#It’s j so weird????? Why can’t we be normal

[stuckinapril]

i hope every person who stalks artists get a taste of their own medicine

it’s actually so frustrating bc I have had many of my top artists reel back projects or drop off the map bc the fans were simply not being normal……. I laugh at stan culture most days but it’s crazy how many young artists these days have to explicitly say their fanbases are insane & it’s actively making them not want to do art or engage w their fans anymore

[jaebeomsbitch]

My First Kiss (E.M.)

PT: II coming soon

Summary: Eddie finds out you’ve never kissed anyone before and offers to teach you.

Warnings: Minors DNI!!! Kissing, some light touching, cursing.

A/N: this was supposed to be a short one haha. Not edited!

“It was traumatic! She left saliva all over my face, maybe she was part dog” Eddie dramatizes, hands swinging wildly, the tv playing low in the background. You can’t help but laugh along as if you understand. All you can really do is imagine.

You cant help the look of disgust on your face before smiling.

“Oh yeah your battle scars run deep” you giggle pushing his thigh with your foot.

“I feel like it’s worse for girls, isn’t it?” He asks.

You quickly look down, cheeks blooming red like a spring flower in the morning.

“I- u-uh uhm— I” you stutter.

Eddie’s eyes furrow, it’s incredibly uncharacteristic for you to be this flustered especially after knowing you so long.

“I- I wouldn’t know” you mumble, shaking your hair out and curtaining yourself away from your best friend.

“You want me to teach you?” He asks, his tone a lot raspier than you remember two seconds ago.

“W-what? N-no that’d be weird” you stammer as your gaze snaps up towards Eddie.

“C’mon it’s just a kiss, it doesn’t have to mean anything or change anything” he says, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear. Something so normal for the two of you that now feels weirdly charged. You stare at him like a fish out of water, mouth open, eyes wide as you contemplate.

“You can trust me, sweetheart” he says softly. Your eyelashes flutter, you hate that your stomach flips when he cups your cheek.

“I know, I know��� jus’” you swallow hard looking up at him.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want. I’ll always take care of you” he says softly.

“It’s not gonna change anything? You’ll still be you and I’ll still be me?” You ask, heart thumping hard against your ribcage.

“Yeah, just me and you. Always” he murmurs.

“Okay,” you whisper after a beat.

His fingers weave through your hair, his touch gentle, as he cradles the back of your head. You twist your bodies, the angle awkward but not as awkward as you feel.

"Okay," He echoes, his tone soft. His gaze holds yours, his attention intense, as he commits himself to making this experience good for you. With a tender smile, he tilts his head, his lips inches from yours, as he prepares to take your first kiss. Your breath hitches, hands fisting his shirt.

His mouth hovers above yours, his warm breath dancing across your skin, as he senses your nervousness. He pauses, his lips barely grazing yours, as he allows you to anchor yourself. His fingers tighten in your hair, his grip reassuring, as he remains motionless, waiting for your cue.

Your breath shakes as you your lips approach his, eyes clamming shut, gasping when your lips press against his. You end up tugging at his shirt, Eddie grunts as his arm slips pressing his body into yours.

“Easy, sweetheart” he says pulling away from your mouth when he realizes you’re shaking.

“You’re safe with me,” he runs his fingers through your hair, trying to calm your frazzled nerves.

“I’m okay- I’m okay. Just wasn’t expecting this” you say.

“Shit” he looks down, moving off of you.

“Sorry” he straightens out his shirt. You don’t miss the light dusting of pink on the tips of his ears.

You smile softly when you realize despite his usual suave manner he’s also nervous.

“S’kay” you hum, letting yourself fall back onto the couch. You can feel his gaze burning through you. As the silence rings loud in Eddie’s trailer the awkwardness starts to grow. This sense of dread starts pressing into your chest, it’s almost suffocating. You sit up abruptly, startling Eddie in the process.

“Jesus Christ!” He says clutching his chest.

“Sorry” you laugh, feeling the tension lighten instantly.

“Why were you sitting up like you’re fucking…Pazuzu?” He asks, struggling to cross his legs on the small couch. You shift back to give him more room.

“Nothing, just wanted to try again”you try to say nonchalantly, totally not like your heart beat is in your throat and you want to vomit with anxiety.

“Oh, yeah?” He says, that smile back on his lips. The one you’ve accustomed to seeing whenever he proves you wrong or beats you at skeeball.

You roll your eyes, “yeah but only if you don’t crush me in the process again.”

“I’m a growing boy!” He protests, moving to sit against the couch cushions again.

“You’re twenty five,” you deadpan.

“And yet you still want you kiss me” he grins, grabbing your elbow and pulling you towards him gently.

“Technically you asked to kiss me so I think you want to kiss me more” you tease, crawling over to him.

“Maybe I do” he smiles grabbing your hip and bringing your leg over his until you’re straddling him.

“Yeah right” you chuckle, brushing his hair back. You feel the way his hands slide down your hips to wrap around the backs of your thighs, your heart beat racing so fast you think you might have a heart attack.

“I’m serious,” he says, looking up at you with those big brown eyes.

“No you’re not” you laugh, not believing your player of a best friend for a second.

“Yes, I am” he says. Your eyebrows furrow as you look down at him.

“No you’re not” you shake your head. His hand comes up to cradle the back of your head forcing you to look at him. Your lips brush ever so slightly causing you to lose your breath.

“Yes I do” he whispers

“Eds…” your voice shakes, your hands finding his shoulders for some stability as everything you know starts to fall apart.

“I wanna kiss you sweets… please” he sounds so pathetic in the best of ways. You can’t help but squeeze his shoulders.

“I- I-“ you struggle with your desires and your logic.

“Just feel baby” he whispers, hand squeezing your thigh softly.

You swallow hard before pressing your lips to his, hands tangled in his knotted hair. You’re incredibly clumsy but Eddie doesn’t mind, not when he can feel his lips tingle with sparks.

Your fingers dig harder into his shoulders as you start to find your rhythm. Just when you start to get comfortable he squeezes your ass pressing your chest into his, not wanting to leave any space between you two. You moan as your hips press into his. You can feel the thick bulge through the stupidly short shorts he wears.

“Eddie” you pant as he starts pressing kisses down your neck.

“Mhm” he hums against your skin, sucking on it and leaving purple bruises.

“Fuck— m-maybe we’re going too fast?” You struggle to keep your thoughts together. He pulls back “You ‘kay?” He asks, his hand holding your jaw.

You nod, noticing how disheveled he looks. His hair mussed and tangled, lips puffy and dark pink, the collar of his shirt slightly stretched.

“M’okay” you lick your lips self consciously.

“What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?” He asks, his thumb rubbing your cheek back and forth.

“That we’re about to fuck everything up” you whisper.

“We’re not gonna fuck it up” Eddie responds immediately.

“I like you, I’ve liked you, I’ll continue to follow you around like a little lost puppy dog even if you don’t wanna kiss me again but we’re not gonna fuck us up” he says holding your face making sure you understand him clearly. Your mind reels as Eddie drops the thin vein, the one thing that kept the reality of what’s going on between you to unspoken.

“Eds…” you whisper.

“N-no it’s fine” he says, lowering his hands from your face as the embarrassment of being rejected sets in. Eddie is used you rejection but he actually likes you, it’s not some one night stand with a stranger.

“No, no hold on. I’m not saying no” you rush.

“I like you but— but you’re you and I’m… me” you say squeezing his shoulders

“What the fuck does that even mean?” He asks, his tone a little harsher than he means to be.

You flinch at this new side of your best friend.

“Nothing, it doesn’t mean nothing” you sigh, he won’t get.

“Tell me” he says grabbing your chin and forcing you to look at him. You swallow hard as you’re met with those big brown pleading eyes of his.

“You’re hot and I’m—“ you trail off.

“You’re what?” He pushes you again.

“A hideous monster that no one would ever look at” you murmur. You don’t have time to react before his lips are on yours, they’re not soft and patient like before. It’s angry and you find it hard to keep up but it feels like Eddie is swallowing you whole.

“Shut the fuck up, if I ever hear you talk ‘bout yourself that way again I’ll make sure you forget about all those stupid little thoughts, yeah?” He says, eyes wide. He looks pissed, more angry than you’ve seen him when he’s just off of work and customer was being an asshole.

“I- uhm okay” you stammer

“S’what I thought. Good girl” he breathes out a sigh, pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth. You hate that your mind does blank as soon as the praise slips out of his pink lips, your body still as he falls back on the couch. His hands haven’t left the backs of your thighs, no. Instead he’s started tracing patterns onto the sensitive skin.

Every piece of your best friend is tantalizing whether he realizes it or not. It’s so easy to fall for his charm, especially when it includes those big brown eyes of his. You’d fallen for Eddie far too long ago, before the leather jackets and metal music. Back when scraped knees and soft kisses to your marred skin were innocent.

[turcott3]

all of you

juraj slafkovský x establishedgf! reader

warnings?: cursing, angst, crying, kissing, mentions of smut, fluff that will make your teeth fall out

masterlist

-

recently, after a promotion, you’d been blowing up on social media. gaining a massive following. you could never keep up with the impossible amount of likes and comments you began to receive but it excited you at the opportunities that it laid out in front of you.

you heard the front door of your apartment shut, yet again followed by silence. the last couple of days have been like this. he comes home from practice and you ask him how it went. your only response being the bedroom door shutting. you sighed at the sound of the shower turning on. you didn’t understand why he was acting this way. you didn’t know what was going on.

“hello?” arber asks on the other end of the line.

“hey arb, do you have a second to talk?” you ask chewing on your fingernails.

“yeah i do, what’s up?”

“is juraj okay? he’s been acting so weird. he used to chat with me after he gets home but now i just ask him how his practice went and he walks right past me and slams the bedroom door. he won’t talk to me about it.”

“y/n i’m gonna be honest with you right now, he’s been having a really hard time. he’s been so hard on himself. he’s been very delicate. less chatty, less smiley. it really fucking sucks. this season has started out less than ideal for him and it’s so hard seeing him go through this. i can’t believe he’s been keeping it from you.”

“i mean i guess it might have something to do with all of the craziness happening in my life, maybe he feels like he doesn’t wanna burden me?”

“that could be it honestly, i think he’s feeling a little insecure. just talk to him, okay? i know you can get him to open up, he’s fucking crazy about you. keep me updated.”

“okay, i will. thank you arber.”

“yeah of course,” he replies as you bid your goodbyes and hang up the phone. it shattered your heart knowing that he was keeping his struggles from you. all because he didn’t wanna dampen your recent successes.

“baby?” you ask as you hear your bedroom door shut. you turned to see your boyfriend sporting a pair of pajama pants and no shirt. a sight that would never get old to you. you hop up off the couch and meet him in the kitchen.

“hi pretty girl.” he giggles, pulling you to him, engulfing you in a tight hug.

“any new developments?” you reply pulling away from him.

“nah not really, everything seems um,” he pauses, “normal, for the most part.”

you noted the shift in his demeanor and figured you should change the subject, at least for now. you watched as the boy prepared lunch for the two of you.

“my little chef, or should i say big.” you giggle watching him from the bar.

“i didn’t cook any of this, i made a sandwich.” he giggles turning around and showing you.

“either way, you made it.”

“i guess you’re right.” he laughs, finishing them up and plopping them down in front of you. you sat in silence as you both at your sandwiches. typically, lunch was filled with lots of chatter. it was bothering you that he was acting so standoffish.

“j, is everything okay? you’re worrying me.” you frown at him.

“uh yeah, i’m fine. why?” he asks with a mouth full of his last bite.

“can we sit down and talk please.” you request and he nods, following you to the living room. leaving your sandwich behind.

“what has been going on with you? you’re not acting like yourself. every time you walk in, you ignore me. i can see you’re upset about something. baby please tell me what’s going on with you? i need to know if something is bothering you. you know im always here for you.” you say grabbing onto his hand and bringing it into your lap.

“i know i know, i just didn’t wanna kill your mood because of all the good things you have going for you right now. i didn’t want you to be worrying about me.” he says, his lip beginning to quiver and voice cracking quietly.

“well i am. tell me whats going on.” you press him.

“i’m not playing good, i know it’s the start of the season but i’m not playing good at all. i have like no points. i’m not practicing well, and i’m getting drilled to hell for it. so i’m just being hard on myself. i feel beat down and insecure as fuck.” he says, wiping the tears he didn’t let roll all the way down his cheek.

“j,” you frown, “i’m sorry it’s been going badly for you. you know i’m here for you always. please just come to me when you need support okay? and why are you feeling insecure?” you lightly wipe away his tears with your thumb. holding his face lovingly between your hands.

“i’ve spent my spare time, outside of shitty practice, looking at your instagram comments. logan cooley is real interested in taking you out. he’s made that very apparent.” he sighs, sniffling.

“who the fuck is logan cooley?” you reply, furrowing your brows, tilting his head up to look at you.

“he was a high draft pick from my year.” he sighs.

“you do know the only players i know are you and your teammates right?” you giggle.

“yeah i know, but im sure you see those comments and look at their accounts and stuff, and i think to myself that maybe you’d wanna give them a chance. i don’t know it’s stupid.” he admits to you, losing eye contact.

“baby what the fuck are you talking about?” you reply, confused as ever.

“i don’t even know at this point.”

“honey, i don’t even take time to open my comments section. it’s full of bullshit, i only respond to yours and some of my friends, i don’t even look at anything else. so i don’t even care what goes on in mine, especially with what im dragged through in yours.” you answer in a light tone, hopefully getting some kind of confidence from him.

“what?”

“let me lead with saying i am in no way trying to discount your feelings, okay? i love you and i wouldn’t ever do that to you. but everyday there are countless random women and fucking 16 year old girls who sit in your comments section and trash on me. ‘she doesn’t deserve him’ ‘she’s too ugly for him’. that’s my reality juraj. no one ever puts you down in my comments, not that it makes it better, but do you see where i’m coming from?”

“i’m sorry i didn’t know.” he frowns, squeezing your hand.

“it’s okay my love, they don’t bother me.” you reply, squeezing back.

“why not?”

“because i know you’re the only one for me.” you smile sweetly at him, placing a kissing on the soft skin of his cheek before nuzzling your head in the crook of his neck as he takes you into his lap.

“you make me feel safe and warm and loved. i couldn’t ever get that from someone else. you’re so caring and sweet with me, i honestly do question how much i deserve you sometimes. when we have sex it’s so much more than just sex, it’s fucking love, juraj. you love me so much and i can feel it everyday. it goes without questioning. never once have i ever even thought about leaving you.” you say, toying with the curls on the back of his head that you’d grown so fond of as they grew longer.

“that makes me feel a lot better. i’ve never been with anyone who loves and cares about me this much, it’s scary sometimes. i have a hard time navigating because all girls have ever wanted from me is my money and attention. you’ve completely flipped my expectations baby. i don’t know how to apologize for how i’ve been acting. i love you so much, i can’t even comprehend it.” he replies. you lean up in his grasp, connecting your lips with his softly, and lovingly.

“i’m gonna marry you j. i just know it.” you say practically in a whisper with your forehead pressed to his.

“i don’t even know what to say, i love you y/n. so fucking much.” is all he replies before pressing a sweet kiss to your cheek.

“you don’t need to say anything, i just wanted to tell you how i feel so you’d maybe give me your gorgeous smile in return.” you say as he smiles widely. you press a kiss to his head with a laugh.

“tomorrow you’re going into practice with your chin held high, and that pretty smile on your face. you hear me? i’ll get you there no matter what i have to do.” you say placing your hand on his cheek.

“i trust you.” he giggles before you tackle him over in a kiss, leaving all of your prior worries behind. you were obsessed with the way he made you all warm and fuzzy inside. obsessed with the way he loved you, physically and emotionally. but mostly, you were obsessed with the way he loved all of you.

-

[floofeeeeee]

Time to be a little hater HEHEH this my rant on the Kotlc sub reddit

I HATE and I mean HATE THIS REDDIT ONG homophobia has tow down a bit but ugh…this sub Reddit….is depressing as hell

Like LIKEEEEE uh there’s a lot of things I dislike that I’m going to explain here I’ll try not to make it long but I’m a yapper SOO no promises (also there will be so many spelling mistakes erm)

Ok First things first

They hate the books like genuinely hate it, it’s wild. And not in the way we’re there just criticizing like I’ve seen on here. I’ve seen some very good points and discussions that have been overall respectful and you can tell they still enjoy the books even with the criticism. Like I’ve eaten up every book but still had the things I like to nitpick. But on the sub Reddit…it’s such a different vibe man.. like they find it childish (crazy it’s almost like it was made for 12 year old ) and just dislike every book except like the first. They constantly talk about how much they think the newer suck. They hate the plot and most of it writing. At this point don’t read it????? You clearly do not enjoy the books why are you here???

And the worst part is there are a lot of younger kids on there then here.. like these are kids who want to find a space to talk about there favorite books and your just complaining all the time…UUGHHHGBHBHH

PART TWO

The homophobia…. Sighhhhh it’s Reddit idk man but I’ve seen a few things erm.. yeah it’s gotten better like a lot I’d say compared to Pinterest but still it’s gross.

Part three my favoriteeee part! (Lies)

The Sophie hate. (Oh that hurts my soul)

Now I’ve seen criticism of Sophie on here before! It’s normal! But this is actually hate like…Ong why

Let’s just start of with the fact the if you go on there now I guarantee if you scroll down a bit you will find a post hating on Sophie. It’s all the same stuff to “I miss the old Sophie! She’s such a brat now!” She’s so annoying she doesn’t deserve Keefe!” “I hate how rude she is in stellarlune !” That pretty basic and toning  it down a lot . But you get the idea it’s that all the time with a few more things obviously. They think she’s a Mary sue they hate how many powers she’s has they call her weak and are annoyed with the fact that she can’t ever beat the neverseen (it’s almost like she 15 with very little training on how to fight and no one ever offers except until FLASHBACK. when they finally are like hmm maybe we should teach her how to defend herself! REALLY NOW? AFTER ALL THIS TIME??) they give very very little grace.

But it keeps going now there is hate for fitz…but I feel like the hate for Sophie is worse.

That brings us to our next part

There highkey misogynistic .. NOW HEAR ME OUT OKK get it they can dislike a girl character that’s fine! (It’s not /j) but here’s why I think that

fitz defenders on there and they are interesting…like I love fitz lovers on here there very cool and are respectful

Not Reddit!

A litte while back I saw post talking about sofitz break up in legacy and well…they blamed it all on Sophie!!! How sweet 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 now this isn’t me saying she wasn’t at fault at all during that time BUT neither was fitz they both were they both had there struggles and it was clear to me that Sophie wasn’t ready. But they want on a long rent about how most of it was her fault and how much she ruined the relationship…oh my. And yes it’s there opinion but when a whole sub Reddit is in favor of the man more then the woman……….I just thinks it’s weird and maybe this isn’t very misogynistic

But! I’ve seen Keefe lover on There ranting about how bad sophie is for Keefe and how much they hate the idea of them together. I’ve seen multiple post loving both of those boy and ragging on Sophie they praise the boys and hate her it’s it’s so…ANNOYING holy crap I hate it. It feels so misogynistic the way they treat those two boys with so much love and affection even though Sophie shows sighs of similar behavior as both of them BUT NOOOOO she’s annoying bratty B and deserve nothing not like my Keefe who deserves the world……….

I’m sorry if I’m not explaining well and I’m getting things wrong this is fully just me needing to rant about that stupid sub Reddit.

I’m not done btw um

Also I saw this person post such an innocent and nice question on why they hate Sophie so much. They were like I’ve seen a lot of hate on Sophie. And I’m a big fan of her can anyone explain to why? No hate I respect your opinion! Something along those lines

And man…it was all the stuff I said before long messages about why they hate her … SIGHHHHHHHH

Anyways besides that there boring that’s all they ever talk about is this and that and there litte hot takes that are just straight up hate Radom person who nos nothing about it and is like ask me questions u have no idea what this book is about! And that fun until you look at the comments and there just annoying about it..And it’s just gahhh

Anyways my wrist hurts and that pretty much the end of my rant feel free to discuss! But please be respectful this was just my frustration that I needed to get out its not that deep I swear

[cyten0]

A Symphony in Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 6

… You're back. No. Nonononono

◉ “-frin!”

No no no she needs to get away she needs to leave now!!!

◉ “Good morning Siffrin! Well more like good after… Siffrin?”

You can smell her, she looks delicious, you can’t think, you shouldn’t be here, why are you here, you're so hungry, she smells amazing, you can’t think, d̴̛̤on’t hurt her̶̙͆, don’t hư̴͇rt her, d̴̛̤o̸n’t̴̟̾ ̷͍̉h̸̘̚ur̶͔͗t̵̖̉ ̵͈͝ḫ̸͗e̷̹͐r̶̙͆

You brace yourself against the ground, you cover your mouth, You try and breathe, but every breath carries her scent and makes it harder to think. You can feel your body move involuntarily, barely holding itself in shape. You're having to hold back your every impulse to not leap at her and bite down on her- N̷̹͕̠̋̔Ǫ̸̈ Don’t do it don’t hurt her!!!

◉ “SIFFRIN!!!”

AH! She just grabbed you!

◉ “Are you okay? You were shaking really badly, and you look pale, what’s going on?!?”

You need to convince her to leave, NOW, before you-

✦ “H-Had a nightmare! C-Could you… Give me some space? I just… Need a bit to calm down!”

◉ “Are you sure? Do you need anything? I could-”

✦ “P̵͔̽LEASE! J-Just. I. I just need a moment!”

She stops. And reluctantly let’s go.

◉ “… Ok. I’ll wait for you up ahead. Talk to me when you're feeling a bit better, alright?”

You wait for her to walk off. Still holding yourself in place. You wait for her scent to fade. Before finally. Taking a breath in. And out. In… and out...

You. You're back here. You won, and yet you're back here. Why? What went wrong? The Housemaiden said something went wrong, did you mess something up? Or, is there some other threat? STARS you don’t know what to do!!!

You. You need to talk to Loop. Maybe they have ideas. But to do that. You have to get to the favor tree.

This is not going to be easy. But… You’ve had some time to compose yourself. And Loop can get you an extra meal, which should help you at least manage.

Get up, Siffrin. You aren’t quite done yet.

◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉

There’s Siffrin! You watch him come up the path, you were starting to get worried! He looked REALLY bad there. In fairness, you've all worried about their health at times, but today it’s much worse!

◉ “Siffrin! There you are, I was worried about you! You doing better?”

✦ “...Yeah! All good. Don’t worry about me.”

They're smiling in this weird way. You know they probably don’t want to talk about it, but…

◉ “Are you SURE? You… REALLY didn’t seem okay. If you want to talk about it-”

✦ “It’s fine! Just had a dream about getting set on fire.”

Oh no is their fear of fire coming back?!?… Oh no, he’s got that look on his face…

✦ “But I'd say I've cooled down.”

◉ “Oh! Siffrin!”

Sigh. Well, you guess if he’s joking around he can’t be too bad off.

But… You know you didn’t imagine it. When you grabbed him, it felt like… Something was moving inside him. And that look in his eyes. And that voice…

✦ “Anyways, I have some things to do. I’ll talk to you later!

◉ “Huh? Um, Siffrin, Please wait!”

They turn towards you, looking a little antsy.

◉ “I-I know your busy but… Just… When you get the chance, come talk to me, okay? So we can talk!”

✦ “Oh, uh… Ok? Sure!”

◉ “Ok, go do your thing!”

You watch him head off toward the favor tree…

Normally, you would just wait for him to talk to you. You’re not one to pry! He has secrets! It’s not right to pry!…

But… Whatever that was. It’s way more then a nightmare. Siffrin’s always been a bit odd, varying between fatigued and weirdly competent at random. They might be pushing things before the king...

You decide to quietly follow him. J-Just to make sure he’s still okay!

As you head over, you bump into Isabeau right away!

▲ “Oh, hey Mira! What’s up?”

◉ “O-Oh nothing! Just… Is Siffrin alright? He looked really ill earlier, a-and I thought I saw something weird, and he didn’t want to talk about it, but I was worried!”

▲ “Hm. Dunno. I kinda gave him some space since he wanted to ask a favor from the favor tree. But now that you mention it, they did seem a little off.”

This doesn’t bode well. If it was just you, you’d try and calm down, but Isabeau too? You know it’s rude to spy on them, but you can’t back down now!

▲ “… Do you think we should keep an eye on him?”

◉ “I-I uh. Well, I know we shouldn’t pry, but…”

▲ “I understand. Just a quick look! We’ll go through the trees, make sure he’s alright, and he won’t even notice!”

◉ “O-Okay!”

You both quietly sneak through the adjacent woods, and find a spot to look. But… Right away, you notice something off. There’s a weird glowing person there!?! They're staring at Siffrin, waiting, and he’s just staring at the ground.

◉ “(We better get closer! I think they're going to talk!)”

Isabeau nods, and you both start shuffling closer.

✸ “… Well, let’s start with the good part! Congratulations, Stardust! You beat the king! Well done! Good for you!”

WHAT?!?!?

✦ “… But I’m still back here.”

✸ “Right, That’s the bad news. THAT sure is a problem, isn’t it?”

✦ “… Did you know?”

✸ “…Not really. I felt there was a possibility, but it came as a surprise to me too, honestly!”

✦ “What do I do?!? We beat the King! That should have been it! What went wrong?!? I don't-”

✸ “Calm down. Take a deep breath.”

The two take slow breaths, in and out. And meanwhile, you and Isabeau are utterly confused?!? What do they mean they beat the king? You all haven't even gone to the house!?!

Wait. Did that strange figure just look at you? It was only for a half second but-

✸ “Alright. Let’s recap, just to see if we missed something! First. Your stuck in a timeloop~ Every time you die, and now apparently after talking to the Head Housemaiden, you come back to today! Second, and this was why I started suspecting this outcome, we have no idea WHY it’s happening~"

✦ “… Right. It just started all of a sudden. Heck I even figured it was a monster thing at first, didn’t I?”

A timeloop?!? You read some stories about stuff like that but. That’s crazy!… But you guess the king can mess with time, so it’s not TOO far out there, you guess. How does that even happen?

...But what was that about a monster thing?

✸ “Right, which leads us to number three, the most pressing issue. Your hunger~ We’ve been keeping it at bay with sadnesses so far, but their lack of actual substance has officially caught up! Full on crash now! Which leaves two options.”

Siffrin looks up, confused. You are even more confused?!? Has Siffrin been eating Sadnesses? WHY? Isabeau looks just as confused as you are!

But… You wonder. Those strange things you saw there. Was that… Real? That movement you felt inside them... Does Siffrin have some kind of weird parasite or something?

✸ “The first is to find a way to sneak meals while you're in the house. If I have some time in a given loop, I could reach farther, and maybe grab some unfrozen wildlife outside of Vaugarde. Otherwise you might have to… Improvise.”

Siffrin glares and the figure.

✦ “Improvise. How.”

✸ “I know you wouldn’t normally, but given you can turn back time, You could potentially grab one of the locals…”

✦ “No. I’m not going to eat a person. Never again.”

W-What? That. No way… People? That. That can’t just be a parasite!!!

That’s… And. He said... again?… Does that mean he’s… Oh Change, you're shaking! What… What exactly has Siffrin been dealing with?!?

✸ “Fair enough! Worth double checking! I know that’s a line you won’t cross! Which really just leaves one option… Are you SURE you don’t want to talk to your party? If you can’t find an opening normally, your best bet is to just see if they’ll give you one.”

✦ “NO. I can’t let them know. I’ll think of something. Just. We can keep going off sadnesses for now. It’ll be tough, but I’ll manage. At least long enough to get out. I mean. It’s just one more hurdle.”

✸ “So persistent, Stardust! Well then, I suppose Mirabelle will be disappointed! She DID say she wanted to talk to you~ Might want to talk anyways, just to ease her mind! And to remind her of the CARROT method, since you forgot!”

The CARROT method?… OH!! Right, you were working on a shield spell, wait so… Oh that makes so much sense, why didn’t you think about that?? GAH! Nevermind that!!

Regardless, You feel like you and Isabeau have heard way more then you should have already. You turn to him and whisper.

◉ “(I think we’ve heard more then we should, we should go)”

▲ “(R-Right. We’ll ask about this lat-)”

✸ No. Do NOT confront him. He might get desperate.

WHAT!?! Was that. Did that mysterious person just talk INTO your head?!?

✸ Stardust needs time to figure out what to do.

▲ “(He needs to talk about this!!! We can help!)”

✸ ...Maybe you need a demonstration as to how bad the situation is.

✦ “Right. So… That just leaves finding more about what’s happening to me.”

✸ “Right! Now, so you can have a SLIGHTLY clear head before we talk about that, may I suggest getting a meal first?”

✦ “sigh I guess we should. Maybe we should try for something a bit bigger this time, since I’ve gotten better at fighting. Maybe that really tough sadness from the first floor?”

✸ “Fair enough! Still not very filling, but it should keep you at least sane for the next loop or so!”

You watch as the figure flicks his wrist, and a weird gateway appears in a strange shade you’ve never seen! Out of it falls a huge, orb headed sadness that towers over you all! Oh change, this close to town?!? You have to-

You don’t even get a second before Siffrin’s entire body twists and lunges. With a visceral sound of ripping flesh and cracking bone, his body unravels into a writhing mess of black tendrils, limbs, and fangs, framed by Siffrins white cloak and face.

The towering sadness doesn’t even have time to make a noise before it’s throat is pierced and it’s body is bound. You nearly scream, but Isabeau covers your mouth before you can. It tries to squirm to escape, but Siffrin just starts ripping it apart piece by piece, until a massive gaping maw opens up from where his body should be, and you watch the last bit of sadness is dropped past Siffrins cold, emotionless face, into his cavernous maw. And as it falls in, you see Siffrin… Smile. Like it was nothing.

You just stare in shock. That… You… You know it was just a sadness but…

Siffrin takes a moment in that form, before slowly, methodically, squeezing it back together, tightly packing tendrils into arms, legs, hands and feet, and skin begins to form above it’s surface, before fabric weaves itself from hair above. And for just a second, you see his face, with lightless eyes, interrupted by a strange crossed slits of that unusual shade before a light substance slowly forms over their surface, turning his eyes back to normal.

Isabeau starts dragging you away. You can scarcely believe what you saw. And as you try to think, the figures voice fills your mind.

✸ That is what we are dealing with. So again. Don’t confront him. Because right now, nothing you can do would matter.

… You don’t even realize when you’ve gotten out of the woods, until you are back in daylight.

You don’t know what to say. What do you even do? Where do you even start?

▲ “… So Siffrin’s been protecting us from that, this whole time?”

That shocks you right out of it instantly!

◉ “Huh?”

▲ “Whatever… That was. They talked about it as if it had been the case for a while. Might have been since we first met. But Siffrin clearly doesn’t want to hurt anyone."

▲ “And he hasn’t. Saved our lives on more then one occasion. And, you heard what they said. Even when they have the chance, they're sticking to not hurting anyone.”

...Isabeau’s right. Siffrin won’t hurt you all. But the fact he’s doing this alone…

◉ “I-I still want to talk to him. They shouldn’t have to deal with… With ANY of that alone!”

▲ “Agreed. I don’t care what that figure says, we have to talk to them about it. I’ll head up to the view of the castle, I’ll let you have the first go at talking to them, since you asked beforehand.”

◉ “… Fair point. I-I’ll try.”

▲ “You got this Mira!”

You aren’t going to press him on it, but you will try and get him to talk about it. You just hope it’ll be enough.

✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸

✸ -Because right now, nothing you can do would matter.

… You watch as they hurry off. You hope that should be enough to prevent an incident, or at least buy you time until you’ve finished talking things out with Stardust. They need a clear head for this, and talking to the party is not something they are ready to do.

As are you honestly, just seeing them reminds you of… Anyways! Back to it! You have a job to do, after all!

✸ “I take it that was a little more filling?”

✦ “Yeah, a little. It’ll keep me going at least. Still hard to think, but it’s something.”

✸ “Good! Now then, let’s see… Where to go from here…”

>>>

✦ “Alright, I better get started! Library, Head Housemaiden, and the King.”

✸ “Don’t forget to talk to Mirabelle, Stardust!”

✦ “Right. I’m not looking forwards to that.”

You're sure it’ll be fine, right? But…. You feel a presence at the back of your mind urge you to tell them. …Right. You’d better at least hint at it! You guess if she does confront them, and they found out you hid it, it wouldn’t bode well~

✸ “You REALLY need to though! I have a SLIGHT suspicion that she saw something earlier, likely when you woke up~”

✦ “Oh!… Right. I was just thinking she was worried, but if she actually saw something… I’ll. I’ll get on that.”

You smile and wave at stardust as they walk away!

… Hm. That thought. That was your patron, wasn’t it? You get the sense that you just avoided a dire situation, but nothing more notable. But given their otherworldly nature, and role as the possibilities of the journey, you’d best trust that instinct~ That said, you feel Mira wouldn’t press them on this, so then… Why did you need to do that?

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

Crab. You watched Mira and Siffrin’s chat, and the whole topic got fully avoided in favor of those papers. You guess you're gonna have to talk to him. Oh you REALLY didn’t want to have to do that. But SOMEONE has to.

Come on, Isabeau, be brave! You can be brave for Sif!

Siffrin’s been talking to the others for a bit, so you're using that time to calm yourself down, just a little.

Okay. Whew. Okay. Here they come. Just, start off with a normal chat! Normal Isa!

▲ “Heya Sif! How’s it going? You looked like you were in a rush earlier? Everything alright?”

✦ “Yep! Everything's fine!”

▲ “You sure? Mirabelle mentioned you uh. Weren’t doing so well a bit ago.”

Sif looks off to the side, trying not to meet your gaze

✦ “Yeah, it was just a nightmare! Nothing to worry about.”

▲ “… Ok, do you want to talk about it?”

Siffrin is starting to look a little confused at you.

✦ “I’m fine Isa. Don’t worry!”

Crab, he’s just gonna keep dodging it unless you bring it up, aren’t you? Ok. deep breath, and Go.

▲ “Look, I-I know there’s more going on. Mira said she saw something weird, so, to put her at ease, I took a look at what you were doing at the favor tree! And uh. Might have. Heard some stuff. And. Seen some stuff. That I probably shouldn’t have?”

Sif freezes! Uh oh, nope, don’t make them panic!

▲ “I-It’s ok! I, I just. Figured you might want some help or. At least to talk to someone about it? I-If you're okay with that!!”

Crab, Isa, you're sweating bullets, you're so nervous about this, you don’t know how to go about this!!

✦ “H-How much did you see?”

OH. Uh. You. Better be honest about this.

▲ “I UH. Left after you were done with the. Um. When you were. Um. Done with... dealing with that sadness.”

CRAB CRAB CRAB Sif is looking like they're panicking, that’s not good, oh why couldn’t it have been someone else doing this talk!

✦ “Nonononononono”

▲ “L-Look I’m not gonna judge or anything, I’ll admit I have a lot of questions but-”

✦ “NȌ̷̻!!!”

The air starts to feel heavy, you feel it pressing around you. It’s hard to move! You… You smell burnt sugar?

✦ “I can’t! Not you!!!”

▲ “S-Sif? Calm down, it’s o-”

You watch as Sif plunges a clawed hand into his chest, and you hear something shatter.

《《《《《《《

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

… STARS!!! He saw! He BLINDING SAW!!!!

He was trying to hide it but you could smell it on him, you could hear it in his voice and his heartbeat! He was SCARED! Of YOU!!!

And why shouldn’t he?!? Of COURSE he saw the monster and got scared! Why did it have to be HIM? You didn’t want to see any of them scared of you, but it hurts WORSE when it’s HIM! He’s always smiling at you, having fun with you, making you feel like a person!! Seeing him scared was horrible!!!

… You. Just realized what you did. You… Killed yourself.

Not like normal, with the tears. You weren’t even thinking. You just felt your mind slipping, and felt your claws out and… Knew you had to do something. He…

When he was scared, it reminded you of when you were hunting. And he always smells so delicious... You don’t know if you would have done anything, but... You’re glad you stopped yourself. Just in case.

But. You guess that could work in future. You’d rather not, but. You guess if it’s an emergency, you can do that. If you. If your slipping. It’s a way to stop yourself.

Ok. Let’s… Try that again. And not worry Mira this time! Don’t want Isa to see that again. You still need to find out what to do for him!

Back to it Siffrin.

[goodlucktai]

all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

wild heart au

read on ao3

x

Sanji has known Sabo for much less than a month, but he’s already become one of the very last people on earth that Sanji could imagine crying. He’s too big for that, too tough—the kind of boy Sanji’s brothers would admire, probably, one who isn’t afraid to dig in with his heels and fight dirty and use his teeth to win. Nothing like the weak-willed, tender-hearted, soft-skinned failure of the Germas. 

But Sabo’s eyes are red and puffy, for the split second Sanji gets a glimpse of them, and it’s shocking. The older boy turns his back on the rest of them, crouching by the fire and prodding it viciously with a stick. Ace, who saw where Sanji’s gaze got stuck, folds his face into an impressive scowl. 

“Don’t ask,” he says, in a tone that implies it is not a suggestion. 

“I won’t,” Sanji says quickly, hands clutching on the strap of his bag anxiously. Ace clocks it with a flick of his dark eyes and scoffs, but before Sanji can decide how he feels about it one way or another, Luffy’s arm stretches past him to give Ace a solid shove.

“We can only have one sad brother at a time!” Luffy declares. It seems like he can’t decide if he should whisper or shout, but Sanji secretly doesn’t think Luffy would know how to keep his voice down if someone held a gun to his head, so the result is a normal talking voice in a weird pitch. “Don’t make Sanji feel bad, too, or I’ll hit you!”

“You wanna die?” Ace grumps back, bearing his teeth like one of the animals they hunt for dinner, but he capitulates surprisingly easily. Sabo’s mood seems to have knocked him off-kilter. That’s probably why he doesn’t argue the brother comment. 

Sanji is pretty sure the older boys don’t like him very much, but Luffy makes up for it. Luffy isn’t quiet or shy about the things he hates or the things he likes, and Sanji would have to be deaf and blind to miss how much Luffy likes him. 

It makes him willing to put up with Ace and Sabo’s bad attitudes—willing to spend his free time climbing a mountain, picking his way carefully to the edge of the dense, looming rainforest, and cook meals for a group that is two-thirds suspicious and ungrateful—because then he’ll get to see Luffy’s big, silly smile. 

Sanji is quickly learning that he would do almost anything to see that. 

“His family is stupid,” Luffy pipes up. “They have all these weird ideas that Sabo should be like them , even though he’s already like somebody—he’s like Sabo. And they do mean things when he doesn’t pretend the way they want him to—today they forgot his birthday on purpose.”

He’s not being quiet enough; Sanji can see Sabo hearing every word. But Ace doesn’t shut him up, and Sanji can guess why. The tension in Sabo’s shoulders is unwinding, until he doesn’t look so much like a creature curled up to defend itself against a kick. Suddenly he’s just Luffy’s smart-aleck big brother again, who’s sitting slouched by the fire because he’s a little tired, or a little sad. And he’s listening to the inane ramblings of a scrawny seven-year-old boy as if they mean something very important to him. 

Luffy lifts his hand to cup the side of his mouth, inviting Sanji in on a secret, because he still thinks he’s being sneaky. Sanji feels a burst of fondness in his chest that he can’t help, like his insides are nestled in a warm stove, and leans in agreeably. 

“I don’t know why anybody who was lucky enough to have a Sabo would want him to be anything but Sabo. Sabo’s the best! Don’t tell Ace, though.”

Ace’s hackles go up. He doesn’t actually have porcupine quills but he might as well since he bristles just like one and makes it painful for anybody who sticks their hand too close to him. But then Sabo makes a smothered sound, shoulders shaking with laughter that he’s trying to keep behind his hand, and it defangs Ace instantly. 

He still calls Luffy a brat and cuffs him on the head as he walks by. It’s gentle by their standards, and Luffy’s skull just bounces with the motion like a volleyball, but Sanji pats him gently in the same spot just to be sure. 

Luffy reaches up to cling to his hand and beams up at him, this little pocket-sized star. 

“What are you going to cook for us today?” he asks enthusiastically, and the mention of food has his brothers looking over, too. Sabo is still a little pale and quiet, but his icy blue eyes aren’t flinching away from the rest of them anymore. 

Sanji can’t help but think about it, though, when he’s lying awake in his bunk on The Orbit later that night. And he thinks about it when he gets up and makes his way down into the kitchen. There is usually still one or two people milling about even at this hour, and the baker gives him permission to use the oven as long as he promises to clean up after himself, and that’s how, at something like two o’clock in the morning, Sanji finds himself looking at a birthday cake that got away from him.

It’s three tiers, the sponge infused with pineapple, with a spread of filling between each layer that’s as thick and tart as a jam, and the whole of it is covered evenly in white buttercream frosting with a fluffy blue border piped around the top and bottom. He doesn’t add any extra embellishments, because he’s certain the boy it’s for won’t appreciate it, but he wants Sabo to know it’s for him and not something extra Sanji just took off a shelf. So he pipes that signature crossed-out S on the top and then boxes the whole thing up and sticks it in the fridge before he can second-guess himself anymore. 

The next morning, after a few fitful hours of sleep, he drops the cake off at the Party Bar, red-faced and embarrassed. The owner of the bar is a kind woman Luffy took Sanji to meet once in his chaotic, haphazard way that feels more like he’s just showing off his favorite things than introducing people. Makino seems to be the brothers’ point of contact for things like fresh milk and shoes without holes, and takes their rude comings and goings with the patience of a saint. 

She looks a little confused to have a big pastry box shoved into her hands by a relative stranger, but kindly promises to pass it along when Sanji is able to mumble out who it’s for, and at that point Sanji bolts out the door. 

He almost gets away with it. Maybe. He probably should have just stayed on the ship all day if he really wanted to hide, but his seniors on the staff are still adamant about keeping him away from the clientele for his own safety. 

So he’s crouched by the tidepools, watching colorful, spiny creatures living without a clue or a care how big the world is outside their tiny little place in it, when he’s tackled to the ground. 

Sanji gets a mouthful of sand and coughs and hacks and yells without looking, “Luffy!” Because there’s only one insane rubber boy who would rocket himself across the beach in an affectionate full-body slam for no other reason than to get to his hug faster. 

“You made Sabo a cake!” he shouts, like he’s trying to let the whole island know about it. “He won’t say it, but thank you, thank you! We ate the whole thing!” 

When Sanji is finally able to squint his eyes open, past the grit on his face and the sun pointing down on top of him, he’s able to make out Luffy’s blond brother standing over them. Sabo’s staring down at Sanji like he’s never seen anyone like him before. He doesn’t look unhappy or annoyed, he looks like he hasn’t decided how to look at him at all. 

Sanji shoves at Luffy until he gets the hint and lets him up. Only he gets the hint in his overly-enthusiastic Luffy way, and hauls Sanji to his feet with gusto, both his hands wrapped tight around one of Sanji’s arms. He’s very quick to grab onto people. Sanji isn’t sure he knows the first thing about how to let go. 

“Why?” Sabo demands. 

Because Sanji used to get birthday cake. He remembers being very little, lifted up into mama’s warm arms when she was still strong enough to lift him. He remembers the fragrant smell of her hair as she cuddled him close and carried him over to a beautiful little dessert.

“Make a wish,” she would tell him. “Keep it a secret so it comes true.”

Sanji is grown up now and knows those things are for children. And he knows that Sabo is so much stronger than Sanji is, and braver, and rebels against his family right to their faces in a way that Sanji would never, ever be brave enough to copy even if he lived for a million years. Sabo almost definitely doesn’t miss birthday cakes, of all things. 

But Sanji remembers how loved he felt when mama held him up to blow out the candles. The absence of that feeling carved a hole inside him that never went away. He isn’t anyone important to Sabo, but he’s someone who can give him a cake. 

He doesn’t know how to say any of that. All he says, more to the scars on his hands than to anyone else, is, “My family was mean, too.”

For a brief moment, neither of the brothers say anything. Then two skinny arms latch themselves around his waist—wrapping twice, then three times more than human arms are capable of. Luffy’s frowning up at him with that petulant expression he wears when he’s been wronged. 

But Sabo is the one who says, “Take me to them someday and I’ll beat them up.”

Sanji’s knee-jerk reaction is one of anxiety. “No, um, that’s okay. My brothers are really strong. And my dad is really scary.”

“I’ll be stronger and scarier,” Sabo announces unremarkably, folding his arms. “And I’ll have Ace,” he adds, like that’s his trump card. It’s not a bad trump card. Fighting Ace is like fighting a force of nature, or a rabid coyote. Most sensible people turn and run. 

“And me!” Luffy announces. 

“You aren’t going anywhere near my dad,” Sanji is quick to shoot him down, heart racing just thinking about Judge putting his hands on sunny, smiling Luffy. He would—he doesn’t know what he would do. But he would do something. He would go crazy. 

Luffy swells like an offended little toad, with probably plenty to say at being left out of this make-believe conflict that’s never actually going to happen in real life. 

Before he can burst with whatever silliness he’s got to say, Sanji cuts in with, “So you liked the pineapple filling in the cake?”

It cuts the wind right out of Luffy’s sails. Food always distracts him. He blinks a few times, absorbing the question, then says, “Yes! It was the best cake I’ve ever had! Ace said so, too!”

Sabo looks like he’s decided how he wants to look at Sanji now. It’s the way Luffy’s brothers both look at him. It’s the way people watch stupid puppies too clumsy for their big ideas tumble enthusiastically into trouble—funny for a few seconds, and then it’s your responsibility to pick them up and put them back on their feet, and they’re lucky they’re worth all the trouble. 

Sabo looks like he’s decided Sanji is worth the trouble.

[morporkian-cryptid]

Hey, y’all wanna see some more Very Inadvisable Gun Practices by Daisuke “Supposedly The Best Gunman In The World” Jigen,

the same absolute madman who brought us timeless classics like “shooting over your shoulder with the hammer right next to your ear”, “shoving a loaded gun into your waistband”, "twirling a loaded gun by the trigger guard", and of course “using the wrong ammo for so long that your gun just blows up into pieces and buries itself into some guy’s chest”?

-cracks knuckles-

Suppose you are stranded in the Middle Ages (thanks Mamou); Middle Ages People have stolen your gun and used up all the bullets, before kindly returning the now useless gun to you. Do you:

Use your gun to bash people on the head

Acquire a crossbow or perhaps a slingshot

Forge new bullets out of some random metal you melted over a campfire and poured into a hole in a block of wood, then shove them into your used bullet cases, presumably with some gunpowder that you just found somewhere

WHY, OPTION C OF FUCKING COURSE!

I sent these pictures to J (@whosayscrimedoesntpay), my Friend Who Knows Guns™, and he was kind enough to give me a detailed run-down of what exactly is wrong with Jigen. I will now hand the keyboard over to him, so he can explain why, in his own words, “there’s… so much wrong here… so much…”

What the fuck is that metal? Why are you able to melt it over a normal fire?? Why doesn’t the powder flash deform it if that’s the case?

How did you just… find a bullet-shaped hole?? Did you make it?? How did you do that so it was the right size and shape? The wood grain would affect the aerodynamics!

Pouring water on it is just a questionable idea in terms of physics. It could cool weird and possibly deform, if not have water trapped in it.

WHY DOES HE HAVE NO BULLETS, BUT SPARE BULLET CASINGS? [NB: the answer is that he had the spent cases from already fired bullets, which sent J into even more hysterics]

SAME FOR THE POWDER [NB from your local Japan History Nerd™: this movie takes place in the early 1500; firearms were introduced to Japan in 1300 so it’s not completely impossible that Jigen would have acquired some, but then again the villagers there were very clearly established to Not Have Firearms, so…]

Is he… hammering it?? Into the case?? With a rough object?? Risking deforming the bullet?? See point 2 for my point about aerodynamics.

If he doesn’t have spare cases and he’s just using old ones that he’s spent already, no he’s not. THAT’S NOT HOW THAT WORKS.

Expanding on point 7: the whole way a bullet works is the hammer hits the base of the case, either on the rim (the flared bit) or on the center (no flare on those so these are likely rimfire, unless the animators don’t know that either) [NB: .357 Magnum bullets have a flare on the base, so yes the animators did indeed get that wrong.]

That silver bit in the middle of the base houses the “primer”, which is the thing that initially causes the heat/spark that sets off the powder. Depending on if your gun/ammo is rimfire or centrefire, the pin will either strike the rim or the center. On the picture of the spent case (on the right) you can see a dent in the little silver bit.

If they’re spent, you can’t just reuse the exact same case. The primer in the rim/center is spent. You can’t replace that.

Well, technically you can reuse centrefire cases, but you have to replace the bullet (which Jigen did, very badly), the powder (did he?? We didn’t see him do it) and the primer (same here). In the end, the only problem Jigen had with these bullets in the movie is that the aim was very bad, even though the fact that his gun even fires at all goes against the laws of physics.

--------

TL;DR: Jigen is once again defying both science and gun logic. According to J, it basically boils down to “even if the metal is suitable (which it isn’t) and the bullet is made correctly (which it isn’t) and he just… has gunpowder up his ass, he STILL needs a new primer”.

Thank you for tuning in to this new installment of “Daisuke Jigen should not, in fact, be trusted with a gun”!

[lineffability]

the serpent files (teaser)

[clears throat] "Let’s get your statement, then. Do go on as coherently as possible, please. It will all be… it will all be tickety-boo, I’m– I hope. The sooner we record this, the sooner we can try to, to look into it, to help you. But to help you, I really need to know what happened, Crowley. Please. I do so want to help. You’re a… friend.”

[audible inhale] “Okay. Okay, I’ll try. [laughs nervously] Tickety-boo?”

“Alright. Let’s begin again. Statement of Anthony J. Crowley, regarding strange occurrences in relation to an ouroboros necklace with a sword pendant. Original statement given May 31st, 2019. Audio-recording by Az Fell, Head Archivist of the Eden Institute, London. Statement begins:”

“Okay. So. It all started a month ago. Boss gave me this assignment – well, not directly, he sent Hastur and Ligur.”

“Full names, please.”

“You think I know their full names? This is a crime ring, not a family. I mean, I know my boss as Lucifer Morningstar, but I really don’t think that’s his real name.”

“Doubtful. Fair enough. Full names wherever possible, please.”

“So Hastur and Ligur called,  wanted to meet up. In this stupid graveyard of all places, just their style. They’re the kind of people who, dunno, lurk? Like some kinda wannabe villains. Professional lurkers. Is that a thing? Lurking contests? Dunno. Well, it’s the only thing they’re actually good at. Uh, were. Suppose. I keep forgetting. Weird, because I also can’t forget at all. Fucking haunting, actually. But back then they gave me this package, said they had a job for me. Assignment, that’s what we call it, for some weird culty reason, I guess. Then Ligur said something like ‘Ciao, Crowley, wow you look so cool, why are you always so cool and impeccably dressed? I’m so jealous of you Crowley, I wish I could–”

“That’s not what he said, is it.”

“Perceptive, angel.”

“A-angel?”

“Uhm. Az Fell. Angel, Azfell, tomato, tomato. Mumbling, bad habit. No, it’s not what he said. Was trying to, mh, lighten the mood. You look so nervous.”

“Me? I’m not nervous. [pause] Crowley, it’s normal to be troubled by all this. [shuffling noises] I understand. [long pause] Ready to go on?”

“Y- yeah. Uh. Thanks.  I’m okay, really. Not like I cared about them or anything. But what happened… talking about it, remembering, reconstructing, it’s a bit like looking where the furniture isn’t. Like, like chess pieces on a board without black and white squares."

[akuaya-eng]

(Card story) Rosé SR - Night of the Kickoff Party

- CLUMSY LOVE -

Episode 1

Rosé: Parties are the best, after all. So delicious-- I mean, there are so many different people here ♡ Big bro warned me not to do anything troublesome, but… this is such a rare opportunity. Well, I guess it's fine as long as it's nothing too bad ♪ But… I have to be patient. There's something much more fun waiting for me today that will make all this irrelevant ♪

Well then, where is he… I’ve been looking for so long, but I can’t find him~… (sees Espada) Oh, there he is ♪ Pada! Long time no see ♪

Espada: Y-you… Rosé? Don't come closer…! What are you planning?

Rosé: What am I planning? Isn’t it obvious ♪ I’ve been looking forward to meeting Pada for days ♪ It’s normal to greet your little brother, right?

Espada: J-just stay away!

Rosé: Hey, hey~. Hm~, Pada is still as shy as ever.

Espada: … I’ll ask again. What are you planning?

Rosé: I told you. It’s been a while, so I wanted to say hi…

Espada: Don’t play dumb. It's you. Of course it's something troublesome.

Rosé: You’ve got it all wrong. I just wanted to say hi ♪

Espada: If you don’t want to tell me, fine. Just don’t do anything stupid. (walks away)

Rosé: Oh, Pada went somewhere else… I just wanted to talk more… But I guess Pada has grown since then. Maybe it’s a rebellious phase? If so, he’d hate being smothered, so I’ll just watch over him. They say to let your cute children go on their own journey ♡ I’m so kind ♪ …Well, if Pada ever gets into trouble, as his big bro, I might lend a hand ♡

Episode 2

Rosé: Pada has gone elsewhere, how boring~. I wish something interesting would happen. Oh, this cake on the table! I’ve been curious about it for a while now, so I'm just gonna eat it~~ … Hmm? There’s one less knife here than before, right? Did someone clean it up? But for what purpose? Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I have a bad feeling. I should ask someone… Oh? That guy talking to Pada. Where have I seen him-- ah, he was just at this table earlier.

Human man: I’m surprised by this party venue. To have such a magnificent castle… it really shows the greatness of Lord Dia.

Espada: Thank you for your kind words. Lord Dia will be pleased to hear this.

Rosé: Pada looks happy. Maybe because that guy is praising that bastard. Really, Pada likes him so much~… But…

Human man: Heh heh heh…

Rosé: The way that guy looks at Pada is suspicious. It’s like he wants to kill him… He's hiding his intent well. Seems like Pada hasn’t noticed. But I can’t just ignore this. What should I do~. I could help, but I just decided to watch over him. And Pada seems to be having fun, hmm… Oh, right. I got a great idea ♡

--------------------

Rosé: (walks in) What are you doing over there? Let me join in too.

Espada: I told you to stay away…

Human man: W-we were just having a little chat. Is there something wrong with that?

Rosé: If we're just gonna make small talk~. Do you think you’re doing a good job? You’re not hiding it well ♪

Human man: …! (thinking) T-this guy, I never thought he'd notice…

Rosé: Besides, why are you talking to Pada without my permission? If you’re trying to mess with my cute lil bro… I’ll kill you ♡

Human man: U-ugh! (walks away)

Rosé: Pada, that's no good. You can’t be so careless. You’re so honest and cute, you might get eaten up, you know?

Espada: …Have you been watching me this whole time?

Rosé: That’s right ♪ Pada is my precious little brother. It’s only natural to be concerned, right? Is there something weird about that? Anyway, let’s talk a bit more ♡ (thinking) I need to tell Pada about that guy too.

Espada: No. I apologize. (thinking) As always… I still can’t figure out what he’s thinking. Staying with him any longer is dangerous. (walks away)

Rosé: Huh~? He left again. Heheh, Pada’s so shy ♪ After all-- that guy really had a knife hidden in his chest. I protected Pada, so I don’t need this anymore-- Wait, though? This has his fingerprints on it, right? I can use this to find out his identity. I needed a test subject anyway, so now that the threat is gone, I can kill two birds with one stone! I’m a genius~ ♪ Even though… I’m doing all this for my lil bro, love is something really hard to convey~.

[angst-king]

I Promised pt 1

(this is a lil side fic for my adoption AU) (CW description of OD, suicide, vomit) It was a late night, about 2:30 in the morning when Shota was patrolling his route. This night, like every other night was cold and quiet. The breeze swayed through his mess of hair, and the crickets chirped and screeked. Just as he managed to find a place to sit down and enjoy his snack for the night his radio went off.

“Eraserhead come in Eraserhead, do you hear me?” With a huff, he grabbed his walkie-talkie.

“I hear ya, go on” He replied while taking a bite of his sandwich.

“We’ve gotten word of a man robbing a convenience store close by to where you live. The shop owner says they didn’t truly harm anyone just threatened harm if interfered. Do you mind checking it out?” “I’ll be there as soon as possible” Shota answered getting back on his feet, it didn’t sound urgent so he could eat on the way there. Can’t fight on an empty stomach, and Hizashi would kill him if he intentionally starved himself again. So he started on his way to the location, thankfully the walk there wasn’t too far, just a few turns and he’d be there.

When he arrived the store seemed to be rather calm, nothing was broken into. He walked up to the convenience store’s front desk and asked what was the matter. The clerk told him to head back to the pharmacy section and talk to the person there. Pharmacy? Did this person steal medication? Going to the pharmacy section the pharmacist looked relieved to see him although a little panicked.

“Can you tell me what happened?” “Y-yes well, I was just checking the stocks when this man with blackish-white hair and weird-looking skin came in and told me to give him any sort of sedative we had and as much as possible, as well as some antidepressants.” This had Shota concerned, this seemed like maybe a suicide attempt!

“Alright, I will go and see if I can find him.” Leaving the place, Shota had a bad feeling that he may be right about this being a suicide attempt, he couldn’t think of anything else as to why a person would take those specifically! There weren’t many places he had to check, not many places to try and kill yourself quietly either. He started hustling down the street. He wasn’t sure whether he should radio for help just yet or not, he didn’t want an entire group en route. That would potentially make things worse.

“Damn, where could this guy be!” He grumbled to himself as he looked down the third alleyway, he started to pass by the steps to the bridge underpass when he had a feeling to go down there. He decided not to shake this feeling and to follow it, walking down the steps with his flashlight he didn’t have much hope of finding the guy.

Then the sound of coughing came, coughing and gasping echoed through the underpass. Pattering down the stairs the closer he got the louder it sounded.

Getting to the bottom of the stairs, there was a figure dressed in tattered clothes, hunched over still coughing.

“Hey you alright there?” Shota called out, this alerted the person who turned around and started to back away, his quirk igniting. A blue fire sparked and blazed around him as he weakly yelled.

“Go away! I’m fine, j-just let me go!” Shota activated his own quirk, seizing the fire as he cautiously approached. He adjusted the light to get a better look and was a little surprised to see it was ‘Dabi’. He had seen him causing casualties and chaos before, though nothing egregious still arson was nothing small. Seeing him doubled over, with what parts of his normal skin being pale, as he clutched his body. Shota stepped closer and saw the bags and containers of pills and immediately dropped into action.

“Dabi, I’m not leaving you like this!” The young villain tried to push the man away while shaking his head at him.

“Please man, j-just let me go. I-I failed…I failed and I can’t keep doing this anymore! I need for the pain to stop, just please!” He pleaded with tears in his eyes, Shota kept a handle on his quirk as he listened.

“What do you mean you failed? What a mission or something?” Again Dabi shook his head

“You wouldn’t care, I’m not gonna bother, so just act like you didn’t see me and let. Me. go!” Shota got down to the other’s level refusing to let go, though he knew even if he did Dabi most likely wouldn’t be moving much.

“Just tell me, kid! I wont call the police or turn you in. Just tell me.” Dabi bit at his lip while swallowing back the urge to gag.

“Fine since you wont leave me alone…no its not a mission….its my siblings…I failed them. I’ve lost my only family and I can’t find them. I promised that I would find them again. Hell I’d burn down all of japan just to see them again!” This had Shouta confused, siblings? Obviously, he’d never gotten up close and personal with the villain but this sounded familiar to when Shouto mentioned he was waiting for his siblings.

“Dabi…I have to ask…do you have a little brother by the name of Shouto?” Dabi hesitantly nodded and a small smile curled at Shota’s lips, he may have a way to get Dabi to cooperate.

“If I told you that your little brother was safe and sound and that I could bring you to him. Would you let me?” Dabi’s expression turned doubtful and who could blame him?

“Why should i trust you? Why would i believe that you have him and you’re not just trying to bring me to the police?” Shota could understand his lack of trust, if he knew Shoto had been through hell for him to run away, then Dabi and his other siblings must’ve been just as bad! Shota told him not to move, he grabbed his phone scrolled through his camera, and showed him a picture of Shoto playing with the other little kids in the background.

“I found your brother along with a bunch of other children held up in a shitty foster home about a year ago. Present mic, Midnight and I took them in.” He explained, Dabi looked surprised to see he was telling the truth but then asked.

“Wh-what is it that you want in re-return? And what are you gonna do with me?” Shota huffed and reached for a discreet place to check his pulse, he furrowed his brows.

“Shit your pulse is slow, well first, I wanna get whatever the hell you swallowed out of your system. I’m gonna call for some help then I’ll get you home.” Shota went through his emergency bag and handed Dabi a large bottle of water.

“Drink that, you need to dilute what you took, I don’t know how much you took but it’ll weaken it to some extent.” While Dabi drank the water he was given, Shota called Hizashi.

“Hey, look sorry I know you were sleeping but can either you or Nemuri come down to the start of my patrol route? Bring a blanket, and a bunch of water with you too, no it's not for a cat. It’s for a kid, I’ll explain when you get here.” By the time Eraser had hung up Dabi was still downing the water.

“Alright, I gotta get you outta here, so we can get to them. Can you walk?” Dabi nodded and shakily rose to his feet, grunting and wincing. Now seeing him at full height Shota could see many injuries he had. He didn’t know how old Dabi was, most likely an older teen, though he could pass for a full adult just based on his gruff looks alone when he wasn’t curled up. He slipped an arm around him to hold him up.

“I’m gonna hold you up, let's go.” At first, Dabi tried to protest but his fried vocal cords wouldn’t let him. So he let the pro hero half carry him out from under the bridge and up the stairs to the main road. The more they walked the worse Dabi got, he was struggling to move either of his legs as his heart slowed, it was getting harder to keep his eyes open and his temperature began to drop. Shota could hear his breathing become ragged which worried him badly. Seeing the car made him feel a bit better, he knocked on the door to signal to Hizashi that he had found them. The blond unlocked the car so Shota could load Dabi in the back seat. He then climbed into the passenger seat while telling Dabi to use the blanket and to drink the rest of the water.

Dabi listened to him wrapping himself up in the blanket and continuing to drink the water. Shota began to explain what he could to Hizashi.

“So you remember how Shouto said he was waiting for his siblings and that they were looking for him? Well, Dabi is one of his siblings, I never paid much to Enji when he talked about his family but I remember him mentioning only really two of them. A kid named Toya and Shouto, i’m going to guess Dabi is a different name he goes by, probably made it so no one would recognize him when he ran away with his siblings. Anyway, I got a call saying someone stole a bunch of sedatives and antidepressants and found Dabi under a bridge dealing with an overdose.” Hizashi nodded along to this as he drove.

“I take it hospital is out of the question since they could possibly try to arrest him?” “Yeah, and I don’t wanna have to explain to Shouto that one of his brothers was taken to prison.” “I understand, luckily we know how to deal with OD’s, and we’ll keep him on the couch.” With this plan, Hizashi took them home while Shota kept watch of Dabi from the passenger seat.

Getting home, Shota hopped out of the car to check on Dabi who was shaking like a leaf in his sleep. He reached underneath him, slid him out of the car keeping him wrapped up, and carried him into the house. Shota laid him on the couch and placed an extra blanket on him. He checked his pulse again, it was still slow. He had managed to snag the bag Dabi had on him that contained the pills. He checked what he had taken and how much. He sighed in relief.

“This won't kill him thankfully” Shouta muttered to himself, he prepared himself to spend the night in the living room with him. The night was peaceful, it was quiet. It made Shouta wonder what could have gone so wrong for Dabi to go into villainy. Sure running away he could understand but enacting chaos on people?

When the sun was up the next day Dabi woke up to his stomach flipping and flopping, his insides sloshing around. Even with his mind numbed and foggy from the drugs and just waking up he at least had the sense to find a bathroom. He dashed down the hall and threw open the bathroom door, just barely making it fast enough to not get sick on himself or the floor. He didn’t know how much noise he was making, the sound of his mind becoming static while he vomited drowning everything else out. He didn’t know how long the first round took him but for the time being he was leaning against the wall panting and using the toilet paper to clean himself up. He also didn’t know that he wasn’t alone until he heard a small voice call his name.

“T-toya?” His head whipped around at the sound and his eyes blew open wide! There in front of him was his little brother, Shouto.

“Sh-shouto?” Shouto nodded while clutching his stuffed polar bear. It took a second for Toya to realize this was real, he was really looking at his baby brother. He quickly pulled Shouto into a hug, it was firm but not enough to hurt him, he just needed to hold him. Shouto didn’t flinch or pull away and just leaned into him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, I’ve been trying to find you.” “How did you find me?”Shouto asked, of course, Toya couldn’t tell him the whole truth, he didn’t need to know about his issues.

“Well shouta found me while I was looking for you, and he told me he could bring me to you.” Shouto smiled and hugged his brother back. Though their sweet moment was cut short Toya’s stomach decided now was a good time to evict the pills he swallowed. He quickly pushed Shouto away before his face was back in the toilet again. The small child watched worriedly, not knowing what else to do he placed a gentle hand on Toya’s back rubbing in circles.

“It’s gonna be okay, Toya” The kid repeated over and over reminding him that he was here. Another flash of minutes went by, and Toya had thrown up probably everything his body had.

“Are you gonna be okay Toya?” Shouto asked, Toya nodded doing his best to give a reassuring smile to him.

“I’ll be alright lil bro, don’t worry about me. Stomach’s just acting a little funny. I’ll probably just go and lay down.” When Toya tried to go back to the couch, he felt something grab onto his hand, he looked behind himself to see Shouto with a pout on his face.

“Can I lay down with you?” Toya sighed and nodded at him, this made the boy smile a bit. Going back to the couch, Toya had let the younger one lay on top of him. Even though Shouto was small he was very warm and since Toya was still running cold holding him was like having a furnace keeping him warm. Just as he had settled himself down to sleep Shouto asked him.

“Where’s Natsuo and Fuyumi?” Toya dreaded that question, he knew it was coming.

[luna-is-lost]

UNDERWELCOMED

Part 12

Sans POV:

“Umm… S-Sans?” My brother shifted uncomfortably as he spoke. “what’s up?” He looked more nervous as I spoke… Why though… Did I do something wrong… did he forget something or… someone… “W-Well, I Was… Wondering… uh… Where Did We… umm… Live? Like B-Before Here?… “…” “…” I could feel the corners of my mouth tilt down as I spoke. Subconsciously trying to keep my chill, laidback demeanor. “why’s it matter? someone talkin’ about it?” He wrung his hands as he avoided my eyes. “Uhh… Well No… I Was J-Just Wondering,” his voice lost volume as he spoke, “ Because… I… ummm… N-Never mind… It’s Not I-Important…. Sorry…” “paps, i… i’m sorry, didn’t mean it like ‘that’.” “It’s Fine… I Just… thought maybe I would remember something if I learned about the past…” He quieted to an almost whisper… I dislike the thought of telling Papyrus more of our years of captivity… but he… he deserves the truth… Plus, it’s worth it for him to remember. How could I describe what it was like to him, though? He’s always seen things differently than me… Maybe I could…” heya, bro” He looked at me hopefully. “ Yes, Sans?” “why don’t i show you” “Really?!” He smiled, though it looked slightly painful. “yeah, no skin off my bones” I shot him a joking smile and he shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. I tell him to hold on tight and teleport us… home.

☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎ POV

There’s a zap of… magic! That can’t possibly be right, everyone’s gone! They all left after the player gave up… SO WHO WAS THAT?! Moving forward, I think they’re walking through Snowdin. Is that….

“here we are, home. this is snowdin.” “Wowie… It’s… Beautiful!” “yeah” “Sans, Look, I R-Remember That, That’s T-The Inn! The Nice Inn Keeper U-Used To Give M-Me Lollipops And Pats O-On The Head!” “that’s right, pap, i’m glad you remembered. let’s looks around, then we should go the the house.” “Sounds G-Good!”

… IT’S THEM?! THE SMILING TRASH BAG AND HIS IDIOT BROTHER?! Why are they here? Shouldn’t they be all happy and adventurous on the surface? WHERE THEY WON’T BE ANNOYING?! …And why is Papyrus being shown around Snowdin by his brother? I know he’s easily fooled, but he isn’t stupid… Unless…

heheheheh!

This’ll be SO much fun!

Sans POV:

Papyrus has been looking around Snowdin for about 45 minutes. It’s kinda weird to see him so enticed by things we’ve seen everyday for [] years… “Wowie, Sans! T-There’s So Much Stuff T-To Explore!” “yep” “Umm… C-Could We Look A-At Our Old House?” “yeah, of course bro.” Our house was only about a minute or so away… probably not enough to convince pap to let me take a short-cut, and I shouldn’t leave him by himself for now. “S-Sans, Did We Really Live Here?” He asks with tear in his eye sockets as soon as he sees the house. “yeah, go and check it out, all of our stuff is still there, haven’t been able to move in to the surface yet.” “A-Alright!” He swiftly opens the door and cautiously peaks inside before deciding it was safe and walking in. I’d be lying if I said being here didn’t make me feel better… At least we were safe… A shudder runs down my spine as I think, ‘were we ever truly safe with the possibility of a genocidal human falling down here without warning?’. I can’t help but feel almost envious that Papyrus still has that unending, undeniable sense of optimism. To find the good in the bad… I think that’s a bit too philosophical for me. Pap is curiously eyeing the impracticality of the sink’s height. I can help but feel almost normal as he looks around. “heya, once you’re done exploring down here, how about you look at your old room.” “Do Y-You Think I’ll R-Remember Something F-From Digging Through My-My Past?” “it’s a good a shot as any…” “O-Okay, Brother!” He drags me up the stairs like he’s done it a thousand times, and he has, he just doesn’t remember.

☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎ POV

“Hehehehe!” The skeletons are busy looking around together, but sooner or later Smily will be gone and I can ‘help’ poor, credulous Papyrus! Out of the ‘goodness of my heart’ and all… “Sans! L-Look At T-Those Action Figures!” “i know, pretty cool right.” “Sans?” “yeah?” The lazy one yawns. “You L-Look R-Really Tired, Would You Like To N-Nap For A Bit? It’s like Papyrus can read my mind! Ha! This is going WAY better than expected! “yeah…” he unceremoniously lies on Papyrus’s bed and is out like a light. Leaving poor Papyrus to his own devices. I’ve never liked Snowdin all too well, the Earth is rather tough… Oh well, this is to PERFECT of an opportunity to pass up!

Papyrus’s POV:

A light knocking sound rings through the silent house, starting me as my brother rests peacefully. Sprinting down the stairs with more energy than the core itself… the core? Where in the underground did that come from… AM I REMEMBERING THINGS?!

That aside I open the door to see a small ✡︎☜︎☹︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎ ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎☼︎. “H-Hello… uh How C-Can I Help You?” It smiles a bit too wide before answering. “Howdy, Papyrus, I’m your best friend, ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎! Don’t you remember me?” I feel really guilty… “N-No, I uhh I Don’t, S-Sorry Friend…” He looks very disappointed… I’m a bad friend… “Oh… that’s so sad… you left me all alone and then forgot about me? I thought we were friends, Papyrus… I guess I should just leave-“ “-! Wait, W-We Can Still Be F-Friends! P-Please?” “Really?” ,His smile returns slightly, “ I think that’s a wonderful idea, we should hangout right now! I can even remind you of the past… Wouldn’t you like that?” I shift uncomfortably. Sans would NOT like me going with a stranger while he isn’t around, even if they claim to be my best friend… I’m not that gullible, and wouldn’t someone try to manipulate a monster you can barely remember their own name… I can only trust Undyne and Sans… Right? I mean… they didn’t really tell me much of my past… Sans seemed almost avoidant of it when I first asked. Still, this is dangerous, especially if ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎ is working with the humans… IS THIS A TRAP! “Papyrus, I don’t have all day… don’t you want to spend time with me? I AM your best friend after all. Unless, you don’t trust me… “ W-Well, uh Friend, I F-Feel It Would Be A Poor Decision To Go With Someone Down Here Without Sans Knowing, Especially If I Don’t Know Or Remember Them…” “S-so we aren’t friends anymore…?” He sniffs before dropping sadly… I’m an awful friend, how could I betray someone like that… He’s been nothing but kind to me, and I can’t say that about many people… He also said he was alone, so… “W-Wait! I’m S-Sorry ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎ Please D-Don’t Go, If You Let Me Tell Sans B-Before We Go, Then It’ll Probably Be O-Okay!” He turns his head back up to look at me. “Friend… Sans doesn’t WANT you to remember, Why do you think he fell asleep when you wanted to keep looking around?”,How did he…,”He wants you to be easily confused and manipulated, they only saved you so you couldn’t give the humans information.” How does he know all of this… why do his words bother me so much? Have I always doubted that people love and want to protect me?… If so… “ A-Alright, I’ll Go With Y-You, But I N-Need To Be Home B-Before Sans Wakes U-Up.” “Okay, Papyrus! I’m so glad you chose to hang out with me! Follow me!” “O-Of Course, My F-Friend!”

———————————————————————

Sans POV:

Something’s wrong. I haven’t even opened my eyes yet, but I know something is wrong. “papyrus?” …silence… Papyrus isn’t in the room. Opening my eyes and half falling out of bed, I quickly realize… he isn’t even in the house. Taking a quick glance at the clock it tells me I’ve been asleep for almost 2 hours… That’s bad… How long has he been gone?!

“pap?!” I shout around Snowdin, teleporting or walking anywhere my brother could have run off to… I just hope he isn’t lost in the forest… That thing goes on forever… “papyrus?!” The world echos back his name, but nobody answers. …A painful scream shatters the world’s silence… “Papyrus?!” A vine throws my brother 10 feet in front of me. He opens his eyes blearily and begins to mumble. “papyrus?! what happened, where did you go?!” He struggles to breathe as I crouch in front of him. “S-Sans…-“ An awful cough interrupts him, “I… R-Remember… E-E-Everything…” He promptly passes out, leaving me to wonder what happened… “Heheheh! Hahaha! AHAHAHAHAH!!”…

FLOWEY?!

…Chapter 13 coming soon-ish…

[puddingvalkyrie]

Send help, they're being too cute.

Edit: some preceding events here and here

---

“Victor! You’re back!” his Uncle greeted him. “And your hair is... blue. Did you... Did you know your hair is blue?”

“L-Lucinda painted it for me!” he replied, beaming. “I-It’s not permanent, but sh-she said it can be next time. I-I just need to pick what colour I want.”

“You look pleased with yourself. That’s new,” Aurelia observed, ruffling his hair. “Nice hair, kiddo. Were you with Lucinda all afternoon? We wondered where you’d gone.”

“Y-yes, I w-went to her house, a-and we watched an anime. D-did you know about anime? I-it’s art that moves! Th-there’s voices and everything!”

Aurelia put her hands together in front of her face for a minute, smiling lopsidedley. Then she giggled and ruffled his hair even harder. “Kiddo, I’m Japanese.”

“Y-yes?”

“Anime comes from Japan? It’s just the Japanese word for animation.”

“Oh. Th-that’s why M- Cinders w-was so excited to go there.” He rubbed an arm. “Th-that makes sense. The m-manga is all in Japanese, too. I j-just thought the y-yokai brought only Japanese ones b-because they’re Japanese.”

“Nope.”

“I-I thought I knew quite a bit about Earth, f-from reading books, but i-it’s completely different being there.”

“That’s right. A good lesson to learn. So what else did you do?”

“W-we went for a w-walk in the park,” he said. “A-and I finished my college application. W-we’re going to go hand it in tomorrow.”

“Three Earth trips in such a short time?” Aurelia said. “You’ll be an expert soon enough. So where you going tomorrow?”

“S-Stratford-Upon-Avon.”

“Oh, it’s wonderful there!” his uncle chimed in. “THAT’S where the college is?”

“I-It’s partly there and partly o-on Anima. You’ve been?”

“Yes, that’s where Will is from. I’ve visited a few times. You must be careful, though. Don’t use too much magic.”

“I-I know...”

“Ah. Yes, so you do.”

“That reminds me.” Aurelia turned to Tyrian. “Did you tell him?” She turned back to Victor. “I can’t be your donor this month.” She thumbed in Tyrian’s direction. “Husband beat you to it.” Tyrian looked scandalised.

“I-I know,” Victor replied. “I-It’s not a problem.”

“Well, look at you!” Aurelia took his face in both hands and leaned her forehead to his, smiling so wide, the top of her head might’ve fallen off. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Th-thank you...” He felt warm all over, and he knew he was blushing. But it wasn’t embarrassment. For once.

She kissed his forehead a few times. “Blegh, face paint!” She recoiled, laughing. “I guess I spoiled that a bit. But you get the idea.”

“I-I do,” he said, smiling almost as wide as she was. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

---

Context for new readers: Victor is vampire from a planet that is not Earth. To most Otherworlders, 'Earth' is just one big, weird, distant country, almost. (If they thought about it they'd realise of course there's multiple peoples and countries there, but tbh they barely think about Earth at all)

Yokai (like Aurelia) are originally from Earth though, so they tend to have a lot more knowledge about it.

Note: I'm just posting lil bits of things as I go, which I normally wouldn't do. I will need to reread ALL SIX OTHER VDBIF BOOKS to double check I didn't mess up any continuity before this is finished. Which is gonna take a while.

So if you see any continuity errors, shhhh no you didn't

[esther-dot]

I feel very conflicted and I know I’ll get hate if I post this on my blog but I just want feedback. I loved D for years after watching the show until season 8 came out and I felt betrayed. I thought it was out of character. I wanted happy romantic J x D. I saw myself in D. I’ve read the books at long last over the past year and I know I have confirmation bias. I love Sansa too. And I see myself in her as well. Deep down I know that I am far more like book!Sansa than I am like the character D really is and that the D in my head is not truly who the character is. I want to love Jonsa. I think that could be such a happy end for Sansa and I want to want that (that being specifically Jonsa; of course I want a happy end for her). But I don’t know how to shake my attachment to D and the character I want her to be. I can’t let go and stop projecting despite consciously being aware that she is not truly very much like me at all. I think perhaps because Sansa’s arc has not yet had as much direct payoff. She has not yet been able to claim power in the way D has and I think thus identifying myself with her may cast a light on uncomfortable feelings of helplessness within myself. But I’m not really sure. All I know is that logically I wish for Sansa to be my favorite and I want to love Jonsa instead of JxD and I know Sansa is quite a bit like me but I just can’t seem to embrace that. I’m not sure if I am looking for any sort of advice or wisdom or perhaps just wanting to put my thoughts out there. I’m curious about anything at all that you might have to say

I have my opinions and preferences, but there’s a difference between emotionally connecting and intellectually engaging. I’ve read loads of classic novels because I want to know what they say, why they matter, but I often fail to find them personally meaningful. That’s simply due to life experience which is why certain things resonate with me or don’t. I’ve found, none of us read the same novel, even if we agree on certain aspects or characters, there’s always something else that hits us differently. That’s not an indictment or vindication of a person because I’ve revisited books years later and my response is wildly different.

The book didn’t change, life changed me so I read it differently this time around. That's a good thing to bear in mind when we're talking about the same series for years on end, there's room for us to evolve our stances because we're changing. I leave room for that with others, I permit myself the same understanding. I hope you do that for yourself too!

Also, my sensibilities aren’t Martin’s, so even if I make arguments about why a certain thing shouldn’t/should happen, I know it still might or might not. Jon and Dany isn’t a universally accepted pairing for no reason. And even though most of what I say about Dany I tag with “anti,” that’s just because I want people to be able to avoid it if they’d like. I don’t hate her, I have a lot of sympathy for her. I think her story is full of tragedy, so I don’t think there’s anything weird about reading the books and your heart going out to her. Many, many fans identify with her, some because they too are abuse survivors. That’s why a lot of fans connected so deeply with show Sansa as well. I was frustrated before the GoT finale because the people who argued with us about Dany were actively defending her burning people alive and denying where her story was going, but after GoT ended, I went into the Dany tag and saw a few posts by more normal fans who simply loved a girl who had inspired them and helped them in their own struggles, so I understand who she is to people even if she isn’t that to me.

I loved D for years after watching the show until season 8 came out and I felt betrayed.

This was a pretty universal sentiment, and I felt betrayed too (although for different reasons, coming from a completely different direction), so I sympathize.

Deep down I know that I am far more like book!Sansa than I am like the character D really is and that the D in my head is not truly who the character is.

I think the “problem” (not really a problem, but we’ll call it that) is that Martin wants his characters to be more than one thing. I’ve said in the past, he has quite an expansive view of what one person can encompass which means, I look at, let’s say, the Hound quite differently than many in the fandom. Every bad thing I have ever said about him is true, but there are good things about him that are true too, and Martin wants both to coexist. That’s true for Tyrion (another villain), Jaime, Theon….it’s true for Dany too. She’s even more enmeshed with good things, as more good desires, than those guys, so it’s easy to let it eclipse everything else. I’ve pointed out before that with Dany, it’s always a one-two. She “saves” people, then we discover it wasn’t salvation at all. You have to be open to questioning her to realize that though.

The way the show framed her, a lot of people saw themselves or who they wanted to be in Dany, and even now, I’ll hear people occasionally compare themselves to Dany in a positive way, because for years, she was a #girlboss. We might have a lot of skepticism around that idea now, realizing it was to hide what her story actually was, but it resonated because, who wouldn’t want to be capable of fighting injustice? Of walking into a situation and taking control of it and rectifying wrongs? The problem is, in the books, we’re presented with the reality that her methods aren’t improving things, and in the show, they mute that as much as possible. When the author is trying to show the devastation of war and the showrunners opted to glorify it, the audience is gonna have a reaction that’s no longer compatible with the original intent. For instance, Arya killing all the Freys. That’s presented as a bad ass moment, that’s their view, so why would a fan realize, “but over here vengeance / unnecessary bloodshed is bad.” It’s careless storytelling, but D&D were also dishonest too. They included certain moments to justify the ending, but undermined it so fans wouldn't track it, rewrote characters to make them obsequious to Dany. And then they drowned it all in bs interviews / commentary, loads and loads of hype and marketing....they twisted it completely out of any discernible shape. Confusion is an understandable response to such contradictory nonsense. People I'm a fan of made sense of it, predicted it, but I do think y'all were lied to by the showrunners which annoys me to no end.

But I don’t know how to shake my attachment to D and the character I want her to be.

That's love though. I've experienced this so often in real life, wanting good for someone I care about, desperately wanting them to see the self-destructive patterns they have, and not being able to get them to change anything and learning to either accept where they are/who they are, or learning, I can't accept it and ending the relationship because it wasn't healthy for me to be involved. Martin loves his villains, Tyrion is his fav, he wants you to care, that's where he'll get the tragedy in Dany's ending rather than it simply being a clear cut good vs evil ending. I think he wants us to have sympathy on both sides of the coming struggle, and to have fans see the heroic path Dany could have and watch her fail to follow it and walk down a path she didn't have to choose...it's gonna make it heart-wrenching rather than cliche. I think you may be almost just where Martin wants you.

I think perhaps because Sansa’s arc has not yet had as much direct payoff. She has not yet been able to claim power in the way D has and I think thus identifying myself with her may cast a light on uncomfortable feelings of helplessness within myself. But I’m not really sure.

Obviously, I don't know you, but from what I've seen people write about Sansa, I do think her relative powerlessness is a major detractor for fans. For some it makes her boring, for others, they despise her because they're so frustrated by her not doing something. But it's a dose of reality in this fantasy world to have a character constrained by her situation and her life dictated by her gender. I'd argue that Sansa is a more impressive character for the mercy and bravery she shows even thought she is a captive herself, but I understand that's not as thrilling as other characters' stories.

I want to love Jonsa instead of JxD

Sansa has had a few crushes which are fairly...I’ll say, detached from reality. She connects to the characters emotionally by imagining them as romantic figures, less a tangible knowing and loving the individual. It’s all very daydreamy, but mainly, she's been the object of desire for creeps. So, while I disagree with them, there is a part of me that understands why fans aren't looking for her to have an actual romance because the way it has existed in her story thus far isn't tangible for her or rewarding, and of course, there's her age. Dany on the other hand, as young as she was when this story began, has had sexual partners she loves. We say Drogo was an abusive POS, we know Daario doesn't truly care for her, so I understand, with one part of my mind, that fans are looking for her to have a mutual, sexual relationship. If you love Dany, a healthy sexual relationship feels more pressing than one for Sansa, due to past experiences. It feels more appropriate due to her age as well. So, I understand why one can have hooks for you as a fan that the next doesn't. It’s always good to remember though, while we connect to these characters as if they’re people, the author is using them to discuss ideas, and they will experience, or not experience, certain things as a result.

I feel very conflicted and I know I’ll get hate if I post this on my blog but I just want feedback.

I'd like to tell you that isn't the case, but it's probably true. I still get rude messages because I'm a Sansa fan/Jonsa, and I can't imagine a situation like yours, loving both characters and being open to Jonsa but shipping J/D, would allow you to be fully comfortable anywhere. I can't assure you that my corner of the fandom will treat you with the utmost understanding either, so I'm glad you reached out this way and felt safe coming into my inbox. I find talking about things is helpful. There isn't always an answer, but it makes me feel better, so I'm happy to read your thoughts on this even if I can't offer any advice, in the hopes it makes you feel better too. 💗

[the-travelling-witch]

Sometimes I wonder how the Modern boys Would react in a maid outfit

I can see them all having amazing reactions that I live for !

Heizou: definitely owning it probably seeing if it fits and being a flirt/tease

Aether: Would look in the mirror and stand to the side to see how he looks in it (I need to know more about this pretty man)

VENTI: HE IS HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE /J actually I take that back he would probably whine about wearing it and then pep talk himself about how awesome he is in a maid outfit

Xiao: let’s just say he is grumbling under his breath his pretty pale face absolutely stained a tint of pink, he’s looking down and holding the ends of the dress as he grumbles why this was necessary for him to wear

SCARA: the pretty boy is definitely being recorded by his lover (me), he’s the same as Xiao expect instead of staying quiet he’s crossing his arms and stomping his leg asking why he needs to be in such an outfit and how ridiculous he looks, but we don’t miss the blush on his ears and cheeks as we tease him (what a shame Scara the Maid Outfit stays on Durning sex)

One more just for Goofeys cause he needs more love and his Hollys husband

Childe: HE IS OWNING THAT MAID OUTFIT, he is posing!! I mean he is used to doing model work isn’t he? (I’m serious is he? Cause he’s so pretty he should be one)

ngl, it’s hard to say sth to your takes so i will just offer mine (bc i have to disagree a little, sorry)

i’m not sure exactly what would cause them to wear maid dresses tbh (except for maybe social media or their partners) bc they are a piercing/tattoo studio after all, but for the sake of the hc let’s roll with it

if it’s a social media/ shop thing, heizou or venti (or some third party) would be the instigator, in private their partners most likely

heizou’s reaction would probably not differ too much between private and public, though he is obviously turning up the charm if it’s only for his partner; but yeah, he’d probably have his fun (makes for great vids of him doing girl group dances in it)

aether would just resign himself to his fate; sure it’s not sth he would’ve done on his own but he can roll with it; he’d graciously accept compliments (bc he would be getting them) but he’d get really flustered in private, especially if his partner turns the situation more intimate

i don’t think venti would whine about it all that much tbh; his normal clothing style does include some frills already so he’s not too out of his element + he knows that maid dresses enjoy a lot of popularity, so he’s definitely playing into it (especially if his partner is into it and he can fluster them with it)

xiao is definitely blushing, that’s for sure, and avoiding eye contact but he’s going with it, either bc the rest of his friends are doing it or because you asked him too; he’s a little insecure at first, since it’s very out of his comfort zone, but if you continuously and genuinely praise and reassure him, he will feel a bit better (also, since he’d do everything for his partner he would wear it again in private if you beg him enough, but he never initiates it; just don’t humiliate or make fun of him, it would break his trust in you)

i don’t think scara would throw a physical tantrum (stomping his feet etc), he’d be too busy being in his head; so if you want to take vids of him, he’s similar to xiao; it would have to be in private, you’d have to get his consent first and you can’t make fun of him; sure a bit of normal teasing would be alright but you have to understand that he’s really vulnerable right now and can’t handle you betraying the trust he places in you atm (again, praise him!!)

honestly, childe wearing a maid dress is the most believable since idols (unfortunately) have to do a lot of weird shit as part of their job; but yeah, he is great at giving people exactly what they want, so he is playing into it so hard and milking the fan service dry; and yes, he’s great at posing considering he’s had to do a lot of photo shoots before; in private he’d probably do it bc you want him to and bc he doesn’t take himself too seriously (but obviously it has to stay between the two of you… idol and all)

[cielcreations]

Infection Spreads - Skulk Infection AU

When Tango first heard Solidarity was alive, he didn't care how weird or how odd it was. He went to run and find him immediately, but was stopped. Everyone (all of Empires and Hermitcraft) met up at spawn so Joel could tell them all at once. However, Joel screamed at them that they couldn't go to him, that something was wrong, that he was not the same.

"Then we help him!" Tango screamed.

"N-NO!" Joel yelled, "He's been taken by the skulk! He's just-"

"Skulk...?" Grian's eyes widened, "...Tango, we can't... We can't save him..."

"What?! Of course we can-"

"No, Tango." The dirty blonde grabbed the blaze hybrid's shoulders, "Listen... You need to let go."

"WHAT?!" Tango pushed the other off, getting angrier by the second, "Grian, that's-"

"I know, but listen, listen! If Timmy is infected by skulk, he's just a walking corpse. He's not..."

"...Then... Then we have to heal them and-"

"Tango, he's gone! He's dead, we can't-"

Without thinking, the blaze hybrid punched Grian back. Chaos ensued as some people held back a screaming Tango as Grian held his cheek. Tango got out of the other's grasps and left to Tumble Town, alone as the others tried to think of a way to deal with the "problem." Tango looked around Tumble Town, confused on why it was now covered completely in skulk.

"Is that my rancher?!"

Tango turned around, "J-Jimmy?!" As his eyes met the dirty blonde's, he finally understood what Grian and Joel meant.

"OH MY GOD! IT IS!" The other ran over, taking the other's hands in his, his eyes glowing teal, "My rancher! Light of my life! I missed you so much!"

Tango blushed, Solidarity was never this flirtatious or bold before, "...J-Jimmy, what happened to you...?"

"What do you mean, love?" The other tilted his head, confused before he gasped, "Oh! Do you mean the skulk?"

"...J-Jimmy..." Tango gently held his cheeks, "...You're so cold..."

Solidarity held the other's hand to his cheek, smiling, "You're so warm. Opposites really do attract, huh?"

"...This... What happened to you? Why..."

"Oh! I was killed but then brought back because of the skulk! Isn't that amazing! Norman's back too! Do you want to see him?! Or do you-"

"Does it hurt...?" Tango looked over the other's arms and wings, "...It has to hurt, right...?"

"It did when I was killed. But it's-"

"Your neck. Oh my god..." The blaze hybrid tilted the other's neck up, tears in his eyes, "M-My rancher... I... I should have been there. I should have protected you..."

Solidarity widened his eyes, "...No, no, light, you couldn't have done anything! I..." Tears came to his eyes, "...They killed me when they knew everyone would be away."

Tango watched as some of the skulk seemed to die, looking into the other's eyes. He watched as one turned to look... normal. His eye looked like a normal, human, blue eye.

"I-I'm scared, T-Tango!" The other whimpered, tears streaming down his face, "I-I don't want to be like this! I-I don't... don't want to loose you..."

The blaze hybrid smiled softly, "Oh, songbird... You'll never loose me." He gently tuned Solidarity's face, "I-Is there a way we can fix this? That you know of?"

"N-No..." The dirty blonde hugged the blaze, whimpering, "Y-You promise? I-I won't loose you?"

"I promise." Tango hugged him back, "You'll never loose me. I won't leave you alone. I'll find a way to give you back your beautiful yellow wings... We can have you stealing my color!" He teased.

Solidarity chuckled, "...Tango, I love you."

Tango blushed before he smiled, "I love you too, Jimmy."

"I don't want to loose you."

"You won't."

"I know."

Tango let out a yelp, feeling something stab into his back. He went to pull away, but Solidarity held him close. The dirty blonde leaned back, his eyes glowing teal again.

"S-Soli-"

"Shhhh, it's okay, I won't hurt you, I could never hurt you~" Solidarity cooed, stroking his cheek, "Everyone else will either join the skulk or die trying to fight against it. But you? You're going to rule over it with me!"

"I-I do-"

"You do?! Oh, perfect!" Tango began to loose consciousness, "Don't worry love, just close your eyes. Go ahead and sleep, I'll see you in your dreams~"

The blaze hybrid groaned before he passed out.

Solidarity picks him up and takes him back to his base. He lays Tango on a bed of skulk, the blaze hybrid in an sleep only Solidarity can wake him up from.

[ryan-the-thing]

Fingers anatomy?

How the fuck does he wORk- He has a face, but his body is just- a hAnd and arm. The arm stretches everywhere, and- where the fuck are his organs?? (CONTAINS SPOILERS) OKAY SO. We know he eats... (I’ll get to that)

And he has teeth and tongue.

He also breathes, meaning he has lungs. Which also means he has a blood and heart, because that’s what the oxygen goes to fuel...

BUT WHERE IS ALL OF IT?? He’s so loNg, is he like a snake? Speaking of that, look at it. That is not a straight bone. But he likely does have snake-like spinal bones?

He has to melt/stretch his form to get through here, so he at least has a skull, since he can’t fit it through.

But he does appear to have bones in his fingers. So- maybe he has like... a skull-hand skeleton thingy- Keep in mind he also has eye-sockets, considering his eyes? That’s a weird looking skeletal system.

He can become gooPy when he wants idk idk whats going on 💀 Also back on topic with the he has a mouth and eats thing. That means he has a whole digestive system-- SO HOW DOES HE SHIT?? 😭

I mean this is as far back as we see him, but it still goes further probably. ALso also look- we only see this once he’s all puffed up, but if he was normal, what would it look like?? I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, BUT-

We know he’s literally connected to Pael, but idk whEre, since Pael already has two hands in the front. He comes out of his ass /j Maybe he’s a third hand? Such a weird anatomy, but awesome to think about!  Moving on, because I can’t stop talking about it- someone stop me-

NO CAUSE HE LITERALLY BLEEDS-- Anyway where does his sleeve go when he becomes that form??

It doesn’t become apart of him, cause- you think we’d see it here. So maybe it fell off at the elevator while he got through?

Okay it doesn’t go back this far, so he probably doesn’t have it on all the way. That’s a long sleeve-- Also the tie is an accessory as well, so yeah those aren’t part of his body.

Pael is RIGHT next to him, so- actually- bruh why do you need him going through so many walls? Better question-

WHY YOU TYING YO BITCH UP?  WHAT DID HE dO, TRY TO eScApE? DETACH HIMSELF?? YOU WERE THREATENING THAT ANYWAY-- Anyway thanks for reading! What do you guys think?