#// I genuinely like how it came so but take a peak whenever

[b0kksu]

btw, redid the pinned post, though the most important thing is a new carrd. you may find it, here!

[hiraethwrote]

there's a lightness in him

summary: finally, the day has come where you get the chance to meet gojo. but megumi doesn't handle it as well as you had hoped

[ loner!megumi x popular!reader ]

cw: college au, modern au, f!reader, fluff, gojo cameo, some angst, aged up characters, no use of y/n

word count: 2.9k

You really wanted to meet Gojo.

For reasons unknown to you, Megumi became even more quiet than usual whenever he was brought up — nearly blatantly refusing to talk about him at all.

Your curiosity was obviously peaked — who was this mysterious individual, who through unfortunate circumstances had ended up basically raising what had turned out to be your perfect boyfriend? Was this where Megumi had gotten his closed off demeanour from? Were shared dinners around the dining table spent in utter silence?

The few things you had gathered about Gojo: he was NOT Megumi’s dad. That was the most important thing you’d learned. Because how dumb were you when you simply assumed the adult man he lived with was his father?

You had also learned that there was a new level to Megumi’s frown that always grew deeper whenever he talked to Gojo on the phone. Granted, he was never happy whenever he was on the phone, but it was something entirely different when he talked to his… guardian?

“What do you mean you haven’t met his family?!” Kasumi exclaimed in pure disbelief once you told her, head tilting up from her doomscrolling.

“As far as I understand, there isn’t much family to meet. It’s mostly just this Gojo figure.”

“And that’s his dad?”

“God no, he’ll bite your head off if you assume so, but whoever he is, he’s the closest thing he has to a parental figure.”

She tried to blink away the worst of her surprise. “But you’ve been together since high school.” It seemed like she wanted the statement to be a question, but it definitely came out more as a judgemental remark.

“Look, his family situation isn’t ideal,” you trailed off, thinking about the few things he had actually opened up to you about — both his sister and his absent father, and you had quickly understood family was a fragile topic for him. So whenever you dared approach the situation about Gojo, you just wanted to be cautious in case there was anything serious he just did not want to talk about.

However, lately, the idea of anything seriously worrisome being the issue had slowly ceased to exist. Megumi genuinely only seemed to be annoyed with whatever it was Gojo said or did — nothing graver than that.

“Does that mean you’ve never been to his house?” Yet another shocked question fired at you.

“No, I’ve been to his house plenty of times,” you chuckled. “It just so happens that Gojo is never home. He’s apparently sent out of town a lot for work.”

She quirked an eyebrow, shaking her head and turning her attention back to her phone. “Your boyfriend is kind of a weirdo, not gonna lie.”

A small, smitten smile automatically grew on your lips. “Yeah, I guess he is,” you said, probably mostly to yourself.

“I have to go now.”

“What, already?” You whined, bottom lip sticking out in a dramatic pout as Megumi got up from his seat beside you. He met your pleading gaze, leaning forward to capture your lips in a tender kiss to ease his departure.

“It’s probably gonna take a while today,” he sighed, walking over to the door. Before his hand had even managed to clasp around the handle, you were already at his side, staring at him with doe eyes while your arms were tucked behind your back — like you always did when you wanted something.

“Then why don’t I come along?” batting your eyelashes at him.

Whatever your ulterior motive was, he was weak for the look you gave him — sucking in his cheeks to smother the smirk you were slowly pulling from him.

“You wanna come along?”

“I wanna be with you as much as possible!”

“You gonna help with errands, too?”

Your innocent smile was pushed into pursed lips instead. “I can watch?”

He instantly let out a taunting scoff. “Cute,” he sighed, placing a quick kiss on your cheek and opening the door to leave. Before he got too far, you already grabbed ahold of his wrist.

“So, you’re going home for these errands, right?”

And once you said ‘home’, Megumi immediately understood why you had suddenly decided to be so persistent in tagging along for his duties, when you always preferred he just get it over with so he could return to you once he was done.

And his body slowly started to tense up, because unlike you, Megumi really did not want you to meet Gojo.

Why? Well, Megumi could list hundreds of reasons why he wanted to shield you from the menace he had lived with most his life. But he knew those reasons were all superficial, and he never really dared put into words what really plagued him about the situation.

“Megumi,” you spoke his name softly, slowly letting go of his wrist. “I want to meet your family.”

There it was again, your genuine interest in him — somehow always catching him off guard despite you proving it to him from the very first moment. He just didn’t feel deserving of it.

It was written all over your features just how important this was to you — guilt striking him as he couldn’t understand why he had been so selfish as to deprive you of meeting his family, when he had no real reason to.

But what wasn’t he willing to do for you? With a clear of his throat, he tried to set aside his ever present anxiety about the situation, grumbling a low “fine” as he pulled out his phone to send a quick heads up to Gojo.

“Wait, really?” The fragile sentiment in your voice was replaced by an airy relief, not quite expecting him to surrender so easily — especially considering how long you’d bothered him about it all.

“Has to happen eventually, right? Might as well get it over with.”

The nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and the look in his eyes was all it took for you to feel your stomach tickle with butterflies — you saw he was trying to power through his stubbornness for you. He wasn't going to let his own struggles triumph how important this was for you.

“You’re just so-“ endless giddiness spilling over in your expression, unable to finish your sentence. You cupped his face and placed the sweetest kiss on his cheek, before you rather abruptly interrupted your own actions by yanking him after you towards his car.

For the entirety of the ride, you held a mostly one sided conversation, hoping your casual talk would calm him down — but it didn’t stop his knuckles from slowly turning paler when his fingers gnawed at the steering wheel, hoping you didn’t catch how his teeth were grinding against each other.

But he wanted to try — for you.

Pulling into the driveway, surrounded by the familiar scenery of the neighbourhood he grew up in, none of his nerves seemed to disintegrate. Even when he opened the door for you (like he always did) and you laced your fingers with his, the nerves remained knotted inside him.

“If you really don’t want to do this-“

“No, ‘s fine,” he interrupted you softly, reactively squeezing your hand to ground himself. “Let’s just get-“

A blaring voice shouting your name cut through the sad tension, both you and Megumi jumping at the sudden outburst.

Capturing your wide eyed glare, you were met with a freakishly tall man staring directly at you with the most intense blue-eyed stare one could imagine and untamed hair of the purest white — and lastly, a somewhat off putting grin that was overflowing with outgoing charm.

This was Gojo? The Gojo? The very same who had raised your stoic and quiet boyfriend? The one who seemed to have too much pent up energy in his body, despite the size of it? This was not at all what you had expected.

You were about to take a polite bow to introduce yourself, but Gojo simply waved his hand. “No need for formalities. Feel like I know you already.” His smile never wavered, even when he took a step back to let you in.

Megumi was already grumbling to himself, unable to stop how his fingers clenched harder on your hand as a reaction to Gojo’s first appearance — and heat was rising up his neck, slowly colouring the tips of his ears red with embarrassment.

“So glad you finally managed to convince him,” Gojo nearly sung, leading all three of you into the kitchen. “I’ve tried desperately since that day he first visited you. But Megumi never listens to me.”

He was so far from the character you had created in your mind, taking some time let the new impression replace the old one. He leaned so casually against the kitchen counter, while Megumi acted on instinct and pulled out the stool for you, taking a seat next to you.

“I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when he came back home that evening, and he smiled. You know how hard I try to make him smile?”

“Oh, it’s not so hard,” you laughed along, turning to look at your boyfriend only to see he was looking at Gojo with chronically furrowed eyebrows. The lump in your stomach formed immediately, hating just how displeased Megumi appeared to be — reaching out to grab his hand under the table, head turning to look at you, smoothing the crinkles on his forehead. You started to believe he wasn’t even aware of the way he was looking at Gojo, because all evidence of annoyance was gone when he shifted his eyes towards you. “He smiles plenty.”

“Hmpf,” Gojo pouted, arms crossing loosely over his chest. “Well, maybe you just share the same bad sense of humor.” The comment caught you a little by surprise before the genuine laugh slipped past your lips, while Megumi went back to shooting him an ugly scowl.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you too for a while.”

“Is that so?” His tone sounded accusatory as he met Megumi’s eyes. It didn’t take a genius to understand the subtext that Megumi had served him excuse after excuse on why he’d never introduced you.

“Yes, but my schedule is crazy busy,” the lie rolling of your tongue so easily, Megumi almost believing it himself. “Something always came up whenever we tried to make it happen.” It was a small gesture, yet Megumi’s heart fluttered lightly at how you tried to make this as comfortable as possible for him.

“I’m very pleased you finally got the time,” he beamed, seemingly buying into the lie.

And then the conversation flowed as smoothly as butter. He asked questions about your studies and your family, showing a real interest in your life. And he was funny — the clutching-your-stomach type of funny. You didn’t even notice when Kuro and Shiro walked into the kitchen, Shiro lightly nudging your hand for pets before both of the dogs laid down by Megumi’s feet.

But the conversation consisted mostly of your and Gojo’s voice, Megumi only contributing with a weak “hm” or “sure” whenever fitting, which definitely put a thorn in the atmosphere of the company.

“How about we get around to those errands?” You suggested, bringing an end to the constant rambling you knew Megumi had probably prayed would stop.

“Yeah, we probably should,” he mumbled lowly, quickly jumping out of the seat he had been glued to since you arrived. “I just have to get something upstairs-“

“Just go,” you giggled, knowing he was about to ask if you were alright with being left alone for a second.

Megumi hurried away, leaving you and Gojo alone. It didn’t take long before he broke the silence again.

“He’s not usually this cold towards me.” His tone had completely changed, now full of sentiment, one you could only assume came from genuine love for Megumi. “It doesn’t look like it, but I’m sure he secretly likes me. The death glares are at least kept to a minimum when it’s just the two of us.”

“He has a tendency to be a little cranky.” He smiled then, a small and almost shy smile.

“I’m going to make this quick, because he’ll be back down any second,” he took a deep breath as he straightened his posture. “After you came along… I’ve never seen him like this.” Your breath hitched in your throat at the slightly ominous statement. “There’s a lightness in him I’ve never seen before. You clearly mean a lot to him, which is why he exaggerates his frown. He’s just being protective.”

With further clarification, your shoulders found rest, starting to shuffle towards the front door, Gojo close behind. “Believe it or not, he brings me lightness too.”

“No, I believe it,” he smiled as Megumi came down the stairs, both of his dogs following him. “I see it in you too.”

“Ready to go?” Megumi asked in a monotone voice, already having put on his shoes and opened the door.

“It was nice meeting you, Gojo,” you bowed.

“Looking forward to the next time.” Megumi didn’t manage to fully conceal the quiet groan that escaped him, both you and Gojo deciding to not pay it any attention.

“I’ll be back in a few days,” Megumi sighed, already halfway down the pathway, simply waving goodbye over his shoulder.

“I’ll miss you!” Gojo yelled dramatically after him, your boyfriend never sparing him a second glance. While he opened the car door for you, you decided to pay Gojo the decency of a smile and a tiny wave.

Megumi did not hesitate to start the engine, his childhood home quickly disappearing behind you.

Then silence hit — thick silence, nearly suffocating on all the thoughts you could so clearly tell was swarming Megumi’s mind.

“I like him,” you breathed, leaning back on the headrest.

“Yeah? I’m glad.”

“You don’t sound glad.”

“Sorry.”

His eyes were glued ahead, as if there was nothing more interesting than the boring scenery and the asphalt going straight ahead.

“Megumi?”

“Hmm?”

“Why didn’t you want me to meet Gojo?”

He didn’t answer — he only let out a deep breath through his nose which you suspected had been trapped in his lungs since the moment you first pulled up in his driveway. Then he pulled over, the car slowly rolling to a halt.

Your pulse quickened, eyeing how his hands had left the steering wheel only for him to pick at the skin around his nails — a nervous tick you only saw him do when he was extremely anxious.

“I don’t want to mess this up.”

His confession was quiet, and had it not been for the fact that there was not a sound in the car or any distractions outside, you would not have been able to hear it.

“Meeting family… it brings expectations. And if I am to mess this up-“

“Don’t say that, you’re not going to mess this up!” You cut him off, hands cutting through the air to intertwine your fingers with his, stopping his bad habit.

“You don’t know that.” His voice still came out low, eyes directed at your hands. “After last time-“

“Stop it,” you interrupted again, bringing one hand to his face to force him to look at you, breaking your heart when his eyes had turned glossy. “We’re past that now, okay?”

“I know we are, it’s just-“ he took another deep breath, “for some reason, I just felt like that if I kept you from meeting him, I could contain the damage and disappointment if I were to screw it up.”

“I didn’t know you felt this way,” you sniffled quietly, fighting not to let the tears take over. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know,” he averted his gaze again, back to fixating on his lap. “Scared, I suppose.”

“You’re not in this alone. You can always talk to me about these things, okay?”

“Mhmm,” the weak sound was barely heard.

Once again you cupped his face, wanting his eyes on you when you said “I’m on your team, Megumi.” His nostrils flared, not wanting the tears to spill. “Please just let me be on your team!”

Yet again he took another deep breath to steady himself, slowly beginning to nod along before leaning into your touch. “Okay,” he whispered.

He didn’t say it, but you could sense how he had actively reached within himself to fint sparks of confidence to give himself over to your request.

Megumi was just used to doing things on his own, never depending on anyone but himself. And up until he met you, that had worked perfectly fine. But faced with a relationship, he had found himself between a rock and a hard place, where exposing himself emotionally to another human being was necessary for it to work — and you were worth every ounce of dedication. Every other aspect of his life had turned miniscule in comparison to you.

He hadn’t exactly made it easy for you to cooperate when it came to his feelings. But that stopped now, fully surrendering to the fragility one could not avoid in a relationship. He knew you’d be there.

“You want me to drive?”

“No, it’s fine,” he sighed, the evidence of tears gone as he sat back up in his seat. He removed your hand from his face to place a soft kiss on your knuckles.

“You’re not still going to run errands, are you?” Your pulse finally started to calm down when you spotted a small smirk lurking at the corner of his lips.

“Not a chance.”

“My place and order in?”

“Sounds perfect.”

tags (taglist is open)

@sad-darksoul @nyahctrl @ssetsuka @aceakariii @chxlexauriana

@ps-forgetmenot @thejujvtsupost @acowboykisser @rixo-19

@aestheticallyvini @iheartlinds @rory-cakes @tiffanyandrson

a/n okay idk what's happening but i'm not quite vibing with my writing lately... words aren't wording iykwim... however, did yall catch me teasing some angst in here tihi?? look forward to that

[amourtoken]

as promised, here's a lil expansion on the body mod shop idea that's now a series lol

Piercer Noah x apprentice reader <3

*NSFW below the cut, MDNI*

cw: same as nick there's a lil age gap between you guys (legal, don't be fucking gross), oral fixation, needles (he's a piercer ok), praise, soft dom Noah, glove kink if u squint, raw sex (wrap it b4 u tap it), much less toxic than the tattoo fic but still could technically be a toxic relationship due to the nature, nipple play, size kink if u squint harder, subspace moments

♡ to keep things relatively simple js gonna bounce off the same idea from the nicholas post. You're the shop owners daughter in this case. Noah had absolutely no problem apprenticing you, in fact he was honored because he was relatively new to the scene compared to other people at the shop and felt pretty proud that he was viewed as someone talented enough to learn from.

♡ he tries to not be an asshole, but can be kinda short if he's rlly busy and needs you multitasking. He always apologizes afterwards though if he's had an attitude with you cause he's a fucking sweetheart I need him so baD

♡ literally so fucking easy to be around, he thanks you profusely whenever you finish a task he's assigned you to and a lot of times when you're both not too busy you'll just sit and talk or joke abt things and his smile lights a bonfire in your stomach cause it's so fucking perfect.

♡ the longer you spent with him the more tense things became very quickly. It started off pretty small though. If you were standing in his way he'd gently set his hands on your hips from behind when he passed you for a moment, he started calling you little nicknames like honey, sweetheart, angel, ect. Eye contact lingered a little longer than it should've. Oh god.

♡ everything kinda came to a peak during one of your actual training days.

♡ Noah had planned on teaching you some new techniques and general anatomy things, kicking it off with watching him do a few surface piercings on clients but later in the day you got to watch him do a tongue piercing and afterwards got onto the topic of how you could never get one cause of how painful it looked. Ofc Noah went into his typical "It's not that bad, you can handle it!" Spiel.

"I'll do one free right now if you want. Just to show you it's not bad."

"C'mon, I had one for a while! It's quick."

"I promise I'll take care of you, won't hurt too bad."

♡ he was giving you the biggest puppy eyes and you couldn't say no. You weren't usually the one to be in the chair but now that you were, the nerves were getting to you. Noah was nearly bouncing around setting everything up, you were happy he was excited but the idea of a giant needle jamming through your tongue wasn't necessarily pleasant. Biting it hurts so fucking bad how does this not hurt? Was he just lying to make you feel better?

♡ once everything was set up Noah turned back to you, handing you a tiny mouthwash cup.

"Swish this. Can't clean your tongue like you do for surface piercings so this is the go to."

♡ he was basically staring at you the whole time, only breaking contact to grab some gloves. This wasn't helpful, your stomach was already in your throat so butterflies filling the expanse of your chest was a little worse than usual. Just before everything actually started, it caught on to him that you were genuinely nervous. He sat a gloved hand on your thigh to try and ease your nerves but you swore you'd pass out at the action. His hand took up most of your thigh, he was too close, your heart was already racing and him being in your space was only making it worse.

♡ you were staring up into his pretty brown eyes like a scared puppy and he could feel you nearly trembling under his hand. Were you really that nervous for a piercing? It can't be just that. You looked so pretty from this angle though...he could practically feel the heat radiating off of your body too.

♡ the hand on your thigh gave a gentle squeeze and it drew an involuntary whine from your throat. He had you fuckin hooked now, it made sense.

"Relax, I promise I'll take care of you. You trust me?"

"You trust me, sweetheart?"

♡ his free hand cupped your jaw, running his thumb across your bottom lip as he stared down at you with a half lidded expression. His presence made your brain feel fuzzy and not like any other time, this time he was drowning every sense you had and you felt like you were under an actual spell. You'd do anything for him, you trusted him. This fuzzy head space also threw out all of your typical hesitation, ready to comply to any instruction from him.

♡ the thumb on your lips turned to two of his long gloved fingers pressing down on your tongue and getting fucked down your throat. The hand on your thigh had moved up to tangle in your hair, keeping your head tilted back to give him a good view of how your pretty lips looked wrapped around his fingers and how messy you made them. He huffed a laugh when he pushed his fingers a little too far, gagging you on them before pulling them out entirely.

"If you can't handle my fingers how do you expect to handle my cock, hm?"

"so messy...look so pretty like this..."

"should've told me how you felt earlier, I could've been making you feel this good weeks ago."

"I'll let you have something else in your mouth if you say please, baby"

♡ funny how you were supposed to be getting pierced but completely skipped it to find out your mentor can send you directly into subspace with damn near no effort. Wonderful.

♡ this wasn't the only instance of you two getting into it while you're supposed to be training though. A week or so after the first time you were in his chair again, this time he came up with the excuse to talk about ripple piercing anatomy but again it ended completely different. Your head was leaned back against the uncomfortable piercing chair while he stood over you, fingers teasing and flicking at your overly sensitive nipples.

"So whiny, maybe you need my fingers down your throat again to keep you quiet."

♡ he leaned down to fucking cover your chest in love bites and hickeys, laving his tongue over your nipples when he had a chance. He loved seeing his mark on you.

♡ he really couldn't help himself you just looked so pretty and pliant for him :((( he ended up fucking you in his chair, lifting your legs over his shoulders and using your size difference to his advantage to basically fold you in half under him. He was so fucking big you couldn't help the little tears that pricked at the corners of your vision from the stretch of him.

"Awe, pretty baby...can't handle it? I'll go slow at first, promise."

"So tight for me- feels so fuckin' good"

"Pretty lil' pussy was made for my cock, wasn't it? You're all mine."

♡ Noah held a large hand over your mouth tightly while he fucked into you, trying his best to keep you quiet. He'd hate for the two of you to be found out and this whole arrangement be ruined. You yelped against his hand when he slammed into you balls deep and ground his hips against yours as he came. He stood back to watch himself drip out of you afterwards and used two fingers to fuck his cum back into you.

"Don't wanna waste any- unless you wanna suck it off my fingers."

♡ this turned into a pretty regular occurrence. You were spending 99% of your time with him, even when you weren't training you'd come in just to spend time with him or bring him snacks/energy drinks to help him during his shift. He'd spend his breaks with you in his lap, his big hands on your hips while you littered kisses across his neck and ground your hips into his. You started wearing skirts more often for easy access since you two couldn't go a day without at least a quickie between clients.

Ill write more I'm just exhausted rn and so uncreative lol I slept none yesterday but I still need this man CARNALLY.

[lightlycareless]

Omg the toji threesome fic is just...wtf there's no other worlds to describe it it's wtf in a good way omg what if she gets pregnant? What if it's not naoya's?! WHAT WILL TOJI FJCKING SAY?! GET RID OF IT?! GIVE BIRTH AND GIVE IT TO ME?! WHAT WILL NAOYA DO?! OMGGGGG PLEASE MAKE A FIC ABOUT THE AFTERMATH AHHHH!!!!! if you want baby no pressure <3

Hello! :>

I don't know if you saw my sneak peak, but I ended up writing a sequel to this heheh I'm so glad you liked it!!

Ngl, I wasn't planning on writing more of it, but then I saw this ask and... you know, I just had to do it to 'em.

Anyways I won't say anything more; except for the warnings: mentions of infidelity. mentions of smut (the word cunt is used) angst I believe. it's sad at the end, or I try to make it sad lol. Mentions of pregnancy. Also, I am no expert relating to pregnancy matters so take it with a grain of salt and lots of plot convenience 😅.

Happy reading!!

sequel to this.

Toji’s not to disclose if you or Naoya came back for a repeat of that night’s succession, though he will admit your pregnancy was not surprising.

It’s not like he could run away from it either, for as soon as news graced the elders’ ears, it’s all the estate spoke of.

From enthusiasm to welcome the next generation of Zen’in sorcerers, to the ever-growing hope of recovering their prized cursed technique, which has been absent for hundreds of years…

Expectations for this child were at an all-time high.

But to you and Naoya, all you could care about was the blessing this baby represented.

A family.

The pinnacle of all their yearnings, the fruits of their never-ending efforts finally appearing as the positive pregnancy test you took one morning after feeling particularly nauseous…

Or Toji’s, perhaps.

Toji initially didn’t think much of the “shocking” announcement. Not even after his behavior that night—they were just heat of the moment things, nothing that he meant nor really cared about, simply said to get a rise out of Naoya; and oh, was his reaction satisfying.

In other words, he really, genuinely, couldn’t care less about what the wimpy heir and his ditzy wife were to face from that point forward.

But when their behavior towards him, the engaging conversations, invitations to drink tea, amongst other activities, drastically ceased, to the point of them turning on their heel and going the opposite way when bumping into him…

It didn’t take long for the pieces to fall into place, and when the puzzle was complete, Toji could only laugh.

It’s like an open secret, albeit solely for those involved.

The baby inside you wasn’t Naoya’s.

It was Toji’s.

And this filled him with morbid fascination no other high had been able to provide.

To know that the baby everyone was praising as the future of the Zen’in, a promising sorcerer, as expected of the heir, was the ultimate irony, the exact anti-thesis of all they once declared of Toji.

He was very tempted to let everyone know.

Proudly announce the truth to the world, screaming to the top of his lungs that that baby isn’t Naoya’s, it’s mine.

The scandal this revelation would bring was nothing short of earth-shattering, and more likely than not, the elders wouldn’t even know where to start from. Although your infidelity could be a good reference.

Followed by the fact that no matter how much they try to get rid of him, he’ll always find a way to haunt them—like a ghost shackled to the estate walls, Toji would always remain in the back of their minds, unsettling them whenever they did as much as breathe.

Although for this to work, he’d have to wait until the child was born, officiated as son of Naoya, before he could do any true damage.

To see the kind of face the Zen’in would make upon finding out the truth… is one that makes his prolonged stay all but worthwhile.

As well as knowing your reaction towards the whole ordeal—if you’ve even been able to sleep knowing well that your life was on the line by carrying such a frightening secret in your womb.

Considering the way you frequently sought him out during those lonely nights where your husband would be away for long periods of time, this probably didn’t perturb you as much. After all, what did you expect after receiving his seed as constantly as you did? That nothing would happen? No consequences to be suffered?

You were many things, but he never thought you as delusional.

Or perhaps, you were hoping for this. To have his child. He’d come to believe so after the tight way your cunt squeezed him.

Well, that would only make him the delusional one.

Either way, he suspects that while your secret might’ve prickled the back of your mind from time to time, it didn’t bother you as much as he hoped—not with the way your staff coddled your every move, how the clan would gift you expensive items to celebrate the future head of the clan, per tradition, or how happy you appeared to be with your growing bump, gently caressing it and beaming while confessing oh how much you longed to finally hold your baby.

It irked him.

To see that even through this deceit, you were still blissful.

It was undeserving. Wrong.

At least to the man who has been sentenced to nothing but pain and disgrace since the moment he was born, that’s how it was.

Because it was impossible for him to grasp the innocence of others—To accept that some were just simply… with better luck. Free to live as they desired, and without having to pay for the prejudice of others.

Toji, now more than ever, felt that he was being used. Plucked from his misery, toyed with, and discarded once dried out of his benefits.

Thus, his motivation to ruin your and Naoya’s happiness became as palpable as ever—hastily making his way towards you once catching you by one of the many gardens, intending to remind you of the power he had, how easily it would be for him to plant the seed of doubt amongst the staff, let it flourish up to the elders, and ruin your and Naoya’s life forever.

Unless your anguished face was to stop him.

It was abrupt, happening in less than a second, yet enough for him to understand it wasn’t because you were upset by some redundant folly, but rather, of pain.

With one of your hands rushing up to your stomach while the other to your back, it was as if the weight of your baby had suddenly become too much to handle; you’d then anxiously looked for a chance to sit down, frowning when realizing the only option was the strenuous engawa in front of you…

Before freezing, face quickly void of any color, when seeing Toji abruptly standing by your side, with mysterious intentions you were not interested in finding out.

“Toji, you— You breathe as you do your best to walk away from him, just for him to keep up with you. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Gee, that’s the thanks I get for getting you pregnant?” he sneers. “Never thought you to be as prejudiced as the rest—”

“What—what is wrong with you?!” you condemned, snatching your arm from his grasp. “How dare you?! Don’t you ever say something like ever aga—ah!”

“Y/N.” Toji’s eyes widen when he sees you lean forward, wrapping your arms around your stomach as you hiss and cuss, while tightly closing your eyes in what he recognizes strenuous pain. “What is happening?! Are you—”

No.

Could it be? And so soon?!

”Are you having the baby??”

“What? N—No—!” you whimper, squeezing tears out of the corners of your eyes. “It’s just—it’s just this pain that comes and goes sometimes—I—I need to sit down—”

Toji doesn’t hesitate to help you onto the engawa by firmly, yet gently, holding your arms and lowering you down to the wooden floor. You didn’t plan on accepting his help at first, but when a sharp pain reminds you that you couldn’t really pick and choose in this situation, you end up agreeing.

Once seated, Toji concludes this was much better off in the hands of a staff member, or even a doctor if he could somehow manage to do that, so he quickly stands up and turns towards the hallways—but the moment you see him take as little as a step away from you, your hands fly to grab his sleeve, stopping him on his tracks before looking up to him with the most pitiable look on your face.

“Stay.” You breathe, swallowing. “Please.”

And whether because of your pleading, teary eyes, or because it had been so long since he’d basked in your warm company, Toji obliges, soon taking the spot besides you as your hand now securely gripped his, with such an unprecedented force that has him both amused and concerned by your pain, while offering whatever little comfort he could with his touch.

It’s in these quiet yet tense moments that he finally gets to see the certainty of your situation.

While you expected to happily enjoy your future life as a mother, relish on the compliments of those around you, the praises of your in-laws, and the company and support of your husband…

Reality had been nothing short of deviant from your dreams—starting from the high risk your pregnancy was labeled as…

To the haunting consequences of your past actions.

“Are you sure this is normal?” Toji asks, seeing that your pain was not subsiding. “I think you need help—”

“No shit, Toji!” you gasp, he raises an eyebrow. “I mean—I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize, princess. It’s nothing I’m not used to already.”

“… is that—is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No. Not really.” He snickers, a smile that’s quickly wiped off his mouth when hearing you hiss. “But I’ve seen it work with others, so why not give it a shot?”

“I’m not—I’m not going to do that.” You huffed. “I—I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“But you’d ignore me?”

“If you’re here to scold me, this is not the right time.” You hiss again, feeling a sharp pain attack your lower back, making you press your lips and whine.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do something? Bring you something to drink—or… something?”

“Yes, but—but it’s not like you can help me anyways.”  You confess, he frowns.

“What? Why? How hard is it to get something for you to take?” he scoffs.

“They don’t want me to—they say—they say it might hurt the baby.”

Toji blinks.

“And so, what? They’re just going to leave you to suffer?”

You don’t respond.

He sighs. Toji should’ve known better.

“Where does it hurt?”

“My—my back and stomach” you breathe, another sharp bolt of pain on those places precisely, making you hold his hand even tighter, once again, he’s surprised someone like you could even dent his skin. “And no matter what I do—nothing helps! Not even that stupid warm bath, or the massages Junko-san told me to do—”

The desperation for failed solutions after failed solutions is clear in your voice, a consistency that effectively shows your growing frustration at being reminded again and again that not even when carrying the future of the Zen’in, are you respected as a person.

It’s always the needs of others first, the beliefs of the rest—only this time around it was your baby, although through the twisted words of your in-laws.

“I’m so, so tired of feeling exhausted, I just want to—”

“Let me try.” Toji interrupts, offering a solution that initially catches you by surprise, a part of your mind urging you to decline and get away as far as possible, the dangers his closeness could give are far bigger than you’re willing to put up with—

Yet, another part of you is telling you to allow him, if only for a moment, to help you.

To enjoy his company, something you’ve been unjustifiably deprived of.

Something you should’ve had now more than ever due to your pregnancy, but for many painful reasons, you didn’t.

But just because you wanted it, does it mean you should?

…

…

…

It wouldn’t be the first time you succumbed to these desires.

Thus, the decision is made when freeing his hand and gesturing to him to proceed with a nod. Toji then places his hands over your shoulders, firmly pressing his fingertips against them before beginning to ease the tensions and stresses away from your body through circular motions.

Had you known of Toji’s talent, you would’ve asked for massages more than anything else from him—for the way he carefully worked over your knots, starting from your neck and shoulders, down to your spine and to your lower back… it was simply amazing.

And for a moment, it’s like you’ve forgotten the strained relationship you had with him in favor of wondering where he even learned to do something like that.

“Oh my god—” you sigh, shoulders relaxing as Toji continues to massage you. “This is so much better…”

“Well, know you can always count on me to make you feel better, right?” He teases, your satisfaction dwindles for a moment with a frown. “It’s just a joke.”

“It’s not the time for jokes.” You respond. “but at least my back doesn’t hurt anymore….”

“That’s the reason why you’re so tense— it’s because you can’t take a joke.” Toji adds, as if he were finding out how much he could push it before you snapped. So much for his concern… or perhaps it was his way to lighten up your mood?

“Yeah, how horrible of me—it’s not like I’m carrying a baby.” You chided, and once again, his arrogance is smacked out of him.

After a moment of silence and brief repentance, Toji speaks.

“How did Naoya take it?”

“…I don’t want to talk about that.”

It went bad. If not horrible.

Naoya was excited at first, over the moon to know that he was finally to be a father after all their attempts.

But when doubts began to plague his mind, eventually leading to the DNA test… his absence was the clear indication of his feelings.

However,  if his reaction hurt you and your marriage so badly, then why did you keep the—

“I always wanted a family.” You say, succumbing to one of the many questions you rightfully assumed Toji to have. “From the moment I married, no, even before that, I knew that’s what I wanted in life. To have a little girl, or boy, that I could endlessly dote and spoil on… And once I got with Naoya, realizing he too shared my dream, I literally felt it was only a matter of weeks before we’d have our own family.

But, when we began to try, and try, and try… what I once felt just by my fingertips was slowly transforming into an impossible dream.

People say that these things happen unexpectedly, just when you need them the most.

… and I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Remain hopeful and believe that the gods had other plans for me in the meantime. But… the two of us knew it. There was something wrong, and we didn’t know what—

Or more like we didn’t want to know.

Naoya couldn’t even consider himself as the possible cause. And I… I also didn’t want to believe I was the obstacle between me and my dreams.

And then, you came along.

I guess it’s the weight of our actions that eventually made Naoya… hesitant for the baby.

We always knew that it was yours, it’s just that maybe… maybe we hoped it wasn’t. We so desperately wanted to believe the baby was his, ours, and not fruit of something we perhaps should’ve never done.”

Feeling both confused and slightly angered, Toji scowls.

“I can understand one thing—I was used. Fine, whatever. Nothing new. But the rest? If it was such a big issue your marriage, then why did you keep the baby? Surely Naoya considered getting an aborti—”

“Because I wanted to keep the baby.” You confess. “I was growing so desperate and lonely—to be married and yet be as isolated as I’ve never felt before, what was I supposed to do?! In a house full of people… do you even know how that feels?!”

“Like you wouldn’t imagine.”

Your eyes widen, and soon, a crushing wave of regret inundates your mind.

“I’m sorry.” You murmur, Toji sighs. “I didn’t mean to.”

“You’re just stressed.” He concludes. “Pregnancy stuff, I guess.”

“…I want my husband, here, with me.” You quietly admit. “I don’t want him to work anymore, spend days and weeks far away. But instead, he’s out there, angry with me and the baby…”

“He’ll come around.” Toji doesn’t know why he said that, only that he had to. You frown.

“How do you even know that? How do you know he won’t divorce me—or worse, cheat on me?”

“Do you hear yourself?” he scoffs, partially holding back his laughter. “Do you actually believe he’d be capable of cheating on you?”

A woman as special as you?

“Everyone else did at one point.” You remind him, he rolls his eyes. “Well, what else am I supposed to think after his absence?! He doesn’t even love me anymore for all I care!”

“That’s stupid.”

“Maybe for you it is.” You cry, tears begin to pool in your eyes. “It’s just a matter of time before he files for divorce and leaves me for someone else! Someone that can give him children of his own! Oh, I should’ve never allowed—"

“Naoya isn’t going to divorce you because I’ve seen how he treats you.” Toji interrupts, hurt by your blatant disregard of him, and yet, something about seeing you so distressed like this, heartbroken, makes him want to console you even more. “He could’ve divorced you the moment he saw the results, but he didn’t. Have you thought about that?”

“Perhaps he’s waiting for the right moment to humiliate me before his family—”

“Naoya loves you.” Toji says, and the words hurt him more than he anticipated. But… why? “I’ve known the kid since he was born—I’ve seen how he treats the people he doesn’t care about. And you’re nothing like that, not even close. So no, he won’t humiliate you.”

“And what makes you think that?”

Toji goes silent.

He’s acting as if he doesn’t know why he’s out here insisting so much on comforting you. And honestly? It made sense, for just a few hours ago he couldn’t care less any for a woman that played with two men and now had to pay the consequences—

But the truth wasn’t as cryptic as he liked to believe. All that he needed to do was dive a little deeper into his own thoughts and he’d soon find out why, as clear as day, he was fighting so hard to make you feel better.

And it all started the moment he accepted one crucial detail:

You were the mother of his child, his firstborn, and so… it unknowingly evoked a sense of protection towards you, deep underneath the layers of his disbelief and mockery…

Or more like further developed.

Since the first night the two spent together without Naoya, or perhaps even before, there was something brewing inside him, slowly, but surely. The first foundations of the feelings that would only flourish the night he had you alone, completely for himself.

In those moments of solitude, Toji liked to imagine that you were his wife; accompanying him underneath the covers, seeking his embrace, his touch, while telling him of your tedious day and how you so desperately looked forward to seeing him again—

And not Naoya.

The possibility of coming home to a warm bed, with a wife that treated him like an actual person, not a stain in the long history of the clan, contrary to the cold, empty room he has been condemned to since birth… is something he didn’t know he wanted, until you stumbled onto his path.

To be able to seek your figure whenever walking across the estate, hoping to catch you just around the corner, gossiping with your ladies about whatever it is that you liked to talk about with them, before you notice him by the corner of your eyes, lifting your gaze and seeing the lovely way your eyes would brighten at his presence—

A wide smile adorning your face, cheeks quickly turning red as you shyly dismiss your staff in favor of receiving him. Running to him to tightly embrace him, subsequently standing on your tip toes to land a kiss on his lips before murmuring the sweetest welcome home and tending to him.

And eventually… getting to hear your moving cries upon learning you’re expecting a baby. After many weeks of trying, both their efforts are finally met with the most beautiful reward life could give, letting your imagination run wild with all the things you wanted to do as a future mother—and yet, you’d still find a way to reassure him that he’d be a good dad.

That the disgrace of the Zen’in, the wretched man no one deemed respectable, less capable of harboring love, was still capable of being a good father. A caring husband.

…

But this was nothing but a silly desire of his, a response to the horrible things he’s endured.

…Perhaps if things had been different, had he been born as literally anyone else but himself… or maybe even met you under different circumstances, his life would’ve been completely different.

One with you, hopefully.

“Toji!” you suddenly gasp, startling him and concernedly looking at you.

“What is it now?” he frowns.

“The baby.” You say, which does nothing to ease his worries. “It’s—”

“It’s what? What’s happening??”

“The baby is kicking.” You reveal, swiftly taking his hand and placing it over your round stomach and onto the area you feel their kicks to be. “I can’t—I can’t believe it, look!”

“What do you mean they’re—”

Toji’s eyes widen.

A kick.

And another. And another one.

You weren’t lying, the baby was kicking.

And unbeknownst to him, this was their first time doing it too.

“Can you feel that?” you say, and all past worries were now replaced with excitement and overwhelming happiness for this special moment. “The baby is finally kicking!”

“I… can.” He demurs, trying his best to comprehend what was happening just beneath his palm, before noting the peculiarity of your sentence. “What do you mean finally?”

“It’s the first time he does it.” You reveal. “It’s supposed to happen around this time, but I didn’t know when, of course. I guess… now’s the day.”

“That means…”

Naoya didn’t get the privilege of feeling the baby’s first kicks.

No.

Not any baby.

His baby.

And now that this truth settled in his mind, it quickly became the sweetest moment he had ever experienced in his life. Something he wishes to preserve for all eternity…

Just after dealing with the enormous sense of guilt and shame settling in his heart.

For how could he ever consider bestowing the same fate as his to this innocent child, just to get a rise of the family that wronged him? Towards someone whom he hasn’t even met… simply because he couldn’t deal with his own emotions?

Just when did he turn so despicable? Embracing the kind of malice as his clan?

He should be ashamed to even be beside you.

“It’s a boy.” You say, abruptly cutting through his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“The baby—it’s a boy.” You repeat. “We’re having a boy.”

Toji doesn’t know why, nor thought it possible, but the news somehow makes him feel even happier.

“A boy.” He repeats. “A son.”

“We haven’t decided a name yet” you confess. “I was thinking something in honor of Naoya, continue the tradition like him and his father.”

“Why not something for you?” Toji suggests instead; his concern might be disguised in favor of your emotions (and partially, he was) but it was mainly the distaste of having Naoya’s, or technically Noabito’s, name anywhere near him.

But he wasn’t going to tell you that, obviously.

“After the way he’s acting, you deserve that much.”

You press your lips together before lightly chuckling, finding some truth behind his words.

“I guess so… but then, which name?” you ponder, frowning as you go deep into thought, yet nothing seems to arise for the occasion, certainly not when you’ve done nothing but consider names with the same kanji as your husband whenever touching the subject.

Thinking you needed more time to consider, or perhaps needing to admit there was nothing else you wanted but honor your husband, you accept defeat with a sigh.

“I don’t know, Toji. Maybe I should just name him after Nao—”

“Megumi.”

“What?”

“Megumi. Blessing.” Toji explains. “I thought it’d be fitting with what you told me.”

“That’s… very straight forward.” You say after a few seconds of quiet consideration, “Unusual, since it’s mostly used as a girl’s name, and I don’t know if the elders would approve—”

“Look, if it’s that much of a problem you don’t have to use—” Never one to happily accept rejection, Toji quickly feels both embarrassed and frustrated by you, which he does not hesitate to let you know.

Only to be surprised yet again.

“But also, very sweet.” You smile, briefly looking up to him before glancing back to your stomach and onto your hand resting on top of his.

He blinks, perplexed by your sudden admittance—and such, all he can do is stare at you while you keep pouring your heart out.

“Even with the things I had to endure to have him here… he’s still my blessing, and I wouldn’t want him any other way.”

At your declaration, Toji is pushed down onto another turmoil of emotions.

It shouldn’t be that hard to conclude this is something he should isolate himself from.

Remember that he isn’t part of this marriage, no matter if he had permission of the other two involved, or how much he tries to convince himself—Understand that his blood means nothing, both inside and outside the clan, and that’s how it’ll always be.

But when your hand gently squeezes his for a moment, thumbs caressing his knuckles as you let him know your pains are slowly disappearing and how grateful you are for his help—all his worries are quickly discarded, allowing him to once again imagine live out this faux reality a bit longer.  

A happiness that comes from the notion of being your husband, simply enjoying a quiet afternoon, the refreshing spring breeze, while sitting by the engawa, in front of your favorite garden, trying to make up for all the time he spent away from you.

Time Toji knew he should’ve spent either way by trying to get close to you, see your growth firsthand, check on you from time to time, assist whenever possible— instead of plotting a stupid plan to ensure your and the baby’s downfall.

He reproached himself for having fallen for such an arrogant trap, and convinced himself this was the way to go.

Yet, he didn’t allow that thought to interfere much with the present. He shouldn’t either way—not with the lovely bumps of his son’s kicking against his hand, almost as if he recognized it was his father finally acknowledging him…

And certainly not with your warmth reminding him of what could’ve been.

A moment he’ll preserve in his memories for the rest of his days, because while relishing in your company, he had already made up his mind.

One that fitted with the idea that all good things must come to an end.

Especially those that are simply not meant to be, less for someone as disgraceful as him.

It hurt him to come to this conclusion. To acknowledge what his mind, and existenceconstantly reminded him about.

But he knew he had to do it.

From that point forward, he’ll do everything in his power to keep away from you.

Toji would no longer watch you from afar, nor ask for your whereabouts, whether directly or indirectly.

He’ll simply limit himself to hearing of your wellbeing, or how your relationship began to flourish yet again, through rumors of the staff, if he was ever around the estate to acknowledge them.

He was right when he said Naoya would come along, you know? He might be wrong in some things, or most, but when it comes to judging other’s character, Toji never misses.

It was nothing but obvious that Naoya loved you very much, after all, if he no longer wanted to know anything from you, you wouldn’t have lasted as long as you did.

Naoya kept you at the estate, fed, warm, tended for, because he loved you—to the point of going against his own clan to provide you with the much-needed assistance you required for your oscillating pains.

With such gestures, it shouldn’t come to him as a surprise that you also loved Naoya very much.

And yet, it hurt him to realize such a thing.

But who was he trying to fool?

At the end, he had always knew he had no place in that marriage. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that the reason you kept returning to him was because you wanted something more from him—it was never the truth to begin with:

Your mind was always in Naoya’s wellbeing, and in his love.

He was ultimately a step towards your goals. Whether for pleasure, or for something deeper, it didn’t matter—they all went to the same target.

So, when he hears from the gossiping staff that you’ve named your child Megumi, he doesn’t get his hope ups anymore.

Instead, Toji simply takes it as what it is: a way to thank him for the blessing he’s given you, honor him one last time, before cutting ties with him forever.

Because the moment anyone catches wind of his relationship to your son… everything will collapse, and that is something he is no longer willing to allow.

Thus, he stays away. Keeps his distance from you and Naoya as both continue to tend for their growing family, giving Megumi things he had only dreamed of getting:

A warm, cozy bed to sleep in, where he’d be able to dream about all kinds of things he’d like to do when the following day arrives.

A roof over his head, guarding him from the cold pours of the rain, or the burning rays of the sun, as he watches the world go by.

Food to fill his stomach, every day, whenever and whatever he wanted, ensuring his healthy growth or an occasional craving.

A set future that would reassure him of any misgivings, permitting him to fail and not worry if he’ll have anyone to back him up, or start from zero.

But most importantly—

Love.

To remind him that no matter what happens, whatever he does or doesn’t do, he’ll always have a family to support him just the way he is.

…

…

…

Yeah.

It’s clear to him now.

It had always been better this way.

In other words, Toji disappears from your and Naoya's life to ensure your safety. Woaaah. I hope I was able to convey that kind of sad redemption (?)

Also, I was debating whether to actually name the baby Megumi or not, since it's a whole other character—but then I thought, why not? and thus this happened.

I guess we get to the conclusion that if there's one person that's most deprived (and in need) of love, it would be Toji. We all saw how he got after mamaguro died... so I think him doing an 180 to protect the mother of his child and son is 100% accurate and sad omg. jesus, how different from the Toji I portrayed in the previous oneshot.

Anyways, I hope it was to your liking :3 Thank you for sending in this ask, I really enjoyed writing it!

Take care, and hope to see you soon ❤️❤️

[streamdotpng]

The streamer Enid au

---

Wednesday Addams sighted in San Francisco!

After the recent hit on her latest book: Viper de la Muerte: Lunal Curse, Wednesday Addams mentioned going off the grid for personal reasons. A hiatus from our so studious author? More likely than you think!

But what people definitely didn't think would happen is to see her out in and about in the streets of San Francisco. No one has been able to reach out as to why specifically she is in such a sunny place but the tall figure she was with might just give a hint! Several witnesses have mentioned them being rather close and isn't that so shocking from the usually touch averse writer of gore?

Read more at…

–

"Wednesday is here!?" squealed a streamer. She seemed a lot sparkly today, her bangs falling to frame the side of her face and her scars stretched as she smiled brightly at the camera.

This is Enid or Endespair if you want to go by channel name. She is a small twitch streamer who regularly posts her videos on YouTube and is known for her rather upbeat personality. The contrast of such a sunny person is why most would take a peak on how she would react whenever she'd play this year, month or day's horror game.

Safe to say, she reacted like most would do. Very loudly. Atleast at first, until slowly but surely you'd see her screams tamper from a shrill shriek to the barely contained jump. It has her chat becoming nefarious little shits and doing the best they can with horrible timed sound alerts and donations with text to speech.

She also is a werewolf and in a world where most are normies, a lot of people were rather intrigued and some monsterfuckers took solace by lurking in chat.

The mods had to ban a few people when the streamer bared her teeth at a character once or twice. For an outcast, Twitter murmurs that she's rather good at controlling her instincts.

Anyways, talking about Enid's background aside, the reason why she's squealing and clapping her hands like a seal today is for one reason alone.

Wednesday Addams, the ever so revered thriller and horror author. One who is very well known for her graphic depictions of gore in her books. It was a shock to some newcomers when the ever so jumpy Endespair genuinely loves and adores such literature but it definitely painted a confusing picture.

However, it isn't just the books that Enid loves but the author too.

Yeah, chat can put two and two together. Enid was simply a masochistic dog who liked things that scare her. All jokingly said of course, her fans know better than to push boundaries. But the contrast of such a colourful person enjoying all things dark and macabre is the opposites attract trope that most would fall for.

"Do you think I could try to bump into her?" Enid gasps before her brows furrowed. "Wait no that feels kinda creepy, seeking her out like that is weird as hell don't do that guys."

"so true, just go about your daily day and maybe luck will grant you a wish"

"I ROLLL UP IN A NEW BUGATTI"

"woo her with your cute beanies and sweaters!"

"imagine walking around with flowers, she likes black dahlias right?"

"this some gay shit right here"

Enid turned a little red at the support of her making a move towards the author, her cheeks blooming as she pushed up her glasses. "Now guys, it'd be weird if I just came up and besides!" she picked at her nails, a pretty colour of black turning to white, the sparkles of beads shining in the light. "She's here for vacation so let's not be bothersome."

"Tru Tru but who's stopping admiring!?!"

"pull some main character moment and bump into her at the grocery store"

"she's very pretty"

"one day streamer, one day"

The blond sighs, her hands cradling her chin as she pouts. "if only I could see her! Hopefully she's fine with a little hug or maybe a hand shake-" her hands flew about, a cheap attempt to explain. "For someone who only dresses in shades of black and white, she makes it work so well.." a dreamy sigh escapes Enid as she sinks into her arm.

"why's the stream tagged for RE when she's just simpin?"

"games extracting give her a sec"

"bc it's funneh"

"god I can't wait to see how she reacts to the daughters"

"streamer got a type and we will exploit it"

It's the ding of her pc that reminds her that she has a game to play and with a rather dramatic sigh, she straightened up in her seat to stare down at the newly extracted game.

Her brows furrowed as she grinned at the camera.

"Simping time over chat, let's get over my fear of flesh eating zombies over before dinner!" she cheered, clicking onto the new shortcut on her pc. The Pic of a half man and half wolf making her smile as she enters into Resident evil: Village

In an hour or two, the horrified stare of Endespair has people clipping as she watched Ethan get his hand cut and sipped on. The scene made her brows furrowed and her nose scrunched as a look of disgust came over her face.

"Oh God- that's disgusting," the horror in her tone is obvious but the blush splattering across her skin made others think that something was running through her head.

Enid ends the stream with a slump against her seat, a whole eight hours spent on the game as she finishes the Dimitrescu castle. It shouldn't have taken so long but she got distracted, lost and very confused so many times she considered quitting once or twice by the fifth hour.

Chat was as unhelpful as always but some donors took pity and helped her out. Luckily, after hours of mind numbing game play, she got through it.

As Ethan stumbles into the church and she saves, for some reason the sight of a typewriter brings a rather beautiful smile on her face as she leant on a hand. Chat chitters at the bared teeth, cheering and spamming.

“YOOOO ANOTHER CLIP FOR THE MONSTERFUCKERS”

“Those teef are BIG”

“With the headphones youd think she’s a normal”

“Lowkey forgot shes a werewolf until this, im so thankful for the reminder”

It makes Enid blink as she notices the rather fast speed chat. She rolls her eyes and gives a tight lipped smile this time, shoulders shaking at the influx of sad and pleading emojis.

So once the beating of her heart finally slowed, she couldn't help the sigh of relief as she sunk deeper into her comfy ass chair. But, such peace didn't last and her ears burned when she vividly remembered black gothic clothes on women.

When Enid managed to catch her breath and sit up, she pointed at the cam with way too bright cheeks.

"You guys know how I react to people in black!" she pulled her glasses off, rubbing at her eyes as she waved the frames around. "I should've known when you all clamoured for RE:8 instead of the fourth remake, yall are so luck-"

There's a ring of a phone and almost immediately, she perks up, nearly throwing her headphones off her hair as she stands to get her phone.

The stream ends suddenly after that.

–

Raven in love? Wednesday Addams seen with an unidentified man in San Francisco!

To think the ever so elusive Wednesday Addams would be out with a person today! We are just as shocked as you readers.

Our sources have seen the oldest Addams seemingly pressed next to this unidentified man in a park far from any noticeable place. Perhaps… Star crossed lovers? From the photos, the two would be friendly if this was any other person but to the Wednesday Addams, this is a completely different stance!

Read more in…

—

[bengiyo]

Knock Knock, Boys! Ep 9 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Thanwa moved back in with Max as a way to put some distance between himself and Peak, but also maybe to spy on Max. Thanwa bailed on his safe job to take a risk of becoming a food reviewer, and was offered a contract. Thanwa and Peak met up at the restaurant again, and it's clear the attraction remains even though Peak can't say what needs to be said. Meanwhile, the Scooby gang reconciled and worked towards finding out who filmed Jumper and Sean. Almond and Latte were being affectionate, and Lukpeach got all her life. The gang realized that Max was the likely suspect and confronted him at the apartment right as Max was trying to assault Thanwa. We left at Thanwa being let down by Peak when Peak thought Thanwa might be trying to cover evidence.

Oh ho. Why is Latte mad at Almond? I like the effects of this. I remember 8-bit games.

Only three sausages? I love this petty behavior.

Almond and Latte learning the important lesson of not pissing off the person who cooks your meals.

Almond, this potential fight you envisioned is actually so horny.

I actually would like to see Thanwa and Peak go on a beach trip.

Not Lukpeach getting to qiqi with Jumper about her ship!

I deeply appreciate how seriously this show is taking its themes on sexuality. I love that they let Lookpeach lead for these scenes. You can root for a couple without overstepping boundaries.

Are they doing this dick inspection at school??

I love Latte so much. My man is hard and doing his best.

It's so fun that we were all correct about Jumper having the birthmark, and yet he didn't end up being an enemy.

Now, Almond, what are you being so irritable about?

I actually love that Latte told Peak he wasn't in the mood to deal with his problems. It's actually okay to not be someone's sounding board whenever they want it.

At least Thanwa is out and everyone took a male suitor bringing gifts well. Kinda surprising that Peak wouldn't be more sensitive about being clocked.

Yes, Lookpeach, please help these boys. We can use BL to help actual queers. I'm okay with this.

I love this novel reading scene for some meta commentary. I'm choosing to read this as: BL can help real queers frame their problems to get through them, but it often circles the drain with repetitive beats.

I love when characters that are trying to help back off at the critical moment to let the guys figure themselves out without an audience.

I do genuinely like these two getting over the hump and making progress, but I don't know that I felt the emotional core of their fight this episode. I can maybe piece together they were both feeling angst about not being sure if the other could be serious about them, and that came to a head after an intimate moment between them.

It's actually cool how effectively this show has built up the cast relationships that it doesn't feel weird to have Peak hang out with these college kids when he's a bit lost.

I kinda wish we hadn't just written off Max as "the police are dealing with it" so we didn't put off Thanwa reaching for that camera for the whole episode.

Okay, so Thanwa was not with Max as a spy.

Hate that Jane calling has me so nervous and looking in the background of this loss for the inevitable problem that Peak has been avoiding.

Oh look. It's Peak's dad.

This is the first time I felt like an episode of this show was long. I'm not sure the double fights worked that well, and I don't think enough got cleared up with Peak and Thanwa. I do like the emotional core of what Almond and Latte are experiencing, but this was a rough transition. Hopefully we get some interesting early relationship stuff with them in this final arc since they're over the hill now.

[moodywyrm]

modern au hcs i have about the salt lake crew cuz why not i felt like sharing:

abby's secretly into cosplay but she won't admit it; manny's celebrity crush is sza; nora's a "no shoes in the house person" (she almost stabbed owen when he came over for a group get-together); mel's lowkey a disney adult and its adorable (her fav film is frozen); owen and jordan are both filmbros but in different ways - owen's the annoying kind (yk the kind 🙄) while jordan is genuinely passionate about films and film history and gives fun facts during movie nights; nick makes tiktok stitches like this one https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT88SYgkG/ ; leah's one of those drunk girls who hypes up other girls in bathrooms, like she'll see a pretty black girl with gold charms in her hair and start crying cuz she's so beautiful (abby & nora had to drag her out)

this is one of the cutest asks I've ever gotten oh my god? lemme expand on your beautiful thoughts. while I have beef with the salt lake crew, I also appreciate them and I think, had we started with them, we would have all loved or tolerated them.

abby + cosplay is so full of possibility omg. I imagine it started as an appreciation for cosplayers because she thought it was super cool! and then slowly. she started doing outfits inspired by her favorite characters. and then recreations. and then next thing she knows, she's dragging Manny to comic con to be her lil protector/buddy while she dresses up as Spiderman, or Junker Queen, or Samus. she has literally had craft nights where the crew helps her work on her cosplays. mel is the best at it, helping her form foam armor pieces. owen is passable only because he has experience building and fixing shit (the boat). Jordan is laughably bad any it but he tries <3

manny's celebrity crush is Sza AND Kali Uchis. He genuinely thinks he could pull them and, honestly, maybe he could. but abby loves telling him they're out of his league (they kinda are). he has like, Pete Davidson rizz. if that makes sense.

Nora is 100% a no shoes in the house girl. it's how she was raised! her house is fucking Pristine, man, which is honestly such feat because girly is a busy ass nursing student. and you're right about Owen! shit head wears shoes inside houses WITH CARPET. I will say rn, it's pretty much impossible to not wear shoes inside the house in my place bc we have two dogs, but we have tile so it's not as bad. however with carpet? evil. vile. Owen and his nasty ass nike sneakers tried to step onto Nora's pristine cream carpet and she nearly smacked him with a pair of tongs that had just came out of hot oil. as she should. he learned, and has never tried it again (mostly because Mel reminds him every time)

Disney adult Mel!! I know Disney adults get a lot of hate, but I feel like she'd be really sweet about it. like whenever she wants to go, she offers to pay for the others food and stuff, if they can't, she always brings them little gifts. like pins and stuff, shirts, ears, plushies!! she has a special pair of mickey ears that a frozen themed, Owen got them for her on her birthday <3 (this is me taking my powers as a writer to turn Owen into an actually good partner for Mel and not a piece of shit <3). one time, Mel got Abby to disneybound Gaston and it was so cute!! she has disneybounded as Anna and she looks so cute in it <3

the filmbros. oh god. Owen is 100% the type of guy to love Quentin Tarantino films and think they're the peak of cinema, all the while hating Jennifers Body. Jordan however, king, he loves Jennifer's Body and 100% listened to Leah and Nora spend like three hours talking about the nuances of girlhood and queerness in the movie. Definitely watched and appreciated Barbie with them, even dressed up in all pink! borrowed some of Leah's clothes to do it <3 he loves channels like Dead Meat, because I feel like he especially likes horror movies? will defend the slasher genre with his life, hates torture porn movies. big fan of sleepaway camp!

I don't know much about nick but I can say this is accurate, I feel like he also does those videos reacting to weird white people recipes? like how long does it take for them to add a block of cream cheese to the crock pot, or the weird obviously fetish content ones? and he just makes this really stoic disappointed face like. fr.

drunk girl Leah!! I imagine the salt lake crew occasionally goes clubbing, and you're so fucking right about Leah. they all get kinda tipsy, but Leah takes two shots of vodka and starts falling in love with every fem presenting person in the building. gives the good compliments too. how beautiful they look in the party lights, the shine of their hair, the twinkle of their eyes, the highlighter! the outfit! is literally fawning over every fem person she sees and Jordan is just like yeah go ahead. mostly because he knows she loyal and also, she's literally just so cute. disclaimer that it's never in the like, fetishizing wlw for men, Leah literally just compliments every girl she sees ever. especially in the bathrooms! if she sees you crying, she is the first one at your side, offering to beat up whoever made you sad, holding your hand, helping you fix your makeup, the works. drunk girl Leah is a gem to humanity and there are leagues of girls out there whose nights have been saved by this drunken sweetheart. there have been. too many times where abby has had to physically throw Leah over her shoulder to get her out of the bathroom because they need to Leave and she's starting conversations with everyone who walks through the door.

this is so cute!! thank you for this ask nonnie!! and I got your ask about it being duets and not stitches <3

[trashland-llamas]

Studyblr?

Gn reader

There was one regular who seemed to always catch Tyler's eye who'd order the same thing every visit and sit for a few hours with their computer, a notebook and every type of pen you could imagine

He could never tell if they had a big test coming up or if they were really into studying, them taking pictures of their work before cleaning up their area

Putting the pens back into a roll up container that spread out flat when you opened it, papers back into their folders, notebooks, and computer back into the rucksack

Pen ink staining their hands as they threw away used napkins and an empty drink, pushing their chair back in before walking out the door

Seeing them became the pinnacle of his week, attempting to spot the title of whatever tome they were reading this week and then looking up the synopsis to see if he himself would like it

Keeping it in his back pocket as a conversation starter as they tended to come in during peak hours, Tyler thinking that they must like the loud noises

Finally able to have one when there were no seats both in the break room and out on the floor, all except for the one across from them, waving to get their attention

'Sorry but there's no other seats. Cool if I sit, will only be 10-20 minutes tops.' Shooting them a small smile when they nodded, noticing they'd taken out of one of their earbuds

‘Was about to take a break myself. Name’s y/n, you?’ They asked despite having seen the glaring name tag every time they ordered.

‘Tyler, nice to meet you.’ Quickly extending his hand for them to shake. ‘Uh I hope you don’t mind me asking as I always see you in here but what are you studying for?’

‘My English professor is an asshole who assigns multiple tests and quizzes per week that require a lot of reading. So usually that or whatever smaller assignments I have.’ Proceeding to say how they didn’t notice they came that often.

‘It’s not a bad thing, just nice to finally talk to one of the regulars. Also one of the many orders I’ve unintentionally memorized.’ Both laughing a little at that, Tyler found their laugh adorable.

Tyler felt glum when he realized his break had ended, noticing this, y/n paused the conversation

‘Break’s up, want me to get you a refill?’ Going to grab their cup as he planned to write his number, deciding to shoot his shot even if it ended in a friendship as he genuinely wanted to get to know y/n more

‘If it’s no trouble, just let me get my wallet.’ Tyler waved them off, ‘Don’t worry about it, my treat.’ Y/n wondering what he was writing

Tyler checking his phone whenever it pinged hoping it was y/n until finally, ‘is this the cute coffee barista? Tyler?’

[average-transdalorian]

Okay @kaxtwenty this works better outside of tags, so

My Recommended (batshit) Metroid Playing Order!

First, three disclaimers:

1. Don’t play Other M. Just. Just don’t. Any necessary lore, story, or character moments can be found in the many many videos tearing it to SHREDS. It’s earned it’s reputation as “worst Metroid game ever” fair and square

2. You can play the Prime trilogy in order 1-3 whenever you can get them; I’ve only played the first, but as far as I can tell they just keep getting better, and the point of this list is to play them from least to most refined

3. I recommend not playing the first two at all either. They both have remakes that include all of the plot And More™️, and at several points are difficult due to hardware constraints rather than intentional choice on the devs’ part. The maps are a much needed quality-of-life mechanic, and if you ARE gonna play these two, I suggest mapping the rooms out yourself. Anyways, the actual list!

1. Zero Mission. This is the remake of the first game, and it makes sense as a hopping-on point, both because of its chronology, and because of the design choice that got Metroid fans heated (it was generally thought of as the worst Metroid game until Other M came out. Unlike Other M, it’s actually fun to play, it just. Gets rid of the exploration that was so central to the first three games in a way that feels Bad. Dread and Fusion still guide you more than the first three, but it feels more organic and less handhold-y, and Samus Returns makes the guidance optional, except for when you’ve hunted down all of the Metroids in an area and can move onto the next, because that’s kinda the core gameplay loop)

2. Fusion. This one and Super feel about the same, but it’s easier to move from GBA controls to SNES controls, with the exception of the Space Jump and Screw Attack feeling worse. Regardless, Fusion is probably my third favorite Metroid game due to its plot, aesthetics, and Samus having an actual personality for once. Anyways,

3. Super. Super Metroid gives you no guidance; you explore and find your way forward on your own. Just about all of the storytelling is environmental. The boss fights are only a tiny bit bullshit (Mother Brain my detested). Older fans of the series consider it peak Metroid, and there’s certainly reasoning to that take! However, it controls just a little bit clunkier than the next two

4. Dread. Metroid Dread is hands down my favorite Metroid game; it controls like a dream, it teaches you how everything works cleanly, AND there’s SEVERAL important characters! With like, personalities! It also has really good lore implications, and a good plot. To top it off, it has my favorite suit designs. Something about the visible fibers of the suit just Gets Me

5. Samus Returns. Samus Returns is the 3ds remake of Metroid II, and is better than it in every way. It’s clunkier than Dread, to be sure, but I personally feel like it was easier to grasp after having played Dread, as Dread does a better job teaching you how to counter, which is something that only exists in these two games. Like I said before, the guidance to fund the Metroids you’re hunting is almost entirely optional, which makes exploration quite nice! It also has a bunch of neat mechanics that make the most sense on the 3ds, but it’s probably best to have a good handle on Recent Metroid Game Controls before you have to go use those, which is the other reason why I put this one last

And yeah, that’s the list! I know this is such a weird order to play the series in, but it’s genuinely the order I recommend to have the most fun with it, so enjoy!

Edit: chronological order is, for the record, 1/Zero Mission, 2/Samus Returns, Super, Other M, Fusion, and Dread, with the Prime trilogy. Somewhere? Maybe between 1 and 2, maybe not?

[sangorous]

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋

word count: 1.4k

genre/warnings: angst/none really?

kuchiki byakuya x black!fem!reader

Heartbreak invokes different emotions in someone. It can cause suffering, depression, emptiness, happiness, a sense of relief, and the list could go on. For some, a breakup is their escape from something they're not happy with. For some, it's a never-ending saga of sadness.

For Byakuya, he wasn't sure what he felt. He was relieved that [your name] could finally be happy but felt empty. It's been a year since the couple split, and he hasn't found out how he felt. This was supposed to be their fourth anniversary. Now that he's beginning to think of it, there was a time when he was happy. It was when he was with her.

Four years ago, Byakuya was in a happy relationship. His first relationship and he didn't want it to end. Their first encounter was when she entered his plant shop and looked for [favorite plant]. Instead, she became captivated by his cherry blossom tree in the back.

"I've never seen one in person," she gushed in awe.

"Beautiful isn't it?" he stood beside her as she nodded.

"Here, I can let you through the back to get a better view," he grabbed the keys from his pocket and unlocked the back door.

He led her through the back, and her eyes lit up. It was beautiful in person. She looked so happy there, so he didn't want to interrupt her. He searched for the [favorite plant] as she stood there.

It wouldn't take him long to find it, considering that he's the one who created and designed the shop, "there you are..." he muttered to himself. No wonder why she couldn't find it. The other plants in its area covered it.

The last thing he wanted was to disturb her peace, so the plant was placed to the side. Whenever she was ready, she could take the plant.

"Thank ya' so much!" she smiled at the long-haired male.

"You're welcome," he smiled back. This was a genuine smile; it wasn't fake.

Since that day, he's been intrigued by the girl. Every day he'd hope to see her, maybe show up out of the blue. That week he'd purposely act like he was doing something productive by the door. Unfortunately, she never came. Or so he thought.

Hearing the little bells make noise, and he quickly and calmly walked over to where the plants were and pretended to work. It was her again. What should he do?

"Good afternoon," he cleared his throat, trying not to peak over her.

"Good afternoon; how's your afternoon so far?" she hummed, looking around at the plants.

"Been pretty slow, might close up early today," he sighed, glancing over at her.

"Yours?"

"Ugh! I Don't know where to start; let's say my afternoon isn't great. Now I'm here trying to find another plant child to ease my nerves," she huffed, looking at various plants around her.

"Do you own a spider plant?" she shook her head no and gestured for her to follow him.

"This is beautiful," she gushed, looking at the plant.

"Spider plants purify the indoor air by eliminating the harmful chemicals that float around you, and I think that it'll help you calm down at times," he took it from the hanging planter.

"I knew if I came back here, you'd be able to help me again," she followed him to the register.

"I'm glad to hear that," he tried his best to hide his red cheeks, but he couldn't.

"How much?"

"Only $20..." he trailed off, waiting for the receipt to print.

"And maybe a cup of coffee tomorrow if you're not busy?" he added while she nodded with a small smile.

"Of course, here!" she grabbed a sticky note and wrote her number for him.

"See you tomorrow," she waved goodbye as she left the store.

Once that door shut, he let a deep breath out. He couldn't believe he had done that; he had asked her on a date. What was shocking was that she said yes.

The following day came rather quickly, and he was a bit nervous. What if she changed her mind last minute?

He was becoming anxious, but he didn't understand why. He was here five minutes early, while she might be on time.

Byakuya sat down at a booth near the door, hoping to grab [your name] just in case she walked in the door. Tapping his fingers on the table, he heard the coffee shop's bell ding. There she was; she looked beautiful.

"Hey!" and his eyes lit up a bit.

"Hello," there was a slight smile as he exited the booth.

They walked over to the counter, where he paid for their drinks and sat at the booth. When they got to know each other, he learned that [your name] was completing her master's degree in [major], and she was in her last year. She realized that he had started his business two years ago and grew his plants in the backyard of his house. He also had a younger sister.

In both of their eyes, they felt like they had hit it off. Especially Byakuya. "we should see each other again... How about dinner Saturday night?" She slowly nodded, trying not to smile.

Agreeing to that date at the time was probably the best thing [your name] could do. Byakuya had this mysterious aura about him that she was intrigued by.

They'd have dates every Friday, but more than each Friday was needed for him. His eyes lit up whenever she stopped by the shop, and eventually, he'd ask her to be his girlfriend.

Despite him not being fully open about himself, [your name] was okay with that. They found a way to make it work, but it wouldn't be able to last forever. A sweet relationship filled with laughter and good times turned sour real quick. Neither of them saw it coming; it was a surprise. A surprise that grabbed them by the neck.

"I do not understand what you're saying..." he trailed off, staring at her.

Of course, he knew what she was saying. He did not want to accept what she was saying. He was not ready for this yet.

"What is hard for you to understand right now? Let's go our separate ways... We're not happy anymore. We try so hard to try and salvage this relationship, and it just leads to more arguing. I'm unsure why you're so scared to open up to me, but I can't keep losing my mind. I ask the bare minimum, but I can't keep fighting you over that," Byakuya couldn't speak. Everything she said was right.

And he knew that once she was right and made her mind up, she was not changing. So she would be leaving for good this time. There were no breaks from each other for two weeks or maybe a month.

"I'm sorry, Kuya... I can't this time," he felt tears falling down his face or thought he did.

Maybe they were in his head. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. Why couldn't he? He didn't understand why his body was suddenly paralyzed. His eyelids wouldn't shut. What was going on?

Hearing the door slam told him that everything was already over. He's lost everything. The only person who'd keep him sane. The only person who made him happy. The only person who helped him try new things in life. He couldn't lie; it felt like he got the wind knocked out of him.

There was a "thud," and those knees were dropping on the floor. The silence in the apartment consumed him while he stared off into space. Now his tears began to stream down his face. He lost the only thing that mattered to him.

He opened the heart in his necklace and looked at the picture of the two of them, "you were beautiful," he whispered to himself.

The slight smile on his face was bittersweet. He wished she could still be here to spend time with him again. He was hoping that they'd be getting ready to do something that they'd love, like going to the beach and staring at the stars until she'd let a yawn out, or going on a picnic at an empty area around the park, or even a lovely dinner where'd they'd be in the farthest booth away from everyone.

Byakuya couldn't lie. Sometimes he'd wait for her to come through the doors. He hoped they could restore what they once had, but he already knew it was done. They were over.

He'd do everything right if he just had the chance to be with her again. He'd listen to every feedback she'd given him and incorporate it into their relationship. He'd be more open with her instead of holding everything in or everything back. He'd also let her know how much he loved her and how beautiful she was.

[ten-cent-sleuth]

4, 5, and 30? For the fic writers ask?

Yayay, thank you so much for the ask!

4. A story idea you haven’t written yet?

Well. Most of them. xD But I’ll talk about the third WIP on my roster: my post-“Grace” angsty fic, as I call it in my pinned post. (The first and second WIPs in line I’ve technically started writing for!)

I don’t want to go into specifics since I am really excited to hear people’s reactions to The Reveal, but basically the story will explore my take on who the little girl is / what she symbolises to Carter in “Grace”. Because of course I’ve read the common perspective that Grace represents Carter’s wish for a child and stands in for her future daughter with Jack—but it’s never sit perfectly right with me, so this fic will be my alternative two cents.

And also an excuse to have Sam and Jack meet another mirror version of themselves! (This is what I was referring to in my tags on this post, actually!)

Ngl, this just might be the WIP I’m most excited about right now. But ah! I have my “48 Hours” fic and my “Moebius” fic to finish first. xD

5. First sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP?

This is from Old Thorns, a canon divergence AU for Sense and Sensibility that I will never give up on.

Major General Ashby subscribed to that rare but forcible conviction that all good things are worth not waiting for.

I cheated—this isn’t quiiiiiite the fifth paragraph—but oh well, the real fifth paragraph’s first sentence was not very intriguing. Ashby is an OC who is a friend of Colonel Brandon’s. He facilitates Brandon’s spending time with the Dashwood sisters while they’re all in Town, a plan by Marianne to surreptitiously console Elinor.

Because the canon divergence I mentioned? Yeah, it’s that Marianne finds out about Edward’s engagement much earlier but believes Elinor is unaware and thus takes it upon herself to protect and prepare her. If this sounds convoluted and contrived, trust me, my outline Doc is way worse.

But I love this WIP. I love it so, so much, and I really hope it won’t be an “unpublished” one next year.

30. Share a fic you’re especially proud of.

Sometimes I feel like “Inextricably” is when I peaked and everything I write from now on will pale and tremble in comparison, but I’m not going to share that one here. (Although you’re free to check it out on my AO3, ofc. xD) Instead, here is my one and only—as of now—X-Files fanfic since @agent-troi recently made me think about it so I just reread it last night.

I am proud of how many threads I pulled through various episodes, scenes, and themes to weave together this fic. And still there was one major parallel I didn’t get to include because it didn’t end up fitting into the flow of Mulder and Scully’s conversation. (It was about Scully’s grief about her father.) I also didn’t get to include several scenes near the start because they were dragging me down while the deadline was approaching, but I’m proud of all the now-unused research I made into cross-species influenza and immunisation science for those scenes, lol.

Some of the emotionally wrought lines (in particular I think of “See? You knew what to say to her after all” and “like he was holding his own beating, bleeding heart” – quoted from memory so might not be exact) took me by surprise. Like they came out of me without planning, without preconception, and whenever I revisit the fic, I genuinely still cannot believe I came up with them. In general I just think this is one of my most emotionally charged fics, and I’m proud to know I’m capable of it!

And of course, I am forever proud of my courage in signing up for my first gift exchange and in vanquishing my anxiety about a) posting in such an intimidatingly big fandom as TXF and b) writing for one of my favourite authors in the fandom who also happened to be quite well known?? Ig ultimately “Nature’s Impossibilities” is just very special to me, although I definitely don’t think it’s perfect. (Some of the aforementioned weaving is kind of forced-sounding in the text, agh!) But yeah, quite proud of it. :P

Keep the fic writer asks a-comin’! 👻

Thank you again for the questions. :)

[ramonag-if]

I just had to tell you. The way you write family angst? Akin to how our old pal Da Vinci wields a paintbrush. Masterfully.

When Ahlf died? I was gutted. Genuinely. I'd been watching him and MC interact, holding out hope that they'd one day get to form a... warmer father-child relationship. Then he died. MC watched him die. I watched him die. I MC was so devastated, I MC called Crown's name stupid (Sorry, Crown. You too, Irus). Let it be noted that I'd been playing the shy/sincere MC till then. I was so gutted, MC moped/angsted all the way to the temple, while I sat there internally blubbering over the loss of MC's grumpy, emotionally unavailable, father.

(In case it hasn't been made clear yet, I also have father issues in the spades).

(Also, MC recovered their shy/sincere nature eventually. And became absolutely besotted with Irus. He obviously already knew, but still. Don't tell him that.)

(You can bet that I MC took all the chances to mourn/blubber over Ahlf whenever the chance came up, though. Those chances did come up frequently enough, now that I think about it. That moment when MC goes through Ahlf's box of letters in his room at Ellie's castle, mourning him and whatnot. Thanks for that, by the way. Really. I'm glad you didn't gloss over the persisting, subtle ache that comes with loss, which so many stories seem to do.)

Then, Salyra. Mama. MC had thought she was dead. I was convinced she was dead. So, seeing her alive and well and with a whole new husband and child to boot was. Wow.

By then, I had already fully immersed into the story. And while I don't see MC as myself, rather as an odd extension of my soul that I'm watching like some omniscient being who has nothing better to do with their time, I was, well.

Gutted. Again. And MC, too.

I MC's been going back and forth between being uncertain or bitterly angry for a while now. And Maybe accidentally gave Rana a Mean Look while still reeling over how Salyra was alive, with a new family.

When Salyra protected Rana from MC's Big Bad Stare and gave MC a disappointed look? Wow. Delicious scene. MC damn near imploded into a very sad confetti of abandonment and bitterness anger, but I really have to admit. That was peak writing and character interaction right there.

The best thing? None of the characters were demonized for all the things they'd done wrong. Not Ahlf, not Salyra, not MC. They were so human, in their actions and reactions and emotions and tears. You can hate them, you can love them, you can feel nothing about them, but they weren't just characters with an 'MC's parents: kind of really bad at it' label tacked on. They were characters made human, fleshed out and alive and raw.

Which is why it makes it hurt so much more. Makes all the family angst hurt so, so much more.

And I'm all for that, obviously.

Ah, and a special mention! The scene where MC just hugs Irus for comfort after another showdown with Salyra? Spectacular. Outstanding. Covering your arm with gold star stickers as we speak. I have to admit, I damn near melted at that scene. They're so cute. God.

Aaand after that long, long spiel that was definitely just 90% rambling, I'm bringing whatever this mess is to a close. So, Ra; (can I call you that? It sounds cool) thank you for bringing this story into existence, and for sharing it with us all. It was a lovely, beautiful experience, and I'm excited to see what lies ahead in this bloody wild ride you're taking us all on. You're awesome. Once again, thank you!!

Ah, thank you so much! 😭💖 Your message just made me smile like a fool! I don't think I'm anywhere near Da Vinci levels in writing family angst, so it means a lot to me that you enjoyed what I've written so far.

I felt really bad at the way Ahlf died, but his death had been planned long before Chapter 1 had been written. His death was supposed to be less dramatic than the way he went, but as I do try to remind readers, I'm a pantser opposed to a planner when writing so I rarely stick to my chapter outlines and will usually just go with my gut 😅 Ahlf's death really set the tone for the rest of the game, so I'm glad you enjoyed all the small moments to simply mourn his death. I knew that I was going into IF the way I normally write books - emotions are valued over branching/plot points.

Salyra was never going to be this complicated. She wasn't going to be married with another child either 😅 I obviously ignored plans and went right ahead into Angst Central, because I kept questioning Salyra as a mother and the person she would have become in the absence of Ahlf and the MC and suddenly, she was very complicated and brought a lot of baggage.

It was definitely important to showcase that it isn't all good and bad with Ahlf and Salyra. I know neither of them is perfect - no parent is perfect though they are quite far from that bar of being good parents 😬 You'll always get the choice to feel as you feel and the characters will always respond to your MC's choices. I do prefer the emotional development of the characters to the external factors, so glad you're feeling it too!

I actually enjoyed the scene where the MC cries into the ROs shoulder opposed to the hug. But that's just me, being an emotional wreck of a person when playing IF 😅

Please feel free to call me whatever you want 😋 I am quite liking Ra because Ra is my favourite Egyptian god and from my many nicknames over the years, I've never been called Ra before 😂

Thank you again for your support and kind words! I really do appreciate it 💖 It really makes writing the game worthwhile and pushes me to continue writing it.

[ludinusdaleth]

i enjoyed your post about essek but i'm still wondering why so many don't people like him. and why do so many of his fans find a need to defend him from anything that could be viewed as a flaw? was the hate for him that bad in the day?

maybe there is something i did not witness and therefore dont have context of, and if so i am sorry for not knowing, but from my personal experience once in the bowels of the essek fandom at his peak popularity.... there genuinely.... wasnt any hatred for essek? at least none that didnt come out of frustration he took over other characters in discussion. part of my distancing from the fanbase was that people claimed there were violent, homophobic anti esseks, whenever someone pointed out the fans' hypocrisy in character treatment. but i knew the takes they were referring to, and they often came from other essek fans. i have repeatedly been called homophobic (once again: i am. a fag.) and an essek hater for pointing out the same.

i definitely know folk now who carry extreme bitterness toward him due to the past and thus can take their criticisms of him into irrationality. and i think in this time of fandom perception, every fanbase tends to make fun of and point out how stereotypically handsome "twink" characters take the spotlight, and express how things would be better if they were differently designed. but there is genuinely no context i have ever seen that came out of any other idea past fandom bitterness. wish i could help more than that, but thats what ive got.

[lightlycareless]

so, I wasn't planning on writing a continuation to the naoya/yn/toji threesome but an anon sent me an ask and the rest is history. This is a sneak peak of that sequel. 🤭

also, I'm slowly writing the new chapter for my main fic in between requests :') thank you so much for your patience!!! I shall do my best to finish soon. ❤️❤️

warnings: mentions of infidelity. mentions of previous smut activities.

the complete version can be found here.

Toji’s not to disclose if you or Naoya came back for a repeat of that night’s succession, though he will admit your pregnancy was not surprising.

It’s not like he could run away from it either, for as soon as news graced the elders’ ears, it’s all the estate spoke of. From enthusiasm to welcome the next generation of Zen’in sorcerers, to the ever-growing hope of recovering their prized cursed technique, which has been absent for hundreds of years…

Expectations for this child were at an all-time high.

But to you and Naoya, all you could care about was the blessing this baby represented.

A family.

The pinnacle of all their yearnings, the fruits of their never-ending efforts finally appearing on the positive pregnancy test you took one morning after feeling particularly nauseous…

And Toji’s, perhaps.

Toji initially didn’t think much of the “shocking” announcement. Not even after his behavior that night—they were just heat of the moment things, nothing that he meant nor really cared about, simply said to get a rise out of Naoya; and oh, was his reaction satisfying.

In other words, he really, genuinely, couldn’t care less about what the wimpy heir and his ditzy wife were to face from that point forward.

But when their behavior towards him, the engaging conversations, invitations to drink tea, amongst other activities, drastically cease, to the point of turning on their heel and going the opposite way when facing him…

It didn’t take long for the pieces to fall into place, and when the puzzle was complete, Toji could only laugh.

It’s like an open secret, albeit solely for those involved.

The baby inside you wasn’t Naoya’s.

It was Toji’s.

And this filled him with morbid fascination no other high had been able to provide.

To know that the baby everyone was praising as the future of the Zen’in, a promising sorcerer, as expected of the heir, was the ultimate irony, the exact anti-thesis of all they once declared of Toji.

He was very tempted to let everyone know.

Proudly announce the truth to the world, screaming to the top of his lungs that that baby isn’t Naoya’s, it’s mine.

The scandal this revelation would bring was nothing short of earth-shattering, and more likely than not, the elders wouldn’t even know where to start from. Although your infidelity could be a good reference.

Followed by the fact that no matter how much they try to get rid of him, he’ll always find a way to haunt them—like a ghost shackled to the estate walls, Toji would always remain in the back of their minds, unsettling them whenever they did as much as breathe.

Although for this to work, he’d have to wait until the child was born, officiated as son of Naoya, before he could do any damage.

To see the kind of face the Zen’in would have upon finding out the truth… is one that makes his prolonged stay all but worthwhile.

As well as to know your reaction for the whole ordeal—if you’ve even been able to sleep knowing well that your life was on the line by carrying such a frightening secret in your womb.

Considering the way you frequently sought him out during those lonely nights where your husband would be away for long periods of time, this probably didn’t perturb you as much. After all, what did you expect after receiving his seed as constantly as you did? That nothing would happen? No consequences to be suffered?

You were many things, but he never thought you as delusional.

Or perhaps, you were hoping for this. To have his child. He’d come to believe so after the tight way your cunt squeezed him.

Well, that would only make him the delusional one.

Either way, he suspects that while your secret might’ve prickled the back of your mind from time to time, it didn’t bother you as much as he hoped—not with the way your staff coddled your every move, how the clan would gift you items to celebrate the future head of the clan, per tradition, or how happy you appeared to be with your growing bump, gently caressing it and beaming oh how much you longed to hold the baby in your arms.

It irked him.

To see that even through this deceit, you were still happy.

It was undeserving. Wrong.

Certainly, for a man who has been sentenced to nothing but pain and disgrace since the moment he was born, it’d be impossible for him to grasp the innocence of others.

To understand some were simply with better luck, free to live as they desired, and without having to pay for the consequences of others.

Toji, now more than ever, felt that he was being used. Plucked from his misery, toyed with, and discarded once dried out.

And because of that, his motivation to ruin your and Naoya’s happiness was present as ever in his mind, heading your way to remind you of the power he had, just how easy it would be for him to plant the seed of doubt amongst the staff, let it flourish up to the elders, and ruin your and Naoya’s life.

Until your anguished face stops him.

[mdhwrites]

I'm not really gonna ask anything, just complain.

I'm tired of seeing puppet Amity and emperor Luz everywhere, what's even so special about it? What's the appeal???

People see 2 seconds scenes without context and make it that episode's entire content 🤦

I don't know if ep 3 came out already but I'm not looking forward anyways.

…Angst. Angst and new designs which are probably the two most powerful motivators for The Owl House fandom. Why do you think S2A felt like it damn near cut the fandom down to its size?

This actually has to do with kind of fandom culture in general. The most visible part of a fandom is its artists. Their work is quick to consume, easily posted and reposted (with credit you'd hope but… sigh) and the easiest to take inspiration directly from the show for. Every week there'd be at least one screencap redraw that the fandom would do whenever a new episode came out. Honestly, the finale's big Lumity screencap redraw is really awkward looking to me out of context. It's not hard to see why these are so popular though. The reference is directly in front of you, it's a moment people are already talking about and you yourself probably liked the posing too so why not redraw it? It's a hell of a lot easier to do than come up with a bespoke story concept based off of each episode in a series.

That isn't to call art easy or the like, just that fanart is the backbone to a fandom for a reason, at least in my opinion. Twitter has a character count limit. Reading Fanfiction on Instagram blows. Tumblr is the closest to a place where longer form videos and stories can be posted and they still take MUCH longer to consume and share and without as much guaranteed return on effort spent. There's a reason the internet as a whole LOVES art from a commercial and consumer standpoint, even if they also keep trying to screw over artists because yaaaaay capitalism.

But screencap redraws aren't going to be everything. The more potential in the story, the more people will be able to come up with evocative concepts and stories and even make comics about the show. This was a BIG part of the fandom's peak between S1 and 2. Everyone had their own take on how Lumity would get together. Everyone had their own idea for how Amity might confront her parents. Amity in general was just a font of inspiration and the concepts with Luz weren't played out or felt contradictory to the more cynical character we got in S2 so angst with her about her mom, her world, etc. like that was still something everyone was tapping into, especially since it felt like the portal being destroyed was such a big deal.

I made a large Twitter thread the other day btw about how just shit the Portal Door is from a narrative perspective, first as a nitpick in S1 and then just a genuine problem in S2, because of it being gone, but that's a different blog.

But post S2A… What did you have? Camila's promise was never going to end satisfactorily, to the point where it goes from a moment of Luz being a good daughter to an almost inhuman monster towards her friends because it is handled so poorly. Amity is pretty much resolved outside of being happy to be Luz's girlfriend because she's already stood up to her parents, integrated into the rest of the cast and even already addressed the only piece of angst the show ever allows for her with her relationship and that's being an obsessive enough girlfriend. Sorry, I mean a good enough girlfriend. sigh Gus has had an episode but was overshadowed, Willow has had like a half dozen lines this half a season, King has been pretty much absent since his episode, Raeda was still mostly an Eda episode with literally every element of that episode just to shove Momma Eda down your throat…

It's not surprising that post S2A, the fandom has felt in general much quieter. Minus A: Huntlow and B: whenever they get a new design they can turn into Luz/Lumity angst. Everyone remember the teaser for the Collector's design that was done during a livestream and how that consumed the fandom for a little while because of possessed Luz ideas?

The puppet Amity and Belos Luz hype was effectively that. It brought even the casual artists back because they had a new, easily evocative design available to them that also had very obvious potential for angst. How many "I'M NOT LIKE HIM" pictures came out regardless of how weak any parallel between Luz and Belos is? Luz crying over a temporarily dead Amity is saddening, even if she's been little more than a puppet for the writers for a while now.

It's just how fandoms work. It's not even necessarily a bad thing. Dana has been VERY good at keeping the fandom alive during things like hiatuses. S1's hiatus is when the Betas were most popular because they dropped at a time when people were starting to wane from the show and now they had an entirely different angle to work from for anything Lumity they wanted to do alongside just good designs to draw. Most Lumity and Huntlow artists redo any piece that Dana does for the two ships. It's very effective for keeping a social media presence for your show honestly.

I won't even act like I'm above it. While I commissioned reference sheets for Rich Witch to make it easier to commission more artists for these characters, that wasn't the only reason. Rich Witch had a Reddit page (that I should clean up honestly) and its pinned thread includes the reference sheets and physical descriptions for the characters who don't have reference sheets. This is because I recognize that that makes fanart easier and that fanart is a lot easier to share than text blurbs. It is one of the ways to try and cultivate a following online nowadays or to help your fandom grow, at least in my opinion.

Can it be frustrating? Absolutely. I mean, Huntlow fanart has probably done way more damage to my interest in Hunter than anything else because it always emphasizes Hunter as nothing but a failure. Hell, it also emphasizes Willow's strength commonly and very little else about her character. Lumity has bored me for a long time in art because 90% of it is just cute fluff which isn't bad but it's not compelling. And I mocked both Belos Luz and Puppet Amity, despite the designs for them being good and the art being good, as shallow because narratively it means very little.

And the larger that disconnect becomes, the more frustrating a trend in the fandom is going to be. Plenty of people hate the Betas because they hate the edginess or the fact that a lot of people used them to start creating spicier material. There's not much anyone can do about that though. While a creator can try to promote a kinder fandom, fandoms are inherently too emotional and too large to really control outside of helping the show grow or find a new audience. It's just a part of that culture.

And frankly, I'm going to be bothered by the toxicity and inhumanity (guess what fandom will dox you for liking a ship between a bi girl and a straight guy?) of fandoms long before their art trends.

[royalreef]

@fstbmp inquired: I once more toss aside my cape. Redacted, I will never get tired of saying how spectacular your Miranda is; quite literally peak fiction in my eyes. You do the character so much justice and, as I always say, I genuinely get baffled seeing the canon version after yours has so enraptured me that it's altered my brain chemistry. Your Miranda is The Miranda to me and that's never going to be changed. All of this isn't even touching the other Vanderbilt from the fleeting moments they appear and how well you write them in contrast and comparison to Miranda herself. You really can tell they all came from the same environment and branched off into entirely separate entities despite filling the same general terrifying merfolk royal niche. There's so much care put into your character(s) that it blows me away without fail anytime I see it. An absolute treat! How's my portrayal? - Accepting

(( I like how the very first thing I took note of was my evolutionary terms rubbing off on you. My grand plan is working, at this rate soon I'll have people aware of at least three different convergent body types instead of solely the crab-shape, and then I will take over the world.

But anyhow.

GETS you.

Mirth, the fact that I can always count on you to show up whenever one of these memes goes around is more than enough proof of how god damned sweet you are. Hell, your talents being one thing, you're just very sincerely nice to have around in the RPC. You're a beacon of support to everyone around you and just an inspiration to everyone that you write with, and it says a lot about how well you manage to bring people together at all stages of writing.

It's just genuinely awe-inspiring how well you manage to juggle all of the muses you have and nonetheless manage to write each one with the care and devotion and understanding that they all need. The way that you manage to weave their lore together in a way that feels natural on top of that, the unique relationships each of them have — it's a thing of wonder, how you manage to do it all. The way that you bring your own personal touch to each of them to bring them to life is truly unique to you and your writing style and something that you won't manage to find elsewhere.

I really do think your main strength and your best strength is in your characters themselves, into making them not only interesting, but their own living, breathing people with their own lives and needs. To see into them and understand them and to be able to paint a picture with them unlike anything else.

I just think you're Neat. :>