May 7, 2025
this is kate's phone bg in at least one of the aus. and yelena is like "........OH FFS KATE NO"
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from Romania
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Netherlands
seen from Taiwan
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
this is kate's phone bg in at least one of the aus. and yelena is like "........OH FFS KATE NO"
inspired by this fic (Pythagorean Expectation by slytherinski) i read last year
would you rather be married to... joffrey or ramsay? // tywin or roose? // margaery, sansa, or daenerys?
joffies so i can arrange an 'accident' & run off w Sandor
roose bc hes 8% more emotionally available than Tywin and will probably neg me less
margy is my fav we'll be power femmes together 🥺👉🏽👈🏽
me three days ago: I should have started making things for QT week a while ago, but now it's too late for me to do anything. shame!
me today: I am going to produce content at a greater rate than I ever have before
jackson being literal sunshine 💖: 46/∞
Home
The thick, sticky heat of the training room clung to Rachel’s skin, wrapping its heavy fingers around her limbs and pulling her in a million different directions. It felt like her brain was pounding right out of her eyes, and her ears wouldn’t stop. She sunk to the thick mats beneath her, holding her head in her hands as she tried to swallow breaths to calm her heart.
It was… getting worse. She was getting worse, and she could feel her emotions start to pull at her, tossing her own thoughts in different directions. She should have told someone, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t imagine the disappointment on Dick’s face, or the disgust in Gar’s eyes, or the pity from Kory.
She couldn’t handle the way they would look at her.
Like… like she really was a freak.
Rachel sighed, a dark feeling in her chest blossoming into something so heavy she almost felt like she couldn’t stand. Kory. If she were here, she would know what to do or what to say. Rachel pushed at her hair, hearing the whispers grow louder, their words sliding down her spine like a thick poison, bleeding into her bones and her joints. She rolled her shoulder, hearing something pop and crunch underneath the movement. If Kory was here maybe she wouldn’t feel so achingly alone.
Groaning, her back sunk onto the mats and she stared at the lights above her, tracing the shadows on the ceiling with her eyes. That feeling in her chest was growing deeper, pulling her farther into the earth, down into darkness where she could grow roots and disappear forever.
Maybe that was for the best anyway, disappearing.
…fucking freak.
Rachel threw an arm over her eyes and let go of a soft sigh, trying to block out the sound of Jason’s words clawing at her. They raked over her body, clawed at her, leaving invisible wounds that she was too ashamed to acknowledge. Guilt filled her chest, filling her with a pain that seemed to repeat over and over until it felt as though it had completely woven into her, leaving her a shell.
Was this who she was now? A vessel for whatever these powers were? These power that wanted her to attack her friends, hurt the people she cared for and that cared for her?
This stain on her soul seemed to tighten inside her, and she heard the ragged, wispy sounds of voices still trying to command her attention. They murmured the same phrase over and over, and Rachel tried to ignore them the best she could, but she knew that there wasn’t much she could do to stop hearing Jason’s insult on repeat.
Fucking freak. Fucking freak. Fucking freak. Freak. Freak. Freak.
Again and again until Rachel felt like her entire body had dissolved and all that was left was his assessment of her - as wrong as it was. She was more than this. More than her mistakes, more that these powers she didn’t understand from a father she hadn’t even known and a mother who hadn’t loved her.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been called something that, but it was the first time it hurt like this. She had been used to being pushed out of friend circles, used to being ignored, used to the low whispers and sideways glances, but… she hadn’t ever heard them from someone she had started to call her friend. Sort of. Maybe. Jason was warming up to her, and he was starting to grow on her, and she thought that maybe where could be more than just teammates between them. Maybe they could be friends.
Still…
Rachel sighed, her hand tightening across her eyes, and she winced. She couldn’t blame him for what he said, as much as she wanted to. She found herself wanting to hold onto the anger that was weaving into her soul, but she knew better than to do that. Her powers were growing, strengthening day by day, and they were starting to manifest in ways she couldn’t control. If the others saw… or if they knew… Would she still have a place here? Could she still call this home? Or would it be better if they just left her?
She winced again, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Kory would know what to do. She missed her so much.
“Rachel.”
She flung her hand off her face and sat up, seeing Jason frowning at her as he skulked through the space. His jaw clenched, and he whipped his head at her huffing annoyed breath through his nose. Rachel watched him, keeping her face unreadable. Jason somehow managed to wear every emotion possible in his expression, and that made him look more of a mess than he usually was. Lips twitching, he stomped past her, walking around the perimeter of the room before returning to the door and walking right out.
Rachel’s shoulders slumped, the weight of his presence pushing her further down. He was still mad at her, and honestly? She was still mad at herself. Rachel sighed and moved to stand up before the door was thrown open again, banging against the wall with a deafening sound. Rachel jolted and she stood there, watching Jason as he stepped into the room.
“I’m sorry.”
What? She blinked, unable to pull her eyes away as Jason turned around, walking back out of the space again. A moment passed and the doors opened again, albeit with less force this time. Jason took a step back into the room and sighed, he shoulders dropping.
“I’m sorry.”
She stood there, shock probably dipping off her face, and stared at him. Had Dick put him up to this? Dick had to have put him up to this, that was the only way she could ever see Jason apologizing for… anything really. He wasn’t exactly the type of person who admitted his mistakes and transgressions.
“Look.”
Rachel looked into his face, but he wasn’t meeting her stare. Instead he was turned away from her, as if looking at her would be too much.
“I… I didn’t mean it.” Jason sighed and his shoulders dropped an inch, out of relief or embarrassment, she didn’t know. His shifted again, obviously uncomfortable with whatever was weighing on him. “I don’t… I don’t think you’re a freak.” He puffed out his cheeks and sighed. “And I don’t want you to stay away from me.” He turned and looked the other way, still avoiding her stare. “You scared the shit out of me… and I… I lashed out.”
Rachel felt a teasing comment build on her lips, something snarky like her surprise at an apology from the one and only asshole, Jason Todd. But, whatever comment might have been building died before she spoke. He was trying to make amends, which was miles ahead of where he’d been even a few weeks before now. And, she couldn’t fault him for at least putting forth a little effort. Something in her chest turned over and grew warm, rising up her neck and staining her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice felt like it was swallowed by the sticky heat of the training room, the mats on the floor sucking up all the sound. “I… I should have been better… more careful. I didn’t… I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, and I didn’t mean to lose my control or my temper.” She shifted, pulling the long sleeves of her shirt over her hands, and she glanced away. “You’re… my friend, and I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you.”
The heavy silence that followed made her look up into his face, and Jason met her stare with a lopsided smirk. The one he usually wore when he felt like he had the upper hand in something. Rachel felt a slice of panic shoot through her chest, and she wondered what she had opened herself to.
“Friends?”
She waited for his own teasing comment, but Jason just nodded once in agreement, pursing his lips as if he thought that was a good idea.
“I can…” He paused turned the word over in his mind, weighing it. “I can do friends.”
The panic in her dissipated, leaving behind something like relief mingling with a soft, almost gentle warmth - something that felt suspiciously like home. Rachel took a step towards him, offering her own, thin smile. “Well… friends do say they’re sorry and admit when they make mistakes.”
Jason scoffed, huffing out a breath. “I never make mistakes.” His eyes lifted to the ceiling in a pantomime of thinking, that smirk returning to his lips. “Most of the time.”
“Oh, really? No mistakes at all?” Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and took another step closer to him, her own teasing smile pulling at her lips. “Maybe you should learn how to use an incognito tab if you’re going to be looking at porn. That’s definitely a mistake.”
He sneered at her, but it felt in good humor, and he started back out the door, motioning for her to follow. “Come on. Dick left the credit card out on the counter for dinner tonight and I’m thinking… lobster?”
She snorted. “You know that’s just a giant sea bug, right?”
Jason shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, but it’ll at least get him to realize not to trust me in picking out dinner.” His smile widened and he looked over at her as they walked down the hall, side-by-side. “And definitely not to trust me with a credit card.”
Rachel stifled a laugh into the back of her hand, and fell silent as she listened to Jason start rattling off what seemed like an unending list of way too expensive foods that he was going to order for dinner. That darkness in her ebbed slowly, driven away by the rough sound of his voice and the warmth of his company. The echoing voices and fears that wormed their way into the most tender part of her seemed to quiet, and for just a moment, she felt… okay. And that was better than she felt in a long time.
“Hey.”
Rachel glanced over at Jason, embarrassed she hadn’t realized that he’d stopped talking. A moment passed and he gave her a thin smile, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, and tapped the back of her hand with his knuckles.
Gar rounded the corner of the hallway, his grin so wide and bright that it banished any lingering shadows inside her. He lifted the credit card in front of their eyes. “Look what Dick left.”
Jason plucked it out of his hand with a laugh, digging through his pockets for his cell. “Rookie mistake, Dickie.”
Rachel was helpless against the breathy laugh that seemed to fill her chest and warm her. Home. That’s… that’s what this felt like. It felt like home. And right now, that was more than she could ask for.
OKAY NOWHERE IN THE GAME DOES THIS SAY IT AND I HAD TO TRIAL AND ERROR,,, For Edie's route-- Make sure you get her to C+ before month 2. And then *before* the third week of month 2 make sure you talk to her and follow her. And then during the holy tomb, side with her and you'll go into the second half of the game seeing her side of the story. // If you do the opposite of all that you get the "church" route which is the hardest of the game! HAVE FUN, THEY ARE DOOZIES.
I'm excited!!!!!! Also YEAH I was told somewhere that to get Edie's route you gotta do some weird specific stuff but i didnt know what it was so thank you!!!
I'm gonna,, finish the side story first but I'm PUMPED to see what fuck goddamn Edie's whole deal is