one thing about lyra…. she’s gonna see if he can really kill her and when he does? it Seals The Deal (and resurrects her in more ways than one)

febwhump 2024: day 23. presumed dead

series: crimoson history // rating: teen and up audiences

trigger/content warning: implied past child abuse

Patricia tries her best to not get attached to her students, which’s almost impossible when they live in the manor with her and when they are almost her children.

She’s not supposed to care this much.

Much less when most of them go to follow dangerous careers, when they get hurt and there’s nothing she can do because all Patricia did was be their mentor for a few months.

She still cares with all her  heart.

The heart that is broken time after time, she stopped counting how many past students had died. (That’s a lie. She knows how many. She knows their names, the way they died, she visits their graves in their death anniversary. She prays for them, believing in a god or not.) It has been sometime since the last one, she isn’t sure if it’s fair to say that it was the most traumatic this far.

Maybe it was, she’s not there, usually. She was qhen Peyton died, because Jessica brought her back with the hope that Patricia could help. That Patricia, the healer could heal her. That Patricia, the closest to an adult figure that Jessica trusted, wouldn’t let her down like every other person in the girl’s life.

(She pretends she doesn’t have nightmares about it.

She pretends she doesn’t spend much time in the healing ward as she did before solely because she doesn’t need to, not because she can still hear echoes of Peyton’s ragged breathing and Jessica’s sobs.)

Patricia focuses on her current pupils, two young boys. One wants to follow the healer path, he’s already close to finish the basic set. The other intends to a more combative career, seems more interested in learning how to hunt than how to heal. She thinks he doesn’t leave because they’re friends.

She pretends she doesn’t keep a tab on her old students, or tries to. Some are very slippery – by some she means Jessica (who rolls her eyes but let’s Patricia still call her that).

It’s a autumn afternoon when one of the tracking spells flare up and just… fades away.

It hurts, it happened before. The moment the person she’s tracking is somewhere she can’t track – which means gone –, the spells fade out like a dying lamp.

It takes a moment to realize it’s Jessica’s spell (it has taken some convincing for the youngling to allow her to cast it). Her breath’s kicked out of her lungs and the only reason she doesn’t fall on her knees is the fact she’s sitting on her desk.

Despite what Jessica does late at night, part of Patricia expected that she’d be the last of her students to… to die.

She’s much stronger than regular human beings, more resilient too, outright more powerful. Well-trained and quite careful. She’s built like a weapon (she’s built to be a weapon). Untouchable (except for-), she’s not supposed to get hurt (except she gets hurt more often than not).

Patricia barely has time to pull the garbage bin closer and empties her stomach onto it, retching and feeling pathetic. It has never happened before, such a guttural reaction to the way a spell snaps back violently when it’s broken.

She promised herself to not get so attached. It felt safe with Jessica, with the strongest magician she has met, who survived a childhood of torture and conditioning. She’s a patchwork of scars that proves she’s unkillable.

Maybe not.

Jessica can bleed, can get hurt, it was stupid to think she wouldn’t get killed at some point.

All Patricia can do is sit there, empty and numb. It doesn’t quite matter if Jessica never said their relationship was more mother-daughter than mentor-pupil – which makes sense, considering one mother abandoned her and the other abused her every way possible. Doesn’t matter that much when Patricia looks at her and sees the daughter she never wanted to have.

It’s unnatural, to outlive your child (biological or not). And it rips you apart.

And more specifics: 37 Sam, 22 Ike, 36 Ancha, 41 Mira, 14 Stranger, 1 Terry, 44 Chris

THIS IS A BIG ONE!!

37: Do people have justified grudges against your character?

Oh, certainly. Another way in which Sam is a Shrek recolor is that she is not merely unfairly maligned for circumstances out of her control, she also creates problems for herself and makes situations worse than they need to be.

There are a  few ways in which she contributes to this problem, in general:

1. If someone thinks she is scary and it annoys her enough she will lean into it, “for fun.”

2. She interprets a lot of conflict as fun and games because she is kind of a dick and she does just... enjoy fighting. Since she shrugs off this fighting as fun and games, she often misjudges how much her opponent might forgive because she’s using her own skewed metric as reference.

But those are general statements. You’re probably looking for specifics, and I’m afraid I must let you know I do not really have them at this time. Despite Sam having a variety pack of enemies, I’ve developed Sam’s relationships with the people SHE has grudges against (ie Lance, Page) more than I’ve developed the specifics for anyone who has a running grudge against HER. It’s more of a nebulous crowd of people whose toes she has trampled, some from her shitty younger days, some fresh new enemies...

(I do have one specific Person With A Justified Grudge On Sam that I keep contemplating but I’m not sure if he/she/they/??? will ever make it out of the development phase and become a real character/story element.)

22: What is the worst thing your character has ever done? 

My idea was that I was going to answer this disincluding things Isaac has done to himself because that’s a rock bottom that he keeps digging deeper, but even when he does bad stuff to other people it tends to be in tandem with bad things he is doing to himself...

Isaac has plenty capacity for being a dick, and spent a good portion of his life not considering other peoples’ feelings very hard. But, at the same time, he's naturally reserved and at the time where he was the most empathy deficit he also was in the habit of minding his own business. So he was more of a jerk in passing to people than out there doing real heinous shit...

I don’t want to say “cheating with Mira and everything that happened for years after is the worst thing he has ever done” because that feels like a cop out even if it’s probably technically true...

Lying to everyone with his “ah yeah, that’s me, Able-Bodied Man” LARP is bad but in the end he’s doing more damage to himself than anyone else with that one... not that the emotional damages it does to the people who care about him don’t matter because they do...

I guess he doesn’t have a whole lot of Big Worst Moments, just a long resume of being kind of a shithead, letting himself get worse by putting himself in the company of other shithead(s) and taking their shithead advice, and then course-correcting his behavior in a way that makes him also kind of a shithead in a different way.

36: Does anyone want to harm your character?

Oh, probably. Ancha is good at making enemies for a gentle pacifist.

In her youth, participating in politics games routinely earned her all manner of dangerous enemies. Of course, she’s long since outlived anyone who wanted to assassinate her, considering that she’s outlived politics and Atlantean society in general.

Considering there are other (undeveloped at this time) immortals out there, she probably still has SOME enemies...

At the very least, Lucas would probably take a shot at her if he thought he could get away with it!

41: Would your character want to have any children?

“No” with exceptions. Mira is not a nurturing person, nor does she particularly like children, and doesn’t put any value on ideas of “continuing the bloodline” or “making the next generation better” or anything like that. She doesn’t dream of having a family. She’s very much a career woman to the exclusion of other things in life. It’s an easy cut and dried “she shouldn’t raise children which is okay because she doesn’t want them anyway” situation until it isn’t.

You see, all logical reasoning points to “Mira doesn’t want and therefore wouldn’t have children,” but she’s also not immune to the allure of dramatic projections of the future. I could see her keeping an accidental pregnancy, or procreating on purpose if her partner framed it in a romantic, ego-buffing way.

The reality would remain unappealing to her though. Best case scenario she is one of those overbearing achievement hyper-focused parents who is extremely invested in and proud of their child’s talents and accomplishments but emotionally not there.

14: What is the cutest thing your character has ever done? 

You come to my own home and ask me to write a hit piece on my own character. How dare you.

I suppose Stranger’s #1 “cute” behavior is how they behave when they fail to find an excuse to hate someone or be rude to them. Stranger doesn’t need a big reason to dislike someone, and will often pick out little things to justify being a prickly son of a bitch. But there is a method to their misanthropy, a sort of equation/assessment they run in their head in order to determine that they are Right to be a bitter and rude in a given situation. Despite the fact that this assessment is extremely rigged, occasionally they run into someone they just cannot justify being an asshole to (example: Nikki).

When this happens, they have no choice but to try feign being normal despite the agony trying not to be a freak to people brings them. They make small talk like it’s actively killing them, hissed and grunted through gritted teeth.

It’s like aw. They’re trying. Not doing a good job, but trying.

1: What is your character's biggest fear? 

Terry doesn’t have a lot of big, conscious fears. If you asked him his biggest fear he’d probably say something like, Santa Claus, or a specific Five Nights At Freddy’s jumpscare, shit in that ballpark. He’s not terribly in touch with the concept of fear, same as he’s not super in touch with the concept of mortality.

He does worry about some things that are actually real, but not very deeply and not very often. None of those worries are centered on himself either, he’s confident that he can bounce back from anything and more or less sees himself as endlessly smart, talented, evasive of consequence, and unkillable. Instead he worries about things he knows to be more fragile than himself, like Nugget with her fragile avian bones and respiratory system, or Ike with his fragile human feelings.

44: What is your character proud of? 

Chris is not proud of much, and she undermines her few real accomplishments as incomplete or not counting. During her youth as an ELF WIZARD competing in the championship challenges, she was quite accomplished. She withdrew from the tournament, though, and never made it to her televised match. She’s got one of those “if you aren’t first you’re last” sort of attitudes, so as far as she’s concerned, it’s failure all the way down.

THAT SAID she can do a sweet kickflip. She’s proud of that. She has a SWEET GAMER COLLECTION of VIDEOGAME, and she’s proud of that. And she makes for a great, reliable mafia goon! She’s really proud of that one.

So I’m trying to close the literally hundreds of tabs I have open, and I bump into Stargate crossovers, notably a Stargate/Avatar crossover. This reminds me Stargate is a goldmine of crossovers because you just have to put a Stargate in your favorite fictional universe and there you go! And SG-1′s Clarke’s 3rd Law approach means that any magical shit fits in their universe.

Now, since I’m still in the RWBY hyperfixation train; I obviously thinking how easy and interesting a RWBY/Stargate is.

First off, they exist; here’s all of them in FF.Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/Stargate-SG-1_and_RWBY_Crossovers/68/10833/

They’re all good. And there’s actually 3 types: the classic approach, SGC types a random address and it’s Remnant; the Trane7 approach (later adopted by TheLongVersion2), Remnant makes their own Stargate program and inevitably bumps into Earth; and the How-not-to-do-something approach, go full AU, I actually dig this fic, I’m still reading it because it’s long, but it’s very interesting, in short the Battle of Beacon happened but Beacon itself didn’t fall and Ozpin didn’t die; and Team JNPR fell into a Stargate and got picked up by SGC and 2 years later Team RWBY finds them, then shit happens.

I actually have a few ideas inspired by this fic; the initial set up is basically the same, Team JNPR gets stranded on the wrong side of a Stargate, get taken by SGC and join them because they want to help stop the Goa’uld, and then 2 years later Team RWBY figures out the Stargate, this time with the address of Remnant; difference is that Ozpin did die and he reincarnated into Oscar. Now this is inspired by this AU: https://xstonehill.tumblr.com/post/183196875183/rosegarden-au-a-different-happy-ending; so Oscar is passing himself as a prodigy and going to Heaven Academy 2 years early, just like Ruby (I suspect Ozpin did the same); and you know continuing the fight against Salem and stuff. Now as presented by hyperfixation-hideout in their 2 long-ass videos the Merge goes both ways and Oscar is a more open, more honest person than Ozpin, so I declare that he ended up telling his team everything (it was an impromptu bonding session), like everything, they’re probably the only people outside of Salem’s group who know she’s immortal, and the first thing Oscar does after reuniting with Ozpin’s group is telling them about Salem’s immortality.

Anyway in Not What You Expected Jaune says that the Grimm are nothing compared to the Goa’uld, but I’m not so sure, Salem has actual magic AND she is unkillable; of course Jaune doesn’t know that. In any case Remnant and Earth form an alliance to collaborate, and fight the Goa’uld and the Grimm (and Salem once people realize she’s a problem).

You know, now I think about it; however Remnant and Earth came in contact doesn’t matter as much as I’d thought. In all cases they form an alliance, scientists back on Earth loose their minds at Aura and Semblances and they will figure out how the hell that works; Faunus are less interesting, but genetic testing will happen to understand how they work and how came to be (”God made you” is not good enough, in our experience Gods are fakers); Dust will be analyzed and potential exchanges are set up. And of course everyone in Remnant will be more than happy to help fight evil parasites taking over the Galaxy (everyone except Ozpin who has other priorities).

Anyway, the story I would probably write is that SCG gets to Remnant’s address; Teal’c notes that the System Lords warn about this planet (one fic says it’s monsters of the dark of the soul, so maybe something like that “Here be Dragons” and shit), but they get to Remnant and they’re attacked by Grimm and rescued by hunters, let’s say Team JNPR to spice things up, and they get taken to Ozpin (questions are asked, why the principal of a school is like world leader); then discussions happen, questions about Aura and Dust and Grimm and that girl has rabbit ears are asked, and eventually an alliance is settled, technology and resources are to be exchanged, and Remnant will help Earth fight evil alien conquerors.

Now the interesting thing is that Ozpin is mysterious; I mean, he’s always mysterious, but when the discussion turns to the Goa’uld you get the feeling he knows something. Well, I gotta notice that Ozpin knows the Grimm have a master, but the public doesn’t and neither does SCG, so he’s mysterious on that regard (Jack doesn’t trust him) but he’s more mysterious, and if you’re thinking “Ozpin has been around for ever, maybe he’s met the Goa’uld before” your are absolutely right. Okay, this is the idea I have: the Goa’uld first came to Remnant during the time where Ozgiliath (Ozma 2.0) and Salem were together pretending to be gods; so we get a group of fake gods going against 2 fake gods with actual magical powers (and one of them is actually unkillable), Salem and Ozgiliath kick the Goa’uld butts and they run away (I imagine monsters who are attracted to negative feelings and people who are being slaved don’t make a good combination). So Ozpin knows the Goa’uld and maybe has a personal problem with some of them *coughBa’alcough*, but he’s not gonna tell anyone that (certainly not the part about pretending to be a god to people fighting people pretending to be gods).

Next, have you considered there’s parallels between Oz and the Goa’uld? First, aside from that little stint with Salem, we know Oz has been worshiped in the past, you know the Infinite Man story; and he is one entity moving from host to host. I am firm in the belief that Oz is nothing like the Goa’uld, but Ozpin is not so much; you know that some of his hosts have called him a parasite, he himself has wondered if he is in fact a parasite; god, the backstory I give to Ozpin presents him as having been radically altered by becoming a host of the Oz entity, that’s perfect for him to be “Am I me or am I Oz? Did I became Oz or did Oz replaced me? Who am I?” Ba’al is gonna have such a good time taunting Ozpin about this. I’ve decided Ba’al was in Remnant before and he remembers Ozgiliath, when he meets Ozpin he’s like “It’s really you Ozma, you have a new host too”; and when Oscar comes around it’s gonna be even worse because Oscar is afraid of ceasing to exist due to the Merge (I love Ba’al so much).

Another thing that is definitively happening is that Oscar (or Ozpin, but it’s funnier with Oscar) is gonna beat up a Goa’uld in front of their entire following, and the following is gonna be like “Our God has been defeated by this other god*, he must worship him now” and Ozpin in Oscar’s head is gonna be like “Not Again!”

*By the time this happens word has spread that Oz is a God, because he was pretending to be one, way back when.

So I don’t have a full plot yet, but so far I got that not too long after an alliance between Earth and Remnant is established; SGC looses contact with Remnant, about one year later Atlas reestablishes contact (Ironwood took the Stargate to Atlas) and it’s like “everything’s gone wrong! Beacon has fallen, Ozpin is dead, the Grimm are out of control. Help please”; and I don’t know what season of SG1 would be, so I don’t know if SCG would be “we’ll try but we’re in crisis” or “we’re in crisis, we really can’t give much help right now” (SGC is always in crisis), either way SG-1 is gonna end up in Remnant to meet Team Qrow. I want SG-1 to meet Oscar so much, because people having some kind of telepathic ability that gives them powers is one thing, reincarnation is another; Jack is gonna deny it, Sam and Daniel are gonna ask questions, and Teal’c is gonna assume he’s like the Tok’ra.

Also I’m considering Salem allying herself with the Goa’uld. I like to think she’d use them to wreck havoc; and as previously mentioned, she’s actually immortal and has magic; she can probably appear as a more powerful goddess and it’s better to be on her good side (she did definitively killed one or two System Lords); this could cause problems if the people start worshiping her above their System Lords, but we’ll see how things play out. Also I like to think that when faced with whoever, she’s like “You? A God? I’ve fought the Gods, you’re no god” (Ozpin has a similar interaction with Ba’al, where Ba’al calls him a god and Ozpin is like “I’m not a god, and neither are you. You’re just a parasite with delusions of grandeur”)

I’m fairly sure this is leading to a big ass fight in the sky over Remnant; the Gods, probably some kind of ascended being, play a part (and they’re jerks).

Oh and one more thing, humanity 1.0 are probably Ancients, which is how they can use magic; humanity 2.0 I’m not sure where it come from, but I could see them being Earth humans, although I’d have to check the timeline to the Goa’uld being on Remnant (I mean, they can come twice)

CONSEQUENCES | CHAPTER TWELVE | LEGACIES/THE ORIGINALS

BOOK THREE IN THE SIDE CHARACTER/LILAH SERIES

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4TH OF J U L Y S A L V A T O R E S C H O O L

Landon was outside, trying to set up an outdoor movie session with Rafael. With his best friend in wolf form and no idea how to bring him back to normal, he just wanted to be able to make him as comfortable as possible. And that meant trying to make him a wolf den.

"So, I should probably tell you I moved rooms last month. Ours was getting painted, and I figured I'd move back in once you were, you know, you again," Landon said. "But if for any reason you become you while I'm out, like looking for ways to help you become you, I just didn't want you to go back and see that I wasn't in our room anymore and think that I bailed on you because I would never do that obviously. I also brought the photos of that mystery girl I told you about into the new room with me so the painters don't... yanno, mess them up."

Rafael approached, growling. Landon wondered what Rafael would say about the girl in the photos. He noticed that in the ones they had with her, he had a certain look on his face that Landon hadn't seen in a while. Not since Cassie. He wondered if there was perhaps something that had gone on between them, and if there was, he was sad that his best friend may never remember.

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"No matter what path I go down, it seems like a dead end. I mean, there were at least two other people with Landon the night Malivore was destroyed," Alaric said as he walked around town square with his daughter, standing behind people holding things to decorate for the holiday. "They left fibers, footprints, hair. I just don't know who they were."

"Maybe one of them is Lilah," Josie suggested. "She had to go somewhere, and if none of us remember her, the only logical explanation is into Malivore. And that's just the point of Malivore, if someone went into the pit, they'd be erased from our memories."

"Yeah, well, that's what's haunting me," Alaric replied. "Who've we forgotten? There was two others there. It can't just be this Lilah girl."

"It couldn't have been anybody we've known. There'd be keepsakes, photos, an empty bed somewhere. We only have Lilah's, so if someone else went into that pit with her, it's not someone we knew," Josie shrugged.

"Well, whoever they were, they were important to somebody."

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N E W

O R L E A N S

"Why is she running around and decorating the Abbatoir?" Rebekah muttered, watching as Lorelle went around the Mikaelson compound with Fourth of July decorations. "She doesn't even know that America is like, she's been dead for over a thousand years."

"Maybe she's feeling a bit patriotic," shrugged Marcel, grabbing her hands and bringing them closer to him as they sat on the couch. "Rebekah, I know you've been missing your brothers lately, and I understand you're upset with Lilah for not telling us about her identity sooner, but she's your family, babe. You guys already spent a thousand years without your niece, and now you want to spend more?"

"What does my frustration with my brother's daughter have to do with her mother running amongst decorating?"

"I think it's cute," Kol stated, making his presence in the room known as he walked over to the couch, placing his hands on the back of it. "It's Lorie's first holiday with her daughter. Maybe let her enjoy it."

"Perhaps we figure out how the mummy came back from the dead, and then we can deal with her being a mommy to Lilah."

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"I just can't get over the fact that he's your dad," Josh said, leaning against their kitchen counter munching away on a bag of chips while Lilah cleaned the table. "This is a bigger surprise than the look on your face when you found out I was gay."

"Let it go, Josh!" Lilah yelled with laughter, sending a playful glare his way.

He shrugged, "I'm just saying. You went from Lilah Desmarais, mysterious, small, and badass to Lilah Mikaelson, deadly, unkillable, and in love within the matter of weeks."

"I am not in love!" Lilah denied, placing her hands on her hips.

Josh rolled his eyes.

"Normally, you and I spend practically every waking moment together, either here or at Rousseau's. Since you've met Roman, we've hired him to work with us, and when you're not with me, you're spending time with Mommy dearest or Mr. Mystery Blond," Josh said, pulling out facts to hit his best friend with. "Lilah, we hired him because you two wanted to spend more time together. You can't tell me that's not you being in love."

"It's been a month and a half! I only want to be around him so much because his presence helps me unlock the weird deja vu feeling I get, like there's things I need to remember,"

"Time doesn't tell what love is and isn't, and the fact that he's the key to you're weird funk might just prove my point even further," shrugged Josh.

Lilah threw the rag she was using to clean up the table at him, accidentally knocking his bag of chips out of his hand. He stood there with his jaw wide open, looking at her like she had killed someone. She shrugged, walking out of the room.

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Lilah got to the Mikaelson compound, seeing red white and blue streamers and decorations everywhere.

"Lilah, be a dear and help me with this."

She was surprised when she saw Rebekah putting up decorations, but what really threw her was that Rebekah was speaking to her. Since her revelation about who her dad was, the relationship she had with the blonde was strained. She had been one of her best friends prior, and perhaps that's why it hurt so much. Rebekah hated when secrets were kept from her, especially since when she was rolling with just Klaus and Elijah, she would be kept out of the loop a lot.

Lilah walked over, helping her aunt put up some balloons.

"What is all of this?" Lilah asked.

"Your mother wanted to put on a little party," Rebekah explained, looking at her niece for the first time in forever. "And I'm not the type to turn one down. Especially not when it's in the honor of my family."

Lilah turned her head to the side, confused. It did touch her heart that Rebekah was finally acknowledging her, though.

"She wants everything to be extravagant. She gets to experience her firsts with her daughter, who's grown into a fine young lady," Rebekah said, before sassily adding, "Who obtained her auntie's horrible taste in men."

"I heard that," Marcel said from the balcony, where he was hanging up some more balloons.

"Good!" Rebekah called back. She turned back to her niece, "Thinking of poor taste in men, go invite that hot vampire of yours."

"You mean the one you practically threw in a dungeon?"

"We don't have a dungeon," Rebekah replied. "Though... not turning down the suggestion to make one."

"That was not a suggestion!"

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       New Orleans during any kind of holiday seemed like a dream. The excitement, the music, the people, and the liquor. Lilah stood on the roof, faint music playing in the background. She had a drink in her head, onlooking the city her father helped build with the help of her uncle, aunt, and Marcel—who no matter what title Lilah gave him, it sounded weird considering he was married to her aunt.

The sun was well set, which only meant that the fireworks would be starting soon. Lilah reflected on her life, how she should've felt like she was on top of the world. But the brunette could've shake the feeling that this was all fake, that she was living a lie. She was unsure why or how, but she had the strangest feeling that this wasn't the life she was meant to live.

Someone stepped onto the balcony, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Roman. He smiled at her, walking over and wrapping an arm around her waist. The two of them hadn't talked about what they were, whether they wanted to be exclusive or anything like that. Lilah kept brushing it off to Josh that they were just having fun. She knew that when fall came around, he'd go back to work, leaving New Orleans and herself behind.

But it was nice. It was nice to feel good to be wrapped in someone else's arms. She couldn't remember the last time she let herself feel something so all consuming. She denied it though, denied that her knees buckled every time the curly haired boy looked in her direction.

She denied that her dead heart fluttered when he kissed her.

She denied that it almost made her want to cry when she thought about how his departure was inevitable.

She denied that it felt wrong almost, to love someone who played even the most minor of roles in the death of Hayley Marshall.

She denied that he made her feel almost the same way Stefan once did.

She was a lot like Elijah in that way. He was big on how true love was hard to find, something he himself believed to have only found three times in his life. For his daughter, however, she could only think of one instance where she had been in love, and with her new predicament, she felt that this might just turn into the second time.

She really was a little miniature version of Elijah, whether or not he raised her.

She heard the small hum of something being shot through the sky, both of them turning their heads to the sky. People started to pour out of the compound or go onto the balcony alongside them, the sound of the party coming outside. Lilah and Roman moved to the corner together, watching as the sky lit up in beautiful colors.

She couldn't help but hold onto his hands that were on her waist or lean back into him with a giggle. She moved her arm so that one of them was around his shoulder, and he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Happy Fourth of July," he said to her.

"It's been a pretty epic summer," she said back, smiling ear to ear.

Seeing his wide smile and dazed eyes, she knew that denying it would only get her so far.

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A U G U S T

S A L V A T O R ES C H O O L

"Songwriting, stop," Lizzie said dramatically. "I can't take it anymore. Somewhere in Belgium, Penelope Park's black heart just exploded."

Josie gave her twin a look.

"You and Gizmo the Gremlin?" continued Lizzie, not letting up on her disgust about her sister and Landon.

"Actually, Gizmo's a Mogwai," responded Josie.

"Oh, God. He's got you speaking nerd!"

"Relax, we're just friends."

"You are not friends! You're a montage," pointed out Lizzie.

"It's been... fun," explained the brunette. "It's been like, actual fun."

"You know what's actual-actual fun? Mom and I taking the speed train to Rome for the weekend. So get your ass across the pond! Stop worrying about Dad, and stop worrying about whoever Lilah used to be—"

"Love you," Josie said, and Lizzie gasped and Josie practically press the end button of their witchy video-call.

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Josie and Landon looked all over the woods and the building out there, but they couldn't find Rafael anywhere. Josie and Landon continued to get closer, slowly falling for one another. Despite Rafael going missing, Landon and Josie talked about what things made them happy-ish.

Outside of the school, Dorian William's almost runs over a girl. She plays off how she knew Dorian, and acts like she's going to be on her way. She goes back into the school, knowing the gate code, feeling happy to finally be the place she called home, a place she had been longing for for who-knows-how-long.

She just wasn't expecting to come back looking for her best friends and her boyfriend, to see that they both moved on without her. That the people she loved would just fill in the gap she left when they can no longer remember her.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

TAGLIST

@akshi8278

it's come to my attention that you guys don't like lorelle... LMAOO. elijah was never the type to have good taste in women (the exception of hayley) i mean... celeste??? katherine??? LOL

also, i've talked about this before since others have commented about it before, but writing a book about lilah in the vampire diaries?? i've been thinking about it a lot lately, and perhaps i love the idea because i can't let go of lilah. i mean, she's my baby. she's the first character/first book where people totally fell in love with my writing, where people have stuck with me. so, on the topic of lilah desmarais/mikaelson having a series in the vampire diaries? yes, i want to write it.

it would be a bit of an 'au' i guess. nothing about that book/series will have anything to do with lilah's storyline here, since this timeline never has lilah go be in mystic falls until the salvatore school. the only thing that would be the same is who her family is, her backstory, her friendship with katherine.

i'm thinking of writing this series as a "spin-off" but that then prompts the question: what about with the mikaelson's leave mystic falls and goes to new orleans? lilah will get to choose between staying in mystic falls or going with her family. i am excited to start this spin off. it'll still technically be "book 4" of the SIDE CHARACTER CHRONICLES, but i may write this book and book 4 at the same time.

the names i want for book one is currently:

IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES

DISCUSSION BOARD!!

· did anyone actually read the book plot i just ranted about?

· time skipped through july and august, and now hope is out! it does take them a while to remember hope, but... what happens when roman goes back to work?

· i absolutely loved writing the lilah and roman fireworks scene

· everyone's opinions on lorelle?

· opinions on rebekah and lilah's relationship

Behind the scenes: Witch!MC - Shingen & Kenshin

Wowiee, there’s a bit to unpack this time, so let’s jump right into it.

Where do I even begin? The same way as with Masamune& Nobunaga or Mitsuhide&Ieyasu, the stories are tied together. This time, by the powers of the respective MCs.

If we were to reduce them to the bare core, both abilities can be described as healing. However, the recipient of the treatment is what sets them apart. While Shigen’s MC heals herself (takes away from the others), the gift of Kenshin’s MC is focused mainly on healing others (she heals herself, but she does not take from anybody; giving rather than taking). Another part that somewhat ties them together is that the huge turn in their life happens when they’re both fifteen years old.

That being said, both of those skills are extremely unbalanced, even in a fantasy setting - a person that can heal seemingly unlimited number of people? That’s overpowered. A person that could potentially act as path,  that could transfer life from one person to another, while not suffering any consequences (at least based on our current knowledge)? You see where I’m going, these two could grant one side an unbelievable advantage over the other - or, conversly, be a sort of curse. In other words, the stories had to have a somewhat bitter-sweet end to themselves, as I doubt these women could ever  just be around. They’d either have to isolate themselves, hide or rise to power on their own to avoid the cruel fate of being used.  (Which Shingen’s MC did, but to that in a second).

What’s the ability of the MC in Shingen’s story?

She can heal herself. To what extent is unknown, but it’s enough to ward off any disease. However, that comes with a price, a price paid by the people around her - namely, they will get ill and, if she isn’t removed, will die eventually. Of course, they don’t feel the effects of her “curse” instantly.

Okay, doesn’t the opinion of her change a bit too fast? Why does it change at all?

Let’s establish some things - her curse has a lasting effect on the people around her once they’re exposed to it for a long period of time. However, that could be just because she takes from the same humans over and over again. Working as a prostitute, who is somewhat removed from her co-workers, she meets her clients just briefly, then possibly not seeing them for days on end. She still has the power to heal herself, but the price is dispersed among many individuals, hence rendered minuscule. She can ward off any disease, that includes STDs - no matter who she had sex with, the next client was safe. Nobody around her died anymore and so, the opinion of her changed rather dramatically. 

Wait, wait, but she does spend some time with her clients.

Some is a good word. How often could they afford to come back to see her? Probably not everyday. + She is not an oiran. She doesn’t usually entertain others. Shingen was the only exception to that, as he paid for her time, but didn’t use any of her services - in other words, it was very unusual.

Wouldn’t that mean that she can kill Shingen even faster?

Yes. And after some time, she becomes aware of that, although it’s all just her speculations. Once she realises they spend too much time together, she feels guilty - when he doesn’t come, she’s relieved. Once he does, she tries to push him away. 

Why does he even... Why does she... WHAT? That doesn’t make any senseee.

Well, for her part: he brought back the sense of personhood she had long abandoned. Now, let me stress it - it is not because of the nature of her work, but because of the circumstances that surrounded it. It was her last resort. She can’t form any meaningful relationships, for she may kill the other person. She’s lonely and ultimately, somewhat reduced to just her physical self. She’s used to being thrown away, to feeling inferior and redundant. She’s valued, but only briefly, everything she does feels superficial at best. Yet, with him it’s different. He talks with her. They share meals. Yes, they do have sex on his first visit, but let’s notice one thing - he wants to know her name, while she was nameless for most of the time. She’s slowly falling for him all this time and arguably, the next time they do it, she doesn’t do it just because she’s paid to. 

They’d talk and eat together, as if the exchange of pleasure wasn’t what tied them to each other, almost as if they weren’t just playing out their roles, her room being a safe heaven of sorts.

It’s confusing to her! It feels real, unlike anything before.  As for Shingen... We don’t know. Perhaps he knew of her origins even before he got there. Perhaps she intrigued him, perhaps she was his break from the reality and then, he started to fall for her too - who knows? I don’t. 

Why does he even take her back with... WHAT? HE CAN DIE.

Well, Shingen suspects he doesn’t have much time left, doesn’t he? So it wasn’t that much of a difference either way. He didn’t care about her curse. She, on the other hand, was determined to save him, to somehow teach herself how to reverse the effects of her ability. It isn’t exactly a definite happy ending, but they still have time, they will do everything to succeed. 

Now, to Kenshin’s MC!

What’s her ability?

To their knowledge, she’s either immortal or next to immortal - although it would probably be better to call her unkillable, as she does age. All her injuries heal in record time. Moreover, her blood temporarily boosts the regeneration ability of the people that drank it. In other words, she’s able to save anybody with it, hence the rumors of “the woman with the blood of eternal life”.  However, she does feel pain of the injury, the regeneration itself being unpleasant at best.

She acts weird. What is wrong with her?

Well, her story is tragic. Leaving the death of her parents aside, she was stripped of her sense of humanity. Nobody cared whether she was hurting, whether she could still feel the pain - she was experimented on and then, exploited for her blood. That had a lasting impact on her.  She feels more like a tool than a human, she feels powerless - all of her escape attempts were futile. For years on end, she just changed the owner, her situation always being the same.  Although her power is great, she feels like more of a vessel for it than a wielder. She was unable to ever save a single person dear to her. The sense of guilt, the shame, helplessness - they all cloud her reason. She is, by all standards, not okay, the scenes sometimes repaying themselves in her mind.  Remember, she experiences pain. That must be extremely traumatising. 

Why would Kenshin ever fall for somebody like her??? It’s too sudden, they don’t even talk???

I think that she, at first, somewhat reminds him of Ishehime - she’s another woman hurt by those more powerful than her. He pities her, as she seems burdened. As such, initially he just wants to be fair to her, maybe to hide her under his protection. Maybe this time he wants the story to have a different ending - who knows.  Kenshin is capable of empathy. He’s smart - he had most probably heard the rumors of a woman with that certain kind of ability. Upon seeing her, he could just speculate whether she was that person indeed, yet once the servant brought her before him, he had no doubts anymore. I suppose he’d feel disgust towards any and all people who exploited her previously. He’d send her away, if he could - but she’s helpless. But she tried to get better. She was getting better. So, instead, he appoints her as the primary caretaker of the bunnies - because again, the people in the castle could hurt her. I suppose that seeing her could be painful to him as well, that he wouldn’t be exactly consciously aware of his decision to protect her until after they’ve chatted and spent more time together.  Then, however, he’s still aware of her being brittle. His feelings have the ugly, possessive undertones - so, he keeps his distance. He only lets those thoughts take the better of him once they’re under attack.

She on the other hand... She sensed he was compassionate and kind. They experience some of the similar fears. I wouldn’t say she deems him her savior - the people were nice to her in general, although somewhat suspicious at times. She might have lacked the sense of belonging just yet, but regained her humanity. She didn’t want to become the “healer” anymore nor she was expected to - and so, she tried to get better. I’d say that it was only after they’ve talked (the bunnies all around them) that she realised she actually felt something towards him. Perhaps she has considered him to be similar to her - that I do not know.

It’s all speculations, they don’t even have any sort of attachment to each other. At least not Kenshin.

That’s probably because neither of them are really in a place to be sweet to each other quite yet. They’re both afraid of the very same thing, without realising it - they fear the fact they may not be able to protect the person. And it shows rather differently. Kenshin locks her away, while he himself opposes a crushing force.  She? She acts regardless of her well-being. Remember, she is not okay. She’s insecure and used to being objectified, to the point where she sometimes sees herself as a tool. So, she hurts herself, disregarding all pain, just to quiet the worries in her mind. She didn’t know it would happen, yet it did. Kenshin’s worry for her shows when he stops her from further hurting herself. He asks her to run, accepting the fact that he couldn’t have protected yet another person. He isn’t aware of her feeling the same in that very moment. However, his actions remind her of the fact that she’s a human - I’d say it made her want to save him all the more. 

How did... Okay, how did the bite thing go?

I’d say that she took control of her power, at least somewhat. She disobeys him, despite technically not being equal to him. Simultaneously, she reminds Kenshin that she won’t leave him. He asks her to never even think of doing something of the like ever again - because he doesn’t want her to hurt herself for his sake.  I’d say they both went through some sort of crisis there? Possibly so? They still aren’t quite fine, but they certainly got some things sorted out. Again, the ending isn’t exactly sweet - however, they may be better in the future. Two things are certain: she will not die and leave him alone, while he won’t ever use her as a tool.

No army could stand against Kenshin.

Love, I went ahead with Rimworld logic - if you spawn enough enemies, even squirrels can take over your base. 

That injury on Kenshin was lame.

You know, kinda. It’s a bit of lazy writing on my part. But hey, MC doesn’t know a thing about medicine and is panicked - all she sees is blood. So I guess it’s kiiiiiiinda passable? Kinda?

Gash, Kenshin is so hard to write well. I really may redo this one day, as I’m not sure I got him quite right.

Anyone else familiar with the Chronicles of Amber? Its one of my earliest and favorite series of books, and I’ve been rereading it recently and LOLing at how I never before connected my fondness for it with my fondness for the Batfamily. The royal family of Amber is pretty much the only family in fiction that’s consistently more dysfunctional than the Batfamily.....occasional murder attempts by siblings who then go on to get over it and become BFFs included. Only they’re more like the Batfamily at their most dysfunctional....then taken and dialed up to eleven hundred, lmfao. 

Ugh, I kinda love these immortal, fucked up reality-walking sorcerers and their constant scheming and backstabbing and shifting alliances, not always just because they’re all vying for the throne or backing different siblings who are vying for the throne, but also just sometimes because their dad loved so and so more than them.

Plus, unlike with Bruce, where there’s at least competing takes on whether or not he’s a total bastard and responsible for much of the division within his own family, with the Chronicles of Amber, that’s not really a factor. There’s not really an alternative take to “Oberon was a fucking bastard and responsible for much of the division within his own family, so fuck that guy.”

I kinda want to expand on this and the Amber family tree and which of them are like which Batfam members and why, but I don’t know if that would mean anything to anyone lol, because I honestly don’t know how familiar people are with this series.

(LOL, I’m currently cackling because I just got to a part I’d tooooootally forgotten about, where Flora pulls a fucking hand grenade out of her purse and hands it to her nephew Merlin, who looks at her like ‘wtf’? Now, Flora is one of the youngest members of Corwin’s generation - Corwin being Merlin’s father and the narrator of the first five books - although that still means Flora is probably about a thousand years old herself. But she tends to be regarded by most of her siblings and people in general as just the vapid, air-headed ‘beauty’ of the family who mostly is just concerned with having a good time, living a lavish lifestyle, and enjoying herself. She tends to always end up on the winning side of her siblings’ various power struggles though, because she’s got a keen sense of feeling where the wind is blowing and allying herself accordingly - she doesn’t have much interest in vying for the same kind of power most of her siblings are always after, she just likes to be comfortable and prefers to back whomever she thinks having in charge will let her remain the most comfortable, allowing her to live her life the way she enjoys and fuck everything else, pretty much. Anyway, the thing to remember about this family is they’re all immortal and basically superhuman, and most of them are experts at all kinds of weapons and fighting styles, not to mention sorcerers and practitioners of various magical arts. Then here you’ve got ‘ditzy, air-headed party girl Flora’.....and she just fucking pulls a fucking hand grenade out of her purse and hands it to her nephew. And when he’s like wtf, why do you even have that? Her response? LOLOLOL. She just shrugs and says "Sweetie, in all the centuries I’ve been alive, I’ve yet to face a problem where I didn’t think ‘this wouldn’t be a problem if I just had a hand grenade.’ And so, I just make sure I always have a hand grenade on me somewhere.” And that’s Flora for you, in a nutshell. LMFAO).

Anyway.

Basic premise of the series is that in the beginning, there was one world and one world only, a confusing, shifting place of dizzying physics and magic called the Courts of Chaos, the creation of one of the two prime figures of the universe - the Serpent, whose opposing counterpart is the Unicorn. The one representing chaos, the other order. Though an important distinction is that they’re not meant to be God and the Devil, or any form of Good vs Evil....just Order vs Chaos. And sometimes Order is a tyrannical fucking asshole, and sometimes Chaos is in the mood to be helpful and kind. Its all relative and always changing.

At a certain point long ago, a member of one of the ancient royal houses of Chaos, Dworkin Baromin, came into contact with the Unicorn and its notions and representation of Order, a previously unconsidered opposite to the Chaos that before that was all Dworkin or anyone else had ever known. With the Unicorn’s backing, Dworkin left the Courts of Chaos and went as far away from it as he could, and then using a combination of his own sorcery and things the Unicorn taught him, Dworkin created a magical labyrinth called the Pattern, a sorcerous construct through which he imposed Order upon the shapeless, formless Chaos around him, and created a whole new world called Amber - though Amber for the most part consists just of its titular city and its surrounding environment. Its not a world in the traditional sense, more just that there’s not really anything else to call it, since like the Courts of Chaos it kinda just....exists unto itself.

But for reasons known only to the Serpent and the Unicorn, with not even the greatest minds of Amber or the Courts ever truly understanding the mechanics of how or why this happened.....in the act of drawing the Pattern, creating Order out of Chaos, Dworkin also incited the creation of an infinite number of other universes that within the series are called ‘Shadows’ by the royals of both Amber and the Courts, because these infinite universes are all said to be the shadows cast by the world of Amber when it came into being.....they’re all the worlds Amber COULD have been, all the forms of Order it COULD have taken, rather than the specific shape it took from the endless potential held within the Chaos it was formed from. And all these other universes are real, they exist, but the royals of Amber and the Courts tend to consider them.....largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Ever since the Pattern’s creation, Dworkin’s descendants aka the royal family of Amber, and the nobility of the Courts have been locked in an eternal, never-ending power struggle between Order and Chaos, each vying to become the dominant force in the cosmos once and for all. The Courts want to eliminate their counterpart and undo what Dworkin wrought, return things to what they’d been before Dworkin ‘betrayed them,’ and Amber wants to....well, okay, the royal family of Amber tend to be the central figures of the series as it follows first Corwin’s and then Merlin’s adventures, so its most accurate to say that there’s very little consistency to what ‘they’ want overall, lol.

Anyway, all of that was countless millennia ago, at least as far as Amber is concerned, because time runs differently in Amber, the Courts and across all Shadows. Each universe runs according to its own clock. So for instance, Earth and ‘our’ universe exists and is considered to be one of these Shadows......even though this universe is billions of years old. In Amber time, it hasn’t been anywhere close to billions of years since Dworkin first drew the Pattern....untold millennia, its said, but even the royal family acknowledges that time is a fickle thing from universe to universe. Which is part of why they don’t consider themselves or the Courts’ royals to be gods, the creators of all universes....that’s kinda what I meant when I said they consider the infinite other universes to be largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Its not that they don’t matter, or that they don’t tend to spend a lot of time in various of these Shadows, its more that like.....according to their own history and mythology, all these universes came into being in large part BECAUSE of their family, Dworkin, the Pattern....but other than that, their creation and existence has very little to actually DO with them. It was....a side-effect, that wasn’t really either expected, wanted, or understood, so its just....one of those things that just is the way it is. They consider their family to be the creators of Amber, and thus their ‘divine mandate’ to rule it......it is what Dworkin intended it to be, the Order he pictured when he drew it out of Chaos. Everything else.....is nothing to do with what he intended to create, so as much as their own history claims its because of them, they don’t tend to be that interested in CLAIMING any of these other universes as like, theirs, or their creations.

BUT one power unique to the royal family of Amber and the nobility of the Courts, is that they can Shadow-walk......they can move between these various universes as easily as just walking from one place to the next. They’re reality walkers....upon reaching adulthood, each of Dworkin’s descendants do something called ‘walking the Pattern,’ like physically make their way across the Pattern he inscribed in a labyrinth he later built the palace atop of....and only his descendants can actually walk the Pattern and live. Others usually die in the attempt. But upon reaching the center of the Pattern, something about the act of walking it and ‘attuning’ themselves to it, then forever grants that person the ability to move freely from one universe to the next. The Courts have their own version of the Pattern - though a twisting, chaotic kind of maze unlike its clear form - they call the Logrus, and it empowers them to walk through Shadows the same way as the Amberites do.

So all of that began untold time before the beginning of the series, because the royal bloodlines of both Amber and the Courts are immortal in the sense that they can be killed, are as vulnerable to that as anyone - well aside from power and skills they draw from their various forms of sorcery, derived from the Primal Pattern of Order and its opposite number, the Logrus of Chaos - so they’re not unkillable, but unless they’re killed, they can pretty much live forever. They don’t age past adulthood, don’t get sick and are superhumanly strong to various and largely undescribed degrees - like Corwin in one book kinda effortlessly throws a car while he’s on Earth, and he’s not surprised to be able to do this and is pretty matter-of-fact about it, but so matter-of-fact, that such feats are kinda rarely mentioned, not really a big deal to the characters so not something they focus on as much as their actual fighting prowess or sorcery. 

Most of the main characters are all said to be centuries old even by their own universe’s timetable, and members of their previous generations are millennia old. So ages past, Dworkin made the Pattern, founded Amber and eventually disappeared and was succeeded by his son Oberon, who is in turn the father of the current Royal Family. And Oberon, in the thousands of years he ruled Amber before HE mysteriously disappeared, not long before the start of the first book, with his disappearance being what sparks the major plotlines, such as the war of succession that breaks out after he’s gone.....well like I said, he’s kinda a douche. No two ways about. Most of his kids hate him but also like....were desperate for his love and approval too, when he deigned to dole it out. 

But a huge part of why there even WAS a war of succession is that well.....dude was a douche, and did NOT make it easy to follow a chain of succession and decide who should take the throne after him. Probably because he half expected it to never matter, as he intended to live forever, lol. But it complicated things considerably in his absence, considering that he’s said to have had 47 kids, though most are never named or mentioned in the series. In fact, Corwin, the narrator of the first five books, mentions that he’s only ever even known of fifteen brothers and eight sisters, with six of those brothers and four of those sisters either dead or missing or disappeared to go live in some distant Shadow centuries ago. The other twenty or so kids Oberon had were likely the products of affairs that he at least knew about and kept some kind of eye on, but only twenty-four of his kids were ever actually claimed by him.

Course, remember the immortality thing.....its not like Oberon had 47 kids all within just a normal human lifetime and with just a handful of partners.....we’re talking about 47 kids spread out over several thousand years, with the thirteen currently known and living members of the royal family as of Oberon’s disappearance all having been born within a span of at least two thousand years. One of the pretty interesting things about the family’s dynamics IMO was the fact that like.....none of them ever referred to each other as anything other than just siblings, even though technically many of them are half-siblings, with different mothers. Given that only Dworkin’s descendants and the royal bloodlines of the Courts he originally came from are actually immortal, most of the women Oberon married or had affairs with were mortal, with normal human lifespans. 

So the interesting part about this is that within the thirteen members of Corwin’s generation that he interacts with most......they’re not really all that focused on the fact that many of them are technically half-siblings BUT most of them tend to be closest with the ones who are their full siblings, and share the same mother. However, this doesn’t always or even usually tend to be because they consider any of their other siblings any LESS their brother and sister, just because they have a different mother.....its more an age thing. The siblings with the same mothers all tended to be born relatively close together, whereas some of their other siblings were already centuries old and off doing their own thing before they were born. So the ones born of the same mothers usually were the one who actually grew up together....and then they only really got to know and started interacted with their much older siblings once they were adults themselves.....in turn, the same being true of their much younger siblings interacting with them only once they reached adulthood, often centuries later.

And this family is just so. So. Petty as fuck. LMFAO. And they all get it from their dad.

Like, the oldest living child of Oberon is Benedict, his eldest son by his first wife Cymnea. Which would make him the clear heir to the throne, except well. Oberon was a douche. At some point, the two younger sons he had with Cymnea, Osric and Finndo, conspired to take the throne from him most likely due to his Douchery, and Oberon sent them to the front-lines of a war from which they conveniently never returned. Which needless to say, caused problems between him and Cymnea.....to which Oberon’s galaxy brain response was to not just divorce her.....but also to declare his marriage to her entirely null and void....which retroactively erased Benedict’s claim to the throne and made him technically illegitimate.

And this wouldn’t really be a problem, because while Benedict is stern, humorless and pretty much just obsessed with honing himself into the greatest swordsmaster and tactician that ever lived in any universe....he’s also unfailingly fair, and pretty much the ONLY member of the family that ALL his siblings like enough that they’d agree to respect his claim to the throne if he wanted it. Except....he doesn’t. At all. He hates politics and thinks all of that is bullshit and usually just fucks off to various shadows to emerge as some mysterious war leader fighting for the little guy, only coming back to Amber when there’s some family crisis or they’re in a war themselves, because Benedict might hate their bullshit, but above all else he is a Dutiful Son and he always Does the Right Thing, no matter how he feels about it. So....they call, he shows up. Usually in a perpetually sour mood, but whatever, he’s there, who does he need to fight.

He’s said to only have ever been in love once, with the only person to ever defeat him in battle....Lintra the Hell-Maid, a warrior princess of one of the Courts of Chaos’ noble houses. They had a brief romance during one of the few cessations in hostility between the Courts and Amber, but then conflict resumed and they both sided with their families....and faced each other in battle again. And this time, Benedict won, and killed her in their battle, though not before she cut off his right arm. Various siblings have over the centuries offered him their aid in using magic or technology to give him a new one but he refuses and just says he’s still a better swordsman with one arm than anyone else is with two. 

Then the next oldest living child is Eric, Oberon’s oldest son with his second wife, Faielle. Which would make Eric the legitimate heir, except for one little problem: Oberon was a douchebag. Because although he did end up marrying Faielle, he had an affair with her before he actually divorced Cymnea, which Eric was a product of. So Eric is the oldest son of Oberon’s first lawful wife, after he declared his marriage with Cymnea retroactively null....it just doesn’t matter, because he’s technically not legitimate because he was born before his parents’ legitimately married. Which means that Eric’s younger full brother Corwin, born after they were married, is technically the oldest living child with a fully uncontested legitimate claim to the throne. Which Eric HATES him for. And Corwin hates him for, well, being hated since he was born.

And Eric can kinda be a prick, but he’s pretty decent in most regards which means he’s fairly well-liked and respected by the rest of their siblings.....except for those who like Corwin more, because although for most of his early life, Corwin was legendarily reckless and irresponsible, he was well....a lot more likable in most peoples’ eyes than Eric. So they’re incredibly close in age, were raised together, but have hated each other for as long as they’ve been alive. Centuries before the series began, they apparently - or so Eric claims - decided to settle things between them with a duel, once and for all.....and Eric won, with Corwin’s injuries from their duel leaving him in a coma, which he eventually awoke from with brain damage that caused amnesia for a few hundred years. And Eric left him on Earth and asked Flora to keep an eye on him, and like, hilariously doesn’t get why Corwin’s so pissed at him later because he’s like BUT I LEFT YOU ALIVE DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? 

And Corwin’s like....uh....not really bruh. And Eric’s like “Ugh, I just can’t win. I didn’t even KILL you because you’re my BROTHER, and yet Dad and everyone else all just assumed I killed you anyway, what the fuck is up with that?” And Corwin’s just like gee, I can’t imagine why anyone would doubt you when you said we totally agreed to duel to the death but also you totally didn’t kill me, you’re right, that’s so weird. I mean, I guess you could have just told someone where to find me on Earth and then that would have proven you were telling the truth. 

And Eric’s response was like: “Umm, no, because then they would have brought you back to Amber, cured your amnesia, and then you would be back to being my main rival for the crown, whereas you being out of the picture is what let me seize the crown once Dad disappeared? Duh? Like think, little brother, you sound so dumb right now. How hard did I hit you, I thought you were all better now, ugh.”  

LOL. And then Faielle’s youngest child with Oberon was Deirdre, who is known as the most beloved of the royals. Everyone loved Deirdre, pretty much, because Deirdre was caring, no-nonsense, and a terror in battle with her weapon of choice, a battle-axe as big as she was. Basically the only person who didn’t like Deirdre was Eric, and that was really just because she and Corwin were as tight from day one as Eric and Corwin were mortal enemies, like, Corwin’s uncontested favorite sibling, and Eric couldn’t stand that. And Deirdre couldn’t stand Eric, because he hated Corwin, the big brother she adored.

So when Corwin gets his memory back, Deirdre’s the first sibling he actually seeks out. And he’s like “Get in loser. We’re going to Amber to kick King Eric the Assmunch off the throne he STOLE from me like a THIEF. Bring your axe, we’re probably gonna have to kill a whole bunch of people first though cuz you know he’s gonna be a douche about and be like nuh-uh, you can’t have it, its mine. Ugh. Why is he just the worst.”

And Deirdre’s just like “You had me at bring your axe.”

And about a century after Faielle died, Oberon remarried again, a red-head sorceress named Clarissa from a Shadow with their own unique forms of magic. They had three kids, Brand, Fiona and Bleys, who are usually referred to by their siblings as ‘the redheads,’ and they all grew up super close, always likely to take each other’s side before anyone outside their little trio, and the three of them are all accomplished sorcerers, easily the most powerful in the family. And they’ve all been pissed at dear old dad for centuries because his divorce from Clarissa was messy as heeeeeeeeell. Like.....he had his next child, Llewella, while he was still married to Clarissa and cheating on her....and when she got pissed at this, Oberon the douche’s righteous response was “Oh yeah? Well guess what? Even though she’s technically illegitimate, I’m going to formally adopt Llewella as legitimately part of the chain of succession JUST to piss you off even MORE!”

And Clarissa’s kids, the redheads, did NOT like that. Even though ironically, without that move, they probably all would have been inclined to support one of the others’ claims to the throne, that spiting of their mother, even centuries after their mother died, had them so eternally pissed off at their dad that they were like NOPE! Doesn’t matter that we’re way down the chain of succession and don’t even really WANT the damn throne, we want one of us to get it anyway just to make sure that no ‘legitimate’ heir of Dad’s gets it instead, because fuck that dude.

Which led to them all conspiring together to put Brand on the throne, and led to ummm.....Fiona attempting to kill Corwin once or twice as she saw him as the biggest obstacle to Brand getting the throne. Which did not endear her to him. But she is regarded as the smartest and most dangerous of all of them, as well as the best with magic. So after Fiona and Bleys turn on Brand, because they found out he decided that if he was going to try and be king, why not go even bigger and try and destroy the Pattern and draw a new one of his own devising and literally remake the universe in his own image - to which Fiona and Bleys were like, YIKES, when did that become the plan.....

Well, Fiona wasn’t about to work with Eric, whom she found unendurable, so she reluctantly sought out Corwin for his help against Brand instead, as she thought him the lesser of two evils out of those who might actually be somewhat helpful in opposing Brand. And then she was basically like: “Huh. This is so weird. I thought I was going to hate this, but you’re surprisingly likable when I’m not trying to kill you.”

And Corwin was like, gee, you’re swell, Fi.

But its also why Fiona and Corwin’s son Merlin are really close and she becomes his mentor and tutor in all things magic - she has a soft spot for Merlin because she feels bad for how treated him until she sided with him against Brand. And Corwin’s like “I do not know how I feel about this information, but I’m leaning towards I Do Not Care For It.”

And Bleys is like, this charming boisterous guy most people get along with, who is a warrior-sorcerer equally dangerous as a fighter and with magic. And unlike Fiona, he’s always kinda tried to buddy up with Corwin, and acts all hurt whenever Corwin’s like....what are you doing, dude. Eventually, they kinda become close after Fiona and Bleys officially turn on Brand and reveal the conspiracy they’d spent centuries building with him, and Bleys is like see, I don’t get why we couldn’t have been like this all along. Corwin’s just like, I wanna say it has something to do with you not really objecting to Fi’s constant attempts to assassinate me, so the two of you could put our ‘wants to destroy the fucking universe’ brother on the throne instead of me, just to spite Dad, who none of us even like all that much and is probably dead anyway and thus doesn’t actually care.

And Bleys is all: “Uh....I don’t really get what that has to do with anything, but whatever I guess. Let’s have another beer, and maybe start a fight that gets us thrown out of not just this tavern, but the whole city, no, country, no - universe! It’ll be fun!”

Also, Bleys has a tendency to fake his own death a lot. Its kinda a thing. He has Reasons. He thinks. 

And then of course there’s Llewella and Julian, Caine and Gerard and that’s not even getting into Dalt and Coral and the weird bromance rivalry that Merlin and Rinaldo have but I have no idea if anyone is even reading this and have run out of energy slash focus sooooo lol. The end.

this next gift is for my friend jay! who is no longer on tumblr (the augers got him,) but i’m posting this here for him to save however he wants. jay left his request open and so i thought for awhile about what i wanted to do and settled on -- what better than a fic about our first important rp dynamic? naruto joining the legends may still be a plot in progress, but i wanted to explore a few snapshots of his relationship with them and sara specifically. so this is kind of? future-set? as will become apparent the more of it you read.

merry christmas, jay!!! idk if there are words to properly express how grateful i am to have met you and gotten to know you so well this past year. and i know it’s only been a year, so it really speaks to your character how quickly you’ve become one of my very best friends. you’ve always been there to support me and listen and be validating when i’m upset or frustrated, or just make me smile by linking me to some silly (or terrifying, CLICKHOLE) video. the trust we’ve built up is very rare in my life and important to me and i feel so lucky to know you and be able to share all our varied interests with each other (from saw to borderlands to cry of mann to dctv -- and of course, cube!). never forget that you’re a wonderful person and friend.

Child soldiers, Sara thinks dryly, great.  She supposes the League wasn’t much better, but at least she’d been old enough to vote before they started training her to kill.

“Wow,” Naruto says the first time he’s ever aboard the Waverider.  “Does this thing have a kitchen?”

Sara feels like that’s the point at which she should have realized she was in trouble. 

Honestly, the team doesn’t exactly need any more teenagers. They already have Gardner, and Maive pretty much counts, and Ratchet is along for the ride at least some of the time. It’s not that they can’t fend for themselves in their own respective ways, but they’re still teenagers, questionable judgment and poor impulse control and all, and looking out for all of them can be a little bit stressful especially when it’s just her and Newt.

Except Naruto, whatever else he might be, is brave, with a genuine sense of compassion and a desire to help other people. He gets along well with the other Legends -- Maive especially, which is a big plus in Sara’s book, all things considered. Worst of all, he’s eccentric, one-of-a-kind, a bit of a disaster -- just odd enough to not quite fit with the rest of the world, in spite of all his friendliness and easy charm.

In short, he was practically a Legend in the making even before she met him. She supposes she never really stood much of a chance.

The first time they bring him along, it’s to put a wrench in the plans of some time traveling rifter who wants to fuck with World War II (Why do they always pick World War II? Are there that many people running around who want to see the world overrun by Nazis? It’s discouraging, honestly). Maive suggests Naruto might be useful, and Sara can’t turn down the extra firepower.

So they go -- right into the thick of it, which means Ratchet has to come up with these bullshit holographic disguises for him and Maive. Sara tries not to laugh as Naruto lines them up for a picture with ‘Franklin Delano Roosevelt’ and ‘Winston Churchill’. It’s silly and dumb and out-of-this-world, and somehow, they all have fun. Even Maive seems happier and more at ease with the group when Naruto’s around.

And so, Sara relents, maybe it won’t kill her to keep him around.

Or (knowing the Legends in any universe) maybe it will -- but it just might be worth it.

“Is it normal for kids to learn to fight like this, where you’re from?” she asks her one day after Naruto’s talked her into some light sparring. He seems to like to make a game out of it -- his sparring style is eager and fun even compared to the non-hostile practice she and Rkorya do. It’s not that he’s not skilled, because he undeniably is -- it’s just that his attitude is different from the people Sara once trained with.

“Well, I mean --” Naruto pauses to scratch behind his head, and Sara clamps down on the instinct to take advantage of the casually given opening.  “Kinda? Most of the people I know have been training since they were...”  He seems to lose count, and shrugs.  “I mean, I guess it’s like -- how else would our villages protect themselves?”

Child soldiers, Sara thinks dryly, great.  She supposes the League wasn’t much better, but at least she’d been old enough to vote before they started training her to kill.

“Where’d you learn to fight?” Naruto’s question breaks through her thoughts, and she pauses.

“It’s complicated.” Somehow, she knows that answer won’t satisfy his curiosity. “The organization that trained me -- most of them weren’t very good people.”

And yet that part of her, the assassin trained by the League, still sometimes feels like the part she knows best. It wasn’t so long ago, after all, that she’d gone running back to them when she’d felt she had nothing else to do with herself.

Naruto’s expression falls, and Sara tries not to grimace. “Look, there’s no reason to worry about it. It was a long time ago.”

“Still...” He frowns at her without trying to hide his reaction. “I’m, uh. I’m really sorry, Sara.”

The thing is, he doesn’t even know what he’s expressing sympathy for. The thing is, it’s not just what happened to her, it’s what she’d done. 

The thing is, even if Naruto knew all of those things, Sara gets the feeling he’d be no less shy about reaching out to her.

“Well.” She shrugs, because she’s still not very good at taking sympathy, but she doesn’t want to brush him off either.  “Whatever happened to us before -- it’s not an excuse not to move forward now. Right?”

“Right!”  Naruto breaks into a grin just as quickly as he faltered a moment ago. “I mean, hey, look at you now -- you’re a superhero!”

Sara scrunches her nose, but it’s half-playful. “Don’t use that word.”

Inaccurate though it may be, she can’t help but appreciate his sincerity. Naruto might belong with them because of his general ragtag misfit nature, but the reason he makes a difference -- it’s moments like this.  He doesn’t seem to have it in him to ever stop caring.

She gives him a brief, friendly nudge, and raises her bo staff. “Let’s get back to it.”

Leery as she may be of taking her team to the 80′s after the chaos emeralds incident, Sara will concede that they could all use a holiday vacation. That means picking a ‘fun’ decade, and it generally doesn’t get much more fun than the 80′s (well, okay, the 70′s, but a good portion of her team is underage). She lets them pick a few things they want to do - namely things that don’t involve too much more of Ratchet and Maive hiding, although Ratchet insists he can pull off a killer Madonna - and one of those things happens to be attending a real, authentic, 1980′s drive-in movie.

Their movie of choice? One of the original showings of Aliens.

Newt spends most of the time being concerned over the extinction risk to a foreign species ( “You’re thinking too much about it,” Sara keeps telling him, “They’re supposed to be evil aliens.”) while Gardner seems more intrigued with the technological aspects ( “Pretty inaccurate for the time period this is supposed to be set in. But cool.”). Maive, for her part, has found a new hero in Ellen Ripley, which Sara can’t help but consider to be the best thing in the world.

“Does she die?” she keeps murmuring. “Don’t tell me if she dies. She can’t die. She’s unkillable.”

“I’m... pretty sure she’s in other movies in this franchise?” Ratchet ventures. “So she probably doesn’t die. In this one, anyway.”

“Just so you know, Alien 3 isn’t worth watching under any circumstances,” Sara shoots back at them. “Ripley or no Ripley.” Her gaze catches on Naruto, and she tilts her head, amused. He’s sitting there in uncharacteristic silence, squashed between Ratchet and Maive, sporting one of the goofiest grins she’s ever seen. Sara’s not sure she wants to interrupt his experience, so she doesn’t say anything.

Maive, on the other hand, has no such reservations. “What’s with you?” she asks teasingly, nosing him.

“Huh?” Naruto’s eyes barely move away from the screen.  “Nothing! It’s just --” He pauses to soak in a particularly detailed action sequence, then finally steals a glance at Maive. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”

It sounds nothing short of sincere, for all that Naruto is a trained ninja with a lifetime’s worth of experiences that Sara is certain are way flashier than this. She has to admit, it’s a little bit sweet. Even Maive pauses for a moment. Then --

“Wow. You really need to get out more.”

“Hey!”

“As if watching Ripley kick alien butt isn’t one of the coolest things Maive’s ever done, too.” Apparently confident in the distance Naruto’s currently putting between them, Ratchet calls her out. Then he looks at Naruto, and ears wiggle in a way Sara recognizes by now to mean that he’s a little apprehensive. “Anyway, I... kinda get what you mean. I never really got to do stuff like this, back on Veldin.”

Naruto gives him a friendly nudge. “Weren’t you a superhero even back in your world? Saving people and getting to visit different planets in a cool spaceship is still pretty awesome.”

Ratchet looks even more embarrassed, and Sara turns around again to hide her smirk.  Suddenly, she’s pretty sure it’s a kindness that Maive isn’t the one sitting between them.

They seem happy, she reflects as the banter fades away and they all get caught up in the movie again.  Happy is a concept that still seems a little too far out of her own reach, but if holding this team together means that these kids get to have something like this -- well, it’s worth it.

She really is glad they picked up Naruto, after all.

But things like this don’t last forever. No matter how important they are, or how much she wants to protect them. Sara knows this by now.

Maive is dead. Sara can’t get her lifeless form out of her head -- so starkly contrasting, so unreal compared to the energetic, alive Maive they all knew only days ago. She steels herself, in spite of everything, and gives her team what she knows they need to hear. That it’s going to hurt for awhile, but that they have each other. That they can come to her if they need anything. That she’s going to lead them through this, that they’re going to find Maive’s killer, and win her some justice (because they need something to drive them forward, and Sara knows from experience that revenge is an excellent motivator).

It feels hollow to her own ears. The strength she tries to lend them feels like a lie, because the moment she retreats to her office, she has a hard time believing any of it.

There’s just the loss. Another hole in her heart. She’s used to it by now, or she should be, but it’s different now that she’s captain. That she’s responsible, that there are a million things she’s telling herself she could have or should have done.

If she’s being honest with herself, well -- the big speech she called the team together for was as much to shield what she’s really feeling from them as it was meant to be a reassurance. They have each other - they have her, if they need her - but she’ll deal on her own.  She always does.

Still, she knows them by now, so she’s not entirely surprised when she hears a knock at the door.  She’s fully prepared to brush whoever it is off, to tell them to go get some rest --

“Sara?”

But somehow it isn’t Naruto that she expects, and it stalls her a little. She makes the mistake of looking at him -- she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him look so tired.

“What’s up?” she asks him dully.

He hesitates uncharacteristically.   “I’m... not gonna ask if you’re okay. ‘Cause I don’t think anyone is.”  He shifts slightly in light of her lack of response.  “But there’s something else I wanted to ask.”

Sara straightens from where she’s leaning against the desk, trying to look a little more attentive.

“I wanna -- help you guys find who killed her.”

The statement hangs there for a moment. She blinks. It takes a moment to process.

“I know I haven’t been hanging around with you guys for very long.” Naruto continues a little more quickly. “But she was my friend - she was all of our friends - and I’m not gonna let whoever did this get away with it. I know you have a lot to deal with right now, but I -- I just wanna help. I wanna help all of you.”

She doesn’t think she’s ever heard him sound so serious. She swallows, mulling over a response slowly -- more how to word it, because she already knows how she feels.  “I know.”

Naruto opens his mouth, closes it again, then blinks. “You do?”

“I’d already figured you weren’t going to stand by.” She shrugs, giving him a thin smile (or as much of one as she can manage). “And why wouldn’t I let you help? You’re part of the team.”

It’s Naruto’s turn to go quiet for a moment “I am?” He frowns, dissatisfied with his own uncertainty. “I mean, uh -- I just... didn’t know if it was official, I guess.”

Sara guess that somewhere amidst everything that’s been going on lately, ‘official’ has kind of slipped through the cracks. But the truth is, she accepted Naruto a while ago -- she’s pretty sure most of them have.

Moving almost makes the ache in her chest a physical ache, but she crosses the room and rests a hand on his shoulder regardless.  “You are,” she tells him, meeting his gaze levelly.  “And we’re going to get justice for Maive. I can sure as hell promise you that.”

The determination that flares in Naruto’s eyes is as good as an agreement, and this time, Sara thinks her own words don’t feel like quite as distant from the truth.

MGA Chapter 2041

Chapter 2041 – Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain “Seniors, this person is Du Wanwu’s descendant. His name is also Du Wanwu,” Then, Chu Feng began to tell the story of how he and Du Wanwu got to know one another, as well as why Du Wanwu had turned into his current state. “Haha, in that case, it would seem that it was all because of me that you came to know this Du Wanwu and obtained a body immune to poison,” The Snow-haired Immortal said proudly after hearing about what had happened. “Eh… I guess you could consider it that way,” Chu Feng smiled wryly. Even though what the Snow-haired Immortal did had ended up becoming a good deed, it remained that her original intention back then had been to experiment with Chu Feng. Furthermore, if it wasn’t for the fact that Chu Feng was very tough himself, he would’ve already died back then. How could he possibly be alive today? Yet, the Snow-haired Immortal was so immensely proud of herself. This caused Chu feng to feel truly speechless. “Everyone, although I was taken advantage of by the Dark Hall this entire time and was unable to control myself, my consciousness was not in chaos. I know what has happened in this period of time.” “Thus, not only do I know of the battle between you all and the Dark Hall, I also know that you all have come here today to search for the Dark Hall’s headquarters.” “And I… just so happen to know the actual location of the Dark Hall’s headquarters,” Du Wanwu said. “Truly?” Hearing those words, the crowd all revealed pleasantly surprised expressions. They had come here with the intention of staking their all to fight a battle to the death against the Dark Hall. However, they had not expected to end up falling for such a trap. 1 But now, not only had Chu Feng managed to neutralize the calamity, he had also brought Du Wanwu, a peak Martial Emperor, to join them. This could truly be said to be a profit from a disaster. If they were to be able to find the Dark Hall’s headquarters at this time too, it would truly be great. “The Dark Hall’s headquarters is located in the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain,” Du Wanwu said. “Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain?” Hearing those words, the crowd’s expressions all changed. Their overjoyed expressions immediately stiffened. However, at that moment, the person feeling the most perplexed by this was none other than Chu Feng. The reason for that was because it was not the first time he had heard of the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain. He possessed quite a thorough understanding of the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain. He knew that it was an extremely remote place in the Holy Land of Martialism. That place was also one of the most well-known forbidden areas in the Holy Land of Martialism. The reason for that was because there was an extremely ferocious type of monstrous beast there by the name of the Ice-snow Phoenix. The Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain was the territory of the Ice-snow Phoenixes. Thus, anyone that encountered an Ice-snow Phoenix in the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain would end up being killed by it. The reason why Chu Feng knew about the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain was because his friend Tantai Xue had left for the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain after they had unsealed the secret of the Coldsnow Dagger years ago. Furthermore, Tantai Xue’s purpose in going to the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain had been precisely to find the Ice-snow Phoenixes. Recalling that, it had been a very long time since Chu Feng had been separated from Tantai Xue back then. In this period of time, Chu Feng had shaken heaven and earth, causing numerous major sensations throughout the Holy Land of Martialism. However, he had received no news of Tantai Xue. She had never once appeared in the Holy Land of Martialism after their separation. Thus, Chu Feng had been worried for her the entire time. Originally, Chu Feng had planned to go to the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain to search for Tantai Xue when he had time to do so. However, unexpectedly, things kept happening in rapid succession. As such, he was unable to move about freely. Thus, he had not had the chance to go and search for Tantai Xue. “They’ve actually hidden themselves in the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain. No wonder we were unable to find them,” At that moment, an extremely surprised expression appeared in the Elf King’s eyes. “The Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain is a bit difficult to deal with. Although there aren’t a lot of Ice-snow Phoenixes, they are the most mysterious and most difficult to deal with monstrous beasts in the Holy Land of Martialism,” At that moment, even Lord Lianghua, a rank eight Martial Emperor, revealed a somewhat complicated expression. In fact, when Lord Lianghua mentioned the name Ice-snow Phoenix, the grand characters present all revealed abnormal expressions. They appeared to have been frightened by the mention of something fearful. Unable to contain himself, Chu Feng asked, “The Ice-snow Phoenixes really exist?” After all, the Ice-snow Phoenixes were related to Tantai Xue. “Not only do they exist, they are extremely dangerous. The Dark Hall is truly bold to have actually hidden themselves there. Could it be… that they have eliminated the Ice-snow Phoenixes?” “Impossible. With the Dark Hall’s strength, it is impossible for them to eliminate the Ice-snow Phoenixes.” “Merely… why is it that they are able to set up camp in the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain? Why would the Ice-snow Phoenixes allow them to do so?” The Elf King’s eyes narrowed. He started to ponder. “They used some sort of method to come to an agreement with the Ice-snow Phoenixes. Right now, they are allied with the Ice-snow Phoenixes,” Du Wanwu said. “What? The Dark Hall is allied with the Ice-snow Phoenixes? This is bad,” After hearing this, everyone, including the Elf King, started to frown. Seeing this scene, Chu Feng realized that the Ice-snow Phoenixes were extraordinary beings. The reason for that was because when the Ancient Era’s Elves had discovered that the Heavenly Law Palace and the Mortal King Palace had allied themselves with the Dark Hall, they were only furious. After all, from the beginning, they had never placed the Heavenly Law Palace and the Mortal King Palace in their eyes. However… after finding out that the Ice-snow Phoenixes had allied themselves with the Dark Hall, they actually reacted in such a manner. It was as if they were confronted with a major enemy. It was clear… that the Ice-snow Phoenixes was a group of thorny existences. They were so thorny that even the Ancient Era’s Elves had to face them earnestly. “Could it be that there is also a peak Martial Emperor among the Ice-snow Phoenixes?” Chu Feng asked. The way he saw it, the Elf King was a peak Martial Emperor. Unless his opponent was also a peak Martial Emperor, there was no way he would react in such a manner. “It is not that the Ice-snow Phoenixes possess a peak Martial Emperor. Rather, they possess a special treasure. That treasure is capable of unleashing a peak Martial Emperor-level expert.” “Furthermore, because it is unleashed by that treasure, that peak Martial Emperor is unkillable and indestructible.” “Fortunately, the Ice-snow Phoenixes only care about their own territory, and only guard the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain. Else… the true ruler of the Holy Land of Martialism might not necessarily be us Ancient Era’s Elves,” The Elf King said with a wry smile. “The Ice-snow Phoenixes are actually that powerful?” Chu Feng was startled upon hearing that. An unkillable and indestructible peak Martial Emperor. That would truly be frightening. “Most importantly, the Ice-snow Phoenixes are an independent group. They looked down upon even us Ancient Era’s Elves. As such, why would they end up forming an alliance with the Dark Hall?” Lord Lianghua, Lord Luokong and the other two Grand Elders all revealed puzzled expressions. “The Dark Hall’s Hall Master is from the Outer World. No matter how conceited the Ice-snow Phoenixes might be, they are only beings of the Holy Land of Martialism. Perhaps the Dark Hall’s Hall Master was truly capable of presenting something that made the Ice-snow Phoenixes willingly form an alliance with them?” The Elf King said. Hearing those words, the crowd involuntarily looked to Chu Feng. They all felt relieved. No matter how noble they, the Ancient Era’s Elves, were, they knew that when compared to Chu Feng, who was from the Outer World, they would simply be incomparable to him. As for the Dark Hall’s Master, he was the same as Chu Feng. “What do we do then?” The crowd all looked to the Elf King. “As matters stand, there are no alternatives. Even if the Ice-snow Phoenixes have become the Dark Hall’s allies, we must still fight that battle,” The Elf King said. “This matter should not be delayed. Everyone, let’s set off for the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain immediately. It would be best if we manage to catch them off guard. We cannot allow them time to prepare,” Chu Feng said. “What little friend Chu Feng says is extremely correct,” The Elf King nodded. Then, he looked to Du Wanwu and said, “Little friend, thank you for your troubles.” “I did what I was supposed to do. Even if you all do not fight against the Dark Hall, I would still not let that demonic woman get away,” Coldness flashed through Du Wanwu’s eyes. Then, he began to lead the way for the crowd. The Ancient Era’s Elves’ army began to proceed toward the Ten Thousand Miles Snow Domain majestically. Previous          Main menu           Next Click to Post

ACT OMEGA PART 12

THE 02/11/16 UPDATE

Sooo... Funny story, I already worked on this part, then I got LOGGED OUT for some reason, and lost everything I wrote. I got up to page 79. And because I’m a lazy bastard, I’m really gonna half-ass my recreation of what I wrote. So yeah, please forgive me for that. Once I get to page 79, I’ll probably start trying again.

KARKAT: (BUT STILL, THAT’S NOT OUR ONLY PROBLEM.) DAVE: (order now and youll get another mental breakdown absolutely free) DAVE: (two disasters for the low low price of one) DAVE: (what a steal) KARKAT: (DON'T GIVE ME YOUR SASS. I DIDN'T GET THESE DEBACLES FROM THE DOLLAR STORE, YOU KNOW.) KARKAT: (THIS IS SOME LEGITIMATELY TROUBLING SHIT, OKAY?) DAVE: (got it) DAVE: (im not even gonna continue that metaphor im putting on my serious face) DAVE: (youve got waldo the juaggalo on your mind what else) KARKAT: (WELL...) KARKAT: (I'M WORRIED ABOUT VRISKA, I GUESS.) DAVE: (vriska?) KARKAT: (I KNOW. CALL ME CRAZY, BUT MY AGGRAVATION SPONGE HAS BEEN TINGLING WITH GOOD REASON FOR VRISKA FUCKING SERKET.) DAVE: (ok) DAVE: (so whats the problem then) KARKAT: (SHOULD WE WAIT FOR HER TO GET BACK BEFORE WE CLAIM THE REWARD?) KARKAT: (WILL SHE EVEN *BE* COMING BACK?)

She BETTER be coming back, because she’s the greatest. I mean, I hope she will at least. LE’s probably gonna be a pain wrapping up, but now that he’s weakened I think it might be possible. She just needs to get a good roll..

DAVE: (uh) DAVE: (why wouldnt she) KARKAT: (LOOK, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT THE BYZANTINE CHARADES SHE’S ALWAYS FLAUNTING? I KNOW SHE HAS TO FEEL LIKE THE MOST COMPETENT PERSON IN THE ROOM AT ALL TIMES, BUT) KARKAT: (IT’S ALL KIND OF PAPER THIN FROM MY PERSPECTIVE.) KARKAT: (I SPENT AN EMBARRASSING AMOUNT OF TIME TRYING TO CHASE THAT SAME FANTASY, AND I CAN TELL SHE’S STILL DANGEROUSLY CAUGHT UP IN IT.) KARKAT: (IT JUST SO HAPPENS SHE IS WAY BETTER AT CRAFTING SHAMELESS MACHIAVELLIAN SCHEMES THAN I EVER WAS.) KARKAT: (I DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT THOUGH, SEEING AS IT WAS WORKING OUT BETTER FOR HER THAN IT EVER HAD FOR ME. OR IT WAS AS FAR AS I COULD TELL, ANYWAY.) KARKAT: (IN FACT, I WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO DROP THAT FARCE ALTOGETHER AND ALLOW HER TO PICK UP THE SLACK AS SHE SEEMED SO EAGER TO DO.) KARKAT: (APPARENTLY THAT ONLY BECAME OFFICIAL AS OF A FEW HOURS AGO, BUT WHATEVER.) KARKAT: (THE POINT IS) KARKAT: (NOBODY IS EVEN CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY THAT VRISKA MIGHT) KARKAT: (*MIGHT*) KARKAT: (NOT ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT SHE’S DOING.) KARKAT: (BEYOND WHATEVER MASTER PLAN SHE COBBLED TOGETHER BASED ON WHAT COULD, FOR ALL WE KNOW, BE ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT, WHAT IS SHE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO?)

He has a point. I mean, her entire plan was basically “fuck the LE up, use the Juju.” but that didn’t work out for her! She clearly overestimated her plan here, against an unkillable god.

DAVE: (i dunno) DAVE: (what she usually does?) KARKAT: (BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BEFORE THROWING MYSELF INTO THE FRAY EARLIER I MANAGED TO SNEAK IN A SHORT NAP.) DAVE: (really) KARKAT: (YES REALLY. DON’T ASK ABOUT IT.) KARKAT: (BUT I GOT TO SEE WITH MY OWN GANDER BULBS HOW FAIRLY FUCK DEEP SHE’S BURIED HERSELF INTO THE FURTHEST RING’S SMORGASBORD OF REALITY-SHATTERING FUCKERY.) KARKAT: (SHE ACTS LIKE IT'S JUST AN EVENING STROLL THROUGH THE VOID, BUT LO AND BEHOLD! WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, SHE'LL BE BACK, HAULING IN HER FIRED IRONS LIKE WEEKLY GROCERIES.) KARKAT: (BUT HEY, IT’S NO BIG DEAL! NOTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT, NO WORRIES.) KARKAT: (BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? MAYBE SOME WORRIES!)

Yup, I love this line. I’m gonna use this somehow someday. “No worries! But you know what? Maybe some worries!”

DAVE: (i guess you have a point) DAVE: (but i dont really see what we can do about it) DAVE: (unless you want to put things on hold and look for her?) KARKAT: (NO! FUCK THAT!) KARKAT: (I’M DONE. I JUST WANT THIS TO BE OVER WITH. WHATEVER SHE’S GOTTEN HERSELF INTO, SHE’LL JUST HAVE TO GET HERSELF OUT OF IT.) KARKAT: (IT’S NOT LIKE I’D EVEN BE MUCH HELP.) KARKAT: (IN FACT, THE IDEA THAT I COULD EVER CONCEIVABLY BE OF ANY USE TO HER IS SO LAUGHABLE I MIGHT JUST PISS MYSELF.) KARKAT: (I MEAN, WHERE IS THIS EVEN COMING FROM? WHY AM I WORRIED ABOUT *VRISKA*, OF ALL PEOPLE?) KARKAT: (IF SHE COULD HEAR MY THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW, NO DOUBT SHE WOULD BE GIVING ME AN UNENDING SUPPLY OF SHIT FOR EVER DOUBTING HER.) KARKAT: (HELL, SHE PROBABLY ALREADY HAS. I CAN ALREADY SMELL THE SHIT ROCKETING ITS WAY THROUGH SPACETIME, READY TO BURY ME IN SASS.) DAVE: (i dunno man) DAVE: (like sure) DAVE: (any plan to bail out vriska is about as well founded as the dark carnival) DAVE: (which is not at all) DAVE: (because its pretty much the fakest thing to never ever be real ever) KARKAT: (I’M NOT REALLY IN THE MOOD TO JOKE ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW.) KARKAT: (YEAH, LET'S JUST PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD FOR A SECOND SO WE CAN HAVE A GOOD CHUCKLE ABOUT HOW FAKE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS ARE.) KARKAT: (HARDY HAR HAR.) KARKAT: (WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BROODING.) DAVE: (you really are far gone) DAVE: (look) DAVE: (sure she makes it kind of impossible to care about her) DAVE: (and i wouldnt be surprised if shes perfectly fine) DAVE: (just off doing her own thing) DAVE: (but the fact that you care anyways) DAVE: (is kind of cool imo) KARKAT: (WHAT.) DAVE: (you actually give a shit about people) DAVE: (even people that probably dont deserve it) DAVE: (ngl vriska is kind of a huge bitch and you would probably be happier if you wrote her off) DAVE: (maybe thats the case for some other people too but not gonna name names)

WELL DAVE, I CARE ABOUT HER. ANd also, who is Dave talking about when he says “other people?” Nobody really comes to mind besides maaybe Gamzee.

Daw, he’s all concerned and shit. That’s kinda cute. Though it’s still odd he’s not teasing Karkat about this. I guess he knows how to show some maturity when it’s needed.

KARKAT: (DAVE...) DAVE: (ok fine) DAVE: (im just trying to say that) DAVE: (from experience) DAVE: (putting aside bitchiness or what anyone might deserve) DAVE: (having people around that actually care about you makes a big difference) DAVE: (and the idea that not caring about anything or anyone is somehow the most ideal way to be is garbage) DAVE: (so instead of beating yourself up about caring too much) DAVE: (do yourself a favor and just focus on whats bothering you)

Yup, that’s some good advice. I hate when people are too busy stressing about other people that they just let themselves fall apart. I wonder how Karkat will take it!

Skepticist Karkat is best Karkat.

KARKAT: (... OK, SURE.)

yay.

KARKAT: (... OK, SURE.) DAVE: (i get that you think vriska might fuck up and get herself killed somehow) DAVE: (but i also get the feeling theres more to it than that) KARKAT: (YEAH. THERE IS.) KARKAT: (WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF SHE DOES FUCK UP.) KARKAT: (AND, DAMMIT, TEREZI IS PROBABLY GOING TO TIE HERSELF INTO A FUCKING PRETZEL ABOUT IT TOO.) KARKAT: (WHICH I'M SURE SHE REALLY DOESN’T NEED RIGHT NOW.) KARKAT: (AND NOW *I'M* ALL TWISTED UP WONDERING IF WHATEVER VRISKA IS DOING OUT THERE CAN STILL FUCK US OVER SOMEHOW.)

Oh Karkat, I assure you. Anything anybody does is guaranteed to have the potential to fuck everything over. In this case, she’s supposed to kill a universe destroying god. I think there’s a chance she can fuck you over with that.

DAVE: (hmmm) DAVE: (well) DAVE: (i cant help you with terezi) DAVE: (shes just going to have to work on that) DAVE: (but as far as the the blue winged butterfly effect goes...) DAVE: (im the timeline guy right) KARKAT: (I GUESS??) DAVE: (you guessed correctly) DAVE: (and right now nothing feels off to me) DAVE: (theres been enough outside intervention to convince me that this is the way shit is supposed to go) DAVE: (if somebody from an alternate reality bothers to travel back and give the timeline a thorough heimlich maneuver like im assuming john and roxy did) DAVE: (which causes all the potential roadblocks to fling themselves out of our way and allow the right events to start slotting into place) DAVE: (thats generally a good sign that everything that can go wrong already has) DAVE: (so its pretty much smooth sailing from here) DAVE: (... hopefully)

Dave, you are absolutely talking out of your ass right now. Do you even have the ability to “feel” if something’s wrong? I don’t think that’s a thing.

KARKAT: (DID YOU REALLY NEED TO TACK THAT ON THE END THERE?) DAVE: (just covering my bases) KARKAT: (YOU KNOW, IF THAT WAS YOUR IDEA OF A PEP TALK, I THINK I MIGHT AS WELL FLING MYSELF OFF THIS MISERABLE VICTORY PLATTER AND PERFORM A SUPERSONIC HONKBIRD DIVE INTO SKAIA.) KARKAT: (*HOPEFULLY* I CAN DROWN IN CELESTIAL OOZE AND LAY MYSELF TO REST AGAINST THE BOSOM OF A LITERAL FUCKING UNIVERSE.) KARKAT: (THAT WOULD ALMOST DEFINITELY BE MORE COMFORTING THAN “HOPEFULLY EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE I THINK”.)

Calm down Karkat, that’s just assurance that everything is in no way fine and you’re all going to fuckING DIE UNLESS JOHN OPENS THAT DOOR RIGHT NOW.

Pft, this panel is weird looking.

DAVE: (jesus) DAVE: (alright you got me maybe im talking out of my ass) DAVE: (this whole alpha timeline thing is really something you gotta play by ear and i cant predict whats going to happen) DAVE: (but it just sucks to see you so stressed out) DAVE: (i was kind of hoping we could put all of that crap behind us) DAVE: (at least for a little while) DAVE: (those are really pretty decent things to be worrying about but the crux of the matter is theres just nothing we can actually do) DAVE: (at least not that i can figure out) DAVE: (thats more roses thing and she seems to think everythings fine) DAVE: (and even if something does happen youll probably be in better shape to deal with it if you dont get yourself so worked up) KARKAT: (... YEAH.) KARKAT: (I GUESS YOU’RE RIGHT.) KARKAT: (I THINK I TEND TO LET MYSELF HYPER FOCUS ON ONE POSSIBILITY AND STRESS OVER WHAT USUALLY AMOUNTS TO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.) KARKAT: (SO I NEED TO TRY AND NOT DO THAT MAYBE.) DAVE: (awesome) DAVE: (think about troll dane cooks unironically hilarious stand up routine or something) DAVE: (and chill out) KARKAT: (I AM. I’M CHILLING.) KARKAT: (THIS IS ME CHILLING. THIS IS MY CHILL FACE.) DAVE: (funny) DAVE: (looks a lot like that face you were making a minute ago) DAVE: (when you were decidedly not chilling)

This is a nice pesterlog right here. And cOME ON karkat, chill out man.

Oh my god karkat stop you weren’t meant to smile

KARKAT: (HOW'S THISH THEN.) DAVE: (pffffft) DAVE: (hahahahahaha) KARKAT: (heh) DAVE: (yeah sure) DAVE: (that works)

No it doesnt Dave stop its horrible.

Alright well, Dave and Karkat have sorta calmed each other down and spooked each other up. [fun fact, every time i type each other i type it as eachother and have to retype it because i forgot that isn’t a fucking word. Why isnt that a fuckING WORD]

And that’s all for this update! So I think I’ll go ahead and make the next post now.

Young Justice Season Three spoilers

YJ Producers: We have a Muslim superhero this season, look how great she is and how progressive we are!

Actual YJ episodes: Okay so Muslim superhero might be a bit of a stretch since well, if you wanna get technical, she’s actually a sentient piece of alien technology whose soul went into the body of a dead Muslim girl when her original alien tech got smushed. But even though she continually insists that she is not Gabrielle Daou, the Muslim girl whose body this was originally, and that’s the entire reason she chose a new name for herself, she is a completely different person aka a non Muslim, not even human person - she still wears a hijab! Totally counts!

YJ Producers: We always wanted to portray LGBTQ+ superheroes, we’ve actually had one the whole time and you just didn’t know it because mean old Cartoon Network wouldn’t let us show it, now that we’re on our own we can and will be showing LGBTQ+ characters this season!

Actual YJ episodes thirteen episodes into the season: Error 404 Content Not Found

YJ Producers: We’re finally gonna include Cyborg! Victor Stone is in the house, we love and appreciate that character so much, we really wanted to wait until we could do his story justice!

Actual YJ episodes: So see, after getting gruesomely almost-deaded after a huge blowout fight in which we showed Vic has a lot of rage cuz Black Teenage Boys Are Just Like That, that was all aimed at his dad for not showing any interest in his life and for never showing his son he cared until now cuz Black Dads Are Just Like That, well okay, yeah that sucks, but what happened NEXT is really cool - so his dad saved his life, right? Even if it was by using alien tech that every single person he came in contact with kept telling him wasn’t like normal tech, it was sentient and thus yes COULD be bad, which was further demonstrated through the fact that said life-saving tech kept like...hijacking Vic’s own body and turning him into a rage-monster that we could totally show being a Stereotype of Black Teenage Boy Aggression as he remorselessly hunted a terrified Violet but it wasn’t his fault, he was totally powerless to control his own actions cuz of the Evil Alien Tech in his body and like wait, whats bad about that, I forget the question??? Oh right! But stop WORRYING, its all good, see, as long as he stayed around Violet and never went too far from her ever, the woman of color had magic rage-pacifying skills that existed solely to calm down the Stereotypical Angry Black Teen when he couldn’t control himself because Reasons. LOL WHY ARE YOU UPSET, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT, THIS IS A GOOD VICTOR STORY, ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

YJ Producers: We love and value our characters of color and would never hurt them, we’ve actually taken steps to make sure of that!

Actual YJ Episodes: Violet and Vic are both practically unkillable, see? As proof, watch us violently murder Violet in every single episode in new and creatively gruesome ways, with bonus Vic near-death experiences that allow us to show him just utterly wrecked in ways we’ve never shown a single white character, even in this season when we’re all about showing off how much creative freedom we have now without CENSORSHIP! 

YJ Producers: This season is also going to focus on the stress and mental health issues that go along with life as a superhero, and who better to demonstrate this by suffering from superhero-related PTSD than Jefferson Pierce? The guy whose divorce already showed the stress and relationship issues that go along with life as a superhero (since all our white heroes in relationships are still going strong)!

Actual YJ Episodes: Oh, nothing say about this one huh, PUNK? That’s right, we actually did exactly what we said we’d do, see? Just look at how much time we spend talking about how traumatized Jefferson is and how miserable he is after killing a kid, and that’s nothing we’ve ever done (or would ever do - SHH THEY DONT NEED TO KNOW THAT) to a white hero! PLUS, like, he’s definitely getting better though, thanks to the support of the much younger character he’s surrounded by, instead of y’know, turning to his established friends and colleagues his own age for support! AND AND AND don’t forget about his growing relationship with the white doctor lady who is definitely NOT super creepy and NOT likely to betray him and break his heart and/or force him to make painful decisions when choosing between her and the kids he’s vowed to protect at some climactic point later in the season that all of that is super clearly not building towards!

YJ Producers: And don’t forget about Jaime Reyes and Virgil Hawkins and Mal Duncan and Raquel and Karen! They’re all still here too!

Actual YJ Episodes: We’ve definitely forgotten that Jaime Reyes and Virgil Hawkins and Mal Duncan and Raquel and Karen are all still here too.

YJ Producers: Major life events have happened to these heroes offscreen in the time we’ve been away from them, stuff that’s really shaped who they are and who they’ve become by now. All this stuff really matters, its how we’re different from other shows, we don’t pretend these characters stop existing the second they’re off your screens! Looks, Barbara Gordon is in a wheelchair! She’s Oracle now!

Actual YJ Episodes: Why would we bother to explain when or how this happened with even a single line of dialogue when The Killing Joke exists and is available on our streaming service? You sound dumb.

YJ Producers: Kaldur is our proof of how important our characters are to our over-all universe, look how far he’s come! He’s not Aqualad anymore, he’s AquaMAN, he’s one of the co-chairs of the Justice League, right up there with Wonder Woman who he definitely doesn’t need to turn to for approval or oversight of his actual decisions!

Actual YJ Episodes: We’re pretty sure we covered all this in the two minutes of screen time Kaldur’s had all season!

YJ Producers: Look, bottom line, this season, being away from Cartoon Network really allowed us to stretch our wings and flex creatively, we’re doing a lot of stuff with this story that just wouldn’t have been possible before, when we were on a network like CN and had overseers restricting our every move! This season gets a lot darker, a lot more mature, a lot more everything cuz freedom of speech baby! That’s what its all about!

Actual YJ Episodes: In support of our thesis, watch us up the graphically violent content of every single episode and kill lots of people instead of just cartoonishly knocking them out and carting them away to jail! That’s it, that’s everything we wanted to do that CN wouldn’t let us, that now we have total freedom to prove in a myriad of ways! What do you mean, what about *looks at smudged writing on hand* LGB - look we can’t be expected to read what that says when we have graphic violence to depict, fuck yeah!

YJ Producers: Besides, in happier news, its not all doom and gloom this season! Connor and M’Gann got engaged! Now that we’ve completely moved past all the stuff M’Gann did in S2 and don’t consider it worth mentioning, Superboy and Miss Martian are back together, and SB is totally gonna marry the woman who betrayed him in the one highly specific way that goes back to the very source of every trust issue he has and reason he has so many walls pushing people away!

Actual YJ Episodes: Yeah this is definitely happening. Suck my dick, Connor fans and fans who relate to and identify with SB and his story and think its maybe just not the healthiest to wave a wand and go “Happily ever after!” With, y’know, the guy whose greatest canon fear and paranoia is the sanctity of his mind being violated and being unable to trust that his own thoughts are really his and not just being spoon fed to him in a pod at Project Cadmus or by his telepathic girlfriend when she doesn’t like his opinion or his criticism of her actions and just doesn’t want to fight about it anymore. Look, she said she was sorry, get over it. What more do you want? For Connor to move on and have a healthy romantic relationship with someone who he doesn’t ever have to wonder if his trust in her and second chance is real and valid and not just her making him say and do what she wanted, like the way she definitely has before? For him and M’Gann to rebuild their trust over time, gradually, as friends, with the understanding they can be close again but romantic intimacy between them specifically probably isn’t in the best interests of the guy who will always have to wonder now if his thoughts are really his, no matter whether or not that’s true? Yeah, no, that sounds like a lot of work tbh, and really, we just like Miss Martian and Superboy together, they’re just cute, you know? Sides, we killed Wally and we don’t actually wanna talk about why Barbara’s paralyzed now and like, focus on her as a character, so what other longterm pairings do we really have? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THESE ARE ALL OUR OWN CHOICES AND IF WE WANT BETTER FOUNDATIONS FOR OUR CHARACTER DYNAMICS WE SHOULD MAKE BETTER CHOICES? UGH GET OFF MY BALLS, MAN.

YJ Producers: We’ve got Terra this season, and we’re doing some really cool, brand new things there.

Actual YJ Episodes: Slade’s Apprentice arc from Teen Titans the show and The Judas Contract in the comics, but really aren’t they the same thing? If you think about it, is it even possible to do that in a new way? Look, its not like we could do anything MORE original than that, like what, did you want us to have Tara genuinely be the good and loving sister she was when she reunited with her brother and expressed how traumatized she was by the things she did when she was supposedly being mind-controlled, actually invested in saving other trafficked meta-kids from being used and hurt the way she had been? Like, the way it seemed she was being written before we revealed it was a fake-out and she was actually working for Slade exactly like those other times we swore we were gonna be more original than that? Ugh why are you so unrealistic, dude, you have such weird expectations.

Me: Like dear YJ, you’ve still got me watching, because like a) I’m weak and I need this, b) nostalgia, c) Dick, Artemis, Connor, Jefferson and the chance of Jason and also Violet, Brion and Vic are all still enjoyable as characters even though your treatment of them and your narrative choices are all extremely suspect and also craptastic and also I really wanna punch you for a lot of this.

But goddamn, this was NOT your best work, and after years of waiting only to get this? Like.....so not crash, dudes. Not even a little bit.