#so the next Stuff can happen you know

[sgtcalhouns]

Angels Like You

I know that you're wrong for me

Gonna wish we never met on the day I leave

I brought you down to your knees

‘Cause they say that misery loves company

It’s not your fault I ruin everything

And it’s not your fault I can’t be what you need

Baby, angels like you can’t fly down here with me

I’m everything they said I would be

a short-ish update to the fresh start au, Tamora reflects on recent events. enjoy!

I should’ve fought harder for you.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Tamora left the gym and headed into the locker room. She’d been hoping that some exercise would help her work through the emotional roller coaster she had been on for the last several days, or at least help her clear her mind, but it seemed she was having no such luck. Every time she closed her eyes she could hear those words and see the look on Felix’s face after he said it; the dread had been easy to identify, but there was something else she hadn’t been able to put her finger on. She had convinced herself that the jumble of emotions she had been struggling to control would make sense if only she could figure out what else had been hiding in his expression.

After a full 24 hours of rumination got her nowhere, she decided to take the opposite approach and try to keep her mind off of it. Felix had been struggling with his emotions that night and the following morning, but he clearly intended to talk to her when he was ready. There was no use continuing to dwell on things. No use inventing explanations for his behavior. All she was doing was torturing herself, she knew. But no matter how hard she tried, I should’ve fought harder for you had taken up permanent residence in her mind.

To make matters worse, the perky little whatshername who worked reception at the gym had immediately taken an interest in Felix.

“Who was that man that came to see you?” she had asked.

Tamora didn’t feel like getting into the details, so she had described him as an old friend. In hindsight, she probably should’ve been more specific.

“He’s cute.”

“Yeah,” Tamora had replied absentmindedly, thoughts already beginning to spiral. “Adorable.”

They hadn’t spoken much, Tamora and the girl at reception. She was nice. There was no reason to dislike her. No reason for the anger that flared in her chest at the suggestion that this girl might be interested in Felix. Lots of people were interested in Felix; he was cute. It shouldn’t bother her so much that someone else had taken notice.

All of her emotions swirled into an unintelligible mess. She suddenly felt possessive of Felix, a feeling that was immediately chased by guilt—she had no right to feel that way when she had been the one to break things off. Especially not after she had caused him so much distress throughout their relationship.

Felix deserved far better than Tamora had to offer. Maybe he should go out with this girl. She was friendly and kind and outgoing like him; the kind of person she had always felt he deserved. The two of them could hold hands and skip off into the sunset and Tamora would eventually get over it, cut herself off from the world, and rest easy knowing she had saved Felix from spending the rest of his life under her dark cloud of gloom. She’d enjoyed her fair share of days in the sunshine that radiated from him—maybe it was time to give someone else a turn.

It was a bitter truth, one she struggled to swallow. If he started dating someone else, she didn’t think she could be his friend. Even trying to imagine it now, the thought made her squirm. She couldn’t stomach seeing him with another woman, witnessing firsthand how every touch, sweet gesture, and pet name was not something he reserved just for her, but something that was written into his DNA. He always had a way of making her feel like the only woman who had ever turned his head, and she had always had a hard time believing it. Seeing him with someone else would cement the truth—she wasn’t special. Not to Felix, not really. Not to the only person who had ever really made her feel special.

As she passed by the neat row of lockers lining the wall, she bit back the urge to slam her fist into the cold metal. It was the most malleable surface within reach, though she was sure it would still do some decent damage to her hand if she gave in. This was a nice gym, she didn’t want to cause any problems. And she really didn’t want to deal with the sort of reputation that would surely follow such a decision. She had worked hard to curate a public persona that was more palatable than the anger and angst that hid beneath the surface.

Here in her new life, she was pleasant and quiet. She had made it out of the military without any emotional baggage, and she used the skills she had picked up there to improve the lives of others. She wasn’t defined by her most traumatic experience, and she was never the subject of pity. If she gave in to the rage coursing through her veins, there would certainly be questions. Why would someone so pleasant and well-adjusted do such a thing? The illusion she had so carefully crafted would quickly unravel, and she wasn’t prepared to deal with the consequences.

Taking a deep breath, she sat on the bench in the center of the room. Part of her wished she could be angry at Felix for popping back up in her life and forcing the emotions she had suppressed for so long to resurface. She hadn’t exactly been happy before, but there was definitely less angst. But deep down, she knew that none of what she was experiencing was his fault. It wouldn’t be fair to blame him for the misery she had brought upon herself. Not to mention the misery she had caused him.

It occurred to Tamora that she could stop this. She had an opportunity to end the cycle of heartbreak that would continue for as long as she remained in Felix’s life. Whether or not it made her happy was irrelevant; her mission was clear. With newfound resolve, she walked out to the lobby and marched straight up to the reception counter.

“Hey,” she said, grabbing the receptionist’s attention. “I have a question for you. About my friend.”

The girl nodded, visibly intimidated by Tamora’s direct line of questioning. The sergeant continued, undeterred.

“Are you interested?”

[wardingshout]

I love your designs for them so so so much, your art in general is incredibly appealing!!! Your color works so beautiful, breathtaking honestly!!!

I’m super honored to be mutuals :D

SCREAMING CRYING PUKING THROWING UP WHEEZING HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON OK HOLD ON HOLD THE PHONE THEY THEY THEM THEM!! THEM!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I'm sorry this caught me so off guard but omg they are precious this is so so precious!!!;;;;;; 💖💖💖 I feel like I could look at them forever thank you so much!!;;; their poses are so cute and the colours are so nice and warm and pleasant and the fabrics look so comfy I feel so comfy and full of love I'm;;; it's them I cannot believe it's Them,,,, 💕💕

and what do you mean YOU're honoured, your art is absolutely insane I'm the honoured one !!!!!

all of your works are so incredibly done and you're so full of really cool ideas and concepts and you have Such a nice way of portraying all the characters like everything you post just feels so full of Care !!! ;v; the posing the expressoins the environment and colours and everything is just! a chef's kiss isn't big enough, it's 'blows a massive embarrassing smooch across the earth' kiss !!!! ;v; I'm so excited to see everything you're gonna create !!!!

and omg I am especially in love with your WW designs already I hope you have an absolute blast with the game !!! ;v; 💖💖💖

[ganondoodle]

kind of expected that the ability breakdown wouldnt get that much traction (especially on twitter bc if it doesnt do well in the first few hours it might as well be dead) but what i didnt need to wake up to was looking at my twitter notifications and thinking there was a long comment on it at first but then i read it and it turned out to be some guy having dug up one of my old totk tweets where i talked about how zelda was treated-

and if a quote retweet with a thread attached already starts with "this entitled brat didnt understand that zelda was being a history nerd by being in the past and getting to experience it herself" with two screenshots attached of the end of totk with zelda staring at the cam all uwu (which has ??? to do with their point??) i dont even want to know what else was in that thread

if thats how the majority of the fandom is then im even less surprised that nintendy doesnt even have to try to write anything good :I

ah yes, i am a game nerd, and by putting me in a game where i stand around doing puppy dog eyes while being shoved around by NPCs is me being a game nerd OBVIOSULY

[reel-fear]

Genuinely so curious who Mike thinks is gonna be buying The Cage or the new DCTL GN bc with the way he tweets as far as he's concerned, it's not gonna be:

The queer people he has actively admitted he will never show any representation of in the games.

2. The POC he has actively fought against representing in his franchise. [Who he also mocked for thinking they would be represented in his franchise]

3. The Bendy fandom which has always been concerned with topics of diversity esp in the sense of queer people since its creation. Who he has responded to really poorly esp in regards to the GN.

4. The fans who critique him. [He blocked me for doing so lol]

5. His fans in general who he tweets about like this currently. [He's being vague about why people were mad at him or sent him 'nasty messages' because if you actually looked into why you'd see he was in the wrong. Either way, a very hateful way to speak abt ur own fanbase.]

Reminder while Mike is trash talking his fans he has always treated them rather poorly. The fans who won the fanart contest for Chapter 5 never got their posters actually in game due to it being rushed. Not only was chapter 5 a big slap to the face story wise, but it was literally so rushed he couldn't be bothered to add in the art his fans gave him for his game FOR FREE. [Meatly blames this on a crazy timeline, reminder him and Mike are the literal ceos of this company. The proposal of future updates here is also pretty cruel considering Mike nowadays happily admits he corrupted Chapter 5's source code and therefore literally can't update it At All currently. Because he is a moron]

At least they got to be in Boris and the dark survival, and by that I mean that was the Only game they got to be in so far, isn't that just treating your fans like you love them? Shoving their hard work into a spin off game almost nobody has played or addresses much. [Hell, who knows if with the Lone Wolf rebrand they'll even stay there. In which case they'll be in None of the games, only in the credits of BATIM]

6. The Bendy fans who just generally disagree with him on stuff. Like the new ink demon design where there is literally a public poll showing people generally prefer the old one.

7. The Bendy fans who can see he is actively lying to them. To their fucking faces.

He says this has always been the case, but screenshots and links to tweets regarding the books being canon prove it was not. Does he really think bendy fans are stupid or something? [Unless he's admitting here he lied to Kress when he told her the books were canon which sounds worse!]

8. Anyone who doesn't like the idea of giving money to a guy who laid off tons of employees then afterwards thought it was a great idea to express his anti-union views! Also brag about how good of an employer he was, according to his employees, he was not!

So in summary; Mike is an awful person who has not learned anything from the awful things he did. I will not be purchasing The Cage because, combined with this and his absolute refusal to take any kind of critique or see any differing interpretation of his franchise, I have no reason to think my problems with the franchise will ever be addressed or fixed. I probably will pirate The Cage along with any future Bendy Products [Including the movie] and will do my best to avoid giving it any kind of monetary support. Unless this changes any time soon, I can't see myself making anymore positive Bendy posts soon.

Mike has just managed to make it so hard to speak positively or optimistically of this franchise when he's so willing to broadcast how little he cares about it or its fans. I'm at the point where I refuse to pull any of my punches with my problems with it. What's the point of trying to play nice with my critique when either way the people creating it don't care?

So with this post, I want to invite anyone who feels similarly about the franchise to tell me, make a post or send an ask talking about how all of this makes you feel. It may not change how things are, but genuinely seeing other people share my feelings of anger makes me feel better. It feels nice to see when other people share our same concerns and worries. I'd also love to know if anyone else thinks they'll be avoiding purchasing Bendy products over this.

I'm not forcing anyone to participate in it nor trying to say anyone who doesn't supports mike but genuinely maybe if we can collectively decide to boycott things like the movie, graphic novel and The Cage... It might at least make the bendy devs acknowledge how much they have destroyed their own fandom's faith and trust in them.

The way Mike tweets about his actions like he had no control over why people were mad at him at least proves to me he takes NONE of it back nor regrets it. If you didn't know about his actions and only went off his tweets, you would be led to believe Mike has been needlessly picked apart by fans over things he couldn't control [or in his own words, had his words twisted and taken out of context]. That is not how you speak about your actions if you have actually learned better from them.

anyway, that has been my bendy dev callout post. This is an open invitation to anyone feeling similarly upset about the way the franchise is going to talk about it. It's genuinely nice to see how people feel about this and the more we talk about the more it's likely the bendy devs are forced to address our concerns. I don't think they will but hey, that's why I'm not gonna support them with my money anymore nor am I gonna be nice to them in any content I make critiquing Bendy. I mean I'm also basically making this post just in case anyone asks me Why I feel this way towards to bendy devs/as a way to respond to anyone who thinks I am too harsh in my critique in the future.

As always, it seems the best part of Bendy isn't actually anything about canon but about what the fan's are creating with the ideas Bendy failed to do anything interesting with.

Also the books, the books slap.

[dykedvonte]

I think the most baffling thing about the Tulpar as a vessel to me is the fact that the ship really did only have a one way communication system.

I know it was cheap but even the most basic of vessels regarding major transport would have some way, shape or form for outside communication. Not only that but there was absolutely no form of innate emergency signal to show they may have been offline or in trouble despite clearly having a system to dock credits if they went off course. It's another factor that really shows that bad situations are made to get worse by design. One person who is required to relay all information to the crew and make all the choices without feedback. No way to update or call for help in case of a dire situation. No way to inform of inner personal conflicts and acquire procedures accordingly.

It really is like they are all in some sort of fucked up solitary confinement. They have their own world with strict roles that are meaningless in the end, as long as the cargo makes it, it doesn't matter what happens on that ship to the company. They don't want to hear anything and will come to conclusions on what happened based on how much pay they can withhold from the workers. Even what they do send is short, sterile and corporate to the extent it was likely written and sent out with a command by some random unmanned computer in an office.

There's something to be said about how unfair it is to force absolute power and control onto one person when you as an entity could do so much more to offload it but I've said it many times before so I won't again.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s4 episode 24 thoughts

season FINALE!!! whew, it has been an emotional time these last few months, let me tell you that. i’m wondering how or if this will be wrapped up. 

the episode description makes no mention of scully’s illness, just more aliens. we always end the seasons with aliens. i imagine that this will also be a cliffhanger, so i’m trying to brace myself for that now.

(author's note: there was nothing short of reaching enlightenment that could have prepared me for this, and even if i had ascended to nirvana, i might have been ripped back out by the sheer tragedy of this storyline)

but damn, with a title like gethsemane, i’m expecting even more tears than usual. 

(author's note: yeah)

let us no longer delay. 

we begin with some videos from 1972, including carl sagan! what’s he doing here? well, he’s doing alien things. are you surprised?

the man on the screen is speaking about the probability of contacting aliens. he says it is very high.

and then cut to scully in some very yellow lighting, politely trying to get to a crime scene to do some FBI business!

wait. is that mulder’s couch???

she just needed to make an ID on a body and BRO WHAT. DID SHE FIND MULDER DEAD??? IN HIS OWN APARTMENT?????

HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO???!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

now she’s in a meeting room with a lot of important people…. 

she’s explaining how she was assigned to the x files four years ago…. and she’s explaining the mulder lore.

“i come here today, four years later, to report on the illegitimacy of agent mulder’s work” <- WOAH WHAT??? betrayal?????

“it is my scientific opinion that he became over the course of these years a victim- a victim of his own false hopes, and in his belief in the biggest of lies” <- that is so sad????!?!??

HELLO??? WHAT??? hey. what’s going on. is that really scully? or is it an alien?

well. they’ve gotten me both hooked and worried. 

is she lying to save him?? is he dead?? is she preserving his reputation in death?? because she said that stuff in the past tense… or maybe he was killed and she will be next if she doesn’t renounce everything???

WHAT IS AFOOT HERE.

scully i just publicly declared you my favorite, you can’t make me take that back…

(author's note: i should have never doubted her <3)

ohhhh fancy, the intro says “believe the lie”

helicopter over the yukon in canada. some guys say the stuff at camp is unbelievable. that's quite a jump in tone from before.

and now they’re marching up the hill, saying they’re very excited etc etc. it looks to be exhausting work. the score is very suspenseful.

they arrive in a cave and shake hands as the newcomers are introduced. and what is in there but…. a frozen alien???

i was hoping it would be a perfectly preserved mammoth :( but okay… whatever… (sadly kicks dirt around)

back to the meeting room with scully!!! she says there have been recent developments on the assumption that aliens exist… mulder was contacted by a man whose “pursuit of this evidence seemed to coincide with his own”, and she says he was duped!!!! fooled by scientific slight of hand!!! 

and she’s here to expose this lie… and to expose his work for what it is….

GIRL, WHAT WENT DOWN???

now a cut to some sort of scully family event!! she’s telling a story about her brother bill. will we finally get to see him!? yes!! here he is!!! like their father, he is also in the navy, and seems to be pretty decorated. 

and he says he sent her a birthday card, to which she says “thanks for remembering this year” LMAOOO get him again for me!!

(why does no one remember her birthday!!! i will cry!!!)

the priest arrives… and scully’s face falls…. why is she sad to see him? and why did he get invited??? i’m stressed. 

father mccue is talking to her about drifting from the church and feeling awkward, but her mom asked him to come tonight. he says turning back to faith is essential in times like this. she says she hasn’t felt a need to draw on faith for strength, that she has some. and she won’t coming running back now.

huh, i wonder if she thinks that “running back” to the church will be admitting defeat. she says she’d be lying to herself and to him if she did that.

maybe she has only lightly been dabbling in god-related affairs since revelations, but not enough to want to return to mass.

but a phone rings… it’s mulder!!!

he says he’s sorry to interrupt her dinner, (so at least there’s some self awareness there) but someone named arlinsky at the smithsonian contacted him about a mountain in canada.

he says she needs to meet him RIGHT AWAY. BRO???????? she looks SO sad when he said that. 

she would do ANYTHING for him. and tbh i see why she wants to expose him now. fuck that. 

she’s assuring him that it’s okay, and he’s trying to apologize, but i’m still mad at him, and scully should be too. and who the hell is this arlinsky guy? apparently he was involved in a ufo photo faking?? but he claims he’s innocent?? THAT is what disrupted her dinner??

he says he won’t tell her what she’s about to see….

he has pictures of an alien frozen in the mountain and she looks deeply unimpressed. girl me too! 

apparently the alien has been in the ice for 200 years. and babcock (arlinsky's colleague) was part of the team that found it.

arlinsky says it’s a very remote location for it to be a hoax, to which mulder once again displays some self awareness with his “well if you’re gonna go, why not go all the way?” but again, not enough to prevent himself from getting in this situation in the first place

arlinsky pulls out the ice core samples from each side of the body, and says he sincerely believes they have a full corpse of an alien. 

but family dinner. i care about that more.

mulder says no one will believe him, and the same people that hid the truth will be asked to authenticate it, so there will be no confirmation either. which is why arlinsky wants him to go and get the body, because he knows it means everything to mulder

ohhhh scully says she has no opinion… “this is your holy grail, mulder, not mine” <- i am glad she is admitting she has no horse in this race

OHHH “proving the existence of alien life is not my last dying wish” <-yeah remind him that you’re literally dying and you can’t waste time because he SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN!!!!

“this is not some selfish pet project of mine, scully” <- well if it’s for the sake of your sister, but you’re hurting the people around you for it, that is still selfish actually 

woah woah woah i had to write this next part out...

“you already believe, mulder, what difference will it make? i mean, what will proof change for you?”

“if someone could prove to you the existence of god, would it change you?”

“only if it has been disproven”

“then you accept the possibility that belief in god is a lie?” (where are you going with this…? this is a sensitive subject for her!)

“i don’t think about it, actually. and i don’t think it can be proven”

“but what if it could be? wouldn’t that knowledge be worth seeking? or is it easier to go on believing the lie?”

this exchange made me feel frustrated. i wish he would be less ahab-like all of the time. yes, it is a huge deal that someone found an alien. but i see no reason why he couldn't have gone to that meeting by himself. and bringing god into this when he knows that's something very personal to her is a low blow. i get the point he was trying to make about believing the lie and all that, but c'mon man.

mulder honey, i get that this is a big deal to you, but time and place.

she tells him that she cannot go with him, but then he says, well can you just look at the ice core samples please. and she nods her head reluctantly. 

cut back to the big meeting room with scully and other very important people

“what i couldn’t tell agent mulder, what i had only just learned myself, was that the cancer which had been diagnosed in me several months earlier had metastasized. and the doctors told me, short of a miracle, it would continue to aggressively invade my body, advancing faster each day towards the inevitable” <- OH MY GOD??? oh my god. 

but why wouldn't she tell him... did she think that telling him then would interrupt his alien quest?? and she didn't want to do that because she knows how important it is to him? or did she not want him to worry?

because i would have told him!!! i would have said it right then and there!! but she is very different from me...

the fact that she is aware that she has so little time left and STILL left her dinner to go deal with his nonsense… scully, i fear you give too much and need to do things for yourself, please please

back on the mountain, they’re cutting the ice with a chainsaw. feels a bit unscientific, but i mean i guess that’s how you get that stuff done.

one guy is loading a pistol??? saying he doesn’t know the men well. that’s suspicious. i don’t care for it. 

there’s something in the ice. maybe a bubble. or a casting hole!! of liquid poured!! could this be a fake?? but the angle wouldn’t make sense, says one guy. hmm... i'm not sure what to think.

did they put a fake alien all the way up here…? and why is gun guy looking around all shady like…?

back to the core samples in DC. the scientist says he found some hybrid cells in there, not plants nor animals, but chimera, and he wants to get them under a microscope. hmm… can we clone da alien :3

someone walks into the cave in the yukon with a shotgun!!! and kills all of the men!!!!! what the hell!!! is this a real alien then?????

this happens just as others begin the hike up the mountain, including the smithsonian guy arlinsky. and mulder!! i didn’t even recognize him under all those baggy coats and sunglasses. wow. i feel like a fake fan.

someone was supposed to meet them and guide them up the mountain, but there’s no one there, and all the supplies are frozen over. so they begin the hike on their own, following the tracks from the others.

oh! the find someone keeled over in the snow, to which mulder remarks “funny place to take a nap”. again with the inappropriate jokes as a coping mechanism. it’s the guide that was supposed to meet them!! and he was shot and killed!!!

well, the alien is starting to look more authentic as the bodies pile up. 

back at the lab, scully is looking for the scientist, but she doesn’t find him. what she does find is a guy stealing the core sample???

he shoves her down the stairs?????? what the HELL!!!!

see, i thought the alien was a lie at first, but now it’s starting to appear compelling.

mulder and smithsonian guy arlinsky have arrived at the cave, and he pulls out his gun. they find all of the bodies from the crew, and no alien!!! it has been carved out!!!

mulder hypothesizes that perhaps someone was listening to their radio comms and came to hide their alien knowledge, but they hear some groans. and babcock is still alive!!

he says that the alien body wasn’t taken, but that he buried it!! and sure enough, they find it beneath their feet. mulder looks at it with amazement. big moment for a guy like him.

but scully!!! her face is bruised and her pristine lab coat is covered in blood! bill comes in with a change of clothes. and he didn’t tell their mom what happened. 

“i was knocked down a flight of stairs… but i’m okay, luckily”

“you’re not okay, dana” <- OHHHH BILL. please tread carefully.

he says he knows about her cancer and she says mom wasn’t supposed to tell him!!!

she says she doesn’t want sympathy, and he accuses her of thinking she can cure herself. which feels like a terribly low blow.

OHHHH MY GOD. wait hold on. hold on.

“what are you doing at work getting knocked down and beaten up? what are you trying to prove? that you’re gonna go out fighting?”

“oh now, come on, bill”

“do you know what mom is going through? why do you think i didn’t tell her when they called?”

“what should i be doing?” (said with great frustration)

“we have a responsibility, not just to ourselves, but to the people in our lives”

“hey, look, just-just because i haven’t bared my soul to you or to father mccue or to god, it doesn’t mean that i’m not responsible to what’s important to me” (this was very defensive and exasperated in tone)

“to what? to who? this guy mulder? well, where is he, dana? where is he through all this?”

well…. i want to defend mulder, to say he doesn’t know, but just because he doesn’t know that her cancer is getting worse doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have been more sensitive. he actually has been very conscientious, which makes this whole alien thing all the more sudden and infuriating!!!

she is stunned into silence as bill looks at her with fury. and she doesn’t say anything more to him beyond “thank you for coming” <-god, what was she supposed to even say?? i get trying to shake her back to reality, but who did that cruelty help??

bill, i get what you were trying to do, but you pissed me off in the way that you did it. do you always show the people you care for that you love them by screaming at them? because if so. not a very effective tactic.

mulder is unboxing the alien, which is now in DC, and he’s trying to thaw it with the smithsonian guy arlinsky and babcock! who is doing better! despite taking a shotgun bullet.

babcock asks if it were a hoax, why would there be 6 men dead over it, which is a good question. 

ewwww, the alien looks so gross….

with the help of another FBI agent, she finds the guy who hurt her!!!! and he’s working for the government!!!! in the pentagon‘s research facility!!! his name is kritschgau. they should not hire people in the government who assault women in stairwells.

mulder and crew are getting x rays and scans of the alien. mulder is wearing a sweater, but i’m still mad at him so i will NOT make note of how cute it is. 

the alien body is gross as hell. they’re filming an autopsy. ohhh he’s cutting the eye membrane off. EWWWW. EWWW.

now the ribs…… ewww ewww ewwww EWW IT CRUNCHES. NASTY. he takes the ribs out and starts looking at the heart and lungs and some other white stuff in the chest. gag.

meanwhile, scully’s casing the joint looking for the dude kritschgau who assaulted her, and she finds him, tracks him down, and nearly hits him with her car!!! she has her gun and is going after him!!!! he is under arrest!!! 

she is NOT messing around. we see a level of scully fury here that is incredibly potent and shown to us infrequently. i enjoy it, but it also makes me sad, because it shows how much stress she is under.

it appears he has slipped away, but she catches him!!!!! yes ma'am!!!!

kritschgau says that if he gets arrested, they’ll kill him. “they” being the same people that gave her cancer!!! how tf does he know about that???”

meanwhile, the alien organs are being weighed.

then cutscene back to the big meeting with scully!!! she’s telling them about how they smuggled the corpse back, saying mulder was ready to believe it was an alien.

but kritschgau convinced her it was otherwise, and not a true alien… he explained how mulder and her had been deceived and used, and that it was part of their plan that led to missy’s death and her illness.

god, how she must have felt hearing that… that everything that had happened to her was a waste, that the only point in her suffering was to advance corruption... it must have been devastating

as mulder leaves the warehouse where the autopsy was occurring, it seems he’s being watched by a guy with a shotgun??? is the shotgun guy going from before after the alien people????

it IS shotgun guy from before!!!! he knows babcock?? and he kills smithsonian guy arlinsky!!!

now who tf is this babcock fellow?!?!?!?!?!?

kritschgau is now sitting in mulder's apartment, explaining the "everything is a lie" story to him. mulder asks why he'd do this now- a fair question- and kritschgau says he came to him because his son is very sick after serving in the gulf war. i suppose if in this universe that is also something that has been covered up by the government, it could spark some disillusionment in the whole process once it impacts him personally.

he says "they" invented mulder, the regression hypnosis, the story of his sister and what they told his dad, and that the alien body was made carefully in a lab. and it would never be carbon dated, it was only for him to see so he would go public with the news and discredit himself.

mulder declares kritschgau to be a liar, but he says the body is already long gone, so he leaves to check. and sure enough, when he goes back to the warehouse, it isn’t there, but arlinsky is dead, as is shotgun guy!!!

again, WHO TF IS BABCOCK??!?!?

the cellular materials were an exact match to what kritschgau described. 

and this brings us to scully and mulder really fighting, really really fighting

“after all i’ve seen and experienced, i refuse to believe it’s not true” “because it’s easier to believe the lie, isn’t it?” <- ohh callback to earlier....

and she reveals that he said she was given this sickness to make him believe… oh my god, if that’s true, and her life is just a prop in their sick game… 

he storms out. 

back to the video from the 70’s we began with. 

mulder is watching it and crying. oh no… the beginning is clicking into place for me…… oh no, i see what is coming…. 

back to the meeting room. she says she went to his apartment that morning to identify a body, and that mulder died of a self-inflicted gunshot 

WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK?????????????????

thus concludes the episode

she’s crying, she’s crying, all i can think about is her crying, what the hell, what the hell….

so he killed himself because he realized he was being used as a pawn and it was his fault scully was dying…

normally i would have more to say. but i’m not gonna lie to you, i don’t. this is just so fucking sad. i don’t even have the words. never in a million years did i see this happening. what the hell???? what the hell?

do i believe this kritschgau guy??? i think he’s probably telling 30% of the truth. but not the whole thing. why would all those men die for a fake alien? i think he’s being deployed as a cover story as mulder gets too close. and i think some of this is engineered, but not as much as he claims.

and i'm willing to bet that "believing the lie" actually refers to scully believing his cover story!!!

man. i’m sorry but i’m just so sad. i have been so sad this whole season!!!! 

mulder…… it was rude of you to interrupt her dinner…… but this was not the answer… 

how is sneaky mulder going to get out of the situation THIS time??? and how is scully going to get out of the hole she's dug by reporting all of their work as fraud?? is bill going to be happy now?? lowkey fuck bill, btw.

wow... this is just painful. and i don't even have to wait months to find out what happens next. had i seen this when it aired live i probably would have entered a state of mourning.

so that's the end, huh? of the season, i mean. just sucker punch after sucker punch. i hope this isn't the tone of everything else moving forward. can i get uhhhh one order of whimsy please. with a side of mutual pining. and a small hurt/comfort, emphasis on the comfort. thank you.

after waiting 24 hours from watching the episode initially, i am still torn between how to proceed next. part of me wants to compile all of my favorite moments from the season like always, but the other part of me wants to begin the next episode right away, just so i can move on from such horrible mental imagery as mulder dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. what a terrible thing i wouldn't even have expected from fanfiction!

but, i can also see that the next episode is a two parter, and to be left on ANOTHER cliffhanger would be horrible- but probably LESS horrible than being left with the sadness of dead mulder, right? i don't know what to do! i am filled with indecision!!!!

:(

at least i can take away some fascinating analysis regarding scully's relationship to catholicism, and her idea that depending on any force outside of herself- be it family, friends, or god- is a sign of weakness. i mean, that is pretty telling about her character. and the fact that she believes this so strongly she tried to hide her cancer getting worse from her brother and succeeded in hiding it from mulder!!! to even voice the truth would make it real. maybe that's why she can't tell them, can't go to mass- because it would mean that the end is really near if she did so. i think it's about both the perceived ideas of weakness ingrained in her by her hardass parents and a refusal to let the situation she has found herself in be registered as real in her own mind. she knows it is. but maybe if she pushes it to the side, she can forget for a while.

wow. that sure is something to think over, and think it over i shall.

[soupmanspeaks]

you ever wonder if the Glamrocks's face tracking acts up when they look at Glamrock-Freddy, like they'll look at his face, and the recognition will register as Freddy, but their systems for whatever reason or another think that there is a face overlapped on Freddy's do you think they see two small squares next to him, at his side, roughly child sized, but no one is physically there.... right...?

[pilonciillo]

lol didn’t think someone giving money would give me anxiety

[californiaquail]

anyone else feeling fundamentally incapable of adjusting to society. also just discovered there's a 30 tag limit which i can't believe i've never hit before

[realtapiocafan]

AYO---

😭🥹😍

JAYSON TATUM AND JA'MARR CHASE ON ONE SCREEN

MY TWO WORLDS INTERACTING!!!

[the-harvester]

Hematite Headshots!

[Little note in the tags from the mods <3]

[moreaujeans]

IM FREEEEEE

[banchagu]

Another year passed....!! A pretty relaxed one art-wise, so feeling ready to venture more out of my comfort zone huhu. See you in 2025!!!

[hey-heigo]

Chapter 30

happy early new year.....new years eve eve.....eve squared......

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

this is probably obvious but whenever i write hifumi using 'mister' or 'miss' it's like. an english localized variation of how he uses honorifics in the japanese version

i'm trying to elaborate more on toko and syo's dynamic more. like as two individuals occupying the same body, one of them constantly trying to suppress the other - i can't imagine that they regard each other highly

@digitaldollsworld mvp bc i kept adding on to this one lol

Content warning tags: threats, description of drowning/aquaphobia

< previous - from start - next >

They walk slowly. Mostly for the sake of Hifumi, who seems to be insistent on lagging, huffing under Fukawa’s weight draped across his back, but also with regard to the persisting sting in Byakuya’s ankles, as he tries not to do anything as demeaning as hobble. As it is, he tries to maintain a distance of at least two meters away from the two social outliers, for the sake of his nose; though surprisingly enough, the only offensive odor was Fukawa’s, though being too near to the strange, sugary aroma that he detected in close proximity to Hifumi was also off-putting for a different reason.

Despite her earlier emphasis of time, Kyoko doesn’t make any comment on their speed, instead silently matching Byakuya’s pace. Though, surely, not out of mere goodwill; and unsurprisingly, it’s not long before she asks: “How long were you in the water?”

It’s a complete reversal of her earlier displays of unexpected sympathy, and so matched his expectations of her that it’s almost refreshing. As it is, he can’t help but snort. “You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing. You see, I was a little too preoccupied with self-preservation to be counting seconds.”

“Given how you can still snark, it’s clear you weren’t in there long enough to warrant any major brian damage.” She replies without skipping a beat, unmoved by his vitriol. “So not including the time it took us to drag you out and resuscitate you, maybe around two to three minutes at the most.”

Again; so brisk and clinical and matching exactly to his predictions, that he could laugh with the relief of it. He clicks his tongue instead. “You should be a little more considerate to near-murder victims.”

“And offend your mental faculties?” He shoots a sidelong glance, trying to see if he could catch the shadow of her lips curving into a smile. Nothing doing - the halls are too dimly lit. “It seems that you owe Toko your thanks. She found you quickly.”

At the mention of her name, his mood sours instantly. That was right. Aoi had mentioned as much back in the nurse’s office, though the idea of having to owe Fukawa anything put a bad taste in his mouth. He doesn’t bother turning to look at the dark pile of loose limbs and swinging braids that Hifumi was currently struggling with, his breathing loud and strained. “What’s the order of events so far?” He asks instead. “I left my room a little after nine, and was ambushed immediately after.”

“That would imply that you were unconscious for about twenty minutes before being submerged,” She has her chin tucked over a knuckle, thinking deeply. “Did the attacker concuss you?”

“No. And we’re not having Sakura check me for that either.” He really didn’t want to be subjected to that humiliating examination again. “I think it was some kind of anesthetic. I vaguely remember being assaulted with something against my face.”

“I see. There were some local inhalants in the nurse’s office.” She hums contemplatively. “You’re very lucky. I doubt anyone here knows how to administer anesthetic precisely, and your attacker could have easily overdosed and killed you.”

“Yes, how comforting to know,” He mutters sardonically, as Hifumi makes some kind of nearly-indistinct whimpering mumble behind them. “...That aside, I doubt I was actually unconscious for that long a stretch.”

“How so?”

He doesn’t reply immediately, as they reach the stairs. He grips the handrail, trying not to lean too obviously on it as he places weight down on one foot, biting back a hiss with his teeth in his cheek. “The bag.” He says instead, covering his wince. “It was secured tightly over my head, and contained enough air to keep me from immediately drowning. I tried to maximize my time with it.”

As much of a hidden blessing it had been, it hadn’t been a pleasant experience in the slightest. Straining against his bonds and the chair keeping him pinned do the bottom of the pool, craning his neck to stretch his face as far upwards as he can, trying to take slow, controlled breaths from the air pocket. Fighting panic as cold water creeped up his neck, a slow, relentless march; blinking furiously, irrationally, to try and keep tears from falling as if someone would notice, while above him, all he could see was the flickering of light passing through water, casting dim shadows over the white backdrop of the bag.

When he’d realized that the air was streaming out - bubbling out through the tiny seams, the water level rising and sloshing over his ears, the underside of his chin, the back of his head - terror had seized him, and he’d screamed, once, a short, desperate sound that was insulated to just himself.

He saves those details, though. “I can’t even hazard a guess as to how long I spent underwater. But if Fukawa had found me any later, it’s entirely possible you would have been handling three bodies instead.”

There’s another quiet sound from Hifumi, an oddly high-pitched, hiccuping gasp. Kyoko is quiet for a moment. “That must have been difficult.”

“I survived. That’s all that matters. But it does complicate the timeline, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. As well as the suspect pool - I was hoping that, since the suspect would have only had a short amount of time, it would have made them easier to identify. But since that window between your attack and discovery has been lengthened, it’s harder to pin down.” She sighs. “I wish we had the proper resources to go about this. With so many victims involved, it’d be more efficient to bait out the killer.”

Byakuya blinks, turning to stare intently at her again. There was something off about that statement; he’d never pinned Kyoko to be the kind to openly complain about her circumstances. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a tactic commonly employed in detective fiction, but it’s quite effective in real life. Are you familiar with it?”

“Yes, I am. But-”

“It’s not used in most investigations due to legalities or logistics, but it’s been sensationalized especially in Western media. I believe they have television shows dedicated to it; have you ever heard of ‘To Catch a Predator?’ It’s quite popular there,” She rambles on, the stream of flat words interrupted only briefly by the sudden (and impressively fluent) English. “There’s a wide range of diversity in their criminals as well - aiming to contest the typical expectations of a pervert being overweight and antisocial, though they do tend to be obsessive and easily infatuated.”

Byakuya can only gape. Has Kyoko finally snapped? Was she the one possibly concussed? “What are you-?”

A hand closes over his arm, grip tight for a moment, and he flinches with the prick of her index and pointer finger, driving painfully into the sensitive outer divot of his elbow even through his clothes and her glove. “Be careful.” She hisses quietly, with firm emphasis, and he frowns, one foot halfway to the next step, before-

Ah.

“I’m not sure about American television shows. I never had time for such things.” He says, carefully. “But I’m familiar with what you’re speaking of. Sherlock Holmes used misdirection frequently, some that even involved Watson - though many of those stories are trite fiction, there is an allure to it, especially when it came to outmaneuvering the least suspicious culprits. But you’re quite right that to employ such a thing in real life is reckless without proper preparation, or at the very least, certainty.”

“Yes. I suppose it’s a good thing we’re only lacking in one of those.”

As they reach the second-floor landing, she turns back to Hifumi. “Isn’t that right?”

Hifumi jumps, trembling comically. “I- eh, wha-?”

“Enough of this farce.” Byakuya mimics her, levelling a glare at the boy standing a few steps behind and above them. “Fukawa. You’re awake, aren’t you?”

For a moment, there’s no response. And then:

“Aw, when’d ya figure it out?” Whines the body, slithering off of Hifumi’s back to stand beside him, a flash of white teeth and a red, lolling tongue. “ ‘nd here I thought I coulda put my honorary Juilliard degree to use!”

“I noticed back at the art room. When I revealed the scissors, you twitched.” Kyoko replies, voice low and careful.

“Whaat, f’real? You got some crazy eyes!” Syo whines, crossing her arms. “And you, Squinty?”

“I heard you laughing to yourself as I was describing my near-death experience.” He snarls. He keeps one hand on the bannister, the other balled into a tight fist. “I thought it was Hifumi going into cardiac arrest at first, but then I realized the two of you were actually whispering to each other. Isn’t that right?”

The sound had been so soft and indistinct behind the boy’s gasping that he might have missed it, if not for the quiet giggle he noticed while he was describing how he mitigated the effects of being submerged. A giggle that very much did not match Hifumi’s voice or character.

Syo laughs at that, this time wholly unsubdued, the sound echoing up and down the stairwell. “Damn, you got us!” She hoots, slapping Hifumi across the back, eliciting a yelp. “We’d make a shit pair o’ spies, Huffy! Told ya we shoulda gone slower!”

“Enough. What’s your motive?” He snaps, at the same time edging subtly backwards. He’s not sure why Kyoko chose to confront the two of them now, while they had the high ground. Hifumi, he wasn’t worried as much about, but Syo was likely armed, though how she got her scissors back from Kyoko he had no idea. Kyoko on the other hand, still had her left hand incapacitated, and he certainly was in no shape for a physical confrontation.

“Motive? What, are you accusin’ me of somethin’?” She jabs a finger at him, one hand tugging up the edge of her skirt, revealing something dark strapped against her leg. Silver glints against the dark band, an obvious threat. “You wanna say that louder, pretty boy?”

“We’re not making any accusations.” Kyoko replies sharply, with enough firmness to make Byakuya wonder if she was also armed, to take on a clearly dangerous individual in confined quarters. “We’re wondering why you were pretending to be unconscious. And why the two of you were apparently trying to converse without us knowing.”

Hifumi shakes his head vigorously. This whole time, he had been creeping sideways, trying to put distance between himself and Syo. “I-it’s not what you think!” He yelps. “I-She started whispering to me, I just went along with it-I was trying to figure out what she was up to!”

And to Byakuya’s surprise, Syo nods, arms crossed. “Yep. I got b-o-r-d bored, and if I’m gonna be lugged around, I’d want to be princess-carried! It’s every maiden’s dream to get swept away by a hunk!” She cackles at that, cracking up at her own joke. “Unfortunately, Hamster-Mi here doesn’t have the chops for that. I was just complainin’ to him about how he was breaking my heart!”

Byakuya frowns a little deeper at that. Were the two of them that close? Remembering Hifumi’s unease around Syo previously, the sudden initiative to engage with her was surprising; though then again, it wasn’t like he had reason or desire to pay either of them any particular attention.

“Why pretend to be unconscious?” Kyoko presses on.

“Pushy, ain’t ya? I woke up when Gloomy walked in on the art room and saw that big fella cosplaying a fountain, and I wanted a first-class seat to the drama.” She shrugs. “Little Miss Morose’d been really putting in the elbow grease to, ah…’get normal’, I guess. Not that that was gonna happen in a million years, but she got pretty good at handling blood n’ water n’, like, other stuff...” She tilts her head a bit, almost contemplatively. “But, I guess it’s still a no-go if you shock her with it - I mean, she walked into that room and got jumpscared by a B-grade splatter scene. Poof, out like a light!”

“That’s not a solid excuse,” Byakuya remembers how Fukawa had managed to fight off her own phobia for long enough to manipulate Chihiro’s body, going so far as to mimic the signature of her body’s other occupant. “A pair of your bloody scissors was found at the scene. Can you explain that? Or should we ask the other one?”

“Hey, I’m not the only one walking around with those scissors!” She presses a hand to her chest, as if genuinely affronted by the mere suggestion.

“Your case file said they were unique and custom-made-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But remember - Sherlock over here took my scissors during the last case, right? And left me diggin’ up my back-ups!” And she points at Kyoko this time, a pale hand outstretched accusingly. “Who’s to say she didn’t plant my snippers there? Or did the crime herself!”

And…she has a point. Logically, even if Kyoko hadn’t been the one to throw him into the water, there was nothing to say that the two incidents - his attempted murder and the two deaths in the art room - had to be related. But it wouldn’t make sense, and as irrational a thought it was, he felt that attempting to murder someone by stabbing simply didn’t suit her.

“...She was having breakfast with the others. She has an alibi.” He says, slowly. “Even if she managed to commit the crime of somehow stabbing someone a full foot taller than her and get away without a drop of blood on her, then that means Mondo would have had to be fighting for his life from before she joined the others - and frankly, I don’t think he had that kind of health in him.”

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have planted the scissors. She had been the one to examine Celeste - but that wasn’t logical either, with how she also pointed out the contradiction, how those scissors couldn’t have been the murder weapon -

“Then why drag me out of the room? If she knew I was already awake, what’s the point?” Syo’s voice had changed suddenly, no longer so frivolous and playful, instead softer, chillingly serious. “Who’s to say we weren’t working together?”

Kyoko doesn’t reply at first, quiet for a brief, tense moment. “...I wanted to see what your intentions were.”

“Wow…I’ve heard better excuses from kiddies with their hands stuck in cookie jars.” Syo jeers.

“It’s not an excuse. I understand more of you now - your motivations, your thoughts, and your personality.” Kyoko stares Syo down, chin raised. “Now, come on. We need to go to the pool-”

“ ‘We’? “ Syo throws her head back and laughs, hands clutching her stomach. “Who’s ‘we’?! I got better stuff to do!”

“If we don’t resolve the murder, we all die,” Byakuya starts angrily, and she cuts him off, with a series of gobbling sounds in a mockery of his intonation.

“Blah, blah, blah, whatever! I wanna stretch my legs, and I ain’t doin’ that getting dragged around like a whipped dog,” She sneers, and in a flash, she leaps down the last few steps to land just in front of him. He nearly topples backwards, saved only by his grip on the railing, as she jabs a finger painfully into his sternum. “Listen, she might still be soft on ya, but she’s all twisted up right now, and it’s ‘cuz of you. The only thing you are to me is a sexy piece ‘a meat, so don’t tell me what to care about.”

Byakuya feels his face paling at the threat, frozen in place as she sidesteps him and Kyoko, breezing past him with a lingering whiff of metal and dust, before hopping onto the railing to slide the rest of the way down towards the first floor, her cackles echoing into the distance.

___

The pool is even more warmer and humid than he remembered, the air thick and damp.

Without the distractions of hacking water out of lungs or shivering to death, Byakuya can take in what he’d missed. There’s the chair he’d been bound to, a simple black folding-metal frame, lying next to a flat, white square plastered on the floor - the bag that had been used as a hood, he surmised - though, there’s nothing else that’s particularly incriminating.

He watches as Kyoko peels the bag off the floor, shaking it out and handing it to him. It’s a completely featureless white drawstring thing, made of a durable, tightly-woven canvas, and the kind of thing used for gym clothes. The quality and accessorized appearance of it makes him think that it’s a staple from the supply room. He runs his hands along the seam, finding the whole of it cold and damp, and smelling just like everything else - chlorine and stale water.

He passes it back wordlessly. There was nothing he could observe from it.

Hifumi hovers by the doorway to the boy’s exercise room, fidgeting slightly as Kyoko walks along the edge of the pool, no doubt carefully observing all that she could. Byakuya sits on a bench against the wall and watches her, arms crossed and feeling distinctly useless.

How strange, he thinks, watching her stop, crouch down, and press her hand contemplatively to the floor before continuing on her way. What Syo had said had made sense - how was he sure that Kyoko wasn’t involved in any of these murders, attempts or otherwise? There were no real attempts at trust built between them, not like him and Makoto. All their casual interactions so far had been fraught with antagonizing and sarcasm, and threaded with - and he scowls now with the bitter realization of it - envy, on his part. Why was he so certain of her innocence, beyond just a gut feeling?

His fingers curl, nails biting into his arms. How ironic that he used to scorn such things, but there was only so much information available to him now. All that was left were vague impressions, and…

Blind faith. And he snorts derisively at the very thought of it.

“M-Mister Togami…”

There was also the issue with Fukawa - Syo - either of the two were insufferably irritating on the best of days, but - and he shudders again, remembering the sheer malice that both had approached him with - though, it seemed they had different motivations. Fukawa still had some delusions regarding him, though remembering their last near-interaction, the nature of her fantasies had flipped the dynamic she had previously envisioned. At the very least, he was glad that she didn’t seem to want him dead just yet.

Syo, on the other hand…

“Mister Togami?”

He doesn’t move from his seat. From beside him, Hifumi stutteringly clears his throat, and repeats himself. “Mister Togami-”

“I heard you the first time.” He snaps. “What?”

Hifumi flinches in the corner of his vision, the gray curve of his sweater flickering in and out. “I, ehm…you…you don’t have to stay, if you don’t want…?”

The glare Byakuya directs at him is enough to make him trail off, turning quickly away. “And why shouldn’t I stay?” He asks, cold and chipped. “Am I interfering with something?”

“N-No! I, ehm, it’s just-” His voice squeaks, and breaks, and he clears his throat again, loud and hacking. “Ehem, um, I just thought since someone tried to, eh…do away with you, here, maybe you’d rather be somewhere else?”

His scowl deepens at that, as he scrapes his foot across the floor. His sneakers have the stiffness of being new, and slide a bit too quickly across the damp tile. Certainly he didn’t look that fragile, did he? “I’m fine.” He snaps. “And don’t hover around me. Why don’t you make yourself useful?”

He’s greeted with nothing but the background hum and churn of water and machinery, so he thinks that he’s succeeded in shutting Hifumi down. But then he hears a shuffle, the crinkle of paper and cellophane, and -

Something stretching in from his periphery. He jerks away from it, but it’s just - round and a pale golden-brown - a piece of packaged bread, sitting in Hifumi’s hand.

Hifumi flinches too, the motion accompanied by more plastic rustling. “S-sorry. But you didn’t eat breakfast, right?” And he re-extends his hand, unexpectedly stubborn. “Um. I don’t have much on me, but you can have this. I-I’ve also got chips if you want something salty, but you seem too uptight-” He cuts himself off, clearing his throat again. “I mean, you don’t seem like you’d, uh. Like. Non-breakfast foods for breakfast…”

He makes no move to take the offering, wrinkling his nose instead. Not only at the paltry offering, but also, the few small, dark streaks across Hifumi’s palm and up his sleeves. Hifumi must notice his staring, because he stammers out: “Um, i-it’s from when I found…Mondo…”

“I didn’t know you were so fearless around bodies.”

“N-no, I- um, w-when I found Mondo - in the art room - I tried to help, but…I’m no good at that stuff, and…” He trails off, his voice beginning to shake with a different quality that promised sobbing, and Byakuya suddenly realizes that as much as he dislikes interacting with Hifumi regularly, he wants to interact with a sobbing, traumatized Hifumi even less.

“Fine, I get it. I don’t need to hear the rest.” He takes the bread before Hifumi can say anymore and rips open the seal, tearing into it without ceremony. It’s common fare, carrying the slight, sour odor of preservatives and sweetness of over-processed wheat, and the texture is dense and doughy, flattened from the time spent in Hifumi’s bag. It tastes somewhat like the air around him - chlorine - and would be enough to make him gag, if he didn’t suddenly realize how ravenous he was; as a result, he somehow manages to inhale half of it before he almost chokes on how dry it is.

As he thumps his chest, forcing out the squishy, half-chewed, intrusion from his esophagus, Hifumi thrusts an open bottle of water at him, a little too forcefully, and Byakuya jolts with the splash of cold liquid against his thigh. He jerks out of his seat, glaring furiously, and Hifumi sheepishly, more gingerly this time, offers the water bottle again.

“S-sorry…” He stammers, and there’s the plip, plip plip of droplets sloshing over the bottle’s lip, as his hands shake slightly. “Um, maybe you should walk around? It’ll dry it off faster…”

“Don’t be stupid. This is the most humid place in the school.” He snaps. Thankfully, the spill isn’t large, and he tugs the damp spot away from his skin. “Ugh. And the bench is wet too.”

“Did - did you want me to clean it up for you?” He sounds reluctant, as if the thought of having to do this for someone who wasn’t an over-exaggerated caricature of some subculture - or a girl - was undesirable to say the least.

“Forget it. Just stay here.” Barely five minutes, and he’s suffered pathetically sympathetic conversation, subpar bread, and another dousing. He’s had enough of Hifumi’s company for a while.

Kyoko was watching them from beside the lifeguard’s seat, and face fixed in his direction like a lighthouse beacon. She turns back towards the pool as he steps to stand next to her.

“You could stand to be a bit nicer.” Is the first thing she says after a moment’s pause. “This isn’t the place to make enemies.”

Do you think no one’s more aware of that than me? He feels his lip twitching into a sneer. “Respect should only be given to those who deserve it.”

“If that were true-” She pauses. “No, never mind.”

“No, say it.” He’s never heard Kyoko fully redact herself before. “What is it?”

“It’s not important. Anyways-”

“It must have been important if you thought to mention it out loud in the first place.” She looks away from him, and he quickly circles around, stepping into her direct view. “Well?”

Even this close, he can barely make out anything on her face at all. Behind her, he can see the large, gray shape of Hifumi’s back bobbing as he kneels in front of the bench, presumably wiping it dry.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you today,” He starts, voice raised slightly, firm and disproportionately amplified. “First the meaningless tangent about your television shows, now this pointless waffling. Are you insane? Did something finally crack?”

“I’m fine.” She raises her chin, acting the part of a petulant child. “You’re the one getting hung up on something meaningless.”

“Me? Hung up on - are you serious?” He laughs, humorously. “I’m just trying to make sure you haven’t lost your rationality. Did you forget that we’re all hinging our trust on you?”

“Of course not. But now you’re the one being irrational; are you sure you’re not just worried over your own ego?” And now, her voice is firm, exasperated, as she even starts toying with her hair,  the white strands stark against her glove. “I assure you, it’s nothing I’m sure you don’t already know.”

The smile he feels cracking his face is more like a baring of teeth. “So that’s it. I wasn’t aware that my manners were important enough to you to be commented on.”

“Of course not. There’s very little of you that I feel the need to comment on.”

“Clever. Could you be clever now and continue investigating? Or do you plan to continue wasting our precious time?”

“Me? You’re the one who decided to argue about this point. I already dropped it from the start-”

“Enough.” He says suddenly, sharply. Hifumi has apparently dropped something under the bench, body shaking as he reaches for it, leaning nearly parallel to the floor.

And as if on cue, Kyoko snaps her mouth shut and spins, turning sharply on her heel, away from him. But she hasn’t taken so much a step when-

Ding dong, bing bong.

Monokuma’s voice, amplified and uncanny off the water’s surface and far-reaching walls, is positively ecstatic. “Are you excited? Are you pumped!?” It cheers, and Hifumi falls backwards in surprise just as Kyoko reaches him. “It’s time for the class trial to begin! Like the bright burst of fireworks, like the flash of a soul clashing with life and death…!”

The spiel continues, but Byakuya has already tuned it out, moving quickly to stand over Hifumi’s struggling form. “We need to move,” He says sharply, fumbling for Hifumi’s arm and yanking upwards. “Now.”

The other boy’s face is pale, and he doesn’t budge from where he sits on the floor. “W-what - already?!” He gasps. “But-it’s so soon-!”

“The two of you go first,” Kyoko orders. She’s standing at one end of the bench, looking down at them. “I haven’t checked this area yet.”

“W-wait, but-”

“Let’s go,” Byakuya snaps, tugging again. “She can catch up on her own, but right now, we’re the two slowest individuals here. We need to leave first.”

“That’s-”

“-and without further ado - I’ll see you all soon! Puhuhu~” Monokuma finishes, accompanied by the buzz and click of the audio cutting out. Kyoko grabs Hifumi under the other arm, and together, the two of them drag him upright.

“Come on,” Byakuya repeats, not relinquishing his grip. “Or do you want to find out what happens when we’re late?”

That does it. Reluctantly, Hifumi lets him lead him towards the boys’ locker room door. As they make their exit, Byakuya catches a glimpse of Kyoko watching them leave, before the door slips shut, obscuring her entirely.

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[elwolfen]

God... Steven Universe is so good

[daily-whistlebreeze]

daily whistlebreeze until spo becomes PoV day 1398

I like seeing how different I can make gray cats by throwing Whis at them; anyways, Spotfur's been on my mind tonight