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starlightshore · 4 years ago

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barring the no mercy route being an influence in this case, how would you describe chara's personality? I cannot describe them well at all despite them being my favorite character. they're too complex lol. all of the meta i can find at this time as them described at both extremes of innocent & evil but i don't think that's accurate

TW: discussions of canon dark topics such as abuse , death and suicide

i love talking about chara, i've talked about them at length before lmao. thank u for giving me a chance to talk about my beloved child.

you can actually read a character exploration i'm doing in a mini-arc for Askfallenroyalty. actually, if you want one condensed post, this comic sums up chara's motives

My interpretation:

chara is an abused kid and suicidal kid*(1) who ran to mount ebott to die.*(2) upon learning that monsters are made of love and humans aren't*(3), chara began to hate humanity. the deltarune prophecy*(4) makes them to be The Angel despite being a human. Feeling undeserving of this title and obligated to fulfill it, Chara wanted to be a good kid more than anything.

But then the buttercup pie incident happened. They've accidentally*(5) poisoned asgore and came up with a plan to ensure the prophecy could be fulfilled and take a hit against humanity. Two birds with one stone -who cares if it's also a personal win too? then obviously the plan goes up in flames and they and asriel are murdered. then asgore wants to kill of all humanity.

your influence*(6) gets Chara onto a path of redemption or a path of destruction, mirroring the deltarune prophecy's two main interpretations.*(7)

in summery: chara is a scared kid trying to fit into a world that demands violence by the past actions of the previous generations. The war massacred monsters and locked them up with a kill-solution -ensuring that further violence would be needed to be free, thus continuing the cycle of violence.

chara is just a kid. they knit, they make macaroni art, they loved their family and had a best friend forever.* (8) but they're also vengeful, they cared so deeply for monsterkind they were ready to die and had no idea they'd be awake as a soul, they were prepared for death. they're complicated, you can't have one side without the other. while i’ve never wanted to murder anyone, i can still relate deeply to chara and see myself in them a lot. the tragedy of them -the fact they never really got a “happy ending” like everyone else just haunts me and it’s why I spend so much time making AFR. I just... love this character so much, i want this kid to be happy. (not that it could ever be easy to get there, happy endings aren’t free.)

And frankly, seeing this hurt kid get demonized just rubs me the wrong way, and it feels completely against the morals Undertale tries to tell with it’s story. I see it as a cautionary tale against violence and dehumanizing others for the sake of hate and violence. how kids can be influenced by the violence -or kindness around them. you don’t need to forgive the ones who hurt you, but killing them is not always the solution -though sometimes necessary as framed in the Undyne the Undying fight.

People get both Undertale’s themes and chara wrong the most, and for the game that’s meant the world to me it bothers me more than it should lol. It’s a Good Story, and I don’t mean to frame my interpretation of the character or themes as 100% canon and I know Mr.Fox’s brain to confirm it kinda deal, but with all the time I’ve spent analyzing and thinking it over I do think it’s not off in the general direction of it lol. And besides the author’s intent isn’t really the end-all-to-be-all. It’s what you get out of the story and the themes that matter and stick with you. No one can take that away from you.

Sources and evidence:

"* If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard." -faded ribbion flavor text * "The ends of the tools have been filed down to make them safer." -gardening tools in New Home (and iirc Toriel's home as well, too lazy to double check rn) * Where are the knives. -no mercy chara (this and paired with the previous imply there are no sharp objects in reach of chara's home because chara can't be trusted with sharp objects out of self harm. This doesn't necessarily mean abuse but paired with them hating humanity so deeply, being suicidal and a child it paints a picture of abuse.

"* I know why (chara) climbed the mountain.* It wasn't for a very happy reason." -asriel post pacifist epilogue dialogue

"* Love, hope, compassion... * This is what people say monster SOULs are made of. * But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown. * After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist." -Library book on monster souls)

* Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom. - gerson

"* It takes at least a human soul... * And a monster soul. * ...* If you want to go home... * You'll have to take his soul. * You'll have to kill ASGORE." -Alphys. Because boss monster souls are the exception and can persist after death for a short period of time, Chara could of killed any of the family members to escape the underground. this implies escaping wasn't the goal -it was to die (considering they already attempted suicide to fall underground the first time, this is explicitly suicide.) the plaque doesn't mention or speak like monster/human fusion's consumed soul would be aware. chara had no way of knowing they'd be awake. also the whole thing with the pie is a prank. cups of butter. -> buttercups. putting flowers in a pie is a joke to do, we see Chara is similar to Toriel (they mimic her speech in the no mercy monologue, they say “greetings” as she does like how Asriel says “howdy” like Flowey does. Chara makes puns and jokes in the flavor text all the time.

https://imgur.com/a/zP18P -dog food bag at different LV. "When the protagonist first encounters Mad Dummy, they are given the option to beat it up. Choosing to beat it up prompts one of three responses depending on the protagonist's LOVE." (source: undertale wiki)

If the protagonist’s LV is 1, the response becomes "(You tap the dummy with your fist.) (You feel bad.)"

If the protagonist's LV is between 2 and 4, the response becomes "(You hit the dummy lightly.) (You don't feel like you learned anything.)"

If the protagonist’s LV is between 5 and 7, the response becomes "(You sock the dummy.) (Who cares?)"

If the protagonist’s LV is 8 or higher, the response becomes "(You punch the dummy at full force.) (Feels good.)"" This implies Chara (who is the narrator) will feel different about the dog food -which references the classic phrase of "glass half empty/full" showing your out look in life. Then hitting the dummy show's Frisk's out look on violence depending on LV. Note that by the end of it, it's no longer "you feel..." but "feels good" This is Chara.

7. “* Lately, the people have been taking a bleaker outlook...* Callin' that winged circle the 'Angel of Death.' “ -gerson “* Only the fearless may proceed. * Brave ones, foolish ones. * Both walk not the middle road. “ -the first plaque in the first puzzle room with Toriel. The idea is to walk on both the left and right sides -you can’t go half way in the middle. this mirrors the “true” endings are only accomplished if you stick to no mercy or pacifist only.

8. literally their home in New Home is a treasure trove of pre-game chara characterization.

#personal stuff #ut tag #character analysis #chara analysis #ask to tag #i put the warnings up top tho

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uniquevocashark · 4 years ago

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A Good Servant

Part 1 of ?

Summary: You would do anything to keep her happy: be it keeping her pet healthy, running her house or making her wine. Everything but for what you both want.

Some content warnings for this part: there's heavily referenced sex/sexual activity, pet play (not with the reader, this is an angsty prologue fic), brief mention of adultery, casual contemplation of murder, brief mention of whipping and a joke made about catholics. If I missed anything that you think should be tagged, dm me and I'll add it.

You start down the hallway before you can stop to think, holding the tray aloft in one hand. It's very easy to hear the strangled sounds of Lady Dimitrescu's most recent pet, some twenty something woman from the village, which only makes your job that much harder.

As you had been here for quite some time, you knew one of the most taboo acts was to interrupt her during 'training'. As you got closer you could hear her voice clear as day, offering soothing encouragements before the snap of a crop reached your ears.

You stop just before the door, wondering briefly if she'd use it on you for interrupting. But you couldn't send the heads of the other families away, so you steal yourself, rebalanced the tray and knock thrice.

There's a shuffle and her pet screams louder than before, followed by a half slurred string of begging and moans.

You purse your lips. You knock again, thrice, harder this time. You finally hear the Lady curse, some Romanian word you can't quite grasp yet, followed by quick shushing of her pet. You hold the tray carefully and take a precautionary step back.

She slams the door open and you catch a fleeting look at her black silk underwear before you shift your gaze into the room. Her pet, whose name you don't know and dotn care to learn, sits uncomfortably on the floor beside her masters bed.

"What is it?" Lady Dimitrescu snarls down at you, and you look up at the filigree decorating the wall beside her head.

"The Heisenbergs and Moreau are here to see you, Madame. They bear a seal from Mother Miranda." You handover the letter one of them gave you and fill her glass while she reads it.

You drop a bit of her special wine into it and hand it over. She eyes you carefully, taking a lemon slice. "Help me dress." She says and walks back into her room.

The hallway beckons but you follow her in anyway. She won't kill you, not while Mother Miranda has need of you, but you know she forgets how fragile people are sometimes. Her pet is a keen example; she clearly hasn't slept much due to her servicing, she's bruised all over and the way her lips wobble stirs some momentary pity in you.

Unfortunately for her, any stronger feelings have long since been cut away and seeing her in such a state only brings up questions of how you can improve. Still, you try to put on some faux sympathy for her.

You fill the smaller glass and hand it to her pet with a small platter of apple slices. When you look over to Lady Dimitrescu her brows are raised.

"She hasn't eaten for two days, Madame." You say instead of explaining. It had been one of the cooks ideas, someone that knew her.

Clearly, Lady Dimitrescu didn't realise that, "Of course," she replies crisply, her tone too sharp, "You may eat, pet."

Without waiting, you walk over to her closet to pick a dress. They are the same style and differ in their colour scheme; three are the same shade of light cream, twelve are pure white and three more are tinged grey. You pick out a light cream one with matching undergarments when she calls you over.

You've been working for her a long time, excess of seven years, so you know how she prefers to be dressed after stringent activity. You slip her bra on and her underwear. Slowly, you put her stockings on, as to not rip the expensive fabric, and clip them to her garter belt.

Lady Dimitrescu choses which garter she wears each day rather than have you or her personal amod do so, today it is the one that tangles easily. Its notorious among the staff for how difficult it is to put on. You know your way around it, though, fastening it quickly about her hips and thighs. "Have you put any thought into what I asked earlier, Madame?"

Lady Dimitrescu scoffs, sipping her water, "I have a personal maid." She jerks her chin to her pet, who has been munching as quietly as possible on the apple slices.

"Yes," you say lightly, helping her step through into her dress, "I merely doubt she will have time to deal with any duties other than those of a pet."

She eyes you dangerously and sets her cup down. You ignore the passive aggressive ploy to retrieve the step ladder in the closet. You flick it open and climb it as you pull her dress up, admiring the muscles of her back when she flexes subtly, then guide her arms into the sleeves.

"Who do you recommend, my gracious head of staff?" She croons when you work your way up the buttons of her dress.

You overexargerate your sigh at her playful tone. You catch her smile in the mirror and go back to buttoning. It is much harder to accept some days that this cannot last forever.

"Jessica is a cheery and dedicated worker with a strong back for lashings should she ever disappoint," her pet looks at you with mild horror that you file away and you try to strain your voice a little more towards reluctance, "Mihaela may suit your temper better, she has a quiet nature, has little care for material things and does her best to avoid punishment." That and her aggressive asides about the Lady would stop if she wanted to live.

Lady Dimitrescu moves over to her vanity, and you follow, grabbing the scissors attached to your chatelain and three roses from the vase on her desk. "Who else?" She asks, flicking the cap off her lipstick.

"Louise may suit as well," You say as you clip the stalks, "but Miss Daniela has taken a fancy to her. It would not be the wisest choice. There is also Rachel but she is pregnant with the gardeners child."

"Leave it to humans to rut like base animals on my property," she taps her lips thoughtfully, "Wasn't Rachel married?"

"She is, Madame."

"Do you remember to whom?"

You pause in your arranging of the flowers on her breast and she catches your eye with a smile that burns you, "It was to the southern most butcher. One of the Bradleys, I believe."

She clicks her tongue, breaking eye contact, and you move to brush her silky hair out before she repins it. "Tell Heisenbergs retainer to have her husband brought here. It may be time to cull that wretched family," she paused, sipping again at her water, "Also, Mihaela will do, inform her after the meeting."

"Of course, Madame." You set the brush down, and grab her powder, dusting it onto her cheeks as she fixes the curls back into her hair. She is most beautiful like this, when her face turns delicately pensive and she stills almost completely. You almost wonder what it would be like, with her, and have to take an extra second to cool your heating face.

When she turns to you, with that deliberate, unabashed affection stealing the faux indifference from her face, it makes your heart quake in a way you haven't felt before. You have to look away before you both do something stupid. Deliberately, you plant your hand on her shoulder to keep her at a distance and stare intently at her ear as you put her earrings on.

Her pet has come to sit at your feet, Lady Dimitrescu running her fingers through her hair and you vaguely wonder what it would be like. What if you were there instead and what if this and that and everything else you could want but can't have. Neither of you will cross Mother Miranda.

Her pet gives you the dishes, the glass and plate empty. You move away from them, so that you're not tempting anything again and refill the glass.

"Shall I also have inquiries made about a new gardener, madame?" You ask as you hand the glass back, then move to gather together a suitable outfit for her pet.

The softness is gone from her face and you tell yourself you're glad of it. "Yes, someone more appropriate."

"Not a Catholic then?" You ask innocently. She chuckles warmly and you go about dressing her pet with a little smile. "And would you prefer the current one be brought to your daughters or sent straight to the cellar?"

She regards you seriously in the mirror, and you stare back into her golden eyes before returning to fixing the bow on the back of her pets dress, "Bring him to me when I'm next available."

You usher her pet back to her seat, putting the cups back on the tray, "That would be after dinner for today, or at three tomorrow evening."

"After dinner will be fine." She replies, eating the rest of her lemon. She hands you the skin, her fingers brushing yours deliberately, and you take longer than needed to deposit it on the plate.

"The families are gathered in the dining hall, Madame. I had the kitchen staff prepare a light brunch."

"Tell them I'll be there momentarily."

"As you say, my Lady." You curtsy as you leave. You make a note to have Rachel serve dinner and to watch the Lady's pet while she's busy. You may even go so far as to ask the cook to make a broth; this pet seems to make her happy and you are determined that her pet remains able to do so.

It's all you can do, after all.

Hey, little note:

This is a multi chapter fic with a planned unhappy ending because Courtly Love Trope doesn't usually end well. There will also be references to Resident Evil lore from previous games. Do I care if its accurate? No, not at all. Resi purists beware this fic. And thanks for reading!

#lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu x reader #angst #specified age do not touch #my writing #A Good Servant #light angst this part lads #it gets worse #:)#IVE REALLY BEEN CONTEMPLATING WHETHER I SHOULD EVEN POST THIS #but its here now so you all have to suffer for it #time line is planned out hmu if you want it #courtly love strikes again :(

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lovenona · 4 years ago

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it’s here, it’s wild, and it’s fun – welcome to “what happened after the art show” featuring everyone’s favorite menace art student ryomen sukuna (previous installment here and full universe here)

(note that this does contain some references to explicit content – it will be clearly marked within the text)

now that i've captured your attention: there are a myriad of ways this could go, really. let’s start with the basics.

first things first: while the thought of scratching up geto’s stupid little car sounds awfully appealing to you, and while you simply wanted to accept the offer for the sake of sukuna’s unusually kind gesture, you also know that you don’t want some serious claims filed against you. geto’s a prick, as you’ve learned, and it’s best to keep things civil.

so you politely tell sukuna as much, and while he might tease you for being a coward, you know there’s no real malice behind that impenetrable voice of his.

but the night is not over! sukuna will take you to his car, then. it’s vintage and black and a little beat up and there’s miscellaneous art supplies and tattoo reference books strewn across the backseat, but it smells so distinctly like sukuna that it feels strangely like home. he controls the music, of course, blaring indie and punk with his windows cracked so every stoplight can hear. (he has a preference for wolf alice. he thinks the lead singer is hot.) and even better, he’s got a smirk, a real one, as he drapes one hand across the steering wheel and the other on the glove box between you.

(you think you’d like his hand to reach further. but you’re still technically in recovery mode, so of course you won’t say it, not yet.)

your earlier sadness melts away with every minute you spend in sukuna’s car. he’ll take you for a drive without needing to ask. he can read the vibe – it’s you. you don’t want to go home, you don’t want to go out, you don’t want to be anywhere; so he’ll keep you in that liminal space, driving in circles and turning down strange roads whenever and wherever he feels like it. he’ll pass familiar buildings on campus to make a silly little quip, drive past the grocery store to watch students filter through with their reusable grocery bags, drive past the parks that loom in the dusk shadows. you don’t need to talk, and neither does he. it’s quiet, strangely, but a silence so comfortable you hardly notice it.

and, frankly, the most realistic ending to this night would be that sukuna drops you off at your apartment complex and lets you go home for the night with a final joke. but, of course, i know that’s not why any of us are here.

so, of course, let’s go to sukuna’s place, instead. it’s an expected gesture, almost, and you can’t say you’re particularly surprised when you see the familiar building come into view. you’ve been to his apartment a few times now, and it’s a place you’re beginning to learn like the back of your hand.

at this point, your night could go one of two ways. you may now choose your own adventure: safe and fun or sex and spice?

safe and fun: (mentions of alcohol)

you’re stumbling through the door with sukuna, arguing with him as you always do, only to find yuuji and his crew in the living room playing god-knows-what on the xbox. they’ll wave you in with a casual vigor, their loud and raucous behavior making sense once you see the array of empty white claws on the table. (many of them are mango. it’s yuuji’s favorite flavor.)

“you’re back early,” yuuji tells sukuna with a loopy grin, a grin that suggests something unspeakable as he wiggles his eyebrows. he looks at you with that dopey little smile and you roll your eyes.

“the art show sucked,” sukuna responds, scrunching his nose and heading to the kitchen to fix himself a drink. “you fuckers still drink that shit?”

sukuna, you know, hates white claw. he’ll only drink hard alcohol, mixed drinks, things that make him feel like a man. you’ve seen it firsthand countless times by now.

“you’re fourteen minutes older than me,” yuuji whines. “don’t act so high and mighty, old man.”

so sukuna will make himself a drink – a real drink, he clarifies – and offer you a glass almost instinctively. your fingers brush his as he hands you the glass. something electric runs across the surface of your skin, rustles your bones. you make eye contact, and it’s a thousand lifetimes unsaid between you.

(you wonder if you like him. you don’t know.)

so the night passes: you watch yuuji and his friends try and struggle to complete the missions in their silly little game as sukuna sits next to you, flexing his biceps as if he knows you’re watching from the corner of your eyes. megumi yells at yuuji who yells at nobara, and while they offer to let you play, you simply cannot break the connection between them. you like the way yuuji laughs and the way nobara smiles and the way their presence is like a soothing balm, cool and collected.

it’s strange and comforting all at the same time, this newfound ease you feel as you settle back into the couch, your drink sweet on your lips.

the night is a warm lilt; the silly party plays their games, you watch, sukuna acts indifferent to the spectacle and threatens to return to his room at any moment. you know, though, that he’s enjoying himself, even if only because of his posture and the smirk ghosting his lips. it’s wonderful and mundane and in this moment of pure domesticity, you can allow yourself to forget the night’s events entirely.

you hardly remember silly geto now, you do. you know you’ll be angry as all hell when you see him in class but for now, here, it’s okay.

and when you fall asleep, slowly, suddenly, someone – you think sukuna, but he insists he didn’t – tucks you beneath a layer of warm blankets. it’s a warm night, a comforting night, one that feels like a kiss to the forehead. you need it.

(you think sukuna really does kiss your forehead, too, but you don’t know. when you wake on the couch the next morning, you wonder whether it could have all been a dream.)

sex and spice: contains nsfw, slight dubcon (both characters are tipsy but very much consenting and happy with their situation), oral (f! receiving), sukuna being a tease

oh, but the second option. you’ll stumble through the door in this life to find that yuuji’s not home – the apartment is dark and quiet and full of a tension you cannot name. you’ll become hyper aware of your actions, suddenly, shyly, taking note of the exact way you take off your coat and shoes and leave them in the doorway. sukuna feels incredibly present and you don’t know why. you’ve been alone with him before, but perhaps it’s different when you’re alone like this. when it’s his home, his couch, and not a classroom. it’s different, now, when the chances of being seen by strangers have decreased significantly.

you’ll warm up slightly, though, when sukuna offers you a drink in that teasing voice he always uses when he wants to fluster you. he’ll fix the drinks with a bartender’s ease and sit down on the couch, throwing an arm back, letting his bicep tattoos flex in the golden glow of the living room.

it’s so quiet, and you’re trying your best, really, but you don’t know what to say. you’ll put the television on and sukuna will find something you both know you won’t watch but lets you ease the strain. you’ll make fun of it, he’ll make fun of it, and you’ll slide back like molasses into the lazy semblance of friendship you’ve cultivated together.

and it’ll be easier to feel normal, too, once you’ve had a drink or two – your tongue loosens up, and you find yourself able to say things to sukuna that you’ve never said before. you find yourself forgetting that you’re alone with sukuna in his house, and that you are suddenly and absolutely nervous in a way you have never been before.

“so tell me,” he’ll ask, turning to you on the couch, brave and arrogant with a dark and stormy in his system. “how was it?”

you pretend you don’t know what he’s talking about. “how was what?” you’ll purse your lips together and suppress the butterflies in your chest. you wonder just how long you have thought sukuna to be attractive.

he’ll shake his head. “fucking geto, you idiot.” plastered across his face is the smirk you’d know with your eyes closed. he leans in, slightly, not enough to terrify you but enough to leave you struggling to form a complete sentence as your brain shuts down.

but you’ve had something to drink, too, and while in daylight you would have ignored his question entirely, brushing him off as a perv and a jokester, you can’t help but think there’s something different in the aura of the room tonight. you can’t help but be honest.

“it was fine, i guess,” you tell him. you shrug your shoulders and look back towards the television. you pretend you care about what you see.

he smells like something smoky and earthy today. “fine?”

you try to make a joke, but your head is spinning from his undivided attention. you do not know what you are anymore. “are you always this interested in my sex life?”

sukuna, surprisingly, grins with genuine amusement. “no, but geto gives off the vibe of a limp dick film boy, and i wanted to know if it’s true.”

“limp dick film boy,” you repeat, and a hearty laugh escapes your bubbling chest. you feel your inhibitions melt away, and your secrets fly out of you, the horrifying experience of the art show fading behind you. you’ll deal with geto in class, you think vaguely. at least he never said your name.

you sigh, forgetting him like a bad pun. “i mean, i guess it was fine. i don’t know.”

“you don’t know.” you can’t tell if he’s being condescending or if he’s genuinely concerned for the state of your pitiful sex life. “did he at least give good head if he made a fucking sculpture about it?”

“what?” your heart stops, your face is hot, your brain on fire. it’s not that he’s crossed a line, you think, but that that question opens something deep and unspeakable and strange. “no?” you don’t know why you answer, but something within you tells you that you must. something tells you that the world is shifting, and you must follow.

“he didn’t?” you feel the couch shift as sukuna shifts closer. “what kind of fucker doesn’t? it’s common courtesy, you know.”

“he didn’t want to,” you respond, but you don’t know what you’re defending.

“and if i do?”

you freeze. one of sukuna’s hands traces your shoulder like butterfly wings. it must be the rum talking, you think, because there’s no way sukuna would want you. it wouldn’t make sense, certainly, you rationalize. he must be out of his mind, this must be a joke –

“you still there?” a finger taps your forehead.

“yeah,” you respond, returning to yourself. you curse your flailing heartbeat. you turn to look at sukuna, so close to you, and you’re met with the terrifying depth of his dark gaze. you have never seen this gaze, this look that places you at the center of the universe. your breath nearly catches in your throat.

sukuna leans in. so do you, instinctively. you disregard geto and the sculpture and everything that came before. this, you think. this is what it should have been like. you’ve been waiting for this moment since the first time he kissed you months ago. you’re overcome with sensations you cannot name, an ache that builds and spreads through your belly. perhaps you’ll regret it tomorrow. but now, here, you want it more than anything.

“you don’t have to,” sukuna says. his breath is hot on your cheeks.

“i want to,” you say, and it’s a kiss for the ages.

so he’ll push you backwards to lie on the couch, and his shirt will be off and disregarded before you can think about it. you’ll trace the tattoos on his broad chest, lines and patterns you’ve never seen until now that you will never be able to forget. you’ll memorize the feeling of his tongue in your mouth, the smooth metal of his tongue piercing sending shivers down your spine. it’s messy and crude and everything you would expected it to be – neither one of you is willing to give in to the other. neither wants to admit this is anything more than a challenge.

(you’re in heaven, though. geto who?)

and fuck, god, the look he gives you as he asks if he can take your pants off now: you’d paint it, frame it, place it in every art museum in the world if you could. it’s the second time you’ve taken your clothes off for someone in your life and while it’s strange and weird and sukuna, it feels right at the same time. he bites your neck when you left your hips to slide the clothes off you body and you feel dizzy with hunger.

sukuna loves to tease. he’ll make his way down your body slowly, tantalizingly, sly, and you swear you’ll lose your mind if he waits any longer. and when he looks back up to meet your eyes, with that lustful, dangerous, blown-out gaze, you know you’re fucked. you know you’re fucked when you realize it’s ryomen sukuna hanging out between your parted thighs, asking for consent before he places a soft kiss to your clit.

and you know, you know bitterly, that this would have been the most mind-blowing sex of your life had the key not turned in the lock because yuuji decided to come home early.

so you scramble to get your shit together, angry and disappointed. and even though you’ve regained your clothes and your dignity before yuuji can even remove his shoes and make his mindless way to the living room, you cannot quell the fire that grows within you. you cannot stop the hunger that has already begun. and sukuna knows it, too, because his eyes have not lost the look of a predator looking for prey.

(and, you notice, because his dick is still hard.)

he looks at you, and you look at him. he leans in, grins, whispers, “my room?”

#xoxo #sukuna x reader #sukuna #ryomen sukuna x reader #ryomen sukuna #jujutsu kaisen x reader #ryomen.sukuna #artist!jjk #letters to adele

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beewolfwrites · 4 years ago

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And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin - Chapter Twenty-Two: Until Human Voices Wake Us

I know how this chapter finishes, but before you worry, it’s not the last one :)

As always, this is a Chishiya x OC/Reader fic, and if you’re new, feel free to read the full fic here on AO3.

(If I can figure out how to do it, I'll probably create a master post at some point.)

Thank you for all the positivity with the previous chapter, you’re all so kind! I hope you love this one as much!

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I saw a white flash and the blinding rage of Niragi’s eyes, before my body was ripped from the balcony. My back slammed against the stone pillar, and the force knocked the air from my lungs. For a split second, panic took over me. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe. But then a familiar scent of laundry detergent and sweat overwhelmed my senses, and I knew I was breathing, even if I couldn’t feel the air.

I’m alive, I think.

Chishiya’s body was pushed against mine, his hands pressing my shoulders into the pillar as bullets tore past us. Through the thin fabric of his hoodie, I could feel the elevated thump of his heart, and his hair tickled my face with each quick breath.

Suddenly, the bullets stopped.

‘Chishiya?’

He stepped away, his eyes scanning over the both of us as he checked for any injuries. There was no blood on him that I could see, however a bullet had torn through his hood, shredding the fabric in two.

‘I need to go down there,’ I said. The flames were spreading thick and fast, and it was becoming harder to breathe. ‘I need to help them, or at the very least, apologise to Usagi and Arisu for what we did. And I need you not to stop me again.’

His eyes narrowed, but after a moment of hesitation, he said, ‘meet me by the river afterwards. And use your head, stay away from Niragi.’ Shoving his hands in his pockets, he began walking towards the hallway that would lead upstairs.

‘Where are you going?’

He half-turned, replying ‘there’s something I need.’

Then he disappeared, and no matter how much I despised him for the way he’d treated me, I couldn’t help but pray he would return unscathed.

The riverside, I thought, focus on the riverside.

Holding my sleeve over my mouth and nose, I ducked under flaming ceilings and sidestepped burning carpets like hopscotch. Then sprinting down the staircase, I reached the lobby just in time to witness Niragi pointing his gun at Arisu’s head.

No!

I ran, seeing nothing but the glistening burns of Niragi’s skin, and the finger resting on the trigger. But when the shot fired, it didn’t hit Arisu.

Aguni charged like an animal, even as the bullets burst through his skin. His body slammed into Niragi’s, carrying the both of them off into the flames and smoke. There were several gunshots… and then nothing. It all happened within seconds, but his sacrifice held everyone’s attention as we all looked at the space where they had both disappeared.

Thank you, Aguni.

‘THREE MINUTES REMAINING.’

There was no time to check if they were dead. Several survivors jumped into action as they lifted Momoka’s body, taking it through the entrance and out towards the patio. It turned out they didn’t need my help. But it was okay. There was still a loose end I had to tie.

Usagi was sitting on the ground, inspecting Arisu’s injuries as he winced and insisted that he was okay. They both froze when they saw me approaching.

‘ごめんなさい,’ I said, sincerely. ‘苣屋の本当の予定が知らなかった.’ I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about Chishiya’s real plan.

Usagi looked unsure of whether to believe me, and truth be told, I didn’t expect her to, let alone forgive me. Arisu didn’t seem as hesitant though. He searched my expression as if he were solving a puzzle.

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I’m guessing he tricked you too.’

I nodded, wishing I could go back and change things. After this, I would meet Chishiya by the river, hopefully to put this chapter to rest so I could move forwards and focus on surviving. But for now, I extended a hand.

Arisu gladly took it, and supporting his weight between us, Usagi and I helped him out of the building. I tried not to look back, I really did, but there was no trace of Chishiya in the flames.

Please don’t let the riverside be another lie.

-----------------------------------------------------

‘GAME CLEAR - CONGRATULATIONS!’

The singsong voice echoed through our phones as we all gathered to watch the fire of judgement consume Momoka’s body. Countless hands and legs extended out of the pile, blackened and stiff. Eventually, they would all char away into a single pool of ash. Nobody spoke, and yet somehow, the screams still rang out over the crackle of the embers. Our ‘utopia’ was burning to the ground, there were barely any survivors, and there was nothing left for us but a pyrrhic victory.

One by one, the others began filing out of the patio to get away from the hotel before it collapsed. Following behind, I took one last look at the entrance.

There’s no sign of either of them…

I should’ve been mad. No, I was mad. But that wasn’t to say I’d stopped loving him, and the thought that he might not have made it out was too difficult to bear. The same went for Kuina. Even if she probably knew that Chishiya had been screwing with my mind this whole time, I still loved her like a sister, and that would never change.

And so, while the others headed for the bridge, I broke off from the group and changed course towards the river. Noticing my disappearance, Usagi and Tatta looked back.

‘Aren’t you coming?’ Usagi called.

I smiled and shook my head. ‘また後でね,’ I shouted. ‘See you later!’

It’s not a goodbye. I just have some things to sort out.

The two looked at each other, doubtful, then waved as they disappeared into the darkness. They would probably all form a camp together, so if things with Chishiya ended here, or if he never made it to the river, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find them.

Without the heat of the fire, the night was cool, and I shivered as I made my way down the pebble banks to the riverside. I sat near the water’s edge and watched from afar as the roof of the Beach collapsed in places, bringing my hope down with it. There was still no sign of Chishiya, but I couldn’t keep my eyes from the hotel.

There’s always a chance. He wouldn’t die that easily.

Even as the cold of the pebbles seeped into my skin, and the wind blew through the burnt holes in my hoodie, I waited and waited. Before long though, I sank my face into my knees and wrapped my arms around my head to stave off the cold. It did nothing to ease the hollowness growing inside me, nor the empty sound of the water lapping against the bank.

‘Crying again?’

My heart jumped, my head snapping up instinctively.

You’re here.

Chishiya ambled along the bank, coming to a stop a few feet away from where I was sitting. Aside from the grey tinge of soot on his white hoodie, he was unharmed. ‘You don’t have much faith in me,’ he said with a half-smile, and held up the Ten of Hearts card.

That was what this was all about. Everything he had done, it all led up to the last card. I got to my feet, unsure of how to feel now he was standing before me. Even though I was relieved, it didn’t change anything.

‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘I don’t have much faith in you. All you’ve done is lie to me.’

‘Hmm….’ He looked towards the Beach. ‘That’s not strictly true.’

He was referring to what he’d said on the rooftop, but even that was probably a lie. After I had chosen not to follow him and Kuina, he must’ve realised he’d lost one of his chess pieces.

‘Kuina,’ I said. ‘Is she....’

‘She’s fine.’

I released a breath, relaxing. ‘That’s good to hear.’ I was afraid of the answer, but I had to ask. I needed to know. ‘Did you tell her to become friends with me, for your plan?’

He carefully considered the question. ‘At the very beginning, when I asked her to take you some food, she offered to become your friend,’ he said. ‘But that was before she met you. She asked me to change the plan to keep you out of it.’

While I was relieved to hear that my friendship with Kuina wasn’t orchestrated by Chishiya, I still felt disappointed. ‘So that’s why you decided to switch from me to Arisu.’

‘Kuina had nothing to do with it. I changed my mind for my own reasons.’

I shook my head, quickly growing irritated. We kept going round and round in circles, and he wasn’t registering anything I was saying. It no longer mattered whether he was telling the truth or lying, because there was no trust left to give. And even now, he just kept persisting with the same tactics.

‘I already told you back then,’ I said. ‘I don’t know what’s real and what’s not, so I can’t believe in anything you say anymore.’

Chishiya nodded slowly. ‘You also mentioned proof.’

‘Only because you can’t prove it.’

He tilted his head. ‘Actually, you’re wrong.’ Fishing around in his pocket, he pulled something out and stared at it in his palm. In the darkness, it was impossible to see what it was.

‘What are you doing?’

With a sly smile, he replied, ‘I’m forcing the moment to its crisis.’

My thoughts stopped abruptly. That was… he couldn’t have researched it, could he? Memories of the pharmacy flashed through my mind, the oceanic blue light that saturated the room, him wrapping my arm in bandages, and me reciting lines of poetry.

He read the rest of the poem?

If he did, he must’ve realised what it was about. My eyes dropped to the item in his hands, right before he tossed it at me. Catching it, I found it was a small box. I had a feeling what it was, and my fingers shook as I opened it. Inside, propped up in the middle, was a silver ring set with a peridot stone.

The jewellery store...

Back then, I had told him about my real-world obsession with stones... all my childish dreams.

And peridot.

It was a stone brought to earth through a cosmic explosion, known by Ancient Egyptians as ‘gems of the sun’, and considered ‘evening emeralds’ by Romans because of their bright warmth, radiating even under candlelight.

‘I was in a game, when I saw it,’ he said, staring out across the river. ‘The Eight of Diamonds. At the time, I didn’t know why I took it.’

Tears dripped down my chin as I closed my eyes, embracing the pain and the relief and everything else I couldn’t even begin to describe in words. Chishiya didn’t approach me, let alone try to comfort me, but simply stood there by the edge of the water, waiting for me to stop crying like an idiot.

‘This isn’t fair.’ I hated the way my voice cracked. ‘You can’t just do this after everything. You can’t just expect things to be okay now.’

‘I know.’

‘And you can’t just pretend like none of it ever happened.’

‘I know that too,’ he said.

‘You…’ I stepped forwards, wrapping my arms around his body and clutching onto the back of his hoodie. ‘I… I hate you so much.’

At first, he tensed. Then I felt his hand on the top of my head. ‘No, you don’t.’

We remained like that for a minute or so, until a light rain pattered down around us, and it became clear Chishiya was growing uncomfortable. He had never been one for human contact. Moving back to give him his space, I slid the ring onto my finger. It was almost a miracle that he’d gotten a perfect fit.

Chishiya took one look, regarding it coolly. ‘Before you get the wrong idea,’ he said, ‘this isn’t a—’

‘I understand.’ I smiled, using my sleeve to wipe the tears and rain from my face. ‘I don’t care about any of that. Especially not while we’re still in this world. Just stay with me for a while. That’s all I want.’

When he didn’t respond, I suddenly became aware of the gentle weight knocking against my side. The copy of Wuthering Heights was still in my pocket. After all we’d been through, it had completely slipped my mind.

I tugged it free. The spine was bent, and the pages were curved from being crammed into such a small space, but it was intact, and I was glad I had rescued it before the hotel burned down. Using my hand to try and shield it from the rain, I flipped through the pages and held it open for Chishiya, who only looked at it with contempt.

‘Of all the things to save,’ he muttered.

I gestured to the mysterious quote, determined to get an answer this time. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you about this for ages. You’ve underlined it but I can’t seem to translate it.’

He took the book from my hands and scrutinized the quotation. ‘“I’m tired of being enclosed here. I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there; not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart; but really with it, and in it”.’ Once he finished translating, he closed the book and held it back out to me. ‘I didn’t underline that.’

Wait… but how?

‘You didn’t?’ I asked, confused. ‘Why was it highlighted then?’

‘It was used when I found it.’ He shrugged. ‘It probably belonged to a student at some point.’

‘Oh…’

I couldn’t help but feel let down at how the big reveal had been nothing more than a student’s annotation. But at the same time, the quote still meant something. It had been me all along.

‘Chishiya…’ I said quietly, ‘I don’t want to be afraid of things anymore.’ I glanced down at the ring on my finger. ‘I don’t want to be afraid of you either.’

I want to start a new page and write a new book.

When looked at me, he had that same unreadable expression. ‘Then don’t be.’

And then, soft as the rain on the river water, I kissed him. It was awkward and clumsy, and his whole body went rigid, but he didn’t flinch. Instead, his hand came to rest on the back of my head, neither moving nor resisting. Eventually, I pulled away, and the only sound was the silky surface of the water breaking against the pebbles.

‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘Kuina is waiting for us.’

It was the beginning of a new chapter, but this time, there would be no secrets. We’d write it together.

‘Okay.’

#alice in borderland #aib #imawa no kuni no arisu #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x oc #chishiya x reader #chishiya alice in borderland

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flipomatic · 4 years ago

Text

A New World Chapter 14: Blending

First Chapter Previous Chapter

________________________________________________

Sayo was working in her room on a new composition, as she often did these days. What had changed was the purpose of her creation.

Unlike her usual compositions, Sayo wasn’t writing this one for homework. Instead, it was for a more personal reason.

It started when she wanted to branch out from what they were working on for school. While she had improved at conveying emotion through her compositions, she wondered if she could do even better. The pieces she composed for school were good, but in the end the motivation behind them had just been for a grade.

They weren’t genuine and there was still something missing. At least, Sayo felt like there was. So, she sat down to try and compose, to create from her heart.

As expected, it was proving to be quite difficult.

At first Sayo strummed aimlessly on her guitar, seeking a melody or strong chord progression. That wasn’t really working; nothing she played felt right. She felt aimless, like she wasn’t making any progress.

Perhaps she needed some inspiration, something to base her music on. Most of Roselia’s music was composed that way. Yukina created lyrics to represent the band and Rinko built melodies around them.

Thinking of the band sent a wave of irritation through Sayo, causing her to frown. She’d been trying and failing to put their behavior out of her mind. Her bandmates, particularly Yukina and Lisa, had been insufferable lately.

They had been dancing around their feelings since before Sayo met them, but recently it started to impact practice. Just recently Yukina had been too distracted to sing properly, so Sayo decided to help her out.

Of course, Yukina blew off her advice. Sayo wasn’t sure why she bothered.

Lisa too had been acting strangely. Sayo had never known her to date or do anything other than what was best for the band. It was clearly hurting Yukina; Sayo didn’t understand how Lisa couldn’t see it.

The two of them really needed to talk through their feelings.

The notes from Sayo’s guitar had strayed low, creating a darker sound. She stopped playing and shook her head, this wasn’t the kind of song she wanted to compose.

Sayo refocused and searched for a new train of thought, something happier. Her hands shifted to a lighter sound as she thought about her other friends, Tsugumi in particular.

She had visited the Hazawa café last week and spent some time talking to Tsugumi. After some light banter about how they rarely saw each other these days, Sayo had promised to hang out sometime. She wasn’t sure when that would be, but she would make sure it happened.

Sometimes there was music playing in the café, loud enough to be heard but soft enough to not disturb the guests. Typically it was songs from the 80’s or 90’s, ones Sayo wasn’t familiar with. She didn’t usually listen to it, but she still noticed it.

It suited the café well, but perhaps other music could work too.

Sayo wondered, if the café was a location in a video game, what kind of music would play there? Perhaps that would be something worth composing.

Her hands played a light melodic line, already way ahead of her thought process. The café would have a peaceful song, something that lifted the heart. That’s how Sayo felt when she went there.

She continued to play, molding the melody to match that image. It took a while, but slowly she developed a tune. The more she played it, the surer she was in the melodic line.

Sayo played it through a few times and tweaked the notes, smiling as she pictured the café in her mind.

She went to her computer, which was already open at her desk, to write down the melody in the composition software. Once all the notes were in, she stepped away to keep playing.

Sayo kept working on the song for the next couple hours, adding a lead in chord progression and refining the tune. This topic proved to be strong inspiration for her.

After putting the final touches on the composition, Sayo decided to record it so she could listen to it. She set up her phone on her desk, turned the amp up, and hit record.

As Sayo played, glancing at the sheet music for reference, she imbued the performance with as much light as she could. She played it enthusiastically and with certainty.

When she finished, Sayo immediately clicked the recording to listen. She closed her eyes as the music played from the phone speaker. The café appeared in her mind as she listened, with Tsugumi in the center of it. She smiled brightly in the image, matching the mood of the music.

The composition still wasn’t perfect, of course, but it accomplished what Sayo set out to do.

As the song finished, Sayo couldn’t help but smile. She emailed a copy of the video to herself so she could save it with the sheet music.

As she dragged the file into the folder, she wondered if she should do more with it. Sayo hadn’t wanted to share her previous compositions with anyone, but this one was different. Should she send it to Tsugumi?

Immediately, that thought warmed Sayo’s cheeks. That would be far too embarrassing, she could never do it. What if Tsugumi didn’t like it, or thought Sayo was overstepping by making it. Even if she did like it, the thought of letting her hear it sent butterflies fluttering in Sayo’s stomach. She wasn’t sure why, since she was happy with how the song turned out.

It didn’t really make sense, but her hesitation was firm and off-putting.

No, she shouldn’t share it.

Despite that thought, Sayo opened the video in an editing program. She exported the video as an MP3 and emailed it back to her phone.

Just in case.

_______________________________________________________

With two whole hours available until band practice, Sayo had no doubts about what she wanted to do with her time.

She hadn’t been to the Hazawa café in two weeks now, as she’d been bogged down with even more schoolwork than the first half of the semester. Sayo still spent some time texting Tsugumi, mostly catching up and chatting casually, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her.

The guitar recording on Sayo’s phone lived in the back of her mind since she recorded it. She almost texted it to Tsugumi during the week, almost hit the button to send it to her. She stopped herself. In the end she deleted it from the message, still not sure if she really wanted to share it.

It hung over her as she entered the café. Tsugumi greeted her with an enthusiastic wave, but she didn’t have time to chat. It was busy today, with most of the tables occupied. Tsugumi was moving from table to table, completely composed despite how many customers there were.

Sayo took a seat at one of the few empty tables. She leaned her guitar on the table and took out one of her composition theory books while she waited; she wasn’t in a hurry. Sayo read slowly, half watching Tsugumi move in her peripheral vision.

“Hi Sayo-san!” Tsugumi stopped by her table, wearing her usual apron and bright smile. “What would you like today?”

“Good afternoon.” Sayo closed her book as she replied. “Just a cup of black tea, please.” It would be a good choice for drinking slowly.

“You got it!”

Tsugumi vanished back to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a cup, pot of hot water, and selection of tea bags on a tray. She set it down on the table, before Sayo selected one and started to make her tea.

“It’s busy here today.” Sayo commented as she poured the hot water.

Tsugumi nodded, leaving the tray on the table for a minute. “It’s been like this all week.” She was still smiling, beaming at the bustling café. “I’ve been trying different types of advertising.”

Oh, Sayo did remember seeing an advertisement for the café online recently. She hadn’t realized that Tsugumi was the one creating them. “It’s definitely working. You’re doing a great job.”

Sayo hardly believed it possible, but Tsugumi’s smile somehow grew larger. “Thank you!” Perhaps Sayo’s point of view was biased, but Tsugumi almost seemed to glow. Her eyes practically sparkled. Sayo’s heart didn’t usually beat this fast, or if did she didn’t notice it. She felt an impulse to do something, say something, but she wasn’t sure what.

Then, as quickly as the moment came, it passed. Tsugumi’s attention was snagged by another patron, pulling her to the other side of the café.

Sayo took a deep breath to center herself, going back to her book. She finished steeping her tea as she read, then drank it slowly.

For a while, Sayo stayed at the café. She exchanged words occasionally with Tsugumi when the teen had a few moments free. Tsugumi shared that she’d been working on advertising for the last couple months, starting with local newspapers. It wasn’t until she went with targeted ads online that she saw these levels of success.

It was a good idea; Sayo wondered if they could sell Roselia cd’s that way too. She’d run it by Yukina later.

After an hour had passed, the crowd in the café started to thin out. It was getting later in the afternoon, farther away from the typical teatime and closer to dinner. Sayo had about half an hour until she needed to leave, so she could be early to practice.

“How’s Roselia been doing?” Tsugumi had more time to talk with less patrons in the café. She was standing near Sayo’s table, turned so that she could keep an eye on the other tables.

Sayo decided to focus on the whole band in her answer, instead of her frustrations with her bandmates. “Not bad. We’ve been trying to practice more often; it’s been hard since midterms.” It was hard before then too, but Sayo didn’t mention that.

“I can imagine.” Tsugumi was frowning slightly. Sayo wondered what she was thinking about.

“I’m headed there next.” Sayo replied, gesturing to where her guitar still leaned on the table.

Tsugumi glanced at it, then back at Sayo. The corner of her lips lifted as she spoke. “Do you have any performances coming up? I’d love to come watch!”

Now Sayo was the one frowning. The band hadn’t performed all semester, with all of their classes and schedule conflicts it hadn’t worked out. It left an uneasy feeling in her gut. “There’s nothing planned right now, but I’ll let you know.”

“I’ll look forward to it!”

The bell on the door signaled the entrance of another customer, drawing Tsugumi away. Sayo watched her go, shaking off her feelings from the prior conversation.

She had to leave soon, to be early enough to band practice. There was one section she needed to practice ahead of time. Sayo probably had time to share a few more words with Tsugumi before she left.

Sayo remembered the composition, that she had loaded onto her phone. As she watched Tsugumi interact with the new customer, she again wondered if she should share it with her.

Hadn’t it been written for the café? Didn’t she write it with Tsugumi in mind? If she was going to get better at compositions, she needed to be more comfortable with sharing her creations.

With Tsugumi here, less than ten meters away, it was easier for Sayo to make a decision.

When Tsugumi returned, after bringing a pastry and drink to the other customer, Sayo pulled her phone out. “I’ve been working on a new composition; would you like to hear it?” She asked, giving Tsugumi the chance to say no.

Sayo knew that Tsugumi wasn’t the kind of person who would do that. “Of course.”

Sayo opened her texts with Tsugumi and selected the song to send it. “I wrote it with the café in mind.” She said as she hit the send button, letting the composition leave her sole control.

“That’s great, I’ll listen to it after my shift.” Tsugumi tapped her pocket, where her phone had just buzzed.

“Thank you.” Sayo wasn’t sure why she was thanking her, to settle her nerves perhaps. She put her phone away and took out her wallet. It was time to get going.

After paying, Sayo exchanged a goodbye with Tsugumi and left the café. She went to practice, trying not to worry about what Tsugumi thought of her composition.

It wasn’t until later, in the middle of practice, that she found out.

Right in the middle of Neo Aspect, Sayo’s phone buzzed multiple times in a row. Her heart rate spiked as it did, but she stayed composed and finished the song before checking it. She ignored the way Yukina’s eyes narrowed as she pulled her phone out. As expected, the texts were from Tsugumi.

“The song is amazing!” A few heart emojis followed the message. “Sayo-san I love it!” Another text had immediately followed. “It matches the café perfectly!” There was a minute long gap before the fourth message. “Sorry about sending multiple messages, I got way too excited. I really like it, thank you for sharing it with me!” Sayo felt warm as she read through the messages, trying not to let it show on her face.

Sayo typed back quickly, before Yukina could murder her with her eyes. “I appreciate you listening to it. Thank you for your feedback.” Not a great text, but it was the best she could manage at the moment.

In the end, Sayo was glad she decided to share it.

___________________________________________________________

One week later, Sayo found herself back at the Hazawa café. She wanted to come more often, so she did. She still needed to plan hangout time with Tsugumi.

It was busy again today, even busier than last time. Tsugumi still found time to talk with Sayo though, even if they were just short exchanges.

When there was a lull in how busy it was, they had a longer time to talk.

“About your composition from last week.” Tsugumi’s cheeks carried a pink tint as she made eye contact with Sayo. “I couldn’t stop listening to it.”

“Oh.” Sayo blinked a few times, struggling to process that information.

“The more I listened to it, the more I thought, well…” Tsugumi seemed to be struggling to find the right words. She pulled out her phone, tapping on it a few times. Sayo’s phone buzzed in her pocket.

Sayo furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled out her phone, seeing that Tsugumi had sent her a message. When she opened it, she saw that there was an audio file attached. She glanced back up at Tsugumi, asking a question with just her eyes.

“I thought, it would just be perfect with the piano.” Tsugumi said, her cheeks shifting from pink to red. She looked cute like this, though honestly Sayo thought she always did. Sayo didn’t really understand what she meant by what she just said. “Please listen.”

That would be the easiest way to find out. Sayo pulled her earbuds out of her pocket and plugged them into her phone, placing them in her ears.

Then she hit play.

The start of the song was the same as Sayo remembered it. The guitar played a familiar chord progression, the start of Sayo’s most recent composition.

After a few seconds, a piano joined in. It started low, playing beneath the chords, before coming up and blending with the melody. Sayo’s eyes widened as she listened, hardly breathing as the music washed over her. It had still needed work before, but now it felt perfect.

In the corner of her eye she could see that Tsugumi had her hands together, watching with worried eyes as Sayo listened.

The song was short, and before Sayo could so much as think it was over. She looked up from her phone at Tsugumi, who seemed to be holding her breath.

“I love it.” Sayo said without hesitation. Tsugumi exhaled in relief, a smile returning to her lips. “You wrote this?” It had only been a week, and Tsugumi had somehow composed the piano part and added it to the recording. Sayo couldn’t help but be impressed.

Tsugumi nodded, finally allowing her hands to fall apart. “I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

Sayo hit the button to play it again, listening even more closely to the way the piano part complimented the guitar. “It’s wonderful.” She wished she had better words to describe the way it made her feel, receiving the song like this, Tsugumi adding to her creation like this. Her heart was pounding again.

Even though that hadn’t been what Sayo intended, they made this together.

“I was wondering,” Tsugumi sounded nervous again. “Do you think I could use it in my advertisements?” She still looked right at Sayo, determination evident in her gaze.

Oh, that was a good idea. A good piece of music made a big difference in advertisements, and it would help bring more patrons to the café. This song would work especially well, since it represented the image of the café. It represented Tsugumi, her strength, her warmth, and her kindness.

As Sayo’s eyes were locked with Tsugumi’s, that feeling she had before, that she wanted to do or say something, was back again. Perhaps Sayo was starting to understand it.

“Please do.”

Next Chapter

#tsugusayo #sayotsugu #hikawa sayo #hazawa tsugumi #bang dream fanfiction #bandori fanfiction #flip writes #fanfic #this chapter turned out well #I like it

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gamerwoo · 6 years ago

Text

EXO: X.O. (Part Five)

Characters: EXO x reader (gender neutral)

Genre/warnings: dating sim au, interactive au, horror au, kind of angsty??

Tag list: @fullsun-donghyuck @hyungjunjpg @chanxyeollie @baekwell–tart@mntax @baek-byunies @withoutanyconfidence @exo-chan-kai @squishy-yamdumplings @linophobia @changbinasmr

a/n: lines in italics are what’s in the game! also I guess this would be the part where things start getting ~~spooky~~ so just be warned. but it’s not too bad compared to other parts.

Previous | Next | X.O. Masterlist

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The game faded to black to the go the next part of the game, but then something happened that you didn’t plan for. The text box to narrate the game popped up, but started glitching and no words appeared. It wasn’t like you could refresh the game -- you could probably restart it, but you didn’t want to have to do that -- but the screen completely went black before you could even decide if you wanted to wait it out or restart it.

You were back at your home screen, no sign of the game being open at all. It had crashed.

You let out a groan, your head falling back as your hands covered your face. What if you lost all your data? Why did it have to glitch out like that in the first place? Why did games have to be so finicky sometimes?

You had to reload the game, skipping the little intro movie to get straight to the main menu. You let out a sigh of relief seeing that “load” was a selectable choice, but even that was off.

Instead of the few saves you had, there were twelve of them. You weren’t sure how twelve of them got there, and you weren’t sure at what point in the game they were from, either. Figuring the game was still bugging out, you restarted it once again, making sure to jot things down in your notepad for future reference.

Once the game was reloaded a second time, you went and found that the saves were back to normal, including an auto-save that was from just after the scene changed from what happened with Baekhyun. So you decided to try that one and see if it wouldn’t glitch out on you.

Thankfully, the scene for the outside of the school loaded up, and the narration carried on as normal. The characters slid onto screen when it mentioned finally reaching the gate, but that was when you realized something was...off.

I was both excited and nervous as I walked up to the courtyard. Both of those feelings were caused because of the same person: @*^/!#&?.

You knew it was supposed to say Baekhyun, but his name was completely glitched out now and you didn’t know why.

Junmyeon: _____! Good morning!

The rest of the group looked over once Junmyeon noticed me, so I jogged to get to them faster. They made room in the little circle they were standing in, but you kept staring down at your feet. You were too nervous to look up.

Jongin: What’re you blushing about, _____?

He gently nudged my side, trying to get the answer out of me. But thankfully, somebody spoke up for me.

@*^/!#&?:

Why was Baekhyun’s text box completely empty? And... Wait, why wasn’t he even there? Upon further inspection, you noticed that there were actually only eight characters on the screen: Sehun, Jongin, Minseok, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Yixing. Baekhyun was missing.

Minseok: What, really?

He looked surprise, but a smile was breaking out onto his face.

Yixing: Well, congrats you two. We’re happy for you.

The game was carrying on normally without Baekhyun even in it. So your first thought was that maybe something in his character file wasn’t right. You alt-tabbed out of the game and went to the character files, selecting Baekhyun’s.

Everything was wrong. His whole file was messed up into a bunch of unintelligible code. You scrolled through the file, knowing that it wasn’t like this before, but literally everything was completely fucked up and you didn’t know why.

...Except one thing.

You noticed at the bottom of his file, there was something you could clearly make out. It wasn’t a code, and it honestly made zero sense to you. But you could still read it.

‘They were jealous of us.

-m’

“What the fuck...?” you breathed out as you tried to make sense of what was happening with the game.

You wanted to sit there and bit longer and try to think of what could’ve messed up Baekhyun’s file so badly, but the screen closed on its own, bringing the game back up. It was carrying on as normal still, just without one of the characters -- an important one at that since you decided to go with his route. But if the game was still running fine other than that, it kind of made sense to you to just keep playing and make sure this was the only major bug than to go back to editing the game only to find a new bug later on. Until you found a bug that made the game completely unplayable, you wouldn’t stop the game.

So you kept playing.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Another one without a poll, I’m sorry.

But yeah, things will start to get darker after this point, so if you’re sensitive to things I keep warning about, please stop reading now!! They won’t be darker immediately but this is basically the point where things start to go wrong.

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sparklyjojos · 5 years ago

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THE SAIMON FAMILY CASE recaps [10/13]

In which we meet a young wordician and the detectives finally stumble upon a breakthrough in the case.

PART 7

Three days before August 19th, a few other detectives from Nihon Tantei Club propose they can help with the Saimon Family Case. Ajiro might take them on their word if the next incident doesn’t clear anything up. However, he’s afraid to mix anyone else into this, seeing as a single case stretching for so long is already pulling their attention away from other cases.

In fact, Ajiro reveals to everyone that he’s considering withdrawing from the Club entirely; he’s grateful to everyone who would hate to see him go (especially tearful Kirigirisu), but he still has his pride as a detective. If no progress in the case is made soon, he will be forced to make that decision. Two young detectives, Raiouji and Mikuruma, outright declare that they will quit too if push comes to shove.

Three days later Ajiro and Kirigirisu are faced with a new incident in the Saimon Family Case when Kyuuzou dies from a hornet sting.

On the same day, Raiouji and Mikuruma are killed when a reckless truck driver hits them on their usual bike ride.

As soon as they get the news, Ajiro and Kirigirisu stop their investigation in Tsuwano and return to Kyoto to learn more about what happened. Witnesses testify that the truck driver (who also died in the crash) didn’t even attempt to brake before hitting the two young detectives. The police finds stimulant drugs in the truck’s cabin, states that the man was probably using them, and files the case away as a normal traffic accident.

Raiouji’s and Mikuruma’s joint funeral ceremony is held a day after Fujita Kyuuzou’s wake, and unexpectedly a few Saimons decide to go to Kyoto to attend it: Soga Tensui with Miku, Taishi with his wife Yurine, Hyousen with his son Hyousai, a few members of Fujita-gumi, even shy Takayoshi.

Miku says that they wanted to bring Juku along at first, but decided against it, as him wearing sunglasses throughout the entire ceremony could be seen as rude by other people. It’s still unknown just what made the boy so strangely beautiful after his brother’s death.

(Kirigirisu has had some very outlandish theories about it come to his mind. If we define the twins’ previous beauty as being “90% perfect” for each one, then maybe after one died, the other one now somehow counted for two, and the accumulated value tipped over the point of “100% perfection”… This sort of ridiculous theories. Kirigirisu has no idea why he even thought about it.)

As they talk with the family, Hyousen mentions that he saw Ajiro’s grandfather Soujin yesterday in Tsuwano, showing up in the Fujita household once everyone else left after Kyuuzou’s wake. Hyousen acts quite friendly towards them, what with his late father and Soujin having been sworn brothers and all. There is some uneasiness in Hyousen’s behavior that wasn't there before, but one can expect it from a son who just lost his father... from someone who keeps losing his family every month. He says that his wife Shima couldn't show up, as she's been feeling sick lately.

Takayoshi exchanges a word or two with the detectives, but leaves in a hurry once his brother Taishi approaches (unsurprising reaction, considering the two's past). Taishi isn't as friendly as everyone else and claims that he's only here because he has another business in the prefecture anyway.

"The other Kotensui lives in Kyoto," Taishi says. "That is, the kid that provided Kotensui's voice, Ryuuguu Jounosuke. We have something to do at his house."

Ajiro seems to know the name Ryuuguu. Or rather, he knows about Ryuuguujou, the family’s palace so splendid it’s often called one of the two great mansions of Northern Kyoto (the other being a place called Geneijo). So this strangely named Ryuuguu Jounosuke has to be a young noble. Apparently when his ancestor Yatsutarou was designing the palace grounds, he took inspiration from the Saimon family’s garden, which led to him becoming friends with Saimon Taishin.

The Ryuuguus offered the Circus financial help many times, but the Saimons always refused to take any money from them. However, Taishi can tell that the Circus is pretty much over now with so many performers dead, and wants to ask the Ryuuguus for help—not even asking for money, but for a few of their koi so he can repopulate the depressingly empty pond.

It feels like Taishi’s sense of loss is connected less to their fish, and more to Akio; perhaps his sudden desire to get the pond back to normal comes from subconsciously wanting his brother back.

The bright spot in despair is that Taishi's and Tensui’s relations are getting better lately. Taishi states that if anyone will be able to keep the Circus going in the future, it will be the three child geniuses: Yomiko, Juku, and Jounosuke.

“That boy is a true wordician,” he says of Jounosuke. “A magician of words.”

Apparently Jounosuke has been travelling all over the world with his parents since he was born, which contributed to his knowledge of an astounding number of languages. He likes words so much he even named some of the buildings belonging to the Saimons, like Sanasou and Shakuya. For some reason he also likes to call Tensui yossha no ojisan (well, Tensui kind of is an "alrighty guy", but it's still a strange way to address him).

That last innocuous fact seems to pique Ajiro’s curiosity and he wants to have a word with Jounosuke.

And so, on August 22nd, Ajiro and Kirigirisu ride to Ryuuguujou together with Taishi and Yurine. It’s easy to see how rich the Ryuuguus are; their private grounds could probably fit an entire Disneyland, and a sleek limousine takes the guests to the palace, a giant black building with a tall tower in the middle. Ryuuguujou is surrounded by a western-style garden on one side and an eastern-style one on the other. In fact, the entire building was designed to resemble an European castle on one side and a Japanese keep on the other, down to the internal decor.

A butler shows them inside, where they meet Mr. and Mrs. Ryuuguu—Kintarou and Kaguya—who dress like they just got here in a time machine from 18th century France. They welcome the guests in a pretty exalted manner, both seeming constantly cheerful. They are without a doubt the weirdest people Kirigirisu has ever met, and that’s counting all the strange detectives he works with. Maybe that’s just how people living in palaces are.

Apparently Kintarou and Kaguya don’t always dress like this, but choose between many outfits from different eras on a whim (and even invite the detectives to borrow costumes and join their dress-up game if they like). They travel abroad for most of the year and because of that take special care to keep their friendships going whenever they're back in Japan. They like to consider anyone they meet as a potential great companion.

Their endless chatter is a bit exhausting, so even if the couple is extremely friendly, Ajiro and Kirigirisu are glad they can leave for the eastern garden to search for Jounosuke. Kirigirisu is actually a little worried for Mr. and Mrs. Ryuuguu; they seem so trusting and ready to help everyone around that maybe someone could easily abuse their friendship for nefarious purposes.

The detectives find Jounosuke feeding koi in the garden. Even in the summer the boy is wearing all black, including an elegant hat, gloves, and a long cape (but at least the shirt under that cape is sleeveless). He looks at them with curious big eyes, a happy smile on his face.

“Oh, so Mother and Father have made new friends,” he says when they introduce themselves.

Ajiro makes a comment that as expected from someone called a wordician, his speech sounds very intelligent, then asks about his age.

“Ryuuguu is now ten, in fourth grade at school," Jounosuke answers in third person. "Are you friends with yossha no ojisan? You called Ryuuguu a wordician, which means you know people from the Circus, and the one who knows the most about Ryuuguu there is yossha no ojisan, so you probably came to talk with Ryuuguu on his request.”

“This child is quite a detective,” Ajiro comments in amused surprise. “Maybe we should employ him in the future, huh, Kirigirisu?”

“Are you detectives?” Jounosuke puts two and two together quickly.

“Yes, we are detectives. We’re investigating a case and we would like you to help us with something.”

“You want to know yossha no ojisan’s secret? Um… but Ryuuguu promised he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I see. Then I won’t ask about it. You were the one who named Sanasou (山鴉荘) and Shakuya (杓屋), right? Could you tell us the origin of these names?”

“Oh! Sanasou has the kanji for raven (鴉) trapped in the word for a mountain villa (山荘), but it should actually be written differently. In the word for sake kasu (酒糟), there's this kasu (糟) that can also be read as sou. And by looking at Sanasou and changing sou to kasu you get Sanakasu (山鴉糟), which sounds like Saakasu—“Circus”! “And Shakuya is where they keep sharks, so it’s a shark room, shaaku-room, shaaku-ya.”

These are… quite the wordplays. Ajiro seems intrigued by the last one.

“I don’t know if you did that on purpose, Jounosuke… but that kanji for shaku (杓) means a dipper. I think the shaku in Shakuya may mean a constellation called the Big Dipper… and it refers to one other thing too, doesn’t it?”

“Um, that one is a secret.”

Ajiro gives Kirigirisu a conspiratory wink. Jounosuke may be smart, but he's still a child, so Ajiro can try and get the secret out of him in a roundabout way, by checking what topics the boy doesn't want to talk about.

“By the way,” Ajiro says, “in the aviary at Sanasou there’s a big dove figure called Onikaru-sama. Was that name also created by you?”

“No, Ryuuguu thinks it’s been called that since a long time ago.”

“Do you know that name’s origin?”

“Ryuuguu knows… and won’t tell.”

“I think that Onikaru-sama is not quite its actual name. Instead of O-ni-ka-ru it should be pronounced On-i-ka-ru, right?”

Kirigirisu has no idea what the difference is, but Jounosuke makes a troubled face. The boy’s not a very good liar, that for sure. Even if he stays quiet, Ajiro is pelting questions at him and presumably reading out satisfying answers between the lines.

“Tell me, did yossha no ojisan tell you anything about the word juuku?”

“Juuku… that’s the name of yossha no ojisan’s son, who’s a few years younger than Ryuuguu. Actually, Ryuuguu has never met him before.”

“Certainly, juuku written like the number nineteen is also Saimon Juku’s first name. But have you perhaps heard something else about juuku?”

“Huh? Ryuuguu doesn’t understand…” This time Jounosuke seems honestly confused.

“Then… have you heard of Golgo 13?” Ajiro for some reason names a manga series about an assassin for hire. What does that have to do with anything?

“Um, no… when Ryuuguu thinks of the shape of the word juuku (十九), the only thing he's reminded of is Senmaru (千丸)...”

That last word sends a cold shiver down Kirigirisu's spine.

Senmaru is a common nickname for the crossing at Senbon Maruta, the same place where Raiouji and Mikuruma were killed in an accident mere days ago. This has to be just a coincidence… right?

Kirigirisu doesn’t really understand what this entire conversation meant, but Ajiro looks completely satisfied and thanks Jounosuke for the help.

“Can Ryuuguu show you an illusion to end with?” the boy asks. “It’s the best, even yossha no ojisan was surprised! Is it okay if it breaks your watch?”

“It’s alright,” Ajiro says presenting the arm with his watch. “What gets broken can be fixed. It’s only fair to help you show us an illusion, considering how much you helped us today.”

Jounosuke reaches forward with one gloved finger, lightly pokes Ajiro’s watch—and it instantly stops working, the hands freezing in their tracks.

“I see…” Ajiro seems strangely satisfied for having his watch broken. “You’re like the opposite of Uri Geller, making clocks stop instead of restoring their function…”

“Jounosuke!” shouts a new voice. A teen girl in a white dress is walking their way with a stern face. “How many times did I tell you not to break other people’s things? I am deeply sorry, we will cover the cost of repairs …”

“No, it’s alright. My watch was already acting strangely and I wanted to repair it anyway. You must be Jounosuke’s older sister?”

“Ah, yes. My name is Ryuuguu Otohime. I’m sorry if my parents and brother were bothering you…” She sounds quite mature and like the only normal person in this family. Well, they do say that children either end up highly similar to their parents or become their complete opposite. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but what Jounosuke just did wasn’t an illusion. He has a strange power that lets him break every mechanical device he touches. It just suddenly showed up last year, around the same time when he started wearing all black.”

“It’s still a kind of magic,” Ajiro states. “As long as one acts like there is a secret method behind the performance, even a supernatural power is illusion. I think it’s wonderful to have abilities that other people don’t have.”

Soon, Kirigirisu and Ajiro prepare to leave against the wishes of Kintarou, Kaguya, and especially Jounosuke, who would love for them to stay and hang out all night. (Taishi and his wife do spend the night, since they live in another prefecture).

The detectives get a taxi back to the city. The slightly bizarre frenzied atmosphere from before turns into grim silence as they approach the crossing of Senmaru.

A class of small children is following their teacher through the crossing, and for a short moment Kirigirisu is sure he spotted Juku and Joukei among them—but that can’t be, Joukei is not around anymore. He takes another look. The two children he saw are actually a pair of a boy and a girl, perhaps also twins, both their backpacks having the name TAMEI written on them. [Which implies these two are Dakushoin and his sister from the other JDC books. What a nice little cameo.]

“Boys, be ambitious,” Ajiro says suddenly.

Huh? The popular phrase shounen yo, taishi wo idake? Ajiro doesn't elaborate what he means by it, instead adding another non-sequitur.

“We are the ambassadors solving the mystery of the magic show.” [Ore-tachi wa, kijutsu shou no nazo wo toku taishi nanda.]

Ambassadors? Kirigirisu truly has no idea what Ajiro means by those strange phrases, but has a feeling they aren’t just random gibberish.

Ajiro and Kirigirisu return to Nihon Tantei Club’s office, where everyone else (except Shiranui and always wandering Soujin) is waiting for them. Some of the detectives, especially Shiranui’s group, seem fed up with Ajiro doing things on his own and relegating responsibilities of the representative to others; even if he still gets cases solved, he falls behind as a team leader. Arito Tarou points out that Raiouji and Mikuruma were likely killed because of the Saimon Family Case, so Ajiro should at least tell everyone what’s really going on.

Ajiro can’t deny that those two deaths could be connected to the Case; if that’s the truth, he’s taking full responsibility. Even if it was just an accident, Ajiro admits he has to either abandon the Saimon Family Case and go back to his duties, or pursue the Case and abandon his position instead. He decides that if he doesn’t solve the Case until the end of September 19th, or if the deaths of Raiouji and Mikuruma turn out to really be connected to the Case, Ajiro will quit the Club.

Kirigirisu immediately announces that if Ajiro’s going to turn in his resignation, then he’s quitting too.

Soon everyone except for our two main detectives leaves the office for the night. Kirigirisu walks to the nearby Lawson to buy them something to eat. When he comes back, he notices a gorgeous white car parked under the building, then meets its owner on the stairs inside. Short and thin, with a white suit and the atmosphere of the Godfather—it’s Ajiro’s grandfather Soujin, who hasn’t shown up around for over a year. As always, his presence is overwhelming, making it obvious why the man was once called “Ajiro the God”. Soujin is happy to see Kirigirisu, but apparently is so busy he already has to leave.

Back in the office, Kirigirisu discovers that another old detective showed up in his absence, Shiranui Zenzou. Apparently Soujin gave him a lift here. Did the two Ajiros and Shiranui talk about the Case?

“We did,” Ajiro answers. "The Saimon Family Case that’s been confusing us for a year took grandpa all of three seconds to figure out. Well, it’s not that he solved it, but he gave us an important hint. The truth behind the Case that boils down to a single word.”

Shiranui interrupts him, saying that he doesn’t really know what’s going on, and his own method of reasoning (basically “doubting every single detail”) is still focused on whether Kyuuzou was actually stung by a hornet or not. Ajiro explains that while a stinger really was found in the victim’s body, the hornet itself may have not existed; anyone skilled enough in voice mimicry could emit a convincing buzzing noise. It’s possible that the murderer used a prepared stinger to kill the victim, making it look like an unfortunate accident.

Someone skilled in illusion and voice mimicry… Soga Tensui is apparently pretty good at both.

“If we were to guess the truth based on all the data we have gathered, everything would point to Tensui being the culprit,” Ajiro says. “However, a single word from grandpa forced us to abandon our previous theories and go back to the drawing board. This word is kuroyashi. Yashi may refer to the merchants and peddlers of a tekiya yakuza group, such as Fujita-gumi. Kuroyashi would mean “a black peddler”. And if you switch black and white around, what do you get?”

That would be shiroyashi… which sounds suspiciously close to Shiroyasha, the masked murderer.

The Case is finally one step closer to being solved.

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads the saimon family case #maijo and jdc stuff #jounosuke i love you

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huntertales · 6 years ago

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Part Two: You Think You Know Someone. (Pac-Man Fever S08E20)

Episode Summary: Concerned about the physical toll the second trial took on the reader, the boys force her to take a break from hunting until she heals up. So, when the geektastic hacker Charlie Bradbury stumbles upon a case and finds the trio, she talks her way into letting Dean teach her how to be a hunter-in-training. While happy to see “her highness”, the reader and the boys feels Charlie is hiding a secret that could get her killed. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 3,976.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

Sam knew for sure that his brother wasn’t going to be happy when he discovered you managed to sneak out of the bunker, on his watch no less. You never did like to listen to what people told you to do. And instead of letting you sneak off on your own in your condition, Sam caved in to the pressure he felt on what the right thing to do was. He also hoped it would help soften the blow to Dean when you were out on the field and participating in the hunt after being told not to. Sam saw you dressed in your Fed clothes trying your hardest to be quiet, you almost managed to sneak out the door without him realizing...until an unexpected coughing fit gave you away.

Sam was sitting in the library keeping an eye on the security footage after you lied straight to his face about lying down for a little while. He was caught up in trying to find Kevin that he almost forgot that you were trying to pull a fast one on him. All he needed to do was to lean back in his seat ever so slightly to see you standing there in the middle of the staircase, a curse word falling out of your mouth when the both of you made eye contact. Sam thought he could honestly somehow convince you into staying inside and recuperate. Only it ended up with him changing into his own fed clothes after you told him about another possible suspect on the hunt. All you wanted to do was check out the scene and see how Charlie was doing before you promised to be back in the bunker. Sam thought looking after you would help soften the blow to Dean.

You made it to the crime scene a little after you heard it come through the police scanner. The cops were taping off the scene to keep out a small crowd of people that lingered behind to see what the commotion was all about. You and Sam observed the scene and talked a few cops to see what made a grown made explode over a couple of teenage boys who discovered the body. They were occupied with some video game they were playing from the noises you heard coming from their phones. Whatever it was, they were too distracted to give you a statement about what happened. You looked over your shoulder when you heard the sounds of two footsteps approaching you from behind, by none other than Dean and Charlie. Sam headed over when he spotted his brother heading your way, and not looking too pleased at who he saw.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" You asked them, ignoring the glare on Dean's face.

“What the hell are you doing here, Y/N?” Dean answered your question with another. He looked over to his brother, wondering what he was thinking to let you out of the bunker and on the case. “I thought you were gonna keep an eye on her.”

“We’re working the case. Same as you.” You said. You didn’t even bother trying to add fuel into an argument that wasn’t the right setting the crime scene. Instead, you saved your breath and jumped straight to the case. “Jake Hill. Librarian. Went missing yesterday, no relation to the other vic. Coroner already swooped in and scooped up what was left of him.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we met her. Bit of a stickler. Well,” Dean decided to get back to the exact thing you wanted to ignore. “There’s not a body, nothing else to see here, so why don’t you and Sam head on home?”

You smiled slightly, "Still haven't talked to the witnesses."

"Well, we can handle that." Dean reassured you. He looked over at his partner to give her the responsibility. "Charlie, why don't you go talk to the witnesses?"

“But I don’t want to miss the ‘moment.’” Charlie said. But her response made Dean give her a warning glare to scram if she knew what was good for her.

"Come on, Charlie." Sam placed a hand on her shoulder and softy pushed her forward to the direction the teenagers were. He got the hint this conversation was best between you and his brother. "Let's go see if they know anything."

Dean waited until Charlie and Sam were far enough away to try one more time to get through to you about how dangerous this was. You crossed your arms over your chest and raised your brow, already waiting to hear what he had to say. “Look, sweetheart, I know you’re frustrated, but you’re also sick.”

“I’m not leaving, Dean.” You told him.

"I know you want to help. I do, all right?" Dean said. He was trying his hardest to be empathetic to what you were going through. You scoffed and once again rolled your eyes. "But—"

“Dean, you cannot take care of the both of us. I need to be out here. And it’s not fair for Sam to have to be benched, too.” You said. “I’m sick. I know. But I’ve been for a while. Morning sickness wasn’t a walk in the walk. I gotta ‘play through the pain,’ right?”

“Come on, Y/N.” Dean grumbled. “Don’t quote me to me.”

“So,” Your argument was cut short when you heard Charlie come out of nowhere after her talk with the teenagers. “The boys said they noticed something on the body’s arm before it covered them in years of future therapy. Said it looked like a blue handprint.”

“Sounds like something you should read about.” Dean suggested to you. “In a book. At home.”

“I’m not leaving until we find out whatever’s doing this.” You said, once and for all.

Dean mumbled something underneath his breath in defeat at your persistence and walked back to the Impala. Seeing him drop the argument didn’t make you feel satisfied, it only made you grow even more annoyed with him. You gave his backside a dirty look as you crossed your arms over your chest. Charlie watched all of this unfold, and, of course, she had something to say.

"You guys fight like an old married couple." She said. Her remark made you glance at her before you rolled your eyes. "Does this mean we don't have to break into the coroner's office anymore?"

Your expression quickly changed at the mention of something you didn't think of to do. It was brilliant. You looked over at her with a look of happiness. “That’s a great idea.”

Charlie's face fell when she realized there was more law breaking involved with this case, more than she was comfortable with. Things only got worse for the poor girl when she heard the Impala's engine roar to life, and her ride here was pulling out, stranding her at the crime scene. "Is he leaving? He's leaving."

“That’s all right. We stole your car.” Sam said. “I think we know where he’s going. Come on.”

"Cool." Charlie said, the words the younger Winchester said didn't process much in her mind. Until she went spinning around to face the man, a look of surprise crossing her face at what the both of you did just to get here. "Wait, you stole my car?"

Your lips stretched into a small smile, "Sorry?"

+ + +

The three of you made it to the coroner's office after struggling to find a way for all of you to sit in Charlie's very small car that wasn't meant for all of you. You struggled for a few minutes, but you somehow beat Dean to the place. He arrived fifteen minutes after you did. He picked the lock and pulled out his flashlight, thinking he was all alone, until he found himself jumping a few inches in the air when the light came over three bodies he wasn’t expecting to find. You snickered slightly at his reaction. He let out a sigh from the jump scare and gave you a glare to show you he didn't think the situation was the least bit funny.

“What took you so long?” You asked him.

“I stopped for gas.” Dean confessed after staying silent for a few seconds, making your smile grow wider. “Shut up. The body’s in here.”

You followed behind him when he made his way to the office right across from the double doors. He managed to open the door before all of you found yourselves freezing in your spot at the sight of headlights pouring through the window, signaling that someone was here. You furrowed your brow slightly, not sure who the hell would be here at this time of night. Charlie, who had been nervous about interviewing people all afternoon, took it upon herself to jog down the hall and towards the front of the hospital to see who it was. You tried to get her attention, but she was persistent, turning around the corner and disappearing from your sight.

You let out a frustrated sigh at the danger she was putting herself into just to see who it was. You waited a few seconds until you decided you were going to drag her back here for yourself. But before you could move, Charlie came running back. "It's the coroner. I got this."

You warned her to be careful before you made your way into the office to find where those bodies were. Sam headed over to the files to find the ones for the victims. Dean opened up one of the doors to the freezers, expecting to find scraps of the latest victims, only when the both of you peeked inside there was nothing there. As if things couldn't get any more complicated.

“What the hell?” Dean muttered to himself. Sam looked up from the file he managed to find to see what the problem was. “It’s empty.”

“Uh...they burned the bodies.” Sam opened up the file and skimmed the report to find out way, a reason that made sense to people who had no clue to what they were dealing with. “They think it’s some of, like, outbreak scenario. Even got the CDC to sign off on it.”

“These folks run a tight ship.” Dean said. He closed the freezer door and headed over to his brother when he began to take pictures of the file for future reference. “Does this mean we need to take ‘silkwood’ showers now, or is this still a case?”

“Yeah. Something about that mark the kid saw rings a bell. Probably have to check the lore—or maybe Dad’s journal.” Sam said, listing off a few possible places to start for research when you got back to the bunker.

You tapped your foot against the floor and told Sam to hurry up before someone caught you. You liked Charlie, you really did. But you had little faith she could handle talking to someone. She had more of the quirky, nerdy personality that wasn't cut out for this lifestyle. However you seemed to be proven wrong when Sam got what he needed and put the file back where he needed it. The three of you managed to sneak back out the door before the coroner Charlie made small talk with headed back to the examination room. Charlie came out a minute later with a smile on her fact at what she managed to accomplish. The easy part was over, now it was time to buckle down and figure out what you were hunting.

+ + +

All of you made it back to the bunker and got down to business, you and Sam cracked down on going through the Men of Letters books while Dean occupied himself with once again reading John’s journal for any chance his father had come across whatever you were hunting. Charlie made herself useful by crossing off anything that didn’t fit the criteria. You ran a finger through the spine of the books before you found exactly what you were looking for. You plucked it off the shelf and headed back to the table to join the rest at trying to figure out the monster with your list dwindling down to a few suspects.

“Leviathan?” You guessed again.

“Mm...” Charlie shook her head, hitting a few buttons on her tablet to mark off the monster she had dealt with first hand. “They consume their prey.”

“Well,” You set the book down on the table and dropped yourself back onto the chair next to her, deciding to twist around your guess the other way around. “Maybe the vics were leviathan.”

“No black goo on either scene, according to the reports.” Charlie said.

You let out a sigh from all of your attempts that were coming up as wrong answers. You were determined to keep guessing until you got it right. “Dragons. They—”

“No signs of burns on the vics.” Charlie cut you off, you rolled your eyes in frustration.

“I hate that thing.” You mumbled, staring at her tablet with slight anger at how smart it was. And with envy at how you didn't have one yourself to help you out. “I want one.”

“Wait a second.” Dean spoke up, seeming to find the answer you were looking for. “Djinn.”

“Djinn vics don’t get liquified.” You said. “That I know for sure.”

"No, no, no, no. Not regular djinn. According to this, there is a bastard offshoot. Uh, their eyes light up blue. They pass as humans. All that regular jazz." Dean said, finding the answer in his father's journal the good old fashioned way. "Except these 'leave their victims with a jelly-like insides.’ And, supposedly, when they poison their victims, they leave behind a blue handprint."

“I hate that thing.” Charlie mumbled. “I want one.”

“So, do these things die like regular djinn?” Sam asked.

“Silver blade dipped in lamb’s blood, yeah.” Dean said. “Now we just got to find the asshat.”

'Well, breakthrough means snacktime to me. And I just want to stretch my legs." Charlie seemed awfully eager to jump out of her chair and grab her things. You watched as she talked a little faster with a slight shift in her voice that didn't sound like normal. She tried to play it off like everything was fine, even cracking a joke. "I will pick us some grub, and, unlike you Sam, I will not forget the pie."

You smiled at her little jab at Sam and told her to pick up something good. You watched as she grabbed her belongings and made her way out. You didn't know Charlie for very long, you really only met her once before a few months back. You had kept in contact with her from time to time from emails to text messages. But you felt like you knew her well enough when something was off with her. Like she was trying to hide something. You waited until she headed to the staircase when you spoke of your concerns to the boys, wondering if they felt the same as you did.

“She seem a little off to you?” You asked.

Sam nodded his head, “Since the second she got here.”

+ + +

Charlie still hadn't come back from her supposed snack run when you woke up the next morning. You left her three voicemails after she left and didn't return for two hours, and another one right before you went to bed. The boys tried themselves to get in contact with her. But all you kept getting was her stupid voicemail that was starting to drive you up the wall. You weren't giving up on trying to get ahold of her. After you got ready for the day, you tried one more time in hopes that your worried voice would give her some sense to pick up the damn phone.

As you were finishing up the voicemail, you felt a tickle in the back of your throat that lead to another coughing fit you managed to have after you ended the call. You managed to compose yourself after clearing your throat and sat back down on the chair in the war room. You twisted yourself around to see Dean heading up the stairs from another part of the bunker. The look that crossed his face was clear he was frustrated with how you were pushing yourself like this. The both of you managed to hide your feelings for the sake of the person you were worried about.

“Any word from Charlie?” Dean asked you.

“No. And Sam found out there was no comic convention in Topeka.” You said, giving him a bit of information that left you unsettled. “I don’t know understand. Why would she lie to us?”

“One way to find out.” Dean said. You watched as he patted his pockets before pulling out his cell phone from his pocket, leading you to ask what he was doing. “When I called you from her phone, I turned on her GPS.”

It didn't take very long to find out where Charlie's phone was after pinpointing her location not too far from where the bunker was. It seemed she had been more local than you realized. She was renting an apartment not too far out of town. At least, that's what her phone was telling you. You hoped when you got there she was as well. Things like this only ended up in two different case scenarios. Either she had somehow fallen off the grid or lost her phone. Or Charlie found herself in some trouble.

+ + +

You knocked on the apartment door the GPS was telling you was where Charlie’s phone was located. You called out her name in hopes your voice would make her open the door, but all you got was silence. You pressed your ear against the wood to see if you might hear some foot traffic to signify someone was in the room. It was dead silent. You knocked again, louder this time, but nobody answered after a few seconds. Sam picked the lock and slowly opened the door to inspect inside if there was an intruder, all he saw was something that was setting off red flags. You drew out your gun from the waistband of your jeans when you spotted a few pieces of overturned furniture that only made the knot in your stomach worse.

You followed behind the boys as the three of you cautiously made your way inside the place to inspect it for yourselves in hopes Charlie was still here. You noticed right away nobody was here except for the three of you. You dropped your hand to your side and let out a frustrated sigh at the lack of a red head. As you looked around the place, you spotted something odd on the table not too far from where you stood. You furrowed your brow and headed over to take a seat. All sorts of I.D.s and passports were sprawled around the table. There was even a few more in a lock box right next to her laptop. Charlie was up to something, that was for sure.

“What the hell is this place?” Dean asked, seeming taken back himself at what you discovered.

“Whatever it is, it belongs to Charlie.” You said. You grabbed one of the passports to see that it was for England. Another one for America, all under fake names you never heard of. You think you know someone. “Or some variation of her.”

“Who the hell is she—Jason Bourne?” Dean grabbed one of the passports to take a look at one for himself before tossing it back down to the table. “All right, so we got no forced entry, so either it was somebody that she knew or—”

“Djinn.” You mumbled the next possible suspect.

“Here’s all our missed calls.” Sam said. He found Charlie’s cell phone just sitting on the desk right next to the door. If she was leaving he highly doubt she would leave it behind. “Did you find anything on her laptop?”

“Yeah. She’s been making donations through her aliases to Shawnee County General here in Topeka.” You said. Charlie had made one last night just a few hours after she left. And lots more over the past year or so from the looks of it. All to one person. “A patient. Gertrude Middleton.”

“We need answers. Uh, Y/N and I’ll take Gertrude.” Dean said. “Sam, you keep djinn-digging.”

Sam traded spots with you when you got up from your seat in front of the computer to head out with Dean to your spot at the hospital to find out who this Gertrude was, and why she was so special to Charlie. Enough for her to be using fake aliases to donate to her. Everyone had secrets they wanted to hide from others. Sometimes it was things that hurt the most. From your past experiences, it was also things that get you killed.

+ + +

“Gertrude’s been in a persistent vegatative state for sixteen years. About a year ago, her condition got worse.” You solemnly stared at the hospital bed ridden woman Charlie had been donating to for quite some time now, someone who lost their life a long time ago. A nurse told you about Gertrude's medical history while she tended to the patient with her daily stretches to keep her body in decent shape. "This ventilator's the only thing keeping her alive."

“How did this happen?” You asked her.

“She and her husband were hit by a drunk driver. He didn’t make it. They were on their way to pick up their daughter from a sleepover.” The nurse went on to how Gertrude got herself into this position. Dean was curious about the daughter she mentioned. “She was twelve. She got into trouble after her parents’ accident. Nobody’s heard from her since.” You and Dean exchanged a look from the mention of it, the both of you already knowing who the daughter was. Charlie wasn’t helping out any random stranger, she was trying to keep her mother alive. “Folks have been donating to cover Gertrude’s care over the years. It’s a sweet gesture, but the truth is...she’s gone.”

“She ever get any visitors?” Dean wondered.

“A couple of nurses said they thought they saw someone in here reading to her, but nobody’s ever officially signed in to visit her. She’s all alone.” The nurse said. “If you excuse me, I have to make my rounds.”

You slightly smiled and mumbled a thank you for the information that was helpful. All of it was starting to make a hell of a lot of sense now. Charlie wasn't in town for some stupid convention, she was visiting her mother. You let out a quiet sigh from the things you learned about her. The poor kid was trying her hardest to keep the only person she had left alive, even if it was just a body. When the nurse left, Dean slowly approached the side of the bed to talk to Charlie's mother. He wanted to reassure her that her daughter was going to be okay. She had a couple of friends who were going to do anything to make sure she got back safely.

“You got one hell of a daughter, Mrs. Middleton.” Dean whispered to the woman. “I promise you I will find her.”

Damn straight you were going to make sure Charlie was okay. You didn't care what you had to do in order to find her. Not only did you owe that to her mother, but for Charlie as well. She was a special kind of girl you didn't meet very often. There was no way you were letting her slip through the cracks and become another victim to this djinn. And there was no way you were letting Charlie suffer the same fate as her mother.

[Next Part]

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foxrun-fluffery · 6 years ago

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The Greatest Distance

Summary: Thorin’s company is displaced in time by Gandalf, due to an emergency. They land in front of country girl Piper and her son. After recognizing them, mostly, she realizes that in no way can they be left on their own in this modern world, and now she has to cope with some of the strangest house guests ever!

Tag List: @sdavid09, @fallnangelcreations @sherala007 (I tried)

CHAPTER FOUR

READ FROM BEGINNING | PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

Dinner and a deconstruction

By the time the meat was cooked, and the potatoes mashed, Piper realized she had lost track of the dwarves milling about her property. Riordan and the three youngest were still out in the yard, having fun. Riordan had gotten Fili, Kili, and Ori into a game of tag. Through some careful chit chat with Bombur and Bilbo, she had discovered that the company had not yet encountered the trolls, but had dealt with the rain she recalled Dori referring to as a ‘deluge’ and the wizard telling Bilbo about the other four wizards. She realized the poor hobbit had little time to endear himself to the dwarves yet, aside from filling their stomachs on that first meeting. They hadn’t yet met the brown wizard, nor the elves. As she could recall, Thorin’s attitude did shift after Rivendell or Imladris, she did like the elvish name for it, but imagined the dwarves would not. Not that she would mention it, thinking it only as a passing thought.

Seeing a figure pass by the doorway, she leaned out, “Oh, Gloin! Could you please let everyone know dinner is about ready?” That certainly seemed to get him perked up and trotting quickly out the door. “Bofur, could you give me a hand with the table?” “Aye, settin’ it then?” He asked, getting up from where he had sprawled on her overly plush sofa. It was comfortable, and he was regretting that Thorin had already staked it out as his bed for their stay. While Piper had guest rooms, she said they would have to wait until she emptied the stuff she had stored in them out. For tonight the floor would do. He hurried to her side, smiling brightly up at her. Some part of his brain had always regretted the height of human females, but this time he found he didn’t mind it at all. No, even her strangely short and brightly colored hair wasn’t at all disconcerting. It fascinated him, like a cut gemstone.

“Nope, gotta put the leaf in, otherwise we’ll never fit everyone in here.” Piper quickly guided him through adding the extra sections to the table, and was rather amused by his curiosity about the extended table. She grinned as he crawled under it to inspect the mechanism, and how he watched as all of the pieces fit together. In all likelihood she had just changed the way tables were made in Middle Earth from now on. Then she went to get the dishes out, humming a little tune as she did.

“Ah, do ye sing, lass?” Bofur asked curiously, having finished his examination of her dining table, he had appeared at her side.

Piper jumped slightly, realizing she was quickly adapting to the loud steps of the dwarves she hadn’t really taken notice of him coming up on her. “Me? Ehh… not a whole lot. Mostly just lullabies for Rio, though he’s starting to outgrow them. Anymore he only wants me to sing for him when he’s sick.” Her smile was a touch sad, for she felt, as most parents did, that her little boy was growing too quickly. “He’s so independant already.” She sighed, bittersweet.

Bofur reached out to take a stack of plates from her, and he lightly set his hand on her forearm. “He’s a good lad, that boy. Ye have every right t’ be proud o’ him.”

“Growing up with just me to raise him, he’s had to learn a lot, and fast.” Piper’s expression softened under his touch, and she nodded gently. “He’s bright, he likes working with his hands, there’s a whole bunch of old tools in the shop that are his, he’s always tinkering with bits and pieces of things. My grandpa sort of hoarded everything, so Rio’s had a lot to experiment with.”

This made Bofur laugh, grinning brightly. “Aye, he’d make a great dwarf then!”

Smirking, Piper eyed him, “That’s a helluva compliment.” There was a moment, she and he held each other’s gaze. He was admiring her, and she was studying him, wondering what he thought, how she and her boy seemed to the dwarves. “With luck, anything he learns from you guys will be positive.”

“Aye!” Bofur mocked indignance, “How could it no’ be?!”

By then others were drifting in, attracted by the smell of the roasts cooking. Each member of the company was happy to lend a hand in setting the table. Though Piper wasn’t certain she appreciated their method, she wasn’t surprised by it. Claiming herself a spot out of the way, she watched her plates being tossed and flung through the air, along with the silverware. Someone, she thought it was Nori, starting humming a light tune, and soon the others were humming or wordlessly singing along. She realized they were using the beat of the song to keep track of each other’s movements. How ingenious!

Riordan had come in near the end of the table being set, Balin keeping a hand on the boy’s shoulder so he didn’t dash right into the middle of it. Still the boy clapped along and cheered when they were done. “Momma, can we set the table like that all the time?!”

Piper barked a laugh and shook her head, “No way, half-pint, I can’t afford the dishes you’d break!” With a grin, she jumped forward, sweeping the four year old up and onto her hip, tickling his ribs and making him shriek with laughter. “Okay, young man,” she set him back on the ground, hiding a wince from him. He was getting far too big to be carrying about like that. “Go wash up.”

The boy gave his typical groan, but he ran off to the bathroom to do what he was told, a few of the dwarves, and the hobbit, following suit. Some of the older or more stubbornly set in their ways ones stayed and took their seats at the table.

Piper, Bombur, and Bofur all brought trays of food over, while upon his return from washing, Bilbo managed the numerous bottles and containers, in a quick dash back and forth, of things Piper told him were condiments. He’d never seen bottles like that, nor had he heard of a few of the things she set out. Whatever “sour cream” was, though it sounded wholly unappetizing even to a hobbit, she insisted it was set on the table, along with the bacon crumbles she had cooked off, and the diced chives. He also was directed to a big bag of shredded cheese, and a bottle of “ranch dressing” as the woman told him that was the only way Riordan would eat his potatoes. That was a shocker to the little hobbit. Someone who didn’t like potatoes!?

Once they had everything set, with glasses of water, much to the disheartenment of the dwarves, everyone sat down. Thorin sat at Piper’s side, as everyone insisted she had the head of the table. Riordan naturally was at her other side, and the others filed in. Bombur was more than happy to cut the food, after giving her serving utensils a good looking over and an approving nod. Though the dwarves seemed to take their food in a rather raucous fashion, Piper insisted that Riordan use his best manners still.

Bofur, who was sitting on the other side of Riordan, reigned in his jovial eating habits to set a good example for the boy, though he did so in a playful way. Sometimes he would be so polite it was very clearly over the top, and other times he’d challenge the boy to cut his meat in certain sizes and shapes, keeping him from cramming huge mouthfuls in after he saw the look of disapproval from his mother at one particularly giant bite. At the boy’s insistence, he gave the ranch dressing a try on his potatoes and had to agree that it did make them a great deal better. However, he had bargained with the boy that he would try the ranch, if Riordan would eat chives on his potatoes.

Piper smiled, watching the dwarf and her boy, wondering for the hundredth time throughout the last four years, how life would have been different if they’d have a more normal family. But then again, normal wasn’t really their thing. She turned to Thorin, smiling pleasantly. “So, have you got everything figured out for wood cutting? I can always run in and get things we’d need.”

“We?” He mused, arching a brow at her as he chewed his roast.

“Of course! I grew up cutting wood, you don’t think I’d make you do it all yourselves!” Piper scoffed, shaking her head at him with an amused twinkle in her eyes. “I told you, I’d do what I can to help all of you here.”

Canting his head slightly, in a grateful nod, Thorin smiled. “I appreciate that. We will need your guidance to make sure we’re doing the job acceptable to the standards of this world.” He looked to his plate then and then back up, “This is a fine meal, we’re very grateful.”

Piper blushed, “Well, Bombur and Bilbo were both wonderful help getting it prepared.” She turned and found her fellow cooks at the table and smiled at them. “Bilbo is quite good with his seasonings, even I’m impressed, and I usually everyone says I’ve got a good sense for flavors.”

Bilbo’s cheeks, too, pinkened, “It’s nothing really, just some things my mother used to use when I was growing up.” He cast a warm quick look at Riordan. “I’m just happy to pass them on.”

The woman chuckled, “Oh yes, I’ve written down everything you used, I’ll be doing my best to copy it in the future.” She lifted her head a little, hearing amongst the soft and less than soft chatter at the table, someone bemoaning the lack of mead or ale. She noticed that Thorin had heard it too, and she grinned, “You know, if anyone here drank so much at every meal, they’d be written of as an alcoholic. You dwarves must have one hell of a constitution.”

The king cracked a smile, venturing even to laugh. “That we do. It’s probably best your kind do not try to keep up,” He told her with no malice, it was simply fact to him. Men could not drink like a dwarf. “We have a greater appreciation for well crafted ale, is all.”

Piper let the conversation fall for a while, as everyone filled their stomachs. She spoke up after a while, addressing the king once more. “Without risk of offending anyone, can I ask a question about dwarves? There are few details known and a number that are suspected, but we’re not certain.”

“Very well,” Thorin wiped his mouth with his napkin and sat back in his seat, his meal eaten and his stomach filled comfortably. True, all of them could eat a good deal more, but this was enough to satisfy for now. “What do you wish to know?”

“Do dwarvish braids have meaning?”

The king’s brows rose, and he was surprised that details such as that had filtered to this world. “Yes, they do. The braids and the ornamentation on them.” He motioned his own, “Mine display that I am warrior, this,” He indicated a decorated clasp behind his ear, “bears the crest of my house.” He motioned for Fili and Kili and both turned to show their own clasps that looked very much the same. “Had their father been alive, he would have made those for them. In his absence I crafted them myself.”

“And mine,” Gloin piped up then, taking cue from their leader that it was acceptable to speak about it, “Show my standing in the banker’s guild.” He motioned to the evenly spaced braids in his beard.

Dwalin puffed, his shoulders square as he held his head up with pride. “I mark my braid with victories in battle.”

“So you choose what you wear then, or is there a sort of baseline?” Piper had leaned forward, looking at each of them as they spoke, noticing their pride.

“Everyone chooses what they want to represent, what they take pride in, or what means the most to them.” Thorin explained.

Dori grinned, pointing to his youngest brother. “Ori has started his set of braids in the scholars guild.”

The young dwarf in question smiled sheepishly, and tilted his head to show the braids in his own hair and beard. “I’d like to earn a warriors braid too.”

“Oh hush you’re doing quite fine!” Dori admonished, not liking the thought of his brother in danger such as battle.

“I’m sure you’ll do great things, Ori.” Piper smiled reassuringly to him, glad to see his smile grew more confident.

“And this one,” Gloin spoke up again, “Me wife an’ I braided on our wedding day! This she crafted for me!” He showed her a slim braid that was nearly hidden in his bushy hair, and an intricately detailed bead that bound the end. “She has one I made of course.”

“That’s beautiful, Gloin. I can see she really loves you, so much detail!” Piper exclaimed, rising a little to lean across the table and see his bead clearly. She didn’t miss the way his eyes misted. “I’m sure she misses you just as much as you miss her.”

“Aye.” He said, quietly, and he ran his finger over the bead before he tucked it away into his wild hair again. Although he was misty eyed, he had a warm smile on his face, and his brother was watching him fondly, as were a few others. They all appreciated families and the like, even if most dwarves never married.

Nori caught Piper looking towards him next and he pursed his lips, clearly not sharing, yet he gave her a wink.He grinned at her smirk, seeing the determination growing in her eyes.

“I want braids!” Riordan piped up suddenly, looking around at everyone, and smiling when it started an uproarious laugh around the table.

“Maybe, if you had enough hair,” Dwalin chuckled, amused at the boy’s declaration.

The child had a very short cut, that wasn’t even uncommon among dwarven children. As much as they did like their hair, until a child was old enough to help wash, and to keep their hair from getting sticky and messy things tangled into it, short hair was not unseen. It wasn’t until a child was around eight or nine that their parents allowed their hair to grow, by then the little dwarfling was mature enough to take care of it to a degree. Their mothers still tended to the most of the care, in particular the brushing and braiding, but the children could help wash it then.

Riordan pouted, looking around at the dwarves at their table. “How long does it take to grow?” Piper chuckled, “If you wanna grow your hair out, it’ll be a while.” Knowing her boy he’d change his mind four times before it was ever long enough to do anything with. “But remember the last time your hair got long?” Riordan looked down at his plate, nodding quietly. He remembered. Oh did he remember. It had only been a couple of months ago. Thinking about it, he reached up and rubbed the side of his head. “Yeah…”

Piper caught a few curious glances and explained, “He got a sticky candy stuck in his hair when he fell asleep on it. And that’s why we had to cut his hair all off.” She chuckled, seeing her boy still pouting about it. “I think that was a lesson well learned.” Seeing everyone had just about finished up, she rose, startled when a number of them started to rise too. Ah, old fashioned manners. “Settle down boys. I’m just gonna go get us some tea.”

“Momma, can we have a soda?” Riordan asked, sounding as sweet and hopeful as he could.

“What’s soda?” Kili asked, looking from the boy to his mother.

Hearing his question, and the way the others gradually fell silent, Piper knew the dwarves behind her were all waiting for her answer. Quickly she debated a few factors, how much soda she had, and the risks of giving the dwarves caffeine.. .eh, you only live once! “Yeah, kiddo, sure.”

“Root beer floats?”

“Now you’re pushing it.” Piper laughed, shaking her head at her son and going to get the case of soda she had in the walk-in pantry. She distributed cans to the dwarves, setting one the table before each, quietly got their attention with a hand held up, then demonstrated how to pop the top on the cans. The dwarves, to her amusement, followed suit in a split second, and then there was a mixed reaction after that.

Nori, Balin, Gloin, Dwalin, Bifur, Dori, and Oin all stopped to sniff their drink first. Thorin and Bofur were both looking at Piper, though with very different expressions. Bofur seemed almost to forget he had a drink, and Thorin waited to say a polite thank you, before he raised his can to sip. The rest of the dwarves however, instantly went to chug their drinks. Most of them got the wonderful sensation of bubbles up the nose, and they stopped to clap hands over their noses, objecting in either language. And Nori gave a fine belch, but Kili outshadowed him. Riordan, feeling it was, this time, acceptable, followed suit and got a cheer from some of the dwarves for his attempt. But it was, as had happened before, Ori who won the prize. All the while, the quiet hobbit was grimacing at the belches and sipping as politely as he could, though he kept having to stop to rub his nose, looking mildly amused at the tickle.

“Mighty unusual drink, this!” Balin said, sniffling and rubbing his nose. “It’s got bubbles in it like nothing else!” He did seem to be enjoying it though. In fact, not a one of the dwarves had stopped drinking their soda for long.

“There are tons of flavors, but we just have this one right now. It’s very sugary, so we don’t drink it very often.” Piper explained. “Glad you all like it.” Then she rose to start clearing the emptied plates, but found a hand on her wrist. She looked up, surprised, at Thorin.

“Allow us. It’s very kind of you to prepare the meal, and offer your home. The least we can do is help clean up.” Thorin gave the others a pointed look, and soon Piper was privy to a clean up scene not too dissimilar to the one from a certain movie. Though, as when the table had been set, they only hummed a tune, rather than setting to a full song. Bombur, having learned how the sink worked, no longer got to polish off leftovers, but was in charge, with Bifur, of washing plates.

Riordan was sent off to wash up, as he had ranch dressing all over his face. He didn’t return, instead going to his room to play for a while, before his mother stuffed him into pajamas and sent him to bed.

Once dinner was cleaned up, for it was simply a matter of doing the dishes, as there were no leftovers at all, the dwarves settled in, sitting around the den. A few started to pull out pipes and flint, and their tobacco pouches. Only Bofur saw Piper grimace at the sight, though she didn’t actually forbid them. He looked down at his pipe in his hands that he was filling just then. Did the people here not smoke at all? “Uhm… is it… is it alright, lass, if we smoke?”

“Mmm yeah, just not on my white couch, okay? Even the best cleaners don’t get the smell out all the way.” Piper also didn’t want any pipe ash ground into the fabric. “Alright, if you guys are good for now, I should go get some more work done on this project I’ve got going. Should be a nice big payout if I can get it working, but the deadline is coming up.”

Bofur smiled kindly, nodding his head, “Best o’ luck t’ ye, lass.” He watched her as she walked out, his gaze lingering, his pipe forgotten. Until he heard a snickering from the young princes. Then he turned and saw most of the others were looking at him. “Oi! Mind yer own!” He waved them off, trying to hide the way his face heated up. “Pesky nosy lot o’ ya…”

“Oi, Nori! I didn’t get you those fancy sleeves to get them all greased up! How did you even manage that?!” Dori griped, looking at the smudges on Nori’s intricately stitched sleeves. “What did you get into to make that mess?” Nori ducked his head, looking down at his sleeves. Sure enough there was a smear or five of dark grease on them, that could almost be mistaken for orc blood, if it wasn’t for the smell. “Uh, we just looked around… kind of well… come see.” Grabbing his brother’s wrist, he pulled Dori up and out of the room to the front door. Ori, Balin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bombur, Oin and Gloin all followed along, either part of the guilty party, or very curious. Nori lead them to the garage beside the house, thinking it was some sort of workshop. There he pointed to some sort of deconstructed contraption. “See? We uh… well we got a little carried away.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously, shuffling his feet from side to side.

“Lad… ye have to put it back t’gether.” Oin grumbled, “It wasn’t yers to take apart!”

Gloin coughed, knowing he had been a part of the trouble. “We didn’t mean to, it just looked… useful.”

Balin sighed, shaking his head, “Of course it was useful, for whatever purpose it had before!” He rolled his eyes, not to unlike what his brother might have done. “Do any of you remember how it all went together?” “I think we lost a couple of parts…” Nori admitted. “Fix this!” Balin insisted sharply. “Before the lass finds out.” He turned and headed back to the house, stroking his beard irritably. “Curious bunch of half-wits,” he mumbled as he walked back in the front door. What were they thinking!? His thoughts must have been obvious, both his brother and their king approached him.

“What have they done?” Thorin asked, his voice low as the three stood, huddled, Dwalin at his shoulder looking stern.

The elder dwarf sighed heavily, “Seems they found some machine in the workshop and have taken it apart, and lost a piece, and it seems they don’t quite know how to put it back together.”

Thorin grimaced, rubbing a hand over his face. “Balin, Dwalin, go supervise them. I’ll… talk to Piper about it.” Huffing, he turned, knowing the two brothers would be just the motivation the rest needed to fix their mess. He descended the basement stairs and followed the short hallway to the room he saw a light in and knocked, then he heard her call to him, so he opened the door. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, she was curled up in a chair, in front of a flat slab that stood upright on a stand, tapping away at a panel of little buttons. “Piper?”

“Mmm just one second okay? Kinda… middle of… numbers….” She typed away furiously, trying to remember the sequence as she entered it. Not realizing she had just asked the heir to the crown of Erebor, the wandering king of the dwarves, to wait for her.

The heir in question didn’t mind at all, he was looking around the room, studying everything. There were a ton of electronics, which he didn’t recognize of course, and schematics on the walls to great vessels, but by the design he couldn’t comprehend how they could float on water. What even was a turbolift or a power nacelle? This Enterprise vessel was a strange one. Then there were pictures in frames. They were so clear he almost expected them to come alive. But there was Piper, Riordan, and a number of people who looked similar to them by their features, so he guessed they were her family. He found himself looking closely at them, smiling when he could see they were clearly enjoying themselves in each picture. Nowhere were there any formal portraits, but daily life images, smiles and fun and memories. It made his heart happy to see such things, but at the same time he ached for the dwarves lost when Erebor fell, and the hardships that fell upon them after. There were few smiles and happy memories made then. He quietly prayed to Mahal, not certain his prayers would be heard, that this kind woman and her precious son would never face such hardships.

“Oh! Thorin! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wait!” Piper turned her chair to look at him, blinking owlishly. “Is something wrong? You okay? Do you guys need anything?” She rose and crossed the distance to his side, eyes wide and searching his face.

Holding his hands up, Thorin shook his head, missing the way Piper’s eyes traveled to watch his hair sway. “No, nothing is wrong… well, that is not entirely true. It seems that some of my company have gotten a little out of hand, and I have come to apologize.” He sighed when she only seemed confused, “They found a machine in your workshop… and have taken it apart. I have ordered them to reassemble it, but they seem yet uncertain as to whether or not they can.”

“Workshop…? Oh my garage! Uh… there’s just a snowblower and a lawnmower in there… huh.” She frowned, thinking about if she could afford to replace either right now. Probably not. But they had very little lawn, as most of the ground around them was pine needles and natural growth. She only maintained enough lawn for Riordan to play on. Her mother had done more, but she seemed to like the natural approach better. Hopefully they hadn’t taken the snowblower apart. That she needed. “Well, if they can’t I’m sure I can find a repairman who can.” With a shrug she smiled. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty easy going. Things happen, life goes on. Getting all twisted about it doesn’t help anyone.”

Thorin stood, staring at her for a moment, before one of his handsome smiles spread on his face. “If only more people had your heart, Lady Piper.” He grunted when she thumped him on the shoulder. “My apologies, Piper. Just, Piper.”

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes. “Damn majestic dwarf.”

“Majestic?” He queried, sounding far too amused. “You think I’m majestic?”

Piper laughed, grinning at him. “Well, it’s probably the most used term to describe you that I’ve noticed.” She looked over at her photo wall that he’d been admiring. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I thought you knew of us already,” He countered, raising a brow as he watched her face.

She shrugged in that lopsided way she had. “I do, sort of. I mean, I know the major facts, but not the little details. Tell me about you, Thorin. Not Thorin Oakenshield, the great warrior, the crowned prince, but tell me about Thorin, the m--dwarf. Do you have anything you enjoy doing? Hobbies, interests, dirty little secrets?”

Thorin laughed then, “It would only be fair if you shared with me the same.” His blue eyes were lit with a mischief that he rarely let show. But she had a way of drawing that out in people, it seemed. He found a low-set overstuffed chair and sat in it, while she returned to her desk. They chatted for roughly two hours before she finished her work and had to go up to put Riordan to bed. There was a big smile on her face, that none of the other dwarves missed.

“Had a good time?” Fili asked in a teasing tone of his uncle as the older dwarf joined them, taking his spot on the sofa.

“Mind your tongue. We simply spoke.” Thorin reprimanded him lightly. “Our hostess is quite interesting.” He didn’t see behind him, that Bofur was studying his boots, making certain to meet no one’s gaze. It was a sickening feeling twisting in his gut, he wanted to jump up and scream at their king, but he couldn’t. He wanted to run and find Piper and find out all of these interesting things for himself, but he couldn’t. Instead he grabbed his blanket, pulled his hat down over his eyes and curled up on his spot to sleep, even if it was early. He didn’t feel like being a part of the world right at the moment.

Bifur and Bombur shared a glance, knowing that was unlike their Bofur to act that way, but they understood it. Bombur sighed, and sat back, puffing on his pipe, while he watched Bifur measuring a block of wood he had hewn from the oak outside. He wondered what sort of toy his cousin would craft, as Bifur wasn’t telling anyone just yet.

Eventually the group came in from outside, claiming they had the machine mostly put back together, or so they thought. And they would finish in the morning, as a couple of them were starting to nod off while working. After another hour, Piper had come to bid those who were still awake sweet dreams, and she went off to bed herself, promising the dwarves and hobbit they could have baths tomorrow. Bilbo seemed the most pleased by this.

#Tale Teller’s Plot Bunny Challenge 2019 #TheGreatestDistance #TheHobbit #Bofur #Bombur #Fic #Thorin #Bifur #OC #etc etc etc

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mysocialfox458 · 4 years ago

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Sims 4 Cc Tracker Mac

Apple Cc Sims 4

Sims 4 Cc Tracker Zerbu

Sims 4 Corrupt Cc Tracker

Download tens of thousands of free premium quality creations and custom content for The Sims, Sims 4, Sims 3 games - no login required and updated daily. Always check for updated mods after a Sims 4 Patch/Update; at the Mods Tracker on which ones are broken or now updated. Also EA Forums do a regular post for tutorials, mod usage & broken mods/cc. I use Sims 4 Studio for batch fixes it solves a lot of problems in bulk (but not all.) Also available for Mac.

The new chapter in the Sims story

This title has been a cultural phenomenon since 2000, when the first installment was released. The game crossed demographics, and everyone became a fan of the series. Now it’s on its fourth outing; how has the series held up?

From baby steps to retirement

The greatest micro simulation game is back. Sims 4 has big shoes to fill. Is this sequel up to the task?

The premise is the same: create your avatar, build your dream house, fall in love, watch your children grow - choose your life. As ever, there’s a lot that you can buy for your Sims, from stove tops to guitars and everything in between. You can share creations of your with other players online, and the detail work that’s gone into some of the objects in this game is incredible.

But you could be forgiven for thinking that there should be more in Sims 4 than there were in any of the previous games. Sadly, this is not the case.

There’s no swimming. You can’t make pools and you can’t toss your Sims in, remove the ladders, and wait for them to doggy-paddle themselves into an early grave. That was one of the most iconic things about the franchise up until now and it’s a curious thing to remove. The whole point of the game is to have complete control over the life of the Sim, so why take any of that control away from the player?

The avatars are now much more competent than they were in the last game. You don’t have to babysit them all the time, and while that might be good for some, it still takes away the player’s control.

While the game looks good and runs pretty well, it doesn’t really make up for the issues here. The loading screens take forever when you first start the game. This is a legendary trait of any Maxis game, but this time it’s really something else. If that weren’t enough, the most critical visual component in the game is broken: the camera. How can this be? Did the developers not playtest the game? Do they not realize the camera is broken?

It’s frustrating, because the team and Maxis / EA could have had a smash-hit here. But modern corporate practices are probably responsible for the underwhelming game that is The Sims 4.

Where can you run this program?

You can run this game on Mac OS and Windows computers.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes; in fact, The Sims 3 can offer you a better experience. If you’re looking for other Maxis sim titles, try any of the SimCity games.

Our take

While The Sims 4 does little to improve upon the groundwork laid by its predecessors, it’s still a fun game at its heart. The customization and in-game object shopping could take you hours alone, but it feels like this game is being purposefully left empty. Considering that the franchise has always banked on the expansion packs to turn an extra profit, that could be the reason it feels so bare.

Should you download it?

Yes. Despite its flaws, Sims 4 could be fun, and it might be more enjoyable if you haven’t played any of the previous games.

Highs

Good graphics

Attention to detail

Online sharing

Lows

Less content than previous entries

Camera issues

Long loading screens

The Sims 4for Mac

This tutorial deals specifically with fixing Create-a-Sim items. For a way to fix the CC chairs that broke with The Sims 4 in March 2021, read this article.

If you play with Sims 4 mods or CC, then you are probably familiar with the hellish visions of Sims being transformed into punctuation marks that look like they have crawled out from the underworld. (PS: Wouldn’t an underworld pack in The Sims 4 be awesome?).

Moving on. We love using Sims 4 custom content. That’s not hating on EA or The Sims 4 team, there’s just so much gorgeous stuff available. And bunk beds. There are functional Sims 4 CC bunk beds.

Apple Cc Sims 4

The problem with Sims 4 CC is that sometimes it can break. Mods and CC break with updates or sometimes you download them in a broken state. It can be quite traumatising to see the Punctuated Sims from Hell appear.

That question mark slapped in the middle of their virtual foreheads will make you question your life decisions and haunt your dreams.

If you are a bit of a Sims 4 custom content hoarder, then it can feel like a real struggle to figure out which CC is broken.

We have all had that moment where we get so fed up with broken Sims 4 CC that we just go and delete the whole mods folder and start over. Once that recycle bin has been emptied, regret follows instantly.

But there is an easier and far less traumatic way to fix broken CC in The Sims 4. It works best for Create a Sims (CAS) content that’s broken, but you can also use it to get rid of Build/Buy custom content that’s broken or that you no longer use or simply don’t like the look of.

It is also a great way to find any custom content that might be missing from your game. This is useful if you have downloaded some Sims households, lots or objects that do not show up in your game.

Best way to fix broken or bad CC in The Sims 4

To easily fix broken or bad custom content in The Sims 4, you will need to use the Sims 4 Tray Importer from L’Univers Sims. It’s a completely free download and it is safe to use. You can download The Sims 4 Tray Importer from the official website over here.

This little application is life changing for Sims 4 players who use a lot of CC. If you have a bad batch of broke custom content, it can help you clean things up in no time.

Once you have installed The Sims 4 Tray Importer (which runs separately to your Sims game), you will be able to quickly delete any broken CC whenever you want. It can even help you clean up your library if it has gotten a bit full.

To get started, you will have to save a household in The Sims 4 with Sims dressed in the broken custom content.

Don’t worry about how they look. They’re not going for a fashion show, they are going into the bin. Do you care what your garbage looks like before you chuck it out? Yeah, didn’t think so.

How to use The Sims 4 Tray Importer to fix broken CC: Step by step

As mentioned already, save your broken Sims to your library to get rid of CAS CC that is broken. If you are trying to delete build/buy CC, then save a room or lot.

We find it is quite useful to have a “delete me” room next to every build, so that we can easily put objects into it we want to delete later. For this example, we will only deal with broken CAS CC in The Sims 4.

You can access all the households, lots and rooms in your library through The Sims 4 Tray Importer. You can refine accordingly using the filters shown here.

Here is a household of ours. For our American readers, this is the national rugby team of South Africa. Well, our version of some of them anyway. For our English readers: Do you remember the 2019 Rugby World Cup?

Once you have found the offending family (they will show up like the zombies from CAS, or you can name the family “broken” or “delete this” to make it easier).

If you want to just get rid of a household, room or lot without also deleting the CC, you can switch over to the files tab. Highlight the files and right click.

Then select the “Show containing folder” option. Your Tray folder will open with the files highlighted. You can just hit delete in the folder and the files bell be deleted.

To get rid of broken Sims 4 Custom Content or find missing CC by using TS4TI, switch over to the CC tab on the application.

You will see a list of all the CC in use for that household, room or lot. Any missing mods or CC will show up highlighted in red like in the screenshot below.

If you want to find the missing CC, right-click and use the “Find on Google” option. Note: Some users recently reported that there are issues with this option showing up. If you are having problems, refer to the TS4TI support forum. There could be an issue with your firewall blocking access or you might be running an out of date version, or other similar issues. It is best to check with the app’s developers for troubleshooting. If the option is there, a browser tab will open and you will find the websites where the CC is hosted. You can then download it and add it to your mods folder. This is quite useful to help find missing meshes.

If you simply want to get rid of the bad or broken CC, click over to the CC tab, select the items and right click to open your Sims 4 mods folder by using the “show in folder” option (like you did with the household/lot/room files earlier).

Sims 4 Cc Tracker Zerbu

If you select more than one item of Sims 4 CC to delete, several windows will open up with the selected items highlighted in your mods folder. You can just delete them one-by-one by going through each window and hitting delete.

Sims 4 Corrupt Cc Tracker

And that’s it. This easy way to find and delete broken or bad CC in The Sims 4 works for rooms, lots and CAS items. If you found this tutorial helpful, sign up to our Sims 4 newsletter over here or check out the rest of our Sims 4 content here.

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firecakes-art · 7 years ago

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Marker Man Misadventures 12

This is it. This is the world that will truly test my abilities as a map maker. It's as if the game is taking my map making as the actual point of the game and is upping the difficulty to maximum. I will do what I have done since the very beginning when faced with a challenge: adapt and invent new techniques in order to get to my goal.

The soundtrack sounds mischievous and is 6 measures even.

I do not show it on the map, but the parts where the black platforms turn gray is a gradual effect. What that means is that in the game the visible platforms slowly fade away to invisible ones, and then the completely invisible ones are indicated on the map by the gray color. So, basically the entire level is invisible. Not exactly ideal when you're trying to figure out where the platforms are. Not to mention there is ZERO background art. It just looks like I'm walking on air and there are also items that are on air. I mean, I get it that you cannot have background elements or else this invisible theme wouldn't work but I feel like this is just a cheap way for the level designers to not have to care about making the levels pretty.

Fortunately that dumb grid that has existed since the very beginning of the game is still there, so I can use the squares on the grid as a reference of distance traveled. Basically, I'm drawing circles and pushing them to see how they respond to the environment in front of me. It's probably a good idea to do that even if I wasn't mapping the levels out because it will help find potential traps for me. Let's face it: the developers are cheap enough to do that. They did it in the last level of the previous world. Of course I'm going to check for traps.

The part with the bouncy walls is annoying because you have to build around it to climb up. Either use a super jump power up or figure out the reach of the bouncy blocks to make the appropriate bridge.

These levels take no time at all to load. GEE I WONDER WHY. Also, do not try to force shut the game when you lose your last life. Just like with that water world, you will lose all of your progress. The only difference is your save file is just straight up gone instead of glitchy. Perfect. Watch out for long falls, and always check where the edge of a platform is before building or making a jump.

It's like a combination of the previous two levels, only simpler.

You sort of don't know which pits are places you can go to or places that will kill you. It's a safe assumption that if a shape you draw in it falls outside your view then it will probably kill you. Another really dumb thing is that sometimes you can draw shapes inside walls. If you're just making random guesses it's not entirely clear whether the successful shape is placed in an area you can walk to or if it's inside a wall.

You doubt my ability to try and make every level's title some kind of pun or reference? Just watch me.

These levels got homogenized really quickly. I had to replay this level and I had no memory of its existence.

Markers are cool. I like markers. Please give me more markers.

So, the first spiky wall area has a little bump before you fully pass the obstacle. If you're me, this means you'll get stuck under the wall, and before you can register that you need to jump, the spike wall crushes you. Note that when you game over, you only gain one life back. So every time this game decides to pull a stupidly cheap trick on me I have to redo the whole world over.

Wow. We have a new contender for the most basic level in the game. Congratulations.

One strange thing is the area under the exit. You can draw shapes under your platform and watch them disappear after falling a bit. No need to worry about crashing your game, because the developers placed triggers under the map that will delete shapes drawn out of bounds. They did at least one thing right there.

It's a level with invisible blocks and things and stuff.

Snoop around enough and you may find the coin. Or a spike pit. Same thing, eh?

I should be more upset at how hard they're trying to hide the coin and exit, but I think I'm too desensitized at this point to care.

Oh... I figured it would take until level 150 or something before the game was over, but maybe it's ending early! If you manage to die here, just remember the trick with the water world when the game over glitch happened: let the game over screen appear, continue, reset, and load to be at the level where you died. Isn't it fun when you apply what you learn?

Oh yeah, the point of the level. The giant ball is back for another rematch, and you have to scale down the level pretty fast in order to beat it (unless you're using power-ups). It took me a few tries before I was able to beat it. Be careful with some of the drops, as they are enough to damage you. After making it to the bottom, stand on the blue platform and let the ball push the other one down, flinging you upward.

Do I... really need a world map for this one? Yes? Ugh fine.

No no no no no. Nope. I'm not waiting any longer. This game is going to be finished in this post whether I like it or not. It's time to end this.

The cutscene showed the dog and marker man jump into some kind of teleporter. The result is that we are now on some space rock or something. It looks like they stuck with the themes of space too, such as making the level vast, yet empty. Hmm, not really a theme specific to this world, but oh well.

Long Boy

WHAT DID THEY DO TO SHOE BOY? It now has an oval head. I guess it's supposed to be an alien. It's really funny how they attack because they rotate their elongated head when they kick, and it just looks funny.

Ugh, these types of levels are the worst. Huge open spaces with lots of emptiness and lack of features between the platforms. It makes the game boring and frustrating to map and play, so why do it? Especially the road to that two-coin exit. Why make the player walk so far to get there? The developers could've easily added a path down from the coin to the hallway.

Alien

A projectile-based enemy, just like all the other projectile-based enemies. This one has a scarily fast firing rate, making it a very dangerous long-ranged enemy. Its barrage of bullets can also make quick work of drawn shapes. Be careful. When trying to block its bullets, don't just put a single line over it, as the place the bullet spawns can bypass the line. Place like, 2 lines. I don't know. What's interesting is the developers actually managed to make the bullet spawn from the gun's barrel instead of the top left of the sprite. Good job. You're learning! It's a little late for that, but whatever. This does mean you may need to place lines completely covering the alien before the projectiles are stopped.

Same glitch as last world. Do not force stop the game on gaming over. Let it happen, continue, exit, then get back to the level you died on.

The spike walls move at different frequencies. I recommend activating super speed and just focusing on the bottom one moving out of the way. Seriously, you better have some markers coming into this world or you're in big trouble. Actually, there's an easier way to get past this part. When the bottom spike wall is hiding under the floor, lodge a line between the floor and the wall and it will get stuck there, allowing you to pass without doing anything ridiculous.

Pleeeeeease give me more markers. I actually have to conserve resources in this world and it's annoying. There's simply too much terrain that needs to be covered that will inevitably use up all my markers. This is different from the lava world because in the lava world there were at least interesting elements in the levels that made you think on how to approach the problem. In this world it's just a battle of attrition.

Speed Cheese

It's cheese on.. wheels? This is probably a reference to moon cheese. It quickly moves back and forth, simply knocking anything that touches it out of the way. It deals no damage.

I think I know why there are so many dead ends here. The game just really doesn't want the player to have any markers in this world. How rude. This is why people like me have to come in and bright light to the correct pathway to victory.

Oh yaaay. Another level where you just have to look everywhere to find the coin and exit. The part of the map where it says SLIDING has no friction. Marker man will not stop moving on that platform until a wall is hit. The exit is kind of dumb to get to. In order to even see it you have to either stand on the platform with the alien (which noone is going to do) or build up and then look up. I recommend just making a giant rectangle on the corner of the map and then building off of that to the exit.

This is the realm of the shoe boys. Their final congregation is at this location. They are planning big things. They already have presence in just about every world. Their plans to finally take over the world of marker man have started to unfold in this meeting area, and you are in the middle of it all.

This is pretty straightforward, isn't it?

Beware of the many dead ends in this level. You get one marker in here. Well, there is a second one, but it's in a trap so I'm not counting that one.

What. Why is the map so linear? Why is there a pointless dead end to the right with a moving platform? Why is the map small? Why is there large stretches of nothingness? I don't understaaaaaaaaand. Maybe the devs want this game to end as bad as I do. Fair enough.

We all want this to be over! Just walk down this straight pathway, hug the left, and you'll get your coin, and you'll get your exit right above the coin. It's that simple. We even went ahead and put the useless parts of the map all on the right side so you don't even need to travel there. I'm doing you a favor, but don't tell my boss I'm doing this. These are supposed to be the hardest levels in the game. Go forth!

Uhm. What. WHAT.

This is the final level. There is no indication that this is the final level. There is no dog seen anywhere, and the level number didn't jump to the range where the dog levels appeared. I simply walked into the exit, my level got reset to one, a cutscene played, and the game is over. I think it's really fitting that the background track that plays throughout the cutscene and the credit rolls is the game over music, because did I really win by beating the game? Everyone's a loser for trying.

But hey. I get a star next to my save file now. I guess any recognition of me going through this torture is better than nothing. I was curious to see if this star meant some sort of change in the game, like a new game plus, but it doesn't seem like it. My markers and lives left carried over from the previous game to this one, but that's about it.

And.... that's it. The game is done. I mapped every level. Here is the final world map.

Thanks for reading. However, there is still one final post to make...

#art #drawing #personal #mmm #marker man #marker man misadventures

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cbk1000 · 8 years ago

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So, my sister came over to our apartment today and we had a good long bitch about the work situation, and I found out a little more, although she can’t give me very many details because she promised our boss she wouldn’t say anything to me.

Firstly, let me just clarify: I keep referencing ‘our boss’ and then referring to a ‘she’ and ‘he’--I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but the clinic is run by a husband and wife, not one gender fluid manager who is being kind of an ass.

So, back at the beginning of September my sister first asked about her raise; she asked the wife (I’ll refer to her as ‘C’ from now on, and the husband as ‘L’ to avoid confusion instead of just referencing ‘our boss’), who said that she was right in the middle of taxes, so she’d have to look at it next week. A legit excuse; I know she’s always really harried during this time, and I don’t blame her for wanting to just get that out of the way first.

My sister didn’t hear anything more about it, so in October she popped in to remind C about it, thinking she may have forgotten because she was so busy. C said she had actually forgot about it till a few days ago, when she’d asked her husband. She said it was in discussion, and that they were talking numbers, which very heavily implies the raise is a sure thing, it’s just a matter of hashing out exactly how much it’s going to be. So, apparently, back in October, the raise was all but decided upon, it was just a matter of settling dollar amounts.

A few days ago when I first posted about this situation (Dec. 4th, my archive tells me), she had gone in to C’s office to ask yet again about the raise, because she first inquired about it three months ago, and was starting to get irritated, feeling as if she were being put off. It was then that C told her all this stuff. I outlined the basics in this post, so I won’t rehash it now.

C is very upset, basically. She did not want to tell my sister any of this because she was hoping to just delicately handle it behind the scenes, but I think she felt she couldn’t put her off with some lame excuse since it had been three months since my sister initially asked for the raise. There are some gaps in my knowledge of events because my sister told me just enough to avoid breaking her promise to C, but essentially, L is fed up with people bitching about us even though none of the complaints actually have anything to do with our productivity and the quality of our work, so we’re basically being punished because fellow co-workers are whiny shitbabies. C is trying to get the raise, but she is not entirely sure how to go about it because once L gets something in his head, he can become fixated on it; he also will act like nothing’s wrong for a long time and then suddenly be super pissed about something minor (this is not just her trying to play Good Cop and make it look like she’s on our side, I’ve seen it happen many times).

We assume C did not want my sister telling me the whole story because she knows I am very confrontational, and she really, really does not want us to leave, and I think she’s afraid I’d be justifiably pissed if I knew everything and would get into a blow-out with L that would end either with A. Me quitting on the spot B. Him firing me on the spot. My sister said she was clearly very upset and is obviously worried this is going to result in one or the both of us leaving. I know she really does not want that, because back in 2014 I asked for a raise a few months before I left on my trip, and one of the first things she said was, “Yes, we can definitely talk about that; L and I most definitely do not want to lose you”; I hadn’t implied (or at least I hadn’t intended to), that I would look for another job if they didn’t give me more money, but me leaving was her first concern, and within probably a week, my sister and I had both got a raise.

I do not want to punish her, and L is not a bad person, but his management skills are often severely lacking, and as I said in a previous post, if he is going to cater to the asshole employees who are always causing problems and punish the good ones who show up on time, do their job without getting into personal conflicts or constantly wasting his time with petty complaints, then I think he needs to see that there are repercussions. People will eventually get fed up, and I don’t think either one of us deserves to be treated this way. My sister said she thinks he feels safe doing this because we’ve been there for so long, and he just figures we won’t leave, but this is pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back for me, and I’m trying to persuade her to look into other opportunities as well. We have been fed up for a while that some of the doctors upstairs are basically dictating how the filing system is laid out when we have told L over and over again that they (and he) are cluttering up the system with redundant categories that we already use, categories that will be used once in a blue moon, and just in general making it more of a pain in the ass to navigate; there are not the ones who have to navigate all these categories, so I think our opinions on it should carry some pretty hefty weight. We have spoken with him about this several times, and each time he agrees with us, complains about what a pain in the ass it is to deal with people upstairs, and then just goes back to doing what we asked him no to do, so sitting down and having a candid discussion with him is not an option; we’ve addressed problems with him before, and he just keeps caving to whoever whines the loudest/most. I could play that game, but I have better things to do with my time, and I’m not going to try and outshout everyone else when I have a job to do and can make much better use of my day. Also, I’m a fucking adult, not an incontinent fucking preschooler.

It is infinitely crappy that the raise it sounds like he was prepared to agree upon back in October is now being held hostage because he is fed up with some jerkoffs complaining that we talk to each other instead of staring blankly at a windowless cubicle for eight hours a day and run movies for background noise. He knows our productivity isn’t lacking; we have bins full of confidential documents waiting to be shredded, so it’s clear we’re going through a ton of paperwork; and if he wanted to, he knows where we keep the reports: he could check and see that the trays are nearly empty/empty when we leave for the day. The people upstairs also know we are productive and not just fucking around, because when we’re behind, the whole clinic knows: reports aren’t in the charts where they’re supposed to be, people have to call down constantly looking for paperwork, etc. Several of them have commented multiple times on how surprisingly fast we are, so this has nothing to do with anyone being adversely affected, which is the only complaint that should be relevant in the workplace, and everything to do with being petty fucksticks. We don’t even interact with most of these people; we don’t even SEE them because they’re busy upstairs and don’t have time to come downstairs (except when they need to spend 30 minutes of their day whining to C), and we go upstairs only rarely to fax records and check our box for paperwork that’s ready to be filed. Which, btw, is in the nurse’s station, so they see us constantly coming and going and grabbing papers, and are therefore definitely aware that we’re not just sitting around marathoning The Bachelor or whatever. And that’s what really pisses me off about this--whoever is complaining has to know that we are obviously just running shows and movies as background noise, because if we were actually sitting and watching them intently, we’d be way behind and the repercussions of that would be felt upstairs really quickly. If we’re behind, everyone’s behind, basically, since the doctors and nurses don’t have the necessary records to review for appointments, billing can’t find the insurance info they need, etc.

I feel bad for C because I fully believe she is trying her best to handle this in a way that doesn’t screw us over and doesn’t punish us for other people’s whining, but it’s been time for my sister and I to move on for a while, and even though this is shitty, I think there’s a slightly silver lining in that it’s giving us a push to just gtfo.

#personal #also if you actually finished all this #my hearty congratulations

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tancong · 8 years ago

Text

A Piece of Me (Chapter 5)

“Can you hand me- Ah thanks.”

Mercy did not have to look back behind her to know that he nodded to acknowledge her thank and that he was doubtlessly standing somewhere out of her way. It felt so familiar and natural, almost as if he knew exactly what she needed and wanted in her work environment. The way that he stood out of every possible path she could take from her current location and the way he was situated exactly where she would need the next item from. It was all so … perfect.

However, she did not have the time to dwell on such thoughts at that moment. Instead, Mercy took the test tube and placed it under her microscope, inspecting it before nodding to herself.

As she did so, she could hear Genji’s soft footsteps around her right side, picking up the tablets on the table and the other small items scattered about. She was never one to be exactly keen about neatness in the midst of her experiments after all. That being said, Overwatch was not an organization with an infinite supply of funds. At least, not anymore.

“Alright, it’ll work this time!”

While she has never been able to confirm it and the ninja always refused to answer her inquiry, she always had a feeling that he smiled to himself behind his visor every time she said it. Even so, she knew that he meant no offense as he stood watching as she took the test tube and brought it up to the lip of the other container. She has said that so many times now, he probably couldn’t help himself. The new vaccine solution has not proven to be successful so far. Each time the two chemicals mix, they came apart or fizzled out. At worst, it made the glass smoke a bit from the acidity level.

“Ready when you are, doctor.”

Mercy spared a moment to glance back at the source of the voice very close behind her. She smirked at him, “I don’t recall hiring a new assistant. I hope you weren’t expecting me to pay you.”

Without another word, she looked back toward her experiment and took a deep breath before mixing the two chemicals into the larger beaker.

The next thing she recalled after a large flash and ear-ringing explosion was being on the ground. Angela let out a soft groan and blinked rapidly, her eyes recovering from the change of lighting from the previous moment in the lab. When she regained her vision, she found herself gazing up at the visor of a certain cyborg mere inches from her face.

Even with it on, she could still imagine his face through it, probably with a look of concern that was unsuitable for such a handsome visage. Well, it was sweet and wonderful expression for any man to have, but she didn’t want to see it on him. Especially not when she was the person who caused that expression to appear.

As she quickly came to realize the situation that they were in, Angela’s cheeks heated up to a soft pink hue as she gulped gently. Her body wanted to respond in some way, in a manner that her mind did not remember and did not figure out.

However, Genji saved her the need to finish the thought as he got up from her. She felt her body lose its tension as her heartbeat slowed down just a bit. It was probably just the adrenaline from the event. That must have been what had happened. After all, why else would her heart and body react like that?

She placed her hand gently into his metallic one, allowing herself to be helped up to a standing position before dusting herself off with her eyes closed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before opening her eyes to try her best to calmly assess the damage.

Despite her preparation, Mercy squeezed her eyes shut again with a groan as she placed her face neatly into her palm, one arm across her chest to support her other elbow. She felt a pair of hands on her shoulder, massaging her shoulder pleasantly enough to possibly make her coo had her head not hurt so much.

“Ver dammt …”

She could hear Genji chuckled behind her and turned to glare at him, her frown not quite as convincing as it could have been. He simply took off his face-plate to meet her gaze, openly showing his smile now.

“I figured this would happen eventually. There are only so many ways you have left of screwing up an experiment after all.”

That definitely did not make her frown at him any less, though her glare lessened as she hesitantly conceded to the point mentally. “Is that why you wear your face-plate all the time?��

Genji pretended to think for a moment, breaking eye contact before meeting it again and smiling slyly at her.

“Well, it definitely helps to have an infrared vision and see when things are about to explode. I did recall a certain doctor saying something about safety equipment despite not using any.”

“Also, it helps hide my smile whenever you say that it’ll work this time.”

Oh, the glare was definitely coming back now.

“So you do react like that whenever I say it! You’re terrible, terrible! You’re the worst!”

Angela moved to punch his shoulder, only for her fist to be caught squarely in the palm of his hand. He simply smiled at her, raising an eyebrow as he did so.

“Hey now, are you trying to hurt yourself after all that trouble I went through to make sure that you weren’t injured? My armor is not that soft you know.”

Angela sighed and dropped her hand. “Thank you for that …”

Genji shook his head. “It was the least I could do for all you’ve done for me.”

Things that he never told her about other than what the files told her. Or at least, she felt as if there were things that he did not mention. He was a sly man, he only told her the things that everyone knew and the things that her files documented. It was definitely true and she couldn’t push him further with no basis but something told her there was more.

In any case, she couldn’t be mad at him. He definitely improved her mood, whether she liked it or not, with his teasing. It was a charming thing about him that she greatly appreciated. Besides, he definitely did save a lot of money and effort considering that everything important was moved out of the way.

As if he was reading her thoughts, Genji casually picked up her mug from the table and inspected it as he poked at her. “Aren’t you so glad I moved everything? Otherwise, you might not have this cup.”

Angela snatched it out of his hand with the frown returning to her lips. The “World’s Okayest Doctor” mug returned to its spot on the table as she finished the remainder of the now cool coffee.

“Yes yes, I’m eternally grateful. How shall I ever express my gratitude? Perhaps a marriage is in order then, Mr. Shimada?”

A strange expression came over Genji’s expression then, one that made Angela pause and made her face and thoughts freeze. They held eye contact for several seconds in silence before Genji coughed lightly with his hand over his mouth, glancing away and over at the table littered with broken glass and spilled chemicals.

“In any case, I suppose we should get this cleaned up. Wouldn’t want to hurt your assistant now, do you?”

Angela allowed herself to respond with a small smile and an uncertain nod. Something in his voice changed and something in the way he acted change. Perhaps it was because he called himself her assistant rather than denying it as if to remind himself of something. Perhaps it was the sudden feeling of emptiness she felt without the warmth of his gaze on her. Or was it the warmth in his voice?

Suddenly, her chest felt tight and her mind felt hazy .. dizzy. It took all her concentration to make sure that she remained standing and to force herself to take a quiet deep breath.

Then again, there was no hiding even a harmless breeze from Genji’s senses. Such was to be expected from a real life and trained ninja after all. The cyborg cast his gaze back upon her, his expression changing from his brooding tone to confusion and very promptly to concern.

“Ange- Doctor Ziegler, are you alright? Was it the chemicals?”

There he goes again. He did that sometimes. She was sure that it came instinctively to him, something told her that he had to force himself to change that habit. He addressed everyone formally and politely by their family name and title, she was no different. So how was it that he came to develop such a strange habit of calling her by that?

And why did her chest tighten just a bit every time she heard him say only that much of her name, as if she was longing to hear him finish it?

After the first time, she had inquired about it to no avail. After a few more occurrences, she insisted that he would refer to her as Angela if he wished, only to be met with a smile and a soft voice informing her that he was fine with referring to her as Doctor Ziegler. Now that she thought about it, there was something strange about that smile too.

Everything seemed to point to a single answer, an answer that the old her would have known. It frustrated her to no ends and she knew that all these thoughts and regrets that could only be delayed and pushed aside for so long by her work. Now was when her little game ends, where they finally all catch up to her.

Angela found herself burying her face in Genji’s chest, tears flowing down her cheeks against his metallic armor. She did not make a sound, not a single sob nor whimper at all. Perhaps it was the stress catching up to her. Perhaps the repeated failures finally cracked her a bit. Perhaps the sleepless nights in succession over this single project finally took its toll.

Perhaps she just didn’t know what she should do and needed to do to find these answers for herself and for Genji. So, she found herself simply surrendering herself to his gentle embrace and fell asleep before the tears on her cheeks dried.

Chapter 1: Alive Chapter 1.5: Journal Entry 1 Chapter 2: Lost Chapter 2.5: Journal Entry 2 Chapter 3: Square One Chapter 3.5: Journal Entry 3 Chapter 4: The Vengeful Blade Chapter 4.5: Journal Entry 4

Chapter 6: Morning’s Due

#gency #emergenji #gency fanfic #gency fanfiction #emergenji fanfic #emergenji fanfiction #genji #mercy #genji shimada #angela ziegler

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