It almost feels cool outside.\nTrees are trembling in the breeze. A storm might come in a few hours or miss you completely. The river runs beside you like a black snake mirror.\n\n"This way, this way," he says. He's grinning. He's glowing. The slow dawn is going to start in him slowly and bleach away everything that doesn't feel like summer. It's the best feeling to you, even if fighting with it is boring.\n\nYou want: to meet up with Tara and make a sandwich with her and Kite.\nKite wants: punish, name of the moon, etc.\nEveryone ten years older wants: you to listen to better music. Also for you to do [[your job]].\n

Okay fine you can be responsible too. You can be be good. Here, look, you've stopped dancing, you're listening to your elders, you're letting the cool outside air clear your head and you're heading down to the playground all by yourself where the stupid demon has been living for the past week, which, whoops, you knew all along, you were just procrastinating, 'cause when evil's gone it's time to scrap your night magic, beat it colder, beat it steel, plowshares to swords, solid enough to dig into a human being, the more powerful, truer form of magic, and though it's not like you haven't been a jerk, haven't hurt your friends enough, haven't been stupid, selfish, childish, you're gonna miss it, this place here in the playground where the swings creak and the rusted slides groan.\n"[[Hey]]."

Trash Witch Tara\n\nInvincible and immutable with No Epiphany, the magic spell that won't fucking do anything. \nGive it all up in a fit of despair that goes nowhere, No Epiphany. \nBecome a little closer to the you you've always been; you don't need no epiphany.\n\nTIPS\nSpend all evening rewriting the character description of yourself because as soon as you finish a sentence you think of a better one and you want to throw everything you've written out and start over. Buy as many cheap clothes as possible, forgetting how silly they look, so that you have as much raw material as possible to alchemize a more perfect self from them the moment inspiration strikes. But the shuddering tics you want to discard most are the ones they recognize you for first, every time you're new again.\n[[~back~|fight them]]\n

It's pinky.\npinky's indistinct in the streetlight but you're sure the voice comes from the slide, or maybe the cracks between the slide. There's more to pinky than you can see, but they don't matter. pinky will be back one day, but that doesn't matter either.\n\npinky is starting to talk but [[you're too smart for that|Come out.]].

Night Ripper, at your service. Violet vertigo unleashed from every corner and every shadow. In the moment before Summer Knight Kite bleaches everything noon-white, there's an resonance, like a rainstorm in the sun, and the devil's caught inside and messed up really bad, but not quickly enough to be stopped from writing a little something on Summer Knight Kite's lips.\nWhat it is you can't tell, and who wants to know?\nYou saved the day, but your universe is still in jeopardy.\nYou're scared. Just not scared enough to not say[["Let's go dance."]]\n\n

You are the exactly correct amount of drunk at this particular instant and feeling the music physically and riding on a crest of very good feelings and your [[story]] starts.

Evening Soldier Ea\n\nTips for being yourself:\n\nWhen you're feeling it, you're anime, posing like a JoJo, a sailor senshi. Thanks to Night Ripper, you look cool under any light but the sun's. So show it. It's important to not worry too much about being cool, the anxiety's going to kill you. Summer Knight Kite's right, crushes are the most important thing in the world, but your roots dig in deep and you've got it bad for your friends, all of them. Play it cool until dusk, then let it rip, open it up, and when you've reached pitch perfect, do everything to make it amazing for them.\n\nYou don't have to be yourself, of course.\n\n[[~back~|write]]

"pinky of touch, at your service," says pinky.\nNot good.\nCan't let the introductions start.\nThat'd be bad.\nThat'd mess things up.\nIt was dumb to bring Summer Knight Kite here. But you knew that.\nHaha whoops I completely and accidentally fell into a situation where Kite might hear something I'm too scared to say out loud lol how'd that happen.\nWell there's no helping it now.\nSo many things pinky can say to mess everything up between the two of you.\nEven if you [[start right away]] that blabbermouth's still going to get away with saying something really embarrassing. So get it over with right now.\n\nBecause if you held back now things might get really, really bad. There are some things you just can't take back, so bad nothing will ever be the same after them, you know?\nOh wow, if you accidentally hesitated now and let this go on for longer than a split second who knows what might happen. You're shivering just thinking about what would happen if you [[fucked up so bad you let the world end]].

Lies Heavy Entertainment YA division\n\n@mammonmachine

Whoops you ignored everything and kept dancing.\nBoom, boom, boom.\nIn this haze you know exactly how to dance. Baptized in sweat means that, yes, the rhythms of your body are feeling exactly honest and will come out perfectly. Crush your body up to a beautiful stranger dusted with a glitter mask and on your way brush your fingertips with the boy whose hands sting the air like a burning bee.\nCurrently you are ignoring your [[job|bullshit]]. This is because there is a whole day's worth of night left and it is Friday and you're hoping to get too fucked up to responsibly do your job so when your friends arrive they won't be able to make you do it and when you drag them into your bullshit and they won't be able to do anything about it.\n

The gods were the story.\nThe people are the gods.\nWe [[write]] the story.

Summer Knight Kite\n\nBoy hero, shining sword through the day and night. His Extraordinary Projection, Friends and Enemies, bleaches the universe slowly in summer. It's honest as can be.\n\nTips:\nJust because you’re sincere doesn’t mean you’re naive. You’re clever because that’s cute. Crushes are the most important thing in the world; get as many as you can. Use Friends and Enemies as often as possible because it takes so long to get going, but that’s what makes it fun. You don’t really know how to have enemies, even though you know how to [[fight them]].\n

See, you've been talking with pinky for the past week and probably no one should know about this so let's nip it in the bud.\n\nDevils hide in the corners of the world but those are your favorite places. You stick your fingers in the dirt and induce vomiting in every shadow. They betray pinky and spit the devil out. They know whose universe this belongs to.\n\nThere's not reason to bring Kite or Tara. They'd just make it messier. You're much more powerful than them. And ex-gods like pinky are more ex than god.\n\npinky isn't surprised and its feathery hands, grey sweat mist, reach towards you. it was expecting this betrayal. it can't win. All it can do is remind you what you're giving up. No devil is strong enough to beat you, only strong enough to trick you into letting it win.\n\nWhat will you do? Just kidding; you lost your chance to hesitate three hyperlinks ago. \n[[Night Ripper]]\n\n

"Your [[job]], remember?" he chides, but his teeth are in the smile that's a radiant rainbow in the strobe lights because you've already pulled him in your night space where there's no escape, not that he's fighting; just trying to look cool.\n\nAnd he does! How good he is at that. He's the only person in the world who tries to be cool on purpose and is. His hair's misty with sweat, you felt it when you were dancing earlier, and you kind of want to touch it again (so soft). But he's got your attention for real now and he's going to make you work. You don't want to fight though because you know something he doesn't, whoops. If [[Tara]] was here bullying him would be so easy but he's going to prove his crushes on you by smiting evil even though you just want to dance and it's annoying but also cute so what else can you do?\n\nYou let him lead you out of the crowd and [[into the night]], that's what you let him do.\n

Legendary Projection: "Night Ripper"\n\n"Ripper of the night? Or rips with the night?" Both, cuties:\n[[You]] split open the black velvet in the corners where the stage lights can't reach and let everything that might or might never be out of them. Victims say it feels like getting blackout drunk with nothing to throw up, bottoms emptied out (and that's just for starters). You can fly from shadow to shadow and anywhere that's touched by the half light of summer, moving at the speed of how'd we get here, cushioning your impact with I don't give a fuck, accompanied by the intrinsic sense of rightness that comes with knowing how private and precious these moments will be.\nNight Ripper is vertigo and so strong your mastery of the metamagical arts and sciences is almost a match for a real grown up, and you can eat [[them]] up whole. Which you're here to do, by the way.\nIn telling your story, though, take care you don't step on anyone's toes because everyone else seems to like reality working a specific sort of way, you dig, so [[do your job|sure]] and do it right because you're not even close to being strong enough to live if you [[fuck it up]].

But you didn't.\nEnding 1/3

Rockin' Night Crusade\n\n#anime #teens

h a\nh a\nw h o o p s\n\npinky's tracing letters on your back.\nThey ask if you knew that all you had to do was one teensy little trick, one little play of the light, unravel the night coiled at Summer Knight Kite's cute little sandaled feet and let him stumble, pinky would take care of the rest?\npinky pinky swears it's true.\nWho can resist?\nCertainly not [[you|Beautiful Bad End]].\n

You just can't help it, can you?\nEnding 3/3

Keep dancing, until you know the answer.\nEnding 2/3

"That which is human, that humans are not."\n\nThe gods were the story.\nNot anymore they're not.\nWe, the humans, write the story.\nBut they're still around, waiting for the [[invitation]].\nTo be Tyrants once more, back in the universe, and embrace us one more time.\n[[~back~|write]]

You can do what you're supposed to do even if it's not what you want to do, sure.\n[[Yes, it's okay. I want to.|ending 1]]\n[[Fuuuuuck that.|write]]\n

You've really done it now.\nThe earth doesn't open so much as rebels at the outsider who slipped in the universe through your selfishness.\n"Sorry, I messed it up," you tell Kite, but who cares, you're already perfectly in love and you've always known it and the two of you can kiss crushed in the six fingered hand that's taught you how to say every single thing in your hearts with a single touch.\n"Come on. Let's find Tara she'll be [[happy]] here too."

So maybe he doesn't trust you anymore but you're back at the party and he's still dancing with you, right? Whatever he knows has changed him, you can tell. Nothing makes you crazier than not knowing. He doesn't refuse to touch you but he's not trying to either. Loves me? Loves me not? It's awkward, too awkward to endure, feels like you're gonna scream, but at any second he might look right at you. He might look right at you and suddenly it's all going to spill out of him. Something's going to happen and you're just one instant away from [[knowing]].\n\n

And then the nothing turned itself inside out.\n\nWhen Night Ripper goes off, it goes off; it's not called a Legendary Projection just for show (actually it totally is and you may or may not have named it that yourself).\nThe shadows don't vomit so much as they turn themselves inside out like an octopus does when it wants to digest a split clam.\n\npinky's gone. It was really simple and really easy.\nYou call up Summer Knight Kite and Trash Witch Tara.\n"I'm not calling you by those dumb names anymore," you say.\n"Haha you totally came up with them you can't blame them on me," you say.\n"Okay yeah let's hang out tomorrow we're supposed to technically anyway," you say.\n"Come on it's our sacred duty," you say. And they agree.\nLook at that the universe didn't fall apart. You made a mistake but you made up for it. Your friends didn't leave instantly just because your duty's done. You can do this. Switch yourself on and off. Un-person yourself when you need to. Slip through the cracks, and no one needs to know how close you came to [[fucking it all up]].\n

Protect our glorious culture and the American way.\nRoot out the (ex) Tyrants, the (former) gods.\nIt's a funny name for those weaklings.\nThey're on the outside of the universe, looking back in, wanting to see us one more time.\n\nYou can't let that happen.\nAdults are too busy killing each other so they leave it to you to mop up the outsiders.\nA couple of weeks, once every couple of years. Mandatory like jury duty. You get a letter in the mail and you get to skip school for a little bit while you look for trouble.\n[[~back~|fight them]]

Some bullshit idk who cares they're shooting bubbles from the stage now and balloons are dropping down and you're letting someone grind on you while you watch.\nGood job strobes, great shadows 10/10 would play in again.\nIt smell bad everywhere in a nice way.\n\nOh hey that guy you're grinding on, you like him, [[it's]]\n

"Come on Kite, let's get it over with," you bounce ahead, still drunk enough to have a bit too much fun spinning on the side walk, letting your bracelets bounce along your arms.\n\nThis is a dangerous plan because you haven't exactly been totally honest, and well you kind of already know where the devil is. pinky's name doesn't deserve a capital (capital letters are for gods, like yourself and Kite and the rest of the human race) but that doesn't mean pinky isn't smart and you've been taught a lot in the last few weeks about the secrets of promises and the meaning of fleeting touches from the smallest digit of the six fingered hand of the third arm of something the size of a world. "That which is human that humans are not" meaning that they're pretty good at the things human beings are terrible at, like saying what they mean. \n\nSo much sacrificed just to force a pinky into a lonely playground in the human world.\n\nThey sure do [[miss]] us don't they?\n

Immortality, resurrection of the dead, materialization of the soul, invention of life, crossing of space and time, forgiveness of sins.\nEight billion curses against humankind, we will fix them one by one until the end of days.\n\n[[~back~|invitation]]

Oh, they're pretty weak, don't worry, demons hardly does them justice.\n"That which is human, that humans are not, remember?"\nThe more powerful we become, the weaker they get, even if they still know a few pesky [[secrets]] of the universe.\nWe'll get it eventually.\nThey're just lonely.\n\n[[~back~|them]]