#time for humanity to wake up

[always-is-always]

Jimin-💜-Jungkook

This IS a LONG share, so have a seat, grab some coffee or tea, and bear with me....

Where to begin is a question... where to begin? My Heart is filled with so much right now that it is hard for my mind to translate it all.

The Heart Knows All.

When they went live the other day with Joonie and Tae, I could sense and feel(emapathically) that Jimin and Jungkookie were already in the energy of "companionship" in regards to the military. It was already in their field. This is in addition to their already established energetic connections that span all other aspects of their lives.

The energetic signature of the military is new and foreign. And, it is also distinct.

In that short time on the live, it was very clear to me that JK & JM would be okay. Everything was in place, energetically. That means that their bond, their commitment to one another to navigate the enlistment together was rock solid. It was palpable. And, there was the love that they share that clearly fuels this for them. However an observer "sees" that Love that flows between their hearts. Love is Love.

So, after watching that Vlive, I felt some peace. My Heart felt more settled, after that. I'm grateful for that peace, as I had been feeling some concern about them. My concern was not about them being bullied or something of that nature. It's been more of a concern about their emotional and mental wellbeing, while facing the challenges of going through the training and beyond.

This is where I get a little wobbly in my words.

I know without a doubt that Jimin and Jungkook will be each other's rocks, for the duration of the enlistment. They will have each other's backs. They will support each other in every way, on every level. That I have total confidence in.

Here is where concern creeps into my heart. Here is where I bear all in my own way, in putting into words what needs to be said.

When I watched the short video of their enlistment day what I saw, felt and sensed in both Jimin-ah and Jungkookie was VULNERABLILITY.

Yeah. Vulnerability.

Yeah.

Something that I had not seen in them, in quite this way. Or, at this level...

That broke my heart.

What we were seeing in both of them is vulnerability. An unease. Like they were stepping out to the precipice, and about to take a huge step off, into the unknown.

Seeing that reminded me that this experience is life-changing, beyond anything that a civilian can understand. Truly. Especially considering their choice of path, to enter the training for front line duty.

{{{A side story here- My bestie is a Veteran. She served in two wars, jumped out of airplanes, gave everything she had to serving the US. We have had many conversations about JK & JM enlisting. Some of what I know and understand comes directly from things that she has shared, her understandings (she's lbgtq), and such. I am not a Veteran, and have not had direct experience in the military.}}}

While watching the livestream waiting for Jimin and Jungkook to arrive, I noticed and felt some things about the military base, and I also realized some things about what JM & JK were stepping into.

.....that livestream was literally 4+ hours long.

As I sat with the volume on, I began to notice a man's voice shouting (it seemed) through a loud speaker (megaphone?), and then voices responding to him. There was a specific cadence to his words, and a specific crescendo in tone and volume, every time he spoke. He would get louder and louder, and the voices that responded would shout out the exact same words every time, and they repeated the response 3 times. What really caught my attention was the voice of a woman that was high-pitched, and louder than all of the others.

I began to listen to this, and after about 5 minutes I began to feel really uncomfortable. That kind of twisting in the solar plexus type of uncomfortable. I wound up turning the volume off, as it was really bothering me, and I began to feel anxious.

After several more minutes, I turned the volume back on and they were still going at it. Call and response. Over and over and over again... The same man shouting out and the same response back to him. That same woman's voice.....

Drill Sergeant. It finally dawned on me that the man was a Drill Sergeant. He was "drilling" instructions into the psyches of those soldiers , and who knows what else.... This type of repetition is designed to mold minds, to instill compliance, and to establish the foundation of training that follows.

That call and response lasted for an hour. They had a break for maybe 30 minutes, then it began again and continued. (It was still going on when JK & JM's vehicles arrived.) That same female voice calling out above the others...

So, my discomfort intensifed as my empathic and intuitive hits just made it hard to bear witness to what was happening. Even with it being something I was hearing and not seeing. So... I turned off the volume again, and then really looked at the base energetically. What dawned on me was the biggest awareness that brought me to tears, and it also sent me into prayer. (not religious prayer, just simply communicating with the Divine, and Benevolent Beings)

(What followed that prayer could be described in another post, but it will never be written. All I can say is that some big work was done, to clear that base of all nefarious energies, and to establish a clear Foundation of Light. To support everyone there.) (a tiny digression here!)

In those moments what I realized, is this: As soldiers they are taught how to take the life of another Human Being. Jimin and Jungkook would be learning this, in a way that also instills a commitment to do it, if they were to ever participate in an armed conflict.

Going back to my Bestie, I spoke with her about this. She said, "yeah, it's totally de-humanizing".

My thoughts then turned to what is and has been happening in this world for thousands of years. How and why we are still in a position on this planet where Human Beings have to be trained and prepared for war is something I just cannot understand. (Again, another rabbit hole!)

Jimin and Jungkook are enlisting because they have NO choice. Just like citizens of all 34 countries on Earth that have mandatory enlistment. This brings one more awareness into this.

There is a stark difference between a person enlisting by choice (like my Bestie), and a person enlisting because they do not have the right to choose otherwise. The experience is beyond difficult either way, but for those who are forced to go into the military it is another level.

Circle back to vulnerability. Circle back to Jimin and Jungkook, and their obvious state of being when they were enlisting. Especially in those last moments when we saw them marching off with the other enlistees.

What we have witnessed is beyond sad. There are no words that can adequately express this. That we live in a time where Human Beings are forced to enter into military service. That we live in a time where Human Beings are still being trained and taught to kill.

And, those beautiful Hearts that are Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook (and the others, too!) have to somehow get through their “training” and “service”, intact and unscathed. They have to make it through, maintaining their Innate Human Essence, and Heart.

Yeah.

All we can do on our end is continually send them clear energies of Love and Support. All we can do is hold Space, while they navigate through each day, each week, each month....

What will help them most is to Love them through this experience. In every moment. See them as being carried by Love and Grace, surrounded by Love and Grace, and held in Love and Grace. Every single moment of every single day.

What they are going to face is something that will impact them in ways that are yet to be known. I am just grateful beyond words that they have each other, to walk side by side, through this experience.

Bless their beautiful Hearts and give them Deep Strength, as they take each step along the way.

June 2025 cannot come soon enough. 💜

[cubbihue]

“He knows Timmy will come around eventually. It's only a matter of waiting for his clock to run out. And HP is very patient.” Hey uh.. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN HIS CLOCK TO RUN OUT is he waiting for Timmy to become a full fairy (Pixie?) and when that happens Timmy forgets about being a human entirely?

Sometimes Timmy wonders why he has grudges against certain fairies. Some of them, he can understand- like his dislike of Dr. Rip Studwell. But other ones, like with Cupid, it's a bit of a blur.

He must've been a very very vindictive 10 year old! Ah, well! Timmy's learned that he has to pick and choose his own battles wisely.

And uh. Fighting with the man who decides his paycheck and vacation days is not a battle worth choosing. Talk about a hostile work environment!!

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[daily-sifloop]

do you think human loop would sometimes forget they need sleep to function and doze off so sif has to carry them to bed? maybe he would use it as an opportunity to cuddle while they sleep if they don't do it already...

Day 24: can't sleep without you

[lazycranberrydoodles]

i've been wanting to show off my crown prince design since november of last year lmao / follow for more xianle epic fail compilations

[reigobun]

🫶

[nugatorysheep]

Fuck the haters and happy birthday to this dumb fat bastard

[tcfactory]

Dumb SVSSS thought of the day is Xuan Su being one breakthrough away from cultivating a human form and making its (his?) newfound ability to speak aloud to other people everybody's problem.

Unity of the Sword cultivators give more of themselves to their bonded blades than people cultivating other paths, because they have to cultivate together with the sword, as partners. It's both a blessing and a curse, making their swords more... aware. It's not unusual for Unity swords to ascend with their masters or to cultivate humanoid forms to become something like a platonic life partner.

Xuan Su is an old blade. A powerful one, expertly if eccentrically crafted (what kind of cultivator would choose a zhanmadao when a jian is so much more ethereal and versatile?) and wielded by dozens of prodigiously talented cultivators before.

Each one of them set it aside, finding it too heavy and unwieldy for their ambitions. Each and every one of them died for it. It could feel through the bond as they each fell, the lighter, sleeker blades they replaced it with crumbling like paper under the weight of the destinies they all bore.

If it stopped calling out to young prodigies after its history of losses things would have been... much the same, probably, because Yue Qi has heard about the power of Xuan Su before he stepped foot in the sword hall, but there might have been a chance that he might have heard the call of a sword more suited to his level of cultivation, one that could have grown organically along with him.

The problem is, Xuan Su keeps calling out to new wielders and no amount of warning from Wan Jian's masters could convince the ambitious prodigies to give up on the chance to be the one who carried the famed Xuan Su to ascension.

After losing too many of its people, however, Xuan Su no longer knows how to bond normally. It clings too hard, hooks its metaphorical claws into its cultivator's soul, crawls through their meridians until there's no boundary left between them.

The last three people who tried to take it up didn't live long enough to unsheathe it.

For good or ill, Yue Qingyuan will be the last one to ever wield Xuan Su. It will either ascend with him, die with him or Wei Qingwei will throw it in the Wan Jian forge where the cursed thing deserves to be if it manages to outlive zhangmen-shixiong.

The thing is, however, that an old sword doesn't necessarily mean a mature one. Xuan Su wasn't wielded enough for its spirit to have matured fully. The only cultivator who even entertained it past the first few months of realizing that fighting with a zhanmadao is an unwieldy affair, that they could never become the picture of divine grace hauling around a blade that gave some polearms a run for their money, has been Yue Qingyuan, so most of Xuan Su's personality comes from him.

A thousand years worth of guilt and abandonment issues mixed with whatever traits it borrowed from semi-feral ex-slave teenager Yue Qi when they bonded does not make for a pleasant personality. It would remind Yue Qingyuan of a young Xiao-Jiu, expect Xuan Su has a brand of unashamed bloodthirstiness that can't be replicated by anything that's not made of 5 feet of sharp-edged murder.

It's not all bad. Xuan Su mourned with him when they though Shen Jiu was dead and rejoiced when they found him again. It has been trying its best to help Yue Qingyuan fight his heart demons so he could confess to Shen Qingqiu, even when it has heart demons of its own. They are beyond compatible in the physical and spiritual sense, granting Yue Qi the almost inhuman strength he became famous for. The mental component of their cultivation stagnates, however, because they are trying to split their attention between dealing with Yue Qingyuan's guilt and Xuan Su's abandonment issues and they are getting nowhere.

It's Shang Qinghua who accidentally gives them the push to pick one or the other. ("All right, enough!" Shang Qinghua claps his hands and freezes the dozen frantic An Ding disciples almost coming to blows about which one of their three separate crises should get the most resources. "You," he points at a kid with a missing front tooth. "All resources to your problem. And when that's done, then to his,-" Points at another child. "- and then hers. This way all of them will get solved on time and they will get solved better because you don't spread yourself thin trying to do three different things requiring full focus at once.") They decide to address Xuan Su's bottleneck because it's easier: Yue Qingyuan has already proved that he would not abandon it. They will ascend or die together.

They don't expect the backlash from its breakthrough to knock Yue Qingyuan out for several weeks (it's the bond stabilizing, finally, but his body and core need time to grow accustomed to only having his qi and his life force, all contained neatly within him as it should have been all these years). Weeks while Xuan Su is left alone on the peaks, unsupervised and without anybody knowing that it currently wears the form of a fourteen-year-old boy.

So of course the first thing it (he?) does is slip away before anyone could identify him and goes to Shen Qingqiu. The plan is simple: chew the man out for making Yue Qi sad all these years and then tell him what went down in the caves so he forgives Xuan Su's human and they can all be a happy family together! (A lot of its previous wielders sought fame to be allowed to wed various people they would not be able to marry otherwise, so Xuan Su might have acquired a passing interest in romance. Xuan Su approves of Yue Qi's choice, Shen Qingqiu is a sharp, very sword-like human and Xiu Ya is a very nice, well-balanced sword, but they really keep dragging things out way too long.)

Except Shen Qingqiu doesn't believe that the suddenly appearing feral teenager on his peak is actually a sword spirit. Swords cultivating human form are the stuff of legends and Yue Qi is far too down-to-earth for any of that nonsense. So clearly this Xiao-Su is an orphan his idiot Qi-ge has adopted; he's certainly feral enough to be one. No idea where Yue Qingquan has hidden this child before, but he's not quite presentable enough to be among the Qiong Ding disciples, despite the wonderfully elaborate clothes he's wearing. He enjoys food like he's tasting decent cooking for the first time, so he must not have been here long. Shen Qingqiu remembers being much the same when he first got to eat regularly, but hiding it much better, thank you very much.

Shen Qingqiu decides that he's going to keep an eye on his shixiong's charge until the man wakes up, because it's obvious that the kid can't be allowed to wander the peaks unsupervised. This decision has obviously nothing to do with Xiao-Su's instant hatred towards the little beast. Nope. Nothing at all.

Xuan Su eventually does manage to tell Shen Qingqiu that Qi-ge came back for him. Yue Qingyuan wakes up and confirms that yes, that bratty rascal is the great and powerful Xuan Su. They eventually learn about Binghe's demonic heritage and go investigating how the hell that has happened. But not before a few weeks of shenanigans and Luo Binghe accidentally winning Xuan Su (and by proxy Shen Qingqiu, much to the man's annoyance) over by the wonders of his godly cooking skills.

[icantdothistodaybruh]

yea sooooo I may have or may have not watched and instantly rewatched all kuro musicals in existence in a spawn of one week and now have roughly 40 screenshots to redraw from

I think I might be insane or something

[ask2ps]

Who's 2p Italy's type in partners?

NORTH ITALY: Grazie lo stesso! [ Thanks, regardless! ] NORTH ITALY: And before you ask, no, I had nothing to do with my boss' death. I still dunno what happened there! I was only gone for a few months..

[clowfish]

fanart of chapter 18 of The Thief by @wintergrew which is literally the best fanfic I have ever read in my life https://archiveofourown.org/works/14432472/chapters/51578533#workskin

technicalllllyyy tweek is wearing a shirt in this scene but I wanted the drawing to be a bit ambiguous without context

[chaotic-fandom-hoarder]

Mom said it’s my turn on the writing

Police sirens are not abnormal to Clyde. It has gotten the cops called on it many times, often because someone would see it lurking on rooftops and call the police because they don’t know how else to react.

It’s never a big deal though, all it has to do is run until it’s out of sight and climb a tree or rooftop. It’s faster than most humans after all, and none of them ever look up.

But something’s off this time. It can’t explain why, but there’s something wrong. Something horribly wrong.

Clyde follows the sound of sirens and roaring engines. They usually only go this fast at night when the cops are after Clyde itself, but these ones are clearly not looking for it. These paths are starting to get familiar. The sounds lead it towards a familiar house. The cop cars halt directly outside… Alex’s house.

Oh hell no. Not happening.

Clyde runs, slinking just barely out of sight before jumping the fence and hauling across Alex’s backyard. It finds their bedroom window (the only one with a broken lock, Clyde has used this entrance many times to ask for a sandwich) and throws it open.

Clyde hurtles headfirst into the bedroom and starts shaking Alex, who is still in bed.

“Sandwich Man, wake up! Get up, come on!”

Alex blearily blinks themself awake, with the first thing they see being the six foot tall veldigun who is totally only doing this for practical reasons.

“Wha- Clyde, what’s going on?”

“They’re coming after you! We gotta go, now!”

“They- what?!?”

Someone started pounding at the front door before Alex could ask anything else. Their eyes widened, and they immediately jumped out of bed and beelined for the closet. They hurriedly pulled out a backpack, already looking full.

Clyde opens the window wider so that the human can get through, and Alex slings the bag onto their back.

Clyde slips through, Alex following close behind. They both break into a run, just as Clyde hears the sound of the front door being forced open.

It’s a sprint for their lives, both of them bolting before they get noticed. (Clyde has no stake in this, it’ll be fine either way, why does it even care about a human?- Not important.)

Hop the fence, across this field- there. A small thicket of trees, far enough away from anyone searching for a human. Leading the way, Clyde scrambles up one of the trees like a demented squirrel, tail flicking out to grab Alex by the backpack and pull them up alongside it.

Clyde settles onto a tree branch like a cat on a fencepost. Alex heaves themself up next to it, breathing heavily. They both sit up there, looking down at Alex’s house in the distance.

Or, is it Alex’s anymore? There has to be at least four cop cars out there by now, and Clyde can see the figures of police officers scoping around the outside. They’re probably inside by now too.

Clyde chuckles breathlessly.

“Well! That was something!” Clyde grins, slipping back into the unaffected-veldigun persona. “What did you even do to get them to-“ Clyde trails off, smile slipping away again.

Alex isn’t just breathing hard from the running, they’re shaking slightly, and- is that a tear?

Shit, they’re crying.

“…my fucking house.” Alex wipes their eyes with their sleeve. “I- I didn’t even do anything, and they just…” They exhale, gripping the branch underneath them hard enough that their knuckles are white. “I knew something would happen at some point, but… still!” They say, staring at the house that they’re probably not going to be able to go back to.

Clyde sits next to them, frowning. It lifts up a hand, hesitates, and then very carefully pats them on the back, not touching any skin.

The pair is going to have to get moving soon, and find somewhere further from the house, where the police are less likely to search. They’re going to need to find out what to do next, where to go and if they have anyone else to turn to.

But for now, the human and the veldigun are sitting on a tree branch, watching the red and blue lights below.

[skeletoninthemelonland]

[puppetmaster13u]

Thinkin of Bruce's back cavity in the Meat Marionette Au.

I like to think the spine splits open, with the default being closed and him having to flex certain muscles to open it, almost like a mouth. The cervical (upper) and lumbar (lower) vertibrae are all single pieces and don't open, the lumbar continuing down the tail, while the thoracic are split into two pieces each. There's probably specialized muscles in the back that for lack of better terms tugs and moves the ribs in the back to pull the cavity open, hence why the shoulder blades are also shifted to the sides. Or something like that lol.

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AU is a combo of my au found under the What's Out There Au tag and @phoenixcatch7's found under the Possessed Doll Au tag. Make sure to check her out!

[im-smart-i-swear]

can you remember being born? were you born at all

[artemismoorea03]

DPxDC Prompt: The Child Who Was King

(For anybody who has read my DPxDC fics you might know that I'm a huge fan of the "Unaging Danny" headcanon and this was directly inspired by that)

------

The team has already heard about Phantom in one way or another. Yes, the tyrant "Pariah Dark" had his name mentioned in some places but it was called the "Phantom Zone" for a reason. "Phantom Zone", "Land of the Dead", "Underworld", "Limbo" and countless other names are listed and describe the same place.

It also describes a King be it vicious or kind, old or young, a threat or a peace keeper. The stories are so varied that it's impossible for the League to know who to expect when they receive a mysterious sticky note which falls from the sky during the meeting.

Soon.

The entire League is on edge, not knowing what to think until some members (Zatana and Constantine) recognize the symbol on the paperwork from ancient texts. The Symbol of the God of Time. Zatana says that Time works close with the King of Death and is send to bend at his will and often sends warning messages like this to alert those who are required to know. While Constantine just wants to leave before things get to be any more of a headache.

Days turn into weeks.

Weeks into months.

Most of the team thinks it was a mistake but one member of the team stays particularly on edge because the paper fell in front of them specifically. It isn't until they're on patrol in their area that another note appears with an address and a time and when they arrive in the area they make it just in time for a green portal to open and somebody to fall out of it.

They react, years of training tell them to catch the figure and when they do they discover a child no older than 14 under weight, pale with black hair and blue eyes, bruises covering them. They're breathing heavily as the kid leans against the heroes chest fearfully, the cape seeming much larger than them.

The hero doesn't know what to think when one final note appears.

Due to reasons which can not yet be discussed King Phantom is not safe in the Land of the Dead, you are here by entrusted with his protection. If you fail all will be lost.

[feroluce]

For reasons to be expanded upon at a later date (because I love the little bits about Boothill and possible paranoia/betrayal canon gives us so very dearly HNGH) I think Boothill like... He won't let himself fall into disrepair or anything of course, but he reeeeeeeeeeally does not like letting other people poke around at his body. It's a necessary evil to him. He does whatever maintenance and repairs he can himself. He started out with a massive knowledge deficit, simply because he didn't really have any exposure to that kind of technology until he left Aeragan-Epharshal, but he's taught himself a lot since then, he worked really hard at it!

Anyway, the point being, Boothill generally isn't super trusting of people.

But I think he would come to make an exception for Himeko, since he trusts Dan Heng a lot, and Himeko is one of Dan Heng's once-in-a-lifetime dearly beloved companions.

Himeko is so unflappable, I don't think she would even bat an eye about anything he throws at her, either. Like she enters the Parlor Car one morning (she's always the first one up) and Boothill is already there, waiting for her.

"Mornin', Madam Navigator."

"Good morning, Mr. Boothill."

And despite the fact that he blatantly broke into the Express (Pom-Pom is NOT happy about this JDKSAJDSKL), Boothill tips his hat, greets her politely, and is nothing but respectful when he says he has a favor to ask of her. Except it won't stay a favor long, of course- he has every intention of paying it back.

Himeko never agrees to things blindly, but she does bring up that all the knowledge Boothill contributed during the Charmony Festival was essential to preventing the universe from being pulled into Ena's Dream. And they were able to hold onto the Jade Abacus because Boothill used Tiernan's burial relic to summon the Galaxy Rangers instead. The Astral Express owes him a debt of gratitude, and besides, he's a friend of Dan Heng's. Of course she'll try to help him.

Boothill fidgets a bit, quickly brushes off the thanks, and tells Himeko he's having a problem with error codes. He keeps getting the same one, seemingly at random times, but the darn thing has no obvious cause. Dan Heng mentioned Himeko had been the one to rebuild the Astral Express. He knows it ain't the same, but it's not like he's askin' for any major repairs or nothin'. He was wonderin' if she could just take a look, maybe offer him some insight, since she seems to be somethin' of a mechanical wonder.

So Himeko walks him back to a another car, where she goes to tinker with machines without them crowding her bedroom. It's all neatly laid out and organized, and it only takes a second for Himeko to locate some specific device with a long cord. Instead of plugging it in herself, she holds the end of it out to him, like an offer rather than a demand, and Boothill visibly relaxes a bit. He still eyes it just a little warily for a second, but he accepts and plugs it into the port on his side.

Himeko pulls up the list of all recent errors, and they really are all the same. Boothill has had multiple temperature alarms over the past couple of weeks since the Charmony Festival, and they know it's not the environment, because Penacony is mostly dreamscape and kept mild year-round. The long-forgotten natural deserts are too far away.

Boothill is staring from the corner of his one good eye, so Himeko turns the hologram to let him see what she's doing easier. They don't appear to be false alarms. His internal temperature spikes and then slowly lowers again, high enough that if it lasted it would eventually cause damage.

One option is for her to start rooting through personal data, figuring out what he was doing at the time of each code, and tracing cause and correlation.

Instead, Himeko reads out the timestamps, and asks Boothill if he minds sharing what was happening around him when it occured.

Two weeks ago: He and Dan Heng went to explore Dreamflux Reef and found a bar- nice place, good atmosphere. Woman runnin’ it was a doll. Boothill left fer not even two minutes to get them drinks (Dan Heng knows like nothin’ about liquor, Madam Navigator, can you believe this guy) and when he came back, someone had already stolen his seat and was hittin’ on Dan Heng! Dan Heng didn't even care, just shooed ‘em off. Boothill laughed and said not to let him get in his way if he wanted to meet someone. Dan Heng looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Why would he want to leave with someone else, when he came here to be with Boothill?

Twelve days ago: While laying low- er, just rustlin’ up some grub- in the Moment of Blue, Boothill passed Dan Heng with March and Caelus playin’ on the beach, buildin’ sandcastles and the like. When he passed by again almost two hours later, they were still out there, with Dan Heng pullin’ March through the water on her inner tube and Caelus hangin’ off the back of it. He swam so fast! You'd think he was part water snake or somethin’. He looked happier ‘n a cat in a sunbeam… He has a nice smile, doesn't he?

Eleven days ago: Boothill was killin’ time in Dreamflux Reef when he turned the corner down a shady alley and saw Dan Heng, surrounded by three men demandin’ “protection money.” None of ‘em stood a chance, they were all on the ground before Boothill even blinked! So cool! Boothill wants to see that spear of his closeup- Anyway, Dan Heng stepped on one of ‘em on his way out, hahaha! Boothill stepped on the same guy a second time as he hurried to catch up.

Eight days ago: Here on the Express, actually. Boothill had mentioned bein’ curious about the archives, and Dan Heng personally invited him.

(“I remember that day, I saw you in the hall.” “Was there any problem with the heating that day?” “No, none. I don't think the temperature has anything to do with these error codes. I have a different theory, keep going.” “If ya say so.”)

Boothill was fascinated by an entry on aeons, and from a single question he asked about Lan, the two of ‘em ended up talkin’ fer hours. About aeons and Paths and Emanators, Acheron and Self-Annihilators, the Sea of Nihility, Tiernan, the Nameless and the Galaxy Rangers, their burial relics and their customs. Dan Heng finally just started writin’ and editin’ the entries in real time, with Boothill pointin’ things out and tellin’ him what to add in. They were at it so late that Boothill ended up sleepin' on a couch in one of the cars.

He'd figured there had to be something to make Dan Heng chatty- he'd caught just a glimpse of it that first night they met, sittin’ at the bar in the Reverie together. He'll have to ask about the archives more often, if it gets him all revved up like that.

One week ago: After that night of energetic discussion, Dan Heng was apparently hyped up, because after he'd downed some of Himeko's coffee (“You had some too, right? What did you think of it?” “It was great, even better'n chewin’ bullets!” "Thank you! That was my newest brew, I can't wait for everyone else to try it.") he actually asked Boothill to go hunting with him. Boothill asked who their target was, and was surprised when Dan Heng pulled out photos that looked like they were from March's camera, of all things, instead of a bounty or wanted poster.

And as he sat there, studying these pictures, Dan Heng explained that he wanted to hunt down these specific memory zone memes to record them into the archives. Planets with so much memoria are a rarity, especially with the Stellaron's activity thrown into the mix, which has surely affected the local “wildlife.” He might not get another opportunity like this for a long time. And Boothill had talked last night about his extensive expertise in tracking and hunting, so he should have plenty to offer here, Dan Heng would like to learn from his experience and see how he does things!

And oh, Madam Navigator, by the time Dan Heng was done speakin', his eyes were practically sparklin'! Just lit up like the sun! Boothill could scarcely believe it! The two of them couldn't even wait another day, they set out that very morning. It had been a long, long while since Boothill had tracked someone- er, somethin’- without the intent to capture or kill. It was…actually really nice. Nostalgic, but in a good way. It might even have been his favorite day on Penacony…so…far…

Boothill trails off as a couple of realizations crash into him. All the temperature alarms he's spoken about thus far- they've all happened in the company of Dan Heng. And now that he's thinking about it, he's pretty sure even the ones he hasn't yet talked about were with him, too. Dan Heng has been responsible for all of his error codes, every. single. one.

The screen in front of Himeko suddenly refreshes to the top of the list, displaying a new notification for the current time. Alert! Core temperature above normal range.

Himeko's knowing smile is sly as a snake.

Wwwwwelp, would ya look at the time, Boothill has some errands to meet, people to run, y’know how it is, he should really get goin'-

“Oh, Mr. Boothill? About that favor.” And Boothill jolts to a stop in the doorway because fudge, he can't just leave without hearing her out. He'd given his word. He has no problem running out on someone he thinks deserves it, but Himeko really had been kind to him to try and help him out. Her voice is just as knowing as her smile, Boothill can't turn around to look at her, or else he knows he won't be able to disguise the sound of his cooling fans kicking on.

“Don't make Dan Heng wait too long, ok~?”

“Y-Yes, ma'am.”