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felassan · 2 months

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Thoughts on the DA:TV reveal trailer from June 9th. DA:TV spoilers under cut.

this post is rly late, ik hh ◕‿◕

General and some random stuff

It's important to bear in mind what the trailer advised at the bottom, which is that the trailer is "game engine footage" and that "not all images appear in game".

Overall I really liked the trailer and it made me feel super excited!! I thought it was cool. the general more light-hearted tone of it and the music choice weren't what I would've guessed or expected, but they were interesting choices. I was a bit [dog cocking head from side to side in confusion] in the early portion hh, but it really came together for me all chills n stuff with the 'rise of Rook'-kinda shot and the group fight scene at the end, by which point I was overwhelmed with excitement, all the new stuff it had shown and the prospect of going back to Thedas fr to the point that I was teary lmao (don't look at me). I think as well the subsequent gameplay reveal video was more representative of the tone that the game will have, and that DA has.. previous [affectionate] for slightly ?? trailers and portions of the marketing. (remember the DA:O-era Marilyn Manson 'This Is the New Shit' metal trailers with like blood splattering all over the place & screen like strawberry jam fountains and stuff and the male Cousland who inexplicably looks about 40-50 years old? hhh. yea).

I think it looked great ^^ it's very pretty and detailed, it has cool art.

I also dug the sound design, like when there were sound effects like Venatori drawing swords and stuff (as a random example), it was just very crisp and satisfying

Trailer song

I'm so curious to know who the cover/rearrangement of "Heroes" is by and to be able to listen to it in full sometime. Do you think it's simply music for the trailer, or that it's part of the game OST? Didn't DA2's have some Florence and the Machine on it for example?

Interesting to note that "Heroes" is about two lovers from different sides. "Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins". the song "represents two opposing forces", a sense that they will be separated, and the idea that love can endure or overcome anything (umm Var lath vir suledin? 😭). it brings to mind the idea of two people on opposite sides of something as parted friends or star-crossed lovers or something like that.

I also think this is interesting: "Bowie placed the [song] title in quotation marks as an expression of irony on the otherwise romantic or triumphant words and music". When Solas raised the Veil, he saved his people and the world but also doomed his people and destroyed the world - he is an ironic and sad/tragic hero. In a previous trailer, he says [to Rook probably] in a non-positive, almost bitter tone, "They call me The Dread Wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?" It sounds like he thinks (knows..) that though Rook may save the day now, they could poetically end up like him, a mirror of him - hated for it after the fact, or a big damn hero that sadly no-one knows about (remember in Mass Effect when Kirrahe says "We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way"? remember when Mark Darrah said that at one point or other, the 'vision statement' for DA4 was "We would be heroes, but the records are sealed"?), or being a hero at great personal cost to themself, or saving the world from one issue but inadvertently setting off another or causing great collateral damage or something like that. a "hero", but an ironic one in some form or other. it's argued by some that despite its sound, "Heroes" is not a feel-good anthem per se:

Describing the song, [Bowie] stated it is about "facing reality and standing up to it", about achieving "a sense of compassion" and "deriving some joy from the very simple pleasure of being alive". Likewise, Pegg contests the song contains underlying dark themes that juxtapose its uplifting chord sequence and delirious vocal [...] while the repeated announcement of "nothing will keep us together" asserts that time is short. Regarding the themes, Lurie stated: 'alchemy: We may be average and regular in the present moment, but we have the potential, at any time, for heroic thought and action – even if only for one day. The transformation can be brought about by an external event or through an internal change in perspective'."

Purple and bronze

My favs <3 :)

People we've met before

We knew Lucanis wasn't really dead

I really liked the focus of the trailer and its accompanying text blurb on the cast of characters, a thing which is a mainstay focus of Dragon Age and something that people really love about it. The trailer gives the impression that the game is about Rook becoming a leader, the leader of this specific A-Team crew; the relationships between them and the crew members; all their unique and complimentary strengths and personal storylines as woven into the main plot; and working as a team to defy the odds.. together. the old lesson of, if we work together, we have the power to resist and triumph. real The Power of Friendship, Found Family-vibes, yknow? 🥺 I really liked this line "Create memories with your team which will deepen your experiences and give you more to fight for." (Dates and friend dates with them please). In ME, Liara can ask Shepard what she's fighting for, and if it's a chance to give Garrus peace. Shepard can reply that Garrus has been hurt and betrayed, and that she would like to offer him something better. that's the sort of thing that that line makes me think of.

I also get the impression that yeah, the DA:TV prologue/lead-in comic Dragon Age: The Missing was definitely originally intended to end not long temporally irl before DA:TV marketing content of this kind came out. like if you read The Missing then immediately watch this trailer, you can see what they may have been trying to go for in that comic and how they connect together. The Missing ends with Varric and Harding in Minrathous, and in this trailer, here they are in Minrathous. At the time of The Missing, I wondered:

this sounds like it’ll be Varric’s role in DA:D, right? The person who puts together the new Team, but not a companion per se. so… Varnick Fury? he recruits us? maybe the various characters Varric and Harding meet in this comic series are part of the wider team in DA:D, contacts, folks we meet?

and

D] highlight these four groups/factions and introduce the two new ones (Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons) in advance of DA:D. [...] Certainly if I was Varric at the moment when Harding asks “So who are you thinking?” at the end here, after the events I had experienced and people & groups I had met in recent weeks, with those being fresh in my mind, I would be thinking about the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons, both as groups and terms of the mental list of people that I had recently met who Solas doesn’t know. again it makes you think about the popular speculation that the DA:D PC will have the background of being from one of these groups.

this trailer and subsequent marketing materials since then have indeed detailed that Varric is not a companion, that he recruited Rook, that the devs were kinda thinking of an 'Avengers'-type team, that Neve (appeared in The Missing) is a companion, that Rook can be a Warden, Crow, Veil Jumper, or Shadow Dragon (among other things), that those factions are all important in the storyline of the game, that the companions include a Warden, a Crow, a Veil Jumper, and a Shadow Dragon, and that the crew will also have contact with non-companion NPCs who will be "faces" of their respective factions!! like we don't know for sure that the 'face' NPC[s] of the Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin or one of them, but we do know thanks to Game Informer that e.g. Strife and Irelin do appear in the game as NPCs. When Harding asks Varric in The Missing "So who are you thinking?", it mirrors the trailer, where Varric asks Harding "What are you thinking?" after she states that this will take more than just the two of them.

A fun fact about the trailer is that the 'most replayed' segment is the Lucanis and Bellara part. the people know what they want hh.. ^^

Opening segment: Venatori, Varric, Harding

The trailer begins with a view of Docktown, Minrathous, just from a bit of a different angle to the one in that screenshot. the now-familiar floating castle is in the sky. I guess the bright green light on the docks in the trailer version of this scene is one of Minrathous' magical neon shop signs, specifically one above the door of the building on the docks that you can see here (albeit it's unlit there because it's daytime/or at least not overcast). it's foggy/misty, with a general moody vibe. Varric and Harding are in a bar. I think the bar they're in is through the doorway with the neon green light above it, and I wonder if that bar is this one.

Are the carved creatures with human heads and wings in the foreground statues on the nearest shore (where the 'pov' is standing) or carved prows of ships in the harbor? they remind me of harpies or angels. have we seen these assets before in DA? in-world were they based on a Thedosian creature?

[points] repeating rings/concentric circles

this bit reminds me of the different shapes and patterns here. (around 'Level 30', around '0 points available', and the skill tree itself both in terms of design and the pattern behind it)

Who doesn't love a good Mass Effect-style lens flare? :D somehow these always make me feel nostalgic.. this bit reminds me of an eclipse (of which much could be said in the context of DA and DA:TV..) or other astrological event, or like an event horizon or something.

These guys are Venatori Soldiers. Compare with those in the gameplay reveal video. they even attack in a big group of guys in the trailer the way they do in gameplay, Power Rangers badguys-style (a Venatori classic..). ^^

What's the deal with some of their weapons being red btw?

It's giving red lyrium, it's giving red lyrium blade like Certainty (two), it's giving the vibe of the red lyrium weapons pack, it's giving general Venatori fuckery (they have messed with red lyrium stuff for their own nefarious ends several times before).

the symbol on their foreheads is also familiar.

It shows up in Dragon Age: Absolution.

(from here) the flag scene on the right is seen during Hira's flashback when the Venatori killed her family as an example, punishing them for helping those less fortunate in Tevinter. so it seems like the Venatori have a new symbol and a new look in the post-DA:I material, right? like irl art direction/art updates-wise. just, in-world, they actually were using it in the past, as we can see it in the Hira flashback, at which point she was a child, long before the time of the Inquisition forming. unless this is a specific faction or offshoot of Venatori..?

I'm not sure that it actually is or not, but when I see this type of thing I also think about red lyrium shards. also, some of them have lil spiky shoulder blades -

which reminds me of that 'hostile architecture' vibe Tevinter architecture and designs of stuff have going on, like the spikes on the back of the chairs here. and I wonder if the guy with the red face covering is the leader of this particular squad?

When it pans out to this shot, we get a good look at the bar and also it's clear what a bunch of cowards the Venatori are. What is this, like, 7 on 2 at least.. but it was actually more than that in the beginning because Varric and Harding have already laid several Venatori soldiers out flat on the ground (I count at least 3 there and 1 flat on the bar lol). 11+ v 2 LOL. there are also a couple of injured but not KO'd people crouching who could be more injured Venatori, or else just innocent bar patrons who got in the way. in the background you can see what looks like a hookah, which we have seen in northern Thedas before. also, at this point, Rook is right there, sitting there all casual and nonchalant at a table over by the window, with their hood up and their back to the fight hh. the other thing that strikes me about this shot is the intricate patterns on the rug and how beautiful the lighting is - all those shafts of sunlight and candle/firelight and stuff.

Bar fights are such a fantasy, D&D-type classic. I wonder if this bar is the Swan, the tavern Corinne mentioned as being in Minrathous which has good tavern music? or if it's the same bar as where the game starts off, where Rook has the choice of intimidating a bartender or not? an article also mentioned a pub in the streets of Minrathous which has a dozen NPCs in it and which is reached via a wide, winding pathway. (probably at least two of these various bar/pubs are actually the same one being described/shown in a different way hh.) the Venatori try to look all menacing and the barperson, understandably, tries to scuttle out the way.

Bianca looks great and has had a glow up. the carved patterns are so pretty, and with the eyepieces and stuff she looks almost steampunky or Fable-y. which makes her subsequent demise at Solas' hands in the gameplay reveal video all the sadder. 🥺 we can also see at this point that at Varric's belt, he wears a symbol of the Inquisition, even though it's been around 8 years.. 🥺 as in The Missing, you can also clearly see that Varric has been aging. he looks old and tired, he has more of a beard, and his hair is thinning and graying. this look of his, including the outfit and scarring around his eye, iirc first appeared in Issue 2 of The Missing.

I wrote then of that,

he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he’s over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando’s, it wasn’t Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric’s DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he’ll look in DA:D?

and it seems we were, and it seems it is! :D

When the shot cuts to Harding, we can see that the bar has a roaring fire (tho I question the heat efficiency of this with a wide open door :D). I like the symmetry of having Varric and Harding both shoot one Venatori each with their bow/crossbow at this point. Harding is in her new gear, the new look that appeared in The Missing. She looks so good! I love all the detailing on her and Varric's clothes, like the fur parts at their collar and shoulders (which up here in Tevinter seems so quaintly southern, Fereldan-y hh). my heart skips a beat when Harding whips her head around and blows her bangs out her face. 🥰 the motion of her and Varric's hair is soo goood (and for stuff like Harding's cape whipping around), and look at the detailing of her braided updo!!

Mid bar-fight, when despite being mid-fight Varric reaches for a tankard and Harding summarily takes it off him.. it reminded me of this panel from The Missing #2. at that time, I thought,

“food poisoning” ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that. [but] on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron. [and it's] sad to think about [anyone going through or struggling with that] :( (RIP Aaron...)

and the tankard moment in this trailer reminded me of that worry again. Varric, buddy... are you okay 😭

It's so funny (in a good way) when Harding in the background uses her bow like a freakin baseball bat to level a guy while in the foreground Varric is like 'yea it's fine, she got this' because he knows she can handle herself hh. and like, yea, in these few seconds Harding takes out three dudes herself. Varric is still looking forlornly at his now-empty hand when she's smacking a guy clean across the face with the mug. Harding.. make it rain!! :) bad guys drop to the floor and the sparkly effects of spilled drink both fall around her. also, does it look to anyone else that on the front of a pouch Harding wears on her front, there's the eyeball Scout-or-Inquisition symbol, like how there is on her bow? then Varric is like. 'okay, I'm listening'. :D

Neve

We see Neve meeting someone in a Minrathous backstreet. the setting here reminds of the Minrathous streets in the gameplay reveal, of this concept art and of this scene from a previous trailer. it's raining at night and she's meeting them - an informant or contact etc - at a specific time and place in a secluded area to make some sort of trade. they show her the goods and she offers them a pouch of what is presumably coin

from how the Venatori talk about Neve in the gameplay reveal, and maybe even a lil based on how this 'contact' (who is actually trying to rob her or maybe even trying to complete a hit/kill contract on her) is dressed, I wonder if this person was Venatori or one of their agents?

Neve's saunter made me weak in the knees. she seems so confident and capable. she has great instincts/reflexes, which makes sense for a character who investigates alone on the night streets; she saw the attacker's feint (and their real goal all along) coming straightaway. you can't get one over on Neve

In the final triumphant shot of her, when she holds the item aloft, she's got one foot on the felled person, who is lying on the ground hh

I appreciated the attention paid to the sound effects of her footsteps! it's like there's a metal clinking sound when she steps with her metal leg.

She does her specialty, ice magic, and ice magic looks so lovely - a bright white light coming from it, snowflakes floating all around

though I know it's probably more like, this was her planned design and the comic artist was given BW's reference for her, I love how faithfully Neve's complicated, fashionable design was carried over from the comics into this trailer/vice versa/matches in each!! e.g. the toe of her boot, her leg, all the details of her overcoat, the shape of her snake-belt, everything

Also her mannerisms match too! the spell she does here, with its staff-less magic and both hands coming forward with a burst of ice magic, is exactly like she does in the comics. :D (on the right below). I just think that's such a thoughtful touch.

I'm rly curious about the item that she was after. the red shard-type thing reminds me of red lyrium, and at this point a red gem-like thing set in golden metal surrounds remind me of the Venatori. those are different shapes of course, but see above with regards to: the red and gold symbols on the foreheads of the Venatori guys who attack Varric and Harding in the bar; the red and gold brooch or clasp thing from Absolution; and the red and gold symbol of the Venatori on their banners in Hira's flashback in Absolution.

What is it, and why was she after it? the other thing it reminds me of is the round enchanted clay discs from her TN short story, The Streets of Minrathous. they were seals to the demon's prison (the one that is under Minrathous) and involved blood magic. (this is red and gold though so it doesn't super-match tho, as if I remember right the seals in TN were described as being seated in polished black shell on gold chains, with a long, thin, 4-winged dragon etched on the front that was rising out of a dark sea..)

Another thing to notice here is when Neve's name's splash text comes up, what look like orange-red leaves blowing in the wind blow across the screen. this imagery repeats in a few of the other companion segments.

Lucanis

He assassinates a target in a crowded, beautiful, colorful and busy marketplace. Do you think this is Antiva, Tevinter or somewhere else? ^^ the target is frantic, he knows he's in danger and that he's being chased/watched (makes sense, 'The Demon' has a reputation); but Lucanis is so stealthy that he has no idea where he is. Lucanis is quick and deadly.

the orange-red leaves swirl around in the air

on the back of Lucanis' outfit we can see the purpley wing motif and the patterning of many eyes (more thoughts on that here), these are placed really prominently in this trailer.

Again the detailing of hair movement, clothes etc is awesome! Even the back of the target's cloak is all bejewelled and detailed.

Lots of NPCs in the crowd. peer around at their hairstyles just in case they're among those that are available in the CC for Rook :D we also now know that we will be able to re-create NPCs like these in the CC, as it was used to make them all.

Who do we think the target is? they are a human man. is he simply a random person to showcase Lucanis' assassin-ness for the purposes of the trailer, or meant to indicate a person from a particular group or faction? can we infer anything from the design of his clothes? the red pointy spike on his shoulder pad for example kind of reminds me of that of some Venatori (see above in barfight segment). and in general he seems well-dressed, and maybe his outfit has a sort of mage-y vibe. a higher-up Venatori? a bad magister? we know Lucanis has been going around taking contracts to kill prominent Venatori from TN, and that he was intending to do more of these jobs.

It's a mixed crowd, there are humans present and you can also see elves, qunari and dwarves. :) (please ignore the top right hand corner of the image below, I guess a copy-paste failed and I didn't notice at the time hh).

After the target knocks someone over by mistake, an angry guy behind him gesticulates, understandably annoyed.

Lucanis catches and kills him in one fluid motion. I would let Lucanis assassinate me

Grabs em by the face hh (makes sense, he then covers their mouth so they can't scream and draw attention I guess - it's the middle of a crowded marketplace after all)

mullet singing magnificently in the wind

lil crowfeather-like hair tufts sticking out

And he snaps his neck rather than stabbing with one of his knives or swords (and he is wielding one in this encounter). I guess it's more efficient and quick in this instance than stabbing. it also makes less of a mess. :D The setting and dialogue line for this segment is smart too - Lucanis kills this person by leaping out of the shadows/where he was hiding into the broad daylight, and kills them when it's light outside hh.

Bellara

an ancient elven ruin in Arlathan (Forest or Crater). birds fly overhead. I love the lighting and all the greenery :)

the orange-red leaves continue to fall in Bellara's segment too. they aren't a surprise here of course, the gold/orangey 'omg it's Arlathan/the Veil[Jumper] archer place from old concept art' trees are in Arlathan, where this segment is set, but they also crop up in the trailer in e.g. Minrathous in Neve's segment, in Lucanis' segment. they're a nice continuous aesthetic linking the scenes together ^^ We also see them on the Golden City version of the DA vinyl cover art, twining through the dragon's wings and growing among the buildings, in a way connecting this foliage to the Fade.

the design of the place reminds me a bit of the bridge at the Temple of Mythal in DA:I. I wonder if this ruin was a temple or palace in the past, and if so, to/of whom?

it's so beautiful and makes me feel really excited to explore ancient elven ruins and Arlathan :)

the two startled halla look so pretty

interestingly, the black bird that flies near the halla looks like a corvid - making you think of rooks, and Rook.

green Fade-y light gathers in the archway and our Veil Jumper's official proper introduction, fittingly, has her leaping out of the Fade[?], or otherwise leaping through part of the Veil :D Bellara's segment is so fun and I love that for her and us. when she first appears, she looks so happy and thrilled to be on the adventure that she's on here.

in her hand she grasps her prize, which I guess she's just taken from wherever she was - a gold-colored triangley thing (so, a piece of ancient elven tech or another ancient elven artifact). when she gets caught and pulled back into the portal, she drops it and it falls out of her hands.

👁️ Now, about the tentacles. from previous materials like the short story Ruins of Reality and DA: The Missing, we know that in Arlathan, space and time, and reality, has been warping. the Veil is thin and wild, wacky stuff is going on in there. there are Veil Bubbles. the Fade is a mess close to Solas' ritual and demons are coming through, etc. the tentacles in this segment are very interesting indeed 👀 Veil Jumpers are also being attacked by tentacles in this DA4 concept art. here's another DA4 concept art with a tentacled monster in it. I wonder where Bellara was jumping from? a different pocket of reality in Arlathan or elsewhere? a place "in-between"? from a Veil Bubble? the tentacles also reminded me a lot of the Cekorax. it was a big tentacled monster that Dorian hired Hollix to kill in Minrathous. in that TN story, Dorian recalls that a Mortalitasi once told him of "things past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit"...

Emmrich

Cut to Emmrich in the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra. See the bottom of this post for thoughts on the final shot of the Emmrich segment.

Digging up a lot of buried secrets.. it's giving the mysteries of the Grand Necropolis (the lowest reaches of it are quite ancient), and it also makes me think of secrets in the Deep Roads, Descent-style 👁️

The pov at the start of Emmrich's segment has the camera inside the chest (or coffin-type thing, since the skeleton seems to rise from it a few seconds later) these two people are opening and looking inside. the lore says that the geography of the lower parts of the Necropolis varies and changes, producing a disorienting effect on visitors which has successfully prevented robbery attempts. but we can probably assume from location and context cues that these people are looters or grave robbers right? you could imagine grave goods and other treasures/loot to be found in the elaborate Nevarran crypts. (and, some of the wealthiest Nevarrans decorate their crypts with their most prized possessions.) Emmrich is a Mourn Watcher, a member of an order which serves as guardians and keepers of the sacred Necropolis. so it makes sense to see him foiling an attempted graverobbing :) [disrespectful of the departed anyway, but especially so in a culture where their death-related practises are kinda sacred to them like Nevarra]

I wonder if the people are just random petty thieves created for the purposes of the trailer, or if they represent members of a specific group/'speak' of a particular plot-thread? like I could imagine e.g. some Lords of Fortune or something wanting to loot a storied tomb full of walking dead, for treasure and glory.

the way Emmrich casts his magic here, he reminds me of a pianist or a composer. he's so calm and composed.

he's behiiiind youuu, Pantomime-style hh :)

when the splash text appears on-screen, in the bottom right you can see a fire burning - looks to be one of the robbers' dropped torches, which is a fun touch.

Davrin

I really love Davrin's design and I'm super curious to know which Creators' vallaslin designs he and Bellara have. he's so calm in battle, you get the sense that he's a skilled warrior for sure and I immediately trust him with my life. like Harding and Varric in the bar fight, he's holding off loads of enemies just him (well, him and Assan ^^).

He's fighting darkspawn which have been afflicted by red lyrium. (here's the "red lyrium darkspawn" for real too). as if regular darkspawn and the threat of being Tainted by contact with them wasn't enough, now you need to be careful of their red lyrium claws and the spread of red lyrium and stuff too. look how gross they look from behind.

In the background is a statue of a griffon, so I think Davrin is fighting in a Warden-related area. there are stone structures around and you can see some banners (albeit, not with Grey Warden symbols on them from what I can see).

It's dark and all around are the signs of the Taint - the darkspawn themselves, the dead gnarled trees, the corrupted tendrils, things which look like they could be Blight pustules/sacs, etc. I think the Davrin scene is set in the same location as this screenshot (which as it happens, also features Davrin!):

in the bottom left of this screenshot you can see water, and in the trailer, Assan runs past a boat. plus the other stuff looks the same too. and being that it's apparently a Warden-y location (griffon statue), I think that it's maybe the surrounds (or.. remains..?) of Weisshaupt in the Anderfels, and I definitely think it's the same place as here from the DA Day 2023 trailer:

- as the rock, lighting, structures, red lyrium etc all match up. Remember the line from that trailer, "Grey Wardens don’t hide in our castle. I won’t ask good soldiers to turn tail and run"? chat, it's not looking good rn for the Grey Wardens or for Weisshaupt (ctrl-F "Weisshaupt" in this post, and see also this post, for more on this topic.)

when the big red lyrium darkspawn charges forward, it knocks over one of the small ones hh.

Cut to Assan. good boy Assan!! he's already taken out at least one darkspawn by himself over there and we see him sitting on it hh. I wonder if Assan will join us in battle if we select Davrin as one of the 2 companions? it looks like he and Davrin have a close bond - he knows what move Davrin is thinking of just by how Davrin looks over at him. :) he's a strong baby - when he leaps on the big darkspawn he knocks it right over all by himself from the force of the impact. I love Assan's model and I think he's so cute oml 🥺 the way his ears perk up when Davrin looks at him 🥺... his big blue eyes like a husky or something.. the way he's kinda rangy and a bit scraggly like a puppy in the 'teen' stage where they're kinda tall and leggy but haven't really filled out yet 🥺 the lil whinny and squeaky roar he makes. HIS LYNX-LIKE EAR TUFTIES...

The shield-launching move is so fun and cool :D I think it's my favorite shot in the whole trailer. I just love Davrin, the relationship depicted here between Davrin and Assan, the trust and fun in that moment, the bond between them. and when he launches Assan here, Davrin looks so joyful and happy, it's nice :)

On Assan - is he one of the thirteen griffon hatchlings Valya discovered in 9:42 Dragon? or is he from a subsequent clutch? it's about 9:52 now, the question is how long does it take for a griffon to reach maturity? ^^

I also really wanna know more about Davrin. :D like Bellara and Taash, he hasn't appeared in prior DA secondary media like a comic or story so we don't have insight into him from something like that. we got quite a bit of insight into Bellara as a character in the Game Informer cover story (how we meet her, her personality etc) and a few lil snippets about Taash have come out here and there from social media (though I'd also really like to know more about Taash!). I'm dying to know more about Davrin too!! how did he come to join the Wardens, what motivated him to do that? what Dalish clan is he part of (is it a known one or a new-to-us one?), and where did they tend to roam? was he specifically entrusted with the care of Assan as a Warden assignment, was it more happenstance that he came into his care, or did Assan when he was a lil baby see Davrin one day and kinda be like "yea that is my guy" (griffons chose their riders by themselves, not the other way around) ((also. valid))? what does Davrin think of the possible Grey Warden civil war, the First Warden, the Hero of Ferelden? how long has he been a Grey Warden for, and how far is he from his Calling? what are some random lil trivia factoids about him? does he travel around killing other monsters in addition to darkspawn and saving people from them, and that's how he made his name as a monster hunter ("monster hunter" is giving a lil Witcher-vibe to me, and the voiceover line here anyways implies that Davrin also fights demons)? ◕‿◕

Also at this point is a neat transition to darkness. back in the bar, Harding and Varric are fighting back to back, a trope I am a sucker for hh.

Taash

(reverb womp womp womp sfx like a giant boomerang is being thrown :D)

"We'll need someone with fire in their blood" [to face dragons]. I know what this conveys (fight fire with fire, Taash is badass, brave, bold in the face of danger, will fight dragons etc) but I also thought this was an inchresting choice of line for Taash's segment.. Iron Bull once said "So, when you face a dragon, does it get your heart pumping? Do you breathe a little faster, feel the blood racing?" When qunari Inquisitor speaks to Old God Soul Kieran, he tells them: "I noticed your blood. It doesn't belong to your people." Corypheus taunts Adaar, "What do they call you? A qunari? Your blood is engorged with decay! Your race is not a race, it is a mistake!" In some scenarios, Corypheus can say of Adaar that they are "a beast of strange blood". and some believe that the Tamassrans cultivate dragon blood within the Qunari. so 👁️..

Some thoughts on Taash's design. (so I don't repeat myself too much. I link to each post in that series btw, one for each companion, at the end of this post).

Taash's segment is set on the Rivain Coast (two). you can see the palm trees, beach, bright blue waters, the skeleton of a large dead creature, that statue in the background, etc. fittingly she's fighting a dragon and there's fire everywhere :) I wonder if the Rivain Coast locale is where we will recruit Taash. she isn't among the characters (like Neve) who Varric knew prior to the start of the game; at the timepoint he speaks his Taash line in the trailer, he doesn't know her.

omg, the physics on Taash's braid! :D it looks like the gold cuffs on her horns have an eye symbol carved on them. dear Taash, please tell me the story behind each shiny trophy that you wear. 🙏 in addition to the dragonscale-looking parts of her armor, it looks to me like on her gauntlets there are also teeth (assumedly dragonteeth). love that for her. and as she gets up to charge forward, she does a small smile or smirk to herself. she's havin a great time fighting a dragon :D the heat-warping effects from the fire are cool too.

When Taash's splash text appeared on screen, it was at this point (the last one lol..) that I realized there were different effects on the companions' name texts. Harding has horizontal lines through hers, like the flightpath of arrows. the bits in Neve's could be chunks of ice. Lucanis' looks scratched/slashed, as if by daggers. Bellara's contains the floating triangle pieces that indicate ancient elven magitech. maybe Emmrich's is the particle effects of his necromancy? Davrin's could be slash marks from a sword or claw marks from a griffon's talons. and Taash's is all burning and on fire, with dragon-looking claw marks. smart!!

check this out in the background, the rock structure which looks like a head with pointed teeth -

it's the same structure as in this shot of Rivain from the DA Day 2023 trailer.

only in Taash's scene, she's on the beach and the teeth-rock structure is in the background, whereas in this shot, the POV is like you're standing under the jagged overhang, looking out from the jaws of the 'beast'. in the 'in jaws' shot you can even see the beach Taash may be fighting on, it's the area with the big skeleton on the shore. when we saw this shot in the DA Day trailer, it reminded us of teeth, and now that we can see the rock shape from another angle, it really does look like the maw of a great dragon-y creature, with fangs on the top and bottom jaws. the placement of this in Taash's segment interests me because there is also the suggestion of a dragon-y creature with teeth in the background of her card art. ^^

I also wonder if we can identify what type of dragon it is here from the dragon's design? ^^

When Taash leaps through the air, you can hear her yelling. :D at this point it looks to me like this is the same place as in this screenshot of Rivain Coast that came out later. you can see the big skeleton ribs, the campfire, the wall, and the hanging line thing. it's just from a different angle.

Rook and back in the bar

Do you think the Rook shown in this trailer is the 'default' Rook for marketing, like mage dude Hawke in DA2? And/or the Rook from the gameplay reveal video? you can see a lil bit of their face in this trailer.

dae get the feeling that when Varric says "This crew needs a leader. Someone we can count on" he might be thinking of Hawke? not to suggest as the leader of this crew (remember how he gave the Inquisition the run around to protect Hawke when they were looking for them), but just like, he's thinking back to a different place, a different time, a different crew, a different found family. 20 years ago in Kirkwall, his home, when he was part of Hawke's gang and they sheltered all the DA2 misfits (affectionate) under their wings. a reality he hasn't inhabited for ~10 years now. 🥺 "Someone that the world can count on" takes me back to his line to Cassandra in her interrogation, "The entire world is on the brink of war. And you need the one person who can help you put it back together". And it also has me wondering if by that point he's also thinking of the Inquisitor, another leader that he followed, a leader that saved the world. 🥺

Varric also understands the importance of a good leader as the core of a group, of the power of bringing friends together around someone great. a lesson he learned at Hawke's side, then later solidified or emphasized at the Inquisitor's. then, with "But where are we gonna find...?" he's probably going through the factions he and Harding encountered in DA: The Missing in his head at this point, but I also feel like he's rotating the leader-hero blorbos he keeps in his head and scrolling through them. Hawke? [if not left in the Fade]. Absolutely not, the world has taken too much from them already and he just wants to protect his friend. The Inquisitor? Won't work [for the literal leadership role], at this point they know they need to find someone that Solas doesn't know. and it doesn't even occur to him that he himself could lead the new crew. for one thing, Solas knows him obviously, and he's tired, but for another, Varric knows he's the storyteller, just a character in other peoples' stories, a follower, not a leader (of that kind). its a lil meta but it (and the rest of the stuff I said here) is also just 🥺.. when you think about Varric's life and what's happened in it.

Where in the opening segment, Rook was there chillin sitting all casual at a table by the window in the bar, they've now gotten up and started laying into Venatori themselves. (contrasing with e.g. the bartender, who ran out of the way, and other bar patrons who stand around in the background during the fight at various points or are seen floored. you can see why Rook specifically attracts Harding's attention at this point.) it's so funny [pos] - Varric and Harding are now staring thoughtfully into the fire discussing their plan in a circle of KO'd Venatori, Varric with his hands on his hips, meanwhile Rook has taken the heat off them and fends off a gang of Venatori by themselves. and the Venatori are back to trying to like, 6v1 someone. Oh Venatori dudes, you're so retro Power Rangers badguys. Rook only came out here for a quiet drink, and they are feeling so attacked right now.

Varric and Harding conducting a demon-summoning Heroic Leader[™]-summoning ritual

The unconscious/dead Venatori on the bar is still there on the bar. Rook lays someone else out on a table. Harding hears the commotion behind her and slowly turns around. Venatori flail towards Rook. Rook, backlit all cool, smashes two of their heads together silly-style (pos) and then steals their stuff (a sword). Rook pistol-whips a guy in the face with the handle of one of their own swords. Rook then launches themselves off a bench (floored Venatori in the background), yeeting the Venatori on their back (floored-table Venatori also in the background) into the bar, then elbows them in the face. Harding, understandably, falls in love (I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..). Varric isn't aware of what's going on yet, either because he's so lost in thought reminiscing about his glory days with Hawke and/or because maybe his hearing is going a lil in his old age. Harding makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

Five Venatori then run at Rook (haha.. these fuckin guys :D). At first I was like wait, where did this wave come from? but if you look around Varric and Harding's feet at this point, the Venatori that were laid out in a circle around them are no longer on the ground - so that's a nice touch, that it's the same ones who got back up to have another go. Rook executes the swashbuckling action-adventure trope of cutting a rope to drop a chandelier, crates or other objects on some bad guys, which is fun. this bar patron (hit the image limit on this post hh) with the magnificent feathery collar is unfazed and just enjoying their drink. Harding's cape whips as she turns around; Harding is paying ATTENTION. The Venatori tackle and swarm on top of Rook like they're playing rugby. The chandelier drops. The Venatori are taken out. Harding is like 'wake up grandpa, get with the program'. Varric turns ("HUH?") and then, understandably, also falls in love. Varric makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

And then Rook rises (backlit, among flames and from the heap of a whole football team of Venatori that they KO'd themselves), and also rises. at the same time the music is crashing to a crescendo and the song says "We can be heroes". :D And at this point I'm feeling a bit unhinged over trees, but it looks to me like some of the particles floating around at this point are the orange-red leaves again hh.. Having no "Rook" splash text at the Rook-focus segment makes sense, they aren't a companion and while they are always "Rook", that isn't their name and of course they are the player-defined character of the bunch. I really like the shot where they look over their shoulder, back at Harding, Varric, and the pov.

looping back to the question I first asked in the 'Rook' section of this post, in this trailer it looks like Rook is wearing this outfit, which is also the outfit Rook (there a Shadow Dragon Rook) wears in the gameplay reveal trailer. So I think we can surmise that the Rook in the character reveal trailer is a Shadow Dragon Rook (and a rogue too, as in the gameplay reveal). I wonder if this Rook, this Shadow Dragon Rook, is sort of the 'default' Rook for marketing? or whether in the next trailer, they have a different Rook?

About Rook's clothing in this trailer. it looks similar (e.g. hood shape, presence of a hood, diamond-quilt-like pattern in places, the diamond-shape pattern on the shoulder, etc) to this figure on a Minrathous street from the 2020 trailer, who I assume is a Shadow Dragon or Shadow Dragon Rook. like in that post, it again makes me think of the art which accompanied Minrathous Shadows, the short story about the Viper. the outfit of the person in that art isn't the same as Rook's, but there are similar aspects in the way that people from the same faction have similar aspects in their outfits. again I'm wondering if maybe the Viper is associated with the Shadow Dragons faction, maybe even the Viper leads it? and what if their contact in that story, a lady who is lightning smart, is Neve? ^^

Also, Rook already has the Veilguard symbol on their clothes in this trailer. I wonder which moment the trailer is depicting. Is it depicting the moment when Varric and Harding first met Rook, then after it they recruited them to join the team? Or is it depicting a time after that when Rook had already been travelling with them for some time (per some info we were told before we know that Rook has been with Varric for a while already before the start of the game), as just a lil part of the team, only their performance in this bar fight was the moment when Varric and Harding realized that Rook could lead? Is it neither of these, and more just a cool scene for a trailer for vibes (that is very valid btw, it's a trailer - we didn't see the Hero of Ferelden's eyes for example glowing blue as they entered that specific cavern full of darkspawn like in that one DA:O trailer etc) - the trailer did note at the start that not all images in the trailer appear in the actual game. the trailer also depicts a barfight, and we know the game can kick off with a fight in a Tevinter bar (depending on if Rook chooses to be aggressive in the bar, a fight scene can follow). or maybe the trailer is showing when Varric and Harding met Shadow Dragon Rook specifically? since we know that faction choice basically determines why Rook has been called to help in the fight against Solas, and in this trailer it's Harding being impressed by Rook in Minrathous as they fend off Venatori, specifically.

End group fight

I really love the tagline "Together - Defy The Gods". "Together" puts the emphasis on the companions, the characters and their relationships with Rook & one another as they work together as a team. it makes sense to flash up at this point too, when the whole party (not just Rook+2) is fighting a serious battle together and quite a few of them get a spotlight of them doing their thing as the camera pans around this battle. the tagline also reminds me of when the Inquisitor can say defiantly to Cory at the end of DAI, "I don't believe in gods". ◕‿◕ I also really liked the swelling of the music and the drumming as the trailer ended, it was cool.

At this point, we can see Shadow Dragon Rogue Rook, Neve, Harding, Lucanis, Davrin and Bellara, though in the next bit we also see Taash fighting in the circle. am I just missing her at this first point? can anyone see Taash in that image? ^^ (Emmrich runs up in a following scene.) they're fighting off loads and loads of red lyrium darkspawn (when I watched this scene a second time I realized those humanoid darkspawn remind me a lot of the husks from Mass Effect, only red instead of blue). the big darkspawn swinging a hammer near Lucanis looks like one of the redesigned ogres. I really liked the group fight scene, I thought it was really cool and heroic. :) I hope this is a cutscene and bossfight-type battle at some point in the game's main storyline, because it is a really cool scene. :D maybe the trailer version with all the companions in it is just that, the trailer cinematic version of the fight, and in the gameplay it's Rook+2 companions as in this screenshot?

from the way the structures around them look architecturally, the place they're in has ancient elven ruins. the red sky is ominous. from the darkness and the curling tendrils, and what looks like maybe sacs on the walls, the place they're in is afflicted by Taint corruption. there are also floating chunks of rock in the sky, a trait of the Fade or places in the mundane world where the Veil is thin and Fadey things are Fadin'. they are in the same place as in this screenshot. (when the dragon alights later in this segment, it also generally evokes the sense of this key art for me.) and like I said here, this place and dragon encounter bears a resemblance to the 2x cover arts of the DA Vinyl, which we know were called "Golden City" and "Black City". so here we are maybe, in the corrupted/Blighted Black City..? and if it has ancient elven architecture.. brb, lying awake at night thinkin of how the elven architecture on the vinyl cover art basically confirmed the long-held theory that Arlathan is the Black City. these tower-tops are quite like what we see here in Arlathan Forest and here in Arlathan Forest at Solas' ritual site in the gameplay reveal video, for example.

Bellara's bedroll in her backpack in this climactic battle is so cute and pratical. 🥺 when her 'arrow' hits its mark, darkspawn blood and guts go everywhere. Rook has a cool golden dagger. Lucanis, please move, you are about to be smashed by an ogre's hammer. I'm really curious about his purple wing ability - like how does it work and what does it do? he pretty much stays on the same spot, wings outstretched, for the duration of this scene. I love the way Neve moves when she casts magic, it's like she's dancing, like some forms of bending in Avatar or something. when she lights up with the bright light she looks even radiant-er than usual. and the flash of Neve's ice magic turning the screen white for the next text to appear is a smart transition. ^^

(darkspawn feet pic.)

I'm a sucker for a good ol' 'camera pans around the gang fighting something off together and looking cool'. you know that one shot in the Avengers somewhere where it circles round them when they stand ready in a circle? that's the vibe, and it reminds me of when the devs mentioned the Avengers in the context of talking about the game's name change.

Davrin's boots have spur-looking parts! you can feel the force of Taash's blow there. and then Emmrich comes running up to the team from somewhere else chased by more darkspawn and the freakin dragon. did.. did they use poor Emmrich as DRAGON BAIT (I kind of get the impression that they wanted to draw the dragon to this particular location, and I wonder if that has something to do with the circle)? 😭😭 Grandpa..?? they wouldn't let him help fight in the circle with his magic, or assign a more physical member of the team to be the bait, and were instead just like run old man, run. 😭 he's running for his life and Harding's like over here Emmrich, I'll keep them off you, promise. at this point you can also see lots of those Blight sacs on the walls. the dragon is huge and looks really cool and detailed - when it's getting ready to breathe fire, you can see light through the tissue of its throat, and the fire dripping from its maw is cool.

in the final scene with the dragon's wings outstretched, on the left you can see a red lamp-type thing. it's the same as the blue ones here, only red. I wonder what those are? and why do they change color?

and of course, like I said here, in the background at this point we can see the Evanuris symbols in the form of their headshapes, specifically on the tops of statues just like the ones that surrounded Solas' ritual site in Arlathan Forest in the gameplay reveal. this makes me wonder - this battle seems quite climactic, if it occurs at the end of the game, maybe the game ends where it all really began, back at the Arlathan Forest Ritual Site, which by that point has maybe become extra Fadey and has corruption spreading in it, which killed all the vegetation? that would be poetic. an alternative spin on this theory is that, since this place is kinda Fadey, maybe it's the in-Fade reflection (specifically the Black City) of the irl ritual site.

I've previously wondered if the dragon in this shot is Elgar'nan (dragons were a form reserved for the divine, i.e. the Evanuris, in the time of the Evanuris), but on a re-watch, from the way things are positioned (maybe that was intentional?), the statue-head directly behind the dragon in the center as it spreads its wings is actually the one with the Ghilan'nain headshape, so maybe it's actually Ghil? this dragon's horns curve down like Ghil's headpiece curves, not upwards like Elgar'nan's. this concept art piece for DA4 to me implies both Ghil and Elgar'nan take dragon form (2 dragons here, 2 Evil Gods rising), and as we know, they were a shape of the divine generally speaking back then anyway so it's totally feasible. the dragon in the trailer matches the one on the left in this concept art more than the one on the right.

The other big thing about the final shot is that there is an eclipse in the background. this is just like on the vinyl cover arts, and is something we've seen a lot in DA:TV marketing (ctrl-f "eclipse" here), e.g. the astral-looking spheres here, this previous iteration of the logo. it's also a thing that has cropped up in related lore in previous games, along with sun&moon imagery (example), like:

two shadowed spheres among stars / an eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred [Emergent Compendium]

and I looked up and saw the seven gates of the Black City shatter, and darkness cloaked both realms. [Chant of Light]

etc. and if you think about it, in a solar eclipse, the moon blocks out the sun. Elgar'nan in Dalish lore is the son of the sun; he threw the sun down from the sky and is known as He Who Overthrew His Father. throwing down the sun would cause darkness, and it could be a poetic reading of an eclipse-type event like we're seeing here. additionally, the Dalish believe that when he did so, he buried the sun in the abyss (which might be the Void), a place which sounds like it's in a different part of reality to the waking world and which sounds like it could potentially be Blighted. (and in this trailer we're looking at a Fade-y or Fade location, and it is corrupted).

as the trailer ends, we can see pretty designs similar to the one here around Rook's level in the top left.

At the end of this post I'm gonna link to some more of the other posts I made about the trailer & related things at the time, just for the sake of completion. ^^

Post with the reveal trailer in it

Related official new screenshots from the website

Yeyyy, griffons are back (outside of the books)

Vallaslin

We saw you from across the bar

Lucanis wings compilation pic

Floating building, welcome back

He is here

A dream come true

Yoooo

They have come to deliver this world.. (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)

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myobsessionsspace · 2 months

Text

Pre Release of Travel Show Thoughts

This might be a bit all over the place 🙈

Just some random thoughts after talking with my friends.

Remember when Hope on the Street came out and it was on Amazon Prime. I think many of us were thinking that was the end of the set shows, programs etc that were gonna appear on Disney+ from BTS.

We’ve had a number of shows from the group since Chapter 2

I kinda forgot about their Disney deal when the talks of Jikook’s travel show started to become real. My friends and I started guessing if it would be on Weverse only, like Jimin’s Production Diary or on YouTube like Suchwita & Jin’s The Drunken Truth. We were hoping and praying it wouldn’t just be one Bangtan Episode or on a South Korean nft platform like the HYYH series Begins ≠ Youth.

To be honest we hoped for a Jikook YouTube Channel (still dreaming for one🥲), where after service they could come back and carry on with more adventures and content, but we would have settled for Prime too.

I say all of this to say, how come it’s on Disney+ again after the switch up with the last HYBE show Hope on the Street being on Prime?

It makes me wonder about the start of the show’s planning. Like Jungkook said in Suchwita it was kinda spontaneous and following a years old conversation between Jimin & Jungkook. Them seizing the opportunity of the both of them being together in New York, after Jimin went to support Jungkook’s solo debut performance.

I wonder about if Jikook knew if their application for companion enlistment had been approved yet. Many have covered in detail the program and the kinda 1 in 100 chance of getting approved for it. BTS already have done many unique things and why should their military service be any different, all members aiming to at one point in time be serving at the same time and have all completed their service to not have to worry about it again?

There’s only one other group I know of before BTS

**see comments for extra info**

Anyway back to the the point 😅. As all the members wanted to enlist and return as one unit in 2025 and with Jimin being in his last year of eligibility due to age criteria, if they hadn’t have been approved Jikook wouldn’t have been certain of being together for their 18 month military service.

It makes me wonder about their plans. If they wanted to create as many memories as they could in as many places as they could together just in case they weren’t going to be able to enlist together.

If they wanted to take the moments in between the end of FACE promotions, the little gap at the start of SEVEN promotions and the gap in between the rest of GOLDEN’s recordings, MUSE’ recording and also squeezing some more travel at the end of GOLDEN promotions, Jungkook’s Japan promotions and the Usher remix video Jungkook had to do straight after Japan.

It feels to me like Jikook knew that regardless of if they did enlist together, they wouldn’t have been able to travel as a duo for a long time as if we can take Jim as an example, the members will most likely be going straight into OT7 work mode once they complete their service in 2025.

It feels to me like if Jikook hadn’t have gotten their companion enlistment approved, the travelogue was a was to permanently keep record of the many memories they wanted to make.

That with everything on Jungkook’s plate it wouldn’t be feasible for one GCF Tokyo style video like before.

For starters their travels were on a much larger scale than their 2017 trip to Tokyo.

Not just one hotel in one destination, walking around the city, visiting some shops restaurants and Disney but multiple countries, multiple hotels, villas, camping, kayaking, yachting, skiing, indoor adventures, restaurants etc

They are way more globally recognisable than in 2017 where there were still some sightings but not as many as if it was 2023.

Jungkook and Jimin literally had to squeeze these moments in between hectic schedules tight time constraints.

It makes sense that they would utilise their company to help with areas to visit to help with descretion, with bookings, as they’d have to book out whole villas, hotel floors, activity locations etc. it makes sense that because they’d need security.

Unlike Tokyo 2017,

dropped off by their fathers and Jimin’s brother

No security detail with them at airport

Sightings around Tokyo

which was a gift to Jimin from Jungkook, where Jungkook planned everything, paid for everything, filmed everything and edited and uploaded GCFT, this time round it was for both of them. Not for one to have to shoulder the planning, payments, filming and editing.

How would they coordinate everything in the midst of recordings, rehearsals and flying around the world for international promotions?

ding ding ding

Their company and staff are still a company, whose main directive is to make money, beginning and end of it all.

I’m sure the company are nice enough to the members but how would such time, resources and expenses be written off if Jikook asked on the company to help them with security details, with flight planning, whole hotel floor booking, villa bookings, closing businesses down for the duration they wanted to visit or opening ski resorts up a day early etc.

Their airport arrival streamed by news outlets

Management and security accompaniment vs when they were spotted alone in 2017

Fans falling over to picture Jikook, camping out for hours at airports, protective barriers errected at Japanese airport for theirs and fans protection etc

Yes they are millionaires but I’m sure we all know millionaires who earned from the bottom up and are sensible with their money. We all know the members and joke about how they’ll wear expensive watches and clothes but still fight over a rice cooker as a prize or Jungkook take home hotel toiletries or ingredients from run cooking episodes etc

youtube

So for the company and staff to help Jikook make this a possibility in the time the had before enlistment how would it make sense financially? How would it benefit everyone? We know Jikook love sharing with army, Jungkook’s lives of 2023 show us, their predebut days of vlogging to now show us, Jungkook’s GCFT shows us. They share.

So a show, sure, Jikook are used to cameras, the members are able to retain their authenticity through they years since day one of being in front of a camera.

That’s it, I’ll stop cos otherwise I’ll keep on musing forever 😅

💜💛

#random musings #random thoughts #Jikook #Are You Sure?!

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copias-sewer-rat · 1 year

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THE BLOOD DROPPING FROM THE DARK ROSE IS ALWAYS THE SWEETEST (Cardinal Copia x f/reader)

Flower Shop AU! for Ghost (the band). Copia is still a Cardinal. Just cuteness and a bit of setting for this chapter. Around 2.8K words. I used a name for the female character instead of y/n because I am not the biggest fan of it, hope you don’t mind. ⸸tags: some mockery of Catholicism, mentions of death (but very brief). Do not mind the titles of the chapters, they are songs that I want Ghost to cover at some point ;) ⸸my masterlist⸸ ⸸Read on Ao3⸸ Enjoy!

I - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

The Monday morning sun hit your eyes. Still drowsy from sleep you checked your phone. The alarm was about to go off. Decided to stay under the covers until the last second, you closed your eyes and thought about your plans for the week. There were some big orders for this week, which you were glad for. Being a florist was not always the most rewarding job monetarily, but the fact that you were working on your dream job was more than enough to make up for it.

Wanting to have some resemblance of control over your week, you made a mental list. Twenty bouquets, some for weddings, others just normal displays of random affection between lovers. Seven funeral wreaths, which sometimes broke your heart to make. You remember a very painful wreath that you had to make about a baby who had died because of some sort of medical negligence, you remember how you could not stop crying for the entirety of that night. You also had a couple of wedding preparations that were due in a couple of weeks, but you needed to visit your usual provider just to check some details.

Remembering you had to visit your provider, your mind wandered to that pretty bizarre event you had to prepare an arrangement for on Friday. You had been visited by a couple of nuns a week ago, they seemed very friendly and cheerful, and although your history with Catholicism was not the best, they were very nice to you. They both also looked gorgeous, wearing some makeup and a tight attire that you had never seen wear to a nun, maybe they were from a branch of the Catholic church that was more permissive on that stuff regarding appearance. However, you could not know, you had been out of it for a few years.

The taller of the two nuns said that your shop had been in the radar of their congregation for some time. They had been waiting to perform some sort of ritual in town to ask for your services and now the time had come. You asked if they were from out of town and that is why it had taken some time to book you. The other sister, a bit older, but still breathtaking, said that they were from town. They just usually toured all over the world giving ceremonies. Now it was the turn of their hometown. You had been living in this quiet little town for a year and a half so you honestly did not know much about specific groups or the community in general, you really did not care about any of it. You were assigned with preparing a ceiling and floor arrangement, wild and unpredictable. The sisters told you that the venue was a bit big and that they were told by their superiors that they preferred something dark, but that it could still be seen in dim light. You had a herculean task before you. Nonetheless, you had always enjoyed a good challenge. While asking for your budget for the project you were answered with a “whatever you may need”. Your mouth was agape at the answer, no need to push the topic further.

Before continuing your train of thought, the phone alarm went off. You jumped out of bed, actually very excited to start your Monday.

You showered, dressed in a smart but comfortable outfit and prepared your breakfast and coffee to have in your truck. Before even thinking of how the arrangemet would be, you actually needed to see the venue first. The task had been avoided long enough. You picked a black card from your glove compartment which was given to you by the tall sister. It had the name and address of the venue engraved in bright white, the contrast feeling very dramatic and theatrical. Setting your google maps to the location, you put your favorite playlist and drove off towards your destination. After a fifteen minute drive and moments before finishing your rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, you arrived to the venue. You found yourself before a concert venue when you were hoping for a church or an abbey. Maybe the congregation did not want to litter their precious church so they booked an easier place to clean afterwards. The turned off neon sign read ‘The Rat Trap’. Quite a fitting name for a concert venue, no doubt. The name was the same as the card, so you must have been at the correct spot.

Exiting your truck a couple of figures came into view in front of the establishment. They wore metal masks and black outfits. For a second you thought that you had the address wrong, these people did not seem very church-like. You shrugged it off and decided to ask anyway.

“Good morning. I was looking for a venue in which I am supposed to set some flower arrangements? Is this the correct address?” You spoke, your voice clear and pace slow, trying not to trip over your own words, not wanting to embarrass yourself so early in the morning. The silence was heavy between you three. Maybe that was only your imagination, because they took a step back and opened the metal door behind them. You thanked them with a smile and entered the building. The venue was enormous, but it was weird seeing a concert venue empty and with the lights on.

You only took two steps in, looking at how busy the place was with more people wearing those silver masks, when suddenly an older woman approached you.

“Good morning, dear. Can I know what business brings you here?” She questioned you, with a bit of poison in her tone. You got the feeling that you had interrupted something.

“Yes, good morning to you too.” You said, trying to sound as professional as possible. “My name is Claire, I am from Dewdrop, the flower store. My services were booked by a couple of nuns a week ago to make an arrangement at this venue for this Friday.” You said, short and to the point.

“Ah, yes, that…” The woman said, and you realized that the flowers were definitely not her idea. “Well, I guess there is no turning back now that you showed up. My name is Sister Imperator, you can come to me with any questions.” You were about to interrupt her with one, but she continued speaking. “Nonetheless, all this idea of the flower arrangement is from the Cardinal, so you better speak to him directly about it.” She finished talking and started walking, hoping for you to follow, so you did, not without asking the question that had been bugging you since the very beginning.

“Sorry, I have a question… What kind of church is this?”

Sister Imperator gave you a quick glance back and a smirk: “Just your typical church.”

You remembered what you had seen until now, the nuns, the people at the entrance and from inside the venue with those weird looking masks as you said to yourself: “Typical church, my ass.” The weird knot in your stomach was not going to prevent you from doing your job, you were more professional than that. You were even curious about those people, hoping to learn about what they stood for and to what dude from above they prayed to. Your step quickened to follow her closer.

You two said nothing to each other until the sister stopped abruptly before a door, it looked like a dressing room. You were a bit scared about the whole backstage thing, you had been to concerts, but you had never been so lucky as to go there. Sister Imperator knocked with a very curious rhythm, to which you heard a male voice respond with: “Come on in!”

The sister opened the door, but she signed for you to hold. You did as you were told and she entered the room leaving you outside of it on your own. You were nervous, she said that you had to talk to the Cardinal. From your knowledge from when you were a child, being a Cardinal is a pretty good position in the church. Thinking about it, you felt yourself getting smaller and smaller, reliving memories from your childhood that you had not thought about in a very long time. You were considering saying ‘fuck off’ to your professionalism and making a swift escape. There had to be a back door that you could slip through somewhere without no one noticing. As soon as you looked down the hall before you, searching for such a door, the one behind you opened and you knew there was no turning back. You just hoped for your face not to give away your emotions.

Sister Imperator told you to enter the room, and as you did you were struck with the sight of a man wearing a red cassock and some black eye and lip makeup, which made him look ready for Halloween. You could not stop staring at him, he was like nothing you had seen before, and when he rose from his seat to greet you, you caught yourself being too weird by looking so much and tried to smile warmly. You tried to shake hands with the Cardinal, but he was quicker, grabbing the hand you were extending with his gloved one and kissing the back of it, leaving a bit of lipstick there. Your face got a pink tint to it and your instinct told you to run away. Nonetheless, you decided to push your instinct down at least for now, to see the outcome of this reunion. You could always refuse the job, you just wanted the details of it first. You had not even noticed, but Sister Imperator had left the room and you were now alone with the Cardinal.

After kissing your hand, the man before you introduced himself as Cardinal Copia, a hint of what you presumed to be Italian in his pronunciation. He said nothing else, waiting for you to introduce yourself, but he forgot to let go of your hand.

“Claire Brown, nice to meet you Cardinal Copia” you tried to make the hold less awkward by gently shaking his hand. Then he seemed to realize his hand was still on yours.

“Miss Brown, it is a pleasure to meet you at last.” Cardinal Copia said, with sincerity, following your shake.

“Just call me Claire, please. I don’t like to be addressed by my surname, it makes me feel like I am still in school.” You surprised yourself with your honesty, the Cardinal just laughed at your justification and at this point you were both free of each others’ grasp.

“That is completely fair, Claire.” He said your name, rolling the ‘r’, just as Italians do, and you felt your cheeks tint even more, he did not seem to take notice, and even if he did, he did not mention it. Cardinal Copia gestured to the couch in front of the one he was sitting a few seconds ago and spoke with a smile: “Per favore (please), take a seat. Let us discuss flowers.” And so you did, not breaking eye contact with the Cardinal and giving him a warm smile, he did the same.

“I have some idea of what you want, but I would like some more details if possible.” You said, taking out a green notepad that you always carried with you and a pencil with a rubber-shaped pigeon on top, a bit worn off because it was an eraser and you need to use it sometimes, even if it pained you so much. The Cardinal took notice of your eraser and chuckled a bit.

“Fan of pigeons, sì?” He asked, nodding to your pencil.

“Yes, I think that they are wonderful creatures and very loyal. I love all birds, I have a soft spot for the underdogs in general.” You did not know why at the moment, but the Cardinal’s cheeks flushed a bit at your comment. “About the flowers then… I was told by the two nuns who visited me the other day that you were looking for a ceiling and floor arrangement, is that correct?” You asked.

“Yes, that is correct. It is a special occasion and I wanted something to commemorate it.” The Cardinal explained to you, but you still had many questions about the whole ordeal.

“And what is the occasion? It will be better for me to know which flowers will be the best and their collocation.” You pushed, trying to get more information.

“A concert, back in the town that saw us grow to what we are today.” To his answer, you blinked slowly. You were thinking of some kind of mass, not a full on concert.

“I am sorry? I thought you were a congregation or a church of some sort, not a music group.” You looked puzzled, but Cardinal Copia seemed to enjoy your confusion.

“We are actually both. A church and a music group. We are pretty well known in fact.” You could not believe his words, this was some kind of mockery and the Cardinal was just teasing you.

“Oh, is that so? What kind of music do you play?” You played along, having nothing to lose.

“Mostly heavy metal, but we also make covers of other songs and we also have some ballads.” The Cardinal replied, looking very closely to your reaction and making a dramatic gesture with his hand.

“That is pretty daring for the Catholic church…” You regretted your words the instant they came out of your mouth.

To that, the Cardinal smirked. “Who said we were Catholic? We are Satanists, Claire. We serve the one below, not that asshole above.” You were shocked, that actually explained so much. In that moment you noticed the Cardinal’s mismatched gaze, one eye green and the other white. The latter was actually shining a bit and you found yourself entranced by it. “We basically use the group to spread the word of our Lord and to take over the world.” You did not know what to say to that, but deep inside you were glad that they were not Catholic.

“Well, as for this show, I hope I can help you spread your word a bit with my flowers.” You said, sincerely. You had never met a Satanist, but Cardinal Copia seemed like a good person so you wanted to help, and his goals seemed a bit impossible, so you did not mind helping.

“I-I appreciate that, Claire, thank you for your em… kind words.” He stuttered slightly and you felt his confidence slip a bit because of that. You were sure that he had been trying really hard to present himself as a confident person. You felt yourself relating with the man, being a bit of a stutter yourself, so you just smiled and continued asking and taking notes.

The rest of the meeting went pretty well. Cardinal Copia told you that he wanted mostly red, black and white flowers. He also wanted the arrangements to look like an overgrown garden, so it needed plenty of different types of leaves and foliage. He later took you to the stage and pointed to the places where he wanted the decorations to be. It was a pretty big stage and you were thinking of how much money this was going to cost. You raised your concerns to the Cardinal, leaving you with the same answer the sisters had given you a week prior: “Whatever you may need.”

You tried to push your luck a bit. “In that case, I will need your phone number or something of the sort. Just to message you in case of any question or problem that might arise.” The Cardinal raised his eyebrows a bit and his white eye glistened a bit more than it did before. He fidgeted with his pocket, taking out an old smartphone, which you found adorable. He handed it to you and you saved your contact as Claire with a rose emoji and then called yourself to save his contact in your phone as well. He bowed a bit when you gave his phone back to him and you smiled a bit because of it.

After having a clear idea of what you needed to do, the Cardinal escorted you to your car. He was a gentleman and it seemed to be something natural to his person, it was very refreshing to see. Once you were inside your car you observed the Cardinal getting back into the building. As the door was opened for him you remembered the most important question of all, so you rolled your window down.

“Cardinal! What is the name of your band?!” You shouted, a teething smile escaping your lips.

Cardinal Copia got scared by your sudden shout and turned towards you a bit violently. However, when he saw your genuine smile, he could not help but laugh and smile back. “Ghost!” He said, and then you knew the name of the band that was going to become the soundtrack for your trip.

____

<<PREVIOUS CHAPTER FIRST CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER>>

That is it for the first chapter. I will probably edit some grammar and stuff later. Please let me know what you think and give me some feedback on how make the fic better (I am a bit rusty). Lots of love, SR🐀

#cardinal copia #cardinal copia x reader #the band ghost #papa emeritus iv #papa emeritus iv x reader #papa emeritus iv x female reader #ghost band #ghost bc #papa emeritus 4 #cardi c #papa iv #copia #copia my beloved #florist au

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cheetahsprints · 10 months

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(If you don't like mentions of a slash ship featuring certain anthro hedgehogs just scroll past!!!! Quickly!!!)

TL;DR (You can skip this blurb if you want the full story)

I went from being like neutrally aware of the Sonic franchise characters' existence to totally obsessed practically overnight with Shadow and Sonadow. Went full speed ahead brainrot on them because of a freaking dream where cartoon (unspecified) Sonic & co accidentally entered the dimension of live action Sonic. Shenanigans ensued, most notably a dreambrain-hatched live action Shadow fighting his cartoon version because of his attitude toward Sonic & co.

(End of TL;DR)

[Text wall below for details]

A few nights ago I had a random as hell dream about Sonic the hedgehog and I am now here I have watched freaking Sonic Prime on Netflix because the mental images wouldn't leave me alone so I treated it like a weird message from the universe e send Help

My only previous interactions with sonic stuff was some person I followed on twitter for something else posting art of it (mega long time ago), watching the sonic live action movies why I have no idea (super long time ago), and that joke game that went surprisingly hard The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog which I completed even though the minigames to progress got hard AF for me (pretty long time ago) and like even before all that I knew of Sonic from ads, memes, and various posts on social medias. But I didn't fully engage with it.

Side note: the twitter posting was mostly sonadow and I would look it over like uh-huh ok the vibes check out and just keep scrolling like lsdfkjdskl but that is pretty much the main reason I knew Sonic/Shadow existed but at the time I didn't actively seek it out or try to learn more.

Onward...

My brain is so so so weird and the dream was somewhat vivid like watching a movie omg where the live action sonic and pals met the cartoon versions of the characters?? even though I never watched any of the cartoons before??? as such it wasn't a specific series, I just knew it in the dream they were from a generalized cartoon universe

Specifically it was Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in the movie group, while the cartoon group had Amy and Rouge instead of the other two alongside Sonic, who I only even really knew about because of the April Fool's game. And Shadow was also there in both groups because why not I guess and they (the Shadows) fought each other because the movie one thought the cartoon one was a jerk lmao idk? Yeah my subconscious decided it couldn't wait for Sonic 3 and made up its own version of movie Shadow.

Early in the dream there was also a little kid clone of Sonic who belonged with the cartoon group. There were some cute interactions but in nonsensical dream fashion that character just disappeared later like he was never there lol

…There was some plot about the cartoon group needing to get back to their dimension because Sonic accidentally got them blasted into the movie one somehow... after watching Sonic Prime I'm like my dream was so FREAKISHLY similar to that show's plot, but I SWEAR I knew nothing about the premise of SP before the dream. Although, in the dream they were like... multidimensional travellers doing hero stuff and had met other variants before, just this time it wasn't intentional and it messed something up.

Uh getting off track... (which the dream itself did a lot tbf)

Anyway, what I remember is the movie dimension made the cartoon group look in the more realistic style so at first Shadow thought the actual movie group were the ones from his dimension (Shadow & Amy got separated from Sonic & Rouge) and was rude to them because he was so ticked off blaming Sonic for being a dumbass and yelling at Tails for not preventing whatever happened or something, so actual movie Shadow appeared like. don't talk to my friends that way asshole and beat the absolute shit out of him. There was an explanation Tails gave that the movie Shadow was more powerful for some reason I don't remember and Amy told cartoon Shadow to stop trying to beat him. But yeah bro was so pissed movie Sonic had to step in and physically stop him because he wouldn't listen to and/or overpowered anyone else. He reminded Shadow that the other Shadow was still him, in a sense.

Cartoon Sonic and Rouge appeared and Sonic started bickering with cartoon Shadow. but the movie versions were best friends so they were watching them like wtf is wrong with y'all. Movie Shadow got fed up quickly and punched cartoon Shadow again and stood protectively in front of both Sonic versions bristling and wouldn't take his eyes off his counterpart. Cartoon Shadow was so goddamn confused by Shadow's protectiveness and asked how Sonic had made movie Shadow his loyal bodyguard (derogatory) Amy and Rouge like explained the backstory to the movie crew, which is fuzzy to me but it was something along the lines of, Shadow had been brainwashed to rival Sonic, tricked to think that Sonic was evil (unbeknownst to that Sonic who in his pov had this random edgy hedgehog start attacking him out of nowhere during a mission) and they had a lot of intense fighting before Shadow found out the truth. But the two of them never quite got over the misunderstanding. Listen I didn't know Shadow's backstory, literally none of it, but I have read the wiki since ok

Meanwhile movie Shadow, in the dream, was made and raised in a lab and similarly believed he was made as Sonic's rival/equal. Behind the scenes some government thing or whatever were afraid of Sonic's power and wanted a backup plan. But some evil guy stole and unleashed Shadow. At first it was basically just a duel, Shadow admired Sonic, but the evil guy had put a chip in his head that when activated made him try to kill Sonic. Eventually he was subdued and the chip deactivated- and despite everything Sonic insisted Shadow come with him to his home and the rest was history. This unfolded in like flashback style.

There was a funny part where Shadow questioned Sonic's home like "What kind of base of operations is this?" In a very unimpressed tone. Sonic said sarcastically "Oh, sorry if you were expecting my own Fortress of Solitude." And I guess Shadow was allowed to watch tv because he got the reference and shot back "Does that make me Lois Lane?" Didn't make a whole lot of sense sdlfkjds but movie Shadow delivered this line very confidently and flirtatious and just walked away leaving Sonic shocked LOL

And then later Shadow complained that the government people would always rewind and loop the villainy parts and he never got to see if Lois and Clark kissed (It's been too long since I watched any Superman movies so I couldn't tell you if this makes sense) and Knuckles teased him for being a romantic, and then the whole team binge watched every Superman movie.

In the "present" at some point movie Sonic and Shadow pulled their alternate versions aside and like told them off for being mean to each other lmao cartoon Sonic was kinda like uwu I didn't know Shadow had feelings he's like a lone wolf and like was surprised by his counterpart's vehemence. Movie Sonic told cartoon Sonic that Shadow can be a great friend if you give him a chance. I don't remember the Shadowses convo much but it was a lot more chill despite the fighting before (though still prickly) because Shadow's reasons were more valid and it was more of a pep talk from movie Shadow that if he opened up more it might give the others around him more opportunity to know and accept him.

I remember there was this one specific heavy emotional line in the dream that stuck with me when I woke up said by cartoon Shadow about Sonic, "He's my best friend but I'm obviously not his" DFKLJDSKJ

Additional small detail that movie Sonic and Shadow had known each other for over 2 years during dream events. And they were quite close and in sync. But still bantery

My brain basically conjured a LITERAL FANFICTION in my sleep and I have been thinking about it a lot What's hilarious is I knew next to fuck all about these characters my brain pulled the plot points of this dream out of its ass

Typed out, this dream probably sounds a lot longer than it was... the "scenes" just felt oddly detailed for how mashed together and quick passing they were.

But yeah I kept thinking about the dream and like daydreaming more scenes and it somehow turned even more into Sonadow (like, I imagined Cartoon Sonic & Shadow finding out in a very abrupt way that the movie versions were an item. <- to my delight I did find a fic with a premise very similar to this just not movie universe related. Also played with the idea of Sonic and/or Shadow accidentally kissing the wrong counterpart in their excitement at being reunited which Awakened Some Things for the receiver of the unexpected passion😂 )

The dream kinda acted as a base that inspired daydreams to spiral out from my brain without permission but I just... mentally jumped into it because ships sometimes grab you like that.

And Sonic Prime made my sprouting interest worse, basically fuel to the fire, so now I am obsessed with them... like what a fucking way to get into a ship

#sth #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonic prime #sonadow #shadonic #swearing #long post #since it was a dream there's of course a lot of holes in my memory #so if anyone reads the full thing don't examine it too closely lol #I think movie Sonic and Shadow were not explicitly a couple in the dream but the dream was very much implying it or at least the possibilit #I... haven't played any of the Actual games :(#I did try the uhh Sonic Frontiers demo on the switch (some time prior to dream)#but the gameplay didn't seem like my type of thing #does this make me a fake fan /lh #does it help that I binged the twitter takeovers - why are they so fucking funny? - and read Shadow's entire wiki page?#originally rambled about this dream in a discord group chat with half assed grammar but I tried to clean it up a bit #I am normal (lie) about these hedgehogs

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chaotic-starlight24 · 3 months

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Cynthia's character page :)

Welp, here it is y'all. Cynthia's very large amount of information! Since she isn't a part of any fanfic so I can ramble for a while! It is organized in sections, so skip through stuff you don't care about! I hope the characters mentioned are in character!

Who is she?

Cynthia is a 17 year old, middle class teenager who lives on the top of her family’s soda fountain in Tulsa, OK. She has shoulder-length dark, curly hair and dark brown eyes, as well as skin on the tanner side. Around 5’7 ½ . She is a part of the group of families who are just between being a soc and greaser. Not as rich and emotionless as a soc and not as poor or wild as a greaser. But she mainly chooses to hang out with the greasers. She is very hard-working, her and her brother mainly running the soda fountain and can be quite stubborn. But she is also very caring, always letting greasers come in and helping patch them up if they’ve just been jumped. She does still go to school, she is quite good at math but other than that she’s pretty average. Some other character traits of her or little facts:

She can be extremely brutally honest. Like she can’t help herself but point out the negatives if you ask her. Which many can take offense to.

She has really good comebacks, mainly because she doesn’t exactly think before she speaks. It's good for rude people! But has gotten her into some trouble before…

Teacher: Now with those grades you have…Don’t expect to be able to join any sports, not that you had a chance anyways.

Cynthia: With that hairline, don’t expect to be able to get anyone to marry you. Not that you had a chance anyways.

She doesn’t hold any hatred for most socs, but she dislikes the ones who go looking to pick on greasers. Which means she also dislikes the greasers who jump random people.

She just matches the vibe of whoever she’s hanging out with, but since she hangs out a lot with greasers she can take on more of their traits

Her dream is to be an actress, this is because her mother and her used to go watch movies together as their girls thing and now deep down she wonders if she’ll get her mother’s attention again.

Since she has worked at the aforementioned ranch, she has a plethora of strength that she likes to show off.

Cynthia can be very observant without really realizing it. It’s how she knows so much about a lot of her friends (the gang) or family members. Just by catching little details and remembering them whenever needed.

Her closest family

Cynthia’s parents are ok people. Her dad mainly works at the family ranch that her grandparents’ own and her mother helps out with organizing the rodeo events they host. Her mother occasionally comes to help out at the soda fountain but Cynthia and her brother end up left to their own devices most of the time. Since both are almost adults anyways they’re ok with being alone a lot. (But it’s more on the unhealthy side how much they are with their parents since they just don’t come home like half the week. Cynthia blames it on their jobs taking over.) When they were younger, their parents raised them in a laid back manner. But certain things they definitely drilled into their heads. They would remind them about these rules very randomly. Like I’m talking:

*At the dinner table*

“Cynthia?”

“Yeah, mama?”

“I need you to remember this.” “...Ok?”

“Wait till marriage for the following things. 1#-”

Joey has let go of a lot of the rules he doesn’t like or just forgot them. Cynthia has held onto those rules more. (Probably because she wants the attention from her parents that she has listened to them just like they asked her to do.)

Joey is Cynthia’s older brother who is 19. He is a lot like Darry, but more like if everything went right for him. He acts a bit more like a soc but always helps out the greasers when he can. He got a scholarship from football but he enjoys baseball a lot more. He could win a Paul Newman look-alike contest (when Pony first met him he took a double take). With his literal movie star looks, girls have tried flirting with him at the fountain. But he is honestly really passive aggressive about the fact he has a girlfriend who he loves very much and her name is Roxie and did he mention he loves her very much? He is overall a very kind person who can also be very protective with Cynthia. (Especially with a certain hood *cough cough* Dallas Tucker Winston *Cough Cough*) Though he is still pretty young, he is usually the voice of reason in a lot of situations. He is a bit bitter that he can't really leave for college yet because of the soda fountain and Cynthia can't be left alone. But he's seen people like Darry so he's more at peace with it. He is the best bros with Angel's older brother Todd. (@ollenotter27 other OC)

Their cousins Rosemary and Tessa also basically live with them at this point. Rosemary is a 21 year old hairstylist with her own salon. She is extremely independent and a big fighter for women’s rights. She enjoys different arts and crafts but especially crocheting and knitting. She has also become a pretty good friend to the greasers and can be very mom-like to them all and with that become great friends with Darry. She helps him out a lot even if he insists that he doesn’t need it but he does really appreciate it. She’s also just there for him to have someone to talk to that is his age. Sodapop and Pony definitely think they should be dating.

Tessa is Rosemary’s younger sister at about 14 years old (and a half). She is extremely outgoing and sassy whenever she’s comfortable. She really enjoys hanging out with the greasers (especially Pony and Johnny) but is terrified of Dally. If there's anything Rosemary has taught her, it’s that you shouldn’t let the enemy know she’s scared. So Dally just believes at this point she’s a very rude person. Rosemary has also taught her how to do great hairstyles and how to fight. Rosemary is her main caretaker after their father left and their mother was just not mentally ok enough to take care of them. Rosemary initially didn’t want Tessa to have to constantly sleep in the salon so she would send her over to Cynthia and Joey. She grew up not being able to lean on others, leading to her being extremely independent and that was why she didn’t stay with them at first. But she was eventually won over.

(If y'all want to know anymore about the details of these goobers let me know :)

Her friendship with the canon characters

Ponyboy- She has noticed that he (and Johnny) can be very quiet so she tries to talk to him about his interests and just lets him ramble about all sorts of different things. So a lot of times he can be found after school drinking a Pepsi and talking about the newest movies while Cynthia cleans the dishes.

Sodapop- Soda is her best friend out of anyone in the gang (besides her boyfriend) and they hang out when they’re not working. They both have the understanding of having a more undecided future and also love for horses. She is one of the few who have actually heard about his insecurities, one of the few to know that he isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. She also has a dislike for Sandy (not in a jealousy way) because she doesn’t trust her. She just feels something off about her and how Soda seems to be the one to care a lot more. But she never says anything. At some point Soda talks about Mickey Mouse (the horse). After hearing some about Mickey Mouse, she realizes that her grandparents recently bought a horse that used to do rodeos and stuff and gets Soda to tell her what he looked like. She makes the connections and takes Soda to see him. He most definitely just fell to his knees when he saw him and it recognized him.

Darry- She likes him enough as a person. But she hasn’t really gotten to know him since he is working so much. She feels bad for him, especially knowing that he is friends with her brother, who is basically him if his life went the expected way. She knows most about him from Rosemary and is also a Rosedarry shipper.

Johnny- Like with Pony, she noticed that he was extremely quiet. But she also realized that it is more towards the point that she can’t get an answer out of him. She decided to leave him be and let him reach out if he really wanted to. But they ended up becoming friends of sorts when he learned that she just says what comes to mind and she learned that he can say some more rude things after picking it up from Dally. So their main thing is just people watching and judging. (Some people may see that as ooc but I’ve seen a lot of headcanons that Johnny has picked up traits like that from Dally so…)

Steve-She’s not exactly good friends with him. She has hung out with him and Soda before so they have done some chaotic stuff together. But it’s more the kind of trio where two of the people don’t really like each other, they just happen to both be besties with the one. But she does trust him and knows a good amount about him.

Two-Bit- She likes him a good amount. She wouldn’t exactly hang out with him alone but she thinks he’s a fun person. She learned about his younger sister and offers to help out with her when she can and he appreciates that. So in general, they’re nice to each other and everything but not besties.

Cherry- Cherry has come to the fountain with her friends several times so they are acquaintances. They’ve also seen each other at school or at Rosemary's salon. So they’ve had a couple chats but not much more than that.

Non-Canon Characters

Angel- (Angel is a soc oc created by @ollenotter27 :) They are both great at roasting other people and Angel has bruised Dally’s ego several times. So they sort of teeter on the friend and enemy line. Though once she starts dating Sodapop, they become better friends.

Dally will be covered in the relationship post! I promise y’all I’m not basic, I just like their dynamic

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androidcharles · 8 months

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Adjusting to Circumstances

NO BETA WE DIE LIKE CHARLES ANYWAY IT'S TIME TO SET UP THE NEXT ARC, SO HERE'S THAT FIC!

Rupert is having a bit of trouble adjusting to the Toppat Clan. He feels out of place as he tries to go through the motions. Meanwhile, something else is brewing.

No major TWs as far as things are concerned, there might be some swearing. Other then that, enjoy!

Rupert opened his eyes, feeling a bit disoriented as he rose up, almost a little panicked as he suddenly remembered where he was. The dream he had was a little too real. He was back in the government forces, but the details seemed to escape him as he woke up a bit more. He sighed as he threw his legs over the bed, stretching as he started to get dressed.

He should be lucky that he had a room to himself for the time being, but he figured it would be like that for long. The Toppats didn’t seem to be interested in anymore new recruits. Aside from him, of course. He sighed as he opened the door, looking to see a few Toppats grouped up, talking amongst themselves about their days, about the government agents they’ve taken down and what they’ve stolen.

Rupert gently caressed the ring on his finger, one of his steals that he managed to get as he headed out the door, walking down the hall to get some breakfast.

He tried to pretend he didn’t notice the stares as he walked by, heading to the cafeteria upstairs as he spotted his cousin, Carol talking to some of the girl Toppats. She seemed to be in a good mood as Rupert ordered his food and took a seat at a random table.

It didn’t seem all that bad all things considered. It wasn’t any different from being a government agent, to be honest. He would go to training for a few hours and then he usually killed time either by doing something like helping fix up the house or he would be called to take care of a heist. Unfortunately, one of the heists he was called on involved the Triple Threat team and he almost felt guilty fighting Henry and Ellie as he protected some precious uncut emeralds he managed to snag.

He managed to get away with injuring them just enough that they wouldn’t chase, but he still felt bad. He slapped his face a few times as he winced, trying to keep himself from being to cut up about it. Again. It wasn’t the first time he had felt hesitant about hurting someone to get what he wanted.

He figured it would be easy. He would adjust to this just fine without much trouble, but so far he was having a hard time. He heard his name called as he picked up his food and headed back towards his table, getting ready to eat when he saw his mentor slide next to him, his own food on his tray.

“Uh… hello Five Eyes,” Rupert said. Five Eyes smiled at him as he patted his hand.

“You feeling alright, Rupert?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just… I guess I thought I’d be used to the whole fighting police officers and government agents thing, but I guess I was wrong,” Rupert said.

“Something else is bothering you, though. I can tell…” Five Eyes said. Rupert remembered that Five Eyes was magic just like him and one of his talents was reading minds.

“Well, I guess one other thing that’s bothering me is that… a lot people keep comparing me to my uncle and… well it’s kinda starting to get to me. I guess they expected more of me when I joined and I don’t know what to do,” Rupert said, “It’s like I’m trying to live up to an imaginary expectation and it just… it just sucks.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not uncommon for people to make those comparisons. You are his nephew after all,” Five Eyes said, “But I wouldn’t worry too much about what they’re saying. You’re your own person you know. You’re not Jaques or Carol or even The Witch. You’re just Rupert. And you fight the bad guys and do things your own way.”

“I know, I know, but it feels like I have to work fifteen times as hard to prove that!” Rupert said, “I don’t want to constantly be compared to my uncle forever and ever…”

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry about that,” Five Eyes said, “How about we focus on combat these next few weeks. I know that you’re already used to it, but something tells me that’s something you need to work on. Let’s meet up in about an hour after breakfast in the training area, OK?” Five Eyes said. Rupert nodded as he stood up to go meet with some other higher ups as Rupert glanced back at Carol’s table.

Maybe I should go sit with them… Rupert thought before pushing that thought away, eating the rest of his breakfast as quickly as possible before heading out of the cafeteria. The least he could do is talk to Amelia. She was the only other person besides his cousins that he felt comfortable talking to as he headed down the elevator to one of the lounges for all the rookies and new recruits. The grunts as they’re called as he opened the double doors to find that Amelia wasn’t there.

That’s strange, he thought, Shouldn’t she be here by now? He headed to her room to see if she was maybe sick or something (it was very often that she overworked herself to the point of giving herself viruses) only to see the Right Hand Man helping carry a cardboard box out of her room.

“Sir?” Rupert asked.

“Oh, hey Rupert. Maybe you can give me a hand with this. Amelia’s moving out of here after all. Gotta make sure it’s clean for the next person,” the Right Hand Man said.

“Moving out?” Rupert asked.

“Yeah, I’m no longer being punished! As much…” Amelia said.

“Reg, around the beginning of summer, punished this little brat along with some other higher up Toppats and I guess he figured they must have learned their lesson. So she, along with those Toppats are going to be moving up a rank,” the Right Hand Man explained.

“I’m gonna finally get my own room! I mean, I already had my own room to begin with, but now I’m not expected to share it with anyone!” Amelia said.

“Oh… so I guess you won’t be hanging out down here anymore, huh?” Rupert said, trying to hide how disappointed he was.

“No, we can still hang out! I just… won’t be down here as much anymore,” Amelia said, “But in all honesty, you should really get to know your fellow Toppats a little better! It might do you some good!”

“I agree,” the Right Hand Man said, “I know it’s tough, but from what I’ve heard, you barely talked to anyone these past few weeks you’ve been here.” Rupert sighed as he nodded his head. That’s why Carol was so hyped up earlier. She had endured the same punishment as she had told him and was now finally moving up in the ranks.

“Rupert, don’t just stand there, get that box upstairs! I’ll show you my new room!” Amelia said as she beckoned for Rupert to follow her. Rupert let out a small sigh as he followed her, hoping he would be done in time for training.

- - - - -

While he did get scolded a bit for being a few minutes late, Five Eyes didn’t seem to mind too much once he found out he was helping Amelia out.

His training went by as quickly as it could, with him learning a few moves that even he didn’t know and some magic tricks that would come in handy. He had a bit of trouble with one, though, so Five Eyes suggested that he borrow a book from the Witch so he could hone his abilities a bit more.

After he was dismissed, he went to get something to eat before stopping by the Witch’s room, which was as messy as it usually was.

“Hey, Rup,” the Witch said as she looked up from her desk, “Whatcha up too?”

“Um… Five Eyes asked me to borrow a book from you. Something about… magic focus?” Rupert said.

“Hmm… yeah I might have a copy of a book or two lying around somewhere. Lemme take a look and see…” the Witch said as she headed towards her messy bookshelf, “So, how are you adjusting?”

“To magic? Not well. Some spells come easily to me while others are a bit more… well… complicated,” Rupert said.

“Not magic you dumb dumb. I’m talking about being a Toppat,” the Witch said, “I imagine it must be pretty fun, right?” Rupert glanced down as the Witch tipped her head to the side, a book in her hand.

“That doesn’t look like the look of someone who’s having fun…” the Witch said, “Are you sure you wanted to join?”

“I am!” Rupert said, “I did want to join, but, I guess… everyone keeps comparing me to my uncle and… well, it’s kind of discouraging, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess I don’t blame them. But you’re not him at the very least. You’re your own person.”

“I know I’m my own person, but it feels like I have to try harder to impress you guys! Especially considering that I was a government agent,” Rupert said, “I’m not sure what to do…”

“Well, working yourself to death won’t help anything. Just keep trying and prove yourself in little ways. The clan will warm up to you eventually. Once you’ve gotten used to things, they’ll see value in you,” the Witch said, patting his head, “I promise.” Rupert rushed over to hug her as she smiled.

“Now, let’s see about finding that book for you,” the Witch said.

After he got the book from the Witch with the promise to return it, he wandered over to the elevator, before he suddenly realized that he was about one floor from the top floor…

He didn’t really have any reason to go, but it wasn’t like he was forbidden from going up there. In fact, some Toppats often went up there to look at the pictures or patrol the halls to protect the leaders. He pushed the button for the top floor and waited for the elevator to stop, walking out into the hall, noticing how quiet it was. He stepped through the hallway, gazing at all the leaders before he saw the portrait he was looking for.

He gazed at Jaques Kensington, getting a funny feeling from it as he walked towards the picture, letting out a small sigh.

“It’s so ridiculous…” Rupert said, “I bet when you were in the clan, you didn’t have to deal with all this. I bet you were a great Toppat. I mean you became the leader for crying out loud! So… what would I have to do to become a great Toppat like you?”

Rupert sighed as he leaned his head against the frame, feeling like bursting into tears as he glanced down the hall and saw a young kid. He regained his composure as he glanced at the kid, sneaking over to see what picture he was looking at, the portrait of Terrence Suave. He was grinning really wide, his hazel eyes almost golden with dusty brown hair that had a bit of gold flecks to it as well. He was holding up what looked to be a golden gun, something he had seen Reginald carry from time to time.

Rupert glanced at the kid, who was staring with this sort of fear in his eyes.

“Hey… you OK?” Rupert asked.

“Huh? Oh, hello,” he said. He actually looked like a spitting image of a younger version of Terrence, almost too much, right down to the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. He glanced at Rupert before he shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just uh… looking at this picture of my dad,” he said, “Sometimes I come up here whenever I’m feeling down. But… in the end it just makes me angrier looking at this PICTURE!” The kid punched the wall, causing the picture to shake slightly as Rupert jumped.

“Do you hate your dad?” Rupert asked, kind of understanding how he felt for a brief second.

“No, not really. My dad was a really great person… up until he became the leader. I don’t know what happened to him, how he changed or why he changed. It just makes me so angry though. Before he became leader, he was the kindest most amazing person in the world. Then we just started growing apart…” he said, “I remember when Uncle Reg told me that he killed himself.”

He let out a small sigh as he leaned his hand against the wall, staring down at the floor as if remembering that awful day.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked.

“I guess I was doing the same thing as you,” Rupert said, “Looking at my uncle's portrait. Although, it’s because I’m being constantly compared to him in regards to my… training.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re the new Toppat everyone’s been talking about. Rupert right?” the kid smiled at him, though it looked pretty forced.

“I’m Ace. Ace Williams,” he said.

“Yeah, Rupert Price,” Rupert said, “So, I guess we’re both in the same boat huh?”

“For different reasons. Jaques was a great leader from what I heard. A bit eccentric, but he was an amazing leader before he disappeared. My dad though, he was an awful leader. Apparently he pulled bunches of money from the budget on heists that didn’t make sense, he tried to hurt countless people in his raids when we don’t usually do that kind of stuff and worst of all, he was responsible for a lot of injuries. And when he was being overthrown, he hurt and killed a lot of people. Including someone that my Uncle Danny was close to…

“And it’s awful because when you think about all the people who had to live under his rule, they oftentimes would look at me and think that I’m the same. Like I’m gonna turn into an evil twisted version of my dad for some reason and… I don’t know what to do…” Ace muttered.

“That… that sounds awful,” Rupert muttered, being lucky that most of his comparisons had to do with his shortcomings. Having to be constantly compared to a relative that was completely awful must be much worse.

“Yeah, but I can’t exactly blame them,” Ace muttered, “I’m just scared that I might become like him. Sometimes I get this awful feeling in the back of my mind…”

“I can’t imagine someone as nice as you becoming like that,” Rupert said, “You seem way too nice to be like what you just described…” Ace’s eyes twinkled as he looked at Rupert.

“Thanks. That actually means a lot to me…” Ace said.

“You’re welcome. You know, if you’re ever feeling down, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you,” Rupert said, “Unless that makes you uncomfortable!”

“No, no, I’m glad. I’m just glad that someone understands me, you know,” Ace said, “And don’t worry about the thing with your uncle. I’m pretty sure you’ll be just as great as him one day! You may even be the leader too!”

“Nah…” Rupert chuckled as he glanced down the hall and saw Amelia, Dave, and Charles walking down the hall, talking amongst themselves.

“Amelia, what are you doing up here?” Ace asked.

“Picking up Charles and Dave so we can start practicing,” Amelia said, “Charles wants to write another original song before the end of this month, so we’re meeting three times a week this time.”

“Don’t worry, I think we can manage!” Charles said, “I just wanna write something really good!” He glanced up, jumping for joy as he hugged Rupert tightly.

“And how are you adjusting, RooRoo?” Charles said, “Feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” Rupert lied, but it was convincing enough to make Charles smiled.

“That’s good to hear! Henry thinks you’re doing just fine. Especially after that injury you gave him. He said he’d hasn’t seen you that serious since your time in the government forces!” Rupert’s eyes twinkled at this as Dave waved at Rupert.

“Say, Rupert, you wanna join us for practice? I know we’re gonna be in the room most of the time, but maybe you can listen in on us while we practice,” Dave asked.

“Can I come too? I’m so bored and I had a fight with Nicole earlier…” Ace said, “I’m kind of scared to go back to the teen’s lounge now because of it.”

“Yeah, totally! Maybe after we practice a bit we can put on an impromptu concert!” Charles said. Amelia giggled.

“Alright, follow me! We can’t keep Accordion and Violin waiting forever,” Amelia said. Rupert felt a bit less confident when he heard those names as he headed to the elevator, following the three to the music room.

- - - - -

Ace and Rupert sat in the chairs around the small stage in front of the music room as they listened to the faint sounds of rock and roll from the practice room. Rupert had to admit, they sounded pretty good, but on occasion Accordion or Violin would interrupt whenever possible to help lead them in the right direction.

“Geez, I knew they were tough, but they seem like a sports coach. Glad I’m not into music,” Ace muttered, absentmindedly playing with a guitar he decided to pull out of storage (with permission of course).

“I can already imagine that they’re used to this kind of thing,” Rupert muttered as he heard Charles talking loudly to Amelia and Dave.

He had taken the time to read the book he had borrowed while he was waiting for Charles and the others to go on break. He had to at least brush up on his magic studies while he waited.

Finally, after some time, the three of them walked out of the room, clearly exhausted as Charles lightly jogged towards Rupert, throwing himself over a the chairs as he sat next to him, hugging him.

“This is the best kind of break time because I get to spend it with you!” Charles said as Amelia and Dave sat next to each other, talking quietly, “Uh, dude, you’re holding that wrong.”

“You’re holding that wrong,” Ace said in a mocking tone as he held the guitar in an even more incorrect position.

“Ace, be nice. Charles knows a lot about music,” Amelia scolded as Dave giggled.

“So, I guess you guys aren’t doing the impromptu concert then?” Rupert asked, a little disappointed.

“Oh no, we still are! We’re just taking a small break before we set up. You’ll help Dave with his drums right?” Charles asked.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Rupert said, nuzzling Charles’ forehead.

“Yuck, love fest… do I have to help set up too?” Ace asked.

“You will if you want to listen in,” Violin piped up, causing the others to jump.

“Unless you wanna go back and face Nicole. Or apologize to her…” Amelia said, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’ll help, I’ll help! Just let me give this back to Mr. Clef first…” Ace muttered, putting the guitar back in it’s case.

The group began to help set up the stage with the amps, microphones, and of course, Dave’s drum set, which seemed like a bit much for him. Rupert commented that he really didn’t need this much as Dave blushed, saying that Amelia had gotten it for him and he didn’t want to turn it down.

Finally, the band was set up as Charles started to tune his guitar, Amelia working with her bass as Dave checked his drums. The doors were wide open, so anyone who happened to walk by could listen in, but Burt in his office noticed the commotion through the cameras and decided to finally test out the new system he had a couple of the tech Toppats set up. He flicked a couple of switches on his dashboard, causing a bit of screeching sound to play throughout the manor.

“Testing, testing… my that’s loud, isn’t it?” Charles said, not realizing what was going on. Amelia was suddenly steaming up a bit as Ace got up front and center, Violin trying to put some ear protection in his ears. Accordion sat next to his husband, almost looking up expectantly as Charles glanced at Amelia and then Dave.

“Let’s play ‘I’d Do Anything.’ I like singing that song,” Amelia said.

“OK, let’s start with that!” Charles said, “Ready?” Dave nodded his head as he counted them off, Charles already playing with vigor and feeling as Amelia began to sing the song. Rupert smiled, feeling sort of happy as he glanced up at his boyfriend playing on stage, singing that backup vocals as the song echoed through the Toppat manor.

A couple of Toppats passing by ended up growing curious, walking in to listen in on the song.

But while that was happening, the Toppats of the manor bobbing along to the music as they worked or talked amongst themselves, a shadow slipped through the halls, stepping carefully to make sure it wasn’t noticed.

It quietly flitted from wall to wall until it finally managed to reach the top floor of the manor, where the hall of leaders was. It stopped briefly in front of the portrait of Jaques as his form became a bit more corporeal.

He was wearing a pink top hat with a very loud feather in it, bright pink clothes that glittered and sparkled, his eyes hiding behind ladder shades as he listened to the song echoing through the halls.

“Not bad… but not what I’m here for…” he muttered quietly to himself as he clapped his hands in front of him, a magic symbol appearing below his feet as he concentrated. He saw a faint yellow glow from the painting and smiled, knowing exactly what was going on.

“C’mon Jaques, baby, we can make this work…” he muttered as he concentrated even more, feeling a splitting headache coming on. Maybe it was the music that was playing, or the pure determination in his heart, but finally, a hand popped out from the portrait. Not a ghostly hand, but a human one. The man grinned, but he knew he couldn’t stop there as he continued to concentrate as the hand grabbed the edge of the frame, as if Jaques was trying to pull himself out.

Finally, after a bit of struggle, he managed to surface his head, gasping as he looked to see who it was.

“Randy?” he whispered.

“Long time no see,” Randy said through gritted teeth.

“Grab my hand!” Jaques shouted. Randy grabbed one of Jaques’ hands as he pulled him, still concentrating on the spell as he successfully pulled him from the painting. Jaques suddenly shouted as the painting suddenly exploded, shaking the hall as Randy held onto Jaques tightly, feeling tears in his eyes.

It was just as the song ended too. Charles played the last bar and just as the Toppats in the room were about to cheer, the explosion occurred. Everyone was suddenly talking as Burt panicked, turning off the intercom system in the music room and scanning the security cameras. He had to admit, it was partially his fault this had happened.

Reginald and the Right Hand Man burst out of their office meanwhile as a couple of Toppats made their way upstairs to see Randy and Jaques, looking at each other as Jaques felt his magic strength regaining once again.

“Welcome back, Jaques,” Randy said softly as he nuzzled him.

“Randy?!” They jumped when the suddenly realized what was going on. They looked up to see Reginald, a look of malice in his eyes as he approached him.

“You dare show your face here again after everything you’ve done!?” Reginald shouted, “I can’t believe you!”

“Randy, what’s he-?” Jaques started as Randy grabbed Jaques’ hand a pulled him to the end of the hall.

“Forget that! Just teleport us out of here!”

“WHERE?!”

“ANYWHERE!?”

“You’re not going to escape!!” Reginald shouted as Jaques concentrated his magic and decided the safest bet was to teleport them at least 10 miles from their location. He clapped his hands and in a puff of red smoke, Randy and Jaques vanished.

“DAD!!” Amelia shouted as she ran down the hall, “Is everything OK?”

Reginald stared blankly at the empty spot where Randy and Jaques had been as he turned to the now growing crowd of Toppats.

“Amelia, tell Charles and Dave it’s time for them to go home. Everyone else, I need you to fan out and find those two! They can’t have gone far!” Reginald shouted.

“What!? But we haven’t-!” Charles started as Amelia started to push him and Dave towards the roof.

“No point arguing dude. He’s in one of his moods!” Amelia said as Charles tried to object and Dave meekly followed behind her.

Rupert finally managed to get to the top floor as Ace followed closely behind, clearly excited.

“What’s going on, what happened?!” Ace shouted.

“I’ll tell you what happened! Randy decided to show his ugly mug here again after everything he’s done!” Five Eyes shouted, “C’mon Rupert, we’ve gotta study the magic aura of the spell they used. Maybe it can help us figure out where they went!” Rupert nodded his head as he followed his mentor to the end of the hall.

“Hey, Jaques’ painting is gone!” Ace shouted. Rupert gasped as he glanced down the hall, running towards where the painting was and saw the frame completely destroyed, the canvas missing as a burned scorch mark was right in front of the place where his uncle’s portrait was.

“...Uncle Jaques?” Rupert whispered, feeling the magic aura in the air.

- - - - -

Jaques, meanwhile, was hiding in an alleyway in West Mesa, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as he clutched a cube with a glowing yellow aura. He clutched his other hand as he glanced back at Randy, who was laying back against the wall, seemingly exhausted as he looked up at Jaques.

“Jaques, baby… you have no idea how much I missed you…” Randy said softly.

“Of course, but what you did was dangerous! You should have just taken my painting and ran!” Jaques scolded as Randy sighed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I was in such a rush, I didn’t really think straight. I wanted to see you again so badly…” Randy said, “I hope they can forgive me for that much.”

“Speaking of which, they seemed to be pretty upset with you for another reason. What happened while I was gone?!” Jaques shouted. Randy winced as he glanced up at the sky, gulping as he looked down before shaking his head.

“I was just… so miserable. I thought… if I just partied my way through my troubles, it wouldn’t hurt as bad. Losing you, I mean. I know you were just trapped in the painting, but I couldn’t talk to you, I couldn’t communicate with you. I missed you so badly, you have no idea, I’m sorry, I was a disappointment to you in the clan and I was a disappointment to you as a right hand, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-” he was suddenly interrupted as Jaques locked his lips to Randy’s, feeling a wave of comfort and relief going through his body.

“I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t gone after my sister, but the Masquerade… they wanted to hurt her,” Jaques said, “I feel awful for disappearing the way I did. I shouldn’t have left you behind… I’m sorry…”

“Jaques…”

“Randy…”

They held each other tightly, sobbing and crying as they felt warmer then before, almost safe and comfortable in the dark alley they were in. They stayed like that for a few minutes before they finally let go of each other.

“So, what should we do now?” Jaques asked.

“I have a hideout in Stickopolis we can crash at. However, I need to my magic strength back up. After all, you don’t know where it is,” Randy said.

“Well, I have my magic power. And thankfully, I can keep us hidden until you regain your strength,” Jaques said, already summoning forth his magic, “Concentrate on getting your strength back. I’ll protect you. I promise.”

As a small shield went over them, a pillow and some blankets being summon under and above Randy, he walked over to caress his cheek.

Randy smiled, feeling happier then he had ever been in the past twenty years.

#the henry stickmin collection #rupert price #stickmin oc #fan fic #fan fiction #the narrators stories

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sealrock · 11 months

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been rotating my sadboy hector in my mind like a hot pocket in the microwave for a while, here's a very long random lore dump in no particular order as I write up his backstory:

like gaia, hector doesn't remember much of his past. he's not sure if his name is even his real name, but people tend to accept 'hector wormwood' despite his garlean origin well enough

his memory is spotty and he can't go into detail much, but he can recall his nameday, living in a place with bright blue roofs (terncliff), a white room, and that he had a twin sister who died early in his life. he can't remember his parents or the life he lived before he 'woke up' in the middle of the dravanian hinterlands

he met andromache on the road and joined her group of adventurers (yves and tauvane). the four of them took on odd jobs and hunted down monsters for the clan centurio. he would later be romantically involved with her and have a child (paris)

his third eye is usually hidden behind his bangs, and he doesn't like to talk about it with others. he doesn't know why, but he experiences negative emotions when someone points out his third eye

he's very withdrawn and skittish and is intimidated by others to the point that he'll freeze up if someone tries to take advantage of him. which happens often

he likes horticulture and cooking. when he lived in the west shroud hector had a beautiful garden of flowers, vegetables, and fruits

he doesn't remember how he ended up in eorzea, he just knows that he's running from something

at some point he picked up a rusted sickle to defend himself with, but he's not that good at melee combat

he's extremely short for a garlean, standing at 5'4. yves liked to pat his head and call him 'mouse' despite hector's embarrassment

he doesn't like being around other people, bad things always happens to others whenever he's around, usually death. hector blames 'the shadow' that's been following him for as long as he can remember (the shadow is halmarut without a human vessel, not that hector knows this)

the shadow is something that hector is most afraid of, even though the entity has saved his life countless times. this was halmarut's plan in making hector isolated and totally dependent on them

similar to gaia and her time/darkness skillset, hector has shadow-based abilities a la nier that are seemingly psionic in nature, and deadly to boot. garleans can't manipulate aether, but how hector can be able to apparently summon dark aether is a question even he can't answer. he hates using his powers because of its malevolent nature and will apologize to those he has to fight

he has terrible and horrifying nightmares and hallucinations because of the shadow. sometimes he'll be found on the floor in a ball or crying

besides the shadow, hector is followed by the 'spirit' of his dead sister, she speaks to him at times and hector appears to address no one. this tends to creep people out

andromache and yves can't see the shadow, but they feel an menacing and oppressive presence hovering around hector at times. but paris could actually see the shadow and shared their father's fear of it as a child, especially at night

hector hates the feeling of being stared at, people who tend to stare tend to not have good intentions. he feels like he's being watched 24/7

hector has a near 1:1 counterpart shard on the first that halmarut attempted to possess. the joining was unsuccessful, however, and the shard ended up going mad because his soul was damaged. he was killed by andromache and paris during the events of shb

when halmarut's influence began to overtake him, hector's mental state slowly began to deteriorate when paris was a child. hector began to remember a life he never had and a dream of a burning world. the straw that broke the camel's back came when andromache, who already left him because of his descent into madness, wished to take paris with her and away from hector, leaving him completely alone. the resulting mental breakdown was what halmarut needed to possess him

#i renewed my sub just to make this #baby boy. baby #do you care him. my poor lil meow meow #don't worry hector will be fine in the end. it'll only take about 20 years but trust me #these pics are of hector before the timeskip. his hair was a lot shorter back then #overall hector was greatly inspired by the video games signalis and omori. all before i couldn't pinpoint who i wanted him to be #also notice how hector andi AND paris all have dark aspected powers. ough #q.#meta.#mygposes.

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demiromanticmickey · 1 month

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Had a very weird dream in which I was stuck living in a trailer with Jeff and Barcode because most people had been killed off by swarms of some mutated bug. How this bug didn't get into the trailer, I have no idea. Don't question my dream logic. Jeff nearly died because he went outside, tch, idiot. It was all very dramatic because he was going out for some selfish reason I don't remember and I was crying, begging him not to go. I had a dramatic line I said to try to keep him from leaving that I can't remember clearly. I guess we were all in a horror movie together, and not some alternate reality I dreamed up? Idk. Anyway when he got back, Barcode and I nursed him back to health. Barcode wasn't doing much tbh, he was just kinda there. Sorry, king. I'll dream a better role for you next time. And the bugs weren't particularly hard to kill. They couldn't survive bug spray (which was very funny), or the extreme cold. They just reproduced like crazy so it was impossible to stop them all. So we got Jeff healthy and decided to travel outside when it was snowing. I have no idea where we could have been because I've never been anywhere that it snows as hard as it was in my dream. We meet up with two other random groups of travelers. One group is just people who met each other along the way. The other group went out looking for supplies for the place they're staying at. They tell the rest of us the location and that people will be there to receive us and give us food. It just gets weirder here because this situation turns into a culty/witchcraft plot. The details get fuzzy at the end but basically me and this lone traveler guy have to save everyone (including JBC lol) from being mind controlled. But then I woke up before we could do that.

#jeff satur #barcode tinnasit #one day i will have a normal dream about jeff where we just ****#this is like my third jeff dream and things are getting progressively weirder with each dream #🪐#*#tania dreams

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ask-healthy-light · 11 months

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A chill ran down Spike's back when he realised that what he remembered had not been a dream at all, and he gently hugged Eclipse's leg as he shuddered in response; and Nox and Luna briefly glanced at each other when they figured that it was Grim who spoke through Spike, and told Shining and Cadance to ask for help, yet they did not understand why he decided to intervene to speak to them directly.

As the others all idly started to wander around, once again struggling to understand what they were told, it swiftly became clear that it was of little use to discuss the matter further at this time; and with a quiet sigh, Shining suggested they continue in the morning, for not only was Cadance not present to listen, however doubtful he had grown of her view, even he failed to understand himself.

Although he feared that the group would disagree with him, and insist on finishing their discussion before heading to bed, to his immense relief, the others agreed with his suggestion, and wished him a good night before he left; but when Light, Spike, and the Princesses walked over to the others on the couch, they found that they had fallen asleep already, and they would not dare to wake them up.

After Spike helped the others find the blankets, they all carefully covered Starlight and Sunburst, Amethyst and Star, and Stygian and the Bearded, who were sleeping in each others' embraces; and one by one, Celestia, Eclipse, and Spike wished the others a good night, before they all headed back to their rooms, or set off to find one instead, but Luna quietly asked Light to wait before they left.

With a solemn nod, Light politely asked Luna what she wished to ask them, to which she merely shook her head, and replied that they had to see something she found after following the Pup to the Upper Hall; for in the pile of documents in the Pup's bag, she found a map that she could not place, with a note she did not understand, since it mentioned an area she had only ever read in foals' stories.

Ever so carefully as to not make a sound, Light moved aside their blade so Luna could show them the map, where they found the same familiar hoofwriting as what they found on the scroll they received; but they were now only more confused as to how the Pink Pup could know Boomlord, since it was clear that the map was very old, and not something he would give away to any random pooch off the street.

Peering over the shoulder of her Mother at the map she had found, Nox merely sighed quietly, before whispering that she had never seen any area that looked like that, either; but she smiled warmly to Light, and said that she was certain they would find it, for even on the most precise of maps, many areas remained undiscovered, and she wondered whether the Pirate's Bay could be one of such places.

For a moment, Light thought about the idea Nox proposed, but as they told her that Boom had written to them about being in the Dragon Lands, they realised they could not recall ever seeing a detailed map of that area, and said that she might be right; but they would have to ask Boom about his goals in the Dragon Lands to be certain, as the map could be unconnected to the reason why he went there.

Still, Light figured that they would head out to meet Boom again soon, since they could think of no other reason to stay in the Empire, as they could not make him wait forever, especially not in such a perilous area as the plateaus around the Great Volcano; so they rolled up the map, and gave it to Luna for safekeeping, before they picked up their blade, and gestured to Luna and Nox to go to bed.

The trio quietly made their way out of the Hall, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when they made it to the Hall without waking up the others, before they headed towards the stairway; but here, Nox and Luna noticed Light had stopped, and was quietly looking at the doors to the Palace, before they sighed deeply, and met up with the two Princesses, who worriedly asked them if they were all right.

As an exhausted smile grew upon their face, Light quietly said:

"After the long dark of the lightless prison… I would very much like to see the stars again."

(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)

Send an ask or request! | Start at the beginning! | Next part!

Featuring: Nox Lunarwing from @nox-lunarwing

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sauntering-down · 8 months

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i was fuckin Tired last night thanks to spending like six hours at the dentist so i had some weirdass dreams... the first wasn't THAT exciting but for some reason i was reading RPF about two players on the Edmonton Oilers. i don't watch hockey but everyone else here does so i have to assume i absorbed the knowledge by osmosis because the television is right outside my bedroom.

second dream was the most detailed - attending high school, but minus almost all the usual School Dream staples. for some reason, this place was big on gangs, but not the serious kind. basically just groups of friends or students with shared interests, i guess? apparently the school originally had a sort of house system but it was ended for provoking way too much competition, and as a result the kids formed gangs (which the faculty was desperately trying to rebrand as 'clans' lol). i was in the 'Rippers', which had nothing to do with violence - we were, iirc, a bunch of glass artists - and i think we just took our name from the leader, who was ofc called Jack. he was a rather aggressive type, really neurotic, and at one point freaked out and escaped the school via jumping down the shelves in this three-story library. wild. anyway, there was also the 'Headhunters', who were pretty well known as bullies at one point but had mostly left that reputation behind now. every gang had a meeting place - the Headhunters were in a storage closet (where i sent one of our younger members to play chess with one of their freshmen lol), the Rippers were in the glassblowing facility (jealous of this school), there were the Leafcutters in the greenhouse, the Eagles in the 'Tower' which was actually just the room atop the building for roof access... i don't remember much happening, but there was a lot of worldbuilding haha.

third and final dream was just. weird. i was performing in a musical, one of the leading roles alongside a guy named David i used to know. he was two years older than me, in my brother's grade from elementary through high school. our characters were in love and i guess we'd kinda fallen for one another over the course of rehearsals and whatnot, but hadn't done anything about it until this first performance. afterwards i offered to drive him home, we went to his house (which may have been some kind of group or foster home as there were so many random children there), up to his room... and i think there was like. a fade-to-black sex scene but all i can remember of it is being curled up in bed with him afterwards and going to sleep. this is Weird for two reasons - one, i am a sex-repulsed ace, so no. and two, David was gay and i was still a woman in this dream, so... no? despite this, the next morning i woke up and went outside and he was sitting by the road with a couple of siblings; i went over and snuggled up in his lap and woke up right about then.

it's not anything i would want irl, but i won't lie... it was nice to not be desperately alone for a change.

(also, previous dream pulled from discord: "had a dream last night about a restaurant (sort of a fast food place maybe) called 'Knockoff' which sold, as stated, knockoff versions of other places' foods... but only like, the international offerings that were never available in the US. so you could get all the cool Japanese McDonald's stuff and whatnot. it was gr8.")

#dream

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seinrobinendo · 9 months

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The Return Chapter 7 Birth of a Nation part 2

We see Ashfak his father Jacob, his Mother Sarah and his brother Tren.

Ashfak : I didn't get to say what I want the last time we were together, back when I died turned into a rose.

Ashfak : I was ashamed of the fact that I had not lived my life to the fullest.

Ashfak : but I want to tell you what I should have said more I those days.

Bella : I love you father, mother

We see Bella speaking to her mother and father

A random husband says the same words to his wife

I love you.

I love you

We see the people of Modoru who had gathered near that dark emptiness say I love you to their loved ones.

Ashfak : I wish I could spent more time with you. You are my family, my blood.

Ashfak : father mother brother, I really enjoyed our little time together. The way be laughed the food we had and the times we cried I treasured them over these years.

Mother : and we are proud to be your parents, Ashfak, you did well.

Young brother hugs him.

Younger brother :life has been a fun ride brother.

We see the family hugging.

We see golden circle in the darkness. It is dark circle.

There is voice heard

GOD:well well it seems that you have all been gathered here. Welcome to your home. We are currently outside space and time so don't get confused when I explain things.

Bella: wow never expected God to sound like a normal human.

GOD: You know I am supposed to be the most scariest and dangerous thing in existence.

Bella : you kept us alive in the planet for a thousand years. At some point you should have known we would lose our human fears.

GOD:well Bella you make good sense. Listen you are the group of people of Modoru who remained. Many people wanted to leave Modoru and many left Modoru

We see Ashfak and others watch people leaving, we see the photo of Shanti.

GOD : all of you in your hearts wanted to stay in your homeland for whatever reason. Many of you died in the extermination that incurred after Dec 25. Even after Park carried out your final revenge on Joho which reduced Joho to bits

We see a destoryed Joho after the RTO attack.

GOD : all of you chose to live there and die. Over the centuries you seen your land transform into some place you have never even dreamed out. In the meantime you have also transformed, you have also understood what makes your life meaningful. What action you must take to make it all work.

GOD: now it is time for reincarnation.

We see the flat golden circle.

God : time as you can see is a flat circle. You will be put in the same time line as your last life. Usually you will forget that you have had this life before.

God : I am sure you had that sneaky feeling in the back of your mind that you have lived this life before.

God: remember when one great man told that you should live your one life with more passion because you have to live the same life again, yeah he was right.

Ashfak : but the way you put it seem like our fates are already determined. It is same life.

God : well the crucial thing is that you have forgotten the lessons you learnt in your previous life and that means your will make many of the same mistakes that you made in your last life.

God : but I have seen the end of a thousand lives. And I have borne upon myself the suffering of many. I can tell you that lives are changed little by little in its every iteration. The many events won't change but the details will.

God : tell me Ashfak, now that you lived a thousand years, what wil you do when you are put in the same time line. The major events won't change, but what is the small thing you would change.

Ashfak : I would spent more time with my family and I would live more passionately. I no we ( he points towards everyone around them) are in peace with the fact that our desire to stay back deliberately will cut our lifespans and cause suffering.

We see people looking on as Ashfak speaks.

Ashfak : but we made our choice, with the litte life we have we would cherish existence, enjoy the warmth of the family and see the boundless potential that world has to offer, ultimately reaching our small dreams.

God : so you understand, now you can reincarnate or rather return into that timeline.

Bella: time line? Not life

God : yes because this time I am giving you the benefit of not losing your memory.i will put you there a few days before the 25th Dec attacks . Use this opportunity wisely and live your small dreams in your limited time.

We see Park pacing around in front of a hospital room.

We see aide1 In that darkness

Aide1 : you know many of us where alive after Park’ final revenge, I was having this feeling that I think many of us are feeling too

People murmur

Yes

Aide1 : about how to use the opportunity for new life

Ashfak: oh I was saying about ‘that ‘ from the very start.

Many people murmer

Yes Yes

Aide1 : oh my bad

We see the white stream merge into the golden circle slow speed, but fast enough to cause turbulence like effect on the golden circle

God: you people!

We see a nurse calling out Park.

We see Park running into the labour room

We see the turbulent golden circle transform into a large blob, change shape and size.

And finally materialize into the form of small baby wrapped in white

Nurse - it's a girl.

We see that same baby girl wrapped in white being handed over to Park in the labour room

Ashfak (v. O) : she would spent more time with her family, eat good food, laugh love

Ashfak (v. O) : she would cherish her existence and the beauty of others. She would see the boundless potential the world has and would ultimately seize her dreams

We cut back to back to the scene where everyone is talking to God.

Bella: she is the child of our womb, the child of a Nation.

Aide1 : she is our dream and everything that we wished for.

Ashfak father: she is carries within herself the history and happiness of a million people. A million people whom she will never know but she will forever carry within her bones.

Ashfak : at the end of our thousand year life, this is what we realized. To live means to live with purpose. this very moment gives our life purpose and meaning.

We see the tiny hands of girl wrap around Park ‘ finger

Ashfak : she carries within herself,the stubbornness of a people who refused to leave their home. We don't a literal second shot at life, we jut want her to carry our essence

Ashfak : we want her to survive into the future we want the world to see her, even if the world doesn't know it that she is ours or even if she doesn't know it, we want her to change the world

Ashfak :make it a better place

Ashfak : if she does, we would have truly won. If she does we would have truly returned.

Park: welcome Fathima.

We see a tiny Fathima running around the garden.

Park picking her up. She laughing.

Shanti trying to feed something.

Park(v.o): Fathima listen to me, always remember to Return, to return to who made you, us, what we taught you, what you learnt, to all those who loved you. All roads lead back home, home is the place where you belong.

Park(v.o): If you fear you are lost, just keep moving forward eventually you will return to the place you belong, your home.

Title :The Return

Fade to black

The end.

Thank you for reading up until here. I am truly grateful. More stories on the way.

#jujutsu kaisen #chainsaw man #呪術廻戦 #screenplay

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analexthatexists · 5 months

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It happened AGAIN.

Remember this post about a dream I had?

…dude, it happened again.

I woke up as some sort of little girl avatar with big glasses, and this time I was actually in a public VR Chat world. Looked kind of like the outside of a shopping center / mall and there were other people around. A man with a deep voice who kinda sounded like Dark Cacao Cookie approached me alongside some other people who I think were The Bad Sanses (I specifically remember Killer at some point?). I was also with some other random human people and for some reason we all had these really weird, higher-pitched voices as if we were being dubbed. I think the deep-voiced guy eventually handed us these red cloaks (For what reason, I don’t recall) and just kind of…left. Killer and the other “members” (I think they were also wearing the cloaks just with the hoods down) stood by and began talking with one another, the Killer mentioning something about a “test” or “trial”?

And that’s when all Hell broke loose.

Some sort of immense anxiety and fear washed over me because I began booking it away from everyone, randomly teleporting mid-sprint into a large public space that seemed to be the outside of a convention center or something??? I then teleported AGAIN into some sort of mix between a furniture store and a supermarket, ducking behind a shelf with some other human avatars I recognized from before.

And indeed, we were all being pursued by the same skeleton, it seemed.

I peaked my head out, only to see a glimpse of NM walking slowly by. It wasn’t the off-colored one from the last dream, no, it was just classic Nightmare.

He looked dead at me.

I began booking it again, back in the large convention center space, and while he didn’t say anything or emit any noise, I was still scared of what he’d have to taunt me with. The silence was so much more unbearable too. Eventually, when I had thought I had escaped, I noticed myself in a dead end. As I was approached, the blue usernames VR Chat has popped up for some reason, despite them not having appeared at all until now, and…

APPARENTLY IT WAS @franxerk ALL ALONG????

Once I realized and called him out, he jokingly went “It was funnier when you didn’t realize” in his Not-Dark-Cacao voice, and then I think I woke up. Before that, I remember looking at a group of usernames all with their own UTMV avatars, from Error, Killer, whose be r was chasing us as Nightmare, even Shattered Dream appeared on the list TWICE? I’m not sure where all of that last part came from, but it was still a neat detail I remembered. A previous dream I had about VR Chat involved me going out of bonds and somehow finding a Shattered Dream avatar on a floating island, so maybe these are connected? Plus, I think I was on that exact island while looking at that list of usernames!

I need to address how much more scared and LOUD I was in this dream compared to the last. I remember being more quiet in the last one, but in this one I was actively SCREAMING. I sounded like the lead girl in a horror movie… I think all the screaming came from while I was playing Brawlhalla with some friends, which there I was screaming just the same amount.

I suppose the whole “getting chased by NM” thing was on me; I’ve been morbidly curious about the weird, off colored NM that appeared in my dream last time, enough so that I wanted to see if I could conjure them up again (Not to be chased by, but to learn more about it). Turns out it worked, just…not as I planned.

Finally, my character’s design was probably based on the Soul of Kindness avatar I use combined with the fact I probably need glasses.

…But…Why did Franxerk show up? Why was he the one I was being chased by? Why not Tea? …what does it mean…?

#weird dreams #alex says stuff #vr chat #one time i dreamt #i had a dream #nightmare sans #sans au #might draw that character I was for fun #Looked like a decent design based on what I can recall

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secret-time-is-here · 2 years

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AEJ - Epitaph/Epilogue

Fair warning, according to google docs this is 17,713 words long (although 11,975 words are from the "fun things" doc, which is list of what things mean or random shit from nearly all the chapters). This is a complete compilation of everything I have AEJ. Thoughts, notes, hidden/unpublished docs and drafts.

In October of 2022, I posted a passing thought of “If I don't pick AEJ back up by the end of the year, I'll release what the following 20ish chapters would've been and the plans after/the full unredacted fun things.” After several months wait, here is the Epitaph/Epilogue of An Error’s Journey.

To begin, this huge project started with the idea of Error reliving his past lives through dreams or reboots. It was planned to end after he remembered everything, and wouldn’t go further than the curiosity of how reliving the trauma of his past lives would affect him as Error. I didn’t plan for it to go much farther than that, but it quickly expanded to something more.

As it currently stands, the end goal of the series was for XGaster to return, kill essentially everyone aside from our main five and a few others, and for the lesson of the story to be about mortality and to be thankful for it. The mistake Error had made was to restart, over and over with overwrite. The only way for the cycle to stop was for Error and in turn, the main five to be happy with what they have, instead of wishing for what was.

The story of AEJ truly starts in UnderVerse. After Error destroys half the universe, Core takes Overwrite and begins experimenting to avoid the X-event all together, and eventually, starts to experiment for the perfect/best lives the multiverse could have. Over these trials and many timelines, Core grows more insane, however there is one staple that I have mentioned in series several times.

One experiment, Core switched the roles around. Creating Pale and Template as well as the other swapped personalities for Nightmare and Dream. While it was unsuccessful, Core does grow closer to Template, and Template through the timelines helps Core figure out better ways for everyone to live.

Core continues on from there to what we know as AEJ. Also, if you haven’t pieced it together, the old friend Core talks so highly of to Error and Chronic is Template.

Swerving off course of what I’ve been talking about so far, Chronic is actually the original story I had planned, a few details aside. Minus the fusion, Chronic Error is the original story, Error going through life and reliving old lives with no more than Ccino to call a friend. Originally, Error was going to die and Nightmare would give up one of his souls, hence the shadow figure. Also, Chronic was not meant to be a permanent character, and was meant to be future Error directing past Error, but that was scrapped for what we have now, which I argue is a far better plot, and Chronic’s plot allowed for me to bring our main five closer together and give a support as to why its the five of them out of all people.

For what the following chapters would be, Error would be able to go to the outsider as Error and Lapse would fade to simply a nickname, although Error would adopt Mode as his last name. Sci would come into the story more to openly spend time with Nightmare and build that parental relationship with Nightmare and to build relationships with Error, Dream, Ink, and Reaper. Then Heart’s and Blue’s wedding. Then problems with the AUs would arise, AUs going dark/dead and the main five would learn officially of the balance. The small group that I might’ve briefly mentioned when the peace treaty was happening–I honestly can’t remember–would return in uproar about the balance, but the star council would take care of them. Finishing off the rising action of the story.

The Climax starts with the balance beginning to feel off so the gods (main five and reapertale) agree to meet. Ink proposes that it could be XGaster, and the hunt begins. They return to the gang and explain things to Cross, who currently holds overwrite, and Killer joins as well. The chapters follow with them as a group searching for XGaster before splitting apart, Nightmare and Error together, Reaper and Ink, Dream with Cross and Killer. A chapter of each groups journeys. Nightmare and Error reinstate their bond, Reaper and Ink take some time to be vulnerable, and Dream can indirectly grow closer to Nightmare and Error by learning about them through Cross and Killer.

The following I’ve pulled directly from the plot doc: A sudden quake startles the whole multiverse, Xtale Gaster comes back. All the Gods meet again, and confirm that they all felt the quake. The small group interrupts the meeting, XGaster in shackles behind them. Two of them are holding Cross, Killer and Cobalt. They brag about killing Horror, Dust, Hearts, Blue and Ccino. They even kill off Sci. XGaster shatters all their souls–aside from Cobalt who merely falls into a glitching mess. He has overwrite once more. XGaster turns on the small group, and begins his terror, stealing from so many universes, rebuilding his perfect world. They (main five) fight XGaster and reaper takes his soul to the afterlife.

Then there’s a bittersweet conclusion of our five’s lives after the fact and how things have changed (Also pulled from doc): It also takes many weeks for them to heal. Ink and Death were the only ones to go undamaged by the war. Error nearly died on the field (not in doc, but plans were for Error to take one of Nightmares souls, and to live from then on as a semi-physical shadow) and Nightmare + Dreams arms were too shattered to repair. Ink makes himself another pair of arms to tend to the others. Error hands off the Cafe to Sydney, and closes the clothing business. Intent joins them, wanting to support Error. Dream and Ink step back from the Stars Sans’ and Star Council, leaving things in the hands of Cobalt. It becomes routine for them, all waking up together in a heap in Nightmare’s bed. Dream’s the first up, going around the mansions a few times for a morning workout. Error and Nightmare are next, Nightmare getting in the shower as Error gets started on coffee for all of them. Killer got Dream addicted and now he can’t function well in the morning without it. After Nightmare’s done in the shower, he cooks breakfast as Error get’s in. Reaper and Ink are the last awake, and both drink plenty of coffee.Intent stays with them, their unofficially adopted child. Error and Ink no longer fight, they do very much the opposite. Ink helps breakdown AUs sometimes and Error occasionally helps Ink with AU ideas. Nightmare and Dream don’t fight anymore either. They go out together to balance out AUs and try to keep as many of them as possible balanced. That way, aside from AUs whose story lines surround the fact that they're the best/worst place, they won't ever worry about tipping, and they’ll all prosper. Reaper still works the same, but still feels terribly guilty for taking the souls of his lovers friends. Everytime he gets home, he is always greeted with love, cuddles, and reassurance. So much time has passed since the Great War, it’s literally become history. Reaper, Dream, Nightmare, Ink, and Error are all seen as Legends. Bards tell the tale of the Great War and what happens when you question the Gods, they also tell of the days when Immortal and Mortal worked in harmony, it’s such a funny sight to see when they go out in disguise.

And finally, the very last chapter: On the 1,000 anniversary of the Great War, they return to the battlefield. They visit the many shrines in their honor. They visit the shrines to Horror’s, Dust’s, Killer’s, Cross’, Blue’s, Hearts’, Sci’s, and Ccino’s deaths. Core suddenly appears, and overwrite is in their hands, offering them the choice to do things over again. Nightmare, Ink, Dream, and Death are excited for the possibilities. Bring back the gang, all the lives lost... Bring back Cross. Error stops them. He is the only one of them that has lived a (nearly) full mortal life. Error gives the button back. To overwrite their lives is to overwrite mortality. They savored their time. Mortality is a blessing, and now they will live the cost of a happy end, the curse of immortality. They deny. Core smiles, “ Good, it took a lot of overwrites, but you didn’t make the same mistake.” Error asks what Core will do now that they fixed their mistake. "I can finally die. I can overwrite my code and my code alone to finally be mortal. To finally finish my long long life." Core turns, and with a happy smile they say, "After all, nearly a million is a good enough time to live. Isn't it?"

It’s very much bittersweet, but I feel it’s a fitting ending. However, it doesn’t quite end Core’s story, and so there were bare bone plans for Core.

In my oneshots/ideas doc for AEJ, I have two things listed out for Core. First was a bonus chapter of Core watching over the team with Chronic that had the following planned dialogue:

“Template would be proud.”

“...I know.”

“What to do now?”

“...That is what I can’t decide.”

“It’s time you lived for yourself, Core.”

“Then what of this multiverse?”

“There are five great leaders to keep an eye on things, rest, enjoy your last years. Be it with lovers or friends. Let me take over this.”

“...Yeah, I’ll… I’ll go do that.”

“I’ll keep a good eye on other me for ya, the least I could do.”

The second was the basic plot for “The Core of the journey”, which would go through core’s life, and finally give them their happy end: The first time Core rewrote the multiverse. The first time someone took overwrite from Core. The first time someone killed Core. Meeting Template. Meeting Chronic. After AEJ, Chronic directs them to a specific AU, and drops them off there. Chronic leads Core to a shack in the middle of the woods, a simple place that would serve well for living out their last years. Chronic directs them outside to see the garden, and Core opens the door to see Template. Template turns to them with a smile, and Core practically bursts into tears. Template cautiously comes over and holds their hands as Chronic explains: When Error was first getting his memories, Chronic was exploring the megaverse to find the abandoned timeline that held Template (since every time a overwrite happens, it in theory branches off of the previous multiverse, creating a new one and leaving behind the old.) Chronic explained who they were and what Core was doing, and that when it was all done and over, they wanted to give Core a happy end. Template happily agreed. Template’s multiverse had long since been all but desserted–most everyone died because of XGaster, with just a few left, Template included.

There was one last “planned” thing, a longer oneshot similar to “We know” for AEJ called “Temptation” that would slowly go through the innerworkings of each Chronic, starting off from a quote from Chapter 80. While I didn’t finish it, I did write 1K words for it. Enjoy the unfinished draft:

[FROM CHAPTER 80]

“...Why are you pulling away?” Error eventually spoke, just getting straight to the point. Chronic tensed, and for the first time, he watched as they stuttered through their thoughts.

“I… we… stars. Dear, we…” Chronic seemed to practically deflate.

We can’t. There’s too much temptation.

He manipulated their shadows, moving a wing rise from the darkness to embrace Error. We don’t have to. Why can’t we just be near them? Just be close to them?

No. We can’t. We can’t risk it. Not a second time.

…That was an accident. We didn’ know any better, ya know that.

But, what about our souls? It’ll hurt them… None of us would be able to stand it! We barely got along without them in the first few centuries!

Dear… I’m afraid I’ll have to agree. We would have eternity, and eternity means we will inevitably fall to temptation. We have already done too much and pushed too many things… we weren’t supposed to meet Error as early as we did.

Please, just a chance. Or at least explain it to them! Error’s been sitting there, waiting for us to say something!

—--

Oh, how eternity is cruel. His life has been long, the second longest in the multiverse, and the longer he lives the more he understands Core. The rest of the fusion still grasps at it, trying to hold the rivers of understanding that he’s learned.

Of course, Core has never gone into details with them, but over time they have heard of the important aspects. What shaped Core’s goal, what changed Core, what fastened their resolve and broke down the hope they had left for their own happy end. The small pieces were far from enough to tell Core’s full story, but it was enough to try to sympathize.

And in Chronic Error’s case, enough to empathize.

His small soul shard hurts double now. In the first moments of their fusion, it was still painful from losing Ccino. The hours, days, weeks and months even that he had confided in them. The long hours of baking, talking, and playing with the cats. At times, when he steps back and just relaxes in the recesses of their headspace, he can imagine being back behind the counter with him again. Stuffing their faces with marshmallows while the smell of medium roast drifts around, the heat from baking warming them, and the cats curled up at the foot of the oven.

At times, he wished he took the time to spend time with this new Ccino, but this wasn’t just his body anymore. Other times, he finds acceptance in not connecting with the Ccino, because the end would just hurt even more.

Sometimes, when everyone else is exhausted from caring for the balances or fronting to deal with whoever they need to, he’ll find himself in the shadows of the cafe. Not during the busy hours of the morning, but the late of the afternoon. The sunset casting the walk in front of the shop in pink and purple light. If Ccino ever noticed they were there, they didn’t mention it, but Chronic Error would never make a fuss over a marshmallow tossed their way–and Ccino being dramatic about accidentally dropping it.

For now, they just hoped that Ccino thought he was Nightmare and that this one didn’t have memories of the past.

His shared hurt being so close to Error too. A stark reminder of his past ignorance and self-hate. Perhaps a reminder that he hasn’t fully moved past all of that either.

Error acts as a constant reminder of his… their mistake and what they lost. Something they can never regain. They will never be whole again. No matter how close they are it’s never going to be enough, and the farther away the more they want to be closer.

He knows the moment they hold Error in their arms, the dam will break.

They cut it far too close when they let him go. Holding his hands in theirs, he just wanted to pull Error closer. Promise that things will turn out okay, hold them and cut off the world until Error was ready- but they had to follow Core’s plan. Error had to know of their mistake and who they were. Who they always have been.

He couldn’t imagine how Chronic Dream and Nightmare had felt, holding Dream close that night so long ago. It’s probably why their resolve to pull away is so strong. The temptation sitting in their arms, and the painful knowledge that they would have to let go.

He and the rest of the fusion find solace with Core. Knowing of the pain of their loss. That fateful Error OVERWRITEs upon OVERWRITEs ago. They never hear a distinct name, as he along with the rest of his cast had apparently gone through many over all the multiverses, but from the stories they think it to be an Error of some variation.

They hear about the variants good deeds, the hours they spent pouring over research with Core. How they were the one to help Core make leaps in figuring out how to end this. Finish off XGaster once and for all.

They can feel the pain and remorse Core holds when they talk of the variant. How much they must miss the soul. How much they must wish they could go back, even if it meant the multiverse ended in ruin.

They do their best to help, but even their mixed powers stand no match to the life times of pain they hold.

—--

He understands the others, he does, but he knows where this path leads. Pushing away the ones you love never works. They watched Error do it, and somehow Chronic Nightmare and Dream are convinced that this is the only way? It’s laughable. Not at them of course, he loves them to death–no pun intended.

The temptation is there, yes, of course, but it’s nothing to the paramount loss that would be his life, their life without their souls. Their poor souls. Thirsting their whole lives only to get a taste centuries in, to finally have Chronic by them–only to disappear. It’s pointless pain.

He doesn’t want to live life in regret like they’ve seen so many others. Even in Core. They see the small moments, where Core regrets everything they’ve done. The weight cracking them further. And they can’t do anything but sit and hold Core.

And now, the final documents I have that essentially hold all the secrets and inner workings of AEJ. The following excerpts are entirely in bold, if it is not bold it is a comment from as I write this rather than when it’s from.

AEJ Loose Ends

Cobalt never found his brother after the incident. His papyrus is missing and presumed dead, hence why Honey and Blue took him in and later Hearts took him in as a brother in-law.

Cobalt’s brother was left in the AU, and the AU slowly demolished until it became a part of the void. Cobalt’s brother was drifting in the void and was killed in there by XGaster. So yes, by story’s end, Cobalt’s Papyrus is dead-the void is funky about time so I don’t think it’d be appropriate to say exactly when Paps died.

Chronic also has a title, but because they run so many districts–having the powers of destruction (code), the emotional realm, the dream realm, creation, and death–they have less of a “God” title and more of a higher title as “The Gatekeeper”. They protect the multiverse from the surrounding megaverse and also protect the inside of the multiverse as well. They were the one to keep everything going while the main five were hardly taking care of their balance. The balance should’ve tipped far more than it actually did–but he let it go a little bit to grow connections between the others. Once it was clear they were ready to handle the responsibility they began to let go of the balances and see how well they could take it.

Pretty much every time Chronic and Error were together, I mentioned them being the same person. From Chronic’s bad jokes of “being two halves of a whole” to them being “twins” in chapter 65. The twins thing is actually really clever when you think about it, since twins came from the same egg and Chronic and Error came from the same soul, or, more accurately, Error came from one of Chronic’s souls. I’m surprised no one questioned it, but I mentioned it so much that I practically normalized the thought in the reader’s mind–that and I don’t think people expected Error to technically not be an Error but only part Error.

The reason I focused on intent so much throughout the AEJ is because of the POV. Error isn’t fully Error in AEJ. He has pieces of Chronic’s magic and it has made him far more sensitive to other’s intent. He reads it not only as code but the same way Nightmare and Dream read it. It’s actually a major hint of his ties to Chronic and it’s something no one has seemingly ever questioned. I’ve never in my works emphasized intent as much as I have in AEJ, every character interaction relates to it. Error’s power to reach out and feel the aura of their power, feel the intent they give off. It can be written off as God powers… if I wasn’t sticking as close to canon Error as I have been (for the most part). In the prequel to AEJ “The Core of the Journey” I will once again change the writing to style to change to how Core sees and feels the world. How they feel and see it, however, will be left to the “Loose Ends” of that story. (Sadly won’t happen)

Cobalt never fully explained what happened to the stars, at most he spoke of the antivoid and being stuck there. He never explained what caused him to be there–or that he was forcibly taken. The Stars only knew that Cobalt got stuck in the antivoid and had to deal with the voices for years before he managed to get out, and that Error had destroyed his world before that. While this was far after Error became the self proclaimed God of Destruction/ God of code, Cobalt is the first survivor of Error’s. From then on Error got much sloppier with destroying. The reason Omega/the Stars aren’t sure of this is because of Chronic and the amount of time Cobalt spent in the antivoid. Chronic left survivors in their wake often, and some caught glimpses of the shadow. When Error appeared and was seemingly the only one with world destroying capabilities people simply assumed it was always Error. Error of course doesn’t put this together, and Core stays silent on the matter.

The chess analogy:

This is not based on the names of the pieces, but rather how they move and their roles.

White pieces go to Xgaster, Xtale characters, as well as Core. This is because they move first. They were the people to start this megaverse and the conflict that keeps it going.

White King: Core, limited movement but also the second most free of all the pieces. It is not limited by direction but by how far. In this scenario, our White King is rebellious and acts against the queen. Yes, it could’ve killed immediately (don’t fight me on this, yes kings can kill pieces just not other kings, look it up.) But it didn’t, it hesitated and it gave the queen the chance to move impossibly far away and out of reach. Core could’ve stopped this all immediately, but they didn’t know the consequences of the hesitance and it cost the multiverse. Core has the same ability as XGaster, the same movement, but XGaster was clever and made sure no one would be able to use OVERWRITE against him, thus limiting Core’s movement.

White Queen: XGaster (XG), free movement as long as no one stands in the piece’s way. Sound familiar? That’s the long and short of why.

White Knight: Cross. Clever usage can make this piece unstoppable, although it is hard to plan with, moving in a small “L” shape but able to jump over other pieces. Much like Core’s White King, this White Knight is rebellious, and acts as an additional Black Knight. Cross is a major key in AEJ, he holds OVERWRITE while Error works through his shit and he has to have the right environment and be on Core’s side by the end otherwise its game over. Cross is a trained soldier from childhood and over the resets has lived for nearly just as long as Core. Some resets he has his memories, others he doesn’t.

White pieces (Bishops, Knights, Rooks, and pawns): The characters of XTALE + The idiots of the cult. Xtale are the Bishops, Knights, and Rooks, the idiots are the pawns.

Black pieces go to Error, his team, as well as the main recurring/supporting characters.

Black King: Chronic, limited movement but similar to the Queen. In the series Chronic is more powerful than Error, yes, however, while able to defeat XG, they die in the process–thus needing to restart the multiverse. Error was able to defeat XG without killing his whole team in the process, only taking a few of Nightmare’s souls and being able to live on to tell the tale. This is some fucked up logic yes and I can go in depth of why this isn’t exactly true, but it’s 2am and I’m not doing that. (I honestly can’t remember the thinking behind this)

Black Queen: Error, free movement as long as no one stands in his way. Error is by far the most powerful(Chronic aside) in his multiverse. He's not just a destroyer, but the god of Code. He has free reign to fix or dismantle whatever AU he choses. If Chronic and Core did not fill in the roles, Error would have the say of the barriers of his multiverse, AUs Creators or characters from other multiverses. His one draw back is his emotions, not in a oh don’t cry way. Because he is a split soul from a fusion his powers hold some properties of Nightmare, Dream, Death, and Ink. In this particular multiverse, he powers are closely resemble Nightmare and Dream–being able to feel out other souls and sense the intent from them as well as having his powers fueled by emotion. His drawback is that its not fueled by others emotion but his own. Nightmare’s and dreams emotions merely sway if their magic is more pure or corrupted, Error’s emotions mix with his determination, fueling his magic. When he is not determined or letting his emotions flow like his magic, it sputters and fails. Once that barrier is out of the way, he is unstoppable.

Black Bishops: Both of these go to Nightmare and Dream. They act together but opposite, because of the even spacing on the board despite being on either side of the king and queen they are on opposite colors of the board. Their moves cannot cross, and they are both stuck moving only diagonal. However, it doesn’t mean they’re not powerful. Even having one at the end of the game is highly useful, and both together can effectively result in a stalemate or checkmate. Nightmare and Dream are constantly considered completely opposites in the fandom–yet somehow still alike. In AEJ I took that many steps further, they embody the unexpected and expected. Dream with dark thoughts but a people pleaser–even at his own expense. Nightmare who secretly just wants everyone around him to be happy, but at heart and soul knows that his role is to spread negativity, and he will spread it in whatever way works best for the moment.

Black Knight: Death. In AEJ Reaper is unique. He is quiet and soft spoken, but his words leave impact. However, he hides this softer side behind a cocky and joking facade. He’s unexpected and quietly calculating and hard to plan where he will move. Core’s lost many a run due to the unpredictability of the mighty Grim Reaper.

Black Rook: Ink. The rook is also unique, unlimited reach like the queen but limited to only vertical and horizontal movements, and can be used like a queen except for certain situations. Ink is in a similar high status as Error, only limited due to Chronic and Error. He’s powerful with the drawback of unpredictable and unfocused raw creativity. Think of a paint gun, (I have no idea where I pulled this from either) it will shoot, but you have no idea if its a short range splash shot of chaos or the perfect long shot that will target and stay targeted on who you shot at. The rook is unpredictable because of the range of movement it has, it could move one space or across the board. Having this piece at the end of the game might as well be having a second queen.

Black Pawns: Killer, Horror, Dust, Hearts, Cobalt, and Blue. When you play chess, by the end of the game all of your pawns are usually gone. They will sacrifice themselves or die by your opponent's hand for the sake of progression. But, like Cobalt, sometimes one or two can survive, and they will watch the board from a distance.

AEJ “Rules”

In An Error’s Journey, by the end it's out in the open that Core has lived through a lot of overwrites. Even to the point of nearly being a million. Although I haven’t gotten to, and didn’t find a need to explain why, in detail that is, they had to live to a million. Some of it is explained in the fun facts, sure, but not truly explained.

AEJ, in technicality, is a Megaverse.

AEJ branches from Underverse, while it’s long since been disconnected in nearly every conceivable way possible, it is connected still. Core, after Error destroyed half the multiverse, took overwrite into their hands for a better end. This is hinted at in chapter 33 when Core said: “Well, my options were to live with only half the multiverse and attempt to make things good in a war-stricken world where everyone was insane or too naive to do much of any help… or change the multiverse for the better.”

Everytime Core overwrites the multiverse, it creates a new multiverse and pulls Core into it, leaving the old one behind. Since it’s a new multiverse in addition to the original multiverse, it does technically make AEJ as we know it a Megaverse.

The reason it took so many resets is because overwrite is somewhat unpredictable for Core. They didn’t make it, XGaster did. Each time Core uses it there is a small chance of a lot of things to happen. For example, there is a small chance of Nightmare being trans. If Nightmare is trans, it increases everyone else’s chances of being trans. Everyone has different variables and chances for it, with Nightmare Ink Cross Killer and Blue with the highest chances in that order.

Also, there is a chance of what Core personally dubs “Creators rules” in the multiverse. “Creators rules” are simply the Alternate Multiverses with “soulmate AUs” in place, the kinds where your soulmate’s or soulmates name shows up on your body. “Creators rules” can also be things like those Tik Tok skits, your eyes dictate your power level-or as Core mentioned in chapter 50 “if all my promises were a mark on my body, I wouldn’t have any skin left.” Core knows that because it-the Creator rule of all their promises showing up as a mark on their body-happened a dozen or so timelines ago.

Off track from the main premise of this, Core having a mark of each of their promises on their body-and the fact that they’d have so many marks it would cover their body, brings implications that I love that I don’t think anyone has bothered to think about. Even as the Creator of AEJ, I like to think that the implication ties heavily with a line Core said a little before in the same chapter: “At least, you will be able to live a happy life. A life far greater than you could’ve imagined for yourself.”. Core has promised previous versions of everyone a better life. Core promised themself a better life. Specifically, Core still promises Error a happy ending-while indirectly they have promised it. Telling Hearts to give Error hope, to tell him over and over he would get a happy ending. Core saying “hold him to his promises” isn’t holding Hearts to his promises, it’s asking Error to remind Core to keep striving for that happy end. It’s emphasized over and over Core is slowly but definitely surely going insane from all of this, they have to hold onto hope-just as they have told Error to. A lot of their promises are projecting themself onto Error.

Whoever rewrites the multiverse is no longer attached to it. Hence why Core can’t simply rewrite XGaster out. It pulls whoever is no longer connected to the timeline in addition to the rewriter everytime the multiverse is over written. Shadow,(This is from way back before Chronic was an official character in AEJ, and when I simply referred to them as Shadow) from the bonus chapter and Error’s dreams, is the only one aside from Core and XGaster to rewrite the timeline.

AEJ Fun Things (Unredacted and updated to chapter 77)

Chapter 10

If you didn’t figure it out, the flash of a memory of a younger Dream holding another skeleton is pre-apple incident, and the other skeleton was Nightmare.

Chapter 15

I’ve always had the headcanon that Ink has a magical Tome enchanted with Nim’s magic and coded with Error’s code and I finally got to place it here. I love Ink’s infinity tome, it also has a search option so Ink can look up a keyword or exact journal date if he needs.

Chapter 20

The memory Error kept having was of cuddling with Ink, with Nim laughing at the two being cute.

Core never meant to tell Error about his future partners, I didn’t either. But in the end it added more mystery and some joy/hesitation on Error’s part.

Error only refused to believe Ink was another one of the 4 for plot purposes lol

Chapter 25

I never intended to have Error’s middle name/study of religion to impact the story at all, while writing the chapter it came to me as the perfect motivation for the story and to set some canon things into place.

Error was never intended to befriend Ink or Dream as Lapse D. Mode.

I added Cobalt last minute into the equation to set up later events, and I wanted to have him involved before Error remembered him.

I never intended for Error to mess around with Dream as much as he did that chapter, but it allowed me to bring Dream more into the plot since-despite being a main character-he wasn’t supposed to be a main plot point until after chapter 50ish

“You pique my curiosity” is Dream for “I’m kinda crushing on you but I’m gonna pretend I'm just curious about your motives and want to learn more about you as my enemy.”

Error didn’t put together the Dream and Nightmare came from the same world because while Error and Ink have a shared balance and similar powers-they don’t come from the same world. Also Nightmare hid that part of his past because he’s tired of being in Dream’s shadow, and hid everything that even hinted that he was connected to Dream. Even though his accomplishments-however dark they may be-overshadow everything Dream does, he’s still fearful. Nightmare has also never said the name of the AU he came from.

That old professor at the college that wrote the book on Dream was Error’s religion professor. Error had to write a paper on the book and knows it cover to cover. It was his professor’s greatest accomplishment.

The hint of yellow on Dream’s cheekbones reminded Error of Nim, who had a mixed blush(Purple and yellow, with a slate-like color in the middle) like Error’s own(yellow with red and blue “freckles”).

Error didn’t have an answer because he doesn’t know how to explain it quite yet. He felt like he had to keep destroying, so he did. (This is the balance pushing him to do it, like a 6th sense in a way)

Chapter 30

Core’s office, Room 1510 is the numbers for the letters AEJ

“Cafes?”“Tick tok, Error” Core knew Error would eventually open his cafe, “The Outsider” and very subtly cemented the idea in his mind for when Ccino would bring it up in Chapter 45.

Error purposefully called Dream pretty boy again to try and get the same reaction-which he did. Dream didn’t pay it much mind because he has a lot of admirers, and while he didn’t expect it-he brushed it off like any other compliment he got.

In the meeting room the one who seemed to misplace their soul was Dest, the oldest Chara, who was keeping an eye on Intent and Error-the souls barely holding on are Error’s Papyrus and Gaster. Mercy is in there because he’s keeping an eye on Death, as Blue is keeping track of Ink and Dream-and Hearts keeps track of Error and Nightmare. Error is the main concern.

Sapphire avenue was named by Lust, who knew the library cafes and Universities were going to be built there-and wanted to name it after Sci, and the first thing Lust remembers about Sci is his glimmering Sapphire eyes. If they had lasted longer, Lust would’ve taken him there.

Ink’s office being 1504 is an easter egg to his birthday being on April 15.

The pebbles and rocks on the bracelet chain on Broomy Jr. are from Nim

Chapter 33

The one who made Dream’s scarf and the scones is Nightmare.

Dream only ever refers to Nightmare by name or they because Nightmare has made it clear he wants nothing to do with their shared past, and refuses to acknowledge any of it-even their shared birthday.

Nightmare is also fully transitioned and Dream is still having a little trouble with it.

Chapter 34

Cross’ blunt statement for the year had been calling Killer out for being an absolute hypocrite in monopoly(Killer had been complaining that someone had to have been stealing his money when he wasn’t looking-but he had been doing that to others when they left the room. Nightmare had been returning the stolen money when Killer wasn’t looking. Error had watched their game from the couch and just kept quiet when Killer asked if he knew who’d been stealing from him.)

Chapter 35

The nickname for Lapse, Eldeem, I thought up on the spot, but it’s terrible and such an Ink kinda nickname so into the canon it goes.

Dream and Nightmare are 506.

Ink is roughly 800, although he rounds it closer to 700 because that’s when he was added as leader of the Star council and the first ever record of his existence.

Error is ridiculously close to 1000, somewhere just under it.

Core outranks everyone in the multiverse being hundreds of thousands of years old due to the overwrites. They are nearly a million. (For an idea of how many overwrites they’ve been through, each overwrite at its shortest is about 300-400 years, and longest a little over 2,000 years.)

Chapter 37

The person Dream’s soul belongs to (“My soul will always belong to another… I would never even dare try with someone else until I talked to them first about it.”) Is Nightmare. Dream feels practically soul bound to him, since they never officially broke up. For the past centuries he thought Nightmare felt the same about the situation-hence why he was so upset over learning Error and Nightmare weren’t just together now, but also had been together in the past.

Chapter 38

I wanted to fill in the holes of Hearts’ story, and also bring up Cobalt again so Error is fully aware of him and can connect with Cobalt before remembering him.

Chapter 39

Core is 1000% up for validating Nightmare. It’s a very small chance of happening, but there have been multiple timeline’s that have happened previously of Nightmare being trans. Nightmare has the highest chance of being trans, and if he’s trans in the timeline it heightens the chance of others in the timeline being trans. Their current timeline has the most trans skeletons that have ever happened-not everyone that has the possibility of being trans is, but it’s the most by far.

Core has indirectly influenced Nightmare’s life twice, and directly talked to him(to influence his life) twice, the second time was telling Nightmare of Cross.

Core has also directed Cross’ life a good deal, which makes sense considering he’s the key piece to XG’s power, holding Over-write and all.

While a heartbreaking chapter and was difficult to write myself, I think Nightmare’s past and what he went through shows his character greatly. Yes he tends to hide things-even highly important things, but it's always for good reason.

I’ve headcannoned for some time that Nightmare is missing a good portion of his skull, thanks to Error’s help he later fully accepts what happened to him and stops hiding his shattered skull.

Sci went to Dreamtale because of Core, who told him he was needed and to simply trust Core on this. Nightmare is unaware that Sci was told to help him. Sci is the closest thing Nightmare has ever had to a Dad, and while Sci was certainly surprised the first time Nightmare referred to him as Dad, Sci was more than happy to accept the role. Nightmare is hesitant in actually calling Sci his Dad to other’s in fear for Sci’s life, and also because he knows Error would push him to tell Sci they’re together and he’s not quite ready to deal with that mess yet. (Sci would be very supportive to learn of their relationship, the mess I’m referring to is Sci going full Dad mode and asking why Nightmare didn’t say anything sooner-asking when they would get married/soul bound/if kids are an option. All the fun stuff parents typically ask when learning about their kid’s relationship.)

By Dream and Nightmare’s first battle, Nightmare had been fully transitioned-thanks to help from Sci-and Ink had long gotten used to Nightmare being well, Nightmare.

Nightmare is currently working in the background of the chapter to find a way to get his old aura back. Most of the books in the library he has are from Reapertale Alphys’ library, he spends a good portion of his time researching for any cure to his corruption-despite how much it helps him.

Nightmare has a familiar but I didn't get the chance to mention them :P

Nightmare doesn’t remember it, but the spell he cast on Dream happened right before he blacked out again. It was barrier magic, and being unpracticed at the time-he accidentally made a barrier of stone around Dream.

Chapter 41

“But something irked him wrong about that Gaster. Like they had old beef together,” That Gaster was XGaster, and sometimes people in the multiverse get deja vu because of faint memories of the previous timeline spilling over. Hence why Geno felt as if they had old beef- the previous timeline XGaster killed him during the Multi-War.

Chapter 42

When Error pulled back from the Antivoid, XGaster took the chance to get into the Antivoid and hid there from then on. Error forgot to tune back in and never visited the Antivoid after that so he never found out.

I’ve always headcanoned Dream to be vegan, and I love the idea that Blue runs a farm in his spare time and it’s completely free range and the animals all pass away as happy as they can be.

“Perhaps one day, if my partner’s could offer something similar, then I would leave.” The similar Dream is referring to isn’t the actual structure or the small cabin feel, but rather the memory’s and comforts he has in the cabin. He has no reason to leave it in his mind because nothing else gives him such comfort. To him, it doesn’t matter that he has to take his baths in the creek nearby or constantly buy ice for his icebox, or even that he has to painstakingly repair the house after each winter.

“And it seemed that their friendship blossomed into something bigger. Something of mutual understanding.” Error can understand not wanting to leave a place of stay, having clung onto what he considered the comforting absence of any stimulus that is the Antivoid. He understands what Dream’s feeling in that moment, even if Dream doesn’t know it. They can silently connect over that feeling and grow closer together, the simple sentence being a much bigger confession of weakness. Dream a war hardened God with next to no earthly possessions and no more close friendships then the fingers on one hand has this one weakness-his home in Dreamtale.

Chapter 43

Error’s realm was originally meant to be the Antivoid-as hinted at in Chapter 10, but I liked the idea of his own realm much more.

With the new context of realms being connected to the soul and mind-I’m surprised no one realized(or if they did, didn’t mention) that Grimm’s character is suddenly made much deeper than he once was. Since Chapter 10 of the series, I’ve told everyone that Death’s realm is a barren dark place. Everything is dead. He had to bring things(his crows and vultures) outside of the realm in order to fill in that empty void of a landscape. Now, Death subtly shows that since being with Dream and Ink, his realm has begun to show signs of life again. The grass is greener, plants are starting to grow, small animals have returned(think about what that could symbolize in terms of emotional and mental stability). Losing Geno/Error did affect him greatly. During his time with Geno it was a flourishing forest. Now it’s a dead wasteland with the only trees being dead twigs that would snap with the weight of a feather.

Chapter 44

“A simple few missing lines of code. Nothing unusual and something he had seen in worlds for years.” It used to be unusual, and that was before XGaster was even on the game board, Error will find out after XGaster’s defeat that worlds don’t typically randomly lose their code.

Ink’s clinginess was an early hint to their recent breakup. Death has his job and Ink wants to be strong for Grimm and doesn’t want to appear clingy, he feels comfortable with Lapse and isn’t too worried about losing them, so they happily cling to them to help cope with being near Dream after the breakup.

The flash of memory was of Cobalt, just before Cobalt became an error too.

Ink wearing the nightgown and switching to more feminine clothing is an early hint at them being Genderfluid.

I like the idea of Skeleton’s generally being Genderfluid/Gender neutral and wanted to bring it up as canon for the series :} (it also adds extra flesh and color, so to say, to the motives of Dream, Nightmare, and the village-along with how Dream treats Ink and why Killer wants to protect Cross from Dream. Nightmare is fully aware of skeleton history and despite technically not being one-he’s largely treated and seen as one so he wants to correct the delusional idiots out there. Nightmare is the one who taught Error and the gang the proper skeleton history. There’s very little mention of wingdings and nothing that teaches the language-so that’s why Nightmare doesn’t know it despite researching skeletons.)

Chapter 38 hinted at Killer liking Cross, and Cross somewhat returning-along with Horror and Dust’s background relationship, but I figured I would out right say it to make it clear, and also build stronger connections to Error and the gang.

Killer didn’t want to talk with Nightmare about it because it involved Dream.

I did not plan for Cross to also be trans in this too, but thinking about it Cross gives me serious nonbinary vibes, plus it adds more fuel to the plot and motivation between Killer and Cross. (Also I love the idea of Killer joking to Cross about Cross using xey/xem and then Cross actually wants to try it and enjoys using the pronouns. Also Cross does frequently internally and sometimes externally curse XGaster for being this close to detail when it comes to them-it actually wasn’t XGaster that programmed that in at all, and the multiverse has a slight chance of changing his programming to trans after he becomes an outcode.)

Error’s shit eating grin at Killer’s confession is because he knows if he pesters Killer enough, Killer will either accidentally reveal his lie or out right say the blunt truth of whatever answer he’s been dancing around.

Chapter 45

Error was making milk in hopes of going back to bed, but after seeing Dream awake he said fuck it guess I’m playing Main Character early today and made coffee instead.

Dream doesn’t think he deserves help, he wants to change, yes, and he wants to learn how-but he doesn’t think he deserves it. Every relationship he’s considered important he believes he’s/literally has ruined. First Nightmare, then Ink and Death which affected his relationship to Blue and he also assumes Lapse. (Error just accidentally muted Lapse’s phone again and has forgotten to check it, oops.)

With the new context of it having been 489-nearly 490 years since the incident, I alluded to the death of the village and Nightmare/Dream’s God birth(when they became Gods) being when they(Nightmare & Dream) were 17/nearly 17. Keep in mind Nightmare and Dream when they were created already had the mind equal to that of about a 16 year old and body of one as well, but actually counting from creation to incident is roughly 17 years. So that's how when Nightmare's abuser's are younger than him at the start but seemingly grow to be older than him(becoming adults when Night was technically 17)-since Nightmare's story is based on this technicality.

The village didn’t have a schooling system, and by the time they did Dream was much too old for it. Dream has seriously considered trying for schooling, but being a God and dealing with the multiverse heavily impedes that.

Error and Nightmare both have a lot of Degrees, Nightmare learned on his own over the years and after Error was brought back to sanity Nightmare helped him learn.

Error and Nightmare weren’t originally meant to teach Dream and build that connection with him.

Nightmare is about a head shorter than Error, but Nightmare doesn’t let it stop him at all.

I LOVE the headcanon of Error coming to own a cafe for general outsiders and unwanted. A place that anyone-even the annoying God of Creation and feared God of Death can enjoy, along with any Underlust monsters and “darker” AUs.

“There are plenty of moments of your immortality that you’ve forgotten,” Error has spent a good 800 years of his life immortal, and I specifically had to say moments because the memories that Error will relive from his immortality are just that. Moments. Completely unlike any of his other memories-only pieces of them are actually important and those pieces are spaced out across a good 500 year period.

Chapter 48

“Emotional radar” was supposed to be “Godly powers”, but saying godly powers aside didn’t make sense because it is a godly power to know that your side of the multiverse balance is out of whack.

Chapter 49

Reaper doesn’t know that the “new Gods” Nim made friends with were Ink and Error.

Death does know that Nightmare and Dream have a balance, but is unaware that they don’t know.

Chapter 50

The slip up Core was referring to was mentioning Error’s future partners. Error is oblivious to love even though Death does kiss him on the cheek at the end of the chapter.

“Death and Blue seemed to smile knowingly while Ink and Cobalt gave wide grins.” Death and Blue were smiling knowingly because Death just figured out why he recognised Lapse’s soul and Blue because he’s in on everything, and Error just realized he may be helping Core like Hearts has.

Completely honest, the cafe “The Outsider” is a personal headcanon I’ve had for ages, and I love the idea of VIP room for special guests and so Error can relax in his own cafe without having to hold up the disguise.

Sydney is also a headcanon, I love the idea of Error seeing this disabled mafia tale spider and going, yeah I’ll make them the manager for my cafe. They’re perfect.

Special drinks are also a headcanon. Grim beanery is easy, Grim/Reaper. Tasteful rainbow is Ink. Deception is Dream. Royal brightness is Nightmare. The dark chocolate mixed with white chocolate cocoa is Cross. The black coffee paired with raspberry syrup is Killer. The mixed berry handcrafted tea is Hearts. Finally, the minty green tea and cherry tea is Dust and Horror respectively. I would’ve done one for Ccino… but his name is literally short for Cappuccino.

“Death leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek-Lapse’s form flickering before returning.” Lapse’s form flickered because it literally killed the illusion. Whenever Death touches Error he kills him, but while Error’s body is mortal-and the leftover code of Sci that allows him to be Lapse is mortal, Error’s soul is now Immortal. (Also more background thing, the only reason Error can switch to Lapse is because the sprite of Sci/sans is still left in his code, so he can temporarily fix his code-aka changing the colors back to normal to look the way he’s supposed to.)

Chapter 51

Originally Core was supposed to make the portal for Geno and Geno would pass out as soon as he showed up in the antivoid, but Core’s little betrayal was too perfect so that’s what we ended up with. (Also was made much easier because we already established much earlier Core can change where portals go-changing Error’s portal from the antivoid to Core’s office in Chapter 33)

Chapter 52

The multiverse where Error helped Core try and find a way to give him a happy life through and through? That wasn’t technically Error. That was Template. Core wanted to see if changing how Error and also the others lifes by swapping them around would fix anything. Clearly it didn’t as Core gave up on it. Core’s thinking behind it was “Maybe the multiverse is going to shit because they aren’t in the right roles. This isn’t what they’re meant to do.” Since as we easily see from Error he can create and Ink can destroy.

Core talking about how long they spent looking for an answer was an early hint at their true age.

Core can’t use overwrite to get rid of XGaster because XGaster anticipated it would be used against him. Overwrite cannot get rid of him.

I’ve been meaning to bring up Nightmare’s familiar since I introduced him as a warlock. At first I considered Nightmare would make the manor his familiar, but that was complicated and it would bring up further headcanons I had for that-having to feed the house human souls/save stars to keep it as Nightmare familiar and so on. Second, I considered he saved a human soul that controls the house, living as a ghost in the attic with their little sibling that Nightmare also rescued as a condition for becoming his familiar. In the end I decided on his corruption as his familiar-although at first it was “Oh I found out my corruption was sentient and now it protects me.” but that gave a lot more implications and that would also need to bring up and idea of Nim not being the only guardian and pulling in the (I believe) canon of a previous guardian of negativity banished into the apples when I haven’t previously established that and would’ve needed to establish that when Reaper talked about her to Sans-so that’s why we have “I gave my corruption sentience” instead.

I don’t think anyone has realized it, but while this chapter was originally intended for Error to reconnect with Death-it instead showed a huge marker in Error and Nightmare’s relationship. Nightmare is countlessly showing and giving his weaknesses to Error. Error is the first to have ever visited Nightmare’s realm-which is full of personal items-even his crown and the camera Dream had bought for him. Error is the first-Sci aside-to see Nightmare in his shattered glory. Error is the first that Nightmare truly lets take care of him. Surrendering himself by holding his body together- not being able to move a limb at all to stop whatever he did, even not being able to see what the other was doing once again to Error. It also extends to the trust he has for the gang. He barely has enough magic to move, and he still tells and shows them anyways. Hearts is going to marry Blue. One of their main enemies. Nightmare trusts that Hearts won’t tell Blue his big bad secret.

Chapter 53

Some of Nightmare’s banned nicknames include: Noot, Noot-Noot, Noot-mare, Noot-hair, Octopus (Only Error is allowed), Squid (The gang refers to Ink as squid only to piss off Nightmare, unlucky for Nightmare it stuck), Cuttlefish (Only Error is allowed), Cuddle bear (Only Error is allowed), Tar, Horse-mare, Horsey, Bossy-wossy, and Kingy-wingy.

Cross calls Killer “Light shine” because of the light Killer’s soul radiates, it's a dim calm white then the bright eyesore of the Antivoid and the red is much more muted. It’s helped heal the trauma Cross has with those colors-white from the void and red from Chara.

Chapter 54

Core was, in a way, organizing Error’s dreams. “Bastard fucker”, much more professionally known as Chronic, was walking into Error’s dreams to try and non-verbally tell him “If you keep doing this, you’ll end up like this. You’ll end up like me. The people you care for will end up like this. They will die.”

Dream still lets Nightmare into his realm as a means of saying “I’m always here. I’ll wait until you’re ready to talk.” He still deeply cares for Nightmare and wants Nightmare to know that.

Chapter 55

Referencing the “darker” side of Lapse and “soft” side of Sydney was just a fun thing to connect the two. They 100% spend hours in the VIP loft talking about very specific ways to get away with crimes and also different cooking recipes. No there isn’t an inbetween. They also tend to have philosophical questions and conversations, “What if Death literally asked me to kill someone and help him out? Could I still be charged for a crime? Would it be a godly crime to ask that of a mortal? Would it be a mortal crime for a God to intervene like that? Is the Star Council a mortal offense because it’s ruled by two thirds Gods? Anyways yeah never over do vanilla. Always under do it. You’ll regret it I swear. That is more bitter than burnt spider goods, I swear Lapse.”

If it wasn’t clear from the warnings on that chapter, Dream-when the right memories are triggered, more specifically being stuck in stone/cramped spaces-struggles with depersonalization dissociation.

Dream went to talk to Nightmare, knowing of Nightmare’s knowledge and hoping to find an answer of what just happened from him-he does find the answer. Despite Nightmare still being his enemy, he knows that whatever has been happening is linked to his years in stone, and he trusts Nightmare to not use it against him. He holds nothing against Nightmare and still trusts him the same.

The level Core was speaking about was the common trait of having held Overwrite at some point. Hence why Core doesn’t wish to see Error on that level. If Core were to see Error on that level it’d mean Error made the same mistake again-choosing overwrite.

Chapter 55.5

Dream’s realm is an exact copy of Nightmare’s, their realms look like this because it's a reincarnation of Nim.

The realm was another way to show Dream’s mental state, to show how bad things had gotten over time. He and Error are far more similar than either would like to think.

Dream trusts Nightmare despite everything because he knows it wasn’t Nightmare’s fault. They didn’t choose to be guardians, although they did choose God-hood to protect themselves and others. Dream understands Nightmare better than he does himself. Dream had long since left an opening for Nightmare–his realm. Nightmare allowing Dream to be taught by Error and also helping to teach Dream in addition to teaching Dream at their base is a larger opening that Dream could’ve ever thought of.

Nightmare has all sorts of backup plans, this also includes knowing all of the Star Sans’ and Council’s phone numbers.

Nightmare isn’t ready to let Dream in his realm yet. He doesn’t know how Dream will react to having the remnants of the past. The camera sitting clean and cared for on a dainty pillow, his old outfit folded and carefully displayed, even his crown repaired and intact also on display.

It took way longer than I would like to admit to come up with “velvet sun”. I wanted something that you would associate with “soft light” since Nightmare’s nickname is “star light.” I had to look through the thesaurus a lot to get to “velvet sun”.

Dream has trouble with learning because he’s very oblivious–to put it as simply as possible. Most explanations don’t work for him. Nightmare is up front and forward with him. As blunt as needed. He doesn’t talk down to Dream for not going to school, he says things exactly as they are without the use of trying to imagine some scenario.

Nightmare also understands that Dream most of the time doesn’t have the words to explain how he’s feeling and has learned how to help out Dream with that as well.

Chapter 56

If it wasn’t clear the shadowy hands that sparked Error’s magic was Chronic.

I had to completely watch through and take notes on a movie version of the Error sans ask comic. There are 5 pages of notes from that. The second half of the chapter is pretty much cut and paste with some more detail from the comic.

God of Destruction is the self-given title, although it is acknowledged by Core. A more accurate title would be “The God of Code'' since his true calling is repairing or removing the code of the multiverse while Ink is in charge of creating code and letting worlds in. Unfortunately at the beginning he was more like a broken code–removing anything even if it could be repaired, although he did come to learn his lesson.

Chapter 57

The other Gods were completely unaware that Error and Ink had come into existence until after Nim’s death, since Nim was stuck in place she really had no way of telling or contacting them. By then Error and Ink were far from reachable so Reapertale mostly let them be and figure things out. It wasn’t until Nightmare’s rise to power that the Gods of Reapertale realized that Nim had been replaced.

Error didn’t want to tell them his name because he didn’t trust them. He barely understood the kindness they were showing him and didn’t know how to reciprocate it after the toxic environment the voices in the antivoid gave him.

This is the second time I’ve mentioned code just disappearing, I continued to stay surprised as no one thought to comment on it.

I’m surprised no one noticed why I paid so much special attention to XGaster, this chapter was the second time Error had an off feeling about that Gaster.

“Yes, I might as well have created them myself.” This line is begging for attention and is subtly spoiling everything. Although still no one commented on it.

Core told Ink to trust Error above everyone else, even Core. Ink completely trusts Error, and so he trusts Error’s judgment–although it was immediate–and Error proves his judgment correct.

Chapter 57.5

I actually messed up a small bit, earlier in the series I said there was only one book on Dream, and in this chapter I referenced a whole section dedicated to Dream. Although to fix the plot-hole: After the scandal of Dream breaking up with Ink and Death many books were written about the relationship and the sudden near disappearance of Dream. Not all are in the best view of him, some are from a perspective of pity and others of hate. This feeds into Dream’s overthinking.

Error–as Lapse–figured he could make a book on Nightmare since he knew the other so closely, and make some money off of that because there aren’t many books on the God of Negativity.

There is a single book between Dream and Nightmare’s sections, written by Sci from the Star Council. It’s the only book that records Nim’s existence. Death personally paid for it to be written and got the help of the other Gods to fill the book as much as they could.

Both Nightmare and Dream tend to deflect others' feelings towards them, even if they return. They got this habit from their harsh breakup between each other and the problems their relationship had prior. It’s why Nightmare doesn’t say “love” often, even as a nickname. It’s also why Dream tends to overthink things because the one time he wasn’t thinking straight(leaving Nightmare alone nearby to the people who Dream just witnessed abusing him)–he lost Nightmare.

I didn’t plan for this chapter to be as long as it is, I just planned to only write Nightmare’s POV, but switching around gave me the chance to write other characters' perspectives on things and have fun with their different thought processes, take a look into how they think and view the world. It also allowed me to show dynamics and come up with more nicknames. Cressy took far longer to come up with than I would like to admit.

Chapter 58

Error is a piece of Chronic, so Core telling Error to trust Chronic might as well be saying “trust yourself” which absolutely cracks up Chronic. It’s an inside joke that Chronic says often. Everytime they talk about plans and that Error doesn’t trust Chronic, Chronic slowly stars “So…” “Chronic, for the fourth time, no.” “I guess you could say-” “I wish I never let you live.” “He needs to trust himself more.” “I’m done.” Core smiles everytime because its so stupid and it makes them feel a little younger, less like the multiverse is on their shoulders.

Chronic’s form flickering as they entered the portal was a hint that their portals are made through Death’s powers but their body is Error’s. Since when Death touches Error as Lapse his form flickers.

While Chronic and Error’s timelines are back to back, they are not exact. Chronic is the initial timeline that I was supposed to write. The originally planned much more angsty with little comfort story. The story where Error spiraled down and his pain brought everyone together. Chronic is still recovering from it. Error is only different in the fact that while he is in pain and slowly pulling away, he’s pulling together everyone while he suffers. Chronic did not have that same net, he did not have a realm to escape to. He ran across worlds until the gang and Stars pulled him back. Even then, he never fully came back.

Chapter 59

“It’s going to take a lot to get me down.” Is an important sentence because it does take a lot to stop Error. Like an overpowered Gaster wielding the power of a Creator. It’s a common phrase for Error, and he’s said it many times to assure others that he’s okay in previous timelines. Including right before he’s died.

Chapter 60

Dream was originally going to confess to Error at the beginning, but I decided to hold it off and make the chapter more central around reconnecting and strengthening the connection between Error and Cross as well as the gang and Error learning–or starting to at least–to cope and work through his current problems.

I actually took a little break on this chapter to reread through the whole series, which at 59 chapters takes most people 2 days (from my experience and commenters)

Chapter 61

Ink wasn’t trying to start a fight, Ink was actually trying to get Error to stay still so they could talk.

“That in death, he found the stars” Is a reference from when Death took him to outertale in chapter 27

“A… different place to call “home” aside from the antivoid” Nim’s AU in this chapter ends up becoming a second safe place for Error, but Error’s not willing to admit that he considers it a safe place so we’re left with “different place” close enough.

Chapter 62

The question what happens when a God dies was major hints towards Nim’s death and foreshadowing for Error’s own “death” as well as Chronic’s past.

Chronic disappearing “Going rebellious” and having Deja vu was a hint at them being a fusion of Error Ink Dream Nightmare and Death. All of them have a hard time with Nim. Nightmare and Dream feel guilty because they “replaced” Nim, Error and Ink were close to Nim, and Death was very close to Nim as well. Nim helped him dramatically in his early years before Mercy was created.

“Thank you for your help, Nim, goodbye.” Was a hint at Nim’s soon demise, and it was actually Core thanking them for helping Error and Ink, not for their “help” in finding Chronic.

“That fuckin’ nickname” Was Kitten, which Ink had called Error the previous chapter.

Chapter 62.5

I didn’t expect to write this chapter, but I wanted to write what happened with Chronic and give the readers more insight to Core and Chronic’s relationship, as well as Chronic themself.

I refer to the different parts of Chronic a lot in this chapter. The realm of his dreams was for Error. The pillow nest was in reference to Death in the fusion, little bird loves his cuddles and making sure he--and in turn everyone in the fusion–is comfortable. The reading was in reference to Nightmare.

Dream–in the fusion–takes a bit of a back seat in this chapter, acting as a neutral. Checking in on Core and holding back more harsher words from others.

The original draft was only 200 words, a very short dialogue between Chronic and Core, but I wanted to make it at least 500, so I switched from using Core’s POV to Chronics.

This chapter pretty much explicitly told why Core was so weird in Chapter 62

The smoky true black wings and dripping “limbs” were hints to Nightmare and Grim being part of the fusion that is Chronic.

Ink is the only one to not talk out of the fusion. Ink took the hardest hit from losing Nim. Being with the fusion has given them better memory and overtime reliving through everything in the new multiverse has pretty much completely retained their memory.

Chapter 63

I actually pulled into my own experiences with pain for this chapter, a weird disorder in my family that shows up every few generations that makes it really hard for my nerves to recognize pain and I had to learn what pain felt like and what to do rather than just instinct–so pain is really disconnected for me, which, with Error’s glitched war hardened mortal body with the soul of a God in it, I think makes a lot of sense for him.

I flat out talked about the previous multiverse wars and previous timelines without actually saying anything about them… more lore under the radar

I hinted that Ink used to have to deal with the worst of the voices before they left to torture Error.

Hinted that Dream and Nightmare’s little hut was made by Ink for Error.

Life and Grim visited because Error was on the verge of dying, Grim recognized the soul and went to it–after getting Life. Nim didn’t recognize the name Geno, but explained about Error. Things connected in Life and Death’s minds, but they didn’t say anything. Just wishing Error well. Nim knew Error wasn’t born a God because of this, Ink didn’t put it together. Just figured Life and Death had heard about Error through Nim because the three were close.

Chapter 64

This was the first time I ever broke the rule of separating Error’s memories and present between chapters. I purposely made it extremely disorienting for both Error and the reader to simulate that, Core has to outright say what happened for Error and the reader to understand what just happened.

I hinted again that Death was apart of Chronic’s fusion. Error actually flat out seeing that Death was in the fusion without realizing it–in his desperation for comfort thinking Chronic’s wings were Deaths–since no one else has them, yet.

Chapter 65

In this chapter I mentioned it had been a year since the memories started for Error, which lines up in actual time with the anniversary of AEJ–although it’s a few days off (the chapter was posted on the 28, the anniversary is on the 22).

Cobalt crocheting and teaching Ink how to was set up for the coming chapters.

When writing the second half I was talking to a friend about the chapter and word for word summarized this part as “if it could be gay-er, it would be a stereotype.”

Reaper and Ink both realize that Error’s talking about Nim’s death. Ink also realizes about their and Error’s shared past–but still can’t really remember so they don’t mention it.

Chapter 66

The hating underfell sans thing? I accidentally made it make a lot of sense in AEJ. Because Cherry–from like chapter 4–was an asshole ex to Lust. Error specifically has a vendetta against Cherry, and Cherry alone is #13.

Chapter 67

I didn’t originally intend for the hut to have been Error’s/Ink’s and later become Dream and Nightmare’s. That was more or less the details filling in themselves as this story often did.

The books falling into Error’s path was Chronic’s doing.

Ink’s tome is a personal headcanon I’ve had for ages and I absolutely love the idea and was so happy I could implement it into AEJ. Specifically a tome made by Error to be infinite and often times I’ll add in the detail of how it can act like a fricken library computer and you can search up key words and dates bc holy fuck does Ink have centuries packed into that thing. Also love the idea of Ink being like “wait, since when were we friends Error??” Error sighs, “Page 483, date XXX5” “What??” “Your tome.” “Oh-” *opens tome and reads what he wrote for the date “OH! Yeah, silly me lol.” They are the definition of tired and energetic couple dynamic, romantic or platonic does not matter.

Transitioning to present between those memories helped several different things: I could connect the tome Ink currently has to the one Error made in the memories, I could bring up that Nightmare is opening up to people and actively letting Ink and Death be trusted alone with Error, and also show how Error was beginning to heal–before being promptly traumatized.

XGaster had promised Ink a soul. Which I honestly forgot about but tied up nicely for the end because Chronic filled that wish, so it took away any interest Ink had in X and took away any control X had over Ink.

Ink wanted the soul so they could be genuine for Error, understand the moral issues he was having over the guardians. After the apple incident Ink forgot about wanting a soul again, only randomly remembering it and getting into a funk until something else caught their attention. In the span of the story of AEJ (Error’s present, not the memories, I know it's confusing.) Ink mostly doesn’t remember wanting a soul. If there was any time that they did, it would be when Dream broke things off with Death and him, a moment that would make him want to be genuine in his partners sorrow and pain. Sometimes Lapse would invoke the feeling briefly, like wanting genuine happiness when seeing them about and especially when the cafe opened.

“He barely saw a glimpse of Ink’s truthful hurt,” it was truthful that time because of Error, soul or not they’ve spent the past centuries together. No matter who you are, spending centuries together creates a relationship, and knowing that you will not see that person anymore hurts. (this is following the idea of Ink chooses what he wants to feel about people, ex: enemies if he took some pink paint he wouldn’t go crazy and start loving them, but he would probably hug Dream if he took pink paint. Soulless or not he knows what he wants to feel and still has a set of morals, just not the stereotypical ones we see in most characters, AEJ Ink simply has problems with the grey range: XGaster helped him, and Ink helped X in return–but he’s bad? But he’s done good things. It’s a grey that’s confusing and leaves him with the morals he has, trust Error’s word or follow X for the soul he wants for Error, he tries to do both but fails as we know.)

Chapter 68

This was a chapter I was ridiculously excited for, and it’s a giant paragraph on my plot document. I don’t think when I was writing this that I wrote it as long as I wanted to, but I’m still happy with the end result.

If you can’t tell, I took a page of christianity for the humans in this chapter.

At first, Nightmare was quite weary of the cloak stranger (Error) just hearing stories from Dream and soul gripping with fear for what the stranger could be planning, but the moment of handing the spellbook over is extremely beneficial to the entire story, and there’s a reason Chronic had to make sure this landed in Error’s path. This is what helps create the bond between Dream and Nightmare, Nightmare becoming the “star light” we know. This is what opens the gate way to spells for Nightmare at a young age and what helps him be so much more magically focused in AEJ (Most interpretations leave him more academically or musically focused) Nightmares spells are used a lot in AEJ, his sleep spell as well as his “star light” are pretty much his trademarks, loved by Error and Dream.

What’s somewhat funny is Error thinks in this chapter that human religion never made sense to him… keep in mind in AEJ Error canonically had a degree in religion–which includes human. Remember how furious he was in his memories? Now imagine how much more angry he could be understanding the bs excuses and reasoning that the humans had. (which sadly also happens a lot in modern times world wide to this day)

Dream did attempt to ask about the bruises and dents in Night’s bones. Night just laughed it off or gave half hearted excuses, which Dream could tell were lies but didn’t want to make NM uncomfortable so he didn’t force NM to say anything. They 100% talk about this later in life and by the end of AEJ laugh at how stupid they both were.

Dream’s memory is extremely blurry around the time of the apple incident, barely remembering “Stranger” bringing NM to him and not remembering what he said, however– he does remember distinctly Stranger’s voice. It’s why Dream cares about Lapse so much, its nearly identical voices, (a little more ruff from being traumatized in the antivoid) he holds some hope that Lapse is a descendent of Stranger.

The altercation between Error and Ink in this chapter made Ink want a soul more than ever. He didn’t leave Dreamtale at all until well after the apple incident because of this. Just sitting in the tree working over everything in his mind trying their best to understand but failing. Ink doesn’t remember it, but he was there long enough that he did see Sci show up and take Nm away.

Chapter 69

There are many interpretations of how Error handled the trauma of the antivoid, and somehow I managed to fit both of the main interpretations into AEJ. This first time Error relentlessly fights against the memory loss, doing his best to remember everyone close to him. The second time he gives up, basically having a “flash of life” moment before he surrenders to the loss. It hurt far too much to handle, and losing those memories was an escape from it.

I pretty much summarize Error’s new life in the memories (aka, insane as the past Error has been nicknamed in my docs). In the philosophical moment Insane has, he thinks: “Maybe next time he would choose to live amongst mortals and enjoy the simple things in life.” He does eventually live alongst side mortals, eating and sleeping with them, even going as far as to live TWO mortal lives, going full out in the struggle of building up a business in the bustling city of Omega, because apparently being a royal scientist previously and a Code master of the multiverse/ self proclaimed God of Destruction wasn’t enough.

“Not the death that plagued him so. Watching over him like some over-protective guardian.” I played around with words here and I love what I did so enjoy reading it again.

“If he fought, however, there was Ink to think of. The chance that Purple and Yellow were still alive, that he could be close to them. Purple’s laugh was music, and Yellow was just as charming. Then honoring Nim’s memory. Finally teaching Purple and Yellow about Gods, about the amazing deity that came before them, the balance, tell them anything.” Because Error didn’t fight, none of that happend. None of them care for the balance. Error forgot what it was and so did Ink, then Nightmare and Dream never learned. Nightmare and Dream only know of Nim because of the few wives tales that the village told and hearing sometimes from Death. Most of the deities of Reapertale don’t know they even exist or if they do, don’t recognize they are the guardians after Nim. Reaper doesn’t have much of an excuse and not all of the Gods in Reapertale have balances to uphold, so he didn’t think to mention it to Error, Ink, Dream, and Night.

Something I regret not conveying properly is what Error felt after returning from the recovery. He’s so fucking grateful to have Ink back, to know that he’s repaired things with Death and found him again, and honestly, feeling like an idiot for pushing Nightmare and Dream away. In that moment, he doesn’t want to push them away or do anything that could make them go away. All he knows is to tell Nightmare he(nightmare) is alright(aka, saying that Nightmare is ok to come closer, that right now he wants him close), the communication that NM always rewarded him for, something safe that wouldn’t push away.

Plot hole is that Dream didn’t bring up thinking Lapse could maybe be a descendent of Stranger here, but it’s fine because that thought process is immediately just considered coincidence once Dream hears that Error was Stranger.

“still upset they didn’t die–but that might be post-memory haze talking.” Error has changed since then and acknowledges it. He only kills when needed, even the terrible terrible people.

“A smile tugged at his face. In the past, he would’ve never believed it, soul freezing at any inclination of attachment. Now, he was starting to believe they were there for him.” Find this finalizing line a little funny (in a dark humor kinda way) because it’s not long after this chapter I promptly traumatize the fuck out of Error to a point where any healing he’s done is forgotten and he completely regrets any thing he’s done in life(because he’s super guilty that he was even allowed to go on for so long not living with the weight of it when it must have tortured Cobalt for so long, so a lot of guilt crashing down at once, literally centuries worth)

Chapter 69.5

I wanted to include Chronic in this and give an inner eye to their and Core’s dynamic and some of their conversations.

It is an honor to meet Template, Core talks very highly of them and Template is the reason Core was able to get this point, they would’ve not only given up long ago but would have no idea where to go at all with the overwrites.

Error’s alright because for a moment he doesn’t have to be everything he is in his multiverse, he can just blend in and sit back, not be the main character he always has to be.

Templates comment on “the string and glitch situation” is far more accurate than you’d first think, because Glitch had really no clue how he got into String’s multiverse and I doubt I’ll ever give a clear explanation for it. If you want for the sake of narrative (because technically, I can connect all of my series together as a megaverse but that’s far too confusing) Let’s say that Glitch is from Core’s OG universe (which is easy bc they both stem from after the events of Underverse 0.4) and Core accidentally or purposefully dropped them off. That aside, Chronic also at the start had no clue what was going on and didn’t function well, the first centuries they skulked and lurked about until Core made a realm for them. They didn’t function well as a fusion and it took centuries to get as used to it as they are, to be so fluid and act together as one. Give up control of some aspects and take control in others. It took them time to coordinate like they have. They let the Error of the fusion take front seat for talking and body when working with Error, same for the other four during 1 on 1s. Then it depends on the situation. People often know others better than they know themself, there are many little things that you do that the people that love you probably pick up on that you don’t notice. You wouldn’t second guess that someone that half heartedly talks like you sometimes does the same weird things you do, we humans naturally mimic each other and pick up what others do.

The coin was a major hint to the whole fusion. The sentimental intent and taste of fake emotion was hints to Dream and Nightmare, the mention of recognized creation magic Ink, and flowers not dying under their touch was Death.

The blanket was a second hint to the fusion. Dream and Nightmare dying the fabric and collecting the dye–like they had done together for Dream’s scarf–then spinning it was actually Death, the rainbow hues Ink, and knitting/sewing it together was Error.

Chapter 70

The emotion Error was feeling was guilt, he’s guilty for everything. For the rampages he knows he used to do, now against the ideals Nim taught him and he agrees with now. For pushing himself away from Nightmare, feeling like he’s playing with Nights emotions when Error is just struggling with himself and having trouble maintaining the relationship. Error’s guilty for pushing away the gang especially now that he’s grown so close to Cross and that he knows he’s missed so much of their growth–the relations that had grown between them–and he can’t get that time back. He’s guilty for forgetting Ink and his old bond, being Grim’s soul, avoiding Life and Mercy, and for spending time on himself when he should be helping others. Having all these lives remembered back to back is tearing him apart, he could go back to Sci roots and follow the morals he had then, distance himself and take care of himself like he did as Geno, go rogue like the early days in the antivoid, care for the multiverse like he was taught to, or keep up the life he had now and ignore the inner turmoil. While he struggles to figure out who he is, he’s losing the life he has now–or at least thinks he is. Thinks that everyone around him is moving away when the opposite is happening. They’re all growing closer, and Error’s in the center, not the outskirts. Lapse has also slipped away, and because everyone’s worried over Error, they’re forgetting Lapse. So in a way, Error’s right, just not about the right identity.

Sydney–since she’s from a Mafia tale–knows strongly of loss, close or not. She’s one of the few that is unaware of Error’s turmoils and therefore focusing on Lapse and keeping his life’s work afloat when he is gone. He brought her up from the dust (pun not intended), now it’s her turn to help him. The other’s that focus on Lapse are Blue and Cobalt, Hearts more preoccupied with Error and Ink concerned over Lapse, but wanting to focus on Error too. Ccino and Death, the only two to know of Error’s second identity, are focused on him in general, whether Error is acting as Lapse or not.

Spots–and Blue’s cow, Cinnamon–were late additions, and far from important to the story, but I just love the idea of them being close to one animal or another at the farm. Cinnamon is an older, more brownish cow while Spots is the more typical black and white. Also I like the idea of Honey napping with chickens and Hearts being really good at horseback riding. Him and Blue go out into the mountains and trails with their horses for dates. Hearts also loves the sheep and with the help of Cobalt has gotten really good with anything to do with wool–shearing, dying and knitting.

Dream can’t say no to Cobalt because Dream knows of Cobalt’s past and trauma and was there when he was rejoining society and getting used to people again. Dream can’t say no to him in the same way Nightmare can’t say no to Horror.

Chronic does know. I don’t know if I have mentioned it, but Chronic rarely says I, and it’s highly important every time they do. When Chronic says “I know” to Error, it’s because they do. That’s an Error on Error conversation. The error of the Chronic fusion does know, he has gone through something extremely similar, and while their multiverse’s have differences, they are close. Chronic Error can relate to the guilt on a personal level, he knows.

Chapter 71

Error’s feelings, the way I described it, is very empathetic to myself. My nerves are very broken to feeling most things–thanks genetics–so my sense of touch is based on what my muscles can feel, so being cold or limbs falling asleep is very disorienting, which I applied to Error as at this point, he’s been alone in the cold antivoid, just trying to rest, for a while. Limbs cold and asleep, bean bag just as cold against his face.

Error’s used to feeling half dead, soul barely beating if at all but still alive and moving. Being alive is painful for Error and he’s not used to the warmth of life, it’s burning to him. For a bit perspective for normal bodied people (yes, my nerve damage extends to telling temps): You just came inside after walking in the cold and go to the bathroom and wash your hands, the water's hot and your hands cold and it feels burning at first but then you recognize that it's just warm. Prolong that burning, that’s what Error’s feeling.

Error is afraid, he’s terrified of the outside, it’s not controlled, not something he knows how to handle. He knows how to handle the antivoid–he’s not comfortable in it, but it’s familiar.

Leaving to the underground near immediately makes Error overwhelmed and tired, too much to handle and to deal with.

Often during the chapter I cut over to Error’s thoughts, the desperation that he feels, the accomplishment he’s trying to reach. The voices did well to manipulate them, and even when trying to prove them wrong, he still searches for their validation. “…Where are the voices? He did good, right? He was doing what they asked-”

For this chapter parts of it are pretty much word for word copied from the actual original ask error sans comic.

For AEJ, the moment of Error holding back, unable to kill papyrus is what cements to Cobalt that Error was simply hurt, and not fully in control of what he was doing. That he had a chance to be good and sometimes does good.

When Error “talks” about Cobalt’s soul in this chapter and the next, it’s constantly talked about the same way the voices talk to Error, although its a sad attempt at hiding Error’s jealousy. “...attaching to that pathetically kind soul…”

By this point in the chapter, Error while still manipulated by the voices, had grown tired and annoyed with them again, restarting the cycle he has with them. One party always desperate and another always tired and angry with the other.

The reason Cobalt is a “dirty liar” is the voices had brainwashed Error that he could never have friends, he didn’t deserve them. The only reason Error was able to later make friends is he became allies with Nightmare for his own benefits, and for a long time didn’t consider them friends. It was only once he started staying at the castle more often and out of range of the voices control that he became more open, he doesn’t remember much of this time.

In a way, Error is scared of Cobalt. He’s scared of the relationship and the commitment. His soul hurts even at the thought, afraid of being hurt again and the relationship torn apart.

Chapter 72

He was searching for Nim’s presence, which led him to the remains of Dreamtale.

The “odd creature” was Nightmare, who kept a close eye on Dreamtale between bouncing around AUs and trying to find a place to call his own.

Nightmare at this point knows well of the destroyer, and did well to both protect himself and Dream from Error. Although Error is in the back of his mind as a possible ally, at the moment there’s nothing he can offer the destroyer for that allyship.

The voices are very toxic as soon as he’s back, although I was careful to make it a more underlying toxicity. Cobalt wasn’t important, just a brat. Just like you called him. They didn’t call him a brat and leave him alone in the antivoid, Error did. The blame isn’t on them. No one else can hear them. It’s all on Error. How could he blame the voices? They didn’t do the action, Error did. Then less underlying but a normal line to Error “now he’s just as bad as you.” Then reminding Error that he deserves to be alone, taking away the little control he had–or at least, making Error think the control is out of his hands.

Chapter 73

Coming back, Error feels more broken than ever, he needs that validation he was seeking from the voices in the past. He needs those pieces of his soul back. Nothing feels right. Chronic is extremely helpful in helping relieve the need, and so is Dream and Nightmare.

Coming out of the memories, Error feels lost for any control, afraid to speak up to Chronic about anything he wants. Keep in mind, he spent centuries in that antivoid with those voices, all the progress he had made from the voices, taking back control, might as well be gone. He doesn’t want to burden anyone. That’s a safe thing to confess, because he doesn’t deserve to burden anyone, he’s expecting Chronic to reinforce that. That he doesn’t deserve to be able to “burden” people, but instead he’s told the opposite.

Chronic was very smart in the way he approached this, Error wants to please right now and then take the validation, just like he did with the voices. Chronic reminds him of what his lovers want, that they want to help him–but of course, without saying that they want to help. Rewording it. Error while distraught, is still Error. He doesn’t need help, but if it will make others happy–he will help others.

Error right now feels so small, out of control despite the main character he is.

Nightmare doesn’t quite understand the extent of the voices' torment, or that Error just underwent their torment again. Error wasn’t willing to explain it the first time, and even less so now.

Dream mentioning that keeping all of that to yourself is “bad” is referencing Nightmare’s corruption, that keeping all of the trauma to yourself leads you down a path of bottling it up and destroying yourself. Nightmare and Dream can both see the signs in Error, and both are determined to let him go down that path.

Error, while out of control, wants to remind Nightmare that he’s still here too, just like Nightmare used to say. He wants to come back to control and be the person they love, but the fresh revival of trauma has left him uncertain. Holding on to Nightmare’s hand was symbolic. Will Nightmare keep moving? Or truly be there like he’s said? Nightmare waits, and is patient. He doesn’t move, he lets Error take the control he wants and however much he wants. For all Nightmare could’ve cared in that moment, Error could’ve pulled him back down and just held him close. But Error’s not ready to just take that amount of control, a small piece of validation and love it all he can muster to allow himself right now, and even that’s pushing the limits.

Error doesn’t take the laugh as something taunting, but enjoys Nightmare’s joy. It’s a chuckle of positivity that Error loves. It’s the validation he was looking for.

Nightmare 100% kisses Dream as soon as that door closes.

As you all know now, Chronic did bring him back (I know, Chapter 5)

Error can open his arms for Ink because it’s not taking control, not to him. It’s pleasing Ink, giving the comfort that he knows thanks to Chronic they want.

I continue to have Error only say “safe” things, everything Error mentions is something that usually the voices would affirm and use against him. When he attempts to talk about the voices, he stops. That isn’t safe. He can’t talk back to them right now. He’s not fueled by rage like when he woke up with Reaper and Nightmare, he’s scared. He’s afraid.

Error doesn’t want to be reminded how bad he is, just like how the voices just did. He doesn’t want to be reminded of his guilt, but it’s what he expects Ink to do. He also expects Ink and everyone else to be disgusted, and he doesn’t want to lose Ink again. He doesn’t want to outright speak up about what he’d done.

It’s highly assuring that Ink isn’t going to force Error to say anything, and it gives more control back to Error.

Ink is really validating in this chapter. Contradicting what all the voices were telling Error. “You weren’t yourself back then, remember? Whatever the voices convinced you to do, it’s not your fault.” “I… I still-” “Either way. It’s not your fault. Whatever you did, I’m sure you can find forgiveness” Error wasn’t himself back then, but as the voices subtly reminded, he still did it. Not the voices. The voices didn’t force him to do anything. Ink reminded Error that he wasn’t really in control then, and it isn’t his fault–even if it was, he can find forgiveness.

Ink ruining the moment pulls Error away from being scared of the voices, it pulls him back to himself. Back to when he was in control. Distracting him with their jokes and the ruined moment distracted him from why the moment even happened in the first place.

I’ve had Ink’s coming out in my notes for ages and I’ve been waiting so long to write it.

For the moment, Error is distracted. He doesn’t have to think about being afraid of the voices, Ink in his arms and the souls of the people he cares about nearby.

Chapter 74

This chapter is mainly for two things: to cement the connection between Dream and Error–show that Dream understands far more than he lets on–and for Error’s inner dilemma, does he leave them? Then, why does he want to leave them? He does want to leave them, and doesn't want to hurt them anymore, so he’s going to make them as happy as possible before he leaves–forgetting that him leaving will hurt them again.

Dream is the most open in this chapter than he has been in the whole series. He’s constantly keeping a wall up about who he is, appearing to have walls of glass and managing to convince people that what they see in those walls are true when it’s a carefully crafted facade. Lapse saw a glimpse of the real Dream when Dream had the dissociation episode. The real Dream in AEJ is riddled with mental difficulties but full of selflessness. As much as it would make him happy to stay with Ink and Death at the beginning, he knew he was hurting Ink–even if he didn’t understand why. He knew staying around Ink would continue to hurt–even if Omega is his home. He knew that being around others and working with others makes him happy–but he pushed himself away and poured himself into his garden, but like Dream said in the chapter: “plants can’t fill that emptiness I have without people” he needs to be around people to be happy–but he completely locked himself away to ensure that others could be happy. This is the first real view the readers get of Dream, the Dream that’s uncertain and just doing his best, even when struggling just to get through the day.

Error spent ages pretending, he doesn’t really know who he is anymore through all the confusion, even when the answer is in front of his eyes. He spent so long being only one thing, he thinks he has to pick when he doesn’t have to.

Dream was going to say “Do you want to help me” but that’s more of a trigger for Error than anything else, so he reworded it.

Rose was something much older that I brought up from an AEJ nickname chart, so I figured I could wedge in there, solidify the relationship a little more.

Despite what Error says, Dream is still worried over Error. Just because Error wanted to, doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt him to do so–it’s clear as day in Dream’s eyes that Error is forcing himself to make this progress. Dream does not hold his concerns to himself, and that’s why Nightmare is careful but attentive with Error the next chapter.

Chapter 75

This chapter is highly constructed and a facade by Nightmare, the gang, and everyone else who now calls the castle home. Alerted by Dream, Nightmare made sure to tell everyone to keep eyes on Error. That Error would likely be forcing his progress to make others happy, but not to stop him. He needs to stumble and fall, to learn that forcing himself is not going to help. Nightmare also alerts them that he knows there is definitely some ulterior motive to forcing this progress as it was only a few days ago that Error was more than content to spend the rest of his immortal life in that library sipping on soup and nibbling on chocolate with his books and laptop. They’re all keeping an eye out for some sign or intent that could give them an idea of what that motive is.

Chapter 77

His soul and thoughts fogging was clever word choice, as I built that image of his soul raining and both rain and thoughts can be foggy.

His vision “dusting” wasn’t clever word choice. It was literal. For AEJ, I put far more emphasis to monster customs as well as word choice. The characters do not use human sayings–aside from those who were raised around humans. Word choice is the number one thing I want readers to pay attention to in AEJ, and with that information alone, the whole story can change. Some words are built on further fiction, world building, and scenarios or imagination. Some words are literal. I can’t easily say which is more, the literal or nonliteral words, but I can say both are equally important to the story.

And that’s it for AEJ.

Originally, this was going to be my last series. When it was done I was going to write a semi-long piece about myself and my journey with creation, as well as directing “secret-time-is-here” to my other persona, which for now I’ll leave unmentioned. Although some friends I have through that second persona are aware of “secret”.

But for now, I’m slowly creating, and I plan to keep creating.

My current plans are to rework The Lonely and The One because holy fuck does that story have more holes than swiss cheese, and to rewrite and put more detail into those chapters and that unscripted bittersweet story. I doubt it’ll be often, as most of my effort goes into the content creation (streaming, branding, video creation, editting, tiktok/youtube shorts, etc.) of my other persona, but honestly, I think about writing the next chapter and working on The Lonely and the One constantly. And, if you ever find my other persona, and you think it might be me, honestly? I would not mind you calling it out (ex ask on tumblr on this acc or comment on twitter, don't harrass small content creators people). But I’ll simply leave it as a mystery for now. (However, if you see this on Ao3 I recommend you go to my twitter or tumblr to try and find it, it’s pretty obvious in my eyes lmao. I’ve even liked or rebloged some stuff from my other persona XD).

And with that, I’ll leave this post. Have a great new year, and if you see this on tumblr, expect more reblogs and random shit.

#an errors journery #aej #aej epitaph #aej epilogue #my writng #my works

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