History TearJerker / TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum

* We get to see Kraber's HeelRealization that he mentioned in ''Calm'' where he decided to spare two ponies... and find that his mental state is [[UpToEleven even worse than it is at the time of the main story]].

* Gale (the canon universe counterpart of Aquamarine Glimmer's husband and Comet Tail's father) expressing his rage and heartache over what happened to his family's counterparts. His heartache and worry over what happened to TCB!Comet (who is a ChildSoldier) is the stuff AdultFear is made out of, as well as his desire [[PapaWolf to rip TCB!Celestia a new one for what she did]] to them and knowing he can't do much.

* He may be an AxCrazy SociopathicHero, but when you get down to it, Kraber's backstory is pretty awful. He accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant while they were still in college, but he stepped up to the plate nonetheless and worked very hard to get his medical degree, and he succeeded at that, living a perfectly happy life with his family... and then he promptly [[AdultFear lost his children]] to TCB!Pinkie Pie (which [[ItsAllMyFault he feels is his fault]], because he hired her to plan out his kids' birthday party). It's clear that this and his time in the HLF didn't have the best effect on his sanity. Oh, and because the only way to free the newfoals from the mind control is to MercyKill them, he's going to end up losing his children all over again.

** The simple fact that this is the last thing that will ever be published for the original Spectrumverse.
** In [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/944523/so-long-i-guess-a-reflection-on-old-times-and-looking-forward-and-beyond the blog post]] she made in conjunction with the chapter, Kizuna Tallis announced she was leaving ''Spectrum'' altogether, having been feeling too burnt out by bad experiences and being unable to summon the passion to flesh whatever ideas she had out. Even worse, it came at the same time as [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/944525/a-purposefully-underwhelming-blog Doctor Fluffy]] admitting he couldn't muster the desire to write for the universe anymore either and wanted to move on to other projects.

* A retroactive one mentioned under FridgeHorror. It's been confirmed that all of the TCB!Mane Six, the Royal Guards, and most of the Equestrians were brainwashed. Whether or not Princess Celestia is able to free them from the Queen's control, just [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone will they react]] when they realize what they have done to the humans? No matter which one it is, it won't be pleasant.

* In order to become the mindlessly cheerful zombies they are now, the Newfoals' souls are literally broken to pieces and bound to Queen Celestia's will. Even worse, according to the zebras' elder shaman, it is utterly ''impossible'' to repair said souls until the Newfoals themselves are dead, meaning even if the Queen is defeated, only [[MercyKill mass]] [[GenocideDilemma euthanasia]] will return them to normal (and that's only if they don't simply just fall over dead once the Bag of Tirek is neutralized).

* Continuing from a similar line of thought on the {{Fridge}} page, what of the friends and relatives of the TCB!Mane Six who've not been mentioned so far, like Twilight Velvet and Night Light, the extended Apple clan, Magnum and Pearl, Maud Pie and the rest of Pinkie's family, Prism Flash [[note]]the name of Rainbow Dash's father in this fic[[/note]], Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Fluttershy's family, among others? Given how TCB!Applejack couldn't be there for her dying grandmother due to the uncaring homunculus implanted in her mind to carry out Queen Celestia's will, not to mention the fact that TCB!Shining Armor was brainwashed like the rest of the Royal Guards by the Geas, just how damaged have the TCB!Mane Six's relationships with their families become? And to say nothing [[AdultFear of the pain and fear]] their parents and siblings must feel over the girls being in the middle of a war, committing xenocide on an entire species to boot.

** Even worse is how Luna first encounters an inner Twilight, who is a scared, helpless little filly crying out for her parents and Shining Armor to come to her rescue, sobbing that something is hurting her. And then Luna finds the real TCB!Twilight, who is so utterly broken by everything she's been forced to witness that she desperately begs and pleads with Luna to MercyKill her and her friends, because she literally just can't keep going on like this anymore and to end everyone's suffering. [[TheWoobie Poor]] [[BreakTheCutie Twilight]]...

** In the same chapter, Princess Celestia [[AscendedFridgeHorror acknowledges]] some FridgeHorror:

* "Sons of Legacies, Part 2" has Stephan facing the Dark Door, being shown his worst fears. It's hard not to feel for the guy when he's shaken out of the door's hold on him, and [[InelegantBlubbering completely]] [[HeroicBSOD breaks down]] [[BrokenTears sobbing]].

** TCB!Fancy Pants thinks about how far Equestria has fallen and the depths Celestia has sank to as he tries to keep a good face on for his wife and the public while keeping his dealings as TheMole for the PHL a secret. At the end, Fleur discovers what he's been doing, and after a brief confrontation, a newfoal butler in their home overhears this and tries to kill them. Fancy sends Fleur off with the trust that she'll do the right thing, before [[RetiredBadass taking his old swords out for one last run]], killing several newfoals and [[HeroicSacrifice blowing up the house]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome with him and Queen Celestia inside to buy his wife more time to escape safely]].

** The real TCB!Pinkie Pie breaking down sobbing as Rockwell tries to snap her back to her senses. It's especially heartwrenching because this is ''[[FunPersonified Pinkie]] [[GenkiGirl Pie]]'' we're talking about here. BreakTheCutie doesn't even '''begin''' to come close to describing how bad this all is.

*** He's also waiting for his brother to come home on Hearthswarming, as he promised. His brother is a Royal Guard, fighting in the war on Earth, and it's [[FridgeHorror heavily implied from his mother's tone,]] that he's been killed in action.

** Even worse is that when he and TCB!Rarity found out what was happening to the other TCB!Elements, they tried to escape but failed, ending [[spoiler: in Rarity [[AndIMustScream being imprisoned in her own mind]] while a dark personality is using her body as a vessel to carry out Queen Celestia's will on the humans and being all but completely powerless to stop this]].
* A retroactive one mentioned under FridgeHorror. It's been confirmed that [[spoiler: all of the TCB!Mane Six, the Royal Guards, and most of the Equestrians were brainwashed. Whether or not Princess Celestia is able to free them from the Queen's control]], just [[DrivenToMadness how]] [[DrivenToSuicide will they]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone re]][[VillainousBreakdown act]] when they realize what they have done to the humans? No matter which one it is, it won't be pleasant.
* [[TheWoobie TCB!Cadance's]] life is not pleasant either. When the war commenced, the love of her life, Shining Armor, [[spoiler:has been brainwashed and]] left her without a second thought to serve the Queen. Not only that, but according to Marcus:
-->'''Marcus:''' "Last time I even met Shining Armor, he attempted to subdue his wife and drag her to the Tyrant with a smile."

* In order to become the mindlessly cheerful zombies they are now, the Newfoals' souls are literally broken to pieces and bound to Queen Celestia's will. Even worse, [[spoiler:according to the zebra's elder shaman, it is utterly ''impossible'' to repair said souls until the Newfoals themselves are dead, meaning even if the Queen is defeated, only [[MercyKill mass]] [[GenocideDilemma euthanasia]] will return them to normal (and that's only if they don't simply just fall over dead once the Bag of Tirek is neutralized)]].

* King Spykoran was [[spoiler: forced to annihilate Dream Valley to ensure the Bag would never be used again. Let that sink in. [[ShootTheDog He was forced to kill everyone he knew and loved and their entire families]], just for that... and in at least one universe, it didn't work]].

* TCB!Scootaloo [[spoiler: loses her wings due to a necrotic disease. The fact that much of the first half of "The Writes of Passage" was AllJustADream and a HopeSpot for her only makes the impact harder]].

* Continuing from a similar line of thought on the {{Fridge}} page, what of the friends and relatives of the TCB!Mane Six who've not been mentioned so far, like Twilight Velvet and Night Light, the extended Apple clan, Magnum and Pearl, Maud Pie and the rest of Pinkie's family, Prism Flash [[note]]the name of Rainbow Dash's father in this fic[[/note]], Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Fluttershy's family, among others? Given how TCB!Applejack couldn't be there for her dying grandmother [[spoiler: due to the uncaring homunculus implanted in her mind to carry out Queen Celestia's will, not to mention the fact that TCB!Shining Armor was brainwashed like the rest of the Royal Guards by the Geas]], just how damaged have the TCB!Mane Six's relationships with their families become? And to say nothing [[AdultFear of the pain and fear]] their parents and siblings must feel over the girls being in the middle of a war, committing xenocide on an entire species to boot.
* In Chapter 14, TCB!Doctor Whooves hauntedly reminisces how after [[spoiler: [[Series/DoctorWho all his years of running]]]], it seemed that he could finally settle down with a wife and children, only for a new darkness to appear on the horizon when Celestia became Queen.

* Canon!Luna [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind explores TCB!Twilight's mind to dig out some secrets]] in "For Whom the Bell Tolls". She discovers that [[spoiler: Twilight initially opposed the ponification of humanity, and was downright frightened by the cursed magic behind the potion. She ended up getting [[AndIMustScream imprisoned within her own mind]] and her body taken over with a puppet personality constructed by the Bag of Tirek. Over all this time, she could only helplessly watch as the same thing happened to her friends, see Spike get tortured, and her body used as a puppet to commit xenocide on the humans]]. No wonder Luna flew into an UnstoppableRage at the chapter's end.
** Even worse is how [[spoiler: Luna first encounters an inner Twilight, who is a scared, helpless little filly crying out for her parents and Shining Armor to come to her rescue, sobbing that something is hurting her. And then Luna finds the real TCB!Twilight, who is so utterly broken by everything she's been forced to witness that she desperately begs and pleads with Luna to MercyKill her and her friends, because she literally just can't keep going on like this anymore and to end everyone's suffering. [[TheWoobie Poor]] [[BreakTheCutie Twilight]]]]...
** Aside from the pure unadulterated NightmareFuel of [[spoiler: Not!Twilight's prototype potion tests, there is just the visual of several innocent people screaming and crying as their family members (children included) are being killed by the FlawedPrototype versions of the serum before they get picked off themselves. Of note is the scene where the first successful conversion takes place — all we see is a poor woman screaming in Spanish that the Newfoal dancing on the table is not her daughter. All the while, Luna [[BreakTheBadass can only watch]] in utter horror]].
* In "Sons of Legacies, Part 1" [[spoiler: Canon!Sombra {{Mind Rape}}s Marcus to feed off his despair and guilt, by conjuring images of his friends (including TCB!Lyra and Nurse Sutra Cross[[note]]a PHL nurse that was raped, tortured and murdered by the HLF[[/note]]) and family members (including his father, who declares Marcus [[IHaveNoSon "a disappointment"]]) that all died during the war]]. As if Marcus wasn't a massive {{woobie}} already...

-->"Exactly," Celestia nodded, shivering from the memory of what had happened [[spoiler: to the other version of her precious student, and what that implied for the other Elements. Oh, it would either be a miracle or an unparalleled cruelty if their true personalities resurfaced completely sane! She struggled not to think about their adjustment back into society, if — no no, there was no if, there had to be a when — they managed to free them from her dark self's interests. She foresaw mass suicide, insanity—]]

* "Sons of Legacies, Part 3" has [[spoiler: Discord in Marcus' mind]] realizing that what Marcus fears most is the death of others for ''him'' when he doesn't feel worth it.

* In "Training Days: First Days Part 2", the assembled armies of Equus are brought together to a [[spoiler:full recreation of New York City, courtesy of Discord. And they are treated to a show of newfoals ruthlessly descending upon humans and the ensuing carnage and despair]].
** King Spykoran's [[spoiler:flashback to a moment with Megan showing him a picture of a helicopter. What clinches it is that he does weep during this]].
-->[[spoiler:'''Megan:''' (in flashback) "Trust me Spike, we've got so many things that you and the ponies of Dream Valley could only ever imagine. I wish I could take you with me to Earth someday..."]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Spykoran:''' (present-day) "I'm here now Megan... I'm here now..."]]

* 'Training Days: The Second Month': Acevedo, TCB!Vinyl and a small group of fellow soldiers have gotten to work to see where the PointOfDivergence between Canon!Equestria and TCB!Equestria happened. Marcus tries to stop them, even activating his runes and threatening to mess Acevedo up. This, as well as the revelation that [[spoiler:TCB!Lyra was the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom in all this]], nearly causes Vinyl to lose all her trust in Marcus, and though the two make up, it's clear things aren't going to be complete smooth sailing from hereon out.
** What's worse is how this shows just how deeply traumatized Marcus himself is. He, for many good reasons, feels that everything he's gone through, lost and worked so hard for could all be lost if the news that [[spoiler:TCB!Lyra was the one that freed Tirek (albeit, accidentally)]] were to come out.

* The chapter "Final Words", where Marcus [[spoiler:wonders about his mother's final moments, and his realization in hindsight that Megan ''did'' want to tell him and Jacob, but by that point, keeping her Dream Valley adventures a secret had become almost second nature to her and she was afraid they wouldn't believe her]].
* From the chapter 'Only Human': the death of [[spoiler:Berry Punch]], to everyone involved. Ana's reaction is that of despair and utterly unforgiving rage at the [[spoiler:Blue Spy]], and Cheerilee, her [[spoiler:sister is at an utter loss of words]]. But most of all, Ruby's heartbroken reaction compounds the fact that she's just lost a [[spoiler: mother]].

* What happened to [[spoiler:TCB!Chrysalis. When the first newfoals came to Equestria, full of love for Queen Celestia, Chrysalis and the changeling hive thought they were in for an all-you-can-eat-buffet. However, the newfoals' love was tainted and every changeling that fed on it became sick. Whatever remained of the hive pulled a desperate LastStand to smuggle Chrysalis to Earth where she could hide out and safely replenish their numbers... only for her to discover the newfoals' poisoned love had rendered her eggs sterile, making their sacrifice [[SenselessSacrifice all for naught]], and leaving Chrysalis as the LastOfHerKind for a good few years before she herself succumbs to the poisoned love [[BodyHorror rotting her body away from the inside]]]]. Sure, she was one of the series' worst villains, but that is still [[AlasPoorVillain pretty rough]], plus it helps that [[spoiler:she spent those last few years helping the PHL, particularly training TCB!Trixie in becoming a shapeshifter and giving Stephan his [[{{BFS}} Claymore]]]].

** TCB!Fancy Pants thinks about how far Equestria has fallen and the depths Celestia has sank to as he tries to keep a good face on for his wife and the public while keeping his dealings as TheMole for the PHL a secret. At the end, Fleur discovers what he's been doing, and after a brief confrontation, a newfoal butler in their home overhears this and tries to kill them. Fancy sends Fleur off with the trust that she'll do the right thing, before [[spoiler: [[RetiredBadass taking his old swords out for one last run]], killing several newfoals and [[HeroicSacrifice blowing up the house]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome with him and Queen Celestia inside to buy his wife more time to escape safely]]]].
** There's a brief mention that TCB!Shining Armor ([[spoiler:who was [[MindControl placed under a geas]] into obeying every one of Queen Celestia's orders]]) personally destroyed every statue, painting, and anything else containing Cadance's likeness. Ouch.

* He may be an AxCrazy SociopathicHero, but when you get down to it, Kraber's backstory is pretty awful. He accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant while they were still in college, but he stepped up to the plate nonetheless and worked very hard to get his medical degree, and he succeeded at that, living a perfectly happy life with his family... and then he promptly [[AdultFear lost his children]] to TCB!Pinkie Pie (which [[ItsAllMyFault he feels is his fault]], because he hired her to plan out his kids' birthday party). It's clear that this and his time in the HLF didn't have the best effect on his sanity. Oh, and because the only way to [[spoiler:free the newfoals from the mind control is to MercyKill them, he's going to end up losing his children all over again]].

* Rockwell's backstory. The old stallion has lost just about everyone and everything - his wife and daughter are forced into hiding out on Earth for their own protection, his brother is comatose due to [[spoiler:Rockwell trying to keep the geis from corrupting him, and that's not even getting to the things he was forced to witness when he was forced on a [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind journey through the minds of the TCB!Mane Six and Queen Celestia]], even coming face to face with Tirek himself]].
** Even worse are the [[spoiler:TCB!Mane Six's true selves crying out in pain, and for someone, ''anything'', to end everyone's suffering. Especially heartbreaking are TCB!Applejack sobbing out apologies to her family, TCB!Pinkie Pie screaming "I'm not making them smile!" and TCB!Rarity feeling pathetic that she couldn't protect Sweetie Belle and Spike]].
* We get to see exactly what went on during Rockwell's [[spoiler:journey through the minds of the TCB!Mane Six and Queen Celestia. He's revealed to also be related to Applejack by being married to her distant aunt and Pinkie Pie by being a member of the Rock/Pie family, and his heartache over not being able save either of them (especially considering the horrific torture they've been forced to endure thanks to the Homunculi that have taken over them) is especially harsh]].
** [[spoiler:The real TCB!Pinkie Pie breaking down sobbing as Rockwell tries to snap her back to her senses. It's especially heartwrenching because this is ''[[FunPersonified Pinkie]] [[GenkiGirl Pie]]'' we're talking about here]]. BreakTheCutie doesn't even '''begin''' to come close to describing how bad this all is.

** Even sadder is that New Bloom is actually [[spoiler:the ponified form of Verity Carter's mother Jazmin, a transwoman who was turned into a stallion by the potion]].

* Is Verity a {{Jerkass}}? Yeah. But it turns out that, in some ways, her backstory rivals Kraber's for sheer torment, possibly outright beating it. Her mother, Jazmin, a Mormon who was [[PersonaNonGrata exiled from her church]] for [[spoiler:being transgender]], suffered from early-onset Alzheimer's and took the potion, only for it to [[spoiler:turn her into a stallion]] and much like what we saw earlier with Jacob, held such contempt and disgust for her former human self, all the while TCB!Pinkie Pie gleefully said that it 'fixed' her. And from there, it all went downhill.

* The last update of ''Light Despondent'', which makes it the last update for the classic Spectrumverse (aside from the ending Kizuna Tallis promised for ''Asia''). The fact that it's titled "Let It Die" may not help, though WordOfGod is that he was just in a "very [[VideoGame/LetItDie Suda 51 sort of mood]]" when he titled it [[HarsherInHindsight months before the split.]] As Fluffy says in the author's notes:

[[folder: Meta]]
* [[http://haruaxeman.deviantart.com/art/I-need-a-hug-523830322?ga_submit_new=10%253A1430333824&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1 This art]] by Doctor Fluffy, aptly titled "I need a hug." For extra pathos, the TCB counterpart to the pony he's hugging is the reason he needs a hug in the first place.
* The ''very'' acrimonious [[WeUsedToBeFriends split between the Spectrum Authors]] in May 2017. Seeing this group of [[TrueCompanions close friends who loved working together]] breaking up on such bitter terms over CreativeDifferences and [[TroubledProduction troubles behind the scenes]] is incredibly disheartening.
** Making this even sadder is that many of the authors had some awful {{Creator Breakdown}}s in the time leading up to, during, and after the split.
*** Red (whose increasingly difficult attitude many in the group pointed to as the main cause of the breakdown of the team) had been dealing with problems in his job and family life through 2016 but kept his frustration over those things bottled up, which only led to him behaving in an explosive manner towards his co-writers; since the split, he took a long break from writing to gather his thoughts and generally felt [[ItsAllMyFault disappointed in himself]] for the way he'd behaved, as it led to the dissolution of his friendships with the team and the cancellation of his passion project, ultimately leaving Fimfiction and moving on to different projects and platforms (mainly [=AO3=]).
*** Doctor Fluffy (who truly did consider Red one of his best friends in the early days) has become deeply resentful of Red and the original iteration of the Spectrumverse in general, stating in no uncertain terms that any good memories he had of those have been [[DespairEventHorizon irrevocably tainted by the later bad memories,]] and is angry at himself for not doing enough and not defending his friends.
*** Kizuna Tallis was the one member of the group who still kept correspondence with Red out of sympathy and to be a supportive friend, but eventually couldn't maintain it anymore, stating that she was sick of being forced to choose sides and staying in a friendship that was becoming increasingly toxic and emotionally draining for her, and while they did ultimately reconcile, she's admitted that the friendship could never again be what it used to.
*** Jed admitted in a later recollection that he had grappled with near-suicidal thoughts during the time period from a combination of stressful events, including job hunting, taking care of his family (with two toddler-aged children), and planning out his wedding. What's worse is that he truly felt respect and gratitude towards Red for inviting him to work on the main story, only for that respect to be [[BrokenPedestal shattered]] over the events that led to the bitter split.
*** While the other authors had some sort of emotional support in their offline lives during the fallout (family members or other friends), [=Sledge115=] largely had to deal with it on his own, stating that he was afraid his parents would make him cut off all contact with the rest of the team and stop working on the story if they knew what was going on with his fallout with Red and the true extent of the emotional toll it had on him.
*** While they weren't as prominent as the others, Dustchu (author of the small side story ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/277176/tcb-fear-the-unknown Fear the Unknown]]'') and Red Bomber (author of ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/250025/harmonious-stronghold Harmonious Stronghold]]'') both expressed heartbreak over the situation and wishing they could've done something to prevent the split.
*** While he didn't suffer as much emotional upheaval as the others, [=VoxAdam=] didn't have an easy go of it either, as Red [[TheScapegoat blamed him primarily]] for causing the story to [[ArcFatigue drag out in its last chapter arcs]], which led to some vocal members of the FanDumb to mob Vox with unpleasant bullying messages.
*** Carpinus Caroliniana just [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere up and vanished]] during this whole debacle.
* While it's been long deleted, Red stated in a blog post that the character of Marcus was named for a deceased uncle that he had been close to in his childhood. While the character did often have his issues both in and out of the story, it nevertheless is clear that the character was incredibly important to him. It also adds more dimension to the authors' choice to have Marcus be AdaptedOut of [[Fanfic/{{SPECTRUM}} the reboot]] because they figured it would be in poor taste if they kept him around.
[[/folder]]

** TCB!Fancy Pants thinks about how far Equestria has fallen and the depths Celestia has sank to as he tries to keep a good face on for his wife and the public while keeping his dealings as a ReverseMole for the PHL a secret. At the end, Fleur discovers what he's been doing, and after a brief confrontation, a newfoal butler in their home overhears this and tries to kill them. Fancy sends Fleur off with the trust that she'll do the right thing, before [[spoiler: [[RetiredBadass taking his old swords out for one last run]], killing several newfoals and [[HeroicSacrifice blowing up the house]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome with him and Queen Celestia inside to buy his wife more time to escape safely]]]].

*** Red (whose increasingly difficult attitude many in the group pointed to as the main cause of the breakdown of the team) had been dealing with problems in his job and family life through 2016 but kept his frustration over those things bottled up, which only led to him behaving in an explosive manner towards his co-writers; since the split, he's taken a long break from writing to gather his thoughts and generally feels lonely and [[ItsAllMyFault disappointed in himself]] for the way he'd behaved, as it led to the dissolution of his friendships with the team and the cancellation of his passion project.

*** Kizuna Tallis was the one member of the group who still kept correspondence with Red out of sympathy and to be a supportive friend, but eventually couldn't maintain it anymore, stating that she was sick of being forced to choose sides and staying in a friendship that was becoming increasingly toxic and emotionally draining for her, and while she has left open the possibility for reconciling, she's admitted that the friendship could never again be what it used to.

* 'Close Enough to Lose. While it is [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming sweet to see]] some of the side characters' lives in a more peaceful environment through their Prime!Counterparts, it also drives in just how much these normal ponies have lost and how much the war has changed them.

*** While the other authors had some sort of emotional support in their offline lives during the fallout (family members or other friends), [=Sledge115=] largely had to deal with it on his own, stating that he was afraid his parents would make him cut off all contact with the rest of the team and stop working on the story if they knew what was going on with his fallout with Red.

*** Doctor Fluffy (who truly did consider Red one of his best friends in the early days) has become deeply resentful of Red and the original iteration of the Spectrumverse in general, stating in no uncertain terms that any good memories he had of those have been irrevocably tainted by the later bad memories.

*** Red (whose increasingly difficult attitude many in the group pointed to as the main cause of the breakdown of the team) had been dealing with problems in his job and family life through 2016 but kept his frustration over those things bottled up, which only led to him behaving in an explosive manner towards his co-writers; since the split, he's taken a long break from writing to gather his thoughts and generally feels lonely and [[ItsAllMyFault blames himself]] for the dissolution of the team and the events that led to the cancellation of his passion project.

*** Kizuna Tallis was the one member of the group who still kept correspondence with Red out of sympathy and to be a supportive friend, but eventually couldn't maintain it anymore, stating that she was sick of being forced to choose sides and sticking in a friendship that was becoming increasingly toxic and emotionally draining for her, and while she has left open the possibility for reconciling, she's admitted that the friendship could never again be what it used to.

* The last update of Light Despondent - which makes it the last update for classic Spectrum, ever. The fact that it's titled "Let It Die" may not help, though word of Fluffy is that he was just in a "very [[VideoGame/LetItDie Suda 51 sort of mood]]" when he titled it [[HarsherInHindsight months before the split.]] As Fluffy says in the author's notes:
-->'''Fluffy''': "But wait," some of you may be asking, "Isn't the old Spectrumverse canceled? And doesn't that mean that Light Despondent is over?"

-->Yeah. It does. This will be the last update of Light Despondent as it currently is. Any more writing I do for Spectrum, or fimfic (assuming that I don't end up creating a non-TCB idea) will take place in the new SPECTRUM continuity reboot. Because - and I can't stress this enough - I can't write in the old continuity.

-->I just... I just can't. And so I'm posting this last chapter, written by me and Jed, because, well, why not? It was pretty much complete, it was around, and this is as close to closure as I can give you, what with the chapter immediately after this being unfinished indefinitely.

-->If you want more Light Despondent, more Fluffy, then check out my most recent stories, Light Despondent Remixed and The Slow Mutants."

*** While the other authors had some sort of emotional support in their offline lives during the fallout (family members or other friends), [=Sledge115=] largely had to deal with it on his own, stating that he was afraid his parents would make him cut off all contact with the rest of the team if they knew what was going on with his fallout with Red.