#| In Character |

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Pearl looks up when Valor starts to move, tilting her head. Flicker is still resting, so she assumes that the requisite for sleep has not passed yet.

She swiftly puts her screen back together, and creeps over towards him.

❝Why are you awake?❞ She says softly, at barely more than a whisper. She doesn't want to disturb Flicker, but Valor being awake is puzzling, after the lengthy explanation given for why he and Flicker need to sleep. ❝Do you not need sleep?❞

Hm. Maybe they needed to get a third cloak. Or at least some actual blankets. He had no idea how to make any of those from scratch, how to properly preserve animal furs, but if they were able to trade with the nearby humans despite the language barrier . . .

Titan he dreaded the thought of actively going up to any stranger to ask for one, though. Pearl was different. Pearl overrode that, because they were in a very bad situation that he needed to rescue them from. But a random person he knew nothing about? He was going to avoid that as long as possible.

"Thank you," he said, taking the cloak and wrapping it around himself before lying down to sleep.

Or at least trying to. The cloak certainly helped in feeling safer, but he couldn't stop thinking about how much danger they were in. How easily some other gem could just walk into the cave looking for Pearl and find them all. It wasn't as if they had any defenses other than, what, a curtain of plants? And if the only two people who could fight were out of commission, asleep, when they came in, then they'd be far too late to do anything about it.

Titan, what the fuck did he get himself into?

He couldn't get to sleep. It just wasn't happening. He was tired, and he so desperately wanted to, as he listened to Pearl taking apart their screen (he hoped they'd be able to put that back together, because it was an essential tool in learning each other's languages), but the threat loomed over him, and he just couldn't.

He gave up a few hours into the night. Rather than say anything to Pearl, however, he crawled over to the mouth of the cave and silently sat down there, forming his staff and setting it on his lap. He felt better keeping guard. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep anyway.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

@goldenbeastkeeper

They were in no hurry to head out to the desert, to investigate the place Lion told them about. Especially not after the way everything went down with Bismuth.

Pearl is hesitant to do it now, at the start of July. Mere days away from-

The corrupting light flashes in her mind, and she has to close her eyes and carefully control her breathing, four seconds in, hold, four seconds out. She puts a hand on Garnet's arm to be a guide as they walk through the sand, since she's walking blind with her eyes closed.

Garnet knows this time of year is difficult. It's not exactly enjoyable for her either; they've talked about it before. But they can't just stop everything every year for this. They manage, and Pearl can manage now. But stars, she wishes they weren't doing this in July.

❝We're here,❞ Garnet says just as they stop, so Pearl doesn't run into her.

Pearl doesn't open her eyes yet, as she hears Steven and Amethyst start to rummage around.

❝Are you okay?❞ Garnet asks quietly, and Pearl nods.

❝I only need a second,❞ she responds. ❝You know how this time of year is.❞

❝Mm.❞ And then Garnet walks away from her too.

❝Hey, who's Nora?❞ Steven shouts, and Pearl opens her eyes.

❝That was the other name Rose and your father had in mind for you,❞ she says, searching around for Steven in the crumbled building, but her eyes catch instead on the large pink structure on the other side of the only intact wall.

❝Her ship-❞ She gasps, before her hands clasp over her mouth.

All this time. All this time. Pearl had assumed that the other three Diamonds took Pink's ship with them! That if she still had it, Rose would have SAID SOMETHING!

Rose knew how trapped Pearl has felt on Earth at times. And she still had her ship. She just let Pearl suffer for no reason. It's not as if Pearl wanted to go home, just out there. To visit, to feel like she had the choice to live on Earth, rather than being stranded.

She takes several steps backward. No one has noticed her distress yet, too busy picking through the piles of stuff Rose has left here. She can't let them see. It's not as if she can explain. Not really.

They don't know that it's Rose's ship.

Lock it down. Stop breathing. Control it. DON'T FEEL IT.

She grabs her own wrist to forcibly yank her hand away from her mouth, and heads over to Garnet.

❝Garnet,❞ she says low, and urgently.

❝You can't handle this today?❞ Garnet says, before Pearl even finds the specific excuse to leave now.

❝I'm sorry. I thought I'd be able to but-❞ She points at the ship without looking at it. Pink Diamond's ship. ❝I can't.❞

Garnet takes off her visor, looking intently in the direction Pearl is pointing. ❝... Is... that Pink Diamonds ship? Did Rose steal it?❞

She looks back at Pearl, who is working very diligently to not completely break down right here. To keep the feelings under lock and key.

Garnet knows that Pink Diamond is a very bad topic for Pearl. That she's easily and deeply upset by any mention of her. She doesn't know the half of it, but that has, at least, made it easier to avoid the topic over the years. And it's an out, now.

❝... Go. It mostly seems like junk here anyway. Aside from... that. We can handle it.❞

Pearl doesn't need to hear it twice before taking off. Garnet will explain for her to Amethyst and Steven.

She barely away from them when the tears start, and even in a full sprint, she's sobbing by the time she reaches the warp pad.

ALL THIS TIME. Rose still had her ship ALL THIS TIME. THE ENTIRE TIME.

She warps out, going up to the temple hand, because hopefully she won't be disturbed up there.

She could just claimed to have stolen it, as Garnet immediately assumed, if she was worried about the others asking questions. She didn't have to hide the ship from ANYONE.

She especially didn't have to hide it from Pearl.

She hid it from Pearl. Why would she-

Get it together Pearl. They're not going to be out there forever. You CAN'T BE LIKE THIS WHEN THEY GET BACK!

WHY WOULD SHE HIDE IT!?

Stop- stop- stop- AH SHE'S SUPPOSED TO CALL VALOR!

She fumbles her brand new phone out of her gem, and it takes several attempts for her to open the contacts and call him with how badly her hands are shaking.

She doesn't really have much coherent to say when the call is answered, choking out something about Lion and the desert in between sobs, clinging to her phone like a lifeline.

[scientistredacted]

‘ i’m not leaving you behind! ’ // maybe Collector finds him in the void or something hehe

❝WHAT CHOICE DO YOU HAVE, CHILD?❞

He tries not to let the bitterness color his tone, but it's hard not to be bitter in these brief moments of clarity. Even now, in one of the better moments. he's far from whole, missing large chunks of memory, of himself, and the pain is never ending.

The child is a curiosity, a good distraction from the inherent torture of this place- if the void could even be called a place- but no matter what they might hope, Gaster can't leave here.

Even if he could, he doesn't deserve to-

Why? he knows he doesn't but the reason is just out of reach

❝THERE'S NO OUT FOR ME.❞

[strategypillar]

Older than history itself

What if the oldest vampire was a Neanderthal girl 🤔

[onebadnoodle]

dipper and mabel bad end where they end up like ford and stan

[kittarts]

New Coraline design drop

[laurenillustrated]

Mystery Inc. but it’s the 1890s

Who had late Victorian Scooby Doo on their 2024 bingo card? Hmm?

The idea came to me when I was thinking about Sherlock Holmes and then remembered the iconic mystery solving gang hehe

[taahko]

i think some of you dont like narratives or stories or characters i think you just like fanfiction tropes

[sunriseovergotham]

characters have to be a little bit awful in ways that you cant defend. its good for the ecosystem. your honor he did do that. He did in fact do that

[whalefill]

i don't have a cool culture to draw her in for the trend but uhh. hatsu-knight miku

edit: @hanaa-yousef has asked me to include the link to her fundraiser; please donate or share to help her and her family to safety! (this is a vetted gofundme, you can check for yourself)

[bluumey]

Original design by molenaide

African American Miku! There's a trend on Twitter where people are drawing Miku from different countries and in cultural clothing, and of course, I had to jump on this cute design. 🇺🇸🦅🩵

[littleivyart]

Appalachian Miku

[pacexlikexaxghost]

@goldenbeastkeeper

The summer heat has been with them for some time now, the coastline baking in humidity.

It's the early morning when Garnet walks into Rose's room, where she and Pearl are. Pearl is laying back across Rose's lap, laughing as she tells some story that Pearl isn't even listening to, and the room plays it out around them.

❝I've found one,❞ Garnet says, and Pearl sits bolt upright, her fingers raking through the clouds as she shifts off of Rose's lap, looking expectantly at Garnet.

❝Found one what?❞ Rose asks, and Pearl shoots her a look. There's only one thing that Garnet could be referring to, talking about it like that.

❝A portal to Valor and Flicker's home.❞ She pauses, and looks towards Pearl. ❝Sort of.❞

Pearl stands up slowly. ❝What do you mean sort of?❞

❝Their family isn't there. The one I've found will last about a day and a half, and it goes to their world, but they are also out of time. I see that there could be trouble if they went in unprepared, so we would have to warn them.❞ She frowns. ❝They would be happier going back to that world; no worry over witch hunters and life around them that they're more familiar with.❞

Pearl isn't expecting the painful jolt in her chest at those words. She wants the two of them to get home; she does, and if they would be happier there, even without their family-

❝Oh, well, I'm glad we were able to help them!❞ Rose chirps, jumping to her feet and putting an arm around Pearl's shoulders. ❝It'll be a shame to see them go; they've been such a delight to have around.❞

❝They're both so young! Especially Flicker! They shouldn't be on their own!❞ Pearl blurts out, and Garnet chuckles.

❝I also saw that reaction. Go pack; you'll get a stable portal eventually.❞

Pearl squeaks, and shoots an anxious look towards Rose, who's started giggling.

❝Go! Go!❞

Pearl doesn't need told thrice, darting to the passage to her room.

❝She's acting like a Mom to Flicker, right? Or am I crazy?❞ Rose says the moment she's out of the room.

❝Not crazy. Go tell them; I'll wait at the Warp Pad.❞

❝How long will she be gone?❞ Rose nods towards the passage to Pearl's room. ❝Not too long, I hope? You know how she gets when left to her own devices.❞

❝Not too long. She'll be fine.❞

Rose nods, and takes off out of the Temple and towards the burrow on the other side of the cliff.

❝Guess what!❞ She says excitedly to the pair. ❝We have a portal!! Garnet found one!❞

[scientistredacted]

((For the memes)) “Yes. I am telling you what to do. I’m telling you not to pull something like that again because— ‘cause fucking hell. I care about you. Okay?”

❝OH- JUST RELAX-❞ Gaster says at once, raising his hands defensively, ❝IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL.❞

He's sure she won't be convinced. Alex has a remarkable way of telling when he's not being entirely honest with her, especially in regards to his own wellbeing, and he's not exactly feeling stellar at the moment.

Of course, she had reason to worry. He did just disappear from her house in the middle of the night. It was a void nightmare, and he couldn't make himself wake her up for company. So, he ended up going on a walk to try to clear his head, and he found himself walking up towards the mountain, to the Underground. He actually hadn't personally returned since Alphys had helped him out in the immediate wake of his escape from the void.

Maybe it was the thought of his impending confession that brought him to that spot in the CORE where he went in. That lead him to just sitting there- one hand tightly gripping the railing- for nearly an hour, watching the magically charged magma swirl. Truly it was miserable. Not just the memory, but the place itself. As proud as he was of this idea, of the CORE, he's always hated Hotland.

And that thought finally brought him back to his feet, to visit his old home in Snowden. He never really had a chance to say goodbye to the place. The last time he was there... he didn't know it would be the last time.

The house, of course, was empty. Papyrus and Sans took everything from their home to the surface. All of Snowden is deserted, the usually cheery place feeling sad for the emptiness.

He didn't linger there for long, as that sadness that came with his old home being like this reminded him of the closest thing to home that he has anymore. And he rushed back there, realizing how much his absence probably worried her (to say nothing of how little sleep he got, or that fact that he hasn't eaten since dinner yesterday).

And given the trek back, it was the late evening by the time he got there. He tried to point out that, as a grown adult, he can make his own decisions of what he does with his time, but she... shot that right down, of course. Because she cares about him.

❝I AM SORRY, THOUGH. I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO WORRY, ALEX.❞

[111papilio]

brazil miku