#not sure if I need a... readmore break here... ah well

[heartorbit]

!!! You saw my ask! I’m v glad you liked the question and since you asked for ppl to share their takes on the charas I’ll give mine:

Rui as the fox was what started it all for me. Like “great shows can’t be made alone” and the fox talking about all the wonderful things that would happen if he were to be tamed… Rui’s craving for connection just fit the fox so well.

The other three I mostly chose for like, scenes/dynamics I wanted to see with them. So Tsukasa and Emu are the little prince and the rose respectively bc of their back-and-forth of *wild statement* *exaggerated frustration* but ultimately Tsukasa does want to take care of her (thinking of him calling her “our stubborn little princess” in his Smile of a Dreamer card story). And like the prince’s arc from running away from the rose because he can’t keep up with her requests before he realizes he needs to go back to her and Tsukasa’s begrudging assistance in the main story to swearing to help Emu save the stage.

And Nene’s the aviator for largely the same reasons: her and Tsukasa’s bickering just makes me think Nene would absolutely get fed up with Tsukasa insulting her sheep and just draw him a box instead. And her role as the “normal” one in the group also lends to it (emphasis on the quotes). She calls everyone in the troupe crazy for accepting a robot while she’s the one piloting the robot. She’s grown up, let go of being childish, but she’s still listening intently to the little prince’s story.

But like your casting is so so good! The longer I think abt it the more I love it. Like little prince Emu’s asteroid hopping is so perfect; she’s meeting all these grownups who care only about sums and wealth and other pointless things and it’s all just very odd to her. And Rui drawing the boa constrictor is heartbreaking. He’s trying to convey something through his art that nobody around him can understand… And Emunene being the little prince and the fox. They’re absolutely this quote from the fox: “Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow.” And the slow, deliberate process it takes to tame a fox, and how long it took to get Nene to come out of her shell while Emu constantly reached out to her; they’re adorable. And Tsukasa will cry and throw up if he isn’t special ur so right. Tysm for responding to my ask!

OOOOOOOOH MYJTJ IT'S SO CUTE I CRIED FOREVER I LOVE THESE SOMUCH THANK YOU FOR SENDING YOUR DRAWINGS I T____T emu rose is the cutest ever ever ever. i love YOUR CASTING SO MUCH. here i throw this before i go under a readmore to scream

YOURS FIT SO DAMN WELL. SO WELL

THE STUBBORN LITTLE PRINCESS LINE KILLLLLS ME IT KILLS ME YOURE SO RIGHT OAKYT AUUUUUUUWUUWU i take 800 years to respond to this both because i absolutely had to draw again for your cast and also i look at your beautiful drawings and i scream and kick my feet and grip my phone so hard it breaks into a million pieces

i;m so normal Your drawings are so lovely they feel right from a storybook ooouh nene as the aviator is really getting me. with how nene had to look back at her child self to rediscover what was so important to her passion for singing and it fits so well. waugh. """normal""" one for sure. but her loyalty is really fitting of both the aviator and the fox.. her and rui really are alike in the most dastardly heart crushing ways

rui as the fox. AH. I SHALL CRY. brother does he ever run the risk of weeping.. and just the abject boredom of the fox in its loneliness fits rui really well. after their fight in the main story how they approach rui more and more.. but you will sit a little closer to me every day..

your emu rose is so cute i can't get over it but i love this casting so much. i love how you connected the princes responsibility to the rose with the main story and their promise to save the wonderstage. Oh my god their stubborn little princess. THEIR STUBBORN LITTLE PRINCESS

i acknowledged that i just have emu favoritism severely when i gave them a casting but when i thought of her as the prince beyond whimsy i was thinking a lot of the ending, how the prince doesn't want the aviator to see him look to be in suffering and when says he can't return home and his body is too heavy.. the wonderstage being emus home where she wants everyone to always smile but also the place she's convinced she can't leave .. something something im not good at this. but with tsukasa i think that works equally as well because of how he shunned and ran away from it at first but at the end the wonderstage is where his heart really was and how he lets go of his old self. auuugh.

and for tsukasa as the rose and how emu finds his shows so dazzling even though he sees himself as one of hundreds of thousands of actors that he's not yet on the level of. but to emu he IS one of a kind. also because it is for her that i have killed the caterpillars (except she grabbed a caterpillar and shoved it into his face that one time but) sniffle. SNIFFLE. because it is she that i have listened to when she grumbled or boasted...

ok your little prince tsukasa is starting to kill me i AHGBHH you're singlehandedly making me want and need to reread the little prince again but ooh my god. my star will be just be one of the stars for you and so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens (falls over) i shall look as if i were suffering i shall look a little as if i were dying do not come to see that (FALLS OVER)

[monarchisms]

"so, now that it seems that some of the worst of everything in regards to rooster teeth has come to light, what are you, tumblr user monarchisms, the user previously known as kingpattillo, gonna do next?": the post

[under a readmore because it's stupidly long]

so fucking much has happened over the past week, so i'm just typing all of this up to figure out what to do in future, both so that people who follow me are in the loop, and that i can help myself get some shit together. almost every day has been one gut punch after another, so i definitely won't get everything in one go, and can surely edit this if/when i change my mind on a couple of things, with some exceptions.

for now:

"do you still want to watch/listen to/make fan content for rt in general?" Oh Dear God No. i don't want the company to crash and burn, only because i want the people currently still there who aren't shitbags to get all the support they need and deserve, emotional support or otherwise. however, because of a series of totally avoidable errors made by the company, i don't feel bad about letting my first subscription end. whether i just cancel it immediately, or i let it lapse, i'm not sure yet, but yeah, after i get charged for this month, i'm not going to pay for my subscription anymore.

"does that also include achievement hunter?" kinda?????????? that's more complicated to me. monetarily, i won't support them because they're still under rooster teeth, so i won't keep my subscription for specifically them. i'd totally throw them some money if they're able to pull a drawfee and break from the company they were formed under and go independent, and i totally am not mad at other people if they keep the subscriptions specifically for AH. again, it's all complicated. even with everything involving them as a group, i'm still rooting for them. "any reasons why?" many, actually, but here's what it boils down to.

i feel like even with all the stumbles, AH has had better progress collectively since... i'd say since geoff stepped down, if not earlier than that, than rt has had in their almost 2 decades of existing. i don't have a concrete year for AH i can point to for where i feel like progress has really started rolling. i'm just going off of Vibes alone lol. what makes me still have hope in them includes (but is not limited to, since there's a lot of stuff i could have missed) all the twitlongers from the post team, as well as this tweet from jack:

and this tweet from fiona:

(honestly, their whole thread is very good, and i agree with their takes wholeheartedly)

almost every problem i had with AH has been covered in this 4 am vent post i made on the 17th, and the problems i still have actually seem to be on the mend. props to the individuals currently at AH who put in the effort to improve, not just collectively as achievement hunter, but also as their individuals selves. which brings me to my next point:

"what about geoff?"

this hurts to type, but fuck him! the lowest points (in my opinion) of AH were in what many (used to?) perceive as their golden age, approximately the years of 2012 to 2015 or so, all of which were under the time geoff was the AH bossman. if he wasn't the perpetrator of the toxic behavior of his main employees at the time, he was complicit in it for reasons i certainly won't/can't pinpoint because i don't know him personally. though, another tweet from fiona gives me at least one idea:

alongside all of that, there's the direct reply from kdin under geoff 's twitter apology that also makes me 🤨 at him, as well as as all of this from the woman who geoff mentioned in that one reddit post he made in 2020, (edit 10/22/22: and also the fact that his public twitter likes showed that his apology was disingenuous to begin with 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴), but everyone knows about all of that. if you didn't, then uh... genuinely, my bad :(

oof, speaking of kdin,

"what about her?"

it's pretty easy to sum up my thoughts on her now. basically, i still believe that she shouldn't have gotten through the traumatic events she endured at rt, and should 100% be financially compensated, and i also simultaneously believe that her videos during the tatsudoshi days are downright deplorable. it's one thing to use a slur or two (Which Is Still Objectively Bad, but solely in comparison, is easier to stomach and apologize for), but it's another to go on a fully bigoted rant that attacks multiple marginalized identities, regardless of if it was over 10 years ago. No Average 19-Year-Old Wouldn't Do That Unless They Were Bigoted As Fuck. even if she is better now, that never excuses her past actions.

...also, i personally thought the part of her apology that i could actually accept or not accept was mid as fuck, and blizz perfectly pointed out why:

so fuck her for those points specifically. she should still get paid fairly, though. everybody should.

"is that why you're still :/ about gavin?" precisely. the first day, i just thought kdin didn't see gavin's apology on twitter since she was getting swarmed with a billion notifications, and also just doesn't follow most of the AH crew these days. turns out her not responding to him seems more and more intentional each passing day, so whoops!

"so like, are you going to pirate the rt content you still enjoy(ed)?" Oh, Absolutely. for me specifically, i feel like the only thing i'm going to pirate with no remorse is rwby because i still want to see how the story ends. as for everything else i enjoyed pre-braggnarok:

1. with rvb, the only reason i fell out of love it was because of the lack of care given to zero. i still enjoyed that season overall, but how poorly it was treated by the higher ups killed my excitement for rvb. QvsA kinda hooked me, but considering that grif is voiced by geoff and appears in every episode, 😬

2. with the podcasts i personally listened to under rt, most of them got killed for me because gavin and/or geoff were involved (f**kface, anma, annual pass). i still want to listen to red web because trevor and alfredo are still good to me, but like AH, they're still under rt, so i still don't really feel good pirating that :(

2b. "but face jam's still cool, right?" no </3

like, genuine props to michael for actively improving himself as a person, both on and off camera, for many years now, and not excusing his own past shitty actions. i got no beef with him. however, i cannot continue to listen to face jam because of jordan. "wait, what? why?" well! jordan's own past behavior under rt animation was pretty Yikes. he was one of the people specifically called out by georden whitman (nomad of nowhere's creator) in his twitlonger. can't summarize anything here myself, so i just recommend you read the whole thing.

3. the shortest(?) reason: there's no need to pirate AH content because most of it is available for free on their youtube channels anyways. with stuff like sbi: meltdown, i'll just read the comments to see who got voted off for the remaining episodes that i won't watch. not the end of the world.

"but you still haven't answered: what are you gonna do right now?" i don't know!!!!! rt suddenly imploded bigger than usual, and i don't know where to take my art and gif-making skills next!! i'm kinda scared!!! that's where you guys come in. requests for those will be open forever (they always have been, but they're More Open Now), but currently, they not just extend to individual streamers like matt, jeremy, ray, and their friends (individual AH people included), they alsoextend to any major group or solo people i enjoy. you can feasibly see a drawfee gif from me! isn't that wild?

and finally: "how else can we support you, random internet person?"

i still don't know. i've never been in this position before!!! like, everything i've created, both related to and not related to rt/ah, will always be free forever, but like, if people just want to throw money my way to make my life a little more tolerable, i guess i have paypal????????? i dunno! i'll just have to figure all of that out as i go.

okay, bye again lol

[autumnbrambleagain]

Yhelm p11 - readmore for full

Day fourteen.

Day fourteen of Drizzle's stay in Flyhhnemonia, day fourteen of constant, non-stop rains. A few dozen degrees ago--not that anyone could even see Ardet-Argent to measure the angle of time anymore--but a few dozen degrees ago, Princess Flyhh, Heir of Love and Indulgence, one of the creators of reality itself, had finally acted.

Outside was wild, now. A once-in-a-lifetime thing. Princess Flyhh had exercised some great secret of her divine nature. The rain still fell, but in deference to Flyhh's mastery of the world, it did not land. Or more, the raindrops were missing everything they aimed at. They missed the people who walked dry through the sheets of downpour. They missed the buildings. They missed the ground. On her way here, as far as Yhelm could tell, the rain just sort of… disappeared, right when it was about to hit anything.

This was one of those rare moments that everyone, surely, would remember for the rest of their lives, and Yhelm was far too distracted to even enjoy it. She thought that was the worst part of it, really. Whenever, decades from now, whenever anyone talked about the time it never stopped raining, about the time Princess Flyhh changed how rain worked for a day, all she'd have was "Yeah I was going through some stuff then, kinda distracted."

Afternoon Sale, the tall, lace-draped knicknack, was teetering on a single stilt-like foot over Yhelm's head.

"Most people seem to be outside playing in the rain," Afternoon Sale said. "The silly things are merely observing the transient work of a god, when they could be in here, instead, savoring a god's sacred craft with every intimate crevasse of their tongue!"

"Can you actually taste coffee?" Yhelm asked.

"Prim'ent Machato, can I taste coffee! Can I taste coffee! I do not taste coffee, I experience it on levels the mortal mind would not even comprehend. I would need to invent six new words for my six coffee-specific senses that allow me to understand the true nuances of coffee in ways that poor mortals such as yourself can only percieve the shadows of! Taste it indeed!"

Yhelm bite a laugh trying to break out of her muzzle. "You're really leaning into the heir of coffee role today."

Afternoon Sale threw a dramatic, oversized hand to her dainty face and mock-swooned. "Well I must entertain myself somehow! We're practically dead today. As for you! You!" She pointed accusingly at Yhelm. Yhelm just leaned back in her seat and watched. "You are waiting for someone. But no, not one of your regular companions… you are waiting for… someone new, isn't it? You're bringing someone new to me! Ah! Tell me my prognostications are correct and I will develop even greater love for you!"

"Yeah," Yhelm said. "All devotees should turn new worshippers to their god, shouldn't they?"

"You Jayce, but speak red all the same," Afternoon Sale chortled. "Meadoe but provide they arrive timely."

Corbis was a guild miniboss, being summoned by one of his subordinates, of course he'd show up when he damn well pleased, which ended up being who-knows-how-late. In he finally strutted, not walked but outright strutted, wearing tightly buttoned layers of red and browns that clung sleek to his lean runner's body, on all fours with boots and sleeves that went all the way up.

He threw himself into the seat opposite Yhelm with his perfect graceful lack of grace. Tossed his elbow onto the table, and let his head fall onto his paw, making a show of being half asleep. "Sup," he said.

On Hartlight's Ribbon Yhelm wasn't letting this display of sheer Style go unchallenged. Hooking her hoof around the leg of the table, she leaned back in her chair, tottering at dangerous angles, arms crossed, eyelids lowered behind her glasses. "Hey." Don't ever try to out-Style a daughter of Bad Boy.

Corbis' eyes glanced around the dark coffee shop. "Weird place, but all right."

"You haven't met the weird yet," Yhelm said.

Afternoon Sale arrived immediately as Yhelm said that. "Well well well this is a new one! I am sensing: workplace acquaintance! But no, I taste a seedier undercurrent, something deeper beneath the surface… oh my, oh my how scandalous!" Afternoon Sale covered her little pointed face with her thick lace fingers, leaving only beady little glass eyes staring down. "You are more than just workplace acquaintances aren't you! Well it is not to me to judge! You are both young and in the primes of your lives! It is merely mine to provide you with the coffee your soul needs, not to judge it!"

Corbis' eyes slid from Afternoon Sale to Yhelm with a sort of "What the fuck" kind of look, his Stylish composure completely broken. Hah. Yhelm'd won. One of the reasons she had him come here. Second reason was that Afternoon Sale's coffee was so damn good.

"Corbis, Afternoon Sale. Afternoon Sale, this is my--boss, sure. Manager. Whatever he wants to call himself."

"Call myself Corbis most of the time," he said.

"You," Afternoon Sale pointed a finger down at Corbis, "will have, oh, let me guess, let me understand. Oh, really, a liquor-tea, this early in the day? And with a bravan leaf! You do not yet know that you want that minty flavor, but when you have your first sip you will understand the depths of my craft! And Yhelm! I believe… something less bitter than usual, isn't it? Yes, with sugar even, I can see it in how the skin around your eyes holds itself, you are in need of some relief from dark matters! Well! I will go prepare your prescriptions and leave you to your business!"

Corbis mouthed silent confusion as Afternoon Sale spun her way around tables and chairs and to the mass of coffee preparation devices that waited for her touch.

"Yeah she does that," Yhelm said. "I'm not sure if it's knicknack whimsy or if she has some actual Knowing-element power or something. I've honestly never had better coffee though."

"She's a knicknack, though," Corbis said. "What does she know about taste?"

"I'm to understand she has six coffee-specific senses that allow her to experience the nuances of coffee in ways we cannot understand. You'll get it when she brings it out."

Corbis lifted his head lazily off his paw, twisting his wrist with an audible pop. "Speaking of bringing out, why are you bringing me up here for? Is this a date? Normally people go on dates before they start fucking. We going backwards?"

Yhelm huffed. "This isn't a date. I wanted to talk, and I didn't want to do it in your bedroom."

"What's wrong with my bedroom?"

"There's no seats."

"There's a bed."

Yhelm sharpened her eyes. "Yes. Exactly. And I need your mind out of the bedroom."

"Pfft. You know I can have more than just Flyhh's ass on my mind right? What's up?"

She let her chair back down onto all fours. Resting her entire shoulder against the rough stucco wall. And sighed. "You've been in the business a long time, right?"

"You're doing it uh," Corbis paused to think, "roundabout," and twirled his finger in the air to give the words more context. "That's not what you really wanna ask. I've been inside you we don't gotta play coy."

Yhelm grimaced. It was a full tongue-out grimace, like she had a bad taste sensation come over her. "You don't gotta say it like that so bluntly."

"Yeah but I'm asking you to say what's on your mind bluntly."

Blunt. She could be blunt, fine. "Don't you think what happened with Lastsong was fucked up?"

Corbis shrugged. It wasn't even a very committal shrug, it was the laziest shrug Yhelm had ever seen. One of his shoulders barely moved. "I mean, gaitsbird, you know? You beat a gaitsbird at a game enough times sometimes they snap."

"I meant what happened to her. After."

Corbis' big, gold eyes stared at Yhelm, holding time in place for a long, suspended moment. "She almost killed a guy. She got almost-killed herself. That's not fucked up, that's fair. That's as fair as you can get."

"She was locked in a room--"

"Okay, I get it," Corbis said, that irreverent, cocky bravado dropping and a more reluctant maturity poking its head out, eyes blinking, so unaccustomed to the light. "That's why you're asking how long I've been in the business. Because college girl can't deal with the realities of guild life now that she's had to get her hands a bit dirty."

Yhelm's lips raised in a wordless growl that she directed away to the floor. She couldn't be that angry if he was right.

"So guess I can answer the first question then. You know who my dad is, right?"

Yhelm shook her head.

"That might as well be Belham Pio. I was given up real early. Pio took me in, raised me up in the life. So yeah, I'm the person to ask about this. Lemme guess. College girl is used to golden justice, criminal gets to sit in a cell eating dry bread for a year and then they're let out, problem solved right?"

"I guess?" Yhelm admitted.

"The guilds are old, Yhelm. And this is an ooooold city. All this, these lawizards, these courts, that's all extra stuff Aiax tossed on top of Law. You know that? Primal Law's a lot more simple. It's the reason the scale of justice is a sub-symbol of Law's antler. Direct balance. Catharsis." Yhelm hid her surprise Corbis knew that word and could pronounce it right. "The aggrieved party is tendered resolution directly upon the offending party." That was a lot more big words than she thought Corbis could use, wow. What was happening. "Big golden justice gives you, well, the system did its job, hurray for the system, which is great for people the system doesn't fuck. But most of us guild, we're poor-ass cobblepounders. Not even the Is give a damn when a background H-lights. We can't all afford the big lawizards. We can't afford the keys to the doors to get around golden justice. Gold's pricey, college girl, and red's the real color of Law anyway."

… this was all supremely more well thought-out than Yhelm had, had ever even expected Corbis of being capable of. Corbis was usually yelling or posturing and while he was sometimes right he was never articulately right.

"We throw Lastsong to gold justice and the people she hurt, they just sit there and assume price's paid. Trust in a system that ain't even theirs to do it for them? She comes out a year later a few actions proscribed and what, she's still walking around, you assume she got hers but do you know? Anger's still there. Clear it through tables, and now everyone's squared. It's a problem of abstraction, and we cut through it to the red, hard. Lastsong'll be fine in time. Pyrene, gallowc she fived on, she's quiet under Argent well knowing Lastsong got hers. Feud's done. Gold justice works if you let everyone be a rational actor, but you can rescue a princess if you think you'll keep her."

Yhelm shook her head. The basis of academagic was treating reality as a work of fiction. A spell was just a literary essay debating one aspect of it, manipulating it, reframing it. Academages by their very nature had to keep their minds open to new arguments, or their magic didn't work. As a professional academage Yhelm should allow Corbis' argument to stand on its own merits instead of just brushing it aside with a sweep of her emotions. "It's fucked up," but she did it anyway.

Corbis scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "Let's say someone kills Madrigal. Just, doesn't like them being a phanteasel, whatever. Stabs them in the streets, blood cold on the dirt. You find out about it, you're upset, you're angry. Rose Knights collect the killer. Give him a jail cell. Felicity and Falina lock him down so he can't attack anyone anymore. He's let out a year later. Harmless now, the officials say. Learned his lesson. You pass him in the street. Think he survives walking past you?"

"I--"

"Because you're still angry, you didn't get a single paw in on the deal. Someone else did it. You're taking it at someone else's word he's been punished. You didn't see it, you didn't know it, you're full Figments on it, does he survive walking past you."

This wasn't a fun thought experiment. "Probably not."

"Law can't just paint something red and call it red. You have to dye that cloth so it won't flake the moment Drizzle shows up, speak of the lunar," Corbis added a gesture out the window, where the rain fell silently on the dry city. "How long you been guild?"

"A few years?" Yhelm ventured. She hated when Corbis had the better footing than her. "It's hard to say when I exactly--"

"By the Captain I know I've sent you out to rough people up sometimes. You've stolen shit. You've gotten in a few fights. Why this one?"

"Because of how clinical it was!" Yhelm said, forcefully, finally having an actual opening! "Because when I rough people up it's drunks at the gambling loops or people stealing from the guild, or, or! We aren't--we're not the good guys but we're not the bad guys either. I--I thought we weren't the bad guys."

Corbis' eyebrows raised, slowly, showed no signs of stopping until they reached his antlers. "You're wearing a traditional Bad Boy jacket. You worship a literal god named Bad Boy."

"What do you know about adversaries," Yhelm growled.

"I know I might as well've been born one," Corbis growled back. "Freepeople weren't born with a destiny but we sure can inherit it. I inherited Bad Boy's. I try not to be a villain but if guild life's too rough for college girl Trackless built a big old world."

Afternoon Sale, at that exact moment, arrived with coffee. Yhelm's was a burnt, deep orange this time, rather than the usual Void-black. Corbis' was almost clear, faintly green-blue, with a single, multi-bladed leaf floating at the top. It was enough of a distraction the argument fell apart between them as they blew on their cups and sipped their drinks.

Yhelm's was sweet. Vaguely cinnamon. Hint of citrus aftertaste, more in the nose than the tongue. Bitterness and sweet fought in her mouth and neither was winning. Corbis looked suspicious of the leaf but after two sips he'd downed half his cup already.

"This isn't coffee," Corbis laughed. "This is like, a tea--"

Afternoon Sale Yhelm-swore-to-Aiax full-on teleported behind Corbis she moved so fast. "It is in fact made with a glass cultivar that has very little bitter flavor but retains ample caffiene quantities, mixed in equal measure with salaja imported from the Rebant colonies. The bravan leaf denies the more acidic taste of the salaja liquor and grants it a minty kick! It is a very sophisticated blend and also has an inordinately high alcohol content, mitigated by the small cup size. Tell me you do not like it, I challenge you to this very thing."

Corbis shook his head. "Dad taught me never take a bet you've already lost."

"A very wise man to have a very wise saying, and moreso wise are you to use it!" Afternoon Sale said. Satisfied in another conquest, she traipsed about to the next set of customers in need of her expertise.

"It's funny," Yhelm started over, "how it works like that. I was born into a freeperson's life. I choose adversary. I say 'chose,' I'd argue being yourself isn't a choice, but, all the same. You're a freeperson, but you were born adversary. It's a curious parallel. I think I should like you less than I do, but for it. You're an abrasive dick half the time--"

"Oh," Corbis interrupted, smiling, "oh you love that about me though. You choose every time to get into fights with me and goad me on. It feeds your duldge, Fig me not."

Yhelm rolled her eyes dramatically enough that Corbis could see it in the dimmer light.

Corbis' drink was already near-empty. The leaf sat at the bottom, a thin layer of green coffee swirling atop it as he gestured with his cup. "So what is all this, you're doubting your life in the guild now?"

"I've been reconnecting with my family lately. And I had--something of a talk with the Arbitrator. And she--I guess she made me feel bad about some of this? I guess?"

"… shit, okay, I see where this is," Corbis said. He drank the last of his coffee and ate the leaf right out of the cup, grimaced at the mint overload, and forced himself to finish it anyway. "You're not looking to go straight, are you? You got reminded some of the bad parts of the life you need me to remind you of the good, that's it, right? You want me to talk you out of quitting."

Yhelm answered with a drag of her coffee.

"Well, okay, here's the baculum of it. I'm gonna give it to you, nice and peeled."

"Ugh."

Corbis waved away her disgust. "If you really liked college you'd be there. Having your paper fights in the greenlight. But that's polite and fake and you know it. It's fake and you're an adversary. Guild is real. You don't have to fucking, wear six masks and swap 'em out depending on who you're talking to. You got a problem in the workplace you don't, I don't know, have to worry about your grant money and your advisors and whatever they have in college. You don't sit there and go, humdeedledee. Fuck I don't know how publishing works but you aren't arguing with your, what do you greenlights get, magic editors? Publishers? You're an adversary. You have a problem you fix it. Someone disrespects you they pay for it. People don't respect you 'cause a piece of paper you bought, they respect you because you have power. And you have power. And all of that is how an adversary wants to live. You can trust me in that, because with all the freedom Meadoe gave me I choose to be her boyfriend's child instead. And now here's the real good stuff, the top shelf I'm holding out on, I'm gonna reach on up and take it down just for you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Most of the guild is just poor people trying to fucking survive this mess Flyhh dumped us into. And we ain't Apat, we ain't building a party-dome to die in, when a guild in good standing's in trouble, needs something, we play the heroes the Rose Knights pretend they are. That's really why you're guild, cutie. Because you're a hardcore servant-in-the-biblical-sense. You don't have to play games with anyone. And now and then you get to do some good too. So. Dad has me go around to retired guilders who did enough guildshare for a lifetime. Drop off their pension. Make sure they're alive and healthy. Keep them from getting lonely. So you'll be taking that over for me for a bit. How's that sound?"

Yhelm finished the last of her coffee. There was a thin, too-sweet sludge at the bottom of the cup she licked up in a single slurp. It made her fur stand up and it was great. "You want me to go keep old people company."

"Aiax's folly Yhelm you're complaining you had to see something too rough to sleep through and I'm offering you some feel-good work. Take it."

"I will. Thank you. You're not the worst boss, Corbis."

"You're not the most useless enforcer I have to babysit," he said gracefully.

Yhelm spun her cup on its plate, by the handle, in counter-clockwise circles. "You know, I honestly didn't expect you to be so well thought-out."

"Pfft. I'm the boss. You think I can get away with just shouting a lot I have to know what things are." The smirky grin so well worn into Corbis' face eroded a moment. "You ever read Murmur's writings?"

"Murmur. You mean Figments' Servant, Murmur?"

"A person as a fixed crystal."

"Since when the fuck do you know phil--" Yhelm started, and then considered what Murmur, Servant of Figments and God of Philosophy, had actually written 5,000 years ago, and stopped. "We appear differently to different people because of the angle they approach us from and how their own structure reflects light onto us."

Corbis pointed at her with a 'I got you' look. "I have to be in charge. And you have to be full of stupid ideas and go around fucking up all the time. So I have to yell at you and be an ass. I don't think life's so complicated you have to spend your whole life sitting around thinking about it, but that doesn't mean I haven't done my thinking on it already either. Come at me from an angle other than bratty know-it-all college-girl-turned-thug I can give you other angles of me too."

Purely because it would be an appropriate and useful way to delay responding, Yhelm wished she had more coffee to sip. "That's fair. I think I prefer this angle over the Corbis who makes me wait for him to finish jerking off before he tells me what my job for the day is."

"Oh that's too bad, college girl, that Corbis you're gonna see from every angle. Can't help it. Just how your light reflects onto me, you know? That's my way of saying you're too hot to help it."

Yhelm sunk in her chair. "We've fucked already, dude. You can stop hitting on me."

"Unless I'm not trying to get you to fuck me," Corbis said, leaning over, "but just trying to make you miserable, 'cause it's funny to me."

"Sonofabitch."

"And you make it so easy, too!"

[pokedocbedlam]

🖤 🕯

Oooooo, good questions...

🖤: Gonna cheat and list two authors. My longtime favorite and inspiration is Neil Gaiman, but recently I've absolutely devoured everything by Becky Chambers. Fave books of theirs...for Gaiman, I'd say Neverwhere, while for Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit.

🕯: Scene from a current WIP. Well, I have...many, but here, have a mostly complete scene from the newest Pictures of Home chapter, which is from Lady Sneasler's POV! I'll put the bulk of it under a readmore so as not to clog your dashes, but enjoy!

---

It is evening, and Lady Sneasler is working on her nest. She does not have much by way of moss or leaves to work with, but she's made do with other soft things around the dwelling. Mostly old clothes of Ingo's that he can apparently no longer wear. The other Pokemon in this dwelling have been a great help in that regard, as it turns out Gavantula also has frequent clutches of Joltiks, and all the residents are used to pitching in. They bring in loose downy fur, old toys that are no longer suitable for harsher play, and plenty of stray feathers.

The other Pokemon assure her that no predators would dare enter this apartment, but to be safe, Lady Sneasler keeps the nest to a smaller room within Ingo's, one he calls the closet. It can easily be closed to ward against predators, and there are higher shelves in case she needs to put her unhatched children out of reach. The other Pokemon give her strange looks for her paranoia, but at least Gavantula agrees. She knows how it is to be a worried mother.

Three eggs. They slowly rock in the nest as hatching time nears. It is a small clutch, but her litters tend to be when times have been particularly stressful. And there is little more stressful than traveling through time and space to this strange land of carved stone and buzzing steel. To say nothing of helping her warden recover from wounds both physical and mental, and getting used to the constant presence of his littermate! (She knows they are littermates because they look the exact same when they remove their coats. Though Emmet smells quite different, and he moves and talks in a different manner... Perhaps their coats denote that they are differing types. Like Burmys! Or...Wormadan, more like? Surely they are evolved...)

There is a knock on the door. It is how humans announce their intent to enter a room. Judging by the pattern of the knock, it is Emmet. Lady Sneasler thinks a moment before deciding to accept his company with a "Snea!"

"Evening, Lady Sneasler! I am Emmet!" He enters the room with a tray of food, which he sets by the nest before crouching for a look at the eggs. Lady Sneasler was wary about letting him close to the nest at first, but Gavantula assured her that Emmet is nothing but kind and attentive to eggs. Indeed, Emmet appraises them and chirps, "Looking good! They are close to hatching soon. I wonder what egg moves they will inherit from that Lucario?"

Ah, Lucario. Though there are no other Sneaslers here in this land, this is not the first time she has mated with a Lucario, and this one surely caught her eye. While he could not court her in the traditional ways of hunting prey for her or scaring away predators, he did routinely break out of his confines and navigate the maze of the tunnels in order to offer her gifts. Some of these even decorate the nest, such as the soft scarf Lucario had previously worn around his neck.

Emmet continues chattering with his own theories, even has a little notebook out. Lady Sneasler watches him awhile, curious as to why he is here without his twin. After watching him a moment, she calls for his attention. He cannot understand her speech, but she has been practicing making signs with her face and claws to better make her intent known. She taps the top of her head and then points one claw straight up, the sign she has made for Ingo.

"Ingo? He is making dinner. It seems verrry involved, and I did not want to distract him. So I am checking on you and your eggs. Yup!" Emmet smiles as he surveys the nest, expression softening as his eyes catch on a particular shirt incorporated into Lady Sneasler's bedding. It is a short-sleeved shirt with no buttons, quite soft, with the cheerful face of a Pokemon she does not recognize on it. Emmet says, "I was wondering where the tank engine shirt had ended up..."

Oh, he is looking moody again. Both of these mirrored littermates are prone to that, mostly relating to things before Ingo arrived in Hisui. It seems these two were rarely parted, like the current Lord Arcanine and the Growlithe he grew up with. Lady Sneasler asks Emmet his thoughts by softly headbutting his shoulder.

"Hey! I am fine. Just thinking about when we got those shirts! The character is from a show we loved as children. Ingo and I both saw these shirts as adults and got them for each other one birthday as a joke. Didn't plan it at all! We laughed when we realized we got each other the same thing." He laughs softly even as he pulls his knees up to his chest and slowly rubs his hands along his arms. "I wonder if he remembers. Even so, it's better suited to a nest than hanging in a closet. Always was small on him. He only ever wore it to sleep. Isn't it funny, though? The things we hold onto out of nostalgia even when it's not practical?"

Emmet gestures up to the closet. "When I first realized that Ingo had gone missing, I spent a lot of time here. Told myself it was to keep it clean. Didn't want it getting dusty. But really? It was because I missed him. This room still smelled like him. And I could pretend he was just...in a different room, for a bit." He sighs and rests his chin on his knees. "That sounds verrry pathetic now that I say it out loud. But I missed him. And I did my best to carry on without him. Changing tracks so suddenly though...it's a hard thing to do."

Lady Sneasler wishes she could tell him that she understands. How when her father, the previous Lord Sneasler, passed in a sudden avalanche, Lady Sneasler had kept visiting his old haunts as if she could glean guidance from the scratch marks he'd left behind, or in the taste of his favorite meals. Or how Ingo would cling to his memories late into the night, repeating that mantra of his while trying to whittle the forms of people and Pokemon he only half-remembered.

She thinks a moment for what sign would make sense. She settles on tapping her chest, over where her heart is, then hovering a claw over Emmet's and tapping the same way. Not actually touching, but hopefully enough to get the point across. His brow furrows in thought. She repeats the gesture, then taps the shirt with the smiling tank engine.

"...You get it?" He asks. She chirps in response. Emmet's grin widens again, and his eyes sparkle the way they do when he's excited by something. "I see! Thank you. And your communication is getting verrry good! I've heard of Pokemon learning how to sign, but not making their own. You are verrry smart!"

"Snea snea." She laughs at that. It isn't anything special; she's just learning how to survive in this world, where humans and Pokemon truly live as one.

[kyonoc]

This might come in handy if I disappear in the near future

needy streamer overload. Tw; self harm

Val barely checks what I post anyway. Two other people who follow this blog probably have gotten sick of my excessive shitpost already. This shouldn't be appearing on the search, right?

No one shouldn't be reading this, except for me, so I suppose this is fine to share here.

Sometimes I wish to cut myself. So badly

But i cant

Because others will be more disappointed about it than me myself can manage to.

Because I'll make my mom sad. I put up the good girl, the carefree, happy child act for so long. It will be despairing for he once she finds out she has failed as a mother. That her child is so wrong in many aspects like this.

I think my mom can sense it, tho. She have always had a very good intuition. Or is my mask finally falling apart?

Because my friend will be taken aback by it. I never appeared to be unstable on the outside. Heck, I can't even remember the last time I vented to them. Even on this oh so called "venting blog" I created, I refrain my self from dumping my depressive thoughts here. I only ever share about my anxiety issues. Because.. Because if they realize that I am no better then them, surely they will be more cautious and I can't help them anymore?

Because I need to be the emotionally available friend. I'm suppose to be the therapist friend, the mom friend, not the other way around. Because I need to live up to my labels, because if not then.. If not then I'm just a blank, boring human. I don't have anything special about me, I don't have anything to my name. I'm good, but not good enough to make me stand out from the others. Not good enough to me make unique or remarkable. I'm good, but there are just so, so, so many people more talented and more successful than me. I'm supposed to be good, but I don't act like it.

Because I haven't harm myself in years, even if I desperately wanted to. Because everyone has fallen under the illusion that I'm fine. Because I'm supposed to be good. Thats why I can't, I'm not allowed to relieve myself through such ugly and despicable manners.

But least the pain will feel way better than the dread after each high and down. My emotions doesn't last long. Not the euphoria and mania, nor the depressive episodes and breakdown. I'm never one able to experience these to their fullest. The emotions will always be passing by so quicky, so hastily; be it sadness, grieving, happiness, or annoyance, hatred. And all their left behind is a never ending void of emptiness and dreadfulness. I'm writing these lines as Im feeling absolutely anything but blank.

And I hate thay feelings so much. I despite it. I want nothing more than for it to end.

KK.

I think few will make it to here. But, ah, anyway..

I dont think that Y user will ever read this. Mhm, seems like they've got a lot on their newfeed, considering the amount of post they have reblogged. So my post shouldn't be that noticeable. There are chances that they did came across one of my shitposts (considering I post these daily..), but just didn't interact at all. Either way, I hope my previous excessive amount of ramble is enough to steer them away from this one.

For V.. It seems like you do occasionally see my post. I didn't really get enough chances to test my theories, nor did I collected enough data to make a judgment. But whether is it you decided to interact with specific posts, or you only read those of mine that doesn't contain a readmore; I was kinda hoping you didn't make it to here. But this mean you did regardless.. It's okay. I'm fine. I'll bounce back, I always do. You should prioritize yourself first, cookie

Mhm, Val, if you see this, we both know what to do. You needn't to say anything, I'll be fine as time moves on anyway. We both are well aware of that by now, aren't we?

Post script KK-tan 2.0 here. I figured I should leave some kind of note behind as well, because it seems like my suicide plan may happen a lot sooner than I intended to.

Mhm, I'm not feeling like bringing my whole diary over here, but in short: I loath myself, and it's not because of hardships in life or anything, it's because I find myself to be imperfect. I strike for perfection, and my "incomplete" and flaw-filled self made me hate it so much. Enough to make me wish to erase my existence. The memories everyone have of me, my impacts and traces on this world, my proof of living. Aka, essentially asking to rewrite this world's history and alter everything, every event that have me in the picture.

But that is one unrealistic and impossible goal. So I'll do something more practical, more achievable: Delete my traces myself. My social medias even my clones, my birth certificate, my ID cards, my personal belongings, I'll cut ties and relationships with everyone I know, everything. But since this blog is owned by not only me, but also Val, it'll be selfish to delete it on my own. So this blog will stay unharmed, and so does this post. Surely Val will come here to seek an explanation, or nostalgia or whatever, and this post will act its part.

V-v-, it's not your fault that I disappear. Unsure if you consider me close enough to shred a tear.. but if anything, I don't want to be remembered. And specially not with regret and remorse. Move on, surely there will be someone who can encourage and support you as your #1 fan just fine. Don't think such like "If I paid more attention.." or some, I don't like it

G.. I feel like I need to inform you about this blog, in case I failed to go to the other side and reappear as a ghost to see you. But ah, I don't know if I can do that. Even if its high chance you won't read this, I hope that you'll be happier, that you'll start to love yourself more and more. I couldn't do anything for you, your battle was only yours, so I think you should be fine.

Val, I know, it feel like you are more likely to commit suisui first, yet I'm the one to go.

There's an saying that, "If [A] dies first, then [B] will live for them. But if [B] dies, [A] will follow them". I was hoping you could be the B, buddy, and I'll act as A. Don't follow me dude, I won't be lonely over here, remember? If the worst scenario happen, I want you to live my part, experience the world on my behalf. Pursuit our dreams and fantasies. All that. I'm aware that you have gotten emotionally attached to me, and I'm sorry that I let that happened. I should have been more careful, considering I'm well aware im this unstable. But ah, I still hope that you make it.

Mhm, this is very rushed, since it's more of a precaution before I forget than I'm actually intending to self yeet. Still, I hope this will do me justice if I really did the self yeet on an impulse.

[theshinsun]

brace urself, this is for the writing meta ask: 2, 6, 7, 14, 17, 19, 20 (if you need a direction for this... I always wanted to hear more about Bring Me Roses), 21, 22, and 24 bc i'm nosy and still very into your craft. thank you buddy!!

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I'm so excited/terrified to finally start my knb college AU. I've been sitting on this idea for almost two years I'm so ready but at the same time I'm so not ready.

The gist is it's every single self-indulgent, chaotic, projection-ridden idea I've ever wanted for these boys all rolled in a big ball of shenanigans and character growth. It's a beautiful mess and I can't wait to make it happen as soon as ANR is done.

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

This is gonna come right the fuck out of left field, but I love writing Himuro. I have so much fun writing just... snark, and that boy is the perfect outlet, there's no bottom to that salt mine. I remember getting a similar kick out of writing Tsukishima in the past, I just live for sassy dialogue. It ain't much but it's honest work.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

My style is very present, I think (which is funny bc there was a time I never would have considered writing present tense) focusing on what's happening and how it makes the character feel in the moment. I like to write specific, detailed imagery, but I try to keep it short and relevant to the scene, so I can move along and focus on what's important. I wouldn't call it fast-paced, exactly, but it is pretty to-the-point. And I think, based on the feedback I've received, that people who read my fics might agree with that. I've heard that my writing is very personal and character-driven, and I think that might be a byproduct of the time I spent writing in first person. Now I write almost exclusively third person limited, but I still like to get in the character's head and tell the story from their "point of view", I guess. 

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

It depends almost entirely on how quick I'm able to come up with a pun lol. Sometimes a fic has a title before I've even written the first sentence, sometimes I have to scramble for something, anything in the last few seconds before I publish it. A lot of the time I'll have a working title like "that one really fucked up aokaga oneshot" for pretty much the duration of writing a new fic… and a lot of the time I'll end up using song titles, even though we're past the days of writing songfics. 

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I think, to a degree, people get different things from my writing than I intended -- which is good! The way a piece of writing can be interpreted completely differently depending on who's reading it is one of the best things about being a writer tbh. I think people might be surprised, though, how different my fics often turn out from how I set out to make them. These days I've usually got a pretty detailed outline for what's going to happen, but even with all the preparation in the world, sometimes a fic will take a sudden detour I didn't expect, or something I wrote before will take on new meaning and change the direction I meant to go in. This definitely happens more with my longer fics, but there are times even with oneshots where I look back at what I set out to write, and what I ended up writing, and they're completely different.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

I tend to write a lot of scenes with characters talking while in the car (cars are an intentional motif in ANR, but in something like GWGE there's not actually a lot of narrative purpose to this) I don't know why, maybe because it's a convenient way to have characters talk one-on-one, or maybe it's because I've had a lot of meaningful conversations while riding passenger, couldn't tell you, but it's cropped up more than once in my current fics and will probably feature in some of my upcoming ones (the college AU strikes me as a likely candidate), and I think it's worth taking note of.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

SINCE you mentioned Bring Me Roses, and I never really get to talk about it, pls allow me to go on a lengthy tangent about my most underrated fic of all time. (Like 90% of the reason it's still incomplete almost two years later is because the response when I posted it was so underwhelming, but I still stand by it. Someday I'll finish it, hopefully, if just for myself.) 

I'm so fucking proud of the language in this one. It's not perfect, by any means, but the imagery in my opinion is very strong, and almost every line of dialogue is saying something without really saying it. There are frequent allusions that something happened to Aomine's mother, relatively recently, and that Momoi is worried about him overworking out of grief or guilt, but none of those things are ever actually stated. There's also some pretty heavy implicit flirting between Aomine and Kuroko, even if it's a bit unusual and they're both playing it coy at this stage, the chemistry is there and the interest is mutual. And of course, because it's a florist AU, the flower symbolism… I spent so long researching bouquets, plant husbandry, how to prep and preserve cut flowers, and of course… flower meanings. The main ones that keep getting brought up are dahlias, which have just as many negative connotations as positive ones, including betrayal and instability, but also dignity, creativity and change, and come in a variety of colors shapes and even sizes (Islander or "dinnerplate" dahlias were definitely going to feature in part 2… as well as the connection between them and Aomine's mother). I know a lot of these things might not hit as hard because there's no actual payoff (yet), but still, in terms of "show don't tell" and setting up things to come, I don't think I have a single better example in my fic repertoire, I really went all out with this.

It's a shame I never got to follow through, but I got the impression that there just wasn't a lot of interest, and even if that alone is kind of a dumb reason not to continue, after I worked so hard to pull off what I did, the lack of response really killed my motivation. (I wonder sometimes if it would've been better received if it was an AoKaga fic… actually, I don't need to wonder, I'm sure it would have been, but that's not the story I set out to tell and I'm not going to change it.)

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

Oh, I'd love to do some of my fics as comics. I even tried it at one point; GWGE was going to be a comic originally, before I decided a multichapter fic would probably be less exhausting (the first couple pages are still floating around in my art tag somewhere, though this was back in high school so the quality is… heh).

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Yeah… I reread a lot. Usually while I'm working on a new chapter, I'll go over the ones that lead up to it to make sure I don't repeat the same phrases too much and that the continuity lines up, and I'll also admit to going back and just reading my own fics for fun. Sometimes the only one who's written exactly what I want to see is me. 

How I feel about them depends on the fic… some of my older ones are a mix of nostalgia and cringe tbh, but there are some I still genuinely enjoy revisiting from time to time. 

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Oh hell yeah. For… better and worse, honestly. I feel like I've lost some fluidity and confidence in my writing, and it sometimes turns kind of stilted, so I try to overcompensate which results in pretty jarring changes of tone, but at the same time, I've gotten much better with rhythm and syntax, my grammar skills are always improving, and I'm able to incorporate a lot more intentional meaning and subtext without always stating things outright.

[luminberry]

Prompt where a prey gets swallowed up by their preds roommate and they’re terrified of being digested. Especially when the Pred that swallowed them starts to get sleepy. But, their Pred comes back to see their prey in the their roommates belly. Chaos ensues 😨

FUCK YEAH FIRST PROMPT! woo!

gonna keep it gender neutral for the prey..and maybe males for the two preds? sdlkfj Under a readmore bc i dont wanna be one of those blogs who break scrolling for mobile users here. enjoy first person pov anon

readers the tiny!

The weekend was finally here and your friend had blown your phone up about coming over for a movie night and possibly a sleep over. Neither of you had seen each other in ages thanks to...well world issues and your job throwing you under the bus with overtime thanks to people leaving or getting sick out of the blue. So some time to just chill with that big nerd and his cooking for a few hours sounded like the perfect way to unwind.

You arrived a hour early to his place with a small grin on your face. He had a bad habit of swallowing you on first sight after being apart for so damn long due to getting so excited seeing you again. You really didn't mind it all that much since...well it was almost impossible to resist when you see just how happy having you in his hands made him, he practically purred with joy the last time you visited. Being with him always lifted your mood no matter what, he was always more than happy to make you feel better or just dote on you for a little bit...At some point you wondered if this was something else but gods forbid you would ever mention that to him. You just liked being around him honestly, you never met someone as overly warm and caring as him.

Walking inside though..you could smell some of his cooking wafting through the kitchen and called out as you slipped your shoes off and wandered inside the apartment to find out where he was.

"Ya'll came here a bit early, he's not here right now. Ran out because we were out of something he needed for cooking, should be back in about fifteen minutes or so.."

You knew that voice, it was your friends roommate. While you were friends with both of them this guy was...well something else at times. He was friendly but damn did he love to tease you at times...He also tended to tease about keeping you to himself alot. Your one friend knew full well you were scared shitless of staying too long inside his stomach and always asked when you wanted out. The fact that he took so much care to make sure you were comfortable and safe with him was something you were thankful for...His roommate on the other hand you knew was a bit forgetful..and tended to keep his "meals". You had the unfortunate luck of walking in on him in said situation more than once and it made you lowkey fearful of being alone with him when that hunger struck.

He seemed to know what was running through your head as you quickly found yourself being scooped up in his large hands, that sharp grin being aimed your way as you tried to politely ask him to let you down.

"Ah calm down a lil darlin, promise I won't do anything bad with ya. Just a lil bit peckish since I've had to smell all this good food cooking away for almost half the morning. So good it woke me up a lil too early..thought I'd have to wait a lot longer for something to eat....But then you walked right on in."

You protested saying your friend would be back soon, to which he just hummed before opening up wide and tucking you inside feet first. You fussed at him about it but he still hummed around you, gulping loudly around your legs and waist. It felt like seconds had merely passed before you felt yourself curling up in his stomach.

"Don't worry, I'll let ya back out whenever I hear the big goof come back home..Just gonna curl up on the couch for a lil with ya."

You smacked his sides, earning you a deep chuckle as your world tilted and shifted, his roommate settling down to get cosy on the couch with you tucked away nicely in his gut.

A few minutes pass and you idly wait to hear the front door open up...Any time now you'd hear it. His starved roommate in the meanwhile hadn't said a single word the entire time, he was usually pretty chatty you remember...

Until you hear a soft snore sound out above you. Immediately you start to punch and press out to try and wake him up, which thankfully works.

"Hey! Calm down in there damn...I said I'd let you out soon, just stay put..I'm listening for the door..Not my dang fault I haven't gotten enough sleep..I got work tonight, so just be a good snack for a lil bit and I'll take care of ya."

Any protests you had fell on uncaring ears as you heard the snoring start up almost immediately. This was quickly becoming a nightmare scenario for you...If he fell asleep fully or shifted to smother you, your friend wouldn't ever know you made it in time. You just wanted to spend some time with your friend, not wind up trapped in his roommates greedy stomach as a surprise snack!

You weren't sure how much time had passed, curled up in the warm darkness of your little prison made time pass by unknowlingly. You were hyperaware of your surroundings..of all the happy gurgling and noises the body surrounding you made....You tried to look on the brighter side of things..maybe your friend would save you before it was too late.

After what felt like hours, you faintly heard the door open and close, followed by the sound of your friend calling out to his roommate about being home again. You shift to press and yell loudly, trying to wake him up and get him to let you out like he promised.

Unfortunately for you, he was a heavy sleeper and your cries went unnoticed along with your thrashing. A minute or two of useless nonsense you could feel tears pricking at your eyes, he wasn't going to find you was he? You were going to get digested and your poor friend would never find out would he?? You just wanted to see him and spend time with that big goofy teddy bear of a guy, not this. The unfairness of it all renewed your struggles as you screamed in outrage at your predicament.

As you struggled inside his roommate however, your friend noticed something. You had left your shoes and bag near the front door like always..He wasn't one to miss the fact that your damn car was parked out front either..He had expected to see you seconds after spotting your belongings, checking the kitchen where you usually were when he was cooking and finding nothing, he began to wonder where you were.

Calling out your name he searched, quickly spotting his roommate passed out on the couch. They had woken up as he was leaving, giving a sleepy wave as the door closed shut behind him. It didn't take much for him to piece things together, specially as he locked on to his friends swollen and thrashing midsection. Running over he could make out your faint and very upset voice screaming for help.

Well..what happened next he blamed his roomie on, but on your end the world started shaking violently and not one but two voices started shouting as everything rocked. You almost cried in joy as you made out your friends irate voice amongst the chaos outside. In a few moments you were pushed back out and into the tub where your friend was standing beside his disheveled and groggy roommate.

"Oh thank fuck yer alright, I didn't think this dumbass would actually try eating ya while I was out."

"hey I told em I'd let em out when ya got back, wasn't really plannin on keepin em, I know how close ya'll are."

"Ya say that and I come home with ya snorin like a chainsaw with em freakin tha hell out inside yer damn gut. Ya deserve tha thrashin I gave ya..Ya know better than ta conk out with someone inside ya!"

"I know I know...sorry bout that..wasn't lyin bout bein sleepy though so..But hey yer out now so we cool darlin?"

You just sigh and smack him lightly on the forehead before just slumping into the tub, saying next time he ate you if at all..just make sure your friend was nearby to save you.

After shooing both of them out to clean up, your friend getting out some spare clothes you left for whenever he tucked you away you felt the panic leave your system at last. He had been fretting over you after getting you out safe that the food he had been cooking was almost ruined..As you walked back out into the living room clean and content, your friend called you into the kitchen.

"Look I'm real damn sorry he pulled that..I explained what was up and..well how yer not a fan of bein kept past tha safe point. He promised me he'd ask next time..If I give that greedy fuck a next time..Ya'll alright now though?"

You nod and he wastes no time in lifting you up for one of his gentle hugs. Somehow you were always surprised at how despite how big he was compared to you, he always gave you the most gentle embrace. Pressed against his soft chest you felt yourself finally go limp and relax against him, feeling him chuckle a bit.

"Wanna still watch tha movie? We can least get one or two in maybe.."

You knew he wanted to tuck you away himself, but after today he wanted to let you relax a bit before even broaching it. You appreciated the guy so much, and decided to let him do what he wanted as you made yourself comfortable in his hold. Although you did joke that you could walk when he refused to put you down, only to be told that he had to make up for lost time. You had a feeling you'd be tucked away by the time the first movie ended at this rate, not that you minded with him.

[thatfoureyedone]

Glaring Softly

Pairing: Franmaya

Summary: After the events of Bridge to Turnabout, Franziska asks to speak with Maya in private.

(Consider giving it a kudos if you like it :D)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36341893

:readmore:

“Maya Fey!”

Franziska never softened her glare, not even for someone who’s had a near-death experience.

And Maya doesn’t understand why she insists on shouting her full name when she’s, like, two seats away from her. It’s not like Maya would have forgotten she was there, with her stabbing at her “lobster” every couple of minutes.

“Yeah?”

“I need to speak with you. In private.” She didn’t wait for an answer, already halfway out of the restaurant by the time the sentence was done, heels clacking loudly on Tres Bien’s linoleum floors. Maya followed soon after, having to wait for Nick to stop fussing over her first. (“You nearly died of hypothermia, Maya. Take the blanket.”)

Franziska is standing a little ways from the entrance, gripping and ungripping the hilt of her whip and staring at nothing. She wasn’t wearing a jacket. Isn’t she cold, or was 20 degrees like summer to Europeans? Or maybe Maya was still feeling the effects of hypothermia. She drew her blanket in closer.

When Maya came near, her glare flickered before turning into something of a . . . smirk? Or grimace. It was like she had no idea how to create a smile that wasn’t triumphant or condescending.

“Maya Fey,” she said. “I see you are alive and well.”

Hmm. Franziska von Karma? Being indirect? Unusual, but Maya could roll with that.

“It’s going to take more than being trapped in a freezing cavern for days to kill me,” Maya joked, though the fact that her voice cracked on trapped and kill made it less funny. Franziska did not humour her with a laugh, although her smirk-grimace faltered.

She looked like she was about to say something, or at least, she was trying to. Maya had never seen her this speechless before. But if she had to guess, Franziska would struggle over what she really wanted to say before defaulting to something cruel, or sarcastic, or the lash of her whip.

And Maya wasn’t going to survive hypothermia just to be whipped to death.

“Nick told me,” said Maya, and Franziska seemed to break out of whatever was troubling her. “That you were in the Sacred Cavern all night. Trying to break the trick locks.”

Franziska’s hand moved from her death grip on her whip and onto her hip. Ah! Progress! “Of course. You were in danger, and I was clearly the only capable person there. It would have been foolish not to provide assistance.”

Maya smiled. “Still, I know it must have been hard. Those things have like a gazillion combinations, right?”

Franziska was full-on smirking again. Success! “Hundreds, to be precise.”

“Still, thanks. I–” Her voice cracked again. “I genuinely don’t think I would be here right now without your help, Franziska.”

Franziska’s smirk suddenly dropped, and Maya nearly stopped breathing at that open, honest expression. But Franziska looked away, and it was gone by the time she looked back.

“Maya Fey,” she said. “While I was in that cavern, praying that you were still alive–” She crossed her arms and hand her went to grasping at the sleeve of her blouse. “There were things that occurred to me that–that I would have felt foolish for not saying before you died.”

“Oh.”

Franziska was gripping her sleeve so hard that Maya was sure she was tearing the fabric. “I am only in San Francisco for a few days before I must return to Germany. Accompany me to–” She paused, took a deep breath. “Please join me in my hotel room for – drinks.”

Maya stared. Franziska turned deep red–wait. Franziska is blushing, Franziska von Karma is–is she–

“Oh my god.”

Franziska frowned. “Are you alright?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

Franziska glared, but it just wasn’t as scary when her face was the colour of the lash marks her whip left behind. “Yes. That is my intention.”

Holy shit. “Holy shit.”

Franziska’s glare deepened. “I understand if you don’t share my–”

“No, no, I’m completely down. It’s just–wow.” Maya put her hands to her cheeks. They felt warm. “You’re, like, a rich legal prodigy goddess. You’re waayyy out of my league.”

Franziska scoffed. “You fool yourself. Do you think I would be romantically interested in any woman that was inferior to me?”

Something about that, something about Franziska’s ability to self-aggrandize while asking someone on a date, was hilarious. Maya threw her head back in laughter.

“You know we can’t drink, right?” Maya said, still wheezing because the thought of her being the reason Franziska von Karma tried to initiate the most awkward conversation in the world is making her giddy somehow. “The legal age is 21 here.”

“. . .”

“Did you forget that?”

“. . .”

Franziska von Karma is making mistakes. She’s nervous and blushing and glaring, but she’s glaring softly because of her and oh God, this is great. Maya laughed again.

“Hmmph,” said Franziska, but she was smiling now, properly. “But . . . that is a yes?”

“Yes,” Maya said, shoulders still shaking with mirth. “Yeah. We can get burgers! You’re going to wish you never asked me out, like, ten minutes in.”

“Challenge accepted,” said Franziska. Maya drew her blanket in again, even though she already felt warm.

[emf005]

Cramps

James Sirius Potter x Female! reader

Warnings: Puberty, James being the cutest thing ever, pain, couple cuss words for pizzaz(Maybe)

:readmore:

“Oi! Y/L/N!” You smiled as you saw the one and only James Sirius Potter strutting up the hallway with his band of trouble makers behind him. Most of them were his family, but a few were unrelated family members(Very Very close friends.)

“Oi! Potter!” You called back teasingly.

“Having a bad hair day today?” He smirked, looking you up and down. You rolled your eyes and touched your crappily put in braid. It may have looked like it, but you weren’t having a bad hair day. You were just crap at doing hair.

“Nope. Having a hard time coming up with insults? Am I too perfect for the James Potter to insult me?” You joked. You always took the teasing light heartedly. You listened to this song over the summer called Sarcasm. It was pretty good. But one of the lines that stood out to you were “Sticks and stones can break my bones but anything you say will only fuel my lungs”. It wasn't like you let him get to you before this, but you had only rarely hit him back with a come back. Now, you always threw one back.

“Ha! Perfect? You? Those two words shouldn’t be in a sentence together, Y/L/N.”

“You’re right,” you nodded, leaving him confused. You strode off down the hall with a swing in your hips. “Perfect is too dull of a word to describe me, Sweetheart!” You called over your shoulder with a wink. You disappeared behind the corner as you heard his friends laughing.

They knew you were light hearted about it. You were actually pretty close with a few of them. But James was competitive in everything. And for some reason he had chosen you to be his muse for picking on. You didn’t know why, nor did you actually care. You always liked a bit of banter, especially around this time of the month. And no, you weren;t a werewolf (Though you would gladly take that over having your period)

See, all periods come with their… side effects. Hormones bounce crazily off the walls and make some moody. Some get cramps. Some get both. Some break out and others(A very few minority) just have it without anything to think about. You had it worse than anyone.

Cramps. That may have been all you got, but they were so bad that walking, breathing, talking, or even moving could be impossible. You were once nearly paralyzed for a whole week and a half. You only moved to go to the bathroom. Your mom had to actually feed you. You were a very active person, you can only imagine how insane that made you.

Madame Pomfrey, your great Grandmother and god mother because that woman is a queen, always took care of you during these times and often threw things at you because you weren’t taking good enough care of yourself. You loved the woman dearly, but wow could she yell at you.

You watched James and his crew head down to the quidditch pitch for practice while you skipped down to Hagrid's. You loved to play quidditch but never wanted to play on the team. You knew you weren’t good enough for that and you would rather have just messed around with some friends.

“Hey Hagrid!” You said happily and plopped down by a pumpkin. He turned around from tending his garden and smiled at you.

“ ‘ello, Y/N. How ‘er you today?”

“Alright I guess. How about you? Any new creatures come crawling around?”

“Not yet. But I suspect they’ll show up soon.”

“Need any help?”

“You know where the tools are.” You hopped up, but not too fast because.. Well.. you know, and grabbed a pair of gloves and shoved them in your pocket in case he let you tend to the Biting thorns again. You had a knack for everything Herbology and Magical creates. You were Professor Longbottom and Hargrid’s favorite student, you knew it. I mean, you definitely were, no doubt.

About three hours later you started to get a stabbing pain in your lower stomach, losing your breath for a moment.

Shit

“Hey, Hagrid, I think I’m going to clean up before dinner. I only have a few minutes and I doubt anyone wants to be sitting next to my smelly butt.” You laughed, the stabbing getting worse.

“I’ll see ya there, Y/N! Thanks fer tha help!”

“Anytime!” You jogged away from him and a relaxing Fang so you could visit your great gran. Well, she wasn’t technically related to you. She was a close friend of your grandmother’s. They had gone to school together and been (And still were) closer than sisters. You grew up with her and she had become very over protective of you.

You waltzed into the hospital wing with a smile on your face. You were used to the stabbing pains. You had a very high pain tolerance, I mean, you had to.

“Gran!” You yelled out, not even flinching when you felt another annoying stab.

Madame Pomfrey came walking over to you with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You haven’t come to see me all week. Does this mean that you have finally come to your senses?”

“Oh, you make such a big deal out of everything. I barely have felt anything so far, and plus it's only Wednesday, perhaps I was just busy.” She gave you a knowing look. She always knew. You didn’t know how, but she always did. “Well, anyhow, I was helping Hagrid and the stabs were a bit worse than normal. Got anything that’ll just subside that?”

“I have the potion you should've been taking since the beginning of the week, young lady.”

“It's nothing major, Gran. Just something small. I don’t need the whole nine yards.” She sighed. You were the only person who she would give into.

“Fine, but don't come crying to me when you are hurting so badly that you can't move.” She was about to walk away when the doors banged open. You two looked over and saw James and his crew walking in. Madame Pomfrey sighed. “What is it now, Mr. Potter?”

“Don’t know I-”

“Fell off your broom and landed wrong while you were trying to do some wicked trick. I know. Set him on the table. I’ll be there in a-”

“I have to take a shower, Madame Pomfrey. I’ll come back later. Feel better, James! Hi guys!” You waved at them all and jogged off, ignoring your gran calling after you. Oh, yeah, another thing about you. You really didn’t like attention. You also didn’t like the fact that there was someone in more need of help than you and you were getting the help first. James needed more help than you did, you would just come back later… You thought you would.

You had planned to go back after dinner, but you didn’t. A friend asked you with help on the Divination homework. You decided to go the next day. Asked to help first years. Friday? No. Dueling club and extra studying. Before you knew it, it was Saturday and you were in so much pain. But you just kept going.

You were headed down to the quidditch pitch to watch Lysander and a few of his buddies play against Albus and Scorpius and a few of their friends. It was just a scrimmage, nothing major, but they all liked to have an audience. And since they all knew and liked you, they asked if you wanted to join. What you didn’t count on was James being there.

“Well well well. Look who we got here?” You looked over to see James, alone, walking over to you.

“Hey, James.” You said a bit weakly and short of breath.

“You alright?” You just nodded. He seemed to get more concerned. “Are you sure? You don’t look so good?” You laughed.

“Yeah well, I have my good days and my bad ones,” you joked, thinking he was teasing you again. He wasn't.

“Y/N. Stop for a second.” You did and turned to him.

“Are you sure you're alright? You look really pale and tired.”

“I’m fine. I promise.” You smiled and continued down to the pitch with him besides you. That's when the worst one you have had in a while hit you with full force, knock every ounce of wind out of you.

You collapsed and held your stomach, trying to take deep breaths like you had taught yourself to do.

“Y/N!” You felt a hand on your back and another on your arm.” What's wrong? What happened?”

“N-nothing. I’m-Ah!” You collapsed completely to your knees. The throbbing hurt so bad. It was like someone was digging a knife in you and just twirling it around.

“Obviously something. What can I do?”

“Take-take me to-to Gran. Please.”

“Gran, who's Gran?”

“Sorry. Madam Pomfrey.” He nodded and helped you up, putting an arm around you to keep you up.

“You're explaining that to me later.” You laughed, which only made it worse. “Can you walk faster? You're getting paler by the second.”

“This is… as fast… as I can… go.”

“Here,” he moved in front of you and bent down. “Get on my beck, it’ll be faster, alright?”

“James you really don’t have-”

“I want to. Come on.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and he, carefully, hoisted you up. He quickly walked to the hospital wing, being cautious as to not bump you around too much. “Madame Pomfrey!” He yelled when he banged the doors open like he always does. A dramatic entrance for a dramatic boy. You heard the oh so familiar sigh.

“What did you do this time, James?” She walked around the corner and saw you on James' back, her eyes widened in horror and she quickly moved into action. “Put her down here,” she opened up a section and he set you down carefully. She quickly ran away and started to gather stuff. James stood beside your bed and stared at you oddly.

“What?”

“What happened? You seemed fine the other day. Are you sick or-”

“I’m really fine, it's just.. Um… girl stuff?” His eyes widened in understanding (Not horror).

“OH! Oh Merlin, are you ok? What do you need, like literally anything?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“It's just cramps,” you shrugged, confused by his reactions. Normally anything under the topic of puberty or periods boys were off running. Even your own brothers.

“Not just cramps, young lady.” Your gran scolded and walked in, holding a bottle of the potion you were supposed to be taking. It really didn’t do much. And it tasted horrible. “These are getting worse as you get older.” You glanced at James.

“Ok. You don’t have to be talking about this with him here. No offence.” He just shrugged.

“You have to start taking this seriously!”

“Gran, I do! I was just busy!”

"You came in and then you left without taking it, telling me you would be back!”

“I got side tracked! And James was in more pain than I was!” Your voice was horse and it was getting harder to talk and breathe. She handed you the potion and you chugged it.

“You left because of me?” James asked. You swallowed the rest of the foul tasting liquid.

“You needed her attention. And then someone needed help on homework and it just” you coughed, making your stomach knot again. “Got out of hand.”

“Thank you for bringing her up, Mr. Potter. You can leave.”

“But-”

“She needs her rest.”

“Tell the boys I’m sorry I missed the game.” He hesitated but nodded and left. Your Gran scolded you for a few moments before she left and told you to get some sleep, which you did.

The next day your friends visited you and you ignored the pains. They weren’t as bad as yesterday’s, but they were still pretty bad.

Soon they left and that just left you sitting hour after hour. You were still awake when it was one in the morning and you heard footsteps coming towards your bed. You figured it was your gran coming to check on you so you shut your eyes and pretended to be asleep.

They set something on the table and you opened your eyes seeing James.

“James?” He was startled and jumped a bit. He looked down at you with guilt on his face.

“Sorry,” He whispered. “Did I wake you?” You sat up slowly.

“No. I’ve been up. Kind of hard to sleep.” You moved over and motioned for him to sit, which he did.

“Cause of the…”

“Cramps?”

“Yes.”

“Yep. You know, you’re a lot cooler with this stuff than a lot of boys your age are.”

“I never understood that. I mean, it's something that happens. Why do guys have to be so weird about it? Plus my little sister goes through it so…”

“That's right! Your sister’s Lily.”

“Yeah. She gets pretty bad cramps too, but not as bad as you, I think.”

“No one gets them as bad as me, which I’m grateful for.”

“So the potion doesn't really work?”

“Takes a bit of the edge off, but other than that? No.”

“I’m sorry.” You just shrugged and shifted. “Is there anything I can do to help?” You smiled.

“You’re sweet, James. But, I’m afraid not.”

“Well, I do know one thing I can do.”

“What?” He grabbed whatever he had sat on the bedside table and set it on your lap. It was a basket full of chocolates. Your eyes lit up at the sight.

“Holy Merlin! Where did you get all this?”

“I have my ways. I remember Lily said chocolate always makes her feel better so I figured it would help you too.”

“Wow. James! Thank you! Can I…”

“No. Absolutely not. I just brought it down here so that it can stare you in the face. You aren’t allowed to eat one piece of it.” You smirked at him and didn;t reach for a piece, just to see what he would do. “Oh my go, I was joking.” You laughed.

“I know I know!” You grabbed two pieces and handed one to him. He looked at it and then back up at you before taking it. You opened your piece quickly and bit into it. “Eat! Come on, you are stayen for a bit aren’t ya?”

“Why would you want me to?”

“Because you're my friend.”

“Why would you consider me that?”

“Because you helped me out a lot and you gave me food. We also talk all the time. Why? You don’t want to be friends?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to be mine.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve bullied you countless times.”

“That was just playful banter. I've seen you bully people. You were just teasing me.” He stared down at the candy.

“But still…”

“James, listen. I want to be your friend. If you don’t want to be mine I guess that's alright, but I've always wanted to be your friend.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You seem really cool. And you are really nice. I've seen you with your siblings and your friends and have always been kinda jealous. I've never really had that," you shrugged and took another bite from your chocolate bar.

"You have all sorts of friends, though."

"Yeah but I'm kind of the replaceable friend. And then my family is a bucket load of insane. So I guess I’m sort of jealous. Like this.” you motioned to the chocolate and at him. “I have been having this happen since first year and my friends come in once to check on me unless they need help on something. I guess it's kind of childish, but-”

“No.” You looked at him, a bit shocked at his tone. “That's not childish at all! How are they your friends if you’re in pain and they don’t come to see you unless they need something?”

“James, it's not that big of a deal. I have a high pain tolerance and plus I have gran worrying over me.”

“Oh please explain that to me. You're her granddaughter?”

“Well, sort of. Great granddaughter, and honorary. Her and my grandma were as close as sisters when they went to Hogwarts and stayed that way throughout life. And when I lost my great gran and both my nans, she stepped up. Very over protective of me.” He smirked and leaned on his legs.

“I’d say. ‘Get out, Potter. I appreciate you bringing her up but I don’t want you here.” he mimicked her voice, and not too terribly. You started to laugh, making your stomach knot in protest. You groaned and fell back on your bed. “Oh! Sorry. Do you need another pillow? More blankets? Chocolate?” You smiled gratefully at him.

“No. Just gotta wait it out. Thank you though.” You smiled at him gratefully and you two talked until you fell asleep. He smiled, finding it odd how much he actually liked you. Every “conversation” he had he always enjoyed. Always enjoyed your banter in the halls and in class, but he had never actually talked to you before.

He stood up and pulled the blanket over you more so that your shoulders and arms were covered. He put the chocolate on the bedside table and brushed the wrappers off of the bed so that it wasn’t a mess when you woke up in the morning.

He then snuck out of the infirmary and back into his dorm room. James was surprised to see that his last thought before falling asleep was of you and hoping you felt better. He really hadn’t realized how much fun you were.

You weren’t in classes that day. Madame Pomfrey seemed to be punishing you and kept you in bed, bringing you meals from the great hall while you survived on James’ chocolate. You were reading over your notes when someone cleared their throat. You looked up, chocolate half in your mouth, to see James standing with a plate and his school bag.

“Hi James! Back already?” He laughed and sat down where he had sat the other day.

“You weren’t in class or the great hall. Wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“That's sweet. Thank you. I’m feeling lots better, but Gran won’t let me go to classes yet. She wants to monitor me and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

He slid the plate of food and your face lit up. Sweets and meats, your favorite.

“Figured you would be hungry.”

“Starved! Yet again, thank you.”

“It's what friends do,” he said with a nod. You smiled happily. Friends. You had finally made it to friends with James Sirius Potter. “I also brought notes. In case you wanted to copy them.” He pulled his notes from his bag and handed them to you. You grabbed it and started to flip through the surprisingly clean and crisp notes. This boy took better notes than you do. That was unexpected.

“Thank you, James! I was a bit worried I was going to be overrun again.” He shrugged and stole a swipe of Mashed Potatoes off your plate. You smirked at him but didn’t say anything.

He sat and talked to you while you ate and then helped you with homework when you set your plate aside and started to work on notes.

“Here. Like this.” He moved next to you up by the head board and held your wrist, showing you the proper hand motions for DADA. You tried to focus on the correction and not your burning cheeks.

Damn hormones.

“There you go. Now try it without a helping hand.” You shoved him and laughed.

“That was terrible!” He smiled crookedly, fixing his glasses.

“Yeah, but you laughed.’ You bit your lip and shook your head.

“You, sir, are utterly ridiculous.”

“Oh, I’m sir now.” He joked, settling back by your feet. You kicked his leg lightly. “OW! OH MERLIN SHE KICKED ME! I THINK MY LEGS COMING OFF!” He fell to the ground dramatically causing you to burst out from laughter and your stomach to continue to knot up over and over, but you couldn’t stop. He was twitching dramatically on the ground like a dork.

Madam Pomfrey came over and tapped her foot agitatedly.

“This is no place for fooling around, Mr.Potter. Either stay and behave or leave.” She turned and cast you a glance before walking away. You two burst out laughing when you heard her door shut. He popped back up onto the bed.

“So, what have you been up to? I've caught you up on all you’ve missed.” You just shrugged.

“Studying. It's really all I can do. She won’t even let me stand up.”

“Well that's no fun. You haven’t even been outside?”

“Nope. Her one rule is stay in the bed. Not allowed to stand, unless it's to go to the bathroom, which has to be the one in this room.”

“Why so specific.”

“Second year I went to the restroom, on the fourth floor on the other side of the castle.” James chuckled and looked over his shoulder.

“Well, how about we make her get even more specific?”

“What did you have in mind?” He snuck over to where the wheel chairs were and rode it over. A wide grin spread across your face.

“Your carriage awaits.” You laughed and quickly hopped in. He then ran, pushing you in front of him. You two ran through the castle laughing like mad people.

“What's this?” Fred asked, a smirk on his face as he and Erinie Longbottom came out of the great hall.

“Never thought I’d see you two get along, let alone laughing.”

“Mischief is mischief.” James shrugged and stood up on the back of the wheelchair.

“Madame Pomfrey has forbidden me from walking.” You explained. “James just wanted to get me into some trouble.” Ernie looked at the wheel chair, a slow grin spreading on his face.

“Why don’t we all get into some trouble then.” He cast a spell on the wheels on the wheel chair before making three more appear. “Now, you can control it on your own and so can we.” He sat down in his and went zooming off. You, Fred, and James watched with smiles on your faces. They quickly sat into theirs and the three of you chased after Ernie. Who knew you would become such quick friends with James and that would leave you to get into a bit of mayhem with him.

You four raced down the halls but all stopped abruptly by a tapping of a foot. You all looked up to see Madame Pomfrey standing there with her arms folded across her chest. You swore under your breath.

“Madame Pomfrey!” Ernie squeaked and fell out of his chair. “Uh, we didn’t see you there?” You shook your head at the lame excuse.

“Madame Pomfrey I-”

“You, with me, now.” You sighed and rolled after her. Waving bye to the boys. They waved back and watched you go.

“So.” Fred said with a smirk on his face. “Finally come to your senses?”

“Shut up.” James muttered, feeling a bit guilty that you were the only one who got into trouble. It had been his idea after all.

“I told you that it wasn’t a smart idea to get out of your bed!” Your gran scolded as she wheeled you into the Hospital wing.

“Technically you said I wasn’t allowed to stand up unless it was to use the restroom. I was not standing up, I was sitting down. And what's the big deal? I’m fine! It's almost over anyhow!” She groaned in frustration. “Gran, I’m in 5th year. I think I can make decisions for myself now.” She looked at you for a moment before sighing.

“Alright. But, you have to promise me, when you start to get bad you will come straight-Oh!” You hugged her tight around the waist and she patted your head.

“Thank you, Gran.”

“Yes yes. And you should be careful around that Potter boy.”

“Which one?” You asked cheekily.

“Now don’t you get cheeky on my young lady. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t you go falling in love with him. I’ve actually had girls come in because they said that he broke their heart. Like his name sakes,” she shook her head and walked away leaving you thinking.

You wouldn’t get a crush on James, would you? I mean, sure he was tall and cute and a dork with an adorable personality that kind of made your heart flutter. But that didn’t mean you- You smacked your head.

“Dammit. How could I have let that happen?” You muttered to yourself. You silently cursed your gran. You had been blissfully unaware and now you were very much aware that you had a tiny crush on James Sirius Potter. This ought to go over well.

Xx

Over the years you had only grown closer to James and his friends. Mostly James though. It was rare not to see you two together. You both would jam pack your schedules so you would have each other in classes. You knew he did it because of your cramps and how you didn’t really discuss it with anybody or like to bring it up. So when they got too bad and you couldn’t go to classes he would bring you your notes and help you study, like you didn;t help each other study any how. But now, now it was all going to change. You had passed your last year at Hogwarts and were now lying on your couch in pain. You had taken the potion your gran had sent you but the potion had seemed to do less and less over the years while James had done more and more.

You had a pile of letters in the corner that he had sent you. You two had sent back and forth non-stop, both of you now having your own separate apartments that were, sadly, not very close to each other. Of course, you could just apparate to the others house but you wouldn’t really do that on a daily basis, sadly.

You had sent him a letter the other day and found it weird you hadn’t gotten one in response yet, but you weren;t the most important thing in his life, sadly. As you and James had grown more attached, your crush on him had grown and grown and grown. Being away from him for so long, This was your first month, and knowing that you weren’t going back on September first to see him and your other friends was killing you. How could people live without knowing if they would ever go back to Hogwarts? It may sound cheesy and a bit cliche, but it was and forever will be your home.

There was a knock on the door as another wave hit you and now you had to stand up and pretend you were alright. You looked at your empty chocolate bag, you really should’ve stocked up after the last time.

You opened the door and leaned heavily on it as you looked up into the familiar glass covered eyes.

“James!?” He beamed happily.

“Miss me that much? We’ve only been out of school for about a month.” You chuckled and shook your head.

“You’re such a dork. What are you doing here?” He held up a abox.

“Figured you would have forgotten to restock since Hogwarts, like you always do.”

“How do you remember these things? And why would you want to?” You opened the door and let him in. He strode in and looked around your apartment. He wasn’t familiar with it yet.He set it down on the kitchen counter and jumped up onto it to look around the place, nodding in approval.

“Nice place.”

“You say that everytime you come over.” You said sarcastically as you grabbed the jacket you had thrown on the floor after work. It caused your stomach to cramp and you were stuck for a second because you were trying to breathe.

“Ok, couch, now.” James said, grabbing your arms and leading you over to the couch, setting you down and taking your jacket.

“James, you really don’t have to-”

“Yeah I do. Stay.” He left your side and went to the box. “Did you take the potion?”

“Yeah. Did nothing as usual.” You whined, he sat back down and opened the box, pulling out two candy bars and handing you one, like he always did, and keeping one for himself.

“Sorry, kid.”

“I am like a week younger than you!”

“A month and a half,” he corrected. You glared and bit into your chocolate, making him laugh and look around your apartment until his eyes landed on a moving picture you had put up. It was from the first year you two became friends. He walked over to it and took it off the wall. “You still have this?” You smiled.

“Of course! That was the first Weasley Summer I had! It was the best summer of my life!” You laughed lightly smiling at the memory of James trying to get you on a broom. And then you had crashed into four trees until you semi-got the hang of that.

“Didn’t you get a concussion from that summer?”

“Don’t know, wouldn’t let anyone check.” You laughed, your stomach cramping again, but not as bad as usual. He smiled and hung it back on the wall. He sat back down next to you.

“How've you been, though? You always sound like you're doing great in your letters.”

“It's been alright. Adult life isn’t terrible and my job’s pretty fun. I've been thinking about getting a dog.”

“Really?” He asked excitedly.

“Yep, and I was going to name it Sirius.” His face turned disappointed.

“You know, I brought you chocolate, you can at least be a bit nicer to me.” you giggled.

“I’m joking, I'm joking. But yeah. I do want a dog.”

“Get lonely up here already?”

“Definitely. How are you? You seem like you are having a good time in your letters. Var hopping every weekend.”

“You can join us. We’d love to have you hang with us.” You shrugged.

“Well, definitely not this weekend.”

“No, definitely not. Though you look like you could use a bottle of fire whiskey.”

“I need two.” He laughed and put his arm around your shoulders, you rested your head on his shoulder.

“I felt ya there.”

The rest of the night, James hung out with you. Chocolate and talking and radio and, when you were feeling up to it, he made you dance with him because he’s the biggest jerk in the world.

It was now near midnight and you two were on the couch listening to old muggle records because why not. You were half asleep on James’ chest. He was playing with your hair and humming along to the song. It was a familiar position for you two. Madame Pomfrey had once caught you two like this, though James had been the only one awake. She had looked at him and then at you back in sixth year.

“Be careful there, Mr. Potter. I do not want her getting hurt.” And then she turned and left. He had planned on telling you that morning, but the thought that he would hurt you in any way had kept him from saying anything. But now… Now he couldn't help it. The smell of your shampoo and the way you smelt like chocolate and… and he couldn't help it. This had been the most fun he had had since Hogwarts had left out. All because he was with you.

“Y/N?” He whispered, just in case you were asleep. He knew how hard it was for you to actually fall asleep when you got these cramps.

You hummed in response. Half asleep, but not completely. He took a breath.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

You hummed again.

“I love you.” He didn’t get a response this time and thought you had fallen asleep. He was a bit relieved that you hadn’t heard. The other part was a bit disappointed.

“What?”

Shit.

“I-I love you.”

You sat up and looked him in the eye. He knew this look. You were trying to detect a lie, he let you look. And boy, did you take your time.

“You-You do?”

“I do. I get it if you don’t in return but I just had to-” You grabbed his collar and pressed his lips to your quickly. His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly kissed you back. You pulled apart and both of you were smiling messes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” You said, biting your lip.

“Seriously?” He pulled back from you with wide eyes. You nodded nervously. “How long?”

“The first time you helped me, I guess. And I wouldn’t have even realized it if Gran hadn’t said anything to me.”

“You’re joking.” You shook your head.” He kissed you again, taking you by surprise.

“Why? How long for you?”

“End of fifth. I was going to tell you in sixth but…”

“But what?” You looked at him. “James…”

“Your Gran scared me.”

“What did she do?” You sighed.

“Nothing!”

“James, I am too tired, what?”

“She just told me not to hurt you.” You frowned and looked at your hands.

“And you planned to?”

“No! No no no no.” He pulled your face up to his and smiled. “I was scared that I might. I got scared that I would be the reason you were in pain. I didn’t want that. I didn’t even want to think that I would be the reason for that. So, I thought it was better to not do anything but be there for you.” You stared at him for a moment and bit your lip, thinking over and being completely touched. And you believed him. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I-I was scared.” You rested your head on his shoulder to hide your face, embarrassed that your feelings had been reciprocated this whole time.

“Of what?”

You muttered something that he didn’t catch.

“Come on, I spilled my heart out to you, your turn.”

“That I’d lose the best friend I've ever had.” You muttered a bit louder. He heard this and couldn’t help the soft smile that spread across his face. He pulled you onto him and leaned against the arm of the sofa so you were on top of him. You looked at him, confused. You head was on his chest again and your eyes were fluttering shut again.

“You’re not going to lose me, Y/N.” He said with a smile. You smiled into his chest and wanted to say something but your mind was already powering down. You felt his lips press against your hair. “You won’t ever lose me. Good night, Y/N.” You murmured an incoherent goodnight, but he got the point and smiled before falling himself.

You woke up in the morning to smell the most wonderful smell you ever had smelt before… Bacon.

You groaned and sat up, a bit confused as to why you were smelling bacon. You thought it was just your mind at first and your mind wandered back to the dream you had had of James. You wished it were true. The kiss seemed so real, so perfect. You pushed yourself off the couch and your foot hit a box. Your eyes widened immediately. You opened it and saw a group of empty chocolate wrappers.

Oh no…

You turned around quickly and saw James’ back in your kitchen over the stove. Then you heard the sizzle of food cooking on your unused stove, since you were a wreck in the kitchen. ANd then you heard James’ humming. That wasn;t an illusion.

“James?” He turned around and smiled.

“About time you woke up. I thought you were dead for a little while there.” You pushed yourself off the couch and stumbled into the kitchen. “Coffee in the cup.” You looked down to a steaming cup.

“I’m not so convinced yet.” He chuckled and slid the food onto two separate plates handing one to you. “I didn’t even know that worked.” You muttered looking at the stove.

“Figured. You can’t cook to save your life.”

You threw a piece of bacon at him, which he gladly ate.

“Did you stay all night?” You asked half way through breakfast.

“I figured we should talk this morning.” You nodded and bit your lip. So it did happen.

“Right so we… kissed.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah.” The silence turned awkward.

“Ok, I’m just going to say it, then. I don’t know how much you remember but everything I said, I meant. I really do like you, Y/N.” You bit your lip and smiled.

“I-I think I remember enough to know that I have told you the same. And I-I meant it to.”

“Really?”

“Really, James. I meant it all and I really do like you alot.” You smiled. And he let out a sigh and collapsed into his chair.

“That is a huge relief.”

“Tell me about it. So what do we do now? What happens?”

“I think I'll ask you out.”

“And I obviously would say yes.”

“And then we go to a… quidditch game?”

“And I’d buy the snacks after arguing with you about money.”

“Right. And then I would completely sweep you off your feet when I book the stadium for afterwards and teach you how to ride more.”

“Of course, unless I blow you away with my mad skills.” He beamed.

“Which is very possible with the way you ride.” You laughed.

“So when would this hypothetical date take place?”

“Saturday at six?”

“I think I could be there. If you were to ask me, of course.”

“Well maybe I’m getting there.”

“Maybe you should hurry up before we spend another three years without each other.”

“Y/N, would you go out with me?”

“Yes.” You said smiling. He returned your smile with a crooked one of his own.

“Then I’ll pick you up here, and I am buying the snacks.”

“James you are no-pop-James Potter you get back here!” You yelled to the open air laughing as your best friend-boyfriend- apperated from your apartment.

You bit your lip and leaned on your hand.

You got a date with the boy you loved. And who would’ve thought it would all be because of a terrible time dealing with cramps?

[blackcatanna]

Hakuoki: The Tale of the Demon Arms of Horniness Part 3: STILL NO DEMON ARMS?!?!

I am back again to spread my bullshit. I had to take a break in the middle of my last post because I am (allegedly) a responsible adult and I had to spend ages packing up my worldly possessions so that I can finally move into the gothic church LAIR of my dreams next year.

Anyway, that is mostly done and I am on my period so, by LAW, I have to play Hakuoki. Anyway, LET THE BITCHING COMMENCE (one of these days, I am going to do one of these for Saito's route and y'all are gonna see the cold, bitch exterior crumble to reveal a pathetically hopeless fangirl)

I am so happy that I learned how to insert a "read more" thing on my phone. (It's just :readmore:)

First up: some reflection. I feel like a lot of Iba's actions are inspired by his love for Chizuru but I feel like we never get much indication of why he likes her so much. Unlike with the other routes, we don't get to see his love for her grow so much as we go through the story. He's just sooo into her from the beginning and I don't get why because she expresses, like, zero personality in his route (too harsh?)... Like, she won't try the sweet bean jelly, she doesn't want hair pins, she's reluctant to go for a walk with him. She's just so boring. And Iba has so much going for him that he's basically a Mary Sue. He just has a great life until the devs decide it's time for the torture to begin! And then Chizuru just follows him around being glum. At least, that's how I remember things going... I guess I'm just frustrated because Iba had a lot of potential but I feel like the two of them have absolutely no chemistry... Again, maybe I am being cruel to these wee anime sprites and my opinion will change as I continue this playthrough...

Anyway, WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE? Oh, we're with Saito. :) "Wasn't he hot?" Yes, Chizuru, he was

Oh, is this where we meet Sen bae? Omg, I am so not far through this game... Gonna need to stop pausing every few lines to bitch X_X

"Desist, you hooligans!" <3 This game needs more Sen! SEN ROUTE, SEN ROUTE!

"What were you going to do if they hurt you gravely?" Uh, DIED? I guess?

I do like this moment because Chizuru shows some fucking backbone! Good job, queen!

"you needn't be so uptight!" YES SEN, TELL HER!!! I just want to go for a night out with Sen and Kimigiku and have SHENANIGANS. Is that too much to ask? :'(

Ah, Souma: "He's very serious and respectful." Two boring peas in a pod (him and Chizuru, I mean)... At least Nomura is fun!

Souma's hair is so weeeeeird!

"They just wanna play with their corpses." :) :) :) Guys, this is why people like queen Itou think you need to be eliminated!

"Oh, hello, Itou. Hello to you, too, Miki..." THE QUEENS ARE HERE! ALL HAIL!

Itou is always so polite and nice to Chizuru <3

"Would all of you like to join us as well?" See?! He is so nice und friendly other than that time he was an absolute CUNT to poor Sanan :'( (I will not forget that)

"Heh, you sure are a snide one, bro..." Oh, was that just another fucking read? I thought that Nagakura was pretty insightful and knowledgeable about politics and shit...

"Oh my, what could have possibly gotten into you, little brother?" I love these two because Itou always says the opposite of what he thinks but Miki just comes right out and calls it like he sees it and Itou is just left there in despair XD <3

"Please, excuse him, my dears... I apologise." No need, Itou. I love him with my whole heart <3

"Darlings," I don't know how this game expects me to not love this man...

"He's gathering men and having secret meetings. Who knows what goes on during those meetings..." Idk but it's not like they're plotting to create an evil serum which turns their comrades into uncontrollable, bloodthirsty, insane vampires to be unleased onto the streets of Kyoto! I mean, can you imagine such a thing? That would be really bad! But would definitely require lots of secret meetings...

If the og captains are allowed secret meetings about evil shit, Itou should be allowed to have secret meetings about nerd shit! Also, HE LITERALLY (albeit shadily) INVITED YOU! THAT IS NOT A SECRET MEETING! WHAT YOU GUYS DO IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT WITH YOUR UNDEAD ARMY IS A SECRET MEETING. GOD!

"Oh, hello, Takeda..." Another trash queen for my collection <3

Awe, he wants to hang with the cool nerds so bad <3 bless him!

"Ugh... I told him to notify me when they have their next meeting." :'( </3 Itou, be nice to Takeda! If anyone needs to be called darling, it is he! Although, I guess I can understand why no one would want a pain in the ass with extortion as a hobby in their crew... Maybe Takeda is reformed now, idk! Probs not, though...

"I wonder if they're doing this on purpose, so I wouldn't join..." Awe, nooo D': This is so sad! I want to hug the seamonster! This shit is so highschool...

"I bet you anything he wanted to be Itou's lackey, but Itou isn't giving him the time of day." Takeda, the position of "liability" is already filled by Miki.

OOH! IT IS PINK! WHAT IS THIS? ARE WE IN SHIMABARA?! OMG FINALLY! TIME TO BE A THOT!!!

Oh, we're in Sumi! Cool! This pink room and suggestive music still suggests that thottery is possible >:)

"Tonight's on Sano, guys! Drink as much as you want! Forget your problems!" HOORAY!!!

"I'm gonna drink myself stupid!" -_-' Heisuke, noooooo!

"Hijikata, don't hold back; drink all you want, okay?" :) I admire Okita's efforts to get this notorious lightweight pissed :')

"I wasn't sure if it was all right of me, as a woman, to be joining them..." GIRL. LIVE. A. LITTLE. REMOVE STICK FROM ARSE!

KIMIGIKU <3

"For a moment I stared in awe of her beauty, my own sex forgotten." GAY.

"she smiled and it was like watching a flower bloom." GAY.

"Filling up on food'd just be a waste of stomach space!" -_-' CHILD, NO!

"You sound like a bum." He sounds like a student!

"Oh, I can't drink, so I'm just enjoying the food." Yas, girl! Stick to your boundaries! Enjoy things on your own terms (but you are having fun, right?)!

Bless Nagakura for making sure we're having a good time.

(side note: I haven't seen Venom but is this what it's like? A fairly reserved human (Chizuru) possessed by a chaotic trash goblin (me) who screams all the time?)

"Still, it was the first time I'd ever eaten anything expensive..." Girl, you need to go out with Iba more... After all, that's why we're here!!!

"Although to be honest, I couldn't taste much of a difference." Omg, stop bitching. Please, Nagakura, Harada, SOMEONE! Teach this stick in the mud how to have fun. GIRL, MAKE A SNOW BUNNY OUT OF RICE AND SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE SAITO CRACK! WHERE IS YOUR ADORABLE SNOW BUNNY MAKING ENERGY NOW???

"I've heard rumors that the men of the Shinsengumi were like Demons or monsters," Well, yeah... But we keep those ones locked up until we need to use them to KILL!

"But from where I sit you look a good deal more handsome than that. Almost like an actor." Of all people, she should know that demons can be sexy!

"... Yeah, I get that a lot." YES HIJIKATA!!! WERK!!! DON'T PRETEND TO BE MODEST, QUEEN! EMBRACE YOUR HOTNESS!

"Our shared appearance made me feel... Responsible, somehow." -_- ugh, lighten up! This is so stupid.

"Maybe you got possessed " XD Thanks, Okita! Can always rely on you to make me feel better!

"Maybe he was right; maybe I WAS the culprit." OMFG YOU IDIOT CHILD. YOU LITERALLY MET SOMEONE ALREADY WHO LOOKS LIKE YOU. FFS.

"Oh man... I'm just joking, kid." Yeah, these jokey exchanges are no fun when one party is such an irredeemable dumbass.

"Could you not be so gullible? It gets boring if you fall for it every time." PREACH.

"OH! I-I'm sorry...!" AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! >_< IT BUUUURRRRNNSSS!!!!

"She didn't look like the kind of person who would try to sabotage the Shinsengumi..." AAAAAAAAAAHHH HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO DUMB???

"Something wrong?" Bless Hiji-mama <3

"Pfft, seriously... That fool never quits with his tasteless jokes." YUS >:) DRAG HIM!

Time for some shameless Hijikata thirsting from our heroine...

"Can't have a party without Sano's unique performance!" XD ngl, this shit always makes me laugh!

"You're so honest." Tbf, one of Chizuru's best qualities...

Omg, Nagakura's laughing at Sano is infectious XD "I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe!"

Omg, they sound so pissed...

"Toshi, that is not the way we should look at and speak of someone who's becoming the new shogun." Ah yes, advocating blind loyalty... Let's see how that works out for Kondou... X_X

"Doesn't really matter who the shogun is to us anyway. We're just here to fight for him." Sure, throw your lives away in the name of someone you don't even respect. What a good idea!

"If we do our best, that means the shogun and the shogunate are safe and secure." Could be a good thing to promote peace, I guess... Too bad it doesn't work out that way...

"Kondou and Okita were nowhere to be found." Sure are doing a great job keeping an eye on you...

"If they viewed this as me running away... They would kill me." Okay, this is ridiculous. Kondou is not going to execute you because you got lost in a crowd. Frankly, this is insulting...

Hopefully Iba will rescue Chizuru! Iba ex machina!

"I must find them!" Girl, you know where they're going and you know the way home. Chill a wee bit..."

"I had found myself around a back alley," ....... HOW?!??

This girl cannot do anything on her own in this route...

Omfg, is this slut taking us off on a date against our will? *angry Venom noises*

"I have no intentions of abducting you." ... How reassuring -_-

I feel like the thing which Iba seems to find attractive in Chizuru is her helplessness and it's annoying.

"I was eating the treat he'd offered me," girl, are you a dog now?! Omg, she totally is a helpless little puppy... X_X

"I was so happy." FUCKING FINALLY.

"I've always wanted you to try some." Iba is obsessed with this bland af woman...

"But... Why did you bring me here?" ... HE JUST TOLD YOU??

"Was it really all right?" UUUGGGGHH!!! X_X

"How is Toshi?" Ur bf is fine, Ibs!

"Although I didn't quite remember all of the details myself, maybe our kinship came from the fact that we'd befriended each other as children..." Girl, your guess is as good as mine...

"Iba had an ear for listening," too bad Chizuru doesn't have anything interesting to say, despite all of the interesting events surrounding her.

"Supposedly, Takeda us quitting the Shinsengumi." :O Is he returning to the sea to rule his domain with an iron fist and extract a toll for all unwary seafarers who enter it?

"Yes, according to the story, he received a message from his hometown, and he decided to return home." Awe. I am picturing a large, scholarly seal summoning his long lost master home from the human realm!

"I wonder if that's true..." Well, the version in my head almost certainly is not...

"It seemed as though he had gradually lost his place in the Shinsengumi..." :(

SEN! PLZ JOIN! COME SHOW CHIZURU HOW TO LIVE!

"Hello, who do we have here? He's so gorgeous," And yet inexplicably attracted to us!

"D-Date...!?" -_- Wise the fuck up, dumbass.

"Aw, you're not?" YES, SEN, POKE THIS DENSE ROCK OF A PERSON.

"I've been her friend since childhood, as well." Well, not really, since she forgot you for over ten years...

"As you could tell, I'm a friend of her's." Everyone is putting in so much effort to befriend Chizuru and she just stands there like a miserable lump of potato.

"you do not seem to be someone who will do her harm." Girl, we have met once!

"Have the men of the Shinsengumi been causing you trouble?" Alas, no...

"Everything will be all right..." This relationship is so one sided. Iba is so lovely to Chizuru. He listens to her, supports her, takes her on adventures , comforts her but he's so perfect that there's nothing for her to do for him... No one is like that... And then the game can't even face giving him any kind of personal flaw, so they decide that he's going to be possessed by a demon arm which makes him horny... LET IBA BE HORNY ON HIS OWN, GAME!!! HE'S SO PERFECT THAT IT'S ANNOYING!!! AND WHY IS CHIZURU SO NOT INTERESTED IN HIM? SHE NEVER ASKS HIM ANYTHING ABOUT HIMSELF? WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAN! HE MAY AS WELL EXIST ONLY TO PLEASE HER AND, TBF, EVERYONE ELSE. PLEASE, CHIZURU, FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY, ASK HIM SOME PROBING QUESTIONS! ACTUALLY GET TO KNOW HIM. PLEASE. Is this what women are supposed to want? He's like a goddamn love robot...

"He was always beaming with courteousness... Thanks to his words of assurance, I could feel my worries melt away into the soft of his hands on my back." -_- see? Love robot...

"... The fate she carries holds a lot more weight than even she knows." Then maybe fucking tell me?

"What do you know?" Yeah, what the fuck do you know??

"I can't answer that." -_-

"There's a reason for me to protect her." Because it's what you are programmed to do, beep boop.

"... Even if you don't remember it." Omfg, I am so sick of this shit...

"All I could do was blink..." AAAAAAAAAH X_X

HELLO, GUYS, I AM RIGHT HERE!!! MAYBE FILL ME IN A LITTLE???

"What did you mean by that?" GIRL, HE OBVIOUSLY MADE SOME STUPID PROMISE WHEN YOU WERE STUPID FUCKING KIDS AND NOW HE'S USING THAT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR A PERSONALITY.

"There's reason enough for me that I would be willing to risk everything I am to protect you." IF IT'S MORE OF THIS CHILDHOOD PROMISE BULLSHIT, I WILL SCREAM. IBA, DO YOU NOT HAVE ANYTHING ELSE GOING ON???

"putting one's life on the line to protect someone meant the biggest sacrifice one could make." Ya, Iba, wtf?

"I won't tell you. Why don't you think on it?" Rrrrrrrrrrrrr >_<

"It's not fair for you to constantly make me wait, like you do..." OKAY, FORGETTING YOU WAS SHITTY BUT NOT REMEMBERING THE MINUTE DETAILS OF CONVERSATIONS I HAD WHEN I WAS FIVE IS FAIR ENOUGH, I THINK!!!

"a little payback, if you will, for not remembering our childhood, right?" Bit harsh XD but Iba, you probably shouldn't be so obsessive over someone you haven't seen since she was five...

Omfg, how long were we gone for? I bet Kondou and Okita have been having a shit time while we've been eating castella... This is, like, the one time Chizuru should have maybe been a bit of a stick in the mud but, apparently, she has no backbone now...

"I wanted to see you freak out from being separated from us " XD Okita, you need to find a hobby (which doesn't involve killing)

"Do you have any idea how long I spent running around, looking for you?!" Well, at least Chizuru and Iba are matched in their inconsiderateness...

"Hmm... Quite a while, I assume?" Omfg, Iba has no remorse XD

"Don't act like it's nothing!" Sorry, Motoyama: that's just how rich people be sometimes...

"What's goin' on there, eh Iba?" YES, OKITA! ROAST THE SLUT!

Oh, the slut is scuttling away -_- that's no fun...

"Iba's a sharp cat." Yup, Iba knows exactly what he's doing!

"Huh...?" GIRL, WISE THE FUCK UP. HE SAID THAT YOU WERE TAKING YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE NEXT LEVEL. SEN SAID YOU WERE ON A DATE. THIS IS BEYOND IDIOTIC.

Chapter 4: The Cruel and Unjust Murder of a Fabulous Fucking Bitch (in which our heroine finally gets some fucking answers but inexplicably decides not to flee into the arms of Sen and Kimigiku because the murder bois have given her Stockholm Syndrome)

Omfg, this whole scene with Kaoru is annoying af and it's in every route so I am just gonna skip it...

""A useless kid..." He was right." Ya.

"Did you need something?" "... Blood..." :) :) :) Seems fine...

"Huh?" -_-' Okita was so right...

"... No, I couldn't call for help. If I did, then I could risk jeopardizing the Shinsengumi's secret about the Furies!" Omg ur right! And then someone might stop the turning of men into cracked, bloodthirsty monsters! The horror! Guess I'll just die :)

"I'm going to die..." Girl, that's the dumbass choice you made!

"Someone! Help!" Fucking finally...

"He was down on his hands and knees, licking my spilt blood off the floor." ... My little meow meow...

"Eh he he he he! Yes! That! Give me more of your blood!" Ya, I totally agree that we should protect the Shinsengumi's secrets at all costs so that THIS FUCKING SHIT can continue...

Omfg, I love the little scuttling sounds when people are coming XD

"... No hard feelings." Idk what this guy did which made them force him to drink the ochimizu but I would have a fuckload of hard feelings towards Hijikata...

"The excitement was over." Just another fun day with my fun friends :)

"What's going on here?!" Murdery fun times :)

"I've seen that soldier before. I thought he was sentenced to death the other day for breaking the Code..." Ya, this doesn't look good...

Ngl, I can totally sympathise with Itou's perspective XD There is no way to explain any of this fuckery in a way which makes the Shinsengumi look not evil!

"Itou was fuming and screaming." He's so valid.

"My apologies." Sanan, your undead presence is not helping XD

"Yukimura, you step out." Awe :( I wanted to hear how the fuck you guys are gonna spin this! :'(

"I wonder if they'll be all right." Lol, hopefully not. Someone should really put a stop to this shit...

"Would they be able to explain the situation enough to Itou so that he wouldn't freak out?" XD Doubtful... Itou doesn't even support the shogunate so blaming it on them, claiming it's some kind of sacred duty is not gonna help.

"Did you not hear me? I said get out." Useless woman continues to be useless (maybe I should stop bullying Chizuru... She's just so annoying on this route, particularly...)

"You were injured, right Yukimura? How's your injured arm doing?" Fine thanks, bae ;) <3

"he seemed now to be in rather high spirits." He got that good gossip, that's why! :D

"Um... Itou? Has something happened?" "Oh ho ho ho! Would you like to know?" "... Yes." XD "I won't tell you." XD no one tells Chizuru shit!

"What the hell? That's a little cold of you, having that pass for good-bye, isn't it?" As usual, Miki is right and he should say it!

"Saburo. Watch your mouth." Lol, do you think the goryoueiji keep a tally of how many times Itou has to say that every day? LET THE MAN SPEAK! THE WORLD NEEDS HIS TRUTH BOMBS!

Miki Saburo: Bullshit Slayer!

"Both Itou and Miki were behaving rather strangely." Were they, though? I feel like Saito and Heisuke were the ones being weird...

"Who's the one that's been deceiving me for the past three years?" Tea.

"You must remember, however, that last night's incident is a result if orders from the shogunate. We cannot allow you to reveal his secret." Guys, this does not look good! It also makes the shogunate look really bad! And it makes the Shinsengumi look like spineless servants of an evil master X_X

"Allow me to depart. Peacefully, that is." Seems fair enough XD

Itou is being pretty fucking reasonable here... He could (should?) do some serious blackmailing...

"But anyone you wish to take must agree to leave." Imagine wanting to leave an organisation where they make you kill yourself or turn yourself into a monster if you break their rules?

"We're going to keep relations amicable between our two organisations." XD oh, my sweet Summer child...

"I froze upon seeing the person standing on the other side." ERMAHGERD! IT'S TAKEDA!!! Love that for us!

"My heart was startled by the creepiness of his expression." XD This narration is always so harsh to Takeda, I live!

"Iba had suggested to me that it was best not to find myself alone with Takeda," GIRL, JUST YOU WAIT! THEY BE PROPHETIC WORDS.

"I found him antagonistic time and time again, so I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around him." Valid.

"I don't plan on doing anything to you..." Hmm... Do we trust the seamonster? The seamonster looks sad. Hug the seamonster?

"I couldn't really take him up on his word," XD sensible.

"It wasn't like I could just pretend he doesn't exist," idk, everyone else seems to be doing a good job of it. Points for Chizuru for being a better person, despite being much more vulnerable than everyone else!

"Well, I figured that this'll be the last time I see any of this stuff, so I was just standing here to soak in all of the memories I've made." :O awe! :'(

"Takeda looked close to tears," :'O Takeda, noooo! Somebody hug him, stat >:(

I didn't expect to be so sympathetic towards Takeda, ngl. Perhaps it is because I too am a lonely bitch... I always find myself attracted to lonely characters... That's why I want to hug Takeda and Miki when everything falls apart and they are all alone and abandoned :'(

"Suddenly, I felt the way I did when Saito and Heisuke left as well..." Awe :'O

"he marched on as if he was pushing all of his feelings aside for the sake of pride." ... Fucking MOOD.

Omfg, Takeda, you shady biatch! What the fuck are you sneaking about doing? XD THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU, YOU DUMBASS XD

He just wants to do one last CRIME! For old times' sake!

"as he tip-toed" omfg I want to see that so bad XD

Takeda, y u heading to where the furies are so close to sundown? My man, you are gon' get EATEN! I guess he doesn't know much about this shit, huh?

Takeda did not get eaten.

"We need to tell Toshi what just happened when he returns, and have him deal with it..." Uh, no, we need to fucking do something right NOW, before Takeda gets away!

"I could see him being able to leave Kyoto" ya! Sensible Chizuru is best Chizuru!

YAS! GET HIM! Not sure if sensible or reckless but this'll surely be SPICY >:)

"With that said, I ran out of the compounds." :') So proud of this chaotic queen! This is how my first DnD character nearly died...

"Takeda, please wait!" X_X Girl, no! "He didn't stop." No shit. -_- "Rather, he'd started to jog," XD bye, bitch!

"I noticed there weren't too many other people around..." Girl, you are so dead XD if Iba doesn't show up, you gonna be fish food!

"I'm going to assume this isn't a normal farewell..." OKAY, CHIZURU, LISTEN TO ME. THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY YOU'RE GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE! DECLARE YOUR UNDYING LOVE FOR HIM, EMBRACE HIM AND GRAB THE SHIT OUT OF THOSE DOCUMENTS. THEN, SHOVE HIM IN THE RIVER! Or you could just keep up the love charade until the Shinsengumi catches up with you...

"It seemed like he was under the impression that if we were to speak alone, he would be able to get out of it," well, yeah... What are you gonna do? He could kill you in a second!

"he walked towards me." So long, cruel world...

"Or... Was there something you wanted to ask me?" C'mon girl, this is your chance! SEDUCE HIM!

"Ask..." THIS IS YOUR CHANCE AND YOU'RE BLOWING IT!

"he was closing the distance between us..." YES, GOOD, NOW IS TIME FOR FLIRTING!

"... Stop playing dumb." Uh-oh... :(

"The Shinsengumi is keeping secrets from everyone, even the captains." True. And BOY are those secrets fucked up :')

"His glare locked with my eyes, and my entire body started to freeze up." Uuuggh, c'mon! We can do better!

"I was doing my best to steady my resolve," YES, GOOD >:)

"It's not like that..." It most definitely is!

"Takeda looked as if he couldn't be convinced," correct of him...

"You are completely useless as a swordsman, and yet you've been appointed to a prestigious position," yeah, that was a really stupid idea...

"... I have no idea what you're talking about." Chizuru is terrible at gaslighting, despite how extensively she practices.

"I see, you're playing dumb, yet again..." Yeah, Chizuru, what is the plan here? This shit isn't convincing anyone...

:O He has the ochimizuwu!

"I gasped, and Takeda smirked as if he'd won." Honestly, he won the second Chizuru settled on her grand plan to play it dumb.

"If I bring this to the Itou faction, there's no way they'll disrespect me like all of you have!" ... Could work. I feel like Miki and Itou will disrespect anyone anytime, though...

"What is this stuff?!" Tell him so he can use it to barter in exchange for friendship XD This is still kinda sad, ngl

Oh, I guess we have the option to attempt the ol' grabby grabby or continue our famous potato impression...

"I can't let this man take possession of the Water of Life." Unlike the Shinsengumi who only use it for good, wholesome reasons... Of course, we don't want Takeda to have it, either, though... Grabby grabby time?

"I used this moment of distraction while he was in the middle of his monologue." XD Classic villain mistake...

"I took out my kodachi," omfg, I was not expecting that, precisely..., "and I charged at Takeda." Omfg XD and neither was he! His expression right now is excellent! He looks very pretty, though.

"NANI?!" XD Now he has a sweatdrop and everything XD

"Takeda tried to parry my strike, but my movements were just a hair faster." OMFG YAS GIRL! WHO'S A USELESS SWORDSMAN NOW, YOU GIANT, FLOOFY SEA ANTAGONIST!

"I suppose he didn't think I'd attack him." Girl, no one saw this coming but I am so here for it XD

"My swing had just barely grazed over the chest of his kimono." ... Ah... Points for effort but we are definitely gonna die now...

"Damn, how dare you!" It was just a little attempted murder! Chill out!

"He had become visibly frustrated by this," yeeeeeah, that's fair...

Chizuru is now fair game to murder X_X

"I watched as a blinding flash of light reflected from his blade," ooooh, "and it was swinging down towards me." AAAAH!

"Ahhh!" XD

"blood spurted over the both of us." Slippery...

"Takeda stood above me, wearing a sadistic expression as he smirked gleefully." Good for her. Tbf, Chizuru did attack first XD

Omfg why does he look so pretty right now X_X Is it too late to switch to the seduction plan??? X_X

He is SHOOK by Chizuru's freaky healy powers >:) luckily he also looks pretty when he's shocked!

Omfg, he thinks she's a rasetsu and is gonna take her to Itou as a present XD Love that for us! I actually really want to see this play out! Iba can rescue us later! Right now, I wanna go with the pretty evil man :D

"Oh yes, this is good." Yes, this is good :)

"Come with me! I'm going to use you to make a name for myself!" Uwu! Is this a meet cute? This is basically how Stardust started and it ended with them getting married..

"No!" :(

"Stop it! What are you doing?!" Go away, Iba! There's a fantasy rom-com situation developing here!

"Iba! What are you doing here...?!" Yeah, what the fuck is he doing here?

"Takeda, upon the sight of Iba, looked almost deflated," Don't give in, queen! I believe in you! "but his petulance grew once more." XD love to see it! Evil triumphs once again :) That being said... Iba is about to absolutely fuck him up... I'm gonna root for the underdog even though I remember how gruesomely this ends...

"You like being a killjoy, don't you?" Yeah! You tell him, Takeda! >:D

"Let go of her now, or else..." You'll what? Chop his arm off?

"Or else, what?" Omg, dude, you do not want to find out, trust me!

"I'll do this!" Oh boy... Here we go >_<

"the two began dueling in front of me." TAKEDA NO! UP YOUR VILLAIN GAME! DON'T RELEASE HER! USE THE WOMAN AS A HUMAN SHIELD! FFS X_X

Welp, that's the underdog's advantage gone... Guess I'll just sit here until Iba sufficiently fucks him up...

"After peeking behind Iba, Takeda smirked." The fuck are you smirking about? O_e

Takeda, now is not the time to start monologuing. I know you're a villain but there is a pointy, angry, stabby man in front of you. Kindly give him your full attention!

TAKEDA, STOP! I KNOW YOU WANT TO IMPRESS IBA AND YOU'RE STARVED OF HUMAN CONTACT BECAUSE EVERYONE HATES YOU BUT THIS IS ONLY GOING TO MAKE THINGS WORSE! IBA IS A GOOD BOY! DO NOT POKE HIM! IF YOU DON'T MAKE HIM ANGRY, YOU MIGHT LIVE!

When you're a villain, I guess the urge to live < the urge to monologue -_-'

"He continued to talk without waiting, or even caring for that matter, about our responses." XD he learned this in villain school, I guess...

It's kind of sad that he didn't know Sanan was still alive, since Sanan was the only one sympathetic towards him :'(

"You love to let that imagination run wild, don't you?" Gaslighting: The Game, "It suits you more to author cheap pamphlet literature than to be a swordsman." HONESTLY, I can see that for Takeda! I bet he writes excellent smutty wartime romance novels, too! He can publish them alongside Hijikata's terrible poetry :')

Oh no! He just used the "m" word :O

OOOOOOH! Iba does not look happy! Takeda, you FOOL!

"I speak the truth. She's a monster." TAKEDA, DON'T DOUBLE DOWN! LOOK AT HOW PISSED HE IS!!! HE WILL CHOP YOU UP! D:

DON'T ADMIT THAT YOU JUST CUT HER!!!!

Iba, you need to fucking chill... This is creeping me out slightly... I'm not offended by this ginormous queen!

"Oh, did you not know? Then I'll show you." TAKEDA, READ THE GODDAMN ROOM. I guess, if he could do that, he might have some friends, huh?

"I heard Iba's screams and the sound of flesh being split apart." Ew.

"Blood had splattered over all of us," Ew.

"then suddenly everything went black." ???

"I slowly cracked my eyes open." XD That's why shit went black?! You closed your eyes?!

Wow, Iba looks hella pissed. I guess Takeda attended Miki's reading classes...

"an expression of fury and rage unlike anything I'd ever seen." O_e Iba, it's nice that you stopped Takeda stabbing me but it's kind of annoying that you get so offended on my behalf -_-

"next to his feet was a detached right arm clutching a blade " O_e Dude, wtf?!??

"What the...?!" That is... the chillest reaction to having your FUCKING ARM CUT OFF!!!

IBA, YOU MUTILATED THIS MAN!

"I won't allow you to harm her any further." Okay, Iba has gone from "love robot" to "berserk robot" FAST. This is very, uh, like one of those dystopian stories where a robot is given one job and it carries it out to the extreme. That's how this feels. Iba is not a character: he is a Chizuru protecting and nurturing machine who happens to like dessert. He probably needs the sugar like Adam Jensen needs cereal to power his cybernetic components...

"I sensed what seemed like a near-murderous conviction through Iba's aura." Chizuru the Instagram witch cleverly taps into her psychic powers to deduce that the man who literally just chopped off another man's arm with a sword is feeling "near-murderous"

"It wasn't the Iba I had come to know..." Iba, where was this energy when Kazama wanted to kidnap and impregnate her? I guess his core drive doesn't come into play unless she's threatened with being stabbed?? But her having her hands blown apart is fine, I guess... Maybe Iba just doesn't like Takeda and wanted an excuse to chop him into bits...

"Do you still want to fight, Kanryusai Takeda?" Uh... Can he? Is not gonna, you know, BLEED TO DEATH??? Takeda seems surprisingly chill about all this so far XD

"Y-You bastard...!" Takeda, you need to go to a hospital X_X

"Takeda was drenched in the blood sputtering from where his right forearm used to be." Yeah, that ain't good... Blood is for the inside! "He looked like an oni... straight from Hell." UH, SAYS YOU! Iba's bs is getting to you, huh?

"Never before have I swung my sword with the intent to kill someone, but... If it's you, I wouldn't have to think twice." XD Damn, he really does hate Takeda. Well, Takeda, you're finally special to someone! Hooraaaayyy....

"Iba's eyes burned with righteousness," ugh, hate it when they do that -_-

"Takeda, who trembled from the loss of his limb and his pride." Dude's gonna pass out O_O

There's something which really gets me about people's limbs being chopped off. It's so sadistic. Like, you're torturing someone by deliberately taking away something precious and irreplaceable that's part of them, knowing that there's no way they will ever fully recover. And I know that Takeda was going to hurt Chizuru and I probably wouldn't blame Iba that much even if he straight up just murdered Takeda... Actually, idk, she tried to stab Takeda first so does that make her fair game? And he wasn't going to kill her... Anyway, Iba could totally have ended this fight in a non "life changing injuries" or murdery sort of way if he had actually wanted to and, if he had, the onslaught of pain and misery heading his way would not be so bad. Like, Takeda is barely even a threat (until now)!

"If I drink it... This injury will be nothing!" Well, you won't DIE but it won't regrow your fucking arm!

"Takeda!" Oh, now you're worried about him?

"I was about to run up to help him, but Iba grabbed my arm as he scurried away indignantly." O_e Daaaamn, Iba! Iba could be more sympathetic to people who aren't blessed with the same advantages he has -_-

Is Iba one of those annoying people who resent miserable/depressed/unfortunate people for unconsciously making them feel guilty about how great their lives are?

I feel like Iba has written this annoying af fairytale in his head, starring Chizuru, and anything which threatens to divert from that creepy-ass fantasy is gonna cause him to blow up.

"It's better if you don't get too involved. He won't last long in his condition." Cold.

"With shaky fingers," Iba, I feel like you have traumatised this girl way more than Takeda would have!

"Are you all right...? I'm sure that was a little frightening." YA THINK? Meanwhile, his arm is just laying there... O_O

"How is your injury? Let me see it." NO. GET AWAY FROM ME.

"I couldn't bear to look at him, and I pulled my arm to prevent him from seeing it." YES GIRL!!! AWAY FROM THE SCARY ROBOT WHO CHOPPED UP THE PRETTY EVIL SEA MONSTER!

"My injury already healed." Yeah, stop fussing, robot man!

"Just as he said... I'm... I'm a..." Omfg, girl, get a fucking grip! Who the fuck even cares that he was calling you a stupid name! I know you have childhood trauma or whatever but you should try and own this shit instead of letting Iba tell you that you're "normal" as if that's something either possible or desirable. "There stood Iba, wearing the same kind smile that hadn't changed since we were children." ... Next to a severed arm and a fuckload of blood... Omfg, I just had a Thought: what if the reason that Chizuru subconsciously suppressed her childhood memories with Iba is because he murdered the children who called her a monster! He does give major serial killer vibes! I can legit see this happening...

"You may not remember this, but..." Either we already discussed this or he's about to confess to child murder...

"When we were little, you showed this to me." I SWEAR we did this already? When Shiranui shot her hands and she hid them from him?

"This was the first time I'd ever had trouble controlling myself when holding a sword." Is this supposed to be romantic? It still feels very robotic and serial killer like to me...

"It was my fault..." Omfg, it is so not your fault. Iba fully could have not cut off Takeda's arm!

"I... don't want you to do anything dangerous..." OH HONEY, THAT SHIP HAS SAILED! THE PAIN TRAIN SHALL SHORTLY BE ARRIVING, COURTESY OF ANGRY SEAMONSTER RAIL.

Maybe Takeda (spoilers) survives because the water is where he belongs, because he is a seamonster...

"I want to make all your wishes come true," should be simple, since Chizuru seemingly doesn't have any...

"I've come to rescue you guys!" Are you gonna help us fish out an angry seamonster? Or are we just gonna leave him for dead?!?

Are we just leaving Takeda's arm on the bridge? XD

Well, they tried to look...

Okay, now the looooong exposition with Sen... I love her but this is boring af so I will skip through this, I think...

I do enjoy Harada telling Nagakura to look at Kimigiku's face instead of her tits but I don't need to read that because I remember it VIVIDLY

Ugh, just leave with Sen. It's not like you've spent much time bonding with the Shinsengumi.

Yada yada, Kazama attacks, is annoying and grabby, Shiranui and Harada are flirting, Hijikata and Kazama are flirting, Chizuru is curled up in a terrified ball...

Harada is so sweet! I need to do his route (but children squick me out)

I'm skipping a whole bunch of stuff here that's Iba irrelevant... Here we go! Iba stuff!

"Iba daintily dabbed a napkin on his lips," I still think he's got serial killer potential...

Once again, Ryouma Sakamoto, the invisible man is mentioned. I need to do his route to see how they shoehorn him into the plot...

"However, due to certain political pressures, he was considered untouchable in various parts of Japan." These boys are so upset that they can't just murder whoever the fuck they want without consequences X_X

Such drama over the assassination of a man who's been 100% irrelevant to the plot until now...

I guess we'll be too late to do anything since this is where he dies, historically. So this kind of feels like a waste of time...

"Sakamoto died on the scene," yup, "and Nakaoka... He survived, but judging by how he looked, probably not for long..." :'( thus, never fulfilling his destiny as pioneer of cape-based fashion :'(

Why was Chizuru even there?

Of course, Iba is using this as an excuse to take her away and feed her XD

Ah, sweet romantic river memories <3 like the time Iba chopped a guy's arm off for calling Chizuru a monster... :')

"the shogunate's power is crumbling." Oh goody... X_X

"I began to panic internally." Understandable... O_O

"Iba, you're an official guard of the shogunate. Why would you feel this way...?" It's called independent critical thinking, Chizuru -_-

"A Hatamoto, like me, or some of the lower-ranked vassals, aren't prepared for an actual war." Who is?

"You have the Shinsengumi" unfortunately for them, yes... -_-

"I'm sure Toshi will fight until the end." Alas, yes :'(

Tbf, I've given the Shinsengumi a lot of shit for shady doings this playthrough but I do actually kind of love them all with my whole heart (way more than I love Iba, sorry). Actually, Okita's kind of a dickhead. He still has a special place in my heart, though. Whereas Iba feels like a poorly integrated oc (sorry) rather than a fully rounded character...

"Get out of Kyoto as soon as you can." I am enjoying how this is explaining clearly how dire the current situation is for the Shinsengumi and friends.

"Or have you already forgotten about the time that I was almost killed by Takeda?" Bitch, when did the seamonster ever even come close to stabbing your ass?

"What's fine?" Good point, Iba... None of this is fine. Almost everyone is going to die!

"Because of these powers, maybe I could be of some use to the Shinsengumi." It took you how many years to think of this? Anyway, it's too late now, hun! Shit will soon be hitting the fan!

"If you're going to be hurt, I'd rather be there in your stead taking the wound." Well, that's not very fair, is it? How come Chizuru is the only one who has to watch her loved ones suffer? These fucking guys...

"I can't bear to see you in pain..." Then go somewhere else -_-

"No matter what anyone says, you're just a normal girl." ... This is starting to piss me off... I AM THE HEAD OF THE YUKIMURA CLAN! WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING DIFFERENT???? DENYING IT IS STUPID AND INSULTING BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT YOU WON'T ACCEPT THE TRUTH OF MY IDENTITY. WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING A DEMON? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT??? WHY DO YOU WANT DO BADLY FOR ME TO BE NORMAL? It doesn't matter. Saying it will not make it so.

"I could sense warmth welling in my chest" -_- is this better or worse than being told, "you're not like other girls"?

Iba is the Valentina of Hakuoki: if some fact doesn't fit with his French vanilla fantasy, he denies its existence

Ugh, I am so over this. It's half 4am and I don't know if I've conveyed why this is so annoying to me articulately but there it is ^

"Boy, you sure do love worrying me, don't you?" OH BITCH, YOU FUCKER! HOW DARE YOU MAKE MY FUCKING PAIN AND PROBLEMS ALL ABOUT YOU! YEAH, I'M REALLY FUCKING ENJOYING CONTEMPLATING THIS FUCKING WAR. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF ENDANGERING MYSELF TO HELP MY FRIENDS JUST TO MAKE YOU WORRY. UH HUH. EVERYTHING IS FUCKING ABOUT YOU, IBA.

"Fine." FINE >:(

Omg, we're fully just brushing over Itou's assassination and Saito's return, huh? And Kazama attacking? AND Heisuke becoming a fury... Coolness...

Here comes Sanan to try and steal our blood! Side note: I LOVE the AGGRESSIVE eyerolling that he does in Souma Hen when Hijikata tells him not to slice up Chizuru :')

"Plz may I have just a crumb of delicious, nutritious blood?"

"The Fury Corps's a bad idea. A REALLY bad idea." OMFG FINALLY. Thank you, Nagakura!

This Harada stuff is great but I'm gonna save it for his route playthrough... Kind of want to do Sakamoto next, though, because I have no idea how that'll play out but mostly because I want to spend some quality time admiring Nakaoka's cape lewk

Chapter 5: THE DEMON ARM OF HORNINESS! IT IS HERE BUT IS IT HORNY YET? TUNE IN TO FIND OUT BECAUSE I DON'T FUCKING REMEMBER. (In which Iba's slicey actions have dire, poetic consequences)

FUCK IT, IT'S 5AM BUT I AM FINISHING THIS. >:( (hopefully)

"send the sick one, too." Omfg, Hijikata, please do not let Okita here you referring to him as such!

"Once you'd contracted it, all you could do was rest, hoping that you could do whatever it took to stave the disease's progression until..." Big oof. They should weaponize him... Biological warfare Anna, no, that is incredibly fucked up...

"You have a visitor" OMG WHO COULD IT BE??? :O

"I wondered who the third person could be..." Girl, you are not genre savvy.

"Why do you have that confused look on your face?" XD I love it when people call out Chizuru's idiocy! And I love grumpy Hiji-mama!

"WHAT? Me?!" -_-

Kinda wanna see what happens if I refuse to go... I doubt it'll be interesting, though, so I'm just gonna do what the guide tells me...

"My heart sank like a heavy stone in my chest" wow, she really is not into Iba AT ALL, is she?!

"More than anything, though, if I take her with me, she'll probably resent me." More than anything, huh? War is literally breaking out right now. People are injured and sick and that's the most important consideration with regards to this situation?

"You let her get to you, too, huh?" BURN THE WITCH!

"Guess I just can't win with Edo women." Hijikata, she will literally do anything you ask.

"You know, Toshi, other than the women of Hino, I never thought I'd meet a woman who could break you down." Where the actual fuck is this coming from? I am CONFUSED.

"... Hey, shut it." Yeah, Iba, you're talking gibberish.

"I don't think the war's gonna happen." O_O

"... I have faith we'll be fine." O_O

Okay, I need to do Hijikata's route because I love this bitchy man and I want to PROTEC >:)

I think I understand why some say that you should play Hijikata's route last: the more I play this game (and watch stuff), the more I love him.

"Toshi, please take good care of her." K. Bye!

"Man, such a prick..." I feel bad but, the more I play Iba's route, the more I agree with Okita here (even though I know he doesn't mean it)

"Now, some pussy who can't even swing a sword is carrying me." Omfg Okita! REMEMBER THE MIKI SABURO LAW OF THROWING SHADE! It's only a good insult if it's true! Shade comes from reading!

"... You're sure you want to stay?" Well, no, since I am playing your route and you are fucking off. But all my favourite characters are here so yeah, I guess...

"If I had my wish, I would have you with me. Even if it meant by force." WOAH. O_O Nope. Tbf, Chizuru staying here is pointless af but Iba, you really should not say this stuff out loud...

"he drew me closer to him, almost forcefully." O_e

"Promise me you won't die." Believe me, I am not keen to die!

"I shouldn't have listened to you." >:(

"I must do whatever it takes not to break his heart." Awe! Finally some self awareness <3 We love to see it!

Welp, lover boy is GONE! Now what?!

"It only took one gunshot for war to break out." :O

Awe, look at Yukimura over here being useful and doctory! Yes queeeeen! :)

"Are they really Japanese if they won't let us eat our seven-herb porridge in peace?!" Ffs XD This is why I love Nagakura!

"From what I'd seen, the fighting must be horrible..." Yeah, I bet that she sees some really horrible stuff as a medic... "The soldiers were covered in soot from head to toe." ... Is that it?!

"Is everyone safe?" "We are not your concern. Tend to the wounded." -_-' but are you wounded, though? Please tell me -_-

"I was looking after the maimed men that seemed to pour in." Ah. There it is :'(

Even in Iba's own route, he's so set apart from the rest of the story that he's not even here... And he still hasn't made any demon vow... He just feels so detached from the dramatic plight of the Shinsengumi...

"seeing him entertain the idea of defeat seemed like something that was impossible for a man of Hijikata's experience to swallow." I feel like, the more experience you have, the more prepared you should be for defeat... You win some, you lose some. Knowing when to admit defeat is extremely valuable...

"All troops, retreat!" Yas queen <3

Awe, Sanan looks happy! He was right to trust Hiji-mama!"

"I'd like you to gather all documentation about the Furies and deliver it to Osaka Castle" hmm... Could we "accidentally" set it on fire, I wonder?

Tbf, I do want to be able to look after Sanan and Heisuke properly, though...

Omg, I want to read this document with the recipe! Does it involve demon's blood??? If so, where from???

"Inoue, do you think everyone else made it out safely...?" Chizuru, I know he's a better dad figure than fucking Kodo but there's no need to ask him stupid, childish questions that he has no hope of answering. Okay, that was too harsh. Sorry, Chizuru...

This had better be Iba...

Oh no! I know that silhouette! THE EVIL EGG IS HERE! FLEEEE!

STAY WITH BEST DAD, CHIZURU! BACK AWAY FROM THE EGG MAN!

IF HE HURTS INOUE, I AM GOING TO KICK OFF!!! >:(

"... My, how beautiful you've become." Given where his story goes, this is CREEPY!

"Where were you all this time?" Yeah, the fuck?! (But also, Chizuru, you probably do not want to know... But you need to know so that you will run from the egg!)

"I was taken captive" ... Was he? Hmmm... -_-

"What if you were caught up in all this needless violence and someone were to hurt you...?" Hmm... So far, so reasonable... I STILL DO NOT TRUST THE EGG, THOUGH!

"Unfortunately, I have no intention of going to Yodo Castle. Actually, you won't be going, either." Oh boy... Here we go X_X

"What father said had seemed a little strange," GIRL, RUN! I totally get why you are not but this egg is baaaad!

"The pieces weren't adding up," YES, CHIZURU! OVERCOME THE COMPLEX EMOTIONS SURROUNDING THIS LONG AWAITED REUNION TO ANALYSE THINGS LIKE A QUEEN AND MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

"Inoue stepped in front of me, guarding me" :') Best Dad! Inoue, be careful :'O

"*Gasp*!" - Jocelyn Foxx

"I sensed someone was standing behind me." Omg, the fuck?! So creepy!

OMFG IT'S TAKEDA?!? HOW DID NOBODY NOTICE THIS GIANT SEAMONSTER APPROACHING???

He looks so chilled out XD

"I heard that you had passed away after suffering a serious stab wound." Takeda, if you hurt Inou-bae, I am going to be so mad D':

"Yes, I am alive... Thanks to that old man, I have been saved." I am now picturing Kodo with a giant net, cackling like Smeagol, fishing for half-dead samurai to perform evil experiments on...

"What...?!" Inoue, smile! Takeda's alive! His glorious purplish hair remains! Celebrate!

"Father had saved Takeda's life?! A man who called me a MONSTER," OMFG GIRL, you need to get the fuck over this already. People are literally dying, IBA CUT OFF TAKEDA'S FUCKING ARM and you're still upset because this idiot called you a name? Yes, words hurt, feelings are valid, blah blah but this is just so infantile... Also, how would Kodo even know this about Takeda?

"Nothing can hold you back now." I WILL BITE YOUR FUCKING FINGERS OFF IF YOU DON'T WITHDRAW THEM RIGHT NOW!!!

"Yukimura, can you trust Kodo?" HELL TO THE NO!

NOOOO! INOUE, PUT AWAY YOUR SWORD! THEY GON' HURT YOU D':

"Time for you to go on ahead." Nooooo! Inou-bae! We can flee together D':

"It was as if he didn't expect to come back with me eventually." Noooo! How come Inou-bae doesn't get ochimizu??? :'(

YES GIRL, RUN!!!

"... Good girl." And in that moment, Inoue cemented his place as the One True Dad :'( <3

XD I love how much taller than Kodo Takeda is!

"Bet ya it's an animal, or something." Not an animal, a MONSTER! (rawr XD )

Girl, your life is in danger! Kindly pause the romantic slideshow!

"Iba had always shown me tremendous kindness, and he seemed to want what was best for me." ... Sounds kinda like she's looking for a dad replacement already... Although, I guess these are very important bf qualities, too...

"Every ounce of energy left in me was leaving me," damn, guess I'll die...

Oh wait, the boyf is here! "A pair of warm arms caught me delicately." Is this... Heaven?

"The shogunate army has fallen almost everywhere," ... Ah. Oh dear.

"why are you by yourself?" :'( :'( :'(

OH FFS! HOW IS THE FUCKING EGG HERE??? HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK TIRED! THIS IS SO CREEPY AND HORROR MOVIE ISH!

"You sure have grown up." IGNORE THE EGG, IBA! HE IS EVIL!

"Mind handing my daughter over to me?" ... Subtle... -_- Kodo could be devastating if he was better at deception...

"Iba became immediately suspicious of Father " Good boy! :3

"Out of the darkness emerged Takeda, like a ghoul summoned from the shadowy mist." X_X XD Once again, the Takeda descriptions are both shady and excellent!

"I have been waiting for this day!" Honestly, fair...

"... Y-You're still alive after what happened to you?" What, like an "act of god" more like, after what you did to him, Iba! You fully cut his arm off and left him to drown/bleed to death X_X

"'Still alive?' No, I have been resurrected! Why, you ask? So I can kill you!" Good to have goals :)

"Takeda laughed maniacally," he's levelled up his villain game, I see! Love to see it!

Pointy fingers :)

"Your arm! You have an arm again?!" Iba, there is a sword heading towards your face right fucking now, of course he has a fucking arm, MAYBE TAKE YOUR SWORD OUT AND DEFEND YOURSELF!!?

Okay, good job!

"Na... ni?!" Oopsie, chopping him made him stronger! Shouldn't have lost your temper!

"I SAW Iba cut Takeda's arm off!" He got better, okay?!

"What the hell... I know for a fact that I cut your arm off..." Honestly, I feel like you should be congratulating him on his miraculous recovery...

"Does my arm bother you that much?" Not yet XD but it will...

"Takeda smirked sadistically, his eyes gazing down upon Iba as he broke into laughter." Hmm... It's nice to see him kinda happy for once but he seems a wee bit crazy...

Lol, Chizuru! But late to be getting flashbacks to Sanan telling you, "I suggest that you do not provoke him any further." BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, NOW HE'S FINALLY FUCKING SNAPPED, GOOD JOB GUYS!

Should have fucking listened to Sanan...

Oooh! Long, snowy white hair :D

"Takeda wore a confident, menacing grin." All I see is a very pretty face <3 Hey, maybe if Iba was more interesting, I wouldn't get distracted by Takeda!

"Is this man... REALLY my father?" Well, yes and no... Point is, he's a creep!

"I was unable to replace his arm with a human's" oh dear... I bet those experiments were a fun time...

"This is... my Demon's arm!" ... o_o Hello, Takeda's Demon's arm...

"Takeda flexed his right arm, which was wrapped in thick, bloody bandages." ... Niiiiice -_- Where the fuck does one even find a random demon arm? I guess you can't get one just from any demon, right? Because it's a special magic (horny) arm and there's only one other (guess where that fucking ends up...)

"As the bandages were torn off the arm, we all witnessed the gruesome abomination that was placed where Takeda's arm used to be..." UM, EXCUSE YOU! HE HAS SICK TATTOOS! HE IS WEARING NAILS 2 DIE 4! WE STAN!

"This can't be..." I mean, tbf, Iba, your route only gets more fucked up from here, soz (should have listened to Sanan bae, my dude)

"Ha, I'm a changed man." For the better, right? :D .... For the better, right? :O u gonna stop doing crime, right???

"I'm powerful now. Reeeeeeal powerful. So powerful, I'm unstoppable!" Oh dear. He crazy. Iba, I blame you for this, just saying!

"You're just a dojo bitch!" Omg, Takeda has been taking shit talking lessons from Kazama!

"Iba, watch out!" No shit -_-

"You're like a newborn turtle crawling out of water." Takeda, your seamonster heritage is showing...

"It was clear who's strength was greater." Oh, how the tables have turned... Was Iba right to stop Takeda doing crime? Absolutely! Should he have taken every opportunity since then to use his superior social status and swordsmanship to undermine and humiliate (and then maim) Takeda... Eh... Maybe not. Not saying he deserves what's coming but he could have been a better person, I think...

"Takeda's technique better resembled a wild beast's." Again with the shady comparisons :')

"What'll you do if you're sucked in?" Die?!

"Come to think of it, you cut off my arm. Just like THIS!" Ah, sweet revenge :)

"Iba! Please tell me if you're alright, Iba?!" Girl, look at that boy's face!!! Does he look fucking alright?!

"His left arm was sliced open, leaving what looked like a severe disfigurement." Hey, it's still attached! I guess that's good... Ish?

"The bone was snapped, and his flesh and muscles were torn apart, oozing blood on the rocks..." Yeeeeeah, that's... Baaaad...

"I'm surprised he hadn't fainted from the shock." I'm surprised Takeda didn't faint when Iba cut his fucking arm off...

"He wielded such incredible courage and willpower to maintain consciousness--it was almost godlike." Okay, calm down.

"Take that, Hachiro Iba! Doesn't feel too great, does it?!" Well, he would know... I feel like Takeda handled this better, though XD

"Takeda sneered over Iba, laughing to himself." ... Well, at least someone is having fun X_X

"Sounds like you want me to cut off your right arm too, is that it?" As a fury, I feel like the smart thing for Takeda to do here would be to drink Iba's delicious, nutritious blood instead of chopping more bits off of him but what do I know?

"Or... do you wanna be just like that little beast over there, too?" O_e What does that mean??? I don't like the sound of that! Takeda, what are you planning?

"I... still have my right arm." Iba, now is not the time to be pointing these things out ..

"Even if you took my other arm and both of my legs away..." Iba, maybe don't give him ideas, yeah?!

"The tender glow of nostalgia began to sparkle inside of me..." Don't care.

"This was so anticlimactic." XD Takeda, you dramatic bitch!

"What a sight to see someone so dedicated to a promise he made, even on the verge of death." Girl, you can have him, I just can't seem to get into this...

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Well, being a shit is Kodo's whole deal and I think he's doing a very thorough job of it!

"I can only assume you are well-prepared to accept the punishment." Omg, I want to see Sen and Kimigiku murder Kodo so badly...

"I will be dealing with you." YES, KIMIGIKU! GET THE SEAMONSTER! "You will receive no mercy from me." Yes queeeeeeen!

"I'm not sleepy at all." Girl, you are going to DIE. SLEEP.

"I need to speak with you, if you have a moment." But sleeeeeep!!!

Way to fail at having a secret conversation about Iba, guys...

"Oh no, Iba... Are you going to be okay?!" Sure! Just like Sanan was okay when he lost the use of his arm!

"... I apologise for that." Ew, emotions! Jk, emotions are sexy! More of those, please!

"My inability to use my sword does not mean that I am no longer a warrior." We stan a well adjusted queen!

"If I end up losing my right arm, I have my legs and mouth." ... An image of Iba kicking Takeda to death just flashed through my brain...

"So, had he been able to regenerate his arm after being severed, or did it regrow...?" Boi, were you not listening?!?

"However, my story is a rather long one." FUCK... guess it takes a lot of waffle to make The Demon Arms of Horniness make any kind of sense...

"she turned like she'd heard something" uuuugh, what now?!??

Lol, that was close... Just realised I was on 1% battery and I haven't saved this shit in a while...

"That angry Takeda fellow" XD fair enough, he is that!

"a battle with a neighboring clan of humans resulted in the then-current Demon Lord to lose both of his arms." As one does...

"Attaching this arm, it was said, to any creature, especially humans, would result in untold catastrophe." Hmm. Sounds bad. So why keep them?

"I hadn't told you then, and I should have," ffs X_X no-one tells me nuthin'!

"he was creating a new generation of Furies to sell off to domains." Slave vampire army, goody...

"Somehow, he was able to steal the Demon's arm which had been guarded safely by our clan for ages." Probably only because no one wanted a stanky old calamity inducing arm!

"Why had father done such a thing?" Fuh teh evulz! 3:D

"many Demons were killed..." Wow, Kodo. How does one become such a cunt, I wonder?

"I want power..." Iba, no!!! This is how Takeda became so fucked up X_X You got defeated one time and this is what happens???

Oh ffs... I knew this would happen but there's still part of me that's incredulous when they pull out the horny demon arm and suggest whacking it on Iba X_X

I feel like this is maybe trying to fight fire with fire... The world maybe does not need more demonic sword bois...

This arm does everything the writers need: it justifies Iba nit being involved in the Shinsengumi plot, it lets him be horny without being horny and it makes him able to fight Takeda!

Is there nothing in the stories about the arm making people aggressively horny because I feel like that is important to mention...

"I am sure that the demise of the shogunate army is inevitable... So, for me, there is nothing to think about." ... You really don't give a shit about anything but Chizuru, huh?

I mean, where is the conflict?

"I think being human is overrated anyway." Thank you, that is much nicer than aggressively insisting that Chizuru is "normal"

"Some kind of weird, healing monster!" When you say it like that, it really does sound dumb as fuck...

"Is it so bad to be different than other people?" Babby Iba best Iba!

"If anyone makes fun of you, I'll beat them up!" ... And thus, the killing spree began...

"If it means I can spend another day looking into your beautiful face, I will forfeit my humanity." ... Entirely unnecessary! Girl, tell him you won't throw him in the garbage because his arm is damaged!

"Please, for me, my love." Omfg, this escalated so quickly...

"My love for him" oh, so you love him now?!

Takeda did a good job of a non lethal takedown on Kimigiku! Maybe the horny arm is against the harming of female demons ..

"Too slow, dumbass!" Takeda, don't ever change <3

"Na...ni?!" Yeah, how the fuck did Iba just now attach that fucking arm to himself? What happened to his old arm?!? Did he chop it off? When?!?? THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!?!

"Takeda's eyes were wide with shock." Ya, same...

"W-What's with your arm?!" -_- Takeda, dude, come on!

"Why are you asking such a foolish question?" Tell him, Iba!

"puffing his chest and arms up confidently." Iba, this macho shit is part of the reason we're in this mess!

"Yes. Just like you." You guys should be frieeeends! They have more chemistry than Iba and Chizuru (but that's not saying much...)

"The difference between you and me is that I've invited this power unto myself willingly." ... And inadvertently forced it upon Takeda... Is that the point you're trying to make? It doesn't make you look good, Iba!

"the way, we use these powers will be for separate purposes." Nooooo! Team! >:(

"Do you want to die from your own stubbornness?" I would never go as far as to suggest that Kodo is good for Takeda but this is a good point here...

"next time we meet I'm slicing off that pretty head of yours." Uwu! Second date! Iba, Takeda thinks you're pretty! Tell him he's pretty too! He must put so much effort into his hair! Kindly acknowledge it!

"They killed Gen," NOOOOOOOO :'(

"Yeah, he's gone. It wasn't pretty..." O_O What does that mean???

"I'm fine, ignore this undead, bandaged demon arm attached to me!"

"Lord Yoshinobu bitched out and fled to Edo" <3 can always rely on Hijikata to phrase things so eloquently! That's not sarcasm, I think his use of language is exquisite!

"Please, keep our secret safe for me." Omfg, please do not say such things where people are listening!

Frends :3

Final Chapter: THANK FUCKING GOD

HOW IS THE YAM?!??

"I wanted to say goodbye before I left for Edo." BITCH, THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!?? YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FIGHT IN THIS WAR AND YOU VOWED TO PROTECT ME SO KINDLY STAY HERE AND HELP US HUNT DOWN THE EVIL EGG AND TAKEDA!!!

"It was expected that Takeda would have wanted to exact revenge on me..." Yas! Don't let dumb girl blame herself for more shit!

God, Chizuru's eyes are fucking enormous.

"Please stay with me, even just a moment longer." You could, you know... Not leave?!

"What had gotten over him...?" Oh no XD could this be the eponymous hero of our story finally taking effect! Watch out, Chizuru!

Yada yada, romantic stuff... I am too tired for this shit and I don't feel the chemistry here at all...

There, done! Sorry, Iba, I short changed you at the end, certainly. You were saying some lovely (and creepy) things but I could not summon the energy to care, honestly. Can't wait for Edo Blossoms where they really double down on the WEIRDNESS!

[cantillat-moved]

This is a log of the rendezvous between Altera ( @gemsofchaldea​ ), Yuuki ( @moonlightmagus​ ) , Shirou and Saber (myself) for the Berserker Island event. It has been optimized for clearer reading, but it should be noted that every line is a different poster/character. Published under permission for posterity and keeping people updated. Under the readmore due to length.  The battle will be shared on a later post.

Sitting on the ground holding Altera’s sword, the young Master has his eyes closed as analyzing the structure – Shirou could sense everything about the weapon, how it had been forged and the eons of years since. Yet he could also sense its corruption, how it was eroding from the inside out, as if winds blowing on the sands of time or as if someone dropped acid on the fabric of its existence. He poured some of mana in his magic circuits, reaching for the damaged parts and feeling its feedback trying to eat away his own circuits, causing him to grit his teeth. He isn’t going to let this stop him from at least trying to find a way to stop its spreading

Meanwhile, his brand new saber was looking at the flashy magecraft. She could sense something happening to her sword, but that was about it. Whatever he was doing still interested her though, the child having a very interested expression as she held a finger up to her lips. She dared not speak though, since that may interrupt him.. Or, she tried not to, but she ended up failing a bit If it's too much effort.. “ Don't hurt yourself for my sake Master ”

Shirou stopped for a moment to dry some sweat from his countenance, a reassuring smile pursed his lips as he looked at her “ I know my limits. I can’t fully repair it but I can at least make it last longer until we find someone else who can. I’ll be ok.”

Altera Larva gave a single nod “Be sure to take a break if you need one.. We're not fighting right now so it'll be okay for the time being.. Well, he was persistent. “ She admired that trait, so she wouldn't do much to stop him. “I'll focus on trying to detect the presence of servants while you fix it..”

“ Some people might come to join us soon, but-- “Shirou projects another copy of the sword, offering it to her “Here, so you won't be empty-handed”

She holds it, though in this form it's with two hands and she's look quite unsure of herself. But when it comes down to it she could probably still put up quite the fight. “Are you able to copy any weapon? “ Altera asked

“Yes, as long I take a good look at them and they are swords I can copy them. They are all hollow on the inside, though.” Shirou replied

Yuuki will have thanked Saber for placing her safely down. A smile full of relief on her face for seeing Shirou safe. She wasn't 100% certain of this new Saber but as long as Shirou trusted them, Yuuki would too. With her Naginata in hand, she'd walk up to them and sigh a sigh of relief. “Shirou, I'm glad we finally caught up to you. Are you hurt anywhere?”

the smile vanished from Shirou’s features “ I’m glad you are safe, Yuuki. Saber. “ he nods greeting them before standing up “ It is a good thing that you are here, can you take a look at this? “ the boy offered the sword he was holding to Saber

Saber could tell from a glance that something was wrong with the sword “ What is that? What caused this?” he  looked at the younger Servant “ May I?” 

For a moment Altera seemed wary of the two new comers, even lifting her sword for a second, before lowering it. So they were Shirou's allies? Ah.. She nods watching the saber closely now “Go ahead..”

Oh that hurt. He stopped smiling. Yuuki stared at him, her smile also disappearing. “...Are you.. not injured?”

Shirou turns to Altera and explains  “This is another Heroic Spirit EMIYA, like the Berserker. But this one is a blacksmith.”

Saber only holds the weapon after the young girl’s permission, closing his eyes as analyzing the structure. 

“Apparently the other guy can use Trace On to destroy a weapon.” Shirou elaborated

“That’s some nasty work. “ the Servant commented. It is a good thing this is a divine weapon and Saber has so much mana

Shirou finally addresses to Yuuki “ I’m fine. I avoided fights until I made a new contract.”

Yuuki sort of stands there.” I don't understand.”

“It was very lucky that we weren’t engaged in combat at the time, but I had to keep moving. I’m glad you are fine.” Shirou explains

Saber starts pouring some mana, reaching the crevices of its structure – it was a good thing that the servant could tell more or less how it was supposed to look like originally thanks to his experience, focusing on repairing as much as he could 

Yuuki  puts her hand to her chest. “I don't understand why you had to make a new contract.. You're.. You're upset with me, aren't you? I-I'm sorry..”

“ I thought that Saber had been taken down. Why else would you summon Mordred and leave me defenseless? So in order to don’t burden Mordred with having to worry about two Masters I did what needed to be done. To be honest right now I’m pissed at myself that I hurt them like that over nothing, but what is done is done. I can apologize and have them kick my ass later” he explained his reasoning. 

The female master stiffened, looking over at her Saber before looking down. “ I got separated from Saber, and last I saw him he was fighting. I.. don't know why I summoned Mordred so much as it was a knee jerk reaction. I didn't mean to leave you defenseless, and even told Mordred I don't know why I summoned them.. We fought and I had told them to quickly meet back up with you. “

“ You panicked. It happens. The important part is that you are unharmed. “he spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal, as if he wasn’t affected by the situation. The boy left a sigh “And instead of staying with you this means that Mordred is out there by themselves. You should go after them, without you around their mana will deplete faster. They don’t have independent action you know.” Shirou commented

Yuuki looked down at her hand, she had 2 command seals left. She could summon Mordred, but that would put her down to 1 and she wasn't sure if that's a great idea or not. ” I'll let them know where we are and have them meet up here. We're trying to all meet up to figure out what to do about..  the Berserker form of you, Shirou. “ She said softly, nodding. She did send a mental message to Mordred: 'We're at the Wasteland area, you need to come here so I can continue to supply you mana better. If absolutely necessary I'll use a command seal to summon you. Is everything alright on your end?’

Mordred replied via their connection: “ Can't yet. Will when I can. Don't use a command seal. I'll keep you updated.”

“Are you going to yank them from wherever they are? It can be dangerous for them. “ Shirou voiced his thoughts when Yuuki glanced the command spells “ Yeah. I saw who that guy was. Fighting version of myself is getting old at this point. Still, I feel like it is my responsibility to set things right.”

Yuuki  zoned back in at Shirou's words, nodding to someone who wasn't even here. “They told me not to, they're unable to meet up with us but will keep me updated. They sounded fine.. Then again, would she even register if they weren't? Saber and I also ran into him.”

Saber was focusing on fixing the sword, so he couldn’t comment whilst Altera was watching him with wide eyes.

“ He was the one that got the two of you separated? “ Shirou inquired

Yuuki nodded. “Yes, it was shortly after that I ran into an another Enemy Servant.”

“I see. “ Shirou went quiet. The boy had nothing to tell Yuuki, nothing to say. At this point he had closed himself off, only focusing at the task at hand.

Yuuki didn't know how to deal with Shirou acting like this. She tried to smile softly, but it looked more pained than anything. This was her fault, wasn't it? She should have just called for Saber. Why had she called for Mordred?! It's not like they were more important or stronger or anything. She sighed, looking for a place to sit. ..”.Shirou why did you force Caster to stay behind? She wanted to go with you, and was even angry at being left behind.”

Shirou eyes drifted for a moment to watch Saber working, his attention returning to Yuuki when she began speaking to him again “ I didn’t force her, I asked her. Sure, Caster is strong, perhaps one of my strongest Servants. I could probably have done short work of that Berserker with her and Altera with me and the right strategy. “ he admitted that . “ However it was the most solid strategy at the moment. We were all unorganized, without any line of communication with Chaldea which leaves all of us vulnerable. And Na’amah can fly and contact all of the other Masters if needed, having to carry me would only slow her down and make her more vulnerable while moving. I was only planning to scout ahead and have Na’amah joining me later but the circumstances changed. “ his voice was calm and evenly, the cold logic made sense to him. He still had the bow that he made resting close to him by a tree so he wasn't entirely defenseless even now.

Yuuki didn't like how he was sounding, how he felt. Was this island getting to him this badly..? Wouldn't he normally have cared more about how Caster felt? She shook her head. “...I think organization be damned, your safety should have come first... “ She didn't care that he had a weapon near by, she wanted his safety assured, especially since she contributed to him being defenseless. “...You're acting very strange.”

The boy tilted his head as if she was saying a completely foreign concept to him: Shirou had never worried about his safety, not one bit. As long he could keep on fighting, as long he could move then his own safety was insignificant. That has always been like that, long before the current mission “ It’s fine. It wasn’t the first time I had to deal with Servants by myself and might not be the last.”

“ What do you mean? We're all fighting together now, you shouldn't have to fight alone ever. “ Yuuki asked

Shirou merely looks at Yuuki in silence: he shouldn't have had to fight alone in this singularity if it wasn't for her... and still he wasn't angry or upset. he was indifferent

The girl decided it was best to stop there, and just sighed, before going over to Saber and sitting down near him. If she kept it up she was going to start crying.

Shirou was honestly confused why Yuuki was upset: he did the best course of action to attain victory: to secure a base, to have a strong servant exclusively serving a strong master who could support them – and he was under the impression that Yuuki was defenseless – and decided to go scouting to see if he could locate the Grail or find any sort of clue. His safety wasn’t important. As long he could prove useful, he didn’t mind his body would end up ruined or anything of the sort. Or course that he didn’t want to die either, but it was a sacrifice he had always been willing to make, as long he can save everybody it would be fine. 

Saber could tell what the boy was thinking but merely focused on fixing the sword. It was much harder than destroying, it was something that might have been forged by the gods themselves. In fact, he was nearing the limit of what he could do

The girl watched Saber, hoping to feel better but she doesn't. She feels terrible, and doesn't know how to fix it. Shirou was alone, its her fault. She took Mordred on accident. She left him alone, and now look at him.. She didn't like this. He was important to her, how could she have done this? “How's it going Saber?”

“Honestly? I won’t be able to fully fix it without a smithy, but it will endure a few uses of her Noble Phantasm. Once or twice, three times tops but it might cause irreparable damage “ Saber assessed the situation.

“ There is only so much you can do without the proper tools, huh? I can keep on projecting copies for as long I have the mana “ Shirou opinionated.

“ Irreparable... So I'm still handicapped aren't I? I'm sorry. I'm not very useful.” Altera lamented

“No , Altera. You are fine “ Shirou  gently pats her head “ That guy had an underhanded technique. As long I'm around you won't be without a weapon “

“I can also assist making extra weapons, or any other sword that would fit the situation. You won't be empty-handed. “ Saber offered

Shirou sighed “ That Berserker is a pain in the side, isn't he? “

“ You're fine, Altera-san. “ Yuuki said, nodding a few times. Her voice was a bit soft, unsure of herself. “We will make sure we can defeat him before there is irreparable damage. We will fight together. “

“ I can probably use any weapon.. I don't mind. So thank you both. I promise I'll fight well for you “ Altera told them

Saber offered her weapon back “If the worse come to pass, I believe we may be able to resummon your weapon once we return home. “

“ That's right, the FATE system can record a Servant's Spirit Origin and restore it to its peak condition, right? I don't know a lot about it, but it could work? “ Shirou considered

“ Ah..? I'm going.. Home with all of you? “Altera  looks surprised before smiling “ I'll try to make sure I don't break my weapon before then! “

“ If you want to, we are partners now. Would you like to come home with me, Altera? “ Shirou invited while Saber nodded and slicked his hair back, getting ready for the upcoming battle.

She normally had more words, but for today was at a loss. Yuuki  just watched, holding her usual smile. “We would be thrilled to have you go home with us.”

A few nods, smile on the small servant's face. She.. Had a feeling that even if they knew what she was they'd still help her. Just like her old Master.

“Welcome aboard, Altera. Let's save the world together” Shirou nodded

Saber contacted to Yuuki, via link : “Are you alright? “

Yuuki replied via Link”: ...I will be, eventually. It just.. it's bothering me how he acting.. I don't understand it. Plus I.. took Mordred on accident. I'm trying to not let it bother me.. allow me to just stay near you please? “

The servant commented via link: “..........This is the kind of person that Emiya Shirou is, this is a side he hides within him. I will stay by your side no matter what happens. “

Yuuki continued via link: “I don't.. I don't like it. I don't want him acting like he isn't worth saving... then again I also showed him that by taking Mordred.. ...I really messed up. I don't know how.. to fix this.. thank you, for being by my side.”

Saber lamented via link: “...You’ll have your heart broken again, Master.” he knew the truth about Emiya Shirou, how he was a twisted individual who knows that salvation wasn’t within his reach: Kiritsugu saved him once, but it was like Tohsaka said – it was a curse. 

“...That's what I am afraid of, Saber.” once again Yuuki communicated with him via link

“This boy has set his path to his own destruction and there is nothing you can do, Yuuki. “ Saber informed her with the connection

Via link: “...I'll walk it with him then. So he's not alone. Or at least, what part of it I can walk it with him. “ Yuuki nodded, making up her mind. She wouldn't let him walk alone, not as long as she considered him family. He meant a lot to her, and even though she's making mistakes she's going to do what she can to show him he has friends, that he isn't alone. Because, with her, he never will be.

Saber he watched Yuuki with a melancholic expression. He was the Emiya Shirou who had diverged from the path for a while, but it came back to him. There was only one path for EMIYA

“Are you two okay..?” Altera inquired 

“Yes, Altera-san! We are fine. Right, Saber?” Yuuki piped up

If she has to ask for assurance from somebody else that's a no or so Altera concluded

“Don't concern yourself over it “ Saber dismissed

“ I don't know what you are talking among yourselves, but we should either think of a plan of action or go meet our target” Shirou called them out.

“ I'm okay to meet him up front, with the copy you gave me master I can probably fool him and get him to drop his guard.. I think I should be capable of fighting him now “ Altera informed.

“ Emiya. You shouldn’t fight him close combat.” Saber warned the boy

“ I know. I’m a human, I shouldn’t face most regular Servants in combat. I know that there are exceptions, but facing a Berserker is way above my capacities “ the young Master dismissed the Servant’s words

“ That isn’t the only thing that concerns me. Because you share the same soul, continuous exposure to him will cause his memories, techniques and knowledge to flow onto you. That includes his insanity.” Saber elaborated 

“ You know I’m aware of that. It happens with Archer and it also happens when I’m around you. You don’t need to remind me, Saber. Him being a Berserker is just the cherry on top.” Shirou reminded the Servant,

“ That means don't unnecessarily exchange blows, Shirou. You and I should provide long range back up. I haven't gotten an update but should we wait for Mordred? “ Yuuki intervened

“ No need. They got their hands full right now fighting by themselves. We should be the ones who come to them, not the other way around. “ Shirou concluded

Yuuki nodded, looking back at Saber before continuing. “You're right, I'm sure no matter what happens, Mordred will be fine. They have to be, right? Saber and Altera-san should be more than sufficient. I'm just.. “ I'm just worried about you having to come to blows with him again, either one of you. “concerned is all.”

“ The situation is dire, but right now we should focus at the task at hand, at our own issues. Worrying about things beyond us is only going to make us lose sight of what should be done, a recipe for disaster. “ Saber commented

“ Saber is right. If you are worried about them, you can go now or focus on what we are about to do. If you get distracted now you might get hurt “ Shirou was curt

Altera nods “ I'm sure they're a strong servant, and if they need help they can ask you.. Oh, sorry let me change.. “ They lifted their sword, almost shakily, but in an instant they were a bright white silhouette, which shifted and grew to an adult

Okay now Yuuki is more distracted by ALTERA BEING AN ADULT?

“ Hm? Is something wrong? “ Altera questioned

Shirou was unfazed  “We are ready to go now. I just hope that he didn't have enough time to heal or cause more trouble.”

Yuuki nodded, holding her Naginata tightly. “ I'll be able to assist long range with familiars and some gandr shots. They won't be as effective as he's probably expecting it now, but it's annoying and covering fire.” 

Saber commented via link: “You might be ready to heal the boy when necessary”

Yuuki replied via link: “I was thinking the same thing. I'll focus as much on producing mana and healing him when it's all over.”

“ You're zoning out again. “ Altera noted

Yuuki snaps to attention. “No I'm fine!”

“ She does that when using the mental link to talk to one of her Servants. “ Shirou states as a matter of fact and, at his point, don't caring about whatever they may be plotting “ Let's go, he should be that way “ he picks up  the improvised bow and started walking. For a brief moment he wished that he had enough mana and knowledge to make arrows like Archer's...

Yuuki rubs her cheek nervously, but she took a few steps forward before paling and stumbling. She was falling instead of walking, she felt like her feet were no longer beneath her, and she wasn't going to be able to stop herself. She wasn't prepared for the sudden drain of her mana. Not that she didn't have enough but it was so shocking and unexpected that it took a toll on her.

Noticing the shift in Yuuki's behavior, Saber stepped forward and supported the Master, holding her  “Are you alright?”

Yuuki was grateful for Saber's assistance, shaking her head as she took a ragged breath. “I.. have no idea. Just, all of a sudden it felt like a lot of my mana was just dragged from me without realizing it.. I felt really faint.”

Saber stopped for a moment, surveying   “ Do you have more than Mordred and myself in the field? Then perhaps there might be another ongoing fight” 

“ Y-yeah, Jekyll came too.. “ Yuuki stammered

“ I see. We should expect more mana drainage then. You better stay back “ Saber adviced

Shirou stopped for a moment to wait for Yuuki, listening to what just had transpired -- he wasn't going to say anything except for the slight frown on his lips before resuming walking 

“ I-I can try to check in with them, but if they're fighting.. Maybe the base is in danger? He said he wanted to stay behind. “ Yuuki doesn't know what to do. “ I can't leave you to go fight without me, Saber.” 

“ If the base was in danger then Na'amah would have had contacted the boy, or Jekyll would have contacted you. I hate to say it, but he is right: you need to focus at the task at hand, free yourself from unnecessary thoughts, and fight. “ Saber reasoned 

Shirou is already in the middle of the vegetation, away from sight, with Altera following him

Yuuki stands up, nodding.” ..Then let's go Saber. If something's wrong, I'll be contacted.”

“ Stay close to me and let me know if you need assistance, Master “ Saber already decided he is going to avoid using her mana if possible, drawing on his own reserves. Mordred and Jekyll might need it more than he does.

[gundamcalibarney]

Green Arrow having conversations (ft. a few other engines)

that’s it, that’s the whole thing.

reblogs are appreciated!

(story below the readmore)

1963

“So Spencer,” Green Arrow started, the record breaking A4 gave him a look. “how is he?”

the A4 scoffed, “still as pompous as ever, he doesn’t shut up about being the Duke and Duchess’s private engine, he told me about how Sodor’s stuck in it’s old ways, but i think he means that in ‘there aren’t any A4s!’ kind of way.”

Green Arrow , “is that so. well i do hope to visit the island one day, i heard that it’s really nice there!”

“oh yes, i’ve heard Scot talk about it, though it’s mostly relating to Cousin Gordon.” Mallard huffed. “i heard that a lot of weird shit goes on there.”

“like what?”

“ghost sightings, accidents caused by non-locomotive rolling stock, somehow they got liveries from every colour of rainbow…” Mallard listed off. “just a lot of stuff.”

“well that sounds lovely!” Green Arrow exclaimed cheerfully.

if he had a drink Mallard would spit it out in shock, “What? you call a crash caused by trucks Lovely?”

“it definitely sounds more exciting there than here if i’m going to be frank.” Green Arrow chuckled. “and how’s being the record breaker hm?”

“Cousin Gordon’s dome’s going to fly off trying to beat 126 miles.” Mallard joked.

“you mean that metaphorically yes?”

Mallard then remembered the City of Truro telling him something along those lines,

“when i went to Sodor i was told by the press that the NRW’s number 4’s top blew off while he was attempting to run 100 miles per hour, i can’t really hold anything against him though since i get where he’s coming from, i think i would’ve done the same!”

“…uh huh.”

1990

the No. 1 Sudrian tank engine approached the green V2, “you’re a cousin of Gordon right?”

“oh yes indeed i am!” Green Arrow smiled. “how is that big sausage anyway?”

Thomas’ face flushed angrily, “Jealous of me that’s what!”

Green Arrow raised a brow, “really?”

“probably because I’M here and not him, surrounded by Famous engines and all.” Thomas groaned.

“he’d probably boast about being with Famous and Well known engines like you and practically everyone else here!” Thomas ranted.

the V2 chuckled, “it would be more of a begrudging family reunion than anything, especially on Spencer and Gordon’s part.”

“so what were you like before all this preservation and dieselation stuff?” Thomas asked to get his mind off of Gordon.

Green Arrow let out a laugh, though it didn’t feel like a very humorous one, or a very happy one,

“my siblings and i were built to run fast good trains,” he said. “but we did it So well that they let us pull expresses in the end.”

“now i’m the only of my sort left.” he ended off with a sigh, his face now showing a combination of pain and nostalgia.

2010

“So how’s permanent retirement doing for you so far.” Mallard asked his cousin.

“not going too bad so far.” Green Arrow answered in a chipper tone.

“no hard feelings about being a static display?” Mallard questioned.

“not really, why do you ask?”

“Arrow you’re basically stuck, in One place, for the rest of your life.” Mallard emphasised slowly. “then again considering you it can certainly be no worse than what happened with Jackson.”

“how is he as of now?” Green Arrow asked, concern laced in his voice.

“in a dour mood, as in a Really dour mood, can’t really blame him though.” Mallard informed.

Green Arrow’s face fell, “ah, well tell him i send my regards.”

“yeah i will.” Mallard responded.

2012

“it’s nice to see some of the other Gresleys here.” smiled Green Arrow.

“and the baby.” Riley noted, her tone sharp and rather hard, The Great Marquess snickering and Mallard rolling his eyes.

Green Arrow noticed Tornado’s cheeks flushing red and their eyes darting away, “Well i agree that they’re a young one, but i think they’re a nice engine, sure they’re not a Gresley but who says you need to be one to be a good engine?”

Riley scoffed at Green Arrow’s words, Tornado was shocked indeed, the V2 gave the new build a wink and smile.

“besides there are a lot of not-Gresleys here Riley.” Green Arrow added.

“also Riley, just shut up.” Mallard deadpanned, Green Arrow frowned at the addition.

“Mallard!” Arrow called out in a scolding tone, the blue A4 rolling his eyes while the new build giggled.

2021

“how are you taking the move so far?” no. 251 asked.

“it’s a bit cramped but i can manage, i can’t believe they got ol’ Cock o’ the North’s nameplate, and it Is nice to be back in Doncaster.” Green Arrow replied with a smile.

“say i’ve heard the people who made Tornado are making a new P2 engine.” no. 251 mentioned.

“oh yes i’ve known, Tornado told me about the new build P2 a couple years back, Prince of Wales i’ve heard.” Green Arrow noted.

“Which means i’m getting a step-cousin, and then after that they’ll make a Thompson B1!”

“so basically the big three LNERs?” no. 251 asked. “like, Gresley,Thompson, and Peppercorn?”

“Most likely!” Green Arrow smiled.

a brief pause between the two green engines.

“say we’re going to be here for the next 3 years right?” no. 251 then asked.

“Indeed, which means we’ll be stuck with each other for a while.” remarked Green Arrow.

Well this’ll be a nice 3 years.

[writingdispenser]

Upcoming Chapter Excerpt

HELLO EVERYONE, SORRY FOR THE DELAYS! I'm currently working on the illustration segments for the chapter as we speak. To tide you over as promised, here's a segment of the chapter, which starts from the Engineer's POV before it later transitions to Spy's. I hope you all look forward to reading the rest soon! Going to use a screenshot from an item in my inventory as a break between the intro text and the actual excerpt after the readmore is opened, how bout that

Time was slowly starting to inch closer to that hour of late evening Engineer had agreed to meet up with Spy again. The break-in at the supposed “shack” would require them both, after all. Still, there would be more than a few hours of surveillance outside of their target location ahead to look forward to. That was what Engineer surmised, as he hefted an insulated storage container to his base’s kitchen in much the same way he would one of his toolboxes. He set it down on one of the counters, before opening it carefully in preparation as he turned back now to the freezer behind. He’d be missing dinner for sure out there if he didn’t bring food with him otherwise – or well. They would.

He couldn’t exactly forget his newfound companion in crime.

Engie gave a small snort at that, surveying his possible options as far as food went for the night. Somehow, he doubted this Spy would think in regards to staying fed and alert on the job – spies in general rarely did. There was just something about that profession that caused so many within its field to forget that they had actual human bodily needs outside of smoking. He shook his head with some humor at that; well, that sort of area was where he’d pick up the slack.

Right, anything he could eat with his hands that was portable would be ideal…ah. He grinned at that, pulling out a covered pan of what looked like some kind ovular shaped savory pastries, with holes showing something involving meat in the middle. He squinted at the label helpfully stuck on top, fixing his goggles as he read.

“…Peremech,” he murmured, reading it out loud as he did in a low voice. “…has meat and potato filling. Reheat for…yeah, this’ll work.”

He gave a grunt in satisfaction as he set the tray down too now, before fixing to get the oven preheated. Perfect; he made his way over to the coffee machine now, getting it set up as well. Might as well bring a thermos or two of that while he was at it. Spy said he would alert him over mic upon his arrival to the BLU base – that’s what he had promised anyway. Whether he’d keep to it without being caught snooping around was a whole other matter.

Engineer gave a bit of a frustrated grunt at that; there were still some details of the plan they needed to go over before they drove off, after all. It had taken some haggling to begin with just to agree on who’s vehicle to use, but the minute Engineer saw the cramped space in the one Spy drove, he stuck firm to using his own truck instead. Sitting in the bed of it during the lookout hours would be more convenient anyway as far as he was concerned. Engineer idly checked the time, before walking towards the pantry to pull out a roll of foil, taking it back with him towards the oven. He wasn’t going to warm ALL of those pastries for tonight after all, so he wasn’t exactly fixing to pop in the whole tray.

Were there risks involved in letting an enemy spy even breath near his truck? Well…yeah, obviously. Not like they could use a company van or car instead though; those darn things were location chipped, as far as both teams went. More of an insurance thing after the fact, if one of them or the mercs using went missing, but still. Alright then – soon food for the night would be good to go, and the coffee was already on the pot. Engineer placed a healthy piece of foil on one of the oven racks, before carefully adding as many of the savory pies as he thought they would need on top. He scrunched his nose, unable to get the thought that he was forgetting something out from the back of his head though.

Let’s see…he already had a few pieces of surveillance equipment packed into the truck at the request of the Spy ahead of time. He had already equipped himself with his usual tunneling gear and buildable equipment too – and as far as the rudimentary buildable device Engineer had given Spy, that was well and good in that man’s possession too. Engineer couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at that, as he double checked the time he had input into the oven’s clock.

It was the kind of fisher price thing you’d give to an absolute beginner – just enough to be able to deploy a single building under a hundred metal in the simplest means possible, and that’s about it. This was all Spy would need though, so it worked out fine. While Engineer could still build teleporters himself with the gear he was using, having similar insurance on Spy given what they were planning, was absolutely going to be a necessity. Things could get dicey out there after all…right, but what else was there?

His earpiece was fixed, so it wasn’t that, Engie thought, his hand ghosting up absentmindedly to it as he continued filing his mind through everything. He had gone through all the changes around the base that Miss Pauling had requested of him, he had logged in his contract, he had –

Oh.

Engineer’s face blanched as he closed the oven door again suddenly, before quickly shooting up to walk as fast as he could to the main phone line in the base, fixing his watch with the time as he quickly went. He sighed, shaking his head in more than a little frustration with himself. Yes, a lot had gone down today, and yes, he had a lot more on his plate in terms of work than usual, but Christ – that was no excuse for forgettin’ to call his own damn Ma. Thankfully, he remembered at a good time at least. He wouldn’t be calling too late in the evening than he normally would…at least he hoped.

He punched in the numbers as quick as he could, before leaning against the wall with the phone to his ear, still tensed in mild agitation with himself. What was wrong with him today? Getting caught on his ass by the enemy was one thing, losing a melee duel was another, but how could forget the same damn call he’s made every week on the damn job since…

There was the sound of a click just then on the other end of the line.

[rukia-kuchiki-divided]

Can you write about the adoption scene from Rukia's perspective? Pls??

~Sure why not? Angst hours it is then! Under readmore for length because... I have no self control~

The unused study room at the end of the hall sat completely empty when Rukia arrived. Sighing softly as the door shut behind her, grateful that it was enough to effectively muffle the remarks about her origins in the Rukongai. Wasn’t it bad enough that she was surrounded by stuck up nobles who lived life without a care in the world? Meanwhile, she was back to rationing out her meal supply until she could manage to sneak out to the outer edges of the Seireitei and replenish her stash. 

Renji was supposed to meet her here so they could take their lunch break together. It had been a few days since Rukia really had a chance to talk to him. They’d both been training late into the night, normally too exhausted to exchange much more than pleasantries in the evening before giving in to sleep in their respective dormitories. Males and females were generally kept apart though Rukia felt safer sleeping up in the branches of the nearby trees then in her small closet of a room. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful to have a place to keep dry in the rain. But compared to living in the Rukongai with it’s wide open spaces, she found it a touch claustrophobic for her tastes.  

Wondering just how long his exam was going to take, Rukia let out another long sigh. This was his second major exam that would allow Renji to excel into the next level. If he passed, he’d be more than just an advance class above her. She should feel happy for him. She was happy for him. But that dark shadow of doubt weighed heavily in her chest which rendered reading her open textbook impossible. 

“The gap between us just continues to grow.” Rukia muttered to no one in particular. “Eventually, that bond will snap. Am I holding Renji back?  I  wish I was able to forget the Rukongai as easily as he seems to have done.” 

Groaning, Rukia tapped her forehead against the text book. What is wrong with me? Renji’s excelling and here I am feeling sorry for myself. Snap out of it, damn it!

So when the door suddenly opened, Rukia had already resigned herself to put on a happy face and congratulate the red head despite the pang of jealousy in her heart. 

“About time, baka. I thought you were gonna stand me up for-” 

Rukia’s eyes widened as she realized she did not feel Renji’s usual warm familiar reiatsu. Quickly jumping to her feet, she recognized the signs of nobility  from the kenseikan to the servants accompanying them, even to the way they watched her low bow with a critical gaze. 

“Forgive me, I thought you were someone else.” 

Rukia apologized, keeping her head low as she was taught. The last thing she needed was to piss off a noblemen who might have a say in how their classes were graded. There appeared to be two noblemen while the others were their attendants. Wait  - not just attendants but soul reapers! 

The younger one with the kenseikan had a zanpakuto in addition to an intimidating amount of spiritual pressure. It felt cold and hard like a steel blade on a cold winter morning. They match his hard grey eyes that look over Rukia’s face critically, as if searching for something. She watched as a flicker of immeasurable sadness crosses his gaze for an instant before it is locked behind a wall of steel. Was that pity?

“Forgive us, as it is we who interrupted your studying.” The older man spoke with a deep baritone, motioning for Rukia to stand up straight once more. “You are Rukia, is that right? From Inuzuri in the Rukongai?” 

“Yes, that’s me.” But how and why would nobles like them care about her or where she was from? Her brow furrowed slightly as she ran through a list of possibilities.

The older noblemen glanced at the younger one, his facial expression asking an unspoken question. Rukia watched as the younger one inclined his head slightly, an almost imperceptible nod of approval.

“I see.” The older man looked Rukia over once more  with stern eyes behind those delicate glass lenses and she felt significantly more uncomfortable. The way his eyes lingered on her worn red uniform and the smudges of dirt on her shoes made her feel as though she was being assessed for a price.

 “Then let us get on with the purpose of our meeting. Rukia, my name is Nobutsune Seike. I am the cleric elder of the noble Kuchiki Clan. This is Byakuya Kuchiki, the head of our noble house.” The pride in his voice as he spoke was overwhelming. Even Rukia had heard of the Kuchiki clan, though only in rumor as if they were a fairy tale to be sought after. 

“We would like to make you an offer to join our family.” 

The world seemed to suddenly turn on it’s side. Rukia blinked once and then twice to regain her composure. Surely she had misheard the elder?! Perhaps he was confused and misspoke?! Her violet eyes glanced up at who she now knew was Byakuya Kuchiki himself, looking at him for any sign of disagreement. But his face was stoic and still, as if he was made of steel himself. 

“My apologies,” Rukia managed to stammer out. “But I must have misunderstood. What would a noble clan want me to joint their family for?”  

For a split second, Rukia could have sworn she saw a look of disgust cross the elder’s face though he disguised it well. “Ah a very blunt question. But we can get to the details of things after we present our offer. Rukia, we would like to extend to you an offer of adoption. Not only would you be part of the noble Kuchiki Clan, but Byakuya Kuchiki himself will adopt you as his younger sister!” 

His younger sister? But... why? It didn’t make any sense to her. Before Rukia could interrupt, Nobutsune held up his hand. 

“Please, allow me to lay out the terms of our offer. You would become Rukia Kuchiki, no longer a nameless soul of the Rukongai. Your home would be the main Kuchiki house with all its amenities. Of course, you would be subject to the laws of our clan as any other member of Kuchiki house along with the additional requirements the main family house entails.” 

He paused again, looking Rukia up and down for the third time while pushing up his glasses. “We understand that there is a ... gap in education due to your upbringing. We are prepared to tutor you in our home as well as propel your soul reaper career. As a member of our noble house, you will not need to bother completing the Academy’s training course as we will arrange for private training. You will be allowed to join an available squad of your choosing and test for a seated position if you should qualify.” 

This was unreal. She had to be dreaming. There was just no way that the Kuchiki clan, of all the noble houses in the Seireitei, had found her and asked for her to join their family. Something was wrong. In Rukia’s experience, if an offer seemed too good to be true, it most likely was. There was always a catch. 

But - family. The idea of having a family with all the bonds that went with it was certainly appealing. Renji. His face instantly surfaced in her mind as he was the only one she had any semblance of a bond with at this time. What would he think of this? What would this do to their already fraying friendship? Nobility came with chains. Rukia was well aware of that. 

“What exactly would my extra duties require of me?” Her violet eyes carefully flickered between the elder and Byakuya, trying to gain any insight they might offer. 

“As part of the main family, you are expected to attend certain functions, maintain a strict code of conduct especially outside of the walls of our home. Your comings and goings will be restricted as well as your social circle and those you interact with on a casual basis. You will be allowed to continue your soul reaper career, as mentioned before, so that will be the exception to this. When the elders of our clan deem it appropriate, you will be wed to a suitor of our choice who meets the Kuchiki clan standards. In exchange, all of your needs will be provided for and your career elevated.” 

His thick white eyebrows raised above his glasses in a way of finality. “Well, do we have your interest, Rukia of Inuzuri?” 

Rukia was processing everything he had said, not missing the subtle way her freedoms would be restricted. Her gaze fell to the ground, heart torn. Could she do this? Could she really sell her soul for this? 

Again, Renji’s face swam into her mind’s eye. Of course not! Renji was her family. If she were to join the Kuchiki’s, then she would not be permitted to speak to Renji. That alone was enough to make her doubt this offer. But was she holding Renji back in his own life? Doubt crept in, a cold chill running up her spine.

“I..I’m not-” 

As if on cue, the door burst wide open and almost caused Rukia to jump. Renji’s excitement was rolling off of him as he blurted out his news. 

“Rukia! Guess what? I passed the second exam! Can ya belie-” 

The way his face shifted from exuberance to confusion was almost comical. Rukia saw the look of recognition as Renji took in Byakuya’s kenseikan and the spiritual pressure in the room. “Uh..” 

“It seems our negotiations have been interrupted.” Nobutsune eyed Renji with only thinly veiled disgust. “This place is no longer suitable for us to continue our discussions”

 He and Byakuya already began making their way back through the entrance as Renji moved aside for them to pass. “We look forward to hearing a favorable answer, Rukia.” 

Rukia’s mind was conflicted, thoughts rolling into each other as she tried to untangle them. But Renji was here now. He was the strategist, the one who kept his feet grounded between the two of them. He was her best friend, after all. If anyone could see the flaws in this plan and understand her view on nobility, it was him. 

“Renji..” 

He seemed startled out of deep thought, not having moved from his position beside the entrance way. “Oh Rukia! What - what was that all about, eh?” 

She averted her gaze, not trusting herself to look Renji in the eyes at the moment. “They were from the Kuchiki clan. They.. want to adopt me into their family.” Rukia was already shaking her head, holding one arm with the other across her abdomen to steady herself. “I don’t know what to do. Renji-” 

The last thing Rukia expected was to hear Renji exhaling in what seemed like relief. His hand moved to her shoulder, grasping her as he started to chuckle. 

“What do ya mean ya don’t know what to do? This is great! The Kuchiki clan is a powerful family! Oh man, yer gonna be living the life of luxury just like we always dreamed about!” He shifted his hand slightly on her shoulder as Rukia watched his face intently. “I wonder what you’ll be eatin’! Ah! I’m so jealous!”  

Fake. That was the first thought that crossed Rukia’s mind as she watched him. He was lying to her about how he felt. But why would he do that? Unless... she had been a burden holding him back this whole time? And now he had a way to severe their bond without feeling guilt. That was the only explanation that made sense to her, the only reason she could think of that Renji would lie to her - to spare her feelings. 

It was an almost audible snap in her heart as she felt the bond between herself and Renji break, finally frayed to it’s last thread. She understood now that there was nothing left for her here. He was giving her away, without even an after thought. She was a reminder of where he came from, a life Renji was desperate to forget as he fit in with the others in his class. That’s all she would always be to him - a painful reminder of why he would always be different. 

I see now.. Rukia felt the pinpricks of tears threatening to spill out of the corner of her eyes. This was kindness on Renji’s part. He was letting her go in the gentlest way possible. She reached up to grasp his hand with both of hers, gently pulling it off her shoulder. He looked down at her, meeting her gaze before she tore her eyes away. 

“Thank you.” 

Before Rukia allowed herself to say anything else lest she give away how broken hearted she felt, she did the only thing she knew how to do. It saved her life time after time and would be her saving grace again.

Run. Don’t look back. Just run. 

She ran straight down the hall, not stopping until she had caught up with the Kuchiki elder and Byakuya. 

She bowed, wiping away any semblance of tears that remained on her face before meeting their gaze.

“I accept.”

The elder bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, glasses gleaming in the sunlight. 

“Welcome to the family, Rukia Kuchiki.” 

[pbjamas]

you know that one Batman Beyond episode where a supervillain tries to convince Bruce that he's hearing voices and he reveals that he knew the voice was fake because it kept calling him "Bruce" and in his head he calls himself Batman? consider: similar situation with Hawks

okay okay okay okay okay i’m a huge batman nerd you know how to get to me....

Mini-fic under the readmore

tw: depression, suicidal thoughts

“Takami-san, are you listening?”

He blinks and grins. “Yeah, hah! Sorry, just a little tired. And, please, call me Hawks.”

The doctor nods and smiles at him, then makes a mark on her clipboard. She lowers her head as she does, and her bangs fall over her face, breaking their eye contact.

Leave, says his brain. Don’t burden her, the guilt is yours. He ignores it.

“Would you please explain your concerns to me?”

You shouldn’t be here, says his stupid brain. This is a you problem, remember. It’s not anyone else’s fault you’re useless without your wings. Don’t bother the doctor with this; it’s not depression, not a medical issue. You’ve just outlived your use and you know it.

“I think I’m depressed,” he admits. “It’s been hard, with everything, but it just kind of hit me this week.” He’s smiling, he makes sure of it, but it’s a tired and self-deprecating smile. He runs a hand through his hair, and his fingers snag on the snarls he didn’t comb out that morning. Without flying in the wind to blow his hair back and out of his face, he cut it, but it’s still long enough to tangle.

“Okay,” says the doctor with a sad smile of her own. “I’m gonna go through a checklist with you now. Have you lost or gained any weight?”

“Ah, well. My wings were pretty heavy. I’m not really sure, since that can kind of account for any change.”

“Okay. Have you experienced loss of appetite?”

“Well, yeah, but again, my wings. I don’t need to fuel them anymore.”

The doctor notes the answer on her clipboard, and Hawks, too used people taking notes on him, rips his eyes away and forces himself to straighten his shoulders. She’s marking his answers to the checklist, it’s fine. She’s not marking his performance, how useless he is without his wings, and even if she were, he shouldn’t fold in on himself, he should look big and confident.

She could be, says the voice. You never know with the Commission. I wouldn’t put it past them to plant an agent for your doctor. And that iron-on confidence isn’t fooling anyone.

He wants to shrink from himself. He wants to curl himself around his heart—maybe that way he can hold the poison in instead of letting it spread through his whole body, to his brain.

“Have you been having thoughts that it would be better to not exist? Or to not wake up one day?

Tell her no. She’s asking if you’ve been suicidal. It’s the voice again. I have, though, Hawks says back to himself. But then, it’s not the kind she’s thinking of, though. She’s asking about unjustified thoughts. You know full well that you actually have a reason. She’s used to dealing with people that are actually depressed. Like the medical condition. You’ve just outlived your purpose. Unlike actual depressed people, there’s no reason for you to live.

He drags himself up and out of his thoughts, forces his eyes to focus again. When he looks at the doctor again, she smiles encouragingly. He chokes. He can’t. He can’t tell her. Unlike her other patients, he’s right when he thinks them.

He shakes his head, and they finish out the questions. He answers no to the plan for suicide, even though he can’t stop thinking of sending a text to Endeavor and stepping off the roof the top floor of his agency. He answers no to feeling guilty.

Unlike people who are actually depressed, you have a real reason to feel guilty. You think someone who caused the heroes’ failure and someone who killed a good man wouldn’t deserve this guilt?

Has he been feeling sad for no reason? No, he has a reason. He deserves this.

In the end, he leaves feeling worse than before. It takes a monumental effort just to lift his foot off the ground with each step. Did he really used to run and fly? Was he really the man they called too fast for his own good? It’s like he’s walking through syrup in slow motion, and only his eyes can move at normal speed. They catch everyone’s accusing looks as he walks by them out of the hospital.

Up the stairs, the voice tells him—or, well. It’s what he tells himself, since the voice is him. There are more roofs out there than just your agency.

He can’t tell if it’s restlessness or panic clawing at him from the inside, but either way, he stops right in front of the door to the roof.

Well, go on!

He doesn’t want to this from a hospital, what if there’s a kid looking out the window? No, this needs to be more private.

Hello? Up the stairs!

And he can’t forget the text to Endeavor. He pulls out his phone and stares blankly at the messages screen. His fingers are too slow, he can’t move them.

You deserve this. You deserve to die. Up the stairs.

He’s frozen still.

Keigo! shouts the voice, and he startles. Chop, chop!

That voice is not him.

“Please, call me Hawks,” he tells the voice politely, then turns around and strides purposefully back the way he came.

“Can we try that again?” he asks the doctor. “I wasn’t being completely honest with you.”

----------

OOOKay the thought with this one is that hawks actually is depressed. but there’s also someone’s quirk talking to him and adding to that. i don’t want it to seem like all of the problems are from the voice. and i wasn’t sure what parts to give the voice bc your actual brain will tell you those things if you’re depressed. but i hope it doesn’t seem insensitive, this thought just wouldn’t leave my head

[enbeast]

hey yall I noticed that there don't appear to be any transcripts for A Study In Ichor, so I figured I'd type some up, please note I am literally just going off the audio and I might get some stuff wrong.

mission 1

:readmore:

CLIP ONE

Workhouse Owner (WO): RUN FASTER, WORKER FIVE, THAT TREADMILL WON'T TURN ITSELF. As you can see, Master Yao, our workhouse not only provides food and shelter for three hundred inmates but makes a healthy profit too. For example, Worker Five has been running on one of Cubbad's “treadmills” for a mere twelve hours today and has already milled five hundred pounds of flour. Got the odd nail in it but it's good enough for the Rutherhive slums [laughs]

Sam Yao (SY): Twelve hours? Without a break?

WO: The alternative of life on the streets is an excellent motivator. And with your investment we will be able to build even more machinery, maybe even increase rations to three bowls of gruel a day.

SY: I want to use my inheritance for good, and if I'm honest, I have some concerns about your worker's wellbeing.

WO: Oooh I seee~ Yes, I suppose it is rather fashionable nowadays to worry about unfortunates, but I assure you Master Yao, once you've had to make your way in the world, like myself or your uncle, a fine man, you'll learn that revenue is the important thing, not how it's made.

(note, as Sam talks there approaching footsteps)

SY: Surely, there's a way to- OW!

WO: YOU THERE, IN THE CAP, watch where you're going, you just ran into a potential investor. Where's your worker number?

Pick pocket (PP): (in a stilted cockney accent) Sorry, Guv'ner.

SY: No, no, it's fine, I was in the way.

WO: It is not fine. Young lady, break time isn't for another three hours. Get back to work. (retreating footsteps from PP) I'm dreadfully sorry, Master Yao, this workhouse is full of ingrates.

SY: My watch! It's gone, the chain's been snapped...

WO: That worker stole it, she's a pickpocket! Worker Five get off that treadmill and chase after her DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT THAT WATCH!

SY: Uh, I'll come with you, Worker Five, I don't want to make a fuss, but that watch is important to me. Come on, let's run.

CLIP TWO:

SY: Hey, mind your step, Worker Five, I've heard about this, rows of people crushing animal bones to make fertiliser. Ugh, the smell is awful. Pickpocket just ran out into the street, we've got to follow her! Five, I hope you don't mind if I call you Five, through that door! (sound of door opening) There! I see her, she's heading towards the Temm's tunnel, it goes under the river from here to Whopee, an engineering marvel- a-apparently, my uncle's an engineer, he's building an underground railway. I try to keep up with the industry but... It doesn't come naturally... I mean, I-I know the tunnel was built using Bruno Cockren's tunnelling shield but I still barely understand what that even is, I don't ac-ARGH! Oh! (gasping) Five! If you hadn't pulled me aside that horse and cart would have run me over! Ugh, I-I'm sorry, I should have been paying attention, but well I-I don't often get to talk to anyone who isn't my uncle, or someone who's interested in my inheritance... Not that I need all that money, of course. I just want to be sure it's going to help people, it's what my parents would have wanted. That's why the watch is so important to me, it was the last thing they ever gave me before they died. Reminds me of what's important. If, if it was any other watch, I'd... just have let that pickpocket keep it, I'm sure she needs it more than I do... Ah, she's just hopped the barrier at the Temm's tunnel, it's in that round red brick building the entrance shaft is underneath, come on, Five, let's experience this engineering marvel first-hand, quickly, before we lose her!

CLIP THREE

SY: Ah, this tunnel is incredible, can you believe we're RUNNING under the Temms, makes me feel a bit funny... Mind you, we're here now that it's safe, uh, some of the people that built it died in the flood... Oh! Maybe I should spend my inheritance on something that'll make projects like this safer for workers, what do you reckon Five? Oh, Oh no... The pickpocket's already climbing the stairs! Ah- she's getting away! (panting) Whopping's all alleys, if she slips down a back street, we'll never find her! Up the stairs! Run!

CLIP FOUR

SY: (panting) And we're out of the tunnel, the pickpocket just ducked down that alley, after her. (Running sounds) Uh, we've got you cornered, now please. Give me my watch back.

Amelia Spens, formerly known as the Pickpocket (AS): Oh, I don't think so. Lads! (sounds of several sets of footsteps closing in) You're surrounded.

SY: Five, it's a gang of pickpockets.

AS: I'd have been happy with just the watch, but since you followed me, allow me to introduce the Abel Street Gang, they're all over the rooftops and they've all got knives.

SY: Please, don't hurt us, Five here has nothing to do with this!

AS: There'll be no need for bloodshed as long as you both give me all the money you're carrying.

SY: Five doesn't have anything, but, uh, (mumbling, followed by the sound of a heavy bag of coins hitting the ground) That's all of mine.

AS: W-he-hell, aren't we the wealthy one.

SY: I-I've got more! Lots more! And I'll give it to you, I promise, just please return the watch. It's my most treasured possession.

AS: I see! Not an especially experienced negotiator, are you. Hmm, let's take a look at this watch, see what's so special about it. Hmm, pearl face, silver plating, and... an engraving...

SY: It's uh... it's Chinese, those are my parent's names, and that's mine. Sam Yao.

AS: Y-you're not even going to try and make up an identity? What- (laughing) You're lucky I'm just a pickpocket and not someone REALLY nefarious, I- Helloo, what's this? (music starts playing)

SY: There's a tiny music box behind the face, that melody was special to them.

AS: Ooh, a bit twee if you ask me.

SY: So you'll give it back?

AS: I might have sold it back to you for a few sovereigns before you told me who you were, but as my luck would have it there just happens to be something that only you can do for me, Sam Yao. Your uncle's digging a railway underneath London, isn't he?

SY: H-how did you know that?

AS: I read the Society Pages, in my line of work one needs to know who's on course to inherit what fortune, and which Saloons they're likely to fall out of after one too many brandies.

SY: My fortunes from my parents, not my uncle.

AS: Yes, but you're his ward, or at least you were until you came of age recently, correct?

SY: Yes.

AS: There's something I want to show you. Follow me and keep up the pace. There are far more unsavoury types than me in Whopping and they'll take more than your watch. Run!

CLIP FIVE

SY: What's your name?

AS: I'm not telling you my real one, but you can call me Amelia.

SY: Uh, if you don't mind me saying, Amelia, you're quite well spoken for a pickpocket.

AS: Well, even an educated woman is not replete with options in this day and age. We might have a woman on the throne but I had to choose between penury, marriage to a seventy year old rector, or this.

SY: Well, it's not easy for me either, I'm lucky I have money because, well, being Chinese, people have misconceptions.

AS: Yes, you really should choose your friends wisely. Down this side street.

SY: Ugh, Mm. What IS that smell?

AS: Cover your mouths with your handkerchiefs, both of you.

SY: It's alright, Five, you can use mine.

AS: The smell is coming from that huge pipe, you see the emblem embossed on it?

SY: Ah! It's from my uncle's engineering company!

AS: That's right. The pipe is a ventilation shaft from his railway tunnel, now let's get away from it so we can breathe.

SY: (Gasping) Whoah, Oh that's better. What is going on down there?

AS: That's what I want you to find out.

WO (distant): MASTER YAO! WORKER FIVE!

SY: Ugh, it's the workhouse owner.

WO: (approaching footsteps) (panting) Master Yao, I followed you all the way from Rutherhive, one of my workers told me this woman is actually part of the Abel Street Gang! She only came to the workhouse to target you.

AS: This worker, was he a handsome fellow? Smarmy grin?

WO: That's right!

AS: Brent. (Sigh) That'll teach me to use former paramours as spies. Fine. (gun clicking) Hands up!

SY: Amelia! Don't shoot him!

AS: I'm not not aiming it at him, Sam, I'm aiming it at you.

WO: Steady on!

AS: Mr Workhouse Owner, unless you want future investors to know you got this one killed, I'd advise you to stop following us. Sam, Five, come with me or I'll shoot you both. Run!

CLIP SIX

AS: We lost the Workhouse owner, time to put this away (clicking sound)

SY: We would have come with you, Amelia, there was no need for the gun!

AS: Don't tell me how to take a hostage. Now listen carefully, for reasons that elude me, not everyone who falls on hard times opts for criminality, some people would honestly rather perform manual labour, and your uncle happens to be a proliferate employer of such eccentrics. I wouldn't care, except that many of his employees have family in the Abel Street Gang.

SY: I can ask my uncle to pay them more. But... He doesn't really listen to me. I'm Rather naive, apparently.

AS: Well, fortunately I have no need of your dreadful negotiating skills, I need you to solve an even stickier problem. Several of your uncle's workers have gone missing. Even though I've repeatedly explained to my gang that it's a waste of time caring about anything besides one's self, they're refusing to work until they learn what's happened to their loved ones. It's hurting my bottom line.

SY: That's awful... For the workers.

AS: Ahh, they're probably dead. If WE can barely breathe the noxious fumes near the ventilation shafts, what do you think it's like underground?

SY: I can't imagine! Those poor people... I'll stop what's happening, I promise, even if I have to spend every last penny of my inheritance.

AS: Do that and I'll give you your watch back.

SY: It's a deal.

AS: Mm, my favourite words. Righto, well, if that's settled then I'm off. There's a debutante ball this evening and I need to be in good time if I'm going to harvest some pearls. (retreating footsteps)

SY: There she goes. Look, Five, ah, I feel a bit awkward asking you this, but, would you maybe consider working with me? You were quick out there, really impressive, I've just moved into a house by myself and I could do with a hand. I promise it'll be a lot easier than the workhouse. I know it's been a funny old day, but for me it's actually been nice having someone to talk to. Talk at. Sorry, I know I go on a bit. But if you want to let's shake on it. You did save my life. Great! Now, I'm starving, how about some steak and oyster pie? Maybe we'll come up with some ideas about what happened to those missing workers over dinner., then tomorrow, we'll visit my uncle. Lord Earnest Van Ark.