What Is Altertale?

new roomates navi.

summary: waking up to an apartment full of Genshin Impact men was not something you expected, but the antics and events that ensued almost made going bankrupt trying to feed them worth it...

characters: zhongli, venti, kaeya, diluc, albedo, klee (PLATONIC), ayato, kazuha, thoma, childe, xiao, itto, aether, gorou

❥ Chapter One

after your father helps fund your rent, you suddenly find that your fresh, unfurnished apartment is bustling with the very tevyat men you adored <3

❥ Chapter Two

as Albedo and Aether tell you how they found their way into your apartment, you slowly begin to believe him and Aether, next step? meeting the 11 other characters who were dragged in with them and figuring out how you’re going to live with (and hide) all these men and klee

❥ Chapter Three

you head out shopping with the first of three groups, and antics ensue as they learn to navigate a new world with new rules

❥ Chapter Four

with clothing shopping completed, you drop the “clothing crew” back off at your apartment to find the others have certainly made themselves at home… time to go grocery shopping!

❥ Chapter Five

as you finish shopping for sustenance, you return to a home full of chaos before settling down for the night, and then finding out a certain someone is having sleep issues

❥ Chapter Six // Several Routes

a special someone cant sleep, and so you two spend some time together away from the others <3

❥ Chapter Seven

early mornings with the tevyat men (and klee) can get quite interesting, an online order arrives and you try to teach them about technology

❥ Chapter Eight

you panic as your apartment has become a little bit more crowded, you unintentionally take everyone to a nearby park, and the tevyat men discover your birthday is upcoming…

❥ Chapter Nine

your guest comes and goes, bringing advice and warnings along with them, and at the end of the day you prepare dinner

the only tall AU pair that i ever made… who coincidentally also don’t have nicknames

✨️ it has been done ✨️

Hi! So, this is a question for the Siren AU. How would the boys react to a siren mc (on the predator spectrum) who already has a baby? Not newborn, but certainly still child age. And with her species of siren, oftentimes the males don't stick around and would part away from the female.

It's always important, anywhere in nature, to be incredibly careful of mothers with babies. A mother defending her child is immensely dangerous, she'll fight to the death without question, and even if she were a prey mermaid they'd avoid getting too close to her baby. All the boys would be very careful to give Mc (and her child) space.

Sans: Despite the dangerous reputation that comes with being an orca, Sans would actually be the one that she'd be quickest to accept. This is one of the few occasions where being an orca is to his advantage socially. Orca sirens live in family units, right? And he's all alone. She immediately knows that's odd. And when he starts following them, defending them, bringing them food... it wouldn't take long for her to realise he's bonded with them and considers them his family. There's no other reason for him to act the way he's acting. Her baby likes his funny whistle-click noises, too.

... Her sympathy for his situation only goes so far, though. He still has to prove himself. And prove himself he does; he rarely leaves their side, assisting in hunting and foraging, delighting in teaching her baby. He can let out a few loud calls, and the area clears of almost every predator, nobody willing to fuck with an orca.

He's dedicated, and built for a family. She likes that.

Red: Red's dead charming. He's got that going for him. A handsome, charming shark covered with the marks of his past victories, he screams 'potential mate' and can flirt with her pretty brazenly before her patience at his closeness runs out. His knack for entertaining children also comes in handy... she's much more tolerant with someone that can make her baby giggle like that. That's probably the way he sidles his way into their family unit- making both mother & child laugh while serving as a visual deterrent to any hunters who get the wrong idea. She's naturally cautious about letting a SHARK near her baby considering one bite would be all it took, but he's happy to wait for her to relax.

... He's also very sturdy. Don't forget, he's built for his partner to be an aggressive female shark much larger than him. He can get roughed around by his potential mate (and he'd probably enjoy it) so he's a lot more confident approaching her than the others are. His confidence gives him a casual air that she really likes... it's clear he's not got anything suspicious in mind.

Skull: Unfortunately for our big boy, Skull would have the hardest time convincing Mc that he doesn't want to hurt them. It comes with the territory of being a massive scary deep sea monster. There would be numerous occasions where his attempts to interact with either mother or child would result in Mc charging and attacking him- and though her attempts at causing any damage are totally ineffectual to this giant, it definitely hurts his feelings.

... His one upside... is that he's a ferocious predator. Talk about a provider- he's constantly bringing her and her baby meals, at a rate that almost alarms her. If he thinks Mc isn't eating enough because she's too busy guarding her baby, he brings her meals big enough to sustain her for days. And even if her baby doesn't look hungry he brings meals for them anyway. He's very adept at catching the little prey that her child relies on, his massive dexterous tentacles capable of snatching up anything moving... and though Mc doesn't like him at first, she'll never turn down food.

They'll probably grow close because Mc doesn't let him near her child. He's always bringing food, and she accepts it on her baby's behalf. With the amount of prey he brings them, there's a lot of time for bonding.

....What are the odds that I was listening to this EXACT song when I found this? 😂

Here Yuu is a girl!!I warned you! https://youtu.be/tPLodwT58nE Please turn on this music to feel the atmosphere

After Mostro Lounge closed, Yuu worked part-time washing dishes, floors, and the gym after hours. Usually there was a lot of work and after each shift, her strength left her at the very end of the work.

This job provided extra rest for the staff and students of the dorm, and Yuu received a small income to the meager budget from Principal Crowley. Seriously, what was this obnoxious irresponsible feathered chicken hoping for, thinking that one teenager would have enough money?! To maintain the dorm, which threatened to collapse with every rain or snowfall. Dust and dirt simply could not be removed with your hands, you needed cleaning products. The Yuu thanked all the gods that they knew and heard that their plumbing was working even with difficulty. But it worked.

After looking at their work, Yuu nodded to herself with satisfaction, making sure that everything was done perfectly. She was a very diligent and hardworking girl, it helped her out many times. Azul is quite a demanding boss, but he can be understood. To maintain a certain reputation of the institution and your own, you must always maintain a certain bar.

Yuu was even a little envious of all the purposeful young men around her. Even they had the money, and she's more like a homeless person who pretends not to be.

Exhaling heavily from not very good thoughts, Yuu suddenly drew attention to a small "scene" in the hall, where Azul introduced himself to the "unfortunate souls" when there was all this business with anemones and dishonest contracts.

The light from the aquarium illuminated the entire room, filling everything it touched with its deep dark colors. The gloom that reigned here seemed even more to give the false impression that everything here was deep under water.

Yuu suddenly felt very sad and heavy. She missed her home, all the things she was used to.

I wonder if the sailors ' wives were also pining when they went to sea.

Waiting for them to return, with the hope that it will never fade away. That their beloved sailor would return to them, and not be taken away by the sea like so many others.

Yuu looked around once more. There was no sound of voices from Octavinelle's living room, and it looked like the students had all gone to their rooms. The "trio of sea mafiosi," as Yuu liked to call them in her mind, sat in Azul's office and counted the cash registers.

The hall was completely empty. Grimm was sleeping peacefully in Onboro, and he was very docile when Yuu went off to work part-time. Because he always got some small goodies that Yuu could buy with her earned money.

It was a small thing, but it was enough for them.

Every movement in the hall seemed to echo. I wonder how beautiful it will be if the song is played here?

Azul said that she does not have a "beautiful voice", maybe he lied to himself to take Onboro? What use was the voice of a non-magical student to him when he could get a whole building to expand his business.

Yuu put down the mop and took off the rubber gloves from her hands and went to the stage.

How much did the sailors ' wives miss?How did they live with this feeling for most of their lives?

There were so many questions, but the answers hardly gave Yuu any peace of mind.

Licking her lips, Yuu took a deep breath and sang softly. Barely audible, whispering to her heart, so sad and bitter, as if she wanted to pour out all her sorrows from her soul.

The lines echoed softly in the silence of the hall.

Upon one summer’s morning

I carefully did stray

Down by the warls of wapping

Where I met a sailor gay...

Yuu's voice sounded so bitter, so sad and wistful, as if she herself was really waiting for her "sailor" who would never return. She wanted so much to relieve the tension, let it be a little quiet singing. It won't hurt anyone.

The singing was a low whisper that filled everything around, and the students who were sitting quietly in the living room heard someone singing and decided to check out who it could be at such an hour.

Yuu slowly and unhurriedly walked around the stage, remembering the lines of the song, until she stopped and continued singing. Surprisingly, the words came one after the other and formed the right lines.

Conversing with a young lass

Who seem'd to be in pain

Saying, William when you go

I fear you'll ne'er return again

The students decided to listen to this impromptu performance with all their might and took out their phones to capture this moment. They hid around the corner and quietly watched everything that was happening on the stage.

Yuu looked like a lonely siren in an empty hall, with a soft, gentle singing that made its way to the most secret places of their souls and hearts. She wasn't given a uniform because of the extra expenses, Yuu couldn't afford it. So she used a change of clothes.

A long cloth wrapped around the legs and tied with a piece of rope. Something like a homemade long skirt with a slit on one side. And a loose and obviously oversized white shirt. Although it was hardly "white", the fabric was worn and apparently part of the uniform of one of the students. Yuu was not buttoning her neck, and thus her defined collarbone was exposed and exposed, as if it was a clue for Cupid where exactly to shoot.

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I distain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my Jolly sailor bold

Floyd, who was already terribly bored with finishing all this routine, every day the same thing became terribly uninteresting. He visibly perked up when he heard an extraneous sound and listened when he heard singing. It was much more interesting than counting all these numbers and adding up pieces of paper. This didn't usually happen in the evenings.

- Hmmmmm?Do you hear that, too? Floyd asked, glancing back at the office door. It was more interesting to him than the current case, and he closed his eyes and listened to the words of the song. A song about a sailor? It was something interesting.

Jade and Azul looked at each other, at first not understanding what he was talking about, and followed his example and listened.

Did someone.... sing?Now?

Yuu takes a deep breath. Unaccustomed to it, she is short of air and her breathing is a little erratic from time to time.She had to take breaks of a few seconds to catch her breath. Otherwise, my head would start spinning.

The students held their breath as they watched her every move. The way she moved her arms and the way she danced lightly on stage.

She lured them like a siren.

Lured and unknowingly drowned these unfortunate viewers.

His hair hangs in ringlets

His eyes as black as gold

My happiness attend him

Where ever he may go

Floyd listens with pleasure.

- What a beautiful voice~ I wish I could listen to him more often. Floyd chuckled, already seeing the look in Azul Madola's eyes. It was getting more and more interesting. The octopus definitely already has an idea how to turn all this into its own benefit and profit.

Azul gets up from his chair and heads for the exit. As always, he was determined and already thought of different options for the best outcome in his favor.

"Jade, Floyd, we need to get that voice!"!

"Whatever you say," the twins smiled, smug and predatory. They were awfully fond of such" hunts " for Azul. They quietly slipped out of the office and hid and decided to watch.

What was their surprise when they saw that the non-magical student was a real siren of legends on their stage. They barely restrained Floyd, who immediately wanted to destroy everything so that he could run to Yuu and squeeze her.

Azoul suddenly had the idea that he wanted to decorate this beautiful neck with a necklace. No, seriously. She looked amazing. So simple and so mesmerizing. It had its own charm and charm. If only he could persuade her to sing just for him. I wonder if she would agree.

Yuu continued to sing, trying to relieve all the tension that had been drowning in her for so long. All these emotions, all these feelings that had been bothering her for a very long time.

It seemed to her that she was all alone, and her singing could not be heard by others. How surprised she would be that most of the dorm is Octavinel, and Azul and the Twins are hiding to hear the singing through.

After all, they are gentlemen, they will not rudely interrupt such a performance. And just listen quietly, and write it down on a dictaphone.

Azul noticed his students and heard their low whispers.

"Damn it, she's got a voice like a siren, I'd follow him to the bottom of the ocean." - quietly whispered one student checking whether the sound recording is on the phone.

- I've never heard this song, I wonder how she knows it? Another student stared at Yuu as if she were an opera singer.

"It gives me the creeps." Do you think we can persuade her to sing again?

Azul smiled ominously.

Oh, how close his students were to his idea. To lose such an opportunity of profit would be the most terrible crime! But still, even for the refined taste of Azul...

this song..

She was so beautiful and so sad.

Let's be honest greedy octopus, you would have sworn that you have at least 8 possible scenarios where Yuu would sing just for you. His personal songbird without a cage. Free and inconspicuous.

Oh, how he wanted that voice. It turns out that so many unknown songs were hidden in this cute head!So much money could be made out of it!Why hadn't he thought of it before?!

Judging by the fact that Yuu had taken a short break, it was possible to guess that the song was coming to an end.

If only she could be persuaded!!Just agree with Yuu and Azul will arrange for you the most beautiful dress and jewelry that he can afford, just to turn you into the pearl of this place!!

Azul would surely come up with a whole performance, would pick up an outfit for each performance. Every detail, every little thing. I'd even get Wil to give me some advice!

But damn it, knowing her character, she would stubbornly refuse.

She didn't need all this attention, all this gossip and gossip. All this glory and praise. She just wanted a peaceful life in a strange place with a bunch of rude, smug boys.

Suddenly, one of the students lost his footing and stumbled, trying to get closer and shoot a better video, but this caused only a small noise. She didn't need all this attention, all this gossip and gossip. All this glory and praise. She just wanted a peaceful life in a strange place with a bunch of rude, smug boys.

Suddenly, one of the students lost his footing and stumbled, trying to get closer and shoot a better video, but this caused only a small noise. The Octavinel trio mentally cursed this poor fellow in every way they knew.

He himself understood that his life would not be as easy as before. The next couple of days for sure. The others could only sympathize with him.

Hearing a strange noise, Yuu shuddered and stopped singing. She wanted to know where the noise was coming from and make sure it wasn't dangerous.

Noticing the confused students who waved their hands and raised their hats in greeting, Yuu quickly turned pale with horror. Did they hear her??Have you heard her all this time??

And then she saw Azul and the twins.

Azul could have sworn that she was dead white, her face as red as years of wine. I wonder if you could touch her rosy cheeks, what would the taste be like?

Azul, you're thinking the wrong thing. He was talking to himself, not understanding what had suddenly come over him.

It's just a little singing. Maybe it was her attitude toward him. She acknowledged and praised his efforts, his intelligence and work.

Did Cupid miss an arrow in one of his three hearts? (A moment of abstraction. Octopuses have three hearts. one (the main one) drives the blue blood all over the body, and the other two-the gill-push the blood through the gills)

Yuu was confused and desperate to think of an escape route, and she took off and ran out of the hall.

This development of events was definitely not foreseen by Azul.

Did she run away? Just ran away from them?She absolutely didn't want to even stay here?What if she stopped working here?

Although it was naive to think that it would help her.

- Floyd..bring the young lady to my office. And please be gentle with her. We don't want her singing voice to be lost. Azul asked the twin matter-of-factly, knowing that Floyd was only a fraction of a second away from rushing after her.

Still hunting, there was any part of it in the business.

"All right," Floyd said cheerfully and ominously, and immediately disappeared after Yuu.

Azul will do everything to get this opportunity and this voice.

Only, did he really want this pearl to be shown to others, and not just become his own?

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

Oh, and remember to make it nice and small! The smaller it is the harder it will be to break!

Yo, does anyone know how to make key chains?

My friend's birthday was Sunday and I wanted to make them something special. I think a drawing of their favorite character on key chain would be cute.

*Vibrating* today........

IF UNDERSWAP - THE GAME

Play as a customizable Chara who has fallen into a hidden monster kingdom under Lake Ebott.

This is a browser-based IF game you can play here: link

Keep reading

Thank you @thats-one-cool-dude for this commission, inspired by itsxroxannex's amazing art. Nothing quite like Nightmare himself <3

---

... You were in a dream.

The realisation hit you, the moment you became aware of yourself and your surroundings. Ironically, it felt like you had just ‘woken up’- snapping back to reality. But you couldn’t have been more conscious of the fact that this reality wasn’t yours.

You still felt like you were dreaming. Partly. It was hard to think, there was still that signature disconnect between your head and your body. And yet... you could feel things you didn’t normally feel in a dream, sensations that were usually either muted or entirely gone. Was this what lucid dreaming felt like? You'd never been able to do that before. You’d never woken up, and immediately known with every fibre of your being that you weren’t really ‘awake’.

... You looked up. There was a small table before you, draped in a spotless white cloth, and decorated by a single lit candle. Very gentle piano drifted through the air, jazzy and slow, like you were in the middle of a nice restaurant... two chairs pulled up on either side of the table.

... Someone occupied one of the chairs.

He was a skeleton. A tall skeleton, his bones were slick and dark, bluish black as a midnight sky, with the faintest iridescent sheen like the shimmer on a bubble or an oil spill. He looked as if he were made of tar. A clean smile of ice white teeth... one eye, a powerful, electric cyan blue, the other socket covered by that same tar-ish substance.

... He was wearing a suit. You didn’t expect that. A nice suit, it outlined him well, it made him look well-proportioned and tidy. Somehow, the liquid of his body didn’t stain the white cuffs or collar. Dream logic? You had no clue.

Were this any other situation, you probably wouldn’t have reacted as... calmly. But because you were in asleep, your mind felt far more forgiving of the bizarreness of the situation. Sure, a skeleton with inky bones and one glowing eye was waiting for you at a table set up like a date. Why not? You'd had weirder dreams.

That, and...

... Well, his face looked so... gentle. He simply stared at you, with a low smile, like you were the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. The candlelight flickered against him... he had a nice face. Strong curved cheekbones, a pretty defined jaw. His skull was handsome in a regal, timeless sort of way.

Your cheeks felt hot.

“ah. finally.” His voice was silky, low, and dark. Very pleasant to listen to, and exactly the kind of voice you expected to hear from a creature that looked like him. “i thought you’d never sleep.” 

... You looked down at yourself. You were dressed for a date- an outfit you definitely didn’t normally wear. 

“... come on, now. don’t be shy. i’ve been waiting for you.” He said, sweetly, patiently. “come sit with me.”

...

Well. It was just a dream, right? So you had nothing to lose. You shuffled over to the table, sitting down opposite him. His grin lifted, the flickering candle played with the shadows on his face... the gentle piano continued.

“i’m sans.” He shifted his elbows onto the table. The black parts of his suit, although it was clearly fabric, very faintly had the same iridescent sheen as his bones. “don’t worry, i already know your name.”

“... You do?” You asked. Was that something you needed to worry about?

He chuckled. The sound was handsome. “of course. it’s only a dream, right?”

“... Oh. Yes, right.”

Remembering that this was a lucid dream gave you a strange sense of... confidence. It made your chest puff up a little, it brought your hands out of their curled position on your lap, the anxieties you usually always carried finally melting off. Warm confidence flooded your system- he was right. You didn’t have to be embarrassed, or scared, did you? This was your dream, wasn’t it? You could do whatever you liked. Man, lucid dreaming was great.

‘Sans’ gained a slight twinkle to his beautiful blue eye. He kept looking at you like you were everything- it was making you feel warm. Important.

“i know it’s a boring question. but do tell; how was your day?”

“... Slow.” You replied. He had such a nice face. This was a nice dream. “Very slow.”

A knowing look. “sometimes a slow day is better than a frantic one.”

... You let out a little laugh. He leaned a fraction closer to you. “Yeah, I guess. I’d take a slow day over the kinds of days I normally get.”

“what would a normal day be, for you?”

“Like you said. Frantic.” He had instantly put you at ease. His dulcet tones, his impeccable sense of dress, his gentle aura... despite the fact that you were having a conversation with a skeleton, it felt like you were talking to an old friend. “I work a lot. Then on my few days off, it feels like I’m so exhausted I have no energy to spend on anything other than recovery. It sucks.”

“i think you aren’t alone in feeling like that. today is far too fast-paced.”

There was suddenly a wine glass in front of him. And in front of you, too. An expensive-looking bottle beside the candle, in the middle of the table- Sans picked up the bottle, offering it to you.

“shall i pour you something?” He asked, invitingly.

... You paused. “I... don’t really know if I should...”

“come on now.” He purred. “it’s a dream, right? you won’t have a hangover. when will there ever be a better time to have something to drink?”

“... Pft.” You felt... kinda silly for saying no. “Oh, alright then. I guess you’re right.”

Sans grinned. He poured you a generous serving, the liquid was a beautiful tyrian purple, and once he stopped pouring the candlelight in the wine made it appear as if your entire glass was filled with ruby. He filled up his own glass as well. It was good wine, too, it was exactly to your taste.

“... What is this, by the way?”

“... wine?”

“No, this.” You gestured around. “Are we on a date right now?”

“of course.” He placed his glass down and chuckled. Sans had such a warm gaze, despite the cold blue colour of his eye. It almost looked... adoring? He hadn’t stopped staring at you since the moment you woke up in this dream.

“Why?”

“because you’re wonderful.” He knitted his fingers together, using them as a cradle for his head. The ends of his phalanges looked sharp. “and i think you deserve a good date. none of those terrible, thoughtless outings you’ve been on recently.”

“How do you know I’ve been on dates?” You asked, but teasingly, drinking a bit more. Of course he knew, this was your dream. His eye flickered to your lips as they touched the rim of the glass, but they returned to your own eyes so fast you couldn’t tell if you really saw the movement at all.

“those fools don’t know what they’re doing. who tries to take someone back to their parents’ house on a first date?” He looked like he still couldn’t believe it. “despicable.”

You snickered at that one. Who wouldn’t?

“They weren’t so bad.” You said, softly. “Rough around the edges, sure. But they meant well.”

He leaned a little closer again. Every time you laughed, he seemed unable to stop himself from drawing nearer. The space was getting more and more intimate.

“you’ll realise how terrible they were when i show you how good dates can be.”

“I’m sorry, but...” You traced the rim of your glass. “am I going to get any more context on who you are? Or are you just too mysterious?”

“i’m nobody important.” He said, reaching the wine bottle across the table again and refilling said glass. “i haven’t any ulterior motives, dear, if that’s what you’re afraid of. i just want to get to know you.”

... You liked the way he said ‘dear’. It made you feel warm again. You swirled the wine around the glass, admiring the strange colour- huh, funny. Even though this was a dream, you could still feel that familiar sensation of being tipsy.

“... This is nice.”

“yes.” He murmured, gazing at you through a lidded socket. “it is.”

“I don’t really want to wake up.”

His eyelight flashed.

“... now. don’t go saying things like that, dear. someone might think you’re serious.”

///---///

You woke up with a lovely, soft, cosy feeling. Right down to your core. Far from your usual stuffy, too hot/too cold awakenings, the bed felt like a pair of arms around you- a comfortable pair of arms that made the thought of just closing your eyes and slipping back to sleep again all the more appealing.

...

You rolled onto your back, staring at the ceiling. Morning light was seeping through the curtains; as nice as it sounded, you couldn’t really go back to sleep right now. The day was starting.

... You could almost still taste the wine. You almost felt like its fuzzy warming effect was still thrumming through your body. And, in your mind’s eye, you could still see him- looking at you, smiling, like you were the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

“i just want to get to know you.”

...

... Sans, huh?

///---///

“hello again, dear.”

The same feelings of ‘waking up’. The same knowledge you were dreaming. And, when you opened your eyes... the same skeleton in front of you.

No suit, this time. Just normal clothes, all toned as black as his bones, sharing his faint iridescence.

... This dream wasn't set at a table. It was on a sunny street corner, in a musical-looking city, bright blue sky and quaint cafes surrounding you, bicycles and colourful pedestrians and trees on every inch of available pavement. People busied past both of you, like you weren’t even there- like there was nothing strange about a large, ink-black skeleton holding the hand of a bewildered human.

... Holding your hand. You blinked, looking down... his midnight claws were entwined with your fingers.

You looked back up at his face. “Sans?”

He grinned, evidently delighted you recalled his name. There was so much you didn’t know, in his eye, so much he understood but you didn’t.

“surprised to see me? i said you i’d take you on more dates, didn’t i?”

Yes. You were very surprised. It took you a few moments to gather the words, mouth opening and closing again, dumbly.

“... I-I just... it was a dream.” You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. “My dreams don’t normally...”

“repeat?” He squeezed your hand gently, brushing his thumb over the back of your palm. “perhaps they do. perhaps they just weren’t worth remembering before now.”

You flushed at the casual touch. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“well." He tilted his skull. "are you the good kind of surprised, dear?”

Again, yes. But you didn’t seem to need to say it, judging by the delighted softness his smile took on.

“... Where are we?”

“you're so cute. paris.” He replied, amiably. “i took the liberty of finding the nicest looking side. it’s a charming city, certainly... but not all of it is this pretty.”

“... I never thought I’d...”

“... be able to go?” His voice was a disarming, lulling purr. “i told you. i want to take you on real dates. we can go anywhere you want- anywhere at all. time and distance are no issue.”

“Why?”

“i said so before. i just want to get to know you.”

... You looked around. At the beautiful streets. You could hear people talking, smell baked goods and coffee. It was so romantic... so unlike anywhere you’d ever been.

...

“Could... we go somewhere high up, when the sun goes down?” You asked. “To see the lights?”

... A small laugh left his chest. Like your question had an incredibly obvious answer.

“... of course we can.”

///---///

Sans, whoever he was... he was quickly becoming a staple of your life. 

He kept his promise. He took you on dates. Wonderful ones, hopelessly romantic ones- strolls through starlit woods, picnics on hills overlooking the ocean, scenic boat rides through canals and rivers alike, city tours that felt so impossibly vivid and real despite the fact that your feet never ached. Various delightful places across the world you were certain you’d never be able to visit in your own reality. 

... Sans was charming. Charming in a sophisticated, cultured way, he had that lifted air to him that made you feel so important when he seemed to so much enjoy listening to what you were saying. He spoke sweetly, he was effortlessly funny, he knew precisely how to make you unwind. He already knew more about you than most people in your life.

Though you still knew nothing about him.

You’d never been so well-slept. Your dreams were starting to become your favourite place. Why wouldn’t they? Nobody in the waking world treated you so kindly. There was nowhere else where you felt so consistently cared for, listened to. If you ate together, you would wake up not hungry anymore. If you drank, you would feel the faint buzz even after your eyes opened. 

... And you always felt warm.

...

You hadn’t researched Sans until now. There was just... something that felt prying about it? You had no reason to think that way. Today was the day you were going to try and find out something about your nightly visitor.

... It was worth researching. Dreams that recurred that often probably had meaning, right? 

A few google searches wouldn’t hurt.

///---///

You saw him again the next night. Because of course you did.

... It was a much simpler setting than usual. Sans usually took you to places that would take your breath away... here, it was just a park bench in a flower garden. 

“morning.” He said, with a teasing lilt to his voice. “how was your day?”

You sat down beside him. Your heart was starting to beat faster. “... Could I talk to you about something?”

He paused. Only for a moment. It seemed like... he could sense your apprehension.

“... oh. of course.”

“I... did some research today.”

A flicker of something in his face. He covered it quickly. “the fun kind of research?”

“Research about dreams. And nightmares.” You fiddled with your hands, looking anywhere but him. “It took some digging. But I found something eventually. Old legends, really old, about a being that can enter people’s minds while they sleep and influence what they dream about. A skeleton with black bones.”

...

“... interesting.”

“... A lot of stuff was different. Like... tentacles, ‘evil’ energy, making people have night terrors so bad they’d give themselves insomnia to avoid sleeping. But, I mean... a skeleton with black bones that enters people’s minds while they sleep?”

... Sans had gone quiet. You glanced at him.

“Are you... uh... are you ‘Nightmare’?” 

...

As you held his blue eye, a strange sensation fell over you. 

It was like... you had come home, and a door you were certain you left closed was wide open. The feeling of staring into a room and knowing, just knowing, there was someone in there that shouldn’t be there. 

An interloper. 

His face... suddenly didn’t look quite as inviting.

...

Had he always been that big?

...

“i see.” He said, softly.

...

Then you were awake. Staring blankly at your ceiling.

You didn’t feel warm. Not at all.

///---///

It was a normal dream, at first. A busy room full of people you didn’t recognise, a nonsensical list of reasons you had to be there that only made sense because your higher thought functions were locked away. Your head felt as though it were stuffed full of sand, and you had little care in the world aside from the base anxieties your brain was projecting onto the scene before you. A test, a missed train, you couldn't even recall.

A normal dream.

...

Something in the corner of your eye flickered. A shadow, moving the wrong way.

...

Just like that, you were aware.

The hair on the back of your neck prickled, the faces around you blurred and unfocused. You felt... singled out. Alone. A real person, in a room full of mannequins.

... You could tell he was there. You'd had enough dreams with him to know when he was nearby. But you couldn't see him- you turned around, only the rest of your dream behind you. But you could feel it... he was in there with you.

"... Sans?" You said.

... Nothing.

Your voice wobbled. “Are you... are you there?”

Silence.

...

“Nightmare?”

“no.” He said, softly, right in your ear. You jumped- it sounded as if he was standing behind you. “do not call me that.”

You didn’t turn around. Something told you there was a reason he was remaining out of view. “... Why did you disappear?”

He hissed. “i never wanted it to be like this.”

“Like... this?”

“it should’ve stayed a dream. it was never meant to be real.”

...

Your gaze dropped to the floor. The carpet, a product of your sleeping mind, repeated itself over and over.

... You suddenly felt... stupid. For a lot of reasons- but mostly for letting yourself feel hurt by that. 

What did you think was going to happen, getting so attached to a random guy in your dreams that did little more than take you on a few pretty looking dates and say a few sweet words? All he had to do was feign interest in what you said, and you were like a fish on a hook. Idiot.

You wanted to wake up.

...

Hands pressed against your shoulders.

“ ... that’s not what i meant.” His voice was a lot softer, suddenly. Softer than you'd ever heard it before- softer, even than your 'first date'.

It was your turn to not respond.

“dear.” It felt like he wanted you to turn around, now. You didn’t. “i promise that’s not what i meant.”

When you spoke, your voice was sullen. This was the end of your nice dreams, wasn't it? “... What else could you possibly mean by that?”

He didn’t let go of your shoulders. “i... it was...”

... Him needing a moment to speak... it didn't exactly cheer you up, but it made you return to the moment a little. It made you listen. You were so used to him knowing exactly what to say at any given moment, silken words coming so easily- the fact that he needed time to gather his thoughts made what he was about to say seem a bit more genuine.

“... the waking world is so complicated.” He finally said. “dreams... are the escape. i didn’t want this to be complicated.”

...

“... Complicated.” Your tone had significantly eased. He wasn’t wrong. Things had definitely become more complicated, as soon as you brought the real world in. 

“i wanted to see you.” His hands moved, from your shoulders to your torso. “i wanted to know you, but i didn’t... want you to have to think. i just wanted to be a dream, for you, someone you could escape to. i wanted to be a good dream for once.”

You didn’t reply. He was convincing. But you didn’t even know if you believed him.

“... don’t wake up.” He murmured. You felt his face press to the back of your head... his arms tucked around your middle.

“I don’t know if I can trust you.” You said. “I don’t know anything about you.”

“i didn’t want you to be afraid of me.”

“Should I be?”

“no.” Instantly, breathlessly. Like he couldn’t believe you asked that. “no, of course not.”

...

You sighed. 

“What’re you willing to tell me?”

“whatever you ask.” 

... It was an interesting way of wording it. You didn’t miss the specificity- whatever you asked him, he would answer. But volunteering information seemed beyond him for now.

“we should go somewhere. to talk.” He offered. “where do you want to go?”

You paused.

...

“Well. How about... somewhere you want to go, this time?”

Very Brief Guide to [tumblr], for Reddit refugees

Shit You Must Do Right Fucking Now:

Change your profile picture, blog header, and title to something other than the defaults. Do it right now. You will be mistaken for a bot otherwise, and blocked.

Go into Settings -> Dashboard, scroll down to Preferences, and turn off the options in the picture. This will get rid of most of the algorithmic stuff.

Turn off Tumblr Live. You have to snooze it once every 7 days for some stupid reason. It's hosted through another company and will steal your data if you use it.

Go to your blog settings (under the little person menu) and turn off these two settings:

Turn off infinite scroll (lags the site) and turn on timestamps on posts, in the same menu as Preferences.

Basic Features of the Site:

Reblogs drive the entire site. If you'd upvote something on Reddit, you'd reblog it on Tumblr. You can add text, images, or tags to a reblog, but you're not required to.

The dashboard is the equivalent to your Reddit feed, and contains the posts of all the people you follow, with the newest at the top

You can send an ask to someone, and it'll appear in their askbox for them to answer. You can receive them too, or turn off the settings if you don't want.

Tags aren't actually used for finding stuff (search function is dogshit), but are more for categorizing. People also talk in tags. Because Tumblr is weird, you can't use quotation marks (") or commas in them without fucking it up

You can filter both tags and phrases under Account Settings; doing this will put a filter over a post that contains them, which you'll have to click through to see the post itself. Useful for avoiding hate speech or blocking out annoying stuff

You can make polls in posts. Here's one now.

Likes are useless. They literally do fuck-all except send a notification to the OP.

Stuff Tumblr Does That Other Sites Don't:

Very old posts (I'm talking from like 2012) often circulate on this site. There's no such thing as a post being "too old" to reblog

Blocking is highly encouraged; you can block someone for any reason. Even for just being annoying.

If you and someone else are following each other, you are mutuals. Mutuals are fucking awesome and are treasured like friends. Mutuals are a thing on other sites but Tumblr treats em differently.

You can screenshot someone's tags if you like them and add them to a reblog. This is called "peer review"

Sometimes someone will find a blog and go through it and like/reblog a bunch of posts. This is totally fine and not "creepy" like it is seen as on other sites.

Tumblr jokes often rely on Continuing The Bit and a "yes, and?" attitude. Goncharov is probably the best example of this.

We are fucking infested with bots. They will either have totally blank profiles or be filled with porn. Block and report on sight.

Censorship is pretty lax here. I can say "I want to brutally stab Elon Musk to death and watch him bleed out in front of a crowd" and nobody gives a shit.

General Etiquette:

Don't try to do epic clapbacks here, you'll probably just get laughed at or blocked. If someone is bugging you or spouting bigoted bullshit, block them.

Reblog art!!! Artists often struggle to gain traction on here; reblogging will give them a boost.

Not every reblog needs a comment or tag in it

You can go all out with tagging your stuff to organize it, or you can just leave it all blank. Someone might ask "hey, can you tag these posts as [x]?" and you can decide if you want to do that or not. It's generally polite to oblige, but "no" is still reasonable.

Avoid discourse like the plague. Filter it, block people who start it, scroll past it when you see it. Just don't get involved in it. Ever.

Don't put fandom tags or jokes on someone's posts about serious matters or personal shit

You're responsible for curating your own dashboard; if you complain about constantly seeing stuff you don't like, that's probably on you. Don't be afraid to unfollow.

Follower count doesn't matter much here and you don't have to make yours known if you don't want to.

Reblog, don't repost. Reblogging keeps the credit and doesn't "steal" engagement like Twitter retweets.

If someone likes something a LOT, they might reblog it like 30 times in a row. This is normal

Having a post blow up is actually kinda a bad thing, since it floods your notifications. There's a sort of in-joke about how having a big post is awful and people jokingly try to stop their own posts from blowing up, often in vain.

Tips:

Get XKit Rewritten if you're on desktop, it's a really helpful extension

In the little drop-down menu next to the 'Post now' button you can either save a draft, schedule a post, or add it to your queue. The queue lets you post things in order at a certain interval, which you can change. It's good for spreading stuff out over time.

You can use Shift+R to quickly reblog stuff and Shift+Q to queue!

Filter your notifications under Activity - you can also see some neat graphs

Find each other! If you want your old Reddit communities to stick together, seek out other refugees and follow them.

Have fun on [tumblr], everyone!