#sorry just losing my fucking shit

[alilweirddragon]

Everybody: Macaque

Ai chat: Macaca

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

local dog unused to such fluff & tenderness, more at 8

[algrenion]

for the low, low price of $39.99, you too can simulate the experience of terminal illness in The Sims 4!!

[moongothic]

The worst part about trying to figure out what Crocodile's deal is that because he's so fucking irredeemably evil in Alabasta... Like... Yeah he's just irredeemably evil. Like I love him but he did cause countless casualties, a ton of pain and suffering and literally attempted to blow up a million people

Like no amount of theoretical "trying to do it to save his son from the Government" or "trying to stop the Government from hurting anyone else" or just "doing it for the greater good" is going to make him any less of a mass murderer

But also Robin absolutely 100% helped with all of that shit simply because she wanted to read the Poneglyph for herself.

No amount of her intending to betray Crocodile from the begining and sabotaging his plans erases the fact that Robin also caused countless people to starve to death and die in the civil war. Her sabotages only succeeded out of sheer luck, and only spared the lives of the people at the final battle. She has the blood of countless innocents on her hands. Because she wanted to read history.

But her crimes were swept under the rug because she has a sad backstory and her sabotages worked out just at the nick of time by sheer dumb luck

So Croc??? Just??? Is there a chance??? At all???

But also he did literally intend to sell Buggy into slavery

Like, fuck Buggy, but jesus

What's also killing me is that we like. Don't know what Luffy thinks of Crocodile right now. Which really is like. The thing that will decide how we, as the readers, are supposed to feel about Crocodile. Luffy is our POV

Like we don't know what Luffy's opinion of Crocodile is after he helped save Luffy (and spared Ace once) during the Summit War. Like Luffy clearly fucking hated the man in Impel Down and the two interactions they had during the War weren't like positive (in the sense that Luffy himself didn't think of the interactions as particularly positive. Defending Whitebeard from being attacked once and then being like "wait what HIM?!" when Crocodile defended Ace. To be fair, in the midst of the chaos, there wasn't much time to spend on Pondering On Such Things because Ace needed to be saved, and Oda goes out of his way to not show us what's going on inside Luffy's head, because it's all meant to be out in the open anyways. Regardless, these weren't like "yay it's Crocodile! :)" moments for Luffy is what I mean)

But also Luffy was very grateful of Law for saving his life and was willing to put his trust into Law for their alliance- of course, they weren't explicitly enemies to begin with, rivals at most, but still. Luffy respects those who help him.

But also Luffy grew during the timeskip. Like he's not that clueless anymore (like he finally understands Hancock is in love with him etc), and similarly Luffy gets that Buggy is an absolute loser now. But also Buggy did also help save Luffy's life (even if it was by accident), and while IDK if Luffy is aware of that, I don't think that helped improve Luffy's impression of Buggy

So like. The fuck does Luffy think of Crocodile, at this moment? Even with the Cross Guild reveal, he didn't even really comment on Croc and just focused his energy on being confused about Buggy being "the leader" of CG. IDK it feels almost intentional or something, that we don't know what Luffy thinks?? Especially since we did get Zoro's opinion on Mihawk in the situation?? Or am I delulu?? (Sidenote. I'd love to know what Robin would have to say about Crocodile helping save Luffy's life. What Jinbei might think of the final words Crocodile left him with before blasting them out of Akainu's reach. But mainly just Robin's thoughts)

Like IDK my best guess would be that Luffy still hates Crocodile just the same but is like grossed out by technically owing him one??? In the classic

-kinda way, you know? And that he'd be just kinda confused about it?

Because I can't fucking imagine Luffy being like "oh we're cool now" with Crocodile, let alone "Yay Crocodile :) He saved my life!". But also like. Luffy does kind of owe Croc one. Kind of. And Luffy is usually very respectful of that kind of thing. Aaaaaaaa???

(Also does. Does Luffy even know it was Crocodile who yeeted him and Jinbei out of Akainu's reach to begin with. 'Cause he was unconcious. Knocked the fuck out. Does. Does Luffy even know. Did anybody tell him???)

I just.

There's the reasonable part of me that knows Crocodile is an irredeemable evil dickbag and everything he has ever said and done up to the most recent chapters support that. He is too far gone.

And then there's the absolutely delulu part that loves a tragic villian who gets a heartwrenching redemption that's looking for any fucking sign that could indicate Crocodile could maybe be one

[doodleodds]

Me? Uploading a Halloween comic on November 18th, almost four whole-ass weeks late???? Yeah that’s uh. yup. yeah

Thanks for reading! :) <3

[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.

[pleasedontcareaboutme]

It's missing my father hours rn so imma just dump a bunch of pictures here and cry

( sorry i don't know the source of anything I just had them on my phone)

(also dont read the tags i just need to let it out lol)

[shima-draws]

Grips my shirt and tears it apart so that all the buttons go flying and SCREAMS I love Law and Cora so much what the FUCK!!!!

[shannonsketches]

he's so important to me

[absolutebloodychaos]

This post is related back to my post from the other day

I found the Apokalipsa YouTube channel!!!!! https://youtube.com/@apokalipsaband?si=yQezwD1M2krSI3IM

Also, THEY HAVE THE FUCKING LED S SEVERA COVER https://youtu.be/TylXQiolfCY THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Like this channel has fucking videos from when they were like fucking fourteen

You can see baby Bojan doing fucking Basket Case by Greenday (let me tell you, his voice was simultaneously so fucking whiny but also the cutest thing I have ever heard), his arm is in a fucking cast and it is so funny to me

But like they're actually good, like I thought they'd be okay before but like they're actually like fucking good

In one of the videos they are literally playing in a school gym?!

[sebbyisland]

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN LETS UNPACK. Shiguma has invited Akane to be the Zenza/opener for his large public event, one known to help keep rakugo appreciation alive in the community. We now also have a better idea of what makes his performances so enrapturing—to the degree he is considered an "Ookaban," or a Shinu'uchi who has truly elevaed the craft. During his performance, Shiguma uses small, defined movements to encourage the audience to imagine the entire world of the story. This is a powerful technique that even has the power to “kill” as was explained in the prev chapter because people become so enraptured in his stories they will even ignore fire alarms (which is crazyyy btw). It's THAT intense.

This is what makes him "Shiguma the Tear-Jerker," master of Ninjo-banashi (this also explains why Maikeru is so good at Ninjobanashi lol) . It’s easy to believe the purpose of this arc is to once again establish a goal post that Akane needs to aspire for, especially since we know she doesn't have much experience in emotional/dramatic Rakugo. The last time we had Akane become "wowed" by someone else's degree of rakugo skill, it was ALSO a horror story, performed by Kaisei Arakawa (more on this later)! However, unlike that scene, we now have the additional plot element of the mysterious "Shiguma's Art" that was passed down from the Kashiwaya school. Which is actually the true focus of this arc, since it's heavily implied that Akane is about to learn Shiguma's Art herself!

Back in chapter 118, we find out Rokuro Kashiwaya is trying to reveal the secrets of the "Shiguma's art," a secret story originally passed down from the Kashiwaya school. Immediately after the reader is told this, we cut to a flashback of a younger Akane watching as Shiguma silently stares down at the ground in a formal seated position.

Akane can tell he's practicing rakugo not because of any genius intuition, but because she remembers her dad doing the exact same thing. And she was correct! When she asks him about it, Shiguma is first avoidant, "It has nothing to do with you," but then affectionately ruffles her head and says she'll tell her when she's a "full-fledged artist." Shiguma's secrecy + the timing of the scene basically all but screams at us that he was practicing "Shiguma's art" and he already passed this on to Akane's father before his Shin'uchi test.

Okay, so, Shiguma wants to pass down this cool secret story. Based on his solo-performance and how we've seen both Shiguma and Akane's dad practice, this is a story that requires using minimalism to maximum impact. About maintaining a still, intense atmosphere full of anticipation that completely enraptures the audience similar to the younger Akane watching them, all those years ago. We will soon get more details about how this works since Shiguma has acknowledged that Akane as a "full-fledged artist" and promised to teach Akane this very same story after his solo-event.

But that's not even the most interesting aspect of this whole arc! One of the side characters astutely observes that this all seems to be a pattern for Shiguma . His student's "rite of passage" into Futatsume, as they become a "full-fledged artist."

Shiguma takes them out around town for a day, then has them open for his Solo exhibit. Just like Akane. Keep in mind, the solo exhibit is not just about Shiguma and his Futatsume-to-be, but about connecting rakugo to the greater public on a deep level. That is the greatest lesson they gain from all this--that small things like taking in the "color of the city," as Akane calls it, is essential to gaining a deeper understanding of how to connect to the audience. Of rakugo itself. Doesn't that sound familiar? Small things amounting to a big impact? That's right, it''s the very same draw of Shiguma's Art.

This all comes full-circle, because back in the beginning of the story, chapter 2 opens with a focus of Shiguma's mentorship of Akane consisting of showing Akane around town. This initially caused a comedic misunderstanding leading to rumors of them having an immoral affair. Of course, in reality, he was teaching Akane rakugo on a fundamental level.

Does Shiguma teach Shiguma's Art to ALL his students? Probably not. Not only is Shinta the only student we explicitly see practicing Shiguma's Art, he's also clearly burdened by it. When Akane learns that Shinta refused to join other rakguo schools after his expulsion, she recounts when her father mention his goal to "carry on Shiguma's art."

This single page places another level of weight on "Shiguma's Art" as a role, an identity, not just a methodology. Look at Shiguma's face when Akane reveals this information! He's unsettled! Shinta speaks with clear intention to carry on the name of Shiguma. He has so much loyalty to Shiguma's Art he refuses to continue rakugo under any other school (which brings the question: why did the original Shiguma leave Kashiwaya, then?). So, no, I don't think everyone who graduated past Futatsume gets to learn Shiguma's Art. After all, it's not like every student under Kashiwaya learned about it, either. It's a mystery how Rokuro found out in the first place...

To recap: we've established that "Shiguma's art" is both a methodology and a secret Ninjo-banashi story to SELECT students of the Shiguma school, likely taug ur with the intention for you to inherit the school. It's a great honor that basically represents the foundation of Shiguma that can be felt in many extensions of Shiguma’s mentorship style. The current Kashiwaya master passed it on to Kiroku, but instead of staying within the Kashiwaya school, Kiroku went on to make his own school with Issho and the current Shiguma. The original Shiguma taught it to the current Shiguma, but probably not Issho. Then, Shiguma taught this technique to Shinta with strong intention, but that didn't work out because Shinta failed the Shin’uchi test. From what we've seen so far, Shiguma's Art emphasizes that "less is more" when it comes with connecting to its audience. It's most effective in creating an intense, emotional atmosphere apt for Ninjo-banashi stories.

That's all well and good, but then what relevance does this current rakugo story have? If this is really all about Shiguma's Art, then does it REALLY matter what story Shiguma performs during this solo-event, as long as it's emotional and shows off his skill as a Shin'uchi? Why would this performance "hold a special meaning" for Akane, specifically, if it's nor even guaranteed for EVERY Futatusme to learn Shiguma's Art after the solo event?

That has to do with the nature of the story Shiguma is performing, "Shinigami" or "Gods of Death" (spoilers for people who are not familiar with the story). We left off in Akane-banashi with the protagonist of the rakugo story being taken into a candle-lit cave by one of the gods of death. Every candle's represents the life of a human soul. In this story, it's revealed that the quack doctor, our protagonist, has accidentally switched out his own candle with that of his dying patient. As such, he is about to die. The god offers to let him light his current candle with his "former" candle so that he can renew his life. However, he fails (the exact reason varies between versions), and dies. His death is a morbid lesson to the audience that you shouldn't bite off more than you can chew, for consequences will follow.

The most haunting part of this story is when, after watching the protagonist struggle to stay alive, his candle finally goes out. All the life is snuffed out of the protagonist. Now, this might be a reach, but I think the pose that both Shiguma and Shinta were seen practicing is going to directly translate to how he performs the protagonist's death in "Shingami." Think about it. The complete stillness of a tragic death that came too soon--isn't that the ultimate way to make minimal movement have the largest impact? Furthermore, a haunting line from "Shinigami" is a taunt that the protagonist receives from the god "That which has been traded cannot be returned." Isn't that such a good segue for the weight of Shiguma's Art? That Akane’s father refused to go to any other rakugo school after he had to leave Shiguma Arakawa? That Rokuro is now trying to return what has been traded to the Shiguma school???? This was such a good story to introduce Shiguma's art because it ties to both the past and the future of the story on multiple levels, similar to the impact of Maikeru’s Shin’uchi test. Furthermore, it usually a particularly popular rakugo story, so similiar to the use of "Jugemu," seeing how the characters interact with the story helps to emphasize their level of skill.

In addition, I've wanted to see Akane-banashi adapt "Shinigami" since I first started this series. I am so beyond happy about its role in the narrative. It feels like a personal gift ahhhhhhh.

You can watch variants of "Shinigami" on Youtube! Performances by Kyotaro Yanagiya w/eng subtitles here and an English rakugo performance by Kanariya Eiraku here :) I personally really enjoyed them both.

Furthermore, remember how I mentioned Kaisei early on in this paper? Like way back? That's because if Akane is the representative for the future of Shiguma, and Rokuro as Kashiwaya, then Kaisei is the face of Issho Arakawa in this story and will no doubt be brought in the fray of the Shiguma Art drama. With this in mind, isn't it interesting how the last major performance we saw of Kaisei was a Ninjobanashi that highlighted how he, too, captured the audience, but with a much more outwardly scary story about death? One that is terrifying because of the ego of the character's, not the environment/gradual build up of horror in Shinigami? And that his origin also started by meeting a Shinuchi as a child, like Akane, and that he took on rakugo in honor of his mom who was in a rough spot for reasons out of her countrol, similar to how akane was influenced to honor her dad through rakugo? But Kaisei cared about proving himself by having the means to live/leave poverty, whereas Akane was focused on how she enjoyed the art of rakugo? It's almost as if Kaisei has a different approach to rakugo than the Shiguma school...it's almost as if...he's taught by the master of Shiguma's rival, Issho....it's almost as if......Isho's rakugo is more so about the rakugoka's ego delivering a powerful story, whereas Shiguma's rakugo is about influencing the audience, and this is why that disagree so strongly about Shinta's Shin'uchi test, where he was able to connect with the audience but fell through on maintaining he composure and ego......it's almost as if this entire story hinges on the debate on the purpose of telling stories. This is what Akane has to decide on for herself. That's why we are reading Akane-banashi (story).

[camgoloud]

he still has his tonsils. by the way if you even care

[karamazovanon]

i think the recurring theme of dostoevsky's that will always destroy me the most is when despite how much a character wishes and yearns for it, they continuously refuse pure and unconditional love when it's offered because they don't think they're worthy of it (and then hate themselves even more for turning it down). it will ruin me EVERY TIME

[bradshawsbitch]

miles teller at the 2023 critics choice awards

[softquietsteadylove]

Helloo, how are you?

So its halloween and i have a little request for something scary. Maybe the eternals somehow end up in this very old and problaby haunted house, and then the ghost in said house take a liking for Thena, so they start to hide her and make the others see her when she is not there. And poor Gil is more scared that he would like.

(Also thank you for answering to my asks🩷😭)

"This place really is massive," Gil commented mildly as he moved the flashlight around the walls. It was just the sound of their steps and their breathing. The halls of this old asylum were oppressively quiet.

"It's easily the largest space we've ever been in," Thena agreed as she too moved moved her light to examine their surroundings. "Its a good thing the others agreed to come with us to man the equipment."

Their friends were being good sports about it, whether or not they were present as true believers or because if half of their group was already in, they might as well all come.

"I hope they don't hate me for dragging them out here all Halloween night," he gulped as they turned a corner down - what a surprise - another pitch black hallway.

Thena scoffed at the idea, though, allowing him to walk even closer to her, all but clinging to her arm. "Please, all they would be doing is loitering at Phastos' anyway. He and Ben would be watching something, Makkari and Druig would be pretending not to make out in the corner and Ikaris would be trying - and failing - to hold Sersi's hand during the whole movie."

Gil snickered beside her. Thena's observations could seem cutting at times, but they were never all that inaccurate. And they could be pretty funny, in that way. "I'm sure he'd get there eventually."

"I have yet to see it," she drawled about their mutual friend, more frenemy when it came to her and Ikaris in particular. "Speaking of, when did they last check in?"

Gil pulled pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Ground floor, do you copy?"

"Ugh, Gil--aye, we're still 'ere. You don't have to go all air traffic control for it."

Well, if he was going to be such a stick in the mud. Gil huffed, "roger that, Party-Pooper."

"Oi!"

Thena took his hand and pulled the walkie closer to her. "Sersi, tell us if he holds onto you too tight and we'll switch floors."

"Watch it!"

The constant radio static of the channel clicked again and Sersi laughed. "He's really quite all right, you two. Anything up there?"

"Nothing, so far," Thena sighed before remembering to add, "over and out."

Gil smiled as he put the walkie back in his pocket. Thena probably thought it was silly too, but she would never actually say anything. It was one of the many ways in which she indulged him on these ghost hunts. "Hey."

She looked at him, wondering what had caught his attention. Once she saw him wiggling his hand at her, her smiled turned a little bit shy as she slipped her hand into his. "Do you think they'll know what to look for?"

"I told them about what all the equipment does, they should be able to tell if they get any activity," Gil murmured as they turned down a hall into a more residential looking area. "Whoa, this looks like an actual house."

"This must have been an area for those in a palliative sort of care, like a true hospice," she muttered, pressing closer to him. It was still old floors and concrete walls, but there were now rooms with more than nothing, some even still had an old metal bed frame in them. There was a dresser or two, even a mirror.

Gil winced as their flashlights both hit it head on. He lowered his, but he blinked and rubbed his eyes after the fact. "Can't believe something like that is still standing in a place like this in one piece."

Thena had no comment on it, apparently.

"Kinda freaky, right?" he sighed as he rubbed at his eyes again before shaking it off. "Thena?"

He looked around.

"Thena?" he called out with a little more urgency. He moved the flashlight around, plenty of the room doors were open, but he would have heard her. He would have felt her, wouldn't he? "Thena?!"

He rushed to check each of the rooms, forgetting how creepy everything was. His stomping feet were echoing all over the place, but that didn't matter. "Thena, where are you?!"

All that came back was his own voice bouncing around. He was starting to panic.

"Thena, please, answer me!" he panted, even moving the creaky, old doors to make sure she wasn't hiding somewhere. How could she have just vanished into this air?

He shouldn't have let go of her hand.

"Thena, please!" he shouted, retracing their steps, shining his flashlight down every hall he passed. He knew most of them led to dead ends. Where could she have gone? His hand pulled out the walkie-talkie again, fumbling with it a little. "G-Guys?!"

"Gil, what's wrong?"

"Th-Thena!" he gulped, knowing they needed more information than that. "She was right next to me and-and now-"

"Whoa, Gil, slow down. Nothing's happened to Thena, I'm sure she just went to look at something that caught her eye," Sersi attempted to diffuse his worry.

"Why the hell weren't you keeping an eye on her?" Ikaris snapped at him in sharp contrast.

"Oi," Druig chimed in on his set. "You all need to calm down, I just saw 'er."

"What?" Gil frowned. Druig and Makkari were on the second level, although most of it was sectioned off thanks to a fire from the last century. He rushed to the stairs, "you're sure?"

"Yeah, I saw her walk clear through that light grid you put up, actually," Druig narrated. He paused and then continued, "Kari saw'er goin' down the far stairwell."

"You mean the one to your left?" Gil asked, rushing down the main stairs so quickly he almost tripped at the very bottom. But he took off, full on sprinting.

"Yeah?"

Based on where they had set up, there was no way Thena could be on the stairwell to their left, because it led to absolutely nowhere, just a collapsed hallway downstairs and a boarded up room at the top. Whatever they had seen wasn't Thena.

"Keep your nightvision cam on, okay? And you two stay there--and stay close together!"

"Gil, man, you okay?" Ikaris asked a little more sympathetically, obviously hearing the urgency in his voice over the loud and static-y walkies. "Like Sersi said, I'm sure Thena's just fine."

"I'm on my way to you, just sit tight," Gil huffed. His chest felt tight, like it was on fire. He looked around, only now on the second floor. This place was such a massive hell hole, who knew what kind of malevolent spirits were in here. "Guys?!"

"Hold yer bloody horses, man, hell," Druig flashed his light at him from within the main hallway of the floor. As soon as Gil rounded the corner, though, Druig was already on his feet. Despite his words, his face was dead serious, "she really not with you?"

Gil gulped. Tears sprang to his eyes, although he knew this wasn't the time. He shook his head, trying to catch his breath. The light grid they had set up to pick up any kind of movement was still shining into the closed off areas ahead.

He jumped, but Makkari rubbed his back with a reassuring smile. Druig shone the light a little closer to them to illuminate her words. This place is like a maze, I'm sure she's looking for you too.

That was actually what worried him. He had screamed for her, at the very top of his lungs. And not only had he not heard anything back, but apparently none of their friends had heard him either, which seemed impossible.

And if he couldn't hear Thena, then how would he know if she needed his help?

"Where did you see her?" he asked, shining his own light closer to his face for Kari to read his lips.

She pointed. I swear I saw her walk through the grid. I thought she saw something in the window.

Thena would never walk through the light grid herself; it would compromise any evidence they got of a spectral figure. Still, Gil moved closer to it. He shone the flashlight into the corridor, through the propped open door. It was hard to tell with the light in the window reflection, but he was pretty sure it was just a boarded up, empty room through there.

Druig took the liberty of packing up the light grid and putting it back in his bag. "Take a look."

Gil slid closer to the darkened hallway. Despite never having been on one of these hunts before, all their friends were far less scared than he was. Maybe because they definitely didn't believe in ghosts. His heart hammered as he entered the suffocating dark of the hallway. He pressed his flashlight to the window of the door that was boarded closed. If something jumped up at him he might have a heart attack.

It was just a closed up room, full of evidence of fire damage. He angled the light around as best he could without giving himself nothing but reflection to look at. He jumped as some kind of movement caught his eye. He tried to follow it but it was gone as soon as he saw it. But he knew it moved towards the other door to the room.

And it looked blonde.

Druig and Makkari made room for him as he started running towards the main stairs again. "Come on!"

"If she's messin' with us she's makin' us go through a hell of a workout," Druig felt the need to chime in, following him down the stairs.

But Gil knew that wasn't the case. Maybe - maybe - she might mess with Ikaris a little, possibly Druig, all in good fun. But she would never make him worry about her like this, she just wouldn't. She would never scare him like this, not when it was always her calming him down on these hunts.

It really was like a labyrinth in this place. Gil leapt down the last two stairs and whipped open the doors to the main floor. "Did you see her?!"

Ikaris and Sersi both jumped off the bench of the entrance hallway. They looked at each other and then at him. They still had most of the equipment set up around them, and a floodlight pointed at the ceiling for a little more illumination of the area.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ikaris growled at him for storming in the way he did. "Didn't you see her on your level?"

Druig shrugged, "thought we did."

But Gil rushed past all of them, taking a right and pulling open the doors. This place was so massive, it was hard to keep track. But if the figure he had seen in the other room had been Thena, or worse, something else, it would have ended up in here. "Thena!"

Still, nothing but his own voice. It didn't echo like it did upstairs, though. He moved his flashlight around, seeing all the junk that was pushed into this empty but undamaged area of the building. He moved more slowly.

His heart was still hammering, but he made himself take each next step. He couldn't stop until Thena's hand was in his again. "Thena, are you in here?"

He could have sworn a voice whispered back to him. It would have been great potential evidence if he had any equipment or was recording anything. But for now, he took the potential whisper of 'she's mine' and scowled. "No, she's not."

Whatever whispered at him didn't have another reply to that.

Gil slid around a corner constructed of old office furniture, flashing his light in every nook and cranny. "She's my girlfriend! Whatever you are, find someone on your own plain of existence!"

Something rattled in a far corner. He really was going to have a heart attack in here. But he gulped, re-grasping his flashlight in his sweaty palm. No ghost was getting his precious Thena--not tonight.

He moved closer to the rattling. It was a doorknob turning. Okay, so he might die in here tonight. He hoped his friends would escape, at least. But if he did die, then maybe he could be with Thena. If she had died alone in here, he would never forgive himself.

There was a door, and the doorknob was turning.

Gil let out a breath and steeled his resolve again. He could do this. He would do this! He could do anything if it was for Thena. Thena, he repeated to himself as he reached for the doorknob, Thena, Thena, Thena.

As soon as he touched the doorknob, it was no longer locked, and flew open. Thena tumbled into the room, straight into his chest as he caught her. Both of their flashlights fell and rattled on the ground as they held onto each other.

"Gil!" Thena gasped into his shirt, burying her face in it as soon as she knew it was him. "I-I-I didn't--I-I thought-!"

"It's okay, it's okay," he gulped, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. It was really Thena in his arms, small and warm, blonde hair under his chin. His tears came again, and he didn't force them away, "you're really here."

Thena held onto him just as tightly, clawing at the back of his shirt so she could hold fistfuls of it. "I-I turned around and you were gone--just gone! And I tried shouting for you but I couldn't hear anything around me but silence. And then I thought I saw this--th-this thing-!"

"It's okay, I'm here," he whispered. He couldn't process any of what she was saying right now. All he could think about was the comfort of having his Thena in his arms again.

Slowly, they released one another. Thena sniffled, laughing as she put her hands on his cheeks. "I'm supposed to be the one here for you."

He laughed as well, just as watery and tearful. He put his hands on her cheeks as well, "I can be here for you, just this once."

She leaned into him again as he kissed her.

"You two okay?!"

Thena pulled back and picked her flashlight up first. She shone it around the room, "where are we?"

Gil frowned as she handed him his flashlight as well. "We're on the ground floor, in that side room we checked out first thing tonight."

"The ground floor?" she repeated, looking completely baffled. "We were on the third floor. I-I felt something pull me and I thought it was you, then I was in this completely other room. I was trying to find my way back to you in the hall."

Nice try, ghost creep; Gil took her hand, weaving their fingers together. He could carry his flashlight in his mouth if he had to.

"Gil," Thena continued to frown as he guided them back towards the entrance, "I didn't go down any stairs. We can't possibly be downstairs again."

"It's okay, Thena," he reassured her blindly. It didn't matter. None of it mattered, now that his fear was lifting. He waved as a flashlight circled from where the door was. "I got her!"

Collective sighs of relief were had. Ikaris was the first to bark at them, "what the hell, Thena?! You nearly scared the big guy half to death--that's not funny!"

"Shush," Sersi soothed the beast beside her, as she always did. "We're just glad you're both okay."

Druig and Makkari gave them both more curious looks, "where the hell were did you go?"

"I-" Thena looked at each of them, seeming completely stunned. "I don't know."

"Doesn't matter," Gil spoke up, more sure of this now than he had been about anything all night. "We're getting out of here--now."

He pushed through them, pulling Thena to the door to the outside, hand in hand. He could hear their friends packing up all the equipment behind them.

"Yappin' orders at us now, is he?" he could hear Ikaris gripe behind them.

"Stop it, they've been through enough." How did Sersi put up with him?

Finally outside, Gil took a deep breath. He put his hands on Thena's cheek again, urging her to do the same. She did, but she looked up at him. "Really Gil, I thought I was making my way back to you. I didn't even see any stairs, there's no way I could have-"

"We'll figure it out later," he resolved. They could do that in a safe place, where there was overhead lighting, and a warm mug of her favourite tea. Maybe he'd even have a blanket around her shoulders and massage her feet. "All that matters is you're safe."

Thena's face shifted to something like guilt. She looked down at their joined hands. "I thought I saw you."

"What?"

"What lured me away," she admitted quietly, and maybe with the first bit of true fear he had heard her voice all night. "I thought I saw you in one of those other rooms. That was what made me follow...whatever it was in there."

It had lured him the same way. But, again, that could wait until they were in a brightly lit space with firmly locked doors.

Gil kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms. "I found you again, so it doesn't really matter."

"Hm," she sighed, nuzzling her face into his chest again. "I knew I'd find you, I guess you finding me is okay, too."

Ah, his invincible Thena. She was the truly unshaken of the two of them. But he had to admit, he was assured by tonight that he had what it took to square up if he really needed to. If it was for the woman he loved, at least.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

my best advice for people who want to stand up for human rights: stop looking for enemies to fight and start looking for friends to talk with

not only does this center your focus on the people who are actually affected as opposed to your own moral self-righteousness, treating more people as potential friends opens you to at least hearing out various points of view, prevents dehumanization and radicalization against entire groups of people, and actually allows you to start working on long term solutions