#these might've been the worst possible choices I could come up with

[lonesomejester]

There was a vision here somewhere

[cheerfulmelancholies]

Mysterious New Member-Chapter 11

As was becoming the norm, Diana found her father in the garage yet again, toiling away in his work area. The Firebird she'd spied several months ago looked brand new, the once weathered frame restored to its former glory. The overhead lights gave it a luminous finish, the pearlescent white paint glistening. Of course, no Firebird was complete without a screaming fiery chicken on the hood.

As much as his near-obsession got on her nerves, she had to admit: he'd done a damn good job.

"Knock, knock," she said, rapping her knuckles against an old Volvo. His next project, most likely. She received a grunt in return. Not surprising, considering they hadn't spoken much lately. She let out a snort at the realization of where her 'determination' came from. "You spend too long like that, and you'll have a hump like a camel," she said to his hunched form, currently leaning over the engine.

"I take it you're only here to piss me off?" he asked without looking.

"No," she sighed, trying not to let her stubbornness kick in. "I came to check up on you. You... know you've been in here for like, three days, right? I only ever see you when you're going to the bathroom or grabbing something from the fridge." Nothing but the sound of him working. "Do you need any help?" she tried.

"Diana..."

"What? I'm just trying to help. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I'm worried?"

He stopped working and stretched, back and joints cracking. "About what?"

"You and Mom fight like cats and dogs now. I'm not saying she doesn't get her licks in, but..." She steeled herself. As much as she didn't want to do it, he needed to hear it. It was her last resort. "Honestly? You've been kind of an asshole lately, and that's putting it nicely." She jolted when he slammed the hood.

They both stood in tense silence. Diana debated turning around and leaving. She watched her father's shoulders rise in time with a deep breath before he let it out.

"How about a ride?" He stared at his reflection in the windshield. He looked like he'd spent more than three days in a dingy garage. He had deep circles under his eyes, pale skin and his dark hair looked as greasy as the rags he'd used to sop up excess oil.

It took her a few moments to realize that nothing else was coming. "Um... what?" She didn't know what to say. His posture wasn't giving anything away and his strange new behavior was still unfamiliar to her. She couldn't pinpoint what he might've been thinking.

"The two of us haven't gone for a good, long drive in a looong time, kiddo. You used to have so much fun when you were little. You'd stick your head out of the window like a dog when you could. We wouldn't tell Mom how fast we were really going, it was our little secret." A ghost of a smile formed in the glass.

Diana blinked, finally understanding where this was going. It was his way of trying to apologize. Still unusual, but at least there was some part of her dad in there. She felt a faint smile pull on her lips. "Can I drive?"

"No."

A beat passed before they both chuckled, Diana climbing in to ride shotgun as he cleared away the tools.

--------

Diana jolted and sat up in bed, throwing the covers off in the process. She wasn't sure what had startled her, just that she was thankful she couldn't remember. She sat in the dark with her legs pulled against herself, waiting for the shivers to stop. When her nerves settled and the shadows of the room stopped churning she chanced a peek at the time.

Quarter after three. The worst possible time to wake up in the middle of the night. Too early to start, too late to be able to fall back asleep. Her only choice was to lie awake in bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to keep her clouded thoughts from becoming too clear. She wondered if the Battle Force often got woken up in the middle of the night to fight off their enemies. She'd much rather be dealing with aliens right now.

With a deep breath, she lowered herself onto the mattress and folded her arms behind her head. She felt the veins in her neck pulsing from the momentary panic and spent several minutes focusing on her breathing. When the thudding faded she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

Opening them again she stretched a hand towards the nightstand and swiped the worn leather journal off the surface. Maybe now she'd finally be able to get some clarity on its contents. She might even get an answer or two. She sat up and turned the light on to read. As usual, the only things that stood out to her were the increasingly frantic scratches that were notes and a few vague mentions here and there.

It was still just as much a mystery as always, only now, somehow it was even murkier. She gave up and placed it back on the nightstand.

As angry as she still was with Tezz and the others, she knew she needed to go back. This was a once in several lifetimes opportunity and she would not let herself throw it away because of one misdeed on their part.

Chapter 12: TBP

Chapter 10: here

[sagetsukimura]

(I just want to write it out, see if it helps me sort my thoughts out. Remind future-me that I tried. This week has been pretty... Chaotic, at work. )

I did it. I communicated to the best of my abilitiy in a stressful work environment, and i thought we'd finally gotten on the same page.

I'd done the right thing. I spoke to them directly, I used 'i feel' statements, and explained why, didn't cry when I got yelled at, only yelled back once and visibly made myself stop, and we managed to actually get on the same page ( at least I thought so, I hope so) once she realized i wasn't giving her a 'reasons why you suck' speech. I was satisfied with my feelings being proven wrong, because yes, it did turn out that nobody else was communicating with each other either. Misunderstandings and resentment. (We had 2 people quit this week.)

Problem addressed and acknowledged, if not fixed. I did it. I communicated. Glad that's over with because I hate being assertive or having people upset with me. (I don't like speaking up in situations like this, but so many people were having issues and... I don't know why I thought I could make a difference.)

Only today, a higher up comes in, and asks me a bunch of questions, and introduces me to someone, and I can't figure out what she wants from me., she's asking for specific incidents, and telling me I need to be a more positive team player, and I'm so tired of feeling helpless and frustrated I start crying when I have to talk about one of our more... difficult... Parents.

She tells me to take some time to calm down, I give the new manager a heartful 'nice to meet you, hope you stick around' that might've been TOO heartfelt (7 managers in one year guys, I'm getting desperate . I REALLY hope she'll stick around) and get back to the kids after making sure I don't look like I've been bawling.

Anyway, boss comes back an hour and a half later and says I need to leave. I'm confused and ask her if she means like, go home? NOW? And all I manage to get is *'things are worse than I was told'* and she's off... Somewhere.

... Ok?!

So I clean up, and i leave. No clue what happened or why. Did I do something? Did she want me to take the day to calm down? Was someone mad about yesterday? Apparently someone is/was lying? Should I wait for a phone call? An email? Should I come in Monday? Am I fired? What's going on?!

So now I'm... here. No clue what's going on. Brain is trying to come up with the worst answers possible, I'm trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I love my job, but when no one knows what is going on or where something is, or even who to ask, it means no one sticks around. I'm not sure if anyone else has been around long enough to know the Wi-Fi passwords besides me.

It's weird, how chilled out I am. Usually I feel physically ill at the thought that someone is upset with me. Maybe counseling really is helping? Or I'm waiting to know if I've been fired before I let myself mentally burn bridges and move on.

At least I know I've done my best. I've tried to make it obvious to the others that I'm trying in good faith. I've tried really hard. (I almost think too hard. I should've kept my head down, because even if I was willing to try and talk, I appear to be very bad at it.) I just... Don't know what the expectations of me are, since I've been at the site for twice as long as anyone else. I know things no one else does. But I also don't even know where to find the signup paperwork. I'm not a manager, I'm literally the bottom of the ladder, and happy staying there.

I feel confused, and worried. Overwhelmed, frustrated, and a little betrayed. There's a voice in my head telling me I should've kept my head down and my mouth shut, and rolled through the next few months.

But mostly, I just want to know what is going on, so I can make my own choices. If I stay, I want to know what changes and expectations I should expect, because it feels like they are changing all the time, and it's not just kids who like consistency. I have to ask myself, how long do I WANT to have this job.

I just... Hope I did the right thing, as best I could. That I can say I honestly tried, even if it didn't work. But that doesn't mean it won't suck if it turns out I was right to doubt.

[wanderingjournalofshadows]

principium II

I shall tread down on the path of creating a character.

But before that, allow me to correct my previous writ regarding the system I will use.

Most of the Ravenloft setting has been published in its full glory under the second edition of AD&D, thus I shall use that one. Luckily, I also possess a Player's Handbook of this edition, which will be quite handy with character generation and general rules. The spells are also straightforward, and there is the possibility to uitlize Gavin Norman's Theorems and Thaumaturgy but also Wonder & Wickedness from Lost Pages. I've been quite excited to include those in some games already, and so far haven't had the luck to do so.

Today's post will be about character creation, and establishing the starting area - one of the Domains of Dread.

I'm also thinking about creating a Wiki for myself, or something that functions as a Wiki - maybe Notion could be a good option, but I leave this decision for now behind. There is a character to be made.

I was thinking about using some inspirational practices, like using the Tarokka deck to determine certain things. I know for certain that if I would play a human, my option to have multiple classes is only to dual-class, meaning I have to level up one class to a certain point, where I stop and start the new class, retaining all the benefits of the previous one, but I can't move forward with the old one.

All the other playable races can Multiclass, meaning they always use the most favourable benefits of the classes but have certain restriction.

But again, maybe the cards tell me otherwise - so let's see! I will draw four cards of the Tarokka deck to determine my character's past as a child, how they flourished/survived through out adulthood so far, what is their ideal and their burden. I will also draw a fifth card that should give me a certain idea of the first Domain of Dread this character will venture into.

The cards are:

Seven of Swords - Hooded One - Bigotry, intolerance, and xenophobia; a mysterious presence or newcomer

Innocent - A being of great importance whose life is in danger (who might be helpless or simply unaware of the peril)

Four of Coins - Merchant - A rare commodity or business opportunity; deceitful or dangerous business transactions

Two of Glyphs - Missionary - Those who spread wisdom and faith to others; warnings of the spread of fear and ignorance

Nine of Glyphs - Traitor - Betrayal by someone close and trusted; a weakening or loss of faith

So what I can deduct from this - Through the Hooden One, the character had a family being executed for a sin they commited. As a child they had to grow up on the streets, fending for themselves, becoming streetwise.

The Innocent card suggests me an adulthood where they were seeking the truth about their family being executed. Something that might've drawn them to investigation and knowing the truth.

The ideal and the burden is fairly interesting, since the Merchant ideal would blatantly suggest that the character is mainly motivated by monetary gains, but the ideal behind it is risk taking, running a business, taking rare opportunities that come with interesting consequences. I think their ideal is being daring, or ambitious.

The Missionary says is the wisdom and faith, of caution and preaching of dangers. Maybe they might be overly cautious? Although that might be fairly against the ideal. Catastrophizing might be the actual burden. While they will take the risks ahead, the scenarios in their head could be the worst of the worst nightmares.

Now the Traitor is a very interesting choice for the Domain of Dread. I reach back for the Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft - to see which Domain might be the best fitting for this. I specifically don't want Barovia, even though there are some aspects of it that might work well with this.

I found Borca to be the most fitting one with its hallmarks of political intrigue, poison, and revenge. Noble families, conspiracies and corruption is definitely fitting to the Traitor card.

I'm thinking of a Half-Elf, specifically a Half-Elf Thief/Mage multiclass. But now I realize that OSE with the Advanced books might be a good option for the rules. It seems to be closer to 1E than 2E, but has some elements well massaged within the rules, that make it certainly more appealing, like Humans can also multiclass.

Nevertheless, I'll roll first my Ability scores - in the 2E book six methods are presented, for the joy and randomness, I shall roll 1d6 to determine which method I'll be using.

Number 3 - Method III - Rolling 3d6 six times and then assigning them to the abilities. Fair and harsh. Good start.

16, 12, 12, 11, 11, 9 - I rolled fairly well for this.

Following OSE character creation, now I choose my class(es). I'm still thinking of Thief and Mage (or in OSE's case, Magic User). The wonderful thing about the OSE multiclass, that it allows you to have the best armour, weapon, spell casting, and stealth skills of your classes, as long you have the appropriate equipment.

And the Advanced books hold some goodness when it comes to the races, but I will stick to the half-elf. And thusly, I record most of the abilities and saves, and additional things. I'll take the advice from Theorems and Thaumaturgy, and start with Read Magic as a first spell, and generate two random from my list, Magic Missile and Sleep, then I choose two freely - which I'll do so from the T&T (ain't gonna write that title again) - Reptilian Metabolism from the Vivimancy list, and Crystal Resonance from the Elementalist list

And due to the nature of OSE, I'll start with a wonderful amount of hit points: 3. Main priority - don't die.

At this point I slowly get the idea of the character on a mechanical level as well. Use spells wisely, sneak often, fight only when needed.

Gotta get some friends during adventuring.

Backstory will come around for the next post - most likely in the company of the Oracle I'll be using.

Cheers,

Mythwriter

[eriisaam]

Yeah! Yeah!

😭They're both strong girls in their own ways (Plumeria and Triandra) just their strengths come from a different place and framing compared to Alfonse, and in the case of Triandra she in connection with Peony had a sorta protect-at-a-cost dynamic? (For the lack of a better way to put it).

Both Triandra and Peony came from the same experience as sisters. But Peony walked away significantly less torn apart and frightened compared to Triandra because of the factors that tore Triandra down in the first place (because she had to stand up to protect Peony so she's much more cynical, guarded, and easier to send in a panic if anything went off the rails compared to Peony being a bit more hopeful). It's a lot similar to why Elise in Fates also had a significantly more positive and hopeful personality compared to the other Nohrians because her older siblings paid a similar price to protect what was within their means to protect (as traumatized kids who fought and killed for survival) and did the best for what they could at the time. Except Triandra is shouldering it all for herself and Peony (compared to Xander/Camilla/Leo having different levels and each other to lean on) and her only support came after she was pushed to a fight-or-flight extreme (killing her father) and said support's solution was to pull her into a "we can pretend that isn't reality anymore and here's powers to ensure it'll never happen again" that did accomplish what Triandra and Plumeria both needed (they got away from dire situations) except Freyja's support of them was to distract them with new tasks, new powers, and turn them into her daughters, while pretending away what traumas the two actually came from and leaving it at "it's just a bad dream, here, have some more nectar to forget it all". and just kept wiping away the memories whenever it hindered or upset them over give them a way to properly process and cope.

They both grew up, sure, but they grew up in ways they pretended away their problems - by choice or force - all in ways that directly tied to Freyja being a driving force of it. She can alter or wipe their memories at will, she can manufacture completely new memories, and although there's certain triggers no amount of memory tampering can entirely take away (and which happen to tie into their thematics/behavior, Plumeria being disgusted with sexual subjects, Triandra coming undone when things go wrong, etc), at the same time Freyja puts herself into a position that "If anything fucks up and I can't handle it, Lady Freyja is all-powerful enough to fix it or make it go away".

(And likewise with your point: Peony and Mirabilis also have similar shades of this, but Triandra took the brunt of both of their traumas, so Peony, like Elise, might've been shielded just enough from the worst aspects of their childhoods because she remembered moreso of Triandra's protection of her than the threat she was being protected from, while Mirabilis drew from vaguer memories of warmth, comfort, and sleep that clouded what she might've been subjected to that caused her to be so chronically sleepy)

Then comes the 4th book, where a lot of these issues start getting picked at and come undone (such as all the alfrs suddenly being subjected to memories of their past lives), and the chance to lose Freyja became a sudden new possibility eventually nearly realized and then eventually fully realized.

Now that Freyja - their safety net, their protector, the one who, in the terrifying scenario Triandra at her strongest still isn't strong enough to fight and defeat a threat, Freyja could - suddenly isn't an option anymore and is no longer in the picture, what then?

Freyja cared for them (in her own way, and as what Plumeria and Triandra were brought up to think), possibly to a degree Freyr too, but Freyja only raised them in such a way as to be just independent and strong enough to challenge Freyr if need be or stand up on their own, but also dependent enough on her that they still need her or rely on her to a degree, as a way to ensure they will always love her and are conditioned not to easily abandon her. It works out for her to that end that she always has the two of them turn to her and adore her no matter what (in contrast to Freyja's extreme loneliness and jealousy when the only other person in her life, Freyr, isn't as joined at the hip and immediately siding with her anymore, and this probably adding to why she isn't as close to Njordr (caught up in his own thoughts and ambitions) or Nethuz (loves all, but presumably unconditional general love doesn't read the same to Freyja's extreme-loneliness mindset as more specific and personal familial love if she didn't hold Nethuz as highly as Freyr despite this, and/or it comes in conflict with how Nethuz is also overly fickle if her own favors aren't won over, like how Sharena had to win her over after she's shown she's not above turning on "misbehaving children" herself), but once Freyja can't be here for the two anymore for whatever reason, Triandra and Plumeria are just thrown out into the wild and left to fend for themselves again in worlds they were trained to see as "I'm strong and I'm powerful, but if I can't handle this, Freyja can". Now Freyja isn't there anymore if the two end up triggered by the memories Freyja would normally be there to bury or help pretend away, and on top of that now they have to fight new threats related to Freyja's own background and history on top of inner demons they never fully hashed out so much as patched or swept under.

So now they're back relying on instinct again, the first instinct being now they at least have each other, but it's back again to "if I become too weak or prove I'm scared or not strong enough, bad people will attack and take advantage of me again". Peony at least now has her sister, and she's older and more capable than before this time, and both Triandra and Plumeria have each other from the start on top of Peony and Mirabilis, but there's this constant fear of encountering someone whose too much even for her, who will corner and overwhelm her, and put Peony at stake again, and worse, even higher stakes now with Plumeria and Mirabilis.

Those memories are more on raw instinct and emotion. That father isn't a person anymore, he's a concept and a reminder of a time Freyja wasn't there to protect her, and a time where, if she lost, Peony (and now Plumeria, Mirabilis, and Eitr) will pay dearly for her fuck-ups. The course of Book 4 was like getting triggered, and current events with Ginnungagap was like re-experiencing that same trauma and fears all over again.

Compare and contrast with Alfonse.

Gustav is a person who was alive for long enough for Alfonse to form a memory of his character. He has a name. He is a person, qualities and flaws and all. He tried his best to be a good king following the failure of losing his own father to Hel, and he's also a name and face you can attribute to an asshole who harshly ridicules and scorns Alfonse and Sharena at times while being a loving and caring husband to Henriette in other times. He has facets, and what harm and damage he caused to Sharena and Alfonse were consistent and ingrained in ways they grew up and shaped their personality quirks at times around this (for instance Alfonse's attitude toward the summoner at first) or how they act in defiance of this (both being in the Order of Heroes at all despite Gustav's protests), but he was a consistent figure in their life that they either learned off/against him or they learned to recognize inconsistencies from what they grew up knowing as they grew up (like Alfonse's shift in attitude that led him opening up to the summoner more between insecurities stewed from his upbringing and still reeling of past traumas with people he trusted who turned away).

When Hel killed him, Alfonse was mature enough to separate the incident in many parts. Parts like how Gustav is his father who Alfonse felt he failed. Gustav died in a way other members of his family also died and will probably continue dying if Alfonse doesn't find a way to kill Hel. Gustav was a mark on failure on his part that reaffirms that if Alfonse didn't try hard enough or wasn't ruthless enough to a fault, people who mean a lot to him will suffer, and sometimes being viciously protective is a necessity when going against someone he knows for a fact is also beyond cruel.

He can separate his feelings and approaches to Gustav's death, and adjust himself in kind (for better or worse), and no matter what he remembers Gustav as the late king Gustav, rather than just the person who embodies one of his greater failures/failings/traumatic points of his life.

And then there's Lif.

Lif, likewise, was also mature enough to articulate the how's and why's between the loss of his summoner, sister, and all he cares for, and Hel (and then Thorr) preyed on his extreme desperation when his failings reached such an extreme magnitude past the point of forgiveness (now not just Gustav's death, but basically everybody except Thrasir and Eir). That's why he genuinely slipped off the deep end (not just have moments raising his hackles and convincingly pretending otherwise like Alfonse), and why he reacts as he does between the summoner either being someone he cares a lot about that he failed heavily to, or he and Sharena embodying the collective entirety of his greatest failures. He had the worst blow he could possibly have in his confidence that he won't royally fail everyone he cares about, did already fail them heavily, and the best he can do is trust the carrots dangling in his face no matter how deceptive he knows deep down Hel and then Ganglot and Thorr were being in their dealings and promises, because he 'proved' to himself long ago he can never fully trust himself again not to make the same mistake or worse anymore. Alfonse didn't entirely lose it yet, but Lif shows what happens if he did, and in a way it's like a nice comparison to how Triandra similarly processed the raw feelings of an equally horrible point in her life.

(I'm not actually sure where I'm going with all this, I just think there's so many layers to these babies struggling hard and think it's neat in tragic ways and your drawing opened up a looot of thoughts of Alfonse, Triandra and Lif being interesting facets of similar themes orz I'm so sorry for the Wall of Words and I also worried mentioning of Triandra and Alfonse having strength shown in different ways was coming off too critical I'm sorry)

@eriisaam WAIT YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!!!! YOU HELPED ME CONNECT THE DOTS HERE THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

It seems like such an obvious thing LMFAO BUT IT WAS what I was missing!!!! The fact that for Triandra this was a formative core memory that shaped her completely as a child, and for Alfonse, he was already grown up. Not only that, but he has an entire life time of learning how to cope how he does -- and whether or not it's healthy, it works for him, and that's all that matters (to him, anyway).

ALSO this majorly made something click for me!! Like!!! I ALMOST had it, with a half-baked thought of "Triandra absolutely has a strong moral compass, but the way it manifests is almost childish. The way that she believes that All Murder Is Wrong in a black and white way, because YEAH Murder Bad, unable to consider when violence is the only answer" BUT LIKE. YEAH. THAT'S IT!! THAT'S THE THING!!!! It IS a childish way to conceptualize morality, because she never got the chance to grow up.

THAT'S THE THING WITH ALL THE FAIRIES ACTUALLY. Even Plumeria!!! LIKE. Deceptively she seems to be the most adult of them all, but that's a direct effect of the nature of her trauma forcing her to grow up fast, adultifying her. And LIKE Triandra, her concept of sexuality is over simplified into All Sex/Desire Bad because of how it traumatized her as a child -- AND. Again, she never got to grow up. Instead, both of them grew around their pain.

ALSO!! ESPP the part about the incident being less about Triandra's father himself, and more representative of how the trauma affected her, how it made her feel. Also REALLY good points about Freyja too, I just. Always forget about Freyja LMFAOOOOO

Also also absolutely they both have strong auras at heart. I was exclusively thinking of the Fuck It We Ball version of the meme LMFAO and I felt it reflected their attitudes/approaches 😅 Triandra HAS been through hell and back and she is doing the best she can ESP considering The Circumstances!!!! 🫡

[sometime-in-1995]

I honestly rolled my eyes when I saw Inhun's name. It irks me that even during a situation like that, Inhun still cross Nakyum's mind. But I can't really blame him since all he could ever consider as a family he could rely on are his Noonas from the Kisaeng house and that despicable scholar Jung Inhun. But right now, all of them are out of question since his noonas basically cut ties with him saying he should never come back again for some reason although they truly care for him. While Inhun is of course, all the more should not be one of the options after all that he has done and has happened.

And an image flashed into Nakyum's mind, an image of Seungho. Practically, he's all he could rely on right now. But it's something more than that. Now, he found a place he could consider a home, someone he could consider a home and that is Seungho.

Nakyum screamed for Seungho's name for his dear life and that devastated Jihwa. More than the fact that Seungho & Nakyum had sex right after Seungho coldheartedly rejected him, hearing Nakyum scream for Seungho to save him is even more devastating. Jihwa knows right then how deep Seungho & Nakyum clings to each other although Nakyum might not realize it yet.

It might've been ironic that Nakyum screams for Seungho to come save him when he used to be the very person he wanted to ran away from. Things have changed now. Nakyum no longer fears nor hates him. This past few chapters, Seungho have undressed himself infront of Nakyum, showing him his vulnerability, but more than that, his desperation and sincerity. Right now, all Nakyum could see is the Seungho struggling inside his own walls.

Although they started on a wrong foot, they couldn't deny the fact that they are each other's comfort and salvation.

Seungho is a very insightful and perceptive person. He's not easily fooled and is always ahead of everyone's game. Right from the very start, he deprived Nakyum from going out of the residence without him or his permission. It's not just because of sole possessiveness but he knows that the other nobleman have been on his back and got their eyes on Nakyum. He's been fearing and anticipating the possibility of this abduction might happen. He got frustrated when he realized Nakyum went out without his permission especially right now that he's weak and can't protect him. And now it did.

I want to believe that he will analyze the situation and come to Nakyum's rescue before Jihwa makes a stupid decision. I just hope he won't be a dumbass and assume that Nalyum left him 'coz he got repulsed by his confession. That's like the worst conclusion he could've possibly make. I mean, he's smart af but he could be such a dumbass when it comes to love 🤦

Of course, although we know BD has some sadistic kink to torment us, I know she's not gonna kill Nakyum or do anything grave to him. I also want to trust on Jihwa 'coz I know he's not a murderer. I mean, look at his poor hands, crooked and abused out of anxiety and frustration.

However, I also don't want to discard the possibility of madness clouding his mind after finding out how Seungho didn't give a fuck about his deaperate and begging confession. That or he'll feel demotivated and just retreat from the assassination plan.

I wonder what Jihwa will respond after Nameless gave him options and made him choose on how to dispose Nakyum. He wanted Nameless to take care of everything so he won't feel responsible as if to give himself the excuse from feeling guilty. But now he was given the choice, Nameless literally made him hold the ball of guilt and made him feel how heavy it is to carry. Now, it's up to him to decide whether to keep carrying the ball his entire life or drop it.

[lovelivingmydreams]

Paper Flowers: Everyone falls

But it’s getting up that matters.

People try their best. And sometimes that isn’t enough. But that doesn’t mean one should give up. This week Thomas had a bad night and tensions rose high. Join me in the morning after.

And with the fanders a little pick me up was just what the doctor ordered.

As usual Virgil woke up to Princey singing at the top of his lungs.

This morning's opening number was 'how far I'll go,' from Moana.

Virgil sighed. Today was going to be a long day. He'd expected as much. After yesterday...

Thomas had gone out with Joan to a party. There'd been a really cute guy. It had been fun and he was charming, a fellow actor even. Things were going so well... until, somehow, they had started talking about social media... YouTube and vine among them. This guy did not like the creator community. And he was very vocal about it. Something about attention seeking talentless idiots giving theater a bad name.

Luckily they made a clean getaway. Roman had played it off last night until he knocked at Virgil's backdoor.

Virgil hadn't needed an explanation. He'd gathered his first aid kit and came into the meadow to tend to Roman's injuries. Roman hadn't wanted to talk last night, so Virgil hadn't pushed him. Hadn't even made him promise to go to Patton if he wasn't feeling better in the morning. Roman usually didn't mind letting Patton look after him, but something told Virgil that he'd come to him for a reason.

He looked at himself in the mirror. "Let's get this over with."

He made his way downstairs for breakfast. He was the first to arrive. Aside from Patton that is.

"Virgil! You're up!" Clearly seeing Virgil was not what Patton expected first thing in the morning.

"Didn't have any other choice with Princey belting Moana in the next room," he grumbled.

Patton visibly relaxed at that. "Roman's singing... good. That's good."

Virgil was pretty sure he was the only one who ever heard Roman sing in his room. He didn't know if it was his heightened senses or something else, but no one ever seemed to complain about it. He'd never confronted Princey with it. First because he was sure Roman would sing even louder the next morning out of spite, and now because he kind of liked hearing a friendly voice first thing in the morning.

Virgil huffed and mumbled something about a bad night as he made himself a cup of chamomile, he needed to calm himself down. He did not like being here this early. Patton was too chipper in general and there was no one to distract him now.

"How did you sleep anxiety?" There it was.

The question, which normally came so easily when directed at anyone else was loaded with tension.

Virgil decided to stick with a shrug. Hoping that would be enough to let Patton feel like he'd met his quota of showing interest in him today. The answer was complicated. He'd been exhausted by the time he was done panicking last night. Especially since he'd tried not to show Princey too much of his worries while patching him up. He was having a rough enough time.

So once he did fall asleep he slept like the dead so to speak. It just took ages to get there.

Once his cup was in his hand he stalked to his seat he got some cereal and started eating. He could feel Patton struggle with something.

"I can practically hear you thinking. If you have something to say, just say it," he huffed, not looking up.

He heard a deep intake of breath.

"You were a bit too hard on Thomas last night."

Of course. Well at least he wasn't tiptoeing around him anymore. Before Patton dragged him to dinner that first time he would be so extremely careful when telling him to soften up. Like he was going to attack him if he said the wrong thing.

"We've established that I do what I do and don't care if you like it or not. Thomas needed to consider these things. You might've wanted him to forget that conversation ever happened but that isn't how real life works," he stated. Thomas had to be aware people thought those things to not get as hurt by meeting someone like that again. Pretending that if was a fluke and didn't matter was not right.

"Good morning Patton... Anxiety. Unusual to see you at the breakfast table,” Logan greeted calmly as he, made his way to the tea kettle. Virgil jumped at the chance to change the topic.

"Am I seriously the only one who heard Princey perform for his teddy bears this morning or what?" Virgil groaned. Logan cocked his head curiously. "Interesting... do you often hear things we do in private?" What? Where did that come from?

"I'm not eavesdropping! I literally woke up from the noise!" he seethed. He knew they didn't like him but did they have to assume everything he said or did had malicious intent?

Logan simply finished making his tea and toast before sitting down.

"Apologies that was perhaps not properly phrased. I just meant to ask if this was a first time or if your hearing simply automatically bypasses the barriers between the rooms all the time."

Oh, Virgil relaxed at that. Log

 Oh. Virgil relaxed a little embarrassed he made such a big deal over it. Great job anxiety. Just another reason they would never truly accept you as s friend. Not that he was hoping for that. He was fine. He shrugged. "Princey sings every morning. Sometimes I hear typing from your room." Understatement. It sounded like the keys were about to be chattered under Logan's speed and force whenever he heard it.

"And..." Suddenly he changed his mind, this was all probably really private. He was anxiety. He figured he picked up Princey's singing in the morning no matter what mood he was in because part of him was listening for any noises whether in the real world or Thomas' mind. But the rest… that might be them under stress and he shouldn't expose any of them like that without permission. But asking Pat's permission now would prove he cared and it would out the fact that Patton was hiding stuff.  "Just stuff," he shrugged dismissively getting back to his cereal.

Logan did not get the hint. "I see... would you..."

"Can we keep the third degree for some other time? I'm really not in the mood!" he groaned.

And just then the whole reason he was subjecting himself to this came in. With a smile plastered on his face and a grand gesture. "Good...!"

"No!”Vigrgil exclaimed turning to Roman, hiding his face from the others allowing him a chance to check him over. He seemed alright. But just to be safe. “Especially you! Just shut up! I don't want to hear another word this morning! I came down so I wouldn't have to deal with anyone trying to drag me down for family breakfast or whatever. So let's just eat in freaking silence alright!?" He shouted. He wasn't really that upset. But Princey might still not be up for Patton fussing over him. So Virgil hoped that for once Patton being scared of upsetting him came through in a good way.

“If you insist on making noise, hum or something. Just so long as you shut up for once!” And with that Virgil sat back down and started eating.

He could hear Patton ready himself for a reprimand but it didn't come. He assumed either Logan or Roman had stopped him. Roman sat down and hummed ‘Poor unfortunate souls'. A silent acknowledgment of what Virgil had done.

Breakfast was silent, and Virgil made sure to eat slow enough for Roman to be done before him so he could make a clean getaway. Logan finished first and left without a word.

Roman was next and went straight to the field. Virgil was a little happy to feel his key vibrate in an almost melodious rhythm. Roman's way of inviting him to hang out if and when he felt like it.

He finished his tea and got up. Planning to go straight to the meadow and check prince over. But Patton had other plans.

“Anxiety we need to talk.” Quite possibly one of the worst thing to say to literal anxiety, but okay.

“I feel like I made it clear that we were done. I don’t tell you how to do your thing. So you should do me the same favor,” he huffed before starting to walk away.

“Why didn't you answer Logan's question earlier?” The moral side blurted out.

Virgil, paused, he hadn't expected that. He didn't let that ruin his devil may care act though.  “Didn't feel like it,” he shrugged.

“If that was all, I have to go and contemplate the futility of our existence,” he drawled with a salute.

He hadn't even fully turned around yet before Patton spoke again. Rushed as if trying to get it out before he could think about it. “Did you hear?”

Virgil froze. He knew what Patton probably wanted to remain secret above all else. What he might've worried Virgil overheard with his heightened senses.

He'd almost checked in on him last night, but then realized Patton wouldn't want assurance from him of all sides . What could he even say?

Logan was out too, and Roman was in no shape to take on another side’s troubles.

“Depends…” he turned back to face Patton his face still carefully controlled though he allowed himself to be sincere. “Do you like…” Ugh. He was going to kill Roman for hammering on about giving the others a chance. “Want to talk about it, or something?”

Patton looked surprised. He was silent for a moment, like he was actually considering it.

But Virgil could see how uncomfortable Patton was. Of course. Of course he didn't want to talk about it. Not to Anxiety at least. He hated how much that hurt. What did he expect?

“Then I guess I have no clue what you mean,” Virgil continued casually as he disappeared up the stairs. Not even waiting to get through his room before opening a door with his key. It was risky he knew, but he needed to be somewhere no one could bother him.

“Virgil, you came.” No one except Princey. But he was a special case. Virgil smirked at Roman as he walked over to sit beside him. The relief in Roman's voice and face was unmistakable.

“Of course I did idiot. You didn’t think I was actually mad at you right? We've had enough fights for you to know the difference I’d say,” he teased as he leaned back a little to study the clouds.

“Yeah, I just… I would have understood if you really needed a break. I know eating with us can be stressful, and I left you by yourself…” Virgil sighed, knowing what princey was getting at.

“How are you?” he asked instead glancing at the royal by his side. Trying to spot any sign of his injuries bothering him.

Roman sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m fine. I took of the bandages this morning and they didn’t need replacing. But thank. Not having to pretend everything was perfectly fine this morning… I needed that. How did you know?” Roman wondered, allowing himself to be distracted for a moment.

“You only sing ‘I want’ songs and power ballads first thing in the morning when you are really down. I was honestly relieved it wasn’t ‘Go the distance’ or ‘Defying gravity’. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done then.” Not letting Princey force himself to put on a show during breakfast for the others was one thing. But making him stay in bed would be tricky to pull off without letting the others in on what he was doing.

“You… Hear me sing… And you know my mood by what songs I pick?”

Roman sounded moved for some reason.

“Yeah, I think it has to do with being on alert in the morning or something. And I can hear you the others in your rooms when you guys are… Anxious I guess. Logan was a nightmare during finals,” he jests.

“And I learned your mood playlist because it was useful to know when to avoid you and when I could push your buttons a little. I just use my knowledge for good now I guess.”

Roman gave him a playful push. “Aw, don’t lie. You were secretly worried about me when I sang my sad Roman Playlists,” he teased.

Virgil just rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Patton didn’t give you a hard time over this did he? Because I can talk to him later and get him to lay off, I can make an excuse…”

Virgil waved him off. “I’d never let you straight up lie to Patton for me Ro. You know that. And. He just… I let it slip that I heard you singing in your room. You know, to make them think all is fine and dandy. And Logan pointed out that we’re not supposed to hear what happens in each other’s rooms and wondered if I overheard stuff more often. I dodged the question and Patton wanted to know why. Wanted to know what I heard from his room.” It wasn’t exactly what was said but Patton was allowed choose who else knew how badly last night had upset him. Plus Roman would feel guilty if he knew. Virgil curled in on himself and stared ahead as he remembered how the conversation had ended.

“I… Tried to offer to listen if there was something he needed to vent about or something.” He averted his gaze, he didn’t want to even catch a glimpse of Roman’s pity. “Didn’t go well. Not that I expected him to open up to me of all sides. But… I don’t know…”

“It hurts none the less,” Roman said empathically. Virgil chanced a glance and was relieved his friend seemed understanding instead of sorry.

He relaxed a little. “Yeah…” he admitted.

He expected Roman to come to Patton’s defense. To explain why the moral side acted that way, and how good his intentions were.

But instead. “I’m proud of you for trying though. I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

Virgil chuckled. “Thanks,” he allowed.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while.

“Wanna do each other’s nails while we brainstorm something fun for Thomas to do to give him a boost?” Virgil suggested casually after a while.

Roman shot up and ran to his room to get his stuff. Virgil couldn’t help but laugh. That was a yes.

 Today was awful. Everything just insisted on going wrong!

You let yourself fall on your bed and pick up your phone hoping to find some kind of escape.

You see a new video from Thomas Sanders. Oh, those are usually funny. Maybe it’ll be a prank or a storytime…

You tap the video and see Thomas pointing at the camera.

“Hey you!” The camera goes up and down and shows the prince smiling at you.

“You gorgeous human being!” he declares grandly. Up and down it goes and the teacher character is looking at you with arms crossed and his head cocked a proud smile on his face.

“You are so smart,” he states with certainty.

This time the camera returns to the dad character his arms close to his chest hands balled in fists near his face, huge goofy grin on his face.

“You are unique!”

And then sleep! Looking like he’s taping in the middle of a party. “Take a nap gurl! You deserve it!”

And lastly the nemesis. He too has his arms folded in front of him but he looks at you with a strange sort of stern yet gentle look.

“You deserve love and respect. No matter what others say,” he tells you seriously.

And damn it. Why did that mean so much!? Maybe just because you kind of needed to hear that right now. Maybe you will have a quick nap.

But not before liking and sharing. Even sending it to a few friends to make them smile.

Next: The little things

[conner-grace]

The Detective and his Little Assistant (part 4)

(Part Index)

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens

*Warning spoilers if you haven't gotten through 6/13 in the game*

A/N-Before the chapter starts, I want to explain a couple things. First, I chose to make Kaito a witch because I identify myself as a witch, and yes, I do mean witch, not warlock, because witch is, in fact, a gender-neutral term, also due to me being a witch, everything Kito does involved with witchcraft will be based off my own experiences, knowledge, religion and opinions, so please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can cite a reliable source for your info. Second, for those reading this, who don't know Japanese culture very well, calling someone by their first name without an honorific (-san, -kun, -chan, ect.) unless you know them very well, or they've given you permission, is highly offensive. Please remember these for future chapters :) .

Now to the story.

~~~

Monday, June 13th, After School

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I was listening to the audio data from the pen I downloaded to my phone on the way from the station to work. I was quite happy to see that it hadn't been accidentally turned off throughout the day, despite the likelihood for it to have. I was actually skipping past a bit that seemed to be a personal conversation between her and her friends, though I seemed to be the topic of their talk. If it weren't for my current opinion of Yuno, I might've even blushed at the direction the discussion was going, however, I was disgusted and just trying to get past it.

"Finally." I sigh, getting past it, not surprised that it took up all of lunch. Listening as she head's to pe. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" She either wonders aloud or asks her friends, judging by the steps I heard around her. Her friends offered up names. I quickly realized all the names were all from the top 10 students in the first and second years, 'but most of those kids would never-oh, yeah, blackmail'  I think, my gritting my teeth. 'Wait, thinking about it, not even Kaito-kun would've taken this lying down, so what's she got on him that he doesn't want me to know?'  I knew it as a little self-centered to think I'm the only one who mattered, but it Kaito had in fact told me that my opinion was the only one that mattered to him, and the teachers would never believe any bad rumors about him since he was the star student of nearly every class he was in. He also never cared what any of the students around him thought of him, except, after we became friends, for me. In fact, a couple months after we became friends and before I knew he considered himself a witch by his religion, a kid that that seemed to a rather bad opinion of Kaito-kun and said something about my friend cursing him or something like that. Kaito-kun seemed to not have even heard him, but then froze quickly looked to me, fear flashing through his eye like lightning before he hid it. I realized later he’d been worried about my reaction and trying to hide it. I'd ended up asking if he'd cursed our fellow student, and he'd replied he never cursed anyone, I'd then asked why out of curiosity, and he'd told me it was because cause he was selfish, and since he believed in karma, he didn't want the negative energy of a curse coming back to bite him later.

I felt an earbud pulling me out of my ear, snapping me out of my small trip down memory lane. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for-" I heard through the other earbud as I paused the recording, knowing I'd have to relisten to it later after, hearing an annoyed sigh next to me that I knew belonged to Sae-san.

"Oh, sorry Sae-san. I got lost in thought it seems." I say with a practiced sheepish smile, pulling out the other earbud.

"I hope you know you were so lost in thought you nearly walked into the door." She smirks teasingly. "Maybe you should keep the music for your work-outs only."

"Guess so." I chuckle, remembering the few hours of music Kaito-kun had given for my birthday as well, that I'd put on my phone and started listening to during my early morning runs, and noticing I’d been only a couple steps from walking into the door.

"Well, let's go in then, we've got cases to get to." She smiles.

"Indeed." I smile, opening the door for her.

"Always the gentleman, thank you." She sighs with a smile, walking in.

"Of course, you're welcome." I smile, following in after.

***

Deciding not to listen to the recording until I got to my apartment, considering how I nearly walked into a door the last time I listened to it on my way somewhere. I was heading back to my apartment in the evening light, hoping Kaito-kun had actually taken the advice of my pre-scheduled messages telling him to go to bed…. even if I wasn't following my own advice. I smile, remembering where my mind had wandered before Niijima-san, and how it had ended. My mind started to drift back down memory lane, remembering how after he'd explained why he didn't curse people, he told me he'd actually reported the student for harassing a female classmate. He ran off to the bathroom after telling me that and it took a little while, however, over the next three days the problem student kept having the worst luck. One of the biggest scenes that spread around the school like wildfire, was the when girl he'd been harassing, who was actually quite sweet and quiet for the most part, slapping him across the face before admitting he'd been harassing her, causing him to get suspended. When he came back, he ran towards Kaito-kun and I at lunch, nearly falling on his face in the process, and yelled about Kaito-kun cursing him again, my friend seemed completely surprised and a little lost. Though after he left a sly smirk pulled at Kaito-kun's lips.

"I don't curse people, but I can enhance one's karma." He smirked under his breath, causing me to look at him questioningly.

"So, you had something to do with this?" I asked, though not quite believing he could.

"I'd like to think so. I mean, I did use a spell to make all he's done come back to him three times three." He smirked, snapping his fingers while saying the last word, the problem student tripping over his own feet and falling at the same time, causing his smirk to grow. "I was gonna leave it at the report and try helping the girl, but...he just kept pushing." He sighs.

I learned two things that day; 1: don't piss off the witch; 2: Kaito-kun wasn't all rainbows and shy smiles like I'd seen till that point and I'd even started putting a little more stock in mysticism and such. "I could report you." I smirked, mostly curious to see how he'd react, though not quite sure how that'd go. His reaction surprised me, his face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it as he looked down to his food and started playing with it rather than actually eating it. I'd expected him to just laugh it off, as he did with most things.

"I'd like to see how that goes down, with your rep, it might actually go a bit differently than the 20 or so other accusations." He smirked, though his voice was a little harsh.

"I-I said could, not would." I quickly stated, trying to back peddle out of this point in the conversation.

He’d pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, but you wouldn't be the first to report if chose to." He murmured.

"That's a bit obvi-"

"I meant the first I considered a friend to do so." He specifies with a sigh, making me freeze, realizing what the statement meant, 'he's...used to being betrayed, so when the possibility of it happening comes up, he immediately goes on the defensive'

***

I went straight to my computer after locking my door, hooking my phone up to it so I could better analyze and actually edit the recording so I could only keep what was actually important and discard what wasn't, 'like the first disgusting 30 minutes' I think, deleting that time from the file. Starting back at the beginning of Yuno's talk with her friends. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" I knew whoever she asked for help, probably didn't have an actual choice They talked for a few minutes, before settling on a female student who was 2nd place to Kaito-kun in his class, however one of the other friends piped up. "What about Kaito?" I froze, my worries confirmed that he was a target. I could feel my jaw tighten at the insult of them using his first name, especially without an honorific. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for Kaito today." Yuno giggles, the rest joining her. My hand starts curling into a fist 'what the hell did you do?!' I mentally growl before skipping past, and deleting most the silence of the pe class until I heard Yuno talking to the girl she chose for helping with her homework. Judging by the girl's voice, I was right in assuming her victims at least don't feel like they had a choice in helping her. While she was heading to her next her next class, she told her friends about taping notes to Kaito-kun's locker 'so that's why he seemed a little off after school' I think, feeling the leather strain around my fist. Skipping past and deleting her silent work, stopping when I heard them starting on the notes for his locker, saying what they wrote mostly stupid shit, that had me grinding my teeth and wanting to punch them like 'fag', 'looser', 'freak', then I barely stopped my fist from hitting the desk with the last one, "you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch". Forcing my hand to relax as I buried my head in my hands, knowing if I hadn't been wearing my gloves, my fingernails would be digging into my scalp right now as they continued.

"If that bitch used my pen to write that." I hissed, ending with a growl that many might've described as murderous as I continued listening, not even wanting to think about what else they might’ve done to him.

"Why not just go ahead and tape a picture of a vase of flowers to his locker Yuno-chan?" One of the friends snickered. "I can't do that, Kaito might freeze long enough for Goro-kun to see, or he might actually tell." Yuno giggled.

*SLAM* my hand hits the desk hard enough I might have actually bruised it hearing that. "Do. Not. Use. My. First. Name." I growled, wishing she could hear venom dripping from every word, wishing I could throttle both of them for that considering doing something like that was a way of telling someone to kill themselves.

"Why didn't you use his pen?" One of the friends smirk, causing me to sigh in relief. "Cause if he manages to find out, he'll never forgive me." Yuno sighs.

'Oh-ho-ho, we're way past no forgiveness bitch' I think with a dark chuckle, getting the last bit of evidence and wishing I had a punching bag in my apartment, as I get up and head to the bath to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep.

 *Akira's P.O.V*

I had just got back to Lablanc after talking with everyone at the dinner, Makoto-san, third-year, and the student council president had figured out who the phantom thieves were.

"You're back-whoa, you look tired. Long day?" Sojiro-san asks from behind the counter.

'You have no idea' I think with a sigh, nodding my head to my caretaker while I was on probation. "Your day any better?" I ask, deciding to strike up some conversation.

"If slow is better, then yes." He says with a slight smirk.

"Heh, well then, guess I'll head up." I say, not having much else I could say to him.

"Actually..." Sijiro perks up slightly. "Do any students from Aoyama use the station as you?"

"Uh, yeah, Akechi Goro, we actually talked a little this morning too." I say, though figuring that wasn't who he was wondering about.

"No one else?" He asks, trying to seem disinterested...and failing.

I thought for a moment, before remembering the smaller boy that ran over to Akechi-senpai. "Yeah, actually, a boy, around my age, but a bit shorter." I answer, I definitely had Sojiro-san's attention, even if he was trying to hide it. "Akechi-senpai introduced him...Sasaki, Sasaki..." I trailed off, trying to remember his first name.

"Sasaki Kaito, he's short and rather shy?" Sojiro-san offers.