#Lynne x Memry

[critter-ghosting-some-tricks]

Maybe ghost trick spoils ahead but heres a post for @alto-tenure's prompt "Lynne and Memry swap with Jowd and Cabanela AU" given for @fyeahghosttrick's Ghost Swap 2024

I’ll be completely honest here- I did NOT expect this prompt to make my brain pop off but when I read through the prompts the first time I hesitated on this one to think for a second about “how would that work?” And boom- my first ghost-swap entry, my first attempt even vaguely trying to emanate another artstyle in a long time and a multitude of files. Enjoy it though, obviously. 

Anywhere here’s my thoughts on this version:

I’m well aware of the fact that it’s possible that the prompt meant to simply swap Memry and Lynne with Cabanela and Jowd cleanly and not change the story much but my brain couldn’t figure it out or get that version to care. 

So first things first is who I swapped with who. As you can see I put Lynne in Jowd’s place and Memry in Cabanela’s place. At first I wasn’t sure about it because it’s hard to imagine Lynne as depressed as Jowd is but it just makes sense to me. I mean- Jowd is Lynne’s hero, Lynne and Jowd already share many similarities due to this and Lynne would still be a target for Yomiel. Mostly, though, the decision was made because of the similarities I realized Memry and Cabanela have- namely determination and how weirdly others view them. 

As for other characters and story beats I admit I had a very tricky time deciding who the new Lynne would be (while Memry could admittedly be replaced by any rooky detective. However I think I have something I’m somewhat happy with where it’s basically that the revenge and Temsik plot gets delayed for some reason (including the part about Alma) and a different Kamila attraction ends up killing Jowd and Lynne is the one to walk in and turn herself in. She (very foolishly) connects the mysterious fortune to the mysterious death that happened to the man that kidnapped her. Cabanela leaves the industry (or takes a break from it at least) after Jowd dies and ends up working with Pigeon man for some reason. Then he maybe takes over when Pigeon man moves away? I’m not sure where Cabanela would really be tbh but that makes some sense to me at least. That or he does just swap with Memry and is lower than he ever would have been in the social ladder because of taking a break and losing drive without Jowd.

 When the night of the game takes place I’m still not entirely sure who takes Lynne’s place but I think it would be neat if it was Alma, trying to make sure the actual killer of her husband gets caught when she doesn’t think Lynne did it (plus then the Lynne character and Kamila still live together). Also, before Jowd’s death Kamila and Kynne grow close faster than canonly so that her absence allows them to still care for each other so deeply. Lynne managed to become Kamila’s hero at that time and basically a daughter to Alma as well as Jowd. To be fair there’s also longer for them to have known eachother since, as previously stated, it all would have to occur later so that Memry and Lynne could have been close detective partners before Jowd dies. 

But why would Yomiel still go to frame Alma for murdering him when she wasn’t at the park and Jowd is dead? Well, I think he would think that having Alma and Lynne in jail would make Jowd roll in his grave. 

Or alternatively Kamila could be the new Lynne and Alma is on some sort of work trip and Amalie really is kidnapped but I don’t like that and Yomiel framing her would still just be to hurt Lynne and Jowd’s spirit. 

But anyways, other than that plot is very similar to the normal game. Memry (who would have also gotten close to Alma and/or Kamila through Lynne and working on her case+ working with Cabanela /pigeon man) rises the ranks and takes the path of the white coat because she knows that Lynne never would have killed the person she looked up to and loved so much. Lynne learns to paint and eventually learns to actually blame herself for things that aren’t her fault. They reunite outside of the prison and learn about what really happened from the Justice Minister. Lynne, Missile, Sissle and Yomiel go back in time and fix everything. You know the drill. 

A few small but specific things that I imagine changing are

Memry rollerskates everywhere instead of dancing and people remark about how nobody “gets from place to place” the way she does and she’s seen as an “odd girl”. 

Bugs are used more frequently in the plot and in how Memry rises through the ranks and figures stuff like point X out. 

Lynne doesn’t paint portraits but is more abstract. She also doesn’t remember what Yomiel looks like, just his colors and voice. 

Lynne is just as adored by everyone who talks about her as Jowd is so that doesn’t change but instead of people calling her their hero, words such as “she was always such a ray of sunshine in the force” are used. 

And maybe I’ll think of more but for now that’s all I feel like writing on it that I don’t think are covered by the art. Thanks for dealing with this rambling- I hope you enjoy my take on this prompt!

[fyeahghosttrick]

Behold: the list! More than 150 prompts ripe for the taking! Now everyone can pick something cool (no need to claim it anywhere) and start drawing it or writing it or any other creative verb of your liking. Next stop: June 12th, when we'll all post together to celebrate GT's original anniversary (there will be a reminder with brief posting instructions).

Prompts are numbered for your convenience, in the order they came in.

Prompting remains open here for any newcomer and new prompts will be updated weeklyish. You can join in at the last minute! You can join in without prompting, too!

And now, without further ado:

BLOCK A (this distinction is just because of tumblr's character limitations per block)

dinner-rol - gt characters going on a hike!

dinner-rol - rock jailbird performing to pigeons in the park

okiroash - anything with trashmiel !!

okiroash - (AU) no betrayal and yomiel gains a robot body.. the rest is up to your imagination

doctor-yoshi-soul: Cabanela being addicted to some stimulant drug (Amphetamine, Cocaine, Nicotine, etc.). Caffeine counts if someone doesn't want to write about illicit substances so something like a coffee addiction is just as apt

doctor-yoshi-soul: Kamila and Amelie playdate (either timeline)

doctor-yoshi-soul: Movie Night (bonus: it's a mystery/thriller)

doctor-yoshi-soul: Yomiel desperately trying to feel something while he's still dead

doctor-yoshi-soul: Yomiel's jail time (and/or how other characters deal with it)

doctor-yoshi-soul: What does Jowd carry in that huge coat of his (bonus: same for Cabanela)

doctor-yoshi-soul: How Ray passes the time

Meowdyjac - Sissel picking up Kamila from school

Meowdyjac - Yomiel doing taxes

Meowdyjac - Sissel hiding in Lynne's bag

Meowdyjac - Jowd and Sissel getting reprimanded by Alma

alto-tenure: Ghost Trick x Zero Escape! I would especially appreciate interactions between Akane and Sissel (wink wink) but I'm cool with any crossover material between these two -- with one major caveat that I haven't played ZTD, so please avoid spoilers for it!

alto-tenure: AU where Cabanela adopts Kamila after Jowd's arrest instead of Lynne.

alto-tenure: Lynne and Memry swap with Jowd and Cabanela AU

alto-tenure: Re-prompt from last year -- Lynne, Cabanela, Kamila, and Missile, sometime between Alma's death/Jowd's arrest and canon events in the original timeline.

alto-tenure: Post-canon Sissel leads the effort to solve a case.

caravanlurker - Lynne just finished the last game YOU played and is /really/ trying to convince everyone else to try it --not that that kind of behavior resembles any fandom I know of.

caravanlurker - Yomiel is wearing merch of himself or some other character

caravanlurker - Jowd gets caught smuggling Sissel to a crime scene and has a not-strange-at-all time trying to explain himself.

caravanlurker - Sissel's first few interactions with a recently reborn Missile in the new timeline.

caravanluker - Keyposes of Lynne+Sissel as hypothetical characters in a fighting game

caravanlurker - A little exploration on why Yomiel even chose to rendezvous at Chicken Kitchen.

caravanlurker - Cabanela and Missile conversation teehee

caravanlurker - Something about Kamila's music taste

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Memry having a meet up over coffee

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Sissel having bonding time

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Yomiel's wedding day <3

ihavenohotcocoa - Alma, Jowd, and Kamila going to an amusement park

ihavenohotcocoa - Tiny Lynne chilling in the police department with Cabanela

Post-game Yomiel and Kamila where Yomiel is acting as an uncle figure for Kamila. Could be hurt/comfort or fluffy

Pre-game Lynne taking care of a sick Kamila

Pre-game Jowd introducing baby Kamila to Cabanela

Pre-game Yomiel and Sissel celebrating their first New Years together

Post-game where Yomiel dies and Sissel has to bring him back to life

Apocalypse AU where Kamila is lost trying to find her father and Yomiel finds her and tries to take care of her/help her

Pre-game Kamila and Amelie having a sleepover at Lynne's apartment

Pre-game Lynne discovers Kamila is getting bullied at school and she takes care of it ASAP (maybe with the help of Cabanela as a bonus)

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Old timeline Yomiel watching Sissel go nuts over a catnip toy he got him and smiling

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Cabanela helping Jowd walk as he adjusts to using a cane in the new timeline (fluff shipping)

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Pigeon Man being cute with Lovey Dove

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Any character from my No Deal Yomiel AU - No Deal Yomiel looking sinister or Cabanela suffering at his hands. Anything edgy, cool or dramatic

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Kitty Sissel and Missile cuddling Lynne and Kamila

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - New timeline Yomiel bonding with the Jowd family while in a wheelchair or using a cane with Sissel on his lap or shoulder

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - The interrogation scene between Yomiel and Cabanela

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Sissel, Missile, Jowd and Yomiel talking together in the Ghost World in the new timeline (friendship, hope for the future)

samthecookielord - kamila and amelie hanging out together

sissel stuck in a tree

what memry is like when she's not undercover at the chicken kitchen

Genre swap AU! Fantasy, superheroes, classic pulp… how does the plot play out in a setting with different rules?

Your most self-indulgent crossover.

A serious take on Pigeon Man's research.

Characters with different hairstyles.

The inherent creepiness of puppeting your own corpse. Either serious, with Yomiel's time as a ghost, or silly, with Sissel post-game.

Another character gets ghost powers. What are they? If you want, how would they work in the game (or not work, and require a different type of gameplay?)

(Genshin & GT crossover) Kaeya and Yomiel go to a bar together.

Sissel (cat) dressed up in different outfits (ex: Cabanela's)

(CROB & GT crossover) Sissel breaks a ton of Langue de Chat's furniture due to cat + ghost shenanigans (LdC is not happy about it.)

Sissel doing basic cat things (Pushing stuff off, clawing furniture, etc)

Phoenix Wright gets a new case, and the police investigator he has to deal with is Cabanela

In the New Timeline, Sissel and Missile reunite

FianSissel finding out what happened at the park (new or old timeline)

Where did Sissel go in Ray's timeline, what did he do? (Fic)

Kamila has a nightmare, Sissel helps comfort her

Ghibli movie night with the family, Yomiel is forcibly added to the found family and FianSissel is just happy to be there

Jowd recovering from having his leg pierced by a piece of the Temsik meteorite

New Timeline, Lynne dies and Sissel is there to avert her fate

I wanna see a ghost trick/yakuza crossover. Send the cast of Ghost Trick to Hawaii to hang out with the yakuza squad. Let Cabanela chill on the beach with Kiryu. Let Jowd have a watermelon eating contest with Adachi. Let Ichiban show his crustacean friends to Lynne. Whatever. Anything.

post-canon Yomiel and Kamila friendship (Uncle Yomi my beloved)

post-canon Yomiel and Lynne friendship

Yomiel but he's dressed like Pearl in Side Order from Splatoon 3

Jowd giving a spine-shattering bear hug to character of your choice

Lynne drawn in a really old anime style with bishie sparkle

Sissel doing Normal Cat Things and being an absolute pain to deal with

that one mental health meme where it's like "you're not a burden" "it's ok to ask for help" with characters of your choice in the slots but either Yomiel or Cat Sissel are in the "murder is okay" slot

cat Sissel seen up-close through a fisheye lens

(Fic) What-if scenario where Yomiel got to Fiansissel in time before she died

BLOCK B

(Fic) Yomiel’s perspective during the Metro Police Department Siege Case

(Fic) Cabanela dies close enough to Yomiel to get Ghost Tricks. What would happen/change if he joined Sissel in the submarine chapter

(Art) Yomiel in TWEWY Shibuya just casually watching the Reaper’s Game go down from a distance

(Art or Fic) L from Death Note showing up out of nowhere to help Cabanela and Pigeon Man with the Manipulator Case

(Art) Yomiel in the Onceler’s clothes

Human!Sissel

Post canon Physical rehabilitation

Worst timeline

jowd/alma/cabs cooking in the kitchen… downright chaos or synchronized perfection? somewhere in the middle?

yomiel DIY sewing up the hole left in the back of his jacket from the meteor, whether that goes well or badly…

pigeon man and his collection of newspaper clippings about the meteor and related events…

lynne, kamila, and missile movie night!

rindge and memry's dynamic as agents

carnival activities with characters of your choice (carnival food competitions, carnival games [and cheating at them with certain powers], carousels and face painting and cotton candy etc etc!)

ocekhaz - The Ghost Trick cast but they all turned into cats, that's it, that's thre prompt. Preferably art but fanfiction is fine too !

ocekhaz - Yomiel angst….make whatever you want but please break that man…art or fic

ocekhaz- Post-Canon yomiel interacting with the cast during his recovery in the hospital, with the focus being cabanela and yomiel (platonic or romantic), mostly fluff, hurt/comfort is really good too ! Art of fic

ocekhaz - Yomiel teaching Kamila about coding, really wholesome! art of fic !

ocekhaz - Ghost trick but set into the 1930-40s ! Really getting into that noir detective vibes ! Fic or art…other than that do what you want…

ocekhaz - Post-canon yomiel slowly getting used to "life" again, with a strong emphasis on senses (smell, touch, taste etc) that he couldn't feel before, mostly positive but a side of angst is good too…art of fic !

ocekhaz - The ghost trick cast in formal wear, I'd love to see them in fancy suits and dresses, Art !

Cabanela babysitting Kamila, with optional assistance (or added chaos?) from cat.

Jowd and Cabanela, something emotional, hurt/comfort, hugs, tenderness, that kind of thing

Jowd family day out, just pure fluff

Art with Jowd/Alma/Kamila, can be just one or two, even, I just want to see more Jowd family art!

Yomiel attempting to re-integrate into society, getting used to just being alive again, and probably being a clumsy dork in the process

Lynne and Sissel hanging out together

Astrofiish- Sissel/Lynne/Missile/Cabs/Jowd/Yomiel crossover with whatever fandom you want! Choose whatever characters you want- have fun!

Astrofiish- Flat Jeego! Flatten that guy make him a metaphorical Pancake 🥞

Astrofiish- Missile and Sissel being the best of friends

ricketricket - Yomiel dwelling on the fact that Sissel has taken on his fate of being Temsik'd?

ricketricket - Final chapter gang (Sissel, Missile, Jowd, Yomiel) thinking about Ray? Either talking with each other, reflecting, etc.

ricketricket - In the fail sequence in chapter 15 where Yomiel notices Sissel, his dialogue implies that he knows this strange ghost is Sissel specifically, and yet chooses to taunt him and shoot Cabanela anyway. How does Sissel deal with that in the new timeline? Yomiel wouldn't remember that happening, does Sissel ever tell him? How does he react when he does?

ricketricket - Postgame Yomiel somehow meeting Sissel Prime (Ray's timeline), lost and alone and wearing the wrong face. Time travel shenanigans, probably.

ricketricket - Sissel bonding with his namesake after hearing so much about her from Yomiel?

ricketricket - Sissel in the far, far future. Is he still a ghost? Still a cat? Or has he changed into something else? A god? A youkai? Something entirely unique?

ricketricket - Postgame Sissel can manipulate his own corpse, which implies he has at least some of the manipulator's powerset. Can he manipulate people? Small animals? Just the dead? How does he feel about this aspect of his powers? How does Yomiel feel?

ricketricket - Alma and Yomiel interacting in the new future. Does Alma remember? If she doesn't, was she told? Does she forgive him? Does Yomiel forgive himself?

siverwrites - Alma/Jowd/Cabanela cuddle pile (nothing NSFW please)

siverwrites - Cabanela and Pigeon Man getting to know each other in the early days

siverwrites - Cabanela and Pigeon Man meeting in the new timeline

siverwrites - Jowd/Alma having a date night that's normal by their standards but weird to others (nothing NSFW please)

siverwrites - Alma knows about Sissel in the new timeline. Adjusting and learning to communicate with him takes some learning but it's something she's happy to work out with him

siverwrites - new timeline: Missile may not have Ghost Tricks anymore, but he can still help Sissel solve a mystery!

Jowd wants some alone time post-game and forgets that a man known to have literally gotten himself killed in the last timeline basically going missing may cause a panic (can include most everyone you want but if you could at least include cabanela that would be good)

Somehow post game cabanela and jowd get themselves killed and in saving them Sissel clues cabanela into the fact that jowd has died and possibly even teaches him about the og timeline

Yomiel and his fiancé :3

Yomiel and sissel hanging out post comet (can be post game or before the game takes place)

Jowd centered hurt/comfort

On a version of events where Sissle isn’t there, Emma learns of the justice minister’s fate

What if Yomiel, undead as he was, DID make it back to his fiancé in time to stop her from dying/how do they (and their new cat) deal with the fact that he’s not alive or dead?

Fiancé Sissle and Alma become friends and work together to try and figure out why their husbands have been acting so strange

Somehow post game Yomiel dies again and Cat Sissle finds it strange to bring him back to life like any other person but at least gets to make sure Yomiel and Fiancé Sissle don’t meet a tragic fate even though the one from ten years ago was avoided

loboazul - Cabanela and his 100 poses

loboazul - Yomiel figuring out new tech after getting out of jail.

loboazul - Outfit swaps! Whichever characters you want!

any number of characters in a trench coat :>

katecattus-Necrobarista AU

katecattus-What we do in the shadows AU

katecattus-Characters from GT as avatars of fears from The Magnus Archives (Art)

BLOCK C

katecattus-VTM AU, characters get assigned a vampire clan (Art)

katecattus-Kamila playing Minecraft. Bonus points for Yomiel teaching her redstone

katecattus-Someone from the human main cast as animals (Art)

fexiled - sissel and missile vs the bissell vacuum cleaner

fexiled - post-canon, someone having nightmares about dying / the original timeline and getting comforted by sissel. can be any character you want but i'd love to see yomiel or lynne the most :')

fexiled - kamila and yomiel building a contraption together

levitanias - (art heavily preferred!) yomiel and my yomiel-inspired oc hotshot (references: https://toyhou.se/24324062.hotshot/24939429.gijinkahuman) (his object form is also okay if you want something simple! available at: https://toyhou.se/24324062.hotshot) interacting with each other in whatever way you can think of, i'd just love to see one of my favorite guys interacting with the character that inspired him!! they could be getting along, absolutely hate each other, whatever you'd like!

levitanias - detective rindge on his stakeout at temsik park pre-death.

levitanias - something which parallels cabanela—spotless and "pure" with his white coat—and yomiel, full of mistakes, misgivings, and a moral compass that has been thoroughly driven into the ground.

levitanias - a family portrait consisting of jowd, alma, and kamila.

The full crew watching fireworks (Sissel, Yomiel, Missile, Kamila, Lynne, Jowd, Cabanela, even Alma and Fiansissel if you want)

azurefishnets - Alma/Cabanela/Jowd (or any /& subset therof, minus subsets including infidelity as a feature) - I think it would be fun to explore what each might plan if they were playfully trying to outdo each other in a specific category of shared date night. Like most romantic, weirdest, best restaurant experience…

azurefishnets - Cabanela & Jowd & Sissel - On-the-job situation where Cabanela knows Sissel's whole deal but still can't speak to him and so chooses to resort to increasingly bizarre attempts at communication; perhaps some kind of undercover work where they all have to pretend they don't know each other?

azurefishnets - Jowd & Pigeon Man - The first time Jowd has to ask Pigeon Man to consult on a case in the new timeline…how awkward can Jowd make it? So, so, so akward, even with a lovely dove there to be a distraction and talking point. You know this to be true. Lean in.

azurefishnets - Emma & Pigeon Man - New timeline Emma attempts to pull gossip from PM at a party, in service of gathering info for her new novel about a romance between rival police officers, but PM is nigh impossible to schmooze with Emma's usual tactics. (Bonus points for Emma getting so frustrated with him her hair blooms)

azurefishnets - Alma & Sissel - Always a sucker for these two finding their own ways to communicate and understand each other! Alma finds herself in the unenviable position of toddler-proofing a house--unlike other moms, she has a unique helper in this endeavour…

azurefishnets - any cast members - hair swap (but not palette swap!) Swap Emma's with Sissel's, switch Jowd's with Beauty's, trade Amelie's for the Bartender's, etc… the funnier and more inconvenient for the pair, the better!

azurefishnets - Pigeon Man & Lynne & Missile - Lynne's walking her dog. PM's feeding the pigeons. Missile recognizes an old acquaintance and doesn't care about a somewhat awkward encounter between a young detective and the irascible old medical examiner who far outranks her and has just been leapt upon by her dog; Missile hasn't done his duty as a top Pom until he can say, "Welcome!" properly.

azurefishnets - always gotta rep the FFVI/GT AU! For more info please see https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196335. Any addition welcome!

laughingmango - the duality of Cabanela, pack bonding with just about anyone in a split second UNLESS they're a nuisance on the job, in which case he's got a short fuse

laughingmango - Cabanela/Jowd hurt/comfort. either way. Physical hurt, emotional hurt, your pick. One of them's having a bad time and the other one's there for him.

laughingmango - What if Alma were more similar to Jowd than her appearance would suggest? Cosmic pessimism power couple? Can Cabanela handle both of them?

laughingmango - Any kind of what-if for the detectives. Timeline reset but it's Cabanela who keeps his memories and not Jowd? Cabanela dies in chapter 15 and his spirit can join the party on the submarine? Ghostly angst in the doomed timeline, where Jowd is executed and Cabanela presumably murdered by Yomiel? Completely different scenario and it's Jowd who must put in the work to prove Cabs' innocence somehow?

laughingmango - Anything Emma. Patron saint of trashy novels and also of doing what she feels is right. Did she know Jowd beforehand? Did she ever try to get through Cabanela? Is she friends with Alma in the new timeline? Who does she meet at a party? Is her new book based on sooomeone? What's her dynamic with her husband when things are good?

laughingmango - Memry as Cabanela's pupil in the way Lynne is Jowd's

laughingmango - Disco Elysium crossover/fusion. I just think Harry would look at Cabanela and get his brain rewired by the sheer power of bisexuality and disco. But what about our GT dancers and Egg Head+ravers, for example, or Sissel pulling off some wild ghost stunt in Revachol? "Ass up and amnesiac" is the name of the game… (I love Harry and Kim but please no other members of precinct 41)

laughingmango - Final Fantasy VI AU, always. any unexplored corner, or just reimagining any character in Yoshitaka Amano's fashion!

T052ther0b0t - (AU) Sissel, Missle and Yomiel become a ghost detective team

T052ther0b0t - Sissle and Yomiel sleeping

T052ther0b0t - Yomiel and Yomiel's wife (either anything wholesome or angsty is up to you!)

scarlette-foxx What is Sissel up to a hundred years later? What is it like to be an immortal Feline?

scarlette-foxx Ghost Trick/Danny Phantom crossover 👀

scarlette-foxx Someone is trying to teach Sissel how to read! I wonder who?

Jowd ball

Sci fi AU

Missile and Sissel character swap

Sissel (either one) meeting Yomiel post game

Sissel cat shenanigans

Amelie and Kamila being friends

Au where Lynne gets struck by the Temsik fragment and lives

The Sissels meeting each other

[theriveroflight]

hoping for a last-minute miracle

This year, I participated in @fyeahghosttrick's Ghost Swap! I wrote for @laughingmango, and used the following prompt: "Any sort of what-if with the detectives". Technically also sort of falls into the prompt with Cabanela/Jowd h/c, but this is (mostly) gen with hints of subtext.

Rating: T (very light cursing; death/violence)

Word Count: 8504 (whoa!)

Summary:

The evidence is getting filed away tomorrow. After tonight...no more second chances. The force is giving up on Alma, and they'll have to give up too.

(AU: Alma's death has been a cold case for the last five years. Cabanela and Jowd, in charge of the Special Investigations Unit together, have one more night to solve the case before the evidence is filed away and it sinks to the bottom of priorities along with every other cold case...)

Read on AO3

Tonight is the last night they have to get any more information on Alma’s case. Cabanela thumbs open the file again. A locked-room murder. There had been a gun hanging on the wall that had gone off, somehow. There were no fingerprints on the gun. The ballistics matched the gun perfectly.

Jowd said that it wasn’t usually loaded. If Alma needed to use it, she could load it herself.

“Cabanela?” Jowd asks, voice rumbling. “Do you think it’s hopeless?”

“I don’t know,” he answers. “It’s not that simple, baby. These cases…they might not even be connected.”

“When the first case happened with the rocker…I thought…” Jowd sighs. “I thought there might have been hope. That we could find some answers.”

“There’s still something I want to investigate,” Cabanela says. “There’s a meeting going down tonight with a man that we both thought was dead.” He grabs a different file and slides it over to Jowd. “I’ve already dispatched some of the force to keep an eye on it.”

“...the Chicken Kitchen?” Jowd asks, looking over the file. “Who’d you send?”

“Detective Memry was planted undercover. Rindge is supposed to keep an eye on things from the outside. Iiiiiiiii like to think it’ll go well.”

“Lynne said she couldn’t be here tonight.” Jowd frowns. “She took the night off. Said she was meeting someone.”

“And just wheeeeere did that meeting happen to be?”

“She never said.” Jowd looks back up. “I’m worried about her, Cabanela. You know she’s never been the best at controlling her impulses. I could blame that one on you.”

“Oh, come on, baby, you were the one that was gonna turn himself in for a murder he didn’t commit.” Cabanela leans back in his chair. “Youuuuu just might be the impulsive one.”

“Well, I never,” Jowd answers, a smile on his face. Cabanela smiles in return — at least he’s managed to get a smile on his partner’s face. They’ve been few and far between since the events of five years ago — Jowd’s dedicated himself to investigating Alma’s death with the rigor of a swordsman.

“Inspector Cabanela?”

It’s the chief on the radio. What could he want with them?

“Chief, what’s wrong?”

“Case at the junkyard,” he answers. “Want you to supervise them.”

“Who’s on the team?” Jowd asks.

“I’ll go, baby,” Cabanela says. He shuts off the radio. “Keep an eye on things at Point X for me, yeah?”

“I will.” Jowd looks at him in a softly familiar way.

Yomiel. The body is undoubtedly his, just as much as the coroner is undoubtedly a fake. Cabanela can tell just by looking. The way people act portrays just who they are — he mostly applies that to himself, but that applies to other people too.

“Inspector!” Both detectives salute him when he gets downstairs. The coroner just keeps working. Yet another sign that something is amiss.

“Evening, boooys,” he says, shooting them a disarming smile. “Hoooow’s it hangin’?”

The two look at each other, mildly disconcerted. 

“Allow me to report, sir!” McCaw’s partner says. “We’ve brought a suspect into custody. She’s being held upstairs in the super’s office!”

“Good, gooooood,” Cabanela responds. “I’ll be right there. And just where is there?”

“Upstairs, sir,” McCaw answers. “Just past where you put your bike.”

“Thaaaaank you,” he answers. “I’ll just be heading on up there for an interview now. See you later, baby!” He prances back up the stairs and over towards the office. He’s been here before. Many a time, actually. Prof’s been a real help over these last few years. But nobody really knows about that.

But the person he sees when he gets up there surprises him.

“Lynne.” He looks at the patrolman keeping an eye on her. “Do me a soliiiiid, would you?”

The patrolman salutes. “Yessir!”

“Inspector Cabanela! I thought…I thought tonight was important.”

“Still got time to see you, baby,” he says. “Jowd’s on it. And you’re more important right now in this crisis.”

Lynne looks down. It pains him to see her distraught. She straightens up. “Wait. You said…crisis? Does that mean…I never even met that guy before tonight! I didn’t kill him!”

Hmm. So it sounds like Lynne doesn’t remember what Yomiel looks like, at least — it happened when she was young, at least, and the memory is probably hazy from how traumatic it must have been for her.

“Never? Then how’d you end up here, baby?”

“Well, uh, before tonight, that is…” Lynne raises a hand to the back of her neck sheepishly. “He reached out to me first, actually. He said that he had some important information about a case I’ve been working on.”

“Hmm…” Cabanela strokes his goatee. “Iiiii don’t believe your precinct assigned you to any big cases. Funny, isn’t it?”

“Huh?!” Lynne asks.

If he had to guess…she’s probably doing the same thing he and Jowd are. Trying to close a case that’s been open for far too long. Trying to heal Kamila’s heart.

Tonight is the last night. It only stands to reason that she’d be desperate.

“Don’t worry, baby. I don’t think you did it. I’m just tryna clear things up a little.” He smiles. It’s not as effective on her, since she knows him better, but it still works. “You’re not the type to shoot like that. And if anything ever happened to you…”

“Yeah,” Lynne says. “Yeah.” She swallows. “Inspector Cabanela…I have one question for you.”

“Go ahead, baby,” he says.

“Tonight is the night, right? That it…”

“I have noooo idea what you— Get down!” He shoves her out of the way as a bullet crashes through the window.

-

“Ngh.” What’s going on? Where is he? What…happened? “Lynne!”

“You’re awake,” a voice he doesn’t recognize says. “Great.”

“What’s…who am I?”

“You’re in the land of the dead,” the voice answers.

Cabanela — so that’s his name — opens his eyes.

“The…land of the dead?” he asks, right before he takes in who the voice belongs to. “You!”

“Huh?” the man who looks like Yomiel asks. Land of the dead…it would make sense. Yomiel is dead, after all. “I’m Sissel. And you’re Inspector Cabanela, I believe.”

“Thaaaaat’s right,” Cabanela answers. Sissel. That’s a name that pings some kind of recognition in him, but…he doesn’t know exactly where he’s heard it before. “So…I take it that I died, then?”

“You’re in the Ghost World,” ‘Sissel’ explains.

“I can’t be dead. Not tonight.”

“Someone told me that something very important was happening tonight,” Sissel continues. “If I had to guess, I’d say you were an important part of it. But…I can bring you back. Learn what happened to you.”

“Iiiiiii’m not sure who you think you are, but I don’t think anyone has that power,” Cabanela says.

“Let me show you, then,” Sissel says.

Cabanela’s death plays out in front of him — from the walk up the stairs to his conversation with Lynne.

“So that’s it, then?” Cabanela asks. “How are you gonna stop it?”

“That’s up to me,” Sissel answers. “I’ll do my best to stop whoever’s shooting you. I’ve already saved other lives before.”

“It’s in your hands now, baby. Nothin’ much I can do to stop it.” Cabanela leans back.

Sissel hums and gets to work. What that work is, Cabanela doesn’t quite understand at first. But then Sissel does…something to the van door and it opens.

A trick. Something that could happen in a locked room. Something that could happen…without a person there to witness it or to explain just what had happened.

Could this have happened to Alma?

Sissel drops some crates on top of the would-be assassin’s head. “And there we go.”

“Thank you,” Cabanela says. “You’ve helped more than you know.”

“Of course,” Sissel says. “Do you…know anything? About me?”

“Whyyyyyy do you ask?”

Sissel sighs. “Figured it was worth a shot, at least. It looks like you don’t have the answers I’m looking for, though. Let’s get back to the present now, shall we?”

Cabanela nods.

-

“It’s the night that her case gets filed away. Forever.” Lynne grips her arm and looks away. “Inspector Cabanela, I know you know what I’m talking about.”

“Well, Iiiiiii’m certainly not at liberty to tell you about it, baby,” Cabanela says. He needs to talk to Jowd as soon as possible — he needs to tell Jowd what he’s just learned. What the key is. “I gotta go now, baby. Get some sleep, would you?”

Lynne rolls her eyes. “You worry too much, Inspector.”

“I thiiiiiink in our line of work, it’s justified.” Cabanela turns towards the door. “I’ll just be going now. I’ll be sending that patrolman riiiiiiight back in, so don’t try to escape now, would you?”

“I won’t!” Lynne says.

-

Back to the precinct.

“Heeeyyyyy, Jowd,” Cabanela says. “Heard anything from Rindge?”

“I checked in with him,” Jowd responds. “He just arrived at the park. He’s keeping a lookout on things now.” His face twists. “At first when I called, someone else responded. He called himself…the guardian of the park?”

“Iiiiiiiinteresting,” Cabanela says. “They’ve got Lynne held up in the super’s office. They think she did it, baby.”

“Lynne?” Jowd asks. “Who…what was going on?”

“I don’t know,” Cabanela answers quietly. “The body…it was Yomiel.”

“Yomiel?” Jowd says suddenly. “No…there’s no way.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cabanela says. “Buuuuuut I have no idea who else it could be. It was…he was wearing the same suit still. Same hair. It’s like the past ten years never happened. Lynne didn’t remember him, though.”

Jowd frowns. “I can see why she doesn’t. It must have been difficult for her. But I could never forget what his face looked like.”

“Me neither.” Cabanela places a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Iiiiii’m not sure what to do, but we’ll figure this out. I know it.” He smiles. “You and me, baby. Together we’re unstoppable.”

Jowd nods. “Indeed.”

“Iiiiiii’m gonna head down to the chief’s office now,” Cabanela says. “I think heeeee might know something about Lynne’s case.”

“Alright. If it’s really Yomiel, then…”

Cabanela nods. “Lotta things going down in this town tonight, baby. It’s up to us to unravel this.”

“And Alma…” Jowd sighs. “I hope we can put her to rest tonight.”

Cabanela takes a deep breath. “I hope so too.”

“This…with Yomiel…it can’t be a coincidence with what happened ten years ago. There’s just something we’re missing.” Jowd sighs. “I don’t know what the connection could be…or if there even is one. Maybe we’re just chasing ghosts.”

Ghosts. The man that had called himself Sissel.

Would Jowd even believe him?

“Speaking of, actually,” Cabanela says, “there’s juuuuuust one more thing I have to tell you. There’s another player out there tonight. He saved my life. And he looked just like Yomiel.”

“...how?” Jowd asks.

“Took out an assassin. Called himself…Sissel. Strangest thing was, I think he miiiiiight be a ghost.”

“A ghost.” Jowd crosses his arms. “I don’t want to say you’ve lost your touch, but…”

“I’m not quite sure either,” Cabanela admits. “Buuuuuuut I’m keeping it in mind. For when I find out.”

Jowd nods. “Alright.”

Cabanela wonders if Jowd picked up what he was trying to say. That it could have been…that it could have been what happened to Alma.

-

“The super sent us the security footage,” Chief says. Cabanela can hear the almost imperceptible sound of him rubbing his feet together under the desk and fights the urge not to wrinkle his nose in disgust. “I hate to say it, Inspector, but it looks like your protégé is in real trouble.”

“Just show it to me, would you?” Cabanela winks and takes a position to watch as the projector springs downwards. It shows the edge of the junkyard near the fence. He watches Yomiel as he stands in front of Lynne. Yomiel? Maybe it is Sissel. Maybe Yomiel got himself a copycat, ten years later.

The man in the red suit flops back against the fencepost as Lynne takes out her pistol. She fires two shots, looking for all the world like she’s struggling. The first hits the man’s box. The second hits the man. The man flops forwards to the ground as Lynne puts her gun back.

“That’s not where the body was found,” Cabanela points out. He grabs the remote and fast-forwards the footage.

Huh. A black cat in the box knocked down the body. Odd.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Inspector, but…this looks like a case for the Special Investigations Unit.” The chief frowns. “He looks an awful lot like that suspect from all those years ago.”

“You’re right.” Cabanela frowns. “Yomiel…I didn’t think I’d ever see that face again. But to think that maybe…”

“What are you thinking, Inspector?” the chief asks.

“Oh, don’t worry, Chief,” Cabanela says. “I’m sure it’ll be alright, as long as I’m on the case.”

“Still keeping an eye on Point X?”

“Of cooooooourse,” he answers. “I’ve got some officers I trust keeping a lookout on the scene. And Jowd’s got an eye on them, too.” He’d trust Jowd with his life.

“I always wondered…” The chief trails off, and then straightens himself back up a little bit. “I always wondered how you were always so sure that Jowd didn’t do it.”

“I trust him,” Cabanela answers. “If he says he didn’t do it, he didn’t do it. Plain and simple, baby. Just the way he’s always liked it.”

“I suppose that’s true.” The chief sighs. “Still, I have to wonder after all these years…he could’ve been letting the case grow cold for his own sake.”

Well, Cabanela knows that’s…true. At least a little bit true. Jowd’s not doing it for himself, though. He’s got his little girl at home to look after. Kamila…Cabanela hopes she’s safe at home, and not doing anything else besides reading her book and listening to her music.

“Jowd’s not like that. Trust me,” Cabanela says. “I wouldn’t have kept him so long as my partner if I didn’t.”

They have to stop this. It’s simple enough.

“Chief,” he continues, “I’m heading back to the scene of the murder. Lynne should still be there. I’ll take her back to the precinct. Didn’t get the chance earlier.”

The chief nods. “Alright, Inspector.”

Cabanela heads out and bikes back to the junkyard.

But when he gets back to the office, it’s…empty. Or at least the person he’s looking for isn’t here.

“Where’d Lynne go?” Cabanela asks the nearest patrolman.

“I don’t know!” he answers, putting his hands up. “You left, called me back in, and she was already gone!”

Ah.

Cabanela sits down at the super’s desk. “Heeeeeey, chief. I need a favor. Put out an APB on Lynne for me, wouldya?”

“Got a runner on our hands?”

“Indeeeeeed. Now, I don’t like what’s happened, but that doesn’t change that she’s pretty heavily involved in what’s gone down here. And since she ran, it means she has something she wants to hide from me.”

“I’ll do that right away, then,” the chief answers. “Thank you, Inspector.”

“Don’t thank me yet, baby. I’ve stiiiiiiiill got work to do.” Cabanela sets down the phone. And then it starts ringing again.

“Chief told me you were here,” Jowd says, his low timbre vibrating over the line. “I just thought I should inform you that they’ve found Lynne. She’s at Point X.”

“What? Why is she at Point X?” Cabanela demands.

“Dunno. Detective Rindge just informed me.” Jowd sighs. “Do you think that maybe she got in over her head? That she was the one who scheduled the meeting because she was looking for answers?”

“Could be anything,” Cabanela answers. “I’m not sure exactly what she’s been up to tonight. But she told me something iiiiiiiinteresting earlier.”

“What’d she say?”

“She said that tonight was the night that her case was being filed. And she asked me to tell her about Alma.”

“I…” Jowd trails off. “That’s concerning. But I don’t think Lynne has the resources to arrange that sort of meeting.”

“That’s true,” Cabanela admits. “She told me when I asked her that Yomiel had asked her to meet. I’m not sure she was exactly…looking before now. When the opportunity strikes, you’ve got to take it.”

“Like tonight, then?” Jowd asks. “Rindge was heading in, last I heard. He should be talking to Lynne.”

“Thaaaaanks.” Cabanela sighs. “Keep me updated, will you?”

“Of course,” Jowd answers. “I wouldn’t leave my partner in the dark.”

-

Cabanela heads down to the basement.

“Heeeeeey, Prof,” he says as he hops down the stairs. “Get a good look at that body yet?”

“We already knew it was Yomiel,” he answers. Lovey-Dove coos atop his head. “Can’t conduct a proper autopsy, though. Could run some other tests…”

“Why nooooot?”

“Take a look for yourself,” he answers. Cabanela approaches the table. The man attempts to make an incision. The incision instantly heals. “I suspect the healing factor is the Temsik shard lodged in him.”

“Faaaaascinating.” Cabanela looks over the body.

“It’s a corpse, to put it shortly — he’s not truly alive. Somehow or another…he’s inhabiting his own body.” Lovey-Dove coos, as if to punctuate that ominous remark.

“I learned earlier tonight that ghosts are real,” Cabanela says. “That could be it. I just still don’t understand how.”

“Hmm.” He runs a scanner over the body. “Same radiation as the park, though. You’ve got eyes on that?”

“Yeah,” Cabanela answers. “Rindge was put there for the stakeout. We’re fiiiiiiiiine. Everything’s under control.”

That’s when the phone rings.

“Cabanela? Are you there?” Jowd asks, sounding more panicked now.

“What’s wrong?” he demands.

“It’s Kamila.” Cabanela could swear that his heart stops beating for a moment. “They’ve kidnapped her.”

“What?!”

“The demand is my life,” Jowd says. “They want me to surrender myself for her.”

“No,” Cabanela says.

“I have two hours to respond before they kill her,” Jowd says. “I know you can take care of her. You’ve been helping me out for years. I know you can do this, Cabanela.”

“You said two hours, right?” Cabanela says. “I’m going to figure out how she was kidnapped and rescue her before it’s too late.”

“It’d take a miracle to pull that off,” Jowd says.

“And if anyone’s in the business of miracles, it’s me, baby,” he answers. “I’ll find Kamila. Mark my words.”

“Good luck,” Jowd answers.

Cabanela puts down the receiver. “I’m afraid I have other business to attend to, Prof. Catch you later!”

He just nods in response. Lovey-Dove nods alongside him.

Cabanela walks up the stairs and hops on his bike. Time to go. Where could the kidnappers have taken them?

Maybe he’ll start by checking in on Point X. Lynne’s probably left at this point, but Memry and Rindge will still be there.

-

Cabanela sits down at a booth in the Chicken Kitchen and rings the bell three times.

“Memry,” he remarks. “Sit down. Did anyone come in tonight that was suspicious?”

“Besides that other detective?” Memry remarks. “And I’m not supposed to sit.”

Cabanela waves his hand. “Don’t wooooooorry about losin’ your job. It’s not like you’re gonna be here after tonight, baby.”

Memry sighs. “Don’t remind me! I loved the extra pay. Both from here and from the boss. I was making so much moolah it was worth all the crap I get being a waitress.”

Cabanela raises an eyebrow. Then again, she is on the job while she’s here, so she should be getting paid as a detective and as a waitress. Not that waitressing pays well, but depending on the tips she’s getting…he supposes he could understand why she’d want to stay longer in her position.

“Actually, there were a couple people upstairs earlier,” she says. “I tried to plant a bug on them, but Rindge told me that it didn’t work and all he was getting was the chef, for whatever reason. Could’ve sworn I put it on the chicken I was getting to them, but…I guess I’ll never find out what was in that giant suitcase they had. Seemed pretty heavy, too. The guy was having trouble carrying it. I bet that woman he was with could’ve carried it no problem, though. She was pretty strong, if you catch my drift.”

Cabanela rolls his eyes. “And where did they go after that?”

“Not sure,” Memry answers. “But whoever they were waiting for didn’t show up.”

“Iiiiiiiinteresting,” he says. “What’d they look like?”

“The guy was wearing a hat, and he was always a little hunched over. The woman was taller than him, even without her heels. She had a really wild hairstyle, though. Blonde hair, all around her in a spiral. Kinda wish my hair were long enough to do that, but then again, I don’t want to have to deal with it when it gets that long.”

“Detective,” he says, “do you have aaaaaaany idea where they went?”

“Nope! I wish I could tell ya. They left on a motorcycle, I think. Rindge might have the plate number. I heard he was lonely in that park…”

“They might come back,” Cabanela says. “Stay here until the restaurant closes, yeah? After that, you can hang out with him aaaaaaaall you want.”

“Fine, fine.” She rolls her eyes. “Wouldn’t want to get written up tonight.”

Cabanela leaves the restaurant and rides over to the park.

“Stop the park from being turned into a housing site!” a young man says, waving around leaflets. “Protect Temsik, rock of the gods!”

Cabanela grabs a leaflet just to placate him, and then jaunts on towards where Rindge is looking out over the edge, in the direction of the Chicken Kitchen.

“Inspector Cabanela!” Rindge says, straightening up suddenly. “Sir!”

“Relaaaaaaax,” Cabanela says, leaning up against the railing. “I’m just here to ask you something, baby. Did you spot a couple carrying a large suitcase? Memry in there seems to think youuuuuu might have a plate number for me.”

“I saw them leaving on a motorcycle,” Rindge answers, as impassive as ever. “I couldn’t see the plate number, though. Too small. They were heading east, though.”

“Thaaaaaank you,” Cabanela responds. “East it is, then!”

East. What was in that direction? Where would make for a good hideout for a couple criminals?

Oh.

Jowd and Kamila had moved out of their old house a few months after Alma’s death due to the fact that Jowd hadn’t wanted Kamila to stick around there so long afterwards. The house had become derelict since, and known as something that only teenagers occasionally looked through for kicks, to see if the house was haunted. It’d make the perfect place for something like this.

Cabanela gets on his bike and rides over there. There are some candles lit in the front room. He sneaks his way in instead of announcing his presence just to find that there’s a man sleeping hunched over that matches Memry’s vague descriptions…and Amelie, the Justice Minister’s daughter. What is she doing here?

(At least it’s not Kamila.)

“Hello, Inspector.”

He nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of that somewhat familiar voice.

“Sissel,” he manages to respond, “whaaaaaat are you doing here?”

“I was listening in on their conversation,” Sissel answers, raising one arm to shrug. “Couldn’t let the little lady stay kidnapped. Though I didn’t realize she was…”

“That’s not Kamila,” Cabanela says.

“I know that,” Sissel answers. “They got the wrong girl. She’s sick, though. I feel bad for her. Managed to get her free, but…not sure how to get her out. Get her out of here before the lady comes back, okay? I should go.”

Cabanela nods. “Alright. I’ll get her back to her family. I’m sure they’re worried about her. Sissel…”

“Do you need a favor from me?” he asks. “I’m already helping Lynne, so my plate is pretty full, but…”

“Make sure she gets through this night,” Cabanela says. “But I think you’re already doin’ that. So just keep on keeping on, yeah?”

Sissel smiles, the genuine happiness looking strange with the face he wears. “That won’t be a problem, Inspector.”

Cabanela snaps back into the real world and picks Amelie up.

The man straightens up. Cabanela freezes.

“Just my imagination…” He falls back asleep.

Amelie sniffles. Cabanela takes them both outside before setting her down.

“Heeeeeey,” he says, kneeling down to meet her at her own level. “How are you doin’?”

She sniffles again, and then sneezes. “I wanna go home. You’re a police officer, right? Can you take me home?”

“Yeah, baby, yeah,” he says. “I can get you home.”

“Okay,” Amelie answers. She wipes her nose on her sleeve. “Mommy and Daddy both said that I shouldn’t go out, since I’m sick like this, but I had to get something for Daddy.” There’s a lighter hidden up the sleeve of her nightgown. “Tonight is his birthday, but Mommy forgot, since she’s trying to finish her book tonight.”

“I’ll make sure it gets to him,” Cabanela says. He grabs his bike and places her on the seat, and then grabs the handlebars, letting her grab onto him. He wheels the bike towards her house. “And you, too.”

“Stop right there.”

Cabanela reaches into his jacket for his gun. The woman has long blonde hair, falling around her in rings. Just like Memry described. She has a riding crop, too.

He grabs his badge first. “Inspector Cabanela, Special Investigations Unit. You’re under arrest for kidnapping.” He then reaches for his handcuffs.

“Hmph.” She strikes him. He flinches, puts down the kickstand so Amelie doesn’t fall, and advances on her, cuffing her to a nearby pole.

He flips the kickstand back up and keeps walking Amelie towards the street corner.

“Heyyy, Jowd, I got some gooooood news, baby.”

“Really?” Jowd asks, voice sounding rushed. “What is it?”

“Iiiiiii found her!” Cabanela answers. “Wasn’t Kamila that was kidnapped, though.”

“It wasn’t?”

“As far as Iiiiii know, Kamila’s still at Lynne’s place,” he says. “Say hi, Amelie.” He offers the receiver over to her.

“Um. Hi?” She coughs a couple times.

“Thaaaaanks.”

“Is that the justice minister’s daughter?” Jowd asks.

“That it is,” Cabanela answers. “I’ll be getting her home now, and then I’m headin’ over to Lynne’s apartment to check on Kamila.”

“Thank you,” Jowd answers, voice rumbling. “I’m…I’m not happy that someone else was kidnapped, but I’m glad Kamila’s safe.”

“That’s juuuuuuust fine,” Cabanela answers. “Understandable, even.”

He still remembers the pang of relief that he had felt when it hadn’t been Kamila in there. When he had seen Amelie, sniffling and sneezing instead.

“Then I suppose I’ve got to focus on the case,” Jowd says.

“We can focus on the case when I get back, baby,” Cabanela answers. “I’ll see you soon.”

Jowd hangs up. He’s always been a concise man — that’s one of the things that had made them fit so well together.

“Who was that? And who’s Kamila?” Amelie asks.

“Thaaaaat was my partner in the force,” Cabanela answers. “He’s Kamila’s father. And Kamila’s who we thought got kidnapped, not you.”

“Oh! So you two are her dads?” she asks.

Cabanela very nearly stops in his tracks. “Who, me? I’m noooooot her dad. Nosiree.”

“But you said that you were partners?”

���Detective partners, not like that,” Cabanela answers. “Which way was your house?”

“Ummmmmmm.” She deliberates on that for a little bit. “I think it’s that way?” She points to the west. Fair enough.

-

“We’re here!” Amelie lets go and hops off the bike. “Thanks, Inspector!” She waves as she walks into the house, sneezing one more time for good measure.

He hopes she’ll be okay. Can’t be easy to get kidnapped while sick.

He hops on his bike and rides back to the precinct. Time for him to touch base with Jowd.

That’s when the car hits him.

-

“Seems like you and Lynne are competing to see who can die the most tonight,” Yo—Sissel says. He doesn’t sound like Yomiel, at least — but the face being the same still throws Cabanela off when he’s not anticipating it.

“Is Lynne okay?” Cabanela asks.

“She’s fine,” Sissel answers. “But you’re not.”

“Iiiiiii got hit by a car,” Cabanela says. “What can you do to prevent that?” 

“You’d be surprised,” Sissel answers. “Four minutes is a long time to change things.”

Cabanela just lets Sissel do his thing. As they watch…

Ah. Yomiel was driving the car that hit him. So it was probably intentional. Dammit.

“Who…is that?” Sissel asks. “And why does he have my face?”

Cabanela just sighs. “Iiiiiii’m not sure,” he answers.

“Let’s see what I can do,” Sissel says. “We might have to…get creative.”

“Well, a little creativity never hurt anything,” Cabanela answers, flashing a smile at Sissel. “You’ve gooooot this!”

“Thanks,” Sissel says, a little sheepish.

They start on the road, in front of where he died. Sissel takes him over on a leaf that drifts over, and eventually they manage to come down on top of the car. Yomiel has been…outside Jowd and Kamila’s house. What’s he waiting for?

And then the phone rings.

“Hello?” Yomiel snaps.

“Beauty’s gone! And the kid!” the man says on the other end of the line. That’s the man Cabanela had seen inside — the one that had been napping when he took Amelie back home. “Beauty was supposed to be back a while ago, ya see…”

Yomiel sighs, clearly annoyed. “I’m keeping an eye on the kid’s house. I haven’t seen her or her father all night. I don’t have time for your wild goose chases. You can live without your partner, can’t you?”

The man visibly shrinks. “Beauty’s my everything!”

“I’ll be coming to you,” Yomiel says. “I’m on my way now. You better not screw this up.”

Sissel jumps over to the car and triggers the lock.

Yomiel jiggles the door. “I don’t remember locking this…” He pulls out the keys.

“Looks like we didn’t buy ourselves that much time,” Cabanela says.

“No, but it’s still a little more time for you to get across that road safely,” Sissel says.

Yomiel finally gets the key and unlocks the car.

“Now what can we do?” Sissel asks.

“Do you…not know how a car works?” Cabanela asks.

“I barely remember what a car is!” Sissel responds.

“What?!”

“I’ve been trying to find my identity,” Sissel says. He looks over at Yomiel. “He probably has the key to all that. I don’t know why he’s just like me, but…that’s what I’ve been trying to do tonight.”

“A noble quest indeed!” Cabanela says.

“Do…you know anything?”

“I don’t think now’s the best time to talk about this,” he answers.

“After I save you,” Sissel says. “How do I operate this?” The gear shift.

“Not while the car is moving!” Cabanela says. “Are you crazy? You’re going to get him killed!”

Sissel attempts to move it. “It’s not moving anyway.” He looks around a little more, and swivels the mirror.

The world turns blue in front of them.

“Now then,” Yomiel says, focusing directly on Sissel, “I knew there was another ghost around town tonight, but…I didn’t think it’d be me of all people that was going around and stopping things from happening the way they’re supposed to. Not sure why you’ve got my face, but…things will still go down the way they’re meant to. However you’re trying to stop me…it won’t work. I will wipe out the last traces of Temsik before this night is over — and that will include you.”

Sissel sucks in a sharp breath.

The car speeds up. Cabanela, still alive, stops just before crossing the road instead of going.

The world turns red again.

“I don’t think that was how we were supposed to pull that off,” Sissel admits.

“Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I?” Cabanela asks. “I guess he’ll make it to his destination this time, baby. What’d you say last time? Go back to the new present?”

“Yes,” Sissel answers. “But…before I return you, I have to ask: did you know that man?”

“I did,” Cabanela answers. “He was shot earlier tonight. And I suspect his involvement in some other incidents. Especially after what I witnessed just now…”

“But me?”

“His name wasn’t Sissel,” Cabanela says. “Good luck figuring it out.”

Sissel looks down, but when Cabanela’s next aware, he’s back on his bike. He looks both ways before crossing this time, and makes it across without getting hit by any surprise cars.

-

“Kamila?” he asks. Missile barks when he walks in and runs around his feet.

She sets down her book. “Hey!” she answers. “Missile, could you please quiet down?”

Cabanela squats down and pets Missile.

“The neighbor said she’d try to knock the wall down if she heard Missile barking too much again,” Kamila says, sounding apologetic.

“You’re okay, right?”

“Of course I am!” she answers. “Tonight’s been…good, though I am a little sad that Lynne can’t hang out with me. She said that she’d be busy tonight.”

“And why’d she say that, baby?” Cabanela knows that if Lynne had really intended to stay out the entire night she would have probably told Kamila to stay home.

“I…don’t know, actually.” Kamila frowns. “Why are you here?”

“Your dad was worried about you. Iiiiiiii told him you were fine, but he wanted me to check up on you, juuuuuuust in case something bad happened.”

“Phone’s broken,” Kamila says casually. “I accidentally dropped the receiver earlier.”

“Huh.” Cabanela looks down at the phone. “Well then, Iiiiiii suppose we’ll have to find some other way to talk to your dad. I’ll go ask next door, yeah?”

“Okay,” Kamila says.

Cabanela hops over towards the apartment next door. “Hellooooooo,” he says when the door opens to him.

“And just what brings…a police officer to interrupt me on the holiest of nights?”

Great. It’s the Justice Minister’s wife. What was her name again…?

“My sinceeeeerest apologies, madame,” he says, bowing. “Iiiiiiii just need to borrow your phone for a moment. Could I?” He flashes his most charming smile at her.

“Well,” she says, “who am I to say no to a man like you?” She arches an eyebrow. “Phone’s over by the bed.”

“I’ll be quick, I promise,” he says. He saunters over the phone.

“Cabanela?” Jowd asks. “You were right about the ghosts.”

“That’s one hell of an opener, baby,” Cabanela says. “Buuuuuut I was going to tell you something first. Kamila’s just fine. I just checked up on her.”

“That’s good,” Jowd says. “But…you said a ghost might have caused Alma’s death. I just spoke to one earlier.”

“Greaaaaat,” Cabanela says. “You can tell me all about it later, baby. But I am currently borrowing this phone, so Iiiiiiiiii should probably be getting off.”

“That you should,” Jowd says, a tinge of warmth in his voice. “I’ll see you back at the station, Cabanela.”

He hangs up the phone.

“Thanks again,” he says, firing off a salute towards her. She’s too engrossed in her work to look up, pecking away at the keys one at a time. It strikes him as an awfully inefficient way to type, but then again, what does he know?

-

“You met Sissel?” Cabanela asks when he gets back to the station.

“Yes,” Jowd answers. “The only issue is…how can we prove it? How can we prove that it was a ghost?”

“I don’t know,” Cabanela answers. “I don’t have all the answers, baby. But whatever’s out there tonight is trying to get rid of everything Temsik.”

“Temsik, huh?” Jowd asks. “It’s always going to come back to that day.”

Cabanela puts a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “You’re not a bad person. I know it.”

Jowd frowns. “I could’ve killed him. I might have, even. I’m not like you.” He plucks a speck of dirt off Cabanela’s shoulder. “My coat’s not exactly clean.”

Cabanela rakes a judgemental gaze over Jowd’s coat. “Clean enough, I’d say. You’re standing beside me now, aren’t you?”

“Just because you kept insisting that I had to be here,” Jowd responds. “I’m just along for the ride.”

“I disagree,” Cabanela says. “I don’t want to be here without you.”

Jowd nods.

“Have you heard anything about Lynne?” Cabanela asks, shifting the subject away after a moment of awkward silence.

“No,” Jowd answers. “She hasn’t been seen since the Chicken Kitchen. We’re still looking, though.”

“Alright,” Cabanela says. “I think we need to prioritize Yomiel.”

“I agree,” Jowd says. “It has to be connected. Alma’s death, the meteor strike, Temsik….everything that happened tonight goes back to Temsik Park. The night’s wearing thin. Where would he go?”

“Maaaaaybe he’s trying to escape,” Cabanela says. “He’s working with the people that kidnapped Kamila.”

“And McCaw and his partner found someone crushed by the junkyard wrecking ball.” Jowd frowns. “It looks like he’s part of the same group that was at Point X earlier. Did we get any intel about them?”

“No,” Cabanela says. “I talked to Memry about them, and she said that they were the ones who kidnapped Kamila, buuuuuuuuut when she tried to plant a bug on them all she ended up with was the chef.”

“The…chef?” Jowd asks, confused. “What?”

“That’s what Rindge told me, at least,” Cabanela answers. “Iiiiiii’m not quite sure what went down.”

“I think I might have the answer to that.”

“Sissel,” Jowd says, offering him a warm smile. “It’s good to see you under better circumstances. Is someone dead?”

“Not right now,” Sissel answers. “It had to be the chef. The lady managed to figure out the bug. It caused that detective in green and Lynne to die.”

That…does not make sense at all.

“Could you please explain further?” Jowd asks.

“In the timeline where that undercover detective plants a bug on the chicken, one of them manages to figure out they’re being listened to, and when the bug got destroyed, the detective in green died,” Sissel explains, slower now. “I couldn’t save Lynne without saving him. But if it helps, I’m pretty sure they were waiting for the other man in red.”

“You saw him?” Jowd asks.

“I did,” Sissel says. “I’m…not sure what’s going on, but I have to talk to him again.”

“We’re trying to find him too,” Cabanela says. “He has answers for us relating to an incident we’re investigating.”

“Lynne told me a little about it,” Sissel admits, “but I didn’t get very much from her. A murder that happened five years ago, right?”

“Yes.” Jowd frowns.

“She said…it was something she wanted to do for you,” Sissel says, speaking directly to Jowd. “To repay you for what you did ten years ago.”

Jowd looks down. “Whatever she told you…I’m not as much of a hero as she thinks I am.”

“Sounded pretty heroic to me,” Sissel answers. “Lynne said you saved her life.”

“And I nearly killed someone else in the process.”

Cabanela frowns at that comment.

“Doesn’t matter if it didn’t happen,” Sissel says with a shrug. Cabanela flinches.

“That’s not how I see it.” Jowd’s face is impassive. He’s shut down. Cabanela’s seen that face enough to know it’s high time they shifted the subject of conversation to something else.

“Anything else you have to tell us, Sissel?” Cabanela asks.

Sissel hums. “I learned my name from some people on a submarine. They said they were looking for a man that looked like me, going by the name Sissel. And that I was supposed to give them information.”

Jowd looks over at Cabanela. “The docks?”

Cabanela nods. He could go and make his escape down there to that submarine…

“I’ll see if I can find my way down there too,” Sissel says.

“I’ll call the office there for you,” Jowd says. “That’ll make it easier.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do for you after you saved our lives tonight.”

“Don’t thank me.” Sissel seems to relax, despite the words. “I’m just looking for answers, and you all seem to have them. As long as I still don’t know the mystery of me…I’ll keep going.” He snaps them back into the real world.

“I will neeeeever be used to that,” Cabanela admits.

“It’s easier if you can sense him,” Jowd admits. “He’s waiting in the pen holder.”

Cabanela raises an eyebrow. “And how do you know that, baby?”

“I can…sense him, in a manner of speaking,” Jowd admits. “Call it detective’s instinct.”

“Like you’d know much about instinct,” Cabanela responds, mostly on impulse.

“You were right,” Jowd says. “It never sat right with me to just trust that I was right about what happened five years ago. But you said…”

“‘...if you can’t trust your instincts, trust me,’” Cabanela fills in. “I remember.”

-

It had been five years ago when the payphone on the street corner of Cabanela’s usual route home rang.

He was curious enough to pick up.

“Cabanela?” Jowd had asked, sounding like he was about to cry. Cabanela hadn’t heard him sound like that since his wedding, and this hadn’t sounded like a happy occasion. “Please. I need you here.”

“Are you at home?” he had asked, swinging onto his bike.

“Yes,” Jowd had answered, and Cabanela rode off as fast as his bike could go. When he got to the house, the sight in front of him had been astonishing, to say the least.

Alma was dead. Shot in the chest. Clean. Hit the heart. Cabanela remembers thinking that at the very least she had died a quick death.

And above her, Kamila had been crying, with Jowd soothing her.

“It wasn’t supposed to do that!” Cabanela had heard.

“Report,” Cabanela had snapped, using the same tone as the chief, just to get them to snap out of it.

Jowd looked up. “Thank you.”

“What’s going on?” Cabanela grabbed a pair of gloves from his jacket. They weren’t crime scene forensic style, but they were good enough. The gun on the wall… 

“It’s not loaded, but the ammo’s not hard to find if Alma ever needed it,” Jowd admitted softly. “I taught her to shoot.”

“Every gun needs someone to pull the trigger,” Cabanela had answered, and Jowd had flinched. “So who could’ve pulled this from up here?”

“It was me,” Jowd says. “I shot her. With my gun.”

His tone is too flat. 

“I don’t believe that for a second, baby.” The barrel of the gun on the wall was still warm when Cabanela pressed a hand to it.

Jowd had pulled Kamila in closer. Cabanela watched as her tears soaked into his coat.

“It was her birthday, wasn’t it?” Cabanela had asked, softer now. “Hell of a way to celebrate.”

Jowd flinched. “Watch your language.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Kamila had said again.

Cabanela knelt. “What do you mean, baby?”

“It was supposed to set off the party poppers,” she sobbed. “There was no string there. I’m not supposed to touch the gun.”

“I don’t know who did it,” Jowd said, “but my little girl’s not responsible for this.”

Cabanela looked at the gun in his hand. At the wall in front of him. At the decorations on the table, preparing for a party.

“She told me about it,” Jowd continued. “The machine. The cupid here…it’s supposed to face the table.”

“Then…something must have happened,” Cabanela said.

“I…don’t know what to think,” Jowd admitted. “Kamila, go up to your room. We’ll talk more later.”

Kamila nodded eagerly and scampered away.

“I know…I don’t want to think she could have done it,” Jowd continued. “But…the only person in the house was her. What else could it be? I want to say that she didn’t do it. I want more than anything to say that. But…”

“If you can’t trust your instincts, trust me,” Cabanela had told him. “I’m your partner. If I say she didn’t do it, she didn’t do it.”

They messed with the window, made the lock look like it was tampered with. There was an outside possibility now.

Cabanela had filed the reports, and tried not to think too hard about how he made himself accomplice to a crime.

-

“Sounds like you learned something from me after all,” Cabanela quips half-heartedly.

“It’s been years,” Jowd answers.

The lines start to blur after that long together. Cabanela knows Jowd as well as he knows himself. Maybe better, even.

Jowd picks up the phone and calls the docks.

“Sorry, I meant to dial someone else,” he says, and then puts down the phone. “Sissel should be on his way now. He’s not here.”

“Let’s go, then,” Cabanela says. “See if we can catch him.”

-

They find Yomiel uncovering a motorboat.

“So you’re not dead,” Yomiel says, directing the words to Jowd, bitterness seeping into his voice. “That just means I can do it myself.”

Cabanela reaches for the handcuffs in his coat’s inside pocket, and then he feels nothing at all.

-

The feel of a gun in his hand…the bang…what’s happening? Why can’t he do anything? He can’t see. He can’t feel. What’s around him? What’s happening?

-

When he comes to, he’s flat on the ground. Someone’s on top of his back.

“What’s going on?” Cabanela barks.

“Looks like you’re yourself again,” Lynne says from behind him. The weight gets off his back. He rolls over to see her and Jowd standing above him. “I managed to find my own way here, thanks to some intel Sissel gave me.” She offers him a hand. Cabanela takes it and pulls himself up. “Will someone just tell me what’s going on? I’ve been involved in this the whole time. Are you telling me that he’s the one who took me hostage?!”

“We need Sissel for this conversation,” Jowd just says, and they all pop back into the Ghost World.

“You two have been managing to dodge explaining this whole time,” Sissel says, blankly, without accusation despite the words. “There is no hiding here. Your thoughts are projected into speech. And yet…”

“His name is Yomiel,” Jowd says. “The man who took Lynne hostage. The man we’ve been chasing all night.”

Sissel’s form flickers and glitches before ultimately settling on a blue flame — one with sunglasses, but incorporeal nonetheless.

No more incorporeal than any other ghost, Cabanela supposes.

“I guess I know who he is, at least,” Sissel says. “But I’m not him.”

“No, you’re not,” Cabanela says. “That much has been clear from the start. The real Yomiel…”

Lynne gasps. “He killed Alma?!”

“That’s what we’ve been thinking, baby,” Cabanela says.

Sissel gestures over to Jowd. “He told me that you couldn’t solve the mystery until you found out about ghost tricks.”

Lynne looks down. “I’m sorry I’ve been getting in your way. Both of your ways. I didn’t realize it was all connected. I thought…I thought you had given up on it.”

“So you conducted your own investigation,” Cabanela says, “and you would’ve presented the findings to us if you had figured it out.”

“Well,” Lynne says, “I’m still not really sure. I’ve been hiding out here because it’s one of the shadier parts of town. It’s easy to stay away from the other officers.”

“Yomiel doesn’t just possess objects like Sissel does,” Jowd says. “He can also possess people.”

“So that’s what happened to me,” Cabanela says. “Did I…”

“Everyone but me’s currently alive,” Sissel says. “Missile helped.”

“Though I suspect one of my ribs is broken,” Jowd says dryly.

“Did Yomiel get away?” Cabanela asks.

“I think it’s more important that you’re alive,” Sissel says. “I have one more method of finding him. There’s a phone line to that submarine. And then…I guess from there it’ll be up to me. But what I do know is that whoever he’s working with has something planned for Yomiel and whatever Temsik is.”

“The park?” Lynne asks. “It’s always been named that…”

“He was hit by the meteor,” Jowd says. “That could be it.”

“I don’t have much longer here,” Sissel says. “Supposedly, I’m going to be gone once the morning comes. Not sure that’s true anymore, but…I have to find out the truth, and I think he’s the only one who knows.”

“Good luck,” Lynne says. “I’m rooting for you!”

“Thanks,” Sissel says.

“I know what happened to me now,” Lynne says. “He possessed me, didn’t he? I remember not being in control of myself. I can’t remember what actually happened, though…”

“There’s video footage from the surveillance footage of you shooting him,” Jowd says. “It’s irrefutable evidence. However, we also have evidence that he survived, unharmed. It’s likely that we could get the chief to drop your case.”

She perks up. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

“If anything, it’d fall under our purview, due to the…strangeness,” Jowd says.

“And weeeeeeee know for a fact that you didn’t kill him,” Cabanela says. “He’s still alive, after all.”

“More like he’s been dead the whole time,” Jowd says, frowning. “He said that to me while you were retrieving Amelie. He blames me for killing him. Was…”

“No,” Cabanela says. “You’re not right to blame yourself for it. It wasn’t you. It was never you.”

“He was going to make you shoot me,” Jowd says. “That’s what he did when he possessed you. You had your gun pointed at me. That was when Lynne came in.”

“Well, it’s not like anyone else was going to do anything.” She seems distinctly uncomfortable in a way that Cabanela doesn’t see often. “I mean, it sucks that I shot someone I barely knew, even if he did turn out to be totally alive and also evil. It would suck even harder to have shot someone I actually care about.”

“Thaaaaanks,” Cabanela says. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem!” she responds. “So, are you guys going to take me back to the station, then? I had a good run evading the law…”

“I don’t thiiiiiiink you’ll want to say that to the chief,” Cabanela says. The three of them walk back to the police car together.

“Then I just won’t,” she answers.

-

“It’s been a long night,” Jowd says.

The sun’s starting to rise. Cabanela hadn’t even noticed it was nearly dawn.

“We got a lot done,” Cabanela answers. “You think we need the SIU anymore now that we’ve solved the case?”

“We still need to find Yomiel,” Jowd says. “It’s not the end. We might know what happened, but…this isn’t over yet. Not until he can’t cause any more chaos.”

“I agree,” Cabanela says. “A new adventure awaits, baby!” He yawns. “But for now…I’m headin’ back home.”

“Have a good one,” Jowd says. “And I’ll see you then, too.”

Cabanela leaves and gets on his bike, taking one last look at the sunrise before riding off.

[crazy-character-in-white]

Welcome !!

OOC: Hello and welcome to this RP blog !! Due to a poll I made on my main blog, I have made this and a Neil Perry from Dead Poets Society one. Feel free to ask anything- despite me being a minor, I'm okay with NSFW asks (as long as its not about children), as well as random other things. Beware, I am not actually the character, so if a reply feels off or OOC, that's why. This will also include headcanons of mine and of my friend's, so if you dislike that, simply ignore and move on. I also have not played Ace Attorney, so please don't ask anything related to it until I've actually done it (I will change this when I have). This is also my first roleplay blog, so this isn't perfect.

Unrelated, but I do ship Jowd x Cabanela. If there are asks about it, I will be answering them accordingly

(!!!SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE!!!)

Timeline: This is Cabanela in the main universe, not the changed present. Jowd is currently in prison, and Cabanela is investigating Temsik with the pigeon man. He has his theories about the Manipulator but none of it is enough to actually prove it. Lynne and Memry are still in detective school. So, in short, this is pre-game, maybe around 3 years before.

[laughingpinecone]

Chocobox 2019 letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

This year’s theme is, apparently, out-of-left-field intra-party interactions (plus the occasional ship). For any of these, I’d be thrilled to get any small situation or event that highlights the dynamic you see between these characters - show me what ties them together, what could make them drop their barriers with the other person. Or a big situation! I like plotty fic too! But especially if we matched on some bizarre “&” combo that never even interacted in canon, I’d love to simply see what a scene between them could be like.

All requests are art or fic - for art, my fave kind of fanart is based on interaction. It can be super simple - one character makes a face and the other one emotes accordingly, or they’re having a cup of coffee together, walking together, chatting, that kind of stuff. Anything that shows that they enjoy each other’s company, or have each other’s back, or get on each other’s nerves but with gusto. Slice of life fanart, if you will.

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (doubly so if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots , outsider POV, UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, cuddling, wintry moods, flannel, ridiculous concepts played straight,sensory details, sickfic

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, gen, shippy, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, unrequested ships, canon retellings, consent issues

Final Fantasy VI 

Gogo & Cyan Garamonde

Mog & Terra Branford

Sabin Rene Figaro & Celes Chere

Sabin Rene Figaro & Cyan Garamonde

Strago Magus & Celes Chere

I recently replayed FFVI and truly fell in love with it for the first time. The game does a wonderful job of juggling such a big party but I spent all the downtime daydreaming about all the intra-party dynamics I could think of - these characters are all so cool and should talk to each other more. Worldbuilding also very welcome if that’s your thing. I don’t have any strong shippy feelings here but if you want to background something, I do dig Celes/Terra.

Gogo & Cyan: ascetic Gogo leaves their cave to fight for a higher cause. What’s it like, being a hermit but having a skillset that is literally based on other people? Something something abnegation of the self? What’s it like, suddenly being among so many loud, unique people? Do they and Cyan meditate together and find a moment of respite from the crowded mess that is the Falcon, what does Cyan think about them, what does it feel like to see Doma’s otherwise lost sword techniques mimicked on the battlefield? (I default to they for Gogo but he or she work just as well. I’d just like them to be their own person, no identity reveals. And a pretty big person at that, going by Amano’s artwork, regardless of gender!)

Mog & Terra: fae folk bonding, basically? It’s such a central aspect of Terra’s character but I saw it in Mog too - the way moogles break the fourth wall, how they help her at the beginning like an aid from the earth itself, and Mog’s own Geomancer skillset, his dances that draw from the power of the earth... so maybe some cute friendship between these two otherworldly characters, each in their own way?

Sabin & Celes: Celes could use some friends she could rely on and Sabin always felt so... safe to me. Good bear. So when they got their moment to shine in the World of Ruin, I was overjoyed. Sabin’s comforting presence was just what she needed to find first! And that long chocobo ride along the serpent trench, chasing hope, seeing the cultists’ tower from afar...

Sabin & Cyan: Sabin’s leg of the journey is something else and I’d love to know more about his adventures with Cyan, or their feelings about their homes, one lost, one left behind. They’re both pretty emotionally charged at that point and I think it’d be interesting to explore. They also share some form of martial training, making imho for an interesting common ground.

Strago & Celes: descendant of the mage knights & artificially infused magitek knight, what does magic feel to them? Does Strago’s odd family have space for an added granddaughter (especially if Cid died on the island, but Strago was the Coolest Grandpa anyway, no offense to Dr Del Norte Marquez and his magnificent banana coat)?

Ghost Trick

Cabanela & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Lynne

Jowd & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Sissel

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela

Alma & Cabanela

Cabanela/Jowd

Lynne & Memry

Lynne/Memry

Pigeon Man & Memry

Cabanela & Sissel

Jowd & Yomiel

Open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings or the Final Fantasy ones I prompted for Yuletide. GT is one of my forever fandoms, I love all about it, especially how heartfelt and over the top it manages to be at the same time.

Cabs & PM: how do they meet in the new timeline, what makes their odd friendship stick this time? I love how they play off each other, with Pigeon Man’s snark bouncing off Cabs like water off a duck’s back...

Jowd & Lynne: please show me the Worst Mentor doing his Worst Mentoring? How is chicken involved? (this one would lend itself particularly well to a Jedi AU, I suspect) Or does Lynne’s optimism save the day on one occasion when Jowd is doing his cheerful nihilist thing?

Jowd & PM: anything about their friendships from back in the day when Pigeon Man was still Jowd’s coroner to a new timeline where PM is still fascinated by meteors/astronomy/alien conspiracies and Jowd humors him...

Jowd & Sissel: oh the shenanigans. Some clever communication between them, on a case or otherwise? Sissel doing cat things? Gossiping through the ghost world?

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: what’s a hobby one of them has that the other two are dragged into? How about a day at the beach? Or in a cabin? I’ll take hot springs or basically any standard anime filler plot too. Unless you want to write about their get-together, which will never get old for me.

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela: see above but with INTENSE found family instead. Cabanela finding a place where he belongs, two people who feel like home. I can totally see it not being romantic at all and just as intense. When did it click for them?

Cabanela/Jowd: please no infidelity, I only like the ship without Alma during the canon times when Alma is dead or at most a what-if where she’s not around. Did Cabanela lower his mask for a hot minute during their walk to the minister’s office? What if he’d stayed dead and tagged along with Jowd and Lynne after 15? What if no-reset scenarios? Or office shenanigans where Alma is backgrounded by virtue of not working there but she’s okay with what’s going on.

Lynne & Memry: next generation detectives! Action! Ridiculous murders! Secret ghost cats! A little bit in the future maybe? Odd girl & odder girl teaming up and leaning into each other’s quirks... maybe undercover?

Lynne/Memry: same as above but they kiss - and Memry trying to get through Lynne’s obliviousness sounds like my kind of fun.

Pigeon Man & Memry: please evacuate everyone else from the expected blast radius when these two start talking. But she’s a detective - Special Investigation Unit, at that! - and he used to be a coroner and still has several aces up his sleeve, so who knows what could get them working together...

Cabanela & Sissel: let Sissel have his fun. He’s been eyeing Cabanela’s quirks since that fateful night, please let him tag along and enjoy the eccentricities. He can do the whole noir detective narration and Cabanela (who, lbr, would jump at the chance to be even more extra) can act accordingly...

Jowd & Yomiel: the PTSD team. Even beyond the experiences they have in common and the memories they can’t share with anyone else who’d truly understand them, there’s something about their approach to life that makes me think they’d bond quick and be able to get over the respective atrocities. They also share Sissel! What do they talk about in jail, or what do they do on a day off once Yomiel is out (cat dads’ cat date!!)?

Pyre

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood

Celeste | The Gate Guardian & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Sir Gilman & Jodariel

Vagabond Girl & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Hedwyn & Jodariel

Any cutesy activity lifted from the game would be great, like X doing laundry with Y. Any postcanon very welcome with any combination of endings as long as the revolution was peaceful. I love everyone so much. Good with background Volfred/Oralech, Bertrude/Pamitha if applicable.

Bertrude & Volfred: something nice Volfred does for Bertrude? Some mild adventure as he brought her to the Nightwings? A bizarre request for her shop? That dialogue about their relationship slew me dead - friendship through unrequited love is one of my rare tropes, so I’d like to see any aspect of their bond. Or epistolary with an ending that splits them, either way?

Celeste & Tariq: something completely alien set at any point before the ending, showing how inhuman they both are (but maybe Tariq picked up /something/ during his travels?) or, on the contrary, figuring out humanity as they travel together as a mysterious indie duo?

Sir Gilman & Jodariel: On war, honor, the Bloodborder... Sir Gilman is in awe of her, obviously, but is she in a state of mind where she can be boosted by his unrelenting energy?

ae & Tariq: Moon Moon! And Tariq looks like someone who knows a whole lot about the Scribes, so I think she might try to figure him out at some point, in her own way... but mostly, moon connection...

Volfred/Tariq: All I know is Tariq of all people fell and fell hard - he makes it sound like Volfred is the biggest deal ever and he's some servant... but he's the herald and Volfred is actually some dude who got kicked Downside (albeit a particularly charismatic and idealistic dude). And I like this dual imbalance very much. What happened in the woods during Volfred’s self-imposed exile? Or do they find each other again after the ending, in the Union? If you want to lean on how alien Tariq is and/or how tree Volfred is, please do!

Hedwyn & Jodariel: (I see them as brotherly more than mother-and-son, fwiw) what was their reunion like? How much did Hedwyn find Jodariel changed, horns and dramatic makeup aside? What about fic where her transformation recedes in the Union? Or their early days in the blackwagon - or their late days in the blackwagon when it’s not just them anymore? What can she absolutely count on him for?

The Last Guardian

The Boy & Trico

The boy & the very good boy... I’d like to read about a distant reunion. I was surprised by the boy being the combo breaker after the former Ueda protagonists cast their societies behind. He gets to live his life with his people, apparently, but what makes him leave and find Trico again? What’s their bond like, years later? Or is it Trico who comes back to search for him?

The Last Remnant

David Nassau & Allan

David Nassau & Duke of Ghor

David Nassau & Emmy Honeywell

David Nassau & Roberto

Emmy Honeywell/Glenys

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal

David/Rush is a welcome exception to my “no unrequested ships” DNW. I’m mostly interested in post-game exploration, which means either a David who has lost his bf or fic set further in the future where Rush has somehow come back.

David & Allan: Allan is tsundere enough about Torgal (not necessarily in a romantic sense!) and enough of a stuck-up cat in general that I think it’d be fun to throw a skilled diplomat at him, and one who knows Torgal very well at that.

David & Ghor: I like the Duke of Ghor a lot, and the more well-adjusted Yama characters in general. Politics talk? Or something more personal? What’s Ghor’s position in the new political landscape, what would David’s visit be like?

David & Emmy: if David was Emma’s filial figure and Emmy her actual daughter, did they perchance grow up together before Emmy left for her journey? How about some reminiscing? What did Emma teach them, how are they coping and moving forward?

David & Roberto: Can someone please adopt the good Marquis - celibate Roberto, for example? I imagine they could feel at ease with each other, got each other’s emotional back covered...

Emmy/Glenys: Sword lesbians? With very different hangups about proving themselves... if you want to go full weird with Glenys, especially wrt her mysterious connection to the homonymous kingdom, be my guest!

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal: old men being together like they couldn’t be in their youth when life got in the way, please? Get-together (who makes a move...? or established Qsiti triad would all be amazing...

Twin Peaks

Harry Truman & Garland Briggs

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman & Frank Truman/Doris Truman

Gordon Cole & Constance Talbot

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley

The mystery of the woods. How do they relate to the woods, what do they gain and what do they lose in the woods. Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. AUs and fusion AUs are great for this fandom! I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFVI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy… anything fancy!

Canon-specific dislikes: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, Gordon being a harmless, fun dad or conversely having the worst intentions. Clear explanations for canonical ambiguities.

Harry & Garland: Bookhouse Boys&Bue Rose-adjacent friendship, quietly aware of the mysteries that surround them? Or, as per Mark Frost’s AMA, Harry finding out important info throughout the 25 years and passing them to Garland - but Garland isn’t conventionally alive and physical throughout the 25 years, so did he travel through strange places to reach him?

Albert/Harry & Frank/Doris: Albert needs someone to shout AT, Doris needs some to shout BACK, I think. It could be therapeutic for both of them. Could they meet through the Trumans? Frank and Doris’ relationship can be as complicated and probably doomed as we saw it - I do feel that they care for each other and I’m really invested but it’s too strained, too sad.

Gordon & Constance:is she involved in some new strange case or is Gordon cleaning up the Briggs mess? What’s it like, sparring with someone who still has the fire of a young Albert? What does she suspect? (no Albert/Constance, please. Albert&Constance otoh I’m interested in)

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries: does Gordon eventually manage to throw himself into the void (that’s one way of considering a retirement plan!) and reach Phillip? What’s left inside that teapot alembic, or is he the smoke? How did Gordon even get word from Phil - in his pt17 infodump, he seems perfectly aware of the other’s status - what kind of contact have they kept? I love all the fanon I’ve seen for them, if you want to lean into it.

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne: looking for Laura in each other, finding out they’re not Laura through each other? It’s a shame that Maddy and Donna never really got to explore this angle in canon and it’s an even bigger shame that Maddy and Audrey, also on her path toward Laura-ification, didn’t even meet! Or, if you will, wild postcanon meeting. Mfrost said Maddy is alive now, so...!

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando: I have a soft spot for Dale and Laura traveling through strange spaces, lost, slowly healing. On this background, imagine, if you will: Wally speeding by on his bike. I need this meeting...

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield: fiery early days? Dream meetings that Albert will inevitably write off as a product of his aching subconscious? Post-finale where Albert has made his peace with Coop not being part of this world and not even deigning to greet him, except one day Coop is back - with apologies? Post-post-finale where they’re peacefully living out their days as best as they can?

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: did they tragically fall into each other’s arms in the wake of Coop’s disappearance? Did they realize they’re so good for each other, but neither of them was willing to give up their life? And/or was the wound of Coop’s disappearance too fresh for them to try to heal? Do they keep in touch throughout the years? Does Albert resign on the spot with a resounding fuck it after the s3 finale and rush to see Harry? Does he stay this time?

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman: Harry seeing his Coop again… somewhere, somehow. Maybe he perceives him in the woods, maybe Coop isn’t all human now. Monster cuddles very welcome. Could be canon divergence but could very well be post-s3. Harry getting closure for waiting all that time in front of Glastonbury and never giving up on Coop… they can live in the woods together…

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: basically the sum of the three sides of this triad… give them peace, given them nice things, give them so much love… Coop finding his place in the world and making up for lost time… give time to these old wounds…

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley: once Laura stops being a burning wedge between them, could they maybe... begin to get along? There’s something to be said about their complementary approaches to the bad boy image - besides, Shelly thinks that James was always cool and Bobby does value her opinion! Could also be Bobby/Shelly & James, if the Briggs manage to reconcile... maybe through James somehow?

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley: reunion fic! Chet’s been AWOL for years, Sam has fallen through the cracks, how do they find each other again and why do they choose to remain off the grid? I would also like to read about them in the present day-ish, handwaving the return and reunion. Maybe they made a new life for themselves. If Sutherland were to play Sam again, Sam would be… notably more buff. What caused that change, was it traveling with Chet, what kind of person is he now? Could they be in Buenos Aires, investigating on their own whatever that shrinking box was?

[fyeahghosttrick]

GHOST SWAP - the Retroactive Fills List

Scrolling our wonderful prompts, did you perchance see something so up your alley that you already drew it in 2013? The same exact idea that ate up your groupchat in early 2021? Odds are that the person who requested that doesn't know that in some odd recesses of the internet there's already a fanwork that gives life to their idea. And I think that they might want to know! So come self-rec!

Reply to this post with the prompt you're referring to and a link to your work, and on June 19th I'll post all replies in a Retroactive Fills List to give them visibility!

Please keep your replies limited to one prompt+fill each, but feel free to reply more than once. The format is:

"dinner-rol - gt characters going on a hike!" https://archiveofourown.org/works/27150475

with some optional info about your fanwork, for example

"dinner-rol - gt characters going on a hike!" https://archiveofourown.org/works/27150475 (Cabanela/Jowd, 3k, hurt/comfort)

And here's a reminder of the prompts list for convenience:

BLOCK A (this distinction is just because of tumblr's character limitations per block)

dinner-rol - gt characters going on a hike!

dinner-rol - rock jailbird performing to pigeons in the park

okiroash - anything with trashmiel !!

okiroash - (AU) no betrayal and yomiel gains a robot body.. the rest is up to your imagination

doctor-yoshi-soul: Cabanela being addicted to some stimulant drug (Amphetamine, Cocaine, Nicotine, etc.). Caffeine counts if someone doesn't want to write about illicit substances so something like a coffee addiction is just as apt

doctor-yoshi-soul: Kamila and Amelie playdate (either timeline)

doctor-yoshi-soul: Movie Night (bonus: it's a mystery/thriller)

doctor-yoshi-soul: Yomiel desperately trying to feel something while he's still dead

doctor-yoshi-soul: Yomiel's jail time (and/or how other characters deal with it)

doctor-yoshi-soul: What does Jowd carry in that huge coat of his (bonus: same for Cabanela)

doctor-yoshi-soul: How Ray passes the time

Meowdyjac - Sissel picking up Kamila from school

Meowdyjac - Yomiel doing taxes

Meowdyjac - Sissel hiding in Lynne's bag

Meowdyjac - Jowd and Sissel getting reprimanded by Alma

alto-tenure: Ghost Trick x Zero Escape! I would especially appreciate interactions between Akane and Sissel (wink wink) but I'm cool with any crossover material between these two -- with one major caveat that I haven't played ZTD, so please avoid spoilers for it!

alto-tenure: AU where Cabanela adopts Kamila after Jowd's arrest instead of Lynne.

alto-tenure: Lynne and Memry swap with Jowd and Cabanela AU

alto-tenure: Re-prompt from last year -- Lynne, Cabanela, Kamila, and Missile, sometime between Alma's death/Jowd's arrest and canon events in the original timeline.

alto-tenure: Post-canon Sissel leads the effort to solve a case.

caravanlurker - Lynne just finished the last game YOU played and is /really/ trying to convince everyone else to try it --not that that kind of behavior resembles any fandom I know of.

caravanlurker - Yomiel is wearing merch of himself or some other character

caravanlurker - Jowd gets caught smuggling Sissel to a crime scene and has a not-strange-at-all time trying to explain himself.

caravanlurker - Sissel's first few interactions with a recently reborn Missile in the new timeline.

caravanluker - Keyposes of Lynne+Sissel as hypothetical characters in a fighting game

caravanlurker - A little exploration on why Yomiel even chose to rendezvous at Chicken Kitchen.

caravanlurker - Cabanela and Missile conversation teehee

caravanlurker - Something about Kamila's music taste

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Memry having a meet up over coffee

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Sissel having bonding time

ihavenohotcocoa - Fiansissel and Yomiel's wedding day <3

ihavenohotcocoa - Alma, Jowd, and Kamila going to an amusement park

ihavenohotcocoa - Tiny Lynne chilling in the police department with Cabanela

Post-game Yomiel and Kamila where Yomiel is acting as an uncle figure for Kamila. Could be hurt/comfort or fluffy

Pre-game Lynne taking care of a sick Kamila

Pre-game Jowd introducing baby Kamila to Cabanela

Pre-game Yomiel and Sissel celebrating their first New Years together

Post-game where Yomiel dies and Sissel has to bring him back to life

Apocalypse AU where Kamila is lost trying to find her father and Yomiel finds her and tries to take care of her/help her

Pre-game Kamila and Amelie having a sleepover at Lynne's apartment

Pre-game Lynne discovers Kamila is getting bullied at school and she takes care of it ASAP (maybe with the help of Cabanela as a bonus)

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Old timeline Yomiel watching Sissel go nuts over a catnip toy he got him and smiling

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Cabanela helping Jowd walk as he adjusts to using a cane in the new timeline (fluff shipping)

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Pigeon Man being cute with Lovey Dove

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Any character from my No Deal Yomiel AU - No Deal Yomiel looking sinister or Cabanela suffering at his hands. Anything edgy, cool or dramatic

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Kitty Sissel and Missile cuddling Lynne and Kamila

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - New timeline Yomiel bonding with the Jowd family while in a wheelchair or using a cane with Sissel on his lap or shoulder

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - The interrogation scene between Yomiel and Cabanela

Sunnyaliceart - Sunny Alice - Sissel, Missile, Jowd and Yomiel talking together in the Ghost World in the new timeline (friendship, hope for the future)

samthecookielord - kamila and amelie hanging out together

sissel stuck in a tree

what memry is like when she's not undercover at the chicken kitchen

Genre swap AU! Fantasy, superheroes, classic pulp… how does the plot play out in a setting with different rules?

Your most self-indulgent crossover.

A serious take on Pigeon Man's research.

Characters with different hairstyles.

The inherent creepiness of puppeting your own corpse. Either serious, with Yomiel's time as a ghost, or silly, with Sissel post-game.

Another character gets ghost powers. What are they? If you want, how would they work in the game (or not work, and require a different type of gameplay?)

(Genshin & GT crossover) Kaeya and Yomiel go to a bar together.

Sissel (cat) dressed up in different outfits (ex: Cabanela's)

(CROB & GT crossover) Sissel breaks a ton of Langue de Chat's furniture due to cat + ghost shenanigans (LdC is not happy about it.)

Sissel doing basic cat things (Pushing stuff off, clawing furniture, etc)

Phoenix Wright gets a new case, and the police investigator he has to deal with is Cabanela

In the New Timeline, Sissel and Missile reunite

FianSissel finding out what happened at the park (new or old timeline)

Where did Sissel go in Ray's timeline, what did he do? (Fic)

Kamila has a nightmare, Sissel helps comfort her

Ghibli movie night with the family, Yomiel is forcibly added to the found family and FianSissel is just happy to be there

Jowd recovering from having his leg pierced by a piece of the Temsik meteorite

New Timeline, Lynne dies and Sissel is there to avert her fate

I wanna see a ghost trick/yakuza crossover. Send the cast of Ghost Trick to Hawaii to hang out with the yakuza squad. Let Cabanela chill on the beach with Kiryu. Let Jowd have a watermelon eating contest with Adachi. Let Ichiban show his crustacean friends to Lynne. Whatever. Anything.

post-canon Yomiel and Kamila friendship (Uncle Yomi my beloved)

post-canon Yomiel and Lynne friendship

Yomiel but he's dressed like Pearl in Side Order from Splatoon 3

Jowd giving a spine-shattering bear hug to character of your choice

Lynne drawn in a really old anime style with bishie sparkle

Sissel doing Normal Cat Things and being an absolute pain to deal with

that one mental health meme where it's like "you're not a burden" "it's ok to ask for help" with characters of your choice in the slots but either Yomiel or Cat Sissel are in the "murder is okay" slot

cat Sissel seen up-close through a fisheye lens

(Fic) What-if scenario where Yomiel got to Fiansissel in time before she died

BLOCK B

(Fic) Yomiel’s perspective during the Metro Police Department Siege Case

(Fic) Cabanela dies close enough to Yomiel to get Ghost Tricks. What would happen/change if he joined Sissel in the submarine chapter

(Art) Yomiel in TWEWY Shibuya just casually watching the Reaper’s Game go down from a distance

(Art or Fic) L from Death Note showing up out of nowhere to help Cabanela and Pigeon Man with the Manipulator Case

(Art) Yomiel in the Onceler’s clothes

Human!Sissel

Post canon Physical rehabilitation

Worst timeline

jowd/alma/cabs cooking in the kitchen… downright chaos or synchronized perfection? somewhere in the middle?

yomiel DIY sewing up the hole left in the back of his jacket from the meteor, whether that goes well or badly…

pigeon man and his collection of newspaper clippings about the meteor and related events…

lynne, kamila, and missile movie night!

rindge and memry's dynamic as agents

carnival activities with characters of your choice (carnival food competitions, carnival games [and cheating at them with certain powers], carousels and face painting and cotton candy etc etc!)

ocekhaz - The Ghost Trick cast but they all turned into cats, that's it, that's thre prompt. Preferably art but fanfiction is fine too !

ocekhaz - Yomiel angst….make whatever you want but please break that man…art or fic

ocekhaz- Post-Canon yomiel interacting with the cast during his recovery in the hospital, with the focus being cabanela and yomiel (platonic or romantic), mostly fluff, hurt/comfort is really good too ! Art of fic

ocekhaz - Yomiel teaching Kamila about coding, really wholesome! art of fic !

ocekhaz - Ghost trick but set into the 1930-40s ! Really getting into that noir detective vibes ! Fic or art…other than that do what you want…

ocekhaz - Post-canon yomiel slowly getting used to "life" again, with a strong emphasis on senses (smell, touch, taste etc) that he couldn't feel before, mostly positive but a side of angst is good too…art of fic !

ocekhaz - The ghost trick cast in formal wear, I'd love to see them in fancy suits and dresses, Art !

Cabanela babysitting Kamila, with optional assistance (or added chaos?) from cat.

Jowd and Cabanela, something emotional, hurt/comfort, hugs, tenderness, that kind of thing

Jowd family day out, just pure fluff

Art with Jowd/Alma/Kamila, can be just one or two, even, I just want to see more Jowd family art!

Yomiel attempting to re-integrate into society, getting used to just being alive again, and probably being a clumsy dork in the process

Lynne and Sissel hanging out together

Astrofiish- Sissel/Lynne/Missile/Cabs/Jowd/Yomiel crossover with whatever fandom you want! Choose whatever characters you want- have fun!

Astrofiish- Flat Jeego! Flatten that guy make him a metaphorical Pancake 🥞

Astrofiish- Missile and Sissel being the best of friends

ricketricket - Yomiel dwelling on the fact that Sissel has taken on his fate of being Temsik'd?

ricketricket - Final chapter gang (Sissel, Missile, Jowd, Yomiel) thinking about Ray? Either talking with each other, reflecting, etc.

ricketricket - In the fail sequence in chapter 15 where Yomiel notices Sissel, his dialogue implies that he knows this strange ghost is Sissel specifically, and yet chooses to taunt him and shoot Cabanela anyway. How does Sissel deal with that in the new timeline? Yomiel wouldn't remember that happening, does Sissel ever tell him? How does he react when he does?

ricketricket - Postgame Yomiel somehow meeting Sissel Prime (Ray's timeline), lost and alone and wearing the wrong face. Time travel shenanigans, probably.

ricketricket - Sissel bonding with his namesake after hearing so much about her from Yomiel?

ricketricket - Sissel in the far, far future. Is he still a ghost? Still a cat? Or has he changed into something else? A god? A youkai? Something entirely unique?

ricketricket - Postgame Sissel can manipulate his own corpse, which implies he has at least some of the manipulator's powerset. Can he manipulate people? Small animals? Just the dead? How does he feel about this aspect of his powers? How does Yomiel feel?

ricketricket - Alma and Yomiel interacting in the new future. Does Alma remember? If she doesn't, was she told? Does she forgive him? Does Yomiel forgive himself?

siverwrites - Alma/Jowd/Cabanela cuddle pile (nothing NSFW please)

siverwrites - Cabanela and Pigeon Man getting to know each other in the early days

siverwrites - Cabanela and Pigeon Man meeting in the new timeline

siverwrites - Jowd/Alma having a date night that's normal by their standards but weird to others (nothing NSFW please)

siverwrites - Alma knows about Sissel in the new timeline. Adjusting and learning to communicate with him takes some learning but it's something she's happy to work out with him

siverwrites - new timeline: Missile may not have Ghost Tricks anymore, but he can still help Sissel solve a mystery!

Jowd wants some alone time post-game and forgets that a man known to have literally gotten himself killed in the last timeline basically going missing may cause a panic (can include most everyone you want but if you could at least include cabanela that would be good)

Somehow post game cabanela and jowd get themselves killed and in saving them Sissel clues cabanela into the fact that jowd has died and possibly even teaches him about the og timeline

Yomiel and his fiancé :3

Yomiel and sissel hanging out post comet (can be post game or before the game takes place)

Jowd centered hurt/comfort

On a version of events where Sissle isn’t there, Emma learns of the justice minister’s fate

What if Yomiel, undead as he was, DID make it back to his fiancé in time to stop her from dying/how do they (and their new cat) deal with the fact that he’s not alive or dead?

Fiancé Sissle and Alma become friends and work together to try and figure out why their husbands have been acting so strange

Somehow post game Yomiel dies again and Cat Sissle finds it strange to bring him back to life like any other person but at least gets to make sure Yomiel and Fiancé Sissle don’t meet a tragic fate even though the one from ten years ago was avoided

loboazul - Cabanela and his 100 poses

loboazul - Yomiel figuring out new tech after getting out of jail.

loboazul - Outfit swaps! Whichever characters you want!

any number of characters in a trench coat :>

katecattus-Necrobarista AU

katecattus-What we do in the shadows AU

katecattus-Characters from GT as avatars of fears from The Magnus Archives (Art)

BLOCK C

katecattus-VTM AU, characters get assigned a vampire clan (Art)

katecattus-Kamila playing Minecraft. Bonus points for Yomiel teaching her redstone

katecattus-Someone from the human main cast as animals (Art)

fexiled - sissel and missile vs the bissell vacuum cleaner

fexiled - post-canon, someone having nightmares about dying / the original timeline and getting comforted by sissel. can be any character you want but i'd love to see yomiel or lynne the most :')

fexiled - kamila and yomiel building a contraption together

levitanias - (art heavily preferred!) yomiel and my yomiel-inspired oc hotshot (references: https://toyhou.se/24324062.hotshot/24939429.gijinkahuman) (his object form is also okay if you want something simple! available at: https://toyhou.se/24324062.hotshot) interacting with each other in whatever way you can think of, i'd just love to see one of my favorite guys interacting with the character that inspired him!! they could be getting along, absolutely hate each other, whatever you'd like!

levitanias - detective rindge on his stakeout at temsik park pre-death.

levitanias - something which parallels cabanela—spotless and "pure" with his white coat—and yomiel, full of mistakes, misgivings, and a moral compass that has been thoroughly driven into the ground.

levitanias - a family portrait consisting of jowd, alma, and kamila.

The full crew watching fireworks (Sissel, Yomiel, Missile, Kamila, Lynne, Jowd, Cabanela, even Alma and Fiansissel if you want)

azurefishnets - Alma/Cabanela/Jowd (or any /& subset therof, minus subsets including infidelity as a feature) - I think it would be fun to explore what each might plan if they were playfully trying to outdo each other in a specific category of shared date night. Like most romantic, weirdest, best restaurant experience…

azurefishnets - Cabanela & Jowd & Sissel - On-the-job situation where Cabanela knows Sissel's whole deal but still can't speak to him and so chooses to resort to increasingly bizarre attempts at communication; perhaps some kind of undercover work where they all have to pretend they don't know each other?

azurefishnets - Jowd & Pigeon Man - The first time Jowd has to ask Pigeon Man to consult on a case in the new timeline…how awkward can Jowd make it? So, so, so akward, even with a lovely dove there to be a distraction and talking point. You know this to be true. Lean in.

azurefishnets - Emma & Pigeon Man - New timeline Emma attempts to pull gossip from PM at a party, in service of gathering info for her new novel about a romance between rival police officers, but PM is nigh impossible to schmooze with Emma's usual tactics. (Bonus points for Emma getting so frustrated with him her hair blooms)

azurefishnets - Alma & Sissel - Always a sucker for these two finding their own ways to communicate and understand each other! Alma finds herself in the unenviable position of toddler-proofing a house--unlike other moms, she has a unique helper in this endeavour…

azurefishnets - any cast members - hair swap (but not palette swap!) Swap Emma's with Sissel's, switch Jowd's with Beauty's, trade Amelie's for the Bartender's, etc… the funnier and more inconvenient for the pair, the better!

azurefishnets - Pigeon Man & Lynne & Missile - Lynne's walking her dog. PM's feeding the pigeons. Missile recognizes an old acquaintance and doesn't care about a somewhat awkward encounter between a young detective and the irascible old medical examiner who far outranks her and has just been leapt upon by her dog; Missile hasn't done his duty as a top Pom until he can say, "Welcome!" properly.

azurefishnets - always gotta rep the FFVI/GT AU! For more info please see https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196335. Any addition welcome!

laughingmango - the duality of Cabanela, pack bonding with just about anyone in a split second UNLESS they're a nuisance on the job, in which case he's got a short fuse

laughingmango - Cabanela/Jowd hurt/comfort. either way. Physical hurt, emotional hurt, your pick. One of them's having a bad time and the other one's there for him.

laughingmango - What if Alma were more similar to Jowd than her appearance would suggest? Cosmic pessimism power couple? Can Cabanela handle both of them?

laughingmango - Any kind of what-if for the detectives. Timeline reset but it's Cabanela who keeps his memories and not Jowd? Cabanela dies in chapter 15 and his spirit can join the party on the submarine? Ghostly angst in the doomed timeline, where Jowd is executed and Cabanela presumably murdered by Yomiel? Completely different scenario and it's Jowd who must put in the work to prove Cabs' innocence somehow?

laughingmango - Anything Emma. Patron saint of trashy novels and also of doing what she feels is right. Did she know Jowd beforehand? Did she ever try to get through Cabanela? Is she friends with Alma in the new timeline? Who does she meet at a party? Is her new book based on sooomeone? What's her dynamic with her husband when things are good?

laughingmango - Memry as Cabanela's pupil in the way Lynne is Jowd's

laughingmango - Disco Elysium crossover/fusion. I just think Harry would look at Cabanela and get his brain rewired by the sheer power of bisexuality and disco. But what about our GT dancers and Egg Head+ravers, for example, or Sissel pulling off some wild ghost stunt in Revachol? "Ass up and amnesiac" is the name of the game… (I love Harry and Kim but please no other members of precinct 41)

laughingmango - Final Fantasy VI AU, always. any unexplored corner, or just reimagining any character in Yoshitaka Amano's fashion!

T052ther0b0t - (AU) Sissel, Missle and Yomiel become a ghost detective team

T052ther0b0t - Sissle and Yomiel sleeping

T052ther0b0t - Yomiel and Yomiel's wife (either anything wholesome or angsty is up to you!)

scarlette-foxx What is Sissel up to a hundred years later? What is it like to be an immortal Feline?

scarlette-foxx Ghost Trick/Danny Phantom crossover 👀

scarlette-foxx Someone is trying to teach Sissel how to read! I wonder who?

Jowd ball

Sci fi AU

Missile and Sissel character swap

Sissel (either one) meeting Yomiel post game

Sissel cat shenanigans

Amelie and Kamila being friends

Au where Lynne gets struck by the Temsik fragment and lives

The Sissels meeting each other

[fyeahghosttrick]

nervously raises hand from the back of the classroom. are selfshippers or oc x canon fellas allowed to include themselves/their fellas into the ghost swap prompts, or would you rather just. not at all?

Sorry, haven't been on my pc in a couple days and didn't see this!

For prompting, which is very late for this edition but the answer remains relevant for next year: knock yourself out! You are free to prompt OCs and OC/canon ships of any kind. There have been fills in the past!

For filling: case-by-case basis trying to meet the prompt half way, following the general etiquette about gifting shippy works. We're making a work as a gift for another person, so if the prompt is something like "Lynne's day at work" and I don't know the requester from Adam, it can be risky to gift them something that includes Lynne/Memry, or Lynne/Rindge, or Lynne/OC. I don't know what they like, they may have negative opinions about any of those! But there are also prompts where the tone is a broad "show me what ya got" - for example this year's "your most self-indulgent crossover" - where I think that we're invited to make what we care for, and that can very well include canon/OC.