#does marble know that it can stop at literally any time

[cryptomiracle]

more creepypasta headcanons

(+ marble hornets)

WARNINGS:

Ooc? Idk

I started this at 2 am and you can tell

Cursing

I write on my phone so the format may be a little weird

Any brands, games, or characters mentioned in this do NOT belong to me, nor am I sponsored by them in any way.

This is very unserious, I've noticed that a lot of my other hcs usually take a "dark" turn and so I decided to make some that didn't.

You could even say they're a bit... silly.

You should totally check out my masterlist for more hcs (it's pinned)

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Characters: masky, hoodie, ticci toby, jeff the killer, and BEN DROWNED.

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Jeff:

he's extremely hard headed, he WILL argue/fight with someone over the dumbest things and he'll never stop arguing, even if he knows the other person is right.

He has an "emo accent"

He likes to start drama between people, and then leave the crime scene.

He is so ashy you could strike a match off of his elbow

He's been wearing the same beat up converse since 2012, them things are being held together by duct tape and a prayer.

His favorite animal is a raccoon, he says they're sneaky and nocturnal like him.

He refuses to get a new phone, he won't even steal one.

He curses all the time just cause he can, sometimes he'll even jumble random curse words together.

BEN:

He listens to vocaloid and he doesn't play about miku

He runs one of those "rage bait" accounts that are painfully obviously bait

Still quotes old memes and refuses to let them die

Example: yeet, t-posing, and "sanic the hedgehog"

He scams old people on Facebook and e-daters, he doesn't feel bad about it either.

He uses the money he gets from scamming to buy v-bucks and overwatch coins

He once doxxed someone for dissing miku

slender had to take away his mic privileges because he was keeping everyone up at night by yelling bloody murder at people on fortnite/overwatch

once showed up at someones house because they emoted on him after killing him in game

Toby:

He vapes, and thinks he's so cool cause he can do "vape tricks" and he makes people watch him while he does them

Someone once gave him apple cider, told him it was alcohol, and he pretended to be drunk.

His phone gallery is filled with random photos, like there'll be a low quality picture of a tree and then right beside it a picture of a ceiling. Just random stuff

Mint chocolate chip ice cream enjoyer

He's really flexible, although he has bad posture he can do back bends, the splits, etc

more on his terrible posture; when he sits he literally looks like this: ) )

When he first started working for slenderman, he REFUSED to live in the manor and lived outside. While he lived outside he became friends with a lot of the wildlife, slender eventually made him move into the manor because there was a rumor that toby was going to make a "possum army" and try to overthrow slender

He will fight anyone and anything he really doesn't care about his, or their well-being.

Had a "weeb" phase when he was in middle school and he still has nightmares about "naruto running" away from his bullies.

Hoodie:

He can make a killer sandwich (lol) he's not the best at cooking other things, but if you get him to make you a sandwich, he'll bless your taste buds.

He loves karaoke, he can't sing for shit but he still does it anyway

He acts like a millennial (I'm sorry) not to the point where it's completely unbearable, but he will send people "relatable memes" every now and then

He enjoys online arguments, he'll never participate but he will scroll through different threads of people arguing for hours on end

He likes for people to say stuff like "GO WHITE BOY GO" to him

He blushes when he lies, he's a scarily good liar but if you ever want to catch him in a lie, point out the fact that his cheeks are red.

Whenever he has a drink with a straw, he holds the straw in-between his tooth gap.

he sends streaks.

Masky:

He has a NASTYYY side eye, and sometimes he'll scrunch up his nose while side eyeing someone just to make it sting even more

Contemplated getting a mullet once, he never went through with it though.

He coughs like someone's grandfather who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years

If someone says a word that reminds him lf a song he likes, it'll automatically get stuck in his head and he'll hum it all day after that.

he isn't weak when it comes to stinky smells, but if it's stinky enough to make him gag he's extremely overdramatic.

he learned how to sew because of how much he ripped his jeans, shirts, etc.

Sleeps so hard sometimes people think he's dead, he'll just be laying there looking casket ready but everyone is too scared to check on him cause he gets super grumpy when woken up.

he always keeps a little money hidden somewhere, even if it's just a 5 dollar bill.

he's superstitious, if he sees you attempt to walk under a ladder he will physically drag you back and make you walk around it.

he has a pair of brass knuckles which he only saves for "special occasions" they're his favorite things ever, he even named them.

he only uses his phone to call, text, or search something up, and that's it.

he doesn't even have YouTube installed.

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I will be reading over this to check for any errors, ty for reading - M

[thanotaphobia]

fly bird fly

i'm losing my mind. i'm going crazy. i'm going CRAZYYYYY. i wrote this in like 2 seconds literally oh my god

i will crosspost this to ao3 in a second lmao EDIT: CROSSPOSTED

⋆

They trip through the portal, and Phil’s stomach drops.

Not that it wasn’t already on the fucking floor. Through the floor, even. All the way in fucking hell, where apparently, that goddamn eye beast thinks they belong. Phil trips through the global portal and ends up by the cornucopia, Tubbo shrieking in his ear and a vague ringing in his ears.

His lungs hurt, clogged with thick dust from the crumbling marble ceilings. He can still see Chayanne in his mind’s eye, terrified but hiding it well. Tallulah, openly terrified. All the other eggs, dirty and frightened. He can still hear Foolish’s voice in his ears, shouting, screaming. He can see Fit’s face, and that thing. He can’t believe how tall it was, towering over them. And El Quackity…

“Phil, lasso me,” Tubbo demands.

He shoves his face into Phil’s space. Phil doesn’t jump– just stares at Tubbo and the dust in his hair, the blood running down his face, and then blinks.

“What?” he asks.

“Lasso me, lasso me,” Tubbo says, already pulling out his glider and shoving it onto the floor, struggling to open it. “We can fly, you can fly–”

Phil inhales, the very action sending bolts of pain through him, and his wings extend without so much as a thought. It’s strange, having muscle memory for something you haven’t done in months. His feathers ruffle, and every inch of him aches with the effort.

“I don’t know if I can, Toby,” he says, and Tubbo shakes his head.

“You take the paraglider, I have water, we can– you can fly us out, can’t you? Can’t you? We have the coordinates–”

“My wings are– I can’t–”

“Can you get us there, Phil?” Tubbo asks, shoving a lasso into his hands. The other end is tied around Tubbo’s waist, and Phil looks at him. He sees Tubbo face and the blood and his own sword crushing through Tubbo’s sternum with the thick crack of still-wet bone, and he exhales. Then he nods.

“I don’t know,” he says, “but we can try.”

“Go,” Tubbo says. “I have a water bucket.”

“Okay,” Phil says, and he fumbles for his grappling squack, and fires.

Flying isn’t something that just comes naturally. It’s a skill that has to be learned and honed, a sport like any other. There are specific muscle groups linked to certain maneuvers, stretches specifically created just for avians who fly professionally, all sorts of things in order to make someone’s wings in perfect shape for all types of flying. Long distance, sprints, racing twirls. Phil is known for being able to do them all– or at least, he had been. He can remember the training, the time he’d put into it. The things he’d had to do in order to instruct his body over and over and make it used to the strain.

It has been more than six months, and his muscles scream.

His shoulders ache. His forearms burn with the stress of pulling Tubbo behind him. His legs cramp and his lower back throbs. The pain is immeasurable, uncountable, uncontrollable. Phil can grit his teeth but it doesn’t stop the flashes of white behind his eyes as he spreads his wings and flies, desperate. He can barely see the horizon as he goes, but he does anyway, listening intently for Tubbo and pushing down the instinct to curl into a ball and sob with the pain.

They land, and it’s a brief moment of relief before they’re off again, Phil firing his grappling squack and Tubbo shouting something unintelligible into the wind behind them. He trusts Tubbo to land the water bucket shots every time he lands, but he only has to a couple times before his MDA pings he’s getting close; his wings are numb by now, the shoots of pain frequent and intense, making him shudder and twitch every three seconds or so. Behind him, Tubbo is yelling, screaming into the wind, and Phil would join him if he wasn’t so out of breath. Every inch of him is on fire– and not in the good way, not in the Bolas way, just in the torturous way. 

He keeps seeing Chayanne. Flashes of yellow on the landscape below. Hope, like a flower, blooming in his chest. But every time he sees it, or sees Tallulah, a black fist crushes that hope with a quick blink. 

Finally, he sees water, and the boat. His wings are on the verge of giving out and he barely gets Tubbo out and over the water before he stumbles, cramps, and pulls into a nosedive.

When he slams into the water, it’s cold– it shocks him, and he inhales by accident, coughing as he breaks the surface. His wings are wet and heavy but he can’t bring himself to care, spitting out clumps of water and dust mixed together into a thick, glue-like paste. He feels like a cement mixer, and ahead of him he can see Tubbo crawling out of the water and onto the back of the boat, hair plastered to his forehead. Somehow, he finds the strength to lift his arms and make his wings spasm in a way that pushes him forward, towards the boat. He feels Tubbo’s hands on his arm and then the faint sound of him shouting, and then Fit invades his gaze and two other hands grasp him, dragging him onto the boat. 

The wood is hard beneath him and Phil lies there for a second, still spitting up water and gunk. Fit and Tubbo are talking, and he clues in just as Fit says–

“Phil, we have to go get the others.”

“I can’t,” he says. Neither of them seem to hear him. His wings lie limp and lifeless behind him, waterlogged and exhausted. His entire back is on fire and his feathers are dull, the weight dragging him back as he forces himself to stand. His body feels like one gigantic bruise.

“We have to get others,” Fit says, the elytra on his back ruffling. Phil envies him, but only for a moment.

“I can’t,” Phil insists. He rummages through his inventory, and comes up with a lasso in his hands. “My wings are gone, dude, they’re– I can’t fly, it’s not physically possible. I can’t get anyone–”

It doesn’t matter how much he wants to. It doesn’t matter how much guilt gnaws at him, tearing through his stomach lining with teeth that gnash and chew. 

“I will, then,” Fit says, determination writ on his brow. His face is impenetrable, but Phil sees his own guilt reflected back at him. “Here, the lasso, I’ll–”

And then he’s gone, and Tubbo is left supporting Phil with one hand, and Phil is still reeling. They have one singular moment to breathe. Phil spits onto the deck, and Tubbo follows suit, red blood mixing with water and then disappearing as another wave washes up onto their feet. They stumble forward and Phil shakes Tubbo off, then shakes off some of the water from his wings. Even that little motion sends acres of pain flashing through him, like sparks of electricity up and down his spinal cord. He thinks he might be dying.

He kind of hopes he is.

God, Chayanne.

“Phil,” Tubbo says, looking at his MDA. It’s ringing, and vaguely Phil realizes his is too. Everything is still a little fuzzy in his ears. “Shit. Meteor. We need to go, we need to–”

And then they’re on the move again.

He has no choice. He runs.

[onmyyan]

Save a horse, ride a cowboy.

A/N: here comes the boy NOT EDITED

TW'S: FEM READER, YANDERE, STALKING, MANIPULATION, MURDER, MENTION OF PIGS EATING CORPSES NOT GRAPHIC 👁️👄👁️, READER GETS CALLED PRETTY GIRL

Ashley Hunt HC's

The idealized western cowboy in a modern man's body.

6'6 and wide as a barn, Ashley is an old-fashioned type of beautiful, looks like someone straight out of an Old Western.

His sandy hair has a habit of falling in his eyes when he's working so he often wears a brown leather hat he'd gotten from his Father to prevent this.

He has this habit when he's thinking where he plays with his lips, it's very distracting.

Smells and looks like he's just come running from somewhere- never unpleasant though, it's a mix of sweat and the country air.

Always has that saccharine smile on his handsome face.

Has a loud, goofy laugh, his eyes light up when he does it and his nose scrunches in the cutest way.

He's polite to everyone he meets but he is far from a pushover.

Hates bullies of any kind. Takes on the hero role whenever he's confronted with injustice.

If he sees something wrong he can't just sit by and not do something.

Which isn't hard considering this big mf hauls farm equipment around for a living, he's had to wrestle rowdy bulls into their pens before, he can take another person down easily.

Holds the door open for you every time. Don't even think about touching that handle.

His go-to look is a pair of denim Levi jeans (man's got serious cake when he's working all the strong muscles in his thighs bulge), a white tank that sits on his flesh like a second skin, if it isn't too hot he'll throw on a flannel.

Got a BAMF belt buckle as a gag gift one year but he unironically loves it.

Does this thing where he stands at his full height, stares down at you, his hat casting a dark shadow over his heated stare, both of his big, strong hands rested comfortably on the buckle, it made your knees weak every time.

Knows you have a thing for his voice so he likes to come up from behind and gently kiss just below your ear,

"Hey there Sugar Bear."

All his clothes look well-loved and worn, he don't care much for how he looks, which is ironic since the whole town calls him a pretty boy.

Looks like someone pulled him straight out of one of those sexy country man calendars.

He's a pretty confident guy, except when it comes to you, of course, then he turns into a bumbling teenager trying to talk to his crush without fumbling over his words.

Gets all red and blushy when you call him pretty. Literally has to fan himself with his hat.

You like to randomly shower him with compliments and he gets so flustered he has to stop what he's doing to kiss you.

"Good lord woman yer gonna' put me in an early grave."

For a while, you had to avoid the friendly farmer because the mere sight of him hauling hundred-pound stacks of hay like they weighed nothing had you feeling some not-so-platonic things.

Has you sweating like a sinner in church just from one well-timed boyish smile.

His wavy locks are a few different shades of dirty blonde, he's almost always wearing his hat in an effort to keep his bangs outta his eyes,

The times he took the damn thing off were your favorite cuz the way his hair fell around his face, framing it beautifully, you could really see all of his marble-carved features.

Takes his hat off inside, of course, his mama raised him right.

Works on his family's farm, he grew up working the fields with his Pa so hard work is in his blood.

When he starts something he finishes it. No matter what.

That includes pursuing you as his one and only.

Sun-kissed skin from being outside all day.

He can play the acoustic guitar and loves to sing to himself during his free time.

Voice is deep and warm.

Really good at puzzles.

Loves the idea of a big family but at the same time is so possessive of you and your attention that he battles with the idea.

Likes to draw for fun, mostly sketches and stuff is really good at it.

He likes to sketch you most of all.

Has dozens upon dozens of journals filled with your visage, he doesn't think he can ever truly capture your beauty.

Really self-sufficient if something breaks down in your house and you don't wanna spend a fortune calling some company, you called Ashley Hunt, and he never asked for anything in return either.

Whenever he goes to town people always stop him for something, be it for his help or to give him some goods as thanks, he never leaves empty-handed.

The whole town just adores him, so much so that if you ever tried to run from him, try to use the townsfolk to hide, they'd lure you into a false sense of security, convincing you they'd drive you outta town, only to hand deliver you back to Ash.

He's a protective/possessive/worshiper kinda Yandere.

The first time you meet you're just moving into your Gran's old farmhouse, he knows your Grandma well as she's the closest neighbor to his Farm, he'd been regularly helping her out with household chores or busy work whenever she asked.

The day he sees you hop out of her pick-up, he swore his heart skipped seven different beats.

Your delicious-looking form was clad in these little shorts, no doubt trying to combat that county heat. The black t-shirt you had on was rolled up at the sleeves showing off your arms, he watched them flex as you hauled a box over your shoulder like it was nothing.

His throat goes dry, sweat begins beading at his temple, and it's not the 90-degree weather, you helped your grandmother out of the car with a graceful smile and a certain kind of sweetness, the sight had a swarm of butterflies going wild in his belly.

He saw the remaining boxes stacked in the back of the truck and knew he'd found his ticket in.

You'd come back outside to the towering man at the edge of the yard, hat in hand, he'd shoot you that star-studded smile, voice sounding like melted butter.

"Hello there Miss, my name's Ashley Hunt, I'm your next-door neighbor, I just came on by to check if y'all needed a hand." He gestured towards the truck with his hat.

Then you had the nerve to shoot him that damned smile, so bright and full of life it nearly knocked him out of his socks.

He spends the rest of the day helping you move in, the conversation flowing so easily by the time you two stopped talking it was well past midnight.

He learned so much about you, just from this one convo he knows everything he needs to about you.

And you're perfect.

"I sure am sorry for keeping you up so late sweetheart." Running his hands through his hair he couldn't keep his eyes off you.

He watched you visibly light up at the pet name and couldn't fight the smirk pulling at his lips.

"Don't worry about it! I was having so much fun- again thank you so much for all your help today." You looked so sweet standing there next to him, he was a good head or so taller than you, you looked up at him with those beautiful (e/c) eyes and he had to fight the strong urge to hold you against his chest.

Knows from that night alone you're his Darling.

It's inevitable you spend time with him, as he was your closest neighbor.

He finds any and all excuses to come over in the beginning.

"This floorboard feels a little loose, I'll come by later n' fix her up."

"That window feels a bit drafty hun, why don't I get a handle on that."

Eventually, he runs out of stuff to repair and builds the courage to just ask you out for a romantic dinner at his place. He doesn't cook anything fancy, but it does taste good a real homemade meal.

He thinks long and hard about how to show you he's the one and comes up with a teeth-rottingly cute idea.

Leads you by a gentle hand out to his field where he'd prepared a soft blanket and several throw pillows, fairy lights were strung up on the fence nearest, casting a warm glow on the scene.

After you spend hours talking and giggling, you lay back against the soft blanket and stare up at the clear sky.

Well, you were busy with the stars, he was busy staring at you.

"Ain't you a pretty picture."

That night after he walks you home, just before you turn to say goodnight, cups your face in one hand, "Can I kiss you pretty girl?" And when you breathlessly nod yes, he brings his other hand to the back of your neck and softly pulls you the rest of the way in.

He kisses you the same way soldiers kiss their wives before war, takes the breath outta you both.

Loves when you do anything domestic if you cook at his place or oh my god for him? He's whipping out the ring before the plates are clear.

Or when you stay the night for the first time, he's immediately addicted to the way you feel in his arms, and literally cannot sleep without you by his side look what you've done.

His morning voice is to die for.

"G'mornin' pumpkin." He has the biggest grin on his face when he wakes up, likes to trace his fingers on your bare skin.

You put his hat on once as a goof but he freezes in place, his face is beet red and his breath gets all heavy.

"Don't move a muscle Darlin'- lemme get a good look at ya'."

"Mm mm mm- now that's a sight a man could get used to."

Sleeps naked, if you're uncomfortable with it he'd throw on some boxers but that's it.

Runs too hot for much else.

Sleeps on his stomach and likes to stare at you when he does it.

Hold his hand and he will giggle like a little kid.

He's a lot smarter than he looks so his Yandere tendencies are easy to hide.

"C'mere sweetheart, don't think we're leaving the bed yet."

He's slowly getting you used to the idea of being his housewife, just wants to take care of you.

Like I said before he's beloved by the entire town so if anyone ever tried something with you he didn't approve of (smile at you a little too hard, make you laugh, get too close for his liking) all he's gotta do is give em' that look and if they're smart enough they back right on off.

However if their self-preservation doesn't kick in at that murderous glare, he gives em' one and only one warning to stay away from what was his. It's only polite.

If they did, Ashley would be all smiles and buddy-buddy. You'd never even know something was wrong.

If they don't back down though, well that's what he keeps pigs for.

Did you know pigs can eat a whole body in like three hours? Cuz Ashley knows.

[augustghosts]

Wasting Water

Tangerine x fem!reader

So uhh… I'm back! But, with something (someone) new! I watched Bullet Train recently and I just couldn’t help myself. I’m so obsessed with this man 🍊 also i’m a sucker for patching each other up after a mission trope so um, I hope someone enjoys this! lmao. I haven’t written in a few months and I'm a lil rusty so if this sucks… don’t even worry about it… also i didn’t proofread this so if you spot any mistakes, spelling or otherwise, let me know!!

Word Count: 2.4K

Warnings: Fem reader. Shower sex. Unprotected sex. Fingering, oral (f receiving), Slight choking but not really, PinV etc etc etc (so minors turn around and leave pls) Established relationship. Lots of pet names. Naughty language, obviously. Mentions of blood and fighting and that. Tangerine being soft with the reader (warning in and of itself.)

“Fuck me,” Tangerine’s deep voice practically bounces off the walls, way too loud for the early hours of the morning. Way too loud for the way her head is pounding right now. He doesn’t see her wince, he’s too busy messing with the cuffs of his shirt. She watches as he unbuttons the white sleeves and rolls the fabric up to his elbows. “That was a fuckin’ disaster.” He finishes,

He finally looks up at her, standing in front of the mirror scrubbing at her hands. The water swirling down the drain turns bright red as it descends. She looks just as disheveled as he does. Dried blood, both their own and otherwise, splashed on their skin and clothes. He feels a pang of guilt as he watches her, he knows she’s upset. The job going so wrong being partially his fault, the argument that ensued on the way back being about him not taking responsibility.

The hotel room is small - the only one left. He’s standing in the doorway of the bathroom, practically right behind her. She looks up at him and his heart twists inside his chest - she looks tired, and sad. He hates it. He opens his mouth to speak but she beats him to it.

“Can you get out?” She asks, turning to him. “I’m gonna get in the shower.”

That squeezing his chest hits him again, he tries to ignore it. He nods and sighs, turning to leave. As he does, the large slash on her cheek catches his eye. He stops in his tracks and turns his body fully towards her.

“When did you get that?” He asks, his hand comes up to cup her face. How did he not notice?

“It’s fine. It’s only small.” She sighs, she doesn’t have the energy to push him away.

“It’s fuckin’ not.” He says sternly. His opposite hand came up to her other cheek. Holding her head still so he can inspect her face. The cut looks deep, a bruise already forming around it. She watches him, his eyes soften as they dart across her face.

“You gotta clean that.” He says, turning to dig through her makeup bag which sat beside the sink. He pulls out a washcloth and starts to run it under the sink.

“I was gonna do it in the shower.” She mumbles. “But you won’t leave.”

He sighs again, a habit of his she’s always hated. He turns with the cloth and she steps back.

“Just get out so I can wash up.” She mumbles and tries to snatch the flannel from him. His free hand grasps her wrist, softly - but firmly enough to keep her still.

“Oi,” He holds the cloth out of her reach. “Let me help.”

It’s her turn to feel guilty this time. The pleading look in his eyes made her feel defeated.

“Up.” He points to the counter. She obeys and jumps up to sit on the cold marble. Allowing him to stand between her knees. He’s as gentle as ever, as he always is with her, as he dabs at the wound on her face. She studies him too. His messy curls and furrowed brow. The bags under his eyes. This job literally couldn’t have gone any worse, but at least they were both safe. Something she liked to tell herself when stuff like this happened. At least he was here, alive and breathing. His face inches from hers, his warm hands cradling her jaw. God, he looked good.

When he places the rag down in the sink, she doesn’t hesitate to throw her arms around his neck. He jolts, surprised for a few seconds - his hands squeeze her thighs as he tries to manoeuvre himself to reciprocate the hug, but she’s holding him too tightly. He chuckles, his chin resting on her shoulder as she cradles his head. They both know what this means- I’m sorry and I love you. They had never been the best at communicating with words, unless they were fighting that is. But moments like this they both understand.

“C’mon,” He mumbles into her neck. Placing a kiss there for good measure. “Let’s get in.”

He gestures to the shower. She sniffles into his shoulder and he pats her thighs before pulling away. He messes with the shower, swearing to himself as he tries to figure it out. She undresses behind him and slides past him into the cubicle when he finally gets the water flowing.

“I wanted to do that.” He jokes after he gets his own clothes off, stepping in beside her. “I love undressing you.” He whispers as he watches her. The hot water drips down her face from her hair, cascading down her body. He reaches

for her hips and pulls her in for a kiss. The first kiss in hours, but honestly, it feels like days. Her hands explored his broad chest and shoulders as they melted into each other. The steam that was filling the bathroom helped to cloud their minds, helping to push out the awful memories from the job.

“So gorgeous, darlin’.” He murmurs against her cheek, pressing kisses. His hands travel to her ass, a firm squeeze forcing a moan of his name from her lips. Her back is pressed up against the cold tile. It’s his turn to step under the hot water but he doesn’t really take it in, he’s too busy tickling the skin of her neck with his moustache. His lips travel south as his hands rise up to cup her chest. Another firm squeeze has her laughing breathlessly against his mouth. He kisses her one more time, slowly and deeply. His tongue brushes hers and his teeth latch onto her bottom lip, a small playful tug.

Within seconds he’s on his knees. Her strong, beautiful man is exactly where she wants him, on his knees in front of her. His lips swollen, cheeks flushed, his gorgeous curls soaking wet and sticking to his skin. His big blue eyes watch her as she pushes her fingers through them, pushing them out of his face. His hands knead her hips as he takes in the view in front of him. One hand curls around her knee, encouraging her to lift it and place it over his shoulder.

“Shit, baby.” He practically groans as her pussy is opened up for him. “I can never get enough of you.”

“It’s all yours.” She whispers above him, the shower almost drowning her out. “Please, Tan."

“God, Sweetheart. as much as I love hearing you beg for me. It’s not needed tonight.” He’s as desperate for her as she is for him. When is he not desperate for her? He couldn’t tell you. He groans into her heat as he has his first taste of the night. He uses his thumbs to open her up for him and dips his tongue in teasingly. The warm tip slowly circling her clit, softly applying the amount of pressure he knows she likes. Her knees almost buckle and a breathless moan of relief hits his ears. Fuck, he loves the sounds she makes. And he intends to drag them out of her all damn night. His tongue stays where it is, working her skilfully towards the edge whilst one of his fingers starts to circle her entrance. It pushes slowly inside and he smirks when he feels her clench around his single finger.

“More.” Her fingers pull at his hair as she whimpers. “Please.”

He obviously obliges, after the hard day they’ve had he isn’t in the mood to tease. His cock is rock hard already and the sensation of her warm, wet cunt squeezing the life out of his fingers has him moaning around her clit.

“Like that. Fuck, just like that.” She encourages him as he begins to work her with his fingers. He glances up at her, her head tilted back, her mouth open as she whispers to him. Ap fucking beautiful. “I’m close. Shit, that feels so good baby. Oh my god.”

It doesn’t take long for the world to crash down around her, his name becoming the only word she can remember. The feeling of his mouth and his fingers and his curls in her hands, quickly becoming overwhelming. He chuckles when she pushes at his head.

“Shit, baby.” She’s panting, the steam from the still running shower not helping. She pulls him in to kiss him messily. Her whole body is sensitive and on fire. Her hand wraps around his cock, he tenses and clenches his jaw and she can’t help but press her mouth to the sharp edge.

“You look so fuckin’ gorgeous when you come for me like that.” He says, his voice gravelly. He’s impatient as fuck, her soft hand twisting around his shaft is driving him nuts.

“We’re wasting so much water.” She giggles against his skin.

“Best get out then.” He says, reaching behind her to turn off the water. She opens her mouth to protest but he covers it with his hand before whispering: “I wanted to bend you over the sink anyway.”

She grins behind his hand, he mirrors it when he removes his palm and guides her out of the cubicle. Her still wet hands slide on the marble counter as she grips it. Tangerine stands behind her with a firm grip on her hip, his other hand holding his heavy cock. Positioning himself at her entrance.

“You ready for me, Sweetheart?” He groans as he rubs his head through her folds. She’s nodding desperately when he finally manages to take his eyes off her pussy and look up at her in the mirror.

“Please,” She knows exactly what he wants to hear. “Please fuck me. I need you.”

He smiles, almost wickedly, at how fucked out she already looked. He hadn’t even started yet. They both moan breathlessly as he pushes inside of her as slowly as he can muster. Holding back just so he can see that pleading look in her eye as she makes eye contact with him in the mirror, a whine leaving her lips.

“I know, baby.” He growls as he begins to thrust slowly. “Fuck you feel so good. So tight and so fucking wet for me.”

She loves when he’s talkative like this. He’s still gripping her hip, definitely enough to leave a bruise. A hand snakes around her body to grip one of her tits, he moans behind her as he squeezes her nipple between his fingers. She stretches her hand out behind her to reach for him and he knows exactly what she wants. After the day they had, she just wants to be close to him. He obliges and pulls her to his chest, both of his strong arms wrapping around her.

“You love it like this don’t you?” He asks, his lip’s right beside her ear as he watches her in the mirror. Her hands are gripping his firm forearms as he thrusts into her like it's the last time. Tangerine was nothing if not passionate, especially when they were alone. One of his hands rises to gently wrap around her throat, tilting her head up so he can sloppily kiss her. All tongue and moaning into each other's mouths - it’s glorious. The feeling of his hand squeezing her neck and the sensation of his moustache on her upper lip prompts that fire to begin to smolder in her belly.

“I’m close, Tan.” She whimpers. His grip impossibly tightens on her and he bites into her shoulder.

“Me too, darlin’.” He says against her skin. “Cum for me, gorgeous. I’ll right fucking behind you.”

One of her own hands travels downwards to her clit, Tangerine's eyes widen as he watches her touch herself in the mirror.

“Fuck that’s it. I love watching you like this.” He tilts her head up towards him again, his hand still cradling her jaw. “Cum for me, baby. I wanna see it.”

His words almost act like permission, her body reacting to him instantly. As usual. Her knees going weak and her grip on his arms tightening as she cums on his cock. Her pussy squeezing the life out of him and the feeling of her nails digging into his muscles sends him off as well. His teeth dig into her neck hard enough to definitely leave a mark as he spills inside of her. The sensation of him filling her up making her squeeze around him again. A breathless moan of his name as they both relax. His arms falling to the counter in front of her, his warm body pressed against her back - caging her in. His lips kissing her jaw and cheek, mumbled praises and affirmations. For the first time that day, she finally felt okay.

She almost ruins the moment for herself, thinking about how they will have to get up and do it all again tomorrow. But the sound of her lover's voice asking her what she wanted for dinner snapped her out of it.

“I’m so fuckin’ hungry.” He complained. Standing up straight and running a hand through his hair. Tomorrow didn’t matter, not when she had the most beautiful man in the world standing right here in front of her. She laughs at him and he laughs back, a rare sight reserved solely for her and a few others.

“I gotta take another shower after that.” She says.

Tangerine earns a smack to his chest when he asks: “Round two?”

[pedge-page]

Okay but pls feel free to ignore this I'm not creative but I love your writing

But I have an elderly sphynx (cat) and he's the love of my life, he gets cold so he wears jumpers and hats, and wants to be inside my clothes for warmth and is just an absolute baby, and sleep in my arms/in my hood honestly 24/7. He's like a small person he's so needy.

I can picture Joel getting home and pregnant reader has acquired one from someone, and the cat is her "practice" baby and she dresses him up and absolutely spoils him and carries him everywhere and Joel is just so baffled by what on earth is going on. BUT CANT QUESTION IT BECAUSE READER IS A MEANIE (as she should be) (mother knows best)

🩷🩷🩷

Sphinx cats are so cute oh my gosh!!! She would love him so much, subconsciously because she'd think it's like a little Joel when he would shave and be like "smooth—hairless—baby man" (which is subsequently the last he shaved fully).

Also can't believe youre gonna give such cute imagery but not even show us with a pic ugh devastating but ALAS. Here's how it would go:

- - - -

When Joel comes home, he usually expects one of two things: you're sleeping on the couch with some mixed fruit jelly smeared all over your mouth and between your tits, or you're throwing a plastic cup (because he pre-baby-proofed the house to avoid having any dangerous objects in YOUR grasp) at his head for opening the door the "wrong way" (how does one open a single sided hinged door the wrong way? He's still trying to figure it out).

So when he walks in the front door and hears excited little peeps from you from the bedroom, he's a little weary.

It's not till he's tossing his keys on the counter and hearing you say "you're such a handsome man" that Joel's heart stops.

There's no way. You wouldn't. Not now, not so fucking pregnant with his baby—

Oh fuck. Was it his baby? Or was it this "handsome man" in HIS house with HIS wife, canoodling in HIS bed!??

And how long? How long has this affair been going on under his roof? The entire time you'd be angry at Joel during your pregnancy, maybe you meant it? Maybe you were done with him, seeking something new and exciting?

When Joel finally rounds the corner, just one step away from the doorway, listening to your giddy gasps and rustling clothes, he doesn't know if he can bring himself to find out. Can only imagine a million things he's going to see, all of which are too painful to conceptualize.

He hears your excited giggles, closes his eyes, braces his heart, and walking in.

It takes him a second to register what he's looking at: there's no other man in here, but rather something tucked up in one of his old high school hoodies that you're wearing, backwards, with the hood hanging against your chest.

Then there's something moving in it, and he's almost scared you may have already had the baby and are suffocating it in the hood, though your belly is still very much full, so what—?

"Joel!" You shout, looking petrified as if you're caught in a scheme.

Before Joel can even speak up to ask what's going on, you're pulling what is possibly (from Joel's perspective, mind you) the ugliest pink squirmy ballsack out of his hoodie, complete with a skiny pale rat tail, big marble eyes and pointed ears.

"Meet Ramses!"

He drops his backpack at the door and stares. "What. Is that."

"I literally JUST said his name is Ramses." you scold, kissing the—thing— on the wrinkly folds of its forehead.

It starts purring affectionately, and it clicks.

"That's a CAT?" Joel shouts.

You can feel the poor thing curls up against you with tension at his booming voice.

Joel, please, lower your voice—"

"Where's its fur? No wait, why is it here? How did you get a cat? Who's cat is it? WHY do you have it??"

"Well Deanna next door had a family emergency in Connecticut and they had to fly out this morning, so I agreed we'd watch Ramses until they got back."

"Why is it naked? What did you DO to it?" Fucking hell, Deanna and George are going to have a field day to find you'd shaved their pet literally within 24 hours—

"That's the way it is. Never seen a sphinx cat before?"

Hes not really listening at this point. Joels heart rate had finally caught up with him as he kind of breathes a sigh of relief.

A cat. He thought you were having an affair with a cat.

"Isn't he sooooo cute!!!" You squeal with little jumpy feet.

But it's not cute. Not with the way it's looking at Joel, with its slitted murderous eyes and pointed claws clinging to you while it hisses at him.

"Why is it in my hoodie?"

"He's cold, damnit Joel even YOU noticed he's naked. Poor handsome baby needs all kinds of love, and sweaters, and warmth and—"

The little sucker is just eating it up, as you babble on about getting it jumpers, and baby socks, and cutting all of Joels sweaters up so it can rest on top of your belly, and a spot for it in the bed—

"The BED? NO. No ballsacks in the bed."

"He's SO much cuter than your HAIRY ballsack, Joel, which as far as tonight, can agree to those terms and sleep on the couch." You scoff him and hold Ramses to your chest, scratching his ears and kissing him as you shove past your husband.

-

Joel doesn't know what to do. Its one thing to agree to feed a cat every so often for a friend while they're out. It's something else entirely to be doing... what you've been doing.

There's a new amazon box in every hour with custom knitted cat sweaters and hats and ear muffs that you've gone off the reservation with just "needing" to keep warm, now full blown getting an outfit for every occasion. He hears you talking to it like a person, using a baby voice to tell him how handsome he looks, "like a wittle baby pharoh". Joel is tripping over all the cans of luxirous cat food youve been "testing" to find his desired taste. The man can't even get cuddles with you anymore because you're so god damn obsessed with swaddling Ramses in your clothes and softest blankets.

And it KNOWS. The damn cat KNOWS you've completely ignored your ever doting and pampering husband for it—while it does NOTHING but absorb your affection. You've craddled it against your every exposed piece of skin from sleeping across your neck to letting it rest atop your bump. Each time Joel tried to hug you, there's a quick hiss at him and low and behold there's the sleeping Ramses all nestled in HIS GODDAMN HOODIES (granted, that he gave you BUT STILL) wedged between your tummy and tits like a sauna, all curled up as youre talking to it like its a—

Oh my god.

"Are you... practicing—for the baby??"

You stop mid bounce of the kitty in your lap, wearing a matching knitted sweater to yours. "What! No! Thats—" but your eyes faulter to the cat who's just been helplessly going along with your toying. "No! Ramses is just a sweet little kitty who has NEEDS. Poor baby boy is so cold, he needs warmth of a —"

"Mother?"

"MAYBE."

Joel goes to sit down but the cat is giving him a less than inviting glare, so he slinks back to the other end of the couch.  "Honey. I think you're taking the cat-sitting too far."

"NO Im not!" You cry. You clutch the poor baby close to you defensively.  Why are you crying? I mean, you KNOW why--you're worried Joel is going to take your baby away from you—

Ooooooooooooooooooh. Oh fuck.

You stare at the little lump of skin curled up in your lap, with his collar that says "mommy's goodest boy" and realize how much Joel is definitely right...

Not that you'd EVER tell him that.

"No. You're wrong. I'm just being a fantastic neighbor. And you're being a shitty husband and not supporting me."

"That's a little too far—"

"And—" you interject. "Even if it WAS my baby practice. Which it isn't. You aren't being a very supportive father here either."

He sighs in defeat.

Can't argue there.

so when Deanna and George call to let you know they're going to be another week up North, you let them know Ramses is in good hands.

All true. Now that Joel had gained Ramses trust and had maneuvered the little guy in the new baby sling that you two could not figure out for months, you felt pretty confident in Joel's papa skills blossoming.

- - - -

Joel dealing with Preggo Wife masterlist

[getinthefuckingjaeger]

the problem with Scamanders

for @jakes3resin (you did a lot, my turn for presents now)

“You could have written, you know.” 

Bucky’s legs stopped as though glued to the cobbled street of the little village he found himself wandering that night. His shoulders fell back along with his head, neck tilted almost painfully to the night sky as he heaved a great sigh. Christ and Merlin, here we fucking go.

He stayed stubbornly still, ignoring the crick in his neck the longer he tilted his head like that. It's not a bad view - an explosion of stars in the night sky fills his eyes in the absence of a German air raid. The shops in the highstreet of this unassuming village in Ipswich are all asleep around him. Thin fog that isn't really a fog flows languidly between his military-shine boots before climbing his legs like vines to a tree. The magic is warm like sunshine and soft as a caress when it touches Bucky’s hands. He flexed his fingers to disperse the white wisps and tuck them into his trousers pockets. 

He still absolutely refuses to budge. No, sir. 

“Merlin, you’re still as stubborn as a Hippogriff, aren’t you Johnny?” A low chuckle cuts through the otherwise quiet night and Bucky can hear the sounds of expensive Oxfords getting closer to where he stands, until there is a wall of flesh and magic by his side, a firm shoulder pressing against his. “Come on, then. Give us a smile.” 

Bucky grimaces at the sky. Looks down at his feet with another sigh. Then looks to his side, and into a face so much like his own. 

With wizards' lifespan as long as it is, the face Bucky sees had barely aged from the last time he saw it. The same gold skin tanned by Quidditch, the same dark mahogany curls falling from its coiffed hairstyle and hanging over the same dark blue eyes - almost navy in the darkness.

But where there’s an absence in signs of age, there is stark evidence of war on that familiar face. Bucky notes the discolored scars peppering the left side of the man’s face like something exploded too close for comfort, the way his nose sits a little crooked like it was set-wrong and far too late to rectify, and - Bucky paused a moment to stare - a thin, barely visible line that runs from under his left ear to his adam’s apple. 

Familiar aftershave fills his lungs, reminding him of a childhood on a vast estate and the summer sun warming his back, as he paddles through cool sparkling waters of the massive fountain on the cul de sac of their mansion’s driveway. He can almost hear his aunt’s exasperated complaints and boisterous laughter of his cousin and uncles, the sounds of struggle as his father tried to push Newt off his perch on the edges of the marble fountain. 

That was another life, then.

“Auror Scamander, sir.” Bucky lets the mask of Major Egan take over as he steps away from his cousin. “Hope you’ve been well, sir.” 

Only years with Buck could ever prepare him to withstand the quiet, appraising look that Theseus is giving him. The stare weighs heavy on his chest as he looks just over Theseus’ shoulder as he would to any senior officer in the USAAF.  Theseus, damn the man, tilts his head just so and catches Bucky’s eyes - his smile is tired, resigned. 

“I’ve been better - the ah, hunt keeps me on my toes, so to speak.” Bucky watches as Theseus tugs lightly at his coat and white silk scarf. “Newt sends his regards, as does Tina - he also sends his thanks, for looking after Frank the... Thunderbird?” 

Bucky and Theseus share a commiserating look, the first one in almost a decade since Bucky was sent back. It wasn’t a chore to disapparate from Texas to the deserts of Arizona after lights out a few times a month. Certainly one of the most rewarding things he’s ever voluntarily done, to be able to run his hands over the beak of such a majestic creature. It’s through Frank that Bucky realizes the calm that one can find sitting in the middle of a literal storm as the massive avian flies over his head. 

I fell in love with the big birds, Buck told him once. Bucky had agreed, but couldn’t explain that his big bird is a little more literal than Gale’s. And that it creates thunderstorms when it flies. 

The glint of Theseus’ cufflinks pulls Bucky away from desert storms and back into the cold English night air. The Scamander crest twinkles under the starlight like a taunt. Bucky didn’t even realize Theseus had put out all the street lights. Goddamn aurors. 

He moves to a parade rest to remind himself of who and where he is now - that he’s no longer just John Egan, cousin of Newton and Theseus Scamander, the three remaining Scamander. 

“Why haven’t you written, Johnny?” Theseus remains a respectable distance from him, but Bucky can tell how much he’s probably itching to shake him by the shoulders in frustration. “Years of silence from you and your mother’s family in Wisconsin. Newt tried to look for you when he’s stateside, but you’re always never there. It's like you vanished - if Frank hadn’t hinted at it, or if your likeness weren't still moving on the family tapestry we’d have thought you dead.” 

Bucky tenses just as Theseus rocks back on his heels like the weight of his anger was a physical thing. 

“What was it all for then, if we thought you died, too?” 

It plays out like a picture reel in Bucky’s head - him, at eight years old with his right hand in Theseus’ left as they walk down the carpeted floor of the Scamander ancient mansion. 27, a war hero, as tall as the suit of armors that used to dot the hallways and the greatest wizard he’s ever known. Then there was Newt, only a year younger than Theseus, his figure painted in hues of red, purple, and green from the large stained glass windows - Bucky can still recall Newt’s excited chatter about all the wonderful creatures on the estate and the Hippogriffs that Aunt Artemis has in her enclosure. 

Then Bucky, at thirteen years old and shaking with barely suppressed excitement as he clutched his shiny new broomstick that Theseus gave him for Christmas. The grand bubble of joy that buoyed him through the entire afternoon of flying lessons with Theseus, half the family sitting on picnic blankets spread over snow covered grounds, the fabric charmed to be warm and dry. The lightness he felt as he shot himself across the estate grounds despite Theseus’ yelling is something he has tried time and time again to recreate as his fort lifts-off. 

And finally at eighteen, once again walking down the carpeted floor of the Scamander mansion. Alone, at night, confused and hurting. Aunt Artemis had gone to town that autumn morning with his parents but none returned. Newt has disappeared - likely on another errand for Dumbledore - and he has never seen Theseus so angry as he threw Aurors, his own colleagues, out of their parlor. 

The subsequent argument he had with Theseus - just the memory of it brings him shame of how it inevitably ended. 

“You need to go, Johnny - Grindelwald is hunting us down.”

“I can fight, T - I’m of age!” 

“I know, I know, you can. I just can’t allow you - think of the family, Johnny. Grindelwald will try to kill you and Newt to get to me, and I can’t protect both of you at once.”

“Fine, I get it. Can’t trust the half-blood to take care of himself, huh?” 

“You said I needed to go and I did what you told me to.” 

Bucky drops the parade rest and shoves his hands in his pockets where Theseus cant see how they shake. Un-fucking-believeable that he’s flown multiple missions, have survived so many things he shouldn’t up there where hell resides above the clouds, but his hands have never shaken like this. Not once. “I had a lot of time to think and I realized - as much as I fucking hated it- you couldn’t afford distractions.”

“It’s not like that-”

Bucky shakes his head and shuffles in his boots. He itches for a cigarette. “I ain’t saying that to be an ass, T. I understand that now more than ever - this war I’m fighting… it puts things in perspective.” 

“I see.”

And Theseus does see - Bucky holds his gaze for as long as he can stand. He kicks a loose stone and it skids neatly over to Theseus’ toes. His cousin nudged the stone back to Bucky. They share a grin. “How bad is it, your end?” He falls back into parade rest, puts away John Egan who was once Mr. Scamander to his peers in Hogwarts, and brings Major Egan to the forefront once again. 

“As well as it is going for yours, I’d imagine Major.” Theseus, always the best one out of the three Scamander scions at reading people, adjusts his posture from soft and imploring, to hard and imposing. Demanding respect, like the Head of the British Auror Office. He pursed his lips in thought. “You may want to properly practice your wandless magic, Major Egan. I’ll take care of MACUSA and the Ministry.”

Bucky splutters. He thinks of an alder wand that used to be an extension of himself and how the yoke of his B-17 can never replace that kind of power.

“How do you expect me to do that, sir?” He grits out. Easy, John, easy now the Buck in his head soothes his ire. “Between the suicide missions and trying to keep everyone’s head on straight - how the fuck do you expect me to do that, sir?” 

“You’ll figure it out, Major.” It came out like an order. Theseus’s lips quirked. “You apparrated from one state to another back in your Muggle flight school, didn’t you? Apparating from London tonight must have been a breeze. Power like that needs tending to. Particularly when you have talent for wandless casting.” 

“With all due respect, sir, but last I checked you’re not my CO - you ain’t even an American, so you can kindly shove-”

“Do it for Major Cleven and your boys, then.” 

The ensuing silence rings through Bucky’s head as the streetlights come back up one by one. Theseus’ hard look softens just a touch as he walks backwards and away from Bucky.  

“I heard your boys are flying a mission tomorrow morning - Bremen again, I think - arresto momentum and subtle shielding charms will do.” Theseus winks, then apropos of nothing, said “I’ll come round’ for tea.”

That broke through Bucky’s bewildered suspension, but not fast enough to stop Theseus from disapparating with a soft pop. 

“Goddamn wizards.” 

Bucky spun and disapparate just as the last streetlight returned.

[chaosduckies]

First of all, Congratulations for 100!

For the writing commissions thing, Could you do a story based on a song?

I have been obsessed with this song (funny that it's already based on a novel) and would love to see a g/t story with it!

Thank you! :D

This one was hard if I’m being honest, but I still managed it! (If you don’t like it, I’ll re-write it! But please tell me what you specifically want haha-) This one is basically a combination of how I interpreted the song and what the novel it’s based on is about (It’s Six of Crows right? Cause if it isn’t that would ruin this entire piece-) This is a kind-of parental g/t, so I’m sorry if you don’t like that trope TwT

But I hope you enjoy! :D

Word Count: 3.7k

CW: Mentions of death

Birds Of A Feather

I’ve never had to stay more quiet in a single house in my entire life. The way the humans’ steps seemed to echo throughout the house sent a slight shiver down my spine, but I didn’t pay any mind. I’ve done this before thousands of times. I wait for him to go outside on his daily walk, get what I need, and head back to my home in the walls where my sister was waiting. I never trusted her to go on her own. She was too young (I mean I was only 14 but still), and I didn’t trust this place at all. 

This area was secluded, what had looked like a nice, humble little cottage, was actually a death trap for borrowers like myself. The human that resides here had seemed kind. A bright smile on his face, friendly with any visitors and his family, but when he’s alone,  it just disappears. As if the kind presence never existed in the first place. There was also one other thing. This entire place gave off an ominous vibe that screamed, “Stay the hell away from here.” It was a mystery to me why I had even decided to settle down in this place. Because I wouldn’t have to worry about so many humans? Well this one was a lot to deal with too. 

After staying a couple nights here I had started to notice just how creepy the place was, and how odd this human’s schedule was. It almost always stayed silent here besides the tv rarely being played at night. But it was almost always quiet. Of course you’d think that would be good for me, but it wasn’t. Normally humans are busy doing something. This one? It’s like he’s waiting for something to happen. He walks quietly through the house, doesn’t talk to anyone unless someone stops by for a visit, only has the tv on when it’s raining. It’s almost like he knows that my sister and I live here, but that would be impossible. I’ve been nothing but quiet and careful this entire time. My sister included since I make her stay at home while I’m out. 

This human seemed to always go on daily walks around the small, secluded forest outside his home. He would come back nearly two hours later, take a short shower, make something to eat, and head into his room that I never dared to go into. I had no idea what I would find in there, but it’s probably not something I want to see. 

I hurried to the counter, grabbing my hook from the side of my hand-made belt and throwing it up as far as I could, barely managing to make it to the top before the paperclip latched onto the ledge. I tugged on it a coupe times before starting my trek up, trying to get out of the open as fast as I can. I hated almost everything about this place. Or maybe it was just me. Lizzie, my sister, claims that she does just fine and doesn’t find a reason to stay quiet, but she just didn’t understand. Humans would hurt her. I’ve seen it happen, and I don’t want her to be in trouble because I just let her do what she wanted. I knew we were small. I knew that we could probably speak louder than a whisper, but I just didn’t trust it. As much as I want- need help, I didn’t trust a single thing about this place. 

When I walked onto the vast expanse of marble, I looked around for literally any kind of food. Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. I cursed under my breath, my head turning out of fear to see if the human had heard me, but I forgot that he wasn’t home. I let out a sigh of relief, continuing my journey to find food. We had some at home, but I had zero idea if it would last my sister and I until my next trip, or when the humans leaves something out again. Plus, I don’t think I can eat bread for dinner again. I’d prefer something healthy, but I can’t be too picky. 

I moved onto the little bowl that he usually kept snacks in plastic wrapping, seeing that there was a small package of peanut-butter crackers among other snacks I already knew I couldn’t get into without making a huge mess. To be honest, I wasn’t feeling it, but anything I can get I guess. 

With a little bit of perseverance, I tore open the package, grabbed a few pieces of the cracker and shoved them into my bag. It should be enough for now, I didn’t want to stay any longer than I needed to be. I tried my hardest to make it look like the package wasn’t ripped open and climbed my way out, rushing over to the edge of counter where my hook was waiting for me. 

I was a good borrower. At least I think I am. I’ve always been good at hiding, “borrowing” as we like to call it, I think I’m also pretty good at not leaving a trail that I even exist. It’s like planning a heist every time I go out. I have to know the fastest way in or out, where all my exits would be. At least in this forsaken house. I just get the creeps here. 

I picked my head up, staring straight at the door that was slowly creaking open. My heart pounded in my chest, fear creeping up and down my spine, breathing becoming ragged. He wasn’t supposed to be home yet. I rushed down the remaining distance, not caring at all about the rope burn I’ll have on my hands later. He won’t see me. It’ll all be okay… I held in a breath, not daring to hesitate sliding down the rope for even a second. I bit down on my bottom lip so hard to help ease the burning sensation on my hands as I rushed down to the ground. 

As soon as my feet were planted on the ground, I pulled on my hook, taking the time to messily wrap it up and run all the way back to the small crack in the wall. I ran as fast as I could, only looking back once to see hazel eyes staring deep into my soul.The breath I was holding in was caught in my throat, shoving my body through the crack and slamming my body onto the hard surface behind me once I was out of view. I tried to calm down my breathing, clasping my hand over my mouth as I felt the human walking closer. The small amount of light that the crack in the wall emitted had nearly vanished, the human most likely blocking it. Everything remained quiet, all noise becoming muffled to me. Were they saying something? I couldn’t hear. Please just go away. Be my imagination. This isn’t really happening. 

  The light came back, I felt footsteps walking away, but I didn’t trust it. I stayed hidden for another couple minutes, about to leave when the shadow came back, making me clasp my hands over my mouth once again. If they were talking, I couldn’t hear. Of course this “heist” doesn’t go as planned this one time. Why did he even come back early? Or did I just take too long? 

I had no clue how long I waited. The human was long gone, but I was too frozen in fear to move. There was no way I was going to risk getting caught. Who knows what this… sadistic human would do to me? Keep me in a jar, a pet, use me for his own entertainment? Kill me. I didn’t even want to think about that. Leaving my sister all alone. Better me than her though. I would hate myself if she was ever hurt because of one of my own mistakes. 

Gathering up the courage, I peaked my head out, shocked at what I saw. There were two bottle caps, one full of actual food, and one filled with water. My heart started to beat fast again, thoughts working. Was the human just waiting for me to fall victim to this very obvious trap? Was the food poisoned? Was he going to kill me if I step out? I jumped when a tall figure emerged from the hallway holding a book and sitting down on the couch. I ducked my head back, standing up on wobbly legs and gripping my the strap of my bag tightly. Time for me to go. 

I maneuvered through the walls, carrying what was like precious jewels to my sister and . What even was that? I-I know he saw me… so why didn’t he just grab me when he had obviously seen me long before I had even realized. Or did he want to capture me in an inhumane way. lure me out with food like I was some kind of… animal. Trap me in a jar or a cage afterwards. I couldn’t think of anything but what was could’ve been going through his sick mind. 

When I walked into out tiny home on the walls, a sigh of relief escaped my mouth. Lizzie was still here, playing with the stuffed animal our mom had given her years ago. I mean she just a six year old, there wasn’t really anything to keep her busy when you were just barely over two inches tall and was forced to keep below a whisper just so you’re not caught into huge… terrifying… human hands. My mind went back to what had just happened in the last thirty minutes, a shiver running down my spine. 

Lizzie stood up, hugging me with a bright smile on her face. I was still trembling slightly from the encounter I had, but hugged her back all the same, mindful of the burn marks on my hands. 

“Did you get anything good?” She cheered, hugging her teddy bear close to her chest. I nodded my head, laughing and pulling out a small piece of the peanut butter cracker and handing it to her. She gasped, taking the piece in her hands and biting into it. I could’ve brought back some actual food if I didn’t think it was poisoned. I sighed, burying my head in my heads as she went off to entertain herself once again. Would we have to find another place again? Probably. Humans aren’t supposed to know about us, and well, this one does now. Thanks to me.

I wouldn’t tell Lizzie yet though. She’d be devastated. She’s always telling me how much she loves this place. She likes how we can go outside sometimes, how the human living here is quiet and not loud like most humans were. I can see why she likes it here, but it was just too dangerous. We might be in danger. Like I’ve said, I didn’t trust this place at all. This guy living here… just doesn’t give off “nice” vibes. 

It was late at night, Lizzie and I were about to head to bed. I wasn’t that much older than her. I was just a kid who really new how to steal and survive. I guess I’d have to revoke that title since I’ve been caught. I tucked Lizzie in, and pulled the fabric over my head, falling asleep and pushing all of my worries for tomorrow. 

—————— 

I woke up to foot steps. I picked up my head, grabbing the needle that I probably should have been carrying with me yesterday and checking on Lizzie. My heart skipped a beat when I didn’t see her there. Which meant… My eyes darted to the entrance of our little place, seeing that the cloth blocking it was moved. Soon enough, I started running towards the little crack that lead to the kitchen. I heard quiet sobs that sounded like Lizzie. 

Please don’t be what I think it is. 

When I arrived, I was too afraid to take a little peak out of the side, afraid of what I might find on the other side. What could I do against someone who was twenty times my own size? He has my little sister… but what could I do? He’d just take us both. Probably torture us for his enjoyment. Just make us live in terror and agony until we die. What would happen if I didn’t do anything? I would never forgive myself he did anything to hurt Lizzie. So I just have to make sure she can get out of this. 

I sucked in a deep breath, slowly peaking out and seeing that her teddy bear was left on the ground, along with a little pool of water right next to the bottle cap the human had left. My eyes widened, breathing hitching in my throat as I saw the huge being pinching her effortlessly in between his thumb and pointer, whispering for her to calm down. Nononono. My breathing became fast, and my legs pushed myself out of the crack, pointing the needle right at the human, whose eyes darted cautiously over to me. 

“L-let her go!” My hands and arms were shaky as I looked away, my eyes shut and closed. I was terrified. Being out in the open in front of a human was the worst imaginable thing. It could only be worse for Lizzie for actually being held by one, but I was threatening one. I’d have a worst fate than her, but I just want her to be safe. 

I opened my eyes, a little blurry from the few tears that escaped, but it had seemed like everyone stopped moving, heck, even breathing all together. Lizzie tried her hardest to escape the grip around her, failing miserably and giving up. This time, she just quietly cried to herself, slightly reaching for her teddy bear on the ground. I bit the bottom of my lip, keeping my needle pointed towards the human and reaching down to grab her bear. 

The human’s eyes shot open wide, looking between my and my sister he was currently keeping hostage. But I swear his eyes softened before he carefully placed my sister down a little ways from me. She looked up at him, tears still in her eyes. The human bit the side of his cheek, looking away from Lizzie and back to me with sympathetic eyes. He had to be lying. There was no way he’d just “let her down” like that. 

Lizzie ran over to me, hugging me tightly and hiding behind. My entire body was shaky as I guided us slowly back towards the crack in the wall. 

“Sorry for trapping you.” He whispered, looking behind me. I paused, watching as my sister ran back to the crack in the walls. Now I was alone. No telling what would happen. But I was more hung onto the fact that this human just apologized. As much as I didn’t trust him at all, or thought that he was a mean person, he apologized. This was something I had least expected from this guy. Instead of taking us against or wills, he just apologized. Not to mention just let my sister go without so much as a complaint or deal. 

“You can take the food I put there.” He pointed to the bottle cap behind me, filled with fresh food. My mouth watered at the sight, but I shook my head, hands still shaky as I stayed in place while still pointing my needle towards him. The human paused for a second, looking confused. 

“Why not? Isn’t that what you were stealing from me earlier today?” His words sounded harsh through my ears, making me wince and take a couple steps back, ready to dart straight for the tiny hold in the wall if he had tried anything. It was intimidating I admit, and I had no idea why I didn’t just run back with Lizzie. So why don’t I just go? What was I waiting for? 

“That came out.. harsh, didn’t it.” The mountainous being in front of me sighed, ruffling my hair a bit. I don’t say anything, wondering why I haven’t been dangled or threatened yet. He always looked so… intimidating. Or maybe that’s just the way he looked? Honestly I can’t even tell. 

“How long have been stealing from me?” His eyes were full of sympathy again, hands away from me. Making no move. I guess it would be okay to answer. Just so I could lower the amount of torture I would endure if this was all a trap. 

“A m-month or two? Give o-or take?” I kept my arms up no matter how much they screamed for me to put them down. Lizzie was safe, I would be back in a little, and we could go out tomorrow to find another place to live in. Even if the next house or town is miles out, we just need to get the hell away from here. 

The human’s eyes widened again, quieting in the dark to get a better look at me, which only made me slightly insecure, but ignored it, “You don’t even look old enough to be taking care of yourselves,” He started, “Look, the least I can do for you after trapping your sister is to give you both something to eat. I’m pretty sure you’d like something better than peanut butter crackers.” I really would, but how could I know to trust him? He trapped my sister. I’m pretty sure it was meant for me, but still! 

“You trapped my sister! I can’t t-trust you!” I whisper yelled, hoping I wouldn’t be killed on the spot. His eyes hazel pierced through my soul, making me close my eyes shut and look away while raising my puny weapon. Soon enough, something pitched the needle and dragged me along with it. I let out a yelp, letting go and stumbling to my knees, my face hitting the hard floor. Nonono. Please don’t- I sat up and buried head in my knees and covered myself with my arms, expecting a sharp pain, a stab, anything to indicate that I was dead. Just like that, my only sense of protection was gone. I couldn’t defend myself with or without a weapon what was I even thinking? 

The human above me sighed, and soon enough I was pinched between two of his fingers just like my sister. I started kicking and trying to pull myself out, but to no avail. Tears formed in my eyes as I tried my hardest not to let them fall. The last thing I needed was for this human to take pleasure in my own suffering, but of course he noticed anyways.

“For someone who was just threatening me with a needle you overreact a lot.” The human chuckled, standing up and turning on a dim light, keeping me pinched. Could he feel how fast my heart was beating? Could he feel how my body trembled under the surprisingly soft grip? I just kept quiet, afraid anything I said now would just make my fate even more dreadful. 

The human moved fast, grabbing a few snacks and either breaking them up into miniature pieces or cutting them up with an extremely sharp knife I would not like to be on the other side of. I was shocked at what he was doing, but also scared. I mean, I was basically being held against my will right now. He placed the snacks into a small bowl, kind of like the snack tray my mom would make. My mouth watered, my stomach growling, and I guess the human heard it because he glanced at me for just a split second, a smile on his face. It was embarrassing, but also somewhat… nice of him to be making us this? 

“I use to steal just like you, pretty close to your age actually,” he chuckled, “I may only be 22, and you still don’t trust me, but I think it’s better if you just ask people for help little guy.” He walked back over to where the small hole in the wall was, placing down the bowl and myself. I tripped over my two legs, earning a small laugh from him. Now I just felt… terrible for ever thinking he was bad. It doesn’t mean I trust him fully yet, but maybe one day? This could also be some sick trick to enjoy my suffering later of course, but for now I’d like to believe that he was doing this because this was really who he was. 

“S-sorry. For the stealing.” I fidgeted with my hands, eyeing my needle still in his other hand. His hand carefully came towards me, offering it back. I took it from his fingers, hugging it close. My heart was still racing, and my thoughts were all jumbled up, but I still couldn’t believe that I was alive. Without a single scratch too. 

“You were only doing what you needed to survive. I get it,” He smiled, “But, just ask me if you need anything next time?” i gave an “i don’t know” look at him, but he just playfully rolled his eyes, “What’s your name anyways?” I bit the bottom of my lip

“Andrew…” My voice came out quiet, feeling a little insecure. 

“Gabriel, but you can just call me Gabe.” He smiled, and left just as quiet as ever. It took me a while to realize what had just happened, then my eyes trailed off to the vast amount of snacks waiting to be eaten. Best part about it? There was finally something healthy to eat that I didn’t think was poisoned. I turned back to the hold in the wall, hoping that Lizzie was okay. 

“Lizzie!” I whisper yelled, expecting her to be back home, under the sheets, but she came out of the hold, hugging her bear tight against her chest. I rushed over, hugging her before her eyes widened at the huge amount of snacks that awaited her. Sure, it was way past midnight, but it couldn’t hurt to have something nice to eat, right? Borrowers rarely ever get a chance like this anyways. 

“I told you he was nice!” She giggled, forgetting just how scared she looked minutes ago. We both giggled, and for the first time in what felt like forever we felt safe. Even if I still didn’t entirely trust Gabriel, there was a small possibility I could just as much as my sister does. Just maybe. 

——————

Yeah I have no idea about this one either (My brain cannot come up with good scenes anymore whyyyy… also I kind of gave up on editing halfway through so I’m very sorry for mistakes-)

Again, if you don’t like it, please tell me! But I hope you liked it! Writing based off of songs is pretty hard, but I might as well give it a try! If you would like a part 2 to this, please let me know! (Cause I kinda do… I might make it just for the fun of it)

Thank you for the prompt! I had fun writing it! :3

Writing commissions are still open for anyone interested! Please keep them strictly sfw! (If I’m uncomfortable with a certain commission I will let you know!)

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

[CN] Li Zeyan’s Metropolis Date (Eng Translation)

⌚Warning⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for a date, 都会之约, that is yet to be released on the global server! ♡

[Translation under the cut]

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【Subbed Video】

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【Important Notes】 

some of you might already know this, especially those of you who follow my translations, but still gonna explain since it’s the pivotal point of this date 🤭

The term “哥哥” (gēge) literally translates to “elder brother”, you might be more familiar with the Korean or Japanese alternatives of this term (oppa/ onii-chan). if not used to address your own elder brother, you wouldn’t dare to use it with just anyone – so, when a Chinese girl addresses a boy as her “gege”, she’d use it to address sb she has a very close/ intimate relationship with, address her boyfriend, or take the leap and address a guy she has a crush on to be cutesy LOL. which is why the use of “gege” in this date is so multifaceted — the term which was initially used as a courtesy becomes a “barrier” in fear of being “friend-zoned”, but makes come back in the parts when used by MC’s friends to tease her or when MC hesitates to address him as “gege” in private b/c of the crush connotation haha.

✦ the use of “gege” with the connotation of boyfriend/ crush prevails in the canon verse too, MC used to address Li Zeyan by this term when they were little and after the first comeback, we’ve had MC use this term many times in the past years: ♡

setting and timeline:

the present day story takes place in New York, around 1925/27, and before the great depression (1929).

──────────────────────────────────────────────────

【Chapter 1】 

Hubbubs of laughter intermittently resonate from the stretch convertible as it glides through the night, weaving through the distant and nearby lights before coming to a halt in the front courtyard of the mansion.

Myself and a few female friends of mine, slightly tipsy and carrying a faint scent of alcohol, support the ornate headpieces wobbling on our heads as we step down from the car, laughing and playfully nudging one another.

Female Friend: Can you believe Jennifer actually invited that actor! Seriously, when our eyes met, I was practically drowning in those eyes; I didn’t even hear a word he said…

Thinking back to that man whose words were dripped with flattery, I lazily let out a yawn.

MC: Enough, Louise. Perhaps your brain is just filtering out those unpleasant bits of news, you know?

MC: He should thank his lucky stars for starring in a silent movie; otherwise, no one would buy into his performance.

MC: If it weren’t for Jennifer, the editor-in-chief, insisting, I wouldn’t even want to mention his name in the article chronicling tonight’s nightlife… it’s just a waste of space for another line.

Amidst the laughter of the girls, I suddenly seem to feel a certain gaze on me. I stop talking and turn my eyes in the direction of home. Sure enough, I spot a familiar figure.

With one hand resting on the marble railing of the terrace, Li Zeyan looks in my direction, his eyes lowered. The light outlines his physique, carving out a slender silhouette.

Through the thick darkness of the night, those somber eyes lock with mine for a moment. Then, he turns and walks into the villa.

Female Friend: Would you look at that, your old-fashioned gege is still awake at this hour… Could he be waiting for you?

I receive a teasing elbow nudge from my friend, but I offer no retort.

“Old-fashioned.” That term does seem to match him quite well.

In this era where there is never any shortage of merrymaking, he rarely makes appearances at gatherings like banquets and social clubs.

Tonight, before heading out, I asked him if he would like to accompany me, and unsurprisingly, I was met with a rejection.

—

───── [FLASHBACK STARTS] ─────

LZY: No, I have no intention of attending.

LZY: It’s not that I have any other rendezvous to make an appearance at, but I do have more pressing matters to take care of.

LZY: You go ahead, but don’t stay out too late.

───── [FLASHBACK ENDS] ─────

—

Perhaps he does have something else he’s really eager to pursue, or perhaps he simply wants to steer clear of certain people… who knows?

Reflecting on the unexplained decrease in our interactions since becoming adults, a hint of melancholy suddenly settles into my heart. I press my lips together, incline my head, and speak nonchalantly as if unaffected.

MC: [blushing]  It isn’t something worth caring about, is it? Anyway, he’s not my “real gege”...

──────────

Creak—

The sound of the gate slowly being pushed open rings out in my ears. I turn my head and see Li Zeyan behind the door, quietly arching an eyebrow. Undoubtedly, he has heard what I just said.

A flicker of guilt passes through me. Aware of my companions’ fixed gazes behind me, I walk into the house with my chest held high, close the door behind me, and walk past Li Zeyan.

LZY: Had a good time?

MC: Oh, it was pretty good… the atmosphere at the whole banquet was quite lively.

MC: Jennifer also showed us the new gemstone she recently bought. It was so… sparkling!

I nonchalantly remove my gloves and fling them onto the sofa, envy in my eyes as I raise my hands to gesture an approximate size in front of Li Zeyan. A light chuckle reaches my ears.

LZY: If you fancy it, you can expect to receive an even finer one in the future.

MC: [blushing] I wish, but the qualities of the gemstones in New York in recent times have been really unappealing.

Li Zeyan’s eyes travel over my absent-mindedly pursed lips, but he doesn’t comment on anything. Instead, he simply taps his fingertips on the staircase railing rhythmically.

The air lapses into silence again, with only the swaying shadows of the trees playing on the floor of the hall. I stifle a yawn and walk past him as if nothing has happened.

MC: Alright, I’m going to go and hit the hay in my room. Tomorrow, there’s still…

LZY: MC.

Suddenly, a low whisper reaches my ears from behind. My hand gripping the railing pauses, and I stand on the stairs, turning to look back at Li Zeyan.

His intense gaze bores deep into me, and the emotions in his deep-set eyes appear more complex and difficult to discern than at any time in the past. After a moment, he finally speaks.

LZY: There’s something I believe I need to tell you.

LZY: Next week, I’ll be moving away from home.

MC: …

My lips part, and my heart suddenly pauses for one beat. My eyes wander over his face, trying to find any hint of jest in his words.

Did he say this in a fit of pique because of what I said earlier? But he’s clearly not the kind of person to behave like this…

While I stare at him with bewilderment and helplessness, Li Zeyan offers me no additional explanation. His brooding eyes trace over the intentionally rolled-up hem of my skirt before resting on my face.

LZY: Your father is waiting for us in the living room.

LZY: Come over after you’ve changed your clothes.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 2】 

I rush back to my room at lightning speed and take off the intricate and ornate feather headpiece from my head.

After changing into a dress that won’t elicit resigned criticism from my father, I head down the stairs in the direction of the living room, my mind in turmoil.

The sparkling crystal chandelier bathes the spacious room ahead in bright light. From a distance, I can hear the sound of gratified laughter, intermingled with my father’s heartfelt sighs. 

MC’s Father: …Zeyan, don’t ever speak such words. If the disaster of that year had befallen me, your parents would have made the same choice.

MC’s Father: I remember when you first came to this home, MC was only five years old–– clinging to you all the time like a piece of sticky candy, oblivious to day and night. [1]

MC: Why is it that the moment I step in, I hear you speaking ill of me~

I walk over to my father and give him a kiss on the cheek, then take my seat next to Li Zeyan naturally.

He holds my gaze briefly before averting his eyes, but his tone carries a subtle softness that is almost imperceptible.

LZY: She was no bother. If anything, I find myself missing those times, too.

LZY: A plate of cookies was all she needed, and she’d joyfully sit by my desk, reading storybooks with me all night long.

MC: …I also really liked gege back then. No matter the time, you were always there to accompany me.

My father laughs, a wistful expression on his face. I also lift the corners of my lips to match the atmosphere, but my gaze lingers inquisitively on Li Zeyan’s elegant side profile.

Leaving… why did he have this idea all of a sudden?

I used to believe that no matter how much time elapsed… he would naturally remain by my side as a matter of course.

But this decision that came like a bolt from the blue seems to be telling me that I’m the only one who thought that way.

LZY: Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on a promising aviation company. Their airplanes…

LZY: A number of stocks I acquired in the past few years have yielded good profits. After liquidating, my plans for the next steps include…

A baritone voice resounds from the seat next to me. Li Zeyan is recounting eloquently, seemingly answering some questions from my father, but I can’t pay attention in the slightest.

MC’s Father: …MC, won’t you raise a glass to your gege’s future?

My lower leg under the long table is gently touched, snapping me back to reality. I glance over to see Li Zeyan leisurely leaning back in his chair, his leather shoe brushing past me.

The brief touch just now was probably just an inadvertent act since he was shifting his sitting posture. However, it brings my attention to the fact that I’ve been staring at him for quite some time.

I let out a cough as an afterthought and quickly glance at my father.

MC: My apologies, I was a little lost in my thoughts just now, so…

MC’s Father: Of course, I am just as reluctant to part with him as you are… but I’m confident that when the time is right, Zeyan will come back to visit us.

This matter-of-fact comforting solace sweeps over my heart, gently veiling a certain “expectation” that I have never voiced.

An indescribable sourness swells within me. I raise my wine glass towards Li Zeyan beside me, wearing the same naive and coquettish smile as usual.

MC: …gege, here’s to every expectation of yours turning into reality.

Li Zeyan lowers his eyes, his slender fingertips promptly picking up a goblet glass from the table. Then, he leans in slightly towards me.

Accompanied by the soft clink of glasses, his deep and low voice resonates in my ears.

LZY: Thank you. I really like this toast.

LZY: I’ll turn these words into reality.

──────────

The moonlight behind the floor-to-ceiling windows filters through the sheer curtains, casting long and slender beams. I toss and turn on the soft bed for a long time before finally sitting up.

…Even if everything seems to be set in stone, I still want to fight for that last shred of possibility to make this man stay.

–

It’s very late at night, and the corridor is empty and quiet. I tread lightly past the door of my father’s room, then head briskly towards Li Zeyan’s room at the end of the corridor.

From a distance, I can see a sliver of light escaping from the room–– to my surprise, his door is only partially closed.

A soft meow reaches my ears. Holding my breath, I watch Li Zeyan seated on the sofa, comforting Betty, whose hind paws are entangled in a ball of yarn.

He cradles it in his arms with one hand, and his well-defined hand trails down the cat’s back, with a touch just right that is neither too firm nor too gentle, preventing its struggling attempts.

His fingertips swiftly probe into the entangled mess of threads. With a few simple movements, the trapped paws are liberated.

Betty: Meow~

Betty purrs contentedly, nuzzling its head against Li Zeyan’s shoulder. His eyes also seem to be dyed with a subtle smile.

The familiar scene overlaps with memories of the past, and suddenly, I feel a little dazed.

—

───── [FLASHBACK STARTS] ─────

Under the ardent daylight, the greenery in the courtyard stretched ponderously.

The doors and windows lining both sides of the mansion had been opened early in the morning, allowing the summer breeze to weave through unhindered, bringing with it a touch of rare, refreshing coolness.

I was huffing in anger as I strode down the corridor, heading towards Li Zeyan’s room in the most familiar manner, intending to “interrogate” him.

MC: GEGE! Did you stop…

I walked into his room, only to find a profound silence all around. Li Zeyan was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed and seemed to have drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps to block the dancing spots of dazzling sunlight, he casually rested the back of his left hand on his forehead, casting a gentle shadow over his eyelids.

His slender legs were rarely in such a relaxed posture, crossing casually. The business book in his hand had slipped to the floor at some point; its pages were blown by the breeze, producing a rustling sound.

Without realizing it, I lightened my steps and walked to the side of the sofa. I gazed at his dark strands of hair cascading down, gently resting on the prominent bridge of his nose.

Perhaps it was the light, but I suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some subtle changes on this face that I saw day and night.

Had his jawline become sharper? Or perhaps the knuckles of his hands seemed a little more pronounced? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

I could only feel my heartbeat accelerating for no apparent reason, as though something that had been overlooked for a long time was now breaking through the surface.

As if drawn by an inexplicable attraction, I involuntarily leaned down towards him, wanting to touch his cheek. 

The next moment, I saw Li Zeyan suddenly open his eyes and lift his hand to clasp my wrist.

LZY: You…

He spoke in a low voice, his tone still carrying a hint of drowsiness. It seemed he regarded everything to be a dream.

His eyes took on a softer expression, and the hold of his palm on my hand did not loosen. Instead, he drew me even closer to him.

His breath caressed my face, and I could almost see my own reflection in his eyes. It was like almost in the next second, we would–––

MC’s Father: Where did you run off to… Betty?

My father’s inquiring voice suddenly echoed from a distance, akin to a pebble thrown into a lake, shattering the interplay of light and shadows before me.

Li Zeyan was frozen for a moment, and then a clarity flashed in his eyes as if finally waking up. He let go of my wrist. Suppressing the ineffable emotions in my heart, I swiftly distanced myself slightly.

LZY: …Why did you come in out of the blue?

MC: …the door was already ajar, and I didn’t know you were sleeping…

I muttered softly, but then I suddenly recalled something, my voice gaining a touch of confidence.

MC: I also have a question to ask. When James checked with you about whether I was available for a trip to the island next week, why did you reject him on my behalf?

Li Zeyan didn’t respond right away; he lowered his hand and picked up the rumpled book from the carpet.

LZY: Your father mentioned we have to go to the horse ranch next week; looks like you forgot.

LZY: Besides, there is no need to get involved with a guy whose family business is going downhill, yet he still dates a different girl every week.

MC: [girlie is stumped and flushed haha]  But before this, you said about Oren that he was secretly lingering in underground bars!

Li Zeyan calmly flipped open a page, not making eye contact with me.

LZY: [HEAVENS THE WAY HIS TONE DROPS HERE] I’m simply stating the facts. Besides, you’ll have better choices.

MC: Like who?

In my frustration, I kept pushing for an answer, but then, the air suddenly lapsed into silence, and Li Zeyan’s fingertips also came to a pause.

My heart suddenly began racing by a few beats, and I stood up from the sofa in an attempt to conceal myself.

MC: …anyway, I won’t allow you to interfere in this matter anymore!

In a rush, I walked towards the door as I spoke. But suddenly, I heard Li Zeyan calling out my name.

I turned around. The daylight outside the window had already transformed into the fading colors of twilight, and with that light falling on his back, I heard him speak.

LZY: I will give you that answer in the future.

LZY: Until then, don’t barge into my room unannounced like this again.

───── [FLASHBACK ENDS] ─────

────

[Tidbits]:

[1] MC’s dad mentions a specific type of candy here (牛皮糖 - nǚpítáng), which is made from sugar and sesame seeds; and has a chewy and sticky texture.

—

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—

【Chapter 3】 

LZY: Come on inside, I haven’t locked the door.

Li Zeyan’s voice suddenly transmits from the room. I snap back to reality, only to realize that my hand, which I raised to knock, has been hanging in mid-air for quite some time.

Tightening my lips, I calmly walk into the room and seat myself next to him on the sofa, my eyes scanning the room.

In the long time that followed afterward, I have refrained from setting foot in this room again. In stark contrast to my memories, the surroundings appear conspicuously emptier.

In one corner of the room, a leather suitcase lay open… the realization of the fact that this person is leaving suddenly becomes palpable.

LZY: You’re here at this hour; is something wrong?

MC: [blushing]  …you can’t leave!

Two voices collide in unison. Before I can even register the situation, I have already grabbed hold of his hand.

LZY: …

The hazy lighting interweaves with the moonlight, and something seems to flash across Li Zeyan’s expression for a brief moment.

A searing warmth transmits from his palm, and in belated realization, I draw back my fingertips. However, I feel my hand being discreetly clasped, as if he is unwilling to let me escape.

LZY: What’s your reason for saying that?

MC: It’s not for any reason. I just want… gege to always remain by my side.

Even though it has been a long time since I have addressed him by that term when we are alone with each other, I still purposely soften my tone. I can’t help but expect that Li Zeyan would, just like in our childhood, give me that helpless glance and yield to my coquettish demands.

A silence hangs in the air as Li Zeyan lowers his gaze to mine. In the next moment, his palm enveloping my wrist loosens ever so slightly.

LZY: MC, I am not the same as the toys you wanted when we were little.

LZY: Just the word that you “want” this is not a reason enough to sway me.

I’m slightly stumped and speak without thinking.

MC: But we’ve been living a good life for all this time, haven’t we?

MC: We have the ancestral estates and assets, a steady stream of income… I don’t understand why you’d want to make any changes.

Li Zeyan lets out a very soft chuckle and tilts his head towards the window.

The lights of the distant structures shimmer brightly, reminiscent of a flowing banquet in the boundless night. They reflect in his eyes, exuding a mix of pride and ambition.

LZY: There is nothing in this world that remains unchanged forever, MC.

LZY: Even the prosperity that you indulge in today began after the soldiers returned from the European battlefield.

LZY: Everything we see now was beyond imagination just a few years ago.

LZY: This era can sweep away all outdated existence, and at the same time, it can also give people everything they desire… as long as they can grab hold of it.

Li Zeyan shifts his gaze back to me as he says this. Even though his tone seems to be gentler than usual, it also carries a hint of unswerving determination.

LZY: So, I had already made this decision a long time ago.

MC: …when?

Did it stem from the day he made his first profit in the stock market, relying on his own business acumen? Or was it when he caught the wind of the other “old money” people gossiping about him? Or perhaps it was even earlier?

In a state of bewilderment and urgency, I await a response, but Li Zeyan doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he just gazes at me fixedly, leaning slightly in my direction.

The tranquil glow of the lights paints his eyelashes, and my heart pounds wildly as I watch Li Zeyan approach. He lifts his hand, tucking a strand of hair that was lingering by my cheek behind my ear––

–– like an explanation, or perhaps a reassuring promise.

LZY: [in the most tender tone possible x1]  I am so happy that you’re here to persuade me to stay.

LZY: [x2]  But, there are certain things I want that I can only obtain by leaving.

──────────

Jennifer: Alright, honey, I’m not here to rush you about the manuscript or anything, even though that special column you promised me has been overdue for a solid three weeks~

My friend’s teasing reaches me through the light fabric. I pull down the covers sullenly, glancing at the blonde girl sitting at the edge of the bed.

MC: Once I’m back in the writing zone, I’ll submit it to the magazine first thing… but, setting that aside, did you manage to find out any news about him?

Even though I don’t explicitly utter Li Zeyan’s name, Jennifer shrugs her shoulders.

Jennifer: You know, your gege rarely attends any banquets within the circle.

Jennifer: I’ve been making discreet inquiries on the airline side, but all I’ve found is that there’s this new guy named Victor, whose company has become a rising star in the industry… but it doesn’t seem to have any connections with him.

—

[T/N]: Yes, his writers are using his EN name “Victor” as his pseudonym 😂😂

—

I press my lips together, thinking back to the day Li Zeyan left and how I was so angry that I refused to see him for one last time.

If only I had known earlier, I would have abandoned those inexplicable emotions, opened the door, and had a few words with him.

Jennifer: I have an idea. What if we were to spread the word that you’re planning to hold a banquet at the estate next month to reveal the person you’ve chosen to be your fiancé?

Jennifer: If he does have the intention toward you, there is no way he will able to keep it hidden.

I blink. This suggestion sends a few ripples through my heart–– daring as it is, it might be the most effective method.

With my tacit approval, this piece of news spreads from the mansion along with Jennifer’s departure, gradually circulating from one banquet to another.

Half a month slips away rapidly, yet I still don’t hear any updates. The day of the banquet approaches amidst apprehension and anticipation.

──────────

Large swaths of Phalaenopsis and Dendrobium orchids embellish various corners of the entire property, delicate and beautiful. Under the crystal chandeliers, the elegant fragrance of the flowers intermingle with the intense scent of perfumes, pervading the air.

With a smile, I express thanks or greetings to those who approach to congratulate me in pairs or groups, but my eyes continue to search for that figure I’ve been waiting for amidst the passing crowd.

Suddenly, a figure in a suit and leather shoes blocks my sight. A tall man walks over, raising his glass in a toast toward me.

Man: I’m Adam Arnott, a classmate of Jennifer’s from the academy.

The surname makes me realize that he hails from another wealthy family. I nod politely. However, the man shows no intention of leaving.

Man: I heard from Jennifer that you have a column in her magazine? Honestly, I find that quite impressive.

Man: In terms of killing time, it’s much more meaningful than being obsessed about choosing jewelry. Perhaps we can chat more…

Despite his courteous choice of words, the subtle condescension in his language leaves me agitated. I turn sideways with indifference, picking up a cupcake.

MC: Allow me to correct you. I don’t consider it as “something to kill time.” Had you read my articles, you wouldn’t have had that kind of judgment.

Man: Miss MC, you surely do not treat it as some serious work, do you? Forgive my bluntness, but it seems rather meaningless for people like us.

The way his attitude drips of being pampered as though he were a prince causes me to furrow my brows. Subconsciously, Li Zeyan’s image surfaces in my mind.

MC: Well, in that case, here’s to the everlasting prosperity of your family’s business… however, I’ve heard that nothing in this world remains unchanged forever.

The other party probably wasn’t expecting me to counter like this, causing the expression on his face to turn somewhat unpleasant.

Man: Why don’t we ask the talk of the town, the “new money” person, and whose viewpoint he stands by… Mr. Victor?

I nonchalantly turn my head and observe this rumored aviation tycoon from behind, involuntarily raising an eyebrow.

His slender physique is wrapped in a royal blue suit, complemented by a black and white polka dot tie around his neck. He stands out among the crowd of men, looking effortless yet debonair.

–– It’s the men’s fashion style I recommended in my articles. This person has actually read my column very carefully.

The corners of my lips can’t help but curl up slightly, watching that tall, straight figure turn around. But the instant I clearly see his visage, my lips part involuntarily.

With my heart beating like a drum, he walks to my side at a pace that is neither too fast nor too slow, bringing with him a subtle scent of sandalwood.

LZY: Of course, I stand by her viewpoint.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 4】 

My eyes widen, and my gaze sweeps across the face of the person in front of me without even a single blink.

Perhaps due to the Southern sunshine, his complexion seems a shade deeper compared to the last time we saw each other, but his facial contours appear to be even more pronounced.

The fringes that he used to groom in a “proper” manner have now been slicked back into the trendiest hairstyle of the moment, showcasing his deep-set eyes and prominently arched eyebrows.

A pair of thin-rimmed glasses rest halfway on the bridge of his nose, not quite settled, and he casually pushes them up with his finger pad.

Through the lenses, a glimmer of smile seems to be shining in those deep eyes… or perhaps revealing certain emotions that were veiled in the past, but now, at this moment, seem evident with greater clarity.

LZY: The cream is about to melt.

As Li Zeyan speaks, he effortlessly takes the wobbling cupcake from my hand.

His broad and slender hand, wrapped in a moon-white glove, extends to pass me a piece of handkerchief.

Casual and comfortable, as if it weren’t a reunion after so long of separation, but rather our everyday interaction from back when we were still together at home.

I suppress the indescribable mix of sourness and joy in my heart, watching as the man converses with the people around him before raising an eyebrow.

Man: Ah, so you’re so Miss MC’s gege? Well, I suppose that explains your biased comment.

LZY: I believe the words I said just now are sufficiently objective.

LZY: If I’m not mistaken, with the inauguration of transatlantic flight routes, the stocks of shipping companies dropped at least ten percent. Your family’s business should be no exception.

LZY: To be able to maintain such unwavering optimism even in the midst of all these… I must say, Mr. Arnott’s attitude is truly admirable.

The man’s countenance grows slightly more ashen, while Li Zeyan stands next to me, calmly raising his glass to the crowd.

LZY: I rarely attend any social gatherings, so I haven’t formally announced it in a public setting. But six months ago, I had already disaffiliated myself from MC’s family.

LZY: And I’m not attending this banquet today in the identity of her “gege.”

I don’t know if it’s my illusion, but the tone of his latter statement seemed to have a slightly slower pace, triggering my heartbeat to accelerate uncontrollably.

Not as my “gege”… then, in what identity did he come? Perhaps, he knows about the news I’ve put out?

I clink my goblet glass with him, trying my hardest to maintain my usual casual expression, and lift my head slightly.

MC: I suppose I ought to be thanking you. After all, you’ve just returned, and here you are, immediately coming to my rescue.

Li Zeyan and I hold each other’s gazes for a brief moment. A subtle curve graces the corners of his lips as he also softens his voice.

LZY: I was being sincere, though.

LZY: I haven’t missed a single column you’ve written in  《The New Yorker》.

A wave of warmth accompanies his words, traveling from my ears to the throbbing center in my chest.

I gaze into those familiar and serene eyes, gently tapping the tie hanging down from his neck.

MC: Well, in that case, allow this writer to make one more suggestion.

MC: If it were replaced with a corrugated pattern in the same color, it would complement your suit today even better.

Li Zeyan sets down the goblet glass in his hand on the long table.

LZY: I didn’t bring an extra tie. Can I leave it to your care?

MC: Of course, come with me.

As I speak, my hand that was initially reaching to grasp his palm pauses mid-motion, and in the end, I settle for only holding onto his cuff.

He and I walk through the clustered bouquets of flowers and the crowd of people in their fragrant clothes, making our way toward the upper floor of the hall in a manner that couldn’t be more familiar.

Eyes from all around fall upon our departing figures. I don’t know if these people noticed anything, but I don’t care either.

All I know is that from the moment of parting, the thought that I painstakingly disregarded for the longest time became gradually clear: I desire to be with him in an identity that goes beyond our familial ties.

Will he be angry? Or will he helplessly discourage my intentions? Or perhaps, in reality, he does harbor certain unspoken feelings towards me…

──────────

Suppressing my tumultuous heartbeat, I close the door, and the chatter and music outside finally fade away.

The air falls silent for a moment. I let go of Li Zeyan’s cuff, turn around to rummage through the intricate accessories, and speak as if casually inquiring.

MC: Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief… have you had a chance to meet Daddy yet?

LZY: [the muted joy in his tone HHHHH]  Yeah, I went to his room to say hello after coming back, and we talked for a long time.

MC: Ah, he must’ve been so delighted; after all, he reminisces about you every now and then. “If Zeyan were here…,” is a sentence he says more often than not.

I exaggeratedly mimic my father’s manner of speaking, and my eyes secretly fall on Li Zeyan, hoping to catch his expression.

MC: You said earlier, “not as my gege”... then, in what identity are you here?

Maintaining a brisk tone, I continue sifting through without pausing my movements, as if this will be able to cloak my erratic heartbeat.

Li Zeyan doesn’t answer my question, and his footsteps come to a stop behind me. Even though there is a somewhat elusive distance between us, I can almost feel his body heat.

LZY: I’m not the one who can give that answer.

I turn around, somewhat puzzled, only to see a black, gold-plated box being extended towards me.

The huge ruby inside, set against the velvet backdrop, sparkles with a flash of dazzling brilliance.

MC: This…

LZY: A gift for you. A certain someone mentioned before that the quality of gemstones in New York isn’t good enough these days.

LZY: So, it was transported here on my company’s first transatlantic flight, all the way from Europe.

Li Zeyan removes the ruby from the box as he speaks, placing it in the palm of my hand.

The slight coolness of the gemstone accompanies the warmth of his fingertips, and I hear Li Zeyan speak in a soft tone.

LZY: Even the most impossible fantasies can become reality.

LZY: MC, as long as you say the word.

I’m utterly dazed, suddenly recalling the brief conversation we had under the stairs the night before Li Zeyan left.

From the past to the present, he has always borne the weight of all my wishes, even if I’ve only mentioned them in passing.

The sound of my heartbeat drums against my ears. Without uttering a word, I simply tug on his tie and rise on tiptoes towards this man who used to be my “gege.”

The distance between us bridges bit by bit, my somewhat quivering breath fanning across Li Zeyan’s face.

He watches me in complete silence, his eyes burning. He seems to be waiting for some form of confirmation, yet he doesn’t evade my actions.

That is, until, a fleeting kiss lands on the edge of his lips, and we briefly exchange our warmth with each other. I pull back slightly, avert my eyes, and speak.

MC: …what if this is what I desire?

LZY: …

I don’t hear his response. In the next second, my waist is suddenly shackled in place.

A deep kiss, which has been held in check for a long time, finally descends, erasing the last vestige of distance.

Two sets of lips that have never touched each other before roll back and forth, their inexperienced and slightly shaky intertwining exchange breaths that have long been familiar but never explored so deeply.

In those eyes of his, I see emotions mirroring my own. Patiently restrained feelings, a fluttering heart… but now added with a touch of certainty.

LZY: I’ve probably held onto this expectation for longer than you.

LZY: What I longed for has always been right there within sight… and you made it a reality for me.

The brilliant chandelier overhead leaves shimmering spots in the field of vision, leaving one slightly dizzy. It feels like a firework that has been brewing for a long time has finally burst forth.

Turns out, we both harbored the same feelings all along.

The eyes that turned to look back when we passed by each other, the hands that reached out to touch only to retract… all the entanglements and poignant emotions of the past gently dissipate in this moment.

I close my eyes and hear his voice resonate, but now carrying with it a deeper undertone of mirth than ever before.

LZY: Allow this gem to be a commemoration of this special occasion.

LZY: For that first dance in a while, how about sharing it with me?

────────────────────────────────

[Tidbits]:

[2] so in love with this imagery here. “白月光” (white moonlight) in chinese means first love but it comes with the connotation of something “unattainable.” here, it’s the color of his gloves, the “barrier” between their hands truly touching~ 🤧

[3] “ruby” is a symbol of passion, protection, everlasting love-- indeed the perfect move for Li Zeyan to choose this stone as his ~betrothal gift~ 🥺

[4] welp, if it wasn’t clear already LOL, sharing the “first dance” at this banquet is their official announcement of their engagement~ 🤭🤧

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

【Anika’s personal notes】 

link to my twitter meltdowns for easier navigation LOL: ♡ || ♡

─────────────

[rodricksfilipinagf]

Rhysand x Playwright! Reader (Enemies to Lovers) Part 2

Y/N wasn’t sure what she expected from the Night Court. A black, towering structure filled with death and depravity. The tortured screams of prisoners. Flames being fanned to burn bodies alive. 

“As if I’m the king of hell,” Rhysand chuckled. 

“You might as well be,” Y/N shot back. 

“I bring you here and that’s what you say to me?” demanded Rhysand. 

Y/N looked around at the room. Marble floors, white, tall columns, and open air plan. It was…nice. 

“So when are we going to…” Y/N didn’t know how to finish that sentence. The place of her nightmares.

“You’ll go when I say you’ll go,” Rhysand retorted. Only he knew that he had no intention of bringing her down there…unless she suddenly became okay with it. 

Biting back tears, Y/N said, “Fine.” It was only a matter of time. Rhysand couldn’t be nice for too long.

Rhysand let out a sigh. “Anyone tell you you’re a paragon of sunshine and optimism?”

Y/N was too exhausted to snap at him to stay out of her head. “Got to represent the Day Court right.”

Rhysand was surprisingly amused by this. “Oh, is that what the Day Court values? I would have thought pageantry, certainly. And bringing me down, for sure.” He lifted her chin with his finger so she was looking right at him. “How much of that was Helion and how much of that was you?”

A resentful shudder coursed through her. “Wow. You’re asking me this now? You couldn’t have asked me this before you kidnapped me from my home, from everything I care about?”

“So you’re saying you were just following orders?” he asked mockingly.

It would be easy just to blame Helion so she could get off scot-free, but no. She was already here, and she doubted Rhysand would believe her anyway, since he was undoubtedly reading her mind at the moment. “No. I hate you, and dissing you through the plays just coincided with that. You’re not supposed to mix business with pleasure, but I enjoyed bringing you down. A lot.”

She expected Rhysand to look taken aback, but he just smirked. “Any reason you hate me so much?”

“How about everything?” The words came out before Y/N could stop herself. “You and your court are known for literally torturing people. Women are treated like chattel, being sold off to the highest bidder. There’s nothing but violence and cruelty, and you’re in charge of all of it. You keep it going and you do nothing to stop it. You have the power to change things and make them better, but you don’t. Not only that, you enjoy it.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Rhysand said after a long silence. “You’re right to hate me. Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Does it matter if I mind?” Y/N asked, exasperated. Rhysand’s eyes narrowed, about to say something. Y/N had nearly forgotten how dangerous he was in her annoyance at him and didn’t want to push her luck. “Yeah, go ahead, ask.”

“Why the comedy? Why not make your play a horror if what you say is true?” He crossed his arms, waiting for a response. 

“Because laughing at something makes it less scary, or at least it’s supposed to,” replied Y/N. Plus she wanted to criticize Rhysand’s politics in a fun way that people would enjoy.

“I see,” Rhysand nodded. “Come with me.” He led her into a sprawling library filled with books. It also had a crackling fireplace in it, cushioned armchairs, and multiple writing desks. 

Y/N was not expecting Rhysand to have such a nice library. Y/N could spend the day in here if this were in any other place but the Night Court.

“That’s exactly what you’ll be doing,” Rhysand said. “As High Lord of the Night Court, I need to inspire fear. The subjects of your plays have made their way to the Court of Nightmares, and now they think they can defy me. That is your fault, and you need to fix it.”

“Why me?” Y/N asked. “Surely you have more talented playwrights in the Night Court to take care of that problem.”

“I may,” Rhysand admits. “But I want you to do it. That’s how retribution works, you see.”

Or revenge? Y/N wondered. 

Rhysand smirked. “That too.”

“Do you ever stop reading my mind?” Y/N demanded.

“Not if you insist on making your thoughts so loud,” Rhysand replied. 

“So the play,” Y/N said. “Anything specific you want it to be about? Why in particular people should fear you?”

Rhysand smiled. “I’m sure whatever your imagination can come up with is far worse than what actually happens in the Court of Nightmares- unless you’d like me to take you down there myself for a tour.”

“I’m good,” Y/N said. “Yep, imagination. That’ll do it.”

“You really are afraid, aren’t you?” Rhysand taunted.

“Prick,” said Y/N, giving him the finger. 

After that, Rhysand left her alone to write. He’d left her the finest, thickest paper and really nice pens with fancy ink to write with. Y/N tapped her pen against the paper, wondering what to write. The last thing she wanted was to give Rhysand access to her nightmares, but he probably already did, since he had no sense of privacy when it came to her mind. 

                                            ~

“I like it,” Rhysand said as he read over her work. “Did anyone tell you that you’re a very good writer?”

“Helion,” she said. “Or at least he was going to, before you showed up.”

Rhysand didn’t look offended by this, only amused. “If this is how you speak to a High Lord, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

“Fuck off, Rhysand,” Y/N said. 

“See? Exactly,” Rhysand said smugly. 

“Helion was going to give me this huge playwriting award, but now that’s done,” Y/N sighed. 

Rhysand had the decency to look sympathetic. “At least now your playwriting will be used for a greater purpose,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Y/N scoffed. “Making you look scary. Greater purpose indeed.”

“Do you not think my needs are important?” Rhysand needled. “As High Lord you have to make sure you’re respected by your people. Something you’ve done your very best to destroy.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t trying to do that,” Y/N admitted. 

“You weren’t trying to make me seem like some sort of joke,” Rhysand said doubtfully. 

“No, of course I was,” Y/N said. “I just never thought my work would reach the actual Night Court. It was mostly to entertain the people of the Day Court and get my award from Helion. Pissing you off and starting a rebellion in your court was a…bonus, I guess.”

“You really have a negative opinion of the Night Court, don’t you?” asked Rhysand.

“You’ve given me no reasons not to,” Y/N said.

“Good,” Rhysand said, straightening his lapels. “That’s just how you should be thinking if you’re going to write these plays.” 

Y/N was surprised that Rhysand didn’t even bother to defend himself, or his court. If he was so proud of what it represented, why didn’t he? She mused as she studied the ground. If anything, he seemed…aware of all the flaws that Y/N had called out in her plays for Helion.

“I am its High Lord,” Rhysand said, making her head snap up. “I know what we are. How we come across to the world. And I intend on keeping it that way.”

“But why?” Y/N asked. “You don’t even want to try to make it better?”

Rhysand shrugged. “You said it yourself in this play. I delight in terror, and so do those under me. Why fix what works so nicely?” He straightened the script’s pages. “I’ll make you a deal. I can send this to the Day Court, to let Helion know how satisfied I am with your work. Maybe they’ll put it on there just to appease me, and you’ll win your award after all.” 

By doing the exact opposite of what she set out to do. Rhysand really was a prick.

Rhysand chuckled. “Why? You still wrote it. You’re still the playwright worthy of that award.”

Even though these were nice words, Y/N couldn’t accept them. Not from her enemy! Who had taken her from everything she loved and made sure she would never be able to write the plays of her dreams. Who was forcing her to do exactly what she hated- making sure Rhysand and his Night Court still thrived. 

 “Suit yourself,” Rhysand said. “But I remain impressed.”

[litnerdwrites]

Day three already? Time sure does fly. I feel like the last two were pretty emotionally heavy, so have something fluffy for now. I loved TOTF btw, so let me know what y'all thought of it, if you read it, or if it's on your tbr! It definitely gave me a new appreciation for Envy. @princeofsinweek

Day 3: Evy/Games and Riddles

Present - Envy X Wife!Reader

WC:1,676

TW: Mention of sex but no smut.

Envy, I have been taken. If you ever want to seem alive again, come to The Malice Isles at Midnight.  Just kidding!  I’m alive. But do come and find me, okay?  Start by looking above for something precious to us. Good luck Hubby! Love ya <3 - xo xo A

Envy read the note through twice, brows twitching, before crumpling the note in his hand. He’d been searching for his wife from the moment he’d returned from House Greed, only to find that none of his demons had any inkling as to where she was, and all that was left in his office was a faux ransom note. His heart still hadn’t stopped racing from the moment he saw it lodged into his office chair with an arrow, and he’d read the first two lines and almost ordered Alexi to prepare for war. 

Leaving the note on his desk, envy huffed and stalked out of the door, heading towards their shared chambers. He stalks right to the bed, and examines an oil painting hanging above the headboard. It was of the two of them, dancing at the last Feast of the Wolf. The memory of Adalyn’s hunter green gown gliding across the marble floors of House Pride still set Envy’s heart stuttering. Peeking out from one of the corners was another slip of paper. Envy rolled his eyes at how predictable his little pet was, as he unfolded the paper. 

I can already feel you rolling your eyes at me. Was it really that easy? Stupid question, I know. But let’s pretend it wasn’t, yeah? Perfect! You’re the best, hubby!  Your next clue will be somewhere important. A place that no other dares to approach without permission. Aside from me, of course. I love lounging around there, especially when you give me ‘the look’ look when you tell me to get off. You know, the one that lets me know you’re about to punish me? I love that look! I hope to see it again soon. Love you! <3 - Kisses, A

Envy resists the urge to roll his eyes, especially given that this particular clue had taken him a moment or two to decipher. With some quick transversa magic, he found himself in the throne room of his House of Sin. He examined the seat carefully, this time not seeing the clue right away. Upon a closer examination, he found it tucked into the cushion of his seat. 

Well done Hubby, I knew you could find it! Did I hide it well this time, or was it still too easy for you? Either way, the next clue should be a bit more tricky.  It’s in a room with a maiden, cold and alone. Be careful when getting this one, love. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself. It’d make me sad if you did. <3 - Best of luck, A

The last bit of the note somehow warmed Envy’s icy heart more than his pet already had. He had to admit, she was somewhat adorable. He began thinking over where the next clue might be. The first thought that came to mind was Vittoria, being so cold, and living alone at House Vengeance. He banished that thought as soon as it arrived. His love wouldn’t do that to him. That, he knew for certain. 

Perhaps Adalyn meant it in a more literal sense? Maiden, and a warning to not get hurt? The Iron maiden perhaps? In their new Iron exhibition? 

Envy was gone again, this time heading towards the iron maiden, and throwing it open. A tiny slip of parchment fell out, and he practically lunged for it. After spending a week at Greed's House, helping deal with some renegade witches, and while he couldn’t tell if he found this game of her’s to be infuriating or entertaining, he knew he was ready to find her, and had a long, long, list of things he’d do to her when he did. 

I bet this one took a bit longer to find, didn’t it? I dare say that I’m getting good at this, right Hubby? And don’t give me that look that I know you’re giving the note! I am getting better at it! Well, the last one will be the trickiest, so be prepared! Muahahaha!  Well, this is your final clue, so rejoice. I’m waiting for you at my favorite place. Can’t wait to see you! Hugs! <3 - Forever yours, A

Envy grinned, and immediately took off, spreading his wings and shooting through the doors of a nearby balcony. He soared high above his house of sin, heading towards one of the large gardens. He lands right in the center of a hedge maze. Retracting his wings, he doesn’t bother to hide the wicked expression on his face as he looks around. His Adalyn loved coming here, to the center of the maze, sometimes to explore, and sometimes to read. Even in his court, there were few who could find their way through the enchanted maze, especially given its ever changing nature, so, while he’d never admit it to his brother, it filled him with pride that his wife did so on a regular basis. 

Envy circled the clearing in the center like a predator, searching for signs of his wife. Only for the hunger that painted his face a moment before to falter, as he realizes that she isn’t there.

Envy frown, giving the surrounding area one last once over, making sure he didn’t miss something. There wasn’t.

I bet this one took a bit longer to find, didn’t it? I dare say that I’m getting good at this, right Hubby? And don’t give me that look that I know you’re giving the note! I am getting better at it! Well, the last one will be the trickiest, so be prepared! Muahahaha!  Well, this is your final clue, so rejoice. I’m waiting for you at my favorite place. Can’t wait to see you! Hugs! <3 - Forever yours, A

Her favorite place… If not the maze, where she spent most of her time… then where? 

The throne room? He was just there. 

That cafe on The Shifting Isles? Maybe. 

House Sloth? She knows he’d probably declare war on his brother if he were there. 

I’m waiting for you at my favorite place. Can’t wait to see you! Hugs! 

Envy’s eyes widen as he finally realizes. 

I’m waiting for you at my favorite place. Can’t wait to see you! Hugs!   Hugs! 

Envy grins, taking off again, this time heading to their receiving room. The antechamber of their room had undergone renovations just a few months back, but there was only one thing Adalyn had insisted on. Envy had rolled his eyes at the time, but over the past year, he learned just how much Adalyn adored the edition.

He quickly uses magic to get there, only to freeze in the doorway. 

Adalyn lounges amongst hunter green silks, clad in a silver slip that hugged every curve, stopping mid thigh, with a scandalous little slit in the side. Her eyes twinkle as her gaze moves from the book in her hand to the doorway, and she gives a little grin. 

The little vixen gives a wide smile, stretching her legs along the daybed. The one she had insisted on, claiming that a large one would be the perfect place for ‘hugs and cuddles’. 

Sometimes Envy forgets how much she loves simpler things, like cuddling, as much as sex and dates. Sometimes, even more than sex and dates. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Envy asks.

“Very much, my love. And you? Did you enjoy yourself?” 

“I spent the last hour running all over the place, searching for my wife, when all I wanted was to fuck her into next week, after being away for so long,” Envy retorts, coming to sit on the edge of the daybed. 

Adalyn grins, putting the book away. 

“Well, your wife was lonely without you, and decided to teach a lesson about leaving her for so long,” she tugs at her bottom lip with her teeth, pouting up at him. 

“My mistake, pet. Your husband is sure to think twice before he leaves you alone for so long again,” 

“As he should,” she nods, “And as a reward for being so agreeable, I shall give you your gift now,” 

“Gift?” Envy cocks a brow. 

Adalyn grins, taking out a wrapped box and handing it to him. Envy unwraps it, pausing every now and then to glance at Adalyn, clocking the cheeky grin on her face. Once he sees what’s inside, however, he drops the wrapping. 

Envy holds up the frame, examining the oil painting closely, taking in every detail. There he stood, in one of the most lavish, hunter green suits he’d ever worn, accented with silver, his hands gripping Adalyn’s tightly. Her own gown was silver, but was bejeweled with thousands, if not millions, of tiny crystals, with hunter green flowers and appliques. The ribbon connecting them was black, with a wolf’s face pattern on it, and he remembered how she had painstakingly spent months embroidering it herself.

“This is-” 

“Happy anniversary,” Adalyn smiles. “I wanted there to be a special way for me to give this to you, and I know how much you love games, so I figured it would be perfect,” 

Envy places the painting down, before pulling her in by the hips. He presses a deep kiss to her lips, keeping his arms wrapped around her in a loving embrace. Adalyn let out a surprised humph, but otherwise leaned into it, even as Envy gently pushed her down onto the bed. While he wasn’t gentle often, this gift warmed his heart. He had every intention of thanking his wife for it, the best way he knew how. 

“It is perfect. Allow me show my appreciation for it, and for you, my love, in a way that will make you feel as warm as I do,” 

Adalyn smiled and nodded, cheeks flushed.

“Then show me,” 

That was all Envy needed.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Kinda pissed the whole big 3 pact didn't have consequences.

Not like breaking an oath sworn on the Styx is said to be a worse fate than death.

Not like they swore on the Styx to not have kids and than 3 came along.

Those being Thalia, Jason and Percy.

Because Hazel, Bianca and Nico were all born prior to the pact.

But what if it did have consequences?

They made the pact because their kids were too powerful and we're a threat to mortals.

And this isn't said but I think Zeus in particular was afraid that a son child he sired could be powerful enough to overthrow him.

Like how Uranus overthrew Kronos who was than overthrown by Zeus.

Clearly the fear wasn't enough to stop Zeus.

Enter one Beryl Grace, the mortal star who managed to get the attention of both Zeus and Jupiter.

Giving birth to both Greek and Roman demigods.

Something that to my knowledge hasn't happened anywhere else in the series.

And without letting anyone knowing abd getting the biggest I told you so in history, Zeus has to deal with this.

Hera finds out because of course she does.

And offers Jason to Lupa, the wolf goddesses.

While Thalia runs off when she's old enough, Hades founds out and is very sore after the whole Maria Di Angelo incident sends a monster after her.

She almost does but Zeus saves her by turning her into a tree.

And when she's free she joins the hunt.

And the fates are pissed that Thalia being of the hunt is shielded by Artemis and they cannot intervene.

But there's still one unexpected item in the bagging area: Jason

(I'm well aware of Percy but the fates saw his life and went yeah it's gonna suck enough let's leave this one.)

Jason who has been abandoned by all he loves to the literal wolves.

A child, little more than a baby being trained by the wolf goddess himself.

Perfect.

Jason gets older and stronger, he goes to Camp Jupiter and is made Praetor.

He goes on quest after quest in service for the God's.

But instead of unwavering loyalty and being happy simply to serve the God's, as expected, Jason feels empty.

Because if there's one thing Jason wants, more than thing in the world.

It's to have a family.

He adores the people of Camp Jupiter but their almost colleagues, acquaintances.

United under their existence and mission to serve the God's.

His only true friend, Reyna is distant, she is a companion he is happy to have in his life but their relationship has always been professional.

And she's made herself clear that she doesn't agree with his want for family. That it's kind of ridiculous.

Jason snapped at that, saying it was easy for her to say as she had her sister Hylla.

Though they didn't see much of each other, Hylla still visited camp and both were close.

While he had no one.

It was one of the only times Jason had gotten angry at her.

And while taken aback, Reyna apologised. Though it only reminded Jason how lonely he truly was.

People at Camp spoke to him, sparred with him but it was like he was a star.

Something to be looked at in awe but couldn't be approached because it was out of reach.

Jason refuted that he was better any of them, even putting himself in the lowest cohort just yo be seen as anything but that.

His efforts were futile.

Jason had been claimed his first day of Camp.

And since than he'd been rendered untouchable.

He hated it more than anything.

And than Jason began to dream.

Dreams the fates slowly fed him while whispering in his ears that he did have a family.

His father claimed him, so he knew of him.

His family, his father was waiting for him.

No God's entered Camp Jupiter of course so the only way was to meet him in Olympus itself.

He dreamt of marble floors, of a man on a throne who shared his electric blue eyes.

Hand outstretched and a warm smile, welcoming his son to his side.

A father, the fates whispered your family.

You can have all you ever wanted.

And Jason craved that.

He wanted it more than anything.

And they knew it.

Jason gave in.

He sneaks out of Camp without anyone seeing him, following the path from his dreams all the way to the Empire State building.

The usual guard isn't their and from his dreams Jason knows how to access the 600th floor.

It's exactly as his dreams looked.

And their, their was his father in all his glory atop his throne.

Jason can't help the smile on his face.

He's done it.

Finally

Finally he would have the family he always wanted.

He marches to his father's throne, dropping to a bow and announcing himself as Jason Grace, son of Jupiter and that he's so happy to meet his father, so honoured to meet him.

When he looks up.

The smile he expected is nowhere to be found.

His father is enraged.

As are the rest of the Olympians.

"A son?! You, you dare berate me brother for my own offspring while you've been hiding your own!"

"Son of Jupiter?"

"How did he get here?!"

Tells of outrage and anger echo throughout the room but none are as mad as the God before him.

"You... Insolent child dare to approach me. You dare to come to Olympus, to what? Intimidate me?"

Jason shook his head frantically "No no I only wanted to meet you... I'm your son."

Why... Was this going so horribly...?

Zeus sneered at him "I don't know what you think you are doing here, but if you think for a second you belong in my presence you are sorely mistaken. You are nothing, not to me not anyone else."

And something.

Something in Jason snapped.

His dream, everything he ever wanted burning before him.

He laughed.

It was loud.

Hysterical.

He even had tears in his eyes.

"All this time... All this time they say, your father is the mighty Jupiter. Your father is a King amongst men, the vanquisher of Kronos."

He laughed again.

How wrong they were.

How wrong he was.

"I wanted nothing more to meet my father, this mighty king... And you, you are just a pathetic man with a paper crown."

Silence swept the throne room.

Zeus stood before Jason, enraged didn't even capture just how angry he was.

But Jason found he didn't care.

He was angry.

The being he'd served his whole life was not the great King he'd thought him to be.

His fathered towered over him but Jason didn't back down.

He'd been lied to.

All his life he was to serve his father, his whole life he'd served his father and he didn't even want him.

He didn't love him.

Jason questioned if he ever could feel love.

His life meant nothing.

"You... Insolent!"

Jason didn't hear the rest of the speech.

Not before a bolt of lighting flew at him.

Instinctively Jason threw up his arm, reaching out for the Bolt.

It stopped.

It swerved.

And made a dent in his father's throne.

Jason looked down at his hands in shock.

Before chuckling "is that, all you've got?"

That... That was the infamous Master Bolt?

His father truly was nothing like he'd been famed to be.

If a lowly Demigod like Jason could swat his prized weapon like a fly.

No one had ever made it to Olympus without being detected.

They hadn't even noticed him until Jason announced himself.

They were pathetic.

How... How had he spent his whole life training, serving them.

"Is this why you require demigods?" Jason thought out loud "your weapons are nothing but relics collecting dust. Your feats are nothing but stories. Your power, nothing but a distant memory."

Jason almost pitied them.

Almost.

"So you spawn demigods to do your dirty work, your chores for you because you can't." He snorted.

They were nothing.

They were nothing so they trained their young to do their bidding.

Ignored... Alone...nothing but the fantasy of serving their parents who didn't care for them at all.

Fury.

"How dare you!"

"Oh I dare, all your good for is screwing a mortal and sitting on your backsides! I've lost friends! I've lost so many comrades on your stupid quests!"

A coldness settled in him.

A surety amongst his fury.

"I've lost my childhood, my life for beings who wouldn't care if I lived or died. They'd just bed another mortal and sent the fetus off to battle... And I won't lose any more for you."

Their was defiance in Jason's eyes as he eyed his father.

His father who looked at him with pure rage.

"If you do not silence that demigod Zeus... I will"

Jason didn't bother to see who spoke.

"No, this is my mistake and I will correct it."

"What are you gonna do, smite me? Gonna have to get one of my many... Many siblings to pull your bolt out for you."

Zeus snarled, but Jason was raised by wolves and simply scoffed.

His father blasted him.

Those watching would say it blew the egotistical demigod to smithereens.

Others say he transported himself elsewhere.

Hades himself vertified that the boys soul had not entered his domain.

Jason left, changed.

His yearning for a family had been stamped out.

He was nothing but a tool.

A soilder.

But now, now his sword wasn't pointed to monsters.

But the God's themselves.

They'd stole him.

They'd stole his dream.

They'd stole his childhood.

They'd stole the lives off their own kids to further their goals.

And Jason.

He watched as the crumbled throne of Krios reformed around him.

He sat atop it.

A smile on his face that was all teeth.

Teeth stained with ichor that he licked from his lips.

He was going to destroy them all.

And the fates they smiled upon him.

Their work here was done.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Any other petpeaves for the mash fandom?

I feel like a good deal of my content is my various complaints about the mash fandom, but here are a few that come to mind:

Assumption of popular fanon People will assume that everyone is not only familiar with the popular fanon, they all agree with it. This creates a hostile environment for creativity and sharing different ideas but also for new fans who haven't even made up their minds because they don't even know about this stuff yet. This includes assumption of beejhawk but is very much not limited to that.

Spelling characters' names wrong We have google! You can just google it!

Calling MASH a dramedy It's a comedy.

Saying "what does this mean" about things that have clear meanings Sometimes the meanings are a little opaque to a modern audience, but not understanding a joke because it relies on dated cultural references isn't the same thing as the line being mysterious. This also applies to "they were insane for this" about very standard jokes and plot devices. The word you are looking for is "good." It's memorable because it was executed well, not because it was a wild choice.

Acting like characters' behavior is insane when it's literally normal I'm sure other fandoms do this too because insane and unhinged are trendy words right now but my experience with it is only in the MASH fandom. BJ isn't insane for remembering a childhood marbles rivalry. That's not even weird for a real person and it's completely unremarkable for a TV character.

Saying the show got more progressive in the later seasons/devaluing the early seasons generally The early seasons were more political and Frank Burns was a key part of the progressive message.

Making fun of boomers for missing the point The fandom is not any better, guys. Sorry to break it to you.

The time loop thing You can't just say the words "time loop." And no pointing to continuity errors or examples of the timeline being weird doesn't provide evidence for a time loop. A time loop is a specific thing, not any kind of timeline weirdness.

Making Peace on Us about BJ instead of Margaret :( He does very little, it's much more about Margaret and her relationship with Hawkeye. I wanted to complain about this in my other answer but didn't because that was a more positive post.

Analysis that relies on faulty assumptions This is an all-fandom problem but I run into this in the MASH fandom a lot where a whole meta depends on a statement about a character or storyline that's just incorrect and it's so annoying!

The way people talk about Maine 😡

The literal interpretation of "everyone loses something" in GFA That's an oversimplification and the more accurate version is "everyone is changed in some way."

Straight up fake stories circulating Hawkeye was never forbidden to touch men's underwear. Alan Alda was also never in Korea but that one isn't the fandom's fault, it's a wikipedia error.

Everything about the TVTropes page It's very slanted and full of straight up disinformation and people trust it because they don't understand that TVTropes isn't like wikipedia. Also, people think it means fanon is being validated by an outside source, but the TVTropes entry was written by mashblr people.

Thinking the Mud Hens were made up :( :(((((

Saying BJ has boobs That man is flat as a board. Stop lying. I have eyes.

[luxraydyne]

Reconstructing Renju, or Luxraydyne's Renju Receipts

so uh. there were a couple art pieces i wanted to make about 50 years ago that i decided necessitated sifting every line of text in ai the somnium files (2019) to compile every Renju Crumb i could find. anyway i don't have any art. but what i do have is a nifty huge document with every renju mention in the game, including some silly annotations, which i can offer to artists writers and renju enjoyers for their perusal

turns out there's no neat way to organise this stuff to be more searchable since chronological order doesn't really work, so i have tried to create a sort of iceberg-ish format with the most surface-level info at the top and the esoteric interpretative junk at the bottom; in the reblogs i'm gonna add another version i like that's more fun to use but less comprehensive

(disclaimer: no aini in here, sorry, for one million dollars i will deal with the ramifications of my personal sleep paralysis demon, i simply could not be dealing with the migraine)

Sections for Navigation

Level One: File (literally just the stuff in the menu) Level Two: The Carousel Horse's Mouth (flashbacks) Level Three: Hearsay Evidence (direct-ish quotations) Level Four: Known Relationships (with subheadings) Level Five: Bittersweet Reminiscence (subjective memories) Level Six: Finding-Character-Through-What-Is-Out-of-Character Level Seven A: Renju's Experience of Dying (the mind) Level Seven B: Renju's Death Observed (the body) Level Eight: Renju As Ghost/Encryption/Abstraction Level Nine: Scraps, Symbols, YMMV

Level One: File

Age: 37 Birthday: April 13 Profession: Entertainment Company and Maid Cafe Manager Likes: Unusual things Dislikes: Ordinary things Hobbies: Work Skills: Enjoys songwriting Overview: Renju manages the entertainment office Lemniscate and [maid] cafe Sunfish Pocket. He is the ex-husband of Shoko Nadami and Mizuki’s father. He has been Date’s close friend for five years.

Level Two: The Carousel Horse’s Mouth

Renju: “It was my misunderstanding.” Date: “What do you mean?” Renju: “I thought that mothers love their children unconditionally. But some mothers just can’t do that. Well, no, maybe she does love her. But she has a hard time of it. Shoko was never hugged by her mother. Not because her mother wasn’t around. She was raised to never develop a sensitivity to affection. No hugs, no piggyback rides, nothing. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t know how to love Mizuki. When an animal raised in captivity gives birth, sometimes it just doesn’t know how to raise its young. It’s just like that.” Date: “I do feel bad about Shoko… But that doesn’t mean she’s blameless in all this. Someone has to put a stop to it.” Renju: “If I could have, I would have done it a long time ago.” Date: “What about counselling?”Renju: “I did recommend that. She told me, ‘I’m not sick, why should I go see a doctor? Mizuki is the problem, Mizuki is the sick one…’” Date: “Maybe it’s best if Mizuki and Shoko are separated.” Renju: “No, Mizuki would never leave Shoko. She wouldn’t hear of it. Mizuki and Shoko are practically attached at the hip.” Date: “Even with all the hitting?” Renju: “Yes. Even if she’s abused on a daily basis, even if she’s treated like garbage… Maybe… Mizuki is hungry for love. She craves praise and attention and physical affection. She wants it from her mother. That’s why she’s so attached.” Date: “Couldn’t you step in and take over the parenting?” Renju: “I have a company now.” Date: “Lemniscate.” Renju: “And we’re at a crucial stage of development. I can’t take even a single second out of my day to deal with a kid.” Date: “Hey, that’s your daughter you’re talking about. Maybe because you two can’t cooperate on raising a child, Shoko is having trouble coping.” Renju: “That might be it. Maybe this is partially my fault.” Date: … Mama: … Date: “Okay, I’m sorry, but I’m just gonna say it. You two are both awful parents.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Marble (flashback)

Renju: “Hey, Date. Have you ever seen a dead body?” Date: I remember Renju saying that to me, after he and I went through a bottle. Renju: “You’re a policeman. I don’t know what department, but I assume you aren’t handing out traffic tickets. So how about it?” Date: I didn’t answer. I turned the question around on him. Date: “What about you?” Renju: “Me? Well, yeah. Not just one. Countless bodies.” Date: … Renju: “When I was in high school, I had a pretty crazy job. You know the Kumakura gang? I was hooked up to one of their phone fraud scams. I just had to go collect the money from drop points and give it to the Kumakuras. It was an easy job. Eventually, I became friends with the higher-ups. They started taking me with them on jobs.” Date: “What jobs?” Renju: “The target was always an elderly person from the country with no family. Elderly folk who owned a lot of land, you know? They live every day in loneliness and desperation. You just have to be nice to them. That’s all it takes. Guys would get to know the old people, and they would set up and adoption process. After that… You just have to get them really drunk, throw them in the tub full of hot water… And they pass. Just like that. Heart attack, brain hemorrhage, or they simply go to sleep and drown. The police almost never investigate it. It always looked natural, like they died of old age. So the adopted gang members would inherit the land. Then we sell it and make massive profits.” Date: … Renju: “I watched a lot of people get killed like that. And I’ve seen journalists get killed for getting too close to the truth. So, I… I…” Date: … Renju: “Why am I telling you all this?” Date: … Renju: “Hm. Are you going to arrest me?” Date: I took a sip from my glass. I didn’t say anything for a while. Date: “You didn’t do it yourself, right?” Renju: “No, I was always the lookout. But still… Date, I…” Date: Tears fell to the counter, unending. We didn’t say another word until the ice in the glass had melted to nothing. - Monday (syuurAI), Marble (flashback)

Date cuts bluntly through Renju’s false brazenness and euphemism to the heart of this long rambling confession, that Renju was groomed by the Kumakura gang when he was in high school and now, being complicit in gruesome, cruel criminal activity, now has no way to expunge the trauma of what he remembers from himself, much like the trauma of digging up Manaka’s body, another double-meaning sitting beneath in all this

Renju: “Wait, you’re going to see So?” Manaka: “Yes. I want to talk to him in person.” Renju: “No, you can’t!” Manaka: “Why not?” Renju: … Hitomi: … Manaka: “Are you worried about my body? You don’t have to worry about that. I’m totally fine.” Hitomi: “But your stomach is still…” Manaka: “Oh, my doctor told me that’s normal. Your stomach doesn’t go down right away after giving birth.” Renju: “I’m not worried about your body! Ah, I don’t know how to explain it… So doesn’t care about you! And especially not your child!” Manaka: “I haven’t told him about giving birth… He contacted me for the first time in a while…” Renju: “So that’s why…” Hitomi: “He wants to know about the baby…” Renju: “He must be panicking. If anyone ever finds out his mistress had his baby, his political career would be over.” Manaka: “It’s not like it was an affair…” Hitomi: “His wife passed away after giving birth to his son, right?” Renju: “It would still be a big scandal. He impregnated a girl who just graduated high school. Don’t you see how that looks? He knew how the public would take it… That’s why he gave you the money to…deal with it.” Hitomi: … Manaka: … Renju: “There’s no way he’ll accept that child.” Manaka: “It’s okay. I told him I won’t cause any trouble.” Hitomi: … Renju: … Manaka: “But, could you take care of the baby? Just for a little bit? I’ll be right back.” Renju: … Hitomi: … Renju: “Fine. But take this with you, just in case. It’s a GPS transmitter. Just to be extra safe.” Manaka: … Hitomi: … Manaka: “I really don’t think I’ll need it… But okay. If it’ll make you feel better.” - (18 years ago) Sagan Residence

Renju may well have been an overly pessimistic, hypervigilant, somewhat neurotic personality already, in fact it's likely he was already traumatised given the Kumakuras had their teeth in him well and good in his teenage years, but I have an inkling Manaka's last words to him and Hitomi were a trauma that has remained raw with ever since and affected all the close relationships he had thereafter, especially with his own child

Renju: “Those are Kumakura men…” Hitomi (present): “We didn’t dare move. We couldn’t speak. We were barely breathing. We could only watch as it all unfolded. I knew what that hole was for. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything. I remember my heart beating so fast… Before long…” Initiate: “We good here?” Street Boss: “Yeah. Cover her.” Rohan: “Just a minute. Beautiful…” Hitomi: *gasp* Hitomi (present): “The Kumakura people covered Manka’s body, then left. Renju and I ran over…and dug up the grave with a tree branch… What we saw…” Hitomi: *sob* Hitomi: “Manaka… Manaka…” Hitomi: *sob* Hitomi: “We need to… We need to call the police…” Renju: “No, we can’t. Not yet.” Hitomi: “Why not?” Renju: “You don’t know who those guys are. They would do anything to keep this hidden. I’ve seen it happen myself. I know what they’re capable of. Anyway, think about it. Why would they do this? They thought Manaka and her baby were going to be trouble. Manaka’s stomach was still pretty big… I don’t think they know that she gave birth already. What do you think they’d do if they found out? They would take her and kill her too. And then…they’d come for us. They’d make it look like we disappeared. All of us would be…gone.” Hitomi (present): “Renju convinced me. He knew more about the dirty underbelly of society than anyone. He knew when something couldn’t be handled by the police. He said that they would do anything to kill the child. And I believed him. We had to protect Manaka’s baby… We had to, no matter what!” Hitomi: “Okay, I understand…” Hitomi (present): “I decided to trust him. We couldn’t leave Manaka’s body in the forest… We cleaned her up…and took her to the cold storage warehouse.” - (18 years ago) Mountains

Renju: “This warehouse is owned by Okiura Fishery. My father runs it. But it’s not in use right now. They’re moving operations to a better area. They’re actually looking for buyers right now.” Hitomi: … Renju: “But don’t worry. I’ll take over the warehouse.” Hitomi: “Are you sure?” Renju: “Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll keep everyone out. Everyone but you, of course.” Hitomi: … Renju: “I’ll give you a key. You can come visit any time you want to see Manaka.” Hitomi: “Manaka… Don’t worry about the baby. I’ll protect her. No matter what. And don’t worry about them, either. The people who did this to you… I will never forgive them. I’m sorry, Manaka… Sorry… I’m sorry… Manaka…” - (18 years ago) Cold Storage Warehouse

Renju helping the people he loves in the best way he seems to understand – keeping people the fuck away and doing More Work All The Time

Hitomi: “Did you get the birth certificate?” Renju: “The mob doctor took care of everything. I have the birth certificate, and I even picked up a mother and baby book. It wasn’t cheap…but you don’t have to worry about it. Just submit the birth certificate and everything will be taken care of.” Hitomi: … Renju: “You look worried.” Hitomi: “I feel like…I’m somehow betraying Manaka. She was the one who gave birth…” Renju: “Soon, you won’t even be able to think about that. Because a war is about to begin.” Hitomi: “A war?” Renju: “Between you and the baby. You won’t get a good night’s sleep for a long time. You might even start to resent Manaka for all this.” Hitomi: “Really…?” Renju: “Anyway, as soon as you submit the certificate, you will officially be her mother. Be sure to raise her responsibly. I’ll help. Occasionally.” Hitomi: “Occasionally, huh?” - (18 years ago) Sagan Residence

These two taking a different approach to their role in this game of House

Hitomi: “What should we name her? I was thinking about her name. How about ‘Iris’?” Renju: “Iris?” Hitomi: “The goddess of rainbows in Greek mythology. And the colored part of your eye.” Renju: “And the flower, too.” Hitomi: “Right.” Renju: “I thought it might have something to do with your name, Hitomi.” Hitomi: “Hm, not only that. It’s also from Manaka’s name. The kanji for Manaka uses the character for ‘love.’ And ‘Manaka’ reminds me of ‘manako,’ Japanese for ‘eye.’” Renju: “So both names have something to do with the eye.” Hitomi: “And ‘ai,’ which means love, will always be a part of ‘Iris.’” Renju: “So that’s how you came up with the name?” Hitomi: “Don’t you think it’s nice?” Renju: “Iris. Iris. Yeah. I really like it.” - (18 years ago) Sagan Residence

"We", already falling quite neatly into the role of mother and father in the absence of both; Renju and Hitomi grow into almost idealised doubles of So Sejima and Manaka in Iris's life

Hitomi: “About Manaka’s killer…” Renju: “I don’t really want to discuss this, but… There’s something you need to know.” Hitomi: … Renju: “After talking to the Kumakura gang… I found out who killed Manaka.” Hitomi: … Renju: “So’s son. Saito Sejima.” Hitomi: “How…? Saito is only…” Renju: “12 years old.” Hitomi: “Why? Why would a little boy do that?” Renju: “I don’t know the motive, but I know it’s true. So used his connections with the Kumakuras to cover up for his son. And all of the evidence of this scandal, of course.” Hitomi: “I’ll never forgive them. So, his son, or the Kumakuras!” Renju: “I feel the same way. But you can’t think about revenge now. You and the baby can’t lead a life like that.” Hitomi: “Ah…” Renju: “Just bear with it for now. The opportunity will come. So wait until the right moment. Okay?” - (18 years ago) Sagan Residence

Getting to hear Renju speak in his own (sober) voice is fascinating; he can be inappropriately terse, blunt, sometimes stilted and morbid, but compared to what we could infer about him from conversations in the present day with Mizuki and Iris, he is actually surprisingly compassionate and selfless as well as intelligent; we finally see for ourselves why Hitomi described him as kind above all else, when that seemed contradictory to what we knew. Renju seems to have a strange sort of charisma, brusque in a way that might come across as emotionally insensitive, but able to explain his reasoning in such a way that he is very persuasive; we have seen firsthand how his tendency suppress emotional feelings has done unintended harm to others, but in these flashbacks, at a mere 19 years of age Renju's ability to set any immediate feelings aside and assess a situation more practically and “objectively” may have saved his, Hitomi’s, and baby Iris’s lives several times over; in the absence of both her parents, Renju and Hitomi immediately form a ragtag partnership and their dual personalities work fortuitously, she needed them both in her life at that very moment. I add “set aside” in part because of the last flashback where Hitomi has an angry outburst and Renju senses her desire for revenge, and tells her gently to put that to one side “for now” so as to focus on caring for the baby; but as a caveat, he promises that their revenge can come later, he’s just waiting for a suitable opportunity.

Level Three: Hearsay Evidence

Date: “You’ve always got something smart to say, huh? You’re just like Renju.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Driving with Mizuki

Aiba: “In fact, the conversation about you taking care of Mizuki took place here, at Marble.” Date: “Really?” Aiba: “The topic was brought up several times afterward, but the first time was here. Four years ago, after drinking enough ‘liquid courage,’ Renju asked you to take care of Mizuki. At the time, Renju was recently divorced, buried in work at Lemniscate, and mentally unstable.” Date: … Aiba: “It was a display of excellent judgment. It was a good thing that he managed to swallow his pride.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Aiba here practically doing my job for me.

Moma: “I’ve never even gotten into an argument with the guy.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Kumakura Offices

Date: “What kind of person was your grandpa?” Mizuki: “I never met him. He died before I was born. But Daddy did tell me stories.” Date: “What kind of stories?” Mizuki: “Back when Grandpa was in Great Grandma’s tummy… She was on a passenger ship that got shipwrecked in a storm. She had to have the baby out on the ocean.” Date: “On the ocean?” Mizuki: “Yup. And then, Grandpa was raised by dolphins.” Date: “Hm?” Mizuki: “By the time he was 10, he was catching fish with his bare hands.” Date: … Mizuki: “And then Grandpa got up on land and learned language and culture and stuff. And then he decided to start up Okiura Fishery.” Date: … Aiba: … Date: “Sounds like a tall tale.” Mizuki: “Yeah, Grandpa was a legend. All the fishermen and sailors respected him.” Date: That can’t be true. But there’s a part of me that’s thinking…maybe. After all, Mizuki herself seems superhuman. I’d believe her grandpa was an incredible man. - Monday (youdAI), Date Residence

What a lovely thing to create for a young child. In one conversation with Mizuki we can suddenly understand what it was about Renju that was so loved, despite everything else.

Date: “Do you have any memories of Renju here?” Mizuki: “Sometimes we would talk when I came over to hang out.” Date: “What kind of things did you talk about?” Mizuki: “Nothing special, the usual.” Date: “‘The usual’?” Mizuki: “‘Are you doing well? Have you been eating right?’…” Date: “Ah, so that’s the usual.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Lemniscate

Mizuki: “But there’s more to it than that. There are other reasons. Daddy was totally taken in by her talent.” Date: “Her talent?” Mizuki: “Dancing, really. Her dancing is what got her into Lemniscate. He knew ever since she was young that she would be talented. He didn’t want any other agencies to have her.” Iris: “I didn’t know that…” Mizuki: “Daddy’s not the type to give compliments…” Iris: “Haha, this is kind of embarrassing… I didn’t know he thought of me that way.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Iris: “About three months ago, Mr. Okiura told me something… He said that I can’t dance.” Date: “Why?” Iris: “I dunno… He said something about being ‘over-reliant on dancing and neglecting my singing.’ ‘You should stop dancing for now and practice singing.’” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Bloom Park

Date: “About the shooting on Monday…” Saito: “Just mercenaries I hired. After I woke up Monday, I arranged the hit. They were expensive, but I had access to Renju’s bank account. I paid them with his money.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Level Four: Known Relationships

Shoko Nadami

Aiba: “Nadami, Shoko. 36 years old. Female. Residence: Meguro District. Met Date, Kaname five years ago through her husband, Okiura, Renju. Date and Renju were so-called “old drinking buddies.” Renju and Shoko had one child together. A daughter named Mizuki, the prime suspect of this case. Four years ago, they were divorced. Shoko returned to using her maiden name, Nadami.” - Saturday (saikAI), Boss’s Office

Renju and Shoko divorced when Mizuki was about 8. We know that Renju and Shoko married young, though no mention of her in flashbacks to 19-year-old Renju, meaning they were most likely in their early twenties when they were married and divorced after approximately a decade.

Date: Mizuki Okiura… The girl we found in the merry-go-round. She’s 12 years old, in the 6th grade. - Saturday (saikAI), Boss’s Office

They had Mizuki when Renju was 25 and Shoko was 22.

Date: “Do you know Renju’s ex-wife?” Hitomi: “Yes, I do… But I only met her twice. Once at Renju’s wedding, and then again just a few months ago. Why do you ask?” Date:“No reason.” - Saturday (saikAI), Sagan Residence

Date: “Why did you kill Shoko?” Mayumi: “Renju’s ex-wife, right? I did it…to get to him.” Date: “But the two divorced four years ago.” Mayumi: “Th-That doesn’t matter! The bonds of matrimony are eternal!” Date: “In your opinion. I don’t think Renju felt the same way.” - Tuesday (zugAI), Interrogation Room with Mayumi

Saito: “Like you guessed, my personality was in Shoko, Renju’s ex-wife. That made calling Renju easy. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’ He came over without question. I think it was around 4:00pm? I had him meet me at the chemical plant. I made Renju go to sleep… Psynced, switched personalities… And then stabbed Shoko’s discarded body with an ice pick.” - Tuesday (jinnAI), Interrogation Room with “Boss”

Kaname Date

Date: “Have you picked up Renju yet?” Boss: “He’s at a police station nearby, being interviewed. He’s not a suspect yet, just standard procedure stuff.” Date: Renju is Shoko’s ex-husband and Mizuki’s father. Not to mention, an old friend of mine… Date: “I wonder what Renju was doing last night… I did call him a few times. He didn’t answer.” Boss: “He didn’t?” Date: “No…” - Saturday (saikAI), Boss’s Office

Date: “Look, I don’t want to believe it either. I’ve known him for more than five years now. He’s like family to me.” Date: I’d never want to put cuffs on him. I would never want Mizuki to see that… - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Boss: “You look awful. Have you been sleeping any?” Date: “My best friend was murdered, Boss. I don’t have it in me to sleep right now.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Boss’s Office

Mama: “You used to come all the time. You and Ren, grumbling over your glasses of bourbon. Laughing, drowning each other’s sorrows… Sometimes getting into arguments… One time, it even became a real fight. You remember that?” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Marble

Date: Why did Renju come here Friday night? Was it to place Shoko’s body here…? Or did he have another reason? Renju is my friend. I want to believe him, but I don’t [know] how long I can keep defending him. Where is he? What is he doing? I’ve thought it over a thousand times. My head is heavy with it. - Tuesday (dakkAI), Bloom Park

Date: Hit him. Aiba: “This is for neglecting your responsibility to Mizuki, you coward! No use. I can’t hit him.” Date: “This Renju is still a teenager. He wouldn’t know Mizuki yet…” - PSYNCIN’ IN THE MOUNTaiN

It seems part of Renju, like Hitomi, stayed that scared teenager until the day he died, stuck in that one night quite literally frozen in time

Mama/Marble

Mama: “That’s right. And I won’t charge you this time. Just promise to get the bastards who did this to Ren for me.” Date: Right. This is for Renju. Date: “I promise.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Aiba: “This is a painting of Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian was a faithful Christian who lived under Roman emperor Diocletian. On January 20th, 288 A.D., he was martyred. This painting depicts his execution.”

Slaps St Sebastian's head. "This intertextuality can fit so much mileage in it."

Mama: “Something wrong, Date? You’re staring awful hard.” Date: “Nothing, just caught my eye.” Mama: “Why now, of all times? That’s been hanging there for a while.” Date: “Really?” Mama: “Yeah, it was a gift from Ren a while back. I’ve always had it there.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

So one assumes Date hadn't noticed or enquired about the picture until just now, even though it's been "hanging there" in the back for some considerable time. See what I mean about that mileage, baby?

This dialogue occurs on Sunday on both sides of the flowchart; on the right side, the exchange occurs with Mizuki present.

Iris Sagan

Iris: “Well, at first, all I did was stream from home. And then, not to sound cocky, but…I started getting pretty big. I started getting offers from agencies.” Date: “And one of them was Lemniscate?” Iris: “Well, not exactly.” Date: “Huh?” Iris: “My mom’s actually an old friend of the president of the agency.” Date: “A friend of Renju’s?” Iris: “Yeah. So, I asked him for advice one day. You know, you have to be careful. Even a place that looks legitimate, with an office and everything, can be sketchy. And my mom and I didn’t know anything about the industry at all… Anyway, one day, Mr. Okiura said to come see him at his office, and he hooked me up.” - Saturday (saikAI), Driving with Iris

Iris: “Marble. It’s a bar in Golden Yokocho.” Date: “You know about that place?” Iris: “Yeah, Mr. Okiura took me before…” - Sunday (gumAI), Driving with Iris

Iris: “Mr. Okiura helped me when I was just starting out. You know how my mom is single? He really supported her. He even changed my diaper when I was a little baby. I got hired by Lemniscate all because of him.” Mizuki: “Iris used to stream all her own content. Like singing and dancing and gaming and stuff. But before we knew it, she went viral.” Date: “Right, I heard about that. That’s how she started getting offers, right? But because Iris’s mom knows Renju, she decided to go with Lemniscate.” Mizuki: “But there’s more to it than that. There are other reasons. Daddy was totally taken in by her talent.” Date: “Her talent?” Mizuki: “Dancing, really. Her dancing is what got her into Lemniscate. He knew ever since she was young that she would be talented. He didn’t want any other agencies to have her.” Iris: “I didn’t know that…” Mizuki: “Daddy’s not the type to give compliments…” Iris: “Haha, this is kind of embarrassing… I didn’t know he thought of me that way.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Iris: “About three months ago, Mr. Okiura told me something… He said that I can’t dance.” Date: “Why?” Iris: “I dunno… He said something about being ‘over-reliant on dancing and neglecting my singing.’ ‘You should stop dancing for now and practice singing.’” Date: “But during your livestream…” Aiba: “She was dancing.” Iris: “Because I was…sad. After I stopped dancing, I lost so many fans… They said terrible things to me. Like that I’m worthless if I can’t dance.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Bloom Park

Doesn’t sound entirely out of character for Renju, counter-intuitive self-preservation instincts that cause him to neglect the feelings behind the actions of others; however, in this case we can be fairly sure there is some other motive behind this, we have it from Mizuki that Renju greatly admired Iris’s talent for dance and encouraged herself to build a fanbase/market around that. Hitomi recounted a couple of occasions where Iris accidentally hurt herself in her enthusiasm for dancing; one possibility is that Iris’ neurological condition, worsening over the past few months with her tumour and increasingly unpredictably hampering her motor function, and Renju became sufficiently uneasy about the possibility of Iris injuring herself again while dancing that he told her directly to stop (Iris says Renju told her that "I can’t dance", not that she "shouldn’t" and we know for sure that Iris has the ability to dance, suggesting something greater prohibiting her from doing so—rather how someone with a broken leg would say, "I can’t walk"), which is causing Iris emotional distress instead (and failing to really protect her from the physical risks, given she is continuing to dance on stream anyway to self soothe and placate her fanbase); this fits into a pattern of behaviour of taking drastic measures to protect those close to him from perceived danger and causing more emotional hurt in so doing

Iris: “Guess I’ll tell you now. Sunday, at 2:00am, I was visited by…” Date: … Aiba: … Iris: “Renju Okiura.” Date: “What?!” Iris: “He seemed really sick… Probably because of his injury. At the time, I had no idea what had happened to him. He was sweating buckets, and he came up to me with this begging look in his eyes… He said, ‘Come with me.’ He seemed really desperate. I couldn’t say no. So I got into his rental car… We went somewhere, I dunno where. Some deserted building. Mr. Okiura got out of the car, then grabbed my hand. He tried to pull me inside. I got scared… I pulled my hand away and ran.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Ikume Shrine

Good lord that’s twice someone just "couldn’t say no" the pretty please energy on this man must be insane Saito got mad lucky (that line is clearly subtext code for "adores and trusts Renju to the point of doing irrational things to try and help him even when he’s acting weird and OOC", though Iris’s self-preservation instinct ultimately prevails and changes her mind where Pewter never does)

Date: “Why didn’t you tell me this?” Iris: “Mr. Okiura has done so much for me. He took care of me as a kid. He helped me at Lemniscate… I wanted to trust him. No matter what happens, I can’t think of him as a bad person. I mean, he never did anything bad to me… He came to my house at two in the morning and tried to take me to an abandoned building, but… You never know. Maybe he wanted to show me some flowers, or…something that he found. Or it was like, a prank he was filming for the internet or something… That’s what I thought at the time. That’s…what I kept telling myself. But after hearing everything you’ve told me, I can’t see Mr. Okiura the same way. Maybe he’s a part of Naix. Maybe he’s trying to…” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Ikume Shrine

Saito: “I was still in Renju’s body. My next target was Iris. If I asked her to come to the abandoned factory, I knew she would be skeptical. So I called her to Sunfish Pocket. I even video called her. But for some reason, she said no. This was around 5:00pm. I was still Renju, the president of Lemniscate. I didn’t think I would have any trouble getting her to trust me, but…” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Hitomi Sagan

Hitomi: “Renju was my classmate at Eitoku High. We’ve known each other for 20 years now.” - Saturday (saikAI), Sagan Residence

Mizuki: “I saw So on my way home from the police station. Aiba: “Where?” Mizuki: “I was getting dropped off at home.” Date: “Was he alone?” Mizuki: “No, someone was walking next to him. My homeroom teacher…” Aiba: “Homeroom teacher?” Mizuki: “She’s also my mom’s best friend. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later…” - Wednesday (sanpAI), Ikume Shrine

Either Shoko considers Hitomi to be her "best friend", having only met her twice, which is horribly depressing, or this is a translation bug and Mizuki should’ve said "dad’s best friend"

Hitomi: “I may have told you this already. I met Renju’s wife Shoko twice before. The first time at the wedding… The second time a month ago… That second time…was in the waiting room of the prison.” - Monday (jukkAI), Sagan Residence

Date: “You said you and Renju knew each other from high school, right?” Hitomi: “Yes, at Eitoku High.” Date: “And you work at the public school here?” Hitomi: “That’s right. A district elementary school.” Date: “Is that a coincidence? You becoming the teacher of your friend’s kid?” Hitomi: “Well, I hadn’t always planned on being a teacher, but… It wasn’t a coincidence that Mizuki ended up in my class. Renju seemed really intent on sending Mizuki to a school where I was teaching. They even moved to get into my school district. That was about five years ago, in spring.” Date: “Before the divorce?” Hitomi: “Yes… But I heard that Shoko didn’t have a problem with the move.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Date Residence

Date: “How is Mizuki at school?” Hitomi: “She’s a little quiet, but she’s a very clever girl. And more than anything, she is kind.” Date: “Kind?” Hitomi: “When I’m carrying heavy bags, she’ll come and help me without asking. When I’m troubled, she’ll sometimes pick flowers to give to me. Not that she has a perfect disciplinary record…but she’s a good girl.” Date: “What’s on her record?” Hitomi: “There are a few incidents. Once, she let out all the frogs that were going to be used for science class. Another time, she punched a bully so hard that he chipped a tooth.” Date: “Sounds like more than just ‘incidents’…” Hitomi: “But I like that about her… She’s a little clumsy… And just like Renju.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Date Residence

Hitomi: “Then, I heard footsteps. And then a bunch of men yelling. They were looking for him. When the voices and footsteps faded, he let me go. ‘Don’t call an ambulance, and don’t call the cops.’ I knew he had to be a criminal. So I took him to an underground clinic I knew.” Date: “You took him to a mob doctor?” Hitomi: “Renju’s friend. I only met him once.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sagan Residence

This meeting would've been when Renju and Hitomi left newborn Iris in his care before leaving to search for Manka's GPS signal

Date: “Where is Renju?” Hitomi: “Did something happen to him…? Did something happen to him…?” Date: There’s no point hiding it. I told her about Renju’s disappearance. Hitomi: “Right from the hospital…? I’m sorry… I have no idea.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sagan Residence

Date: “What about your parents?” Hitomi: “They died when I was 17. I was an orphan, and my relatives lived far away. Then might have taken me in, but I was already in my second-to-last year of high school. It wasn’t a good idea for me to move that late. So I decided to stay here, by myself.” Date: “And take care of Iris.” Hitomi: “Yes, all alone. But Renju would help sometimes.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sagan Residence

Date: “Her name is Manaka Iwai. She was killed when she was 19. She went to the same high school as you, and she was your best friend. Isn’t that right?” Hitomi: … Date: “Nothing to say for yourself? Hiding something?” Hitomi: … Date: “Maybe you killed her with Renju.” Hitomi: “That’s ridiculous!” Date: “Oh, now you’re talking. But we know Renju committed a crime. Illegally disposing of a body. And we can prove it.”- Tuesday (kenzAI), Interrogation Room with Hitomi

Aiba: “A flower bud. I cannot identify what variety.” Date: Worship it. Aiba: “‘Worship’ it?” Date: “Yeah.” Aiba: “I will pray to it as thought I am mourning the dead.” - PSYNCIN’ IN THE MOUNTaiN

Hitomi and Renju’s “God” is grief

Aiba: “This is… A picture of Hitomi, Renju, and Manaka.” Date: “Everyone is so young… Hold on to that.” - PSYNCIN’ IN THE MOUNTaiN

Mizuki Okiura

Date: “Renju is Mizuki’s legal guardian. Did you get permission from him?” Boss: “I couldn’t get in touch with him.” - Saturday (saikAI), Psync Room with Mizuki

May not be possible to say for sure, since Shoko is dead and everyone is obviously talking about her in the past tense and like she no longer exists, even if she was also a legal guardian of Mizuki, but from context clues it does seem likely that Mizuki was left in Renju’s sole care as part of divorce proceedings

Aiba: “When she is in a mood, it’s impossible to get her to talk. That’s the kind of girl she is.” Date: “Heh, sometimes I think you know her better than I do.” Aiba: “How long do you think I’ve been observing her?” Date: “It’s been four years now…” - Saturday (meikAI), Psync Room with Mizuki

Renju surrendered Mizuki into Date’s care four years ago, around the time of the divorce, when Mizuki was eight and seemingly very soon after Renju was seemingly given sole legal custody of her

Date: “Mizuki. Renju sent you that NILE message, didn’t he?” Mizuki: “What…?” Date: “I got this buddy of mine. Real bad personality, but real good with technology. I got some help from them.” Aiba: “‘Bad personality’?” Date: “There was a message sent at 8:05 last night. Does this sound familiar? ‘Mizuki, Daddy got caught up in something serious. Please come to Bloom Park’s merry-go-round right away. Daddy needs your help. Please, do as I say.’” Mizuki: “Yeah, that was it… It was from Daddy’s phone… But I didn’t want to say anything, because that would make Daddy a suspect, so…” Date: “So you kept quiet.” Mizuki: “Yeah… My dad’s never said anything like that to me, ever. That he was counting on me. I had to go.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

This dialogue occurs on both sides of the flowchart; on the right side, the exchange happens on Sunday at the Date Residence, with Hitomi present.

Mizuki: “I’m Renju’s daughter. Maybe I’ll notice something you don’t. Something only his daughter would know.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Driving with Mizuki

Turns out, asked the question, Mizuki can’t come up with anything. She does have something to add about Shoko though.

Date: “Do you have any memories of Renju here?” Mizuki: “Sometimes we would talk when I came over to hang out.” Date: “What kind of things did you talk about?” Mizuki: “Nothing special, the usual.” Date: “‘The usual’?” Mizuki: “‘Are you doing well? Have you been eating right?’…” Date: “Ah, so that’s the usual.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Lemniscate

These "usual" exchanges are something Mizuki says she craves in a father-figure, yet something about this with Renju doesn't sit right for her.

Mizuki: “That’s why maybe me and Mom and Daddy weren’t able to be a family. Our whole lives, we never could be ordinary. Even if I tried my hardest to be normal, it would just be awkward… Eventually, I got tired of trying.” Date: … Mizuki: “I killed them.” Date: “What?” Mizuki: “I…killed…Mom and Daddy.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Bloom Park

Date: “You’re her teacher?” Hitomi: “Yes, elementary school.” Date: “I didn’t know you taught at Mizuki’s school.” Hitomi: “I didn’t know Mizuki was living with you. I knew about her…circumstances with Renju, but… He described you as a relative. But I suppose not. Mizuki explained the situation to me.” Date: Mizuki lives here with me. But I’m not her legal guardian. That’s why I’ve never been to school with her or anything like that. That was all left to Renju. He might not be any good at raising her, but he is her father. He takes care of all the official stuff. That was one of the conditions for me taking in Mizuki. - Sunday (gyoukAI), Date Residence

Date: “Where is Renju?” Mizuki: “I don’t know where he is…” Date: “Can you think of anywhere he might go?” Mizuki: “No, not really… I don’t know where Daddy goes…” Date: “Did he visit you when you were in the hospital?” Mizuki: “No… But I didn’t expect him to. He’s always busy. He doesn’t care about me…” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Date Residence

Mermaid: “Mizuki comes here a lot. She’s really friendly with everyone.” Mizuki: “I like it here. Everyone treats me nice.” Date: “Is it because you’re the daughter of the owner?” Mizuki: “No, it’s not like that.” Mermaid: “We’re BFFs!” Aiba: “She wields extraordinary power with that trident.” Date: “The Okiura family is really something else.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

The mermaids seem to have given Mizuki an orichalcum trident, the highest "rank" of customer, for free

Date: “Do you know where your father is?” Mizuki: “If you’re asking me… He’s involved in all this, isn’t he?” Date: … Mizuki: “Is he the culprit?” Date: … Mizuki: “Did he really kill Mom?” Date: … Mizuki: “Well… I guess it’s understandable that he’d be a suspect. After Mom got killed, he didn’t even call. And he called me out to Bloom Park for some reason… I thought it was suspicious. But… But… I pretended not to notice. I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I wanted to believe in Daddy…” Date: … - Tuesday (dakkAI), Matsushita Diner

Very noticeable how much more readily pretty much everyone is able to "give up" (not quite an accurate term, Mizuki thinks her father murdered her mother based on pretty much the same little evidence available as Date who’s been otherwise occupied) on Renju in the route where he is assumed to still be alive for the duration, with less evidence than stacks up rapidly on left side of the flowchart when Mizuki and Date and even Boss are still giving him the benefit of the doubt until Saito literally spells out the truth (contrast Mizuki implying here that part of her always knew her father was the most likely candidate for Shoko’s killer, to her repeated assertions on the left side that he must be somehow innocent, which get "confirmed" when he is found strung up in Sunfish Pocket); it is as though Renju can only be vindicated in death – it is when his putrefying battered corpse is found on right side that everyone seems to collectively realise his innocence

Date: “Why didn’t you call the police?” Mizuki: “What was I supposed to do?! Daddy would have been in trouble!” Date: “So you kept quiet this whole time?” Mizuki: “Yeah…” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Iris: “Uncle wants to know why you’re here.” Mizuki: … Iris: “‘No particular reason. Am I not allowed to be here? I inherited Daddy’s stock at Lemniscate. This is my company now, isn’t it natural that I’d be here?’ That’s what she said.” - Three months later (kassAI), Lemniscate

Pewter

Date: “You seem troubled, Pewter.” Pewter: “Two murders, one right after the other… How could I not be?” - Sunday (syokubAI), Boss’s Office

Date: “Why are you here, anyway?” Pewter: “Am I not allowed to be here?” Date: “No, I didn’t mean it like that..” Pewter: “I was here first. I was just talking to the Boss about Renju’s murder.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Boss’s Office

Date: “Any thoughts on the culprit?” Pewter: “Renju had his left eyeball removed.” Date: “Right, Shoko too.” Pewter: “So perhaps, Mr. Date, you are the killer. You’re missing your left eye. So you steal them from others. Date: … Aiba: … Pewter: “I’m kidding! Only a joke.” Date: “I’m too tired for your jokes right now, Pewter.” Pewter: “Actually… You lost your eye six years ago, correct?” - Sunday (syokubAI), Boss’s Office

Sometimes foreshadowing is relatively obvious. This is like, the second time minimum that Pewter has made an inappropriate "joke" about this exact subject, so starting to think that last line is more than merely a hint for us, the player.

Date: “This is… This is the wristwatch Renju always wore. No doubt about it. But how did this get here?” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Mama: “Well, there was the ‘watch incident’… I’m sure you remember that one.” Date: “Watch incident?” Mama: “You don’t remember? Your drunk ass spilled your beer on Ren’s watch. Ren was furious, yelling about how ‘this watch is more important than my life!’ Or whatever… He blew up on you. That was the only time I’ve ever seen Ren that mad. That’s why I remember it so well.” Date: “Was it this watch?” Date: I pulled out the watch I had in my pocket. It was the one I found in the oil drum at Sunfish Pocket. Mama: “Yeah, that’s it! Why do you have it?” Date: … Mama: “Was it…at the scene?” Date: … Mama: “Ren was given that watch by his lover. It was an anniversary gift, I think…” Mizuki: “Lover?” Mama: “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot Mizuki was here…” Mizuki: “No, it’s fine.” Mama: “But of course, it wasn’t an affair. This was all after he was divorced.” Mizuki: “Daddy…had a new lover…” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Date: Pewter took the cigarette butt from me. Boss: “If the DNA on that cigarette butt…matches the bloodstain in the warehouse…” Pewter: “There would be no doubt that So Sejima is our mysterious polar bear.” Boss: “How long will it take to analyze?” Pewter: “If I had six hours…” Boss: “You’ve got three.” Pewter: “That’s totally unreasonable… But, I suppose. I will do my best to have this analyzed in three hours.” Date: “You folded pretty easily on that one.” Pewter: “I want to catch the criminal as soon as possible. That’s all.” Date: … Boss: … Pewter: “Now, because time is of the essence… Excuse me.” - Tuesday (seisAI)

For completeness, he does it in exactly two hours, 41 minutes.

Date: “Pewter, is it true? The results are in?!” Pewter: “Yes. The DNA I collected from the cigarette but is a positive match to the bloodstain from the warehouse.” Date: “Really…? It was So all along? He was the polar bear! He carved out Iris’s eye and stabbed Ota! And probably killed Renju and Shoko…” Aiba: “Making So Sejima the New Cyclops Killer…” Date: “Thank you, Pewter.” Pewter: “Don’t thank me yet. Hurry up and get So.” - Tuesday (seisAI)

Date: When I left the warehouse, I saw Pewter. What is he doing here? He walked up to me while I was trying to work it out. Pewter: “Date, I have to talk to you about something.” Date: “Huh…?” Pewter: About the Original Cyclops Serial Killings.” Date: … Aiba: … Date: “Why this, all of a sudden?” Pewter: “Because I want you to solve this case, Mr. Date. I want you to find who did this and bring them to justice. So if I can help you, even a little…” Date: “Why didn’t you say anything at ABIS?” Pewter: “The Boss was there. I couldn’t speak openly in front of her.” - Monday (jukkAI), Warehouse District

Date: Pewter looks grimly serious. - Monday (jukkAI), Warehouse District

Date: “Why are you so cooperative?” Pewter: “Because I know that the Boss is my enemy. I got the video from Aiba. I processed it and found that it showed no sign of tampering or editing. Which means there can be no mistake. The Boss shot and killed So Sejima. After pulling out his left eye. That makes the odds of her being the culprit behind the other murders very high. Or maybe she had accomplices. Either way, she’s a criminal. That’s why I am cooperating with you, Special Agent Date. I want it as bad as you do. The truth.” - Tuesday (jinnAI), Psync Room

Mama: “Yeah, his favourite watch. He got it from his new lover… An anniversary gift. Oh, this was of course after the divorce. Ren was so happy, he showed it off to me. He’s had that watch on him ever since.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Marble

Mama: “Can you come back again tonight? There’s a regular here who was good friends with Ren. They should be here tonight. If you ask him, he might have some information for you.” - Monday (syuurAI), Marble

Date: “Mama, I wanna ask you something.” Mama: “What is it?” Date: “Those gunmen were waiting for us. Did you tell anyone we were coming?” Aiba: “That’s right. You did tell Mama that you were coming. And that you were bringing Iris.” Mama: “Hm, well… I did tell one person…” Date: “Who?” Mama: “The person I was gonna have you meet, of course. Same guy who gave Ren his watch.” Date: “What’s his name?” Mama: “Futa, I think. Futa Amanoma.” Date: ! Aiba: ! Date: “What?!” Aiba: … Date: … Aiba: “That’s…Pewter…” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Marble

Date: “You told those men that Iris and I were going to Golden Yokocho, didn’t you?” Pewter: “Yes. I did. Renju hired them.” Date: “Renju did?” Iris: “Which means Mr. Okiura is in with Naix…” Pewter: “Naix?” Date: “Don’t play dumb. I know you’re with them.” Pewter: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just helping Renju.” Iris: “Did you help #89 get away?” Pewter: “How much does she know?” Date: “Just answer the question.” Pewter: … Iris: … Pewter: “Yes, I did.” Date: “It’s been bothering me… How was #89 able to escape from Metro so easily? And you were the one being held hostage. If you were helping him the whole time, it all makes sense.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Psync Control Room

Date: “Is it true that you were the one who gave Renju his watch?” Pewter: … Date: … Pewter: “Yes, that’s true.” Date: There was no need to ask anything else. Why did Pewter help Renju? His last answer was all I needed to hear. - Tuesday (dakkAI), Psync Control Room

Date: “Why did Renju escape with #89?” Pewter: “I don’t know. I-It’s true, please, believe me! Renju said that he needed him. That’s all I know.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Psync Control Room

Pewter: “Two days ago, Renju escaped from the hospital. Renju asked me on the phone to report everything about Shoko’s murder case. That’s what he wanted. Yesterday… The Boss told me that #89 was coming. Then, Renju asked… ‘Is there any way we can let #89 escape?’ I was conflicted. I thought hard about it… But it was Renju asking. Someone I love. And he sounded like he was on death’s doorstep. He was begging for help. I couldn’t say no. With my intelligence, I was quickly able to come up with a plan. You know what the results were.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Psync Control Room

Date: “I see. So where is Renju?” Pewter: “Even if I knew, why would I tell you?” Date: “Because you don’t want more holes in your body than you already have.” Pewter: “You can’t.” Date: “Why not?” Pewter: “Date, I didn’t tell you all this because you were threatening me. I genuinely wanted you to know. To understand. The truth, Date.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Psync Control Room

Moma: “That jackoff who took Tesa, Pewter, right? What’s his deal?” Date: “I think Renju asked him to do all of this.” Moma: “Renju?” Date: I told Moma about Renju and Pewter’s relationship. Moma: “Oh, that’s right… Renju was lookin’ for Tesa.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Warehouse District

Saito: “By Monday, Renju’s body was almost completely dead. And of course, my consciousness as well. That’s when I got a call. From a Mr. Amanoma… The man you call ‘Pewter.’” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Receptionist

Date: “Things have been pretty serious around here lately. Receptionist: “Yeah, totally. You never think about, like, my boss getting murdered, y’know? Like, what are even the chances? That’s like, the odds of hitting the lotto.” Date: … Receptionist: “But it was kinda lucky in a weird way? Some of my old friends hit me up, asking about it, y’know? Feels like we’re old alumni or something.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Lemniscate

Date: “Who hired this woman?” Mizuki: … Aiba: “The most likely scenario is that the final decision was made by the head of the company.” Date: “Renju.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Lemniscate

Kumakura Gang

Moma: “I’ve been looking after that guy since high school. It was the usual stuff. I had him help me with a lot of work.” Date: … Moma: “But now, it’s kind of the opposite, y’know? We’re getting work from him. Well, we were. Now that he’s dead though…” Date: “What ‘work’ did he have you do?” Moma: “Eh, the usual. If talent at his office was causing trouble or something…” Date: “You ever get into any disputes with Renju doing this ‘work’?” Moma: “No way, he paid good money. I’ve never even gotten into an argument with the guy.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Kumakura Offices

Mama: “You know about Renju and the Kumakura gang, right?” Date: “Yeah, I know. I heard it from his own mouth right here.” Mama: “Do they have anything to do with the talent scandal at Lemniscate?” Date: “Maybe now they do, since Renju is the president of Lemniscate. But even before that…Renju and the Kumakuras go way back. All the way back to high school.” - Monday (syuurAI), Marble

Bit sad that Date can remember when Renju drunkenly told him about the trauma of being present at multiple murders under coercion, but not about Renju getting uncharacteristically angry at him out of love; makes sense from a plot and characterisation standpoint, but still.

Date: “Who told you this?” Hitomi: “Renju told me.” Date: “But you said he wasn’t there.” Hitomi: “He heard some of this from the Kumakuras. Renju had connections with them…” - Tuesday (kokkAI), Psync Room with Hitomi

Hitomi: “Again, neither Renju or I saw this. We were just waiting at my house for Manaka to return. But she never came back. We tried to call her cell, but it didn’t connect. But then…we saw movement on the GPS.” Date: “The GPS Renju gave to Manaka?” Hitomi: “Yes. At first, we thought she was on her way home. But we saw the GPS getting further and further away from the city… Renju and I got nervous and decided to follow it.” Date: “What about the baby?” Hitomi: “We couldn’t take a baby with us, so… Renju gave the baby to the mob doctor he trusted.” - Tuesday (kokkAI), Psync Room with Hitomi

The ol’ Kumakura special. (Moma does exactly the same thing for Iris in Iris End, gives her a tiny GPS tracker to conceal on her person in case she goes missing, which she also does)

Manaka Iwai

Date: “It was covered by a cloth.” Aiba: “What is unnatural about that?” Date: “Isn’t it strange? The culprit hid the body because they didn’t want it to be found. But then they cover it with a cloth? That implies they thought that someone would eventually find it.” Aiba: “I explained earlier. The body may not have been hidden by the culprit. And even if they were responsible… It is not uncommon that murderers feel a sudden urge of remorse or pity for their victim.” Date: “So the cloth was a sign of pity?” Aiba: “That is a possibility.” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Warehouse District

Mizuki: “Okay. I’ll tell you about ‘Alice.’ It was about a month ago… I saw my daddy crying in the President’s office at Lemniscate… I was peeking through a crack in the door, so he didn’t see me. Daddy got up, then got into his car and drove away. I had never seen him like that before… I was curious, so I followed him in a taxi. That led me to the cold storage warehouse… He got out of his car and went inside. I followed right behind him, quietly. Daddy was standing next to the forklift in the back. I hid behind a shelf. I watched Daddy open the hood of the forklift. And then, after a little bit, he left. I wanted to know what he was looking at. I went over to the forklift and I looked under the hood myself. And then…” Date: “You saw Alice’s dead body.” Mizuki: “But at the time…I thought it was Iris…” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Mizuki: “I asked around some, and… I found out that Daddy was managing the warehouse before I was born. After my grandpa died, Daddy took over. In exchange for managing the warehouse, he gave ownership of the company to someone else. I guess he didn’t want to let this place go. Or maybe he couldn’t let it go. That’s more accurate, I think… But I understand why. Inside that warehouse was…” Date: “Alice.” Mizuki: “On paper, Daddy has nothing to do with Okiura Fishery. Daddy was still managing the warehouse… And he was the only one allowed in there too. That was part of the agreement when he gave up the company. And the whole thing had to be a secret. He really stressed that point…” Date: “Hey, Mizuki. How long was he managing the warehouse?” Mizuki: … Date: … Mizuki: “For 18 years. That’s what the man told me.” Date: “18 years?! From that long ago?!” Mizuki: “Yes…” Date: … Mizuki: … - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Date: “Hitomi… I think I know what happened 18 years ago. You three were close. You, Manaka, and Renju. Manaka was murdered. You and Renju found the body in the mountains. And you brought it back to the cold storage warehouse.” Hitomi: … Date: “And my guess is So Sejima killed Manaka.” - Tuesday (kokkAI), Psync Room with Hitomi

Level Five: Bittersweet Reminiscence

Ota: “So, anyway, Mizuki reads my novels. I get notes and advice from her.” Date: “From a sixth grader?” Ota: “She’s surprisingly insightful. She has the talent to be an editor, for sure.”

Date: “Do you remember anything?” Mizuki: “Yeah, I do. I went to this amusement park when I was little… I was four. I remember it so clearly. This is where…I saw my mom and dad smile. I had so many happy memories here. The only happy memories I really have are from here. Memories of my family are…so bright and colorful. But now… This is where Mom…” - Saturday (meikAI), Bloom Park with Mizuki

Date: “You’ve always got something smart to say, huh? You’re just like Renju.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Driving with Mizuki

Aiba: “At the time, Renju was recently divorced, buried in work at Lemniscate, and mentally unstable.” Date: … Aiba: “It was a display of excellent judgment. It was a good thing that he managed to swallow his pride.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Date: “Is this your first time at a place like this?” Mizuki: “Yeah. I mean, at Sunfish Pocket they served alcohol, but…I’ve never been to a bar like this.” Date: “I would hope not, you’re in elementary school.” Mizuki: “Well, Daddy invited me along sometimes, but I was too shy to go…” Date: “Good call.” Mizuki: “I was planning on going one day. When I was old enough to drink. I wanted to go to a bar with Daddy…” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Date: “Was Renju a regular here?” Mama: “I haven’t seen him for a while. I thought I was going to shrivel up and die of boredom without you boys around.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Mizuki: “I remember telling you before… That Bloom Park is an important park of my memories. Before it shut down, I came here a lot with Daddy and Mom. They fought a lot, but sometimes they got along. Whenever we were here, it was one of those ‘sometimes’ days. I remember it clearly. I was just a little girl, but it was so rare to see them laughing together… That’s why I remember it so well. I remember…riding the merry-go-round like this… Mom was standing right next to me… She was holding me so I wouldn’t fall.” Date: “Where was Renju when you were on the horse?” Mizuki: “He was on the other side of the fence, with an old camera. Every time we passed in front of him, Mom and I would wave our hands. Heh, we sound like a happy family, huh?” Date: “He must have gotten good pictures.” Mizuki: “No, actually. We tried developing them at the park, but they came out all blurry and out of focus. But Mom wasn’t mad or upset or anything. She just started laughing. That might have been the first and last time the three of us laughed out loud together…” - Tuesday (seisAI), Bloom Park

Level Six: Finding-Character-Through-What-Is-Out-of-Character

Date: “I wonder what Renju was doing last night… I did call him a few times. He didn’t answer.” Boss: “He didn’t?” Date: “No…” Boss: “The local police tried his phone too, but they got the same result. No one was able to get a hold of him until this morning. We explained the situation to him, had him verify Shoko’s corpse… And naturally, started asking him questions.” - Saturday (saikAI), Boss’s Office

This is currently Saito occupying Renju’s body, hence the strangely evasive behaviour. The real Renju, as in his consciousness, is already dead, but Date and Boss don’t know that, so believe they are discussing the Renju as they know him.

Date: “Renju is Mizuki’s legal guardian. Did you get permission from him?” Boss: “I couldn’t get in touch with him.” Date: “What? I thought he was being questioned by a local unit.” Boss: “His questioning ended around noon. He hasn’t been heard from since.” Date: “Why would he…?” Boss: “I don’t know.”- Saturday (saikAI), Psync Room with Mizuki

Date: “You look like you want to say something.” Mizuki: “I don’t wanna say anything. I don’t wanna talk to you. I don’t wanna talk to anyone who thinks my daddy is a killer.” Date: “Look, I don’t want to believe it either. I’ve known him for more than five years now. He’s like family to me.” Date: I’d never want to put cuffs on him. I would never want Mizuki to see that… Anyway, Renju just isn’t the kind of guy who would commit a crime like this… - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Date: “When was the last time you saw your dad?” Mizuki: “I think about a week ago. When I went to hang out at Lemniscate.” Date: “Did you notice anything different about him?” Mizuki: “Nothing really… He was the same as usual.” Date: “And he didn’t come to see you in the hospital, did he?” Mizuki: “No…” Date: “Not even for his own daughter…” Aiba: “That is very unusual.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Mizuki: “Yeah… My dad’s never said anything like that to me, ever. That he was counting on me. I had to go.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

This dialogue occurs on both sides of the flowchart; on the right side, the exchange happens on Sunday at the Date Residence, with Hitomi present.

Mama: “Stupid Ren… What was he thinking, leaving his little girl like this.”- Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Iris: “I didn’t know that…” Mizuki: “Daddy’s not the type to give compliments…” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Mama: “You don’t remember? Your drunk ass spilled your beer on Ren’s watch. Ren was furious, yelling about how ‘this watch is more important than my life!’ Or whatever… He blew up on you. That was the only time I’ve ever seen Ren that mad. That’s why I remember it so well.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Mizuki: “Okay. I’ll tell you about ‘Alice.’ It was about a month ago… I saw my daddy crying in the President’s office at Lemniscate… I was peeking through a crack in the door, so he didn’t see me. Daddy got up, then got into his car and drove away. I had never seen him like that before…” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Level Seven A: Renju’s Experience of Death (Mind)

Aiba: “Multiple puncture wounds to the front of the torso. Cause of death: blood loss from these wounds. Body temperature and rigor mortis indicate the time of death was approximately six hours ago. That would place the crime occurring around 5:00pm.” - Friday (sigAI), Bloom Park

The true circumstances of Renju’s death occupying Shoko Nadami’s body, having swapped with Saito Sejima.

Date: Saito explained what he did on Friday. At 4:00am, Saito began his plan against Shoko. He called Renju to this abandoned factory and switched bodies with him. After taking Renju’s body, Saito killed Shoko, then brought the body to Bloom Park. But as he explained it to me, I somehow felt that I already knew. - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Level Seven B: Renju’s Death Observed (Body)

Date: “My best friend was murdered, Boss. I don’t have it in me to sleep right now.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Boss’s Office

Date: Renju’s corpse was hung up by three wires. The wires were tied to three kegs. - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “The corpse was strung up near this counter.”

Aiba: “The autopsy report indicates that the contents of the victim’s intestines were excreted upon death. But no traces of that have been found in the area nor on the corpse itself. This evidence makes it highly likely that Renju was killed somewhere else.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

The "nor on the corpse itself" here is weird, either something blended in by translation, or else the implication seems to be that Saito undressed and redressed Renju before transporting and setting up his corpse; it’s simply impossible for that shit (literally) not to end up on his clothes.

Speaking of contents of intestines, we learn later that Saito has been disposing of loose eyeballs after body-swaps by swallowing them, meaning Renju’s body was nicked, effectively force-fed his estranged ex-wife’s eyeball, then killed, which is pretty fucking fucked.

Aiba: “The body was hanged from the ceiling, similar to how a fish would be. A thick hook was embedded in the upper jaw, and the wires connecting to the hook were strung up on one of the ceiling beams. There was also a hook on the other end of each wire. The three beer kegs were attached to these hooks.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Conspicuous use of the conjugation "hanged" there, Aiba.

Also being strung up with rope and penetrated, evident albeit warped parallel to St Sebastian imagery.

Takes some considerable digging into subtext, but it seems implied by conversations with Date and Mama that Renju was dependent on alcohol to some degree, so the irony of his dead body being weighed down (or weighed up, as the case may be) by beer kegs is fucking fucked too, made more terrible by the knowledge that Date makes sure to emphasise repeatedly that Renju was drugged almost catatonic by Saito to make it possible/easier to strangle him to death.

Date: There are deep impressions left on his neck. Date: “Strangulation?” Aiba: “Correct.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Aiba: “The autopsy report discovered the presence of benzodiazepine. It is a common sedative. The dosage found in the victim’s bloodstream was extremely high. It can be assumed that Renju’s cognitive functions were heavily impaired before his death.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: He was barely conscious before he was killed. - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “A heavy concentration of sedatives were discovered in Renju’s body. Renju was practically in a coma before he died. He wouldn’t have struggled.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Interrogation Room with Iris

Radio: “In other news… At 6:10pm today, on the outer circle of the capital city highway in Minato District, Tokyo… A traffic collision occurred, involving five cars and at least one truck. As a result of the pile-up, one man was sent to the hospital unconscious, in critical condition. Six other individuals were treated for minor injuries. MPD has arrested the driver of the truck suspected to be the cause of the accident for negligence. The investigation is ongoing.” ­- Saturday (keitAI), Driving

The lone man in hospital in critical condition is Saito, in Renju’s body; this pile up was bad, involving “at least one” heavy vehicle and five cars, and the state of Renju’s body is really, really bad.

Date: “Anything else to report?” Boss: “About Renju…” Date: “Renju?” Boss: “Yesterday, I told you he vanished after he was questioned. Well, we found him.” Date: “Where?” Boss: “Central Hospital. He was brought there from a traffic accident. He’s unconscious and it’s not looking good.” Date: “Could it be…?” Aiba: “Capital Highway?” Boss: “Oh, you heard about it?” Aiba: “We heard the report on the radio last night.” Date: “I can’t believe it was about Renju…” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Boss’s Office

Ironically, they still haven’t found him, since guy’s about to disappear again and they still don’t have an inkling that it ain’t Renju in there, lol another victory for Renju the Vanisher.

Date: “Anything else you can tell me about Renju?” Mermaid: “Anything else? Well, he did seem really sick. He was pale and sweating a lot…” Date: “Must have been because of the accident.” Aiba: “Perhaps.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “You’re… Saito Sejima…” Saito: “Oh, so you figured it out.” Date: “Renju’s body on the ground… Without his left eye…” Saito: … Date: “You were inside Renju, weren’t you? Until just now? You used the machine to exchange minds, then got rid of his body.” Saito: “Close, but you’re a little off. I didn’t ‘get rid’ of the body. He died of natural causes.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Date: Renju… I don’t believe it… - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Saito: “I decided to pick her up in Renju’s car. I thought that if she saw me in person, she would trust me. However…”

Date: “You got in a car accident around 6:10pm and lost consciousness.”

Saito: “So unlucky… My plans were ruined.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Saito: “After the accident, my body was taken to Central Hospital. I regained consciousness just past 12:00am Sunday. The surgery was a success, but Renju’s organs were in a horrible state. But I had somewhere to be.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Saito: “I was planning to put her to sleep in the car, but I didn’t have my drugs on me. The sleeping pills were inside Renju’s crushed car. I was pushing my luck. My plan and my body were both in shambles. I’m sure the painkillers were affecting me as well. My mind was scrambled, and I couldn’t think straight.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

The absolute ringer Renju’s body is put through in Reso route can really be read two ways; either the literal scrambling of his insides and slowly putrefying like a shambling corpse and externally dressed in his own filth is a further indignity layered atop the cruelty of having his body stolen and used to systemically destroy the lives of those in proximity to him while the tiny percentage of his consciousness still lingering in his brain smothered by Saito is made to watch helplessly (being forced to spectate as a serial killer methodically carries out a scheme to deceive and gruesomely murder who committed the crime of being a convenient target – sounds very familiar); the alternative marginally less shitty reading is that, in death, though his mind is gone, Renju’s physical body enacts his revenge by scuppering Saito’s intricately laid plans and eventually allowing him to be caught (not saying Renju literally caused his car to crash somehow, it’s more like a small poetic justice; Saito shoves Renju out of his own body and steals his autonomy away from him, so Renju’s formerly pristine body starts turning to mush and falling apart at the seams, yeeting Saito out of there too – Saito says himself, he had no hand or say in Renju’s body’s death, it died on its own); it may have taken the rest of his life away but gotdamn did Renju get his promised revenge, talk about seeing the right opportunity and taking it. The irony of Saito being impaired by painkillers given to Renju's body, when Saito used sedatives to force Renju's body into compliance on the left side of the flowchart is also sweet.

Saito: “I couldn’t chase after her. I needed to sleep… I managed to make it back here and collapsed on the ground. Next thing I knew, it was the next day. I woke up around noon on Monday. Renju’s body was about to expire.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Saito: “Not to sound like a broken record, but Renju’s body was almost done. It was completely useless at this point. So I put Rohan to sleep and began the Psync. As a result… This happened.” Date: “Renju…” Saito: “It’s just like I told you. He died of natural causes.” - Wednesday (sousAI), Abandoned Chemical Plant

Level Eight: Renju As Ghost/Encryption/Abstraction (Nobody Can Decide Where or Who Renju Is and Looks Constantly To The Next Person Hoping They Might Know Him Better Until Everyone Is Contradicting Each Other and Themselves and Nobody Knows Anything Anymore)

Boss: “No one was able to get a hold of him until this morning. We explained the situation to him, had him verify Shoko’s corpse… And naturally, started asking him questions.” - Saturday (saikAI), Boss’s Office

Renju has an uncanny ability to keep slipping through literally everyone’s fingers constantly, the player will pick up on pretty quickly.

Mizuki: “So let me get this straight… You think that Daddy drove his car on the tracks through the tunnel… Stopped at the closed-down station, and carried Mom’s body to the park?”

Carrying his wife through an inverted doorway, almost like a wedding.

Date: “I can’t prove it was Renju. There’s a chance someone else was driving the car.” Mizuki: “Yeah… Yeah!” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Mizuki: “Daddy didn’t do it!” Aiba: “I am not so certain.” Date: “Either way, I have to talk to Renju. And you can help me find him.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Date: “Hey, Mizuki. Tell me again. That person you saw at the merry-go-round.” Mizuki: “No, it wasn’t Daddy! I know it wasn’t!” Date: “You’re sure?” Mizuki: “Well, I… I dunno…” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Date: “When was the last time you spoke with your dad?” Mizuki: “I don’t remember, it was a while ago… What about you?” Date: “What about me?” Mizuki: “You try calling him.” Date: “I did. I called earlier, and I tried a few times last night.” Mizuki: “And he didn’t pick up?” Date: “No…” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Mizuki: “The killer did it, not Daddy…” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Boss: “He didn’t give us any new information. He didn’t have much to say at all, really.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Boss: “Shoko’s time of death was estimated to be about 5:00pm yesterday. Renju claims that he was at home alone at the time. But that means no one can back up his story.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Date: “Any idea where Renju is?” Boss: “No, I told you, he vanished.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Date: “Where the hell did Renju go…?” Mizuki: “Uh, sun poke?” Date: “What?” Mizuki: “Um, sun poke or something…” Date: “Oh, Sunfish Pocket! Renju was telling me about that place… It’s a maid cafe that he runs.” - Saturday (meikAI), Driving with Mizuki

Mizuki: “I’m Renju’s daughter. Maybe I’ll notice something you don’t. Something only his daughter would know.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Driving with Mizuki

Policeman: “And this is…?” Date: “Have you looked through the case file yet?” Mizuki: … Policeman: “Oh… Oh, I am so sorry… She’s the victim’s…” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: Mizuki is looking at the spot where we found Renju. Date: “Hey. Are you doing okay?” Mizuki: “Oh, sorry. Just staring.” Date: “If you’re having a hard time, you can tell me…” Mizuki: “I’m fine. It’s not like the body is lying here.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “Do you remember what you saw last night?” Mizuki: “How could I forget? I’ll never be able to get that image out of my head. Not until the day I die.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “Any places you can think of that I don’t know about?” Mizuki: “Well, there is one place… Have you heard of ‘Golden Yokocho’? In the entertainment district? Daddy used to go to a place called ‘Marble’ a lot. Maybe they know something about him…” - Sunday (syokubAI), Sunfish Pocket

Mizuki: “Hey, Date. What did you and Daddy use to talk about when you were here?” Date: “Hm… I don’t remember a lot of it. I was usually drinking pretty hard.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

So: “The president of Lemniscate? We aren’t friends, but I did meet him a few times through work.” Date: “What work were you doing to meet up with the head of an entertainment company?” So: “It was just some party hosted by some company or other. It’s not unusual. Events with those uptight, stuffed shirts can be rather dull. So they have some young women from an entertainment office attend. Anyway, we only saw each other few times. I don’t even remember what we spoke about.”- Sunday (syokubAI), Kumakura Office

Date: “He must have gotten good pictures.” Mizuki: “No, actually. We tried developing them at the park, but they came out all blurry and out of focus.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Bloom Park

Date: “Have you come here before with friends?” Mizuki: “Other than last Friday? Nope, I haven’t. This place has been off limits for almost a decade. Even if it wasn’t, I don’t think I would want to come back here.” Date: “Why is that?” Mizuki: “How can I explain it…? I guess I just wanted to keep that memory beautiful. I didn’t want to ruin it or replace it with another. But in the end…it was replaced by the worst memory possible.” - Tuesday (seisAI), Bloom Park

Date: “There’s no one here…” Aiba: “Indeed, the bed is empty.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Central Hospital

Date: “Where are we?” Nurse: “Mr. Okiura’s room. I’m certain of it…” Date: “Where is he?” Nurse: “He’s not here. As you can see.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Central Hospital

Nurse: “He snuck out at night.” Date: “‘Snuck out’?” Nurse: “Mr. Okiura arrived with internal injuries. The surgery was successful, but he was in no condition to move. He would have opened up his wounds, and then he would be in real trouble…” Date: “Real trouble, huh?” Nurse: “Yes. I can’t believe it… Where could he have gone?” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Central Hospital

Receptionist: “Hellooo, this is Lemniscate Entertainment Offices! Lemme hear your message! Thank youuu!” Date: What kind of employee training do they have there…? Anyway, I gave them my name and told them about Renju. Date: “Do you have any idea where he might be?” Receptionist: “Sorry, no clue! I’m trying to get in touch with him too. So far, nothing! I’m getting worried… He must be a mess right now.” Date: … Aiba: … Receptionist: “Oh, wait… Maybe he’s at the maid cafe…” Date: “Maid cafe? Do you mean…Sunfish Pocket?” Receptionist: “Yeah! That’s the one! Like, out of nowhere, Renju was like, ‘I’m gonna rent out Sunfish Pocket.’ I guess he was gonna throw like a secret party or something? But with the accident and all… Still, he might be there.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Central Hospital

Date: “Is Renju here?” Mermaid: “No, he never showed up.” Date: “When was the last time he came here?” Mermaid: “Hm, lemme think… He’s just the owner, not the manager, so… He comes sometimes, but not all that often.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “Where is Renju?” Mizuki: “I don’t know where he is…” Date: “Can you think of anywhere he might go?” Mizuki: “No, not really… I don’t know where Daddy goes…” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Date Residence

Date: “Where could Renju be?” Aiba: “I also wonder where he could have gone.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Driving with Aiba

Aiba: “Mizuki went to Bloom Park three nights ago. She was prompted by a NILE message from Renju. ‘Mizuki, Daddy got caught up in something serious. Please come to Bloom Park’s merry-go-round right away.’ There are three possibilities. One: Renju killed Shoko, or was an accessory to the murder. Two: Renju was threatened or blackmailed into luring Mizuki to the scene. Three: the culprit used Renju’s phone to send the NILE message. In any case, the motive is still unknown. We need to talk to Renju.”

Date: “Renju…where did you go?” - Monday (syuurAI), Driving with Aiba

Mama: “You need more info on Ren? I’m sorry to waste your time, but I don’t have anything for you.” - Monday (syuurAI), Marble

Date: There’s no point hiding it. I told her about Renju’s disappearance. Hitomi: “Right from the hospital…? I’m sorry… I have no idea.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sagan Residence

Date: “Where’s Renju?” Iris: “What about him?” Date: I don’t need to hide it. I told her about Renju’s disappearance. Iris: “A traffic accident? I’m worried…” Date: “Any idea where he could have gone?” Iris: “I’m sorry, no.” - Monday (syuurAI), Lemniscate

Aiba: “Date, I know you are already aware of this, but there are security cameras all over this compound. I checked all of them. #89 fled in a car that was waiting for him.” Date: “So he had an accomplice.” Aiba: “Yes.” Date: “Did you see who was driving?” Aiba: “I did.” Date: “Who was it?” Aiba: “You and I know him well.” Date: “Renju?!” Date: I told Boss and Pewter about what Aiba revealed to me. Boss: “Renju?!” Pewter: “Wh-Why…?” Date: … Aiba: “Date, Moma is calling.” Date: “Moma? From the Kumakuras?” Aiba: “I’ll connect him.” Moma: “Hey, Date. I just got the word. Renju’s been seen.” - Monday (syuurAI), Boss’s Office

Iris: “What happened to Mr. Okiura? I heard he escaped the hospital.” Moma: “So did I. But I don’t know anything more than that.” Iris: “Please tell me?” - Monday (syuurAI), Kumakura Office

Iris: “But why would Mr. Okiura do that?” Date: “I don’t know. He could be a hostage or an accomplice.” Moma: “Hm…” Date: “Either way, I need to find him.” - Monday (syuurAI), Kumakura Office

Ota: “You’re still looking for him? Well, like I told you before, I don’t know.” - Monday (syuurAI), Matsushita Diner

Date: “I’ve heard that Renju was sighted here.” Mermaid: “When do you mean?” Date: “When? I got the info a few minutes ago, but I don’t know when he was seen…” Mermaid: “Oh.” Date: “Ringing any bells?” Mermaid: “Well, he hasn’t come by today. But yesterday…” Date: “Yesterday?! But I was here yesterday.” Mermaid: “It was after that. After you and Ota left.” Date: “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Mermaid: “You didn’t ask… And I didn’t have any way to contact you.” Date: “Damn it.” Aiba: “We just missed him.” Date: “What was he doing here?” Mermaid: “He was looking for Iris. He was asking everyone where she was.” Iris: “Looking for me?” Mermaid: “Yeah.” Date: “Did he give a reason?” Mermaid: “No, not in particular.” Date: “Iris, can you think of why he would be looking for you” Iris: “No, not at all.” Date: “Mizuki?” Mizuki: “I don’t know either.” Date: “Anything else you can tell me about Renju?” Mermaid: “Anything else? Well, he did seem really sick. He was pale and sweating a lot…” Date: “Must have been because of the accident.” Aiba: “Perhaps.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Mizuki: “The police asked me a bunch of questions… But I don’t know where he is.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Date: “About the Okiura Fishery warehouse…” Mizuki: “Why are you asking me about that?” Date: “I was just curious.” Mizuki: “That company was made by my grandpa. But Daddy has nothing to do with it. I don’t know anything about the warehouse.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Iris: “Mr. Okiura isn’t here. I mean, of course he isn’t. It’s not like we came here right away.” Date: “He’s already taken off.” Iris: “Too bad.” Aiba: “It looks like there are no further clues here. It appears we’ve wasted our time.” - Monday (syuurAI), Sunfish Pocket

Iris: “When you found my corpse in the parallel world, you found it in an Okiura warehouse. Whoever killed me in that world was probably affiliated with Naix. That makes me think the Okiuras and Naix are connected. Maybe Naix ordered Mr. Okiura to help #89 escape. And #89 is an assassin… If he wanted to get rid of me, Mr. Okiura must have…” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Kumakura Office

Iris: “There’s nothing here…” Date: “Guess not.” Date: Why did Renju come here Friday night? Was it to place Shoko’s body here…? Or did he have another reason? Renju is my friend. I want to believe him, but I don’t [know] how long I can keep defending him. Where is he? What is he doing? I’ve thought it over a thousand times. My head is heavy with it. - Tuesday (dakkAI), Bloom Park

Date: “What happened to Renju?” Iris: “I dunno. I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Ikume Shrine

Date: “What did you do after you ran away?” Iris: “Well, I didn’t go home. I thought he might come back. I just walked around and went into a bunch of stores. Restaurants, coffee shops, net cafes… I was afraid that he would try to call me, so I turned off my phone too.” - Tuesday (dakkAI), Ikume Shrine

Aiba: “Date, the person in Iris’s letter. The one she trusts most. Who do you think that is? Date: “Renju?” Aiba: “I think so too. Remember what Iris said?” Iris: “I look up to him. He’s done so much for me. I know I can rely on him more than anyone else.” Aiba: “According to the mermaid at Sunfish Pocket…” Mermaid: “He was looking for Iris.” Aiba: “I think Renju called Iris.” Date: “And Iris went looking for him.” Aiba: “Exactly.” Date: “Then what can I do? We’ve been looking for Renju. Everyone at HQ is looking for him too. Not to mention, he’s on the run with #89. And even with all of that, we haven’t found him. We don’t even have any leads.” Aiba: “If we only had some clues to work with…” Date: “Then we wouldn’t be in this mess…” Aiba: “Are you giving up?! Iris might be with #89 at this very moment! We need to find her immediately!” Date: … Aiba: “Now think, Date! Where would Renju go?!” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Driving with Aiba

Date: “Where is Renju Okiura?! You know where he is, don’t you? You were at an Okiura Fishery warehouse for a reason! There’s definitely a connection between you two. And that’s not all. #89 called your secretary! The same #89 that Renju escaped with! Now tell me! Where is Renju?!” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Sejima Residence

Date: “I think Iris is with Renju.” Mizuki: “With Daddy?” Date: “Yeah. Her note mentioned her ‘most trusted’ person. That’s probably Renju.” Mizuki: “Yeah… I remember that mermaid girl saying something like that.” Mermaid: “He was looking for Iris.” Mizuki: “Does that mean that Daddy is the one who called for Iris?” Date: “It could be. So I need to know where he is.” Mizuki: “But… I haven’t been able to get a hold of him.” - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Loud incorrect buzzer sound.

Mizuki: “I actually met with one of the higher-ups at Daddy’s company last night. Before I went to Matsushita Diner.” Date: “Why?” Mizuki: “Because you asked about the cold storage. I was curious. I asked around some, and… I found out that Daddy was managing the warehouse before I was born. After my grandpa died, Daddy took over. In exchange for managing the warehouse, he gave ownership of the company to someone else. I guess he didn’t want to let this place go. Or maybe he couldn’t let it go. That’s more accurate, I think… But I understand why. Inside that warehouse was…” Date: “Alice.” Mizuki: “On paper, Daddy has nothing to do with Okiura Fishery. Daddy was still managing the warehouse… And he was the only one allowed in there too. That was part of the agreement when he gave up the company. And the whole thing had to be a secret. He really stressed that point…” Date: “Hey, Mizuki. How long was he managing the warehouse?” Mizuki: … Date: … Mizuki: “For 18 years. That’s what the man told me.” Date: “18 years?! From that long ago?!” Mizuki: “Yes…” Date: … Mizuki: … - Tuesday (kenzAI), Ikume Shrine

Aiba: “Renju Okiura…” Date: Talk to him. Aiba: “Renju, what are you doing in a place like this?” Date: “He won’t answer.” Aiba: “Not in a place like this, at least.” - PSYNCIN’ IN THE MOUNTaiN

Renju: “What do you think they’d do if they found out? They would take her and kill her too. And then…they’d come for us. They’d make it look like we disappeared. All of us would be…gone.” - (18 years ago) Mountains

Hitomi: “I don’t know who it was. They were using a voice modulator.” Date: “What did they say?” Hitomi: “‘I have your daughter. Don’t call the police or she dies.’ That’s why I didn’t ell you earlier…” Date: “Renju!” Aiba: “We don’t know that for certain. It could be #89.” Date: “Either way!” - Tuesday (kokkAI), Psync Room with Hitomi

Mama: “I can’t say much. The public thinks our Ren killed Shoko. And then #89 busted outta jail and killed Ren. And then he goes and commits suicide by blowing up his own head. That’s what all the news reports have been saying. I know there’s more to it than that, but…” - Three months later (kassAI), Marble

Man really died on Friday night stuck in Shoko’s body on the carousel horse, his body appears to have continued living but in reality everything on record and in the public consciousness is a lie; even Mama who knows better doesn’t actually know the truth, only that the reality being sold is false. Well, suppose it’s fitting that this is revealed with the Sebastian painting looming in the background; a sacrificial lamb in every way in every ending; Saito kills him and hijacks his body and identity, and then the authorities responsible for finding justice for his murder instead use him and his death to conceal the truth of their own colossal string of fuck ups. Old news: everyone in Reso sucks except Iris because it is pretty much her ending chapter, the end, take away the dancing and it’s an absolute sleeper tragedy (though has now left some outstanding conflicts that could be developed in a sequel…if I had one…)

Level Nine: Somnium Scraps, Symbols, YMMV (everything is up to interpretation, but this is ultra up to interpretation)

Mayumi: “That boy… He’s been hanging out at this…office building lately.” Date: “What kind of office?” Mayumi: “Hm, uh, what was it…? It’s a place where…irresponsible young men hang out. Nonconformists and the like.” - Saturday (saikAI), Matsushita Diner

We meet Renju’s building several times over before setting eyes on the man himself even in a flashback, so one starts to build a sense of his character instead through the prism of Lemniscate.

Aiba: “A black SUV.” - Saturday (meikAI), Bloom Park with Mizuki

SUV=sport utility vehicle, big, four-wheel drive, think Range Rover, stereotypical elite-person-in-big-so-incognito-it’s-not-incognito-black-car. Renju is the registered owner.

Date: “Hey, about Renju… Do you have anything to tell me? Anything at all that might help?” Mizuki: “Well, it’s not about Daddy, but… I heard from Daddy that Mom had a secret.” Date: “Shoko had a secret?” Mizuki: “Did you know that Mom was the representative of an investment company?” Date: “Yeah, I did.” Mizuki: “That whole company was a big scam.” Date: “A scam?” Mizuki: “Well, I dunno the details… They start up a company to get people to invest in it, then shut it down on purpose and keep the money. She got really rich like that…” - Sunday (syokubAI), Driving with Mizuki

Much like her marriage *COUGH* who can say farce nuclear family built on a foundation of compulsory heterosexuality?

Mizuki: “Is this it?” Date: “Yeah.” Mizuki: “You know about this place?” Date: “Yeah. This is where I met Renju for the first time.” Mizuki: “Interesting… Didn’t think this was your kind of spot.” Date: “This place is special. You can find all sorts of shady characters here. It’s the best place for gathering information about a case. So that’s why.” Aiba: “That is only a partial truth.” Date: “Shut up.” Mizuki: “Huh…?” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Aiba: “I know what you are.”

Date: A picture on the wall. It’s a little…odd. - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

Aiba: “This is a painting of Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian was a faithful Christian who lived under Roman emperor Diocletian. On January 20th, 288 A.D., he was martyred. This painting depicts his execution.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

This dialogue occurs on Sunday on both sides of the flowchart; on the right side, the exchange occurs with Mizuki present.

Mama: “People who come in here tend to have very specific interests. I help accommodate.” Mizuki: “Oh. Okay…” Date: “Mama’s like, uh, an informant.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Marble

After throwing the knife into the “bird” TV, the room changes and the next puzzle calls for shooting a pistol at the “cat” TV, but the gun is empty and the only other new object is an oil barrel like that found at Sunfish Pocket, with the bullet needed seemingly inside. – PSYNCIN’ IN THE VaiN, “Smack TV” route

Where Renju was stuffed into the oil barrel to transport his body to Sunfish Pocket to be displayed, and Saito neglected to notice Renju’s wristwatch, a gift from Pewter he apparently never took off, had come off his wrist and was left behind in the barrel for Date to discover, allowing him to piece together how Saito, in Iris’s smaller body, could have possibly manufactured the crime scene. Now in Somnium, when Aiba peers into the cracked open barrel, the void inside—where Renju’s corpse and his stray wristwatch, Date’s "silver bullet" was—is obscured by a pixelated censor bar, concealing Renju, masking the crime, hiding Saito’s mistake. Aiba feels a shock and the television feed is scrambled, returning to the barrel tipped over, spilling a jet black puddle onto the floor.

Date: “Any fingerprints?” Aiba: “Nothing. No fingerprints have been found at the scene at all. This entire warehouse is clean.” - Monday (youdAI), Cold Storage Warehouse

Mayumi: “Isn’t Renju Okiura the president of that awful company where the witch works? He’s just as responsible. Using her to steal time and money from vulnerable kids… And I’m sure he was…debaucherous and degenerate. That man…is the root of all evil. That’s why I killed him.” - Tuesday (zugAI), Interrogation Room with Mayumi

Date: “What’s with that spear?” Ota: “It’s not a ‘spear.’ It belongs to Poseidon, god of the sea? You know, a trident?” Date: “Why do you have that?” Mermaid: “We treat our customers like lords of the sea. We give them these tridents. It’s like a little ranking system we do!” Ota: “The color changes depending on your rank. There’s bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and at the very top, orichalcum!” Date: “So it basically measures how much money you’ve spent on these girls.” Mermaid: “Well that doesn’t sound very nice. It’s more like…a way to exploit their vanity. To separate our customers from their money as much as possible.” Date: “That sounds even worse.” - Sunday (gyoukAI), Sunfish Pocket

Pewter: “The subject of the Psync remembers certain persons or objects that appear in Somnium. But they might not have a clear form. Our dreams are sometimes vague or unclear, after all. Even the subject of the dream themselves. I told you earlier that the Psyncer experiences the dream from the perspective of an observer. That is why the person creating the dream can appear within it. But perhaps they do not have an objective view of themselves. Like a mirror or picture. Perhaps he’s never watched himself on television. Rare for a politician. But not unheard of. He lacks that objective picture of himself. He remains stoic and unattached despite his position of power. I find that quite powerful. To be able to put your ego aside and see yourself as God sees you…is an ability many charismatic people share.” - Sunday (kyuusAI), Psync Room with So

Okay this one is a bare reach, but the way the game’s conception of dreams intersects interestingly with how it builds the character of Renju; his presence is somewhat dream-like by the standard that Pewter describes, vague and amorphous, but in some specific ways the opposite; we do have an ‘objective’ image of Renju, the one that Aiba has saved in her memory that she is able to ‘replay’ to Date, since he had forgotten; perhaps the difference is between the inhuman omniscient, objective memory of Wadjet, versus the inevitable fallibility of humans and their inability to perceive others objectively; or perhaps it is the difference between a dream and a haunting.

Date: There’s an abstract painting hung up. Date: “What is that supposed to be?” Aiba: “I do not know.” Date: There’s an abstract, incomprehensible painting hung up. - Saturday (saikAI), Lemniscate

Date: There’s an abstract painting displayed on the wall. Mizuki: “This painting is called ‘Hawaiian Dishes and Dark Demons.’” Date: “Which part is supposed to be a dish and which part is a supposed to be a demon…?” - Sunday (syokubAI), Lemniscate

Sums up the conundrum of Renju’s character as it is reconstructed piecemeal through snippets of dialogue and environmental cues, told secondhand by those who have fragmentary, oftentimes incompatible or outright contradictory memories, culminating in, rather than a single cohesive whole, a cryptic, unstable amalgamate of unreliable memories, half-conversations, contextless (often misattributed) behaviour, and cryptic symbology, which one can either conclude is a poignant impression of an endlessly ambiguous, multi-faceted man who lived a complex, tragically short life, frayed at every edge by layers of trauma, or an unreliable, incomprehensible, almost abstract ghostly after image of someone who was once present but has now been distorted into near-erasure by the fact that, unintentionally, no one can agree on who he actually was and how they remember him; like the painting itself, called by a slighty different name by everyone that knows it in a poorly managed game of telephone, the chaotic, fragmented, oxymoronic narrative we are slowly fed may, depending on the beholder, be rendered expansive and enlightening in its endless twists, or thought-teminating and meaningless in its lack of a cohesive message.

Date: An abstract painting is on display. Ota: “That one is called, ‘Lying, Wishing, Marking Demons’.” - Sunday (syokubAI), Lemniscate (again)

Taxi Driver: “Oh, have you taken note of the painting? It is titled, ‘Lions Fishing, Carpe Diem.’” - Tuesday (zugAI), Lemniscate

Receptionist: “Oh, I asked someone about that earlier. It’s like, ‘Lionfish in Shag Carpet’ or something?” - Tuesday (seisAI), Lemniscate

Date: There’s an abstract painting hung up. Receptionist: “Like it? It’s called ‘Fisherman Shagging a Common Dandy.’” - Monday (syuurAI), Lemniscate

Receptionist recommends ‘to see yourself how god sees you’ by luxraydyne lmao excuse me

Date: There’s an abstract painting hung up. Looking carefully, I see some letters at the bottom. “Fisherman with Cormorant and Dandelion”… Date: … Date: “Which part is the dandelion and which part is the cormorant?!” - Three months later (kassAI), Lemniscate

[minaramen]

Yamato Nikaido - Rabbitube Mini

[Disclaimer: I’m NOT a professional translator. I’m using my knowledge from 4 years of university. Please, feel free to let me know if you notice  mistranslation/typo/error of any kind]    

***

Riku: Yamato san! Natsume san! It looks like the weather will be good on our fishing day!

Riku:

Minami: Hello. Have you already checked?

Yamato: It’s literally scheduled for next month lol

Riku: Yeah, but I’m really looking forward to it! I mean, the three of us are going fishing together! It’s no wonder I’ve already checked! 😆✨

Riku: Well, with it being a weather forecast for next month, there’s a possibility it’s not completely accurate…

Yamato: You’ve been saying how much you can’t wait to go since we filmed together…

Riku: I think that if I could catch you, Yamato san, I may be able to go fishing for real!

Yamato: … your motivation is pretty weird, you know that, right?

Minami: It was a big catch

Riku: It really was lol

Yamato: Okay, okay, got it 😌

Yamato: May I add Mitsu to this chat?

Riku: Eh? Why?!

Yamato: I just think I need a straight man in this conversation

Minami: Oh dear, so you’re not satisfied with us as your partners? What a shame…

Yamato: No, that’s not really what I meant…

Minami: Then, shall the three of us have fun together?

Yamato: Yeah…

Riku: So cool! I feel like I should call you “Natsume sama” !

Yamato: Riku, I know I could tell you this directly, but would you mind going back to your room?!

Riku: You send messages as if you’re not satisfied with us! That’s why I came!

Minami: Did you go to Nikaido san’s room?

Riku: Yeah! I’m messaging from his room right now!

Riku: Oh, Musashi just changed his route after hitting Yamato san’s knee! It’s so cute

Minami: Musashi?

Yamato: It’s the cleaning robot I keep in my room

Riku: Apparently we can catch marbled rockfish during this time of the year 🐟

Yamato: The main topic went back to your mind pretty quickly

Minami: Marbled rockfish? It’s delicious when fried 

Yamato: Well said, Natsume chan! The simpler, the better

Riku: Oh, I’d like to eat it!

Minami:If we can catch it, then let's cook it like this. I could keep on eating it forever

Minami:

Yamato: You eat quite a lot, don’t you, Natsume chan? I wonder in what part of that thin body of yours you put all the food

Minami: My stomach

Yamato: Damn straight!

Riku: 

Riku: Let’s do our best and catch many of them! 😃🎣

Minami: Are you good at fishing, Yamato san?

Riku: Will you be dragged into the water again, Yamato san!?

Yamato: Give me a break! Just having to do it for acting purposes was enough

Minami: It was a really nice performance.  The part where you get fished out was awesome 

Minami: It didn’t look like it was the first time you had to do something like that…

Riku: So you got fished out before, Yamato san?!

Yamato: What’s with that story?! Of course it was the first time I got fished out!

Riku: Well, when you were supposed to bite the hook it looked like you were clenching your teeth!

Riku: Just remembering it makes me laugh so bad lol 

Yamato: Okay, but stop patting my knee while you’re laughing lol 

Minami: Messaging each other sitting side by side is something new to me, it must be very fun. I’m trying to pat Inumaru san’s knee as well

Minami: He said “Are my trousers dirty”?

Yamato: lol

Riku: 

Minami: 

Yamato: You two were also really good at mimicking.  I’m talking about the gesture game we did during the break

Riku: The sea creatures series!

Riku: Your sea otter was so cute, Natsume san!

Yamato: Yeah, and pretty easy to understand. You shook your hands just as if you were hitting a shell

Minami: I’m glad you could guess it right so easily. Your shark was also amazing, Nanase san

Minami: You were pretty cute while wandering around and rawring

Yamato: Does a shark rawr, by the way?

Riku: I just wanted to create a strong atmosphere 😉

Riku: And you need to show me the anemone again, Yamato san!

Minami: It didn’t require much movement, right? It was an energy saving choice. I couldn’t really understand what it was until you guessed the answer right, Nanase san

Riku: I thought it was an octopus! But since he was waving his hands over his head, I realized what it may be…!

Minami: From now on whenever I see an anemone, Yamato san will most likely come up to my mind

Riku: It’s settled, then! You’ll show us the anemone again next time we meet!

Yamato: Glad to see you made a deal despite me being the one who has to do that, Riku

Minami: Thank you, I look forward to it

Yamato: 

Riku: I wonder if we can do a sea creatures quiz on chat

Yamato: What?

Riku: (:。)ミ 

Riku: Okay, what is it?

Minami: Pinpon!

Riku: Ah, Natsume san was so fast!

Minami: It’s an octopus

Riku: Correct!

Yamato: Riku was doing the same face as the emoji he was writing on chat, so it was quite easy to guess lol

Minami: Oh, so you had a hint just next to you? You’re playing dirty

Yamato: Well, I was too busy holding back my laughter  anyway lol

Riku: Hey! I want you to pat my knee as well when you laugh!

Yamato: Nah, that’s a young thing

Minami: It’s really fun. Do you always have these kinds of conversations?

Yamato: Yeah. And that’s nothing compared to the total mess our living room becomes when the seven of us are in there

Riku: Yeah, we catch each other up to three topics at the same time! 

Yamato: And nobody understands anything, so none of them is actually successful 

Minami: It sounds good. I can see how good friends you are

Riku: We’re friends as well, Natsume san!

Minami: Is it really okay with you?

Riku: 

Riku: Of course!! I had so much fun during the recordings, and I can’t wait for the three of us to work together again!

Minami: Thank you so much. I also enjoyed the time I spent with you

Yamato: We ended up laughing a lot, didn’t we? lol

Riku: Let’s enjoy our fishing day together!

Yamato: 

Minami: 

The end

[sugutoad]

matchup trade for @frostfall-matches  !

MY HERO ACADEMIA MATCHUP

Significant Other

I ship you with Keigo Takami — The Golden Saviour With Wings of Crimson. Confident with that bite you desire in someone? Say no more. This man is cocky and almost knows no limit to teasing (unless you ask him to stop of course). I genuinely believe that the two of you can bring out parts of one another that none of you ever thought of; something often seen with lovers who are deemed as opposites. 

HEAD CANONS

Keigo is no baker at all - oh no, he is far from one. Spending most of his time fulfilling his duty as a hero or training till tears were replaced with blood and soft hands that could caress a butterfly now calloused, he had almost no time to indulge in what he desired (If asked what he truly wants, the winged hero would hesitate — something he rarely does as his mouth almost never closes, not even for a mere second). But sitting on the cold marble countertops, a sweet smell enveloping the kitchen while you take out baked goods is enough for him. He doesn’t really want to learn how to bake. Especially not when you had given him the position of your food tester! Oh, how delighted he had been and boasted to his colleagues about his new ‘job’.

He is the best gift giver — or at least in his humble opinion. Though he might be boisterous, he is surprisingly a really observant person. If he ever sees you glancing at something or your desire for something specific ever leaves your mouth, it will be etched in his core memory. And after a long day of work, he would come back home to you (which is truly the best he could ever receive) with his hands filled with delights of all kind as you pepper his face with soft red kisses, a sparkle in your green eyes and a dimple etched on your face as a smile dances across your lips. 

While not a couple that leans heavily into public affection ( the said affection is rather reserved for moments of privacy), almost no one can doubt that the two of you aren’t a couple despite the lack of physical affections. Perhaps it’s the simple way the two of you brush your fingers against one another, the long yearning gazes directed across the table or the heartful teasing as your laughs fill the room with eyes crinkled and your boys leaning towards his own for support. 

While the two of you prefer to do your own business independently, that doesn't mean that he will not sit beside you, his head on your lap as you are scrolling through your work and his own phone is up against his ear, talking to Mirko about any upcoming days. He almost refuses to ask for help when he isn’t able to do what is required for him (it feels like an insult to his ego), but the only person he is willing to go through is you. He is untouchable by all but one for she is in every presence of his life and in every memory ingrained at the back of his head. 

You are the holder of his heart and thief who stole his breath away. You consume him in every way, thoughts of you gnawing on his heart. It’s the way you smile with a dimple curved in your face that stuns him in place. It is the way that you say his name that makes him melt. It is the way that you scrunch up your nose whenever you eat something bitter that is etched in his memory. Your presence seems to be everywhere, even when you are not there, slowly pulling him down a tunnel he can’t seem to fly out of.

Ship tropes

“I’ll burn the world for you” (Keigo) x “Umm, thank you?” (You)

 Worships the ground his beloved walks on (Keigo) x Oblivious (You)

“Pay attention to me or I’ll die” (Keigo) x Literally the clingiest (You)

Best Friend

I wholly believe that you would get along with Nejire Hado! Despite the girl being a year younger than you and a student who attends the prestigious school of heroes, the two of you had instantly clicked when you were still a student. This friendship strengthens even further when she has done her studies under you since her energy quirk was similar in someways to your own shockwave. She understands your quiet nature and tries to push you out a bit out of your circle, taking risks with you all the time. She is similar to you in many factors, but a bit more extroverted and upbeat which could easily elevate your own. (You just seemed like those introverts that get adopted into friendships by extroverts?!)

MOONBOARD

[thehamwarrior]

Want some...random lore about Moku? I'm under the weather (it's just that time as usual) so I feel like typing.

BIG FAT WARNING, MOST OF THIS DOES NOT GO OFF OF DND CANON, WE DIDN'T READ SHIT ON LORE. This also happened of the span of six years.

Moku is a warforged of Scotia's first line. The lore of how they are created is they are souls of the forgotten mixed in a blood like substance and a bunch of machinery in our campaign (we were FREEBALLIN THIS SHIT). There were some extra steps Scotia took during this first line (or as they like to call each other, "siblings.") that actually got her tried and convicted a war criminal. She no long makes this line but has a new one, but this has lead her into a spiraling depression as it's just not the same.

His figure, height, etc. are all based off that of a wood elf of undetermined gender that Scotia "measured." For reference, she is a half-drow and is a rampant pansexual with little regard of danger. She actually abandoned her familial and gendered role and went off to be a merchant of her trade and resides on the surface. She made Moku and his brother, Aeon, off a set of twins. Both of them are very gorgeous but Aeon's very silent and cold demeanor is seen as off putting to a lot (Moku loved his brother dearly though.)

The frame he has is constructed out of wood, sealed and well maintained, while his insides are made of rubber, leather, and some...stuff that typically alchemist make and do not like elaborating on how. They also don't appreciate being asked about it period. In fact, just leave the alchemist alone if you aren't there to just silently purchase their wares.

His eye? That is a glass marble painted to look like one, the pink part of his eye actually is the natural glow of the warforged soul. His eye lid is also constructed much like how you see those creepy dolls with the ability to blink. Thankfully, he can control his eyelid.

He started as a retainer, purchased by a king that Scotia was summoned to. He was "hired," to protect the king's daughter, Kuri, upon her turning 18 and meeting many suitors. Moku was able to prove himself namely in being deft in his movements to take on his siblings in demonstration.

The clothes that Moku wears? Those were made by Kuri. She actually collects dolls and sews them clothes when she has free time. Moku himself was "poorly" robed (literally this man had a loin cloth at best, but...you know, robot body, not really ever nude.) Over time, she was curious if his attire ever made him uncomfortable. It didn't, but she insisted on making him clothes (it bothered her lmao), and he wasn't going to say no to his new favorite person.

There is actually a scarf over where his left eye would be. All of Scotia's work only has one eye, much like her, and the left eye is always missing, only having a "Maker's Mark," a sort of brand that every smith that creates warforged has. Moku didn't really harbor any ill toward his creator (at first), but Kuri, coming from a family line she doesn't want to continue and not trusting Scotia herself, says Moku is allowed to be himself alone, putting a scarf she wore on her head around the brand. Moku still has it 60 years later.

Moku is a pseudo-pacifist, that is at least to say he does not kill if he does not have to. Even on his journeys with his peers, he did not waver in this. He did not stop them from killing, but figured if he apprehended someone, it was more or less "I'm not stopping you from hurting me, I'm stopping them from hurting you." He is still like this in his older years. This gets on his friend named Kendel's nerves.

The only reason he ever journeyed to begin with, is because he has a very simple goal, protect his princess at all cost. That was what he was instructed to do, and man will warforged carry out a task till the ends of the earth. One unfortunate day, his princess's kingdom was raided, burned to the literal ground with treasures and all. This poor idiot popped his head out from rubble (not needing to breathe helps survive) and upon not finding his king or princess, is immediately "I got to find every lead ever to find my princess." Fun fact, his brother, Aeon, is the one that sacked him home.

Moku is a monk of the open hand. He does have a sword, given to him specifically if he ever needed to execute someone and is in fact a royal weapon, but he finds it much easier to just fight with his hands and body.

Moku, due to being a younger warforged at the start of the campaign, was very impressionable. He had not seen much of mortal life previously, and only knew his siblings, who he spared with (they do this for fun and to express familiarity, because if you are a fighting robot, what else do you do?) and Scotia and whatever court she wormed her way into. Seeing how many races lived, celebrated, died, just anything, brought him a lot of shit to ponder. He learned perhaps a few things he should have from his friends, namely Kendel and Jasper. Now in his late 60's, he is much more "normal."

Moku dodged a sun exploding once. To be fair, it was a sun in a different plane, but he dodged it. No, we don't know how he did, the rules say he did, and we still can't figure it out. It's been over six years.

Moku has several siblings, Aeon, Draga, and Kumo (who he named to free her from her previous situation) to name a few. He recently has a new cousin, a warforged build of the new second line, who is named Gerdr.

Moku and Kuri have...relations? It's a complicated situation to say the least. They love each other very much, both platonically and later romantically, but it definitely goes to say that they cannot marry each other. However, as things went on, Kuri did become queen without needing to marry, and rebuilt her nations thanks to some...kind of unwanted and disastrous help from her ancestor. It worked out in the end, and Moku is now captain of the royal guard. They are still extremely close even several decades later. (Kuri may also have the ability to cheat death now because of her ancestor, but that's a whole different can of worms.)

I think that's all the lore I can drop at the moment. If I remember more that is SFW, I'll drop it later.