#GUH but. The First Story is so cute.

[panoffrying]

: ) check ao3

OGNWBSBSNSCRNAVEJDBWNDBDNSBDVSB MY SWEET BABY CHRISTMAS JESUS IM CRYING SO MUCH SOZURA MEALS TODAY!!!

gUh GUH PARENT SOZURA YES YES the first chapter is so good! Im so excited to see how they deal with parenthood lmao I shall be waiting for your updates 🫣💜

I love how worried Sozo was about what Heket and Narinder thought! And AA just the way Sozo and Shamura interacted my goodness so cute!!!

(Also wasn’t sure if I should put the link to the story here or not)

<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/

[nintendonut1]

The Punk from Paldea - a Pokemon Day Care AU

I work at a doggy day camp and my mind's constantly floating to Director Clavell caring for pokemon as a pokemon breeder so... an AU happened.

An AU where Clavell worked at the Pokemon Day Care in Kalos and it changed his young life forever.

More details under the cut~!

In his younger years, he was basically a lot like Clive, mostly in looks but in actual greaser rebel demeanor. He, shocker!, does not care about school or pokemon or anything, due to family drama (a messy divorce). The school decides to handle his delinquent behavior by sending him on a "study internship abroad" to Kalos (they were actually just getting him away from the school bc sucky administration), and the program sets him up with the Day Care center, which back in the day is more like a full-fledge ranch and rehabilitation center for Pokemon.

And here, where he actually has to take care of Pokemon, each in their own special and unique way, does his entire perspective change and he learns to love and adore Pokemon and wants to learn more about them and become a researcher!

I then ran this AU by my bestie and Court of Roses' co-writer Lilbluebox. And, as usual, she made it better.

Since we needed OCs for the Day Care family, she created Abigail, a no-nonsense Pokemon nurse-in-training who is in no way impressed by this punk from Paldea. She's also Jacq's older sister so there's like a lil' 5-year-old Jacq running around and talking everyone's ears off about Pokemon it's super duper cute.

We're developing the AU's story as we go, but the definite turning point is when a Bad Trainer drops off a Pokeball with few words and ditches, and when they open it, they find a terribly injured Houndour inside.

And then he just. BOOKS IT to the Camphrier Town Pokemon Center

He stays the night, worried sick, doesn't care that his hair was matted by the bike helmet, doesn't care about much of anything else besides that poor Pokemon.

Completely stunned when Abigail brings him coffee and addresses a question he snidely threw at her weeks ago.

Ugh. GUH. Character development. Pump it into my veins.

DON'T WORRY THE HOUNDOUR GETS BETTER it is in fact the very Houndoom he has in ScaVio, one of his very first Pokemon.

Anyways me and Blue are RPing this and it's so much fun, so I thought I'd share it with all of you <3

[yuriko-mukami]

The Curious Case of the Mushroom Hat

The story is based on a private RP with @ruki-mukami-dl

"Wah!" Tsukimi tried to grab the hat Yuriko had just moments ago placed on her head. But to her disappointment, the baby girl couldn't snatch the piece of clothing now as her hands were covered with mittens.

"Tsukimi... please, it's much colder here than at home..." Yuriko held Tsukimi with both hands as the girl started to squirm and sway her limbs in all possible directions. The orange and red maple leaves danced around the mother and daughter in the peace of the yard of the tiny house where Ruki had come to meet Shu.

"It seems Tsukimi-chan has a strong will. Just like Ruki-kun too." Yui leaned in, peeking at the wiggling baby. "She's getting all red."

"Ah, that's because she's moving so much again..." Yuriko sighed. How would all this look like to Yui? The day before they had sat in the garden, trying to chat, and then, too, Tsukimi had at first fought the hat off and then started to sway the wind away as she always did when a breeze caressed her head.

I hope Yui-san doesn't think I've failed. I'm trying so hard... but Tsukimi doesn't seem to like the hat... Yuriko nibbled her bottom lip. Her brother, Yuuto, found mushrooms suspicious. Perhaps Tsukimi had gotten that from him.

"Maybe she settles down once you head for the town." Yui smiled and patted Tsukimi's cheek with a light touch.

"Wah!" The baby stared at the blond woman, finally forgetting to meander. "Wawawa!" She reached her hand, grabbing Yui's finger. "Guh!"

"Now, she's being cute!" Yui giggled and curled her finger. Tsukimi didn't release her hold but kept looking at the young woman.

"Hold Yui-san's finger gently, Tsukimi." Yuriko looked carefully at her daughter. Luckily, the full moon wasn't rising tonight. Otherwise, Yuriko could have been worried as Tsukimi tried to nibble the digit. Not that the girl had any teeth yet to actually bite anyone. But still, better be safe than sorry.

"There you are..." Suddenly, Ruki roamed out of the house and directly into the front yard. "I apologize that you had to wait, Yuriko." He pecked her cheek, right before placing a kiss on Tsukimi's hat-covered head. "You as well, Tsukimi."

"It's okay, Ruki. Yui-san and I had a moment to talk." Yuriko smiled, warmth spreading in her.

"Tsukimi-chan reminds me a lot of you, Ruki-kun." Yui pulled her finger from Tsukimi's grip, erupting a protest from the said baby. "I have to go. Shu-san is probably waiting for me inside. Thank you for visiting, Ruki-kun, Yuriko-san. And you too, Tsukimi-chan."

Yui waved her hand, disappearing into the old building that looked like a small manor to Yuriko. She truly wondered why Yui and Shu had decided to come here when they could have chosen the Sakamaki manor or even a castle in the Demon World. Actually... maybe it made sense. Yuriko wouldn't want to live in one of those either.

"Wah!" Tsukimi glared at Yuriko, trying to reach her hat again.

A sigh escaped from Yuriko's lips. "Oh no, you're not taking it off."

Squirming and arching her body, Tsukimi whirled her limbs. But Yuriko didn't let go of her. As she tried to hold the baby still, she noticed Ruki pulling out his phone.

"Oh gosh, please don't!" But at the same moment, Yuriko heard the shutter close.

"Don't say I can't take photos of my two angels." Ruki chuckled and dropped the phone back into the pocket of his jacket, stepping closer to Yuriko and Tsukimi. Reaching his arms, he picked up Tsukimi and slid the girl into the baby carrier he already wore. "Let's go looking for that clothes store. Perhaps we indeed need a new hat for her."

[akuaya-stories-tl]

Vampire and Silver Moonlight, Chapter 6

Devil's Wraith: Guh...!

Fiori: I-Is it over...?

Eric: With that, the purification mission is now complete. It was thanks to everyone's help.

Espada: We were able to turn the tide thanks to your support. I express my gratitude.

Eric: The same for me too. Honestly, my understanding towards Devils has also renewed.

Espada: It looks like you're in fear when you first saw Lord Dia's power.

Eric: ... Indeed.

I think that literatures related to [The Devil of Furthest Ends] are not worth believing in at all.

He's far more threatening compared to literature's depiction, yet seemed like a kind Devil.

Dia: ...

Fiori: Prince, why did you look into the coffin? Did you find any treasure?

Dia: No... There's nothing left at all.

... Sleep tight this time. Forever... and in peace.

Fiori: See you then, Eric. I wish you well when you're back in the Capital.

Eric: ...I've given you a piece of advice. Please don't forget it, Miss Fiori.

Fiori: Ahaha. Meddlesome, but thanks.

Espada: ... You two talked for a pretty long time.

Fiori: Mm~ He scolded me a little.

He said that he can't overlook the fact that a Garancia royalty is traveling with a Devil.

Espada: Ah... Now that you mention it, you are a member of the royal family.

Fiori: So horrible~ Did you forget? There's no other princess as cute as me.

Espada: If you're fed up with living as a freeloader, feel free to return to your home country. I'll send you sweets as souvenirs.

Fiori: ... I won't go home.

Prince, won't you feel lonely without me? Being with Espada for a whole day will just be noisy ♪

Espada: Can you think of something to change your way of speaking? It's disrespectful to Lord Dia.

Dia: As always, they're noisy when you're around them. Good grief, I'm crazy to think that this bustle feels good.

As long as we're together... I don't think I'll ever feel lonely.

Espada: Lord Dia, what should we do next?

Dia: I still want to look around the town for a while.

Since a long time ago, the festival in this area has always been lively and noisy, but I can't bring myself to dislike it.

Espada: I will accompany you.

Fiori: A long time ago, huh. Say, Prince. Something must have happened in the past, right~?

Dia: ...

Well... I'll talk about it when I feel like it. Though the truths behind the old stories aren't actually that big of a deal.

There's nothing wrong with digging up nostalgic memories and passing them on.

[Fin]

[ecemichi]

Ring.A.Bell Chapter 11

Leo: Sigh~, Naru's as picky as ever~. I swear, I thought I saw my own mom standin' behind her!

Midori: Waah… sitting on my legs made them fall asleep… I can’t stand up…

Mao: Whew... Hey, Takamine, you good? Here, lemme help you up.

Midori: T—thanks…

Up we go~o now, ahh, my legs are tingling…

Midori: Both Narukami-senpai and Anzu-san left right away. We got left behind…

Keito: Now then, Narukami said, “I’ll give you a day, so confront your own feelings before then!” but what should we even do…

Eichi: Why, we'll do exactly as instructed and deepen our bonds the way those our age normally do: by participating in girl talk.

Mao: Guh?! (Cough, cough)!

Midori: Wha-!? Isara-senpai just spit out the water he was drinking!? Are you okay…?

Mao: Urg... G-Girl talk? So, uh, you’re pretty familiar with that sort of thing, then?

Midori: Umm. That kind of conversation is not exactly something you talk about among men, though…

Eichi: Oh? You don't? I've heard it’s rather common that teenagers would spend their evenings together gossiping about such things during school trips.

Mao: Since when...? Well, no, I sorta get it. I can imagine how talk devolves into that sort of thing when everyone gets riled up at a place like a sleepover with a ton of people.

Keito: Hm. Well, hearing about each other’s stories might actually be a good method.

And talking about it out loud might help get our feelings in order, as well as turn our confused hearts into coherent thoughts.

Midori: Waaah… I don’t wanna… do that.

Eichi: Fufu. You mustn't give up now, Takamine-kun. We're far past the point of no return.

Now then, let's hear the tale of everyone's first love, shall we? The one who shall start us off... is Mao, as mandated by the former Student Council President to the current.

Mao: Huh?! M-Me first?! Please don't abuse your authority like that~...

Um... First love, huh... I don't really have an interesting story like that.

I guess... there was a girl in my kindergarten class I thought was pretty cute?

I didn't really get it back then, but I guess in hindsight that might've been my first love...

—Hold on, why do I gotta talk about this?!

Keito: Huh. I remember a thing or two like that, as well.

When I was a little kid, I used to play around the mountains at the back of the temple with another kid my age, who was the grandchild of one of our sponsors for the temple. Well, calling it my first love might be a little foolish though.

Eichi: Wow, even someone like Keito was able to experience something normal.

Keito: How incorrigible. What do you think I am?

Eichi: But I’ve never heard about that, even though I’ve known you since you were little, Keito! I had no idea you had those kinds of memories from back then.

Fufu. I’m just relieved you have memories like that, just like everyone else. So, how about you, Takamine-kun?

Midori: Weh!? Uhhh… Mine is similar to Isara-senpai’s…

When I was in kindergarden, there was a super kind teacher who’d always care for me… And I was extremely attached to them.

I’d go out of my way and create all sorts of reasons to see them and get praised, and stuff…?

Mao: Ah, that's a classic! Fallin' in love with a kind teacher... I had a friend who'd always say he was gonna marry ours, too.

Leo: Mm~, the moment we met, we clicked instantly... I wonder if that's the moment I fell in love~?

Midori: Eh? You had a first love? Tsukinaga-senpai did…?

Leo: Hmph! Of course I'd had one before! You're so rude~.

Midori: (I thought he’d be the most indifferent to love… Heck, he’s even indifferent to earthly life…)

Leo: For me... It was a day where even Hell'd be called cool. I decided to drop in to a music store, and that's where we—

Keito: Oh? Considering it’s you who’s telling the story, that’s unexpectedly quite romantic. Was it the employee working there? Or was it a customer?

Leo: Wahahaha! ☆ That's right! It was a super romantic meeting! Ah, such beauty I did behold, I couldn't stop myself from reaching out—

Mao: Whoa! You actually reached out and grabbed her?!

Leo: Yeah, so what? Got a problem with it?

Mao: Rather than just a problem, I think there's plenty of problems with it..

Leo: Anyway, listen up. The moment we touched, a clear sound rang in my ears— and that was the first time I’d ever played the C key! And that! That moment! Was the moment I fell in love with music!

Mao: What the hell! What a waste of time! And I was so invested, too...!

Leo: What d'you mean, a waste of time?! How dare you mock the memory of my first love! Grrrrr!

Keito: Haaah. In a way, that story was very much like you. The last one to go is Eichi, surely you won’t pull off something like making everyone tell theirs and refrain from telling yours?

Eichi: Perish the thought, Keito. I'll do as Narukami-kun asked of us and tell all, as well.

My own first love... is "yet to come".

Keito: You bastard… Do you plan on fleeing like that on your own?

Eichi: What else am I supposed to say? It isn't as if I had much of a mind for love while growing up, being as in and out of the hospital as I was.

Ah, but perhaps... It isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that the dreadful yearning I felt towards what anyone would call "a healthy body" would be my own version of falling in love.

Mao: Seriously?! Don't you think that's a little unfair after everything we've confessed?

Eichi: At best, you could call my younger years dull. Nonetheless, that is all I have to say. Thanks to your bittersweet reminiscences, however... I feel as if I was able to taste the very flavor of youth. ♪

Mao Leo Eichi and Arashi tl: Peace

Midori and Keito tl: me

JP proof: Mika Enstars

ENG proof:ryuseipuka

←previous →next

[the-himawari]

A3! Settsu Banri - Translation [SSR] MANKAI Party (3/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

Sakuya: Having the three of us gathered together feels like a blast from the past, doesn’t it?

Masumi: …Not really.

Banri: Geez, you’re blunt as always.

Tenma: Nothing’s changed, huh?

Izumi: (Seeing the three Hanasaki High students all present does make me feel a little nostalgic.) (I’m sure we’ll get to hear some memorable stories from those three today.)

-pause-

Banri: Thanks for comin’ today.

Sakuya: Banri-kun, happy birthday!

Masumi: …Happy birthday.

Tenma: Happy birthday, Banri-san.

Guest A: Happy birthday, Banri-kun!

Guest B: Banri-kun! You’re so cool~!

Guest C: With Tenma-kun, Sakuya-kun and Masumi-kun as guests, maybe we’ll get to hear stories from their high school days!? I can’t wait…!

Banri: Aight, let’s get the VLOG viewing party segment started right away.

-pause-

Banri: “Today, I got Tenma to come shoppin’ with me as we search for a pair of sneakers I was dying to get.” “That bein’ said, Tenma’s also in charge of the camera. Thanks, Tenma.”

Tenma: “Yeah, leave it to me.”

-pause-

Guest A: It’s celebrity shopping…!

Guest B: Banri-kun’s taste is on point, as expected~.

Sakuya: Banri-kun, you never look at the price tag until you buy something, huh… If it was me, I’d look at the price first thing…

Guest C: Yeah! That’s right!

Banri: Ah, really? I never really noticed.

Masumi: Isn’t the price tag what you look at at the time of purchase?

Tenma: Exactly.

Sakuya: Ehh!

Guest B: Masumi-kun’s a celeb too…!

Guest E: I empathize with regular folk like Sakuya-kun…!

Guest F: I’m with Sakuya-kun too! But shopping like a celebrity sure is nice too…!

-pause-

Banri: “The three of us studied for a test at that café before.”

Tenma: “That reminds me, Juza-san, Taichi and I joined you guys later…”

-pause-

Sakuya: That brings back memories! We had a match between Hana High and O High to see who could answer the questions faster.

Masumi: …It wasn’t even a match though.

Tenma: Guh…

Guest A: That’s the Hana High team for you.

Guest B: They must get along, studying for tests and stuff together~.

-pause-

Tenma: “That shoe store is way too much of a hole in the wall.”

Banri: “I know, right? Masumi and I bought some rare sneakers, but Sakuya didn’t buy anythin’.”

-pause-

Masumi: …That happened too.

Sakuya: Right! I’d love the three of us to hang out together again. But I guess only Banri-kun and Masumi-kun would end up buying something again.

Banri: How ‘bout Masumi and I choose then? Somethin’ even Sakuya can buy.

-pause-

Banri: “…It sure feels good findin’ what you were looking for, doesn’t it?” “…And so, that’s the end of my VLOG. Thanks for watchin’.”

-pause-

*applause*

Masumi: …Wait, what was the sight you wanted to show us?

Banri: Who knows. I’ll leave it up to your interpretation. You can look at it that way.

Masumi: What the heck?

Sakuya: Now, now. I had fun being able to see those nostalgic sights after such a long time.

Tenma: We don’t show our shopping trips much either.

Banri: Did y’all enjoy yourselves?

Guest A: I had a blast!

Guest B: Banri-kun looked so cute when he found the sneakers!

Sakuya: Banri-kun did look like he was in high spirits when he spotted the shoes.

Tenma: Well, he had been searching for a long time.

Banri: Pff… I know I said this at the end, but it feels amazin’ finding what you’re looking for, doesn’t it? (I had always been searching for that somethin’ that would set my heart ablaze. Then I found it, and now I’m standing here.) I kinda glossed over it in my VLOG… But I’ll convey myself without hidin’ anything on stage. Thoroughly, through my acting. So, I’ll continue countin’ on your support from here on out.

*applause*

-pause-

Masumi: It’s about time to wrap up the end.

Sakuya: It was so fun, the time passed by in the blink of an eye.

Banri: Alright, last but not least is my photoshoot time. Go for it, Tenma.

Tenma: On it.

Banri: This outfit is amazin’, ain’t it? Take some commemorative shots, everyone.

Guest A: We’re allowed to!?

Guest B: YAY!

Banri: It’s a special service just for today.

Guests: KYAHH!!

Masumi: Looking good.

Tenma: If Kazunari was here, he’d be snapping up more photos than anyone else.

Sakuya: Ahaha, you’re so right.

Banri: M’kay, let’s start the photoshoot time filled with all my gratitude.

*click, click, click*

---

previous |

[snobgoblin]

ok spoilers for the new spiderman movie ok do NOT continue reading if you wanna go into it blind ok? ok. spoilers

AAHAHAHAHAHH I LOVED IT SO MUCH IT WAS BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE Doc Ock wasn't in it but that's ok I don't really remember what happened to her in the first movie actually. I just like her ANYWAY I LOOOOOOOOVED HOBIE he reminded me of Y2K a little bit because of the punk stuff but I loved the way he was animated I loved his attitude I loved GENUINE punk rep that wasn't neutered at all! dude hates fascists and loves freedom he was fucking awesome. not to mention he was very handsome 😳 AND HE WAS SO FUNNY and I just really loved his personality honestly I was expecting him to be a twist villain because of the way he kept talking about how he hates the establishment? how he wants to rebel I was like "oh no he's gonna betray Miles and Gwen" but he didnt! he helped them WHILE rebeling and that was awesome! aaaaaaaa <3 also I loved the way Peter was a dad and Mayday was super cute <3 guh he's such a good dad and I loved how he's still sassy and he kinda considers Miles his son <3 and I looooooved all the new spider people OH AND I DIDNT CATCH IT BUT MY FRIEND SAID GWEN HAD A TRANS FLAG IN HER ROOM AND THATS AWESOME!!!!!!! actually I've headcanoned Gwen as trans for a while because like... I heard Spider Man as a story, the power aspect anyway is supposed to represent male puberty, and I was like hey if that's true maybe Gwen is trans! and I guess she is! and that's awesome. OHHHH AND I JUST LOVED THE COLORS AND THE EFFECTS AND AAAAAAAA OH DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON HOW AWESOME THE STUFF WITH THE UNCLE WAS OHHH the reveals the reveals mwah mwah I was on the edge of my seat I couldn't predict any of it. also I looooooooooove the aspect of Miles having been the Prowler without his powers, I love that whole aspect of the spider coming from another dimension.... ohhhh and I looooved the villain I love the holes guy I thought that was so good it just, oh it was all so good im sure I'm forgetting things I loved about it but OUGH for now I think ive gotten the gushing out of my system it was just phenomenal and I cannot wait to see what happens next

[outismm]

Who knew the thing that would cure my diseases would be a 30 minute Sandman ASMR podcast

[callsign-terrorizor]

The Perfect Doll

——————————————————

Pairing; Male Reader x Slashers

Warning; (Disclaimer; had a lot of talk about deaths and being rebuilt) it's not to detailed

———————

Hello and welcome to my first horror story on here. This was one of my first slashers story that did really well in over all being long and well made in my opinion. But I sadly forgot about it, so I fixed it up and hope you all enjoy what I have done!

⟨————Summary; (Description: you (the protagonist) were a young teen age boy who sadly got murdered very brutally by someone you didn't know. Your father is a very skilled man with a passion of making toys, porcelain doll were his favorite. So when your father was told that they have found you dead, he took it upon himself to 'fix' you, to be his perfect boy again)

——————————————————

No Pov:

You were the son of the one an only toymaker Smiles, the owner of the grand play area called, Cookies playground. The business were a neighboring company several miles from a older play places called poppy's playtime. You happen to be a big fan of toys and most importantly, poppy's toys as they have such unique type in toys. But sadly they shut down long ago, leaving cookies playground to thriving into a loveable playground. You being one of the main attraction, for your handmade toy making skills and amazing touring skills as well. You always made the tour so more alive and so enjoyable when you did it. But on one faithful day, someone was a bit on the, sketchy side, making you feel very uncomfortable. You lead everyone to a safe area telling them someone unsafe was there and to be on high alert. After that you pushed the security alert that made toys fall from the sky and hand cup the interior. You lead everyone out but unknowingly to you in the crowd was also a killer(?) as a woman lied there dead along side her child. "Everyone grab your child and spread out, I know only familys are here today, no one should be without a family here" you yell and immediately seeing a man holding a kids hand, but you vividly remember that kid having come here with a mother not a father. "You, hand over that kid" you yelled as you secretly positioned thr arms above and before he could do much you controlled the arms above to grabbed the man. you Shaked him with the arms so he dropped any to all weapon. "Come on it's safe now" you said softly as the kid ran into your arms, crying softly, "here have a toy" you handed the kid a cute blue huggy waggy toy as you told the kid to go to another family for safety, before walking off to call security. "Father there has been a murder an- Guhh!" You spoke, not hearing anyone walk up behind you before it was to late. "Sweet cakes?!" You father was yelling for you but everyone ran out as someone stabbed you into your back several times. "G-guh... F-father... He-elp...me.." you fall to the floor hearing only your father's voice as more sharp pains were now being stabbed into your chest before everything goes black. 'help me...'

——————⟩ Next part

Y/n Pov: (just a little warning this might be a bit on the ruff side, so my apologies 😅)

I wasn't sure what happened, but I was somehow in a field of yellow flowers, but coming here was a vivid memory. I also seemed to be wearing a outfit so different and unfamiliar to me. But I was to busy trying to catch butterfly's with some small children, to notice anything out of the ordinary. I was smiling and laughing as we chased around more bugs, picked flowers and roamed the fields. Not even noticing the figure that stood in the distance of us as I didn't bother questioning the situation as it was so lovely to think other ways.

"Hmmm... How interesting...."

I suddenly felt like something really sharp was stabbed into me making me fall to the ground. But even if the pain went away as fast as it came, I started to feel dizzy and feel like falling into an endless sleep. "Mr!!" "I-.. I'm ok.." I tried reassuring them but the headache just wouldn't go away. "Hey Mr are you really ok? Want us to walk home so we can get water?!" I looked up at the girl before falling a little more to the ground. I heard... Voices, almost like screams.. but of my name.. and telling me everything was gonna be alright... I shook my head in pain, 'what is going on...' "...he's waking up..." "What do we do... He won't come back to play if he wakes up.." "...mmm what if he does... Then we can have him forever!" The two boys looked at the tiny girl before nodding, 'keep me forever? What is happening, f-father?... Wait' "father!" Was the last thing I said before everything came back to me in a flash

I woke up a bit cold, and the feeling of  metal on my back felt... Weird. 'Mr it's gonna be ok now' 'you have us to protect you!' 'yes yes! Always and forever' "always and forever..." I repeated with a voice that sounded like a little girls, as I smiled lovingly at the bright light above me. "Baby cakes?!" "F-father?.." I looked to my left as the light in my face moved so I could see a man standing next to me.. it was my adoptive dad Dr smiles, he was the owner of cookie playground and sometimes he tells me that he is like a doctor in a way as that's why he has Dr in his name. He goes by smiles as a way to keep his life private, and over time I seemed to forget it. 'whats happening... Am I hurt?' '..your a little more then hurt Mr, Mr sadly died, But fear not! Father has fixed us you see so we are much much better now~' 'mhmhm that's right, we have a new body so we can be with father more!' '...dead...new body...' "hey it's gonna be ok now my dear... I promise it's all ok now, I've fixed you" "fixed...me.." "yes, and now let's get you up and get walking again... As you have been laying here for some time and have... Some new adjustments, so come on" I slowly get up and trying to stand, which wasn't that difficult. 'yay Mr is standing!' 'yay!' I smiled a bit as the little voices in my head cheered for me. "Hehe very good cup cake, now let's try and move your legs and try walk to the door and back" I nodded as I was helped guided by father to the nearest door. "Mmm.. hard... Walk.." it was very hard to talk but I can manage "yes it is but your doing great dear very proud" I nodded and was told to walk backwards now. "...hmmm... E-easy..." "Hehe someone has a lot more confidence with this hmm?" I nodded again but smiled a little this time. 'Wow Mr that was amazing!' 'ooooo dancers feet' I smiled again at their comments. 'ok this will be a bit more of a tricky one, so be prepared' I nodded softly to myself as I slowly look up at father. "Hehe ok now we are gonna a physical test ok?" I tilted my head to the side, 'a physical?' "we will make sure you won't get stuck while moving and damage yourself in the process" I nodded still confused as to what that meant, 'you have a new body Mr, you don't have the same kind parts as everyone else does anymore' '...new... Different... Hmmm' father slowly moves my arm Infront of me and I can see gaps in-between each finger and where my wrist is, even near my elbow but my elbow has a ball shape thing there instead of skin tissues. "Skin...gone..." "Yes you don't have any skin no more, you now have whats called, porcelain, stuff you use for dolls but a more thinker material so you don't break while doing daily activities" "doll... Pretty..." I looked up smiling, 'why am I happy... I'm.. not human no more..' 'yes but you are better now, and we can be together, forever' I nodded slowly to myself, 'right... Forever...' "I'm glad you think so, It'll be pretty sad if you didn't" I nodded as we start doing and finishing the physical.

"We'll we have to keep moving your knees a bit and your elbow as they are a bit finicky, but it will stop in due time" "mhm..." Father smiles down at me as I sit still on the table again. "Where... Am... I" "your behind the playground right now dear" "...mmm playground... Hurt... Badly" father seems to frown at this, I remember very little of what happened to me, I just know that someone hurt me.. very badly. "...yes... I know my child, but we will fix them as well.. don't you worry child" I nodded as I smiled, 'we.. can fix them too, they won't be able to hurt no one... They'll learn to love..' 'hehe yes that's the spirit' "fix... Them..." I said with a smile making father very happy, "hehe yes your right, we shall fix them, every last one of them" he softly touches me nose making me stare for a bit, this seemed amusing to everyone in the room, but most importantly it made father happy.

We got a pair of clothes for me, it was a simple dress as I didn't feel like wearing pants and a shirt at the moment as it required movement. We were walking down these white halls, and to a room father said was gonna be mine. "Room.. mine..." "Mhm we are going to your room, we are gonna see it then go to another room to help make your room feel more at home" I nodded before grabbing onto father's hand. "Hmm?" "...lights... Hang... Lights.." "you want fairly lights?" I nodded again and father smiled, "ok we should get you some then".

We walked up to a room that had a bed on the far left corner, two dressers on either side of the room, a desk on the left with a medium rug on the floor. "So what do you think" "big...nice...comfy" "I agree, but these were just simple things as I didn't have the fluffy rug you used to have so that one was just to get it looking more better then some white room" "mmm!" I let go of father's hand and place it in front of me, and I felt something there. "Hmm?" "Oh you noticed it I see, well that's your door as a normal door was to weak and I wanted to make sure your ok while doors are shut. But don't worry there is curtains inside for some changing privacy" I nodded as father taps a panel on the side an felt the see through door start to move. "...o-ooo..." After it opened I walked inside, but bumped my head as it didn't open all the way, "hehehe we have to get something for the bottom of the door so you see when the door is fully up" I nodded as I rup my head, even though I didn't feel it, I felt the need to do so.

We walked around for a while before making our way to another room full of different stuff. 'the store' was what a sign read out to be as we got near it, "mmm...store..." "Yup, this is were you will get anything you need, or you can just ask me and I'll get it for you. But you can't get paper here as that becomes a big mess sometimes, as other kids here play some times" I nodded, 'other kids?...' 'mhm there are kids here, noisey buggers they are' i nodded as I quietly made my way to some lights. "Lights..." "You pick what you were looking for and I'll get you some other stuff" "Mmm!... Lights..." I played with the lights, getting myself stuck a few times as I did so. But I easily got out and held some on my head as I waited for father. "...f...father..." "Hmm-...you ok bud?" "...yes..." Father started laughing and so did some workers, I smiled brightly as I moved some lights to be on my arms. "Well my cute son, I have found a much bigger rug then I intend on getting as well as some toys, but just some for your bed" "build...toy" "you want to build toys?... Wait I think we have just the thing" father put everything he had in his arms down, before walking off, "the kids couldn't figure out how to open the box or really want it that much" father grabs a pretty large chest like box and ask some others to help him move it, they walk over to me and place it down slowly. "Hmm?" "This has a lot of building parts and we have more so if you can open it you can have it" I nodded and knelt down onto my knees and saw that the lock involved three keys, but one looks to be a piece that might be inside the lock. "Two...keys" I held up two fingers and father handed two to me after trying to find it, I used the keys and out popped a piece, I place it into the hole before turned the keys into the opposite direction. And *Click* it opened, I took the lock off and opened up the top, it had a black hard cover on top with a bendable thing you can use as a handle. I pulled it up and the box unfolded itself, hitting father and the worker in the foot "Ow!" "F-father!" I made a worried expression but he just smiled, "were fine... Don't worry, owww" father and the other person fell to the ground but I took father's word on it, peering down to see that the box really did have many different kinds of parts to make almost any type of toy. And knowing that you can just ask if you needed more building materials, as every building part was there and even more. "...build...parts.." "huh... I don't remember it being able to fold out" "neither did I... Maybe the box likes him?" Father looked at the work with a 'really?' expression making the other chuckle in embarrassment.

"Toy...box...build...er" "mhm your mother actually use to be the owner of this, I found it a couple of years ago and never got the chance to properly give it to you, so I let the kids try and open it" I nodded and figured how to close it all up "room!" I said somewhat excitedly "Right! Room stuff, let's continue then" "Mmm!" I get up and walked around excitedly after I locked up the box and placed the keys in a small compartment in my leg. That I accidentally opened while walking down the halls.

——————————————————

Whop! This story is a old one and I had so much to it that I had to finish and make it to the wonderful story that it is. So I hope you all enjoyed and see you in the next chapter, bye bye honey bunny's!!

[chibichibisha]

Ermine gym uniform personal story: “I’m not hiding”

-- Sports Field --

Ermine: Dammit, the same mark again.

Ruggie: That's because you are not having the proper pose when speeding up. It slows you down.

Ermine: Really?? 

Ruggie: Yes, you will gain more stability too. If you don’t want to fall down while making a loop, you should pay more attention to that.

Ermine: But I don't even realize I shift my position too much on the air. Ah, at this point I won't be able to raise my marks on the next test.

Ruggie: Shishi, that's a shame then, Ermine-kun. I guess I could give you a bit more of an in depth advice for your flying technique, but…

Ermine: Yes, yes, I know. I don't mind that I have to invite you to a meal at the cafeteria. Is not even the first time after all.

Ruggie: Sweet! Now we are talking the same language!

Ermine: You really get easily excited, huh? Well that's good. Now, please lend me a hand here. How should I do it?

Ruggie: Okay, let me see. First you should lean a bit onward, and then--

???: Leveret-senpai! 

Ermine: That voice is... HUH?!

Deuce: Good morning, Leveret-senpai!

Ace: Ugh, it ticks me off when you are so over polite with our upperclassmen, really. What a Mister serious.

Deuce: It's common manners to greet your seniors. You should be more polite, though.

Ruggie: Oh, it's 1-A right, the ones from Heartslabyul? You are starting your lesson now? Shishishi, you have some cute first years here, Ermine-kun.

Ermine: ......

Ruggie: Ermine-kun? What are you doing hiding behind me??

Ace: Ah, there it is.

Deuce: Guh…

Ermine: I-I am not hiding!!

Ace: Yeah, I saw that already, Ermine-senpai always seems skittish whenever we run into him outside the dorm. It's always Deuce's fault.

Ruggie: Mh? Is that so?

Deuce: I- It is not! I never pretend to scare Leveret-senpai.

Ace: You see, when Ermine-senpai carries out dorm activities he looks so reliable and cool with us, first years. But around campus, he always seems on the verge of a panic attack. No matter what, you cannot catch him at a place. And if he sees Deuce approaching him, he starts to run away.

Ruggie: Oh I see, I have seen that before as well. Sometimes Leona-san approached me between classes and Ermine-kun had always disappeared in seconds. Apparently, he doesn't do good with rough looking people.

Ermine: Excuse you, I'm right here!! And what do you mean "running away" Ace?? I am your senior, have some respect!!

Ace: But I am not lying, am I?? The first time you saw Deuce get mad and switch into his bad boy mode you totally froze and then ran away.

Ruggie: Oh?? Poor Ermine-kun~

Ermine: I'm serious!! If you keep being like this I will--

Deuce: ...Oi.

Ermine, Ace & Ruggie: ???!!!

Ermine: Iiihhh..!

Ruggie: W-wow, Deuce-kun? That sounded deep for sure... Are you okay?

Ace: C'mon, I-I wasn't being serious about you scaring people right now, haha.

Deuce: Mh? Ah, sorry. I actually wasn't paying attention.

Ruggie: What? What is it then?

Deuce: Oh it's nothing. I was just thinking... I didn't recall seeing Leveret-senpai tail before.

Ermine: HUH?!

Ace & Ruggie: ??!!

Deuce: Yes, like... It's usually covered by your clothes so I never thought about how it looked like. It's kind of cute.

Ruggie: PFFFFT!!

Ace: DUDE, Did you seriously say that?!! HAHAHA

Ermine: WHAT-- WHAT DOES THAT-- Excuse me, I have to go!!!

Deuce: Ah--! But, wait, Leveret-senpai!!

Ace: And he left. This time you embarrassed him. Ah, I can't believe it... hahaha, that was too good.

Deuce: ...But I was just trying to be nice.

[glazelilyy]

+ Childe plz.🥺

𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 - 𝐚 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢

pairing - childe x gender neutral reader

genre - fluff, crack

word count - 660

a/n - hello!! thank you for being so patient with me hehe, that auditorium looks so beautiful! i don't think this is my best writing :') but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

content under the cut!

you'd never admit it out loud, but childe looked damn good in a classic black and white tuxedo. it was a shame that he always tried to wriggle out of it like a toddler, however.

"guh, this thing is too tight up here." he sneered at the tie you had snugly fit into place beforehand.

your eyes did a loop as you fixed it back it place from his endless tugging, palms smoothing over the silk fabric of his black blazer.

"easy there, tiger. you just gotta survive wearing a suit for two hours and then you can go do cartwheels naked for all i care." you snickered and pat his shoulder.

"it truly is a shame that i have to wear this even if it's by order of the lovely tsaritsa," childe pouted and crossed his arms over the front of his suit, "how would someone even be able to fight in this?"

"they wouldn't, you're not here to fight, dum dum. we're here to watch the play, show face, then get the heck outta here." you jabbed your thumb at the opera lobby's glass doors with a wry smile.

childe had been tempted to reject the fontainian diplomat's invitation to the opera, but alas, the tsaritsa demanded he go and bring you along to act both as arm candy (much to your chagrin), and a mediator for childe's, well, childish habits.

despite the fact that childe was usually more than happy to entertain events of his own free will, there was something oddly nagging about attending an event by the tsaritsa's orders.

the fontanian diplomats were kind enough upon first greeting you, in a sickly, socially acceptable way that is. they led on with sugary smiles and buttered compliments to you and childe that you both let slide like water off a duck's back.

the auditorium was grander than you thought it'd be, and from the looks of his awestruck face, grander than childe thought it would be as well. gold lined the ceilings and draped over the front of the stage. pillars upon pillars of ceramic and bright, ruby red, lush velvet seating painted the audience. you took your seats beside the diplomats and skimmed through the complimentary brochure detailing the contents of the opera.

"i can't wait to leave," he mumbled with his cheek propped up against his fist much like a small child.

"oh hush now," you giggled and pinched the softness of his cheek, "i'm sure you'll come to like it. look! the opera is based on a snezhnayan folk tale!" flipping through the laminated pages, you pointed a finger towards some pictures that seemed to catch his interest.

before he could get a chance to respond, the lights began to dim and the first of the actors began to pour out onto the stage. he looked on with intrigue towards the shining lights that illuminated the costumed actors. a woman began singing in a language that sat unfamiliarly on your tongue yet seemed to be completely normal to childe, who even hummed along and mouthed some of the lyrics. where you thought childe would be poking and prodding your sides out of boredom, his eyes sat trained on the figures in front who danced across the stage and sang love ballads in an unfamiliar language. part of you was tempted to poke his cheek and coo cute remarks at him, but you decided ultimately to leave him be.

by the time the opera was over, he almost couldn't keep his mouth closed.

"and that scene where they manipulated ice to bring back the queen? it was amazing! i read stories about ice queens to teucer and tonia when they were very small, they'd enjoy this play a lot!" he rambled while you exited the theatre, hand in hand.

you'd save your witty remarks for when you were alone, but it seemed the theatre didn't bore him as much as he thought it would.

[kanjukucompany]

【A3! Translation】 Sumeragi Tenma SSR: MANKAI Encore (3/3)

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

sorry for the wait life got busy as usual, thanks for 400 followers!

(translation under the cut)

Encore: Alibaba

Scheherazade: "Tonight, too, I shall tell you another story. Yes, one of the thousand tales..."

Alibaba: "Tell me, Scheherazade! Where is this oasis!?"

Scheherazade: "Well, then let me tell you a story tonight as well. Once upon a time, in a faraway land..."

Alibaba: "Too much backstory! Three words!"

Yuki: "Aladdin. Lamp. Genie."

Alibaba: "I'm off!"

Izumi: (Good, Tenma-kun seemed a little nervous, but it looks like he's back to normal.)

Izumi: (Everyone is always there to support each other, they've really grown...)

Aladdin: "Aladdin...? I'm involved with something?"

Aladdin: "Whatevs. Hey there, you're cute. What's your name?"

Scheherazade: "Sorry, but I'm not interested in children."

Aladdin: "Don't be like that. Just one date, pleeaassee~."

Scheherazade: "Aren't you persistent."

Scheherazade: "Then why don't you go find the magic lamp yourself? You'd probably get tons of dates that way."

Aladdin: "For reals!? Sounds awesome! I'll go look for it~."

Aladdin: "Oh, that girl's super cute ☆ Hey, wanna go look for a lamp with me? "

Scheherazade: "Sigh...."

Izumi: (There's lots of room for adlibbing in the beginning. That's a relief.)

-

Izumi: (In Act II, Alibaba meets Aladdin and they have a conversation about the magic lamp. Then, a strange man comes talk to them...)

Alibaba: "Give me the magic lamp!"

Aladdin: "Huh....? Ahh, umm, I think I got the wrong guy, so I'll just, uh.."

Alibaba: "Quit resorting to that phrase when you run into people you don't wanna meet! "

Aladdin: "No thanks, I'm good..."

Alibaba: "I'm not selling you something!"

Suspicious Man: "Oi, you two. I'll show you where the lamp is."

Aladdin & Alibaba: "!?"

Suspicious Man: "It's this way."

Izumi: (Alibaba and Aladdin go into the cave the man points them towards. Behind them, a giant serpent with the magic lamp attacks...)

Alibaba: "What the hell!? You tricked us!"

Aladdin: "Wah~, we're toast..."

Aladdin: "Oh, hang on! Isn't this situation perfect for an inste selfie-shoot!? Make sure to like 'em later, Alibaba! Click~ ☆"

Alibaba: "This is not the time for selfies!"

Audience Member A: "Ahaha! This role's so like Kazunari-kun!"

Audience Member B: "Totally, he's perfect for it!"

Evil Sorcerer: "Now the magic lamp is mine!"

-

Izumi: (The magic lamp is taken from Alibaba and Aladdin. However, by a stroke of luck, they manage to get it back...)

Evil Sorcerer: "Brats! Don't you dare rub that lamp!"

Aladdin: "I got it, I got it! Guess, this means you lose, huh."

Evil Sorcerer: "O-Oi!"

Genie: "I am the genie. I shall grant you three wishes, what will it be, master?"

Evil Sorcerer: "Damn it... Gimme back that lamp!"

Izumi: (It's their first time performing this with six people, but with Kumon-kun performing so confidently, it doesn't even feel like it!)

-

Izumi: (They fight off the Evil Sorcerer, but before Alibaba can make a wish, the Genie of the lamp flies away.)

Izumi: (Depressed at the outcome, Alibaba decides to return to Scheherazade.)

Evil Sorcerer: "Oi, Sinbad! Empty your pockets!"

Sinbad: "Guh, thief!"

Alibaba: "Oh, a brother's quarrel?"

Sinbad: "What the, hey! No matter how you look at it, I'm being attacked!"

Evil Sorcerer: "You again..."

Alibaba: "Huh? Don't I know you from..."

Evil Sorcerer: "N-No, no sir!"

Alibaba: "I didn't even say where yet. So you're a thief now, huh~!"

Evil Sorcerer: "N-No, you're remembering wrong!"

Audience Member A: Pfft, hahaha!

Izumi: (The audience's reactions are great! They've built up a good tempo, and Kumon-kun is handling everything really well.)

-

Genie: "It's a 'fantastical oasis' right? That means it doesn't exist, it's just a mirage. I mean, come on man, be realistic."

Alibaba: "Isn't that a bit harsh, considering it's coming from a GENIE who's COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC!?"

Genie: "This isn't unrealistic. I'm just flying thanks to the power of science, right? .......Oh."

Alibaba: "What the hell is 'science'!?"

Genie: "I can't teach you about that yet.... Now then!"

*genie runs off*

Alibaba: "Oi, don't run away!"

-

Izumi: (Scheherazade tells Alibaba about her decision to marry the king. Alibaba is unconvinced, and the scene gets emotional--.)

Scheherazade: "I've stalled as much as I can, there's nothing else I can do. I have no choice but to join the king's harem."

Alibaba: "And you're really fine with that!?"

Scheherazade: "Of course not, but there's nothing I can do."

Alibaba: "Why didn't you tell me sooner! If you hadn't lied about the oasis and just talked about it with me, I could've--."

Scheherazade: "What could you have possibly done?"

Alibaba: "I don't know..."

Scheherazade: "It's okay, don't worry about me. Forget about the oasis and go ask that genie to make you rich."

Alibaba: "What are you talking about, idiot! You're acting like I don't know anything about you!"

Alibaba: "You're stubborn! You've got green clothes! You're sparkly! Ummm.... you're a girl!"

Alibaba: "I'm stopping this!"

Scheherazade: "Huh!?"

Scheherazade: "No matter how much time passes, you always act like such a child..."

-

Scheherazade: "What are you, stupid!? Why did you use up all of the genie's wishes!? Didn't you want to be a millionaire!?"

Alibaba: "Even if the oasis is a lie, I can't sleep without hearing your stories....!"

Scheherazade: "Alibaba..."

Alibaba: "W-What?"

Scheherazade: "...I'm getting hungry. Go fetch me some of that pudding from that shop near the station."

Alibaba: "Oh yeah, that pudding was pretty good.... Hang on, pudding and train stations don't exist!"

Scheherazade: "Then tonight, I shall tell you another story. 'The Epic Tale of Three-Year Old Alibaba Wetting the Bed'..."

Alibaba: "Stop!!!"

Scheherazade: "You've got ten seconds."

Alibaba: "I'm going okay, I'm going!"

Alibaba: "Maybe I rushed into this..."

*applause*

Summer Troupe: Thank you very much!

Kazunari: Everyone was so awesome~!

Misumi: Great job out there~!

Kumon: Phew, I was super nervous....

Tenma: Really? You didn't seem like it.

Kumon: ...I had so much fun!

Muku: Me too!

Kazunari: Yeah, what an epic performance!

Yuki: So? We showed them our 'powered-up' performance.

Tenma: ...Right. I've gotten better at expressing my emotions, Scheherazade has more depth than before....

Tenma: Aladdin is no longer just a playboy.

Tenma: Sinbad also had more room to ad-lib, which made the play even more interesting--.

Tenma: Genie was able to show off his action and move more, not to mention his more refined acting.

Tenma: And the Evil Sorcerer.

Tenma: This is Kumon's first time performing this play, but the tempo of his interactions were good, and his character stood out well.

Tenma: You did a pretty good job, Kumon.

Kumon: Tenma-san praised me....

Muku: Wah~! You were great, Kyu-chan!

Yuki: Woah.

Kazunari: Ooo! Tenten praised someone!

Tenma: But don't get complacent! We're still lacking in a lot of areas!

Yuki: ...On second thought.

Tenma: The six of us can go even higher. Right?

Summer Troupe: Definitely!

[medi-melancholy]

zhongli. gorou. danila. go

GUH

zhongli: The Wife. he is STILL my favourite character in the game and just one of my favourite characters in general. he is so fucking funny, he is so fucking tragic, he is so attractive, he's an old man he's a war god he can be clueless he can be feral he's the whole package

gorou: i'll be real with ya chief i don't really have any deep meaningful reasons for loving gorou so dearly aside from mainly "hehe cute puppy boy :)" he's just charming and useful and i adore his design and i think he is neat.

danila: sad angry water man my beloved.... he is so unwell and i can't believe i really made a character whose best story endgame is dying like 80% of the time. why did i hurt us like that. i'm in awe at his interactions and development with yingzi, i love thinking about him and masao and auguste, i just. aaaaaaa. first canon hydro claymore user better fuckin live up to my lad lmao

[fanfoolishness]

All right all right now we’re up to Sanctuary! Awwww Omera I miss you, I hope we get to see you again in S3!

Grogu: casually vents vacc tube while Din grumbles

Din: *settling Grogu into his lap for the very first time*

(My heart explodes)

Din: No one’s gonna find us here, no other bounty hunter could possibly be as good as me (he’s modest)

As if you could possibly leave this child unattended, oh Din, you poor idiot

I love it when the show is shot in Grogu-vision <3 <3 <3. Loth-cat!!

I forgot we also got Din vision this episode — well, Din thermal vision. I do wonder how many different visual overlays he has options for

I do love how willing Din is to put water under the bridge and invite Cara for soup, and how he’s perfectly content to let Cara have the whole goddamn planet

Just think of Caben reading tales of Mandalorians in his little hut beside the krill ponds, wondering if he’d ever see something so fierce and fine come through his little village

Now I kinda want to write a tiny fic of Grogu sleeping curled up against Din for the first time in that bumpy little cart on the way to the village, peaceful under the stars

Grogu in the crib is too unbearably cute

And Din’s worry about him gong off on his own is a little desperate, and very sweet

I just... want... Pedro Pascal’s voice playing in my ears forever... just... guh

I... was happy that they took me in

*crying always*

Din Djarin, aka bringer of Murder Christmas to the villagers

Yeah I know I don’t really ship for this show, but if I had to pick one, it would definitely be Mandomera

It was a great scene when the Klatooinians turned into stone thanks to Gandalf confusing them, oh wait, sorry, wrong hero’s journey

To be fair, the shot of the AT-ST menacing the whole village in wait looks straight out of LotR

I love how they use the sound design to incorporate things like sirens or droid beeps into the music in this show, it just really makes everything feel that much more immediate

Grogu has been judged by a jury of his peers and found to be disgusting

I just love Cara’s little “You could have rest and a cute wife and spotchka and you do NOTHING??” look of incredulity

We really do get a lovely decent amount of time on Sorgan, don’t we?

Except when Din starts to feel it getting too comfortable, too familiar, he decides it’s too much :( :( :(

I also kinda want to write a story about Cara on Sorgan and her time in the village! Maybe she really enjoys getting to be outside in nature, since that was very important on Alderaan! Maybe she makes friends in the village too! Maybe she enjoys a quiet life of spotchka and bar fights and goes back to visit Omera’s village frequently!

Awwww this episode is such a breath of fresh air. Goodbye beautiful Sorgan!

[cryingcow]

Character Story - Tanimura [RGGO]

. . . Yeah, I gave up on Ryuji’s. Sorry, it was frustrating  >_<. Instead, it’s time for the Mr. Gambling Turtle!

I find it funny that Tanimura’s dad/s go to all the trouble of naming him “Masayoshi” for justice and whatnot, only for no one to ever use his first name XD But “Ma-chan” is cute tho! Also, never figured Tanimura as a detective could be so idealistic, especially when compared to someone like Yagami ┐(￣～￣)┌ .

Story: Tanimura and Date work together to solve a robbery. Tanimura learns like 3 moral lessons from his senior at the end of it, and proceeds to completely misinterpret said lessons.

Date: “Little Asia. My god, just look at this place.”

Tanimura: “Okay can you stop dissing my home now and get back to the case?”

Note: “Continental descent” just means “Chinese”. I wanted to put “mainlander” because that’s the accurate term, buuut idk if it would be more or less confusing like that esp with Westerners. (Also, the way we use “mainlander” in our country is Not Very Nice. Not sure if the connotation is the same in Japan.)

.

CHAPTER 1

.

|2010. Tanimura Masayoshi, along with Kiryu and others, uncovered and resolved a big conspiracy involving the Metropolitan Police Department. After resolving the incident, Tanimura was transferred from Community Safety Division to Criminal Investigation Division One. Life goes back to normal.|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Youth: “Damn it! Ma-chan’s probably going to win again!”

Tanimura: “Heh. I’m on a roll lately.”

Friendly Youth: “Hey, Ma-chan. Is it okay for you to be here? Didn’t you move from Community Safety to Criminal Investigation Division 1?”

Tanimura: “Well, I’m a detective who deals in murder now. They gave my achievements from the recent incident a high evaluation.”

Friendly Youth: “In that case, isn’t this bad? Then your boss will come here to yell at you . . .”

Tanimura: “Oh, you mean Date-san? Yeah, that would certainly be dangerous. I should get back to the station before he finds out.”

Friendly Youth: “One of these days, you’re going to get yourself fired . . .”

----

[Little Asia]

Mister: “Yo, Ma-chan. Playing hooky as usual.”

Tanimura: “I’m at work. Patrolling. I’m here to protect the safety of this area.”

Child: “Ma-chan, let’s play!”

Tanimura: “Sorry, I’m at work. Later~.”

Tanimura: (Well, if I play hooky too much, Date-san will find out. I should get back to the station fast.)

Tanimura: “Hm?”

Lowly Gangster: “It’s not a bad idea. And more than that, I don’t think we can wait any longer!”

Weak Middle-aged Man: “H-Hii! It-It hurts! Please stop hitting me!”

Tanimura: (That’s . . . the manager of Smile Heights Ni Hao, Hao-san . . .)

Tanimura: “Oi! What are you guys doing?!”

Lowly Gangster: “Ah?!”

Hao: “Ma-chan!”

Lowly Gangster: “Don’t butt in!! I’m working! I’m collecting this guy’s debt!”

Tanimura: “You’re a debt collector? Hao-san, how much did you borrow?”

Hao: “500,000 . . . I should have won the horse race . . . I lost a lot of money. Haha . . .”

Lowly Gangster: “The interest has ballooned to 5 million! Pay up 100,000 for this month!”

Tanimura: “Hey, stop! 500,000 to 5 million, that’s obviously an illegal interest rate!”

Lowly Gangster: “Bastard, didn’t I tell you earlier not to butt in? What are you, a cop?”

Tanimura: “. . . Tanimura of the Kamurocho Police. You do know if you keep doing that, you’ll be guilty of assault, right?”

Lowly Gangster: “What? There’s 3 of us here. Bastard, don’t think you can do anything on your own!”

Tanimura: “Well, that’s why I called backup.”

Police Officer: “Sir! I received your request for backup!”

{The policeman takes the yakuza away.}

Hao: “Tanimura-san, thank you!”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, if you can’t stop yourself from gambling, why did you have to borrow from that guy?”

Hao: “Because I thought I could win . . .”

Tanimura: “Aren’t you teaching children? A teacher shouldn’t be showing that kind of example.”

Hao: “Ah . . . you’re right. I should set a good example as a teacher.”

Tanimura: “You’re a good person, Hao-san. Isn’t it a shame you lost sight of that because of debt? I asked Mei-Fa recently, and I heard you were picking up orphans and putting them up in your apartment?”

Hao: “Yup. It wouldn’t be fair to push the children all on Omomuki-san, and I like kids anyway.”

Tanimura: “That’s good. That’s why you shouldn’t lose yourself in debt.”

Little Boy: “Ah, there you are Hao-sensei! It’s time for cram school!”

Hao: “Ah! Is it already time?”

Tanimura: “Oh, Hao-san, wait a moment. Here, take this.”

Hao: “Eh?! Money? Are you sure?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. This is the money I won from gambling. Use it to buy the children clothes and teaching materials.”

Hao: “Th-Thank you!”

Little Boy: “Hao-sensei! Let’s go! Everyone is waiting!”

Hao: “Tanimura-san! Again, thank you very much!”

Tanimura: “Go already. And don’t use it for gambling!”

{Hao leaves with the little boy.}

Tanimura: “Teaching children for free, and feeding them on top of that . . . He’s a good person. If only he didn’t have debt and a gambling habit . . .”

Date: “Are you talking about someone else? Because I know a detective who plays mahjong.”

Tanimura: “. . . guh. Date-san . . .”

Date: “I finally found you! Your paperwork isn’t finished yet, you truant demon!”

Tanimura: “Th-This time is different! I wasn’t playing hooky! In fact, I was helping people with their troubles . . .”

Date: “That’s no excuse! If a subordinate of Sudo is skipping out on work, it’s up to me to drag him back. Now, let’s go!”

Tanimura: “I understand . . .”

----

|Several days later . . .|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Tanimura: “Hehe. Oh, this tile . . . I’m on a roll today~.”

Friendly Youth: “Ma-chan, you’re skipping work again to play mahjong. You’re going to get disciplined again.”

Tanimura: “I just can’t stop. Anyway, it’s noisy outside. Is something going on?”

Friendly Youth: “I don’t know. Why are you asking me, you’re the detective. Haven’t you heard anything on your comm device?”

Tanimura: “Hm, I wonder. I was focused on something else today. Oh, this tile . . .”

Date: “Tanimura!! I knew you’d be here . . .”

Tanimura: “D-Date-san? Uh, you see . . . I wasn’t skipping . . .”

Date: “There’s been an incident.”

Tanimura: “Eh? Incident?”

Date: “A bank robbery. Happened just a while ago.”

Sudo: “A man wearing a full-faced helmet broke into the bank, stole 5 million in cash, and escaped on a scooter. It seems that he fled to Little Asia.”

Tanimura: “In Little Asia?”

Date: “You’re very familiar with Little Asia, correct? So you’ll be on this case.”

Tanimura: “. . . Understood. What did the guy look like?”

Date: “There was one perpetrator, a 170cm tall medium-sized man of continental descent.”

Tanimura: “Continental descent . . .”

Date: “There’s only one way in to enter Little Asia. All the other exits have been secured.”

Tanimura: “Wait, are you suspecting someone who lives in Little Asia?”

Date: “Given the situation, I have to be suspicious.”

Tanimura: “Is . . . that so . . .”

Date: “Why are you upset? People who are born and raised in this city can be suspects.”

Tanimura: “It’s just . . . I know everyone in Little Asia, but I don’t know anyone who’d be a thief . . .”

Date: “Hey, Tanimura . . . you know you should look at the facts and not get distracted by personal feelings, right?”

Tanimura: “Alright . . .”

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 2

.

[Little Asia]

Date: “Little Asia. Narrow streets tangling with one another . . . Foreign signboards in a narrow space lined up in front of suspicious stores . . . It’s the perfect place to hide.”

Tanimura: “Haa. Yeah, maybe you’re right . . .”

Date: “Alright. Tanimura, now listen up.”

Tanimura: “I don’t feel like I’m suitable for this . . .”

 {Date and Tanimura presumably discuss their gameplan and go find residents to interrogate.}

Youth: “A man wearing a full-faced helmet?”

Tanimura: “Yeah, and he escaped into Little Asia on a scooter. Did you see him?”

Youth: “. . . You know, I think I did. He went inside a tobacco shop.”

Tanimura: “A tobacco shop, thank you!”

Youth: “Tanimura-san, are you suspecting one of us?”

Tanimura: “No, no. That’s not the case . . .”

Youth: “Is that true? Ren-san of the tobacco shop said he was also interrogated . . . You and that tough-looking detective are going around checking everyone’s alibi.”

Tanimura: “Tough-looking detectives . . .”

Date: “. . .”

Youth: “We may be poor, but when we’re in trouble, we help each other out. We’re not robbers.”

Tanimura: “I-I know. I don’t suspect everyone here. Thank you for giving us information. {to Date} It seems the guy went this way.”

Date: “Even so, this is a complicated place. If you weren’t with me, I’d have gotten lost.”

Tanimura: “Well, at first glance it’s just a dilapidated town.”

Date: “If the suspect is someone who doesn’t know the land, he’ll get lost. But if he does know the area, it’ll be easy to lose the police.”

Tanimura: “Um. Do you still suspect someone in Little Asia?”

Date: “I don’t want to doubt them, but as always we should.”

Tanimura: “‘Prejudice in the investigation is strictly prohibited’.  . . . I understand.”

Chinpira: “Oi!”

Chinpira: “You’re the ones who’ve been swaggering around Little Asia, aren’t you?”

Date: “Hm? Who are you guys?”

Tanimura: “Do you even live here?”

Chinpira: “Dunno. But you’re really annoying. Get out of here now.”

Tanimura: “Are you headaches working for the criminal we’re investigating? Getting in our way like this, maybe . . . you’re the robbers?”

Chinpira: “What did you say?”

Tanimura: “You see, Date-san? The culprit is an outsider all along.”

Date: “. . . Tanimura. That doesn’t seem to be the case right now.”

Chinpira: “If you don’t get out now, I’ll kick you out myself!”

{Tanimura and Date defeat the guys.}

Chinpira: “U-ugh . . .”

Tanimura: “Oi! Are you the robbers?!”

Chinpira: “What the hell are you talking about?! We were just ordered to get in your way!”

Tanimura: “Ordered? By who?”

Chinpira: “I-I don’t know. A bunch of unknown men. Probably yakuza, based from how they dressed . . .”

Tanimura: “Is that true?”

Chinpira: “It’s true! If we disturb your investigation, we’ll be paid . . . is what they said.”

Date: “You guys . . . where were you and what were you doing at around 5:30PM today?”

Chinpira: “We were playing at the arcade at that time.”

Date: “And you’re not lying?”

Chinpira: “I-I’m not lying! We even took pictures at the arcade . . .”

Date: “The crime took place at around 5:30PM. If you have an alibi, it should be the timestamps on those arcade pictures.”

Tanimura: “If that’s the case, do you think the yakuza who ordered them are the real robbers?”

Date: “It’s suspicious, sure, but its relevance to the robbery is still unknown.”

Tanimura: “Is that so . . . so what do we do with these guys?”

Date: “They obstructed a police investigation. Call for backup and let them handle it. We can go back to our investigation as soon as they take over.”

Tanimura: “Got it.”

----

Tanimura: “According to the testimony, the criminal escaped around here . . .”

Date: “It’s a straight road. What do you think lies ahead?”

Tanimura: “It’s a dead end. But . . .”

Date: “But?”

Tanimura: “There’s an apartment here. A place managed by a person named Hao . . .”

Date: “Hao?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. He’s a good person who takes orphans in and teaches them for free.”

Date: “Oh. That may be your impression of him, but it’s possible the criminal escaped into his apartment.”

----

Tanimura: “! That thing lying in front of the apartment . . . is that a scooter?”

Date: “That’s what the criminal was using, and it’s even the same color.  . . . hm? The license plate has been peeled off.”

Tanimura: “Is it the getaway vehicle?”

Date: “Seems like it. The engine is still warm. Thinking that he got away with it, the criminal made a mistake.”

Tanimura: “Following the footprints leading away from the scooter . . . it looks like the criminal escaped into the apartment.”

Hao: “Oh. Tanimura-san?”

Tanimura: “Hao-san? Are you in there?”

Hao: “. . . Yup. I was in the caretaker’s room. Tanimura-san, is this an investigation?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. In fact, I’m chasing down a robber. A man wearing a full-faced helmet escaped down here.”

Hao: “Eh!”

Date: “This hut in front of the apartment that looks like a lottery counter. Is this the caretaker’s room?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. Children live here, so he keeps an eye out for suspicious people from over there.”

Date: “So in other words, the criminal wouldn’t have been able to get pass without the caretaker seeing them.”

Hao: “. . .”

Date: “Hao-san. How about it? Looking at the situation, it is likely that the culprit disposed of the scooter here and fled into the apartment. Did you not see the criminal run by? If you really were in the caretaker’s room, you should have seen him.”

Hao: “. . . th-that is . . .”

Date: “. . . Did you see him?”

Hao: “I-I didn’t see anyone! No one passed by here!”

Date: “And there’s no mistake?”

Hao: “There’s no doubt! No one escaped to this apartment!”

Date: “Is that so . . .”

Hao: “. . . um. Can I go now?”

Date: “Yeah. Understood. Thank you for your time.”

{Hao goes back inside.}

Tanimura: “Hao-san didn’t see the criminal running away. So where could the culprit be?”

Date: “Something stinks.”

Tanimura: “Eh?”

Date: “It seems like the caretaker is hiding something.”

Tanimura: “Just because he doesn’t want to talk to the police all of a sudden? Maybe he’s busy.”

Date: “Maybe so. But . . . can’t you think of another reason? Like the caretaker protecting the fleeing criminal.”

Tanimura: “Date-san. Hao-san is a good person who takes care of orphans for free, isn’t he? He can’t be covering up for a robber.”

Date: “What if Hao-san knows the criminal? Wouldn’t that be reason enough to protect him?”

Tanimura: “Th-That’s . . .”

Date: “Hey, Tanimura. Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of the investigation. You shouldn’t dismiss the possibility.”

Tanimura: “I know . . .”

Date: “Alright. Then let’s keep an eye on the apartment from the opposite building. If there is a criminal in there, he’s sure to come out eventually.”

Tanimura: (Hao-san protecting the criminal? That’s stupid . . .)

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 3

.

|About an hour after Tanimura and Date started watching Hao’s apartment . . .|

[Little Asia]

Date: “There’s no movement. The caretaker still continues to watch TV in his room. The probable criminal hasn’t come out.”

Tanimura: “Yeah, he’s done nothing but watch TV the entire time. But, there is something strange about him . . .”

Date: “Strange how?”

Tanimura: “Hao-san has been fidgeting the entire time. Like he’s wary of something.”

Date: “You think he’s aware he’s under surveillance?”

Tanimura: “I wonder. But there’s something even stranger . . .”

Date: “What?”

Tanimura: “I told you that Hao-san tutors children, right? He should be teaching at this time. The study room is on the second floor . . .”

Date: “And yet he’s been in the caretaker’s room the entire time.”

Tanimura: “Yes. It’s supposed to be his daily routine . . . On top of that, I haven’t seen any of the children. The lights aren’t even on, and normally they should be switched on at the second floor . . .”

Date: “Tanimura . . . do you think your observations are related to the robbery case?”

Tanimura: “. . . I . . . think so . . . If we believe that a robber is in the apartment . . . it makes sense why the cram school isn’t open. The criminal could be using the children as hostages. That might be why Hao-san is protecting him. But . . . if that’s the case, it’s puzzling why the room isn’t lit. There’s no reason to turn the lights off and tell everyone otherwise.”

Date: “Heh. Tanimura, it seems you finally understand how to observe without letting your personal feelings interfere.”

Tanimura: “I’m not . . . I’m still not doubting Hao-san.”

Date: “. . . Alright. Let’s end this stakeout.”

Tanimura: “What are we going to do?”

Date: “You said things felt strange. It’s time to confront the caretaker. Doing so may move this situation from its standstill.”

Tanimura: “. . . Understood.”

Tanimura: “Hao-san. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Hao: “T-Tanimura-san? What’s wrong?”

Tanimura: “Where are the kids?”

Hao: “! W-We-Well, that is . . .”

Tanimura: “It’s time for cram school, right? But the lights on the second floor are still off. Hao-san, what on earth is going on? Where are the children?”

Hao: “. . . uh . . .”

Tanimura: “I’m going to look inside the apartment room. Is that okay?”

Hao: “. . . Tanimura-san! I’m sorry!”

{Hao grabs a bag and pushes past Tanimura.}

Tanimura: “Ah! Hao-san, where are you going with that bag?! . . . ! The scooter?”

Date: “Tanimura! He got away! Let’s go chase him!”

Tanimura: “O-Okay!”

Tanimura: (Hao-san, is this a joke? There’s no way you . . .)

----

Date: “Haa . . . haa . . . damn it! The alleys are too complex and our target is on a scooter! Haa . . . haa . . . this is . . . we have to keep going!”

Tanimura: “Date-san! Here! Please follow me!”

Date: “H-Hey, that’s the opposite direction . . .”

Tanimura: “This is a shortcut!”

Tanimura: “Haa . . . haa. There you are, Hao-san.”

Date: “Haa . . . haa. Tanimura, you were right.”

Tanimura: “Haa . . . haa . . . Hao-san got off the scooter and entered that building!”

Date: “Alright! Let’s catch him!”

 ----

Tanimura: “Hao-san!! Haa . . . haa . . . haa . . .”

Hao: “T-Tanimura-san?”

Tanimura: “What’s in that bag? Is it money?! Are you the robber?!”

Hao: “Th-That’s . . .”

Tanimura: “Show me what’s inside!”

{Tanimura grabs the bag and forces it open.}

Hao: “Ah.”

Tanimura: “Th-this is . . .”

Date: “The 5 million that was stolen. Judging from the number of wads, I’d that’s probably it.”

Hao: “. . .”

Tanimura: “Hao-san! What is the meaning of this?! Why did you become a robber . . .”

Hao: “. . . i-it couldn’t be helped.”

Tanimura: “What can’t?”

Hao: “The yakuza were claiming my debt! They took the children!”

Tanimura: “What did you say?”

Hao: “They . . . if you’re an orphan in Little Asia, it’s hard to go to the police . . . If I didn’t pay off my debt, they’d kidnap the children and sell them off . . .”

Tanimura: “I see. Since the parents of those children were here illegally, then those kids don’t exist at all in this country.”

Date: “in other words, there is no one who’ll sue them. They’re free to do human trafficking.”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, is that why you did the robbery?”

Hao: “They ordered me to. If I steal the money, they’ll return the children.”

Tanimura: “Is that so . . .”

Yakuza: “There it is! That money is ours.”

Tanimura: “! Who are you guys?”

Yakuza: “It can’t be helped now that he’s talked. I’m taking all that money. Hand it over in exchange for the children’s lives, or we’ll sell them to get the money.”

Tanimura: “I won’t let you do that. I’m not paying, now hand over those kids.”

Yakuza: “Kekeke. There’s only two of you against us. You’re going to die right now!”

{Tanimura and Date defeat the yakuza.}

Tanimura: “Where are the children?! Answer me!!”

Yakuza: “S-Second floor of the opposite building . . . they’re tied up there . . .”

Date: “Tanimura, watch these guys and Hao-san. I’ll call for back up and pick up the kids.”

Tanimura: “Got it. Hao-san, are you okay?”

Hao: “Yup. Tanimura-san, I’m sorry . . .”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, if you’re ever in trouble, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Hao: “Tanimura-san . . .”

 ----

Date: “Tanimura. The children are safe and protected now.”

Tanimura: “Um. Does the police know about the children’s complicated situations . . .”

Date: “Yeah. I sat that out. It would be confusing when it comes to the police.”

Tanimura: “Thank you very much.”

Date: “About Hao-san . . . as expected, there’s no easy way to handle his case. Even though he was threatened, it was still a robbery. They might give him a lighter sentence.”

Tanimura: “The situation is what it is. I hope they do . . .”

Tanimura: “. . .”

Date: “What’s wrong? That’s not the face one wears when a case is resolved.”

Tanimura: “. . . This case went exactly as you said. I was too caught up in my personal feelings, and my eyes were clouded. I should have known from the testimony that Hao was suspicious, but I didn’t want to doubt him. I didn’t want to believe my friends from Little Asia could do that.  . . . No, I didn’t want you to think they’d do it. Letting such thoughts distract me from the facts . . . I should be kicked off the police force.”

Date: “. . . You’re right. It’s not a very flattering side of you. But Tanimura, I think there are two kinds of people in the police. The kind who upholds the law . . . while the other kind fights for their idea of justice. There are people like you who learn once they bounce back from their mistakes. Remember that.”

Tanimura: “. . . I will. Thank you very much, Date-san.”

Date: “Besides, solving this case would have been impossible if it wasn’t for your keen eye and familiarity with the streets of Little Asia. It seems your truancy turned out to be useful this time. Heh, if everyone was just like you, the world would be a better place.”

Tanimura: “Haha, I can’t say anything to that.”

 ----

|A few days later . . .|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Tanimura: “Alright! I win again this time~!”

Friendly Youth: “Wow! You beat me again!”

Tanimura: “Hehe. Looks like I’m in great form today as well.”

Friendly Youth: “But Ma-chan. Is it okay for you to be skipping out on work again? Your boss is going to get angry at you.”

Tanimura: “It’s alright, it’s alright. I had a chat with my boss. It turns out my truancy is useful.”

Friendly Youth: “Is that true . . . Oh, that’s right. It seems like Hao-san got off with a light sentence.”

Tanimura: “Yeah. They took into consideration the fact that he was threatened by the yakuza.”

Friendly Youth: “If Hao-san is gone, there’ll be no one to take care of the kids.”

Tanimura: “Yeah. I’m glad all the loose ends are tied up.”

Date: “What loose ends are tied up?”

Tanimura: “Guh. Date-san . . .”

Date: “Tch, you! Are you playing hooky again?!”

Tanimura: “N-No, because you gave me permission to skip, didn’t you? You said skipping was good!”

Date: “You idiot! I didn’t give you permission! And I’m not cleaning up your paperwork! Sudo told me off because of your truancy! Get back to work!”

Tanimura: “Y-Yes! I’m sorry!”

{Tanimura runs off.}

Date: “Good grief . . .  Heh. To be young with such energy.”

.

-END-

Masterlist

[blarrghe]

ooo could you do “Can we make cake? I like cake.”

@midnightprelude also sent me this prompt, approximately a year ago now lol, and I've been dwelling on it for sooo long. Anyway I just woke up and decided to fill this very cute prompt with some Lavellan Fam and I think there’s a sequel brewing. ft. @serphena ‘s Theo and Kiara! -- Taren used to be good with kids. He used to spend his weekend mornings teaching the children of the clan traditional dances, he used to light up holiday nights with bursts of magic whisps that made them ooh and ahh, he used to tell the littlest ones, the scared ones whose parents were away, or just gone, the same old stories that had been told to him, when he'd needed them. In his heart of hearts, he always wanted kids. A family. A home. He never really talked about that. He still never really talks about that.

There are five kids at Skyhold. Five is nothing compared to the number of scampering, laughing, rambunctious children he used to sometimes be put in charge of supervising as a First, back when Keeper Deshanna thought he’d needed practice at responsible. He isn’t in charge of supervising any of the children in the fortress. He’s had more than enough practice at responsible. But they’re well taken care of, the children of this strange new clan. The baker’s daughter has her mother still, the merchant’s three children come and go, and Kiara... Kiara is just like her father, independent. And when she isn’t being independent, she’s stuck to the legs of Theo, and when Theo is away, Cassandra. He tries not to be offended by the fact that his brother’s daughter doesn’t seem to like him very much. If he were her, he wouldn’t either.

It’s a good thing, really, that there are other people to supervise the children. The Inquisitor has enough on his plate without having to worry about things like mediating fights over building blocks or soothing nightmares, and in this chaotic world with it’s green, gaping sky filled with literal demons, there have been a lot of nightmares. Now, he is the story parents tell their children when the bad dreams come at night: the Inquisitor will fix it. He has a magic hand and he’ll heal the whole sky, patch it right up.

He tries not to hear the stories, but his brother’s daughter looks at him like he’s one part mythic hero, one part imminent threat to everything she has ever loved.

She’s no stranger to danger, even though she’s barely five. Theo told him about how they used to live, running from place to place, threat to threat. Even with the gaping green hole in the sky, this is better. Skyhold feels safe. Sometimes, Skyhold feels like the only safe place in the world.

Which is why she doesn’t like Taren very much. Because every so often, when the gaping green hole is being particularly nasty, spitting out its demons and smaller tears of awful and green into the world, Taren sends her papa away. Really, Theo volunteers to go. Taren never asked for his help, he just showed up and offered it. He’s always been the kind of person who could never just stand by, they have that in common. And by the looks of things so will Kiara, one day, but right now she just misses her papa, and worries about the demons she knows are out there, and looks at Taren like he’s responsible.

And he can’t blame her. He is.

Which makes being put in charge of supervising her while both Cassandra and Theo are away exceedingly difficult. He volunteered to do it, of course. Promised Theo it would be fine, fun, even. Reminded him of how good he has always been with kids, told him he’d be grateful for the opportunity to get to know his little niece. And now she’s huffing at his every suggestion, and running away from him when he offers her dinner at the end of the long days, and hiding in her room with a doll Krem made her while refusing bedtime stories at night. Krem, who is a great, scary mercenary from a band of great, scary mercenaries, who lives in the tavern making lewd jokes and telling gory stories with Bull, is better loved by Skyhold’s children, by his own brother’s child, than he is.

Of course, he understands it. If he was a child, he’d like Krem better too. Krem makes little nug dolls with wings on them, and it’s hard to compete with that.

Still, it’s not just a jealousy thing. It’s not just a want of family or a desire to see enthusiastic appreciation for his skills at story-telling and whisp-making again. It’s not even just that he’s missed so much of his brother’s life, that he found out about Kiara when she was already four years old, and that Theo’s story about that life they had on the run sank into his heart cold. Those are all good reasons to feel a sense of determination about this, to want to prove that he is a fun, funny, warm and welcoming uncle. To want to be there for her even when her papa can’t be. To want to be considered as family. But it’s more than just love, he’ll love his brother’s child even if she does nothing but throw tantrums and slam doors the entire time Theo is away. What he really wants, selfishly, is a break.

He still knows how to make colourful whisps, but it’s been years since anyone’s needed his magic to do anything other than hurt. He still knows all the old stories, but it’s been years since anyone wanted to talk about Elvhenan as anything other than a puzzle to solve. He still knows the traditional dances, but the only dancing he’s done in years took him in stiff steps over marble floors, analyzing the threats hidden behind glittering masks, until finally, at the end of the night, someone tried to kill him. He’s just tired. He just wants to have some fun. 

So he decides, after four days of enduring a five-year-old’s brooding, that today they will have fun, whether Kiara wants to or not. They clearly both need it.

“Hey Kiara Kiddo,” he calls out to her where she’s picking dandelions from the courtyard green. She looks up at him with a sour expression, but she doesn’t get up or abandon the chain of flowers she’s connecting, which is a promising start. He sits next to her on the grass.

“Why do you always call me Kiara Kiddo?” she asks, stubborn, huffy, eyes narrowing to a squint. She doesn’t have Theo’s distinctive eye colours -- one blue, one green -- hers come from someone neither of them have ever met, and they’re deep and endlessly brown, but they squint just like her father’s. Taren leans back in the grass, and squints back at her.

“Because you’re a kiddo,” he says, “and it starts with the same letter.”

“I’m not a kiddo!” she huffs, “I’m a knight! Like Cassandra!”

Taren stifles a chuckle. Yesterday, she proved her skill with a practice sword by hitting him with it when he tried to tell her it was bedtime, which wasn’t very knightly, but her sword skills are rather good for a five year old, and now he has a bruise on his knee.

“Ok,” he says, “I’m sorry, Knight Kiara. That starts with the same letter too.”

Kiara considers this for a moment. “No it doesn’t.” she determines, “Knight starts with ‘nnnn’.”

“There’s a ‘K’ there first, you just don’t say it aloud.” Taren explains, “do you want help with your crown, Knight Kiara?”

“No.” she says, as she returns her attention to the linkage of yellow flowers, “why are there so many letters you don’t say?”

“What do you mean?”

“Laugh has a ‘guh’ at the end you don’t say, and know has a ‘K’ before the ‘nnn’ too.” she says, squinting down at her chain, “and Uncle Dori says that lots of big words sound smaller once you learn them.” Dorian is teaching Kiara to read. Dorian, who is probably the last person anyone would ever expect to even go near a child, never mind being the one to tell one stories, has earned himself a nickname and several flower crowns. Taren is head-over-heels in love with Dorian, though neither of them has said as much, and seeing him with a flower crown on his head about stopped his heart, the first time. But that doesn’t keep the jealousy from rising in his throat right now, when Dorian gets to be “Uncle” and he’s still spending his days feeling like he’s more title than person. More title than person to everyone, not just to Kiara, but not getting to be anyone’s uncle, that’s where it stings the most.

But if Kiara wants to be a knight, then he can be the all-important Inquisitor.

“He’s right about that,” Taren agrees, “do you want to go find a story about knights? I can help you read it.”

“No.” says Kiara.

“Or you could teach me sword fighting,” he suggests. Kiara simply shakes her head.

Taren is determined. He has an arsenal of kid-friendly activities at the ready to suggest. Colouring and stories and games and imaginative adventures they could go on around Skyhold, since he holds all the keys. She could sit up in his throne or they could visit Leliana’s birds, they could steal Cullen’s chess board or borrow Solas’ paints. He suggests a few of these things, and Kiara continues to say no, and squint at the grass.

Taren sighs. “Well I don’t know, Knight Kiara, what should we do?”

“Nothing.” she says.

Taren frowns. “That doesn’t sound like much fun,” he picks a few dandelions of his own, and fiddles with their stems, “I told your papa that me and you would have lots of fun while he’s gone,” he tries, “what are we going to tell him when he comes back?”

Kiara looks at him, fire in her warm brown eyes. “I don’t want to play with you until papa comes back. I just want papa to come back.”

“I know, kiddo.”

Her frown deepens, her eyes blaze.

“Sorry, knight,” Taren sighs again, ��he’ll come back soon.” he promises.

“Why did you make him go?”

“I --” Taren pauses. His defence is not what Kiara wants to hear, not what she needs to hear. She’s already asked that question of him a hundred times, and she knows what his answer is. She asked Theo the same question a hundred times before he left, too, and Theo’s answer was the same. “I miss him too.” he says instead, “I’m worried about him too.”

“Then why don’t you make him come back.” it doesn’t sound anything like a question.

“I can’t,” he says, and it’s an honest answer, then he smiles, “no one can ever make your papa do anything, and no one will be able to stop him coming back to you.” that’s true too, mostly. Kiara is silent, she picks at the petals of one of her flowers.

“Do you want to see where he went?” Taren offers. She’s seen the maps before, Theo outlined the whole route and showed her the maps he’d be taking with him, and she’s gone over all the place names so many times that now she can recite them from memory, but sometimes it helps. “We can go look at the big map in the war room,” Taren offers, knowing she’s always been curious about what goes on in there, “or we can climb to the tallest tower of the castle and look out, if we face the right way and look really hard, we might see their fires.” That’s less true. Some scout fires can be seen from Skyhold’s peaks at night, but none of those are where Theo is. 

Kiara considers, then she shakes her head.

“We could write him a letter,” Taren offers next, “and take it to Leliana’s birds.” That helps too. He knew it would, so he suggested it to Dorian, and now they do that almost every day. Kiara gives him a startled look, like she’s surprised that he knows about the power of writing an absent parent letters, but then she shakes her head again.

The stem of one of Kiara’s flowers snaps when she tries to tie it, and she drops the whole thing with a disappointed groan. Taren picks it up. “Here,” he says, delicately taking the thing from the ground and waving a hand over its broken end until the stem grows out. He magics them together, pulls on the fade until it the stem is long and sturdy and then gives it reinforcing vines of magically grown plant matter to bind it, tying the whole thing together, “all better, see?” It’s an easy thing to do, sprouting a bit of green. Easier than calling on the spirits of the dead to fight after they fall, or summoning a rift he still doesn’t really understand to isolate his enemies, much easier than flinging bolts of electricity or even putting up a barrier. Kiara’s eyes go wide while she watches him.

“Do you have green magic because of your green hand?” she asks, for the moment more curious than she is upset with him, which is something.

“No,” he answers, “well I do, but not that kind of green magic. That’s a trick our Keeper taught me, when me and your papa were both young.”

“Papa can’t do magic.” Kiara frowns, “you have two kinds but all papa has is a bow.”

“Your papa doesn’t need magic,” Taren says, but Kiara looks unconvinced, “we learned together, you know, your papa with his bow while I was learning magic, and every time we fought he’d win.”

“Why did you fight?”

“Just for fun, just for practice. Like you and Cass.” he says, “we used to have fun together all the time, me and your papa.”

Kiara looks at him, her big brown eyes taking in his face, on which he’s projected an honest, if somewhat sad, smile. Then her eyes travel down to the flower chain, to the hand he waved over it and then to the hand he didn’t, that glows green.

“Papa won?“

“Always.” Taren says, “I don’t think even The Iron Bull could beat him.”

Kiara nods seriously.

“Did your papa ever tell you about when he was little?”

Kiara shrugs, “papa didn’t have a mama either, and he didn’t even have a papa, but you took care of him. That’s why I have to listen to you while he’s gone.” she recites, not like she knows it, but like she’s been told. Taren frowns.

“We had each other,” he says, “we had the whole clan, like a big, big family, but...” he pauses. He doesn’t want to make her sadder than she already is, “I didn’t have a mama or a papa either, so we took care of each other.”

“Were you sad?” her eyes travel back down to the ground, and she picks up the crown again, admiring the mended flower stem; it’s seamless. 

“Sometimes,” Taren shrugs, “we both were, sometimes.”

“Did you help papa when he was sad?”

“Of course.”

“How?”

Taren thinks. Stories, games, helping to get them into mischief some days and to keep Theo out of trouble on others.

“Once, we got some cake from a merchant, and ate so much we got sick.” he suggests, “and I did this, and told him stories,” Taren waves his hand, the ordinary one, up into the air, and colourful whisps begin to dance about. Kiara watches a blue one flit around her flower crown, and a corner of her lip almost makes it up to a smile.

“Can we make cake?” she asks, “I like cake.”

“Good idea, Knight Kiara,” Taren smiles, “but I bet to make a cake we’ll need supplies. Are you ready for your first quest?”

Kiara smiles a little more, and nods. “Here,” she says, offering the flower crown she’s just finished out to him, “if I am the knight then you have to be the princess.”

“Got it,” Taren agrees, and places the crown on his head.