#and i’ll make it everyone’s problem HAH!

[flowercrowngods]

hhh not the urge to write an eddie pov companion piece (and continuation) to the yearning hours hidden track

[mysteryshoptls]

Leona Kingscholar Shared Lines

Tutorial: Hey, time to go. Follow me.

Level Up 1: Feels nice gettin' tributes.

Level Up 2: This ain't bad... But it's not nearly enough.

Level Up 3: Gaining more power never hurts.

Level Max: Hah, I feel as though everything is now in my grasp. If you're going to keep working hard for me like this, I guess I can throw you a bone.

Vignette Level Up: Never thought I'd be up to hangin' with a herbivore... But this is getting pretty interesting. As long as you don't cause me any issues, I'll keep lookin' after you.

Spell Level Up: You're probably the only one who actually would want to practice magic with me. Most people'll just tuck their tails and run away.

Friendship Level Up: I don’t like being constantly disturbed. So in that sense, this place is perfect and quiet.

Friendship Level Max: I don’t mind coming by this guest room once in a while. Make sure you have a place to nap and some food ready for me.

Uncapped: I can do it so long as I put my mind to it, ain't it obvious? I just don't want to.

Groovification: You want to see what I can really do? Heheh... A herbivore like you wouldn't nearly be ready to handle that.

Lesson Select 1: Hey you, sit in front of me. I'm gonna sleep behind you.

Lesson Select 2: It ain't that hard of a decision, is it? I'm tired of waitin' around.

Lesson Select 3: Time for a peaceful study time with everyone all buddy-buddy, huh. No thanks.

Lesson Start: Ugh, this sucks.

Lesson Finish: Yaaawn. That was a boring class, I already knew all that.

Battle Start: I can fight with more than just my fists and fangs.

Battle Won: Did you really think you could win against me?

GIFT CALENDAR 2023: “How will you be spending the day?” No plans worth mentioning. What, not what you were expecting? Well, too bad. The campus is completely covered in snow, so the best thing for me to do is just to get back to my dorm room and relax while solving some chess problems.

Birthday Story 1: My birthday isn’t anything special. It’s just the day I was born. …Well if you’re really saying you want to celebrate it, I won’t forcibly stop you. Presents are always welcome.

Birthday Story 2: What’d you want? …Ah, you came to celebrate my birthday. Then, I guess I’ll have you grill some meat for me, or something. You’ll have to make it exactly the way I want it. You said you wanted to celebrate me, right? I’ll let you keep trying until you get it down pat. I look forward to see how much I get to eat.

Birthday Story 3: So, you came to wish me a happy birthday, huh? Well, ain’t that admirable of you. So, what did you bring me, then? At the very least, you are presenting a gift to royalty. As such, I’m sure you’ve prepared a very fine gift. …Hey, don’t freeze up on me. Sheesh, jokes just fly over your head, huh. I’ll take it off your hands, so show me what you got behind your back, already.

Birthday Story 4: …Ugh. As I’m sure you can tell, I’m in the middle of a nap. If you need something from me, ask me later. If you just wanted to celebrate my birthday, a card woulda been plenty… But, fine. Here, hand it over. [Yuu startles] Whaddya mean, hand what over? …Obviously, I’m talking about my gift. I’m expecting it to be something good to make up for the rude awakening.

Requested by Anonymous.

[2-dsimp]

Hi, can I please see Harumu zoning in one Quio's darling. I can imagine Harumu meets her when Quio takes her to one of the many events he's invited too

The problem with that would be Harumu has his own manager darling to zone in on. But I will say that Harumu and Quio are actually good friends.

Harumu acknowledges those with beauty in general. Said beauties are obviously not comparable to him but he’s ever so benevolent. Sometimes if someone caught his eye and he notices something wrong he’d offer some word of advice to up their game.

But moving onwards on one particular day the shapeshifter was simply getting prepped to go on stage. As he’d be acting as the Mc alongside Quio, the famous A-list actor who his family sponsored.

To advertise the newest launch of their beauty supply stores across the globe. Harumu knew of him and was content to be working with a fellow mutual with looks that also drive people crazy. Yet when he dropped by the wardrobe dressing rooms. He was appalled to see Quio’s wardrobe malfunction due to an incompetent mistake on the staffs part.

“How dreadful! Quio, dear what have they done to your face?! Those colors don’t compliment your skin at all! You there, hand me those brushes, and get out! I’ll do everything my damned self!”

“Damn, that’s a sound way of crowd control. Say, have you ever thought about being a professional beautician? You know if I could hire you as such I would. But I know my schedule would be even more of a clusterfuck than it already is, if I did that haha!”

“Hah! Well it’s me afterall you should expect that, but do you really think I’d tire out my precious cuticles for anything under a million? Most people can’t even come near my standards, much less be able to afford me by the hour. I’ll have you know that you’re one of the only exceptions I’ll make, my dear friend.”

“Ah I know that all too well I’ll consider myself a lucky son of a gun to be under the care of the greatest beauty influencer known to…Well everyone. Which reminds me I gotta put in my bulk order for your beauty products.”

“Just give it here. I’ll pick out the ones you’ll be needing the most of, I’m almost done styling your hair anyways. A few touch ups and we’ll make everyone worship the ground we walk on as per usual. Just make sure your body guard… Nokka was it? Is on standby, with your fans reputation we’d need him.”

[ranhaitanisgf]

For your event can I have a fluff scenario with "delinquent and class president" & "stuck together" for Angry please? They get stuck in a janitors closet overnight at school & reader ends up comforting Angry?

—souya (angry) kawata // delinquent & class president // stuck together

☆ ˎˊ˗ halloooo everyone ! thank you anon to requesting this; i hope ur still around to read this ! i dont have a whole lot to add to this, but angry is such a cutie :D enjoy !! xoxo

☆ ˎˊ˗ wc ; 1.4k+

☆ ˎˊ˗ gn!reader

masterlist || 2k masterlist

“hmm…” you pondered to yourself, wandering through the hall looking for potential candidates to help you. 

you weren’t sure if this task was even a part of your class president responsibilities, but you couldn’t not help when your teacher had asked you to, (you were unfortunately very weak to people asking for help, but you chose to see it as a positive point). 

when you had seen the horrendously chaotic state of the supply closet, you weren’t sure how your teacher had thought that you would be able to get the absolutely giant box of class handouts out of there by yourself, especially given he hadn’t been able to get it out himself. nevertheless, you decided to take the task on, setting out to find a good partner to help you out. 

except, you’d run into a bit of problem. 

every person you had approached had immediately run away, telling you some half-assed excuse to get out of it. it left you in a bit of a pickle; you now felt obligated to grab this massive box, but you probably would crush yourself if you tried to grab it by yourself. 

however, when you saw a flash of blue hair walking by, you finally found the solution to your dilemma. 

“souya-kun!” you called out, turning on your heel to catch up with him. he perked up at the sound of his name, looking back to glance at you. “hi! do you have a spare moment?” you asked, walking with him. 

“i think so…” he answered, his soft voice contrasting his stony expression. 

“perfect! do you think you could help me with something real quick?” you asked, putting your hands together in an effort to move him. “it won’t take more than ten minutes of your time! i can’t do it by myself, but the teacher asked me to grab this ginormous box and i can’t leave until i bring it to the classroom!” 

“oh, okay.” 

“yes! thank you so much! you’re truly a lifesaver!!” you exclaimed, relief flooding through you, (you’d been starting to feel a bit worried you would have to just pray to god that you wouldn’t get crushed by a box). “it’s not that far away from here!” 

“alright.” angry answered, following you as you led him down the hall. he was quiet throughout the short walk, not attempting to make any sort of conversation with you. the silence wasn’t unnoticed by you, but you found that it was calm and nice rather than awkward and uncomfortable, which was something you could appreciate, (somehow, you found silence rather hard to come by nowadays). 

when the two of you reached the supply closet, souya quietly followed you inside, looking around a bit at the cluttered mess of everything in the room. the door clicked closed behind him, which made you sigh a bit, glancing around the room to see if there was anything heavy enough to use as a doorstopper. 

the mess of things around the room made it hard to even see everything that was there, which made you sigh, shaking your head. 

“i’m not sure why it’s so messy in here…honestly, i’ll probably take a bit to straighten things out here before i go home.” you said. “i don’t know how anybody let it get this messy.” 

souya didn’t respond to you, instead seeming to be thinking thoughtfully about something. his silence brought you back to the task at hand, moving a few things out of the way of where the box was on the shelf. 

“okay, anyways, i just need help grabbing this box real quick, but let me prop open the door first…” you grabbed a nearby stool that seemed heavy enough to do the job, walking over to the door and grabbing the handle.

rattle. 

“hah…lemme try again…” you muttered nervously, putting the stool down and putting all your focus on the doorknob. you praying that you’d just had a bad try at the doorknob and that it was not in fact locked. 

rattle. 

once again, the doorknob didn’t budge, only rattling in place as you tried to open the door. 

“no way…seriously??” you said in shock, shaking the doorknob as you kept trying to open the door. “why the hell does a supply closet have an auto-lock door…?” you slowly turned around, facing souya with a sheepish expression on your face. 

the boy only looked back at you, a bit confused at the fact that you’d been muttering to yourself for the past thirty seconds. 

“uh, the door…it’s locked…” you explained. “please tell me you have your phone on you.” 

“smiley’s phone died, so he’s using mine right now for something.”

“oh my god…and i left mine in the classroom…” you admitted, smacking your hand against your face. “okay, actually, it’s fine. someone will walk by and hear me if i start screaming, right?” you pondered. “i’m not sure how long i can scream for though…” 

you heard a small thump! as souya sat himself on the floor of the closet, his knees pulled to his chest as he suddenly buried his face in his arms. 

“gah! souya-kun!” you exclaimed, rushing over and kneeling down next to him. “are you alright?! i’m so sorry, this is all my fault!!” 

“smiley will be worried if i’m gone for too long…” souya murmured, his voice a bit shaky now. 

you hovered over him, unsure of what to do in this situation. in all honesty, you didn’t personally know him too well; of course, you’d heard all the rumors about the kawata twins a million times over, but you’d only really talked to souya in passing and through tutoring sessions you gave the both of them, (when they actually showed up to school). 

you wouldn’t have guessed that he was so sensitive, but you supposed you should have figured. after all, souya always had a soft and kind voice when talking, and he was always so nice and respectful to you that it made you forget all the rumors about him. 

“hey, it’s okay. i’ll get us out of here, no problem!” you assured, (you had no idea how you were going to get out of here). you sprung back up, looking around for anything that could help you. 

of course, there’s literally only junk in here. what was i thinking?

and so, you proceeded to bang against the door for ten minutes. 

you eventually stopped, rubbing your sore shoulder as you kneeled down next to souya. he hadn’t moved or said anything else at all, which was worrying you a little bit. 

“okay, i think i lied…i’m sorry. i don’t know how to get out of here. but! i’m sure someone will find us eventually!” you said, trying your best to assure the boy in front of you. 

what to do, what to do…

you sat down on the floor next to him, shuffling a bit closer to him, (you had to admit, it was a bit daunting that you two were currently locked in a closet, but you chose to put it out of your mind). 

“y’know, when i was younger i beat someone up.” you randomly admitted. souya’s head perked up at this, which made you feel a bit more confident in continuing with your story. “yeah, i haven’t told anybody ‘cause i’m not sure how that would reflect on me as class president…but i mean, he totally had it coming, y’know?!” you exclaimed, your expression reflecting your true emotions on the incident. “he was being such an ass! i don’t even remember what his name was, but he would always pull on the girls' hair and would mess with the quiet boys in the class, and it totally pissed me off!” 

“...you beat him up?” souya asked quietly, a curious expression on his face. 

“yeah! and then i got expelled…but, it was totally worth it!” you said confidently, curling your fingers into a fist. “of course, i don’t think i could beat anybody up now. i would probably be the one getting beaten up, haha.” 

“why?” 

“oh, well…i mean i dunno. back then it was pretty easy because everyone was just as weak as everyone else, but now that we’re older everyone has different strengths. i mean, you and your brother are for sure stronger than i am, right?” 

“...yeah, you’re right. there was this time me and my brother, we challenged these dudes from…” as souya began to talk, you smiled, noticing his head was fully out of his arms. the expression on his face had changed from nervous to somewhat curious and excited, making you feel quite accomplished. his voice was soft and calm as he talked, and unknowingly, listening to him talk was also calming you down as well, making you feel more relaxed. in fact, you even forgot for a moment that the two of you were currently locked in a closet. 

how cute…

you supposed it wasn’t terrible to stay here for a while longer.

[gaylordscooter]

You're at the Party

“so you brought mass murderers to my place without warning me beforehand?” Cross said.

“Haha, nice.”

“don't humor them, chara.”

Blue wrung his hands together, opening his mouth to explain only for Ink to cut in.

“Listen, these guys aren't gonna cause any trouble. Besides, I thought this was a place where people could start over.” Ink crossed his arms.

“Two of them killed everyone in their universe? Hm, a Sans killing a bunch of people…Where have I heard that before?” XChara nudged Cross’s arm.

“you know that isn’t the problem here.”

Everyone gave Cross a look as if he was the one that was being unreasonable here.

Cross sighed, “fine, they can stay. but they need to pass a test first.”

Blue narrowed his eyes skeptically. “What kind of test?”

“well, i guess it's more of a favor.”

“Is this what I think it is? You're not sending them there.”

Cross waved away his concern. “it’ll be fine,” he insisted.

“What are we talking about?” Ink questioned.

Blue leaned close to Ink. “He’s totally planning to use them to retrieve his friend.”

“Oh! Hah. Ahahahahaha!” Ink giggled like he told him a joke. His eyelights reflected his amusement as he stared at Cross. “So we’re at this part now, huh?”

Cross looked confused while Blue huffed at his words and XChara looked bored.

Ink clapped his hands together. “Well then~! Have fun with that~!” he said cheerfully.

“I'm sure those tildes have no malice behind it,” Blue deadpanned.

“Oh, when have my tildes ever held malice~?”

Blue opted for putting his hands on his waist rather than gracing that with a reply.

“Anyway, I gotta bounce! I’ll see y’all later. Don't have too much fun without me~!” He painted a hole in the ground and hopped into it while waving goodbye.

“Eugh, he's like a kid that just learned about emoticons,” XChara said.

“you can't even see the tildes,” Cross pointed out.

XChara rolled their eyes. “I don't have to. I can hear it in his voice.”

“Never mind that. Cross, you can't send them there! I’ve already been making a careful plan. To just toss it out the window and replace it with an improvised one isn't a good idea!”

He rolled his eyelights and crossed his arms. “It doesn't need to work, anyway. I don't expect it to.”

Blue’s sockets widened as he gasped. “So you're just,” he gestured wildly, “sending them off to their deaths? Where's your compassion?”

“Where was their compassion when they hurt all those monsters?”

Blue narrowed his eye sockets. “Where's your compassion?” he repeated in a duller tone.

“Don't you have a Mettaton to serve? This isn't your business.” he snapped back.

Blue threw his hands up, “Wow! Sheesh. Fine. Go have fun torturing the prisoners of war.” He stormed off with a frown.

XChara and Cross watched as he walked in a direction that definitely led to nowhere rather than towards the town.

“He has a point,” XChara stated.

“Awful navigation skills is what he has,” Cross spat. He noticed XChara’s unamused face and did a double take. “Do you actually agree with him?”

“Huh! Do I agree with him that you have no right to judge these morally messed up monsters and that sending them to that freak’s place as punishment is completely hypocritical of you?” They stroked their chin and pretended to think about it hard. “Yes, Mr. ‘the reason why our world has become a hotspot for people who messed up like you!’”

“You don't care about them at all. You're just saying that to spite me.”

“I am, thanks for noticing,” they deadpanned.

Cross brought a hand to his face and sighed.

Killer awoke. He wasn't refreshed in the slightest and he nearly panicked over waking up in unfamiliar surroundings if it wasn't for Dust smacking him on the head.

No wait, he was called Dusk now. He even came up with that name for him.

Sheesh, the sudden change is gonna be hard to get used to.

Right. New chapter of his life. Again. Again again, actually.

Ironically, he was starting to get sick of new experiences.

This wasn't a bad change, really. In fact, it was a clear upgrade. Well, that's what he thought back when Nightmare first found him too, so.

He was waiting for the catch. He was ready this time.

There was a knock on the door.

Both of them had the knee-jerk reaction of summoning a blaster angled at the door but then the rational part of their minds took over and they scrambled out of bed to hold their blasters' mouths shut.

“good morning to you guys too,” said the voice behind the door.

They managed to desummon their blasters once they recognized that it was, in fact, Horror that knocked.

There was unmistakable joy on Killer’s face. He didn't say it, but he was convinced Horror was going to avoid them since they got settled in.

He skipped over to the door like a gleeful idiot and opened the door.

Killer was surprised by his getup. It was the first time he's seen him in different clothing. If it wasn't for the red eye in his socket he wouldn't have recognized him.

The first thing he noticed was the cap he was wearing. It was a generic white cap that covered the hole in his head. Other than that, his outfit was the same as any other normal Sans, sans the signature hoodie. He also looked a lot less tired.

“‘sup, h—sans. ‘sup sans,” Killer said, barely catching himself. He couldn't help but still refer to him as “Horror” in his mind, since from the day they met that's what he called him and known him as. But those names were nothing but brands that Nightmare put on him and Dusk. They weren't names that they chose for themselves.

“hey,” he replied with a small wave, mostly aimed at Dusk to acknowledge his presence even though he hadn't approached the door yet. “so…” he trailed off, unsure.

So.

They were in unfamiliar territory now. After a whole year of living with Nightmare, they formed somewhat of a schedule. A loose one, but a schedule nonetheless—mainly built off of the way Nightmare acted. 

With that thrown out the window, every step they took was unfamiliar. Potentially dangerous. Ironic, considering they were in a safer area now. At least they assumed so.

They hoped so.

They would normally eat breakfast at this time, probably. They weren't ever exactly sure what time it was, but that's how it's been their whole life. It felt like it was around that time, at least.

“my bro said there's a bakery here.” Another pause. Okay, he didn't have to make this that awkward. “you two wanna scope the place out with me?”

Killer’s smile perked up at the edges. “hate to say it, that sounded like you just asked us out on a date.”

“‘k, forget i asked.” He made the move to shut the door.

“nah, i’m joking! we’ll go—” he whipped his head to Dusk for verification, who gave him a thumbs up. “—yeah, let's go.”

So they got out of the hotel room. The lobby had a few people, unlike last time.

None of the three really acknowledged anyone there and no one acknowledged them, until some Monster Kid said a mere hello that made them all awkwardly respond; either with a curt head nod, wave, or quiet “hi” back.

Boy, they weren't ready to be perceived by anyone else. How the hell were they going to handle entering a cafe, let alone going outside? Well, Sans managed, so.

Sans was probably the most stable of the three, let's be real. He was the only one who had contact with other people before Nightmare came to them. When it comes to interaction, Killer and Dusk have done nothing but literally talk to themselves for who knows how long.

The second Sans started to open the door, Killer protested, “actually. could you just grab me something instead? i’ll stay in the room.” When he turned to retreat, Dusk grabbed him by the arm.

Dusk gave him a look that spelled “really, coward?”

“i don't think i’m ready, okay? sue me,” he said. He could already feel eyes on him. The stares gnawed away at his bones, trying to eat him alive. 

They knew what he wanted to do.

Dusk sighed, letting go of his arm. “we can't go,” he signed to Sans.

“right…” he sounded disappointed—no that was pity in his voice. He probably didn’t even expect the two to agree in the first place. “anything specific you want?”

“nothin’ with chocolate.”

Dusk shook his head.

“gotcha. i’ll be back in a bit,” he said.

Dusk and Killer watched as he sauntered off to be a normal monster that was a part of society. Then they walked at a breakneck pace back to their room.

Once they were back in the safety of their private room, they collapsed on their beds.

Killer, face buried against his pillow, groaned in frustration. “i hate this. we're safe now and i can't even go outside. do you feel it too, dusk? that tug on your soul?”

He might kill someone if he went outside. It was highly likely.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy to return to a normal life—of course his high LOVE would haunt him. He was too tired yesterday to be bothered by it, but now, any other monster he saw that wasn't Dusk or Sans had his soul screaming for more exp.

“i’m trying to ignore it,” Dusk mumbled.

He laughed. That's not going to work. That is not going to work and they both know it. 

That’s.

That's not going to work.

“it was—it was better when we were stuck with Nightmare. we wouldn't be able to—”

“It wasn’t better,” Dusk interrupted.

“—we’re going to kill someone. we're going to kill someone and it's going to snowball and it'll—hah—it'll be like a snowball of dust!”

He was choking now, on the rotten determination coming out of his skull.

“killer.”

That's what he was, wasn't he? A killer.

“killer!”

That's all he was.

“Killer.”

Oh, someone was holding him by the shoulders. Wow, everything was blurry and stained black. No, that was just the liquid in his sockets. He tilted his head down, letting it flow out until he could see better.

Oh, it was Dusk. Right.

He shuddered out a breath. He realized all his senses had turned off for the past few seconds. When the hell did he get on the floor?

His eyelights finally focused enough to stare back at Dusk. He didn't like the worried look he had on his face. He cleared his throat, trying to play it off, but all that did was make him hack out more rotten determination.

“well…” the sentence died on his teeth the second he started. “i want to go back to sleep,” he settled on saying.

Dusk brought him into a stilted not-quite-a-hug, where he brought him closer and draped his skull over his shoulder.

They just. Stayed there. For a bit.

“another episode…i’m starting a daily streak, really.” Any humor he thought that statement would have was completely absent. God, how fucking pathetic was he? Surely Dusk was struggling with his LOVE just as much as he was but he didn’t fuss about it. He shouldn’t need Dusk’s comfort and Dusk shouldn’t need to comfort him. He was so selfish. So needy.

Killer willed himself to move away from Dusk to lay back down on his bed.

The room was quiet until someone knocked on the door again.

Dusk opted to answer the door since Killer wasn't budging.

Fortunately it was Sans who was at the door but unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Behind him was another skeleton he hadn't seen before.

He wore monochromatic clothing and there were large x’s on his sleeves and boots. He looked a lot younger than all of them. He must've been in his 20’s. His eyelights were a lot bigger than the average sans, with a slitted pupil reminiscent of a cat’s.

Despite the youthful look, one glance was enough to tell Dusk that he had a lot of LOVE too. It wasn’t nearly as much as he or Killer had, but it was more than the amount Sans had.

Dusk glared at the stranger as if he personally wronged him.

Sans didn’t look too happy either with the death grip he had on the bag containing their breakfast.

“hey,” Sans said. He walked in as if everything was fine and normal.

The stranger also tried walking in as if everything was fine and normal.

A wall of bones rose in front of him to block his path.

Killer sat up on the bed, “nope. not dealing with unwelcome company now, thank you.”

The stranger cleared his throat, straightening his posture. “well, i’m actually the organizer of this place. the name’s cross. i’m sure ink told you three about me.”

“i’ve never heard of you in my life,” Killer said.

It was painfully clear that Cross was already annoyed by Killer, despite his attempts to keep his face neutral. “i’ll just get to the point—”

“he’s gonna test us. if we pass, we can stay. if we don’t, we’re getting kicked out,” Sans said. He opened the bag of food and grabbed a pastry for himself before handing it over to Dusk.

Dusk hesitated as he grabbed the bag. He quickly grabbed the first pastry he laid his hand on and turned to Killer.

“we’re getting kicked out?” Killer repeated.

“only if you don’t pass the test,” Cross emphasized.

Killer stood up as the wall of bones went away. He shambled over to him with a misleadingly calm expression. He leaned close to Cross’s head, keeping his hands by his sides. “what’s the test?”

Cross stood his ground, keeping his eyes locked on Killer as if he would attack him if he merely glanced away. “a rescue mission,” he answered with a steady voice despite the tension.

“the blue guy said you weren’t going to torture us,” Killer spat.

“it’s not torture. i have a plan. it should be simple,” Cross insisted.

He narrowed his eye sockets. “so why are you using us as fodder?”

“it’s a test.”

Sans snagged the bag from Dusk and shoved it over to Killer. “no point in complainin’, just roll with it.”

Killer pushed the bag aside. “why are you being so compliant? he’s going to send us to our deaths!”

“because we don’t have a choice,” he sighed. “besides, we’ve gone through hell and back, what’s one more trial?”

Killer caved in and grabbed the bag to fish out a pastry for himself. He took a hefty bite from it specifically to talk with his mouth full, “you gonna leave us alone after we complete this ‘rescue mission’?”

“yeah, just this one thing and you’ll all prove that i can trust you to stay here.”

Killer winced at the word “trust”. He quickly scarfed the rest of the pastry down. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t really blame Cross for putting them through a trial considering that they’re all murderers. Well, he didn’t think Sans should be judged to the same extent as them. He needed to kill all those humans in order to survive.

“why does sans need to go too? his friends and family have already been staying here,” he asked.

Cross looked surprised by his question. Fucker probably didn’t expect him to be considerate. “the plan’s easier with three people, and all three of you worked with nightmare.”

“worked!?” Killer shoved the bag towards Sans and grabbed Cross by his shirt. “we didn’t work with that bastard. he KIDNAPPED us! if you think for one second that we associated with him? oh you got it entirely wrong, asshole! do you think we had fun being his fucking toys?” he snapped.

“killer, let go of him,” Sans said.

“y’know what? fine. i’ll do your stupid test. nothing you put me through will be worse than what he did to us,” he snarled before pushing him away.

Cross fixed the wrinkles Killer made on his clothes. His nonchalant behavior pissed Killer off even more.

He was lucky he actually listened to Sans.

“sorry, i wasn’t aware of that,” he said quietly.

Killer calmed down only slightly at the apology. He crossed his arms and scoffed, “you better be.”

Cross waited for them to finish eating breakfast before he went over the plan.

As he talked more, the three were even less psyched about doing this.

They were going to disguise themselves and then enter the place through a portal made by Ink. The first part of the plan was finding the right monster. Cross handed them an image for reference. They collectively sighed when they saw it was yet another Sans. If he wasn't wearing the same outfit it would be hard to find him, that's not to mention that Cross said the place they were infiltrating was a packed warehouse.

The second part of the plan was actually leaving the place. Which was supposedly the easier part of the plan because Ink will arrive and make another portal once they find the monster.

All in all, this just sounded like some dumb hidden object game rather than a rescue mission.

Ink arrived at the room shortly after Cross finished explaining. He came in holding a pile of clothes, their disguises.

Said clothes were all campy and flashy.

“in what world,” Sans held up a sequin jacket that had colors that could blind hawks, “are these disguises?”

“Well you're going to a party! A rave, specifically,” Ink explained.

Killer snatched a red leather jacket and bell bottom jeans from the pile. “all of these shirts suck, i’m gonna change.” He went over to the bathroom with the articles in hand.

“Oh yeah!” Ink snapped his hand. He reached into the pockets of his pants and took out three pairs of sunglasses, each were different shapes. “Almost forgot the most important part.”

“glasses,” Sans remarked.

Dusk and Sans exchanged glances with each other.

“it's really bright there,” Cross explained.

“in a warehouse?”

“trust me, the strobe lights could probably blind you otherwise.”

Sans narrowed his sockets.

Killer finished changing and waltzed out of the bathroom, flaunting his gaudy outfit.

“no shirt?” Sans remarked.

“i said they all suck.”

“surely you could just wear the shirt you already had on.”

“actually,” Cross butted in, “after you three get back we’re burning those clothes immediately. so probably don't wear anything that's actually yours.”

“and why are you doing that?”

“Cooties,” Ink deadpanned.

Cross frowned at him.

“Anyways, take a pair. Whatever you do, do not take them off.” Ink held out the shades with a wink.

Killer opted for the triangular ones while Dusk grabbed the rectangular ones and Sans got the circular ones.

Then Dusk and Sans grabbed whatever clothing, tossing any attempts to make a cohesive outfit out the window, and took turns changing in the bathroom.

Finally, Cross looked over the three, determining if their disguises were good to go. Dusk and Sans’s fits were horrible. That neon fluffy bucket hat that Sans wore was definitely not comfortable. At least Killer had a cohesive outfit.

He spent a second longer looking at Killer's sunglasses. He leaned close to Ink. “it doesn't cover his sockets fully,” he whispered.

“It’ll be fiiine,” Ink assured. He clasped his hands together. “Okay! You're all ready to go. Don't forget, you're looking for Epic, the most notable feature is the scar on his eye socket. Keep your distance from other partygoers and do not take off those shades.” His scarf swept at the floor underneath the three, creating holes that lead to their destination.

The three could barely see Ink waving goodbye as they fell.

The landing wasn't bad, all of them landed on their feet just fine, but the change in atmosphere gave them whiplash. While it was dark as night, strobe lights flashed and lit up the place erratically.

Oh god the music.

Eurodance from the 90’s was blasting with bass heavy enough to shake the building.

Oh god, the amount of monsters.

They were also dressed in gaudy outfits, which explained why their disguises were like that.

“cool. all we need to do is find whoever the hell ‘epic’ is. should we split?” Killer asked.

“oh god no,” Sans said.

Dusk grabbed them by their shoulders to drag them around and start their search.

“they're all wearing glasses too, didn't they say a scar on the socket is how we can differentiate him?” Sans said.

Killer groaned, “this is gonna take forever! we should just ask around or something.”

“you suddenly in the mood for social interaction?”

“this sensory nightmare’s making me feel like i’m floating out of my body, i just want to get this over with.” Killer approached one of the partygoers. “hey, y’know where a skeleton called epic is?”

He was completely ignored.

“cool. awesome. if we don't split up this’ll literally take forever, peace.” Killer walked off without waiting for the other two’s input.

Dusk and Sans watched as he got lost in the crowd in a whopping five seconds.

Dusk face palmed.

“maybe…maybe we can ask the dj? then they'll put out an announcement, or something,” Sans said.

“not that simple,” Dusk signed. He spelled out “fishy”.

“would it hurt to try?”

Dusk frantically shook his fist in a “yes.”

“eh, don't be a downer. where is the dj, anyway?” He looked around, fortunately most of the monsters here were around the same height as him so his view wasn't too obstructed. “yeesh, this place is big.”

The strobe lights flickered more as they all started moving to one point. The lights shone on the DJ station, the DJ themself was still shrouded in darkness. The sound of scratching discs filled the building as the music quieted down. “HOW WE FEELIN’ BROSEPHS ‘N JOESEPHS!?”

A mechanical roar of cheers rang out among the crowd.

They recognized that voice. They most definitely recognized that voice.

Dusk grabbed Sans by the arm.

“okay,” Sans breathed, “that's fine. maybe, no one knows his deal. we can just. leave the building.”

Dusk tugged at Sans, pointing furiously at the ground.

It was hard to notice due to how dark and packed it is, but on the ground were several piles of dust.

“hm. nice knowing ya.”

“You party animals havin’ fun?! I know I am, yo!” The unmistakable sound of Fresh’s voice boomed throughout the warehouse. The lights finally shone on him. He looked exactly the same as the first time they saw him. He was spinning. a disc on his finger. “I just gots some totes rad news before we continue on with gettin’ jiggy.”

The colored lights moved over to his side, revealing a stage that was hidden in the darkness, and on the stage was Killer. He looked confused, as if he didn't even know how he got up there.

Sans nearly swore but Dusk slapped a hand over his mouth.

When he caught sight of Fresh he stood frozen like a deer caught in headlights.

“Any bros know this fool?” Fresh asked. He put the disk back on the turntable and scratched his chin. “I don't. Did we invite him?” His bemusement barely masked his elation at having prey he didn't have to catch.

Killer didn't know what to do. He looked down at the crowd. The sunglasses they wore were originally all blank but the familiar “YOLO” text was on them now.

Running definitely wasn't going to help.

“Eh no biggie. I’ll give him a proper introduction to this rad party.” Fresh turned the music back on.

Killer internally swore at Cross, cursing his entire life. He was going to die and it was going to be to the fucking tune of a stupid 90’s song about sex. Well he wasn't going down without a fight.

He summoned a blaster aimed at Fresh and fired.

Only for one of the partygoers to leap into the blast to block it.

Killer watched in horror as he dusted that monster. The familiar rush of exp hit him like a truck, he couldn't help but fall to his knees.

“oh god,” Sans muttered from the crowd.

The three were completely powerless in this situation. This wasn't a fucking test. They were sent to their deaths.

What a sick joke.

“Oh snap! Well, you're just gonna hafta replace that now, aren't ya?” Fresh disappeared with a poof, promptly reappearing behind Killer.

Killer quickly pushed himself up and backed away from him.

Fresh didn't even follow him, the stage wasn't that big anyway.

He reached the edge of the stage, back to the crowd. Only Fresh could see the fear on his face.

Some of the crowd climbed on stage to grab his ankles, anchoring him down.

 He was hyperventilating, he was overwhelmed, he felt nothing at all.

He felt nothing at all.

Dusk and Sans went as far as they could away from the stage. They eventually reached a wall. Sans leaned against it in defeat while Dusk banged his skull against it.

Sans winced at the loud thud.

They could vaguely see the stage from here. Killer was gone and Fresh returned to his station.

The party continued on like nothing happened.

“so. do you think you’ll end up back in your universe after, or.”

Dusk huffed.

“right.” Dumb question.

They just stood there against the wall watching the neverending party. They questioned if this was hell or purgatory. No, this was definitely hell.

“ey, i finally found you guys.” It was Killer.

Dusk and Sans tensed.

His soul was a shape they’ve never seen it be before. It was in the shape of a flower.

“chillax, i’m not gonna do anything,” he said. His cadence was off. “you two have just been standing there all gloomy…” He put a hand on the wall just above Dusk’s shoulder. “why don’t you come join the fun?”

With how close he was, Dusk was able to see the parasitic flower in the small sliver of his sockets that wasn't covered by the triangular shades.

Killer leaned closer to his face. “c’mon, i’m getting lonely.”

Sans socked him in the face.

Dusk flinched back in surprise as Killer fell to the ground from the impact.

Sans shook the pain off his hand. “i think we're good.”

Dusk knelt down by Killer. He took his shades off and immediately plunged his hand into the socket containing the flower.

“uh—” Sans reached a hand out but was interrupted by Killer’s lucid screaming.

The nearby skeletons slowed their dancing, turning over to the interruption.

With one last quick yank, the flower snapped off. Dusk dropped it and stamped his foot on it repeatedly.

Killer gasped for air and keened in pain. Then he passed out.

Dusk blinked in shock.

Sans cringed, “think you went a bit overboard.”

“you were the one who punched him!” Dusk blurted stupidly.

“yup, and you committed malpractice.”

The music came to a halt with a dramatic record scratch.

The lights landed on the three.

“Yo, dudes. Quit harshin’ the vibe,” Fresh scoffed into the mic.

Dusk rolled his eyelights and picked Killer up, draping him over his shoulder.

They were surrounded now, by the skeletons under his control.

Dusk summoned multiple blasters overhead, ready to fire if any of them stepped closer.

“Yeesh! You three weren't even invited! What's the dealio? That scummy octo brought you here to rustle my jimmies or something?”

That. Wasn't even 90’s lingo.

There was some feedback coming from the mic. “That thing’s not comin’ here for real, actually, right?” For once he sounded unsure.

Was he actually threatened by Nightmare?

They had to roll with the lie. They could survive this. They just had to convince him he was coming.

Sans put a hand on Dusk’s shoulder. “nah yeah, he won't have to intervene as long as we get what he needs.”

“Bogus! Whaddaheck would that dillweed need?”

Sans pulled out the image of Epic from his pocket and showed it to the nearest partygoer. “we just need this guy, and we'll be outta your hair.”

“Oooh, yeah, I get what you're layin’ down.”

Said nearest partygoer grabbed Sans’s wrist.

“You're fibbin’.”

Welp.

Dusk was just about to fire the blasters on standby, only for a cluster of bones to sprout from the ceiling and stab through the giant skulls.

Dusk grumbled. He adjusted his grip on Killer so that he didn't drop him.

“you're kinda grabbing his butt,” Sans pointed out.

“we’ve done worse.”

“go back to not talking.”

“Aight. So y’all come on in uninvited and interrupt my bodacious party? S’all good. I’ll let you dudes bounce…not!” Fresh yelled into the mic. “I’m gonna enjoy taking y’all over. You're not worming your way out this time.”

Right as his sentence ended, it was disproved. A portal opened. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel.

That portal looked similar to the ones Nightmare made, actually.

“Ah, nah, what’s the dealio?”

But instead of the guardian of negativity arriving, a huge wave of tiny not-quite-skeletons poured in like a flood.

“what,” Dusk and Sans said in unison as absolute chaos unfolded in the warehouse.

These “not-quite-skeletons” acted more like hyperactive temmies. Their giant skulls were bigger than the rest of their body making them look more like aliens than anything. They all wore bandanas that matched the color of their huge star eyelights. They bounded around the place causing total anarchy.

Fresh, among others, were trampled by these small menaces. Some were simply dancing to the music while others were actively jumping some of the partygoers. They swore they even saw one playing with a pile of dust.

And all of this was happening while “We Like to Party!” by the Vengaboys was playing.

A second portal opened up behind them. They didn't even get to process this before someone yanked them through.

They both landed on their backs. Killer peacefully laid atop Dusk, still managing to sleep through that all. Hopefully he wasn't in a coma.

Dusk and Sans looked at each other, unsure if they were both already dead or if what they saw was all real.

Certainly one hell of a deus ex machina, but with all the shit they’ve gone through they might as well accept it with open arms.

It was Blue that stood over them, looking utterly concerned. “oh my GOD, you three almost died! well, you would’ve been under fresh’s control for whoever knows how long and then you would collapse from exhaustion and then die, but still,” he rambled. He put a hand on his face. “If my plan didn't work…well! Glad it did! Even if it wasn't the one I initially had,” he sighed in relief. “I’m SO sorry you guys went through that! I told Cross not to do it but, ARGH, no one listens to me!” He stomped his foot, it reminded them of Papyrus.

Another portal appeared next to him and two skeletons walked out. One was dressed like they just walked out of an anime convention and the other was clearly a skeleton from Fresh’s party.

“Thank you so much Dream,” Blue said.

Dream?

The two looked closely at him. There was a star made out of magic floating by his forehead. It reminded them of the crescent moon that rested near Nightmare's forehead. He was the one that created the portals similar to him too.

“you're his brother,” Sans said.

“Hm? Brother? I don’t…”

“They already know he's your brother, Dream,” Blue interrupted.

Dream darted his eyelights away guiltily. “I promise you, I’m not like him at all. I’m so sorry he held you all captive for a year! It must've been horrible.”

Dusk and Sans didn't really care about the needless pity. Both of them had one thing on their mind and it was punching the living daylights out of Cross.

“Right…” Blue said awkwardly. “Anyway, Dream, please tend to Epic, I’ll take these guys from here.”

Dream nodded and teleported himself and the other skeleton, who was apparently Epic, off to someplace else.

Blue stared down at the three who hadn't budged at all. “So, do you guys need help getting up, or.”

“i’m staying down here, thanks,” Sans said.

“Is Killer knocked out, or sleeping?”

“he's been out cold ever since Dusk ripped off the flower in his socket.”

Blue smacked the side of his skull, looking distraught. He looked around the place—they just realized they were in someone's living room—and told them to stay there before bolting off to another room.

Sans turned his attention to Killer and Dusk. “are you just gonna have him lay on top of you the whole time?”

Dusk shrugged. Honestly he was kind of comfortable like this. Killer was like a weighted blanket.

Sans finally got up from the floor, stretching his back with a groan. He stumbled over to the couch nearby and flopped onto it. He massaged his face. “god, i don't want to do anything ever again.”

Dusk hummed in agreement.

Blue came back shortly after with a stash of snacks. He dumped them onto the coffee table in front of the couch. “I got some snacks so you guys can replenish your energy. Do any of you know healing magic?”

Dusk nodded.

Blue walked over to him, leaning down to pick up Killer off of him only for Dusk to slap his hand away. “Oh! Sorry, I thought you were stuck,” he said, embarrassed.

Dusk sat up, holding Killer in his arms. He carefully put his hand over his soul and started healing it.

“you're not even going to eat first—Okay, that's fine.” Blue looked away from the poor medical practice. He waited a moment. “Okay, you're not supposed to keep going until he wakes up, you're gonna overload his soul with magic.”

Dusk rolled his eyelights and drew his hand away.

“He should wake up in a few minutes. In the meantime,” he grabbed something off the table and threw it at him, “eat something!”

The packaged snack bumped his head and fell to the floor sadly.

Dusk laid Killer down, having his head rest on his legs so that he could pick up the snack and eat it.

Blue turned to Sans. “You should eat something too.”

Sans glanced at the food on the table, then back at Blue. “why are you helping us?” he asked.

Blue looked disheartened by his suspicion. He fidgeted with his hands. “because i want to. And why wouldn't I? Everyone deserves help!”

“real naive of you to say.”

Blue’s expression hardened. “Fine, maybe it’s more than that. Maybe I want to feel like I’m worth something by helping people out. Maybe I’m sick of people dying when I could’ve done something. Maybe I’m guilty, so I help assholes like you in order to cope! Is that a selfish enough answer for you?”

Sans grabbed something off the table to eat. “sure.”

Blue sighed, crossing his arms. “good.”

They sat in silence as the two ate a bit. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Killer finally woke up.

He rolled off of Dusk. He immediately fired a round of questions, “everything hurts. why’s it so dark. where am i?”

“The lights are on?” Blue said.

“who the hell are you?”

“i think you blinded him, dude,” Sans said.

“what?!” Killer shouted.

“He shouldn’t be permanently blinded, he just needs to eat!” Blue assured. “Carelessly yanking out Fresh’s flower temporarily blinds the victim because it injures the orbit, and any injury to that area causes temporary blindness as our magic prioritizes healing it over being able to see.”

“oh, you’re the nerd that gave us food yesterday.”

“i’m the huh?” Blue mumbled. He shook off the insult and grabbed some packaged crackers off the table to give to Killer. “Anyway, we’re not at the hub right now. You guys are gonna crash at my place, which is here, until I give Cross a talk.”

Killer gnawed on the crackers without removing the wrapper, until Dusk snatched it from him to properly open it and hand it back to him. 

Killer poured the crumbs into his mouth, a good amount of it missed and landed on the floor which Blue decided to ignore.

After blinking a few times, Killer was able to see again. “where is ‘here’?”

“I don’t really have time to explain what this place is but uh, I suggest not going outside because you might end up in a different universe,” Blue said casually. “I shouldn’t be gone for too long, but in case I am, you guys are free to raid the kitchen, watch some tv, etc—Oh yeah! I also have a book containing all my notes on the multiverse if you wanna read it. Since you three are outcodes now it’ll be useful to know about some of the threats and important areas in the multiverse.”

The three of them looked at him like he was speaking a different language.

He coughed into his hand and pulled the book out from his inventory to set it on the coffee table. He awkwardly waved goodbye which got no responses and left the house.

“that guy’s too nice,” Killer remarked. “how hasn’t he died?”

“my guess is dumb luck or he’s hiding something.” Sans sat up on the couch, looking curiously at the book, which was actually just some spiral bound notebook. He picked it up, might as well read it to pass the time.

Killer stood up, stumbling a bit as he waited for the vertigo to pass. “i’m gonna snoop around,” he announced.

“have fun with that.”

While Killer wandered off and Sans read, Dusk went over to the fridge.

Sans flipped through the pages of the notebook, skimming over the titles of various names of people and places. He paused when he saw Nightmare’s name.

“dusk, get over here!”

Dusk walked over with no haste at all. He was holding two glasses, and was currently drinking out of one. He held out the other to Sans.

Sans looked up from the book to see the concoction he was giving him. It was nearly the same as all the past times Dusk made the mistake of playing bartender. Except this time…”did you add crushed chips? that thing has at least four different textures in it now.”

Dusk shrugged.

Killer walked back in the room, looking very dissatisfied. He wasn’t able to find anything interesting or any skeletons in the closet. His sights immediately landed on the drinks. “what the fuck is that?” he chuckled.

“nah, killer this ain’t for you.” Sans took the second drink from Dusk’s hand.

“aw, what?”

“anyway,” he took a sip, “this guy has notes about nightmare.”

Killer walked around the table and sat next to Sans. “woah, that's crazy.” He leaned closer at the book, but quickly switched his target to the drink.

Unfortunately, Sans was quick enough to move the drink away before he could take a sip.

Killer grumbled disappointedly and looked back at the book, actually reading the page this time. “i mean, we already know all of this, i don't see how this is…” he trailed off as he got halfway through the page. “huh. he’s had quite the history.”

“whaddya think being ‘the guardian of negativity’ means?”

“does it matter? we hate him. end of story.”

Sans eyed the line that said Nightmare couldn't feel positive emotions. If that was true, that explained a lot of things, but did that change anything? Not really. “yeah, i guess it doesn't.”

Once he was back at the hub, Blue hunted down Cross. His angry speech died on his metaphorical tongue the second he saw him and Epic having a reunion. He stopped in his tracks and watched them from a distance.

Ink appeared by his side, also watching the two. “Ah, a happy ending.” “It was completely unnecessary for any of this to happen and you know it,” Blue said sternly.

Ink pouted. “Aw, are you mad at me? It wasn’t my idea to send those three to their deaths.”

Blue scowled at him. “But it’s your fault Fresh kidnapped Epic in the first place.” Ink looked dumbfounded and then guilty, like a dog that was caught doing something it shouldn’t. “You’re getting too good at reading me…” he sighed. “How long did you know?”

“The second we found out it was Fresh that took Epic I immediately knew it was you,” Blue deadpanned. There were only a few people who could’ve let Fresh into the place, and only one person who would’ve. Besides, ever since Cross rescued Epic from his scripted death, Ink would glare at him like he personally wronged him.

“Aw,” Ink gave him a hug, “and you didn’t tell anyone?” He didn’t just not tell anyone he also covered for him. There was a reason Cross didn’t know he did it. “There wasn’t any point to.” “And you wouldn’t rat out your best friend!”

Blue flicked his cheek bone. “Sure,” he said sarcastically. He ended the hug with Ink with a gentle shove. “Those three are probably gonna try to kill Cross though. I’m making that your responsibility.”

Ink giggled at the idea of the three hunting down Cross. “Eh, he can handle that on his own.”

[r1zingclouds]

Today, while I can still remain here - Nishizono Renga Birthday SSR Card Story Translation

Happy Birthday, Renga!

(Translation notes at the end)

Renga: (Today’s the birthday of “Nishizono Renga”.)

Renga: (I heard from my manager that there's a leading role lined up that only I can play.)

Renga: Alright, my looks are on point.Time to go.

Yukikaze: Renga. 

Yukikaze: Target secured.

Renga: Hah!?

Renga: …

Muneuji: Hachinoya-san. Excuse me, can you raise the rightmost decoration by 2 millimeters? It’s sloping ever so slightly.

Nagi: Got it. Still, it’s really pretty, this ornament.

Muneuji: According to Lu-senpai, it’s customary for celebrations in China. Certainly, the golden glow creates a festive atmosphere.

Renga: ………..

Kafka: Chief-chan, is that the last dish? The drinks have already been brought over.

Chief: Yup. All that’s left is the cake! Yuki-nii is doing a final inspection on it.

Shuumai: Woof. Woof, woof.

Renga: What’s going on?”

Renga: Chief and Yukikaze brought me to the living room all of sudden, sat me down on the sofa with Shuumai, and now a party’s starting!?

Ten: Renga-san, looking good~ That “Today’s protag” sash suits you.

Renga: Hey, Ten! Don’t tell me… No, there’s no doubt…!

Ten: That’s right~. Everyone’s been working hard all night to celebrate your birthday, Renga-san.

Ten: Your manager did us a favor and freed up your schedule for today. Man, everyone’s going at it.

Renga: My manager was in on it…! I had no idea at all…

Renga: (Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to celebrate today because of work…! So this is what my manager meant with the “leading role only I can play!”)

Renga: That means… all this food and decorations are for me?

Toi: Need to align them by height a bit better… there. Acrylic stands and Uchiwa fans go over here…

Renga: …Hm? What is Toi doing?

Kafka: Making a shrine. It's a custom among fans who want to do something extravagant for their favorite celebrity's birthday, and Toi can relate all too well.

Kafka: Hand-making goods and amassing official ones... He’s been arranging merch and fan letters that arrived at your office since morning.

Renga: Since morning!? Then I should he…!

Liguang: Hold it.

Renga: Uwah! What’s wrong with you, Liguang, pushing me onto the sofa all of sudden!

Linguang: Stop messing around and sit down like a guest of honor should. It pisses me off to look at you.

Renga: You, you didn’t have to put it that way!

Shuumai: Woof!

Renga: …Are you saying I should sit down too, Shuumai?

Shuumai: Woofwoof!

Renga: …! I, I see. Got it.

Renga: (Since I’m playing a role no one else can do, I should act the part… everyone's be happier that way, right?)

Renga: …

Toi: Whew… Is this the last one?

Toi: Ah? There’s still one box left! I need to open it quickly!

Renga: That’s it, I can’t do it anymore!

Renga: Toi! Let me give you a hand!

Liguang: Tsk.

Ten: My, my.

Yukikaze: Sorry to keep you waiting. Please, give it up for the “Golden Sunrise Celeb Rose Cake”.

Kafka: We’re all finished here, what about you?

Toi:  All done! Thanks to Renga-san, we’ve completed the shrine!

Chief: Then, let’s get the party started!

Chief: Renga-kun.

HAMA Tours: Happy Birthday!

Renga: Tha…thank you.

Ten: Here, for you. It’s a dog toy.  Go nuts and play with Shuumai until it breaks. 

Nagi: I chose shears for pruning roses. Feel free to ask for gardening advice anytime. 

Yukikaze: My present is a travel bag. It has a large capacity and many pockets, so it can fit  plenty of snacks, tissues and the like. I hope it comes in handy for both studio and location shooting.

Renga: (All of these presents have so much feeling behind them. I can tell how much they thought of me when choosing these.) 

Yukikaze: …Is someone at the door?

Toi: Ah… I’ll get it!

Toi: Uwah!?

Muneuji: There was a huge noise.

Renga: What happened, Toi?

Toi: We’ve a p…problem! The gift box got stuck in the door!

Courier: A parcel for Nishizono-sama. Please sign here. 

Kafka: With this volume, it can hardly be called a present, can it? It’s more like a shipment of goods for a sales event.

Nagi: The door is creaking. Better use the front entrance.

Yukikaze: It’s from Renga’s father. The note says “To Renga, and the HAMA Tours employees who always look after my son.”

Yukikaze: What a kind parent.

Chief: Amazing, Renga-kun! You received such a huge present!

Renga: Well, I guess? Once you get on my level, that's normal…

Toi: I wonder if I can carry it somehow…

Renga: Hey, Toi! Don’t try to carry it alone!

Ten: Is it okay for today’s protag to be such a busy bee?

Liguang: Tsk, he doesn’t realize he’s just causing extra headaches on the organizers’ side.

(the Live 2D animations (wordlessly) show that Renga tries to help Toi, starts shaking, probably because he can't handle the weight, but Yukikaze and Nagi catch and stabilize him)

Chief: Ahaha… Isn’t that just like him, though?

Part 2

Renga: Nom, nom… The cake Ushio made is really tasty….

Renga: I feel like I’ve heard enough “congratulations” today to last me a lifetime.

Renga: The birthday party was fun, too.

(flashback)

Nanaki: Then, it’s a promise. On our next day off?

Renga: Ah, yeah. Thanks for the invite, Nanaki. Can’t wait for the live soccer match.

Nanaki: I’m glad you’re on board. I have two replica uniforms, so let's wear them when we go.

Nanaki: Sunglasses will be a must for you, though… It’d be something else if people realized you’re at the venue, Nishizono-san. 

Shuumai: Woofwoof, woof!

Renga: What’s up, Shuumai, you want to go, too?

Renga: Too bad, you can’t enter the stadium. Cheer up, I’ll toss you the ball I got from Ten…

Yachiyo: R-R-R-Renga-san! Renga-sa-!

Yachiyo: Uwa-!?

*sound of things falling over*

Nanaki: He fell head first into a cardboard box…

Renga: Yachiyo, you alright?

Yachiyo: S-sorry! I tried, but I couldn’t pull the brakes fast enough!

Renga: Why’re you in such a hurry?

Yachiyo: W-w-well, there was a letter for Renga-san left at the door, so I wanted to deliver it…

Renga: A postcard? Wonder who sent it…

Renga: (Happy Birthday to the both of us)

Renga: …!

Renga: I see. Thanks for bringing it to me.

(flashback ends)

Renga: It was a good day.

Renga: Who’s it?

Kinari: Nishizono-sama, excuse me for bothering you during your rest.

Kinari: I have been designated as your gift-giver as a part of the Random Gift System.

Renga: I-it’s time!

Renga: Much appreciated. Well, come in.

Kinari: Understood. Then, if you would accept this item.

Renga: A rose shaped… earring?

Kinari: After receiving the order, I discovered it while searching for a gift that would be suitable for Nishizono-sama.

Kinari: The initial search returned 27506 results. Subsequently, the list was narrowed down to 18549 options.

Kinari: I’ve heard from the Master that Nishizono-sama is partial to roses, which is why I’ve chosen this accessory.

Renga: You also put lots of thought into it. I really appreciate that.

Kinari: Happy Birthday, Nishizono-sama. May you be loved by many people from now on, as well.

Renga: I-idiot! That much is a given!

Renga: After all… After all, I’m Nishizono Renga!

Renga: (Up until now, I’ve always tried to act in a way that’d befit [Nishizono Renga])

Renga: But today is a little different than usual. I feel like they’re also celebrating [me]).

Renga: I’m glad I could stay here.

Staff: Time for a commercial!

MC: Renga-kun, wasn’t it your birthday the other day? Congrats.

Renga: Yeah, thanks.

MC: I’ve been wondering, are these earrings something you brought from home? They look great on you!

Renga: Right? It’s because they were chosen by an important friend… as a gift that suits me best! 

You can read my translations of the Mayors and Yachiyo's voice lines for Renga's birthday here!

Translation notes:

The card story title: ここにいらえる今日を, is cut off: it's missing a verb that should go after を, so the information what is exactly done with/about this day (ここにいらえる is modifying, or describing what kind of "today" it is, instead). This is possibly to make it more ambiguous in meaning and slightly foreboding. You could put fill the blank in different ways, but since there's no clear indication and the difference in sentence structure would place the missing verb at the beginning, I decided to leave it out altogether to avoid further confusion.

Some possible ways to complete the title would be, for example: to celebrate, to cherish, to remember; or it could also be a toast, if you added 祝して、乾杯 at the end, as in "Cheers to today"

Renga's manager: As far as I know their gender isn't known, so I tried to avoid personal pronouns.

Renga shrine: Japanese fans are known for their extravagance while practicing this custom, such as renting a whole studio room and lining up hundreds of items, so I took some liberties with Kafka's first line to emphasize that - he only mentions fans who "want to celebrate" and that doesn't really relay the scale of what seems to have been going on, what with Toi having multiple boxes of stuff prepared.

[salty-says]

Zosan x Reader silly little Drabble

Synopsis: Law makes reader and Sanji switch bodies. Zoro gets all lovey dovey on Sanji in reader’s body.

Luffy was jumping up and down over the news of a possible island that had funky gravity and could make you float. He wanted to visit it but the only way he could get there is if he got a map on some random island called Floria that kept it a secret.

Y/N was out on the deck as Luffy began to whine about how badly he wanted to go. She laughed and asked him more about his woes. When he mentioned the island of Floria she froze. Memories began to resurface.

A few years back she visited Floria. It was known for it’s peace and unity. She stopped by there as it was on her course and was intrigued by the history it held and the overall environment. However, one night she got too drunk and began to reek havoc on the quaint village. She of course regrets the incident but her face is plastered all over the island.

“I’ve been to that island.” She says plainly.

Luffy’s eyes light up and he begins to jump up in down in front of her, “Do you know about the map?”

Y/N bit her lip slightly and nodded, “Yeah. When I was there I learned about the tale of the space island. The island is similar to that of Jaya as it holds profound history and secrets.”

Luffy ran around the deck, “So cool! So cool! We must go! You can get the map for us then.”

Y/N deadpanned, “Absolutely not Luffy.”

“Hah?? Why not?” He whined.

Y/N pauses for a second, “Let’s just say I’m not very welcome there anymore.”

Usopp at this point made his presence known, “Ohoo Y/N, did you do something bad?” He teased.

“Shut up long nose! It’s none of your business!” She retorted and shot Usopp a death glare which shut him up. “Besides, we can still go. I’m just not going to step foot on the island”

“But that will make everything harrderr. I want to go to the space island now.”

“Too bad Luffy,” Y/N rolled her eyes and began to make her way to the galley.

Usopp held his hand to his chin in thought, “Oo! What if we get that Law guy to have Y/N switch bodies with someone so that she can go on the island without any problems?!”

Luffy smiled wildley, “Wow Usoppu, that’s a great idea! Why don’t you just switch bodies with someone yeah!!”

Y/N’s eye twitched at the idea.

•

“Why Sanji?! He’s just going to be all weird in my body!”

“Oooo Y/N-Chwan~ I’ll only admire it,” Sanji said with heart eyes.

Y/N grimaced and bonked Sanji over the head.

“Well Sanji doesn’t need to go on this mission and he can stay and watch the ship. Everyone else has a duty they need to fulfill on the island,” Nami said.

“Why can’t I switch with you Nami? What are you doing?” Y/N complained.

Nami smiled and brushed her hair back, “I am going to go gamble.”

“Are you serious?!” Y/N exclaimed.

“Look, we need more berries for our next trip out anyway.”

Y/N sighed, “I’m not going to win this battle.”

Sanji only smiled in excitement.

•

Being in Sanji’s body was weird for Y/N. Her hands felt very soft but her feet and legs ached. She pursed her lips as she made her way into the familiar ruins with Robin, Luffy, and Law.

“From what I remember the walls on the left side hold inscriptions of where the map is located.”

Robin smiled and went to glance over at the ruins to decipher. Putting her hand along the engravings she said, “It seems as though there is an underground tunnel that leads to where the map is.”

Y/N just nodded her head as Luffy began to jump in excitement.

•

While everyone else was doing their own thing, Zoro busied himself in town looking for some sword sharpeners and polishes.

Wandering around alone was not a good idea for him as he traveled around the town loving for a sword shop but couldn’t find one by dark. He huffed and started heading back to where the water was so he could hopefully find the ship.

He was exhausted as his brain became fried from trying to remember directions all day and as the Sunny came into view a sigh of relief came out of his mouth.

He couldn’t wait to get back on the ship and fall asleep and go looking again the next day. Maybe he would luck out and even find a bar to get a drink.

As he got back on the deck he noticed movement in the galley and he went to investigate. When he opened the door further he saw Y/N cooking up a meal.

Confused as to why his girlfriend was cooking when it was Sanji’s job really irritated him. How dare that lazy bum make his girlfriend cook.

“Oi. Just what are you doin’?”

Sanji in Y/N’s body turned to face him confused, “Hah?”

“That stupid cook should be the one making you food.” Zoro continued to walk up to him.

Sanji gritted his teeth, “The hell are ya playin at Mosshead?”

Zoro furrowed his brows, “First you’re cookin’ and now you’re calling me Mosshead? Y/N you’ve been spending too much time with that stupid cook ya know.”

“You idiot!” Sanji began to raise his leg to kick him but Zoro caught it and held onto it as if rested on his shoulder.

“Even fighting like him, sweetheart. You truly are spending too much time with him. Guess I’ll have to show him who’s yours,” Zoro smirked and grabbed Sanji’s cheek pulling him in closer.

Sanji’s eyes widened as he began to try and kick Zoro with his other leg but alas due to Y/N’s not as flexible body it was no use.

Zoro put Sanji’s leg down and then wrapped his arms around his waist. He began to lean in and Sanji’s heart rate picked up. Was this really happening.

Zoro’s lips finally met his in a quick peck before it became a little more passionate. Sanji involuntarily moaned into the kiss and tangled his hands in Zoro’s hair.

Zoro smirked as Sanji let out a little moan as they kissed. Sanji pulled him closer and the kiss lasted for a minute before the rusted gears in Zoro’s brain turned and his eyes flew open pushing Sanji away.

“What the hell?” Sanji exclaimed.

“Y-You’re not Y/N!” Zoro gave him a look of horror.

Sanji rolled his eyes, “Looks like the moss in your brain died and you finally saw the light. You truly are so stupid.”

“Oh my god. Oh my god. I kissed the cook. But I also kissed Y/N? Is this cheating?!” Zoro began to panic.

“Get a grip Marimo,” Sanji took out a cigarette and began to light it before Zoro approached him and took it out of his mouth.

“Please don’t destroy her lungs.”

“Fine. Fine.” Sanji shrugged and turned back to making food.

“So. You’re not going to say anything else?” Zoro questioned nervously.

Sanji pauses for a moment, “I don’t even know what to say anymore. I’m a little dazed.”

Zoro smirked a bit, “Do I really kiss that well Dartbrow?”

Sanji gritted his teeth, “Shut up shitty swordsman.”

[dira333]

First Touch - Midorima x Soulmate! Reader

Trope: Soulmark at first touch confirms your bond. At the age of eighteen, you automatically gain your soulmark. The marks do not match but are a symbol of your partner.

Requested by @shoulmate

🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.

First Class together

“What’s your problem?” 

Ridiculous green eyes lift to look at you. “What?”

“What’s your problem?” You repeat, your tone a little sharper now. “You think you’re too good for me?”

“Ah,” the girl on his right turns around, “Midorima-kun probably didn’t hear-”

“Oh, he heard just fine, didn’t you?” You ask him, ignoring her. “The teacher told us to break into pairs. You’re working with me.”

“You’re clearly a Scorpio-” Midorima starts but you’ve already pulled your chair over, knees knocking against his under the table. 

“Exactly,” you tell him sharply, “Which means I’m going to stab you if you don’t work with me here. Have you read the first paragraph already?”

-

First test

“How many points do you have?” You ask sharply, test clutched in your fist. “Hah?”

“I’ll see you at practice, Shin-chan!” A dark-haired boy winks at you before skipping away but you don’t care about him. 

“I-” He starts but you just wave your test around like a flag. “Your score, Midorima! I’m waiting.”

“99.”

“99?!” You take a shaky breath. “Just so you know, next time I’ll beat you.”

“It was a bad day for Scorpios-”

Your finger digs into his shirt, not that there’s much to dig in underneath, just muscles and bones. “Don’t give me that. If I lose to you it’s because I didn’t give my best.”

-

First time being questioned

“Why are you so obsessed with Midorima anyway?” One of your friends asks as you glare across the Cafeteria.

“I’m not obsessed,” you argue, “I’m just goal-oriented.”

She snorts. “Or in love.”

“Take that back!” You gasp. “Take that back immediately!”

“Why?” She cackles loudly, “Your favorite vegetable’s the carrot, it fits!”

“That’s got nothing to do with each other!”

She’s still snickering and you can’t help but glance over.

There’s nothing there to tell if he heard this discussion. Not that it’d matter anyway. You’re most definitely not into him.

You just want to be the best one time, is that too much to ask for?

-

First time being offered

A large palm swallows your math test.

You’re barely quick enough to pull your hands out of reach, left to stare in shock as Midorima picks up your test and peers down at the paper.

He’s hard to read, his face a passive mask. 

“If you need help with math, you can just ask.” 

You bristle immediately but he talks on before you can get a word out.

“I’d be willing to tutor you in exchange for your help in English.”

You fall silent, all fight running out of you. 

You don’t like the idea of having to need a Tutor. But on the other hand, if he’s willing to give you a boost to get on his level - or even surpass him - you’d be stupid to decline. And English is your best subject after all.

“Fine,” you snarl, “I can be convinced to help you.”

-

First honest conversation

Midorima is a good teacher.

It’s not something you’ll ever disclose, but he’s good at explaining difficult subjects in a way that makes them easy to understand.

He’s nice too, in a polite, distanced way. As if he’s not used to socializing. It suits him though, you can’t help but think, just like the green of his eyes. 

But you don’t like thinking about his eyes, or his soft green hair or the way he looks when he bends over the table to check your answers, so you think about something else instead.

Your teaching, for example. It could defnitely use some polishing.

“You have many friends,” Midorima points out one evening, in English, as you asked.

“I do?” You ask back.

“How do you do it?”

“Make friends?”

He nods stiffly.

“Well, as you might have been able to notice, I am being myself. Not everyone’s able to deal with me being loud and in your face about things, but those who do just… flock to you.”

“I am being myself,” he says and there’s something to it, a tension you haven’t heard in his voice before.

“And people like you for it,” you try to argue but he levels you with a glare.

“They do not like me.”

And he’s probably right. The teachers might be proud of his accomplishments, but the students don’t really care much for him. They think he’s too stiff, doesn’t care about others, always gets his way. You know because you used to think that too. But where others use it as a reason to keep a distance, you only wanted to put him in his place. Loosen him up, if you will.

And if you dare to be think about it, you’d say you like him most out of all the boys at this school. He’s at least honest with his thoughts, doesn’t try to hide them. But you can’t very well say that, right? 

“What about Takao?” 

-

First touch

“Do you have a soulmark?”

You bristle, but Midorima points at the book in front of him.

“I just read the question, don’t get mad.”

“Well, you would have gotten mad too!”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“Would too.”

“No. I don’t have a soulmark.”

You still. You wouldn’t have expected that comment in a hundred years, even though you should have, probably.

“What?”

“I don’t have a soulmark. Yet.”

You can’t help but look at his hands, his fingers taped into oblivion.

“Well, you cannot touch anyone if you’ve got your fingers taped. And you’re always wearing long-sleeved stuff, of course you don’t have a soulmark yet.”

“I wear no sleeves at training.”

“And I’m sure all you do there is hug the other players. You need to be touched, no fabric between, to receive your mark. Like that.”

You reach out and press two fingers against the inside of his wrist.

His skin is warm and the contact leaves you tingly, as if you’d just got shocked. When you pull back, realizing just how stupid this is, there’s something new on his skin.

There, on the sensitive, soft skin covering the inside of his wrist, sits a mark. A soulmark.

“No way!” You gasp, jumping back from the table. “No way!”

Midorima’s green eyes turn to you and maybe it’s the light in here, but they look almost transparent right now, filled with something you can’t think about right now. Or maybe never.

“I- I have to go home now.” You grab your bag and run.

-

Second touch

“How many points do you have?” Midorima’s voice has a weird undertone to it. 

You’d been able to avoid him for the last few days, your mind still reeling.

He couldn’t be your soulmate, could he? 

You might be a bit too loud sometimes and a bit too bossy most of the time, but you never went around touching people like your friends. If anything you’d have had no problem waiting for your eighteenth birthday to see the little mark pop up only to forget all about it right after.

You’ve never put much thought into it other than that you’d wanted to pick the love of your life yourself. 

And now that…

“How many points do you have?” Midorima asks again, his voice strangely gentle.

“85,” you press through your teeth, hands curled into fists. “You?”

“80,” he drops his test on your desk as if he knew you’d want to see the proof.

And there it is. There’s even a big, fat, red question mark next to it, the teacher just as surprised about this score as you are.

Math is his best subject after all.

“Didn’t you study?” You ask.

“I did,” he offers quietly, adds a few more words under his breath, “I just had something else on my mind.”

“Listen,” your mouth opens before your brain has finished the thought, “about us.”

“It’s okay,” he nods as if to himself. “I understand.”

“No, I don’t think-” But he’s already turned away.

You run after him only a second later, a memory replaying in your head like the world’s worst earworm. 

How he had looked when he had said, all matter of factly, “They do not like me.”

“Midorima?” You catch him at the stairs, almost grabbing him by the elbow but thinking better of it at the last second.

“I do like you.”

He blinks slowly but says nothing.

“I didn’t think I’d ever find… my soulmate. I thought I’d just get my mark at eighteen and fall in love when I was ready for it. Do you… Do you want to have a relationship now? As a first year?”

He shakes his head slowly, understanding blooming over his face.

“Could we…” He’s chewing on his lips now, “Could we be friends then?”

“Yeah,” relief washes over you and you offer your hand, “Friends.”

He shakes your hand and it sends a tingling sensation up your arm, your mind following a second too late.

“Oh,” you both exclaim in unison and you pull back your hand to look at it. There, on your palm, sits a tiny, scowling carrot.

“It could be worse,” you say, and you think he agrees.

-

1095th touch

Your hand finds Shintarou’s on the way in, his fingers untapped, warm against yours.

Takao’s talking about something, but you can’t really focus on the words, too busy realizing that Shintarou had been holding something in his hand before you took it, the item now pressed in between.

It’s a button.

You look to check and his cheeks turn pink when he notices.

The second button of his blazer is missing.

“Are you even listening?” Takao asks to your left and you shake your head.

“No, never. Shintarou, did you just hand me my lucky item of the day?”

“I did,” he says, clearing his throat. But he does not pull his hand away. 

Knowing him, he will keep it where it is until he has to let go in the classroom.

“You’re no fun,” Takao whines, throwing an arm around you, “Save me a seat at lunch, lovebirds, okay?” You can see him winking at Shintarou from over your shoulder before he turns and walks away, calling after some girl.

-

You’re not really sure when you started holding hands regularly. You do remember, however, the first time you did. 

The thrill of anticipation, anxiety bubbling up in your throat until, finally, your hands mold against each other, fit like they were meant to be like that since the beginning. He usually runs a little warm and you usually run a little cold and you know he’d taken off the tapes around his fingers only for you.

You know for a fact that everyone thinks you two are dating. And maybe you are. You never really bothered to talk about it after that first awkward discussion in the hallway.

There are other things to talk about.

Which College to go to after High School and what to major in. If you’re going to work during the break or not, using your free time to bother him instead. What to get his little sister for her own graduation and how to make sure Takao doesn’t interrupt what you’ve begun to call “Nap time”.

No one ever naps during nap time. 

But no one needs to know that but the two of you, snuggled up on his or your bed, pretending that what you’re doing right now isn’t cuddling and that brushing your lips over his isn’t kissing.

Because friends don’t do that kind of thing, right? 

But who are you kidding, if you cannot hide your feelings even from yourself?

-

You’re almost at the door of your classroom when you pull in the other direction.

Shintarou could easily drag you through the door but he follows your lead, up the stairs and to the roof, silently accepting that he’ll miss the first class of his last day.

The air is already thick outside, the summer heat turned all the way up. 

But it’s a little easier to breathe out here where no one else is watching, where you have to focus on nothing else but his warm green eyes.

“I am in love with you,” you tell him, hand still in his, “I think we should clear this up. I don’t want to be just friends any longer.”

His smile grows slowly but surely and it’s like watching the sun rise over his face.

“Does that mean I can call you my girlfriend now?” He asks after he’s pulled you in and kissed you, spoke all the words he couldn’t say into his touch.

“I’ll bite you if you don’t.”

🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.🥕.

If you ever saw the first version of this on AO3, no you don't.

My Kofi if you'd like to tip me

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] Event | Top of the Blue Sky | Episode 1

Banri: …

Misumi: Huh? Kumon, look, Banri’s over there~.

Banri: (Hm? That voice…)

Kumon: You’re right! I wonder if he’s on his way back from school.

Kumon: HEEEY, BANRI!

Banri: Damn, you don’t gotta yell so loudly. What do you want?

Misumi: Me and Kumon were just about to do a street act~. Do you wanna join us, Banri?

Banri: Sure, why not? You got a theme?

Kumon: The theme is delinquents!

Banri: Delinquents?

Kumon: Yeah. They recently dropped a spinoff manga of the crazy popular “Yankee Star” manga.

Kumon: It’s super interesting, so I wanna be a delinquent too!

Banri: Gotcha. I mean, can’t say I haven’t been interested in that manga too.

Kumon: Really!? Then I guess I’ve got no choice but to lend it to you next, Banri!

Banri: The hell do you mean you don’t got a choice? 

Misumi: I’ve been really into doing delinquent etudes lately too. I’ve been doing them with a leaf in my mouth like this~.

Banri: Nah, you know there ain’t too many of that kinda delinquent nowadays, right?

Misumi: Huh, really? I got it from a manga I borrowed from Azami~.

Banri: That’s prolly ‘cause it’s an over-the-top delinquent manga from ages ago.

Kumon: It makes sense that you’d know a lot about delinquents, Banri. You’re just like a real delinquent!

Banri: …Hey, the fuck you mean I’m like a delinquent?

Kumon: Because it’s true. I mean that as a compliment now!

Banri: “...Quit fuckin’ with me. Today’s the day, I’m gonna wipe that damn smirk off your face.”

Kumon: !

Kumon: “That’s my line, bastard!”

*Kumon throws a punch and Banri dodges*

Banri: “Hah!”

*Banri swings back*

Misumi: “Hey, hey, it ain’t fair that just the two of ya get to get along like that. Count me in. Hyah!”

*Misumi kicks and Banri and Kumon dodge*

Kumon: “A flying kick!?” 

Banri: “Goddamn, he’s for real.”

Passerby A: Huh, is that a fight?

Passerby B: No, it’s a street act! But wow, that’s impressive…!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Applause*

Banri & Kumon: Thank you so much!

Misumi: Thanks for watching, everyone~!

Kumon: That street act was so much fun!

Misumi: Yeah! It was really, really fun~. Thanks for joining us, Banri!

Banri: No problem. I mean, I usually have fun with it too.

???: Excuse me…

Banri: Hm?

???: You’re part of MANKAI Company, right?

Banri: Yeah. You know us?

???: Of course, I’ve even come to see your plays before. I’ve always been supporting you.

Kumon: Thanks, we’re glad to hear that!

???: Likewise. I just came to hand out flyers, but I ended up being lucky enough to see something so incredible like that.

???: Right. Can I give you one of these flyers? It’s an announcement for a newly opened rehearsal studio.

Banri: Ah, sure thing.

Misumi: There’s so many triangle patterns on this flyer! They’re very wonderful triangles~.

???: Haha, seems like all the work I put into designing it was worth it. Well then, I’ll be going now.

Banri: “Rehearsal Studio Blue Sky is Now Open!” huh? Seems like it’s pretty close by.

Kumon: I wonder if that guy just now is a staff member there or something.

Banri: Prolly. I’ll let Director-chan know about it in case we’ve ever got an opportunity to use it.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Door opens*

Kumon & Misumi: We’re home~!

Izumi: Ah, welcome back, guys.

Banri: Perfect timin’. Director-chan, you ever heard of Blue Sky? Seems like it’s a new rehearsal studio in the area.

Izumi: Blue Sky, you mean the place that’s facing backlash on social media right now…?

Troupe Members: Huh, backlash?

[ Next Part ⇢ ]

[archiveikemen]

『 The Past Records 』 Collection Event: Chapter 6

Jude Jazza & Ellis Twilight

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection. I do not own any of the original content. Please support CYBIRD by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

❥･• Warnings and FAQ

Ellis: … Because of a promise.

Harrison: A promise?

Ellis: Yeah.

– Flashback Start (Ellis’ Memories) –

< Ellis’ POV >

We met each other four years ago.

On the night I arrived in London and was wandering around town in search of accommodation, I was crossing a bridge when I saw him there looking up at the moon.

Looking at his vacant facial expression from his side profile as he finished smoking a cigarette, I thought he was going to fall into the river below.

So, I asked him a question.

Ellis: Are you happy?

Jude: Huh? … So what if I am?

Ellis: I’ll make the happiest moment in your life… last forever.

Jude: Hah? What was that? You’ve got a screw loose.

I was used to being treated like a joke.

But that person was different, he gave me a serious answer.

Jude: The happiest moment in my life, huh. Perhaps… it’ll be when I go to the moon.

Ellis: The moon?

It sounded absurd, but I could tell from his tone that he was serious.

Go to the moon, huh.

I once heard the same thing xxx years ago, a very long time ago.

With that thought in mind, my words came out naturally.

Ellis: … I want to go there too.

Jude: … Are you really a nutcase?

He meant that in a serious sense, or maybe he was just casually saying it, but either way he poked me in the forehead.

In an instant, I lost consciousness — and when I woke up, I was still on that bridge.

The moon’s position had moved lower, like it was about to disappear behind the buildings.

That person was still there.

Ellis: How many cigarettes have you smoked?

Jude: No idea. How long did you sleep?

Even after he finished smoking his cigarette, he didn’t fall into the river.

I felt relieved.

Ellis: By any chance, do you have strange abilities? I do too… look.

Jude: Huh? Ah!? What the fxxk are you doing!?

He didn’t seem to like what I showed him.

Jude: You made me drop my cigarette! Don’t do that again!!

He was fuming, but for some reason he invited me to his home because I didn't have a place to stay.

Because the way he laughed when I said “I want to go there too” was amusing, I felt like I wanted to see that face again.

– Flashback End –

< Third Person POV >

Harrison: … Ellis?

Ellis: Oh, uhh… right, the promise.

Ellis: I’ll support Jude until the happiest moment in his life comes.

Harrison: Do you even gain anything from that?

Ellis: Yeah, … I do.

Jude: …

Harrison: Hmm… oh well, as long as both of you are agreeable, I don't really see any problem.

Alfons: There’s something I’m curious about too.

William: Why don’t we all ask any questions we have?

Alfons: How much money was Jude given to convince him to join Crown?

Elbert: On the topic of money…?

Victor: Not much different from what everyone else got.

Victor: Ah, but there was an additional condition in Jude’s contract — which was for his trading company to receive continuous funding.

Roger: That’s a smart move.

Jude: Of course.

Victor: BUT, BUT, the reason why the contract signing went rather smoothly was because you liked me, right?

Jude: No way in hell.

Victor: Ehh? Didn’t you very readily sign this contract?

Ellis: Wow, I’m getting nostalgic.

William: Do you have everyone’s contracts on you, Victor? Insecure, aren't you?

Victor: I’m not! I just happened to bring it along with me today, I wasn't expecting the conversation to go down this direction.

William: So, this means that Jude didn’t trust Victor when he signed the contract?

Jude: He’s some random guy with money, power, and high social standing.

Jude: When someone like him presents me with a contract that benefits only me, of course I’d think he’s got a shady hidden motive.

Victor: EHH!? You signed the contract while having suspicions about me?

Jude: Did you think I’d trust someone like you at first meeting? You’re too naive.

Victor: W-Wha…

Jude: I have no idea what you're planning to do, but I already prepared myself to eventually deal with whatever hidden agenda you may have.

Victor: T-Then, did Ellis also…?

Ellis: I signed it because I was told “write your name here”.

Victor: That’s a relief… NO, THAT’S NOT OKAY AT ALL! You should always thoroughly read the clauses in your contract before signing!

Alfons: Life would be so much more simple if we could trust others so easily.

Roger: I have nothing to say to the people who had so much distrust in Jude and Ellis, they had to resort to writing such a report.

William: Ahaha, indeed.

William: Through this “observation” process, I can see that the two of you have become well adapted to Crown—

William: I’m looking forward to what's to come.

…

— The night wears on. Today as well, two busy shadows left Crown’s castle.

Ellis: Now that the issue with Wilson has been settled, I guess it’s about time we do our first mission as members of Crown.

Jude: I guess. I don't know.

Ellis: Jude, are you happy right now?

Jude: Obviously I feel like shit because I’m forced to act all chummy with those guys.

Ellis: Hmm.

Jude: … What?

Ellis: Nothing. … Although I’m not making anyone happy, I’ve kind of been having a little fun ever since we came to this castle.

Jude: … Nothing wrong with having fun without making anyone happy.

Ellis: It’d be nice if you could have fun too.

Jude: Leave me out of this.

Ellis: Maybe I’ll get to see you look happier than before while we’re in this castle.

Jude: Enough with your creepy expectations.

Ellis: Everyone said that it’s natural to not easily trust someone you just met.

Ellis: But you trusted me from the time we met, right?

Jude: Ah? That’s too long ago, I already forgot.

Ellis: You’re lying. I know your memory is good.

Ellis: Say, why did you think to make such a promise when we first met?

Jude: … No reason. I must've been out of my mind.

Ellis: Hmm.

Jude: … What?

Ellis: I was just thinking that being trusted without reason might be the number one most pleasant thing.

Jude: Shut up.

Their footsteps echoed in the dark night alongside each other’s, neither getting closer nor drifting away.

Ellis: … I think I’ll buy some souvenirs on the way back.

Jude: … Do whatever you want.

[toothpastecanyon]

Return, to the Scene of the Crime - Chapter 3

Playing human again, Alcor makes it longer than he usually does. He's in college now, juggling classes, family, a curious vampire, and a strange, increasingly sinister web of mysteries weaving themselves around him. Without his omniscience to guide the way, he'll have to work hard to get to the bottom of this before it spirals out of control.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

“Now, class, can anyone tell me what year the Dinner Crew was founded? Anyone?”

One hand went up, and a wave of snickers spread through the lecture hall. The professor pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Can anyone other than Lucy Ann put their hand up, please? Okay, Dipper?”

“Um, I’m confused. Is it 2048 when Hank moved to Portland, or 2049 when the first Dinner Crew charter was signed?”

“Uh...”

“Definitely 2048.” Lucy Ann sat back in her chair. “That’s when I joined.”

The professor tried for his politest smile. “Oh-kay, uh, Lucy Ann?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s, um, really an honour to have you sitting in on History of Early Transcendence-”

“Hey, no problem.”

“But! Hah, but, um, the problem is you’re not actually registered as one of our students? So if you could maybe refrain from answering questions…?”

“Oh, sure.” She picked her teeth. “No problem.”

“Thanks, I’m glad you understand. Class, obviously, we’re going by the date of the official charter, so on your test it’ll be 2049.” He changed slides. “Now, can anyone tell me who the first leader of the Dinner Crew was?”

No hands, this time. All the students had craned their heads around to look at Lucy Ann.

“Anybody?” He looked around the room with a frozen grin, wringing his hands. “Uh, hah, come on guys, let’s wake up! Oh! Yes, uh… Okay, Dipper. Again.”

“Hank Pines?” Dipper blinked as Lucy Ann whispered in his ear. “And his middle name was- wait, you’re messing with me, there’s no way he was called Forrest Pines!”

“Oh, you’d better believe it.” She chucked to herself. “Also, you know, Hank was the founder, but it was really a cooperative effort back in those days. Plus people always leave out Vivienne – ticks me off, honestly. I mean, if I had to pick a leader, I might even say it was her!”

The professor gazed out at the sea of students nodding along and taking notes with all the airs of a captain looking at his sinking ship.

Later the class ended, and Dipper was packing up his magi-orb as everyone in the room was filing out. Lucy Ann glanced over at him.

“What’s the next one?”

“Uhh, Russian, in like an hour.”

“Oh, yeah, your Russian class. Am I still-”

“Oh, yeah, you’re still very banned.”

“Well, nobody told me they tweaked the alphabet since I learned it! I was like, ‘why’s she leaving out so many letters?”

Dipper rose to his feet with a chuckle. “Yeah, we all heard.”

“Yeah, yeah, извини. ” Arms crossed, she followed him out. “So, we got an hour, huh? Wanna get something to eat?”

“Ehhh, it’s like a twenty minute walk across campus. There’s nothing really around there.”

“Oh.”

He glanced back. “But we can do something if you want! I’m sure we can-”

“Oh, no, no. Don’t worry about it – heh, believe me, I can entertain myself.” They were going outside; Lucy Ann split off and waved at him. “I’ll see you back at the dorms, alright!”

“O-oh, uh, alright!” Dipper stood there for a second, a little surprised at how abruptly she excused herself, but then he shrugged to himself. “Alright.”

It was always annoying to walk to his Russian class, but on a day like this, he didn’t mind too much. The sun was shining high overhead, a little too hot but not bad in the shade of the trees lining the path. He crossed a green, and saw groups of students hanging out on the grass, gentle laughter drifting his way like the lazy breeze tousling his hair. It was the kind of image he always pictured when he thought of college, him and Mal and their friends talking about their classes, studying together – and he’d never finish his sentence before Mal’d give him a shove and say something like, “Me? Studying? Do you even know me?”

He gave a little chuckle under his breath… one that ended in a sigh. Oh, Mal. He couldn’t believe she’d had to drop out. She was always the one talking about how exciting it’d be to move out; ugh, it wasn’t fair. It was… it just… he wished he could do something about it, you know?

Ugh… maybe he’d give her a call.

Digging in his pocket, he drew out his phone, and scrolled to her contact. The phone rang a good few times; he thought she wasn’t gonna answer, but at the last second it went through - and it sounded like a factory.

“Mal?” He cringed and held the phone a little away from his ear. “Hey, uh, Mal, you there? If you’re talking, I can’t hear you! Mal?”

He thought he heard a mumbling sound through the roar, and then suddenly it dropped to a background sound. Her voice came through in a crackle. “…stupid - oh, there we go. Dipper?”

“Hey, Mal! Where are you?”

“Sorry, I’m just next to the cremation machine. You know how loud that thing is - the noise wards are working now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can hear you.”

“Cool. So what do you need?”

“What do I-?” Dipper blinked. “Oh, uh, nothing! Just thought I’d, you know, call.”

“Oh!”

“I-I guess you’re busy, though? Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“No, no, that’s… thanks! I just wasn’t expecting it - one sec.” There were some fumbling noises, and then her voice sounded a little clearer. “Just put on some headphones - you can still hear me, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, cool…” Dipper said, and cleared his throat. “So! Uh, how are you?”

“Oh, you know. Working. Just uh-“ There was a faint slamming sound. “Getting ready for this cremation. Guy’s got a pacemaker, so I gotta take it out before it explodes in the machine, haha!”

“Oh, haha. Cool.”

“Well, I dunno if I’d call it cool, but it does make me feel a bit like a surgeon, so that’s a little fun. Sometimes I say, ‘We’re losing him!’, that’s,” she laughed to herself. “That’s my little joke.”

Dipper snorted. “Hah! I like that.”

“Oh, finally, someone laughs! You know, it’s usually a tough crowd in here, eh?”

“Well, I’d be more worried if they did laugh!”

“Hah! You’re not wrong there!”

They both chuckled to themselves for a moment. Mallory cleared her throat.

“But yeah, other than that, uh, nothing new. Dad’s doing okay.” A pause. “How’s your life?”

His life. Dipper looked around at the beautiful sunny day, and cringed. “Oh, yeah, it’s, it’s alright. I’m, uh, still at college, doing… college stuff.”

Mal was icily silent, and Dipper gave himself a mental smack on the head; why were these the words his brain was choosing to say? He gave a nervous laugh.

“B-but, uh, haha, I didn’t call just to talk about me! So you’re doing cremations now, huh? That’s cool! That’s great, I-“

“Dipper.”

Dipper swallowed. “Yeah?”

She paused, seeming to think over her words, and then she sighed. “Look, I… I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off the other day. It was really nice to see you again, it’s just, stressful, right now, you know?”

“No, no, I get it. With Dad and the funeral home.”

A snort. “Yeah, amongst other things… but hey. You know I’m proud of you, right? My little brother, getting into honors college!”

Dipper grinned. “Little brother? We’re the same age!”

“My little baby brother,” she said, and they both laughed. “So hey. I wanna hear how your day is, okay?”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Okay!”

“So! Dipper! How is your day going?”

He smiled. “Well, it’s going good. I just got out of Early Transcendence History… walking to my Russian class. It’s - heh, it’s way on the other side of campus, and you get out right at lunchtime but there’s like nothing around!”

“Oh, boo.”

“Right? You walk like twenty minutes over there, and then you gotta walk twenty minutes back to get something to eat!”

“You can’t just drive there?”

“I mean, technically, yeah, but there’s no parking close by. You just end up walking again.”

“Sounds like a real nightmare.” A pause. “Oh, come on!”

“What?”

“Some blood just squirted on my shirt - ugh, I really gotta remember to put on the stupid apron.” He could hear her trying to brush her shirt. “But, uh, yeah, what else? Made any cool new friends?”

“Friends? Uh, well…” he heard Mal snickering, and rolled his eyes. “No, no, I’ve made friends! There’s this guy Darren down the hall from me, and…”

And Lucy Ann, he thought, but god, she was such a strange development he still didn’t know how to bring her up. Mallory cut in.

“Okay, so Darren down the hall, that’s one more than I thought you’d have by now.”

“Oh, and I guess I talked to - Marsh!”

“March?”

“I almost forgot, I do have news! You know how I always wanted to start my own ghosthunting show?”

“Whaaat?” She said in mock surprise. “I’ve never heard that before.”

“Hah, well, you know, I think I’m kind of starting to get known for hunting ghosts around here.” He grinned. “Some person called Marsh called me out to her apartment yesterday. We had a look, scanned around for ghosts…”

“Cool! Did’ja find any?”

He deflated. “Uh, well…”

“Sounds promising.”

He tried for a laugh, but then he shook his head. “Yeahhh, I mean… we decided it probably wasn’t a ghost.”

“Probably?”

“I mean, your necklace didn’t light up at all. And you know how sensitive it is, right?”

“Yeah, you kept getting headaches with the old versions. I had to drop the blocking threshold riiight to the floor.”

“Right!” He nodded. “And even weak ghosts put out a lot of magic, so there couldn’t have been a ghost in that apartment. There couldn’t have been.”

A pause. “Okay.”

“And I mean it could’ve just been… a series of coincidences, you know? It’s an old apartment, maybe it’s no big deal if the toilet flushes by itself, the TV turns on… she said the fridge kept opening…”

“Well, maybe it’s not a ghost.”

“Huh?”

"So let me get this straight. The toilet flushes by itself, the fridge opens by itself, and you think that’s a haunting?”

Dipper blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You’re really not seeing it? Who’s the real family genius here, huh?” She chuckled to herself. “I mean, I know you love the preternatural stuff, but that doesn’t sound like a ghost to me. That sounds like she’s got an extra roommate.”

“What, you mean, like… there’s someone else living with her?”

“I dunno, do ghosts go to the toilet? Do they use the fridge?”

“Wh- but-“

“Do they watch TV?” She snorted. “I mean, maybe I’m wrong, but I’m just saying.”

“But that… doesn’t make any sense! Marsh said nothing was stolen, a-and she didn’t see anyone in her house! How could someone just hide away like that? And why would they be hiding? Why would they-“

And then he stopped. Dead.

His eyes went wide. His stomach dropped.

“I dunno,” Mal was saying, and her words just washed over him. “That’s just my theory. Maybe…”

“The jewelry store.”

“What?”

“It’s the jewelry store,” he breathed, and then the gravity of it caught up with him. “Oh, my stars, Mal, the jewelry store robbery! What if it’s him?”

“Wh- jewelry store heist? What are you talking about?”

“Somebody robbed a jewelry store a few blocks from campus - really close to Marsh’s apartment!” Oh my stars, he thought, they drove right past it on the way over! “What if it’s him hiding there! What if - oh, shit, Marsh!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, what are you talking about?”

“It’s-“ He turned around and took off running. “Oh, I can’t explain now, she could be in trouble!”

“Nobody’s in trouble! Dipper, nobody’s in trouble, don’t-“

“I gotta go!”

“No, Dipper! Dipper, don’t-“

He hung up, and dashed back across campus as fast as his legs could take him, his backpack bouncing on his shoulders. He struggled to tap Lucy Ann’s contact; he was nearly to the parking lot by the time he managed to call her.

“Y’ello-“

“Lucy Ann!” He gasped. “Marsh - apartment! Gotta - whoo, gotta get there!”

“What? Wait, what’s going on?”

“I… figureditout!” He stumbled to his car door, almost too out of breath to talk. “Go - go there! I’ll explain!”

“Marsh? What’s wrong? Are you in-“

“I gotta go!”

Then he hung up, and struggled to call Marsh as he pulled out of the parking lot. Shit, she wasn’t picking up; he tried again, and groaned when it rang out. She didn’t even have a voicemail!

Then his phone started buzzing, and he quickly made to answer it - but wait, oh, it was just his sister. She was probably really confused why he hung up… but he didn’t have time, he had to get there now!

He’d explain later.

______________________________________________________________

As panicked as he was, Dipper couldn’t help but park neatly before shutting off his car. He stared up at the apartment for a moment, took a breath, and got out. He took the stairs up two at a time, sprinted for her door, and started knocking on it.

“Marsh! Marsh! Are you in there? Marsh!”

At first he thought she wasn’t home, but just as he thought of stopping he heard footsteps. Footsteps… Dipper suddenly thought of who else might be in there, but before he could do much more than step back the door was opening.

“Wh- you again?” Marsh rubbed her eyes as she glared at him. “Dude, I’m working tonight. You can’t just-“

“You’re in-!” He stopped himself, and leaned in close to whisper. “I think you’re in danger.”

“What?”

“Just come outside for a second,” he said, and led her a little ways from the door. “You remember when I came to find the ghost?”

“Yeah, that happened yesterday. What about it?”

“I think I figured out where it is… and what it is, I…” he thought for a moment. “Can I look in your roommate’s room?”

“Uh, sure? But what’s so dangerous about it?”

“I - I need to make sure. Just… stay back for a second, okay?”

“Uh, okay.” She frowned in concern. “Be careful, dude.”

Be careful - Dipper was opening the door when those words hit him. This was… this was actually pretty dangerous, wasn’t it?

Maybe he should call the police? But no, how would he explain this to them? And what if they didn’t find anything - he’d look like an idiot! Suddenly all the cracks in this theory were starting to show, but he was in too deep now.

No, he just needed to play it cool, find proof, and then he’d be out. Easy!

“Uh, okay, Marsh!” Dipper said, loudly. “I’m just here to look for ghosts again, like we agreed!”

Shit, he just realised something about himself: he was a terrible actor. Dipper waited for a response from the house, but it was silent. Was he not here, or…?

He thought for a moment, then an idea struck him. Putting his backpack down on the couch, he started rifling through it; come on, he didn’t put it away, right? It had to be- aha!

Drawing out the Ouija board, Dipper held it in front of him, and pretended to stare at it very intently. He moved it this way and that, and then acted like he was picking something up.

He walked down the hall, steps echoing in the silence. His breath felt too loud; his heartbeat sounded like a drumbeat in his ears. He took a look in the bathroom, then approached the ever-ajar door to the bedroom like he was sneaking up on a rattlesnake - a cautious shuffle forwards, a head peeking through the door, looking around for-

Ding!

With a little scream he dropped the board and jumped back, only to realise - it was his phone! Oh, just his phone, just his phone. He reached in his pocket to silence it, and gave a little laugh.

“Uh, whoops!” He tried for a grin. “D-dropped it, haha…”

Oh, this was such a bad idea. He gathered up the board with shaking hands, and held it out in front of him like a shield as he stepped through the door. The floor was warped in here, the floorboards uneven and shrieking under his weight. He cringed as he took another squeaky step forwards, and looked around.

No one was here… but the dresser across the room was closed. Swallowing hard, he crossed the floor, grasped the handle, and opened it up.

Just clothes, he saw, and let out a breath. Okay - okay okay okay. If this guy was really hiding here, he must be out at the moment.

Thank the stars… but now what? He could be gone forever - Dipper cringed at that. Maybe he spooked him off yesterday… or maybe he thought he had them fooled, which means he’d come back. And if he was coming back, he’d want to leave some stuff behind here, right? So it’d be hidden somewhere.

A grimace. That made sense… at least, it sounded like it did. So if he could only find a stash, that was evidence!

But where would it be? He looked around the room, took another peek in the closet, and frowned. Hmmm… maybe the posters? Oh, yeah, maybe he put them in a hole behind them!

He took a step towards the poster, and a loud creak echoed through the room.

He paused, there. Leaned from one foot to another - creaaaaak . He could feel the floorboards shift a little under his feet, and when he took another step, this one was even looser. Huh.

There was a rug right by the bed. Dipper stepped towards it, put the Ouija board down, and grasped it by the corner. He gently slid it away, and he could see it immediately; one floorboard was so loose it came out of place just by the movement of the rug.

Dipper rushed to kneel in front of it. Quickly he took out his phone, and shone it down; it was dusty down there, and he thought he could make out something… but it was covered by another floorboard. He pulled up that one as well, shone it down again, and gasped.

There was a small, dusty backpack under the floorboards, and when he reached for it, he felt the weight - it was much heavier than it looked, and there was a tantalising clinking sound that sent his heart right into his throat. With shaking fingers he reached down to open it; he grasped the zipper, dragged it slowly down the side, opened the bag, and gasped as he saw-

Creaaak.

A sound behind him. Before Dipper could move, something cold and metal shoved itself against his temple.

A voice, low and hard and seething.

“You think I’m fucking stupid, don’t you?”

Dipper glanced back - glanced, then felt the gun shove itself harder against him. But he’d seen it: there was no one behind him. “Wha- what, I-I-“

“Fucking around with this ghost shit, pretending you didn’t know I was here the whole fucking time - she set you up to this, didn’t she! She wants to cut me out of the fucking deal!”

His voice was the scariest thing Dipper had ever heard. He felt himself trembling all over. “I-I don’t- I-I don’t know what you’re- I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

“Don’t you fucking play dumb! You think you can make a fool of me?” A hand grabbed his shoulder like a vice. “You think I don’t know what’s going on? She wants to get rid of me! I had a feeling right from the start, and now here you are like clockwork, ready to take it away from me!”

“I-I don’t-“ He shook his head. “Please, man. Please. I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, okay?”

“Oh, you’re going to be sorry, Dipper.”

“Please d-don’t kill me, please don’t- Please. Please, I-“

The front door. They both froze as it swung open hard, as a familiar voice shouted into the apartment:

“Dipper!”

Lucy Ann. Dipper heard the man curse under his breath. “Shit… okay, you gotta make her leave. Get up.”

“What-“

“Get. Up.”

The gun shoved itself against his ear, and Dipper struggled to his feet. Stars, his legs were shaking-

“Dipper! You in here?”

“Uh…” he felt the man push him forwards, and made his way to the door. “I-I’m here! Everything’s… everything’s fine!”

“Dipper?” He came face to face with her in the hallway. “Oh, thank the stars. What was that call, man? Scared me half to death!”

Dipper gave a loud laugh. “Hahahaha! Yeah, um, it was… nothing!”

“Nothing?”

“Y-yeah, I looked and… and found nothing!” He moved to block her as she looked into the room.

“What?”

“I said, I found nothing.” He looked her right in the eye. “I found nothing, okay? So let’s go.”

Lucy Ann opened her mouth, but then she seemed to take him in; the sweat on his face, the tension in his body, the way his head was leaning oddly forward. There was a flicker of something across her face, but it was quickly swallowed up with a convincing scowl.

“Oh,” she said, and then she gave him a punch in the shoulder. “Then screw you, man! You scared me half to death!”

“Ow, hey-!”

She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down to her level. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, okay? Or you’re going to be sorry!”

Then he was shoved into the living room, and he stumbled to keep his footing. He blinked several times, and opened his mouth- but Lucy Ann was already gone.

There was a shout from the bedroom, a hard thump, a yell of pain. Eyes widening, Dipper raced to the door just in time to hear a-

BANG!

The sound was painfully, deafeningly loud; he recoiled and covered his ringing ears, and almost immediately someone knocked him to the floor. Squeezing open his eyes, he saw a figure he’d never seen before, a tall, scruffy, bleeding man with the backpack on, yelling and pointing a pistol into the bedroom.

“…what you get!” He was bellowing, but it was hardly louder than the ringing. “That’s… you fucking get!”

Then he grabbed some car keys from the counter and ran for the door; Marsh came rushing in, only to shriek and duck away from the sight of his pistol.

Dipper struggled to get to his feet. He felt like the world had gone sideways, but someone grabbed his shoulder - Marsh grabbed his shoulder, and helped him up.

She was saying something, but he could only see her lips were moving. He shook his head, leaned over and caught himself on the doorway - no, no, he had to see, he had to get to… Lucy Ann!

For one horrible moment, he thought she was dead. She lay against the bed, cradling her eye; his heart dropped when he saw dark blood leaking from between her fingers… but he also saw she was cradling it, letting Marsh help her up, and shaking her head when she tried to pry her hand away. I’m okay, he could see her saying. I’m okay.

She was okay. He was okay. Everyone… was okay.

Dipper let himself bask in that for a moment, let the sheer relief wash over him, and bring him to his knees. He caught himself on his hands, and immediately felt something sharp. Lifting his palms - and resisting gentle arms trying to help him up - he saw blood on them, saw little shards of something slip off and fall back to the ground.

There was something on the floor, subtle shimmers and sparks that caught his eye. He managed to feel out a bigger piece, brought it closer to his face, and that was when he realised what it was - it looked like a shard of multicoloured glass. Broken etching wards sputtered on the surface, flickering it in and out of existence, and when he looked at the floor again, he could see the ripped-off chain of a necklace.

Oh, he thought, and the voice in his head sounded a million miles away.

An invisibility charm.

So that’s how he got out of the jewelry store. He figured it out.

How about that.

It wasn’t funny, but Dipper found himself laughing, laughing harder than he’d ever laughed in his life. He was sure he was screaming, but he couldn’t stop, couldn’t hear anything over that godawful incessant unending ringing.

How about that, huh? HOW ABOUT THAT!

How about that.

[tartigglez]

"i know it hurts..."

headcanons of some genshin boys when you have your period (pt.1??)

kaeya, diluc, thoma, childe, zhongli (separately) x afab!reader (pronouns not mentioned)

genre: fluff

word count: 800-ish

tags: periods, no distinct mention of blood, wholesome boys (for the most part), a lottttt of physical touch + petnames, kaeya is teehee, diluc is clueless as shit, thoma is absolutely whipped, childe is also clueless, zhongli is wayyyyy clued in

tw/cw: zhongli is written as genderfluid, mentions of foods/drink (soup + tea), kisses in zhongli's, i don't think there's much else to add here, lmk if i missed smth

a/n: surprise? hi! i've had a very emotional night, so its time for something extremely self indulgent. i wrote this mostly for the genderfluid zhongli agenda. also i'd like to remind everyone that i am genderfluid, my pronouns are they/she/he!!! ty, enjoy.

kaeya’s personality seems to go through some sort of shift when you’re on your period, seriously! he’ll go from being a flirty, unserious captain with an eye catching smirk to a kind, gentle, soft spoken man. he will quietly hold you if you’re in pain, and try his best to distract you. will kiss you softly and assure you that it will pass, without ever making you feel like you’re exaggerating. strokes your cheek and does whatever you want to do in order to stay distracted. 

“darling? are you alright? are you sick?”

“no, just cramps.”

“ahh, here.”

“how does this feel? you okay? comfy?”

“yeah, I’m okay. thanks kae”

“not a problem at all, lovely”

“so, how was work? 

diluc is lowkey confused at first in your relationship. he’s never spent much time around anyone who has a period, let alone having to live with one, so it makes sense (a little) that he really doesn’t understand anything that’s happening to you, or what hurts, or why, or how he can help. the first time he finds you curled up in his bedroom in dawn winery he’ll be really confused and awkward, run to adelinde and try to very discreetly ask her what to do (he doesn’t do a good job), but eventually she gets what he means, and tells him to just ask you, which he builds the confidence to do after hyping himself up for like twenty minutes.

“hi”

“hi, 'luc”

“uh… are you okay?”

“ish?”

“uhm… may i talk to you about something?”

“yeah, of course! what’s up?”

“what is… happening to you right now? it’s painful, i know, but how do i help? what do i do? what do you need? how can i make you comfortable? i don’t want you to be in pain.”

“pah, how sweet. come, sit, i’ll explain”

thoma knows exactly what is going on, and when its going on. keeps track of your periods (with your knowledge and consent ofc) just so he knows what days to bring you whatever you may need. he’s a BIG BIG acts of service and gift giving kinda guy, because he’s always in the city, so he always picks things up for you. this happens even more when you’re on your period. of course, sometimes, his estimates of your starting days will be a little bit off, so he might end up randomly doing something and it seems like its out of nowhere, and he tries to play it off like it is too. 

“thoma? what’re you doing home this early?”

“oh, I thought i’d come home and make you soup!”

“make me… soup? that’s a little strange…”

“no it’s not! it's just because i thought you liked it, especially when…y’know”

“hah, your guess was off darling, you’re two days early. still, i appreciate the thought love. let’s eat?”

childe is clueless. extremely clueless. but he’s also super duper sweet, and a very fast learner. he tries his best to understand what’s happening and what to do, but unfortunately he doesn’t really have anyone to ask about it. so he’ll literally read a book, which is rather rare for him but he would literally do anything for you. if you’re feeling really unwell, he will insist on taking the day off work to look after you. he’s extremely attentive and gentle, which is the side of him his “co-workers” don’t get to see. 

“morning baby! how’re you feeling?”

“mmhh,, morning chi. ‘m okay, a bit crampy”

“okay, i’ll stay here then.”

“what? no, you have work. you gotta go!”

“i’ll call in sick, they can live without me for a day”

“chi you can’t do this agai-”

“i’d do anything for you”

zhongli. understands. everything. okay hear me out. zhongli can take any form he wants, so sometimes out of curiosity he would change into another body. he’d get completely, utterly shocked the first time he got a period whilst in this form (it was unexpected.), but learned how to cope with it, because he wanted to be able to fully understand the struggles that some mortals might go through.

he knows exactly what to do when this happens to you, speaks to you calmly and holds you if you get cramps. will brew tea for you, and get the latest herb combinations for pain relief from baizhu. will snuggle up to you, place his hand on your stomach because it’s warm, and hold you close. kisses your neck gently and asks if you need anything, overall just a big sweetie. if you want him to, he’ll go into his half-dragon form, so he can wrap his tail around you. loves you more than anything and will do anything to make you comfortable. you need something? it’s yours, no matter the extremes he has to go to in order to get it. constantly making sure you take your time with everything, and making sure that you don’t overexert yourself.

“my love, i know you’re in pain, please don’t push yourself”

“i know, i know, i just have a little more work to do”

“i trust you, but i’m staying here with you, just in case. have you eaten? are you comfortable? do you need any pain relief?”

[magicamicitia]

Volume Two, Chapter One

“I have the perfect plan!”

After finishing her homework, Twilight Sparkle stared at the bulletin board on her wall as she tried to brainstorm her friendship plan.

She’d gathered information from other students at Canterlot High, and as it would seem, the hatred - or fear - of Sunset Shimmer was a universal feeling.

Twilight recalled her first meeting with Sunset.

It wasn’t the most pleasant either, but… on that same day, she had the privilege of discovering a different side to the seemingly mean girl.

“Are you really trying to get them to team up with Shimmer?”

Twilight turned around. The white fairy with dead red eyes stared at her from her bed.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“You’re wasting your time, you know? Magical girls don’t trust others that easily. Besides, Sunset Shimmer doesn’t have a contract with me, so she’ll just be a liability to them.”

“Sunset saved my life.” Twilight murmured. “She’s a good person, I just need find a way to show them that!”

Kyubey seemed to have caught onto something.

“How could a human like her save your life?”

She remained silent.

“Unless…”

“Listen, Kyubey,” She stopped him before he could say anything else. “I really appreciate your… constructive criticism, But I need to be alone to think right now.”

The little creature stood still for a moment, analyzing the human. Then, he simply nodded and leaped out the window.

Back to the bulletin board, Twilight thought to herself,

“Sunset and I became friends because I had the opportunity to see a different side of her when she saved my life.

She walked in circles, pondering.

“So all I have to do is make that happen another five times over again! Twilight Sparkle, you’re a genius!”

However, amidst her flash of inspiration, Twilight remembered something.

“Oh, right. How’s Sunset supposed to save everyone else if she’s a regular human and they’re magical girls? Agh! I didn’t think about that!” She lightly hit her own head. “Stupid! Stupid!”

At the corner of her room, her dog Spike barked softly. She turned around to see him sniffing a pink orb surrounded by a gold encagement. Her soul gem.

“That’s right!” She picked it up and held it over her head. “I’m also a magical girl! I can just create magical problems and help Sunset magically solve them!”

Spike whimpered.

“Shut up, it’s a great idea! I’ve got it totally under control.”

The next morning, Twilight Sparkle woke up earlier than usual and stopped by Sunset Shimmer’s house on her way to school.

Ding

Dong!

The doorbell rang. Sunset opened the door, to find her friend standing with a bright spark of determination in her eyes.

“Oh, hey Twi…”

“Sunset!” She enthusiastically interrupted. “I have the perfect plan to get everyone to totally like you!”

“Huh? You’re still on about that?”

“Still on? Hah!” She snorted. “I spent all night coming up with it!”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just listen. Here, see, this is a soul gem.” She took out the tiny fabergé egg out of her pocket. “Magical girls need these things to transform and use their magic. If we lost them, It would be pretty bad.” Twilight said with a tone that almost made it seem like she was trying to tell a joke.

“I-I guess it would be?” Sunset wasn’t really following her friend’s train of thought.

“So,” She put the soul gem back inside her pocket. “Here’s the plan; I’m gonna use magic to summon a fake witch. Then, I’m gonna call everyone to fight it. But, while nobody’s looking, I’ll steal Fluftershy’s soul gem!”

“You’re gonna WHAT?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll give it to you! And then, when she realizes she’s lost it and starts totally panicking, you can give it back to her and save the day!”

“Twilight!”

“What?”

“She’s just gonna think I stole it in the first place!”

“No way! Fluttershy loses stuff all the time. Just say you found it on the ground or something. Trust me, it’s the perfect plan.”

Sunset slapped her own face in distress.

“Twilight, I really appreciate you doing this for me, but…”

“You do? I’m glad! Let’s go then! We have a long day ahead of us!” She took her by the hand, not listening to anything else Sunset Shimmer had to say.

“We sure do…”

Lunch. The perfect hour of the school day when Twilight Sparkle knew all five of the magical girls would be together. They sat at a table in the corner of the cafeteria with no one else. Twilight reached out the hand with a magical silver ring on it towards Fluttershy’s school bag. She didn’t know how it worked, but she knew she had magic flowing through her soul. And magic can do anything. Repeating those thoughts to herself, slowly but surely, the Peach-colored soul gem fell out of Fluttershy’s bag, and dragged itself towards Twilight’s hands.

“Got it!” She yelled thriumpantly. A couple of students turned around and stared at her for a few moments. “Sorry…”

The commotion warned the magical girls.

“Twilight?” Applejack said. “What’re you doin’ on the ground?”

Alarmed, Twilight quickly hid the gem behind her back. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go, but whatever.

“Oh! Um, I-I came to get you guys, because…. There’s a witch! In the Gymnasium!”

“There’s a witch in the gym?!” They all shouted in unison.

Rainbow Dash jumped on top of the table, propelling herself forward.

“This one’s mine!”

“Rainbow, Be careful!” Applejack ran after her.

“Come on, girls!” Rarity stood up. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded.

As they were leaving the cafeteria, the fashionista turned back for a moment. “Twilight, we could use your help.”

“Oh!” Twilight suddenly remembered that she, too, was a magical girl. “Yeah. I’ll be right behind you.” She lied.

Once they all had left, She quickly strutted towards the rooftop, where she knew Sunset always ate lunch alone.

“Sunset!! I got it!!” She waved the soul gem in her hand.

The red haired girl nearly choked on her food.

“Twilight! You actually went through with that crazy plan?!”

“Yeah! And it worked! Here, hold this and be at the gymnasium in about, like, five minutes.” She handed over the soul gem. “I have a witch to conjure!”

Twilight left as quickly as she arrived. Sunset, however, was left standing shocked in place. She looked at the soul gem in her hands. It let out a strange glow, almost as if it were in pain.

“This can’t be good…”

Before entering the gym, Twilight quickly transformed into her magical girl attire. Breathing in deeply, she gently opened the door.

And she found

Four

Girls

Standing there

And

On the ground,

A corpse.

[oraorahoe]

The main three being jealous over reader? :3

Hi hi!! Love this req! Lol you always send in great ones :))

*JJBA (Part 3 Jotaro, Josuke, Okuyasu) Jealous Over Reader!;*

(wrote this with GN! Reader because why not…)

****************************************************

Jotaro (3)♡:

Jotaro’s more of the silent aggressive type but when Polnareff got a bit “too flirty” as he does with everyone- towards you…? Oh it was not very pretty.

You were playing cards with Pol, Kakyoin and Jotaro in your hotel room on your trip to Egypt to fight some sparkly vampire man. “HAH! Beat that Y/n!” Kakyoin shouted slamming down a “straight” (if you don’t play poker- it’s a pretty good hand lololl) you guys had been playing for what felt like hours- but there was nothing really else to do at the place, “Oh hey- why don’t we all go to the pool?!” Pol bleated out with a huge grin.

Not such a bad idea! You all decided it might be nice to check out. You went to get changed into your swimsuit and ran downstairs to the pool jumping in and making a huge splash. “CANNONBALL!!!!”… As you get out to jump again, you see Polnareff looking you up and down- and grinning from ear to ear. “Heh…”

Jotaro looks over and sees this interaction. And he tips his sunglasses down like some badass action movie character. “Polnareff…” he says gruffly, “If you ever look at Y/n like that again I’ll make sure you have no teeth left to smile at them with…” Polnareff backed off shuddering…

((Woa Joot O_O…))

Josuke♡:

Josuke was never the type to get very jealous; he’s naturally just more of a “go with the flow kinda guy.” But he began to get fed up when one of your casual “friends” from school kept being touchy and frankly a bit annoying towards you-

it started to get on his nerves like you wouldn’t believe >:(, this dude was all over you! Even when you asked him to stop. Hugging you, asking to walk you to class, just always trying something, even when you would politely decline.

“Oh y/n I’ll carry your books for you…”

“Uhh… that’s fine thank you- I can carry them myself…”

Then he’d just grab them from you… and try to put his arm around you possessively.

This was the final straw for Josuke. He decided to step in because this guy clearly wasn’t getting it. “Hey- would ya leave Y/n alone?! They clearly don’t want you bothering them, so stop being a freakin’ dick…”

“Huh-“ the guy turned around, “They don’t seem to have a problem with it….” He said looking over at you half glaring. “Are you kidding asshole?! Just leave them alone…”

“What- no! Just take your weirdo hairdo somewhere else kid….” the other boy said rolling his eyes.

Oh no…

(*insert DORA! x1000*)

Josuke managed to land a suspension but you ended up thanking him for getting that kid to stop being annoying towards you- it was sweet of him… you just wish he hadn’t gone that far overboard with it heh… (;-;”)

Okuyasu♡ :

It was Koichi’s birthday! Oku, You, Yukako and Josuke, planned to throw him a celebration at Tonio’s Italian restaurant… Okuyasu never thought he’d end up punching someone in the stomach midway through the party though…

Half the town was invited- I mean everyone loved Koichi- he’s such a reliable guy! There were games, and laughs radiating throughout the whole restaurant, Okuyasu was over gobbling up all the delicious Italian food at the buffet.

“Truth or Dare Okuyasu?” Koichi asked,turning around and smiling cheerfully. “DARE!!” He replied…enthusiastically… no way Koichi would come up with some crazy dare… 🙄 “DRINK A SHOTGLASS OF HOTSAUCE!” Koichi shouted, giggling- “Wh-What?!?!”… “No way!! I hate spicy foods!!!!” He blurted back at him…

“Alright alright… I got one!” Hazamada exclaimed, snickering and interrupting their game. “Rohan sensei- truth or dare?”… “Huh-! I’m not playing this childish game…” Rohan sneered, rolling his eyes. “Ugh… come on…” Hazamada pestered. “Fine whatever- truth…” Rohan answered begrudgingly.

“OOOH I was hoping you’d say that…” Hazamada paused… thinking for a moment. “If you could kiss Y/n would you?” WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!?!

You nearly spit out your drink right in Koichi’s face… “Oi You smarmy little dick where do you get off asking questions like that…” Okuyasu chimed in- glaring at him. “Chill out it’s just a game…” Hazamada chuckled. “CHILL OUT- Quit asking questions like that making Y/n uncomfortable, you ASSHOLE!” Oku shouted- grabbing Hazamada by the collar and swiftly punching him in the stomach. “Woa woa Okuyasu-!” Josuke and you ran over to calm him down.

Oh gosh- well it was sweet of him to stick up for you,, even if his temper is a bit out of whack… his heart is in the right place 💜

****************************************************

hi hi :) I’ve been inactive for quite a bit so sorry I’m replying back so late! Hope you like it!!! <3

[mugram]

[opens door, Es enters]

Es: Good afternoon, prisoner–

: I even came later than I was needed to.

: Eh?

Masaru: [impatient tapping before he turns around] Finally, you’re here. Took you long enough.

: What kind of Warden doesn’t even come on time?!

Es: Hah–?

: Well, you think you’re the one with all the power here, do you?

: You’re just the prisoner. I’m the Warden.

Masaru: [scoffs] I never said that.

: You should’ve come on time.

: I would’ve left if you didn’t come in.

Masaru: [laughs] You think you I’d be bossed around by some, what, 17-year-old. Fuck off!

Es: !

: Prisoner number 2, take a seat or I’ll have to use force.

[running]

[pained scream as noises play]

Es: So, that’s what J…

Masaru: Damn it!! Why can’t I hit you– [slap]

: Gah– [stumble]

Es: Prisoner number 2, Masaru, I need you to sit down or I’ll have to make you endure more of that.

Masaru: …

: [chair creaks] Fine.

Es: Now then, let's begin. MUGRAM exists to reveal the sins of all the prisoners here. In order for me to decide, we need to talk.

Masaru: Just talk? I would’ve expected more from this place considering we’ve all been magically transported here and wearing whatever the fuck these uniforms are.

Es: You’ll understand more of the process later.

Masaru: Fine.

Masaru: Well, I would’ve thought a prison would let their prisoners talk to someone outside the prison.

: Do I even get to talk to anyone else?

Es: Why would you talk to anyone else?

: You’re all murderers.

: But, it seems like we aren’t given that ability here.

Es: …

: Why must I tell everyone this… 

: Now, I need to know something about you, Masaru.

: This prison is unlike any other.

: Certain things don’t apply to this place.

Masaru: Tch. Alright. My name is Iwai Masaru, 19. Turning 20 soon.

Es: …Am I allowed to know anything else about you? Like your occupation?

Masaru: Does it matter to you how I make money? Leave me the fuck alone, Warden.

: I want out. [stands up]

: I’m done with this stupid interrogation.

Es: We’re doing this interrogation whether you like it or not.

Es: [slams table] You aren’t done with anything, prisoner!

Masaru: !

: What?

Masaru: No, we aren’t– [restraints tighten, wheeze]

: Warden– 

: [Masaru falls to the floor]

Masaru: Warden– what is this?

Es: !

: Masaru–

: I can’t move–

Es: …

: I didn’t expect–

: J never said–

Masaru: Please– I’ll fucking listen– Just let me move–

Es: Ah– Okay.

[restraints loosen and Masaru scrambles over to the seat]

: How has your time in MUGRAM been like so far?

Masaru: …It’s fine. Everyone’s a bit annoying, I guess. There’s not much to do except walk around and talk. No one has interesting enough stories for me to listen to, so I’m bored.

Masaru: You can–

: Hey, could we get something to do?

Es: Yes, you can request it.

: …

: I don’t think anyone’s been telling me that. Thanks.

Es: ?

: No problem, I guess.

: Now, what did you do before–

Masaru: Can I make a bet with you, Warden?

Es: …A bet?

Masaru: I’m bored and no one else seems to want to take me up on my offer.

Es: You are in no condition to make–

Masaru: Shut. Up.

: I was thinking… If I told you what I did, I bet that you think I’m guilty or not forgiven or whatever bullshit terms you use.

: So, guess what? I’m gonna tell you a few things.

: And, you tell me, right now, what you think.

Es: I can’t tell you my decision before your extraction–

Masaru: Well, it’s the terms of the bet, so tell me.

: Are you going all in?

Es: [huffs] Damn you, Masaru.

: Fine, let’s play.

Masaru: Alright. It’s my turn, then isn’t it?

: Let’s see.

: I like doing this little thing to get money.

: It’s like a dare game that I play with friends.

: It was pretty fun, I gotta say. [laughs]

Es: So, what I’m hearing is…

: And, if we completed it, we’d win and get money if some people decided that we wouldn’t do it or complete it or whatever.

: Eh, it’s basically like a bet game, what am I saying?

: Your motive for murder was greed?

Masaru: What–? No, I wouldn’t do that–!

: You failed your bet and lost all your money.

: Out of a fit of rage, you killed them. You needed that money back and you’d do whatever it takes–

: I’m not that fuckin’ greedy.

: I’m telling you I did nothing wrong.

: I just played by the terms of the bet.

[mechanical noises]

Es: So, it’s time for your extraction.

: I’m simply doing my job.

Masaru: Eh? The thing about taking our deepest thoughts and putting on display?

: Isn’t that invasive or something?

Es: In MUGRAM, finding out the truth behind your murder through your private thoughts isn’t invasive.

: And, it’s my turn to prove your guilt, isn’t it? All in, as you say.

Masaru: Hah… That’s not even how you say it…

Es: Any last words before we continue into this?

Masaru: …

: I’m still willing to wager my innocence.

Es: Fine then.

: Prisoner Number 2, Masaru. Sing your sins!

MUSIC VIDEO - Ace of Spades

[highladyluck]

Season 2, Episode 6 Liveblog

Elayne is getting a puzzle! :D this is such good enrichment for Elaynes

Rand’s secret little smile at ‘you can fight anyone’

“It needs to be healed” creepy but I kinda love it in a fucked up way

Not the pitcher :(

“That’s almost nice” WTF that’s so dehumanizing and so Seanchan

Well that’s almost entirely by the book

Compare/contrast these two chained up figures

Importance of chosen names

This is a much more effective mindfuck then whatever TGH Selene was attempting

Psssst Rand it’s bad when your new girlfriend separates you from your support network

Min you are harshing the vibe

“She broke the 3 oaths?” “Every single one” (Elayne took notes)

Names are a theme

I don’t think I want Lanfear doing me favors

“Many paths through the dark” I do appreciate leaning into the Lanbiguity

Suroth, if the Empress saw how you were toying with her Gardener she’d be very upset, those are Imperial property

Loial, have you considered: Stab them with the plant

We are about to have pitcher problems

The way the a’dam prevents a damane from using things they think of as weapons is a weird twisted echo of the 2nd oath. I’ve wondered if the Oaths would prevent Aes Sedai from making a’dam and I think it would depend on what the Aes Sedai termed a weapon that someone could kill another with.

Yeah this is pure book although the ‘you’re not a person�� line is an extra ouch

“Pour a glass of water” echoing horribly the water-cleaning from the tower

When you deal with the devil, that is actually how it works, I’m afraid

Temple of the Forsaken??? Y’all I need some fic set here. I need Dark Raves honoring Asmodean. I need therapy sessions that make you worse sponsored by the Acolytes of Graendal. I need Moghedonists whispering the sacred crypto wallet keys to each other.

Siuan is probs putting out diplomatic fires in Caemlyn now that they lost Elayne? Or attending Gawyn’s birthday party I guess

Oooh is it the trippy ~TGH dream sequence?

Lmao she calls him Ishy

“See the world as it really is in the World of Dreams” what a fascinating take

Do not ask about Egg!!! this is Lanfear she will make Egg into a flesh balloon for touching you

Smart Rand would be like ‘oh now I know you’re lying [about Egwene being Ishy’s]’ but Idk how smart he is

Oh this is heartbreaking she found the lost sister

Ooooooh are we going to see Bayle again so soon?

Nyneave like ‘I’ll allow it” but only because Elayne is saying what she would have

Elayne is getting a puzzle! :D this is such good enrichment for Elaynes

Awwww what a nice nosy boy who will repeat the contents of the letter

Watch she doesn’t stab you when you look away

Mommy issuessssss

I like the air knives

Because you want a legacy!

Ooooh lesson time. Everyone is barfing in this ep

Rand’s secret little smile at ‘you can fight anyone’

Oh god [MY BOYS!!!]

KISS!!! -ok moment’s gone

Mat and his lil grabby hand on Rand’s shoulder, my tactile boy

‘Some of the damane can sense people channeling’ guess we def changed the lore about how channelers sense each other, mildly annoyed about that, but it’s consistent within the show

That’s smart, trying to see the catch in the water like a mirror

Exercising power

Oooof that’s a new twist “I hope they told you at your White Tower how special you are”

Renna are you going to make her set it on fire??? The thing that comforts her? [post-ep I was thinking about the contrast in how the Seanchan command Loial and his tree powers- they are uncomfortable with it and have to ruin the moment. They don’t have the same power over him without tools.]

Well that was an uncomfortably sexually charged moment of excited panting [please tell me it wasn’t just me]

Proud of you, Egwene <3 Hah you made Renna mad good for you

Elayne: “I need a bestie real bad”

Mat gets it because Mat also has The Depression

RESCUE TIME

Min is like I am here to give you bad news, as is my fate

Mat’s good at bullshit detecting & does not handle betrayal well

This is very sweet but I feel like the subtext is “You will be eaten alive as king”

Pope hat

Oh my boys they are so sad

It’s time for… [Alanna and her posse corner Rand] OH SHIT IS IT HAPPENING?

I don’t think Nyneave does modulation

“It needs to be healed” creepy but I kinda love it in a fucked up way

Ooooof next time we see Ryma she’ll be with my Most Problematic Of Faves I guess 🫣😬☹️

This series loves to hang characters and if it can’t get Mat than anyone else will do

[Renna pours out the cup Egwene just filled] Oh fuuuuuuuck you Renna

You still won. You’re still alive

Our lost Blue Sitter coming in at the clutch