Having absolutely no context for your Lovebrush posting almost makes me want to stay clueless about the plot because there's something so funny about seeing the same guy be this really nice sweet guy and then next post is about his war crimes. Please keep it up I'm deeply enthused - an Artem follower
JHGJLJFLGJFH EHLP! oh my god OKAY OKAY OKAY. FIRST OF ALL. THANK YOU! FOR STICKING AROUND I GENUINELY APPRECIATE IT AND APPRECIATE YOU!!!!
second of all - this made me laugh so hard. im not even joking i stashed this in my inbox for a bit because i wanted to reply properly. so i apologize for the wait!!
lbc is. so stupidly complicated and i love it so much. okay. so like. the sparknotes summary. if you want it.
the mc is a "traveler", aka someone who can travel through space and time. there is only one of her across every universe.
cael (one of the love interests) is also a traveler and is from a War Criminal Planet universe where war crimes are the norm and emotions are SO not cool. there is also only one of him across every universe. he is also immortal.
the other love interests (ayn, alkaid, clarence, lars) are "paragons", who are basically four guys who manifest in every alternate universe and act as their worlds' last line of defense in the event they are ever threatened.
two different au versions cannot exist in the same universe as their souls will either combine, or one will take over the other.
their alternate selves are all different people, but are the same at their core. they have the same "nature", but very different "nurtures" due to the differences in their backgrounds and home planets.
of course, this means there are also "paragons" on the War Criminal Planet cael is from. so while they have some similarities due to their nature deep down, their nurture has made them. uh. well uh. insane??? lmao??
so basically this means while each alkaid tends to be friendly and patient, you also get the prefect luminary, who was raised in a world where our morals are flip flopped and what is good here is bad there. the fun in lbc is seeing how these two very different alkaids are similar, and how they are VERY different due to their upbringing.
for example, alkaids tend to be very image conscious. this manifests in modern alkaid as coming across as unassuming and nice to everyone to get them off his back. while it is in his nature to be nice, it is also in his nature to be perceptive and sharp as a tack. something he tries not to be too open about in the modern world for backstory reasons.
in the prefect, this manifests as someone who feels the need to overcompensate and try to exert their power to be the prime example of a prefect in the empire (war criminal planet). any deep down kindness is smothered. his perceptiveness and sharpness, however, is on full display.
these two alkaids' ways of "fitting in" are veeery different due to their environment.
BUT YEAH. basically take the au cards in tot and just. imagine rosa going through time and space and meet all of them and each of them have a route and stuff.
How do you think Emilia and the others would react to the concept of dreaming in No Rest for the Wicked?
“If I’m honest— sleeping isn’t even that bad,” Subaru starts, rubbing his eyes. He woke up an hour ago, but he still feels pretty sleepy— and how could he not, when Otto decided that the first thing he needed to do in the morning was discuss taxes with him? “You get to dream every night, which is pretty cool if you ask me.”
Subaru lets himself sink deeper into Emilia’s office couch. He loves it when she lets him watch her work.
He doesn’t usually like talking about sleeping much, not after all the trouble it already gave him— but today he dreamed he had momentarily traveled back in time to when he was eight years old, and was able to hug his parents one more time. Waking up hadn’t left him fatigued, on the contrary, it left him much better rested than usual. At least until Otto decided to be a pest, of course.
“Dreams?” Emilia raises her gaze from the papers in her desk and tilts her head to the side. “What are dreams?”
“Dreams are, uh…” He blinks. How could one describe dreaming? “It’s like traveling to another world—” no, that doesn't sound right, “—except the world doesn’t really exist ‘cus it’s merely a product of your imagination.” He crosses his arms. Did that even make sense? “Do you not do something like that when you are unconscious?”
People from Lugunica can still faint from blood-loss or other wounds. They surely had to dream then, right?
“You travel to another world when you sleep?”
Ok, maybe that was too much. Subaru blushes at the wonder marrying her voice. “Well, not literally. They are just a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.”
“Natsuki-san, are you implying that when you sleep you… hallucinate?” The reason for his current nightmares —Otto— opens the door of Emilia’s office with a sack of papers in his hands and turns to stare at him.
Subaru pauses and rubs his chin, deep in thought. Can dreams be considered hallucinations?
“Hallucinations?” Emilia repeats, voice distant.
Otto sighs. “Indeed, when people are in agony, they sometimes see things that aren't there."
Subaru starts laughing, then stops when he realizes what Otto actually meant. “Wait— what?” Oh cmon, this can’t happen again. “I already said I'm not in pain when I sleep.”
“You say many things,” Otto glares. “But Lady Beatrice said you often squirm or wake up crying.”
Emilia gasps.
“You know that?!” Subaru stands up, then raises his hand to hold his head at the whiplash from changing positions so quickly. His own words finally sink in as his eyes widen. “I mean— I absolutely do not do that.”
Otto squints at him. He hadn’t missed his slight headache. “You should have told the healer about the hallucinations when he visited last week, Natuki-san.”
“They aren’t hallucinations.” Subaru blinks.
“Your description sure matched them. What is the difference between hallucinations and dreams, then?”
Emilia interrupts. “Are dreams another symptom of Subaru’s Partial Sleeping Beauty, then? Should we make sure he doesn’t dream?”
Otto shakes his head. “The only way to make him stop dreaming would be to make him stop sleeping, and the doctor said we shouldn't.”
“But that’s…”
“Time out!” Subaru raises his arms, crosses them and forms a stop sign. “The squirming is completely unrelated to the dreaming. I like dreaming, It’s relaxing.” Unless he is having a nightmare, he knows better than to address that topic.
Emilia’s purple eyes fill with tears. “Is your condition so bad that you prefer spending so many hours in a fake world rather than real life?”
What the fuck.
“No, absolutely not! I love real life is just—” Subaru groans.
He should have learnt to shut up by now.
(Some hours later:
“I wonder if Heinkel-san’s wife dreams,” Emilia says during dinner, after calming down. “If she has to sleep for so many years, it would be nice if she were to hallucinate that she is in a world in which her family is safe and sound.”)
The 5th Circuit Court Has Ruled That The Biden Administration, The FBI & The CDC All Violated The First Amendment By Colluding With Big Tech To Censor Americans