#1) this got longer than i thought

[angelfishcake]

On their second day of walking, Orion, D-16, B-127, and Elita talk about names. (3-chapter fic)

[kill-your-fics]

Part 2 for biker willow and nerd Wilson😳🥺

"Like this?"

There was a long moment of silence. This was the longest he'd held her gaze- one could even call it staring. She kept her hand where it was, feeling the warmth in his cheek pass to her fingertips.

Finally, he blinked, and slowly lifted his own hand upwards. She was curious, almost surprised, until he gently grasped her fingers with his own and pulled them away from his face. He looked at their hands, then, instead of her.

"Ahh... not quite. Well, maybe in a certain sense? It's biological. You see, uh... it's the result of dilated blood vessels- that means they become wider, allowing more blood to pass through. But our body and blood is warmed by chemical reactions, yes."

"I didn't know that- I didn't pay much attention in school, I guess. So are those reactions like.. very small fires, by chance?"

Wilson had a very curious look on his face. "Do you know why we breathe?"

That sounded like a philosophical question to Willow, but he was a chemist- chemist in training, that is, not a philosopher. So.. he was probably being literal.

She cocked an eyebrow. "We need... oxygen? Like fire?"

"Yes! Fundamentally, we use oxygen for the same reason a burning fire does- it's the same chemical process our body uses to generate energy from food, but of course that happens in a more deliberate, controlled fashion." He was smiling, but paused then, let go of her fingers, cocked his head questioningly. "Do you like fire? You've brought it up twice."

Willow grinned in response. "You could say that. Wanna see a party trick?"

[seth-burroughs]

The last thing you see before you fucking die. That or you're just Makoto.

Yomi birthdayposting..... part 2!

[aria0fgold]

Two birds, One Stone, and Me

A Persona 5 snippet starring Akechi ft. Kaito Kuroba (Magic Kaito) and Asuka (an oc by @misty-wisp)!

Akechi massaged his temples as he walked through the station after having just gotten out of the train. It was headache one after another for him nowadays, the matter with Shido's jobs combined with the emergence of the so called Phantom Thieves of Hearts, not to mention the return of that pesky thief Kaito KID in Japan after doing heists overseas. His first problem is easy to deal with, as something he had gotten used to doing, his second problem was coming along well enough as he already has a good idea on who the members of the Phantom Thieves are, and the third problem is the biggest headache of all as Kaito KID has been a consistent problem for years now. Disappearing in the past only to have a come back years after and no one has any idea how to deal with him.

There's already even a police force specifically designed to capture that thief and yet there's no progress at all anyway. And for some goddamned reason, Akechi was also tasked to help with that too!

If a police force dedicated to capturing that thief can't even handle it then what else can I do anyway? Detective Prince my ass, if only those people know the truth they wouldn't add on to my mountain of problems something nearly impossible to achieve!

Figuring out the identities of the Phantom Thieves were easy with how sloppy they were at keeping it hidden in the first place but figuring out the identity of a criminal that's most likely been at it for more than a decade isn't something Akechi should be doing in the first place. That should fall on the hands of the adults instead.

Ah but of course! Adults are practically useless, good for nothing fools who's only good at hurting others and getting children to clean up after them, OF COURSE! WHY ELSE AM IN THIS WHOLE MESS ANYWAY IF NOT FOR THAT!

Akechi let out a small quiet sigh, it's best for him to retire for the day and take a rest, although, just as he rounded the corner, he was met with a particularly familiar face that had immediately fallen into a frown the split second she noticed Akechi.

“Ah, Asuka, yes?” Akechi put on his usual polite smile, the face of the exemplary Detective Prince.

“Riight, yeah.” She averted her eyes from him, it was obvious it wasn't out of embarrassment, “Excuse me.”

Akechi could just let her go, but a thought formed on his mind, “Wait, if it's alright with you, could you spare some of your time to have a short chat?”

Asuka attends the same school as Akira. In fact, she attends the same school as most of the members of the Phantom Thieves. There's a possibility of her being involved with them, it's better to check just in case.

There was also... That... Although it doesn't seem to be relevant at the moment, it was still a particular pattern to keep in mind.

Asuka looked back, her eyes squinted slightly, though it was still a frown, Akechi can feel the sharpness of a glare hidden behind a thin veil of public civility. “Unfortunately, no. Goodby—”

“Isn't that…”

Just before Asuka could finish her sentence, a person by the distance caught Akechi's attention. And as his gaze fell on the figure's back, the person turned to meet his eyes.

It was Kaito Kuroba. Someone who's close to Akira.

Asuka followed Akechi's sight with a glance and it was at that moment that Kaito beamed at them before waving his hand as he approached the two.

“Oh hey! You're that so called Detective Prince, aren't you?” He smiled so brightly at them Akechi felt blinded and very much so annoyed.

But he can't quite show such a thing, smile, smile… smile… he needs to smile.

“Ah, yes—”

Kaito then quickly turned to Asuka, her passive aggression towards Akechi was replaced with slight anxiety, “And you… Ah! You're that student Akiki told me before! You sit behind him, yeah?”

She nodded, “R-right…”

. . .

Akechi really hates this guy.

He mentally collected himself, it seems that he'd have to talk to Asuka another day. Though this is an ideal situation of killing two birds with one stone, both of them have possible connections to the Phantom Thieves but right now, he'd rather not deal with someone as obnoxious as that guy.

Kaito clapped his hands, “Hey! Since we're all here, how about a meal? My treat! I'd love to get to know more about Asuka and Mister Detective Prince! It's not everyday an opportunity like this can come by!”

Goddammit, WHY?! “You're right, I'll take you up on that offer then.”

“I'll take my leave instead…”

“Now, now, Asuka. Since this kind person is going to treat us, wouldn't it be polite to accept such an offer? He seems to know someone close to you too.”

FINE! Might as well take this chance! DAMMIT!!!

“I'm not really… close to him though.” Asuka tried to take a step away from them.

“Aww! Please, please, please, pretty please? How about I help you with homework too? Please come with us! The more the merrier after all!” Kaito pleaded with the best puppy dog eyes expression he can muster.

“Exactly!” Akechi added, to which Asuka openly glared at him for.

For a second, the two's expression seemed to telepathically communicate with each other, two different thoughts yet both in sync enough to converse with the other.

This bastard is surely planning something…

If I'm getting roped in with this guy, I'm going to drag you into this one too.

. . .

And so, the unlikely trio sat by the table of a restaurant nearby. One who was visibly dragged in, another beaming with a light as bright as an artificial sun, and lastly someone who deep down wanted to break the glass of water nearby as they waited for their orders.

Dealing with Asuka should be easy enough but this obnoxious bastard has got to be faking this entire overly cheerful personality of his otherwise his entire existence is just gonna piss me off to no end.

“So, you go to Ekoda High, Kaito? That's quite far from here.” Akechi is luckily used to maintaining this image of his, it should be easy to do despite how badly he want to just get out already.

“Nah! So long as you know your ins and outs, it's actually pretty close by!”

“Is that so—”

“By the way, Asuka! Your scarf suits you so well! It even matches your uniform!” Kaito cut Akechi off again.

Deep breaths… This guy… is clearly doing that on purpose!

“Ah… Thanks…” She took a small glance at Akechi and then at Kaito before looking at her scarf, she seemed to be thinking about something.

It's fine, if his goal is to rile me up then let him try, his attempts won't work on me at all anyway.

“Being a so called Detective Prince at that age sure is impressive, huh Akechi?” Kaito threw the ball back at Akechi's court.

“It's nothing I can't handle—”

“Yeah, it must be so hard getting swarmed with cases left and right that you don't even have time to do all of them anymore.” It was Asuka that cut him off this time.

“Pardon?”

“Oh, I'm just saying. In a general sense.” Asuka slightly squinted at him and seemingly rolled her eyes in a subtle manner as she turned to look away. It was as if a switch was flipped and now, instead of Akechi killing two birds with one stone, it feels as though that two birds are killing him with one stone.

. . .

Akechi mentally sighed as he could only freeze his own smile in place to keep it from faltering, he shouldn't have accept this invite.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)

[trouticecream]

Intermission: Old Wounds Reawakened 1/2

It had only been for a little bit.  Just a tiny glimpse–against the very bits of rationality and cold, clear-cut logic which had cemented his original decision on the matter–into the life of the one Gregory had once been in conflict with… –approximately a decade ago, if one is to view the timeline in a more linear manner; in exactly the way in which Ninten himself would have experienced it.  Safe within the rocky and somewhat ancient–it being the very first Psion base ever constructed on Earth post preliminary contact with the seemingly ordinary planet–confines of the Mt. Itoi base, the Psion himself had utilized its built-in surveillance system–capable of zeroing in on any temporal-spatial coordinates–to extract concrete visuals centered on Ninten.  His original intentions had only been to capture a brief ‘check-in’, but like anything else of such a nature… like any other ‘slippage’... it never remains at one neat point, but rather unravels like an unwieldy thread down a labyrinth-like ravine, never to be reclaimed again.

What had started as a mere ‘peek’ had quickly evolved into something far more extensive; a task that certainly tests (if not outright transcends) what humans ordinarily regard as an ethical boundary.  Visuals which he had tirelessly followed over the course of several days, subsequently pushing back his own schedule and sending away the Starman Super which now stood by his side in his overarching quest here on Earth, in order to collect a sufficient enough degree of data on the human’s current life to (perhaps a touch selfishly) assuage his own (increasingly weighty, oddly enough, despite the lack of tangibility to it) concerns over whether or not he had permanently bestowed undue ruination upon Ninten’s life.  And according to his own observations of the human’s life thus far…

… nothing in particular seems to be amiss.

By the arbitrary definition of what it means to be ‘okay’... by the most commonly-recognized standards of humanity… Ninten seems to be okay.  Changed, but otherwise ‘okay’.  The first thing the Psion had ever noted about him is that the human boy had undergone striking physical changes, as is customary for the progression from a child and to a fully-baked human-being.  Ninten is no longer the diminutive human he had once towered over in his own full–and thus truest–adult form, but now the one who would certainly tower over the Psion himself now, stuck as he currently is at a height of 2”3;  a complete reversal of their positions when the two originally met, for the first and final time.  The form of a child–aptly referred to as the “child phase” among Psions–and though Gregory himself would like to claim otherwise… a pervasive lapse in his perceived age from before.  No matter how much knowledge he has or how many experiences–be it a collection of clear memories or vague impressions, filling the prevalent holes in-between–he has, the “adult phase” no longer seems suitable either.  Perhaps it had never been suitable from the very beginning.  Perhaps he had never been a ‘proper’ adult, but merely projected a facsimile of it and now, he had been resynchronized to what he had always truly been the whole time.  Just as the human boy had gradually grown up to the form of an adult to better match the many more experiences, knowledge, and maturity he had likely acquired since the confrontation at the summit of Mt. Itoi.

But then… that is only natural for humans is it not?

It is only natural for them to change, evolve, and grow in not just physical but in ways that far transcend mere physicality; their very flesh casings themselves.  One of the many ways in which humans prove to be surprisingly resilient, despite what shallow conclusions one may initially surmise from their comparatively fragile compositions.  A quality that, despite their renowned technological and psionic advancements, Gregory has personally found the Psion species to be lacking in.  The former is barely natural for Psions, requiring a special Magicant-oriented process to shift from the “child phase” and into the far more functional “adult phase”.  And the latter is almost unheard of.  

Change is not natural for Psions.

It is not natural to be anything, but the role that one is created to fulfill in society; nothing more and nothing less.

To undergo as many physical changes as Gregory himself has.

Child.  Then Adult.  Then a state beyond even adulthood; one so explosive and intense that it could not be contained by what Psions would define as an ‘adult’.  Then something not quite whole, but cognizant enough to pull whatever it could back together.  And now Child again, but with a kind of understanding and elevated perspective he never had the first time around.

To undergo as many non-physical changes as Gregory himself hopes to achieve, beyond the ones that have guided him beyond the confines of Psion society and into goals determined by himself.

A Psion that does not follow orders from anyone other than himself.

A Psion whose role is determined not by others, but by his own reflections.

A Psion that grows almost as the likes of humanity does.

As Ninten certainly has.

The physical changes were what was immediately evident, but though the base personality traits remain intact, the Psion himself could tell that there is a kind of acquired maturity and (surprising) level-headedness now; a sharp contrast to the brash, reckless, and hotheaded nature he had originally been acquainted with a ‘decade’ ago in chronology, thousands of years ago in his own total amount of time spent existing.  And fortunately, changed as the human boy might have been, the life that he leads seems to be ordinary.  Nothing short of what any other human might pursue were their interests to align precisely as Ninten’s have.  He engages with various sports on a regular basis.  He attends some kind of educational institution dedicated towards studies beyond that which something referred to as ‘high school’ entails with a focus on what appears to be fauna in a medical context.  He plays a particular ‘role’ in his society as a preparer of coffee in a cafe, albeit within very limited temporal constraints and in exchange for currency.  And he regularly maintains contact with the associates which had accompanied him at the summit of Mt. Itoi.

All constituents of that which many humans strive towards; a ‘normal’ and ‘happy’ life.  And relatively ‘normal’ and ‘happy’ Ninten seems.

It is… a ‘relief’ as humans would put it.

A miniscule bit of a kind of… –’heaviness’ proverbially lifted off his petite shoulders.  Not quite all of it, but at this juncture, that should not have mattered anyways because this is done.  Logically, Gregory should have logically left it at that.  Should have simply forgotten about this entire… detour altogether… and re-centralized his focus towards doing something that will actually help the Earth and its life-forms; not something that has already long since overstayed its ‘welcome’ or lack thereof.  And yet… against all the precise calculations and ice cold logic which had originally led him to decide against doing any of this to begin with… something… –irrational, compels him to pursue the matter beyond its originally limited scope.  More than merely conducting surveillance from within the safe confines of the Mt. Itoi base… the Psion somehow manages to convince himself to take this data collection a step further and observe Ninten a little more closely.

An in-person excursion rather than merely observing him from behind the filter of a screen, no matter how advanced.  Just to be extra-certain.  To conclude that without a reasonable doubt… Ninten’s life has not been ‘ruined’ by either invasion.

And nothing else.  Inexplicable as the sheer strength of such a pull is towards continuing on with this… there can be no other reason.  No other reason is acceptable.

And so, now the disguised alien–emulating a pale blonde human boy, no more than 5”2 in height, with dark blue eyes–lies in wait, deftly hidden behind an especially thick tree along a few others scattered about the general vicinity of the human’s residence in the town referred to as ‘Podunk’, dark blue voids fixed on the residence in question.  At this point, the Psion already has a good sense of what Ninten’s schedule should be.  What to expect.  And how to most efficiently gather further data in order to properly eradicate any lingering concerns so that he can finally put this matter aside and stop wasting time accordingly.  It will only be one day and nothing else–

…–his uncharacteristically distracted and haphazard thoughts abruptly get cut off with a sudden brush of physical contact in the form of a light yet somewhat firm application of pressure to a shoulder.  A mere poke punctuated by a “hey” whispered all too closely into his ear, but an action nonetheless so surprising–a novelty in and of itself with how rare it is to ‘sneak up’ on him like that–that Gregory immediately stiffens up, mouth flattening into a tense line, and he unconsciously projects a barrier of pale blue light from his own person and outwards.  A barrier which, as a result, ends up knocking back the mysterious ‘assailant’ and hard into the ground a more comfortable distance from the disguised Psion himself.  Gregory sharply turns, his hand slightly raised and dark blue voids narrowed with a mixture of irritation at having been startled and an analytical edge, ultimately intent on quickly assessing what action this change in situation warrants.  A state of agitation which almost immediately evaporates the moment he not only gets a proper look at the ‘assailant’ in question, but hears their voice through the air as they rub their side before wildly waving toned appendages before them in protest.

“OW!  Hey… HEY, take it easy kid will ya?!?  I didn’t mean any harm –I was just trying to mess with you a little, honest!”

Ninten.  Of course.  The height, athletic build, messy dark hair, brown eyes, voice, and tanned skin all match up.  But, even so, Gregory sharply stares for just a moment more before he puts his hand down and the barrier around him dissipates.  An action which elicits a sigh of relief from the human man, before he rather gingerly pulls himself back to his feet, half-heartedly dusting dirt from his red and blue striped hoodie adorned with an illustration of some sort of Earth creature–a ‘penguin’ he believes to be the correct term for such a thing–in its center and plain black gym shorts as he does so.  The disguised Psion, in the meantime, merely stares straight ahead without a blink, his mind utterly frayed and buzzing with a million different thoughts; utterly unprepared for an encounter of this sort, the rarity of being surprised aside.

He cannot parse out how to respond exactly.  How much he should bother with blaming himself for the transgression of any contact with the human at all.  How he had been caught by surprise at all… before ultimately determining that much of these thoughts don’t matter right now anyways.  He needs to say something… an ‘apology’ he thinks based on what all those books on causing accidental harm suggest… but before he can even manage to do that much, something oddly petty steamrolls through any semblance of ironclad restraint.  The disguised alien neatly crosses his arms over his chest with a huff, his tone taking on a kind of militant sharpness, tipped in just a bit of disapproval.

“Well.  Do not do it again.

Someone of your experience and developmental phase should know better than to do something like that.”

By the time the disguised Psion finishes speaking, Ninten has already regained his footing and recovered from the fall albeit a bit sore, and though he’s clearly the so-called ‘adult’ here, something about the primness–almost like being scolded or something–rubs him the wrong way; in a way that any other kid definitely wouldn't, as if somehow there’s something more complicated or deeper than the surface than it seems, in a way that’s just a touch familiar.  Yeah yeah maybe sneaking up on what, now, seems like an obvious PSI-user–beyond the more visible display of power–isn’t a great move, but geez it’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything!  The human man crosses his arms–as though intentionally imitating Gregory–and cocks his head almost challengingly, just about barely stifling the urge to dismissively stick his tongue out in contempt of the pretentious air being given off by the other, before he sharply shoots back a response of his own, making sure to match the disguised Psion’s tone exactly.

“Wellllll… –maybe I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t skulking around like a weirdo!”

He wouldn’t normally address a kid–no matter how pretentious–like that, but man something is definitely up with this one.  Something weird enough that it somehow feels fitting to respond as he would anyone else; it just feels right somehow, especially for the weirdly blank demeanor and the way that the kid talks… which oddly enough, also feels right somehow hence why he doesn’t question it much at all.  Maybe even more so given just how much, odd as it may be, it re-ignites the same rebellious spark that propelled him forward against all odds back when Giegue–.  He cuts his own thought off with a shake of his head, disapproval of his own, before completely pushing away the overall ick of just how unsettling, disturbing, and well… complicated it ended up being.  He doesn’t really know why he’s thinking about him now of all things, but well, old habits die hard, especially when dredged back up by yet another attack.  Some time might have passed since then, but the scale of it this time around was something else altogether.

The human exudes a heavy sigh, acutely noting that Gregory had deigned not to respond with an utterly inscrutable expression, before pressing on a bit more gently though not quite letting up entirely yet.

“Guess what I’m saying is that… I’m trying to piece out what you want exactly.”

He animatedly yet vaguely gestures at the other.

“On why you’ve been watching me.”

He sticks up a finger, almost scoldingly, as if anticipating denial of the fact.

“And don’t say it isn’t you.  It’s gotta be you.  I got the same feeling I’ve been getting over the past few days right as you arrived, but stronger.

I’m a PSI-user too, y’know?

Maybe not as talented as one of my best friends, but not exactly a lightweight either, you get it?”

Just as was the case before, Ninten is met with silence or at least that appears to be the case at first, before Gregory averts his gaze, small hands agitatedly gripping the ends of his yellow sweater and twisting it to and fro.  As his own bout of pettiness slowly ebbs away, a combination of frustration–in having miscalculated so severely and violating the one thing he had vowed not to do–and shame sets in, causing the disguised alien to hesitate a little before he ultimately responds.  There’s no utility in lying.  Not about observing Ninten at least.  As for the reason why… well… he will have to make something up.  A moment’s thought is granted to that notion before Gregory straightens himself out to a more upright position and nods, flatly speaking as he does so.

“I do know.  You are the one that stopped the alien invasion a decade ago.  I have heard many stories about it and was hoping to learn something more from observing you.

I…”

The disguised alien glances back, expression perfectly neutral, before he seems to ultimately relent in some way, hands falling back to idle positions by his sides.

“... –sorry.”

And though his stoic demeanor dares not falter, it ‘feels’ as though the ‘floodgates’ have effectively been opened or as though something has burst on the inside in a way he has not experienced in a very long time.  It’s an oddly rending sensation; resonant with that which he had pushed back before being inadvertently pulled back in with a biting vengeance.  A buried desire to apologize–to rectify–wrongdoings against his adoptive human mother’s kin now reborn anew and embodied by the simple expression he had just managed to utter.  Something that means so much more than just this situation in particular, but no less a truth that he could not reveal here and now.  The ‘cruel’ truth of the matter is that Ninten could never be allowed to understand just what the ‘sorry’ means in full… what it exactly means to the Psion himself… because it would go against his current mission on Earth.  On what he means to achieve in ways that far transcend the mere physical actions of cleaning up after what he’s done here.  It isn’t just about rectifying the physical damages, but ensuring that no further harm comes to the life-forms on Earth because of him and that they can exist in relative peace without having to see even the remnants of the invasions of Earth.

“I should depart.  I will bother you no further.”

And to that end, out returns the only correct response to such a situation, in Gregory’s personal opinion.  Personal feelings must never come before his mission.  Be as that may however, it would seem that such a thing is not entirely up to the Psion himself because for better and for worse, the human isn’t quite as content to let this whole thing go.  Not after he’s heard not just the reason why, but the way the other seems to relent shortly after.  An apology goes a long way and while there’s (still) this overwhelming sense of oddness and vague sense of familiarity–something that’s been pushed back time and time again, throughout the entire ordeal–it doesn’t exactly stop him from sticking out a hand (but this time, without making the mistake of suddenly coming into physical contact with the other) in a stop motion.

“Wait!  Listen, this is all super-weird okay?  Let’s just get that out there, but hey, if you wanna know more about that whole invasion thing, I don’t mind telling the story.

But some advice for next time? if you wanna get something outta someone, it’s usually better to just be direct about it y’know?”

He smiles, reassuringly, at the disguised alien.  It seems that for the time-being, everything preceding this moment, is water under the bridge.

“Makes it easier to avoid situations like this to begin with, yeah?”

Gregory averts his gaze for a moment, mulling over the human’s words for a moment and turning over his revised options, before looking back at the other with a curt nod, his own expression a somewhat cold and blank contrast to Ninten’s warmth.

“I suppose so.”

And… that’s all he says for the time-being, unable to put together anything better.  In the end, it seems that since the ‘damage’ is effectively done… he might as well see this through to the very end; this way he gleans something from it as opposed to something this happening… with nothing to show for it afterwards anyways.  Fortunately, he doesn’t need to say much because Ninten himself is talkative and outgoing enough to fill in the spaces left in the wake of Gregory’s woeful inadequacies in such a thing.  The hand that the human had extended out earlier is promptly turned over in an open gesture, receptive to being gripped in kind by another.

“Ahem.  Now that that’s settled, why dontcha head back with me to my house?  It’s better to talk ‘bout this kinda thing in comfort!”

Gregory himself merely stares at the offered hand, perhaps for a moment too long as though more complicated deliberations are going on in his head, before relenting and gingerly–cautiously–taking it.  Something so simple yet utterly complicated.  He has not held anyone’s hand in literal millenia much less anyone that could effectively be regarded as ‘family’ by proxy.  It is as though he had grown so accustomed to existing in a particular state–with a perpetual figurative hole in his ‘heart’–that he had not realized that anything was amiss anymore until the realization struck him anew.  Re-awakened a particular kind of awareness that had been numbed before and in turn, alerted him to an old pain as it’s now being eased, even if only a little bit.  Were he precisely the same as he was before, the disguised Psion is certain that he would have retracted his hand immediately and though the impulse isn’t entirely absent, rather than falling to its mercurial whims, he tightens his grip just a bit to avoid inadvertently slipping out.

Grip secured and confident that he’ll be followed in kind, the human man begins to almost casually make his way across the short distance to his home while Gregory silently follows along, still a touch conflicted but more willing to put that much behind him in favour of making certain that everything goes well here.

“Soooo… you obviously already know me, my name and everything… –so I gotta know, what do I call my newest fan?”

The word ‘fan’ immediately cuts through the remainder of the disguised alien’s internal conflict if only because such a notation is absurd, his mouth twitching just a bit with a barely contained resurgence of that pettiness from before.  It does no good to become unnecessarily combative like that.  The assumption made is a convenient one and so, after the initial affrontement passes, Gregory responds in a more comparatively amicable (if not fundamentally neutral) way in return.

“You may refer to me as ‘Gregory’.  I look forward to learning from you, Ninten.”

[dnangelic]

i want to go back to it with a better mindset for memorization and study at some point but junko's dark forever drives me insaaaane. the gist of the first wink CD is daisuke's school is prepping for a sleeping beauty play, and at one point the fact dai's even exactly the 19th (tamer of) dark is even touched on by the (continuous) allusion of him to the princess, but towards the ending of it all dark butts in during the play itself and calls himself a bug(? i'm pretty sure it was "mushi") from the forest that had "cast a spell on the princess and stolen the time of the castle," (re: daisuke and the niwa family's,) compounding hiwatari's extremely early analysis of sleeping beauty's brambles as a form of 'self-barriers' whereas the prince is meant to represent a form of penetrating conversation. (you have to be able to talk with someone to let them into your heart! dark and daisuke's [shared] doors to their heart are canonically immensely heavy!)

anyways the point that's getting away from me is the way that dark's always introduced at least early in as the black swan, maleficent, evil step-sis type usurper-character who gradually DOES turn, assimilate, outright into a part of daisuke and takes the position of daisuke's best friend as the snow queen's kai, or their primary beauty and the beast functionality (like dark sincerely, desperately wanted!) makes me bite and chew... daisuke's always meant to be the purer, classic victorian-gothic ingenue, but i feel like there's not a ton ever explored with what dark represents as the focus because he, and his character alone, is meant to be sympathetic in a role that's typically a shallow malice. the classic fairy tale in the public majority's thoughts doesn't typically explore sleeping beauty's sorceress's bitterness at being the only one not invited to the party, nor does cinderella ever divulge the deeper innerworkings of the stepsisters, and yet it's always dark who serves as all these roles, compelled to do what he does (in the sense of any maliciousness, re: his continuous, oppressive and terrifying goading of his tamers to merge with him, his playboy attitude, his lying and cheating and conning,) because he has no other way to get what he wants; a flaw considered universal amongst the artworks and likewise the emotional hole they need to fill to make them something truly more human.

likewise, daisuke loves storybook knights, he loves the fantasy of being able to save someone or someone coming from out of nowhere and somehow, miraculously taking him away and spontaneously liking him, thereby "saving him," but it's problematic when you yourself are partly an evil dragon; you set into the beast's gloom, you start to believe that it'll never happen, and even when it does, that it might get ruined or that you don't deserve it (and the word deserve is ever-present and immensely weighty in so many conversations.) dark's thoughts are always 1:1 with daisuke on all of this, even if he never says any of it. villains don't get princes, they're supposed to get slain by the prince. but he still wants what he wants, and what he wants is to keep dreaming; to convince himself, and daisuke, daisuke at him, that they're still worthy of being someone (if not something) of being loved.

[cementcornfield]

UGH

[whoslaurapalmer]

memory foam has no damn right being as heavy as it is

[zevrans-remade]

.

[jackie-shitposts]

heyy just wondering if you're gonna make any more random Carmen stuff? i love your crack vids, and if you aren't gonna make anymore Youtube stuff thats totally fine! just love your content. thanks Jackie!

thanks for loving my stuff! but im normal about carmen sandiego now so no more videos (frantically shoving 6 videos worth of notes behind my back so you cant see them)

[danikatze]

I was tagged by @tj-dragonblade for the last line tag game! Thank you 😊 The last time I added to a fic was a week and a half ago - wanna get back into it but I've been busy with rewatching things I used to watch between 2006-2010 lol. Anyway the bit is:

It didn't come entirely out of the blue when Ume started demanding answers around the time Yaichi got arrested. Out of the Five Leaves, Ume was always the most open and honest. In broad lines everyone knew his background, which is more than could be said about the others. Still, Matsu didn't think that Ume would would start inquiring about his sex life of all things. Matsu didn't even really talk about that with most of the people he was about to sleep with.

Also, I started sketching for Inktober. I wanna use this year's Inktober to draw stuff for movies/series/characters I've never drawn before. Hence the rewatching! This is Virginia from 10th Kingdom <3

[ID in alt text]

(If anyone's curious about 10th Kingdom, you can watch it for free on youtube :)) )

[icewindandboringhorror]

various little Pictures of thinges

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

once again in my rickard and mortyanne era. if you couldn't tell

[omotelie]

WHERE’S MY FUKING CAPO

[rayvern-sheep]

Update on my mental health: I am doing better! Just in case anyone read those concerning posts the past few weeks and was worried.

I have kinda long-winded advice sorta shit under the cut if you are thinking of top surgery but know you don’t deal w/ change well, or have got it but are wondering why you still feel like shit weeks later when everyone else seems to feel better. And then some more rambling in the tags if you’re into that sorta thing.

Oh boy it’s long under the cut… Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Some advice: if you have a hard time w/ big change, small change, any kind of change. Be prepared to have a hard time w/ top surgery recovery. The general consensus if you research it is that post-op depression is over by abt the fourth week, and that is actually deemed late by some sources. Many said the second or third week. If you are starting to feel worse after that point it does not mean you made a mistake! Don’t panic!

Even though I wrote several notes to myself before the procedure explaining that I did in fact want this, and I know I am bad w/ change, that did not help me when I was in the pits of a doom spiral. I’m ngl that was genuinely the worst I’ve been mentally in years. I had to ring a suicide hotline at one point because I thought I’d lost the point of life. Talk to someone you trust abt how you’re feeling. I just straight up sobbed into my mum’s shoulder abt how I didn’t understand anything anymore and I was terrified I’d made a mistake getting surgery. She talked me through it and reminded me that I’d wanted this for years, that I didn’t go outside w/out a binder on, etc. She reminded me that everyone deals w/ things at different times, just because most ppl feel perfectly fine by the one month mark it doesn’t mean I would. Then after that I just hung out w/ her. The day after that we went and did some chores outside the house. A little time outside is often a good idea, I do regret to inform you.

I’m not gonna say I’m all fixed and perfect now. I’m still low energy and back to hiding in my baggy hoodies (now I can get them on again yippee!!!) but I’m not pushing myself rn. And I wish I had some good advice other than idk have a good system of loved-ones. If you have a therapist talk to them. Don’t be like me and bottle shit up. I’m so good at bottling shit up that I do not notice smthn is getting bad until I’m at the very bottom of the fucking doom spiral and I look up and see how far I fell down it lmao.

I wrote a whole diff paragraph but deleted it. Better version though is just try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Surgery is exhausting, and feeling burned-out even after a month isn’t smthn to be ashamed of. Just focus on keeping yourself sane. If possible take it easy, do things half-assed and low-effort for a while if you can get away w/ it. Just while you mentally catch up to your new stuff.

For some ppl top surgery “fixes” all their problems, but for most it does not. Whatever mental or physical problems you had before surgery, you will still have. Now, my surgeon literally told me surgery would not fix everything. I knew this before going into this, before I even had my first conversation with him, and I still had a bad fucking time mentally. So don’t expect to feel perfect. I was in a weird surreal bubble for the first like 3(?) weeks where I was just physically recovering before my head fucking lost it.

I don’t wanna put anyone off, and tbh worrying abt how bad you’re gonna feel can be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I just wanna say that it can get rough. But if it does, you are not alone!!! You’ve not ruined your life, it’s not the end of the world, you still have something to live for. Keep pushing through, take it slow, talk to someone you trust. Try to do things that comfort you and help you feel safe. You’re gonna get through it.

Idk man I just wanted to share my experience on this. Because in my frantic research from the bottom of the pit all I could see were smiling faces saying they felt the best they’d ever felt in their life. It was euphoria all day every day. And the only ppl who weren’t feeling perfect were the ppl unhappy w/ their results. But the thing is I love my results, everything looks as expected. It’s literally how I drew it lmao, couldn’t have gone better. Not to brag sorry. But the point was, nothing was wrong physically. The majority of the physical healing was done, but my brain hadn’t been healing at all during that time. It was just putting itself to the side while the body did it’s thing. And when even proper medical sources are saying that ppl usually start to feel mentally better after the fourth week, and I was actually starting to feel shitty by that point, it rlly made me worry smthn was wrong. I was frantically trying to blame something for what I was feeling. And it was likely a whole mess of shit, with the main culprit being my inability to process change. Dude I freak out when a loved-one gets a tattoo or a piercing or changes their fucking hair. I wish I was joking, but I’m not. It stresses me out. And although I always get over it eventually, I should’ve known that this was gonna happen. After those early weeks of the itchy haze, I totally should’ve known a mental spiral was on the horizon. But I was just so lost in the sauce that was the whole experience.

I would not change the experience of top surgery for the world. I only wish I’d been more prepared for the dive my mental health would take so late in the game. I expected post-op depression. But as I said that’s usually only in the first couple of weeks. So when it didn’t happen I thought I was okay. But oooooo boy. I forgot how slow my brain is at processing shit. And hey, if I did “make a mistake” in getting my tits chopped off. If in the future I’m like “Hey I’m a woman now!” then so fucking what. There are titless women out there, and they’re no less woman than a woman w/ tits so big they break her back. Life is for living so fucking do that. I’ve not butchered or ruined my body even if my gender does change in the future. Get rekt transphobes.

ANYWAY… I think I’ve rambled enough. If I remember smthn I’ll prob add it in a RB cos this post is already long enough now. Thank fuck for the “read more” function. So I can hide all my stupid mushy shit under here and not clog up someone’s dash. Yippee!!