#brain full of squid thoughts

[inky-scrapyard]

since everyone one else gets to put it on in game, here's our own emperor in the wavemother's robe

Larian let me play dress up with the emperor, pleeeeeeeease? 🥺🥺

[bat-connoisseur]

Did some sketches of Deimos, despite art block currently kicking my ass. It was fun designing his tattoos! He's a big fan of heavy inks as you can see. I need to think of more changes that happen to him at the end of Act 2 because as cool as the veins are my monster loving ass needs MORE.

The gutted bird on his chest is the symbol of his patron (a minor god called Viscera I made up because I can do whatever I want), and the symbols on his arms are just various alchemical symbols I thought looked cool. Wish me luck figuring out how to think of tattoos that represent his adventures and friends- assuming he doesn't turn into a squid by the end of the game.

[doki-doki-imagines]

Hello :3 I have an idea for a request.

Mk1 boys (Bi-Han, Kuai liang,tomas, liu kang, kung lao, Raiden, johnny, kenshi, syzoth and shang tsung) with wife pregnant reader (Any month, depending on what you want) wake up in the middle of the night craving something and scared to wake them up Because they are already tired and streets from their work and she start sobbing silently and the boys will wake up , what their reaction will be what will they do?

And what will they do when the reader says something like 'I'm fat I look big'

I know it's random and stupid But I read it from a manhwa and I really liked the idea

Soooo please 🥺🥺🥺

author note: the please with teary eyes got me. Also pregnancy cravings are "only" in the first three months, so reader is in that stage.

Bi-Han:

-He is a light sleeper so he heard your first sigh clearly.

-Bi-Han already doesn’t sleep much so go straight to the point or he’ll just go back to sleep (probably in another room).

-You do, and now he is in the kitchen in the middle of the night preparing milk and cereals.

-“Here you go.” He sits in front of you, eating his own bowl.

“Mh, Bi-han?”

“Could you put ice cubes in my milk?”

-He looks at you like you just said some crazy stuff, but he knows better and just does as you asked him. A happy smile now on your face pulling the corner of his lips upward.

-But then, while you are both enjoying your bowls in silence Bi-Han hears you sniffing again, fat tears rolling down your face.

“Now you’ll leave me because I’m fat and have terrible taste in food.”

-His spoon hangs in the air, mouth still open, hair resembling a bird nest. Bi-Han faces drip with annoyance.

-Then he pushes your spoon in your mouth, icy milk and cereals hitting your tastebuds.

“If you have to open your mouth do it to eat and not to say dumb shit. Now go back to eat, I’d never thought icy milk could taste this good…” He replies, pinching your cheek after you gulped down.

Kuai Liang:

-When he comes home and hears you cry, Liang runs to you worried for both you and the baby.

-“What happened fireball?”

“You were out working and-“

“And??”

“And I’m here crying like a whale because I want some marinated and grilled squid.” You let out in a single breath, before going back to sighing and crying.

-The breath of relief Liang let out moved continents.

-Liang isn’t a great cook, but he knows his way around the grill, so his chefs are lucky that Liang didn’t have to wake them up in the middle of the night.

-He looks at you eating with joy, his face laying on his fist, raising the apple of his cheek up.

-But then you get teary…what is happening?

-“You’ll leave me, right?” You say after you let out a sob.

“No, why?”

“Look at me eating like a pig! I’ll get fat and we won’t have sex anymore!” Tears roll down your face and Liang really doesn’t know what to say.

-“Even if you get fat I’m sure you’d be pretty cute.”

“Okay, then-“ You stand on your feet, chopsticks thrown at the table while Liang looks at you with the widest eyes ever. “Fuck me now!”

-…Liang? Hello? Are you still there?

-He can’t really understand what is going on, but Liang decides not to rack his brain over it, his warm hands already on your hips.

Tomas Vrbada: -He was already awake when you started crying, so he asks immediately what’s wrong.

-“I don’t want to bother you, you always work so hard but-“

“?”

“I want smoked salmon.”

-Ahhh Tomas' first experience with his partner’s cravings.

-He searches in all the fridges of Shirai Ryu but can’t find anything. Tomas is ready to catch a salmon with his teeth like a bear and smoke it himself to make you happy.

-And that’s exactly what Tomas does.

-The sight of him shirtless, mauling a salmon with the moonlight making the water droplets on his chest and back shine…was a sight that sadly nobody witnessed.

-“Tommy this tastes so good, it is so juicy and…fatty.”

Tomas feels the storm coming.

-“You’ll want me even when I’ll become as fat as a salmon?”

Tomas nods and gulps, knowing full well of the doom incoming.

-“Why are you lying?! Men are all the same!”

-If something, seeing his partner belly round with your offspring can just make Tomas hot under the collar. But it’s not like you’ll listen to him.

-He just waits head in hands for this outburst to calm itself, tiredness knocking you out. Tomas hopes sooner rather than later.

Liu Kang:

-You know what is the best part of defending the hourglass? Looking into it to anticipate his partner’s cravings!

-So you’ll never have to cry because Liu Kang is always ready to give you the craziest food ever.

-“Ohh Liu, you really are the best. Always ready to give me the food I crave…” Bad silence, Liu Kang starts to have goosebumps. “I know the game you are playing, bastard!” You push Liu Kang away from your arms, running away from him.

“What are you talking about, dear one?”

“You want to make me fat so you’ll have me all for yourself! You egoist! You selfish bastard!”

-Yeah, Liu Kang is a bit selfish. Yes, he wants you all for himself kilos more or kilos less. But he has to admit that it wasn’t his plan.

-“You are mistaken, dear.”

“Mh??”

“I always want you all for myself.”

“Ah! Even now!?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then take this-“ You finally run back into his arms, lips smashed against his ones. You try to pull him off, but now there is no way that Liu Kang will let you go.

- It’s time to show you how hot he finds you.

Kung Lao:

-Good luck with him because Lao is a heavy sleeper.

-He’ll notice that there is a problem the next morning when you see your puffy and red eyes.

“I didn’t want to bother you, but I had insane cravings last night.”

“Next time wake me up. I don’t mind.” He says hands on your shoulder before going to work.

-So, when the next night you try to wake him up, the need for cabbage stew is making you insane.

-Keyword: try.

-World could end and Lao would still be snoring.

-Next time is better to have cravings during the day because at night you’re on your own.

-Meanwhile, during the day Lao becomes more or less your butler…at least.

Raiden:

-“Hey sweety, don’t cry. What’s wrong?” Raiden turns around to look at you, index finger stroking your wet cheek.

“You must be so tired.”

“Yeah, a little. But I want to listen to you. What’s wrong?”

“I want to eat dango.”

“At this hour?”

“Please, Raiden.”

-He chuckles but lifts himself from the bed. But now Raiden thinks “Where I can find dango at this hour??”

-Raiden has a guardian angel; Madame Bo, with her insomnia problem for once being useful.

-And the lady will be more than happy helping Raiden's pregnant partner to fulfill one of their cravings.

-Not for free, tho…

-You won’t cry about weight with him. Even if your mind is hazed by hormones it still works well enough to know that he’ll always love you.

Johnny Cage:

-Another heavy sleeper, but if you push him around enough he’ll wake up.

-“Ehi babe, what’s wrong.”

“Johnny-“ He hears you sigh and finally wakes up, worried that you may be hurt.

“I’m in the mood for cream and strawberries, but at first I didn’t want to wake you-“

“Shhh babe-“ He presses his index finger on your lips “I’m here to help you.”

-He comes back soon, a cup filled to the brim that makes your eyes shine with joy.

-“Oh look, you have some cream here.”

His thumb brushes the corner of your lips. Then Johnny wanted to lick it, already smiling at his next action.

-But you move faster, your lips circling his thumb and licking it clean.

-Johnny looks at you, doe eyes looking back, your lips on his thumb, your nice and soft body next to him…

-The cup of strawberries will be soon forgotten.

Kenshi Takahashi:

-He comes back home from a mission and hears you crying. Kenshi is terrorized.

-Kenshi already has anxiety about leaving his partner alone at home, pregnant. Hearing you cry made him crumble.

“Are you fine!?”

“Oh, Kenshi!”

You run to him and hug his middle, he keeps you tight in his arms.

-“Please tell me, what happened!?”

“I’m sorry I don’t want to worry you. It’s nothing serious.”

Kenshi still isn’t calm.

“I just have a crazy craving for takoyaki with honey.”

Okay, his breath is calming down.

-He just returned home, every muscle screaming in pain, but for his partner, he’d do that and much more.

-Thankfully you always liked takoyaki so Kenshi had some ingredients at home, the others got bought in a nearby combini.

“Kenshi you are a real life saver.”

“It’s just my job.” He replies kissing the crown of your head, hands sliding down to massage your tummy.

“But next time just tell me you had a craving, I lost some years of my life.”

-Are those sniffs he is hearing? Oh no…

“I-I’m so sorry Kenshi-“

-He’ll never get used to mood swings.

Syzoth:

-His wife didn’t suffer from cravings, but Syzoth is ready for anything.

-Syzoth more or less always knows when your hormones are gonna hit, so he tries to put limit the incoming “damage”.

-The real problem is that Syzoth doesn’t know anything about human food! You are on your own. Ask your friends, you will have better luck.

-“You search for someone else when I’ll get fat, I know it!”

“You just want to knock me up!”

Syzoth knows your mind isn’t working well, hormones going crazy.

-But he also knows how to calm you down!

“I’d love you even if you became a worm, firefly.”

“The idea of you carrying our baby always fills me with joy.”

-Syzoth will also become more touchy-feely, his hands like to wander…

-Unless you get a crazy mood swing you’ll never doubt his love for you.

Shang Tsung:

-The diva won’t stop being a diva even if now you are pregnant and need his help.

-“Shang Tsung, please can you bring me orange juice.” You sob out, finally giving in into your cravings.

“I also want to conquer the world, but nobody will do it for me.” He replies back, eyes still closed.

-He gives in at the nth sigh. Shang Tsung may not be so unaffected by you.

-He returns soon, a glass filled with orange juice. But he doesn’t sit next to you.

“Anything else before I go back to sleep? You know I don’t like my sleep time being interrupted.”

“No Shang Tung, thank you.”

-He sighs and lies down, you soon follow him.

-“You don’t love me anymore, right?”

A heavy breath leaves his nose.

Damn you.

-“Are you trying to make me laugh? We both know who is the good liar here.”

“That’s why you may not love me. You lied the entire time!”

-Shang Tsung isn’t ready for this conversation.

-His lips end on yours, tongue intruding into your mouth, a moan escapes your throat.

-You may not trust his words, but Shang Tsung hopes he’ll fuck you good enough that his emotions will be understandable through your thick skull.

Bonus:

Tell us about the manwha!

[jeeaark]

Shirtless Disaster Pt2.

looklooklook Maybe every other Tav's Emperor was 100% prepared for that interaction, very knew-what-they-were-doing, very committed, SO VERY BOLD OF THEM

But Greygold's Emperor.....was not!

After witnessing with my own eyes that is shirtless squid buddy, I realized something. Squid buddy is a godsdamned silly goose trying to be too cool for school.

I just....I would reaaallly like to know the emperor's thought process for how they concluded that sitting next to your sleeping crush shirtless is a viable strategy for starting a conversation

NO REALLY- WHY IS THERE NO 'WHY ARE YOU SHIRTLESS' DIALOGUE CHOICE. WHY??????? The entire time the Emperor, with their squid tiddies out on full display, was casually talking, that question was the only thought running through my head. GIVE ME THE DIALOGUE OPTION, GAME, GIVE ME.

Such a silly moment. In conclusion. I had to make it more silly.

OKAY BUT ALSO, BEFORE ANYONE TAKES HUNGRY SQUID TOO SERIOUSLY. There's a book in the game. talks about tadpoles smelling like garlic after eating brains. and. Emps. smelled like garlic. so. and if you knock out the guards instead of kill, they disappear, SO. And Orpheus' brain is edible in here SO. so. why not a lil. why not a lil snackaroos. It was a funny thought to implement.

[fritterbat]

Y'all seemed to be enthusiastic about my Tav when I posted art of her smooching Gale so I thought I'd share my full character design for her too! (I changed her color scheme since that previous art anyway) Here's my problematic weirdo squid girl, illithid Tavs forever 🦑

She actually neither went through ceremorphosis nor romanced Gale in-game, those are both part of my post-game storyline haha... she missed her half-illithid powers so much that after tying up some loose ends back home in Menzoberranzan and being accepted to join the Society of Brilliance, she asked the Emperor to tadpole her again so she could become a mind flayer. Her current project is working with Omeluum to create a substitute food source for illithids so they don't have to consume brains.

few more pics of her and some further nattering under the cut ->

here's what she looks like without clothes (that sounds so spicy. it's a mind flayer it's got no visible bits) and what she looked like in-game! I always used the Bloody Plum dye for her clothing while I was playing, but somehow landed on dark teals instead for her future self

Vennet's my first Tav and I played the game mostly blind so I didn't know what her arc would be going in, but I've developed her a lot over time. I had originally meant to romance Astarion but she ended up being... not the right person for him, and I had to break off their relationship bc I couldn't imagine it being anything other than a toxic disaster LOL, but at that point I was too far in the game to start anything with anybody else and she'd already rejected Gale's love confession...!

so I just ended the game with No Bosom Companion 😔 but as I was later thinking about my future storyline for her and decided she becomes a mind flayer after all, I suddenly realized that she'd be perfect for Gale. So she falls in love with him post-game (and post-tentacles!) and they have got some Issues to work through but eventually it's cute :3 (I'm maybe trying to write a fanfic about their romance, watch this space 👀)

[blessedbucky]

we tried the world, good god, it wasn't for us! (part 4.2)

pairing: autistic!satoru x suguru x autistic!reader

word count: 12k (oh hey look this one is actually shorter than the last)

summary: that second year of high school has a clear division within your mind—before summer and after. this is the after.

tags: autistic!reader, autistic!satoru, bisexual!reader, bisexual!suguru, continuing the existential crisis of realizing a bunch of old dudes poorly control the future of your teenage life, hidden inventory angst, mayhaps some poor coping mechanisms, maybe some codependency

beautiful people who asked to be tagged 💕: @ichikanu, @iceheartsice, @anders-is-being-a-simp-again, @honeydew-cheesecake

author note: HIDDEN INVENTORY TIME! also, putting on full blast a couple of common things with autism—strong sense of justice and a love of routines! the next year will most likely be split up again because i have so many plans and most of them aren't good! we do be talking about JJK here. please like, reblog, and comment! it makes my heart flutter!

chapter links: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR [PART I], AO3

[YEAR TWO.]

[PART II]

At the bottom of the mountain path that leads up to campus, you’re seated on a bench. You were here alone as you waited on the car to pick you up, but Satoru and Suguru showed up. They detail the specifics of the incredibly important mission personally assigned to them by Lord Tengen. The more they reveal to you about this, the more anxious you become, the bigger the cloud of dread over your head grows. Your nervousness is made apparently by the way you nervously spin your cell phone between your fingers.

There’s so much about this that you hate. It’s too big. It truly is the weight of the world on their shoulders—the jujutsu world. It isn’t right that they’re being entrusted with something that could change the course of every sorcerer’s life. Shouldn’t that kind of pressure be left to a more experienced sorcerer? This is the work of adults.

Another thing that’s been bothering you…

“Erase?”

Satoru and Suguru are standing in front of you, most likely too nervous to sit still. You’re glad that they’re not blinded by their ego and seem genuinely troubled. Satoru is nervous, though he’d never admit to such a thing. He rocks on his feet from side to side. Coins jingle as he tosses them up in the air and catches them.

Suguru has his arms crossed over his chest, frowning. “Yes,” he confirms quietly. “When the Star Plasma Vessel fully assimilates with Lord Tengen, there will be nothing left of her.”

“That…” You duck your head to hide the sadness that you know is written all over your face. It doesn’t matter how you feel. You are a sorcerer, and this is no time to be soft. At the cost of one life, Lord Tengen will continue to live, sound of mind, and all the barriers that keep sorcerers safe will remain intact. “That seems cruel,” you blurt.

“So…what do you want us to do?” Satoru suddenly asks.

Your head snaps up, attention back on them, blinking in shock. “Huh?”

Instead of Satoru, it’s Suguru that repeats, “What do you want us to do? That’s why we came to you.”

Your brain stutters over their words, unable to process the things they’re saying to you. You sit there, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “What…what does that even mean?” You press your thumb to the center of your forehead. Stop when you realize you’re copying Suguru. “Why do you want to know my opinion? What does it matter? What I’ve got to say means nothing.”

“What a silly thing to say, Squid,” Suguru scolds. “Your opinion means everything.”

With a little more thought, a little more looking between them and studying them, you finally understand where this is all coming from and where it’s all going. There’s an air about them, more to their nervousness than just stress over the weight on their shoulders. “You want to do something really stupid,” you sigh, “and you want me to give my blessing which also makes me an accomplice.”

“Accomplice is such a dirty word.” Satoru pouts. “Is it illegal to get some advice from our best friend?”

If it was Shoko here, she’d already be walking away. Unfortunately, you care about these assholes. “What stupid thing are you planning to do?”

“Nothing yet,” Satoru answers vaguely.

You ignore him in favor of Suguru. If you need to pout, you will, and he’ll cave because you hardly ever bring it out. “Satoru is right, technically. The decision won’t be up to us. Satoru just asked a logical question—what if the Star Plasma Vessel doesn’t go through with the assimilation?”

“You know what would happen,” you point out flatly.

Satoru pipes up with, “We don’t know that for sure!” You stare at him, deadpan. He gets all huffy because you didn’t just simply accept that. “Look, the world always has a way of balancing itself out. If this person doesn’t want to assimilate with Tengen, then someone else will eventually come along that does want to. Tengen will be fine.”

“Let’s say this girl doesn’t want to go through with the assimilation, what will you do then? Are you going to protect her for the rest of her life? They’ll send every sorcerer after her. You might even have to fight Lord Tengen himself. They’ll label you as curse users—”

“Will they?” The ego is back in play because Satoru declares, “We’re the strongest.”

Suguru tries to soften the severity of this stupid plan by explaining, “We’re too valuable as sorcerers. We’d be severely punished, maybe, but I doubt it. The girl has a caretaker with her, so we can cover them while they make themselves disappear.”

You throw up your arms in frustration. “Why did you even ask me, then? You’ve clearly made up your minds!”

“Yeah, okay, you’re right,” Satoru admits while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Believe it or not, we’ve actually thought about this more than you think we have,” Suguru tells you. “Everything you said is true. We know there’s a possibility that they do actually banish us and declare us as curse users. There’s a chance that we won’t come back—”

“But we don’t want to lose you!” Satoru interrupts. He’s a little too enthusiastic about this prospect because he goes on to excitedly ask, “If we leave, will you run away with us?”

The answer is out of your mouth before you can even give it a second thought. “You know I will.”

There’s a little part of your brain that reasons you should’ve taken more time to think about this, but the bigger part of your brain knows that the answer wouldn’t change. Somehow, that was the easiest yet most difficult answer in the world. No matter which option you chose, there would be a huge shift in your life, so it boils down to what would be easier to accept. If you were to stay behind like a good sorcerer, you would have to find a way to live normally without two of the most important people in your life and that…

The thought of not having Suguru or Satoru in your life is so terrifying that it makes you physically ill.

You’ve started to spiral. It’s not until a hand comes in view and yanks on the string of your hooded sweatshirt that you’re pulled out of your darkening thoughts. When you tilt your head up, Satoru is towering above you, smiling with such a genuineness that it makes your heart hurt.

“Don’t worry. It’ll all work out,” Satoru tries to assure you.

Your voice is weak, shaky. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

It’s either to make you feel better or lighten your mood, but Satoru holds out a crooked pinky. You lock it with your own. Then, to be cheeky, he extends his other pinky to Suguru. “A pinky promise? That’s childish, even for you, Satoru.” But Suguru takes it. And maybe you’re taking this a little too seriously, but you also offer your other hand to Suguru. His expression softens before he’s taking it.

In the end, the three of you are making a promise to each other.

“See?” Satoru grins. “It’s a super promise.”

“Okay,” you accept quietly. “Be safe, then. I’ll see you in a few days.”

***

Gojo Satoru is…

…was a fucking liar.

***

Just as you’ve coaxed the cursed spirit into exorcising itself, Kusakabe’s cell phone rings. He’s been off to the side, insistent to see your cursed technique for himself. Remembering that Sensei said Kusakabe could potentially be the person to vouch for you to become Grade 1, you bowed and did as he asked.

Anyway, the call.

As you approach him, you see him rush through many emotions at once—panic, anger, relief, and resignation. When his gaze darts over to you, he looks at you with a sympathy that makes your stomach start twisting into knots. On instinct, you pull your phone out to check for any texts, but there’s been nothing since Suguru said that he was on a plane back to Tokyo with the Star Plasma Vessel.

Kusakabe calls out your name, gesturing for you to pick up the pace. When you stand across from him, you shift nervously, clutching tightly at your sketchbook. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry,” Kusakabe starts with a soft apology. He takes a step toward you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “There’s been an incident at the school…” You wait on the news with bated breath. It’s bad. It has to be bad, your brain reasons, because you’ve learned Kusakabe is a naturally reserved person. He doesn’t seem like the type to show sympathy so easily unless it’s really, really bad.

“Gojo Satoru is dead.”

The sketchbook lands in the puddle at your feet as you drop everything and run.

You never leave Suguru’s side.

Apparently, he was found outside the Tombs of the Star Corridor—the place Lord Tengen lives. The wounds went deep, needed to be stitched. The medical staff at the infirmary said it was a shock that he hadn’t bled out.

When Shoko returns from Kyoto and clears the medical staff out, she curses their shoddy stitch work. That irritation is turned on you because you refuse to let go of his hand and she snaps at you, but you won’t budge. She harshly tells you to make yourself useful, so you help her remove the top half of his gown. Tears prick the corners of your eyes, and you have to quickly look away when the red, jagged slices across his chest are revealed to you both.

“That’s going to scar,” Shoko mumbles as she glides her hands over his chest. You’re so close that you’re in her crossfire and the aches and exhaustion from keeping vigil fade away. “Where is…” Her hands, glowing white with her technique, clench. “Did they say where they put him?”

It takes you a few minutes of swallowing down grief before you answer, “They said his body is missing.”

“Yeah,” she agrees hoarsely. “Yeah, that makes sense. That idiot always bragged about the bounties on his head.”

“Or…or maybe…maybe he’s…”

Shoko knows what you’re going to say before you even say it. “I walked past where it happened,” she explains lowly. “Duck, I’m sorry, but there’s no way he came out of that alive.” She powers down her technique. You assume there wasn’t that much damage and he’s been unconscious so long because of some painkillers the medical staff gave him. “They found the Star Plasma Vessel’s caretaker. I’m going to examine her body. See if there are any clues that can lead us to whoever has his body.”

You know you’re in denial. Logically, if he was alive, he would be here, in the infirmary. But…you can’t accept it. You just can’t. “I’m going to find him,” you swear.

“What are you going to do against someone that killed Gojo Satoru?”

You remember the finger of Ryomen Sukuna. The cursed energy that touched you. “I’ll make him tear his own heart out,” you say furiously.

“You’ll give yourself an aneurysm, if you could do it at all.” Shoko puts her hand on the top of your head. “Don’t make us lose another friend today.” You cover your mouth to muffle a sob. She reels you in, so your face is squished against her chest. “There was nothing we could do. We have to accept that.” She bends over and presses a kiss to the top of your head. “This is our life now. It’s what we chose when we became sorcerers.”

But why does it have to be like this?

It doesn’t take much longer before Suguru is waking up.

You have to help him when he tries to sit up and sways too much to the side. The drugs are still lingering in his system, so you nervously watch as he blinks slowly and tries to process. You don’t want to overwhelm him, but you also want to comfort him, so you compromise by reaching out to take his hand and squeeze tight. That simple gesture holds his attention. There’s something about it…or maybe he’s remembering everything that happened before…

Suguru’s expression doesn’t change, but tears begin to trickle down his cheeks.

You practically drag him forward by the front of his hospital gown, desperate to get your arms around him. “I’m here,” you promise as your own tears begin to fall again. “Suguru, I’m here.” His arms lock around your waist. His quiet, hitching breaths are in your ear, and his shoulders are subtly shaking under your arms.

“I failed, Squid,” he chokes out.

It never should’ve been put on you, you want to say but what point is there in that anymore? It doesn’t change the fact that it happened and Suguru was the only one left behind. We can’t save everyone. Empty words. Strength has cushioned you all from the realities of sorcery. Suguru has been told that he’s the strongest practically since you two came to Tokyo. He’s not supposed to lose.

Satoru wasn’t supposed to die.

“I’m here,” you repeat because it’s the only thing that you can think to say.

Now that he’s completely healed and the painkillers have worn off, there’s no more reason to keep Suguru in the infirmary. And when no one is around, he admits that he wants to be left alone in his room. You can tell yourself that you’re terrified to leave him by himself, but, deep down, you know it’s that you’re scared he’ll disappear if you don’t stay with him. This is all somehow so surreal yet so viscerally true. Simultaneously dream-like and so real. Like a child, you want to cling to him. Have you not lost enough already?

The two of you walk out of the infirmary, hand-in-hand. At the sight of Sensei waiting, you puff up like a street cat. You sidestep and put yourself in front of Suguru, flashing your metaphorical teeth and hissing. “Get out of the way.”

Suguru and Sensei both sigh your name. You don’t back down. Just square your chin. “The campus is still covered in fly heads.”

“Go exorcise them, then. You can make more cursed corpses.”

“I’m not here to ask Suguru to handle it,” Sensei gently corrects your assumption. “I agree with you. Suguru should rest.”

You relax a little. “Oh.”

“It would be easier if you can exorcise them all at once.” Sensei frowns. “Or make them disperse, at least. They can exit the barrier. If they make it off the mountain, into the city, they won’t cause too many problems for non-sorcerers.”

You angle your body toward Suguru, glancing up at him with furrowed brows. “Will you wait for me?”

“I’ll leave the door unlocked,” he whispers.

It’s not what you wanted to hear, but you can’t push him. You wordlessly nod, squeeze his hand, and then he’s walking away, headed toward the dorms. You watch him until he’s completely out of sight, immediately twitchy and nervous when you can’t see him anymore. Desperate to be beside him again, your cursed energy flares up.

“Not here,” Sensei says when he feels you gearing up. “You won’t reach them from here. They’re mostly centralized in one area.” He takes a deep breath. “You need to prepare yourself. They haven’t cleaned up yet.”

Cleaned…?

Oh.

It’s where Satoru was…

For a moment, you doubt that you can ever prepare yourself for something like this. You’re no stranger to gore, though, you remind yourself. You’re a sorcerer. You’ve seen the result of a curse’s rampage. But…those people weren’t your best friend, as cold as it is to think.

The only thing that pushes you forward is realizing that if it isn’t you, it’ll be Suguru.

There’s no way he came out of that alive, Shoko had told you.

You understand now, what she meant.

There’s a small crater that hints to the force that he was thrown down with. Hit with. You don’t know. No, it must’ve been some weapon because…the blood. The blood. There’s so much. It’s splattered everywhere across the concrete. The man that killed Satoru hated him. Loathed him. This wasn’t a clean and professional kill like with the Star Plasma Vessel and her caretaker who were taken down with neat shots to the head.

The monster that did this didn’t even hesitate when he confronted children. Because that’s what you all are, in the end. Children with too much power at your fingertips being guided by old men too scared to get their own hands dirty and all too happy to let the new generations die on their behalf.

And this is already so horrifying as is, but the assassin had to defile these corpses, too.

He wouldn’t even let Satoru have a proper burial.

I just want to find him.

You hunch in on yourself, fists curling, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. The shattered pieces of your heart scream that one demand—I want to find him, I want to find him, I just want to fucking find him and bring him home. You know it will never be. This world is not kind. But, nonetheless, someone answers your call. Multiple someone’s, actually.

Around you, the fly heads have frozen in place. They float listlessly, even their buzzing quieted, waiting with anticipation for a command that you didn’t recognize you were preparing to make. The command that you should make, the one for them to exorcise themselves, is on the top of your tongue. What use can the fly heads be? From what you were told, the attacker left no residuals behind. The residuals left behind by Satoru and Suguru would be too faint…

…they would be too faint for a sorcerer to track. A cursed spirit is different. Their senses are different. They’re sharper and more attuned to cursed energy because it is both their life force given by non-sorcerers and a threat when wielded by sorcerers. Weaker spirits are constantly on the hunt for more cursed energy to gain power.

You could command them to search for Satoru’s residuals, but your influence over them will wane with distance until they’ve forgotten the order completely.

Unless…

Unless you can influence a spirit that you know is bound to another.

Die, you demand of the fly heads.

Slowly, they all start to expand around you until they explode with a loud pop. You don’t stick around any longer to make sure they’re all gone. Sensei can take care of that. Just like he can handle the few fly heads that have spread around campus. You’re too busy planning now.

For the rest of the afternoon and the whole night through, Suguru doesn’t speak, and you don’t make him. He really only moves when you do because when you crawled into bed with him, he’d manhandled you until he could curl around you and place his head above the beat of your heart. You don’t ask him about it. You understand the reason that he clings to you. It’s why you can’t stop running your fingers through his hair, can’t stop touching him. You don’t want him to slip away.

Around three in the morning, Shoko texts you. She’s done with her autopsy. Eavesdropping, too. There are no clues. She’s overheard Sensei on his cell phone with higher-ups and they have no idea where to start because so many people have put bounties on his head over the years. They’re also scrambling to figure out how to break the news to Lord Tengen that there will be no merger. You tell her that she’s done enough and to try and get some sleep.  

After you snap your phone shut and drop it on the bed, Suguru immediately picks it up. Your fingers itch to stop him from reading the texts, but that’s not your place. From your position above him, you watch his eyes carefully scan over the text, face unmoving.

The room is bathed in darkness once again when he snaps it shut. You think that’s the end of that, but he whispers, “I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t, either,” you confess as quietly. Even seeing all that blood…this is being in denial. Is that what’s going on? You’ve never had a loss like this ever before. You don’t know what to do with yourself. No. That’s a lie. You know what you want to do. “It’s not fair. That they took him, I mean.”

“I’m going to look for him,” Suguru announces. “I…just wanted this one last night with you.”

You tug at his hair meanly. “I’m going with you.”

“No,” Suguru replies with an air of finality.

“Bullshit,” you snap. You’re not letting this go. “No, you’re not leaving me here like some—”

Suguru suddenly rolls over on top of you, knocking the breath out of you. He lifts up on his hands and knees, shifting up so that his face is hovering directly over yours. With only the glow of the moon, it’s hard to make out the fine details of his face, but you can see the frown, the hard set of his jaw. He snatches your wrists, keeping them pinned up by your head, immobilizing you completely and giving you no option but to look at him.

“He has no cursed energy in exchange for a Heavenly Pact. Do you understand what that means?” Suguru asks harshly. “What are you going to do against that? You’re—” weak. You squeeze your eyes shut, hurt lancing through you. He tries to soften the reality with, “You’re not suited against that type of fighting style. You’re better for support.”

“Let me support you, then!” You dig your nails into whatever skin of his you can touch. “I know I’m weak, but…” Your bottom lip wobbles. Definitely not helping your case. “You couldn’t beat him, either. You…you said that you were split up, so…maybe two is better than one…”

“I’m not losing you. I can’t lose you, Squid. Can’t you understand that?”

“But you want to make me grieve you, too?” You scramble for anything that can make him change his mind. “I doubt we’re going to run into danger, anyway. It’s been so long already that…that he’s probably collected the bounty on both heads.” You lean up to knock your forehead against his. “Please, Suguru.”

“No.”

“You promised! You promised that it’d be me and you!”

As your vision blurs, you can make out Suguru’s expression softening. “Don’t cry, Squid,” he begs. One of his big hands let go of your wrist, cupping your cheek. “Why do you have to make this so much harder on me, huh?” He flops down next to you, carefully guiding you to bury your face in the crook of his neck where you continue to cry. “Okay. Okay, I’ll bring you. At the first sign of danger, you have to run.”

You won’t, but you nod and lie, “Okay.”

Little do you know, you’re not the only one who’s lying.

With the sunlight comes the truth of the matter. You wake up alone, the bed empty, and with a note on the nightstand beside both your cell phone and Suguru’s. I’m sorry, the note reads in his neat handwriting. I’ll be safe, but I’m not risking you. At the very end of the note, there’s a line of text, but you can’t tell what he wrote because it’s so scratched out. The page is nearly ripped on that little section.

You, who planned to lie yourself, have no room to feel so betrayed. Anger, though, you think you’re allowed. Grief crashes over you all over again, too. You chose this life, you know, but shouldn’t children be protected a little longer? It never should’ve come to this. Ten minutes is all you can allow yourself because you don’t know how long Suguru has been gone and you need to find him.

Before you rush out the door, you shoot Shoko a text for when she wakes up, letting her know your plan. You also tell her that if he comes back before you then she needs to punch him in the nose on your behalf.

Late in the afternoon, as the sun is setting, there’s a breakthrough.

By this point, you’re jittery and exhausted. You’ve swallowed down so much coffee to keep yourself going that it’s probably in your veins now, but you’re at the point of exhaustion that it’s just not doing anything anymore. Not only have you been walking around the city on foot, but you’ve been keeping your technique running as you have cursed spirits try to lead you to Satoru’s residuals. With as much cursed energy as he had, it should still be radiating off his body enough for a spirit to pick up. That’s what you’d thought, anyway.

Until every spirit that you pull under your influence just…stops. It’s like there’s some invisible barrier that they simply won’t cross. You step past that point, and they’re compelled to follow you, yes, but they struggle against you. Some of the stronger ones outright free themselves and go running.

Something or someone is scaring them.

The problem is that you don’t know how wide the perimeter is of this barrier, how close or far away that Satoru is. But when a pack of vaguely centipede-shaped curses rush past you, out of the invisible area, you know your solution. Just like in movies where animals are the first to know of a disaster and try to outrun it, curses are acting the same. You will run toward where they are running away. At some point, you’ll have to find epicenter.

As you’re still running, further ahead of you, in the distance, there is an explosion—a bright flash of red light, a boom so loud that it vibrates in your chest, and a shake of the earth that makes you stumble. The non-sorcerers around you do the same, some of them even tripping, but they’re not turning in the direction of the flash. No, between all the chatter, you make out people questioning if it was an earthquake or a terrorist attack.

Non-sorcerers can’t see cursed techniques.

And then there was that red light…

Red.

There is something rising up inside you, something dangerous. Hope. All the blood that stained the concrete, the horror that Suguru described that you know extended to Satoru even if Suguru didn’t witness it himself…that all flies out of your head. This is the only thing that makes sense, you reason. There’s only one logical conclusion for why cursed spirits would be running away, refusing to pass that point. A dead boy’s residuals wouldn’t scare them like that.

He’s alive, you think. What else could it be? Nothing, your desperate heart reasons. Then, it’s on repeat. He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive—

Not even five minutes pass before, in the middle of your sprinting, there’s yet another explosion. With this one comes a bright purple light and an even bigger explosion. It sends you stumbling, tripping over your feet, and you manage to catch yourself on your hands and knees, but they don’t come out unscathed. They’re busted open, but you ignore that pain. Adrenaline has you up and back to running.

Looming tall, getting closer and closer, is a temple. Gold and white marble. An eyesore that makes your retinas burn. Is this…the headquarters of the Star Religious Group that Suguru had told you about? One of the two organizations that was targeting them on their mission? It must be. Kusakabe said that the other group, Q, was defunct. Satoru and Suguru even sent pictures posing with the leaders that they beat.

The path that leads to the entrance is lined with tall pillars on either side. The further down the path you run, the evidence of a fight becomes more and more abundant. Some of the pillars are totally crushed, others chopped in half, rubble everywhere, and practically stinking of Satoru’s cursed energy.

Why…why does it feel so different? Are you…you’re not imagining that, are you? For someone that should be on the verge of death, it’s so strong. Stronger than it’s ever been before. The weight of it is almost oppressive. Familiar, but…sharper. You’ve unthinkingly slowed to a stop. Too stuck in thought to move, maybe, or…too scared. It’s as if the connection with the cursed spirits is lingering and their terror is bleeding over to you. Weak and feeble prey against a predator so unimaginable.

This can’t be your Satoru, can it?

“Sketch.”

And the last year and a half of memories comes crashing down on your head when you hear the sound of his voice, suffocating the noise of your panicked hindbrain. When you raise your head, unaware that you’d ducked it down to stare at nothing, he is standing there. A few meters away from you. His blazer is torn open, white button-up underneath it stained with blood, the same as a section of hair covering his forehead. It’s a horrifying miracle…but a miracle, nonetheless.

“Sa—” your mouth snaps shut because your throat clogged with emotion. You don’t know what the fuck you’d say, so you just don’t bother with it. You shut the hell up and run. Tears are blurring your vision, you’re more out of breath than you were getting here because the sobs are bubbling up in your chest, but you don’t stop. You can’t. Not until you know that he is solid and real and alive.

It’s when you throw yourself right at him, arms locking around his neck, that the dam of emotion inside breaks. Before you know it, you’re sobbing. “Satoru!” You’re being rough with him. Clinging too tight. One of your hands is grasping tightly the hair at the nape of his neck and the other fisting the fabric of his blazer. “Satoru!”

Satoru mumbles your name, shoulders slumping under your grasp. “Oh.” His voice cracks a little. Then, he’s giving you a hug of his own, hands splayed across your back. “Oh,” he repeats, almost dazedly. “It all still feels so, so amazing, Sketch.” You try to lean back, but he smushes his cheek against yours, sighing in something you’d think is pleasure. “I want to keep feeling this way forever…with you, Sketch.”

“Satoru—”

The breath catches in your throat when you can lean back enough to catch his gaze with your own. How did you not see these eyes before? Something has changed. Infinity isn’t active, but they’re still glowing bright. Sparkling like the sun glinting off the clearest ocean waters. These eyes are beautiful, entrancing, and…almost inhuman. His world has shifted. He has stepped up on another level. He—

Satoru is kissing you.

You’d been so stunned that you didn’t pay attention to his face inching closer to yours until you feel the warmth of his breath against your mouth. It’s a soft touch of his lips against yours. You could…you should…stop this. You need to…to…check on him. But…oh. Oh, he cups your cheek, hand so big and so, so warm. His hand is at the small of your back now, a gesture that sends pleasure up your spine.

It’s a clumsy kiss, maybe. You’re not sure what to do with your mouth and your noses bump against each other. Then, he tilts his head to the side a bit and it falls into place like two puzzle pieces coming together. Your eyes flutter shut and instead of pushing him away, you’re tugging him closer by the lapels of his blazer.

Heat explodes across your body when he takes it a step further, tongue gliding across the seam of your lips. You’re not sure if he’s aware of it or not, but it’s a dirty move when he cups your cheeks with both his hands. He tries to pull you closer, like he can’t get enough of this. Of you. And that’s…that fucks with a person’s brain. You’ve been swept up in his whirlwind, so you go with it. Your mouth opens and he’s licking into your mouth. You always thought it’d feel gross, but it’s just…hot. The smacking of your lips, the small noise of pleasure he gives…

Satoru pulls himself away from you, the both of you panting harshly. “I…” He licks his lips. “I am super high right now.”

“High,” you repeat hoarsely without much thought to it. You’re dazed and he’s pinning you down with those eyes again. It takes you a good minute to comprehend what he said. When it hits, your body jerks. “High?”

Instead of doing something like elaborating, his brows furrow, and he turns to look over his shoulder at the temple. “Hey, I need to get Amanai’s body. You might wanna leave.” He faces you again, looking like he’s trying to gather his all thoughts. “I blew a hole in that Zen’in guy with Purple. And…I kind of want to slaughter all those people in there. I can see them in this big meeting room, clapping because she’s dead now. I don’t want you seeing that.”

Don’t do that, you should say.

But how can you find mercy in your heart for people who celebrate the death of a child? Who paid a man to swoop in and shatter your life? Those aren’t good people. They’re not innocent. Shouldn’t they be punished in some way?

“Be safe,” you say instead.

Satoru doesn’t kill them.

Not soon after Satoru left you had called Sensei to tell him that Satoru was alive and found the Star Plasma Vessel’s body. And almost as soon as you hang up the phone after Sensei assures you that Shoko and the cleanup crew will be there shortly, Suguru shows up.

When they walk out of the temple, Suguru comes back to meet you while Satoru goes on ahead to hand over the body to those that will make sure she’s treated with respect. Suguru doesn’t look at you when he tells you that he talked Satoru down from killing them all.

“There would be no meaning it in.”

It’s clear that Suguru is troubled, trying to justify that to himself. While you don’t really believe him…well, no. It’s more that you simply don’t care if there’s meaning.

“You’re right,” you lie as a comfort and reach out to thread your fingers through his.

***

For four days after they come home, you never see them.

Suguru is still texting you—somewhat, anyway, since he’s more focused on taking care of Satoru who hadn’t been able to sleep for three days straight. Still high on…something. You and Suguru were trying to speculate what put him in such a state since there was no point in asking a practically incoherent Satoru. He died, Suguru told you in the middle of night two. I think, he then followed up with. The Six Eyes are fully realized. All the pieces fell in place.

He’s high on the power, you think you summarize correctly.

Suguru thinks that Satoru is finally leveling out when he sleeps for twenty-four hours straight.

You’re the first person to know that he’s awake when you’re walking across campus, planning on a late night konbini run because you can’t sleep, and almost get smacked in the head by a floating wallet. You duck it, but a rock gets tangled in your hair. There’s a bunch of rocks and some empty soda bottles, looking like one of those asteroid fields that you see in space movies.

“Oops,” a familiar voice calls out. “My bad, Sketch.”

“Satoru?” You fully expect him to be there behind you, but when you turn around, there’s nothing. You look off to either side of you, too. Nothing. “Where—” wait. Did it sound like he was speaking above you? You tilt your head up and, yeah, you definitely forgot that Satoru could float even before…everything.

Satoru is cross-legged, floating there in the air. All the debris surrounds him now as if they were planets in his orbit. Your brows furrow. “Why does it feel like you’re showing off?”

“I’m not!” Satoru protests with a pout.

“It just…feels different,” you mumble while trying to figure out what exactly is giving you that idea. This isn’t totally out of the ordinary for him. He was blocking massive chunks of destroyed buildings and tearing apart houses before. “Oh. Your output is so low now.”

“Bingo!”

There was a little delay, but your brain finally catches up. “You’re awake! What are you doing out here? You should’ve gone to see Shoko as soon as you were up!”

Satoru waves the concern off. “I’m running Reverse Curse Technique now. I’m good.”

“You…what?” Logically, that makes the most sense. Despite all the blood, you hadn’t seen a mark on Satoru that day at the temple.

“Yeah! Who knew that getting stabbed in the neck is what it’d take for me to figure out Reverse Curse Technique, huh? Never let Shoko become a teacher. She can’t explain things for shit.”

Avoiding overwhelming emotions isn’t a new concept for you. You’re notorious for it. That doesn’t mean you can’t feel the emotions for Satoru, though. Stabbed in the neck—you didn’t think it was possible for your heart to crack more than it already has.

“Come down here so I can hug you,” you choke out.

Satoru blinks, looking almost baffled by your turn of emotion. Does he really not know how fucked up that is? Can he not understand why you’d be upset? How terrified he must’ve been, you think as you reach out for him when he slowly lowers back to the ground. Sure, he beat Death, but that doesn’t make the sight any less horrifying.

“You gotta stop being such a crybaby or I’m gonna have to give you a new nickname,” he muses when you get your arms around him. His arms slip around your shoulders, crushing you against his chest. “I’m okay, Sketch. Alive and kicking. Got some badass scars and, as the geezers in my clan would say, my Six Eyes are fully realized.”

Be serious about this, you want to demand of him, but who are you to do that? “Don’t make fun of me for worrying about you.”

“Suguru is already doing enough of it, y’know,” Satoru remarks softly. “Go worry about him.”

“I can worry about you both, thanks.”

“You’re cute, Sketch.”

The memory of his mouth against yours makes itself painfully known. Back of your neck prickling with heat, you try to bury your face further against his chest, not wanting him to see whatever might be on your face. In the silence between you two, your mind runs through so many questions. Does he remember? Why in the world did he do that? If it’d been Suguru there instead, would Satoru have kissed him instead? Should you even ask about it? What would you say if you did? Do you even know enough about how you feel for him to have that talk?

Satoru demands to escort you to the konbini when you tell him what has you out so late. He’s almost aggressive when he takes your hand in his and starts tugging you forward again, listing off all the snacks that he wants to buy. At the bottom of the mountain, finally out on the street, you notice that he still hasn’t let go of your hand, so you stop him. You’re fully prepared to talk about it. Okay, you’re not, but you feel like you need to talk about it.

But then, under the glow of a streetlamp, you catch the glint of that scar at the base of his throat.

You’ll bring up the kiss some other time.

***

“What?”

For once, Sensei doesn’t look you in the eye. “You heard me.”

“Did I? Because it sounds like you told me that some old man is here to force Satoru and Suguru out on solo missions—”

He pinches the bridge of his nose and breathes out your name. “It’s just to ease them back out in the field—”

“Stop lying!” Sensei’s mouth snaps shut at the sound of your echoing shout. “I’m not dumb! These are assignments that only they can do as Special Grades. The higher-ups wouldn’t bother with wasting them on something the rest of us grunts can do, would they?”

“Please. Calm down—”

“It hasn’t even been three weeks!”

Sensei calls in backup. Looking over your shoulder, expression pinched in discomfort, he begs by way of order, “Nanami, Haibara, let’s end class early. Can you take her back to the girls’ dorm—”

There have been only a few times that you’ve ever been so furious in your life and, not-so-shockingly, they all had to do with Suguru. When you were both eight, inseparable, Suguru had finally confessed where his bruises truly came from. You learned that the lack of food wasn’t from poverty or neglect, but maliciousness. The bruises weren’t from scraps with spirits that he was trying to tame.

You’d been downright distraught. You hadn’t let him leave your house for as long as you could. Begging your parents to let him live with you, offering your plate up if there wasn’t enough food in the house for four people. When Suguru wasn’t in the room, you told them what he said, insistent on your parents calling the police for help because you knew they were supposed to help with bad people and what else were Suguru’s parents?

The first few times, your parents lied and said that they’d handle it. After a year of nothing happening, you’d gone to a teacher instead because your parents outright told you that how Suguru’s parents disciplined him wasn’t their business. Suguru was out for about a week, and you hadn’t been allowed over. When he came back to school, arm in a cast, he told you about a person visiting, and how furious it’d made his parents when that lady left.

Finally, you learned a cruel lesson—that trying to help would only punish Suguru.

Maybe that’s something you should remember right now, but…you’re blinded by that same sense of justice that you’d had as an eight-year-old girl. You have a voice here. You’ll scream until your throat bleeds. If they want sacrifices, you’ll offer yourself up in place of Suguru and Satoru. Just to let them have peace a little while longer.

“Senpai?” Haibara hesitantly touches your shoulder.

Nanami and Haibara, smartly, move out of your way when you whirl around and storm out of the classroom. You’re not sure how much time you have left, but you need to ditch your escorts, so you go back to the dorms like Sensei requested, fuming the entire time. You don’t speak a word to your juniors, scared that you’ll snap at them unnecessarily. They’re just following orders, same as every other fucking sorcerer.

As soon as you’re inside your room, you’re immediately sneaking out the window, and pinpointing Satoru and Suguru’s cursed energies. They’re at the entrance’s torii gate, getting lectured by some withered husk. Satoru, as always, looks disinterested, but Suguru…

Suguru looks tired.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The old man slowly turns around to face you, eyes narrowed. “Who do you think you’re talking to like that?” For someone that’s hunched over and clutches to his cane with a trembling hand, he sure does have his nose stuck up pretty high in the air. “Ah, I know you.” He says your name. “Mind your tongue, girl. You’ll ruin your chances at success with this type of behavior.”

“They almost died and you’re throwing them back out in the field this soon?”

He scoffs. “Is that what this is about? I’ve spoken with Yaga. They’ve been healed.”

“Are you stupid?” If he can’t scrounge up an emotion in his black heart, you’ll appeal to logic. “Do you not understand that if you don’t give them proper rest and run them ragged then they’re more likely to make mistakes and die? Let someone else handle whatever you want them to do.”

“Who? Like you? Stop acting like a child. You may be a sorcerer, but don’t think you could be of any use other than collecting information. You’re weak.” You hate this man, but you hate that he’s right even more. Is running your mouth really the only thing that you can do? “Know your place.”  

Behind the old man, Suguru and Satoru puff up.

Something ugly is festering inside you as you watch him walk away. You’re not sure that you’ve ever felt so much hatred toward another person. How can such weak people have all this power? What more can you compare them to other than an invasive parasite—hiding themselves away as their host supports them and weakens itself until there’s nothing left and then they’re on to the next pray. That’s how they rose so high. Everyone else threw themselves on the sword until only these cowards remained. It isn’t fair that you’re forced to bow down to them.

You should worship us, you think viciously. Rage is making your body go haywire. You’re trembling all over, fists clenched so tightly that your nails are digging into your skin causing sticky, wet blood to slip through your fingers. Prostrate yourself before us, you wish you could scream at him. How much blood have they spilt with their callous and cruel demands? You can’t even begin to imagine, but you smell it. You taste it. You can’t even register that something is slipping from your nose, over the bow of your lips. Your eyes are losing focus, your ears are ringing, and you’re shocked that you can focus enough to think anymore with how agonizing this headache is.

Prostrate yourself.

A lot happens all at once. Just as someone snatches your upper arm, the higher-up goes down with a crack. An actual crack of a bone. He twists himself awkwardly as he’s going down, ending up spread eagle on the ground right in front of your feet. He turns his head to the side, forehead coated with blood from getting busted open on the concrete. He clutches at his hip, trying to move, but failing every single time.

Then, you’re gone.

Feeling like your stomach drops out under you, along with your feet, you’re warped to a completely different part of campus by Satoru’s hold on your arm. All at once, the world comes rushing back in, and you’re suddenly aware of your body. You collapse to your hands and knees, watching as drops of blood plop on the blades of grass beneath your face. Even this much, holding yourself up by your shaking arms, is hard.

Just being conscious is hard, apparently, because you wobble before you’re crashing on the ground and passing out.

“You were right to bring me to her first. Fuck. She had a brain bleed. What the fuck happened?”

Shoko’s raised voice might be what pulls you back to consciousness. Or the fact that you’re clearly healed now. The only remnant that there had been something wrong is the flaking blood on your face, sensitivity to light, and the lingering exhaustion because she can’t fully replenish cursed energy.

The lack of noise has you turning your head to the side. Shoko, Satoru, and Suguru—all in a circle—have turned to stare down at you. There are varying degrees of concern on their faces, but Shoko is the only one that’s also furious. She points an accusatory finger at you. “You’re going to tell me what you did later, Duck. Do you understand me? Right now, I have to go heal some old geezer’s broken hip.”

Ah. You’d been right, then. A bone had broken.

You broke that bone.

Because you…

In the heat of that moment, you weren’t comprehending what was going on. What you were doing. But you know now. And the implications of it terrify you. What’s even worse is that you weren’t even consciously thinking about doing it. It just happened, so what if it happens again by accident? What if one of those things thought in the heat of the moment that you’d never say out loud comes true?

You didn’t want this. Not this. You never asked for it. This is too much power for one person. How do you shoulder the weight of something like this? You can’t. You don’t have it in you. You’ll hurt someone, you know it, and it’ll be someone that you love, and when it happens—

“Squid.”

Suguru’s hands appear in your blurry line of vision. They’re meant to be a silent question, to ask if you’re okay to be touched right now. You answer by grabbing his wrists and yanking them down to your cheeks. You don’t know what possesses you to do it. Maybe it’s to pull him in closer because seeing his softening expression makes you feel less overwhelmed. They understand better than anyone, after all, that power is a burden.

It’s not a full breakdown. More a moment of overwhelming pressure and guilt. Suguru and Satoru, both now sitting down next to you in the grass, don’t say anything until you calm down. When you’re just sniffling, Suguru’s thumb that’s been stroking your cheek stills. “What happened, Squid?”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Satoru speaks up. “Your persuasion isn’t only limited to cursed spirits anymore. It’s anything with cursed energy, isn’t it?” You nod, mouth twisted with misery. “We really need to come up with a name for your technique.”

“Not the time, Satoru,” Suguru sighs. He brushes away some hair that’s plastered across your forehead. “You don’t seem as surprised by this as I think you should be.”

“Shoko put the idea in my head at the start of the term,” you mumble. “I told her about that mission with you—the one where I caught your cursed spirit and that other sorcerer’s shikigami. I could maybe understand why yours was affected because the spirits have different cursed energy than yours, but…the shikigami is a manifestation of a sorcerer’s energy. Shoko took it to its next logical step. I didn’t want to believe her.”

“It was so weird.” Satoru is tapping his bottom lip, thoughtful. “It was like your cursed energy was infecting that geezer. It was only a second, but I guess whenever you gave your command, I swear that it was like there were two of you. It was seriously trippy.”

“And then you gave yourself a brain bleed. Do you know how lucky you were that Shoko was on campus?” Suguru presses his palm against your forehead, and you look back up at him. The corners of his eyes are tight with worry. “Promise me you won’t do that again.”

“I didn’t mean to do it,” you purposely deflect. Does this power scare you? Yes. Would you use it again if it meant keeping the people you love safe in both body and mind? Another yes. “I’m just…worried about you both.”

“Squid, you can’t keep us here forever. I know you’re worried, but—” he fumbles. Briefly, his gaze darkens, but that emotion quickly passes. “We’re the strongest. We can take care of ourselves.”

“It’s not about whether you can do it or not,” you whisper. “It’s about rest. You almost died. You…you lost. And…that leaves wounds that Shoko can’t heal. Why can’t you have more time? Why does it have to be you?”

“The world has to keep spinning, Sketch.”

Yes, the world is cruel like that, isn’t it?

***

The start of middle school had felt like a month-long blowout in your household.

About two weeks in, while you were curled up under the blankets with a hot water bag pressed against your pelvis, grandparents that you rarely saw had come to visit from the village over. It’d felt like such an invasion of privacy when your both your mother and grandmother presented a bowl of red rice and congratulations on becoming a woman that you’d snapped. Why celebrate such a stupid thing? You’d ranted and raved. It’s what the body does. Why make a big deal? Do you do this with boys when they get their first erection? And all hell had broken loose.

Your father had outright smacked you in the mouth for speaking so crudely and disrespectfully to his mother. After an hour or so of being banished to your room, your frazzled mother and shrewd grandmother had come to interrogate you on how you knew about such a thing—the thing being erections. You’d told them because you saw nothing wrong with the truth. You hadn’t known it then, but Suguru had started puberty a few months before you. He’d told you about the exhausting and awkward conversation his father had been forced to give him.

By the end of the weekend, you’d been ready to choke your grandmother. The way she hovered over your mother, stirring up shit by whispering in your mother’s ear. The worst offense, in your opinion, had been how they turned Suguru away at the door every single day. You couldn’t sneak out because your grandmother slept in your room at night while days were spent going over what boiled down to glorified etiquette classes. Ladies don’t talk about crude things which included basic bodily functions, ladies don’t sleep with men unless they’re married, ladies are demure yet try to make friends with their peers, ladies this, ladies that, and on and on it went.

And you’d overheard conversations at school, knew that most of your classmates hated it as much as you did when their grandparents visited, so you’d hoped the hell would end when they were gone. It hadn’t. That Monday night, your mother had declared that there would no longer be any sleepovers, and you think that may have been the first ever time you screamed yourself hoarse.

You’ve always been too close to that boy! Your father had been the one to step in, absolutely laying into you. I tolerated it because you needed to have one friend, at least, so we could pretend our daughter is normal, but this is just becoming borderline inappropriate now! You’re lucky that I don’t ban you from seeing him, period! And think of him! Don’t you think that he’s sick of spending so much time with you? He’ll never have any other friends if he’s seen spending so much time with you! Let the boy be a boy, damn it!

That’s when the doubt started, you think.

This fear has always plagued you—the idea that you need Suguru more than he needs you.

Zen’in Toji changes that.

Sometimes, when you’re too stuck in your head, you worry that you’re still acting like a child, tugging at his sleeves, annoyingly demanding his attention. Now, it almost feels like the roles have reversed. Not that you’re annoyed. No, if he tried to hide himself away, you’re pretty sure that you’d be waiting outside his door like a lost puppy begging to come home.

Really, the only difference between now and those childhood days where you two were practically joined at the hip is that Satoru is included.

Now that Satoru and Suguru are on their own, you’ve been unofficially added to Nanami and Haibara’s team. What happened to headquarters wanting you to spy on Suguru, huh? This might be a punishment. You don’t mind it, obviously, because you like to be a good mentor, but it’s not just them that you’re helping. Helping is a loose term, though. You’re almost as busy as Suguru and Satoru are, running to pacify and record spirits for the seasoned sorcerers.  

A thing that you’ve started to learn is that sorcerers are…eccentric. More often than not, they don’t try to make small talk with you which you’re happy for, but it’s still exhausting to be around all these strangers. It seems like you’re always running on empty. It feels like your art is suffering, too, because you can’t find it in yourself to practice in your spare time. You feel as if you always have to be available.

Things might be easier if you had some time alone, but you never are anymore, even when you’re on campus. Would Satoru and Suguru respect your wishes if you asked? Yes. But you never do. You always feel too guilty to ask for such a thing when they’re working so hard all the time. Thankfully, Suguru is fine to sit in silence with you and Satoru can talk and talk without you ever saying a word back.

Things are changing between the three of you—even a person like you who always has things going over her head can see that.

You’re not quite sure when it started but there is always someone in your bed. None of you talk about it, though. If they hadn’t started leaving pieces of themselves behind in your room, you’d wonder if they even knew that the other is with you when they aren’t around. In your need to have things in the correct places, you’ve assigned them spots—Suguru’s cigarettes are tucked in the corner of your nightstand, Satoru’s stash of blueberry sodas is neatly stacked inside your minifridge, Suguru’s spicy ramen is in the cabinet closest to the door and Satoru’s melon bread are next to the ramen.

People talk about walking in the shadows of The Strongest, but…for you, it feels like their shadows are swallowing you whole.

Where do they end and where do you begin?

It’s getting weird inside your head. Not that it hasn’t always been. It’s just…you sometimes feel suffocated. On bad days, you wonder if you’ve started to create a mask for them—something you’ve never felt the need to do, especially with Suguru. And yet, in spite of it all, you’re terrified to push them away, and not because of what happened to them.

Bitterly, you think about that river in your village, and how if you were thrown in it with no way out but forward that you’d let yourself drown in that familiarity rather than face the unknown that awaits on the other side of the river.

You’d scolded Suguru for picking up smoking, but maybe he and Shoko are on to something with it.

The stars have aligned just right so that you, Satoru, and Suguru are all on campus at the exact same time. It’s a bitterly cold December morning and you’re gathered in the smoking area. Sitting next to Suguru on a bench, you eye the cigarette, tempted to try, but decide better of it. You’ll settle for the smoke that curls in the air and clings to his clothes. You tilt to the side, putting your head on his shoulder, and Suguru settles his cheek on the top of your head. Satoru, across from you and munching on pocky, has been watching you two with an eerie intensity.

“You two should come home to Kyoto with me.”

“Meeting the parents already?” The question was intoned by you and Suguru, at the exact same time. You lean away, glancing up at Suguru with the same surprise mirrored on his face, and then the two of you break out in a loud fit of laughter that’s becoming depressingly rare these days.

Satoru stands there, red-faced and fuming. “Sorry for wanting to spend my birthday weekend with you, you assholes!”

After collecting yourself and catching your breath, you ask, “Are we even allowed?”

“Doesn’t matter if you are or not,” he replies with a shrug of the shoulder. “I’m head of the clan, baby. I can do whatever I want, and no one can say a damn thing about it.”

From next to you, Suguru snorts. “Why don’t you just stay here since you obviously don’t want to go, Lord Gojo.”

“Future head of the clan,” Satoru reluctantly grumbles. “I could stay here,” he goes on to defensively. “I’m just being a nice person! The last time I saw my parents was last year when I moved on campus. I’m doing them a favor before I’m eighteen and never looking back.”

“Oh? Are you giving up your position when you graduate? Otherwise, you’ll probably be seeing them to do fancy, important clan stuff,” you tease.

“Screw both of you!” If life were an anime, there would be steam blowing out of his ears right now. “I was even going to let you guys go all out when we get fitted, but now I’m choosing for you, and I’ll put you in the ugliest colors!”

You cock your head to the side. “Fitted?”

“They want traditional clothes for the birthday celebration.”

“How traditional?”

“Ofurisode for you and montsuki for us,” he answers casually.

Oh, no. No, no, no. There have been only a few times where your parents rented a kimono for you, and you hated every single second of it. Granted, you were young, but you remember how much you hated it. “No.” You shake your head. “Absolutely not. I refuse.”

Satoru’s brows furrow. “Eh? Why?”

“What do you mean why? I can’t believe you’re okay with it! You don’t like clothes clinging to you, right?”

“Actually, it’s more like I hate when my clothes get wet. Besides, if something feels like it’s rubbing against me wrong, I can shift Infinity to sit between my skin and the fabric. Anyway, my montsuki are always silk, and I like how that feels.”

Your eye twitches. “Yeah, well, not everyone has Infinity. Do you even know how many pieces there are in an ofurisode? It’s so heavy and tight and—” you visibly shudder.

“Good point.” Satoru hums and taps his chin in thought. “Best I can do is a chu-furisode, though. I don’t doubt that they’d kick you out on your ass if you showed up in anything less formal or if we tried putting you in something for the married women.”

“You’re forgetting something,” you point out wryly. “I can just not go.”

“Sketch,” Satoru whines. “It’s my birthday.”

“We can celebrate here before or after you leave.”

“Also,” Suguru finally speaks up, “that’s too much money.”

“Oh, don’t worry, my little country bumpkins. It’s all on the Gojo dime and it won’t even be a drop in the bucket.”

Deadpan and once again at the same time, you and Suguru say, “Rich boy.”

Satoru claps his hands together in front of himself, ducking his head. “Please, please, please,” he loudly begs. “Don’t leave me on my own with my shitty clan! It’ll be like a sleepover! You guys did those when you were kids, right? My one wish is that I get a turn having a sleepover with Sketch and Suguru!”

We have sleepovers every time you’re on campus, you aggressively think. But, after a moment of reflection, you realize that, actually, not all three of you have slept in the same room. On the few times that they’ve been on campus at the same time, neither of them tries to sneak into your room at night or text you to ask. You think you know what they do, though. Just as they’ve started to leave pieces of themselves in your room, you see them in each other’s. And, sure, you could put that as them hanging out, but you’ll sometimes catch whiffs of cigarette smoke on Satoru’s sheets and pillows.

You still want to tell him no. It’s a daunting thought, being in an uncomfortable kimono, surrounded by people that don’t even respect their own future clan head let alone people like you and Suguru who have no sorcery in your bloodlines. But what else is there to get the boy who has everything? And…it’s a rare chance to have them to yourself because the higher-ups are giving him leave and, if Satoru insists, his family will request the same for you and Suguru.

“Fine,” you agree with a frustrated sigh.

Suguru also gives a sigh of his own. “I’m smoking, whether I’m allowed to or not.”

“Best birthday ever!” Satoru cheers.

***

For obvious reasons, Satoru puts off going on his clan’s estate as long as possible. There are people at the estate that could measure you and Suguru, but Satoru pulls you both into a shop that’s probably so expensive that it costs to breathe. You’re glad the prices aren’t displayed. Thankfully, you don’t really have to put up with strange hands all over you yet. They simply take a tape measurer to you and then let you pick out the fabric. Like Satoru, you decide on a beautiful silk that starts out forest green before fading to a navy blue near the bottom.

Kyoto is mostly religious sits—temples, castles, shrines, and the like. It’s very beautiful. Satoru takes you both to the Fushimi Inari-taisha, a long path that’s nothing but bright red torii gates. Satoru is surprisingly quiet, so it’s a peaceful moment. After the shrine, you wonder if it was just a way to calm you down before you’re forced to face the crowds to find food. It’s…honestly not as bad as you expected because with Satoru and Suguru’s huge bodies in front of and behind you, people can’t bump into you that much.

Late in the afternoon, as the sun is setting, the three of you are in a random park. Satoru is dozing off, head in Suguru’s lap, and Suguru is reading a book. It’s good inspiration, so you draw them. Not like that’s anything unusual. You do feel a little sad, a little nostalgic when you flip through your personal sketchbook and see the gradual loss of…youth, you guess. Even Shoko isn’t unaffected. You wonder how you look to everyone else.

At twilight, Satoru decides he can’t stall anymore, and he finally picks up the phone that he’s been ignoring all day.

jjk

“Your parents aren’t what I expected,” Suguru comments when the three of you shuffle into his obscenely large bedroom.

Meanwhile, your question is, “Is this not your room?” Sure, Satoru brought a lot of stuff when he moved on campus, but this room is…weirdly empty. Not a hint of his love for Digimon, no posters, and the bedsheets look like they belong to an older person rather than a teenager.

“Right? My parents are super weak. They were low on the Gojo ladder, but then they had yours truly, and they’re practically worshipped now. I’ve never lived with them much, though. They handed me over to tutors and people who could teach me about sorcery,” Satoru explains. “I was in another section of the compound, but when I come to Kyoto, I’m a good son and stay with my parents.”

Suguru voices what you’re both thinking. “Satoru, that’s…really sad. You know that, right?”

“Eh.” Satoru shrugs off the concern. “It’s probably how every other rich kid is treated. Non-sorcerers get boarding schools, and I got training and missions.”

“Missions?”

“Yeah?” Satoru cocks his head to the side, genuinely confused by your disbelief. “What? I’m Gojo Satoru, wielder of the Six Eyes. You think I was sitting around on my ass until high school?”

Suguru is pressing a thumb against the center of his forehead. “I’m too tired to tell you how fucked up that is, Satoru. We’ll save it for another day.”

“Agreed,” you say with a nod. “And don’t expect me to be polite to any of your family.”

“I don’t get you guys, but okay. Let’s go to bed.”

It takes a bit of maneuvering. There’s some giggling when, as you three try to get settled in Satoru’s massive bed, you all bump into some ticklish spots. You argue even more about the positioning. Finally, you decide that the birthday boy is stuck in the middle. Besides, he’s always ice cold, so he won’t get too hot, anyway.

Satoru has an arm thrown around your shoulders and Suguru’s. Suguru’s cheek is up in the crook of Satoru’s neck while yours is above his heart. It’s a nice sensation, listening to the frantic beat of Satoru’s heart slow as the minutes pass by. Suguru is half-asleep when he reaches out to lace his fingers through yours, placing them on Satoru’s stomach. They’re both asleep before you, which isn’t a surprise. They must be exhausted, constantly coming and going on missions.

I wish I was stronger.

Strong enough to shoulder these burdens with them, strong enough to face down the old men that treat Satoru and Suguru like weapons to be used and feared, strong enough to stop childishly clinging to everyone else, strong enough to protect these so very precious moments, strong enough…

I’m weak.

And that’s a bitter truth but a still a truth regardless.

[bee-ina-boat]

YOOOOOOOOOOO THEYRE DONE!!!! these are my art studies for the bishops!!! figuring out how i wanna draw their faces!!! woowoowoowooooo!!

had alot of fun with these! even though they were WAY out of my comfort zone from what im used to ;w;!! i learned alot of things while drawing them! and im actually really proud of how they came out!

kallamar was DEFINITELY the hardest because of his stupid fucking cone head. and shamura was also pretty difficult, but im so so happy i got them all down!! im hoping to move on to full body concepts of them soon!

some notes for my designs of them!:

all of them except shamura's eyes (and. leshy. i guess) change from black sclera to a lighter color after losing their crowns. but they can still go black occasionally.

i ended up giving kall and heket eyebrows for fun!

kall has those fins squids sometimes have! i thought they were fun so i wanted to give him some :3

i ended up changing mura's head legs on my second to designs of them, i think they look cooler that way! (might end up giving them proper pedipalps aswell in future designs :3c!!)

probably gonna change heket and kalls pupils later aswell

shamuras pupils go blurry when theyre in a bad brain fog

anywayyyy thats it for now >;3 ive still got so many art ideas for this silly silly game!!!! more stuff soon hopefully!!

[hrts4hanniehae]

clutch || nine

there are written parts :)

note that the timeline or educations may not add up but just ignore it because i don't have the brain power to sync up THIRTEEN + 1 's education schedules

a/n: sorry this is short.... i rewrote this 3 times and i keep forgetting what i wrote. fml. genuinely omfg.

warnings: fat-shaming, insults, violence

if you thought that this was the end of Chae-young's antics... you were very wrong.

"wonwoo-oppa~" x100

wonwoo had never been this annoyed in his life. during the whole event, he stuck by yn's side the whole time but chae-young wouldn't stop trying to approach him. finally...

"please leave me alone."

"sorry? wonwoo-oppa please speak up!"

"I said, leave me alone. please! it's very irritating to have you follow yn and i everywhere! leave us alone please!"

chae-young lost it.

"WHY HER? WHY YN? SHE ISN'T EVEN THAT PRETTY! SHE ONLY LOOKS DECENT NOW BECAUSE OF HER MAKEUP!"

heads turned towards them as chae-young's husband tried to pull her away.

"I have the face of a model. and i am one. why is it her? yn is fat and ugly! she was overweight at one point you know? do you really want to be with a slut like her?"

"oh so i'm a slut?" it was wonwoo's turn to hold yn back. "what about you huh? trying to seduce my boyfriend while you have a HUSBAND?"

"how else did you get people to buy your ugly paintings and "art"? i wouldn't be caught dead with those crappy paintings in my house!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU FAKE BITCH-"

yn broke free of wonwoo's grasp and slapped chae-young in the face. (much to the delight of a lot of her relatives)

"HOW DARE YOU!" chae-young of course retaliated and scratched yn across the face with her nails, drawing blood in lines across her face. she then used her heel to stomp at yn's arms.

"CHAE-YOUNG! THAT'S ENOUGH!" her husband's sudden outburst shocked everyone. "please. stop embarrassing yourself. stop embarrassing me. i think i've had enough. every day you put people around you down because you want to look better. you abuse your position as my wife and you treat me like shit. i think... i think i've had enough. you're ungrateful to everything and just spoiled."

"this isn't about you, Jaeho. this is about m-"

"it's never not about you. let's get a divorce. maybe then you'll get the attention you yearn for."

after that, yn's parents and Chae-young left, begging Jaeho to reconsider. Soon after, the rest of the family began to wrap up the event, sending congratulations to yn and wonwoo.

"does it still hurt?"

"not much... i'm sorry about her."

"don't apologise. it isn't your fault."

"sorry for dragging you there with me. i should have just went alone."

"it's okay. stop saying sorry."

dino burst into yn's room.

"yn... there was a parcel for you. but..."

"but?"

"there was blood leaking out from it. so i opened it..."

"what was it?"

"someone sent you a box full of dead rats. there was a note."

"what? what did it say?"

"I know you're here. yn ln. you're next."

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

synopsis: wonwoo is a popular streamer known for his incredible gaming skills and good looks. He turned heads. but he hates the attention. he just wants to play games and earn money. one day he receives a letter. his apartment’s rent has almost doubled. no warnings at all. his current paycheck from streaming can’t shoulder those bills. he has no choice but to rent out his spare room. to who? a fresh art university graduate who has… 1. a stable job ✅ 2. talent for art and sculpting ✅ 3. many friends ❌ 4. social anxiety ✅ 5. no filter ✅ when his iconic cat logo gets copystriked, she comes to the rescue with a new logo for him. when his apartment’s walls start peeling, she fixes it. whatever he used to struggle with… the empty space... was now filled by her. so what does he *last player standing* do when her ex *enemy spotted* tries to take her back? heh. *clutch* he clutches.

inspired by wonwoo's gam3bo1 streams, falling into your smile & gogo squid (has hints of valorant)

pairing: streamer!jeon wonwoo x fem!artist!reader (ft. jeongcheol, soonhoon, junhao, seoksoo, verkwan)

genre: fluff, comfort, slowburn, comfort, pining, bestfriend!minghao

warnings: stalker ex, toxic ex, mentions of abuse, guns (game), cursing, hate comments, panic attacks

started: 28.12.23

ended: ?

taglist: join from my masterlist

main masterlist

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tags! @fairyofhour @megseungmin @sun-daddy-yoriichi @woozixo @euphoric-univers @christinewithluv @haowonbins @ocyeanicc @asyre @cynthiaaax13 @superhoshisvt @bangantokchy @chimmy-bts @angelarin @daisawa @writingbarnes @jeonghansshitester

@belladaises @wonwootakemyheart @wonwooz1 @luchiet @kookssecret @caratsland @peachescreamandcrumble @thepoopdokyeomtouched @isabellah29 @leah-rose03 @yandere-stories @coupshour @heesbees @hamji-hae @hyuckxtagram

[fallershipping]

CW: General talk of subjects like Misogyny

Game Freak devs advertise Pokemon as a Utopian world the same way Splatoon 1 advertises that their world is carefree and that Squids are 100% the good guys. But while Splatoon subverts expectations by hinting at a complicated worldview with the Sunken Scrolls, the devs are a bit wishy washy on just how corrupt the world is-- But it's there.

Interpol is not above sacrificing its own agents for the lives and safety of the greater population, Team Rocket ran a grand portion of Kanto's economic centers with the leader as a Gym Leader, there was even an old man in the first games that was snooping on Erika's gym because it was full of girls. Beyond that, Evil Teams always imply that something went wrong that lead to a villain's rise. Team Yell and Team Skull are a bunch of poor kids abandoned and ignored by the elite. A god of nature Tapu Bulu struck down a Megamart for habitat destruction. I mean the list is LONG and ENDLESS.

This is to say that I have dabbled in some thoughts that I wrote off as "too out of place for a kid's series" but... If it's something I want to explore and abstract, it fits with the series regardless.

I write Anabel as someone who does feel the effects of a "male dominated workforce" not just in her Interpol years but her Battle Frontier years too. She doesn't want to be pitied nor talked down to-- and she does NOT want anyone to go easy on her. People thinking she's 'Not as tough looking as some of the other (((((male)))) Frontier Brains' or 'she must be a secretary' is.. Personally vindicating for me to explore in headcanons. This is not just a direct jab at the fandom's wrongs but it's personally fulfilling to see her navigate this environment in her own way, at her own pace-- Not having to prove to anyone that she is stronger than they think, and having plenty of support behind her for each little snide she gets.

Perhaps it is nowhere near as the horrors we face in our reality, and I do not intend on writing in something so vile into Pokemon. But for a lot of good things that exist in the world of Pokemon, its bound to have imperfections.

[reallyhatethiswebsite]

wip wednesday

thought i would do this since it's gonna be really hot again over the next few days and heat always makes me super sick (i wouldn't last 5 minutes in avernus lol)

for context it's part of a fic i thought to write since i felt like i didn't fully explore the Raphael-hunts-Tav request i got from a lovely person (and i also wanted to write something dark again since i am not good at it)

welcome to me writing mean and angry raph lol (tbh can't be sure if i will finish this)

thank you laura for labbing raph's dialogue with me ❤️

-

“Why would a power-hungry magelet with a chip on his shoulder abandon decades of ambition for some little bint he found on the roadside, when he could have hundreds – thousands of warm and willing holes to wet his cock with if he becomes a so-called god? Do you think you’re worth that sacrifice? Does Gale think you are? I’m sure he says lots of sweet things when he’s inside you, just as I’m sure he said the same things to Mystra, and we all know how that worked out…”

“Stop,” Tav begged. Sobbed.

“No,” the devil sneered. Utterly merciless. “It’s high time you faced the reality of your actions. You have doomed a future for the githyanki free from tyranny, you have doomed your friends’ chance to escape the emperor’s machinations, and you have doomed yourself, sweet pet, to reap what you sow – all for the sake of a man who rolled over you because you were the first woman in years to say yes. You wanted to enter my house without permission? Then you’ll stay for eternity.”

“You can’t keep me here!”

“I think you’ll find I can, girl,” Raphael rasped, malicious, quiet. His gaze flayed her alive, peeled away layers of skin and muscle to stare at her very soul. “For in this house, in this pocket of Hell, I am the master, and that means I can do whatever I want.”

A sick, bitter pill to swallow: he was right.

“Fine!” Tav laughed maniacally, the futility of the situation driving her to anger. “Fine, you evil bastard! I suppose you’ll have a pet squid soon, then. Have you always wanted one of those? Was it a boyhood dream, if you were a boy once? I hear ink stains are a bitch to get out of silk rugs.” As soon as she said it, Tav wished she had kept her mouth shut. She’d done everything wrong since entering that portal. Everything. Raphael’s shrewd yellow eyes narrowed as he considered something. Tav watched him raise his fingers, ready to snap, with dawning horror; if he did this, she wouldn’t just be stuck with him forever. She would owe him forever. A fate so much worse. “No! Wait! You don’t – I’m sure I won’t transform! It’s different in Hell, right?!”

“I’d rather not take the chance,” Raphael murmured, enjoying this moment of despair. “I’m not too fond of tentacles, you see. And besides…I promised I could be your saviour, didn’t I? Even though you hardly deserve it, but I’m nothing if not magnanimous, after all.”

CLICK. Such a small sound heralding a monumental, irreversible change.

Agony. The likes of which Tav couldn’t comprehend. Her skull splitting apart, bursting from the inside, her brains chewed up and spat out, eyes and teeth and tongue destroyed, sinuses burning…it only lasted for a few brief seconds, maybe, but the next thing she knew she was on her hands and knees. Frothy blood and bile oozed from her nose and mouth. Her body shook violently. Her head felt like it was full of water. She wasn’t sure, but she might have pissed herself a little bit. She stared up at the devil through bleary wet eyes and saw him watching her. Savouring her suffering. Floating in his palm was her tadpole, sluggish and covered in gore. Covered in her brains.

“Hmmm…I suppose I could have used less force for the extraction,” Raphael mused, unapologetic. He squinted at the ugly cosmic horror larva with disdain. “I was lead to believe these things were near-impossible to remove. Clearly not. Such weak magic. That worthless boy still has a lot to learn.” He curled his fingers inward and the tadpole caught fire, writhing and screaming as it died. Rendered to ash. Then he smiled at Tav, placid, almost business-like, as if he hadn’t just up-ended her entire existence. Her suffering had greatly improved his mood. “There we are. Now you won’t have to worry about those lovely guts of yours dissolving any time soon. Not before I get to sample them, at least.”

“I’d rather be a mind flayer,” Tav slurred quietly. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt hollow. Without that tadpole – as awful as it had been – she couldn’t reach her friends or even the emperor to beg for help. She knew they were pragmatic. They’d realise something went wrong and cut their losses. They wouldn’t risk storming this infernal psycho’s little castle to rescue her, not when the elder brain was so unstable and they were so close to vanquishing the Absolute cult, but at least pretending it was an option would’ve given her something to hold onto. 

“And ruin that delightful complexion of yours? Perish the thought.” The devil reached to wrap one big paw around her forearm and tugged her upright. Tav was too weak to pull away. She barely stayed on her feet. The room and everything in it swayed. Until it was forced to stop by his hot clawed hand holding her jaw firm. Raphael’s image swam into focus. He gently turned her head this way and that. He was examining her; examining his new property. “Can’t fault the magelet’s taste. You are a pretty little thing. And now you’re my pretty little thing.”

He pushed his thumb into her mouth. She could taste the sulphur and hellish magic even over the copper sticking to her gums and teeth. She bit him, tried to, but Raphael wasn’t phased. He dug his thumb claw into her tongue instead, pressing until he pierced the muscle, until Tav cried out. Fresh blood welled from the small puncture wound.

“Behave,” the devil simply said, like he was talking to a naughty puppy. 

“Never,” Tav spat. Raphael seemed to like that answer, if the sparkle in his eyes and his rich chuckle were any indication. 

“Oh, you’ll learn, my little mouse. One way or the other.” He dragged his thumb out of her mouth, smearing blood and spit across her lips. His pupils expanded as he looked upon her. He found this arousing, Tav realised, more repulsed than she’d ever been in her life. 

“You make me sick,” she hissed. 

“You have no idea just how sick I could truly make you,” he purred around a sinister smile, “but we have all the time in the world for that, don’t we, pet? Thanks to you, I’ve got a lot more work to do now. Plans to tweak, contingencies to set up, that sort of thing. I don’t expect you to understand, but unfortunately it means I won’t be able to break you in quite yet. But fret not, you shan’t be alone. Haarlep can keep an eye on you until I return.”

[mychlapci]

going off my last ask (the mer malware one) with djd pod. i think they’re in a polycule <3 

tarn’s the pod leader and he’s a big ole bully who wanders around with his posse attacking random mers, stealing prey, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. i also think tarn gets mad game, either by bullying vos and kaon with his spike, or having helex and tesarus give him lots of eggs/pups. 

and also from my last ask, i think tarn takes malware’s mauling as a mating claim. he gets so turned on from her completely wrecking his face. i can totally imagine him dopily following xem around in the days after the incident and malware keeps snapping at his tail and fins to tell him to back off before eventually getting fed up and shoving her spike into his tight little slit. 

hmmm sunburst manages to get not just one orca, but a whole pod of weird freaks as bodyguards. of course she also doubles as a midwife whenever tarn gets knocked up by the others. 

maybe the rest of the djd beyond tarn and malware aren’t even orcas. i can imagine helex as some sort of giant squid, and tesarus as a crab of some kind. maybe kaon is a pretty electric eel, and vos as some kind of sea urchin. they’re the weirdest pod in the whole ocean and they’re all such freaks. 

kaon electrocutes his mates while they’re fucking and their slits gush more lubricant in response. helex using his tentacles to keep tarn or vos in place while he fucks them full of eggs. sorry if this isn’t coherent and too oc based, my brain is melting

-burnt ice anon

hi. you wouldn’t guess what happened. yeas,,, this got buried. which is a pity because i live for the DJD mer polycule!! the thought of them as a mean, powerful little pod, and also finding the time to have pups... so good.

[simp999]

The Deca Tower Crush

Stealth Goggles x Reader Coroika

Wc: 1.7k

A/n: TIL that I can write a whole fanfic in my notes at 6 am

A/N 2: Big personal headcanon for Stealth is included, hint in the banner :], + side romance between two other characters

Ideas by @solkteaa and @captain3swife

Masterlist

"BOOYAH!!"

Leo's shouts rang out once again as you won yet another battle. 

Your team was on par with the S4, possibly able to overtake most of them on a good day.

It was a hot day and you were all growing a bit too exhausted to battle comfortably, so Milo offered that you should all have lunch at crusty Sean's.

A yellow-green inkling had his eyes on you once again. You were used to fans staring, so you ignored him- you truly didn't mind, and was able to push it to the back of your brain, laughing along to one of Leo's jokes.

But he only fell further in love with your adorable smile. He slumped in his chair and let his head lightly hit the table before him out of frustration.

He'd been a constant admirer of yours for a while now. He admired the way you battled- he figured there was a good chance you could even beat his team leader. Well, there's no way he would be able to go all out against you, so that probably wouldn't help..

Now that he thought of it, he wouldn't be able to battle at full strength even if he wanted to. He's sure he would mess up constantly being distracted by you. He let out a quiet groan.

Bamboo offered him a knowing look, glancing over at Tasha, while Blazer grew irritated. She whisper-shouted,

"Just ask them out already!" 

Stealth looked at them with a look that said: 'Are you out of your mind?!' He shook his head, as if he could ever have the guts to speak up.

Rider soon came back with their food tray, handing it out to them. Stealth thanked him.

"Y'know, I think you should give it a shot," Rider spoke after a while of eating silently. He looked over at Stealth. Stealth shook his head, there's no way. He nearly stood up and left, annoyed at his teammates, although he knew they were just trying to help, he was just growing more anxious and panicked. Before he could, he heard a fan shout; 

"Yo, look, it's Rider!" 

This was usual behavior, so he wasn't surprised. Up until he saw you and you team walking over, and he had realised it was Leo who shouted that. Rider was much nicer to fans compared to before, but he acted like he was buddies with Leo- you were all S+ after all. Leo began chit-chatting with Rider, the outgoing squid he is. Rider seemed to be enjoying it. You sat back and watched, enjoying the scene in front of you; you always loved seeing Leo make friends. And hey, it was Rider! He's a pretty cool guy, you thought. 

Then you glanced over at Stealth. He grew flustered, quickly facing away from you with a panicked look on his face.

Bamboo subtly stared at Tasha with a lovestruck expression. She then faced Stealth and whispered, 

"I'll talk to her if you talk to them,". That was in no way convincing to Stealth as he shook his head, denying it. Before he could speak up, somebody came between them asking,

"What'ch'you guys talking about?" It was lighthearded, and you honestly didn't really care, but you needed an excuse to make convo with the cute cephalopod with Stealth goggles. You hadn't really paid attention to who it was earlier, but now you recognized him, being a slight fan of Rider's team. Not as in you looked up to him that much, but more as in you saw him as a strong rival and skilled individual that you possibly looked forward to battling one day.

Speaking of,

"Hey, let's have a battle!"

Leo read your mind. And Rider accepted with a confident: "sure." Paired with a smirk. He recently learned how to enjoy his battles thanks to Goggles, and he figured this would be a fun yet challenging one.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The 8 of you stood on your spawnpoints, ready for the count down. The stage was Arowana Mall. You and Leo quickly ran through the center area, inking a bit while Milo and Tasha stayed back, properly inking the sides. You'd run back to ink the middle better later if need be. You ran off through the right-side path, running into one of their teammates. It was Stealth. He probably took a while to ink, still in the 'inkstrike reserve' mindset.

You decided to give him a moment to try to splat you before you attacked, wanting to go easy on the cephalopod you found cute. But he made no move to attack. The two of you stood off to the side, away from any teammates' view, silently looking at eachother, both confused.

"Why... why aren't you attacking?" He mumbled out to you, confused.

"Cause I think you're cute," you said it so nonchalantly, "why aren't you attacking?"

He stayed quiet and looked away, face warming. He attempted to adjust his headgear to cover his blush, but it spread to his ears much too obviously.

"How about we hang out after this?"

You didn't mind the silence, it was a nice break from all your loud fans, to be honest.

He turned to face you once again, and you were already handing him a small piece of paper. He took it, curious, and it had your number written across it. 

"O-oh! Sure?" He wasn't reluctant to hang out with you- no, not at all. He was afraid of messing up around you.

You passed him and waved, he waved back, lovestruck. He only realised that you were headed towards his base much too late, but he let it happen while he sighed and made his way to the middle stage.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After the battle was over, 50 something to 40 something- you didn't really care since you won and you knew everyone wasn't trying their hardest. All you were looking forward to was spending time with Stealth. So, when everybody met up after the battle, you quickly told Rider:

"Hey, I'm stealing your teammate, okay? Okay, bye." And swiftly took Sleath by the hand, marching off.

He chuckled at the scene and smirked, glad that Stealth could finally spend time with his Deca Tower crush.

--

First, you took him to an ice cream shop, curious to know what his favorite flavor was. Tiger tail was his favorite it seems, and he got cherries on top. 'What a unique combo,' you thought. He just becomes more interesting by the minute.

"You got something on your cheek there, Love." You had pointed out. He had some powder on his cheek from the mochi. 

‘How embarassing,’ he thought. He was so afraid of messing up, and now you probably think he's a messy eater and-

You gently wiped it off with your thumb, kindly smiling at him.

So you didn't think he was a messy eater? Or maybe you didn't mind? Stupid anxiety.

"You're quite fun to be around, Stealth. We should hangout more if you're down!"

He swiftly nods, not trusting his own voice due to how happy (as well as flustered) he is.

After a day of spending time together, paired with some silly, embarassing moments (for Stealth- they only made you fall even harder for him,) you made your way back to the Yellow-Green Team's place, him guiding you there. 

Before he opened the door, he awkwardly stood, unsure of what to say. He wanted to say more than a goodbye.. but he wasn't sure what to.

You decided to start, telling him that

"You're free to text me anytime, okay?" With a smile on your face. He nodded. 

Before he could turn around to open the door you asked if you could give him a kiss, pointing to your cheek. His face flushed, but he didn't object- 

"Sure-yeah, yes. Please. I mean-" you chuckled at his words while he embarrassedly tried to use his headgear to cover his blush, but then realised he had to take it off for you to kiss him. He thought nothing of it, taking it off for you.

As you leaned in and gave him a quick, short kiss, you then paused, opening your eyes to spot two beautiful eyes that weren't joined together by a mask. His tentacles were different too.

He was an octoling. You thought this meant he was trusting enough with you to let you know- but in all honestly, he was blinded by his love. You swiftly pulled him into a comfortably tight hug, offering him another kiss to his cheek while you were there. His face was bright yellow-green, quickly putting his headgear back on.

"You are really cute you know, I'm looking forward to seeing you without your headgear more often," you smiled at him. 

He looked down and nodded, not trusting himself to speak and mess up dramatically once again.

He reached for the door handle, but it quickly opened before he could touch it, Bamboo being the one behind the door. 

"Oh, you're back!" Stealth moved aside, followed by you, to let her by. She said a quick bye to Rider before leaving the house. Going down the steps, Tasha trailed behind her. Wait, Tasha? What was she- ooooh. Good for her, good for her. You nodded with a grin, proud of her.

"What's your teammate doing here?"

"I think she's going on a date with Bamboo. That's what it looks like to me, anyway," you smiled.

"Oh!" He paused, unsure of what to do next.

"Guess that means our teams just have to hangout more often, hm?" You said with a teasing tone, and he nodded. He finally opted for one last hug before entering his home and waving you goodbye.

He watched through the window as you left, pausing to look at your hands and smile widely to yourself. You skipped off, happy with your day.

He went into his kitchen to grab himself a glass of water to calm himself down, embarassed by how happy you seemed to be about him. 

He was so very lovestruck.

.

.

.

June.12.24

[waterfae]

A Good Pillow [Part 7]

Summary: A glimpse of your budding friendship with Ominis and your growing feelings after the events in the Scriptorium.

Pairings: Ominis Gaunt x Reader, Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Warnings: canon-typical violence, mild language, angst, comfort, fluff, friends-to-lovers, unhinged Slytherins, complicated relationships, house-neutral reader, no use of Y/N, no beta

Word Count: 1.9+ K

Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

|| General Masterlist || Hogwarts Legacy Masterlist ||

Fresh fallen snow blanketed the school grounds and it crunched beneath your feet as you made your way towards the north exit. The weekend had finally arrived and after the long week you had been having, you were glad to have some time away from the castle, even for just a few hours, to go do normal teenage things. It had grown so stifling inside those walls with all your varying responsibilities, ranging from your schoolwork to your activities with the keepers and Professor Fig, and of course, the drama with Sebastian.

You tried to keep Imelda’s advice in mind. Be honest and keep it simple, she had said, but Merlin, why was it so difficult? You wrote out rough drafts of letters, practiced in front of mirrors, even subjected poor Deek to sit through various monologues, but it all sounded so ridiculous. Everything you thought of saying to your poor friend sounded utterly stupid. It made you want to stab your brain repeatedly with a quill. Why was it so hard to convey your honest feelings towards him? Fighting and magicking your way out of things appeared to come more naturally to you; you were beginning to think facing Ranrok might be easier than facing Sebastian. So you attempted a different approach for the time being: avoidance. You made sure that you were never alone when Sebastian was around, lest he try to corner you once more; always surrounded by friends and fellow classmates in hallways, studying in the library, or walking to class or the Great Hall. As soon as news of a Hogsmeade trip was being scheduled, you immediately jumped up at the chance for an excuse to simply get out.

And get out, you did. An afternoon of butterbeer with friends at the Three Broomsticks had been the planned activity, but your desire for reprieve was so strong it led you to decide that the best option would be to head out much earlier and pass the time near the lake.

You picked up a small rock and, with no particular target in mind, tossed it across the water. It landed with a kerplunk.

“Not sure if the giant squid would appreciate that.” A voice suddenly said from behind you.

You jumped at the sound and turned to find Ominis slowly making his way towards you, the red glow of his wand heavily contrasting against the white snow all around. You allowed a small smile to grace your features, realizing who had spoken, “Ominis Gaunt, are you following me?”

He let out a chuckle, “Initially, no. I was on my way to Hogsmeade when I heard from Leander that he had seen you come this way by yourself.” You nodded at his explanation as he continued, “I thought, perhaps, it would be nice to keep you company.” He paused for a second, then continued hesitantly, “I’m not intruding on anything, am I?”

“No, no! Of course not.” You waved your hands in protest, “Honestly, I’m just here to waste time. I’m not meeting the others for another couple of hours.” You gestured around you, knowing full well he couldn’t really see what you were gesturing at, “I just thought it would be nice out here. You know, being cooped up in the castle all week. Freshly fallen snow...crisp fresh air...a beautiful view of the lake.”

“Not as beautiful as you, I’m sure.” He said with a smile.

You laughed, finding it hard to believe that he was attempting to use flattery on you right now, “Ominis, how could you say that? You haven’t even seen me.”

“I don’t need to, darling. I can feel it radiating from you whenever we’re together.”

You stopped laughing abruptly and stared at him, his words striking at your heart and making your cheeks burn, “Ominis, stop it.” You bit your lip, “You’re making me blush.”

“Am I?” He smirked as he took a few more steps towards you. He pocketed his wand and removed his gloves, then reached up with his two hands and placed them on both of your cheeks, “Hm, I suppose you do feel a bit warm.” He dropped his hands down to your shoulders, “Not quite warm enough though.”

You gave him a quizzical look, but before you could question him, he had already reached around his neck to unwrap his scarf. Slowly, he transferred it onto you, wrapping it around your neck. Your heart thumped aggressively in your chest as he worked, so close to you now with his lips at the level of your eyes. He wrapped it around a second time to secure its placement.

“There.” He lightly tugged at the ends, “I’m sure you look even more beautiful in Slytherin green.”

You fingered the scarf now on your neck, you could smell him on it and your cheeks burned even hotter, you were practically feverish, “What about you? Aren’t you cold?” You secretly hoped he’d never ask for it back.

“It’s fine. This way, I can keep making you blush.” He brushed a cheek with his thumb, “You can use it to hide behind.”

You bit your lip again to keep you from squealing at his actions and the words he was saying; you were sure you’d implode if you didn’t keep your emotions in check. After a few moments, you were ready to make another comment, when he suddenly gave the scarf another tug, cutting off your thoughts and causing you to stumble slightly towards him, “I’m also hoping,” he began to lean forward, “that seeing my scarf around your neck,” his lips were at your ear now, “will deter others from trying to steal your kisses from me.”

Your mouth fell open and gasped.

He knew.

But of course he knew, you thought, mentally smacking yourself. Sebastian and Ominis could barely call each other friends at this point, but they were still in the same house together. They still shared a dormitory. They slept together, ate together...lived together. Of course he would know. And if he didn’t, he would have surely found out eventually. Even if you did try to hide it.

“You have to know, it was nothing.” You could feel the panic begin to sink in with your realization, you wanted to make sure he didn’t have the wrong idea. You kept it from Ominis, yes, but not out maliciousness, “I didn’t even kiss him back!”

Ominis pulled himself back and laughed, “Relax. I’m aware.” He let go of the scarf and took your hands in his, “Admittedly, I was a bit...peeved when I first heard of it, jealous even. But gauging from his reaction,” he brought your hands up to his lips and gave quick pecks on each, “I surmised that it didn’t go quite as well as it did for me.” He gave another smirk, “Which, I must say, gave me quite the ego boost. Not that I ever had any doubt.” He lightly squeezed your hands and brushed his thumbs over your knuckles, “I know we’ve never talked about it directly, but I’m quite confident in our feelings for each other. Am I mistaken?”

You inhaled deeply, your mind whizzing, working overtime as it processed what Ominis had just conveyed. Every nerve in your body seemed to be sending off sparks as it all began to sink in and it filled you with excitement. You shook your head, “No, not at all.”

“Good.”

He guided your hands to his shoulders and when he was satisfied with you resting on them, he gently slid his down to your waist. Your breath hitched and you felt your heart start to race when his hold tightened and pulled you closer.

“May I?” He asked softly, already so close that his nose grazed against yours.

Slowly, you allowed the lids of your eyes to fall as you whispered back, “Yes.”

His warm lips lightly brushed against your own and you let the breath you had been holding out through your nose. This, you thought, this was a kiss you could reciprocate. The tension you had felt earlier evaporated as your arms wound tighter around his shoulders and he wrapped his around your waist, closing the gap between you.

Ominis grew bold, leaving you with more and more open mouthed kisses, ones you returned fervently. It was different from the ones he had given you previously in that corridor, he had been soft and gentle then. This one felt more...heated as it continued. Even with your eyes closed, the world around you felt as though it were spinning wildly. One of his hands had snaked up to cradle the back of your head as he deepened the kiss, holding your body tightly against his and a sound you didn’t realize you could make emitted from you. You pulled back from the shock.

“Sorry.” You said shakily as you panted. You didn’t mean to break the kiss; you were very much enjoying it, but the moan that you had released had caught you off guard as soon as you heard it. Had Ominis truly just pulled such a lewd response out of your body? What else could this young man make you do, you wondered. The thought set a fire throughout your body.

Ominis shook his head before leaning his forehead against yours, also out of breath, “Don’t be. I won’t ever ask for more than you are willing; no pressure. He continued to cradle your head affectionately, fingers entangling themselves in your hair, "My wish is for you to have a safe place with me, not to add to your burdens.”

“Oh, Ominis.” You whispered, leaning against him once more and resting your head on his shoulder, “I do feel safe with you.” Your hands slid down to his chest, gripping the fabric of his cloak, “Your presence is always so comforting.”

He smiled and moved to leave a kiss on your forehead, “I’m glad to hear it.”

How long you stayed in each others embrace, you weren’t sure – basking in the warmth and gentle caresses, whispering promises and sweet nothings. It took every ounce of effort to finally pull yourselves apart and make the trek back up the road to Hogsmeade where your friends would be waiting. You half-jokingly asked if you should even still go. Ominis merely ruffled your hair and took your arm, laughing as he dragged you along the path.

When the two of you arrived to the Three Broomsticks, arm in arm, the table erupted in a mixture of applause and groans, causing both of you to blush. Leander had thrown his arms up in defeat (as if he had a fighting chance, Garreth would later comment). Everett and Natty were still unnerved by Ominis’s presence, but had the decency to not make a show of it. Poppy smiled brightly. Samantha’s jaw dropped, but said nothing. Violet was left a giggling mess. Imelda was the one that had risen from her seat and walked over to the pair of you, slow clapping as she did so.

“Bravo.” She said with a smirk and a knowing glint in her eye as she reached up to play with the Slytherin scarf still hanging around your neck, “Well done.”

The act unnerved you slightly, causing you to stiffen and grip Ominis’s arm tighter, because you knew that behind it was the unasked question: Have you told Sallow yet?

The expression on your face must have given her the answer; apprehension darted across her features and you both knew exactly what the other was thinking: there would be no avoiding the issue after this. If you didn’t talk to Sebastian, the gossips of the Hogwarts student body would. Either way, it was not going to look good. You simply had to choose the lesser evil.

a/n: Enjoy! ( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭°｡⋆♡‧₊˚

Likes, comments, and reblogs are always greatly appreciated and my askbox is always open. ♡

taglist: @cherry-cola-100 @moonsickness-posts @superblyspeedydragon @plumzlovesfics @costellation-hunter

[jeeaark]

(I apologize for coming into your ask box to ramble about Emps again).

I have finished the game, and seen the choice that Emps makes if you wanna free Orpheus. To be honest, looking back, it wasn't surprising. I mentioned it last time, but I felt like that trust was never reciprocated from the Emperor. He always felt that he knew the best way to handle the Elder Brain. Even when he just as much of a pawn of its plans as us, he still refused to compromise, or see his own fault in full.

The same for Ansur, the same for Stelamane I bet. There was always a reason for him to explain why he did what he had to do. But at what point do the reasons stop feeling like they matter? At what point do the reasons feel like they fall short and you need to change yourself? I feel, personally, that Emps never tried to self reflect on that.

Anyway, all this to say, I found Emps reasoning more in character than it might seem at first in the moment. Still a great character, all in all.

Never apologize, love your rambles, they are very relatable and thought-provoking observations about the Emperor.

It is I who risk saying something hrm-ridiculous in thought-rambling response. Entirely-off-point speculations, and misinterpretations and all that. But if to err is to human, I am about to ✨ kill ✨ it.

So aye! I Agree!

Trust and control issues, never a good combo. Just like with everyone else, Emps had their own red flags , but I suppose unlike the companions, there wasn't enough hrm. Forgot the word. opportunity to grow with the team? trench soldier comradery? A chance to build said trust they kept asking for. Healthy character development.

Stubborn squid. Always trying to play as the maestro from the podium, never the percussionist sardined with everyone else in the orchestra pit.

Orchestrating from afar for two whole act (except for the number of conversations you have that you can count on one hand), while with your companions- ya be friggin' traveling hand-in-hand 24/7 with those weirdos. You know too much about them whether you like it or not. Building trust is mandatory to make it through this hellhole of an adventure together. Squid buddy though? Got the luxury to pick and choose when to trust which hurt them in the end.

Analytical-wise, storytelling-wise, it makes wonderful sense, and by all means, amazing writing and characterization, but here's the goshdarnfriggitydang thing-

It hurt my dang lil invested dumb heart

And I don't like hurting.

So gotta mend it the best way I know how.

Through sillies.

Or wildy inaccurate interpretations

…Both

[kelly-clickspring]

I always forget how fun it is to paint space! Astrophel here is basically a living nebula, and I've never drawn him as such (I've done humanoid projections, but never actually explored this idea where he's more than a hallucinatory avatar). I couldn't not write a little scene to go with this, so read a short, fun little snippet under the cut!

As the ship helplessly drifts into the gravity well of the collapsing star, the captain and crew hold each other. Crying out goodbyes as the plating of the hull begins to singe: heat and radiation finally breaching the shields. Until suddenly, the relentless pull of the star ceases, as if it were gone. The ship lurches to a complete halt, leaving every crew member breathless and confounded in their expectation of death. 

“Oh my stars: brand new space explorers! I’m so glad I, uh, happened to be in the neighborhood. Can’t let this little incident stop you short of the stars,” the voice is everywhere at once, but comes from no one. The tones are ethereal and smooth as velvet, suggesting peace but giving unease as it somehow consumes all other sound to clearly resound in each crew person’s brain. 

The bridge crew sits awestruck as the fiery storm ahead of them suddenly disappears into a haze of green dust, and as if by magic, the ship materializes well outside the clutches of the powerful gravity well which nearly crushed them all into fiery oblivion. The captain’s cat-like ears bristle as they take a fiery jaunt around the bridge, searching for some source of this bizarre trickery on hundreds of monitors and feeds while the crew struggle to collect themselves. Some machinery is fried, the rest babbles garbled data which doesn't make a lick of sense. Where is the ship, the satellite, anything? They're in some cloud of unidentifiable substance drifting through space, full of strange, fluctuating energy signatures that baffle the sensors.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” The captain demands. 

“My, aren’t we brave? Giving orders to an extraterrestrial who is, well, a lot taller than you, and can project thoughts directly into your little brain is a bold move captain.” 

The furry creature’s jaw drops at the banter. Flustered, they resume their captainly facade with a huff. “Where is your ship? Where are you? And what is this nonsense?” 

“Peek-a-boo!” The voice prods with a mirthful tone, giggling at the captain’s serious insistence. 

The entire bridge crew is slammed dumbstruck at the sight that emerges from the darkness of space. The dust parts into what is the most massive eyeball any crew member has ever laid eyes on: big as the entire bridge and playfully glancing through the heavy composite view port right in front of the captain’s now stock stiff form. It's a gorgeous verdant green that glows softly, casting the bridge in otherworldly luminescence. Every crew member’s jaw is agape, and their rapidly beating hearts feel like they’ve sunken to their stomachs. In an incongruously smooth and gentle motion, the eye recedes to reveal an entire massive face, apparently made of celestial stone that softly glitters in the light from the now distant star. They’re literally in the hands of this creature: held up like tiny a toy and completely helpless. The glittering face shifts into a disgruntled expression. 

“Come now, you don’t get to be afraid after I saved you from certain doom. If I wanted you all hurt I’d have just left you to your own devices, that star could have chewed you up perfectly well if I hadn’t intervened,” the massive creature teases, it's mouth not moving at all as it speaks.

The crew loosens up ever so slightly until the massive face cracks into a playful grin, revealing astronomically large teeth like the beak of a squid. Imposing towers of stone that could pierce the hull as though it were made of bread. The sinking of dread is overturned abruptly as a soft tickle of euphoria wraps around each crew member’s consciousness. Not enough to challenge their lucidity, but calming their nerves like the beginning of an alcohol fueled buzz. 

“Gracious, I’m the first new life form you all have met if all your projected thoughts aren’t confused. Let’s skip the frightfulness, it makes me feel ill. I will make you feel better so we can have a pleasant chat,” The creature gives a playful wink. “I am Astrophel. Promise I won’t tell anyone about your little debacle, and you can test your instruments on me if you’d like! You can relax now, you’re out of harm's way. I’ll keep you safe until you’ve done necessary repairs and can get back on your way. We’ll be fast friends, and that’s exactly how I like it!”

[bootstrapparadoxed]

creative works & links

AO3 - Ko-Fi - YouTube - Patreon

Novel

adult sci-fi; a queer, existentialist space adventure

Summary:

In the distant future, humans live in a utopia where even death is not the end—for everyone except Amber’s parents. At 25, she is a cynical, aloof Ph.D. in history who resents her sheltered life at home and yearns to find her place in the world. Then, an exciting job offer comes her way—the chance to uncover the mystery of a civilization that disappeared thousands of years ago. Teaming up with the archeologist Lullaby, Amber embarks on a hitchhiking quest to find the fabled Aquamarine Moon and, perhaps, some much-needed meaning in her life.

Publisher’s website | Amazon

You can get a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review on goodreads or storygraph! Send me a direct message or ask for details.

Current WIP

"Offspring of (Un)happy Days", a dark academia horror with a M/M romance - WIPintro here, I tag posts about it as #FrankensteinWIP

Video Essays

"Science Has an Accountability Problem | Dumpster Fire Data"

Do you know how many researchers anonymously admit to fabricating data? The answer is not a number of individuals, it is a percentage. As scientists, we like to believe that we are the pinnacle of accuracy, honesty, and accountability. In reality, we are no different from any other human, just as capable of making mistakes. And it’s time to fully admit to that. Welcome to Dumpster Fire Data, a series in which I analyze the hell out of crumbling institutions.

“Representation DIY: What Headcanons Can Teach You About Autism”

On why representation of minority groups in fiction has such a powerful influence, why I prefer headcanon autistic characters over canon examples, and how headcanon discussions can improve the public dialogue and be an additional push for better diverse media.

“Night in the Woods: Cosmic Horror and Optimistic Nihilism”

An exploration of themes and narrative threads of “Night in the Woods” through the eyes of an exhausted Gen Z anarchist. On the terrifying world that young adults of today were born into and how it affected us, the two ways in which NiTW explores cosmic horror, why humans always look for stories, patterns, and meaning, and whether you can be sane and happy without meaning altogether. 

“Disability and Capitalism” 2-parter

A deep dive into the intertwined history of ableism and the capitalist economy, starting from the dawn of humanity and ending with a hopeful look into the future. Featuring a shitton of citations/research and generously sprinkled with science fiction.

“Squid Game and the Gamefication of Capitalism”

"Squid Game" is a South Korean survival drama that explores themes of class disparity and inequality with a Hunger Games-esque, thrilling plotline. Is the reality show / video game aesthetic of Squid Game just another compelling visual element, or an additional metaphor?

"Is Phylogenetics a Proper Science?"

Birds are dinosaurs, whales are cousins of cows, and fishes do not exist – these are the kind of things you learn in phylogenetics lectures as a biology undergrad. I have compartmentalized this knowledge in my head for years without giving it a second thought. Then, I fell down a rabbit whole of weird philosophy of science papers, and it broke my brain a little.

"Pokemon Evolutions Are Real... Kind Of"

More people have probably heard the word "evolution" in a pokemon game than in a high school biology class. And they aren't even actually evolving, they're going through metamorphosis. Probably. Well…

Short Stories

Short Story: "Satisfied", cyberpunk horror, in HyphenPunk Magazine Issue 7

Selected Fanfiction

One Septendecillion Brass Doorknobs: AO3 - Royalroad - Rebloggable Link

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency S3 as a full novel length (82k words) fic written in my best attempt at the style of Douglas Adams

where fire and ice collide: AO3 

30k long/novella length doctor who and good omens crossover with Tenth and Rose and all the GO characters; mostly focused on the mystery/adventure plotline but it also has tenrose and ineffable husbands tones in the mix

when it’s time: AO3

good omens 20k ineffible husbands slowburn. you know the cold open of E3? it’s 20k more of it. with mutual pining and angst and an eventual happy ending