#wait whats maintagging again

[chairhahaha]

10th sinner, 10th flamechaser, 10th prisoner…….

why do all my favourite characters have smt to do with the number 10

WIAT HELP IS DANTE SINNER 10 OR DID GOOGLE LIE

[frogatz]

wind waker save me

wind waker

save me wind waker

(last page is frommmm march 2023 when my friends first played thw forest haven. the consensus on it has not changed)

[sky-of-ideas]

thimking about skylor and morro just being on the run in the amber morro au... about skylor escaping from the island using wind powers and the elements morro had from before he died and got tied to her... unless the elements reset. hm. hm 🤔

or maybe they'd stay if only to learn what chen's plans are... but ehhh that doesn't feel worth it enough... maybe they sneak back on the island every so often to find out if chen's planning anything new lmao.

vigilantes....

[onesidedradiostatic]

(After the Respectless Reprise)

Velvette, calling Vox on the phone: VOX!!! End this stypid debate once and for all! What was the color of your turtleneck when you took that damned picture with Valentino?

Vox, picking up the call: Uh... What now?

Velvette: Some of your crazy "fans" cropped that stupid picture I took of you two near his desk with your monitors! They've been going crazy at the color of your stupid turtleneck in the leaked photo

Vox: Right right.... and..... This is my problem because....?

Velvette, muttering under her breath: I swear to god... this is just like that stupid dress thing all over again.....

Vox: The what now?

Velvette: Forget it! Your old arse wouldn't even get it anyway and we don't have the time! That stupid thing blew out of proportion!!! It's been trending on Vitter for Hell's sake so you better do something about it!

Vox: Vel, I don't see the problem. It's just a color for something that happened a long time ago. It shouldn't even matter.

Velvette: Well it does matter because demons—not even just sinners, Vox— have been going at each other's throats about this for hours on end just for the sake of their fanart consistency!

Vox: Fanart consistency?

Velvette: Oh for fuck's sakes, Vox— Aren't you connected to your network right now? You should be able to see just how bad it is in there!!

Vox: Mhm... yeah, yeah... well..... right...

Velvette: Vox. Are you listening to me right now?

Vox: *noncommittal hum* Yeah..... That's better...

*Velvette pauses for a moment before a look of realization crosses her face*

Velvette: Wait... Don't tell me your at your Alastor shrine again instead of at your office?

*Clatter clatter CRASHHH*

Vox: *cough cough cough* H-Huh? What? NOOOOooo... No, no I'm not. What are you talking about Velvette?

*Velvette side glances at Alastor still silently having his mental breakdown before moving onto Lucifer fiddling with his tie and cane as he refuses to meet anyone in the eyes*

Velvette: Yeaaah.... Right.

Vox: A-ActUALLY!! I was just about to go there. To— to my office I mean. I mean, I just came from an important meeting after all!! Yes, a very very important meeting. With uh.... About– Sinflix! Yes, yes Sinflix. You know how that annoying little parasite has been taking some of our profits with all their 'free services' shtick that we've been losing money in the other Rings.

Velvette: Right. Right. (I don't care)So... your turtleneck color?

Vox: RIGHT!!! *Ding ding ding!* Yeah, about that I uh....

*Side glances at the scarce remains of his closet that was once full of multiple variations of turtlenecks colored red, orange, yellow, and even blue. Some of them actually being striped. There was a sell in one of the secondhand-me-down shops if you buy in bulk back in the day when he first fell into Hell. And he wasn't one to pass up a bang for your buck. Unfortunately, he also had to burn a lot of them after Velvette joined team to avoid her wrath. And now he can't remember which one he wore during that picture*

Vox: Well... About that, I don't.... actually remember?

Velvette: You don't sound so sure of yourself.

Vox: Well, the picture itself is faded so some of the color has changed. Not to mention the lightning.

Let me ask Tino if he remembers.

(I hope you enjoy this. Someone please sedate me)

oh my fucking god (reference to this, and this, and the turtleneck discourse is just this entire fucking tag. basically we've been spending the last 2 days debating about vox's stupid fucking turtleneck)

literally everything being referenced is giving me fucking whiplash HELSPGKOS vox himself getting into the debate because he doesn't remember is hilarious

only thing I will have to correct there is that vox does in fact own netflix in hell so it's voxflix not sinflix

considering maintagging this and putting it out into the wild with zero context (until they check the links)

EDIT:

misunderstood whoops here's the clarification LMAO

[riacte]

What moments from any of your renchanting polls would YOU vote for? Just curious 👀

Thanks for the ask anon! :D

Fun fact: at first I excluded the burning tower and altar scenes on purposes because I knew those would sweep. But honestly the burning tower just seems lowkey normal compared to the stuff nowadays so I could see it making a comeback... so the burning tower is my top non-existent choice.

I think one of the craziest things have to be Martyn acknowledging Treebark and saying "yes I see you hehe" ON THE FIRST DAY OF TREEBARK WEEK 2022. The train of thought goes something like this:

Martyn asks for ships not to be maintagged. This is fine and reasonable.

He's aware of Treebark. Oh, well, makes sense. If he's asking for ships not to be maintagged, he's probably seen ships. Probably because someone was maintagging Treebark-

Martyn says the Treebark lot seem good at not maintagging. Wait. So he's seen Treebark. And he knows we usually keep it away. So he's ventured beyond the main tags. Has he been to #trafficshipping? #treebark? Who knows????????

"People seem to be pretty good at that, particularly the treebark lot (yes I see you hehe)" HELLO??? WAS THE DEVIL'S SACRAMENT FUN. WAS IT FUN MARTYN.

In the same breath, he acknowledges Treebark and how the shippers don't maintag, but he's seen it, so it kind of implies he's gone down a Treebark rabbit hole in order to find the content that is deliberately concealed

By the way this happened on the first day of Treebark Week 2022 (which is coincidentally before my birthday and coincidentally the anniversary comes next week).

He Knows. He's in the trenches with us

Another moment is Martyn finally watching pale white horse / where is your rider because that moment was ELECTRIFYING, I was feeling the emotions of 3L crash over me all over again. But for this poll, I voted for "been there, am there" because the way he delivers that is SO FUNNY. I was torn between that and the Martyn liking clip of Ren on Tumblr and honestly I should've chosen the latter because "been there, am there" is getting a lot of votes lmao.

It's truly unhinged. Renchanting / Treebark people never lose because when we lose, we win 🔥🔥🔥

[ourlordapollo]

Uh oh girl my Kristoph Gavin musings are calcifying into unshakable headcanons

Have we already talked about his pathological need for validation. Can we. Can we talk about it again.

Obviously this is all speculation and knowing the writers, the Gavins probably have some fucked up supernatural backstory and dead parents, but the writers aren't here right now. *locks the doors*

Anyway, for the sake of minimizing stupid ppl yelling at me (assuming I'm brave enough to maintag this instead of letting it rot in obscurity, unrebloggable), please mentally insert "IN MY OPINION" before every statement I make

This is a classic case of choosing a conclusion and retrofitting evidence to support said conclusion but. I'm allowed to do that. I'm not turning this into Professor Fandom for a special grade in "FAN 485: Feverishly Justifying Your Own Bullshit."

Anyway.

Let's recontextualize Kristoph's actions using the following framework:

Kristoph Gavin is a sad little boy in a man's suit, desperate for the validation of everyone around him to the point that he would do anything to get it.

1. Phoenix

A lot of people (alright, haters. A lot of haters. You made me talk like Donald Trump. Are you happy now). *ahem*

A lot of haters like to paint this move as stupid like it's some kind of "gotcha".

"What move?"

The dual move of voting in Phoenix's favor and choosing to befriend him.

Here's the thing.

Of course it's fucking stupid. We're not looking at the pinnacle of criminal masterminds here

Why did he do that? The psychosexual need to force Phoenix to submit? (Actually wait keep talking I want to hear this—) Paranoia? By this point in the timeline, he's already shown a willingness to commit murder, so why not just kill Phoenix?

Because (say it with me now):

Kristoph Gavin is a sad little boy in a man's suit, desperate for the validation of everyone around him to the point that he would do anything to get it.

He's not some wannabe criminal mastermind.

He wants to be Phoenix's savior. He wants to be the only thing Phoenix has. He needs to be the sole recipient of Phoenix's gratitude and admiration. Because he's better than Phoenix, dammit! Of course he's better than Phoenix. Law is a meritocracy, he's got money, he's got white loafers for fuck's sake, he wins trials by working really goddamn hard because being a lawyer is hard for everyone, you don't just stumble ass-backwards into the courtroom and win every case by stuttering and sweating and stalling so OBVIOUSLY KRISTOPH GAVIN IS BETTER THAN PHOENIX WRIGHT! SAY IT! SAY IT! Look! Look at them together! Look who's still a lawyer and who's an evidence-forging fraud! Look how nice Kristoph looks next to this sad burnout! Look! LOOK AT HOW MUCH BETTER HE IS!

Do you see what I'm getting at here.

Obviously on some level he knows and fears that Phoenix really is better than him, and that matters, so he he really really needs Phoenix's validation

And lbr, he probably does have a deep psychosexual obsession with the idea of forcing Phoenix to submit to him

2. Forging evidence

I'm not gonna speculate on Kristoph's lawyering skills here. Really, I'm not. However I'd be cautious about making the argument that he forged evidence solely because he thought Zak was guilty and he reeeaally wanted to win. We saw that it was an extremely tricky case and that Zak's innocence would have been very difficult to prove. It's entirely possible Kristoph believed in Zak's innocence but didn't think he'd be able to prove it without cheating.

That being said, I don't think it matters.

It matters that the case was complicated, but it doesn't matter whether Zak was innocent or guilty or a secret third thing, because Kristoph would have cheated regardless becaaauuuuse

Say it with meeee...

Kristoph Gavin is a sad little boy in a man's suit, desperate for the validation of everyone around him to the point that he would do anything to get it.

He was up against a fucking rockstar. A famous, hotshot, cocky, little upstart rockstar. A young prodigy. A fucking teenager. It didn't matter one bit that they just so happened to be related. Or did it.

Of course he needed to win.

(If you want to get really headcanony with it, which I do, I think the Gavin parents definitely raised their kids with an extreme superiority complex, setting them apart from their peers by straight-up telling them "you are better than they are. You are not like them."

Klavier goes on to prove them right by becoming internationally famous and beloved and Kristoph. Well, Kristoph is, uh. Well, he's a pretty good lawyer. Got his own little office and everything. And then Klavier comes into his domain as a cocky lil teenager with a HUGE, high-profile case and here is Kristoph's chance to demonstrate to the world what he already knows: that he's special too. That he's special. Dammit. Why can't anyone else see that.)

And then Zak takes that away from him. And gives it to Phoenix.

Unforgivable.

3. Apollo & Vongole

Sorry for putting Apollo in the same category as a literal dog but. That's kind of point here.

I've seen ppl theorizing that, although Kristoph seems like a stereotypical cat person, he got a dog (specifically a golden retriever) out of a sense of paranoia bc!! That's normal! Normal people have dogs!!! Wealthy people have purebred golden retrievers!!! I am so normal and wealthy, look at my very average typical status symbol dog!

I humbly disagree. Even the Wiki seems to point to paranoia as Kristoph's chief, driving factor, but I.

Well.

I humbly disagree. Let's not circle back around to this; I'm not trying to discount anyone else's headcanons.

Anyway.

Why a dog and not a cat?

Because cats have a reputation for independence, for coming and going as they please, for not needing you. "Dog," meanwhile, persists as a synonym for "loyal." To call someone a dog implies ultimate trust, ultimate submission, to someone higher than them. To their master.

Now.

Why hire Apollo, specifically, an orphan with few friends or connections and a fuckload of trauma?

Why mentor Apollo? Why adopt a dog? (Why befriend Phoenix?)

The answer is the same:

He needs people to depend on him. He needs others to view him as a kind, benevolent benefactor. He needs their praise, their admiration. He needs people to tell him he's special and he needs other people to see those people telling him he's special and also believe he's special and then he needs additional people to talk to those people and hear about how special he is, he needs the whole wide fucking world to say that KRISTOPH GAVIN IS SPECIAL!!!!

(Although. Maybe he just likes dogs. Not everything has to have a shady ulterior motive. People don't fit neatly into your preconceived categories of "good" and "bad." Maybe he's a murderer who loves dogs and genuinely thinks of Vongole as his best friend. Maybe he saw promise in Apollo and genuinely likes the guy. Did you ever think about that.

Or maybe. It's both. Two things can be true simultaneously and people, both fictional and real, contain multitudes and contradictions we could never hope to understand.)

4. Murdering a guy with a wine bottle, Psyche Locks

I'm gonna be so so real with you, I don't think even Kristoph knows why he did that. I think he blacked out. I think he was a lil drunk ("grape juice" my ass), I think paranoia and fury, the fear and resentment of 7 long, long years, collided like atoms in his brain and fucking exploded I think the bottle was cool in his hand I think his arm hurt I think he felt the impact all the way up his elbow I think the cards were red I think the cards were blue I think he saw Phoenix Wright's face dripping blood I think he blinked I think he heard Vera Misham calling him "angel" I think he watched himself do it from behind his own back

Do you understand.

To even begin unpacking why he did that, he'd have to address that nagging fear that maybe he's not special, that maybe he's just some guy, that Phoenix Wright is special and Gramarye was right in choosing him over Kristoph that Gramarye was justified in taking away Kristoph's shot at admiration and acclaim and Kristoph killed him out of revenge because he couldn't handle the truth that he's not special he's not special he's not special. Phoenix Wright is special and Klavier Gavin is special and now even Apollo Justice is turning out to be special and Kristoph Gavin is an okay-ish lawyer who sucks at poker and talks way too fucking much. That he committed so many monstrous acts and ruined his own life out of the perverse desire to be loved by others because he doesn't. love. himself.

(I call these "load-bearing neuroses" because if you knock one pillar down, the whole structure goes down with it.)

5. Vera Misham

So I think Kristoph is good with kids because he was, for the most part, old enough to be a Small Person when Klavier was born and because I don't think he gets off on exercising that brutal, domineering kind of power over the powerless. I don't think outward cruelty appeals to him.

Why?

Well...

Kristoph Gavin is a sad little boy in a man's suit, desperate for the validation of everyone around him to the point that he would do anything to get it.

Fear and deference are not validation. People talk badly about you and think badly about you when you're a bully. He charmed Vera instead of threatening her because he needed her to like him. He needed Drew to like him. Good god, he needs everyone to like him so much. Talk about him when he's not in the room and tell him what you said. Write him a letter of recommendation and let him read the contents. Sing his praises at your local bar, then send him a recording.

6. "Keep the riff-raff out!"

Ohhh, buddyyyy :( You said the quiet part out loud

Because law is a meritocracy. Because Kristoph Gavin is kind of a big deal. People know him. He's very important. He has many leather-bound books and his apartment smells of rich mahogany.

Only special people are able to become lawyers. And Kristoph is such a special, special boy. He's so special that he got Phoenix disbarred. He's so special that he helped Klavier attain acclaim as a prosecutor. He's so so so special.

But when a group of select people are special, it means that there's another group. The un-special group. The group that Kristoph is so afraid that he's a part of.

By admitting that they exist, that he believes that other people are beneath him, he's asserting his belief in his own inherent superiority one final, desperate time. He's clinging to it so hard his fingertips are cracking the marble. He's starting to bleed. It's starting to hurt.

Before Phoenix, Klavier, and Apollo fucking spin-kick the pillars propping up his self-identity, toppling them and sending the foundation of Kristoph Gavin collapsing into jagged pieces on the floor of his psyche.

—

Personal note but everyone seems to be in agreement that Kristoph's Psyche Locks fuckin. shattered into little bitty pieces during that scene. Don't you think that hurt? Don't you think that hurt like fucking hell? When you break [REDACTED]'s Black Psyche locks in DD, they cry out in pain several times and imply that their head hurts. And that was Phoenix doing it right that time! So I say again:

Don't you think that hurt?

[doodle17]

(not maintagging this because I already know the Bendy tag has heard enough from me about the ink demons design in dark revival but I was just looking at the archives and have to share my thoughts)

Did they... Did they really try to make the Ink Demons beta model fit in the world of Dark Revival? Did they?

Because listen- they said that his previous designs during development made him stand out. My assumption is because he looked too cartoony but like... Tom, Boris, Alisson and Alice all look like that??? ESPECIALLY Tom and Boris. They haven't changed much (aside from a few scars and general wear n' tear added to Tom) and they both fit perfectly into Dark Revival.

If I'm gonna be honest the Ink Demons new model doesn't fit in dark revival (to ME)

If you didn't already know, you probably wouldn't even tell he's supposed to be Bendy. If you removed the bow tie and glove BOOM. That's not Bendy (again, to me)

Now I have no idea if those leaks of early footage with the Ink Demons beta model are real or not, but I haven't seen anything saying they're fake so I'm going to be assuming they're real.

Anyways, yeah! In the early footage he really does stand out, and he actually doesn't really fit in with the environment of dark revival! I mean, the footage itself is very low quality and hard to see but still, I can see what they mean.

But I feel like if a few small changes were added it would've possibly fixed it.

From the beta footage we can see that the model is very rounded. I feel like adding some edge would greatly improve it. Also, MAKE HIM MUSCULAR. Not jacked obviously, but a good mix between lanky and muscular

Look at this

This is so PERFECT

You're telling me they couldn't achieve something like this? SERIOUSLY COME ONNNNN THIS IS SO COOL

This one ACTUALLY LOOKS like Bendy.

Just- *grabbing my head* I feel so ROBBED of what could have been... I really want to like thr new model and there's definitely some things I like about it (that lanky + muscular build I was talking about, the addition of spikes on his back and shoulders and the horns slightly pointing outward near the top adds some edge)

But... He just doesn't look like the Ink Demon. The Ink Demon is a bastardized failed attempt at a cartoon character being brought to life. Sure Ink Machines version isn't very scary, but it understood the assignment. That's a good "failed attempt" kind of design right there! I know for a fact if they leaned more into the possibilities of an uncanny look for the Ink Demon in dark revival they could have pulled it off. I know they could!

But no... They still stuck with their "Big and tough = scary" mindset, and we got something that looks waaaaaayyy too demonic to be a "failed attempt" of an easily recognizable cartoon character.

Oh wait- the reason he looks like that is because of the experiments Wilson did? Oh. Ok, that actually makes sense! I can understand and see it now! I still don't like the design, but at least they have an in game reason for why he looks like that and they aren't going to retcon his old design!

Is what I would say if THEY DIDNT USE THE FUCKING DARK REVIVAL MODEL IN ALL THE PREQUEL MATERIAL

No thoughts (MANY thoughts) just left to fantasize about what could've been....

[balillee]

Hey i saw a post of yours about Niki and i was wondering what's your opinions on the characters in the syndicate

i'm just really interested in different peoples opinions about these things sorry

that's fine, don't worry lol,

(all below is /rp unless stated otherwise)

the syndicate as a whole i think is very ironically oppressive - the four richest individuals on the server, who command power through wealth and fear rather than respect, teaching people that they should live in a system that they believe is free, in which the members of the syndicate would sit at the top of the natural food chain, and the people they're talking to about their ideas of freedom would not thrive (due to a lack of skill, respect, resources etc).

individual members:

techno is very complex, because i'm conflicted as to whether or not i think he's fully aware that he'd sit at the top of the food chain in an anarchist society and knows he'd thrive over others (because of the dog eat dog comment he made to the badlands boys) or if he genuinely believes that anarchy will free everyone. i think overall his perspective as a character is very sheltered, and i don't think he understands the perspectives of others who may want order and believe that institutions, nations and government could be beneficial to their lives. i think he also misses a lot of context, such as how the original l'manberg was a truly special place - not perfect - but it wasn't oppressive (because it wasn't scared of losing it's power), it didn't force anyone to do anything, and it was built on a foundation of trust that only began to fall apart when eret betrayed them (aka when someone intervened.)

phil's another complex one, because his radicalisation is based a lot on grief and past experiences, but again it is still radicalisation, and a lot of it again seems sheltered. once again i think his character could benefit from the context of how l'manberg was before the elections and how beneficial it was for it's members. i also think he'd be the one to benefit the most from knowing how snowchester properly operates and how tubbo is technically it's leader. i think communication between phil and tubbo specifically could really be an eye opener for his character as to how anarchy isn't beneficial for everyone, and how government/nations aren't inherently oppressive. i see phil as a little more empathetic than techno, especially concerning the difference between phil and ranboo's dynamic vs techno and ranboo's dynamic (in which ranboo is still somewhat fearful of techno - still waiting on ranboo's reaction to learning about techno taking tubbo's second life), and so i hope if that conversation ever comes about, phil can be somewhat understanding that tubbo thrives best in nations because people like him and jack are fearful of powerful individuals because all they've done is cause them grief and take from them, and that doomsday taught them not about anarchy, but about how they should fear the powerful.

ranboo as a character, and this might in part be due to how young he is and his memory issues, is extremely naive. his solutions to problems read about as well as 'i think the thing that would help the most is world peace'. he's very well known for his ideas of not picking sides, and cc!ranboo is very open and admits that his character is a hypocrite in the sense that he may not know at some points that he's choosing a side that can hurt his friends. i think he's definitely naive for believing that the syndicate is capable of stopping conflicts, and i want to see if at some point he's thrown between two sides and his ideas of not picking a side and picking the obvious right side (either ideologically, or it's the one that protects his friends/innocent people) conflict. i also would like to see him build trust with other characters, especially with tommy, because i think the two could benefit from helping each other out with their dream trauma specifically, and because i think tommy's the person who best fits the criteria to help ranboo with the fourth book (not exactly the most morally pure but getting better/still somewhat a good person who stands up to bullshit, unaffiliated with any groups, can keep secrets).

niki i've been very openly critical about as a character, mainly because in stories i operate under the idea that if a character can be omitted from a retelling of the overall story, it shouldn't be there, but this is a roleplay series so that fallacy doesn't really work. she doesn't add much to the syndicate other than my annoyance of it to be honest. her views towards new l'manberg are hypocritical and somewhat aggravating, especially since she left it fairly quickly for someone who fought to get it back in pogtopia - she technically left on two occasions when she made her secret city during tubbo's presidency, and when she left with fundy to found drywaters. she had no reason to be mad at l'manberg as she had no affiliations with it. i also don't really like her 'healing arc', because her version of healing is also 'villain niki', which i fucking despise, because it reads as if her version of healing is turning on her friends and dictating how they should live as if she's not entitled and as if she knows better. genuinely, and i know this may sound overly negative, i don't find any redeeming qualities in her character, and cc!niki needs to either decide whether or not her character is angry and vengeful against people who never wronged her, or soft and kind and healing, because to me those two archetypes conflict a lot. she's the one type of traitor that the fandom subconsciously doesn't even recognise as a traitor, and has decided she doesn't need to redeem herself for how she treated tommy and how she treated her friends in l'manberg.

i see the syndicate overall as a villainous group, which, you can argue all day about how 'there are no good or evil people in the dream smp they're all morally grey' all day, but there are, and even the creators acknowledge it. pretty much all cc's acknowledge the alignment charts, people refer to their character's arcs as villain arcs or hero arcs etc. this doesn't mean that i hate the syndicate, it just means that i see them as morally and functionally in the wrong in comparison to groups like snowchester (and honestly, i think rooting for the heroes has become kind of underrated at this point. i'm a sucker for happy worlds that are good; built on compromise and understanding, what can i say?)

sorry if i seem overly critical about them, i don't mean to (so i won't maintag it), but i hope this explains my perspective a little!

[ethereousdelirious]

Yada yada yada I'm on mobile and can't do a read more and I'm not going to butcher this fic by censoring all the names so vanillas please don't be weird or abusive to me on this post. It's not maintagged, so the only reason you're seeing it is because of Tumblr fucking idiotic decision to show posts that haven't been tagged

Anyway. Here's that request for sick!Yasha~ Let's hope the formatting doesn't get all fucked up

For Yasha, waking up in pain was not a novelty or even an unwelcome surprise. Pain was merely the byproduct of work and would fade, as all things did, in time.

Today, however, was unusual. Yesterday had been easy. Like the others, she spent part of the day walking and part of the day riding in the cart. They hadn't fought. They'd even made camp early and she'd spent some time sitting in the grass talking with Caleb.

Why then, did her joints ache like she had spent the day hauling cargo for the circus? Why was her head pounding in time with the drumbeat of her pulse?

"Up and at 'em, Yasha!" Beau gave her arm a light kick.

Yasha sat up slowly. "Morning."

"'Deuces is already done with breakfast. You'd better hurry before Nott eats it all."

"I wouldn't let her," Caduceus said from over by the fire.

Nott glared at him, her eyes shiny. "Like you could stop me."

Yasha laughed lightly and got to her feet. "I didn't mean to sleep in so late." She shuffled over to the fire and sat down beside Fjord. Beau followed her and squeezed in beside Jester.

"You didn't even move when Fjord tried to wake you up," Jester said. "You just kind of--" She threw her head back and opened her mouth, a caricature of Yasha asleep on her back with her mouth open.

"Oh." Yasha looked at what everyone was eating, some sort of oatmeal with berries, and decided she didn't want any. "Was I snoring?"

"Only a little bit," Beau said. "It was kinda cute actually."

"Like purring," Caleb agreed. He snapped a Frumpkin appeared in Yasha's lap.

Yasha buried her fingers in the soft fur, still feeling strangely hungover and overworked. "Caduceus?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have any," she hesitated, still not quite used to just asking for things from this strange new family, "mint tea?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I have something like that." Caduceus sat back and began to pull things from his bag. "Anyone else?"

The group murmured their mixed assents and declinations. Caduceus prepared some water to boil.

"We should probably get a move on sooner rather than later," Fjord spoke up.

"We will," Caduceus said, unconcerned. "This won't take long."

Fjord looked like he wanted to argue, but fell silent.

"Sorry," Yasha said, suddenly hyper aware of how the group might perceive her. "I didn't mean-- I don't want to hold us up."

"It's fine, Fjord is just antsy," Jester reassured her. "You know he can't sit still."

"I have the cure for that," Beau stood up and grabbed Fjord by the collar. "C'mon. Let's go do some push-ups since you're so energetic."

"Save me," Fjord whispered as he was dragged away, and then he was gone.

Yasha chuckled. Sitting like this was nice. Her joints didn't feel quite so sore and her head only hurt when moved too quickly. 

When Caduceus handed her a steaming mug of mint tea, she drank it down quickly so as not to hold anyone up more than she already had.

At first it was pleasant, warming her body against the chill of the morning air.

But the heat didn't fade. By the time they packed the wagon and started down the path, she was sweating. Each step felt like it took twice the effort that it normally would.

She went silent as she walked, trying to figure out what could be wrong. Had she been poisoned? She knew Fjord and Nott were mistrustful of her now, but they wouldn't-- Would they?

No. Yasha shook her head to clear it. They wouldn't. Maybe… It was a slim possibility, but it was the only one that made logical sense. Maybe she was sick.

Yasha was rarely ill, especially not like this. The last time she'd been sick, she had caught a head cold off Molly, and continued to work while he draped himself all over her and complained that he was dying.

She smiled at the memory and let it fade before the pain of his loss could come sneaking in. So she was sick. She could handle it.

Jester stood at the front of the wagon and watched the ground move as she prepared to do something phenomenally stupid. Swallowing her fear, she jumped over the side of the wagon. She managed to land on her feet, but the momentum caused her to stumble and fall.

"Aw, man," she complained loudly, mostly so the others would know she wasn't badly hurt.

"Please don't do that again!" Fjord said from his spot at the front of the wagon. "At least, not without warning me first."

"Sorry!" Jester looked at the dust on her palms. Satisfied that she wasn't bleeding, she wiped them off on her dress.

"Here." Yasha's imposing silhouette blocked out the sun. She extended a hand to Jester and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks, Yasha!" Jester fell into step beside her. "I don't know what I thought was going to happen, but I was hoping it would be cooler than that."

Yasha laughed, but her gaze seemed far away. "Maybe Beau can teach you some tricks."

"Sounds fun!" Beau shouted from the far side of the wagon.

Jester shouted back and soon she and Beau were having a loud conversation about the proper form and practical applications of a forward roll.

She got so wrapped up in it that she didn't even notice when Yasha disappeared from her periphery. It was only when Caleb politely asked them to stop shouting (followed by a less polite request from Nott) that Jester looked around and realized that Yasha had fallen behind.

She was trailing several feet behind the wagon, her feet dragging in the dust and her head lowered.

Jester jogged back to her. "Hey, Yasha! Are you okay?"

Yasha's eyes were hazy, unfocused. She looked at Jester helplessly. "I'll be okay."

"What's wrong?" The wagon was pulling farther away from them but Jester paid it no mind. "Your face is all red. Are you sick?" She stood on her tiptoes and cupped a hand to Yasha's forehead. "Yasha!" she gasped, half-scandalized. "Did you know you have a fever?"

"I do?" Yasha slumped forward suddenly, like the realization had taken her strength away. "I don't get sick."

"Everybody gets sick," Jester said. She smoothed a few errant locks of hair out of Yasha's face. "Oh, poor Yasha."

"I really don't," Yasha said, her brow knit in confusion. "Not like this."

"You've really never had a fever before?"

Yasha shook her head.

"That's okay, I'll look after you!" Jester said. Then her head snapped up. "Oh. Shit." She screwed up her face in concentration. "Hey, Fjord! Stop the wagon for a second! Me and Yasha got behind. We're fine though, don't worry. We'll be right there. How many words was that?"

"I wasn't counting."

"Yeah, me either." Jester shrugged. "Well, they stopped. Can you walk? 'Cause I bet I can totally carry you."

"I can walk."

The others were waiting for them expectantly, varying degrees of concern on their faces.

"We're fine!" Jester said, making shooing gestures. "We're just going to ride in the back for a bit. Okay?" This last word was directed at Caleb and Nott, who had been riding nestled amongst their supplies.

"Ja, that's fine." Caleb shrugged and invited Nott to scurry up onto his shoulders.

"Okay, come on, Yasha." Jester helped her climb into the back. The she popped her head out from behind the cover. "Okay, stop staring already! We're fine. Let's go."

"O-kay?" Fjord started to walk back around to the front. "Beau, want to ride with me for a bit?"

"Sure." Beau kept casting curious looks at Jester, but she went with Fjord. The wagon started to move again and Jester turned back to face Yasha.

"Okay, I'll get you all taken care of, I promise."

"Thanks," Yasha said, looking a touch awkward. "I'm not really sure what to do."

"Well for starters," Jester dug through their supplies and pulled out her bedroll, then Yasha's. "I'm going to make you the comfiest little nest ever." She arranged the blankets and pillows to her liking and motioned for Yasha to lie down. "Umm, let's see. Are you hot? Your face is really red."

"Yes," Yasha said immediately. Her skin felt overheated and irritated. Even the texture of the blankets was almost painful on her bare arms.

"Okay, hang on." Jester started to go through her pockets, eventually producing a small scrap of cloth.

Yasha watched as Jester carefully poured some water over it. "What's that for?"

"It's going to go on your forehead," Jester explained. "Like this." She leaned over and carefully draped the wet cloth over Yasha's brow. "Lie back or it will fall off."

"Oh," Yasha said as immediate, blissful relief washed over her.

"I wish I had another one for the back of your neck," Jester said thoughtfully. "Maybe Caleb has a handkerchief in one of his 600 pockets."

"Jester," Yasha took her hand. "This is. Wonderful. Thank you." No one, not even Molly, not even Zuala, had taken care of her like this. It was almost overwhelming. "Really, thank you."

"It's nothing," Jester said, not looking Yasha in the eye. A deep purple brush was beginning to creep up her neck. "Um, anyway, do you want to sleep now?"

"I don't know." Yasha stretched as much as she could in the confines of the cart. "I'm tired, but not that kind of tired."

"How about I tell you a story? I can tell you all about Princess Fancybottom, the most beautiful, well-endowed princess in the whole world."

Yasha smiled. "That would be nice, Jester. You can-- You can lie down next to me if you want."

"Okay." Jester nodded, satisfied. "Close your eyes so you can really picture the story, okay?"

"That's a good idea, actually. I'm probably way colder than you are." Jester scooted in next to Yasha, settling in so their arms touched. "Ooh, you are warm. Let me know if you start to feel worse, okay?"

"I will."

Yasha closed her eyes. Jester began her tale of Princess Fancybottom as the cart rolled along the simple dirt path.

Yasha knew that the world was full of dangers and discomforts that she would eventually have to face, but in this moment, all she felt was safe.

[allswellthxtends]

Goodnight, Darling.

A kharlotte fan fic. Most of this was an AI. (Besides a few little things.) Have fun. -Birb

Charlotte wasn't sure if it asking. On one end, K and her had been friends for years, and the other. . . Well, Charlotte wasn't sure if she could call it love yet, but it was there. Soft and warm in the space between her lungs.

She leaned against her friends shoulder, quiet, like she'd been for a long while now. Her eyes unfocused as she sighed. How'd they end up here? Pressed shoulder to shoulder, between pages that they didn't read aloud.

It was too quiet for a goodbye.

K hadn't moved. Neither of them had. The lamp flickered softly from Charlotte's room, light slanting through the open door. Another reminder that they had to change that stupid bulb. They'd been meaning to do it for ages. Since the first few weeks of owning the flat.

K was humming. She did that a lot less lately. Charlotte briefly let her mind flicker to the times she'd pluck idly at her guitar while K whistled along to no particular song, knees folded over the stair case.

With K leaving. . . Charlotte knew it was unlikely they'd have that again.

K shifted, and Charlotte jumped, startled by the sudden movement.

K cleared her throat. And didn't meet Charlotte's gaze.

Say you're staying. Charlotte thought. Say it so I don't have to ask you. So I don't feel like I'm going to ruin this.

"I should- I should get to bed." Charlotte said after a bit, lifting herself to her feet despite the heaviness of her heart.

"Goodnight, Darling." K said. A little familiarity in this dazed confusion. Something K had always said, as a mean to get Charlotte flustered. And it was a lurch that tugged at Charlotte's floating rib, and slithered into the space between, right to the fuzzy static in her heart.

Her throat hurt, as if she were trying to swallow gravel. She paused, looking at her friend who'd gone stiff.

"K."

It was a moment before K looked back.

"K, I-" Charlotte began. "I want you to stay."

K looked startled, like she was trying to process what she'd heard, or maybe what she hadn't.

K blinked a few times.

"Char," She whispered, tears beginning to pool. "I can't-" It was a soft whisper, like a lost thing.

Charlotte nodded. "I know." She took a step forward and knelt before her friend, taking her shoulders in her hands. "It's just- I can't bear the thought of goodbye."

K trembled, like she was trying to take in the words. Finally, she found her voice. "I'm sorry, Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded, the tears sliding down her cheeks, the anguish choking.

K reached forward, and then hesitated. "I don't want to. I really don't want to."

"I know you don't." Charlotte said.

"But I'll keep in touch I promise-" K began. Charlotte shook her head.

They were both quiet for a bit.

"Wake me up before you leave, alright?" Charlotte whispered, and K nodded.

"Good night darling." Charlotte said, and couldn't bear to wait for K's reaction.

A door closed once. And a second time.

A flickering light went out.

A few hours later all Charlotte found the letter K had hastily scribbled.

"I'll call you everyday. I won't let you go Char, I promise. I'm never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you."

bird you don’t have to hide i know it’s you @lovebird-in-the-dark i am maintagging you because i hate you