's the GOAT. He's like the mayor out there, and I have much respect for him," Tagovailoa said. "I just want to have the opportunity to go out there and compete."

2020 NFL offseason

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Every quarterback who has arrived in Miami has been met with some mention of Marino, and Miami has started 21 quarterbacks since the Hall of Famer retired in 2000. The Dolphins haven't had a Pro Bowl QB since then, which marks the NFL's longest streak.

So while the expectations might seem unwieldy for a 22-year-old quarterback coming off a serious hip injury, this isn't just any NFL city. He's coming to a franchise that is thirsty for a star QB, and fans have been waiting on Tagovailoa for more than a year.

"When I got down there, the Miami Dolphins were Dan Marino's town and team. It's still that way," former Dolphins great Ricky Williams said. "I was a running back, but no one has even come close to eclipsing the success that Dan had in Miami as a quarterback. Even more so than what I experienced, Tua has the potential to be a big part of what it means to be a Miami Dolphin for a long time."

Williams had a great run as the face of the Dolphins. Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Ryan Tannehill did, too. But none of them have the national pull Tagovailoa has now.

Tua Tagovailoa is a star in Miami already.

147 people are talking about this

Rose says he remembers the buzz around Marino being relatively subdued when he arrived. The Dolphins, coming off a Super Bowl XVII loss, were led by their "Killer B's" defense, and they selected Marino with the No. 27 overall pick when he fell to them in the 1983 draft.

By the end of his record-setting 1984 MVP season, Marino was a superstar.

"When we went to New York, I saw the phone calls we got in our hotel room. I saw what movie stars and celebrities came around. People wanted to be around this guy," Rose said. "We didn't have the media and social media that they do now, so it could be a lot more hidden. He was big stuff. He was a rock star."

Marino is the standard, but Tagovailoa doesn't have to reach that level to be remembered in Dolphins history. As Moon and Wade have stressed, he just has to focus on being himself.

Why D-Wade is looking to Tua to be the leader the Dolphins need

Dwyane Wade expresses his thoughts on the Dolphins drafting Tua Tagovailoa and gives some advice for playing in the city of Miami.

Work, gain respect, then build the brand

Moon knows all about highly anticipated arrivals. After five Grey Cup titles in the Canadian Football League, Moon signed with the Houston Oilers and became the NFL's highest-paid player in 1984.

With stars such as running back Earl Campbell and linebacker Robert Brazile already in Houston, Moon was conscious of veterans believing he was too full of himself. Moon's response was to work hard, including lifting weights with the offensive line.

"When people came in the building, I was already there. When people left, I was still there," Moon said. "Yeah, I had a lot of attention, but they saw my work ethic. When I got on the field, they started to see I could really play. What you're trying to do is gain respect, and I think Tua will get that, too, because of his work ethic."

Showing that work ethic and building camaraderie with teammates could prove to be more challenging for Tagovailoa this offseason with virtual meetings instead of in-person practices. But Tagovailoa has reached out to many of his Dolphins teammates via text messages and phone calls.

The other balance Tagovailoa will have to maintain is his unique marketability with Moon's advice "to go in there with your head down and work."

Tagovailoa, who signed a four-year, $30.3 million contract, has endorsement deals with Adidas, Hulu, Muscle Milk, Verizon, Wingstop, Gillette, Lowe's, Bose and Call of Duty. He recently signed a multiyear, exclusive memorabilia-and-collection deal with Fanatics. He also has a documentary in the works detailing his journey to the Dolphins.

Tua Tagovailoa taking photo with young Dolphins fan — Riley — who hopes he lands in Miami. Many other Dolphins fans do too.

60 people are talking about this

Agent Ryan Williams and Athletes First have handled Tagovailoa's marketing demands, and he has immediately become one of the NFL's most well-known young players. The people love the former Alabama quarterback, and that has shown up in the numbers. Tagovailoa is the top-selling NFL player in terms of overall merchandise sales since May 1 across the Fanatics network, which includes NFLshop.com and online team stores -- above Tampa Bay's Brady and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall draft pick.

Moon remembered advice he was given by his agent, Leigh Steinberg, who also represents Tagovailoa: to take things slow on building your brand and try to avoid reading the headlines or social media.

"I just want to make sure that he doesn't try to get too far ahead of himself. Football is what butters his bread," Moon said. "If he doesn't do well on the football field, everything else will go away. Knowing a bit about Tua, he'll be fine."

Tagovailoa showed humility throughout his college career. He has a connection to family and a desire to give back.

"I'm honored that the fans think so highly of me. But I haven't done anything, yet," Tagovailoa said. "What I did in college can't translate to the NFL. It's a clean slate. I've got to go out there and earn my respect and earn the trust from my teammates."

Thank you to @MiamiDolphins for making this dream come true for me and my family. It's in my heart to give back to the communities that have raised me. Plans are underway to start charitable outreach efforts in Hawaii, Alabama and Miami. Stay tuned, stay safe. Go fins! Blessed! https://twitter.com/MiamiDolphins/status/1260223696674881539 …

We have signed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, defensive end Curtis Weaver and long snapper Blake Ferguson.

2,754 people are talking about this

'The guys in that locker room'

The idea of becoming a star before even taking an NFL snap might be enough to make Dolphins coach Brian Flores' head spin. A champion of competition and team-first mentality, Flores probably doesn't care how many jerseys Tagovailoa sells as long as he produces on the field.

"The world will make you think that you're this superstar. And maybe you are, but it doesn't really matter," Flores said last November regarding any particular player's growing success. "The only thing that matters is the guys in that locker room."

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But there is an element of stardom Wade alluded to with which Flores probably will agree, and that's winning. The New England Patriotsbecame an NFL dynasty with a star quarterback because of their winning records and Super Bowl titles. The allure of Tagovailoa's star power will be embraced should the Dolphins become title contenders year in and year out.

Before worrying about the celebrity, the more timely concern revolves around when Tagovailoa will get on the field. Some argue he should be an immediate starter, while others suggest a redshirt 2020 season. The most likely result appears to be somewhere in the middle.

The Dolphins are in Year 2 of a dramatic rebuild, but Flores always wants to win. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the veteran incumbent, has the upper hand in securing the starting role for several reasons, thanks to his comfort in offensive coordinator Chan Gailey's scheme, his success guiding the Dolphins in 2019 (to five wins), his leadership in the locker room and a lack of a true offseason.

But Tagovailoa is also eager to learn under Fitzpatrick, saying on draft day in April that he wants "to understand the kind of person he is ... nitpick him, ask him how he goes about preparing for a defense ... and just being able to question him."

Fitzpatrick vows to be Tagovailoa's "biggest cheerleader," but he won't hand him the starting job in 2020. Tagovailoa probably wouldn't want it any other way, because when football returns, he will get the opportunity to prove his worth.

Once Tagovailoa hits the field, the hope is he gets to become the greatest version of himself instead of being constantly compared to Marino. That weight is too heavy.

But becoming the long-term face of the Dolphins and South Florida sports? That's well within Tagovailoa's grasp. Source - ESPN

[doofnoof]

THIS IS A FIRST DRAFT FOR HOMIE EYES ONLY. ONCE IT'S FINISHED I'LL EDIT AND TURN REBLOGS ON. IF YOU'RE NOT @'D DON'T LOOK

@turboclown

Warning for Sleuth Jesters Spoilers!!! Too chicken to put this in Naff's asks but by god I'm gonna rant on my own damn blog!!!!

You Know What The Do To Guys Like Us In Prison by My Chemical Romance reminds me of Sleuth Jesters, and I just wanted to give Naff kudos for making a fic that absolutely refuses to un-stick from my brain.

The themes of freedom and imprisonment and how there's more to it than just physically being imprisoned, there's a mental and emotional aspect to it too! Especially since Eclipse took Y/N's freedom mentally (can't figure out how to beat him) emotionally (can't play their games with Sun and Moon anymore because Eclipse made them feel as if they had to hide their past from the boys in order to keep them; a past that had imprisoned them, that they'd burnt to the ground to escape from) and physically, by keeping them in a room, destroying their sense of time, and eventually burning their safehouses to a crisp. Y/N was even imprisoned in their own skin, because of how Eclipse had dressed them and marked them with bruises top to bottom, making Y/N sore and uncomfortable. Y/N became the vigilante because of their desire to free people who are imprisoned by poverty and greed (mostly because of the crime families paying off the people meant to protect the normal folks, like the police or the Mayor) because they were in a similar situation when the Afton Family got a hold of them. They were a homeless, starving child scooped off of the streets and delievered right into Afton's hands by hospital staff and a police officer for a stack of cash, both people having promised to keep Y/N safe. Eclipse wants to imprison those same people (impoverished and those in power alike) with debts and favors so he would retain his own freedom, one hard fought for since robots had only recently been given rights. My favorite thing about Y/N is that even when faced with their own death, backed into a wall, they'd still throw themselves whole-heartedly at the harder-to-escape, more grim option than sacrifice the life of someone they swore they'd protect. They would put up with killing an animal, or someone that was already gunning for their life, but once they realized that Gregory was a human child they chose the option they assumed they could never go back from; they decided to save him even though it meant Eclipse was going to destroy the freedom they'd fought for. Eclipse also tried to control Sun and Moon, by paying their way into the Detective Agency, and then a second time by trying to control Y/N (who Sun and Moon were clearly heads-over-heels for.) I imagine he figured he'd have more control over Sun and Moon if he kept Y/N under his wing, imperiled, but his major character flaw is his arrogance, in assuming that Y/N could be controlled, and his assumption that Sun and Moon had rejected him on a whim and wouldn't have been ready (and downright thrilled!) to take him back if he gave up on the violence and cruelty. He assumed Y/N was just like him and only needed a push to become the dog they were during their Afton days again, and his wrongful assumption cost him his life. Probably not making much sense here but I love how everyone has a specific theme. Sun and Moon's seem to be forgiveness (they forgive an awful lot, and they're guilty they didn't take care of Eclipse sooner because they'd hoped he'd change his ways, at which point he'd be Forgiven, how Y/N is afraid of losing them because they'd done something Unforgivable in the past, Moon forgives Sun for lying to him, how they seemed to expect Freddy to forgive Y/N for what they'd done because they'd saved Gregory, etc.), Eclipse seems to be driven by an arrogant need for control (so he wouldn't be alone, so that Y/N could never leave him the way Sun and Moon had) and Y/N's theme is freedom (their whole Thing™ is that they're impossible to catch, Eclipse couldn't control them, and they killed the one person who ever did find a way to keep them in check.) It's an incredibly well done fanfic and I can't wait to re-read it and see if I can pick up any more little tidbits I hadn't noticed before.

This part is just the animatic in my head goin nuts, feel free to skip, altho I certainly had fun putting it together. Y/N is Pink, Sun is Yellow, Moon is Blue, and Eclipse is Red. The Aftons (William and Vanny) are Purple.

In the middle of a gunfight, In the center of a restaurant, They say, "Come with your arms raised high"

Well, they're never gonna get me Like a bullet through a flock of doves

This represents the first time Sun and Moon actually meet Y/N, as they escape into traffic and show off how hard it is to catch them, their game Begins; it also circles back to their last gun fight where Eclipse corners them and they shoot him in the eye

To wage this war against your faith in me

Your life will never be the same, On your mother's eyes, say a prayer

This part is when Y/N realizes Sun and Moon trust them and they're not playing a game anymore, the mother's eyes lyric being about Vanny and William

Now, but I can't, and I don't know How we're just two men as God had made us Well, I can't, well, I can, Too much, too late

Or just not enough of this Pain in my heart for your dying wish I'll kiss your lips again

Sun and Moon talking about their guilt about how they got where they are (Eclipse's Money) and Y/N talking to Sun as they agree to find a Celestial Wire for Moon as he metaphorically bleeds our on the operating table. They know what they're gonna do is the wrong choice but they wanna kiss Moon again one more time even if he never forgives them

They all cheat at cards and the checkers are lost

My cellmate's a killer, they make me do push-ups in drag

But nobody cares if you're losing yourself Am losing myself?

Eclipse keeping Y/N in his room and manipulating them with food and comfort items, the push ups in drag thing about Eclipse putting them in a burgundy shirt, dressing them up as the Afton's Dog, not who they really are. They lose a piece of their identity as they strap their knife to their thigh and break into Freddy's house

Well, I miss my mom

Gregory and Y/N lock eyes and they see He's Been Through Some Shit the way they had when they were his age, both of them Orphans

Will they give me the chair?

Or lethal injection, or swing from a rope, if you dare?

Nobody knows all the trouble I've seen

They wonder what Sun and Moon will do when they find out who they really are and what they'd done (the scene where they bury the little girl they'd brought to Afton)

This part is backwards!!!

Now, but I can't, and I don't know How we're just two men as God had made us Well, I can't, well, I can, Too much, too late

Or just not enough of this Pain in my heart for your dying wish I'll kiss your lips again

Y/N going into the fire to kill Eclipse to give his Celestial Wire to Sun

To your room

What they ask of you will make you want to say, "So long"

Well, I don't remember

Why remember you?

Y/N flees from Fazbear's office when he brings up their past

Do you have the keys to the hotel? Cause l'm gonna string this motherfucker on fire, Fire!

Y/N and Eclipse duking it out in their room

Life is but a dream for the dead And well, I won't go down by myself But I'll go down with my friends Now, (I can't explain) (l can't complain) Now yeah

Y/N sees their room in Sun and Moon's apartment after Moon tries to explain what happened to Sun, who Already Knows and is hurting but knows Eclipse needed to die, Y/N puts their chains around Sun and Moon's wrists

[rosesisupposes]

To Dust or To Gold

Part 8 of Another Goddamn Hero Story

read on ao3

Chapter Pairings: established Royality, Analogical, pre-romantic LAMP (emphasis on Moxiety and Logince)

Chapter Warnings: Hospitals, death threats, background character deaths, some gore, hallucinations, self-hatred, bipolar cycling (both depressive and manic), cliffhanger ending :D

Word Count:  9,395 [it’s a doozy]

Taglist: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice   @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse @thelowlysatsuma @monsterinatophat @turtally-pawsome @um-yes-hi-hello @idkaurl @potestessemagishomosexualitatis @hawthornshadow

~~~~~~~~~~

“So,” Logan began.

“So,” Roman responded, reclining in an ornate ruby chair.

“Sew buttons!” Patton interrupted, draping himself across Roman’s lap.

Virgil growled in frustration. “Can you please focus for a single second?”

The heroes had relocated to the supers’ gym, still anxious to keep the untested villains away from the mayor.

“We don’t take orders, Reflex,” the Marauder replied evenly. “We’re only here because you two don’t seem as incompetent as the rest of the super assholes.”

“You don’t need to take orders,” Logan said, shooting Virgil a reassuring look even as he spoke. “We just need to know what exactly you can do, and plan how we’ll stay in contact.”

“Asking for my number already? I couldn’t possibly, not so soon,” Roman responded, fluttering his eyelashes.

“We’re not joining your ‘hatchet’ or whatever you call it,” Patton added. “We’re here to take down a murderer, not get sucked into the system.”

“We’re not asking you to join H.A.T.C.H.,” Logan said patiently. “But if we don’t know where you are or how to contact you, that just makes you a liability.”

“Actually it’s just an air ability,” Patton quipped back. His lips didn’t twitch. He didn’t grin. But the smugness was palpable from across the gym. Logan lost his train of thought at the overwhelmingly familiar feeling of a punster at work. He could practically see his dad’s irritatingly-pleased grin shining through Patton’s smooth mask.

Virgil, a true hero, came to Logan’s rescue. “So, air ability. Air manipulation, no matter where the air is, yeah? Inside or outside of a person?”

Gale Force paused, then nodded.

“And you, Shiny Red Boy, any limitations we need to know about?”

The Crimson Marauder gasped. “Shiny red boy? That’s the best you can do? I am appalled, I am disgusted, I spend my life dedicated to being chaotic neutral and this is the thanks I get??”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Okay, Drama Red Queen, shall I paint the roses for you or are you going to answer the question?”

“Joke’s on you, I like that nickname,” Roman said with a sniff. “I just need to keep focused. And my constructs can only be autonomous if they’re tiny. And I can’t do more overall mass at once than something about the size of this entire room.”

Logan looked around the echoing room, designed for whole teams of heroes to practice in at once. “That’s some power,” he said softly. “And limited only by strength of mind. Fascinating.”

“And what about you two?” Patton asked in a saccharine-sweet voice. “You wouldn’t get us to divulge details without returning the favor, would you?”

“I have, as you’ve seen, a super speed ability. I can also speed read or manipulate just a hand or limb to go at enhanced speeds. I can go from 0 to 60 in .0001 seconds, and my top recorded speed is 1,700 miles per hour, or approximately 2,700 kilometers per hour.” Logan responded matter-of-factly.

“And what about you, Tall, Dark, and Muscly?” Roman asked.

“I picked my super name as Reflex for a reason. I’ve got fight, flight, and freeze. Super strength, superflight that can rival the Doc here for speed, and the shockwave you both saw the other day. I send out a burst of energy that stuns or knocks out anyone in a given radius.”

“Can you control who it affects?” Patton asked curiously. “Or is it just anyone?”

Virgil’s mouth twisted. “I can sometimes control it, yes. If I’m focused, and I’m not too upset at the time. It’s not guaranteed.”

“How upset were you the other day then?”

“You’d just attacked my partner. I was pissed, but in control. If you’d more seriously injured L- the Doctor, you might have needed more than one day to wake up from the coma I put you both in.”

“Partners are important,” Patton said softly, running a hand through Roman’s dark, wavy hair. He turned and made eye contact with the heroes. “If you hurt him, I will end you.” It wasn’t a threat, but a statement of fact.

Virgil locked eyes with the villain, jerking his head at Logan. “And if you hurt him, you’ll wish I’d only killed you.”

Roman chuckled, flashing a smile at Logan over Patton’s curly head. “Aww, look at then, they’re bonding!”

Logan looked up at his partner and back to Gale Force. “They’re bonding over death threats. I don’t think this is how I expected a hero-villain team-up to go.”

“It’s okay, Doc, you and me are clearly the pretty faces of our respective teams next to the brawn of our boys here.”

“Excuse you, I did not get three degrees in the time it takes most people to get one to be called just a pretty face,“ Logan said with an frown.

“Doesn’t make it any less true, though,” the Marauder replied with a wink. “Your face is pretty, you gotta accept it.”

Logan stared at the villain. “Is this flirting?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“No, I’m legitimately asking, I’m apparently unable to identify it on my own.”

Virgil and Patton stopped staring one another down in time to hear the last comment. Virgil snorted. “Doc, you have understatement down to an art.”

“Shush, you,” Logan said, blushing faintly.

“Do you have, like, a crush on him?” Roman gushed.

“Please, no-”

“Oooohhhh, he totally has a crush on him!!” Patton chimed in, bouncing in Roman’s lap.

“Reflex, I take all of this back, this was a terrible idea, I’m leaving…”

Virgil gently nudged Logan with a shoulder. “No you won’t. This is too important. And you and I are good, no matter what.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Darling, I think they might be gay,” Roman stage-whispered to Patton.

“And I think you might be annoying,” Virgil shot back. “Enough fucking around. We know your powers, you know ours. What we don’t know is anything about the bastard out here killing our city.”

Logan adjusted the goggles on top of his head. “We can tell you what we know from the Mayor. It’s not much. They clearly can cause some sort of nightmare or hallucination in others. The survivor mentioned the outline of a smile in the dust clouds.”

“Like the Cheshire Cat,” Roman murmured. “How very Carollian.” Logan started, a curious expression on his face as he looked at the taller villain.

Winds gusted around Gale Force as he lifted himself up off of his partner’s lap. “A survivor? Who saw what happened?”

“Yes, a teenage girl. She’s in the hospital.”

“Could we ask her for more detail?” Virgil mused aloud. “Get a full description of events, see if there are any little details she may have missed?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

~~~~~~~~~~

To say that the hospital staff reacted oddly to seeing the until-recently most prominent villains strolling in the front door, accompanied but not restrained by some of the best-loved heroes would be putting it mildly. Reflex had to undergo a brief concussion test administered by a well-meaning emergency tech, and Doctor Vectorious had to calmly talk a doctor into putting the defibrillator back on the wall and stop brandishing it as a weapon.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Virgil politely asked after their patient.

“Ah, yes. She’s conscious and stable, if still very shaken. Her family is in with her right now.”

“Can we see her?”

“Not all of you! Pick just one, and her mom stays no matter who it is.”

Virgil nodded. “We should ask who she wants in there. Who she’d be most comfortable with. She’s just a kid, after all.”

The doctor nodded. “I’ll ask. You may wait here.” She paused, looking around the waiting room with many sets of staring eyes. “On second thought, follow me.”

Patton seemed completely oblivious to their observers. Roman stared at his surroundings as they walked, sniffing the air frequently. Virgil walked closer than normal to Logan, accidentally bumping him several times as he fought the urge to shrink into the hoodie he wasn’t wearing.

The doctor showed them to a smaller, empty waiting room and left them there with a brisk nod.

“Why’s it smell so weird here?” Roman finally asked.

“Weird?”

“Like, sharp. Stinging in smell form. Kinda acrid, I guess. But also a bit like soap?”

“That’s the antiseptic,” Logan said. “Have you not been in a hospital before?”

Roman went quiet, then finally said, “I haven’t been to a doctor’s office before. Not that I remember, anyway.”

Logan pursed his lips and Virgil was about to speak when the doctor returned.

“The patient has made her request,” she began.

“Yes?”

“...she asked for him,” the woman replied, pointing at the Crimson Marauder.

The group looked to Roman, then back at the doctor as one.

“I confirmed it with her. She specifically requested ‘the red one.’”

Roman nervously adjusted his cape and mask. “Can she speak to me now?”

“Yes, follow me.”

He stepped into the indicated door to see a middle-aged woman with plenty of silver threads in her plump braid helping the young woman on the cot drink from a pink plastic cup. “Um, hi, Ms. and Miss Rodrigeuz. I’m the Crimson Marauder,” he began.

The young woman sat up without her mother’s help, leaning forward eagerly.

“Are you really, though?”

“...would anyone try to impersonate me?”

“I mean… I saw the group. You’re with the heroes again. Are you still the Marauder if you’re back?” she asked with a bruised smile. 

“Back…?”

“You don’t remember me, do you. I was probably one of many people who thanked you, back in your Prince days.”

Roman’s eyes went wide. “Sofia? That Sofia?” he asked, voice cracking. “The little princess?”

“You do remember,” her mom commented softly, brushing a gentle hand through Sofia’s hair. “She kept that crown for years. Even when she insisted that princesses were ‘only for los niños’, she would keep pulling it out when she thought we couldn’t see.”

Roman swallowed a lump in his throat. “I could never forget. You were the first person ever to thank me. The first civilian to treat me like a real hero.”

“Only the first civilian?”

“I- another hero did, too. Many years ago.”

Sofia tilted her head. Her bruises were shockingly colorful, and she spoke carefully around a tender jaw, but she seemed otherwise in one piece. “Why did you stop?”

“What?”

“You were ours. The Prince of Sycamore Heights. Why did you become a villain?”

Roman looked down. “It’s… complicated. But I thought I could do a better job for our home this way.”

“Things did get better,” her mom said. “For years, it was so much better. After you got rid of the Patrol.”

“It wasn’t just me,” Roman responded automatically.

“You and Copper Eye. I remember,” Sofia said. “I loved watching her work.”

“So did I,” Roman said quietly, swiping at the tear wriggling out of his eye. He swallowed and settled his shoulders, trying to compose himself. “Sofia, can I ask you about what you remember about this attack?”

“It’s not much,” she warned.

“Anything helps. We’re going to get whoever did this. I promise.”

Sofia looked up, meeting his eyes directly. “Don’t promise unless you mean it.”

Roman looked back steadily, and placed a hand over his heart. “I, the Crimson Marauder, formerly the Scarlet Prince, promise you, Sofia Rodriguez: we’ll get the one who hurt you and all those people, or die in the attempt.”

Sofia nodded fiercely. “Here’s what I remember.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The Crimson Marauder sat on a red swing floating from nothing as Gale Force reclined on air beside him. They faced the heroes, who were more sensibly sitting on the edge of the roof of an office building near the middle of the city. All four contemplated the details Roman had shared in their own ways. A tiny tornado ran up and down Patton’s fingers, Roman created and vanished mini constructs, Logan’s fingers tapped so quickly they left erosion trails on the concrete, and Virgil hummed tunelessly under his breath.

“You know what seems weird to me?” Reflex said at length. “I don’t know if this means anything, but your friend seems like an extremely level-headed teenager. And yet...”

“...you gonna finish that or do you just think teenagers are dumb.”

“Oh, I don’t think they’re dumb, they just scare the living shit out of me,” Virgil said with a quirk in his smile. “No, she seems really collected, really rational, and yet she didn’t think twice before leaving safety to get to her family.”

“It’s family,” Patton said curtly. “Of course she didn’t.”

“Believe me, I understand protecting family,” Virgil replied. “But not even trying to confirm? Not even when she saw others running? It seems like she was just operating off panic.”

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Mr. Brendon Urie Wannabe,” Roman snarked. But he had also reached out and grabbed Patton’s hand, squeezing reassurance to his partner to counteract the dark cloud spread across his face.

“Do you think that tells us something about how the villain operates?” Doctor Vectorious asked Reflex, pushing them back on track.

“Maybe it’s more than just visual hallucinations?”

“Hm, interesting theory, but-” Logan began, when their watches began to blare with a new H.A.T.C.H. alert.

“Fuck, the harbor!” Virgil said.

“Southeast,” Logan said at the same time. He looked up at both villains. “Meet us there.”

Reflex was already soaring away, a streak of black and purple stretching through the city. A second blur joined him, black and white and blue paralleling his trajectory from the ground.

Roman squeezed Patton’s hand once more, tightly. “We’re doing this, yeah?”

“We are. We have to.”

“Okay then. Time for some thrilling heroics.”

As one, they went from sitting to moving, both riding a red hang glider that sped as quickly as the ripping wind that sprang up to carry it.

They soared over the city towards the water, following the heroes. Roman nudged Patton as they approached.

“What is that?”

“Looks like a dust cloud. Someone’s being naughty.”

“Should we land?”

Patton nodded, letting go of the frame to point to roof where the heroes were braced, trying to see into the obscured area. He floated down to land softly, Roman a breath behind him. They stared at the enormous cloud of dust and debris, trying to make out what was happening underneath.

Reflex frowned. “It’s not moving.”

Doctor Vectorious nodded. “If it were a true debris cloud, it should be dissipating or growing, not just staying static. It’s obscuring something, and I can’t tell what.”

“Maybe I can help clear things up,” Gale Force offered, sending winds towards the very center of the obstruction. Dust and rocks and debris blew up and away, out of the three-block radius and into the harbor.

The Crimson Marauder gasped aloud as the cloud faded. “Whatever I was expecting, that wasn’t it.”

The dust cloud had been pushed away. But a dark mass remained. It oozed through the streets, a bulbous form that dragged on corners and sidewalks but left no residue. It was mesmerizing, in an off-putting way. Colors shifted and played over its dark surface like far-off nebulas brought to earth, now an orange veil, now pink, now a green or blue haze. It absorbed light rather than giving any off, but besides the flicker of changing colors, no movement was seen.

“...I know I’m gonna regret this, but I think we should go straight into it,” Reflex offered, stepping out into the open air. “We need to know if it’s solid, and this is where the alert said the disturbance was.”

“Are all heroes dumb enough to wander into Definitely-Murderous-Glow-Clouds or is it just you?” Gale Force asked mildly.

“All hail the Glow Cloud,” Logan and Roman said at the same time, then scowled at the other for having the same thought.

“What else do you suggest then?”

Patton huffed, and paced on the edge of the roof. “...I don’t know.”

“We’ll send the strongest two first, then,” Doctor Vectorious mused. “‘Flex, you fly in with Gale Force to blow off any more debris, and to see if you can wind-funnel your way in. We’ll back you up, ready to pull you out if needed, or Marauder here can add a construct tunnel if you’re able to open it up. Is that acceptable?”

Patton frowned at what felt like condescension, at this hero trying to tell them what to do. But, with resignation, he realized he didn’t have a better plan, and Valerie’s murderer could be getting away right now for all they knew. Stiffly, he nodded his assent.

Roman cupped his neck, fingers tangled in the curls at his nape. “Be careful, gingerpie,” he whispered. “If you die, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Don’t worry, honeygold, I’ll be your boo no matter what,” Patton murmured back with a grin. He kissed Roman firmly on the mouth, right under his mask.

“I’m too pretty to date a ghost,” Roman complained, but he was smiling all the same.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Okay, Hurricane Gay-trina, let’s not waste any more time. Can you make a wind tunnel I can fly through without getting hurt?”

Without a word, air raced past them into a clear cone that hollowed out, a tube of rushing wind that stretched from their spot towards the mass. Virgil acknowledged his villain partner with a two-fingered salute and sped down it, rocketing towards the form that continued to shift colors. He extended a clenched fist, bracing himself to collide with the edge, ready to use all his strength to bust through if possible.

Instead of hitting a hard edge, though, he just passed into it as the sun disappeared. Darkness surrounded him, the pitch black of an overcast midnight. He could suddenly hear impacts, crunching rock and shouts and screams, and froze. He couldn’t move suddenly, not without seeing around him. He might hurt those near him worse with too fast a movement or a misplaced step.

Virgil had never expected to experience relief at seeing Gale Force, but the tunnel of wind opened up the mass and brought in Patton and the setting sunlight in a joint beam. “It worked!” Virgil said. “Quick, blow away as much of this as you can. I can try to stun everyone if I need to.”

The villain didn’t pause or argue, but multiplied the cyclone until copies branched out in all directions. They punched through the dark haze in dozens of places, bringing in the scant evening light and blessedly fresh air. Some of the screams faded, and Virgil could finally see the faces of surrounding civilians as their terror faded into confusion.

Both hero and villain could see what had caused the screams. A young villain, a H.E.A.R.T.S. dropout Virgil remembered, had paused in the center of the chaos. They blinked, slowly shrinking their hands back from huge, car-sized fists to normal limbs. The villain looked around them, and down at their torn costume. It was as bloody and ripped as their hands, the bold gold and red of a ringmaster’s coat turned into something out of a horror film. The Contortionist fell heavily to their knees, still shaken.

A burst of blue fire brought attention to the other active combatant. This was a current H.E.A.R.T.S. student, not yet a full hero, and even through her mask it was clear she was terrified. Another flash of light and she popped into being closer to the newcomers.

“V- I mean, Reflex?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“It’s really me, Blynk,” he reassured her, crouching slightly to shrink the almost-foot difference in their heights.

“I- where did they go? The ones attacking me? They were… everywhere.” She balled one hand in the loose blue dress that made up her costume as the other pulled up the attached hood nervously.

“It was an illusion,” Patton explained. “This new villain, Agent Whisper. They make you see things that aren’t there.”

“I couldn’t get away,” she whispered. “No matter how many times I teleported, they were still there to catch me.”

“They’re gone,” Virgil assured her. “You’re safe.” He offered his arms, and the young hero dove into his embrace. Speaking over her head, he looked up at his villain partner. “Can you fully break this up?”

“Here comes Mister Blue Sky,” Patton said with incongruous cheer, expanding the existing funnels. Light filled more and more of their view until the full sky returned and the last of the strange substance melted into air.

A zip and a thud heralded the arrival of the missing hero-villain pair.

“Good work,” Logan told them both. “A small bit seemed to split off, but you cleared the area and appear to have fully disrupted any illusions.”

“They got away?” Patton asked sharply. “Which direction?” He was already started to drift into the air.

Virgil grabbed the loose tunic and tugged him down. “We can’t just chase after them!”

“Why the fuck not?”

The angry question was spat into Virgil’s face, but it was Logan and Roman who answered simultaneously, “We need to help the people here.”

The fading sunlight showed just how right they were. Craters littered the landscape around them. So did bodies. Every visible face was bruised or bloody, but luckily, most were moving as civilians picked themselves up out of the wreckage.

Logan was already confirming that emergency care was on the way as he zipped around the battlefield, assisting where he could. Roman took one look at the injured and started to conjure glowing splints and crutches.

Patton was still staring angrily at the direction Logan had indicated was  that of Agent Whisper’s escape, straining at Virgil’s hold. “Let me the fuck go,” he snapped. “I’m not here to be your goddamn hero, I’m here for revenge.”

“You think I don’t get that?” Virgil snapped back. “I want the bastard dead as much as you do, so don’t think for a second that you have a monopoly on rage here.”

“Then what are we waiting for? We’re the strongest and those two both know it. Let’s follow this piece of shit, grind them into dust, and be fucking done with this ‘partnership.’”

Virgil’s grip slackened for a second as he looked around them, a cloud of anger on his face. But it passed, and he pulled Gale Force all the way back to earth. “We can’t just rush in. This isn’t just for revenge: it’s to stop more people getting hurt. And it’s because we’re the strongest that we can’t risk blazing through, because we’ll be the reason more are hurt.”

Patton crossed his arms, glaring at the taller man. “What makes you think I care about a couple of casualties if it means I get revenge?”

“Because you’re still human,” Reflex responded. His gaze was level, understanding. “If all you wanted was their death at any cost, you wouldn’t have come to us. I’m not asking you to admit anything, but I have a feeling you know more about collateral damage than you ever wanted to know.” A nerve in Patton’s cheek jumped at that and Virgil nodded. “Like I said. Not asking you to admit anything. But I get it. I never wanted to be a hero. But then my partner convinced me that it’s not about getting recognition, it’s not about the fights. It’s about doing the best you can for as many people as you can. It’s about using these powers I never asked for to do what others can’t.”

Patton grumbled, but assented. “Fine. What can I do here, then?”

“Help me with the rubble? Drop it in the harbor if you need to.”

Reflex and Gale Force joined their partners in cleaning up the disaster zone. ‘Flex lifted enormous chunks of rock and concrete gently to free trapped limbs or to uncover more bodies. He tossed them into the air, where the wind-manipulator caught them and floated them safely to the water.

The Crimson Marauder flew into the air to check for more injured civilians, held aloft by his glowing hands. He was aware of Doctor Vectorious moving quickly somewhere below him, running up buildings and around the square to find civilians who’d been outside as well as in the surrounding apartments and offices. Was anyone limping? Anyone who needed a temporary bandage? Where was the emergency services van, shouldn’t they be here?

A huge crack of of rubble and rock shifting distracted him, and he whirled to see where the noise was coming from. By the time he registered that it was just Reflex working with Patton (aww, his love was working with one of his crushes!), he’d lost focus and his glow went out. He fell, stomach dropping as he tried to conjure something, anything, even just a mattress or a trampoline to break his fall.

A warm impact hit him as a blur originating from a nearby roof crashed into him and carried them both to a fire escape on the other side of the narrow street. The blur resolved back into Doctor Vectorious, and he found himself being held in the shorter man’s arms.

The speedster stared for a moment, then looked away with a slight pink tinge to his pale cheeks. “You’re, um,” he said, jerking his head towards him without looking back. “Uncovered.”

Roman started, feeling his face. The impact had knocked off his mask, and the hero was pointedly looking away to preserve his identity.

Or, perhaps, Logan was looking away because his internal monologue had been hijacked by the phrase, “Oh fuck, he’s hot.”

Roman quickly conjured a replacement mask and slid out of Logan’s hold to stand on his own again. The hero remained with his gaze averted until a siren’s blare drew close, announcing the arrival of the emergency crew.

“Thank fuck,” Roman sighed, and flew himself down to greet them. He explained quickly that his constructs needed to be replaced now so that they wouldn’t fade if they got too far away. He was already grateful that they’d be detached from him long enough that they hadn’t faded when he momentarily lost focus, and was eager to be able to draw back his energies further.

Virgil, Logan, and Patton ferried the injured from ruins of the street to the vans, including both the young hero and villain to the separate supers truck. Finally, they were able to move out. The heroes had acquired a better-functioning scanner for the villains, one that could call them specifically when they were needed, and allowed the villains to call them securely if they should so choose. About to part, Reflex paused, and offered Gale Force a handshake. Warily, the villain accepted, and the Marauder did too, in turn. Doctor Vectorious was more hesitant, but copied his partner.

Back in Logan’s apartment, the shorter man washed his face thoroughly, still shivering slightly at the remembrance of so many hurt. “How many casualties was it, all told?”

“Ten. All civilians. Both The Contortionist and Blynk are on bed rest, but they’ll recover. Total injuries are at about 25 people, but the techs said at least ten additional civilians avoided worse injuries that could have lead to critical conditions thanks to our timing as a group.”

Logan sighed. “I know I should be grateful that we were able to help so many, proportionally, but…”

“I know.”

“This villain is no joke, Virge. 35 deaths and it hasn’t yet been two days.”

“We’ll get them, Lo. I promise.”

Logan looked up. Virgil was back in civilian clothes that he left here in his partner’s apartment, one of his trusty black hoodies unzipped over a plain tee and sweatpants. Logan had changed back into his version of casual: a button-up not fully buttoned, no tie, and jeans.

“Speaking of promises…” he began. He ran a hand through already-mussed hair. “I was cut off, yesterday. I know that there are bigger, more pressing issues now but I still want to finish the thought I was trying to express.”

“Lo, it’s okay if you don’t return the sentiment, you know that, right? I’ll still love you as a friend no matter what.”

Logan sat next to Virgil on the couch. “I appreciate that, Vee, but that’s not where I was going.”

“Oh?” Virgil asked, smiling hopefully.

“I apologize for my obliviousness, Virgil, and for how long it took me to put this together, but I believe I feel the same type of romantic sentiment towards you as you’ve expressed that you feel towards me.” Logan reached out a tentative hand to take Virgil’s in his.

“You’re sounding like a textbook again, Lo,” Virgil teased, squeezing Logan’s hand.

“Sorry, I just-”

“I’m not complaining, not in the slightest. It’s part of you, ya know? It’s part of the charm.” He shifted over on the couch until their thighs were touching, and, receiving a nod of approval, draped an arm around his partner’s shoulders. “I love you, Logan.”

Logan blushed deep. “I love you as well, Virgil.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please do.”

Lips met in tentative sweetness and softness, neither pushing or needing to. This was them, comfort and companionship that felt as natural as breathing. And at this particular moment, breathing was the more difficult option of the two.

At long last, Logan broke off and looked up into Virgil’s dark eyes. “Are we… dating? It seems like an odd term, or at the very least an odd distinction.”

“I mean. We’re already partners,” Virgil said with a shrug and a grin.

“Oh no, don’t you start on puns too, now. There’s already Dad and Gale Force, I refuse to take any more of this.”

“Okay, okay,” Virgil said, laughing. “I’ll have mercy. Because I love you.” He most definitely did not add in the phrase because it was a relief to say it out loud after so many years of thinking it. He would definitely not continue to sprinkle it in liberally after seeing Logan’s pink-cheeked reaction to hearing it.

“I must say, I was quite impressed by the Marauder today. I thought he’d entirely turned his back on heroing when he realigned, but it appears he really is a hero at heart. Or, at the very least, a super who cares about the well-being of civilians over his personal gain.”

“Almost like people can have a change of heart without a change of personality,” Virgil commented mildly.

“He’s still a villain, though,” Logan added sharply. “And don’t think I didn’t see Gale Force trying to run off before you talked him down.”

Virgil sighed, letting his arm fall off Logan’s shoulders. “He’s not all bad, Lo. He’s just an angry human with far too many scars that haven’t come close to healing yet.”

“So are you. And yet you’re still a hero.”

“But I’ve had you, for nine years. He only has whats-his-name. Roman. Princey. Who’s just as burned, if not quite so angry.” Virgil’s voice was soft.

Logan frowned. “Why make excuses for them?”

“Because it’s not hard for me to picture a different world where I went that direction instead, Lo. I… I could picture myself neutral, hiding from my powers. Or a villain, angry at the city for not finding me sooner. Gale Force understands that. The fury. And besides that… I like them. For all that they’re frustrating and have evil tendencies and all the public displays of affection.”

An eyebrow raised above glasses frames. “You like them?”

“I mean, you know I’ve been flirting with Princey during fights. It’s not just because I’m a walking stereotype of a snarky hero. And the other one, Patton, he’s not bad-looking either.”

“Ah, I see,” Logan said quietly.

"This doesn’t affect how I feel about you, Lo, not in any way,” Virgil rushed to clarify. “It could never. It’ll always be you, no matter if I pursue these other feelings or not.”

Logan relaxed slightly. “I don’t know that I feel similarly, or even could, not when I only realized how I felt about you through a strong platonic bond over literal years.”

“That’s more than okay. You mean the most to me. If you’d rather I keep quiet about these feelings, just let them fade…”

“No, that’s unnecessary. I am not opposed to you, ah, pursuing them, just keep me informed. I do understand the… attraction.” Logan blushed lightly, but coughed and continued. “And as long as you’re safe. They’re still villains, Vee. We can’t trust them, not past taking down Agent Whisper.”

“You may be right. You usually are. But, I don’t know, man. I feel like maybe we can, this time.”

Logan raised an eyebrow again. “Virgil the cynic, wanting to trust people?”

“Oh look, it’s the pot, calling the kettle black,” Virgil replied, shoving Logan lightly in the shoulder.

“Guilty as charged.”

“By the way, can I borrow your phone charger, I wanna call Mom and Mama today, and the sibs if they’re home.”

“Why do you think I bought an extra-long purple cord?”

~~~~~~~~~~

D.R.E.A.M. Index #337475 Classification: A.3.i [Tertiary Tier Hero, Legacy] Name: Blynk Status: INACTIVE /////////Reason: Injury Civilian Name: [CLEARANCE: TOP SECRET] McKenzie Bleu Affiliation: Hero /////////H.A.T.C.H. Status: Temporarily Inactive Partners/Sidekicks: N/A Primary Foes: N/A Powers: Short-Range Teleportation; Enhanced Durability; /////////Range approximately 100 yds; does not need to see destination, but does need to focus on it Costume: Black leggings with lace up ballet slippers; blue dress with white stripe on the skirt with attached hood Age: 17 Height: 5’4 Pronouns: She/Her H.E.A.R.T.S. Class: Enrolled, anticipated ‘19 Note: Daughter of DI#265353; Not yet cleared for independent hero missions - involvement in IR 18-Z-0015 unintentional and due to proximity alone

D.R.E.A.M. Index #337432 Classification: Z.3.iv [Tertiary Tier Villain, Unknown] Name: The Contortionist Status: INACTIVE /////////Reason: Incarceration, Injury Civilian Name: [CLEARANCE: CONFIDENTIAL] Tai Kim Affiliation: Villain Partners/Sidekicks: N/A Primary Foes: N/A Powers: Body Plasticity - Medium Spectrum; /////////Can alter density and length of body parts; cannot fully transform into other shapes Costume: Bodysuit in black, red, and gold; designed to look like a tailcoat with gold braiding; /////////Strongly reminiscent of a ringmaster outfit, but able to stretch with them Age: 19 Height: 5’10 Pronouns: They/Them H.E.A.R.T.S. Class: Dropout Note: Believed to have left the city until involvement in IR 18-Z-0015

~~~~~~~~~~

They were woken early the next morning by yet another H.A.T.C.H. alert. Virgil gave a single breath to regret his poor, poor sleep schedule before changing into his costume.

Mayor and S.E.A.M. Stokes weren’t sure of the exact nature of the disturbance, but they knew it involved supers. In this uncertain climate, that meant sending their best, just to be prepared. At Virgil’s urging, Logan had conceded to alert their villain partners as well.

“What’s the harm in being ready, L?”

“They’re collectively responsible for over fifteen felonies.”

“...yeah, but they’re on our side now.”

Logan fixed his partner with a look.

“I know, I know. We can’t trust them entirely. But you trust me, right?”

Logan softened. “Of course I do. I trust you with my life.”

Virgil paused, blushing slightly. “I… god, I love you, Lo.”

“I love you as well.”

Standing by the window, in full costume, seconds before rushing to whatever crime scene had alerted them today, Virgil stole a moment to pull his partner in close and kiss him softly.

They parted, both pink-faced. “I’ve just got a hunch, Lo. I think we’ll need them, or at least not regret bringing them along. And I swear, I’ll protect you if they try anything.”

And thus, as they surveyed the scene from the top of a nearby building, the villains arrived as well.

“I don’t see Agent Piss-per anywhere,” Gale Force said with a frown.

“We haven’t either,” Logan replied evenly. “But they’ve been targeting super fights so far. It’s only logical to conclude that any fight between persons with enhanced abilities will continue to be targets for them.”

“I’m not participating in your self-righteous state-sanctioned vigilantism,” the Marauder said, lounging against the wall. “Who’s even fighting?”

“They’re a recurring duo. They either partner up or are on opposite sides, it depends on which muse is controlling her,” Virgil explained, gesturing to the dark-clad figure visible from above. Many brilliant lights surrounded her, with more seeming to sprout from the galaxy print on her suit. Tiny constellations flew towards her opponent and swirled around the other’s massive, cascading skirts. With Gale Force’s help, they could all hear the conversation on the wind - a steady stream of chat and compliments, even as star constructs disrupted the princess-figure’s attempts to infiltrate the nearby museum.

“Who’s this?”

“Today? Nebula. You may also know her as Ghost. But she’s not nearly as active as some I could name,” Logan explained, glancing side-eyed at where Gale Force seemed to be taking notes.

“Yes, but what about the aesthetic one,” the Marauder asked with a tone bordering on reverence.

Virgil smirked. “She’s known as Lovely Darling. A mesmerizer with a strong affinity for princesses. So you know, pretty familiar, except more people are infatuated with her than just herself.”

Roman pouted at the tall hero and opened his mouth to object when the air suddenly shifted and four sets of eyes snapped to the scene below.

A dark dust cloud was rising, despite the complete lack of debris or destruction from the existing fight. Looking for the details, Virgil saw how the ‘dust’ cloud dragged and stuck on corners as it neared both supers.

“Heads up!” Gale Force shouted, and the air itself carried his voice, surprising them both as they noticed the impending danger. Logan was there a breath later, grabbing them both and pulling them away before rejoining the group in a blur.

“Go in all at once?” Virgil asked.

“On y va,” Roman said firmly, and they moved forward as one. The minute they passed into the cloudlike mass, Roman had the strangest sense of someone muttering, Oh, this should be fun.

And then the world went grey. His limbs went heavy and his heart turned to lead. A sluggishness settled over his entire body as he crumpled to his knees. He couldn’t muster the energy to do anything but struggle to stay upright, and he watched his constructs melt away in a blink of an eye. Of course he couldn’t create anything. He was useless. Everyone knew he was the weakest of their group. No raw power like Reflex, no elemental power like Patton, no brilliant strategy like the Doctor. He just had his little red toys. And now, he didn’t even have those.

It was fitting, wasn’t it? Let everyone see how worthless he was, whether a hero or a villain. He could die here, in this cloud, and the world would not note his passing nor feel his loss. A tear coursed down his cheek and fell onto his hands as he struggle to just barely brace himself. All he was good for was tears. How had anyone been fooled enough to believe anything else? Had they even been fooled? Or had they just been humoring him, pretending that he had something to offer. Seeing his obvious fragility and flattering him the way you compliment a child’s terrible scribbles. Who could ever truly believe in him? His arms trembled, and he collapsed fully, prone upon the ground, awash in despair and listlessness.

Logan was running as he passed into the cloud. He was surprised to see it was only a hair’s width as he passed through, coming into practically the same daylit scene on the other side. He kept running as he looked for the villain. Ro- the Marauder was flying on his right, with Virgil and Gale Force on his left. Was that Agent Whisper up there? The dark, humanoid shape was further back than he’d guessed. He pushed himself to speed up, to get there faster before the villain could escape again. He was reaching a rate of one hundred miles per hour - why weren’t they getting closer? His muscles felt odd, not the normal level of burn for this speed, but the wind was rushing through his hair and he could see the world flashing by through his goggles. Perhaps his workout routine was finally helping him reach new speeds. He pushed harder, blurring into five hundred miles per hour, fighting to reach the villain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his villain partners had fallen behind him, but Virgil was still there on his left. But Agent Whisper was still so far away. He ran faster, nearing his top speed. He was a blur, a bullet streaking towards its target, but he could still see and feel his whole body. Finally, the dark antagonist was near, and he went to slow down to grab them, incapacitate them, bring them to justice.

But he couldn’t stop. His legs wouldn’t slow, his arms still pumping in rhythm to keep running. He was still moving, still in the nimbus of speed that almost no one could see. He looked frantically around only to see that he’d left Virgil far behind. He tried to turn, but couldn’t. He was just running, running, through the city, past the city, over hills and mountains and water and more mountains and he couldn’t stop. How would he get home? How would he live? How would he see Mom and Dad again, how would he be there for Jem and Bea? How would he be with Virgil, now that they finally were? He’d left him back there, surrounded by villains. He’d left him all alone, the one thing he’d promised would never happen back when they’d first met. How would time pass while he was stuck in this endless speed? Would he even feel it? Would he just run until his body gave out from the stress or exhaustion?

“Please!” he tried to yell. “Please, get me out!”

But his words were whipped away by the rush of air and movement all around him. He was trapped.

Virgil was prepared for his first step into the cloud, for the light to cut out and the fog to surround him. He felt slightly more of the texture this time, a weird film that clung to his skin. He strode in, scanning for the villain, trusting his hearing more than his sight, which extended only about three feet in any direction. He turned almost instinctively to look for Logan at his right, to check if the speedster had dashed in. He saw his partner but… Logan was frozen, eyes jumping and flitting around. His muscles twitched, but he seemed glued to the spot. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Past him, a red-and-black form lay curled in a fetal position, unmoving.

Virgil reached his partner and love in a single step, reaching out for his shoulder. The impact caused Logan’s eyes to snap open as he cried out in pain. Virgil immediately pulled his hand back, only to see bones protruding from Logan’s arm from how strong his touch had been.

“Fuck, Lo, I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry-”

“You always are,” Logan snapped back, blood seeping down his shoulder. “Sorry will mean nothing when you kill someone. They won’t care that you didn’t mean it!”

Tears sprang from Virgil’s eyes. He looked down to see the concrete was crumbling where his foot had touched the ground. “Please, Lo, let me help-”

“Don’t touch me!” his friend screamed, terror in his eyes. “Stay back!”

Virgil swallowed hard and obeyed, stepping back, but craters formed with each step. He backed into something and whirled to see a huge wall sway and fall, crushing those who’d been unlucky enough to be sitting behind it.

“Stop it!” Logan yelled, and his terror had shifted to hatred. “You ruin everything you touch!”

“I don’t-”

“Just hide away, Virgil. Just leave this city, leave your family, hide away where you won’t hurt anyone anymore. You’re a threat to everyone around you, so just go!”

Tears coursed down Virgil’s cheeks. “Lo, please-”

“You are and always have been nothing more than a ticking time bomb, Virgil. Didn’t Sandry teach you that?”

The tall hero froze. Logan no longer sounded like himself. Virgil knew his dearest friend would never mention that, no matter his anger. No one would - except Virgil himself. Logan’s words were Virgil’s own, the ones he directed against himself on all the dark days. The world crumbling at his touch, inadvertent pain against the one he loved? This was his own private nightmare made real. He took a deep breath, in for four counts. Hold for seven. Out for eight.

“I am not a monster,” he whispered to himself. “I have enhanced abilities. I use them to do the best I can to help others. I pull my punches, I take care to not use too much force. I don’t hurt my loved ones. I am a hero because I try to be one, and I succeed at an above-average rate.”

Slowly, the craters fixed themselves, and the wall re-erected itself. The blood and bones vanished off Logan’s arm, and he was now as he had been, frozen, looking with distress off into nothing as his eyes shifted rapidly. Virgil reached out slowly, gently, to brush his shoulder with a feather-light touch. His partner didn’t respond, but neither did he bruise.

Virgil turned, hearing footsteps. He kept breathing evenly, repeating his mantras to himself, and stepped towards the sound of movement. It was Gale Force, Patton, walking evenly through the mist without hesitation.

Patton stepped through the border of light to dark as easy as breathing. It took him almost ten steps before he realized he no longer heard the heroes and his partner on his right. He turned to see them all paralyzed. Roman’s beautiful, radiant red fire had faded. Patton had been around for enough dark days to recognize the despair etched into his love’s face. He almost ran to him when he saw that the Doctor was frozen too, not on his knees but standing. Doctor Vectorious, who was intriguing and infuriating and condescending and so very pretty seemed to shiver and jerk with some internal movement. Even Reflex had paused, looking confused and distressed. His love and his... partners. Not friends. They were coworkers, if that. Nothing more. What had put them in such a state?

He felt a slight weight on his chest. An impression of tears, of bricks and water and twisted metal. He turned, and walked towards the center of the cloud, seeking Agent Whisper. He was sure he was getting closer, he could feel it. And with every step he saw flashes of the past. A dusty courtyard, the Hundredth-of-an-Acre Wood. A lanky child carrying two giggling girls on his back. Phantom hands smacked his and ran away laughing in a game of tag. Two women smiled down at him, hands linked.

Now they shifted. Bruises and blood appeared, torsos were covered in brick. Limbs became maimed and mangled beyond recognition. And voices drifted out of mouths that couldn’t possibly be producing them.

“You should have saved us.”

“Why were you the only one to survive?”

“You let me die.”

Patton lifted a hand casually to push back the clouds and give himself more visibility. Finally, a form in the mist. It seemed to eat the light around it, a human-shaped hole cut out against reality, a black pit that had no eyes to stare at him.

“How?” a voice asked, shrieking in impossibly high and low octaves at once. It was an eagle’s cry and an earthquake’s rumble, unnatural and natural at once. Patton turned to it, and smiled brightly.

“Oh, kiddo, were you trying to make us feel bad? Here’s a fun little factoid for you!” He grunted with effort as he conjured a cone of air, tightly wound and pointed away from his team. His face fell into a dark mask as he sent the tornado hurtling towards the dark form opposing them. “I’ve felt worse.”

The form dodged easily, but backed up. Reflex appeared at Patton’s side, scowling and tensed to attack. The mist started to lift, helped along by Patton’s winds.

Both hero and villain heard a sound that might have been the crack of rock and might have been a swear. Clouds suddenly rushed past them, flowing from their backs towards Agent Whisper. They swirled around them and starting to soar into the air, a column of dark clouds even as the last traces faded from the square. Reflex shot off from the ground, ready to give chase, but in a breath the clouds were gone and out of sight.

“Fuck,” he said, coming back to land. “That was rough. How were you so unaffected?”

“It’s just ghosts,” Patton replied with a shrug. “I’m always surrounded by ghosts. I’m more worried about our partners.”

Reflex nodded, and they both flew over to where Roman and the Doctor were recovering. Patton was immediately kneeling at Roman’s side, rubbing a warm, grounding hand on his lower back.

“I’m here, love,” he whispered. “The dark is gone, you’re safe, and wonderful, and deserving of all the love I could possibly give you and at least twice as much on top of that.”

Roman stirred, slowly uncurling out of the fetal position. “Sunshine?” he asked raspily. “That’s really you?”

“It’s me, my ruby. I’m here. I love you. You deserve that love.”

Roman moved slowly to sitting up, shuddering. Patton continued to rub small, comforting circles on his lower back, the other hand coming up to run through Roman’s silky, dark hair.

“How did it come on so suddenly, Pat?”

“Agent Whisper, sweetness. I guess that’s what the illusions are - a blast of bad emotions, and our brains fill in the rest.”

Roman shivered and nodded. “Makes sense. And I’m already starting to feel better. Thank you, honeybunch. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Virgil half-listened to the villains’ conversation but his main focus was on Logan. He gently touched his arm, still flinching at the idea of accidentally hurting him. But the speedster’s eyes had finally gone back to normal, focusing on Virgil’s face instead of cycling rapidly.

“Vee?” he asked, voice barely audible. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Is this real?”

“Yes, L, it’s real,” Virgil murmured back.

“Can I-” words seemed to fail him, but he lifted his arms enough for Virgil to understand him.

“Of course,” he said, smiling as he wrapped his arms around his friend and partner. Logan hugged back tightly, burying his face in Virgil’s muscled shoulders to avoid knowing if there were tears on his face or not. Virgil hugged tighter, lifting Logan fully into the air and surprising a laugh out of the shorter man.

“Hey! I’m not a child!” he complained, grinning.

“But you are my babe,” Virgil responded, teasing. “My tiny boyfriend.”

Logan blushed a deep red at that. “Oh, yes, I suppose I am.”

“That’s gay,” Roman drawled, standing with Patton’s help. “Dear, look at the heroes, they’re gay.”

“Heroes? More like queeroes!”

Logan’s blush didn’t fade as he glared over. “That was terrible.”

“Is that why you’re laughing internally?” Virgil asked blandly, to Logan’s indignation.

“Hey, don’t out me in front of them!”

“Oh horror of horrors, the nerd might actually have a sense of humor,” Roman said, draping a hand dramatically over his forehead. Color had returned to his golden cheeks, and his eyes were practically crackling with rich hazel energy.

“I’m glad you’re both feeling better,” Virgil said, putting Logan back on his feet. “Even if this Whisper fuck got away again.”

“We know what they’re capable of, now,” Logan said. “We can prepare for next time. Or at least brace ourselves for it.”

Patton nodded. “‘Flex and I are proof it can be overcome. So there’s hope for you two as well.”

“Go home and get some rest, gather your emotional strength,” Virgil advised, slipping his hands into Logan’s grip. “I’ve got a feeling we’ll be called again much sooner than we’d like.”

The villains nodded and flew off together, Roman rocketing ahead of Patton.

“Ladybug, slow down,” Patton complained. “You’re going too fast for me!”

“You’re going too slow!” Roman cried happily, looping in circles high and low. “God, I can’t believe how much better I feel now that we’re away from that creep!” He laughed and created a glowing red surfboard. He stood on it and balanced with exaggerated outspread hands, conjuring a huge red wave that crashed over Patton as he flew through the air still. He giggled, and the wave crashed into an explosion of butterflies and ruby wings sprouted from his back.

“Ro, come on, let’s go home,” Patton pleaded. “We can bring the butterflies if you want.”

“Butterflies are old news,” Roman replied, snapping his fingers. The forms around him melted into a huge dragon that carried him on its back as it blew sparkling fire.

“Roro, please!”

“No, not a dragon. A witch!” Roman cried, unhearing. “No, both!” Crackles of energy sparked as the dragon shifted and twisted into a dragon-witch complete with crystalline hat.

Patton sighed. The emotional manipulation had triggered a manic phase, and there was no reasoning with Ro when he was in mania’s throes. He turned in mid-air and flew to their home alone, trusting that his love would come find him when he’d calmed.

Roman flew, creating and destroying and creating anew until the sun started to fade. When the light in the sky began to match the red light of his constructs, he looked up at the clouds and thought of Patton. His love, his salvation, his partner in crime. Literally. Not that they’d been caught more than the one time.

He flew lower, just above the rooftops, finally traveling at normal speeds once more. Just as the forced low had been brief, his uncontrollable high was resolving faster than normal, too. He sheepishly contemplated the apologies he would need to make to his partner for worrying him and leaving him behind when he’d soared into the sky.

He floated down to earth to walk the last few blocks home. He stepped off into a dark alley to change back into civilian clothes.

If only he’d looked a bit harder at the shadows.

~~~~~~~~~~

D.R.E.A.M. Index #337403 Classification: M.1.ii [Primary Tier Neutral, Acquired Powers] Name: Ghost/Nebula Status: ACTIVE Civilian Name: [CLEARANCE: CONFIDENTIAL] Lulu Ador Affiliation: Neutral /////////H.A.T.C.H. Status: Blackout Only Partners/Sidekicks: #337471; #337402 Primary Foes: #337402 Powers: Shadow Teleportation; Psionic Construction [Star Sprites] /////////As Ghost, can travel through any shadow to any other; As Nebula, can summon star-sprites who are directed by her thoughts Costume: Tailored suit in a galaxy print and bow tie with a matching mask Age: 27 Height: 5’7 Pronouns: She/Her H.E.A.R.T.S. Class ‘10 Note: Valedictorian of her class, on similar caliber to DI#337255 - Doctor Vectorious. Ghost appears to be almost like possession, while Nebula is the 'true' form. When as Nebula, she is a hero, albeit one frustrated with the overly-physical nature of typical heroing due to her fibro. Classified as neutral because any given day she may be one or the other

D.R.E.A.M. Index #337402 Classification: Z.2.i [Secondary Tier Villain, Legacy] Name: Lovely Darling Status: ACTIVE Civilian Name: [CLEARANCE: CONFIDENTIAL] Danielle Disney Affiliation: Villain Partners/Sidekicks: #337403 Primary Foes: #337403 Powers: Mesmerizing; Power of Suggestion; Forced Infatuation /////////Anyone within a radius of approximately 10 yards is susceptible; focus on a particular person makes it more compelling and longer-lasting Costume: Purple and pink ballgown with a hoop skirt; heart-shaped mask Age: 26 Height: 5’7 Pronouns: She/Her H.E.A.R.T.S. Class ‘11 Note: Teams up with DI#337403 - Ghost/Nebula and feuds with her in equal measure, depending on how much her current scheme might affect others

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a/n: Spot the Steven Universe reference! There's also a Firefly quote in there. Partly an homage to one of the other possible names for this fic as a whole, ‘Big Damn Heroes’

(Fanfic writing, aka, finding ways to sneak in references to other fandoms and also inserting your friends in as background characters <3)

[naffeclipse]

im not sure if it was answered somewhere already, but i just cant stop thinking about the animatronics in sleuth jetsers.

maybe i just didnt read a chapter on accient and missed important lore, but how did they end up gaining sentience, let alone rising to powerful positions such as mafia boss and mayor?? cuz that just. doesnt happen outta nowhere!

my gut is telling me they probably originated from the afton family. at first just used as either entertainment for aftons kids. getting updates periodically as the kids also grew up. and then later getting turned into basically tin shield bodyguards, as not to waste manpower.

and to do their job more efficently, they were given an AI or something. and that evolved into them learning how to make more animatronics and bada bing bada boom. theyre everywhere now and eclipse has a gang of sentient map bots

i feel like im looking too deeply into this but oh my GOD brain full with nothing but this fic and i wanna dissect every part of it and just study it

I'm going to be honest, I have a vague idea about animatronic history and how they coexist in this world, but I'm still ironing out the kinks. I hope to implement some of that info in the future just to give more background on Eclipse, Sun, and Moon!