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#to be honest now that I’m thinking about it Chara would probably do very well in forensic science
lilybug-02 · 1 year
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Class Dynamics
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ladyzerodark · 2 years
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@paperclippedmime Since there are some I haven’t developed as much as I’d prefer, I have a list of the crossover ships I have put very much thought into.
Disclaimer for everyone though:  Some of the ships are going on the assumption that they are around the same age as each other. So if there’s any canon info that could change things, I’m fine with being made aware so I can rethink them. ALSO THERE ARE SOME POLY SHIPS, so if you don’t like those...I’m sorry but I'm not.
Gonna start with the ships I’ve had since my high school days
1. Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho X Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed.  I found a fanfiction where Lacus was in the YYH world and their opposite personalities made it very fun for me.
2. Ivan/Ian from Beyblade X Kisa from Fruits Basket.  This came from a massive crossover RP I did with my friend Hunter.  It started platonic but evolved into a cute school romance.
3. Eve from Black Cat X Daichi from Beyblade.  Pretty much the same as above.
4. Johann from Yu Gi Oh GX X Tamao from Shaman King. I felt bad for Tamao, since she had a crush on Yoh (who was very obviously going to end up with Anna), so I wanted to find someone who would be supportive of her.  Johann ended up being that guy, due to his supportive nature.
4. Joey Wheeler from Yu Gi Oh X Jun from Shaman King.  My thought process was they both have younger siblings they care greatly for and were willing to fight to protect them.  So, they could bond over that and help each other
5. Jason Todd from Batman X Leo from Tekken.  The two of them have a vendetta, so why not work together to get what they want. And then they develope....FEELINGS. Plus, now that I’ve had more time to think about it, I think Bruce would probably welcome Leo into the Bat fam as an ally.
6.  Tala from Beyblade X Blair Flannigan from Yu Gi Oh GX.  This one came out of nowhere for me, to be honest.  It was definitly an opposite attracts story in my head (Note: I have since added Julia from Beyblade to the equation, as I headcanon Blair as Bi and I enjoy the Tala X Julia ship)
And now for some of the newer developed ships.  Most, if not all, are from a crossover story I have in my brain that keeps changing.
1. Dario from Fire Emblem Warriors and Sophie from Atelier Sophie.  They have become my disaster couple because Dario cannot contain how curious he is about her work, and Sophie is #tired of his bad boy tendencies.
2.  Leila from Fire Emblem Heroes X Toyohisa Shimazu from Drifters.  Pretty much the same as above, though it was going from enemies/bad terms to allies to friends to lovers
3. Moss from Generator Rex X Bella from Dragalia Lost.  Honestly, I just love the idea of a criminal and a princess/noble lady hooking up. I blame Tangled.
4. Sundance Kid from Drifters X Luka from Voltron.  The two sympathize with each other, due to finding themselves in a place that they don’t understand, with only one other person they can truly call a friend (Luka didn’t get a lot of development in the show, so I just kinda said “I do what I want” and there you go)
5. Chara from Storyshift!Undertale X Mina from Battle Chef Brigade.  I’m beginning to wonder if this one actually counts since my version of SS!Chara is practically an OC... 
6.  Soren from the Dragon Prince X Durant from Dragalia Lost.  Another started as platonic then ended up being another disaster couple story.
7. Misaki Tokura X Chazz Princeton from Yu Gi Oh GX.  I seem to enjoy having couples that are literally “You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”
8. Velvet from Tales of Berseria X Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakening.  This actually started out as a friendship which evolved into a romance.  There were technically two others in the relationship (it was my first poly ship), but I’m debating if it would make sense
9.  Papyrus from Undertale X Caeldori from Fire Emblem Fates.  I felt like their personalities would mesh very well.  They both are trying to prove themselves to the people they care about and are very serious about justice.
10. Underswap Papyrus X Isolet from King’s Raid.  This was for a Three Houses Crossover AU I ended up abandoning, and was originally suppose to be a rivalry, as Isolet does not like lazy people.  But then I started writing and drawing their relationship and it turned into a ship.
11.  Underswap Sans X Ephraim from Fire Emblem Sacred Stones.  Again from the 3 Houses Au. These two would have been good allies, with a romance developing.
12. Horrortale Sans X Akasha from Dragalia Lost.  I just pictured the two messing with each other and then becoming the couple you are 75% certain may be serial killers.
13. Dante from Devil May Cry X Scathach from Fate Grand Order X Maria of the Astral Clocktower from Bloodborne.  I just feel like they would get along.  If anything, this is a more casual friends with benefits ship than a super romantic one.  Sometimes I add others to the mix, but these are the constants
14.  Qrow and Winter from RWBY X Verica from Dragalia Lost X Kibera from King’s Raid.  After the whole Qrow X Clover thing went south and it seemed like he thought it was fate that he’d be alone, I wanted to give Qrow some love.  And I started drawing him with Kibera and Verica, one who thinks fate is stupid, the other who helps people fight against it.  And I had originally loved Qrow with Winter so yeah.
15.  Cinder Fall from RWBY X Sans from Undertale. This one I think is going to get the most WTFs because “Cinder bad, Sans good”.  The story in which this relationship takes place is one where Cinder is freed from Salem’s influence, and focuses how she tries to be a better person, and learning what true affection looks like.  Sans would be there for her journey and the two would end up together.  Hell, I even made a kid for them!
And with that, those are all the more developed Crossover ships that I have.  I may do another list of the “less developed but I’m working on that” ships later
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akirameta84 · 3 years
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My ideal Saiki K+Undertale AU. And yes its 99% crack.
For starters, quite obviously this isn’t entirely based on who matches the personalities. That would be just miserable lol. I’m gonna be honest 90% of these are just based on what was the funniest, but I started to be able to draw connections but I think that’s just a result of combining my current and past obsessions.
Anyways this is just for shits and giggles. And no I’m not explaining terminology and characters for those who never had an undertale phase. But I honestly doubt anyone into anime now never had one.
Shun and Aren: Alphys and Undyne. I don’t think I need to explain much. The dynamic of Alphys and Undyne fits so damn perfectly for them. Alphys, a shy nerdy scientist, fits Shun extremely well. Shun is fairly smart from what we’ve seen, even if his studies slip throughout the series due to hanging out with the rest of the cast. But the shyness and stutter Alphys has fits incredibly well.
Undyne on the other hand, a very strong, beefy character who’s whole character trope at the beginning is just to fight the player, but she mellows out over time and grows a fondness for the player and everyone else. Of course, this would mildly fuck up Papyrus and Undyne’s friendship in undertale based on match ups you’ll see later, but this pairing works so well I’m willing to fuck that up. Ignoring the fact Undyne can’t cook for shit (see: the whole scene where she burns her house down), while Aren has demonstrated he can in that one Crepe’s making episode, but otherwise this pairing is perfect.
Kusuo and Kuusuke: Sans and Papyrus. No wait don’t leave I swear I have actual reasons. I mean, wanting to draw Kusuo in the final corridor is a valid reason, but there’s more okay. Kusuo has an almost lazy outlook on the world. He (claims) to only intervene on events that directly effect him, something like the world ending, or, I don’t know, possibly people he knows dying? And of course for the sheer power level, and the absolute genuine care he has for his friends. Unfortunately this isn’t a wholesome sibling relationship like in undertale though, but Kuusuke kinda throws all instances of wholesomeness out of a window when he’s involved.
For obvious reasons Kuusuke would be nothing at all like regular Papyrus. Seriously, for those who are genuinely clueless about Paps, he’s the absolute sweetest character, and refuses to kill the player even after they’ve committed genocide on his town. Kuusuke would definitely be more of an underfell papyrus, a full on sadistic bastard who’d probably laugh after killing you. The reason I feel this match up could work aside the obvious, however, is Papyrus’ love for puzzles and complex machinery. I don’t think there’s too much to add if you’ve even read a second of Kuusuke’s manga sections. Kuusuke loves to invent, and loves to play ‘games’ with Kusuo using the most complex methods and puzzles (see: the one where Kuusuke has Kusuo running around town to collect cards for his birthday present, when in reality Kuusuke wanted data on his powers. The data was probably used for both Kusuomega (the robot) and the final showdown. There had to be easier ways for Kuusuke to go about this.)
Kokomi and Makoto: Toriel and Asgore. For OBVIOUS reasons there is and was never ANY romance involved in this au. And yes I kinda just deleted the chance of a Chara and Asriel lol rip. Instead of an estranged marriage it’s an estranged sibling relationship, coming from Makoto pushing the limits way too far and proposing to Kokomi. Kokomi, having more than one brain cell and being sane flees and winds up isolated in the ruins area.
Now...Sans and Toriel could easily have the dynamics worked in, just with some obvious shifts to adjust for Kusuo’s personality. Toriel loves to bake, and Kokomi is mentioned to like baking as well in the episode where Makoto forces Kusuo to help him shop for presents for his sister. Kusuo loves sweets. And since Kokomi has no reason to hide permanently like Toriel, as long as she doesn’t get near her brother, picture: Kokomi and Kusuo forming a friendship based on her baking him sweets. That was long but after I completely ruined Papyrus and Undyne’s friendship I had to keep AT LEAST ONE.
Makoto on the other hand, unlike Asgore, is absolutely hated. All he spends his time doing is looking for his sister, and half of his kingdom just goes and tells her to hide today because her brother is being extra pervy. That’s really it I just wanted Kokomi as Toriel.
Only character matchups right now, but I’m, def revisiting this at some point so I’ll possibly add more characters and adjust the Undertale storyline. Feel free to add anything I’d absolutely love to read it.
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zackcollins · 3 years
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i do (cherish you) || nolan patrick
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Author’s Note: Surprise, bitches! I’m back with another Player/Reader fic! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had the inspiration to write one, so I’m really happy that I’ve finally been able to write one. Sorry for being gone for so long in terms of my writing. I still have one request that I need to get to, and, to the person that sent it, I’ll start working on that soon, I promise!! I’m just trying to find the right way to go about writing it. I have all the time in the world to think about it now because my province went back into complete lockdown as of this morning. So, uh... yeah. Expect another fic within maybe a week. GIF credit to intermissionpenguins!!
Warnings: I don’t even know if this is considered warnable but: the reader uses an insulin pump. So... yeah. I’ll just tell you about that just to be safe. There’s also a few brief mentions of alcohol. So, if you need to avoid that, feel free to just skip over the mention of it because it isn’t important at all, if I’m honest.
Word Count: 1.5k+
Title: I Do (Cherish You): Mark Wills
Additional: The reader is masculine this time!! He is described as having a beard and being a hockey player on the Flyers, so I hope that’s okay with you guys!! I made the reader masculine this time because someone sent me an ask this morning and told me they appreciated that I wrote masculine imagines and asked me if I would consider writing more. So, uh. Whoever you are, this is technically for you. I hope you and everyone else enjoy!
Stretching your arms above your head, you grunted when you felt your shoulder joints pop back into place. Nolan looked over from where he was sitting, smirking around his beer bottle as he took a drink.
"Woulda figured you'd be more accustomed to sitting in the same spot for a while," Nolan said, taking the opportunity to dig at the fact that you were a fourth-line player on the team.
You flipped Nolan off before drinking the last of your beer. You rubbed some sweat and condensation off your beard before you untucked your shirt and brought your hands down to your stomach.
"Fuck off, man," you mumbled half-heartedly, more focused on punching the correct numbers into your insulin pump.
"You kn--"
Nolan started speaking but anything he wanted to say was cut off by a succession of beeps coming from your stomach. Nolan quickly polished off his beer before standing from his chair and grabbing your empty beer bottle.
"Guess that means we need to go back." Nolan motioned his head down the dock in the direction of his cottage. "The refills are inside."
You frowned, standing from your chair and tucking your shirt back into your shorts in the process.
"We don't have to. I can just run inside, put one of them in, and come right back out."
Grabbing his phone, Nolan looked at the screen. He hummed before looking back at you as he slid the phone into his back pocket.
"True. But I'm hungry and it's close enough to dinner time."
Sighing, you scratched at your beard with one of your hands before holding them both up in surrender.
"Alright, alright. We can go to have dinner. I think there's still some fish left from what we caught yesterday."
Humming in appreciation, Nolan started making his way down the dock. You rolled your eyes, smirking and shaking your head before you followed after him.
About halfway up the walkway to the cottage, you saw that Nolan had stopped and was holding his hands up defensively. You approached carefully, placing a hand on Nolan's shoulder. Nolan jumped what you could've sworn was thirty-five feet out of his skin before he glared at you.
"Careful," Nolan hissed, slightly motioning his head in the direction of the cottage's outdoor garbage bin.
When you followed the motion, you froze and felt panic blooming throughout your body. A bear was rummaging around in the garbage. A rather substantially sized bear.
"Why is Chara in our garbage," you mumbled, grabbing Nolan's hand for comfort.
Nolan made no comment on the fact that you had grabbed onto his hand but he did glare at you, cracking a small smile. 
"Now isn't the time for jokes, idiot." However, he bumped shoulders with you to show that he appreciated it. "And, to answer your question, they're probably hungry."
You swallowed around a thick lump that had formed in your throat and, against your better judgement, dropped your head against Nolan’s shoulder. Nolan sighed and placed a soft kiss on the top of your head. You swallowed around another thick lump, this one having nothing to do with the bear, as you breathed heavily out of your nose.
“That’s all well and good,” you said, pausing to swallow again, “they deserve to eat and all that. But I need more insulin if you want me to be functional.”
"Do you want me to…?" Nolan trailed off but you understood what he was trying to say.
You looked up at Nolan, furrowing your eyebrows and face twisting into a scowl.
"I'd rather you didn't," you said, plainly. "If you get mauled, what am I gonna do if I need help later?"
Nolan huffed, knocking shoulders with you again.
"I'm your best friend, (Y/N). Not your caregiver. While I would still gladly help if you asked because I care about you, you don't give yourself enough credit." 
You felt yourself short-circuit because Nolan had just said he cared about you. The rational part of your brain knew that he meant it in a friendly way. But the part of your brain that was winning this argument, the part you were listening to, was telling you that he meant it in a romantic way, the way you had wanted for what felt like an eternity.
"If your on-ice antics say anything, you know how to take care of yourself just fine."
Nolan continuing to speak drew you out of your fantasyland, forcing you to formulate an articulate sentence that didn’t involve you spilling your feelings for your best friend to said best friend.
"Defending my honour and staying alive are two very different things, sweetheart," you said.
As soon as the words were out of your mouth, you realized what you had said. Your entire face felt hot, your beard suddenly feeling itchy from the newfound heat, and you felt embarrassed beyond belief. Not wanting to look at Nolan, you dropped your head against his chest to hide from his gaze.
"Yes, true. But you've managed to stay alive this long, haven't you?"
There was a long pause, the only noise coming from the bear that was still rummaging around in the garbage. You were worried that Nolan would think that you were starting to get sleepy from lack of insulin (which was actually true if he were to ask), so you mumbled softly against his chest, hoping he would hear you.
“Yeah…” Your voice sounding somewhat defeated. “I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for caring about me.”
Nolan lifted your head up and pressed a kiss to your forehead. Relief washed over you as you smiled, feeling tears in your eyes. After carefully placing the beer bottles on the ground, Nolan wrapped you in a hug. You sighed and got comfortable in Nolan’s embrace, figuring you’d be there for a while. 
You weren’t sure how long had passed when Nolan started carding his fingers through your hair and then your beard, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead before pulling you back from his embrace. You blinked owlishly at Nolan, feeling somewhat bleary from the lack of insulin. Nolan squeezed your cheeks, tapping them a couple of times. You grunted, swatting at his shoulder with a playful smile on your face.
“Just wanted to make sure you were still with me,” Nolan said. You thought you detected some uncharacteristic concern in his voice but you were too out of it to process if that was true or not.
Nolan motioned his head toward the garbage bin. Your eyes slowly drifted over there, lighting up when you saw that the bear was gone..
“Yay! Chara is gone,” you said, voice somewhat quieter than normal. 
You yawned harshly, feeling your head start to swim. Looking up at Nolan, you patted him on the cheek.
"Let’s get inside before I pass out.”
Nodding, Nolan held your hand as you walked into the cottage. He sat you onto the couch and rushed into your bedroom to grab you a refill for your insulin pump. When he returned, he handed you the refill and sat down beside you.
It took a few tries to figure out because your hands were clumsy from being so tired but you managed to place the refill into the pump without any help from Nolan. Nolan ruffled your hair, placing a soft kiss on your cheek as you punched in the correct numbers to get the rest of the insulin you needed from earlier. It took a few minutes but you started to feel better, feel more awake. You flexed your hands, pleased that they didn’t feel like gelatin anymore. You blinked a few times, getting your eyes readjusted to being at full strength.
When you looked at Nolan, he looked up at you with a nervous smile. Instead of speaking, he moved closer to you and grabbed your hand, interlacing your fingers and placing your hands on his knee. You glanced down at his knee and then up at him, seeing the tentative look in his eye. You nodded because you were fairly certain you knew what he wanted. Your theory was proven right when Nolan leaned forward and connected your lips, cupping your jaw with his free hand. Smiling into the kiss, you brought your free hand up and grabbed the collar of Nolan’s shirt, tugging him in closer. Nolan grunted, mouth falling open as he continued to kiss you. You took that opportunity to experimentally slide your tongue into Nolan’s mouth. Nolan groaned, pulling back from the kiss. You swallowed thickly when you saw the beard burn your kiss had left behind. 
Nolan twisted on the couch, dropping his head against your shoulder. You slung your arm around his back, pulling him in as close as you could. Nolan hummed, bringing his arm around your shoulders.
“About what you said earlier…” Nolan looked up at you, eyes unreadable.
“Look, I…” You squeezed your eyes shut, hoping that the couch would swallow you whole. “I was starting to go loopy from lack of insulin. It doesn’t mean anything. It never does when I get like that.”
Nolan looked up at you with a sideways glance, furrowing his eyebrows. 
“You and I both know that that’s bullshit. You say some of the most truthful shit on the rare chance that you get like that.”
Slouching your shoulders, you sighed.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Worth a shot, I guess.”
“There’s no need to get down on yourself or feel bad,” Nolan said, looking at you softly. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
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zenodreemurr · 3 years
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How Freaktale inspired Xénotale
Greetings, people. Recently, I saw the video “What Happened To Freaktale?”, which reminded me of the influence Freaktale had on Xénotale, my own AU. I then thought about making a post on that. So, let’s begin. I shall say in the first place that I recall conceptualizing Xénotale back in March or April 2018, and back then, it was very different. The original idea was “What if Zeno was in another AU?”. It was as simple as that (note that he was my only Undertale OC back then). However, I never made it continue. One day, however, I discovered Freaktale, and while I can’t say exactly when (I think it was in August 2018), and it reminded me of Xénotale, which I start to develop, with many ideas borrowed from Freaktale (some even got scrapped). The biggest influence Freaktale ever had on Xénotale is definitely the creation of The Voice, one of the characters, very inspired by Sky, the virus of Freaktale. They, in fact, were supposed to be the center of all the changes on the AU, and while Sky made them obvious, The Voice operared discreetly, which was the biggest difference at the time, especially considering back then, The Voice was combined with another character (now, they are two separate characters and this for the best). When it comes to the differences, I must say that they are a bit more recent (from 2019). The Voice is now a bodiless creature that is indeed unbeatable (in fact, it is impossible to fight this) that is used not only in the universe itself, but also in the Multiverse (with different uses), and that has multiple different effects that can be useful to the story. One of the biggest differences they always had, is that Sky can target anyone, whereas The Voice can only target beings with determination (and they fake to be only able to target the one with the most determination in the Xénotale universe itself). So, in fact, when it comes to this, I don’t recall if the idea comes from Freaktale or simply from the view some fans have of Undertale, but it is about Frisk and Chara. So, in Freaktale, it is well-known that Frisk and Chara are merged together, and as such, sticked together. In Xénotale, they are also sticked together, though it’s not because of their body, but because of Frisk’s mind. In Xénotale, Chara is blocked in Frisk’s mind and is only capable of communicating with Frisk and The Voice. However, I think some interpretations of the character of Chara in Undertale are also like this, but with Chara controlling Frisk’s mind in the genocide route. This is why I can’t recall if I borrowed this from this or from Freaktale, with the only new shit being that Chara controls Frisk during the pacifist route and then Frisk takes the control back during the eidocide route and does it for her vengeance. Also, I’m pretty sure that both Frisk and Chara being female has been borrowed from Freaktale, but I guess this is the case in a lot of AUs. The things is, there may be others (in fact, there most likely are others, like Asgore was probably once heavily inspired by the one in Freaktale, if I recall correctly), however, all these things I borrowed come from 2018, back when Xénotale had almost nothing, not even Celerity (yes, at this point), and when I decided to make the actual story back in 2019, I had stopped to do this. However, I can say that more minor ideas were still borrowed from Freaktale, such as: -Toriel, Papyrus, Alphys, Mettaton and Asgore having actual fights in the eidocide route, like Undyne and Sans. This is still true at this point, because I don’t see any reason to remove this, especially when i came up with some cool fight ideas. The idea of a new final boss in eidocide is there as well and originates from the Freaktale inspiration as well. -One of the properties of the universe itself is also a thing that was borrowed from Freaktale. I’m going to keep it because it is useful story-wise. -I originally planned to add some alternative stories like there were in Freaktale. Fortunately, this idea was scrapped. -Some story elements (in fact, I only recall two) still ressemble Freaktale quite a bit, some more than others, but while one (as I can recall right now) has a direct inspiration from Freaktale, the other is more of a coincidence, pretty much coming from the fact that both their stories happen in the Underground. Now, to be honest, I don’t borrow from Freaktale anymore. I have surpassed this. Freaktale was really my main inspiration for Xénotale, and what made me want to continue the AU back when I did it, which I do not regret all. This last detail is even stated on the Undertale AU Wiki. I also technically borrowed from other AUs, to a lesser extent though. The AUs I can recall I borrowed from to a lesser extent are Undertale DDD and Alphatale (my AUs made before too, but technically, they are made by me, so nobody would care). I have also definitely imagined a most of the shit after the publication by myself in a very weird way (which I will not state), and more recently, after I stopped borrowing from other AUs for Xénotale. This definitely includes the backstories of all of the characters and all of the characters I have added to the AU since 2018, the new locations, all of the lore points and some of the items. I also borrowed from Undertale, but as it is an Undertale AU, I think it is really obvious. Anyways, have a great next 24 hours.
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icharchivist · 3 years
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hello icha!! i finally got around to finishing the stranger haha,, by which i mean i just watched it today. was veryyyy excited for it as i really like the poster design for this one. anyways. this event starting w/ the sort of portrait format or whatever / that narration is like. god. threw me right back to autumn troupe. I kind of love that the storytelling format itself is so distinct for autumn! the moment I realized it was omi I started getting teary… like oh man oh man… omi…. And the connection with him taking photos! ahh!! now that I think about it… omi kind of seems a bit like early version tsumugi, huh? also I keep forgetting this man is a college student lol. suspension of disbelief I suppose. onto the play i think like. mankai should invest in a fainting courch for tsuzuru. i also went to watch the play and 1) im betting yuki had a hell of a time costume design wise like the vines on the body? such fun costuming wise and 2) the ethical implications of whatever this play has,,, fun fun. tsuzuru was clearly having some kind of thoughts. i love zeros design and am always up for a3 characters crossdressing bc 1) i think its fun and 2) the costume design. i also dearly wish this whole thing was animated bc I feel like it’d be o fun to see taichi act as zero. or at least I hope this event gets full voiced one day... moving on to the scene where omi adds soy sauce to the paella I know it’s just like haha homare funny so lets five him a lil bit but like everyone in autumn troupe making their comments on the paella and like homare just jumping in. homare autumn troupe besties. just thinking. also the way they just r like. no no no omi it’s fine if u made a mistake!! it’s ok! we like it (you) anyways <3 it’s got it’s own special taste. something something omi’s perfectly pleasant as he is now but even if he weren’t on his a-game and was dealing with all of the biker gang stuff they would love him just as hard. another thing that got me was omi telling banri that he’ll give him something sweet so juza will stop grinding his teeth in his sleep… guys… guys you’ll give him cavities…. mb omi is a college student after all lol.
anyways when i saw the actual costumes. appreciative of them, i like the lil circuit-esque detailing on banri’s outfit, and that sakyo and taichi (nine and zero) both share that like collar detail? its very symbolic and probably also literal but its a nice way to sort of signify their relation to each other visually! also sakyo just looks nice. seeing him without glasses is so great. whoever thought up the like two mole detail for him was doing gods work.
something that confused me was ryo mistaking juza for nachi for a split second? like. does juza… look similar to nachi? or was it just that ryo only heard juzas voice and made that mistake. if it’s appearance wise too. kumon nachi confirmed. I’m joking lol bc I feel like I would’ve heard at least something abt it in one of the like small conversation comments, plus that doesnt seem like itd fit summer troupes style and kumon is for sure the wrong age… but still.
i really like how for this event, the roles for taichi and omi were kinda reversed. and taichis just so like. idk. smiley. rly lifts ur spirits. its kind of nice how this event contrasts to that cg where taichi is crying on omi. I also think like. idk. considering the story of the stranger. wolf gives zero a sense of purpose and life and I think that zero helps wolf lose his apathy. it’s about “the stranger” and the ending makes him like… not a stranger, right? because he’s got a companion. in the same way, taichi brings omi out of his emotional isolation. the picture taking! also the stickers coming back… thats such a good setup! the found family of it all!!
when he was trying to work out zeros character as soon as taichi mentioned a sharp speaking style I KNEW it was Yuki… yuki would never be as honest as zero is though lol… to me i imagine she’s got a sort of juza internal monologue feel? anyways. the taichi yuki dynamic intrigues me. havent yet decided how I feel abt it but when I do… yes. sorry that I make literally no sense. I think it’s very obvious that yuki is my fav chara kind of? I’m just. hmmm it makes me think! I’ve been monologuing to myself abt the yuki and juza dynamic lately which, to my a3 knowledge so far, doesn’t exist, but its ok bc I’ll make it exist! uhhh anyways this event was very good i liked the pacing. i think it didnt drag too hard and it really properly honed in on just omi and taichi, which was quite nice. they really did a lot for just an event!
time to listen to the event song,,, ok so. ah. i rly enjoyed just for myself it was very much to my taste so. out of curiousity i was like ok lemme look up the composer / producer AND IT WAS YUYOYUPPE....... that guy is like!!!! one of my FAV producers ever!!!!!! i know him from like. his vocaloid days and god leia is still one of my fav songs to this day...! this knowledge gives me so much joy omg!!! like wow!! wowwww!!! like i knew yuyoyuppe was out there doing other stuff (i know he worked on a lot of babymetal music which is cool) but like idk. to suddenly encounter it like this. heheh.... its so nice! made me soooo happy. going to relisten to leia now haha
WAIT ONE MORE THING. i was like "haha let me look at other songs i remember liking a lot" which. for me was rakuen oasis and don't cry. anyways. rakuen oasis is ALSO by yuyoyuppe???? oh my god!!! oh my god... sigh. feel like im in heaven.
OH HI FRIEND!! so good to see you with an a3 update!! :D
godd yeah The Stranger started so strongly and the idea to still incorporate portraits in his story was really something to make us cry!
And linking Omi and Tsumugi like this is pretty interesting :O <hat is your reasoning exactly? :O
For the fainting couch for Tsuzuru LMAO and i'm letting you know there's a webcomics that addresses it in Act 2 (hough there's no spoilers aside from the fact Chikage is here)
Im glad you liked the costume and the play!!! yeah i love the designs and it is always a blast to see them this into it, and yeaaah Tsuzuru has thoughts huh. It'll get voiced sooner than later hopefully and there we'll see more in details :3c but also that's what made the seiyuu live so fun bc they perform the songs in play cosplay and replay a bit of the play everytime and it's *chief kiss*
HOMARE AUTUMN TROUPE SOLIDARITY YES. LOVING IT.
And yeah the scene itself was so cute TwT they all want to reassure Omi and be there for him it's so sweet :( but yeah i love how you say it all, Omiimi TwT
and dLKFJDFLKJFDFD Giving Juza cavities is the price to pay for sleep i guess??
yeah agreed on the costume they all look so cool! and nice catch on how those three seem linked like that with their costumes, Yuki (and the designers) does such a good job! and god yeah for Sakyo.. yeah. He has sucha good design dLKJFDF
aND DLKFJD yeah no Juza is supposed to look like Nachi physically, but mostly his face? like i think Nachi was had green hair? we see a sprite of him in a future story, and yeah, everything is in the eyebrows. so Kumon should be safe? Omi mentions he sees a lot of Nachi in Juza, and while it is mostly due to their passions i think, the fact they're also rough looking guy with a heart of gold must play a part as well. but yeah, he does look like Nachi a bit.
and i love your deeper analysis of the event yeah!!
I feel like Taichi is really an emotional core of the troupe in the sense that is, he tends to catch on what others are feelings easily. And he uses it in the early chapters to ease off the tensions and stuff, but he was being held back by knowing he was deceiving them. So now that he's more free, he can be more of himself. but yeah i also love the contrast with how Omi was the one to help Taichi through his breakdown and guilt, and now it's the other way around, it's Taichi helping him through it. and the parallelism between the play and their dynamic is spot on imo! well said!!
and god yeah the sticker things made me cry sO HARD, and the pictures! and everything!! sobs it's such a sweet found family i'm going to cry :(
And! i love what you say about Yuki, Taichi and Juza on this one. I love that Taichi keeps bringing it back to "that childhood friend" and it's always like. so obvious who it is for us rip. But it can make you wonder if Yuki was more honest as a kiddo when Taichi knew him, though now he's clearly not. I love the mention of how Zero is more like Juza's internal speech (which, if anything is another argument about why you should let Juza wear a dress, cOWARD)
but also your mention of the Yuki and Juza thing, while i can't think of them having a dynamic per se yet, but i actually wrote a post during my reread about how i was baffled at the fact they treated Muku the same way?? like both of them tried to push Muku away because they were scared of how people would react if they say pure, sweet Muku was associated to them. And i find it fascinating because i guess those two are pretty aware of how the world see them, and it used to stop them from fully allowing them to be themselves.
I also find it relevant with the fact Yuki says in his personal song that while all of this way people judge him weight on him, he rather be himself, and "I want to love myself". Meanwhile we have Juza who's also aware of the way people judge him and it weight on him, and he wants to change himself from this person he hates, this self loathing - and in a way, he can grow in a way to be "someone" he may not hate, even on stage. I feel like those two have quite a bit in common in this way of being rejected by their peers in some sort of way.
I really want them to share some stuff at some point because there's really a groundwork on it all :(
But i'm really glad you liked that event!! agreed on the pacing and i do love what it brings to the characters! it really fleshes them out and have them move forward a little and it's pretty sweet.
AND OMG THAT'S SO COOL FOR THE SONG!! i'm so glad you liked it, but that's incredible it turned out to be from one of your fav producer!!! ahah sometimes life is like that where you end up finding the stuff you loved back into new stuff! and the fact Rakuen Oasis was from him as well... that's so cool!!! just, so so cool!
im pretty sure he has more songs going forward so i hope you'll enjoy the ride even more!!
thank you once again for sharing your thoughts about a3 :3c it always makes me so happy to see them!!!
Thank youu <3 have a good day :3c
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cutegirlmayra · 4 years
Text
When your tired after a 16hr shift yesterday so you rant about Sonic and explain why aggressive writing vs. neutral writing helps with sharing ideas
Me and my online Sonic friend talking about Belle.  (I’m skipping some dialogue throughout the chat, this was lazily put together lol)
WARNING: It’s long, and it’s a rant. So please note that I’m blatantly aware of how wrong my aggressive, sleep-deprived rant was and that I’m stating “DON’T PRESENT YOUR IDEAS LIKE THIS!” because this is not a healthy nor effective way of sharing ideas.
ALSO, ALL THE MENTIONS OF WHAT I BELIEVE MY FRIEND IS FEELING OR THINKING DURING MY RANT ARE ENTIRELY MY OPINON. If she tells me to delete something or change it I will without hesitation but I find it funny, as I look back, to insert what I think might be going on in her mind XD She might have been oblivious to me but I’ll get her thoughts and change anything if necessary.
It’s also how most trolls and antis and even some ‘not experienced writers’ write their ideas out, and it can be easily avoided by using Neutral Writing Methods. So this is a ‘don’t do this, but try this’ post. Enjoy my badly written, sleepy aggressive rant~<3 (Also, my friend gave me permission to share this lol)
Me: She could be for entertaining little kids. But we already have too many OCs, and they're not 'dying off' any time soon so...I smell a mini-series backup plan...and I don't like what that means for Sonic. And it is cute, sorry, my brain is off the hook right now, I'll keep things to myself cause you may not like what I'm predicting and I'm getting sad thinking about it ;-; so, want to be wrong.
(Friend mentioned “Tinker Bell” spin on name.)
That's precious, but can I get a link to the reference sheet plz? Reference sheets can tell a lot about a chara's functionality if you compare it to the 'needs' of the casts. it can help predict their role. I think she's meant to help but also entertain the kids, maybe planted with a secret. Her goal could be to come back to Mr. Tinker but Eggman abuses that and tricks her into a new robot. I got a weird theory about her but I'll just say that she's probably gonna go a bit dark. But be cute and make the audience go, "Aww, poor thing! She's a cinnamon roll" at first, wonder if they'll equip her with 'happy backstory, tragic ending' kinda thing to switch the usual 'tragic backstory happy ending' but I feel this is a tragic character meant to pull emotion out.
(Friend understands my concerns but mentions there hasn’t been a ‘Bad’ Oc for the comic)
No one sets out to create a 'bad character' especially professional writers like these guys. But what makes a character 'bad' is if you ruin or oversaturate their purposes. If she's a main character that over-shines others with too much story then the audience feels 'betrayed' because they want that screen time for the main casts to express themselves and shine through. That's just an example. When working with IPs like Sonic casts, you HAVE to remember the fanbase is expecting things Do you like my OCs? be honest lol Not from my prompts. There's a specific way to handle a OC that helps the main cast shine and reveals their characters more. AU Ocs help Canon Characters in many ways.
(Friend admits they have not seen my OCs in some of my fanfictions, they’ve only really read my prompts.)
Oh, well, some of my fanfictions have OCs, not Lavinya, she's just a mascot. My Sonic OC that retried XD Sorry, I'm misspelling a lot but I hope you don't mind, my spellcheck sucks and I've given up on it lol Oh, so you don't know Harmony, Ol'Wizzy, and Data?Or the Metal Series? Well, there are specific Ocs that my readers like and they express/compliment the canon characters to where even though they're a main character, they don't intervene with the Main Cast's goals. They actually help. Then everything I'm gonna say won't have much merit so I'll just focus on waiting to see if my predictions for Sonic IDW will come true, but I really hope they don't do what it looks like they strategically might be pulling... I hate SEGA marketing- 
(The beginning of my aggressive rant, please note that I’m not thinking about my image and am writing tired and lazy. This is an example of how NOT to express your opinions in negative ways. It doesn’t influence good at all.)
Their ploys are outdated and frankly, do not work for their IPs market. They target the wrong age group, they have no idea how to organize themselves, and they don't have a leading 'elder' so to speak (just a professional among them) to make good calls. So you have young adults (not super professionals, this might be their first real company job) trying to target internet culture and failing their IPs. They're doing outdated Nintendo tactics that only worked for NINTENDO! Also some other companies that have DIED so why are you copying their marketing strats!? stop! lol
Friend: Did you study marketing because this entire convo kinda flew over my head in terms of understanding (This should have indicated to me that my words were coming off too factual and had too many ‘jargons’ going on. I was losing my ‘reader’ through my rant, but my tired brain would not cease!)
Sonic's trying to morph into something he's not and they're following outdated college course books and it's not gonna help... they're leading Sonic further down and the creators in japan have no power cause all the power is in the stock holders who are stupid money-hungry americans who have lost faith in American SEGA leading SEGA of Japan to move on to other things
Friend: mostly just got you don’t like the marketing (Huge red flag! This means my friend is starting to tune my info out, it’s because I’m presenting my ideas in a slightly aggressive writing style. There are trigger words here that lead an reader to start doubting you. This is why, in most of my answer posts, I make sure to write Neutral writing methods, but I’ll mention that more after my rant lol XP)
It's just bad. Lol I have a Frankenstein degree, (Now I’m justifying myself, which was caused by my aggressive approach. If I simply stated this in a more ‘neutral writing method’ then I wouldn’t have to worry about creditability claims because I’m not trying to sell my idea as the high authority on it.) which means I have knowledge on many different fields. I never took a fully -dedicated- 'marketing class' I took a lot of different communication classes that went to my overall major. One was directly about how you present, sell, and look at marketing tactics. So I have my fingers in many different fields, my major was "Creative Writing for Fiction and Film with an Emphasis in Video Production and a Cluster in Theatre Arts." So I can be on camera, off camera, post and pre production, creative table and actual filming. Does that make sense? (I’m not fully awake to realize what I’m writing, but it’s clear at this point I’m starting to wake up and realize I’m ranting and tossing my ideals of how to present ideas out the window, but let’s watch my follies and learn from them, shall we?) I have theories on what SEGA is going to do, and I have my worries because it's all outdated. It worked for older companies but those companies also targeted a varying audience, which SEGA refuses to see themselves as for a 'teenage audience' which is exactly why they boomed in the 90s. Their target audience is now 20s.
Friend: There are Kids who also like Sonic, even if they don’t play the games though. (Due to my aggressive tactics from not thinking clearly about, not just the what, but the HOW I’m writing, it has turned my friend into a ‘contrasting neutrality’ which is amazing by the way that she did this! She noticed my writing was turning aggressively ranting, and being my friend, didn’t want to be rude about what she was noticing. -I’m guessing lol- so instead, she took the commentary approach, which is to state the good as well. This is a terrible position to put your reader into, and you should make sure to always have good examples and good praise mixed in to contrast any opposing or aggressive statements you ever make. -though you should avoid aggressive writing at all times- Sadly, this does put the reader, in this case my friend, in a very vulnerable position. It leaves them open for attack... but thankfully, she’s a wonderful friend and had trust that I wouldn’t hurt her on her counter-follow-up.)
So instead of using their 40 to 50 year old charts, start with looking at early millennial trends and desires. They tried for 'angst' to 'adultify' Sonic but it busted because we are STICKLERS for animation. Because their story was so scrapped together and had no actual character depth, motivation, or even emotional growth to develop for future game lore, they went for the 'easy made game' (Easy baked oven quote lol that’s just mean XD) We loved the trailer, it was well made, but they threw their animators elsewhere and made the programmers (WHO BLANATLY ADMIT THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO DO STORY/GRAPHICS) and made them do things they aren't trained in. Those micro-head movements and mouths took them A LONG TIME to figure out.
(My friend is now agreeing with me several times through my rant. This is a tactic that is used as ‘avoidance’ but also for ‘appeasement’. She’s probably tuned out by now, but respects what I’m saying but is also incredulous at it as well. It’s fair, I’ve cornered her into my sleepy-time rant, and being the lovable woman that she is, she is simply waiting for me to realize my follies lolol I wish she would have told me but I think she knew I was beyond ‘logical reasoning’ at this point and was just letting me get it all out lolol What a good friend TDT)
Animation can't be learned that fast AND expect them to program a game AT THE SAME TIME. Sonic Forces was a 'split up SEGA' trying to get those who survived and said, "Yeah, I'll stay in this job." to do things that THEY AREN'T EVEN TRAINED IN. you put a game programmer on animation and some other stuff they didn't know what to do with and expect it be a top-notch seller.
Friend: (in more attempts to join in and be a ‘participant’ of the conversation I’m clearly dominating -MY ABSOLUTE BAD- she tried to engage normal conversation flow into the discussion again. At this point, she probably did notice I wasn’t my usual self, and just decided to play along and enjoy the ride lolol I’m just guessing this tho, but it’s a good chance to reflect on what ‘wrongs’ I was doing and what ‘rights’ she was doing during this situation ;)b) My big issue with SEGA is that they rush everything. A lot of things would’ve been better if they had the proper time.
That was resolved actually.
Friend: Oh? It was? (Although this looks like an encouragement, it’s actually just another avoidance tactic to help me ‘get the venting out’ but it’s clear she’s not fully onboard anymore. When you write to discuss, you have to leave room for other’s opinions to shine through as well. Healthy conversation doesn’t mean forcing the other person to comply to you. A lot of this is educated guess based on past research, she knows this, and it’s clear she’s got her own research. Please remember to never shoot someone down when they try to engage you in your conversations. But again, this is the ‘don’t do this’ and me upset at my tired self for not waking up fast enough to contemplate how I was coming across in my wordings. Let’s continue to investigate and dissect the train wreck, shall we?)
That was an issue a few years ago but SEGA is taking their time, it's just that they can't organize themselves and hire the right professionals. They have old tactics, they have rookies that aren't 'Fresh Blood with professionalism' like they need. They don't need an old fart who knows his stuff, they need a new guy who is dedicated and passionate about their company who will remain there, learn them in and out, and knows his stuff SPECIFICALLY for the things SEGA needs. You have to grow that. You have to hire a very talented and young spunky and fresh professional, have him work with you for 10-15 years, and start training others. But SEGA is already recognized as a 'established' company.
(Friend is still agreeing with me, but is aware of my way of presenting it isn’t “As nice as I usually present it” so she starts mentioning the symptoms of Japanese Work Culture. A wonderful, insightful point to mention! But let’s see how I butcher this as well...)
It's not Japan though! (Again, shutting her down. Tsk tsk, sleepy me. Wake up, you lazy bum.) They won't let Japan interfere! They're all really rude to japan actually. The guys in charge, anyway. We all respect the officials, but SEGA of America people just want results. They are just funders, they don't actually work the company.
Friend: So you blame them for everything? (She’s trying to help me see that my writing is coming off as ‘hate’ which is because of my aggressive writing follies I’m doing so bluntly. Let’s please all admire my friend’s patience as she lets me rant and kindly waits for me to realize how bad I’m handling my 16 hr shift from yesterday lolol)
Look, business is really unfair, and I get that, but if I have to rant (I’m starting to wake up more, oh goodie.) I'd say they really need to humble themselves and ask Japan to please take ownership again. They kicked out people due to a money crisis but they need a game that will be 'safe to secure money but get enough excited momentum to help us push on and continue.' which isn't Japan's strategy usually. Japan likes risks, they also like money too. They trust America too much (especially in the beginning) because America is a HUGE consumer. For the world in fact. But I think they sacrificed too much for the company (common in Japan) and trusted America too much in making decisions. The officials are too nice to say that America screwed them over because America wanted full control. Well guess what? They have too much control now and their product is sinking..
Friend:  You’ve got a lot of fire about this topic. (After I completely disregarded reading her follows-ups and continued to rant, my unconditionally kind friend finally threw in the towel, realizing I was no where near my usually ‘present’ self and was probably just flopped back in her chair smiling at my idiocy of not understanding her kind and subtly hints.) Go ahead and rant it out. (BOOM! Obvious right!? I should have corrected myself but at this point, I was writing like wild fire with droopy, waking up eyes and didn’t even read it during my long paragraphs...)
Sonic won't ever fade away due to it's fans, but the company is struggling to figure itself out for YEARS now. I just worry what they plan to do next. But I have a theory that they are really putting the next game in Japan's hands, a lot of activity is happening in SEGA of Japan, and they're spending WAY MORE TIME on the next installment of Modern Sonic (or Classic, still unsure which one it is yet.) I really think they need a remake game to give them profit, then use that profit for their next big installment. But so far, I think they are working on a game BUT corona might have effected production so I'm sure they are working but I'm concerned if Corona helped manage 'time and quality' or is helping to ruin it...That I can't investigate yet :( I just wish for the best (I’M FINALLY WAKING UP FULLY AS I STOP AND REALIZE-) Sorry for my rant! My theory talk showed through and I don't usually like doing that so forgive me. I'm tired and that's why T-T
Friend: It’s cool we all need to rant sometimes. (My friend’s going to make it to Heaven TwT she’s so kind.)
(Then I profusely apologized a billion times cause I realize how badly this all went down. lol)
(But the terror hasn’t ended... she mentioned some youtube videos mentioning other opinions as well. -which I’m usually cautious of cause some of them can be fanon.-)
OHhhh did he mention the arcade crash??? the literal WORST event in SEGA history??? That's literally where they sank the titanic, SEGA has never recovered from selling off their stocks. (I’M BACK AT IT AGAIN. -facepalm-) Shareholders are everything now and it's the biggest loss ever. Also, the problem is that kids don't play the games, (Rereading my follies and wanting to answer but still only just waking up...) but SEGA can't figure out why they like the characters and can't seem to take the FREAKIN' TIME to learn their lore. (Overwhelming the conversation again.) My easy steps: Re-establish Sonic lore CANONLY AND CORRECTLY, Re-gather the Japanese Officials original plans and notes, guides and study art, Re-make some popular games with the most details on Animation, Fluidity of motion graphics, and with modern Technology incorporated into the game. Once that is accomplished, they will have enough money to then- Create a continuity. Only with a flowing story and relevant past lore can they start moving forward. Animation will target their audience, Story and character re-established arcs will bring nostalgia and new blood to the field of their games, and then Japan's influences will keep it authentic for the continuities so we don't have fandom mixing with canon NEARLY AS BADLY as before anymore. Ugh, it does matter their sales, but I literally bought a book on the history of SEGA, and read a really compelling history article about more then just the Console Wars... I know SEGA has survived literally the edge of extinction on multiple fronts, but someone needs to take charge of their Sonic branch, and it's... it's just too outdated. kk, sorry for the rant.
Friend: (After being multiple times ignored, even after my brief moment of clarity, is still an angel. Frustrated, maybe, but an angel.) And your steps sound really good. Also mostly just listen to his vids if you ever do. It’s ok we all need to rant. (THE WORLD DOESN’T DESERVE THIS GURL T-T)
I'm tired so my 'angry' is showing and it's not professional XD do you mind if I post my rant? lol Actually, no. (Realize how awfully I delivered my ideas, this is where I begin to see my errors and where the clarity comes into play. -we all have our off days lol- )
Friend: Go for it
I want to but it's too aggressive. I'm too lazy to rewrite it out so I'll just save that for another day XD You got a rare treat
Friend: (This is actually interesting and fascinating to her. But she realized then that I finally did see my error.) Concerned you’ll get aggressive responses back?
Honest opinion is sometimes too blunt and I need to be careful about that
Friend: I mean it’s always good to try and get most of the anger out so you seem more professional (Saint. Literally. A saint. She’s puts up with too much of my crap XD)
That, and also the war of 'But this is Cutegirlmayra? She's so sweet and constantly puts her answers in supportive, positive lights so that if SEGA were to see it, they would feel empowered to try it instead of threatened and throw it off as hate or something unprofessional.' I have an image too. I can't post something super aggressive or I'll lose trust. You're right.
Friend: I’m glad you put a lot of thought into everything you post
I apologize for it tho T-T I didn't mean to dominate with such opinions...lol I worry who I influence, you know?
Friend: Most people don’t and trust me they get into trouble cause of it. And yeah.
I don't want to create trolls or heated arguments. I want to teach people they can safely express an idea without using such awful communication. Exactly, it's professional fanism. lol Positive writing is what companies and their employees actually read. (I’m almost fully awake now lol, realizing my blunder and starting to explain why I was in the wrong. Good on me, pat on the back, admitting I was coming off as aggressive is the first step to changing and getting better lolol Also, I’m including her more, and I’m saying “You’re right.” and she’s going “And yeah.” which is a indicator that the conversation is slowly returning to an enjoyable and healthy one. ;w; happy endings lol)  That's why I skip the aggressive stuff, even if it's passive, I write in a neutral setting so everyone feels safe to read, even someone who works at SEGA.
Friend: (Mentions some nintendo youtuber rant and also news as well, then says-) It was honestly very professional sounding and not rude. (MY HEART, YOU KNEW THAT WAS AN AGGRESSIVE RANT lololol So nice to me TDT)
Lol you had to have seen how slightly aggressive it was tho. (I’M CALLING YOUR BLUFF, BESTIE lol) You literally asked, "You blame America for it?" which is not always true but semi-true. They were way too prideful (Aggressive word) and haughty (Still aggressive terminology) about their success in other Japanese products that they wanted to completely change Sonic to their own wishes, pushing out Japan's creative "licenses" (I use this word loosely, and this gives a slightly aggressive feel but is also more dumbed down so it's more 'passionate' than just aggressive)
Friend: Yeah I saw it was slightly aggressive (Either is starting to realize it or at last admitting it now that I am fully aware of how I was coming across. I also used indicators to show what words were aggressive to help illustrate my point. This is showing I’m much more awake now :)b)
Gotta use those neutral tactics or no one will feel comfortable just reading your idea and instead, will constantly look for a place to intercept with aggression back, whether they agree or not, they're looking for ways to self-insert their aggression if you are also aggressive. I can't write something that doesn't somewhat support and uplift SEGA of America. Why? Because like I said, they literally have survived EVERYTHING and have stuck around. Without them, there wouldn't be an American branch and the money issue would have ended SEGA. Some might say, "But they've done so much harm than good! Why is the money thing such a thing to be praised for?" But it's huge, it's so big, it kinda does offset the wrongs. (Now I’m doing the healthy thing, doubling back and mentioning the good to try and recover. The damage may be done, but she did recommend some videos for me and was polite, so I’m just trying to smooth things over and leave on a ‘wrapped up’ conclusion. But... I should have just left it there in all honesty xD Some things you can’t double-back and correct lol) America is a great business-influenced mindset. None of us would be fans of Sonic without them.
(Friend continues to agree but realizes I may slip into ranting again. She just asks if I can watch the videos.)
America does have it's advantages in some fields and areas, but their biggest most redeeming quality is that they saved SEGA which gave us our biggest love and obsession: Sonic. Now, my usage in that writing was still off neutral, but combined with the slightly aggressive statements, made a GREAT contrast. It's still slightly praising
Friend: And they stopped Japan from giving him a human girlfriend right away.
Me: Exactly.
Friend: I will always thank them for that. (She’s still a sweetheart, working herself into the conversation so it stays healthy. lol Such amazing follow-ups too!)
So although I don't like what's happening, I'm also grateful... to a degree lol We need SEGA of America, which is why I think Japan just ignores them now lolol they know they owe them a lot. 
(Friend mentions videos and as I go to save them to my ‘watch later’ sees that one of them is about Nintendo.)
Yeeeahhh I've noticed that Nintendo is starting to trail into 'cash grab' tactics and that's sickening (MORE AGGRESSIVE WORDING??? HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSON CHILD?! It takes time to fully wake up lolol) cause before, I literally thought, "Nintendo can do no wrong" their marketing was ON POINT! but the stuff they said about Peach and now... I think new, unprofessional blood (like SEGA) has entered Nintendo and the older guys are either 'training' or 'retired to other ventures'. Nintendo is having it's own 'we used to not be prideful but now we're getting a little too pompous (Another aggressive wording... This can easily trigger people to comment with further aggression either against you or for you, but no aggression is the ideal. Which is continuing to show my lack of remaining conscious lol) about ourselves' and they're starting to act like Disney before their big crash. Disney also had 'limited time offers' with their VHS movies. Now, Nintendo is doing that. They'll make money, but at what cost? When you lose your costumer's trust...
Friend: And yeah the 35th Mario thing immediately reminded me of the Disney vault
Me: Yep. I'm worried for Nintendo. Don't get me wrong! Disney is really good with money grabs, but they... they also act high and mighty (More aggressive statements, wake up, darn it!!!) and their fanbase literally calls them 'an empire' so the fan-trust is gone. That makes you 'lame/outdated' and fans begin to look for 'what's cool?' instead.
(Friend is now re-realizing I’m ‘in and out’ so is trying to use a effective avoidance tactic by asking about different things to help my ranting fully stop.)
Sorry, I'm tired, I get on these rants and I don't mean too. (Trying to shake myself awake again.) I'm sorry.
So we returned to a healthy conversation, but I hope this interesting insight has revealed how to and what not to do about Aggressive Writing. Always stick to Neutral writing if you can, putting in a compelling counter-argument. In this aggressive writing demo, you saw that I tried to cover up my follies by saying counter-praise, but praise writing can be just as bad as aggressive writing. Passive writing can sometimes be annoying (aggressive word choice) too if you come off as disinterested or uncaring, which can still result in negative comments coming at you, or someone overly praising in their writings.
This has been all I’m showing you cause it’s kinda embarrassing ^^; but I hope it helps you in what ‘not to do’ while writing your ideas out :)b
Learn from my sleepy-time mistakes! lol
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soultronica · 3 years
Note
For your fandom asks... why not KID and LAW?
Oooh good one! Took me a while lmao
K -Say something nice about someone in any of your fandoms
Ok starting off strong ahah time to embarrass myself. Well what comes to mind immediately like I mentioned on ao3 is all the kind people who left comments on my stuff, you included especially!, but also @chromatic-lamina is probably the most supportive person I’ve met here. And @chokefriends is the best active kidlaw writer but we all know that lol
I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why
Oh man I guess lol? I got into a big anime fandom (Free!) right at the beginning of its tumblr hype and despite my efforts to find a relatively quiet fandom space via a sideship I got into so much drama lol, partly from my own personality defects and depression, partly from associating with the wrong people, partly from living in Japan at the time meaning you kind of end up getting introduced to all the ultra fans. Should point out that this was around the general move from tumblr to twitter (2014) so it’s both tumblr and twitter, really, but I ended up nuking my entire internet presence for a while. Now I’m older and more reasonable so I know how not to participate in anything that promises discourse, though I do miss the activity sometimes -- an active fandom really is a daily hobby, you can spend all day talking to people. On the other hand I still have the friends I made from that time, most of whom I’ve met irl and even one I’ve lived with in a one-room apartment back when we were living on 30k yen a month. So it’s not all bad and there’s no denying it was a big part of that period of my life but I’m never rewatching that show or getting in a similar fandom ever again ahah
D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)
Hmm hard to answer that one, I either like or dislike ships without real strong feelings either way. I suppose a lot of kidlaw people are into z/s as well so maybe that, and it’d mean more content as well, though I feel like I can get a similar dynamic from kidlaw anyways so I don’t feel like I’m missing much. A good friend is into shanks/mihawk so maybe that one as well so we could swap fics, I totally get the appeal intellectually too but somehow shanks/buggy feels cuter to me despite being a literal clown ship lol.
L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves (chars you’re neutral on are fair game, as are chars you dislike)
Uhhhh I don’t have strong feelings about 80% of one piece characters so I don’t even know who to pick ahah. Characters that sometimes annoy me I still generally find have good concepts or fit well in the story/among the strawhats, etc. Like akainu is a bitch but he’s still a good antagonist archetype that fits in well among the cast of antagonists, know what I mean? Does that count?
A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)
Well kidlaw lol. To be very honest despite generally being someone who loves exploring characters and relationships (I’m a multi-multi-multishipper in most fandoms I get into), One Piece just isn’t really that kind of manga for me, I’m just not invested all that much in most of the characters, which makes the ship pool pretty reduced -- I mostly like the story and the adventure, and like 5-10 charas I’m invested into. But I’m used to approaching fandom as a shipper, and honestly most people on tumblr/twitter are as well so that’s the way to go if you want a decent volume of content/interaction, so that’s how i went into it. I got into kidlaw because I wanted Law content and it was the type of dynamic I liked, started liking Kid through fic and ended up writing my own, and here we are. But at the end of the day I don’t overly care about them interacting in canon or anything ahah. I guess canon and fandom are separate matters for me, one I talk about with my bros and one I talk about on social media.
Should mention that the next fic I wanna write is Robin/Crocodile so that’s another ship (that I don’t overly care about but like exploring)
W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships
All this to say imma skip this question ahah can’t think of 5 ships that would qualify as “favourite” and I don’t really do kinks either
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impalababe-67 · 4 years
Text
Everything what’s wrong with Supernatural S15
First of all, this is just my very own opinion and how I see things.
No need to get offended. I’m a fan since 15 years and I had enough fandom drama for a lifetime. You’re welcome to state your opinion and everything, but please don’t start a bitch fest.
Also, English isn’t my native language so please be aware of crappy grammar.
So, what’s going on with our beloved show?!
Ratings are on an all-time low....and I say not without a reason.
Let’s be honest, the season sucks, up until this point. Today mid season episode aired. And Jake Able stole the show. He was on point perfect.
But let’s jump to season 11/12, where the downslope started.
Season 11 was refreshing good, and had a great season finale.
Everybody was hyped, and then Season 12 started and.....I don’t know what happened, but it didn’t fit....it was lame. And from that point it spiraled downwards...
Whatever, S12, 13 and 14 came and went, and it wasn’t getting better....I mean Jensen isn’t the only one, who got diarrhea over season 13th finale^^
But why is that? Here a few points I always get agitated about, and especially now in season 15.
Why?? Because it’s the final season!
1. The low budget.
- Seemingly no money to bring good songs anymore.
- Cheap costumes and make up. The Monsters are looking like the result from a DIY class. Blood looks like pink paint.
- The guest actors. Most of them are just not good.
2. The look of the Show
- Don’t we all miss the grainy, more colorless and dirty look. Now it looks like a daytime soap opera^^
- Colors, Camera angles, the whole cinematography, is kinda bland. Nothing special anymore.
- Most of the fights are looking off. The stunts are sometimes so cringeworthy. Example: Epi7 „Last Call“. Sam flies from the bed, at the wall, because Cas investigated the bullet wound. It looked hilarious.
3. Jared & Jensen..yeah yeah I know, I will get hate for the next words.
- I have more and more the felling, they’re only gueststars on their own show anymore. And they’re are only going through their routine, get their paycheck and are off.
For all the big talk Jensen did back in summer, that they have more to say in the final season....hmmmmm wondering what’s behind that.
„Just“ to direct an episode and turn another into some kind of commercial/concert....well I thought their input would be a bit different.
- Am I’m the only one, who wonders why the brothers almost take no physically harm anymore, if they get beat up? „Proverbs“, CainDean gave Sam quite a good beat down...when he stabbed him, did the wound even bleed?!
- They always tell us, how much dedicated they’re, and how much they know their Charas. That it’s all about the brothers, and so on. You know it.
But right now, I don’t feel any of it. And it feels to me, the guys are having more time off, and work more separate then ever before.
But I don’t want to bash down on our 2 lovely boys, so let’s move on....
4. The Story/Plot
- Oh Boy, where to start. I could probably write a novel about that topic. And Season 15 isn’t really giving us some slack.
Honestly if the SPN writers would bring much as energy and skills into the storyline, like they do on their Twitter accounts, the ratings probably wouldn’t drop to around 1 Million.
8 episodes, and I really only enjoyed 2.
Too much separated brothers. I mean in one episode, Sam is saying he needs his brother. And in the next season Dean takes off.
Canon gets kicked with feet. There is no continuity.
They are bringing back one character after the other, without a good story behind it, and when then just to ignore storylines from the past, and call it New Canon....ppppshhh please.
And no, I’m not a fan of Saileen. Sam is stating he still thinks about Jess.
But the writers are bringing back Eileen?! According to the New Canon, she was dragged to hell. Soooo, Jess got killed by a demon....maybe she is also in hell^^
To get to the point, I don’t really see the reason to bring in the final season a love interest for Sam. Jared hated the Amelia Storyline. And Sam stated several times, he’s done with the whole family stuff.
It seems forced and Jay and Shoshannah don’t have a good chemistry. At least I don’t feel it.
Then the whole Dean and Cas thingy. I mean, what the hell. What is even the reason behind all this. It looks like, the writers hadn’t any storyline for Cas, so they needed to bring some fight up, just to have a reason, that he isn’t around?!
The whole plot until now, is really blotchy, and I could rant endlessly....
Yeah, maybe there’s some reason behind aaaallll of that, because of the God Plot.
But my dear boys, you better start to sort this things out, and explain it through a good storyline in the next episode, otherwise this show will come to an end, which makes the GoT finale looks good!
But honestly I think the harm is already done. I don’t think the viewers will come back, just because Chuck yells in one the next episodes: Suckers I played you!!
If there is a plan, behind this crap....it’s horrible executed.
And if there isn’t any bigger meaning behind it......do I really have to finish this thought?!
Well, here you go.
I know there are still so many topics and reasons to tell, but I didn’t want to go into details. Otherwise this entry would be endless.
I have still hope, there will come something good. This show owns my heart, and it saddens me to no end, how the situation is right now.
All the years I was excited for the new episodes....now I dread them 😢
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underimagines · 4 years
Text
Commission - A Day Out
Mob/Mafiatale!Asgore, Chara, and Sans Part 2 to THIS commission! 
“After recovering over the next few weeks/months/whatever and slowly turning into a full on Boss Monster, they go out on their first date. How does their evening go?”
Fandom: Mobtale/Mafiatale  Pairings: Asgore/Reader, Sans/Reader, Chara/Reader  Length: 3k (1k per Scenario)  Rating: T+
For @jainwolfe! Thank you for commissioning me once more!
Mob/Mafiatale-Asgore:
“Is this what it feels like to be royalty?” You laughed nervously, twirling a lock of hair around your clawed finger. “Being watched all the time?”
Asgore gave you a soft smile but sighed all the same. “I can’t say that it’s not similar. How are you feeling? If you want to go back home, then…”
“No!” You said it quickly, too quickly, then took a breath and tried again, “No. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Just got to get my bearings first.”
He nodded understandingly. “Take your time.”
This was a unique situation, and it called for patience, which Asgore had plenty of. He watched you shuffle in place for a moment, brushing your paws over your furry snout. You pushed the tuft of fur hanging between your floppy ears out of your eyes and gave a deep, shuddering sigh.
It was strange, seeing you like this. You looked so much like him. And Toriel. But he could still see you, under all that fur and fluff. Especially when you gave him that awkward, lopsided smile he knew so well.
“Alright, I think I’m good.”
“We’ll take it slow.” He offered you his hand, gently. You took it, with only a moments hesitation. But that was okay. No matter how much time you needed in order to deal with this, he would be there by your side. This time, he’d be there for you.
This time, he’d be able to protect you.
Hand-in-hand, you stepped out of the store and back into the streets. You flinched under the glaring sunlight beaming down from the bright blue sky. It was a beautiful day, but to you it just felt like way too much. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen.
“So, where are we off to today?” You asked quietly, leaning into his side as you made your way down the sidewalk. You kept your eyes pinned to the ground, too nervous to look up and see if anyone was looking at you again. Asgore carefully shifted the bag full of freshly baked bread on his free arm, to check the list he’d made.
“We have to stop by the florist to get some more seeds for the garden.” He tucked the little piece of paper away and glanced down at you, smiling. “What do you think we might need more of? I’ve had my eye on some sunflower seeds for a while.”
“Sunflowers are fine.” You replied in a small voice.
Asgore sighed to himself. He looked forward to the days when you would be able to talk with him again, without fear of drawing attention to yourself.
But he understood your reluctance. Even now, there were Monsters and humans alike watching you walk down the street together, their eyes following your every movements and their jaws slack in awe. He wanted to ask them, politely of course, to keep their eyes to themselves.
Ever since what had happened had happened, rumors had been flying through the city streets.
He led you quietly down the streets, your arm tucked against his own, shoulders pressed together like sardines in a can.
The florist was open, thankfully. And from the looks of it, there weren’t many customers at the moment. Which was lucky for both of you, because neither of you wanted to deal with a crowd right now.
Asgore looked down at you, a soft smile creasing his face as he placed a hand on your elbow. “If you’d rather wait outside, I’d be okay with that.”
“No!” Your grip on his arm tightened. “I mean. I want to stay with you. Please.”
He sighed, in relief more than anything. “Okay.”
As the door swung open, the florist perked up from behind the counter. “Hello! How can I help…”
Their voice trailed off as they stared at the two of you, wide-eyed and frozen. You wondered what you looked like to them. The King of Monsterkind, and his Boss Monster hybrid partner. What a freak-show.
“Why don’t you go look at some of the flowers?” Asgore whispered softly against your ear. “While I conduct the business side of things?”
“Okay.” Reluctantly, you unwound yourself from his embrace and headed over to the aisles of flowers and plants lining the walls, while Asgore straightened his shoulders and headed towards the counter.
You were nervous at first, being away from his side. Though the distance was small, it took everything in you not to just run back to hiding behind him.
But as you traversed the aisles of flowers, you found yourself beginning to relax. The atmosphere of the flower shop was extremely comforting. All the scents, colors, and different kinds of plants made you feel safe. Like you were walking through a giant garden. It reminded you of home, and the garden that you and Asgore had planted together.
You stopped in front of a pot of Amaryllis flowers and looked over the tag. Each one had the meaning of the flowers written on them.
“Worth beyond beauty.” That struck a chord with you. As a human, you’d considered yourself okay looking. But now, as a Boss Monster, your appearance was something you were having the biggest troubles getting used to.
You didn’t notice Asgore approaching you until his shadow stretched over the section of shelf you were standing at.
“Do you like those flowers?” He asked gently, leaning in to place his chin against your shoulder. “Amaryllis, yes?”
“Yeah.” You couldn’t help but blush because of how close he was. “They’re very pretty.”
“Then I’ll buy them for you.”
You turned with a gasp. “No, you don’t have to!”
“I want to.”
You fidgeted in place, nervously, but eventually gave in and let Asgore take the plant up front.
As you walked out of the florist, arm-in-arm, you clutched the little pot of flowers close.
Maybe one day, you’d be able to view yourself in the same way that people viewed the Amaryllis.
With worth beyond the boundary of beauty.
Mob/Mafiatale-Sans:
“Sans, I feel like everyone is staring at me.”
He glanced up, to see you tugging at your hat, trying to pull it down over your face. Your other hand was wound with his own, fingers intertwined. You glanced around nervously, shrinking beneath the curious stares and open-mouthed gawking of the nosy crowds.
Too nosy, he thought to himself.
“can you blame them?” He shrugged, giving you one of his signature lazy, lopsided smiles. He quickly added a wink when he saw the hesitation in your eyes. “they’ve probably never seen anyone as beautiful as you before.”
“Sans—!” Your cheekbones flushed a pleasant pink color, which you quickly hid beneath gloved hands. “Shut up, you know that I’m not…”
You shifted your weight a little, staring hard at the ground. Your tail swept across the sidewalk, thumping against the concrete anxiously.
“not what? cute? adorable? amazing? because i’d hafta disagree there.”
Maybe humans thought you looked a little weird. But Sans had never seen a more beautiful skeleton…whatever you were. Not a normal skeleton, definitely. But strong, with spines and claws, and big sharp fangs. Even for someone made entirely out of bone, you exuded raw power.
But beneath all that, he still saw you. He saw it in your smile, and the way you blushed, and how you’d fidget nervously. He heard it in your voice. He watched it surface when you walked, how you sat, how you did just about anything. Even in this new, strange body, he knew you were still the you that he’d fallen in love with.
And to him, that was beautiful.
“i’ll always love you a skele-ton.”
You bit back a snort, and the edges of your lips curled back in a smile.
He grinned, knowing that he’d gotten you there.
“what? don’t tell me you don’t like my ribbin’ anymore?”
“Sans, please.”
“tibia-honest, maybe you’re right. these ones are getting a little stale. i’ll have to think up some new ones, but it’ll be hard to marrow it down.”
You shoved his shoulder lightly, rolling your eyes. The gleaming multicolored lights danced in your sockets as you grimaced at his terrible humor. Which, of course, only made him smile even wider and give you a playful shrug.
“y’know what my brotha’ always says. i’m a real numb-skull.”
“You are.” You smiled. “But you’re my numb-skull.”
Now it was his turn to flush, the pink color dancing across his cheeks for just a moment.
“yeah, i really am. n’i couldn’t be happier ‘bout it.”
As you walked down the street, side-by-side, he reached for your hand. Sans wasn’t usually a big PDA type of guy, but today, he was feelin’ kinda bold. Hand-holding bold.
You paused as you felt his fingers intertwine with yours. Now that you were mostly skeleton, the feeling was so different from when you were a human. There was no soft skin against hard bone. You were the same now.
And it was oddly comforting, in a way.
“so, whatcha wanna do today?”
“Mm.” You scratched your chin in thought. “I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I was out. Is there anything good happening around town right now?”
“nah.” Sans actually had no clue, but he wasn’t about to put in the effort to go investigating. “say, how about we stop by grillby’s? my treat.”
“Sans, we always go to Grillby’s!” You said it with annoyance, but there was still a smile on your face.
“what’s not to love? good food, spending time with friends, a warm atmosphere.” He looked up at you and winked lazily. “it’s perfect for dates.”
“Papyrus would say otherwise.” You teased him, gently nudging his shoulder with your own.
“that’s because paps has too delicate of a palette.” Sans shrugged again. “y’know, i think he secretly likes grillby’s. he’s just too stubborn to admit it.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night!”
You giggled as he led you down the street to his favorite restaurant. He kept the small-talk up the entire way. It was a nice break from all the staring and strange looks you were getting. Having Sans there with you was the biggest distraction you could have asked for.
But as you reached the doorway, you found yourself hesitating.
Sans turned, his hand on the knob. He looked up at you, a bit of worry creasing his features. “something wrong, babe?”
“I just…” You tucked a strange of ectoplasmic hair behind your nonexistent ear. “How will everyone react, seeing me like this? I look so weird now. And different. What if they think I’m creepy? What if they’re intimidated because I’m a Boss Monster? What if—”
“hey, hey! slow down.” Sans held his hands up, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his skull. All that anxiety was starting to affect him, too. “you know these guys. they’d never speak ill of ya. more than likely, they’ll all just be happy to see that you made it out okay.”
“How can you be so sure?” Your claws tightened in the fabric of your blouse, and he could see the tension in your shaking hands.
“because, i’m a regular. have been for a long time now. i know grillby’s like the back of my hand.” As he spoke, he lifted up his free hand, and offered it to you. “just trust me. everything’s gonna be okay. i promise.”
Sans wasn’t big on promises he wasn’t sure that he’d end up keeping. But this was one that you both knew that he would.
After a moment’s hesitation, your expression grew determined. “Okay. I trust you.”
His grin widened as you slipped your hand into his own. The sensation of bone against bone was strange, but also oddly comforting somehow. Human, skeleton, Boss Monster. He didn’t care what form you took. He loved you all the same.
Hand-in-hand, he led you into Grillby’s, knowing that this place would never let him down.
And he’d never let you down, either.
Adult!Mob/Mafiatale-Chara:
“This is a bad idea.”
They couldn’t help but agree with you.
Chara was not the kind of person who liked to stray far from home. But it had been a while since you’d last been on a date together, and they weren’t willing to let you stay at home and mope over your predicament any longer. You needed to get out, both of your shell, and out of the house.
Still, as you walked down the streets, side-by-side, they weren’t oblivious to the stares you were receiving. It was understandable, given your new form. A side-effect of the transformation process over-going your soul. Chara didn’t find it nearly as inconvenient as you seemed to, however.
Pinpointing what exactly you had become after those weeks in the hospital was difficult. You weren’t exactly human. But not entirely Monster either. Some sort of mix of both. If they were still a child, Chara would have had no doubt that they would have been jealous of you. But now that they’d grown considerably, both emotionally and physically, they found themself pitying you instead.
But you didn’t deserve that.
They watched you duck your head, trying hard to ignore the way people were gawking at you as you sluggishly made your way down the street.
Chara sighed and slid their hand down to meet yours. With a gentle squeeze, and a soft smile, they assured you of their presence. Satisfaction followed, watching the tension drain from your face, as you returned their sentiment with a squeeze of your own.
“Things are going to be okay.” They mumbled gently, trying to assure both you and themself. “We will get through this, together.”
“I know.” You sighed. “It’s just hard, getting used to all these…”
You lifted your free hand, clenching and un-clenching your clawed fingers into fists. “Changes.”
“If it’s any consolation, I would give anything to be in your position right now.” Ah, that wasn’t the right thing to say. They watched you flinch, and quickly followed up with, “Not what you underwent, of course, but. To know what it’s like to be part Monster. It’s always been a dream of mine.”
“It’s not much different from being a human.” You admitted, rubbing the back of your neck self-consciously. “I’m just a little fluffier.”
Their smile quirked up at the edges. Well, you weren’t wrong about that. Thick waves of fur decorated your body, stretching all the way down to a swishing, spade-tipped tail that dragged across the ground as you walked. Your claws were sharp and dark, and they could see your long fangs sinking into your lower lip as you chewed on it nervously.
“Well, I think you’re beautiful.” They said, softly.
Your long, deer-like ears pinned back against your head as your cheeks flushed a pleasant pink color. You tried to wave them off. “You’re just saying that.”
“I might be, but I mean it.” They squeezed your hand again, tighter this time. “You are incredible. Your determination, your willpower, your beauty. All of them intrigue me, in so many ways. Don’t you believe me?”
“I do…it’s just.”
Chara tilted their head to the side. “Just what? Is that I’ve said it, not enough?”
“No! No. I mean.” You sighed, shaking your head. “It’s just something I’m still getting used to.”
“Don’t worry about it.” They assured you, rubbing a thumb across the web of your palm. “No matter what happens, I’ll be by your side.”
“Chara…” Your ruby eyes shimmered with un-fallen tears. “Thank you.”
They smiled, gently, before returning their attention to the streets around you. “Where do you want to go today?”
“Do you think…” You hesitated a moment before continuing, “Do you think that café is open? The one we both like.”
“We can always check.”
Thank goodness you did, because it was open. And with very little customers, to boot. Which meant that you wouldn’t be getting as many stares as you were out here.
Chara led you into the tiny establishment and pointed towards a booth settled in the corner-most area of the café. “Let’s sit there.”
“Yeah.” You nodded. “I’ll go save our spot.”
You didn’t like leaving their side, but once you settled into the dark little corner, you found yourself relaxing. It was nice and secluded here. No one could see you, and you couldn’t see anyone else. Just Chara, at the counter, giving your regular orders to the very flustered looking barista Monster.
Afterwards, they came to join you, sliding into the seat opposite yours with a smile on their face.
“What’s up with that smile?” You couldn’t help but ask. It looked mischievous, like they were planning something.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” They waved you off, but you couldn’t help but feel like there was something more to it.
A few minutes later, the barista made her way around the counter, and approached your booth, with a drink in both of her hands, and a tray on her third.
She set down each drink in front of you, and then turned to you with a wide smile. “Happy Birthday, dear!”
You blinked in confusion as she set down a very fancy, delicious looking volcano cake in front of you.
“But, it’s not…”
“Thank you.” Chara interjected. “We’ll take it from here.”
The barista winked and turned away to return to her post.
You looked up at your partner in disbelief. “Did you lie about it being my birthday, just to get us free dessert?”
“I’m not wrong, am I?” They didn’t even wait, just unsheathed their fork and scooped up a sizeable bite of the delicious chocolate pastry. “You’ve been reborn, after all. This is your birthday.”
“Well, I…” Damn, they weren’t wrong. Still felt like it was wrong, though. “Fine, but this is my Re-Birthday, okay? I’m still celebrating my human birthday, too.”
They shrugged. “That’s fine with me.”
You rolled your eyes, but finally began to dig into your “birthday” cake.
Maybe today wasn’t so bad, after all.
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franstastic-ideas · 5 years
Text
Bitty Blues
Bittybones AU, Underswap Frisk and Chara - Fresh out of college, Chara drags Frisk to an adoption center in hopes that her lonely friend will take to one of the bitties there, but only after Chara promises to buy Frisk lunch for her troubles. After looking through the center for a while, they encounter a Blueberry, a rescue with abandonment issues that develops a near instant attraction to Frisk. His HP is unusually and dreadfully low for a Blueberry, so much so that the staff worry that one more heartbreak may reduce him to dust.
Word Count: 19,834
Warnings: This story does feature a rescue bitty, so there are some narrative elements that may be upsetting to readers. Another rescue bitty has a malnourished and mangled appearance and is described as such.
It seemed like everyone around her had become enraptured with bitties. No matter where she looked, she would see happy people with happy little monsters riding on someone's shoulders, resting in the pockets of shirts, or peeking curiously out of an open bag. They were everywhere.
And if Frisk were to be honest, she didn't get it.
Frisk didn't resent the little creatures, not at all. But she didn't understand the appeal, either. Squealing over the tiny clothes they wore, watching them nibble on the bite-sized food they ate, the social media accounts one would come across at each corner of the internet filled to the brim with snapshots capturing the bitty's every action… it was all lost on her. And the disappointed or sympathetic looks she more than often received when she didn't begin cooing whenever one was shoved in her face was something Frisk couldn't totally wrap her head around either.
Frisk didn't hate bitties. She didn't even remotely dislike them.
She just didn't want one.
A loner is what most called her. She was always alone, nose shoved in a book or looking at a screen instead of talking to the people around her. Soft-spoken and only speaks when spoken to, that was Frisk. These traits made people believe she was either shy or had an attitude that needed fixing, but the truth was, interacting with others was just too much for her to deal with.
Frisk liked being alone. Why was that so difficult to comprehend?
She doesn't ever wonder what having lots of friends is like… not at all. She pitied these lonely humans with their bitties, if she felt anything towards them at all.
~~~~~~~~~~
Frisk had just finished up her final class of her last semester of college; she was free from the institution of education and walking out of the building with a bachelor's. From this point onward, she could no longer be called a 'college kid' and was officially considered a responsible adult ready to join the workforce – fun.
Interrupting this thought was the abrupt and blurred image of a shoulder bag whizzing past her vision, knocking the book she was reading out of her hands as the heavy bag fell into her lap, and a wild red-headed girl wearing a green striped sweater scrambling for the spot next to her on the bench she was sitting on.
Chara.
"Frisk, what is UP my depressed homeslice?!" She hollered, throwing an arm around Frisk's waist and yanking her to her side.
Though Frisk found it difficult to believe herself at times, this woman was one of the few constants in her life. She was three years younger, but she was taller and stronger than her. Frisk has known her for a long time now, since childhood even. Could she call her a friend? Perhaps. She considered herself Frisk's friend, and she wasn't shy about telling anyone either. Depending on the day and her current moodset, sometimes this sentiment was shared.
Truthfully, she was more like a sister to Frisk. A sister she never really asked for, but appreciated nonetheless. And that was what she called Frisk – her sister. Whenever Chara introduced her to some decidedly uninterested third party, she always referred to her as her friend and then sister, switching from one to the other, before ultimately settling for the tacked on term 'sister-friend'.
"Waiting for the bus." Frisk replied blandly, already far too accustomed to her odd greetings by now. She shuffled uncomfortably, gesturing to the bag that was now in her lap. "Chara, what is in this? It has to weigh twenty pounds, minimum."
"Oh, that. Yeah." She nodded sagely, lifting it from her lap as if it were full of feathers instead of whatever was actually in there. "It's my bitty bag. I went shopping for more supplies earlier, so it's a little heavier than it usually is."
"And knowing this, you decided to dump it on me?" She inquired, already knowing the answer as she bent over to retrieve her fallen book.
"Pretty much, yeah." Chara grinned, not the least bit sorry for knocking the wind out of her with it.
Frisk then took a glance at her shoulder; it was missing a certain pocket-sized skeleton monster that was always perched there. That bitty was almost all she ever talked about these days, ever since she adopted him last September on her birthday. Taking the bothersome bitty home was how she chose to celebrate her day of birth, the best present she ever received from herself is what she called him.
She had become a bitty enthusiast practically since the moment she first learned of their existence, spending most of her spare time volunteering at the local center that housed the creatures, and became even more immersed after the official announcement came that the miniature monsters were to become adoptable to anyone who could provide them a loving home, and Chara had a lot of love to give.
So it really astonished Frisk when she stepped out of the center in possession of a bitty who couldn't have been more contrasting to her personality. Frisk was unabashedly uneducated when it came to matters concerning bitties, but she was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had selected the meanest, most ornery one in existence with one of the illest tempers she had ever seen out of anyone; man or monster. He was loud, commandeering, and had a jealousy streak that stretched a mile wide.
Noticing her lingering gaze, Chara then supplied the other girl with an answer to her unspoken question. "You're wondering where Bossanova is? He's in trouble. He bit a guy yesterday while we were out on a walk, so he's earned himself a nice long time out at home so he can think about what he did."
She wanted to tell Chara that probably wasn't the wisest decision she could have made. Frisk wouldn't be surprised at all if she came home to find her room in shambles from one of that bitty's tantrums.
Frisk definitely didn't get the bitty craze, and Chara's own affections for Bossanova might have cemented her already developed opinions on the phenomenon even further. What on Earth did she see as endearing in a creature about the size of a soda bottle that would bite any man that got within ten feet of her?
"Sooooo…" She began, leaning her head on top of Frisk's, the scattered and plentiful faux golden flower ornaments fastened in her hair dangling in front of her friend's face and brushing up against her nose. "You're all done with college now, right? You know what that means? We should celebrate!"
Oh no. With the word 'celebrate', Frisk already knew where this was going. That's why her bag was so heavy! She wasn't buying supplies for herself, no, as if she would ever let Bossanova run that low on bittycare products. This woman was absolutely determined to set her up with some manner of bitty by the day's end, that was her plan from the very beginning!
"No." Frisk answered before she could go any further with her idea.
"You didn't even let me finish!" She whined loudly.
"Because I already know what you're about to suggest and the answer is 'no', we've been through this. I don't want a pet bitty."
"Bitties aren't pets, Frisk. They're sapient beings with their own individual thoughts and personalities. Pets also can't have verbal conversations with their owners, either. …Unless it's a parrot, but still, you know what I mean."
"They're kept behind glass pens and they still cost money, I know that much."
"I know the whole keeping them in pens thing makes them sound animalistic, but they're not. They're nice and clean, and they don't look like pens at all really, at least not the kind that you would see in an actual pet store. And the reason why they cost money is mostly just a system instated to ensure that the chosen bitty will go to a home that can financially provide for them, and the centers can't run themselves on just donations, Frisk. They're. Not. Pets."
"Even so, I still don't want one."
"Come ON, Frisk! Just give the idea some thought instead of shooting it down like a fully loaded fighter jet every time!" Chara booped her nose, then moved to squish her cheek against Frisk's. Frisk was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "You always look so sad and lonely. Even when we were kids, you had that kind of gray funk around you. Don't even try to deny it, you know it's true."
Chara pressed her index finger against Frisk's lips when she opened her mouth to protest further. If Frisk had less dignity, she would have considered biting her. That's what Chara would probably do if it was her finger, and she should be used to it with all the time she spends around Bossanova anyway.
Instead of bringing herself down to the level of Chara or a rabid bitty, Frisk instead grabbed her hand, not forcefully though, and slowly pushed it back towards her.
"Please stop, this is getting weird."
"It got your attention, though. Didn't it?" She smiled at her with false innocence. "Please, Frisk? I know you think I'm being pushy, but I really am just thinking of your best interests. You've always had such a hard time talking to people, but monsters, they're different, I'm telling you. It's hard to explain, but it's like… they see the real you in a way that most humans just can't and won't make the effort to try to do. The people we come across think you're all sour and prickly and, well, a wet blanket. And so do I, sometimes."
"Gee, thanks."
"And you are all of those things, but only on the outside." Chara continued, completely ignoring her sarcastic remark. "The real Frisk is a soft squishy marshmallow that wears a full-body suit made of cactus so all the meanness in the world doesn't wear her down. Any time somebody gets too close, they get full of needles. Except for me, of course! I've known you long enough to see through all your self-defense mechanisms that are really more self-destructive mechanisms at this point."
"…Chara, what exactly is your point?" Frisk asked after a beat, not willing to admit that a lot of what she just said, while incredibly bizarre, was also terribly accurate.
"My point is that I've kept you all to myself for all these years, but now the time's come to share you with someone that'll actually appreciate you for who you are." She declared with confidence as she puffed out her chest, one hand on her hip and the other reaching up to pat Frisk on the head.
"And this someone… is a bitty."
It wasn't a question.
"Yup!" Chara bobbed her head.
"No."
"Yes!" She argued, standing up to tower over Frisk while pointing a finger at her nose, pressing and poking it. "Listen, I get that you think Bossanova is a handful, and he is. He's a little monster in every literal and figurative sense imaginable, but there are a lots of different kinds and classifications of bitties! There's Sansies and Ruses and Blueberries and…and…! Look, I have a theory that there's a bitty out there for everyone! Every decent person, that is. And you're a decent person, even if you don't think so yourself. So we're going to get on that bus, go to that adoption center, and we're going to find you the bitty that you're destined to fall in love with! Have I made myself clear?!"
"Chara-"
"H a v e  I  m a d e  m y s e l f  c l e a r...?"
"…"
Frisk avoided her intense gaze, looking anywhere else but her for the longest time.
Chara plopped back down next to her with a loud sigh, giving Frisk's hand that was closest to her a little tap. When she didn't respond, Chara wiggled her own hand into her's and gave it a squeeze.
"How about this: we just take a look around and see how that goes? And if you really don't want to, you don't have to play or interact with any of them. Just look around, that's it. You've never even been inside before, so at least check the place out before rejecting the idea of adopting entirely. And if you still insist afterward that you don't want anything to do with adopting a bitty, I'll never bring it up to you ever again, promise."
"…"
Frisk bit your lip. The offer was tempting. She wouldn't even have to do anything; just humor Chara for the afternoon and she'd leave the issue alone forever. And she could agree with her on one thing; she hadn't ever seen the interior of an adoption center, so just walking around inside didn't sound like too bad of a time. Like a petting zoo featuring micro skeleton monsters. But still…
"…I'll buy you dinner after?"
"Okay."
~~~~~~~~~~
Chara was practically vibrating in her seat. She chattered animatedly about the different kinds of bitties the center had available while her friend halfway listened to her ramblings. With how excited she was, it almost made Frisk feel guilty over the very large likelihood of coming out of the building holding the same opinion on adopting as she did before.
Admittedly, she had, on occasion, wondered what it would be like to have one of the pygmy skeletons in her company, but only after a while of seeing Chara together with Bossanova. She had always been a happy person, but after he entered her life, her joy had increased threefold. Then Frisk began to look around her and see other people happy in the company of their bitties, and the bitties happy and enjoying their company just as much.
Seeing this never-ending circle of happiness unfold around her, it made Frisk want to experience a little bit of that happiness for herself…
But her awkwardness around others was bound to extend to bitties as well. She tried to make conversation, but her attempts always fell flat. It seemed as though she always said the wrong thing, she cared too little or too much about a subject matter, she came off as too clingy one moment and too aloof the next. Relationships of any kind were far too difficult for her to deal with, she surmised.
It was just so much easier to push everyone away. But Chara, she had to be different. She was the only one that pushed back. And she kept pushing until she landed in Frisk's good graces, earned her trust. For years now, Chara's been her only friend, and Frisk was content with that.
But after all that talk of having her to herself for years and it being time to share her with somebody else, Frisk couldn't help but wonder…
Was Chara's relentless endeavoring to convince her of adopting a bitty Chara's way of getting some breathing room? Was their friendship actually smothering her now and she's simply too kind to admit it?
"We're here!" She nearly squealed in Frisk's ear before grabbing her arm, dragging her off the bus and away from her internal monologue. Chara then commenced shoving her towards the adoption center's front doors.
It looked small from the outside, but Frisk knew from Chara's numerous recountings of her previous trips here that there was much, much more space on the inside. It would have to be a big place if it held at least half of all the different varieties of bitties she remembered Chara telling her about in the past half hour, and she hadn't even been listening to most of her rantings during that time, so Frisk was certain she hadn't picked up the names of every one she mentioned.
The bell at the top of the door jingled when it was opened, alerting the keeper of the establishment, the mama, as she recalled Chara explaining. Apparently being the mama didn't require being female, because a very much male arachnid monster wearing a crisp white pocketed apron hurried over to greet them.
"Hi, Chara! I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. Weren't you here just earlier today?" He then noticed Frisk and sent a toothy smile her way. "My name is Webber. You must be Frisk, right? Chara talks about you all the time whenever she stops by. You were a very cute baby!"
At Webber's sugary-sweet giggle, she slowly turned her head towards Chara in a manner that must have looked like a real-life reenactment of the iconic scene from The Exorcist, who only gave her a goofy face in response to an action that would have greatly disturbed literally anyone else.
"You showed the employees here my baby pictures…?" Frisk hissed between her teeth.
"Yeah." She replied, gleefully pulling out her wallet from her back pocket and unfolding it to pluck out one of the photographs. "He's right, though. You were a really cute baby!"
"Why do you even carry that around with you?!"
"Because you're my sister and I love you."
"…I love you too." Frisk mumbled in defeat, figuring there was no use in getting mad at her over it now; what's done is done.
"So, are you here to browse, or…?" Webber decided to steer the conversation towards something more on topic, his hands clasped and a hopeful sparkle in his eyes - his very many eyes.
Frisk nervously toyed with the collar of her shirt. "I'm actually just here to look-"
"She's kind of on the fence about it!" Chara butted in. "We're going to look around and see if there's any bitty she takes a shine to. I'm sure there's got to be one that she's bound to love with all the different types here."
"We do have a very large selection available, my hands can definitely attest to that! Always busy!" Webber grinned, waving his six hands at her. "It's actually a lot easier to just list the types that aren't here. Even so, I think a bitty of every kind that we know about has been in this building at least once."
Frisk had a feeling she was going to be here for a while, if Chara has her way. She'll most likely insist that they view each and every classification of bitty kept here before allowing her to leave the adoption center's grounds.
"…Hey, Chara? Where's Bossanova?" The spider monster asked as he pointed to her shoulder, now noticing the small skeleton's absence. "He wasn't with you the first time you were here today either…"
"He's been grounded." She answered with a huff. "He bit a guy yesterday while we were out on a walk, so now he's in trouble."
"Oh dear… You do know he only does that because he sees you as his partner and he's upset over what he perceives as competition, right?"
"Yeah, I know. It's flattering sometimes, but really, the poor guy was just asking for directions. It's not like he was flirting with me or anything, even though I am irresistable."
"Oh my stars, Chara…" Frisk thought with an internal eyeroll.
Even though Frisk knew Chara was just joking, well, mostly, she was also right. Chara herself flirted playfully, but she was ironically incredibly dense when it came to others flirting with her. She couldn't differentiate between a serious or teasing atmosphere, so she opted to believe that the latter was always the case, frustrating those that had their eyes on her immensely.
Chara was beautiful and kind, everything that Frisk wasn't. It was obvious to Frisk why she would have a drove of admirers. Of course, since Bossanova's adoption, he did an exceptional job of keeping said admirers at bay despite his small size. At least she could trust in him that he would keep any and all creeps away from her precious sister.
As the discussion over Bossanova stretched on with no conclusion in close sight, Frisk decided to wander away from the two for the time being and check out the center's interior for herself. She soon found herself in a room that was somewhat small for a group composed of a few people, but immensely spacious for a pack of bitties. The walls were painted with soft colors, pastels, and on them were images of stars, fluffy clouds, and other things like what one would expect to find in a nursery. Was this where they kept the children bitties?
If she was ever coerced into adopting a bitty, it wasn't going to be a child. She had little patience for small children, but she supposed there wasn't any harm to be found in looking around.
Frisk quietly tip-toed further into the room towards the nearest pen housing a solitary bitty, all by its lonesome. Leaning closer to examine the monster, it was rather… big for a bitty. It was larger and bulkier than most of the bitties she had seen before, about the size of a teddy bear. She was beginning to have doubts about this one being a baby.
A blanket was thrown over its body and its head was shoved under a pillow, its form almost entirely concealed to her. The bitty's fidgeting was near constant in its slumber, when suddenly, it froze. It remained still as a statue for several long moments. The seconds dragged on, and when those seconds reached minutes was when she wondered if the poor thing had accidentally smothered itself with that pillow in its sleep.
Could skeleton monsters even die of asphyxiation?
Before she could grow too concerned, however, it moved again. The bitty tore off the blanket covering its body and threw the pillow to the side, revealing its full appearance to her – a stocky skeleton monster with a huge, glaring red eye, an unsettlingly wide, toothy grin, and a gaping hole in its head.
"Nope, definitely not a baby!" Frisk thought with growing horror as she jumped away from the pen with a yelp.
This wasn't in any way a nursery, she realized too late. If she had payed attention at all to Chara on the bus ride here, she would have known. This adoption center didn't have children bitties in their care, so they wouldn't need a nursery – this was the room for rescues.
The disfigured bitty didn't seem bothered by Frisk's reaction in the slightest, rising up on its two feet to make its way over to her. There was a thick layer of glass separating the two, but that did little to comfort her in this situation. The monster's glowing eye was trained on Frisk, focused and unwavering as it stepped closer. The bitty didn't stop until it reached the wall of its pen, fully pressing itself up against the glass.
"hhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….." The bitty drawled in a deep gutteral tone, smiling at her with a nauseating grin.
There was something clinging to the corners of its mouth; it was either pillow stuffing or he was foaming at the mouth. Frisk slowly backed away from the pen with hands raised in a defensive position, continuing to do so even as the bitty's hands made frantic clawing and grabbing motions at her. On her way out, she bumped into something, whirled around, and let out a scream she didn't even know she had been holding.
"Sorry! Sorry!" It was just Webber. "I didn't mean to scare you! That's, uh, that's Chopper over there. …I can see you two have already met." He winced, taking in the expression on her face, which must have been ghastly.
Chara poked her head in swiftly after. "Did you find Frisk, Webber?"
All Frisk could do was weakly point a trembling finger towards Chopper before rushing forward and throwing her arms around Chara's neck as she tried not to start bawling. Chara wrapped her own around Frisk and began patting the other girl's back and smoothing her hair.
"I know how you feel, Frisk. The first time in the rescue room is always the toughest. I wish you hadn't seen this, not today and not like this."
That sweet little domestic image Frisk held of all the bitties living blissfully alongside their owners had just been shattered – how could someone do this to a bitty?
"…What kind of bitty is he?" Chara inquired curiously after a few minutes of her and Webber making a team effort to calm Frisk down. "He looks like a Sansy, but…"
"That's because he was a Sansy…" Webber began to explain, wringing his apron nervously with his two lowermost hands. "Sometimes certain classifications of bitties come to be when certain conditions are met. In his case, he was a Sansy that became an Axe type bitty due to near starvation and receiving a severe blow to the head. It was a miracle that he survived at all."
"The person that did this to him needs to be dragged out into the streets and shot." Chara immediately replied, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.
Frisk and Webber gazed at her, gobsmacked, along with some of the other bitties in the room. Her remark was so sudden, not to mention disturbing, even Chopper ceased rubbing his face against the glass of his pen to peer at her quizzically with widened eyesockets.
"Er, um, I think you've seen enough of the rescue room today, right, Frisk?" Webber stuttered, looking at anywhere else but Chara at the moment. He then crouched down in front of the now identified Axe bitty and spoke to him in a gentle, encouraging tone, "Say goodbye to Frisk, Chopper."
"b-bye-b-b-bbyyyeeeee…" He managed to choke out, his vocalization almost sounding like a sob.
Frisk whispered a barely audible 'bye' in return before following Webber and Chara out of the room.
She missed the tearful look in Chopper's eyes as he watched her go, his phalanges still making small frantic grabbing motions against the glass wall of his pen at her retreating figure.
~~~~~~~~~~
"…That was horrible." Frisk whispered, every bone in her body quaking.
"I'm so sorry… I usually lock that door. And the one time I don't, somebody new here finds themselves in there, of all places..." Webber wasn't certain whether it would be alright to touch her or not, so his hands hovered about unsurely.
"No, I shouldn't have wandered off in the first place. …I'll be fine. Maybe seeing some happy and healthy bitties would help…?" She offered, anything to get her mind off of the manifestation of humanity's depraved cruelty that was present in that room.
"You still want to?" Chara asked, to which Frisk gave a wordless nod in return. "Alright, but if you need to just let it all out, let me know, okay?" She turned to the arachnid monster. "I can take things from here Webber. I'll show Frisk around the adoption center. I know this place better than the back of my hand!"
"Okay, but if you need me at all, give me a shout or a poke and I'll be there." He called, still concerned as he rushed off to carry out his other duties as the mama of the establishment.
"How about we go see the Sansies, huh?" Chara suggested as she unceremoniously shoved Frisk in the direction of the Sansy pen.
The bitties in this pen were much shorter than Chopper, about the height of your average can of soda, but they had the same thick-boned structure. However, a layer of chub was visible on their stomachs that was absent on the Axe bitty she had encountered. These Sansies seemed to be healthy, that much Frisk could take comfort in.
They seemed content behind the glass of their enclosure as well. Among their utilities was a kiddie pool where one of them was dozing off in a doughnut floatie and another was reclining in a miniature folding chair while appearing to be pretending to sunbathe. The others were either lounging about in various positions, napping outright, or speaking to each other in deep, soft mumbles. They weren't very active bitties, were they?
"A Sansy might be a good match for you, Frisk." Chara spoke, causing some of the little skeletons to turn your way. "They're lazy and round, and they're supposed to be low maintenance. Then again, all bitties are different, even if they are the same type. You might adopt one and end up with a spoiled little prince of a Sansy."
"…Do they bite?" She questioned.
"Only if you deserve it." Chara gave her another encouraging push forward. "Sansies are one of the mildest mannered bitties there is. I can count all the cases I've heard of one biting somebody on one hand."
"yeah, i don't bite, kid." One of the bitties assured as he sauntered towards them, a relaxed grin on his face as he craned his neck up to look at Frisk, topping off his statement with a wink.
The Sansy held both hands behind his back and bounced from one foot to the other, him staring up at her and her staring back. After a long moment of silence, his grin began to slip just a little around the corners as he gazed at her expectantly.
"…I think he wants you to pick him up." Chara whispered not so discreetly in Frisk's ear.
"Is that allowed?" She asked incredulously.
"Uh, yeah, it is." Chara snorted as if her inquiry was a completely ridiculous thing to wonder about.
Frisk stole a glance at the Sansy, who was still patiently waiting for the girl to reach down and take him in her hands.
"Go on, I know you wanna poke his belly." Chara repeatedly elbowed her with a grin.
She did, in fact, kind of want to poke his belly, but wouldn't that be kind of rude? But more importantly, it seemed Frisk was the only one out of the three of them present that acknowledged how much could go wrong with this scenario. What if she accidentally dropped him? What if he landed on his head? What if his impact with the floor resulted in the shattering of his skull? He might turn into an Axe variant, just like the one in the rescue room, and all because she hadn't been careful enough with him.
Why was she the only one that seemed to be seriously considering that very real possibility? Did these bitties have any sense of self-preservation in them? Were they really that trusting towards complete strangers to not hurt them?
"…What if I drop him?" Frisk unintentionally voiced her fear aloud.
"You won't drop him." Chara held back a laugh, trying to take her concern seriously but failing – to her, it would be impossible for Frisk to hurt a bitty even by accident with how cautious she was around them.
"hey, look at me for a sec, pal." The Sansy grinned up at her. "you're not gonna hurt me. not even the littlest bitty. everything's going tibia ok."
"…Was that a pun?"
"Sansies love concocting horrible puns. It's their specialty." Chara chimed in. "That's why they're so popular. They've got that jokey demeanor that's somehow also uplifting and reassuring, or that's what I've heard. I didn't adopt a Sansy, so I can't speak from experience."
They were both looking at Frisk anticipatingly now – she was promised that she wouldn't have to interact with any of the bitties if she didn't wish it, and Chara wouldn't force her to if she put her foot down about it, but seeing that Sansy looking up at her with just the tiniest spark of hope in his eyelights made Frisk want to muster up the determination to try.
Gingerly, she bent her upper body over the top of the pen and lowered her hand until it was beside him. He smiled, the wide grin he had been wearing appearing more genuine somehow as he toddled over to the outstretched palm. Rather than climb right into the awaiting hand, he took a moment to gently rub his bony cheek against the tips of her fingers, causing Frisk's hand to twitch and skin to tingle at the contact.
Chara was practically vibrating in place like a bottle of soda about to burst as she watched the interactions between her and the bitty unfold. Frisk could tell she was doing her best not to let out a squeal of delight.
Frisk stared down at the bitty sadly; she couldn't help it. These poor little skeleton monsters with their fragile bones were entirely at the mercy of anyone that walked out with one. Did they know that? Were they even aware of the fact that any of them could end up as one of those Axe variants if they were unfortunate enough to be taken home by a person with enough violence and apathy in them? Maybe it was better for them to stay behind the safety of the walls of their pen instead of risking them being handed out to humans with evil intentions.
A brief and horrifying image of this kind little Sansy that had taken the time and effort to speak with her morphing into an exact replica of Chopper flashed in Frisk's mind before she could stop it.
Just as the Sansy was about to take a seat on her palm, she jerked her hand out of the pen, resulting in him falling backwards and onto his rear. He whipped his head up at Frisk with widened eyesockets and that seemingly permanent grin he wore wiped off, looking for some sort of explanation for her sudden change of heart.
"…I've changed my mind. I don't need to be touching or poking around at anybody here. It's just too much excitement for a first-timer like me."
"…'s alright. i get it. no pressure." The bitty shrugged, trying not to look dejected for her sake as he stood up to rub at his sore tailbone.
She realized then that he had just passed up the opportunity to make another bad pun by correcting you with 'don't you mean any bitty here?'. Her rejection had actually stung so much that he had lost any and all desire to make a joke, something his entire classification of bitty was supposed to enjoy doing and were renown for.
It's all she knew how to do, it seemed – hurt people in some shape or form.
"Chara and I are going to check out the rest of the center, so…" She trailed off awkwardly.
"'k. have fun…" The Sansy replied in a dull tone, shoulders sagged and posture slumped as his dimmed eyelights watched her go.
"Frisk, what was that about?" Chara interrogated once Frisk had speed walked far enough from the Sansy pen.
"I don't know how to explain it, but…" She grimaced, looking her in the eyes. "One moment I was okay with the idea of holding him and then the next, he suddenly looked just like that Axe…"
"What happened in there must have really shook you, Frisk." She sighed, though understanding and sympathetic towards her apprehension. She pointed to the pen behind them with a growing smile. "We're close to the Papy pen, so why don't we look at them? They're sure to raise your spirits."
She didn't know what a Papy was, but if they were ghost monsters of some sort, Frisk was smacking her for that pun.
They weren't, though, so Chara had avoided the consequences of telling a terrible pun. They were skeleton monsters like the Sansies were, and every other bitty she had encountered thus far, but looked radically different. While Sansies were short and stout, these Papys were tall and slender. They looked similar to Bossanova, but just an inch or two shorter and lacked all the features that made Chara's bitty companion appear unfriendly and intimidating.
"HELLO, HUMAN!" One eagerly bounced towards the two with a friendly wave. "MY NAME IS RONDO, WHAT'S YOURS?"
Bossanova? Rondo?
Whoever it was responsible for naming these bitties seemed to have a penchant for music.
"Frisk." She answered flatly, trying not to let her already less than stellar interactions with the hostile Bossanova taint her impression of this entirely unrelated bitty.
"FRISK, THAT'S A NICE NAME!" Rondo beamed at her, then gestured dramatically to the space around him. "HUMAN FRISK, WOULD YOU LIKE TO STEP INSIDE?"
"No thanks. I'm just here to look today, that's all."
Frisk swore her heart panged when she caught the shunned expression that crossed his face for all of a split-second before instantly returning to that smile that was so bright one was almost forced to squint.
"VERY WELL, THEN. I RESPECT YOUR DECISION, HUMAN. MY GREATNESS IS VERY INTIMIDATING, I'M SURE." He placed a gloved hand over his chest, a dramatic wind that came from nowhere causing the scarf tied around his neck to flutter in the nonexistant breeze. "SHOULD YOU HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART, HOWEVER, I, THE GREAT RONDO, WILL BE HERE!"
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." She nodded in his direction before stepping over towards the next pen.
Oh dear.
Chara gave a gasp of joy at the bitties in what was a new sight to Frisk but a very familiar and nostalgic one for her. Inside was another pack of skeleton monsters, tall and slender like the Papys, but the sharp features they possessed were also extremely recognizable to Frisk due to the time spent around Chara's bitty. Sharp teeth, red eyelights, dark clothing – they were all near exact copies of Bossanova.
"And these handsome little devils are the Edges!" This time, Chara did squeal. "Ah, seeing them makes me miss my Bossanova so much… Why did he have to be a jealous jerk and bite that guy and make me ground him?"
Pushing Chara's prattling out of her mind, Frisk considered moving along to the next pen, as she knew without a single lingering doubt that she wasn't adopting another Bossanova, or Edge, as they were called, but one of the bitties flagged her down before Frisk could get too far.
"HUMAN!" The miniature skeleton wearing the finely tailored black suit and crimson cravat shouted, strutting up to the glass between the two of them with all the confidence of a peacock. He placed one hand over his puffed out chest and scrutinized her condescendingly. "WHEREVER COULD YOU BE RUNNING OFF TO SO QUICKLY? COULD IT BE YOU HAVE BEEN INTIMIDATED BY THE TERRIBLE EDGEWORTH?"
"He has the same name as that character from the game about the lawyers you like so much!" Chara pointed out with apparent glee. "Look at the wittle snappy suit he's wearing; he looks like he could be a lawyer!"
"I AM THE TERRIBLE EDGEWORTH, POWERFUL AND FEARED!" He scowled at her with a light red dusting his pointy cheekbones. He crossed his arms with a huff and turned his nose up. "THERE IS NOTHING ENDEARING ABOUT THE SIZE OF MYSELF OR MY EXTRAVAGANT SUIT, SO CEASE YOUR INANE COOING IMMEDIATELY, HUMAN!"
"See that tiny blush there? He so loves the attention." She leaned over to whisper, not bothering at all with subtlety as she pointed at the fuming Edgeworth. "The defining trait of Edges is that most of them are tsunderes."
"You know I've never really been that fond of tsundere characters, Chara…"
"I know." She sighed wistfully, not taking her eyes off of Edgeworth, who was steaming like a tea kettle at this point with indignation. "I guess the charm of Edges are just lost on you. But that's okay. I totally get it. Edges aren't for everybody. We'll find you a type of bitty that you'll like, I'm sure of it."
With that, she carted Frisk away, Edgeworth still spewing out an endless tirade of scoldings and insistent statements of denial that he appreciated any attention from a lowly insignificant human to their backs.
The next pen was occupied by more Sansies, Frisk thought at first. However, these bitties had rougher and more pointed features than the Sansies, just as the Edges had sharper and more mordacious features than the Papys. They were also noticeably thicker bodied than the Sansies, their clothes being more filled out, especially around the belly area.
Frisk had a secret weakness for small and chubby things, particularly those round birds one would find in the parking lots of supermarkets that weren't so heavy that they couldn't fly, but preffered to hop around on the ground, picking at dropped food morsels with their beaks and only taking flight when they absolutely had to.
That's what these bitties reminded her of.
The fondness she felt for them was immediately replaced with mortification when one took notice of her persisting gaze and grinned, flashing his shark-like teeth. Frisk caught her reflection in the single golden fang in his knife drawer of a mouth.
"c'mere, doll." He nearly purred, pawing at the glass of the pen separating her from him. "I don't bite… much."
"Chara, I'm scared." She whimpered, discarding her cactus armor in favor of cowering at her side like the squishy marshmallow she was inside.
"You are not. He's six inches tall for pete's sake, Frisk, and you thought he was cute just a moment ago! I saw it in your eyes!"
"That was before he opened his mouth."
"Frisk, I won't lie to you and say that Reds don't bite, because they most definitely do." Frisk glared at her, wondering if what she was saying was somehow supposed to be reassuring. "But, it's scientifically proven that Reds are sixty percent more likely to bite you on the first encounter if you're a dude, so you've only got a forty percent chance of being bit!"
"…That's still a pretty big margin for error. I'll pass on this one."
"c'mon, sweetheart. i'll behave." The Red crooned, his mannerisms and sly grin doing little to convince her of his claim holding any amount of truth. "i don't like makin' promises, but i won't bite ya, doll. …maybe give ya some love nibbles 'n a few licks here 'n there, though. eheheh…"
"…The Reds are all perverts, aren't they?" She tilted her head in Chara's direction with a weary gaze. Normally, she'd blush profusely at hearing such a thing, but after the day she'd had, Frisk just didn't have it in her anymore.
"No, they aren't perverts!" Chara wanted to be stern with her, but she couldn't resist laughing at her expression. "Some of them are kind of flirty, okay, a lot flirty, but some of them are more temperamental like the Edges, too. It all depends on the individual personality of the bitty."
"…I still don't feel too comfortable around this one. And I'm not just saying that because of the abundant air of flirtiness around him." Frisk said, stealing a glance at his sharp teeth that would undoubtedly break skin if he did decide to bite. "He looks kind of mean."
"i can be sweet too, if that's what yer lookin' for in a bitty." The Red bargained, beginning to sweat.
She didn't even know skeleton monsters could sweat, but if they can blush then seeing one sweat shouldn't be too jarring to her.
"I'm not looking to take any one of you home today, sorry." Despite his weird display of behavior, she decided it was best to let him down gently.
"tch. fine. be that way, then. you don't gotta make any excuses, dollie. i get it." He scowled at her, failing to hide his hurt and disappointment as he turned away from Frisk and stomped his way to the nearest corner of the pen, sitting down and facing the wall. "guess reds are just too mean 'n ugly for most folks to want…"
"…I never called him ugly." She said, feeling guilty for hurting the bitty's feelings and saying the wrong thing again.
That right there was a shining example of exactly why she didn't need to adopt a bitty. She'd just end up hurting the poor thing, if not physically then emotionally.
Frisk looked around the pen and took note of the fewer number of Reds when compared to the Sansies or Papys. It seemed they really weren't a favorable classification of bitty, otherwise wouldn't the center have more of them around?
"Hey, don't get too bent out of shape." Chara comforted her, picking up on the fog of gloom that was beginning to form around her. "Reds are actually pretty popular among some circles. Like I said about the Edges, they're not for everybody, but some people out there really like their rugged appeal. But when somebody doesn't take to them, Reds do take it pretty hard. He'll be okay, eventually."
She then guided Frisk away from the pen, probably so she wouldn't break any more of their hearts, metaphorically speaking.
The next pen contained more skeleton monsters – in fact, Frisk hadn't ever come across a bitty that wasn't a skeleton monster. Then again, she didn't know that much about bitties. That much, she did know.
The bitties behaved a lot like the Sansies they saw up front, but they had the likeness of Papys, even more so than the Edges. There wasn't any asperity to them – they seemed limp and repose, like long little noodles.
"If you really wanted to, you could absolutely hold a Stretch without any worries over being bit at or scratched." Chara explained, gesturing to one of them that was sprawled out in the lap of a big teddy bear. "You could probably even pick one up and swing him around like a ragdoll and he wouldn't do a thing about it. That's how chill they are."
"That's entirely too chill." Frisk complained, now worried for another type of bitty that apparently didn't have any sense of self-preservation in his bony body.
"you fret too much, honey." One of them sauntered over, having woken up from his nap in the bitty-sized hammock inside the pen.
"…Honey?" She raised an eyebrow at Chara, unimpressed.
"Eheeheehee!" She cackled, earning a sigh from Frisk.
"Another pervy-" Excuse her. "Flirty bitty."
The Stretch in front of them, well, stretched, lightly popping his joints, causing a few of the others in the pen to grimace and send him irritated looks for interrupting their own naps. He either didn't notice or didn't care, preferring to keep his attention on the both of them, but moreso Chara.
"'m name's Bebop, sugar." He introduced himself, punctuated by another pop from his bones.
There was that musical naming theme again. Frisk was surprised nobody here had thought to dress him up like a cowboy…
That's what she would do, anyway.
"Well aren't you a charmer!" Chara was enraptured by every word that fell from his bony mouth; Frisk could already see the signs of infatuation in her eyes as she smiled down at Bebop.
"Wow, Chara. One day without him around and you're already looking for a replacement for Bossanova."
Chara whirled around to face her with an offended gasp, one hand gripped over her heart.
"How dare you say that, Frisk! There's no replacing Bossanova! I probably love him more than I've ever loved myself!"
Huh. Frisk had a suspicion for a while now that this was true, but she wasn't expecting a confirmation of that theory, especially not under these circumstances.
"That's a lot of love." She stated blankly.
"I don't want to replace Bossanova. I just thought it might help improve the more rotten parts of his personality if he had a calmer bitty buddy around him."
"With how jealous he is, and how flirty this one is?" Frisk waved a hand gesturing to Bebop, who only gave a lazy smile and a wave in return. "That sounds like a horrible idea, Chara."
She sighed in defeat, bending down to eye level with him. "I'm sorry, Bebop. Our love just wasn't meant to be."
"i'll be waitin' right here honey, in case you ever change your mind." He placed a hand against the glass of the pen, aligning his tiny one with the middle of her palm, curling his phalanges as if he were attempting to will the glass to break under his touch so he could reach Chara.
…Frisk was beginning to feel like she was witnessing the separation of two illicit lovers on a soap opera or those Spanish telenovelas her mother watched and ate up like candy. Could this technically count as an affair? This was getting weird!
As Chara withdrew her hand, however, she couldn't deny that Bebop's expression seemed somewhat softer, his grin more at ease but melancholy all the same. She thought that he was just going along with Chara's theatrics, but it seemed now that her rejection had sincerely hurt him.
His drooped eyesockets followed her until she was out of sight.
Chara seemed very enthusiastic about what she was about to show Frisk in the next pen. She seemed to be pinning a lot of her hopes on whatever type of bitty it was awaiting her.
"I've never heard of a single instance of one biting anybody! They're highly recommended for someone that isn't experienced in handling bitties, which describes you to a T – perfect for a first bitty. And they're soooooooo cute, even you'll think so, Frisk!"
"I have my doubts, but I'll go ahead and humor you."
Ignoring her sour grapes attitude, Chara stepped in front of the pen, obstructing Frisk's view. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"And these precious little gumdrops are… the Blueberries!"
She stepped aside and allowed her to observe the pocket-sized skeletons. They were yet another classification of bitty that bore more than a few striking resemblances to the Sansies, but instead of appearing intimidating as the Reds were, they had an overall softer look to them. They weren't as round in the stomach as the Reds, but they still had that supermarket parking lot bird aspect to them that Frisk liked. They were playing happily by themselves, or with each other, not a single sign of discontent or quarrel among them.
All until one peered up to look at her with cerulean eyelights which morphed into the shape of stars, followed immediately by the rest halting in whatever action or task each bitty was performing to do the same.
Suddenly, the entire pack of Blueberries were scrambling in her direction. They swiftly began piling up on each other, tripping on the legs of others and knocking one another down until a shouting and flailing mass of skeletal limbs had formed, a messed up chorus of bitties yelling and climbing all over each other for the express purpose of capturing her interest.
"HUMAN! A HUMAN HAS ARRIVED!"
"PLEASE LOOK AT ME, HUMAN!"
"CHOOSE ME, PLEASE! I KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS!"
"I KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS TOO, BUT BETTER!"
"YOU MAY KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACOS BETTER, BUT I MAKE TACOS THE BEST!"
"LIAR, LIAR, BITTY ON FIRE!"
"PLEASE NOTICE ME, HUMAN!"
Frisk slowly backed away from the pen, even though she was in no amount of danger of the Blueberries escaping. But seeing them all clustered like this shouting at the top of their likely nonexistant lungs was, for her, an extremely anxiety-inducing experience. Their voices were all blended together, their movements blurred. It was becoming more and more of a challenge to discern which one was saying what. They had all but become a hivemind to her.
Frisk tenderly rubbed at her temples, feeling a headache beginning to bloom in her skull. All this noise was proving to be too much for her fragile nerves to handle.
"…I can't do this."
She spun on her heel and began walking, trying to block out the needy cries and whines of the attention deprived Blueberries behind her. She finally stopped once she'd reached the back end of the building, her speedy and abrupt departure forcing Chara to jog in order to catch up.
"I'm sorry, Frisk, that was probably my fault!" She sputtered, doubled over and out of breath. "I told them about you when I was here earlier today, and I guess I got them a little too rowdy."
"Chara, that wasn't even remotely close to 'rowdy'. That was a riot."
"Blueberries are competitive when it comes to adoption!" She sighed, and for the first time in a long, long while, the smile she always wore, regardless of the current situation or mood, had vanished completely. "Frisk, I know I said before that all you had to do today was look around, that's it, but I didn't think then that you'd be like this the entire time…"
"Like what?" She nearly hissed, not liking at all what she was insinuating.
"You're acting completely disinterested, and rude, and… and cold! What's your problem, Frisk?!"
"You can't blame me for acting disinterested, Chara." She barked back, doing everything within her power to keep her own temper in check. "I told you when you first proposed the idea that I didn't want to adopt a bitty, but you just kept pushing and pushing until I finally agreed in allowing you to drag me here."
"So that's what you're calling it – dragging you here." Her shoulders squared as she aimed a glare at Frisk. "You really aren't having any fun at all, are you?"
"How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I know I'm about to lose my best and only friend? Explain that to me, Chara!" She unintentionally exclaimed, causing Chara's eyes to widen in shock and confusion.
"…Frisk, what are you talking about?" Her voice was uncharacteristically faint.
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! You can just say it; I won't get mad, because I understand!" Frisk shouted, turning her gaze towards the floor – she couldn't bear to look Chara in the face as her insecurities and fears bubbled to the surface. "It's the entire reason why you brought me here – if I adopted a bitty, you'd have more time to spend with your other friends or to yourself, right? Being around me is suffocating, isn't it? Having to constantly put up with someone who's so anti-social and mean, who always says or does the wrong thing so much that just about everyone waits until I'm gone just to talk with you… I don't blame you. Not at all. Why wouldn't you look for the first opportunity to get away from someone like that?"
Frisk hadn't realized she was crying until she saw a droplet fall down to her feet. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her nose was running. And right in front of Chara, too. This wasn't the first time she had seen her like this, but it was still something rare for her to witness – Frisk did all her crying behind closed doors if she could help it.
Frisk's only saving grace was the fact that no employees, other visitors, or bitties behind their glass enclosures were present as spectators of her emotional breakdown. Because the absolute last thing she needed right now was someone seeing her in this state and feeling sorry for her. She definitely didn't deserve any pity, not when she was such an awful friend.
That's what she was, an awful friend. A friend so awful that her only companion in life felt that she needed to get a bitty, something that theoretically couldn't run away from her like everyone else, just so she could get a break.
Frisk heard footsteps – Chara's footsteps. She saw her moving through the hair covering her eyes and the tears blurring her vision.
This was it. This was the end of their friendship.
She didn't have to pretend anymore.
She could be free.
Frisk didn't expect to feel arms around her, one around her back and the other behind her head, but she did. Frisk slowly lifted her head from the shoulder her face had been buried in to see familiar red hair and golden flowers.
Chara – her entire form shook as she held Frisk tightly, as if she would slip away and vanish if she didn't.
"Frisk, how could you even think that?" She sniffled, much to her shock. If there was one thing more rare than her seeing Frisk cry, it was Frisk seeing her cry. "That… that's not true! None of that is true! You're my best friend, you're my sister, my sister-friend, and I love you!"
"But I'm a horrible friend…" She wept through clenched teeth.
"No you're not! If anything, I'm the horrible friend!" Chara wailed loudly, pulling Frisk away from herself just enough to look her in the eyes. "I'm the one that's closest to you, the one that's supposed to know you better than anyone else and I didn't even know you felt this way, didn't even notice!"
Oh no, Chara was blaming herself for her episode…
"I didn't want you to adopt a bitty because I wanted to get away from you!" Chara seemed to be mentally assessing all of her previous statements on the subject, not just today, and blanched. "Oh gosh… no wonder you thought that! What I said earlier, I didn't mean it like that! I… I was just so happy after I adopted Bossanova. Despite our… vast and various differences, it really felt like he saw something wonderful in me that most people tend to gloss over and wanted to be with me because of that. Bossanova and bitties in general have brought so much joy to my life that I wanted to share it. You were the one that's made me happiest and has been here with me, despite everything. So I thought that, out of everyone, you deserved that slice of happiness I found the most. That's why I've been so stubborn in pushing you to adopt; I thought that some bitty here might see what I see in you, like what you and Bossanova saw in me..."
Frisk openly sobbed then, wracked with more guilt than before; how could she have ever doubted Chara, her dearest and only friend?
Frisk was thankful that she pulled her back into her shoulder before she could create too much of a racket and cause Webber or some concerned customer to check up on the two of them. What an embarrassing story that would have been for Chara to have to explain. 'My sister is crying because she thought I was trying to get rid of her with a bitty.'
But no, she would never air out her insecurities like that; she'd make a convenient excuse for Frisk, one that wasn't a lie, but would save her from embarrassment and protect her privacy. Because that was the kind of person Chara was.
Chara fetched some tissues from her shoulder bag, drying Frisk's eyes and her's once the both of them had calmed down sufficiently. Thankfully, no one intruded during their moment, and the both of them were cleaned up enough that hopefully nobody would suspect that the two had just been bawling their hearts out to each other.
"I'm so sorry, Chara."
"No, I am. I'm the one that should be sorry." She argued, covering Frisk's mouth for the second time today before she could retort. "I've been way too… forceful, about this whole thing. It's completely true that I had the best of intentions in bringing you here, but the truth still stands that I had to wear you down for literal months and bribe you before you would even begin to consider it. There were things that you enjoyed and went nuts over in your own way that I didn't, but you never tried to cram those things down my throat like I have."
"No, it's really alright. You're just really passionate about bitties and wanted to share that with me. I get that. But, I just really don't think I'm properly equipped to adopt one."
"I understand, Frisk. I really am sorry, for everything. I thought I would be making you happy by bringing you here, but all I ended up doing in the end is make you cry – the last thing I ever wanted to do." She lightly grabbed Frisk's hand and began tugging her along. "Come on, we'll go get dinner and go home if you want, like I promised."
"Wait." She said, wiggling out of her grasp. "We can't go home yet! I… still haven't seen all of the center."
"Frisk, you don't have to force yourself to stay here just to entertain me. You've done enough of that already."
"I… I didn't dislike everything today."
"So you've actually had some fun? Really?" A faint trace of her usual smile was beginning to reappear.
"Really, Chara. I can think of plenty worse ways to have spent my time." A light, airy chuckle escaped her throat, but then she frowned when she remembered the poor, mangled thing of a bitty she had seen when first exploring the center. "But Chara… do you really think a bitty would be safe under my care? When I'm like this? They'd just get hurt."
"Frisk, listen to me." Chara gripped her shoulders, a serious expression on her face. "I wouldn't have even considered bringing you here if I ever once thought you'd hurt a bitty. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have reacted like you did when you saw that Axe. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have yanked your hand out of the pen the way you did and refuse to touch any of the bitties because you were afraid of dropping one. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have cut a conversation short because they were afraid of saying something that would hurt a Papy's feelings. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have been considerate of that Red's feelings when you shot him down even though you thought he was acting weird. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have carefully considered what might happen if your friend brought a flirty Stretch to a home with a chronically jealous Edge. Someone that would hurt a bitty wouldn't have walked away from a pen of Blueberries bouncing off the walls, even when this person was a few seconds away from having a nervous breakdown. Even when it looked like you were being unfriendly and rude to someone who didn't know you like I do, you've had nothing but the best intentions in mind for the bitties each and every time. That's why you would make the best bitty owner, in my maybe not so humble opinion."
"…I still don't know how I feel about adoption, but… I'll look around some more and see if there's any one that I like. There must be some pens that we passed up when I was running away from the Blueberries."
"Hmm, just the Blackberries and the Ruses, I think." She mused aloud, going over the map of the adoption center in her head. "I don't think you'd like the Blackberries too much, though, so maybe it's for the best."
"What are they like?"
"Like an Edge and a Blueberry mashed up together."
"Pass." Frisk replied so quickly that it made Chara snort. "What about the Ruses?"
"Weeeell…" She trailed off, bouncing on her heels. "They're like Stretches, but a little more rough around the edges. Some of them can be kind of standoffish at first, but once one decides they like you, they'll smother you in love and will literally die for you."
"That last part sounds a little concerning…" She voiced, the thought of a bitty, something so tiny and fragile, dying for her sake was just too much to bear.
"Some of them get attached to potential adopters easily, so maybe we should skip that one too to avoid any heartbreak, metaphorically speaking."
"That sounds best." Frisk agreed, having seen enough sad bitty faces for one day. "So… what else is there?"
"Well, we're close to where we keep the exotic bitties, over there to your left."
"Exotic? So these bitties are supposed to be rarer than the others?"
"Precisely."
"And undoubtedly more expensive than the others as well."
"…That is also correct."
~~~~~~~~~~
Frisk didn't really see what it was that made these bitties supposedly more special than the others, other than the fact that there were much fewer numbers of them in their pens. However, she soon learned that the reason why they were considered exotic was because most of these types of bitties only came to be from another type of bitty when certain conditions were met – they were similar cases to the Axe bitty, but the changes they underwent were entirely harmless.
The first pen the two of them came across were Sansy variants. They looked like the ones they had seen up front of the store in every conceivable way except for the manner in which they dressed. These bitties were either dressed in overalls and straw hats, or kimonos and sandals over socks. The space around them was covered in plants, mostly tomatoes with potted flowers interspersed here and there, with little ladders for the bitties to climb in order to reach them. On the far left side of the pen was some sort of watering hole, and to the far right were several loose pages with information about the plants in their domain scribbled on, likely by the bitties' own hands judging by the size of the handwriting.
"These are the Farmies. This type of bitty originated in Japan, but a few of them here became influenced without the country's involvement." Chara went on to explain further. "Farmies come to be when a Sansy finds and embraces the values of good honest country field work."
"That must be why there are so few of them." Frisk remarked, causing her and even a few of the bitties to laugh. "Only Japan could have taken a few lazy lumps of skeleton and turned them into this."
"Farming has done nothing to diminish their relaxed ways of life. They work hard, but also at their own pace." Chara corrected her, nodding to one of the Farmies that was taking a nap under the shadow of a looming tomato, a bitty-sized watering can resting at his side. "As you can imagine, they're loved amongst the agricultural community, but also by sweet little old ladies with gardens."
"I bet if dad doesn't have one of them already, he'd love one." Frisk then frowned. "I don't really know that much about what's going on in his life since he and mom split up…"
Before Frisk could dwell too much on her unfortunate family situation, Chara began pulling her away to look at the other exotic bitties there. When she bid them farewell, one of the kimono-clad monsters folded both hands on his lap and bowed before sending them off.
One type of bitty they saw was so rare, there were only two inside the pen. They must have been Papys at one point from what you could tell. Frisk couldn't see that much of them because they seemed bent on hiding as much of themselves from them as possible. Apparently this classification of miniature skelton was so rare, bitty researchers couldn't decide amongst themselves if they should be labelled as Greens or Asters, according to Chara. Unfortunately, all the attention they received over their rarity had made them rather quiet and withdrawn.
Their neighbors in the pen opposite were far less shy. There were four of them, and just as with the Greens or Asters, researchers weren't quite sure what brought them into existence. All that was known was that they stemmed from Sansies. But they didn't resemble Sansies in the slightest, to Frisk. They were tall, not as tall as a Papy, an Edge, or a Stretch, but definitely taller than a Sansy. They didn't dress like Sansies, either. These bitties resembled some of the J-Rock boyband members that Chara became obsessed with in her teenage years, with their leather jackets and combat boots; one of them was even holding an acoustic guitar, strumming the strings of the instrument with evident skill and quietly mouthing lyrics to himself.
One aspect about them made every single cell in her body freeze with pure terror when she noticed it, however. Their faces, all four of them, had identical hairline cracks over their eyes that stretched down their cheeks, and in their palms were holes that were so deep they spanned all the way to the backsides of their hands.
These bitties had been hurt, that was all she could think of at the moment. Before Frisk could sink too deeply into her trepidation, Chara quickly rectified her hasty presumption.
"I know what you're thinking, Frisk, but those cracks and holes are completely natural for Gs. None of these guys have even been adopted before, and nobody that works here would do anything bad to them and get away with it alive. Not while I'm around, anyway."
"But don't they… hurt?" Frisk inquired, gesturing to her own face and then the center of her hand.
"Not at all." The G holding the guitar answered for her. "But thanks for the concern. Nobody's really ever went out of their way to ask us that before. It's sweet."
His voice was low with a slight rasp, different from the deep and lazy tone the Sansies spoke in, but also not too different.
And then she realized that this bitty just called her sweet.
"Uhm… nobody's really said anything like that to me, either." She stammered, only to make another embarrassing realization, and that realization being that she was blushing.
And Chara and the bitty were enjoying it immensely.
"Gs are entertainment bitties. They charm the masses with their voices and fingerwork on the guitar strings." Chara quipped, her grin reminding Frisk of a certain meme involving a smug smiling cat.
"That makes them sound more like performers than bitties, from what I know about the both of them. Their talent sounds appealing, but couldn't someone adopt them for the sole reason of taking advantage of that?"
"You're a worrier, aren't you?" His tone wasn't patronizing, but Frisk felt so when she heard him chuckle, golden eyes gazing at her with mirth. "We're well taken care of here and our caretakers do their best to ensure we're handed over to people that won't take advantage of or abuse us, but sometimes fate deals you an unlucky hand. It's a sad fact of life, but that's reality for you."
"And you're… okay with that? You aren't ever concerned about falling into the hands of a bad person?"
"Of course it's something that some of us think about, but we don't let it consume our every thought. Monsters are a hopeful people, and that includes us bitties. We've all got our own seperate thoughts and feelings, but the majority of us try to look at the good in a person and hope for the best."
She took a moment to absorb his words. Frisk had heard before that the SOULs of monsters were made of love, hope, and compassion. It was a truly beautiful sounding thing, she thought. But these bitties' innocent hope that they would be adopted out to a home that would treat them well and love them and wouldn't use and abuse them, it was more heartbreaking to her, mainly because of the overhanging layer of hopelessness to the situation should they end up in one of the homes that would bring harm to them without care.
Another husky chuckle from him caught her attention.
"Although, there's something you could do to prevent that." He appeared pensive for a moment, inclining his body closer towards Frisk before breaking out into a broad grin and wiggling an eyebrow(eyebone?) at her. "You could take me home with you. Then neither you or I would have any reason to worry about me being adopted out to a bad home, because that's something you're obviously concerned over. I've got a nice life here, but being fussed over by you doesn't sound too bad at all."
"…Chara, we're going. He's making fun of me."
"No, no, wait! Come back!" He wheezed between his sputters of laughter at her scandalized and disgusted expression. "I won't tease you anymore, at least not over that."
Frisk huffed, her cheeks still pink, but at least she'd stopped shoving Chara away from the pen.
"'m sorry. I'm not trying to make fun of you, honest. It's just… really adorable that you care as much as you do." He laughed again, propping himself up on one elbow and resting his fist under his chin.
"If you're wanting me to take you home, you're really not helping your case here, pal."
"Probably not. But let me try to make it up to you?" He retrieved his guitar from where it was resting at his side. "I'm not that good, so don't hold your expectations too high, but I can guarantee it'll come directly from the SOUL."
Frisk could admit to herself that ever since Chara mentioned them being bitties that entertained, she was curious as to how he would sound. It looked like her curiosity was about to be sated when he began strumming the opening to a song that might have been familiar to her.
"There was a time I was in love
and all the angels and the doves
couldn't make her say
'I love you…'"
And heavens above, his playing, his voice was nearly divine. If he referred to this as 'not that good' then she was utterly terrified of what he considered to be exceptional.
This skeleton, about the size of a doll, had captured Frisk's complete and unwavering attention, and he was fully aware of this, looking up from his instrument to gaze up at her with a smug grin. But she was too enraptured with his playing to do something childish in retaliation like stick her tongue out at him.
"Hello, goodbye, t'was nice to know you
How I find myself without you
Hello, goodbye, I'm rather crazy
And I never thought I was crazy..."
Finished, he set his guitar to the side again and winked. "So, and be honest now, how'd you like my little performance?"
"Eh, it was better than 'not that good'." Frisk replied.
Hey, she was being honest with him, just not completely honest.
Her answer seemed to satisfy him, his smirk growing wider. "Oh?"
Then he had the audacity to flutter his eyesockets at her, both elbows resting on his knees and chin resting on his bony knuckles. The nerve, the unadulterated nerve.
But the truth was, this bitty had honestly almost convinced her in considering adopting him. The teasing was a bit irritating, but it wasn't out of malice. It was little different than when Chara did so. She knew that monsters were made of magic and were adept at using it – did he use the power of his voice to persuade her like some sort of skeletal siren? Yes, that had to be it.
But the truth still remained that Frisk was seriously mulling over the idea of taking him home with her. And he seemed to know it, because behind the complacentness of his grin and mischievous glint in his eyes was a genuine enthusiasm over possibly finding where it was he belonged.
And then it was all ruined once she spotted the small plaque fastened to the base of the pen listing the adoption fee. Frisk paled.
"Um, could-uh, could you excuse us for just a moment? Girl talk." Frisk stammered as she grabbed Chara by the neckline of her sweater and tugged her away, but he didn't seem to notice her unease.
"Take your time." He waved, that grin of his still in place.
She dragged Chara out of earshot of the Gs and stared at her with wide eyes, wheezing.
"What's up?" She had the courage to ask, taking in Frisk's expression that was reminiscent of a pigeon shot with a peashooter.
"Chara… did you take a look at the adoption fee attached to that guy?" She choked, grabbing one of her shoulders as leverage to steady herself, knees weak. "I could buy a Nintendo Switch and every single game that's been announced and released for it that I've expressed the slightest bit of interest in for the price over his head!"
"Don't you mean under his head?" Chara bantered, to which she gave her a dry stare. "Yeah, the kind of people you see with a G bitty are usually famous songwriters and singer-type persons, or wealthy people in general. Their rarity and rising popularity caused their price to catch up with them."
Frisk managed to halfway compose herself before facing the bitty again. She wasn't looking forward to what she was about to tell him.
"…I can't adopt you. I'm sorry."
"…Oh." He uttered after a pause that was much too long, the corners of his mouth downturned slightly.
While she had looked like a pigeon shot with a peashooter, he just looked as though he were shot, directly in the heart. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Perhaps it was more appropriate to say shot in the SOUL? Either way, he looked hurt. And so did Frisk.
"Can I… can I at least ask why?" He questioned, before deciding better of it – maybe he didn't want to know the answer. "Never mind, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."
She wanted to give him an answer that would leave him with no further disappointment, but at the same time, how could she effectively explain to him that her decision was made through no fault of his own, it was just because he was expensive and she was a flat broke currently jobless college graduate?
"It's nothing that you've said or done, it's not you, let me make that clear!" She waved her hands about frantically before growing still. "It's just that… you are a luxury that few can afford. And I cannot afford the luxury that is you…"
"…Eh?" His expression looked less hurt now and more confused.
…He had no idea how much he was worth.
Frisk crouched down to eye-level with him as Chara had done with Bebop earlier.
"Listen, I sincerely hope, with all my heart and SOUL, that you find a good home with a loving owner that can provide for you in a way that I… well, can't. I was getting ahead of myself back there. I didn't consider the fine print behind adopting you and accidentally got your hopes up. And for that, I apologize."
He gave a single nod accompanied by a deep sigh, looking more perplexed than ever with her explanation.
"Alright. I can't say I understand your reasoning because that'd be lying directly to your face, but I respect your decision."
"It was nice meeting you." She offered, not wanting their conversation to end on a sour note.
"Same."
Frisk and Chara moved on before they could get too sentimental, but as soon as the both of them were out of earshot he turned around to face his other three companions.
"A luxury few can afford… What in the name of creation is that supposed to mean?!"
~~~~~~~~~~
"I feel like garbage. I should probably lie down." Frisk muttered, still feeling terrible for dashing yet another bitty's hopes for adoption.
Chara patted her back consolingly as she led her around the exotic bitty pens in an effort to cheer Frisk up. She showed her Inkies – Sansies that had transformed after being exposed to the mighty power of art, Gasters – the tallest of discovered bitties, whose lower bodies turned to goop when they were scared (which was often), and the Lamias – Frisk sped right past them once she figured out what they were. She bore an intense fear of snakes, which had only heightened after several years ago when one of their crazy neighbors had illegally purchased a python from the dark web and then didn't bother to feed it. It soon managed to escape their neighbor's house and began searching for food elsewhere, and that food had almost been Frisk.
Frisk has led an interesting life.
She had fun with Chara. Frisk had entered the store a few minutes after twelve and it was close to evening now.
"Well, we've spent all this time here and I still haven't found a bitty to adopt." She remarked, realizing the irony of her statement – she enjoyed herself much more than she thought she would, but was still leaving the building empty handed.
"I'm positive you would have left this store with that G if he hadn't been so ungodly expensive." She was probably right, Frisk wasn't willing to admit. "Hey, that Sansy you first saw seemed to like you an awful lot. You won't have to pay an arm and a leg to walk out of here with him, and Sansies aren't bad singers at all if you can prompt them into it."
"I still don't think I'm ready to adopt a bitty, though." She confessed, knowing that the G being out of her reach was probably for the best - she probably would have made a very rash decision had it not been for that.
"Alright, then. You've held up your end of the deal, so now it's my turn. What do you want to eat for dinner, Frisk?"
"Okay, I've had hours to think about this, but I'm still not entirely sure." She mused, going over your favorite fast-food restaurants. "Maybe fried chicken? Burgers? Want to go get pizzas? I'm up for just about anything, really."
"Pizzas sound good! I'll get mine with pineapple!"
"Pizzas it is, then."
With that over and done with, she and Chara made their way to the door. The moment Frisk stepped outside, though, a scream pierced the air around them.
"NOOOOOOOO! DOOOON'T GOOOOOOOOOO!"
The next thing they knew, the two of them spotted a bitty, a hysterically sobbing Blueberry, sprinting across the floor at mach speed. And his targeted destination was the open door leading to the outside.
"Somebody stop him!" Webber had burst from the rescue room with a shout, spontaneously summoning an army of employees to catch the runaway bitty.
He dodged the swipes of their hands that came his way, leaping and skidding out of their impending grips until he had reached the doorway in literal seconds. Frisk probably should have closed the door instead of standing there gaping, but she had honestly froze up at witnessing the chaos unfolding around her and it all happened so fast.
Just when the bitty thought he was home free, she reached down and plucked him from the ground in one swift motion, the tiny skeleton screeching and struggling in her hold.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! THIS IS ALL SOME BIG MISUNDERSTANDING, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!" He persisted, the volume of his voice only getting louder and louder to the point that it nearly shook the windows. "SHE DIDN'T LEAVE ME HERE, SHE WOULDN'T EVER HAVE! NOT ON PURPOSE!"
His shouts of protest soon morphed into incomprehensible shrieks; nothing he said was making any sense anymore. As Frisk finally closed the door and began making her way towards Webber to return the emotional bitty, an abrupt pain shot through her. She let out a yelp, inadvertly tightening her grip around the Blueberry.
He had bit her.
And he had bit her hard, grinding his teeth against the thumb across his chest. It was drawing blood now, and it poured freely from her wound and down her wrist.
"Chara… I thought you said you never heard of one of these biting anyone!" Frisk managed to wheeze, tears beading at the corner of her eyes.
"I never have! …Until now!" She squeaked, trying to gently pry the bitty's mouth from her skin, to no avail.
Several other worried workers tried to coerce him into letting her go, their efforts proving useless. Frisk was certain that if he didn't release her soon she was going to die of bloodloss. The thought of pinching his nasal ridge and blocking his nostrils entered her mind, but would that even affect him? He's a skeleton monster – did they even need to breathe? Before she could settle on her next course of action, the Blueberry suddenly stilled. Slowly, he released her thumb from his maw.
He panted, eyesockets dancing across the room until they finally settled on her. Then he slowly turned his head downwards to look at Frisk's hand, blood still seeping from her thumb like a waterfall. His eyelights shrunk to miscroscopic pinpricks.
"I… I'M SO SORRY…" He choked, now full of remorse. "I… I DIDN'T MEAN TO… I…"
'Well, you did.' She wanted to snap after the pain he just put her through, but one look at his tearful expression made her think better of it.
Sighing, she slowly loosened her grip on him. His posture tensed, braced for what could be the worst. Instead of flinging him, Frisk pulled the distressed bitty to her shoulder and cradled him, rubbing little circles into his back with one finger.
"…It's alright. Just don't do it again, please. That really hurt."
He let out another agonized wail, ashamed. A fresh series of sobs escaped the Blueberry bitty as another string of apologies fell from his mouth. Each time it seemed he was close to calming himself, he would take a look at Frisk's bleeding hand or his bloodstained clothes and break out into another round. It wasn't long until her shirt had a large wet spot from where he had cried so much. Some of the employees tried to take him from her, but she batted their hands away, a bit irritated with them that they couldn't seem to comprehend that now was not the time for that.
When his howls finally died down to sniffles, Frisk had expected some sort of incoming explanation for his behavior, an attempt at saving face after that random violent episode, but instead he seemed more concerned with seeing that her injury was tended to.
Rather than Webber or one of the other employees getting her a roll of bandages or the like, they were rather insistent on getting the bitty to take care of it. Was that supposed to be some sort of punishment for biting her and causing the damage in the first place? It definitely hurt, she couldn't deny that, but he was clearly having a panic attack or something of the like when he did so, so she didn't think it was exactly fair of them to expect him to make up for something he didn't have any conscious control over.
Still, the Blueberry didn't argue with this decision, probably still too wracked with guilt to argue, she presumed.
Frisk waited, but there were still no rolls of bandages or any other type of medical supplies being passed off to the bitty. Just how was he expected to help her if they weren't going to give him anything to help her with…?
There was a noticeable lull in the space around them, Webber, the employees, and even Chara eyed the Blueberry bitty in her bloodied hand with anxious expressions; hopeful, but nervous.
Before Frisk could question this, he then placed his mouth over the gaping wound in her thumb, making her gasp at the sudden contact, since the last time he had done so, it was to bite her, even if unintentionally.
He was kissing her – kissing her thumb to be precise. And despite being a skeleton, a magical skeleton monster, but a skeleton nonetheless, it felt very much like an actual kiss should have felt.
And Frisk being Frisk, inexperienced in the ways of regular and expected physical contact, could only let out an undignified squawk at the gesture, her gaze bouncing around to every person present, and she at a complete loss on what to do in this situation. …Why was no one explaining anything to her?!
The miniature skeleton pressed his bony lips more firmly to her wound, and suddenly, the room was bathed in a faint cerulean light. Her bleeding had ceased, and the wound itself seemed to have shrunk somewhat in size, but when he pulled away, there was still a certain pain present in the affected area. It would probably be sore and bruised over in the next few days.
"…THAT'S THE BEST I CAN DO AS OF NOW. I'M SORRY…" He lamented, looking far more exhausted than he had been before.
"Th-That's alright. Thank you for healing me…" She stuttered, grateful for his effort anyway.
His eyesockets drooped; he staggered and swayed in her hand, latching onto Frisk's other fingers for support. She had heard of certain monsters possessing healing magic, but how effective it was depended on their statistics, specifically their HoPe. Father was an excellent healer. So was mother, but Toriel had experienced so much tragedy through the years that her healing magic wasn't as effective as it used to be.
But for this monster to be this worn down after using that little amount of magic, his HoPe must be severely low…
The employees were still fluttering around her, ready to take him from Frisk's hold. However, when one strayed to close, the Blueberry let out a soft gasp and leaped to cling to her drenched top. Such a reaction would be concerning if it wasn't for the apologetic and sheepish expressions on their faces when he did so. They looked worried for the both of them.
"Y-YOU'RE NICE… YOU DIDN'T GET MAD AT ME, EVEN AFTER I BIT YOU. I… I DIDN'T MEAN TO! BUT I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE RIGHT NOW." His voice dropped to a near whisper. "She said I had a home with her… She promised…"
Frisk thought she had an idea of what had caused this bitty to have an emotional meltdown. From the sound of it, this bitty had a previous owner, but he had been returned here against his will.
It was a tragic situation, but bringing him back to the adoption center was a far better fate than being neglected and abused or set free where anything could happen to him.
"W-WERE YOU LEAVING BEFORE?" The bitty asked, one tiny fist inadvertly clenching the fabric of her shirt. "DO YOU… DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO NOW…?"
She and Chara had just been about to leave, but abruptly handing him off to the employees now after all that just seemed wrong. He clearly still needed some form of reassurance, some form of comfort, and for whatever reason, this bitty felt that Frisk was the one who could give that too him at this moment.
She cradled him against her shoulder and rubbed a finger down his spine. "I can stay for a little while longer."
And just that was enough for the Blueberry to relax somewhat – he already looked far calmer than he had been mere seconds ago. He clung to and nuzzled against her as an employee pointed her towards a cozy but spacious room to the left – the bitty interaction area. It was getting late into the evening so there shouldn't be as many customers as there would have been when she and Chara first arrived earlier, but the room was conveniently empty. She settled herself onto a plush couch, the low volume of the TV serving as white noise.
"…Do you have a name?" Frisk asked after a few silent minutes of holding the bitty.
"NO. NOT ANYMORE." He answered, his tone listless. "I'VE HAD MANY NAMES. BUT THEY AREN'T MINE NOW. AND WHEN I DO HAVE ONE… I NEVER GET TO KEEP IT FOR LONG BEFORE I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK."
"Didn't the adoption center ever give you one?" She asked, remembering Rondo, Edgeworth, Bebop, and less pleasantly Chopper – they lived here and they had names.
"NO! I DON'T WANT A NAME FROM THE CENTER. I WANT ONE FROM MY OWNER. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT ANY NAME UNLESS IT'S FROM MY OWNER!" His voice rose, causing her to jump a little.
At feeling Frisk's body jerk, the bitty flinched himself, ashamed of his sudden outburst.
He had been adopted and returned several times – did he even know how many times his hope had been raised only to be dashed when he was once again coralled into a carrier and returned to the familiar center? He had lost count long ago. Numbers were meaningless to him now.
Many would argue that awaiting adoption in a store where all his needs were tended to meticulously by a caring staff was a merciful existence compared to those who were mistreated or abused by their owners when they were no longer wanted, but he couldn't find it in himself to look at his situation from that perspective.
The Blueberry knew there were far more unfortunate bitties than himself in the world, but the pain and longing in his SOUL for companionship just became too much some days that it felt as though he were slowly withering away and nobody noticed or cared.
Frisk wondered what it was about this specific Blueberry that caused him to be adopted out and returned numerous times.
Chara had been visiting the center since it opened; she was probably aware of his story. Even so, Frisk felt that to ask her would be an invasion of his privacy. Chara hadn't followed them into the room in order to give the pair privacy, but right now Frisk found herself at a loss on what to do and wished her friend were here to guide her in this predicament she'd found herself in.
It was obvious to her, even though he hasn't said anything yet, that the Blueberry without a name was already growing attached. Frisk hadn't come here looking to adopt, and if she felt that she couldn't provide for a healthy bitty, then she certainly wasn't equipped to provide for a bitty that was clearly emotionally damaged and possibly unstable.
But… she could understand his pain all too well.
Frisk was never friends with someone for long before suddenly they removed themselves from her life altogether. It was always for some reason or another, but the sole constant among them was their reason for withdrawing was placed solely on her shoulders – it was always her fault, something that she said or did. Just her. The only person that never ran away, placed blame on, or took advantage of her was Chara. And even then, Chara had to fight tooth and nail to get the other girl to accept her friendship. Frisk had been hurt so many times, she had began erecting barriers around herself to avoid others, no longer trusting. She had lowered them for her, but never since has this happened again.
But this bitty, unlike her, had never truly lost hope. He graciously opened the doors to his SOUL whenever a new owner entered his life, despite everything he experienced thus far, because the fear of turning away someone that might truly come to love him vastly overweighed the fear of being hurt once again. And hurt again he was – time and time again.
The two sat in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. It was a peaceful calm.
"…ENOUGH ABOUT ME. WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" He had timidly asked after shouting at her.
"…Frisk."
"THAT'S A NICE NAME."
"No it's not. It's weird."
He only shook his head once with a gentle smile, saying softly before falling into silence, "I like it."
Frisk's gaze was on the TV in front of them, but she wasn't really paying attention to the program playing on the screen at all. Her thoughts were swimming, thinking of everything and nothing all at once.
She hadn't noticed that, shortly after his outburst, the Blueberry bitty in her company had moved from clinging to her shoulder to her chest, directly over where her heart resided. He was listening to the rhythm of her heartbeat, nearly lulled into slumber with the combination of her absentminded strokes beginning at the back of his skull and ending at his lower spine. Up and down. Slowly.
She was also unaware of the faint glowing of her SOUL at this time, as well as his. Both were so absorbed in their thoughts and emotions, neither noticed. Glow and fade. Glow and fade. Brightened then dimmed. Brightened and dimmed. The two's SOULs flickered in perfect sync with each other – a SOUL resonance.
Only monsters and humans that shared a strong bond with each other could perform such a feat, and the two were entirely unaware of it. Their feelings were unconciously shared with one another, his and her pain and hardships were conveyed to one another in a language that stretched beyond vocalization, a conversation without the need for words.
Their SOULs spoke with each other in a manner unlike either had ever experienced before, as if comforting one another. Frisk found herself feeling more at ease with herself and the world. And now bearing knowledge of the tender secrets her guarded SOUL was whispering to his, he felt as though this human had been specially crafted by the heavens above solely for him – a reward just for him for his longstanding and unwavering faith.
He wondered if such thoughts could be considered selfish, even delusional, but he couldn't stop them. His SOUL was calling out to him, nearly shouting, telling him – "She's the one. She's the owner you've been looking for. She came for you."
And it did seem as though fate itself and the forces that be alligned just to make this meeting possible. An injured young woman who held no interest in bitties appearing before him, encountering her just as she was about to leave, perhaps forever, and she showing interest in him, being gentle towards him when he had not been to her. She was kind to him even after injuring her. Understanding when he couldn't properly heal the wound he caused despite his best efforts. And now she was spending time with him, holding him close against the most vital part of her human body, even though she had been about to leave before meeting him.
He wondered if this was what love felt like. It had to be.
The bitty lifted his head to gaze at her, his baby blue eyelights shifting into pulsating hearts throbbing in time with the beat of her heart and the synchronized wavelength of their SOULs.
Frisk happened to peer down just as he did so and stilled like a deer in the headlights, immediately taking notice of the expression of pure affection on his little porcelain doll-like face. He was staring up at her expectantly, like nearly all of the other bitties she had interacted with today. Except this expectant stare reached an entirely new level of intensity by far.
And all Frisk could think was 'this wasn't suppose to happen. This shouldn't be happening.'
But it was.
Taking a deep breath, she moved him away from her chest. He instantly found himself missing the warmth, but settled into the palm of her hand and took hold of her thumb, showing caution in avoiding her injury when nuzzling against the digit. He wasn't showing any awareness of the somber and regretful mood encompassing the human holding him, his tiny hands stroking over the wounded flesh with a feather light touch so as not to aggravate it further.
His oblivious gestures of adoration only made what Frisk was about to do more difficult.
"…Isn't it about time for the shop to close for the evening?" She asked, her voice more faint than she wanted it to be. "Shouldn't you be getting settled for the night?"
His eyelights immediately lost their heart shape, turning into wobbly spheres as he stared at her in disbelief.
"...WHAT?" He questioned, unblinking. "B-BUT I THOUGHT…"
"Yes. I know what you thought…" Frisk bit her lower lip, nearly puncturing it as she did so in her nervousness. "But I didn't come here today to adopt a bitty. I can't adopt any of you. I'm not the right person."
"T-THAT ISN'T TRUE!" He protested, his hands fluttering over his ribcage. "I FELT IT! YOU'RE THE RIGHT PERSON FOR ME! MAYBE THE ONLY ONE! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE FOR ME! MY SOUL TOLD ME SO! A-AND YOURS… DIDN'T YOU FEEL ANYTHING LIKE THAT TOO…?"
She had felt something similar indeed. A SOUL resonance was the equivalent of one SOUL tenderly embracing the other – it wasn't something total strangers could do with each other, in theory. It was a gesture that involved meaning. A strong emotional bond; platonic, familial, or romantic, had to exist between the individuals involved. But Frisk had experienced a feeling of kinship with him, empathizing, it was almost like a feeling of finally finding the place where one belonged after endless searching. But it was the very fact they so easily and effortlessly resonated that scared her.
"YOU DID FEEL SOMETHING SIMILAR, DIDN'T YOU?" The Blueberry bitty in her palm smiled almost manically, but his eyes were pleading and glazed over with tears. "YOU UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL, AND I FEEL THE SAME AS YOU. THAT'S WHY OUR SOULS RESONATED WITH EACH OTHER'S WITHOUT ISSUE! IT WAS A PERFECT RESONANCE WITHOUT FLAW! SO WE'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!"
"No. You're wrong." She weakly shook her head. "The fact that our SOULs resonanced at all is exactly why this can't work. I've… been hurt. My HP is low. And yours is too. I felt it. You need someone with high HP; someone that will share their HoPe with you, someone that will raise yours instead of bringing it down further. And I'm not the person that can do that for you. I'm not what you need. Do you… understand?"
Frisk was expecting wailing or an extreme meltdown like when he attempted to escape the center earlier, but all he did in response to her rejection was tilt his head slightly downwards to avoid her serious gaze, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyesockets as he responded in a quiet, fragile, and defeated whisper,
"NO… I DON'T UNDERSTAND. NOT AT ALL…"
The Blueberry bitty didn't struggle or make any further protest when she brought him to the front desk to return him under the staff's continued care, telling herself that this was the best she could do for him. It didn't matter how easily their SOULs resonated with one another – the easier he could resonate with her, the more unmatched they were, she thought. He needed someone that could show and give him what she never could – HoPe.
And what a cruel irony it was – she had given him more HoPe than anyone he had ever met and probably ever would in the future, if he still had one, that is.
He didn't need someone with an outpouring of HoPe.
He needed her.
"I truly hope, with all my heart and SOUL, that you'll find the owner right for you." She said before leaving him, but he didn't offer her a single reply, only a blank and emotionless stare.
He already found the right owner for him.
And she was going out that door, out of his SOUL's reach.
His eyes were trained on her as she left the center with Chara, staring at her for as long as he was allowed before Webber scooped him up to carry him back to the rescue room for the evening.
He wondered if he would live to see the sun again tomorrow morning. Nothing seemed to matter anymore now.
~~~~~~~~~~
Chara stepped towards the bus stop, but a slight tug on the sleeve of her sweater stopped her.
"Can we… take the long way home…?" Frisk asked, her emotional exhaustion plain and visible in her expression.
"…If that's what you really want." She answered, having thought that her friend might want to sit down for a spell after everything she had experienced today.
Frisk was tired. So tired. But she felt the need to move, to walk away with her own two legs even though they felt heavy as lead.
She and Chara trudged down the sidewalk, about five miles away from their street and night vast approaching, but their town was safe and both of their parents had been informed they might be returning home late, so they weren't in any hurry.
And Chara could tell Frisk needed some quiet time. She didn't say a word as they walked home, knowing the other's mind was likely plenty noisy at the moment. Frisk's eyes were far off and distant, meaning her thoughts were anywhere but here, and if Chara were to guess, she would be more than willing to bet on the probability of her thoughts being on a lonely Blueberry bitty at the adoption center they just left.
She was disappointed when Frisk had returned him to the establishment, but she understood that her reason for doing so was out of kindness. Even so, she was worried. For the both of them, and was left wondering if this truly was for the best like Frisk insisted.
They were now passing through a farmers market, the shopkeepers still pushing for sales despite the late evening hour, but it wouldn't be long before they too would be packing up their produce for the night and returning to their own homes. Frisk lifted her heavy head and spotted one of the straw-hatted vendors with a Farmy bitty sitting on his shoulder and swinging his legs as he nibbled on a cherry tomato.
Her heart hurt. Her SOUL hurt.
She really had wanted to take him home with her.
She argued with herself that this was for the best, that Blueberry would soon find an owner just for him, that would love and never abandon him, that would give him everything he needed that she couldn't ever hope to provide.
She continued to tell herself this as a plethora of unpleasant thoughts and scenarios plagued her mind.
"When a monster's HP drops to zero, they dust."
When she handed him over to Webber, he had been silent, limp, and listless, when his reaction to rejection, as she previously observed, had been a loud outburst of screaming and tears and a violent flailing of skeletal limbs.
His eyelights had looked dull and lifeless when she left, and all she could picture now was the morbid image of the spider monster checking up on him in the morning only to find a small pile of dust where he had tucked him in the night before.
Frisk was quietly sobbing before she knew it.
She recalled the loving expression on his face as she held him close to her in comfortable silence, their SOULs resonating just as he had said they did, perfectly and without flaw. Frisk despised such words as 'perfection' and 'flawless' because such things didn't exist in human beings or even monsters, but there truly was no other manner in which to describe it.
She had been everything he had ever wanted. And he was everything she wanted too.
And she had just ignorantly thrown that connection away. Tossed it aside.
…Why did she ever think what he needed was an owner with substantial HoPe?
Couldn't they heal each other?
Frisk's steps screeched to a grinding halt. Chara turned towards her, concerned and prepared to ask what was wrong with her friend, but before the first syllable could leave her lips, Frisk swiftly turned around and ran with more purpose than she ever had before in her life.
She raced through the farmers market, not hearing Chara's questioning cries and pleas for her to slow down as Frisk's pace quickened ever further. Frisk was bumping into every person that crossed her path, and she was far too focused to apologize at this moment, but she did acknowledge that she may have knocked over one vedor's cart in her rush to get to her destination.
"MY CABBAGES!"
Yes, she most definitely knocked over that cart, she realized.
But there was no time to stop! She could do that later. If she stopped now, or even slowed down, she might be too late!
She reached the adoption center within minutes, wrapping her hand around the door's handle and praying that they hadn't closed and locked up for the night. They hadn't, but even if they had, the lock would have given in easily from the force with which she swung the door.
Ignoring the alarmed reactions from the staff, she made a beeline for the very room she had walked out of the first time that day filled with fear, the second sorrow, and now inside with DETERMINATION.
She slammed open the door to the rescue room with a resounding echo, which probably wasn't the best thing she could have done in a room reserved solely to injured and anxious bitties, but all caution had been thrown to the wind at this point. Her eyes scanned over the pens until she found her bitty. She immediately bent over the glass wall that came up to her chest in height and reached down to snag the Blueberry, nearly falling in the enclosure with him in the process.
He gave a startled squeak at being grabbed so suddenly, but any sense of fear within him vanished and was promptly replaced with confusion once he saw the face of the human who held him.
"…FRISK? BUT I THOUGHT-"
"I thought so too! B-But I was wrong! I want you!" She shouted, nearly choking on a sob as she cradled him with quaking hands. "I may not be what you need, but… I want you. I want you to come home with me."
He said nothing, didn't offer a single word of reply – but the smile that stretched across his skull and reached his eyes, crinkling with happiness as a fresh wave of tears began beading at the corners of his eyesockets, only this time out of pure joy was a sufficient enough answer for her.
A small crowd composed of the center's staff had formed outside the door, the spectators whispering amongst each other and shoving one another aside to get a glimpse of what was happening inside the room between human and bitty. A hush fell over the group and they began to part when Webber pushed through the gathered employees to investigate what the ruckus was about. He had been in the back of the store when Frisk suddenly barged in, so all he had heard was the front door being slammed open and the sound of several footsteps shuffling around. Thankfully there hadn't been any screaming at the moment, otherwise he would have called the police over something entirely harmless.
His many eyes watched both Frisk and the Blueberry bitty for a minute, taking in the sight as both bawled, but their faces were unmistakably happy. He slowly approached the two, not wanting to break the reverie before him, but it was necessary for him to do so.
Frisk raised her head up to look at him, having sunken to the floor onto her knees long ago in her wave of happiness, regret and relief.
"I-I'll give anything I have on me for him." She said, digging in her purse with her free hand to retrieve her wallet. "I'll pay whatever price you want! Just please let me take him home…"
Webber gnawed on one of his claws in thought – while it was true that all bitties had an adoption fee, money wasn't the issue here. Adopting a bitty from the rescue room was a serious matter. Usually there was a long list of protocols involved; the adopter had to have visited the center frequently for a period of six months at the very least, the adopter had to undergo a thorough background check, the bitty was required to be taken in for check-ups by the staff, and then there were all the procedures that had to be undergone before a rescued bitty was given the mark of approval to be adopted.
But… Frisk was Chara's sister. Chara had been a volunteer at the center for well over a year, and she spoke nothing but good things about her sister. Everyone who worked there knew Frisk's name and what she looked like. The staff probably knew more about her than Frisk's colleages ever had during her years of schooling ever had. And Chara had brought her there today hoping for her to adopt – if Chara trusted Frisk with a bitty, then she could be trusted by the staff with this particular Blueberry.
Webber shook his head and sighed, but he was grinning. "I'll go get the adoption papers."
While the small crowd of employees whooped and cheered, the front door burst open for the second time that evening. Chara stood there, panting and gasping for breath while covered in a thick sheen of sweat. It took her several moments and downing a whole bottle of water later for her to say anything. Once she had regained her breath, the workers caught her up to speed with what happened while the two were seperated.
"Frisk… I'm so happy… for the both of you…" She sputtered, leaning against the counter exhaustedly. "You finally found the bitty for you, and Blueberry's finally gonna have his forever home… A happy ending… Yaaaay…"
Chara nearly collapsed from her fatigue, but Webber and another employee caught her before she could fall, documents scattering everywhere as the spider monster had dropped them in his haste to get to her.
"No. Not a happy ending." Webber disagreed with a chuckle, papers fluttering around them. "This is their happy beginning."
Frisk quickly began filling out the adoption papers once they had all been gathered. Chara had already purchased nearly everything she would need to care for a bitty since she had been so sure that Frisk would be leaving this building with a pygmy skeleton monster in hand – and she was right. The only thing Chara hadn't bought was clothes, since she had no idea which type of bitty Frisk might adopt. While Frisk read over and signed the documents, Chara ran to the clothing section and back to show both new owner and bitty what the store had for sale. By the time they had selected enough clothing and got it paid for, she was on the last piece of paperwork.
"Now the only thing left to do is to give him a name and print it on the dotted line there." Webber instructed; how many times had he been through this scenario before with this same bitty? Unlike the previous occasions, he held high hopes that this would be the last time the lonely Blueberry would ever have to go through the lengthy adoption process.
Frisk tapped the end of her pen against the table in thought – she turned to the bitty seated next to her on the cool marble surface.
"I'LL BE HAPPY WITH WHATEVER NAME YOU CHOOSE. I REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY PREFERENCES OR OBJECTIONS TOWARDS MY NAMING – AS LONG AS IT IS CHOSEN WITH LOVE."
Even so, Frisk felt that his name needed to be special, something that was unique but wouldn't isolate him either. Something inspired…
"…Crescendo." She murmured, jotting it down on the dotted line before she could stop herself.
"Crescendo?" Chara inquired, looking at Frisk then down at the Blueberry bitty.
"Is that alright with you?" Frisk asked him, genuinely wanting his opinion.
"I… I LOVE IT. IT'S PERFECT…" He began sniffling again and Chara handed him a torn piece of tissue.
"Crescendo. It's a wonderful name." Webber agreed, taking the stack of papers from her.
Crescendo. The name resonated with her, because from this point onward, that word would resemble their HoPe. Crescendo - gradually rising; together.
And with that, Chara, Frisk and her new bitty friend Crescendo left the adoption center in higher spirits.
"See, you didn't believe me before, but I told you that for every good person there was a bitty out there for them!" Now that the drama was over, Chara believed that she had earned the right to brag.
"Okay, sure. You were right and I was wrong." Frisk admitted, flicking Chara on the nose. She stuck her tongue out at that.
"But I do still owe you dinner and there's just enough time left to go get something before Dad and Toriel call the cops to come looking for us. Are we still getting pizza?"
Frisk nodded. "What about you, Crescendo? Is pizza alright for dinner with you?"
"…CERTAINLY! I'D LOVE SOME!"
Frisk didn't miss that hesitant pause before he answered.
"You say that, but what you really want is tacos, right?"
He flinched, eye sockets wide with disbelief. How had she known?
"Look, I know that you agreed with me because you thought I'd be happy, but don't do that. You don't have to pretend to like what I do because you're afraid of how I'll react. You don't have to change at all, okay?"
"…OK." He said at last, feeling his SOUL flutter.
"So, do you want to take the bus, or do you want to go to the pizza place and the taco place then take the long way home?" Chara questioned.
"You mean after all that running, you're still asking?" Frisk raised an eyebrow at Chara's disheveled hair.
Chara shrugged. "A moonlight walk might be nice."
"While carrying two pizzas and a bag of tacos?" Frisk eyeballed.
"Whatever! Do you want to take the bus or not?" Chara huffed.
"Well-"
"Ah-ha! You didn't think I would, but I finally caught up to you!" A sudden loud voiced called out to them.
And there stomping up the sidewalk towards the two girls was the merchant from the farmer's market, foaming at the mouth with a Farmy bitty sitting on his shoulder wearing a tilted straw hat, a narrowed gaze, and his skeletal arms crossed.
"THOSE WERE MY CABBAGES!" He shouted, his declaration echoing through the empty street.
He stepped ever closer to them and they backwards, both girls holding their hands up defensively.
"Frisk, what do we do…?" Chara whispered fearfully.
"YOU HAVE BROKEN THE CELERY STALK ON THE BACK OF A SEA URCHIN! FOR THIS YOU MUST-"
"Bus! Bus, bus, bus! WE TAKE THE BUS!" Frisk yelled.
She grabbed Crescendo and tucked him inside the safety of her purse before retrieving her wallet and zipping him up within. She opened the wallet and threw the remainder of her money at the man as a distraction then grabbed Chara by the arm and dragged her onto the conveniently parked bus on the other side of the street. The bus then took off, the three having made their getaway and were on their way to finally getting dinner.
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undertalethingies · 3 years
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Self Indulgent Self Insert Fanfic, Part One
I am sitting in my room, not doing much of anything, (as per usual) when I look up and notice that my mirror has apparently transformed into a solid wall of inky darkness as I’ve been spacing out.
And well- it’s not like I can not poke it, right? There’s a high chance I’ll seriously regret it, if my life has become the isekai it appears to be, but there’s a 100% chance I’ll regret it forever if I don’t touch it, you know?
Everyone always assumes I’m risk averse, that I like to play it safe, but the truth of the matter is I’ve just never found something I really want to take a risk with.
So, I push myself out of bed with a hand and go grab my shoes, because there’s no way in hell I’m touching something that might be a portal with no shoes on. Thankfully, I’m actually dressed for once, rather than being in my bathrobe like usual. 
Once I’ve got my shoes on, I grab my coat from where it hangs by my dresser and walk straight into what used to be my mirror. I hope my parents aren’t too worried by my disappearance. Maybe I’ll be lucky and this will be the kind of isekai that retroactively erases me from existence? That would be kind of nice, to exist without tethers.
The portal (because that’s what it is, I’m pretty sure) feels cool, but not unpleasantly so. Like when you first put on a fleece sweater and it takes a moment to warm up.
If this were a stereotypical isekai story, things would quickly become very unpleasant in this dark void, and some godlike being would reach out to grant me power beyond my wildest imaginings.
I’ve never been one to cave to expectations, though. Not even my own.
The darkness remains cool and comforting, and I continue walking forward because there’s no chance I’m going to turn back now, with so much possibility awaiting me if I only continue long enough.
Eventually, I feel as if I’ve passed some threshold, and something definably changes within me. Can’t say what, though. I’ve always kinda sucked at interpreting what my body is trying to tell me, so I’ll probably have to figure it out on my own.
At some point the darkness and walking grows boring, and so I do what I often do when bored, and curl up to go to sleep. This place isn’t cold enough for me to need a blanket, and I’ve got my coat with me anyway, so I’m fine. Sleeping on hard surfaces isn’t unpleasant, in my opinion, merely a bit annoying, since if you pick the wrong position you’ll inevitably wake up sore.
As always, consciousness takes a while to fade, so I occupy myself with grand imaginings about all the wonderful (and terrible, I’ve got anxiety okay, I can’t help it) things that might await me.
==
When I wake, it’s immediately obvious that something is different. There’s light now, for one, and for two I can feel something soft and organic beneath me. Judging by smell alone… Flowers? Waking up on a bed of flowers in a lit room… Well, I’ve always wished I could live in Undertale, if only so I could chew out the characters for bottling up their feelings so damn much. Hey, maybe if I’m lucky, that one headcanon I have about Sans secretly being a teenager will be right and I’ll be able to flirt with him without it being creepy.
Oh come on, like everyone attracted to dudes and not overly hung up about species concerns doesn’t want to kiss that guy, are you kidding me? Plus, I love puns and I’m depressed, surely we’ll get along.
Oh boy, I’m definitely going to die, huh? Thank fuck for my high pain tolerance and ridiculous resistance to trauma, am I right?
Finally, I open my eyes, because I like to wake up slow and I see no reason to alter my existing routine simply because I’ve apparently been yeeted into my favorite video game. Hey, speaking of favorite video games, will I get to visit Hollow Knight next? No, wait, that would probably suck, wouldn’t it. Ah, well.
The cave is just as beautiful as I always imagined it would be. Though it looked lovely in the game art, there’s truly nothing that can compare to seeing the sight in person, those marble pillars in a half circle around me, that single spot of sunlight in the ceiling far (far, far) above. Not to mention the lovely flowers I’m laying on at this very moment and- there’s a dead body under me, isn’t there. Is Chara going to show up, or am I left to be alone in my head?
Though their narration doesn’t actually start until you meet Flowey, in the game, so I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.
Wait.
Wait wait wait.
Which human soul am I taking the place of right now? Because I read a fic once where the protagonist wasn’t the seventh, even if it was a fakeout, and I very much do not want to be saddled with the fate of those poor bastards.
Though, maybe I’d be able to talk my way out? There’s no one who’d call me diplomatic, for sure, but I’m pretty great at knowing exactly where to aim an insult to utterly break someone’s spirit. (Unusual skill, I’m aware, but in my defense I was bullied growing up)(I say “growing up” like I’m not still doing it, like I’m not fourteen and trapped in a world where it’s an accepted fact that the protagonist will die, and several times over, too)
My first order of business is Flowey, before I can take the time to freak out, to hold myself tight and weather the sheer panic that Toto, I am not in Kansas anymore.
I get up. I give a last fond look to the beautiful cave I’ve “fallen” into, and I walk to the next room, hoping all the while that I’m not signing my own death sentence.
Once I’m a few feet in, there he is, in all his fucking glory.
Flowey the flower, the soulless remnant of prince Asriel Dreemurr, former hope of the underground, possibly still holder of the ability to control time itself.
Yeah, I’m definitely going to mess with him. Self preservation is for losers.
“You’re a flower with a face,” I say before he can start with his usual greeting. I have it memorized anyway, so it’s not like I’m missing out on anything.
He makes his T-T face, so I know this isn’t how he thought this would go. 
“Wow, human! What gave you that impression?” Ooh, sassy. Literally his only positive trait.
“Well I have eyes, see,” I was planning  to ask him probing questions, but honestly this is just as good. His expression doesn’t change as he says his next sentence, nor does his ever cheery tone, (and holy fuck his voice is just as vaguely creepy as I’d imagined, all that childlike innocence paired with the fact that he’s a mass murderer)
“Well howdy, human with eyes! I’m Flowey, flowey the flower!” He says. I don’t interject.
“You’re clearly new to the underground, and it looks like I’m the only one around to show you how things work around here! Are you ready?” 
“I’m really not, to be honest. I’ve got no idea what’s going on,” So my plan here, basically, is to stall until Toriel gets here. Mostly because I’m hoping that if he doesn’t get the chance to do his betrayal, he’ll keep pretending to be nice, which will be hilarious since I’ll know he’s faking the whole time.
Admittedly, this significantly increases the likelihood that Toriel won’t come to save me when he inevitably finds a secluded place to murder me, but if I think too hard about the long term right now I’m going to scream, so.
“Well you see, human, you’ve fallen into the underground, a land inhabited by monsters! Don’t worry though, we’re quite nice,” Oh right, conversation. I wonder how much info I can get out of him…
“What’s a monster? Like, I know what it means on the surface, but that definition is pretty vague, and I don’t want to be accidentally racist,” 
His face pops back to the usual smile. (Side note: his face looks like it was drawn on with sharpie and it’s totally messing me up)
“A monster is a being made of magic!” Ok, that’s… a bit vague, but not really inaccurate. I guess he doesn’t want to get into the science, which is a damn shame, since he probably knows it backwards and forwards due to all his reset shenanigans.
“Woah, cool. Magic is real? How does it work without breaking thermodynamics?” Finally, the question I’ve always wanted to ask. If energy can’t be created, how the fuck does Toriel shoot fireballs from her hands? What is she drawing on, what is the fire burning, how hot is it, how does it keep being on fire, etc. etc. repeat for every magical display in the game.
“Well, a lot of it isn’t super understood. Scientists have mostly been pinning it on ‘dark energy’ like they do with every other phenomenon they don’t totally understand,” I wonder why he’s so willingly entertaining my time wasting antics. I know, in game, he didn’t realize he’d lost control over the timeline until after his first talk with Frisk, so maybe he’s just waiting it out to see where it goes? And then of course he must be planning other things to do with me before he takes my soul and goes to the surface…
“God, I hate dark energy in science. I know they just call it that because not much is known about it, but I’m thirsty for knowledge, you know?” Actually ‘thirsty for knowledge’ describes my mood like 90% of the time. Huh, actually, I have that in common with Flowey, right? Even if his knowledge thirst is just due to boredom.
“Hey, human, me too! Learning new things is great!” There’s a loaded sentence if i’ve ever heard one. When was the last time he learned something new? He’s supposedly read every book in the underground, but how much information from that did he actually retain?
“Isn’t it? It’s why I love Youtube so much. Free information for anyone who cares to make a few clicks!” Wait, he probably doesn’t know what Youtube is, actually.
“What’s Youtube?” He asks, cocking his head.
“It’s a service where you can upload videos or watch videos other people have uploaded,” Not the most nuanced explanation, but it’ll do for now. Before Flowey has a chance to respond, a fireball manifests next to him. 
I don’t smile because I’m pretending to be shocked, but I’m laughing my ass off on the inside. The face he makes is even more ridiculous in person.
Enter Toriel, queen of the monsters, mother of no living children.
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ftauriellas · 4 years
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            chicago’s  very  own  auriella  yates  has  been  spotted  on  madison  avenue  driving  a  porsche  718  spyder  ,  welcome  !  your  resemblance  to  jasmine  tookes  is  unreal  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your  twenty - fifth  birthday  bash  .  your  chance  of  surviving  new  york  is  uncertain  because  you’re  guileful  ,  but  being  unadulterated  might  help  you  .  i  think  being  a  virgo  explains  that  .  three  things  that  would  paint  a  better  picture  of  you  would  be  the  lingering  scent  of  her  perfume  on  crisp  white  sheets  ,  the  soft  touch  of  short  satin  dresses  against  her  thighs  ,  and  the  soft  glistening  of  diamonds  during  golden  hour  .
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            hi  again  ,  kitty  gorls  !  it’s  jin  showing  up  on  your  dash  for  the  last  time  with  my  sweet  peach  miss  auriella  yates  .  she’s  a  rendition  of  a  hailey  b  .  chara  that  i  have  ,  so  she’s  quite  the  mess  ,  but  as  lovable  as  ever  !  as  you’ve  probably  figured  ,  i  didn’t  have  much  muse  for  guiliana  anymore  so  i  decided  it  was  best  to  let  her  go  and  bring  someone  else  (  also  ,  i’m  really  sorry  about  not  fulfilling  that  starter  call  .  please  don’t  hate  me  🥺  )  .  my  muse  is  soaring  for  auriella  so  be  prepared  for  me  to  slide  into  your  dm’s  for  plotting  up  a  storm  !  that  being  said  ,  here’s  another  long  one  !
basic  information  .
FULL  NAME  :  auriella  kaia  yates  .
NICKNAME(S)  :  auri  ,  mostly  .
BIRTHDATE  +  AGE  :  september  9th  ,  1997  +  22  .
ZODIAC  :  virgo  .
HOMETOWN  :  chicago  ,  il  .
GENDER  :  cis  female  .
NATIONALITY  :  american  .
ETHNICITY  :  african  american  ,  brazilian  ,  west  indian  , barbadian  ,  and  european  .
HEIGHT  :  5′5″  .
LABEL(S)  :  the  harlequin  ,  the  trust  fund  baby  ,  the  vainglorious  ,  the  coquette  ,  and  the  sovereign  .
ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION  :  biromantic  .
SEXUAL  ORIENTATION  :  bisexual  .
LANGUAGE(S)  SPOKEN  :  english  and  learned  basic  french  in  high  school  .
OCCUPATION  :  socialite  ,  makeup  artist  ,  and  businesswoman  .
POSITIVES  :  impulsive  ,  alluring  ,  unadulterated  ,  facetious  ,  and  melodious  .
NEGATIVES  :  complaintive  ,  acquisitive  ,  guileful  ,  starry - eyed  ,  and  bellicose  .
biography  .
            auriella  yates  is  the  sixth  child  of  eight  ,  born  to  simone  and  joshua  yates  in  the  windy  city  of  chicago  ,  illinois  .  she  has  three  older  brothers  (  chance  ,  charles  ,  and  clark  )  ,  two  older  sisters  (  adriana  and  amelia  )  ,  and  a  younger  brother  and  sister  (  calvin  and  aurora  )  .  patrick  and  simone  for  some  reason  found  joy  in  naming  their  sons  with  c  names  and  their  daughters  with  a  names  ,  but  it  works  for  them  nonetheless  .  the  family  could  afford  such  a  grandiose  lifestyle  in  chicago  thanks  to  simone’s  lifestyle  and  wellness  brand  called  honey  &  lemon  (  goop  ,  who  ?  )  that  has  since  expanded  from  a  newsletter  to e - commerce  ,  pop - up  shops  ,  a  magazine  ,  and  a  podcast  .  patrick  ,  on  the  other  hands  ,  is  a  famous  vegetarian  chef  that  has  launched  three  cookbooks  while  also  having  his  own  cooking  series  on  the  food  network  along  with  a  cookware  partnership  at  target  .  together  ,  they  own  a  vegetarian  restaurant  in  downtown  chicago  called  lemongrass  .
            growing  up  ,  since  auriella  had  so  many  siblings  ,  she  never  had  an  uneventful  day  .  their  parents  strongly  believed  in  their  children  playing  outside  instead  of  being  stuck  in  front  of  the  television  all  day  ,  so  they  often  took  advantage  of  their  large  backyard  when  they  lived  in  the  suburbs  of  chicago  .  they  were  the  parents  who  let  their  rowdy  bunch  ruin  their  perfect  grass  because  they  wanted  to  play  in  the  mud  .  their  parents  may  have  afforded  them  luxuries  that  others  didn’t  have  and  while  their  parents  had  been  busy  people  ,  patrick  and  simone  refused  for  their  children  to  be  raised  by  nannies  .  they  were  heavily  involved  with  everything  that  their  children  did  ,  ranging  from  their  pre - school  graduations  to  their  high  school  proms  .
            auriella  had  always  been  a  rather  outgoing  girl  throughout  high  school  ,  and  she  knew  she  was  cute  so  she  started  an  instagram  page  when  she  was  about  thirteen  or  so  .  originally  ,  her  pictures  were  just  cringey  dirty  mirror  pics  and  photos  with  her  friends  ,  but  as  she  explored  the  app  more  and  more  ,  she  discovered  makeup  and  her  love  for  it  !  so  ,  despite  the  terrible  youtube - tutorial  makeup  that  she  tried  to  recreate  ,  auriella  never  gave  up  on  her  ability  to  do  better  .  as  she  moved  through  high  school  ,  her  makeup  skills  got  better  and  better  ,  so  once  she  graduated  ,  auriella  knew  what  she  wanted  to  do  in  life  !
            she  went  on  to  attend  make  up  first  in  chicago  ,  and  obtained  certificates  in  basic  makeup  i  +  ii  ,  media  makeup  ,  and  media: runway  ,  editorial  ,  and  fashion  .  once  she  was  finished  with  her  schooling  ,  auriella  went  on  to  grow  her  brand  and  get  her  name  out  there  .  she  used  instagram  a  majority  of  the  time  ,  and  thanks  to  that  and  word  of  mouth  ,  she  grew  a  significant  following  and  went  on  to  have  a  few  celebrities  under  her  belt  .  thanks  to  the  help  of  her  parents  ,  auriella  decided  that  she  wanted  to  get  into  the  makeup  business  entirely  ,  and  decided  to  stick  her  foot  into  makeup  production  .
            the  brand  originally  only  focused  on  her  favorite  thing  :  eyeshadow  palettes  !  the  palettes  were  originally  rather  small  ,  consisting  of  four  to  six  colors  as  they  perfected  the  formula  .  she  eventually  began  to  receive  rave  reviews  and  decided  that  it  was  time  to  expand  into  everything  else  :  mascaras  ,  lip  products  ,  foundations  ,  blushes  ,  highlighters  and  everything  else  under  the  sun  .  from  there  ,  kaia  beauty  is  now  being  sold  in  sephora  ,  ulta  ,  and  on  kaiabeauty.com  !  she  had  the  second  largest  foundation  drop  (  following  fenty  beauty  because  we  stan  miss  rihanna  in  this  house  )  .  
            that  being  said  ,  running  her  own  business  is  one  that  auriella  is  still  getting  used  to  despite  it  being  two  years  since  the  launch  .  she’s  thankful  for  the  expansion  of  her  brand  and  she’s  still  working  out  of  her  townhouse  because  she  hasn’t  found  the  perfect  space  for  a  headquarters  just  yet  !  it’s  one  of  her  biggest  dreams  at  the  moment  and  she  wants  to  expand  kaia  beauty  into  skincare  but  the  end  of  the  year  .  
personality  .
the  label  she  mostly  identifies  with  would  definitely  be  the  harlequin  .  she  can  be  really  loud  and  playful  at  times  ,  and  she  can  easily  get  called  out  for  not  taking  things  seriously  .  
at  the  same  time  ,  though  ,  she  can  be  pretty  sexual  in  her  speech  .  she  has  no  problem  with  people  looking  at  her  differently  for  doing  so  .  she  really  lets  a  lot  of  things  roll  off  of  her  shoulders  ,  but  she’d  be  a liar  if  she  said  that  some  things  didn’t  get  to  her  .
auriella  can  be  really  full  of  herself  and  simple  compliments  can  typically  leads  to  her  going  on  and  on  about  herself  ,  so  please  feel  free  to  shut  her  up  at  any  given  time  !  much  like  anyone  her  age  ,  she  can  be  found  prowling  around  on  instagram  or  twitter  and  can  never  go  shopping  without  taking  at  least  three  to  seven  mirror  selfies  .
headcanons  .
she  lives  in  a  beautiful  townhouse  on  west  fourth  street   and  she’s  really  proud  to  say  it  because  she  bought  it  with  her  own  money  !  she  likes  to  be  different  so  she  really  hates  range  rovers  and  instead  drives  an  audi  q5  !  sounds  kinda  dumb  since  she  lives  in  nyc  ,  but  she  likes  it  because  it  gives  her  freedom  to  go  where  she  wants  when  she  wants  to  .
she  never  leaves  the  house  without  a  purse  and  never  without  a  pair  of  earrings  on  (  she  thinks  she’s  ugly  without  them  ) .  she’s  obsessed  with  all  things  cartier  and  she  loves  to  accessorize  ,  but  not  to  much  .  she  keeps  scrunchies  in  her  purse  at  all  times  ,  so  if  you  need  one  just  ask  !
when  it  comes  to  her  style  ,  i  draw  a  lot  of  inspiration  from  instagram  if  i’m  being  honest  .  she  wears  a  lot  of  denim  shorts  ,  oversized  tees  ,  cropped  sweaters  ,  bodysuits  ,  chunky  sneakers  ...  honestly  ,  the  whole  nine  yards  .  for  some  examples  click  x  ,  x  ,  x  ,  x  ,  x  ,  and  x  .
she’s  been  vegetarian  since  she  was  a  kid  because  that’s  all  her  dad  ever  cooked  !  sometimes  the  scent  of  meat  makes  her  sick  and  sometimes  she  fakes  it  so  people  will  leave  her  alone  .  she’s  definitely  the  one  who  shows  up  to  the  function  with  her  fake  burgers  ,  but  you  know  she  has  a  bottle  of  vodka  along  with  it  .
finds  joy  in  doing  the  little  things  ?  she’s  not  the  greatest  at  art  but  really  enjoys  buying  a  canvas  and  trying  her  best  to  recreate  or  create  something  !  probably  gets  a  lot  of  art  ideas  from  tik  tok  (  those  kids  are  seriously  talented  )  and  really  likes  to  do  her  makeup  even  when  she  has  no  place  to  go  .  she  loves  laying  on  her  couch  and  doing  nothing  (  and  sometimes  she  might  be  kinda  naked  when  she  does  it  )  .
secret  .
okay  so  ,  auriella’s  secret  is  that  an  ‘  anonymous  ’  source  leaked  her  nudes  to  the  press  ,  but  her  parents  paid  off  publications  from  releasing  them  .  that  was  mostly  done  because  she  was  about  17 / 18  in  those  pictures  but  of  course  they’re  not  age  on  them  so  there’s  that  !  the  source  of  course  wasn’t  that  anonymous  and  it  turned  out  to  be  an  ex  (  which  is  really  gross  so  this  won’t  be  a  wanted  connection  )  ,  but  she’s  not  ashamed  of  them  by  any  means  !
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raleigh-ocean · 4 years
Note
6, 12, 15 and 22 for Delia x Mina, AND 3, 10, 24 and 25 for RayMina for OTP questions please 🥺
God bless you Vivi, for letting me not only talk about DeliaMina but also about RayMina (and any oc/chara otp for that matter) so let’s get down with this!
Cordelia/Wilhemina
6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?
I don’t know how to take this one, but I’m taking as features as in their personality? So we going down that road first and then I’ll add an actual physical feature just because.
For Cordelia her favourite thing about Wilhemina is how passionate she can be about things she loves. It’s like she’s before a different woman, the way her eyes light up while talking or doing the thing, how she’s more eager to keep her attention to it; it shows Delia that Mina is still very much human, even when there are times Mina joked she was probably an AI because she overheard one of the older girls complain about her ‘too serious demeanour’, and it always leads to make Cordelia fall in love all over again with her. And talking about what she loves about Mina, I think her favourite feature of her would be her lips, because Mina has an unique way to communicate through smiles, grins, tiny gestures and Delia is becoming a pro to read them.
For Wilhemina, her favourite thing about Cordelia is how natural she is. For someone that helds so much power, that can do so much with so little...Cordelia keeps being herself without fail. Wilhemina knows if she was in her shoes, everything would probably go into chaos because power and her never did well in the sense in how tyranic she can become, so seeing Cordelia just keep being herself, caring for the rest, doing daily stuff as if she wasn’t the most powerful witch on Earth...well it truly amazes her. And for the favourite physical feature, I think is Cordelia’s eyes, because she can always count to look at them and actually see what she’s feeling instead of the calm exterior she so often presents.
12. Who initiates kisses?
Cordelia for sure, there’s no doubt! 
Mostly because it feels more natural for her to just lean and give Mina a peck or a good big kiss. She doesn’t think much when she’s around Wilhemina, mostly when they are alone, so she just does it. Wilhemina do initiate kisses too, of course, but it takes her too much thinking the mere fact of kissing Cordelia wherever and whenever, since she’s pretty much more private than her.
15. Who wakes up first?
I always saw Wilhemina as really strict with her schedule, so she without fail is up early just by default after too many years. Cordelia is a morning person too, waking up early without much trouble, but she doesn’t feel bad if she stays in bed a little bit longer (Wilhemina almost had a breakdown once she overslept and another time Cordelia asked her to just get back to bed, which she did but at what cost).
22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?
Cordelia cooks more, because I see her indulging in such thing from time to time because it relax her and also because she likes to do little things for Mina. And also because it reminds her of doing potions but...without the risk of poisoning yourself really bad if you mess up. However, Wilhemina is better at cooking, she has lived alone for a good chunk of her life and there was so many trials and errors, that she got good just by that. And Mina doesn’t like to say it but Delia is used to have someone around in the Academy to help with meals, so that’s why she thinks her skills aren’t that good.
Raleigh/Wilhemina
3. Most common argument?
“You have to fix your sleep schedule before you have a stroke or something.” and “You are not alone, you can rely on us.”
I said this before in their alphabet, but Wilhemina was the only one to actually care about fixing the insane sleep schedule Raleigh had. And she knows Ray works in another layer of the universe, but it’s worrying and it’s really bad for her health and Ray gets annoyed because ‘she knows what’s best for her’ but sometimes she doesn’t. So they argue about this until Mina finally finds the right way to help, and even then they still have their ups and downs with this.
And the second one is pretty obvious: Ray, all her life, had to fend for herself and now that she actually doesn’t have to...well, she isn’t adjusting very well. It angers Mina that after all these years Raleigh keeps this way of thinking, like please you have people that can help you and are willing to do so without much trouble than ask them? Mina always ends this argument with ‘you don’t have to hold the weight of the whole world in your shoulders, none is asking you that; the only thing we’re all asking you is to let us in and stay around.’ before letting her think about it. It alwyas ends up with Ray doing an in promptu round of ‘i’m sorry’s and letting the rest help her. 
10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?
Usually Ray, to be completely honest with you. She is like that, a creture of habit, and she has a certain way to always know what to order for her or the rest without any doubt. Wilhemina finds this endearing in some way, mostly because it shows how attentive Ray is, but at the same time it takes her several times to get Raleigh’s order right and that worries her (but Ray doesn’t mind if Mina doesn’t remember, nor anyone for that matter, because it’s just food and she will end up eating it the same) a bit because she wants to get it right for her.
24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?
Pff, both? This is like competition for them, not one that it’s done often, but they have this little thing going of keeping tabs of how many times they actually make the other to get all flustered because of it. They are always trying to win the upper hand and damn that they get creative in mere seconds, but for the time being Raleigh is the one winning so far because she pretty much doesn’t care at this point of her life and Mina still wants to be private about certain things.
25. Who needs more assurance?
I want to say both, but actually is Raleigh.
Wilhemina has this thing of wrapping her head fast around the reasons behind why things are done this or that way, or taking as the only truth whatever assurance is given to her because she’s pretty vocal when she’s worried. But Raleigh, oh boy, she more often than not gets too into her own head and it shows and she has troubles communicating her thoughts and she’s unsure of tons of things, outside of the work/academics part of her life. Mina doesn’t mind reminding Ray things, knowing that how is she, because it also reminds her that Raleigh worrying it means she cares too much and she likes to be able to ease the storm that her wife is at times. 
send some numbers in and character x character or character x original character and i’ll reply with something!
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icharchivist · 3 years
Note
WINTER!!!!! i am being careful to avoid spoilers for this haha :) anyways!!! winter!!! tsumugi!!!! I just got at the part where he received the magic doll and ahhhhh I am so excited. also when they introduce the play script? I’ll really lose it then. anyways. I feel like homare would be perfect for the XD face and I am just... very glad he’s in this group I think it’d be a bit too serious otherwise lol? oh but I am living for the drama of it so. that’s also good. ummm let’s see. hisoka is great I just think I need a bit of time to know more abt him! and also the fact that tasuku calls taichi nanao is very nice it’s just like. idk he’s considerate. and then he’s lowkey an asshole at tsumugi but understandably so I can’t fault either! I’m realllllly excited for their conversation to come... oh and azuma!! his opening scene in autumn slapped and he’s so mysterious I’m intrigued. god I’m just realizing that now that I’m on winter once I wrap that up I’m gonna be able to understand the event plays... wowwwww!! ahhh anyways. super hype to figure out more!
WELCOME IN WINTER AAAAAAA
yes omg do blacklist my liveblog tag that’ll be for the best bc i ramble so much for them dLKFJDLFKDF
BUT WINTER!!! YES!
and omg the magic doll yessss!! so good!! Tsumu!! and the play yess!
AND TRUE HOMARE FITS SO GOOD and yesss he is essential to the troupe really, i just love what he brings to them, else yeah they’re all so serious, thanks god Homare is here to live up the situation dlfjdkfd
Hisoka is prob the one with the slowest build up out of all of them really, which is already dlkfjdl bc Winter has the slowest build up. Honestly i didn’t expect to care this much about Hisoka on my first read and then he just grew on me and well *waves at self* yeah things happened. (tho i’ll say i DID start to care about him in the Winter chapter, not with the events so it’s not like it’s not there in his intro either-)
AND TASU.. YEAH.. He’s soft toward Taichi... He tends to call most people by their last name (the only ones i have in mind that he doesn’t call by their last name are Tsumugi and Azuma (he calls him Azuma-san) i think? and the without last name gang, but i need to pay more attention to that) and i do think he does this out of respect but yeah with Taichi you can feel they have an history and i mean. he’s sweet and respectful with Taichi which i’m really soft for considering their starting situation..
but yeah with tsumu he’s. yeah. Everything will make sense in time, tbh Tasuku took a long time to grow on me but again *waves at everything* stuff happened. 
AZUMA IS SO GOOD YES his intro in Autumn was already *chief kiss* so to see him more in Winter... gnhhhh Azuma... Azumaaaaaa.... now that’s a chara who didn’t “grow” on me i was ride or die on first glance mann.
ANYWAY I really hope you’ll enjoy Winter and all that’s coming for them :3c 
i’ll be perfectly honest i liked Winter on my first read but it was probably my least favorite troupe (as in they were good but i liked the others three better), then it’s just that the more i thought about it and the more i went on the events, so many things clicked for me and i’ve fell so in love with them now i’m Where I’m At Now, so it’s also why i worry about overhyping Winter because, yeah. But god my feelings for them now are off the charts so i cannot contain anything anymore dLKFJDFLK so i just hope you’ll at least enjoy your first read through and then maybe we’ll see further down the line how you feel for them but yeAH...
AND YEAH!!! Once you’re done with Winter i can send you the drive and you’ll be able to bing all of the event stories, waiting to unlock act 2 ahah. so many stories available to you then and i cannot wait for you to experience them all :3c
i’m so glad you seem to have fun and want to see more tho!! i’m so so happy that you got invested into it aaahh
hoping you’ll enjoy the ride as it goes!! keep me updated ;OOO
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tymki · 5 years
Text
Integrity - Chapter Thirteen
Trigger warning’s in place for this part, just a heads up.
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Monsters, in their three-thousand-year exile from the Surface, had missed out on many of the traditions and holidays that us humans had taken for granted. They had known about Christmas for quite some time and even the King, Asgore, dressed up as Santa and delivered presents to all the inhabitants of the Underground. One of the more recent additions to these holidays was Valentine’s Day. It hadn’t, surprisingly, been an idea implemented by us humans, since none of us had that much luck with love on the Surface (Aisling was from a loving home, but she never had a boyfriend). The idea came, as many of these things do, from cartoons and comics and discs of anime that fall down here. And thus, the working holiday of Saint Valentine’s Day was born. Oh, how I hate it.
First of all, we don’t actually get the day off. We go to school normally, just like any other day, except there are heart decorations everywhere. That’s another thing I dislike. I understand that human hearts symbolise love to most people, but for me they represent incarceration, sacrifice and death. You can blame all the time I’ve spent with Chara and at the Barrier for that. I was never into the heart symbol before, but now it’s forever been ruined for me.
I’ve survived two other Valentine’s Days at this school. The first one was… uneventful. Last year was okay, but I got more attention than I wanted. But this year, as I walked down the hall, I felt… on edge. All of those looks I kept on getting from the other students, mostly female. They seemed… hungry, almost. I moved closer to Aisling. Then the whispering started, and the giggling. It brought back memories of ballet class. Times that I would give anything to forget, if only I could. I took a deep breath. It'll be all over soon. It's only a day. They won’t bother you after that.
“Er… you okay, dude?” Aisling had just collected the books from her locker and looked over to me, still summoning up the courage to open mine. I nodded, dumbly. She wasn’t convinced. “Want me to get that for you?” I nodded again. I knew what was on the other side. Love letters. She opened the door and whistled. “Daaaamn, that’s, like three times more than me!” I buried my face in my hands. “How many?” “Like, sixty, from what I can see. Give or take a few.” I groaned. “What the hell do you even do to all of these guys? You barely talk to any of them!” She asked in bewilderment. I sighed. “It’s probably because I’m human, I’m male, I look mature for a fifteen-year-old, I’m very secure in my masculinity, I take care of my appearance but I’m also straight, and my attempts to just be nice, honest and respectful come across to some as flirting.” “Well, problem solved then. Just show them your ugly-ass ballerina feet and they’ll all run away.” Despite myself, I laughed at that. “Thanks, Aisling.” She grinned. “Or sing to them. They’ll never want to date you again.” “You mean to tell me I don’t have the voice of an angel?” I asked drily. “More like a seagull.” I snorted. “A dying seagull.” I smiled. “With a frog in its throat.” “… Are you done?” “Yep!” She took the love letters out, I grabbed my stuff and then slammed the locker shut again. She turned me to face her. “Hey, look at me. You’re strong. You got this. If anyone tries anything with you, just yell ‘get off of me!’ at them. Then run away. And tell me, so I can kick their ass.” “Aisling…” “I’ll kick their ass gently, I promise.” We both laughed. Then we both jumped when the bell rang. “Welp, time for class, dude. You got this. Later neeerd!” She called back as she ran. I smiled. “Later, dork.”
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I’ve always liked languages – I think bilingual people, as a general rule, tend to like learning about them more. So that class was fun for me. Science is always… interesting for me, because I’m incapable of doing many of the practicals since I’m unable to do magic. I mostly do the planning but today Cassie decided to help me with that. It was weird for me – she’s one of the best monsters in the class when it comes to magic, why would she be helping me with the planning stage? She often says that just the thought of it is enough to put her to sleep… Then we had gym.
When I first got here, I was terrible at anything to do with cardio. But I like to think that I’m better now than I was then. Not as good as Aisling, but still. We had just finished our warm-ups. Then we started working in pairs. Once again, Cassie was determined to be my partner. The exercise was simple – we would take turns doing exercises while the other person would spot us and make sure that our form was good. The first set was star jumps, then squats, then burpees. God, I hate burpees. Cassie volunteered to go first. With the star jumps it was relatively normal, but she had to hold her tail so she wouldn’t stand on it. Then came the squats. “You’re doing good, Cassie, but try not to round your shoulders so much. Keep your back flat.” “Like this?” She asked, as she did the exercise correctly. I smiled. “Yes, that looks great.” “… Do you like what you see, Princey?” That was her nickname for me. She decided upon it, and I tolerate it, even though to me it sounds unbearably cheesy. I nodded. “Yeah, I already said that your form looks good.” She giggled, blushing slightly. I should have noticed the signs and stopped there, but then we started the last exercise. “Good, but try to keep your waist down. You want a straight line from your shoulders to your feet.” “I’m trying, already, but it’s haaard!” “That’s okay. Keep on practising and you’ll get the hang of it.” “Could you… show me how it’s done, Princey?” I sighed slightly, but it was my turn next anyway. “Sure.” She sat down next to me as I stood up. “First, you stand up straight. Then you crouch down, put your hands on the floor and then jump out into a plank. Like this.” I showed her all the steps. “Now if you’re doing it right… your core muscles should be engaged… and it should be pretty tricky… to breathe…” “And my waist should be like this?”
Then, without any warning, she put her hand on my butt. It shocked me so much that I lost balance and fell. All my senses kicked into overdrive. I could hear giggling from all around me. It was deafening. Breathe. You’re not there anymore. In for four seconds, hold for three, then back out for eight. I did my best to block the sounds out and keep my breathing under control. “Sorry! So sorry… that was an accident.” Judging by Cassie’s tone, I don’t think she noticed what had just happened, and for that I was grateful. One meltdown in class was something. If it happened repeatedly then I would get a reputation for it. Then everyone would treat me differently. More than usual, anyway. “It’s… it’s fine, just don’t-“ “But it actually brought something up that I wanted to talk about with you.” She looked over at her other friends, who nodded and encouraged her to continue. I suppose no one noticed how it affected me. That should have been another sign to stop the conversation, as if that incident wasn’t warning enough. But I trusted her when she told me it was an accident. I trusted her. Her whiskers twitched. She took a deep breath and smiled. “So, it’s Valentine’s Day today and, er… you’re supposed to spend it with people you like. Would you… like to go out for dinner after school with me?” “Sorry, but I’ve got dance classes afterwards.” She groaned. I curled up and started rubbing my arms to make the horrible feeling go away. “Oh, for god’s sake Morgan, I LIKE you! And I know that you like me too.” Whaaaaat?!?! I took in her whiskers, her fur, her sharp teeth. Why would she think I’d be interested in another species? Is that normal here? Oh no… it is normal here, isn’t it? For them it doesn’t matter what you look like, they’re all magical inside. But I’m not magical. I’m not a monster. I’m human. I have a completely different body to them. I didn’t realise… Cassie didn’t realise… we’re not compatible. Break it to her gently… “S-sorry, I don- mmpfh!” Without warning, she grabbed me by the face and kissed me on the lips. And suddenly, I was back in ballet class, struggling and screaming for help, when everyone else surrounded me, giggling. I was being told that the same thing would happen tomorrow. It would keep on happening. I was in the bathroom in a body that didn’t feel like my own anymore. I was calling my Mum who just laughed and shrugged off my suffering. I was entering a cave into a world I could never leave again. I was back in gym class, hyperventilating with tears streaming down my face as I had just experienced a flashback of all of the horrible experiences in my life. I was having a breakdown and everyone else was staring at me. Their eyes bored holes into me. Too many people, crowding around me. Judging me. “M-Morgan, I’m sorry…” Cassie reached a hand out to me. I swatted it away. Get out. Get Out. Get. Out. GET OUT. “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” I ran away.
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