#D&D as a system has officially disappointed me too much :(

[canyouseeher]

This most recent FHJY episode has, I think, finally radicalized me against D&D. There are just so many story beats that I feel like got lost because the system, in many ways, requires a fight to the death.

[ellecdc]

Dude since like you would continue writing poly moonwaterkiller. Idk if you okay with it, but do you mind writing poly moonwaterkiller x sick reader. I mean, we know barty is so fucking wild. Would love to see barty doing anything for reader to make her happy, but moonwater get stress cos "no barty! she shouldn't be outside rn! She's sick!" And Barty be like "but she looks happy out hereee!!!"

Something like that, thank you! And love you both

thanks so much for your request (and your patience in me writing this for you a few months later 😅). I knew I loved the idea; just needed to wait for the right moment to write it!!

poly!moonwaterkiller x sick!reader who Barty is taking very good care of thank you very much

CW: fem!reader is poorly, Barty calls Pandora peculiar [affectionately], disgusting amount of fluff

“Dovey!” Remus exclaimed as he spotted you sitting on the stone floor of a small balcony on the side of Gryffindor tower. “What are you doing out here!?”

It had officially been about a week of this gods-awful flu that was wreaking havoc on your immune system (and more importantly, your lungs) to which Madame Pomfrey prescribed healing draughts, lots of water, and rest.

And this, Remus felt, was decidedly not rest. 

He and Regulus rushed to crouch beside your hunched over form to see that your eyes were closed as you pointed your face towards the sky. 

“Hi boys.” You offered weakly, still never opening your eyes to greet them.

“Amour, what are you doing out here?” Regulus repeated, placing the back of his hand against your temple and grimacing at the heat radiating from it. 

“Getting some sun.” You explained simply. “Haven’t been outside in ages.”

And while Remus knew that to be technically true, he also knew there had been a reason for that. 

“Dovey, it’s barely spring and it’s far too cold for you to be out here; besides, it’s mostly cloudy.” He explained, wondering how in the hell you found the energy to move yourself from Remus’ bed all the way out here when you seemed completely incapable of even opening your eyes. 

And where the hell was Junior!?

“Exactly; mostly cloudy.” Barty’s voice chimed in as he stepped out onto the balcony to join the three of them with a cup of tea in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other.

“Junior, what in Salazar’s name do you think you’re doing?” Regulus hissed at him as he placed the bowl on the ground in front of you. 

“Taking care of our girl.” He hissed back at him before softening as he turned to look at you. 

“Hey Treasure, still doing okay?” He asked softly, pushing a lock of hair behind your ear. 

You hummed in acknowledgment. 

“I brought some tea with lots of honey.” He explained as he placed the cup in your hands.

That, Remus noticed bitterly, enticed you to open your eyes. 

“Thank you.” You cooed, though the sentiment was sort of lost in the coughing fit that it elicited. 

“Junior, it’s too cold outside; she needs to be in bed.” Remus sighed disappointedly.

Disappointed that he had to play the bad cop, and disappointed because this looked like a really nice way to spend the afternoon. 

If you were tired of being sick, Remus was tired of watching you feel so poorly and not being able to do anything to fix it. 

“I cannot believe you think me daft enough to leave her to the elements, Lupin.” Barty sneered as he resituated the blanket that had begun to slide off your shoulder. “She has four layers on and a heating charm surrounding her, Evans had some muggle fever reducers that I gave her just before I went to the kitchens, and vitamin D is supposed to support healthy immune system function. So suck my dick; the both of you.”

“Okay.” Remus offered quickly at the same time Regulus let out a tiresome “Barty”. 

“You feel better already, don’t you baby?” He cooed as he sat beside you and pressed a kiss to your overly hot temple.

You hummed in the affirmative again. 

“Okay, but where are her shoes?” Remus continued, noting the way you were sitting with your knees up to your chest and the soles of your feet pressed firmly into the stone beneath you.

Barty seemed to turn a bit bashful at that before quickly schooling his expression. “It’s quite simple, really. Pandora suggested that she ought to try grounding.”

Though his tone was haughty, he turned bashful again when he received no response from either of his boyfriends.

“Said it would be good for her…chakras or her aura or…I don’t know! Alright!? I don’t know; but Salazar’s saggy balls, she’s been so sick for so long and I just wanted her to feel better. So yeah, I listened to Peculiar Pandora, okay? Sue me.” 

Barty hardly had a moment to pout before Remus was wrestling the Slytherin into his lap as Regulus cooed at him.

“Barty’s going soft.” Regulus taunted lovingly.

“I will literally bite your fucking head off, Black; try me.”

“You’re just soft for our girl, hm?” Remus purred into Barty’s ear, relishing in the way the notoriously tense boy melted for him.

Barty made a harrumphing sound half way between reluctant admittance and a whine. 

“Be nice to him.” You admonished quietly; opening one eye at Remus and Barty as you leaned into Regulus’ side who had moved to sit beside you in Barty’s place. 

“He is being nice.” Regulus defended quickly.

“I’m always nice.” Remus added. “I’m alway nice to you, aren’t I?” He continued as he looked down at Barty, currently curled up in his lap. 

“You’re mean.” Barty pouted.

“Come now.”

“Horrid.”

“Yeah?”

“Just awful.”

Remus beamed down at the petulant boy before nuzzling his face into his neck.

“You love it.” He accused.

Barty was quiet for a moment as he drew circles on the back of Remus’ hand. “Maybe.”

Remus was very thankful that Barty was such a clever person, because sitting out here with his three loves on this semi-lovely Scottish spring day felt an awful lot like Remus’ own little personal heaven.

[book-o-scams]

Ed, Edd n Eddy Series Bible (1996) -Analysis-

You can all finally read/download Ed, Edd n Eddy's official Series Bible right here! Thanks again to Chuckletons for sharing this with me and to Joey/Kongiscool0518 for sharing it in the first place, the Holy Grail of lost Ed, Edd n Eddy trivia!

One of the first posts I made for this blog was the Series Bible page. It was a composite of every source we had ever seen reference the series bible so far-- storyboarders in interviews, CN's old character guides, and the biggest source, an old CN UK posting about the show. Well, I figure now that we have the official source, I better update the old page (so everyone knows it's out of date), and make this new Series Bible post using the official source! Not much new information, but I was intrigued to finally learn the true phrasings of some things we had only heard paraphrased, as well as at least one detail from the movie that I couldn't believe came up this early in conception...

Unfortunately, Tumblr has apparently updated its post system to only let me add 10 images? Gonna try and only use images for what I need since you can read the actual document above, I guess I'll transcribe it too for easier reference and so we don't ever lose some archive of this.

Quickly, let's review what a series bible is:

A series bible is how creators pitch shows to networks. They can be called “pitch bibles” as well. Bibles do not usually get posted publicly, because they are initially under a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement by the network; also the creator may simply not wish to share it because it reflects the earliest stages of development.

The pitch materials typically include early concepts for characters, locations and episodes. Sometimes it exposes secrets, in this case, Ed and Eddy’s home lives, and sometimes the stuff in it is completely abandoned because it’s so early in production, in this case, casual references to school and adults.

Alright, everybody, it's time to gather 'round and read the Ed, Edd n Eddy Bible!

THE YEAR IS 1996.

YOUR NAME IS LINDA SIMENSKY. YOU WORK AT CARTOON NETWORK. A FRIEND OF YOURS, DANNY ANTONUCCI, IS WRAPPING UP A SHOW ON MTV. YOU GET THIS FAX.

Linda Simensky immediately fell in love with this concept because as a child, she was best friends with 2 other Lindas for seemingly no reason other than the shared name.

I love how Danny decided last second to pencil in the correct names over each Ed, since they're arranged out of title-order.

"They're friends because they have the same name."

-the Logline for the series.

Fun fact: one storyboard artist for the movie observed that the movie is essentially all about challenging the series' original notion that the Eds are friends ONLY because of their name.

"A Danny Antonucci Cartuna"

-the label Danny used to use under announcements of new productions.

PAGE 1:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

They're best friends because they have the same name.

A gag laden, beat generated CARTOON bumper car ride of 3 misfit youths on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America.

Through summer vacation, part-time jobs, or just hang'n out at the corner mail box, they want to belong....but CAN'T.

From home chores, helping neighbors or eating jaw breakers, they want to fit in...but CAN'T.

Ed is into "B" monster movies, model kits and is quick to break out into rashes.

Lots of luck...

Edd is into chemistry, biology and prone to crushes.

Later...

Eddy is into pranks, is stylish and flaunts himself to the world.

Ya Right...

Ed, Edd n Eddy is a show about confusion and contradiction, that awkward part of youth, pimples, big feet, oily hair and... girls???.

Puberty is unforgiving.

I was fascinated by the lack of art on this page, it makes the pitch feel very focused. AKA logo in the corner, the title logo again up top, then the logline appears again below.

I really love the breakdown of Danny's vision of the show. "Gag-laden, beat-generated, CARTOON bumper ride." Very accurate, and I think "beat-generated" is the phrase that interests me the most. I typically think of "animation beats" as sort of a give-in-- technically all things fit a rhythm, so all stories are essentially just a montage of beats. But this does make me realize how important the strength of the beats and their rhythm are to the pacing of a cartoon and making you feel like "that was a good one." I feel like the "seasonal rot" viewers feel over the course of a show, and the way that perception differs from person to person, depends on the type of beats you want. Even though I am very into the experimental beats of a show in its later seasons, I can definitely see how season 1's beats are more typically appealing to a wide-audience, and how important a focus on that is to the longevity of a show.

I found it really interesting how the scams are initially conceived of here as "summer jobs." It adds to the sense that adults were originally meant to be present. Honestly a little surprised nobody with access to this bible had ever thought to mention that-- scams are not referenced ANYWHERE. Their image in the Series Bible is that they have summer jobs and help neighbors, which is certainly a much cleaner reputation than the Eds ended up with in the show. Makes me realize though, were some of the early scams, like Ed's Hive Bee Gone and their newspaper routes, supposed to be leaning into this early idea of them with almost legit jobs for unseen adults?

I was very amused by the repeated phrase that the Eds simply CAN'T fit in.

Loved to finally see the official phrasing for the confirmation that Peach Creek is in America. Not much different than I was led to believe, but still nice to have the true quote.

Also love Eddy being described as "stylish and flaunting himself to the world." The bold-print reactions to each micro-description is a cute idea too, I truly wonder who we were meant to picture saying those things in reaction. Each Ed? Kevin?

The "corner mail box" is an oddly specific phrase-- the Eds do hang around mailboxes throughout the series, especially seasons 1-3, and I believe the canon map does have a corner mailbox, but the idea that the Eds hang out at one specific mailbox went the way of Bro's supposed secret treehouses.

PAGE 2:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

Show Description

Gag laden. True cartoon style, inventive, non parody, fast paced, stretch and squash

Beat driven. (even when characters stop they hold with a bounce cycle. Adults never bounce. Music can play important part, not just fill.) But not a musical.

Cartoon surrealism. (viewers see the show as Ed, Edd n Eddy would, less important things tend to blend into the background, while objects of Ed, Edd n Eddy's desires are focused. Premise driven.)

The school year's over, (yeah!!!!) and the long HOT summer vacation begins (gulp). What to do?

Stuck on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America is the last place you want to spend summer break, especially when you find life confusing and contradicting.

Ed, Edd n Eddy is about friendship, and serves to remind us that they're no "good ole days," just smelly runners.

You can tackle anything, when your with your pals.

Their days are spent, for knowledge, acceptance and some cash for jaw breakers. Armed with pimples, big feet and oily hair the three amigos trek into the unknown.

Ed, Edd n Eddy are dying to be grown-ups, but they're kids, and attack adulthood as only kids would. Simple situations turn into a manic rollercoaster ride. (Don't forget your barf bag).

They just want to belong, and they're willing to pull off any insane stunt to prove it. First they need to figure out what it is they want to belong to.

Found it interesting that on this page, the show's logo is replaced with the title written in a jumbled font. Seems like the font from the show's end credits.

Hehe, the continued reactions to the descriptions. Allow me to be Double D for a moment and point out the increased use of parentheticals on this page, as well as one wrong "your".

I love Danny's insight that season 1 is framed by the context of how hyped everyone still is just to be out of school, but also the sense of pressure to make use of their break.

I really appreciate Danny getting further into the details of his summary of the show's style on the previous page. It only makes sense that he had this much of a vision that early.

A second confirmation of the cul-de-sac being in America! I'm also really into the repeated focus on the Eds finding the world "contradicting." I always loved how EEnE's inexplicable cartoon antics supported that sense that the Eds are highly aware of contradictions in both societal things and the actual characters.

WOW, so I'm fascinated by this dual reveal. Before the wiggling outlines, which Danny usually calls a "boiling line" and describes as a tribute to wiggling inking in early animation, the series bible instead refers to him wanting the characters to do the iconic Fleischer "bounce," which is a much more commonly recognized rubberhose animation technique. Very interesting that Danny decided not to stick to that. Did it feel too out of place? Or was the overseas team not willing to animate a weight-shifting for every single held pose? Haha, guess I can see why boiling was an easier compromise. I wonder if he had any other ideas for how to make it more of a 1930s cartoon.

The other reveal to me here is that the movie's choice, that adults don't always wiggle in the show, was an idea from the very beginning! I guess I can better understand now why it's just too difficult to communicate a stylistic choice like that overseas-- no point making Bro not wiggle, that'd just create confusion.

Also, really disappointed that my wish for a musical is officially squashed in the series bible itself. That's a tragedy. The show's over, ya couldn't let me dream, Danny!? Conversely, I love Danny's forethought to say "non parody," I definitely noticed and appreciated EEnE's avoidance of derivative parody humor.

My spouse had to point out to me that Danny probably means sneakers here, lol. Canadianisms!

The comments about the Eds wanting to grow up but needing to figure out what they want to belong to are so great and relate to the movie so well. I've heard those comments before, but the correct phrasing was cool to see.

PAGE 3:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Ed in right corner)

Character Description

Ed

Attention deficiency syndrome.

He has trouble...

He can't....um...

OK, he draws all day in class.

When Eddy gets a bright idea...Ed's in.

Ed is easily talked into doing Eddy's "hard work". He has great physical strength.

Ed's happiest with his Model kits and B-monster movies. He draws his knowledge from his movies.

Ed smells. Flies are attracted to him.

Ed has sayings for all situations

ED: "you can change your shirt, and Bingo was his name..."

Ed's perpetually a slave to his younger sister's whims and whines.

Ed may have to baby-sit his sister, or let her watch whatever she wants on TV, or let her dress him up in mom's clothes.

Ed breaks out in Rashes. He's allergic to practically everything, especially Guinea Pigs.

Ed's Mom xerox's his sketches and doodles for her therapist.

Ed's Dad hopes to pass on to his son, his knowledge on "pre-owned" auto sales.

Very cute bit wasting the space at the top of the page. Danny seems very invested in Ed's personality already. The old sources we used to have definitely tried to condense these down to simpler blurbs.

Weird how Danny wants to essentially diagnose Ed with ADHD here (phrasing it very poorly, but it was the 90s and... Canada?). I don't know enough on the subject to debate it, but I still gotta point out Ed's canonical cracked skull!

Interested in the comment about Ed being most allergic to Guinea Pigs. I don't think that animal was ever even mentioned in the show. Eddy mentioned an old gerbil once....

Neat to finally have the real phrasing of the official word on Ed's parents! I saw someone comment earlier that this seems to be hinting Ed's Dad is selling stolen cars. I've never thought to question the legality of his apparent second-hand-car dealership (I imagined he works with Eddy's dad, who has received a legitimate award for his salesmanship), but those quotation marks are certainly making Mr. Ed's practices questionable! Best case scenario, Danny meant that more like italics or something, but maybe Ed's dad IS up to no good...

PAGES 4 & 5 (Ed's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 6:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Edd in right corner)

Character Description

Edd

is really smart.

is really quiet.

Edd is unnaturally-- polite.

Edd hasn't been allowed to take gym ever since the Dodge ball incident. He's been excused to free study time in the library.

Edd doesn't like it when people touch his things.

EDD: "You may enter in my room, but don't touch my Lego robot. Thank you."

Edd's learning to play Peddle steel guitar. (his Mom makes him)

Edd's prone to "crushes". Girls in School, in his neighborhood, TV, anatomy books. He mails "true loves" his socks.

Edd is always ready for action, even though he can calculate the implications.

Edd constantly mumbles.

No one ever sees Edd's parents. They both work nights. They communicate to their son solely through Post-it notes. Edd's not allowed to touch anything in the house while they're gone. Anything.

Interesting how Danny slightly differentiates the barely-used space at the top here from Ed's description, to characterize Edd as more quiet and mumbly, adding an awkward "--" mid-sentence, perhaps to create the impression that Edd halts to choose words carefully.

Everything on this page feels familiar, from the character guides and other old sources. The most interesting thing to me here is that Edd's Mom forcing him to practice Pedal Steel Guitar is established this early, don't think I knew that, but I had noticed that it existed in his room from ep 1.

I love how the explanation in the beginning for why Edd goes along with their dumb schemes even though he's smart is basically just "he's always ready for action." ?!? I guess in a way???

That weirdly phrased Edd quote amuses me because it references Lego, just like the original concept background for his room before somebody nixed the copyright-namedrop.

Edd's prone to crushes thing has been reaffirmed over and over in character bios even though it really doesn't come up outside of the cupid magic in HPH and the pilot-episode heart eyes at Sarah that are barely canon. Still, I've always loved the truly disturbing statement that he mails "his true loves his socks" and how that managed to make it into canon with a comic book example, a cel animation example and a digital era example.

PAGES 7 & 8 (Edd's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 9:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Eddy in right corner)

Character Description

Eddy

Exhibitionist.

Megalomaniac. (quote from his report card)

Eddy is the unofficial leader of the trio.

He's always got a plan, a stunt or a weird noise.

Eddy's the "class clown". He loves showing off. He loves being the centre of attention-- no matter how stupid the reason is.

Eddy is the only kid in his grade to have been expelled for aw hole week from school. It was his turn to set up the video for science class. He switched "Our Friend Yeast", for a video he "borrowed" from his parent's room.

Before Eddy's brother went....away, he enlightened Eddy with the "legends" of the neighbourhood. Eddy knows where all the abandoned tree houses are, which sewer pipers are safe to spelunk, and the secret recipe for the "El Mongo Stink Bomb" (it's been in the family for years).

He is the one who is most able to pretend that he knows it all... and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about him.

His genes are working the fastest.

Eddy's Dad is constantly concerned that Eddy may grow up to be a ...figure skater.

Eddy's Mom never believes his little darling was involved in such a heinous act.

Funny choice that Eddy's wasted-top-space is just two one-word descriptions, and allegedly lazily swiped from his negative report card.

Wow, we knew the report card quote and the "Our Friend Yeast" story from the UK show guide, but now we also know Ed's page says that Ed draws in class, and now I realize that Ed and Eddy have series bible school blurbs to match Edd's classic dodgeball incident blurb. Anyway, it's great that Eddy's showed his entire school some sort of sex video his parents have.

Very interested that the phrasing for the Bro/El Mongo Stink Bomb blurb even seems to suggest it's a family recipe. Eddy's Dad did have prankster stuff in his closet in JJJ... did Bro learn his prankster ways from Dad?? The neighborhood's secret tree houses have come up in other descriptions (at best, I'd say this could be related to that creepy shack the Eds found in the woods), but I think it's new info that Eddy personally learned the sewer routes from Bro. Interesting...

Thankfully, I had already heard about the Bible's awkward reference to Eddy being the most pubescent as "his genes are working the fastest," lmao.

Once again the Double D in me comes out to point out that the description of Eddy's Mom seems to switch to the Dad's pronouns.

PAGES 10 & 11 (Eddy's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGES 12-14 (Sarah, Jimmy, Rolf, Jonny, Nazz, and Kevin lineup of all 6, then 2 zoomed in lineups of the first 3 kids and last 3 kids)

(Funfact: the kids' designs were allegedly freelanced to an outside studio, hence why their refined later-season designs are so different from these lizardy starting places, lmao)

PAGE 15: (images of Sarah and Jimmy next to their blurbs)

SARAH

Ed's baby Sister.

It's her way or the Highway.

She has everything done for her, if NOT she'll "make" them do it.

She can be quick to judge.

Whinney.

A tatrum for every occasion.

More than a handful for Ed...or Edd and Eddy.

Thinks Edd is kinda cute.

Wants Eddy to MOVE...to another planet.

JIMMY

Sarah's best friend

He is always playing with girls, boys are just too tough.

He is accident prone, when ever we see him he has a different affliction, ie: band-aids, patches, casts, lumps...etc.

He is very clean.

The Ed's frighten him, "They're such brutes".

I'm surprised how much of the UK guide was accurate to what was really in the bible for them! Also surprised Danny misspelled "whiney" and "tantrum," one right after the other. Is this how Sarah spells them? ...Sorry, Danny, I yam what I yam.

PAGE 16: (images of Rolf and Jonny next to their blurbs)

ROLF

First generation of a landed immigrant family.

Nationality not important.

He's proud of his heritage.

He has peculiar traditions and/or customs.

He eats "weird" things.

He has hair on his back..... "yuck".

He confuses the Ed's to no end.

He confuses the other kids to no end.

JONNY 2x4

He is a wanderer and very inquisitive

From early morning to supper time, he is always outside playing, with his buddy, "Plank".

"Plank" is a wooden board that Jonny drew a face on with a crayon.

Jonny has wonderful conversations with Plank. ...Plank is a piece of wood.

Jonny makes himself very "accessible" to the Ed's.

Found it interesting that Rolf's bio is less clearly phrased than the UK bio set it up to be-- there they made it sound more like he mixes up who the Eds/kids are, here it's unclear whether it means that or (more likely) just means the obvious statement that everyone finds him confusing. If it's that, what a lame hollow bio Rolf got. This kid's based on you Danny, show some of that personal side!

Always loved Jonny's description, his life sounds so cute. Playing outside literally all day. Interesting to have it confirmed that Jonny drew Plank's face, I preferred to think the Eds drew him and sold him to Jonny, but whatever.

"Accessible" has always been an important vague description of Jonny to me. It really only applies to how chummy they could be with him in season 1, but it still sorta applies to his personality throughout the series as well.

PAGE 17: (images of Nazz and Kevin next to their blurbs)

NAZZ

She's cool, calm and assertive.

She is the most matured of the kids, or so she thinks.

She's into make-up and fashion magazines and Boys.

Sarah thinks she's awesome, wants to be just like her when she grows up.

When she enters a scene, all activity stops... boys freeze, they sweat, their hearts beat faster and faster. They lose their ability to talk. When she leaves, they recover and conclude it was something They ate.

She thinks the Ed's are funny.

KEVIN

He is cynical and sarcastic.

He thinks he knows the "routine". That's because he watches "60 Minutes".

It got a big laugh out of me that Kevin's description is only 2 sentences long. Nazz even has a more detailed character description from inception than Kevin. Love this for them.

Who's the Eds' rival? Well, he's cynical, sarcastic and he watches 60 Minutes, doesn't that tell you enough!?

I love the "mature... or so she thinks" remark about Nazz, a grounded flaw for her to have, being a little overcommitted to being mature like Eddy. It also perhaps suggests naiveté that makes it a little more reasonable that they didn't notice they were dumbing her down at the end of the series, but I do think the movie version of her better reflects the Bible's concept.

PAGE 18:

The Other Neighborhood Kids

Lineup of May, Lee and Marie.

The Kanker Sisters

These gals are tough. They bother, bully, provoke and bewilder everyone.

They live in a motor home park on the other side of the Cul-de-sac. The other kids have never been there.

They are proud of their Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia.

Their project "Cooking with Ketchup" closed down their school for a whole week.

No one likes them, especially the Eds.

They are determined to marry the Eds. They want them to do their dishes.

Amused that the Kankers are essentially being labeled backgrounds characters here, the role they mostly fell into in season 5. "Other" neighborhood kids...

I love that the Kankers have a school blurb to match each of the Eds', and that theirs has similar destructive-intentions to Eddy's video premiere story.

I believe all of this was all known from the UK guide as well, but still, neat stuff!

PAGES 19 & 20 (zoomed in Kanker lineup and their height chart with the Eds)

PAGES 21 & 22 (early promo art that used to be on CN's old Eds webpage, the art of the Eds eating jawbreakers at the end of ep 1 with the overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy love JAWBREAKERS!!!", and the art of the Eds all running with overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy see something shiny...."Jiggers." That weird "jiggers" statement at the end was normally edited out and I don't know what it means. Looked it up and it seems to be Chinook jargon (like when Ed said he was "skookum at X's and O's") usually said in the same sense as "CHEESE IT!")

PAGES 23+:

The rest of the pages in that bible download are from a 2004 storyboard test. The storyboard sample "It's Raining Eds," which we've seen some submitted samples of before, interpretations with Ed attempting to fly or chew gum and Edd making radioactive gum, I was surprised to find out the outline is just the original outline for the opening sequence to season 3's 'For Your Eds Only', seemingly Jonny was not written into the original outline (or was excised for easier testing purposes) but Kevin's brief cameo was. Now I wonder if they knew this would be used for a test when they wrote it, and if they would've come up with a less random way to include him if weren't forced to be a concise bit for testing's sake. (Your limit is typically 40 storyboard pages in my experience.)

I also noticed that in the included background references, the anonymous adult neighbor house next door to Ed's is officially just referred to as a "generic house."

My analysis ends here, but be sure to download that sometime and enjoy all the raw storyboard sketches at the end of the document!

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched This Fall

My first semester of college is officially over and the December holidays are upon us! I hoped to make one of these posts sooner, but I have been incredibly busy with schoolwork. Now that things have slowed down, let’s take sometime to reflect on things I’ve watched. 

These anime are listed in chronological order and encompass everything I’ve watched from 9/1/2020 - 12/15/2020

Like always, they will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn’t like about each show!

1. The God of High School - 6/10 

Despite the stellar animation from MAPPA and my high expectations, I was really disappointed by how this series was treated. Most of the story’s crucial elements were handled poorly. I finished this series feeling more confused about the plot than when I first began. The power system is really cool, but poorly explained. More time should have been spent on exposition and world building for this series, instead the fights were given the most screen time. 

2.  Doukyuusei - 7/10 

I really liked the style of Doukyuusei. Granted, this was another movie I chose to watch primarily because of the hype surrounding it. The dynamic between Kusakabe and Sajou is an interesting one, and I also enjoy how the movies different acts were separated by the seasons. However, there's nothing that really sets Doukyuusei apart from other romance movies, its a little generic. Still, I enjoyed it nonetheless. 

3.  Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8/10 

My opinions on Re:Zero’s second season are biased. This was, by far, the sequel I was most hyped for during the summer/fall anime season. I was so happy to see the story’s continuation and I’m looking forward to the season’s second part coming sometime in January. Re:Zero is one of my all time favorite series because of the way it handles it characters and power dynamics. I also really enjoy the show’s psychological aspects. If you haven’t already, give Re:Zero a try! 

4. Saint☆Oniisan (Movie + OVA) - 8/10

This was a wonderful comedy. I wasn’t sure how the subject of Jesus and Buddha living together would be tackled, but it was handled wonderfully. I was laughing for pretty much the entire movie. I love the art style and little references to both Buddhism and Christianity, plus the incorporation of Japanese culture. Saint Oniisan is a bright comedy, with two eccentric main characters. If you like a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and need a good laugh, I can’t recommend this more.

5. Clannad: After Story - 10/10 

Never, while watching anime, did I cry as much as I did while watching Clannad: After Story. I didn’t realize how much I related to Okazaki until I saw him grow up in After Story. I was left sobbing, especially after episode 18. I still, to this day, cannot listen to the Dango song without tearing up. The original Clannad is nothing special, but the continuation of its story its something heartfelt, emotional, and down-to-earth. I love Kyoto Animation with all my heart, and Clannad made me appreciate everything the studio has done just a little bit more. Thank you Clannad, for reminding me about the kind of person I strive to be. 

6. Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu - 5.5/10

The art in A Whisker Away was beautiful. The story itself, however, is nothing too enjoyable. I found it difficult to like our protagonist or her love interest. Nothing about this movie is inherently memorable. The emotional climax came far too early which made the second half of the film seem long and drawn out.  All in all, the movie has a wonderful concept, I just believe it could have been so much more emotional than it was. When I watch a move, I like to empathize with the characters. It’s difficult to do when the characters aren’t given the proper exposition to be empathized with. 

7.  Shikioriori - 6/10

This is less of a movie and more of a collection of short stories. Flavors of Youth is something you shouldn’t watch on an empty stomach, all of the food looks incredible. The same cannot beside for the rest of this feature. The stories themselves seems heavily clichéd. Much like A Whisker Away, the initial premise is intriguing, but the execution results in something that comes across as trying too hard and carries no emotional weight with the viewer. If you plan on watching, pay more attention to the artwork and animation than the actual plot. You won’t be missing anything. 

8. Vinland Saga - 7/10

Vinland Saga helped me get out of the rut that Clannad: After Story. Not only does this show have a great story, its action packed with lots of interesting fights. I especially enjoyed all the Nordic history embedded within the show. Its really unlike any of the other historical anime I’ve watched. I will say, it’s gory. But, compared to all the other things I watched this time around, I finished this series the quickest. Its good, its graphic, its fast paced! 

9.  Mononoke Hime - 7/10

It’s ironic considering how much anime I’ve watched that I have yet to watch all of the most classic Studio Ghibli films. Princess Mononoke is grittier than most other Ghibli films I’ve seen, but it’s message is positive and its characters are wonderful. I can’t really speak ill towards classics like these. I guess maybe my one complaint is that this movie could’ve been a faster pace. Other than that... I really enjoyed everything Princess Mononoke offered! I understand why it’s so popular.  

10. Howl no Ugoku Shiro - 8.5/10 

Can you believe it took me this long to finally watch Howl’s Moving Castle? Me neither!! This movie is so endearingly beautiful. I loved every second of it, from the characters to the soundtrack. So many iconic things come from just this one movie. I would like to take this time to thank my best friend for reminding me that Studio Ghibli films are wonderful! Thank you for watching this with me, I loved it! All in all, I regret not watching this sooner! 

11. Toradora! - 6.5/10 

Toradora took me a while to finish, just because I lost interest about halfway through. But, I powered through it, and ended up really enjoying the show! I’m not the biggest fan of the ending, but that’s just a personal preference. Somehow, this show also made me cry? I’m not entirely sure why because Toradora! is probably the thing farthest from sad. Apart from the show’s dull slice of life moments, it was super cute! A much needed light-hearted romance. 

12. New Initial D Movie: Legend 1 - 5/10 

Full disclosure, this is the only thing related to Initial D that I’ve ever watched. My band and I watched this expecting to hear some of that iconic Initial D music, itself all we got was a mildly confusing story about different types of cars. It was cliché and frankly a little boring. Although, I am still considering watching the original Initial D just so I can hear the music in the way it was original intended. I’ve got no other opinions on this movie. It’s best not to watch these movies without the context from the rest of the franchise.  

13.  Uchuu Patrol Luluco - 7.5/10

I didn’t really understand why people enjoy studio Trigger so much until I watched Space Patrol Luluco. I loved all the fun references to other studio Trigger works. I loved the humor, and I loved all the bright colors. The animation was extremely high energy, and the art style fits the show’s premise. Each episode was only 12 minutes long so it was a super quick binge. If you’re looking for something quick, light-hearted and comical, this is the perfect show to watch.

14. Orange - 7/10 

I owe a big thanks to a tumblr mutual for recommending this show to me! This holds the honor of making me cry by episode 3! I honestly did not expect the subject matter of this show to be as dark as it was. Usually when I see the genre ‘shoujo’ I do not associate it with a love story like that of Orange. The heavy subject matter made it a little too close to home for me, but I still really enjoyed this series. It reminds me off all the good times I had with my friends in high school, and of all the regrets I carry with myself to this day. 

15. 3-gatsu no Lion - 7.5/10 

March Comes in Like a Lion is another show that was a bit of a slow burn for me. Each episode left me feeling emotionally drained, so I had to take a lot of breaks while I was working on watching this series. Shaft, the studio behind this anime, holds a special place in my heart because I loved their work on the Monogatari Series. March Comes in Like a Lion is a little different. It’s driving force it is characters, and it was cathartic to watch our main character transform through the entire duration of the first season. I know the show’s second season is much better, so I’ll be starting that soon! 

16. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei - 8/10 

I loved how artsy and smart The Tatami Galaxy is, but honestly I couldn’t watch too much at once cause it would hurt my head. I also couldn’t watch this show while I was tired because the speaking rate is much faster than typical anime. The Tatami Galaxy is so unique for its medium. I loved the different time loops and the crazy animation. The characters were fascinating. The dialogue, although very fast, it also fantastic. There’s an element of humor to this unique story telling, and I enjoyed ever minute of it! 

Currently Watching:

Hunter x Hunter - 6.5/10 (As of Episode 30)

I pride myself in having watched a lot of shounen anime, but I was reluctant to start Hunter x Hunter for years because I thought I would find it boring. I was oh so very wrong. Considering great shows like Naruto and Fairy Tail that fall under the same category, I expected Hunter x Hunter to be subpar in comparison. It gets a low score for two reasons. One, the power system was introduced a little too late and now I’m wondering if all the fights post episode 30 will involved nen in some way, shape, or form. Two, its still on hiatus. 

Two Cursed Additions For This List

Please to do not let these be representative of my anime taste. 

1.  Yarichin☆B*tch-bu - 4/10

I am a CLOWN for not knowing this was 18+. The only reason I watched this was to see why everyone was talking about the pink-haired boy with the glasses and tongue piecing. I know why now, and I regret it. This was a massive mistake on my part. But hey, at the least the art and ending song kinda slap? 

2. Euphoria (Dropped After 1 Episode) - 2/10

If you know what I’m talking about when I say Euphoria, I am so sorry. And no, I am not talking about the HBO series. Seriously, don’t google this. Don’t watch this. Don’t interact with anything related to this. You’re probably wondering, “Then why did you watch it?” I did not watch this willingly. You see, I have a very bad habit of starting anime and then taking months to finish them. I made an ultimatum with a friend, lost, and then was forced to watch this a punishment. Not a fun experience. I’m very glad there are no GIFs of this on tumblr...

[hatari-translations]

can you maybe tell us a bit more about the parties in icelandic politics? that is super interesting for me after reading your last post

Well, sure! Please bear in mind that as you may have gathered I am not unbiased, and I'm by no means the most knowledgeable person about this.

Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn (The Independence Party)

Originally founded in 1929, this party's name originally referred to independence from Denmark (achieved in 1944), but today it's just Iceland's dominant right-wing party. On other countries' scales they're fairly center-right in terms of policies; they want a strong welfare system, they're pro-immigration, they're not against LGBT rights, etc. However, they are very much the party of Iceland's rich elite establishment, and in particular have close ties to Iceland's largest corporations, and every other political scandal involves them being varying degrees of terrible, from "Independence Party minister breaking COVID restrictions" to "Independence Party minister in the Panama Papers" to "Independence Party minister's father signs a letter to 'restore the honor' of a convicted pedophile" (these three were all the same minister, who by the way still leads the party and is still finance minister) to "terrible corrupt fishing company Samherji introduced the Independence Party's health minister as 'our guy in the government' at meetings with the Namibian officials they were bribing".

The Independence Party opposes the new constitution, ostensibly because blah blah stability distractions about how changes to the constitution need to be approved through the appropriate process (yes, we know, we want that process to happen), but we all know it's really because the new constitution would have the fishing companies pay a fair price for their access to Iceland's natural resources, and that would be bad for their bottom line. They are also opposed to joining the EU.

The Independence Party has been the largest party in every single Icelandic election since it was founded except the 2009 one (which was right on the heels of another scandal - believe me, I barely scratched the surface above - as well as the 2008 financial crisis), where they managed to dip below the Social-Democratic Alliance with 23.7% of the vote, their lowest parliamentary election result ever. Historically they'd get upwards of 40% or even more of the vote; these days it's more like 25%, and this election's result of 24.4% is their second lowest ever. Even in polls days right after a huge scandal, the lowest I've ever seen the Independence Party poll at was something like 19%; that's why I've said here that 20% of the country will just vote for them no matter what. This means the Independence Party is always the most powerful party, and them not being in the government coalition is very much the exception.

Framsóknarflokkurinn (The Progressive Party)

Iceland's oldest political party, founded in 1916. Originally it was the farmers' party, and they've historically been most popular in rural areas, where they have longstanding loyalty. They're more or less center to center-right. Historically, they've formed coalitions with both the right and the left, but particularly in the past few decades they have been glued to the Independence Party in particular. They have occasional particular pet issues that they latch onto, but overall it doesn't really feel like they stand for much of anything in particular, other than wanting to maintain the status quo and be in government with (preferably) the Independence Party. They are also against the new constitution and the EU.

Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð (The Left-Green Movement)

Founded in a 1999 split on the left, the Left-Greens are a left-wing party with a focus on equality and the environment, but with enough of a semi-conservative bent to have some common ground with Independence and Progressives on matters like opposing EU membership and being hesitant about the Constitutional Committee's draft constitution. A lot of their voters were very unhappy with them entering into the current coalition with the Independence Party and the Progressive Party (the former in particular); two of their MPs actually left the party after that decision, reducing but not destroying the government's majority.

Samfylkingin (The Social-Democratic Alliance)

Founded in 2000 as a fusion of two parties (hence the 'alliance'), the Social-Democratic Alliance is a center-left social democratic party. They were very popular in the early 2000s, almost rivaling the Independence Party for votes, and formed a coalition government with Independence in 2007, which oversaw the 2008 financial crisis; initially people mostly blamed the Independence Party, allowing the Alliance to become the biggest party in the 2009 election with 29.8% of the vote, but as the following coalition with the Left-Greens had to deal with the fallout of the recession, a lot of anger was directed at the Alliance too, and the party has never managed to recover since, instead hovering between 5-15% of the vote (but still stands strong in some municipal elections and currently leads the Reykjavík city council). They want to join the EU and ratify the new constitution.

Píratar (The Pirate Party of Iceland)

You may have heard of Pirate Parties before, originating with the Pirate Party of Sweden. Iceland is the only country where the Pirate Party has actually managed to get elected to the national parliament, and is an entirely serious political movement. At one point after the revelation of the Panama Papers, the Pirate Party was miraculously polling at 43%; sadly, by the time there was an actual election they'd gone down to 15%. Their primary concerns are transparency, democracy, privacy, human rights and freedoms, and "no bullshit", and among other things they want to establish a universal basic income. A lot of its founders were computer scientists and geeks of various stripes.

They refuse to be classified on the left-right scale, but in practice, their policies are strongly aligned with the leftier parties (one popular website comparing the parties on concrete policy questions for this election classed them as having 90% agreement with the Social-Democratic Alliance, 87% with the Socialists, and 83% with the Left-Greens). They are strongly in favor of ratifying the new constitution.

Miðflokkurinn (The Center Party)

After the 2008 financial crisis, the Progressive Party gained a more populist bent, led by Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who was prime minister from 2013 until 2016 when he was implicated in the Panama Papers. He was reluctant to resign as prime minister and fully intended to stay as the leader of the party, until the party chose to boot him and replace him with current Progressive leader Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson; Sigmundur Davíð went off to form his own party instead, the Center Party, and took the populist arm of the Progressive Party with him. They're where most of the anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ vote goes, and along with the People's Party, some of their MPs were implicated in "Klausturgate", a scandal where a disabled woman at a bar overheard and discreetly recorded several MPs (including Sigmundur Davíð) who were drinking together while making a variety of sexist, homophobic and ableist comments about named people including members of their own parties. The Center Party was perfectly happy to keep them on board, which really says all you need to know.

I am unendingly disappointed that the Center Party managed to scrape past the 5% threshold to get parliamentary seats this election; for a glorious moment the early numbers looked like they wouldn't. Last election they managed to get seven MPs, and then the two guys from the People's Party involved in Klausturgate joined up with the Center Party too, giving them nine, so seeing them reduced to almost nothing was still deeply pleasing.

Viðreisn (The Reform Party)

A center-right party that split off from the Independence Party in 2016, largely over the latter's opposition to the EU, while the Reform Party supports EU membership, but also because of the endless scandals, cronyism, etc. The Reform Party instead claim to be proponents of "ethical capitalism" and have so far avoided the major scandals and general douchebaggery of their parent party.

Flokkur fólksins (The People's Party)

A populist party with a primary emphasis on eradicating poverty, especially for the elderly and disabled, letting the nation reap the benefits of our fish instead of the few large fishing companies, funding health care to reduce wait times, and so on. All this is lovely in theory, but unfortunately their rhetoric then goes off into pitting the poor/elderly/disabled against immigrants, Muslims, etc. Chairperson Inga Sæland seems totally well-meaning to me off what I've seen of her (disclaimer: have not actually seen that much), but it also contains less savoury people and sentiments, as seen by two of their MPs being part of the aforementioned Klausturgate. To the party's credit, they did expel those guys, but it's not the only example of the party attracting questionable people.

Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands (The Icelandic Socialist Party)

A hardline democratic socialist party founded in 2017, with this as their first parliamentary election. It looked like they would get MPs in polls, but in the end they didn't. They're led by Gunnar Smári Egilsson, one of the original founders of free newspaper Fréttablaðið, and have a much more radical left rhetoric going on than the other lefty parties, focusing on economic equality, housing, free health care, and a shorter work week. They made some pretty controversial remarks campaigning for this election, such as suggesting replacing all the judges of the Supreme Court if they won't agree to changing the fishing quota system (the argument being that the Independence Party appointed all the judges in an organized bid to maintain the current system), but who knows if that dampened their following or something else. They also want to ratify the new constitution.

[theriverpersonshadow]

Lamia Drama Part 7

As always, the species depicted in this belong to @vex-bittys 

FINALLY TROUSLE IS HERE! >:D The only ACTUAL bitty of the bunch XD

It ends with friendship, but warning, this chapter’s kinda sad at the middle. Poor boy...

< PREV | BEGINNING | NEXT >  

         Trousle was doing circles in the Papython enclosure up from, making sure his scales were extra shiny for everyone who came to look! His armor was polished, his posing practiced, and bones an excellent shade of white! Admittedly he’d cheated a little bit and stolen some whitening toothpaste to roll around in (plus it made him smell minty!), but he had to show off the best he could with his looks!

           Because he didn’t have a voice.

           No, that wasn’t fair to say. The nice people at the shop had gotten him a little phone and speaker so people could hear him, and he had gotten positively great at the art of typing! But he couldn’t quite live up to the chirps and “Nyeh”s of his breatheren…

No, that’s silly! They’d just gotten chosen first! He’d get his time! Eventually! Sure, not many went for Papythons when they wanted a nice, quiet companion, but that just meant he had to work a little extra! Even if he had been here seventeen years already, that surely meant his time was soon! Right? Any day would be the day! It’d never be the day.

           A little girl walked up, eyes wide as she bounced on her feet. The other Papython greeted her with a chorus of “Nyehs” and curious chirps. Well, those that weren’t too busy chasing a little ball around the enclosure or “hunting” a teddy bear. Trousle himself slithered to the front as well, typing on his little keyboard until an electronic “Hello small human!”

           But it was drowned out by a chorus of the rest:

           “Nyeh!”

           “Oh! They small! I small!”

           “We’re all small!”

           “I didn’t know hair could be red!”

           “You match my tail!”

           “So so cute!”

           “Cute cute friend!”

           “Hello human!”

           That said, the little one’s eyes – big, brown eyes – were locked on him and his little keyboard. Trousle’s soul flipped in his chest and he tried again, typing into his phone. “Hello small human!”

           “Oh! She likes you?”

           “Great!”

           “Congratulations!”

           “Nyeheheh!”

           His friends, the other Papython, backed off enough to give him a little space to show off. They knew he’d been here a while, and all but the youngest (who hadn’t gotten the hint and had to be dragged away) backed off a little so he could show off. Trousle pressed to the glass, waving hello and letting out a breathy attempt at a chirp.

           “Hehehe! Mommy look! This one’s got a little computer!” The kid said. She put a hand to the glass and Trousle eagerly pressed his head and hands on the other side. “Can I say hi?” The child said, looking at her mom.

           Chris, one of the up-front workers, came over and smiled, “You’re interested in Trousle? I’m sure he’s happy to hear that, aren’t you?”

           Trousle nodded enthusiastically, trying his best to reach up out of the tank, but of course it was made specifically so they couldn’t just get out and run everywhere during the day time – briefly they had tried that model, but the Mambas complained it was unfair that some bitties could roam free and not others, and when that happened they had to give several shots of antivenom over the next month while they tracked down all the more poorly-behaved bitties; the person who decided that letting all the Mambas and Corals roam free was a good idea was chewed out by Nikolai and promptly fired, but everyone had to stay in tanks while the shop was open after that.

           The child’s mother came over and looked at Trousle. Trousle, hoping to please, puffed himself up and waved hello before rolling onto his back all cute-like, wiggling his tail. A bit infantile perhaps, but there is no harm in a bit of silliness! The little girl giggled and stuck her tongue out. Trousle flicked his out too and she giggled. So cute!

           “Which one is that?” The mom asked.

           “That’s Trousle. Would you like to hold him? He’s very friendly.”

           The mother nodded and Chris lowered his hand for Trousle to wrap around, lifting him so that the mom could hold him. Trousle wrapped around her arm – not too tight of course – in a big hug, nuzzling her hand. “Well aren’t you sweet?”

           “Oh oh oh! You’re sooooo cute! I’m Mia!” The kid, Mia, said, hopping up and down on her little feet and making grabby hands for him.

           “Can you say Mia?” The mother said in that little baby-voice.

           Trousle’s soul sank and he glanced over at his abandoned phone. He couldn’t just say no, but he literally couldn’t say anything.

           Chris came to his “rescue” by saying, “Ah… Trousle’s mute I’m afraid.”

           “Ah. Shame… Poor thing,” the mother said, something cold and disappointed in her voice. She gave that all-too familiar sigh that made his soul run cold. He tried hugging more, but she was already scanning the other Papython.            “Can we keep him?” Mia said, little curls of ginger hair bouncing.

           Trousle uncoiled, trying to reach for her, but the mother was already moving, putting him back with the rest.

           “You don’t want that one sweetie. He wouldn’t make much of a companion, being all quiet and always on that phone. Why don’t you say hi to one of the others? Or maybe the Pygmys, I’ve heard they’re playful!” There was a bit of fuss from Mia, but her mother brought her to the Pygmys, not sparing a glance back.

           “Are you alright?” Chris asked. “Sorry, but…”

           “It’s okay.” Trousle typed, even though it very much wasn’t. But it’s not like it was the first time, just the first in a while for him. He’d been so close. But no one looking for a Papython wants a quiet companion or one that’s on the phone a lot. If they want something more quiet, there are Honey-Bos, Cornies, Chains, and some of the Kings even, but not Papython. But, of course, those looking for a quiet bitty to just play games with probably couldn’t handle his levels of excitement and activity.

           But oh well. There were worse things. The shop was mostly good, and he’d been here so long it’d be absolutely weird to leave at this point.

           The other Papython gathered around him to try to cheer him up, but he just wanted to be alone after that, maybe nap for a little bit. Before he could settle in though, one of the other workers came to scoop him and his little system up, Gracie.

           “Nikolai wants you lil dude,” Gracie said. “I think they’re doing some DnD stuff? A bit of a weird time for it, but the boss man was insistent, and I ain’t gonna tell him no.”

           Nikolai belonged to the owner, but she was getting older. In her absence, Nikolai… Well, he wasn’t officially in charge, but he’d been there longest, knew how it ran, and had venomous fangs and a long, powerful tail, two traits most people wouldn’t argue against even if he’s a caring person at heart. He didn’t quite wear his heart on his sleeve, but it usually didn’t take too long for it to show through. It was more like he wore his heart on his undershirt or something – you had to go through a layer or two, but it wasn’t the best hidden.

           Trousle hid partly in her sleeve as he was brought to the back. While he was used to humans and their general size, something about being surrounded by big lamia he didn’t know was a bit nerve wracking. Nothing was sized for him back here, but his friends would never leave him behind! He just has to get to them first.

           Nikolai was sitting in the break room, sipping a hot cup of extra-spicy chai tea while Keith had a Mountain Dew next to him. Gracie sat Trousle on the table, and Keith slid a shotglass of hot chocolate with marshmallows his way.

           “Where’s Hux and Liam?” Trousle typed, head quirked to the side. If Nikolai had coffee, Keith had Mountain Dew, and he was getting hot chocolate, it was clearly a DnD day, even if it was wildly off schedule – they usually didn’t play during work hours, given that there was, well… work. Also, Keith had some player manuals on the table and his DM screen among them.

           Speak of the devil…

           “Where’s the broad?” Hux huffed as he slithered in, arms crossed.

           “Just listen a second,” Keith said… and then said nothing else.

           Trousle was, naturally, confused, and Hux visibly was too, but then he heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice: “Warlocks are one of my favorites – patrons are basically built in lore – but Druids are a mood and Martials can be fun too. Sometimes you just wanna smash stuff with a big hammer, y’know?”

           “Her voice carries,” Nikolai said.

           Keith chuckled, “She’s just excited I bet. I’m pretty sure you, Mister works with literal babies all the time, are the last person who can’t handle someone being a little loud.”

           Nikolai chuckled, rolling his eyes, “I wasn’t complaining. Just a statement.”

           “Anyways, Glitterass wants to meet her at his enclosure first. Y’know, like a drama queen,” Hux said. “He’s pretending he can’t get out still.”

           Almost in unison, Keith and Nikolai said, “We’re coming.”

           “Me too?” Trousle typed, then made “pick me up” hands.

           Nikolai lowered his arm for Trousle, “You too.”

           “I’m getting my freaking coffee,” Hux said. No doubt he’d get it with half a scoop of sugar, make a quarter of it milk, add two servings of cinnamon, and then a tablespoon of chocolate. It was his favorite.

           “C’mon then,” Keith said, leading the way with his hands tucked in his pockets like he always did when he was either nervous or excited. Trousle wasn’t sure which, but agreed with him either way.

[im-gettingby]

30 Days of Carry On

posted (and written by?) @captain-aralias

(I’m doing most of these at once because I said so. it’s long so under the cut)

1. Favourite major character

I literally thought — Simon no Baz no Penny no, Agatha!

I guess I will pick Simon, since I relate to him the most — or at least, my connection to him led me into the fandom.

2. Favourite minor character

I think we all know this one 🐑🐑🐑

I have written many a treatise on Lamb Rights. I’ll spare everyone now

3. Character you relate to the most

Oops— I already answered this, kinda. I relate to them in different ways: I relate a lot to WS Simon because he has abandonment issues and “kid who was told he was extraordinary and then grew up to be ordinary” issues. We also both have a “fix all the things for everyone” complex, too.

Baz — It took me a while to get into Baz’s head, but I would say, I relate to him because of his intense emotional world and tendency to see the world through an intensely romantic/tragic lens. But also he’s a Pisces. and I’d never do that like a Pisces does. (Sorry, not sorry.)

4. Which character would you like to go to lunch with?

SHEPARD obviously. I don’t feel the need to elaborate.

5. Favourite non-Snowbaz ship

Ooh! Probably Lamb/Baz or Simon/Shep or just...literally anything. Like, I will read anything as long as it’s well written. The weirder the better. (Within...legal and moral limits.) in my other fandoms I’ve been a big multishipper and there’s not a lot of options for that in CO - which is fine - but wholeheartedly support rarepairs :D

6. Favourite non-romantic OTP

So, obviously Simon/Penny and Baz/Penny are great ones, but I think the nearest & dearest to my heart is Simon/Agatha. The kind of siblings/unwillingly dating/weird exes dynamic and the way they both shaped each other’s lives is just so interesting. And while Simon & Penny are closer, Agatha and Simon represent their aspirational selves to one another. And the way that they were both tied to one another along with their gender roles/places in society and both broke away at the same time is just...mwah

7. Favourite Baz outfit

I honestly dress kinda like Baz. Anything involving a printed silk shirt or a floral brocade suit, so like, all of them? I love WS Baz, his fashion sense is so thoughtful yet fun. He’s so expressive with it — in the sense of both being guarded, being sexy, and playing with masculinity/femininity.

8. How do you feel about Wayward Son?

In case it wasn’t obvious, I absolutely love it. I mean, from a writing/narrative standpoint, I don’t think it’s the most elegant or engaging book ever written, but it’s just so raw and fresh. I don’t see many examples of an author trying to do what Rainbow did, which is build a complex emotional AND plot-driven story with so many characters and so much lore. I’m very excited for AWTWB.

9. Favourite scene from Carry On, besides Chapter 61

I like what the book does/sets up overall. Honestly probably the first scene, where Simon walks to the bus stop & takes the train and just thinks about his life and makes lists -- I love Simon. I know Rainbow said she thinks that bit is boring, but it honestly says so much about his character in a short time. (and he’s an extremely complex character!) Also, Baz’s dramatic entrance. Also, the chapter where Baz says “and I’m hopelessly in love with him” because it’s just so dramatic, and it comes out of nowhere

10. Favourite scene from Wayward Son, besides Chapter 41

Baz and Lamb’s journey across the Strip - vampire lore, jealous Simon, Baz getting to be his own character— it’s beautiful.

11. Remind us about something in canon readers might have forgotten about

Ahahaha um. Simon says he thinks Baz’s cousin Marcus is fit. That’s pretty funny.

12. What are your hopes and fears for Any Way the Wind Blows?

I don’t have any hopes because I don’t want to be disappointed - and that’s not a cynical thing, I just want to go into it with an open mind. (I’ll take a break from fandom and reread the books beforehand so I’m (more of) a blank slate) I guess just...interesting emotional journeys, whatever that ends up being. There’s a lot that Rainbow has to do in the book and I don’t think any one person could get through all of it -- that’s why we have fanfiction.

Fears? I don’t know. I think just...the series ending. Even though I’ve been in fandom for less than a year I just really love this fandom & the thought of that kind of eroding away is sad. But also I don’t think that will happen immediately, and change is a part of life. I’ve never related as much to Cath as I do now :’)

13. An unpopular/cracky opinion you hold

unpopular: Lamb is the best character; I don’t want Simon to get his magic back; both Simon and Baz should have other romantic options.

14. Something from your head fanon

Hmmmmmmm well. Just mean things about Baz really. Like that he’s weird looking, not that great at football, and actually has kind of garish fashion sense. (which is a self-roast as well - see above.) I just feel like Simon/fandom put him on a pedestal, and Simon’s an unreliable narrator re: Baz anyway. So I like the idea that Baz is this average looking kinda strange nerdy guy who is everything Simon has ever wanted in life.

And before you tell me that Baz was hot at Watford and Agatha was into him, have you ever been to a tiny boarding school? Standards get weird 😂😂😂 and Terry being into him — come on. The guy’s a violent pervert.

also - back to Watford being a tiny school. Baz doesn’t have much competition to be the star of the football team. (also, does anyone except Simon even think that he is?)

16. Favourite location other than Watford

Vegas!

17, Favourite location in Watford

I’m pretty bad at Watford lore/geography bc again, I’m way more into WS. Probably the floor in the Cloisters where everything happens the same way, just a day later. There’s a fic there, but I can’t wrap my head around all the time travel implications enough to write it.

18. What would be your favourite subject at Watford?

Any potions-esque subject because I loved chemistry lab. Latin because I loved Latin in school. Uhhhh I don’t like history class, so not that — maybe a literature course focused on the derivation of spells.

19. What would your magical implement be?

Ooh! This is a good one. I’d like to think it would be a weird body piercing. Or a belt a la Gareth. Maybe some kind of traditional south Asian jewelry, like a nose chain or mang-tikka or something. maybe a hat. like, imagine your magical instrument being a fedora and you just have to...wear a fedora all the time.

21. Favourite canon spell

Hm. Kiss it better? Candle in the wind?I should try to think of a non-horny one. honestly they’re all so cool and clever - I love the magic system in CO/WS.

22. What would your eighth year spell at Watford be or do?

Maybe something from a poem I love. That would probably be pretty but not very functional. Or a healing spell.

23. Who would you want as your roommate?

Agatha is uptight, Penny is passive aggressive, Simon is a slob, Baz is both uptight and passive aggressive.

Definitely Shepard.

24. Favourite item of merchandise, official or unofficial

My @subparselkie sticker

25. Favourite book cover design

WS. Oh, another unpopular opinion - I don’t like the kevin wada cover of carry on. their faces look so weird and the colors don’t work for me. I own the version with the blue and yellow cover art instead

26. Do you want a movie? If yes - any fan casts for the movie?

Probably wouldn’t want a movie! Because I am way too possessive of these books/this version of the story. And I am historically extremely disappointed by adaptations — I get upset with the smallest of changes 😂

27. If they made a movie, what scenes do you think they’d cut that you’d be furious were missing?

See above. A LOT haha

28. If you could ask Rainbow Rowell one question, what would it be? (If you have already, you can share if you like)

What is Lamb’s full name????? Is it actually Lamb Lambert Lamborghini the third???

What is Rainbow’s relationship with sheep and goats. Why are there so many references to them

29. Have you read any of Rainbow’s other books?

Only Fangirl

30. How did you get into Carry On and/or Carry On fandom?

I read fangirl & the pages at the end mentioned carry on, so I read that, and enjoyed it but I wasn’t obsessed. Then I read WS spring 2020, reread it a bunch of times, reread CO, freaked out about the cliffhanger/cool vampire stuff/unresolved sexual tension, had pandemic cabin fever, got on AO3, and the rest is history.

As @annabellelux knows, I wrote my first (published) fanfic after reading her amazing fic Drop The Game. and the first fanfic I read was @captain-aralias’ Greener Grass. I was so obsessed that about a month later, I searched through the AO3 tags for it, because I couldn’t remember the title or author but kept thinking about it.

[pseudoscience-crasher]

Here is to hoping the DLC gets revealed soon. And I really hope it's based around the lords,especially Alcina...I mean when you say "By popular demand", you think of Alcina and co

Sadly, I think no DLC update has been made during the September update. I try to not infer too much interpretation with Capcom announcement. I have not followed Capcom’s marketing campaign a lot before RE8 demo in Jan 2021, but so far I found them to be quite unpredictable ; they either launch a marketing campaign quite late before release (like RE3 remake), or the opposite (like RE VIllage ; first announcement in 2020,  several demos from jan to may 2021), or do a lot of PR on stuff that nobody asked for (like RE4 VR). I either don’t know what “popular demand” would mean beside Lady D. And if it weren’t the case, given the craze around the character, it would be ill-advised to not capitalize it. I mean, I don’t recall a video character generating that much fanarts for that long. There were maybe the “Bowsette” meme, but it lasted maybe 2 months. There were also this stupid 1 hour restriction on demos before release. Needless to say that while their game can be pretty good, I don’t trust their PR stunts much. There is what I and some people would like on one hand, and what Capcom want to sell on the other. They don’t necessarily overlap. When Konami released a Metal Gear themed pachinko game, I am not quite sure who asked for it. Maybe Capcom is following a similar direction as Konami or Steam ; less single player game development for PC/ console, more multiplayer services, mobile phone-related content, or show/movie. My other guess is that Capcom had a schedule for releasing many other stuffs, and RE8 aftermath disrupted it. Inserting the development of a DLC might delay their RE:verse game for instance, and for some reason they might have decided to keep the same priority.  Still, Capcom provided interesting characters with the RE8′s 4 Lords. With a limited lore, they left many interesting things about them to interpretation while letting versatile characters dynamics. You could either imagine very dark story about a supernatural cult, or imagine a sitcom about Lords bickerings.  Like many, I found Lady D to be an awesome fictional character. Unsettling yet attractive, seducive yet physically intimidating, well mannered at one time then fucking brutal right after. It’s a perfect combination of villain traits all in one. The few lines of her ingame backstory motivated me to fill the blanks with a ~25K story, and I haven’t wrote a fanfic before. It made me do few researches on blood diseases, Communist bloc and its prison system, how people lived in 1940-1950 in France or Romania, music of the era and so on. I believe there is a great cinematic opportunity ; gothic atmosphere is still contemporary to this era. I would like to see a combination of the film noir aesthetic from the era and theme with brutal and disturbing horror shit from REsident Evil games. Honestly, I think the character design and the Mo-cap acting by Maggie Robertson makes it one of my favorite vampire depiction, along Gary Oldman’s Dracula or 1920 Nosferatu. I really wish to see more of a developed backstory of her, be it in a DLC, movie, or show. A more horror oriented and atmospheric game would be great. But disappointment comes with too much expectation, so I keep in mind the possiblity we might not see more official stuff outside of the fan’s works. But there seems to be many people who weren’t much into Resident Evil before (me included) who did many fanarts or fanfic about it, so I believe there is a relatively strong demand. But whether Capcom decides to follow it or not is their own decision. There is however some hints that Capcom hear fan requests, at least on public relations. Quite the opposite of Nintendo. While one is eager to gives Lady’s height and her foot size, the other stays away from the Bowsette fad. 

[bustedbernie]

what do you have to say to a leftist who has most of the same criticisms of the Democratic Party as other leftists, but who has also voted for them in every election in which she's been eligible? "well you didn't vote dumbass" like, literally can't be the sum of your defense for every Democratic political failure, can it?

To be patient, that patience brings fruit. Large-scale change happens over timescales that exceed a presidency or two and if you’re not invested in the long-haul, you’re going to be disappointed. To hold officials accountable, write letters, show up to council meetings and other easily-accessible things, even go to congressional offices. And be aware that what we say and do can affect others and their perceptions. That a lot of what Bernie Bros said in the primaries were directly copy/pasted by republicans to attack us (and it worked in a lot of places) hah. That getting voter participation way up is one of our largest goals regardless of where you sit on the left and being hyper-critical of democrats, calling them failures or corrupt, just doesn’t help that cause. And on that point, democrats have universally excelled at expanding voter access in every place they’ve been empowered to do so. But then, I also don’t think democratic failures as presented by leftists are often democratic failures at all. 

The ACA is pointed to sometimes as a democratic failure by this type, but I just don’t see it as a failure. It was a massive step forward. I think too, on this issue, people see the UK with its NHS, Canada with its various provincial single-payer plans, or France with its Sécurité-Sociale and they want something like that here. But, all of those systems were constructed over time and continue to evolve. And we’re not starting in the aftermath of the war. I think our efforts also need to be framed in the context of our politics. And that’s just not a pill that’s easy for this type to swallow. I mean, how can democrats have failed truly in the last 10 years when Mitch McConnell hasn’t even allowed votes on the most basic of democratic proposals? Are democrats really failing or have we been deprived of the power to make effective change? Despite that, we made some decent progress just with Obama at the helm. When they criticize us for being happy that Trump is gone, are you (or your friend) forgetting that Obama DID somehow get some good things through? It was less stressful? That there was that hope that we could keep making those changes as time passed? 

I think it’s also facetious when they spend so much time talking about democratic failures. Regardless of whether or not this particular friend votes, there are many others like them that don’t. Doesn’t this friend bear some of the onus for these “failures” for not getting others like them to vote Democratic? Democrats have routinely been punished for progressive legislation proposals since the 90s. Part of why the ACA was such a massive win was due to the leftover bruises from when Clinton tried to pass his healthcare proposals. What is this friend doing to change the environment to make these proposals less scary? How do you get people that are open-minded to making changes but who currently are comfortable with the system on board? Because Bernie’s “ban private insurance” chased a lot of folks that would perhaps be in favor of wide healthcare reform away. Or “Castro was chill, he taught people to read...” This is a pretty consistent thing leftists do. If we aren’t meeting people where they are and where they are now, how can we win? 

I guess I’d tell your friend that democrats already do reflect on their failures and it’s an attribute that is built into the party apparatus. I’d ask them why they fail to reflect on their own failures, the failures of the progressive caucus in the most general sense, and the failure of the left itself to take accountability? At what point is this “democratic failure” just a projection to escape accountability? Because I’ve noticed that when AOC says most people in swing districts that supported M4A got reelected, she blocks people on twitter for pointing out that many of those “swing-districts” she cites are D+20 districts. Xochitl Torres-Small was hurt by AOC and Bernie Sanders in a R+2/5 district. How do leftists think anything we want (yes, we, because even most “moderate” dems want many of the same things as the leftists despite their claims), without those marginal districts? And how do we win the Senate at all if we can’t field candidates that can win state-wide? 

I think me and lot of the folks that follow this blog do call themselves leftists, or would call themselves leftists, but don’t want to associate with very vocal people like your friend because though we may be pleased that they are voting well, we are frustrated that this friend is hurting us in other ways. We are frustrated that they call our policy accomplishments half-measures or failures. We are frustrated by how many of our leftist allies are willing to sacrifice the need for social justice for perceived economic gains. There are so many domains and areas where we could really increase our margins that are stymied because we get written off as extreme. Progressives that have won council seats now talk about how getting progressive legislation is almost impossible with progressive language (and i use progressive to reference Bernie Sanders-type followers). Yet, they note that you can start making progress with other language. Parking minimums can be voted away by talking about more liberty for development, options for renters and owners, a healthier market, etc. “Incentive programs” are easier to pass than a new tax. Maybe leftists see these things as failures and an abortion of progressive values. But I think we see it as getting things done in a way that CAN be done, and be done now. 

I would ask your friend to look to examples where incrementalism has helped cement democratic power and led to real, physical changes. In this country, the slow embracing of public transit by a larger number of people is a good example. Those first light rail lines in Denver, Houston and Phoenix were heated. Pulling teeth. Sometimes even violent rhetoric was used. For a silly little train. But once you get that first little segment of light rail, over a decade or so, people adjust and it’s not so bad. Then they might even want it to serve THEIR neighborhood. Maybe so they could get to an airport without driving, or see a ball game without parking, or get drinks with friends and enjoy the conversation rather than pay attention to the road. They might even want to use it to get to and from work everyday. Or to run errands. And that’s exactly what has happened in each of those cities. Phoenix in particular defeated a Koch-backed ballot measure and voted to fund multi-mile extensions to its system and begin planning even more. Hopefully, in two more decades, those will bear lots of fruit, leading to more sustainable, humane cities, that are more accessible, cleaner, and dense. We also saw Maricopa County vote blue. Small things, over time, add up. Change happens. Attitudes move.  We can do that with healthcare. If we can get a public option added to the ACA, it will just naturally expose how wasteful insurance actually is. People will be more likely to buy into it. And it will help build trust with people who “don’t want the government involved with my doctor.” And given how we’ve seen the politics shift just since the ACA was passed, something akin to M4A would likely be right around the corner. 

So yeah, hold democrats accountable. But the thing is, we already mostly do that. I’d tell them to remember who the real enemy is, and if they are criticizing Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or whomever more than they criticize Mitch McConnell and his fascist army, then i have to doubt how progressive your friend is in the first place, regardless of their voting habit. 

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep20

This is a buildup ep for yuki’s confession, like most buildup eps in furuba they kinda seem awkward & a bit stretched, but overall this one is not bad. 

-The theme of “ letting go” & tohru:

Tohru needs to Not only let go of her excessive attachment to her mom, but also, of treating yuki as needing of much help all the time. tohru’s is the mother friend for all, she tends to care for everybody, however, since she lives with yuki, this instinct fire up & she provides care, nurture, support & worry lots abt him since she knows the sohma’s abuse. Their dynamics need to change as yuki is starting to depend on himself as equal leaving tohu’s nest, tohru needs to accept his change & support him differently from before. The analogy of yuki leaving the nest is also fitting of tohru’s need to focus on herself since her nest is now empty. Tohru has also been using her motherly care for others to avoid working/focusing on herself. I find it ironic that Arisa’s “ tohru come convince kyo, he doesn’t wanna be a prince” comes as tohru & yuki acknowledge the need of a modified dynamics between them & she sends him off with her “ do your best” instead of her usual “don’t overwork yourself”. She leaves him to go to kyo/her own personal life that she needs to focus on.

-The Endless Parallels:

As yuki is starting to open his lid to his pal, the focus is shifted to machi! I’m happy she’s back. Similar to kyo’s apology into tohru’s ears in Se01, machi was given the questionable behavior without explanation treatment to hook viewers & I’m hooked! I know I’ll love this girl. It was pretty clear that her & kakeru are yuki exclusive characters & if he’s the best buddy, she’s the love interest. To connect her with yuki, certain good parallels were hinted at from the beginning:

She always leaves a mess behind, yuki lives in a messy room.

She has to have traumatizing background in order to make her need yuki in her life cuz part of yuki’s wishes is to provide for someone who needs him the way kyo provides for tohru. Yuki is ready to give back, now that he’s healing. Machi is yuki’s person.

Her coping mechanism is a bit similar to yuki in SE01, she shuts herself from others, doesn’t talk much & is withdrawn. I love that they both have somewhat similar coping  mechanism regardless of the nature of heir trauma, it makes them both less ashamed of what they adopted to cope regardless if it’s wrong/harmful. 

 She has low self esteem & is shocked when someone notices her, very lonely which is why she noticed yuki’s loneliness since Day 1.

She saw through yuki’s resistance of his “prince” title. She’s perceptive in nature just like him.

She looks physically more similar to yuki than she’s to kakeru, her brother, (yuki’s family grayish hair/his mom’s /ayame’s long eyes). Not really fond of that, but no harm, I think it was done so she & yuki will have similar aesthetic & have similar color shades.

All these are amazing parallels above help connect characters together & build relationships. However, I’m kinda annoyed that the writer went over board with the parallels, to the point of semi-exact situation:

Machi & Kakeru are siblings who were not close at all due to abusive family attitude. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki.

Kakeru is the older brother & was able to stop his abuse cuz of his character or extreme behavior that saved him from being caged into the family’s grasp while machi, the younger, was unable to escape & isn’t free yet. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki. 

Kakeru, the eldest, is trying hard to reach out to his sibling & aid her as much as he can but fails due to his insensitive character or his failure to see where she stands. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki. 

In their relationship, kakeru is the extreme, bubbly & bigger than life character while machi is the vulnerable, silent, withdrawn one. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki. 

This is a ton load of parallels that is not much needed to make machi suitable for yuki. I know that the writer is aware that machi is introduced late into the story, & is eager to flesh her out to be loved, but I don’t think that adding all these similarities to yuki’s life is the way to go. In the contrary, it makes her seem like a female version of him without the curse. Machi should be fascinating without yuki or kakeru. I guess making her kakeru’s sister helps create situations of yuki knowing more abt her without her talking & can be used to redeem kakeru’s character if he was ever harsh to her the way ayame was cuz you bet kakeru will play matchmaker. but overall, it takes uniqueness from machi’s situation herself & draws more attention towards yuki & kakeru. More focus on what will yuki & kakeru do. I really love her form the few things I saw abt her & her reactions, but yeah, don’t mind me~ it was a fleeting feeling of disappointment. Oh well, it is what it is. I hope her own perspective of her situation is rewarding.

-Machi is NO weak woman:

She really isn’t! She took control of the situation when she noticed it needed quick intervention. That’s why, the first set of 6 parallels mentioned above is important for machi! She saw through yuki without needing to know abt the exact similarities of their abusive homes. You don’t need all that to see through someone who was in the darkness for years, cuz she too, must’ve been in the darkness as well! So, in unique fashion, she comes & destroys yuki’s walls. Don’t worry, I’ll save you. I see you.

-Cinderella ( what??):

I didn’t expect elementary school fairly tale to be chosen & I sure didn’t see the cast choices coming! XD I’m sure sth will happen & they’ll change cast. but It’s 100% awesomely spot on in a reversed manner!! So Ironic!

Yuki godmother means yuki in female dress???? similar to SE01, Momiji ep! poor yuki! plus godmother is a nonhuman character that is superior & grants wishes & yuki is considered stronger than normal human without training & despite weak health, all his skills are always extraordinary. But maybe becuz he’s nearly done healing/opening the lid, he’ll help the others now, godmother style. XD

Tohru is evil stepsister?? Tohru is kindness reincarnated! but perhaps tohru needs a hint of evilness to wake up for herself & be more assertive! plus tohru is considered evil by yuki’s fan club (there’s an entire ep dedicated for that lol).

Hana Cinderella?? The queen of darkness & eerie wave reports who can see right through humans will play the weak, powerless Cinderella. XD. But it suits her cuz she was once called witch when in reality she’s kind.

Arisa a prince! the woman who wants to be a model & is desperate to turn kureno’s head with her womanly charms & is dying for a kiss from him in their first meeting! XD. but it suits her as she used to be a gangster? XD.

Kyo the prince?! the most un-princely prince! kyo’s kindness & warmth is exclusive to kazuma & tohru, the rest of the world sees him as the always annoyed, easily teased, harmless dude! Princes are diplomatic with their words! kyo’s life would be over in a second if it depended on his words! XD. He depends on his physical body & actions to show affection & love. You want him to be shower girls with compliments the way princes do?XD. but it suits him in a way, cuz he stole the main female protagonist’s heart like in all fairy tales & he’s genuine with his affection. XD.

I want Cinderella play NOW! plz don’t change the cast!!

Side Note:

The ep started with yuki’s statement abt what he wants from tohru, however, failed to deliver an answer by the end. It is obvious that (a) the answer will be given once yuki explains himself (b) a tease to hook the viewers into waiting for yuki’s answer. However, it was badly done. Rather than giving anticipation, it gave a disappointing feel. It dragged a genuine & vulnerable moment for the entire ep for cheap hook by the end. It can be completely avoided by not opening the ep with yuki’s lines. The thrill/anticipation would’ve come 10 times stronger with his closing lines leaving viewers with “OMG, he’ll say it next ep!! rather than “ what? i was waiting for that all ep? man~, next ep perhaps?”. I duno what is the nature of the manga chapters. but there are times when it’s so clear to me (an anime-only) when the show adapts things via direct cut & paste rather than working them to suit the ep format. Generally, the show doesn’t know how to implement cliffhangers, so I really wish they avoid them altogether.

From the way he handled machi’s apology to his firmness with the chibi member, to his elaborated speech with kakeru, to his calmness inside the locked room & how the flashback didn’t affect him as much as I thought it would! yuki’s growth is 90% complete! =D! You go boy!

I gotta confess..I’m slightly disappointed that kakeru turned out to be another abuse survival child. I was loving the idea that yuki is connecting with someone via their own character/personality not shared past of similar experiences cuz there are TONS of those in furuba. Kakeru’s character with (mix kyo-ayame) & virtues/vices is a good balance for yuki, adding the abusive past is hinting that broken kids only befriends broken kids which isn’t true. Plus this means that all young characters “with importance to the plot” must be abused one way or another... I know furuba has a theme..but you don’t have to make it part of every important character. I still love kakeru tho. but if kimi turned out to be ANOTHER abused child, I’m quitting furuba! XD..jokes..

[snarkymonkeyprime]

I apparently started a destiel!labyrinth!au a million years ago?  And it’s not terrible?

Also, I don’t know what a Bowman Tree is but I’m intrigued by my thought process regarding it.  

Also, I made a note of who’s who:

Sarah – Dean Winchester

Toby – Sam Winchester

Goblin King – Lucifer

Hoggle – Castiel

Inch-Worm – Balthazar

Ludo – Benny Lafitte

The Dueling Guards – Bobby Singer and Crowley

Sir Didimus – Gabriel

Everyone’s so horrendously in character that I can’t stop snickering.

     The creature stared at Dean, blue eyes wide.  “I understand now, why the Bowman took hold of you.  You’re the human,” he stated, voice deeper than Dean had expected.

     Still holding his plank, Dean nodded sharply.  “Yeah?  So?”  He inched forward, muscles tight with strain.  The thing might have pulled him out of that bloodthirsty tree but even in the short time he’d been in Lucifer’s playland, he knew he couldn’t trust it.  If he could get close enough, he could stab it and run.  Probably.  God, he hoped its skin wasn’t made from iron or something equally annoying.

     “You one of Lucifer’s dicks?”

     The winged man across from him tilted his head like a bird, narrowing his eyes a bit as he did.  “Dicks?  Lucifer has only one penis.  And it isn’t anthropomorphic.”

     Startled by the blunt answer, Dean almost dropped his makeshift weapon.  “Uh, no shit Sherlock,” he muttered, frowning. 

     “My name is Castiel, not Sherlock,” he replied bowing.  The black wings at his back flared out gracefully before tucking in once more.  “I apologize for the lack of introduction.  My brothers and sisters were most curious of news regarding humans.”  He smiled, clearly trying to appease Dean.  “We don’t often see your kind here.”

     Dean glanced around, still not lowering the wood in his hand.  “Yeah, I figured that part out when the tree tried to eat me.”

     Castiel approached him again but stopped as soon as Dean swung the stick toward him.  “Apologies,” he murmured, holding up his hands.  “I mean you no harm.  You must understand that this world feeds off the energies of its master.  Currently, that is Lucifer.”  He half turned, pointing in the direction Lucifer himself had indicated after dropping Dean in the middle of this hellhole.  “It is a living creature.  It forms based on the fears and dreams of the creatures around it.” 

     Curious despite himself, Dean half-lowered his weapon.  That … no way.  Christ, no wonder Lucifer had seemed so smug after Dean had agreed to this stupid bullshit.  “He controls it?  So, he tells it what to do?”  Five minutes ago, he’d never have asked such a question but, five minutes ago, he hadn’t almost been eaten by a tree and rescued by a man with wings.  So … fuck it.

     “Hm, no.  Not entirely.”  He pointed again toward Lucifer’s home.  “In fact, he is as much at its whim as you and I.  However, this land feeds on his presence.  The presence of an ancient angel.  As long as one of that line remains on the throne, it survives.”

     “Hold the fuck up,” he snapped, eyes wide.  “Did you say angel?”

     “Of course.” 

     Dean waited but when Castiel stayed quiet, he lifted his brows as high as he could.  “That’s … what?  How the … what?”  Seriously, his brain was going to explode.  Just … exasperated Dean all over the damn place.

     Castiel’s wings lifted, feathers fanning.  Sunlight gleamed on the blue-black color.  “I am an angel, human.  We are a limited race here but this is our home.”

    Clenching his jaw, fingers gripping his plank, Dean grunted, “Why isn’t God your leader?”

     The angel’s blue eyes were blank.  “God?  Perhaps you mean the one who created us?  Created this place?”  His visage soured for a moment as he looked away.  “Our Father left us here a long time ago.  We have no name for him.  Not one that is translatable.”

     There was sorrow in Castiel’s voice.  And anger.  Dean, strangely, understood that all too well.  “So he just up and ditched you?  Put you in charge and walked?”  Yeah, that sounded pretty damn familiar.

     Castiel nodded.  “In a way.  Lucifer has led us since we woke here.  He is our brother.”  Something in the way he phrased the statement sat wrong with Dean.  Brother wasn’t a term he wanted to use.  But why he held back now was a story better for another time.  The land was important as far as Dean was concerned; not brotherly sniping between giant winged human dicks.

     His mind whirled as he rehashed their conversation.  “Right.  That’s a bunch of shit but … fuck it.  Can’t deal with that right now.”  He took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush.  Jesus, this was tiring.  “So, if what you said is true, empty the chair, the place dies?” 

     And then there was that.  Just when he thought this place couldn’t get any weirder.  Giant life support system hooked to a massive dickhead?  Yeah, that’s a great thing to learn.

     Castiel nodded.  “To simplify it; yes.  It would take ages to die but it would cease to be, eventually.  So we keep one of the ancient blood on the throne at all times.”

     “But I’m going to kill him.  I need to get my brother back.”  He sneered.  “Isn’t it in your best interests to stop me?”

     Again the bird-head tilt.  “I suppose, it would be the right thing.”  He licked his lips.  “But, no?  There are others of ancient blood.  I, myself, am one.  We would find a replacement, if need be.”  Castiel was holding something back given the hesitation in his voice but for now, given he had helped Dean, he was willing to overlook it. 

    Great; history lesson was over.  Dean hefted the wood again.  “Fine.  So … thanks for smiting the tree back there but I’m kind of in a hurry so kindly fuck off.”

     Castiel blinked.  “I … I could help you?”

     “Are you asking or offering?” Dean tossed back.  He really didn’t need a tag-a-long in this endeavor.  He just had to hike it to that dick’s home and get his little brother back.  God only knew what Lucifer was doing to him right now.  The very idea made his shoulders tense and splinters dig into his fingers. 

     Again that broad smile.  “Offering, of course.”

     Yeah … no.  Dean shook his head.  “Nope.  Fine on my own, feathers.  I don’t need one of you bastards spying on me to His Royal Dickness.”

     “The title is highness, actually,” Castiel corrected blithely.  “Though, we don’t heed such terms here.  He’s merely considered our … leader.”  He wrinkled his nose.  “You seem quite obsessed with male anatomy.”

     Dean wanted to be annoyed but it was strangely endearing how literal the birdman was taking him.  Despite the situation, he found himself grinning a bit.  “Uh, it’s a … nevermind.  Cas, I don’t exactly care what you call him.  He has my brother and I’m getting him back.”

     He hadn’t even seen the guy move.  In less than a second, Castiel had gone from being a few feet away to less than a handful of inches.  His eyes were narrowed but it didn’t hide the brilliant blue.  He didn’t seem particularly angry; just confused. 

     “Cas?  Did you forget the rest of my name?  Did the fight with the Bowman Tree make you ill?  If you’ve forgotten, it’s Castiel.”

     “Uh, nickname, Cas.  You know … short.”  He glanced at the plank he still held.  Given the guy’s insane speed, he was fairly certain it wouldn’t be much in the way of weaponry.  With an annoyed sigh, he tossed it, noting that Castiel relaxed when he did.  His black wings fluffed once before settling again.  “It’s easier to remember.”

     “Hm.”  Castiel nodded.  “Very well.  Do you also have a name?”

     “Yeah.  Dean.”  He snorted.  “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it kind of isn’t.  Lucifer stole my brother and then told me I have twenty-four hours to make it to his lair to get him back.”  He swallowed, new nightmares of what waited for Sam swarming his head.  “I just … this wasn’t what I wanted,” he muttered.

     “Dean.”  Castiel spoke his name as though cradling a gift.  He smiled again.  “Would you prefer to go by D?  Short, yes?”

     He did laugh then.  “Uh, no.  The short name thing is really only for longer names.  So … like Matthew?  You’d call him Matt.  That kind of thing.”

     Castiel, strangely, seemed disappointed.  “Oh.  I see.”

     “You really have never seen a human before?  Talked to one?”

     “Not myself, no.  I believe some of my brothers and sisters have.  But not for many, many years.”  He stared up into the sky, squinting.  “It is … somewhat remote here.  You have to intend to arrive.”

     Figures.  Dean scratched his head.  “Yeah, got it.”  He looked up to find Castiel watching him intently, the blue eyes tracking slowly along his face and body.  Suddenly uncomfortable, he shifted and pointed.  “So?  Do we go or what?”

     “You’ll allow me to aid you?”

     “Yeah, sure; first sign of trouble?  I take your head off, though.”  With what, he hadn’t figured out just yet.  He still had his dad’s tactical knife in his boot but that wouldn’t do much more than poke a hole in the guy; if he could even be cut.  Shit, this place officially sucked.

     Castiel’s eyebrows lifted a moment before settling again.  “You don’t trust me.  Very well.”  He took a few steps away from Dean and gestured toward the dirt road ahead of them.  “I assure you, I mean no harm.  If, however, you feel my presence is detrimental, you need only tell me and I will leave.”

     Dean considered it.  But then again, he was alone in this freakhole of a place.  Knew nothing about it.  Hell, the giant slimy tree had almost eaten him.  What else waited?  He stared ahead, barely able to make out the shape of Lucifer’s home.  Sammy, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t … this wasn’t what I meant.  Wasn’t what I wanted.  He sighed and began walking.  “Yeah.  Fine.  Just … let’s go, all right?  I need to get to Sam.”

[des-draws]

it's officially July but I'm still on pride mode!!! can't stop won't stop

Here are my lgbt+/queer hcs for class 1(g)A(y)!!! Here's what they are in case you don't recognize all of the flags (bc let's be real before I started coloring this I wouldn't recognize at least a few of them either ;^; ), strap in bc it's going to get l o n g:

(also they’re listed in the order they’re shown in the deviantart post rather than this one oop)

- Ojiro is trans!! I feel like he prefers being stealth but still celebrates with all his classmates because it's such a special occasion :') - Tooru is pan and a demigirl!!! It's her first pride and she's hyped!!!! And full of love!!!!! Love Is Stored In The Tooru!!! - Todoroki is a gay demiboy!! His trauma has made his experience with gender rather vague and blurry but he's still happy to have a label to somehow describe himself!! He's using End*vor's credit card to buy all of his friends pride merch!! - Midoriya is bi and trans!! He's been so happy to see his friends discover themselves and even more so to see them celebrating :') - Iida is bi!! As the second of the three members of the Rich Kids Club, he also wants to support and reaffirm his friends by buying them pride stuff!! - Kirishima is gay and trans!! I hc that he's been basically the class' go-to for gender identity/sexuality stuff bc he's been out-and-proud since Day 1 until pretty much everyone had a big coming-out ("I'm gay!" "Cool! I think I might be bi! :0c" "I...might...not be a girl???" "I'm pretty sure I'm [ace/genderfluid/etc.]" "What's that?" "Oh, it's [...]" "...might have to look into that. I think it might fit me too?" " :'D !!!!! " ) (he probably cried bc he was so proud of everyone) and then things calmed down a bit . He's a tinsy bit sad ppl no longer come to him for it but he pushes it down because he's just so!!!!!! happy to be surrounded by so many ppl like him!! - Bakugou is gay, trans and demisexual!! The last part was the hardest for him to figure out and he spent a lot of time being confused at other people, it was when Sero shared his own orientations that he thought maybe he wasn't as alone as he had thought :') - Uraraka is bi!! She's spent years thinking her crushes on girls were just her being jealous/wanting to be friends with them/not as important/stong as the crushes she's had on boys. She's getting over that internalized stuff now and I'm proud of her!! - Tsuyu is a trans girl and a lesbian!! She's been very open about wanting people to call her "Tsuyu-chan" because she chose that name herself!! And she's so happy that everyone here is supportive of her and each other!! - Yaomomo is also a lesbian!! This is her first pride, she's so excited to see all these people with different identities and experiences come together, and while she could easily create pride merch herself she much rather prefers supporing the indepentent LGBT+/Queer creators selling their own! (Hence why she bought two different variations of the lesbian flag for both her and Jirou!) (and probably many more of the stuff you see everyone wearing lol) - (Speaking of,) Jirou is also also a lesbian and also nonbinary!! Her only connection to girlhood is her love for other girls, but other than maybe updating her wardrobe a little she doesn't mind presenting femininely. - Sero is asexual, demiromantic and genderflux!! He's v. chill about everything, he probably found out and was like "Oh. Ok cool. I'm hungy" like he has a very laid-back attitude abt his identity/orientation but he Will defend his friends' to hell and back. Group mom heck yea - Kaminari is bi and nonbinary!! He was scared shitless to the point of losing sleep when he started figuring out that he miiiight like boys too, and even more so when he realised he might not even be a boy?? Thankfully being surrounded by so many supportive people (and having Kirishima as one of his closest and more trustworthy friends) helped him accept himself :') - Mina is pan and trans!! She's always been very open about being a Romantic™ but rather than being the Disaster Pan that gets flustered around everyone, she's the Disaster Pan that flirts shamelessly using Terrible pick up lines ("If we were dating...heh.....let's just say horses wouldn't be called horses anymore ;) " was the first ever thing she said to Kirishima, which earned her an extremely confused and somewhat flustered "I'm????ga y???? ???????" (it was the first time he'd admitted it out loud so he kinda thanks her for that) ) - Tokoyami is bi and trans!! A while back I read a fic that happened to have trans Tokoyami in it and was like "You know what. Yeah I can see it!" Emo culture is probably what helped him realize, with it playing around with and disregarding gender stereotypes and everything. - Aoyama is transmasculine, genderfluid and aromantic!! For the longest time he'd much rather have people mistake him for a feminine/gnc boy rather than a girl. It took him a while to come to terms with his aromanticism, since pretty much everyone expected him to be gay- he kinda expected it himself too, since he never liked girls that way, so?? But when he found out about the term "aromantic" it was like a weight lift off his shoulders. - Shoji is netrois and androsexual!! He knew he liked boys early but he's avoided dealing with figuring out his gender out of fear that he'd be disappointed- he's only ever seen nonbinary/genderqueer people depicted as androgynous and much smaller in stature than himself, so he thought he'd never fit. Seeing everyone else come out (especially the other nonbinary classmates of his), he stopped hesitating and starting working on coming to terms with himself!! - Satou is asexual and panromantic!! I don't really have much reasoning for this, I never really thought about it (or Satou himself) but when the time came to draw this I was like "Satou likes baking.....and puns are ace culture......FOOD PUNS!!! OF COURSE!!!" I'm sorry glkjhklhfdlkhj; - Koda is a trans boy!! He's had trouble recognizing it at the start because he's always been soft-spoken (almost nonverbal) and timid and kind, and """"those aren't traits of a boy""""" but he was so happy when he hit puberty and started growing So Much in stature due to his genes and people started "mistaking" him for a boy!! He came out to his parents almost immediately bc compassion and kindness seems to run in the family and he knew he'd be accepted even if they didn't completely understand!! He was more scared to come out to his classmates but when two, three, four of them come out and are accepted for being trans boys, he knows he'll be safe with them too. - And finally, last but not least, Aizawa is gay and trans!! He might act somewhat aloof about this stuff, but secretly he's very happy that his kids students all have eachother's support, and most of them their families'. Part of him is a little bitter and wishes he had the same kind of support system in their age, but he's going to be there for them if they need him nonetheless. He has his own support system now, and that matters a lot, too.

But wait!! There's M O R E !!!!! - I always love love LOVE how fanartists/editors give some of the characters more animal-like features, so I did that too!!! I went Full-on-Frog with Tsuyu (and I'm rather proud of how she came out (lol) ), but also I gave Mina some Sharp Chompers and a Fluffy lil' tail bc It's What She Deserves, and Ojiro a lil' toof poking out and ears that sharpen a lil bit at the tips? I hc that as he grows, other than his tail he'll start growing more animal features like that- sharper teeth, longer ears, claws and also, get ready.....pawbeans........the last ones give him Heck when they start growing out, and he needs his palms massaged at least once a day while they do :'( His legs get weird too and they end up looking more like a wolf's back legs :0c - I gave a lot of them freckles!!!! bc I Love Freckles!!!!!! also, as my sister very eloquently pointed out, I gave Uraraka "A R M S,,,,," bc. let's be honest. the girl got martial training she's not a twig - Sero is holding the polyamorous flag behind himself, Kaminari and Mina bc.. u guessed it,, they're all dating each other,,,,, lotsa smooches and cuddling and shenanigans bc there's only maybe one(1) braincell between the three of them and most of the time sero has it - Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida, Kirishima, Bakugou, Tsuyu, Yaomomo, Koda and Aizawa are also autistic. Yes all of them. No I won't explain. (unless you ask in good faith and want to share your own hcs pls ask me then I'll explain everything and you can expect it to be as long as this description!!!!!) (I might draw something about it when it's April again maybe *thinking emoji* ) - Oh!!! and Tooru, Kaminari and Mina are ADHD. Kirishima is also dyslexic. - Bakugou has been losing his hearing ever since he entered U.A.- sure he's always used his quirk but never freely to that extend and with so much power behind it, so getting into fight after fight with such close proximity to explosions that big really did a number on his ears. He can hear a little better with the right one than the left, so Kirishima has gotten used to walking by his right side before his custom hearing aids came in, and then just stuck to that. Bakugou's custom hearing aids block out any noise above a certain volume bc let's assume technology has advanced to do that. When he and Kirishima started thinking about working together as heroes even after they graduate, Bakugou requested custom ear protectors with similar block-out features as his hearing aids for Kirishima so his ears aren't damaged by working so close to Bakugou (Kirishima cried). - I'm actually quite flexible on which of the two I hc as trans, or if I hc both of them to be. The "both gay + demi Bkg" is pretty set in my interpretation of them, but I find it interesting how their friendship/relationship could manifest and grow somewhat differently depending on if both of them are trans or if only one of them (and depending on which one of them it is). They're still the same loud rowdy boyes we know and love but there's different conversations to have and difficulties to tackle between them based on that factor alone, and frankly? I Adore It.

Okay that's all!!!! I think. Thanks for reading, if you did!! And if not, I completely understand lol

I hope you had a great pride month!!

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

Realm of the Quarantine Reread End-of-Book Questionnaire: Royal Assassin

Any differences between your first/previous reading experience and this one?

Not as stark a difference as with Assassin’s Apprentice, but definitely still there. Apart from all the obvious stuff, like feeling much more attached to the characters already and picking up more details, I think the biggest change was a complete lack of patience for the teen romance drama lol. There was a decent period where I was feeling quite frustrated with it. Not that I loved it the first time round, but back then I had a very different view of how it fit into the story. I saw it as teaching Fitz a depressing lesson of what it really means to be a royal bastard and a king’s man. Fitz’s literal need (for all he knows he would have been killed if not for his deal with Shrewd) and sense of duty to put his loyalty to his king and country first creates a relationship that is toxic, turbulent and built on lies. And teenage horniness masquerading as love. I saw all that the first time and thought it was just something he had to go through. Now I know it’s something he never really goes through but rather grips onto, romanticises and ultimately goes back to. I know the point of that is meant to be that he finally gets to have something for himself, but why it had to be Molly specifically??? I have very few qualms with Robin’s writing choices overall, but why she chose to write their relationship this way if they really are meant to be is beyond me, especially when so many of her other romances are written so well - it feels like it can’t possibly be unintentional. For most of this book they’re either fighting or fucking and honey! That ain’t love! Hell, Fitz all but sees her as just another demand on his time as the book goes on. But he can’t let her go because she’s the one thing he can point to that makes him feel normal. Not happy, not cherished, not safe. Normal. She’s simply a refuge from his real life. He literally says to Chade “I need her.” I find that so telling, man. It’s not really about her, which is a shame because Molly is great. They’re just really not good for each other.

So yeah. It’s just kind of trying to read all the Fitz/Molly stuff when you know and don’t like what it ultimately culminates in. At the same time… Bee… So I will always be conflicted lol. I just can’t separate the events of Royal Assassin from the furious disappointment I felt when I finished Fool’s Fate. Perhaps I’ll have a new Fool’s Fate experience this time that will make the next re-read a bit easier in regards to Fitz and Molly? But I won’t bet on it lol.

Anyway. It’s not as if I haven’t already said just about everything there possibly is to say about Fitz and Molly yet I also feel like I could go on about it forever. Luckily this is kind of as bad as it gets in terms of how much “screen time” they actually get (apart from Fool’s Assassin maybe? But they don’t bother me too much in that) so yay! I made it! And hopefully it’ll be a good few books before y’all have to endure my ranting about it again :)) Also hopefully this doesn’t give the impression that this read was more bad than good? It was mostly just a particular angsty chunk before they properly get together that was a bit of a slog to get through, but overall I really loved reading this book again and got a lot out of it.

Something you can’t believe you forgot

That Molly punches Fitz in the face hard enough that he bleeds and that Fitz fully intended to punch the Fool for asking if Molly was preggo before seeing he had already been beaten. I pretend I do not see it.

Favourite character introduction moments/scenes

Omfg I was just about to say “huh we didn’t really get any major character intros in this book” bitch Nighteyes???? But in my defence I just. Cannot process the fact that Nighteyes is only really in 3 of 16 books he just feels omnipresent to me BUT his introduction is most definitely iconique and god I love him and he made me cry eight thousand times!

Favourite character arcs

Speaking of Nighteyes: what a glow up. He goes from angry, scared, untrusting little bb to……. Nighteyes. Like. How does one even describe the kind of person Nighteyes becomes. He’s just Nighteyes and I love him with all my fuckin heart!! He is Fitz’s constant… He is wise… He is silly… a comedic genius…… a big, open, unconditional heart. Incomparable. I can’t believe I’ve seen ppl saying they dislike/d Nighteyes……. Honey…… it’s called taste xx

Favourite quote/s

Again no tabs so it’s a bit harder to keep track but there were a few that stuck out enough to copy down. There are a lot of iconic quotes in this book that get shared a lot so I only bothered with ones I didn’t remember.

- “I wince to think of the price willingly paid for loving me.”

- “My soft, clean bed beckoned, like a soft, clean tomorrow.” (mood)

- “I looked and saw they were both made of hungers, like containers made of emptiness.”

Favourite relationships

Kettricken/Verity obviously. I was shocked by how little time they actually have together being in love before Verity leaves??? Because all I remembered was how strong their love is. But the whole journey towards that love is what makes it stand out as an actual compelling story in its own right. This is definitely one of Robin’s greatest skills as a writer; giving the minor characters depth by giving them their own relationships that grow and change and have a life of their own outside of Fitz. It makes the world feel so much more alive.

Also Burrich/Fitz in this book continues to be bittersweet, but with a lot more sweet in there than usual! They fully start out this book as a team. Burrich calling Fitz “FitzChivalry” makes me fuckin emo and idk why even. Burrich does seem to start seeing Fitz a lot more as his own person in this book which changes their dynamic in some rly nice ways. The fact that towards the end of the book Burrich even uses the wit to help Fitz is enough to make me cry tbh - and writing this has made me realise that I’m officially past any uncomplicated good times between Burrich and Fitz y’all mind if I fuckin die real quick!!

Fitz/Verity is soy pure and beautiful. Fitz and the Fool is always, always compelling and complex and tender and perfectly mysterious. But overall you’d have to say Fitz/Nighteyes, hey? They are literally meant to be, in a way so straightforward and undeniable and beautifully simple that I never really know what to say about it. Little brother!!! :’) They literally make me cry all the frickin time lol rip!

Favourite setting

There aren’t that many to choose from in this book! Ima go with the skill river bc hey, Robin’s magic systems are so unique and beautiful and the fact that the skill is written as a kind of a place is really frickin cool and deserves a shoutout.

Favourite chapter

The final chapter (not the epilogue) ummm broke my heart but it is written so beautifully, oh my god, it’s like an out of body experience. I feel like this is kind of when RotE becomes RotE - the first time it really goes to that place that is so fitting yet so unexpected, so beautiful, so tragic, so awful, so visceral. Making use of the genre to really test the limits of humanity; to see how far you can bend a person without breaking them and then refusing to turn away from the consequences. Idk man!! I don’t know how to describe it without sounding like a pretentious dick but it really is that intense and strange and overwhelming for me. There is something in that moment, when Burrich pulls Fitz’s body out of the earth and Fitz/Nighteyes is recoiling from it and deeply terrified… Something about the enormity of the existential questions raised converging with the pinpoint specificity of it all being wrapped up in the story of a character that feels so real and who you care about so deeply… It’s almost written like a horror scene, but that’s not quite the feeling. It’s just the RotE feeling; there are multiple throughout all five series, and it’s what makes these books unlike any other.

Most loved character

Fitz, Nighteyes, the Fool all had my entire heart this book. The Fool is just so sad and pathetic and literally must be protected!! I think I’m kind of obsessed with Burrich? Also I think I almost forgot how much I love Kettricken? She’s a complete badass of course but she’s also got the biggest goddamn heart like…. Who said she was allowed to be such a beautiful person???

But god, everyone. I love them all.

Most hated character

What can I say? Regal is disgostang. Wall Ass a close second.

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimised by Robin Hobb (most heartbreaking and/or visceral moments)

Shall I list just a few? :)

- Burrich screaming at Fitz through the bars of his jail cell, horrible things you can’t help but feel are at least a little bit true

- Burrich sobbing over Fitz’s dead body repeating, “You aren’t dead, you aren’t dead.”

- Fitz going to Nighteyes before everything went down on the night of the coronation and just fuckin hugging him really tight

- Fitz trying desperately to leave his broken vessel behind but not quite being able to disown his body

- The Fool being beaten

- The Fool being beaten again

- The Fool sprawled and weeping across Shrewd’s dead body

- The Fool really believing for a moment that Fitz had betrayed him and killed Shrewd

- Fitz tending the Fool’s wounds………. bitch….

- Chade giving Fitz a chance to escape with them and Fitz going to kill Serene and Justin instead

- Idk why this is even that sad but Nighteyes saying the only person he loves is Fitz!

- The entire incident with the forged ones literally tearing apart a three year old girl, which I had completely blocked out until now :)

- The fact that Fitz continues to be reminded and traumatised by this incident for the remainder of the book beCAUSE HE IS A GOOD BOY. A VERY GOOD BOY WITH A VERY GOOD HEART.

- Fitz repelling at Nighteyes to try and force their bond broken

- LITTLE BROTHER

- WOLVES HAVE NO KINGS

- High off his face Fitz calling Patience “mother” no shut the fuck up!!!!

Details, observations, spoilery notes made with the benefit of the full picture

- I’ve been trying for ages to decipher when the Fool started falling for Fitz, and I think I’m officially putting my money on their last interaction in AA. “I wish I had a place that was as much me as that place is you.” I mean. If someone said that to me… I’m not a slut but who knows, ya know? (I know this is more a note for the last book but I thought of it while reading this book. So shh.)

- It’s so clear to see this time how much Fitz’s sense of self and politics are affected by his time in the Mountains. He obviously feels much more inclined to their way of thinking about royalty and sacrifice and equality and returns to Buckkeep with a self-respect he’s never really had before. Weird how being among people who don’t just think of you as The Bastard will do that.

- It’s no wonder Fitz becomes so fixated on Molly; he literally has almost nothing else to occupy him and no companionship when she suddenly shows up

- It’s gross that he spies on her, obviously, but you can’t not take into account the fact that Chade has been teaching him since he was ten that this is justifiable behaviour; a reasonable way to gather information and get what you want. Fitz’s lack of social awareness goes further than him just being a little awkward; he has literally been trained to believe the only thing wrong with stalking would be getting caught.

- I’ve seen a few people talk about the fact that Regal isn’t appropriately punished as if it’s bad writing and like, while it is frustrating, it is supposed to be frustrating - it is not a plot hole. It made sense to me the first time I read it and it was even more obvious this time; Regal has the loyalty of the inland duchies. If he were to be publicly punished those dukes would rally behind him and raise hell, and Regal would no longer need to play the part of the dutiful prince. Even if Regal died a “natural” death - something I can’t see Shrewd or Verity orchestrating anyway - the inland dukes would feel that they no longer have a Farseer on their side and may, again, raise hell. It’s a delicate balance that would be outrageously difficult not to topple if you removed Regal from the equation. There is a lot more to it than I’ll bother writing here but yeah. I don’t really know how people can read this book and think that Regal retaining his life and position is some sort of lazy plot contrivance. It was all set up in the first book dude.

- Fitz and Nighteyes meeting in this book is the perfect metaphor for our need for connection versus the fear of inevitable loss. Fitz’s experience tells him that entering into a bond with an animal can only end in pain, yet he can’t resist it. In real life this is especially true with humans and our animal companions, since they almost always have a shorter lifespan than us; signing up to love them is signing up to lose them. But the same is also true of our relationships with other humans. And like Fitz, we have all had our fair share of loss and pain. We all have our reasons to be afraid of the connection we naturally crave. Sometimes we give in to the fear to the point of holding ourselves back from it entirely. That’s where Fitz is at when he meets Nighteyes. But what’s so beautiful about their arc as a metaphor is that it suggests that these connections, if we submit to them, are what keep our vital spark alive. Even when Nighteyes dies later in the series, the sentiment always remains, essentially, “It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.” Ya boi is projecting bc it’s hard to be vulnerable and make friends as an adult, but I think the observation stands. Love and connection and vulnerability are key threads that run throughout all of Fitz’s story, but in this book it is best represented through him and Nighteyes.

- “I hoped I would not become too adept at lying to myself.” Honey, you got a big storm comin.

- Very inch resting (gay) that Fitz finds it hard to meet the Fool’s eyes. I know almost everyone does bc his eyes are weird, but I reserve the right to reach and I will absolutely NOT be accepting criticism.

- I find it interesting that Fitz says Kettricken’s wit is not strong just because she doesn’t use it exactly the way he does

- I know it’s not meant to be funny but……. The way Fitz described losing his virginity had me literally laughing out loud

- Fitz was really like “okay i better go break my bond with Nighteyes” just cos he and Molly fucked. Teenagers don’t deserve rights.

- You know what? I really, really appreciate how fucking weird these books are lol. What other author would use their magic system to have their characters accidentally intruding on each other’s awkward sex stuff? Okay, maybe a few, but they would do it to be like, edgy and sexy. Robin Hobb just does it to make you cringe so hard you lose several years off of your life.

- But seriously, even apart from the cringe stuff, these books get so strange and out there and like! That’s what magic is for! 

- Bruh. When Fitz is like “omg poor Verity…. He’ll never have what i have with Molly” I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone encapsulate the self-important delusion of teen romance so perfectly lol. Wow.

- Okay some Fitz/Fool stuff that made me lose my tiny mind. Sorry.

- Fitz literally said about the Fool “he burned too brightly” I WILL DIE.

- Fitz is always like, irritated by the Fool… yet positively delighted by his presence at the same time…… okay bitch

- Inch resting how Fitz has always been uncomfortable with the Fool getting serious. I don’t quite know how to put my thoughts on this into words so like. I’ll just put it there. Make of it what you will.

- “Sit on my clothes chest and take your shirt off…” i stopped fucking breathing noah fence

- “I ran my fingers lightly down the line of his jaw, and around his eye socket. At least no bone seemed damaged. ‘Who did this to you?’ I asked him.” my GOD this is literally textbook gay/romance. It hurts me. It physically hurts me.

- Straight from my notes: “I can’t even focus on reading this bc it’s the first time they are tending each other’s wounds and I am a homosexual!” and “the gays are quaking!! (it’s me I’m the gays)

- Okay wow! I think that’s it! Hello if you made it this far! Hope this was remotely coherent and I’m always keen to hear your thoughts on my thoughts :)

Anyone doing a reread feel free to fill this out! You don’t have to use the tag :)

[franstastic-ideas]

Bitty Blues

Bittybones AU, Underswap Frisk and Chara - Fresh out of college, Chara drags Frisk to an adoption center in hopes that her lonely friend will take to one of the bitties there, but only after Chara promises to buy Frisk lunch for her troubles. After looking through the center for a while, they encounter a Blueberry, a rescue with abandonment issues that develops a near instant attraction to Frisk. His HP is unusually and dreadfully low for a Blueberry, so much so that the staff worry that one more heartbreak may reduce him to dust.

Word Count: 19,834

Warnings: This story does feature a rescue bitty, so there are some narrative elements that may be upsetting to readers. Another rescue bitty has a malnourished and mangled appearance and is described as such.

It seemed like everyone around her had become enraptured with bitties. No matter where she looked, she would see happy people with happy little monsters riding on someone's shoulders, resting in the pockets of shirts, or peeking curiously out of an open bag. They were everywhere.

And if Frisk were to be honest, she didn't get it.

Frisk didn't resent the little creatures, not at all. But she didn't understand the appeal, either. Squealing over the tiny clothes they wore, watching them nibble on the bite-sized food they ate, the social media accounts one would come across at each corner of the internet filled to the brim with snapshots capturing the bitty's every action… it was all lost on her. And the disappointed or sympathetic looks she more than often received when she didn't begin cooing whenever one was shoved in her face was something Frisk couldn't totally wrap her head around either.

Frisk didn't hate bitties. She didn't even remotely dislike them.

She just didn't want one.

A loner is what most called her. She was always alone, nose shoved in a book or looking at a screen instead of talking to the people around her. Soft-spoken and only speaks when spoken to, that was Frisk. These traits made people believe she was either shy or had an attitude that needed fixing, but the truth was, interacting with others was just too much for her to deal with.

Frisk liked being alone. Why was that so difficult to comprehend?

She doesn't ever wonder what having lots of friends is like… not at all. She pitied these lonely humans with their bitties, if she felt anything towards them at all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Frisk had just finished up her final class of her last semester of college; she was free from the institution of education and walking out of the building with a bachelor's. From this point onward, she could no longer be called a 'college kid' and was officially considered a responsible adult ready to join the workforce – fun.

Interrupting this thought was the abrupt and blurred image of a shoulder bag whizzing past her vision, knocking the book she was reading out of her hands as the heavy bag fell into her lap, and a wild red-headed girl wearing a green striped sweater scrambling for the spot next to her on the bench she was sitting on.

Chara.

"Frisk, what is UP my depressed homeslice?!" She hollered, throwing an arm around Frisk's waist and yanking her to her side.

Though Frisk found it difficult to believe herself at times, this woman was one of the few constants in her life. She was three years younger, but she was taller and stronger than her. Frisk has known her for a long time now, since childhood even. Could she call her a friend? Perhaps. She considered herself Frisk's friend, and she wasn't shy about telling anyone either. Depending on the day and her current moodset, sometimes this sentiment was shared.

Truthfully, she was more like a sister to Frisk. A sister she never really asked for, but appreciated nonetheless. And that was what she called Frisk – her sister. Whenever Chara introduced her to some decidedly uninterested third party, she always referred to her as her friend and then sister, switching from one to the other, before ultimately settling for the tacked on term 'sister-friend'.

"Waiting for the bus." Frisk replied blandly, already far too accustomed to her odd greetings by now. She shuffled uncomfortably, gesturing to the bag that was now in her lap. "Chara, what is in this? It has to weigh twenty pounds, minimum."

"Oh, that. Yeah." She nodded sagely, lifting it from her lap as if it were full of feathers instead of whatever was actually in there. "It's my bitty bag. I went shopping for more supplies earlier, so it's a little heavier than it usually is."

"And knowing this, you decided to dump it on me?" She inquired, already knowing the answer as she bent over to retrieve her fallen book.

"Pretty much, yeah." Chara grinned, not the least bit sorry for knocking the wind out of her with it.

Frisk then took a glance at her shoulder; it was missing a certain pocket-sized skeleton monster that was always perched there. That bitty was almost all she ever talked about these days, ever since she adopted him last September on her birthday. Taking the bothersome bitty home was how she chose to celebrate her day of birth, the best present she ever received from herself is what she called him.

She had become a bitty enthusiast practically since the moment she first learned of their existence, spending most of her spare time volunteering at the local center that housed the creatures, and became even more immersed after the official announcement came that the miniature monsters were to become adoptable to anyone who could provide them a loving home, and Chara had a lot of love to give.

So it really astonished Frisk when she stepped out of the center in possession of a bitty who couldn't have been more contrasting to her personality. Frisk was unabashedly uneducated when it came to matters concerning bitties, but she was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had selected the meanest, most ornery one in existence with one of the illest tempers she had ever seen out of anyone; man or monster. He was loud, commandeering, and had a jealousy streak that stretched a mile wide.

Noticing her lingering gaze, Chara then supplied the other girl with an answer to her unspoken question. "You're wondering where Bossanova is? He's in trouble. He bit a guy yesterday while we were out on a walk, so he's earned himself a nice long time out at home so he can think about what he did."

She wanted to tell Chara that probably wasn't the wisest decision she could have made. Frisk wouldn't be surprised at all if she came home to find her room in shambles from one of that bitty's tantrums.

Frisk definitely didn't get the bitty craze, and Chara's own affections for Bossanova might have cemented her already developed opinions on the phenomenon even further. What on Earth did she see as endearing in a creature about the size of a soda bottle that would bite any man that got within ten feet of her?

"Sooooo…" She began, leaning her head on top of Frisk's, the scattered and plentiful faux golden flower ornaments fastened in her hair dangling in front of her friend's face and brushing up against her nose. "You're all done with college now, right? You know what that means? We should celebrate!"

Oh no. With the word 'celebrate', Frisk already knew where this was going. That's why her bag was so heavy! She wasn't buying supplies for herself, no, as if she would ever let Bossanova run that low on bittycare products. This woman was absolutely determined to set her up with some manner of bitty by the day's end, that was her plan from the very beginning!

"No." Frisk answered before she could go any further with her idea.

"You didn't even let me finish!" She whined loudly.

"Because I already know what you're about to suggest and the answer is 'no', we've been through this. I don't want a pet bitty."

"Bitties aren't pets, Frisk. They're sapient beings with their own individual thoughts and personalities. Pets also can't have verbal conversations with their owners, either. …Unless it's a parrot, but still, you know what I mean."

"They're kept behind glass pens and they still cost money, I know that much."

"I know the whole keeping them in pens thing makes them sound animalistic, but they're not. They're nice and clean, and they don't look like pens at all really, at least not the kind that you would see in an actual pet store. And the reason why they cost money is mostly just a system instated to ensure that the chosen bitty will go to a home that can financially provide for them, and the centers can't run themselves on just donations, Frisk. They're. Not. Pets."

"Even so, I still don't want one."

"Come ON, Frisk! Just give the idea some thought instead of shooting it down like a fully loaded fighter jet every time!" Chara booped her nose, then moved to squish her cheek against Frisk's. Frisk was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "You always look so sad and lonely. Even when we were kids, you had that kind of gray funk around you. Don't even try to deny it, you know it's true."

Chara pressed her index finger against Frisk's lips when she opened her mouth to protest further. If Frisk had less dignity, she would have considered biting her. That's what Chara would probably do if it was her finger, and she should be used to it with all the time she spends around Bossanova anyway.

Instead of bringing herself down to the level of Chara or a rabid bitty, Frisk instead grabbed her hand, not forcefully though, and slowly pushed it back towards her.

"Please stop, this is getting weird."

"It got your attention, though. Didn't it?" She smiled at her with false innocence. "Please, Frisk? I know you think I'm being pushy, but I really am just thinking of your best interests. You've always had such a hard time talking to people, but monsters, they're different, I'm telling you. It's hard to explain, but it's like… they see the real you in a way that most humans just can't and won't make the effort to try to do. The people we come across think you're all sour and prickly and, well, a wet blanket. And so do I, sometimes."

"Gee, thanks."

"And you are all of those things, but only on the outside." Chara continued, completely ignoring her sarcastic remark. "The real Frisk is a soft squishy marshmallow that wears a full-body suit made of cactus so all the meanness in the world doesn't wear her down. Any time somebody gets too close, they get full of needles. Except for me, of course! I've known you long enough to see through all your self-defense mechanisms that are really more self-destructive mechanisms at this point."

"…Chara, what exactly is your point?" Frisk asked after a beat, not willing to admit that a lot of what she just said, while incredibly bizarre, was also terribly accurate.

"My point is that I've kept you all to myself for all these years, but now the time's come to share you with someone that'll actually appreciate you for who you are." She declared with confidence as she puffed out her chest, one hand on her hip and the other reaching up to pat Frisk on the head.

"And this someone… is a bitty."

It wasn't a question.

"Yup!" Chara bobbed her head.

"No."

"Yes!" She argued, standing up to tower over Frisk while pointing a finger at her nose, pressing and poking it. "Listen, I get that you think Bossanova is a handful, and he is. He's a little monster in every literal and figurative sense imaginable, but there are a lots of different kinds and classifications of bitties! There's Sansies and Ruses and Blueberries and…and…! Look, I have a theory that there's a bitty out there for everyone! Every decent person, that is. And you're a decent person, even if you don't think so yourself. So we're going to get on that bus, go to that adoption center, and we're going to find you the bitty that you're destined to fall in love with! Have I made myself clear?!"

"Chara-"

"H a v e  I  m a d e  m y s e l f  c l e a r...?"

"…"

Frisk avoided her intense gaze, looking anywhere else but her for the longest time.

Chara plopped back down next to her with a loud sigh, giving Frisk's hand that was closest to her a little tap. When she didn't respond, Chara wiggled her own hand into her's and gave it a squeeze.

"How about this: we just take a look around and see how that goes? And if you really don't want to, you don't have to play or interact with any of them. Just look around, that's it. You've never even been inside before, so at least check the place out before rejecting the idea of adopting entirely. And if you still insist afterward that you don't want anything to do with adopting a bitty, I'll never bring it up to you ever again, promise."

"…"

Frisk bit your lip. The offer was tempting. She wouldn't even have to do anything; just humor Chara for the afternoon and she'd leave the issue alone forever. And she could agree with her on one thing; she hadn't ever seen the interior of an adoption center, so just walking around inside didn't sound like too bad of a time. Like a petting zoo featuring micro skeleton monsters. But still…

"…I'll buy you dinner after?"

"Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~

Chara was practically vibrating in her seat. She chattered animatedly about the different kinds of bitties the center had available while her friend halfway listened to her ramblings. With how excited she was, it almost made Frisk feel guilty over the very large likelihood of coming out of the building holding the same opinion on adopting as she did before.

Admittedly, she had, on occasion, wondered what it would be like to have one of the pygmy skeletons in her company, but only after a while of seeing Chara together with Bossanova. She had always been a happy person, but after he entered her life, her joy had increased threefold. Then Frisk began to look around her and see other people happy in the company of their bitties, and the bitties happy and enjoying their company just as much.

Seeing this never-ending circle of happiness unfold around her, it made Frisk want to experience a little bit of that happiness for herself…

But her awkwardness around others was bound to extend to bitties as well. She tried to make conversation, but her attempts always fell flat. It seemed as though she always said the wrong thing, she cared too little or too much about a subject matter, she came off as too clingy one moment and too aloof the next. Relationships of any kind were far too difficult for her to deal with, she surmised.

It was just so much easier to push everyone away. But Chara, she had to be different. She was the only one that pushed back. And she kept pushing until she landed in Frisk's good graces, earned her trust. For years now, Chara's been her only friend, and Frisk was content with that.

But after all that talk of having her to herself for years and it being time to share her with somebody else, Frisk couldn't help but wonder…

Was Chara's relentless endeavoring to convince her of adopting a bitty Chara's way of getting some breathing room? Was their friendship actually smothering her now and she's simply too kind to admit it?

"We're here!" She nearly squealed in Frisk's ear before grabbing her arm, dragging her off the bus and away from her internal monologue. Chara then commenced shoving her towards the adoption center's front doors.

It looked small from the outside, but Frisk knew from Chara's numerous recountings of her previous trips here that there was much, much more space on the inside. It would have to be a big place if it held at least half of all the different varieties of bitties she remembered Chara telling her about in the past half hour, and she hadn't even been listening to most of her rantings during that time, so Frisk was certain she hadn't picked up the names of every one she mentioned.

The bell at the top of the door jingled when it was opened, alerting the keeper of the establishment, the mama, as she recalled Chara explaining. Apparently being the mama didn't require being female, because a very much male arachnid monster wearing a crisp white pocketed apron hurried over to greet them.

"Hi, Chara! I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. Weren't you here just earlier today?" He then noticed Frisk and sent a toothy smile her way. "My name is Webber. You must be Frisk, right? Chara talks about you all the time whenever she stops by. You were a very cute baby!"

At Webber's sugary-sweet giggle, she slowly turned her head towards Chara in a manner that must have looked like a real-life reenactment of the iconic scene from The Exorcist, who only gave her a goofy face in response to an action that would have greatly disturbed literally anyone else.

"You showed the employees here my baby pictures…?" Frisk hissed between her teeth.

"Yeah." She replied, gleefully pulling out her wallet from her back pocket and unfolding it to pluck out one of the photographs. "He's right, though. You were a really cute baby!"

"Why do you even carry that around with you?!"

"Because you're my sister and I love you."

"…I love you too." Frisk mumbled in defeat, figuring there was no use in getting mad at her over it now; what's done is done.

"So, are you here to browse, or…?" Webber decided to steer the conversation towards something more on topic, his hands clasped and a hopeful sparkle in his eyes - his very many eyes.

Frisk nervously toyed with the collar of her shirt. "I'm actually just here to look-"

"She's kind of on the fence about it!" Chara butted in. "We're going to look around and see if there's any bitty she takes a shine to. I'm sure there's got to be one that she's bound to love with all the different types here."

"We do have a very large selection available, my hands can definitely attest to that! Always busy!" Webber grinned, waving his six hands at her. "It's actually a lot easier to just list the types that aren't here. Even so, I think a bitty of every kind that we know about has been in this building at least once."

Frisk had a feeling she was going to be here for a while, if Chara has her way. She'll most likely insist that they view each and every classification of bitty kept here before allowing her to leave the adoption center's grounds.

"…Hey, Chara? Where's Bossanova?" The spider monster asked as he pointed to her shoulder, now noticing the small skeleton's absence. "He wasn't with you the first time you were here today either…"

"He's been grounded." She answered with a huff. "He bit a guy yesterday while we were out on a walk, so now he's in trouble."

"Oh dear… You do know he only does that because he sees you as his partner and he's upset over what he perceives as competition, right?"

"Yeah, I know. It's flattering sometimes, but really, the poor guy was just asking for directions. It's not like he was flirting with me or anything, even though I am irresistable."

"Oh my stars, Chara…" Frisk thought with an internal eyeroll.

Even though Frisk knew Chara was just joking, well, mostly, she was also right. Chara herself flirted playfully, but she was ironically incredibly dense when it came to others flirting with her. She couldn't differentiate between a serious or teasing atmosphere, so she opted to believe that the latter was always the case, frustrating those that had their eyes on her immensely.

Chara was beautiful and kind, everything that Frisk wasn't. It was obvious to Frisk why she would have a drove of admirers. Of course, since Bossanova's adoption, he did an exceptional job of keeping said admirers at bay despite his small size. At least she could trust in him that he would keep any and all creeps away from her precious sister.

As the discussion over Bossanova stretched on with no conclusion in close sight, Frisk decided to wander away from the two for the time being and check out the center's interior for herself. She soon found herself in a room that was somewhat small for a group composed of a few people, but immensely spacious for a pack of bitties. The walls were painted with soft colors, pastels, and on them were images of stars, fluffy clouds, and other things like what one would expect to find in a nursery. Was this where they kept the children bitties?

If she was ever coerced into adopting a bitty, it wasn't going to be a child. She had little patience for small children, but she supposed there wasn't any harm to be found in looking around.

Frisk quietly tip-toed further into the room towards the nearest pen housing a solitary bitty, all by its lonesome. Leaning closer to examine the monster, it was rather… big for a bitty. It was larger and bulkier than most of the bitties she had seen before, about the size of a teddy bear. She was beginning to have doubts about this one being a baby.

A blanket was thrown over its body and its head was shoved under a pillow, its form almost entirely concealed to her. The bitty's fidgeting was near constant in its slumber, when suddenly, it froze. It remained still as a statue for several long moments. The seconds dragged on, and when those seconds reached minutes was when she wondered if the poor thing had accidentally smothered itself with that pillow in its sleep.

Could skeleton monsters even die of asphyxiation?

Before she could grow too concerned, however, it moved again. The bitty tore off the blanket covering its body and threw the pillow to the side, revealing its full appearance to her – a stocky skeleton monster with a huge, glaring red eye, an unsettlingly wide, toothy grin, and a gaping hole in its head.

"Nope, definitely not a baby!" Frisk thought with growing horror as she jumped away from the pen with a yelp.

This wasn't in any way a nursery, she realized too late. If she had payed attention at all to Chara on the bus ride here, she would have known. This adoption center didn't have children bitties in their care, so they wouldn't need a nursery – this was the room for rescues.

The disfigured bitty didn't seem bothered by Frisk's reaction in the slightest, rising up on its two feet to make its way over to her. There was a thick layer of glass separating the two, but that did little to comfort her in this situation. The monster's glowing eye was trained on Frisk, focused and unwavering as it stepped closer. The bitty didn't stop until it reached the wall of its pen, fully pressing itself up against the glass.

"hhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….." The bitty drawled in a deep gutteral tone, smiling at her with a nauseating grin.

There was something clinging to the corners of its mouth; it was either pillow stuffing or he was foaming at the mouth. Frisk slowly backed away from the pen with hands raised in a defensive position, continuing to do so even as the bitty's hands made frantic clawing and grabbing motions at her. On her way out, she bumped into something, whirled around, and let out a scream she didn't even know she had been holding.

"Sorry! Sorry!" It was just Webber. "I didn't mean to scare you! That's, uh, that's Chopper over there. …I can see you two have already met." He winced, taking in the expression on her face, which must have been ghastly.

Chara poked her head in swiftly after. "Did you find Frisk, Webber?"

All Frisk could do was weakly point a trembling finger towards Chopper before rushing forward and throwing her arms around Chara's neck as she tried not to start bawling. Chara wrapped her own around Frisk and began patting the other girl's back and smoothing her hair.

"I know how you feel, Frisk. The first time in the rescue room is always the toughest. I wish you hadn't seen this, not today and not like this."

That sweet little domestic image Frisk held of all the bitties living blissfully alongside their owners had just been shattered – how could someone do this to a bitty?

"…What kind of bitty is he?" Chara inquired curiously after a few minutes of her and Webber making a team effort to calm Frisk down. "He looks like a Sansy, but…"

"That's because he was a Sansy…" Webber began to explain, wringing his apron nervously with his two lowermost hands. "Sometimes certain classifications of bitties come to be when certain conditions are met. In his case, he was a Sansy that became an Axe type bitty due to near starvation and receiving a severe blow to the head. It was a miracle that he survived at all."

"The person that did this to him needs to be dragged out into the streets and shot." Chara immediately replied, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.

Frisk and Webber gazed at her, gobsmacked, along with some of the other bitties in the room. Her remark was so sudden, not to mention disturbing, even Chopper ceased rubbing his face against the glass of his pen to peer at her quizzically with widened eyesockets.

"Er, um, I think you've seen enough of the rescue room today, right, Frisk?" Webber stuttered, looking at anywhere else but Chara at the moment. He then crouched down in front of the now identified Axe bitty and spoke to him in a gentle, encouraging tone, "Say goodbye to Frisk, Chopper."

"b-bye-b-b-bbyyyeeeee…" He managed to choke out, his vocalization almost sounding like a sob.

Frisk whispered a barely audible 'bye' in return before following Webber and Chara out of the room.

She missed the tearful look in Chopper's eyes as he watched her go, his phalanges still making small frantic grabbing motions against the glass wall of his pen at her retreating figure.

~~~~~~~~~~

"…That was horrible." Frisk whispered, every bone in her body quaking.

"I'm so sorry… I usually lock that door. And the one time I don't, somebody new here finds themselves in there, of all places..." Webber wasn't certain whether it would be alright to touch her or not, so his hands hovered about unsurely.

"No, I shouldn't have wandered off in the first place. …I'll be fine. Maybe seeing some happy and healthy bitties would help…?" She offered, anything to get her mind off of the manifestation of humanity's depraved cruelty that was present in that room.

"You still want to?" Chara asked, to which Frisk gave a wordless nod in return. "Alright, but if you need to just let it all out, let me know, okay?" She turned to the arachnid monster. "I can take things from here Webber. I'll show Frisk around the adoption center. I know this place better than the back of my hand!"

"Okay, but if you need me at all, give me a shout or a poke and I'll be there." He called, still concerned as he rushed off to carry out his other duties as the mama of the establishment.

"How about we go see the Sansies, huh?" Chara suggested as she unceremoniously shoved Frisk in the direction of the Sansy pen.

The bitties in this pen were much shorter than Chopper, about the height of your average can of soda, but they had the same thick-boned structure. However, a layer of chub was visible on their stomachs that was absent on the Axe bitty she had encountered. These Sansies seemed to be healthy, that much Frisk could take comfort in.

They seemed content behind the glass of their enclosure as well. Among their utilities was a kiddie pool where one of them was dozing off in a doughnut floatie and another was reclining in a miniature folding chair while appearing to be pretending to sunbathe. The others were either lounging about in various positions, napping outright, or speaking to each other in deep, soft mumbles. They weren't very active bitties, were they?

"A Sansy might be a good match for you, Frisk." Chara spoke, causing some of the little skeletons to turn your way. "They're lazy and round, and they're supposed to be low maintenance. Then again, all bitties are different, even if they are the same type. You might adopt one and end up with a spoiled little prince of a Sansy."

"…Do they bite?" She questioned.

"Only if you deserve it." Chara gave her another encouraging push forward. "Sansies are one of the mildest mannered bitties there is. I can count all the cases I've heard of one biting somebody on one hand."

"yeah, i don't bite, kid." One of the bitties assured as he sauntered towards them, a relaxed grin on his face as he craned his neck up to look at Frisk, topping off his statement with a wink.

The Sansy held both hands behind his back and bounced from one foot to the other, him staring up at her and her staring back. After a long moment of silence, his grin began to slip just a little around the corners as he gazed at her expectantly.

"…I think he wants you to pick him up." Chara whispered not so discreetly in Frisk's ear.

"Is that allowed?" She asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, it is." Chara snorted as if her inquiry was a completely ridiculous thing to wonder about.

Frisk stole a glance at the Sansy, who was still patiently waiting for the girl to reach down and take him in her hands.

"Go on, I know you wanna poke his belly." Chara repeatedly elbowed her with a grin.

She did, in fact, kind of want to poke his belly, but wouldn't that be kind of rude? But more importantly, it seemed Frisk was the only one out of the three of them present that acknowledged how much could go wrong with this scenario. What if she accidentally dropped him? What if he landed on his head? What if his impact with the floor resulted in the shattering of his skull? He might turn into an Axe variant, just like the one in the rescue room, and all because she hadn't been careful enough with him.

Why was she the only one that seemed to be seriously considering that very real possibility? Did these bitties have any sense of self-preservation in them? Were they really that trusting towards complete strangers to not hurt them?

"…What if I drop him?" Frisk unintentionally voiced her fear aloud.

"You won't drop him." Chara held back a laugh, trying to take her concern seriously but failing – to her, it would be impossible for Frisk to hurt a bitty even by accident with how cautious she was around them.

"hey, look at me for a sec, pal." The Sansy grinned up at her. "you're not gonna hurt me. not even the littlest bitty. everything's going tibia ok."

"…Was that a pun?"

"Sansies love concocting horrible puns. It's their specialty." Chara chimed in. "That's why they're so popular. They've got that jokey demeanor that's somehow also uplifting and reassuring, or that's what I've heard. I didn't adopt a Sansy, so I can't speak from experience."

They were both looking at Frisk anticipatingly now – she was promised that she wouldn't have to interact with any of the bitties if she didn't wish it, and Chara wouldn't force her to if she put her foot down about it, but seeing that Sansy looking up at her with just the tiniest spark of hope in his eyelights made Frisk want to muster up the determination to try.

Gingerly, she bent her upper body over the top of the pen and lowered her hand until it was beside him. He smiled, the wide grin he had been wearing appearing more genuine somehow as he toddled over to the outstretched palm. Rather than climb right into the awaiting hand, he took a moment to gently rub his bony cheek against the tips of her fingers, causing Frisk's hand to twitch and skin to tingle at the contact.

Chara was practically vibrating in place like a bottle of soda about to burst as she watched the interactions between her and the bitty unfold. Frisk could tell she was doing her best not to let out a squeal of delight.

Frisk stared down at the bitty sadly; she couldn't help it. These poor little skeleton monsters with their fragile bones were entirely at the mercy of anyone that walked out with one. Did they know that? Were they even aware of the fact that any of them could end up as one of those Axe variants if they were unfortunate enough to be taken home by a person with enough violence and apathy in them? Maybe it was better for them to stay behind the safety of the walls of their pen instead of risking them being handed out to humans with evil intentions.

A brief and horrifying image of this kind little Sansy that had taken the time and effort to speak with her morphing into an exact replica of Chopper flashed in Frisk's mind before she could stop it.

Just as the Sansy was about to take a seat on her palm, she jerked her hand out of the pen, resulting in him falling backwards and onto his rear. He whipped his head up at Frisk with widened eyesockets and that seemingly permanent grin he wore wiped off, looking for some sort of explanation for her sudden change of heart.

"…I've changed my mind. I don't need to be touching or poking around at anybody here. It's just too much excitement for a first-timer like me."

"…'s alright. i get it. no pressure." The bitty shrugged, trying not to look dejected for her sake as he stood up to rub at his sore tailbone.

She realized then that he had just passed up the opportunity to make another bad pun by correcting you with 'don't you mean any bitty here?'. Her rejection had actually stung so much that he had lost any and all desire to make a joke, something his entire classification of bitty was supposed to enjoy doing and were renown for.

It's all she knew how to do, it seemed – hurt people in some shape or form.

"Chara and I are going to check out the rest of the center, so…" She trailed off awkwardly.

"'k. have fun…" The Sansy replied in a dull tone, shoulders sagged and posture slumped as his dimmed eyelights watched her go.

"Frisk, what was that about?" Chara interrogated once Frisk had speed walked far enough from the Sansy pen.

"I don't know how to explain it, but…" She grimaced, looking her in the eyes. "One moment I was okay with the idea of holding him and then the next, he suddenly looked just like that Axe…"

"What happened in there must have really shook you, Frisk." She sighed, though understanding and sympathetic towards her apprehension. She pointed to the pen behind them with a growing smile. "We're close to the Papy pen, so why don't we look at them? They're sure to raise your spirits."

She didn't know what a Papy was, but if they were ghost monsters of some sort, Frisk was smacking her for that pun.

They weren't, though, so Chara had avoided the consequences of telling a terrible pun. They were skeleton monsters like the Sansies were, and every other bitty she had encountered thus far, but looked radically different. While Sansies were short and stout, these Papys were tall and slender. They looked similar to Bossanova, but just an inch or two shorter and lacked all the features that made Chara's bitty companion appear unfriendly and intimidating.

"HELLO, HUMAN!" One eagerly bounced towards the two with a friendly wave. "MY NAME IS RONDO, WHAT'S YOURS?"

Bossanova? Rondo?

Whoever it was responsible for naming these bitties seemed to have a penchant for music.

"Frisk." She answered flatly, trying not to let her already less than stellar interactions with the hostile Bossanova taint her impression of this entirely unrelated bitty.

"FRISK, THAT'S A NICE NAME!" Rondo beamed at her, then gestured dramatically to the space around him. "HUMAN FRISK, WOULD YOU LIKE TO STEP INSIDE?"

"No thanks. I'm just here to look today, that's all."

Frisk swore her heart panged when she caught the shunned expression that crossed his face for all of a split-second before instantly returning to that smile that was so bright one was almost forced to squint.

"VERY WELL, THEN. I RESPECT YOUR DECISION, HUMAN. MY GREATNESS IS VERY INTIMIDATING, I'M SURE." He placed a gloved hand over his chest, a dramatic wind that came from nowhere causing the scarf tied around his neck to flutter in the nonexistant breeze. "SHOULD YOU HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART, HOWEVER, I, THE GREAT RONDO, WILL BE HERE!"

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." She nodded in his direction before stepping over towards the next pen.

Oh dear.

Chara gave a gasp of joy at the bitties in what was a new sight to Frisk but a very familiar and nostalgic one for her. Inside was another pack of skeleton monsters, tall and slender like the Papys, but the sharp features they possessed were also extremely recognizable to Frisk due to the time spent around Chara's bitty. Sharp teeth, red eyelights, dark clothing – they were all near exact copies of Bossanova.

"And these handsome little devils are the Edges!" This time, Chara did squeal. "Ah, seeing them makes me miss my Bossanova so much… Why did he have to be a jealous jerk and bite that guy and make me ground him?"

Pushing Chara's prattling out of her mind, Frisk considered moving along to the next pen, as she knew without a single lingering doubt that she wasn't adopting another Bossanova, or Edge, as they were called, but one of the bitties flagged her down before Frisk could get too far.

"HUMAN!" The miniature skeleton wearing the finely tailored black suit and crimson cravat shouted, strutting up to the glass between the two of them with all the confidence of a peacock. He placed one hand over his puffed out chest and scrutinized her condescendingly. "WHEREVER COULD YOU BE RUNNING OFF TO SO QUICKLY? COULD IT BE YOU HAVE BEEN INTIMIDATED BY THE TERRIBLE EDGEWORTH?"

"He has the same name as that character from the game about the lawyers you like so much!" Chara pointed out with apparent glee. "Look at the wittle snappy suit he's wearing; he looks like he could be a lawyer!"

"I AM THE TERRIBLE EDGEWORTH, POWERFUL AND FEARED!" He scowled at her with a light red dusting his pointy cheekbones. He crossed his arms with a huff and turned his nose up. "THERE IS NOTHING ENDEARING ABOUT THE SIZE OF MYSELF OR MY EXTRAVAGANT SUIT, SO CEASE YOUR INANE COOING IMMEDIATELY, HUMAN!"

"See that tiny blush there? He so loves the attention." She leaned over to whisper, not bothering at all with subtlety as she pointed at the fuming Edgeworth. "The defining trait of Edges is that most of them are tsunderes."

"You know I've never really been that fond of tsundere characters, Chara…"

"I know." She sighed wistfully, not taking her eyes off of Edgeworth, who was steaming like a tea kettle at this point with indignation. "I guess the charm of Edges are just lost on you. But that's okay. I totally get it. Edges aren't for everybody. We'll find you a type of bitty that you'll like, I'm sure of it."

With that, she carted Frisk away, Edgeworth still spewing out an endless tirade of scoldings and insistent statements of denial that he appreciated any attention from a lowly insignificant human to their backs.

The next pen was occupied by more Sansies, Frisk thought at first. However, these bitties had rougher and more pointed features than the Sansies, just as the Edges had sharper and more mordacious features than the Papys. They were also noticeably thicker bodied than the Sansies, their clothes being more filled out, especially around the belly area.

Frisk had a secret weakness for small and chubby things, particularly those round birds one would find in the parking lots of supermarkets that weren't so heavy that they couldn't fly, but preffered to hop around on the ground, picking at dropped food morsels with their beaks and only taking flight when they absolutely had to.

That's what these bitties reminded her of.

The fondness she felt for them was immediately replaced with mortification when one took notice of her persisting gaze and grinned, flashing his shark-like teeth. Frisk caught her reflection in the single golden fang in his knife drawer of a mouth.

"c'mere, doll." He nearly purred, pawing at the glass of the pen separating her from him. "I don't bite… much."

"Chara, I'm scared." She whimpered, discarding her cactus armor in favor of cowering at her side like the squishy marshmallow she was inside.

"You are not. He's six inches tall for pete's sake, Frisk, and you thought he was cute just a moment ago! I saw it in your eyes!"

"That was before he opened his mouth."

"Frisk, I won't lie to you and say that Reds don't bite, because they most definitely do." Frisk glared at her, wondering if what she was saying was somehow supposed to be reassuring. "But, it's scientifically proven that Reds are sixty percent more likely to bite you on the first encounter if you're a dude, so you've only got a forty percent chance of being bit!"

"…That's still a pretty big margin for error. I'll pass on this one."

"c'mon, sweetheart. i'll behave." The Red crooned, his mannerisms and sly grin doing little to convince her of his claim holding any amount of truth. "i don't like makin' promises, but i won't bite ya, doll. …maybe give ya some love nibbles 'n a few licks here 'n there, though. eheheh…"

"…The Reds are all perverts, aren't they?" She tilted her head in Chara's direction with a weary gaze. Normally, she'd blush profusely at hearing such a thing, but after the day she'd had, Frisk just didn't have it in her anymore.

"No, they aren't perverts!" Chara wanted to be stern with her, but she couldn't resist laughing at her expression. "Some of them are kind of flirty, okay, a lot flirty, but some of them are more temperamental like the Edges, too. It all depends on the individual personality of the bitty."

"…I still don't feel too comfortable around this one. And I'm not just saying that because of the abundant air of flirtiness around him." Frisk said, stealing a glance at his sharp teeth that would undoubtedly break skin if he did decide to bite. "He looks kind of mean."

"i can be sweet too, if that's what yer lookin' for in a bitty." The Red bargained, beginning to sweat.

She didn't even know skeleton monsters could sweat, but if they can blush then seeing one sweat shouldn't be too jarring to her.

"I'm not looking to take any one of you home today, sorry." Despite his weird display of behavior, she decided it was best to let him down gently.

"tch. fine. be that way, then. you don't gotta make any excuses, dollie. i get it." He scowled at her, failing to hide his hurt and disappointment as he turned away from Frisk and stomped his way to the nearest corner of the pen, sitting down and facing the wall. "guess reds are just too mean 'n ugly for most folks to want…"

"…I never called him ugly." She said, feeling guilty for hurting the bitty's feelings and saying the wrong thing again.

That right there was a shining example of exactly why she didn't need to adopt a bitty. She'd just end up hurting the poor thing, if not physically then emotionally.

Frisk looked around the pen and took note of the fewer number of Reds when compared to the Sansies or Papys. It seemed they really weren't a favorable classification of bitty, otherwise wouldn't the center have more of them around?

"Hey, don't get too bent out of shape." Chara comforted her, picking up on the fog of gloom that was beginning to form around her. "Reds are actually pretty popular among some circles. Like I said about the Edges, they're not for everybody, but some people out there really like their rugged appeal. But when somebody doesn't take to them, Reds do take it pretty hard. He'll be okay, eventually."

She then guided Frisk away from the pen, probably so she wouldn't break any more of their hearts, metaphorically speaking.

The next pen contained more skeleton monsters – in fact, Frisk hadn't ever come across a bitty that wasn't a skeleton monster. Then again, she didn't know that much about bitties. That much, she did know.

The bitties behaved a lot like the Sansies they saw up front, but they had the likeness of Papys, even more so than the Edges. There wasn't any asperity to them – they seemed limp and repose, like long little noodles.

"If you really wanted to, you could absolutely hold a Stretch without any worries over being bit at or scratched." Chara explained, gesturing to one of them that was sprawled out in the lap of a big teddy bear. "You could probably even pick one up and swing him around like a ragdoll and he wouldn't do a thing about it. That's how chill they are."

"That's entirely too chill." Frisk complained, now worried for another type of bitty that apparently didn't have any sense of self-preservation in his bony body.

"you fret too much, honey." One of them sauntered over, having woken up from his nap in the bitty-sized hammock inside the pen.

"…Honey?" She raised an eyebrow at Chara, unimpressed.

"Eheeheehee!" She cackled, earning a sigh from Frisk.

"Another pervy-" Excuse her. "Flirty bitty."

The Stretch in front of them, well, stretched, lightly popping his joints, causing a few of the others in the pen to grimace and send him irritated looks for interrupting their own naps. He either didn't notice or didn't care, preferring to keep his attention on the both of them, but moreso Chara.

"'m name's Bebop, sugar." He introduced himself, punctuated by another pop from his bones.

There was that musical naming theme again. Frisk was surprised nobody here had thought to dress him up like a cowboy…

That's what she would do, anyway.

"Well aren't you a charmer!" Chara was enraptured by every word that fell from his bony mouth; Frisk could already see the signs of infatuation in her eyes as she smiled down at Bebop.

"Wow, Chara. One day without him around and you're already looking for a replacement for Bossanova."

Chara whirled around to face her with an offended gasp, one hand gripped over her heart.

"How dare you say that, Frisk! There's no replacing Bossanova! I probably love him more than I've ever loved myself!"

Huh. Frisk had a suspicion for a while now that this was true, but she wasn't expecting a confirmation of that theory, especially not under these circumstances.

"That's a lot of love." She stated blankly.

"I don't want to replace Bossanova. I just thought it might help improve the more rotten parts of his personality if he had a calmer bitty buddy around him."

"With how jealous he is, and how flirty this one is?" Frisk waved a hand gesturing to Bebop, who only gave a lazy smile and a wave in return. "That sounds like a horrible idea, Chara."

She sighed in defeat, bending down to eye level with him. "I'm sorry, Bebop. Our love just wasn't meant to be."

"i'll be waitin' right here honey, in case you ever change your mind." He placed a hand against the glass of the pen, aligning his tiny one with the middle of her palm, curling his phalanges as if he were attempting to will the glass to break under his touch so he could reach Chara.

…Frisk was beginning to feel like she was witnessing the separation of two illicit lovers on a soap opera or those Spanish telenovelas her mother watched and ate up like candy. Could this technically count as an affair? This was getting weird!

As Chara withdrew her hand, however, she couldn't deny that Bebop's expression seemed somewhat softer, his grin more at ease but melancholy all the same. She thought that he was just going along with Chara's theatrics, but it seemed now that her rejection had sincerely hurt him.

His drooped eyesockets followed her until she was out of sight.

Chara seemed very enthusiastic about what she was about to show Frisk in the next pen. She seemed to be pinning a lot of her hopes on whatever type of bitty it was awaiting her.

"I've never heard of a single instance of one biting anybody! They're highly recommended for someone that isn't experienced in handling bitties, which describes you to a T – perfect for a first bitty. And they're soooooooo cute, even you'll think so, Frisk!"

"I have my doubts, but I'll go ahead and humor you."

Ignoring her sour grapes attitude, Chara stepped in front of the pen, obstructing Frisk's view. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"And these precious little gumdrops are… the Blueberries!"

She stepped aside and allowed her to observe the pocket-sized skeletons. They were yet another classification of bitty that bore more than a few striking resemblances to the Sansies, but instead of appearing intimidating as the Reds were, they had an overall softer look to them. They weren't as round in the stomach as the Reds, but they still had that supermarket parking lot bird aspect to them that Frisk liked. They were playing happily by themselves, or with each other, not a single sign of discontent or quarrel among them.

All until one peered up to look at her with cerulean eyelights which morphed into the shape of stars, followed immediately by the rest halting in whatever action or task each bitty was performing to do the same.

Suddenly, the entire pack of Blueberries were scrambling in her direction. They swiftly began piling up on each other, tripping on the legs of others and knocking one another down until a shouting and flailing mass of skeletal limbs had formed, a messed up chorus of bitties yelling and climbing all over each other for the express purpose of capturing her interest.

"HUMAN! A HUMAN HAS ARRIVED!"

"PLEASE LOOK AT ME, HUMAN!"

"CHOOSE ME, PLEASE! I KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS!"

"I KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS TOO, BUT BETTER!"

"YOU MAY KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS BETTER, BUT I MAKE TACOS THE BEST!"

"LIAR, LIAR, BITTY ON FIRE!"

"PLEASE NOTICE ME, HUMAN!"

Frisk slowly backed away from the pen, even though she was in no amount of danger of the Blueberries escaping. But seeing them all clustered like this shouting at the top of their likely nonexistant lungs was, for her, an extremely anxiety-inducing experience. Their voices were all blended together, their movements blurred. It was becoming more and more of a challenge to discern which one was saying what. They had all but become a hivemind to her.

Frisk tenderly rubbed at her temples, feeling a headache beginning to bloom in her skull. All this noise was proving to be too much for her fragile nerves to handle.

"…I can't do this."

She spun on her heel and began walking, trying to block out the needy cries and whines of the attention deprived Blueberries behind her. She finally stopped once she'd reached the back end of the building, her speedy and abrupt departure forcing Chara to jog in order to catch up.

"I'm sorry, Frisk, that was probably my fault!" She sputtered, doubled over and out of breath. "I told them about you when I was here earlier today, and I guess I got them a little too rowdy."

"Chara, that wasn't even remotely close to 'rowdy'. That was a riot."

"Blueberries are competitive when it comes to adoption!" She sighed, and for the first time in a long, long while, the smile she always wore, regardless of the current situation or mood, had vanished completely. "Frisk, I know I said before that all you had to do today was look around, that's it, but I didn't think then that you'd be like this the entire time…"

"Like what?" She nearly hissed, not liking at all what she was insinuating.

"You're acting completely disinterested, and rude, and… and cold! What's your problem, Frisk?!"

"You can't blame me for acting disinterested, Chara." She barked back, doing everything within her power to keep her own temper in check. "I told you when you first proposed the idea that I didn't want to adopt a bitty, but you just kept pushing and pushing until I finally agreed in allowing you to drag me here."

"So that's what you're calling it – dragging you here." Her shoulders squared as she aimed a glare at Frisk. "You really aren't having any fun at all, are you?"

"How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I know I'm about to lose my best and only friend? Explain that to me, Chara!" She unintentionally exclaimed, causing Chara's eyes to widen in shock and confusion.

"…Frisk, what are you talking about?" Her voice was uncharacteristically faint.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! You can just say it; I won't get mad, because I understand!" Frisk shouted, turning her gaze towards the floor – she couldn't bear to look Chara in the face as her insecurities and fears bubbled to the surface. "It's the entire reason why you brought me here – if I adopted a bitty, you'd have more time to spend with your other friends or to yourself, right? Being around me is suffocating, isn't it? Having to constantly put up with someone who's so anti-social and mean, who always says or does the wrong thing so much that just about everyone waits until I'm gone just to talk with you… I don't blame you. Not at all. Why wouldn't you look for the first opportunity to get away from someone like that?"

Frisk hadn't realized she was crying until she saw a droplet fall down to her feet. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her nose was running. And right in front of Chara, too. This wasn't the first time she had seen her like this, but it was still something rare for her to witness – Frisk did all her crying behind closed doors if she could help it.

Frisk's only saving grace was the fact that no employees, other visitors, or bitties behind their glass enclosures were present as spectators of her emotional breakdown. Because the absolute last thing she needed right now was someone seeing her in this state and feeling sorry for her. She definitely didn't deserve any pity, not when she was such an awful friend.

That's what she was, an awful friend. A friend so awful that her only companion in life felt that she needed to get a bitty, something that theoretically couldn't run away from her like everyone else, just so she could get a break.

Frisk heard footsteps – Chara's footsteps. She saw her moving through the hair covering her eyes and the tears blurring her vision.

This was it. This was the end of their friendship.

She didn't have to pretend anymore.

She could be free.

Frisk didn't expect to feel arms around her, one around her back and the other behind her head, but she did. Frisk slowly lifted her head from the shoulder her face had been buried in to see familiar red hair and golden flowers.

Chara – her entire form shook as she held Frisk tightly, as if she would slip away and vanish if she didn't.

"Frisk, how could you even think that?" She sniffled, much to her shock. If there was one thing more rare than her seeing Frisk cry, it was Frisk seeing her cry. "That… that's not true! None of that is true! You're my best friend, you're my sister, my sister-friend, and I love you!"

"But I'm a horrible friend…" She wept through clenched teeth.

"No you're not! If anything, I'm the horrible friend!" Chara wailed loudly, pulling Frisk away from herself just enough to look her in the eyes. "I'm the one that's closest to you, the one that's supposed to know you better than anyone else and I didn't even know you felt this way, didn't even notice!"

Oh no, Chara was blaming herself for her episode…

"I didn't want you to adopt a bitty because I wanted to get away from you!" Chara seemed to be mentally assessing all of her previous statements on the subject, not just today, and blanched. "Oh gosh… no wonder you thought that! What I said earlier, I didn't mean it like that! I… I was just so happy after I adopted Bossanova. Despite our… vast and various differences, it really felt like he saw something wonderful in me that most people tend to gloss over and wanted to be with me because of that. Bossanova and bitties in general have brought so much joy to my life that I wanted to share it. You were the one that's made me happiest and has been here with me, despite everything. So I thought that, out of everyone, you deserved that slice of happiness I found the most. That's why I've been so stubborn in pushing you to adopt; I thought that some bitty here might see what I see in you, like what you and Bossanova saw in me..."

Frisk openly sobbed then, wracked with more guilt than before; how could she have ever doubted Chara, her dearest and only friend?

Frisk was thankful that she pulled her back into her shoulder before she could create too much of a racket and cause Webber or some concerned customer to check up on the two of them. What an embarrassing story that would have been for Chara to have to explain. 'My sister is crying because she thought I was trying to get rid of her with a bitty.'

But no, she would never air out her insecurities like that; she'd make a convenient excuse for Frisk, one that wasn't a lie, but would save her from embarrassment and protect her privacy. Because that was the kind of person Chara was.

Chara fetched some tissues from her shoulder bag, drying Frisk's eyes and her's once the both of them had calmed down sufficiently. Thankfully, no one intruded during their moment, and the both of them were cleaned up enough that hopefully nobody would suspect that the two had just been bawling their hearts out to each other.

"I'm so sorry, Chara."

"No, I am. I'm the one that should be sorry." She argued, covering Frisk's mouth for the second time today before she could retort. "I've been way too… forceful, about this whole thing. It's completely true that I had the best of intentions in bringing you here, but the truth still stands that I had to wear you down for literal months and bribe you before you would even begin to consider it. There were things that you enjoyed and went nuts over in your own way that I didn't, but you never tried to cram those things down my throat like I have."

"No, it's really alright. You're just really passionate about bitties and wanted to share that with me. I get that. But, I just really don't think I'm properly equipped to adopt one."

"I understand, Frisk. I really am sorry, for everything. I thought I would be making you happy by bringing you here, but all I ended up doing in the end is make you cry – the last thing I ever wanted to do." She lightly grabbed Frisk's hand and began tugging her along. "Come on, we'll go get dinner and go home if you want, like I promised."

"Wait." She said, wiggling out of her grasp. "We can't go home yet! I… still haven't seen all of the center."

"Frisk, you don't have to force yourself to stay here just to entertain me. You've done enough of that already."

"I… I didn't dislike everything today."

"So you've actually had some fun? Really?" A faint trace of her usual smile was beginning to reappear.

"Really, Chara. I can think of plenty worse ways to have spent my time." A light, airy chuckle escaped her throat, but then she frowned when she remembered the poor, mangled thing of a bitty she had seen when first exploring the center. "But Chara… do you really think a bitty would be safe under my care? When I'm like this? They'd just get hurt."

"Frisk, listen to me." Chara gripped her shoulders, a serious expression on her face. "I wouldn't have even considered bringing you here if I ever once thought you'd hurt a bitty. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have reacted like you did when you saw that Axe. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have yanked your hand out of the pen the way you did and refuse to touch any of the bitties because you were afraid of dropping one. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have cut a conversation short because they were afraid of saying something that would hurt a Papy's feelings. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have been considerate of that Red's feelings when you shot him down even though you thought he was acting weird. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have carefully considered what might happen if your friend brought a flirty Stretch to a home with a chronically jealous Edge. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have walked away from a pen of Blueberries bouncing off the walls, even when this person was a few seconds away from having a nervous breakdown. Even when it looked like you were being unfriendly and rude to someone who didn't know you like I do, you've had nothing but the best intentions in mind for the bitties each and every time. That's why you would make the best bitty owner, in my maybe not so humble opinion."

"…I still don't know how I feel about adoption, but… I'll look around some more and see if there's any one that I like. There must be some pens that we passed up when I was running away from the Blueberries."

"Hmm, just the Blackberries and the Ruses, I think." She mused aloud, going over the map of the adoption center in her head. "I don't think you'd like the Blackberries too much, though, so maybe it's for the best."

"What are they like?"

"Like an Edge and a Blueberry mashed up together."

"Pass." Frisk replied so quickly that it made Chara snort. "What about the Ruses?"

"Weeeell…" She trailed off, bouncing on her heels. "They're like Stretches, but a little more rough around the edges. Some of them can be kind of standoffish at first, but once one decides they like you, they'll smother you in love and will literally die for you."

"That last part sounds a little concerning…" She voiced, the thought of a bitty, something so tiny and fragile, dying for her sake was just too much to bear.

"Some of them get attached to potential adopters easily, so maybe we should skip that one too to avoid any heartbreak, metaphorically speaking."

"That sounds best." Frisk agreed, having seen enough sad bitty faces for one day. "So… what else is there?"

"Well, we're close to where we keep the exotic bitties, over there to your left."

"Exotic? So these bitties are supposed to be rarer than the others?"

"Precisely."

"And undoubtedly more expensive than the others as well."

"…That is also correct."

~~~~~~~~~~

Frisk didn't really see what it was that made these bitties supposedly more special than the others, other than the fact that there were much fewer numbers of them in their pens. However, she soon learned that the reason why they were considered exotic was because most of these types of bitties only came to be from another type of bitty when certain conditions were met – they were similar cases to the Axe bitty, but the changes they underwent were entirely harmless.

The first pen the two of them came across were Sansy variants. They looked like the ones they had seen up front of the store in every conceivable way except for the manner in which they dressed. These bitties were either dressed in overalls and straw hats, or kimonos and sandals over socks. The space around them was covered in plants, mostly tomatoes with potted flowers interspersed here and there, with little ladders for the bitties to climb in order to reach them. On the far left side of the pen was some sort of watering hole, and to the far right were several loose pages with information about the plants in their domain scribbled on, likely by the bitties' own hands judging by the size of the handwriting.

"These are the Farmies. This type of bitty originated in Japan, but a few of them here became influenced without the country's involvement." Chara went on to explain further. "Farmies come to be when a Sansy finds and embraces the values of good honest country field work."

"That must be why there are so few of them." Frisk remarked, causing her and even a few of the bitties to laugh. "Only Japan could have taken a few lazy lumps of skeleton and turned them into this."

"Farming has done nothing to diminish their relaxed ways of life. They work hard, but also at their own pace." Chara corrected her, nodding to one of the Farmies that was taking a nap under the shadow of a looming tomato, a bitty-sized watering can resting at his side. "As you can imagine, they're loved amongst the agricultural community, but also by sweet little old ladies with gardens."

"I bet if dad doesn't have one of them already, he'd love one." Frisk then frowned. "I don't really know that much about what's going on in his life since he and mom split up…"

Before Frisk could dwell too much on her unfortunate family situation, Chara began pulling her away to look at the other exotic bitties there. When she bid them farewell, one of the kimono-clad monsters folded both hands on his lap and bowed before sending them off.

One type of bitty they saw was so rare, there were only two inside the pen. They must have been Papys at one point from what you could tell. Frisk couldn't see that much of them because they seemed bent on hiding as much of themselves from them as possible. Apparently this classification of miniature skelton was so rare, bitty researchers couldn't decide amongst themselves if they should be labelled as Greens or Asters, according to Chara. Unfortunately, all the attention they received over their rarity had made them rather quiet and withdrawn.

Their neighbors in the pen opposite were far less shy. There were four of them, and just as with the Greens or Asters, researchers weren't quite sure what brought them into existence. All that was known was that they stemmed from Sansies. But they didn't resemble Sansies in the slightest, to Frisk. They were tall, not as tall as a Papy, an Edge, or a Stretch, but definitely taller than a Sansy. They didn't dress like Sansies, either. These bitties resembled some of the J-Rock boyband members that Chara became obsessed with in her teenage years, with their leather jackets and combat boots; one of them was even holding an acoustic guitar, strumming the strings of the instrument with evident skill and quietly mouthing lyrics to himself.

One aspect about them made every single cell in her body freeze with pure terror when she noticed it, however. Their faces, all four of them, had identical hairline cracks over their eyes that stretched down their cheeks, and in their palms were holes that were so deep they spanned all the way to the backsides of their hands.

These bitties had been hurt, that was all she could think of at the moment. Before Frisk could sink too deeply into her trepidation, Chara quickly rectified her hasty presumption.

"I know what you're thinking, Frisk, but those cracks and holes are completely natural for Gs. None of these guys have even been adopted before, and nobody that works here would do anything bad to them and get away with it alive. Not while I'm around, anyway."

"But don't they… hurt?" Frisk inquired, gesturing to her own face and then the center of her hand.

"Not at all." The G holding the guitar answered for her. "But thanks for the concern. Nobody's really ever went out of their way to ask us that before. It's sweet."

His voice was low with a slight rasp, different from the deep and lazy tone the Sansies spoke in, but also not too different.

And then she realized that this bitty just called her sweet.

"Uhm… nobody's really said anything like that to me, either." She stammered, only to make another embarrassing realization, and that realization being that she was blushing.

And Chara and the bitty were enjoying it immensely.

"Gs are entertainment bitties. They charm the masses with their voices and fingerwork on the guitar strings." Chara quipped, her grin reminding Frisk of a certain meme involving a smug smiling cat.

"That makes them sound more like performers than bitties, from what I know about the both of them. Their talent sounds appealing, but couldn't someone adopt them for the sole reason of taking advantage of that?"

"You're a worrier, aren't you?" His tone wasn't patronizing, but Frisk felt so when she heard him chuckle, golden eyes gazing at her with mirth. "We're well taken care of here and our caretakers do their best to ensure we're handed over to people that won't take advantage of or abuse us, but sometimes fate deals you an unlucky hand. It's a sad fact of life, but that's reality for you."

"And you're… okay with that? You aren't ever concerned about falling into the hands of a bad person?"

"Of course it's something that some of us think about, but we don't let it consume our every thought. Monsters are a hopeful people, and that includes us bitties. We've all got our own seperate thoughts and feelings, but the majority of us try to look at the good in a person and hope for the best."

She took a moment to absorb his words. Frisk had heard before that the SOULs of monsters were made of love, hope, and compassion. It was a truly beautiful sounding thing, she thought. But these bitties' innocent hope that they would be adopted out to a home that would treat them well and love them and wouldn't use and abuse them, it was more heartbreaking to her, mainly because of the overhanging layer of hopelessness to the situation should they end up in one of the homes that would bring harm to them without care.

Another husky chuckle from him caught her attention.

"Although, there's something you could do to prevent that." He appeared pensive for a moment, inclining his body closer towards Frisk before breaking out into a broad grin and wiggling an eyebrow(eyebone?) at her. "You could take me home with you. Then neither you or I would have any reason to worry about me being adopted out to a bad home, because that's something you're obviously concerned over. I've got a nice life here, but being fussed over by you doesn't sound too bad at all."

"…Chara, we're going. He's making fun of me."

"No, no, wait! Come back!" He wheezed between his sputters of laughter at her scandalized and disgusted expression. "I won't tease you anymore, at least not over that."

Frisk huffed, her cheeks still pink, but at least she'd stopped shoving Chara away from the pen.

"'m sorry. I'm not trying to make fun of you, honest. It's just… really adorable that you care as much as you do." He laughed again, propping himself up on one elbow and resting his fist under his chin.

"If you're wanting me to take you home, you're really not helping your case here, pal."

"Probably not. But let me try to make it up to you?" He retrieved his guitar from where it was resting at his side. "I'm not that good, so don't hold your expectations too high, but I can guarantee it'll come directly from the SOUL."

Frisk could admit to herself that ever since Chara mentioned them being bitties that entertained, she was curious as to how he would sound. It looked like her curiosity was about to be sated when he began strumming the opening to a song that might have been familiar to her.

"There was a time I was in love

and all the angels and the doves

couldn't make her say

'I love you…'"

And heavens above, his playing, his voice was nearly divine. If he referred to this as 'not that good' then she was utterly terrified of what he considered to be exceptional.

This skeleton, about the size of a doll, had captured Frisk's complete and unwavering attention, and he was fully aware of this, looking up from his instrument to gaze up at her with a smug grin. But she was too enraptured with his playing to do something childish in retaliation like stick her tongue out at him.

"Hello, goodbye, t'was nice to know you

How I find myself without you

Hello, goodbye, I'm rather crazy

And I never thought I was crazy..."

Finished, he set his guitar to the side again and winked. "So, and be honest now, how'd you like my little performance?"

"Eh, it was better than 'not that good'." Frisk replied.

Hey, she was being honest with him, just not completely honest.

Her answer seemed to satisfy him, his smirk growing wider. "Oh?"

Then he had the audacity to flutter his eyesockets at her, both elbows resting on his knees and chin resting on his bony knuckles. The nerve, the unadulterated nerve.

But the truth was, this bitty had honestly almost convinced her in considering adopting him. The teasing was a bit irritating, but it wasn't out of malice. It was little different than when Chara did so. She knew that monsters were made of magic and were adept at using it – did he use the power of his voice to persuade her like some sort of skeletal siren? Yes, that had to be it.

But the truth still remained that Frisk was seriously mulling over the idea of taking him home with her. And he seemed to know it, because behind the complacentness of his grin and mischievous glint in his eyes was a genuine enthusiasm over possibly finding where it was he belonged.

And then it was all ruined once she spotted the small plaque fastened to the base of the pen listing the adoption fee. Frisk paled.

"Um, could-uh, could you excuse us for just a moment? Girl talk." Frisk stammered as she grabbed Chara by the neckline of her sweater and tugged her away, but he didn't seem to notice her unease.

"Take your time." He waved, that grin of his still in place.

She dragged Chara out of earshot of the Gs and stared at her with wide eyes, wheezing.

"What's up?" She had the courage to ask, taking in Frisk's expression that was reminiscent of a pigeon shot with a peashooter.

"Chara… did you take a look at the adoption fee attached to that guy?" She choked, grabbing one of her shoulders as leverage to steady herself, knees weak. "I could buy a Nintendo Switch and every single game that's been announced and released for it that I've expressed the slightest bit of interest in for the price over his head!"

"Don't you mean under his head?" Chara bantered, to which she gave her a dry stare. "Yeah, the kind of people you see with a G bitty are usually famous songwriters and singer-type persons, or wealthy people in general. Their rarity and rising popularity caused their price to catch up with them."

Frisk managed to halfway compose herself before facing the bitty again. She wasn't looking forward to what she was about to tell him.

"…I can't adopt you. I'm sorry."

"…Oh." He uttered after a pause that was much too long, the corners of his mouth downturned slightly.

While she had looked like a pigeon shot with a peashooter, he just looked as though he were shot, directly in the heart. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Perhaps it was more appropriate to say shot in the SOUL? Either way, he looked hurt. And so did Frisk.

"Can I… can I at least ask why?" He questioned, before deciding better of it – maybe he didn't want to know the answer. "Never mind, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

She wanted to give him an answer that would leave him with no further disappointment, but at the same time, how could she effectively explain to him that her decision was made through no fault of his own, it was just because he was expensive and she was a flat broke currently jobless college graduate?

"It's nothing that you've said or done, it's not you, let me make that clear!" She waved her hands about frantically before growing still. "It's just that… you are a luxury that few can afford. And I cannot afford the luxury that is you…"

"…Eh?" His expression looked less hurt now and more confused.

…He had no idea how much he was worth.

Frisk crouched down to eye-level with him as Chara had done with Bebop earlier.

"Listen, I sincerely hope, with all my heart and SOUL, that you find a good home with a loving owner that can provide for you in a way that I… well, can't. I was getting ahead of myself back there. I didn't consider the fine print behind adopting you and accidentally got your hopes up. And for that, I apologize."

He gave a single nod accompanied by a deep sigh, looking more perplexed than ever with her explanation.

"Alright. I can't say I understand your reasoning because that'd be lying directly to your face, but I respect your decision."

"It was nice meeting you." She offered, not wanting their conversation to end on a sour note.

"Same."

Frisk and Chara moved on before they could get too sentimental, but as soon as the both of them were out of earshot he turned around to face his other three companions.

"A luxury few can afford… What in the name of creation is that supposed to mean?!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"I feel like garbage. I should probably lie down." Frisk muttered, still feeling terrible for dashing yet another bitty's hopes for adoption.

Chara patted her back consolingly as she led her around the exotic bitty pens in an effort to cheer Frisk up. She showed her Inkies – Sansies that had transformed after being exposed to the mighty power of art, Gasters – the tallest of discovered bitties, whose lower bodies turned to goop when they were scared (which was often), and the Lamias – Frisk sped right past them once she figured out what they were. She bore an intense fear of snakes, which had only heightened after several years ago when one of their crazy neighbors had illegally purchased a python from the dark web and then didn't bother to feed it. It soon managed to escape their neighbor's house and began searching for food elsewhere, and that food had almost been Frisk.

Frisk has led an interesting life.

She had fun with Chara. Frisk had entered the store a few minutes after twelve and it was close to evening now.

"Well, we've spent all this time here and I still haven't found a bitty to adopt." She remarked, realizing the irony of her statement – she enjoyed herself much more than she thought she would, but was still leaving the building empty handed.

"I'm positive you would have left this store with that G if he hadn't been so ungodly expensive." She was probably right, Frisk wasn't willing to admit. "Hey, that Sansy you first saw seemed to like you an awful lot. You won't have to pay an arm and a leg to walk out of here with him, and Sansies aren't bad singers at all if you can prompt them into it."

"I still don't think I'm ready to adopt a bitty, though." She confessed, knowing that the G being out of her reach was probably for the best - she probably would have made a very rash decision had it not been for that.

"Alright, then. You've held up your end of the deal, so now it's my turn. What do you want to eat for dinner, Frisk?"

"Okay, I've had hours to think about this, but I'm still not entirely sure." She mused, going over your favorite fast-food restaurants. "Maybe fried chicken? Burgers? Want to go get pizzas? I'm up for just about anything, really."

"Pizzas sound good! I'll get mine with pineapple!"

"Pizzas it is, then."

With that over and done with, she and Chara made their way to the door. The moment Frisk stepped outside, though, a scream pierced the air around them.

"NOOOOOOOO! DOOOON'T GOOOOOOOOOO!"

The next thing they knew, the two of them spotted a bitty, a hysterically sobbing Blueberry, sprinting across the floor at mach speed. And his targeted destination was the open door leading to the outside.

"Somebody stop him!" Webber had burst from the rescue room with a shout, spontaneously summoning an army of employees to catch the runaway bitty.

He dodged the swipes of their hands that came his way, leaping and skidding out of their impending grips until he had reached the doorway in literal seconds. Frisk probably should have closed the door instead of standing there gaping, but she had honestly froze up at witnessing the chaos unfolding around her and it all happened so fast.

Just when the bitty thought he was home free, she reached down and plucked him from the ground in one swift motion, the tiny skeleton screeching and struggling in her hold.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! THIS IS ALL SOME BIG MISUNDERSTANDING, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!" He persisted, the volume of his voice only getting louder and louder to the point that it nearly shook the windows. "SHE DIDN'T LEAVE ME HERE, SHE WOULDN'T EVER HAVE! NOT ON PURPOSE!"

His shouts of protest soon morphed into incomprehensible shrieks; nothing he said was making any sense anymore. As Frisk finally closed the door and began making her way towards Webber to return the emotional bitty, an abrupt pain shot through her. She let out a yelp, inadvertly tightening her grip around the Blueberry.

He had bit her.

And he had bit her hard, grinding his teeth against the thumb across his chest. It was drawing blood now, and it poured freely from her wound and down her wrist.

"Chara… I thought you said you never heard of one of these biting anyone!" Frisk managed to wheeze, tears beading at the corner of her eyes.

"I never have! …Until now!" She squeaked, trying to gently pry the bitty's mouth from her skin, to no avail.

Several other worried workers tried to coerce him into letting her go, their efforts proving useless. Frisk was certain that if he didn't release her soon she was going to die of bloodloss. The thought of pinching his nasal ridge and blocking his nostrils entered her mind, but would that even affect him? He's a skeleton monster – did they even need to breathe? Before she could settle on her next course of action, the Blueberry suddenly stilled. Slowly, he released her thumb from his maw.

He panted, eyesockets dancing across the room until they finally settled on her. Then he slowly turned his head downwards to look at Frisk's hand, blood still seeping from her thumb like a waterfall. His eyelights shrunk to miscroscopic pinpricks.

"I… I'M SO SORRY…" He choked, now full of remorse. "I… I DIDN'T MEAN TO… I…"

'Well, you did.' She wanted to snap after the pain he just put her through, but one look at his tearful expression made her think better of it.

Sighing, she slowly loosened her grip on him. His posture tensed, braced for what could be the worst. Instead of flinging him, Frisk pulled the distressed bitty to her shoulder and cradled him, rubbing little circles into his back with one finger.

"…It's alright. Just don't do it again, please. That really hurt."

He let out another agonized wail, ashamed. A fresh series of sobs escaped the Blueberry bitty as another string of apologies fell from his mouth. Each time it seemed he was close to calming himself, he would take a look at Frisk's bleeding hand or his bloodstained clothes and break out into another round. It wasn't long until her shirt had a large wet spot from where he had cried so much. Some of the employees tried to take him from her, but she batted their hands away, a bit irritated with them that they couldn't seem to comprehend that now was not the time for that.

When his howls finally died down to sniffles, Frisk had expected some sort of incoming explanation for his behavior, an attempt at saving face after that random violent episode, but instead he seemed more concerned with seeing that her injury was tended to.

Rather than Webber or one of the other employees getting her a roll of bandages or the like, they were rather insistent on getting the bitty to take care of it. Was that supposed to be some sort of punishment for biting her and causing the damage in the first place? It definitely hurt, she couldn't deny that, but he was clearly having a panic attack or something of the like when he did so, so she didn't think it was exactly fair of them to expect him to make up for something he didn't have any conscious control over.

Still, the Blueberry didn't argue with this decision, probably still too wracked with guilt to argue, she presumed.

Frisk waited, but there were still no rolls of bandages or any other type of medical supplies being passed off to the bitty. Just how was he expected to help her if they weren't going to give him anything to help her with…?

There was a noticeable lull in the space around them, Webber, the employees, and even Chara eyed the Blueberry bitty in her bloodied hand with anxious expressions; hopeful, but nervous.

Before Frisk could question this, he then placed his mouth over the gaping wound in her thumb, making her gasp at the sudden contact, since the last time he had done so, it was to bite her, even if unintentionally.

He was kissing her – kissing her thumb to be precise. And despite being a skeleton, a magical skeleton monster, but a skeleton nonetheless, it felt very much like an actual kiss should have felt.

And Frisk being Frisk, inexperienced in the ways of regular and expected physical contact, could only let out an undignified squawk at the gesture, her gaze bouncing around to every person present, and she at a complete loss on what to do in this situation. …Why was no one explaining anything to her?!

The miniature skeleton pressed his bony lips more firmly to her wound, and suddenly, the room was bathed in a faint cerulean light. Her bleeding had ceased, and the wound itself seemed to have shrunk somewhat in size, but when he pulled away, there was still a certain pain present in the affected area. It would probably be sore and bruised over in the next few days.

"…THAT'S THE BEST I CAN DO AS OF NOW. I'M SORRY…" He lamented, looking far more exhausted than he had been before.

"Th-That's alright. Thank you for healing me…" She stuttered, grateful for his effort anyway.

His eyesockets drooped; he staggered and swayed in her hand, latching onto Frisk's other fingers for support. She had heard of certain monsters possessing healing magic, but how effective it was depended on their statistics, specifically their HoPe. Father was an excellent healer. So was mother, but Toriel had experienced so much tragedy through the years that her healing magic wasn't as effective as it used to be.

But for this monster to be this worn down after using that little amount of magic, his HoPe must be severely low…

The employees were still fluttering around her, ready to take him from Frisk's hold. However, when one strayed to close, the Blueberry let out a soft gasp and leaped to cling to her drenched top. Such a reaction would be concerning if it wasn't for the apologetic and sheepish expressions on their faces when he did so. They looked worried for the both of them.

"Y-YOU'RE NICE… YOU DIDN'T GET MAD AT ME, EVEN AFTER I BIT YOU. I… I DIDN'T MEAN TO! BUT I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE RIGHT NOW." His voice dropped to a near whisper. "She said I had a home with her… She promised…"

Frisk thought she had an idea of what had caused this bitty to have an emotional meltdown. From the sound of it, this bitty had a previous owner, but he had been returned here against his will.

It was a tragic situation, but bringing him back to the adoption center was a far better fate than being neglected and abused or set free where anything could happen to him.

"W-WERE YOU LEAVING BEFORE?" The bitty asked, one tiny fist inadvertly clenching the fabric of her shirt. "DO YOU… DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO NOW…?"

She and Chara had just been about to leave, but abruptly handing him off to the employees now after all that just seemed wrong. He clearly still needed some form of reassurance, some form of comfort, and for whatever reason, this bitty felt that Frisk was the one who could give that too him at this moment.

She cradled him against her shoulder and rubbed a finger down his spine. "I can stay for a little while longer."

And just that was enough for the Blueberry to relax somewhat – he already looked far calmer than he had been mere seconds ago. He clung to and nuzzled against her as an employee pointed her towards a cozy but spacious room to the left – the bitty interaction area. It was getting late into the evening so there shouldn't be as many customers as there would have been when she and Chara first arrived earlier, but the room was conveniently empty. She settled herself onto a plush couch, the low volume of the TV serving as white noise.

"…Do you have a name?" Frisk asked after a few silent minutes of holding the bitty.

"NO. NOT ANYMORE." He answered, his tone listless. "I'VE HAD MANY NAMES. BUT THEY AREN'T MINE NOW. AND WHEN I DO HAVE ONE… I NEVER GET TO KEEP IT FOR LONG BEFORE I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK."

"Didn't the adoption center ever give you one?" She asked, remembering Rondo, Edgeworth, Bebop, and less pleasantly Chopper – they lived here and they had names.

"NO! I DON'T WANT A NAME FROM THE CENTER. I WANT ONE FROM MY OWNER. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT ANY NAME UNLESS IT'S FROM MY OWNER!" His voice rose, causing her to jump a little.

At feeling Frisk's body jerk, the bitty flinched himself, ashamed of his sudden outburst.

He had been adopted and returned several times – did he even know how many times his hope had been raised only to be dashed when he was once again coralled into a carrier and returned to the familiar center? He had lost count long ago. Numbers were meaningless to him now.

Many would argue that awaiting adoption in a store where all his needs were tended to meticulously by a caring staff was a merciful existence compared to those who were mistreated or abused by their owners when they were no longer wanted, but he couldn't find it in himself to look at his situation from that perspective.

The Blueberry knew there were far more unfortunate bitties than himself in the world, but the pain and longing in his SOUL for companionship just became too much some days that it felt as though he were slowly withering away and nobody noticed or cared.

Frisk wondered what it was about this specific Blueberry that caused him to be adopted out and returned numerous times.

Chara had been visiting the center since it opened; she was probably aware of his story. Even so, Frisk felt that to ask her would be an invasion of his privacy. Chara hadn't followed them into the room in order to give the pair privacy, but right now Frisk found herself at a loss on what to do and wished her friend were here to guide her in this predicament she'd found herself in.

It was obvious to her, even though he hasn't said anything yet, that the Blueberry without a name was already growing attached. Frisk hadn't come here looking to adopt, and if she felt that she couldn't provide for a healthy bitty, then she certainly wasn't equipped to provide for a bitty that was clearly emotionally damaged and possibly unstable.

But… she could understand his pain all too well.

Frisk was never friends with someone for long before suddenly they removed themselves from her life altogether. It was always for some reason or another, but the sole constant among them was their reason for withdrawing was placed solely on her shoulders – it was always her fault, something that she said or did. Just her. The only person that never ran away, placed blame on, or took advantage of her was Chara. And even then, Chara had to fight tooth and nail to get the other girl to accept her friendship. Frisk had been hurt so many times, she had began erecting barriers around herself to avoid others, no longer trusting. She had lowered them for her, but never since has this happened again.

But this bitty, unlike her, had never truly lost hope. He graciously opened the doors to his SOUL whenever a new owner entered his life, despite everything he experienced thus far, because the fear of turning away someone that might truly come to love him vastly overweighed the fear of being hurt once again. And hurt again he was – time and time again.

The two sat in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. It was a peaceful calm.

"…ENOUGH ABOUT ME. WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" He had timidly asked after shouting at her.

"…Frisk."

"THAT'S A NICE NAME."

"No it's not. It's weird."

He only shook his head once with a gentle smile, saying softly before falling into silence, "I like it."

Frisk's gaze was on the TV in front of them, but she wasn't really paying attention to the program playing on the screen at all. Her thoughts were swimming, thinking of everything and nothing all at once.

She hadn't noticed that, shortly after his outburst, the Blueberry bitty in her company had moved from clinging to her shoulder to her chest, directly over where her heart resided. He was listening to the rhythm of her heartbeat, nearly lulled into slumber with the combination of her absentminded strokes beginning at the back of his skull and ending at his lower spine. Up and down. Slowly.

She was also unaware of the faint glowing of her SOUL at this time, as well as his. Both were so absorbed in their thoughts and emotions, neither noticed. Glow and fade. Glow and fade. Brightened then dimmed. Brightened and dimmed. The two's SOULs flickered in perfect sync with each other – a SOUL resonance.

Only monsters and humans that shared a strong bond with each other could perform such a feat, and the two were entirely unaware of it. Their feelings were unconciously shared with one another, his and her pain and hardships were conveyed to one another in a language that stretched beyond vocalization, a conversation without the need for words.

Their SOULs spoke with each other in a manner unlike either had ever experienced before, as if comforting one another. Frisk found herself feeling more at ease with herself and the world. And now bearing knowledge of the tender secrets her guarded SOUL was whispering to his, he felt as though this human had been specially crafted by the heavens above solely for him – a reward just for him for his longstanding and unwavering faith.

He wondered if such thoughts could be considered selfish, even delusional, but he couldn't stop them. His SOUL was calling out to him, nearly shouting, telling him – "She's the one. She's the owner you've been looking for. She came for you."

And it did seem as though fate itself and the forces that be alligned just to make this meeting possible. An injured young woman who held no interest in bitties appearing before him, encountering her just as she was about to leave, perhaps forever, and she showing interest in him, being gentle towards him when he had not been to her. She was kind to him even after injuring her. Understanding when he couldn't properly heal the wound he caused despite his best efforts. And now she was spending time with him, holding him close against the most vital part of her human body, even though she had been about to leave before meeting him.

He wondered if this was what love felt like. It had to be.

The bitty lifted his head to gaze at her, his baby blue eyelights shifting into pulsating hearts throbbing in time with the beat of her heart and the synchronized wavelength of their SOULs.

Frisk happened to peer down just as he did so and stilled like a deer in the headlights, immediately taking notice of the expression of pure affection on his little porcelain doll-like face. He was staring up at her expectantly, like nearly all of the other bitties she had interacted with today. Except this expectant stare reached an entirely new level of intensity by far.

And all Frisk could think was 'this wasn't suppose to happen. This shouldn't be happening.'

But it was.

Taking a deep breath, she moved him away from her chest. He instantly found himself missing the warmth, but settled into the palm of her hand and took hold of her thumb, showing caution in avoiding her injury when nuzzling against the digit. He wasn't showing any awareness of the somber and regretful mood encompassing the human holding him, his tiny hands stroking over the wounded flesh with a feather light touch so as not to aggravate it further.

His oblivious gestures of adoration only made what Frisk was about to do more difficult.

"…Isn't it about time for the shop to close for the evening?" She asked, her voice more faint than she wanted it to be. "Shouldn't you be getting settled for the night?"

His eyelights immediately lost their heart shape, turning into wobbly spheres as he stared at her in disbelief.

"...WHAT?" He questioned, unblinking. "B-BUT I THOUGHT…"

"Yes. I know what you thought…" Frisk bit her lower lip, nearly puncturing it as she did so in her nervousness. "But I didn't come here today to adopt a bitty. I can't adopt any of you. I'm not the right person."

"T-THAT ISN'T TRUE!" He protested, his hands fluttering over his ribcage. "I FELT IT! YOU'RE THE RIGHT PERSON FOR ME! MAYBE THE ONLY ONE! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE FOR ME! MY SOUL TOLD ME SO! A-AND YOURS… DIDN'T YOU FEEL ANYTHING LIKE THAT TOO…?"

She had felt something similar indeed. A SOUL resonance was the equivalent of one SOUL tenderly embracing the other – it wasn't something total strangers could do with each other, in theory. It was a gesture that involved meaning. A strong emotional bond; platonic, familial, or romantic, had to exist between the individuals involved. But Frisk had experienced a feeling of kinship with him, empathizing, it was almost like a feeling of finally finding the place where one belonged after endless searching. But it was the very fact they so easily and effortlessly resonated that scared her.

"YOU DID FEEL SOMETHING SIMILAR, DIDN'T YOU?" The Blueberry bitty in her palm smiled almost manically, but his eyes were pleading and glazed over with tears. "YOU UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL, AND I FEEL THE SAME AS YOU. THAT'S WHY OUR SOULS RESONATED WITH EACH OTHER'S WITHOUT ISSUE! IT WAS A PERFECT RESONANCE WITHOUT FLAW! SO WE'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!"

"No. You're wrong." She weakly shook her head. "The fact that our SOULs resonanced at all is exactly why this can't work. I've… been hurt. My HP is low. And yours is too. I felt it. You need someone with high HP; someone that will share their HoPe with you, someone that will raise yours instead of bringing it down further. And I'm not the person that can do that for you. I'm not what you need. Do you… understand?"

Frisk was expecting wailing or an extreme meltdown like when he attempted to escape the center earlier, but all he did in response to her rejection was tilt his head slightly downwards to avoid her serious gaze, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyesockets as he responded in a quiet, fragile, and defeated whisper,

"NO… I DON'T UNDERSTAND. NOT AT ALL…"

The Blueberry bitty didn't struggle or make any further protest when she brought him to the front desk to return him under the staff's continued care, telling herself that this was the best she could do for him. It didn't matter how easily their SOULs resonated with one another – the easier he could resonate with her, the more unmatched they were, she thought. He needed someone that could show and give him what she never could – HoPe.

And what a cruel irony it was – she had given him more HoPe than anyone he had ever met and probably ever would in the future, if he still had one, that is.

He didn't need someone with an outpouring of HoPe.

He needed her.

"I truly hope, with all my heart and SOUL, that you'll find the owner right for you." She said before leaving him, but he didn't offer her a single reply, only a blank and emotionless stare.

He already found the right owner for him.

And she was going out that door, out of his SOUL's reach.

His eyes were trained on her as she left the center with Chara, staring at her for as long as he was allowed before Webber scooped him up to carry him back to the rescue room for the evening.

He wondered if he would live to see the sun again tomorrow morning. Nothing seemed to matter anymore now.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chara stepped towards the bus stop, but a slight tug on the sleeve of her sweater stopped her.

"Can we… take the long way home…?" Frisk asked, her emotional exhaustion plain and visible in her expression.

"…If that's what you really want." She answered, having thought that her friend might want to sit down for a spell after everything she had experienced today.

Frisk was tired. So tired. But she felt the need to move, to walk away with her own two legs even though they felt heavy as lead.

She and Chara trudged down the sidewalk, about five miles away from their street and night vast approaching, but their town was safe and both of their parents had been informed they might be returning home late, so they weren't in any hurry.

And Chara could tell Frisk needed some quiet time. She didn't say a word as they walked home, knowing the other's mind was likely plenty noisy at the moment. Frisk's eyes were far off and distant, meaning her thoughts were anywhere but here, and if Chara were to guess, she would be more than willing to bet on the probability of her thoughts being on a lonely Blueberry bitty at the adoption center they just left.

She was disappointed when Frisk had returned him to the establishment, but she understood that her reason for doing so was out of kindness. Even so, she was worried. For the both of them, and was left wondering if this truly was for the best like Frisk insisted.

They were now passing through a farmers market, the shopkeepers still pushing for sales despite the late evening hour, but it wouldn't be long before they too would be packing up their produce for the night and returning to their own homes. Frisk lifted her heavy head and spotted one of the straw-hatted vendors with a Farmy bitty sitting on his shoulder and swinging his legs as he nibbled on a cherry tomato.

Her heart hurt. Her SOUL hurt.

She really had wanted to take him home with her.

She argued with herself that this was for the best, that Blueberry would soon find an owner just for him, that would love and never abandon him, that would give him everything he needed that she couldn't ever hope to provide.

She continued to tell herself this as a plethora of unpleasant thoughts and scenarios plagued her mind.

"When a monster's HP drops to zero, they dust."

When she handed him over to Webber, he had been silent, limp, and listless, when his reaction to rejection, as she previously observed, had been a loud outburst of screaming and tears and a violent flailing of skeletal limbs.

His eyelights had looked dull and lifeless when she left, and all she could picture now was the morbid image of the spider monster checking up on him in the morning only to find a small pile of dust where he had tucked him in the night before.

Frisk was quietly sobbing before she knew it.

She recalled the loving expression on his face as she held him close to her in comfortable silence, their SOULs resonating just as he had said they did, perfectly and without flaw. Frisk despised such words as 'perfection' and 'flawless' because such things didn't exist in human beings or even monsters, but there truly was no other manner in which to describe it.

She had been everything he had ever wanted. And he was everything she wanted too.

And she had just ignorantly thrown that connection away. Tossed it aside.

…Why did she ever think what he needed was an owner with substantial HoPe?

Couldn't they heal each other?

Frisk's steps screeched to a grinding halt. Chara turned towards her, concerned and prepared to ask what was wrong with her friend, but before the first syllable could leave her lips, Frisk swiftly turned around and ran with more purpose than she ever had before in her life.

She raced through the farmers market, not hearing Chara's questioning cries and pleas for her to slow down as Frisk's pace quickened ever further. Frisk was bumping into every person that crossed her path, and she was far too focused to apologize at this moment, but she did acknowledge that she may have knocked over one vedor's cart in her rush to get to her destination.

"MY CABBAGES!"

Yes, she most definitely knocked over that cart, she realized.

But there was no time to stop! She could do that later. If she stopped now, or even slowed down, she might be too late!

She reached the adoption center within minutes, wrapping her hand around the door's handle and praying that they hadn't closed and locked up for the night. They hadn't, but even if they had, the lock would have given in easily from the force with which she swung the door.

Ignoring the alarmed reactions from the staff, she made a beeline for the very room she had walked out of the first time that day filled with fear, the second sorrow, and now inside with DETERMINATION.

She slammed open the door to the rescue room with a resounding echo, which probably wasn't the best thing she could have done in a room reserved solely to injured and anxious bitties, but all caution had been thrown to the wind at this point. Her eyes scanned over the pens until she found her bitty. She immediately bent over the glass wall that came up to her chest in height and reached down to snag the Blueberry, nearly falling in the enclosure with him in the process.

He gave a startled squeak at being grabbed so suddenly, but any sense of fear within him vanished and was promptly replaced with confusion once he saw the face of the human who held him.

"…FRISK? BUT I THOUGHT-"

"I thought so too! B-But I was wrong! I want you!" She shouted, nearly choking on a sob as she cradled him with quaking hands. "I may not be what you need, but… I want you. I want you to come home with me."

He said nothing, didn't offer a single word of reply – but the smile that stretched across his skull and reached his eyes, crinkling with happiness as a fresh wave of tears began beading at the corners of his eyesockets, only this time out of pure joy was a sufficient enough answer for her.

A small crowd composed of the center's staff had formed outside the door, the spectators whispering amongst each other and shoving one another aside to get a glimpse of what was happening inside the room between human and bitty. A hush fell over the group and they began to part when Webber pushed through the gathered employees to investigate what the ruckus was about. He had been in the back of the store when Frisk suddenly barged in, so all he had heard was the front door being slammed open and the sound of several footsteps shuffling around. Thankfully there hadn't been any screaming at the moment, otherwise he would have called the police over something entirely harmless.

His many eyes watched both Frisk and the Blueberry bitty for a minute, taking in the sight as both bawled, but their faces were unmistakably happy. He slowly approached the two, not wanting to break the reverie before him, but it was necessary for him to do so.

Frisk raised her head up to look at him, having sunken to the floor onto her knees long ago in her wave of happiness, regret and relief.

"I-I'll give anything I have on me for him." She said, digging in her purse with her free hand to retrieve her wallet. "I'll pay whatever price you want! Just please let me take him home…"

Webber gnawed on one of his claws in thought – while it was true that all bitties had an adoption fee, money wasn't the issue here. Adopting a bitty from the rescue room was a serious matter. Usually there was a long list of protocols involved; the adopter had to have visited the center frequently for a period of six months at the very least, the adopter had to undergo a thorough background check, the bitty was required to be taken in for check-ups by the staff, and then there were all the procedures that had to be undergone before a rescued bitty was given the mark of approval to be adopted.

But… Frisk was Chara's sister. Chara had been a volunteer at the center for well over a year, and she spoke nothing but good things about her sister. Everyone who worked there knew Frisk's name and what she looked like. The staff probably knew more about her than Frisk's colleages ever had during her years of schooling ever had. And Chara had brought her there today hoping for her to adopt – if Chara trusted Frisk with a bitty, then she could be trusted by the staff with this particular Blueberry.

Webber shook his head and sighed, but he was grinning. "I'll go get the adoption papers."

While the small crowd of employees whooped and cheered, the front door burst open for the second time that evening. Chara stood there, panting and gasping for breath while covered in a thick sheen of sweat. It took her several moments and downing a whole bottle of water later for her to say anything. Once she had regained her breath, the workers caught her up to speed with what happened while the two were seperated.

"Frisk… I'm so happy… for the both of you…" She sputtered, leaning against the counter exhaustedly. "You finally found the bitty for you, and Blueberry's finally gonna have his forever home… A happy ending… Yaaaay…"

Chara nearly collapsed from her fatigue, but Webber and another employee caught her before she could fall, documents scattering everywhere as the spider monster had dropped them in his haste to get to her.

"No. Not a happy ending." Webber disagreed with a chuckle, papers fluttering around them. "This is their happy beginning."

Frisk quickly began filling out the adoption papers once they had all been gathered. Chara had already purchased nearly everything she would need to care for a bitty since she had been so sure that Frisk would be leaving this building with a pygmy skeleton monster in hand – and she was right. The only thing Chara hadn't bought was clothes, since she had no idea which type of bitty Frisk might adopt. While Frisk read over and signed the documents, Chara ran to the clothing section and back to show both new owner and bitty what the store had for sale. By the time they had selected enough clothing and got it paid for, she was on the last piece of paperwork.

"Now the only thing left to do is to give him a name and print it on the dotted line there." Webber instructed; how many times had he been through this scenario before with this same bitty? Unlike the previous occasions, he held high hopes that this would be the last time the lonely Blueberry would ever have to go through the lengthy adoption process.

Frisk tapped the end of her pen against the table in thought – she turned to the bitty seated next to her on the cool marble surface.

"I'LL BE HAPPY WITH WHATEVER NAME YOU CHOOSE. I REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY PREFERENCES OR OBJECTIONS TOWARDS MY NAMING – AS LONG AS IT IS CHOSEN WITH LOVE."

Even so, Frisk felt that his name needed to be special, something that was unique but wouldn't isolate him either. Something inspired…

"…Crescendo." She murmured, jotting it down on the dotted line before she could stop herself.

"Crescendo?" Chara inquired, looking at Frisk then down at the Blueberry bitty.

"Is that alright with you?" Frisk asked him, genuinely wanting his opinion.

"I… I LOVE IT. IT'S PERFECT…" He began sniffling again and Chara handed him a torn piece of tissue.

"Crescendo. It's a wonderful name." Webber agreed, taking the stack of papers from her.

Crescendo. The name resonated with her, because from this point onward, that word would resemble their HoPe. Crescendo - gradually rising; together.

And with that, Chara, Frisk and her new bitty friend Crescendo left the adoption center in higher spirits.

"See, you didn't believe me before, but I told you that for every good person there was a bitty out there for them!" Now that the drama was over, Chara believed that she had earned the right to brag.

"Okay, sure. You were right and I was wrong." Frisk admitted, flicking Chara on the nose. She stuck her tongue out at that.

"But I do still owe you dinner and there's just enough time left to go get something before Dad and Toriel call the cops to come looking for us. Are we still getting pizza?"

Frisk nodded. "What about you, Crescendo? Is pizza alright for dinner with you?"

"…CERTAINLY! I'D LOVE SOME!"

Frisk didn't miss that hesitant pause before he answered.

"You say that, but what you really want is tacos, right?"

He flinched, eye sockets wide with disbelief. How had she known?

"Look, I know that you agreed with me because you thought I'd be happy, but don't do that. You don't have to pretend to like what I do because you're afraid of how I'll react. You don't have to change at all, okay?"

"…OK." He said at last, feeling his SOUL flutter.

"So, do you want to take the bus, or do you want to go to the pizza place and the taco place then take the long way home?" Chara questioned.

"You mean after all that running, you're still asking?" Frisk raised an eyebrow at Chara's disheveled hair.

Chara shrugged. "A moonlight walk might be nice."

"While carrying two pizzas and a bag of tacos?" Frisk eyeballed.

"Whatever! Do you want to take the bus or not?" Chara huffed.

"Well-"

"Ah-ha! You didn't think I would, but I finally caught up to you!" A sudden loud voiced called out to them.

And there stomping up the sidewalk towards the two girls was the merchant from the farmer's market, foaming at the mouth with a Farmy bitty sitting on his shoulder wearing a tilted straw hat, a narrowed gaze, and his skeletal arms crossed.

"THOSE WERE MY CABBAGES!" He shouted, his declaration echoing through the empty street.

He stepped ever closer to them and they backwards, both girls holding their hands up defensively.

"Frisk, what do we do…?" Chara whispered fearfully.

"YOU HAVE BROKEN THE CELERY STALK ON THE BACK OF A SEA URCHIN! FOR THIS YOU MUST-"

"Bus! Bus, bus, bus! WE TAKE THE BUS!" Frisk yelled.

She grabbed Crescendo and tucked him inside the safety of her purse before retrieving her wallet and zipping him up within. She opened the wallet and threw the remainder of her money at the man as a distraction then grabbed Chara by the arm and dragged her onto the conveniently parked bus on the other side of the street. The bus then took off, the three having made their getaway and were on their way to finally getting dinner.

[envysea]

Life...has been hard.

I’m so glad I got top surgery. My body feels like it’s all mine now. My breasts used to feel like cancerous blobs, like they never really belonged. I’d do it again. In a way I’m going to have to. I posted about dealing with a seroma. Today marks 9 weeks post op and it still won’t go away. I’ve driven 1.5hrs to the doctor so many times to get it aspirated. So I’ll need a revision to hopefully fix it. Originally they thought they could do local anesthesia, but after today’s visit they think I’ll need to be under general. It’s stressing me out cause the anesthesia made me feel so garbo and I hate having to ask for help from others. I hate inconveniencing and asking things of others. My recovery will be much quicker but still...

What also compounds the stress I’m under is that the billing for my surgery, that happened over 2 months ago, has not gone through properly. I’m being overcharged, charged out of network, because the billing department couldn’t be bothered to read my Gap Exception. My insurance has been utterly useless and unhelpful.

My doctor, PA, and the rest of the in office staff have been so helpful and reassuring. I feel terrible because their job isn’t to deal with bureaucratic bullshit. The American health system is such trash. My bill with insurance, out of network, is over $2000 more than if I paid out of pocket, no insurance. They said they’ll get it fixed, to not pay anything yet. It’s just so frustrating. I tried to do everything right. I just want to have this paid for and be done with it. And now I’ve got to worry about getting my revision covered. Local anesthesia they can do in the office and it would have just been a couple hundred bucks they said. But needing general means needing to pay for an anesthesiologist, which means going through my insurance again more likely than not.

I’m back at work now. Part of me is enjoying having something to do, seeing my clients, flexing my skills. But it’s exhausting work. I get home so drained. I feel like I can’t keep up with anything. My house is a mess and I try to do something everyday but it’s not enough.

I’m just feeling so stuck and aimless. I wanna change my career but it’s scary to look for other work. I don’t wanna change jobs until this insurance stuff is all taken care of. But going through another holiday season at my job, during a pandemic all the while, just sounds miserable. I also came to the realization that changing jobs is gonna be trickier because I can’t go part time. I’m turning the age where I won’t get health insurance from my parents. So I’m beating myself up at putting off things for so long and staying at this job. Feels like I’ve just wasted time and made things harder on myself.

The icing on this terrible cake is Anime Banzai was officially cancelled. I’m relieved because I don’t have to worry about feeling like I missed out or wasted my tickets by doing the responsible thing and staying home. But it’s still disappointing, I’ve gone every year since 2013. I also had to suddenly retire two D&D characters that I had grown quite attached to. I’ve been trying to put off any grieving for them and hyperfixate on something else. It’s been a really disappointing couple of weeks. Top surgery is the only thing that stayed on the schedule and even that hasn’t gone according to plan.

I’m just overwhelmed and confused about what to do with my life right now. The political climate, the plague, everything going on has me full of so much dread for the future. I’m terrified about what’s gonna happen this November. I hate that I have family that is complicit to the source of this dread, that they’re part of the problem. It’s exhausting.

Anyway, thanks for listening. This too shall pass. I hope.

[shapeshiftersandfire]

collar. From, Upon the Heads of Sunflowers

CW: box boy universe, dehumanization, conditioning, shock collar, regular collar, referenced past abuse, noncon drugging mention, burn mention, belt mention

tag list: @eatyourdamnpears​

At some point during her official training, Eva comes into Sarah’s room with something new in her hands. At first, Sarah isn’t quite sure what it is, but as Eva comes closer, she can see it’s a short strap of leather. The very sight of it brings back memories Sarah had almost hoped had been buried in the wiping process—memories of a belt swung at her, the snap of leather in the air, against her back—memories she knows she shouldn’t have, but even if they’d been wiped she can’t pretend that the instinct to cower isn’t already programmed into her. She’s been on the receiving end of the leather strap one too many times.

She stares at Eva, fighting the instinct to run to the corner. She has to stay in Position Two, or what happens next will be worse.

“I brought you this,” Eva says, lifting up the leather. Sarah flinches, she doesn’t mean to—she’s not supposed to. But Eva raises that far too casually for her liking.

Her handler pauses, looking down at her curiously. Sarah’s heart lurches. Flinching is bad, she’s learned that, she knows she’s not supposed to, but she couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t-I-I must have—”

I must have come from a bad family, the lingering drugs in her system make her think. Bad enough that I chose to sign myself over to WRU. The ease at which the thought comes shocks Sarah. If it’s that easy for her to believe that she willingly signed herself over—and a voice in the back of her mind tells her loudly that no, she most certainly did not—how easy is it for her to believe everything else they tell her?

Too easy.

“It’s okay,” Eva says gently, and sometimes Sarah thinks Eva forgives her for far too much. She’s seen other trainees beaten senseless for the little things Eva forgives Sarah for. She’s heard other trainees screaming while their trainers did unspeakable things to them.

Are you sure? Sarah wants to ask, but questioning her handler is the same as questioning her owner. It’s just as bad, and with just as serious consequences.

But if Eva says it’s okay, then it must be.

Your handler is safe, they told her. Until you have an owner, your handler is your owner. And you will do anything they ask of you.

“Okay.” Sarah nods.

Eva kneels down in front of her. “Muscle memory?” she asks.

Sarah nods. “I don’t know why.”

She knows exactly why.

Eva nods, with a sad shine in her eyes. “I understand,” she says. “I’ll go slow with this, then.” She takes Sarah’s hand and rests it on the leather strap in her hand. “I’m not going to hit you with this, sunflower. This goes around your neck.”

Oh. It’s a collar. Sarah doesn’t know if that makes her feel better or worse about the affair. “T-thank you,” she says, breathlessly. But amid her relief there’s another fear that seeps into her chest. If Eva is replacing the heavy black shock collar she has on now, that means it’s going to have to come off. And she knows what it means when a collar comes off.

Collars are safe. Collars mean you’re wanted. Collars mean you’re good.

Not having a collar means you’re unwanted. It means you’ve been bad.

She gulps.

“It’s okay,” Eva says, not as a guarantee of forgiveness, but as reassurance. She lays the collar in Sarah’s hands while her own move to the hefty black collar Sarah currently wears, has worn since after she signed her contract. The tiny metal nubs have poked at Sarah’s neck for weeks, long enough that she’s grown used to them as much as she’s learned to fear them. One wrong move, and the handler working with her had her at their mercy. She’s never had it off. She’s never dreamed of having it off, even when she’d gone on to live with her owner, but then, she supposes she hasn’t thought that far ahead.

With a gentle click, the shock collar comes off. The metal is pried away from Sarah’s skin, red and irritated and slightly burned from the use, however sparse. She winces.

“I’ll have to get you something for that,” Eva says, gently moving the collar away from Sarah. “Your owner isn’t going to like that if it scars.” She shakes her head, clicks her tongue in disappointment. “I knew I should have switched these out days ago, when your order came in. If she has issues with it, I’ll take the blame. I should have thought about it.”

Sarah doesn’t ask who she is. That could refer to either the Director, who she hopes doesn’t reprimand Eva too badly for the oversight, or her new owner, who she also hopes isn’t too harsh on Eva.

Not that it matters much, Sarah thinks bitterly, looking between the harsh black collar in Eva’s hands and the new on in her own. I have belt scars across my back. Whoever’s getting me isn’t getting me unmarked.

Eva rests the shock collar beside her on the floor and takes the new collar from Sarah. This time, she’s able to get a good look at it, ignoring the fact that the fear she should have over not having a collar on is virtually nonexistent. It’s a plain white leather collar, with blue plating and a gold ring in front. Sarah blinks, wholly surprised. She’d expected something worse, something like the harsh metal prong collars she’d seen on a few frightening-looking trainees, or something simpler, like the plain brown leather collars she saw on some trainees who were either ready to be shipped out or who were placid enough they needed no other disciplinary collar.

It matches me, Sarah thinks with a bolt of shock. White and blue.

“I thought it would be a good look for you,” Eva says, voicing Sarah’s thoughts. “I have a plain leather one, too, but I thought this one might be a little more becoming of you.” She takes care as she fastens the new collar around Sarah’s neck. The inside is soft and comfortable, not rubbing uncomfortably against her irritated skin. It’s not too tight around her neck, either, giving her ample room to breathe. Unlike the shock collar, which was as snug against her neck as could be, pressing against her throat every time she swallowed or breathed.

“I—” Sarah swallows experimentally. The motion isn’t constricted. “It’s wonderful, Eva. Thank you.” And she doesn’t have to fake the gratitude in her voice. She means it, the collar is beautiful, and it feels good. (It makes her want to behave that much more so she can keep it on.)

(What a twisted series of thoughts that is.)

(Sarah hopes she can keep enough of herself intact at this rate that she’ll still be able to recognize Aunt Verna when she meets her again.)

Eva ruffles her hair. “You’re welcome, little sunflower.”

Sarah opens her mouth to say something, then shuts it again. What if it’s the wrong thing to say?

“Question, sunflower?”

Sarah nods. “D-Did-is this from my owner?” she asks, lifting the collar up.

“Yes and no,” Eva says after a pause. “She didn’t buy it for you, but she did specify that we’re supposed to use the least amount of physical force with you as possible. Which, after talking it over with my supervisor, means that the shock collar isn’t necessary anymore.” She sighs. “I’d never thought it was necessary but protocol is protocol. There was only so much I could do.”

Something about it makes Sarah’s stomach churn. Something about every piece of information that comes out of Eva’s mouth. It’s too much to unpack, and Sarah doesn’t have the mental energy for that.

“I bought both of them,” Eva adds. “But I thought your owner might like the blue and white on you a little better.”

Sarah forces her discomfort away enough to answer, “If she likes it, then so do I.” And then something twists in her chest, because as long as she can frame her own desires as something her owner could want, she could get away with saying almost anything.

“I’ll bet,” Eva says, and it’s not without a shine to her eyes that tells Sarah she knows exactly what Sarah’s getting at.

How has she let me get this far? She knows I’m faulty, she has to.

Why is she letting me get away with it?

“Well, I think this is a fine way to start the day,” Eva says, and Sarah agrees. “I hadn’t had anything particular in mind for today’s training, and none of your classes are until tomorrow. In the meantime, is there anything particular you’d like to do?”

Sarah doesn’t answer right away. She knows this is a test. Eva does that to her sometimes. Tests her, just to see if the training is sticking—or maybe to see if Sarah is being as genuine as she acts. Either way, Sarah knows when she’s being tested. She ducks her head, just a little, glances up at Eva, gives her that gentle smile she’s figured out the handlers like to see, and answers, “I want what you want.”

(It’s a dangerous answer, she knows that, but it’s the right one.)

There’s a look that comes to Eva’s eyes. Sarah can’t tell if it’s disappointment or relief. Or both. “On that note, then,” she says, and it’s not without an off tone to her voice, “why don’t we run through your positions and phrases? You don’t ship out for couple weeks, but it’s not something I want you to lapse on.”

Sarah nods, but a feeling of discomfort settles under her skin. The upper-level positions, the ones above twenty still make her nauseous. She doesn’t like the way she feels so exposed, so vulnerable, so…vile. Those positions make her skin crawl. Every time she forces her body into one of them, she feels as though she’s going to be violated.

Twenty-three is the one that scares her the most.

What would Aunt Verna say if she knew?

Those are the standard positions. It’s not just her that’s learning them. It’s everyone, regardless of their designation.

“Alright,” Eva says. She rests her hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I know the upper ones are…

“I’ll do them,” Sarah says quickly. “I’ll do them, I won’t complain—I never do. I’ll do them.”

“I know you will, sunflower.” Eva pats her shoulder. Sarah swears she sees sadness flash across Eva’s face. “Why don’t we start at twenty-five and work our way down, hm? Get the hard ones over with? How’s that sound?”

Sarah finds herself perking up a little. Her new collar sits comfortably on her neck; the shock collar is on the ground, forgotten. She’ll never have to wear it again. “Sounds good, Eva.”

“Alright.” Eva pats her shoulder again. “Up and at ‘em, trainee. Position Twenty-five.”