#and then he sleeps

[espectres]

@reclusedesper SENT: 

i don't know how to be anything more than this.

THE OFFICE IS STILL AN UNFAMILIAR SPACE, yet he ended up there at the brim of his day for some reason, huddled on the couch with his knees hugged close between his loose arms. Kaa-chan left for a meeting out of town, and it appears everyone else is as busy as her, except for good old Serizawa. Shou finds interest in the floor as the other esper continues talking, but he can't find himself quite engaged in the conversation, feeling all hazy and heavy in the flooding orange lights of sunset and the shadows of his and Serizawa's shapes on the grounds. But he tries to listen carefully, despite himself.

❝ But you can learn, right? ❞ He looks up to study the man, sadness and hope and determination layering each others in every curse upon his features, in the dull -very present- shine to his eyes, and the small childish frown to his lips. It puzzled him, scared him, made his heart stutter in weaknesses he could never fathom. The idea of people like Serizawa and himself becoming helpless in the face of change and new strange hardships like nothing they've ever seen. 

❝ Isn't that why you're working here? Why you take night classes and do homework? Doesn't any of it teach you how to ... ❞ How to become something, how to wake up in the morning without feeling like you don't belong in "your room", how to play truth or dare or daruma-san, how to greet neighbors in the convenient stores. Shou doesn't know, really, he doesn't know shit and he has fully accepted that fact, but if there is anything he wouldn't accept, it's that all the things Serizawa has been doing are for nothing. It just can't be, there must be something out there for him, he has come so far and Shou refused to think of it as helpless. 

He turns back to admire the shadows, long and weird and barely visible as night creeped in and claimed all the light. And Shou remembers he hasn't gotten a deep night's slumber ever since this same time two days ago,  when he's woken up from a groggy terrible four hours evening nap. ❝ You're just nervous, you're always like that. ❞ He yawns, small tears of exhaustion collecting at the corners of his eyes. He wonders what's beckoning him to sleep, maybe it's the desire to help Serizawa to relax, or the comforting feeling of the familiar aura, engulfing him in waves and waves of strange nostalgia and yearning for times he wouldn't even like to remember.

But the feeling is there regardless, and he doesn't fight how nice it feels to close his eyelids, but he fights to finish his sentences before his head lulls to the side, dangerously weighing on his neck before it finds safety against the side of the man's arm. ❝ You're gonna learn... and you'll teach me as well... that sounds nice ... ❞

[catwouthats]

THEY MAKE ME INSANE

Proof below:

Also, I’m fucking crying, I think his arm is like that bc he fell asleep holding the photo.

EDIT: more proof:

[pangur-and-grim]

he’s had a long day

[hinamie]

to moving forward

[lesbian-disaster-academic]

i used to be so good at writing strong, thoroughly-researched, thoroughly-edited essays.

as a kid in hs, my teacher literally came up to me, holding my 40 page essay on the intersection of the European witch hunts and capitalism/exploitation/gender roles (it was supposed to be 7 pages...whoops) and went like "this is literally a master's-degree level thesis. what are you doing?? you could literally use this as your final dissertation in a master's program, what the fuck."

NOW??? NOW?? you'd think I'd be oh so skilled. but alas. i can barely piece together two ideas. adhd skill-regression is so so real. im SOBBING

[clarisimart]

you haven't seen your ex in years and you want to show him how over him you are, but oh no, he went from a nerdy out-of-his-depth twunk to action hero GILF (grunkle i'd like to *REDACTED*)

commission info here

[peanutseagle]

Yeah. so. episode three

[dearestgentlereaders]

and he wonders why his wife would question whether he was ever punished as a child as if he isn’t the most dramatic bitch around

[arsenicpanda]

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S (2023)

[ayo-edebiri]

#Guess who's the only one allowed to stay

[vextech]

i love that i read SO many jayvik fics about the divorce beginning with jayce being horrified at what viktor had done with the hexcore, only for it to turn out that jayce actually did not give a SINGLE fuck, didn't even flinch at the sight of his hand and leg, and was ecstatic when it ended up saving his life. i am absolutely obsessed

[chloesimaginationthings]

Where the nightmares began in FNAF 4..

[tiger-grace]

Superman: I haven’t seen you at the watchtower for a while. Where have you been the last few weeks, Batman?

Bruce: Rehab.

Superman, worriedly: Oh, I’m so sorry- I never knew you struggled with that. If you don’t mind me asking, what for?

Bruce, grimacing as he watches public footage of Signal and Red Hood starting a dumpster fire out of Pro-Joker merch: ..adoption.

[trekkerac]

i'm not like other guys i take an angsty au and make it a comedy

Ford: I've managed to record substantial evidence on tape, such as floating objects, footsteps that are not my own, and radio weirdness; The host or singer will slip in observations of my being that I simply cannot chalk up to coincidence. Whether this being is a ghost, or one of Bills tricks I've yet to discover… There are more dubious encounters such as the whispers, spine shivering chills, and of the brief shadowy figures I see down dark hallways. (Proof of an apparition? or simply a hallucination dreamt up by my sleep deprived mind?) I fear my mind is slipping further and further-

Ford: What is that blasted noise?! Stan: Cartoons got ghosts shockingly realistic! Ford: Reminds me of... being annoyed.

[hinamie]

I don't want to regret the way I lived

[is-not-a-bell]

Sleepy King

The Justice League Dark caught wind of a cult trying to summon the Ghost King. A being with power so terrible and great, that all of the chaotic Infinite Realms feared him. A true tyrant. Long ago it took the effort of ghosts equal to gods to seal him away into a permeant slumber.

And now this cult wishes to wake him and bring him to the living realm. It was a race against the clock to find the ritual site and all members were called on board, magic or not. Even Constantine looked stressed.

They did find the site.

But it was too late, the ritual was completed. The entire inner circle of runes glowed before being swallowed in a column of green light. The air filled with static and a ringing that made Supergirl crumble to the ground.

The light dissipated, but there was no great figure or being of pure evil. Instead there was a boy, a teenager. He laid on the ground curled up in his sleep. He was a ghost no doubt, dressed in regal clothing.

Despite this when he stirred, everyone froze. It seemed the cold hard ground woke him up. He got up slowly and yawned, revealing his sharp fangs. Once sat up he opened his bleary eyes to look around. He looked confused and tired, really tired.

"Where am I?" He mumbled. "I was trying to get some sleep." Constantine internally screaming, latches onto that last sentence. He glances over to Batman. He caught that last part too. Batman approaches calmly and crouches down in front of the boy king. Hardening his resolve, Batman takes on a gentle tone.

"Hey kiddo, sorry we woke you. Lets get you back to bed yeah?" The boy nodded in agreement. He pulled himself to his feet before looking around in a circle. "Where did my blanket go?" He asked rather sadly. Batman is quick to shed his own cape and drape it over him. "You can borrow my cape until we get you a new one." He nodded again, pulling the black fabric around himself.

John quickly summoned a portal door, while Batman led the King through it. John threw looks around at everyone. Everyone could tell he was mouthing the words. 'Find me a fucking blanket now'

Running on the logic of getting the king away from Earth, away from graves and the undead, that could give him power. The portal led to the Watch Tower.

Batman took advantage of the King's bleary state to send a base wide alert for all noncritical members to evacuate immediately. With a priority that death adjacent members leave first. "The stars are pretty." Bruce looked at the boy staring out the window in wonder. He almost looked like a normal kid, almost.

"Yeah they are, it's pretty late so we should get you back to bed." He nodded, going along with Batman's gentle coaxing.

He takes the boy to an unused bedroom. Making sure the room isn't dusty and that lights are dimmed. He glances back to see about a dozen different leaguers all holding blankets, one thought to bring extra pillows. The bed was pretty barren with only a single pillow and a thin bedsheet. So Bruce took a thick duvet, one of the fluffier blankets and a second pillow from his team before shooing them away.

The boy ended up keeping his cape, mumbling how it was warm. He tucked the boy in, before quietly exiting the room and turning off the light. He was pretty sure the King fell back to sleep before he even reached the light switch.

After the door shut, he made direct eye contact with John. "Constantine." They needed to figure out what the hell was going on.