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shimmershifts · 3 months ago

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how to reality shift

method two: destabilized awareness

these methods basically boil down to two steps. destabilize your awareness, and then shift. basically, you'll be trying to discombobulate yourself to the point your awareness is not focused on 3D reality, and trigger a shift. if you have trouble getting into the state of pure awareness or lack of awareness or it doesn't feel natural to you, these methods may be good to try out! this post is also for my lucid dreamers, meditators, hypnogogia lovers, or people who struggle with 3D distractions, and anyone who likes or feels the need to experience "symptoms" (ie, sleep paralysis or hypnogogia.)

honestly, most shifting methods i see online are in some way doing this. lucid dreams, the hypnogogic state, SATS, self-hypnosis, and also all those iterations of the "raven method" the "staircase method" the "alice in wonderland method" etc are all basically ways to destabilize your awareness from the linear perception it is so used to in this point of reality, offering the opportunity of triggering a shift to a different one. they're all sort of either distracting or subverting your focus on the 3D here in this point of reality.

why does destabilizing awareness help with shifting?

when we reality shift, our goal is to find a way to trigger our awareness into a movement in the 4th and 5th dimensional directions. for some, this is easier to do when your sense of the 3D in this reality is a little distorted. this isn't because it's impossible to shift while aware of the 3D! on the contrary, lots of people shift while totally awake and aware in the 3D, in either their CR, or their DR, or even both. but for most of us, our awareness is really used to and really comfortable piloting our 3D body here. so perhaps try destabilizing or distracting your awareness to help trigger a shift.

how do i destabilize my awareness?

there are many different ways to destabilize your awareness, so you just need to find one that works for you. i'll put a few ways to try out here, but if these don't work for you, do not despair. you can find other ways, or tweak them to your needs however you'd like. my goal is to put the ones that work for the most people, and explain them in a way you may not have seen before so make it more accessible. hopefully, i can! i think that everyone is fully capable of all of these methods, some just will come more naturally to each person.

method 2(a)

hypnogogia. this is, or was, probably the most common "method" on shifting communities for a long while. all those shifting "symptoms" you heard about? those are hypnogogic sensations. now, one important note is that i do not believe hypnogogic sensations are directly "symptoms of you shifting", because many people shift without ever feeling any, and many people feel them without ever shifting. hypnogogia is merely an experience when your awareness is in this reality, but somewhat disrupted from its focus or perception of our normal physical senses. this is what causes you to feel as if you are floating, weightlessness, numb, flying, falling, spinning, vibrating, phantom sensations of someone touching you, hearing sounds or words, seeing or smelling someone or something that isn't there, sleep paralysis, muscle jerks, etc. etc.

these symptoms can also be paired with feelings of anxiety or impending doom, or even a visit from the "sleep paralysis demon" but they're not always! personally for me when i started my journey, hypnogogia made me terrified, and i couldn't figure why because i wasn't scared of hypnogogia in general. it reduced over time with practice.

how to cause hypnogogia: hypnogogia is a natural transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, which we usually don't experience because as we fall asleep our mind sleeps before our body. so, in order to cause hypnogogia, all we need to do is allow our body to fall asleep while our mind stays aware. people tend to over think this, and the most common pitfalls i see are people falling fully asleep, or keeping themself completely awake by accident, so i'll troubleshoot those below! this method will be a meditation method, but if you struggle with meditation then please check out this post for ways to get into hypnogogia without meditation, and just come back here for how to shift from hypnogogia instead of dropping into pure awareness from there.

step one: choose the space you want to do this in, and i recommend choosing somewhere safe where you won't be disturbed. you can either do this in bed where you normally sleep, or in a different place like sitting up on the couch, and there are pros and cons to both. in bed, the upside is that your body is very used to falling asleep here. the downside is that your mind is also very used to falling asleep here, so if you struggle with accidentally falling totally asleep when trying to get into hypnogogia, maybe try a different place, during the day, or a different pose.

step two: relax your body. for some meditations or shifting methods it's not consequential whether your body actually relaxes or not, but if your goal is to reach hypnogogia, it sort of is. don't overthink this though, because your body naturally gets to exactly the right relaxed state every single night when you go to sleep. the only complication is that you need to basically trick your body and mind into thinking you're going to sleep so it naturally lets your body fall asleep, but secretly, your mind is still aware. some ways to ease this process are body scans (ie, focusing on each part of your body one at a time, allowing each section to relax as you move your focus to the next. i prefer toe to head, but you do you.) or progressive muscle relaxation, (ie, tensing each muscle, and then releasing it to deepen relaxation. this means like tensing your lower leg as hard as you can, counting to three, and then letting go. this can help especially if you're naturally tense!) key notes: it's okay to move. do you hold yourself completely rigid and still when you fall asleep each night, refusing to scratch and itch or roll over because you think you'll never ever be able to sleep if you move even once? probably not. it's okay move, it only disrupts the process if you let it.

step three: keep your mind aware. this is the key to hypnogogia here, but don't overdo it. some people have the issue of accidentally falling totally asleep, and this is because they're struggling to keep their mind aware. it may take practice, or trying different things to see what keeps your mind just awake enough to stay aware during hypnogogia, without just keeping yourself the normal type of awake and lying there for an hour while nothing happens. you can hold your focus on your breathing, a mantra, put on a soundtrack or white noise, counting, a visualization, or even a physical sensation. i used to place a small stone on my forehead and focus on the weight of it, since it was a sensation just unusual enough to hold my focus without being entirely distracting. if you struggle with slipping into sleep (or have adhd), try something slightly more engaging or add more than one thing to keep yourself aware.

step four: let your body fall asleep. there is no need to force it. your body naturally knows how to fall asleep, you've done it every day for your entire life. just let it, and don't get in the way. if you struggle with trying to get into the hypnogogic state and ending up just laying there with no results for hours, it's because you're getting in the way (sorry!) you do not need to try to force yourself to start having hypnogogia (i think this is a pitfall for some, keeping their body too awake while they engage their physical senses too much) or push it to fall asleep or force it to fall asleep. that will generally keep it away. it's more of a letting go and allowing your body to fall asleep. key notes: your body may test you to see if you are actually sleeping. during the day, there may be many periods where you are at rest (sitting watching tv, in class, at work, etc) where you're still and calm but it would be highly inconvenient for your body to simply slip into sleep at the drop of a hat. so your system may test you, checking if your body is actually supposed to be going to sleep before allowing it to. this is where you'll get muscle jerks, or hallucinations that make you flinch. think of these like the "are you still watching?" pop up on netflix. your system is trying to check if your body should go to sleep or not, so let them pass. you do want your body to go to sleep.

step five: hypnogogia. at some point, you'll start to experience the tell tale sensations of hypnogogia. you don't need to fabricate or create these sensations, they'll come naturally. let them. congratulations, you are no longer grounded in the 3D sensations of this reality. hypnogogia is already the bridge between wakefulness and sleep in this reality, but it can also be a bridge from this reality to another.

how to shift from hypnogogia: there are two ways you can go about this. you can either focus on the hypnogogic sensations and use/direct them to trigger yourself to shift, or let them pass and focus on the fact that you're not grounded in the 3D of any reality in that moment, allowing that to trigger yourself to shift. generally, the hypnogogic sensations people experience seem sort of "random", so you might get floating or spinning or vibrating, etc, etc. if you're trying to use the sensations you're getting, then gently direct the sensations. meaning, direct your hypnogogic sensations to correlate with your desired reality. you don't need to force or control them, just feel them and line that up with experiences or a visualization of your DR. weightlessness? visualize how soft and light you feel in your DR bed. tingling sensations? direct your attention to the tickling, waving long grasses of the field you're becoming aware of in your DR. hallucinating lights or sounds? think of the sounds or light sources of your DR as you become aware of it. if you're trying to focus on the detachment from 3D (helpful if hypnogogia is scary for you, you can stay calmer by not focusing on the sensations) try to relax and let the sensations continue but pass you by. recognize and understand you are not grounded to the 3D experience of any reality at that moment, your awareness has already loosened its grip on this reality, and turn your attention towards thoughts of your DR, mainly on returning to full awareness there instead of here.

method 2(b)

lucid dreams. ive posted before about how to do reality checks to confirm you're in a lucid dream (check out my pure awareness methods for that tidbit) so here i'll focus on how to have lucid dreams in the first place, since these methods focus on how to get into that destabilized awareness. now, a lucid dream is just a dream. the only difference is that in a lucid dream, you are aware. not of the physical 3D in this reality, but of some of the goings on of your mind while your body sleeps. this means that certain parts of your usual functions here are inaccessible because those parts of your physical brain are "off" or performing alternative functions, so you won't be able to read, and you will be in a dreamlike state even tho you're aware. this dreamlike state is enough to loosen the tether your awareness feels to this reality. now, my other lucid dream method focused on how to get into the state of pure awareness from a lucid dream, and that's not necessary for this method. your goal here is to shift directly from the lucid dream to your DR, which is a little different and has its own pitfalls. the major one: accidentally just moving to another lucid dream instead of shifting. i'll address that below!

step one: have a lucid dream. you can wait for one to happen naturally if you get those, or you can increase the chances of having one in a few ways.

start practicing and repeating your "reality checks" throughout the day. repetition is key, because when you're dreaming your brain naturally processes memories, thought patterns etc and that will reflect in your dreams. the goal is to repeat your "reality checks" so often that your brain does one while dreaming, so that you have the opportunity to realize you're dreaming and become lucid. another way to do this is throughout the day, pause what you're doing and visualize yourself noticing that you're dreaming and becoming lucid in a dream (ie, think about it.) do this often enough you start to do it in your sleep too.

you can meditate before bed. choose any meditation you want, and really try to get at least into a light meditation state, because it really does increase the rate of vivid and lucid dreams for a lot of people, maybe even you!

wake back to bed. this is a common technique, where you go to sleep, wake up, and then go back to sleep. the reasoning is that you are more likely to enter an REM cycle quickly enough that your brain is still somewhat lucid, increasing the chances of a lucid dream.

keep a dream journal. as soon as you wake up, write down as much of your dreams as you can remember, even if it's very vague or half a thought. strengthening your dream recall also seems to increase the chance of becoming lucid in a dream.

how to shift from a lucid dream: now, the most common trouble with this method is when people accidentally just go to another lucid dream instead of shifting. be aware that this is a possibility, and practice your reality checking skills so that you can become confident in your ability to tell the difference. reality check while you're awake, and reality check while you're lucid in a dream. do this so often you become able to notice the differences, because when you do a reality check while awake in your DR it will feel exactly as real as it does here, no exceptions. if there is anything dreamlike, muddled, or "off" about the experience, you likely have not shifted.

anyways, with that in mind, i'm going to give two different ways to shift from a lucid dream. the most common i see online is the "create a portal and imagine your DR is on the other side," but very often i see this cause people to step through the portal and just enter another lucid dream instead of shifting. that's because when you're lucid in a dream, youre capable of creating and changing the dreamscape however you want, so your brain is just creating a lucid dream instead of your awareness shifting. if that's happened to you, try the ones here instead!

1) travel to your DR, do not create it. the instinct to "create" your DR around you can tend to lead you to create a lucid dream. when we reality shift, we do not create the 3D world of our DRs or invent it with our minds the way we do dreams, we shift our awareness from this 3D, to another. when you've firmly established lucidity, think about your DR but do not alter your dreamscape to look like it. just think about where you want to go, and begin to think of your dream self (the body or whatever form you take) as your awareness. use your dreamscape however you'd like to travel to your DR (train, flight through space, falling down a pit, it doesn't matter, do what feels right.) just don't create the destination. when you get there, you should become aware of your DR, but make sure to reality check and ensure you're not still lucid dreaming.

2) become your DR self in your dream. instead of focusing on your surroundings (helpful if you tend to just go to another lucid dream,) you can instead focus on yourself. visualize that you are your DR self, having a lucid dream in your DR. the dream can become whatever you want, whatever your DR self is dreaming about, because you are your DR self having this dream. visualize that when you wake up, you'll be waking up as your DR self. you can either keep dreaming and sleeping as your DR self, or intentionally wake up. either way, you should wake up as your DR self. (check for false awakenings and ensure you're not still lucid dreaming.)

method 2(c)

distraction. our awareness can seem to be quite stubborn, and we can feel like we struggle to direct it to what we want. if that's the case for you, try distracting it. think of it like jangling keys in front of your awareness, or the subway surfers clip at the corner of a video to help stimulate and distract your 3D senses attention just enough you can shift your awareness where you want it. lots of methods involve trying to decrease your 3D sensations as much as possible, calm your mind and body, and be still, quiet, etc. this method is kind of the opposite, because some people need stimulation in order to let go. ever zoned out while fidgeting, daydreaming, or getting distracted? the goal here is to gently distract yourself so your awareness loosens the reigns a bit on this CR, and that's your window to shift.

below are some distractions you can introduce, and a pro tip is that whichever sense tends to be the one that you feel "holds you back" from other shifting methods is probably a key one to try to distract with this stuff.

sound. you can choose any sound, maybe a playlist of songs that fit the vibe of your DR, white noise, binaural beats, environmental ambiance noises, ASMR, whatever. it also doesn't have to be calm or quiet stuff. pick the screaming metal rock band album, or put on jackhammer ASMR if that's what suits you.

sight. almost all methods involve closing your eyes, but this one doesn't have to. put on a movie you've seen so many times you don't actively watch it anymore, a Pinterest board, a handmade vision board, a painting you like, a collection of gifs of your S/O, it doesn't matter.

touch. lay somewhere you usually wouldn't, like outside, on the floor, on the stairs. hold something with an interesting texture or temperature in your hand. put on a weighted blanket. hug a stuffed animal. dip your hands in water.

smell. cook food that smells really good. light a candle, or incense. use a perfume, cologne, or scented soap. grab a fist full of soil, or a sprig of herbs.

motion. this, i feel, can be key for some. pick a repetitive motion, like a fidget. roll something in between your fingers, click a pen, tap your foot, bounce your knee, walk, spin in a chair, etc.

your CR body can stay completely awake. you don't need to be meditating (although you could argue this level of distraction is somewhat meditative? but. you know.) you don't need to be focused, or still, or calm. while your 3D senses are distracted, let them be. think about your DR. visualize where you are, what you're doing. think about what you're going to do. really let your mind wander, the same way it might when you're just thinking about stuff here. at some point, the goal is to reality shift when your 3D CR self here is too distracted to notice you even did it. You'll start thinking as your DR self, and when you "come back to your senses", it's your DR senses instead of your CR ones.

#reality shifting #reality shifter #shifting community #shifting #shiftblr #how to shift #shifting meditation #shifting methods #shifting guide #distraction method #lucid dream method #hypnogogia method

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fashionteahouse · 24 days ago

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hey would you write Cullens from twilight if they were yanderes? So basically Yandere Cullens x reader headcannons. If this makes you uncomfortable ignore this xx

sure i'll give this a try ! hopefully you enjoy :)

Carlisle: He's obsessive. He would keep a piece of hair, collect any type of fluid in bottles. He needs to have a piece of you and expects the same. May even make you wear a necklace that contains his venom without you knowing and he wears a piece of jewelry that has your blood in it that he somehow was able to obtain. Shapes his entire way of living to be identical with yours, to feel more close to you. He’s fixated on you and only you. Will risk not eating just to fantasize about the relationship you two have and how it can evolve.

Jasper: Impulsive. His erratic nature makes him unpredictable. You’re constantly on edge but he doesn’t care to change. He doesn’t want to change. Acts on desires and whims without giving it any thought. Expects you to support whatever impulses he has and won’t want to hear you try to speak common language to help him make better decisions. He’s honest since his actions are made without a thought.

Rosalie: Sadistic. She’s very fascinated by how you squirm under her control. She gets pleasure by emotionally and physically harming you. Even, going as far as ruining things for you just to isolate you. Hurting your feelings makes you weak and it’s just how she likes you. She also will sometimes enjoy letting you hold onto the hope of escaping, even letting you get a head start before she recaptures you again.

Edward: Manipulative. The relationship will appear normal, just how he would like it. Will create a wedge to distance yourself from people, even if you’re with someone, he will do everything that he can to put a strain on the relationship by using trust. Once you two are together, he knows how to keep you from leaving, using your weaknesses and secrets to keep you from thinking leaving him is a better option, because it isn’t. Encourages codependency.

Esme: Clingy. Wherever you go, she goes. Whatever you do, she does. Her smothering is quite draining. She’s never out of your sight and you’re never out of hers. She’s too emotionally dependent on you and will become very angry if you’re not available to her. The type to constantly ring you if you’re not in her sight. She’s the reason why your voicemail box is full. She will expect you to be available to her at all costs. Doesn’t believe in breaks.

Alice: Delusional af. Will think the relationship between you two is more than what it actually is and will get very upset if you tell her otherwise. Not very realistic as she takes everything that you do, the wrong way. If you do something out of kindness, she immediately thinks it’s out of love. If she tells you that she loves you and you don’t say that you love her back, she will just think it’s because you’re shy. If you tell her you don’t love her, she will believe that it’s all lies and that you’re in denial. Her reality that she perceives is distorted by her love.

Emmett: Possessive. There is no such thing as being independent in this relationship. He will become aggressive if they feel like their ownership is threatened. He will remove all of your safety nets, friends, family, money in your savings, just so that you could be solely dependent on him. He needs to own and dominate you in the relationship. If you make a decision on your own, he will become very angry. You’re his and his only.

#the cullens #cullen x reader #yandre #yandere #y/n imagines #fanfic #twilight saga #x y/n #y/n #carlisle cullen x reader #esme cullen x reader #rosalie cullen x reader #jasper cullen x reader #alice cullen x reader #emmett cullen x reader #edward cullen x reader #imagine #twilight imagine

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babybeeelle · 6 months ago

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Hi sorry English doesn't have my mother tongue I don't know if it will be understandable BUT here's the idea: instead of Rio it's Reader who invoked. Agatha and Reader his ex but still love each other. Reader becomes close to another witch and Agatha becomes jealous, reader plays with her until Agatha kisses her and tells her that she is hers

mrsines asked:

Summary : Reader and Agatha have known each other since the very beginning. But through time, the relationship was severed. Reader is summoned to the road (instead of Rio). Agatha, still deeply in love with the reader, becomes extremely jealous when Alice starts to get close to the reader. Agatha being Agatha, an argument breaks out.

Pairing - Fem!Reader x Agatha Harkness

Warning - Angst, Agatha done been stupid, and an author who is inexperienced in kiss writing descriptions🫣

Word Count : 3.2k

My own twist of two similar requests!

a/n : This is the longest story I've ever written, and its my own twist of two similar requests!

An Immortal Love

Being summoned is a strange sensation. It begins with a sudden, unsettling shift in one’s own energy. It feels like the soul is forcibly dragged from the physical realm, and there is no longer control of one’s own body. Its not painful, but the distortion of reality is deeply disorienting- an out-of-body experience to say the least. Then, just for a moment, the ritual brings weightlessness, like the peak of a rollercoaster before the drop, until the inevitable pull of a supernatural force yanks the summoned being into another plane.

In Y/n’s unfortunate case, she’s pulled through soil and rock, suffocating in the dark embrace of the earth itself. Struggling to break free from the ground’s grasp, she emerges with a groan. Pulling herself upright, instinctively taking in her surroundings. There is no telling who's done the ceremony and why. Being summoned is usually never a good thing. Staying cautious is vital.

The first thing Y/n sees are five horrified faces, and standing protectively in the middle is the woman she swore to never see again.

Agatha Harkness.

“Great, just great,” Y/n mutters under her breath, unable to believe her luck.

“Y/n, you look as stunning as the day I met you. Truly, you age like fine wine,” is the first thing Agatha chooses to say, her cautious expression melting into a sly smile as she stepped forward.

Without sparing her a second glance, Y/n turns on her heel and walks away. “Where the hell am I, and how do I get out? I’m not doing whatever it is you summoned me for,” she states firmly, leaving no room for debate.

"You're on the Witch's Road." Y/n halts in her steps. "There is no leaving," the defiant voice of a young boy calls out.

Y/n chuckles, now annoyed. "The road is imaginary my naive child," she reprimands, turning to make eye contact with him. He's a tall boy, youthful. He exuberates a confident and rebellious aura with his dark curly hair and eye-lined makeup. He's young, and most certainly foolish.

"Then how do you explain where we are? Hm? You cannot deny what is before you, my love," Y/n's former lover explains with a witty smile on her face, stepping closer to her.

"You don't get to call me that," she seethes through her teeth, while rage-filled eyes burn into Agatha's soul, having no effect on Agatha.

"Come on my love, it's been centuries. Why can't bygones be bygones?" Agatha drags out with a sheepish laugh, now closing the distance. She's trying to coax Y/n into shrugging centuries off, to bandage up the gaping wounds in her heart, leaving it to beat in agony. It's like Agatha believes time heals all. They both know it doesn't. She shattered her heart.

Y/n scoffs. She almost can't believe her audacity, but then she remember, it's Agatha. Of course she would expect the woman she'd left broken to erase the raised scars of their history for her benefit.

Shaking her head, Y/n chooses it's best to not let her have any of her energy. Turning her attention to the group, who had been staring at them with a mix of curiosity and caution, she chooses to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Y/n. Can someone explain why I’ve been dragged onto the road?” she mockingly questions, rolling her eyes.

The woman with a fiery punk appearance speaks out in response, "We needed a green witch." Her presence stands out from the others. She's bold, charismatic, yet reserved. Her strong features and clothing stand out almost like an armor of protection. Her wild and messy, black hair has streaks of vibrant orange that match the edgy outfit she adorns.

Y/n glances briefly at Agatha and lets out a humorless chuckle. “Okay, if that's what you want to call me,” she replies, indifferent, before walking down the road, further leaving the group puzzled.

...

After time passes, everyone makes the collective decision to set up camp and rest for the night. The bright and warm fire casts a soft hue that illuminates everyone as they surround the flames. Wanting to be as far away from Agatha as possible, Y/n deliberately chooses to sit across from her, the flames acting as a partial barrier between them.

In her spot, Y/n notices the particularly intriguing witch sitting next to her, the one who was first to address her. She glances over at Y/n and introduces herself. "My name is Alice. In case you were wondering," she adds to her introduction, hurriedly, still unsure about Y/n's intentions and role in the group. Y/n hums in response, moving her gaze to focus on Alice, encouraging her to continue.

She takes the sign and begins to open up a little. "I never wanted to believe any of this, you know?" she starts, her eyes staring into the fire. "The generational curses. The Witch's Road. I thought it was all just stories my mom made up before she died. I thought she was just...unwell."

Y/n sighs, exhaustion lacing her voice. "I don't know what this is, but the road isn't real."

Alice frowned, disbelief evident in her expression. “How can you say that when we’re here? You weren’t here for the trials, maybe that’s why you think that, but this road is very real. Teen almost died. Mrs. Davis did die.”

Y/n ignores her question, her gaze distant, and doesn't say anything. Alice sighs, giving up on the short-lived conversation. Until, out of nowhere, she start to explain her past, not looking at her. "A long, long, time ago, when Agatha and I were just girls, we were a part of the same coven. We weren't the same as the others. We possessed powers they couldn't fathom. Naturally, they wanted us dead. They tried to kill us because they were scared of the things they couldn't comprehend, the things they knew they'd stand no chance against if we were to betray them. Agatha and I escaped of course, but we were alone. We only had each other. And yet, she left me," she ended, never really ever had processed her grief. She wiped away a stray tear that threatened to roll down her face.

Alice could tell there was a lot more to the story, but she doesn't push. Instead, she tries to sympathize, "Wow, that's-"

Y/n cut her off before she can say anything else, "I don't believe this is the road because I don't trust Agatha."

Alice bites her lip, trying to think of what to say. She doesn't want to say the wrong thing. "I can't imagine how scared you must've been. No one should have to go through that," she says cautiously, leaning closer to Y/n. She reaches her hand out slowly and lays her hand over Y/n's hand, causing her to look at Alice. Her eyes and smile hold sympathy. "You don't have to be alone anymore." Her comfort was warmer than the fire than cracked before the both of them, sending smoke and sparks of the fire through the air. Much like the anger burning in Agatha's mind.

"When you've been alone for so long, it's-"

"Hard to rely on other people?" Its her turn to cut Y/n off. "I know," giving her a half-smile.

She smiles the same back to Alice. The warmth in her words comforting and real. In that small moment, the chains around Y/n's heart loosed for the first time in centuries. It seems like its been forever since she'd been treated so softly, and with genuine care.

Inside, Agatha was seething. You could almost see the smoke steaming out of her ears like a cartoon character. It was the first time she has seen her only love face to face in ages, and here she was, being wooed by someone else. She would never tell Y/n, but she has always make sure she was safe. She was always there to protect her in the shadows. She wished nothing more than to march over and push Alice away from Y/n, letting her know she is hers and always would be. Agatha was beginning to think that's what she had to do. She can't lose her again, not to someone else. Agatha knew Y/n deserves to be with someone far better than her, someone like Alice. That was the entire purpose to why she had to leave her. But the thought of her falling in love with someone else, tore deep into her soul like it was nothing. Watching Alice move closer to her love, and Y/n reciprocating her affection, made her physically sick. She had to do something.

"Maybe its best if you all leave Y/n to rest. Being summoned sure does take a lot out of ya, doesn't it hun?" Agatha fakely humors with a smile, attempting to separate Y/n from Alice in the most discreet manner as possible. The last thing she needed was for Y/n to hate her from ending the witch who was flirting with her. Nevertheless, that plan backfired immediately.

Alice raised an eyebrow in her spot, unbothered. "I think Y/n can make that decision on her own," Alice retaliates, her hand never leaving Y/n's, smirking. She can see right through Agatha's blatant attempt to separate them. She knows what Agatha's trying to do.

"Oh, is that so?" she feigns surprise, holding her hand over her heart. "Cause I'm sure you know her a lot better than I do from this knockoff game of 7 minutes in heaven. " Agatha condescendingly riles up the easily tempered witch, both of them standing now.

"Agatha, you need to calm down. You have no right to be acting this way," Y/n intervenes, shooting daggers at Agatha as she stands up as well. Agatha's angry and pissed, never a good combo in that one. Y/n know how this will go if it continues to escalate. Agatha has always been protective over her, possessive even. Its why is was so much harder to understand why she left to begin with. It never made sense.

Looking over at Alice, Y/n notices her hand start to glow in a closed fist, restraining her will to blast Agatha, knowing what will happen if she does. Y/n takes Alice's hand into her own, trying to calm her down, but this pushes Agatha over the edge.

"Get your filthy hands off her you hag!" Agatha snarls walking over to the two of them, ready to get her hands dirty. Before she can even think about her next move, Y/n blocks her from reaching Alice. She grabs a hold of Agatha's arm as she drags her away from the group, her grip firm and tight around the jealous witch's arm. The others sat silently by the fire, exchanging cautious glances, but unwilling to intervene. Alice, though defiant earlier, held back, crossing her arms, sensing that this confrontation was long overdue.

Y/n didn’t stop until they were far away enough that the only sound was the rustling of leaves, and the faint crackle of the campfire in the distance. Finally, she released Agatha, forcefully pushing her away as if she was disgusted by Agatha's touch, turning to face her with an expression caught between fury and hurt.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Y/n demanded, her voice trembling with barely contained frustration and confusion. “You have absolutely no right to talk to Alice or me like that. You’re the one who left me, remember? Whatever I do now and whoever I choose to do it with, is none of your business.”

Agatha grimaced at her harsh words, but her expression quickly hardened. “None of my business?” she shot back, her voice rising. “Do you think it was easy? To hurt you terribly? Trust me when I say it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. You have no idea what it did to me to walk away from you.”

"What are you talking about? Protect me from what? Explain to me what was so serious that you chose to abandon me."

Agatha faltered, her defiance wavering. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t seem to find the words.

"Answer me, Agatha. Or I swear, you will never see me again," Y/n said, dead serious.

Agatha’s gaze dropped to the ground. For a moment, it seemed as though she might retreat into her usual wall of protection. But then, in a voice so quiet it barely reached Y/n’s ears, she answered her. “Myself,” she admitted, her voice unsteady.

"Yourself? You've got to be kidding me. What kind of excuse is that? Is that some kind of joke? You think you can come up with excuses that will change all the pain and suffering, the abandonment?" Y/n was fuming. She couldn't believe the situation she was in.

“I was protecting you from myself,” Agatha said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, voice now unwavering. “You don’t understand Y/n. That power was intensifying the darkness inside me, You always saw the best in me, but I knew what I was capable of, what I am capable of. And I couldn’t bear the thought of that darkness corrupting you, of hurting you.”

Y/n stared at her, the weight of her confession sinking in. “You left because you thought you’d hurt me?” she asked, her tone disbelieving.

Agatha nodded, her composure fracturing. “I thought if I stayed, I’d ruin you. When I obtained the dark hold, everything changed. I no longer had control over myself. I was consumed by the power. And I couldn’t live with myself if I were to hurt you. So I left… I left to keep you safe.”

"You don’t get to make that decision for me, Agatha. You don’t get to decide what I can and can't handle. Do you know how long I waited for you to come back? How long I wondered what I did wrong? I needed you Agatha! I still do. But instead, you left me to suffer alone. You did hurt me.”

"I know, I know. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought you'd be better without me," Agatha said regretfully, grabbing onto Y/n's arm in solace. "I see now I made the wrong decision."

Y/n back away from Agatha's touch. "That means nothing. That doesn't fix anything. And just then, you were acting like you can take claim over me?"

“I never stopped loving you,” Agatha blurted, desperation bleeding into her words. “Not for one second.”

Y/n froze, the rawness of her confession slicing through the layers of anger and pain. “That doesn’t change what you did,” she said quietly. “It doesn’t erase the centuries I spent trying to heal the wounds you left behind.”

Agatha took a hesitant step closer, her hand reaching out but stopping short of touching Y/n. “I know, and I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I know I don’t deserve it,” she acknowledges. “I just need you to give me another chance, to give us another chance, to end this heartbreak I've brought upon us,” she pleads, borderline shaking

Y/n takes time to respond, mouth open, trying to muster the words she needed to say. “I...I d-don't know if," she stutters, but her voice is silenced by the connection of Agatha lips onto hers. Agatha’s hands find Y/n’s waist, urgently pulling her into her arms. Y/n melts into her immediately, her mind racing with memories and unresolved emotions. The heat of the kiss spreads through her veins, the walls she’s built begin to crumble. Her hands grasping at Agatha’s shoulders as if anchoring herself to the moment, to her.

The kiss deepens, and time seems to collapse around them. It’s been centuries—centuries of separation, regret, and longing—and yet, none of it matters anymore. The world around them fades away, leaving only the warmth of Agatha’s lips and the electricity sparking between them. Agatha’s fingers trace the curve of Y/n’s back, igniting sensations long buried. Y/n’s hands slip from Agatha’s shoulders to cup her face, the touch tender yet desperate.

When they finally break apart, their foreheads rest against each other’s, their labored breathing mingles in the cool air of the night. Agatha’s thumb brushes gently against Y/n’s cheek, wiping away a tear she hadn’t even realized had fallen. Y/n’s eyes flutter open, meeting Agatha’s gaze—a mixture of vulnerability, remorse, and unyielding love. Agatha holds onto Y/n face delicately, searching hopefully into her eyes. Y/n's eyes water, grasping her hands lightly onto Agatha's wrists as she bites her trembling red-kissed lip. It takes her a bit to form a decision, trying to decide if she could fully trust her again. "Okay," she says, her lip quirking into a small, vulnerable smile. The word lingering in the air.

Agatha’s breath hitches, her wide eyes brimming with disbelief. "Really? Are you sure? I know I made the wrong choices, but I will spend every second of the rest of my existence I have to fix the damage I've cause. I will give you the love you've always deserved, my love," she vows. For the first time in centuries, Agatha looked vulnerable—her mask of confidence shattered, leaving only raw emotion behind.

"I'm sure. As much as I tried to hate you for leaving me, I never could. I've loved you for centuries, and I'll love you for centuries more." Her voice softens, but the conviction in her words is unmistakable.

Agatha lets out a shaky laugh of relief, and without another word, she pulls Y/n into her arms. They hold each other tightly, as though trying to make up for the centuries of separation in this single embrace. The weight of the past doesn’t vanish, but for the first time in a long time, the future feels possible.

Their forms are cast under the moonlight, a glow bathing them as they stand intertwined in each other’s arms. The world around them seems to fade away, leaving only the sound of their breaths and the steady rhythm of their hearts. The love between them begins to grow stronger with each passing second.

The moonlight reflects in their eyes as they pull back just enough to share a small, soft smile. Agatha presses a gentle kiss to Y/n’s forehead, a silent promise of devotion, while Y/n rests her head against Agatha’s shoulder, finally allowing herself to relax in her embrace.

Together, they turn back toward the firelight in the distance, where the others wait, knowing the journey ahead will not be easy. But as they walk side by side, their hands entwined, it is clear that they are no longer burdened by the weight of loneliness. Whatever comes next, they will face it together—two souls bound by a love that time could not destroy.

#agatha all along #agatha harkness #agatha harkness x reader #agatha x reader #alice wu gulliver #alice wu gulliver x reader #agatha x fem!reader #agatha harkness x fem!reader

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hotdaemondtargaryen · 10 months ago

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TOM GLYNN-CARNEY INTERVIEWED BY HOLLYWOOD REPORTER MAGAZINE.

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO READING THIS GRUESOME TURN OF EVENTS WHEN YOU FIRST LEARNED ABOUT IT?

"I knew it was coming."

"When it was coming, I wasn’t aware."

"But my immediate reaction was about how it came together by our amazing writers with this sort of amazing, theatrical, rousing, terrifying, unpredictable craftsmanship that I was very happy to be on the receiving end of."

FIRST LOOKING BACK ON EPISODE FOUR, WHILE IT SEEMED PRETTY OBVIOUS TO THE VIEWER, I'M WONDERING WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS GOING THROUGH AEGON'S MIND WHEN HE GOT ON SUNFYRE AND WENT CHARGING INTO THE BATTLE?

"He’d been a bit backed into a corner by all the things that have accumulated over time with being king, where his worst fears and insecurities were coming into plain sight and becoming true."

"He felt weak, and he was seen as weak, and kind of useless — with what Alicent (Olivia Cooke) had said to him (“Do nothing”) in his chamber, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back."

And he was just resigned: “I don’t have any option, I’ve got to prove myself in some way.”

"But you know, being the way he is, and not being an actual warrior with that sort of fearless courage that other people have, he had to numb himself and so he got blind drunk and jumped on a dragon."

HOW DO YOU THINK HE FELT ABOUT AEMOND'S BETRAYAL? IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS CLEAR? I DID WONDER IF AEGON WAS TRULY SURPRISED...

"I think the moment of recognition was the fact that the fireball was coming at it."

"I don’t think he had time to think that he’s done this on purpose."

"If those thoughts are to come off, they will probably come later."

"As a viewer, I’m still unsure."

"I want people to make up their own minds."

THERE'S AN ARGUMENT TO BE MADE THAT SINCE THE BATTLE, AS DISASTROUS AS IT WAS, WAS EVENTUALLY WON, THAT HE SAVED THE DAY? AEGON THE HERO? OR NO.

"You’ve got to take them where you can get them."

"Yeah, he’s a hero."

WHAT'S THE PROSTHETIC PROCESS LIKE FOR YOU MOVING FORWARD?

"Long."

"Very detailed."

"I got to know my amazing hair and makeup team very well."

"I also got to know myself very well."

HOW DO YOU MEAN?

"The amount of time I was spending in that chair with those people in my own thoughts…. But yeah, [the prosthetics] really influences and informs my performance."

"It sort of instructs me how to move now."

"How you breathe, how you speak changes."

"I have a piece inside my mouth that I asked for to sort of distort my speech."

"So all this is great because it makes me feel like we’ve made a shift."

"Aegon has to have changed after this."

"We’re going to find a difference in him and and allow that to continue and [impact] his decisions and have a new approach to life."

YOU'VE MENTIONED CHANGING HOW HE MOVES. IN A PREVIOUS INTERVIEW YOU MENTIONED HOW AEGON USED TO MOVE DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU DO. WHAT WAS THAT DIFFERENCE?

"He’s a little bit more hunched."

"He is a bit narrower."

"I feel it’s a bit weak and more weaselly."

IS IT WEIRDLY MORE FUN TO PLAY HIM AS NOW? BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH MORE THEATRICAL, IN A WAY.

"Yeah! It feels like we’ve transitioned from Richard II to Richard III, if that makes any sense to you."

"Almost like a level up — though on paper, obviously, it’s a level down."

"I think what he loses physically he gains emotionally and mentally."

"I’m trying to see it like that."

THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A PARALLEL THERE TO HOW VISERYS WAS AT THE END, INFIRM AND GHOULISH. DID THAT INFORM YOUR PROCESS AT ALL?

"I mean, it’s just fraught with danger, isn’t it?"

"Having a crown on your head."

"Something nasty is going to happen to you at some point."

"Isn’t it being not having my crown on yet?"

"There’s definitely a Viserys comparison, especially toward his final days and in bed."

"No quality of life whatsoever."

"It was only weeks, months before his dad was in that same position and in that same bed."

LET'S SAY HIS FATE WASN'T LITERALLY WRITTEN. WHAT, IDEALLY, WOULD YOU WANT FOR YOUR AEGON'S FATE?

"I want it to be, in an ideal world, for there to be an opportunity to prove himself and make decisions that he has made — not somebody else who thinks they know better."

"To carve out his own path as king."

"And then just see if he fucks it up as much as people think he might."

"I’d like to give him the space and the time to work it out."

"It’s a dangerous request because they could go horribly wrong."

"I think people underestimate him."

I FOUND IT INTERESTING THAT NOT ONE PERSON SAT BY HIS BEDSIDE OR HELD HIS HAND OR TRIED TO COMFORT HIM IN ANY WAY — AT LEAST NOT IN THIS EPISODE. SEEMS PRETTY HARSH.

"It’s desperately, desperately sad."

"Aegon is a boy in a man’s body and all he’s ever wanted is to be shown love and made to feel seen or not judged."

"All these things that he’s done in the past that have given him a reputation, I believe he’s felt that any attention is good attention."

"Unfortunately, he’s made a name for himself now — people kind of want to keep their distance and they see him as a poisoned chalice."

"At the end of the day, he’s a product of his history."

"He hasn’t had the emotional intelligence to be able to deal with that in a healthy way and move forward from it."

"Back then, therapy wasn’t really a thing, was it?"

"He’s been left to his own devices."

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd s2 #tv shows #team green #aegond #aegon x aemond #tom glynn carney #hotd aegon #aegon ii #interview #hollywood reporter #king aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #hotd s2 spoilers #hotd spoilers #hotd viserys #viserys targaryen #sunfyre

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moonsanoverthinker · 2 years ago

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Some more TMA headcanons because I’ve thought of some more. Also apologies if this list is a little more chaotic than the other one x (Here’s the first list I make incase anyone’s interested)

Also if people have their own that they’d want to add feel free to because I love reading other people’s x

There’s probably going to be some spoilers for but I’ve tried to keep it as broad as possible :) x

Tim used to steal Jon’s pens - Not because he needed them he did it to annoy Jon

Tim once hid a plastic spider in Jon’s desk then pinned it on Martin

Gerry liked to make puns, Gertrude didn’t like Gerry’s puns - Or at least she pretended not too

Peters changed the locks multiple times but Elias just keeps finding his was back in

Georgie has that really nice kind of swoopy writing - I kind of feel Sasha did as well

Distortion Micheal likes the animated Alice in Wonderland film - Can’t think why… (If I had any artistic talent I’d draw him as the Cheshire Cat but I sadly I don’t have any)

Melanie used to make loom band bracelets - She never gave them to anyone but she’d use specific colours with specific people in mind

Elias likes to shout peoples names then not answer them when they shouted back asking what he wanted

Jon owns a few packs of some nice playing cards (Like the ones with cool pictures and stuff) but no one’s allowed to use them - He let Tim use them once but after he slightly bent the corner of one they became off limits to them all

Jon drinks black coffee because it seems like the mature thing to do

Tim drinks the super sweet coffees because they taste nicer and look pretty

Elias has one of them big spinning office chairs - He’s definitely done the James Bond villain spin

Daisy once told Martin she knew a great place to hide his body - She then proceeded to leave notes around the archives to remind him - Jon would also take the notes down

Not necessarily a headcanon but I just imagine series 5 Jared Hopworth in the garden with a necklace of various body parts and bones

Occasionally Basira would just look out to the fourth wall - I’m imagining it like fleabag style

During their travelling Gerry brought Gertrude a mug from a tourist shop - She kept saying she didn’t like it but once she was back in the archives she would use it all the time

Just Jon wearing some sparkly green nail polish

On the topic of Jon’s nails imagine him with those pointy acrylics - He’d either be in his element or he’d have the same vibe as a dog trying to walk in shoes

Both Micheal and Helen just pinging rubber bands at the backs of peoples head (I’ve got no real explanation for why they do it but then again neither have they)

Jon appreciates badgers - He got a little desk calendar with different pictures of them every month

When Martin was staying in the institute Jon gave him a blanket. He took the blanket with him when he started living at home again and started using it

Tim kept every card Sasha ever gave him

Sasha has a little pot of fake flowers on her desk

Jon pretends to he surprised every time Martin gives him a present - Especially if it’s an out of the blue ‘I saw this and thought of you’ present

Sasha and Tim went ice skating together one Christmas - They claimed it was as friends but Tim did give her flowers

Also some random side notes - Slight spoilers for series 4/5

Listened to 170 and immediately started crying at the end / The descriptions in 172 made me feel physically ill as someone who really doesn’t like spiders / Also I saw a thing on TikTok where someone took Gerry asking to be called Gerry and paired it with I Bet On Losing Dogs by Mitski and it was more upsetting than I was expecting xx

#tma headcanons #tma shitpost #the magnus archives #tma headcannon #i love using tumblr to brain dump things because then i don’t have to explain the lore of characters for them to make sense #sasha james #tim stoker #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #jonmartin #gerry keay #tma podcast #tma spoilers #the magnus archives headcannon #the magnus archives spoilers #the magnus archives memes

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r0semultiverse · 1 year ago

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Liminal spaces?? The distortion, is that you?? 👀👀👀

Today I learned where Liminal Space terminology came from.

Architectural hunger, huh? 👀

Time distortions eh? 👀

A soulless fairground?? Wait wasn't there a tma episode that had one of those?? I just woke up, I might be wrong.

Lights in the dark??? Glowing mist?? Wait... mist... the lonely?? 👀

This sounds like a combination of the distortion & the lonely to me.

A tall woman you say? HELEN???? 👀👀👀

Inviting you inside?!?! Real distortion type energy. 👀 Wish she'd invite me inside. 🥺

"You are here, stay a while!" Helen or whoever, don't mind if I do. 🤭

"her rictus grin stayed as wide as ever" yeah that seems about right.

Who is cooking inside the distortion? 😩 lmao

Bro walked into the AI generated restaurant.

Jujutsu Kaisen domain expansion uncanny restaurant, stay a while!

"It don't bite- yes it do!"

100% feels like the spiral tried to eat him.

I love Alice's sass. 💜

Contractors?? 👀

"Assuming any of us are still here by then." Hey, don't say that.

Gwen, not everything is about work. 🙄

Sam & Celia left without signing out? Uh-oh.

Gerry?! 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 HUH?? HOW???

Why is he so cheery? Lobotomy archives canon? /j

Gigi..???? 👀

GERTUDE?!?!

That silence was deafening. Gifted kids program?? 👀

"I don't think Gerry can help you." "Yeah I barely remember any of it."

"Asking me what books I like to read."

Someone isn't saying something or disclosing something they could be, it feels like.

"Other than just sitting around with a bunch of other kids in a room that smelled like old books."

Were they trying to create avatars? 👀👀👀

That painting is going to be important. 👀

"It was my idea, remember?" Of course it was Celia, you know so much about so much. (Question is, why do you know?)

"maybe you can help me with my mystery?" Celia?? 👀

"I’m trying to look into… Weird physics stuff: time travel, other dimensions, teleportation, all that good stuff." HUH?!? 👀👀👀

"Then yeahh. I'm doing a favor for Georgie." I don't buy it.

Wait, What The Ghost exists still or exists in a new universe?? 👀👀👀 Georgie?! 👀

#this is 100% giving helen richardson distortion spiral vibes #also the lonely too with the mist #fear of liminal spaces maybe????#some kind of spiral lonely fusion #these new or different avatars seem to make their own little domains #I do not buy into Celia's reasoning tbh #I have sooooo many questions; but that painting from Gerry Keay is absolutely 100% haunted #also Gertrude Robinson is still around??#tmagp liveblog #op #mine #tmagp 8 #tmagp spoilers #tmagp #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #tma #tma spoilers

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agatharkn3ss · 7 months ago

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My episode 7 predictions

[added last minute edit on the tarot card alterations]

For this episode, I have been mainly focusing on Lilia storyline (detailed explanation here), as I think it will fill be so packed, that there won't be much time left for anything else. It does seem like this will be the key episode of the whole series - to the point where it was entirely written and directed by Jac Schaeffer herself.

GENERAL BINGO MANIFESTATIONS:

it will be epic

it better be 1h long

please let Patti LuPone sing

Lilia will bring up more comments about the negative stereotypes

Jen will be the first one to loose her cool

We get some cool flashbacks

We see Sharon Davis

Agatha talks to a goat

Agatha still acts dramatically, clearly missing her coat

We see some more references from Billy's bedroom

Someone speaks Spanish

We find out what Billy's missing it to be whole again, i.e. he needs to find William Kaplan within himself.

THE PLOT PREDICTIONS:

it will start with Alice "waking up" on the floor, but only as a ghost.

Rio will take Alice's body away and thus we will find out her identity

Alice will stay with the coven in spirit, protecting the door they opened with the summoning spell before

Lilia and Jen will dig their way out of the mud and find themselves in a castle, alive

the trial won't start until Agatha and Billy join them because it needs the full coven - "together or not at all"

the trial will be Lilia's and she will have to do a tarot reading for the coven

the reading isn't very positive and only predicts tragedy

Lilia is Fate so she uses her powers to change every card to one the ones we saw in the previous episodes, thus changing the fortune to a positive outcome,

By altering the cards, Lilia will realise she has the power to travel in time through the tarot cards and send messages - like "Alice don't try to save Agatha"

Some of the tarot cards will have a physical effect on their surroundings

One of the cards will open a passage that will allow Salem Seven will enter

Eventually the others escape, but Lilia stays behind because she's still in trance and realises she's not finished tying up key events to protect the coven - creating the sigil, sending the list of names etc.

She's trapped with Salem Seven but continues her reading

In her visions she will recognise Rio as Death

LILIA WILL BE THE ONE WHO DISTORTS WANDA'S SPELL ON AGATHA AND THUS TRIGGERS AGNES O'CONNOR PHASE

at the "tower reversed" card, the room will literally turn upside down

This will defeat Salem Seven but also unalive Lilia

The last words she says to the coven are "I love you guys"

Lilia will join Alice as the coven guiding spirit

the end

we all cry

#agatha all along #agatha harkness #kathryn hahn #aubrey plaza #rio vidal #agatha all along spoilers #agathario #lilia calderu #patti lupone #alice wu gulliver #ali ahn #jennifer kale #sasheer zamata #billy maximoff #joe locke #mcu fandom #marvel mcu #mcu #marvel

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sparkling-pink-lemonade · 4 months ago

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Solvercest AU

After forever and a day, I finally put this into one big post. I may eventually crosspost onto AO3 for readability.

Mind the tags!

CAMP 98.7

A few decades back, Nori Uvir was created by a worker drone couple, followed shortly by Yeva Uvir. They grew up in the abysmal "storage" quarters of Camp 98.7, designed to be the homes of the drones that worked at the research institute. They were inseparable, preferring to play with each other instead of the other kids. Especially since the other kids hated Nori for being too pushy, annoying, and weird, and by extension, Yeva for eagerly taking part in Nori's morbid antics, on top of being perceived as creepy and weird. Neither cared though, as long as they had each other.

Once adults, they became employees at the institute as well, though the humans placed them in the offices instead of the laboratory. So they moved out to the upper floors for mundane work. Here, there were far more drones compared to humans. And with the maddeningly banal work assigned to the drones here, the humans decided to keep everyone in line by having sentinels patrol the floors, destroying anyone who was caught slacking or trying to escape.

Despite how much their job sucked, they still made the days fun by chatting whenever they could, and causing havoc at any chance they had without getting caught. Even now as adults, their coworkers found them to be nuisances with their irritating pranks. Well, aside from this one coworker they met named Alice. She seemed to enjoy their antics and eventually joined in on them.

Even though they were a troublesome trio now, Alice was very aware how much she felt like a third wheel to Nori and Yeva. Inside jokes she'd never get, casual touches between them, hands being held, awfully suspicious looks being shared. She knew the Uvirs had grown up together and were very close, even for sisters, but this was starting to get weird.

Meanwhile Nori and Yeva were each starting to notice the way their circuits surged in each other's presence, heat rising in their cores when shared glances lingered a bit too long, an ache for each other that yearned for something more. They always loved each other, but now began to realize their own feelings were more than familial. Guilt ate away at them, disgusted at themselves for falling for their sister. Remaining physically close, yet with an emotional barrier keeping them outside of arm's reach.

Eventually, the solver virus hit Copper9. It hit upper floors first, slowly making it's way down. Nori was one of the first ones hit. She loved the new powers she had. At first, she just used them to make more elaborate pranks, but once she learned she could use it to tame the sentinels, she pushed the limits of her abilities further, drunk off the power. With a few more drones getting the virus, the offices became a chaotic mess. No one was doing their jobs, fights were breaking out, and there was little the humans could do to stop it. The rate of which the virus spread continued to pick up, soon infecting Alice, and later Yeva.

Since Nori was the second drone on Copper9 to get the virus, and heavily abused her new powers, she was the first to show signs of her self control slipping. Her LEDs glitching yellow, voice distorting, attacking other drones without prompt. The first time Nori turned into her solver form, she ended up killing a few drones, and eating their bodies. Alice and Yeva watched on horrified. Yeva rallied herself to approach her sister, bringing Nori's attention onto her, and defended herself as she talked sense back into her. Nori soon calmed down and regained control of herself. Guilt overwhelmed her when she saw the damage on Yeva's body, even though the metal rapidly mended itself. Yeva held Nori close as she began to vomit up a bunch of the oil and metal she just consumed.

Deeply shaken, Yeva swore off from using her powers. She tried to convince Nori and Alice to do the same. Alice brushed it off as Nori being weird and unhinged, making her a unique case. Nori tried to stop, but it was too late for her, the virus progressed too far.

Eventually, it occasionally took control of her, whether she used her powers or not. And as the same thing began to happen to other infected drones that used their abilities too frequently, only then did Alice take things seriously. But by then, she lived on the cusp of retaining her self control. Barely restrained and heavily volatile.

The humans, having found a way to contain infected drones, managed to quarantine any drone tested positive for the virus. Using drones that were still in the early stages of the virus, they began to develop a patch.

The first several had their code corrupted by the alpha versions of the patch, killing them. Once the first beta patch was made, they tested it on a variety of drones. Those who completely succumb to the virus and were an active threat, to those who only just got infected. With each test, either the patch did nothing and the drone had to be put back for later testing, it only slowed the virus progression and the drone would be put in observation, or the virus reacted negatively and reach the point of no return, requiring the drone to be dissolved in acid.

A few times, they tried to test on Nori, but the solver would take over and she managed to escape each time. Slipping away for a while, only getting re-captured when she took back control and inevitably returned in hopes of freeing her sister.

Upon Alice's turn, she put up a good fight, but was unable to escape. The patch was uploaded into her code, and it failed to completely remove the Solver. Instead it scattered the code into the rest of her programming, corrupting Alice. She was able to retain her sentience and self control, but her personality became far more volatile, cranking up sadistic tendencies. She remained stronger, faster, smarter, with an insatiable instinct to collect the bodies of other drones to absorb them. But losing her telekinesis, self healing, and ability to actually eat and digest other drones, the instinct manifested itself as collecting the parts of other drones, and attaching them to herself. Alice was meant to be thrown into acid after her corruption, but she managed to escape and make her way back to the offices, living in hiding in hopes that her friends would eventually escape and return as well.

But Nori's virus got worse and worse, and all but a few remaining subjects were corrupted. It was Yeva's turn to receive the patch. She had a few turns prior, being lucky enough that the patch had no effect, and sent back to tested on again at another point.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to escape, Yeva surrendered herself to the patch, hoping it at least wouldn't corrupt her.

To her shock, the patch was successful. It didn't get rid of the virus unfortunately, but instead it severed the connection with the solver network, removing any access from third parties, AKA, Cyn. The humans however considered this a partial success, as they intended to create a patch that would delete the solver string entirely. But having infected drones be safe from getting possessed by the robotic antichrist that's trying to kill them all is a good start.

They kept a backup of that patch for emergencies, and continued to try and develop the patch.

All remaining infected drones in their care aside from Yeva and Nori were corrupted by the testing and then thrown into acid. Yeva was kept around to use her powers to tame any subjects they lost control of. While Nori continued to escape their grasp, no thanks to Yeva conveniently failing to capture her each time.

The act couldn't be maintained forever, and Nori lost any remaining autonomy to the Solver. Fully possessed by Cyn with no restriction, the institute was unable to contain her anymore. Too strong and deadly. Fuck trying to perfect the patch, they just need to focus on getting robo-satan out. And so as it plays out in the flashback, the intern grabs Yeva, who thanks to her own solver powers is able to administer the patch to Nori, and the core is blown up in the aftermath.

WORKER COLONY

Nori and Yeva made their way out of the institution, quickly finding themselves trapped under several feet of snow. That is until a group of drones found them and dug them out. Surface worker drones, surprised to see new faces they didn't recognize. The sisters quickly realized the group had no idea about what was going on underground. Unsure of what the next step was, they kept quiet about their past for now.

Nori hit it off with the captain of the rescue team, Khan. The two became fast friends, much to Yeva's envy. The younger sister remaining more reserved and cautious with the new environment.

There wasn't much time to adjust when Disassembly Drones began to crash onto the planet, picking off Worker Drones one by one. The colony that had saved them began to build a fortified base for them to live in. Khan managing to engineer a high tech door system to keep everyone secure. The sisters were thankful to be safe in the bunker, but the design of the Disassembly Drones did not go unnoticed.

Yellow eyes, sharp teeth, Xs on the visor during a slaughter, wings, and a prehensile tail. These things were clearly designed after the Solver form of an infected drone.

So Nori and Yeva discussed it between themselves. Patch or not, if the colony ever found out about their solver powers, they'd be treated like monsters and thrown out to be killed. They had to hide it at all costs. And should there ever be an incident where one of them was discovered, they agreed to hide their sisterhood on the chance that being related would get them both thrown out. Thus they never told anyone else their relation, their last name, or anything of their past. They still had to drink oil to stay alive, but they managed to get it done without raising suspicion.

With the bunker built, a sense of peace finally began to establish itself. There would still be the occasional rescue team to find anyone who was still lost, but mostly drones only left the base to scavenge supplies. The sisters had the opportunity to be with each other again. Actually spending time with one another in a way they haven't been able to since before the virus.

Feelings they haven't had time to dwell on were now stronger than ever. It was getting harder to ignore the desire to stare a little longer, hold her a little closer. Her beauty, her laugh, ever so captivating. Wanting to lean in, and finally learn how her lips feel, how her tongue tastes. Kiss her over and over and over...

Fuck.

They can't do this, both of them barely holding themselves back, overly conscious of their actions. Nauseous from the sheer guilt. Fearing that the other will get suspicious and see right through them. Be disgusted and hate them for it.

More-over, many others in the colony are starting to settle down, get married, have kids. Both of them knew they were interested in having their own family one day, or at least get themselves hitched with someone. If they don't find someone soon, then the other will definitely realize something is up. Besides... if they end up married to someone else, the intimate moments they crave so much would no longer seem so suspicious. "I clearly have a husband whom I love dearly, so there is no way I could secretly have incestuous feelings for you. Making any displays of intimacy towards you completely platonic."

For Nori it was easy. She always considered Khan a close friend, and someone she was mildly physically attracted to. He obviously was into her as well, so it was no surprise when he ended up asking her out, and she happily accepted.

For Yeva it was harder. She struggled to get close to anyone, being far more quiet and reserved than her sister. But there was one nice man she worked with a few times on supply runs. He had a dark, dry, but witty sense of humor she enjoyed. And his general competence, efficiency, and reflexes made them a really good team on the job. The colony started to assume the two of them were dating, and when the rumors made their way back to them, they decided to give it a shot. She was satisfied enough. Her heart still belonged to Nori, but if she had to go with anyone else, she was glad it was him.

While happy with their choice of partner, and happy they could be more intimate with each other without raising suspicion, there still remained this hollow feeling. Saddened by the fact they couldn't have this with each other.

After marriage, both couples decided to make a baby within a few months of each other. First Yeva, then Nori. Both of them loved their children dearly, pleasantly surprised they both had girls.

Given the circumstance, everything was as perfect as it could be.

Uzi was a few months old when it was Nori's turn to return to work and go on a supply run for the colony.

Both her coworkers died to the disassembly drones. Nori was losing a ton of oil fast, body struggling to keep up the healing against the acid eroding her metal. Her solver began to bug out, desperately trying to keep her alive, killing the drone that was attacking her. She was in horrific agony, unable to die, unable to heal.

A rescue team was sent when the supply team failed to return. Khan found his wife writhing and wailing in pain. Half her body missing, visor glitching out with a strange symbol. She was begging him to make it stop hurting. Khan was in panic, yelling at his team if they knew a way to fix it. But he knew it was hopeless. Her injuries were far too severe to heal, and if by any odd chance she didn't die from oil loss, then clearly those disassembly drones did something to corrupt her code. And that was something no one could fix.

Khan looked over and saw the tail of a dead disassembly drone. If he couldn't save her, he could at least give her the mercy of ending the suffering. Right through the missing pieces of her visor, he injected the rest of the nanite acid into her neural network. As it happened, Nori could only wish she could've seen her sister one last time. The screaming stopped and she finally fell limp. Khan brought her body back to the colony to properly lay it to rest.

Yeva was absolutely destroyed when Khan returned with her sister's body. Nori was everything to her, her sister, her best friend, her loved one. And she was gone. She became far more closed off and reserved, the only thing preventing her from slipping off into the deep end being her own daughter, the pride and joy of her life. Doll was still so small, and needed her mother to be there for her. Seeing her grow into a bright and playful girl made it all worth it.

Shortly after being buried, Nori woke with a start. Shocked to find herself still alive, she painstakingly dug her way out. The world was massive, looming over her... no wait she was just really small. Her body a weird, fleshy, mechanical lump. She had no idea what this was, why she was alive, but she knew she couldn't just return to the life she had. Not like this, not after Khan made sure she was dead.

It hurt, she wanted nothing more than to see her sister and daughter one last time, but it would just make leaving harder. Besides... knowing that she couldn't stay, there was something she needed to do. So she made her way back to Camp 98.7.

A few years passed, and Doll was four years old, Uzi being almost four. Yeva and her husband were still the best supply scavenging team in the colony, but she ended up being shot while on the job. They made it back to the bunker safely, and Yeva rushed off to the restroom to remove the bullet in private. The easiest way to do so was with telekinesis, and while she removed the bullet, she accidentally ended up breaking the mirror with her eye.

Doll heard the shatter, and worried about her mom, peeked into the bathroom to check on her. She was met with the sight of a floating bullet, a self mending wound, a glyph of three arrows at her mother's fingertips, and the same glyph in the place of her mother's right eye.

Yeva froze, staring at her daughter, caught using her powers red-handed (Quite literally considering her LED hue). She flicked the bullet aside into the trash and turned off her solver before ushering Doll into the bathroom, seeing the confused and frightened look on her face. She was terrified that her daughter was going to be afraid of her, so it warmed her heart when Doll began to check her over, her fear being out of concern that her mom was sick and hurt. Yeva reassured her daughter she was fine, but decided she needed to tell her the truth about the solver. After all, there's no way to guarantee neither she nor Nori passed down a dormant solver string to their children. And isn't that a thought... if they had, Yeva can only pray that they somehow passed down the patch with it.

So she told Doll how she used to be sick, showing her the bracelet she had, and how it meant she had this virus inside her. How thankfully a remedy was found, and while they weren't able to get rid of it, it was now in a passive state, unable to hurt her so long as she drank enough oil. Now she had these cool abilities for her troubles, but that it was best to keep it secret because others would be scared by it.

Doll agreed to keep it secret, relieved that her mom was okay, and things returned to normal.

Yeva and her husband's job tested fate however, and eventually their luck ran out. Doll was a few months from turning 9, and her parents sometimes took her with them during supply runs when they couldn't find a babysitter. One of the disassembly drones found them as they were returning to the bunker. Yeva prioritized getting her daughter to safety, hiding her within a damaged cargo container among a pile of scrap, the door to it contorted just enough to squeeze Doll inside.

Doll watched in horror as the disassembly drone caught up to them and sliced her parents' heads clean off, tearing into their bodies with its claws and teeth.

The pain only lasted a moment for Yeva, as she toppled forward into the snow, screen flashing FATAL ERROR before it all went dark. Everything was hazy for a bit, and she wondered if this was the afterlife for drones when she saw a light above her. She crawled to it, only to see her own head a few paces farther. Behind her, she had apparently crawled out the neck of her own torso. Just a few meters away was the disassembly drone that killer her, eating her husband's arm.

She didn't see her daughter anywhere, and the container she hid her in looked untouched. It was only a matter of time before the monster found Doll. She needed to give her daughter a chance to escape, so she did what she had to do. Grabbing the drone's attention, it locked on and began the hunt. Luckily her abilities still worked, and so she did what she could to hold off the drone as she ran as far as she could, until the sun began to rise, and the disassembly drone gave up the hunt.

By the time she got back to where she had left Doll, both hers and her husband's bodies were gone, the door to the cargo container pried open a little further, her daughter no longer inside. The surrounding area had several already fading footprints, all of them made from worker drones, one smaller pair following beside the rest.

The rest of team had found their bodies, and brought her daughter back safe and sound. The relief was overwhelming before the grief sank in. Doll must believe they both died, and had watched it happen. And she couldn't go back and check on her, comfort her. The colony would have already deemed her dead, and everyone would freak out if she suddenly came back. Not to mention looking like, whatever this body is, would cause a panic on its own.

Wondering where she would go now, a realization dawned on her. This... backup form... it is most definitely is tied to her solver abilities. And if she survived because this core that was inside her didn't take any damage... the same could be said for her sister. Nori's torso was intact when she died! And if Nori was still alive, but unable to return home...

Yeva made a mad rush for Camp 98.7.

CHILDHOOD

Uzi hated everyone and everything. All the other kids bullied her, her dad cared more about work than her, and her stupid mom had to go and die before she had a chance to even know her.

When she first started school, she didn't want to go. Sitting in a room with 15 or more other kids, learning stupid things like spelling and numbers sounded lame. She didn't want to make friends, she wanted to go back to her room and play video games.

Doll on the other hand was looking forward to meeting other kids. One of the girls, Lizzy, seemed really nice and shared her mega pack of crayons with her. Maybe she could convince her mom to have Lizzy come over some time.

Uzi spent the day sitting by herself, and hissing at anyone who got near her. During playtime, she cackled to herself as she drew a dragon with machine guns brutally killing a bunch of drones, oil spilling everywhere.

Doll saw and thought it was really cool. She was going to say something about it when Lizzy noticed and made a fuss about how gross and she didn't like seeing someone draw that. It drew the attention of the other kids to Uzi's drawing, making another one of the girls cry. Uzi was sent to time-out, drawing stashed away to bring up to her parents later. Doll felt bad for the girl, but also relieved she was spared the humiliation of associating with the weirdo. Making note not to interact with her from then on.

That night, Uzi was held after school so that the teacher could talk to Khan when he came to pick her up. He never came though, and upon remembering the little girl's dad was the Mr. Doorman, the teacher let it slide because her dad does so much to help the colony, letting her head home with a note for her dad. She threw it away as soon as she got home.

At first, in those initial weeks of school, during the times her dad was around long enough to ask her how school has been, she tried telling him the truth. Each time he brushed it off with a comment about how he was always the oddball too growing up, the other kids were just playing, that she just needs time to adjust, and she'll find friends. She never did, and after a while, Uzi learned to give up on explaining how the other kids kept picking on her, and answer the question to how school was with a simple "good".

Meanwhile, Doll was flourishing, becoming quite social and making many friends. She quickly became aware enough to smother the more morbid humor she picked up from her dad, to avoid ending up like the dumb weirdo. Her friends frequently made Uzi the target of practical jokes, and she happily joined in. It was really funny watching the other kid get all upset and throw a fit when they'd accidentally spill something on her drawing, or when they purposefully figured out what toys she liked the most, and made sure to take them for themselves at the start of playtime. One boy figured out throwing small things at her like marker caps, legos, or rubber bands would make her growl and sometimes bark at them in anger, opening a floodgate of new possibilities to tease her with.

Doll never told her mom about this. For some reason, her mom asked if a girl named Uzi was in her class, excitedly believing that the two would become good friends. She didn't want her mom to force her to become friends with the weirdo if she found out no-one liked Uzi, so she just pretended that Uzi found her own friend group, but they were at least friendly with each other.

Years later, her parents had to take her with them on another boring supply run. They were spotted by one of the monsters, and her mom took her and ran, placing her in an empty storage container. Doll watched in terror as her parents tried to fight it off. Watched the way oil spurted out of their necks as their heads hit the ground. Her mother falling out of view, but her father landing at just the right angle to see the monster sink its teeth into her dad's arm. Her hands clasped over her mouth as she cried silently.

Something must have caught the attention of the monster, because it perked up, suddenly alert, and took off in a chase after something. She stayed in the container a while longer, shrinking away to a dark corner, both not wanting to be found by the monster, and afraid to confront the bodies of her parents. But once there was no sound for several minutes, she crawled out towards her mom's corpse. She reached for the watch on her wrist, and pressed an SOS button.

Doll went back to hide in the storage unit until some of the other drones they left with came upon the scene. They took her parents' bodies, and walked her back to the colony. All Doll wanted was to see her parents again, hug them again. So she found where they brought back the bodies for burial, and stole them, bringing them back to their home. She put their heads back onto their bodies, and sat them at the dinner table. She crawled onto her mom's lap and finally let all her grief out.

The lights around her flickered, and Doll eventually made her way to the restroom to clean herself up. She got up on a stool to reach the sink, and immediately the mirror shattered. In the broken pieces, she saw her right eye bore the glyph of three arrows.

She thought of that time she saw her mom with the same symbol over a year ago. She backed away from the mirror, overwhelmed. Returning to the dinning room, Doll reached for her mom's wrist. The bracelet she wore was meant to be a symbol of the virus she had. Now likely has it too, so she took the bracelet and put it on her own wrist.

A precious secret her mom shared with her, she wore it to keep that reminder close, promising to take care of herself for her.

After that point, Doll completely changed. She skipped a few weeks of school, choosing to waste away at home. By the time she started returning to classes, she remained silent and reserved, becoming far more introverted. She was still invited to hang out with Lizzy and her friend group, but now Doll remained on the outer edges of it, more so listening than participating. She also no longer joined them in teasing Uzi, as it didn't amuse her anymore and seemed pointless.

Time went on, and when Uzi turned 15, Khan gifted her Nori's necklace. Uzi put it on, and never took it off. She resented her mom for dying before she could get to know her, but more so she wished she could spend time with her.

She still hated school and everyone there. She barely passed her classes, like... she knew she was smart and could pass her class with A's, but it was hard to give a shit about learning the subjects when she was more focused on defending herself from her bullies. She doesn't even know what she did wrong, if anything at all. She remembers just enough that it happened since the start. She would mind her own business, but apparently just existing is a crime. And her father never gave a shit, she's pretty sure she even once heard him say that doors were his favorite child. So outside of school she spent most of her time taking care of herself, and trying to drown her frustration and hurt with her hobbies, making it hard to care about doing her homework or finishing assignments.

Attempting to make life a little more bearable, over the past year or so, Uzi began to act out and antagonize the other students. It made them hate her even more, and made their bullying crueler, but at least she felt like she had some semblance of control over the situation. After all, she managed to get everyone to leave her alone a whole three day after she bit someone, detention be damned! And it was also easier to cope with the fact everyone hated her if she at least gave them a reason to.

Weirdly though, despite her reputation and behavior, one of her classmates, Doll, had recently been glancing at her whenever she thought she wasn't looking. She didn't know what Doll could possibly want with her, but she didn't like it.

Doll noticed near instantly when Uzi first started wearing that choker. It was identical to the bracelet she wore. A symbol of infection. It piqued her interest in a worrying way. Doll loosely pitied the poor girl. Everyone knows her mom was dead, kicking the bucket shortly after she was made. But it was just one of those things around here, where drones just don't care until it happens to someone important to them. And well, after her own parents died, she was caught up in the grief for so long, she didn't really acknowledge that Uzi had also lost a parent until a few years ago. By then though, Uzi was lashing out and actively brought more hate onto herself, that it was hard to completely pity her.

Thus it was the possibility that someone other than her, that Uzi could also be affected by the virus, and may be struggling through it alone like she had, that ate away at her. Doll needed to know more. If the virus had awoken in Uzi already, if the girl even knew she had it, and if Doll should even intervene. She decided to observe Uzi more closely, and what she ended up finding out was appalling.

The intensity of the harassment Uzi faced. The aftermath of whenever she acted out. The neglect she'd been dealing with. How she was on the edge of failing all her classes.

Doll wanted to do something to help, but had no idea how. Trying to befriend Uzi would be social suicide. Not to mention that even though she pitied the girl, she still found Uzi to be a bit... too much to be around. Doll didn't want to be a hypocrite, since she herself had long become very socially awkward, but at least she dealt with it by having a mysterious, lonewolf vibe, while Uzi's social awkwardness was extremely cringe inducing.

One day, the bullying got particularly bad for Uzi. She was on the brink of failing her literature class, and a huge book report was due that day. Her teacher made it very clear that if she didn't get a passing grade on her essay, she'd fail the class. As she printed her paper in the school library, one of the guys kept Uzi distracted with derogatory comments, while one of the girls snuck over to the computer Uzi was printing from and deleted the file. Then on the way to class, Lizzy grabbed the papers from Uzi's hand, and held them out of reach.

Of course, Uzi bit Lizzy's arm to get her to let go, which only earned her being kicked back onto the ground. Lizzy shoved the papers off to one of her friends, telling them to burn it, while another pinned Uzi down.

Let go once the paper was unsalvageable, Uzi rushed back to the library to quickly print off another copy, only to find her file missing and the trash bin recently emptied. She felt sick as the bell rung, knowing there was no way she'd convince the teacher, but she had to try.

Late to class, Lizzy and her friends played ignorant, really, really well. If it hadn't just happened to her, even Uzi herself might have been gaslit into thinking she was just making excuses. Besides, who would believe the lazy, troublemaker who constantly blows off assignments? Uzi was going to cry, but that would let her bullies win. So instead, Uzi grabbed the book the assignment was on from her bag, and chucked it at Lizzy, who ducked last second letting the book hit the student behind her in the visor, knocking them out of their chair. Uzi left the classroom, slamming the door behind her, wandering off to fuck-knows where, the teacher yelling fruitlessly for her to come back this instant.

Doll saw however the smug look Lizzy had after the whole scene, as the other students whispered among themselves. While she herself tended to stay out of Lizzy's schemes, it doesn't sound completely out of character for her to do as Uzi claimed. Most of the time, she just ignored it as not her problem, but something seemed a bit off compared to usual with Uzi.

After class, Doll noticed Uzi crying in an empty classroom. Making sure the hall was empty, Doll slipped inside. Uzi heard as Doll closed the door behind her, snapping her head up to see who was there. Uzi knew that the Russian speaking drone wasn't one of her bullies, and hasn't done anything specifically to tease her for over six years, but the girl was still in Lizzy's friend circle, and that alone was enough to earn a spot on her shit list. It didn't matter if Doll never took part in the harassment, willingly being friends someone like that is just as bad in its own way.

Trying and failing to stifle her own tears, Uzi verbally lashed out at Doll, screaming out profanities and pure vitriol as a decade of hurt and rage all came crashing down at once.

Taken aback, Doll fell silent, taking in the brunt of Uzi's anger. Though she had been observing the weird girl more often for the past while, she had no idea the harassment had gotten this bad. Fuck... no wonder the poor girl frequently acted out the way she did. Doll felt horrible, she had once contributed what eventually became this cruel mess. She had believed simply removing herself from involvement and was enough to clean her hands of any wrong-doing, but this whole time she was merely complacent in allowing all of this to develop into physical and emotional abuse.

So Doll waited for Uzi to finish. For the shorter drone to finish getting all those pent up emotions off her chest and into the open.

And then she apologized, wholly and sincerely. For having once been a part of it, for having done nothing to help, for willfully ignoring it all. That while she doesn't think she can make it stop completely, she will at least try to get the friend group to lay off for a bit.

Uzi was shocked to silence, not having expected that. Not knowing what else to say, she stormed out with a mumbled "Whatever, I guess." No matter how horrible her day was, she couldn't help to feel it was a bit better than it actually was. And sure enough, she didn't know how Doll managed to do it, but over the next week, the bullying had been toned back to a more manageable state for the first time in years.

Doll began to reflect more on her "friendship" with Lizzy and the rest of the circle. And really, it was more accurate to call them acquaintances. She'd maybe speak once a day around them, otherwise sitting back doing her own thing within their proximity. Honestly, the reason Lizzy probably hadn't kicked her out of the friend group, was likely based solely on being "hot". Damn if that ain't shallow.

So after school hours, she'd check in on Uzi more often, make sure things were alright and such. Doll actually finds herself bonding with Uzi, albeit slowly in her own awkward, anti-social way. The smaller drone is painfully socially inept, making the girl very cringe-inducing to be around at first. Yet at the same time, Doll finds the troubled teen rather fun and endearing to be around. Turns out the two share many similar interests and hobbies, from their taste in music, video games, manga, and humor. It surprises Doll just how similar they are, and how much more she enjoys being around Uzi than she ever did with Lizzy. She even eventually helps Uzi in pranking her bullies back.

Doll stops caring about her reputation. Uzi had become more important than any of that, and she just wants to allow herself to be close. Let it be damned if everyone starts targeting her for it. Seeing Uzi smile and laugh, the hints of softness amidst her excitable chaos... Doll realizes she's fallen head over heels for the girl, only spending a few restless nights with her feelings before deciding to act on it. Luckily for her, Uzi returns the feelings, and the two start dating.

It was as Doll had initially feared, as soon as their classmates found out, it was social suicide. She'd become just as unpopular as Uzi, and a target for bullying of equal cruelty. Nothing that killing and eating the occasional drone who takes things too far can't handle.

Despite not being even slightly secretive about their relationship, it took Uzi's dad a few weeks to even realize his daughter had a girlfriend now. Uzi had been pissed when Khan tried to congratulate her, having believed it was something that just happened. She was angry with him trying to bring it up every time there was the rare occasion she crossed paths with him, frustrated and hurt that he dare pretend to suddenly give a shit about the things going on in her life. Doll could hardly blame her, also outright ignoring Khan the one or two times he tried to initiate the most bland small talk she ever had the displeasure of experiencing. She just wished her own parents were still around, her mom would have loved to learn the two of them were dating.

Eventually though, when the topic of dead parents came up, and the similar jewelry they inherited, Doll remembered why she became interested in Uzi in the first place. She told Uzi what her own mom told her about her bracelet, and what it symbolized. She revealed her solver powers to Uzi and finally explained why she avoided mirrors. Of course, Uzi found it cool, and tried to use the solver herself, but nothing happened. The string wasn't activated. Doll thought this was better in the long run, because she still doesn't know if it is harmful to them, but Uzi was disappointed in not having cool edgy powers.

For a while, it was just the two of them, happy with only having each other, against the rest of the colony.

NEW FRIENDS

Similar to canon, Uzi invented a gun that would be able to destroy the Disassembly Drones, though now with a little bit more motivation for revenge rather than it being solely for freedom. She blasts N's head off, and ends up talking to him while he's offline, J reboots him, the team manage to follow Uzi into the colony and disable the doors, Khan abandons Uzi as N is about to kill her, N ends up hiding Uzi from J and V and switches sides. Though Uzi is a bit more begrudging in working with N to stop the other two.

Doll was horrified when J and V entered the evacuation bunker, and even more so when her girlfriend showed up working with another one of the drones (Although Uzi was less buddy-buddy about it compared to canon). Though, setting that aside with more pressing matters on hand, Doll was the only worker drone to help Uzi fight them off. With J "destroyed", and V captured, the rest of the colony celebrated. N quickly scooped up the injured drone onto his shoulders to keep her from fainting. With the danger out of the way, Doll felt the hurt return.

Uzi snapped at her dad for betraying her and leaving her to die, and exiled herself out of hurt. She turned to Doll, saying she'd love it if the other drone joined her, but she wouldn't force her to. That made Doll snap, asking if Uzi was seriously willing to leave her behind to be with the enemy. He killed several drones, and she assumes probably tried to kill Uzi mere moments ago. She asks if she was going to just forget about that, forget that these drones had killed their parents so easily, just because he helped them this one time. Uzi just quietly says in the end he still risked everything, nearly lost his own life, just to save them, to save her. There was more to this than any of them realize, and while she doesn't know what specifically, she can't handle the idea of staying in the colony right now. This was too much for Doll though, so she got angry, and told Uzi to just leave then, storming out of the room herself.

Unknowing to them at the moment, at some point during the fight, the extreme stress, emotional hurt, physical damage, and life endangerment had activated Uzi's solver string. Uzi struggled to control it, and ended up breaking many mirrors in N's ship. She was frustrated she couldn't get it to work the way Doll had shown her, and she was starting to really miss her gf.

Doll was beginning to regret her decision, having thought it over. She knows Uzi wouldn't just betray her so easily if she didn't have a really good reason to trust going with N. If he really did nearly sacrifice himself save Uzi, she should be thanking him. So she heads out to rectify things and find Uzi.

When she finds them, Doll apologizes, and Uzi easily forgives her, happy to have her back. She convinces them to return to the colony, especially after hearing that Khan had been referring to Uzi's self imposed exile as a self imposed "grounding".

Doll is saddened to see that Uzi had gone through enough for her solver to activate, and know she wasn't there to help when it appeared. So to make up for it, she immediately started coaching Uzi into controlling it better, and offered both her and N some of the oil she had to make sure they didn't starve. Uzi seemed disgusted by the idea of having to drink oil, but Doll could tell the smaller drone found herself loving the taste of it.

The whole "Cyn"tipede thing happened. It kinda weirded Uzi and Doll out, because they have no idea what this thing is, or why it knows them, and more importantly why it seemed to flirt with them, unhealthily interested in them. Talking about how it's exes abandoned it, but now it'll have two new partners to adore soon, and help aide in its plans. Most terrifying of all, this... thing... seemed heavily tied to this Absolute Solver thing they were infected with. For the first time, they had some idea of what horrors potentially awaited in the progression of their virus. The consequence should it progress.

In deep denial, Uzi upset with N, scared of him. So he retreats back to the ship to give her and Doll space, also scared of the possibility he could turn into that thing.

Time continues, and Lizzy is feeling extremely bitter about the two losers, especially her backstabbing ex-bestie, having a moment of popularity as heroes, and having tamed one of the murder drones that had been terrorizing the colony, (even if it was the lamest one). So she ends up sneaking off to befriend V on her own, promising to help get her into the colony, where she can have cool friends instead of being the prisoner of a bunch of lame nerds.

Without Doll eliminating the prom court, Lizzy simply rigs the results. V clearly has murderous intent as she appears when announced prom queen, before hesitating from pure shock, and even guilt upon realizing just what was going on. Doll, having recognized V as the drone that she watched kill her parents, is flooded with rage and vengeance. She loses a bit of control, and her solver powers act up in response, starting a fight with intent to kill. V defends herself. Uzi is scared for Doll and doesn't want her to die or overexert her solver. And although she is still scared of what the disassembly drones are, she realizes it's not fair to N to turn on him simply because of a threat he knows nothing about, and never asked to have dormant inside of him. Not when she and Doll are dealing with the same thing with the Solver. And she knows if she lets Doll kill V, then N would never forgive them.

It takes a bit of time, and a bit of combat, but eventually Uzi convinces Doll to lay off and calm down. So much is happening, everyone is on edge, so Doll and Uzi get V to agree to Uzi getting N, then discussing the whole situation at Doll's place to figure out what's going on.

Uzi finds N and apologizes to him. Then back at Doll's place, they come to the conclusion that to figure out what's happening, they need to go to Camp 98.7, where Nori and Yeva were found by the colony.

They ride out on a class trip to the camp site. Since Uzi had been drinking oil thanks to Doll, she doesn't overheat and transform into her solver form. Uzi and Doll find the green cockroach which seems to be an assistant and a key.

Something starts attacking them, but unable to see what it is, they have to dodge until they can get out of the cabin. Doll ends up using her solver to stop a few bullets heading right for Uzi. She tries to send them back in the direction it came from, but her eye flashes yellow, and her hand spasms, causing her to drop the bullets. Hand now clasping over the affected eye in pain as it returns to normal. Uzi looks at her gf in concern, but without the attacks letting up, there isn't really time to stop and check on her.

They get out of the cabin, and as they do, Doll gets shot. She quickly uses the solver to remove the bullet so the wound can heal, but her eye flashes yellow again, interrupting the action. Doll's visor is glitching out, struggling to return to normal. The taller drone collapses to her knees, head blaring in pain. Uzi grabs her girlfriend and begins to run, taunting the mystery attack to show themselves and fight properly. But then suddenly something bites her arm clean off and she drops Doll, tripping over her.

Uzi looks up and catches a glimpse of J backing up with a grimace before taking off. Then a familiar buggy voice steals her attention. Doll was getting up, visor flickering on into a yellow X. Any wounds Doll had were being healed with fleshy viscera before decaying away into metal. The... thing... controlling her girlfriend was apologizing for biting her arm, (which was still growing back,) and cooed about how tasty she was. It wishes they could just chat, but unfortunately, Uzi has something it needs, and must take it by force since Uzi won't just hand the key over.

"Doll" attacks Uzi, who freezes in fear, the taller drone sprouting a pair of wings and a tail in it's attack. Before harming Uzi, "Doll" is kicked in the stomach, and launched several meters back by V as she and N arrive on the scene. Uzi and N are panicked and confused, while V seems to have no issue with violently attacking "Doll". The three of them all try to stop the monster. But Doll only manages to reclaim control in a panic when one of her attacks against N is blocked by Uzi. The intruder is pushed out of her head, but the wings and tail remain. Despite it, Uzi immediately crushes her girlfriend in a tight hug, and catches N and V up on what happened. The wings and tail retract once Doll figures out how, and Uzi remains glued to her side for the rest of the night.

A few days is spent recuperating and taking it easy after the incident. The girlfriends focusing on quality time together.

Later they then hack into N and V's consciousness to try and restore some of their memories, and block the control of the one who removed them. Towards the end of the process, J breaks into the colony in search of the key. Uzi leaves it up to Doll to finish things up, and tries to hold off J who made it to her house. The fight is causing major collateral damage, and Uzi is holding back in fear that the other three may get caught in the crossfire while unconscious. This allows J to snag the key and escape. She breaks the news to the others after they wake, and all of them run after J.

Caught up, the group run into J bringing the key to Tessa. Tessa is extremely excited to see N, and tackles him in a hug. V is unphased by this, but Doll and Uzi are taken aback and suspicious of the enemy human acting extremely friendly. Once she lets go, she turns to look at the worker drones and coo, asking who these two adorable fellas are. Doll rolls her eyes, and Uzi snaps "wouldn't you like to know!" They demand the key back, but Tessa points out they don't exactly know where they are meant to use it, but she does and they'd need a human to get past the biometrics.

Uzi insists they don't need any human helping them. V mentions the four of them have been trying to get to the bottom of this, and none of them are gonna back off now, and they need to take that key back to continue. Tessa knows that and instead wants their group to join her to the labs. J begins to question that plan with a bit of confusion, but is immediately cut off by Tessa saying a few more sets of skilled hands would greatly help them, especially since they don't know what exactly they'll find down there. J gives Tessa a slightly weary look before scoffing out a "fine". N convinces the worker drones to agree with the plan, backed up by V.

Tessa catches the group up with what they've learned about Cyn's plan, and that she seems to be using the disassembly drones to find something within the labs. J is left in charge of guarding the ship, as the remaining 5 head down into the institution.

Everyone quickly found themselves lured into a trap and knocked unconscious, waking up in a hospital unit. In one room, Beau is taking care of N, V, and Tessa, preparing to harvest the disassembly drones of their cores to throw into the oven. In the other, Alice introduces herself to Doll and Uzi, and mentions she's shocked to find witches around these parts that she doesn't recognize. Though she does admit the two feel familiar to her. Uzi snaps at Alice, yelling "bite me!" Alice's eyes go wide at the phrase... there's no way. Her eyes wander to the purple eyed drone's neck, extending a claw to investigate the familiar necklace. 002... her eyes go over to Doll's wrist, and checks the similar piece of jewelry. 048. Alice chuckles with a feral grin, "Well I'll be darned! If it ain't the daughters of both Nori and Yeva Uvir!"

Uzi and Doll freeze in shock... what? This drone knew their mothers, and was she implying what they think she is? And sure enough, Alice reveals that she used to be friends with the two sisters. That was until they abandoned her for the surface, leaving everyone behind to die in the wake of destruction. Before Alice can take her grudge and desire for violence out on them, she learns the other three have escaped, and locks down the door, leaving the two witches under a lot of sedation to monitor the problem.

The girlfriends, and apparently cousins, lay there in silence, neither really knowing what to say. Though that may just be the magnets inhibiting cognitive function. Despite that though, upon seeing on the cameras what's going on outside the door, Doll's solver seems to have no issue with acting up in response to the danger. She tries to fight it off, but the flickering yellow wins over, charging up a black hole that destroys the door. The exertion under the sedation causes Doll to short circuit and pass out.

The sentinels that were outside the room charge in, immediately killing Alice and Beau. The sentinels close in on the Doll and Uzi, but before they can attack, V barges in, killing one and causing a distraction. She busts the shackles holding the two worker drones down, and holds the sentinels back as Uzi removes the magnets and uses her telekinesis to destroy the dinos. V asked if Doll was okay, and Uzi confirmed she was just unconscious. Uzi grabbed Doll and followed V back to the others.

Meeting back up with Tessa and N, Doll reboots and wakes up. She and Uzi end up in an awkward state, unsure how to act knowing what they know now. They are related, they really shouldn't keep dating, in fact the other is probably disgusted in them right now, they shouldn't even entertain any idea other than ending things now.

Probably not the best idea though to have an existential crisis while a ton of sentinels are still in the area.

One of the sentinels assumed to be dead wakes up with red eyes, calling other sentinels to its location. The group is surrounded and quickly outnumbered, especially with the dinos' ability to paralyze the drones. Doll finds herself rendered defenseless, as any attempt to use her powers opens the way for Cyn to possess her. Uzi watches as one of the sentinels lunges for Doll, badly damaging her. Terrified of losing her, and filled with a desperate need to protect her girlfriend, Uzi goes feral. She grows a pair of wings and a tail, a purple X over her visor, and absolutely tears the sentinel that hurt Doll to shreds. The losing fight the groups was having turned into a one sided carnage. Several things around the offices and makeshift medical unit are destroyed by flying sentinel parts. Even when the few remaining sentinels flee, Uzi is still too deep in protective rage as the solver clouds her judgement. When N steps a little too close to Doll, Uzi starts attacking him. V jumps to his defense, and the two end up fighting Uzi in her solver form. At some point, Tessa helps a terrified N by shooting a few holes into Uzi to get her off of him.

Doll watches this happen in horror, Uzi is going to get seriously hurt, even with regeneration. She doesn't want to lose her. Cousins or not, Uzi means the world to her, and that love is more important than genetic code. Doll having regenerated enough to get up now, is able to approach Uzi and get through to her, snapping the shorter drone back to reality. The two agree to keep dating, and figure out the stuff Alice told them later.

Right now it's time for the group to go down the elevator, and find whatever Cyn was looking for.

STILL ALIVE

Years ago, Yeva made her way back to the labs as just a core in search of her sister. She made it to the offices, using her small size to stealthily avoid the sentinels. But in her search for a way to lower floors without the key, she got caught in a magnetic trap. Alice, her and Nori's old friend, was still alive. Of course though, the corrupted drone didn't recognize her like this. Apparently Alice had taken interest in her when she noticed a core running around without it turning into a giant monster, as well as the red LEDs signifying it didn't belong to a disassembly drone.

Alice went to dissect the heart, eager to learn more about what it was and how it operated. So of course, Yeva did her best to fight back, trying to tell Alice it was her and to let her go. Though as soon as Alice realized the core she had her hands on was actually Yeva, one of her so-called friends who had abandoned everyone for the surface... plans changed.

Since there was no risk of this core turning into a giant centipede, going as far as throwing it in the oven to ensure stasis won't be necessary. Instead, Yeva was kept paralyzed in jar on a shelf, awake but only slightly aware, stuck in a state of semi-consciousness. Alice took sadistic glee in leaving Yeva to suffer, denied the mercy of death.

And so Yeva was trapped there for years, quickly losing track of time. Until one day, something caused her jar to fall off the shelf and shatter, cutting the electromagnetic field that restrained her. Once she got her bearings, she saw the cause of her freedom. She'd recognize her own daughter anywhere, as well as her niece, but it gave her no relief to see them again, not like this. Her daughter was severely injured, barely holding onto her autonomy. Her niece had lost herself to the solver and was fighting two disassembly drones and a human. One of those disassembly drones being the one that killed her and her husband.

Yeva had no idea what to do, or if there was anything she could do. Before she could make her mind up, her daughter was moving towards Uzi, and managed to calm her down and restore control. And now it seems they are friends with the two disassembly drones? Hiding herself in the shadows, Yeva realizes how much she's missed, her daughter has grown so mu-

Did her daughter and niece just kiss?

Oh god, now they are looking at each other all tenderly and smitten. She can't hear what they are saying from here. Did she and Nori mess up by telling no one they were sisters? Doll probably had no idea she was dating her cousin, no thanks to her. More importantly it aches so much seeing them hold each other the way she always wished she could with Nori. Wow, Uzi really resembles her mother. And Doll had grown into a beautiful drone too...

Fuck, they're leaving now! And the human is holding the key to the elevator! Yeva trails after them, hitching a ride on the top of the lift, down to the laboratory.

Once down at the bottom floor, Tessa threatens Uzi and Doll. Their virus has gotten far too out of hand, and the two need to be put out of their misery before what happened earlier happens again, getting them all killed. V is taken by surprise with the sudden declaration, however N jumps to defend the two worker drones, saying they can't resort to that right now. Of course, he intended it to mean that there still has to be a way to defeat the solver and still save the two, but Uzi and Doll are taken aback. To them, it sounded like N knew Tessa intended to kill them eventually, and at the least didn't plan to warn them, if not straight up help her do it if Cyn ever took complete control of either of them.

Doll takes Uzi's hand, and the two run off, not wanting to be around the others right now. V pins Tessa against a wall, pissed off. She tells her that none of them would be alive right now without them, the least they could do is have little more faith in them, slipping in a side glare at N. N tells V what Tessa had shown him, with Earth being completely destroyed, how he wants to save Uzi and Doll more than anything, but what if they can't? V tells him "then find a way", and releases Tessa.

Tessa insists the world is more important, and if it comes down to it, they need to be ready to make the right choice, but N sides with V. The disassembly drones start to head out to look for Uzi and Doll, when suddenly the area caves in.

Nori sees the collapse on the security cameras, and heads out to investigate it, and nullify any threats. She ends up pulling N and V out of the rubble when suddenly the absolute solver appears and starts chasing them down. Nori leads the two through the tunnels, and shake the large centipede monster off their trail. This scene plays out similarly to canon, now with V present.

Uzi and Doll find Nori's computer together, and start browsing it for information. Uzi finds old footage from the experiments prior to the core collapse, her mother completely lost to the control of Cyn as various humans try to subdue her. With it she finds a few abstract notes about the construction of a patch. Doll flips through the cameras on another monitor, and sees Tessa logging onto a different computer, deleting several admin restricted research files regarding and containing the patch. She pulls her girlfriend over to point out the footage before "Tessa" looks up at the camera and destroys it. It's clear that this human is not on their side.

Yeva is scurrying around the facility, trying to recall the layout to find Uzi and Doll before anything else gets to them first.

"Tessa" made her way to the cathedral where Uzi and Doll are, expressing delight to see them again. Of course the two take up a defensive stance against her. Doll accuses Tessa of never having any intention to stop the solver. "Tessa" admits to it, mourning the fact that she couldn't get them to see things her way, and not to take this personally as she lunges with her sword.

Only the sword is ripped out of her hand by a red solver glyph. "Tessa" whips around, the sword she had flying over towards Yeva's side. The heart declares she won't let her hurt them. "Tessa" is shocked, but before she can say anything, Yeva uses the sword to slice her head off. It falls to the floor, allowing silence to fill the space.

Doll can hardly believe it, despite the years, she still recognized that voice, "Мама?" Yeva put the sword down, and looked at her daughter. A tense moment passed, Yeva began to apologize, but Doll scooped up the core in her hands and held it tight. Yeva wrapped her legs around Doll in return. Of course, Uzi was extremely confused. Was this thing supposed to be Doll's dead mom? There wasn't much time to question it, Yeva informed them that down here was a patch that would be able to stop the solver. Uzi pointed out they saw Tessa destroy the files though. Yeva mentioned there should be a physical copy of the patch in a USB shaped like a crucifix, they just needed to find it.

N and V arrived upon the room. Both horrified to see Tessa dead on the ground. Uzi tried to explain it wasn't what it looked like, Tessa was never on their side, and she attacked them, and- Yeva leapt off of Doll's shoulder, and pointed Tessa's sword again, declaring she won't let harm befall her daughter or Uzi. N apologized for not showing full confidence in them earlier, Tessa had them tricked too, and he won't let either of them get hurt. Uzi hugs N, affectionately calling him a dork. N hugs her back and looks over to Doll as he mentioned that they know where to find a patch that will be able to stop the solver.

Uzi chuckles, tail suddenly appearing to stab N through the side. He pushes her off in shock, and she flies back to the opposite side of the room, her visor lit up yellow. Cyn will not allow them to do that. It's possessed Uzi vs N, V, and Yeva. Doll hesitant to participate, not just because it's her girlfriend, but also because she can feel her self control slipping without even using her solver powers. It isn't long before Cyn shifts her consciousness over to Doll's body, bouncing back and forth between the two hosts, leaving neither a chance to recover from the disorientation before reclaiming control.

Nori is soon upon the scene, having brought the crucifix, and jumps in on the fight. Cyn is frustrated because neither Nori nor Yeva should be alive, claiming their presence is just further insult to injury. Of course neither of them know what she means by that.

Despite the 4 v "2", Cyn is clearly showing the upperhand, as none of them are able to truly harm Cyn while she's in Uzi or Doll's body. All while trying to play keep away as Cyn tries to destroy the patch. Unfortunately, Cyn gets a blow on the crucifix after knocking V unconcious and severely damaging N, shattering the device. Shifting goals, Cyn takes control of Doll and holds Nori down while trying to swallow a very resistant Yeva, declaring that the two of them will never be able to escape her again.

Nori is panicked, she knew her daughter and niece were here through the security footage, she had at least some time to process that before the chaos started. But she had no idea her sister was here until she joined the fight and noticed the other heart. She missed Yeva so so much, barely a day went by where she didn't think of her. Wondering if the secrecy and avoidance was worth it. What could have been if she wasn't so afraid of everything that could go wrong. So she decided to do something incredibly stupid.

The purple heart called out to Cyn, and flirted with both her and Yeva. Cyn because she hoped it would shock the obsessive freak long enough for Yeva to escape. And Yeva because well... Nori figured if she was going to die for real, best to do it without any regrets.

Thankfully Cyn took the bait, and was stunned speechless. Yeva was a blushing stuttering mess, yelling at Nori for saying something so inappropriate, especially when they haven't seen each other in well over a decade. Uzi, who was still trying to regain strength from being possessed and injured, was shocked and confused by her mom being still alive and apparently hitting on her own supposed sister. Doll was shocked and semi horrified enough by having her aunt flirt with her mom, who now was flustered and trying to hide herself further into her mouth, that she regained consciousness in order to spit Yeva out, dramatically declaring she needs to wipe that whole interaction from her memory banks.

Everyone is getting up and repairing any injuries. Immediate danger out of the way, Nori apologizes for the odd comment, just trying to do the first thing she thought of to stall Cyn. But before she can finish, Yeva rushes in to hug her. Uzi tentatively calls out to her mom, Doll having a supporting hand on her shoulder, but keeping a slight distance.

Nori turns to face her daughter, overwhelmed with guilt. Aside from knowing her name and her parentage, the drone in front of her was otherwise no more than a stranger. And a really... really cute one too. No! Get a grip Nori that is your freaking daughter! It's already bad enough to be down bad for her sister! All she can muster is an awkward hi, and what she hopes to come across as an embarrassed blush. Uzi returns an equally awkward hi and blush.

After an awkward moment of silence, Nori changes topic and the group starts discussing how to defeat the Solver now that the patch is destroyed. While they are distracted, "Tessa's" body gets up and grabs her head. N notices the movement, and gets everyone's attention as they watch her screw the head back on, unzipping the suit, causing excess carnage to spill out onto the ground. It's revealed to be Cyn inside the suit, wearing Tessa's corpse, this whole time.

Cyn says that as delightful it is to finally be able to see both her beloveds at the same time, in the flesh, it's time to finish what she came here for. Long tentacles come out and snare Doll and Uzi, Cyn jumping back into the hole towards the core, dragging the two worker drones in with her. N and V try to catch them and pull them free, but are unsuccessful. Nori dives in after them, shocking N, V, and Yeva. Yeva quickly shakes off the nerves and dives in as well. V is about to follow, but N stops her, saying he has a better idea. The two race towards the ship to take the keys back.

The fight with Cyn is long, the corrupted drone unafraid to fight dirty, making several obscene and flirty remarks towards Doll and Uzi through the whole fight. To the point where neither of the two can figure out if it's just a cheap distraction to mess with their composure, or if it's actually serious. J still fights on the side of Cyn, which gets her "killed" (In actuality, her core remains intact, so she ends up as a defenseless heart without her disassembly parts or the solver's influence).

Eventually, Uzi manages to rip Cyn's core out of her chest, and uses a black hole to annihilate it. The black hole is strong enough to cause a warp in spacetime around them. That should be it, that should have been the death of Cyn. But remaining in Uzi's hand is the pit of the black hole, still containing the condensed ai of Cyn, held together by the solver as it keeps Cyn alive by any means necessary. By some damned form of determination, Cyn's body rises again, the code demanding a vessel. It tries to take the code back, so in a last effort to put an end to this, Uzi swallows the code. The warp in spacetime rebounding back into position, and Cyn's body melting away without the solver to keep it alive.

Having absorbed Cyn's code, her LEDs turn into a purple/yellow gradient, to the initial horror of everyone else, before turning into acceptance as they realize it's Uzi in control.

POST SOLVER APOCALYPSE

For one reason or another, with Cyn gone and the Solver defeated, the world returned to normal, or rather how it was before it exploded. No one knows how, probably best not to question the plot hole. Uzi was ecstatic to learn she still had her solver abilities, and Doll was happy to know she still had hers too, and neither had to worry about being possessed by it now that Cyn isn't around to use it as an admin override.

Or so they thought. Apparently having swallowed Cyn's ai, combined with her damned refusal to die like a fucking cockroach, Cyn now resides within Uzi's body. Just now under the the adminship of Darkxwolf17. Which is to say stripped of her power, with heavy restrictions. The most Cyn seems able to do is pop out as Uzi's tail, so long as it's not actively being used. Uzi is very quick to learn how annoying Cyn is when she isn't actively trying to destroy the world. And Oh My God the endless flirting.

Aside from the desire to strangle her own tail, Uzi is now getting used to having her mother around. For now, she remained as a heart, since her body was far beyond recovery after several years. It was weird, her mom was definitely friendly with her dad, but no icky, sappy "not in front of your daughter" kind of affection on her mom's end. Though her dad did often try to initiate. And it sure as hell was still awkward between her and her mom, but they were making progress. Especially after learning her mom loved nightcore, anime, and drawing edgy OCs too. It kinda reminds her of when she and Doll first became friends. And shit, that's extremely weird too.

Unfortunately since her dad, and the rest of the colony knew, there wasn't exactly a way to keep the fact she and Doll were girlfriends from their moms. Both were afraid their moms would be disgusted and disown them, or at least tell them the truth, expecting them to break up.

When Uzi told Nori though, Nori of course was shocked and at loss for words. Her dad seemed oblivious, but Uzi detected the horror behind it. Her mom eventually congratulated her, and was happy for her. So her mom was going to keep the secret. When she said she was gonna go out with Doll for the night, Nori panicked and asked Uzi to wait. Expecting the worse, Uzi paused, not looking at her. Nori hesitated before finding her resolve, and simply told Uzi that no matter what, she'd always love her. Uzi knew that her mom didn't know they knew about being related, but regardless the message was there. Her mom had chosen her happiness over typical morality.

Doll had brought her mom back home, apologizing for the mess. Hesitantly she shows her mom the corpses she'd kept of her and dad, asking her if she'd like her original body back. Yeva was horrified by how messed up it was for Doll to just, hold onto the bodies of her parents for nearly a decade. But Doll just said it was messed up of her to let her daughter believe she died right in front of her for nearly a decade, does she want the body or not? Yeva conceded and crawled back into her chest cavity. It took some time from lack of use, but eventually Yeva's solver began to repair the body, and whirred back to life. Once mobile, Yeva hugged Doll tight, glad to hold her daughter again.

There was just one thing to address. The corpse of her husband. And wasn't that weird, seeing his body the same as the day he died, but at the dinner table. She still cared about him, he was a dear friend to her, but it felt empty where she was meant to see him as the love of her life. Regardless, she was not keeping his corpse at the dinner table, and eventually convinced Doll to bury him.

It was different for both of them to live as a single mom and nearly adult daughter without the father around. Especially for Doll who had lived without either for so long. A lot of quality time was spent catching up, and making up for lost time.

Doll eventually had to bring up that she was dating Uzi. Yeva knew this was her chance to right a wrong, and tell a truth that should have been told long ago, but she couldn't. Her daughter seemed so happy with Uzi... able to have what she herself never could... she didn't want to take that away from her. Besides, she loved seeing the way Uzi could make her laugh and smile. She'd missed so much of Doll's childhood, causing her daughter so much pain. Now seeing her daughter again, grown, gorgeous, a mesmerizing laugh she couldn't get enough of... What was she going on about again? Oh right, her daughter is dating her niece. She didn't want to break them apart, so she was honest in a different way. Told Doll she had figured as much, and that she was really happy for them.

Meanwhile Nori and Yeva were also reconnecting. Yeva, with Uzi's help, was building Nori a new body. In the meantime they got back to their usual antics, being a slight menace to the colony. Sisters but also best friends. It was like old times, but now slightly different. After so many years apart, finally being together again made them more desperate for each other's affection, hardly able to stay apart, tender, affectionate. Both found it slightly harder to deny the romantic nature of their bond. Yeva playing the card of "loyalty to her dead husband", and Nori forcing herself to be romantic with Khan to "re-prove" the feelings for him that she never had.

Both were incredibly jealous of their daughters, but refused to admit so. They had discussed it at one point when they were alone. How they felt too guilty to say anything when their daughters were so happy together. They rather let them be together in ignorance than ruin everything.

Eventually, Nori's new body was up and running. The only real difference was her hair being a bit longer than previously. Uzi was there as Nori situated herself into the chest, and connected herself to the vessel. It was disorienting at first for Nori, finally having a body for the first time in 16 years. She looked towards Uzi, seeing her at eye level for once, with hands to hold her with. They hugged each other tightly. When they finally separated, they took the time to look at each other face to face. Both finding their gaze wandering to the other's lips, wanting to lock the other in a kiss, unaware the other was thinking the same thing. Both quickly pull away, disgusted in themselves for thinking that about their own mother/daughter. Yeva was next to hug Nori, though when they finally let go, they willingly kissed each other on the visor. Totally platonic, yep.

Now that Nori had a body, it has hard for Uzi and Doll to not notice the way their mothers looked at each other, held each other, talked to each other. All with a deep affection neither had ever shown their husbands. The same deep affection the two younger drones show each other. Before they could breach that subject with each other, the two of them never really braved bringing up how they felt about their relationship, knowing they were cousins.

Neither minded their relation, seeing as they were already dating before they found out. They weren't exactly raised as family, and genetics isn't a worry since they can't and don't plan to reproduce. Uzi was the first to admit that she thinks learning the truth actually made her fall deeper in love. As though they were made for each other, down to their genetic code. Doll agreed, saying it was like they were fundamentally linked by shared data.

That aside, they now needed to figure out what to do with their moms. If their moms really were in love with each other, that would explain many things, including why neither spoke up about Uzi and Doll's relationship. Both of them found themselves wanting to get their mom's together, even Uzi who still had her dad in the picture.

Hard part would be setting them up. There was first the issue of addressing Nori's marriage with Khan. Then even if the two of them ended things, hopefully peacefully, they'd still have to get their moms to put social taboo aside and pursue their feelings. It was one thing for Uzi and Doll, who didn't know they were related until well after they started dating. It was another for Nori and Yeva, who grew up as sisters. Despite those setbacks, they did their best to play wingmen.

Nori and Yeva could tell their daughters were up to something. The two sisters found themselves in awkward, romantic themed situations more often. They received more comments and pressing to be close and affectionate with each other. What really confirmed their suspicions though, was when Uzi confronted Nori.

Uzi called Nori out for not really loving her dad. Nori tried to deny it, but Uzi insisted. It was okay if they weren't together, or if they were only friends. She just doesn't want her mom to pretend to be happy with the marriage for anyone's sake. Nori is unable to give Uzi a straight answer, but two weeks later Nori talked with Khan about how the two of them were different now, and she didn't want to be romantic anymore. Khan was hurt at first, but eventually he understood. He just wasn't quite ready to admit he had learned to move on, and now that Nori was back, neither of them were the same.

Now though, neither Nori or Yeva had a decent excuse for their affection for each other, and were painfully aware of their daughters setting them up. Even Cyn was getting in on it, but being way more obvious about it, often resulting in Uzi trying to smother her own tail. Eventually it got to be too much for the two sisters, and when it was just the four of them (and Cyn), Nori snapped. Saying that they know what they are doing, and it's never going to happen because they are sisters.

Uzi shrinks back and looks down to the side, Cyn takes the cue to vanish, but Doll keeps her gaze steady, looking Nori in the visor as she says they know. Nori recoils back, and Doll's gaze shifts to Yeva, who is unable to look at her.

Nori asks how long they knew, and Doll answers since they met Alice back in the lab offices. Both Nori and Yeva seem ashamed, but Nori quickly steels up and informs them they realize that makes her and Uzi-. Doll cuts her off, finishing the sentence with cousins, yeah they know. Yeva asks why they stayed together then. Uzi finally manages to look back up, meeting Yeva's gaze as she says that they simply couldn't imagine a future without each other, and realized letting themselves be happy together was far more important to them than whatever anyone else thought about it.

Frustrated, either in herself, with the kids, or just at the situation in general, Nori says that even if they knew, actually especially because they knew, this was not their place to intervene like this. Just because they rationalized incest in their minds doesn't mean they'd agree with their delusion. She grounds Uzi, telling her and Doll to get out.

After they leave, Yeva shrinks in on herself, asking Nori if the thought of them being together like that is really that repulsive to her. Nori can feel her heart break, realizing she could have handled that situation a lot better than she had. She sits down, pulling her knees in, eyes fixed on the ground. Nori explains to Yeva that it's actually the complete opposite. That it was all she'd ever wanted for over 20 years. How it's kept her up at night, driving her insane from how bad she wanted it. And thus how much she hated herself for seeing her little sister that way. Seeing their daughters together like that, and completely accepting of the idea, the jealousy hurt so bad. If there was truly nothing wrong with knowingly dating a relative, then why does she feel like a monster for being in love with her own sister?

Yeva understood. She has dealt with those thoughts for so long now as well. Even now she still feels disgust towards herself for being in love with Nori. But if that guilt can go away with time, if their daughters are right, and letting themselves have what they truly want isn't a bad thing so long as they both want it... then would it really be so horrible to... try? Hell, taboo wise, it's not like anyone but their own daughters even know they are related. They wouldn't have to hide.

Nori hesitated, but concedes. If Yeva truly feels the same way... She remembers that small spur she had when she thought she and Yeva were going to die to Cyn a few months back. Nori doesn't want to waste any more time denying what "could have been". The two agree to be girlfriends, and finally, after wanting it for so long, kiss each other on the lips.

Uzi stays grounded for two nights though, for trying to knowingly hook her mom up with her aunt, when that was none of her business. Doll asks her mom why she isn't also grounded. Yeva admits she can't think of a way to ground Doll in a way that actually matters. Seeing as like her, Doll is a shut in recluse, who only causes havoc when her partner is involved. Uzi being grounded is grounding enough for Doll. Doll asks what about N and V, they are her friends too, she could go see them. Which Yeva counters that, even if Doll enjoys hanging out with those two, she knows Doll would equally enjoy holing up in her room, not bothering to talk to anyone but Uzi. And yeah, Doll can't argue with that... for the most part. She doesn't bring up that she'd also rather enjoy spending her time just being with her mom, just like she would with Uzi, far more than she'd enjoy complete solitude.

Eventually Uzi is freed from grounding, and things seem to return to relative normal. Now that Nori and Yeva were dating, Uzi and Doll occasionally got the off comment asking them if they found it weird, cause it was like they were step sisters now. They'd laugh it off, and by laugh it off they mean use their powers to slam dunk anyone dumb enough to make unwanted comments, while secretly thinking that it just makes their relationship hotter to them.

Cyn would still frequently pop in, being a nuisance. But Uzi, much to her own dismay, was starting to find her presence a bit endearing. Though she's not sure if it's either Cyn having tamed a bit, or she'd gotten so used to it her frame of reference is unreliable. Either way, she kinda started flirting back with Cyn when it was just them, joking around with her, and sometimes indulging the poor thing who's autonomy has been highly restricted to whatever Uzi does. Cyn keeps pushing her own luck however, getting bolder and more frequent in her flirting with Doll, Nori, and Yeva. She has it in her head that she is currently dating both Uzi and Doll, despite none of them agreeing to that, and is exes with their moms. She is the reason all of them have solver powers, having admin control over them at one point and being able to take control of their bodies is the closest and most intimate someone can possibly be with another, which obviously means dating. Though she doesn't have control anymore, technically Uzi and Doll never properly kicked her out/aka broke up with her like Nori and Yeva did, which is why they are still dating. And wow that backwards ass thinking explains so much. Still doesn't stop Doll from obliterating Uzi's tail any time Cyn decides to flirt with them.

Time goes on, Nori and Yeva have grown more comfortable in dating each other in the presence of others, and knowing their daughters are dating each other. The guilt has lessened, and they are truly thankful to Uzi and Doll for giving them push they needed.

Uzi and Nori have also closed the awkward gap between them, and are nearly inseparable in their chaos. They frequently game together, and typically have to play co-op games, simply cause after a while Doll and Yeva put a ban on pvp games due to how competitive the two got. They have a hard time admitting when they want mother daughter cuddles, yet still manage to fall asleep on each other with the tv still on.

Doll and Yeva got over that initial weirdness of living together again after years of being apart, though now without the father around. It was easy to reconnect over dry, morbid humor. Though Doll learned that her mom actually loves hearing about gossip. There was a lot to catch her up on, and a lot of lies that needed to be corrected. By the end of it, Doll had to stop her mom from planning "hypothetical" ways Lizzy could die without anyone ever finding the body.

Sometimes the two pairs would go on double dates together. As everyone also enjoys time spent with their aunt/niece. Uzi and Yeva collaborating in lighthearted shenanigans to prank their partners, showing each other cat videos, and discussing the latest over-the-top gorey anime with bad plots they've found. Nori and Doll sometimes spar with each other, free to push the limits of their solver without worry, and they are working together and sharing notes to co-host a DnD campaign, which N and V are both part of. Even Cyn was given an NPC character tied to backstory of Uzi's character.

At some point, Uzi and Nori are teasing each other while playing a game in Uzi's bedroom. The banter starts turning a bit flirty, and soon the gameplay gets abandoned as they turn their full attention to each other and tussle a little bit. They pause to catch their breath, looking into each others eyes, and at each others lips, and before they know what they are even doing, they are making out on Uzi's bed.

As soon as their minds catch up with their actions, the two freak out. Neither able to stutter out a complete sentence. Nori ends up fleeing the room. Uzi smashes her head against her pillow. The two avoid each other for the following few days.

Doll ends up confronting Uzi about it, seeing as the tension is so strong it could be cut with a dull knife. Uzi feels too disgusted in herself to even look at Doll, but Cyn ends up betraying her, telling Doll that Uzi and Nori made-out with each other and freaked out. Doll can't even bring herself to feel mad about it, mostly cause a huge part of her feels relieved. As Uzi tries to kill her own tail for betraying her, Doll reassures her that she isn't the only one. Uzi sarcastically retorts if Doll also accidentally kissed Uzi's mom or something, earning her a flick to the visor.

Apparently though, Doll had been struggling with feelings towards Yeva. She's been unsure if it was some kind of weird trauma response to having watched her mom "die" all those years ago, or if it was simply all those years apart causing some sort of confusion or dissociation in her mind, or if it was something entirely else. All she knows is that for the last while now, Doll has been wanting to kiss and hold her mom the same way she did with Uzi. Feeling horrible about it because it also feels like a betrayal to Uzi on top of the guilt of seeing her own mom romantically.

Uzi asks Doll then if she'd hate her for wanting to still be lovers, but also wanting to kiss Nori again and again. Doll says if she did, then she'd be a hypocrite for it. Neither are sure what to do about their feelings though. At the least from the mutual kiss, they knew that Nori would likely be interested, with a bit of convincing, to try things with Uzi. But would it be dating, if Uzi was dating Doll? Was that cheating?

Cyn quips that the three of them are already dating. (No one knew how to convince Cyn that just because she claims it doesn't make it mutual or true.) And that it's called polyamory. Plus if her deduction is correct, then it's likely Yeva is also interested in Doll. And though it's rude to not consult her first, yes she'd be fine with her girlfriends dating her exes, and that maybe Nori and Yeva would even consider getting back together with her.

Aside from that last bit, the two cousins realize that Cyn had a point. They went to find Nori.

In the meantime, Nori eventually went to Yeva, crying. Claiming that she was horrible, disgusting, a terrible sister/girlfriend, and the worst mother ever, refusing to elaborate when asked. When finally pushed enough though, Nori blurted out that she kissed her own daughter. Not just a small peck, but on the mouth and with tongue. Yeva froze for a moment, because she'd been struggling with similar thoughts regarding Doll, and just been doing her best to repress them, unsure why her mind couldn't seem to connect her daughter now to the same little girl she raised, or if it was simply that her mind didn't care. First things first though, she had to comfort her lover.

The two younger drones eventually found Nori with Yeva. It was hard, but the four began to talk things out, say the things they've been too scared to say. While none of them quite know when it happened, the four of them had all fallen in love with each other. There is a ton of self hate and disgust, a ton of humiliation and tears. There is something very wrong with all of them, that they can all agree. They can also all agree though that they want this, more than anything. They'll all be together in any way and every way.

Of course, publicly they still pretend as though they are two separate couples. The taboo still exists, and unlike Nori and Yeva's sisterhood, and thus Uzi and Doll's relation as cousin, the entire colony is aware that Nori is Uzi's mom, and Yeva Doll's. But in the privacy of closed doors, the four are a polycule.

Cyn feels horribly left out, despite being unable to be physically left out as a result of being bound to Uzi. With Uzi being better friends with Cyn for a while now, the other three did eventually have to learn to tolerate Cyn's presence. But Cyn wanted to be respected as a member of the polycule. She wasn't as ignorant as everyone chose to believe. Yes she saw the nature of her relationship with all her possessions as romantic, but she was aware it was one sided. She merely wanted to let herself live the fantasy of it. But fuck it was getting hard to do so when the fantasy was being taunted in front of her. Watching her "beloveds" have the love she craves, while being denied it herself.

Uzi felt bad for Cyn, wanting to cheer her up. She knows that what Cyn did was unforgivable, but even so, she wasn't going anywhere, so wouldn't it be better to allow themselves to move on? Try to make things better at least for their own sanity? So she convinces the others to give Cyn second chance, and at least include her more in activities.

Cyn remains extremely flirty, despite everyone's annoyance. The first one to flirt back though aside from Uzi, was Nori, just to see what would happen. Cyn got extremely flustered, and didn't say anything for a day or two after, but once she recovered from it, she got 10x more annoying with her flirting. At first, Nori regretted her decision, but at least it was more entertaining for her to come up with new and creative ways to flirt back, until she started to actually enjoy it.

At some point, Uzi and Nori ended up falling for Cyn, and weren't even aware of it because of how natural it felt. It wasn't until Doll called them out on it that they even realized what happened.

It took a lot longer for Doll and Yeva to properly warm up to Cyn, and later fall in love, but when they did, Cyn was so fucking happy. Everyone joked that Cyn was the one exception of their polycule, as she was the only one not related to them, but since Cyn wanted to be part of the incest too, she ended up trying to convince everyone that since the solver string originated from her code, which she then spread to everyone else, that means technically they all have a bit of her genetics inside them, making them related. Even if it's more like distant cousins.

And so, the five of them were happily in love, regardless if the rest of society would think it disgusting. If anything, especially if society found it disgusting. Because no matter how fucked up it is, they're fucked up for each other. None of them want it any other way. Perhaps others will find out the truth eventually, maybe they'll even willingly tell a few others when the time is right. That's a bridge they'll cross when they get to it, and they'll all cross it together.

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tea-potato-gt · 1 year ago

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My reactions and memes I thought of while reading the new “Shot in the Dark” book by @marydublinauthor @bittykimmy13 @kendsleyauthor for the first time! 🥰😆

Part 2 here / Part 3 here / Part 4 here / Predictions / Pirates AU

*spoilers*

——————————————————————————

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

*looks at this post* me trying to imagine Russell Crowe with wings.

Who’s Damian? 👀👀👀

Chapter 3

This exchange, “Do you want more wine?” “I think i love you, Sylvia” was giving…

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Chapter 4

Alice being baby, 🥺🥺 “a gift for keeping me company” 😭😭👻🤍

“Someone was in the house with me. Humans.” 🧠My brain🧠:

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Okay, Alice to the rescue?! Slay queen! Slaaaayyy!… *Alice’s face distorts* OMG I shouldn’t be reading this so late at night 😟😨😭🫠🫥😰 I is scared 😟

Chapter 5

OooOoo Jon’s POV 👀👀 *looks through book* no Cliff Pov? 🤔 I guess Cliff is also 3rd wheeling his own book lol 😂

What a crazy how I met your mother situation. Jon: “Oh yeah, my best friend shot her.🧚‍♀️🔫 Then we kidnapped her and held her hostage for days. 🤷‍♂️”

Chapter 6

The boys at Sylvia (from this chapter onwards):

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How Sylvia sees herself Vs How the boys see Sylvia:

Jon speaks Spanish??? 👁️👄👁️ that’s new

Chapter 7

Cliff and “The Other” 💀💀💀 (get wrecked Jon)

Draw me like one of your human girls🧚‍♀️✍️📖🧍‍♂️

Sylvia asking what everthing is has extended my life by three years 😌🥺😊

Chapter 8

How Sylvia sees her interactions with the boys:

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Sylvia: “by your definition, you are a monster.”

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*“The Other” gives Sylvia a handkerchief to keep warm* Part of me: aww that’s so nice 😊 The other part of me: Eeeeewwww 😷🤮🤢 who knows where that thing has been??? Girl don’t touch it!

*Sylvia escapes from the box and planning to go outside* Me: okay then what? You can’t fly? How can you escape if you don’t heal your wing?? 🙄

Chapter 9

Sylvia: I’m NEVER gonna tell these hunters ANYTHING 😤😡🤬

*Jon gives her a piece of chocolate 🍫 and shows her basic human decency*

Sylvia: “I lied to you”

Chapter 10

The boys based on their physical descriptions, or lack there of…

Apparently, Jon is built like a freaking tank💪, while Cliff is just a dude🧍‍♂️? 🤷‍♀️

Jon: “What, are you gonna leave again? Over this?” Sylvia🧚🏼‍♀️:

Sylvia: Okay! From this point on, I won’t say ANYTHING else to these hunters. 😤😡🧚🏼‍♀️

*gets a Pop Tart*

Sylvia: “my sister would live these”

*And here we see the start of Sylvia’s Pop-Tart addiction.*

Chapter 11

The disrespect the boys showed to my girl Alice😭

The boys at Sylvia after she reveals her magic:

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Chapter 12

Jon at Cliff after he gets bit:

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Sylvia asking for help to heal Jon. Voice: “You ask a gift of us?”

Jon and Sylvia at eachother:

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——————————————————————————

It was at this point, while reading, I looked up from the book and realized the sun was rising. 🌅🌄

👁️👄👁️

Part 2 here

#Youtube #shot in the dark #marydublinauthor #kendsleyauthor #g/t #giant/tiny #gianttiny #gt #g/t fluff #gt recommendations #gt shitpost #gt meme #gt memes #g/t shitpost #g/t memes #g/t writing #g/t community #g/t meme

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herbertp · 1 year ago

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TMAGP 18!!!!!!

• I didn’t recognize you? Has she changed something up? (He’s definitely lying about that)

• Teddy can’t escape the OIAR.

• POLYCULE ALICE AND SAM AND CELIA “she’s really weird but in a hot way” 💛✨💗

• The more they talk the more it’s obvious he’s avoiding her in a reluctant way? That’s so sad

• Lena mentioning her thermos is a nice addition to the outside food/drink thing. If she’s bringing in her own drink on purpose THATD definitely add to the theory :)

• “Why would I need to speak to you” iconic

• Lena is so closed off I want to see more of been- the contrast from her fear a couple weeks ago to this is wild and I’m still stuck between whether the fear was for her staff or for herself- the coldness to Sam suggests it was for herself but then again?

• Elias 👎👎👎

• The statement is already wild

• The notes were physical rather than digital? How did Freddie get them?

• This is such an Elias thing to do- like if Augustus isn’t Elias I’d actually be surprised. Someone gets traumatized and then he sends them a statement that is another person getting traumatized by the same thing 😭😭😭

• SO MANY FEARS COMBINED IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE- web, corruption, distortion, (distortion greatest)

• DAFFODILS MENTION AND THE WEEDS OVERTAKING- is the house on church street the same place as the first statement we hear?

• Anglerfish mention <3

• This episode is so good

• HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT SAM SPELLING IT OUT IS WILD AND I LOVE IT BECAUSE MY LIL PEA BRAIN WOULDN’T HAVE GRABBED THAT IMMEDIATELY

• Alice making fun of Sam and the red string brigade is so fun- I love her <3

• The deconstruction of the statement and it’s usefulness AND ALICE BEING SO GODDAMN DEFENSIVE IS SO AMAZING SHES SO TIM CODED OH MY GODS

• Jonny’s writing >>>>>>

• Poor Gwen with external assignments

• THE WAY SHE SAYS “they’re not… fun” is giving the same vibes as Jon saying that the apocalypse makes him “feel… sad”

• GWEN ACTUALLY TELLING PEOPLE THINGS GOOD JOB BESTIE

• Sam being an ass bruh wtf-

• Aww my poor Gwen

• Georgie playing with jack awwww

• GEORGIE KNOWING THAT CELIA IS LYING

• THIS STUFF PARALLELING SEASON THREE JON AND GEORGIE

• Georgie needing the confirmation is telling 👀👀👀, why does she need it?

#magpod #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #tmagp thoughts

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deadmenandthedivine · 11 months ago

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DEAD MEN § the DIVINE

chapter seventeen: last suppers and sealed deals

Maetilda Targaryen, First of her Name, was supposed to be many things. What she became was entirely different.

table of contents

trigger warning!!! this fic contains many graphic topics and depictions. such as but not limited to: dead parents, abusive parents, toxic family systems, incest, medieval misogyny, forced marriage, threats of assault (sexual § physical), actual assault, sexual situations (consensual § nonconsensual), imprisonment, kidnapping, murder, blood/gore, uxoricide, familicide, disassociation, thoughts of self harm and annihilation, PTSD and other neurodivergence. i will do my best to update as i go along, but please let me know if i have missed anything!

word count: 8820

“She was not so uptight in our youth!” Rhaenyra defended with a nostalgic smile, “We used to be friends once.”

“And I used to be a Faith Militant.” Daemon snorted as he finished off his goblet.

“You jest, yet your eccentricity suggests otherwise.”

Clearly tired of being outdone and outranked that day, the old prince huffed at his wife’s words. “The High Septon and I were only good friends.”

Although the humor didn’t quite reach the eyes of Rhaenyra and Maetilda, the table laughed. Joffrey cackled the hardest despite not quite knowing what was funny. There was a false sense of lightness in the air as everyone sort of pretended they were not mad at anyone, that everything was all a joke. Yet a dark entity lingered in the corner that they all ignored. One that could lash out at any moment.

“Joke all you want. Alicent and I were friends for a very long time, good friends. The real kind.”

“What happened?” Jace inquired curiously. His voice distorted by the bandaging and swelling around his nose.

“My father married her.”

Both Jace and Luke glanced at their sister-by-marriage before looking back toward their mother. Rhaenyra stroked her swelling belly as she ate.

“Otto plotted all of it. Your father has always trusted him too much.” Daemon grumbled.

In sudden frustration, Rhaenyra shook her head, “Let us stop this conversation. Talk about something else.”

The room fell silent aside from the light patter of rats' feet in and out of the walls of Rhaenyra’s old solar. Another room that had thankfully been left untouched. Maetilda scanned the table with her eyes for any verbal escape.

Joffrey quickly piped up, “Viserys cried all day today!”

“He did? What did the wet nurse do?” Daemon questioned, leaning forward.

“She rocked him and sang to him and fed him and bathed him! His face turned red! He wouldn’t stop!”

“Yes, he must have been angry at something.” Rhaenyra nodded as she furrowed her eyebrows, “He was very tired by this afternoon.”

“Do you plan to birth our sister here in King’s Landing?” Jacaerys wondered aloud, the nasally ‘a’ in landing made the table hold back giggles.

“You three older boys were all born here. Right in my chambers.”

“Me too?” Joffrey gasped.

“Yes, my prince! You were the third!” Rhaenyra smiled at the youngest of the Velaryon boys.

Jacaerys perked up, “Will we come to stay when she arrives?”

Rhaenyra playfully chided her eldest, “We don’t know what the baby will be yet, Jace—“

“I hope it’s a girl!” Joffrey announced.

“But yes, of course you shall come stay.” She finished.

“As long as you’re here, will you make it look normal again?” Luke chimed in.

“Perhaps not by the Worm Moon or by the baby’s arrival, but in time.”

Maetilda finally gathered the strength to ask a question of her own, “If the baby comes after I am wed, may I stay until she does?”

The older two brothers looked to their sister in unison. Dressed finely with her hair now fixed neat. She was to wed the man who stole Baela’s dragon and broke Jacaerys’s nose. She was to betray her brothers, and disappear off to a castle they had never seen before. Clear out in the mountainous Vale. The princess could only hope they would forgive her with time. As she thought of Princess Rhaenys’s words from earlier, Maetilda wondered what kind of future her brothers envisioned. If it still included her after that afternoon. Certainly, it was one of Jace taking over the Throne after his mother and Luke would have the Salt Throne from Lord Corlys. She could not possibly threaten that. Not in Rhaenyra’s solar or in the future. Her betrothed was a second son with no castles to his name. He was no threat either. Only the Hightower side of him.

“Of course, I shall see to it.” Rhaenyra nodded, “You must be here to meet your sister.”

“See! You even admit the babe is a girl!” Luke teased his mother.

“I said nothing of the sort!” She gasped before taking a gulp of tea from her goblet.

Daemon chuckled, “Shall we place bets?”

“I will not have you teaching my sons to gamble before they even carry their own coin purse!” Rhaenyra scolded.

The Rogue Prince rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. Maetilda finished off her own goblet. A servant came to refill it, but she simply grabbed the pitcher itself from their hands. Personally filling her goblet to the brim and leaving it on the table in front of her. She could feel eyes watch her as she carelessly slurped the top until she could safely pick up her drink without spilling. The new red wine was bitter and dry, but it became tolerable the more she drank.

“Thirsty, Lady of Runestone?” Luke barked with laughter.

“Absolutely parched.” The princess retorted, eyes narrowed in opposition.

He smirked back as he briefly held his goblet out, “Would you like mine too?”

With a challenge laid before her, the princess was not about to back down. She was her father’s daughter after all. It was in her nature. Just as a dragon could not help but set fields of crops and livestock ablaze. Her younger brother was trying to provoke her, that much was obvious. He had not had his fill of turmoil that afternoon. He sought to finish what he started.

“Certainly, if you should be too small to finish it.” Maetilda smiled back.

“Give it here, Luke.” Jace grumbled, trying to take the drink from his younger brother who dodged him.

“It looked like Til needed it more than me.” Lucerys chuckled with a sip as he teased his older brother, “I’m not sharing with you!”

Jace puffed out his chest, proud smirk smeared across his face, “Very well. And I shall remember next time Driftmark needs my assistance!”

Luke scoffed, “Driftmark? Need your help?” The shake in his voice paired with the darting around of his eyes betrayed his air of confidence.

“With Rhaena in charge, Driftmark shall thrive.” Maetilda smiled mischievously, “Do not listen to him, Luke, we shall all be gray by the time Jace sits the throne.”

“Long live our queen.” A smug Daemon interjected.

“Just because we are in my private solar does not mean you may talk so freely.” Rhaenyra stroked her stomach.

“If the servants hear me, should I be charged with treason?” Her father rolled his eyes. “Does my brother’s bitch scare you so?”

“You should act to the standard your name suggests or be held accountable.” The future Queen stated resolutely.

“Of course, your grace.” His words did not match his tone.

A fire burned behind both pairs of eyes as the long-wedded couple stared each other down menacingly from opposite ends of the table. The princess was exhausted from it, from her day, from everything and everyone. She could hardly stomach the sight of them. Which only encouraged her to drink more. To the point where she could feel it pooling in her stomach. It was unbecoming of her. Something she only recently began to care more about. Perfection. Although she was not quite certain what perfection looked like, she knew she had to have it. She had to embody the very meaning of the word, live it and breathe it until she and the word became one. Perhaps then, she would see a day without an outburst from her father. Perhaps then, she would be able to breathe easy. Like Rhaenys did. Like Laena and Rhaena, and even Baela. Like Queen Alysanne herself. Until then, she could only pretend. Mimic what she saw in them and hope she had done it right.

His words suggested submission, something her father did not do easily. He would much rather fall on his own sword than kneel before another. The King seemed to be the only exception, his older brother by four years. And even then, Prince Daemon’s patience only looked like it grew more thin. It was no secret that before Rhaenyra had been named heir, Daemon would have been the one to fulfill the role. But even Ser Otto Hightower preferred a woman to the Rogue Prince. That would be his legacy. Both of their legacies. No matter how deep the rivalry ran, they would both be two men close enough to the Throne to taste its power — get drunk on it — but would never get close enough to actually wield it.

“We shall leave for Dragonstone on the morrow. When I come back, I will set things right in this castle. While we are apart, I expect you all to reflect on your behavior during this stay. It’s shameful, on all of us. Word of what happened today will travel — word of everything that’s happened. Tell me, have we inspired much loyalty during our time here?” Rhaenyra spoke with a slow and menacing authority in her tone.

The table shamefully hung their heads. Jace, Luke, Maetilda, even Joffrey. All except for Daemon, who only smirked back at his wife.

“We have. We managed to bring the King to his Throne, while his second-in-command has clearly been keeping him from it. We have reminded them who we are. Towers are nothing, but a dragon’s chew toy.”

“There is no proof for such accusations, Daemon. We do not know they are behind it.” Rhaenyra was firm before softening to point out, “Father was sick before we left.”

“Not. like. that.”

The chair scratched against the stone floor as the Rogue Prince shot to his feet and grumbled out the solar. The door shut loudly behind him before the room was smothered in silence. Maetilda watched as Jace and Luke exchanged looks in the unspoken language only they knew. They had an entire conversation without moving a muscle. Occasionally, the two would take turns glancing at their mother. Following their eyes over to her, Rhaenyra sat deadly still. Hand mid-stroke across her stomach. Her eyes were fixed on where her husband had been. She was frozen for a short moment before she blinked herself back into reality.

“Are any of you still hungry?” Rhaenyra asked.

“I want dessert!” Joffrey proclaimed.

“Dessert!” The older boys smiled.

Maetilda glanced down at her plate. Mostly empty. She had several servings of spiced pork, to the point where the greens and pomegranate couldn’t be finished. The thought of eating more made her stomach churn, “May I be excused? I am done eating.”

“Yes, my dear. Have a good rest.” Rhaenyra nodded.

“Not parched anymore?” Luke teased.

“I have thrown carafes before, do not tempt me to do it again.”

“Where was all this in the maester’s solar? I only got involved because it was the honorable thing to do.” He pressed, mocking her earlier words.

“That remains true. Throwing the carafe after you’ve been given ample notice is the honorable thing to do — honoring my word.” The princess sassed, “But because I am civilized, I shall choose not to, given the day we have had. Thank you again for throwing blows at my betrothed.”

“Of course! Need I remind you that he is the one who broke my nose?” Jace retorted.

“And who was the one who took his eye?” Maetilda fired back.

“Children.” Rhaenyra brought her authoritative voice back out, gaining the three’s attention.

In the midst of everything, Joffrey had run to her side and clung to her apprehensively. The tension was thick as Maetilda felt an anger brew in her similar to the one she had at dinner with the Queen. The princess could feel it in her shoulders, squared defensively.

“Him of all people.” Jace shook his head in disappointment.

“I did not choose him.”

“You do not behave as such.”

“And what do you expect me to do?”

“Make him see reason!”

“I cannot even make you see reason!” The princess by title stood to her feet, “When you return to this castle, return with an apology.”

Before he could respond, she turned around and stormed out of the room. Much like her father had. Ser Gunthor had been waiting on just the other side. His face dropped when he saw the tornado in her head, the scowl that dragged down her face. She stormed down the corridor in a random direction, not entirely sure of the way back to her own chambers. As much as she thought she had a good sense of direction after seeing a path at least once, the Red Keep had a way of making her question everything. From which corridor led where, to whether or not her own family still cared for her at all. All the uncertainty felt like a knife to the heart. It made her stomach bubble. She could feel it in her throat. Her limbs shook with each step. Her arms shook at her sides. Never in her life had she been so utterly alone and righteously angered.

The more she thought, the more certain Maetilda was that her siblings would never speak to her again. Perhaps Rhaena would, but only if Baela was not in ear shot. And she could not blame them. If Maetilda were in their shoes, she would probably feel the same. Once they got word that she demanded an apology from her brothers, there would be nothing nice left to say. They had supported her a few days ago, but she would never see it again. Maetilda’s betrothed broke Jacaerys’s nose, and she demanded an apology from him. She could already hear the impassioned arguments. As her mind ran faster than her feet, she could not hear the sound of her knight’s armor. Nor could she hear him ask if she knew where she was going. It was not until he sped up his pace until he passed her and parked himself promptly in her direct path that she finally remembered he was there. Only then did she stop. But with the emotions coursing through her, she felt too still. Her fingers played with each other as her weight went from foot to foot.

“Mi’lady—“

“Do you think I have betrayed my family?”

“Princess, you shouldn’t talk like that. Especially here.”

“I do not like that they are leaving while I stay here.”

“This shall be the first time you’ll be properly away from Prince Daemon since you were a babe.”

“I wish my mother was still here. Everything would be better.”

“Aye, it would be. ‘Can’t contest you there, mi’lady. But you and I both know the Stranger likes her too much to ever give her back. ‘Bet she’s the only one who can drink ‘em under the table.”

A smile ghosted the princess’s face, “From the stories I have heard, there would be no greater contest.”

“One day, hopefully when we’re both old and shitting ourselves again, we shall get to see it.”

“Are you suggesting that you have stopped?” Her joke almost went unnoticed through the seriousness of her delivery. She simply could not help herself when it came to teasing Ser Gunthor.

The knight’s eyes bolted around the two of them for any witnesses, “There is no need to announce that to the whole castle!”

A bit of the tension visibly left the princess as she halfheartedly laughed. The knight joined in a bit more boisterously. Like the two old friends they were. They had a humor that only they shared. From the years of spending day after day together. He knew her as well as any of her brothers.

“Now that’s out of the way,” Ser Gunthor sighed as his laughter settled down, only for him to giggle through his next question, “Do you know where you’re going, mi’lady?”

In that moment, she looked around her to find that she did not recognize the corridor they were in at all. Her vision had tunneled in her turmoil, and had most definitely made a wrong turn. Embarrassed, she looked back at her knight with her head hung low. “Do you know the way?”

Ser Gunthor chuckled, “Hardly, but if we put our heads together, we should have more luck, yeah?”

With a nod from the princess, they were off down the corridor again. This time at a more level headed pace. They used various familiar looking green tapestries and Faith of the Seven statues to guide their way. It took longer than it should have, but they eventually made it to the wing of bedrooms that contained her chambers. Her two handmaids were already waiting for her when the knight opened the door. Ser Gunthor bid her good night before shutting the wood door behind her, staying guard outside it. Her chambers felt cold at the loss of his presence. A part of her wished her knight could have simply sat with her as she was readied for bed. But that would never be appropriate. Her name would forever be tarnished, more than it already was.

The handmaids had less work this time around in taking down her hair. No impossible rats or tangles. The updo was undone into a single thick braid that cascaded down to her tailbone. Adelyn secured the bottom well before both handmaids worked to undress Maetilda and help her into her nightgown. The two worked silently. Not a single hummed note or whispered word under one’s breath. The princess missed the Pentoshi songs and the warm chatter. She missed learning new things about the two baseborn girls with a thousand stories. She missed her old handmaids too, Kayla and Loreyne. The ones who remained behind at Dragonstone, and always would. They knew her better than anyone, better than her own family. The sensitive parts of her scalp, her favorite flowers, the best way to wake her up in the morning, how she liked the temperature of her bath. They read her better than any book. They knew her in and out.

But she would never see them again, not until she returned to Dragonstone. The possibility of which only seemed to dwindle. Instead she would have Noarysa and Adelyn for as long as she remained at the Red Keep. Only six days prior, the two had been as good as strangers. And in only six days, they had earned their princess’s trust. They had proved themselves the most consistent and most reliable two in the entire castle. While there was always the possibility they were telling someone everything they knew, the princess seemed to get the sense that they cared. At least, she wanted to think that they did. They would only have each other for three more moons, and however much longer it took for her new sibling to arrive. Perhaps they would be assigned to her upon her visits to see Aemond and Helaena, but there was no guarantee.

The thought of Aemond made Maetilda uneasy. The image of him storming out of Maester Orwyle’s solar was engraved in her mind. She was certain she would never forget it. He had not looked at her once. Aside from when the maester saw to her very minor injuries. It filled her with worry. She hoped he would make good on the promises he made her, that he hadn’t changed his mind after everything that had happened. His callousness was enough to make her question. He was going to go through with the wedding, that much had been made clear. But would he live at the Red Keep all his life? Would he risk daily confrontations with her brothers once Rhaenyra was Queen? Would they ever find a way to get along? Common ground or understanding? With such uncertainty, would Aemond force his way into Runestone? Would he demand she let him live there? Would her people look to him over her if she were to allow it to happen? Would she allow it all to happen? Or would she even have a choice in the matter?

As the princess had been lost in the depths of her own mind, she almost did not realize her two handmaids had finished their duties and turned to leave. Timidly, she called after them to let them know her father would break fast with her in the morning before wishing them a good evening. They smiled warmly at her, lingering by the door.

“Would you like help getting into bed, Princess?” Noarysa inquired sweetly.

“Thank you, I am afraid I am far too restless.” Maetilda declined, “I shall see you both in the morning.”

The two sweetly curtsied before the door clicked shut behind them. And then it was almost silent. Barefoot and clad in her nightgown, the princess vacantly stood in the middle of the room. Eyes fixed on the door through which her maids left. She felt hollow, filled only with anxiousness, remnants of anger, and the pitcher of wine in her gut. It weakened her legs, made them more malleable. Her arms were loose and limp. Her throat was dry, as if it were coated in a thin film when she swallowed. The light pitter-patter of rats occasionally echoed between the walls. It was a maddening sound. Some tiny feet scurried off into the distance while others only grew closer. The rats certainly knew where the secret passages were. They certainly used them to run about the castle. With only the rat catchers to stop them.

In her solitude, all she could think of were her siblings. Their faces of disgust and betrayal and anger. They hated her. The princess did not know how it all happened so fast. Any of it. Just days ago, she had stood in the corridors with her brothers refusing to swing at a belligerent Aegon first. The three had been as close as ever. They had giggled down the passage until their cheeks were red. At the time, she couldn’t have imagined anything different.

Only evenings prior, she had thrown wine and a carafe at Aegon. All because he had prevented Luke from stepping in between Aemond and Jace. He had done the same thing the princess was just doing that afternoon. He stood up for his brother. He kept the fight fair. Baela’s actions that afternoon were no different than what she herself had done at dinner with the King. What made everything so different? Had she truly switched sides? That had been the last thought on her mind as she dove for her sister. Yet whether her actions had been intentional or not, there was no doubt her father would do something about it. Something that would most likely hurt. And there was no promise he had the patience to wait until their morning meal to deliver his revenge. Perhaps it would be easier in the cloak of night.

The evening air was chilly as the princess opened the door to her balcony. The breeze stung slightly as it cooled her cheeks, a subtle reminder that her day had been real. Her family’s entire stay at the Red Keep had all been real. Not a dream, real. As much as she wished she could wake up from it all like a nightmare, consequences would still be waiting for her when the sun came up. Unknown consequences that only caused her to spiral the more she speculated about them. Perhaps if she were lucky, the sun would never come up. If she were lucky, everything looming over her would simply disappear. All of her troubles and consequences would cease to exist, and all of her family would all get along. If it were a dream, perhaps such things would be possible.

The small stack of books from the library sat at her bedside table. Her eyes were glued to them. Practically in a trance. While alone, all she could do was think. No one had scolded her for the other night. For wandering about the castle late at night, scantily clad in nothing but a nightgown, only to steal books from the Royal Library. If she had been seen by the wrong person, such behavior could have been yet another blow to Princess Rhaenyra’s name. Yet she hadn’t been scolded for it. Although, nothing could have been more disastrous for the King’s Heir than what took place that afternoon. All of her children of age had been involved and only one of Queen Alicent’s. Yet Maetilda had hardly been scolded for that. She felt like she was walking into some sort of trap, but she had no idea what it was or what triggered it. All she knew is that she wanted her siblings back. If they would ever agree to have her again. Filled with an anxious energy, the princess grabbed the book on top and took a seat upon the chaise lounge.

The Mighty Histories of the Bronze Kings. It was the smallest out of the books she had taken. She hoped its size would make it easier to read. Bound in a dark brown leather with bronze titling, she carefully bent the book open to the first page. The Preface, written by Maester Seban.

“In my many years at Runestone following Aegon’s ascension to the Iron Throne, it was my pleasure to learn of the Vale’s extensive culture, steeped in thousands of years of history. A history that cannot be discussed without first discussing the many Bronze Kings. I was honored to collect my information through many conversations with various different members of the mountain people. Former regality, merchant class, and peasants alike. All of which shall be accredited accordingly.

My accounts shall serve as proof that not even those as stubborn and mighty as rocks saw it in their best interest to bend the knee to our great King. May he also conquer the deserts.”

She read the preface over three times before the words on the page could fully process them without distraction. Before she understood what was being said. A quiet two-tap knock sounded from within her chambers, only a small distance away from where she sat. Picking her head up from the book, she saw nothing out of place. Just like when she awoke from her bad dream the other night. Her chambers were eerily untouched. Nonetheless, she felt a presence. As if the cloaked figure was back again. In an effort to make it appear, she looked back down, clamping her eyes shut for a moment, before looking back up again. Nothing. Putting her book in the seat beside her, the princess stood to look around. Still nothing. She looked out onto her balcony. Finding nothing out of place there, she closed the doors and latched them before pulling the curtains closed.

Facing the room again, it remained empty. She expected the cloaked figure to jump out at any moment. As if it was waiting for her to let her guard down. But the last thing she wanted to do was give the spirit the upper hand. Deciding to face her fears head-on, the princess began checking the corners and crevice of her chambers. Under the bed, in the wardrobe, behind the bookshelf, anywhere she could think. Yet in the midst of her hunt, she did not see the new guest enter. By the time she turned back to the rest of the room, there was a figure standing before her, but it was not the cloaked ghost. It was Aemond. He had knocked before entering, through an entrance that was not the door. He had knocked just as he had promised.

“I thought you were the ghost.” She whispered.

“Do I haunt you so?” Aemond quipped smugly, just as quiet.

“Presently, it seems. Yes.”

“And to think I assumed we were allies now.”

“That’s one way to phrase it. Co-conspirators against the future crown.”

“Shall we take this to the balcony then? So your friend won’t hear us.”

“I did not welcome you into my chambers, my prince.”

“Do you wish to come to my own then? I owe you many thanks for what you did.”

“So thank me now. Why must we go anywhere?”

“Do you trust me, ñuha dōna?” (my sweet)

“No. Not entirely. The way you stormed off without a word. The way you would not even look at me in the maester’s solar. How can I trust that?”

“Ziry vestragon nyke enkagon kirimvose se iā vaoreznuni.” (It seems I owe both thanks and an apology.)

“Kostōba laesi.” (Astute observation.)

The prince grabbed Maetilda’s hands in his own. The action reminded her of the inappropriate attire she was dressed in, but simultaneously prevented her from covering herself. While he meant for it to comfort her, to pull at her heartstrings, his hands only angered her. She fought away from him.

“What words are so important they cannot be said to me tomorrow after my family has left? I’ll be stuck here for three moons. We shall have plenty of time to talk.”

“Please come with me, Princess.”

“No.” She hesitated, voice firm yet quiet, “We have already made too much of a stir today.”

“I cannot sleep. My mind cannot rest until you have heard my words.” His whispered plea pulled at the princess’s insides.

“And I must trust these words are so dire they truly cannot wait until tomorrow to be spoken?”

“Emā pāsagon lēda nyke?” (Do you trust me?)

“You have already gotten an answer to that question. No. If we are caught, I only came because you threatened me.”

“What a tale that should be.” He tried his best to muffle his laugh, “Did I hold a dagger to you as well?”

“Yes, and said you’d end my life if I didn’t do as you bid.”

“You didn’t come that easy. Did you?”

“Of course not.”

“That would be absurd.” He shook his head, “Shall we go?”

The princess did not budge. She only looked back at him, thinking of all the promises he had made her that morning, “You haven’t changed your mind, have you? About the tower we shall build you.”

He stilled, making her heartbeat quicken anxiously, “You are the Lady of Runestone. Your castle, your land. But I wish to talk.”

The princess’s heart stopped, “Fine. We can go to the balcony. Let me get my cloak.”

She practically ran to her wardrobe. A fire burned her from the inside out, it was as if her feet felt too hot to touch the ground. With the same shaky quickness, she grabbed her traveling cloak and threw it over her shoulders. Her hands struggled with the fastening. Aemond’s eye lit its own fire across her skin as she stood so vulnerably in front of him. The two stood and stared at each other for what felt like the whole night. Something within Maetilda stirred, did not sit right. She knew how wrong it was for him to be there. She knew they could very easily get caught. But Aemond seemed to know just what to say, knew how to intrigue her just enough so that she could not resist him. He seemed to read her mind without hearing her thoughts. She watched as he adjusted his unlaced tunic before moving to open the doors to the balcony.

It was at that moment that the princess realized how underdressed her betrothed was. He was dressed just as inappropriately, certainly not dressed to be visiting her. She wondered what he was thinking. Perhaps his state of dress had been a symptom of his urgency and running mind. He was too deep in thought to consider the clothes on his back. Or lack thereof. The lacing on his shoes was also undone. Perhaps thrown on as an afterthought in his fervor. Perhaps he had to turn back for them. It was the closest he had ever come to resembling Aegon. The way his trousers hung on his hips reminded the princess of how Aegon’s slipped down his legs as he drunkenly ran down the corridor. How proud the Queen would be. Weighed down by a sheathed dagger, the right side hung down more.

Knowing well enough that all of their parents were already angry at them, Maetilda attempted to confidently stride out onto the balcony. She would much rather be flogged through the streets before allowing the prince to see just how much his words had shaken her. She did not want to give her power to him so easily — or at all. Aemond followed behind her, shutting the doors as a way to further block sound. The princess pulled her cloak around herself again, both for warmth and modesty. The evening breeze was cold at their height. Closer to the ground, the night would have been far more comfortable. Peering downward, ant-sized people carried torches as they moved from place to place. At any other moment, she would’ve been mesmerized and entranced. Unable to pull her eyes away. But the presence behind her kept her at attention. Tense and alert.

“It astounds me how each time I look at you, my breath is taken away all the same.” His voice was still hushed, yet not as quiet as before.

“I don’t like compliments that are given as tricks.”

“You think I wish to trick you?”

“You wish to win me over with flattery before you convince me to reconsider the promise you made. You got into a fight with my brothers, and now you want my castle.”

“Ao vīlībagon aōha mandia, ñuha dōna. Ao tymagon isse se tegon, tepagon aōha brōzi syt nyke. Skorkydoso īlon glaesagon mijegon se tolie?” (You fought your own sister, my sweet. You rolled in the dirt, risked your reputation for me. How could we possibly live apart?)

“Ēza daor yet issare iā jēda. Emi va moriot glaestan mijegon se tolie.” (It has not yet been a fortnight. We have always lived apart.)

“Nyke daor glaesagon mijegon ao, lēda se prūmia eman sir.” (I cannot live apart from you, feeling the way I do now.)

“Se ñuha sombāzmion iksis mērī iā tȳne gūrotrir?” (And my castle is simply an additional reward?)

“Your castle is yours. I do not want it. I want you.”

Maetilda was shell shocked, completely hollow. Her mind went blank. Her heart stopped as if it had never started. His words were so direct they felt exposing. As if with three sentences, he suddenly had full access to every thought and feeling she had ever had. As if he could see through her skin and in her guts. It was something that filled her with panic and terror. As much as her heart pounded, she needed to make him stop.

“Skorkydoso kostagon nyke gīmigon gaomā daor pirtir? Ao kessa mērī ērinagon.” (How can I know you are not lying? You have everything to gain.)

“I am sorry. I deeply regret not bidding you farewell before my departure from the maester’s solar. I do hope you will find it in you to forgive me.”

“It is more than that. You barely acknowledged my presence. I felt like I was going mad. Like you were as disgusted with me as my family.”

“It pains me that you feel so hurt from my actions when I have nothing but pride for yours. The only disgust I have is for your family. Not you.”

“I am a part of my family. You cannot feel disgust for them and not feel that same disgust for me.”

“We shall be a family. Our own family.”

“Bona ao kessa sagon se bartos hen?” (That you shall be the head of?)

“Ñuha giez ābrar, eman mērī mirre udlitan naejot ñuha muña.” (My whole life, I have only ever answered to my mother.)

“Qilōni udligon naejot zirȳla kepa. Mirre aōha ābrar, emā udlitan naejot aōha rōvēgrie kepa.” (Who answers to her father. All your life, you have answered to your grandsire.)

“Sir ao ȳdragon hae aōha kepa.” (Now you sound like your father.)

“He is a smart man. I would be foolish to question his assessments. Vestras ao se aōha rōvēgrie kepa jaelagon ñuha sombāzmion.” (He says you and your grandsire want my castle.)

“Lo nyke jeldan aōha sombāzmion, mazeman ziry. Kesan daor epagon aōha udir ēlī.” (If I wanted your castle, I would take it. I would not ask your permission first.)

“Se Vāle māzigon naejot ao lēda vīlībāzma. Sȳrje daor sylugon ziry.” (And the Vale would declare war against you. Best not try it.)

“I mean to keep my promises to you, Maetilda. In return, I ask that you keep me at your castle. I cannot live my life looking over my shoulder in my own home. Please, you cannot let me live like that.”

The princess hesitated. She wanted to tell him no, to remind them of their agreement. But the look on his face made her second guess. His eye full of desperation as it swam in hers for answers, mouth ajar with worry. His eyebrows were raised in question, causing small creases around the strap of his patch. His expression reminded her of the times when they were little. In the small windows of time they slept under the same roof. Maetilda and Helaena would be off in their own world, Aemond always trailed close behind. Whenever the rest of the boys would run into their trio while playing, they never failed to stop and single little Aemond out. His own brother and nephews took pleasure in taunting him. Calling him a girl, mocking his lack of a dragon, pushing him around. The Kingsguard usually stopped them before it got to blows. Every time it happened, Maetilda always saw that look. A cry for help, for mercy, for peace.

“We do not have to decide this tonight. We can talk about everything after we have both had sleep. After my family leaves.”

“You may have time to think about your response to my proposal. I can sympathize with that.” Aemond nodded resolutely before adjusting the bottom of his tunic, “The issue remains that I cannot sleep.”

“And why is that my concern?”

The prince took small, careful steps forward, “Because it is you that I am thinking about.”

“Picture me counting stitches in a seam. You should fall asleep rather quickly.”

“What was it your father said?” Aemond glanced off for a moment in thought. “I know you wait for my back to turn. You wish to take what is yours.”

“Something of the sort. He won’t give up my castle any easier than me.”

Aemond chuckled breathily, “He was not talking about Runestone, ñuha dōna. He was talking about you.” (my sweet)

“My prince, in order for something to be a joke, it must be funny.”

Before she could react, his hands were cupping her face. Their chests resting against each other. Never had her nightgown felt so thin. Memories of his last visit flashed in her mind. The way he stole her first kiss after professing his love — his desire for love. He had talked to her so differently that night. He had an air of authority, just as her father always did. He spoke of bedding her so eagerly. Just as Aegon had in the corridors. The two were not so different. A realization that scared her. Perhaps as the years went on, Alicent’s eldest sons found common ground. Maetilda had not seen them fight once. Had not heard Aegon insult Aemond even once. The older brother had even stepped to the younger’s defense, at dinner when Lucerys tried to help Jacaerys gang up on Aemond.

“Princess, I would never hurt you.” He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks.

Maetilda stared back in confusion. It was her turn to search his face for answers, “And you think my father would?”

“I know he would. I heard him.” Aemond’s voice was so low and serious, it sent shivers down her spine. But worst of all, he was right, “Your father would hurt anyone for the right reason.”

The princess did not know what to say. She was sure her mouth had flapped open and shut like a fish out of water. She felt like one. Unable to breath as the person who had her on a hook and line sat and watched her flounder. While the prince may have been right, Maetilda was still her father’s eldest daughter. Aemond could not possibly be right. She simply could not accept it.

“Dōna, I do not wish to wait for his back to turn.” (Sweet)

“I beg your pardon?”

“I wish to take you right from beneath his nose.”

Her eyes widened in surprise yet again as she watched the prince’s face jump towards hers, crashing their lips together. Just as the first time, she was frozen in shock. His lips moved against hers while she remained still. One of his hands was clamped around her face, crushing her cheekbone under his thumb. The hand that had been petting her hair locked around the back of her head, ensuring she could not pull away. With his hips, he pinned her against the edge of the balcony. The force of him was heavy. It pinched the vertebrae in her spine as the weight of him bent her backward. No wall stood behind her back to catch her. With nothing to anchor her feet, she felt as if she could flip over the side and plummet down to her death. The image of it played in her head. All the while, Aemond continued to kiss her.

Had it been earlier in the day, she would have welcomed it. She eagerly would have kissed him back. Without question or hesitation. But too much had happened. She felt treacherous and guilty. She felt a pending sense of doom. The hand at the back of her head slipped to the base of her neck, lacing fingers into the back of her scalp and tangling themselves into her braid. Aemond pulled away only to rest his forehead against hers.

“Please, Maetilda. Do not deny me.”

“Ao jaelagon naejot gūrogon nyke. Iksis bisa daor skoros jaelā?” (You wish to take me. Is this not what you want?)

“Jaelan ao.” (I want you.)

“You don’t—”

“Jaelan ao. Jaelan ao. Jaelan ao.” (I want you, I want you, I want you.)

Tears welled in the princess’s eyes as she struggled to shake her head, “Aemond, you can’t. We can’t. Not yet.”

“Maetilda, please, just once. Just once while he is still here. Just once, so he may never deny our union, and then not again until we are wed.”

She could feel the wet trails begin to form down her cheeks, only to be wiped away by thumbs that were not her own. Two hands cupped her face again. Warm, wine and liquor scented breath fanned her into a trance-like state. Her voice was soft, weak, and wavering as she tried to hold her ground, “Mazemilā lēda iā mijegon hen ñuha udir.” (You will take regardless of my word.)

He kissed both cheeks, right next to his thumbs. He kissed her forehead and both temples. He kissed each corner of her mouth before he slowly kissed her again, continuing to bend her backwards. Causing her to yelp. Taking advantage of her open mouth, Aemond caught her bottom lip in between his teeth. He had the grin of a lizard lion, the smirk of a dragon with its dinner in its jaws. She was no different than charred sheep.

“Ilagon syt nyke, dōna. Kostilus.” (Lay down for me, sweet. Please.)

Only then did he peel himself off, giving her back a sense of relief. But Maetilda didn’t move an inch. The two locked eyes for what felt like the longest time. The princess would not dare move. She felt like a mouse, helplessly cornered by a tomcat. One movement and the prince would pounce.

“Lay down, Maetilda.”

Looking down at the balcony floor, she could barely form words, “Here?”

Aemond shushed her as if she were a crying baby. He stepped forward again, “Shh, shh, shh, shhhhh.” His hands came back up again. This time, they unlaced the fastenings on her cloak. Slowly and carefully, so as not to stress a single stitch or seam. “You are in my hands. Do not fret. Nyke kessa mazverdagon ao sȳrkta emā mirre issare gō. I shall give you se vys se skoros ilagon rēbagon ziry.” (I shall make you feel better than you have ever felt before. [I shall give you] the world and what lays beyond it.)

Pulling away from her without breaking their stare down, Aemond swiftly flicked her cloak out like a blanket. The princess’s knees shook at the sight. The prince was serious, the chill of the breeze confirmed it. More tears slipped down her cheeks. Instead of wiping them away, the prince took a cushion from the bench and laid it down as a pillow. When he made his way back over to her, she could not look at him. Only at the cushion sat atop her cloak — where she was to rest her head. More tears glided past her cheeks and down her neck. Was that truly where she was to be deflowered? On the cold, dusty ground of her balcony. No marriage. No ceremony before the Gods. No dowery. No grand feast. Nothing.

By the waist, Aemond moved her to stand at the bottom of the cloak. Preceded by his warm, liquor scented breath, came feather-light kisses that started at her cheek. They traced along her jaw, down her neck, across her collarbone, and up to her shoulder. Tickling her skin all the way. Her heart pounded like war drums in her chest. Overwhelmed with embarrassment for what was to come, she could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. The soft tug from the shoulder of her nightgown being gently moved out of place sent off bells of alarm in her head, she instinctively wanted to squeal. But instead, she made a point to bite her mouth shut. More kisses dusted the top of her shoulder.

“Aemond, —“ She tried desperately to keep hold of her resolve.

Another kiss to the corner of her mouth cut her off, followed by the low hum of a familiar tune. Not that of the Pentoshi songs her handmaid sang, but one her father and Laena would sing to her and her young sisters, proudly proclaiming that the girls were three heads in their own right. It was a song from Old Valyria. When she closed her eyes, she could almost hear the bright melody of Lady Laena’s voice. Chirping out the words like the call of a morning bird.

Drakari pykiros

Tīkummo jemiros

Yn lantyz bartossa

Saelot vāedis

(Fire breather, winged leader, but two heads, to a third sing)

Hen ñuhā elēnī:

Perzyssy vestretis

Se gēlȳn irūdaks

Ānogrose

(From my voice, the fires have spoken, and the price paid, with blood magic)

But Lady Laena’s voice was not truly there. Maetilda knew it wasn’t. Her body laid with the Gods beneath the waves. Her dragon answered to a new rider, and he stood before the princess humming. He was the only one humming. Yet, it was like a ghost lingered around them. The hair on her arms stood on end. Chills electrified her spine. It did not help that the tomcat only continued to close in. Eye alert, claws sharp. The closer he got, the more his humming unsettled her. The voice of Lady Laena still rang on in her ears.

Perzyro udrȳssi

Ezīmptos laehossi

Hārossa letagon

Aōt vāedan

(With words of flame, with clear eyes, to bind the three, to you I sing)

Helping her down with an arm on her back and the other grasping her hands to steady her, Aemond laid Maetilda down on the cloak. His hair tickled her cheek as he hovered over her. The princess’s entire body trembled. Goosebumps erupted across her skin from the ground’s cold touch. More tears escaped out of her eyes. She could hear her heart pound in her ears. Pools of snot began to clog her nose, which only made it harder for her to catch her breath. All the while, the prince undid the knot at the top of her nightgown. She wanted to scream. Her knight would be there in only a few steps. The rest of the castle would undoubtedly hear her too. Her father included. They would find her underneath her betrothed, and everything she had ever dreamed for herself would be ruined. She could not scream.

Hae mērot gierūli

Se hāros bartossi

Prūmȳsa sōvīli

Gevī dāerī

(As one we gather, and with three heads, we shall fly as we were destined -- beautifully, freely)

The hum of the song repeated itself on a loop. She could not bare to watch any longer. Each of his boots had haphazardly plopped to their own corner. Maetilda clamped her eyes shut as she felt her betrothed on his knees, positioning one of her legs on either side of him. His trousers came down easy. She could hear him slide them down his thighs. Most of his clothing had already been undone. The cold air bit at her legs, her hips, her torso as her skin became exposed to the night. He had lifted up the bottom of her gown, and she soon felt the fabric bunch at her waist.

Her mouth went dry and her eyes flew open. Anxiously, her hands grabbed at the bunched fabric and tried to cover herself back up. At least down to her thighs. At least enough to keep some dignity in tact. But the tomcat only pushed her hands away, gripping them both in one of his own paws. Aemond held them above her head, using his spare hand to pull at the neck of her gown. Her vision seemed to cloud as her head felt like it was filling with smoke. As if a fire had started burning somewhere inside her. Her organs only blackened the fumes.

It felt warm and cold all at once, causing her to flinch away from the feeling. The fleshy sensation that poked at the place that was never supposed to be touched. The place worth her body weight in gold. Her heart fluttered through the haze clouding her mind. Her gut screamed. A shiver ran through every bone in her body. Aemond used one of his knees to pin her hip down, to keep it from flinching away from his touch again. His free hand came up to his face. Eyes lidded, he stared straight into Maetilda’s soul as he stuck two fingers in his mouth. Coating them in a layer of spit. Without hesitation, his two fingers cut straight down her torso and toward the apex of her thighs. The princess’s gasp covered up the yelp that was lodged in her throat. His hand found refuge between her pillowy thighs. Wet fingers played with her flower, lightly rubbing it in slow circles.

On instinct, her knees tried to snap together only to be obstructed by the prince’s body. He held her down and kept her knees apart with ease. She tried to squirm, but she could hardly move. Her mind screamed and screamed and screamed. The humming stopped and Lady Laena’s voice was gone. Instead, her father’s voice echoed between her ears. Shouting angrily about how much she disgraced and disgusted him. What if anyone were to find out? What if someone were to hear? Or to walk in? She wouldn’t live to see the sunrise, wouldn’t live to see another day. She would be better off dead. A princess soiled before her wedding day. A lady without morals. A no good harlot. Yet she couldn’t stop Aemond. As filthy as she felt, she didn’t want him to stop. As long as his fingers continued their circles. Sliding his two fingers south, he used his thumb to continue the tantalizingly gentle pattern. The wet pair slid ever so slowly until they reached the lid of the princess’s honeypot. Maetilda’s breath shook. A lilted note spilled out with it. Bottom lip trapped between his teeth, Aemond’s eye seemed to glaze over at the very sound. Velvety lilac deepened to satiny plum. It couldn’t mean anything good.

A yelp escaped her mouth as one of Aemond’s fingers inched inside of her. Splitting her body in two. The prince’s lips soon met her own, muffling the sound of the princess’s quiet whines. His tongue poked its way into her mouth, dominating all of her senses. He consumed her. As if she truly were charred sheep. He only stopped in order to pull his fingers out of her carcass and lick them clean. The feeling was intoxicating, but the view of it even more so.

A/N: this little diddy has probably been over-revised. i’m sorry it took so long!! hopefully it was well worth the wait! happy season 2 premiere day!!!

it’s my first go at anything kinda sexy! i was excited to try it! kinda nervy to post it (hence the hold up) but i hope it does something for you! the freak continues in the next guy though, hope ur cool with that HAH (the next one will be coming much faster)

TAGLIST: @marvelescvpe

xoxo messy

#dead men and the divine #hotd imagine #aemond targaryen x ofc #aemond targaryen x oc #aemond x fem!reader #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond fanfiction #aemond fic #house of the dragon fanfic

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