#I dunno though im spitballing

[nihiltism]

I know I've infodumped this before but not as its own post so let's go. what I'd do if I was in charge of making a live a live anime. I am ignoring the fact that I desperately want it to be a musical because that's not going to happen so ask me about my Separate thoughts about what I'd do if I was in charge of making a The Day The Night Slept The Album-ening of live a live.

ok so my Basic Idea is I'd let the show have a 13 episode (maybe 14? does that happen?) first season. I assume each of the first 7 chapters would need about 2 episodes, but I can see some that end in one like wild west or Definitely present day. I could also see some taking longer though, like distant future and near future. it'd even itself out I think to average to 2 episodes each.

it'd be an anthology series basically. a bunch of non-connected stories, but tied together by one key point. a narrator. see I have a Framing Device idea here and it's that we know odio from the very beginning, but never see his face or know who he is. this is very inspired by princess tutu here but here the stories are actively being Read by somebody outside of it, and occasionally he takes the reins to bend the retelling a bit, likely in the chapter boss' favor. note that while the anime is actually Playing and showing the characters, if the narrator does decide to kick in the characters will likely not be doing what he says they are, and they Definitely cannot hear him. it's an unreliable narrator story, but to the point where it's pretty easy to tell that he's biased. in practice how this probably would go would be like in princess tutu, occasionally when a character reaches a point that justifies his own philosophy in some way he'll cut in and monologue about The Nature Of Man Bringing Only Tragedy or whatever the fuck. also maybe cutting in to give the chapter villains some sympathy for the devil, maybe at the end to close each story out as he turns the last page? I dunno I don't want to be Too obvious but like. odio does sound pretty damn evil by default so maybe it'd be obvious anyway.

anyway! that's season one. anthology of short stories. on the final episode I'd leave it hanging on him picking up one last book or something, but I'd let that be told in either a short season (again, do these happen?) or a movie ??? anyway that would start out with the middle ages chapter, which I don't think will have any narration? I'm iffy on this? it'd be cool to see his retrospective thoughts on his own story but also, that's a bit heavy-handed, I'm not sure. anyway the thing is that around the end, when oersted breaks into his soliloquy at the archons roost. there I think we'd get a sort of cut-in, as halfway through our narrator starts reading it out himself. shut book camera pan Blonde Man Jumpscare I think that's the best way to go about the "oh shit the villain is the protag of that story" reveal. also it'd be fun. anyway that'd be either the beginning chunk or the first two? episodes?

from here I'm not Exactly sure how to frame it because all of the endings are Very important, but also kind of. happen at the same time? I do not know how to do this. the easy way would just be to have it remain anthology-ish, and have say the boss rush version of the dominion of hate be one story while the rest is another, but I don't think that fits into the framing device well. mm?? I have no idea. I think we're good without the bad ending of the dominion of hate happening as long as the "if you kill this dude you'll end up just as fucked as him" message gets conveyed in some way or another but I don't think we can skip the whole other version of the DoH.

maybe we can play it less as Actually Happening and more a what if scenario?? more odio just. Fucking Talking Alone Again about what Could be if not for Man's Folly^tm. I think that'd get the point across, be a good intro for the rest of the dominion of hate and stay in universe but it would Not have the added bonus of "ok you kicked around a bunch of jrpg protagonists now what. did that make you feel any better" unless we tried to hammer that home in a different way. and oh boy do I not have a single idea what to do with the armageddon ending. maybe instead just have him mention how if he and the other odios were Still denied he'd have the page burnt entirely or something. maybe at the end. shrugs. there's not a ton I can do here.

eh. anyway the actual dominion of hate would likely be more based in the protagonists than anything, likely picking a main character (Probably Akira) and not having a Narrator as much as just being in the mc's head from time to time. though I Do like the idea of odio still being there Attempting to nudge the protags and them being actually able to hear him this time, it'd have to be used infrequently. or not at all. there is a certain merit to them not knowing anything about him until getting to the archons roost but Us knowing a lot. I dunno. anyway I think this adaptation would have a lot more interactions between the protagonists (desperately needed) and I think that'd take up most of the runtime there, we can incorporate the trials if we want to (trial of heart is necessary to be sure but the rest really aren't, so it can be a good dungeon for the whole team to go through and have some more plot-motivated character moments) but I think Getting The Band Together might already take a good amount of time if we don't rush past good chances for character building or interaction. I want it to feel like the mcs Do actually start to be a team that is the thing I have the Most problems with about the game, though in doing so that will mean we're gonna have to do away with the 4 character party thing unless we want to have them split up sometimes. that's details. the point is that it's going to be All the mcs together most of the time and hopefully it doesn't feel crowded.

anyway from there it kind of goes as expected, except with the aforementioned (we don't need to have the bad ending be its own thing but we do need to mention the consequences). maybe somebody of the team Does try to grant oersteds wish before being held back or something. for similarities reasons I say oboro but this can be wiggled. anyway I also think around the actual Ending ending you'd get more than just one monologue from the mcs, you'd probably get more of like. an actual Conversation I guess? the mcs building off of each other's points to oersted? I dunno I'm spitballing here I do think it would Start Off with akira's ending though and then somebody scruffs him and continues off from there. I dunno the important thing is that everybody should get a word in or perhaps a hug in in the case of pogo. I think that's it though? I probably won't return to the plot device to show like another book being closed or whatever that is purely A Plot Device so it'd be weird to have it come back after oersted was Thoroughly Dead. I will say though if the live a live anime has an ED it's gotta have sin of odio in the A that's the law.

[vanlegion]

You know, I don't think it would have been very difficult to have S19 be what it will be, and keep S15-17 canon. (S18 still gets cut, if what I read about it was true [since i've only seen the first three episodes])

Like the way I see it, they could start off 19 with the Staff of Charon fight... but like say in the corner, 6 months ago, or however long it would be. They have the epic fight, they win, the Meta suit goes inert and there's some sadness finding out Church is fully gone, then they party to celebrate the planets freedom... then we jump to present day. That's literally how they set up seasons 9 and 10 There could be some kind of background chatter or bullshit banter going on about how Tucker not begin able to find the Meta helmet because he used the suit to fool the cyclopes. (During this fight he distinctly said "Man I wish I had my other suit!") Grif could find out what the message from Locus was that he never opened to read. They could find out what was going down on Chorus that the Luttenits alluded to. Maybe something weird with comm signals on Chorus? Maybe people are going missing? Maybe reports of minor crime? What if Locus was saying he intercepted a message about some Pirates who raided Iris while everyone was gone? Explains why The Meta helmet is missing. All of these minor background lead ins. And then the main start up of the season, main conflict, things progress. But you know what would be truly a Divergence of Expectations? That this new Meta, has now become the personal foe of all of Red Team, because not only did those three toss him off a cliff with a fucking car attached, but also because maybe, just maybe, it's not Tucker under that gear. Maybe it's someone who has a personal vendetta against Tucker and Simmons . . . being as it was those two who blew him off the platform into the abyss.

[cynicallyscorned]

hmmm satbk verses... honestly i'm not the most well versed in arthurian lore (i prefer general mideval fantasy or even high fantasy like the elder scrolls) but if i were to give him a verse in that type of setting.....hmm something something prince who maybe ran away from home / went missing something something tragic accident that involved his dad something something maybe repressed his memories because of the trauma something something rogue mercenary / thief for hire

[spagheddiesquash]

hi hello!! im not the greatest with theories, BUUUUT……

figured id throw my hat into the ring!!! basically for the past two days ive been mapping out a little… i honestly dont even know the term for it. ive called it a “theory web kind of thing, of sorts” for monkey wrench!! (however i feel as though that may not be the correct term to use, i dunno, it just doesnt sound right)

it is very big and convoluted, and also difficult to read in the screenshot of the full thing because of how massive it is, so i figured id walk you guys through it maybe?? FAIR WARNINGS: THIS POST WILL PROBABLY CONTAIN MONKEY WRENCH SPOILERS AND IT WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE RIDICULOUSLY LONG. THIS IS THE ONLY WARNING. CAPISCE? ALRIGHTY LETS GET INTO IT.

WAIT ACTUALLY ONE MORE THING:

some of this kinda piggybacks off of theories and stuff that ive seen from other users of this site, most notably @toastraccoon and @awwkie-dot-jar (sorry for the @’s, wanted to give credit and figured that would be the best way to do so since the @’s redirect to the respective blogs). both of them were actually what inspired me to put this together in the first place!!! go check their blogs out theyre amazing btw

the rest of the post is below the cut!!

anyway, without further ado:

for simplicity i have dubbed it “monkey spaghetti” because if you look at it from a glance it looks like a nice, hot bowl of unconventionally-colored pasta noodles, i think.

first and foremost, in order to understand my bullshit i made a helpful handy-dandy little key, pictured below.

i had to move the key so that’s why the square is out of place. i simply directed to its proper location on the key with an arrow :^)

anyway, i’ll start with walking you guys through the bigger blob first, that being this one:

so first of all:

(i dont think you can really see if very well so i will say it here, the screenshotted post of the giant statue of the primaries in the second image is from awwkie-dot-jar)

*yeah, in hindsight i feel like i exaggerated a fair amount, but the point still stands regardless. i tacked on the “like, at ALL” just because i didn’t wanna completely state the obvious. i should go back and edit it i think.

and:

as well as:

AND:

NOTE: my screenshots loop back to things i have previously shown for continuity reasons!!! so you dont get confused trying to read the whole web all chopped up like this :^D

additionally:

!!!THIS IS NOT ALL OF IT, TUMBLR IMAGE LIMIT IS 30 PER POST SO I WILL HAVE TO REBLOG WITH THE REST!!!

before i do that, i will reiterate:

i do NOT know what im doing

im not sure whether i have everything correct

because i have never done this before

i mean i hope i have everything right but like

yeah

take everything with a grain of salt

considering i have kind of poor memory sometimes

and also how many spitball ideas i put into this shit

TO BE CONTINUED FOR NOW

[ppepohappy]

✹ wildcard - what zero fic ship do you want to write the first fic for the most? what would the plot be?

okay i’m gonna answer for three ships because im self-indulgent like that and also one has 1 fic a decade ago? ill bend the rules

actual 0 fic ship: victor robles/randy arozarena. unfortunately…. i dunno the plot!!! maybe randy flirting with victor during the game and victor gets all giggly and is desperate to make randy react similarly… im just spitballing

actual 0 fic ship: george kirby/mitch garver. i think mitch should have horrifically mixed emotions about george being into him. denial <333

1 fic ship so im bending the rules here: mickey mantle/roger maris. i have several ideas. maybe even pornography. with NO kink negotiation!!! and the kinks would mean things characterization wise except for the one i actually have that is getting put in there as author’s barely disguised fetish. but like well done hopefully. never written porn before though

[thatfishingseawing]

to be honest, i dont really believe in the dragonets of destiny.

there was that supposed sighting in the sky kingdom in queen scarlet's arena, but... couldnt that so-called 'rainwing' just be a, say, oddly coloured seawing from burn's weirdling collection?? im just spitballing here

sightings of the nightwing could always just be a burnt corpse. my buddy goshawk said that queen scarlet's champion has 'too much fire', or something. that she burns everything she touches. he said it was terrifying - and i agree! but if i got her in the water? id say i have a fair chance of winning. goshawk then proceeded to say that i have the eloquence and intelligence of a goat on fire. i pushed him off my boat after that.

but anyways - the skywing, the mudwing? traitors, probably. though i wouldve thought that a mudwing's sibs would go racing after him. maybe he went rogue. maybe they died in the war and he lost his metaphorical marbles. dunno.

the seawing, sandwing, easily passed off as prisoners of war.

ill have to go back to the capital soon to restock and unload, so ill see what information i can scrounge up there regarding the dragonets' whereabouts. all ive heard recently is the summer palace being destroyed. doesnt help that the only dragon i have for company is goshawk, and hes clueless outside of what goes on in his own kingdom.

i should make a post about my daily schedule. maybe someone will find it interesting?

anyways. hermit crab, signing off

[storm-driver]

ep 18 : it took them so long to do another valerie episode, considering public enemies happens before this one? and you'd think they would show valerie somewhere in the episode at least trying to fight back against the ghosts, or defame phantom when he makes his public appearance?

i went to go check and these two episodes do have different writers credited for them, so maybe they were written without addressing the other writing teams? public enemies seems like such a huge deal in the story-beat department though, and im starting to think it was just the writers forgetting valerie was a character when they were putting it together.

skulker showing up again to hunt both valerie AND danny puts on a fun twist. it's interesting to see valerie TRY to understand ghosts after she watches the ghost boy do something at her request. even funnier is when she INSTANTLY starts freaking out in the ghost zone and disolocated danny's shoulder bc they're cuffed to each other, and she's physically strong enough to just throw his scrawny ass all over the place.

she looks like a sad puppy, omf this poor girl.

though valerie took a while to come back, she does seem to be doing her own thing in the background. there's tons of ectoplasm samples in her apartment, she's physically training to keep herself ready to hunt. she even claims that her role as a hunter is a job in itself, much how danny thinks of himself as amity park's protector.

danny had every reason to assume this was the reason she was shafting their school project, considering just how little valerie gives in understanding ghosts (he literally calls her an ectophobe, which is a hilarious term to just THROW IN). it's nice to see she has some more depth than her hatred for ghosts though. she's trying to make ends meet while balancing her self-imposed role to keep the town safe from ghosts. it's a shame we're only seeing this now, after several episodes since her debut as the huntress. but i chalk that up to the writers coming up with episodes conceptually before trying to make an overarching plot.

okay the B plot with the flour sack project didnt really concern me that much, but i have to mention it because the scene with tucker and sam fighting over who's gonna be the parent for their "kid" had me FLOORED. HE FUCKING KISSES SAM AND THEN REALIZES WHAT HE DID. THWE LOOK ON SAM'S FACE, I WAS BLOWING A FUCKING GASKET DUDE.

it isnt even like, either of them got flustered. they were both SHOCKED. these two are a ship waiting to happen.

valerie admitting that she never really thought of ghosts as sympathetic just further cements her as one of the better characters of this show. she's still hesitant to trust ghosts, but agrees that she didn't really put in the effort to know them before hunting them all down. and in her defense, the only two we've seen her interact with before now was danny and cujo. the latter of which was sorta destroying everything, while danny was unfortunately there and unable to control the situation. i know her growth here continually gets turned back to distrust, but she doesn't have super solid reasons to believe every ghost is like phantom.

i know they're enemies for the drama, but i do have to wonder if there was a different route the writers were originally gonna go with regards to phantom and the red huntress. like maybe phantom was gonna be the only ghost she trusted, and danny would have to show her not every single ghost is bad, just a handful of them. which has me thinking about stuff for the second visual novel coming out next year, maybe the author will broach that idea? i dunno, just spitballing again

there's stuff with valerie that i KNOW im forgetting and ill remember as i go. but it's surprising me to see this kinda recognition for friendly ghosts this early on, especially cause i know how violent she gets towards danny in other episodes. particularly d-stabilized, when she literally kidnaps him and tortures him while pleading for valerie's help. there's shit that happens between then and now, but it's wild to think that's where we're gonna end up. not that it's bad! im not a fan of back and forth conflicts like these normally, but valerie is such an interesting character that all on her own, she makes up for the inconsistency.

fine episode, valerie was in it, and thus it was good. i laugh watching her throw danny around like a pool noodle.

yknow what I'm cataloging my feelings as i rewatch every danny phantom episode, here we go

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

OHMKYGOSH YES i j read ur sashisu ramble… and i love love love hearing ab other people’s hyperfixations so don’t worry :33

mainly the fact that none of them could be open or vulnerable with each other …. to be honest i havent looked at sashisu very closely before but this hit me bc. I FEEL LIKE I RELATE SM :; like. i have a best friend who i’ve known since i was a baby but we’ve never ever had a serious conversation once… maybe this is unrelated but that is so tragic because to me friendships really struggle to be strong and stable against one another if you can’t ever show the side of you that’s struggling … being vulnerable w one another is key to bonding :’3

i have some thoughts about them— mainly shoko…. to me it kinda seems like she kept them at an arms length away this entire time on purpose and she still does…. maybe i’m spitballing idk i’m just basing it off the fact that satoru and suguru called her shoko but she still referred to them by surname even ‘til where we currently r in the manga (which. i will also ignore but i cant lie the memes were so funny…) but my thinking is that she did so because. even though we never really saw her much i think that’s it since she was a reversed ct user n probably didn’t have much experience fighting… maybe. hear me out just MAYBE she knew what might become of satoru and suguru since they were so enveloped in fighting and being the strongest, and both of them were so headstrong and arrogant for lack of a better term that she might’ve just… tried to keep herself from getting attached n being hurt even more than she already might’ve been simultaneously 😞😞

that still just makes me so so sad though….. they always looked so happy when they were together… maybe if they could’ve gotten suguru to talk and really listened to him for once…. alas ;; gege is an evil thing

U GET IT RIKO…

i feel exactly the same, i have two childhood friends who im very close to but none of us have ever been the type to really be vulnerable like that w each other and !! i absolutely think that strong connections need that, u need to be able to show even ur weaker side… n i guess the tragedy of suguru’s character is that he never felt comfortable showing his ”weak self” to shoko and satoru. T_T he will always make me cry like no other ….

BUT YES SHOKO !!! ur so valid riko. i love this woman so much n i think shes so interesting to talk abt !! ive been thinking abt the name thing too, i feel like its very telling of the sashisu dynamic; the fact that satoru and suguru ONLY (and i mean only) ever referred to each other w their given names, even after suguru’s defection… and how shoko refers to them as ”gojo” and ”geto” even though gojo still calls her shoko…,

i think its super interesting !! i rly rly wish i was able to read the og japanese manga, bc i feel like so many little language details like that get lost in translation (esp since the official jjk translation is kinda bad lol)… i wish we knew if shoko called them by their given names in high school, i want to think so but we just dont know </3

(i could be wrong but there was a translation on a recent chapter i read where shoko switched between ”satoru” and ”gojo”…… obv i dunno how accurate it is but i think itd be cool if we saw her start calling him satoru :’3 im delusional i still think my baby’s coming back)

but !! regardless i def think ur onto smth. i 100% see her as the type to get very detached to the ppl around her. thats why she seems so unbothered !! even tho she obv cares very much…. i think she loved both of them but she wasnt able to broach that gap between them, and after suguru’s defection i absolutely think she repressed herself even more…..

but its obvious that she still cares for them. like how she started smoking again after gojo got sealed / she found out abt kenjaku using geto’s body :((….

and yes i rly do think sugu couldve been saved if they had managed to open up like that <///3 thats what fanfic is for ig :’3… sob…..

[insertdisc5]

Hi!! I wanted to ask, in celebration of Deltarune CH. 2, do you have any updated thoughts and head canons about the game?? Like, y'know, similar to a previous ask about Kris in your Deltarune tag? Thanks!

thoughts on kris part 2 i guess???? (part 1 from ch1 here lol)

spoilers for deltarune like woah. this wont be kris focused just random thoughts on everything. thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk

not that many thoughts for this chapter tbh! EDIT LOL: this was a lie i have a lot of thoughts

-just in general i feel like the player isn't the only one controlling kris... like yes the player forced kris to do what happened in the snowgrave route but AT THE SAME TIME idk it feels like there's someone else too. just because of the terrifying voice i suppose. and also the jerky movement kris does every time they get their soul out? unless there's another reason for it... maybe getting your soul out means you walk weird lol

-BUT ALSO i feel like kris is 100% in control when they create fountains. idk it just makes sense kris would create them. to create another world, a better world, A WORLD WHERE THEIR BROTHER IS HERE PERHAPS? i do wonder why they get their soul out then though. i'm all for it sweetie! do whatever! i support you!

-(i am and will be playing deltarune with only kris' best interests in mind. i will not hurt anyone unless kris wants me to. dont worry my little meow meow im on your side! talk to me! no? okay ill stay under the sink its fine)

-speaking of asriel. SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER (starts crying) V-VACATION COLLEGE WHEN

-kris misses their brother so much it's so sad. if you make kris steal 5$ from asriel they take it "reluctantly"? talking to asriel online so often even alphys knows?? the google search?? GOING INTO ASRIEL'S GOOGLE SEARCH ROOM WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED BECAUSE THEY'RE CONVINCED THEY ALREADY KNOW WHATS IN THERE? THAT ONE IS LESS OF A MISSING THING BUT IM LIKE OH MY GOD

-the city walk with susie at the end makes it clear to me that kris really values susie's friendship... kris even sits with her if you spend long enough near the lake like aaaaah ;_;

-and even in snowgrave you spend your last acts with the final boss calling for your friends like YES there's a way bigger creepy aspect to this (kris as more of a Leader who Commands and commands their subjects to come) but still :'0 (and then noelle answers oh my god noelle im so sorry for the trauma)

-berdly. listen. listen. listen. liste

-berdly sucks but [berdly hurts his arm in the battle against queen if you don't save him because he doesnt want to hurt you] [berdly realizing smg's wrong in snowgrave and immediately taking steps to save noelle] berdly is my little crumb nugget. i will protect him.

-noelle. noelle. girlboss!

-like ooooh listen. hearing about the genocide path for undertale. made me go "that is SO COOL. i HAVE to experience it myself this is great. hehehe killing time" and like no regrets. i was fully enjoying the experience knowing i was an awful person. SNOWGRAVE THOUGH. i will never try this myself its too fucked up. casually grooming your childhood friend to murder people <3 and also acting like a weird stalker towards her <3 stockholm syndrome speedrun i will get all the info i can about this but i will never do this myself

-people remarking the kris/player>noelle relationship is similar to the relationship between player>chara in genocide path is like yes. chefs kiss. don't worry we just are making you stronger and everything will be fine "you made me kill my friend? and for what?" this is fine sweetie don't worry about it!!!!!!

-like the amount of details added to snowgrave, like if you equip noelle's watch she notices later? and her battle animations change as time goes on, she gets an ice shield and stops sighing in relief after battle? oh my god? oh my god.

-(berdly is not awake.) JUST KILL ME RIGHT HERE I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT BERDLY NOT BEING AWAKE!!!!!

-also why didnt he turn into dust. so many possible reasons. is magic a thing in the normal world and perhaps no magic means no dust (theres graves). maybe he isnt dead. maybe hes braindead. maybe he'll come back. either way that boy is now in the closet big enough to put someone in

-also dess' name probably being december AND THATS WHY NOELLE LOST THE SPELLING BEE?!?!??! FUCK ME UP!!!!! JUST FUCK ME UP!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

-also so many good pixel art this chapter. too many? i didnt need pixel art of cardboard noelle falling on the statue. like thank you but please. please it hurts my game artist brain.

-the expressions in this chapter were also top notch. all the unsettling noelle expressions like (i fall over face first)

-i threw away the ball of junk (which i already tried in ch1) and this time the game was like "ARE YOU SURE BC THIS IS A BAD IDEA" and kris felt bitter :'( (it deletes all your items in the dark world)

-i uh fucked up and skipped the susie+noelle scene bc listen last time ralsei mentionned seeing what susie is doing we missed some PRIMO LORE. turns out it just makes you skip the scene and you dont get anything new. welp

-speaking of ralsei well you know. he exists. but im stuck on him going "i just wonder what being ralsei-like even is...?" ralsei my dude there's so much i could say about this. do you feel like you can't be ralsei-like because you feel like you have to be asriel-like

-but also that makes no sense bc susie hasnt even mentioned ralsei looks like asriel. and i cant imagine asriel being so meek. so WHAT GIVES

-ralsei as kris’ “i wish i was a monster just like my bro and family and i’d look like asriel but with red horns [THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME] and my name would be something cool like ralsei instead of a boring human name like kris and im sweet and cute because thats how i act with asriel because ASRIEL MADE ME” theory because that would be cute.

-ASRIEL GOING TO THE CHURCH TO CONFESS HIS "SINS" WHEN "SINS" AREN'T A THING IN THE ANGEL BELIEF LIKE I KNOW THIS INTERACTION WAS TREATED AS A JOKE BUT WHAT THE FUCK ASRIEL?

-kris definitely has a connection with the big red door in the city, judging by what the kids say they probably went there... i feel like this place's dark world will be the Final Dungeon you KNOW some shit happened there. also the sounds you hear when you go there is the phone dark world call's sound slowed down? AND AFTER SNOWGRAVE APPARENTLY YOU CANT HEAR IT ANYMORE? HUWAH?

-speaking of songs the songs were all so good, My Castle Town rules, the berdly snowgrave music is stuck in my head, flashback is uwah wuahah, Until Next Time is so good, AND ALSO A FRIEND NOTICED THE DARK WORLD CITY THEME IS JUST tHE SONG 74 (MOST NOTICEABLE WITH THE SNOWGRAVE VERSION)?????? WHAT DOES IT MEAN????? it might be just "hey its just reuse" BUT MR FOX YOU KNOW WE'RE GONNA READ INTO THIS IS NOELLE THE ONE SINGING IDK BRO!!!!!!!!!!

-asgore dreemurr fired from the force what happun!!!!! game theory is that asgore is related to dess' death/disappearance but eh who knows

-you start the chapter at lvl2 and get to lvl3 after the final boss, a friend mentioned this is probably because we destroyed a world and im :0

-to go back to kris it's still so interesting to figure out who they are based on how they act/people mention them. like kris shaking the ferris wheel car? yeah makes sense i can imagine a pranking kid do this. kris' dance? yeah thats a little silly but i can buy it. doing cool anime poses? well i dunno this doesnt line up PERFECTLY but sure. BUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN SNOWGRAVE... especially >proceed like that is such a weird thing that i can't imagine them doing, but i can't completely see the "player" doing either (compare with going to sans -which kris doesnt know- and going "SANS!" because of course the player would know sans), like THATS one of the reasons i feel like there's someone else in there. the weird robotic merciless actions. if im going super meta it feels like there'd be someone else like writing the choices into existence for us to pick you know? gaster probably? god i need to read more gaster theories i completely sidestepped the gaster shit bc i wasnt interested. anyway just spitballing

-(looks at big shot guy) please dont make him the next tumblr guy i beg you

-obligatory "queen was great" mention if only because this part made me laugh a little bit too hard

that was a lot. thank you for letting me talk

[retsuunohana]

*dusts off my frontal lobe* bleach 687 theory spitballing & observations (specifically wrt kazui & the general theme this arc is setting out to explore)

this was c/ped from a disco convo so sorry for formatting!

MAIN DRIVING POINT--

in the context of this story and what information is presented to us in the first chapter, i read the little goldfish bit like this:

 the bigger more powerful fish died

as a result, the smaller one grew stronger

so after all, maybe it was a good thing the bigger one died if the little could become stronger

as this correlates to what we're presented with in the chapter it comes off like:

the bigger more powerful captains all died

giving others room to grow stronger, OR --as a result, an event will be brought about in which everyone will grow stronger against a powerful enemy

so after all, maybe it isnt such a bad thing if others can grow strong in the space left behind by the strong ones before them

 i think this interpretation is much closer to what it means when u also factor in that the fish appears again here during a panel describing the loss of the "bigger fish" that were more powerful. i think what its getting at is that for anyone to stand a chance amassing power in this new era (specifically kazui and ichika), it means removing these powerful players from the board to give them room to grow at all. too much power can be a bad thing, stunting the growth of other characters-- though this isnt my favorite example, we see this in the main storyline in unohana and kenpachi’s shared past.

--segue into how i also took some time to search for “twin fish” in mythology bc kubo loves using mythological figures in reference to his characters. but then i realized when i typed "twin fish", that this theme is already present-- in ukitake's zanpakuto! i dunno if its related, but since this chapter obv had such a strong ukitake focus, it makes me wonder if the twin fish is maybe referencing that ukitake had to die so kazui could become stronger? or maybe ukitake had to die so the soul king  could become stronger, then die at the hands of yhwach, then yhwach is stronger, then kazui destroys the yhwach that comes along in the final chapter 686?

which seems like super insane and convoluted to think about, and i doubt its kubos meaning but its fun to just spitball... but paired with the above information, it doesnt seem too unlikely! either way, ukitakes zanpakuto is literally "law of the twin fish", he had a huge presence in this chapter, and he literally died as per the requirements of what was being said "its good he died so the other could become stronger" so it makes me wonder

AN ASIDE WRT KAZUI’S POWERS --

--you know how orihime's powers are creating barriers, but she can also step into OTHER peoples barriers (see: when she went through hachi's to find ichigo training w/ the visoreds). what if kazui has the power to create gates? like into the other realms? it would explain why the hell butterflies flock to him, and also why he knew the technique for creating a gate, and also his familiartiy w/ the technique-- maybe he just can create gateways and portals and traverse the realms?

additionally, the gate kazui opened-- while kubo drew the subsequent panels to misdirect and make the reader think he was going to SS, this is NOT a senkaimon (gate specifically used to go from living world to SS)

versus senkaimon (i couldnt find a manga pic im sorry): which always is a clean opening w/ some sort of paper sliding door imagery

i believe instead kazui opened a garganta (gate used by arrancar to travel to/from HM), which is visually identical to what’s depicted:

OH AND ANOTHER THING KINDA RELATED TANGENTIALLY--

the matching eyeballs

that i believe are looking down on kazui at the chapter’s end!!!!!!

--so just a lot of interesting stuff in play. nothing concrete yet but these are just some observations and theories :)

[thebibliosphere]

Hi! I stumbled upon your blog after reblogging your chronic pain addition and adding onto it myself. I got a few questions.

1) I have been told I most likely have POHTS, postural orthostatic hypotension. How does this differ from POTS, if you know?

2) Do you ever feel your ribs move? Cause I do. And I'm hypermobile. Which leads into my next thing.

3) How does one going about getting an EDS diagnosis? I've seen some stuff online, and had a friend who recently got diagnosed talk to me about it. I think I might have it? But I'm not sure, and don't know how to go about it.

All I know is I'm 19, in constant fucking pain, and doctors say "I'm too young for this".

Also: tmj sucks, and I think it's only gonna get worse as I age. But im getting a night guard so, yay? I think i have tmj? Idk. Everything is weird and I should sleep.

I hope you have a great day, and that your pain is a little less today. Thank you! 💛

Hello!

1) That’s an interesting one because POTS tends to be the diagnosis given when orthostatic hypotension is ruled out. So I��m not quite sure why you would be given that diagnosis unless you have both? Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a fall in blood pressure by at least 20 mmHg upon standing after lying down. POTS is an increase in heart rate where the blood pressure can either fall slightly, rise, or stay the same. The Orthostatic Intolerance Center has a good comparison and explanation between the two here: https://theoicenter.com/About-OI/Criteria-Diagnose-OH-POTS.html

So you may get a heart increase and a drop in blood pressure, which might be why you’ve been labeled with POTHS? I dunno though, I’m just spitballing. Something good to ask your physician to be sure :)

2) Sometimes my ribs move a little bit, but nowhere near as much as my shoulders, hands, and feet. But my muscles also stiffen up and “splint” my body to keep me from dislocating things. This is also apparently a thing that can happen with hypermobile EDS which numerous rheumatologists missed.

3) I eventually got my hEDS diagnosis by finding a specialist in my area who knew what to look for and who knew you’re never too young to experience chronic pain. I actually went to see her for a different diagnosis (MCAS) but she shook my hand, my finger joints crumpled and she went “hmm, we’re doing an EDS evaluation.” Turns out she was right!

You can keep trying with your current physicians, and you can also take a look through the Ehler’s Danlos Society web page to see if can help you identify anything. But they also have a global list of health care providers capable of giving an accurate EDS diagnosis who are more up to date on the current diagnostic criteria. So that might be worth checking out to see what your options are: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/healthcare-professionals-directory/

The Ehler’s Danlos Society website is an invaluable resource for this sort of thing.

TMJ absolutely sucks, I’m sorry you’re dealing with it as well. I hope your mouthguard helps. I’m currently getting a lot of relief from physical therapy designed to target TMJ, as well as using trigger point massage therapy and myofascial release therapy. It’s been a whole week since I started and my jaw is much less painful. 

Thank you! I hope some of this was useful to you, and you manage to get sleep and your own pain is manageable! 

[xxforsaken-angelxx]

> Message your moirail back.

xxforsaken-angelxx im so sorry i knoww i shouldvve told you somethin first but fuckin i dont knoww, i didnt, i was rushin an i didnt knoww wwhat to say im here noww though hi

hortiicultured Hii.

xxforsaken-angelxx hi

hortiicultured are you okay?

xxforsaken-angelxx i havve a headache an im on so much adrenaline otherwwise im good

hortiicultured Okay. good. That'2 Good. are you goiing to tell me what that wa2 all about? What Wa2 2o Urgent That You Couldn't Even 2ay Anythiing To Me? and what we're 2uppo2ed to do now that we've got your fuckiing ance2tor tru22ed up liike twelfth periigee2 meal?

xxforsaken-angelxx he wwas keepin someone as secret prisoner on his ship an like that guy talks on here an hes miserable an i wwanted to see if i could get some info out of my ancestor wwithout it bein a big deal   but then i kinda like lost my shit an noww its a vvery big deal

hortiicultured IIt'2 Defiiniitely A Biig Deal! ii. ii could have *helped,* eriidan. II Would Have.

xxforsaken-angelxx i knoww :o( i should havve told you an you wwouldvve stopped me an i dont havve an excuse

hortiicultured you don't *know* what ii would have done, becau2e you diidn't giive me the chance.

xxforsaken-angelxx ok yeah still though im really sorry sollux

hortiicultured ...II Know. 2o what now...?

xxforsaken-angelxx so noww uh noww ivve got a guy here an my ancestors presumably still in the other room an i think said guy wwill be helpful but i dunno knoww wwhat to do about my ancestor

hortiicultured He II2 IIn Fact 2tiill IIn The Other Room. ...you found the guy? And... Brought Hiim Back.

xxforsaken-angelxx i found the guy an i brought him back an hes wwith me

hortiicultured all riight... ...II2 *He* Okay? from the 2ound of thiing2...

xxforsaken-angelxx emotionally he is havvin a real bad time right now but physically he seems okay

hortiicultured At Lea2t There'2 That. we really need to fiigure out what to do about your ance2tor.

xxforsaken-angelxx boy wwe really fuckin do

hortiicultured II Want To Be Able To Talk About Thii2 IIn Per2on And II Can't Really. Do That. iif ii'm 2tuck grub2iittiing hii2 2tupiid grea2y a22. Whiich II'm Doiing, Becau2e Fuck Know2 We Don't Need One Of Hii2 People Fiindiing Hiim. but they're goiing to fiigure out he'2 mii22iing 2ooner or later.

xxforsaken-angelxx i appreciate you so much for doin that you dont evven knoww howw about i just fuckin spitball some ideas though cause wwe need to get somewwhere wwith this

hortiicultured II Can't Thiink Of Anythiing Better At The Moment, 2o. 2piitball away. Al2o You'd Better. <>

xxforsaken-angelxx i lovve you so much anywways i got to the grease lightnin on this fuckin secret transport pad bullshit wwe havve so wwe could just send him back on that an see wwhere that goes other options include airlock makeshift jail puttin him back in the med wward an bribin the nurses

hortiicultured ...okay. Pro2 And Con2.

2end hiim back, he'2 probably goiing to kiick up a fu22 *immediiately*. Probably More Of One When He Fiigure2 Out That You 2tole Hii2...Prii2oner? What The Fuck II2 Even Goiing *On* There. make2hiift jaiil and briibiing the nur2e2, both could buy u2 2ome tiime but would defiiniitely only delay actually. dealiing. wiith thii2. And Hii2 People Are Almo2t Certaiinly Goiing To Come Lookiing 2ooner Or Later ...aiirlock. Not That II Feel Liike II 2hould *Really* Be Con2iideriing The Meriit2 Of 2omethiing Liike That, But II Can't 2ay IIt Ha2n't Been On My Miind. he'd be out of the piicture, but you'd have to deal wiith everythiing that would come of that, whiich. ii don't actually know iif iit would be better or wor2e than contiinuiing to deal wiith *hiim*.

...Al2o What IIf 2omeone 2aw Hiim Ju2t. Driiftiing. Out There.

xxforsaken-angelxx if wwe throww him out the airlock then itd immediately trigger my succession attempt so theres that

hortiicultured ...doe2 that feel liike 2omethiing you can hone2tly deal wiith riight now? Would IIt Be Worth IIt?

xxforsaken-angelxx i mean ivve been fuckin thinkin an ...thats wwhat im tryin to do anywways? evverythins fucked right noww an i wwant things to go my wway an not his so im essentially tryin to start takin the church an also, i brought the guy back cause i thought him existin might help wwith that too

hortiicultured eriidan, iif you're goiing to do thii2. You Can't... Do. *Thii2*. Agaiin. ii can't deal wiith beiing left iin the dark agaiin. Whatever Happen2.

xxforsaken-angelxx i wwould nevver i i cant tell you howw much i wwould fuckin nevver do this again im fuckin *terrified* an ivve been terrified all day i need you im lost wwithout you an i lovve you im not i wwasnt bein myself im not ok i snapped im not ok an i wwould still nevver do it again cause i feel awwful about hurtin you like that

hortiicultured ...okay. okay. We'll. Deal Wiith That, Too. Later. ...ii'm not. II *Wa2* Angry, And II Am Hurt, But. you 2cared me, ii wa2 worriied, ii diidn't know what you were doiing or what wa2 goiing to happen.

xxforsaken-angelxx i dont wwant to evver scare you like that again :o(

hortiicultured II Know. ii'd. rather be 2cared *wiith* you. You Know...?

xxforsaken-angelxx alwways

hortiicultured ii love you...

xxforsaken-angelxx i lovve you too i think wwe should send my ancestor back or somethin an find a place for my guy an then i wwanna just cry on you i think

hortiicultured ...yeah. Yeah. Okay... let'2 do that.

xxforsaken-angelxx i lovve you sollux

hortiicultured II Love You Too. more than anythiing...

[domunhao]

.i was thinking about this and sort of spitballing on birbapp, but couldnt really go all out, so imma do it here. ngl it was a lil nerdy going all out like that but was much needed my brain wouldnt turn off

.my most wanted characters at the moment are: tartaglia, xiao, baizhu.

.i want to go for baizhu on my main account so i will put all of my focus over there.

.however, on my early game account, i wish to go for certain characters that gives me the vibe of early game stuff...like when i first started so i def wish to go for xiao, tartaglia, zhongli.

.i had failed to go for albedo, but i did get mona and i will take it and run-- i adore mona so who am i to complain

.this said, i wish to go for tartaglia since he is fun to put against the anemo hypo which i will sacrifice and pummel again and again for xiao prep

.xiao prep may take a lot tho as im sure i know lmao but i do have shielders and healers in this account so maybe all is not lost

my goal here is to have tartaglia, xiao, and baizhu...maybe this way, i will have free to play weapons like the catch and gone fishing bow for both characters and then baizhu...this said, im assuming i have won 50/50 T^T so i will only wish for xiao or taetaglia if i can cough up 180wishes...i may skip tartaglia in this round...

really sad doing this but maybe i can wish for him instead in my early account albedo/venti...its be fun to collect tartaglia & xiao in that account as well...

moving on: i may save up for 180 wishes for xiao in lantern rite and if im extra EXTRA good, i can go for another 180+ wishes for his weapon...

180+180+90= 360+90= 450 wishes for a guaranteed c0xiao and primordial jade spear...

asia server

on top of that, i want baizhu &tartaglia/weapon, c6zhongli...

it can be doable...i may need to do welkin on both servers (dunno how that works)

thing is though, it may just be doable...especially that early game...itll be tough, i may not put in as much work for other accounts like tartaglia/diluc, but i do wish to work on albedo account in trying for tartaglia banner (and afterwards), i may collect a few more stuff and do liyue/inazuma and see how far can i go in ar25 (forever)

i do wish to explore dragonspine first, before enkanomiya, and in this account, i may go for raiden (imagine: albedo, raiden, tartaglia)

likewise, i will keep up my main account in prep for baizhu as well as c6zhongli;

.thinking about...not wishing for a year

[eliniei]

Those Hard Days - Chapter 9

Summary: Rae’s brother always made sure she was tough as nails. But when her father flips her world upside down, will she find that there’s a limit on how strong she can be?

Warnings: Rape/Non-con (non-graphic, fade-to-black), child abuse, underage drinking, underage smoking, drug use, violence, major character death

A/N: this is kind of a weird chapter? I dunno if it makes much sense, but you meet another key player in the story and it sets in motion a lot of the rest of the story so I didn’t want to get rid of it. As usual, I hope you love it!

AO3: here Fanfiction.net: here

Masterlist

Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

Chapter 9 - Note

When Rae came to, first thing she saw was the swirls of Steve's hair. He was sitting on the floor of the Curtis’s front room, leaning his back against the couch, watching some late-night show. Her eyes shifted to the clock, but the room was too dark, even with the light of the television.

She shifted, trying to sit up on one of her elbows. Steve must have felt her movement, because he was turned in an instant, forcing her to lay back down.

“Nuh uh- don’t move.”

“What happened?” she croaked, her throat dry. “How’d I end up here?” Pain flared in her head and she winced. She lifted her hand to feel her temple, but he grabbed her hand and laid it back across her stomach. Really, with as much abuse as her head has taken lately, she’d be surprised if there wasn’t some kinda damage.

“Don’t touch. What do you remember?”

“Not much.” She didn’t want to think. “Losin’ my cool earlier. Punchin’ a wall.”

“You ran off. We thought you just needed to let off some steam, but you never came back. Soda got ahold of Darry and he said we’d meet here after work and look around town.” She made to sit up again, the pounding in her head making her feel like she might hurl. “Please don’t sit up.”

"No. I'm alright." He didn’t look convinced, but he helped her into a sitting position. “And then?”

“We got here and Dally had found you. Someone had knocked you out cold, reopened the wound where your father had...Anyway, we got you cleaned up and here we are.”

“Dally was here?”

“Oh yeah, still is. We made ‘im take a break and sleep in Soda’s old room.”

“And what time is it?” Steve turned and squinted to see the clock.

“‘Round two in the mornin’.” He yawned.

“Don’t you got work?”

“It’s okay, you’re worth it.” Rae felt a warmth spread through her body that she hadn’t felt in a long while. She also felt an overwhelming need to hug him.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said, her voice muffled against his neck.

"None of that, kid," he said, wrapping his arms around her back. "You asked me to stop and I didn’t. I shouldn’t have pushed ya.” He released her and took on an air of authority. “Now, go back to sleep." She obeyed her friend and fell back onto the couch.

When Rae woke again, daylight had started streaming in through the windows and Steve was gone. Slowly, she sat up. The throbbing in her head was still there- but it was reduced to a dull roar. Dally walked in from the kitchen without a shirt, holding a steaming mug and still looking drowsy. When he saw his sister, he seemed to snap awake, instantly.

“Hey kid,” he greeted her. She made a repulsed face.

“Put a shirt on, man. No one wants to see that.” He smirked, set the mug down on the coffee table and knelt in front of her.

“Nice to see your sense of humour ain’t gone. Let me see.” He motioned towards her head. She obediently turned around and could feel his hands in her hair. It made a chill run up her back. “Looks okay now. It was bleedin’ like hell yesterday.” When Dally was finished, she turned back around to face him. He tugged on the pink lump still stuck in her hair. “How’d you manage this?”

“Some Soc gettin’ back at me for the spitballs,” she answered him as he picked up his coffee again and sat down next to her.

“Never gets old, does it?”

“I’ll get ‘em back good soon. So, where’d you find me?”

“You were near Shepard territory, actually, in that little middle class area,” he started. “Tim an’ I were out drinkin’ and liftin’ some ‘caps when we found you sittin’ against the wall in an alley. You were barely awake, and said your head hurt.” Rae narrowed her eyes, thinking back to the day before. She couldn’t recall any of it.

“I don’t remember ever goin’ out to that part of town yesterday. Maybe I was headed to see Curly?” Dally shrugged and took a long drink.

“No idea. We loaded ya into Tim’s truck and brought ya here. You sure were bloodied up real good. Looks like whoever did it tried breakin’ your nose but they didn’t hit ya hard enough. They probably heard us comin’ and scrammed. You always did have a mighty hard head. Sure do look like hell, though.”  She sighed through her nose.

“Gee, thanks. Can’t we go one day without anythin’ happenin’?” Rae complained. He leaned back and stretched his arm out behind her.

“Nah, then it’d be too boring.” She shrugged, took the mug from his hand, and took a large swallow. The liquid was hot and seared her throat on the way down. Once she’d handed it back, she leaned into his side.

“I should probably get a shower.” Neither of them moved. They both watched as Darry walked into the kitchen, seemingly unaware that they were sitting on his couch. He made a few sounds as he prepared to make his brothers breakfast, but came out holding the mostly-full glass carafe. He looked at them, confused.

“Dally, did you make coffee?” he asked, bewildered. The three of them looked at each other for a few seconds and broke out into soft laughter.

After breakfast, Rae sat on the edge of the bathtub while Soda helped her wash the blood and gum out of her hair. His hands were gentle on her head and she closed her eyes, relishing the feeling.

“What happened to Steve?” she asked as he massaged her scalp.

“Found him passed out in my bed when I went to my room to get some clothes. Dally must’ve switched places with ‘im. Alright, all done.” He handed her a towel and she went to work drying her hair. “I’d better go wake him up, anyway.” He stepped out of the bathroom so she could finish up.

She pulled a clean t-shirt over her head. It wasn’t her normal style, but it was either wear a shirt borrowed from Ponyboy or wear one with blood all down the front. Whatever- she could wear her jacket all day, anyway. When she looked in the mirror, her nose was an angry red, and there was a bruise coming in under her eyes. She caught herself staring at her face and her chest swelled. A little progress.

Rae put her hair up so it wouldn't sway around and aggravate the wound on the back of her head and left the bathroom. Ponyboy was standing in the front room, trying to dust off her jacket. He handed it to her and she examined it. There was dirt all over it, and the collar had a bit of dried blood stained on it. Nothing they could do about it now. She slipped it on, hand catching on the fraying cuffs, and left for school with a quick wave to her brother.

Two-Bit met them in the hall and handed over her backpack.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” he observed, elbowing her softly. “You still look like hell, though.” She rolled her eyes.

“You an’ Dally sure know how to compliment a girl.” A balled up piece of paper hit her right on the forehead. She looked up towards the person who threw it.

"That dirt looks good on you, grease," a Soc boy laughed, trying to provoke her. She frowned, but didn’t rise to the occasion. Two-Bit shoved him along.

“Oh, get outta here,” her friend commanded. The kid went on his way, still snickering to his friends. From there, the trio started heading to their classes.

"So, do you remember who did it?" Ponyboy asked as the walked down the hallway

.

"No, I-," she started. "I don’t remember much. I thought I heard a girl’s voice but I really ain’t sure.”

"Man, I’da been scared to death if it’d happened to me," Ponyboy confessed.

"I didn’t really have the chance to be scared, I guess. Whoever it was made sure I was knocked out before they fuckin’ punched me in the nose. Coward.” Rae went to touch her swollen nose, but recoiled and hissed from the pain. She really regretted not popping a couple of Aspirins before she left this morning. “But, someone told me that I can’t let it drag me down, so I’m going to give it my all." Pony nodded, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She stopped outside an open door. "This is me. See ya’ll later." He and Two-Bit said their goodbyes to her and quickly went to find their own classrooms before the bell rang. She turned on her heels and walked into the room.

When she reached her seat, a small girl with dirty-blonde hair pulled back in a bun was sitting on her desk, facing away from her. With a playful smile, Rae dropped her bag on the floor under her desk and got up real close to the girl.

“I see you made it back alive,” she breathed, right into the girl’s ear. To her credit, the other girl didn’t jump, but a visible shiver went up her spine. She turned and a wide smile broke out onto her face.

“Rae!” She jumped up and excitedly wrapped her arms around her friend. Rae winced a little, but let it happen.

“How ya been, Carrie?”

“Oh, alright. Wasn’t much of a vacation, really, just a good ol’ visit to see the grandparents. Buck said it was gonna be borin’ and didn’t wanna be away from the bar and the rodeo for that long so it was- What happened to your nose?” She opened her mouth to answer but their teacher walked in the room. As they both sat down, Rae motioned with her pencil. Carried nodded.

As the teacher started class, Rae started passing notes to her friend. She’d started from the beginning, with everything Carrie had missed out on while she was gone. As the story went on, the notes from the girl in front of her came back angrier and angrier.

"Miss Winston?," the teacher drawled, three quarters of the way through class. She looked up from her note to find him standing at her desk. He held out his hand. "Give it to me." Rae looked around. Everyone was staring at her. She debated tearing the damn thing up, shoving it in her mouth- anything. He must have realized what she was thinking because he reached out and grabbed it before she could act. She cursed herself. The teacher read the note to himself, then looked down at her. "Out in the hall. Now," he ordered. She glared up at him, but left the room.

Rae leaned against the lockers on the other side of the hall and stuffed her hands in her back pockets, silently summoning the spirit of her brother to possess her. A few minutes later, her teacher came out, holding the note in one hand.

"Anything else you'd like to tell me?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Stay out of it," she said, nonchalantly, keeping her voice even.

"I'd say that I'm pretty involved, now," he said, holding up the note. "I’m going to have to tell the principal about this. The police will most likely be informed as well." She gave him her best tuff, wild Dally smile.

"Don't get involved," Rae repeated. "Or you’ll be sorry." She saw movement behind him and watched as Carrie snuck out the door and snatched the paper out of his hand. “Ain’t nothin’ to a hood, right?” Her friend handed it to her. She ripped the note up and put the pieces in the back pocket of her jeans to dispose of somewhere else. A few seconds later, the bell rang. Students started piling out of the room, dodging their dazed teacher. Rae gave him another dark smile as another greaser girl handed over her backpack.

“Thanks, Chrissy.”

“No prob,” she answered with a red-lipped smile. With a wave and a pop of the gum in her mouth, she headed for the cafeteria to find her boyfriend, large hoops swinging from her ears as she turned.

At lunch, Rae told the boys what happened.

"This is bad," Soda stated. “Can you see if you can get moved to another class?”

"If your teacher tells the fuzz, they could take you away," Steve noted, as if she didn’t already know. "They could take you far away."

"I know. I wasn’t thinkin’,” she groaned.

“Well, that’s obvious,” Steve said, flatly. Soda elbowed him. “What? It’s true.”

“You don’t need to be so blunt.”

“What, you think she wants to be babied?”

“Well, no, but-”

"I been thinkin’ of swiping some foster parent paperwork. Ya know, in case it happens. Mom would take you," Two-Bit announced, his mouth full of candy. At least, that’s what she thought he said.

"Don’t you think you should ask her first?” Rae wondered out loud, unable to help the giggle that came out of her mouth.

"Nah, it don’t matter. She wouldn’t say no to you."

"Anyway,” Soda interjected, serious written all over his face. “We'll talk to Darry and Dally when we get home," Soda said. “They’ll have some ideas.” Well, that sure wiped the smile right off her face.

“Dally’s gonna kill me,” Rae sighed.

“Better to get a good yellin’ than not tell ‘im and get taken away,” Steve concluded.

"Alright, alright," Two-bit said. "We gotta get going. Lunch is almost over."

Rae stared out the window of the passenger seat on the drive back. Johnny, sitting in the seat behind her, placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll get it worked out, yeah?” She placed a hand on top of his and squeezed.

“Thanks, Johnny.” She appreciated the sentiment but she wasn’t sure she felt any better.