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mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune · 2 months

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Hazformers Crack-Ship Theory: If Adamarachnia Became A Thing

[Note: Reading This Is Optional...also Mature Audience Only. Not For Kids. also make sure to have watched all the episodes of Season 1 of Hazbin Hotel before reading this post.]

is weird to think Adam despite being a former human turned angel (and possibly becoming a Sinner in a possible future, either it be in just in the fanon or canon or both...but we don't know if that will really happen in the canon, but if it doesn't, we can just be happy to reform him a bit in the fanon.) would end up falling head over heels for Blackarachnia who is like way older than him, like if he tries to woo her despite Lute's protest against him doing so...

would that make Adam a Cougar-Chaser...?

yeah I know that the whole "cougar" term might go over some Cybertronian heads, but they still do have cybertronian version of fauna and flora, like those blue flowers that is seen in Earthspark.

so maybe they would understand if ya say "Cyber Cougar-Chaser"...

Adamarachnia (pronounced "Adam-Arachnia"...) might be the weirdest ship that has pop into my head.

and I had the ship name Mamtella pop into my head that has to do with Mammon and Stella, and only once so far their ship name made me hungry cause it reminds me of food, like the type of stuff that is put on toast. not my fault that their ship name sounds like food...

like Adam could start as a secret admirer who sends secret anonymous love letters to Blackarachnia, and describing her as his "Goddess" and her being like "Persephone" and how their love is like Romeo and Juliet.

even if he found out she wasn't originally human or even a hellborn, but technically a cybertronian sinner who should of went to the pit after what she put Blitzwing, The Dinobots, Sari and Wasp through...

Adam might still end up trying to pursue her and like her even more, since she is not originally from Earth and is the Extraterrestrial love of his life. XD

Lute might get annoyed with Adam acting like a lovesick fool, and he had never acted that way with Lilith or Eve, so it could be new to Lute and everyone else in Heaven and even some in Hell, to see him like that.....it would be amusing, cause it be a type of torture to Lute, and possibly Sera as well.

Emily might think it is really sweet, and Petey (a nickname I'm calling Saint Peter from Hazbin Hotel.) he might be just really confused and disturbed.

if other fans start call him Petey as well, ya know he may never live that down and will always be addressed as that nickname by fans. XD

if Adam tries to start another fight while the Autobots and Decepticons are at the hotel (even if it is in a Fanon Timeline), just get Blackarachnia and he will act like a lovesick fool and possibly get all tongue tied, of course Lute would probably have to drag his butt back to Heaven.

yeah the whole Adamarachnia popping in my head, is possibly the weirdest crack-ship...then again, maybe some will like the idea because they would technically be a perfect match, well maybe by a 98% perfect match.

if those two got married, Blackarachnia would become like the Step-Mother of Humanity, well I still think Adam could be a hybrid along with Eve and Lilith, them having the Annunaki gene....well the much earlier hybrid version, cause of the whole Annunaki DNA + Homo-Erectus DNA = Early Homo-Sapiens.

my thoughts about Adam, Eve and Lilith being Homo-Sapiens that were hybrids from the mix of Annunaki & Homo-Erectus DNA.

I can still believe there was a TRUE First Man and Woman that are the parents of all humankind, well grandparents to all humankind, even to Earth Angels who are also technically hybrids because of the whole Nephilim Gene, Those Grandpa Watchers and Nephilim Ain't The Boss Of Me.

the True First Man and Woman, could be viewed as Patriarch-Adam & Matriarch-Eve.

anyway I'm not sure what else to say about the whole idea about Adamarachnia, other than Blackarachnia could get a bit annoyed by the love letters and other gifts she gets from her secret admirer that turns out to be Adam....I would love to see her annoyed and trying to go through so many of her gifts, and maybe giving half of the gifts to the others.

Blitzwing could be amused, and Lockdown could feel a bit sorry for her, since he could be going through the whole admirer chasing him....the admirer being Niffty, I still like the idea of Niffty chasing Lockdown because he is technically a bad boy, her going feral around even the Autobots should be fun...

Megatron, Blitzwing, Lugnut, Shockwave, Soundwave, Swindle and Lockdown might end up being amused by Niffty getting so uncontrollably feral on Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Prowl and Blurr...

Blackarachnia could be off somewhere else when that madness is going on...maybe finding another love letter from Adam. XD

Ratchet would probably be the first to view Niffty like a Scraplet.

the whole LockNiffty would be a Semi-Ship type idea, meaning while Niffty does have some kind of crazy crush on Lockdown, the feelings aren't mutual and he could end up trying to find someone else to pawn her off on. and we could view that he is still looking, so he can find someone who is more of a bad boy than him, that Niffty could take a more interest in.

Blackarachnia would obviously be way taller than Adam, but for all we know, he could be into taller women, and even if he does meet her face to face, he might not really take a "No" for answer and might still try to win her heart....well, techno-organic spark.

if her body did become techno-organic, her spark may have as well, which is why the allspark key may have been causing her harm when she was trying to get rid of her organic half, but if her spark had become techno-organic as well, it would mean that she would of went offline because she would of been causing harm to both her techno-organic body and techno-organic spark.

in a timeline where Elita became Elita Prime and Optimus became Arachnus Prime, even Elita would know better than to pull a stunt like that.

it be interesting if Arachnus and Elita jump from their timeline and ended up in the one where Elita still became Blackarachnia, and Optimus stayed as well his adorkable self.

sure there will be two versions of them, but it would be interesting if the Other Elita formed a romance with Optimus.

I would ship it. XD

plus Elita Prime could change her paint from Yellow to Pink, because she could find it more interesting and it could match a bit of G1-Elita and Earthspark-Elita.

Sari could view the Elita Prime and Earthspark-Elita as the Cool Mom Figures, I mean she could end up bonding with Elita Prime, and forming a type of Mother & Daughter bond, even though Megatron is technically gave birth to Sari through budding in that secret lab of Sumdac, not all fans have to agree about Megatron being Sari's Carrier-Sire but it still obvious where that liquid metal human baby sized sparkling protoform came from...

just be glad that Adam (from Hazbin Hotel) never found a liquid metal sparkling, though in a Crossover AU, if he did, the other parent would likely be The Fallen aka also known as Megatronus Sr.

Adamarachnia could be seen as a Semi-Ship, where Adam has feelings for Blackarachnia and tries to win her over, but the feelings aren't mutual, of there can be a Semi-Ship like LockNiffty then there can be a Adamarachnia where Adam is trying to get Blackarachnia to like-like him as much as he like-likes her...

not sure what else to say about the whole Semi-Ship that is also a Crack-Ship that is Adamarchnia, the likely hood of others liking it and ending up drawing fanart of that ship is possibly very small chance of happening...but who knows, maybe I will draw fanart of that ship sometime....I mean Megamilla is my new Crossover OTP and I drew a Crossover drawing of that ship.

Megamilla being the ship name of TFA-Megatron x Carmilla Carmine.

I blame the song "Out For Love" for giving me the idea and motivation to drawing that Megamilla ship fanart.

that song has become one of my favorite songs from the other songs I like from Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss.

when I'm able to, I will draw another Megamilla drawing, and maybe if I feel like it and get around to it, I will draw Adamarachnia.

I don't think I really have much to say about how Adam would act around Blackarachnia, other than him acting like a lovesick fool and sending her secret admirer gifts and love letters, and the idea would be for the fanon, so the whole Adam in the canon even if he does come back as a Sinner, acting like a lovesick fool, is very unlikely...

but him acting that way in the fanon is interesting to me, as well as a little amusing, and even it does annoys Blackarachnia.

it would be fun to watch and eat popcorn while it drives her crazy. XD

#do not reblog without permission #not for kids #mature audiences only #tfa blackarachnia #adam hazbin hotel #hazformers #crossover au #crackship #crossover ship #hazbin hotel #transformers animated #march 2024

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nintendoteuthis · 2 years

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An Overly Comprehensive Revision of Splatoon's History and Lore

In this extremely long post, I set out to put together a rewrite of Splatoon's backstory and lore. Tying together pieces of lore from all three games, the goal here is to arrange a cohesive (and more scientifically plausible) narrative to serve as a backstory to the Splatoon we all know and love. Alterna, Inkling evolution, Mr. Grizz, the Great Turf War, Judd, Tartar - all of it is incorporated here in some form.

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT CANON. Although it incorporates a lot of official lore, the end result is effectively headcanon/fix fic. It contradicts the official lore in several places; you don't need to bring that up in the notes. This is not intended to be "better" than the canon lore, this is just stuff that I personally think would be cool. Maybe you will too.

Since this post ended up going well over 4,500 words, I'm putting it behind a Keep Reading for your dashboard's sake. But please give it all a read!

Log 1: Eve of Destruction

We start our timeline in the not-too-distant future, perhaps in the late 22nd century.

The fall of humanity was not quick or painless. Nor was there a singular cause - rather, humanity's demise was multifaceted. Human overharvesting had put a major strain on ecosystems. Shortages of certain vital resources like oil and water fueled the outbreak of multiple nuclear wars. Nuclear fallout made large tracts of land almost uninhabitable. Global warming had been building up for the past couple hundred years, wearing away at glaciers worldwide and slowly raising sea levels. And during World War V, a stray nuclear warhead hit Antarctica, melting far more ice than would naturally. These raised sea levels by over 15 meters, flooding many coastal cities.

To make things worse, an unprecedented geological disaster would soon strike. With no warning, the Toba supervolcano in Sumatra, which had nearly driven humanity to extinction during the Ice Age, erupted again with a violence not seen since the invention of agriculture. This eruption exacerbated the worst effects of both the climate change and the nuclear war. This combination of blows would ultimately lead to an extinction event the likes of which had not been seen for over 65 million years.

[Editor's note: Toba erupted 74,000 years ago, and there's genetic evidence for an extreme reduction in human populations around that time. I feel it would be fitting if the same volcano that may have shaped humanity as we know it would also be the one to destroy it.]

In the face of these disasters, human civilization tried its best to survive. But as the surface of the Earth became more and more uninhabitable, it became clear that staying here was not a viable option. What remained of the international community put aside old rivalries and came together for the greater good, and soon two initiatives were simultaneously launched to try and preserve humanity elsewhere.

Log 2: Time We Left This World Today

One major player in these decisions was biotechnology extraordinaire Prometheus Manning. A professor at a prestigious university, he made waves in the biology community for developing an "uplifting" process. Building on developments in gene therapy and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Manning developed a plasmid of DNA that, when entered into an animal's cells, could make it intelligent and biologically immortal. This process was proven viable with the uplifting of his pet cat, Judd, who became an international celebrity in the waning days of human civilization. An optimist even in the face of a collapsing planet, Manning thought that humanity could find ways to pass their legacy forward into the future. He believed that everyone, from humans to the lowliest squid, was a part of something bigger than themselves. He acted as a consultant in both initiatives.

[Editor's note: Yeah, I didn't forget about this guy!]

I shall make a minor digression here. As these projects got Manning thinking more about the conservation of humanity's knowledge, he began to worry that even these would not be enough. He was eventually driven to bioengineer an organism - a biological computer, if you will - to store it. DNA is perhaps the most reliable form of long-term data storage, the only risk being the occasional mutation. The resulting organism, an uplifted slime mold nicknamed Tartar, had a gargantuan amount of knowledge - texts, data, images, sounds, even DNA of other organisms - encoded into its genome. While the two grand initiatives would preserve the planet's species and civilizations, this lowly amoebozoan would preserve the planet's knowledge, even long after humans were gone. Perhaps, he hoped, it would even be able to transmit this knowledge to the next intelligent species.

[Editor's note: I still like my old "Commander Tartar is alive and also the ooze" headcanon, and I think it works really well with the rest of the stuff here, so I'm keeping it.]

Manning opted to partake in neither of the preservation initiatives. Instead, he decided to send himself, Judd, and Tartar into ColdSleep, a patented form of extremely long-term cryogenic freezing, one that could theoretically last millennia. He was hopeful that, eventually, all three would wake, on a planet that had recovered.

[Editor's note: The Art of Splatoon and the Alterna Logs both use the phrase "cold sleep" to refer to cryogenic freezing. Let's roll with that.]

The first of the two preservation initiatives was the Ark Polaris. A spacecraft loaded with samples of Earth's biosphere, it was designed and launched with the intent of finding another planet to live on. Many specimens of animals, plants, and fungi were sent into ColdSleep for the duration of the journey. Of all the individual organisms loaded on the Ark, perhaps the most influential would end up be Bear #03 - an uplifted grizzly bear, nicknamed "Mr. Grizz". But nobody knew that at the time, as he lay in ColdSleep.

The second was a closed underground environment in which human civilization could survive until the Apocalypse had ended. Alterna was the name given to this underground stronghold, planned and designed by the greatest scientific minds left. Located in a geologically stable inland area, the outer walls of Alterna were fortified to be as durable as possible as possible, to withstand anything that could be thrown at it. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, flooding, nuclear bombs - all of it could be shielded. Inside, a closed ecological system kept the air and water stocked with oxygen and carbon dioxide. As most of the land surface was dedicated to human activities, most of Alterna's food came from the waters, which were richly stocked with representatives of whatever marine life was still alive (and some cloned representatives of some that weren't). There, a small fraction of humanity could survive, prosper, and continue innovation and progress as best it could.

[Editor's note: Most extinction events hit marine life just as bad as land life, oftentimes even worse. Ergo, I doubt that the sea life around Alterna would be quite as flourishing as they were before the Apocalypse. I think it was stocked by humans as a food source. Also, I'm not sure that Alterna would be built beneath the crater of a volcano. You'd think that a long-term safe haven would want to be built in an area UNlikely to have disastrous geological activity.]

Log 3: When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around

The society of Alterna was led by scientists; having finally learned from their mistakes, the remaining humans opted to let the most intelligent and idealistic minds lead them forward. Technological innovation continued underground. Massive 3D printing operations were implemented to recreate some artifacts from the surface. The Omniscient Recording Computer of Alterna (O.R.C.A.) was developed to log all the data, history, and records that would be produced as a result. And eventually, they would even learn how to recreate the sky.

"Liquid crystals" was actually a euphemism. The screens lining the internal walls of Alterna are alive. Chromatophores, if arranged in a layer like in the squid of a skin, can effectively create a surface that changes color in response to neural input. The bioengineers of Alterna realized that, if the color-changing ability of squids could be harnessed, it could be used to produce images from thoughts.

[Editor's note: I highly doubt that liquid crystals were developed from squid bodily fluids. If you're going to figure out how to get images from thoughts using squids, the most obvious way to do so would be harnessing the functionality of chromatophores. That's one argument in favor of making the "crystals" into something biological, engineered from chromatophores, but not the only one...]

Thus, a new organism was designed. A biologically immortal human cell line was used as the base, and modified with DNA from many other organisms - squids, of course, but also bits of DNA from yeasts, algae, slime molds, bacteria, and Manning's uplift plasmid. The result was a single-celled organism that could, when grown in a mat, change color in response to electrical signals. Mats of these organisms, which for the rest of this post I'm calling "crystalloids", were grown and then installed into screens. When backlit, the colors of these crystalloids can be seen as on any other screen. If these screens were hooked up to the human nervous system, they could project any image that they could think of. A screen that could read minds.

[Editor's note: Immortal cell lines are a real thing! They're usually derived from cancer cells, which do not age and so can keep dividing indefinitely. They're often used in biomedical research.]

Eventually neural interfaces were implanted in all the residents of Alterna. Their collective thoughts, memories, desires, were collected, processed by O.R.C.A. and fed to the crystalloids lined in the screens - and it resulted in beautiful blue skies. For the first time in 25 years, the residents of Alterna could see the sky once again.

Log 4: Epitaph

The years passed prosperously. But man grew proud. As generations grew, living their lives entirely in the safety of Alterna, the apocalypse began to fade from living memory. The new generation of leaders became ambitious. They wished to see the world beyond Alterna. This led to the construction of a rocket, in which they would escape the confines of Alterna and get a look at the Earth.

Despite the warnings of Alterna's elders, the rocket neared its launch date. And then disaster struck. As in the Nedelin catastrophe so many years earlier, the rocket boosters were ignited prematurely. Alterna had been fortified against shock from the outside, but nothing could protect it from something happening on the inside. The resulting explosion not only killed hundreds of personnel, but it effectively created a self-contained earthquake. Many Alternan structures collapsed, and the screens forming the Alternan "sky" were shaken loose, raining down metal and broken glass upon humanity's last stronghold. Those few who escaped the carnage ended up unable to support themselves with whatever remained; the systems that kept Alterna functioning had become irreparably broken. In the wreckage they scraped out a living, until they too died out. Humans finally went extinct, with both a bang and a whimper.

As the screens forming the Alternan "sky" broke, the mats of crystalloids fell apart, and the individual organisms tumbled into the waters below. And there they persisted. In order to avoid needing to feed the screens, they had been engineered with chemosynthetic abilities, added to their genome from bacteria. Thus they could produce their own food using chemicals in their environment. The biologically immortal nature of the base cell line not only meant that the screens never had to be replaced, but it also meant they could reproduce indefinitely. And so they survived, and continued to propagate themselves in the waters below.

The lights were off in Alterna, but the compound was not breached. The outer walls - built to withstand volcanism, tectonic activity, nuclear war - proved to be extremely durable. Impenetrable by anything larger than gaseous molecules, Alterna soon became a closed ecological system. Once Alterna's energy source failed, the screens went dark. With no light, the base of the Alterna food chain died out, and with it most of the marine life. But the few organisms that could live without light, those that could make food using chemosynthesis and those that preyed upon them, continued to survive in this environment.

So there the crystalloids stayed for thousands, even millions of years.

Log 5: Echoes

Meanwhile on the surface, life proved resilient. Adaptable disaster taxa - weeds, pests, and generalists - were the first to take take over the ruined land, now scrubbed of almost all traces of human existence. It took millions of years for life to rebound and reach its former levels of diversity, but that it did. And so life continued evolving for millions of years. The continents continued the movements they followed for millions of years. The climate warmed and cooled naturally. Organisms came and went. More minor extinction events occurred. Mammals, the dominant class of animals, saw their time as rulers of the planet come to a close. Consult this video for one possible way this could play out.

Eventually, after over 100 million years, enough niches on land had become vacant, their former inhabitants having gone extinct, to encourage new groups of animals to fill them. Perhaps cephalopods, one of the taxa that survived the extinction, could make the leap...

After miraculously persisting on the scales of geologic time, Alterna's outer walls were eventually compromised by the sheer force of the earth. The seal lasted far longer than initially anticipated, but eventually something cracked. Perhaps an inland sea had flooded the continent and eroded the surrounding rock around Alterna, leaving it exposed. In any case, it became possible to enter and leave Alterna. So the descendants of the crystalloids escaped, and eventually made it into the surrounding waters.

It has now been many millions of years since the apocalypse that wiped out humanity, and the oceans were thriving once again. The crystalloids, being microscopic and unicellular, were barely noticed by the life in these seas. They soon filled the seas around Alterna, but as it turned out, one of the most comfortable environments for them was inside organisms. The crystalloids formed commensal relationships with many species of marine life: living inside the host, causing neither benefit nor detriment to them.

And then something happened.

Log 6: Into the Light

Many of these marine organisms started picking up DNA from the crystalloids. This is a process known as horizontal gene transfer, and it happens in nature with surprising frequency. In animals, this DNA could be picked up through gametes, or from parasites or other organisms living inside the body. In any case, that's what happened here - DNA was passed to the host animals. Even after hundreds of thousands of generations, parts of the crystalloids' initial cocktail of DNA was conserved. Remarkably, DNA from Prometheus Manning's uplift plasmid and even human DNA from the base cell line had survived over the aeons. And it is these fragments that were introduced into the genomes of the marine life. Although it wasn't much, the combination of these two genetic influences, when expressed in the marine organisms, was enough to spur the development of high intelligence, pulmonary breathing, the the move to land in a wide variety of species. Some of them even gained a more anthropomorphic body plan from the human DNA. In a way, they were all uplifted, just like Judd.

[Editor's note: Rapid evolution/mutation COULD happen in response to abiotic factors, like radiation, pollution, maybe even liquid crystals. But it'd be impossible to guarantee that different organisms would mutate in the same way. The only way that you could guarantee multiple organisms evolve along the same path is with genes. That's why the screens are alive - to facilitate DNA transfer.

As a side note, evolution is not goal-oriented. It is an act of random mutations being selected for and against, as a result of what increases reproductive success. So the move to land being "driven" by feelings inherited from humans... rubbed me the wrong way. The parallel expression of genes would eliminate the implied "motivation", while still providing a tangible influence originating from humans.]

As all these newly sophont species of marine life crawled onto land, they found out they weren't the first ones there. As it turns out, the entire time cephalopods had been evolving naturally down a similar path. These cephalopods, the ancestors of the modern Inkling and Octoling, had separately colonized the land and evolved intelligence. Thus, they have numerous differences from all the other sophonts. Instead of having a singular anthropomorphic form, they have two separate forms. One of these forms, the "swim form", reflects the what their ancestors were like, and the manner in which they crawl on land is as a result different from everything else. Their ink-based physiologies and transformation ability are new evolutionary innovations; these probably can't have been picked up from Alterna, or else they'd be far more widespread. Numerous other details of their evolution also made them stand out from all the other species. That's why Inklings and Octolings had the "fresh vibes" that allowed them to become the apex species; their evolution had more natural influence.

This isn't to say that they didn't feel some influence from Alterna, though. The ancestors of Inklings and Octolings did come into contact with DNA from the crystalloids, but that had very little influence on them. There was no uplifting to be done - by this time they had already developed intelligence, were living on land full-time, and even evolved the ability to transform. Instead, the only crystalloid DNA taken in were tiny fragments of the human DNA, and all it did was make their terrestrial form a little more superficially humanoid. Perhaps this is related to the cephalopod ability to edit genes before they are expressed: maybe the rest of the incoming crystalloid DNA was snipped away before it was taken into the genome.

[Editor's note: As well as the above-mentioned differences from the other marine life, I have a few other reasons for separating Inkling/Octoling evolution. First, this is my way of reconciling Splatoon 1-era lore on Inkling evolution with what the Alterna Logs tell us about the marine life as a whole. Second, I have a lot of evolution headcanons for Inklings and Octolings that I don't want to jettison. Third, I think it would be funny if the most humanoid-looking species (well, half of the time) were the only ones NOT uplifted.

As for what happened to Inklings/Octolings: I'm basically saying that their humanoid forms naturally evolved looking "xeno", and all the Alterna DNA did was push them to what they look like ingame.]

(Now you may ask, if Inklings and Octolings were not uplifted the same way as the rest of the marine life, what would a cephalopod that did get uplifted look like? Well, consider the nautiluses. Like all of the other marine life, they resemble an anthropomorphic "adaptation" of their ancestor. Their limbs are more clearly derived from nautilus tentacles. Gnarly Eddy's "arms" aren't even attached to the rest of the tentacles he's using as limbs)

(Honestly it would probably look like Octodad.)

As a side note, Salmonids evolved completely naturally. They seem to have a biological immunity to taking up the Alterna DNA, and thus saw none of the uplifting the other marine life experienced. Instead, they're going down yet another evolutionary path towards life on land; they're roughly at the Tiktaalik stage. Thus, Salmonids retain a much closer link to the water and have a very different form of intelligence from everything else.

Back on topic. As these newly-sophont marine species spread across the globe, inhabiting every environment from temperate rainforest to tropical desert, distinct cultures and ways of life developed. But predominant above them all were the cephalopods. Indeed, most of these species soon melded into the dominant Inkling culture, most notably jellyfish. Inklings had soon become the dominant species on the planet.

Log 7: Ebb & Flow

One day, three curious compartments began eroding out of a wall of mudstone. Unbeknownst to the now society-forming marine life, these were ColdSleep chambers, sent into cryostasis eons prior by Prometheus Manning and buried, perfectly preserved, under rising seas. Unfortunately, Manning's ColdSleep chamber had become compromised before burial - he died peacefully in his dormancy. By the time that Inklings discovered these chambers, the one containing Tartar had long since cracked, and it had escaped. But one remained intact. When it was opened, out came Judd - now the last mammal living on earth. The uplifting process, millennia spent in ColdSleep, and the intricacies of the feline brain mean that this intelligent cat had picked up a new ability - telepathy. The local cephalopods soon realized the value of this cat's brain. Judd soon became the arbiter of victory in the activity that would eventually become the modern Turf War. This event became commemorated as Year 0 on the Mollusc Era calendar.

Tartar, the intelligent blob that had slunk out of the now-open ColdSleep chamber, moved forward with its prime directive: pass on its knowledge to the next intelligent species. According to its observations, the smartest species present on the planet were the cephalopods - the Inklings and Octolings. But although initially pleased with their candidacy as a successor to humanity, as it watched their culture and civilization developed, Tartar developed a deep loathing for them. How could such an intelligent species be so focused on such superficial matters? Perhaps Tartar's view of humanity was skewed by its hard-working, forward-thinking creator. Spurned by these developments and thousands of years of loneliness, it developed a new objective: create its own intelligent life. To do this, it would need to collect DNA from a wide variety of organisms. After a long, long period of planning, Tartar eventually moved into a network of subterranean caverns - which became the Deepsea Metro - and from there developed its plan, taking the guise of an old telephone to avoid suspicion. It would convert the Metro to its own testing grounds, designed to select the most viable marine organisms. It would then blend them up and absorb their DNA into itself, taking whatever the best pieces were. Eventually, he'd have a complete genome, from which it could spawn a new super-organism...

Log 8: Muck Warfare

As Tartar developed its plans, life for the marine organisms continued blissfully unaware. Over the centuries, the Inklings and Octolings learned how to develop weapons with which to fire the ink their bodies produced. Zapfish were domesticated as a source of electricity. The salvation of the Splatlands from a great flood became commemorated in local folklore, which gave great importance to three prominent families: the Shark, Moray, and Manta Clans. Mass Salmonid migrations (known as the Big Run) came roughly every 70 years, wreaking havoc on cephalopod settlements that happened to be in the way. Major cities were established: Inkopolis, Splatsville, New Sardine, Tailfin City. And Judd oversaw this all.

[Editor's note: These events are all based on Sunken Scrolls.]

In roughly 1914 ME (Mollusc Era), border disputes arose between the rival states of Inkadia and Octaria, exacerbated by a massive flood that devastated a lot of Octarian territory. This strained their formerly-amicable relationships; in particular, the leader of the Octarians, DJ Octavio, sought to take Inkadia's resources by force to replace what was lost in the disaster. The resulting military conflict became known as the Great Turf War, and it was ugly. Though the Octarians had the upper hand at first, the Inkadian military, lead by Second Lieutenant Craig Cuttlefish and the Squidbeak Splatoon, proved victorious in the end. The Octarians were driven to a rocky "wasteland" to the north of Inkadia, scarred by flooding and warfare. As the surface of this region was not an ideal place to live, many Octarians moved to underground settlements, accessible through a series of pipes and kettles. Because racism did not go extinct with humanity, most Octolings were expelled from Inkopolis, explaining their rarity there. The Splatlands, meanwhile, remained a neutral party; hence, Splatsville has a longer history as an integrated city.

[Editor's note: Sea level rise couldn't happen fast enough to cause a war to rapidly break out. A huge flood - perhaps something like a glacial lake outburst flood - seems like a more likely explanation. It would explain why Octo Valley is surrounded by water, yet is seemingly inland.]

Log 9: Ever Further

One day, not too long after the Great Turf War, a curious object fell from the sky, crash-landing in Salmonid territory. Though these fish wouldn't know it, this was the Ark Polaris, the ambitious biological preservation initiative launched by humans millions of years ago. Near the edge of the solar system, its navigation system had become damaged, and after running out of fuel it drifted aimlessly in space for millions of years. By chance, it eventually floated back into the pull of Earth's gravity, and from there slowly careened to impact. The only survivor of the crash was Bear #03 - Mr. Grizz. He came to a terrible realization - he was on Earth, alright, but one ruled by marine life. And he was, as far as he knew, the only mammal left on this planet of the squids.

In his search for other surviving mammals, he came across the ruins of Alterna. It was a dark, corroded, and partially collapsed wasteland, but a few things still remained - including some of the crystalloids. With knowledge and skill developed over years and years of being alone with his thoughts, Mr. Grizz repaired Alterna's facilities and began researching the crystalloids. Upon discovering their potential for horizontal gene transfer, and spurred by his extreme loneliness, he had an idea. An awful idea. Mr. Grizz got a wonderful, awful idea.

He could use these to make more mammals.

Mr. Grizz further engineered the crystalloids, splicing in his own DNA. The result was a pathogenic organism, one that could induce the development of hair in any organism that touched it. This became known as "Fuzzy Ooze". Again, it moves, indicating that it's alive. You know how the Fuzzy Ooze is multicolored? That's what remains of the crystalloids' color-changing ability, gone haywire after Grizz's experimentation. Some Octarians that lost their way acted as test subjects, and as Mr. Grizz hoped, the gene transfer worked successfully - they grew hair.

[Editor's note: Again, it makes the most sense if the ooze makes you hairy through DNA. More support for it, and the Alterna "liquid crystals", being living things.]

(A quick side note: Remember above how I said that Salmonids were immune to the Alterna DNA that uplifted the other marine life? Because the Fuzzy Ooze was engineered from the crystalloids, Salmonids are also immune to the Fuzzy Ooze's hair genes. Hence why New Agent 3's Smallfry can eat Fuzzy Ooze and be completely unaffected, but if they touch it themselves they grow hair.)

But Mr. Grizz couldn't proceed far at first. In order to make the process actually feasible on a large scale, it would require require golden eggs, the fertilized eggs of Salmonids. Golden eggs served as both a power source and a conduit for the development of Fuzzy Ooze (and he also though they tasted good). Though he first acquired these by hunting Salmonids himself, he eventually settled upon a better idea. He could have others do the dirty work. Thus, he started paying locals to go into Salmonid territory and collect Golden Eggs for him, with the excuses of harvesting food and keeping Inkling society safe keeping regulators off his back. Grizzco Industries, as this business was known, became a wildly successful venture. The destruction caused by a previous Big Run had instilled an anti-Salmonid sentiment in much of the populace, and the average Inkling couldn't resist some extra cash. And so he sat back and watched the profit roll in...

So there remained three surviving organisms from the time of humans. Judd lived among the Inklings, providing wisdom and judgement. Tartar lurked in the depths of the Deepsea Metro, actively furthering its plans. And Mr. Grizz remained hiding in plain sight, biding his time.

(Lil Judd does not count as a survivor; he was cloned in the Mollusc Era from Judd's ColdSleep chamber, which Manning had retrofitted before sealing. This would ensure that, in case he didn't make it, Judd wouldn't get lonely when he woke up.)

Log 10: Fresh Start

And this is where we set our scene. After decades of neglect and DJ Octavio's poor leadership, the power grid within Octaria finally began to give out. Pressed to find an energy source, Octavio made a rash decision - steal the Great Zapfish providing a large amount of Inkopolis's power. This action caught the attention of the until-then-retired Craig Cuttlefish. Remembering his history fighting the Octarians, and after a complete lack of action from the authorities, he set out to form an independent vigilante group to invade Octarian territory and recover the Zapfish. He called it the New Squidbeak Splatoon - and one of the recruits was an adventurous youth from Inkopolis. Thus sets off the events of Octo Valley, and from there Octo Canyon, Octo Expansion, and Return of the Mammalians.

I hope you enjoyed this all! I'm happy to talk about anything mentioned (or not mentioned) above.

#splatoon #splatoon 2 #splatoon 3 #splatoon headcanon #splatoon theory #my headcanons #oc

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resetting37 · 9 months

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It's time for worldbuilding wednesday, and a special one at that, because I finally get to formally introduce my newest oc, Eve ! While literally the newest, within canon she represents the oldest story.

Three thousand years ago, there was a woman named Eve who lost most of her neighbors from the vicious wasteland.

Not losing hope, Eve led the remaining survivors to a new land, away from the toxic desert.

She discovered a land lush with fresh greenery and a fresh start. In her honor, this land would be called 'Evelow'.

Eventually Eve would pass, but the city continued to grow over the years, becoming a fully fledged society.

When cloning was created, the devotees of Evelow let Eve return to her city, using her preserved DNA.

From there Eve can witness her legacy, even if it's through the eyes of clones with none of the original's personality or memories.

And pictured in the center is the most current clone as she exists in the story of 'RESETTING.' She hates people but expects them to worship her, as anyone who insults her can be accused of treason. She doesn't love the attention, but it's not like anyone else deserves it, right ?

She quite literally came to me in a dream in the form of a joke, but the idea sat in my brain for a bit and I think she can have a great role in my setting. Eve feels threatened in a world where everyone is competing to be the next messiah. Does she even get to play a role in a story where her city is doomed to fall ?

#oc talk #oc #original character #drawing #art #eve

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galionne-diging · 10 months

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MummyAru Digimon AUs: A Non-Exhaustive List

Alrighty, here's a little list of the AUs I've either written bits and pieces for at some point, think about regularly or am working on right now. Tho I keep adding more so there will probably be some extras in the future-

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Title: Ghost Cycle

Genre(s): Adventure, Romance

Summary: Mummymon and Arukenimon are reborn in the Ghost Game Universe, with no memories of their previous lives as Oikawa’s underlings. Following different paths of life Mummymon becomes a doctor and Arukenimon an explorer (no she’s not the unhinged one we see in episode 21), both having no idea the other exists- until the pair find themselves in the Human World at the same time. Suffering from simultaneous visions and an overpowering sense of déjà-vu, they decide to work together to find out more about their previous lives- and why they had to come to an end.

Title: Digimon Adventure 03

Genre(s): Adventure, Friendship, Mystery

Summary: A few months have passed since the events of New Year’s Eve 2002. The second set of Chosen Children finally returns to the Digital World- only to find a new threat looming over them! Thankfully they’re not alone, as a trio of Digimon make their appearance to help them along the way. But who really are Dokugumon, Bakemon and Ajatarmon- and why do they feel so familiar? (Pretty much a “Season 2” to Adventure 02 where the Chosen deal with a new threat, with a subplot revolving around Mummymon & Arukenimon learning about who they used to be and how they came to be)

Title: Savestate Refresh

Genre(s): Friendship

Summary: After being killed by BelialVamdemon, Mummymon and Arukenimon are brought back to life by the Digital World- at the cost of their data and biological makeup being altered to allow their rebirth. Mummymon’s human DNA is completely purged from his body to make him a regular Digimon, whereas Arukenimon loses all her data and is left as a normal human.

Title: Adventures of Archie & Mumi

Genre(s): Adventure, Comedy

Summary: Digimon Adventure 02 but everyone is gender-swapped, including our favorite Spider/Mummy duo.

Title: The Family Gathering

Genre(s): Absurd comedy

Summary: “You’re wifeless, swagless, left-handed, 3D, what’s wrong with you?!” (A.k.a all of the canon & oc Arukenimon and Mummymon meet-up, somehow ; X-Evolution gets bullied for being 3D, Aru hugs everyone, Lotus trauma dumps and Festa horrifies the world by existing) (AU created in collaboration with GrimsDeadB0nes)

Title: The Destruction Chapter

Genre(s): Angst, Drama

Summary: Arukenimon and Mummymon have returned among the living, but Vamdemon and Yukio Oikawa’s treason have left them with scars ; too many to count. Arukenimon seems the most affected- making the snap decision to do ‘better’ than those who used her. She is going to destroy the Digital World, whatever it takes. Even if she has to die with it. And even if the Arukenimon he fell in love with is long gone, how could Mummymon ever give up on her?

Title: Hathor's Blessing

Genre(s): LGBTQ+, Friendship

Summary: She had never thought much of it at first. It was just a few glances, a few prolonged looks she caught here and there. An eye that stared just a little too long at her makeup set ; hands that held her dress just a little too firmly when they did laundry... But then came the question.. "Arukenimon… Have you ever felt like you were meant to be someone else…?"

Title: Bond of Blood

Genre(s): Horny

Summary: Following a sudden and brutal accident, Arukenimon’s data is heavily damaged and begins to deteriorate rapidly. In order to stop this process and help her recover, Jyou Kido determines that she needs to intake new data to repair her system. Unfortunately, pure data seems to conflict with her own and regular human DNA simply won’t do the trick. The only solution is for her to intake a mixture of both- and there is only one other person who can provide her with it. (a.k.a a Vampire AU with no actual vampires)

#digimon #digimon au #archnemon #arukenimon #mummymon #digirambling

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paganimagevault · 2 years

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The Pentagram of Pythagoras

"Pythagoras was the first of the great teachers of ancient Greece. Born in 580 B.C., Pythagoras became one of the most well known philosophers and mathematicians in history. Creating the Pythagorean Brotherhood, his teachings greatly influenced Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Pythagoras is considered as the first pure mathematician; he also founded a community/society based on religion and science. He is most widely known as the author of the Pythagorean Theorem. Some even venture to believe that the word “philosophy” was invented by Pythagoras. He claimed to be a lover of wisdom, for which the Greek word philo means love and Sophia means wisdom.

The Teachings of Pythagoras revolved around the idea that when considering the deepest level, reality is essentially mathematical in nature. Pythagoreans believed there was a system of principles that existed behind numbers. The principles form a foundation for many concepts of traditional Western thought. One of his most basic notions revolves around the symbolism and beauty associated with the Divine Proportion.

The shape of the pentad follows as the symbol of life itself. The pentad consists of all previous numerical symbols: monad’s point, the dyad’s line, the triad’s surface, and the tetrad’s three dimensional volume. The pentad also refers to the well known five point star. The pentad arises in the existence of our five fingers, five toes, the symbol that wards off evil, and a symbol for power and immunity. Because of the importance of the pentad, the construction of the symbol was first kept secret from society. The pentad was used as a secret sign among the Pythagoreans for them to distinguish themselves and recognize other members.

The pentad’s symbolism can be directly related to the Divine Proportion. And the regeneration of the pentad is related to the value of phi (Ф). The image of the pentad is found in nature in leaves and flowers. The Greeks believed each point of the pentad to represent an element: water, earth, air, fire, and idea.

At any rate all his [Pythagoras'] school in serious letters to each other began straightway with 'Health to you,' as a greeting most suitable for both body and soul, encompassing all human goods. Indeed the Pentagram, the triple intersecting triangle which they use as a symbol of their sect, they called 'Health'.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) wrote: "Geometry has two great treasures; one is the Theorem of Pythagoras; the other, the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio. The first we may compare to a measure of gold; the second we may name a precious jewel."

...

"The axial structure of B-DNA is shown in Figures 2 and 4. The rotation of each base pair by 36◦, in the canonical B-DNA molecule, gives a complete 360◦ rotation every 10 base pairs and results in a decagonal structure and ten-fold rotational symmetry. These properties alone relate the axial structure of the molecule to Φ. Although a molecule with a decagonal form might be expected to show some simple relationship to Φ, and while there is always a danger in seeing patterns where there may be none, the axial form of B-DNA is neatly encompassed by 10 “golden diamonds” (refer Figure 1), the template of which is shown in Figure 4B, and overlaid on Figure 4A such that points (a) and (c) are located on the outermost hydrogens and point (b) is between the outer oxygen atoms."

...

"The ancient Greek followers of the mathematician Pythagoras kept the shape as their secret symbol, a signifier of wholeness or divine blessing. Nature.

The pentagram was a symbol, but also a window of sorts. It's not a shape so much as it is a relationship. Within it we find the Golden Ratio.

The Ratio is noted for both its seemingly fundamental aesthetic appeal and its (seemingly) persistent recurrence in natural and manmade systems, from plant biology to financial markets to human DNA.

It's a way of cutting up a line that appears to be preferred by nature, anyhow. Note that every time a line crosses another line, as in the sketch below, it results in a Golden Ratio relationship between the two resulting segments. So, follow a pentagram edge down until it hits the start of another point; that corner is a Golden joint of sorts.

It's possible to connect the points of a pentagram to come up with a new pentagon and, from the new pentagon, a new pentagram. And this can go on forever:

Presumably, the Pythagoreans spent a whole lot of time staring deeply into pentagrams. Tradition has it that a young Pythagorean, Hippasus of Metapontum, was doing just that when he happened up the first proof of the existence of irrational numbers, a startling revelation for the "all is number" crowd.

Hippasus noted what you see above, that the inner core of a pentagram is a pentagon, and inside of that could be found a new pentagram. Clearly, this went on pretty much forever. And it had to, which is what was eventually proved by the Greek.

Imagine Hippasus gazing into the trippy arrangement of nested pentagrams above. Each one lives within a pentagon, with its dimensions limited by that pentagon. All of these shapes clearly live within some hard and fast relationship; they define each other. That relationship is what we'd normally think of as a ratio. One shape is to the other as some quantity a is to some quantity b."

-taken from jwilson.coe.uga.edu, MDPI, freemasonrymatters, and vice

Sources and more detailed descriptions on my blog post: https://paganimagevault.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-pentagram-of-pythagoras.html

#ancient greece #science #mathematics #dna analysis #pythagoras #pentagram #pagan #paganism #history #ancient history #johannes kepler #quotes

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extramachine · 6 months

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More thoughts on Technobabylon and its unintentional transphobia and homophobia:

It's disappointing that in a game with a canonically trans character, there's a mystery that's solved by looking at the DNA left behind by the culprit and determining their gender by chromosomes. And given the game's heavy emphasis on genetic engineering, this deduction makes even less sense. (I think Max even mentions gengineering in the conversation about her transition).

A tally of all canonically gay characters gives us: a couple who is brutally, grusomely killed before we ever see them, a woman who is killed almost immediately after we meet her, and a woman who is ambiguously evil (Nina Jeong). (Max is also implied to be gay from the way she talks about the maid robot). Pretty dismal, but on the other hand I think it's fun that Nina can join Eve Polastri on a very short list of "morally gray sapphic Korean women".

#it's nina eve and me on that list :)#technobabylon

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impostoradult · 2 years

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Whenever I see articles like this I have such a mixed reaction, because on the one hand, they are not WRONG per se. But I also think all of the explanations for this show's success (both from the press & fandom itself) are far too simplistic.

Is the expansive and positive and well-constructed queer representation part of it? OF COURSE. That's a very large piece of it, probably the biggest single piece.

But as I've said in other places, there are a ton of other shows in the last 5-7 years that have been VERY queer that have not gotten nearly this much attachment or attention or adoration: One Mississippi, Everything's Going to Be Okay, Work In Progress, Looking, Pose, Sex Lives of College Girls, even WWDITS.

None of them have been phenomenons like OFMD. So something else is going on here. In fact, a lot of other things are going on here.

OFMD is very tropey (particularly where its main romance is concerned) This is something at least some of the press coverage of the show has cottoned on to. A lot of other queer media in recent years has consisted of highly realistic grounded dramedies (One Mississippi, Looking, Work in Progress, etc.) These shows don't lend themselves to a tropey type of storytelling. But fandoms love tropes, and OFMD very successfully leans into that type of story telling.

Found Family/Rag-Tag Group of Misfits Queer people in particular have a fondness for the found family/rag-tag group of outcasts trope, for obvious reasons. And OFMD leans into that for so much of its entertainment value. There is a particular queer longing to be part of a community of other fun queer folks and OFMD feeds that desire in a way grounded dramedies that often feature more 'realistic' social dynamics and settings simply don't. Furthermore, it provides imaginative space for YOU the viewer to be part of that world. Most of us can easily imagine being a rag-tag misfit on Stede & Blackbeard's crew. Whereas, with a show like Looking, for example, it might be very hard to imagine you are part of a gay male cohort of friends in modern day San Francisco (for any number of reasons). Because OFMD isn't realistic and its range of characters is very expansive, it is easier for more people to mentally become part of this group of characters and reap the parasocial benefits it offers.

It Has Lots of Symbolism & Motifs, etc. (The lighthouse, the red silk scarf, the Kraken, the oranges, etc.) Both because of the history of deep reading texts as part of queer culture, and the queer cultural affinity for aesthetics qua aesthetics, OFMD doesn't just feature gay/queer characters, it has a fundamentally queer textuality. A lot of grounded queer dramas and dramedies are trying to seem very realistic, and while they may employ symbolism on occasion, it isn't a heavily recurring part of the DNA of these shows. OFMD LOVES it symbolism and motifs and leans heavily into them, allowing us to read the text in a deep way, a practice that is part of both a fandom legacy and a queer legacy (which are intertwined but not wholly conflatable).

The Overall Aesthetics & Tone of It Very related to point 3, just the general look and feel of the show is very queer. They use a lot of bright colors. They employ anachronisms. It's very campy at times. The costumes and sets and props are very exaggerated and pastiche. All of these things give the show a queer feeling and energy that goes beyond just there are canonical queer characters and romances. It has strong queer VIBES.

It Thematizes Queerness While Normalizing it Again, related to points 3 & 4, the show is also working with a lot of themes around issues like childhood trauma and ambivalent/fluctuating identity, which are very important to a queer experience. However, the queerness of the character is not exactly SEPARATE from these themes, but not directly tied to them either. Stede and Ed are both going through a radical re-evaluation of who they are and what they want out of life as a result of their romantic connection. But at the same time, they aren't heavily angst-ing over the fact that they're queer and in love. The show is VERY sophisticated at tying their experience of being queer to these larger things like childhood trauma and identity re-evaluation, without making them directly causally connected. What this enables the audience to have is a delicately balanced dual experience where the literal queerness in the show is very normalized and treated as healthy, benign, natural, comfortable, etc. while at the same time, still speaking to emotional experiences of a queer experience that are a little more fraught (difficult navigations of identity, recovering from unhealthy early family dynamics) In other words, OFMD let us have it both ways at the same time, which is very psychologically gratifying. (Again, unlike a lot of the conventional queer dramas and dramedies that, even if they are full of 'good' representation and very pro-queer, also typically either have a lot of angst a lot about being queer, or seem disingenuous when they completely ignore the angst) OFMD navigates around this trap.

The Sandbox Quality of the Show Although it is not technically fantasy or sci-fi, this show has a very strong 'sandbox' quality to it that invites you to mentally explore it and play around within it. Even though it presents itself as vaguely historical and there aren't magical or supernatural elements to it (yet), the show is not going for any level of actual realism. This is a fictional sandbox, and you could imagine the characters might break into a choreographed dance number at any time, or be pulled into a whole new genre at any moment, and you'd roll with it. Imaginative and highly expansive/flexible story-worlds have a lot more fandom potential because they let you mentally play and explore more. OFMD has that sandbox quality of a fantasy or sci-fi series, which adds a lot to its appeal, and which doesn't exist in most grounded queer media.

It Seems Directly In Conversation With its Slash Predecessors Somewhat related to point 1, OFMD has been able to absorb a lot of the energy that has been festering around slash pairings like Destiel, Hannigram, Crowley/Aziraphel, JohnLock, Stucky, and so on. The show and the Ed/Stede romance seems almost DESIGNED to cite a lot of the tropes that those earlier slash pairings employed, and then take it that one glorious step further, and actually DO THE THING. It was therefore able to absorb a lot of that unresolved fandom energy in a way many queer grounded dramas and dramedies could not, because the parallels between them were non-existent or too thin. Grounded, realistic stories aren't typically constructed around elaborate tropes or told through hyperbolized symbolic gestures or 'insane' lines of dialogue that haunt you. But that is the bread and butter of many beloved slash pairings. And OFMD captured that aspect of it, and was able to reproduced it with the rare novelty of actually explicitly following through on all the things those tropes and symbolic gestures and dialogue invited you to believe.

8. It's Diverse in a Lot of Different Ways In addition to having a wide range of queer characters, the show also is racially diverse, its very body positive and represents a range of bodies in a kind way, and it isn't infatuated with representing this experience only through people who are young and conventionally good looking. The two leads are clearly middle-aged and they don't try to paper over that or downplay it. Rhys Darby, while not at all bad looking, is a very average looking guy. These people feel normal and accessible in all kinds of ways, and again, it adds to that feeling that any of us could be members of this crew and be accepted, loved, treated as one of the gang.

***

It's not JUST that the show has substantial canonical representation of queer characters. That's a big draw of it, but that doesn't, by itself, explain the show's runaway success. It is more complicated and more nuanced than that. And we need to start talking about the OTHER reasons this show has felt like such an oasis in a desert to us, so that other media entities can give us more of what we ACTUALLY want. Which isn't just queer stories.

(BTW, this is one of the problems I constantly run up against working in entertainment market research. People often give the most surface level explanations for why they like things, and while they are not WRONG per se, they are often leaving out large pieces of the story because those deeper things aren't as easily grokked or articulated)

#OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #meta #OFMD meta #queer representation #lgbtq representation

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scullydubois · 3 years

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Only the Light Ch. 18

Scully, Mulder, and Missy travel to California to meet Emily and wrestle with the future.

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The echo of Scully’s heels against the linoleum is almost enough to drown out her racing heart. Mulder’s thumping steps and her sister’s daintier ones help too, but their collective power does nothing to ease Scully’s awareness that the Earth circles the sun at a thousand miles per hour. Today, she’s feeling every bit of it.

The three of them round a corner, and a broad-shouldered man and tiny-waisted woman come into view. Agent Feniston and the lawyer, this must be. Outside of conference room C--as planned.

Straightening every disc in her spine, Scully extends a hand and exchanges a firm shake with each of them. Mulder and Melissa hang back.

“Dana Scully,” she declares. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“That decision rested with the foster parents,” the male agent insists. “As does any from this point forward.”

“Yes, and I’ll be sure to thank them as well,” Scully acquiesces.

“Hello, Ms. Scully.” The lawyer uncrosses her ankles. “I’m Tanya Joyce, you can call me Tanya. As a representative of the state of California, my priority is guarding the child’s wellbeing and ensuring that any choice made is what’s best for her.”

“Of course,” Scully murmurs. “Thank you for being here.”

Tanya thumbs toward the closed door of the conference room. “Brian and Cecily are eager to meet you. The foster system has extremely limited information on little Emily. Your testimony will help us all fill in some blanks.”

Scully nods. “Me as well...this is as much a surprise for me as all of you.”

“Are we to understand that you were not aware you bore a child, Ms. Scully?” Agent Feniston asks.

“Yes, sir. I know it’s quite hard to believe, I feel the same. I was missing for a period of time last year and was comatose when I returned.”

“Yes, and how long was that period of time, Ms. Scully?”

The edges of her lips fall. “Approximately five weeks.”

“So is it safe to assume that though the child shares your DNA, you did not carry her?”

“No sir, not that I know of. I believe that my eggs were harvested, and she was...well, she comes from one of those.”

The agent hums a note of acknowledgement. “As I told you over the phone, the federal database contained no viable DNA match of a father.”

Scully nods. “Yes sir, and I have no knowledge of what sperm may have been used.”

“Noted.” He rubs his neck. “We were lucky, we only found you because you were in the missing persons database.”

“I had no idea I was still listed there,” Scully says. “I’ve asked the FBI to remove it.”

“Well, it was a stroke of luck for us,” the agent tells her. “This little girl’s foster parents encouraged the state to pursue child abandonment charges against whoever left her. She was found outside a local care center at two weeks old, as I’ve told you.”

“Yes.” Scully purses her lips. She imagines a baby with her eyes, nose, toes, chromosomes crying on a nondescript doorstep...she and Mulder did not know what they were doing when they said they wanted the truth.

“We’ve already confirmed your story with the FBI,” Feniston continues, “and we have proof that you were working on cases in the east at the time of Emily’s delivery to the foster center, so you are free of any child abandonment charges.”

“Wonderful,” Scully replies, but really, those were the least of her concerns. “May I see my daughter now?”

That’s the first time she’s ever said that sentence, and she didn’t expect terror to shoot up her spine. Is this what it is, having an extension of your life outside your body?

The lawyer steps forward. “I’ll introduce you to Brian and Cecily, they’d like to speak with you first.”

Scully does not like the way that sits in the air. Still, she musters a smile. “It would be my pleasure.”

---------------------------

Mulder and Melissa make themselves at home on a pair of leather chairs outside the conference room. They have been the pall-bearers keeping Scully aloft as her crushed dreams reinvent themselves as high hopes. They don’t understand how it happened any more than Scully herself: one phone call turned into multiple consultations with Agent Feniston, then Tanya and California Social Services and finally, DC social workers who performed background checks and prepared forms so that Scully could come here today to meet her baby and, God-willing, bring her home.

It doesn’t happen this fast, it never does--different voices said these same words to them a dozen times. And yet, barely two weeks after Agent Feniston’s fated voicemail, here they are. On All Hallow’s Eve, no less. Just in time for Emily to complete her first rotation around the sun.

They both play contrasting yet crucial roles in Operation Miracle Baby, as Mulder dubbed it. Dana has sobbed into Missy’s shoulder every night for the past two weeks; happy tears (her baby! she has a baby!), sad tears (she has a baby…and she didn’t even know...), scared tears (a baby! a baby, Missy! probably already walking, and maybe even talking if she’s exceptional...). The situation--and its implications--are impossible to reconcile in such a short time, if at all. Scully’s petite frame could not physically contain it.

Mulder’s the comic relief, the distraction, the reminder that nothing can be so grave if there's still breath left in your body. He bought a CD of nursery rhymes and stuck in it his beat-up office radio, playing it through the day while Scully labored over this form or that and he pretended to alphabetize the case file drawer. Now, he hums himself to sleep every night with one of those rhymes; he’s hoping this new skill will come in handy.

He would’ve bought toys and baby clothes too, but Melissa made him swear not to in case the adoption falls through. And she’s right, he can’t bear to imagine the pain Scully would feel packing those away. For sale: baby shoes, never worn hits you no matter who you are. Still, he has a stuffed UFO and a Build-a-Bear fox (yes, he went in and filled it himself) hidden in his closet, and he hopes they won’t go to waste.

Operation Miracle Baby has been as covert as anything Mulder’s ever been involved in. He, Melissa, and Mrs. Scully are the only ones in his partner’s circle with any knowledge of what’s going on. No one else, in Scully’s words, matters. Trinity too has received a full briefing from Missy and is ecstatic about her girlfriend potentially becoming an auntie. Skinner was told it was a family emergency--and well, it is--though surely he’s suspicious about both of his agents requesting time off. Bill Jr. has no idea they’re in San Diego, though they may seek “refuge” (the air quotes are Missy’s) at his place if the proceedings drag on.

This is a triumph or failure to be shared only with those most beloved, that’s what Scully said to them the night before they boarded the plane. Mulder has never been included in anyone’s most beloved before. It feels pretty damn good.

----------------------

The perky lawyer raps on the conference room door, opening it in response to a voice on the other side. Scully’s breath catches….a strawberry-haired infant rests in her mother’s arms (Scully hates to think it, but surely this woman is more Emily’s mother than she is), pulling at a lock of the woman’s blonde hair.

The woman turns her way, and Scully gets her first glimpse at Emily’s face. Emily. Her baby. She wondered the whole flight here whether she would feel a connection….a sense of recognition...upon laying eyes on her daughter. And my god, it’s like some chained section of her heart has burst open, flooded with all the good feelings of the world. Icy blue eyes and cherub cheeks...that’s her baby. That’s her baby.

She watches as her baby is passed to a woman in a CA Social Services button-up who slides past Scully in the doorway like she’s not even there. Scully has a split-second to notice the dimples on her daughter’s cheeks, but that’s it. Emily’s gaze misses her entirely.

Tanya strides toward the couple in the room, Scully following behind.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lace, this is Dana Scully, Emily’s biological mother.”

“We’re so glad to meet you,” the man says, shaking Scully’s hand with a firm grip. “I’m Brian, and this is my wife Cecily.”

“Thank you for speaking with me,” Scully tells them, shaking Cecily’s hand in kind. ��I understand you’ve cared for Emily since shortly after she arrived at social services.”

“Yes,” Cecily confirms. “She came to us when she was a month old. Raising her has been an absolute joy.”

Brian nods. “She’s the second infant we’ve fostered. We adopted our first one, Andrew, when he was a year and a half.”

“I didn’t realize you had another child,” Scully converses, feeling out of her depth. “It must have been quite a transition, taking Emily in.”

“It sure was, but she’s an angel, truly,” Brian says. “We couldn't fathom that someone could abandon her and get away with it, that’s why we contacted Agent Feniston.”

Cecily chimes in--”We were told the chances of finding a DNA match in the federal database was slim. We didn’t expect to learn that you were unaware of Emily’s existence!”

“Yes, I’m still coming to terms with it all,” Scully replies. “I’m grateful that you’ve given me the opportunity to see her, at the very least.”

“When we heard your story, we knew it would be heinous of us to say no,” Cecily says, offering a sympathetic smile.

“You’re an FBI agent, did we hear that right?” Brain asks.

“Yes sir, I’ve been with the Bureau five years now.”

“You live in DC?”

Scully nods. “Around the corner from the National Mall.”

“That’s exciting!” Cecily pipes up. “How did you find yourself having Emily in San Diego?”

“I actually have no idea, Mrs. Lace,” Scully murmurs. “My family lived here when I was young, but I haven’t been back since. Coincidentally, my brother lives not too far off.”

“Wow,” Cecily gasps. “They weren’t kidding about you being a missing person.”

“No ma’am.” She went from a missing person to missing a person. No wonder she’s spent the past year feeling so empty.

-----------------------------

Mulder and Melissa get only the slightest moment to catch their breath before a child that is unmistakably the progeny of Dana Scully is carried into the lobby. Her hair curls around her ears in a cute mushroom top, her tongue dancing in her mouth like it has a mind of its own. They stare; they know better, but fuck it, if any baby is worth staring at, it’s this one.

“Is that--?” Mulder whispers.

“Yeah,” Missy breathes.

They’ve both seen the pictures, they are well aware that it’s her. They say these things for the awe of it.

“She’s…” Mulder’s eyes are wide. “She’s bigger than I thought she would be. Not fat, I mean. Just...a whole tiny human.”

“She is, isn’t she?” Melissa smiles at her niece, who is now seated on her caretaker’s lap across the hallway. Emily’s big eyes blink at her, containing silent judgements. How like her mother she is.

Missy elbows Mulder. “I bet she orders mushroom pizza and then picks the mushrooms off because apparently ‘the cheese tastes better than on the regular cheese pizza,’” she muses, naming one of her sister’s quirks.

Mulder likes this game. “I bet she vehemently denies the existence of extraterrestrials only to secretly believe that her dashing partner is right,” he offers.

Missy smirks. “I bet she would find this game very stupid if she understood it.”

“I’m all in on that one.” Mulder mimes pushing a pile of poker chips into the center of a table.

Missy laughs, looks toward her seat partner with soft eyes. “She’s gonna be a great mom, isn’t she? Dana, I mean?”

“Oh yeah.” Mulder clasps his hands in his lap. “We should be so lucky to have a little Scully in the world.”

“Mm-hm.” Missy focuses on his face, watching for the slightest move that might give his thoughts away. “And she’ll be able to do it alone, do you think?”

“Well, I’m sure she’ll need some help from Mrs. Scully, and you, and…” he trails off before adding his own name, but Missy’s mind fills it in reflexively. “She’ll need help,” Mulder finishes, “but yeah, she’ll be incredible.”

The details have already been parsed out. As a single mother, Scully is required to list a guardian who would take custody of Emily if something were to happen to her. She listed her mother as the primary one--the social worker told her it’s best if it’s someone who has child-rearing experience--and Missy as the secondary guardian. She would, after all, already live in the child’s household.

Then there was the matter of the job--its extensive time requirements, travelling, and danger level were all of concern to the agency. This came as no surprise to Scully; a single female FBI agent does not make the ideal adoption candidate. And though she hasn’t yet spoken to the Bureau, Mulder has promised her they’ll work something out. It can be like your leave of absence, he assured her. You tackle the paper trail and I’ll focus on following the suspect’s trail. Easy-peasy.

That’s what he says to her, though he’s terrified of losing her as his partner...Of her being reassigned to something simpler or leaving the Bureau entirely. She could teach at Quantico, that schedule would be a hell of a lot easier than running on Mulder time. Agent Scully can pack for hastily-booked flights at midnight then catch them at 7am, but Emily’s mother couldn’t. He will have to reckon with this if all the pieces fall into their graceful place. He’ll have to figure out how to rearrange their partnership for her, or even worse, how to live without her as his partner. Or maybe even at all.

---------------------------

Scully glances at her shoes, then summons the courage to meet Mrs. Lace’s hazel eyes. “I hope you will consider my request. I know it’s not up to you entirely--the court will have the final say--but my abduction experience has left me unable to have a biological child, so learning of Emily was truly a miracle of the highest order.”

Her voice clips as she takes a breath. “I understand that it would be a huge sacrifice on the part of your family, and that you’ve developed a bond with Emily over the past eleven months. I just ask you both to please...think about it.” Tears twinkle in her eyes. She made it, thank god, she made it without breaking down! She’s rehearsed that speech ten times over.

Cecily lays a hand on her husband’s arm. “Of course, Dana. It would be a painful sacrifice to us, you’re correct, but we understand that you’ve flown across the country to be here, and that you’ve brought witnesses to testify to your character, so your commitment is clear. We’ll listen and make as compassionate a decision as possible.”

Scully’s lips creep into a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.” She steps back, the weight of imminent sobs settling over her chest.

“Ms. Scully has already undergone most of the requirements needed for adoption,” the lawyer tells Mr. and Mrs. Lace. “Medical clearance, psychiatric clearance, criminal background check, and home study. In the spirit of her unique circumstances, California and the District of Columbia have agreed to cooperate to make the process as smooth and expedient as possible, if you should choose to surrender Emily to her. I don’t mean to sway your decision in any way, just to give you all the available information.”

The couple nods. “Thank you, Tanya,” Cecily answers. “We’d like to speak with the first witness now.”

Scully balks. She expected more questions, a barrage of them, as intense and prying as if she were testifying in front of Congress. And she was ready for that--she was prepared to do whatever they asked of her, to show that there are no lengths she wouldn’t go for Emily. She’s already documented every detail of her life for social services and given over the necessary specimens to prove that no, she’s not a drug user, and yes, her thyroid is hyperactive, but she takes medication for that and her doctor will confirm that it’s under control.

And if they wanted to know more, she’d tell them. She’d tell it all. Her deepest, darkest secret (telling Daniel that yes, he should leave his wife & kids...all for her, to be with her), the most petty thing that haunts her (stolen cigarettes, smoked on the family porch at 1am), what she wants to say most but can’t (I love you)...a part of her was taken to create Emily. She would give the rest away to keep her.

There was a moment, in one of the drab little interrogation rooms at DC social services, where Scully was met with a question that lunged toward her like a time-bomb. Pull the fuse, pull the fuse it taunted her. See what happens. Instead, she played it off. Pretended she didn’t hear its doomed tick. Feigned none the wiser. No, she isn’t aware of any potential medical condition that would inhibit her life expectancy or ability to care for a child, she told the nice woman. Thank god they got the chip out of her neck before it showed up on any x-rays.

She snaps back to reality, watching as the conference door opens, and her sister enters the room.

“Thank you, Dana,” Tanya says, and she assumes that’s the lawyer’s way of telling her to get out, so she does. Outside the room, she settles next to Mulder in a seat that’s still warm.

“How’d it go in there, champ?” he chatters. “You need some water or anything?”

Scully’s not listening. Her eyes are trained on the baby girl across the way with hair too auburn to be brunette that’ll require a smattering of box dye every two weeks to qualify her as a soulless ginger.

Emily’s eyes land on the woman she does not know is her mother, studying this new face with an infant’s usual curiosity. Mulder has realized by now that the little girl is of much more interest to his partner than he is, and he watches as mother and daughter wave to each other.

Scully lets out a laugh so strangled that for a moment Mulder thinks it’s a cry and jumps to comfort her. He relaxes back into his seat once he sees the joy on her face.

“She’s a sweetheart, huh?” Mulder wisecracks as the young girl jams her fingers into her mouth.

Scully beams. “She’s a baby, that’s her way of learning the world!”

“Hey, I’m not knocking it. That’s my personal preference as well,” he says with a lop-sided smile.

“Yeah, well, she’s not licking evidence,” Scully quips.

Mulder shrugs. “A man can’t help his oral fixation. Haven’t you ever heard of Freud…?” he lets it slide off his tongue.

Scully rolls her eyes. His inability to maintain an appropriate manner is nothing if not inspiring.

She gestures toward Emily. “You’re already encouraging bad behavior. Tsk-tsk,” she teases.

“That’s my job as--hey, wait. What’s she gonna call me?” If you get custody, of course passes silently between them.

“I don’t know, Mulder,” Scully says, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye. “I hadn’t really thought about it.” That’s a lie. She’s sat up during the night trying to decipher Mulder’s relation to Emily. He would certainly be the male authority in her life, but that doesn’t make him a father figure. Right?

Scully adored her father because he was the head of the family, and he embraced the responsibility, always making sure they had what they needed. While her mother was often the one doing the grunt work of caring for them, her father provided for them. His long deployments with the Navy protected them. Scully understood his sacrifice and loved him for it

That’s not how it would go with Emily. If she were so lucky as to get the child, Scully would be the caretaker and the provider. A two-in-one deal with a high price. What would that mean, for Emily? Scully could do it, she believes that. Not that it would be anything less than utterly exhausting, but with a little help from her mother and her sister, she could make do, and they say it takes a village to raise a child anyway, so what’s so bad about that?

Since she’s filling those roles herself, that leaves...well, Mulder could be the fun uncle, that fits him. Bill Jr. isn’t gonna cut it, and neither is Charlie, considering that he’s god knows where. Besides, it’s unlikely that Mulder will get a chance to know a biological niece or nephew. He and Emily could fill missing pieces in each other’s lives.

Scully’s eyes trace the contours of her partner’s face. “Do you have a preference about what she calls you?”

“I was hoping for His Royal Highness Fox Mulder of Martha’s Vineyard--is that too much?”

Scully lets a strand of hair fall over her face. “It might take her awhile to get her tongue around that.”

“Or it’ll speed up her speech acquisition,” Mulder replies.

“Oh, you’re a child-rearing connoisseur now?”

Mulder twiddles his thumbs. “It is my goal to raise the first kid to transcribe canine language into English.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware of that,” Scully tells him, a smile flitting on her lips. It’s this kind of banter that keeps her sane. A few minutes out here with him, and she’s forgotten that what happens in that conference room will dictate the rest of her life.

Across the hallway, Emily giggles at the air, and it fits, doesn’t it? Here she is, already laughing at Mulder’s jokes like the Scully girl she is.

------------------------------

It feels like a prisoner exchange when witness number one in their civil-that-sure-feels-like-a-criminal case joins Scully back in the hallway, and Mulder is called forward “to the stand.” He swears he found a penny in the parking lot this morning & promises to bring back good news. Scully’s pretty sure he made that story up, but she’s no less hopeful that it’ll come true.

Returned from her brief stint in captivity, Missy dives right into a discussion of her niece: “Look at her, Dana, she looks just like you!”

“Well, she does have fifty percent of my DNA,” Scully concedes with an admiring glance at the little girl.

“Have you gone over to see her?”

Scully shakes her head. “I didn’t think that would be proper.”

“Are you kidding me?” Missy retorts. “First of all, Brian and Cecily are very nice people, and I’m not supposed to say this, but I think there’s a chance that Emily will be yours. Secondly, this could be your only opportunity to interact with your daughter and you’re not gonna take it?”

Scully bites her lip. Her sister knows how to craft an argument. “Alright, but you have to back me up.”

“Trust me, I wanna see her just as badly as you.”

Scully steels herself, then approaches the woman in the polo shirt. “Hello.” She does a polite half-wave, which she’s never done before and which makes her feel ridiculous. “I’m the potential adoptee, and I was wondering if I could say hello to this precious little girl.” It all feels completely out of character, like she’s reading lines from a script. But this is it, this is her reality.

The woman’s face offers little in the way of recognition. “You can have a supervised visit with her, yes,” she recites, as rehearsed as Scully.

“Great.” Scully claps her hands together. “May I take her to my sister right over there?”

The woman nods. Scully lays her hands on Emily’s waist and lifts the girl gently from the woman’s lap. She is heavier than Scully imagined, or maybe just heavier than she hoped. Every ounce is a reminder of unseen existence and unwitnessed growth.

Emily does not balk, just stares up at her mother with those probing eyes.

“Hi baby girl,” Scully coos to her daughter as she settles her against her hip. “Can you say hi? Have you got that one yet?”

The girl blinks. “Ma-ma.”

Scully crooks her neck, tries to reign in her racing imagination. All babies do this at this age, don’t they? Calling every woman mama and every man dada. Emily’s no exception. And yet...for that to be the first word her daughter has ever said to her. God winked at her, and she’s glad to have caught it.

The pair makes it to Missy, who blows a kiss in Emily’s direction. “Hey there little one.” She extends her index finger, and the girl latches onto it.

Scully cradles her baby’s head, Emily’s fine hair soft beneath her fingers.

“She’s even-keeled for a baby,” Missy remarks, wiggling her finger and watching Emily crack a smile.

“Yes,” Scully gurgles out of the sheer joy. She settles into her chair with Emily in her lap. “Do you know what she said to me?”

Missy looks up. “What?”

“Mama.” Scully dons a triumphant grin. “She called me mama.”

“Oh, no way!” Missy squeals. It’s a bit too loud and sudden, making Emily jump. The ladies laugh, and Scully pulls her daughter in closer, kissing the crown of her head. She still has that baby smell; the freshness of new life and all its purity. Scully sighs. It must have been even stronger when she was born.

Scully closes her eyes. If she had one chance to pause life somewhere along the way, to linger in a perfect moment longer, she would do it right now and she would never regret it.

“My baby…” she breathes into Emily’s ear, hoping it will stick. That one day she’ll remember and find her way home, should she need to.

A warm tear slides down Scully’s cheek and lands in Emily’s lap, a dark drop on the girl’s corduroy pants. “Mama loves you, Emily.” She tightens her embrace. “That’s me,” she sniffs. “I love you, Emily.”

Observing this, Missy feels that she is an interloper and slips off to the bathroom, leaving mother and baby to have their moment.

Scully strokes the girl’s tiny palm with her thumb. She has missed so much already, and my god, she could miss so much more. What is love, if not sacrifice? Hadn’t that been the takeaway from each week of Sunday school?

The conference door opens, and Scully finds herself irritated that life has failed to pause. Oh, what wouldn’t she do to take the reins from God, even for a moment? She looks up at Mulder, doe-eyed as he processes the optical illusion that is Emily and her mother. Said mother sees the tenderness on Mulder’s face as he comes to terms with this sight, and something in both of them breaks, and something else opens.

Mulder approaches quietly, apprehensive about ruining the moment. Little does he know, he’s not ruining it; he’s completing it.

“Hey,” Scully swoons. “How was it?”

He’s too earnest to crack a joke right now. “Less nerve-wracking than I expected,” he murmurs. “Brain and Cecily are good people.”

Scully can’t help but wonder if they’re hammering this point about Brian and Cecily to make her feel better when the gavel falls in their direction. Mulder directs her train of thought away from this when he kneels in front of Emily. His eyes are as soupy as ever, Scully notices; she could sink right into them.

“May I?”

Scully chuckles under her breath, like a stranger has just asked if they could pet her dog. “Of course, Mulder. Say hi.”

Over the past weeks, Mulder spent considerable time anticipating this initial interaction. First impressions are important, after all, and there is no one he has wanted to impress more than this sweet girl. Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t care what their meeting was, as long as it would be. And now that he’s here, knelt in front of his two favorite girls, he’s ready to make a promise.

He envelops Emily’s closed fist with one hand and uses the other to caress Scully’s palm. “I want you to know,” he begins, shifting his gaze between mother and daughter, “that I’ll always be here for you.”

He looks to Scully, realizing that Emily is unable to comprehend what he is saying. “Regardless of Brian and Cecily’s choice, I am prepared to make every sacrifice so that you two can be a family. The family you deserve to be. I know what it’s like to not have that, and christ, Scully, I’m not letting you go through that. You’ve had enough for one lifetime.”

Scully’s face puckers. She is moved on a dimension that transcends the spiritual, if such a thing is possible. She closes her eyes, lets the tears slip out, then softens her focus on him.

“Thank you, Mulder...Fox,” she effuses, needing to heighten the intimacy. “Emily and I…” she kisses her daughter’s temple again. “Well, you know. You already know.” Her voice is somber almost, reminiscent of a wedding vow’s binding utterance.

Mulder smiles up at them, pats Scully’s hand. “I know. Me too.”

There are many phrases that could fill her blank, but he chose his favorite, and he’s got an inkling that he’s right.

Scully sucks in a breath, and it’s the first one that has ever counted. Earth is new to her, again.

The door opens a second time, and the lawyer approaches with Brian and Cecily behind her.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lace would like to take some time to think about their decision,” Tanya announces. “You will understand, they hope…?”

Scully nods, swallowing back a lump in her throat. She would like to break into a tantrum, throwing chairs and screeching every obscenity she knows. Begging please, please, don’t let me miss another heartbeat. Let me live in this Heaven I’ve found. But no answer is better than an immediate rejection, so she screws her lips into a smile and gives away two more handshakes.

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Lace. I’m grateful for this opportunity.”

#you guysss i have been excited for this chapter since day one!!!#it only gets more emotional from here ahhhh #hope you enjoy <3 #i am hugging anyone who reads this #only the light fic #missy and scully fic #the x-files #txf fic #txf #fox mulder #dana scully #melissa scully #mine

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kiralushia · 4 years

Note

why do you ship incest?

Except that I don't. I never shipped something like father/daughter, uncle/niece, siblings, cousins (even if this usually happens here irl) and something like that.

If you're (surely) referring to Nozomi's situation:

Incest problem n1: offsprings born from parents with the same blood and dna will surely have important diseases as we witnessed irl centuries ago. - I'm not even sure 6 generations aren't enough to mix the blood and prevent any problems. - Of course it's not only impossible irl but also in the 11fam story: how the f* you can be together your DEAD ancestor??

Incest problem n2: loving romantically someone you grow up with and you consider "family". - This problem doesn't even exists in the first place in the 11fam and in the AU. She is watching him in her dreams as a child who grow up watching their fav anime/tv show/disney movie having a crush on the main character. I don't think you can consider "family" the Beast, or Peter Pan, or Ariel's prince etc. Of course, in this case someone can say "I told her that he’s her ancestor!". Now imagine you tell a child that their crush is their ancestor. What does that even mean for them? Even after growing up, he’s still your “far ancestor”, more or less like Adam and Eve for us all. You can’t even take this seriously, really. And he wasn’t even her family in the first place, you know only that you have a bit of his blood but nothing else, I don’t think it would magically stops your brain to think that man is charming and delete your crush as it never happened. Tsuna and Kyoko are her family. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Lambo, I-pin are her family. Iemitsu, even Piero and Dino are her family. Even Arina is her family. Because they were THERE with her, growing up with her, taking care of her. That’s a family. Surely not a man she only watched in her dreams. He isn’t her family, he’s an outsider who was the protag of her dreams such as your anime/tv show crush. If you invalidate this, why we all keep saying that real family is the one who take care of you and not people who abandoned you as your biological parents, then?

- Giotto's pov only works in the AU, since their "lovestory" isn't canon in the comic. Giotto took this girl into his home and got close to her, she wasn't considered as a little sister in the first place (nor as a daughter, it would be extremely weird if a 24yo boy considers a 18yo girl as his daughter...). So what does he think when she tells him the truth? It's spoiler for the au, but maybe he's like "oh... what?". Morals can kinda prevent him to do anything because they share a bit of the same blood, that's why the reincarnation thing happens. Someone told me that the reincarnation is still weird because he knows who she is. Yeah, I mean, he KNOWS that she is the girl HE WAS IN LOVE WITH. Are we talking again about family? Because she's not closely related to him since she's a far descendant, like “who the fuck are you?”. Why does he should know her except for when she time traveled? (He was also very distant and cold to Tsuna in the manga in the first place because "ah, yeah, he's somewhat my descendant, and luckily he inherited my will" and he never shared that affection. Also no, putting a hand on the shoulder and telling him to beat Byakuran isn't an affection, at least it's an act italian people can do to anyone.)

Then, what about adoptive siblings such as Chara and Asriel?

Let’s go back in the Undertale game where Toby is such a troll and never specified stuff, leaving almost everything up to interpretation. And People are different so my interpretation could differ from yours and it’s not like I’m invalidating you, it’s that I’m me and you’re you and we’re not twin robots with the same way of thinking?? I want to specific that I only ship charisk, but Chara and Asriel were never revealed to be siblings since Toriel took care of Chara but it's not stated that they were officially adopted. And yes, you should be officially adopted otherwise anyone bringing someone to home for helping/taking care of them means they're adopted, and since it happened to my bf too for a short time I guess he's now my brother? Also little reminder that the game is entirely based on the "Best Friend" thing, if Asriel and Chara keep telling me that they're besties I believe them? Sure, siblings can be friends (even if I know at least 10% of siblings who like themselves and 90% of them are instead mortal enemies lol) but friends aren't siblings, otherwise you're invalidating all the friends who were friends before getting closer and become lovers. Still, Toby forx created UT leaving many blank spaces and I'd liked to have more official revelations instead of vagues stuff. There's nothing wrong if Chara was only taken care by Toriel because she's motherly with like ANY CHILD EVER (and I don't think she's the mother of every child of the Underground, but why is no one addressing on how she’s too pressing and creepy sometimes?) and then, since Chara hates humans and become close to the monsters, it's not weird they could start have feelings for the prince of monsters who saved their life and was also their best friend. It's totally plausible.

Also, little reminder: you should ALWAYS taking every situations and context into consideration. Adoptive siblings are totally valid and there's absolutely NOTHING that prevent them to see each other as a family. BUT you should consider that if you marry a new partner and you both have teen children, they could not surely see themselves as family. Imagine that the 2 guys were secretely in love for years and then they found out their parents are going to be married and they will soon become siblings. Like... wtf?? Is it even fair for them??? Or 2 teens who have similar interests and can be attracted by each other and they are now siblings. Since they don't know each other and never considered each other family (there weren’t enough time to do it) they could easily become interested and attracted by each other.

OF COURSE these 2 cases are totally extreme and unlikely to happen often. Though it's important to remember that sometimes parents should be more careful on their moves because they can hurt their children. Still, as an outsider, I would take my distance and never meddle in those people business because I'm not entitled in deciding about how they should feel.

I support family bonds, and since I also said that Arina, Piero, I-Pin etc are family for Nozomi (even if they don’t share the same blood), I think that’s enough to say that I totally support also adoptive people because they are of course part of a family.

So why would I ship a family? Never done that. Maybe I could have done something like that a lot of years ago? I don’t really remember what I shipped when I was 14. Well, surely Im not shipping anything like that now.

And now, if you want to complain about Nozomi’s situation, I can assure you that there are more chances that I could be instead related to you, sir anon.

#ask #imagine you find out your crush is far related to you #you don't know how much it can likely happen in small towns #because usually people are all related there #Anonymous

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wafflesetc · 4 years

Text

Red

Canon Compliant, Season 5 Timeline

Inspired by the promo for S5. Many thanks to @walkinginland for her time to fix a whole lot of errors. I sure hope you enjoy.

Governor Tyron had left nearly half an hour ago. I had said my farewell to him, but had kept my post on the porch. Bree had joined me shortly afterwards, with Jem in her arms. We had sat in a comfortable silence as she tried to rock the teething child to sleep.

I had yet to hear from or see my husband, which was starting to alarm me.

Jem squirmed in Bree’s arms and I watched her stand.

“Mama… I don’t know what is taking Da so long, but I think it is time for me to go…” Jem let out a squeak. “He’s getting cranky and I am tired. I think it’s time I pass him to his father.”

“Mmm. You know there was one night when you were a baby… Frank had a work dinner and you were teething. He had wanted us to go but I could not get you settled. I sent him on his way without us.” I smiled at the memory. “And when Frank left, I took a nice bottle of whisky he kept in his bookshelf. Poured a little into your bottle, and you slept like a champ that night. It might be worth a try tonight, for your sanity and Roger’s.”

I watched a smile to match her father’s reach across her face, “I would, but Da said we won’t have whisky for a few more weeks…”

“Your father is in our room. If you walk into his office, there’s a wooden box on the right hand side. He has quite a nice emergency stash in there. Don’t use too much but just a splash; Or you can rub it across his gums, it might help soothe him just enough.”

“Thanks, mama.” She kissed my cheek and disappeared into the black of the night. I waited another few minutes, listening to the sounds of the night, but Jamie still didn’t make his way outside.

My impatience wearing thin by the minute, I decided to take myself to him. I blew the candles out on the porch and walked towards our bedroom. While it was also my bedroom, for some I felt like an outsider walking into the room. The door was cracked open, so I knocked softly, and heard a small Scottish grunt in return.

“You didn’t walk the Gov-” I saw a flash of red on the bed and it rendered me speechless. It was no wonder why Jamie hadn’t come out to join me on the porch.

The red material lying on our bed spoke volumes. I didn’t know how to respond. And if I didn’t know what to say or do, I could not imagine how this was weighing down on Jamie.

It wasn’t just a piece of red material we were staring at.

It was a uniform.

A red military uniform.

A uniform my husband had spent his entire life running from.

A uniform my husband has suffered under.

A uniform that had given my husband a back full of scars.

Jamie was sitting next to it on the bed, his face in his hands.

“I was wondering why you had not come outside to tell me how the conversation went.” I walked towards him so I was standing right in his proximity. “But coming in here, I can see why.”

“Clai-” Jamie croaked on my name and looked up, the tears filling his eyes. Chills went down my body for the look in his eyes was one I had only seen once more in my life.

There was a darkness in his eyes I had only encountered once. At a time when he was enduring something so unimaginable, to keep me safe from a man who had worn this same piece of clothing. A time we seldom spoke of, yet a time I knew still haunted him to this day.

War is a funny thing and it does things to a person. It isn’t something we want, nor is it something that can, at times, be avoided. Man is a species and being a species comes with a drive to always win. The scientist in me knew this- survival of the fittest. I also knew that sometimes, being a soldier isn’t just a choice. I could argue that sometimes men didn’t have the luxury of saying no when it came to a war.

I had once served in a war. I wasn’t a true soldier, but I had taken care of those who were on the front lines. I had served my country and suffered the consequences of war myself. I knew the horrors of battle, the loss a person endure, and how with neither time nor space did it ever really escape a person.

I thought of my first husband - Frank had served. He had done a duty to his country when it needed him most, yet when it was all over, he could simply wash his hands of it and walk away. For Frank, being a soldier had been a choice.

Jamie Fraser, though, Jamie was a soldier. He was the kind of soldier that I could argue never had the choice. Jamie was the soldier with it ingrained into his DNA. He was born into a position of power, being the Laird of Lallybroch. He had rebelled against the English to try and save his people. He had lead his people at Ardsmuir, his name Mac Dubh.

And now with the American revolution beckoning on our doorstep, we found ourselves staring down on the eve of another war. And somehow he had found himself in the crosshairs yet again. And me, well, it was simple. Wherever he were to go, I would follow.

Blood of my blood and bone of my bone.

Coming back down to reality, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. It was pulsating, strong and ever present. The memory he was recalling present in my head. The duty to each other, the duty to our family, and the duty to our country flooding us.

Not knowing what to say or do, I grabbed Jamie’s knee, tethering myself to this plane.

I heard him take a breath and pull me into his embrace.

“Oh, mo chridhe.” He whispered into the base of my neck.

We were so close together, yet I could feel the oceans and centuries apart engulf us.

“I dinna ken how to say it to ye,” Jamie spoke softly and I could feel his tears down my chest. “There were so many things that have happened to me, so many things I have suffered and been beaten for.”

“Hush,” I said as I wiped my own tears and kissed the top of his head, “I know.”

He didn’t stop but rather pulled me closer into him. “I could carry the weight of the scars God has burdened me with. I have been whipped and bludgeoned, cut with a bayonet. I survived twenty years wi’ out my heart…”

I looked down at him, wiping a tear with my thumb.

“Yet he is askin’ me to wear this, and it broke me Claire. I dinna think I can do it.”

“I know.” It was all I could say. No one, save for Jenny, Ian, or Murtagh knew the extent of just how much Jamie had truly suffered under the British. Particularly, under one with the name Randall. Jamie having to succumb to wearing what they considered to be a badge of valor, one of honor, would be going against everything he had worked so hard to get away from. I had even spared Bree the details of just how intricate the lineage went. Jamie’s hatred for the crown ran deep into the marrow of his innermost being.

“We do what we must,” I finally spoke. “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there I will be buried. Be it Scottish hill or southern forest. You do what you have to; I’ll be there.”

“Ye said that to me once already, ye ken?” He gave an attempt at a laugh.

“I know, and it still holds true.”

There were many things we wanted to say, so many words and feelings to convey, yet it was just this way with him- it always had been- sometimes there was nothing words could ever express. All we could do was be there for one another, and let the unspoken remain.

For he knew what lay in my heart and I knew what lay in his soul. In the end, nothing truly remained unsaid between us.

“I’ll be there, every step of the way.” I said to him and to myself, and held him as he wept. At least this time around, things would be different and we would face it together.

#Outlander #Jamie x Claire #Outlander fanfiction #Outlander fanfic #Jamie Fraser #Claire Beauchamp #Claire Fraser #Brianna Fraser #Bree Fraser #myfic!#OL: Missing Moment

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catalystcrisis · 4 years

Note

53, 57, 58, 99, and another you'd like to answer

53) That One Headcanon that hurts to think about?

Eve is the only spirit healer in the Inquisition and she def feels the pressure of being so. She beats herself up for every life she fails to save, though she knows that she can’t realistically save everybody (due to limits in mana, magical theory, limits to her spirit’s abilities, and factors that she cannot identify since she doesn’t have the benefit of modern research - and even now, we don’t know everything).

Cole represents many dilemmas and questions for her. He’s a spirit made flesh - somehow. How does one tap into a spirit’s energy and manifest it physically? When magic fails, as it so often does, can the spirit be harnessed to save its own life? He does not know, and she suspects she will never grasp the answer, either. She avoids him for a lot of reasons (including his past as the Ghost of the Spire) even though he tends to hang around her clinic since he, too, wants to help the vulnerable.

57) Who would you date if you could (as you, not your OC)?

Dang, I can’t narrow it down. I’d be down to date: Cullen, Krem, Cassandra, Josephine, Alistair, Varric, and Zevran!

58) Who has the best character arc overall?

Ya’ll can come for me but I love Cullen’s character arc throughout the series. From naive, soft templar to tortured, PTSD-ridden Knight-captain, to I-will-romance-a-mage Commander. Granted, there are a lot of gaps that need to be filled to believe his genuine change of heart, which is why I prefer fanon!Cullen.

99) Where would you live (Fereldan, Orlais, Free Marches etc?)

I’d love to explore and potentially live in Rivain! Limited Chantry influence, people of diverse color, matriarchal, lax freedoms to practice magic including communing with spirits to benefit the community, building communities instead of individual wealth, peaceful coexistence with elves and the Qun - this is fricking paradise! It would be so cool to explore this land in the games one day :)

Another:

37) Bloodmagic: yes or no?

Yes. Of course, practiced with strict discipline, full consent, and refusal of all demonic offers. I can’t help but wonder at all the potential that blood magic can offer in terms of healing! In a modern AU, how can blood magic be used to in terms of DNA modification, or using it to isolate idiopathic diseases/reactions? Could the immune system be modulated to target diseases and cancers similarly to the immunotherapy research and drugs being made today? The possibilities are fascinating!

In canon, I wonder at its practical and non-demonic applications. Ideas like proving lineage in noble families, locating missing persons, healing beyond the limits of traditional Creation or Spirit Healing magic. If the Wardens’ research notes on their blood magic experiments with tainted blood is found, can it be applied to curing ghoulism?

There’s just so much to work with!

Thanks for asking! :)

#the-queen-of-bithynia #dragon age asks #crit answers #101dragonageasks

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withinycu-arch · 3 years

Text

NAME: Sil/Eve

SPECIES: alien human hybrid

ORIENTATION: omnisexual

GENDER: female-ish

APPEARANCE

Natasha Henstridge/ young Michelle Williams

RELATIONSHIPS

FAMILY: Dr. Laura Baker {surrogate mother}, Dan Smithson {surrogate father}

SIGNIFICANT OTHER: -

CHILDREN: Asterius

PERSONALITY

Sil or Eve as she’s later called is the first successful alien hybrid created by the US government. She has led an extremely sheltered life and is intently curious about the outside world given that. However because of her sheltered upbringing and alien instincts she can react violently in even minor conflicts.

NEED TO KNOWS

Canon Divergence Breakdown:

The aliens who sent the messages on how to create Sil/Eve are perfectly friendly and have been slowly sending more messages through. Having received the Arecibo message they returned in kind and saw the mixing of human DNA and their own as a show of respect as it was their way of saying humanity was their equal, as well as establishing an alliance with humanity. They are aware larger scale contact isn’t feasible but have every intention of visiting earth on a larger and more public scale when deemed possible by those they’re in contact with. They’ve also made it clear that terminating Sil/Eve and any of her resulting offspring would be considered an act of war.

On names- Sil stands for Synthetic Intersteller Lifeform Dr. Laura Baker suggested the name Eve along with a few others after she took over the program monitering Eve feeling it was less dehumanizing.

Eve ages at a normal human rate, and only killed the man she met at the club who attempted to assault her and Dr. Stephen Arden as she felt threatened in both instances.

Xavier Fitch who headed the program prior to Dr. Laura Baker didn’t run the program ethically and his attempted termination of Eve almost created a very series intergalactic incident. It took Dr. Laura Baker and the empath Dan Smithson several years to establish trust between Eve and their work.

Abilities- the ability to absorb information through touch, limited shapeshifting between human and alien forms, limited telepathy (only with those who share her alien DNA)

Sidenote: While I am taking elements from the second film I’m generally disregarding it. Because it’s stupid.

IMPORTANT TAGS

character tag

headcanon tag

#the female of the species is more deadly {eve}#Shock shock horror {eve aesthetic}#a thousand thundering thrills {eve headcanon}

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bisexualfelicity · 4 years

Text

No Other Version of Me - Prologue (1/?)

Summary: Amalia Queen was once said to be so important that the universe made sure she happened. Yes, it was her mom who said that but it still counts. Now, she's an adult and struggles to be worthy of such sentence. She doesn't want to be a vigilante and make so many sacrifices like the rest of her family, but it doesn't mean she doesn't want to save the world.

Sequel to "Five Lives"

Note: I know many writers have already done their take on next gen and canon did make it kinda pointless, but I promised to one (1) person I'd write this like two years ago and I don't like lying. Also the crossover episodes made me sad and I wanted to go to my happy place.

It's a sequel to Five Lives, so the Next Gen here is NOT Mia and co, as she hadn't been introduced when I wrote it.This first chapter is a prologue, it doesn't feature any known character but it was relevant for plot resons that will be clear later! Please, bear with me!

Read under “read more” or here on AO3.

May 2027.

It was the day. Karima felt her palms sweating as soon as she woke up; she had to close her eyes and steady her breath before getting up. As always, Taliq had gotten up before her and had already left for work. She took that as confirmation that he didn’t suspect a thing. A few hours, that was how long she needed to hold still and fake her smile. After two years of planning, she could barely believe she was that close from freedom. Her heart didn’t seem to want to wait that long, almost bursting from her chest, trying to make an early escape. It’s almost done now, she told herself. We’re almost there.

Waking up the girls was easy. Just routine. She can almost feel herself relaxing into it, braiding Samyia’s hair as Naila draws in her book and tells the story behind what she’s drawing. Those moments with her girls are what fuels her spirit.

“You look so pretty,” Karima told Samyia, kissing her cheek, “So grown up.”

The smile that blossoms on her daughter’s face is enough to blind anyone. Samyia is always so serious, Karima received every smile as a precious gift.

“What about me? Do I look pretty too?” Naila asked, leaving her drawing behind to join the others.

“Of course you do, my love,” Karima said, kissing the top of her head and pulling both girls into a hug.

The door opened and the room became silent. Taliq stared at them with no emotion and didn’t say anything. There was a time where he would have smiled at the scene, where he would ask if he could join the hug. Karima wished she had forgotten about those days, it would make things easier for her. But every morning when he came by, she hoped it would be the day she’d see her husband again.

She should know better. Her husband was long gone and only the monster lived there now.

Karima squeezed Samyia’s hand but encouraged both girls to follow their father. Not that they needed encouragement, they knew it was time to go. Karima wished she could tell them to hold on for a few hours and everything would be okay, but she couldn’t risk telling them anything. She just let their girls go. She was always watching them go and staying behind.

“Do not forget about the party tonight,” Taliq told her, “I left some money for you to do your hair. We want to make a good impression.”

Karima just nodded. More money was good, time was even better. Just a few hours, she reminded herself as she started packing the girls’ clothes. They couldn’t bring much, but she didn’t want them to need anything if something went wrong. Looking around the girls’ room she wondered if she should take any of their toys. There definitely wasn’t enough space for that, but she ended up getting Samyia’s favorite blanket and a few of Naila’s recent drawings. If something happened… No, she couldn’t think like this.

Her room was the easiest, she got fewer change of clothes for herself than she had for the girls. She had sold most of her jewelry over the last two years, but there were still a few valuable things that she packed in case they needed them later. When she was done the bag was so full that it was hard to close, but she managed it.

She had to wait until she was sure none of the house employees were around to take the bag outside, to hide it in the middle of the garden’s bushes. She texted Inaya to say the plan was on time, praying her friend would not change her mind today.

Inaya was the only other person who knew about her plan. She was the one who had told Karima that she could do this, that she could get her girls away from Taliq.

A moment later, Inaya confirmed that everything was ready for them.

The worst part was the waiting. The minutes passed and nothing happened. Karima wouldn’t need help prtending to be sick, her stomach was turning inside her and she couldn’t stop sweating. But she couldn’t risk it, so she took the little vial of poison anyway. Not enough to cause permanent damage, Inaya had said, just enough to make sure you’d be sick.

This was it, this was either the last day of her life or the first day of her new one.

By the time Taliq came back she was kneeling in front of the toilet throwing her organs up. Despite her body hating her right now, she knew she had done the right thing. The dark under her eyes couldn’t be faked.

“What is going on?” Taliq asked when he arrived in the room, “You look disgusting! How are we going to be seen this way?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m feeling terrible. I can’t go tonight.”

She saw the anger in his eyes, she prepared herself for one of his violent kicks, but it didn’t come.

“Maybe we’ll get a new baby soon, huh? A boy this time?” He was smiling. Karima’s heart broke for the man he used to be.

“It might be the flu,” she answered, her voice tired. She tried to smile back to him, but she couldn’t. She hoped he’d attribute it to her sickness.

“It’d be great if we could replicate the work we’ve been doing with Naila,” he continued, as she hadn’t said anything. “We’re almost there, habibi.”

This time the pet name didn’t do anything to make her feel bad about her plans. He was almost done which meant her time was over. This was her only chance.

“Are you going to be okay by yourself?” Taliq asked.

“Yes, I just need to rest. Tomorrow I’ll feel a lot better.”

Tomorrow a lot of things would be different.

Taliq nodded and turned away, getting ready for his own event. Karima tried to compose herself and lay down on her bed, as if to rest her eyes for a moment. When Taliq left, she only knew because she was paying attention to all the sounds in the house and heard the door closing.

She waited half an hour to be sure he wouldn’t come back and then got up. Now it was the crucial part of the night. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry until the nausea stopped, but there was no time for that. First, she had to tell the maid to go for the night. She had been ready to stay with the girls, since she and Taliq were to be at the event, and was already getting them ready for bed. Convincing her was not difficult, even sick, she had authority in the house.

“Are you going to tell us a story, mommy?” Naila asked when she entered their room.

“I thought you were going to the fancy party tonight,” Samyia commented, noticing her mom in comfortable home clothes.

“Not right now, babies, we’re going to do something different today,” she whispered to them, “I need you to be awake for a bit longer, okay? Why don’t you two go draw something while you wait for me to come back?”

Both girls nodded. Naila loved drawing and jumped out of bed the moment she could, running to her colored pencils. Samyia stared at her mom for a while, wondering what was happening, but she didn’t question it, just obeyed. They always obeyed.

Convincing the security guard to leave was the hardest part. There was only one guarding the house, the other one had gone to get something to eat, the way they always did when they were left to guard the house during the night and Taliq wasn’t there. Karima had observed enough to know that. The second guard wouldn’t be back for at least half an hour. Doing her best to show her pain, she begged the guard to go to the pharmacy and buy her the medicine she wanted. For months now, she had been telling everyone she didn’t trust ordering things online, liked seeing them. All this just for this moment.

The guard hesitated, he knew if Taliq arrived now he’d be in trouble. He should never leave the house unguarded but he couldn’t say no to Karima. Not when she was clearly in pain and he was the only one who could go, she could not leave the house alone at this time of the night. In the end, he ended up leaving, saying he’d be back in less than fifteen minutes.

Karima’s heart raced in her chest. There was not enough time, she ran upstairs as soon as she closed the door behind her. Her daughters looked at her alarmed when she entered.

“Come with me,” she told them, and grabbed each by the hand.

Naila complained a little about how fast they were going while Samyia only looked confused. They got out through the backdoor and Karima sighed in relief when Inaya was waiting in the dark, holding the bag she had hidden earlier.

“Everything on schedule?” Inaya asked instead of greeting her, Karima just nodded and handled both girls to Inaya.

“That’s mommy’s friend, Inaya. Do what she says until I come back, okay?” she told the children, and then turned to her friend. “If I’m not there in ten minutes, go.”

Inaya didn’t look happy about that but they had discussed it before. The priority was taking Samyia and Naila out of there. Without time to explain for her daughters what was happening, Karima hoped Inaya would comfort them enough, so she ran back inside.

She ran straight to Taliq’s lab. It was locked by fingerprint and a 6-number password. The DNA had been easier than she imagined it would be since they lived in the same house, but the password was harder. She wasn’t allowed in the lab, hadn’t been there since Naila was little, and the password changed every month. She had searched the entire house to see if Taliq had written it somewhere, but she had no luck. She could have asked for the girls to pay attention when their father was typing and tell her later, but she couldn’t risk them accidentally telling that to the wrong person.

It had been hard, it took her being extra nice and agreeable to Taliq for weeks, but over the last month she managed to have him open the door in front of her. And then it was completed.

With less care than she should, she added his fingerprint and the numbers and she was there. She went directly to the machine, Taliq’s golden mine. She knew the schematics must have been uploaded somewhere, but she couldn’t be bothered with that. She started taking things apart with her own hands. It’d be faster if she was stronger, but there wasn’t anyone else who could do this. When she had done the best she could, she started opening the cabinets, searching for anything flammable and dropping in to the floor. She looked for anything that had the girls’ DNA and dropped it as well.

When her watch started beeping, she knew her time was up. With the lighter she had gotten the week before, she started the fire. It wasn’t spreading as fast as she thought it would, so she tried dropping more flammable things near it. Starting to get desperate for the fire to become bigger, she opened the drawer full of chemicals and started pouring them on the floor. The fire started to spread quickly after that and almost burned her. The smoke started to spread through the windowless room, her entire body told her to get out of there soon or she wouldn’t be able to breathe for much longer, but Karima couldn’t help but admire what she had just done. Taliq’s life work was in flames and he had no idea. No matter what happened from now on, it was over.

She turned to go out just to remember the door was closed. Her vision was starting to get foggy with the smoke, tears forming in her eyes, but she managed to open it, immediately coughing when she got in contact with the clean air. She had to drag a metal chair to stop the door from closing again. Luckily the floor was made of wood and would help spread the fire faster.

Getting out of the lab, she went straight to the kitchen, making the oven start leaking gas, and dropped the lighter on the floor. Soon, everything would explode. She could see the flames starting to spread out of the lab and ran away through the backdoor.

She ran all way to the meeting point, a block from her house, where Inaya was waiting inside the car with both girls. When she pulled the door open, Inaya didn’t say anything, just started the car.

Samyia and Naila started asking questions as soon as Karima arrived, but she was too busy coughing to answer. She had breathed the smoke for too long and running to the car hadn’t help her lack of oxygen.

“There’s some water in the back,” Inaya said, and Karima searched for it.

The water burned when she drank it, but it helped relieve some of the pain.

The weight of what she had just done seemed to suddenly hit her. The tears started forming in her eyes and before she could stop herself she was sobbing. For years, she had kept her tears to herself, being strong for her daughters, faking a smile so Taliq wouldn’t find out about her plans. But now it was over, she was free! She cried so much she could barely breathe, but she couldn’t stop either. The feelings needed to get out of her right now.

“This is as far as I can take you,” Inaya said, touching her arm to get her attention. “Here are the new identities. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“You have done more than I can ever repay you,” Karima answered, smiling under her tears.

“What’s going on, Mommy? Where are we?”

“I’ll explain everything later, I need you both to be quiet now, please, just go with me. Tomorrow I’ll tell you everything.”

Where they were was the bus station, where they’d get a bus to another city, and then they’d meet a guy who was going to take them over the border. Once there, they’d get a train, and then they’d have to pay someone to take them closer to the mountains. And once they were close, they’d have to walk for miles until they could get there.

And that’s what they did. As they completed each step and got farther from home, farther from Taliq, Karima felt the relief taking over her body. She had done it, she had truly done it. She didn’t let herself wonder about what happened there. If Taliq was searching or mourning them. If he had found out about Inaya’s connection to her. This was all secondary to her freedom.

She only noticed that she hadn’t stopped coughing since the fire when Naila asked if she was still sick. But she didn’t mind it at first, it was just a cough. But it didn’t go away and, by the time they got to the mountains, it had started being a lot harder to breathe. She couldn’t go to a doctor, couldn’t risk anything official and she didn’t want to stop. Over a week had passed and Taliq would know by now they were all alive, would be searching for them. Her mission wasn’t over yet.

Samyia and Naila were scared and tired. They trusted their mom, but they had never left the city before, had never done anything without their father’s authorization. They missed their home, their bed, their food and their routine. For years, they had complied with everything done with them, but now they’d beg Mom to stop. Naila would cry in silence and Samyia would refuse to move.

But the worst part was when she could see the fear in their eyes. When they noticed that mom was coughing up blood, they insisted on stop, but Karima made them continue to walk. One foot in front of the other, even when her lung seemed to burn under her skin and her feet hurt so much it could fall down, Karima did not stop. Not even if she had to crawl, she would arrive.

And after days, she saw something. Her body fell on the ground and she had to do so much effort to walk, she wondered if she’d die now that she was so close.

When they arrived in the gates, women with swords received her. She could barely talk now, her throat was too damaged for that.

“Please,” she whispered, “You need to protect my daughters.”

This was all she ever needed.

Despite their frightening weapons and eyes, they helped Karima and the girls inside. They took her to an infirmary and gave her medicine.

But Karima knew it was too late for her. She knew there was something wrong with her lungs. She made a choice when she decided to run away, to save her children. She had never felt so much pain in her life, but she was smiling.

Her girls were safe now.

She had saved them and now the League would protect them.

#olicity fic #arrow fic #arrow #olicity #nyssara #nyssara fic #crossover made me sad so i decided to just post this already

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bscully · 5 years

Note

have you ever read the lost chapter that miura requested to be removed off the eclipse Arc before Griffith transformed into femto ?? if not look it up I want your opinion on this chapter and the idea of evil “god”

Hello and thank you for the ask!

Yes I have!

People have spun quite the theories about it, however I don’t think its as canon as some people make it out to be.

Miura took it out so he can be flexible as he continues Berserk. He’s still developing the concepts around this. That said, we might in for a surprise towards the finale (I’m personally predicting a new god-hand type character or “astral force” that will reveal itself unexpectedly and it might turn out very different to the IOE).

The IOE is in essence an entity that controls human fate: “I am the idea. The desired god. The Idea of evil.” At least, that’s what the lost chapter says.

However, I always thought Miura only tells 4% of the story and world building he has in mind and the fact he took the IOE out and replaced it with something similar, but with extremely sparse information, seem to fit this idea.

I think Miura borrowed the IOE from real life belief systems. There is this one (pagan/shaman, afaik) belief that every being is part of a collective consciousness that potentially “stores” all feelings, dreams and thoughts somewhere in a non-materialistic layer of reality - a “spiritual DNA” so to say. If this system was used as inspiration - which imo it seems to be, this is literally what the lost chapter is all about! - this makes the IOE a self-made “God” somewhere residing in the astral world, and it’s probably mostly made up from hate, despair, malice, violence (wellp humanity at its finest I guess?). I actually typed this up before reading the lost chapter again and wellp:

At the same time, this self-made God is likely disconnected from the greater scheme of things e.g. ask yourself: do other species or astral beings have their own “God”…? (Do Elves have their own “God”? And does that make Guts and SK a unpredictable factor in the equation given they both have a connection to Elves…?) So if this is anything to go by, that means just because the IOE is trying to manipulate causality in a certain way, does not mean it will succeed doing so.

Instead of 100% revealing how the IOE works, we do get a couple of hints about the astral world from Flora. Here, for example she states that the behelit is a spiritual object that governs human fate. But she also states there might be even something greater that sent it to the physical world. This is from volume 24.

Let me just stress out here that this “greater existence” here DOES NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE THE IOE.

But then Guts asks what the God Hand is and we get this answer from Flora:

There seems to be 1) the concept of “fate” somehow connected to the behelits and a greater existence, but at the same time we also have 2) the god hand being the executors of something lurking deep in the astral world.

Are these two the same thing? As far as I am concerned they do not have to be!!! To me it appears like Flora is talking about two different, but related things.

I mean the fact Flora answers these questions completely separate of each other already tells me the Godhand and Behelits/the ”greater existence” seem to be two different concepts entirely: I mean were the Behelits REALLY connected to the GOD HAND directly she would possibly have said so, or brought them up. Note how it was GUTS who brought it up and who knows much less about the topic. I mean sure, Behelits are used to call the “angels” (in this case, the God Hand) - but are they created by the God hand? Flora in fact seems to imply there are different KINDS of behelits and they obey some kind of MASTER. Are Behelits just fateful stones (neutral by themselves) USED by the God Hand for their own benefit? What other “master” is using these Behelits???

What if Behelits in themselves are NEUTRAL TOOLS of fate, NOT affiliated with the God Hand, and the Angel that was called 1000 years ago during Gaiseric’s reign was actually a different “type” of astral being? What if the IOE didn’t exist yet at this point, but manifested through this act of sacrifice…!?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

EDIT:

Flora DOES state that “A Behelit. […] A a fetish to summon the five angels”. I still find her wording interesting. E.g. she is not stating “all behelits are a key that links a deep layer of the astral world…”. She’s looking at it, saying its a Behelit and then describes its function. Is she talking about about THIS particular Behelit, or is she talking about Behelits in general? Because what she said above ^^^^ about Behelits being devices of fate sounds like a general statement, that is not necessarily tied to the God Hand members.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So if we have different MASTERS of behelits (edit: presumably, members of the god hand still), it’s already fitting with these depictions from volume 10, which clearly show actual angels, that DO NOT look like the God Hand at all:

Inb4 that dude in the middle ^^^^ is the guy that made the first god hand member ascend

It seems like these angels somehow existed during Gaiseric’s reign, but then Humanity fell astray from their “real” path to growth and fell under the influence of the IOE/The God Hand (this would have a lot of resemblance to the biblical story of adam and eve, being expelled from eden after eating from the tree of knowledge)

Shit man if this holds any truth Miura’s gonna surprise y’all. This is why you shouldn’t be so focused on what the lost chapter says!!!

Also side note: Flora says it is NOT possible for someone to actually reach whatever is deeply hidden in the astral world, which directly contradicts the fact Griffith managed to do so in the lost chapter by retaining his ego and conversing with the IOE. Please consider that for a moment before thinking anything the lost chapter contains is still up-to-date (the concept of collective consciousness may still apply - but the rest may not).

Anyway how much control the Behelits, the “greater existence “or the god hand has over humanity is not revealed at all - even if you try to “reverse engineer” this from Berserk’s world events, you still cannot say for sure, but that’s for another lengthy post.

What is also implied later on Elfhelm (chapter 345) is the fact that different “dragon roads” to the astral world seem to exist, and activating a Behelit is only one way to open a road. What is also being mentioned is that differently sized roads to the astral world exist, the larger ones being called dragon roads.

What other roads exist and who is using them? Presumably, other powerful astral beings.

Funny visual parallel: the IOE is also depicted as a spiral.

#berserk #guts #flora #ioe #god hand #idea of evil #theory #ask #behelit theory

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