#i think i have put in too many tags. oh well

[echantedtoon]

Obsession 憑 Ch39

(Warnings for Yn's wound being reopened, blood, some maids ganging up and attacking her, Yn gets bullied, Jade gets knocked out by a scrub brush, etc.)

Tagging: @lavenderdropp @supernovacoffeestop @gilded-sunrays

Remember if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know

                           Part 4 Day-Night 

The silence after that was astounding to you. 

And you felt empowered by the way you had singlehandedly undone everything that they had wished to accomplish. You couldn't help but smile at the hurt look Yoriichi gave you and the glowering scowl Michikatsu gave his plate. Meanwhile their father continued to ignore everyone of you. 

The only disturbance was the clinking of chopsticks against silverware. Blissfully it was silent just the way you wanted it. This wasn't where you wanted your life to go, but you weren't going to complain about it. Especially since in the end you did gain a big victory even if it was small in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't long until a loud knocking on the other side sounded out.

"Enter."

The door slid open again but this time there was two people kneeling before the royalty inside the room. The guard from before and the older woman who had come in with Shinobu to bathe you and forced you into this ridiculous get up. 

"The head maid like you asked, Your Highness," the guard spoke. 

"Oh right." Without even looking up he asked you. "Are you sure you wouldn't want to reconsider marrying Michikatsu? You'll be treated the same as every other lowly servant here and lose any luxury."

"I'd rather work for the rest of my life." You shot Michikatsu a harsh look at the hurt look he had the audacity of giving you. 

"Suit yourself." A hand pointed to you. "That woman is to be put to work immediately. No special treatment shall be allowed."

"Yes, Your Highness. Shall that be all?", the older woman asked.

"Yes. Have a maid ready her old room for visitors. I suspect that many will be coming once the matchmaker starts setting up marriage interviews for my son."

"It shall be done, Sir."

"Good. Now take the dog away from my sight and go train her. I'm much too busy preparing for a meeting to deal with her any longer."

"Thank you for letting me talk and giving me this job," you said bowing to him no matter how MUCH you loathed doing so.

"Make sure the first thing you train her to do is to not bark until commanded!" 

You frowned angry but said nothing as you got up and just walked towards the exit. Both sets of plum red eyes following you longingly out the door where the door closed behind you with a click sound. You stood there while the older woman slowly stood up next to you and looked at you calmly with a blank face.

"Well, this is a surprise. You actually chose a life of labor over luxury."

"That luxury would've came with a terrible price." Red eyes narrowed at her. "They caused me so much grief. I'd rather work the rest of my life in servitude than to ever allow giving them the satisfaction they want. You probably think of me as crazy."

"Actually I do not fault you. There's many a woman who'd rather not be married to high ranked men. But from on this kind of talk stops." She turned serious. "From this day forth, you're now a member of staff under the Tsugikuni household. You shall not ever utter a word of disagreement towards them again lest you be punished. Am I understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes, Ma'am," she corrected you. "I am now your superior. You may refer to me as Ma'am or Madam or even Head Mistress if you prefer but you will address all superiors with respect and the royalty as their Highness or their lordship."

"I see. So this is the way?"

"That is right. Now the first thing we'll do is change your attire to something more fitting of your position." She then turned and started walking off. "Follow me."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Very good. Keep that profession up on you."

"Yes, Ma'am."

You followed her back up the hall and through the palace gaining more odd looks from staff and those patrolling the castle. In one case as you turned the corner, you saw one of the other maids giving you a disgusted look before turning to another maid and whispering something to her but you only focused on where the woman took you. Which was a long hallway and a big room with a large room. She beckoned you inside and you followed her into a..giant empty room except for two large doors.

"This is the maids' courters," she explained walking up to one of the doors opening it to reveal a giant closet full of many bed sheets and nearly folded clothes. "You'll get one bed set, one uniform. It's your job to clean both. Laundry day is every Thursday. Over there is the bathroom." She pointed out the other large door in here. "Work starts at three o'clock sharp every morning. By then you're expected to be up, dressed presentably, with your bed away, and awaiting for your assignments for the day. ..This looks your size."

She pulled out a plain beige uniform that matched every other maid's outfit. Plain and simple. After a moment she nodded and held it out to you to which you slowly took it.

"You get one meal a day strictly at noon. If you don't get there in time you go hungry. Bedtime is always at eight unless you're on night duty. Do you understand everything I told you?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Laziness and improper behavior is not tolerated and punishments are usually bad. I don't like seeing anyone get them so you'll do best to keep your head down and follow the rules. But first thing's first. Change out of those clothes and remove the hairpin. Those are for noble ladies and you're not but a servant now. When you're finished come into the hall. I'll be assigning you a guide for the first month."

She then left you in the cold room with nothing but the empty room for company. After a moment you unfurled the drab dress and looked at it. How did your life come to this? Still you'd rather be a servant than give either of those brothers the satisfaction of having you. So you got changed leaving the fancy things behind before going back out to the hallway and finding the Madam talking to the maids you saw earlier. They seemed to be smiling and happy until you walked up to them to which they turned and narrowed their eyes.

"Ah. Good. You're here." She gestured to the two women in front of you both. "Y/n this is Sakura and Jade. They've been here far longer than you have and know the routine. For the next month you'll be working alongside them as they guide you around."

"Yes, Ma'am. It's nice to meet you both."

Through strained smiles they nodded. "Nice to meet you too. We've heard SO much about you."

"Enough talk. You three are meant to work. You're first assignment is to clean this hall and the maids' courters. Between the three of you it should be done before noon. Get started on it."

Footsteps echoed throughout the hall as she turned to leave, leaving you alone with the two women who stood there smiling at you. They looked similar. The one called Jade was slightly taller than the one called Sakura, and Sakura had a smaller nose, but otherwise they could've been the same woman. Sisters? Cousin's maybe? 

"So you're Y/n! We've heard so much about you!"

Your brow rose at the obvious fake tone she used. "Really?"

Jade nodded. "Yes! You've been all anyone can talk about....All the time. Pretty infamous." You thought that much but hearing set a feeling of annoyance in your guts. "A woman like you is pretty unheard of."

"I've been told."

"Well it's still morning. Let's get cleaning so we don't miss out on lunch." That sounded good to you. You didn't eat a thing at the breakfast and you would rather have a good lunch. "I'll get the hallway, Jade can get the room, and you'll get our bathroom! With the three of us each doing a room, we'll be a lot faster."

You were kinda annoyed that YOU were stuck cleaning up the bathroom but you just nodded. "Alright then. Sounds fine."

"Great! I'll go get everything we need."

Sakura left momentarily but came right back with a broom, giant bucket, and a scrub brush for you. Shooting you off towards the bathroom before she turned to go get the same things for herself and Jade. Fine by you. You wanted to get started and get it over with. At least with the bathroom you didn't have to go far for water. So leaving Jade alone in the hallway, you left and found yourself in a large bathroom. Big enough to probably count as a bathhouse on it's own but obviously way less fancy. You deflated slightly seeing how big it was...but sucked it up and just got to work.

Sweeping away the floors. Scrubbing the floors on hands and knees before scrubbing at the wide bathtub. You preferred not to remember the toilets. By the end of it you were tired but satisfied with everything that was done. You stepped out into the large empty counters expecting to see Jade done or at least still working but blinked when you saw no one. The dirty floor wasn't even swept. The hallway told you the same thing. It hit you instantly.

Those rats! They left you to do all the work!

Immediately a bubble of anger burnt in your guts and in frustration you three down the scrub brush you were carrying. The thud sound echoed down the long hallway as it connected with the ground attracting the attention of a guard walking by. He stopped and looked at you with a frown.

"What are you doing, Woman?!," he demanded.

You jumped at the voice but gestured. "T-Those girls..they left me to do all the work-"

"Is the work done?"

"N-No but-"

"Then shut your tongue and finish it before you're punished for insubordination!" Your jaw dropped as he turned and started patrolling again. 

Your jaw dropped at the now empty space around you before slowly picking the scrub brush back up and sighing to yourself. This would not be easy. And it was not. You spent the entire noon into the evening sweeping and getting on your hands and knees scrubbing the floors until the giant room was clean and the hallway was nearly done. You were scrubbing towards the very beginning of the hallway nearly done when you heard the sounds of two pairs of footsteps and a moment later two pairs of feet stopped in front of your eyes. You slowly looked up and found the two forms of the girls staring down at you smirking.

"Oh great! All our work is almost done."

"No thanks to you! Where did you go?!"

"To go eat. Too bad you missed out. Soup is delicious but then again you wouldn't know since you were busy."

"Why did you just leave me?"

"Because you need to know your place." Gone was the smiles and smirks. Now two scowls were given to you. "A little rat like you scuttling your way up here like you're actually something special. It makes me sick."

"Not to mention that you think you're actually good enough to be with the princes! Dressing yourself up like a man.... Like you're worth anything." Then she kicked. The bucket went tumbling over as soapy water sloshed all over the floor as you stared wide eyed. "So we're going to show you where you truly belong! You're not different than the rest of us here! So finish cleaning up you mess and don't forget to soak up your water."

Then they left. Leaving you sitting there on your knees and soaking your legs in the soapy water. You stared at the floor for a long time before gritting your teeth and willing tears not to cry.

You are nothing that day. Going hungry until it was night time and all of the maids began to come back to sleep again. Most gave you odd looks but you had no idea if it was because you looked frazzled or if they shared the same mindset as the two sisters. But everyone filed in. Everyone grabbed a blanket set from the closet. You were deliberately pushed into the back of the line and by the time you got to the closet...it was bare. You stared at the empty space as Snickers filled the large room.

"Ladies, bed! Everyone knows the rules. Y/n, you're no exception to the rules. Go to bed."

"There's no more beds." You gestured to the closet as you looked at the blank faces woman.

"Then you'll have to sleep on the floor until you get one. As I said, no exceptions. Now lights out."

You stood there as the door closed like an idiot in a sea of smirks and evil cackling.

"Guess the princess isn't use to anything else but silk sheets. Don't worry. I bet if you dream hard enough the floor will feel just like them."

You shot whoever it was a look, but didn't give them the satisfaction of a reaction. You ended up curling up on the cold hard floor in front of the door. That night you barely got any sleep at all. Too cold. Too hard. Nothing like when you were back home. Back in your own snug bed with Nezuko just a few feet away sleeping soundly and Tanjiro in the room next over. Warm under your covers safe and sound in your small home. You hoped they were alright. You just wanted to go home. To wake up and have all of this be nothing but a bad dream. 

The following next few weeks were the some of the worst days of your life. 

It was the same routine every day. The same cruelty every day.

You were continued to be stuck to the cruel sisters. They would only mock you and leave you to do either all or most of the work load whether it be scrubbing floors, delivering laundry, or washing windows. No one offered help. No one spoke to you unless it was to mock or they had to. Cold night's were spent sleeping curled up on the cold floors and days were spent in cruelty. The cruelty amped up quickly as well. If started with one made purposely knocking into you making you drop an entire basket of clean sheets into a muddy spot on the ground. Then it escalated.

More shoves. Someone purposely pushing you forward in the line for lunch causing you to spill half of the hot soup on you and giving you small burns. Throwing your only dress into the water while you were bathing. You tried telling the head maid but she was no help at all.

"Unless I see it happen there's nothing I can do. It's your word against there's. What did you expect when you were put to work here?"

You were trapped here. The only saving grace was that  you didn't see or hear anything from Yoriichi or Michikatsu for the duration of your maid-hood. You sometimes saw Lord Tsugikuni as he made morning expectations around the palace before heading off to breakfast and then business, but you never paid attention to him other than forcing yourself to now as he walked past and he never gave you a second glance. Seems he had forgotten about your existence. Hopefully with some luck, those brothers would do the same.

One day it went from zero to a hundred as you were scrubbing the balcony on the second floor with a few just above the hot springs...The same hot springs you ran from when the visiting noble lady saw you. You were nearly done standing up to wipe off the railing..When suddenly the back of your neck got goosebumps and you heard snickering from behind you. You turned sharply but it was too late-

"AH!"

A sharp pain shocked through your shoulder as a broom handle whacked across you leading you to clutch your shoulder with a hiss. Blinking open you saw at least four other girls in front of you including the sisters.

"Oops. Sorry. I was just trying to hand it to you. Guess it must've slipped out of my grip."

You stood there staring at the four for a moment before your red eyes burnt. Hands were raised and you CHUCKED the scrub brush as hard as you could at Jade's face. It made contact giving a loud THUNK sound as it collided with her face. She stumbled backwards dropping the broom and collapsed onto the ground with like a sack of potatoes. 

Then there was silence. 

The three women stared in shock as you stood there panting and fuming at them.

"JADE!!" 

Sakura dropped the broom to immediately tend to her sister. You slowly blinked standing there still before freezing upon realization of what you'd done. Jade laid there unconscious as her sister patted her face over and over only to get no reaction. The other two maids stood there as stunned as you were. Your body reacting before your mind could process what had happened. Perhaps that's why you didn't see it coming when Sakura snapped to you with a murderous glare.

AND LUNGED AT YOU.

You barely had any time to react before you felt yourself be shoved backwards by a Sakura, slipping on the just mopped balcony still wet, and your back painfully hitting the railing-Something torn making you scream as you tumbled over it backwards-

...

And then there was a splash.

[coulsons-fullmetal-cellist]

Dieter gets bitten by The Viper (figuratively)

(Dieter x horror loving female)

Words: 572

Summary: Dieter acquires a new piece of clothing, a rather famous piece of clothing… Inspired by this post

Warnings: mild swearing, mild spicy suggestions, references to Game of Thrones including spoilers that are ten years old, Dieter being Dieter

Check out masterlist here

“Dieter, what did you do?”

The look of guilt on his face was so readable that no amount of Oscar winning acting could hide it.

“Honey cakes, remember this was a charity auction.”

“How much did you end up buying?”

“It was just the one thing.” He put down the box that you somehow only just noticed, possibly you were too distracted by those puppy dog eyes. “And I didn’t go over my intended limit.”

“Well good, I don’t want to have to rethink our already reasonable wedding budget.”

“I did however pay twice the intended target price.”

“What?”

He took off the lid, revealing a stunning gold material embellished with even more golden embroidery.

“It’s a shame I already have my wedding suit because I would love to wear this.”

“Is that…?”

He nodded, “Yup, it’s the robe that handsome guy from Game of Thrones wears.”

You looked at him in surprise, “Dieter, you’ve never seen an episode of Game of Thrones in your life.”

“I tried,” it was like a child trying to be brave. “Everyone said I’d like it because it’s very sexy. But I watched the first five minutes, and it scared the ever-living crap out of me.”

You tried to remember what happened many seasons ago, “Oh yeah, it was pretty scary for you.”

“I know. But people say I say I kind of look like him,” he shrugged. “I don’t know why; I don’t see the resemblance.”

“I see something familiar in the gait.”

He lifted the beautiful robe out of the box, the embroidery shimmering as it moved. “Now honey cakes, I don’t have a robe.”

“You have several bathrobes in various colours.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a fancy one I can just lounge around in feeling spectacularly melodramatic in. Maybe with one of those long-handled cigarillo things.”

“I don’t have a problem with you getting one.”

“Really?”

“Really really. Although those feathers…”

“Yes, the feathers. All the more reason.” He held the robe up against himself. “Don’t you think I’d look good in this? Then we could pretend that…I have no idea, what does he do?”

“He’s a prince who’s bisexual and he spend a lot of time being a big slut.”

Dieter gasped, “Oh my god! He’s me! Does he end up with that dragon queen?”

“No, he doesn’t last the season and dies a very memorable death.”

He gently put the robe back into its box. “Well, we’re not doing that.”

“No, it sort of dampens the mood.”

“Can you be the dragon queen?”

“You think I could pull off being a queen?”

He looked as if he’d just been insulted, “Of course you can be a queen. You’re my queen and I’m your prince.”

“You don’t want to be a king?”

“Nope, quite happy to be the prince that worships his queen.” He started his initial worshiping, starting with your neck.

“Dieter,” you paused his wandering hands. “You can’t wear the robe when you’re doing the worshipping.”

“Fuck no, not with what I paid for it.”

“Just look pretty in it then take it off.”

He smiled, “I can do that.”

Very gently, he led you towards the bedroom, leaving the box on the coffee table.

“Wait, you’re not going to wear it now?”

“Well, we haven’t worked out a roleplay and I really want to get to the worshipping,” he picked you up bridal style. “Dieter horny.”

“Fair enough.”

Lovingly tagging @galaxyedging @simpingcowboy @ellenmunn @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @chaithetics @myloveistoolittle @cevans-is-classic @glshmbl @cupcakehp @gswizzsstuff @readingiskeepingmegoing

[mixed-up-metaphors]

so i was playing pyre and i doodled a scene which accidently predicted a much later scene

i doodled this based on an earlier scene (no context)

and then later in the game this happens (again, no context)

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 3 - Random Screenshot Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 4] [Pt. 5] [Pt. 6]

[unordinaries]

presented without comment

(chapters 280 + 344)

[batsplat]

Pecco and Pedro are probably the people who more than anyone else want to beat Marc. Pecco because he is forced to do it for a matter of survival, his bet next year is to be able to win against Marc with the same bike. Pedro wants to win the first world championship with Marc in MotoGP, even better if he wins it against him, because of course that’s what he wants. I MotoGP your teammate is your first enemy, as surreal as it is, it would be more likely to see Pecco and Pedro helping each other (which would be unlikely anyway because they aren’t the type of people who do that) than one of them helping their teammate , especially if it's Marc. If anything Marc and Pecco have to be intelligent enough to at least not take each other out Portimao style, because in that case there will be someone behind them ready to bite

so I'm going to jump in right away by saying, I know this ask acknowledges it's unlikely but, yeah, pedro and pecco will not be helping each other in any meaningful sense - because they are both serious challengers to each other and they know it. sometimes, riders can be known to help non-team members in fairly small low-key ways (see in this post valentino accusing marc of deliberately towing ducati riders to get them ahead of his actual rivals in brno 2014). for both pecco and pedro, marc is definitely the bigger focus, but they are both perfectly aware of the danger the other poses, and will not be inclined to treat each other as anything other than an active threat

that being said! of course pecco has already nicely demonstrated this season that he does approach his marc fights differently than he does those with other riders (which is broadly the correct and smart thing to do, even if the specifics can be critiqued). portimao even gave us the direct comparison between pecco/pedro and pecco/marc! part of it, yes, will just be an element of self-preservation - marc is now back to being a major roadblock for winning any future championships, and he'll be in pecco's house so will of course require... extra attention. apart from that, it absolutely would be the most meaningful way pecco could win a championship, by beating the famous marc marquez on equal machinery... nobody has done that before, and it would instantly dispel any remaining doubts about pecco's ability and cement his legacy as one of the greats of the sport. he wants to beat marc so badly because marc is one of the two riders he's always been chasing... and marc's absence has left all the young pretenders in this odd place where they've taken the crown but don't quite believe it's theirs yet. (just to say this again, I personally don't share the view that marc's absence diminishes those titles in any way, but it is of course interesting when the riders themselves have these insecurities.) there was that interview from early-ish last year where pecco talked about some of his personal limitations and how he views his own status in the sport:

fascinating, isn't it? of course, I'm sure a second title will have helped to some extent in making him feel a little more entitled to that status in the sport - but this is not the kind of thing valentino or casey or jorge or marc ever would have said. there's a self-consciousness to pecco, an awareness of his uncertain, shaky journey to the top of the sport, how he's fully cognisant of how different he is to those names... which can be a problem at times - delusion is an athlete's life blood, and while the level headed insight pecco expresses here is arguably admirable, it is not necessarily helpful for him as a champion. on the other hand, sometimes lacking a little in the delusion department can be a good thing if it allows you to deliberately improve yourself, pushed on by the knowledge that you still have a long way to go... pecco's biggest self-inflicted wounds have tended to come when he's at his most comfortable - you can theorise about why this happens, but maybe that striver mindset is exactly what he needs to keep him going. it's still quite the admission to describe his 2022 season as more incomplete than either valentino or marc's title runs. (mind you, it's arguably even less complete a season than some of their misses - of course with valentino you have the obvious ones, but did you know that marc scored an average of 13.44 points in 2015 vs pecco's average of 13.25 in 2022? obvious caveat that in 2015 there were considerably fewer competitive bikes and barely any capable of regularly challenging for race wins.) the need to prove himself is always there with pecco... it keeps peaking through with him, and it absolutely peaks through in his approach to marc. yes, yes, acosta is the future, jorge martin has been his title rival more recently... but of course, beating marc would be special. do you think pecco ever dreamed that of it? do you think he really believed that he could before he was already premier class champion? with most champions, you would say it's likely. with pecco, I'm not quite so sure

as for pedro, yeah, obviously, that's just the cycle continuing lol. deeply curious what those two regularly competing at the sharp end of races looks like. pedro has kinda kept his distance, isn't that much of a marc fan himself... when he talks inspirations he tends to bring up schwantz, stoner, pedrosa, and of course rossi

schwantz is far from an unusual pick amongst riders, though as the years pass perhaps gradually more so - it certainly reveals an appreciation for the history of the sport. as do the other choices, in a way... let's not forget that acosta was eight years old when casey retired. of course back in the day casey and dani themselves got plenty of criticism for how 'boring' they were - that's just how these things go! nobody's ever nostalgic for the present etc etc

pedro did also talk last year about how the public wants celebrations and rivalries, critiquing how friendly riders are nowadays and saying people want battles like jorge/dani, valentino/marc, and so on (full clip here)

heartwarming: global number of people who still care about the valentino/sete rivalry is now confirmed at 2 (two)

obviously, you can't just go out and manufacture feuds because you're feeling like it, and pedro's had a pretty quiet rookie season in that sense. but once he feels like he's settled in and can challenge the infamous marc marquez in an actual title fight? on the basis of this rhetoric, you'd at least hope he's not going to be too shy in taking on the challenge. of course he too wants to beat marc more than anyone else... again, it's a question of legacy, how pedro clearly situates himself within the same lineage as both valentino and marc - even if personally he aspires to be more of a successor to the former than the latter. always better to take the crown for yourself, right? this is a kid who's clearly into the history of the sport and is already determined to make himself a big part of that story... weaving himself into that narrative by taking on a legend of the past, taking on the task of disposing with that legend himself. plus, given pedro is so aware of that history - he knows that what people remember are the rivalries. he wants some of that for himself! it'll be interesting to see how proactive he'll be in making that happen, certainly seems like an enterprising young lad

anyhow, yes, plenty of potential for both of those dynamics. and yes, they do very much want to beat marc - but if we're talking about who wants to beat him the most, jorge martin probably deserves a mention right around now. does have to be said that something dumb like the portimao thing is costing pecco and marc this year. it's kind of gone under given the sheer bucketloads of points all the title contenders are throwing away, but pecco would be eight not eighteen points behind in the standings if he had settled for sixth in portimao, and for marc it would be twenty four rather than thirty five points if he'd backed out of the move and had another go on the next lap. relatively unlikely to make a difference at the end of the season... though for mr title decider pecco bagnaia, it sure might be! I did joke about making the pecco/marc portimao thing tradition, but generally speaking two top riders crashing each other out isn't that common a thing, and it's pretty..? rare? that it's the same two riders on multiple occasions? I'm drawing a bit of a blank here, to be honest... then again, title contenders do seem to crash rather more than they used to (admittedly they also have a lot of opportunities now) - so maybe this is going to become a more regular occurrence. but what is more likely to happen is that when you have two competitive riders on the same bike, they do run the risk of taking turns stealing points from each other at the circuits where their bike is at its best. I think pecco and marc can probably minimise this given what a good all-round bike the ducati is across a range of different circuits, and also given that as individual riders they do at least seem to be reasonably distinct in what their strongest and weakest tracks are. all in all, I kind of doubt they'll cost each other like that next year... though admittedly if portimao is anything to go by I may be tempting fate

[sharkzippo]

fics that remember jubilation lee is actually in the original trilogy ( despite having less than a second of screen time ) and have her as john’s actual non-bobby best friend are so big brained, actually. and they’re right! jubilee is 100% john’s bestie and his worstie all rolled into one.

[dnalt-d2]

Alright I have one more thing to say about this event (Though I'll admit now it's partly just me stating the obvious)

So as far as I remember, this Prison event was supposed to be four days, right?

Yet on the itinerary, it only has three days (ENDING IN PLAYER CRUCIFIXION??????)

This could mean one of two things

(One is a miscommunication/translation error, in which case, whoopsie and whatnot. I don't speak Spanish after all, which makes me rely on all the Spanish speakers for translations regarding events that Quackity announces)

But the other is that whatever happens on the third day is gonna be huge

So huge, that it will in fact carry over to the next day, and basically be a kind of fourth day for the event

And considering that Quackity keeps saying that this is about to be a new era for the QSMP, and keeps INSISTING it isn't clickbait, that seems like it's becoming more and more likely

Especially with that calendar we saw, with most of the week crossed out in Yellow

Something REALLY BIG is about to happen on the QSMP, and I can't wait to see what it is

(Okay so I just thought of this right before I hit post, but what if the Eggs are about to hatch?? Like I LITERALLY just thought about this, I was gonna put it in the tags, but what if?? It might explain why the Egfs are suddenly shifting back to the old type of tasks. It's been a REALLY long time since that was brought up. And that's JUST the thing that would cause a straight-up Era Shift that Quackity keeps implying. Maybe at the very least the Dragon shows up? Or at least gets brought up. Idk this is obviously just speculation, but wouldn't that be cool???)

[merakiui]

omg getting tag teamed by trey and cater while drunk in these tags !! your brain is massive as always 🫶🫶

also cater getting serious orz i never knew i needed mean(er) cater in my life but i'll 100% be brainrotting about that for the forseeable future!!!

[also trey changing the flavor of his own shots in the original drunk reader post. he's so mean >:o!! (i love him still)]

Yes!!! Just two kind and helpful upperclassmen helping you when you’re drunk. <3 aren’t they so sweet?

Serious Cater is always so fun to think about. I love the idea of him dropping his outgoing, extroverted side and becoming more colder or less cheerful when you’re drunk because you’re too intoxicated to realize the shift, so you won’t ask any questions if his tone isn’t what you’re used to. It’s such a shock to hear him sound anything less than cheery, but I think it’s so good to think about. orz I love a serious Cater who doesn’t have to keep up any masks when you’re drunk.

Trey is so sneaky. (๑•̀ㅁ•́๑) !!!! His UM is very useful during drinking games because he can trick you into drinking more simply by changing the taste so it will go down easier. And you would not expect him to do such a thing because he has such a kind face and he is so patient and sweet. But it is exactly that type you have to watch out for!! (I also love him despite his mischievous behavior hehe.)

[idol-emu-otori-official-archived]

╰┈➤ SHUFFLE AU

DESTINATION POINT (DP)

the Leo/need adjacent unit, composed of Ichika Hoshino, Airi Momoi, Ena Shinonome, and Minori Hanasato. ☆ a girl who's lost her friendships, and three others searching for their worth.

about the group's name: ♡ originally, i had "from here to there" in mind, but someone from the Discord gave me the name "destination point" and i thought it was much better, so i went with that. ♪

about the SEKAI: ♡ the Train SEKAI. no one knows when it left, or where it's going - just that it never stops. it's the perfect place for those who feel like they're lagging behind. just close your eyes and let yourself be carried away, right? but maybe there's something you can do… starts with a Miku and a Rin. the former's hardworking and talented, but the latter struggles - Rin is somewhat influenced by Ena's (and, to a lesser extent, Airi's) jealousy towards others.

•

Ichika hasn't managed to rekindle her friendship with her friends, and she's not doing particularly well. At one point, she meets Airi - who just quit being an idol. The two start talking and become friends, at which point they end up forming a band together. Airi wants to try finding a place where she could finally be taken seriously.

Ena's invited by Airi, and Minori - who had failed auditions recently - ends up inspired by Ichika's kindness, Airi's drive and Ena's determination, which is how she joins. (Haruka completely gave up on being an idol; something Minori is saddened by.)

In my mind, Ichika plays the guitar; Airi, the drums; Minori, the keyboard and Ena, the bass.

-

IDEAL HEAVEN! (IH)

the MORE MORE JUMP! adjacent unit, composed of Mafuyu Asahina, Emu Otori, Mizuki Akiyama and Shizuku Hinomori. ☆ an up-and-coming idol group that combines cuteness and sophistication.

about the SEKAI: ♡ quite similar to the Empty SEKAI, but with some idol influences - a broken stage with no one in sight. there's no bright lights, no colorful props. nothing. that SEKAI both comforts and pains Mafuyu. home to a lone Miku. sweet, hopeful, but genuinely crushed by the pressure she's feeling.

•

Mafuyu's mother wants a perfect child. idols are very frequently represented as being perfect - so, she decides that her daughter should become one, too. Mafuyu's not keen on the idea, but that's her mother; she's obedient, so she goes along with it.

Shizuku still quit Cheerful * Days, but instead of stopping altogether she ends up with Mafuyu. Emu wants to make people smile, but no one ever came; Wonderlands × Showtime was never a thing. so she decides to become an idol instead, even if it means she'll never bring back the Wonder Stage to its former state.

Mizuki's half-dragged into IDEAL HEAVEN! by Emu, who saw them looking with interest at idol merch. after bringing them to meet Mafuyu and Shizuku, Mizuki ends up accepting - the idea of wearing cute clothes and being called cute doesn't seem too terrible.

-

READY MADE SUCCESS (RMS)

the Vivid BAD SQUAD adjacent unit, composed of Haruka Kiritani, An Shiraishi, Shiho Hinomori and Akito Shinonome. ☆ two street musicians chasing after their dream, and the two girls they brought with them.

about the SEKAI: ♡ the Street SEKAI. weirdly, it seems Haruka's idol background has somewhat influenced its appearance. its inhabitants are Miku, Meiko and Len. this Miku is levelheaded, but it seems like there's something holding her back from going all-in...

•

after quitting being an idol, Haruka is invited by An to join her.

An's never met Kohane, and she never found a partner. Haruka is hesitant for a moment before deciding to give it a shot, though she keeps struggling with singing. Shiho tries getting more experience, meets Akito. no one really knows how these two ended together, but they both have a similar drive and take music very seriously.

eventually, they all start working together. Haruka deals with her guilt and, while she doubts she'll become an idol again, she's mostly made peace with what happened.

-

STARLIGHT ☆ EVERMORE (S ☆ E)

the Wonderlands × Showtime adjacent unit, composed of Tsukasa Tenma, Saki Tenma, Kanade Yoisaki and Toya Aoyagi. ☆ a strange troupe of people who aim to help others through their performances.

about the SEKAI: ♡ still very much Tsukasa's, so it's the Wonderland SEKAI. [kanade goes there for the first time and dies. alas, they're still a shut-in and this place is simply too colorful for her poor eyes.] starts with a Miku and a Kaito, though this version of the former uses far less onomatopoeias.

Tsukasa figures he needs to show the world how much of a star he is himself, and he drags his siblings into it (with varying degrees of willingness).

a part of Saki still wishes she could be in a band with her friends; she's only somewhat managed to repair her friendship with Ichika. but she's still happy to do something fun and lighthearted after all her struggles. Toya's very excited to do something with Tsukasa and his siblings. he also gets to stick it to his dad, which, honestly - is a bonus.

out of the three, Kanade is obviously the most hesitant about the whole thing. but she sees Tsukasa's drive to make others happy, something she shares with him, so she ends up agreeing. Kanade is… slightly healthier physically on account of the stubborn people looking after her, as well as all the exercise she does she does as part of Starlight ☆ Evermore. mentally? eh… we'll get there. i need her traumatized to be interesting. <3

-

LONELY SYNDROME (LS)

the 25-ji, Nightcord de. adjacent unit, composed of Nene Kusanagi, Rui Kamishiro, Honami Mochizuki and Kohane Azusawa. ☆ hidden behind avatars, these citizens of the web tell stories online.

about the SEKAI: ♡ the arcade SEKAI. this Miku is shy and withdrawn, though she one day hopes she'll be able to break out of her shell, just like Nene. alongside her is Luka - she has a bit of a teasing attitude and a catlike personality, but she always does her best to boost Nene's confidence.

about the group's name: ♡ syndrome refers to a group of symptoms - i paired it with the word lonely because i felt like it represented the atmosphere of an arcade. you're connected with people who share your interests, but at the same time, you're sort of separate from them. surrounded by people, but utterly alone…

•

Nene's social anxiety hasn't gotten better over the years. since she never joins Wonderlands × Showtime, she doesn't learn how to fight her stage fright.

but, she finds an alternate solution; using an avatar online. it's less stress-inducing, and it lets her pursue acting, in a way - it's not what Nene wants, but it's close enough. she figures she could be satisfied with that. Rui ends up figuring out what she's doing, and asks if he can help. Nene doesn't really have any reason to say no, so they start working together.

as for Honami and Kohane, they ended up on Nene's channel by pure accident. but her performances quickly became a comfort to them, since they were struggling at the time (the former because she no longer had her friends, the latter because of her lack of confidence).

unfortunately, ignoring your problems only goes so far, and eventually, her feelings give birth to the arcade SEKAI.

[snekdood]

i both love and hate that i keep finding different moths in my house. why are they here? i dont want them to get caught on the sticky traps i put out for the flies. but also, very fun to see so many different varieties and knowing my garden probably plays a role somehow.

[barra-400]

June pt. 2

[lusalemaart]

[arlathen]

i see “your parents actually werent around much” and say “that isnt angsty enough and doesnt channel my personal trauma in a way i want”

[omotelie]

WHERE’S MY FUKING CAPO

[3hks]

How to Write REALISTIC and SMOOTH Dialogue

In a story, dialogue is quite important, it helps the readers paint a picture of what's happening and the characters themselves. However, it can be difficult to avoid the unnaturalness and choppiness that comes with a lack of experience. But luckily, I have put together A LOT of advice on how you can get over that rockiness and improve!

*** KEEPING YOUR DIALOGUE REALISTIC, AND PACING ***

>> Keep your characters in character:

Dialogue is a remarkably quick way for readers to determine your character's personality. Thus, you want their speech patterns to remain fairly consistent so the audience won't get confused. If your character is more serious, then they will use less slang and perhaps a more impressive vocabulary. If your character is more relaxed, they will use more slang and compress the words. (such as "dunno," "kay," "y'know," etc.)

Basically, you want their tone to match their traits so the way that they talk is more realistic and personlized to themselves. If the way all your characters speak is the same, there's something wrong. A strong tip is to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they would respond!

>> Take the situation into consideration:

This is another part of keeping your characters in, well, character. Different emotional situations will have a different effect on separate people, so make sure that you have an idea of how your character will act during stressful, irritating, and sad times.

If your character is normally cold, they will struggle if it comes to comforting other people because they have less experience in that field.

>> Don't take too long with their words:

Unlike when narrating something, most people talk just to get the idea across. They will be more specific and quicker with what they say. (This excludes any character who likes to talk a lot.) Unless it's on purpose, they won't dance around the topic. Think of when you casually chat with your friends; you're pretty unlikely to use certain words and/or phrases that might be common to use while narrating.

If you want to explain something complicated, instead of writing out a paragraph of just one person talking, use a question-and-answer prompt! This is where another character continuously asks related questions that get answered by another person, so you can indirectly reveal your explanation.

*** HOW TO WRITE A SMOOTHER CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE TAGS***

>> Having a variety of dialogue tags:

This is a pretty basic thing to look out for if you're new to writing conversations. Using words like "said," every other sentence can easily make it feel choppy and robotic. Instead, use words like "murmured," "smirked," etc. to paint some emotion into their words. Additionally, vary the location of the dialogue tags! They don't all have to go after the statement, you can include something in the beginning or even the middle, too!

Examples:

Beginning - She tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Middle - "Oh," he blinked, "I actually never thought about that."

End - "Wait up!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hands around.

>> Using no dialogue tags to create a smooth conversation:

Having too many tags can also overwhelm your reader--remember, sentence variety is a crucial part of writing--so you can always drop them if they're unneeded. This applies when your characters (two is the suggested amount) are talking back and forth in a pattern straightforward enough for the reader to understand who's talking without it having to be labeled.

Dropping dialogue tags in these moments can create a smoother atmosphere during the conversation because the reader only has to focus on the talking present.

*** USING SLANG, STUTTERS, FILLER WORDS, AND PAUSES ***

Human speech is often not perfect; when talking, we often make mistakes such as filler words, grammatically incorrect phrases, etc. Hence, for more natural-sounding dialogue, it's important to incorporate some of these.

>> Pauses and stutters:

When reading dialogue, we read it at a steady pace unless it's written otherwise. However, that steady pace can soon get too robotic and too smooth. Luckily, there are several ways to change this! You can use dialogue tags, (ex: she quickly spoke) commas, and ellipsis (...). These are often integrated when the character is hesitant, nervous, answering something, or when they need to admit something. The same idea applies to stutters--they're mainly used to demonstrate anxiousness, which can be found in varying situations.

>> Filler words and slang:

Filler words can really just be used where you see fit. They may be used in the situations I previously mentioned (because it shows someone stumbling over their words) but it's ultimately up to you!

Slang, just like everything else, should not be used too often, or it will seem forced and exaggerated. The point is to sound natural, and increasing amounts of repetitiveness can ruin it. It's also important to remember that in real life, our conversations move slower; when someone speaks, another person usually doesn't respond quite literally, right after. However, in writing, dialogue can actually often seem that way, which is why using tags and these imperfections of speech is pivotal for building a realistic conversation!

*** CONCLUSION ***

Lastly, a key point when writing dialogue is to ALWAYS read the conversations! Whether it be in your head or out loud, it can often help you catch anything that seems off! Additionally, like I mentioned at the very beginning, write dialogue from your character's perspective! Imagine yourself as them and how they/you would talk. Try to keep your dialogue tags, sentences, and word use varied to create a natural conversation!

If you were struggling before, I hope that this (extra) long guide was able to really offer you some insight and useful tips! If you read this far, thank you!

Happy writing~

3hks <3