#DONT FLAME ME PLS

[glassofapplejuicee]

quick prom modern au bc these fellas have rotted my brain

“Robin you’ve got this all wrong!” Steve whined, pacing around his room.

“If I’m so wrong then why are you all worked up about this huh?”

Damn that was a good point, why was he so worked up about this? It wasn’t like he actually liked Billy or anything like that. It was just a funny bit that Robin liked to play, the classic ‘Steve and Billy are super gay and in love with each other’.

Which was utterly ridiculous, yeah sure they were gay but that didn’t automatically mean they were destined to be with each other. 

Steve scoffed, in lue of a real answer. 

“I dunno.”

“Always Mr. Helpful.” Robin sighed, turning back to her phone. 

“Didja do the Wordle today? I’m on my third try and I have like one letter.”

Steve thanked whatever god was out there that Robin had the attention span of a gnat, really helped out when there was a topic he didn’t want to discuss. 

****

The lunch room always had a distinct smell of mold to it, which irked Nancy to no end, so the group often found themselves eating in the library. Nancy sucked up to the librarian enough that she didn’t even bat an eye when the usual four to five teenagers would follow Nancy around like lost ducklings.

“So, you guys have a date to the prom yet?” Jonathan asked awkwardly as they settled into the soft chairs in the back corner of the library. 

Everyone knew he wanted to take Nancy, and that this was his not so sly attempt at figuring out if she had a date yet or not.

“Hell no, you think I’m going to prom? I’m like, way too old for that shit.” Eddie chuckled. 

“But you’re our favorite super senior!” 

“Swear to God Hargrove-” 

Billy just cackled to himself while Robin interrupted him.

“Ok well I DO have a date to prom, so suck it losers.” 

“Oh yeah right Buckley.” 

“Nah I’m serious, I have hoes out the wazoo.” 

Steve let his head fall and hit the table, letting out an over exaggerated groan at Robin’s latest and greatest sentence. 

“Ok laugh it up but I am taking the drop dead gorgeous Heather Holloway and you’re taking…” she trailed off, pretending to think, “Oh that’s right, nobody!” 

Steve lifted his head and scowled. 

“It’s ok pretty boy, I’ll take you if no other upstanding citizen volunteers.” 

Steve consciously ignored the blush that rose up the back of his neck and grumbled out a response. 

“My hero.” 

“Hey you could put that shit on college apps! ‘Takes bitchless losers on dates’, I can see the headlines now.” Eddie quipped, dramatically pantomiming to the group.

****

“Yo Steve-o!” Billy called, jogging up to Steve’s car.

“What, need the chemistry homework again?” he smirked. 

“Dude, that was one time, and no.” he huffed, leaning up against the passenger door, looking over the roof at Steve.

“I came to ask you something actually.” he continued. 

“You know that, uh, joke? Like the bit that Robin always does?”

Steve narrowed his eyes. 

“Like you know that one, well anyways, I just. That’s all to say, or I guess ask, I’m here to ask something-” he trailed off again. “Dude just spit it out.”

“Do you want to go to prom with me?” 

“I mean yeah sure, I assumed we would go in a group together anyways.” 

“No no no, goddammit Steve, I meant like together. With me. With me as your date. With matching boutonnieres and dumb pictures and all that horseshit.” he waved his hand flippantly at Steve. 

“Holy shit really?” 

“Yeah really.” Billy answered wearily, he would never get used to the painfully slow processing speed of Steve Harrington. 

“Huh. I did not expect this. How long have you…” he trailed off. 

“Too fucking long Steve. Now answer the fucking question will you?” 

The corners of his mouth perked up without his permission, “Yeah, I’ll go with you. Matching boutonnieres and all.” 

“Oh thank fucking God, I was so worried you were gunna say no and then I’d have to kill all the witnesses.” 

Steve snorted a laugh. 

“Ok, I got practice so I gotta run, but I had to ask that before I lost my mind. See you later.” 

Steve watched as Billy jogged off back towards the school, he couldn’t stop the dopey grin from showing. He grabbed his phone from his back pocket and shot a quick text to Robin.

ok mybe u were right… on a totally unrelated note, what color should billy and I’s ties be?? 

[soupieoopieisloopie]

Eating this fic up currently OMG THIS WAS SO FUCKING GOOD

SO, YOU GOT A BOYFRIEND? | GETO S.

synopsis: when watching a certain scary movie gives your husband, suguru, the perfect idea on how to ruin you.

c.w: p0rn with plot, fem!reader, reader is referred to as “good girl” “pretty girl”, mask kink (hehe<3), slight fear play, fingering, cunnilingus, dirty talk, suguru talks you through it, praise kink, strength kink if you squint, im obsessed with suguru's arms, clit smack, multiple orgasms.

word count: 2,1k

note: i am BRICKED after writing this. happy halloween hehe.

ghostface suguru! ( @aurelianamu )

In a dimly lit room, at around 10PM—it was a bit cold outside, the perfect weather to snuggle up and watch some movies. Romance movies? No, you did that last week. Action movie? Eh, you were not in the mood for that—oh, Scream. Your thumb presses on the movie before you put the remote control down and walk towards the kitchen to grab some snacks.

“Sugu, I picked a movie!” you announce as you make your way out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and two drinks. Your husband marches down the stairs in a lazy manner, his long strands messily sticking out of his ponytail that he has to stop and tie it up again. He sees what movie you picked and he stands behind you on the couch.

“Scream?” he questions, hands resting on your shoulders.

“First movie, pretty iconic.”

“I don’t think it’s that scary though,” he doesn’t really say that he would rather watch something else, simply joins you on the couch and pulls you towards him with the bowl of popcorn resting on your lap.

The movie is indeed not that scary, you kept quoting some of the lines here and there, which earned you a chuckle from Suguru every time.

“No, please don’t kill me Mr. Ghostface I wanna be in the sequel,” you say in the same voice and attitude and your husband runs a hand through your hair.

“I think you’d easily outsmart him,” your husband is very supportive of you, but instead of making fun of his statement, your heart thrums in your chest when you picture Suguru in the ghostface mask.

“Really?” you look up at him through your eyelashes but Suguru is staring ahead and doesn’t notice the eyes you’re giving him.

“Yeah, they’re all pretty stupid—minus Sidney, I mean the fact that—“ your husband goes on a three minute ramble about the plot, how he appreciates the intelligence of the main character all while saying that the choice of the ghostface killers was nice. Unbeknownst to him, you were thinking of something else. Something far dirtier than intended.

“Baby,” you cut him off from his ramble and he hums in response.

“You’d be pretty hot as ghostface.” Suguru looks down on you when you say that and raises both eyebrows knowingly.

“Are you insinuating something?” To which you shrug your shoulders before staring back at the big screen in your living room, playing innocent.

“Just saying.”

You weren’t just saying, you knew exactly what you were doing. The next day, you’re sat on your bed folding laundry while watching the newest episode to your favorite podcast. You liked keeping your brain stimulated, and it distracted you from the fact that your husband was always gone for long hours during the day. But when you hear the keys rustling and the front door opening, you raise an eyebrow but don’t question it. Today’s mission must’ve been quick, you think to yourself.

“Welcome home!” you call out from your bedroom but don’t bother to get up, you knew he would come to your bedroom immediately so you keep your eyes on your computer and go back to folding the laundry.

A couple of minutes pass and Suguru doesn’t walk inside the bedroom, so you start getting a little suspicious and decide to go check on him.

“Sugu?” you walk out of the bedroom and notice how the lights downstairs are turned off. You remember leaving them on for him, so he must’ve turned them off on his way upstairs—but where was he?

“Baby, are you in the shower?” the lights in the bathroom were on but the door was closed. Suguru never walked to the bathroom first without greeting you—unless something was wrong. You put your hand on the door handle, but before you could twist the knob, a warm and rough hand covers your mouth and your blood runs cold when you’re being pulled into a different room.

You don’t have time to scream or panic, because when you’re being pinned to the wall by a rather familiar set of hands, your eyes almost bulge out of your skull when you notice the ghostface mask. You’re breathing heavily, cheeks flushed but there’s no sign of panic because you know who this is—the dragon tattoo peeking out of his shirt and the wedding band on his ring finger are enough evidence.

“Do you like scary movies?” Suguru’s voice sounds silky smooth, but the flirting connotation to it has your heart leaping out of your chest.

“Sugu—“

“Wrong,” he pins both hands above your head and his body is so close to yours that you feel the heat radiating off of it. “Let’s try again, I know my girl is smart.”

Your breath is caught in your throat, but you play along and nod sheepishly.

“Do you like scary movies?”

“Mhm,”

“What’s your favorite scary movie?” He traces a finger over your cheek, and the arousal slowly starts pooling between your legs.

“Hm, I don’t know,” you reply in a similar flirtatious tone, nervousness long gone. The realization that you didn’t have to explicitly tell your husband about the ghostface mask and him buying it for your pleasure made all of this very thrilling.

“You have to have a favorite, what comes to mind?”

“Hm, Halloween,” you stick to the same script of the movie, you buck your hips towards him but he pushes a knee between your legs and pins you again to the wall. “Y’know, the one with the guy with the white mask that walks around and stalks baby sitters?”

“Yeah,” Suguru breathes out and takes in how gorgeous you look like this—how he should’ve thought of doing this a long time ago. Your eyes were blown out with lust, chest heaving in excitement all while allowing him to play with you like this. He could feel his pants tighten and his cock was slowly getting hard from knowing exactly what was coming.

“What’s yours?” you bring him out of his thoughts and although you can’t see his face, you know that he was giving you that signature charming smile that always won over your heart.

“Guess.” He purrs out and you subconsciously start grinding against his knee before giving him a reply.

“Nightmare on Elm Street,”

“Wrong,” Suguru goes off script and your lips part for a moment. You’re about to complain, tell him that this wasn’t in the movie—he lets go of your wrists and throws you over his shoulder, delivering a harsh smack to your ass, his rough hand kneads the skin as he makes his way towards your bedroom.

“Better luck next time,” he throws you on the bed and you let out a gasp when your back hits the mattress. You try to sit up, but your husband grabs your ankles and pulls you down towards the end of the bed. “Now let’s see just how fucking filthy you are,”

He parts your legs with his big hands covering the plush skin of your thighs, and you whine out when he removes your shorts to reveal your panties that had an obvious wet patch on them.

“Fuuuck,” he breathes out and lifts up the mask enough for his mouth and nose to be visible. He presses his nose against your panties and takes a whiff of your arousal, the sight is obscene and your face turns red at how pussy drunk he sounds. “Fuck, fuck—should’ve done this sooner baby, you smell so fucking good,” he gives your pussy a kiss through the fabric of your panties before his fingers remove them so messily that you let out a startled noise.

Suguru dives in between your legs and the wet sounds are dirty and make you feel even more turned on. His tongue laps at your clit, fingers pulling the hood back before spitting on it and your eyes roll to the back of your head when he sucks. Two of his thick fingers prod at your entrance, gathering some of the slick that’s pooled there before pushing a single finger inside.

“Thaaaat’s it, good girl,” he breathes out against your clit before giving it a kiss as he pushes the second finger inside. “Yeah, this pussy loves being stuffed by me—fuck, you’re so wet for me. All because of this mask baby girl?” his tone is playful but you’re far too gone to complain and just mindlessly nod.

“So drunk off of me and I haven’t even given you my cock,” he pumps his fingers in and out of you all while curling them to find that one spot inside you. He licks, sucks and spits on your clit with so much passion and when he finds that one spot, you let him know pretty quickly.

“Oh!” you gasp and your thighs shake. “S-Suguru, oh fuck--!” his wrist is burning as he keeps pumping his fingers in and out of you, and the veins in his forearm are bulging out from the sheer strength he is using to finger fuck you until you see white. His free hand comes down and presses against your stomach to apply pressure and keep you pinned down.

You make the mistake of opening your eyes to stare at him. His hand is covered in your arousal, but what truly pushes you over the edge is the fact that his mask had come down and was covering his face entirely. So when he decides to talk you through it, give you that one final push—the ghostface mask seems to intensify the orgasm tenfold.

“I know you’re a good girl, but I’m gonna need you to get dirty for me baby—there it is, theeere it is,” he sounds proud when you finally cum, and you’re loud. You whine and let out soft cries, your hands weakly push at his arm when he keeps fingering you through your orgasm.

“Suguru—too much!” you cry out and gasp when he pulls his fingers out of your soaking pussy to slap your clit.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he quickly starts to unbuckle his belt and pushes his pants enough to free his cock. The tip nudges at your folds and your husband hovers over you with his lean stature. Big broad shoulders cover your entire frame and you’re fucked out from your previous orgasm.

“I’m going in baby, let me in,” your legs spread instinctively to welcome him inside of you and you groan when you feel the sheer size of him inside you. Your hands grip at the back of his shirt, but Suguru holds himself up on his forearms so that you look at his mask.

“Yeah, that’s right—look at me baby, filthy fucking girl,” his strokes were slow but hard. His hands grab at the back of your thighs and push them before fucking into you harder. “You like it, huh?” you couldn’t even give a proper response, only mindlessly nodding when you could feel him even deeper inside you.

He pushes your knees to your chest before setting a dizzying pace. You feel so full of him, so full of his thick cock and Suguru’s eyes roll to the back of his head behind his mask every time he felt your pussy squeeze around him. His finger rubs at your clit the same way that you’ve shown him you like it, and the tip of his cock repeatedly nudges against that one spot that has you falling apart underneath him with a loud cry.

Your orgasm hits you hard and Suguru can’t hold it in any longer—he fucks into you for another minute, head buried in your neck as he groans out your name. Your pussy milks him dry, and he fills you up to the brim—to the point where you could feel him leak out of you.

You lay there breathing heavily, and you weakly reach for the ghostface mask and remove it off of your husband to reveal his sweaty forehead and flushed cheeks. He looks gorgeous like that, and you lock eyes for the first time since the entire night and you’re immediately pulled in towards one another.

Suguru kisses you with so much passion, dick still buried deep inside you and your legs stay wrapped around him as you two make out heavily under your sheets that stuck to your sweaty bodies. You pull away for a moment to kiss his forehead and Suguru closes his eyes as he melts at your touch.

“Thank you for that,” you say, so love struck that the man can’t help but chuckle at how breathless you sound.

“Let’s do it again, yeah?”

2023: all works belong to @ slttygeto. do not repost my works on any other platofrm.

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[minyamotoo]

Someone said that among the two of them Till would be more possessive and yk what hell yeah

[bookdragon-shenanigans]

Small reminder that "Lilith Sorrengail cared for her family enough to jeopardize the safety of a kingdom" and "Lilith Sorrengail had absolute A+ dogshit horrendous parenting and her kids didn't feel loved by her AND she did fuck over her kids lives" can co-exist at the same time <3

[shenanigansz]

Some more old stuff, got an exercise in my environmet design class where the theme was Mad Scientist and I just had to I'll explain the lore in the first pic one day

[peacheises]

TW: OC x Canon Oneshot!!!

𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥'𝔰 ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔰

𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚡 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢

𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏!𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝

𝙾𝙲 𝚡 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗

𝙰𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚎!𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚊!𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎

𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝙾𝙾𝙲 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜! 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖!

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐!

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢:

𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜.

𝙰/𝙽:

𝙸'𝚖 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 @yourlocalsimp11111 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜! 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜!

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

𝟷,𝟹𝟽𝟸 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝟷,𝟹𝟽𝟸 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝙴𝚜𝚞. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙰𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚊, 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝚈𝚎𝚝, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

"𝙷𝚊𝚒𝚒𝚒𝚒 𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜!! 𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚢-𝚣 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚊 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜!" 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝.

"𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘, 𝙴𝚜𝚞." 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛?" 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, "𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢??"

𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, "𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛? 𝙾𝚑, 𝚞𝚑 𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎." 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚣𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝.

"𝙷𝚖." 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

"𝚂𝚘𝚘𝚘... 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚍?" 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎,

"𝙽𝚘." 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜��'𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

"𝚄𝚑𝚑𝚑 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛? 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢. 𝚂𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝.

"𝚈𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎." 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙰 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

"𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝!! 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝!! 𝙸𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑!!" 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜, 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑. 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜.

"𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛!!" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑'𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜.

"𝙾𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚘! 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝?" 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚙𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢.

"𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛," 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜, "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚖���� 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚎."

𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍,

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝙸 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑." 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗, "𝚂𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚂𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍."

𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛! 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜! 𝚃𝚘𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚢-𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎! 𝙾𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑? 𝙽𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚂𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚏𝚏. 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚊��𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢, 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍,

"𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚢!!" 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍, "𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎?!"

"𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚘! 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏!" 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, "𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚍!"

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗? 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚜!" 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚌𝚑, "𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐."

"𝙾𝚑 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚘, 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝." 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

"𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛! 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍,

"𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚘, 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜."

𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚠𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌𝚜.

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎! 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘!" 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙼&𝙼'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚣𝚎𝚕𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗?" 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚢𝚓𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜,

"𝙱𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚅 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.

𝙸𝚝'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖.

𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚙,

"𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚝-𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕." 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍, "𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝."

𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒��𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚝-𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝. 𝚂𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎.

"𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝!" 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚢.

"𝙸𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍?" 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎,

"𝙸-𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞!" 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢,

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢." 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗' 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚍?"

𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘. 𝚂𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚝.

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢?" 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, "𝙺𝚒𝚍?"

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚢.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖, "𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗' 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

"𝙽𝚘." 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍, 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍.

𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎? 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚜.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚒𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚝. 𝙼𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 ����𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝, 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎.

"𝙳𝚘... 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚢.

"𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜???" 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜!" 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋 𝙴𝚜𝚞'𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜, "𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘, 𝙴𝚜𝚞."

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗... 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝?" 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢, 𝙺𝚒𝚍'𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍,

"𝙾𝚑 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜... 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝." 𝙷𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍, "𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝."

𝙴𝚜𝚞'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚢. 𝙷𝚎'𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢!" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, "𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜. 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘!"

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙴𝚜𝚞 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

[cyb3r-clyd3]

shawn or smt who even is this guy

get a load of this guy

[xshimaeraxx]

okay i am. lowkey scared to ask this question bc of Bad Fandom Experiences but IM DOIN IT HERE WE GO

CC/cuphead fandom. how do we, perchance, feel about bad!elder kettle aus/fics?

skitters back to my hobbit hole & locks the door

[foreststarflaime]

Does Genesis have a name for his sword?

If so, what is it?

Disregarding that the canon name is Rapier bc cmon Genesis. You’re the poet one. You can do better than that surely…

Indulging my Genesis as Achilles obsessed brain: κεκλυτε keklute, (pronounced phonetically, kek-lute-eh) essentially meaning (in ancient greek) hear or listen (as a plural command). It’s related to the word κλεος kleos, which is a difficult word to translate but essentially means something like glory. I go into it (and Genesis’ connection to it thematically) in more detail here. It’s a flashy as hell sword, he’s a flashy as hell guy, he wants to be noticed, to have his achievements heard and appreciated—and so he names the thing that he intends to make people listen to him with a name that encapsulates that idea.

Me waffling about runners-up and extra linguistics nerd stuff under the cut

Added the reduplication to keklute because I can and because it sounds a bit better than just klute—although that’s a strong runner up because it can be read both as the plural command or as the adjective for renowned and I like the way you can doubly twist that.

Kluthi κλυθι was also an option because I thought that sounded cool too, but it’s only a singular imperative, and I thought he would be more likely to yell at the whole world than just one person—although there is the potential for that with his rivalry fixation on Sephiroth. Could be pretty gay poetic, him trying to get at least one person, the only person who mattered, to listen and feeling like he couldn’t.

Also high in the running was κλυετε kluete, because it’s the present plural imperative of the same verb. I actually like this kinda better, only reason I didn’t put it up there as the main answer was because I thought keklute sounded better. Reason I like this one better grammatically is that the present imperative in ancient greek is used as a universal command, something you should always do, whereas the aorist imperative (klute) is used as a one-off command, like “pass me the salt” or something like that. I feel Genesis would absolutely go for the more dramatic “you should always hear of me” route—and it fits more with the Achilles theme of kleos aphthiton, undying fame, to have the tales of your heroic exploits be heard of forever.

Also all these e’s are pronounced eh bc they’re all episilons and not etas and greek is a phonetic language, unpolluted by the french like English. Blame the Normans for us never knowing how things are pronounced btw

[sailorstickybunz]

call me a degenerate braindead freak but usually i have no desire to read smut

[st4rc4t]

is martins hair in the new video a wig. theres no way its that long already

[desire-mona]

extremely specific poll that im sooooooo curious to see if its anyone besides me and my bsf

[bookdragon-shenanigans]

POC representaion in The Empyrean

So I was mapping out a fanfic idea and as a fantasy reader and writer, I love worldbuilding in fantasy so I was looking into tyrrish culture in the empyrean and there's basically almost nothing mentioned in the books??? (In my defense I know that this series is pretty bad in terms of fantasy, but still. The POC representation could've been so much better)

[No hate towards RY or anyone in this post is intended, I'm just pointing out my observations]

And it made me fall into a black hole of questioning. RY never mentions more about tyrs except they're POC (I'm pretty sure RY said that she wants his role for the adaptation to be open for as much diversity as possible. Which honestly just sounds wrong because for a series where culture is so important she gave us nothing). Okay, even if we accepted the diversity reason it doesn't mean that she couldn't elaborate in tyrrish culture that didn't need those aspects like magic and customs??? It's fantasy ffs.

I've seen so many different opinions online. So let me shoot the question: [Just to get this out: I am SO sorry if anything in this post came off as racist/offensive, I promise it was not intended in that way.]

[jacklesraised]

I've been the man of the house for as long as I can remember.

[velvetsssapphic]

Im so gay that the thought of a man and a woman kissing immediately repulses me. Like honestly cannot see what the hell people see in them at all. whenever I see a straight couple the woman is always a walking statue of perfection and the man is just this.

[akechi-if-he-slayed]

he is thirsty