#people can't find me unless they see me on a server (unlikely) or unless i give them both my display name AND the number!

[knifegremliin]

go fuck yourself.

[caitas-cooing]

Hi! As someone who follows you and knows nothing about Shining Nikki, what is the game about and why do you love it so much? I'd like to hear you talk about something you're passionate about :)

Okay, that is something that could take a while to explain, but let's start with the basic. Shining Nikki is a 3d dress up game and is the 4th game in the Nikki series, although Love Nikki and Shining Nikki are the only ones that are still on the Play store with active servers. Nikki up2u (the first one) was up on the door a long time, probably due to being an offline game overall so there was no server costs, but it was taken off somewhat recently though I don't remember when exactly. Nikki up2u was my first Nikki game because even though Love Nikki was out at the time I happened to stumble across Nikki up2u first, and then love Nikki a few months later. Shining Nikki is the only 3d one though, all the other entries are 2d. There's going to be another game called Infinity Nikki which is going to be an open world dress up game, but who knows when that's coming out, and when it does it still probably take a few years for us to get a global server.

Shining Nikki is important to me because I have been playing the Nikki series on and off since highschool. The combination of story and pretty clothes intrigued me and even though the translation can sometimes be not great (Love Nikki had some interesting statements and typos in there, Shining Nikki is much better in this regard but it still pops up occasionally) they are very interesting stories that are often darker than the cute clothes and bright colors would have you believe. Love Nikki's story involved being sent to another world called miraland where every dispute is solved by fashion battles, and later you find out that the reason that happens is because the people there are under a blood curse so that is they are violent against each other they will die painfully unless they take drugs to stop that from happening. Also someone stabbed Lunar onscreen and I was not expecting that from the game which was mostly lighthearted up to that point, but that scene probably alter my brain chemistry somehow I swear. Like the showed her getting stabbed onscreen and then she died in Nikki's arms while Nikki is crying. This happened in a dress up game. Lunar did not deserve that, Nikki did not deserve that. Lunar's death haunts me because of the shock of it all. Also Nikki gets swords and knives and guns as handheld objects in these games so that's fun.

Okay now finally onto Shining Nikki (you know, the game you actually asked me about originally and then I got sidetracked horribly). This game also takes place in miraland but in the past, so like before the blood curse happened. They still decide a lot of things through fashion and the use of "styling power" which can be used to do a lot of different things including controlling people like puppets or making illusions that people with lower styling power can't see through. These are both things villains in this game do in like the first few chapters of the game. That said, because it does take place before the blood curse there is a lot more violence, there are guns and knives and swords and gangs and wars. This stuff is described more than shown, but they are very present. Shining Nikki takes place in the past because miraland was destroyed in the time she was originally taken and she's trying to stop it from happening again. This games story is dark from the start unlike Love Nikki.

Shining Nikki also made the inspired decision of having Nikki directly talking with the player as a big part of the game and she is such a sweetie and I love her. She'll celebrate your birthday with you and ask if you've eaten and compliment your sense of style. Hearing Nikki say "I know you enjoy your leisure time at night, but try not to stay up too late" is so nice every time. She'll also sing a son about what she would do if she were a cat and complain about how Momo never lets her touch his toe beans. She'll say sadder stuff sometimes to like how she feels lonely when she remembers she doesn't belong to this time and space or how she misses her family at night.

There's more stuff to say too but it's way later (or technically earlier) than I thought it was so I should attempt the sleep thing so I'm stopping here. This whole ramble was a mess and I apologize for that.

Anyway look up Shining Nikki Star Sea and I think that will help explain some of the appeal too. Pretty animation make my brain happy. The physics in the hair and dresses in game are also neat. It goes whoosh

[unluckyxse7en]

Ok so. Long unnecessary rant incoming, just for the sake of ranting and to no one's interest but - I'm gonna be honest. I'm legitimately making plans to leave Tumblr long term, like I'm unfollowing more tags and blogs with each update, and already planning out How or Why I will or won't use tumblr once some of these updates take place.

And here's the thing. I've been parked on this site for Years. I've been a Committed user for nearly a decade, unshaken by Plenty of bad updates. If anything I probably look like that "I can excuse x but draw the line at y (you can excuse x???)" Meme to some.

But this is a final straw because Tumblr's stripping everything that made it stand out and unique, which means I'll leave because I can't excuse x AND y. Y took away the Only thing keeping me going in this case.

And here's why I feel like this is significant - I'm a very archive-oriented person.

I don't just delete things. I don't just ditch things once I'm committed to them. I love to be able to preserve moments in time with trinkets and files and Tumblr has been perfect for that for so long. For archiving art and posts I love even when the blog they came from was deleted or deactivated. Time capsules I could catalogue and fondly look back on. I expanded my tagging systems at my own detriment just so that others could find similar solace in my blog, if they so chose. It was little, but important to me. It felt like a meaningful thing.

But I've hit the point where I'm about ready to just. give up on archiving here.

I'm going to slowly unfollow more people - mostly to avoid new things put on my dash. No more 'doomscrolling', no more new things to add to my long list of stuff to properly 'archive'.

I'm going to start clearing out my likes - by reblogging in honor of the OP in some cases, unliking bc I won't be coming back in others.

I'm probably even going to delete several of my side blogs which. If you knew how many I have and how hard it's been to justify deleting any of them to myself, you'd understand the gravity of this statement.

And - I'm gonna be blunt.

I don't even have anywhere in mind to go.

This isn't me ditching for a better site. I don't think there even is one, for me.

I'm literally leaving just to leave. I have no other options. I am not gonna let that stop me. If I'm going to end up with zero online presence other than Maybe on Discord servers, so be it.

That's essentially where I'm at right now.

So mutuals, if I unfollow, this is just part of the process. It's gradual, I still have posts to reblog or queue up so you'll see me in your notes for a while I'm sure. But basically I'll be pulling away from this site bit by bit going forward I think, unless Tumblr does some hard turnarounds they won't.

[stellocchia]

And, finally, here I am with the final part of my little Overly Long Analysis 3 parter!

You can find part 1 on Sapnap's stream [Here] and part 2 on Tommy's stream [Here]

As always I'm talking about the characters unless explicitly stated otherwise, and the dialogue is color-coded, so we'll have: Jack, Niki

Analysis under the cut!

This time we're talking about Jack's stream THE DARKEST DAY | DREAM SMP LORE because my boy popped off and deserves the highlight.

The stream starts a bit after Jack's meeting with Tommy. All the colors in the stream are muted, and the music is somber, most likely to indicate both Jack's feelings on what has just occurred and his overall mental state.

He starts off by explaining that he never expected Dream to actually get out. That he thought the man would forever be in prison.

"Why the fuck would someone break him out? It's like everyone on the server, all at once, seem to forget how bad that he was. Everyone at once just kinda didn't care! I was the only one who chased after him! Everyone else ran for a bit, hit him a couple of times and went 'Well I did what I could'"

First thing: to Jack it's literally inconceivable that anyone would want Dream free with how much hurt he's caused. And for the rest, we know that he isn't right. Sapnap kept chasing after Dream and even confronted him again alone n Tubbo's vault. Sam kept looking for him as well, and Hannah and Boomer did too as far as I know. But Jack split up from them in the Nether after Eryn refused to tell anyone which direction Dream had gone in, so of course, he wouldn't know that. And his frustration at everyone only grows.

"And this isn't like Tommy, you know? Where everyone seems to see him as some sort of god, or some sort of hero, or the person we should protect, despite everything he did. Everyone is aware that Dream was the enemy! No one's on his side! Some people are neutral but... everyone knows what he did! And yet someone went in there and broke him out!"

It's interesting to see the difference between how Jack sees Tommy and how he sees Dream. Because obviously he hates both, and his view on both is rather distorted. But the main difference is that his hate for Tommy is personal. He hates him because he feels like he was abandoned by him and because Tommy killed him. The harm Tommy caused was mostly personal to himself, despite how he tries to spin it most of the time. Meanwhile, his hate of Dream is mostly dependant on the man harming everyone else. And hate for Dream should be a given in his mind, because, unlike with Tommy, everyone should be aware of what he's done.

He then heads towards the crater of L'Manburg.

(Bad and Puffy left a statue as a present)

The statue they left him was really appreciated by Jack. Especially considering how abandoned and forgotten he feels.

"It's like everywhere you go on this server someone's watching" (paranoia?)

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Which is stupid! 'Cause no one would have done it for me!" (more resentment and feelings of abandonment)

"But I look back on places like this [L'Manburg's crater] if it would render and *sigh* it's like... despite everything, I can't let anything to happen to them. Despite them letting everything- everything happen to me I can't stand back and let people fall victim to their own poor choices! It's like- it's like I'm- I'm the only one whom I'm allowing to deal with consequence. Every time someone else is in danger I... I- I step in"

This is Jack having the revelation that he's been trying unsuccessfully to be a hero all this time. Perhaps not so explicitly, but he's always been trying to help and save people in his mind, by either fighting by their side (like on Doomsday or the 16th) or by trying to fight against those he views as dangerous individuals (trying to kill Tommy and now fighting against Dream once more). And this ties back in the fact that no matter how resentful he is Jack still cares, and he feels extremely conflicted about that.

"If I could save everyone like I tried to I'd at least feel fulfilled, but... I don't feel even remotely fulfilled, I feel stupid" (lack of fulfillment and self-isolation are his biggest problems from a mental health perspective)

Coming back from the crater Jack stops for a while to watch Phil, Ghostboo, and Tommy move around.

"Tommy's screaming about how he's in danger and now everyone stops what they're doing and helps him, like they always do" (This seems to be truer for how Jack treats Tommy than for how the rest of the server treats him. Jack was the one who put aside his resentment to help out both on Doomsday and the Disc War Finale. I wonder who Jack's resentment here is truly aimed at...)

Jack also seems to have a distorted view of how the initial war went down. Thinking that Tommy took a whole "nation of people who didn't know what they were getting into" to war, one they couldn't win, for "two pieces of vinyl" which really never happened. Once L'Manburg began Tommy always tried to keep the Disc War personal. He only ever gave up his discs for the Nation, never put them above it. It's interesting to see how twisted Jack's view of the events is. Jack's also under the impression that Tommy started the war himself, which, again, wasn't the case.

"And even this time! After all he did to me, after I told him what he did to me, he turns to me and asks for my help. And I'd be stupid if I did it! Stupid! Because, at the end of the day, I'll just get dragged into the next battle. Dream's coming for him, he's made that clear. I don't- he's not crazy, he knows what he's getting into"

Honestly, this is why I was saying that Jack's frustration feels more directed at himself than at anyone else. He's the one who keeps hesitating when it comes to Tommy asking him for help. He's the one who's unsure of what to do. Because, from his perspective, it would be stupid to help. Helping Tommy only results in war, death, and destruction in Jack's mind, and yet he can't just outright refuse to either. And it's also interesting that Jack interpreted Tommy's request for help as him asking Jack to help him against Dream when it was actually a request for Jack to help him build the walls.

"Dream made it clear he's never gonna kill Tommy. That was apparent. That was the whole reason I was gonna kill him a while ago! To get back at Dream and Tommy at once" (character recognizing Dream's obsession with Tommy in canon once more)

"I wish they'd [Tommy and Dream] leave everyone else out of what they're doing, you know? That's Tommy and Dream's battle and if they want to go off and fight, they can go off and fight. But no one else should have to deal with it" (again, he has a pretty distorted view of things, thinking that Dream would leave everyone else alone if Tommy fought with him by himself. Which, for one thing, Tommy right now simply can't do, and for another, wouldn't stop Dream from going after everyone else for power)

"Yet saying all of that, every single thing I said, everything I just said tells me not to go and help him. But in that moment when he turned around and said 'Jack i need your help'... I still don't know if I'm wrong in not saying yes" (And here it is. The admission. The reason why he's so frustrated and so conflicted despite everything)

"You know I don't remember Tubbo ever going to war with anyone" (Disc war, L'Manburg independence, Pogtopia, Butcher army, Doomsday, Disc War Final, Cookie Outpost conflict, Jack has quite the warped vision of Tubbo as well)

"Or Technoblade deciding that he really has it in for Niki" (Not for Niki specifically, but he did go to war against L'Manburg on two occasions. Definitely hated Tubbo in particular for a while too)

"Then there's that, isn't there? Niki. You know what? When I went into exile when I took myself off to New Manifoldland and decided I'd never come back here, there was always this idea- this... I don't know what it was but... I kinda hoped that being the person I was closest to she'd notice I was gone, you know? And- and search and- I don't know- show up in the middle of the desert and say 'Hey Jack, come home'. I don't even know where home is anymore. It's not there and it's definitely not here anymore. And then, during all of it, all of it, the one person I kinda hoped that I could trust, I hear them say that she set off the withers! That she was there to help Dream get out of the fucking prison?! Like- like she doesn't remember what we spoke about!"

Needless to say, Jack is also extremely conflicted about Niki. He feels abandoned once more, possibly since she joined the Syndicate. He was hoping that at least she would go searching for him, because, despite Jack's tendency to self-isolate, there's nothing he wants more than a community. And, of course, she didn't. He also feels betrayed because of her participation in Dream's escape, especially since it used to be him and her against Tommy and Dream. That's how it all started for them. It feels like a betrayal of his trust, despite how long they haven't spoken in.

After that Jack gives a speech about how no one should decide on their own who gets to live and die and that people should think more about doing their own thing.

"You can't agree with me that Tommy was the problem and then not see that Dream was the problem too! They're two sides of the same fucking coin, I've always said it!" (Reiteration of Jack's peculiar world view)

Jack decides that he needs to go speak with Niki. On the way, Jack mentions how he doesn't understand Niki since she's been "starting on that anarchy bullshit" as he put it. Because she switched from doing certain things with him to doing the exact opposite.

He also comes across Kinoko Kingdom and marvels at its beauty, and at the fact that it's not in ruins. Past that he arrives at Niki's secret city and finds her there.

"What were you doing at the prison?" "I- Just what I was told, Jack. I had to help Techno, Ranboo was stuck in prison. Trust me, I- I didn't want it to happen, it was the last resort. We- we- it was the last resort! I- I didn't-I-" "But why does any of that matter?! It doesn't matter who goes to jail, Dream is number one priority" "Ranboo is dead! Ranboo is dead!" "Ranboo is dead?" "We had to save him! We tried to save him!" "And how did that go?" "No one- no one-" "Nothing is more important- nothing is more important than keeping Dream in there, and you know that! You know that! If you were with me on Tommy of course, you gotta be with me on Dream!"

A few things to talk about here:

1) For the people thinking that the Syndicate freed Dream because they cared about how corrupted the prison was, you have the proof here that at least one of the members couldn't give a f*ck about that. She literally only cared about Ranboo being in there. (We also know that Phil's reason wasn't that either, because he made that clear).

2) To Jack, Ranboo should have stayed in prison if it meant also keeping Dream in there. As a matter of fact, to him, there's nothing more important than keeping Dream in there. A failed rescue mission especially shouldn't take priority over keeping him locked up in his mind. Meanwhile, for Niki it's the opposite.

"Who knows if we were right with Tommy...? I don't know anymore Jack. I don't- I-" "What do you mean? Maybe we shouldn't have killed him, but you can't- you've got to agree that- you got to agree that he was in the wrong!"

Niki mostly moved on from their old way of thinking. She was hurt in the period of time when she agreed with Jack, and she was misdirecting her anger. Jack didn't realize that though, and it hurts him to know that they can't see eye to eye anymore.

"Dream had a favor. He held a favor over Techno. We had to-" "Great, that's between them!" "But he's my friend" "Was I? Was everyone?" "You're still my friend Jack" "You have any idea where I've been? At all? For the past, like, three months?" "No, I was waiting"

Jack's philosophy is pretty much everyone for themselves. And it tends to clash a lot both with his desire to help others and with his desire to be helped by others. It's an interesting internal conflict. It's also what causes him to think that Niki should have left Techno to deal with his favor alone, but he still wishes that she didn't let him deal with his own problems alone.

"How was I supposed to find you? Because you just disappeared. You disappeared out of-" "But did you even try?" "No, I didn't. I didn't. But I had my own things to deal with Jack, you know?" "What, like breaking Dream out?" "You- Jack you think that you are The Person and that everyone else is selfish, but- think about the things I had to do, I had to go through things too"

This is a core part of their conflict. Jack has abandonment issues, and he was only really close to Niki before leaving. So her admitting that she didn't try to search for him hurts him. But Niki had already established her own friendships when he left. As she said, she had her own things to deal with (her feeling on Wilbur's revival, possibly Techno's imprisonment, her own mental health). It's an interesting conflict of "when should you put yourself above the need of others"?

They keep talking about this and Niki explained that she didn't act with the intention of helping Dream break out, she was only there for Ranboo. Niki also mentions that Jack could have been there, to which he responds that being there never did him or anyone else any good.

"I made this place so that people like us have a home, that people like us have a family, Jack" "Well, what happens next time? What happens next time, when Technoblade has to call in another favor? Will you run off and help him again?" "Probably" "Then I don't want a part in that!"

This time we have another conflict of ideology. Jack doesn't want to be involved in any more conflict, and he knows he would be if he was involved with Technoblade, even second-hand involvement. Because, at least from his perspective (which, as always, isn't quite correct) in the Dream smp you are judged based on the actions of those you associate with. Niki seems to want to change that, which is why she insists that Jack wouldn't need to be associated with Techno just because he's staying in her city.

They talk some more and Niki brings up the fact that governments are the problem on the server (which, at this point makes very little sense considering that there aren't even any governments left?). Jack entirely disagrees with that, even mentioning how the anarchist group making laws against governments is turning into another government by itself (which, by the dsmp definition of government as a small group of people making laws isn't even wrong).

"The amount of times that you will run away from yourself is okay! But please, please remember that there's always a place that you can come back to, and I'm so incredibly sorry that I hurt you" (I think this was a nice quote to sum up Niki's offer)

"Jack you're my friend, you're my best friend, and you will always be, okay? I will always be on your side. Even over Techno's side! Even over- over- I don't know, I don't have many allies" (Rocket Duo moment for the soul)

"I'm sorry too. I- I didn't think about anyone else when I was leaving and to preach about everyone else being selfish is- well it's- I don't know. It makes me a hypocrite I guess" (Self-reflection and healthy communication, honestly these two may have one of the healthiest dynamics on the server)

Niki then gives Jack a book, so he can write the coordinates of where he is staying and give them to Niki, so she can always know where he is, since he already knows where she is.

"Please don't share these [the coordinates] with anyone. Even- Tommy still wants me to help him and- look, I don't know if I should but I- I wanna make that choice by myself" (Recognizing his own tendency to easily get pressured into things, Jack has done quite a bit of self-reflection this stream)

Jack leaves after this to get the coordinates for Niki.

"I'm still mad but, I don't feel like I can blame her anymore. I wasn't there for her, I guess. And the Syndicate were and I- I guess when you're that lonely it's- it's enticing regardless of what they stand for. I can't- I can't blame her. It doesn't mean I agree with what she did! She's wrong and she's put all of us in fucking danger"

Oh, this is a neat little parallel to Tommy's situation with Phil I hadn't noticed before! Both Tommy and Jack forgave the other person on a personal level after coming to an understanding of them. They forgave the other person for harming them specifically but without forgiving the incident as a whole. Tommy doesn't forgive Doomsday, he forgives Phil. And Jack doesn't forgive Dream's escape, he forgives Niki.

"I can't remember the path home. If I can call this home. It never really felt like it" (Again, lacking a sense of belonging)

"I still don't know what to do about Tommy. And it's really eating me up inside, 'cause I know I'd be stupid to help him, but every time he asks I feel bad if I don't" (I wonder how long it'll take him to understand that the reason why he feels so conflicted is that he still cares. Really a nice honest talk between these two would benefit Jack so much)

Jack arrives in New Manifoldland after quite a long travel through the Nether. He doesn't find Jessbee, the pet he was living with there, though. Through the grief for the loss, he realizes that out there isn't where he belongs and he decides to actually write down the coordinates of the place for Niki.

"I feel quiet but there's just- there's so much on my mind, you know? I don't know whether to help Tommy, I don't know- I still don't fully know whether I'm right in trusting Niki but... I got no one else left" (this is basically a summary of all of his internal conflict this stream, nice)

"Peace is all I want" (another parallel between him and Tommy. Always looking for peace, but never able to find it)

Jack goes and gives the book to Niki and then the stream ends.

[nicoforlifetrue]

Summery:Dee Roman and Remus practicing a dead religion has some hiccups when it comes to history

Notices:

none of these are in any real timeline yet!

Yes the other sides are here

More then one person wrote this

There is a prologue! Read it here

The History Class Incident-

History was taught by Professor Thomas Sanders, he was a bright, cheery guy who never called Remus out for the 'juice' in his water bottle. He was a great guy by the standards of the three. That is, until the mythology course started. 

You see; Roman, Remus, and Dee hadn't yet told their roommates why they burned their food or why Remus was always inebriated or high. They hadn't said why Roman was so focused on appearance or why Dee's knee jerk reaction was to lie. Because all that was normal to them. It was how the three followed their respective patrons. But after the first day of mythology, the boys dragged their roommates out to meet the people they grew up with and rage over the inaccuracies of the course; expecting said roommates to rage with them. 

Dee had talked Virgil into going the entire way to the little coffee shop a friend of theirs worked at. The college student was seething the whole way there; you see the first unit in the course was Norse mythology and dear Professor Sanders had called Loki, his patron, the main villain of all things! Now Virgil, the good but anxiety ridden person he was, finally asked Dee what was wrong about halfway to the coffee shop. "Dude, what's your deal? Why are you so pissed?"

Dee sighed at that, rubbing his face before he stated, "You sat next to me in history; I know you heard what the professor said. He insulted the gods themselves and insinuated that Loki was a villain! That's why I'm pissed; he's a disrespectful cunt!"

Virgil laughed. "Dude, chill; he's just talking about an old religion. Like, sure, Loki is a cool superhero, but he's still pretty crazy in the myths."

Dee leveled his gaze at Virgil upon hearing that; disbelief written across his features. "Are you fucking with me? Please say you are; ‘cause if you aren't, I might have to kill you."

Virgil raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh really? Why are you taking it so seriously?"

"How are you not?" Dee snapped back before he sighed, trying to calm down. "I'm sorry I just- good gods and goddesses he called Loki a character, flattened his story's into two dimensional cluster fucks, left out all of the good Loki did; and all around disrespected him; thus disrespecting me and all other wards of Loki! I have no idea who your patron is but imagine if that happened to them. It physically sickens me just remembering that 'lesson', ugh."

"Wait wait wait," Virgil said, putting two and two together. "You take mythology seriously? Like it's actually your religion?"

Dee gave him a look. "Stop calling it a mythology and what; you don't? I always thought you followed Hades or Nyx," he hummed. "I grew up learning about the gods and goddesses, yes."

"Oh that's cool, I didn't know anyone still believed in that religion. I've no clue who my patron would be though," he said, laughing a bit.

"You don't?" Dee questioned before pausing and humming. "That actually explains some things…. But he's still a fucking cunt."

Roman, on the other hand, felt more betrayed; though not quite nearly as much as when he had watched Hercules. He knew what Loki meant to Dee, and to hear such a grossly incorrect retelling of the gods stories? It was devastating. And to hear not just that, but Loki being reduced to his greatest mistake and flattened into an evil villain? He was brokenhearted at the fact that his favorite teacher could be so ignorant and brash, to the point of calling Loki a character! Now Logan, despite his ineptitude with emotions could tell the class had upset Roman. So as at least a good acquaintance of the man he felt obligated to ask what was wrong.

"Roman? Why were you feeling upset in class?"

"How could I not be?!" he responded, throwing his hands up. "The professor grossly distorted one of Loki's stories and refused to tell any others! Instead he just honed in on his greatest mistake and made Loki seem like a Disney villain!” 

“I still don't see why you are getting angry over a retelling of a simple character's story."

Roman’s gaze flattened at that. 

Staring at his roommate angrily, "Logan. You did not just call Loki, the trickster God of Asgard, a character from some fictional work. If you did, may the gods and goddesses help you when Dee finds out."

"Gods and Goddesses are not real, they are simply imaginary characters people created to explain the causes of natural phenomena, they are useless now that we can define the world with science."

Roman stared at him dumbfounded. "Logan, my friend, blessed by Athena, unless you wish to end up being mauled by my brother; I suggest you change that perspective before he runs out of wine. And perhaps pay more respect to those higher than us mere mortals." 

Logan sighs. "You will not understand that one cannot praise something that is just a fictional character, so I will end this pointless conversation."

Roman rolled his eyes at that. "You’re going to be punished for ignoring the gods, you know."

And the last pair was Remus and Patton. Patton wasn't a fan of Remus, the only reason he was coming along was so the drunk didn't hurt himself.

 

"I just can't believe the guy!" 

"What?" 

"What do you mean, ‘what?’ He shit-talked the gods!" Remus huffed, well more like pouted. That statement basically ended the conversation.

The door to the cafe slammed open, an angry Dee storming in and over to their table. The other four were already there as Virgil trailed behind him. He slammed his palms against the table staring down at the wood, eyes full of fire.

"Fuck Professor Sanders."

Roman and Remus made noises of agreement as Dee sat down. "Who does he think he is! I mean, he's so clearly biased against trickster gods. Holy fucking Underworld!"

Roman nodded in agreement aggressively, and Remus kinda hummed as he took another sip of his drink. 

"I do not understand why you three are getting so riled up about what Professor Sanders said, he was merely telling the story of a mythological character." Logan said, monotone.

All three looked at him askance. "Because he retold it incorrectly, and refused to share any stories that would make my patron seem like he wasn't a complete shithead," Dee snapped; Roman frowning and Remus giggling drunkenly.

 

"Your 'patron' is a complete shithead, as you say, he wasn't a good person at all."

Dee stared at him at that "I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? Did you, one, put air quotes around the word patron and then secondly, follow it up by calling my patron a villain?" His voice was cold and dead serious, angry to the point of pulling a Remus and ripping the next person who insulted Loki to shreds.

"Yes, I was speaking clearly, so unless you are deaf; you heard me correctly. Secondly, I did not call him a villian; you called him that."

Dee took a breath, then sighed. "Logan, you dumb fuck. How has Athena blessed you?" he stated, mostly to himself. "Ok, here. Think of it this way. Let's say someone explains something as simple as the water cycle in a grossly incorrect manner. Wouldn’t you be pissed?" 

"I would fix their falsehood and move on. Yes I would be mad, but I would be right and they would be wrong."

"Now think of it like that, but it’s fucking stuck with me because I was also personally insulted with this falsehood. It would be like someone explaining how colors work to you as if you’re five; but they do it so very incorrectly. That's why I'm pissed off, get it?"

"Yes, I'm now partly understanding, but how were you insulted by this 'falsehood'?"

"’Cause it's also a fundamental part of who I am," Dee responded blandly. "Loki being my patron shaped who I am today; and what I present and act like, being Loki's ward, has made me who I am. And to insult him? It's a personal attack on who I am as a person, as well as an attack on someone who I hold higher than myself." 

Logan places his hands on the table. "So let me get this straight, you hold Loki in the same esteem that, say, a Christian would hold God?"

"Kinda; unlike Christianity though my patron, though unlikely, might change. I don't know how but it can happen. But basically, yeah." 

Logan nods. "And Roman and Remus are the same?" 

"Different patrons, but yeah." Roman chimed in, Dee nodding.

"Big ego, loves his own appearance; Roman is your patron Aphrodite?" Logan asks.

"Got it in one, Teach!" 

"Teach?" Logan says confusedly. 

"You act like a teacher. So, Teach." Roman responded with a smirk; Dee chuckling, Remus watching him with his loopy tipsy-but-not-quite-drunk grin. 

"Thank you for explaining, Princey." Logan says holding back a smile

"Ooo! I like that one," Roman hummed; Remus's face scrunched up before he grinned.

"Can I be Dukey then?" Logan ignores that. 

Virgil, who had previously been quiet, snickered. "Sure, why not?"

Dee sighed, relaxing.

"Now I'm worried about what he'll do to the rest of our patrons, especially Aphrodite." Roman shook his head. "I might just file a complaint, at this rate."

"I mean, Aphrodite was a little bipolar in the stories. And no, Roman, I'm not insulting her." Logan said, trying to stop Roman from getting mad.

"Good," Roman huffed; Remus giggling again.

"Yeah, but with what the professor did to Loki; he'll turn her from bipolar to outright batshit crazy."

"Yeah; that's my job!" Remus cheered. 

"Wait, drunkenness, insanity…is your patron Dionysus?" Logan said.

"Bingo!" Remus responded.

"You could just offer to teach things the right way around, since you have first hand experience with the stories," Virgil offered calmly.

"They could; but wouldn't that be taken as slander to Professor Sanders’ teaching?" Logan said, pulling a Rubix cube out of his pocket.

"Yeah, most likely not worth the risk," Dee hummed with a sigh. "We'll just have to grit our teeth, and hope he doesn't damn us all by insulting the gods and goddesses too badly..."

"Yeah, oh! Why do you have the snake tattoo, Dee?"

Dee raised an eyebrow. "I like snakes, and they’re a sign of my patron; tattoos are also a sign of rebellion against higher ups, especially on the face and areas of high visibility, so..." he gestured at his tattoo. "I got one."

"We should get back to school."

"But we have the rest of the day off! Don't tell me you need to study that badly," Roman whined; Dee nodding.

"Nothing to stress over…"

"You can never be too behind on your work. Also, seeing how we have to do something about Loki, I would suggest you get it over and done with."

Dee groaned at that. "I'm going to put in the truth, not whatever nonsense the professor was spouting." 

That promptly started a 'discussion' on work ethics.

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