#anyway - this is just some food for thought

[hy6erion]

Hii! I know I just send in an another request but this idea also popped into my mind and I feel like you could write it quite well so I didn't want to send it to someone else.

Viktor×reader, where readers way of expressing their love and care is by taking care of people and trying to help as much as possible to make life easier for everyone they care about (opening doors, making food, helping a friend study, all the small and big things). I think viktor would struggle to accept that reader cares for him and isn't just babying him. Him slowly realising that he can ask for help not only when it's absolutely necessary but also just when he wants help because it would be easier. But then also getting stuck with the feeling of the reader being so caring for everyone. Love confession or something? Idk

Sorry for sending two requests in a row, take your time please.

~🍒

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 - 𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✰⍣..𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩- 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

⇢ 𝐧𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲/𝐧, 𝐠𝐧! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭/𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭

𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 (╥╯^╰╥)

Viktor was used to doing things alone. It wasn’t a matter of pride—at least, not entirely. It was habit. Necessity. He had learned early on that asking for help often led to disappointment, so he learned to manage on his own. He had learned to be independent, to push forward no matter the difficulty, to adjust his grip on his cane and keep moving even when his leg ached and the weight of exhaustion pressed against his skull.

That was why he struggled with you. Because you—without hesitation, without expectation—made his life easier.

It started small, things he could brush off. You holding open doors when you walked ahead of him, waiting just long enough so he wouldn’t have to catch the handle himself. You adjusting his chair in the lab before he sat down, subtle, like you hadn’t even thought about it. You bringing him tea when you got your own, setting it down beside him without a word.

But it wasn’t just him.

You did it for everyone. Helping Jayce reorganize his disaster of a desk when you noticed him getting frustrated. Bringing Claggor coffee when he was pulling an all-nighter. Tutoring some first-years when you saw them struggling with equations you could solve in seconds.

You were thoughtful in a way that seemed effortless, as if your care for others was woven into your very being.

And it unsettled him. Because the more he noticed it, the harder it became to ignore.

He had spent years learning to work through pain, through difficulty, through exhaustion. He only ever asked for help when there was no other option. And yet, with you, help was simply given—before he could even think to ask.

And worse than that, you didn’t just do it because of his leg, or because you pitied him. You did it because you cared.

That realization was the most difficult thing of all.

The lab was quiet save for the occasional scratch of pen on paper and the rhythmic tap of Viktor’s cane against the floor as he moved back and forth between his desk and the chalkboard. He was immersed in his work, half-formed calculations filling the margins of his notebook.

Until—

“Viktor.” Your voice, warm and familiar, pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up just as you placed a plate of food beside him.

He frowned. “I didn’t ask for—”

“I know.” You shrugged. “But you haven’t eaten all day, and I was making something for myself anyway. Figured you’d appreciate not starving.”

Viktor’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know,” you repeated easily. “But I wanted to.”

That should have been the end of it. You turned to leave, already heading back to your own work, but Viktor’s grip tightened around his pen.

“…You do this for everyone.”

You paused, glancing over your shoulder. “What?”

“This,” he gestured vaguely at the plate, at the general atmosphere of you. “You help everyone. You—” He exhaled sharply, frustration edging his voice. “You don’t have to keep looking after me.”

You blinked, head tilting slightly. “I don’t have to. I want to.”

Viktor shook his head. “You should not waste your time worrying about me. I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can,” you said, more firmly this time. You took a step closer, crossing your arms. “But just because you can do something alone doesn’t mean you have to.”

Viktor opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure how to respond to that. He had spent so long believing he was only allowed help when it was absolutely necessary. When he physically could not continue without it.

But you—you were offering it simply because you cared.

And he didn’t know what to do with that.

It took time.

At first, he tried to resist. If he needed something from a high shelf, he would stretch for it. If his leg ached after hours of standing, he would grit his teeth and bear it. If his hands trembled from exhaustion, he would steady them himself.

But you were there.

Not pushing, not forcing—just there. And it became harder to ignore the fact that things were simply easier when he let you help.

The first time he asked for something—really asked, not because he had no other choice but because he wanted to—it was almost painful.

“Could you… hand me that book?”

You didn’t comment on the hesitation in his voice, didn’t make a big deal of it. You just passed him the book and went back to your work, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

And maybe, for you, it was.

So he tried.

He let you carry an extra cup of tea back to the table when he saw you holding two. He let you adjust the strap of his bag when it had slipped. He let you—just once—walk beside him at his pace without feeling the need to keep up.

And then one day, without thinking, he said, “Could you help me with this equation?”

And you did. No hesitation. No expectation. Just a simple, of course.

And he realized—he liked it.

He liked knowing that there was someone who cared enough to notice when he needed something. He liked the ease of it, the weight lifting from his shoulders.

But then— Then he caught himself watching you help others. Not just him. Everyone.

He told himself it didn’t matter. That it was simply who you were.

But the next time you reached out to help Jayce with something, something hot and tight twisted in his chest.

“Do you—” He hesitated, words feeling foreign in his mouth. “Do you care for everyone the way you care for me?”

You looked at him then, truly looked, as if you were searching for something beneath his carefully neutral expression.

“No.” Your voice was quiet, but certain.

His breath caught.

You took a step closer. “I care about a lot of people. But you—” A small, almost nervous smile played at your lips. “You are different.”

Viktor swallowed. He had spent so long avoiding the truth that it almost knocked the air from his lungs.

You cared for him. Not because you pitied him. Not because you saw him as weak.

But because you wanted to.

Because you loved him.

And suddenly, he was laughing—soft, breathless, incredulous.

Because maybe—just maybe—he loved you too.

[commandershepardvasfuckit]

Wild Gods, part 2

Part 1

1.6k words

A new morning did not bring any change. Still the strange being insist you were his mate retuned to him and still you got very few concrete answers from him.

————

There were blankets wrapped tightly around you when you awoke, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe you could just creep away if that was the case, just avoid trying to convince him that you definitely weren’t who he thought you were.

As you looked around you spotted a small box that was clearly left to be in your line of sight when you woke up. Curiosity got the better of you and you opened it up slowly to find a beautiful bracelet, a thin gold chain adorned with large emeralds and rubies. The design was familiar and without a second thought you slipped it on before getting up.

The sun was already up and bathing everything in a soft, warm glow. It would have been quite beautiful here if you weren’t being held against your will. Your strange capture was sitting just outside, seemingly making breakfast.

“Good morning, my love” he greeted you cheerfully. “Breakfast is about ready, though it won’t be quite what you were used to before, apologies.”

Cautiously you sat across the cooking fire from him, trying to get a better read on the situation. He offered you food, local fruits foraged, a few small boiled eggs, and some sort of meat that had been skewered and roasted over the fire.

“Who are you?” you asked again.

“The lord of this place” he answered again.

“But what does that mean? What is your name?”

“All of this,” he vaguely gestured around, “is my domain. It’s not much anymore, but I will rebuild it all.”

“And your name?”

“You will remember it in time” is all he answered.

“I need to go home.”

“You are home.”

“I have a family! Parents! Siblings! Friends! They’re going to wonder where I am! I need to go back to them. You have the wrong person anyway!” You went to get up, to storm off and try to find your way back home. At this point you were annoyed by the strange being and from your rejection by the council yesterday, you could care less about convincing him that he was wrong. You just wanted to go home.

“You’re bound here” he called as you stormed off, though you ignored him.

You picked a direction and started walking, just eager to get away from him and you’d figure out the right direction to get home once you were out of the ruins. The tree line of the woods was visible and fast approaching as you made a beeline for it. Right as your foot stepped from the cracked pavers of the ruins and onto the dirt of the woods it felt as though the whole world lurched to the side, sending you stumbling, and when you looked up you seemed to be back in the ruins.

“I warned you” he was sitting not far from you and shrugged.

“Why did you do that?” you snapped at him.

“I didn’t do anything. I am bound to this place, and you are bound to me, ergo you are bound to this place.”

“So unbind me from you, you have the wrong person!”

He sighed, “You know that’s not how this works-”

“No! I don’t! Because you have the wrong person!”

Before you could even register that he moved, he was in front you and had a tight grip on your wrist, claws pressing into your skin, his voice was a low hiss, “That’s impossible! It was a thousand years ago when you were bound to me, when my mark was etched on your soul, you bear the same mark now as you did then. It has taken a long time, but you have finally returned to me and in time you will remember.”

You snatched your wrist away from him and immediately his expression fell.

“I did not mean to snap, I am sorry. It has been a long, lonely, thousand years so forgive my lack of manners” he quickly apologized. “But you are here now, with me, things will go back to how they should.”

You didn’t trust a word he said. He was bound here for some reason, trapped. Benevolent beings weren’t usually imprisoned, though it seemed for now at least you were stuck here too.

The ruins here were in much rougher shape than the rest. Blackened soot clung to the remaining walls, and at the very center where you stood felt slightly sunken in.

“What happened here?” you asked.

“It is a story for another time. Please, let’s go finish breakfast, then we can take a walk and chat.”

You followed him through the labyrinthine ruins back to where you slept last night, the food was still waiting for you. He just watched as you ate, big green eyes seemingly peering into your soul, never once looking away.

“I see you put your bracelet on” he broke the silence.

You glanced down at the bracelet that you already forgot you were wearing.

“That was one of the first gifts I gave you, it makes me happy to see it back on your wrist.”

You just gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

He had so many questions about how the world was now, so many years confined year had left him quite out if touch, though he didn’t actually seem to be listening to your answers. Instead he was just looking at you with a soft smile and seemed to be wrapped up in his own thoughts.

“Why can’t you leave here?” you asked.

“This is my domain, it is the only place I can be.”

“You said you were bound here though, like trapped.”

“Bound and trapped are not the same, and it used to extend far past the palace. All directions, all the way to the oceans, it was all mine. But a god without followers doesn’t have enough influence to control much” he gave a little shrug, but looked away from you.

“You aren’t a god.”

“Oh? Then what am I?” he asked, “Have you ever seen anyone else like me?”

You hadn’t. He spoke like a human, walked and moved like a human, though he very much was not one. Not entirely anyways.

His head was that of a tiger, and though his body was humanoid, he was covered in soft, striped fur in a tiger’s pattern. His hands were shaped like a human’s, but appeared to have claws that could retract like a cat’s. He had a long tail, and his feet were more akin to paws.

You had heard of demons with animal traits, or humans cursed to take odd forms, though he did not seem particularly hostile, just frustrated.

“Then what are you the god of?” you asked.

“This place, the land, the people here.”

“That’s not how it works! There’s the pantheon and-”

“No. I do not know who your ‘pantheon’ is nor do I care. They are not real. There is the Great Mother, and her children, that is all” his tone was curt, it seemed you may have hit a nerve with him.

You wracked your brain for any mentions of a Great Mother or anything similar to what he had said, but there was nothing you recalled. Unless…

“You’re one of the old wild gods” you said.

The wild gods, a contested topic in scholarly circles. Shrines and temples to ancient gods had been unearthed over the years, but very little remained. No writings or distinct artifacts, just nearly destroyed structures and the occasional mural or mosaic. Some scholars claimed the wild gods once walked the planet and preformed great feats, others claimed they were some sort of warmongering tyrants over their followers, though most believed that they were never real and just an early form of religion.

While you had never seen any of these supposed shrines, the ruins here were far grander than anything else you had heard of, and despite not being far from the seat of the council you had never seen them before. Had never heard of them. It was almost as though they just appeared.

“I don’t know about that name, but I am the god of this area, and I’ve certainly been here much longer than your supposed ‘pantheon’.”

“Then why doesn’t any know there ruins are here? This is pretty close to the city, but no one knows that there here.”

“This place is protected, at least for now, so only my faithful will be able to find it.”

“So why could I find it?”

“As I have said, my mark is on you, you are connected to me so of course you can find your way back home.”

“I’ve been out in these woods plenty of times but never found them before.”

“I do not have an answer for that, but it doesn’t matter. You are where you belong now, I can start rebuilding now.”

You gave him an odd look, everything he said just felt off, “And why wait so long to rebuild?”

“I did what I could: made sure I had a room and somewhere comfortable for you to sleep, cleared the soot from much of the palace, though as I said, a god with no followers doesn’t have much influence or power. But now I have my most devoted follower back, and soon you will bear our children. Our little family will be the beginning of my empire.”

————

Tag list

@mothmansanctuary

[devotion-disorder]

i have nothing to post but im itching to yap so here are random bits and pieces of DoL things™ and me yapping about them. ⚠️spoiler warning for kylar's manor and dog pound storylines⚠️ and also this is a longass post

so after 9000 years I finally got around to seeing the kylar's manor storyline because i heard there was real freaky cult shit going on (and also rare bailey content). I grinded the whitney alleyway encounters for so long (all of the events are apparently ordered so its not even rng) only to discover that I accepted the owl plushie so IT WASNT GOING TO WORK ANYWAYS

so i had to speedrun de-traumatizing robin then romancing them, which thankfully didnt take very long (sowwy wobin im usually too locked in on making money LMAO)

i think its just really funny that one of pc's method of escape is just. sending bailey an email. like can u fuckign imagine bailey getting an email thats like

Subject: EHLP Sender: [kylar's cringe email handle]

AUHXJKAUS HEEOLP BAILY IMSTUCK> IN SOME HAUNTED HOUOSE ON DABUBVE STREET I MADE MY KIDNAPPEDR MOW THE GRASS AND DANCE 4 ME BUT HES SO BAD HEELPPPP

and then he actually proceeded to believe the email and went to save pc im cryin.

i cannot believe he SNATCHED kylar mid-air LMAO????????

also,

WHAT THE FREAK JORDAN.........I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME.............................

i thought bailey would at least escort pc back home but he didnt(😔) but my pcs has already racked up so much stress i passed out immediately...which triggered the kylar's abduction event (💀💀💀💀) GOOD JOB BOZO

I also did the dog pound questline because im scavenging for any and all bits of bailey scenes, but atp my pc has S Skullduggery so i got in and got out of there in like. less than half a day

mainly i just wanna share this........oughhh what does it mean.............

speaking of bailey i also learnt that annoying him in his office is a great way to grind sadism so my pc has been waking up at 7am sharp every day to be a menace :)

I've been trying to unlock Mason's pond but I wasted most of the non-school days doing gacha for whitney alleyway events (see above) and ive never wanted there to be more rain than now

which also. I finally got one of whitney's favourite food recipes but IT JUST WONT RAIN SO I CANT GIVE IT TO HIM RAUGHHHHHH

I was going for both 'stressful challenge' feats so this has sadly been a very harperless run. though now that i think about it it's kind of a miracle i managed this despite the stimulant kidnapping questline.

i find that in late game when you inevitably accumulate more negative fame it gets kinda hard to get the 'stretcher to the hospital' outcome because noncon encounters will almost always "intercept" in a sense. i went 250 ish days without even seeing harper get mentioned lol

how did they make this flavor text even hotter.

[theodorenmyth]

I just read 'people you know' and it's so good !!! I was just wondering if you could make an alternate ending (I love the angst but fluff is so cute!!!) with Mattheo and Theo realising what they've done and apologised to y/n but he Makes them work for it until he feels like they're truly sorry, then it works outs. 🙏🙏 Thanks sooo muchhh ♡♡♡

People you know

Pairings : Mattheo R. x GN!Reader x Theodore N.

Summary : Mattheo and Theo work to earn back your trust, proving they’ve changed. Slowly, you let them in again. One night, after carrying you to bed, you ask them to stay. Holding you close, they realize—they’ll never lose you again.

A/N : maybe this one will heal your hearts.... I think

Warnings : Angst, fluffy ending

Word count : 1k+

They didn’t think it would ever come to this.

Mattheo and Theodore had convinced themselves that no matter how much damage had been done, no matter how deep the wounds had cut, you would always find your way back to them. You always had before.

But not this time.

This time, you had replaced them.

At first, they didn’t take it seriously. They saw you hanging around Casper Rosier and Elias Avery and thought it was a temporary thing, that you were just passing time. But then you stopped looking at them. Stopped waiting for them. Stopped acting like they were the center of your world.

And it hurt.

It hurt when Mattheo saw Casper drape an arm around your shoulders.

It hurt when Theo saw Elias steal bits of your food at lunch like it was his right.

It hurt when they saw you at the courtyard under the tree—their tree—with them.

They had no one to blame but themselves.

Pansy had called them out on it first. "You let them go, and now they found people who actually treat them right."

"We didn’t let them go," Theo had muttered, but his voice was weak.

"Yes, you did," she’d said with finality. "And now they’re happy without you."

They should have taken the hint. Should have accepted that they had lost their chance.

But then Mattheo saw you at the Three Broomsticks, sandwiched between Casper and Elias, laughing, and something in him snapped.

The next thing you knew, Mattheo was looming over your table, his hands braced against the wood. "Alright," he said, voice low and sharp. "I think it’s time we talk."

You raised your brows, unimpressed. "Talk? Now you want to talk?"

Theo appeared beside him, looking just as tense. "We should have talked a long time ago," he admitted.

Casper leaned back lazily. "You’ve got some nerve, Riddle."

Mattheo ignored him. "Please," he said, voice tight. "Just five minutes."

You stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine."

Mattheo and Theo led you outside into the cold, their hearts pounding.

"You hate us," Theo said quietly.

You crossed your arms. "I don’t hate you. I just don’t trust you anymore."

The words stung.

Mattheo exhaled sharply. "We were assholes," he admitted. "We fucked up. We got caught up in our own shit and didn’t see what we were doing to you until it was too late."

You studied him carefully. "Why are you telling me this now?"

Theo ran a hand through his hair, exhaling shakily. "Because seeing you happy without us fucking killed us." His voice cracked slightly. "Because we miss you, and we know we don’t deserve you back, but we’re selfish enough to want to try anyway."

You felt something in your chest tighten, but you weren’t going to let them off that easily.

"You don’t get to just say sorry and have everything go back to normal," you said. "You hurt me. You made me feel like I didn’t matter. If you want me back, you have to prove that I do."

Mattheo and Theo looked at each other before nodding firmly.

"We’ll do whatever it takes," Mattheo said. "Just… don’t shut us out completely."

You hesitated, then gave a small nod. "You can start by earning my time back."

And with that, you walked away, leaving them standing in the cold.

But this time, they weren’t going to let you slip away again.

──── ୨୧ ──────── ୨୧ ────

They weren’t expecting you to forgive them easily.

Honestly, Mattheo and Theo would have preferred if you had just screamed at them, cursed them out, anything but what you actually did—make them earn you back.

And oh, did you make them work for it.

It started small. They weren’t allowed to sit next to you in the Great Hall, but you let them hover nearby. You wouldn’t wait for them after class, but you didn’t speed up when they walked beside you. You let them talk, let them try, but you made no promises.

And yet, that small sliver of hope was enough for them.

They did everything.

Mattheo would leave sweets on your desk before class, casually acting like he had no idea how they got there. Theo would pass you notes, little things like ‘You look nice today.’ or ‘This class is unbearable without you talking to me.’

They remembered things. Things they should have always remembered.

Theo pulled you aside before Potions one day, placing a small, wrapped package in your hands. "I know your hands get cold, and I saw these at Hogsmeade."

Inside were a pair of enchanted gloves, warm as if you were always near a fireplace.

Mattheo, as dramatic as ever, threw his scarf around you when he saw you shivering. "Can’t have you freezing to death. I refuse to grieve fashionably."

And slowly, you started letting them back in.

You allowed Theo to sit across from you in the library instead of a table away. You let Mattheo walk with you to class without rolling your eyes. You started responding to their little notes with snarky comments, making them grin like idiots.

The real shift happened one night in the common room.

You had fallen asleep on the couch, your book slipping from your fingers. Theo and Mattheo had been sitting nearby, both watching you with quiet longing.

Theo was the first to move. Carefully, cautiously, he reached over and brushed a strand of hair from your face. "They used to fall asleep on us all the time," he murmured.

Mattheo swallowed. "I miss that."

Theo hesitated, then whispered, "We should bring them to bed."

Mattheo nodded, and before he could second-guess himself, he slipped his arms under you, lifting you as gently as he could. You stirred slightly but didn’t wake, instead curling into his warmth instinctively.

Mattheo’s heart clenched.

Theo followed closely behind, and when they finally tucked you into bed, they both hesitated before stepping away.

And then, still half-asleep, you murmured, "Stay?"

They froze.

Theo swallowed. "Are you sure?"

You sighed sleepily, shifting to make room. "I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t."

They didn’t waste a second.

Theo slid in on one side, his warmth familiar and comforting. Mattheo took the other, draping an arm over you protectively.

For the first time in months, it felt right.

Mattheo exhaled against your hair. "Missed this," he whispered.

Theo pressed a kiss to your shoulder. "Missed you."

You sighed, finally, finally relaxing in their arms. "I missed you too."

And just like that, they knew—this time, they weren’t going to lose you again.

[alaia777]

HII OMG CONGRATS ON 200 <333 can u please do

⊹ what’s with that face? are you about to cry? with nagi, hurt with comfort at the end PLS AND THANK U MWAH

hellooo, thank you so muchhhh !!! :’))) i didn’t expect it to get this long, but here we are. i hope you like it!

you were tired. so, so tired. you had to wake up early today to finalize a report that was due for review, double-checking data and formatting everything according to the company’s painfully specific guidelines. on top of that, you somehow got stuck handling part of your coworker’s workload—again—because they conveniently “forgot” about a deadline. and as if that wasn’t enough, your boss wasn’t satisfied with the presentation slides you had prepared, requesting multiple revisions that kept you in the office two hours past your usual time.

the only thing that kept you going was the thought of finally going home to a clean house, taking a warm bath, and maybe later relaxing with your boyfriend. but unfortunately, that was not the plan, because the moment you opened the door, what greeted you was far from your dream.

the pillows and cushions from the couch were scattered across the floor, some even kicked aside carelessly. the kitchen island was covered in empty takeout containers, half-eaten snacks, and crumbs trailing onto the floor. a couple of soda cans sat tipped over, their contents dried into sticky patches on the counter. and the cherry on top? the sports equipment that nagi had left right in the middle of the room—the very thing you almost tripped over the second you stepped inside.

“ah, you’re back,” your boyfriend said lazily as he stepped out of your shared bathroom, console in hand. he didn’t even glance up, too absorbed in his game to notice the way you were frozen in place. “should we order some food?”

you took a deep breath, trying—and failing—not to let your frustration boil over. “nagi,” you started, voice tight, “why does the apartment look like this?”

“like what?”

you blinked at him, utterly baffled. “what do you mean like what? can’t you see this mess?” your voice rose with each word. “i already spend my whole day babysitting my coworker at work—do i really have to come home and do the same thing for you?”

the words tumbled out before you could stop them, sharp and exhausted, but you couldn’t bring yourself to take them back.

nagi barely spared you a glance, fingers still lazily tapping at his console. “jeez, dramatic much?” he muttered, shifting his weight onto the couch. “if you hate being here so much, you could’ve just stayed at work. seems like you like babysitting, anyway.”

he finally looked up then, an almost bored expression on his face. “not my fault you stress yourself out over everything,” he added, shrugging. “maybe if you stopped nagging for once, you wouldn’t be so tired.”

you couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of nagi’s mouth. you stood frozen in place, your mind struggling to keep up with the shock of it all. your mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. you were too stunned to form a proper response, the sting of his words cutting deeper than you expected.

it hurt. it really hurt. you hated how much it stung, how his indifference felt like a slap in the face. this was such a stupid thing to cry over. you knew that, but the exhaustion from the day, the weight of your work, and the frustration of it all came crashing down in a way you couldn’t control.

but what really tipped you over the edge was what he said next.

“what’s with that face? are you about to cry?”

the way he said it—casual, almost mocking—sent a jolt through you. the tears you’d been holding back finally slipped free, and you turned away, taking a deep breath, quickly checking your pockets for your keys before heading straight for the door. you couldn’t stay in the same place as him for another second without doing something you’d regret—like throwing something at his head.

“what—where are you going?” you heard him call after you, his voice laced with confusion.

you didn’t look back, not until you reached the door. just before you closed it behind you, you caught a glimpse of his face. he looked different—almost apologetic. his eyes were wide, his mouth slightly agape, as if the realization of what he’d just said was finally hitting him. for a brief moment, you saw the vulnerability in his expression, the way his shoulders slumped a little, but you couldn’t let it stop you.

without another word, you closed the door softly, leaving the apartment behind.

and so, you spent the next hour and a half in a diner just 15 minutes from your place, eating some sad meal that, on any other day, you would have enjoyed. but tonight, it felt hollow. sitting there alone, with nothing but your thoughts swirling around in your head, it wasn’t helping. the memory of what had just happened earlier lingered, refusing to fade away. your phone kept buzzing, notifications from nagi lighting up the screen. 50 messages.

you didn’t bother reading them. instead, you turned your phone off. were you being dramatic? maybe. but honestly, you didn’t care. he should be able to clean up after himself. he was an adult, after all. but then, there were those days when you were struggling, and he was there for you—cleaning up after you, trying to cook despite the disasters in the kitchen, doing his best to make you smile. you would do the same for him.

the thought hit you with a pang of guilt, but you pushed it away, breathing in deeply for the 100th time today. you finished your meal, paid for it, and decided to just go home. you needed a break, a well-deserved bath, and a little time to clear your head. tomorrow, you’d think about what you should do, what steps to take next. for now, all you wanted was peace.

you got home, expecting the usual mess that awaited you, but to your surprise, the apartment was spotless. everything was in its place—no clothes strewn across the floor, no half-empty cups or dishes left around. the countertops were clean, the pillows neatly arranged on the couch, and there, on the table, were the pastries you loved. it was almost like he’d read your mind, or at least, knew exactly how to soften the tension that had been brewing.

before you could even process what you were seeing, the sound of the bathroom door opening caught your attention. your boyfriend appeared in the doorway, cheeks flushed like he’d run a marathon, his usually demeanor suddenly nowhere to be found.

“where were you? why didn’t you answer your phone?” he asked, coming up to you with a concerned look. his voice was different—no teasing, no playfulness, just genuine worry. he reached out to take your hand, but you froze, your thoughts still racing.

“i didn’t think you’d actually leave,” he muttered, his voice quieter now, almost as if he regretted what had happened earlier. there was a hesitation in his eyes, a subtle shift in his usual nonchalance, and you could feel the weight of his uncertainty.

“listen—” you started, but he cut you off, his tone more serious than usual.

“no, please, let me speak first,” he said, sounding a bit more intense than his usual carefree self. he looked at you, his gaze uncharacteristically hesitant. “look, i’m sorry, alright? i didn’t mean to make you feel like i didn’t care. i shouldn’t have said that, and i know it was dumb. i get it now.”

he sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly not used to being the one who needed to apologize. “i don’t really—i mean, i don’t always think before i speak, but that doesn’t make it right. i know you’re not just tired from work, you were probably stressed out, and the last thing you needed was me being an idiot.”

nagi paused for a moment, his usual smugness replaced with a rare, honest vulnerability. “i’m not good with.. this kind of stuff, but i don’t want to make you feel like crap. i messed up.”

he stood there, still avoiding your gaze, but you could see the slight shift in his posture—almost like he was waiting for you to say something. it was clear now: he really was sorry.

you took a deep breath, letting the tension in your shoulders ease just a little. “nagi” you started, your voice softer now. “i know you’re sorry, and i get it. i’m not mad at you, i’m just really tired. all i want right now is a warm bath and to curl up with you. can we talk about this tomorrow when i’ve had some rest and a clearer head?”

you looked at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “i don’t want to hold onto this, i just need to recharge, okay?”

you could see the relief in his eyes, the guilt easing from his face. he nodded slowly, finally offering you a small, genuine smile. “yeah, of course,” he said, taking a step closer to you. “take your time.”

you let yourself fall into his chest, feeling his arms wrap around you. for a moment, you just stood there, letting the warmth of his embrace melt away the tension. it wasn’t perfect, but it felt safe, and that was all you needed right now. you closed your eyes, taking in the quiet comfort, and for the first time today, you felt a little lighter. everything else could wait until tomorrow. for now, it was just the two of you, and that was enough.

[anghraine]

Okay, so this is the Tarsus IV post I vaguely threatened alluded to a few days ago. I wrote most of it before last night's grumbling about movie Kirk, btw, so it's not a result of that; I was already thinking about what we know about Kirk and the Tarsus IV massacre from TOS, and what speculations and headcanons make the most sense to me in the context of TOS. I just waited until today to post it because I wasn't quite done yesterday.

Anyway, I was going over the finer details of "The Conscience of the King" to figure this out, and ended up with a ton of thoughts about the Tarsus IV backstory. So here are my (many) personal takeaways:

Firstly, there's a vague reference to some kind of local coup or uprising that put Governor Kodos in power, I think shortly before the food supply crisis. We don't get any details about the uprising from TOS, though the next to last version of the episode's script did mention Kodos setting himself up as a messianic figure once the coup succeeded. In any case, his power grab was certainly reinforced by the starvation crisis, as revealed by Spock's research:

"there were over eight thousand colonists and virtually no food. And that was when Governor Kodos seized full power and declared emergency martial law."

As far as we know in TOS, the crisis was set off by chance: an exotic fungus happened to destroy most of the colony's food supply, and it wasn't clear when relief would arrive. In fact, the Federation did send relief to the colony, per their usual practice, but it took them long enough to get there that the situation had become dire by then. Nearly all food was gone and the colonists were starving; the episode implies that some had even started committing suicide. Nevertheless, the Federation relief force arrived sooner than expected.

Kodos tries to argue in "The Conscience of the King" that the Federation's relief showing up so soon was just luck and he couldn't have guessed it would happen. But given what we know about the Federation as an institution, and given the urgent pressure the Federation puts on the Enterprise crew in multiple episodes to get food/supplies/medicine to some colony or another, it seems like there is a pretty competent, long-established Federation infrastructure for addressing crises like this. In reality, Kodos used the circumstances to justify something he already believed in and wanted to try implementing.

That thing was eugenics. This isn't ambiguous; the aired episode explicitly describes his atrocities as based on eugenics. The starvation of the colony gave Kodos the opportunity to put his theories into action.

He declared that half the colony would be executed, and the remaining food distributed among the other half. Moreover, the assignment of each colonist to either group was determined by Kodos's conception and judgment of genetic superiority. The genetically inferior half of the population, according to Kodos, was executed, and the genetically superior survivors (again, according to Kodos) were given all the food supplies. Kodos's exact words at the time to those slated to die included these lines:

"Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony."

Kirk says of Kodos's full speech to those chosen for death:

"I remember the words. I wrote them down. [...] Are you sure you didn't act this role out in front of a captive audience whom you blasted out of existence without mercy?"

In the episode, Spock condemns Kodos in similar terms as "without mercy" and "ruthless," and is clearly horrified by what he's discovered:

"Children watching their parents die. Whole families destroyed. Over four thousand people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died."

The means by which Kodos had thousands of civilians killed isn't stated in the episode. As we see in the above quote, though, it seems to have been done very rapidly.

In an earlier draft, there's mention of some kind of re-purposed anti-matter chamber as the mechanism, and Kodos deliberately "sparing" Kirk while making him watch as the chamber switch was flipped. In that version, Kirk seems to be personally targeted for some reason, where in the episode as it is, he's just one of several random eyewitnesses who survived. I personally prefer the episode's version, which I think better fits a narrative around a mass-scale atrocity.

Anyway, there's another take on the massacre where the thousands of civilians slated for execution were gunned down with phasers, but I find that more difficult to reconcile with Spock's description, which sounds more mechanized and efficient to me. I do think there's reason to believe phasers or some other form of advanced weaponry did get used in the course of events, but not in the executions—more on that later.

As I mentioned in my poll, Kirk is established in TOS as being only 33 during "The Conscience of the King," and thus was only 13 when he personally saw all this (the episode repeatedly insists the atrocity took place exactly twenty years earlier—I think the emphasis on this time gap is important). There is no explanation in TOS of why 13-year-old Kirk seems to be the only member of his family who was present for this—and certainly the only one of the Kirks to personally see Kodos—though earlier drafts do have various explanations that make sense.

For instance, there was an idea floating around the drafting process that Kirk might have been a young midshipman stationed on Tarsus IV during the massacre, not a child. His exact age in TOS was up in the air until the second season explicitly established his then-current age as 34. So that idea is not at all canon, but did internally make sense, since there'd be no reason for his relatives to be posted with him.

There's also a fairly late script in which Kirk's father was among those killed. I believe Kirk Sr was already envisioned as a Starfleet officer at that point, and had been assigned to a post on Tarsus IV some time earlier, which is how a boy born in the Midwest ended up living in a remote colony as a child. However, as I understand, the writers were forced to remove the reference to Kirk's father getting killed because higher-ups didn't want to nail down Kirk's history too much in S1, in case they later wanted to take his family in a different direction.

IIRC, TOS never did do anything with Kirk's parents and we're never even told in the show if they're currently alive or dead, much less told anything about their roles during the massacre. His brother Sam Kirk was envisioned as 10 years older than James (I think the new shows shrink this, but that's irrelevant to the TOS production process), so it also made sense that Sam wasn't there, since he'd have been in his 20s and early in his own career elsewhere. (Sam and his family are mentioned in both earlier and later S1 episodes, so "they hadn't invented him yet" isn't the reason for his absence.)

Beyond all that, another detail I find interesting is that Kodos's speech announcing the impending massacre is preserved in some kind of audio file that Kirk has access to on the Enterprise. Kirk gives "Karidian" a copy of the exact words of this speech and orders him to read it aloud, and has the computers run a vocal comparison between that reading and the original recording. The computer analysis strongly indicates that both speeches were delivered by the same person, but lacks 100% certainty—perhaps due to vocal changes over the last 20 years, perhaps to a difference in the quality of the recordings or some other reason.

However, we don't actually know who recorded the original speech; since so few survivors ever got near enough to even see or hear Kodos in person, maybe the recording was done by Kodos himself or one of his people, and recovered later by Starfleet. The speech only addresses the colonists slated for death, suggesting that the 4000 chosen for survival had already been separated out. But it's possible that it was one or more of the colonists themselves who managed to record the speech.

Only nine of the survivors ever personally set eyes on Kodos (this seems to again imply that those selected for survival were mainly not present during the speech). There's a preserved photograph of him from that era, but that's all, and one of the reasons he's able to evade discovery for so long is because of the vanishingly few people involved who had ever seen him—this is not only canon but a major plot point in "The Conscience of the King."

I read on the wiki that there's a book about the whole thing, and in that version, Kirk never actually saw Kodos and just found a picture in a database, which honestly I think is stupid as fuck and makes no sense in terms of the episode as written (though very typical of corporate franchises watering down the horror of some element of an original, less sanitized story in later byproducts). In "The Conscience of the King," though, Leighton, Kirk, and Riley are explicitly stated to be among the nine survivors who saw Kodos personally.

It's never explained why they were among this small group of eyewitnesses, especially considering that Kirk and Riley would have been children at the time and Leighton was quite young.

Another intriguing data point is the fact that half of Leighton's face is very heavily damaged, and it does seem strongly indicated that this happened during the massacre. We don't know why, though, or how old he even was at the time—he seems older than 33-year-old Kirk, but they're good friends and rough contemporaries, so not that far apart in age.

There's also some interesting phrasing in the episode:

"There were nine eyewitnesses who survived the massacre, who'd actually seen Kodos with their own eyes. Jim Kirk was one of them."

This description is also from Spock after his research dive, someone unlikely to be loose with his phrasing. The general assumption, I think, is that the nine eyewitnesses (who I'm going to call the Tarsus Nine for convenience) were among those chosen for survival for eugenics purposes. The reason such a small number of them had ever seen Kodos is, presumably, that most people who'd seen him were deliberately assigned to the genetically unworthy group and killed. The Tarsus Nine were just the tiny fraction who flew under the radar.

That was my original impression, and it is possible, but there were some things I found puzzling about that scenario. For one, if the Tarsus Nine were separated with the other survivors, why are they persistently presented as the only eyewitnesses? If Leighton was separated into the survivor group, why was his face so heavily damaged in all this? Did he try to fight? Would he have been spared from death if he did? And the episode is clear that Leighton, Kirk, and Riley all heard Kodos's speech and witnessed the massacre in person.

Leighton:

"I remember him. That voice. The bloody thing he did [...] Jim, Jim, I need your help. There were only eight or nine of us who actually saw Kodos. I was one, you were another."

Kirk:

"But I remember. [...] I remember the words. I wrote them down. [...] All I understand is that four thousand people were needlessly butchered. [...] I saw him once, twenty years ago. Men change. Memory changes."

Riley:

"He murdered my father, and my mother. I know that voice, that face, I know it. I saw it. He murdered them."

I had been considering possible explanations for the uniqueness of these nine people as the only direct eyewitnesses among some 4000 survivors + the fact that the three eyewitnesses we meet would have been so young at the time (and Spock talks specifically of children seeing their parents die) + Kirk saying he remembers hearing the speech and that he only ever saw Kodos that one time + the Tarsus Nine knowing that nobody left alive except themselves saw Kodos as governor + their very accurate estimates of how many eyewitnesses survived + Leighton's facial scars.

And then I tripped over an ancient post (on livejournal of all things—I was linked to a post unrelated to the massacre and then followed another link) that collected some of the relevant Tarsus IV quotes and offered a very simple and elegant solution.

What if the Tarsus Nine weren't assigned to the "genetically more valuable" group? What if Kirk, Riley, Leighton, and the other six were in fact considered genetically unworthy and assigned to the group slated for death? What if they're the only direct eyewitnesses because everyone else was either removed from the massacre (and never saw the speech) or killed, and that's why there are so few of them?

me: oh damn, I didn't think about that and ... whoa, I don't think the episode ever does say what group they were actually assigned to. It's possible. Holy shit.

So, here's an alternate possibility/headcanon:

4000-odd colonists including the Tarsus Nine were gathered without any knowledge of the intended massacre. They didn't know where the other colonists were or what was going on beyond starvation and martial law. None of them had ever personally seen their reclusive governor. They were just waiting with their families to find out what was going on. Kodos came out to speak to them, at last, and delivered his speech to those slated for death (hence Kirk saying in TOS that he only ever saw him once, 20 years earlier). The "survival" group didn't hear it and never saw him. But Kirk, Leighton, and Riley did—because they were supposed to die.

Kodos's description of 33-year-old Kirk is, uh, let's say intriguing in that context:

"Here you stand, the perfect symbol of our technical society. Mechanized, electronized, and not very human. You've done away with humanity, the striving of man to achieve greatness through his own resources."

Kodos's murderous daughter Lenore, similarly, says:

LENORE: Are you like that, Captain? All this power at your command, yet the decisions that you have to make— KIRK: Come from a very human source. LENORE: Are you, Captain? Human?

It's likely that these colonists and other residents didn't all go meekly to their entirely unexpected deaths. If we go with the concept of Kirk's father as a Starfleet officer serving on a post on the colony, some of these people were in Starfleet and might well have still had weaponry of some kind. They were just as hungry as the rest, but I suspect would have fought to the death against an undisguised atrocity. I think others also would have fought back against Kodos's people, despite being starved and much less well-armed (if armed at all).

In all probability, none of them expected to win, but hoped to buy time for others, especially their children, to escape (hence the conspicuous youth of the eyewitnesses). The resisting residents would have been massacred by Kodos's troops as he took control of the situation, even before thousands of more people were sent to their executions, but I imagine this resistance created enough havoc for nine children and young adults to escape with their lives (Leighton's face getting seared in the process—perhaps by a phaser set to kill that barely missed him).

Most of the literal children among the Tarsus Nine had seen their parents killed as Kodos's people took control, as had other children who didn't survive (hence Spock's description of children watching parents die and of the nine eyewitnesses directly surviving a massacre). The Tarsus Nine may have seen the other colonists forced into the execution mechanism, whatever it was, either during their escape or if any snuck out afterwards to see. Regardless, I headcanon that the Tarsus Nine found each other and hid out together (I'm assuming they ended up cooperating because they're so accurate about just how many of them there were and because I'm guessing literal children wouldn't have survived alone).

We don't know a whole lot about what was going on psychologically with them at the time. But something else I've been thinking about is the interesting ambiguity in Kirk's statement to Kodos about the original genocide speech. Kirk says, "I remember the words. I wrote them down," which seems a reference to Kirk writing the speech down during the episode to force Kodos to read it. However, something I find fascinating there (/Spock fistbump) is that Kirk's statement that he himself wrote down the speech follows so directly from "I remember the words."

I think the implication is that he wrote down the exact words of the speech from memory (indicating that Kodos's genocide announcement that Kirk heard at age 13 is still seared into his mind). Or possibly, the causality is reversed: he perfectly remembers Kodos's speech because he wrote it down at some point in the past (likely not long after surviving the massacre). The former seems a bit more probable to me, but either case would suggest quite a lot about how deeply this affected him.

But whatever the Tarsus Nine were up to, they lasted long enough for Starfleet to arrive and take charge of the situation. We don't know the details of how that happened from TOS, either, though the fact that Kodos got the hell out of Dodge and left a burned body to be misidentified as him suggests that it was obvious enough what Starfleet's arrival was going to mean well before any fighting began.

Afterwards, well ... some of the Tarsus Nine maintained ties, for sure. Kirk and Leighton seem to be trusting friends; they address each other by familiar nicknames, Kirk knows Leighton's wife, and he regards Leighton's deception as something of a personal betrayal. Kirk is a bit vague on Leighton's professional life and dismisses his suspicions at first, so I don't think they're super close, but it's a trusting and familiar relationship in general.

Meanwhile, others among them lost contact. Kirk clearly has no idea that the Lieutenant Riley he knows on the Enterprise was a little boy among the other eyewitnesses, which seems probable enough. Riley likely ended up with caretakers who wouldn't have been all that keen on him being reminded of the horrific trauma he'd experienced. Him ending up on the Enterprise by sheer chance is a hell of a coincidence, but that's not unusual for Star Trek, let's be real.

A minor point: I'm guessing Sam Kirk had a hell of a week as the information about what was happening on Tarsus IV leaked out. I'm guessing from the outside, there'd be the official alert of the food crisis -> the colony's communications going dark -> Starfleet arriving and discovering what had happened -> their updates as they searched for survivors and those responsible -> their reports of finding the 4000 chosen for survival and the Tarsus Nine.

Moving forwards chronologically, we don't know that much about the longer-term effects on the Tarsus Nine apart from Kirk, though Riley is clearly haunted to some extent. Thomas Leighton has a respectable career, though his wife says after his death:

"At least he has peace now. He never really had that before."

As for Kirk, I think the next "version" of Kirk we know anything about via TOS is him as a very young man at Starfleet Academy. This Kirk is repeatedly described as bookish and solemn. In "Shore Leave" (which follows very shortly after "The Conscience of the King," though it's far lighter), we get this exchange:

KIRK: I know the feeling very well. I had it at the Academy. An upperclassman there. One practical joke after another, and always on me. My own personal devil. A guy by the name of Finnegan. MCCOY: And you being the very serious young— KIRK: Serious? I'll make a confession, Bones. I was absolutely grim.

Yeah, I wonder why.

Even as late as his time as an instructor at the Academy, when he was Lieutenant Kirk, he seems pretty recognizably "that" Kirk. He taught a notoriously challenging class (the subject not stated, but implied to be philosophy) and was known as a demanding teacher. In "Where No Man Has Gone Before," his friend and former student Gary Mitchell says:

"Well, I'm getting a chance to read some of that longhair stuff you like. Hey man, I remember you back at the Academy. A stack of books with legs. The first thing I ever heard from an upperclassman was, watch out for Lieutenant Kirk. In his class, you either think or sink."

Mitchell jokes about how he only passed by orchestrating the campaign of a "little blonde lab technician" to distract Kirk from his usual severity. And even this was not a fling; Kirk's relationship with the lab technician reached the point that he almost married her. So even that suggests someone who was taking every part of his life deadly seriously.

The personable, dutiful-but-easy-going charm and good humor of Kirk in much of TOS seems to not have been much in evidence for many, many years of Kirk's life. And even by the time we meet him, this runs much less deep than his powerful sense of responsibility and his commitment to the ideals of the Federation and his own philosophical convictions. We often see his outwards charm switch off like a light when it doesn't serve his purposes.

This is especially apparent in "The Conscience of the King" itself, which includes one of Kirk's most cold-blooded charm offensives—he can't immediately reach Kodos, so instead he deliberately charms Kodos's nineteen-year-old daughter Lenore in order to dig up information on him (not realizing Lenore herself is a murderer). There is a chasm between this calculated charm and his manner when he finds Kodos and drops the front:

The last thing I wanted to say about "The Conscience of the King" and this particular backstory for Kirk is that, after all of this, what exactly is the point of the backstory revealed in this episode? It's Star Trek, there usually is one, even when it's executed badly or clumsily. What is it gesturing at?

There's a repeated emphasis on the twenty years between the present moment and Kodos's atrocity. He is now an old man living a normal life, and doesn't seem to be a particular threat to anyone. One of the major subplots involves Spock trying to figure out what the hell happened twenty years earlier, then trying to convince McCoy of the threat, then Kirk and Spock and McCoy having this fraught discussion about it.

Spock is not dispassionate; he is horrified by both the past atrocity and current threat to Kirk, and quickly reaches a point of certainty about Karidian's/Kodos's identity and what should be done about him. Kirk is more anxious and unsure about getting it wrong and about his own motives, despite simultaneously wanting to just kill this guy on the spot. McCoy doesn't want to believe at pretty much every turn, and even when he does, is wary of acting out of potentially questionable motives so long after the fact. It leads to this great scene between all three:

SPOCK: Why do you invite death? KIRK: I'm not. I'm interested in justice. MCCOY: Are you? Are you sure it's not vengeance? KIRK: No, I'm not sure. I wish I was. I've done things I've never done before. I've placed my command in jeopardy. From here on I've got to determine whether or not Karidian is Kodos. SPOCK: He is. KIRK: You sound certain. I wish I could be. Before I accuse a man of that, I've got to be. I saw him once, twenty years ago. Men change. Memory changes. Look at him now, he's an actor. He can change his appearance. No. Logic is not enough. I've got to feel my way, make absolutely sure. MCCOY: What if you decide he is Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim. KIRK: No, but they may rest easier.

Of course, the matter of "oh hey, we keep finding elderly people who committed atrocities some 20 years ago and we've got to navigate how to deal with them now in a way that honors their victims" was not at all metaphorical at the time. In the 60s, the architects of atrocities who made their escape twenty years earlier and were discovered as ostensibly normal aging people were just literal Nazis.

While the Tarsus IV massacre is on a much smaller scale, obviously, Erin Horáková has a good explanation of the topicality here:

In “The Conscience of the King”, we learn that Kirk is a survivor of a colony-world genocide that occurred during his childhood. As an adult, Kirk attempts to determine whether an old man, now an actor, is actually Kodos, the mass murderer who perpetrated this genocide. “Conscience” is a complex, shifting episode made in the wake of the arrest of aged Nazis in South America by Mossad agents (again, it’s subtextually important to this episode that Kirk is played by a Jewish actor).

For further context, plenty of people involved in TOS had themselves fought in WWII, so "what do we do about elderly Nazis" was not a distant issue. Also, while Roddenberry himself was unfortunately antisemitic (a quality presumably related to "Patterns of Force" ever seeing the light of day), there were a lot of Jewish people working behind and in front of the camera on TOS, most famously including both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (both are/were Jewish actors from Jewish communities, though this tends to be much more present for many fans with Nimoy—it's hard not to think that is at least partly related to their physical appearances). So the whole premise is complex and fraught in real world terms, as well, which I felt was also worth mentioning as a significant element of what's going on here.

[valentinebugzee]

Fanfic: Sonic BOOM! Stone Au chapter. 1

Sticks and stone

(No warnings needed!! A baby can read this)

 "Is it just me or have Meh Burger toys been very random lately?"

Sonic complained as he pulled out a pair of knitting needles from the Meh Burger paper bag, he walked alongside his team through the village's streets.

They'd just come back from Meh Burger before any of them had finished their lunch, an annoying kid's birthday party two tables over spoiled their whole meal, two of the kids were fighting over a bowl of ice cream, fruitlessly, because it ended up flying in the air and ending up in Sonic and his team's food.

Of course, Dave didn't clean up or replace their food.

Tails caught up to Sonic. "More importantly, that's a very dangerous choking hazard," he points a claw at the "toy".

"Why did you order the kid's meal anyway?" Amy asked.

"I didn't. They got my order wrong, again, and I didn't feel like fighting Dave the intern...again." Sonic exhaled and looked around as if to figure out where he should put his newly acquired knitting needles, his eyes landed on Knuckles.

"Hey, Knucks, want these?" he extends his hand to the echidna.

"No, thanks, I don't like Asian food that much." he held up his hand in protest.

"Knuckles these are for yarn."

"I don't like eating yarn either."

"I think we should all start eating healthy food and start cutting off junk food, if you could even call Meh Burger food." the pink hedgehog muttered the last sentence, "I think some homemade meals and vegetables are in order if we want to maintain our health."

"yeah sure, but you're the only one of us that knows how to cook, and I don't have a stove." Sticks half-shrugged.

"Let me guess because the flames are actually chemicals that release pheromones that aliens can track from their home planet?" Tails asks the badger, unamused.

Sticks threw her hands up. "No! That's crazy! It's because the stove's gas would blow my cover and the underground serpents can sense it and find me!" the girl argued with her much more reasonable theory.

Sonic rolls his eyes, "Besides, who has the time to cook every single meal every day?"

Amy hums. "Yeah, I wish there was at least somewhere we could eat proper food at, for brunch or breakfast," she brought her hands together and sighed dreamily. "Somewhere classy! with a homey feeling and decor."

"Too bad Meh Burger is the only restaurant in this village," Knuckles scratches his head, "why is that anyway?"

"Well, our village isn't exactly the most...uh..." the fox trails off, trying to find the right word.

"Welcoming? Pleasant? Well known? Safe?" Sticks laid out those words, they're all accurate.

"Yeah, all of those."

"I don't think they got the memo." Sonic stops in his tracks and points at a building right between the hardware store and the laundromat, it was modern with a "classy" look as Amy wished a moment ago, right above its glass doors was a sign with a coffee bean drawing on it and the words "The Mean Bean"

They all looked intrigued at the new building, they stood there and stared, briefly blocking the road and annoying the passerbys, seriously guys move..

"Woah, that place looks nice! looks like that restaurant Amy ran for one day before it got destroyed by Eggman's robots."  Knuckles said in awe at the place.

However, the badger's ears went back and her snout scrunched up, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I have a bad feeling about this place I'm telling ya!" 

"You said the same thing yesterday about a bathroom." Sonic sassed. 

"This is different! How could a shop just appear out of thin air like that!?"

"I was wondering the same thing, actually; I don't think a coffee shop that intricate could be built overnight." Tails added, putting a finger on his chin.

"Maybe the show creators don't have the budget for a construction montage." Amy thought out loud.

"I thought this was a fanfiction." knuckles chimed in.

Sticks groaned and growled, "I'm telling ya guys, it's a trap, and the government is behind it!" she waved her arms around manically, not helping her case at all.

"yeah how about we go inspect this "trap" and their coffee? Y'know to make sure nothing illegal is going on." Sonic suggested calmly, completely dismissing Sticks's concerns.

That would sound mean but this is another "the boy that cried "wolf"" situation, if they listen to every single insane accusation Sticks made up they'd all end up living in the stone age, then who would be the tech wizz? who would dox jerks on the internet?

You can decide who the last sentence applies to.

"I thought you didn't like coffee." The inventor tilted his head at his older brother.

He pats his younger brother's head. "Yeah, but I'm down to try anything new, besides, I'm sick of Meh Burger's radioactive soda."

"I don't think our legal team can handle more Meh Burger slander." worried Amy to herself.

After much banter, the team finally approached the shining glass doors of The Mean Bean coffee shop.

With Sticks being dragged by Knuckles.

Standing there wiping at the counter with a damp cloth was a man, ...a human, he had brown skin, probably middle aged, he had a name tag on his apron that said "Stone", he greeted them with a warm smile and a wave, he put the cloth away and stood straight behind the counter, waiting for the team to walk up to him and order.

The red hero leaned over to whisper in Sonic's ear "Dude, that guy's a human.", "yeah? so?" "I thought Eggman was the only human around."

Sonic scratched the back of his head "Well, not anymore, he looks very different from Eggman."

Amy leans over to whisper to Sonic as well "Not all humans look the same, Sonic."

"I know that but I mean he just looks so.. normal... nothing like eggman, he looks like just a guy."

"Just a guy? really Sonic, this again?"

"What? No! ugh nevermind, sorry Amy." He quickly shut himself up, not wanting any more lectures or classes about being sensitive.

"He kinda has a point though." Tails agreed, "But it is nice to meet a new human that doesn't plan on destroying us."

"That's what he wants you to think." Sticks growled, making direct eye contact with the barista.

The barista who can very clearly tell they were talking smack about him, his eyes kept going back and forth between them, the wall, the counter, and the very enraged boomerang wielding hero.

Kind of resembling a dog when someone is trying to record it.

Finally, the banter came to halt when Amy noticed how rude they were being, first impressions are very important after all.

"Hello! welcome to The Mean Bean coffee cafe, how may I help you?" Said the barista.

"Well firstly I'd like to point out out how beautiful your cafe is, Mr. Stone." Amy chirped, "um this is your cafe right?"

Stone nodded and his eyes crinkled "Yes it is, that's nice of you to say..Ms. Amy rose isn't it?"

Her eyebrow raised, "Yeah, you know me?"

"But of course, you're Hedgehog village's most beloved heroes."

"it's only heroes." Sonic smirked.

"You're sonic I'm assuming?"

The blue one puffed out his chest with pride, "The one and only."

"And you're Knuckles," he points at the echidna, "Tails," he points to the two-tailed fox,

"And.. Sticks." he hesitated a little to point at the brown and cocoa colored badger, in all honesty he was worried she'd she'd bite his finger right off, her scowl showed off her canines that would make that action easy.

Of course he knew who these people were, he knew everything he needed to about this village.

Everything.

"Of course you know all of our names.." Sticks grumbled, "And I bet that that's not all you know."

Stone's expression faltered for a moment, but quickly shook off the girl's comment.

"Say, I've heard of this "Eggman" fellow a lot, but I haven't seen him once.."

Sticks gripped her arm at the comment, why does he wanna see Eggman?!

"Not that I want to see him or anything.. just to be cautious." Stone stammered when he saw Sticks's death grip.

He needs to be more careful.

"Oh, Egghead? Yeah don't worry about it, knowing him he's probably planning an attack right now." Sonic grabbed a menu and started looking through it, "Geez, I didn't know there were that many kinds of coffee."

"Yeah...hey why does this bean shop smell like coffee?" puzzled knuckles.

".. because this is a coffee shop." replied Stone in disbelief at how ridiculous that question was.

Maybe his job here wasn't going to be that hard.

Not the barista job at least.

Tails gasped "woah these look so good." he said putting his hands on the clean glass.

That irked Stone a little, but no worries, the fox too cute to be mad at.

The other two joined Sonic in reading the menu, Sticks remained in her place, still glaring.

"So... would you like to order anything?" 

"Hmm.. what's in this stuff you call coffee, "Stone"" She does air quotations while saying the humans name.

"Well, Ms."Sticks"," The barista mimicked her air quotations with humor, "Each coffee is made differently, but to answer your question: Milk, coffee, water and sometimes sugar."

Sticks rubbed her chin, her glare didn't waver a one bit.

Everything was still for a moment, the badger kept glaring and the human accepted the challenge.

They remained like that for a moment because she stomped her foot and pointed an accusing claw at the man.

"I know what you are!" Sticks shrieked, freaking out her friend and Stone, and some of the other customers.

"Sticks!" Amy scolded, "Leave him alone, I know you're paranoid but this is no excuse to accuse an innocent man of...what are you even accusing him of!?"

"He's a government agent! look at him!" 

Stone stood there like a deer in the headlights, he mustered up the most innocent expression he could.

"He's planning on taking control over the village! mark my words, this man is a government agent and he's here to control our minds!" the badger waved her arms around emphasizing her point.

All of her friends just stared.

unamused.

uncaring.

Then went back to what they were doing before Sticks's outburst.

Next up was a loud scream, and Sticks ran out the the restaurant as furious as ever.

 

She ran and ran, until her stamina ran out and she reached the forest.

"What now?..." she exhaled and sat and a nearby rock with her head in her hands. "I can't let that guy hurt my friends..."

She thought to herself, she couldn't let that guy roam around and putting other's lives in danger.

But at the same time she couldn't investigate him all on her own, if the agent's patience ran out he might kidnap her and make her work in a secret underground trees-that-are-actually-spy-cameras factory! 

Then their would be no one to keep an eye on the village, and her friends are all probably already mind controlled by the microchips in "Stone"'s food and coffee.

She'll need a sidekick.

Just at that moment a black and red bird flew into a nest on branch, the bird shimmied until it settled it's bed.

"I know just the guy.."

_____________________

I hope u guys enjoyed this! writing isn't really my strong point so I appreciate constructive criticism, also Stone's characterisation is gonna be tough... sorry this was about sticks more than stone LOL the next one will be stone centric (with stobotnik obviously)

[haruriin]

VALENTINE EVE'S NIGHTMARE ♡ * ˖ ࣪ — CH. O1

★ synopsis: every teenage girl has her own struggles, so naturally, you found a way to escape yours! though you never thought you would bump into a pretty boy who had the same habit as you...oh, he's actually in the same school as you? and you two share the same taste in movies too...? wow, lucky you!

*✧·˚ cw. rin itoshi x f!reader, this is a smau & written fic! reader has family issues, so does rin, reader is 16, reader is a smoker, this is angst for like 2 chapters the rest is pure crack/fluff trust, language.

after making sure you're carrying your headphones, keys, and —just in case— some spare coins inside your jacket pocket, you finally zip it up and carefully exit your room, opting to carry the few cat food cans that had been hiding under your bed in your hands, since carrying a bag for such a short trip would be a hassle anyways.

except the soft music blaring through your headphones and into your ears, the streets are mostly quiet except for the occasional sound of a car driving through the road every now and then. your neighborhood is relatively safe, so you haven't ever really worried much about going out alone, still, you make sure to be as close as possible to your home (even if being away is what you want the most) whenever you do.

when you get to the small park right next to the convenience store, there you see him, in all of his glory: mr. chonkers rolling around on his back without a care in the world. truly, you started sneaking out of your house late at night just to be able to breathe when your house got way too suffocating to do so, meeting the calico cat was pure coincidence, but he gave you an excuse to not make the people around you worry about your escapades, and honestly, you loved the (massive) little ball of fur, it kept you company when your mom wasn't there when you needed her, and when all your brother seemed to feel toward you was indifference.

"i could hear the mighty rumbles of your stomach from miles away" you kneel down in front of the cat, opening the cans of food and gently petting his fur while he gobbles them down.

you are lost in your thoughts, hugging your knees absentmindedly and resting your head against them when the soft breeze of the spring night envelops you, feeling at ease until you realize someone's very tall unmoving shadow looming over you...

"oh!" you gasp bringing your hand to your chest, your heart is beating faster than it ever has, thinking you were about to get robbed or something similar (at least you won't let anything bad happen to mr. chonkers!) and when you turn around, your heart beats twice as fast for an entirely different reason

there, what you think must be the most beautiful man you've ever seen, is standing with his hands inside the pockets of his hoodie, intently looking at...mr chonkers? as if you weren't even there.

"hm, that's why he was getting so fat huh" the stranger mutters under his breath while you try to pull yourself out of the trance that his beautifully long lashes have you in.

"um...is mr. chonkers yours?"

"mr. what..?" he seems to finally acknowledge your presence, turning to look at you with one eyebrow raised and a puzzled look on his face, you suddenly feel extremely self-conscious under his scrutinizing gaze...and you just embarrassed yourself too! truly, you didn't think the cat would have an owner, so you just went ahead and named him mr. chonk-

"it's not mine." the boy's voice brings you out of your mental rant "i just feed him sometimes."

oh...that certainly explains why mr. chonkers is so...chunky.

you stare at your feet for a bit, thinking about what your next move should be, you've been coming here almost every night ever since you moved here but it's your first time seeing this guy, maybe he's new here? shouldn't you ask for his number or something? you really should...he's so pretty too! okay, you definitely can do this!

"hey, since you've been feeding mr. chonkers too, we could take turns, can you give me your-" you stopped when you finally turned around to look at him, only to find that he wasn't there anymore! curse you, he probably just left thinking you were weird as hell while you were mentally preparing to ask for his number...

sigh. you kneel down again "you could've at least let me know you had someone else feeding you too, y'know?"

"meow?" you giggle when the cat starts rolling around happily in front of you, and you bend down some more to sratch on his tummy and chin before standing up and making your way back home.

you light up a cigarette and bring it to your lips while walking back to the house, deciding to take the longer way so you could take in the scenery while listening to your music.

even though your mind was flooded with images of the pretty stranger and the way you embarrassed yourself in front of him, so you couldn't really focus on anything else...

⟡ * ˖ ࣪ m.list ⟡ *˖ ࣪ profiles ⟡ * ˖ ࣪ taglist: @x3nafix @taefanclub @lukapurin @vertejay (ask 2 be added!)

a/n: finally got the courage to start posting fics again LMAO im so excited ab this one...hopefully i can post ch. 2 tomorrow🤞🏻

© haruriin 2025.

[tsumuus]

denki + 🎧/💍

him and the reader are friends who happen to be spending valentines together. and on valentines day, everything seems to be discounted for couples. why not pretend to be one to have some fun and save some money? but by the end of the day, the two start to realize they want to be more than friends...

Valentine’s Day had never been a big deal to you. In fact, you usually spent the day ignoring the influx of pink and red decorations, the sickly sweet smell of chocolate in every store, and the countless couples parading their love all over social media. But this year was different—this year, you had Denki Kaminari, your best friend and partner-in-crime, lounging on your couch with his phone in one hand and a bag of heart-shaped gummies in the other.

“Dude, look at this,” Denki snorted, turning his phone screen toward you. “Couples get half off at that new sushi place downtown.”

You raised an eyebrow and leaned in to look. Sure enough, the restaurant was running a Valentine’s special for couples only. Your feed was flooded with similar deals—discounted movie tickets, buy-one-get-one-free desserts, even an escape room that was offering a ‘lovebirds’ challenge at half price.

“We should totally do this,” he said, popping a gummy into his mouth. “Like, fake date for the day. Think about it—we could get a whole day of free and cheap stuff just for pretending to be madly in love.”

You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Denki, that’s ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously genius.” He smirked. “Come on, unless you have a real date planned?”

You scoffed. “Please.”

“That’s what I thought. So what do you say, partner? Shall we become the ultimate fake couple for the day?”

You hesitated for a moment, but the idea did sound fun—plus, free food was free food. “Alright, but you better commit to the bit.”

Denki beamed. “Oh, I’m about to be the best fake boyfriend you’ve ever had.”

Your first stop was the sushi restaurant, where Denki dramatically slung an arm around your shoulders as soon as you walked in.

“Table for two, lovebirds?” the hostess asked, smiling warmly.

You were about to speak when Denki beat you to it. “Yes, please! My sweetheart here has been craving sushi all week.”

You felt warmth rise to your cheeks at the casual pet name, but you forced yourself to play along. “Yeah, my wonderful, amazing boyfriend knew exactly what I wanted.”

The hostess gushed about how cute you two were as she led you to a table, and soon, you were enjoying half-priced sushi rolls. But somewhere between the casual banter and Denki reaching across the table to brush a stray grain of rice from your cheek, you started to feel something shift. The jokes felt a little less like jokes, and the playful touches lingered just a second longer than necessary.

Next was the dessert café offering a ‘sweetheart special’—a free dessert for couples who fed each other at least one bite. Denki, ever the performer, wasted no time scooping up a bite of chocolate mousse and holding the spoon toward you with an exaggeratedly romantic gaze.

“For you, my dearest,” he said, barely suppressing a grin.

You rolled your eyes but leaned in anyway, taking the bite. The mousse was rich and smooth, but you hardly noticed because Denki’s eyes were locked on yours in a way that made your heart stutter just a little.

“You’re supposed to feed me now,” he said, his voice softer.

You hesitated only a moment before mimicking his actions, offering him a bite. He took it without breaking eye contact, and for the first time today, you wondered if maybe this wasn’t entirely just a game for him either.

The last stop of the day was the escape room. The challenge was to “escape Cupid’s Trap,” and while you managed to solve the puzzles quickly, the final challenge required you to ‘prove your love’ by standing in a heart-shaped spotlight and declaring a heartfelt message to your ‘partner.’

Denki stepped in without hesitation, pulling you close. “I don’t need a spotlight to tell the world how amazing you are,” he said, and this time, the teasing lilt in his voice was barely there. “You make everything more fun, and honestly… I wouldn’t mind doing this for real.”

Your breath hitched. “Denki…”

“I’m serious,” he said, his grip on your hands tightening just slightly. “I thought today would just be a fun little scam, but somewhere along the way, I realized I actually really like being your boyfriend—even if it’s just pretend.” He let out a nervous laugh. “Unless… it doesn’t have to be pretend?”

You stared at him, heart pounding. All day, you’d been pushing aside the little moments, the lingering touches, the way your chest tightened whenever he said something sweet. But hearing him say it out loud made you realize—you wanted this too.

A slow smile spread across your lips. “Maybe we should do this for real, then.”

Denki’s eyes widened for just a second before he grinned. “Wait, really?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I think we’d be pretty great at it.”

His face lit up, and before you knew it, he was pulling you into a giddy, slightly clumsy hug. “Best Valentine’s Day ever.”

And just like that, the fake date wasn’t so fake anymore.

valentines event | masterlists

[halfbaked00q]

marinating on some thoughts on Bond but make him a food-motivated semi-feral cat...

Bond is introduced to his new Quartermaster and he's professional and cordial but keeps his distance.

Q is a sucker for strays and sadly Bond is just such a pathetic wet cat of a man esp when they first meet.

He notes the spark of interest Bond exhibited when he mentioned an exploding pen and thus starts his journey of trying to pspspsps Bond in.

I sort of have this half-formed idea that he starts w like a fun ridiculous little gadget treat per kit - nothing too major or expensive (or explosive), just something novel and perhaps a bit whimsical in that "ridiculous action spy movie" kind of way.

And then maybe at some point he starts including little non-work treats. idk what form this takes. ...a small packet of homemade cookies - sorry, biscuits - stowed carefully into a pocket in a gear bag? some sort of nostalgic sweets tucked in with the gun and radio? (imagine that padded case with a special compartment carved out for sweets lol). idk this part hasn't coalesced, I just have the vibes

I also kind of have an idea that maybe Bond at first doesn't exactly show up for straightforward gear ups, they just like notify him it's ready and he sneaks in at some point takes his stuff and ghosts away. and so part of Q's journey is like. Staking Out with a metaphoric box & string to try to catch Bond before he can sneak in, snatch up, and abscond.

anyway we have this like. luring in & warming up period w 007. And THEN he becomes the annoying never-leaves-Q-alone always-calling-him-at-ungodly-hours guy we know and love. but he would he even more annoying about it <3

[riqomi]

POPCORN ˖ 심재윤

제이크 ˖ 𝑓em!r .. g. fluff est. relationship ──── BOOKSHELF ( 645 ) cw. skinship kissing ‎food ‎ ‎

you stood in the kitchen, struggling to open a pack of ramen, determined to make something for your boyfriend, jake, before he got home from practice.

after what felt like ages, you finally managed to tear the package open. as you poured water into the pot, you suddenly remembered you had forgotten to play some music.

"hey, alexa! play 'diorama' by yves, please."

just as you were finishing up the dish, you heard keys jingling—just in time, you thought. the front door creaked open, revealing an exhausted jake.

"babe, i'm home!" he called out, his voice soft but warm.

"i'm in the kitchen," you replied.

moments later, you felt his arms wrap around your waist, his chin resting lightly on top of your head.

"mmm, smells good," he murmured.

"good thing, because the food is almost ready," you grinned, turning your head slightly toward him. you gave him a quick peck on the lips before turning back to the stove.

"if you want, you can take a shower while i finish preparing the rest," you hummed.

"okay, i'll be quick," he chuckled.

soon, the two of you were seated at the table, eating the ramen you'd prepared.

"babe?" you mumbled, slurping up a mouthful of hot noodles.

"hmm?" he hummed in response.

"wanna have a movie night if you’re not too tired?" you asked, finishing your food.

"sure!" he replied excitedly.

after clearing the table, you carried the empty bowls to the kitchen sink and began rinsing them. suddenly, you felt jake poke your side, making you giggle.

"what’s wrong?" you asked playfully.

"what movie should we watch?" he asked quietly.

"hmm…" you hummed, thinking for a moment. "anything is fine, to be honest!" you smiled.

as you finished washing the dishes, you decided to prepare some popcorn and grab a few snacks for the movie. the microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn was done. you grabbed two bowls from the cabinet, pouring the popcorn into one and snacks into the other.

suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the living room. alarmed, you quickly poured the rest of the snacks and rushed toward the sound.

"what was that?!" you called out.

when you entered the living room, you found jake sprawled on the floor, tangled in a mess of blankets and pillows.

"no! this was supposed to be a surprise," he whined dramatically.

"jake, you expect me not to worry when i hear a loud crash?" you replied, raising an eyebrow.

"aww, you care about me," he smirked.

you stood there, unimpressed, giving him a blank stare.

"anyway!" you huffed, shaking your head. "i’m bringing the snacks."

snuggled under a soft blanket, the two of you enjoyed your snacks while watching annie. surprisingly, it wasn’t a bad choice.

"oh no!" jake suddenly yelled, making you jump and spill some popcorn onto the blanket.

"what?!" you huffed, looking at him in alarm.

"i thought she was gonna get caught by that lady agatha!" he gasped, eyes glued to the screen.

you slowly turned your head to stare at him before snickering.

"seriously?" you teased.

later that night, you stood in the bathroom, finishing your nighttime routine. jake was already lying in bed, waiting for you.

"babe, are you done soon?" he called out sweetly.

"almost!" you replied.

before you could finish, jake suddenly entered the bathroom, his messy hair and puffed cheeks making him look irresistibly cute. he approached you from behind, wrapping his arms around your waist.

"jake, i told you i was almost done," you giggled.

"i know, but still…" he mumbled, nuzzling into your shoulder.

the two of you made your way to bed, slipping under the warm blankets and clinging to each other as if there were no tomorrow.

"goodnight, jake," you murmured.

"goodnight, babe," he giggled softly.

hii guyss, just wanted to tell you that my request are open so feel free to send some :)) please help spread my work by reblogging or liking!!!

[themage9062]

I've never wanted someone in-universe to look at a character and go "what the fuck did they do to you" until now

(Minor dog-man spoilers but nothing that wasn't seen in a trailer until stated otherwise)

I'm pretty sure everyone's gone through the "I just thought of the concept of dogman for more than two seconds and have decided it's fucked up" phase but its destroying my mind at the moment

Now I know I'm not supposed to read too into it because George and Harold's writing is generally silly and unrealistic unless they're projecting but i'm going to do it anyways.

How does dogman even make noise?? Are the stiches attached by the top of his neck or the base?? Because that drastically changes his vocal range if it's one or the other. I'm assuming it's he's attached to officer knights body at the base of his neck so it makes sense that he can't speak.

Does he need physical therapy??? I'm pretty sure the human body isn't supposed to move like a dog's. We've all seen him move like he would if he was still normal but no matter how natural it feels we're bipedal and he's forcing his body to do quadruped. Would he have to curb his dog behaviors in order to not harm knight's body? (Note: In my eyes, he 100% doesn't see officer knights body as *his*, even though he controls it. It is one of the last things he has of him after all.)

But he does have moments where he just doesn't do that at all and walks and runs like a human should + whatever fighting style he uses. Is he doing these things off of muscle memory from officer knights body?? If so, what the hell happens if he wants to learn something new??

What does his diet look like? We've seen him eat dog food but I'm pretty sure that's not healthy in the long run for a human's body. I don't know anything about serious about biology, but dogs can't eat chocolate because of their stomach, no? So can he taste chocolate for the first time? Does he inherit Knight's allergies??

[Spoilers below the cut, but the general idea is questioning if he can be counted as sapient or not, so buh bye if you haven't watched it yet!]

Most importantly to me, because I really want to enjoy the Detey ship but there's always this question ringing in my head, did he get smart enough to be counted as sapient? The procedure was vague as George and Harold fumbled the specifics but there had to be some neural surgery from his brain to his body right??

It was cute and all, but his interactions with petey, especially after becoming his friend after he recently killed his best friend was a bit concerning in the mental department. I know most of this can be boiled down to "the middle schoolers aren't Shakespeare" but come on lemme overthink about this

I NEED ANSWERS THAT I WONT GET GAAAAAAAAAH

[lilimaginebean]

five days — 五日

synopsis: In which Kaiser fell in love with his tattoo artist, or in which Kaiser has only five appointments to convince you to go on a date with him.

note: hi :)

prev | masterlist

🥀 Day 5

"Well, at least I'm still alive, right?" you said, trying to comfort Kaiser, who was sitting next to you with the saddest aura ever.

The nurse finally came in, stared at you in confusion, and approached both of you.

"Again? In the emergency room?" she asked, you could do nothing but nod, "What now?"

"Allergic reaction. So crazy, who would have thought I could be allergic to a particular dried fruit that is only grown in one village in Greece? Right?" you said, trying to sound funny, but the sore throat made it sound more painful than anything else.

"OK, come with me, again," the nurse said as she took you to another room, giving Kaiser a dirty look.

How did this happen anyway?

After the last tattoo session, you finished one of your best masterpieces. The tattoo ended up being pretty amazing, and you weren't the only one who thought so, Kaiser couldn't stop complimenting you and your tattoo. Of course, that piece of art wasn't your only happiness, as you and Kaiser finally got to go on a date.

However, before the date began, Kaiser once again asked your uncle for permission to take you out. Maybe this time it was because he was no longer a customer, or because your uncle felt empathy for Kaiser, or maybe because of the expensive watch Kaiser had bought for your uncle; but he accepted. You both fled before your uncle could change his mind.

The two of you could finally be together. No exams, no work, just the two of you. What you didn't expect was that everything would go wrong.

First of all, the really luxurious limousine that Kaiser had hired broke down. That wasn't too bad, as Kaiser had only hired it to get to the place he wanted earlier. Finally, they arrived at the first place of the date, which was a really nice picnic with some of their favourite books. It would have been great if it hadn't started raining. At least you two were able to save the books.

But it didn't stop there. He took you to the next stop, which was ice skating. Unfortunately, when you got there and were teaching Kaiser how to do it, some hyperactive kid went too fast and hit you, causing you to hit your head on the ice. So basically you were knocked out for a few seconds, and that ended with you going to the emergency room to make sure you were okay without any side effects. Luckily, it wasn't anything serious, so they let you go and kept the date.

The cherry on top? For dinner, Kaiser took you to the most expensive restaurant you've ever been to. Everything was going well until you found out that you were somehow allergic to one of the weirdest things the chef used. So you were checked twice in less than 3 hours to see if you were physiologically OK.

When your second check routine was over without a hitch, you returned to the waiting room and approached Kaiser. He was slumped in his chair, but fortunately his cap hid his frustration.

"Shall we go?" you asked him in a gentle tone.

He got up, took your hand and left. The two of you walked in silence to your apartment, you didn't know what to say to make him feel better and he was too mad to even talk. Once outside of your home, you stared at Kaiser, who had a sad expression on his face, and suddenly his stomach growled and demanded food.

"Just kill me," Kaiser admitted, feeling defeated by everything.

You chuckled.

"Come with me, I'll see what you can eat," you opened the door of the building where your apartment was and followed you inside.

Once inside your small but cosy apartment, you made him sit down in the living room and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later you returned with a plate of veggie sandwiches. You sat down next to him.

"Don't be sad, I really had fun with everything you planned," you said, comforting him.

He just picked up the sandwich, took a bite and stared at you.

"It's not that bad." Kaiser admitted, "Your lame veggie sandwich, I mean, the date went horribly. I really expected the date to end differently, not with me eating this."

You approached him.

"Hey the date hasn't ended yet, we can still turn it into something wonderful" you said confidently.

Kaiser stared at you curiously, wondering what you could do to turn this awful moment into at least a decent one. You stroked his hair, leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead, then on the cheek and finally on the lips.

"Better?" you asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He left the sandwich on the plate and gave you all his attention.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," Kaiser confessed in an enthusiastic tone, as if he were a fan who had just met his idol, "But… I bet you can do better, Liebling," he said in a cocky tone.

"Trust me, I can" you answered in the same tone

"Prove it."

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.212 Tropical storm Chi Chi

Despite the joy I felt from Maira's news, I still felt...off. My emotions were all over the place, and I kinda wanted to be alone to sort myself out. I'd usually go for a jog or something, but I didn't want to leave the comfort and safety of my home. So, as much as I could, I stayed away from my girls. Luckily, Desiree was more interested in her Winterfest gifts, and Sophia had chores to do. I thought I'd grab some food and eat in the living room because it's quiet in there, but no sooner than I sat down, someone knocked at the front door. I groaned at the loss of my me time and for my nerves; it was Chi Chi. She came in, yammering on about her grandson, Titus, and how cute he is, and how big he's getting, and how much she loves him, and how her daughter is pregnant again, and how she hopes she and the boyfriend plan to get married. I had eaten several bites of my pineapple fried rice before she really noticed me.

"You're looking mighty relaxed and happy, mister! Sophia gave you some extra Winterfest loving?"

"Ha. Something like that. You look rather refreshed yourself. We just got back from Mt. Komorebi."

"Oh, that's old news. I let this fancy business guy try to impress me with a weekend Sulani trip a few weeks ago. I knew it wasn't going to work, but I appreciate the tan, ha ha!"

Sophia came downstairs, and Chi Chi hopped on her like flies on dog poop. I don't recommend anyone getting caught in Chi Chi's tsunami of words, but I was glad to get her attention off me. I tried to ignore them and go back to my space, but I couldn't help but eavesdrop. After all, they were just a few feet from me, and Chi Chi was way too eager to discuss this alleged glow I have about me. Hearing my wife and my friend gush about good I put it down was not the way I saw my evening going, but at least they weren't talking about the fire. I know if it came up, she'd slip into supportive friend mode quick and smooth like a ninja. Caring and making you feel seen is one of her best traits, but that's just not what I want right now.

They talked and giggled some more, and I finished my dinner. At some point, though, I heard little feet overhead stepping toward the stairs. I should have known an unfamiliar voice would draw Desi away from her play time. Sure enough, she traipsed downstairs, and Chi Chi could not contain herself.

"OH my word!! Look at how big you are! You are just the cutest thing!! She looks so much like both of you!! And those eyes! Hello, gorgeous! Oh, she's gonna be so much trouble when she's a teenager!"

Desi stared at her, half smiling and kinda dazed. I snickered because I knew that exact feeling.

"Mommy," she whispered, "who's this?"

Sophia and Chi Chi laughed.

"You don't have to be afraid of little ol' me! I'm Chi Chi! I met you when you were just a cute little thing!"

"Chi Chi is a friend of ours," Sophia said.

I'm sure we all breathed a sigh of relief when her phone buzzed.

"Oh, I've got to run. Karmi Karms isn't feeling too well; you know how the first trimester is. Why she doesn't ask the boyfriend for help is beyond me. I know a girl needs her mother, but what's the point of having a man in the house if he's useless?! Anyway, happy New Year's Eve, everybody! I'll see you soon!"

And with that, she disappeared as quickly as she arrived. She is something else. With peace restored in our home, heh, and Desi looking to be social, I seized the opportunity I wanted from this morning.

"Hey, Des, you wanna do yoga with me?"

"YEAH!!"

We changed into our workout gear and went outside. It's too bad Sophia isn't into wellness. We could do yoga as a family.

Desi chose a mat, and I took the one in front of her.

"You're good at mimicking the moves, but now you need to understand why you're doing them and how to get the most out of them."

She was so excited; she couldn't stay still.

I got into position for a pose, and she followed.

"This is called the downward dog pose."

Of course, the name made her giggle. I got up to make sure she did it right and to provide more instruction.

"This is one of the most basic poses. Plant your feet flat on the mat and try not to get on your toes. You should feel that stretch going all the way up your leg. Do you feel it?"

"I feel it!"

"Good. You should always plant your feet flat on the mat and dig your toes into it. That'll keep you balanced and give you a strong footing. But also when you do yoga, you want to create resistance to stretch all your muscles, so that's another reason."

I took her through all the basic poses, and then we did them together. It gave me the calm I needed, and barring anything bad happening tomorrow, I'd say the year ended on a good note.

Chi Chi's grandson!

[topthreedetectives]

death note x pokemon!!

i've been formulating pokemon teams for death note characters, figured i'd put them here. i haven't perfected light's team but he 100% has a charizard and an umbreon. there's a few others i don't have solid teams for, but if i complete them i will post them!

there are a good chunk of mons that are in large part there mostly for aesthetic purposes, so keep that in mind!

if anyone has any cool changes for the current teams or thoughts on characters not shown feel free to share :D

starting with L's team!

his first pokemon was given to him by watari, and it was a shiny rowlet (it's shiny because it fits the team's aesthetic but my justification is watari's rich as hell so of course he can get L a shiny starter mon). the whole line gives off big watari vibes, it even turns into a sharpshooter!! perfect for protecting the world's greatest detective.

he's got a shiny umbreon who serves the role of partner pokemon, and they have the closest bond in the team (except maybe decidueye, but they're pretty much at the same level.) it parallels light's own umbreon, who also serves as partner pokemon to light. it's complete coincidence they both have umbreon (just further proves that they are perfect for each other >:D )

he has an alcremie because of course he does!! he loves sweets, and since alcremie make the best whipped cream for desserts, he HAD to have one. specifically the vanilla cream kind with strawberry candies.

next is metagross because metagross is way smarter than a supercomputer and L has always been really into technology. having one around is very helpful for his investigations.

he has an experiment gone (sorta) wrong, a porygon-z. it's difficult to work with, but L has managed to figure out how to work with it anyway. yet another technology mon to feed L's tech obsession.

last mon on his team is a bronzong. because he hears the bells. obviously. also, when bronzong lets out warning cries, which sound like bells tolling, it can summon rain. i mean, come on. he can't not have one on his team.

now that L's main team has been explained, it's time for another group of pokemon L has-- his contest mons!! L is really into pokemon contests and participates in them frequently (he always wins, of course). he's even got a pokemon for each type of contest category!

the alcremie and umbreon are from his main team, they just also participate in contests. he has a luxray who is also used for protection on top of contests since they can see through walls. very cool, very useful. (also very indulgent for me since luxray is one of my favorite mons.) he loves food pokemon so naturally he's got some more on top of alcremie. speaking of which....

he's got even more!! the others aren't used for battle or contests, he just likes having them around <3

you may think that he has an insane amount of pokemon and would struggle to care for them all while working on cases and participating in contests so much, and you would be correct. which is why watari has it all taken care of :D (that poor, poor man)

next up, we've got misamisa's team!

were most of these mainly an aesthetic choice? yes! and there's a very good reason for it. misa would totally have a team of cute mons that match her aesthetic!! since she's a model, she also uses them in her photoshoots and they themselves are very famous pokemodels.

her main partner pokemon is spinda. it doesn't fit in with the rest of the team's aesthetic, she was just completely encapsulated by it and its adorable silliness. she HAD to have it. they are now besties.

misa isn't very interested in pokemon battling, so her team isn't fully evolved. but you know what she is interested in?

that's right, pokemon contests!! she's not only famous for her modelling career, but also her pokemon contest skills!

each one of her pokemon sans spinda have their own contest category they specialize in.

she's one of the top contest participators, only ever bested by L. they are very close competition, however. while light is L's competition in regards to intellect, misa is L's competition in regards to pokemon contests. they are able to bond over their shared interest and frequently hold their own at-home contests during the time L is chained to light. they force light to participate as well, much to his dismay.

the rest of the task force think it's a waste of time, besides matsuda. he LOVES watching them. he's always been a big fan of misamisa's appearance in contests and is overjoyed that he gets to see her compete up close :>

next is god of the new world, light!

while i don't have his team fully fleshed out, there are some pokemon he has outside of a battling team.

there's the family litten, who doesn't care much for any of the other household members. it spends most of its time curled up in light's lap during his study sessions or while he's cleansing the world of sin.

the other is an applin given to him by his mom. he doesn't care for the applin much, but there is someone who does....

light started breeding applin in response to ryuk's extreme desire to eat his own. he puts up a front to his family, saying it's a hobby of his he's been getting into. he makes money selling the applin and ryuk gets to eat one every now and then instead of eyeing light's applin or making him buy more apples, so he isn't bothered by it (he secretly enjoys figuring out how to breed for the best IVs and natures possible, but he's not gonna tell ryuk that)

his applin has a special ribbon so ryuk won't mix it up with the others-- ryuk is absolutely forbidden to eat the one his mom gave him.

his litten also helps hatch the eggs a bit faster. it doesn't have flame body, but it's still able to warm them up so it helps, even if just a little.

next up, rem!

yes, she has two shinies. they just work so well!!!

shiny hisuian zoroark is so perfect in every way i just can't. it's the "embodiment of death", which fits very well with the whole shinigami thing, and it looks so fucking rem coded. actually perfection. also, although i don't have ryuk's team ready yet, he does have a normal zoroark which i think is pretty cool >:]

she has a shiny gardevoir because, uh, of COURSE she does!! gardevoir is the protector pokemon. they protect the people they care about with their life, and even sleep standing up just in case they need to jump into action to save their trainer. yet another perfect mon for rem's team.

there's a gothitelle on her team because.... well.... let me just insert its black and white 2 pokedex entry: "It can see the future from the movement of the stars. When it learns its Trainer's life span, it cries in sadness." enough said. also, i think it's adorable that it matches misa's gothorita <3

the others are mostly for aesthetic purposes, but i think they work pretty well on her team regardless!

next, mello!

yet another team that heavily revolves around aesthetic, but similar to misa, i think he would care a LOT about that sort of thing. he slays so hard i just know he would want his pokemon to match his style.

he has a houndoom who he mega evolves in battles because it looks sick as hell and is strong as fuck. his houndoom's horns are sharply pointed back, showing its natural leadership.

garchomp, staraptor, blaziken, and zangoose not only fit in his team aesthetically, but they are also all very strong and courageous. most are also really hot-headed or aggressive, which works super well with his demeanor.

and his partner pokemon, lucario? well....

they can share his chocolate together c:

a little extra thing, mello has some pokemon that are a part of his mafia group.

they aren't really owned by any of the members, they're just there to chill and have a good time. maybe intimidate a few people for the gang. you know how it is.

last but not least, near!

now, you may be asking yourself, "how the heck did this child get an ultra beast on his team??" the answer to that is simple: he saw big stacked cube mon, he got big stacked cube mon. watari, being rich as hell, indulged in near's want for big stacked cube mon, so now this 13 year old has a massive, highly aggressive ultra beast (which isn't unheard of in the actual pokemon universe). where does he keep it? idk, that's for watari to figure out (that poor, poor man)

his shinx and metang are related to L's luxray and metagross, respectively. they were given to him by L himself when he saw near's potential.

meowstic and shiny reuniclus not only fit the aesthetic, but are extremely powerful/intelligent psychic types. it's mostly aesthetic tho.

he has a shuppet that he loves to play with. it not only serves to spend quality playtime with him, but feed off of any negative emotions near is feeling as well. he's super calm and collected most of the time, and while his shuppet isn't the whole reason, it definitely helps him keep his cool when the other SPK members are dropping dead around him.

while not a part of his team, he does have a bunch of magnezone that serve as a kind of satellite. they don't function exactly the same as his actual satellites, but they are still very useful to him in their own way.

and that concludes what i have so far!

.♡ thank you for coming to my ted-talk ♡.

[residentialsinyomakai]

Hooray art dump!!

(Been a while since I've done one, anyways :])

Magical girl-ish Caspian. And the cat I GUESS...Don't really like this one but eh it's gouda! I think the dress came out better than I thought it would in the first one :)

Low quality human design shenanigans,,, goofy kid playing his loud ahh music at full volume in PUBLIC.

Cupistol and. Not Casanuva??? Woagg,,,,

VALENTINES DAY!!! Drew this to shoe Mt friends I was super excited. Explodes :) I love love LOVE VALENTINES DAY!

Slight revamp of (Strawberry) Cheesecakenyan ○°u°○ + other fan fusion I don't recall ever showing....oh well, maybe one day if I ever redraw them.

Kerosque being SICK. Of them coming just for free food (he still gives them some)

By the way sauce....since I saw others making other people making yokai versions of their Watcholder...here's mine :) don't like how this came out all that much but got the idea down wahaha!! ^u^