#Gravity Daze 2 ending

[citricacidprince]

doodle request on relativity falls - id love 2 see ur vers of fiddleford and where he stands in the story!! :DD

Of course!!!

Oh Fiddleford, my dearly beloved Fiddleford, he’s just a little guy who makes machines that hurt people and I love him for that <3

In my Relativity Falls AU Fidds is a kid from Tennessee who moved to Gravity Falls pretty recently, like in the past year.

He’s still really handy with mechanics, like a genuine prodigy, but he’s so riddled with anxiety that it’s a battle to get him to share any of his projects outside of his robots he makes to get revenge on those who wrong him!

He really does like hanging out with the twins, he thinks their both fun and is very happy they actually wanna be his friend, however their constant ‘Getting into weird and magical trouble’ is so stress inducing to him he’s going to get gray hairs by the time he’s 20 (Dipper can relate-)

I don’t have a lot of things solidified for him yet, other than I want him to be EXTREMELY tempted to use the Memory Gun on himself, to forget a lot of the horrifying things he’s seen over the summer, but is stopped by Candy (The inventor of the gun) at the last second. You see, Candy didn’t spiral like Fiddleford did in the show, she only ever used the memory gun on herself once. However, she used it to erase every bit of knowledge she ever learned about the weirdness of Gravity Falls, and Candy had spent YEARS of her life dedicated to it, she was arguably more curious about the weirdness of Gravity Falls than Dipper was. He was only curious out of morbid curiosity, she saw the whimsy and wonder in it all. So when Candy used the Memory Gun on herself and erased such a huge chunk of her memory it cracked her psyche, not leaving her a rambling and insane kook like Fiddleford, but more oblivious and unaware to everything around her while also being a liiiiittle ‘not all there’.

Between the two of them Candy definitely got the better end of the stick. Fiddleford was deemed insane and used the memory gun over and over again until he couldn’t even remember who he was anyone, his life falling apart. Candy used it once to make sure no one could ever use her research to hurt anyone after she learned her lab partner was literally working with an otherworldly being who could go into peoples heads and it cracked her mind because her research WAS her entire life, leaving her oblivious and dazed. However, Candy managed to find people who cared about her and were willing to care for her despite this. Sure she lives in the dump, but whenever a storm comes through or she gets hungry she can always go up to her friends Grenda, Mabel Mason, or even Pacifica at some point to help her out. Fiddleford had no one.

I want Candy to give Fidds a little pep talk, convincing him that despite those memories being scary and uncomfortable he’s going to need all of them because they’re what will help him grow as a person. He can’t just pick and choose which ones he wants because one day he’ll realize he doesn’t have any memories left to burn.

Maybe there could even be a moment where Fidds tries to use the memory gun on Candy because he convinces himself he NEEDS it and doesn’t want to deal with the consequences of hating choice, but freezes up when he realizes it does work on her anymore. The realizes what he just did because of how badly he wanted that memory gun seconds after he did it and starts to tremble, dropping the memory gun as he begins uncontrollably crying that he ‘didn’t mean it’ and he’s sorry. Candy wouldn’t hold it against him, just seeing a scared kid who was so desperate to make the mind numbing anxiety that he would do anything, and she’d hug him and tell him it’s okay before leading him back to the rest of the group.

Fiddleford makes me soooo ill I love him <3

[thecursedanon]

Amusement Park Shenanigans

Alternate title: Never agree to go to an amusement park w/ Gojo. Characters: Switch!Yuji, Lee!Nanami(technically switch!Nanami, but only briefly.) Ler!Gojo, Megumi, Nobara. (brief mentions of Shoko, Suguru and Haibara.) Genre: Fluff (also some hurt/comfort if you squint enough at certain points) Word count: 6388 Description: Gojo decides to take the students to the amusement park, and drags a very unwilling Nanami along with them... after trying to failing to convince Gojo to let him leave, and one too many grumpy remarks from Nanami, Gojo decides to do what Gojo does best... cause absolute chaos. Part 2: (click here)

It was a comfortable day, the weather was beginning to cool down as they just entered into fall. The leaves began to change into varying shades of amber or red, and everyone seemed a bit more light and cheerful at the beauty of the changing season.

Well… not quite everyone… 

You may not be very light or cheerful if you were stuck at an amusement park chaperoning a gaggle of students.

“Can we leave now?”

“Aw come on, Nanami,” Gojo pouted. “Lighten up! We're at an amusement park, you mean to tell me you're not having any fun?”

Or if you were Kento Nanami.

“Not in the slightest.” He retorted, still unsure just how he ended up accompanying them to begin with. It’s entirely possible Satoru had suggested he tag along and rather than argue with him, which would require paying attention, he half listened and just agreed to whatever childish assertion he had made. 

Satoru grinned at his friend’s discontentment. “Where's your sense of childlike adventure and amazement?? Just look at Yuji, he's having fun.”

The white haired teacher gestured to Yuji, who was currently stumbling around the park like a baby giraffe learning to walk, evidently dizzy from one too many go-arounds on the rollercoaster they just returned from.

They had stopped in an out of the way area of the park so that the boy could recover… which evidently wasn’t going well.

The pink haired teen eventually lost his fight with gravity and fell over, if this had been a cartoon you probably could have seen stars circling around his head.

“See? Childlike amazement.”

Yuji gave a grin to the others, a dazed look on his face. “I'm having so much fun!! Just tell me when the ride is over!”

Nanami gives the boy a silent look of concern as he sighs. 

“Alright alright, take five, ya finger eating freak.” Gojo laughed and bent down to pat the pinkette on the head. “But hey, don't just take Itadori’s word for it--” Suddenly Gojo was beside Nanami, whispering to him. “Because the kid is a little… strange.”

The next moment, Gojo was beside Megumi, who had a bright pink sakura flower balloon tied to his wrist and looked as though he was being held there against his will. “Megumi, you're having fun with your beloved sensei's, right?”

Megumi grunted in annoyance. “Somehow this is worse than that time you rented a bouncy house when I was ten…”

“Hey, kids love bouncy houses!” Gojo argued.

“Too bad it wasn't for them.” The edgy teen sighed, recalling what was apparently a painful memory for him.

Satoru pouted, pinching his emo son’s side, producing an uncharacteristic yip from the boy. “You can't argue that it wasn't a totally fun Friday night!”

“Fine… allow me to rephrase my question.” Nanami readjusted his sunglasses with a sigh, not bothering to cover up his annoyance with being dragged to a place full of people on one of his mythical days off. “Can I leave now?”

“Haaaah?? Why would you want to leave???” Gojo reacted as though he'd just witnessed a terrible accident in slow motion… kind of like Megumi recalling the bounce house incident . “This is family bonding day! And last time I checked you're still part of this family-- whether you like it or not!!” he quickly added at the end, sensing Nanami was about to deny it.

Nanami glanced at the group of kids they were chaperoning. “You know I hate amusement parks.” He said, this time quieter so only Satoru could hear him.

Gojo blinked in confusion from behind his sunglasses as he tried to pull a lost sequence from his memory. Did he know that? Now that he mentions it… he did recall something about an amusement park… but what?

While Satoru was silent (for once), Nanami took this as his chance to really try to convince him. “And besides… I doubt the kids would even notice I'm gone.”

Satoru stared blankly at the blonde, still attempting to force the two remaining neurons that weren’t focused on being a menace to spark the memory that was just evading his grasp… Can you hear the dial up tone?

“Hey… that’s not true!” Yuji interjected, pulling himself together as he stumbled towards his father figure. “I’d notice you were gone.”

Nanami’s face softened as he looked at Yuji. “Itadori… wouldn’t you have more fun running around with your friends? I’ll just slow you all down.” he responded, his tone less harsh than before.

“No way, I won’t have nearly as much fun without you here.” He frowned, hitting Nanami with one of the classics… the puppy dog eyes. (dun dun dunnnn)

“Y-Yuji.” Kento warned, shifting his gaze uncomfortably away from his student but no matter where he looked there Yuji was… leaning more and more into the act.

“OH! I remember now!” Gojo said suddenly, inadvertently startling Yuji and causing him to fall over, evidently still not fully recovered from all the roller coaster rides.

Nanami flinched inwardly as Gojo leaned closer to him. “What?”

“Come on, Kento… how can you say no to that sweet boy? He looks like he’s about to cry…” The chaotic teacher cooed at Yuji as he resumed his puppy dog eyes… from his new spot sitting on the ground.

Nanami huffed, turning away again as he crossed his arms. “Itadori… Just because that works on Megumi and Gojo doesn’t mean it’s going to work on me..”

“How hurtful! I think you owe us an apology for being so grumpy…” Satoru mused, winking at Yuji as if to tell him to follow his lead.

“I am not apologizing to you…” Kento grumbled, briefly shooting a glare to the white haired man.

“No? Be reeeeeally sure about that before you respond.” Gojo warned the blonde teacher.

“I said no.”

Satoru sighed softly with an almost threatening grin on his face, slowly slipping his sunglasses off and attaching them to his shirt collar. “I didn’t want to do this… but you leave me no choice.”

Nanami scoffed and turned back around to face him, upon locking eyes with the older man, he felt a familiar wave of panic flood over him. “Satoru…” Panic he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Gojo grinned even more as he rolled up his sleeves, approaching him slowly. “Yes, Kento?”

“Wh-What are you doing…?”

Kento mentally swore at himself for backing away from Satoru, he should be standing his ground right now… but that look… he recognized that look a little too well. And he didn't like it… (or did he?)

“Well, since you’re being such a grump I figured I’d fix your attitude for you.” Gojo hummed, a predatory glimmer in his eyes as he began to close the gap between them, raising his hands. “A few pokes here, a few squeezes there… and a whole bunch of tickles right there and voila! Good as new! One happy giggly Nanami ready to spend time with us without much complaint!”

Nanami’s eyes widened as he felt the color drain from his face. “Satoru… I will end you if you do this in front of the students.” he hissed as he began to back away again.

“What students? They’ve all scampered off… well, except for that kiddo right there.”

As if on cue, Itadori hooked his arms around Nanami from behind, grinning at the soft gasp he received. “What's wrong, Sensei? You look a little nervous…” the teen grinned.

“Itadori,” Nanami struggled in his hold to no avail, Yuji was using all of his strength to contain the stoic teacher in a bear hug, pinning his arms to his sides to stop him from breaking free. “if you don't let me go right now, so help me…”

“Threatening the students now, Nanami??” Gojo gasped melodramatically, slowly reaching his hands forward towards his squirming torso. “I'm shocked! Now I really have no choice but to adjust your attitude~”

Kento paused, his eyes catching sight of the slightly wiggling fingers that were inching closer. He felt another wave of panic rush over him, but attempted to not let it show, steeling his face as he forced himself to look away from Satoru. “Yuji… please let me go. I'm sorry for upsetting you.” He tried his hand at reasoning with the student as a last resort.

Unfortunately, he didn't receive any support there either. Yuji smiled, angling his head upwards to rest his chin on the back of Nanami’s shoulder. “There's no need to be sorry… I know crowds aren't really your scene.” He sympathized. “But… I did mean what I said. I do want you here… so I'm sorry for ambushing you like this.”

“Oh, so you can apologize to him, but not me??”

“Of course I can, I actually care about him.” Nanami retorted dryly, despite his impending doom.

Satoru gasped, his eyes dancing with amusement. He leaned in closer, speaking in a quieter tone. “You know, Nanami… if you wanted to be smothered with tickles so badly, all you had to do was ask~”

Satoru leaned back, allowing his teasing words to sink in for full effect before cracking his knuckles dramatically. “Alright Itadori, make sure to hold him niiiice and still for me, okay? Our dear sweet Nanami here turns into a wiggle-worm when he gets laughing.” he grinned as Yuji nodded in support, tightening his arms around him, but not so much so that it caused him any real discomfort.

“Both of you… this is ridiculous.” Nanami sighed, hoping if he didn't give the reaction he was looking for hoping that he'd grow bored quickly and go back to whining… as much as Kento hated his incessant whining. “Can you both stop being so chi--” he promptly stopped mid sentence as he felt Satoru grab his sides, lightly fluttering his grip.

“I'm sorry, what was that Nanami?” Gojo grinned. “I didn't quite catch that… what should we stop being?”

Kento took a subtle steadying breath, locking eyes with his tormenter with a blank look on his face. He didn't even dare to so much as flinch when Gojo touched him.

“As I was saying… can you both stop being so childish?” He answered calmly, outwardly unfazed by the maddeningly light teasing touches Satoru was administering to his sides.

Inwardly though… he was struggling to maintain his composure, trying desperately not to show any signs of weakness despite how god awfully, completely and utterly ticklish it felt... 

“Childish? Nanami… there's nothing wrong with a little tickling, It serves as a great bonding experience!” Satoru said cheerfully, leaning in closer to tease the blonde. “Especially when you're as ticklish as we both know you are…~”

Nanami choked back his retort, focusing his efforts on keeping his icy composure. “Satoru… the last time you… did this- was when we were in school together.” He reminded his colleague, careful with his words so as not to fluster himself any further than he already was inside. “I've long since grown out of that childish sensitivity…”

But unfortunately nothing slips past Satoru and his infamous Six Eyes, the cheeky little bastard.

“Oho, did you now?” He raised his eyebrows in amusement at his bold assertion, taking his defiance as a full blown challenge. “Well in that case, you shouldn't mind this then… right?”

He walked his fingers slowly up and down his sides, inching closer to his ribs with each trip up.

Nanami broke eye contact with him in an attempt to not react, feeling flustered at the teasing look in his eyes. “Of course I mind it… I don't like being touched by you.”

Yuji blinked, surprised at his calm and even tone. Had this been him instead of Nanami he would've been on the ground in a heap of giggles by now. “Hmm…”

Gojo knew better though, he knew he was slowly chipping away at his defenses. He could see the subtle cues, feel his muscles twitching. “Yes, Yuji? What ails you, my dear boy?” He asked, glancing over Kento’s shoulder to meet Yuji’s gaze- well, what he could glimpse of it with how the pinkette had his face angled, anyway.

“Maybe he's right,” Itadori said with a note of genuine seriousness. “Maybe he's not ticklish anymore… I know I'd be a mess right now.”

“Well, that's because you're hopelessly ticklish~” Gojo teased his student with a wink, grinning at the flustered look Itadori shot him. “So is Nanami though, maybe even just as bad as you.”

Nanami clenched his jaw in aggravation, barely resisting the urge to blush. “I am not. And stop talking about me like I'm not here!”

“But he's not reacting… not even his breathing is off.” Itadori ignored his teacher's protest, continuing to converse with Satoru.

“Well, Itadori, that's because Nanami here is what we call; ✨stubborn✨, and also shy.” Gojo grinned at his students' newfound curiosity, using this to his advantage as another form of teasing. “He needs some gentle reassurances that it's okay if he gives in to the nice tickly tickles and starts blushing and giggling like a schoolboy.” 

“Shut up. I most certainly do not giggle.” Nanami hissed in protest, feeling his face flush.

Whoopsie, that was a big chunk of his facade chipped away, watch your step everyone…

“Aww, see? He's already getting blushy.” Gojo cooed, brushing his fingertips against the bottom of the blonde's ribs. “It's okay, Kento… I don't mind being patient. That cute little laugh of yours is well worth the wait.”

Nanami took a sharp intake of breath, hating the feeling of how each gentle swipe across his ticklish midsection was chipping away at his sanity. “It's not… cute.” He forced out from behind gritted teeth.

Itadori raised an eyebrow, feeling his sensei tremble ever so slightly in his hold. “Does he really have a cute laugh?” He asked, grinning.

“No!”

Gojo laughed at Kento's quick rebuttal. “Yuji, come now, what about Nanami isn't utterly adorable~?” He continued dancing his fingertips lightly across what wasn't blocked off of Kento's ribs. “You know what's reeeeeally adorable about him?”

“What's that?”

“That he can't handle being teased... He gets extra giggly and blushy~” Gojo grinned, leaning in to speak quietly to Yuji, but just loud enough for Kento to still hear. This somehow made the snarky bastard's teases worse.

“Dammit… st-stop it already…!” Nanami huffed, squirming uselessly.

“Naaanami… does this tiiiiickle?” He teased, cooing at him like a damn toddler.

The younger teacher let out a growl of frustration, turning his head to face away from Gojo in a weak attempt to hide his darkening blush. He felt his body beginning to tremble as Gojo completely demolished his defenses.

“Come onnn… let us hear that adorable laugh~” he grinned, deciding to take things up a notch. He honed in on the sensitive spots between his ribs, giving light scratches to the area.

“Stop… I mean it…” he growled, forcing back any embarrassing sounds that may have tried to escape his throat. 

“What's this?? Do I see a smile on your face? but I thought you weren't ticklish anymore, Kento. What gives?” Gojo teased, grinning devilishly.

“Maybe he's finally starting to have fun spending time with us.” Yuji grinned. Thanks Yuji… we knew we could count on you to not bully Nanami too.

“Ooo, maybe! Does that mean you're actually going to ride the Ferris wheel with me?”

“Not on your life.” Kento hissed, his lips trembling as they formed a panicky smile.

“Aww! You're so mean to me…” Satoru whined, an evil glimmer in his eyes as he stilled his movements. “Fine then, since you're going to be so mean, maybe I'll go for your extra tickly spots… now where were those again…?” 

Nanami froze up as he felt Gojo pull a hand back to tap his chin in thought. In the process of doing so, he skimmed his fingertips against Nanami's waist, more specifically along the edge of his stomach. “S-Satoru…”

“Where oh where were those…” Gojo mumbled to himself, unable to keep the grin off of his face as he dropped his other hand, his fingers grazing Nanami's hip. “Oh… I just can't remember… the years are really starting to affect my memory!” He reached up to gently tap Kento's forehead to add emphasis to his words, but on the way up he brushed his fingers lightly against his neck.

Each ‘accidental’ touch, caused Nanami to flinch, the older of the two making sure his victim was well aware he knew exactly where his worst spots were… in his own chaotic Gojo way, of course.

“It’s a shame, really.” Satoru sighed, while he had Nanami distracted and on edge he mouthed a command to Yuji. 

The pinkette grinned mischievously, nodding his compliance as Nanami watched his other teacher cautiously.

“But, what can ya do? That's just life… as we get older, we become slower to react.” The white haired man shrugged, making sure both of his hands were perfectly visible as he did so.

And that's when he struck.

Itadori, without moving too much, reached down with a clawed hand and clawed into the spot along his waist that Satoru had sneakily pointed out earlier, having seen that Yuji was paying attention. (For once.)

Nanami gasped sharply, barking out an involuntary laugh. Shock crashing over him. “No, I-Ihihitadohohori!” The dam finally broke, laughter pouring freely from his lips. “Wahahahait!”

Satoru let out a low whistle. “What's this? I thought big scary Nanami wasn't ticklish anymore?” He smirked.

Nanami blushed, unable to stop the laughter that spilled forth. “Gojoho Ihihihi swehehear… I'm gonnahaha kihihihill you!” He threatened, though his words were… less than intimidating to say the least.

“Wow, you were actually right, Gojo.” Yuji chuckled. “His laugh is pretty cute.”

“Itadorihihi Hohohow could youhuhu?!” Kento's complaints about Yuji's betrayal were broken up by his warm, light laughter. 

Yuji grinned, moving around with his writhing teacher. “You also weren't kidding, he's really squirmy!”

Gojo smiled at the two of them, his mischief briefly shifted into warmth as he was brought back to a happier time.

Watching Yuji and Nanami now, he sees years of anguish and pain melt away even if just for a moment. 

For that moment, Satoru can see a young Nanami being absolutely destroyed with tickles by Haibara, Geto and himself while Shoko shakes her head and giggles at their antics.

It's definitely been far too long.

Gojo blinked, bringing himself back to the present. “Geez Yuji, I told you to keep him still.” He chuckled at how Itadori was practically hanging off of Nanami's back as Nanami had managed to double over with laughter.

“Hey, it's a lot harder than it looks!” Yuji laughed, his fingers dancing relentlessly along the side of his stomach.

“You have superhuman strength and can call on the power of the king of curses… and this is difficult for you?”

“Listen--” Yuji laughed again. “I can be strong all I want, but there's only so much I can do without any help!”

“Surprisingly wise words from you, Itadori.” Gojo grinned mischievously. “Alright alright, I'll help.”

He reached forward, grabbing a hold of Nanami whilst simultaneously administering some quick sneaky tickles to Itadori.

“Hehehey! Do you want mehe to fall?!” Yuji complained, trying to shift away from Gojo's soft pokes and scribbles while keeping his balance.

“Ehh… you've already fallen twice today… What's a third time?” He grinned, tickling Itadori’s neck with one hand, and targeting Nanami's hip with the other.

“Nohoho! Sahahatoru gehehet away!” Nanami laughed, trying desperately to escape the two tickle monsters he had attached to him.

Itadori let out a childish squeal as he flailed, finally falling off of Nanami’s back. He still had a partial grip on his mentor and ended up pulling him to the ground with him.

Gojo laughed, releasing both of them from his tickly hold. 

Nanami had managed to twist around, catching Itadori and breaking his fall with his arm.

Itadori giggled softly as he recovered from the tickles. He felt Nanami carefully press his hand into the back of his neck, then his shoulder, then brush against the back of his head silently assessing the teen making sure he wasn't hurt.

Had it been Gojo who had fallen with him, he wouldn't have cared, and not bothered trying to break his fall. But since it was Itadori- he didn't want him to get hurt.

Once he determined Yuji was okay his body went limp, resting back against the ground while he focused on steadying his breathing.

“Thanks a lot, Gojo…” Yuji huffed, a smile still etched on his face.

“To be fair, I didn't say who I was helping...” Gojo teased, kneeling down beside the teen.

Kento huffed indignantly, his arms tightly wrapped around his middle as he caught his breath. “You're both terrible…” 

Satoru turned his gaze to Nanami, an evil smile on his lips. “Oh, Kento… you didn't honestly think I was done with you yet, did you?” His blue eyes sparkled with a predatory glimmer as he launched himself onto the blonde, thanks to limitless Nanami wasn’t able to put up much fight. 

“Really?” Nanami glared up at him, his sunglasses long since fallen off his face from all his struggling earlier. 

Satoru smiled triumphantly from his spot on Nanami’s thighs.

“You can’t even take me on without the use of your stupid limitless ability?” The stern teacher asked dryly, knowing any struggling his did would be pointless. He wasn’t going anywhere as long as Satoru kept limitless active.

“I thought I’d save us some time… we both know I was gonna overpower you anyways.” Gojo grinned, leaning down and draping his body lazily across Nanami’s to keep him more securely in place, and in doing so he was able to murmur teases into his ear. “All I’d have to do to get the upper hand is…”

He grabbed a hold of the blonde’s hip and began squeezing them relentlessly. “This…”

Nanami gasped sharply, unable to grab the offending hands because again, limitless. “Sahahatoru! D-Dahahahammit stop!”

“Or this…” Satoru shifted his hands upwards, scribbling his blunt nails against the sides of his stomach over his shirt, drawing even louder laughter from the blonde. The fact he could barely move to protect himself made it so much worse.

“Or… this.” Gojo grinned, pressing his lips to his neck and blowing a raspberry against it whilst administering gentle scritches.

“SHIHIHIHIHIT!” Poor Nanami couldn’t even arch his back with Gojo a firm weight against him.

“I think you should’ve just rode the ferris wheel with me.” Satoru teased, blowing another raspberry.

“EHEHEHENouGH Alreheheheady! Ahahahaha!”

“I thought you didn’t giggle, Nanami sensei.” Yuji grinned in amusement, sneaking in some teasing pokes to what he could access of Nanami’s ribs.

Gojo grinned, angling his body in a way that the pinkette had more access the right side of his body while still keeping him firmly held down. 

“You didn’t seriously-” small raspberry. “--believe him over me-” slightly bigger raspberry. “--did you?” BIIIIIG raspberry, followed by what Kento would firmly deny was a squeal. Because if he doesn't giggle, then he CERTAINLY doesn’t squeal. 

Itadori giggled at his reactions, scooting closer to scribble his fingers up and down the side of his ribcage. “No, but I also didn’t have a basis to doubt Nanami either.”

“Oh yes you did.” Gojo laughed, pulling his face away from the blonde’s neck to glance at Itadori. “You had to know he was lying the minute he denied being ticklish still.”

Well fine… If he can’t get Satoru then… “Ihihihi-- I thohohohught Ihi told you tohoho stahap talking about mehehe like I’m not here!” Kento shot his hand out, grabbing hold of Yuji’s side and giving it fluttery squeezes, drawing surprised laughter from the student.

“Aieee! Hehehehehey! Hohohohow are you moving?! Stahahap that!” Yuji squealed as Kento latched onto his ribs next. “Gohohohohojo hehehehelp!”

“Nahhh… You’re a big boy… you can deal with him yourself.” Satoru grinned, alternating between his hip and stomach side with gentle scratches. “It’ll be a good training exercise for you… let me juuust… piss him off a little more for ya~”

“Gohohohohojo!” 

“Sahahahahtoru, I swehehehear to god!”

Satoru ignored both of their protests, pushing his shirt up so he could attack his exposed skin directly. “So If my memory serves correctly, your ticklish spots are as follows,” he grinned, sitting upright. “Hips, Neck, this cute spot here~” he emphasized by fluttering his fingers briefly against his stomach sides. “Ribs are decently tickly… Am I missing anything, Nanami? Am I hitting all the nice tickly spots?”

“S-Satoru… dohon’t.”

“Don’t what? I didn’t even say anything yet.”

“I mean it…”

Satoru grinned. “But Kento, I promised to smother you with tickles… and I wouldn’t wanna disappoint you. So come on, answer my question~”

“Go to hell.” He hissed in response.

Gojo’s grin widened. Welp, nice knowing ya, Nanami.

“On second thought, maybe I will help you, Itadori.” He reached out and grabbed Nanami’s wrist and yanked it away from the pinkette, pinning it above his head quickly and firmly. In a flash, he snatched his other hand and pinned it above his head as well.

Yuji fell back with his arms around his midsection, giggling softly as he panted from the after tickles.

“Gojo, let me go right now.” Kento growled.

Satoru leaned down, grinning that evil grin at him. “Do you really think you're in a position to give me orders?”

“What are you… no… don’t you dare-- nononono!”

Gojo leaned down further, pressing his lips against Kento's exposed stomach and blowing a giant raspberry against it, eliciting an honest to god shriek in response.

“NAAAHAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHAHAD DAHAHAHAHAHAMMIT!” He let out another shriek as the arrogant teacher dispensed yet another devastating raspberry against his toned abdomen. 

Yuji sat up, stunned by the sound of his loud laughter. “Holy shit, Gojo don’t kill him!”

The teacher in question grinned, placing another raspberry against a different spot on his stomach. “Jealous, kid? Don’t worry, I have plenty of tickles to go around.” He winked at the pink haired student, who giggled nervously and wrapped his arms around himself subconsciously.

“GOHOHOHOHJO STAHAHAHAHAHAAP!” Nanami pressed out between deep belly laughs, his face flushed and his eyes tightly shut.

“Aww, but why when you’re having so much fun?” Gojo teased, placing another raspberry. “I remember this used to be your favorite~” 

“I SWEHEHEHEHEAR TO GAHAHAHAD, I WIHIHIHILL EHEHEHEND YOU!”

“Man, you’ve definitely gotten more stubborn and resilient… usually by now you would’ve been apologizing profusely and crying with laughter while begging me to stop.” Gojo chuckled, pausing his ruthless onslaught. “Or maybe…”

He leaned back to admire his handiwork, Kento a breathless blushing mess beneath him. “Maybe you don’t really want me to stop…” his grin widened when he saw Nanami open his eyes and attempt to glare at him. 

“W-Why would… you possibly think that… i…” He gasped out softly, still attempting to catch his breath. 

“Well… why else would you be so grumpy and resistant this whole time unless you wanted to egg me on?”

“To be fair… he is normally like this.” Yuji pointed out.

Satoru shifted so that he could hold both of Nanami’s arms down with one hand, using his newly freed hand to administer swift tickles to Itadori’s side. “Excuse me, but whose side are you on anyway???”

Yuji squealed and recoiled sharply from Gojo’s skilled fingers. “Ihihi wahahas just being hohohonest!”

“And now you’ve distracted me and given him time to think out his response,” Satoru huffed. “You’re definitely gonna get it later, now.”

Itadori squeaked, wrapping himself back up with his arms.

“Well Kento? I’m waiting, why are you egging it on if you don’t like it?” The older teacher turned his attention back to the now less breathless blonde, thanks to the intermission brought to you by Itadori and his big fat mouth.

“Because I don’t want to give you the satisfaction of breaking, that’s why.” He retorted, his face less flushed than previously.

“Ehh! wrong!” Satoru unleashed another tickle attack, his fingers scribbling all across his neck. “Try again!”

“Sahahahahatoru Stahahap!”

“Not until you admit it.” Gojo smirked. 

“Ahahahadmit whahahahat?”

“Admit you missed being wrecked, ya big softie!” He cooed, tracing his fingers along each rib.

“I dihihihihidn’t!” Nanami yelped, squirming as much as he could under his colleague’s technique.

“Wrong again. Itadori, be a peach and come help me, won’t you? It seems Nanami requires more reassurance.”

“Ihihihitadori dohohohon’t!”

“You’re not going to tickle me again, are you?” Itadori asked carefully, eyeing his teacher suspiciously.

“I will if you don’t get your ass over here In the next five seconds.” he responded, an evil glimmer in his eyes.

Itadori let out a sound that could only be described as a whimper as he quickly shuffled over. 

“Gojo, Itadori… don’t even--” His protest was interrupted by another shriek as Gojo blew a massive raspberry against his stomach side.

He released Nanami’s wrists, which Yuji instantly snatched up and pinned down. Gojo used his newly freed hands to drill his thumbs into Kento’s hips as he continued his torturous trail of raspberries and tickly death along his stomach area.

“NAAAAHAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHAHATORU DOHOHOHOHNT!”

“You know how to make it stop, Nanami~” Gojo hummed, administering another devastatingly massive raspberry against the side of his stomach.

“JUHUHUHUST WAHAHAHAIT UNTIL I GEHEHET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU SOHOHOHON OF A BIHIHIHIHITCH!” The usually stoic teacher threatened between bouts of uncontrollable laughter.

Yuji snickered quietly. “He’s definitely stubborn...” the pink haired teen grinned, shifting so that he could pin Nanami’s hands down with his knee. “Let me take a crack at it!”

He began to claw at his mentors exposed ribcage, his fingers gentle but quick as they expertly sought out sensitive spots. “Nanami~ Does this tiiiiickle?” Yuji teased.

“IHIHIHITADORI! KNOHOHOHOHOCK IHIHIT OFF! STAHAHAP HELPING HIM!”

Gojo chuckled, pausing his attack to glance up at Itadori. “You’re getting pretty good at this, I’ve taught you well~” 

Yuji grinned at the praise from Satoru. “Heh… thanks. I’m just doing what tickles really bad from my own experience.”

The pinkette noticed the higher he moved up Nanami’s ribs, the more he struggled. “Gojo… are you sure those were all of Nanami’s ticklish spots you named off earlier…?”

“Hmmmm? Think I missed a spot?” Satoru played along, grinning that cheshire grin at his student. “It’s entirely possible… he never did confirm or deny if I named ‘em all.”

“Nanami?” Yuji looked down as he stilled his hands, allowing his teacher to attempt to catch his breath. “Did he miss a spot?” he asked innocently, but that smile on his face was anything but.

“I swehehear to god…” He panted. “Whehen I get my hands on you…”

“Now Nanami… that doesn’t sound like an answer to his question~” Gojo grinned, prodding his stomach side and producing a small yelp.

“It’s okay, Gojo.” Yuji responded with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. “I’ll find out for myself.”

Then he struck. Digging mercilessly wiggling fingers into his armpits. 

And boy, did Nanami absolutely lose it. Any semblance of composure? Yeah no, gone, we don’t know her. 

Much like Yuji isn’t going to know peace when Nanami gets his hands on him. Rip Yuji lol.

“AAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He absolutely howled with laughter, struggling with all his might to break free. “NOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHERE! AHAHAHANYWHEHEHERE BUT THEHEHEHERE!”

“WHOA! Gojo you didn’t just miss a ticklish spot, you missed the ticklish spot!” Yuji found himself laughing along with his mentor in amusement.

“It looks that way,” Satoru smiled, shaking his head. “So, Kento? Anything you wanna say?”

He grinned, leaning down and placing his elbows on either side of the hysterical blonde, resting his face on his hands as he watched him. In doing this, he was almost entirely draped over him again, greatly limiting his movements.

“SAHAHAHATORU I HAHAHAHATE YOU!”

Satoru chuckled, “Not quite… I think what you mean’t to say was, ‘Satoru, I actually love spending time with all of you.’ and ‘I actually like being tickled.’”

Yuji giggled, speeding up his tickles.

“GAHAHAHAHA! I-I CAHAHAHANT… PLEHEHEHEASE STAHAHAHAP!” He cried with laughter, tears prickling at the corners of his tightly shut eyes. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE YUHUHUHUJI!”

For a moment, Itadori felt a little bad and looked at Gojo, who shook his head. “Trust me, kid… you’re gonna wanna keep going.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me.” was the blue eyed teacher’s vague and careful response.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” His laughter started to become hoarse as he tried to hide his face in his bicep. “OKAHAHAHAHAY OKAHAHAHAY! IHIHIHI’LL RIDE THE STUHUHUHUPID FERRIS WHEEL WIHIHITH YOU!”

“Noooo… we’re way past that, the other paaaart.” Satoru reminded teasingly, pinching his side.

“AHAHAHA! FIHIHIHIHINE!! I LIHIHIHIKE SPEHEHEHENDING TIME WITH YOUHUHUHU GUYS!”

“Aaaaand?” 

Oh, Gojo was sooooooo going to get it when he got ahold of him.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” 

Yuji looked up, grinning upon seeing Megumi standing there; pink balloon and all. “Hey Megu-- ACK!”

Nobara came running out of nowhere and knocked Yuji off of Nanami. “Hey, stop picking on Nanami!” she scolded.

Satoru sighed, grinning. Eh… close enough. He rolled off of Nanami lazily, remaining propped up on his elbows next to him.

“Ow! Jeez Nobara! It’s not like I was hurting him or anything, you didn’t have to knock me over.” He mumbled, sitting up.

“He very clearly was struggling to breathe.” Megumi pointed out, eyeing Satoru. “I’m gonna guess this was your idea?”

“How’d ya know, Gumi?” He asked cheerfully.

“Whenever there’s chaos going on you’re the cause.” The edgy teen pointed out, sitting on the ground with the others to feel included.

“Are you okay, sensei?” Nobara asked, helping Nanami up into a sitting position. “Want me to kick his ass?”

The blonde shook his head, a smile still on his face as he struggled to catch his breath. “No… That won’t… be necessary…”

Yuji giggled, leaning over and hugging Nanami. “Sorry I went a little overboard… It was just really nice to see and hear you laugh… I hope you’re not too mad at me.”

Nanami sighed as he (mostly) caught his breath, he reached up and hooked his arm around Yuji’s shoulders, cupping the back of his head as he pulled him closer into the hug. “I’m not mad… embarrassed, but not mad…”

“Why are you embarrassed?” Yuji pulled back slightly to look up at him, confused.

Nanami retorted with a ‘You’re joking, right?’ expression on his face.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, we all goof around like this all the time.” Itadori grinned, beaming up at Megumi, who quickly looked away to avoid blushing at the implication. He then turned his gaze to Nobara, who also looked away with a casual whistle. 

“He’s right,” Satoru chimed in, sitting upright. “It just means we really like you when we pick on you like this.” Yuji nodded in agreement.

“You could like me a little less.” Kento muttered.

“You rested enough to chase down Itadori?” Satoru asked, grinning.

“Not quite…”

“Why would he chase me down?” Yuji pulled away from Nanami, eyeing the stern teacher carefully.

“Ohhh… I forgot to tell you.” Gojo grinned more. “Yeah, there’s a reason I ‘forgot’ his worst spot… It’s because he absolutely destroys anyone who targets it as retaliation.”

Yuji squeaked, noticing the evil glimmer in Nanami’s eyes.

“Yeahhh… Let’s just say ratio can be used for more than pain… Suguru and I learned that one the hard way.” He snickered at the terrified look on Itadori’s face.

“Y-You set me up!”

“I did nothing of the sort, you’re the one who decided to try that spot.” Satoru grinned. “I’d probably start running if I were you… the more tired he is the more head start you have, and since you’ve wasted so much time letting him recover… I’d say you have about a minute to get as far as humanly possible before he hunts you down.”

Yuji yelped and sprung up, taking Gojo’s advice and running away, causing the others to laugh.

“Hey, Megumi, where’d your balloon go?” Nobara asked.

Megumi smirked and shrugged. “Beats me…” 

Nanami was about to get up and go after the pinkette when Gojo leaned forward, hugging his colleague, causing him to tense up. “I’m sorry, Kento… I forgot you used to go to the amusement park with Haibara on the weekends…” he whispered. “But I think he would still want you to go out and have fun… I know Suguru would want that for me.” 

Nanami untensed, frowning as he thought about his deceased best friend. He hugged him back hesitantly. “I miss him… a lot…”

“I know… I do too.”

After a moment they let go. “Hey Satoru…?”

“Yea?”

“...Thanks…” He looked away as he quietly continued. “I… needed that.”

Gojo grinned. “Anytime, buddy~”

Nanami looked around curiously. “Now then, which way did Itadori go? I need to have a talk with him…”

“He went that way.” Nobara pointed off in a direction.

“He should be pretty easy to spot,” Megumi said casually, sipping his drink. “Just look for the person running frantically with a pink sakura balloon attached to his belt.”

Nanami smirked, nodding his thanks as he got up and took off after the pink haired teen.

“I so wanna see this…” Nobara giggled, getting up too. “You coming, Megumi?”

The raven haired teen shook his head, to which Nobara shrugged at and went running after them. “Nanami sensei, wait up! I wanna help!!”

Satoru chuckled and shook his head before turning to address his adopted son. “Did ya have fun today, kiddo?” he asked as he ruffled his dark hair.

Megumi grunted in response.

A shriek nearby distracted them momentarily, causing them both to laugh. Evidently Yuji had been caught.

“I’ve had worse days.” The teen answered, standing up with his parental figure.

Gojo grinned, his face brightening as he threw his arm around his edgy emo son’s shoulders, pulling him into him as they began walking. He knew that was Fushiguro for; ‘Yes dad, I had a wonderful time today.’

“Good. Now then… let’s go get some snacks or something, I saw they were selling cotton candy as big as your head at one of these stalls…”

“I'd be more impressed if they had cotton candy the size of your mouth.”

[clairethecutepup]

Tykes at Heart: Getting Your Goat (Ch. 2)

Our tykes try to find out what exactly is causing Cio's new goat to be so... "homicidal," to put it nicely (and it is the nicest way to describe it). Unfortunately, Cio faces some bad news on top of his goat's attitude...

Alternative sites for reading (and better keeping track of the whole story), if preferred:

[Chapter Title: Antidote for an Angry Goat…?]

It took some time-- and all of the poor hybrids' well-being --but everyone managed to get the goat into the pen. Claire and Cio lay atop each other, panting while their canid ears and tails hang over themselves. Poor little Faxie found his small body sandwiched in between them. Suru found his head stuck in the building's back wall, his fox tail twitching around in anticipation of his head's freedom; while Kage drags herself back outside from the door that she previously flew past, her fox ears and tail hanging limply on her. Only Ryuketsu could be the still-standing triplet-- and generally standing person --as the large fox-man managed to hold the repeatedly rammed gate in place. Speaking of “twins,” what of the Winnings' fate?

"Leena, stay still!" Sparky cries, "Whatever you do, don't panic!"

"Sparky, look!" Leena points, "I can see our apartment from here!"

Sparky gazes around for something to help, while Leena looks on from the billboard that managed to hook the flying girl's shirt. Even literally, as she's hanging in the ending curve of a giant rod's line. Unfortunately, even those on the slimmer side can be doomed by gravity: Leena stops wagging her tail and screams, plummeting toward the ground with a ripped shirt bottom. Sparky also screams and hurries to catch his sibling, paws and furry arms outstretched. His attempts are thwarted by the long top of a street light: Leena's front-- face and all --emit a metallic, Clang! after the harsh landing.

"... Leena, are you--"

She slides off and lands atop her grimacing brother, laying them both on the sidewalk.

********

Everyone later recovers within the booths of the dining area, while Ryuketsu still remains as guard of the pen’s gate outside. Everyone takes a turn with the aspirin bottle, whether for their sore head or other aching body parts. Faxie didn’t require any, being a mechanical pet that lacked proper “feeling,” but his receptors and otherwise still remained dazed by the goat’s assault: the poor little thing just laid upon the table, his eyes spinning during his stay beside Cio.

“Cio, I know you want to make your own ingredients,” Sparky sighs, “but I think it’s safe to say that it’s a little… dangerous.”

“Look man,” Cio sighs back, “she’s probably just nervous, that’s all… I’m sure that once she gets settled in, she’ll stop trying to commit mass murder.”

“Maybe you’re better off getting a new goat…?” Sparky continues, “Who knows when that one will finally calm down…”

Claire mentally seconded the idea… She loves goats, but this would end with them all in the hospital. In her eyes, it seemed the animal just hated everyone, instead of it simply being afraid. She even thinks it tried to impale Cio and everyone else, instead of simply launching them! … Would Cio be upset if she preferred ordering takeout, instead of eating anywhere near the building now? Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind keeping video gaming and whatnot to strictly “long distance” measures… Or, he could always just come to her or the twins’ places-- in fact, maybe he should just live with either of them for now? Grayson would be happy to have his brother back under the same roof.

“Um, Cio?” Kage raises her braceleted hand, “Can I please do deliveries from now on, instead of the cash register?”

Kage also shuddered at the thought of Satan’s-Fitting-Symbol leveling the place.

“Come on, man,” Cio assures, “Kenny’s got her under control, and I’m sure she’ll calm down.”

“Um, can I work from home instead then…?” Kage still tries, “I think I heard it’s possible to do cashier jobs from far away…”

“Dude, everyone’s staying at the pizzeria…”

"Cio, please,”  Sparky interjects and stands, “it should honestly be everyone but that awful goat! I'm sorry, but I really think you shouldn't just 'give her time'..."

"Well, I don't really have much choice, man!" Cio shrugs, "They said that all 'livestock' sales are final... To be honest, I don't like it either, but I gotta now."

"Why can you not give her back?" Leena asks, "I am allowed to give things back to the store if I do not like them..."

"It was something about not wanting to risk 'sick' or 'injured' inventory," Cio sighs, "Even if that second part’s probably gonna happen to us instead..."

Sparky sighs, "Well, I guess you never do know what could happen to them..."

"I know what’ll happen to us!” Suru puffs his cheeks out, “That mean goat’s gonna give me another headache and do even worse stuff to everyone!”

"Maybe not, man..." Cio shrugs, "We just gotta find some way to help her relax and maybe she'll be nicer."

"Oh, I think I can help!" Leena stands proudly, "I am already good at calming my little buddy here."

Leena pats Claire's head, before giving her hair the most affectionate ruffle. Claire smiles and wags her tail, reaching a paw up to the hair-messing hand. Leena demonstrates her point through visually enacting her next words.

"Petting, scratching and especially hugs always make sad or nervous people happy again."

"Don't put her to sleep, man," Cio requests, "I'd like everyone to help me with that goat."

Claire simply laid back in Leena's arms, until the taller girl lightly patted her cheek.

"Wake up, Little Buddy, it was meant as an example and not to be an actual nap-starter."

Claire fully sits up, moving her glasses upward to slightly rub her right eye. It was always hard for a touch-sensitive pup to not pass out from all that.

"Uh, I don't think you should get close enough to do all that..." Sparky gulps, "That goat would only need you inside the pen to do even worse... I already had to worry about you falling from a three-story billboard, Leena. And, of course, the painful aftermath..."

"Pi-shaw, Sparky," she waves him off, "for nothing can be worse than that."

"What about actually dying this time, Leena...?"

“But people die all the time, Sparky, and for Cio’s sake--” Leena pats the mentioned friend’s head, “I must do my duty as a friend and not be stopped by what will happen to me anyway.”

"You can prolong your death, though, Leena..." Sparky then looks at Cio, "But I guess you’ve got a point: if you really are stuck with this goat, then we would have to find some way to make things work out..."

"It is time for me to shine!" Leena heads toward the outdoor pen, "Beware, little goat, for you shall become nice and friendly!"

Sparky immediately chases after.

"Leena, don't just walk back in there...!!"

Everyone else hastily follows as well, Kage carrying the still-sleepy Claire along, before they all dogpile the husky-hybrid.

"Sorry Leena," Sparky sighs, "but we really need a better plan than just walking back in..."

"You are right, Sparky," Leena pops her head out, "I should get a carrot first. Goats like them as much as horses, right?"

Everyone had to agree: perhaps some treats could help soothe the savage beast. Although, a salt lick was deemed more a goat's desired snack. Everyone leans back in anticipation, hiding behind the tallest that is Ryuketsu, as the giant fox-man holds the long pole that the treat is tied onto. It didn't take a genius to realize it’d result in a bitten-off end that looked like a woodchipper's aftermath, so everyone only felt more fear than any surprise.

Leena suggests, "Should we try another one?"

Cio gulps, "Uh, I think she'd rather eat our souls next instead..."

Cio certainly felt his pierced by those glaring eyes above the chewing maw.

Suru asks, "What's after ‘treats’?"

"Scented candles," Leena nods, "our mom always says that they relax her during baths."

"Dude, I don't want fire anywhere near her!" Cio protests, "She's already dangerous without some kind of hazard around...!"

"Do not worry, as I can hold the candle away," Leena continues, "or we can use canned air freshener instead."

"I think we'd better stick to more standard means for animals," Sparky suggests, "Maybe we're also rushing things a bit: we're probably better off approaching her and making peace, after she's had a day or two to take in her new environment."

"I guess that makes sense..." Cio sighs, "I just hope she'll eventually let me get close enough to milk her..."

"I suggest wearing a helmet-- one with a face guard, too," Sparky gulps, "Sure, you're usually beside the animal, but you never know..."

A couple days pass… and it’s a good thing Leena is arguably “braindead” already, otherwise she’d have become permanently comatosed: being the only one brave enough (or likelier stupid enough) to enter the pen, she’d often find herself being struck in the head or hitting it after each launch. Everyone insisted she get Ryuketsu’s help in restraining the goat, thus reducing the risk of injury and death; but Leena felt it would “build better trust” if the goat didn’t feel like it was “bullied into also being nice.” Well, they all supposed they could understand the logic, especially Claire: the pup would hate it herself if she was held in place, and forced to let someone untrusted come near her and especially do anything with her. This time, the ground breaks Leena’s fall, as her face slides along it and creates a small trench. Everyone else winces at the scene.

"I think I am getting somewhere, guys," Leena keeps her face down, "She did not launch me out of the pen that time, so she is starting to like me being in it."

The goat then crushes her spine underneath all four pouncing hooves.

"... Nope, I have not done it yet."

"Aw man," Cio sighs, his fox ears hanging, "we're never getting her to calm down..."

"I've been thinking that maybe we should get a vet?" Sparky suggests, "There could be an underlying issue."

"Nah man, she’s clearly healthy and fine if she’s able to attack us so easily… She’d probably be more defensive, too, instead of offensive.”

Leena is flipped over the fence and crushes Cio, making his face slam into the grass. With Faxie being in his front overall pocket, the poor little critter whimpers and finds himself unable to move under the weight.

“Are my legs still there?” Leena asks, “I cannot feel them…”

“... You know…” Cio keeps his face down, “I’m willing to try anything, even if it seems unnecessary...”

Unfortunately, the local vet is familiar with more “traditional” pets: cats, dogs, birds… It also doesn’t help that she can’t be thorough with such an antagonizing creature. If not for Ryuketsu still managing to restrain the beast, a doctor would’ve been needed instead.

“Well, everything seems to be fine…” the terrified woman backs away, hiding her face behind her clipboard, “No signs of illness or injury, but I did make a discovery…” she feels for the pen entrance, not taking her eyes off the horned menace, “Your doe isn’t actually one, but a buck… I guess that would explain the terrifying streng-- GÜTIGER HIMMEL!!!”

The full-human barely had time to exit and slam the gate shut, before the goat’s horns practically impaled the portion of fencing.

“Sorry…” Ryuketsu pulls him away, “He got free…”

“If that’s all you need of me…” the lady continues backing away, “I’ll send you a bill later…”

She turns around and runs, while Cio stands about in wide-eyed disbelief.

“... Are you freakin’ kidding me, man?!” he throws his hands up, “Even if I do somehow get that crazy goat to calm down, I won’t be able to use her-- him like I need to?!”

“Okay, that does make things a bit harder…” Sparky rubs the back of his head, “But even if ‘sales are final,’ they still have to fix any mistakes on their part, right?”

“I sure hope so, man…”

However, was it a mistake on the company’s part…?

[End Chapter]

********

Keyword of advice: if you EVER have a question pop into your head when writing, look up the answer immediately. I just realized that I almost repeated a plothole that's present in the original draft of this story, back when it was "Claire's Companions" instead: I wondered if "all sales are final" means it includes any possible errors on the company's part, so I looked it up in ChatGPT and learned that a company CANNOT actually get away with denying exchanges/refunds/etc. if there was a proven error on their end of things-- "sales final" or not. Yeah, in the original draft of both that series and TAH, Cio wouldn't be able to do anything because the site claimed for legal protection: "Sales are final, no matter what."

PS: remember that for general legal help, in case you ever actually find yourself in such a situation and especially if some seller tries convincing you, "Oh, well, we warned you it was 'final' regardless and now we'd like you to be naive enough to assume you can't do jack about it." Believe me, some people WILL try to use a general lack of knowledge against you if you're not careful.

[projectdivapolls]

Round 2 results are in!

Absolunote vs ACUTE

Ageage Again vs Akatsuki Arrival

Amatsu Kitsune vs Arifureta Sekai Seifuku

Betty the Liar vs Black★Rock Shooter

Blackjack vs Break It, Break It!

Cantarella vs Cantarella ~ Grace Edition ~

Cendrillon vs Close and Open, Demons and The Dead

Colorful×Melody vs Colorful×Sexy

Dear vs Deep Sea City Underground

Deep Sea Girl vs Disruptive Diva (Hard/Extreme)

Doubleganger vs Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku

Electric Angel vs Envy Cat Walk

Erase or Zero vs Finder (DSLR remix re:edit)

Freely Tomorrow vs Gaikotsu Gakudan to Riria

Ghost Rule vs Glasses

God-Tier Tune vs Grumpy Waltz

Hello, Worker vs ✽Hello, Planet.

HIBANA vs Hm? Ah, Yes.

I'll Miku-Miku You♪ (For Reals) vs I'm Your Diva (Tie) - Tiebreaker results: - I'll Miku-Miku You♪ (For Reals)

Ievan Polkka vs Interviewer

Iroha Uta vs Jaded/The Rebel

Just Be Friends vs Kagerou Daze

Kimi no Taion vs Knife

Kokoro vs Last Night, Good Night

LOL - lots of laugh - vs Look This Way, Baby

Love-Hate vs Lover's Suicide Oblivion

Luka Luka★Night Fever vs Magnet

maigo life vs Meiteki Cybernetics

Melancholic vs Melt

Meteor vs Monochrome∞Blue Sky

Negaposi✽Continues vs Nekomimi Archive

Nice to Meet You, Mr. Earthling vs No Logic

Nostalogic vs ODDS&ENDS

on the rocks vs One-Sided Love Samba (Hard/Extreme)

Out of Eden vs Palette

Paradichlorobenzene vs Piano×Forte×Scandal

Pinky Swear vs Po Pi Po

Puzzle vs Remote Controller

Rin-chan Now! vs ROKI

Rolling Girl vs Roshin Yukai

Sadistic.Music∞Factory vs Sakura no Ame

Sayounara Goodbye (Hard/Extreme) vs Secret Police

Senbonzakura vs Snowman

Soiyassa!! vs Solitude's End

Soundless Voice vs SPiCa -39's Giving Day Edition-

Stardust Utopia vs StargazeR

Stay With Me vs Summer Idol

Sweet Devil vs Systematic Love

Tengaku vs Teo

The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku vs The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku

The MMORPG Addict's Anthem vs The Snow White Princess is...

The World is Mine vs This is The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee

Thousand Year Solo (DIVA Edit) vs Time Machine

Tokyo Teddy Bear vs Travel to The Other Side of The Moon

Two Breaths Walking vs Two-Sided Lovers

Updating My Love List? vs VOiCE -DIVA MIX-

Weekender Girl vs When The First Love Ends

Wintry Winds vs World's End Dancehall -F Edition-

World's End Umbrella vs Yumeyume

1/6 -out of the gravity- vs 1925

39 Music! vs from Y to Y

Fire◎Flower vs Kagamine Hachi Hachi Flower Fight

2D Dream Fever vs Unhappy Refrain

Ashes to Ashes vs Step Forward

All songs highlighted in blue will move on to round three! It's been very interesting to see what songs have been winning. I look forward to seeing the results of the next round. Have fun and happy voting! 🩵

[calciumcryptid]

Calcium's List of K-Pop Worth a Damn Pt.2

Hello my beloved mutuals.

It is I, Calcium, who has consumed way too much K-Pop and has opinions on which songs (and by extension artists) are actually worth a damn.

This is part two because there was so much K-Pop to sort through, and this part is going to cover the male artists whether groups or soloists. I do not expect you to enjoy every single one on this list, but I do think these songs are worth at least one listen.

In Case This Breaks Containment: Please understand this list was made for my mutuals and my mutuals only. Just because a song or artist is not on this list does not mean I think the song or artist is bad. Except for BTS, with all due respect I think their solo work outshines their group work by a margin which is why two of their members are in the solo area listing but there is no group song listed.

Important Language Note: When Romanized, the word 'you' in Korean translates to 'nega' and the word 'I' in Korean translates to 'naega'. When said very fast it sounds like the n-word. I promise it is not the n-word, they are saying 'you' or 'I'.

Without further ado, let's finish these recommendations.

Boy Groups

Goblin (Favorite Boys) by A.C.E.

Bouncy by Ateez

Halazia by Ateez

Wave by Ateez

Bang Bang Bang by BigBang

Fantastic Baby by BigBang

Sober by BigBang

Movie Star by CIX

Save Me, Kill Me by CIX

Adrenaline by Cravity

Shoot Me by DAY6

Young Blood by DRIPPIN

Dangerous by E'Last

Drunk-Dazed by Enhypen

Fever by Enhypen

Bite Me by Enhypen

Electric Kiss by EXO

Growl by EXO

Love Shot by EXO

Not By the Moon by GOT7

You Calling My Name by GOT7

Dive by iKon

The Chaser by Infinite

Medusa by Just B

RE=LOAD by Just B

Crush by MCND

Ice Age by MCND

Beautiful Liar by Monsta X

Hero by Monsta X

Boss by NCT

Kick It by NCT 127

Simon Says by NCT 127

Perfume by NCT Dojaejung

Baggy Baggy Jeans by NCT U

Face by Nu'Est

Come Back Home by OneUs

Same Scent by OneUs

Valkyrie by OneUs - Rock Version

End of Spring by OneWe

Gravity by OneWe

Rain to Be by OneWe

Jump by Ph1Harmony

libidO by OnlyOneOf

Fall in Love Again by Ph1Harmony

Daisy by Pentagon

Do Or Not by Pentagon

Shine by Pentagon

Hot by Seventeen

Rock With You by Seventeen

Super by Seventeen

Good Guy by SF9

Atlantis by SHINee

Lucifer by SHINee

Sherlock (Clue + Note) by SHINee

Case 143 by Stray Kids

God's Menu by Stray Kids

Voices by Stray Kids

Jopping by SuperM

Get a Guitar by Riize

Red by The Rose

Anti-Romantic by Tomorrow X Together

Crown by Tomorrow X Together

Sugar Rush Ride by Tomorrow X Together

Mirotic by TVXQ!

Energetic by WannaOne

Love Talk by WayV (I recommend both the Korean and English version.)

Designer by VAV

Mayday by Victon

Test Me by Xdinary Heroes

Male Soloists

Daechwita by Agust D

Bambi by Baekhyun

Sacrifice by Han Seungwoo

Moondance by Jeon Woong

Mmmh by Kai

Peaches by Kai

Another Life by Key

Bad Love by Key

Killer by Key

Daddy by Psy

Gentleman by Psy

Gangnam Style by Psy

Criminal by Taemin

Guilty by Taemin

Move by Taemin

Love Me Again by V

Lose by Wonho

Feel Like by Woodz

Overall Artist Recommendations

Ateez: They are very hard hitting and all their songs feel like cinematic experiences. My go to boy group, and I don't think there is a song of theirs I don't like.

Enhypen: Can I just say supernatural concept and be done with this section? Yeah, I think I will.

Taemin: Honestly I was just going to leave it at his name, but I cannot explain how sexy his voice is. The man is known as The Idol's Idol for a reason.

Tomorrow X Together or TXT: They honestly have a little bit of everything from more chipper music to darker music. My personal favorites are the moments where they sound like an actual band like Run Away, I Know I Love You, and Loser=Lover.

Stray Kids: A little grab bag of everything when it comes to the 'love yourself' message. If that isn't enough for my mutuals, not only do they have my seal of approval but they also have my mother's seal of approval so uh take that as what it is.

Bonus Recommendation

KARD's music is wonderful, but since they are a co-ed group I was unsure where to put them. In terms of their songs I adore Gunshot and Red Moon as it was the song that got me into them.

@insomniac-jay @opalofoctober

[sh4yisnothere]

“𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬…”

𝓐𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄 —

hello, my name is shayane but you can call me shay or ayane!! I’m fifteen years old going to sixteen soon (it is not soon at alll but let me be delulu)! I first heard about shifting in 2020… of course during the time of misinformation and pure chaos😭. Just glad I survived that. Anywho! I still have yet to shift and I hope it’s very soon.

I made this account out of random, im just here to be here honestly!

𝓡𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 —

I’m currently shifting to my teen fame dr, better cr, hogwarts dr, dazed and confused, and Mid90s (I have wayyyyy more but these are just my main main ones! As you can see I’m very indecisive and can’t choose.)

I’m Haitian and AA!

I love love love loveeee oldies songs

I just love watching movies and shows during my free time or reading!

𝓢𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐄 —

Waterfalls by TLC

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye

Oh Qué Será? By Willie Colón

You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi

Elenore by The Turtles

Something In My Heart by Michel’le

If I Ruled the World by Nas

Passin’ Me By by The Pharcyde

Jazz by A Tribe Called Quest

Break Stuff by Limpbizkit

Remember the Rain by The Sylvers

Be My Baby by The Ronettes

You’re Makin’ Me High by Toni Braxton

You Know I’m No Good by Amy Whinehouse

Sun is Shining by Bob Marley

Paradise City Guns N’ Roses

End of The Road by Boyz || Men

What You Waiting For by Gwen Stefani

Hella Good by No Doubt

You’re Not The Only One I Know by The Sundays

Back To Life by Soul || Soul

One of These Nights by Eagles

Can We by SWV Official

What Goes Around…Comes Around by Justin Timberlake

Blood On the Dancefloor by Michael Jackson

Nowhere Man by The Beatles

Try Again by Aaliyah

All There by Jeezy

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

(my bad y’all I kinda went overload 😆)

𝓜𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐒 —

The outsiders, Child's play, Halloween 4 and he11raiser, Nightmare on elm st, friday the 13th part 4, the shining, aliens, fright night part 2, Halloween 2, possession, American werewolf, beetlejuice, Stranger Things, Ride along, Bad boys, Mean girls, Pretty Little Liars, Euphoria, It, Maze Runner, Skins, Clueless, The end of the f****g world, Gravity Falls, Fear street, Alice in the wonderland, Jumanji (all of them), Scary Movie, Coraline, Outer Banks, The Umbrella Academy, Lady Bird, Bridgerton, 10 things I hate about you , Girls Interrupted, Teen Wolf, Scream Queens, Trinkets, I am not okay with this, every marvel movie, The 100, The Originals, Snowfall, Boondocks, Descendants, Annie, Blood & Water, Dear white people, The hate u give, The beauty shop, Martin, A fresh prince of bel air, bad boys Pose, How to get away with murder, The Society, American Horror Stories, Us, Get Out, Juno, fight club, Gossip Girl, Diary of a wimpy kid, A series of unfortunate events, The hunger games, Waves, and etc

[ask-narratordoe]

Starlet's Aside

Chapter 2: Preset [Word Count: 860]

Star woke up in a daze. Dumb magical hangover. What did that cube thing DO to her? She feels... Lighter? Is lighter the word for it? Lighter, and a little numb, and pretty cold. Did the cube fling her into the void?! Is she dead?? She couldn’t move, the room was so dark!

Ah.

It would probably help if she opened her eyes.

Her sense of sight. Star’s vision returned to her, blurry and unfocused. Everything was just colors... mostly shades of purple. Still unmoving, she mustered the energy to gaze around the space she was in. She laid before a tall wooden door, ajar, its ridges familiar in shape.

Her sense of touch. The weight of the world seeped back into her limbs as her eyes made an attempt at focusing on where she was. It was good to not be completely float-y anymore, but alongside her fading numbness came the influence of panic. Her body tingled with energy, yet not enough to fight gravity’s strength.

Her sense of taste. Star’s first attempt to get up left her grimacing, when she noticed an odd taste on her tongue. It was something citrus-adjacent; not quite like she’d eaten a lemon, but still a familiar sensation- aha! A lemon flavored lozenge. Baby Star practically guzzled lemon-flavor lozenges like she’d die without them. And as an overexerted singer, she just might have.

Her sense of smell. The second attempt at standing fared better, with Star being able to balance on all four hooves. The scent of various different perfumes, notes of dry woods and marine mists mixing together: her favorites from middle school. There was something so utterly wrong yet so familiar with the room that Star’s head spun.

Her sense of hearing. The whirr of her ceiling fan buzzed above her head, and she could recognize the end credits of her old favorite show. Its pop punk melody crackled in a manner only one device ever did, but Star’s parents chucked that speaker system out years ago. This could only mean one thing. She’s back in her room.

But something was wrong. Actually, a LOT of things were wrong. The walls looked more vivid than they did earlier, and she was sure the TV was off when she left, and as previously mentioned, the old speaker system was trashed. Maybe this was a room remodel, like a surprise gift for her that her parents set up to welcome her back home, so she would feel more comfortable in her old room! ...Okay, probably not. She had only really given them a day’s notice. Is this some sort of weird prank? What about the dice, then? Maybe its ability was to send the user to a random location they’ve visited before, or recreate any room from 10 years ago, and rolling one meant it recreated her bedroom! Alright, that’s pushing it. What in the world is going on, then-? It’ll be easier to figure out when that mind-numbing noise on the TV gets shut off.

Star glanced around, looking for the remote. Guitar, no, alarm clock, no, blankets, no, old perfume, no-. While searching, she noticed that not only was she in her old room, the room was strangely larger, like everything had been scaled up just a tad bit. Whatever, weird room magic. Star went to just turn off the TV by hoof, sick of the scavenger hunt, and her eyes caught her reflection’s gaze in the fading picture. She was a foal!

Okay. O~kay. Do not freak out. Do NOT freak out, Star. Maybe the dice just chooses to teleport its users randomly back in time, and also age you down, maybe! And-? Give you accessories?? That was a new one. Star rushed over to her side room, pulling on the light and cursing the sun for setting already, depriving her of natural light. At least the backup light still allowed her to see herself properly at night.

Just as she was in her youth, Star was a relatively tall filly. Somehow, the dice had chosen to give her a “themed” look. Her hair had been pulled into a ponytail, accented by a trio of red, fluffy feathers. Her makeup- well, just liquid eyeshadow at this stage, was a matching scarlet, her earrings appeared to be a set of black and red poker chips, and she was wearing a black choker. On the floor next to her, which Star hadn’t even noticed, was a vibrant feather boa- in red, of course. Looking good! Now she could freak out.

Star fell backwards as her front hooves ran themselves across her features. How did this happen? How could a little black dice do all of this? And why was that thing on their coffee table?? Outer-lumerdian magic was odd, sure, but Star didn’t know it could do THIS! A scream bubbled up from underneath her, burning to be released. Her breathing quickened; she could NOT be twelve again! Starting her career from scratch? Starting high school from scratch? This had to be some sort of nightmare dice... until she heard something.

It came from the room next to hers. Doe’s room.

[Prologue] [<<Previous] [Next>>]

Event held by @theblindfoldedprince.

[dopingconsomme]

2024年07月12日の記事一覧

2024年07月12日の記事一覧 (全 38 件) 1. フランスが植民地問題を謝罪しない理由（前編） – 橘玲 公式BLOG 2. Yumi Arai - ひこうき雲 - 2022 mix 3. Yumi Arai - 卒業写真 - 2022 mix 4. Yumi Arai - やさしさに包まれたなら - 2022 mix 5. Yumi Matsutoya - acacia [アカシア] - Remastered 2024 6. 松任谷由実 - Hello, my friend 7. 松任谷由実 - リフレインが叫んでる 8. Complex - BE MY BABY 9. Joe Hisaishi - Symphony No. 2: I. What the World Is Now? 10. Masakatsu Takagi - Marginalia #167 11. すりぃ - ケミカルダンス 12. Syrex - i like the way you kiss me - Nightcore 13. MONGOL800 - 少年時代 14. THE ALFEE - メリーアン音頭 15. shallm - ヘミニス 16. Ryokuoushoku Shakai - 恥ずかしいか青春は 17. Ado - 抜け空 18. 福田康文 - 果てしなき攻防 19. 福田康文 - 宿命のデュエル 20. 福田康文 - CNo.39希望皇ホープ・レイ 21. 福田康文 - 魂のデュエル 22. 福田康文 - カイト攻勢 23. 福田康文 - バリアンズ・フォース 24. 福田康文 - 心の解放 25. 福田康文 - 強攻のデュエル 26. 福田康文 - 破滅のフォトン・ストリーム 27. 田中公平 - レイ・ハビーナ 28. Robbie Wyckoff - My Last Stand 29. ゆうさま - ナナナン塊 30. project G.E. サウンドチーム - 迫る悪夢 - 2nd Ver. 31. 阿知波大輔 - 北風のミュゼット 32. 田中公平 - レイ・コルモスナ 33. 田中公平 - GRAVITY DAZE/重力的眩暈 - Ending Ver. 34. 田中公平 - ヴァン・ダ・センタリアレ - Revisit Ver. 35. 福田康文 - ナンバーズをかけたデュエル 36. 田中公平 - GRAVITY DAZE 2 37. Yugo Kanno - ダイヤモンドは砕けない〜���インテーマ〜 38. 【証拠写真入手】旭川殺人事件被告と警察官らの醜���｜警視ら13人カラオケ店で飲食 – HUNTER（ハンター） July 13, 2024 at 05:00AM

[autumnalwalker]

7 Snippets 7 People Tag

Thank you for the tag, @talesofsorrowandofruin.

Passing the tag to @blockedwriterqueendom, @herandherheartache, @mariahwritesstuff, @daisywords, @violets-in-her-arms-writes, @silvertalonwritblr, @rickie-the-storyteller, and an open tag to anyone else who wishes to participate and share.

With @thearchivistsjournal approaching its end, here's one snippet per (roughly) every 50 days of that project:

Day 2:

I feel better after a night’s sleep and morning’s breakfast.  Things are still strange though.  I’m writing this sitting at the kitchen table of the cabin I was given to live in, morning sunlight coming in the window and the rest of the basket of bread and fruit the old man left me just an arm’s length away.  Pat, he said his name was.  Apparently it used to be short for something but even he has trouble remembering what it was these days.  I’m starting to wonder if that’s a common problem around here.

I suppose I should start from the beginning.  Try to cover as much as I can remember from yesterday.  It’s not like I have any other plans for today, except maybe explore and tidy the house more.

The first thing that I was aware of, that I can remember, was the feeling of water lapping at my heels.  Then the sound of the waves.  Not sure if the cool breeze running over me or the warm sand I was lying on registered next.  Which is all a fancy way to say I woke up in a daze on a beach not knowing how I got there.

I was damp, but not soaking wet.  If I’d washed up from the sea I’d been lying there long enough to mostly dry out.  Not that I was quite lucid enough at the time to put that together, this is just me looking back trying to puzzle things out.  I was barefoot.  My only clothes some undergarments and knee-length… robe? tunic? chiton? drape?  Not sure where I got that.

For that matter, I couldn’t (and still can’t) remember a great number of things, who I am or where I was before this chief among them.  Or rather, I know things about myself, but not my history.  I know what a cat is but not if I’ve ever had one as a pet.  I know I like hot chocolate but can’t bring to mind the context of a time I ever drank it.  I know what microwaves, electronics, the internet, gerrymandering, atomic structures, feudal governing systems, and crop rotation all are and have varying degrees of understanding on how they work and have opinions on some of them, but I can’t remember learning those things or where (or if) I ever directly encountered any of them.  And from what I’ve seen I don’t think this place has any of those.

Even my own body felt unfamiliar once I finally got up and tried moving.  Like all my limbs were slightly different proportions than my reflexes were used to and my center of gravity displaced.

Looking back, it’s probably a good thing I was so out of it at the time.  I probably would have panicked pretty bad.

Day 53:

Dinner last night was nice.  Well, the food itself maybe not so much as we all learned that Vernon shouldn’t cook and talk at the same time or else things get burnt.  But the company and conversation was a welcome change of pace given that I spend most of my days and nights alone.

Most of the night was given over to long meandering conversation, casually drifting from topic to topic with no real goal or motive.  Just sharing opinions and anecdotes and reminiscing on common experiences until late into the night.  Truth be told, it was mostly Lin and Vernon talking with me occasionally chiming in.  And that suits me well enough.  For the most part anyway.  I’ll confess this was the first time I ever really felt like I was missing something with my lack of a past.  It wasn’t so much that I regretted the lack of memories in and of itself, but that I had so little to share with others.  At least the stories I remember often enough had versions in the archive that Lin (and less often Vernon) had read that made for points of connection and shared experience to talk about.  Maybe I didn’t have childhood memories of attending equinox festivals, but we’d all heard a version of the story of the man trapped away from home for years before finally being able to set off on a journey home to wife and child, facing spirits and gods on the way.

Most of the things we talked about would take all day to properly recount here, as interesting as it might be to get into Vernon’s growing up with shepherd parents, his aversion to slugs, or Lin’s experiences going out with fishers to collect medicinal ingredients from the reef.  There were a couple of conversations though that are more relevant to the future than the past.

For one thing, I let slip my suspicions that there might be books missing from the archive.  This was met with some skepticism if for no other reason that neither of them could imagine a motive for anyone to remove them, and as Vernon pointed out, it would be scandalous if that were the case.  Nevertheless, Lin offered to come by sometime to help examine and see if there was anything she remembered from the old archivist’s tenure that was missing.

The other thing was I brought up the plan to try to catch a ride on the floating island.  To my surprise, they were both interested in joining, especially after retelling Pat’s story about Priscilla.  Although Vernon wasn’t quite as sure he’d be able to get away from his responsibilities for two weeks, he offered to at least help with getting supplies for the expedition together.  He doubted he’d be able to do so in time for the next island docking in a couple of days, but perhaps by the next one.  This was a welcome, if surprising offer indeed, and I probably thanked him enough times to make it awkward.  The actual logistics of getting two weeks’ worth of food and water onto the island in a several minute time window practically at dawn is a problem for another day though.

Gentleman that he is, Vernon walked both of us home (well, to the library for me) once it got late enough that all three of us were starting to yawn.

Day 100:

And so ends one hundred days.  Like fifty, it feels like it should be a landmark.  Feels like so much has happened since I woke up on the beach, but at the same time, so little.  Feels like a long time, but when I stop to think about it, it’s not even a third of a year.  Barely a season.

Ninety nine days ago I looked in the mirror, didn’t recognize myself, and cried tears of joy without knowing why.  I still don’t know why, but now that reflection really does register as me and regardless of any other strangeness about this place that makes me question my senses that feels right.

Still, this place, while peaceful and mostly nice, isn’t perfect.  And neither am I.  And I’d be worried if either of those things were the case.

And on that note, I really don’t feel like dealing with people after the past couple days.  Think I’m going to take a day to myself tomorrow.  Best enjoy it now before the rainy season hits and I’m stuck in a room full of children for hours each day.

Day 140:

It was then that I walked to the door with only an “I’m stepping outside” to a confused Maiko and proceeded to do just that.

A moment of closing my eyes and stretching to the endless trill of raindrops on the awning.  A breath taking in a scent that I want to call petrichor but recognize as being too far into the rain for that.  A descent down the steps into the precipitatous curtain.  

Soaked to the bone immediately.  

Slowly across the yard as I feel the mud and grass beneath my bare feet in water up to my ankles.  Slowly, for I feel embarrassed.  A smile tugging at the corner of my mouth as I realize I’m beyond that.  Slowly still, for I’ve raised my face to the sky and have no wish to trip.

Arms raised to the sides, palms up like my face.  Standing still, eyes closed, taking in the wind and rain.

Smiling in a storm.

Something said by the thunder.

A reflexive jump and cringe.  Eyes open.  Laughter, half-forced, half-genuine.  Growing more toward the latter by the second.

A moment to pull aside the hair plastered to my face.  Arms back out.  Smile finished creeping into a grin.  Turning in place.  Slowly at first, footing unsure, water giving resistance.  Picking up speed.  Can I go fast enough for centripetal force to lift my hair parallel to the ground?  Probably too heavy from water to work.  Try anyway.

Dizziness setting in.  Make use of the imbalance as the top wobbles.  Transition the momentum-carried steps into something else.  Stumble dance.  Movement never fully stopping.  Only slowing until vestibular equilibrium is regained.  Arms no longer at rigid perpendiculars.  Now flung out with each step.  Each bend of the spine and waist.  Accentuate the movements.  The movements more measured.  Increasing tempo.

An attempt to match to a rhythm.  Many rhythms.  Of  the wind and rain.  Of memory.  Of tunes cycling through the mind of a body that lacks the skill to ever do them justice in attempting to repeat them aloud.  Leave them silent save in memory.  Let the observer guess at what they might be.

An observer?

A stutter of the body in motion.  A smile sent that way.  A wave incorporated into a scooping of the standing water that returns it to the air.  

Eyes closed.  A forgetting for a time.  A return to the dance.  Mere wild flailing to the observer.  Dance to the dancer.  Observed?  Remember, forget.

Gyre and gambol.  A grin flashing with the lightning.  A knowing that the thunder will incite a jump.  An unconscious decision to use the reflex instead of fighting it.  Laughter at what the thunder said.  A dare to the storm to take the dancer.  To strike down.  Not a boast but a tease.  A playful utterance to a partner.  Irony in how unthinkable it would be.

Sight gone dark.  Exhaustion, but not that much.  A sunset hidden by grey clouds gone black.  Was the dance that long or did it start late?

A breathless ascent up the steps.  A short distance made mountainous.  Out of the rain but not nearly dry.  A collapse into a seated position leaning against the house.  An invitation to the observer to join next time.  A bemused pronouncement of strangeness.  Agreement.  A request for a towel.  A head shaken in disbelief, exasperation, as the observer goes to retrieve one.

Maiko brought me a towel.  

Dry.  Mostly anyway.

I still wound up taking shower afterward.  It might have felt a bit redundant, but there was plenty of mud and bits of grass in addition to the rain.  Also, it helped dispel the chill that had set in once I finally stopped.

Dinner was simple.  I had worked up an appetite to eat just about anything and was too worn out to properly cook anything.  Even this entry was written in the residual haze of that fevered trance.  I wonder how much of it will even be intelligible to me come morning.

As I said, pleasantly exhausted.  I expect to sleep well tonight.

I wonder if I will dream.

Day 200:

Once we finished our descent tumble-free it was obvious that the chanting was utterly absent here.  Maybe the rain had stopped already, but if that were the case, one of the others likely would have come down to let us know.  And so we began walking that pillared space once more, stopping and listening at intervals to see if the chanting returned as our location shifted.

Nothing.  Not even when standing directly under the Reader.

And then Maiko put a hand on one of the sarcophagi.  Gasped.  Told me to come over and do the same.

When I did so I could hear the chanting once more.  After a fashion.  Where the chanting heard above was comprised of many voices in unison, this was a singular speaker.  As I took my hand on and off the carved stone lid the voice started and stopped.  Or at least my ability to hear it did.  A quick test of Maiko keeping her hand on the sarcophagus and repeating the words as she heard them confirmed that the chant kept going without me listening and when I returned my hand I’d be hearing the same as Maiko.  Testing a few others, we confirmed that with each we heard a voice unique to that particular sarcophagus.

Maiko suggested that we check other sarcophagi to see if any of them were saying anything different from one another before we went back up to retrieve the others and have them record what they could hear down here.  It seemed a reasonable enough plan and I went along with it, thinking no more of it.  Nor did I object beyond a request to stay in eye and ear contact when Maiko said we ought to split up to check more at once.

I made the connection some time later when I heard a shout from the other end of the catacombs and realized I’d let Maiko out of my sight.  It wasn’t a loud shout.  The sort of noise you make when you want to scream in anger or frustration but are trying to stay quiet at the same time so it comes out more like a grunt.  Not loud enough to be heard by anyone upstairs.

I ran toward the noise, catching up just in time to see Maiko straining to dislodge the lid from a sarcophagus.  She ignored my cry as she lifted and pushed.  It was a strain even for her, but with a grinding of stone on stone she managed enough to peak in through a corner.  At times like that, I wonder if there’s something supernatural to her strength on top of her size and musculature.

Not that there was much time for such musings.  The deed was done, and by then I was close enough to peer around Maiko and take a look myself, curious despite all my protestations mere moments before.

Inside was a shade.

It was hard to get a good look at it through that aperture and their forms are indistinct by nature, so there was no way to tell if it had horns like Maiko or other features like Iole’s Ascended illustrations, but there was no mistaking what it was.  And just like a shade at morning’s first light, it melted and disappeared before our eyes.

A shade.

Lying in a box.

During the daytime.

And it dissipated when we opened the box.

Lining the interior of the sarcophagus on every surface I could see were carvings.  Inset into these carvings, filling them, were pieces of metal that brought to mind Priscilla’s map box and the machines in Melaina’s workshop, each perfectly shaped to fill their slot and flush with the surface.  Whether they were more examples of that ancient script or abstract geometric shapes I was too busy fighting down the warring reactions of panic and adrenaline to say with any certainty.

Maiko returned the lid to its original place without another word.

We stared at each other for a time.

Back to the stairs, still not a word.

No chanting from the box when I put my hand on it just before leaving.

Upstairs the others greeted us and asked if we found anything interesting down there given how long we’d been gone.

Day 258:

People crowding around me.  Asking questions.  Too many people.  Too much noise.  Too close.  No good answers to give.  Already failed.  Already shut down.  Already got friends in trouble.  Should say something.  What to say.  Something.  Stop freezing up.  Useless.  In a loop.  Useless.  Thoughts gone recursive.  Why are you so useless?  Why don’t you do something?  This is all your fault.  You should try to fix it.  But what?  Something.  That doesn’t help.  Figure it out.  How?  Do it.  I can’t.  Yes you can, you’ve done it before.  When I’m like this?  Stop making excuses.  I’m trying.  No you’re not.  I am.  If you were you would have done something by now.  This is Theo’s fault.  Don’t shift the blame.

Looping.

Useless.

Broken.

Suddenly space.  Theo saying something to the crowd.  Hand on my shoulder.  Leading me back to the house.  Saying something.  No response.  Nothing more said until we’re on the porch.  He puts out a hand.  Know what he wants.  Inner screaming.  Cursing him.  Imagine smacking his hand away.  How could he do this?  What gave him the right?  How was he even capable of pulling this off?  Of planning it?  Getting everyone in just the right place at the right time?

Wordlessly, I open the bag with my journal and notebook.  Hand over my copies of Iole’s book.

He asks me if it was worth it.

Heart races.  Breathing gets hard.  Skin gets hot.

Pull the door open.  Slam it shut behind me.

Childish.

Stagger to the couch.  Grab it’s back for support.  Or maybe just something to grip.  To squeeze.  Try to steady my breath along with my body.  Slow down.  Not working.  This isn’t panic.  Something else.  Unfamiliar emotion.  Detached part of me clinically recognizes it.  Don’t like it.  Want to scream.  Screaming is rude, don’t do it.  It’s not like you to be loud anyway.  Try anyway.  Can’t bring myself to do it.  Just stretching my mouth painfully wide, tensing up my throat and exhaling silently.  Do I even know how to scream?  There’s an impulse to flail about.  To hit things.  Throw something.  Cause disarray.  Don’t throw a tantrum like a spoiled child.  Give in anyway.  Stop myself just short.  The furniture did nothing to deserve this.  To damage it would be cruel, petty, and wasteful.  You’re cruel, petty, and wasteful for considering it.  Take it out on something that deserves it.  Who deserves it?  Who’s this emotion directed at?  Theo.  Myself.  You missed your chance with Theo.  Harming myself is unthinkable.  That leaves self-loathing.  Already at the limit for that.  You need to excise this somehow.  But how?  The journal.  Can’t think clearly enough to write.  Don’t need to write, it’s as much a part of you as anything.

I barely remember making the “entry” I made that night.  Looks like I nearly tore straight through the page.  I think I might have passed out shortly thereafter.

When I woke up the next morning I finally thought to check to see if Maiko’s pouch was still in its hiding spot in the couch.  It was already gone.  Not sure if that means she got to the house and retrieved it before I arrived or if she snuck in during the night.

The next few days were… bad.  The less said about them the better.  It took running out of food to get me to leave the house.

Day 300:

Obviously the solution was to bring the light outside to the storm and so I gathered up every crystal in the house and carried the armful out the door.  I paused briefly behind the curtain of water at the edge of the porch.  A voice in some far corner of my mind cried out that we’d gone far past mere whimsy by now.  Perhaps it is time to reel this in a bit.

I smile, acknowledge the voice is right, and continue.

Step through the curtain.  Take the stage.  The music is already playing.

Light the stage with movement.  Leave behind pieces of home.  Grow the stage.  

Do not rush the process.  This too is part of the dance.  Release your burdens when it feels right.

Free now.  Weightless.  Let limbs flow unbound.

Twist and turn.  Whirl and writhe.  Leap and lunge.

No wrong way to dance with the wind.  Be one with the music of the rain.  Listen to the thunder speak without words.

Lift face to sky as lightning flashes.  Catch its shine on your teeth.  Burn the afterimage of your eyes and grin onto your audience.

Jump.  Land.  Slip.

Hit the muddy grass.  Laugh.  This too is part of the dance.

The fall is your own lightning.  The splash is your own thunder.  The pain is your own afterimage.

Rise again.  Repeat it all.  Renounce time and care.

Welcome the audience who joins you.  Not the partner you hoped would come, but they do know the steps.  Be the one to lead this time.

Adjust the dance for a partner.  Feel the rhythm flow differently when channeled through two.  Rarely touch, but that’s not the point.

Lightning once more.  Let it illuminate your eyes to match the other’s.  Make them look away first this time.

Thunder follows.  Shout with it.  Raise voice with the intensifying chorus of the wind.

Circle and slide.  Approach and abjure.  Reach and retreat.

Feel the rain on your shoulders become sheets.  Feel the wind decide your direction more than your will.  Feel the water at your ankles force a slowness.

No!  Faster!  Livelier!

Do not slow at the storm’s peak.  Do not heed the protestations of flesh.  Do not let gravity, friction, resistance hold you back.

Revel.

In the life of the storm.  

Rejoice.

For you are alive.  

Renounce.

Your worries, if only for a night.

Will others join the dance tonight?

No, not here, not now, not with us.

Is this what it would have been like to accept that rhythm?

No, that is a different dance, a different song, a different joy.

Can this last forever?

No, nothing does, nothing will, nothing should.

Lose yourself until the storm fades.  Watch your partner blow away with the last flash of lightning.  Begin to find yourself again.

Gather up the lights.  Bring them inside.  Illuminate home.

Heat the bath.  Let the warmth ease your tired limbs.  Bask.

Dry yourself.  Ready for bed.  Recognize the last ember of the night still burning in your mind.

Open your mind of paper and ink.  Draw out that ember.  Burn it into the pages.

Relive your day, as you do every night.  Examine yourself.  Find what you missed in the moment.

What do you add?  What do you leave out?  What do you change?

Smile.  Satisfied.  Sanguine.

Empty now.  Ready for sleep.  No need for dreams.

Day 352:

Theo’s face softened once I finished my recounting and asked my questions.  Was that sadness?  Regret?  Pity?  Something about it would have been almost comforting if not for the unsettling implications in Theo feeling he needed to comfort me.

He said that he said he was sorry if I’d reached the lake because he knew of nothing to do to help me if I’d gotten that deep.  Not everyone that suffers from regular Catacomb nightmares tells him about it, so there have probably been some that have reached the lake that he wasn’t aware of, but in all the confirmed cases the dreamer’s mental state would begin to decline not long after.  Ultimately they’d fling themselves into the Endless Abyss or some other hole they believed would take them physically to the Catacombs.  And he truly doesn’t know what happens to them after that.  But they never speak of it as a desire to end themselves, unusually claiming that it’s a way to something.  Other worlds, precious artifacts, loved ones to bring back.  They always seem to expect to survive the ordeal and no bodies are ever found.  But they never come back either.

[sephinova]

This evening I completed Gravity Rush 2 for the first time and what an amazing video game sequel to the first GR! Great gameplay, interesting story, lovable characters, awesome soundtrack and the ending gave me tons of feels! <3

[gravityshifterscouplescounseling]

On Gravity Rush 2′s Ending

So I have to get this out there before my hair starts falling off in my sleep.

Spoilers, obviously.

So, that ending, huh? What a tearjerker. But it’s also one of the most satisfying conclusions to a character’s story and, really, a franchise I’ve ever seen. I haven’t stopped thinking about it even now, three days after beating the game. The first day was especially rough, but that was also when everything fell into place for me. You see, I’d been left with one question: what were they implying by not showing Kat and Dusty in the last scene? I’ve seen some people theorize it’s because Kat underwent some sort of transformation when she became a singularity, but I think people are looking far too deep into this.

I think the answer’s as simple as a narrative device.

Think about it. How do you hammer home the idea that Kat’s story is over? 

By not showing her in the final scene.

If they’d shown her standing there, giving Raven her big ol’ smile followed by a tearful reunion, it’d be sweet for us, the audience, but it doesn’t carry the same sense of finality. All that stuff we can imagine ourselves, such as this wonderful piece of art that I refuse to believe is anything less than canon: http://evayoart.tumblr.com/post/156367016553/ive-waited-for-you .

Also this wonderful set of pictures: http://koyoriin.tumblr.com/post/146551326771/koyoriin . 

(I think that last comment is especially funny because the artist pretty much prophesied the ending.)

That last picture at the end of the credits was included to basically say, “Yes, Kat and Dusty are alive and well and back amongst loved ones,” but the devs still only showed their shadows to preserve that sense of finality.

I think my theory’s backed up by Raven’s reaction, too. She doesn’t say Kat’s name in anything other than relief and happiness. If Kat truly had changed, I think there’d be at least a bit of a disbelieving tone to her voice. The picture also doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary to her silhouette. It’s the same as it’s always been.

“And so ends the story of a girl who fell from the sky and changed the world...”

I believe this line plays only after Raven finds her because Kat’s story didn’t end until she reunited with her “other half.”

“But what does becoming a singularity mean?” 

This is something else I think people are looking too deep into. Since the game never gave an explanation for what this means, I chose to go by the literal definition.

And given that Kat becomes a singularity on a daily basis (Micro Black Hole, anyone?), I don’t think this would’ve been much of a problem for her. A little more difficult given the much bigger size of this black hole, but still nothing she couldn’t handle.

And, finally, why it took her a year to return. This one I’ve seen more and more people catch onto.

Time moves faster the higher up the World Pillar you go, and slower the lower you go.

This isn’t a concept new to GR2/GD2 either. If you’ll remember, Kat and Raven went down the World Pillar in the first game where the lost children had taken up residence. And when they returned after what was probably a few days at most, an entire year had passed in Hekseville. 

So the way I see it, Kat threw herself into the black hole, became a singularity,

this happens, and then she comes back. Maybe it takes her a little longer ‘cause that ordeal drained her. (She did just finish killing Satan after all.)

At first I thought that Kat would have to stay a singularity forever to seal the black hole, but Raven discovering her at the end brought me back to this scene. The way I interpret it now is that Kat destroyed the black hole, drowned it out in a light so powerful even a motherfucking black hole couldn’t swallow it.

Themes of light being cast on darkness have been pretty prevalent throughout the game, after all -- especially in the last chapter.

So, yeah. Kat saves the day, makes the short journey home where most people assume she’s missing or gone for good because they don’t know about the World Pillar time shenanigans, and some (Syd most of all) are waiting for her to return. Which makes sense, after all. He was about as calm as Kat was about her “leaving” and, given the lengths he’s gone through even before the start of the first game to protect her, you’d think he’d be more upset at the prospect of her giving up her life. I think he knew the singularity deal wasn’t permanent or fatal. He just knew it’d be a while before he saw her again, if he saw her again.

And that’s that. Kat beats the baddies, ends the end of the world, wins the day, and gets a happy ending with the people she loves. All is as it should be. 

The only sad part about all of this is that this is it. It’s doubtful we’ll ever get a Gravity Rush 3, and even if we do, Kat will most certainly not be the protagonist. If that breakthrough in tech Keiichiro Toyama wants happens and we get a GR3, I’d at least hope the main cast returns, Raven’s the new protag, and Kat is either a prevalent figure or, better yet, the companion this time around. Hell, it’d be straight-up awesome if we could switch between both, but still make the story about Raven since Kat’s is over.

I think I speak for all of us when I say to Playstation VR, please get your shit together. (Not that I care for VR gaming, mind you. But if this is the kind of tech Toyama finds interest in to continue the franchise, I’ll drop the $400 today and pre-order first chance I get.)

I’ll revisit this post with anything I forgot or extra thoughts that come to mind. Hope you guys enjoyed this and it gives you peace of mind if you found yourself needing it as much as I did. This is the first time I’ve done any sort of analysis for fun and I look forward to doing similar posts.

This game, man, I swear. Changed my life.

[lukael]

Aki, Kat and Raven enjoying a new phenomenon in Hekseville ❄️❄️❄️

I like to imagine snow and winter became a regular occurrence in Hekseville after GR2. During a cold winter night, the girls were watching some movies and drinking hot chocolate at Aki's place, then Kat caught a glimpse of the year's first snow out the window and promptly dragged them all outside to watch it fall 💕

[marvelandsuchstuff]

Sleepless Nights and Golden Sunlight (Corpse husband x reader)

A/N: helllllooooo everyone, I think like most of the internet I have been obsessing over this man for the past week and couldn’t help myself. I would however like to take this time to say that I will fully respect this man and if he ever does want this taken down - I will do so :). Anyways I wrote this shit in 12 hours and it’s now 2:45 am lol but I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: None, unless I can kill you with softness

It was well past 6 am when the sun had crept through the sheer curtains of the room (y/n) lay asleep in. The golden light streamed on to the grey bed in which she was peacefully in her own world. She was curled up around one of the pillows, with a small smile cracking through her soft lips.

In one of the other rooms, a man sat at a desk trying to record a video for the third time in the past four hours. He was growing increasingly furious with the script in front of him, no longer wanting to attempt reading it out. Put it down to the lack of sleeping for more than three hours or the fact that he was pushing himself too hard again with the rapid rate of growth over these past couples of weeks. But what he did know is that he needed to finish this video, however, no matter what he did, he just couldn’t seem to do it.

That’s when he finally gave up and slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him, not noticing how loud it had been. He sighed and looked at the time on the side of the screen and starred as the minutes passed. Great. Another sleepless night had passed him by without a shutter of a thought. That’s when he heard a sleepy girl’s voice from the doorway.  

(y/n) awoke from her peaceful state when she suddenly heard a forceful thump from down the hall. She hurriedly pulled herself up, dazed and confused and still half asleep, slowly gathering her surroundings. The golden sun bursting into the room now blinded her eyes as she tried to look around at where she was. (y/n) put her hand up blocking it from her line of sight and sighed with relief as she realized she was at corpses' house, in his bed. Safe.  

Although this fact comforted her, she still was mildly distressed at the sound she heard moments before. Almost immediately she noticed how she was alone in the king bed, which wasn’t surprising, in fact, it was normal for her. She knew corpses’ sleeping habits often kept him awake until ludicrous hours in the morning and often he would only end up getting a few hours sleep before returning to reality. Often she would have to drag him to bed, only for him to leave once she had fallen asleep in his arms and he made sure she wasn’t worried about him. So, she decided to go find out what was happening and where her boyfriend had gotten to.

She put her hand down and slowly swung herself out of the warm covers onto the cold hardwood floors. She pushed herself off the mattress, steadily gaining her balance and then slowly walking to the door, still very tired from not having enough sleep. She then opened one of the bedroom’s double doors while leaning on it for a bit of support. (y/n) roamed down the hallway, her feet cold from the wood under them, searching for her boyfriend.

She noticed the dark purple glow coming out of his gaming room, which only could mean he was in there. As soon as this realisation occurred, she felt her legs growing even weaker and used her last source of strength to get over to the door frame. She quickly lent herself against it to support herself before she entirely collapsed onto the floor.

Once (y/n) had gathered herself again, she glanced over toward the computer monitor and lo and behold saw corpse staring at something on the screen. He seemed like he was in a different world, taking no notice of the small girl behind him. After about a minute (y/n) built up enough energy to let out a small and soft “hi”.

The chair swivelled around to face her, and a weak smile crept onto corpses’ face, “hey baby”,

However, he soon realised the state (y/n) was in and quickly dashed over to her before she completely fell to the floor.

“Princess, what are you doing awake?” he asked with concern as she sank deep into his chest for some stability.

“Hmmm, I’m ok”

“You sure, because right now you're clinging onto me as if gravity didn’t exist” he chuckled lightly.

“Yeah,” she whispered and giggled a bit, “Anyways I heard a loud noise and wanted to make sure no one had come to kidnap you,”

He laughed again, “Well I’m standing here are I? So I must be fine unless I’ve been given some drug to make me hallucinate the most beautiful person in the world. Which in that case I want to be on this forever.”

(y/n) laughed and smiled into his chest. They both just stood like this for a moment taking in the silence and the warmth of each other. Their breaths aligned creating a bliss in which the earth itself shattered away and nothing else mattered. Two souls becoming more intertwined with each second passing by. Heaven.

Corpse was the one to finally break the silence, softly asking, “Do you want to go back to bed?”

(y/n) nodded into him, “mhm, can you come with me?”

“Of course princess, I wasn’t planning on leaving you anytime soon” he mumbled.

Then suddenly he manoeuvred around her, still making sure she had balance. He carefully picked the girl up bridal style and moved over to turn the lights off. At first, (y/n) was a bit taken aback by this but quickly adjusted to his body and curled into him. She closed her eyes softly caving into the darkness but wanting to stay awake until they got into the bed.

Corpse carried the girl in his arms down the hall, no longer concerned about the video he left or the lack of sleep he had. All that mattered was his wonderful and sweet little girlfriend who kept him sane at the worst of times. He looked down at her and he wondered how she ended up with him.

“Why’d you choose me?” he whispered, not sure if she heard him.

This made (y/n) open her eyes, now full of concern. “Because I love you, I knew it then and I know it now”

They both recounted the night they met. It wasn’t much, the met when poki had invited (y/n) to play a couple of games of among us and he was there. (y/n) remembers instantly feeling overwhelmed by even the few amount of people there. Corpse realised this a couple of rounds into the game after poki kept asking why she was so quiet compared to normal. He had seen her talk in poki’s videos a few times and was wondering the same because she was often more vocal in those videos. So he decided to message her to see if she was ok, seeing the same signs as he does with himself. For some reason (y/n) decided to tell him what was going on in hopes that he could help, knowing that he also struggled with these things.

After that, they immediately became really close and both were happy that they finally found someone who fully understood one another. The rest became history and now they were here, together.

“I love you too. So much,” Corpse said, smiling as he pushed the second of the double doors open. He then walked over to the opposite side of the bed and then carefully laid the girl down on the mattress. He moved the pillow she had been curled up against to make sure her head was supported.

After he put her down he went to the wall with the control panel and lowered the blackout blinds so they wouldn’t be disturbed by the already light sky outside. Then, he went back around to the other side of the bed and climbed on top of the grey sheets. He pulled the covers over both of them and tucked them into (y/n) side to keep her even warmer. Then snaking one hand over her torso and leaving one to play with her hair, he pulled closer to her body

“Are you going to tell me what was that noise I heard now?” (y/n) quietly asked,

“It was nothing, I just got mad at a video I was trying to film”

With this, (y/n) turned over to face him, searching for the emotions on his face. A strange look of sadness and anger and hatred she knew all too well. Very often this was corpses’ permanent emotional state where it is for something like a video or mean tweet, or more often himself. Every time she sees this side of him, it breaks her heart because he, of all the people in the world, definitely doesn’t deserve to feel like this.

The worst part is, however, often she feels as though there is nothing she can do to help. The best way she has found is to be there for him, whenever and whatever he needs because she knows he would do the same for her.

“Can I do anything?”

However, what she didn’t realize was how much she already does to help, just by being there. Because often if she’s happy and doing ok, he would always come back to her. His own personal light in the dark.

“Get some sleep for me baby. That’s all that I want you to do,” He replied, running his hand through her hair.

“Ok, but please stay with me?” she asked as she fell back into her own little world of dreams.

“Of course princess, I wasn’t planning on leaving you anytime soon”

[ghirahimbo]

"2. Suddenly pulling them in for a dance." - Ghiralink, perhaps? (Sorry incase that's not really your thing anymore! Feel free to pick another ship <3)

Yeah… yeah, that’s still my thing T-T lol, thanks for the prompt! This one was fun 😊

Post-canon, vague master/sword AU, ghiralink-ish

—

The spirit maiden danced with a grace befitting her divine origins, little though Ghirahim liked to admit it. Moving so lightly through the lively steps that her feet might have been floating, he could almost believe that she still bore Hylia's feathered wings on her back, tucked somewhere outside of physical sight. Link danced like a log in comparison—though on second appraisal, Ghirahim had to give him more credit than that. The boy wasn't stomping on Zelda’s toes, after all, unlike Fledge dancing nearby with poor Karane. Link's style consisted of accuracy without artistry, though with enough enthusiasm to almost make up for it. How odd that all his light-footedness seemed reserved for the more violent dance of swords, where he moved nimbly enough to keep even Ghirahim on his toes… a nod to his true calling, perhaps?

Privately savoring the notion, Ghirahim lounged against the wall of a newly erected building, only half noticing the wary looks he received as he watched the festivities unfold. These Skyloftians-turned-surface dwellers still feared him, despite the months he had served already as their hero's sword—a primal fear, perhaps, unless that fool Groose had secretly run off at the mouth. Link and Zelda had agreed from the start that certain aspects of Ghirahim’s past were best kept hidden, his previous master and role in Zelda’s disappearance highest among them. He had certainly not done anything overtly threatening to the residents of this tiny, budding village—and yet, they feared him.

The whole situation fell well beneath his notice, though he’d caught Link frowning over it more than once. Link was frowning at him now, Ghirahim realized, directing it over Zelda’s shoulder as they turned in sync, and he met it with a scornful expression of his own. What had Link expected him to do here tonight? Mingle?

The music finally paused as the lively song wound to its end, prompting the dancing couples to bow and switch partners (in Karane’s case with remarkable alacrity). Link leaned in towards Zelda, whispering something in her ear before vanishing into the milling throng, and Ghirahim half raised an eyebrow. Likely he'd just gone for more food, though Link might have finally tired of this tedious celebration. Compared to the more demonic gatherings Ghirahim knew, this less raucous human affair contained a disappointing (if expected) lack of bloodshed—though of course, those had often erupted haphazardly in the throes of battles won. Not like this one, which commemorated nothing more than the laboriously slow growth of food and its eventual harvest.

Another song started up, slower than the last but no less cheerful. Fledge had moved on to his next victim, some girl in a bandana and horrifically flared pants whose name Ghirahim had never bothered to learn. Zelda had produced a harp, wandering to join the musicians with plucked out harmonies that flowed from her fingers with ease, and Link…

Ghirahim frowned when Link’s bobbing green hat still had not emerged among the dancers. The food tables remained conspicuously absent of green, as well. If Link thought he could escape on his own while leaving Ghirahim here waiting—

A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him from his perch by the wall, and if he hadn’t had that hand memorized from the hundreds of times it had gripped his hilt, Ghirahim might have expressed his surprise in regrettably drastic fashion. Instead he let it pull him through the crowd until they reached their apparent destination, and it slid down his arm to grasp his own blackened hand, while another reached up to rest lightly on his shoulder.

Ghirahim blinked. Link smiled blandly up at him.

"Care to dance?" he asked, a bit too late for etiquette's sake considering that the dance had already started. Link's cheeks shone pink from the exertion of tromping around with Zelda, and his messy hair, mercifully absent the hat that always covered it, felt deceitful in how easily it had disguised his presence. Sweat clung to the base of those dark blonde locks—the reason for the hat's removal?

Ghirahim's legs moved automatically through the simple steps as he considered his young master, who made a brave attempt at leading with that unfortunate portion of his usual grace.

"Presumptive of you," he murmured, just loud enough to be heard over the din of laughter and music. "Any particular motive for such impertinence?"

Link had the nerve to look confused.

"You like to dance," he said, as if that was answer enough. Perhaps it was. Link wore his cheerful naiveté like a cloak sometimes, and even Ghirahim couldn't always sort out how much of it was real, and how much artifice. "Someone had to ask you?"

The hint of a question?

A number of potential reactions ran through Ghirahim's mind, considered and discarded in quick succession. He could extract himself easily enough, leaving Link clutching nothing but vanishing diamonds. He could also stand stubbornly still, refuse to dance, and let Link discover just how easily he could drag around a sword that didn't want to move. He could reject Link quietly—dramatically—at knifepoint, even—but…

A quick glance around revealed their audience. Though most had the sense not to stare openly, nearly every couple surrounding them shared the same nervous, almost scandalized smile, as if they feared the consequence of making their amusement too obvious. The spirit maiden in particular watched him closely, keeping a pointed eye on him over her harp though her lips shared the same bland smile as Link.

There would be no consequence, of course—Ghirahim wouldn't risk this precarious arrangement with Link simply to save face in front of some humans—yet neither could he let anyone think him scared off by something as innocuous as an invitation to dance. The steps themselves were straightforward enough, easily gleaned through his brief time spent observing… and as Link had pointed out, he did enjoy it.

His lips curved into a grin.

"I accept your request," Ghirahim said, and the moment Link started to relax, added, "but I will not be led."

Link's eyes barely had the chance to widen before Ghirahim spun him around, reversing the position of their hands.

Backpedaling to match Ghirahim's smooth advance, Link's startled face swiveled between watching Ghirahim and his own two feet in a desperate attempt to avoid being trampled. Lack of practice in this secondary role made him even less sure of his steps than before, though Ghirahim managed to steer them without incident through the greater pattern of dancing couples, humming in amusement as Link fought with surprise against an unexpected dip backwards.

"Come now, Link, have I ever allowed you to wield me with so little poise?" he hissed, the tip of his tongue whipping out mockingly as he raised Link back up. "If you favor only my sword with your attempts at finesse, I will begin to be jealous of myself."

Face red now from more than mere exertion, Link opened his mouth as if to protest—and closed it again, his lips forming a thin line of determination. An abrupt change swept over him, as drastic as if a switch had been pressed, and his stance shifted along with his center of gravity. Back straight with just a hint of fluidity, eyes blazing with the same defiance that had caught Ghirahim’s interest from the very start, Link danced, the superior reflexes he showed in battle at last made manifest.

Ghirahim's own eyes glowed. So Link had finally remembered that he held a sword.

"You've been holding out on me," he whispered, uncertain if Link could hear him or not. Experimentally, he directed Link with a light hint of pressure through a gliding spin, and found him as responsive an opponent as ever. "I should punish you for that."

Except that Link had held out on the spirit maiden first, and only for Ghirahim revealed his true potential. There was a pattern to that, he decided, glancing once more at Zelda and relishing in her look of surprise. Her chosen hero could never have defeated Demise without trying himself again and again on Ghirahim's sword first, and he hoped at times that his necessity haunted her.

The music picked up in pace and volume, the steps coming quick and intense. Link said nothing—he never did in the midst of battle, as silent as stone and just as unyielding—but perspiration broke out in beads along his face, trailing down the edge of his jaw. His hair swept and stuck in strange patterns across his forehead, disheveled but not wholly unappealing. Link might still have lacked a certain flair to his movements, too direct and to the point for Ghirahim's taste… but style could be taught. Idly, Ghirahim considered other dances he might teach this man if he was amenable, of perhaps less wholesome origins—dances whose quick, subtle movements pushed the bounds of even his own abilities, requiring strength in muscles Link likely didn't know existed. What was a dance without challenge, after all… without something a little more physical?

For now they moved through this tamer dance of Hylia's people, both withdrawing and rejoining as the pattern of steps demanded. The outer world fell away as their attention narrowed in on small details—the clash of eyes and brush of skin—blue on black and flushed tan on cool, steely gray—

And the music ended in a moment of silence that rang out unexpectedly. Laughing chatter burst to life, as abrupt as it was unwelcome, and the spell between them broke. Panting, looking slightly dazed, Link gave Ghirahim a bow that he returned with almost his usual smoothness, convincing himself that he had not been nearly so affected.

"Satisfied?" he asked softly, with the hint of a smirk—and was taken aback by the positively sly look Link gave him in response.

“Well…”

Brushing his hands together and placing them on his hips, Link gave a show of looking around meaningfully, and only then did Ghirahim realize how the tenor of the voices surrounding them had changed. Those glances sent his way felt more curious now than wary, and the bubble of instinctive fear surrounding him had all but vanished—his presence made human in their eyes at last by his part in the harvest dance.

"It's a start," Link decided, wiping sweat from his brow and settling his pointed green hat at a jaunty angle on his head. "I’m done dancing for the night, but you keep going if you want. You looked like you were having fun.”

With a wink, he turned to leave, and Ghirahim couldn't help but admire his exit. Link really was as conniving as any demon he’d ever met at times, though to completely different ends.

A nervous cough caught his attention, and he glanced down to see Fledge looking up at him anxiously. From the flurry of motion around them, it was time to switch partners for the next dance.

“U-um,” he managed to squeak out. His face, torn between pale white and deep red, had settled on both in splotches. “Everyone else is, so do you… I mean, are we supposed t-to…?”

Ghirahim snapped, leaving Fledge gaping at vanishing diamonds, and as he left caught the edges of Link's laughter. Conniving indeed, he thought, though at least in that as in so much else they were equally matched.

[hqamore]

boreal star ✵ chapter six

now, he’s pissed off. general kirigan was going to get his sun summoner and blast all of ravka to hell. he was so close to reaching his goals and no one was going to stop him.

chapter genre: action

series pairing: [past?] aleksander morozova (general kirigan) x reader

word count: 2.2k

author’s babble: surprise! so soon? i know. i cranked this chapter because i finally decided how this series would end. enjoy and tell me your thoughts!

here’s the masterlist

three days, you and mal agreed on. you procrastinated for the first two. well, not really procrastinated. you purchased some food and extra layers in balakirev the first day. the second day, you made your way to ryevost. to your misfortune, you were almost caught by aleksander and his merry band of misfits. but, his attention was stolen by teenagers? it was certainly entertaining to see the grisha get outwitted by the bunch.

you waited until you couldn’t detect them anymore. swiftly and careful to hide your face, you made your way to tsibeya on the third day. by high noon, the white forest greeted you with light snowfall. about 5km in, two huddled teens came into view. the crisp sounds of your steps alerted them, their eyes darting to you.

“[y/n]?” alina stepped in front of mal in a defensive position, light drawn at the ready. you surrendered your hands as mal lightly pushed away hers.

“alina, i told you they were coming,” he said.

with some reluctance, the sun summoner lowered her hands and eyed her. “why would baghra send you? you arrived at the palace the same time as i did.”

you smiled, ignoring her question, and strode past them, only pausing for them to follow. mal slung his sack over his shoulder and gave alina’s hand a light squeeze before jogging ahead of you. “i’ll look out for the stag. but, it’d be better for all of us if you answered her questions,” he whispered. “she’s naturally curious and very stubborn.”

you sighed and slowed your pace, matching your strides with alina’s. “baghra and i have a mutual understanding, one that precedes the importance of the second army,” you said.

alina glanced at you warily. “which is?”

“the black heretic cannot gain any more power.”

her lips pursed. “but, you arrived at the same time i did,” she quipped, “and i still can’t do much.”

you offered a dry chuckle. “i guess i picked it up that much faster.”

silence fell between you two, the crunching snow and distance chirps of birds filling the air. you took this opportunity to take in alina’s appearance. she wore ill-fitted clothing that couldn’t have been providing any warmth. her profile was worn, sunken eyes accompanied by an angry blush from the cool temperature. you shrugged your coat off, leaving you in your kefta, and draped it over her shoulders. she looked at you in surprise which made you smile softly.

with this small bridge, you spoke. “it must’ve been difficult escaping the palace without help.”

alina sheepishly smiled as she tugged the coat on, shuddering in the extra warmth. “not really. i just snuck into the trunk of a carriage and waited until it stopped.”

“you snuck into a stranger’s carriage?” you raised in an eyebrow, mirth evident in your eyes.

“not my best idea, but i’m safe now!”

you laughed at her embarrassed look, causing mal to look back. you saw as his lips quirked when his eyes met alina’s blushing face. warmth spread in your heart as you witnessed his loving gaze, almost feeling as if you were intruding on a secret conversation. you peered at alina who just returned mal’s stare with a blinding smile native only to one alina starkov. you envied their relationship, wordlessly intimate and completely trusting. sadness stirred at the bottom of your heart, memories of hushed giggles and longing gazes bubbling. 

all lies, it was.

—

the sun was setting and, luckily, the three of you had already arrived where mal had last seen the stag. mal said he doubted that the stag moved on, leaving you guys to wait around.

brushing some snow off of a log, you sat and hugged your knees closer to conserve some warmth. alina and mal joined you, leaning into each other to share their body heat.

“when we find the stag, i need to be the one to kill it,” alina grimly stated.

mal looked down at her. “you’re a terrible shot. they made you a cartographer for a reason.”

you snickered as alina feigned offense and mal grinned unapologetically. “besides, i thought we weren’t killing it,” the tracker said, glancing at you. alina’s forehead scrunched in confusion when she turned to you.

a puff of fog appeared as you let out a sigh. “we’re not. unless absolutely necessary.”

“if we don’t, kiri—”

“i have a plan, alina,” you interrupted. “all we need to do is guide the stag away. with a combination of your abilities and mine, it’ll be fairly easy.”

“that won’t stop him from finding it,” alina protested.

you gently placed a hand on alina’s head. “that’s why, once we get it out of fjerdan territory, i’m taking it to the wandering isle. the distance will prevent aleksander from coming for it personally and give me more time to work out a permanent solution.”

she stayed silent for a moment, mulling over your plan, before she frowned. “aleksander.”

your head tilted questioningly when her body faced you, a serious look on her face. “how do you know his name?” she asked.

sucking in a deep breath, you realized you had relaxed too soon. her sharp eyes trained on you as you rubbed your face. mal remained confused, leaning forward to observe the two of you.

“it’s difficult not to know the name of your warden,” you replied.

“warden?”

you debated whether or not to tell alina the complete truth, but you threw caution into the wind and exhaled. “my arrival at the palace was not the first time i had been there. some time ago, i actually called that place home. but, one day, i woke up from the false reality and escaped from the place that was, retrospectively, my prison.”

too intelligent, alina connected the dots in record time. “you’re the lover the servants talked about,” she said breathily. “the person baghra thought would change him.”

a bitter smile danced on your lips. “i’m not sure if he loved me as i did him, but i would’ve hung the stars if he asked me to.”

alina clasped your hand in hers, offering a weak smile. you returned it before continuing. “i met him about four-hundred years ago, when he was hiding from the crown. i was young and enchanted. i believed in everything he wanted for grisha and became his willing accomplice.

“when he returned to the palace, i followed. when he locked me in my room, i complied. as naive as i was, i was in love,” you paused to glance at the pair in front of you, reminded of their small moments that paralleled your memories.

“i was in love...” you trailed, staring at your lap as your chest panged dully. you shook yourself out of your daze and cleared your throat. “no matter, i saw him for the crazed tyrant he was and, when i found out you had been discovered, i returned to thwart his plans.”

faint rustling drew mal’s attention away, the tracker slowly stepping towards the source. alina’s eyes followed him as did yours. after a few seconds, he turned. “that way.”

like meerkats, you and alina shot up and crept beside mal. his eyes darted around the clearing you were approaching and, there in all its glory, was the stag. the three of you stopped at a safe distance when it turned to look in your direction.

you started laying out the plan. “okay. alina, you need to—”

“wait,” alina said, stepping forward, with her eyes trained on the stag. “i— i’ve been seeing it in these visions ever since i arrived at the palace. i don’t know why, but i think it’s been trying to reach out to me.”

then, the stag walked towards alina who took several more steps. she gingerly reached her hand out and the stag met her with its snout. light erupted from them and alina let out soft laughs, basking in the warmth of the light. you softly gasped at the sight. it chose—

suddenly, an arrow shot the stag, causing it to lurch away from alina in pain. she tumbled backwards as people rushed in from all sides. mal raised his gun and shot at the bowman, knocking him down. he swiftly notched an arrow in his bow, prepared to shoot the stag, when a strong wind forced it out of his hand. you turned and was faced with a familiar-looking squaller. you loosened gravity’s hold on her and forced her to float. when you were about to fling her away, a grunt sounded behind you.

“mal!”

your focus disappeared; you pivoted to see mal embedded with an arrow, effectively dropping zoya and incapacitating her. you went to help him when an intense pressure hit your chest, your heart beating erratically. it forced you onto your knees next to mal. your heart was pounding in your ear before it stopped.

bright flashes threw off the heartrender and bowman. you greedily breathed in air as alina darted to mal. you could hear the snap of the arrow followed by mal’s agonizing scream. glancing up, your vision slightly blurred, you saw shadows gathering behind you. at the sound of a billowing cloak, you rushed to create a gravitational downforce around you, not allowing anyone to move. you slowly stood up, facing aleksander with a glare.

he let out a haughty laugh. “i should’ve known you would be with her.”

“alina, i need you to get to the stag,” you commanded.

“but, mal! he’s— he’s dying!”

you glanced behind you to see her applying pressure on his wounds. thoughts raced in your mind before settling on one solution. “i promise you he won’t so long as you follow my instructions.”

desperation evident in her eyes, alina could only nod.

“get to the stag and shield us on my count.”

you inhaled deeply. “3, 2, 1!”

alina ran for the stag and created a barrier. you dove under it before it separated you from the others. outside of it, aleksander found himself free to move. creeping closer, he called out. “you can’t save them, alina. you may have the power of light but not the power to heal.”

alina’s resolve wavered as her eyes flicker to mal. “don’t listen to him, alina! i promised you, didn’t i?” you reassured.

alina bit her lip as she kept up the barrier. you made mal float and pulled him closer to the stag. you gently set him down and reached for the stag. it groaned and flailed in protest.

“i know i’m not your chosen, but please. i must heal him and then i can heal you,” you whispered.

the stag quieted and allowed you to touch it. with one hand on the stag, you hovered the other near mal’s wound.

“i’m sorry, mal, but this is gonna hurt like hell.”

you manipulated time on his body. blood slowly returned to the wound whilst the arrow pieced itself together, ripping itself out of him afterwards. mal let out a painful howl before the wound stitches itself back together, like no arrow had been there in the first place. as he recovered, you quickly moved around to the other side of the stag.

“i see you’ve been busy,” aleksander said sharply.

rage gathered in the pit of your stomach when you shot a glare at aleksander. “and you’ve been a complete fool. after all this time, you still can’t get it through your thick skull that morozova’s amplifiers have to choose you,” you spat.

you returned your attention to the stag’s wound. you murmured an apology before you worked on it. it whined through the pain but stilled once you finished. your hands trembled as you shakily pushed yourself off the ground. the stag stirred and stood on its legs, causing alina to follow in suit. you ran your hand through its fur and whispered. “just once more, friend.”

as if it reads your mind, it knelt before alina. you looked at her, mal now standing beside her.

“you two, get on.”

alina gave you a bewildered look. you returned it with a pleading one. without protest, she and mal both mounted the stag. then, it rose, looking towards you. you leaned your forehead against its snout. “take them far from here.”

you stepped to the side and took alina’s hand. “now, i only have so much energy left to keep them here. so, ride fast.”

“what? you’re not coming with us?” alina’s jaw dropped.

you offered her a melancholic smile. “please, if i have to witness anymore of your loving gazes, i’ll become a bitter spinster,” you teased before growing serious. “alina, keep the shield up until you’ve left fjerdan territory. only make it as big as it has to be. mal, you’re going to have to make sure she doesn’t fall off.”

you let go of her hand and gave mal a nod. inching away from them, you approached the center of the field, barely covered by alina’s light. you glanced back and jerked your head, signaling them to leave. you immobilized aleksander and his men once more, allowing alina and mal to slip through and disappear into the winter night. despite your raging headache, you kept your focus until you couldn’t see the light. you collapsed, the snow cushioning your fall. your vision blurred as you heard footsteps approach you.

“we’ll find them eventually.”

you squinted at your former lover. “no, i don’t think you will, aleks.”

aleksander crouched down and whispered in your ear. “i should kill you where you lay.”

“be my guest. you are well within your rights, general kirigan,” you taunted.

he sneered. “out of respect for our past, i won’t. but, you will be my prisoner.”

“what’s new?” you asked before promptly passing out.

taglist (couldn’t tag the ones in bold): @kykymyeon @shelivesindaydreamswme @blackbirddaredevil23 @amortentiaaaa @safetyhtom @savannah-elliott @deceivedeer @gloriousmoneyrascalbiscuit @sarcastic-and-cool @supersouthy @let-love-bleeds-red @andwhatofthelight @all-art-is-quite-useless​ @mixed-imagination​ @ashdab2611​ @aria-grace-scott​ @multifandom-addict​ @aleksanderwh0r3​ @p3nny4urth0ught5​ @kirigansgf​ @evyiione​ @theoutsidelandhere​ @wizardwheezes​ @partiesandblurrypolaroids​ @pansysgirlfriend​ @takethee​ @imrann123456 @rachellovesharry

author’s babble pt.2: ohoho! can you believe they did that? now, you may be wondering why [y/n] is able to manipulate time. it has to do with spacetime being 4 dimensional and the complexity that comes with the concept of gravity. a bit wibbly wobbly timey wimey (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

continue to chapter seven? yes

[neonun-au]

tag game !

tagged by: @doiefy the trendsetter ;)

tagging: @sunflowerforhaechan @naptaemed @jungwooisms @lebrookestore @sehunniepotwrites @itsapapisongo @nctsworld and anyone else interested :)

rules: post a small snippet of a wip or published fic that corresponds to the following emotions! (or write something new if you want!)

1. joy

Every smile, every laugh, every hushed whisper feels as if it’s for you and for you alone. You begin to notice, as your shyness slips away over weeks and months of blossoming friendship, that sometimes they are for you. Catching him as he stares at you through the heat of the bonfire, feeling his hand rest on the small of your back as you stumble over the rough terrain of the farm on one of your many half-dazed weekend walks.

2. excitement

She leans in to meet you with a glint of excitement sparkling in her eyes, “Attacca,” the name of the band is spoken with a soft reverence, matching the glint in her eyes, and it piques your curiosity even further.

3. sadness

What could you say? What answer was there to give? ‘Of course, Taeil, you’re my best friend.’ While it remains true, you know that it isn’t what he’s asking you; you can read the deeper implication hidden in the question, you know the depth and gravity of the words he is choosing. You turn towards him, twisting the knife in your heart one final time, “I don’t know.”

4. discomfort

“How long have you guys been dating now?”

“Three yea--”

“Oh, we’re not dati--”

Your voices overlap in the din of the party--two different answers drowning each other out and eliciting a confused glance from the inquiring classmate. Out of the corner of your eye you see Jaehyun staring at you, deep brown eyes fixated on your face as you raise your cup for another drink. The heat of his gaze burns into your skin and you can feel a creeping sense of guilt moving through your veins as the seconds tick by like years.

5. tiredness

“Not even close,” you shake your head with a small, mirthless laugh. “You know how he is.”

“Stubborn as an ox,” you can picture her on the other end of the line nodding emphatically and it makes you ache to be anywhere but here in this dingy hallway of the law firm. “How are you feeling?”

“Just,” you sigh, “tired. I don’t want to do this, Sooyoung.”

6. hopelessness

Dawn emerges through your sheer curtains like a bad omen. It comes as consistently as it always has. Carrying with it the same warmth that had come every single day of your life before this one, but as you sit still paralyzed in the same living room you have sat in every day of this past year, nothing feels the same. The night did not undo itself, the day did not bring with it a new reality, and as cold as your skin may be, you are not made of stone.

7. anger

“Maybe I just wanted Doritos,” you rebuff, hackles raising in defense. Defense against what? You’re not sure, but the few shots you did have at your friend’s apartment have made you bold (if a little unsteady).

He holds his hands up in mock surrender, “hey, it was just an observation. Not trying to pick a fight.”