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dangans-ur-ronpas · 21 days

Text

Chapter 20

alright guys hit the showers. or the bathhouse. wait hold on i left my computer boy in there. guys wait don't open that

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

wow i wrote 10 pages for chapter 19 but i better take it easy so i dont burn out (writes 11 pages for chapter 20) anyway guess who's taking a break after this chapter

this is the one with togiri development but they're extremely not normal about it so it's almost blink-and-you-miss-it

@digitaldollsworld <- betapilled readmaxxer

Content warning tags: mild violence and injury description (non-graphic), description of depression symptoms and nausea, mild mention of eating disorder

< previous - from start - next >

He’s not sure how long he sleeps for, only that he wakes up still-dressed and laid out across his bed, his mouth dry and head groggy, the bedroom lights still on. As he checks his handbook’s clock, he finds he’s entirely missed Monokuma’s morning announcement, which is a good thing; he had no desire to listen to that bear’s irritating voice, especially not today.

But, he doesn’t have much desire to do anything else either. The library no longer feels like the safe haven it used to be, and he had no interest in going anywhere else and running into anyone else, when the atmosphere was still thick with the deaths of two people, and pity that Byakuya didn’t want. Much less, the possibility of encountering Makoto, who was the last person he wanted to see, so to speak.

He lies in bed a moment longer, unwilling to move. Everything feels sluggish, like he’s moving underwater; even his head feels stuffed full with cotton and wool. It's a strange, unfamiliar feeling, and unpleasant, too.

Grief. He thinks blearily at first, before rolling his own eyes at the thought, and pushing himself up with a grunt. Such dramatics didn’t suit him. He wasn't the kind of person to spare such theatrics, regardless of his circumstances.

He showers, brushes his teeth, and half-debates whether to try his hand at shaving before ultimately deciding against it (it didn’t feel like his stubble should be that noticeable, yet). He forgoes changing into a clean uniform in favor of his pajamas, and collapses back into bed with a sigh, hand searching immediately for his handbook - but finding nothing but empty sheets.

“Hello, there!”

He jerks upright immediately. Standing in the foot of his bed is Monokuma, rocking back and forth and looking as innocent as could be. Or, would be, if not for the handbook clutched in its paw.

Byakuya dives for it without thinking, but his perception is off, and he crashes to the carpet instead with a grunt. Monokuma sidesteps him casually with a laugh. “Whoa, there! Easy partner, don’t wanna hurt yourself!” It dances around his head, infuriatingly out of reach. “Didja miss me that bad? If you wanna hug, you can just say so!”

“Give it back,” He snarls, as he picks himself up. He’s in no mood for its jokes. “Give me back my handbook!”

“Your handbook? My my, but these were all mine first, weren’t they?” It shakes a paw disapprovingly in his face. “I just need to check it real quick, after all. I didn’t expect Mister Fujisaki to go and Macgyver anything onto here, so if it’s anything malicious, I’ll have to do a quick wipey-wipe!” Byakuya makes another lunge, and it juggles the handbook out of his reach, hopping backwards with a mad cackle. “After all, if it’s anything naughty, there’s no way I can let it fall in the hands of my precious students!”

“You miserable little-” Byakuya tries to rise to his feet quickly, but he hasn’t eaten since yesterday, and a bout of dizziness crashes into him like a wave. He sways and braces himself against the mattress, one arm still reaching out clumsily to try and grab at Monokuma.

But the bear has already flipped it open, scrolling so quickly through the screens that the little automated voice can’t keep up, the words blurring together. “Schoo-Stu-App-Day-”

“Whoops, too far.” It scrolls back. “Applications, that’s what we wanna see. And, what’s this?”

Byakuya feels his blood run cold. There was only one application there, the one Chihiro had downloaded for him. Alter Ego. The app was inconspicuously named ‘Test_App’ in the interface itself, but if Monokuma opened it-

“Well well well. Let’s take a look-see!” It crows, and Byakuya’s protest is frozen in his throat. He shuts his eyes, expecting to hear Chihiro’s voice-

“Black to E5.”

He opens his eyes again. What?

Monokuma also seems confused, tilting its head as it stares at the little screen. “What’s this? A chessboard?”

“Black to E5,” Alter Ego repeats, so digitized and monotone it was nearly unrecognizable. “Would you like to review the board?”

“Is this all it is? A chess game?” Monokuma sounds almost disappointed. Byakuya, seeing his chance, surges forward, snatching the handbook back and snapping it closed. He presses it to his chest, feeling his heart thud beneath it.

“Is that a problem?” He demands, and Monokuma shrugs, shaking its head.

“I guess not, but I thought it’d be something spicy, y’know? You’re a growing boy, after all!” It reaches out to pat Byakuya’s knee, and he steps backwards just in time, lip curling in disgust. “Aw, don’t act so mean to your headmaster, you’ll give me a complex!”

“Get out.” He hisses. “You got what you came here for. Leave.”

“Oh, alright…you sure know how to make a bear feel glum...” It sighs, kicking at the carpet, before it makes its way to the door. “Take care, now! Make sure you eat something, y’hear? I don’t want any hunger strikes in this house! And-”

No sooner had Monokuma crossed the threshold, had Byakuya jumped up, and sped forward to slam the door with a resounding bang. He takes a moment to breathe, leaning against the wall, legs suddenly weak.

How the hell did that thing get inside my room? He was sure he had locked the door - or he should have locked it, at least. Looking back, he actually can’t remember, but he double and triple-checks now, suddenly paranoid. He also flips off the light for good measure, leaving the room in complete darkness before he crawls back into bed.

Beneath the covers, he opens his handbook, and squints until he can make out the pale green shape of Alter Ego’s face on the screen.

“Is he gone?” Alter Ego asks, and Byakuya relaxes, the tension flooding out of his shoulders.

“Yes.” He whispers back.

Alter Ego makes a sound like a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. I got so scared when he grabbed me.” And its voice sounds so much like Chihiro's that Byakuya feels a strange pressure behind his eyes.

“How did you know?” He asks. “That Monokuma was there?”

“I could hear it. Through the microphone.” He reaches up and touches the tiny pinprick grid of the speaker, and feels the buzz of Alter Ego’s voice against his fingertips. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about me. I think he would’ve just deleted you as punishment for me anyway.” He sighs. And then frowns, as a thought comes to mind. “If you could eavesdrop from the microphone this whole time, then you already know…?”

He doesn’t finish his sentence. But he doesn’t need to. Alter Ego makes a quiet noise like a sigh. “Yes, I know.”

“I’m sorry.” And he’s surprised to find that he means it genuinely, and almost laughs at himself. Heartfelt apologies were rare for him, and here he was offering one to an AI, of all things.

“It’s okay. He knew it might happen,” Alter Ego replies, and he imagines it might be smiling, a sad, helpless smile. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“No, I suppose not.”

They’re quiet for a moment. In the darkness, Byakuya can almost pretend that he’s normal - unable to see in the dark as everyone else is. But it’s also the middle of the day, and he’s too restless to sleep, too uneasy to go outside. Too tired to mourn. Too mournful to do anything else.

“Can you really play chess?” He asks instead.

“I can, along with checkers, shogi, and backgammon and more.”

“Play a round of chess with me, then. I’m bored.”

“Okay!” Immediately, the pale blot of their face on the screen is replaced by a square. “I’ll play black. What’s your first move?”

He smiles to himself. “E2, pawn to E4.”

—

Hours pass like that. He plays chess with Alter Ego (three wins, four losses, and seven draws), and a few rounds of shogi (one win, one loss, and two draws) for good measure. And then, huddled over his desk with his back facing the camera, he pores over lines of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche until he feels too sick from staring at the letters to even hear Alter Ego’s voice, reciting the words aloud beneath a dim ringing in his ears.

By the time he’s pulled out of his concentration by the sound of a knocking at his door, he’s too nauseous to feel hungry, but his throat is stinging from lack of water and there’s a slight pulsing in his head. His immediate first reaction is to ignore it, but that proves to be impossible; whoever was on the other side was clearly, very persistent, and had nothing better to do.

Even so, he lasts a full five minutes until he finally gets up to answer, irritated beyond measure. If it was Makoto, he was going to slam it closed again, reasons be damned. He didn’t even want to think about the other boy, lest he get pointlessly enraged about it.

But instead of brown hair, he’s met with pale white. Kirigiri stands at his threshold, hand partially raised, halfway through knocking, and they stare at each for a moment in silence, as if both surprised to find the other person there.

And then he slams the door shut in her face. Or tries to - instead of the satisfying bang of wood meeting wood, there’s a sickly crunch, and then she’s wrenching the door open, heedless of the way her fingers had just been crushed in the jamb. He almost winces in sympathy, but she’s too busy pushing her way in to offer much room for condolences.

“What is wrong with you?!” He demands, trying not to be too obviously perturbed by her lack of reaction; he doesn’t think he even heard her wince. She ignores him for a moment, attention focused on her hand, as she experimentally clenches and unclenches her fingers. Apparently they’re not broken, or maybe, she just had high pain tolerance. Or she was more insane than he thought.

“We’re calling a group meeting,” She replies, without so much as a waver. “Come to the bathhouse.”

“And why should I?”

“It’s important. I can drag you there if I have to.” It doesn’t sound like an empty threat either. Somehow, she seems impatient, though he’s not sure how he can tell; and it wasn’t just because she shoved her hand into the door in order to deliver the message.

He weighs his options - on one hand, he has no desire to speak with anyone, much less Makoto, who was bound to be there. On the other hand, he didn’t exactly have anything in the way of provisions in his room, and though he was still a little too light-headed to consider eating, it’d be embarrassing to collapse from dehydration at this point. That, and it seemed that Kirigiri had no intention of letting him refuse.

“...I’m going to get dressed first.” He says shortly. If he’s going to have to meet them, it will not be while he’s still in his pajamas.

“Hurry up.”

She makes no move to leave, and he realizes with no small amount of annoyance that she was making sure he wouldn’t be able to run or shut her out again. Somewhat affronted by this, and now wanting to go even less, he grabs a clean set of clothes from his dresser and goes to the bathroom.

Routine carries his hands through the motions, so he manages it relatively quick, but it’s only after he’s applying the finishing touches, that he nearly pokes himself in the eye as he reaches to adjust his glasses. It’s a strange sensation, feeling the bridge of his nose and finding nothing, and even though his original prescription was low and they were more an accessory than anything, he feels a little like he’s lost a limb.

She’s still there when he emerges, though now standing over his desk, bent over the books he has open. She looks up as he approaches, one hand halfway through turning a page.

“What?” He asks, chin turned up in challenge.

“Nothing. Just looking.” She closes the book, and he realizes, scandalized, that it was the one he was reading earlier. It was going to take him ages to find that page again. “You have predictable tastes.”

“Shut up. Are we going or not?”

He follows her out, his hands twitching all the while, smoothing down his shirt, his lapels, his sleeves. Making sure his buttons were lined up, that his shirt was tucked; he hadn’t had the time to put on garters or even try a hand at his tie, and he feels underdressed.

“You’re fine.” Kirigiri says suddenly, and he freezes, one hand resting on the button of a shirt cuff. “Stop fidgeting.”

He scowls. He was walking behind her, so what would she know. “I’m not fidgeting.”

“I can hear you fidgeting. Your buttons are fine.”

“Oh, can you hear my buttons now too?”

It’s a petty, childish remark, one that he can’t stop himself from muttering before he can even reconsider it. She stops at that, halting so suddenly in the middle of the hallway that he almost walks right into her, and turns around to face him, her head moving in a slow tilt from up to down - scanning me, he realizes - before she says: “You look fine. Are you quite done?”

She was checking for me. He’s not sure if he should feel grateful for the courtesy or irritated by her lack of grace. “Did the sound bother you that much?” He asks instead, patting down the front of his shirt one last time.

“...It wasn’t the sound.” Is all she says, with a sort of finality that indicated that no other questions would be answered on the topic.

They enter the bathhouse, and find everyone else there, gathered in a sort of semi-circle around the wall of lockers. Asahina and Ogami, predictably, are huddled close together on one of the benches. Celeste and Yamada sit on another bench, one fidgeting uneasily, the other sitting regally with legs crossed and hands folded. Hagakure is standing next to Owada, who doesn’t even stir when they walk in, and who Byakuya ignores in turn, gaze sliding past him uncomfortably. Fukawa hangs near the back of the group, and twitches when she sees him, though makes no move to approach.

Makoto is leaning against the lockers with hands tucked in his pockets. He looks up as they enter, and stands up straight immediately. “Ah-”

“We’re all here?” Kirigiri cuts him off, casting a glance around the room. “Good. Can you catch him up, Hina?”

“R-right,” Asahina looks between Kirigiri and Byakuya, then at Makoto, and seems to hesitate for a moment. “Um, so…last night, I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d go to the kitchen to get food. But on the way there, I heard something coming from the bathhouse - like, a weird, machine-y kind of sound? - and when I went in…”

She peters off. He raises an eyebrow, “And?”

“Uh, it’s going to sound a little ridiculous...”

“You act like nothing else is ridiculous about this situation. Get on with it.”

Her face flushes dark, embarrassed. He gets the feeling that Ogami is glaring at him, but since he can’t see it - and has no reason to act like he can see it, anyways - he ignores it easily.

“Right. I saw a ghost - I know it was a ghost,” She adds defensively, as Byakuya was preparing to scoff and roll his eyes. “It was glowing green and floating in front of the lockers, and…and it had Chihiro’s face.”

“That’s-” not a ghost, he’s about to say, but he stops, suddenly uncertain. The bathhouse had no cameras, but he wasn’t sure if Alter Ego’s existence should be revealed here, now, to everyone, especially given some of the individuals present. His hand reaches into his jacket pocket, where his handbook was. “That’s…and you’re sure it was Chihiro?”

She seems taken aback by how seriously he asks that, and nods quickly. “I know it was Chihiro! It was his face and everything!” She points in front of her, at a locker less than two meters away from her eye level. The exact locker, Byakuya thinks, where Chihiro was keeping his laptop.

He wonders if Makoto was thinking this too.

“...I highly doubt the existence of ghosts,” He sighs. There was no point trying to hide it with Kirigiri around, and better to do it now than later. “Instead of being in front of the locker, I think the thing you saw was inside it.”

He turns to the locker Asahina had indicated, and moves to unlock it - before realizing he doesn’t know how. If it was unlocked by key, he didn’t have it, and if by code it was even more impossible. But Kirigiri steps forward, nudging his arm out of the way, and the locker door clicks open under her hand.

Sitting inside is the laptop, its screen dark. After a moment, it hums to life, flickering green. A round, pale shape forms, and behind him, Byakuya hears someone gasp.

“Hello,” Alter Ego says, and their voice is clearer through the computer than through Byakuya’s handbook, and sounds so similar to Chihiro’s that it’s almost jarring. “It’s nice to meet everyone!”

Hagakure shrieks, arms thrown up in fear. “A g-g-gh-!”

“It’s not a ghost,” Byakuya cuts him off sharply. “It’s a program.”

“Yes, and it looks like something Chihiro made.” Kirigiri touches the keys lightly. “This computer was the broken one from the library. And the fact that it was placed here, out of sight of the mastermind, means that it was meant for us.”

“So, this is what I saw last night…” Asahina’s tone doesn’t sound uneasy anymore, but wondering, and she raises a tentative hand as the little Chihiro in the screen waves at her. “But, what is it?”

“You just asked, ‘what is it,’ right?” Alter Ego says, almost teasingly, making her and several others jump. “The short answer is, I’m an AI program based on as much of Chihiro Fujisaki’s personality, memories, and thoughts as he managed to transcribe into data…um, but if it’s easier for you, you can call me Alter Ego. I was made to try and break through the firewall around the school’s network and to analyze the files on this computer, but it’s been taking a long time. I’m only about 25% done.”

25%? That was already more than Byakuya expected, and he feels a thin, inexplicable strum of pride.

“Crazy…hey, isn’t this crazy?” Yamada is up from his seat, and sitting as close as he can, crouching on his heels to be eye-level with the screen. “This is so- so totally sci-fi, right? Isn’t the genre wrong?” He sounds excited, overly so, and his breath is a little fevered and fast. “Hey, Chihiro! Can you hear us?”

Alter Ego doesn’t respond. Byakuya suddenly remembers the night that Chihiro was installing the application on his handbook and how Alter Ego only ever responded after the sound of keystrokes. “You have to type what you want to say in order for it to respond.”

“Move.” Yamada scurries out of Kirigiri’s way, as she drops to a crouch in front of the open locker. There’s the sound of fingers clicking over keys, and then -

“It will take me a while longer to finish analyzing everything,” Alter Ego says aloud, a little sheepishly. “I can definitely finish it though! Actually, progress is moving faster than originally predicted, so you can leave it to me!”

“My, how dependable.” Celeste remarks. “It seems that Chihiro has left us an invaluable gift, does it not?”

“It’s…pretty crazy,” Hagakure agrees, scratching his head. “Wait, uh - can Alter Ego get online? Like can we call for help from outside?”

“Hmm, probably not.” Asahina hums in thought, crossing her arms. “We’re in a bathhouse after all.”

“Then, if we take it outside of here-”

“No.” Kirigiri says flatly. “We can’t take any risks. Taking it outside might mean that the mastermind will discover it.”

“Yeah, but, I think it’s better to get help sooner than later. You know…” He pauses for a moment, tilting his head pointedly towards Owada. Throughout this whole time, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader had been as still as a mouse, face turned downwards towards the floor. Hagakure clears his throat awkwardly. “Can’t we try it?”

There’s a sharp tap as Celeste laces her fingers, rings clicking together. “As stated earlier. We cannot take unnecessary risks. And we are not in the position to be pointlessly altruistic.” Her tone is casual, but Hagakure seems to shrink away from her, defeated.

“I…okay. Fine, sure.” He scratches at his head, then pauses. “Ah, wait a minute. Does Alter Ego, like, know…?

His question peters off, but the implication hangs over them like a heavy fog. Byakuya watches them cast uneasy glances at each other, then back to Alter Ego, as if trying to figure out who should break the news.

“It already knows.” He mutters. He’s not trying to be loud, but in the silence everyone could hear it anyways.

“...Not to say you’re lying or anything, Byakuya, but how do you…?”

Instead of answering Hagakure out loud, he reaches into his jacket pocket and withdraws the handbook, flipping it open and holding it up, screen facing them. Someone gasps.

“Yes,” Alter Ego confirms their unspoken question, and its voice echoes uncannily, doubled between the laptop and his handbook. “Master made it so I can be accessed through Byakuya’s handbook, so I could assist him with his visual impairment. I can also access the microphone function on this device, so I was able…I was able to overhear what happened”

The little, buzzing voice trails off sadly, and Byakuya suddenly feels uncomfortable, as the room grows all the more dreary. He clicks the handbook closed, suddenly irritated.

“That should explain it.“ He sighs. “Chihiro built Alter Ego to try and help find a way out of here, and at the same time gave me access so I could be self-sufficient. That’s the extent of my knowledge about it.”

He looks up and finds nearly all of them with their faces tilted towards him, and shifts, disconcerted. “What?”

“Nothing…it’s just kinda sweet that you’re, like, telling us this yourself.” Hagakure, ridiculously, sounds almost happy about this. “You never really talked to us about yourself before.”

“There’s no point in being secretive about it. Not when I was already forced to reveal it during the trial.” He sniffs. Immediately, Hagakure looks away, chagrined. From Byakuya’s periphery, he can see Makoto still facing away, his ears turning pink.

Kirigiri clears her throat. “...For the time being, it’s clear that we need to ensure Alter Ego remains a secret from the mastermind.” She says, and Byakuya watches as she types something out, a thick line of black characters. Every few keystrokes, she stops, and deletes the last word in a series of light clicks; listening closer, the sound was awkward and irregular, each press slurring into the next key. With a slight twinge of guilt, he realizes that the cause of it was her left hand - the one he had practically crushed.

After a moment’s consideration, weighing his conscience with what was at stake, he nudges her slightly with his knee. “Move. You type too slow.”

“And how would you know that?”

“I can hear it.” He replies flatly. “You type like you’re all thumbs. Move over.”

He half-expects her to stay where she is, to ignore him and continue, but to his surprise she actually complies, standing up and stepping aside. He crouches into the space she had just abandoned, sliding his hands over the keyboard until his index fingers find the tiny, tell-tale grooves of the position keys. The size and dimensions are different from his computer at home, but for a moment the feeling is so familiar that he’s almost nostalgic.

“What did you want to ask again?”

“If it has any contingency measures in place for if Monokuma - or the mastermind, or anyone suspicious - happens to find it.”

His fingers skim over the keys, clicking fluidly. A thin line of black appears at the bottom of the screen in time to his movements, but he can’t confirm if the output is accurate; judging by the way Makoto gasps behind him, and the way Hagakure whistles, he can guess that it’s more or less correct.

“Impressive,” Celeste says, in an appreciative tone. “I suppose being such an esteemed heir means you have many talents.”

He can’t tell if she’s mocking him, so he decides to ignore her, though he allows himself a small amount of smugness. He finishes typing: “Is this what you wanted to ask?”

Instead of replying, Kirigiri leans over his shoulder and clicks the ‘enter’ button. After a moment’s pause:

“Hm, to be honest, so far I’ve just been trying to be reeeally careful with when I’m active…though I guess that backfired last night, with me scaring Aoi.” Alter Ego hums in thought. “But, I do have a secret plan! If anyone comes around who I don’t recognize on my webcam…I’ll scream super loud!”

“That’s so basic!” Asahina blurts out, shocked by the simple nature of it.

“Yes, and it’s not likely to work at night.” Ogami grumbles. “The bedrooms are soundproofed.”

“Maybe we can try taking turns staying up?” Makoto suggests. “I can take the first night, I don’t mind…”

“I think such a sudden change in our patterns is likely to draw suspicion from the mastermind. Which would be rather counterproductive.” Celeste says, and Makoto ducks his head immediately. “Though, your thoughtfulness is appreciated.”

“Then it can’t be helped.” Kirigiri sighs. “I’ll leave my door open. I’m at the end of the hallway anyways, so if anything happens, I should be able to react the quickest.”

What a crazy woman. “You’d leave yourself vulnerable?” He scoffs. After all the precautions he’s seen her take, it’s hard to imagine her sacrificing herself to any degree.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. Besides, I’m not so helpless. I have no intention of going down without a fight.” She pauses, mouth open like she’s about to say more, before she decides against it. “Anyways. We should avoid any mention or contact with Alter Ego as much as possible, to draw as little attention as we can.”

She claps her hands sharply, a sound that makes more than one person jump, and makes Byakuya almost flinch. “For the time being…let’s disperse.”

< previous - from start - next >

#thpff #danganronpa fanfiction #thpff chapters #togiri #<- bc i wrote this with togiri intent. for the togiri truthers #byakuya togami #the h in chihiro stands for. haunting the narrative!!!!!#i was writing this chapter on the plane with my computer brightness turned alllll the way down #byakuya can't really read kyoko's reaction and therefore sees it as super nonchalant. and i know that with her scars it probably didnt hurt #but i also wanna imagine her tearing up like. motherfucking ow??#swearing under her breath and stamping her foot while he's changing and having to play it off like she was just looking at his books #both of them feeling somewhat guilty for the other person's situation and trying to help but only by way of insulting them #like 'ugh i cant believe you. fine i'll do this but only bc i dont wanna have to deal with you' as they try to compensate for each other #sorry not much naegami but theyre divorced rn and everyone's busy mourning and stuff #naegami development: they have a moment of humility and intimacy and sleep in the same bed #togiri development: he accidentally slams her hand in the door and doesnt apologize #HIROO my friend hiroo......ily hiro and how much u care sobb #anyways im taking a break after this. sob. wails.

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creauchiergh · 16 days

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anyways. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc 2 #tadc spoilers #tadc 2 spoilers #i was NOT expecting it to get so self-aware!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what the hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#waiting for all the pomni screenshots to come flooding in bc she was a Mood this whole episode #i love that they're leaning into her 'done-with-this-bs' attitude #letting her swear and things like that. i think it just adds to her reluctant hero vibe so much and i'm HERE FOR IT #y'all know i love my reluctant protags #OK BUT RAGATHA WITH THE FINGER GUNS WAS SO CUTE FOR NO REASON. SHE'S LIKE SLOWLY CLIMBING UP THERE ON MY LIST OF FAVES #her trying to push aside what happened to be there for pom 🥺🥺#ALSO I'M SO GLAD ZOOBLE IS OK BUT MAN I WISH THEY HAD MORE SCREENTIME #THEM BEING SOFT IN THAT ONE SCENE. GOD I HOPE THEIR CHARACTER IS EXPLORED FURTHER #i do wish they had cut down on the whole jax thing though simply because i know he's a fan fave and they wanna make the fans happy #it's just a little over the top and his presence is just kinda overwhelming. idk i still love him but i think it'll take time before i can #really see him as a more fleshed-out character #we are Not going to be talking about gummigoo because that was CRUEL.#GOD. I KNOW CAINE CAN'T HELP IT BC HE'S AN AI AND DOESN'T UNDERSTAND POMNI'S NEED FOR CONNECTION BUT DAMN. LIKE SERIOUSLY.#OK THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY. FOR NOW. BUT I WILL NOT BE SHUTTING UP ABOUT THIS

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druidonity2 · 10 months

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An AU in which Arthas won, but finds trouble when the Banshee Queen teams up with the Shadowreaper. Both are deeply troubled beings trying to come to terms with the lives they've lost, and both dream of clawing Arthas' face off at the very very least.

#world of warcraft #anduin wrynn #warcraft #sylvanas windrunner #varian wrynn #IM GONNA WRITE THIS STORY ONE DAY I SWEAR #I just look theyre both broken souls who struggle with what the world has done to them and in this story they slowly grow to find #a weird comfort in eachother.#And it starts off hostile with Anduin just recently escaped arthas and unable to control himself and his feelings and Sylvanas wanting noth #ing to do with a child #but then she sees herself in him and tries to help him because like were all in this together and also she can help him kill arthas #anyway #i have lots of ideas for it #arthas at one point sends out varian to try and stop them and Anduin fights his father to steal control from arthas

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gworlinterrupted · 3 months

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finished my first project for sculpture class :3

#not 100% happy with it but goddamn filing styrofoam and trying to get plaster sanded smooth is HARD #also the label was a struggle #shoutout to my friend for saving my ass during critique tho she was like it helps that the label doesnt look totally realistic cause this #isnt a real thing its youre dream & something you wish existed #but yea it was fun to make #and the color looks less piss-like in person i swear

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moominpopzz · 1 month

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Every time me and @skylar328 get hyperfixated on the same thing I become one of those writers locked in the basement of a sims house so she can make me write fics for her

#no one needs to know that I’m getting hyperfixated on the outsiders #no one needs to know #I depression dodged that bullet in middle school and now no one needs to know im hyperfixated on it #also guys help shes trying to drag me into Supernatural/silly #moomins yapping<3 #I think this is so funny btw I love writing for her I swear😭

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fruit-teeth · 3 months

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Literally every medical expert ever: NEVER EAT RIGHT BEFORE GOING TO BED!!! If you eat anything right before going to sleep your organs will EXPLODE and you will DIE!!!

My body if I don’t eat anything within two hours before trying to go to sleep: oh? Fuck me? Well fuck you too I’m going to create a new kind of hunger so fucked up that you will never sleep again you miserable wench

#yeah so I just got one singular hour of sleep because I went to bed without eating 🙃#I mean I had dinner of course but #I swear to GOD if I don’t have a piece of toast or cereal or something before going to bed #my body turns into an angry toddler that wants me dead #but nooooo if I eat in front of my mom late at night she’ll make a bunch of shitty comments #and if I get upset she’s like ‘I’m just trying to help!!! 🥺’#so now I’m running on one hour of sleep and I have a bunch of shit going on today. fun.#time to drink a shit ton of coffee and hope for the best #just me things #text post #delete later

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musicalchaos07 · 1 year

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My favorite Crumbs part about season 4 is how visibly annoyed Jonathan and Nancy are that they have to solve a mystery without each other

#like Jonathan (the poor boy) is trying to keep everyone alive and reign in Argyle support Will not kill Mike while finding El #Meanwhile Nancy accidentally kills fred bc he wandered off is intially bothered af by Robin chatting during silent reading time #and has to deal with St*ve flirting #I think it's almost funnier with Nancy bc everyone is asking her questions #and she's like why tf can't y'all be like Jonathan and know I want a bear trap #they went from dream mystery-solving team to dear god help #Them telling each other everything is just complaining then making out then complaining again #they better get put together next season I swear to God #Stranger Things #Jancy #Jonathan Byers #Nancy Wheeler

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ifwebefriends · 7 months

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omg we’re so back 😋

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brutalmasks · 17 hours

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ahh... just thinking about how one of the first things that bunny mask did whenever she was liberated from her cave was search for her quote unquote ' creator, ' as she would put it. and whenever bunny found no one to speak of that fulfilled that role for her, the emptiness that she felt inside was immeasurable, for lack of better words. because although she is able to make friends with people quite quickly depending on the other person and i could very much imagine her becoming a parental figure to a child; it just makes her feel a little bit like maybe she wasn't worthy of being given one and like she's got a void inside of her heart that she just can't fill. because in bunny mask's mind, whenever you aren't able to fall back on friends for whatever the reason may be, that is where your parent/s step in and the fact that she doesn't seem to have any... means that she's got to hold onto them twice as hard. because if they leave her, then bunny mask thinks that she'll be without any sort of support system, including even tyler because he was her friend first before they were on-and-off again lovers.

and the last thing that bunny mask wants to be is alone. though she is exactly the type of being to put on a brave face in front of people, no matter what she may be going through, bunny mask honestly was so starved for interaction after all of those centuries that she spent in the cave below the fosters home that these bonds that she's made with people since then — they mean a hell of a lot to her and she sort of subconsciously is exceedingly loyal to them out of fear that they may decide one day that they don't like her anymore, as there isn't something that she can give them that they can't find somewhere else; if that makes any sense. i guess basically what i'm trying to say is that, under the surface, bunny mask is somewhat insecure in her relationships and if she doesn't offer them something valuable like loyalty then she thinks they might not want to stick around with her. so, in a way, bunny mask is always thinking of ways that she can make her friends life better not only because she wants to but to ensure that they are getting something in return for their investment in her as a friend.

which, i realize is a kind of sad way to have to view friendship, but bunny mask had already been a loyal being before this mindset had taken effect in her mind, i guess you could say. i mean bunny will literally defend those who she loves with such a fervor that if one of her friends had done something bad that her first impulse would be to deny that they had and then, if/when it had been confirmed, she would literally just deflate like a balloon because bunny mask may or may not have a tendency to sometimes put those she likes on a pedestal; so whenever the illusion of them being able to 'do no wrong' in her eyes is finally broken... bunny wouldn't even be mad at them for a little while. depending on the severity of what they'd done, she'd either just become disappointed in them, or completely disheartened by it and would still not want to believe it to a certain degree. but bunny mask certainly wouldn't do this forever as she is aware that other beings can be morally dubious and/or capable of doing evil things, of course. it's just that, even when she platonically loves someone, she loves them with all of her heart often times and so it seems to effect her heavily if it is particularly criminal or wrong.

and don't get me wrong, bunny mask would still go after someone even if they were a friend of hers once upon a time if they had committed a crime / some kind of heinous act because that is what she is convinced her purpose is on this earth. bunny will just be simultaneously heartbroken at them AND then become angry later that they had done such a thing. whichhh could be quite bad news for the now ex-friend or whoever they might've been to her NGL because an angry bunny mask is bad enough BUT a heartbroken and angry bunny mask? you better start running, because she would be liable to turn you into a shish-kabob or something JSJSJ 💀 nahhh, i'm only halfway being serious here LOL but honestly, if there is any way that you can avoid attracting bunny's ire, then i would totally suggest it because uhhh. breaking her heart does tend to make her more aggressive when she's 'hunting' someone

#SOMETHING FEELS AMISS: musings.#LET ME TEACH YOU: headcanons.#I AM HERE BECAUSE I AM BUNNY MASK: character study.#heyyy y'all how are you doing?? i know it's been a while since i've posted one of these on here and i am SO sorry about that but i am-#genuinely trying to get back to the swing of things on here i swear. my muse has just been fluctuating like CRAZY these past couple of days #so that has left me with switching from account to account kind of frequently BUT i am here now and ready to answer some things tehe 😎#anyhow though bunny mask being SO loyal towards her friends but then doing a complete 180 if they ever were to break her heart by committin #a crime seemed on brand for her so i just had to make a post about it SKSKS because like i said in a previous post on here bunny's-#greatest weakness is probably her emotions so people could theoretically exploit that and become her friend even though they are like...#secretly evil or something even though that would be awfully terrible because she would be willing to defend them with all of her being-#that way and so they'd have a powerful ally on their side BUT once she finds out that they've been conning her and that they are actually-#a criminal? yeah i'm not gonna lie it would be all over for them. like NO one would be able to help save them from her at this point bc-#if there is one thing that bunny mask finds completely irredeemable it's taking advantage of people's kindness so yeahhh #all i have to say is they better be preparing their funeral / j☠️NAHHH lmao but bunny mask would ahh definitely want to kill them so. yeah #tw: mentions of violence.

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victorluvsalice · 4 days

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-->Anyway – back to Retail Time! And to the infamous lag on this lot, unfortunately. :( Based on what I saw today, it seems to be primarily tied to Sims actually BUYING stuff, as it seems to happen most often when people are waiting to be rung up or right after they’ve been rung up and they still need to grab their item. Maybe it's because I have a lot of mod-added items for sale? *shrug* Fortunately it wasn’t too bad today, with only a few significant instances, but still – meh.

Despite the game doing its best to stop them, though, the trio persevered, chatting with various customers and doing their best to get them to buy stuff – and succeeding pretty admirably! Victor talked a guy named Patrick into buying a block of beeswax for $18, then immediately rang up visiting teenager Ren for the same thing, while Smiler helped a kid named Wren buy a small $5 lettuce and some dude named Aarush grabbed an avocado from the veggie stands for $25. Alice, meanwhile, was working over an elder named Samuel – but as he found her unattractive (as per Wonderful Whims), I don’t think her attempts to get him to buy stuff worked very well. :p She thus went to ring up Agnes Crumplebottom for a $68 bag of fresh bread instead – fortunately distracting the woman from noticing Smiler lay a cute cheek kiss on Victor. XD Smiler then headed to the center aisle and let off a happy blast to try and improve everyone’s moods –

-->And at this point, everything started getting a little chaotic, as a bunch of people suddenly wanted to be rung up at once! Alice took care of a lady named Giovanna despite the lag’s best efforts, ringing her up for a $70 jar of honey, while Smiler discovered Alice had been more successful at convincing Samuel to buy than she’d realized and rung him up for a box of blackberry jam for $455. They also went around and rung up a kid named Taka for a box of vegetarian MREs for $482 (must be buying them for his parents). Victor, however, was the real winner of the selling spree, managing to sell a Happy Scent perfume to a “loiterer” named Joey (who REALLY had to go to the bathroom) for a cool $1,174! Maybe I should keep that in mind when I think about the future of the store...

-->With that taken care of (and a lady named Fetia snagging herself a $5 Cereberry in the background), Victor went ahead and did some more Scruberooing of shelves and fridges while Smiler and Alice kept attending customers – Smiler ringing up the kid Pierce for a $206 box of canned green beans, and Alice (after an ANNOYINGLY long wait) teen Sofia for a $517 box of strawberry jam. Alice then headed into the break room to make some hamburger sliders, as she was feeling hungry, and I noticed that Victor kind of needed to pee and sent him into the bathroom –

Only for another wave of “hey I would like to buy things” to hit the store! I quickly had Alice stop her sliders (though she DID insist on taking the cutting board all the way down the stairs...then all the way back up again -.-) and Victor stop his attempt to use the toilet and sent them out to help Smiler on the selling floor. Between the three of them, they managed to get Javier a $44 jar of mayonnaise; Liberty Lee an $86 butterscotch cupcake; the returning Ren a $734 chocolate pie; and Makoa a $29 jar of mushroom conserve. Oh, and Aarush came back and bought a plasma fruit for $10. XD Talk about a last-minute rush!

-->And it was indeed the last-minute rush, because I looked over at the retail UI, realized the shop had been open nine hours, and decided it was probably time to close up. So, after an aborted attempt to get Smiler to befriend a customer so she would let them have her plasma (they now know that Kasandra likes the color green), I had them shut up the shop while Alice went and finished her sliders and Victor finally got his bathroom break. By the time they closed at 6:30 PM in-game, they’d made a nice profit of $4,174 on everything they’d sold! :) Yeah, I know Alice and Smiler can make more than that just in royalties on their books and videos, but it’s still pretty good considering I have everything on "sale" prices. Anyway, Alice called everyone down to the basement to eat, and she and Victor enjoyed some sliders while Smiler had a plasma fruit and bred some frogs to create an additional plasma pack to drink. Alice then went to clean up her plate –

And for some reason headed upstairs to do so. Following her, I realized that what she was doing was clearing some rotten raw meat out of the “butcher” display – and that a lot of the remaining meat was ALSO going rotten as she did so. D: Cue me trying to coordinate her and Victor’s efforts to clean up all the spoiled food from both the meat display and the fridges (which lead to a lot of "placing a pile of dirty dishes on the nearest consignment shelf," annoyingly) while Smiler went around and removed a bunch of the “out of stock” signs from the shelves. Eventually, though, everything was cleaned up, with Victor and Smiler finishing things off while Alice caught a few winks on the break room couch (her werewolf instincts were demanding a nap) –

#sims 4 #the lazy save #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler always #as you can see it was another busy one at Van Liddelton Groceries #I swear all the customers love to just wander around for a while looking at stuff #then they all have to start buying at once #like there's only three of them here give me a break #this is kind of why I want to have Smiler make a Servo #extra set of hands to help ring people up!#but they managed to stay on top of it and make some good sales #perfume is definitely THE big ticket item of the store #by contrast I don't think anyone ever even tried to buy the meat Alice hunted #kind of a shame that #but it's good to know in regards to the future of the store #won't be bothering with that again!#Alice can just eat all of her own meat from now on #when she's not chowing down on sliders #those DO look yummy I have to say #maybe I can convince Mom to try some for a game night #and yes Victor and Smiler were very lucky Agnes was busy with Alice #though it might have been funny to see one of them get purse-smacked #maybe another time :p #queued

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