Please excuse the incoming rant.

Okay so like I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how in the Knuckles Series; Sonic still calls Maddie by her name and not “Mom” like he calls Tom “Dad”, but like to me it makes sense. For one; Sonic obviously has a closer relationship with Tom, culminating in him calling him “Dad” by the end of the second movie. Going by the fact the house is still under construction during the series, it’s clear not much time has passed since the end of the second movie, so going off of that, there hasn’t been much development time for Sonic to also grow comfortable calling Maddie “Mom”. After all, if it took him the months that occurred between the 1st and 2nd move to get there with Tom, he’d really be speed running it calling Maddie “Mom” by the series.

But think I it might be even deeper than that. Longclaw was Sonic’s first adoptive mother, who he blames himself for her loss. As far as we know, he never had a father figure before, so there’s no previous baggage with the term “Dad” like “Mom” would have. Sonic may still be calling Maddie by her name as a way to protect himself from future harm, from the possibility of potentially losing another mother figure. After all, you can’t lose something if you never acknowledge you have it in the first place, right?

Yes, to everything! This is something I've thought of a lot!

Time to answer with my own rant. 🤣

Yeah, I can definitely understand why Sonic would have more trouble calling Maddie "mom," because of Longclaw (even though he called Longclaw by her name as well, but the books confirmed that he saw her as his mother). It was easier for him to latch onto Tom, and even though it took what, eight ish months of living with the Wachowskis to actually call him "dad," he did eventually. I still think Sonic will start referring to Maddie as his mother eventually, but it totally makes sense why he hasn't yet.

I think it's a similar case with Knuckles, but it's the other way around. Knuckles's mother was never mentioned, but his father was heavily involved in his childhood. Everyone got the implication that he was going to be a mama's boy after the tidbits from the end of movie 2 and the short, "Sonic Drone Home." And I still think that will one day be the case. Since he's a bit older than Sonic, and is more independent, however, I think it'll take Knuckles a long while to be able to think of anyone as his parents. I still think it'll happen at some point, starting with Maddie, but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a while. Even longer than it took Sonic.

I like how they did that arc in the second movie. It was mostly unspoken, but I liked the sort of parallel from the boat scene's "Stop trying to be my dad," to "I've got a lot more than that, Dad." 🥰 There are many implications that this is something Tom & Maddie have been wanting for a while. It's clear they love all three kids dearly, and Maddie herself referred to Knuckles as one of her kids. Sure, she got (rightfully) ticked at him for basically destroying the living room and the car, but there was zero implication that she was going to give up.

I'm very curious to see more of Tails's and Knuckles's relationships with Tom & Maddie in the third movie. Maybe there will be an arc similar to Sonic and Tom's in the second movie? Of the two, Tails would become more comfortable with calling them by such titles sooner, and I'm hoping to see some of that soon.

I have a lot of hopes for sure. Jeff Fowler has said a lot that he has a ton of plans for the Sonic Cinematic Universe, so we could easily get more spin offs and more content. 🥰 Our little space kids will get there eventually! I'm just so glad they have parents to care for them in this universe. 💙

ngl i do not trust the fate canon or fandom with hakuno. i'll try to keep this brief (1/47586)

SVCKSBCJ I'M KIDDING but yeah to me canon to me seems stuck in between treating hakuno as a character of her own but also a self insert even though the entire Point of her character was becoming a person of her own. this is especiaally prominent in later instalments methinks (the way they don't even refer to her by her name "hakuno kishinami" in her character description and just call her "master" or "heroine"....... some crimes cannot be forgiven actually-) so, well, i'll still try to keep up to date on canon hakuno content but i lost hope in it ever feeding me the hakuno content i crave 💔

sO YEAH BASICALLY I DECIDE 2 BE THE CHANGE I WANT 2 SEE IN THE WORLD canon is the blueprint but i'm gonna write hakuno with my own personal interpretation + hcs n_n 💖 i still love the canon content we get, don't get me wrong, but i will most definitely be cherrypicking to my liking! this isn't really a big notice but i just felt like saying it 😳 also if you ever want to interact or just know more about MY interpretation of hakuno, then my blog's got all ya need tbh!! me gently taking your hands away from actual fate canon like haha yes ^_^ so what do u wanna know about this moon girl? also honestly if u wanna know more abt her just message me ❤️ I WOULD BE MOAR THAN HAPPY 2 TALK SLASH RAMBLE

Steven Universe Snake Eyes chapter 11: The Ultimate Fusion (originally published on November 6, 2023)

AN: Happy tenth anniversary to Steven Universe. For my anniversary present, I bestow upon thee the penultimate chapter of not just Steven Universe: Snake Eyes, but also the entirety of Steven Universe: Alternate Future. It truly is a pain to let this story go after three years, but as a wise man once said, all good things must come to an end. With the plotline involving the development and redemption of Black Rutile now come full circle, it's time we finally address Steven's relationship with the Diamonds before they go off and save the universe from a planet-eating snake demon. It's going to take an awful lot of work to forgive beings as powerful as the Diamonds, but if Steven was able to accept Black Rutile's apology, then anything is possible, right?

Synopsis: In a last-ditch effort to save all reality, the Diamonds must fuse together in order to stand a chance. However, Steven still has some baggage with the other Diamonds to deal with.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Christine Ebersole as White Diamond, Gem

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Samantha Newark as The Lapidarist

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Grace Rolek as Connie

Jennifer Paz as Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Matthew Moy as Lars

Zach Steel as Ronaldo

Atticus Shaffer as Peedee

Ron Perlman as Inner Steven

Aurelio Voltaire as King Cobralan Jormagundr

Jason Marsden as Prince Nosiop Jormagundr

Shirley Millner as Queen Constricta Jormagundr

Cissy Jones as Princess Naja Jormagundr

Keith David as Pyth

Henry Rollins as Captain Boa

Kari Wahlgren as Envyrno

Nicole Sullivan as Sylvia Spectre

Peter Cullen as Titanium

Steve Blum as Sheriff Spiegel

Dominic Armato as Captain Gearfeet

Wally Wingert as Rigby Starglow

Ray Porter as Squamata

Tim Curry as Velhallen Beo

Featuring Elton John as Stars

Weird Al Yankovic as Stevaldo

And Jack Black as Rutilated Quartz

--

Steven was still processing what he had heard earlier. Him fusing with the Diamonds? Perish the thought! Sure, he was always up for helping others, even former enemies. Still, after all that the Diamonds had done to him, his family, and most of the known universe, it was way more challenging for Steven to accept that they were coming to him for help rather than him coming to them. He needed some time to think about this while everyone was preparing for the final battle with Squamata.

"So now they want my help after all they've done to me?" Steven angrily muttered to himself while pacing around the throne room. "Oh sure, I've allowed Black Rutile to repent, but it's going to take more than just saying sorry to make up for thousands of years' worth of genocide!"

"Problems, Steven?" Inner Steven asked from within Steven's mind. "Frankly, I'm quite surprised that those Diamonds are asking you for help for once instead of you asking them. And they couldn't have picked a worse time to do it, too."

"And now I have to fuse with them in order to save the universe!" Steven agreed with his darker half. "While I'm more than happy to find a way to stop Squamata once and for all, I'm not sure how this can work, given all my baggage!"

"Worst case scenario, the fusion fails astronomically, and we all die." Inner Steven proclaimed. "Just being realistic here. But then again, no one ever listens to the darker impulses of the self. And speak of the devil. Look who it is!"

Just then, Black Rutile stepped into the throne room, obviously still adjusting to her reforming into a Crystal Gem after sacrificing herself to protect Steven. In addition to the blank spot where her diamond symbol once was now being filled by the star of a Crystal Gem, Black Rutile's cape was now replaced with an all-white trenchcoat with pink details and a star on the back, dark gray trousers, and her original green visor to replace her red one.

"Hello again, Steven." Black Rutile awkwardly greeted. "It's me again, Black Rutile. I always come back and all that. Something the matter?"

"Go ahead; I'm sure you can trust her now." Inner Steven advised while figuratively shoving Steven towards his former enemy. "If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

"So, Black Rutile, how are you adjusting to things?" Steven asked Black Rutile.

"I'm slow to adjust, like always." Black Rutile replied. "Love the new look, though. So, you have to fuse with the Diamonds to save reality, huh?"

"Exactly." Steven added sourly. "You know how fusions must involve total cooperation between its components to stay fused? Yeah, I don't think that's possible between me and the Diamonds."

"I can totally understand where you're coming from." Black Rutile stated. "I felt utterly betrayed by the Diamonds, too, but if they could give me a second chance, then surely you can do the same to them!"

"But you're different!" Steven exclaimed to his now-former enemy. "You were at least able to recognize that you hurt me and are working to make amends for that. They're focusing more on everybody else they hurt and always act like they've been friends with me from the beginning!"

"You're kind of vindicating one of the reasons I hated you right now." Black Rutile snarked. "The universe doesn't have to revolve around you, you know! You have to consider everyone else in this world, too!"

"Yeah, maybe I can be selfish, but at least I don't have an entire planet forced to worship me, or else they'll die!" Steven argued. "Why can't they just focus on what they did to me for once?!"

"Because it's not as simple as you think, Steven." Black Rutile stated with her arms folded. "This kind of stuff gets messy, and everybody's got issues, especially the Diamonds." She then looked down at where her diamond symbol used to be, nostalgically reminiscing on her time as a member of White Diamond's court. "And sometimes, they screw up. But that doesn't mean they won't just pretend like it didn't happen." Black Rutile offered a tender pat on Steven's shoulder. "Try to cut the Diamonds some slack. They may not always get it right, but they're trying. That's more important than you think."

"Wait, I think I got an idea!" Steven exclaimed in realization while he ignored Black Rutile. "What if I don't need to fuse with the Diamonds to save us all?!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Black Rutile grumbled with a facepalm. "Okay, fine, let's see whatever harebrained scheme you have, I guess."

--

"I admire that you made me take time out of my schedule to bring me here, Steven, but what is this for?" the Lapidarist asked as she sat in front of Steven, Black Rutile, Lars, and Ronaldo at the abandoned Ouraborium. "Whatever you have planned, please make this quick. We are preparing for war."

"Listen, Miss Lapidarist, I know we don't have much time, but I want to show you some alternatives to fusing with the Diamonds." Steven announced.

"It's his way of saying he's not ready to fuse with them yet because of his leftover baggage." Black Rutile snarked before Steven pushed her aside and then turned to Lars.

"She raises a good point, you know." Lars agreed with Black Rutile. "You can't just ignore your feelings about someone like that!"

"No, no, I bet people have wanted to see this for a while." Ronaldo said as Steven took Lars's hand and the two fused into a tall, pink-skinned man with crazy, 1970s-styled hair and dressed like he was the leader of a lonely hearts club.

"Oh, my stars!" the newly formed fusion of Steven and Lars gasped in amazement with a British accent. "Hey, that sounds like a pretty good name! That reminds me, I wanna test something." With a loud yell, Stars created a portal he jumped into, with another allowing him to land on the Lapidarist's shoulder. "Pretty impressive how I'm thinking with portals, eh?" He then summoned a large bass guitar from his hair to swing through the air like a sword before crashing down onto the ground with a big 'TWANG!'

"So cool!" Ronaldo cheered. "Do me next, do me next!"

"Okay, love, don't get so impatient." Stars laughed before un-fusing into Lars and Steven, who gave Ronaldo a high-five before the two merged into an equally tall man who was very bizarrely dressed, fitting Ronaldo's eclectic interests, with outrageously curly hair.

"Whoa, I look so stupid!" the fusion of Steven and Ronaldo laughed jokingly. "Wait, I am Stevaldo! I dare to be stupid!"

"Guys, where are you?" Peedee called for Steven and Ronaldo as he entered the arena. "The Gems want everybody together to stop the Lapidarist. Don't keep us-"He stopped himself immediately upon seeing Stevaldo in front of him with a big goofy grin as he began playing the accordion. "What just happened?"

"Check it out, Peedee, it's me, Ronaldo!" Stevaldo eagerly said. "I fused with Steven, and it feels super cool! Check out what I can do!" With his fingers to his temples, Stevaldo manipulated the rocks beneath him and used them to form a message saying, 'I AM STEVALDO!' "Pretty cool, huh?!"

"So when are you going to fuse with me?" Peedee asked.

"Maybe when he realizes he's using fusion to get out of making amends with the Diamonds." Black Rutile answered with a smirk. "But what do I know?"

"Is this true, Steven?" the Lapidarist wondered as Steven un-fused with Ronaldo. "Are you that uncomfortable around the Diamonds?"

"Yes, you got me, I am uncomfortable." Steven confessed. "I'm happy that we were able to convince them to heal all the corrupted Gems, a little easier than I thought, but that still doesn't distract from the fact that they were this way because of the Diamonds to begin with! And that's not even getting into how their treatment of Pink led to the rebellion, which led to so many lives being ended over thousands of years!"

Steven resisted the urge to cry as he poured his feelings out until the Lapidarist patted him on the head with her giant hand. "There there, Steven." She calmed him down. "Forgiveness and compassion shall always take time. So until the time comes for everyone to apologize, it's best to remain optimistic. In the meantime, you should be helping your friends save the universe."

"You're right." Steven sighed in resignation. "I can't dance around this any longer."

--

"Okay, everyone, double time, we ain't got much left to do here!" Amethyst yelled as she gave orders to all the members of the army of Gems, humans, Slytherophidians, Metals, and other assorted creatures from across the universe, all vastly different but still united against a familiar foe who desired nothing more than to destroy everything he saw. Friends, families, planets, and even entire galaxies were all in danger of being consumed by this mad god and his heralds. "Come on people, let's go go go!"

"Already got all the Gems ready!" Lapis declared with the Little Homeworld Gems behind her. "You ready, guys?!"

"YEAH!" the Little Homeworld Gems all cheered in reply.

"So this is it." Envyrno proclaimed. "These are the end times."

"At least we all had fun while we lasted." Sylvia Spectre answered sweetly as she contacted her superiors at the Coalition of Galaxies to assist in the final battle. "Now then, are you ready to help others for once?"

"Guess I got no other choice." Envyrno responded with a smirk.

"In any war, there are calms between storms. There will be days when we lose faith." Titanium gave a rousing speech to the other Metals. "But there are also days when a few brave souls unite to save the universe. We can be heroes in our own lives, every one of us, if we only have the courage to try. Now, we must take strength in kindred spirits, not of our species, all true warriors. If not in body, then in spirit. I am Titanium of the Metals, and I send this to the fearsome Squamata. Leave this universe alone. Because we're coming for you."

"Rigby, it's been an honor meeting you." Captain Gearfeet said to Rigby Starglow with a grin. "Say, can you sign my arm? I want to prove to my crew that I was lucky enough to meet you!"

"Okay, you got me." Rigby smirked as he took out a pen and wrote his signature on Gearfeet's cybernetic arm. "Who knows? Maybe we'll run into each other again someday."

"One last call before the apocalypse, everyone!" Sheriff Spiegel said while passing around a flask of alcohol to Deputy Edward, Monty, S-L1M3, Lady Imagineer, the Decimator, Earthos, and Michelle Angelon. "Anybody care for a sip?"

"I'm good." Jasper said as she turned to White Topaz. "Now, are you sure you're comfortable having to work alongside you-know-who again, dear? If you want, I can poof her again."

"No, don't be such a worrywart, honey." White Topaz said before kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. "If she says she wants to change, I trust her with all my heart. Besides, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be wearing this sick number." She did a twirl to show off her new reformed outfit, now a black wrestling singlet with a big white star on her chest. "You like it?"

"Really fits you." Jasper said before she saw Steven and Black Rutile reunite with the others. "Steven! I've been wondering where you ran off to."

"Is everything alright?" Pearl asked. "We know you're a little uncomfortable around the Diamonds, but we're also aware that you really don't have a choice in the matter. If you're ready to talk with them, we'll make sure that they have enough time to- "

"You're too late, Steven." Garnet bluntly stated. "The Diamonds are already shipping out with the Jormagundrs to face Nosiop." As Garnet concluded her sentence, Steven turned to see the Diamonds, along with Spinel, Hessonite, Citrine, and the royal family, flying off in a big warship outside the castle walls. "Tough break."

"Doesn't matter, as long as all of us are still together." Steven declared. "The Diamonds can wait; we got a universe to save!"

"You got that right." Black Rutile said as she drew her sword and stood alongside the Rutile Rebels, both past and present. "Buckle up, Lucent Gems, today's the day we make a change!"

--

Within an hour or so, more warships began arriving from Alethinophidia, carrying the defenders of Serpentes toward the final battle with Squamata. One ship housed the Crystal Gems, the Rutile Rebels, now dubbed the Lucent Gems, Lars and the Off-Colors, the various competitors in the Contest of Champions, Bialyoom & Meinerr, Aescul, and the Fryman brothers. Another carried the Diamonds, Spinel, Hessonite, the Jormagundr royal family, the Universal Lords, Captain Boa, Flipso, and the Black Pearl Brigade. Finally, a third ship was transporting the Metals into battle.

Squamata and his heralds all turned to discover the three ships in the distance as they descended to the ground and their respective passengers disembarked for the final battle. Meanwhile, the Lapidarist appeared from above in a flash of light to lead the resistance against Squamata.

"So, you finally show yourself, my dear creator." Squamata sneered with a hiss. "What can one speck of light illuminate within the dark abyss that is I, Squamata? Countless stars. Countless worlds. Countless lives. All fell to me, all brought to nothing, and all because of you." With an ominous glow in his eyes, the god of snakes summoned an unstoppable army of darkness to aid in his destruction of the universe. "You and your kind have tried so hard to keep your sins hidden away that you had no idea that there would be souls of darkness who wanted to unleash my wrath upon the universe. You simply could not live with your own failures, and where did that bring you? Back to me."

"You will find that mortals are far more resilient than you believe, Squamata." The Lapidarist declared with a speech of her own. "Look at these people, these mortal beings. Consider their potential! They have done so many amazing things with the short time they have in the universe, yet they always made the most to ensure a brighter future for all! And that future involves you dying once and for all!" She raised her arm to the sky. "CHARGE!"

With that, the Lapidarist's armies raced into battle for the fate of all reality. In the process, Lapis and Jasper fused into Malachite, Cat's Eye and Holly Blue fused into Chrome Chalcedony, Cinnabar and her crew combined into Painite, Black Rutile, and White Topaz fused into Lepidolite, Aquamarine, and Eyeball fused into Bluebird Azurite, and Steven and Lars fused into Stars.

"Okay, just gotta tell the Diamonds I'm not interested!" Stars muttered to himself as he tried running over to Yellow Diamond. "Uh, hey, Yellow, can we talk?"

"Not now, Steven, saving the universe here!" Yellow exclaimed while repelling an army of shadow creatures with a wave of her hand. "Blue, back me up here!"

"Already on it!" Blue replied while firing lasers from her palms. Disappointed that he couldn't talk to the Diamonds yet again, Stars instead focused on helping the other Crystal Gems against Squamata's heralds.

"Hey Steven, neat new fusion!" Peridot complimented Stars's look.

"Thanks, love." Stars replied before summoning his star-shaped bass to fight off the invading army.

"Wait, Steven can fuse with humans other than him and Greg?" White Topaz asked while she and the Lapides held up a water shield to help defend the Metals.

"I guess so." Connie replied. "Bismuth, on your left!"

"Got it!" Bismuth yelled while smacking Velhallen Beo away with a hammer fist.

"Blast you, Gem scum!" Velhallen snarled before lunging at Garnet like a predator. "I've waited centuries to kill a Gem! And you have the honor of being the first!"

"Not quite." Garnet smirked in response. "Malachite, now!" Malachite then took Beo by surprise by snatching him from midair with a water claw and tossing him straight at Torius Vosania.

"Playing hardball, eh?" Beo smirked while firing a giant purple energy beam from his hands that White deflected with her laser eyes, prompting a beam struggle between the two.

Meanwhile, Cobralan, Constricta, Naja, and Boa all stood face to face with Nosiop, Pyth, Mr. Manco, and Torius, the royal family ready to free their son and brother from the Serpent Society's clutches and be a normal family again. "Nosiop, I know you're still in there, my boy." Cobralan reached out to his son. "Please, let your old man into your heart and listen to him."

"Me listen to you?!" Nosiop yelled angrily. "You never listened to what I had to say, so why should I do the same? I legitimately wanted to change our society for the better, but you were so stuck in your traditional ways that you never noticed your own family's feelings!"

"You know, father, he raises a good point." Naja stated.

"And that's why I wanted to talk to you, Nosiop." Cobralan added. "A human told me that I wasn't the best parent towards you. He knows from experience, for he is a father much like me, a father who also debated with himself on whether he was a good parent to his son. But at the end of the day, he accepted that no matter how much he treasured his child, he still needed to grow and change as a man himself. So please, my boy, let me try to be a good parent, and maybe we can work things out. Let us slay Squamata, and together, we can work towards a brighter future for our people."

Nosiop's face dropped as he gazed at his father, now repenting for his past problematic treatment of his son. He finally acknowledged his ignorance of his son's wants and now wanted to make amends. It almost brought a tear to Nosiop's eye and made him want to drop his weapon and return to his family with open arms. But unfortunately, destiny had other plans.

"I believe you've talked with your boy long enough." Pyth smirked while grabbing Nosiop by the shoulder. "Perhaps before you two are reunited, he should slip into something more comfortable. Oh, Squamata! I got a new vessel for you!"

"Excellent, my priest!" Squamata grinned eagerly before he zoomed straight into Nosiop's body through his mouth, forcing his spirit into the young prince and possessing him like the demon he was. As Nosiop was now possessed, his original self was locked away within his mind, and Squamata took control, allowing his new body to grow exponentially in size. With a sadistic grin, Squamatia took his body for a spin by laying waste to the rebellion surrounding him, smacking his tail around and firing lasers from his mouth. "Oh, this is most excellent!"

"Nosiop, sweetie!" Constricta yelled in horror before running for cover.

Before Squamata could cause any more harm to the rebellion, one fusion was brave enough to stand up and defend his friends from harm. Steven immediately un-fused with Lars and fused with Ronaldo so Stevaldo could summon a giant shield to protect them. "Stay away from my friends, Squamata!" Stevaldo announced. "I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the one character in a superhero comic who is genuinely skilled in his own right yet is useless compared to the gods he surrounds himself with! I am Stevaldo, ally to good and nightmare to you!"

"Oh, another fusion with a human?" Squamata smirked in Nosiop's body. "I must admire your creativity, Steven Universe, but it shall not be enough! Bring me the ultimate fusion!"

"Now is your chance, Diamonds, become Gem!" Squamata urged Steven and the Diamonds. "Of course, there is something you need to address first."

"Right." Stevaldo said before un-fusing as Steven continued holding up the shield. "I know you've heard this way too many times before, but the reason why I'm so uncomfortable around you guys is that even though you're trying to make a change, you still don't understand what you've put me through with how you treated Pink and what you did to all those species through covering up what you did!"

"We don't understand? Are you kidding? Us? Of course, we understand. I mean, do you call this a war, this funny little thing?" Yellow declared, snapping Steven out of his funk. "This is only a small scuffle compared to what we endured!"

"We did worse things than you could ever imagine! And when I close my eyes, I hear nothing but the screams of the Gems who gave their lives for us!" Blue added worriedly.

"And you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it?" White added, clenching her hand for extra emphasis. "You hold it tight till it burns your hand! And you say that no one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch! So go on, hate us all you like, but that won't change the fact that you would never exist without us! We need you as much as you need us! We're sorry for abusing you for what Pink did! Please forgive us!"

"That's all I needed to hear." Steven smirked in acceptance as he held out his hand to finally make amends with the Diamonds. The other three Diamonds each placed their finger on the hand, and in a brilliant flash of white, yellow, blue, and pink light, Gem was finally reborn after thousands of years.

"I-I'm whole again." Gem gasped while gazing at her massive hands and her surroundings. "I know what I must do." Without even thinking first, Gem zoomed towards Squamata with speed rivaling that of the speeds of light and sound combined before grabbing the possessed prince of Serpentes by the tail and spinning him around in the air before slamming him to the ground. "TAKE THIS!"

"Ah, the original Gem, long have I waited to see you!" Squamata snarled in joy before charging at Gem and attempting to bite her in the forearm, but Gem thought quickly and slapped him away. "Yes, this is just the fight I wanted!"

"It's time for you to surrender, Squamata!" Gem boomed while preparing another. "Let Nosiop go, or we will make you pay the price!"

"However, there is but one mistake you Gems fail to notice." Squamata smirked. "You never know when you'll be taken by surprise." At that moment, Squamata seemed to disappear, and in the next moment, the Lapidarist let out a loud shriek of agony as she keeled over while poison began to spread through her body. "Let us see how you fare without your god to save you!"

"Oh no, Rebeugar!" Gem yelled as she raced back to where the Lapidarist had fallen and un-fused into Steven and the Diamonds to try and save her.

"Thank goodness you got here in time." Captain Boa stated. "I don't think she has much time left after an attack like that took her by surprise."

"Hold on, I can fix this!" Steven exclaimed as he tried using his healing spit to cure Rebeugar of the poison, but to his shock; it didn't seem to work. "Oh no, what's happening? My spit isn't working!"

"That's because Squamata's poison is so lethal; not even your spit can stop it from killing its victims." Cobralan said remorsefully as he laid the Lapidarist to rest. "You can rest now, milady. We'll take it from here."

"I do not know what'll happen after I die. But I know that you are reality's last hope." The Lapidarist said weakly while gazing at Steven and Black Rutile one last time as the poison began killing her. "I was wrong. You two shall make the ultimate fusion that will save us all. My time is short, but I shall leave you with one final message. Everyone, I urge you all, one final time. Believe in Steven."

As the Lapidarist finally died in a flash of light, Steven and Black Rutile looked at each other, knowing exactly what to do. "Are you ready?" Steven asked while offering Black Rutile his hand. "Do you trust me?"

"I do." Black Rutile answered before taking Steven's hand, and the two danced together, glowing so intensely that the light could be seen for miles. The two began to fuse, something neither of them ever thought would've been possible in the past, and the result was an androgynous figure dressed in a conventional superhero costume with intense pink skin and large, curly hair. Could this be it? Could they be the ultimate fusion thousands of years in the making that will destroy Squamata once and for all? Whatever the case, the newly formed Rutilated Quartz had only one thing to say.

"Awesome."

--

Dear god, this chapter was a massive undertaking, but it was all worth it in honor of the show that changed my writing career forever. Well, that along with Gravity Falls and FLCL. Happy anniversary Steven, hope it's a good one. Next chapter will be the final chapter of Snake Eyes, and as I stated earlier, the long-awaited finale of Steven Universe: Alternate Future. Until we meet again for one last adventure, let's see how far we've come and how far we'll go.

Where Am I In A Position To Discover Burberry Replicas

Especially after I watched this documentary on Youtube during which it confirmed Burberry deciding to maneuver their production from the UK (where they originated from – they're a British brand for those of you who don’t know) to South Asia. As a business decision this makes a lot of sense because the house owners of the company can now make their luggage for filth low cost and revel in most markups. However for the heritage of the model and by means of the luxury radar it was an enormous mistake. Why would anyone in their proper thoughts pay full price for a Burberry purse when you can buy a knockoff made in the identical country, and more than likely in the identical manufacturing facility for a a lot decrease price? At least corporations like Louis Vuitton, Chanel etc. assemble their purses in Europe to offer it that feeling of lux (even though a lot of their components come from China as well!). 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all of G & Y for the queen of new vegas, baby 😈🔥

thank you legend!!

— G. GORGEOUS.

i. what is their most attractive external feature?

it’s not something joss has given a lot of thought; she always understood that she was considered beautiful, and that usually meant she was bait for unsuspecting travelers who would stay at her father’s shack of an inn. the appeal is all in the facial composition, though — she didn’t have clean hair or skin or pre-war clothes, then.

ii. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

she learned early on how to manipulate people by saying the right thing, asking the right questions. dispensing the appropriate amount of approval at the opportune moment, withholding it just long enough to make it feel earned. to someone intimately familiar with how she operates, it’s not necessarily a charming attribute, but it’s what gets her what she needs and what draws people in to begin with

she’s also funny as hell, if your tastes run to the morbid or at the expense of others.

iii. what benefits come with being their friend?

she will not put out a hit on you!

full benefits of all her connections. an act if you want it. resources if you need them. the run of the strip and goodwill in freeside. exemption from getting kicked out of the tops if you’re winning too much ( swank hates this one ).

iv. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

well, she thinks she’s hilarious, thanks. she likes that she’s ruthless and cutthroat; it doesn’t really occur to her that she shouldn’t have to be, she just appreciates that it serves her, that it’s how she survived this long. she likes the way she looks; she’s not vain, but she likes the advantage it gives her. she’s proud of the fact that almost everything she knows is self-taught.

she dislikes that she’s so embittered, that she can’t let anything go. she didn’t really think about it when it was driving her — she’s going to get away from her father, she’s going to find her sisters, she’s going to ( from her perspective ) free new vegas — but when she’s left as a rebel without a cause she just has to sit with it, and she hates that. not enough to talk about it or do anything with it, even with her closest confidants she’ll never feel free to show what she perceives as weakness or vulnerability that way, but still. she wishes it were different, sometimes ( which, perhaps ironically, leaves her even more embittered and usually drives her out of vegas to go wander the wastes before she misdirects it more than she already has; she already slaughtered the strip once, she can’t do it again, it didn’t rid her of her anger last time ).

v. what parts of others do they envy?

relatedly, she envies anyone who is ( comparatively ) without baggage, insofar as that exists in the wastes, less in the sense of what’s happened to them but how they’ve coped with it and processed it. people who can be satisfied with what they have, who don’t have an anger or restlessness that consumes them. she thinks sometimes she would have been happier roaming the wastes all her life, and she envies those who do, to an extent, but that’s a thought she has the luxury to have when she actually has security & companionship for the first time in her life ( which she does not, in fact, walk away from despite technically having the option, so the insincerity of that envy is apparent even to her, if she’s being honest with herself ). is the appeal of the idea partly that benny absolutely abhors it to the point of bumping off others for harboring these potentially dangerous sentiments? yes. almost entirely.

— Y. YOU.

i. how old were you when you created them?

twenty-one. she was older than i was at the time. i now understand she is a fetus.

ii. what inspired you to create them?

unlike some of my other characters, joss was originally purely the result of in-game choices and mechanics. i just wanted a real bitch of a courier, not initially from the perspective of a fleshed out character but in the sense that she would take every chaotic asshole option available. lose to ringo at caravan? shoot him. end up shooting the whole entire bar and being the butcher of goodsprings. get villified by the ncr before even reaching primm. boone won’t speak to her because of this. break into his hotel room. shoot him. kill jeannie anyway because she found the receipts. shoot that guy who won the legion lottery because she thinks it’s an actual lottery and he’s gonna have cash. nope. just open fire on vulpes & company.

i started to develop a loose moral code for her by the time i reached freeside and adjusted my gameplay accordingly, but that is, in fact, her tragic origin story.

iii. were they different when they were first created?

honestly, given the above writeup, not as much as you’d think. obviously she’s different in the sense that character/developmental/background reasons now exist for her behaviors and choices, and a few things have been tweaked accordingly, but those were more additions than revisions to the extremely vague concept that already existed. she’s the same old very evil karma bitch she ever was.

iv. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

i don’t know if i would say more, but she’s one of my favorites ( there are obviously other characters i write more frequently now, especially in terms of what actually gets posted to tumblr dot com, but i originally wrote for her a good deal ). in terms of gameplay and early-stage development, yes, by an absolute landslide. her first playthrough is probably to this day the most fun i’ve had in my first runthrough of a game.

v. what’s your favorite thing about them?

exactly her aforementioned origins, actually! she’s a loose canon in every sense, just a real liability, but she is, horrifyingly, running this shit now. she also lets me play with a lot of my favorite tropes ( the femme fatale, the dark messiah, god save us from the queen ).

Why do you love Shigure so much? lol no seriously, recount all the ways in which he is the best trash dad.

LOL

Not so much a trash dad than he is a trash lover.

The reason I love Shigure so much is because of all the ways that he is a bad person clash with all the ways he is a good person. The result makes a character absolutely fascinating to me.

Out of all the characters in Furuba, I think he is one of the most, if not the most, layered (and that’s saying something).

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Mr. Wisdom, trash dad

His wisdom and his knowledge of the human heart allows him to help people the best way he can. Cue his speeches to Kyo, Yuki and Tohru about dealing with anxiety, loneliness, etc.

He is devilishly clever. He knows people. He has an instinctive knowledge of what makes them tick and he doesn’t hesitate to use it. But he knows how to use his powers and insights into people’s psyche for good. See how he manipulated Hatori and Mayu to get together when he thought the time was right for both of them! Helping Hatori, advising the protagonists, getting Yuki out of the dark room... The man knows what he is doing, and he is voluntarily not very subtle about some of his schemes, so of course he annoys the others.

He is mysterious. The “ripple on the wave” analogy si perfect.

I love the amount of time needed in the story to discover what his goal is, and how much sense it gives the overall story retrospectively. And when you understand that he is. behind. almost. everything.The chess master who invites himself in the game Akito and Ren are playing and completely overtakes the board.

He is generous. I don’t think taking care of teenagers is his cup of tea, but he didn’t hesitate to get three problem children under his roof. He bought Tohru a bed and spoils her as much as he can! And gets everyone on vacation at the wood hut. He’s a good friend to Ayame and Hatori. When Akito got out of control and attacked Kana and Hatori, he rushed into the room to restrain the family head. (“Akito, listen to me!”)

He has a dream, and an unholy amount of patience, stubbornness and determination to see it succeed.  Jacob Chapamn says it the best in his review of the 2x3 episode.

“Fruits Basket has often encouraged us to see Shigure as lazy, but considering that he's been trying to make some mysteriously impossible dream come true since he was a child, maybe this shiftless stinker who spends half his day sleeping is more determined than we thought. It's possible that Shigure's just been "doing the laundry at his feet" in his own way, minimizing his stress and conserving his energy each day so he can gradually chip away at a monumental task.”

And yet, he also knows to trust in fate and the freedom of others (”Que sera, sera”), barely nudging them in the right direction. What’s not to love in this mix of laziness and ruthless will?

But the best thing is that you don’t know if he’s acting out of the goodness of his heart or because it ultimately serves his own objective to help everyone find happiness out of the bonds of the curse.

Why can’t it be both?

A magnificent, self-aware bastard with a ruthless streak

He is just that TYPE, you know. In the cast of Fruits Basket, he stands out like pepper among sweets.

He is patient, conniving, and manipulative, self-aware. He knows what he wants, and is willing to do what it takes to get it. A powerful combination.

He has many faces. There’s the goofy one. He resembles, in a way, the buffoon in classic theatre pieces, who is close to the king, and under cover of jesting is the only one allowed to speak the truth, by riddle or mockery, and get away with it.

There’s the wise persona, filled with good advice and help for his friends and his charges.

But there’s also the piercing gaze, and the malevolent face. There are no true villains in Furuba. Most are victims. Akito is a basket case of fear and rage. Even the old maid is only the embodiment of the institution that produced her. Both are sorely lacking in the department of introspection. Ren is a wailing, grieving wraith clinging to a ghost (In more ways than one does she represent what Akito could have become). Shigure, on the other hand, is the farthest away from being a victim, and the closest to being a villain. He is always in control of himself, and is the only one who knows how to tame his own feelings and his attitude to coldly assess a situation and respond to it. His betrayal of Akito were both in rage and calculation, in full knowledge of causes and consequences, with plans and counter-plans for them. He is the kind of character who never explodes but will play the long game to enact his revenge. That makes him very dangerous indeed, because he is not rainbows and sunshine.

Coldly, he moves the pieces and is willing to risk them. He deliberately endangered Rin when he told Akito of her and Haru’s dating, with the dire consequences we know. He tells Ren about the box, although he couldn’t foresee that Rin would also be the victim.

And when he gets angry, he is CRUEL!!

And I don’t mean the kind of teasing that makes his editor cry. (That is mostly played for laugh.) I mean the kind of cruelty that makes you hurt the people who hurt you. And among the self-sacrificing protagonists or deuteragonists, innocent teenagers afraid that they might be thinking too much about themselves... the meanness of his revenge against Akito is such... an acutely human response to being hurt and cheated on. NOT GOOD, not fine! In fact, a truly malign act that did not have any other purpose than to hurt. But, how can I say... this is what made him, for me, the most REAL of all the cast. All of the characters, layered as Takaya knows to make them, have both good and bad traits. Generally, for the protagonists, a lot of good with a little bit of bad. Shigure is the only one of the main characters whose depths of bad match the heights of his good. Which is one of the reasons I find him such a fantastic character!

He gets neither a core character development neither a comeuppance. Seriously, everyone goes on incredible heroes’ journeys, jumping from one epiphany to the next, moving reunions and relationships and realizations... and he’s the only one who is, funnily enough, “unchanging”. Although he does say that he’s learned to make some compromises... I’d rather Yuki, Kyo or Tohru had punched him once, as Hatori warned him.... Although someone does.

So why does he get so little development? That’s, in a way, because he already thoroughly knows himself. He’s a grown up, but his heart hasn’t changed from the moment he was six and had a beautiful dream.

He is probably the zodiac who has the most self-control, and also the strongest will. Remember that the curse forces the zodiac members to submit to Akito, or else feel a rending pain in their hearts if they go against her wishes or hurt her. Yet, he is the only one, the first one, who is in full rebellion against her. He is Prometheus, or Lucifer in their uprising against the divinity controlling their lives! He’s the only one who doesn’t need the curse to be lifted for his eyes to open to the true natures of the curse and Akito. He sees what is wrong and fake with those bonds, and how Akito is slowly self-destructing from it. Like Lucifer, he is chased from Heavens, and from the recesses of his new dwelling, he gathers allies and plots against his God.

His goal, ultimately, proves to be good, but he is the only character ready to dirty his hands and deal with the unsavoury aspects of slowly unravelling a whole isolation, controlling, abuse-inducing system and pull his loved one out of this mess. He will do what needs to be done, meaning he will manipulate everyone, create conflicts and confrontations, force the other characters’ development, even if it hurts them, even if it hurts the one he loves, no matter the collaterals. (I would argue in his defence that undoing a centuries-old curse that is supposed to represent abusive and unhealthy relationships couldn’t be done without heartbreaks and tears).

He is a character who is extremely clever. A good one at heart (his affection for Hatori and the spot of light that is Shiki Sohma are proof of that) but under his goofy exterior, his intelligence and manipulative streak would probably have made him a distant, cold person if he hadn’t had that dream and that goal early on as a child.

The love story (give it all to me!!!)

He is both Akito’s main antagonist and her love interest, and god, do I love Childhood sweethearts to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers trope.

I am a romantic. And as such, I’d die for any love story that has the characters be the sort who would die for each other. However (twist)... I’d die for the two people who would die for each other but are stuck in this unhealthy cycle of ripping each other apart. Yep, I like messy relationships, albeit with a happy ending. Simply put, I believe that no matter how much we might wish otherwise, passion by itself might not always be pure. Love is not always healthy. Jealousy, resentment, anger, lies, find a way to drip their poison into love. Which is why I am attracted to those stories that have the protagonists macerating in this messy hot pot of issues that they cooked for themselves, and yet somehow find their way out.

Akito and Shigure are older than our main characters. They are not pure (arguable with Akito, as Tohru will argue). The chaste kiss they shared as kids has long given way to more passionate ones and a physical relationship. Theirs is far from the innocence of teenage first love. They are adults with heavy baggage: they were in a relationship, they cheated on each other, they exacted revenge on each other, in the pettiest ways they could think. They verbally tear each other apart, Akito out of hot fury and hurt, Shigure out of coldly served revenge.

And because this is the only way he knows how to help her.

He wants to break the curse because he wants his bond with Akito to be recognized as real. Does he do that out of jealousy? Certainly, in the way that love is naturally jealous and selfish. It’s not as if he wants to isolate her and keep her for himself, except romantically. He’s more than happy she’s friend with Tohru & later Saki and Mine. And there isn’t any evidence that he wasn’t fine with Akito’s bond with the other zodiacs... until Akito slept with Kureno. Very probably, he was her only partner at the time, and he thought they would have a normal, meaning exclusive, romantic relationship. Akito thought differently (”I am free to treat the zodiac members as I see fit!”), and he realized their feelings for each other wasn’t enough to keep her for himself, again, romantically speaking. He realized everything that was wrong with the curse, and with a partner who thinks of herself as “God”. And now that I think about it, isn’t the curse a deconstruction of the harem trope? It shows the darkness and jealousy that would arose from a situation where someone is ”born to be loved by all” and is willing to test that privilege. No matter that it’s not love, but insecurity and pity that gathers them in bed.

At the time, Shigure didn’t know that Akito didn’t sleep with Kureno out of affection, but out of fear of being abandoned, just that she would choose a fake bond over a true one. At the time, he reacted as a spurned lover, and did the one thing he thought would hurt her as much as she hurt him. From this point onward, he viewed her as an antagonist. He left. He started playing against her an elaborate game of chess in the hope of destroying the fake love of the zodiacs. So she could fall back in his arms. Very selfish, yes, but also the best thing he could have done for her.

Remember when I wondered why it was that Shigure’s eyes were open before anyone to the true nature of the curse? Why he was the only one able to rebel against God? I think that’s because his feelings for Akito were stronger than those of the spirit of the Dog for God. His own love, his flawed, selfish and possessive, deeply human love, overwhelmed and crushed the submissive love of the Dog for God. He saw Akito as herself, and because of that, he is the only one who treated Akito as human, not as a divinity. While the others bowed their heads and accepted her abuse, in a way enabling her violence, he didn’t give her a free pass. I’m not saying that the way he did it was right, but his tit-for-tat way to show Akito that he wouldn’t take a hit like a good little pet, like Kureno or Hatori, was a way to reject the divine in Akito. He wanted to be her equal.

As such, him being a manipulating bastard, playing with everyone, carefully laying his pieces on the board, makes him a de facto God (I saw another post on Shigure as a God-like figure, but I don’t remember where). It’s his way of staring at Akito right in the eyes, saying, “I see you as you are. I won’t bow. I won’t leave.” Which makes him the only one who could be with her at the end.

And it is very subtle, but Shigure’s attitude towards Akito does change after Kureno’s phone call. Until then, there was something bitter and malicious in the way he taunted her (”Tohru is a much better person than you are.” , “One of us will be sorry in the end and it won’t be me.” , “It’s time you reaped out what you sowed.”)... Afterwards, the paper flower is like an offer of reconciliation. And, there’s chapter 101 of course, when their confrontation leads to the bodice tie-ripping. But from then on, even though he says quite clearly that he is not “kind”, that he won’t indulge her the way Kureno and Hatori do, he is kinder. The only thing is that he refuses to offer her is the same kind of indulgence that the zodiac members give her, the kind that either pities her or treats her as something above them. An unhealthy combination that allows her to get away with anything, even abuse. Shigure’s relationship with her is almost an inversion of courtly love. Instead of being her faithful servant, he challenges her world-view, in a way that Akito finds antagonistic. But he tries to stir her towards a better place.

That’s him trying to help her. But Akito doesn’t see it this way. Instead, she thinks he is cold and harsh, when he offers her something different, and true.

That’s when his wisdom comes into play. Self-aware as he is, he realizes that he is not equipped with the tools to heal her. That’s another of the reasons he left the main house and implicated other people. Only someone like Tohru, someone outside of the Zodiac curse, could offer her the reassurances she needed. Shigure wants Akito. But he wants to save her too, by helping her accept the truth that she rejects and Tohru struggles with.

Time passes and moves on, as do people and emotions, leaving you behind.

I used to say that it is lucky, very lucky indeed, that his inherently selfish end goal aligned itself with the greater good. But that’s forgetting that his goal was good in itself: Shigure didn’t just want Akito as a partner. He wanted her healed and whole, happy and free. That wasn’t compatible with the curse. And it served his peace of mind to have everyone else happy. Deep down, although he is the kind who dabbles in it when he’s hurt, he is not the kind of person who rejoices in cruelty and darkness, just another man, however flawed, reaching for a light that would shine for all.

So, why do I love Shigure Sohma? This master mind who planned the unravelling of the curse over years of plotting, who trusts in fate while giving it a nudge, who is behind the whole plot of Furuba? This unholy mix of charm, laziness and ruthless determination, generosity and patience, self-awareness, pettiness and guilt? The “trash dad" who, although he benefited from it, provided a roof to three fragile teenagers in need and helped them become stronger? This man cursed by human failings, drowning in sins, yet whose heart is still dreaming, still reaching toward the holiest ideal of love? This Luciferian figure who gently caught his fallen goddess and stood by her side to explore with her the beauty of truly living?

"The only thing worth writing is the human heart in conflict with itself."

William Faulkner

I love Shigure’s contradictions, his complexity, his depths, the contrast between the purity and the selfishness of his goal, the oscillations of his means between depravity and virtue, the fact that he did it all for love. Those reasons might not make him the best person, but they make him a very human and real character in my eyes. And frankly, that’s what I want in fiction.

Fucking keen as to get the new version of Friends of Mineral town, cause, let me tell ya, i’ve had a fucking month.

(It’s covid related so, i’m putting it under a cut, just incase anyone wants to stay away from that shit. Also please don’t message me anything covid related because i’m pretty stressed atm, but I think its an important thing to share because this virus presents so differently in everyone.) 

So, basically. My husband and I are back in Aus. 

It was crazy being in the UK and being in lockdown (obviously very important!) We jumped on the plane in heathrow and had to wear masks for the entire 30 hours trip (also very important!!!) 

Australia currently has a scheme for new arrivals, it’s essentially forced quarantine. Its been really good for keeping rates down since the virus was being spread by overseas traveller (except for melbs, that fucked theres up, and is now in state lockdown. google it.). The government pays to put you up for 2 weeks in a hotel, and pays for all food provided (unless you get your own). This has literally just changed overnight though and they are now charging travels for mandatory lockdown in NSW. 

So, we get to Sydney, and its to nuts to see. A Bio security agent gets on the plane and takes a head count (maybe 50 on the plane all up). We all get off and line up for a health check, where a nurse takes your temp, asks if you have any symptoms currently and gives you information about potential symptoms. Then you go through immigration, and then you get taken to the baggage area. 

I am very privilege, I’ve travelled a lot, but i’ve never seen Sydney airport so empty before. Only one baggage carousel was open, after you grab your bags, you check in with the Australian Federal Police, who sits you in seats 2 metres away from each other, and you wait there for the NSW police to escort you to buses to take you to your lockdown hotel. 

We get called, get lead to a bus, the Army was also there putting bags onto buses. Jump on the bus and off you go, they don’t tell you where you are going, but we rocked up to a very nice hotel in the CBD. After checking in again with the NSW police, you get told your room number and we were taken to the room by a solider. We weren’t given a key, because you are not allowed to leave the room for two weeks. There are security guards on every floor and police in the lobby to enforce this. All meals are dropped at your door. You can get care packages and uber eats if you want, but you cannot under any circumstances leave the room. 

A nurse calls every day to check on your mental health and for symptoms, if you say you have any of the symptoms they test you. On day 10, they give you a covid test regardless of if you are showing symptoms or not. We had ours day 10, it came back negative and then on Day 13 we had a pre departure screening with nurses and the army. Day 14 we were out. My in laws picked us up, and we went back to my home town and had a small BBQ with our friends.

I should note, btw, that this was allowed. A lot of Australia’s restrictions in NSW have eased. 

On the Sunday, we woke up, and my husband said he wasn’t feeling so good, just run down we thought, we’d just spent 2 weeks in a hotel with no fresh air, and its winter. We went to a friends house for breakfast, and on the way home he said he was feeling way more congested. I said, even though we tested negative 4 days ago, we need to get another test. So we went to a drive through clinic and got another swab to be safe, called everyone who was at the BBQ to let them know this so they could stay inside for the day, just incase. 

Literally he had no cough or fever, it was like he had a slight head cold. The next day, we got the terrible phone call to say that the test results were back, and my husband was positive for covid. I was negative. 

Obviously, extremely stressful situation, we were staying with his 60 year parents. However, NSW health organised for us both to put up in another hotel, separately. So thats were I am now. We are on day 7 of another 2 week lockdown. My husband is feeling loads better, and it seems he has an extremely mild case of it. He did develop a cough a few days ago but its pretty much gone now. If he doesn’t have symptoms for 3 days as of tomorrow then he can leave the hotel thursday. 

I am still here till next tuesday, and all our close contacts are also isolating in their houses. We are going to stay away from everyone for another week when we get out, just to be sure. 

All our close contacts are fine as well so far as. Nurses call them daily to check up on them. A few of them have had swabs due to some symptoms but all swabs have come back negative. 

My husband was also on the news because of this! My home town has been covid free for 8 weeks, so there were all these articles about an ‘international traveller’ that had returned with the virus. Luckily, we didn’t go anywhere in the community. 

Basically, moral of the story is, in these crazy fucking times, just get tested, if your country will let you. Even if you’ve just got the sniffles. Its better to be safe than sorry. 

Also extremely grateful for the way Australia is dealing with it. Its not nice to be locked in a hotel for a month, but its important to do to make sure the community is safe!!

(I have a balcony this time btw, so does my husband, so we can get fresh air and sunshine!) 

Arctic Air Pure Chill AC

Arctic Air Pure Chill AC Reviews: Shocking Facts Revealed About the Pure Chill AC!

When the late spring months start to approach, everybody gets worried about how they will get past them. This is on the grounds that throughout the mid year, it would be very awkward for somebody who must be outside for significant stretches of time or who needs to drive a great deal to manage their work.

Be that as it may, if such an individual has introduced an air molding framework in their home, it will consistently help them in unwinding. What occurs, then again, when the individual ventures or leaves for work? Obviously, there will be no air molding!

Individuals regularly think that its hard to endure the bursting summer heat each year on the off chance that they don't approach compact cooling gadgets like Arctic Air Pure Chill AC. Albeit a few group make an endeavor to adapt, numerous others bomb wretchedly. With regards to moving away from the sun, the lone place to go is the home. This won't be conceivable without the utilization of innovative contraptions that can successfully cool the prompt climate.

Conventional air conditioners, obviously, are viable at promptly cooling the air, yet they are likewise costly, energy-concentrated, and non-convenient gadgets. They are huge and should be set up before they can start to work. Arctic Air Pure Chill AC and other compact air conditioners can be very helpful in the mid year. They're more affordable, lighter, and simpler to ship than customary other options.

The horrendous the truth is that each individual ought to plan for a more sultry than normal summer, as various climate figures have recently anticipated. To sum up, this amazing Arctic Air Pure Chill AC audits is for people who would prefer not to squander their late spring in distress, enduring, lack of sleep, or disappointment.

What Is Arctic Air Pure Chill AC?

Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is a compact air conditioner that might be utilized as a fan or as an air conditioner that blows cool air toward the client. Because of the fact that it is little and doesn't accompany a knot of links, it is easy to move starting with one region then onto the next. All things being equal, a miniature USB link will be given to clients to charge the gadget.

Since it's anything but an in-constructed air channel, this air conditioner is ideal for utilization in an inside setting; it sift through any messy air and residue particles, just blowing perfect, cool air toward the client's face.

The Arctic Air Pure Chill air conditioner is a solid and sensibly evaluated air conditioner. It's anything but a cordless air conditioner, an ordinary fan, and a humidifier across the board. In such manner, it's anything but a three-in-one device that gives the client modified cooling. Due to the manner in which the AC is developed, it is equipped for eliminating dust particles from the air.

Therefore, clients will profit with tweaked ventilation and clean air. This gadget is likewise easy to use, and it has three fan rates to look over. It delivers almost no commotion and can be utilized in a room or elsewhere without causing interruption.

Because of the fact that it is intended for the shrewd, wellbeing cognizant purchaser to use easily, Arctic Air Pure Chill AC utilizes front line separating and ionization innovation. The objective is to simplify it for clients to inhale clean air while likewise improving their general wellbeing. This is reflected in the fact that the Arctic Air Pure Chill air molding cooling gadget is continually being tried and assessed by various people.

Clients who have purchased and tried the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC have found that it beats other versatile air conditioners accessible available today. Also, because of its highlights and sensible estimating, this Arctic Air Pure Chill AC has acquired inescapable acceptance in an assortment of nations.

Highlights of Arctic Air Pure Chill Portable AC

It's anything but a coordinated cooling framework that can cool and revive rooms in almost no time.

It's not difficult to utilize, and it's anything but a couple of moments to get everything set up.

It is developed with a material that is both solid and enduring.

It is likewise accessible in an assortment of shadings.

It doesn't devour a lot of power, so clients won't be troubled with enormous energy costs.

During typical activity, it doesn't make a great deal of commotion and is practically totally quiet.

Consolidated into the unit is an air channel that refines the air by killing residue and different toxins.

With three fan speed settings going from low to high, it is feasible to adjust the fan speed to fit individual requests.

 Advantages of PureChill AC

The Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is obviously planned to make the existences of its shoppers simpler. Also, it's anything but a clear technique for filling the gadget, just as a cordless system that doesn't include perusing a protracted arrangement of headings. It is feasible to perceive how much water is left in the tank since it is straightforward and enlightened. Topping off the water tank is a basic interaction. Due to the 300ml capacity, clients won't be needed to do as such consistently. With these benefits, this convenient air conditioner smoothes out the replacement interaction for the entirety of its purchasers.

 Due to the pivotal idea of the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC, it is reasonable for use in any climate, regardless of whether inside or outside the home. With three distinctive fan speeds, clients can watch out for things and change the settings to suit their necessities. Furthermore, the immediate airflow louver manages the measure of air that clients are presented to while utilizing the gadget. Clients can generally cause changes in the event that they to accept the sum is excessively high or excessively low.

Since the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC runs on water, it likewise fills in as a humidifier for the encompassing air. This implies that it will add dampness to the air that individuals will inhale, staying away from dryness and warmth from framing in their bodies.

It's anything but consistently that somebody has the chance to carry their very own air molding with them. The unassuming and compact type of the Arctic Air Pure Chill air conditioner settles on it a phenomenal decision for anybody arranging an excursion or occasion in a warm district. The air conditioner can go with the client any place they abandon occupying a lot of baggage space, and it will give genuinely necessary alleviation during their hot occasion.

In the event that an individual experiences sensitivities or asthma, the air that the person inhales might be perilous to their wellbeing. Poisons and bacteria are among them, and they enter the body through the respiratory frameworks of the people who are presented to them. The Arctic Air Pure Chill AC's channels clean, filter, and disinfect the air it courses. It guarantees that the quick environmental factors of the client keeps a spotless and new climate.

The Arctic Air Pure Chill AC's quick cooling mode decreases heat in just 30 seconds by quickly conveying invigorating whirlwinds air to the client. The gadget cools the air by utilizing water, which is both harmless to the ecosystem and useful to the person.

Advantages and disadvantages of PureChill AC

Lightweight and little in plan

Easy to utilize and stay up with the latest

Effectively movable and versatile

Different settings modes are accessible.

It is very reasonable and assists with saving power.

Cons:

Just a set number of units are accessible.

It's anything but a carefully conveyed item and must be bought through the organization's true site.

 The markdown is just useful for a restricted timeframe.

<Click here to get your own Arctic Air Pure Chill AC straightforwardly from the authority site at a reasonable price>

Is Arctic Air Pure Chill AC Legit?

Arctic Air Pure Chill air molding is, undoubtedly, a trustworthy air molding framework. At the point when many confirmed clients initially found out about this attractive air conditioner, they were wary. After much thought, they at last chose to try it out, and they are presently happy they did.

It is altogether less confounded to use than the other options. An exhaust hose shouldn't be put outside of a window to work. There aren't any wires or anything like that in the room. All things considered, clients simply interface the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC to a USB association.

This gathering of confirmed shoppers immediately found that their acquisition of an Arctic Air Pure Chill AC brought about a profoundly powerful air cooler built of excellent parts. What's more, it performed honorably. Due to its little size and lightweight plan, they have had the option to utilize the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC anyplace they have required it. They keep it on them consistently and convey it with them.

The individuals who would prefer not to burn through cash on air molding however yet need to inhale outside air will track down the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC to be an astounding decision for them. It has no effect if the person who is utilizing the individual air molding is youthful or old. People, everything being equal, can profit with it, and it is still somewhat easy to utilize. It additionally has no effect whether or on the off chance that it is utilized by men or by ladies. In any case, it gives the two sexual orientations an unmistakable benefit as far as cooling framework execution by offering an agreeable surrounding air quality that considers sufficient ventilation during warm climate.

It is conceivable that numerous clients who have fallen flat to be happy with another air molding brand may appreciate the Arctic Air Pure Chill air molding framework. Permitting the person to only use the individual Ac will permit you to decide if or on the off chance that the person can achieve a predominant outcome. Another element is the capacity to splash fog into the air, which can be convenient on hot days.

Three Reasons Arctic Air Pure Chill AC Is Recommended For Every Individual?

Since it's anything but extremely fruitful at cooling different people, this individual air cooler is most appropriate for one individual. Bigger families and homes are decent, however they may not be reasonable for them. It will just stock restricted cooling power in a client's home's environmental factors. A size-compelled cooling framework will perform better on a more limited size, which reasonable given that it is endeavoring to achieve a gigantic objective. This implies that, as well as bringing down energy costs, it might likewise help the client get a good deal on their electric bill.

It's easy to set up, use, and keep up. At last, if an individual is stressed over not having the innovative expertise expected to work an air conditioner however doesn't have any desire to spend additional cash on an expert, the Arctic Air Pure Chill AC can be a good decision. The arrangement is probably not going to be risky for the overall population because of the cooling gadget's low intricacy and great efficacy. To start, they basically need to turn on the Arctic AC unit and appreciate the truly necessary cooled air.

How Does Arctic Air Pure Chill AC Work?

Playing out the accompanying three stages will guarantee that clients' Air Pure Chill air conditioner works appropriately and without causing them any distress.

Stage 1): Pour some water straight on top of the AC.

Stage 2): Remove the water blind and replace it.

Stage 3): Switch on the AC.

Arctic Air PureChill AC utilizes thermoelectric cooling to keep the encompassing air cool, which is more productive than different techniques. This is accomplished by passing warmth between two electrical associations and permitting the AC's technicians to deal with the remainder of the work.

The Arctic Air Pure Chill air conditioner's removable water shade has a life expectancy of six to eight months. Likewise, the air conditioner is outfitted with channels that eliminate allergens and pollutants from the air. This strategy permits a client to take in quiet, new, and detoxified air.

For what reason is Arctic Air Pure Chill AC the Best Portable Cooling Alternative?

Numerous people might be confounded regarding why such countless individuals continue to discuss this specific air conditioner model. It is such in light of the fact that it is exceptional and remarkable. It's anything but an uncertainty a standout amongst other air conditioners accessible available today. In light of its movability and reasonable expense, the Arctic Air PureChill AC is a great option in contrast to customary air conditioners.

This air conditioner is compact since it is expected for individual cooling. Clients can move it from one space to another and even use it to chill the kitchen because of this element. None of these are conceivable with a regular air conditioner.

For conventional air molding, clients are limited to a solitary space that they should all partake to stay cool all through the mid year months. This isn't the situation with this individual air conditioner, which surpasses a standard air conditioner as far as cooling execution.

 Along these lines, a customary air conditioner accompanies a large number of costs, though an individual air conditioner doesn't. It is costly to introduce and keep a standard air conditioner, and it enormously expands energy costs.

The Arctic Air Pure Chill Desktop AC, then again, doesn't work thusly. It empowers shoppers to get a good deal on expenses like establishment, repairs, and service bills. Utilizing this air conditioner on a low fan setting, purchasers can save energy that would somehow be needed to run a typical air conditioner or other eager for energy cooling apparatuses, according to the manufacturer.

As a beginning stage, the water shade has a time span of usability of 6-8 months and ought to be replaced at regular intervals.

Also, verify that the cooling gadget is constantly charged. As a result of its miniature USB connector, clients will actually want to charge it whenever and from any area, making this a non-issue.

The organization has guaranteed that nobody - not so much as an attacker - will actually want to access or take the purchaser's data all together for the transaction to be secure. Anybody, paying little mind to where they buy their merchandise, can possibly turn into a survivor of a trick over the Internet. The organization anyway guarantees that its site is free from any danger. It is essential for a purchaser to twofold watch that the person in question is making a buy from the genuine site.

Here are the value decisions purchasers have:

1 × Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is accessible for $89.99

2 × Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is accessible for $179.98

3 × Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is accessible for $202.48

4 × Arctic Air Pure Chill AC is accessible for $247.47

 https://sites.google.com/view/arctic-air-pure-chill-ac-buy/

https://sites.google.com/view/t10-portable-air-cooler/

https://sites.google.com/view/arctic-air-pure-chill-ac/

Love of my Life

Hey guys!! This is the sixth part. Enjoyyy💞

Doughnuts

The ride back to the hotel was deathly silent. For a highly chatty person like Amelia who held her emotions on her sleeve was eerily quiet. She was not even glancing towards Link!! She just kept looking out the window. Link's worry was growing by the second. Those bitches broke her! How are they even her sisters? They don't even know who the real Amelia is! Tonight was not supposed to be like this. Say something Amelia! Anything. Just say something. I can't see you like this ! She looks so vulnerable. Plchh

Link could not hold it in any longer. He looked at her for a long time before speaking, " Are you okay? "

He was met with silence. He slightly leaned towards her to gauge her reaction but, nothing. I told her not to go! She didn't listen to me.

He made matters worse by saying a bit sarcastically, " I said we shouldn't go "

That seemed to crack her. She replied icily, " I said we shouldn't stay ".

Why is she yelling at me? Is she trying to blame me? What did I do?!

" Wow. So your sisters are terrorists but suddenly I'm your problem?? ", he said with a hint of hurt in his voice.

Amelia was feeling betrayed. Dejected. Humiliated. Ashamed. No scratch that. Not ashamed. She didn't have to feel ashamed for anything! Agitated. Enraged. Angry! She just needed to be with herself for sometime but Link didn't seem to stop talking. She obviously understand that he's worried about her about she just needs to be alone!

Link could related to her frustration and tried to console her in the best way he could. " Look, everything was going fine until your mom arrived and called us in on our bluff. And, I know it got a little rough...". She interrupts him, " A little rough? Are you serious Link? It was a lifetime of humiliating mistakes and dirty laundry on display. Do you know how embarrassing that is?! "

Trying to diss the situation and make her understand that his feelings for her does not depend on her past, he smiles, " I don't care about your laundry."

Nobody has ever said that. How can he not care about my wild past? Of course he does. How can he not? I'm incapable of love. I can't take down Link with me. He deserves someone much much better. To push him away from her, she deliberately hurts him. "Yeah. BUT I CARE!! You were my pain management. My human blue light, mood enhancing when placed over my body and now you know too much!! And I'm...uh.. I can't." I am so sorry I said that Link. But I had to do it. I don't want you to develop feelings for me.

Her words go piercing straight through his heart. They bring tears to his eyes but he doesn't let them flow. He swiftly turns his head in obvious indignation and hurt. Does she really only think of me in that way? Am I nothing more to her? The way she smiled at me and the gleam in her eyes were only for the sex that I was giving her? She's hurt, I understand. But I can't. Nope. I can't anymore. I have to let her go.

They ride in silence after that. Suddenly both of their phone start beeping. " Jonah's in respiratory distress. We need to leave for the hospital now."

Amelia instructs te cab driver, " Could you take us to the Fox Medical Center as fast as you can please? We're in a hurry! " Link was surprised at her complete change in demeanor.

They realised on examining Jonah that the surgery didn't work had to perform another surgery to replace to rod they placed. But the patient didn't want that. He was actively denying the surgery which would not in the least improve his quality of life. Amelia then suggested a vertebral column resection surgery. Link was flabbergasted!! She should've discussed it with me first before suggesting such a high-risk surgery.

                She explained the procedure and the patient seemed convinced with her idea. Link quickly recited the notable risks of the surgery but seeing Amelia's confidence, the patient went with it.

They had a blow out in the scrub room where Link was thinking that Amelia is not okay and doing this surgery only to prove a point to her bitchy sisters!

Link was really concerned about her. She was not acting okay. She finally convinced him and the surgery was a success. But Jonah still hadn't woken up even after 10 hours of the surgery. They did hourly checks on him but still nothing! They were really getting worried.

             He finally woke up with no neurological deficits. They just performed a medical miracle and gave a teenager his life back. Amelia was on an adrenaline high. He was elated. I'm so thankful to God. Their opinions don't matter to me. They don't define who I am and they certainly don't get to question my surgical skills. Hah! Booyah Kathleen. In your face!

On their way out the hospital, Amelia was aware how poorly she had treated the man right next to her who always stood by her side. Even when she acted irrationally, he never left her side. She was highly repentant. He didn't deserve such a treatment. To redeem herself, shewanted to spend some time with him out the walls of this hospital so as to make it up to him.

" Thank you Link for uhh... thank you ", she said timidly.

"You were brave and it paid off ", he smiled down at her. How can he even manage to smile at me after all the horrible things I said to him?!

" Do you want to go somewhere to eat? I know a great Mexican place here ", she  desperately hoped he'd say yes. But he looked away guiltily and unintentionally crushed her hopes. Of course he doesn't want to spend time with me. It was so stupid of me to think... I don't deserve this fine man. I'll only sabotage him. Forget it.

At her offer, Link stood there silently for a few seconds just looking at her. I know she feels sorry but I can't spend anymore time with her like that. We need to act professionally. She's my colleague and nothing else. I need to curb my feelings. She made it very clear that I was just a human blue light for her. She doesn't need emotional baggage and I'm incapable of giving that to her. I have to let her go. And I'm hurt too! I understood how she needed to vent out her feelings but not like that!

He softly denied her offer, " No, uh, I need to walk. I'll see you on the plane ", subtly indicating that he needed some alone time. Link then left the hospital in a pretty gloomy mood.

Amelia couldn't stop the dejected look from crossing her face. She wanted to clear out the misunderstandings between them and didn't want him to feel horrible for the way she acted.

Amelia also wanted to make things right with her sisters. She was at fault to some degree for never telling them about anything. They deserved to know about her brain tumor and her divorce, even if they didn't bother attending my wedding, provided they don't pass snarky comments. She reached out to Nancy because she was the most forgiving sister. She knew she had a morning shift in the hospital so she texted her. Are you in the hospital? The reply was quick. NO. Of course. How typical!

She was turning to leave when " Hey kiddo! " rang through the halls of the hospital. She focused on the owner of the voice. " MOM ?! What are you doing here? " Amelia was shocked. The last person she expected to see here was her mother!

" Do you have a minute? Cam we go somewhere and um...talk? ", Mama Shepherd looked hopeful. She missed her youngest daughter.

They were sitting on a park bench. There was some awkward silence. Both scrambling for words. No one knew where to start, it had been so long.YEARS.

Carolyn asked about her divorce with Owen. Amelia told her but nothing in detail. " It just...didn't work out." Immediately after that she asked, " Do you think I'm incapable of love? That I sabotage relationships? I don't know how to love?", she said with a breaking voice. Carolyn's heart broke for her. What prompted her to think like that? I just know it in my heart that that military man, Owen said that to her. I just knew he had some problem when I first met him.

Mama Shepherd felt protective of her daughter. Amelia didn't deserve to think like that. Oh I'll strangle that man the next time I see him!! That asshole!

Carolyn thought of a way to make her realise her self-worth. She told her about a childhood story about her tendency to never give up and not being afraid of failures. That was the quality of hers that out of all the Shepherd children made her the most like her father. She was trying to keep her tears at bay by the end of the story. Amelia sharply looked at her mother on her revelation. If there was one man in the whole world whom she loved most apart from her brother, it was her father. Amelia felt this searing love for her mother when she compared her to her father. That was the reason why she pushed Amelia away from her. She reminded her of her husband. She was the spitting image of Papa Shepherd and she could not even bring herself to look at her own daughter!

She shifted closer to her and apologized for not being there for her when she most needed her mother in the walks of life. To make sense out of life. How to cope with loss. She was never there. That was her biggest regret! She would never be able to forgive herself for that. She said, " I would like to change myself now. I wat to rectify my mistake and be there for you if you'll let me. Do you allow me to be in your life more? ", she was on the brink of tears and hopefully asked her.

         Amelia could not fathom the sudden turn of events. She sympathized with her mother and hugged her tightly. Carolyn then apologized for missing her wedding and how things never go well with the sisters. Most of all for not being there for her brain tumor. She started crying harder after saying this but then laughed at the irony of the situation.

Amelia then told her about Leo and Betty and the troubles that they brought with them with Betty being a drug addict. She finally now realizes how hard it must've been for Carolyn to take care of her. She was ten times more troublesome. She apologized for putting her mother through a lot.

Carolyn then gave her a last parting advice, " If you don't think you're worthy of love, if you don't think your love is valuable, you're wrong. And that's on me. I wasn't there for you when you most needed me so put that on me and move forward."

" What if I can't? "

" Well, then that's on you." Her mother looked in her eyes to make her realise that she was wrong to think like that. " Now go and apologize to that young man. Atticus Lincoln. Such a fine name and he calls himself Link." Both of them were laughing hysterically. " Don't let him go. I saw the way he looked at you and stood up for you. Now that is a man to hold on to. He passed the Mom Test." She waved her hand, " Now go and make things right. Tell him I say hello. And kiddo, please keep in touch." They embraced tightly for a few more minutes and went their separate ways.

Amelia now had a clear train of thought and knew what she  needed to do. She needed to make thi gs right with Link. She finally knew what she wanted. Or rather...WHO she wanted. She hurriedly went to the hotel only to find Link long gone. She took a shower, checked out and quickly went to the famous doughnut place Link told her about. Gotham Doughnuts. Huh, suits his personality since he clearly is a big fan of superheroes. She ordered several of those glazed doughnuts Link loved. She wanted to look at the surprise on his face.

She entered the private jet timidly. He was obviously watching a baseball game. How typical of him. She silently chuckled. She kept the box of doughnuts in his line of vision. She stood before him waiting to be noticed. He was not happy. He was sad. And angry? He looked up at her with an expression lacking the adoration he usually possessed. I can't bear HIM looking at me like that!

" You were kind and you were brave last night too with my family and in that surgery too. You didn't have to do that with me", she spoke softly. He kept his tablet aside and intently looked at her. She then sincerely spoke, " But you stood by me through all of that. You are...surprising to me." Link looked at her with a glimmer of hope in his eyes in beating her words. Maybe there's a chance for us after all?

" You deserve a lot better than the things that I said to you. You are more than a human blue light. Though...you are very, veryyy good at blue lighting." Link's heart swell with pride. Huh. Is that so? There was a small smile tugging at his lips but he quickly recovered. " I'm sorry. It was not my intention to hurt you in any way. I would like to make it up to you if you'll let me? ", she said with hopegmful eyes.

Link was just staring at her with hooded eyes. She was unable to read his expression. Suddenly he picked up the box of doughnuts and kept in on his lap. He then tapped the seat beside him silently asking her to sit next to him with a radiant smile on his face. She pouted slightly and looked at him opening the box. She was smiling widely looking at his astonished expression.

How can I not forgive her? She looks so innocent and cute timidly standing like that. And she brought my favourite doughnuts!! Ah she remembered!! Man I love this woman. Wait, not like thaaat. Hehe...It's too damn early for that.

He licked up on doughnut and put the whole thing in his mouth in one go. Amelia was laughing with her mouth wide open. He's just a small child when it comes to food. He strangely reminds me of Alex. Both are pigs when it comes to food. She laughed at her thoughts and quickly shook her head.

Link hummed his approval at the taste and offered her a doughnut urging her to eat the whole damn thing like him in a single shot. She looked at him with determination and opened her mouth. It was freaking too big for her mouth! She applied pressure on both the sides to make it smaller and pushed it inside her mouth but it was of no use. She had a very small mouth and it couldn't go any further!

Link was laughing hysterically looking at her antics. His laugh prompted her laugh which made it all the more difficult to eat the whole thing. Both of their mouths were filled when they tried to talk which made them laugh harder. Link picked up another doughnut but this time Amelia snatched it from his hands. He looked at her with mock betrayal but when she divided it into two pieces so that it would be easier for her to eat and offered the other piece to him, he smiled petulantly.

With a muffled voice he said, " Yeah you can eat like that too", making her laugh. They continued feasting on the doughnuts until they were completely sated.

" Thank you so much Amelia." She smiled and noticed that he had some crumbs on the corner of his mouth and pointed them out to him. She leaned a bit and brushed those crumbs with her hand. He was smiling a toothy grin and brushed the crumbs on her mouth with his finger. Both were laughing permanently shoving the fight they had at the back of their minds.

They still had their hands on each other's faces. Their smile died down and subconsciously they were inching closer. Link wanted to give Amelia the total control of the situation and waited for her to take the next move. Amelia noticed his eyes growing darker and looked down at his lips. He just looked at her waiting for her to do something. The anticipation was killing her.

         She quickly leaned down and captured his lips with hers. She wrapped one hand around his neck and held his face with the other to deepen the kiss. He wrapped his fingers in her hair to push his tongue inside her mouth. He always loved her short and silky hair. Their tongues were battling for dominance. They made out for several more minutes until Link broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. She caught their breaths for a few seconds until Link pulled her in for a hug. He whispered in her ear, " I missed you. And I'm sorry."

Amelia tightened the hug on beating those words and hummed, " I missed you too." They pulled out from each other's arms and were beaming.

Link then wrapped his right hand around her shoulder and Amelia laid her head on the bridge of his neck and shoulder. They laid there in peaceful silence and content.

    Suddenly Link's muscles tense and he starts fidgeting. Amelia waited patiently for him to speak his mind. Impatiently she blurts, " Out with it, Link! "

Link's eyes widen and he nods furiously, " Ok, Ok. "

" Sooo, you had a brain tumor? ", he asks with wide, worried eyes. Amelia starts laughing. Why is everybody so focused on the brain tumor topic. It's not that important, she shrugs. Amelia doesn't realise how stupid that sounds.

" Yeah I did", she chuckles. " I had a 10 centimeter benign Grade - 1 meningioma".

" TEN??!! YOU HAD A TEN CENTIMETER TUMOR IN YOJR BRAIN?! And you're behaving as if it was not that big a deal??!! ", Link shouts incredulously. Hus eyes are wide and astonished.

" Liinkkk, relax! ", she laughs again. " The tumor had been growing for ten years and then I called Tom at the time. He was my teacher. He completely removed my tumor. Sooo, not a biiig deal. "

Link didn't understand her calmness. He always hot a bit nervous when he talked about his own cancer. But here she was, as calm as the sea. I just don't understand this woman sometimes. He shook his head a d chuckled.

Link tightened his arm around her shoulders and brought her body closer to his. He buried his nose in her hair. " I'm so glad you're okay ", he said sincerely.

Amelia wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his neck. He ways made her vulnerable. He had the ability to make her feel all the feelings. " Me too. I'm happy I turned out okay and not gorked. Yayy, I'm not a vegetable." The mood was suddenly lightened and both of them laughed.

" I met my mother before coming to the airport. We had a heart-to-heart. I'm glad that she approached me. It strangely cleared my head. I really needed that." She looked up at his eyes with a weird kind of hope which Link could not comprehend. He was pretty sure he had a different kind of a gleam in his eye when he looked her in the eyes.

They were content in each other's arms throughout the flight. They took a nap blissfully holding each other. Amelia came out of the airport a completely new person, her arms linked with Link's. They kissed softly , hugged and went their separate ways for the day with wide grins on their faces, silently agreeing to meet at the coffee cart or the on-call room the next day. They were thrilled for this new adventure.

Amelia couldn't wait to tell her ' original sisters ' everything about the trip as soon as she reached home. She just wanted to hug her sisters and her nieces and  nephew to call it a day. Finally something good came out of the trip, one the surgery couldn't have gone better, second her relationship with her mother at last was not bitter and they were on better terms. Lastly, she finally knew where her relationship with Link headed!!

Author's Note:

Heyy guysss!! Sorry it took me a while to update. I had certain health issues. Anyway, how was this chapter? I didn't concentrate much on the surgery part and only on the AmeLink part because, who am I kidding? It's an AmeLink fanfiction!!😂

I enjoyed writing this chapter. It would've been really good for the story had the makers included more of the plane scenes at the end of the episode. Don't forget to comment! I'll update soon. Until then.

Shadow of the Batgirl: A review type thing

I just read the graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux, which reimagines the superhero origin of Cassandra Cain.

It was overall good and EXTREMELY cute! If you want an awesome story about a teenage assassin running away from her shitty dad and finding a neat library, a community of cool ladies and the hero within herself, AND WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT THAT, definitely get this! 

It’s a standalone Batgirl story completely accessible to all and with none of the weird baggage and the complicated continuity of the regular Batman universe! it’s appropriate for younger teens but still a good read for adults, the art’s colorful and great, it’s packed to the brim with joy and hope.

And on top of all that, it gives a great character who’s been traditionally horribly neglected by mainstream comics for some reason (*cough its because she’s not white cough*) a spotlight and a chance to shine (and get written by an Asian American author for once!)! This also features one of my other faves, who had her disability and adult identity erased in the main universe, but not in this comic, hurray!

SO YEAH, if you like superheroes at all, highly recommend this!

NOW for a more detailed review, calling on all my expertise as a Cassandra Cain superfan and going into pros and cons. This’ll be long, but I’ll do it as a list to break it down.

Let’s start with the good stuff, there’s a lot of it:

- This story takes place in world where Barbara Gordon as Oracle (and former Batgirl) and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl exist, but Batman and The Killing Joke do not appear to. That is honestly transcendentally great to finally see this as an officially realized concept, Batgirl allowed to stand on its own as a legacy of powerful women, with all history of these characters being victimized for the sake of manpain erased. I am elated.

-The art was adorable, the designs were great, the clothes and Cass’s costumes were super cute, the setting was vibrant.

-Jackie was a really fun character and mentor figure for Cass. Loved her snark and how she and Babs basically become Cass’s two Moms and an awesome team in their own right. The relationships in this were just heartwarming. Loved the range of characters in general.

-Cass basically lived in a library aka my life dream. I mean, she did it because she was homeless and on the run from her assassin father, but like.

-Cassandra FINALLY knows her own race, (she’s half-Chinese) and gets to have a goddamn connection and basic feelings about it (Jackie bringing up what the bat means to Chinese culture), etc, god it should not have taken this long for this to happen.

(And it’s really important to have a version of Cass’s story where, y’know, the positive inspirational figures in her life include other Asian people, they aren’t just white people. it wasn’t until I read this it fully dawned on me how screwed up it is she never had that before.)

-For the first time in her entire existence, Cassandra Cain got to be in a canon romance that wasn’t fucking awful, can you believe it. Her love interest Erik was adorable, and him being a budding romance writer was an especially sweet touch- and I think there’s an implication/hint his dad’s the Bronze Tiger? Which is really cute Easter Egg for Cass fans, considering she had a strong friendship with the dude in her original series!

-The idea of Cass liking to draw and expressing herself through art is really fun and fitting. Her being visually focused, it makes a lot of sense.

-Cass extending her body language ability to sort of being able to guess at people’s underlying emotional problems from how they carry themselves is a really neat idea- it could have been implemented a little more smoothly but I like the concept.

-Cass going after the “evil-doers” in the library after becoming a hero was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Deserves to be framed. I love what a huge nerd Cass got to be in this.

-The comic understood that core of Cass’s character is compassion and empathy, that how she reaches out for people, refuses to harm, and really believes in people and embodies change, rebirth, hope. THAT’S IT, THAT’S MY GIRL, THAT’S MY HERO..

-I’ve read a ton of comics with Barbara Gordon and this is the first one I’ve come across where she discussed her relationship with her mother having any sort of influence on her interests and personality, she isn’t even the main character of this and her mother matters more in it than every other comic I’ve read with her combined how sad is that

-I liked Babs just casually making gadgets and stuff all the time, and loved that she expressed she honestly preferred doing this and that was why she was giving Batgirl to Cass. MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM FUCK YOU DC ALL OVER AGAIN.

-Compared to the original Cass Batgirl comics, this story is obviously more accessible as a standalone, but it’s also just overall more appropriate for a wider range of ages since the darker elements of Cass’s story are way toned down. I was a young teenager when I read Cass’s series and was fine, but there are young teenagers that DON’T want like, graphic onscreen deaths in their comics, so it’s good there’s a lighter Cass story for them. It was just a really sweet, affirming story.

Now for some cons, none of them damning:

The romance was cute, but wish it’d had room to breathe. Ideally, it didn’t need to be happening alongside Cass’s origin, I think it would have been better if it was just hinted at and then was allowed to fully play out as an after-she-became-Batgirl thing, but I can get that Kuhn didn’t know if this would get a sequel and there were probably a lot of good reasons she wanted to include it.

-I think this came from Kuhn being used to writing as a YA author rather than doing comics, but it was weird to read a Cass comic with so much narration and the way it was used really detracted from the potential power of the story. We’re told through Cass’s super chatty narration she’s not a normal teen, she TELLS US that she barely knows how to read and speak and TELLS US she’s better at reading body language-but we never get a sense of this, not even at the beginning, because the story doesn’t trust the reader to take in the visuals without narration, and then she’s able to talk like a normal teen pretty much right off the bat.

 I’m okay with Cass becoming a chatty girl, and her voice in this comic was fun- I know “silent Asian” has a lot baggage and Cass’s original character leaned into some stereotypes- but the first chapter/part would been far more powerful if it had her world be a little more silent and fully emphasized the visual, for her interactions with people and words be garbled and confusing, and if it gave us more of a sense of the world she comes from and how her perception of things differs from the average person. Cass’s original debut and the beginning of her original series did a really good job giving us a sense of this, and took great advantage of comics as a visual medium, and I missed that.

-Cass learns to read and talk SUPER EASILY and it just comes off as unbelievable. I do like the idea of her camping at a library, eavesdropping, and teaching herself, but I would have liked to see her actually struggle like a person would. Moreover, while I know the presentation of it was very flawed, Cass basically had a learning/language disability in the original series. I was kind of hoping this comic would lean into that, and actually give a more realistic and nuanced representation of that kind of disability (it could have been presented as something she always had that was exacerbated by how she was raised, not caused by it!).

 Honestly, I think her romance with Erik would have been far more interesting and meaningful and tied in better if she’d actually struggled to read, maybe even discovered she was dyslexic and couldn’t quite read the same way he could. That could have been a source of development between them.

-David Cain’s a super flat as a character in this comic, he doesn’t have much presence, menacing or otherwise, and Cass’s complicated feelings and relationship with him is not nearly as painful as they were in her original series.This is partly because there wasn’t a lot of a space for it though, and that’s fine.

-Overall, the main thing that hurts the story is that we don’t see all that much of what Cass’s life was like as an assassin, and her life with David Cain was like. It’s harder to invest in Cass’s transformation into a hero when we don’t really have a sense of who she was before,it’s hard to appreciate her breaking free when we can’t get a sense of what kind of cage she was even in. How much language DID she know? How much of the world was she exposed to? What was she really deprived of? I hope if there’s a sequel we can see more of this.

-Babs isn’t the main character of course, so this isn’t a real complaint, but I did miss her cynical and angry edge. She’s pretty much just a chipper nerd with no sign of her own baggage in this, and it makes her relationship with Cass less interesting. It’s implied that her “accident” did affect her and she just managed to work through a lot of it before she met Cass, but I missed the element of their relationship where they both were hurting from losing  “the world they knew” and working through it together, sometimes clashing, etc.

-I read one of Sarah Kuhn’s YA novels in anticipation of this, and while I’m relieved this is better about it than her first book was (I expected it to be, writers improve, I definitely know how messy a first book is) there’s still some cringe-y ideas of how “average” teens talk creeping in, occasional clunky pacing etc.

But all in all? It was a really nice little story that did a lot of cool things, and I really want a sequel and want more of this version of Cass and her universe. As someone who was driven away from DC comics in part because of how badly they treated Cass, Oracle and the Batgirl legacy. it’s really like a salve on old wounds.

Dollmaker Talk PT 2

*snaps fingers*  Guess what?  I got the “okay” sign to talk a little bit more about Runawayoutlaw’s unfinished Dollmaker build.

That means yes I will be going into my thoughts about the characters and setting this time.  I focused on Dollmaker being outside the Rockland canon and the game mechanics last time.

(MAJOR spoilers below for the unfinished Dollmaker build)

First of all, what is the plot of Dollmaker?  Well the MC this time around is a medical student attending a seminar that day on improving relations between demons and humans for the greater good.  One of the very speakers at the lecture is none other than Dr. Sano Kojima.  The MC apparently catches his eye and you two seem to get along fairly well considering you admire him for his position (he’s a demon ambassador) and he appreciates that you seem to be specializing in demons for your medical degree.  All seems to be going well and you look forward to discussing the profession with him more...only to get caught off guard when he knocks you out and brings you to his home.  The atmosphere quickly changes when you wake up and he cuts straight to point that his main goal is turn you into a human doll!  He puts a binding spell on you so you can’t escape the house, but he gives you the freedom to walk about as you please.

That’s pretty much the gist of the game.  From there it’s about exploration and getting to know the inhabitants of the house, and on rare occasions, seeing some visitors.

Sano Kojima

As I stated in my previous post, both Sano and Akira have been introduced beforehand in BTD.  This game was meant to revamp the characters and stories.  For the most part, I’d say personality wise that Sano stays very similar to his BTD counterpart.  He’s very calm and professional.  He’s very much into his research and appreciates compliance from the MC.  He can still kill you in this, but the only such ending I found is if you fight back repeatedly right away.  Like I said, he prefers compliance.  He is probably one of the more sane of the three main house inhabitants and possibly the nicest?  It’s hard to say when I feel like both Sano and Annabelle’s routes weren’t quite finished yet.  That or I haven’t found everything yet.  

I will say compared to the BTD game, Sano here doesn’t show nearly as much sadism or malice.  He DOES still want to turn you into a doll though, but again I don’t think his route was fully finished (or I haven’t found the right paths yet).  I didn’t get a full ending with him completing the doll transformation, so other than the beginning, we don’t get to delve into that obsession as much as I would have liked.  I remember playing BTD and getting that one ending and thinking, “Oh!  I love that concept, I wish I could have seem more of the character focused on that.”  Dollmaker is obviously supposed to do that, but the creator didn’t get around to the finishing touches.  I kept getting stuck in the same loops with “Sano’s route,” so I can’t say much else.

Annabelle Winter

Annabelle is a brand new character.  There’s a bio for her luckily in the game to explain some of who she is (a former lead singer), but otherwise I probably was able to get the least information about her in the game.  I remember some notes about her one tumblr way back when Dollmaker was being developed.  Basically, she’s supposed to be Sano’s “first doll.”  You, the MC, would then end up being the second doll.  You can tell this really doesn’t sit well with Annabelle, even if I couldn’t get much more information about her feelings in the game.  There’s a conversation between Akira and her you can spy on, but you really aren’t quite sure what’s happening.  Her room was also always locked for me.  I don’t know if the programming for it all hadn’t been completed like Sano’s wasn’t, or I just wasn’t performing the correct actions.

The existence of Annabelle is interesting though because then it does make you ask questions like: What’s her relationship with Sano?  Are they lovers or something else?  Is she jealous that he’s making a new doll? Does Sano plan to throw Annabelle out after he has you? Does this mean the MC could also get tossed out later? What’s her relationship with Akira?  Stuff like that adds more tension to the atmosphere.  On the plus side, at least you know Sano’s successfully turned someone into a doll before, so you know the procedure should go fine (yay?).  Personality wise, I didn’t have enough to go off of to get a real good idea of what she’s like.  She can be a little bitter and creepy, that’s for sure, but also talks sensibly with someone like Akira.  It’s hard to say.

Akira Kojima

Ah Akira!  Probably the character that was the closest to completion in my opinion.  That doesn’t mean his whole path WAS complete, but compared to Sano (one death ending vs. couldn’t progress) and Annabelle (hardly any progression and no ending found), Akira actually had decent introductions, quality time with the MC and an ending.  Granted, it was mostly the ONE ending...but I kind of loved it and it wasn’t a death ending at least.  Before I get into that, what’s he like in Dollmaker?  Well he definitely has more of a domineering and feisty personality I’d say, contrasting nicely with Sano.  He also can be both naughty and tender I’d say when it comes to romance.  He can be pretty sensitive at times.  You also learn he’s a contract killer in this game, but he doesn’t seem to really enjoy the work.  That’s the only major hint I’d say of the guy being unhappy.  I remember during the development process it was hinted that Akira has a LOT of baggage in this universe.  Baggage unfortunately that seems to make unstable enough that he will completely flip his lid if he thinks someone is turning on him.  What I’m saying is...the dude actually has a yandere ending XD  I’m not joking.  For those who know of my main blog and are probably thinking, “Did YOU enjoy that?” the answer is obviously HECK YES!  See what happens is if you get too cozy with Akira, apparently that makes him latch onto you.  

I swear to god when I played my first run, I was NOT trying to make him jealous.  I thought there was more to do so I didn’t think it was a big deal if I didn’t wake him in bed (it seemed rude to me), go to the kitchen and compliment Sano’s eye.  But those Telltale mechanics from the last post I talked about?  This is where I realized too late they were hinting that Akira gets VERY aware of what you do in the house once he starts to like you.  He doesn’t like it AT ALL if you either seem like you’re trying to leave or get friendly with anyone else then.  He goes full “snap.”  What he does is try to “train you” so that you agree the MC belongs to him and him alone then.  I love how he does it actually because I find it pretty realistic.  Yeah he gets really rough with you initially once he’s snapped, but the big thing is he throws you into a large closet.  He just leaves you with a bucket and nothing else.  And then he makes NO CONTACT with you.  You go through...who knows how many days with occasional bottles of water or food placed on the floor without Akira talking to you or even you seeing him.  Depending on your actions, sometimes he’ll pop in to check on you, but if you show that your spirit isn’t broken yet, he goes back to the no contact.  He’s essentially driving the MC insane through isolation.  It’s very simple but incredibly effective.  Imagine literally being given nothing to do for days on end with limited food and water and just a bucket to relieve yourself in.  It can start to wear on you.  Humans are social creatures too (we NEED other people).  I love MC’s with stronger spirits actually that don’t bend to a yandere’s whims all that easily.  So yeah, I kept the MC yelling and tried to just hold out as long as I could.  This puts you in a loop though and Outlaw did a nice little touch where there’s this static effect over the screen when you continue to make decisions.  This helps to emphasize how monotonous this routine is becoming for the MC and you really feel less of the urge to fight back anymore.  I can see why the MC broke in the end.  Once they are broken, Akira comes to collect you and that’s pretty much the end.

Obviously I loved playing through Akira’s path the most.  I will do one small critique here since...I’m kind of a nut about yanderes.  I think it would have been nice to have a FEW more hints before Akira’s “snap” that he suffers from something like anxiety or separation over losing people.  There might have been some and I just got lost in the build maze finding this information XD  Like I said, I knew he had baggage (and even lost a lover) from the creator’s tumblr page during development, but I think it would have been nice to have some hints like that in the game.  Just food for thought in case they want to try another yandere character in the future.  Some people don’t like if you pull a “yandere snap” out of nowhere without at least dropping some kind of hint of instability with the character prior.  I mean I’ll always enjoy yandere endings regardless honestly XD  It depends on how serious you want to take it though.  This situation was different than say Marcus from Till Death Do Us Part only because....that game basically is ALL about the “snap” there (no real progression to it like in Dollmaker).  You had just enough backstory (The MC and Marcus are divorced and Marcus gives you nightmares) that him coming back as the ex from hell isn’t surprising.  People can fill in the blanks and fantasize all they want there about what went wrong with the relationship beforehand.  With Akira, you’re seeing the relationship progression play out, so there’s a little more pressure to make the “snap” a little more believable.

I don’t know how fair it is to critique an] game that’s clearly not finished though 0.o

There’s was other stuff in the game I enjoyed like all the little Easter eggs with the plants and paintings, and Cain even popped up briefly in a bad end :P  There was other stuff I also didn’t learn about though like Mio (sorry I scared you lol), but it is what it is.

Still a nice treat.

Friendship Catching Fire. Or; When DID Lucifer and Chloe fall in love?

I am shamelessly piggybacking off of @lucks-eterna for this essay - I’ve linked their post so you can jump between essays for fun! Thank you so much for inspiring me to jump back into the world of Lucifer!

Apparently, there’s a question that seems to be floating around Twitter - “When did Lucifer and Chloe go from being friends and partners to falling in love with each other?” It seems pretty clear that the three episode arc of 2x10 - 2x13 is the first attempt at both of them acting like adults and acknowledging the developing relationship - but can we pin down the hour, the look that started it all?

Lucifer and Chloe have their separate journeys and timetables for falling in love, but I’d argue that The Moment that started it all is the same for both of them - the end of 1x09, when Chloe and Lucifer play their duet, Heart and Soul.

Lucifer’s Side of Things:  

The first eight episodes of Season 1 have been setting up the moment he falls in love with Chloe. We’ve seen him move from fascination to blatant sexual interest to respecting each other as work partners and finally, most recently as of 1x08, jealousy of the time spent with Dan, who is still her husband as of this point in the story! Lucifer has no real claim to Chloe’s life, and he’s unhappy without understanding why he might want the right to Chloe’s attention outside of work

I’ve written elsewhere about 1x09 and the impact it has on Lucifer, but for purposes of this subject, what’s relevant is that this is the episode that builds on what Linda tells Lucifer about his outburst in her office - he’s finally getting in touch with his emotions. Letting his guard down. While he’s still defensive with everyone in his life, we see that this continues into the beginning of the episode as he realizes that, in the wake of Maze’s betrayal, he’s lonely without her. Maze is still a presence at LUX, but his world has been shaken. He’s angry at Maze, he’s furious with Amenadiel, Dan is a rival for Chloe’s attention, especially as they’re working on repairing their marriage, Linda has just put some (much needed!) professional distance between them and, as he says, “I’m not sure what we are,” when it comes to Chloe.

Lucifer desperately wants something to be the way he expects and when Maze offers an olive branch by drawing his attention to Father Frank, he thinks he’s found it. A corrupt priest, a sanctimonious, hypocritical follower of his Father’s, as proved by the fact that he’s walked into Lucifer’s bar to ask him for a favor! Lucifer spends about half of the episode trying to demonstrated his superior understanding that he understands exactly how the world works, attempting to hide the fact that he’s feeling so insecure about every major relationship in his life.

The problem with this plan is that Father Frank isn’t playing ball. Worse - he’s not only imperfect, but quite honest about his imperfections. He punched the murdered youth director. He has a past that includes assault and battery charges. He’s just imperfect enough that, when he challenges Lucifer’s skill with the piano, Lucifer can see enough similarities to open up and immediately bond with him over the music, forgetting himself for the first time we’ve actually seen in the show.

That moment changes how Chloe sees Lucifer - again. (The first time her perception is rocked is 1x04, when she sees the scars on his back).

This is the very first time Chloe sees Lucifer when he thinks he’s unobserved - she’s attempted it in the past, but he’s always been aware of her and has been in control. Now he’s completely unguarded, caught up in the moment and having fun - and we see the look on her face as she manages to sneak quietly in to listen to them, waiting for Lucifer to notice her. While Lucifer is absolutely putting on a performance, it’s not bound up in Lucifer’s ego or need to have the spotlight. It’s collaborative as he’s completely focused on that duet with Father Frank, eyes lit up, smile wide having so much fun in the moment that it becomes completely clear that the music he plays isn’t about getting attention from an adoring crowd; it’s something Lucifer simply loves to do. It’s the first time she sees Lucifer caught up in one of his private passions.

She’s enchanted. She smiles, softening and her own playful side comes out in response as, rather than let them know she’s there, she just waits for one of them to notice she’s in the room at all. Lucifer’s reaction is absolutely on point - he’s flustered and embarrassed. She’s caught him with his emotional pants down and it’s, in her own words, adorable.

And then Father Frank is killed and Lucifer prepares to punish the Spider in a total rage. It’s the first time Chloe sees Lucifer both obviously hurt and just barely hanging onto his control by a thread. His breathing becomes heavy and ragged and his tone ugly as he says “It’s time to pull the legs off the Spider,” before hoisting a rather heavy man at least two feet off the ground and screaming “WHY?!” at him, even as it’s clear that no gasped excuse the Spider can offer will be enough justification for his choice to kill Lucifer’s friend.

Chloe intervenes, calling him back to himself with his name and the reminder that his friend wouldn’t have wanted this. And Lucifer, as out of control as he seemed to Chloe in that moment, listens to her, letting the man go, honoring both his friend and Chloe’s duty as an officer of the law.

As they clean up the scene, Lucifer leaves, telling her that he’s fine - more polite fiction than lie, but either way it’s so untrue that the everything continues to bother Chloe late into the evening.

Chloe’s Side of Things:

When I first started watching Season 1, my thought was that a romance between a mortal woman and an immortal being doesn’t usually have much in the way of a happy ending. I was hoping that we’d actually see a more mature love between Chloe and Dan that involved a broken family and putting it back together by choice. So, I had actually been rooting for Dan and Chloe to patch their marriage back up from the pilot all the way up through the very end of 1x08, when it’s revealed that Dan has been lying to Chloe about Palmetto. In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I yelled at my screen, “DAMMIT, DAN!”

It was not the last time. But that’s a different essay altogether.

1x09 is the first time the audience knows that, no matter what, Dan and Chloe’s marriage is over. Lucifer may be the Devil and that may come with a lot of immortal baggage, but the extent to which Dan has been lying to her is laid bare in this episode. The moral event horizon in this marriage has been crossed. Which means that, while Chloe is nowhere near ready to acknowledge, much less do anything about it, there’s space in her life for a new love.

This episode is pivotal for Chloe during the scene in her home, on the couch eating takeout with Dan. If she wants to put her marriage back together, it’s critical that she and Dan spend time together, that they be a unit that draws strength from each other on days when the world seems sadder and unjust for having taken a good man before his time. She has a choice in this moment - to open up to Dan about the events of her day; to share her worry about her partner with her husband, who should be a source of strength to her. Instead she asks Dan “Can we do this another time?”

And Dan, preoccupied with the consequences of his betrayal closing in on him simply lets her go. As he’s done time and time again.

When given a very clear choice between Dan and Lucifer, she choses Lucifer, despite the late hour, to offer (and receive) comfort for the day’s events with each other. Lucifer begins the episode not knowing what his relationship is to Chloe, but she bookends the episode with the simple declaration, “I thought you needed a friend.” Lucifer may have lost Father Frank, but he is neither friendless nor alone in this moment.

In a single choice, Chloe has aligned herself with Lucifer, defining their relationship for the first time as friendship. It’s a platonic declaration as she smiles and brushes aside his defensive innuendo, but even in this clear, declarative moment of friendship, there’s the foreshadowing of more in the choice of music; Heart and Soul. It’s very simple, in contrast to the challenging jazz number that Lucifer and Father Frank played, but the lyrics are revealing.

“Heart and soul, I fell in love with you

Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly

Because you held me tight

And stole a kiss in the night

Heart and soul, I begged to be adored

Lost control, and tumbled overboard, gladly

That magic night we kissed

There in the moon mist

Oh! but your lips were thrilling, much too thrilling

Never before were mine so strangely willing

But now I see, what one embrace can do

Look at me, it's got me loving you madly

That little kiss you stole

Held all my heart and soul.”

There’s also the choice of a duet - Lucifer invites Chloe to share one of his passions, laughing with her at her lack of technical skill, but still providing an appropriate accompaniment so that they can play together. Both of them have let their barriers down and are allowing the other one into their intimate inner lives.

Callbacks:

If we need a reminder of the importance of this moment to them both, we get it in 3x23, as Lucifer attempts to recreate every meaningful moment to the two of them in an attempt to return to the status quo of friendship that was established here in 1x09.  Of all of the recreated scenes, however, Heart and Soul is the only one that Chloe echoes, picking out the melody on the piano when she thinks she’s alone (echoing Lucifer believing he was alone as he played both with Father Frank and in the aftermath, before realizing Chloe was there).

Sure enough, as she plays, who is listening to her but Lucifer as a preface to admitting how he feels about her, literally laying his heart and soul bare to her - and she echoes the lyrics with a kiss in the night, full of promise as their friendship finally catches fire.

Retrospective Analysis of Dirk:

After the initial thoughts I had this morning, following some light (re-)reading, I have come to various conclusions: The role that Dave Strider played in the Meat Epilogue was nearly identical to that that Dirk’s Bro (Alpha Dave Strider) played in the story---   DOOMed rebel fighting against the rise of another dictatorial Crocker.   I am sure that Dirk realized this, both considering the fact that this was an echo of Dave’s soul across the multiple instances of himself, and because he partially engineered this eventuality. Intriguingly enough, this might imply that Rose likely would have sided against Crocker (Jane) if her ascension had not incapacitated her and Dirk hadn’t been puppeteer-distracting her at the time (for reasons beyond her connection to Kanaya). More importantly, it helps establish an important further parallel:  Dirk acted as the puppetmaster in the shadows, essentially controlling the election and determining its outcome from the beginning.   Lord English remained the most important force in the Alpha Kids’ world and session in much the same manner, despite )(er Imperious Condescension’s attempted Rebellion. Both individuals were playing broader and longer games than the women they were manipulating to suit their purposes.  Though Dirk’s purposes have not yet been revealed to the fullest extent, Jane Crocker had a narrower perspective that failed to grasp the true nature of the battles going on and underestimated her “supporter” ‘s power and intentions. This relates to another way in which Dirk Strider and Caliborn/Lord English:  Both of them represent iterations/avatars/fulfillments of the idea of Calmasis---   both tricked a Calliope into losing a major confrontation by making her confuse an attack on one piece with that of another (a major short term/immediate objective--- an attack on a queen [in Dirk’s case, Jake English/the election] ---with an attack on the king [Alt!Calliope, who acted as essentially the commander of the forces opposed to him]); furthermore, and more importantly, both act as protagonists and antagonists to the story at the same time (villain and anti-hero).   Dirk presumably sees himself as working towards the perpetuation of reality by forcing more conflict into an otherwise ended story; or alternatively, sees himself striving for freedom in opposition to causality and enslavement to cosmic will (which would jive well with his Kamina-esque aesthetic).  Meanwhile, Caliborn/Lord English obviously served as the main villain of Homestuck, but were also the protagonists of their little side adventure and was trying to develop himself and expand his horizons despite his severe disadvantages, much the way the Kids and Trolls did. Dirk’s fulfillment of that role may have actually been why he downplayed the importance of Complacency of the Learned in his conversation with Rose just before he began to subsume her will in earnest. Of course, that is somewhat speculative, and hard to prove, one way or the other. ... Regardless, upon making these sorts of connections, I began to think about whether Dirk was intended to become a villain from the moment he was introduced, and/or relatively early on.  Andrew Hussie seems to have a habit of working out many plot details a great deal in advance (see the Alpha Kids being hinted at as early as Act 4 with Jake’s letter to John, Doc Scratch probably being intended to have been/contained at least an iteration of Dirk from the beginning [as shown via his comment to Rose that she ought to think of him as a kindly human uncle figure-- shoved in our face via a certain Truthsplosion]), so the idea didn’t seem all that farfetched. After all, as referenced in the above parenthetical reference, Doc Scratch shows that Dirk always had at least the potential for villainy in him, under the right circumstances. The first thing that jumped into my mind (other than the fact that Bro is a bit of a dick, I guess, and the early narrative of Act 6 emphasizes the fact that this is in fact the kid version of Bro quite a bit) was the fact that Dirk’s introductory period created clear parallels with two trolls of a highly corrupt moral character---  Vriska and Equius:   Beyond the obvious tendencies to manipul8 others and his willingness to “cheat” in certain ways (defeating Squarewave in a rap battle bit exploiting his weakness to liquid shorting him out, teleporting his head to Jake for the revive+kiss with the intent of forcing a start to their relationship that way, et cetera) Dirk is also pining for a Page who he attempts to force a redrom with (more effectively, in his case, at least in the short term), and whom he attempts to “groom” by pushing challenges that the Page is clearly not prepared to face his way (Brobot’s awkward difficulty settings parallel the FLARP encounters  Vriska gave Tavros).    That Vriska and Dirk’s first on-screen kills were both decapitations is probably a coincidence. As for Equius:  There is the wife beater that Dirk sometimes wears, the similarities between horses and musclebeasts, the fact that both build robots whom they then face off against in lethal combat, the fact that both wear shades and are initially blacked out upon introduction (though this latter matter is of less significance) the fact that both have dominating personalities and a secret kinky submissive side (albeit these play out in different ways for the two), the fact that Brobot and Aradiabot both take out their “hearts” and POUND POUND POUND them up dramatically (note: though this is a bit of a stretch, the parallel makes the affinity’s intention obvious), their willingness to lie and take extreme measures (Equius considers lying and double-crossing to be in a blue blood’s nature and/or their “superior” culture; Dirk outright tells Jane that one of three statements he is making is a lie, and the only one it could possibly be is that he believes that Roxy’s decision to blow up Jane’s computer as a way to scare Jane away from playing was too extreme [meaning that, since this was a lie, he is absolutely willing to go to such extremes to get the job done--- as shown later with his willingness to decapitate himself, publicly display the fact that he’d killed Hegemonic Brute, et cetera])... and most obviously+ominously, his declaration to Jane that while she was going to remain the group’s leader as far as everyone else was concerned, he was going to be the person controlling things from the shadows (which is a reversal of Equius’ demand that Aradia be the shadow leader for the Blue Team, but obviously calls him to mind via allusion/reference). Now, while a case can be made for either of these characters not being that bad, and I am personally someone who likes and feels for Vriska quite a lot, I will be the first to admit that she is the closest thing the trolls have to Caliborn or Dirk (Gamzee doesn’t count: he’s has a mental breakdown and is basically brainwashed by LE via Lil Cal; he’s not a planner or someone who went out of his way to embrace his “turn to the dark side” of his own volition--- if you can call it that, for Caliborn; you know what I mean).   As for Equius: he was highly violent and could have been quite the menace, if it weren’t for his moirail. He had a generally demented mentality.           Neither of these are the sorts of comparisons you want to be made with a character being painted as particularly heroic and good.  Next comes the fact that, as I have discussed previously, Dirk Strider and Caliborn/Lord English have been deeply entangled with one another’s fates.   Caliborn liked Dirk the best out of all of the Alpha Kids, it was ironically Dirk who ended up defeating him in the end (in both the form of soul trapping and via ARquius). However, it was also Dirk who provided Caliborn with the mechanical leg that allowed him to escape (and presumably have confidence in the idea of escape) from his SAW Room Death Trap binding with Calliope.  Presumably, either Dirk or AR must have figured that that was the intention behind the request/present, at some point. (I rather doubt it was something that Dirk knew the implications of at the time, but I wouldn’t necessarily rule out that possibility. He might not have cared, especially since that was years before the Alpha Kids began their session, and he/they might not have had much of a bond with Calliope, at that point. Not that he ever got all that close to her, generally.)  Note:  Caliborn’s favor toward Dirk does not necessarily suggest anything inherently wrong with Dirk, but it helps set him apart from the others. This is just another warning sign suggesting something “off” about him.      Dirk’s “I have failed,” before he went wandering off into the glitches and self-destructed in the [S] Game Over. version of the Alpha similarly can be interpreted as hinting at his God Complex/Megalomaniac tendencies.      It seems a logical extension of his general personality that he wouldn’t be able to settle down and enjoy a peaceful life in a “perfect” paradise planet (which is probably one of the reasons he decided to leave it). I suppose this is just another thing that wasn’t generally thought about as the community was so focused on the actual process of getting to the victory point, and what that would mean?   At the very least, I don’t remember any such considerations.  There were certainly warning signs. The biggest factor that convinces me that Dirk’s villainy was planned quite early on (and which thus supports to some extent the idea that Jake is meant to be his eventual foil) is that Dave, after seeing his Bro’s corpse, said, “I’m not a hero, my bro was.”   This was almost certainly made at a point where Dirk Strider was conceptually developed/invented already, definitely was at a point where Dave’s baggage surrounding heroism and its connection with how he felt toward his brother was in play, and most certainly was well after the audience could have seen that Bro was abusive and sortof a dirtbag. Thus, there was already some irony, there.  However, he also called John a hero in that same statement, so it clearly was not totally derogatory, and so the irony could be increased. It was, as shown by the fact that the Alpha Kids were not “Heroes” of their session, but Nobles. This was not enough.  Dirk has eventually turned into the anti-hero and villain of his own story.   Perhaps this might be enough; however, it wouldn’t quite feel fully “right” if he hadn’t been intended to have been so from the beginning-- and perhaps that’s actually why their group were called Nobles in the first place, not only because of the fact that they couldn’t complete their session without the others, but because not all of them were heroic at heart.  [Non-sequitur: I wonder if LE would have been anywhere near as dangerous, if not for Lil Hal’s capacity to make incredibly complicated calculations {needed for Furthest Ring travel, among other things, presumably}, and his capacity as Doc Scratch to pave the way for LE’s arrival. This would seem a very similar relationship to how Dirk facilitated Caliborn’s entry via the leg, in retrospect.] ... While the section immediately above isn’t as well-developed as I’d like-- mostly because I’m tired, distracted, and it’s been at least 3 hours since I started this post in the first place, and I want to at least get the last part that I thought of in before it leaves my memory.    I may add to/edit in more for this post, or post follow-up material later, when I remember more that might have slipped my mind on this subject/I think of more. Anyway!---    as I was considering all of this, a very intriguing thought popped into my head:    While I had initially assumed that it was simply to not rehash old material and/or that it was to keep us with John for the sake of narrative consistency, since I now know that it was Dirk who was narrating this segment of the story, and thus it was a narrator with bias and interest in the facts being related, it has occurred to me that it is actually quite odd for Dirk to omit some relation of the actual facts of the Caliborn’s Masterpiece encounter.   We are placed by his hand at a place even further removed from the reality of the battle than the clearly biased and somewhat embellished account that the Cherub gave of his own rise to power.        This strikes me as odd particularly given the fact that it is Dirk’s great moment of heroism, which might serve as a sort of counter-balance to much of his otherwise morally questionable deeds.         Given his egotism (and the fact that there would seem to be no OOC reason strong enough to justify such an omission on the author’s part, since this means that there is no faithful depiction of the battle shown to us in the story), this makes it seem as if Dirk chooses to not show the conclusion of this battle for some specific and tangible reason.  I would not suspect it to be out of embarrassment, a desire to conceal his identity longer, or plain trollishness (though the last of these strikes me as almost being fitting).  Rather, I wonder if there is something worth concealing in the end of this encounter.  Maybe the Alpha Kids actually lost, and Dirk’s placement of Cal into Lil Cal was an act of capitulation. Maybe Dirk otherwise willingly and knowingly created Lord English via the soul trap at the behest of ARquiusprite, or said sprite tricked him into doing so, claiming it was the only way to defeat their opponent (which it was) and omitting the consequences.     I do not know which of these, if any, is the correct answer, but Dirk being the one to choose to omit the details does, I shall repeat, seem extremely fishy to me, all things considered. ~~~ While I will not put a summary here, I would just like to say:   In retrospect, the Meat Epilogue has done more than the requisite “adding on to the story in appreciable ways and tying up loose ends,” but has served to add depth to an already incredibly deep story and caused me to reconsider and better understand characters and themes which I had not previously delved into so deeply before.    I wonder, now, if Dirk Strider and Lord English shall prove to have been even more deeply connected than it has seemed up to this point, once I have reached the end of the Candy Epilogue and thus will be allowed to properly investigate what’s going on at the beginning of Homestuck^2. Final thought:  Hmm. So much of his imagery speaks to him being a sort of twisted version of Kamina (embodiment of masculinity, warrior spirit, noble sacrifice, heroism [not being able to live up to those last two, and lampshading to some extent his frustration at that, in Epilogue Part 7]), but it also vaguely seems to me that he at least sees himself as being like Simon--- this is to say, leading the charge for freedom against the forces of determinism and the chains of repression that would hold back humanity (and/or himself). It’s a very striking thing, especially considering the fact that it is only Simon who takes the fight to space in a fancy ship, once what seems to have been the final villain was defeated and the real threat began to loom on the horizon.  I wonder how this contrast will develop in the future, and how noble his true ideals may in fact be. ~~~ Major Edit:  

What. The heck. How did I not remember this blatant nonsense?    Fricking... darn it.

@ofrevas asked:   𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺 𝚃𝙾 𝙼𝙴 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝙻'𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚃 𝙻𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙻 (𝙾𝚁 𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙾𝙵) 𝚁𝙴𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙿𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙸𝙲 𝙰𝙵𝙵𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽

𝙸𝚃'𝚂 𝙰𝙽 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙿𝙻𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝙼—because hal is a hugely affectionate person, his warmth is rather large and can be heavy at times. he also /wants/ to give affection and make others feel cared for, has a gift for it, and a natural inclination towards it, to provide in that way, but he was also raised in an environment where it was not allowed. i’ve mentioned before how hal felt it was his responsibility in his childhood to shield his siblings from their parents emotional lack by providing affection to them, and this is where that natural intensity of warmth comes from. it is where he learned to deliver so much attention and affection with a single look or a small smile from across the room, where he learned to give the impression of touch without touching, to comfort with his eyes or a few quiet words. it’s why people often feel vulnerable around him in the same way that they feel safe around him—since feeling safe is usually an inherently vulnerable experience.

his gestures of public affection are often subtle, but i wouldn’t call them less than tactile, or any less impacting for that subtlety. he does have that intensity, and that intensity can deliver large impact from small actions. he has no hesitance at all in giving long and obvious attention through looks, words, and touches to the arm or the back or even the face. if you’re suffering and he thinks you need it, he won’t hesitate to take you in his arms, or rake your hand, or whatever measure of intimacy he thinks will comfort you without being invasive to you. it’s a desire that he has to give these things, and it pleases him to do it.

romantic affection is more difficult. in private, hal’s unlikely to ever keep his hands entirely off of the object of his affection, unless it’s a game of longing, and he almost always has that look of wanting to grab you up and kiss you—and in public that longing is fairly palpable. because of his sexuality, hal spent his later adolescent years repressing and controlling the obviousness of his adorations. it was after his first young love that he resolved not to live that way, not to shutter himself, and he’s spent fifteen years living rather freely with his sexuality. he hasn’t had a ridiculous number of lovers, but because of his remote and isolated lifestyle he has been free to live openly in these short affairs;  open, but in private all the same. returning to the public eye is a strange tension for him, because he feels more pressed to act with honest affection and has become accustomed to doing so, but is suddenly thrust back into the circumstances of his youth where he feels unsure, inconvenient, as though his affections are a risk and a burden, both to the object of those affections and, in some social and political ways, to the inquisition itself. he feels under scrutiny again, and is aware of the danger of that scrutiny for more than just himself.

homophobia is real in thedas, and the it isn’t a small thing for the inquisitor to be openly gay. it’s a risk. hal does not conceal his sexuality but he also doesn’t go out of his way to proclaim it—and i think it is deeply unsettling for him to regress that way, back into having to live like he did when he was a young man. he’s conflicted, reticent and uncomfortable in it, and that’s a large part of the reason that his relationship with dorian takes so long to develop. dorian knows that he’s gay, and hal is not subtle in what he wants, but he holds back—both because of dorian’s mirroring restraint and because of the discomfort and almost pain that he feels in being back in that place again where he feels he has to withhold himself from other people.

he gave up his siblings, who he has always protected, to be able to live the way that he wanted, to be able to live as himself, and suddenly the shame of what had felt like his abandonment of them tries to seep back in—the same sort of shame that comes with the implication that it is his responsibility to the political and social efficacy of the inquisition to just pretend that he isn’t gay, as though he owes it to the cause to be alone. i think there is a part of him that lies awake at night, staring at the ceiling in his chambers, and feels like that frightened boy again, the young man that feels two ways:  that he’ll always be alone because it would be too hard to be with him, and that he doesn’t deserve what he wants anyways because he isn’t brave or reckless or strong enough to risk everything to get it.

he’d risk himself, of course—but he had been trained to believe that his actions were always balancing his family’s future when he was a child, and now he is aware that his actions will define the forward momentum of the inquisition.

in short, there’s baggage. a lot of bad baggage. and the flirtatious, affectionate, adoring man that hal is is at odds with that sense of responsibility not to burden others with his desires, with his feelings. when he’s allowed, and when he allows himself, he’s about as embarrassingly affectionate as a person can be, in public or not, be it with only a pointed look or a lingering touch. but there’s something very powerful about how his hesitance begins to dissolve towards the last few plot points in the game. it’s impossible for him to be with dorian in actuality, together and established, and not be open in that. he doesn’t /want/ to conceal his affections, and he finally refuses to.

even josephine can’t argue when he kisses dorian in front of all the assembled soldiers, and the empress of orlais, and every other gathered person of importance at the war camp in the dales before going into battle at the temple of mythal. she doesn’t point out that he is always taking dorian’s hand, now, and kissing his fingers, making a show of what is likely to be very inappropriate murmuring. the way he kisses him in the hall in the morning, peels his apples at the table, pours his wine, the way they come out his chambers together before hal takes the inquisition throne to preform his duties. he’ll go as far as he’s allowed so long as his lover is receptive and enjoying his attentions.

he’s prepared to give his life for these people who are witnessing him, after all—and he’s resolved that they should see that life for what it is, and see the example of joy, and shake off whatever their own shame might be. hal was raised by the chantry and he was raised with shame, and stepping out into the metaphorical sun and refusing to allow that shame endure in his example as the head of an organization intrinsically tied to the chantry is genuinely just a flex, just an act of authentic leadership, of defiance that comes through the celebration of life, and it’s part of his legacy as inquisitor. it’s also in part what makes him such a good inquisitor, and part of the way that being inquisitor is good for him.