#mr tilde

[rosetintednightmares]

Nefarious and frightening coworkers

[deschainartnerd]

The Chaos Council

[world-of-wales]

❥ 27 JANUARY 2025 | The Prince of Wales gave a speech during the Holocaust memorial service at London's Guildhall.

During the speech, he paid tribute to his great-grandmother, Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg.

“I am honoured to join you today to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and to remember the millions murdered during the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides. We also remember those survivors, who have lived with the scars both mental and physical. Their bravery in sharing with us the most harrowing moments of their lives, are extremely powerful and ensure we never forget. I assure them, we never will.

On this, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we also recall those who risked their own lives to help and save others. They risked death, torture and persecution to defy the aggressors.

I was recently reminded of my great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who lived in Athens during the Second World War.

This is an extract from the book ‘Heroes of the Holocaust’:

'In the early days of German occupation, conditions deteriorated rapidly as food ran out when an estimated 300,000 people died…Conditions were particularly severe in Athens and its port, Piraeus. Alice worked tirelessly for the Red Cross, helping to organise soup kitchens, opening shelters for orphaned children, and setting up a nursing system for poor areas of the city. It was at this time that Princess Alice gave refuge to a Jewish widow, Rachel Cohen, and two of her five children to save them from deportation to the death camps.

This was an extremely risky undertaking in the close-packed streets of Athens where there was always the danger of spies and gossip….On 15 October 1943, Rachel Cohen and Tilde moved into Alice’s home. The staff were told that Mrs Cohen was the former governess to her children…Michel, the youngest of the four brothers, joined them about a month later…. There were great risks, not least the position of the house – the front door faced the residence of the local Archbishop, which always had a German guard on duty outside. She was sometimes interviewed by the Gestapo and used her deafness to an advantage, pretending not to understand their questions or what they were talking about. It worked and they soon gave up. Thanks to her, the entire Cohen family survived the war.' It has been a great honour for Catherine and I to join you all today.

Thank you.

Princess Alice was honoured as 'Righteous Among the Nations' for hiding the Cohens in her house in Athens during the War and was posthumously named a Hero of the Holocaust by the British Government in 2010.

[gaylordscooter]

You're at the Party

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

“Haha, nice.”

“don't humor them, chara.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“well, i guess it's more of a favor.”

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

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

“What are we talking about?” Ink questioned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“He has a point,” XChara stated.

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

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

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

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

Cross brought a hand to his face and sighed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was a knock on the door.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So.

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

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

They hoped so.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They knew what he wanted to do.

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

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

“nothin’ with chocolate.”

Dusk shook his head.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s.

That's not going to work.

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

“It wasn’t better,” Dusk interrupted.

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

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

“killer.”

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

“killer!”

That's all he was.

“Killer.”

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

Oh, it was Dusk. Right.

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

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

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

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

They just. Stayed there. For a bit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“it’s a test.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“killer, let go of him,” Sans said.

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

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

He was lucky he actually listened to Sans.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Said clothes were all campy and flashy.

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

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

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

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

“glasses,” Sans remarked.

Dusk and Sans exchanged glances with each other.

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

“in a warehouse?”

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

Sans narrowed his sockets.

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

“no shirt?” Sans remarked.

“i said they all suck.”

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

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

“and why are you doing that?”

“Cooties,” Ink deadpanned.

Cross frowned at him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh god the music.

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

Oh god, the amount of monsters.

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

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

“oh god no,” Sans said.

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

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

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

“you suddenly in the mood for social interaction?”

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

He was completely ignored.

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

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

Dusk face palmed.

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

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

“would it hurt to try?”

Dusk frantically shook his fist in a “yes.”

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

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

A mechanical roar of cheers rang out among the crowd.

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

Dusk grabbed Sans by the arm.

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

Dusk tugged at Sans, pointing furiously at the ground.

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

“hm. nice knowing ya.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Running definitely wasn't going to help.

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

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

He summoned a blaster aimed at Fresh and fired.

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

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

“oh god,” Sans muttered from the crowd.

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

What a sick joke.

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

Killer quickly pushed himself up and backed away from him.

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

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

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

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

He felt nothing at all.

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

Sans winced at the loud thud.

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

The party continued on like nothing happened.

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

Dusk huffed.

“right.” Dumb question.

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

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

Dusk and Sans tensed.

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

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

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

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

Sans socked him in the face.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dusk blinked in shock.

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

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

“yup, and you committed malpractice.”

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

The lights landed on the three.

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

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

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

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

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

That. Wasn't even 90’s lingo.

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

Was he actually threatened by Nightmare?

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

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

“Bogus! Whaddaheck would that dillweed need?”

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

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

Said nearest partygoer grabbed Sans’s wrist.

“You're fibbin’.”

Welp.

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

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

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

“we’ve done worse.”

“go back to not talking.”

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

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

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

“Ah, nah, what’s the dealio?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thank you so much Dream,” Blue said.

Dream?

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

“you're his brother,” Sans said.

“Hm? Brother? I don’t…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Is Killer knocked out, or sleeping?”

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

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

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

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

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

Dusk hummed in agreement.

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

Dusk nodded.

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

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

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

Dusk rolled his eyelights and drew his hand away.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“real naive of you to say.”

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

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

Blue sighed, crossing his arms. “good.”

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

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

“The lights are on?” Blue said.

“who the hell are you?”

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

“what?!” Killer shouted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“have fun with that.”

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

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

“dusk, get over here!”

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

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

Dusk shrugged.

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

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

“aw, what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[moralesmilesanhour]

mad props!

summary: your one-sided beef with Miles morphs into a full-on rivalry until unforseen circumstances force you to call a truce. wc: 789 a/n: drabbles when left to cook in the brain for too long turn into mini-series. watch out ! also yes i am doing another enemies-to-lovers thingy don't look at me 01 02

Snap!

You sucked your teeth in the middle row of Mr. Sanchez’s classroom when the tip of your pencil broke in the middle of your rapid note-taking. 

It broke just as you were forming the tilde that was meant to float above the letter ‘n’, creating an odd downward stroke instead that looked like lightning striking a tree. 

You zipped open your pencil case and took out a tiny metal sharpener, the shavings bound to make a mess of your desk.

“Yikes. That’s why I use the mechanical ones,” remarked the boy sitting beside you. 

A friendly grin spread across his freckled, golden-brown face with round eyes that seemed to ask if you thought his comment was funny. 

You shot him a hard glance to let him know that no, it was not funny that your pencil broke whilst you were in the middle of getting down key grammatical rules. 

The boy’s face fell at the implied rejection. Somehow, the wounded look in his eyes irritated you more than the grin. It made him look like a lost deer.

“Morales, silencio, por favor,” Sanchez said, peering over his glasses at your shoulder partner. “Unless you’d like to explain how direct object pronouns work instead.”

“No, estoy bien.”

There was no sign of panic or apology on Morales’ face as he replied, despite Mr. Sanchez being known to seek out inattentive students to cold-call later. He smiled awkwardly at the bearded man, and again when he was caught a bit later doodling in his notebook.

“Miles Morales, can you translate this sentence for us please?”

“Fui a Madrid el verano pasado,” Miles answered, without missing a beat.

The man shook his head, then moved on.

“Correct. Now, who would like to take the next sentence…”

You would soon learn over the coming weeks since your transfer to Visions that this was a daily routine for Miles: he’d come in late, or get caught scribbling away in the margins of his worksheet. Then he’d get that panicked “help me” smile on his face before making a pun or quip that made you cringe so hard that your back hurt. 

Still, Miles’ answers were never wrong after the fact.

He blended into the crowd otherwise, but the second-hand embarrassment made him hard to forget. 

“Quiz grades were surprisingly low,” Mr. Sanchez announced one Wednesday morning as he walked around, handing out one-page sheets face down. “I would highly suggest going over this unit at home over the long weekend.”

Almost immediately, kids began passing each other’s quizzes back and forth, giggling at how their results all seemed to be floating just under fifty percent. Part of the ease in their laughter came from the assumption that Sanchez would “just curve it anyway.” 

Not that it would make a difference to you. 

You frowned at the eighty-five circled in red at the top of your quiz. Just a couple of points away from a nice, even ninety that would’ve finally bumped your grade up to an ‘A’ instead of an ‘A-’.

Even worse, some of the circled questions were points lost just because you were missing an accent on a letter or two, and a couple of vocab words had slipped your mind. You should’ve answered the bonus questions…

“Wow, you’re the only one without a forty so far,” a familiar voice complimented you. “Good job.”

Miles was offering you another friendly grin, with those same expectant eyes. Please like me, they seemed to plead. 

No thanks.

You replied flatly, “I actually studied.”

It felt like an insult for anyone to be impressed with you in a class full of failing grades.

His grin faded. You expected it to be replaced with disappointment, but he just shrugged and pressed his lips into a thin line before turning away. 

Sanchez returned to where you were sitting to hand Miles’ test back.

He spoke solemnly, “You and L/N were the only passing grades in this class.”

You caught a glance at the number marked atop the page once Miles flipped it over:

‘100%’. With five points as extra credit. 

He looked down at it and hummed quietly in approval before flipping it back over, and suddenly that ‘A-’ felt like a ‘C’. 

It was only logical that the guy who never got an answer wrong would perform similarly on a quiz. But he didn’t deserve it; he didn’t even care. 

“How many hours did you study for that?” you scoffed quietly, like an accusation. 

Miles gave you a sidelong glance, and you could’ve sworn there was mockery in his eyes. 

“I don’t study.”

If you could go back and pinpoint the exact moment where irritation boiled over into disdain, it would be this one.

[stuff-i-found-while-crying]

A Stage of Fire and Dreams (6)

inspired by @gwandas and they post: modern Neris AU where Eris is a trust fund asshole at Harvard Law, Nesta is a professional ballerina with the Boston Ballet (although I am straying away from the concept... is that bad)

NEW CHAPTER and finally back in Eris POV 🧡

Eris gets a phone call from Cyrus. A phone call that makes him leave Nesta alone at dinner and run to safe his broken family.

Main pairing: Eris x Nesta

TRIGGER WARNING: Panic attack I physical abuse I blood

@erisweekofficial does this count for the prompt today? it is AU... anyway. Check out Eris Week. I have been so in love with the Art that was posted all week!

first part - Giselle I second part - red shoes I part three - Cinderella I part four - dinner for two I part five - Interlude

Face of my brother

Eris knew something bad had happened.

Cyrus never called him. Unless it was about their mother.

"What happened?"

"He is loosing it", Cyrus said. His voice was shaking. Eris could hear something break in the background. "I don't know how to calm him down."

"Where is she?"

"Gabriel took her to the galleries."

Eris closed his eyes. His mother was save. At least one of his younger brothers was with her. Althought he would not put his faith in Gabriel.

"Are you alone?"

"Eris", Cyrus whispered. "You have to come home. Mom was calling Lucien and he found out."

This was bad.

This might be the end.

Eris felt the world tild on it's axes and then spin in double speed. His stomach knotted together. No air was getting into his lounges.

"Do you hear me? Hector is in a business meeting and I don't know what to do."

His younger brother was pleading with him. He needed to focus.

"I am on my way. Send the staff home. And check their phones before they leave. I do not want any press knowing about this."

As he hung up, he felt the panic rush his brain.

No air.

No safety.

No future.

Someone was touching his shoulder. Eris spun around, ready to fight.

But it was only the waiter, paitently assesing him.

"Would you like the pasta to go?"

Eris needed to focus. He was here on a date.

Nesta Archeron was sitting on a table and waiting for him to return.

His heart hurt. It broke. It blead. It pumped to much panic into his thoughts.

She could not see him like this.

Just the thought of her piercing grey eyes brought him to his knees.

He leaned against the wall next to him.

She would know.

"Mr. Vanserra?" The waiter was still waiting. Polite concerntniss on his face.

"Send the bill to my office", he whispered. "Give her everything she wants. And call her a taxi."

"As you wish."

And then he was alone.

Eris wanted to cry. He craved tears that would run down his face and drowned him. His chest should break open, letting the world see his bleeding heart.

Then he thought of Cyrus.

He could not loose another brother.

Beron Vanserra held a bottle of whiskey in his hand. No glass to drink from remaind. The pieces of crystal around the room a metaphor for their family. Eris did not know how to piece them back together.

"You are late", his father greeted him softly.

"I was out."

"Business or pleasure?"

A cold shiver went down his spine. "What happened here?"

His father turned to him. Eyes wandering around the room, realising the damage he caust.

"Your mother betrayed me." The words left him like a caress upon a lover.

Eris could feel Cyrus wimper behind him. But he could do nothing against Berons burning gaze.

"Do you want to say something, Cyrus?"

Years of experience had taught Eris to keep his mouth shut. As the oldest he had always been in close proximity of their father.

But Cyrus had never learned that lesson. "It was just a phone call."

The bottle flew towards him. Eris reacted on instinct and took a step in front of his brother.

Made out of harder material then the glasses on the floor, the bottle did not break.

Eris face was not as lucky.

"Fuck!" was all he could shout.

His father just looked at him. Then he turned back to the window.

"Pathetic. Send Hector to me. He seems to be the only one in this family that actually does what I want."

Eris entire face hurt. Tears clouded his vision. A hand was gripping his arm and Cyrus was pulling him out of the room.

"What the hell", his brother whispered. "Why did you do that."

"Because I am an idiot?"

"I call a doctor."

"No!" Eris winced. Blood was in his mouth. "I just need to cool it. It will heal in a couple of days."

"I don't know. It is a lot of blood."

Eris rolled his eyes. What Cyrus could not see because by now his entire face was swollen.

His brother guided him to the kitchen and gave him an ice pack. Immediatly Eris put it over his entire face, sighting with relieve.

He could hear his brother fussing around him.

"Calm down", he said.

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Cyrus was shouting now. "How can you be calm? Everyone will see your face and know what happened. And mom will cry again. You promised she would stop crying! You promised me."

There were tears in his voice. Eris lowered the ice pack and tried to look at Cyrus.

"Your nose is fine", his brother said. "It hit you under the eye."

"Thanks, Doc."

Cyrus threw a tissue box at him. "Clean yourself then, asshole."

For a moment the two brothers looked at each other.

"Sorry", Cyrus whispered and picked the box back up.

"It's alright. Not the worst thing that got thrown at me today."

Another moment of silence. Then the brothers burst out laughing.

"Oh God", Cyrus leaned against the kitchen counter. "Are we going mad?"

Eris, still laughing, took out his phone and turned on the camera to check his face.

The giant black bruise on his right cheek sobered him up. He could not go out like this in public.

"Well, maybe you can find a pretty nurse to take care of you." Cyrus grinned at him. "Unless you have a girlfriend hidden somewhere. Not that I would blame you. Who would want to be part of this Shit show?"

Who indeed? 

His thoughts wondered to Nesta Archeron. Would she nurse him, if he showed up with a bruised face? Or would she laugh at him?

Maybe she would finally let her walls down.

Maybe he would hate her for pitying him.

Eris carefully brushed his fingers over his cheek.

His body was starting to relax and the adrenaline left his system. He hated this feelling. Like clouds filling his brain and making him softer.

"I had a date tonight", he confessed.

Cyrus looked at him as if he had grown a third head. "You?"

"She was wonderful. Breathtaking. And I lost my chance."

"Because I called you", Cyrus said. "Shit, Eris, I am sorry. Had I known…"

Both brothers knew that it would not have changed a thing. This was their life. And at least they still had it.

"We should call Gabriel and mom", Eris said. "She has some explaining to do."

"I do that", his brother was eager to help. Like the lost puppy he had always been. "You should call your date. I am sure she will forgive you."

"I left her", Eris said softly.

"Okay?"

"Without explaination. I left her alone at a restaurant without explaining myself."

Cyrus was not a sensitive guy. But even he whinced at that. "Send her a pic of your face. That will win her back."

Eris was sure, that it would not. He took the ice pack and left the kitchen. Fresh air was what he needed.

As he stood outside in the garden, his mother had so carefully designed, he finally felt the last bit of anxiety leave his system.

Tiredness came like a soft blanket and wrapped up all his thoughts.

He dialed Nestas number.

She did not pick up.

He took a picture of his face.

___

This story is also on AO3.

I might switch to only posting there... What do you guys think?

[todaysdocument]

Original Protocol of the Delivery of Louisiana by Spain to France, at New Orleans on November 30, 1803

Record Group 11: General Records of the United States GovernmentSeries: Perfected TreatiesFile Unit: TS 86 AO: Treaty for the cession of Louisiana - English and French texts

[Handwritten] Pièces jointes à la depeche de Mr. Laussat n[']o 9. du 19. 7bre 1803. [Main body of document follows; French-language text on the left; Spanish-language text on the right (this pattern continues throughout the body of the document).] [French text follows -- first:] Les Soussignés : le citoyen Pierre Clement Laussat, Préfet colonial, commissaire du Gouvernement Français pour la reprise, au nom de la République Française, de la colonie ou Province dela Louisiane, des mains des officiers et autres agens desa Majesté Catholique, conformement aux pleins pouvoirs qu'il a reçus, au nom du Peuple Francais, du Citoyen Bonaparte, Premier Consul, en date du 17. Prairial an 11. (6. Juin 1803), contresignés, par le Secrétaire d'Etat Hugues Maret et pour S. E. le Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies Decrés et qu'il a tout présentement remis enpersonne aux Commissaires de sa dite M. C., conjointement avec l'ordre Royal daté de Barcelonne le quinze Octobre dix huit cens deux; Et les dits Commissaires [Spanish-language text follows (on right on original sheet/image):] Los infrascriptos Comisarios de S.M.C. D[']n. Manuel de Salcedo Brigadier de los R[']s Extos,.Gobernador Militar y Politico de las Provincias de la Luisiana y Florida Occidental, Ynspector de la Tropas veteranas y Milicias de ellas, Vice Patrono R[']l Juez, Subdelegado de la Superintendencia g[']ral [with tilde over the "r"] de Correos y c.[']a [?] y D[']n. Sebastian Calvo de la Puerta y O Farrill, Marques de Casa-Calvo Caballero del orden de Santiago Brigadier de los R[']s Ex[']tos, [with tilde over the "t"] y Coronel del Regimento de Ynfantería de la Havana, Comisionados por S.M. para la entrega de esta Provincia á la Republica Francesa, por R[']l. orden 18.. de Enero de 1803. El Ciudadano Pedro Clemente [full transcription at link]

[brinleyparke]

Kingsman Fic Ideas/Prompts

Merwin, Perciwin, Hartwin, or Gen: Charlie gets kicked out or at least punished for the water prank.

Parachute test fix-it (Merwin or Gen): Perhaps Merlin takes a minute to understand why Eggsy has said chip on his shoulder

What if Eggsy and Charlie were the last two in the parachute test?

"Manners maketh man. You'd do well to remember that Mr. Hesketh." Or Harry is none too pleased when he finds out how Charlie has been treating Eggsy. (Can be Hartwin or Harry can be more of a father figure in this)

What if Charlie had passed the loyalty test?

Harry lets Eggsy teach Dean a lesson after Eggsy fails the final test and comes home and finds out that Dean hit his mom.

Post-TGC: (Merwin or Gen) Merlin lives, but Eggsy still feels guilty. He's also angry because Merlin sacrificed himself to repay Eggsy's father, not because of Eggsy himself, which parallels Harry saying, "Can't you see that everything I've done has been about trying to repay him?" in the first Kingsman film.

AU - Canon Divergence, Enemy of My Enemy: Eggsy doesn't kill Charlie. Eggsy and Charlie have to team up against a villain, not necessarily Poppy.

When Eggsy is 12-14 years old, Dean nearly beats him to death, and Eggsy ends up in the hospital. Michelle calls the number on the back of the medal. Harry is given custody of Eggsy but keeps Eggsy's name as Unwin because he feels like Lee deserves to live on through Eggsy.

Merwin or Gen: Daisy asks Merlin to dress up as Gru for Halloween so that her and Eggsy can be minions.

H/C after train track test

Maybe Eggsy is upset that he was drugged.

Maybe Eggsy has been drugged before, so he has a panic attack or a nightmare after the train test.

Maybe Eggsy is still freaked out a little because he thought he was gonna die.

Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). Harry takes care of him until they can turn him back. (GEN FIC) Based on this fanart:

Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). Merlin takes care of him until they can turn him back. (GEN FIC) Based on this fanart:

Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). Harry and Merlin take care of him until they can turn him back. (GEN or Merlahad FIC)

Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). The agents of Kingsman take turns taking care of him until they can turn him back. (GEN or Merlahad or Harry/Percival FIC)

Harry apologizes to Eggsy for what he said and the assumptions he made in the Black Prince.

Tilde tells her parents about Eggsy.

Merwin or Gen: After the toast to Merlin, Eggsy leaves the room (maybe he goes to the bathroom or something) and breaks down. Harry or Tequila or Ginger Ale comforts him.

Tilde meeting Daisy and Eggsy's mother for the first time.

Post-TGC: Eggsy has nightmares about Merlin and almost losing Tilde, and Tilde comforts him.

During training, Eggsy has nightmares about Dean.

After Merlin's "most dangerous job interview" speech, Harry explains the bruises on Eggsy's cheek and neck.

After the water test, all of the recruits receive physicals. Eggsy doesn't have much medical history because Jamal treated most of his injuries. The doctor and/or Merlin are concerned about the scars and/or broken bones or bone fractures that didn't heal properly.

"When was the last time you ate?" Or Eggsy's first meal at Kingsman. He's not particularly gross or rude about eating; he just eats very fast. Roxy or Merlin is concerned. In other words, Eggsy has food insecurity issues.

"What's his story?" Or during or after TGC: Ginger Ale or Champ is curious about Eggsy, and ask Harry what Eggsy's story is. Or maybe they ask Eggsy himself

Songfic based on "Waiting For Superman" by Daughtry about Michelle waiting for Lee to come back home even after Harry told her he was dead.

Songfic based on "Save Me" by Jelly Roll

Songfic based on "How to Save a Life" by The Fray

Eggsy meets Merlin's nephew, who is fancast as Richard Madden. They hit it off pretty well. (You can make up the name of Merlin's nephew.)

Merwin: Eggsy and Daisy convince Merlin to watch Brave with them.

Eggsy dresses up as Robin Hood for Halloween. 🔥🔥🔥🥵🥵🥵

Arrow x-over: Kingsman needs the Green Arrow's help.

Reacher (TV) x-over: Tequila tries to recruit Reacher.

Reacher (TV) x-over: Dixon or Neagley is recruited to Statesman to be the new Ginger-Ale

Supernatural x-over: While doing recon on what Kingsman believed to be a Satanistic cult, but is actually a coven, Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). Harry (or Merlin or Harry and Merlin or all of Kingsman) takes care of him until they can turn him back. Harry or Merlin knows someone in the British Men of Letters and makes some calls to get help reversing the spell. (GEN or Merlahad FIC)

Constantine (Arrowverse) x-over: While doing recon on what Kingsman believed to be a Satanistic cult, but is actually a coven, Eggsy gets de-aged to 4 years old (mind and body). Harry (or Merlin or Harry and Merlin or all of Kingsman) takes care of him until they can turn him back. Someone at Kingsman knows John Constantine and gets in contact with him to ask for his help. (GEN or Merlahad FIC)

[doodles-of-a-nerd-kid]

*Warning, this is gonna be a ridiculously long post...

So, some of you reeeeally wanted to know just a teeny weenie bit more about my weird boy huh? Well, here ya go:

Yeah, where do I freakin' start with this--? It was not only hard to put together despite the very simple (and more obvious) inspirations... but I had to mega ponder whatever the heck I was on when creating this character, LOL

Lets break it down all over again:

It is extremely obvious (I think) of which characters Tilde's appearance mostly stems from... our funny scout robots from Cave Story: Mr. Traveler and Curly Brace themselves. (Which heehee geddit he has a punctuation naem TILDE ~~ xdd)

I'm pretty sure some of you have probably assumed (Especially with how much I pair them together...^^") Tilde is... well... their kid somehow--

Not... quite? It's... much more complicated than that, don't worry about it! Anyways, I basically chucked them both into a blender to combine their appearances together as much as possible; an example of this is Tilde's hair! It's a blonde color like Curly's and straight; but has a waviness, spiking up at the ends like Quote's hair.

Tilde's antenna earphone things are green, and his eye color is also that bluescreen blue that Curly has as well, lol.

So Tilde's outfit inspirations! Tilde is actually wearing Sue Sakamoto's sweater, along with someone's long green scarf. Its a bit old and worn out... but it's very shnazzy, dontcha think? ^^ In earlier drawing drafts of Tilde back in 2021, his sleeves were actually much more sprite accurate to Sue's-- But then I played OneShot and drew them droopy like Niko's once and it... stuck. idc its staying too. I think I wanted to give him a cuteness bonus, so I gave him hairpins thanks to Chase from Harvest Moon lol

Underneath Tilde's sweater he is wearing a simple black tank with magenta shorts, like Quote's tank and sprite Curly's pants. His shoes I unfortunately don't have a direct correlation for their colors, but they're inspired by Cave Story 3D JP Curly's shoes.

A much more rare appearance, but this is what Tilde looks like as an adolescent-- Don't question why, just roll with it-- I have my reasons and I won't tell you :^) When I was drawing him, my brain just handed me Basil from Omori. Literally, just Basil's energy and a bit of the Mother series protagonists for outfit design... I tried to swishing it around a bit and ended up with a very puntable looking guy, which was the exact vibe I was going for~ >:3c

I gave Tilde a sweater turtleneck and called it a day, then Lucas came to mind again when I was coloring-- Which overall made this particular bit of the outfit more interesting ^^ Tilde here is also wearing Toroko's pendant. Not really much else to cover here, since the many traits from Tilde's youth carries into here. Continuing...

Oh boy, how the times have changed and he's all grown up now T_T

Tilde when he's older takes almost all the liberties from especially Quote, wearing his infamous deadpan expression naturally... but he still remains extremely expressive like Curly ^^

Tilde's outfit is very obviously influenced by them, from their cargo pants to their color schemes (which are also admittedly being carried from his youth as well.) Quote's Blade Strangers design (If you ever heard of it.) was definitely an influence for him as well--

BUT to keep him looking a bit more fresh, I devised to use even more of that special jrpg sauce i love to throw on my characters lmAO

Y'all should already know from my previous post that I'm a weeb a Japanese culture enthusiast, not gonna explain that again

Specially for his outfit Tetsuya Nomura's character designs immediately come to mind, i cannot tell you which one specifically.

While imagining the "cool rpg boy outfit" all these characters blend together in my head, probs because they seem to have similar vibes LOL (very cool Nomura-san)

100% CERTAIN Felix from Golden Sun had an influence on Tilde's outward appearance. I actually drew older Tilde before teen Tilde, and I gave him long hair partly bc of him-- lmao

(While Soren from Fire Emblem is not a main influence for Tilde, he is simply here because I hate him for making me realize long haired dudes are just,,, peak character design idk what to tell you.)

So that's Tilde's sheet

goes very crazy I know

If imma do a Tilde sheet, i gotta do it properly-- He's the best(est)

I'm very tired I worked on this for almost a whole week lol imma sleep or something

[seas-of-silver]

FF.Net fic update!

Sooooooo I realised the other day that I hadn't put a whole bunch of fics onto my Fanfiction.Net account, so if that's your preferred pace to read fanfics, my account should be all up to date now!

This includes:

Heart on my sleeve and the world on your back

Rock-a-bye Baby

My chest holds my love for you

Forecasts and Fashion Advice

The Wrong Blond

I burn (bread) for you

Some Things Never Change

Sunshine, Moonlight, Good Times--- Mosquitoes (don't ask me why, but apparently FF.Net can't have ellipsis in a title 😢)

Chat on a Cold Stone Balcony

Help! (I Need Somebody - Not Just Anybody)

Playing innocent

When romance and reality collide

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Triplets!

Catch me if you can

New Beginnings and Old Memories

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Patrolling with a friend for Christmas

The Unexpected Christmas Gift

Do you need me like I need you?

Happy Birthday Dear Adrien---

Mr Sandman, Bring Me A Dream

and also the second chapter of Hey Baby (yeah, FF.Net doesn't do the tilde "~" symbol either)

Sorry for the massive delay (and jeez, that's a lot of fics!) and I'll do my best to keep all platforms up to date!

[shinyhappydigistar]

So in my quest to write about plain donuts when the plot bunnies strike, I’ve gone full bore as I usually do, and try to figure out how certain characters talk. So in the spirit of @prince-kallisto and their analyzations of characters, (and the fact Larry's been analyzed to heck and back, haha) I decided to look more into how everyone’s favorite home-ec teacher presents himself! For my own reference of course, as well as yours!

The first thing that you begin to notice is that Mr. Saguaro is very verbose. Like, overly formal and polite, to the point him using such word-heavy language feels like it’s a buffer. Other characters speak a bit like this too, like Director Clavell, but this is to convey that he is a polite person. But not to the degree Saguaro does.

In fact, one thing I picked up on is that Saguaro makes a conscious choice to never use contractions! He always uses the full words like “I am” or “You are”, as opposed to “I’m” or “You’re”, which is formal to a fault.

But he does let the mask slip when he tastes the sandwich he made with the Sweet Herba Mystica, the fact he uses "It's" instead of "It is" is a huge giveaway! But he immediately regathers himself and uses his overly-verbose language, as if he realized he went informal if just for a moment.

Now, it’s never made 100% clear if he uses less formal language in his private life, as we never see him in a more private setting. I think in this case, we can use personal discretion!

But let’s briefly look over at the Japanese version, and see if there’s even more nuance!

In the Japanese version, the most obvious thing is that he uses “Wagahai” as his “I/me/myself”. This is a _very_ archaic and even somewhat arrogant way to refer to oneself in the first-person: it would indicate he is someone who presents himself as a figure of authority, or at the very least someone to be respected, in an exaggerated manner. But using such a dated way to refer to oneself is definitely a mirror to how much he wants to present himself a certain way to his students.

Continuing the concept of authority, he also uses a Western dialect, as indicated by using “-n” and “-nu” as negative modifiers as opposed to “-nai”, for example. Stereotypically, a Western Japanese dialect is associated with masculine figures of authority (although I’ve seen the odd case where a female has used it). I’m familiar with this concept, as Satsuma from Digimon Savers (or really, most men of authority that Taiten Kusunoki voices, lol) uses a Western dialect and I recognize he and Saguaro use the same speech pattern.

On the other hand, he uses the more general “Kimi” for “you/your”, indicating that while he sees himself as an authority figure, he still wants to be approachable to others. Using “-san” as suffix also shows that, despite his ridiculous fluffing of his own self, he still shows others respect.

In other words, it's an exaggerated gentleman's vocabulary. It's the reason his English localization is so wordy.

And yes, he also briefly cracks here after eating his Herba Mystica sandwich and exclaims "Sweet" with a tilde, which indicates the stretching out of a word in an exaggerated fashion: not something you expect from him (or at least, if you're an unsuspecting student!)

(Also a brief note, the student here refers to him liking sweets as a "Gap", which in modern Japanese slang indicates the difference between a person's appearance and how they act. So yes, Saguaro is Gap Moe XD)

Video sources: https://youtu.be/3H5v0lRVqIw?t=2687 https://youtu.be/0x27-39iM2Y https://youtu.be/hLI7mhXnVLs?t=3740 https://youtu.be/snj76WgZvTQ?t=1464

[rosetintednightmares]

An ominous and alarming fellow

[deschainartnerd]

You still have hope?

[roseaesynstylae]

Thoughts About OPLA

I like it a lot. It's not perfect, but what is? It's easily the best live-action manga adaptation. The actors are perfect, the effects are excellent, everyone involved clearly loves One Piece, the plot is well-translated, and the changes actually make it more interesting in my opinion. I don't mind the extra gore; in some ways, I feel that it fits this version of One Piece even better that if it was kept similar to the anime/manga. I also like that, unlike Oda, the show has no qualms about killing off minor characters. My only quibble is that, in the future, I'm hoping there are more episodes in a season. There's a lot of One Piece, and there's only so much that can be removed without unbalancing the story.

Random, specific things I like:

The actor who plays Koby. They were practically born for the role and they make the character even more adorable.

Krieg getting killed off. He's easily my least favorite part of the East Blue Saga and him getting axed was rather satisfying.

The bounty posters that show up with various pirates' first appearances. I love the way they look, the fun and slightly intimidating way they blow across the screen, the person with the bounty casually destroying them.

The set design is magnificent.

Helmeppo's bare ass, not as a form of fanservice, but for the sheer WTF-ness of the whole scene. Seeing a single picture of it makes me laugh hysterically. I'm calling it now: That scene is in the top 10 Funniest Scenes in One Piece, if someone will compile that list.

Buggy. Jeff Ward shines as him, they made him surprisingly scary while still foreshadowing his humorous turn, the make-up is wonderful, they got his Devil Fruit right, and I love him the way he looks when Luffy tells him that he can't make people love him.

I like that they showed Mr. 7. I don't know why; I just do.

Inaki (I can't figure out how to add the tilde to his name) is perfect as Luffy. I mean, everyone is perfectly cast, but he stands out. He captures the innate "no brain-cells" look of the character.

Usopp and Kaya becoming officially a couple.

Kaya in general, really.

Stuff I hope to see in future seasons (mostly pre-timeskip, because if I listed everything, this would go on forever):

The Eleven Supernovas. Several of them are some of my favorite One Piece characters, period, so I'm excited by the mere idea. Very specifically, I think that once I see their bounty posters with them in their introductions, I'll expire from bliss. I'm particularly interested in how they'll portray Law, Kid, Killer, and Drake. I think it would be cool if in, I'm guessing season 3 or 4, each episode has a stinger featuring one of them and their crew, with Law being the last. The best part is, if they stick to the eight episode seasons, they'll be able to feature each of them anyway, as Kid and Killer are part of the same crew.

Camie. Hopefully, Hatchan being adapted out doesn't mean she won't show up. She is my all-time favorite minor character, after all.

I can't make up my mind about what the best way to portray Chopper would be. Maybe a combination of all of them?

I can't wait to see Ace!!

With things being bloodier, Marineford is going to be even worse.

[sapphic-bats]

something, something—

They, perhaps, come to Maggie and Nina, in the coffee shop. Maybe Adam or Warlock returned, Anathema, even. They’ve won, they’re happy.

“I’ll have—”

Nina cuts him off with a cup, filled with six shots of espresso, slamming against the counter between them. She raises her eyebrows.

“Anything else?”

Crowley furrows his brows behind his sunglasses, but he’s fighting a smile. His mouth purses openly in thought, and he scoffs.

“A tea,” he says, almost one retort. Scratch that, it’s one-hundred percent a retort, as he adds a snarky little, “please.”

Nina worms her mouth the way she always does, a perfect tilde. “What kind?”

They’re of the same material, though two completely different breeds. “You pick.”

Nina rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. Just because he and the angel saved the world, or whatever, doesn’t mean that he can continue being a prick.

“Right,” she flicks her eyes to Aziraphale, beside Crowley. “You two feel like telling me what happened?”

Aziraphale opens his mouth to answer, but falters, glancing at Crowley. Crowley feigns nonchalance, and shrugs. “Not really.”

“Fine, then,” she huffs, laughter bleeding through. “I assume this isn’t for you. So, Mr. Fell,” Nina turns her attention to Aziraphale. “What kind of tea would you like?”

“Any will do fine, thank you,” Aziraphale kindly responds, offering her a small smile.

Nina nods, and strides off to begin the fixings. She pauses, though the two immortals have already turned to each other with a look between them that could only be described as unbridled and purely unadulterated love.

“Would—”

“Yes,” Crowley groans. “He’ll take additives. You know the way my angel likes it.”

Nina’s paused hand stills instantly, and a grin splits her face. Perhaps, if they’d been looking, Crowley would have chewed her out for it incredulously. Perhaps.

But it’s an answer enough.

And she swears, after a brief glance up, that a sweet, brown bird swoops by her window quietly. Holding back a song until the time is perfectly right.

But she thinks it’s damn near close.

( — something, something… )

good omens season 3 wish: the show ends with crowley referring to aziraphale as “MY angel”

[docrotten]

TENEBRAE (1982) – Episode 234 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“<Evil chuckle> When I realized Christiano Berti was the killer… and it didn’t take me long to realize that. <Evil chuckle> The rest, Mr Germani, was like writing a book. A Book!” Book ’em, Dan-o! Wait. Wrong media. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they take a cue from the 70s Grue Crew and take in some Giallo, Dario Argento-style with Tenebrae (1982).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 234 – Tenebrae (1982)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

American author Peter Neal, who – while in Rome promoting his latest murder-mystery novel – becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who may have been inspired to kill by his novel.

  Writer/Director: Dario Argento

Produced by: Claudio Argento (producer), Salvatore Argento (executive producer), Allan Scott (producer: English version)

Music by: Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, Claudio Simonetti (as Simonetti-Morante-Pigatelli)

Cinematography by: Luciano Tovolin (director of photography)

Film Editing by: Franco Fraticelli

First Assistant Director: Lamberto Bava

Second Assistant Director: Michele Soavi

Special Effects by: Giovanni Corridori (special effects)

Production Services – New York: William Lustig (uncredited)

Selected Cast:

Anthony Franciosa as Peter Neal

John Saxon as Bullmer

Daria Nicolodi as Anne

Giuliano Gemma as Detective Germani

Christian Borromeo as Gianni

Mirella D’Angelo as Tilde

Veronica Lario as Jane McKerrow

Ania Pieroni as Elsa Manni

Eva Robins as Girl on Beach

Carola Stagnaro as Detective Altieri

John Steiner as Christiano Berti

Lara Wendel as Maria Alboretto

Isabella Amadeo as Bullmer’s secretary

Mirella Banti as Marion

Lamberto Bava as Elevator Repairman #1 (uncredited)

It’s time for another 1980s feature from director Dario Argento with a return to the Giallo sub-genre. The film is Tenebrae – or Tenebre (original title) or Ténèbres (French) – and features Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, and Daria Nicolodi. Argento was inspired by a series of incidents that saw an obsessed fan telephone the director to criticize him for the damaging psychological effects of his previous work. The telephone calls culminated in death threats towards Argento, who channeled the experience into the writing of Tenebrae with a double helix of a plot.

At the time of this writing, Tenebrae is available to stream from Wicked Horror TV, Shudder, Kanopy, and Plex. It is also available on Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD from Synapse Films.

This is the Decades of Horror Grue Crews’ xth encounter with Argento. Here are their other Argento episodes if you care to check them out.

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) – Episode 190 – Decades of Horror 1970s

THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS (1971) – Episode 149 – Decades of Horror 1970s

DEEP RED (1975) — Episode 77 — Decades of Horror 1970s

SUSPIRIA (1977) — Episode 58 — Decades of Horror 1970s

PHENOMENA (1985) – Episode 168 – Decades of Horror 1980s

DARK GLASSES (2022, SHUDDER) – Gruesome Magazine #369

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal, will be George Romero’s Monkey Shines (1988). Oh yeah. We love monkeys with sharp utensils!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!