#also like. people not knowing you can collect all bond shards from the board. it literally tells u that.

[elftism]

do u ever just look at a fandom and wonder if any of its members know how to read

[demonslayedher]

any random trivial thoughts you have about the lives of the slayers? i like to think that nezuko keeps the acorns inosuke gave her in a jar as a collection and that inosuke is determined to fill the jar completely, hehe. also, do you think an official announcement of nezuko’s existence was made to the lower ranked demon slayers or did it travel through word of mouth. imagine oblivious demon slayers visiting the butterfly mansion, only to be greeted/encountered by nezuko

If I may add to that thought about Nezuko having a jar, Gotouge has stated that Nezuko is okay getting tossed around and bumping her head in the box because she heals from it immediately, but one of this days Tanjiro is going to open it and it will pour with acorns and glass shards, and she'll just be sitting there glaring with disappointment. (Hopefully Nezuko keeps the jar in a safe place at the Butterfly Mansion instead!)

As for telling the whole Corp that Nezuko got the OK from Oyakata-sama and the Pillars, I can see that being like a low-key announcement that spreads like a rumor, just kinda whenever the crows get around to that detail between missions. It makes sense that Oyakata-sama wanted to tell the Pillars first, and since the Pillar meeting was coming up pretty soon when Tanjiro passed the Final Selection, Oyakata-sama had probably planned as soon as he got Urokodaki's letter than he was going to have Tanjiro and Nezuko at that meeting. Even if we set the Pillars aside, though, there's wide-spread hatred against demons throughout the Corp. It probably helped to have the Pillars generally on board first. I can imagine the rest of the Corp being very curious (if cautious) about Nezuko, and although we see characters who get the pleasure of spending time with her getting to baby her, most Corp members who meet Tanjiro probably don't get to meet Nezuko face to face. Daytime is problematic, or Nezuko would otherwise be asleep a lot of the time even if Tanjiro is busy in settings when he'd meet other Corp members. Still, I think Tanjiro's reputation as a nice guy would spread even faster, so even people who were iffy about Nezuko would probably get to know Tanjiro and be like, "oh, she's probably fine."

But if we're going to get into trivial headcanons about the Slayers' everyday lives, you know who I think gets babied more than Nezuko?

Inosuke. Most of the Corp members are freaked out by him at first, but as it dawns on them that Inosuke grew up all alone, it may bring out a nurturing side in them, and it makes everyone happy to see him get better at fitting in among humankind. They get to feel proud of him as he picks up on limited amounts of etiquette and gets marginally better at picking up names, but most of them are still likely to make a quick exit when he starts getting too rambunctious.

Zenitsu, however, is someone who should know better and most people find him really annoying until they go through Pillar Training with him, as that's the strongest bonding experience most of the Corp members have ever shared, aside from the really close bonding that probably occurs a lot among members of the same Final Selection batches. However, the Corp members who have witnessed Zenitsu in action (and who were rescued by him) have nearly the same awe for him that they have for the Pillars, so they never say anything to him about how indebted they feel.

Since more of the Corp members have met Inosuke and Zenitsu than have met Nezuko, Tanjiro's saintly reputation mostly stems from how much of those two numbskulls' company he can stand, and how he can keep them in line (keeping a demon sister in line must be easy in comparison). Also, Tanjiro is not just good at tending the fire to make good rice, his sense of smell makes him a master at seasoning food perfectly, and many Corp members have cried thinking of how their own mothers never cooked so well. Tanjiro is also very good at tending to people when they fall ill.

The Pillars are so advanced in Breath technique that they don't generally catch colds unless they are recovering from serious injury or like, poisoning themselves. Normal Corp members catch minor illnesses all the time, though, and that's part of why they're so slow to advance. They tend to have to take time for lots of little things instead of just major injuries sustained in battle. They still train as much as possible to make sure they don't get rusty when it's time to take a mission again. These recovery periods are some of the only times when they can maintain a reasonable sleep schedule, many of the members who survive to old age feel long term effects of sleep deprivation in addition to lingering injuries. Since the Corp members can't very well engage in long-term goals, simple pastimes are encouraged in the daylight hours to help keep them in the moment. The Butterfly Mansion and most of the Wisteria houses are well stocked with board games like Sugoroku and card games like Karuta, as well as tools for shuttlecock and paper for origami.

While many of the Corp members try to be virtuous, and in indeed there are other circles that have their own sort of main-character like Tanjiro equivalent, there are still those who have less polished, or certainly far less positive character. The rougher members tend to spend their salary and free time on vices. Oyakata-sama understands his children are under a lot of stress and turns a blind eye to it (or two blind eyes, I guess).

Different Breaths tend to come with their own cultures, and overtime different Cultivators tend to get different reputations based on the members they send into the Corp. Like, "Oh, Yamada-sensei? Then you must be a stickler for the 10th form" or "Yamaguchi-sensei? Are you okay out there? I heard he's real half-assed on Breath technique." There is a certain amount of awe that students of former Pillars automatically get, and although some of that is due to pride and jealously, people who have been in the Corp long enough tend to get over these notions and just realize that everyone's doing their best. Since they're core Breath styles there may be other Thunder and Flame Breath users throughout the Corp from different Cultivators, but, pardon the pun, they can't hold a candle to the students of former Pillars (or the Rengoku clan in general) and it's highly, highly unlikely any of them would ever get close to the same level of mastery. There's plenty of Muratas in every Breath, basically.

Speaking of Murata, he and others like him probably had an easy time of settling down and getting married after retirement. Years of experience as swordsmen certainly gave them a mature edge over the average Joes they otherwise would be compared to, but they also have the advantage of not being freaks. Takeuchi remains life-long friends with Yushiro.

The young maidens of Wisteria houses get flirted with all the time. Many of the Corp members are starved of TLC, and while the maidens of the Wisteria houses are polite and have deep respect for the work the swordsmen do, they know they likely will not know most of them for long. However, when there is a true connection between a Corp member and a Wisteria House family member, they tend to make very solid matches. Girls make up a slim percentage of the swordsmen in the Corp, and this is why they tend to get sent on undercover missions a lot more. Demons tend to put their guards down more around women, as they'd more likely be on the look out for male swordsmen.

Girls make up a larger proportion of the Kakushi, and traditionally feminine skills are highly prized. Gotou is very proud of his sewing skills, even though he only does small repairs and has never been tasked with tailoring full uniforms. The Kakushi use a lot of code words and have a very insular work culture that is hard for outsiders to break into; even Oyakata-sama finds himself confused by a lot of it, but he appreciates that it makes them efficient and mostly leaves them be to organize themselves as they see fit (his orders are still absolute, though, so none of them are aware how much autonomy they effectively have.)

Hand signs like "don't breathe" and "don't listen" are unique to the Corp (yes, I have looked them up, consensus in the Japanese fandom is that they are unique to KnY), and taught by Cultivators. Inosuke didn't have a Cultivator to teach him so it took him a while to catch on the existence of hand signs. He makes up his own confusing hand signs to impress people with how flexible his joints are.

For many, Pillar Training was harder than undergoing Cultivation (but still less harrowing than the Final Selection). In Cultivation they tend to get specialized attention from someone who cares about them and actually knows a thing or two about how teaching works. Pillar Training does not fit this explanation at all, especially in the teaching department. As mentioned before, this is when a lot of Corp members who used to find Zenitsu insufferable come around and start to appreciate him more, for they survived different stages of training together, and every time he blew his top and complained, they were grateful he gave (loud) voice to what they were thinking but were too afraid to say. Instead of getting down and depressed, it riles them up enough to keep at it, however ridiculous the Pillar's demands are. Suffering under the Pillars also broke down perceived barriers between different ranks, building a more solid level of comradery among a lot of the Corp. However, this was also the most time most of the Corp members ever got to spend with the Pillars, who they always felt were untouchable and who they feared bothering. They feel very genuine affection for them by the time they all enter the final battle.

Once Inosuke figures out that Zenitsu can only bring out his full abilities in his sleep, he tries to goad Zenitsu into fighting him at full strength by insulting him in his sleep. He did throw a really good punch at him one time, but usually he only sleep-argues back. Other times Inosuke hits a sore spot and Zenitsu starts sleep-crying, in which case Inosuke gets bored and leaves. Once Tanjiro realizes this about Zenitsu (thanks to Inosuke having point-blank explained it to him), he puzzles over it and figures Zenitsu may not be aware of how powerful and helpful he is, and this hurts his confidence, but then again, how can he not know if he's so aware of his surroundings even in his sleep? As Zenitsu sleeps, Tanjiro has been puzzling over this a long time and how he might best be able to help Zenitsu reach his full confident potential, and by the time Zenitsu wakes up and drowsily looks over at Tanjiro, Tanjiro looks him in the eye and very seriously asks, "Zenitsu, what is your problem?" Naturally, Zenitsu interprets this as Tanjiro suddenly being very disappointed in him, and Tanjiro has unwittingly done more harm than good.

On the contrary, Tanjiro has unwittingly done a lot of simple good for most of the PTSD-suffering Corp members with his little throw-away positive comments, just like he did for Muichiro and Aoi. Most of the Corp members have never met Oyakata-sama, so Tanjiro is to many Corp members what Oyakata-sama is to the Pillars. It's like they all have an Oyakata-sama shaped hole in their hearts and Tanjiro just falls into it like a good proxy. After all is said and done and Tanjiro and Nezuko read all the kind wishes left for them in deceased Corp members' wills, Tanjiro is consumed with some guilt that he can't place faces to all the names, though he remembers the majority of them. While his memory is still fresh he works hard to recall the ones who escaped him, and then he makes sure to refresh his memory every year with annual visits to the graves.

[alkae]

Can’t Help Falling in Love

Don’t touch anything in here. That’s directed at you, Yong. And you too, Hugo.

Those are the words that Varian said right before they entered a strange man’s workshop. They were there in hopes of finding their way to the next trial. When they caught sight of a kindly inventor who had a lot of knowledge about the “theoretical” totems, they figured they’d hit a jackpot.

Unfortunately, the inventor was unable to answer any of their questions because he was “busy”, so the gang was told that they could have a look around for any information. Then he promptly bolted.

Varian gave his speech about not touching anything and then there they were. Snooping around in a workshop that wasn’t owned by anyone they knew.

Hugo was looking around halfheartedly. He didn’t trust that this stranger conveniently had information about exactly what they needed. So as Nuru, Yong and Varian searched through chests and in desk drawers, Hugo examined the shelves that held potions and other trinkets. He picked up one that was a swirling shade of dark pink.

As he looked at it, he watched as it changed to a red color. Then light pink. Purple. Then dark pink again. “Fascinating,” he muttered. While he wasn’t as openly nerdy as Varian, he did find himself geeking out over little things like this. A potion shifting color wasn’t news but this was the first time he’d seen it with his own eyes. He took a quick glance around before he opened his bag and-

A gloved hand stopped him. “Hugo! You are not stealing his potions!” Varian. Kind, loyal, honest, law abiding Varian. Hugo made an offended noise.

“I am not stealing the potion. I am borrowing it. And look at all of the potions he has. He won’t miss it.”

Varian’s look was icy. “Hugo. Put it back.”

“Okay okay!” Hugo stuck it back on the shelf. Varian was watching him. “You know, if I took a small sample-”

Varian cut him off. “You don’t even know what this potion does. Look, I know you're curious and I totally get it. This potion, i-it’s fascinating. But it could also be really dangerous. And I know from experience the damage a potion can do. So just leave it be. Okay?”

Hugo was about to protest again but the look on Varian’s face changed his mind. It was so honest and genuine. Something happened with a potion that stuck with him, presumably for a while. “Alright, Hairstripe. I’ll leave it be.”

Varian smiled gratefully. “Thank you Hugo.” He went back to where Nuru and Yong were. Yong had gotten his hands on something that looked dangerous and Nuru was trying to tug it away. Hugo watched as the three squabbled, slightly amused at them.

A soft voice tickled his ear. Hugo.

He turned abruptly. “Who’s that?”

Hugo. You know you want me.

It sounded familiar. Just vaguely, like something he heard from a dream. He glanced around again.

Come on, Hugo. No harm will come out of this, trust me.

His eyes landed on the potion that he had just set down. It seemed to glitter despite there not being any light reflecting onto it. Against his better judgement, he picked it up again. “Voice? Hello?”

A startled scream had him turned around. Yong had dropped the machine onto a board that had evidently triggered some kind of chain reaction. In any case, it released a machine with a long pole sticking out of it that whipped around rapidly and slammed into Varian. Varian flew forward, knocking into Hugo, simultaneously knocking the potion out of Hugo’s hands.

Hugo and the others watched as it shattered and splashed onto Varian. “Varian!” Yong cried, rushing forward. “Are you okay?”

Varian shook his head as the potion seeped into his clothes. He turned to face Hugo, expression cross. “Hugo, I told you not to… to…” He stopped speaking and a dreamy expression spread over and relaxed his features. Hugo watched in horror as a Varian suddenly put on a face reminiscent of the one he wore whenever he flirted with someone. “Have your eyes always been as bright as Flynnolium?”

“What.” There was no other response to this.

“I wish you would’ve warned me because damn, they’re explosive.” And then Varian winked. Hugo’s heart began to rapidly beat in his chest as he heard Nuru snort in the background.

“No way. No way! Hugo, I think that was a love potion!” She was full on snickering now. “So… so that means…”

Hugo’s heart sank. “He loves me now.”

“Well I wouldn’t say love,” Nuru said, wiping her eyes. “But he’s certainly now attracted to you.”

Yong was gaping at the two boys. “Varian, do you feel okay?” he asked. An appropriate response.

Varian leveled Hugo with another flirtatious look. Hugo swallowed. “Oh I sure do since my little dose of medicine is here.”

Nuru gagged as Hugo felt his face significantly redden. “Uh that’s uh, nice, Hairstripe.” Why was he stuttering? Stuttering was a Varian thing.

Varian batted his eyes at him. “Call me Varian.” Were his eyes always this blue? Or big? Hugo swallowed again.

“Princess? Firecracker? A little help here?” He glanced over his shoulder at the others. Nuru crossed her arms.

“Sorry, Hugo, but you’re on your own here,” Nuru said.

“Princess!” he protested.

“This is karma for all the flirting you did to Varian. You know what they say: karma’s like a boomerang. It will always come back to give you a nasty concussion.”

Yong frowned. “Do people actually say that?”

“I mean, I said it, so yes, people do say that.”

Hugo put his head in his hands. “Guys, please focus! We need to find a way to reverse it.” I don’t think my heart can take this, he thought but refused to say.

He felt something wrap around his upper arm. He startled and saw that it was Varian, clinging to him like a koala. “You’re smart, aren’t you? I mean, I always knew you had it all. Brains and looks, right?” Hugo was very, very red and very, very warm. “So you’ve got this all figured out.”

For some reason, Varian saying this actually filled Hugo with slightly more confidence. “You’re right, Hairstripe. Now is not the time to panic.” Despite his heart’s protests, he eased his arm out of Varian’s grip and knelt down next to the broken glass. “As I expected. There are remnants of the potion on the glass.” He opened his bag and pulled out a test tube. “If I collect it and then analyze it, I may find out what it’s made of and how to reverse it.”

“And there’s our nerdy Hugo,” Nuru commented. Hugo glared at her.

“Be quiet, Princess. I don’t see you offering any suggestions.”

She shrugged. “Maybe we can look around his workshop? He must have some notes here.”

“Good idea!” Yong piped up. “But, uh, we might want to get going.”

“Why?” Nuru and Hugo asked. Varian was too busy ogling Hugo to say anything.

“Someone’s coming and it’s not the inventor guy.”

Hugo and Nuru peered out the window and saw someone in a cloak approaching the workshop. Hugo turned to Nuru and Yong. “Take some of those journals. I’ll take the analyzer.” He looked over to see Varian once again wrapped around his arm, grinning up at him with those blue, blue eyes. “And Hairstripe.”

“Varian,” Varian insisted. Hugo made a noise.

“Varian,” he amended and the smile he received made him want to say it a million times again. Anything to win a smile like that.

Then the realization hit him: this was fake. Varian’s feelings for him were fake. Once they found a cure, they’d be back to that thin line between friends and something else they’ve been treading on for a bit now.

Despite the times they’ve worked together as a seamless machine, despite the laughs they’ve shared, the times they just sat and talked, all of it still seemed to add up to comfortable yet aggravating friendship.

Even though he tried to deny it to himself, Hugo had a crush on Varian. A staggering crush on Varian. It had happened suddenly, a rush of feelings that destroyed the wall he spent so long building up. Everything he tried to hide after he agreed to be a spy for Donella, everything he tried to destroy was rebuilt, bright and new again.

Hugo had feelings for Varian. Feelings he knew couldn’t be reciprocated. Varian was good. Unabashedly, unashamedly good. Every little thing he did was for others and not for himself. In the water kingdom, while he and Yong saw themselves succeeding or gaining riches in his case, Varian simply saw his father being proud of him and earning a strong bond between them. Varian was selfless. Hugo was selfish.

It wasn’t Varian’s fault. None of this was. It was kind of like how it wasn’t Hugo’s fault for falling for Varian. Nor was it Varian’s fault.

Although it might be now that Varian was batting his eyes at Hugo, smiling at him like Hugo was the greatest thing he’s seen, clinging to his arm, resting his head on Hugo’s shoulder. Every movement woke something in Hugo, which filled him with guilt. He shouldn't have feelings for him and they shouldn’t be cropping up now that he was under a love potion.

Hugo snapped himself out of his reverie and took the analyzer off the table after gently shoving a pouting Varian off of him. He shoved this in his bag as well. “Come on guys. Through the window.”

Nuru stared at him in disbelief. “That window? That tiny thing? It won’t get us through.”

“Well not if we go through it all at once.”

“Hugo, it doesn’t even look like it opens.”

“Nuru,” Varian broke in. “Come on. Just trust him.”

Hugo looked at him appreciatively as he picked up a stool and hurled it at the window, smashing it open. Nuru and Yong gasped as Varian sighed in admiration. “Such strength, Hugo. And guts! You’re so clever.”

Hugo turned so his red face wouldn’t show. “You first, Firecracker.”

Nuru helped Yong out the window after giving him some of the journals the two of them had gathered. He struggled and nearly got cut by a shard of glass but he managed to wiggle through. Nuru was next. Hugo boosted her up and over quickly as the door began to open. “Hurry you two,” she said before vanishing out of sight.

Varian turned to Hugo, something gleaming in his eye. “Carry me?” he asked innocently. Hugo felt a brow raise. “Lift me out of the window, strong man, and I’ll help pull you out.” He fluttered his lashes. “Come on, Hugo. It won’t hurt you.”

Yes. It will. Just not physically. Hugo picked Varian up, bridal style, and stood on a box. He peered out the window at Nuru and Yong. “Make sure he gets down safe!” he instructed them as the door opened.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

Hugo quickly lowered Varian out of the window and then dropped him onto Nuru, who collapsed to the ground with an “umphf!”

“Hugo!”

“Hey! I asked you a question buddy!”

There was no time. Hugo pushed off the sill and leaped out of the window in one swoop. He was so used to quick exits that he didn’t even flinch as he dropped to the ground and landed awkwardly on his foot. “Let’s go. Now.”

Varian grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together, and pulled him along as they followed Nuru and Yong. They heard a door open behind them. “You rotten kids!”

Nuru laughed. “I never thought I was ever going to run from the law ever in my life but here I am!” She sounded overly cheerful about this. Hugo suddenly liked her slightly better.

They managed to get back to their camp without getting caught and Yong instantly collapsed in front of the firepit, the journals tumbling out of his arms. “Whew. Let’s agree never to do that again, okay?”

Hugo huffed, wincing as his ankle screamed at him. “No promises, Firecracker.” He stifled a groan as he tried to put his weight on his ankle. Varian noticed and immediately sat him down.

“Why didn’t you tell us you’d gotten hurt?” he asked. More so demanded.

“We were kind of running from a stranger. I had other priorities, Hairstripe.”

“Varian,” Varian corrected gently.

Hugo looked into his eyes, so blue yet so strange. “Varian,” he said.

Nuru cleared her throat and sat next to Hugo. “Alright. Let’s have a look at your leg, Hugo.”

After some cursing, the group got Hugo’s leg wrapped up and resting. As he reclined on the ground, he pulled out the analyzer and the test tube with the love potion. “Okay. Princess, Firecracker, take a look at those notes while Varian and I examine the potion. There must be a cure somewhere.”

Nuru and Yong gathered the journals as Varian parked himself right next to Hugo. He was so close that Hugo could smell a soft hint of apples on him. Absently, Varian reaches over and played with Hugo’s hand. Hugo could feel his cheeks warm.

He shouldn’t be enjoying this. This wasn’t what Varian wanted. He wanted the two to be friends. And that’s what they were.

Friends.

Hugo pulled his hand away gently and used it to open the test tube. “Hair-Varian.” He tried not to dwell on how nice his name sounded when he said it. “Help me with this.”

Together, they set up the analyzer and Hugo dropped the small bit of love potion onto the tray. They watched as the analyzer scanned it, Varian resting his head on Hugo’s shoulder again. His hair tickled Hugo’s chin. His heart screamed at him but he managed to pull away. He couldn’t bear to look at Varian’s pouting face so he instead stared down the analyzer.

Soon, it produced a piece of paper which Hugo promptly swiped and read. “Alright, let’s see here.” At the top was the word “love serum” which, duh, they knew. Underneath was the ingredients yet no instructions on how to make it. That was fine. He could work with that. He scanned the rest of the paper. No antidote in sight. He cursed.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

Hugo promptly choked on air. “Honey?” he demanded.

“It’s a pet name.” Varian blinked up at him, gaze hardly innocent. “What, you prefer babe? Sweetie? Hugh? Darling?”

Hugo choked again. “Maybe just Hugo?”

Varian pouted. “But that’s so boring. And you’re certainly anything but.” He winked. Hugo looked away promptly.

He felt Varian staring at him. “What is it, Hairstripe? See something you like?” The instinct to flirt was so prominent that he didn’t think twice about it.

“Oh I sure do,” Varian replied. “I’ve got an amazing view.”

This was very new to Hugo. He never had someone flirt back with him. Well, minus that one guy that he didn’t even like that much anyway.

Varian put one hand around Hugo’s arm. “So tell me, Hugo.” Oh no. Another line was coming. “Are your favorite elements gallium and yttrium?”

“No, I prefer bismuth. And you?”

“I feel the same way. Especially after I met you.” He looked up at Hugo with an expression so genuine that it broke Hugo’s heart.

He didn’t have a crush on Varian. He loved him.

That’s why this hurt so much. Every touch, every glance, every line was just a product of a potion. Hugo pulled way, heart in pieces. “Why don’t we check in on Princess and Firecracker?” He stood and turned shortly, limping away with Varian scrambling after him.

Nuru and Yong were bent over one journal, Nuru’s face stopped in a laugh, Yong’s expression wide and open. They looked up as Hugo and Varian approached. “Did you find anything or was all of this worthless?” Hugo asked.

The two of them exchanged a look. “You might not like this,” Nuru said slowly.

Hugo crossed his arms. “Try me, Princess Starmap.”

Nuru made a face at him as Yong said, “You guys have to kiss to break the spell.”

Hugo and his heart startled at the same time. “We have to what?”

Yong picked up the journal and held it up for Hugo to take. He skimmed the page quickly and his heart sunk. Yong wasn’t lying. According to the inventor guy, the only way to break the spell was through a kiss. No. No no no no.

He expected Nuru to be grinning but her face was solemn. “Would you two like some privacy?” She didn’t sound like she was kidding.

Hugo looked over at Varian who wore a dopey grin. “That sounds nice, yes,” Hugo said. Nuru and Yong gathered the other journals and quickly vanished. He stared at Varian the second they were alone. Varian still wore his grin. “Varian.”

“Hugo.” He already sounded breathless. He took a step forward. Hugo stepped back.

This wasn’t how he wanted it. He didn’t want a forced kiss between them. He wanted it to be something they both wanted. He would never want this. “Varian,” he repeats. “We don’t have to do this.” But they did. If he wanted the normal Varian back. “If you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to,” Varian said, his eyes certain.

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do,” he insisted stubbornly.

“No you don’t, Varian. You don’t want any of this. You’re under a love potion. All of this that you’re feeling isn’t real. After we kiss, you’re going to push me away and say, ��thanks, can we forget this ever happened?’ And then I’ll agree, despite everything in me not wanting to and then we’ll move on as my heart breaks more and more each day and…” He was rambling. He stopped himself short as he caught sight of Varian’s glare.

“I would appreciate it if you stopped putting words into my mouth. And if you’d stop assuming that you know everything about me.”

Hugo sighed. “Varian, you’re under a love potion. I can kind of guess that this isn’t real.”

“Emotions can’t come out of nowhere,” Varian said knowledgeably. “So that means that I felt something for you before. Which I do.”

Hugo shook his head. “I can’t trust a word you say right now, Hairstripe. Honestly.”

Instead of being cowed, Varian gently took Hugo’s hand and pressed a kiss to it. “Varian,” he corrected.

Hugo stared at him, trying to read his expression. “Varian.”

Varian smiled meekly. “Why don’t you kiss me and we’ll find out how I feel afterwards?” Hugo made a face. He didn’t take relationships like this lightly. Especially with someone like Varian. “It can be innocent. A total innocent peck.”

Hugo was still skeptical. “Are you sure?”

“Is bismuth the best element on the entire periodic table?”

Hugo laughed. “Okay, okay!” He pulled Varian in slightly by his hand. They were close, face to face. Hugo could make out all the specks in Varian’s eyes. He could tell Varian was examining him too. “Are you ready?” he whispered.

Varian leaned in so their foreheads were touching. “As I’ll ever be,” he whispered back.

There was no taking this kiss back. No second chances. Hugo took a deep breath in and then kissed Varian. Softly. So soft that it was really just lips touching lips. And then Varian leaned into it and Hugo had his hands on Varian’s hips and Varian’s arms were around his neck and their chests were pressed together. And then it was over. Hugo pulled away to see Varian blinking. “You alright, Hairstripe?”

Varian blinked again, hands still around Hugo’s neck. “I’m fine.” He looked back up. “And, uh, I thought we agreed to call me Varian.” He grinned and Hugo felt himself grin back.

“So, about what we talked about…”

He didn’t get the rest out as Varian kissed him again. “How do you think I feel, Hugo?” he asked.

“You like me?” Hugo asked, his voice slightly hushed. He didn’t know why.

Varian nodded. “I really, really like you Hugo. You big dork.”

Hugo laughed. “Oh I’m the dork.”

“You are.”

They both laughed as they kissed again. Hugo could feel them both smiling into it. Soon, they heard Yong and Nuru behind them and they seperated. Nuru looked smug, Yong excited. “Finally,” Nuru said. “I thought you’d be oblivious forever.”

Yong nodded rapidly. Hugo felt himself blush. He still had his arms around Varian’s waist.

They stood there in blissful silence until Yong said, “So, uh, how are we supposed to explain this to the inventor?”

[ziracona]

Hi! I just realised I havn't popped in in awhile. Do you have any headcanons u feel like sharing about the newer survivors?? (I love them all, they're so cool but I think imma have to say cheryl is my bby gurl. she's tired. let her rest.) also. i am. going insane. from a toothache :) - Sleepy

Hey! Hope your tooth pain clears up! I’m so sorry—that’s one of the worst. : /

Hmmm, I do, but I’m trying to think of ones I haven’t said in asks before. 😬 Unfortunately my memory of fictional characters is great, and my memory of what I said in asks is shitty. :’-]

I don’t know the newer survivors—except Nancy and Steve—as well as I do the older ones, because I’ve never written them, and I haven’t played Silent Hill. I like Zarina, Yui, and Cheryl a lot though. Poor fkn Cheryl can join Quentin in the “Please God, just one good day?” Existence. Rip to them both. 😭

Poor kid gets out of hell once, and ya throw her back in. :’-]

Let’s see—headcanon I am fairly sure I haven’t already shared. I think Yui and Min would get along really well, and Jane and Zarina would too.

Yui hates the serial killers especially, from her own personal experience, and goes to bat hard against them every time.

Ash flirts with everyone to a point it’s even more than Ace does, and for a while it becomes a competition between them to see who can flirt more and better than the other (not in a shitty way—everybody knows they have the competition going on and it’s more a ‘I can act better than you’ than a ‘I can win more hearts’ one.) Ace is declared the winner in class, Ash the winner in sheer quantity he’s able to churn out, and they agree to call it a semi-draw. It’s actually a really fun week for everyone, because they’re all constantly being complemented and flirted with in a way they know is performative and seeks 0 real actions from them in return, so essentially they are just showererd with ‘drunk girl in a bar bathroom’ levels of praise for seven days.

Felix and Nancy are the only two with significant others waiting back home, and they bond over talking about their wife/boyfriend and sharing stories and having someone around who understands that specific brand of pain and can encourage them that they’ll make it back home.

Tapp is a dad, so he gives Felix a lot of advice on stuff since he was an expecting father. Not so much “do this” advice, since his relationship with his family didn’t go so well, and he feels like he’s in absolutely no position to teach—more like “It’s okay. Women have been giving birth for thousands of years. She’s gonna make it just fine even if you’re not home yet, and you’ll get back to them. And I’m gonna teach you some of the tricks so you’ll be ready when you do. You can even surprise her by already knowing how to change a diaper and warm a formula bottle. I’ll show you how to do it,” and talking him through some of the stuff he would have been able to learn from infant care books. It’s sweet, but Tapp almost dies when Jane says its “Very heartwarming” and teases him, so they cut him some slack. Felix is really appreciative. Laurie has taken care of a ton of kids, and gives him some advice too, and so does Nancy, who had two younger siblings.

Steve is a disaster who suffers from “I like you and you are a girl, so *pigeon meme* Is this falling in love?” syndrome. Gets shot down hard by Laurie, who is ridiculously pissed at him for bringing it up during a trial when their lives are on the line, but after he gets over being super awkward around her, and she reaches out to be like, ‘Look, dumbass, why did you even like me?’ And he’s like ‘...because you’re, uh, really cool? A-and pretty? And...’ and eventually she’s like ‘Buddy, you don’t even really know me. You’re just lonely. You’re not in love with me, you just want to be, because you want to be in love with somebody, and that’s not gonna cut it, for me, or anyone. Be in love with a person—not with the concept of being in love. And for that to happen, you have to know them first.” And since Steve is good af self-improvement, he realizes she’s got a real point, and tries to find his worth outside of needing a girlfriend, and becomes both a lot happier, and one of Laurie’s closer friends. (Side note—this extends probably only to my initial Steve ideas. I had the idea batted around that in that universe, Stranger Things /is/ an existing show, but it’s based on a mix of urban legend and history from the 80s, and Nancy and Steve are the version from the actual 80s, and I think in that pitch Steve is dating Barb, who is still alive, and already worked through this specific issue, because many things happened differently for wild comedic ‘But in the show’ effect, becuase both them repeatedly going “WELL REALITY WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT” when like, monster hunting shit from the show won’t work on the Demogorgan, and *Spit take* “THEY HAD ME HIT ON ROBIN?” “Ewwww” “YEAH ewww! She’s basically my lesbian little sister! We’ve been best friends since grade school! What the fuck :’-]” make for amazing joke potential. )

Cheryl starts having nightmares where she sees things from the Entity’s eyes she was never meant to see, and finding out dangerous amounts of information this way. The Entity decides at some point this is too big a threat, but because it’s proud, it doesn’t want to just kill her, as that would be admitting a human is a threat, so it starts having killers gun for her mercilessly to try to get her to give up, and the poor girl is in agony.

Zarina documents stuff form the realm constantly, and has a careful scrapbook collection of all notes and paraphernalia from past survivors. She also keeps conspiracy pages tacked together trying to figure out who they were becuase they deserve at least the justice of people somehow knowing how they died and what they went through. Laurie is a big help with this, and so is Claudette, who has been keeping stuff for a long time.

Yui is very no-nonsense, and protective. She gives off strong big sister vibes. She especially also loves board games/puzzles/other games like Shogi or Go and such, and Dwight and Adam create game pieces for her to play Go with when she mentions how much she used to like that kind of thing, and Yui is incredibly touched, and makes several other ones for people to play with too, and it becomes a very enjoyed pastime between trials. It’s engaging and competitive, but much more relaxed and low energy than sports or training or going for a run, so it’s a great alternative. Meg gets super into making puzzles, and all the artists do too, and take turns painting pictures on boards, cutting them into puzzle pieces with extreme painstakingly slow care, and then doing puzzles together. Jake is invaluable in the actual cutting pieces out area, but actually enjoys to do it.

Felix knows a lot more than anyone else about the Entity when he’s taken, so he spends a bunch of time with the research team trying to recall whatever he can from his childhood and sharing any information he has, then just stays on it because he wants to. He’s desperate to meet Benedict Baker someday himself, becuase that man seems to get around, and he really wants to know what happend to his father.

Everyone becomes protective as fuck of Cheryl when the Entity starts targeting her, and someone—I think Kate and or Meg—probably both together—as a one-off joke call themselves her knights at some point, becuase they’re running such dedicated protection detail, but it becomes a whole thing, and several more start to do it. They’ll like ‘fist clasped arm across chest at attention, quick bow’ when they see her, and it’s goofy as fuck, but it helps a lot making Cheryl’s reality more bearable. Plus, it’s really sweet. Nea gets in on this and comes back one day with a little daisy chain she made cause she was bored, sees Cheryl, it clicks, runs over and offers it as a ‘favor’. Zarina sees and comes back later that day from a trial and kneels and presents Cheryl with a rescued toolbox with a brand new part. This becomes increasingly common and extravagant, and Cheryl /cannot/ deal, but it’s like, genius, becuase it takes exactly this level of surreal goofy friend bullshit to distract from the hell she is living. She ends up just regularly having someone come back from a trial or trip to the woods, salute with an arm across their chest, bow, and present her with anything from a pinecone or pretty rock, to flowers or a medkit, to a salt statue or key, to a painting or hand made bracelet, to a makeshift weapon or a pillow. Everyone always tries to outdo each other, so the gifts tend to be extravagant. Zarina considers herself Cheryl’s righthand woman/personal knight by chocie, because she wanted a cause to fight for and has found one she truly loves, and she makes Cheryl her favorite gift so far, coming up to her at the end of a long day, after a very bad trial where Cheryl was mercilessly and slowly killed by the Pig, kneeling, and offering a thick shard of stained glass from the chapel, made sturdy and held in place with a few chunks of soldered and wrapped iron along the blade and down the grip, forming a razor sharp and reinforced stained glass knife.

[doycetopia]

Ravenloft Ironsworn, part 5, The Burgomaster's Home

Ismark leads us down the street, past Mad Mary’s to E4, which is the Burgomaster’s home.

A weary-looking mansion squats behind a rusting fence. The gates are twisted and torn. The right gate lies cast aside while the left swings crazily in the wind. The stuttering squeal and clang of the gate repeats over and over and over…

Weeds choke the grounds and press in on the house itself, but against the walls the growth has been trodden under to form a path all about the place. Heavy claw marks have stripped the finish. Great black blotches tell of the fires that have assailed the walls. Not a pane nor shard of glass stands in any window. All the windows are barred with heavy planking, each plank marked with stains and gouges.

It’s obvious Ireena only lets me in because Ismark is with me, and vouches for me, and even then only because I apparently came at their father’s request.

The interior of the house is well furnished, although the fixtures show signs of considerable wear. Obvious oddities are the boarded-up windows and the overuse of holy symbols in every room. The Burgomaster’s body is in one of the sitting rooms — on display as if for a wake that never happened. His body has not been preserved in any way, and it’s been 10 days, so despite the candles burning in his honor, the smell in the house is quite horrible.

Ireena and Ismark barely seem to notice, so I don’t comment on it.

A bit of time passes….

It’s already the third time I’ve assured Ireena I’m here to help, but her reluctance or outright disbelief is starting to get to me.

“Sister, this farwarden tapped iron and swore to free Barovia!” Ismark exclaims. “Let her help us!”

[I’m trying to Secure an Advantage and build up some momentum.]

Ugh. Okay, that’s… not great. Either a miss, or I have to burn all my momentum for a weak hit. Basically the opposite of what I’m looking for. If I burn momentum to get a weak hit, I’ll be down from 6 momentum to 3. Bleh. Otherwise, I either fail or “your assumptions betray you”, and in either case I pay the price. Hmm. Give me a second so I can think about what my assumptions are.

My assumptions are:

There are vampires.

This “Strahd” is in some way obsessed with Ireena, and may be hundreds of years old, so… vampire.

Lot’s of women I’ve encountered so far have been victimized in some way by either vampires or the Baron (or maybe both).

Members of the farwardens have come here or been lured here before, and none have come back.

The villagers are on my side now (this one is new, and FAIR, since I just swore an Epic vow and forged a bond with them. sheesh.)

Hmm. So either I fail (to secure an advantage – getting Ireena on my side like Ismark is) or my assumptions betray me, and in either case, Pay the Price. Or… kill my Momentum to get a weak hit, but still a hit.

Pay the Price, if I go that route, would be…

Hmm. Okay, for that I’d go to the “Oracle” of the module and check the random encounter table for “Barovia Daytime”, in order to complicate things.

1d8 gets me a 3, which is…

Okayyyy… One. Angry. Villager.

You know what? Fine. Let’s see where this goes. There’s an angry hammering on the front door of house. Ismark and Ireena tense. I keep my hand free from my weapons, but the hand holding my shield tightens where no one can see, and I move to the door.

Who is it? Oracle says…

That’s… a lot to unpack.

“Come out of there, Ismark!” shouts a deep but somehow reedy voice. “Bring that foreign bitch with -”

I open the door fast enough that he cuts off what he’s saying. His eyes widen, he takes a step back, but then his expression pinches down and the grip on a nasty little fisherman’s knife tightens.

“Chenda?” Ismark says, stepping up on my right. “What in four hells are you doing here?”

“I heard about that blasphemy and treason at the tavern – you and your little -” he shoots a look me sidelong and chooses better words. “foreigner, too far in your cups, saying things you ought not, and her making promises she can’t keep, and be hanged if she tries.”

“Hanged? Treason?” Ismark snorts. “Wishing the monster Strahd dead isn’t treason, Chenda, and blasphemy? Are you entirely out of your mind?”

“The Baron is the Land, the Land is the People, the People are the Blood,” says Chenda, and it has the rhythm of a prayer to it. Something memorized. Something believed without thinking about it.

I step forward, through the door, and man takes another step back, scowling. “Your ‘baron’ is sucking the blood out of this land, fisherman. Literally, I think. How much can you lose before dying?”

[I’m looking to Compel this guy to back down, but while it might be nice for me to go in with +heart, I don’t think that’s how it’s going down. I’ve been binging the Witcher too much…]

Okay, weak hit on a threaten, but that’s fine because I’m not being especially threatening. (And maybe this was a heart-based convince, but whatever – the result would have been the same either way. So.)

The move says they ask for something in return. I already rolled “Collect a Debt” on character goals, but I’m really not sure what that is.

[Meanwhile, I’m scrolling through the oracles idly, while thinking, and I spot “your actions benefit the enemy’, and the first batch of oracles on old Chendra says something about ‘in league with the enemy.’ Okaaaay. Yes.]

The man’s eyes narrow. “You speak like one who knows and fights evil. And you claim to be a farwarden, but I don’t know from a scarecrow, and the last farwarden that came through here promised much and then ran off. Tell me who you are, girl. Who exactly – by what right do you interfere?”

[Basically he’s demanding my bonafides, which we know from the oracles he’s going to jog off and report to who’s knows who. It’ll eventually get to Strahd, who’ll know that much more about me. Awesome.]

Brigitte glares at him, then lets out a sound that’s somewhere between a sigh and a grunt.

“I am Brigitte Lindholm, youngest daughter of Torbjörn and Ingrid Lindholm. I’ve been a farwarden proper for three years, and before that I squired under Reinhardt Wilhelm, one of the greatest knights of the order, and my godfather. Traveling alongside him was the greatest honor of my life.”

She sighs, and it’s a proper sigh this time. “I craft armor in my spare time, horse hair makes me sneeze sometimes, and my favorite food is semla. Is that quite enough?”

Before the man can answer, Ireena steps forward, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. “It is enough, farwarden. Thank you. Chenda…” Her said eyes come up to meet the angry fisherman’s, and he looks away first. “Your behavior embarasses this village. Go away.”

He opens his mouth to reply, but she is already walking back into the house, and I and Ismark follow, closing the door in the man’s face.

So, that’s a pretty big scene from my poor Secure Advantage. Fates forfend I try a Gather Information anytime soon. Anyway.

Strictly reading the text of the move, I still secure an advantage, I think, because of the choices I picked. Let’s review:

“On a miss, you fail or your assumptions betray you. Pay the Price.”

Okay, cool. My assumptions betrayed me and I pay the price. My betrayed assumption is “the villagers are all on my side, and the Pay the price is

… which is Chenda reporting back on everything he learned about me. Sweet.

However, I don’t get the momentum I’d get from either a strong or weak hit. I just secure an advantage in the narrative, which I’m fine with: that result is why I had Ireena come to my aid at the end of the exchange with Chenda – she’s on my side now. Not enough to form a bond with, but enough to be “NPC generally on my side.” Cool.

Also, since I have a bit of Oracle-level knowledge about what Strahd is generally up to, I’m going to say “getting Ireena a bit on my side” counts as a single tick in a single box on my epic quest to kick Strahd in his pointy teeth.

Given that, I actually will Gather Information.

“Thanks for the help out there,” I say, trying a smile. “I feel like I’m swimming in dark water with very, very large fish bumping my ankles. Can you help me understand what’s going on here?”

Well okay! I’m going to infodump on Brig (and mark +2 momentum!), because I don’t feel like writing everything out as dialogue. Here we go.

Ireena seems nice enough, but troubled.

She’s very scared, but no helpless victim.

She can’t remember anything about her early childhood before the burgomaster found her and adopted her.

“My father only ever told me that he couldn’t bear to see a child alone and helpless, and I seemed immediately to be a daughter to him. I remember no time before that, so to me he has always been my father.”

“He found me at the base of the waterfall that drops from the Ravenloft peak.”

Each night, wolves and other creatures came and attacked the house – eventually, her father’s heart couldn’t take it – he died a ‘natural’ death – his heart simply failed under the strain.

“The wolves stopped attacking 10 days ago. They come from the forests, though they are – ultimately – Strahd’s creatures, I believe, and follow his command.”

No one in the town has the guts to help them bury their father.

Strangely, the wolves haven’t attacked since their father died, but Ireena believes it’s only a matter of time, and not much time.

With the greatest of the holy symbols – an ancient holy artifact – stolen from the house – both siblings fear the house is now defenseless.

They MIGHT be safe in the church for a time – the priest seems to be able to keep the place protected – but they don’t know how long that will last, either.

“The holy symbol was a great golden thing – ” Ismark marks the distance with his hands, like a small dinner plate – “a sort of Sun symbol.”

Ireena: “It was stolen during one of the attacks – so… very likely it lies in Strahd’s cursed castle.”

“The priest might be able to tell you more about it, though it had been in my family’s home for several generations.”

Ireena looks at me. “What do YOU think? What should be done?”

“If you’re going to the castle,” Ismark says. “I’m going with you. We’re doomed here, but I’d spit in that monster’s face and try to drive a stake in his heart, if I can.”

“And leave me here?!?” Ireena says. “I’m coming with you!”

I frown, still thinking. “Are you sure?”

Irena thinks, and nods, her mouth a firm line. “if it’s what you decide to do, after talking to the priest, then yes.”

“All right,” I say, “grab what you need.” I turn to Ismark as Ireena leaves. “Help me with your father.”

Ismark looks confused.

“I want to talk with your priest,” I say, “and the Burgomaster needs a proper burial.”

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