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pengychan · 8 months

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[Good Omens] Come What May, Ch. 2

Summary: While completely improvised, Gabriel’s plan to transfer his memories in the container fly before erasure was rather solid. It came very close to working, too. But ‘close’ was not enough. [SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2] Characters: Gabriel, Beelzebub, Crowley, Aziraphale, Muriel, Michael, Uriel, Saraquael Rating: T All chapters will be tagged as ‘come what may’ on my blog.

A/N: Crowley is not having a good day, but then again almost no one else is either.

*** [Back to Prologue] ***

“Lord Beelzebub, I am not saying I am not willing to take you Upstairs with me--”

“Then do it. I only need to be invited in so I don’t discorporate the second I step inside. I’ll do the investigating mysel--”

“But I do suspect you would be noticed right away.

“I won’t be. I can be inconspicuous,” Beelzebub replied, gaining himself a raised eyebrow from Crowley.

“With all due respect,” he said, in a tone which suggested he didn’t think the respect due was all that much, “I suspect our ideas of what’s inconspicuous may not coincide.”

An annoyed buzz. “I can turn into a fly. Fly on the wall, that’s the definition of inconspicuous.”

Both of Crowley’s eyebrows went up almost to his hairline. “A fly? A singular fly? Not necessarily a swarm?”

“Yes.”

“Then why the swarm in my car? Were you trying to make me crash?”

“I have no time to answer irrelevant questions,” Beelzebub replied, and turned their attention back to Aziraphale. “You may be persona non grata in Heaven, but surely you are not physically prevented from going in. Are you really unable to think of an excuse for you to go upstairs? Perhaps to return something, a handbook, whatever crap Heaven hands out to its agents on Earth? They love handbooks. Gabriel wouldn’t shut up about them.”

He… did have a handbook, come to think of it, but no one had asked him to return it and he found it would make a rather weak excuse. “I may have something that belongs to Heaven, but I don’t really think it’s anything they want back badly enough to let me step much further past the threshold.”

“And that’s exactly as far as you need to get. I’ll take it from there.”

Aziraphale shifted on his seat. “If you’re found out, it won’t take much for Heaven to guess I may have been the one to let you in.”

“I won’t be.”

Crowley rubbed his forehead with a groan. “Say that you do find His Royal Smugness up there, being held prisoner or whatever it is you think has happened to him. How do you plan on breaking him out?”

“... Once I step into Heaven, I can return at will. I’ll work out the details of the plan later.”

“Calling it a plan is more generous than I’ve ever known you to be.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, if we have an agreement--” Beelzebub began, only to trail off when Aziraphale cleared his throat.

“And what if Gabriel is… not there anymore?”

He’d hit a nerve, Aziraphale could tell almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Beelzebub stiffened, and something crossed their face before they forced it back in a more neutral expression. “Of course he’ll be there,” they said, voice too tightly controlled to sound natural. “Where else in Creation would he be?”

“Well… I sincerely hope it is not the case, but if Heaven realized he was not planning on letting Armageddon happen… given what sentence was passed on me last time…”

“Do not.”

Beelzebub’s words were clipped and cold, something barely in check behind the clenched jaw and bunched up shoulders. Yes, the thought had definitely occurred to them as well, and they couldn’t bear to contemplate it. Aziraphale could understand that.

Crowley, however, didn’t seem particularly impressed. “I cannot say I’d cry buckets,” he muttered, only to rear back when Beelzebub turned to him with a look of utter fury that made Aziraphale fear, for a moment, that they’d make poor Nina’s coffee shop explode in Hellfire. Thankfully, they only spoke in a low buzz… but the words were far from reassuring.

“You’d better hope, for the sake of your precious Earth, that he is safe and well,” the Lord of the Flies snarled, eyes fixed on Crowey, causing him to shift on his chair. “He’s the only thing keeping me from starting Armageddon here and now. If he’s gone, I will stop at nothing until both Heaven and Earth and everything else in this wretched universe is a scorched, lifeless wasteland.”

Aziraphale swallowed. Oh, this was not going great, was it? “Lord Beelzebub, I would absolutely understand your grief, but for the entire world to pay--”

“This entire world is nothing to me without Gabriel in it. Am I clear?”

“Why, yes, I think you have made your point quite--”

“Am I clear, Crowley?”

As Azirahale anxiously looked around to make sure no one in the shop had noticed the commotion - Nina was giving them a funny look, but that was about it, so she seemed unaware that the fate of Earth was being decided at that table - Crowley cleared his throat. “Crystal,” he croaked, and that was it.

For a time.

***

“Perhaps giving him a different face would have been easier.”

“Nonsense. This needed some fine-tuning, is all, but it’s nothing beyond me. Now, no one in Heaven will quite recall what Gabriel’s face looked like.” A few taps on the touch screen, and Saraquael shrugged. “There, see? All done. The entirety of Heaven could see Jibreel right now, and not one would know who he used to be.”

“Won’t someone question the fact they cannot recall what Gabriel looked like, just as we announce he was called upon by God for another mission?”

“Don’t be silly, Uriel, of course they won’t. Angels don’t question. We found out long ago what a bad idea that is.”

“Of course not,” Michael spoke up, and looked over at the screen. Indeed, it showed a green check mark - the relevant memory had been erased from the minds of all lesser angels. Not from those of Archangels, of course. Just in case. “That’s good. You did well, Saraquel.”

“As always. I still believe it’s an unnecessary precaution.”

Michel frowned. “No precautions are ever unnecessary.”

“He’s in an office that gets a visit every few hundred years when things get busy. And when that happens it’s for information, not to see the scrivener. No one will even really look at him for a long time to come.”

“There is an angel mentoring him.”

“Muriel? Not terribly bright, that one. We probably would have had no need for concern even if I hadn’t erased their memory of Gabriel’s visage - which I did. A very efficient miracle.”

“And entirely off the record?”

“Obviously. I am no amateur.” A gesture of the hand, and the screen was gone. “Now, I believe we should resume contact with Hell, no? If Armageddon is to happen at all.”

Michael frowned. “Yes, we ought to. Beelzebub, however, was not inclined to speak to me.”

“I could try calling,” Uriel suggested, gaining herself a long look.

“I don’t see any reason why you should succeed where I failed,” Michael said. “No offense.”

“None taken. But as Metatron has said we are meant to work together to the best of our abilities until the role of Supreme Archangel has been filled again, it is my duty to offer help.”

Uriel’s voice was colder now, and Michael’s lips were pulled in a thin line. It was enough to make Saraquael roll her eyes and turn her wheelchair to leave. Frankly, she was entirely uninterested in their power squabbles. She had done what they needed her to, and she’d rather get some time off. Part of her faintly wondered something they had no response to - namely, why in all Creation had Gabriel suddenly balked at the Great Plan of starting the War to end all wars - but she shrugged it off.

That ship had sailed, and no one could get any answer out of Gabriel anymore.

***

“... going faster than a rollercoaster…”

“What is that?”

“Huh?”

“That thing you said. A roller-- something? I don’t know what that is.”

Jibreel blinked at Muriel, suddenly aware of their presence. He’d kind of zoned out, to be honest, humming a… thing? A song, he thought, it was a song that just kept coming out of his mouth. “A rollercoaster?”

“Yes, that.” Muriel tilted their head to one side, blinking. “What is it?”

“Well, it’s… er…” Jibreel frowned. Something seemed to tug at the corner of his mind, but it was fleeting, there one moment and gone the next. He shrugged. “Ah, not a clue, really. Isn’t it funny?”

Muriel smiled back, and sat. “Yes. You’re funny, Jibreel.”

“Am I? Oh. Thanks.” He smiled again, and for a while there was more silence. There was no work to be done at the moment, so he leaned back on the seat, humming a bit more. He didn’t even notice Muriels’ puzzled glances, nor did he notice when they began to take notes.

“... Jibreel?”

“Huh?”

“What’s getting closer?”

He paused again, and tilted his head. “I… don’t know. Is something getting closer?”

“It’s what you’ve been saying. Or… humming.”

“Is it? Ah. Yes, I guess it is?”

“And, uh. Do you happen to know what it is?”

“What’s what?”

“The something that’s getting closer.”

Jibreel frowned again, trying hard to think. It didn’t come very easy, really, a lot like trying to find something in a very large, dark house, with just an intermittent flashlight illuminating a small spot at a time. And the place was mostly empty anyway, walls barely discolored where the furniture once was. It made his head all ache-y and he found he didn’t like that much.

“I… don’t know.”

“Oh,” Muriel said, and they looked a little disappointed. Jibreel found he didn’t like it when he disappointed someone, so he frowned again, trying very hard to focus, to make that flashlight flare as bright as possible. Getting closer, getting closer… was he getting closer?

Closer to what? Was there anything? I think there was something. It was important. It was…

Jibreel squeezed his eyes tighter, forced the light to flash brighter, quicker, trying to illuminate the entire empty house, for anything left behind-- left behind by what -- and suddenly the brightness was unbearable, burning in his head, in his eyes. When he opened them he could dimly see Muriel, he could hear them gasping, but everything seemed slowed, as though behind a veil. His jaw fell open and he spoke, hearing his own voice as many, ringing distant, coming from miles away.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

“J-Jibreel? What’s going on?” The shaky question reached him just as pain did, cutting through his head like a blade. He groaned, closed his eyes, and then it was all gone - the voice in his chest, and the light in his head, and the burning in his eyes. Jibreel leaned back against his seat, feeling oddly emptied-out, like a sudden burst of power had died down. He only opened his eyes again when he felt a touch on his arm and realized that Muriel was grasping it, looking down at him with obvious concern.

He didn’t like that any more than he liked the pain. He didn’t want to cause concern to anyone. “... Sorry,” he mumbled, blinking and trying to sit up.

“What… what was that?”

“I don’t know. Ugh, my head’s not made for this anymore…” He rubbed his forehead, and when he looked up again Muriel was quiet, biting their lower lip.

“Anymore?” they asked.

“Huh?”

“You said, your head is not made for this anymore ? It used to be… made for… something?”

He shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry. I can’t recall.”

“Oh. And, the thing that is getting closer…?”

“I don’t know if anything is getting close at all.”

“It’s all right!” The concerned expression faded in a chipper smile. “My bad, I shouldn’t have asked. Surely if you can’t recall there is a good reason, no?”

“Ah, yes. Probably. It does hurt, trying to remember. Best not to.”

“Definitely,” Muriel reassured him, and that was that. They went back to peaceful silence, and Jibreel leaned back, glancing up. He saw that small black dot dancing in the air above and smiled a little, the headache already gone and forgotten about. When Muriel left again, saying they were just going to check something and would be right back, he didn’t notice anything off in their voice.

Idly, he kept trying to remember more of the song.

***

“Lord Beelzebub? A word, if you please.”

As Aziraphale disappeared in the back of the bookshop, looking for the handbook he was supposed to return - like that warranted a visit back to Heaven - Crowley leaned against a bookcase, taking off his glasses to fix his gaze on Beelzebub. The Grand Duke of Hell was so far up above him in the pecking order of Hell, addressing them the way he was planning to was nothing short of unthinkable.

But as the situation they were suddenly in was pretty damn unthinkable, and he wasn’t new to doing unthinkable things for either a demon or an angel, Crowley figured this was the right moment to find out if Beelzebub’s desire to find the Archangel Fucking Gabriel was great enough to keep them from discorporating him where he stood.

Unaware of his thoughts, Beelzebub turned to look at him. “... I’m listening.”

One more look to make sure Aziraphale was not within earshot, and he turned back to meet their gaze. “I don’t know what happened to Gabriel, and after that little show he put up trying to burn Aziraphale into Hellfire, I don’t care much.”

“You made it clear earlier,” was the reply. Beelzebub stood rigidly, returning his gaze with a cold look. “Your point?”

“My point is that if anyone in Heaven catches a sniff of you upstairs on the day Aziraphale showed up again, it won’t take them too long to put two and two together. And they may not wait to have proof to retaliate.”

“I won’t be caught--” Beelzebub began, but trailed off when Crowley suddenly stepped closer.

“As I am sure you recall, I am immune to holy water,” he hissed, rather glad he got to use that particular bluff again. It was enough to make the dismissive remark Beelzebub had been uttering die in their throat. “And I have used it against a demon before. You’re not the only one prepared to pull all the stops and do your absolute worst should anything happen to your angel. Neither of us wants to find out what the other would do.”

A brief pause, the two of them sizing each other up, and finally Beelzebub nodded.

“I see. That is quite the threat.”

“It is a promise.”

“I understand. Does he?”

Crowley blinked, taken aback. There went the cool, threatening display he’d so carefully performed. “... Huh?”

A slight nod towards the back of the bookshop. “I couldn’t help but notice you waited for him to be out of earshot before you gave your little speech,” Beelzebub said. “I did not understand what made you get in the way of Armageddon, but I think I do now. I know you’re as ready as I am to raise literal Hell should anything happen to your angel. But does he know that?”

Crowley reared back, sputtering a little. “That is-- not really the point, is it, let’s stay on track and--”

“Have you even told him?”

“Told me what?” Aziraphale’s voice caused Beelzebub to turn with a raised eyebrow and Crowley to nearly jump several feet up in the air. He quickly cleared his throat, and dropped on the nearest chair. He meant to make it a casual gesture, but he probably came across more like a dropped sack of potatoes.

“Uh, just that you need to be careful, angel,” he said, trying very hard to ignore the light scoff that left Beelzebub, who looked entirely too pleased with themself. Aziraphale didn’t seem to even notice and walked up to them, handbook in… well, hand.

“Here it is! I can pop in and give it back to the first angel we come across,” he said, holding it up. “I am sure you’ll understand, I’d rather only stay for as short a time as possible. I have not been banned as far as I am aware, but I am not particularly wanted either.”

Beelzebub nodded. “You only need to step inside and invite me in. I’ll take it from there.”

“... Very well. Shall we go?”

Don’t, Crowley wanted to say, but he was all too aware that they didn’t have a lot of a choice: by the looks of it, helping Beelzebub find Heaven’s Supreme Wanker was their best bet to keep Armageddon Part Two from coming to pass, or at least delay it long enough to come up with a viable plan to permanently stop it.

Let me come with you, he also wanted to tell him, but he knew that his presence would only risk making Aziraphale’s arrival in Heaven all the more noticeable: he could turn into a snake, which was however quite a bit more likely to draw attention than a fly. For Aziraphale’s safety, his visit to Heaven needed to be as brief and unremarkable as possible.

In the end, he stood with a snort.

“I’ll be waiting outside the elevator, angel,” he finally said. “If you’re not back in twenty minutes, I’m coming upstairs myself.”

Aziraphale seemed a little flustered at the prospect. “That’s… needlessly risky, I’d say. I’ll be fine. There is no need for you to come looking for me,” he said. Beelzebub, on the other hand, gave Crowley a look and a slight nod. Of course, they would know where he was coming from.

“You know he’d be coming and you know you can’t stop him, Angel of the Eastern Gate,” they said, and stepped past them both, heading to the door. “So let’s get this over with. Go back to Earth as soon as I’m in. I’ll handle this.”

“I… right.” Aziraphale cleared his throat, and put the book under his arm before following them. As he closed the door, then looked over at Crowley. “You don’t suppose they might have any idea of the layout of Heaven these days?”

“They likely don’t have a clue, no.”

“Perhaps I should--” he began, but was cut off by Crowley’s grip on his arm.

“Angel. Once they’re in, they’re on their own. They’re fine with that and you should be too.”

“Yes, but--”

“You’ll be back right away. Promise me.”

Aziraphale, looked up, blinking, and sighed in that mildly exaggerated way that barely hid the smile curling the corners of his mouth. “I promise,” he said, and Crowley finally remembered to breathe again.

***

Muriel really, really, really wished they had taken their own advice.

It was good advice, too. ‘Mind your business’ and ‘don’t ask questions’ was usually great advice in Heaven and… everywhere else, they assumed. They had never set foot outside Heaven, truth be told, but they could only assume it was the same everywhere. Except Hell, maybe? They were not sure what would qualify as good advice in Hell. They were pretty sure, though, that they probably did not want to find out.

So what am I hoping to find out here?

Here, as it happens, was in front of an elevator. In front of several elevators, really, because Heaven had plenty of internal elevators in order to move from one sphere to the other. Muriel knew where they were, but they’d never had any reason to visit most of them. Not that they were entirely certain they had any reason to do that now, either.

Except for one thing Jibreel had said, when they had asked him what he could remember.

An elevator, I think? I was standing near an elevator.

Among the many, many things Muriel was currently Not Sure Of was what clues they thought they were going to find in front of any elevator, but it really was the only lead they had. All they could tell was that something was not quite right. Jibreel’s lack of memory was odd, but what had happened earlier, when he’d tried hard to remember… it was something else. The words he’d uttered and his voice had been startling, as was the way his eyes had lit up purple.

But most of all there was something else - faint, held back by invisible chains but there nonetheless, causing the hair on the back of Muriel’s neck to stand on end. It had been brief, and sputtered quickly, but they had sensed it nonetheless. Pure, raw power.

Somehow, Jibreel was a lot more powerful than he looked and knew. A lot more powerful than a junior recording angel of any class had reason to be.

And it made absolutely no sense.

Muriel paused in front of the last elevator on their list, the big one connecting Heaven to Earth and Hell - not that anyone usually went all the day down there - and sighed, looking around. As was the case with all other elevators they’d visited before, they could see nothing amiss. Not a single clue as to… whatever was going on with Jibreel. Only whiteness as far as the eye could see.

Maybe inside the elevator, they thought, but held very little hope and couldn’t check right away: someone was using the elevator right now, coming up from below. Muriel only realized as much a moment before a ding rang out and the doors opened.

“... So, now you’re able to come in at will, but please make sure-- oh! Hello! My apologies-- I didn’t realize there was someone waiting to get on the elevator.”

Inside said elevator was an angel - had to be, no one else would have clearance to get there, obviously - smiling at them a little nervously, a book in hand. Muriel failed to notice something dark and small flying quickly over their head and disappearing into blinding whiteness.

“Oh! It’s fine! I wasn’t actually trying to get in, I was just…” a quick look at the elevator was enough to tell that, angel aside, it was empty. “... Never mind. But, uh, may I help you?”

The other angel looked somewhat relieved to be asked, and smiled. “Ah, actually, it would be grand. I would like to return this handbook, you see. It’s no longer relevant to my role - or lack thereof - on Earth, and I just happened to find it while putting some order in my… well. I imagine it may be of use to another angel, or perhaps in the archive? Am I all right to return it to you?”

“Of course!” Muriel smiled, because they liked being helpful and this angel was smiling, too. He looked a little nervous, really, but they didn’t think anything of it.

“Wonderful! Thank you very much,” he said, and handed over the book. It looked well-worn; he must have been on Earth for a very long time. Muriel often wondered what being on Earth would be like: working alone in their office got lonely, sometimes.

Well, all the time. Except that now there was Jibreel, and it wasn’t that bad anymore. They should probably stop wondering too much about him; if anything had happened with Jibreel prior to his arrival at their office, it was well above their position to know. If they went sticking their nose where it did not belong, they could cause trouble for both of them. And what if they moved Jibreel to another office? They liked his company. They liked any company.

“Um. Are you well?”

The angel’s voice snapped Muriel from their thoughts, and they recoiled. “Oh! Yes-- sorry-- of course, I’ll send it over to the library now,” they said, putting the book under their arm.

“Brilliant. Well, I should be going then - thank you for your help!”

Another somewhat nervous smile and he pressed the middle button, taking the elevator back down to Earth. A very quick visit, that, but it really didn’t take long to return a book after all.

And it took even less to let a single fly in, but that was not something Muriel was aware of. They just walked back towards their office, thoughts of the unanswered questions about Jibreel shoved in the back of their mind, idly going through the pages of the handbook.

***

Well. Heaven sure had changed since the Fall.

Truth be told, Heaven had not quite been Heaven before that, because there had been no Hell to be a counterpoint to. It had simply been the up, where they all dwelled. Or maybe someone did refer to it as ‘Heaven’ back then, before it became a way to differentiate it from Hell down below? Possibly. Beelzebub was not sure. But they did remember endless skies, galaxies so close you could reach out and touch them, and the occasional mad race from one newborn star to the next, fighting the gravitational pull of the occasional black hole. It sure as Hell and Heaven both hadn’t been like this.

Gabriel had described Heaven a few times during their meetings. At first he’d pretty much boasted about it, about what a beacon of efficiency it was; then he’d talked about it less and less, and sometimes with a frown. The more time they spent together on the middle ground that Earth offered, the less enthusiastic he had seemed about Heaven in general - until he’d stopped mentioning it altogether. Beelzebub had noticed, but never thought much of it; it wasn’t like they really felt like talking about Hell during those meetings, either, unless it was to bitch and moan about their responsibilities and idiotic underlings.

Now that they were seeing Heaven for themself, they could tell one thing: Gabriel had utterly failed to convey what an absolute, blindingly white, empty nightmare Heaven actually was. Had they not been in the process of trying to make the compound eyes they were currently sporting somehow used to the whiteness, Beelzebub might have considered taking some notes to make hell more… hellish.

But no - that was not why they were there. Gabriel, they thought, I need to find Gabriel.

Easier said than done, that. Heaven was surely at least as massive as Hell was, with different spheres housing departed souls as well as those where angels of all levels dwelled. Unless he had been destroyed - a possibility that Beelzebub, for their own fragile sanity and the survival of Creation itself, avoided pondering too hard - he could be just about anywhere.

No matter. I have time to search.

Below them, going about their duties, were some lower-ranking angels. Beelzebub had hoped to eavesdrop on something of use, assuming that angels in break rooms were as loose-lipped as demons, but it seemed angels had no break rooms of any kind. No walls to hide behind, but no common space either. All light with no warmth. Corporate nightmare fuel at its best, impersonal isolation to counter Hell’s suffocating, stifling crowding.

No one's ever given me anything before, Gabriel had told them once, and it echoed in their mind now. Of course not, this was not a place where such things happened. Neither was Hell, but at least it didn’t advertise itself as such. Heaven was meant to be a place of warmth and love, or so its PR efforts claimed; perhaps it was so in the spheres where good mortal souls resided, but there was little of either love or warmth to be found there, where angels made their home. So little, its Supreme Archangel was incapable of wrapping his mind around the gift of a single fly in a matchbox.

Did they find the fly? Could it be that’s what gave him away, my gift? Was it my doing?

No, they couldn’t allow themself to think that way. They chased the thought away, but not all of it. Something kept buzzing, aptly enough, through their mind.

The fly, of course. It had been a gift to Gabriel, but it would still recognize Beelsebub as its true master. Surely, if it was still in Heaven, it may sense their presence if they got close enough to it, and heed their call. Maybe it could bring him to Gabriel; it wasn’t much of a lead, but it was the only one they had, so may as well focus on it.

So they did - or they tried to, before a booming voice rang out all around them and almost caused them to smack against a column. They knew that voice well enough, and Satan knew they had no desire to hear it, now or ever again.

It was Michael’s.

***

“... And of course we give thanks to Gabriel for all his work as Heaven’s Supreme Archangel in these thousands of years, for his service to all of us, and wish him the best for the new tasks God had set out for him. Amen.”

The thundering voice all around faded, and its last words were met with silence - or so it seemed to Jibreel. Maybe there had been answers from other angels who, like him, had felt compelled to answer the announcement with an ‘amen’ of their own, but he couldn’t hear any.

The office was pretty isolated, just as Muriel had said; he had seen no one else at all since they had left again. Some work had come through, nothing much, and he had processed it the way they had shown him, telling himself - loudly - what a good job he’d done once the parchment had faded into light to go to the archives. Then he’d sat back, waited some more, and listened to the announcement by one Archangel Michael about the departure of the Supreme Archangel of Heaven, assigned to a new task by the Voice of God.

Jibreel assumed that this Gabriel had to be pretty good at his job, to be the supreme anything. He wondered what new task God had assigned him. He didn’t think Archangel Michael sounded very sad about the fact he had left, which seemed pretty cold to him. He would probably be sad if Muriel never came ba--

A sudden, frantic buzzing sound snapped Jibreel from his thoughts. He looked up to see the fly who kept hanging around him had suddenly stopped flying around and was hovering in place, buzzing louder than usual. Then suddenly it flew off and it was gone, lost somewhere in the endless, empty whiteness. It didn’t come back.

Jibreel found that made him pretty sad, too.

***

[Back to Chapter 1]

#good omens #ineffable bureaucracy #archangel gabriel #beelzebub #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #muriel #come what may

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thembo-apocalypse · 7 months

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So, What is Beastars' Second Half like Anyway? (Spoilers, duh.)

If you're friends with me, following this blog, or stumble upon it because of the tags or manga scans featured throughout, you're probably roughly familiar with beastars. Therefore the series needs no introduction, so I can just skip it. Go read it or watch it if you haven't already, because this is going to be a spoiler fest. Beastars starts off as a pretty unique take on a teenage crime drama. For its first half (or roughly the first 100 chapters or so) it follows a pretty steadily escalating narrative of Legosi unravelling the case of the tragic murder of his classmate Tem. After a long build up Legosi gets revenge on Tem's murderer, and the two have a climatic battle under an overpass in true teen drama fashion. It's excellent, it's brutal, it's everything you expect it to be and more.

Then Legosi wakes up the next day, and has to deal with the aftermath.

This is already bizarre, because most drama series would probably pull curtains shortly after Legosi initially succeeds the night before. But this is the turning point, where the series radically shifts for the latter half of its runtime. Mainly, Legosi's out of highschool. He has a criminal record. He's broke. To top all of that off, he's working food service while living out of a crummy apartment.

The world suddenly pans out, radically so. It's no coincidence that the chapters immediately succeeding this dramatic shift in perspective also quickly introduce factors that were previously just outside of the peripheral vision of the cast. Legosi's family, The current Beaststar, and the Horns Conglomerate all suddenly come into focus. A series that had so completely hinged its identity around its high school setting has suddenly just blown that completely away. While some other important cast members remain in school for the duration of the series, from now on the story is largely concerned with the outside world.

I think it makes this moment where the highway underpass fight I mentioned earlier gets interrupted by the police much more meaningful. Yes, this is undoubtedly where Legosi (and Louis) succeed, Riz is captured and detained by law enforcement. But this is kind of an unorthodox way for that all to happen, right? In most shows like this, Legosi would simply turn Riz in at a station and disappear silently into the night. But that's fantasy. It all gets blown away in this exact moment. From now on, the main cast will be subject to adult life. There is no school to shelter any of these characters anymore. This is as liberating as it is tragic. I think this is brilliant. While the later half of beastars is undoubtedly still a crime drama, this new way of living gets a lot of attention for the rest of the series. Legosi changes almost completely from this point forward.

Beastars for a period, becomes about being a downtrodden youth living at the fringes of society. Not only in the difficulty of that lifestyle, but how you can find community pretty much anywhere.

Legosi is, despite everything, fine. His work is taxing, and adult life can be exhausting in a million different ways school life could never be. But, Legosi is successfully carving out a life for himself despite everything. He has new friends, a genuine bond with a decent amount of his neighbors, and even gets to meaningfully reunite with his father. It's genuinely extremely touching.

This is what beastars is really about to me. Please don't fuck this up, studio orange.

#beastars #legosi #spoiler #spoilers #beastars spoilers #manga #rant #blog #beastars manga #anime

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kaylinalexanderbooks · 20 days

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Find the word

Thanks @i-can-even-burn-salad for the tag!

My words: bring, cling, sing, ring

Your words: can, man, tan, ran

Tagging with no pressure @mk-writes-stuff @blind-the-winds @little-peril-stories @sarandipitywrites @sarahlizziewrites @eccaiia @sleepywriter00 @gottestod-writes @gothamxwattpad @willtheweaver @mysticstarlightduck @aalinaaaaaa @cowboybrunch @poethill @finickyfelix @ohnomybreadsticks @dyrewrites + ANYONE

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

Keep reading for:

George is about to find out his power (flashback)

Carla and Carmen scene I'm kinda proud of

Someone is figuring things out

Oh no Carla is hurt

Bring - from The Secret Portal Part Two (George POV)

I leaned back in the chair, exhaling my annoyance. Jef Holtman was one of my father’s closest allies. They may have been friends, but I was only four when Dad died, so I only had other people telling me they were. I couldn’t imagine why my own father would like someone like Dr. Holtman. The one who hated my sister for supposedly being Inutilia. Eventually, I pulled out my tablet and tried to read. One of the teenagers, Isananika, teleported in at one point to take Eliza to bed so Damian could stay with me as long as he needed. The hour dragged on until finally, the APTA machine beeped to signal it was done processing the information. Damian yawned and wiped the sleep out of his eyes as he examined the results. My heart pounded. I could be a chronokinetic. It was a small possibility, but I hoped that was the case so I could help Carla. But maybe I would have intangibility, which was cool but not something that seemed particularly useful for the predicament. Maybe healing would be able to help Carla. The healers we did have couldn’t do anything, but maybe there was a way I could figure it out. Teleportation? Maybe I could find a chronokinetic and bring them here. Telepathy could help me communicate with Carla. Superstrength didn’t seem useful. Dad was working on using superspeed to reverse chronokinesis, so that would be helpful. Flight wasn't helpful, neither were any of the elementals. Maybe if I had dimensiokinesis, I could find a universe where they had more chronokinetics— “George!” Damian’s voice got me out of the mind spiral I found myself in. I realized I was sweating, and my heart was pounding.

“How did you know about that?” “Carla—Miss Baxter, I knew you growing up. You’re supposed to be twenty. You’re a chronokinetic—it doesn’t take a genius to put three and one together.” Carmen removed the sampling tube to place it into the computer. “Furthermore, Jedi and I did find your brother’s journal detailing his process to save you.” “You read George’s journal without his permission?!” “No, we asked him. He agreed we could see it. It’s not like your being frozen in time should be a secret. It’s not a big deal.” Carla fiddled with her hands. Maybe, but still, that time still haunted her. “Your father was actually working on a similar formula, in a complete coincidence. But Raissa Kamanzi was attempting to replicate a chronokinetic’s power, so he decided to try to counter it. He didn’t complete it.” “Why not?” “November 13, 2010.” Carla felt as if her blood had been frozen by a hydrokinetic. “That’s the day he left.” “I thought you’d remember.” “He was very angry. I never found out why.” Carmen’s back was turned, but Carla felt the tensity in the air. Carmen knew why, but Carla decided to back down. “Can I tell you something?” Carla asked, adjusting her glasses before returning her right hand to her lap to clasp the left. “After Pia died… I really missed you. You were a defining part of my life then. And… I’d like you to still… be that.” Carmen didn’t answer. She just stood and waited for the computer to finish its analysis.

Cling (how have I not used this??) Clasp - The Secret Portal Part Two

Spoilers in purple italics

Sing - from The Secret Portal Part One

“Hm,” Charlie mused. She set her tablet down and turned back to the hologram, zooming further in on the Numu district until the Tue Peena’yakoróo forest took up the screen. She scrolled toward the Taabe Village, keeping her eyes on the trees. She stopped when her eyes landed on a blob in the center of the hologram. She clicked on it to expand, and the hologram shifted its view to the front of the building. The program she had up automatically brought up all of the information she needed to know. It was registered under an unfamiliar name. She clicked on it, revealing a man who appeared to be of Tribus origin. He was apparently an ultimate—when he was alive. He’d been dead for nearly thirty years. Charlie scrolled down to his known relatives. He never married, never had kids. He had a sister—but she was under maximum security. He did, however, have a niece. Charlie clicked on her name, and a young woman around eighteen materialized in front of her. Apparently, that was the most recent picture, since she was supposed to be in her late forties by now. She disappeared a few months prior to her uncle’s death. Charlie saved the woman’s information, uploading it into a file to send to her superior. She pressed the comm button on her desk. “Oh, Rhe-ett,” she said in a sing-song. “You know how I have the most boring job in TRA?” “It’s hard not to know when you keep reminding me every day,” Rhett growled over the comm. “Check your inbox.” There was a pause before Rhett said, “What does she have to do with anything?” “I’ll explain in full later—maybe at the next meeting. Just put all available assets on this Carmen Asghar. I think she might be a lead in something big.”

Ring - from The Secret Portal Part Two

Carmen slid her glasses back on. “That black smoke can change atomic structure, but without being able to control her powers, I cannot provide an accurate enough sample to test what is going on.” “How have her powers worked before?” “She had to get angry.” “So…” Jedi gestured to Carmen to fill in the blank. “Making her angry doesn’t seem too hard,” Carmen muttered, crossing her arms. “Maybe I have to—” She stopped at the opening of the door, jumping to her feet at the sight that entered. “What happened?” George Baxter was setting his sister on one of the examination tables before Carmen finished her query. “We were in group training. Ash accidentally sent out a psychic blast, and it hit Carla.” “Accidentally?” Carmen spat, struggling to find the telepathic monitors. George suddenly had them in his palm, handing them to her, and she took them, placing them in the points around Carla’s head. “How does one accidentally hit someone with a psychic blast?” “Well, she did intentionally create the blast,” George explained as Jedi dragged over the psychic wave monitor. “But I think she only did it as an attempt to get out of Carla’s power.” Carmen paused for a split-second at the monitor before resuming. “She was able to break out of a chronokinetic’s hold? Psychically?” “I think so,” George said, his hand reaching up to twist his father’s ring that hung around the chain on his neck in concern.

#the secret portal #tsp #teaspoon #tsp excerpt #find the word #writing tag game #my writing #wip excerpt #george baxter #carla baxter #carmen asghar #jedi moon #writers on tumblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community

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childlikegoblinqueen · 2 months

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SCOM Writing Notes: Adrian, Severine, and other stuff.

I know a few people had once commented that Hunter's shove of Adrian in Labyrinth Runners seemed somewhat personal.

Also that Hunter must have a very strong will to go into the memory illusion without completely losing it.

Some spoilers below from last chapter. It's been a while since I've done one of these. Also a nod to @secretly-of-course who (along with another AO3 user) inspired a ship in this chapter.

So its definitely hinted in canon that Adrian is one of the cruelest Coven Heads. In Labyrinth Runners, its on full display.

He is not only eager to capture Hunter and turn him in, but he seems to be aware that conjuring an image of Belos would frighten him, leading to the likely conclusion that Adrian was aware that Hunter was being abused and just didn't care.

Hunter on the other hand was quick to intercept Adrian from Gus at great risk to himself. Even if he was cloaked, he could have easily taken that opportunity to run -- but he didn't and yeah, he shoved Graye pretty hard. Maybe there is some history there?

Anyway, in the past chapter you get a bit more of what happened the first time Hunter met both Adrian and Severine. There's a longer standing grudge for both, and as previously suggested, the truth of Hunter's species was kept an open secret. Adrian would have made a deal for Belos to give him Hunter's eyes upon his inevitable demise (not that Belos would have made good on this, but it was a good way to keep him loyal). Little did Adrian know, the spyglass itself was made of a grimwalker's retina.

Back in a previous chapter, it was mentioned that the spyglass belonged to Prospero, the Coven Head before Adrian, who Adrian had exposed as having a secret family, which led to Prospero's "dismissal" *cough*death*cough*.

Because we see Graye on full awful display in Labyrinth Runners, I thought it would be natural to have Hunter's background with the Illusion Coven Head coincide with meeting Severine.

Hunter and Severine actually have a lot in common. Both are trying to prove something to their families, and the way Severine saw it back then, Hunter had everything and cost her everything by giving up the team to be captured by Adrian in the drill -- completely unaware that Adrian had tortured him with the spyglass into giving it up.

If Adrian cared that Hunter was being hurt by Belos and went to expose him, he probably would have met the same fate as the healing witch who had been petrified, but he didn't instead, he used Hunter's shame against him.

So yes, Hunter had a very strong will to withstand the effects of the memory magic-- but I thought it would be fun if the suggestion was that this was due to the fact that he'd felt its magic before.

As mentioned, the Severine/Morton ship was inspired by a few fics I read and thought were super sweet. The blackmail plot has been running in the background for a bit now! It was fun to finally get it out.

And of course the fact that the strain of Miki Ultra used by the Keepers and the manufacturer of the Palisman Restraints having a common parent company has also been there.

#toh fanfic #sweet child o mine #the owl house fanfiction

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genericpuff · 1 year

Note

PLEASE TELL ME TUIS JOKE WAS Mde POST CHAP 132 PLEASE RELL ME

FASTPASS SPOILERS

idk what answer you're looking for so i'll just tell you the whole ass truth - i swear to christ i wrote that dialogue like, at least a couple days before that wedding night episode went up (which is the one i'm assuming you're referring to because the actual episode 132 was from years ago and was depicting Persephone's version of the AoW LMAO) and i definitely went back to working on that episode after seeing the banter in the community over that foot kissing scene and it left me going "... wait"

so yeah that was a complete coincidence that turned out to be a hilarious jab at that episode, think of it what you will 😶 the universe and its creator have funny ways of meddling with my business and making me look like a clown 🤡 (like that time one of my OC's accidentally predicted the death of Betty White-)

i was legit just trying to make a foot fetish joke that zeus would be capable of making to tease his freaky brother and low key flipping the script by having hades being poked fun of for being into feet instead of persephone (because RS has stated that persephone likes hades' grinch feet ???), i didn't think rachel was GOING TO LITERALLY SHOW HADES KISSING PERSEPHONE'S GRIPPERS LIKE A DAY LATER-

#thanks universe #you've dunked on me again #congratulations #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #antiloreolympus #lo critical

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aidoaria · 9 months

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Where is Kass? Where is my favorite character?

I love everyone else, and I am SO happy to see the New Champions again and I welcome the new characters, but TOTK is not complete without Kass. He played a major role by being the heart of the music in BOTW and now that piece of magic is missing.

Nintendo has a plan. I know they do. They laid out all the clues for a grand side quest they will introduce in a DLC.

If I somehow predict this, then I am not sorry if this turns out to be true and I spoiled you all.

There is spoilers for the base game of TOTK below. Mainly a little from the Rito's Main Quest and the results after completing all the side quests for Penn.

Here are the clues

• Song of the Stormwind Ark

• Kass in BOTW

• Nobody mentions Kass

• Penn

Let's start what we have. The first is the Song of the Stormwind Ark.

The song is a major part of the main quest over in the Rito region and is the ONLY phenomena to have a song connecting to its mystery.

One of Kass’s daughters, (Genli (Young Green Feathered Rito) states the following “…Papa told me it’s always watching over us, high in the sky.” (This is when you enter Rito Village's main entrance the first time. You will encounter three Rito Children talking and they will sing the song for you if you interact with them.)

Of course Kass would know this song as he is a bard. What’s more is what he did in BOTW. He FOLLOWED where the songs are depicted in Hyrule. He went to the locations the songs clued on and played away until Link (players) discover him in the wild.

The main quest of the Rito is the ONLY one with a song cluing in on the phenomena. Not a coincidence. Kass followed where the song could be.

Next clue, besides Genli‘s small mention, no one, not his daughters nor his wife (located at the lodge where you meet Harth) mentions him, before, during, or after the main Rito Quest. The reason, they are USE to Kass leaving for his journey being a traveling bard, and of course they were focus on helping everyone to survive the blizzard, which is a bigger deal.

As for no mention if he is okay or not (his wife was worried for him in BOTW but not in TOTK), Kass may have left the village prior to the Blizzard. Either for a completely different song he was searching for OR he saw signs of something happening to Hyrule as Gloom was appearing prior to the Upheaval. (Zelda says this at the very beginning under Hyrule Castle)

Granted, everyone was focusing on the blizzard and recovering after the storm. Focusing on a bard who often leaves the village is not the forefront of everyone’s mind, including his wife. If the story continues, and everything has calmed down enough, then they may start asking where Kass is, but Nintendo did not let the story get that far.

And then we come to Penn. Our final clue.

After completing all of his side quests, Penn leaves the Lucky Clover Gazette to Washa’s Bluff and stays there for the rest of TOTK.

Washa’s Bluff is the location of the Blood Moon side quest, where Link has to stand “naked” under a blood moon. This is one of the eight side quests Kass is part of. It is also the same location where Kass kept his journal. He recorded all the songs and tells you what locations he will go to by the clues hinting in the songs lyrics.

You learn from Traysi at the Luck Clover Gazette that Penn wanted to train and improve himself and he believes Washa's Bluff is the only place to do it. When you talk to him you learn he feels conflicted about himself. He starts doubting his reporting skills when he was not able to solve any of the mysteries (side quests) at the stables and says it straight that Link did all the heavy lifting.

And then Penn is the second character to mention Kass.

When you arrive, he mumbles to himself about there are no clues in sight, and when you interact with him he states to himself “Mmm, I thought there’d be at least some clue, but there’s nothing…” You soon learn he was looking for Kass.

He states, “It’ll be good for me to relax in this place. A famous bard perfected his craft here, studying the songs of this land…. I’ll stay right here and look out across the land, just like that bard. I’ll get in touch with my reporting instincts!” Penn sees Kass as a celebrity and may not know his name and only heard of Kass’s success in his craft. (Penn may have come from a different Rito Village just like Yona is from a different Zora Domain). He had hoped to find clues at Washa’s Bluff but found nothing. Whether he was searching for Kass or searching for something else to help improve himself, either way, Kass is the reason Penn went to Washa’s Bluff.

And finally the cherry on top, Penn states, “Then you bet I’ll get my talons on a huge scoop that will knock you flat on your tail feathers, partner. You just wait!”

That final line from Penn says it all. There is going to be a Side Adventure where Link and Penn team up once again to find Kass! Something happened to him when he went out to Hyrule trying to find the mysteries of the Stormwind Ark Song or a different, yet also important song to the Legend of Zelda series.

That will be the scoop Penn needs to find himself again and at the end of the quest, he will meet Kass. Kass will thank him and if it weren’t for him, Kass might not have survived. (From whatever made him go missing in the first place.) Having a famous person like Kass thanking him, it will mean everything to Penn and he finds his confidence in his reporting instincts again!

And Nintendo is telling us to wait, be patient, through Penn! "You just wait!" he says.

If we do get Kass from a DLC but not how I predicted it, that’s fine by me. I just want to see him in the game.

If he does not show up, I will have to accept that…. Very slowly….

Bonus Thoughts: This is me thinking too far but I still want to point it out.

Kass had one side quest called “The Serpent’s Jaws”. It starts in Pago Woods which is the entrance to the Zonai Ruins in Faron. The side quest leads you to the Goddess Spring of Courage. Not only is it relating to the very ruins Nintendo expanded upon and is the very center of the lore in TOTK, but also did you know it is the only side quest where you cannot go back to talk to Kass after solving the puzzle?

While its optional to talk to him, it’s always fun to hear what he may say sense he was unable to solve the riddles himself. (Plus getting some praise for solving a puzzle is nice every once in a while.) However, when you solve the puzzle at the spring, you are too far away for Kass to still be there in Pago Woods. He would disappear the moment you solve the puzzle because he is outside of the loading zone.

(But what is a loading zone in Hyrule? Perhaps Kass knew you solved it and figured out that you are the Champion as it is the Goddess Spring of Courage and moved on. 😉)

I just find it interesting that out of the 8 songs, it's the one at Zonai Ruins that’s different to the others prior to the creation of TOTK.

It is also the first song listed in his journal. Whether that’s the first place he went to on his journey, I cannot say. The order of the songs listed in his journal makes no sense for it to be the same order Kass traveled too. He would be backtracking A LOT if that were true.

(Also, I now realized, besides the horse stables, Kass only appears in the southern half of Hyrule. None of the side quest locations are in the northern half! After six years of BOTW, I am still learning new things about it.)

Congrats for reaching this far! Thank you for taking the time to read my rumblings! ^v^

#don’t get me wrong I LOVE TOTK #i miss my bird boy #totk #kass botw #minor spoilers #long post #game theory #penn totk #totk rito

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rabbitholeresearch · 8 months

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Glory To Master Kohga: The Final Boss

Okay, so before going into this: Spoilers. I'm literally talking about the end of the Yiga Clan quests and what is nearing the end game of Tears of the Kingdom so please, bear this in mind.

Alright so, let's go over what we know about Kohga. He's an incredibly fun character, displaying a fresh new take on Zelda related villains as former Sheikah members that felt betrayed by the royal family and turn to Ganondorf instead because "Hey. We sealed you away and they said they wanted us to destroy all our super cool advanced technology cuz they were scared so we're going to worship you."

Honestly? Fair. I don't even fault the Yiga for the bitter retort. Even so, to have held such a hard grudge for over 10,000 years is insane!

10,000 years. It has been 10,000 years since the First Calamity and longer since Ganondorf was sealed away.

Given that the Sheikah had Camel and Elephant Gundam, I would say their technology had vastly advanced over their time between Ganondorf being sealed and the First Calamity.

But refocusing on Kohga: Kohga is the leader of the Yiga Clan. He is, in BOTW, a rather lethargic character. While he does mobilize forces as soon as Link's awakening has been confirmed, he is rather comically unprepared when the Hero storms into the base to retrieve the Gerudo's sacred Lightning Healm.

At the end of this fight, Kohga plummets, by his own hand, down a bottomless pit, which is later to turn into a chasm in TOTK.

Perhaps this was just a happy coincidence, until you remember another bottomless pit from BOTW. I'm talking about the tower we can see Kass standing on. AKA the Gerudo Tower, this tower is one that is never climbed. In order to truly climb this, the Player would need to either spam Stamina Potions/Foods or otherwise have an upgraded stamina wheel.

Like me, most players abused the ability to glide to it from a higher point.

This bottomless pit, now Birida Lookout Chasm, leads the player into the Depths near the Yiga Clan Depths base.

But what does all this mean? It means Kohga not only led the Yiga into the Depths but led us to it as well!

So how? How is Kohga being the final boss?

I bring in Subject T, AKA The Triforce. If there is one thing about the LOZ formula, it is threes.

Three bearers of the Triforce.

Three sacred dragons.

Three people needed to HEAL Princess Zelda after subjecting herself to draconification, something said to be irreversible. The Triforce would be the one thing that would reverse something like that.

How does the Triforce work? Someone with pure heart is desired a wish. I think Link wished for his wyrm wife to come back home and boom. Wish granted.

With Sonia and Rauru's passing into the afterlife, I think it's safe to say that if–IF the Triforce is out there, it's in the Sacred Realm.

Why do I say this? We've never gotten actual confirmation of the Triforce in the BOTW-Era of Zelda games. We've seen the symbol all over Hyrule and even on the back of Zelda's hand, but her power is only ever referred to as "Sacred Power."

Wait…Sacred Power? Sacred! That's it!

Sonia and Rauru passing on was the final key! The Triforce is in the Sacred Realm!

But wait, how does this deal with Kohga?

Because of his defeat in TOTK.

When you complete the quest, we once again see our favorite Yiga man blast himself off Team Rocket style…up into the dark sky.

That's it!

Kohga, after another humiliating defeat by Link, and bearing witness to the death of his god, Lord Ganondorf, will seek out an ancient relic forgotten even to the royal family of Hyrule with the intention of using it to bring back Ganondorf and bring Hyrule to its knees.

Unfortunately, this is something that often befalls antagonists who try to obtain this sacred relic. They fall to greed.

I think Kohga will go in, intending to bring back Ganondorf, but the power will just be too much for him to resist and ultimately twist him into a new powerful being such as Bellum of the Great Seas, or of Vaati of the Winds.

#zelda theory #loz theory #zelda #master kohga #glory to master kohga #totk spoilers #botw spoilers

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colinlegameboy · 1 day

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Yammering About Dropsy

As a writer, I love to see innovative ways of telling stories, through any medium, but especially video games. I'm also a big fan of point and click adventure games, a genre that hinges on story to work properly. Dropsy is great at both of these things.

There is no proper dialogue in Dropsy. Instead it is entirely hieroglyphics. This works for the most part, but there are a couple that didn't convey themselves properly- For example, the hieroglyphic for "job" was a sign man digging a hole. I, and I have to guess others, initially thought it just meant "dig". I dunno how you'd convey that better, admittedly.

That said, there is a language in Dropsy- Its own alphabet, spelling out words in I believe English in various spots in the game. I'm sure there's game theorists who delight in going back through and translating every instance of actual words, but I'm not one of those people.

As for the actual story told? It's really good. A lot of really emotional moments and heartstring tugging, very palpable stakes, and uh... We'll get to how I feel about the rest later.

Let's briefly touch on the gameplay, which... I mean, it's your basic inventory object puzzle point and click. Pick up everything that isn't nailed down, use it on the environment. The main difference is that 90% of the puzzles are entirely optional- They only serve as a form of side quest that rewards you with making happy, which is a good reward. That said, you really can just zoom through the game if you want, but from what I understand there is some form of light narrative punishment for it.

Speaking of narrative... Spoilers follow. Not just for Dropsy, but for the first season of Superman and Lois. You'll, uh. You'll understand in a bit.

OK, so. Dropsy's ending is foreshadowed pretty well- Something weird and scifi is happening in this small town, and poor Dropsy is just bumbling into the mystery in hopes of curing his dad. Once you do so, he tells Dropsy that he is essentially Superman in terms of his origin story- Alien baby crashlands on Earth and is found by childless couple. Also, turns out, the CEO who wants to hire you is actually evil (shocker). But it goes a bit deeper than that.

After looking it up online, because it is NOT clear without further context, it turns out that the CEO is Dropsy's half brother who was also sent to Earth, but as banishment for killing his father and brother and trying to usurp the throne of the planet they're both from.

So... Yeah. Bit of an escalation there. Here's the thing, though- It mirrors the plot twist of Superman and Lois Season 1 almost exactly.

In Superman and Lois, the evil CEO Morgan Edge turns out to be Superman's half brother, who was sent away and instructed to rebuild Krypton on Earth by being a jackass about it.

You... Can see where I'm going with this, right?

I want to stress that Dropsy was released first, way back in 2015. Superman and Lois Season 1 came out in 2021. I don't know if it was on purpose, or a complete and utter coincidence, but Dropsy ripped off Superman, only for Superman to turn around and rip off Dropsy.

That is just insane to me. And whatever my feelings about this game (they are positive, let me stress), I will never be able to think about it again without thinking of this insane connection. Just wild.

#game review #yammering about #video games #dropsy #superman and lois #spoilers

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selwynsel · 9 months

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cyberpunkdreams review

TLDR

cyberpunk dystopic text-based game

lgbt+ friendly, i’m currently playing the game as a genderfluid bi masc-presenting character

meant to be played long-term, not a game to bang out in 20 hrs

made by one dev (correct me if i’m wrong), which is insanely impressive for a game that feels very high-quality

entirely free to play! not pay to win either!

I’ve been playing this game for some days now. I initially encountered it while looking for Fallen London stuff - pretty happy coincidence.

The game itself, without any spoilers, is a cyberpunk dystopic future set in post-apocalyptic America. It uses the same action system that Fallen London uses and a lot of its UI is also very reminiscent of FL. However, it distinguishes itself from its inspiration with its action economy.

In FL, without any subscriptions, playing completely free, you have 20 actions that are used as you go through the world - exploring, stealing, observing, running, etc. In CPD, the limit is 50. Yeah.

I found my first couple days in CPD more fulfiling and engaging than FL, largely due to the feeling that what I was doing with my character mattered. In FL, it feels hard to actually care about what’s happening because I know in a handful of turns I’ll be unable to continue. If I finish a questline in that time, it’d be a surprise. If I can even find a questline in that time, that’s a bigger surprise. I often feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, getting no traction, grinding stats that mean nothing and do nothing because I’m already done with my allowed playtime before I can get a grasp on them.

In CPD, I was able to get through a significant portion of the introduction quests in my first go. When I waste actions doing silly things, it doesn’t feel as bad. I could start a quest, finish another quest, and other side errands before I run out of actions, and when I finish with my economy for the day, it feels like I actually did get to play and interact and engage with the game. The starting portion of the game giving you a guided quest feels a lot better than when I signed up for FL and wasted all my actions trying to understand wtf the game was even offering.

If you’re interested in text-based games, if you liked FL and want something similar, if you enjoy cyberpunk, then I really recommend trying this out. It’s entirely free to play with an optional credits system that gives you access to certain things, but I genuinely don’t feel like the loss of this “premium” worsens the gaming experience. There is ALSO a subscription that gives you a slightly higher action count and imo, as someone who DID subscibe to FL to see if being an Exceptional Friend improved the feeling of the game, I think my money is better spent subscribing to CPD. Better action economy, no payment scheme to enjoy the in-game content, the game itself feels overall more accessible as a new player.

#cyberpunkdreams #game review #it genuinely saddens me that being an ef felt kinda like a waste of money. like ok 20 more actions but i dont actually get any access #to the stories #which makes free fallen london feel kinda like a gacha. not saying it is but rather #like the game genuinely expected me to grind stats without even interesting questlines to go with it #cpd is also grindy but it gives u lots of ways to restore ur actions for FREE #if you cant play one day u can store all ur actions and use them for a longer gaming session #and while i havent played cpd for very long i have not seen a lot of credit-locked content #whereas fl felt like i couldn't go one card without smthg being locked #which rly sucks bc you can literally SEE the amount of content being withheld bc u dont want to play ten bucks per questline

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jordifaedia · 4 months

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you will have to pry this song from my cold dead hands as i chant "stainteqcoded" multiple times in your ears

[spoilers for dossoles holiday, and main story (a bit) below]

stainless's devotion already shines through these first few lines, the metaphor of 'cat into a dog' meaning that he wants to turn from just a independent friend to completely devoted as a boyfriend to tequila. (up to you whether thats unhealthy or not, i could be overexaggerating it).. it's no lie that stainless in the main story is devoted to several things, including rockrock, granny, self-salvation squad, as well as bill.. or well, it's at least implied enough that the viewer can at least tell. he isn't afraid of displaying his affection towards tequila, whether he reciprocates it or not. after all, stainless def does believe that everyone does deserved to be loved, even if they were apart of some crazy ass plan to blow up a town !

"i want you to take me on a walk", "okay, baby, here's the leash" these lyrics are so fucking odd i'm not even going to play with you but these are def metaphors for love in some way. love languages, remember those? him wanting to go on a walk with tequila could be an act of service, a relief after long days of working on the battlefield or just the weight of existing. or even just quality time !

who doesn't want to go on a walk with their friend and talk about random shit? the leash part, i can't even figure out a meaning for that. but uh, my stainteq brain thinks of it as teasing, it's teasing. throughout the other lyrics, he's referred to (pretending that this is in stainless's pov) as a dog, and what do dogs need? walkies and a leash. obviously this could be inteperated as a joke in some way, that tequila could leash him and he'd be perfectly fine with it (insert very flustered angry tequila doodle here)

heartbreaking news: the brunette feline who has a heart ironically not made of metal despite working with metal for majority of his life is yearning in the worst way possible. i personally see this as stainless offering hsi unconditional love to tequila but tequila is like "haha dude its fine i swear".. like tequila doesn't want to accept stainless's love for him, whether through gestures of words that the feline is trying to get it through.. like stainless keeps giving him all these apples (metaphorically) but tequila is like "save your apples for someone better"

"i don't wanna be just friends / it's no coincidence, it's a kitty-incidence" stainless genuienly wants to pursue a relationship with tequila, but is unable to because of how much tequila keeps pushing him away. it's not a coincidence that stainless inevitably falls for tequila, considering that the two both spend enough time with each other for the possibility to for (kitty incidence is cute, i mean cmon. stainless is a catboy.)

"they be testing out your patience, but i'm here for it" stainless OBVIOUSly wants tequila to be himself and not some dossoles persona with that cheesy customer service smile that screams "boring" to it.. he knows that he's probably making tequila frustrated with how determined he is to share his love with him, but he's 'here for it'. basically meaning that he doesn't care if tequila shows his true emotions, negative or positive. at the end of the day stainless just wants tequila to be his authentic self, even if tequila could lose friends over it (high chance he won't) ..

which also leads onto the last two lines, which could be stainless's reassuring words

"so get used to it, ain't no stopping" he's not going to stop giving affection to tequila, again, tequila deserves love. why wouldn't he give him endless amounts of love? whether its platonic or romantic love, he'll keep being by tequila's side

i think you could interperate this as an 'angel/devil' metaphor in the way that while stainless can be his regular goody pants self (not as goody two shoes as a certain fish medic) he can also be. u know. gay demon. like u cnanot tell me this man knows at least how to get under tequilas skin somehow (spoiler: its flirting) .. idk what to say! the yaoi is yaoiing!

i don't know how to explain this, but stainless isn't naive. neither is tequila, like they're both grown ass men. when he was younger, he probably was naive for sure, or at least a little less intelligent when it came to his feelings. i'm not saying he's the master of emotions right now, but he knows right from wrong !!

"i was far from cute before / now i'm an angel" going to be honest, this entire verse seems like stainless teasing tequila. like cmon. idk what to say this is just so yaoipilled im going to gag and throw up

"i hope you don't let go" stainless doesn't want tequila to succumb to his mask and push him away !! he wnats tequila to open up and be himself (how many times have i said that) ! he wants to see the real tequila! to let go, whether that means to stop being friends with stainless, or to just cut himself off the world, he doesn't want him to let go. tequila is way too mentally unstable to be left alone, also stainless wants to be more to tequila. a friend, a boyfriend.

"cause i've been such a good boy / i hope you don't say no" stainless genuinely doesn't want tequila to reject him, whether that be because the feline confesses to him about his true feelings or the fact he doesn't want tequila to keep pushing away others, he does in fact have his own struggles w his crush on the man .. he wants to help out tequila, and he wants to push him out of this box that the perro's forced himself into because he's not a caterpillar anymore, he's an actual butterfly!!

"oh my god, what is this new emotion?" the word 'you' in brackets appearing is obviously referring to tequila. he's referring to how he's never felt a crush this severe ever since tequila, this emotion is much more than just puppy love, and it's most certainly not platonic for sure. it's new despite the possibility of stainless having a crush in the past because crushes aren't the same, there's all different types of crushes. celebrity, unattainable, actually attainable, mistaken as a crush when it could be a squish or something else, all sorts of crushes! tequila just happens to invoke a new feeling in stainless, the type of feeling that he wants to protect (devotion, duh.)

"i'm such a puppy when you hold me" when dogs are little, and younger, they're obviously very cuddlable ! i'd imagine stainless's love language to be pda, or at least just acts of service in general. even without the love language bullshit, you have to admit, being hugged by someone you really really like will make you melt completely. in this case, when tequila does try to show some love back to stainless, whether it is a hug or even just a gentle touch, stainless will combust and explode!! because being touched by your crush?!??! and he usually tries to push away your love??! but oh!! he's showing you some affection?? holy shit! ring the love alarm because a love bomb is going off!

"feed me love, it's perfect and you know it" i think if you have some knowledge on tequila, or you at least have read his voicelines, you're probably aware that he's not as 'fluffy sunshine' as he comes off. like he's fully aware of his intentions, which can be seen in this voiceline right here:

cmon. is this not the like. most suspicious, or at least eyebrow raising result line you've heard? i mean, theres definitely probably ones that are more concerning but thats not the point. he knows what he's doing or what aura he's trying to put out!!! and canonically, knows how to cheat in poker and card games too. so when he's giving stainless even the tiniest amount of affection, it may not seem like a lot to him, but he's fully aware that the feline will eat it up completely. a little amount, or a lot is just the perfect amount to stainless because it's perfect.

"follow you in circles and no, that is not a joke babe" stainless and tequila in my little delusional bubble are friends, or if you want to try and apply some canon onto this rarepair where they don't have a single canon interaction, think about squads and how you can have your favorite characters on the field at the same time. tequila and stainless, on the same squad, usually you would place tequila behind someone who can protect to him due to his 0 block when he's not slicing up someone. who's the perfect candidate? stainless of course! as well as his little sentries! non-canon wise, i'd imagine that stainless and tequila just keep hanging out. they're friends, why wouldn't they? whether it's work related or non-work related, they're most certainly hanging around each other. (that is not a joke, babe)

"i'm the one you can't keep your, keep your paws off" okay first of all, obvious dog imagery for the dogboy (cough, tequila, cough). i think we also are aware of the fact that these two men can be great friends, as well as have some brooding tension in between them. tequila, who has a persona to keep up, does not want anyone to know what his true feelings are. he's a people pleaser in a way, especially with that bland smile of his, it just screams "hi! welcome to rhodes island, how can i help you!" you know?

see that last line? "he is very unsafe" canonically, tequila was a child soldier, and does have great tactical planning (remember the bombs he made in dossoles holiday? the ones that blew up? that requires some knowledge related to bomb making, how to make sure the bomb goes off in the right time, as well as precise timing. that takes lots of skill.) he does have the potential of being dangerous, and i feel as if stainless does the wrong thing, he'll be blown u- KIDDING. obviously. there's just going to be an arguement, for sure, and maybe even a crack to the mask that tequila puts on..? even so, tequila still is friends with stainless despite it all. no matter how many times he tries to push him away, stainless will come back.

"go fetch when you say that i'm a dog walk" if you don't know, the phrase 'dog walk' basically means simple. its easy! like walking, that's a dog walk (unless you can't walk)! i feel like this is supposed to be a metaphor for chasing after someone you love, fetching basically is when you toss a ball and the dog goes after it. duh. they're chasing after the ball! tequila doesn't think stainless is simple, but he probably believes that stainless doesn't know about what's underneath his persona. hence, why tequila believes he's a dogwalk. he's got every other operator fooled, why would stainless not be fooled? but in reality, stainless is chasing after tequila. like how a dog chases after the ball, what is he looking for though? the truth? a confession?

"fight for you in the biggest pack of wolves / they be racing, but i'm comin' in first impala" stainless genuinely does care about other operators, obviously, i mean i probably sound like a broken record at this point.

the idea of leaving someone behind on an operation is completely wrong to stainless, he can't do. that simply goes against his morals and what he's learnt, as well as what he's taught himself. when we apply the first line, "fight for you in the biggest pack of wolves", he's willing to fight for his friends just for them to be able to go home safely, because 'not one fewer when we come back' basically means, and i already said this probably, that he's not leaving a single person behind no matter how drastic the situation is. which, is a pretty good moral to keep up!

an impala is an antelope apparently, why the hell are they talking about antelopes in a song about puppy love? don't ask me. ask bighit. anyways, these animals are able to be swift and jump pretty high.. i still have no fucking clue who was cooking in the txt lab and thought, yeah, let's make a reference to an antelope! but, working with what we have here.. [shuffling through notes]

they're both capable of dealing quick attacks - tequila with his arts damage (liberator things), as well as stainless who can deal heavy shots with his robots (s3, but he can regenerate sp pretty quickly w s2 if i recall) and we know they're quick thinkers. remember the zipline? remember how tequila can quickly just lie his way out of a situation? they're both quick mentally, and physically too.

when the line "they be racing, but i'm comin' in first impala" comes up, i think of specalists. stainless is a supporter, but he's a low dp cost that's similar to specalists such as kirin, texas, and phantom. they all have low dp costs, but they're all different classes (kirin sweeps the enemies away with s3, killing three in a row, texalt summons swords, phantom summons a clone and can stun enemies with his s3). stainless is able to provide free damage early enough as long as you place down a sniper. the specalists might be placed down later on, if there's a hoard of enemies, but stainless is probably placed first (or usually you want to place him first. i guess. i don't know, i'm kind of balling.) but what does this have to do with stainteq?

stainless is the first to defend tequila from an enemy due to his 0 block, which means he can still get targeted. without a healer and dp source, stainless is able to protect him. i'd imagine tequila and stainless have this princess and knight dynamic, except it's not just "boy who needs help x boy who helps", after all they're much more than that. stainless truly does want to help tequila out to the fullest, he wants to be useful the same way tequila wants to be seen as useful to all of the members of rhodes island.

while stainless might be seen as a stretch, i do truly believe that tequila does want to prove to not only just rhodes island, but his father that he can be useful. tequila does want to show to others that he can be there for them. oh! do you need some papers to be brought somewhere? he can do it! need him to take over a lane? he can do it! need him to take a shift at the bar or trading post! no worries, he's got the hang out of it! tequila is a people pleaser, and is willing to sacrifice his feelings for the sake of the satisfaction of others.

ok. this is getting a bit depressing. what i'm trying to say is that stainless wants to protect tequila, the same way tequila wants to protect his friends. its out of care, and genuine compassion.

"yeah, I like it when we cuddle / when you get yourself in trouble" could be taken as tequila opening up, and how stainless does like tequila for himself (I NEED TO FIND A BETTER WORD FOR 'BEING HIMSELF') it's as clean as you're going to get it from the lyrics, stainless likes affection and the pda he gets. he likes when tequila is being authentic.

"i'm everything / from the soft side to the tough stuff" see: angel/devil metaphor (scroll up) in a quick summary, stainless has the ability to be assertive, like hissing or growling. he can also be soft, like a cat's fur. he's got duality.

"'til we cross the rainbow bridge / i'll be the one you always dream of" the rainbow bridge is a metaphor for when dogs die, they are believes to go over a rainbow to heaven where they will meet their owners once they die. another dog metaphor for the dogboy tequila once again, this is basically just saying that until tequila dies; stainless will always be on his mind, or at least a memory. stainless is trying to say that he's going to be on tequila's side no matter what, again, not one less. he's not leaving anyone behind.

"bet nobody else speaks / the lil' language between you and me" all friends have their own language of the sorts, whether it's an actual language or just being able to understand your friends gibberish, it's still a language (but like. not an official one like spanish, or something. for the gibberish part) stainless is able to understand tequila without the need of speaking a common language, like bolivarian or whatever language they speak in victoria. they're able to communicate with each other without the need of speaking the same language, whether it's through gestures or just the look of knowing yeah. your friend is feeling xyz. that's how close they are.

"i just hope you understand" stainless wants tequila to know that he's there for him, that they can be friends, boyfriends, or even just best friends. he doesn't care as long as tequila knows he's loved, and safe. he wants to give so much love to tequila it's so overwhelming for the poor perro, and it's obvious that stainless is doing this out of the good nature of his heart. he has always cared for others, and will continue doing so because he is a good person.

in conclusion, i have way too much time on my hands and i looked way too in depth over a song about puppy love and being smitten by some kpop boygroup i really like. and i somehow associated it with stainteq! so you're all subjected to my thoughts!

#tw death mention #arknights #delusongposting #arknightsposting #stainteq #stainless arknights #tequila arknights #sorry to everyone who has to see this.#(not really)

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