#that cover is also very much on loop since release

[godofthestupid]

finally done! YEAH WOOH YEAH

[a99jazzybean]

so i just read you DateEverythingChanse! X Reader and fell in LOVE. it was sooo so good and genuinely one of the best Date Eveything pieces that I’ve read!

And since your request were open; could you write some Eddie Volt x Reader. And maybe pull some of Volt in there?

(This is my first time requesting anything on tumblr, so idk what more info you would need.)

-🐄

Oh I really enjoyed this one! I love, love, love Eddie! Thank you for the request!

An Old Fashioned for the Live Wire

Part 2

synop: You were just hired as a new bartender for the Breaker Box. One of your bosses, Eddie is kind of an asshole, but part of you also kind of likes it. The two of you push and pull at each other, but when will it become too much? And should you even go after someone like him?

words: 7.4K

includes: eddiexfem!reader, age difference, boss/employee, drinking, choking, manhandling, smut, oral, dead parent mention.

a/n: This one is a bit on the tabooer side. Hope you enjoy! No minors!

Also, Volt will be getting his flowers too. Don't you worry your pretty heads.

Harsh summer sun beat against you as you made your way downtown. A job interview that you pretty much had in the bag was awaiting you at your destination. Just a few more blocks and the beginnings of a facial sunburn, you found yourself in front of a bar. Beside the door a familiar face stood tall. 

“Uncle Dorian!” You exclaim, running to embrace him. 

He gave an “oomph” of surprise followed by a deep chuckle before returning the embrace. 

“Thank you so much for this!” Chin on his chest, you looked up at him. 

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m always lookin’ out for you.” 

Pulling away, you smoothed down your dress. Dorian nodded at you and proceeded to open the door to the bar. 

Much to your chagrin, it was very hot and stuffy inside. Looking up you could see an AC unit, but it wasn’t running. You gave Dorian a confused look, and he sighed. 

“I can’t believe this place always keeps falling apart.”

“Oh same old Dorian, not understanding the character that is the Breaker Box.” A man with long stark white hair made his way over to you. 

“More like Broken Box…” You mumbled, earning a laugh from Dorian.  

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that. Considering our dear Dorian gave you quite the glowing review.” 

Your face grew red with embarrassment. This man was obviously one of the owners of the establishment. 

“I apologize. That was rude of me. May we start over?” You offered your hand and an apologetic look. 

“Oh I could never say ‘no’ to a face like yours.” He takes your hand and gives it a kiss. A spark sends shivers up your spine. 

“The name is Volt.”

From behind you comes a grumble. Dorian’s expression now formed into a stony one. He briskly walks up between you and Volt. 

“Now, I don’t want any funny business. My girl needs a job, that’s all.” He said lowly. 

Volt raises his hands in defense. 

“Apologies, Dorian. I did not mean to be so forward. There will be no funny business, I swear.” He gives you a wink. 

Across the bar you hear a scoff. You can’t make out where the sound came from till a head pops out from under the bar. 

A tanned man with shaggy dark hair appears, looking perturbed. His steely gaze moves between Volt and Dorian, then lands on you. You grow self-conscious, feeling as though you were being studied. Part of you wondered what he saw. 

“Ah! Eddie! How lovely of you to join us!” Volt looped an arm around your shoulder, ushering you to the bar. “This is…” He paused for you to give your name.

You said your name, offering out your hand over the bar. Eddie looked down at your hand, then back at your eyes. Raising his hands, you realized they were covered in grease. 

“Such a lovely name. She’ll be our new bartender.” Volt squeezed your body toward him, making you squeak. 

“Wait, I’ve got the job?” You were surprised, this was supposed to be an interview. 

“Of course, like I said, you received a glowing review. And we could do with someone like you around.” He released you from his hold, giving you a sultry once-over. 

“You’re hiring her without an interview?” Eddie asked gruffly. While it was a question, he seemed unsurprised at Volt’s decision. 

“ I must take my leave, now.” Ignoring the question, he gave you a curt nod before turning on his heel and striding up to Dorian. 

Over his shoulder Volt left a final remark.

“Oh, and Eddie, since you’re not busy, you can train her before tonight.”

Eddie let out an incredulous scoff, a look of disbelief on his face. His dark gaze flitted to you, to which you shrugged your shoulders. You didn’t ask for this either, and honestly would prefer otherwise. Being trained by a man that clearly held disdain for your existence didn’t seem like the grandest of times. 

“Not, busy…” He mumbled, before grabbing a towel. 

“Don’t worry, I should be good. You can continue with whatever you were doing.” You tried to ease the tension coming from him.

“Nice try, sweetheart. But you will be working.”

“I never said I wasn’t, you were just clearly in the middle of something.” 

“I know a person trying to get out of work when I see em’.” That coldness in his eyes sent an icy chill through you. 

“If you say so…” You pouted. 

Eddie washed his hands, grumbling to himself the entire time. The last thing he wanted to do was babysit the new girl. Even if you were attractive. Wait, what was that? The man gave you a once-over. Taking in your pretty face and curves. Yeah, you were quite the looker, but that was beside the point. You were also clearly used to having everything handed to you. Dorian helped you get the job, and Volt gladly gave into it because of your looks. Tale as old as time. Hopefully you were at least competent at learning the ropes. 

“Alright, let’s teach you some of the basics.” 

From behind the bar he pulled out a shaker and jigger, pointedly setting them down on the counter. It almost made you roll your eyes, but you decided to play along. See how far this would go. 

“Do you have any bartending experience? And I’m not talking about making yourself a gin and tonic, I mean actual experience.” He spoke to you gruffly.

Wow, he was kind of an asshole. Regardless, this could be entertaining. Lord knows you needed something interesting to handle. 

“Sweetheart, I’m headin’ out.” Dorian walked up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder. 

“Okay! Eddie is gonna teach me the basics of bartending!” You said, a sickly sweet smile on your face. 

Dorian gave you a confused look, opening his mouth to say something, then catching the look in your eyes. Deciding instead to keep his mouth shut. 

“I hope that goes well. Don’t cause too much trouble.” He planted a kiss on your cheek and you returned one to his before he headed out of the bar.

“Looks like it’s just us now.” Eddie sighed out. 

Gazing around the club, you realized Volt had vanished. Likely in a different room, leaving you alone with a man who did not want to be here. Whatever, you would just trudge on through this “training”. 

“Show me what you got.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest. Face watching him expectantly. 

“Right, one of our more popular drinks is a Moscow Mule.” He spoke patronizingly to you. Now, that did irritate you. 

He spotted that irritation as your eyebrow twitched. 

“Is everything alright?” He asked. 

“Everything is perfectly fine. Please, continue.” You waved at him to keep going. “Though I do know what a Moscow Mule is, and how to make it.” 

“Good for you.” He said sarcastically.

“What’s your problem, man?” Alright, this was getting a bit TOO annoying. 

“I don’t have a problem.” He said quickly, a calculated gaze steady on you.

“Clearly, you do. Despite the fact that we just met, you have some issue with me.” Your jaw clenched in frustration.

“I don’t have any issues with you.” The statement was somewhat true, but there was something he wasn’t saying. “I just prefer that Volt not hire a nepo baby without consulting me as well.” 

“Nepo baby?” You asked incredulously.

“Yeah, Dorian got you the job. You didn’t even need an interview for it. Therefore, nepo baby.”

“Dorian helped me find the job, my skills ultimately got me the position.” You jabbed a finger in his face with a snarl. 

“Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you say.” He rolled his eyes at you. 

Grumbling, you made your way behind the bar. 

“Ugh, whatever…” 

Standing very very close to the man. With a wave of your hand you motioned for him to continue. A glare emblazoned on your face, complimented by a cute pout. Eddie’s eyes flitted to your stuck out lip, then back to your eyes. Thankfully, you hadn’t noticed the involuntary action. 

“Well, are you going to show me how to make a Moscow Mule or not?” You pressed, poking him in the arm with a harsh jab.

“Hey! Jeez, let me get to it.” 

I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be here… His mind droned on. 

The man took out a copper mug, then quickly poured vodka, and lime, adding ginger beer in the end. With a little flare, he put a mint garnish on the side.

“Voila.” 

You gave faux applause, lips pressed into a thin smile.

“How impressive.”

“Look, I said I’m showing you the basics.” He sighed.

“And you’re doing a wonderful job.” You said through gritted teeth. 

“And it looks like I won’t have to continue anymore.” Eddie let out a sigh of relief. 

Entering the front door was a woman with bright ginger hair. When she looked over to the bar, a bright smile lit up her face. 

“Oh finally! Volt said he had hired a new person!” The woman strode over, offering her hand over the bar. “Name’s Beverly, but you can call me Bev!” 

You took her hand, giving it a nice firm shake. Taking the time to give her your name as well.

“Pretty! Well, I can’t wait to work with you!”

“Lucky for you, that starts now.” Eddie said, waving you two off and walking toward the back of the club.

When you could no longer hear his footsteps, you turned to Beverly. Frustration knitting at your brows. 

“What the fuck is that guy’s problem?” You asked, exasperated.

“Eddie?” She bit her lip. “He’s a bit closed off, I’d say.” 

“Doesn’t give him the right to be an asshole.” You huffed, crossing your arms.

“Oh, Volt didn’t talk to him about you, did he?” 

“From what I could tell, no. Then Volt left me in the man’s care.” 

Beverly let out a low hiss, her face cringing at the awkward scenario you just shared. 

“Well, you’re with me now! So we can enjoy our time getting to know each other, and I can teach you the ropes.” 

“I only need to learn how to use the register.” You said bluntly.

“Really? Cause I overheard Eddie about the basic-” You cut her off.

“I was only amusing myself with that. I’m a fairly good mixologist.” 

“Is that so?” She seemed unconvinced. “Why don’t you show me what you got?”

“Sure thing, whatcha thinking?”

Tapping her chin, she tried thinking up some drinks to have you make. After a moment, she perked back up with a smile.

“Alright, I’ve got three. Gin Sour, Paper Plane, and Sazerac. Think you can handle those?” 

“As long as you’ve got the ingredients, I can make them.” You cracked your knuckles, preparing yourself. 

“I also want you to make them as fast as possible.” 

You bit your lip with worry. That gin sour she requested would take a bit, but you had a feeling she knew that. Regardless, you would do your best. 

Bev gave you free reign of the bar. In the fridge you found a carton of egg whites along with fresh lemons. Into a shaker you added the ingredients, then began the semi-long process of dry shaking. Shaking something for a max of twenty-seconds might not seem like a large task, but if you had a dozen other orders, it could cause issues. Still, in order to make the drink properly, you had to follow the proper steps. Eventually you poured the drink out, even adding a lemon peel as garnish. 

Pushing the drink to Bev, she grabbed it and took a sip. A content smile on her face.

“Good, now the Paper Plane.”

Spotting the Aperol, you plucked that from a shelf. As you made your way around the other liquors, you kept your eye out for paper or a napkin. Out of the corner of your eye you noted some sticky notes. Bingo. 

Quickly you added all of the ingredients into the shaker and went to work. Straining the drink out into a coupe glass, then quickly making a paper plane out of a sticky note for garnish. 

Bev took the drink, grabbing the plane and throwing it in your direction. It spun in the air before nose diving straight down. Both of you chuckled at the sad display. Bev had a sip, nodding and looking at you.

“Pretty good, but ease up on the lemon a bit.” You nodded, noting her advice for later. 

“Alright, time for the Sazerac.”

You grabbed an Old Fashioned glass, then searched for some Absinthe. Trailing over the liquor bottles you couldn’t see it. Trying other cabinets, you couldn’t find any there either. You gave Bev a confused look.

“Where’s the Absinthe?” 

“Oh, we don’t typically carry it.”

“Really? But you guys specialize in craft cocktails?” 

She shrugged her shoulders then waved you on to continue. Turning back to the liquor bottles, your eyes landed on one that could work. Plucking the Herbsaint from the back, you spotted Bev giving a slight nod. You gave the glass a good wash, then moved onto crafting the rest of the drink. Stirring cognac, simple syrup, and bitters together. 

Again, Bev tried your drink. A pleased smile on her face after she set it down. 

“Very good.” From behind her, she pulled out a bottle of Absinthe. An amused smirk on her face at the reveal.

“You were testing me.” You chuckled.

“I certainly was, and you certainly passed. You really were pulling on Eddie's leg.” 

You shrugged.

“Guilty.” 

“Don’t be too hard on him.” Beverly paused, letting out a long sigh. “He’s got a lot on his plate.” 

You spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for opening. Cutting lemons, and dumping ice. Beverly showed you how the register worked, and you were good to go for the night. 

As it was the middle of the week, you weren’t expecting a large crowd. Though you wouldn’t be facing the busiest time of the night since you started your shift early. You felt a little bad leaving Bev alone, but you were feeling exhausted. 

The end of your shift neared closer, and a familiar face returned to the front of house. You could see grease stains on his clothes. Eddie plopped himself down at the bar, watching you and Bev converse during a lull period. Clearing his throat, he caught your attention. Beverly waltzed over to him with a smile.

“Eddie! What can I getcha?” She said cheerily.

“Actually, could I get the new girl to make it?”

You and Bev shared a knowing look. 

“Sure thing, think you can handle it?” There was a slight teasing to her tone, you did your best not to smirk. Instead nodding.

“Of course.” You walked up to Eddie, face scrunching as you saw the state he was in. 

Extremely disheveled, sweaty, and fairly dirty. You wondered what exactly he was doing that brought him to look like this. 

“What will you have?” You asked.

He gave you a questioning look. Wondering why you were suddenly so confident. 

“I’ll take an Old Fashioned.” 

Grabbing a mixing glass, you plopped a sugar cube inside, followed by the other drink ingredients. You made sure to stir everything well. You poured it over a glass with a large ice cube in it, then slid it over to him. Turning around, you made yourself your own. 

Eddie waited till you were finished, head cocked in confusion. You returned to him, drink in hand. Then you offered your glass out to him, an amused look on your face. Eddie realized what you had done. 

“I see. Do you always like to play dumb?” He let out an airy chuckle, raising his glass to yours. 

“Only to  people who see me as dumb.” You clinked your glass against his and took a sip. 

Eddie followed, letting out a pleased hum at the taste of the drink. 

“I see why Volt didn’t need to interview you.” He pulled your glass out of your hand. “But that doesn’t mean you get to drink on the job.” 

You pulled the drink back.

“I’m off the clock now, and I get a free drink with the job.” You took another sip.

Walking around the bar, you sat beside the man. 

“Think I’m just a nepo baby now?”

He waved his hand in a “maybe” motion, to which you scoffed at.

“Dorian still did have some sway in Volt’s decision. He does provide us with our bouncers, after all.” 

Rolling your eyes, you finished your drink. 

“I’ll admit, Dorian was a foot in… well, the door. However, I still put the work in. He would never vouch for me if he wasn’t sure of it.”

Eddie shrugged and nodded.

“I suppose, but I know he’s sweet on you.” 

“Ugh, don’t make it sound like he’s in love with me.” You scrunched your face up in disgust. “He’s my father. Adoptive father.” 

“Adoptive father that you call, ‘uncle’?” 

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a long story.”

“Fair enough.” 

That took you aback. People tended to be a bit more curious about your relationship with Dorian. The fact that Eddie just left the conversation as is had made you a bit irritated. Eye twitching before you shook your head. 

“Whatever.” You lifted yourself off the bar with a groan. “Well, I’m heading out. Have a goodnight, Bev!” You waved, and walked away. Paying no mind to Eddie. 

He watched as you left, eyes drawn to the sway of your hips as you headed out of the club. Finding himself a bit transfixed to the way your body moved.

“Smooth, Casanova.” Bev said as she dried glasses.

Eddie gave her a confused look, pointing at himself. She nodded, then motioned her head to the door. 

“I’m not into a brat seven years my junior.” He said, finishing his drink.

At that, Beverly raised a brow. 

“Sure, hon.” 

The next shift, you came in at a much later time. Entering the club, you greeted Beverly with a wave. Volt was present for your arrival. Once again, upping the charm as he greeted. 

“How lovely to see you.”

“I work here now, it’s kind of expected.” You shrugged.

You heard a scoff from the stage. Crouched behind one of the speakers, Eddie was working with some wires within it. 

“I can leave, let you guys deal with your one bartender.” You threatened, making Volt audibly gulp.

“Now, let’s not be too rash.” He glared over at Eddie. “He just hasn’t gotten enough rest, have you?” Eddie matched his glare.

“I’ve gotten plenty.” He turned back to the speaker. 

“Whatever.” You said, turning to the bar. 

The rest of the night was uneventful. The Breaker Box had a one man band crooning like Elvis Presley for the live entertainment. While he certainly wasn’t the best, it was at least somewhat entertaining to watch on the slow night. 

As you worked the bar, you couldn’t help but feel as if there were eyes on you. Every time you looked around, you couldn’t spot who it was that would be making you feel that way. There was a sneaking part of you that believed your dark haired asshole of a boss might have something to do with it. Occasionally catching his face just turning away as your eyes scanned the bar. He appeared to be working on some small electrical panel in the back corner of the room.

The night winded down, and Eddie left his work to come up to the bar. You made him the Jack and Coke he requested, sliding it to a very disheveled looking man when you were done. Seemed like going ragged was a common occurrence for Eddie. 

“So what exactly is your job here? Besides telling me what to do.” You asked as you wiped down the bar in front of him.

“I fix things.” His cold stare looked at you over the glass.

“That’s it?” 

He slugged back the rest of his drink and sighed. 

“Yes, that’s it. Any more questions, sweetheart?” He asked sarcastically.

“No, I’m not too curious about your going ons.” You turned away from him, smirking as you heard him grumble.

“You know what, I’ll have you stay after close. I’ve got something I need help with.” He said lowly.

“What?” You whipped around to face him.

“You. Stay. After. Close. Kapeesh?” 

“My shift is over after two.” 

“And I have the ability to fire you.” 

Clenching your fists, you willed yourself to calm the angry energy growing within you.

“Fine.” You hissed. 

Eddie gave you a smug smirk, nodding at your response with approval. When he turned his back, you stuck your tongue out at him. While you were annoyed at him for making you stay late, there was an odd curious part of you buzzing. 

Perhaps you needed to admit it to yourself. Even though you barely knew the guy, Eddie was hot. And maybe there was another part of you that enjoyed the push and pull you had already developed with the man. Something that made you feel like a school girl kicking her feet and twirling her hair. 

Shaking your head, you pushed the thoughts away. No, you shouldn’t think of your boss like that. While it wasn’t technically illegal, he was fairly older than you. Not to mention the inherent power imbalance of him being your boss. Yeah, this one would just have to remain a taboo fantasy. 

Closing time came, and Beverly left you with a wave goodbye. Volt also made his way out of the building. Before leaving he spotted you waiting at the bar.

“Do you need someone to take you home?” He gave you a concerned look.

“Nah, Eddie asked me to stay after close to help him with something.” 

“Is that so?” Volt looked over at the spot Eddie was sitting at, narrowing his eyes at the man. 

“Yeah. Not ideal, but he is my boss too.” 

“I suppose.” Volt shrugged on his long coat. “Don’t stay too late.” 

“You got it!” You saluted Volt, who smiled politely at the action. 

Now you were alone with Eddie. Thick tension was growing in the air around you. Making your way from behind the bar, you walked up to Eddie. He was still working on the electrical panel. Eyeing you up and down, he waved at you to take the seat in front of him. 

It felt like forever before he finally spoke as you were left twiddling your thumbs in awkward silence. 

“I’m almost done.” He said gruffly.

“Cool, cause I’d like to go home soon.”

“I’m sure you do.” He didn’t look at you.

“Whatever.” You huffed.

The man stopped what he was doing, setting the panel and tools down. He pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose.

“You do that quite often.”

“What?” You were confused.

“‘Whatever’. You say it whenever you wish to push past an uncomfortable conversation.” 

“What are you, a therapist?” 

“More like an observer.” He shrugged nonchalantly and returned to his work. 

“Perhaps you could observe the fact that I am exhausted.” You grumbled.

“Noted.” 

“Ugh, whatever.” You felt your cheeks flush with embarrassment at the words.

“There it is again.” He chuckled lowly. The sound shooting straight to your groin.

“Do you really need my help tonight, or did you just keep me to hold me hostage in a nonexistent conversation?” 

“I do need help, but I think you can have just a bit more patience.” He pinched his fingers together to emphasize his point. 

“Just tell me what I need to do to get the job done.”

He looked up at you, but didn’t give an answer. You grumbled again, huffing and crossing your arms. This man! 

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Eddie seemed to be pleased with the progress he had made on the panel. Pushing up from the table, he stretched out. Cracking his back and revealing the lower part of his stomach. A dark line of a happy trail peeking out. Quickly you averted your eyes, but not before Eddie caught you. He decided to keep it to himself though, only revealing his thoughts with a coy smirk that had your face burning. 

“Alright, let’s get some bulbs changed out.”

He walked over to a storage closet, pulling out a very rickety looking ladder. 

“See why I need help?”

“Someone to hold the death trap that looks like a ladder?” Your eyes widened with concern.

“Oh, no. I won’t be stepping on this thing.” He chuckled watching your face drop. “I’ll be the one holding it.”

“Like that makes me feel better.” 

“Let’s just get this done, live wire.” He smirked again. 

He walked over to the stage, setting the ladder up. Holding it down, he motioned for you to come over and climb. Looking over yourself, you realized you were wearing a dress, and only had your panties on underneath. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to be the one that climbs?” You did your best to act sweetly, batting your lashes at him.

“I already told you, I’m holding. Now, c’mon. The faster you get up there, the faster this gets done. 

“It’s just, I’m wearing a dress.” You clenched the fabric in your hands nervously. “So?”

“So, you’d be able to see up it!” Your face turned red.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not lookin’.” For emphasis, he faced down. Dark hair flopping with his head. “Don’t forget to grab the bulbs.”

Tapping your foot in irritation, you gave a grunt of defeat. You leaned down to grab a box of bulbs. 

“Fine.” You walked up to the ladder. “You better keep your head down.”

“As you wish.” 

Rolling your eyes, you began your ascent up the ladder. Praying the man beneath you would not look up. When you made it to the top, you reached up. Thankfully the bulb in the light wasn’t too far away. You unscrewed the bulb, but as you were pulling it out of the fixture a small spark hit your hand.

“Fuck!” You yelped. 

From below, Eddie looked up just in time. Seeing you wobble and fall off of the ladder. Quickly, he managed to catch you with a grunt. In his arms you stared at him, wide eyed.

“Are you okay?” He breathed out in relief that he caught you.

Slowly you nodded, then looked at your hand. Your pointer finger turning red with a burn. 

“Shit. Did you get shocked?”

“I think so.” 

“Fuck, the lights aren’t supposed to be hot. I swear to god if the wiring was messed with again…” He paused, realizing that you were still in his arms and injured. 

Slowly, he let you down to your feet. Then he grabbed your hand to inspect it. It looked like it was just your finger that was injured. He sucked back an annoyed groan. This wasn’t your fault. It was the fault of the OSHA violating idiots that had owned the place before he and Volt took it over. And now those issues had injured someone. If Dorian found out…

“Are you okay?” You asked quietly. The tender tone of your voice catching him off guard.

“Uh, yeah. The most I did was pull my back.” He stretched his arms up. “Better than having you break yours though.” 

“Yeah.” You were staring at him awestruck. Perhaps saving you was the bare minimum, but the action had you smitten regardless. 

“You good?” He was concerned at the look on your face. Did you get fully shocked?

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” Shaking your head you pushed the thoughts of him away. 

“Good, good. Let’s get you patched up and heading home.” 

Eddie grabbed hold of your unharmed hand, sending a shock through you. Oh no. He pulled you to the back office. Rummaging around, he managed to find the first aid kit. Inside he spotted some burn cream and bandages. He took your finger, spreading some cream around the burn. A cooling sensation hit the spot immediately, making you sigh. Tenderly, he wrapped a bandage around your finger. Making sure it wasn’t too tight. When he was done he brought it to his lips, giving it a soft kiss. An unconscious movement, as if it was something he needed to do.

The action made your face flare red. Eddie’s cheeks became ruddy as well. Unsure of why he did that. 

Looking up at you had his face flushing harder. 

“Uh, a kiss makes it better. Right?” He tried to deflect. 

“I-I guess.” Shaking your head, you narrowed your eyes, questioning his motives. “It’s just not something that I would expect from a guy who’s been an asshole to me.”

“Asshole?” He let out an airy chuckle.

“Yes, asshole.”

“Newsflash, live wire; you’re no angel either.”

“Whatever.” You grumbled.

“See! You and your ‘whatevers’.” 

“I don’t understand why it’s a problem.” You practically spat. 

“Frankly, it’s a bit disrespectful.” 

“Oh I’m sorry, I guess I should respect my elders, shouldn’t I?” You said sarcastically.

He yanked you toward him, nose to nose. You hadn’t realized he still had a grip on your hand.

“Yeah, a brat like you should.” He practically growled. 

The close proximity had your face flushing again. Unconsciously, your thighs clenched. Eddie smirked at the action. Licking his lips as he looked back at you. Your eyes were wide, body shivering at the close proximity. You attempted to regain your composure.

“I-I’m not a brat.”

“Of course you would think that. You’ve gotten everything handed to you. Bet you think you deserve it all.” 

You scowled, lip in a pout. One that Eddie realized he desperately wanted to kiss and bite. Fuck, this was… electrifying. Something he hadn’t experienced in years. Was it wrong to go after his subordinate? Maybe. Did he want to? Absolutely.

“I said, I’m not a brat.” You tried yanking your arm back. 

Eddie tutted, keeping you locked with him.

“WHATEVER, princess. I’m sure you can go run off to uncle Dorian and be treated just right.”

 Looking at your eyes, he realized he might have gone too far. He let go of your hand, which you snatched back. Rubbing your wrist you turned away. You blinked away tears. 

You didn’t know why, but his words hurt.  

“I’m going home.” You said quietly. 

Oh shit. He knew he fucked up.

“The only reason Dorian treats me the way he does is because my dad is dead.” You still were faced away from Eddie.

“I didn’t…”

“I know.” You peeked over your shoulder at him. “But now you do.” 

You exited the office quickly, not turning back once. Eddie was left alone and miserable. Why did he feel the need to press you so much? He barely even knew you. And now, it’s likely he fucked up a good thing. 

You and Eddie avoided each other the next week. You couldn’t tell if you preferred that or not. Whenever you would cross paths, he’d do his best to exit the area as quickly as possible. You would do your best to make yourself invisible. Eventually, you couldn’t stand it though. 

The distance somehow made the man more enticing. Perhaps it was the fact that he gave you the space you clearly needed, or maybe it was something else entirely. 

While your last conversation with him hurt, you couldn’t get the man out of your mind. Was it inappropriate? Probably. Did you care? Not really. The moments before your outburst in the office had made you feel… things. Things you wished to explore further. Specifically with your boss. So after multiple days of avoidance, you decided to fuck with him.

It was a fairly busy shift, so you decided to have some fun. Popping one button of your shirt to give just a peek of your cleavage. With your patrons, you put on a bit of a show. Flirting with everyone. Making sure everyone got a good look at you. Complimenting whoever you could, making them blush at your words. Even teasing about giving your number out. 

Out of the corner of your eye you watched as Eddie made his way closer and closer to the bar throughout the night. When he reached you, he spoke lowly. Jaw clenched in frustration. Exactly what you wanted. 

“You’re staying after close. I’ll meet you in the office.” 

“As you wish, sir.” You said, your eyes growing dark. The look made Eddie shiver. 

He shouldn’t, but fuck, you were making it so difficult. He should have just continued to give you space, but he couldn’t help feel the same pull that you did. Something so enticing, all he needed was a taste. Just one, that’s all…

Eventually, the bar closed. You told Volt and Bev that you were asked to stay late again. While Bev paid no mind to it, Volt had given you a questioning look. Bright eyes trying to read you. When it seemed he couldn’t get a read, he shrugged his shoulders and headed home. 

When it was just you, you geared yourself up for your confrontation.

Making your way to the office, you shook off your nerves. Reaching the door, you gave two knocks. A muffled voice called out from the other side.

“Come in.” 

Behind the desk sat Eddie, his head perched on one hand. Eyes dark as he watched you enter the room. When you shut the door behind you, the man motioned for you to sit in front of him. He was trying to maintain a neutral expression, but you could see the tension in his jaw. Teeth clenched together in frustration.

“Did you have a good night?” He asked lowly. 

The way his gaze remained on you had you shuffling uncomfortably. Looking up, you gave him your best naive expression.

“I did, yes. Why do you ask?” 

“Do you think your behavior was appropriate for this establishment?” While his words maintained an air of professionalism, he practically growled them out.

“I don’t know what you mean? I was just being friendly with patrons.” You gave him a sweet smile, a knowing glint behind your eyes. “I apologize if anything came off as misconstrued.” 

“Oh come off it.” He scoffed, pressing his hands on the table and pushing himself up. He walked around the desk to you. Leaning against it, eyes steely and cold. 

“Again, I don’t know what you mean.” You batted your lashes at him, earning you another scoff.

He leaned down, hand reaching for your chin. Lifting your face to look directly at him, you had to swallow down a gasp.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you acting like a whore.” 

Sputtering at his words, you batted his hand away. You stood up, glowering at him. 

“Is that better or worse than a brat? Cause I think it shouldn’t matter how I act.” You huffed. “It’s a bar, decorum isn’t exactly a prerequisite to work here.”

His jaw clenched again. His eyes darted to the door, then he moved to turn the lock on the knob. The action made your eyes widen and heart race. 

Turning to you, he stalked up. Face now almost nose to nose with you.

“Do you want to know what I think?” The low timbre of his voice had you shivering. 

When you didn’t answer, he chuckled lowly. His hand returning to your chin, forcing you to face him. 

“Well?”

“W-what do you think?” You stuttered out, eyes locked with his.

“I think you need to be put in your place.” His hand moved to your throat, lightly squeezing the sides. 

He pulled you even closer, lips barely grazing yours. Sparks flew through you at the soft touch. 

“Tell me to stop, and I will.” He murmured against your lips. 

Taking the opportunity, you pressed your lips against his. A low groan escaped the man as he pressed his lips against yours, taking back control. His tongue pressed into your mouth, making you whimper. He tasted like whiskey. Hot, heady, and fucking delicious. 

Pulling away, he left his hand around your throat. A handsome smirk on his face as he took in your state. Disheveled, breathing hard, with your pupils blown wide out. Oh, he could get used to seeing you like this. 

Using the leverage on your neck, he maneuvered you back onto the desk. Placing himself between your legs, he pulled you in for another kiss. 

When he pulled away again, you managed to find your words.

“W-what…” You took in a shaky breath. “What exactly is my place?”

Nipping your lip, he groaned. 

“With me, as mine.” He looked over you possessively. “Say it.” 

Your face burned bright red, you almost shook your head. The look in his eyes had you deciding otherwise. 

“I’m yours.”

“Good.” 

With that, he pressed his lips against yours again. You whimpered into his mouth as his tongue tangled with yours once more. Oh, this was dangerously addicting. 

Clenching your thighs together, you tried to gain some friction. You could feel how wet you already were, and how you were burning with need.

Against your lips, you felt him smirk. A warm hand reached for one of your thighs, spreading it apart. He slowly trailed his hand up your thigh, making you shiver. Up your skirt his fingers reached your drenched panties. Hips jolting, you moaned against him. 

He groaned at the feeling, slipping his fingers under the fabric to gather some of your slick. Bringing his fingers to his mouth, he held back a whimper at your taste. The dark gaze in his eyes had you shivering again. 

“You’re soaked. You’ve wanted this, haven’t you?”

Embarrassed, you looked away and nodded. The hand around your throat gave a warning squeeze.

“No, tell me.”

“I’ve wanted this.” You breathed out.

“Prove it.”

Letting go of your throat, Eddie reached for the belt on his pants. Easily sliding it off and dropping it to the floor. Following his hands, your eyes widened at the very prominent bulge in his pants. Licking your lips, you clenched your thighs again.

He unbuttoned his pants, sliding them past his thighs. His boxers followed shortly afterward. His cock sprung out, a bead of precum at the tip. Oh, he was very large. A nice length with a lovely curve that you could already imagine inside you. 

“On your knees.” He commanded, to which you obliged. 

Shakily you slid off of the desk, and onto the hard floor of the office. His cock just inches from your face. Mouth watering, you gazed up at him. He smirked, pressing the tip against your lips. 

“Open.”

Opening your mouth, you let your tongue flop out slightly. Slowly, he slid his length into your awaiting mouth. The wet warmth made him groan. Grabbing a fistful of your hair, he began to fuck into your mouth. Spit bubbled at the corner of your lips. With a thumb, he swiped it up. Watching him suck your spit off of his thumb had you whimpering around his length. Wetness was pooling into your panties as the man used you. 

“Fuck, look at you. You’re loving every second of this, aren’t you?” All you could do was respond with a moan. 

With a pop he pulled out of your mouth. Using the hand on your hair, he tugged you back up. Turning you around, he forced you face down onto the desk. Flipping up your skirt, he groaned. Your panties were soaked through. He slid them off of you, exposing your pussy to the cool air. You whimpered at the feeling, then moaned as Eddie began to tease your sex with his cock. The tip sliding between your drenched lips, catching on your clit. 

“So fucking wet.” He groaned, staring at your pussy.

Slowly, he began to press into you. Both of you moaned at the feeling. Yeah, it had been a while for Eddie. Your tight wet heat had him shivering. His length was hitting all of the right spots within you. 

When he felt you were sufficiently ready, he started to thrust in and out of you. Obscene squelching sounds filled the room. Against the desk your moans were muffled as you were being fucked dumb. That wouldn’t do. Eddie grabbed your hair, pulling your head back. The action making you moan loudly. 

“That’s right.” He groaned in your ear, before leaving a trail of bites and kisses up your throat. 

At this angle, his cock was hitting that one perfect gummy spot within you. Every press inside makes you sputter out moans. A tightness was building up within your core. Pleasure coursing through you as you let the man use your body. 

“Mine.” He nipped at your ear. “Say it.”

“Y-yours, I’m yours!” You cried out.

“Damn right.” His thrusts grew faster.

Dexterous fingers trailed down your front. Hands cupping your breasts before trailing under your skirt. He began circling your clit as he continued to fuck you. Each press of his cock accompanied by sparks of pleasure from his fingers. 

In his arms you were an absolute mess. Mouth hung open as a stream of moans escaped you. Gaze glazed over, just taking everything the man gave you. Your wet heat twitched around him as you felt your orgasm building up to a peak. 

“Fuck, you’re close. Aren’t you, live wire?” The nickname had you whimpering. 

You nodded, letting out a long moan as his cock hit just the right spot within you.

“Why don’t you cum on my cock then, yeah?” His voice was ragged. You could tell he was nearing his end as well. Likely holding off till you finished on him. 

A perfectly placed swirl around your clit along with a thrust had you shattering. Screaming at the pure pleasure coursing through you. Clenching around Eddie had him following you. Stuttering out groans as you felt his cock twitch inside you. Hot ropes of cum filling you with a satisfying warmth. 

Both of you groan at the feeling of your orgasms subsiding. A warm hand cups your chin, turning your head back. His lips meet yours in a messy open-mouthed kiss. Your lips capture the overstimulated moans he lets out. 

While you both catch your breath, you feel his hands trailing over your back and sides. A surprisingly comforting action that has you sighing with content. You don’t see it, but a soft smile makes its way to his lips. 

Eventually, Eddie pulls out of you with a groan. Some of his spend trailing down your thigh. A sight he would memorize for… later purposes. Helping you up, he smooths down your skirt. The look in his eyes is soft now. 

He kisses you slowly, this time it's almost sweet. Like he didn’t just fuck you like a whore two minutes ago. When he pulls away, his eyes trail over your neck. He winces as he sees the bruises he littered over your throat. Guess it was time for turtleneck season, in the middle of summer. 

“Sorry about that.” He gives you an apologetic look.

“It’s alright.” You wave him off a satisfied smile on your face.

“Let’s getcha home, yeah?”

Nodding, you let him escort you back to your place. Both of you buzzing, wondering what comes next. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, you show up to work clad in a stuffy turtleneck. Praying desperately that no one would notice your odd choice of outfit. 

As you prepare for the night, a large presence appears next to you. Looking up, you see Volt looking down on you expectantly. A smirk playing on his lips. 

“Have a good night?” He asked, smirk growing wider.

Your eyes widened. 

“Uh, yeah. I-I guess.”

“You guess?” He let out a dramatic sigh. “Did Eddie leave you dissatisfied?”

His words had you choking on your own spit. Sputtering and blushing, you stared at him in disbelief.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Really?” He reached for the collar of your turtleneck, pulling it down.

Clicking his tongue admonishingly, he gave you a knowing look. Brow raised, waiting for you to say something.

“I hit myself on something.” You covered up the spot on your neck. 

“So be it.” He placed a hand on his hip, enjoying the embarrassed blush that had reached your cheeks. “I’m just disappointed I wasn’t invited to the party is all.” 

Mouth agape, you watched as Volt strode off. Leaving you alone with a new aching between your thighs. 

[kquil]

PERFECT MATCH PART 2

PAIR. : poly!marauders x female slytherin reader

SUM. : despite being from Slytherin, as a fellow prankster, you give the marauders a helping hand

LENGTH : 1.2k

PART 1 | NAVI.

NOT PROOFREAD OR EDITED

Peter had blown their cover, and now the boys were running from Slughorn, who had caught them red-handed, switching the necessary ingredients for the next potion class. They should have known that Peter wasn’t the best choice for a lookout, considering he was the first to get caught and promptly given detention with Filch. As they were running away, however, their camaraderie lingered when Peter called out to them, hoping they wouldn’t be caught. 

The remaining three marauders make a valiant effort to run away as fast as possible. Remus stays a good few metres ahead of James and Sirius, his hidden athleticism sparking in only the most dire straits. Despite the potential threat of detention, the three grin widely through the chase; Sirius has the gall to laugh at the sheer amount of fun he’s experiencing. The freedom to break the rules and run freely from the consequences – only light penalisation in his eyes – was invigorating. None of them believe they would ever willingly stop their practical jokes, even Remus, no matter how much he denies it.

Racing through the halls with their youth pumping through their veins, Remus, James and Sirius make it so that Slughorn is considerably far behind them before slowing down. Between laboured breaths, they try to sort out their next move but quickly run out of time. Slughorn was quickly approaching according to their map and they resorted to hiding in a darkened hallway they don’t normally walk down. Consumed by the rush, they had managed to make it down to the dungeons just as you stepped out of the hallway they had barely hidden in.

They weren’t very good hiders but it was amusing so you kept your lips sealed despite your mischievous nature urging you to press them with questions. Your answer came swiftly in the form of Professor Slughorn, out of breath and keeling over with sweat drenching his brows. 

So that’s what’s happening~ 

Immediately understanding the situation, you step out of the hallway to face your gasping head of house and restrain a devious giggle at the sight of the marauders’ widened eyes. They’ve seen you, see them hiding. They’re also familiar with your artfully scheming ways likened to their marauder group’s mischief; the fact that you’re a Slytherin, however, doesn’t bode well. Fuck…were you gonna out them? 

You don’t need any prompting, already directing the professor before he’s managed to catch his breath, “Oh Professor~ by the way, if you’d really like to know…” Slughorn eyes you after finally catching his breath. Through the fog of his exhausted mind, he finds himself eagerly awaiting your direction, almost having forgotten why he was in his current state in the first place, “they went that way,” you point to the right, the opposite direction of the three tricksters. James, Remus and Sirius release a collective breath of relief but remain eager to see how the interaction may unfold further. 

“Who did?” Slughorn asks, trying to navigate the smog of fatigue clogging up his brain. 

“The marauders,”

“They did?” your potions professor brightens at the revelation. You guess he’s finally rediscovered his initial intentions. But woe is me~ can he trust you so easily? 

“They did what?” you tilt your head innocently, casually continuing the conversation as if you hadn’t just thrown him for a loop with that curveball of a question. 

“Went that way?” he points right, perplexed at your sudden change. It seems Professor Slughorn was still foggy in the head from his sapped stamina and the boys had to bite their lips from bursting out laughing – you’re a menace. 

“Who did?” you ask, pulling the most innocuous expression the boys have ever seen a Slytherin muster. Have you grown more beautiful since their last interaction? They can’t help but keep staring at your sweet face and pretty, pouty lips…

“The marauders!” Slughorn insists but you continue your oblivious stance. 

“What marauder?”

“But didn’t you just say?-- Oh never mind,” Slughorn gives up the chase and turns with a dull swish of his robes. For now, he’s satisfied that he, at least, managed to get Pettigrew. As soon as Slughorn was far enough away, you turn back to the crouching marauders and give them a wink, signalling that the coast was clear. 

“My fair lady!” Sirius dramatically bows down and kisses your knuckles, “How may I ever repay your kind gesture?”

“Hmmm…” you seem to seriously contemplate his playful words for a moment, though Sirius doesn’t mind, he’s more than eager to pay you back for saving his hide. “Let’s see…” You press your hand flat against his chest and slowly move down. The sultry overtones of your gesture make Sirius’ heart pound as he, Remus and James stare wide-eyed and gaping at your soft hands fondling their close friend’s chest. Suddenly your hand becomes a blur as you pull back his robe and steal a licorice wand from his inner breast pocket. “This’ll do~” you chirp innocently and begin to nibble on your newly acquired snack. “I can always count on you to be generous, Siri,” your wink sends a dangerous heat crawling up Sirius’ neck and exploding across his pale cheeks. This has never happened to him with a girl before! He’s supposed to make you flustered! 

Turning to Remus, you make a gesture with your hand as if to say ‘pay up’. However, when the tall brunette merely stares at you in wonder with a small, amused quirk on his lips, you raise a brow, “I know you’re loaded, Lupin. Gimme the goods,” and just like that, you also have Remus turning bright pink. How can you be so nonchalant and not realise the embarrassingly sexual innuendos underpinning your words?! Remus surrenders a peppermint toad. 

James was the last one of the three you turn to as you pocket Remus’ liberal offer. “You don’t have to ask me, for anything,” James chuckles and easily provides you with a handful of Fizzing Whizzbees. With a victorious smile, like a cute little squirrel who’s happy with her hoard, you pocket James’ addition and lean forward to brush a kiss along his sharp jaw. 

“I knew I could count on you, Potter,” 

James was floored. Sirius had to lean against the wall and Remus was limp against the large window sill. All three stare with a mix of surging admiration and boyish wonder as you walk away with a skip in your step. You’re so happy, you even begin to hum a soft little tune to yourself. 

“...wait… how come only James gets a kiss?” Remus asks, bringing Sirius back from his dazed state. James merely smirks in triumph – he’ll remember the softness of your pretty lips against his skin forever~

“Dearest!” Sirius calls, already jogging after you. “I think you’ve forgotten something!” 

“Yeah,” Remus adds with a cheeky grin, leisurely making his way over with James at his side, drawling in his Welsh accent, “gives us a cusan,” 

“What’s that?” you’ve stopped, curious as to what he may mean. From his tall height, Remus leans forward, bending at his hips and whispers in your ear. 

“That’s a kiss, sweetheart,” he steals one anyway at the base of your ear, where your neck and jaw meet. The high sensitivity of the area makes you squeal in surprise, only to be kissed by Sirius too, who aims innocently for your cheek. 

NAVI.

A/N : because of @urmomw4ntsme 's recent ask of wanting to see a Slytherin reader, it got me thinking about this request that i wrote last year for my 1k milestone. I couldn’t sleep until i finished writing this so it may not have the best grammar so please excuse me for that. this was also inspired by this interaction between Alice and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.

[zazaiafe2]

Yes, you need music for holotropic breathwork.

Since I started sharing about holotropic breathwork, one question keeps coming up over and over:

“Can I do holotropic breathwork without music?”

My honest answer? No.

And i was like "Did didn't explain properly the importance of music in my post? I was genuinely shocked to see how many people recommend doing it in silence or with white noise, pink noise, or theta/alpha waves. Sorry to disappoint you, but music is an integral part of true holotropic breathwork.

If you’re just breathing fast with no intentional soundscape, you are practicing controlled hyperventilation, which can be interesting, but it is not holotropic breathwork since holotropic breathwork has a very particular structure. And no, putting on a random theta track, alpha beats, or brown noise is not enough to recreate what holotropic breathwork was designed to do.

So let’s explain all of this properly, especially in the context of shifting, where you want to reach a powerful altered state which can be really ideal with this breattwork:

1) Why is music so important in holotropic breathwork?

Holotropic breathwork was developed to combine breathing + body awareness + music to create a therapeutic, profound altered state (close to the psychedelic effect). The music acts as a guide, a kind of emotional and symbolic container. It literally shapes the journey of the subconscious, just like a hypnotic script shapes a trance.

Without music, you’re missing one-third of the process (yes you lose that much of that experience!) you lose the emotional stimulation and narrative that helps the subconscious let go. The brain uses rhythm and melody to process, to connect, to build images. That’s why properly chosen music is absolutely vital if you want to trigger the deep surrender needed to reach a void-like or shifting state or even visions or releasing shifting blockages.

2) What body position should you use?

If you want to maximize your chance to shift after doing holotropic breathwork, you need to completely let go physically.

Lay flat on your back

Arms loose

Legs slightly open

Head supported by a pillow

Eyes covered if possible

This posture helps your nervous system relax, even while your breathing is ramping up. It’s way more effective than sitting up, which can cause tension. You want the body to fade into the background so the music + breath can take you further. You can still adjust it slightly, for example by putting a cushion on the lower back if you have too much pain, that's what i personally did because breathing can bring out small pain or corporal blocages.

Typically this kind of position with a possible mask on your eyes and earphones/headphones.

3) What music should you choose?

This is crucial. Holotropic breathwork music is not random:

It starts slow and grounding

Moves into a more intense, tribal, or percussive build-up

Peaks with emotional and powerful beat

Then calms down to integration music

Think of it like a hypnotic induction. If you skip these stages, your subconscious will not process the journey the same way. Shifting needs that progressive arc to pull you deeper.

A curated playlist is far more effective than some endless white noise loop. It gives your mind “permission” to let go and creates a story/a narrative your subconscious can follow, a key for accessing states like the void.

I really like the music of Into the Deep. I invite you to go see their YouTube channel and choose according to the atmosphere you want. Their music follows the three essential phases.You can also make a playlist (without lyrics) that follows the three phases.

4) What is controlled hyperventilation, actually?

Let’s clear this up. When you do “holotropic breathwork” without the proper music, what you’re actually doing is controlled hyperventilation:

You increase your oxygen intake

You lower CO2

You activate your nervous system

You might get tingling, visuals, body distortions

That all can be powerful, yes. But it lacks the emotional and narrative structure of holotropic breathwork. Think of it like the difference between random deep breathing vs. a proper hypnotic induction script: it is not the same.

5) How to use music as an anchor (and why white/pink noise isn’t enough)?

Music is a powerful anchor. Your subconscious reacts to rhythm, melody, harmonics etc.... these are millennia-old tools humans have used for trance and altered states.

White noise, pink noise, even theta waves are too static and lack a narrative arc. They do not “tell a story” to the subconscious, and so they cannot guide you as deeply. If you want to use your breathwork as a doorway to shifting or void states, you need a proper musical structure to build trust and openness.

I recommend you read this article which talks in more detail about the benefits of music.

6) What precautions should you take for real holotropic breathwork?

Preparation: no heavy meals, no drugs, no alcohol

Space: safe, quiet, comfortable, ideally lying down

Supervision is adviced if you have trauma or mental health issues

Intention: know what you want to explore, don’t go in “empty”

Aftercare: journal, hydrate, rest, meditate

If you skip these, you raise your risk of panic, dissociation, or overwhelm. And yes, that can block shifting instead of helping it, because you’ll be too destabilized to transition smoothly.

7) What are the true advantages of music you can’t get with random sounds?

Emotional release (catharsis)

symbolic journey

Anchoring safety during intense breathwork

Supporting your subconscious with a coherent storyline

Allowing proper integration after the peak

That’s why holotropic breathwork is so powerful: it uses music as medicine. In the shifting community, this can be the missing link that helps you push beyond your comfort zone and reach states you never thought possible.

8) Why holotropic breathwork is ideal for preparing for the void or shifting, but not for directly entering it(even if you can do it technically)

Holotropic breathwork can absolutely be a powerful preparation for accessing the void or shifting. It helps:

-open your subconscious

- loosen rigid beliefs

- release pent-up emotional blocks

- activate altered states of awareness

All of these are perfect for priming yourself before a shifting attempt or for strengthening your confidence.

However, I do not recommend trying to jump straight from holotropic breathwork directly into the void. The reason? After intense breathwork, your nervous system is still adapting to the oxygen and CO2 shifts, you might feel lightheaded or too physically stimulated, and it can actually disrupt the deep stillness the void requires.

It is far wiser to see holotropic breathwork as a powerful warm-up, to release tension and expand your mind, then let your body rest, ground yourself, and approach the void or shifting attempt afterward with a calm, centered state.

In short, let the breathwork do its clearing job, then give yourself time to stabilize before moving toward entering the void directly. That way, you’ll be working with your subconscious instead of overwhelming it.

You can listen to this kind of guided meditation right after

In short, yes you need music for holotropic breathwork. Without it, you are just hyperventilating, which might still help in some ways, but it will not deliver the same layered, deep subconscious processing that makes holotropic breathwork so effective for altered states like the void or advanced shifting.

[gavinparished]

Gavin Parished x $alem - The Beats Inside My Head

So, here it is! My second project all together is also a first in a way, my first collaboration project. For context, this is an updated cover for DSPs, it has all the original pieces but since then we've both had name changes. I was going by Gavin Burtscher at the time, yes simply my legal name. I decided to change it to Gavin Parished a while later, because I don't want to know what it'd be like being a white-passing person named Burtscher trying to be an underground rapper. However, at this time it was even worse. My name was GBX, thank God I didn't keep that one. It was taken actually which is what motivated me to switch. $alem is a great name for that style of production honestly but at the time she was going by 2can. I honestly don't remember why she changed it but I prefer the newer name as well.

So, how did this record come about? If I remember corerctly, this album came out in 2018 so my memory is a bit foggy on it, $alem messaged me because she liked the songs I had out at the time. All I had released by then was a now lost single titled Sometimes and my first album, The Beats Inside My Head. After a lot of talking about how we'd do this we decided, after creating 2 of the 3 collab tracks, to just take our own songs and mix them in. So the project would become a rule of 3: 3 of her songs, 3 of mine and 3 collaboration songs. We both thought it seemed like a cool project so she attached 3 of her previously released songs, one of the most recent at the time, and I attached 2 I had made during the summer with Don't Go serving as the album outro. During the summer the two songs I made for this were Lost In Space and Unknown Temptation (along with my own single "i hate me, and you should too" which I'll get back to later).

Lost In Space was a very large song. I spent weeks on it. It was inspired by my electronic and dubstep roots in the music creation field along with the trap music I was currently into. It's the most complex song on the album, switching up every few bars so the beat is always unique sounding.

Unknown Temptation was my tribute to XXXTENTACION, as it had been finished a few weeks after he had passed away. It was finished before Lost In Space but came out after, I saved it to release with the album. This is the more "me" sounding song of my songs on the project. The weird synths, hard hitting drums, freaky loops. This is the DNA I kept as I grew. I made this song as a tribute to him because he inspired me a lot as an artist, despite all the rotten things he did as a person. I remember when he passed away, I was sitting in my room on vacation in Austria, visiting my family with my dad. His and Chester Bennington's deaths were, at the time, the only celebrity deaths that really effected me and honestly? Without X, there wouldn't be the same Gp standing here today. But you'll hear a lot more of that in my next album.

Before I get to Ruby's contributions I want to add that currently only our collab songs and my singles are up on DSPs, but this post inspired me to message her about getting her songs up and making it a whole again. However, if you'd like to hear it in it's original form, you can listen to the whole thing on SoundCloud, with links to both our profiles, below.

So, as far as her contributions go. The intro track, 10 kills g, was new at the time and I knew it had to be the intro. It got a rerelease and slight edit as the album dropped. Cocaine and Xaxax were her already released editions. We decided on those 2 after just talking about what the album is and what I'm doing creatively. They fit so we went with them. There's sadly not much more to tell here.

But now we have it, the 3 collaboration tracks. How'd they happen? Well, we made coffin first, which samples some Lil Peep interview clips. After making that beat around it we decided to go with that concept for all the tracks and sample artists we're inspired by. Ruby chose the artists and I did a lot of the lifting on the producion side. She was the lead on the first listed collaboration, Let Me Elevate Your Mind. She picked out the song and the voice clips while I did minimal editing. However, I did my best to work with what we had for graveyard robbers with the BONE$ and $UICIDEBOY$ clips. It fits her sound a lot more and honestly you can tell we were both amatuers at the time but that's part of the charm of these old projects, right? It was fun putting these together and eventually this lead to something a lot bigger that I'll get to down the road. You can listen to these tracks, as well as my 3, on Spotify. Here's the link to the 3 collaboration tracks.

So, the album is done! 10 kills g, Unknown Temptation, Let Me Elevate Your Mind and graveyard robbers were here, fresh to the public. And people liked it. It was nice. Honestly it was the last time for a long time that people in my life actually liked my music which felt great. Another album done, on to the next. During the creation of this record I was creating my debut hiphop mixtape, this time with vocals! This tape inspired how I went about producing a lot on there and my history wouldn't be the same without this cool project. Thank you to Ruby for reaching out for me and making The Wandering Minds happen. Sadly she doesn't produce much anymore but hey, maybe I can get her out and about again to do a lil sequel to this. I'll leave with this, show her SoundCloud some love! She's a really nice person and deserves it all.

[homestuckreplay]

how did we not get 413 leetspeak until page 1524

(page 1509-1530)

It’s a big day for troll enthusiasts because today’s update introduces a whole new troll, gallowsCalibrator, who we get two conversations AND a visual of. We also see carcinoGeneticist, and get some new Sburb lore via Dave and Jade that now feels insignificant by comparison.

I love how Dave’s ‘broken AIR CONDITIONING UNIT was scaled to be a perfect fit for the ALCHEMITER all along’ (p.1398) and then it got to be there for barely a hundred pages before getting moved to the middle of the roof. looks like someone got hoisted by their own lorebuilding petard. Less destructive to existing mechanics is the gristTorrent Sburb extension, an officially-released mod that allows players to redistribute grist amongst themselves – likely helpful as certain rare grists will only be found on specific planets. Dave has no hangups about stealing John’s building materials ‘because he's obviously got too much for his own good’ which is a rare and beautiful anticapitalist W for Dave.

Jade telling Dave to ‘just do whatever you are naturally compelled to do’ with the Sburb beta discs (p.1511) is such a great line, feels like such a perfectly Jade thing to say. To be honest I was just hanging out with my friend who is super into astrology and tarot and they will absolutely say things like ‘it’s because we’re both water signs’ as though it’s a completely average thing to say which is basically just like Jade here.

There’s a quick glimpse of Rose fighting some imps, which are white with nasty fangs and/or cat faces and similar outfits to John’s imps. Are these colorswapped to match the land or are they members of the light kingdom? If yes, why are they fighting Rose, and if no, what are the equivalent numbers of light kingdom citizens doing while the dark kingdom attacks players? Also in case anyone was worried, Dave is still making Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff in the background, a comic which has just teased the beginning of its first full storyline.

The panel of Rose sat on the pier (p.1523) is very relaxing. She’s got a cozy cushion, an umbrella, infinite wifi and battery, the sea air and a kitten for company. I would also like to sit there. Rose finally responds to John’s messages from page 1391, leading to a GREAT Rose and John Pesterlog where they’re both talking around each other in a way that feels like two different flavors of neurodivergent trying to connect. They make no progress figuring out whether they’re on the same land because neither will simply use the word ‘blue’, and while they’re both able to agree that Dave is a bad server player, they totally disagree on whether Rose is a ‘rational orchestrator’. We haven’t had a conversation between these two since page 1025, and this is a lovely reunion with a lot of character from both.

THEN we meet gallowsCalibrator, who talks in partial leetspeak, specifically adding the numbers 4, 1 and 3 to their words. [sidebar: this pesterlog is 1,017 words, making it the third longest page by wordcount in Homestuck so far, losing only to the two walkarounds.]

GC shares alien lore and information about Sburb that may or may not be true, saying they ‘W1LL B3 H3LPFUL’ but still hate all the kids. Act 4 has felt so strongly like an effort to make Homestuck more plot-driven and to make things happen without fucking around, and putting a large group of aliens who’ve already played the game on the table to deliver plot exposition is really helpful there. Establishing those people as mean and unreliable is also really helpful as a cover for any mistakes, and for encouraging readers to spend time thinking about what’s true and what’s not (I know I will be doing it).

Sidebar: Fact-Checking GC’s Lore

1. Upon entry to the Medium, players experience ‘A SUBTL3 VOIC3’ urging them to do things, which is an exile on their ‘D34D PLAN3T’. Exiles help players by ‘D1R3CTLY GU1DING’ their behavior as well as taking ‘4CT1ONS TH4T COMPL3T3 LOOPS 1N TH3 T1M3L1NE’. Verdict: TRUE. ✅ We saw the Wayward Vagabond engage in this behavior throughout Act 2, and PM is the absolute queen of completing timeloops with the mail. GC thinks exiles do this ‘PROB4BLY W1THOUT 3V3N R34L1Z1NG 1T’ which isn’t true in PM’s case – she’s often completely aware of the assignment. 2. The exiles come from Prospit and the dark kingdom, but were ‘3XP4TR14T3D DUR1NG TH3 R3CKON1NG’. Verdict: TRUE?? ✅ GC mentions this Reckoning twice, but we’ve never heard about it before now. GC specifically refers to ‘1TS R3CKON1NG’ in relation to Earth, so this is probably reckoning like wrecking, its destruction via meteor. The continuation of PM’s story will probably explain how this event ties into political intrigue that leads to exile. 3. The exiles will ‘R3BU1LD L1F3 4ND C1V1L1Z4T1ON’ on the players’ dead planet, so that one day it becomes ‘R1P3 FOR S33D1NG 4LL OV3R 4G41N’. Verdict: TRUE?? ✅ With Spades Slick literally building this town (p.1215) and the Earth exiles’ obsession with public infrastructure, I believe that this is Sburb’s goal. Skaian technology being ‘UN34RTH3D’ is reminiscent of Grandpa Harley discovering Jade’s island with its mystic ruins and time capsule inside. Whether it always works out as planned is a totally different question; I don’t know how GC would know that her exiles are one day successful in building a town (also I’m pretty sure seven of their session’s exiles straight up died, which they don’t mention). 4. ‘TH3 UN1V3RS3 W1LL 34T P4R4DOX3S FOR BR34KF4ST 4ND SO W1LL TH1S G4M3’ Verdict: TRUE?!?! ✅ We saw a bunch of partial and splintered timelines in the Intermission, as well as Eggs and Biscuits, whose antics make ‘the fabric of spacetime… tear[] something fierce’ (p.1253). Appearifying something in a way that causes a paradox is technically possible as an act of free will(??), it’s just that the universe auto-corrects for it by making slime instead. I love the implication that any one person’s ability to cause a paradox is fundamentally insignificant on a cosmic scale, and the powerlessness that comes with that. 5. Sburb’s other roles for players include the ‘S33R OF M1ND P4G3 OF BR34TH KN1GHT OF BLOOD M41D OF T1M3’ and their job is ‘OF GR34T3R CONS3QU3NC3’ than rebuilding the planet. Verdict: TRUE*. ✅ Yeah of course it makes sense that the options would be remixed and tailored to the players, and now we know there have to be at least twelve titles and at least twelve domains, which is exciting to speculate about. The titles are all roles in society, while the domains are primal concepts with wide interpretations. → Sidebar Sidebar: Possible Titles. Duke, Wizard, Scion, Herald, Prophet, Champion, Spy, Druid, Monk, Foe(?) → Sidebar Sidebar: Possible Domains. Night, Sea, Force, Fire, Bone, Soul, Storm, Growth, Flight, Loss(.jpg) The kids having an important job that doesn’t involve returning to Earth does echo Nannasprite’s statement that John’s ‘purpose is so much more important than saving that silly old planet’ (p.427). It stinks of Skaian propaganda to me, and I think that returning to Earth should be a valid option if the kids decide they want that, but the Grand Purpose is definitely the narrative Sburb is selling. So overall GC’s lore offerings do seem mostly reliable with a little conjecture, so their claim that they ‘W1LL B3 H3LPFUL’ is true. But I have my eye on them and on all trolls.

Because these folks are nasty for real!! They could be written as aliens who come across as mean due to cultural differences, but they’re really not. GC makes a violent death threat to a 12-year-old John on page 1528, and Jade references past conversations with CG where they have mocked Jade for her dream robot and played repeated pranks on her, seemingly to no end as this all happens before the kids’ adventure. They’re just mean little fuckers and they’re all ‘CR4ZY… 1N OUR OWN W4YS’ (p.1524) with very distinct trolling techniques and now that we’re getting visuals of them, they’re on track to be significant characters. It is definitely ambitious to add 12 mean little guys to an already busy story but I’m here for it. The beta kids are all so kind and accepting of each other and never get more than surface-level annoyed with each other; now let’s add 12 malicious aliens to cause some tension.

There’s a recap of a John-Jade conversation from page 1000, now from Jade’s perspective, now with the interlude in which she told CG to ‘go away!’. It seems like these trolls totally played themselves by being super mean to the kids earlier, and by the time they realized they might have something serious to say, they’d already blown more possible trust. (I would like to put together some troll timelines but that’s for another post!) CG says that Jade’s robot ‘WILL BLOW UP FOR SOME REASON’, an event that might be a turning point for the kids and trolls, if Jade listens to her past/future self. Also, I’m really curious how far ahead this ‘WAAAY IN THE FUTURE’ Jade is. How far does the trolls’ ability to contact the kids go??

Jade also has a pen pal! This gets dropped as though it’s come up before, but it definitely hasn’t. Appearing two pages after a discussion about Jade’s past and future selves, I’d guess that Jade’s pen pal is herself from the future, and the green package contains something she originally made in lategame Sburb that she’s trying to send backwards in time so that John will have it earlier in the game.

Finally, GC calls John ‘4 TOT4L D1SGR4C3 TO TH3 F13LD OF 3CTOB1OLOGY’ (p.1528) which causes him to change his chumhandle to ectoBiologist, closing a timeloop I didn’t even know was open. This means John will actually practice this science, which involves creating clones via paradox slime (p.934). Coincidentally, Act 4 is titled ‘Flight of the Paradox Clones’. And GC has promised to be helpful in a mean way. So my guess is that GC will guide an easily led, gullible John into doing some fucked up unethical science sooner rather than later.

[victimcentral]

John's second victim

This is written super quickly and might be kind of long but bare with me! I think I found something regarding Mikoto's case! Theory under cut :D

Ever since the trial 2 ending video I been thinking non stop about the fact that seemingly it confirmed the theory that John was a serial killer, for context ever since Double released I was in the belief that John only killed one person (the blonde guy we see in MeMe) and that his memories were just fragmented (since he was still forming during the events of the murder) leaving him to believe he killed multiple people (especially considering how dismissive and well how he doesn't seem to recall much about it, only remembering the fact that he wanted to protect Mikoto). Of course now we know that Milgram basically told us Mikoto is one of the people in Milgram with one of the most kills (idk why they translated to “the most kills” when Shidou is right there, but in jp it’s more like “one of the most”). 

This led me to question, how and who. For John’s blonde victim who for now I will call Blondie, I had a pretty good idea on how the murder and everything happened, I won't get into detail since it would take a lot of time to cover, my oomfie made a post that I agree with. Tldr Annoying coworker Mikoto was not very fond of, pent up rage for this person led to John killing him to get rid of this “stress” that was causing Mikoto (maybe someday I will go more in depth with this idea). But then there was the problem that, ever since the trial end video, I started to notice that MeMe in fact does show two victims, Blondie (the train murder), and… another person. 

From the framing of everything, John wearing the same clothes during both murders, and that it’s shown that it happened on the same night, I concluded John killed two people in the same event, but… my main question was, who was this second victim, I had a pretty solid theory on who Blondie guy, but this second person was a complete mystery to me, I reread everything to try and see if there were other clues but really I had nothing, we don’t even have a design for this person, but we know it exists because of the Undercover crime location, it matches up pretty well with where we see John kill this second person.

(Especially the wires)  Meanwhile we know Blondie died by the train, so no doubt about it. (I mean he died in a sort of tunnel place, where we can see here clearly they are more in the open, we can see the sky..!)

While talking to my friends about it this night, rewatching MeMe on loop to try and see something, I spotted something interesting: In the scene that we see Blondie crawling away, the screen has like the same effect on the edges as when we see a person walking towards Kayano at the start of MeMe, this effect is supposed to resemble the inside of an eye, as if we are seeing from the point of view of a person.

In both of these scenes we can see that the “screen” blinks, making it obvious we are seeing from the perspective of a person. 

And it’s not just some visual effect of the scene, as we can see when the scene zooms in, the effect is nowhere to be found.

But look, during the murder, this eye like effect is on full display

This person is no other than the second victim. And this shows that victim two witnessed the murder of Blondie, they saw John kill, and once John noticed he killed them to keep away from anyone knowing. Basically victim two is just a witness who saw the first murder, ran away, and got killed. We can tell they ran away since the crime location in MeMe is noticeably somewhat close to where the train station is. (Credits to Doctor Bunny, I wouldn't have been able to notice this haha)

in here I will lay out how I think the events happened, because my wording probably doesn’t make any sense lolll

also this could explain all the imagery of Mikoto feeling “observed” in both MeMe and Double images here

(in fact, we even see the same effect on the edges as the victim two pov in here lol)

(All the eyes… he is being observed)

And to add last, it would make sense of John’s statement of “killing whoever was passing by”, because truth be told, that second victim truly was just a random person that was passing by, who just happened to witness the murder. 

Thx for reading! This probably makes no sense since I literally just noticed this and wanted to talk about it! In the future I may rewrite this honestly… this is prolly written like shit LMAOO, just wanted to spread the idea around :D! And if someone came up with it before and I never noticed it, let it be known :o !! Sorry if that’s the case haha ^^’ And if I explained somth awfully and want me to elaborate let me know pls!! I love rambling bout Milgram haha

[lunarle-old]

PRESSURE YESS!! Oh I'd *love* to see that!! Kaede would totally own a wall dweller! I can imagine Shuichi reading all the documents and starting a chart like "WHAT DOES IT MEAN?? WHAT HAPPENED"

Him figuring out what happened at Urbanshade BEFORE buying Sebastian's document^^^

And PLEASE talk about your OCS!!! I love hearing about them- the lore is always so fun to hear about :D tell me tell meee/nf

So I actually have two drv3 x Pressure AUs !! One is the oneshot AU, which I plan to write, and the other is the Pressure Time Loop. Shuichi takes Sebastian's place as Kokichi goes through every run over...and over...and over... But I could totally see Shuichi getting crazy invested in all the documents XD He's off to the side going "hmm..." while Kokichi is flashbanging Sebastian and Eyefestation every chance he gets. Kaede is having a silent panic attack the whole time and trying to make sure the boys don't get themselves killed. She was also 100% the first one to walk into a locker full of POVM (⁠个⁠_⁠个⁠) LOL

and oh I WILL talk about them!! LUNARLEONARDO ART REVEAL LETS GO BABY

Keep in mind before proceeding that some sensitive subjects might be covered here :{

Since their stories are so extensive and Tumblr might legitimately explode if I go into as much detail as I would've, I'll keep their stories as brief as I can. Starting with my favorite,

MONTSERRAT!!

(a lot of these are drawn on flipaclip so forgive me)

Mont, as you can probably assume, is an Undertale OC. They originally came from my avid Handplates AU obsession, so they were a Handplates OC (⁠个⁠_⁠个⁠) BUT! I have since deviated from that AU and now their AU has their own thing going on, even if there are still some similarities QwQ

The three were born as brothers, Sans and Mont being created as twins (hence why they look very similar. also papyrus i just hard to draw but shh) Of course, Gaster is their dad, except he is just.. straight up evil. There's no redeeming this guy sorry Gaster fans (me. I am the Gaster fan. :( funney void guy). Sans and Papyrus were often kept separate from Mont, mostly since they were a menace even while they were being experimented on lol. And because of this and the need to keep Mont in heavier security, the funny skeleton guys we know and love both escaped the lab together. These kids didnt think twice about taking Mont with them, mostly since they just assumed that they could find someone strong enough to defeat Gaster to save them afterwards. :")

Those two's escape scared the SHIT out of Gaster. Now all these people were gonna know that he was experimenting on children to try and make super soldiers to blow up the barrier with void power and wipe out humanity !! And he couldn't have that happen!! He tried his best to do damage control, but Snowdin (where the skelebros showed up after escaping the lab), kind of.. rioted?? Like imagine an angry mob with pitchforks and fire. That kind of riot. That drove Gaster all the way to the CORE, and down down down he went. With Gaster being erased from existence, so was his lab and his followers.

...of course, since you cannot truly erase anything-- not as a monster, at least-- Gaster and that lab were cast into the void. And thus... So was Mont.

Mont, of course, was confused. They were like 11 years old when this happened, and the only knowledge they had on anything was what they had learned from the books they snuck behind Gaster's back. They wandered the lab over and over, eventually coming to realize that wow, they really were alone. Everybody left. There was no way out for them. These negative emotions were too much for them to bear as the years went by, those feelings continued to grow and grow. And eventually, the void releases them from those emotions. At a price, of course. Mont called it the "Voidserpent"; a long, snake-like creature made of pure negativity (yes i was deep into the sans auverse) that kind of wanted to kill Mont ?? I mean when you have suicidal thoughts and all of your negative thoughts and stuff manifest as a Creature. It still wants itself dead. And itself is you, so um. mont spent a loooong long time running for their life in that lab (⁠´⁠；⁠ω⁠；⁠｀⁠) just running in circles

There is Kind Of a happy ending though! This brings us to my sweetheart Cleudo! :D

(i dont have much art of her ;_; cluedo im sorry)

Cleudo works as an assistant scientist under Alphys, researching primarily the void. Eventually, their research led them to find some of the weaker spots in their world, where essence of the void could be found and studied. One of those spots is deep within the forest of Snowdin, which is where she'd often be. One day, she decided to try and access the void. Probably not the wisest decision on Cleudo's part, but she's a liiittle impulsive xD

It was because of this decision though that she gave Mont the gateway they needed. They pretty much noclipped out of the floor, scaring the everloving shit out of themself AND Cleudo. By now they're 22, so they've spent a reeeally long time in that lab. Cleudo, who has NO idea what she just witnessed, decides to do the one thing she can do: Take this skeleton to Alphys' lab and make sure they're not radioactive or something. And also call Sans and Papyrus, the only skeletons in the underground.

Overtime Mont becomes ..kind of... accustomed to life. I'm not going to get into their AUs or Everything Stays (a roleplay between me and my gf with Mont and her oc) since we'd be here forever, but as for Mont in their "canon" timeline, they avoid the human like wildfire. In the True Pacifist route, I'd imagine you have the option to fight them if you go way out of your way. It'd just be something for fun, because Mont is very fun! They're very fun and silly and doesn't take much very seriously. They looove floating, they do it a LOT, and they do have a good handle on blue magic and teleportation. However their experience with physical attacks is.. lacking, and they're very much a "one hit kill" kind of monster. They can take a pretty hard punch, but if their HP drops any amount, they're screwed. They make up for this in evasiveness though, and they make use of their surroundings to use as a weapon. They are very much the kind of person to hit somebody with a table in a fight.

The last thing I wanna mention is that pink hat. The first ever story they appeared in was a roleplay called Fallen Deep, where they wore that hat. In Fallen Deep, they did some veerrry bad things, collapsing half the multiverse to try to wipe out every AU with a Gaster variant (they were, and are still kind of, very op LOL). That hat represents Fallen Deep Mont, and thus, what they did. While the hat is a building brick of their design, it's not something Mont often has in different AUs due to what it's connected to. rest in peace fallen deep mont you would've loved commentary youtubers

QUINN

Quinn is a funky little guy. His story is a lot simpler, so hopefully this section will be shorter XD

Quinn is the eldest son to Riley Anne, a popular seamstress. She and Quinn's father divorced when they agreed that they had different goals in life-- one wanted to persue parenthood while the other just wanted to stay on that workforce grind. Quinn's father would financially assist Riley Anne as she raised their children, since she couldn't do as much work as she used to being a single mom.

When Yu was very little, she was diagnosed with an incurable illness. Dont ask me what illness because i dont know💕 but the point is that there is a very, very small chance that Yu will make it beyond double digits. Both Riley Anne and Quinn loved Yu very very much, but unfortunately, when she was 8 and Quinn was 11, Yu passed away. Quinn was right next to her in the hospital when she went, so she at least went feeling as safe and loved as possible. When this happened, Riley Anne was out getting food, unaware of her daughter's rapidly declining condition. And when she got back, she found Quinn holding Yu's hand, kind of just... frozen. It's not every day you watch someone die before your very eyes, especially not when you're as young as Quinn was. Seeing this, something in Riley Anne just... snapped. Her daughter couldn't be gone yet, the doctors said they had at least a few more years together. What happened? She was only gone for no less than a few hours.

And it hit her in that moment. Quinn must have murdered her daughter.

Of course, Quinn never did such a thing. But Riley Anne needed some reason to explain why she wasn't there with her daughter when she passed. And so Riley Anne took Quinn home. And things got... bad.

For two weeks, it was an extremely unstable household. I won't go into detail, but it was to a point that Quinn was too afraid to leave his room. He took to his father's religion for comfort, praying every day to the moon to protect his sister, wherever she was, and to bring his mother down from whatever delusional break she was having. (Note: this is not based on any real life religion, god or faith ^^")

One day, a particularly bad fight broke out. It was the usual "you killed your sister"/"what are you even talking about" argument, when things got violent. Riley Anne grabbed a knife, and Quinn, knowing perfectly well he was in danger, booked it for the front door. The neighbors intervened when they heard screaming in the front lawn, and although they stopped Riley Anne from murdering her son, he was in really bad shape. He had been stabbed over like, what, ten times ? I forget the exact number, but he almost died. And as the ambulance and police arrived, the moon god stayed true to her word-- her promise to protect those who dedicated their faith to her-- and Quinn survived. However, because of the severity of the wounds, Quinn was left with the inability to express or even feel most of his emotions. That's why is his eyes are white like that, and why he has such a flat expression. He physically cannot express anything else ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟRiley Anne was carted off to a psych ward, so shes getting the help she needs.

Little 11 year old Quinn, was now all alone. This ones gonna be hard to explain it youve been thinking about this from a standard sociental standpoint, but basically Quinn's father buys Quinn a mansion for him to live in, which is fairly deep in the woods. It is connected to a local town though, where a lot of the adults there help Quinn out. They give him some easy jobs around town and sometimes they stop by his house to make sure he isnt like. Yknow. Starving to death. Quinn also has a lot of domesticated animals that keep him company and also make sure he is not Starving To Death. Now might be a good time to mention that I created Quinn as a Rise of the TMNT OC and he is friends with Leo who makes fun of him for being an orphan and yeah im gonna stop there

WORLD ENDER

oh boy okay this one

So this is World Ender, once known as Zelyx (the one in the tv). Zelyx was always powerful, even in their home universe. And one day, they simply just... got bored. Their home universe was an awful place to be, unjust to those who were not already at the top of the societal ladder. So Zelyx's solution? BLOW IT UP!!!

After destroying their home world, Zelyx travelled from universe to universe, looking for something that would entertain them. And eventually, they came to realize that it was ending these worlds that brought them the most joy. So they took on the name and form of "World Ender". Their whole thing is basically just going from universe to universe and ending worlds with life on them >_> they're kind of an asshole

Now as you might have noticed, Shuichi is in that second picture. Well! That is from an AU called, wouldn't you know it, World Ender/Alternative. However I won't be getting into that here, since it's not directly part of World Ender's story. It's more of a Shuichi AU tbh :p

SOMBRE

It'd be a crime not to mention my DAUGHTER. This is Sombre! It'd take FOREVER to explain what's up with her so I'll keep it simple. Sombre is a creature called a sokochou, which is something a funky little lab deep in the woods nearby realllly wants. This is "GreenFirest Lab", who further science via unethical experimentation. basically it's because of them that legit furries exist in this universe so you can imagine how humanity reacted to that. Anyhow, Sombre, also called "GFLS-53", took on the role as the "Hound", totally robbing this one guy of his job. sorry 27 xd

The Hound is a role in the lab created to prevent containment breaches and mostly to stop the less stable and/or pissed off ones from starting a massacre. Whenever a subject escapes their cell, it's Sombre's job to take them back and/or fight them into submission. yeah so you'll never guess what sombre does after some scientists fuck up their experiment with her LMAO

Sombre is taken over by what we call "Voltage", and it does the exact massacre it was her job to stop. Many subjects die, almost all the scientists die as other subjects break out and kill them. There's a lot of death on this fateful night :( And Sombre's friends, Cybro, Stargazer, 27, and arguably Ender and VD, are rightfully confused and afraid of her actions. They take to helping subjects evacuate, escaping into the forest. 27 tries his best to bring her down, and hes almost killed. He wouldve been killed if not for his bf VD. Ender and Stargazer are helping people evacuate. It's only when Cybro, a robot dog with the soul of the lab's founder's son, asks Sombre to kill him; to finally relieve him from his duty. Sombre only comes back to herself after killing Cybro, which she is Extremely Devastated about. also 27 set the entire building on fire so it's probably time to run lol. anyways Sombre goes home a changed woman and she reunites with her sister and girlfriend and yay!! everyone is happy! except for 27 who will forever be mad at sombre for taking his job

HAKURA SAINOU & KUROKA KASHIN

Okay so these are my two Danganronpa OCs!! This is Hakura and Kuroka :3 the girlfriends ever

Hakura is the Ultimate Profiler. I watched a little too much Criminal Minds and the brain worms got me xD. meanwhile Kuroka is the Ultimate Investigator! Sadly Kuroka doesnt have much to her yet :( actually neither of them have that much. But they do work together to solve crimes and stuff and they are sooo in love . The reason they don't have that much is because I've been so focused on my fics I haven't though much about my OCs ;_; BUUUT they are in my heart trust

Those are pretty much all the main ones I could think of :p If you've read this far. Why and how . But also thank you !!! I hope my funky little guys entertained you at least a little bit :3 I had to pull out my computer to finish this post and let me tell you my wrist huurrrtts. This took me like 3 hours to do LMFAO

I am nervous to be posting this QwQ I could say a LOT more about them, like Mont's AU business, the other characters within Sombre's story, World Alternative... but this post is getting rlly long and I need to cook dinner xD Thank you for giving me the opportunity to go absolutely insane for a bit!! I really appreciate it I love talking about the funney little guys in my brain :3

[postgamecontent]

Review: EGGCONSOLE How Many Robot PC-8801mkIISR

I’ve had some requests to cover D4Enterprise’s EGGCONSOLE releases like I used to at TouchArcade. It does seem as though there isn’t much out there about them a lot of the time, and I pick up each release anyway. So let’s do that that little thing. I’ll start with the most recent release and work my way back while also staying on top of whatever new releases come. Today’s game is…

How Many Robot

Originally released in 1988 by Artdink

How Many Robot is a puzzle game that was released on PC-8801 mkII SR, MSX2, and X68000 computers in Japan. The version offered here is the PC-8801 game. As usual for EGGCONSOLE releases, no localization has been done for the game or the scanned materials. There is a digital manual with seven pages that should get you on your way, however. There isn’t a ton of text in the game, and most of the important stuff is in English. You will run into the occasional instructions in Japanese written in Romaji, and a few less critical messages in kana. It’s very playable even if you can’t understand Japanese.

The developer of the game is Artdink, and it’s one of the earlier efforts from the studio. You might know them for A-Train, Aquanaut’s Holiday, Tail of the Sun, or Carnage Heart. The latter is particularly relevant here, as that game involved “programming” your units for missions. Artdink makes some interesting games, often full of heart and rough edges in equal parts. How Many Robot demonstrates that in many ways that has always been the case.

The primary goal in How Many Robot is to use a robot to carry a bomb to a disposal unit on each map before the timer runs out or the robot runs out of energy. There are nine maps in total, and they increase in complexity as you go. In addition to the bombs and disposal units, many other items might be strewn about the map. Lamps, batteries, reflectors, boxes, and an energy-draining entity called the Triple-E must be dealt with. The robot can pick up, carry, and drop many of these things if he has a free hand to do so.

The robot is powered by light, and light plays a big role in How Many Robot. When the robot is standing in the light, it will replenish its energy. Since any action the robot performs costs energy, this recharge can prove vital on larger maps. It’s therefore advantageous to have the robot work in the light as much as possible. The robot can move lamps, and as long as they are placed next to a battery they will light up the area around them. Reflectors can also be used to shine light in areas, but they can only be picked up if they are not currently reflecting any light. That’s important to remember.

One more thing to know about the light, and it leads to the game’s big twist. When the robot is in the light, you can fully control its actions. In the dark, you can only issue a command to pick up or drop something. Movement in dark areas falls entirely to the robot’s AI. So where does that AI come from? It learns it from you, okay! Basically the robot will remember what you direct it to do in certain contexts, and it will try to apply similar strategies when it’s on its own. If it gets stuck in a loop for too long, it will cast its eyes upward at you. At this point you can issue it a single command that will hopefully get the robot out of its current pickle. If its AI is proving bothersome, you can dump the robot’s memory and start over.

Essentially, How Many Robot comes down to two things. First, try to light the path to the bomb and disposal unit as much as you can. Second, train the robot so that it can navigate dark areas on its own. The former aspect is similar to many puzzle games about reflecting light, but the latter is very unique indeed. You end up getting attached to the little fellow as it tries to learn from what you taught it. Quite a good hook for a puzzler, though you will need a fair bit of patience for those times when the robot is really having trouble.

It will probably take most players a good while to clear all nine maps. After that, you can try to clear them faster or with more energy in reserve at the end. Or you can just play the stages again to enjoy interacting with the robot more. It does have that toy-ish quality that many Artdink games do. The controls are somewhat cumbersome in places, and you’ll have to use the software keyboard more often than in the average EGGCONSOLE release. It’s not a game you can easily jump into and expect to figure out right away. Not on any level.

It took me a little while to come to grips with How Many Robot, but once I did I had a really nice time. I’d love to see a modern take on this idea. Patient puzzle game fans and Artdink aficionados should definitely give How Many Robot a look.

Score: 4/5

[ollieofthebeholder]

And If Thou Wilt, Forget: a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 46: Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old

Gerry had seen a lot of strange, unusual, and inexplicable things in his life. He’d encountered beings that didn’t seem to actually fit in the space they occupied, men with smiles that extended beyond their own faces, and women with hairstyles that rearranged themselves with fleshy coils. He’d seen books that shed bones, books that warped reality, and books that contained the souls of actual human beings scratched into pages made of their own skin. He’d seen sentient darknesses, walking fires, and things that he couldn’t remember clearly but that still sometimes made him wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

But waterproof snow boots for dogs? That was new.

Rowlf stood patiently, his tail wagging gently with excitement the only motion about him, as Tim adjusted the fit of the bright purple covering on his off hind foot, then released it and patted his head before tugging up the hood of the jacket over the dog’s head and ears. He got to his feet and nodded to Gerry. “Ready?”

“Ready. Although I wish to state for the record that this is ridiculous.” Gerry gestured emphatically at the getup Tim had bundled Rowlf into. “He’s a dog. Aren’t they supposed to be used to…weather?”

“He’s a spaniel,” Tim reminded him. “And we live in London. There is snow on the ground, we’re not going to be on established sidewalks or super populated areas, and it is literally freezing out there. He’s not any more used to this than you are. And we can’t leave him here.” He adjusted the fit of his gloves and looped the leash over his fingers. “If I’d known it was going to be this complicated, I’d have suggested we just kennel him while we were gone.”

“No, you were right.” Gerry sighed. “It’ll sell your point a lot better that we didn’t leave him behind. Kenneling the dog implies we intended to come back. I just didn’t expect us to end up in Siberia.”

Tim snorted. “If it helps, I also didn’t expect us to end up in Siberia.” He flexed his hand briefly, then nodded. “He’s still not paying attention. Come on, let’s go before the wind kicks up.”

“Should we be doing this at four in the morning?”

“Frankly, we shouldn’t be doing this at high noon,” Tim admitted. “But at least this way there won’t be anyone to see us do it.”

It was admittedly a pretty brilliant plan, or at least Gerry thought so once Tim explained it to him, which had been a couple of days. They had parted ways at Paddington Station with a very public and dramatic kiss, Tim heading for Gatwick and a plane while Gerry and Rowlf hopped on the first of the trains that would land them them, eventually, in Çukurova. Since they’d left their phones at home, he’d expected to have an anxious few days of not knowing where Tim was or if he was all right, but instead he had presented himself at the door of their room in the one temporary lodging that accepted dogs less than an hour after he checked in with an apology and an explanation.

That they were starting in Çukurova in order to pick up the trail they’d abandoned two years before was obvious. What Gerry hadn’t understood was the side trip to Malaysia, or why Tim had insisted on withdrawing as much cash as he could from their bank account, or why they’d brought Rowlf along. Tim’s logic, though, was impeccable. Malaysia, or at least the part of it he’d proposed “they” run off to, was a largely cash economy, so if they were seen—or perceived—to have taken out a bunch of money and headed that way, it would make sense. Gerry hated flying and transporting a pet by air was expensive, so it would also make sense for Tim to go ahead of them, secure a place for them to stay, and be waiting when they arrived. And as he’d said, if they were really running away and never coming back, they wouldn’t have left the dog behind, certainly not somewhere they had to pay for him to stay.

Of course, they weren’t actually running away. Tim knew he was bound to the Archivist, that he could no more quit than Jon—or Elias, for that matter—could fire him, and more importantly he knew that if he was away for too long, he would start to get ill. But they were banking on two things. The first was that, since he hadn’t ever grown ill while they were on the trail the first time, there was a good chance that the same thing would happen this time.

The second, which wouldn’t come into play until later, was that Jonah Magnus didn’t know that Tim hadn’t actually tried to run.

The lodgings they were staying in were…not official, exactly. Tim had pulled out his charisma again and, through a friend of a friend of a friend, had managed to secure them the rights to squat in a hunting lodge just outside the nearest populated area to their actual destination. It was usually used only in the summer, so perhaps slightly less well stocked than it could have been, but at least it was dry and out of the elements and, more importantly, private and therefore not observed. They’d covered the few hunting trophies on the walls with spare blankets, which had the dual effect of ensuring they couldn’t be spied on even accidentally and making the room a bit warmer, but they weren’t planning to be there long. The best part was that it had a straight shot to the first part of their destination, only a couple of miles away.

The worst part was that said “miles” were through a snow-filled forest, downhill most of the way—which meant it would be uphill getting back—and it was, while not pitch black, still darker than was necessarily optimal.

“Are you sure this lead is going to pan out?” Gerry asked finally. “What if it’s a dead end?”

“It’s not,” Tim said unhesitatingly. “The trail’s been good so far. Everything we’ve found has been useful, or at least has led us to something useful. It’s all actually connected to the Stranger, to the Unknowing.”

Gerry stepped over a chunk of snow, having learned the hard way that what looked like something he could trail his boots through was often a solid chunk of ice or possibly a tree root. “How do you know that?”

“Because I’m not getting too weak to function.” Tim paused for Rowlf to sniff at the base of a tree and looked up at Gerry. “You remember last year when I was worried about Jon starting to slide into the Archivist role, and I made a comment to you about how maybe I was getting energy from statements?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I’m not. They don’t really do anything for me. I don’t even really get worn out when I’m reading them aloud these days, but I don’t get energy from them either. What I do get energy from—and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize—is the research. Especially when it’s something I haven’t specifically set out to find, or something unexpected but vital that turns up while I’m looking into it. Not following the trail, but finding the answers.”

Gerry picked at that for a few minutes, turning it over in his mind. It certainly made sense. Tim had always picked up facts and tidbits of trivia like seashells on the beach, and he was always quick to share them when they were relevant. They referred to the being he was bound to as the Eye, the Beholding, the Ceaseless Watcher, and all of those were accurate, but the one they always forgot about was It Knows You—or, rather, It Knows. There were people who feared not only being observed, but their secrets being uncovered or facts they found…inconvenient being unearthed. Truths you thought were long buried, questions you believed would forever be unanswered, facts you thought would be only known to those long dead—all of those could inspire fear just as easily.

“So you’re saying you get energy from…uncovering secrets,” he said finally. “You should set up shop as a private detective.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, except I wouldn’t be established enough to be able to turn away clients that don’t intrigue me, so I’d end up wasting a lot of time taking pictures for divorce cases and the like. Things that aren’t exactly hidden, just that people don’t have the time or energy to get proof of themselves. What gives me energy is finding things that not only aren’t common knowledge, but that the few people who do know them don’t want to be known. Working out how to activate the Device washed out of the Cavern of the Kings. Digging out the wicked spell causing the hearts of the bewitched warren to go dark and tharn. That kind of thing.”

“So now you’re Rabscuttle and Vimes in one messed up, traumatized package.” Gerry paused. “Actually, that’s not a terrible comparison.”

“Thanks. I think.” Tim reached up to adjust his hat. “Think I’ll stick with being Bigwig, though.”

They made their way through the forest until they finally emerged at a small clearing that sloped down to a railroad track. Gerry balked, but Tim tugged his hand. “Come on. Don’t you think I already checked this part out? It only runs on Saturdays. We just need to get to the other side.”

Gerry wasn’t sure if he was making the conscious choice to believe Tim had done the research ahead of time and didn’t just Know that or if he’d just stopped caring one way or another, but either way, he took Rowlf’s leash from Tim’s hand and followed him over the tracks. The light-colored stones shifted under their feet as they hurried across. Gerry almost slipped once, but with Tim’s supportive hand he found his footing and made it safely to the other side. There was a bit more slope, and then a road—which they did have to hurry across—and then a few more trees before they finally emerged into a place with no more obstacles ahead of them.

The sun still hadn’t risen, and wouldn’t be up for a couple more hours; Gerry’s eyes weren’t as good in the dark as Tim’s, so he couldn’t exactly see where they were. It was a clear night, though, and the stars overhead were breathtaking, which meant they were a decent enough distance from a populated area that the night sky was visible. It also, thankfully, meant that the Dark itself was less of a worry, although Gerry had some concerns about the Vast. He stared up at the sky for a few moments, then turned to look at Tim. “Okay. I assume that was part one. How about part two?”

Tim pursed his lips. “It’s…a bit farther. I’m not sure exactly how far, but we’ll know it when we see it.”

“Great,” Gerry said. He sort of meant it, too; the potential drawbacks of walking into the unknown were definitely outweighed by the fact that the Ceaseless Watcher hadn’t just given Tim that information. Then again, the nature of what they were looking for meant that wouldn’t exactly be easy. “So how do we get there?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Why do I feel like I’m going to regret saying yes?”

“You don’t have to come.” Tim stopped, turned fully to face Gerry, and took both of his gloved hands in his own. “I mean that genuinely, not in an ‘if you’re going to be a pussy about it you might as well chicken out now’ way. You absolutely don’t have to do this with me. But I have to go. I have to…I don’t know if there are answers waiting for me there, or if I’m going to like the answers I get, but I think this might be the end of this part of the trail. I don’t want to put you in danger for it, though. So you can…I dunno. Wait here for me. Or go back to the cabin. But I’ll understand if this is too far.”

Gerry stared into Tim’s face for a long moment, probably longer than they had. Finally, he freed one hand and cupped Tim’s face.

“Tim,” he said, quietly and sincerely. “I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, to the gates of hell, to the very fires of Mordor. I would go with you if you told me we were going to be crossing through a range of active, erupting volcanoes by jumping from rock to rock or walking across the surface of a supposedly frozen lake to an island in the center. I’m with you.”

Tim winced. “What if the island’s not necessarily exactly in the center?”

Gerry blinked. “Sorry, what?”

“I mean, it’s closer to this side than the other. I think. But…yeah. You’re not wrong about the ice. It should still be frozen, it’s usually frozen until at least the middle of May, but, you know, when has our luck ever been that good?”

Gerry sighed. “Hopefully today. Me and my big mouth…well, an oath is an oath. Lead the way, Thlayli-rah.”

Tim smiled. “I’ve got a couple sets of crampons for us. Rowlf’s boots should help here, too, even if we didn’t bring . But, uh…stay away from the holes.”

“Yeah, I don’t particularly want to fall through the ice.”

“It’s not just that.” Tim led Gerry forward. Luckily there didn’t seem to be much of a slope at this point. “The holes are quite likely to be air holes for the seals. They’re not endangered or anything, but I still don’t want Rowlf to get into a fight with one.”

Gerry shook his head. “I thought this was a freshwater lake?”

“It is. Baikal seals are the only species of seal with an exclusively freshwater population. Mind your step.”

It was a whole new reason to be thankful they’d gone skating in Chicago and New York City. At least Gerry had a better sense of how to keep his balance than he would have otherwise. And the ice wasn’t terribly slick, so they weren’t sliding around quite as much as he might have feared, especially with the weird metal chains with spikes on them Tim had brought to slip over their shoes. The ominous cracking every time he took a step, though…that was less than fun. Especially since it didn’t just crack. Every step sent out a faint but unmistakable sound like something out of a science fiction film, as though lasers were firing under his feet.

“How deep is this lake?” he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Eight hundred ninety-eight fathoms at its deepest point,” Tim replied, in a tone of voice that implied the answer was more than half automatic.

“And a fathom is…?”

“Six feet.”

“So you’re telling me that if one of these cracks opens up fully underneath of us, we’re going to drop into water a mile deep? In the middle of winter?” Gerry’s voice rose involuntarily.

Tim squeezed his hand comfortingly. “We’ll be okay, Ger. At its thinnest point, the ice is still half a meter thick. People drive cars on it, at least on part of it. There’s a whole tourism industry around this.”

“Yes, but we’re crossing to something tied to one of the Fourteen,” Gerry pointed out. “Why wouldn’t it take us?”

“Because it’s the Stranger. If anything related to this lake is going to be of the Stranger, one of the seals is going to pull itself out of a breathing hole, stand on its hind flippers, and speak backwards.”

“Oh, thank you so much for that mental image. I may never close my eyes again.”

In the faint light, Gerry saw Tim cross himself, then heard him begin murmuring a prayer in Latin. The words were new, but the cadence was familiar, one of the novenas to the saints Tim often pulled out when they were going into dangerous situations. He thought he might have gone through two or three saints, actually. After a few moments, he recognized the prayer to Saint Anthony and found himself joining in on the syllables he now knew almost by heart.

“We’ll make a Catholic of you yet,” Tim said when they finished.

“Bite your tongue, Stoker,” Gerry muttered. He had to admit—if only to himself—that the prayers made him feel a little better, a little bit of comfort, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he thought there was anyone listening or just because it comforted him to know Tim still thought there was despite…well, everything. “Who were the other saints you were praying to? I only know Saint Anthony because you say it all the time.”

“Adjutor, Sebaldus, and Lucy. Adjutor is the saint against drowning, Sebaldus is against cold or cold weather, and Lucy to guide my sight. Anthony because we’re trying to find something lost, and also because ignoring your patron when you’re asking that many saints for intercession is kind of a dick move.” Tim paused briefly, then adjusted his trajectory and kept going. “And maybe so we actually make it back to shore.”

“I realize we’re trying to go under the radar here, but maybe we should have brought a guide or something with us.”

“Any guide who knows where the thing we’re looking for is isn’t someone I want to trust. Or who would trust us in return. Step lively.”

There was only so lively they could step, not without falling, but they at least made steady progress. Still, the nights were getting shorter—they were only a few days off from the equinox—and the sky was gradually lightening around them. It was possibly a bit eerie and possibly a bit unnerving that there was still no one to be seen, but then, it was still early. Sensible tourists waited until after sunrise to venture out onto the lake. And as the sky grew lighter, it was clear to Gerry that there was nothing around them worth looking at—nothing except a dark mass ahead of them that he at first took for a rather tall ice formation before he realized it was a rock.

“I take it that’s where we’re heading,” he said to Tim.

Tim nodded once. “Yeah. Not surprised they picked here for this.”

Gerry nodded in reply. “Isolated.”

“Protected.”

“Hard to access.”

“Looks disconcertingly like a face.”

“Oh, did you have to mention that part?” Gerry groaned.

The first rays of the sun pierced the horizon just as they reached the island, which did indeed resemble a face…or most of one. Unfortunately, it looked like a face that had    half risen from the water and was attempting to drink—or consume—the lake, with great white icicles like rows of needle sharp teeth clinging to the roof. The sunlight hit it just right and made it look like the eyes were glowing with unearthly light.

Rowlf whined unhappily. Gerry tightened his grip on the lead. “I don’t blame you, boy. Tim, it sees us.”

“It can’t see us,” Tim assured him. “We’ll be in and out of there before it knows.”

“How can you be sure of that? The Eye can’t see the future.”

“No, but it needs us alive. At least one of us, anyway, and I’m not leaving you to die any more than you’re leaving me. I can’t promise we’ll leave in the best of shape, but we’ll be able to get out of here.”

“It doesn’t—wait, what? Why?”

For an answer, Tim patted his chest—where he’d always kept the leather folio Gertrude had given him on their travels. “It’s all here, Ger. Every bit of knowledge Gertrude collected, and we’ve collected. Everything needed to stop the Unknowing and keep the Archivist hale and whole. If we die, that information dies with us, and Jon’s not strong enough to just get it yet. Maybe not ever. Gertrude never was, or she wouldn’t have had to go looking for it.”

“You’re saying Gertrude wouldn’t have died if we hadn’t known all this stuff?” Gerry challenged.

“No, I’m not,” Tim said calmly. “But we don’t have copies of this. It’s all here. If we drown, or…get buried in a collapsed cave or whatever, the folio won’t survive that, which means all the information vanishes.” He pulled Gerry close and rested their foreheads together. “This isn’t Efrafa. It’s barely Nuthanger Farm. We can be in and out before anyone knows we’re here. You said you trusted me. Did you mean that?”

“I did. I do.” Gerry closed his eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

He still had to hold his breath when they walked carefully over to the island, the ice cracking and pinging beneath them, but the icicles didn’t so much as twitch as they walked under them. It was, admittedly, beautiful, but it was still cold and deadly. He tightened his grip on both the lead and Tim’s hand and kept going.

Tim stopped and peered up at what Gerry at first thought was a crack in the rock until he realized it was a tunnel—a narrow, sloping tunnel covered with ice that seemed to spiral tightly upward. He sighed. “We need to go up there, don’t we?”

“Yeah.” Tim turned to look at Gerry. “Either one of us is going to have to wait down here, or we’re going to have to carry the dog.”

Gerry squatted down, hoisted Rowlf—who whined and wriggled for a moment before settling—and lifted him over his shoulders to make the carrying easier. “I told you, I’m not leaving you. Further up and further in.”

“I’m shocked you’ve read those books.” Nevertheless, Tim gave Gerry a warm smile and a quick kiss before turning and starting the ascent.

Amazingly, it wasn’t nearly as hard as Gerry had feared, even if he couldn’t use his hands easily. They only had a few dozen feet to climb before Tim indicated a side passage and headed into the center of the rock. Their crampons scraped more loudly up here, but they walked well enough, and the passage was level enough that Gerry let Rowlf down and allowed him to walk alongside them. Finally, they emerged into a small cavern that had to be the heart of the island, and Gerry couldn’t hold back a gasp.

It was enormous, probably fifty feet across and equally high, with a domed ceiling. The walls glittered with thousands of tiny crystals of a pale, faintly luminescent green, but the floor was smooth, a solid sheet of ice. In the center was a shockingly regular lump of stone.

“Is that…?” He gestured at the stone. It seemed natural to drop his voice to the same hushed tones he’d used the few times he’d gone to mass with Tim.

“Must be.” Tim spoke in an equally low voice. He crossed the floor, a faint chime sounding with every step, and stopped next to the stone, then brushed the top. His lips moved briefly as he read. “Oh…not good. Definitely not good.”

“What?” Gerry’s stomach dropped. He made his way over to Tim’s side and peered at the Cyrillic letters graven into the square stone, like a tiny crypt, perched on a pedestal of ice. “Is it not what we’re looking for?”

“No, it is. This bottom line—Zdes' pokoitsya pamyat' o Gregore Orsionve—that’s ‘Here lies the memory of Gregor Orsinov’—”

“’Here lies the memory’?” Gerry repeated. “Not ‘sacred to the memory’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Probably that there’s nothing actually buried here, it’s just a memorial stone. But this line…” Tim tapped the top line. “This is the problem.”

“Tim, I don’t read Russian. What does it say? What does it mean?”

“Inspektor manezha, Predvestnik, Otets,” Tim recited. Gerry felt the temperature drop with every word, even before Tim looked up at him. The fear in his eyes was almost palpable. ‘Ringmaster, Harbinger…Father.’ Father, Gerry.”

Gerry’s stomach lurched, and he stared at the sharp black lines. He could almost hear them laughing at him, lifting their heads and chattering like weasels, just like in the book. “He had an offspring. There’s someone else carrying on his legacy. Wait…no. No—fuck. The Dancer. Gertrude mentioned a Dancer. Orsinov created the Dancer.”

“Which means it exists. Which means it’s out there.” Tim swallowed hard. “Which means it’s probably alive, and the one who placed this stone here. We’re running out of time. We’ve got to get serious about the Unknowing and narrow down where it would be, fast.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I just hope Gertrude left us something helpful on her tapes.”

[euporie-art]

Hi what's kagerou project about? I tried to get into it a while ago but it was a little overwhelming (got halfway through the anime, stopped and forgot almost everything) but I'm curious it seems interesting and fun

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE UNLEASHED.

okay so, the thing is with kagepro is that it's a multimedia project. it started as a vocaloid song series, but also has manga, light novels, audio dramas, the anime, and a short film that nobody cares about.

the entire project is a time loop, essentially, with each piece of media showing a different (or multiple) loops. the anime timeline is the very last timeline so you started at the end. common mistake, don't worry!!! the songs tell whats considered the standard loops, but it can be a bit tricky to piece everything together, especially for someone who hasn't been into it for as long as i have

I've been a huge fan of kagepro since I was around 11? 12? the characters are all very dear to my heart but my favourite is tsubomi kido! She was my transmasc awakening (shes canonically cis but.... trans man in my heart) and has a storyline of learning to trust other people and exist as a person instead of just wanting to vanish all the time.

for a good summary of all of the lore, I recommend this summary by the bread box on youtube. ( he also has a lot of good character analysis videos on there!) if you'd rather go by the media yourself and piece things together in your own time...

There are three albums! the order is absolutely not chronological, but in release order:

Mekakucitydays (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable*)

Mekakucity records (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable)

Mekakucity reload (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable)

some of the subtitles in the videos may be a little janky, my apologies. if anything seems wonky, i reccomend checking the fanwiki's translations.

there is also mekakucity M's 2, which is just the anime soundtrack plus human vocal covers of some preexisting kagepro songs

you can find english scans of the manga here

you can find english translations of the light novels here

you can find the anime here

also, here's the wiki link! fandomwiki sucks but the kagepro one is well-kept imo

it can be a little tricky to get into since most of the eng translations rely on fandom sourcing since its primarily a jp fanbase. and also its old as fuck. also, the project has pretty much reached its conclusion, so new media is extremely sparse. to my knowledge, the last time we got anything was a 2021 remix version of the song children record. there was supposed to be a new anime and a new manga and light novel, but no word on that since 2019 unfortunately.

i reccomend starting with the songs! I can't think of a single kagepro song i dislike honestly, they're all pretty solid early vocaloid rock songs.

if you have any questions at all, my dms and askbox are open!! i love talking about kagepro :D

(also, fun side note! most of the events of the story take place in a time loop of august 14th and 15th, so these days are considered fandom holidays. the kagepro fandom is practically non existent unless its august)

*note on the music videos: a few early kagepro PVs were made before JIN began working with good artists on the project so they kinda... suck ass a bit. i'll be using popular fan PVs in their place, especially JIN ended up working with the artists who made a few of them for future releases

[stilespeters]

law abiding citizens (preview)

a/n: a little preview of a request i got that was absolutely brilliant. The creativity is honestly insane with everyone who requests stories. The enemies to lovers arc? im in love (you know who you are)

also im getting through requests very slow but I try to make them about 10k+ words😭.

summary: when the infamous Bloodyface enters the doors of Briarcliff Manor, a mysterious girl becomes infatuated with the idea of making the institution a living hell for him.

warnings: none in the preview

There was something about the fall weather that made you forget time. You would sit by the big window in the corner of the common room that shielded you from the restless eyes, and you would listen as the rain tapped softly against the window. Your hand would cling to the thick bars that covered the invisible wall, and the sounds of the water clashing against the glass drowned out every sound around you. Except for the song that continuously played on a loop in the background. God, if it was possible to shoot a song, you’d shoot Dominique.

In the earlier days when your mind wasn't fogged, you’d question what the song was really about, since you couldn't speak French. However after the third time of hearing it you lost all interest. Dominique could kiss a rat's ass for all you care.

Speaking of rats, Spivey was released from solitary and was now sitting in the chair next to the piano. He was one piece of trash that actually deserved to be here. The first day you arrived and settled in, he kept staring at you. He had been really interested in you and he kept repeating that you were young and pretty. When you revealed to him that you were 18 though, he seemed uninterested and left you alone.

Your knees were pressed against your chest and you held a cigarette between your fingers delicately as you brought it up to your lips. The smoke you inhaled actually cleared up a lot in your head.

Sometimes when Doris or Pepper would cause a scene in the common room you’d turn around and watch as everything unfolded. But after years, you already knew their every move. The people in here never knew what you were up to as you were a wild card, yet you knew everything about everyone. You had always been a watcher, just analyzing people and watching everything unfold, only stepping in when necessary.

You heard the door of the common room open and your gaze moved from the window to a man who stood cluelessly in the center. He looked bewildered around him and tried to take everything in, and you looked him up and down. He was a young man you’d seen in the newspapers ever since the shit he got exposed for; Bloodyface. For days you’d seen his face and for weeks you’ve heard his name slip from other patients. Hell, even orderlies seemed to fawn over him and his crimes. You were sure even James Dean wouldn't be talked about this much.

Shelly was the first person to introduce herself to him in a way only Shelly could. She would walk up to a new patient and try to seduce them with her long blonde hair and pretty face. Today, however, was the day sister Jude cut off her hair and her magic didn't work. You didn’t know if it didn't work because of her hair or if it was the patient who just wasn’t interested.

Bloodyface shoved her off him and scowled at her before sauntering further into the room.

Shelly roamed the room while chanting ‘he’s mine’ like she had done a couple of times before and you couldn't help but roll your eyes. Luckily she didn't bother you since you were still out of sight.

You took a glance at Bloodyface again and squinted your eyes. After reading about him for so long, you had grown a distaste for him, however as you saw him in real life, you didn’t know what you felt. He was a handsome man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties and his lost puppy dog gaze seemed to cast a spell on you. However you knew from experience to never judge based on faces.

You remembered judging your neighbor Jimmy when he first moved in. He was looking rough and very angry all the time. He had scars on his face and a frown 24/7 that made him look intimidating. However at a neighbor convention he told you he had been a war veteran in world war 1 being 19 and he fought in world war 2, being 47 years of age. He didn’t have to sign up for war the second time, but he did it because he wanted to make the world better. He had seen the true horrors of the world and it was evident in his face to this day that he never truly recovered from that. He only wanted to serve his country and do what was right. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, yet all the kids were afraid of him. That was when you truly realized to never judge a book by its cover.

The moment Bloodyface spun in circles like a lost puppy you decided to leave your hiding spot and walk a bit closer to the center. You weren’t sure what your plan was, but you couldn’t stand watching him be confused any longer.

When he placed his hands on his ears to drown out the song, he moved towards the record player to turn it off and you intervened.

“Wouldn't do that if I were you.” You spoke as you leaned against the wall while placing the cigarette between your lips. The man turned to look at you and you gave him a grin, “It’s a rule here. As long as the common room is open the song plays.” he stared blankly at you and you sighed.

“Any one of them would rat you out if they had the chance, they get a piece of candy and you get your ass beat,” he still looked at you as if you were speaking a different language, “Trust me, I learned the hard way when I first arrived here.”

He finally spoke up. “Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone. I’m just looking out for you.”

The silence except for the chanting of Denise in the corner and the song still on a loop, was deafening and so the conversation between you and Bloodyface made a lot of people turn heads. One of those people was Spivey, the little shit.

“Hey Bloodyface,” Both Bloodyface’s head and yours looked for the source of sound and you saw Spivey walk towards you. “You’re him right? You must be the most dangerous person here. I heard you skinned them alive, the last one being a colored girl. I guess you didn't like her color.” He taunted and you saw Bloodyface’s face contort into pure anger. Before you knew it, they were at each other's throats like animals and all the attention from the other patients were now fully focussed on the two wrestlers on the ground.

Pepper stood next to you as your arms were crossed and she had a worried look on her face. You knew what would happen if a fight were to break out in the common room. Jude would barge in, welts would be given, yada yada yada. Your eyes were downcast while you took another puff of your cigarette and when a whistle was heard, everyone ran to their previous spots to show they weren't involved.

You walked back to your hiding spot as well and saw sister Jude strut into the room with two orderlies behind her. They were Owen and Dennis. You almost missed the way Owen scanned the room until his eyes met Shelly. Your eyes squinted the tiniest bit in suspicion.

Bloodyface had a bloody face and pointed at Spivey. “He started it.”

Owen and Dennis ignored it and Owen smacked Bloodyface with his baton. You winced just slightly and saw how his body was dragged out of the common room.

An hour later, Kit Walker was put in a straitjacket and he felt uncomfortable as suddenly everything itched. His eyes were burning, his head was pounding due to the whack from one of the orderlies and his mind was fogged as everything felt surreal.

Sister Jude let him off with a warning since it was his first day but said that the next time she wouldn't go easy on him. A gentle gesture at best.

The only source of light went dark as it indicated someone stood in front of his cell, and as he looked up he saw you standing there. “Hey, I got something for you.”

He stood up and squinted his eyes as he walked over to the door. “How did you get back here?”

He saw you pause. “Doesn’t matter.”

Kit didn't question it and he saw you duck and slide something under the door. Although he couldn’t grab it with his hands, he saw it was a newspaper. “Boredom is your only friend in these cells they call ‘chambers’. Figured I’d get you something to read to kill time.”

Kit looked at your features and tried to spot any sign of falseness since he wasn’t used to people actually talking to him like he was a normal human being. He tried to find out whether your intentions were true or if you had ulterior motives. He couldn't remember the last time someone did something nice for him let alone have a decent conversation. “Why are you being so kind to me?”

He saw your eyes soften yet harden at the same time. “What you put out into the world comes back to you.”

“So what did you put out into the world to get locked up in a place like this?”

“A lot of questions…” Your eyebrows raised and you indicated that you didn't know his name.

“Kit.” He saw you hum.

“That’s a question that will be answered with time, Kit. It doesn't concern you for now.” Kit nodded understandingly and realized it might have been an inappropriate question.

“So, you want to tell me how you got in here? Spivey said something about you being the infamous Bloody face.”

“Why should I give you an answer when you won’t give me one?” It came out harsher than he wanted and he wanted to apologize.

“Careful now, Kit. I’m not someone you like to have as an enemy here.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not insane. I don’t belong here.”

“Yet you’re here for a reason.” Kit leaned in a bit closer, “Why?”

You clenched your jaw shut and looked down at your feet. He sure was dedicated on finding answers. You weren’t gonna tell him the truth, however you were gonna simplify it.

“Bad people pulled on strings and convinced everyone I was crazy. All I could do was tell them the truth but I didn’t stand a chance against socialites. I was taken from my home involuntarily and I’m most likely set to spend the rest of my life here, only because I made a stupid mistake.”

Kit nodded quietly and scraped his throat. He noticed the silence after you answered and he wanted to let you know you weren’t alone.

Now that you have answered it was his turn. “To answer your question, they think I’m him. They think I’m Bloodyface.” He couldn't read your emotions due to the lighting and because he was too tired and drained to focus. “Ah, the celebrity. I’m almost jealous of your fame. You’ve become a household name here. I didn’t recognize who you were when I saw you.” you lied. You knew who he was the second he stepped foot in this place. “So, are you? Did you?”

“What?”

“Are you actually bloody face? Did you kill those women, your wife?”

“No. And I’m not crazy.” He was quick to answer and your head cocked to the side.

“Hmm.” you kissed the back of your teeth, again. Kit didn’t know what was going through your mind. “Interesting.”

A voice was heard in the distance and your head snapped to the side. “Well I should go before they notice I’m missing.”

“Thanks for the paper, I really appreciate it.” He gave you a genuine smile.

“No problem.”

Before Kit could blink, you were gone and he got closer to the barns to whisper-shout.

“Hey, what’s your name?” His ear was pressed against the hard and cold metal, and he could faintly hear a voice whisper back.

“Y/n.”

Kit felt a shiver of warmth over his body by the newspaper you’ve given him. He really appreciated that you were nice to him since he was terrified of this place. He had nightmares in his cell about it and when he was finally handed out to the institution he knew he would never see his garden again or the lake next to it. Just the thought of someone doing something kind to him like he was normal and the thought he wasn’t alone made him feel a bit more relaxed.

However what he didn’t know was that you indeed had ulterior motives. You were gonna make this place live up to the reputation Briarcliff had;hell on earth. Starting with a newspaper.

The next day you were all in the common room again. It was still raining and you decided to sit on something soft this time. Although your hiding spot was very comfortable, you did feel the hardness of the stone having an effect on your ass and back posture. You found a place on the sofa next to Otis who was picking his nose and you tried your best to ignore it. You cringed and looked the other way until he stood up to dance with Doris. Pepper wanted to dance too but they rebuffed her. You felt bad for her.

Footsteps were heard as the door opened and Kit walked into the room. From a distance you could tell he had a bruise on his hand, a black eye and a bandage on his cheek from the brawl yesterday. His eyes scanned everyone until they landed on you and he made his way to you and sat down on the spot where Otis was sitting.

“Hey,” he started and you gave him a nod in return. “Jude go easy on you?”

“Yeah,” you noticed how he winced when he sat down. “She says that the next time I mess up she’s not gonna be nice.”

“Typical Jude.” you replied and both of you watched how Pepper kept chanting “Pepper dance” to the odd couple in the center. You looked to your right to see Kit’s mouth slightly opened as he gawked at the trio. You could practically hear his thoughts and sighed.

“Yes.”

Kit looked up at you and scrunched his eyebrows. “The answer is yes. They’re always like that, better get used to it.”

“How did you know I was thinking that?”

“It’s not hard to read people.”

It was like his eyes bore a hole into your side profile. “Anyway, most of the people here are harmless. They’re kinda weird, but harmless. There are a few people you need to watch out for.”

“Like Spivey?”

“Yeah Spivey is an example, always tryna look for trouble and sticking his nose in the business of other people. He is the definition of a scumbag.”

“Who else do I need to look out for?” His eyebrows were still scrunched like he was confused all the time and you scanned the room and pointed at a woman in the corner. “That’s Harriet. She’s been here the longest. No one gets a word out of her. Rumor goes that she stared down the barrel of a gun more times than she ever spoke.”

The woman looked like she was in her mid sixties and she looked mummified as she stared into the void. As if she knew her name was called out even in the softest tone of your voice, she suddenly looked at the two of you and you both immediately diverted your gaze elsewhere.

“Oops, better not to say her name here.” You stared at the table in front of you.

“What about you? Where do you stand in all of these people.”

You were baffled how Kit never backed down on asking questions. “You Kit,” you placed your hand on his thigh for a split second, Kit almost missed it but the feeling made his eyebrows frown. You retracted your hand quickly and pretended nothing happened. “You just remember to never cross with me. Most of these people leave me alone because they have that printed in their system.”

There had to be a reason why people respected you here. Kit didn’t know why exactly.

He nodded at that and didn’t question it further. You stared at his legs and sighed. “Sister Jude really did go easy on you, huh?”

“What?”

“Well it’s either that or you have a very high pain tolerance. The first time I wreaked havoc in this place, I couldn’t sit for a week. She said she went easy on me but even talking about it now I still feel the welts engraved.” You chuckled and Kit didn’t know whether to chuckle too or keep quiet. Instead he decided to ask another question.

“Is sister Jude always so…” He tried to find the right word.

“On edge? No. She’s always strutting around the place like she owns it,” you paused. “Well technically she does kinda own it with the Monsignor. Anyway, she’s only upset when someone has broken the rules. Why ask?”

“She looked very distressed this morning when we spoke during kitchen detail.” You kissed the back of your teeth.

“Seems like your arrival has caused quite a bit of trouble, Kit. If it’s the second day Jude is frantic, it’s not a good sign.”

There was silence between you two and if it weren’t for the known fact he was a malicious serial killer, you would have actually thought he was a decent man. Very humble and not very present in the best way possible. You liked quiet people. They made your chaotic mind at ease. It made you feel calm and that was something you craved. Being in an asylum, one of the worst places was the common room because of the filth and chaotic people. You actually quite liked solitary in your own small room because at least there no one was chanting. Oh and the walls were thick enough to keep anything out, like the song Dominique.

Kit broke the silence after a few minutes. “Hey Y/n.”

“Hmm?”

“The paper you gave me, it’s not from recent dates. It’s from 1949. The front page is about a missing girl.” You didn’t look him in the eye and instead continued staring at the table.

You tried to find a quick lie. Luckily you were used to it and you were sharp as always. “Oh… yeah that’s because we don’t really get the news often and because of that, we have very limited papers. I stole it for you from the archives.”

Kit frowned but seemed satisfied with that answer nevertheless.

Heels were heard and Doris and Otis stopped dancing as the noise was a clear sign Jude was coming. They hurried to the side where the dusty piano was standing and stared everywhere and nowhere. Jude walked in from around the corner and locked the door behind her, causing her to get the attention of everyone. Everything became quiet except for the dramatic taps of sister Jude’s boots.

“When I was given the task of running this institution, the Monsignor and I had great plans. We would not only house and feed the people who had nowhere else to go, thrown on the streets like trash, we’d heal them from the horrors this world could give. Even if they were the horror itself.” She slowly walked further and scanned everyone. “I have had faith and patience for everyone. And how do you repay me? With disappointment. Somebody had the audacity to break into my office and steal… something valuable. Now I demand the person who did this to confess this instant.”

No one said anything out of fear, and because no one knew what she was talking about.

“Confess!” Her voice sounded shrill as the sound bounced off the walls.

Kit slowly raised his hand and you quirked an eyebrow. “What was stolen, sister Jude?”

Jude’s jaw was clenched as the question was asked and she turned to look at Kit. “That doesn’t concern you Mr Walker. The person who did it knows what I’m referring to.”

Kit became quiet and you almost admired him for speaking while Jude was angry.

Her eyes diverted from Kit to you and she almost shot fireballs out of her eyes from how angry they stood. She pointed an accusing finger at you.

“Don’t think I’m not onto you, miss Y/n. Always slithering around, playing games with people. You think you’re so clever. I know that look you’re giving me. You know more than you let on…”

You didn’t answer her and had a stoic look on your face. When she realized she wasn’t getting anything from you, she walked further to accuse other people. When Jude was at the end of the room, Kit leaned in and whispered in your ear.

“You’re tellin me she’s really not always like that?”

“Most of the time not. I haven't seen her this upset in a while.”

He nodded at that and his eyes wandered cluelessly back to sister Jude. Your eyes diverted from Jude in the distance to Kit’s side profile. You watched as his nose flared for a second before coughing and you looked down. You had to remind yourself that he was a bad person. That he killed women who had a bright future ahead of them. That any of those women in their position could have been you. You could have been one of the women who was locked in his basement after being skinned and assaulted. That thought made your blood boil and you decided then and there it was all worth it what you had planned.

Kit got startled the moment you stood up from your place and coughed loudly to announce something. Jude turned around and saw it was you.

“When I came back from kitchen detail, I came across Kit,” you didn’t look at him and instead, you made puppy eyes as you sobbed. “He had some sort of news paper in his hand and in his other hand was a key. We made eye contact and I told him that I didn’t see anything and ran off. Just thinking back about the cold and harsh look he gave me makes me shiver,” You could feel Kit’s burning eyes on you as you continued to speak yet you paid no attention to it. Jude walked closer as she digested your words.

“I wonder what he could have done if I didn't run away. Just now he threatened that if I told on him he would tell on me. He said that no one would believe me.” Jude looked at one of the orderlies at the side and pointed a finger at him.

“Owen, did you not lock his chamber after he was in my office? This is the third time you forgot to lock someone's room.”

Before Owen could say anything, she looked back at Kit. “Look at you. if Y/n’s right you’re not only a murderer. You’re a murderous pickpocket. I knew you were trouble when you walked in.”

Kit tried to protest. “I- I- she’s lying,” he looked at you not in anger but in betrayal. The only person who spoke to him like a normal human being turned out to be a rat. You were the person he had to look out for. Beatings from an honorless man like Spivey was nothing compared to the knife in his back from you. Maybe he grew attached too quickly but it still hurt.

He should have known better than to digest the kind words and actions of a woman, after he was accused of being a malicious serial killer.

“Search him.” Jude commanded and Kit wanted to stand up to try and run away out of instinct, but he then realized the doors were locked. There was nowhere to go.

“Thinking of running away now, are ya? A man with a clean conscience has no desire to flee.”

One of the orderlies with the name tag Dennis held him and the other one called Owen searched his pockets. “I didn’t steal anythi-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Owen fisted a small object out of his pocket and Kit was flabbergasted to say the least. He figured you must have planted them there when you had touched his thigh. You were quick with it but he had felt it. He already had a weird feeling as to why you did that but now he realized why.

In Owen’s fingers was a ring with a key dangling from it. If Kit seemed flabbergasted before then now he looked as if he witnessed an exorcism.

This was the first time you looked at Kit and didn’t feel remorse. If he is upset by the betrayal of a person he met not even 24 hours ago, then he doesn't know what those poor women went through. What he did to them is a thousand fold worse than what you just did. You wanted him to suffer here, because he gets a chance at life and not the girls he killed.

“Search his chamber.” Jude ordered and Owen held him locked in his grip as the other orderly walked out of the room to presumably Kit’s room.

Jude eyed Kit viciously and you knew Jude was angry once she found the newspaper. You knew what Jude was looking for, hence why you stole it, you just didn’t know why it upset her that much.

Ever since sister Mary Eunice had acted strangely out of nowhere, papers kept showing up about one subject. It was always the same, always the same date and always the same news. A paper from 1949 about a missing girl on the front. Every time you caught Jude throwing it in the trash, you reckoned it was something important. Something that was bothering her immensely. However you truly realized how much it bothered her when you saw Jude burn it in one of the ovens.

You had fisted one of the papers out of the trash and put it in your pillow. It wasn’t like your bed got cleaned so no one would blink an eye. It helped that the pillow was as hard as rocks.

Like you said, you were a watcher. Always analyzing everyone to see their weaknesses and use it against them if need be. Knowledge was power to you.

Jude came back with nothing yet her angry look was even more angry yet stoic at the same time, and you knew she found the paper you had given Kit. It was obvious she wasn’t gonna take it with her to the common room for everyone to see her little secret.

She looked at you as she stood in front of Kit. “You keep surprising me, miss Y/n.”

She then looked at Kit and curled her finger to motion him forward. “Kit Walker, come with me.”

Kit looked defenseless as he gave in. He realized he couldn't protest because of the strong grip of the orderly and so everyone in the common room watched as he was taken away. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling to him, as he felt the same eyes and the feeling of dread the day he was arrested in his home. His neighbors had heard the commotion of the cops and saw how Kit had been handcuffed and taken into custody in the middle of the night after he himself called the police. It didn’t matter whether he pleaded or tried to convince everyone it wasn’t him, because no one listened. No one wanted to listen and no one believed him.

This time it was nothing different. The only thing that was different was the backstabbing feeling and the handcuffs.

You were right when you had told him not to trust anyone, yet he did. And now he was paying the price.

He turned his head one more time as the orderlies grip were too tight, and he locked eyes with you. You had a stoic look on your face, no ounce of remorse or happiness. You just looked satisfied. His head turned back in defeat and he turned the corner.

After the punishment he was given, he truly realized why people were afraid of sister Jude. He truly digested the gravity of the situation and he now knew to never mess with you.

You were right when you said he wouldn’t want you as an enemy.

end of preview

[huellitaa]

bee's record player, may edition 🎀𓂃 ࣪˖

──★ ˙ ̟🎀 INTRO

and here is the long awaited, albeit delayed arrival of bee's record player: may issue! ♡ (went for a slightly different theme this month, how do we feel about it?

this month there was not in fact many music releases or much going on in the music world, but we do still have a few things to discuss for this month's issue:

──★ ˙ ̟🎀 NEW ARRIVALS

risk, gracie abrahams

♡ released may 1st, 2024

♡ pre release single

♡ running time: 3 minutes 12 seconds

take a bite, beabadoobee

♡ released may 9th, 2024

♡ pre release single

♡ running time: 2 minutes 39 seconds

you had me at hello, zerobaseone

♡ released may 13th, 2024

♡ extended play / EP

♡ best songs: have not yet listened! ♡

♡ running time: 20 minutes 48 seconds

dark moon "memorabilia", enhypen

♡ released may 13th, 2024

♡ EP / extended play

♡ best songs: have not yet listened! ♡

♡ running time: 19 minutes 48 seconds

hit me hard and soft, billie eillish

♡ released may 17th, 2024

♡ full length album / LP

♡ best songs: birds of a feather, lunch, chihiro, bittersuite, blue

♡ running time: 43 minutes 49 seconds

turn it up, pinkpantheress

♡ released may 24th, 2024

♡ single

♡ running time: 2 minutes 27 seconds

how sweet, newjeans

♡ released may 24th, 2024

♡ single

♡ running time: 6 minutes 59 seconds

sixth sense, kiss of life

♡ released may 25th, 2024

♡ single

♡ running time: 3 minutes 11 seconds

armaggedon: the 1st album, aespa

♡ released may 27th, 2024

♡ full length album / LP

♡ best songs: supernova, armaggedon, bahama, long chat, melody

♡ running time: 30 minutes 58 seconds

loop, yves

♡ released may 29th, 2024

♡ extended play / EP

♡ best songs: diorama , loop ft. lil cherry (♡)

♡ running time: 12 minutes 6 seconds

──★ ˙ ̟🎀BEE'S TRACKS: TOP 10

♡ 10. red wine supernova, chappell roan

CHAPPELL ROAN CHAPPELL ROAN CHAPPELL ROAN CHAPPELL ROAN LETS GO LESBIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i've been SO obsessed w chappell roan this month and this song is. oh my gosh. the red wine sueprnova bridge changed lives idc everybody go listen to chappell roan right now !!!!!!!!!!! <3

♡ 9. midas touch, kiss of life

i love this song!!!! oh my gosh!!!!!!! i've been so into kiss of life the past month or so and i love love love this song so much, it's such a vibe u don't get it. i didn't like it at first but it's so cunty so that makes it all good in my books <3 also kiof vocals are no joke see 5th gen kpop this is what happens when you debut actual adults !! <3

♡ 8. telepatia, kali uchis

i don't know if it's just the pretty summer girl vibes this song has or the immense love i have for latina women in music but like oh my gosh this song?????? i'm so????????? i can't do this?????? definitely wasn't lured in by the pink on the cover nope nope nope but like i seriously need to get into her more u don't get it

♡ 7. turn it up, pinkpantheress

i do not often listen to pinkpantheress but she came up on my spotify and i'd heard good things about her and liked the pink on the song cover so i gave it a listen and u don't understand the chokehold she's had on me this month i'm so obsessed. her vibes r EVERYTHING

♡ 6. bahama, aespa

AGAIN. THE PRETTY SUMMER GIRL VIBES ARE IMMACULATE. alcohol free was THE summer kpop song for me before but aespa has overtaken this title i fear! their voices are so pretty and the whole summery beachy vibes are absolutely PERFECT <3 aespa u ate so hard w this one !!!!! <3

♡ 5. birds of a feather, billie eillish

i am so in love with this song and have been since it came out oh my gosh. the vibes are immaculate, her voice is literally angelic, the lyrics are everything to me and i want this song at my wedding. i do not take criticism case closed thank u very much

♡ 4. how sweet, newjeans

AHHHHHHH OH MY GOSH i just know this song would have been higher if it hadn't only come out a few days before the end of may but the energy is everything, and the prechorus?????????? hello??????? obsessed??????????? my girls still going strong despite whatever the heck is going on at hybe at the moment idk but ate as usual !! <3

♡ 3. take a bite, beabadoobee

OH MY GOSH I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH,,, I'VE BEEN SO HYPED FOR IT SINCE IT WAS FIRST TEASED ON SPOTIFY AND I ACTUALLY . I. IM SO OBSESSED U DONT UNDERSTNAD IT S= NOT EVEN FUNNY I'M SO EXCITED FOR AUGUST 16TH

♡ 2. good luck, babe!, chappell roan

I CANNOT. I HAVE BEEN SO OBSESSED W CHAPPELL ROANB THIS MRONTH SHE ISW MY EVERYTHNIG. HER VOCALS IN THIS SONG I FEEL LIKE I'M ASCENDING TO HEAVEN EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE I'VE SPENT WITHOUT CHAPPELL ROAN FEELS LIKE EVERY DAY WASTED CHAPPELL ROAN IS LOVE LIFE CHAPPELL R

♡ 1. bubble gum, newjeans

alright anyway anddd onto number one,, the song that has been on loop since release, bubble gum by my favourite girlies newjeans!!! <3 my best friend has been BEGGING me to listen to this for weeks now and oh my gosh i felt so stupid when she finally made me listen to it because it is a literal work of art. maybe i'm a sucker for summery songs at the moment, maybe it's the fact the music video makes me violently sob from how sweet it is and danielle's curly hair and hanni's short hair makes my eyes turn into hearts but like i adore this song. i think one of my favourite compliments i've ever gotten is that i look like this song 😭<33

──★ ˙ ̟🎀ALBUMS

♡ 1. rise and fall of a midwest princess, chappell roan

woahhhh this is sooo surprisinggggg ahahahahaaaa!!! this album is everything to me u DONT get it i LOVE chappell roan i LOVE cunty lesbians i LOVE music i EUAHHRRRRRRRR

♡ 2. super real me, illit

i am still not over this debut i fear......... midnight fiction was #11 on my top tracks of this month and the chokehold these girls had and still have on me since march is ridiculous. best kpop debut quite possibly ever i rest my case

♡ 3. beatopia, beabadoobee

BEABADOOBEE I LOVE YOU so basically i've been listening to bea a lot more since i got my bsf into her too and the amount of times i've relistened to beatopia and our extended play in this month alone is absolutely ridiculous. i adore her so much oh my gosh what i would GIVE to hear 10:36 live !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

♡ 4. hit me hard and soft, billie eillish

i've listened to this album so many times since it came out oh my gosh. i'm obsessed. i am not a big billie eillish listener, i liked her when she was super popular but since then i haven't really listened to her, but i love love love this album oh my gosh she ate so bad

♡ 5. armageddon, aespa

i was so excited for this album !!! especially as it's their first full length one after four years of being one of THE most iconic kpop girl groups in my honest and humble (and completely correct) opinion, and though it was not as amazing and perfect and fantastic as i hoped it's a pretty solid album and the more i listened the more i liked and it's really grown on me honestly !!!!

──★ ˙ ̟🎀ARTISTS

♡ CHAPPELL ROAN (the fact she even overtook tubatu in this column just tells u how obsessed i am. it's not even funny anymore.)

♡ TOMORROW X TOGETHER (everybody act surprised again !!! )

♡ BEABADOOBEE (bea ily forever)

♡ ARIANA GRANDE (yes i'm still on my ari shit!!!!)

♡ AVRIL LAVIGNE (quick guys pretend you can't tell i'm emo)

──★ ˙ ̟🎀SPECIAL MENTIONS

♡ bea announced her new album,, "this is how tomorrow moves"!! everybody go presave her new album IMMEDIATELY <3 releases august 16th !!!!!! <333333

──★ ˙ ̟🎀 EDITOR'S NOTE

aaaaaand that wraps up this month's issue of bee's record player! once again i'd like to apologise for making u whole month to actually get this month's edition but you're getting a double edition to make up for it so we're all good. thank you all for your patience and i look forward to seeing you again very soon! ♡

all my love, and until next month! 💘🫶🏻🎀

[localrye]

Ok I decided to write a personal (very predictable) music summary for my blog, focused on hardcore, screamo and adjacent music, since it's what I generally post on here. I usually do that in my journal but I guess it'd be nice to have it accessible here too for reference. (+ in my journal I do it for other music genres as well)

I'm not like. knowledgeable about music as much as all the punx I follow here, I can't explain why I'm drawn to certain sounds or talk about music in more technical way coz I don't make my own music nor play in any bands or know anyone who does irl and it's not the way in which I interact with music, I just listen to stuff and it either makes me feel something or inspires me or stimulates my brain in a specific way and I can't stop listening. So I just like what I like and don't know how to explain it yknow!

So The best band I saw live this year was Dauðyflin. Inside the venue there was a wobbly makeshift platform that you could climb and since I'm short and can't see much in the crowd and I can't mosh anyway, I climbed it and sat there and man. That was such a good experience!! Very good energy, loved observing the band members and I also always love observing moshpits so I could see it kind of from above and it looked insane. It was I think around 23 o clock but I was very energised, fucking love Dauðyflin, great performance. Got a cassette from them but unfortunately couldn't talk to any band member coz no one was at the table for a long time so I just left the money under the cassette pile lmao

Absolutely no one will be surprised that my fav album this year was Spiral In A Straight Line by Touché Amoré. I feel like I don't even have to explain, you all know I just love TA, Jeremy's lyrics always feel like anxiety, ocd and autism and is for me. But I also loved the debut EP by Pluto The Racer!!! Was very excited for my boys, got it on vinyl and really hope I get to see them live in 2025! They just sound so sunny and make me feel like skating or just being outside! And a song from this EP (Rails) joined my long-term fav songs, it's incredibly relatable for me. I also really loved the split between ONLY and Barabbas, du förtappade. ONLY's EP from 2022 is a release I regularly listen to, so I was very excited to hear something new from them and I've been waiting for this split since autumn last year! Listened to it so much on the trains this year, it will always feel comforting! Also loved the debut EP of State Power, I listen to their pop punk band and was very excited to find out they're also playing hardcore! And Full of Hell's Coagulated Bliss, I think it's my favourite album from FoH so far?? Listened to it on a loop for like 2 weeks straight, I was obsessed.

Honorary mentions: Headlights EP by Kid, Feral (been listening to it so much this month, I love it, makes me feel like standing on the mossy boulders in my local forests and looking at the snowy mountains! or like looking up in the sky when the thick snowflakes are falling down! or like Pleiades in Taurus constellation!) Hiraeth by Respire (Respire is one of the most important bands for me and even though Hiraeth didn't make me feel like Black Line did, I still found a lot of comfort in it) Arcos, b​ó​vedas, p​ó​rticos by Tenue Universal Tension by Wonderful World Pain Without Hope Of Healing by basque

my favourite tracks this year were Recisione by Put Pùrana and Mezzanine by Touché Amoré

my favourite physical release I got this year was Colisi​ó​n's S/T EP, the vinyl has such pretty colours and I love the cover art so I was very happy to find the insert with it inside!

ok guess that's that? I don't remember if I'm waiting for anything in particular in 2025 coz I generally forget about album releases till bands start to regularly release singles or talk about it all the time so no idea lmao

[bvannn]

Weekly Update November 29, 2024

I’ve had awful insomnia and not a lot of motivation to draw, but I think I figured out why the second one is true: I recently moved into a new apartment, and it has terrible ventilation, and my hands are freezing cold all the time! It’s going to get worse as winter approaches, since I live in the Midwest, but I ordered a space heater today to hopefully remedy this for now, plus I’m trying to get a better job so I can move somewhere nicer, but I guess a degree in the field and a couple years of experience in the field aren’t good enough nowadays. I think it’s because no one wants new employees once they realize they need to pay them, so they put out listings that never get filled. It’s fine I’m doing what I can about it. I’m trying to work around my problems.

Drawing has been very limited due to cold hands, insomnia leaving me with a lack of energy, and some illness flareups. They’ve been extra bad this week for whatever reason, probably stress. I did a couple more epithet erased TTRPG drawings at the beginning of the week, got some maps done and decorated. I figured out the digital tabletop I want to use insofar as map making, I’ll have a friend walk me through fog of war and other features at some point. I wrote out a doc with the villains’ backstory, and I’m getting really attached, which is great. I’ll post tokens for some of them once I have them. Theoretically I could run the first ‘episode’ as soon as the last tokens for that are finished, but I think I’m going to put it off until I have stuff for the next couple episodes done.

I’ve fiddled around with music stuff this week but tried to stick with what I’ve already started. I posted Raccoon Rock, I’ve done a similar animation loop for the Blow Off Steam re-edit to make a lyric video out of, and I have sketches for a few other cover arts, including one for a batch. I have plans for that batch, finally, but I’m still going to release the songs first, just for the sake of having something to release. I found a couple vocaloid producer mutuals on Bluesky so that should help with motivation.

FF has the first round of tuning done, I did learn about a new program called tunelab which can help with pitchbends and pronunciation, although I’m not sure it’s entirely legal? If it is I’m totally using it though it looks really nice. I also finagled with my vocal mixing strategies again to get a hold on how to do growls, and I found a much easier method than what I was doing. I’ve been finaggling with OBS again and maybe if my hands are still cold next week and I run out of stuff to do that involves drawing I’ll make a tutorial.

I did a bit more of another animation project that’s been on the back burner, that’s also at a bottleneck since I need to draw more assets. Comic has also been going pretty slow due to art bottleneck but I did get page 12 finished and page 13 is sketched, we’re 41% done. I think right now the main concern is going to be waiting for that space heater, I’ll try to catch up on sleep and maybe watch cartoons or something to fix my mood. I do have another craft project I could do but I’m not going to start another craft project until a couple more art things are off my plate.

It is Black Friday so I’m tempted to spend money on something for my mood, but right now I’m just raiding all the music plugin giveaways. Maybe I’ll write some smaller songs to throw on the pile of unreleased music. Or maybe not, who knows.

[fayesemblemring]

Faye's Fòdlan Journey: Season 1 - Opening Thoughts

Introduction

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As a reminder, we're starting with Azure Moon first, followed by Verdant Wind, Crimson Flower and lastly Silver Snow.

This was a route order I decided when I asked around for advice on which order to play them (mainly if there was an intended route order like in Fates) and they basically told me "play Azure Moon first, don't play Verdant Wind and Silver Snow next to each other since they're incredibly similar" and something else that made me decide to place Crimson Flower in the third slot. We'll see how well it turns out.

Before starting, I want to make a small note on my past experiences with Fòdlan.

I was there when Three Houses was first announced and I watched all the trailers as well as some Youtubers breaking them down.

But once it got released, I decided to go on hiding to avoid spoilers, which among other things meant unsubscribing to the very bad, not good r/fireemblem subreddit. One thing led to another, I eventually realized Reddit did me more harm than good because at that point I logged in there deliberately to get angry, so I decided to delete it.

Which means, in a way, I have to thank Three Houses to get me out of there, years before Reddit crashed and burned on top of that.

The following years were spent dodging most (but not all, sadly) spoilers, witnessing third-hand reports of flame wars with morbid curiosity (basically it's as if there was a huge wildfire outside and I was in my garden ignoring it while grilling) and being increasingly annoyed that almost every new content felt like it was about Fòdlan. At least before Engage was announced.

So I my feelings coming onto this game are a mix of awe, curiosity, fear and annoyance. I wonder if that makes sense.

Speaking of annoyances, I have to talk about a small pet peeve I have with the cover art.

While I definitely wouldn't call it bad, something about it felt off to me from the moment they revealed it.

It's clear what they were going for, with the house leaders dividing the art into three spaces, but the end results ends up looking a bit goofy, especially with the infamous upside-down Claude (which became a meme from the very beginning) and the Byleths just slapped onto the background of a building even if it doesn't make much sense.

But this is mainly a subjective thing. What isn't subjective, though, is the art error where Claude's bow is misaligned. If you look closely at the center, you'll notice the end of the bow isn't actually ligned up with the rest of it, and now you won't be able to unsee it, bothering you as much as it bothers me. You're welcome, by the way.

But we've delayed the main event for long enough. Let's start the game, shall we?

The first thing you see when starting the game is an empty throne on the left, followed by a quiet rendition on the organ of the Fire Emblem theme. Already it's starting to become clear the tone this game is going for.

Waiting around a bit, the opening of the game starts playing.

First of all- wow, that theme. Edge of Dawn is one of the best vocal tracks of Fire Emblem by far. I remember listening to it on loop when it first got released!

Also I gotta say, I missed the anime-style cutscenes.

While I like the 3D ones these give the game plenty of charm, even if I wish they were a bit more fluid. Honestly, they make a solid argument for a Fire Emblem anime to be released. no the cancelled OVA doesn't count shut up

If this is anything like Echoes, this opening is made of spliced-up future cutscenes. And given a good portion of it shows up again in the intro cutscene, I'd say I'm right.

Returning to the game, we start creating our file and- ooh, boy.

Ignoring the difficulty options for a second, which are the same as every modern Fire Emblem save for Echoes (only difference being that "Lunatic" is now named "Maddening"), it's time for my first big criticism of this game.

Which is ironic, given that it's about all of the text being too. Freaking. ˢᵐᵃˡˡ.

Maybe it's just an impression I have, but back when Three Houses first released, it felt like every AAA company was in a competition to put the tiniest text possible due to the larger screens, with the result that most of the time you have trouble reading it unless you get closer.

This is a huge blunder on accessibility for people with visibility problems, and while it luckily got better especially now that accessibility is a larger focus for most mainstream developers (except, of course, Nintendo), here it still shows its tiny, hugly head.

And remember, the Switch is also a portable console, so there are people who had to read this tiny font on a small screen, so I'd say this is pretty bad. I doubt I'll play Three Houses on portable because of this.

In fact, I feel this is such a problem I will be including alt text on all the screens with dialogue.

Going back to the difficulty options, I will be playing on Normal Classic.

Normal because I'm an impatient scrub, Classic because I like having some form of consequences. Besides, I have Divine Pulse covering my ass.

Hey, I said I was a long-time Fire Emblem player, I never said I was good at it.

With that said, the screen fades to black, and the first proper cutscene begins.

We open on a large, rainy battlefield, in what I assume is the distant past.

Two armies clash against each other, until a human(?) named Nemesis descends from the skies in a burst of flame. Immediately he turns his attention towards his foe, the goddess Seiros.

The two soon begin a duel to the death. Seiros uses a sword and shield which couple with her general design makes me think she might be slightly inspired from Greek culture? Big if true, because from what I know Fire Emblem never took inspiration from Greece.

Nemesis, meanwhile, fights with... the Sword of the Creator?

Huh. Will need to keep a closer eye on that one.

Eventually, Seiros prevails, and in a fit of rage, stabs Nemesis to death over and over, yelling that he took everything she loved.

After felling her *heh* Nemesis, Seiros grabs the Sword of the Creator, lovingly caressing it calling her Mother.

We see the Divine Pulse activate, and all of a sudden we're brought at Best Goddess Sothis' Mind Space, where she notices her new visitor.

So. This intro.

Besides already setting the tone Fòdlan is going for (grand with a lot of death and tragedy and murder), it's interesting how if you're at least a bit savvy with how Fire Emblem stories go, you can already put two and two together with that's happening.

Granted, future games and loose spoilers are kind of helping me, but still. Let me explain.

First of all, Seiros is a goddess. If it wasn't clear from the fact there's a Church named literally after her. And given what most goddesses are in Fire Emblem are and her particular shade of green hair (the same Naga and Tiki and also Mila share), it's clear she's Fòdlan's equivalent of Divine Dragons.

Nemesis, meanwhile, is using a sword made of bones, which are what all of Fòdlan's legendary weapons are made of. And given they are all effective against dragons as Heroes and Engage show...

Well, it doesn't take a genius to realize where those bones come from.

Remember, Falchion is made from a dragon's bone too.

And given what Seiros says, it's likely Nemesis or someone else affiliated with him murdered all of Seiros' loved ones to make legendary weapons of unfathomable power out of them.

The Sword of the Creator seems to be made out of the bones of her mother, on top. No wonder she's pissed.

I am curious about the Divine Pulse transition. Is it just cosmetic to signify a fast-forward, or is there some time fuckery already going on? I guess there's only a way to find out.

Sothis greets us in her own, sassy way, prompting the Avatar creation screen.

And lo and behold, we went from Awakening and Fates' somewhat limited but still extensive customization options to... Just getting to choose the Avatar's gender.

*sigh* Listen. I went on a tangent about this multiple times, so I'll just keep it brief and say that given how restrictive Fire Emblem's dialogue options are, if you're not going to make the Avatar at least visually properly customizable then there's no reason to have an Avatar and all.

Okay. With that tangent aside, let's talk about Byleth's designs.

Male Byleth is my favorite. The outfit looks good and practical for a mercenary, I'm a big fan of the loose sleeves of his jacket (?) and his face looks neutral but serious.

Meanwhile, Female Byleth... well.

I'm sure I'm far from the only one who mentioned this, but between the random holes in her armor just to show more bare skin, her strangely ornate thights and her somewhat younger face with larger eyes... Yeah, it's clear what the designers' priorities were for her.

Also her expression makes her look like a doll. A doll having flashbacks.

I like her hair more, though. So that's that at least.

As a reminder, male Byleth will be used for the first two routes while female Byleth for the last two. But regardless, I will be talking about Byleth in a gender neutral way, safe for cases where I mention a specific gender. Because again, besides romance options, the Avatar's gender really Does Not Matter.

Here we have the first dialogue option, something this game loves to use. I guess it's why Byleth's a silent protagonist, although I doubt it will be worth it.

As a general rule of thumb I like to immerse myself in who I'm playing as, so I will be picking the dialogue options I think Byleth would choose, which will be the highlighted ones in the screenshots.

I know Byleth is nicknamed the Ashen Demon but I don't know how they feel about that moniker yet, so I choose to have them call themselves a mortal.

Sothis then asks Byleth for their name, which for every route will be... Well, Byleth. Not that it's ever said out loud anyway.

Lastly, she asks them about their birthday.

It's interesting to note how here, instead of using our real life Calendar, every month has its Fòdlan counterpart. While this is really neat, I hope they will keep the number along with it because I know I will forget about them otherwise.

And I share their day of birth as well! What a peculiar coincidence!

With a last phrase that feels like it's leaning on the fourth wall, Sothis bids Byleth farewell for now.

donotmakeaSkyrimjokedonotmakeaSkyrimjokeDONOTMAKEASKYRIMJOKE

Byleth's father and soon-to-be corpse, Jeralt, wakes Byleth from their strange dream.

Apparently, Byleth dreamt about Sothis multiple times, but this is apparently the first time she actually noticed them.

Guess she was asleep for the other nights, that must have been pretty awkward for them. I hope she doesn't snore at least.

The father-and-child duo prepars for another mercenary mission, when they're approached by three inconspicious teenagers who definitely haven't set the Internet on fire for years to come, asking for help.

The problem is of course, bandits. The universal evil of all of Fire Emblem. With a whole group of them on their tail and about to attack a village, the five prepare their counterattack.

Which we will see next time, since this post is getting incredibly long and more importantly, I've hit the image cap!

Introduction

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