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lilybug-02 · 2 months

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Wait so how do you know for sure the sprite is Ralsei? No hate, I do believe you haha, but I too am a lore scientist and I wanna know your evidence. Does it show up in-game? I could definitely believe that I saw it in-game and forgot about it :P

YES. Finding legitimate sprites directly from Toby Fox games can be surprisingly difficult. There are so many fan-made character sprites, that it can be hard to differentiate from the real ones!

Guess how many are NOT fan-made? .....only one 🗿

...(please don't question why google is in italian)

Official Websites like Spriters Resource (Ralsei's Offical Sprite Sheet) are very helpful in this regard :)

They may even include unused file graphics. Like this unused face of Ralsei.

Sprite legitimacy is a big rabbit hole that I personally don't have enough knowlege on :( ((BUT OH MY GOSH The internet is notorious for reposting fan-spriteworks without sourcing. It can be really hard to find the original artist.))

It's also HILARIOUS how many people have redone Ralsei's sprite. It is quite obvious from my Ralsei poll and through his mass of fan-redesigns, that many people in the Deltarune community REALLY LOVE his Chapter 1 sprite more.

Ralsei sprite fan-art is amazing and I personally want to mod it into my game bc it looks so good. Below I have some really cool fan-sprites I found and the artists who made them!

Left (Ralsei Ch 2 redesign- metr0nix727), Middle (Ralsei based off Ch 1- larituca), Left (Full Ralsei Chapter 2 Sprite sheet with Hat- artist unknown**)

**this sprite sheet was submitted through Sprites Resource but I traced it back to TaxeisNotOkay, who I presume to be the original artist. I could not find any other information regarding the full sprite sheet, so feel free to correct or inform me if you find anything!

Looking back at Ralsei's Chapter 2 head sprites..... they just don't look as good as they could in my opinion. I dont like them :(...uhhh NO HATE OF COURSE!!..ahklasdkflansdf I'll go jump in this hole now.

#I want to reiterate I do not hate people who like Ralsei's Chapter 2 design. But I myself have MANY criticisms for it-#I have a lot of other criticisms for Deltarune in general!! And thats okay!!! No game is perfect. <3 #But Being able to voice my criticism definitely makes me feel less alone.... I want to feel comfortable expressing my thoughts and feelings #.....Idk I think its important.... QwQ...ahh sorry...anyways....#You got me rambling again uwu #This was a super interesting deep dive into sprite work! SO thank you to whoever asked!! <3 #deltarune #deltarune fanart #sometimes its almost like the community itself makes better content and i get....conflicted... idk man..... :(#deltarune sprite #fanart #ralsei #ralsei deltarune #deltarune ralsei #ralsei sprite #bread #bread rambles

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sleepis4theweak · 3 months

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I just saw your post on Mikey doing angry stimms and had to ask for more /nf since this is the first time I've seen someone draw angry stimms for a character (it's not that common from my perspective)

Thank you- love your artstyle so much!!! :D

(P.s. I also get angry stimmys too sometimes)

Aww- thank you so much for this ask! I am really, really happy you liked it!! And yeah I feel like angry stims aren't talked about as much...

Anyways I was really super excited to draw more- still using stims that I have done, though these are a little more uh... aggressive? I wanted to preface this by saying that I do these gently, or they are stims that I've replaced with something else hehe :)

For my angry stims a lot of it is based on frustration so it's kinda a lot of flailing? Like aggressive shaking. The biting one isn't something I've done in a while- and is one that I would try to do gently (would not recommend that one lol), and the punching of the thigh is something I tend to do (gently) when I'm hella frustrated with homework :)

#You are so so right about angry stims not being shown a lot #I think partially because they aren't all fun or cute- like these more aggressive ones shown here #or because they don't match.. like with the jumping one I drew earlier. Angry stimmys are veeeery interesting tho :)#I like to hear that you share it <3 #side note I had to sit there biting my hand (gently) for like a solid 10 minutes to get the pose right lmao #ANYWHO SERIOUSLY THIS ASK MADE ME VERY VERY HAPPY!!!! SO THANK YOU FOR SENDING IT!!!! :D <3 <3 <3 #answered asks #tmnt #rottmnt #tmnt mikey #tw biting #just in case :)

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dontbelasagnax · 16 days

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What were your 6:30 am codywan thoughts about? The people (me) are dying to know...

I came up with this AU the other day

Basically Cody buys this beautiful English property that has a house, stables, mausoleum, and a church.

You have to understand the vibes feel very much like picking plump, red strawberries on a warm summer day that has a light breeze.

Anyhow! My thoughts! Cody knows jack shit about religion. He grew up in an atheist household. His lack of knowledge is nice for me because my knowledge of C of E is limited and attempts to research so far only proves that churches are something that my brain has a really really hard time understanding. I was on Google asking what the difference is between a priest, pastor, minister, vicar, deacon, and bishop 😂

Back to the point! I imagine Cody bumping into Ben on one of his days off and greeting him with, "Father"

Ben smiles and it's like staring straight at the sun. "I'm off the clock, Cody. Call me Ben." (Normally Ben would let it be but he is. Crushing. So very hard.)

Cody's brain stumbles. The creases around Ben's eyes swoop down his cheek, framing the beauty mark there. "Right." Cody stares some more. Ben has a stray eyelash next to his nose. He reaches out and brushes it away before he thinks.

Ben stares at him.

Cody continues to stare back.

"Eyelash," Cody says smartly.

"What?" says Ben with an equal level of intelligence.

"You had an eyelash on your face."

"Ah. Thank you."

...

I suppose I've written some of the fic just now 😂😂😂

#thank you for being interested in my codywan thoughts!!!#lasagna rambles #ask box #codywan

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lennsart · 21 days

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*Aggressively throws ravioli at you*

I feel like I’m trying to bribe or tempt people into the ship lol. But it’s so worth it

I am being

Ravioli'd D:

#No but for real they have an interesting dynamic I like them #But I also love to see them being married platonically for the taxes lmao #I just like seeing them interact whether they kiss or not :D #Thanks for your ask Breanna :) I hope my silly answer made you smile !#linked universe #ravioliship #ravioli ship #I don't remember which tag is the right one so. both is good #lu legend #lu ravio #ask answer #my art #(?)

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explodingstarlight · 19 days

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WHO ARE THESE TWO I NEED TO KNOW I LOVE THEIR DESIGNS SO MUCH WHO ARE THEY !!!!

https://www.tumblr.com/explodingstarlight/747441619339558912/a-bit-late-but-a-welcome-back-from-burnout-gift?source=share

Oh, hi, hello!! Always lovely to meet a new face!

These lil guys are Xor & Nova--colloquially known as the Cyberspace Duo (get it?). Nova is my Rise OC/turtlesona, while Xor belongs to the very cool and rad @snailsnaps ✨

Xor 🤝🤝 Nova: Meeting for the first time while running away from their own fanclub of angry Hidden City residents (did you mean?: angry mob)

Both Snails and I have some additional art and references for the both of 'em, so you're always welcome to check 'em out! Most of my own posts are under the #rise nova and #cyberspace duo tag (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

(and thank you so much for your ask & kind words!! <3)

#let the record state that only Nova's mob was warranted (he stole a $2 keychain that he now treasures as a momento of their best friendship)#there's quite a bit of nova lore backlog that i may one day actually draw but for now feel free to send asks if you're interested 👍#*pats their heads* these turtles can fit so many AUs #no I'm /srs discord has witnessed at least 5 AUs (#universal constant being found family/I would find my bestie in any universe #snails feel free to chime in if you have anything else you'd like to share with the class /nf #oh and don't forget that they're basically adopted by a bird /aff #<- a bird who needs to drink more water 👁️👁️#thank you for the ask!#asks #stars speaks #rottmnt #cyberspace duo #rise nova #rise xor #tmnt #e stars scribblez

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k4pp4-8 · 4 days

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Least favorite ok ko character??

At first I was gonna say none BUT I actually do have two least favorite characters and it's these two assholes

Not only I dislike their designs I also HATE their personalities even more. I don't like being so negative but they have literally ZERO redeeming quality. They're just annoying judgy asshats. Plus they were absolutely awful friends to Rad for years!!! They made him become super insecure bc they kept insulting and belitting everything he liked, they're the reason why he started acting like a narcissistic jerk with Enid and then KO

In conclusion they're lame, stupid, and crappy people and I can't stand seeing them on screen

#am i projecting onto rad MAYBE #thank you for asking this anon bc i needed to unload all my hate and loathing #ugly asses i wont even bother learning their names #i swear i cannot stand them anytime they appear i just wanna skip all their scenes #BOOOOO TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO #like at least when other characters are being jerks they're also fun or interesting #but not these two they're just two insufferable frat boys #which is worse than being a criminal #at least boxman's crimes are funny as fuck ://#sorry these two piss me off so much #asks & answers #ok ko let's be heroes #ok k.o.! let's be heroes

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caelanglang · 10 months

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Is everyone in that universe genderflipped or just Soukoku?

I actually haven't thought of this as a whole au itself since this whole thing just came to me as a vision in the inbox and after seeing Nawy and Carrot's fem skk artworks !!

But... nyehehehe I do think genderflipping everyone makes things more interesting! *digs thru my sketches*

i wonder if they're still recognizable orz....

#alksdjhfaslkfgj ranpo and yosano is so so fun to drawwwwww #thanks for being interested anon i swear these are just silly lil nothings here but glad you asked :3 #inbox #inbox sketch #bsd

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puppyeared · 4 months

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Been LOVING your lil magician folks recently please continue they're beautiful and very cute and cool and also very well-designed!! 🥺❤️

thank you for the kind words !!! im not much of a writer, but i do have some sort of story in mind for them.. theyre bitter rivals who end up as roommates bc of their scatterbrained elderly landlord lol

#idk how much of it im gonna keep or change but thats basically the gist of it ^_^#i dont know if i could ever write a solid linear story bc im very indecisive and tend to change things a lot so most of what i make ends up #very abstract or nonlinear.. just short drabbles or stuff that can be slotted into a general setting or premise #although i do want to challenge myself to try and write some sort of enemies/rivals to friends because i have a huge weak spot for that #dynamic!! i tend to be a little soft on my characters which i think has to do with me being a conflict avoidant person. so maybe exploring #this kind of dynamic will help me experiment with my sense of storytelling. although i cant promise it will be written well lol #im also thinking of making their story part of a bigger world so kinda like an omnibus?? i have another story in mind i think i can fit int #the same canon and itd be funny if theres like a bunch of wacky going ons between different apartment tenants nichijou style #but we'll see!!! thank you for your interest in these little shits!!!!#my art #myart #my oc #oc #presto #shuffle #house of cards #oc talk #ask #doodles #yapping

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teatual · 3 months

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hi! hope this is an alright question to ask, but i really really wanted to start adding IDs to my posts and stuff! im worried my IDs that ive done before are too long and detailed, so do you have any tips for ID writing? thank you in advance if you answer this!! =^.^=

QUESTIONS OF LOVE AND JOY

Tbh the biggest bit of advice I can give to anyone wanting to write IDs is that literally any ID is better than no ID even if you think it's too long. Genuinely just give it a shot and the more you do it the more you'll get a feel for it, just like any other skill!

If it's my own post, I start by identifying the type of image ("a screenshot of", "fanart of", "original character art of"), then identify the subject, then a quick verb or adjective about the subject. So

[ID: (image type) of (subject). (Subject) is (adjective and/or verb). End ID]

Yoinking my pfp: [ID: a PNG (image type) of a sticker sheet (subject) of holographic stars, moons and suns (adjective!). End ID]

Everyone who uses IDs will have different preferences for them. U could ask 20 people who require IDs for images about them and get 20 different answers. AFAIK the general consensus is that many prefer brief IDs because screen readers take yonks to read it out? But you do want to make sure you don't miss out relevant context.

IME the most accessible thing to do is write one directly under the original post (NO read more) and in plain text. small text (small text) or coloured text (coloured text) might or might not be picked up by screen readers but is gonna be difficult to read for many people with low vision, which is the main demographic IDs are used for.

uhh what else. There's a difference between an ID (image description under the post) and ALT text (embedded in the html of the image) and there's no single agreement on which is better (see paragraph 2) but sometimes a screen reader will skip the whole post if there's an image with no ALT text. Good practice is to put a very brief (1-2 sentences) in ALT text and the fuller ID under the post, like how my mutual's done it here.

There's more i could probably say but this is quite long whoops so linking some more posts about them for you here, here, here and here!

Also also if you want to make a huge difference to accessibility on your blog you can search through the notes of a post to see if there's already one (copy and paste it to your version if you want a different reblog chain! the writer won't mind!) and tag image posts with no ID as #undescribed or equivalent.

#💌#parbelle-time #long post #<- geniunely so sorry about how long that is please do ask for clarification or a summary if you need. whoops #accessibility #online accessibility #image descriptions #but YEAH THANK YOU FOR ASKING AND BEING INTERESTED MWAH

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plan-3-tmars · 6 months

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Dogs Vs Cats and Social Expectations

Alright yeah I’ve stooped this low. His answer here is just really interesting to me because of well idk maybe the fact his T2 song is called CAT? So I’m throwing this out here.

this is like kind of a joke. kind of a character reading. 100% a mess - with that established let’s get into it!

Q: Do you like animals?

A: Well to an average extent. I had a dog back in my parent’s place.

What do you think of when you hear the word dog? If you said an active, most likely well-loved animal then we’re on the same page. It’s the typical dog lover stereotype and even if you didn’t and said something like high-energy, I bet they were still positive adjectives, right? Now what about cats? Were the adjectives more like grumpy, lazy, introverted? More negative descriptions? Well there’s actually a psychological reason behind this.

Dogs are, typically, more well loved then cats if they don’t act like cats and that’s for one main reason: psychological ownership. It’s the feeling of something being yours and is strongly associated with emotional attachment, so we care more about things that we feel belong to us. This feeling generally comes from having control over something, when you’ve invested time or money in something or if you know something very well.

So how does this tie into dogs being more favourable then cats? Well control of course. It’s easier to control a dog then it is to control a cat, that’s simply a fact. Dogs being easily impressionable makes it seem more like you “own” them, as they probably wouldn’t fair as well by themselves as a cat might.

Now how does this tie into Kazui? Oh well I’m glad you asked!!! Kazui’s parents tick all of the ways the feeling of psychological ownership can manifest in dogs.

Some of the answers to Kazui’s questions in this interrogation make it seem like his parents, specifically his father, are very controlling. Answers like “It seems like my father was also wishing I’d “be a strong man”” and “it seems like he wanted me to become a policeman as well”, there’s a theme of control here. They’ve also obviously invested money into raising him, but also from the answer “I got into a Sport Science University by recommendations”, he’s clearly smart so they’ve invested in his education too. And they’re his parents, they’ve gotta know their son well.

Yet Kazui’s T2 song is titled ‘Cat.’ And he asks to “be loved as a cat.” Cats … who are often not as well liked in society unless they are a breed that acts similarly to dogs, the norm fan favourite, then it’s scientifically proven that those cats garner more love. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Like a certain someone lying for the sake of true love, not because they actually felt it, but for them to be more normal? More like what’s expected of them in society?

#I did go insane a bit thanks for asking #the link imbedded at the start is the expierment I used for my research. it’s rlly interesting I’d check it out #milgram #kazui mukuhara #thank you becoming the lastnames by will wood for being there as i wrote this #(that song is so kazui it’s insane)#alright bye bye hope this makes sense :3

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paimonial-rage · 7 months

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hi i'm that anon that asked about tighnari and fixing. since you said that he's someone with no fatal flaws, how open is he getting into a relationship?

[Character Analysis Ask Meme]

How open is Tighnari to a relationship?

To most members of the Forest Watchers, imagining their chief officer in a relationship is near impossible. It isn't that he'd be terrible in a relationship. No, actually, they think that he'd be an amazing partner. Though he can be strict, he's caring and reliable, observant and level-headed. Really, he's the complete package! It's just... Nobody has ever seen him show interest in anyone. And the few that showed interest in him and tried to flirt were swiftly shut down without mercy. Most agree that love seems to be the last thing on his mind.

What many are not aware of, however, is that as much as he isn't looking for a relationship, he isn't exactly not looking for a relationship either. Really, Tighnari isn't against falling in love. He sees its merits. He knows the comfort and satisfaction it brings. But it isn't something he exactly needs. Simply put, he's satisfied with what he has. He enjoys his life. He doesn't need more. Still, while he doesn't see the need to be in a relationship, should it come his way, he really wouldn't be all that against it if they're a good match. But there's no need to rush. It'll happen when the time comes.

That being said, should he become interested in someone, don't expect much fanfare or bombastic displays of affection. Don't expect him to play any games either. Though he will invite you on outings to learn more about you, when he is clear about his feelings, he will be clear with you as well. You will not be left second-guessing his intentions for long.

#genshin x reader #tighnari #tighnari x reader #hello anon how have you been? thank you for sending in this ask!!#i was talking with my friend and the way i think he'd go about it is like....#first he'd start asking you to accompany him on forest patrols and lectures and things of the like #to learn more about you #and then after he is clear about his feelings him inviting you on something a bit more intimate?#maybe out to dinner or something of the like #and when you respond with a (maybe confused) yes him being like 'great. it's a date. i'll see you then uvu'#and then will walk away #and then you're left like 'yeah! it's a-- w-wait--'#and then if you ask him on the date if he truly meant what he said and if he's interested in you he'd raise a brow like #'isn't that what a date's supposed to mean?'#okay maybe not like that but something similar haha

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driftingballoons · 1 month

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hi! could you draw a Raticate? please

Gives him a cheese

#candyglumboy #raticate #pokemon doodles #original art #thanks for the ask!#It’s certainly Rat #was always interesting to me that it went from being purple to brown when evolving #Maybe they figured they had too many purples in gen 1?#ekans line grimer line gastly line mewtwo etc etc #Quite a lot when there’s only 150 beasts lol

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cerosin-bis · 8 months

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i'm really curious as to your interpretation of why krueger killed his parents, did he have a particular reason? did he kill them just because he knew he was capable to kill? i personally hc him as having a but of a god complex but it would be wonderful to see your input. thank you tumblr celebrity!! ❤️

I wanna preface this by saying that "krueger offed his parents" is my interpretation of his in-game lore (fled his home country to evade murder charges *and* both parents dead), and not outright stated.

It is a choice of mine to have never fully imagined what could have led to this. I like when things stay vague. I also (personally, again) headcanon Krueger to have psychopathic traits, so... there's always a part of uncertainty/shadow that is absolutely inherent to the character and my interpretation of him.

My headcanon is that he half-accidentally killed someone while in his early 20s. realised that the thrill associated with it was not "addictive" per se, but definitely indulged something in his brain. This, alongside having developed since his early childhood (I absolutely stand with you there) an unassumed god complex, and at one point in his mid-20s it just... happened. Can't be more precise than this because that's the extent of it to me.

Bonus doodles of early 20s ID picture and late 20s absolutely did not not falsify his papers KSK krueger because this man has never been arrested once in his life and doesn't have proper mugshots.

#I loved answering this ask lol. thank you for being interested in my take on the character 🥺♥#last sentence scalped me tho. please I am simply just a loser #headcanons #krueger #cod krueger #sebastian krueger #my art

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writereleaserepeat · 1 month

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This last month I've been enamored by @sowhumpshaped's interactive whump story, "Stray." It came to a beautiful end just a few days ago, and I was inspired to come out of the woodwork long enough to write a little fanfic. Make sure to go read their story before continuing here! It's a lovely work of art and I had so much fun seeing where it went. I miss the daily updates already!

This story is set twenty years after the main storyline of "Stray," and ten years after total pet liberation. It takes place in I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Disneyworld, and it features our MC (you!) meeting a ghost from their past.

CW: mentions of pet whump, second person POV, swearing

WC: ~2250

You run your tongue along the mountain of sweet vanilla cream, savoring its delicate flavor as it slowly melts in your mouth. With how much this ice cream cost, you were determined to enjoy every moment of its blissful respite from the summer heat. The mouse might know how to mark up its sweets, but it wouldn't steal away your enjoyment of this day, not even with an ice cream cone that cost an arm and a leg.

You're pulled from your thoughts by the sight of the ride coming to a halt beyond the fence. The harnesses begin to release and the children start pouring towards the exit, all smiles and laughters as they rush to find their parents on the other side. Your daughter is easy to spot, a tall girl - god, when did she get so tall? - with a glowing, gap-toothed smile.

Much to your surprise, she comes to greet you with another girl in tow, a child whose face reminds you of someone you can't place, their eyes sparkling with a hint of familiarity. A celebrity, maybe?

You don't have any more time to ponder before your daughter begins talking. She holds the other girl’s hand, a child who couldn’t have been a year older than her, and all but pulls her up to greet you.

"This is Delaney, we were on the ride together! She's so nice," Libby speaks in that same pleading tone you're never able to resist. "Please, please, please can we go to the next ride together?"

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” you say as sympathetically as you can, putting a palm on Libby's head. “We need to ask Delaney’s grown-up first.”

“My dad will say it’s okay,” Delaney says with a vigorous nod, “he’s right over there!”

She points towards a man striding in your direction, his hair long, but his gait familiar. As he brushes the hair from in front of his eyes, you freeze. You know those eyes. You’ll never forget those eyes, even if they’re set deeper in wrinkles now.

The world stops. For one painful moment, you don’t even feel your heart beat. It’s like all the air has been sucked out of your lungs.

But it wasn’t. You draw a breath, a deep breath that pushes hard against your ribs. You’re free. All the pets are free now, and they have been free for ten years. It had been another ten years before that since you’d last seen Rayan.

He recognizes you too, you can tell in the way his jaw slackens, dumbfounded. That glitter of recognition continues as he finally stumbles into earshot and his tongue begins to work.

“Thirt-"

“Not in front of my daughter,” you hiss, leaning in towards his ear as you do so. “Not in front of my fucking daughter.” You keep a smile on your face, only just, so your child doesn’t have to see you fall apart before her eyes.

He seems startled, startled enough to shut up for one moment. But silence had never been his strong suit, you could remember that much, the way he'd ramble on and on after his volunteer shifts. You'd always let him talk - not today. The dynamic had shifted. Today, you look him in the eyes as an equal.

“I’m sorry, I-“

“Papa!” Delaney interjects, cutting Rayan off a second time. “I met this girl on the ride, her name’s Libby, she’s super fun, and super nice, and we want to go on another ride together.” She tugs on Rayan’s arm, but he doesn’t look down.

“Actually,” you say, pulling your daughter close to you, “I think we need to go catch up with Libby’s little brother and my partner.”

“Please?” Libby pleads again, staring at you with those doe eyes that always melt your heart. “Just one ride. It can be this one, we can do it again, we don’t even have to walk anywhere.”

Fuck.

What was almost twenty years of therapy worth if you couldn’t stand next to Rayan for another five minutes? You’d imagined talking to him a thousand times over, you’d thought painstakingly about what you’d say to him if you ever could, you'd prayed to his memory as much as you'd cursed it. But now, all you want is to walk away and never look at him again.

No more running. You'd promised yourself that almost two decades ago, and hell if you couldn't carry through with that promise today, especially with a family that needed you.

“Okay,” you concede, forcing a smile at Libby. She would never see you falter, not now, not ever. “You can ride this same ride one more time, just once, and only if you use your QuickCard to skip the line. We don’t want to get too far behind the rest of the family.”

“Sure,” Rayan says, voice measured. He smiles down at Delaney as well, but you can tell it's forced. “You can go too. Don’t forget, you only have three more taps on your QuickCard.”

“That’s okay!” Delaney chirps, already pulling Libby towards the line. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

And as the girls run in a tangle of limbs and laughter back into the ride's entrance, you’re left alone next to Rayan. The silence weighs heavily on your shoulders, and you feel the ice cream beginning to melt between your fingers. Then it's just you and Rayan, alone.

Not literally alone. You two are the furthest from alone you ever could be, stood next to a swinging steel pirate ship, amidst a park milling with tens of thousands of other people. But you can hardly hear the screams, the voices, the mechanical groans of the rides. Rayan’s presence next to you is suffocating.

You say nothing yet. What is there to say? You’ve said it all a million times before. To the shower walls, to your therapist, to the darkened skies in the early dawn. But none of it had ever compared to what you feel right now.

Something like hope begins to itch in your chest. Maybe this would give you closure, real closure, not the metaphorical closing of a book at the end of a therapy session. You've craved closure for so long. Could Rayan finally be this holy grail?

“I’m sorry,” Rayan says. If you didn’t know better, his voice sounded on the verge of breaking. “I’m sorry for everything.”

His swallow is louder than even the most cacophonous thunderstorm. He continues, tripping over his words, falling over himself with every syllable.

“Look, I was just doing my best. I mean, you were a kid, and I was basically still a kid too, and I was doing what I thought was best, just trying to help, you know? It’s been twenty years and I’ve never forgotten your face. And I mean, look at you now, here with your kids, this is what all the freed pets wanted, isn’t it? The chance to live like this?”

In that moment you know what you need from Rayan. It's what you've needed from him all along, even if you couldn't name it before now.

“Say it,” you mumble, struggling to find your voice. That hope for closure, god, you can feel it, you need it, and-

“What?”

“Say it,” you growl, more firmly this time. “You know what I need you to say.”

“Look, thir- whatever name you chose, I don’t know what you want from me.”

You finally look him in the eyes again.

“Say that I’m a person. Tell me that I’m a person.”

“Of course you are,” Rayan begins, and you watch him hold up his hands as he fights against his tongue's knots. “That’s what the Decree says. All pets had their legal status changed to reflect their unequivocal personhood.”

“That’s not what I asked. I know my pet lib history - likely better than you do. I want you to tell me that I, me, the living being standing in front of you, is a person.”

That nervous look in Rayan’s eyes tells you everything you need to know. The pregnant pause that follows is just painful confirmation. There would be no closure here for you today.

“Pathetic.” It takes all of your strength not to slap him in the face. “Twenty years and you haven’t learned a damn thing. The rest of the world has moved on from that nonsense and you can’t take five seconds to pull your head out of your ass.”

“Look," another swallow as Rayan wrings his hands. “Yeah, it’s been ten years, and still, there’s these studies, right? I'm sure they taught you to read in the, uh, the rehabilitation classes. There's studies that shows the pets that were liberated, they just aren't adapting to society as people do, you know? They don't excel at their jobs, they don't succeed in forming traditional family units, they engage in crime and anti-social behavior at much higher rates..."

You scoff and roll your eyes. All you can feel is the bile thick in your throat. Those studies, those lies, that propaganda, it would never stop. And people like Rayan would never stop feeding on it. You knew this, hell, you taught about it, at your community college's pet lib program. There would always be someone with an interest in the tyranny over 'pets,' be it emotional or financial, and it would succeed as long as people like Rayan were stupid enough to buy it.

"Look," Rayan says, putting his hands on the nearby railing as he looks away from you, "all I'm saying is, if you're a good- as good a soul as I think you are, you'd want what's best for your daughter, right? And, and maybe, well, maybe what's best for your family is how things used to be. You don't know for sure that things are better now. What if you're denying your family the chance to be taken care of, to truly thrive? What if they're not meant to be taken care of by, ah, by something like you?"

For a moment you think about striking him. You think about taking him to the ground, right there in the middle of the theme park, and pummeling him senseless. You want to beat that nonsense right out of his skull.

But that would prove his point, wouldn't it?

No. You know you can't do that. You can't wait for your daughter to come back and see your knuckles bloodied, this stranger choking on his own teeeth, your face contorted into an unfamiliar visage of rage. You weren't going to be a monster.

"You disgust me." The words are stickier than honey on your tongue. "Your vapid platitudes mean nothing. Your saviour complex has kept you stuck in the past while the rest of society is growing and learning from our sins. I'll always be grateful that you dragged me out of the trash that one day, and I'll always be grateful that you kept a roof over my head long enough for me to find my liberation. But I owe you nothing, not now, not ever again. I have my personhood - I always have. It's a shame you aren't using yours for something more meaningful."

You see a flash of pink out of the corner of your eye. Libby was coming back, running hand-in-hand with Delaney, that same joyful smile on her face. The smile of a child who had never seen the tyranny of the system you'd oncee been subdued by. The smile of a child who would learn just how important their personhood was, and always would be.

"Libby, darling, we need to go," you say as she comes within earshot. Your tongue is dry and sticky in your throat, and you need a drink of water. Your partner has water, wherever they are in the park now. You want to go to them now, seek the affirmation of everything you'd built in the time since you'd left Rayan behind all those years ago. You want to feel their comforting touch, something to ground you, to remind you of who you are. Who you've always been.

A good person.

Libby seems to wilt a bit, dejectedly dropping Delaney's hand from her own.

"Aw, but-"

"No buts. It's time to see what your brother is up to, and we have a lot of rides to catch before the day is over."

She pauses for a moment, and you can see her thinking it over. After another second she nods, seemingly convinced.

"Okay, as long as you promise to come on the next roller coaster with me."

"I promise," you say, reaching out a pinkie towards her. She hooks her pinkie in yours, and you take the opportunity to pull her close to you, away from Rayan, and away from the child he will undoubtedly raise to think just like him.

"Bye, Delaney! We're friends forever, okay?" Libby shouts over her shoulder as you begin to walk away.

"Bye Libby! Forever!" Delaney replies, giggling as she waves.

Your eyes meet Rayan's one last time. They're clouded with emotion, his lips pressed in a thin line. In spite of yourself, you smile at him once, and turn away.

"Alright, sweetheart," you speak to your daughter as the door to your past slams shut behind you. "Let's go have some more fun. We've got the whole day ahead of us."

#if you can't tell I wanted to grab rayan through the screen each and every installment #SUCH a good kind of 'caretaker' in these stories #really interesting to see his reactions to stuff like idk biting him #ANYWAY thanks for the cool story love you whump community keep being awesome #whump fanfic #whump #whump community #pet whump #also nobody ask me where the ice cream went #it was all MC was focusing on at the beginning then they ignored it #you still have the ice cream but it's melted all over your fingers it's sticky you're miserable #also if you see an error in tense - no you don't

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