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14dayswithyou · 26 days

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💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

#14 days with you #14dwy #💖 — 14 days with queue.#🖤 — updates.#🖤 — spoilers.#I'm not gonna say much about my current doxxing situation because I've got it under control now + it's being handled privately #Plus I don't wanna give it/the people involved any unnecessary attention. I just wanna announce the update and Get Back To It™️#(''it'' bein the grind 💪 It never stops lmao /silly)#OG followers will also know that these topics aren't the vibe I normally have on this blog (or any of my accounts); so I don't think I'll—#—make ANOTHER public post about the situation and bring more attention to it (when I just want everything to be over and put to rest ^^;)#However I also don't want people to think that I'm... ignoring?? the situation entirely (because gettin doxxed is a very endangering thing)#So I DO want to quickly acknowledge it here and say that it's all currently handled + I'm safe and okay + this won't stop me from—#—continuing to work on 14DWY (and other future projects). I also don't want to give these awful people more power and incentive to continue #—this kind of pathetic behaviour; so the less attention and encouragement being shown will ultimately be better in the long run :3 #Aaaaaanways!! 😮‍💨#My other accounts will be restored shortly and my askbox will be opened once I feel comfortable. I'll get around to following folks—#—again in my own time; so please don't feel offended if I unfollowed you during a moment of vulnerability and anxiety!!#This is all EXTREMELY overwhelming and scary for someone with SAD/AvPD; and I /gen can't handle seeing it all over my timeline ;v;#Sorry this got ranty and personal again hjdsgjsdh T_T I said I wouldn't say much; so I'll shut up now hehe #🖤 — shut up sai.

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hinamie · 4 days

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summer is coming so i'm giving them the beach day they deserve

#my art #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #itadori yuuji #fushiguro megumi #kugisaki nobara #gojo satoru #nanami kento #fanart #jjk fanart #yuuji #megumi #nobara #gojo #nanami #the drinks r non alcoholic do not worry #and one of them Is megumi's however yuuji Will b taking a generous sip #do not talk 2 me about perspective i am trying my hardest man water is so hard.............#i omitted yuuji's scars and nanami nobara n gojo r . u kno. Here .#so this is probably set pre-shibuya but idc enough to figure out a timeline #megumi voice Whatever!!! i just want them 2 have fun on the beach :(#i want gojo to hurl them in2 the water i want nobara 2 play fetch w the dogs i want them to shake themselves off all over nanamis stuff :((#so glad my hyperfixation media is so lighthearted . so glad it doesnt hurt every time i think abt them . so glad this is canon actually.#gotta do everything myself in this household smh #sighs . we cope !#drawing this made me think back to an old fb zine piece i did where they were Also on a beach #n that piece took MONTHS n this took 2 days so thats a bit of growth there babey #anyway all that 2 say i am drained but i am victorious

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gunstellations · 11 months

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confessions

#hankcon #detroit become human #my art #hank anderson #connor detroit #this can be read either way #i initially started this out while i was sad and i drew connor #i think that if connor were to confess first he would get rejected at the beginning by hank deflecting it awkwardly #but then i was okay while drawing and somehow it ended up kind of sweet if you look at it from another angle #so that hank is the one confessing here #but also connor is going absolutely rigid in a very soft way #i like that intepretation because you cant see connors face so you dont know what hes thinking aside from what you can take from his body #language #its either a happy piece or a sad piece if you want it so!#i like to think it gets awkward at first but then they make up later #they both have a lot to sort out about themselves! but they bring out the better in each other #and in my timeline they are intertwined enough that theyre inseperable #thats enough ramblings for now love and peace 🤞🤞

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crystallizsch · 3 months

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uh hi. meet jas(mine)???

#HELP MEEE I AM SO EMBARRASSED TO POST THIS #literally have been letting this sit for days marinating #BUT HERE WE ARE #PEEPAW JAMIL #anyways i've been thinking about that one trope where something sends a fanchild back in time to nrc and shenanigans ensue #and for the record yuusha and jamil would not want children in the future #i think they'd be focused on travelling or something #but i thought about this and i was like HMMMM #“it could be cute i'll do a little sketch"#and then it kept. going ;;;#hhh family headcanons makes me feel so soft ;;;#so uh this child will just be from an alternate timeline #i imagine auntie najma being too much of an influence on her much to jamil's dismay #i might give her a tiger beastman friend based off rajah too #[—#twst #twisted wonderland #twst art #jamil x yuu #twst oc x canon #twst yuu #twst yuusona #jamil viper #twst fanchild #twst fankid #twst oc #★ my art #(💜) yuusha #(💜) jamiyuu #—]

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scintillyyy · 4 months

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"tim goes to arkh--wait, no, tranquil river mental hospital. tim goes to tranquil river mental hospital", a short, unedited dick & tim fic

Dick swallows hard as he looks at the entrance to this place. This place being Tranquil River Mental Hospital--the place that Tim has apparently been for the past few months. All those months that Dick worried, the last time he saw Tim branded in his mind--the anger, asking Dick to trust him. And as much as Dick didn't want to--he let Tim go. It was--he thought it was best to trust that Tim knew what he needed. Tim seemed like he knew what he needed. And Dick would just wait for him--and be there if things didn't turn out like Tim was claiming.

But then they did. Bruce--Bruce was alive. And Dick was elated. If Bruce was alive, then Tim would definitely find signs of it--and after he did, he would come home. It's what he said he would do.

So Dick waited. And waited. But there was no sign--none--of his little brother. Not even through Ra's coming to town and trying to take over Wayne Enterprises--only stopped because Barbara had somehow figured out his plans to use Tommy Elliot and attack Bruce's holdings. Dick's calls remained unanswered.

Which--Dick was starting to get really worried. Tim wouldn't brush him off like thay, not when everyone--Gotham--was in danger. Had something happened? Was Tim okay?

It was Barbara who found him, in the end. Tranquil River Mental Hospital over in Pennsylvania--that was where she located him. Said it looked like he had been there for a couple of months.

Two hours away. The whole time, he was just two hours away.

How had he ended up here, of all places?

The place looks nice enough. The drive up to the entrance through the grounds showed a well-kept lawn, pleasant looking gardens, large trees, and several recreational centers. About as nice as a mental hospital could look, Dick supposes.

He takes a deep breath as he goes inside. Thankfully, it doesn't look too clinical and sterile in there. The lobby is filled with warm colors and plants, and the sun filters in nicely. The receptionist looks up with a bright smile.

"Can I help you?" she asks.

"Uh, Dick Grayson," Dick says. "I, um. Called ahead. I'm here to see my little brother--Tim Drake?"

"Of course!" The woman says. "If I could just see some identification?"-Dick hands her his license and she scans it quickly before returning it-"That all seems to be in order. You can go ahead and follow me this way to our visiting gardens. Your brother will be waiting for you there."

The snake through the halls, past other patients in hospital scrubs. Dick starts to get antsy. This is a real mental hospital--the thought of Tim in here for the past few months...it's hard to imagine. They exit out a set of double doors and, oh--a lump forms in Dick's throat. Oh, Tim.

His little brother, there. Dressed in light green scrubs, looking healthy and no worse for the wear. It's--Dick could cry in relief. Tim looks up and something in Dick's chest stutters.

Why does he have such an angry look in his eyes? He almost looks as if he's genuinely upset to see Dick. Is he--is he still mad at Dick? He had been angry, yes, but when he left Dick thought--he thought that under all that, their bond still existed. Their trust in each other. Their brotherhood.

This Tim doesn't seem to feel that way at all, not with the stone cold expression on his face. The receptionist leaves them with a cheery goodbye and they just look at each other for a moment. Dick's smile falters. Tim's face doesn't loosen up at all.

Dick gingerly takes a seat at the table, across from Tim. "Tim, hey," he starts, keeping his voice gentle.

"Dick," Tim snaps. "What are you doing here?"

How can he even ask that? "What do you mean--Tim, of course I came for you. You're in a place like this--how? Why? No, wait, I mean--how are you?"

"Oh, you care about that now? You don't think I'm crazy anymore?" Tim spits, sounding downright hostile.

The wild accusation stings. That Tim would ever think that if him- "Tim," he says, trying his best to be patient. "I never thought you were crazy--grieving, yes. Crazy, no."

Tin snorts derisively. "Sure," he says sarcastically. "Which is exactly why you conspired to put me in here."

Dick can feel the moment his temper snaps. He can be patient with his little brother--but he also won't just sit there and let Tim say these awful accusations to him. "I don't know what exactly you think," Dick says testily, "But I've been nothing but concerned about you, Tim. How dare you-"

Tim's demeanor changes on a dime. Dick stops talking, slighly startled at the sudden change. Tim slouches back in his chair and lets out a tired groan. "Man," he says, flashing a grin at Dick. "I thought that guy would never leave. Hey, did you sneak me in some O'Shaughnessy's, by chance? This hospital food is destroying me slowly."

Dick just blinks. What just happened? Tim just looks expectantly at him, with a hopeful smile on his face. "Tim?" Dick asks slowly. "Care to explain to for the class what's going on?"

Tim looks confused for a moment before his face lights up in understanding. "Oh. Ohhhh," he says. "About that. Sorry, Dick. I didn't mean--anyways, it's just that there's this therapist here and he's smuggling in some nasty drugs for some of the patients, and then blackmailing and extorting them. This guy I got to know--Aaron--got all mixed up with him, so I'm trying to catch him in action. It's just that he never preys on anyone who seems to have a good support system, so I had to, you know, make it seem like we were in a rough spot."

Tim is smiling at him guiltily now. Things click into place for Dick. It's like that time--it's like just after Tim's 16th birthday, when Tim asked him to fake fight with him for whoever he thought was watching him. It--well, Dick would have done a better job if he had known he was supposed to improv. The least Tim could have done was give him a clue.

But looking at him and the guilty expression, Dick doesn't have it in him to stay mad. After all, this is his little brother--and he's finally found him.

Dick lets out a small sigh. "Fair enough, Tim. I just--what are you even doing here? How did you get here?"

"So...if you're getting straight to the questions...I take it this means there's no fast food, then?" Is all Tim says. Dick shoots him a look. Tim holds his hands up in mock defeat. "Kidding. Kidding. Anyways, I ended up here because Tommy Elliot somehow managed to send some goons that found me over in France. They pretended they were from Bruce--made a bit of a public show that Bruce was all worried about my erratic behavior, that you had told him I had gone crazy and run away and needed help-"

"They said I said that?" Dick asks sharply, worried a bit now. He has working with Tommy Elliot to hide Bruce being gone, and Tim knew that. "You didn't believe them, did you Tim? I would never-"

"Course not," Tim says. "That was classic Tommy Elliot being Tommy Elliot, trying to sow discord. Anyways, I wasn't in a good position to have a big scene be made about it--it would've potentially screwed up some pretty big things, or exposed us all, and I had to make it seem like I was stuck in a place where I wasn't able to interfere with their plan--so we had really no choice but to go with them."

"We?"

"Oh, yea--we. Tam's here, too. And let me tell you she was not happy about both of us getting thrown into a mental hospital. She's still mad at me."

"Tam--Tam Fox? Lucius's daughter?" Tim nods. "What was she--you know what, never mind, you can tell me later. So what--you've just been here, then?"

"Yup," Tim says, popping his 'p'. "Jokes on them, though, because healthcare still uses faxes--and so does Babs, it's the most secure form of communication after all. I was able to get her everything important about Ra's' plan in time."

So that's how Babs found out. Probably also how she found out Tim was here.

So she could have told him more of the situation he was walking in to. But she didn't.

She's probably...still kind of mad at him, then.

That's not important right now, though. "So you've just been here, what? Pretending to be trapped?"

Tim nods. "Yea. I could probably have gotten out at any time, really, but there's a lot going on here that I couldn't just leave be, y'know. I got kind of busy." Clearly, with the drug dealing therapist. Tim shrugs. "And it hasn't been all bad. They do have a fun W&W group that meets on Wednesdays for game night. Danger Dan does a really good DM."

Danger...Dan. Dick shakes his head. "I was worried about you, you know. And you were right here playing with Danger Dan."

"Sorry," Tim does look a bit ashamed. "I did--I wanted to call, but I couldn't let them catch on. It sucked for sure. I wasn't--I didn't-"

"It's okay," Dick says. Tim looks relieved. They sit in a companionable silence for a moment before Dick lets out a sigh. It feels weird bringing this up to talk about while Tim's in a mental hospital off all places, but...he has to. Tim deserves to know. "I need to tell you. Tim--you were right. Bruce--Bruce is alive."

Tim just tilts his head to the side. "Well, yea," he says. "I mean, I knew that--know that. I've got a giant bag of artifacts buried in the Serenity Woods to prove it, too. Turns out places like this don't really allow ancient batarangs, yea? They consider it contraband. How'd you figure it out?"

Dick...doesn't really want to get into that. "I, uh," he says. "We found some evidence. At the manor." That's vague enough. What Tim doesn't know won't hurt him.

"Oh, Mordecai? Let me tell you, that's just the tip of the iceberg here, Dick," Tim says. "I can draw you a map, make sure you grab the bag before you go."

"I--of course," Dick takes a look at the time. Visiting hours are almost up. It flew by. Dick's disappointment matched by his relief that Tim's okay. He wants nothing more than to take Tim out of this place, bring him home.

But. Tim clearly knows what he's doing, has known what he's doing this whole time. He's all grown up now. It's not for Dick to interfere. "Tim? You're going to come home soon, right?" he asks.

Tim smiles. "Yea, soon," he says. "Between you and me, I think Tam might actually smother me in my sleep if I don't get us out of here after I'm done with this case."

Dick chuckles. "Well, we can't have that, can we. You'll be okay? Call if you need anything. Especially if you need to get into a big blowout of a fight, really sell the whole 'family thinks you're crazy' thing. I can mock fight with the best of them, as you well know."

"You're at the top of my list to call, Dick," Tim says with a smile. "Just--next time? Bring O'Shaughnessy's, or I'm not gonna pull my punches."

#dick and tim #shhhh don't think about timelines here shhhh

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bonefall · 5 months

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Maybe I'll make a post on this at some point but like, something deeply fucked up about TNP and Po3 that people have totally forgotten about is how badly they try to whine that "Tigerstar Had Good Traits :("

Firestar does it, Brambleclaw does it, and they keep doing this after it becomes this GRAND irony that Firestar almost gets Tiger'd to death in a fox trap because he was too trusting. Bramble gets his pity award of keeping deputyship and then cries to his son about how No One Saw The Good In Tigerstar :(

And it's wiiiiild that no one else in this fandom has done anything with the fact that Leopardstar broke the Warrior Code to appoint Hawkfrost, who had no apprentice, an extremely aggressive and warmongering Tigerclone who says things like "Tigerstar wasn't the worst cat to look up to." ONLY qualifying trait was being kinda like Tigerstar.

And she practically did that the SECOND Mistyfoot went missing. And then Leopardstar continued to be one of the most violent and xenophobic leaders through Po3, joining with WindClan to attack ThunderClan.

What I'm getting at is that like, a few years ago, with books like "Blackfoot's Reckoning" and "Shadow in RiverClan" it's like they suddenly decided to retcon in a bunch of "redemption arcs" in hindsight. They just pretended like there was this grand high reckoning with TigerClan, when there literally wasn't, and if anything that caused SERIOUS problems for the cast that the authors didn't fully acknowledge as such.

And now ppl haven't actually read the main series and are just working with their recent memory of all these retcon books.

But TNP and PO3 are still there, and you can go and see the ACTUAL timeline where Leopardstar is really not apologetic at all, and Blackstar is a useful stooge for the very next wannabe dictator that strolls in, in spite of the new side content that COMPLETELY mischaracterized them for their plots to work.

#I just wish people could be more critical of this #And im not entirely anti-retcon. Mind you #But I am here because i think these retcons make them WORSE characters. It's BAD for a character to GET a book with a redemption arc and--#Then they don't change at all and act like totally different people later in the timeline #And Leopardstar is the worse one between her and Blackstar BECAUSE she has sooo many active choices here #Im confident in my choice for BB the more I think about it. Leopardstar's dismantling of the bonehill was good #But it works better as a tragedy imo with the rest of the series in mind #That for a brief moment. A fleeting whim. She could have changed.#But she never did.#And Blackstar who was FAR less repentant at the time DID eventually turn around.#At the end of the day one of them appointed Hawkfrost as codebreaking deputy.#And the other did not.#And I think it's fucking bullshit the way that Leopardstar's retcondemption implies that Hawkfrost was just so tricky he mislead her #The old and experienced leader who had been fooled by a tiger before and was soso sorry for it. Just got tricked.#Like fuck off. She never had a redemption. Stop trying to tell me she did 15 years later #She's a girlboss who empires too close to the sun in pursuit of power and drags everyone down with her #Not a sad weepy smolbean #Bone babble #Warrior cats analysis

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agentc0rn · 30 days

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Lonely earth-bound monarch figures whose existences and legacies extend past the bounds of time and space.

#pokemon x and y #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon fanart #pokemon xy #az pokemon #area zero #the indigo disk #pokemon legends z-a #terapagos #pokemon az #my art #glimmora #Pokemon #my favs who held deity-like status ties to time/space (timeline split/multiverse) vital lore and lost potential..#flower motifs = glimmora and floette...#while one caused mass wipeout the other is a survivor of a natural disaster (though in some sense could take over the region with crystals)#both of their stories involved grand machine infused with potent power tied to the legendary mon #where in the end AZ/ai prof entreats the protagonists for their help to shut their creation down #both embody their themes - life/death #+ you need a special key item for the machine..the key and the book...sources and symbols of the creators' ambition #oh man do I think about them a lot...#at first I did not like the way this was going but im finally satisified with the results. I poured so many emotions in here lol

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autisticaradiamegido · 7 months

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day 292

the relief of feeling a heartbeat in your chest and knowing it's your own

blood pumping through your veins that is yours and nobody else's

real adrenaline in your bloodstream when you face the demon that killed a thousand versions of you that didn't have any

#day 292 #year 4 #aradia megido #homestuck #steals my own damn tags off the wip because im still thinkin about em #theres something here about the flow of the diverging timelines with doomed aradias returning to the alpha #acting like a circulatory system #but i am too tired to think about it rn

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feroluce · 2 months

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So I adore time loops and I think Sampo would be very fun in a time loop AU. Because despite having so many onscreen interactions with so many characters, he almost always seems to hold people at a certain careful distance, so it's fun to imagine what or who he's willing to use a time loop for, how far he's willing to go, how much he actually does care.

At the end of the Masquerade Duet companion quest, Sparkle mentions a catastrophe soon to befall Jarilo-VI. And some players have interpreted this as a past event (the catastrophe being the story quests we took part in there), but other players have speculated this as an upcoming disaster that Sampo is trying to mitigate.

And so, Gepard finds Sampo in Belobog, right after he was supposed to return from Penacony...or whatever it was called, Gepard had almost been too relieved to remember the name after Natasha assured him that Sampo was fine and not missing or dead, just on a trip since the planet was finally open for travel.

He had assumed this was some kind of vacation, or some shady business endeavor (valid), but when he sees him, Sampo looks. Exhausted.

His usual smirk is there, but there's something horribly off about it that Gepard can't put into words. His voice doesn't have the usual bounce in it. His gait slightly off. There are bags under his eyes, his hair is just the slightest bit out of place. Sampo looks exhausted.

His feet move without him really thinking, he goes up to Sampo to say...something. Maybe just ask him if he's ok. But he can't leave this alone and not do anything, because Gepard can feel it, something is wrong.

And that feeling sticks with him, like the persistent cold, like frostbite, all day. Gepard can't seem to shake it. There is a collective unease seeping through Belobog, sinking deep, tangling around their bones. And the only one who seems to be reacting truly different to it is Sampo.

Gepard tries to tail the guy a few times, anything he can do to learn about what's going on and ease this devouring dread, but Sampo seems to know where he's hiding and calls him out every single time.

He dodges every question (normal), slips out of every grab and grasp (normal), barely even looks at Gepard (decidedly NOT normal).

And maybe it's the darkness that seems to hover over them. The way the air feels like it is pressing down and smothering the breath out of his lungs. But Gepard's patience finally snaps, much sooner than he ever would have thought it would, and he finally grabs Sampo by the collar, hauls him up and forces his back against the brick wall of the alleyway. Because maybe Sampo makes his living double crossing and stabbing backs and he wouldn't understand this, but Gepard has a family, he has people he wants to protect, and so he needs to know what the fuck is going on.

And he knows he's crossed a line the moment he says it. He knows it's not true. Gepard has seen the way Sampo and Caelus sneak around in the Fragmentum or meander down the alleys, snickering with their arms slung around each other. He's seen the way Sampo lets Hook climb up his back onto his shoulders while he takes the moles on little adventures. He's seen the way he and Serval rib each other like it was natural, easy, and the way he goes out of his way for Natasha like he wouldn't any other client, had even trusted her with the knowledge that he was leaving off-planet.

Sampo has people he wants to protect, too, and Gepard shouldn't have accused him otherwise.

But before he can even apologize, Sampo does something stranger still.

Instead of telling him off, or taking a swing at him- both things Gepard would admit he deserved- Sampo just. Lifts one hand, lays it over Gepard's fists still balled in his jacket. Like he's keeping him there. Even through his gloves, his hand is warm.

And Sampo doesn't even really look at him, he leaves his head hung low as he quietly tells Gepard to just go home. Stay in with his family. Don't come out. Please. Please.

But eventually, the catastrophe strikes.

And Gepard can't. He can't stay safe inside his home while this is happening. He can't ignore this. He tells Serval and Lynx to stay in. Don't come out. And he dons his armor and marches out to protect as many people as he can.

When it's all said and done, all Gepard can see is rubble piled around him and a blackened sky. He can hear fire crackling. He can hear a voice he recognizes as Serval's wailing and screaming his name, and he knows she's not going to find him in time. She shouldn't even be out here.

A bloodied face swims into view, bright green eyes looking hollowed and haunted, posture weary and defeated. Gepard reaches out a shaking arm, trying to grab at Sampo's pantleg, trying to make any sound other than gurgling the blood filling his throat, because he knows it for certain now, he knew, Sampo knew.

"Not this time either, huh...?" The sigh he heaves isn't theatrical, for once. Somewhere, rubble groans and loudly collapses. Sampo doesn't even startle or turn to look at it. "I'll figure it out soon, I promise. There has to be a way to pull you through this alive. There has to be."

Something materializes in his hand, something red. Gepard's vision dims at the edges as he watches Sampo hold the mask over his face, as it seemingly attaches itself directly to his skin.

"See you on the next go around, Captain."

#hsr #sampard #gepo #gepard landau #sampo koski #I love open endings for things like this #but I did have the thought that like. the aeons are powerful enough to be immune to Sampo fucking with the timeline. so they all know.#(Aha is watching with a bucket of popcorn bc Sampo is Their Little Guy and They love to see him thrown into Situations ndmzjznd)#but this means that Qlipoth is also aware of what's going down. and They see how no matter what happens no matter what little things change #-Gepard still chooses to preserve whatever life he can. he chooses to protect every single time. and that becomes his saving grace.#Gepard DOES pull through not by compromising his morals but as a reward for keeping them because Qlipoth turns Their eye upon him.#They choose Gepard as Their Emanator. and that's what finally gives him power and the chance to live through his own actions.#and thank god lol bc Sampo would NOT be having an easy time with this au. i think everyone else he cares about would be relatively safe.#but Gepard considers it his DUTY to protect people. this is his RESPONSIBILITY. and he is so so goddamn stubborn about it.#so this isn't a case of man vs act of god. It's not Sampo vs The Catastrophe that's not what's going on here.#it's Sampo vs Gepard's unyielding will to protect whoever he can #and he is fighting a losing battle

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