#but I had to draw them at one point.... the brainrot is too strong i fear

[2myheart]

you'll never guess what i've been rewatching...

[g1rld1ary]

the way i see you ; remus lupin x reader

➻ synopsis: you're an artist, but you never let any of your friends see your work. they finally attend one of your exhibits and see your feelings on paper

➻ word count: 4346

➻ content: swearing, allusions to sex, gryffindor reader but literally mentioned once, no pronouns but implied to be fem reader, kissing, no war AU!!

➻ the remus brainrot is strong rn

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

You were an artist, you had been the whole time the boys knew you. Even in first year as a shy eleven year old, you were always scribbling away in a little sketchbook that lived in the big pockets of your robes. The hobby only developed as you got older, expanding mediums and filling countless sketchbooks. When you weren’t studying (or even when you were supposed to be) it was almost a given that you’d be working on a piece somewhere, far from the prying eyes of others.

Your friends caught glances of your art sometimes, doodles on the corner of your essays or notes, maybe a stray page left out in your dorm which told them you were good, but you never ever willingly let them see it. They didn’t know why, truthfully, you didn’t know either, but it had always been that way and everyone had more or less accepted that.

“Have you ever drawn me?” Sirius asked one afternoon as you all sat out by the Black Lake, cocky grin on his face.

“’Course,” You answered simply, moving to turn back to your conversation with Remus.

“Wait, really?”

“Well you have to have drawn me then, right? Can’t just be Padfoot!” James cut in quickly, making you laugh, nodding.

“Before everyone starts asking, lets just establish that I’ve drawn all of you at some point, okay?” You thought that would calm them down, but it only riled them up further, much to your chagrin.

“And you haven’t shown us?” Marlene cried dramatically.

“I deserve to see you capture my beauty!” Sirius collapsed in an exaggerated performance and you couldn’t decide whether you were amused or embarrassed, giggling and hiding your face in Remus’ shoulder. He merely pat you on the shoulder, shooting you a fond gaze you couldn’t see. James caught it though, and smirked in a way that Remus knew he was about to be embarrassed.

“Have you drawn Moony?” He asked, and you both looked at him suddenly.

“Prongs, don’t,” Remus said sternly, then turning to you, “It’s okay, you don’t have to answer… I know they must ruin the picture.” He gestured down to his scars. You just looked at him for a moment, utterly baffled.

“As if some silly scars would stop me from drawing you,” You said, a sweet smile on your lips, “You’re my biggest inspiration, Moony.” He blushed at that but the rest of your friends tactfully ignored it, though the boys shot him some shit-eating looks.

It was probably true that you drew Remus the most, but it was only because you spent the most time with him! Or, that’s what you told yourself anyway. Remus Lupin was your best friend in the world, and you loved him more than anything. Since you were always together and hanging out, clearly you’d draw him more, it was perfectly natural!

Your study sessions together in the library often devolved quickly, essays abandoned to the side, both of you falling into chatter as you studied and sketched him.

“What’re you drawing, dove?” He’d always ask, knowing you’d never tell. You’d simply press your lips into a cheeky smile, shaking your head resolutely.

“Uh-uh,” You’d say, “An artist never reveals her secrets.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s magicians, stupid,” He laughed, running a hand through his curls.

“Oh,” You frowned, “Well I’m that too, aren’t I?”

“Hardly,” He snorted, “Your essays are more doodles than writing.”

“Hey, Slughorn gave me a whole extra mark for the portrait I drew last week, so none of that.”

Or you’d follow him out of the pub you were all in when Remus needed a smoke, sitting on the blacked out window ledge as he lit up. You thought he might have been the most beautiful person in the world when he smoked, the way the lighter brought out the gold flecks in his eyes and hair and the shadows of night emphasised his unreal bone structure. You’d probably drawn him in that exact scenario hundreds of times, but it wasn’t your fault he looked like a fallen angel. When he leaned over to give you a puff you took it gratefully, if only for the proximity. You weren’t much of a smoker, but for Remus you’d let your lungs rot.

It was moments like that where you’d wonder what it would be like to kiss him, lean past the cigarette and put your mouth on his. Sometimes you thought he wanted it too, the way he’d get slightly too close for best friends, his own hand being the one to stick the dart into your mouth, sometimes so close your lips brushed his fingers. Moments like that made you wonder if he loved you back. Then later, when everyone was drunker, you’d see him stick his tongue down some prettier girl’s throat and you’d remember your place as his best friend. If it stung you tried not to show it, letting some sleazy guy a few years older than you buy you drinks until Peter told you it was time to leave.

Still, you were mostly alright with just being friends with Remus. You still got most of the benefits; his conversation, his dry humour, the ability to look at his gorgeous face. Who needed everything else? Plus, you could draw him whenever you wanted, doing whatever you wanted — not in a weird way. Mostly. You still would never admit that you’d drawn him holding your hand, or kissing you, or other things you desired… The magic of art, right?

After years of bugging, you finally submitted to your friends constant nagging. The day that you officially graduated Hogwarts was an emotional one. Seven years of constant laughter and magic (both literal and the sentimental kind) were over, and the world seemed too large and intimidating compared to the familiar walls of your school. Yet there was no stopping it, and you were all Hogwarts graduates.

While all your parents cried and reminisced over coffee in the Great Hall, your friends had gone for one last deep conversation by the Black Lake. Discussions of the future were unavoidable, but were mostly positive. Talks of trips you’d take, apartments you’d live in and hell you’d raise. When you all quietened down slightly, struck by it being the last time you’d sit in front of the lake, you cleared your throat.

“Um, I have something for you guys, a graduation gift.” From your purse you pulled the envelopes, all filled with fancy cardstock from the art shop near your family home. You’d drawn a simple grey-lead portrait of each of your friends, framed with a little message of congratulations. You watched anxiously as they each opened the envelopes, nervous all the hype would make the art seem inconsequential. Your fear couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Sirius gasped dramatically as he saw what it was, but a genuine smile followed straight after. James burst straight into tears, hardly getting the picture all the way out. You could tell Lily was trying not to follow, but seeing her boyfriend cry set off the waterworks for her. Marlene and Mary were inspecting the others, pointing out the little details you’d put in, like Mary’s favourite daisy earrings or the slit Marlene had impulsively shaved into her eyebrow only a few weeks before. Peter was bright pink, flattered to the highest degree. Remus was hard to read, simply staring at you with the strangest look in his eye. You couldn’t ask him about it though, being ambushed with hugs from every direction.

“I can’t believe you’ve been hiding all this talent from us,” Peter said, the rest agreeing.

“Didn’t know we had our very own Da Vinci hiding behind a Gryffindor tie,” Marlene added, making you blush and grin.

You dreaded to imagine what it would look like from an outsider’s perspective, the eight of you teary, sweaty messes all piled on top of each other. Well, seven of you.

“Come on, Moony,” James called in a sing-song voice, “If you can’t submit to a hug at our graduation I am going to give you the biggest, slobberiest kiss and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.” Remus snorted, rolling his eyes.

“You look like absolute wankers,” Was all he said, but joined the pile nonetheless, and you were extra glad he was mainly holding on to you. When you all finally pulled away it was minutes later, but the whole thing was strangely cathartic.

“We all have to promise that we’ll always be friends, no matter what,” Mary said, putting her pinky finger out. The rest of you agreed, sticking your pinkies in for a very convoluted eight way promise. With that sorted your friends started heading back up the hill to the school building, ready to leave Hogwarts forever and prepare for a long night of heavy drinking. Remus held you back. James sent you a suggestive glance when he noticed but left it that, drawing Lily in for a bittersweet kiss.

You turned to Remus, only for his eyes to be locked on the portrait. You’d spent so much time trying to get it perfect for him, practising the stupid knot he insisted on tying every day despite the rest of the school going with a less convoluted method of wearing their ties.

“Do you like it?” You asked, subconsciously twisting your ring around your pointer finger. Remus let out a half laugh.

“I love it, honest. It’s insane, really. That you can make this just like that. It’s just…” You searched his eyes for the rest of the sentence. “You make me look…” He didn’t finish but you knew immediately what he meant. Remus hated looking at himself, training his eyes down in the bathroom and opting to always be the photographer so he didn’t have to see himself in the final product. You knew of course it was because of his scars, but you genuinely couldn’t believe he thought they were ugly, much less made him ugly.

“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you, just once,” You sighed, grabbing his free hand and interlocking your fingers, leading him back to where the others were waiting.

Four years out of Hogwarts and you’d all kept your promise. Of course you didn’t see each other quite as much as the boarding school schedule allowed, but the boys all had an apartment together which brought you together often enough — except James and Lily who were married and had moved down to Godric’s Hollow to raise baby Harry. That similarly brought you all to meet often, all determined to spoil Harry as his aunts and uncles.

You weren’t a full-time artist professionally, though you still did it just as much. You’d evolved to paints by then; living with a muggle because the rent was cheap had the added bonus of not having to worry about leaving your paintings on the easel since you didn’t really care what they thought about your art anyway.

Your friends were all huddled in the boys’ apartment living room, every seat taken as you all caught up. You were on the couch with Remus, absentmindedly running your hands through his hair as his head rested on your lap. You still weren’t dating, but Lily always said you might as well have been. You laughed her off every time — if he hadn’t said anything by now how could he feel the same way? You tried to pretend it didn’t still sting.

You’d tried dating, Remus too. He’d had countless partners since you’d finished school — even more one night stands. Nothing lasted more than a few months. You’d done slightly better, you made it about a year with some bloke that Remus hated before he revealed himself as a colossal dickhead, and you’d been mostly single since.

The group was trying to organise their next meeting.

“What about the movies next Friday? I wanna see that new muggle film, Knife Runner,” James suggested and you and Remus both snorted.

“Blade Runner, love,” Lily corrected with a giggle and James burst out laughing, making a quick joke at his own expense. You’d dug your planner out of your purse to check your availability and frowned, closing the book quickly.

“I can’t do next Friday, sorry, how about Saturday?”

“And what plans have you got on a Friday night, you minx?” Mary asked with wiggling eyebrows. Even Remus looked interested, which made your heart stutter.

“Just a work thing,” You answered quickly, not wanting to reveal the real reason.

“You lie like a rug!” Marlene yelled, sitting up from her spot on the floor. You winced, you shouldn’t have made an excuse that she could so easily disprove, being in the same department of the ministry. “What plans are you too embarrassed to tell us about, slag?” You laughed shortly, their assumptions were so completely off.

“It’s not what you think—”

“Not what you think my arse, who’s ‘Davis Show’ and why is he surrounded by hearts, you absolute tart!” Sirius cried, displaying the planner for everyone to see. You couldn’t help but burst out laughing, wheezing as you looked at your friends’ faux-scandalised expressions.

“Look you twats, Davis Show isn’t a man. I’ve been invited to put my art in a show at the Davis Gallery down on Welking Road next week. I can assure you I’m not shagging a man named Davis.”

The whiplash was immediate, the gossip sniffing exchanged for celebrations, you couldn’t tell whose yelling was whose. Peter immediately ran to the kitchen for a bottle of champagne, passing glasses around the room. When the initial excitement wore down you were subjected to a million questions, and tried to answer each of them patiently.

“I can’t believe you weren’t gonna tell us,” Mary pouted and you sighed.

“You know how I get about my art,” You explained, “It’s not that I don’t love you all, obviously, it just makes me so nervous thinking about you guys all seeing my stuff.”

“You know we’re all coming now, right?” James said, wiping his glasses where the champagne bubbles had created smudges.

“You really don’t have to,” You put in quickly, “It’s so embarrassing.”

“Why won’t you let us appreciate you?” Marlene whined.

“It’s just, my art is like an extension of my soul. I don’t think I’d be able to recover if you didn’t think it was good.” Your friends grew rowdy at that, offended you’d even think they wouldn’t adore your art no matter what. You felt Remus put a hand on your thigh and gave him a weak smile, knowing he’d shut down the conversation if you wanted him to. You didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing though, especially when everyone was being so supportive. You figured everyone was so busy they’d forget it by the next week anyway.

Friday came, and you were a wreck of nerves. Although you’d sold pieces here and there throughout the years, this show would be the first time your art would be displayed as a collective, and you were terrified of rejection.

You’d figured your friends weren’t actually coming since none of them had really mentioned anything since. Apart from Lily, of course, who’d sent an owl to your desk that morning with a sweet good luck note and your favourite chocolate.

Even Remus hadn’t said anything when you went for coffee on your lunch break. That did puzzle you, you knew he would never go if he thought it would make you uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like him as your best friend to forget something so monumental in your life. You thought he was acting kind of weird though, more affectionate than he usually was. He kept looking at you longer than he should, and you wondered if you’d miscounted how far away the next full moon was. When you asked him about it he just brushed it off, looking down at his tea instead like he’d been caught.

“I love you,” He said and you laughed.

“I love you too, Lupin!” You cooed, patting him softly on the hand.

“You’re amazing, you know?” You arched a brow.

“What are you trying to make up for?” You asked suspiciously, giving him a once over to search for answers.

“Nothing, promise,” He smiled in a way that made your knees a little weak, “I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

“You’re gonna give me an ego,” You grumbled, packing up your things to get back to work. As you parted ways he pressed a kiss down to your cheek and you stumbled. Remus was never this affectionate as a person — a pat on the back, a hug if you needed one, yes, but he was never one for casual platonic kisses. You figured it must have been his way to apologise for not coming to the art show? But he knew you didn’t mind, so what was he apologising for? You tried to shake it off and get back to work, but you couldn’t get your closeness out of your head.

Evening fell and you were setting up your stall before the other patrons came in. Rearranging the paintings until you were pretty much perfectly happy, you looked around, still not fully believing you were really here. People were filtering in, well dressed and chattering softly as young waiters handed out flutes of champagne. You straightened out your silky black skirt in an effort to look more presentable, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

At first things were slow, and you almost regretted not inviting your friends, if only so they could make your area look more interesting. And once you let that thought in, you kind of regretted not inviting them anyway. After all, they were the dearest people in your life and this was such a meaningful event to you.

You couldn’t think about that for long though since people had begun to filter over to you, making polite small talk as they admired your paintings. You tried to be energetic, smiling widely if you ever locked eyes with someone. However, deep down, you just wanted your friends.

A little old woman approached you for a while, wanting to know the meaning behind basically every painting and you told her happily, sharing the memories that inspired each work.

“Seems like you’ve got some true friends,” She said, “I hope you keep them close.” You agreed, thanking her profusely as she bought a landscape of the Whomping Willow.

It was growing closer and closer to closing, and honestly, it had been a wonderful night. Seeing the way that people reacted and interacted with your art was a magical experience, and changed the way you thought about it entirely. You decided that if you ever got the opportunity again, you’d want to share it with everyone else.

You were just moving to start packing up when you heard a myriad of gasps.

“What the fuck, dude?” The unmistakeable voice of Marlene McKinnon said from behind you. You whipped around to meet them, breaking into a cheek splitting smile.

“What are you guys doing here?” You asked, rushing over to scoop them all up into a hug.

“Fuck that, why didn’t you tell us that we’re your exhibition?” Sirius cried, running up to examine the paintings more clearly.

“And that they’re literally professional?” Peter added, eyes wide in wonder. You flushed red under their praise. If your friends thought your pencil portraits were good, they were nothing compared to your paintings.

Plus, every one of them was of your friends, or something sentimental to you all. Landscapes of Hogwarts, portraits of your friends, captured memories of long summer days, or life sketches from when you were all together. You watched them observe the paintings with nervous excitement, loving as they gave specific, personal compliments that only people who truly knew you could give.

“This our apartment,” Sirius said, pointing to one of your biggest pieces, “That’s our couch, the pillow Prongs has permanently ruined with butterbeer, that’s Moony!”

“There are a lot of paintings of Moony, aren’t there?” James whispered to you, wiggling his eyebrows. You flushed again. Sirius continued on, seeming (or pretending) not to have heard.

“We have to have this in the flat. Right boys?” Your eyes widened.

“Really?”

“For sure,” Peter said, “I’m buying this one too.” He gestured to one of him and James playing chess in the Gryffindor common room.

“And this is taking pride of place at home.” James pointed to a portrait of his and Lily’s wedding, and Lily similarly chose one of her and baby Harry. Marlene took one of her and Mary on the beach and Mary took one of the group at a house party. Half your paintings ended up being sold by the end of the night, and you couldn’t feel luckier. The only one who hadn’t said anything was Remus, who couldn’t keep his eyes off the paintings.

You shooed your friends out of the gallery once it really was closing time, and got to work packing away your things. You were deep in thought, reflecting on the wild day when someone cleared their throat behind you. It was Remus, and he moved to help you put your things away, stacking the paintings between bubble wrap to protect them.

“These are really beautiful,” He said, “I mean, we knew you were talented but… these are seriously on another level.”

“Thanks, Remus.” You smiled, unable to make eye contact as you watched him handle all the paintings you’d done of him. Portraits like the others, but also studies of his hands — god you were obsessed with his hands — his profile, and one less than innocent picture of his back, scars resting over muscles. You probably shouldn’t have put that one out, but to be fair you didn’t know he’d see it.

There was a somewhat awkward silence between the two of you. Not uncomfortable, per se, but there were definitely things you both wanted to say that neither knew how to.

“Let me drive you home,” Remus settled on and you nodded, letting him help you load your work into the boot of his car. You sat in the passenger seat, absentmindedly tapping your fingers on the dashboard to whatever radio station Remus had turned on. Remus stared straight ahead, knuckles pulled tight around the steering wheel.

“I’m really proud of you, you know. This whole show was incredible.” You went to thank him again but he kept talking. “I just wanted to know, um, there were a lot of paintings of me. I was just wondering why, why me?” You hesitated, unsure of what was going to come out of your mouth.

“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you,” You decided on with a bit of a sigh.

“You’ve said that before, what does that mean?” Your breath hitched. You definitely didn’t intend for it all to come out tonight, but if you didn’t say it now you doubted you ever would.

“You are the most beautiful person I know, Remus. I mean, even aside from your personality — which we know I have to be at least somewhat a fan of after all these years — you’re totally fit. Your eyes, your hair, God, your fucking bone structure, you’re literally a walking renaissance painting. And I know you think your scars make you ugly, but you don’t know how turned on I get thinking about how they’d feel on my skin.” Shit, you probably should’ve stopped talking.

You hadn’t realised he’d parked while you were rambling, but now you were sitting outside his apartment and he was looking at you with eyes that looked more like the wolf than him.

“I turn you on?” He whispered, voice suddenly gravelly as he leaned closer in to you.

“More than anything,” You breathed, brain buffering at the feeling of his breath on your face. Suddenly his mouth was on yours, hot and electric and not at all gentle. It felt like years of pent up frustration being let out all at once, and if he was anything like you, it probably was.

“Up,” He mumbled between kisses and you heard him undoing his seatbelt, hurrying to do the same. You barely disconnected to get out of the car, attaching yourself to his arm as he led the way up to the boys’ flat.

You made it up the three flights of stairs, not without Remus pushing you up against the stairwell wall to stick his tongue in your mouth, and stumbled straight into his bedroom, shedding layers as soon as the door was safely shut.

The next morning you awoke first, initially convinced you were dreaming when you saw him lying peacefully beside you. Eventually you rolled onto your side, ready to get out of bed for a glass of water when his nightstand caught your eye. There, in pride of place, was your graduation portrait of him, with a polaroid of the two of you stuck to the corner. Maybe he really had liked you as long as you’d liked him.

[ralibo14]

TPN Brainrots part 1:

Another TPN manga panel redraw, but this time everyone goes down with me (because it's sad).

Also part one of my 'wonderful' tpn theories and head canons. It'll be long😅. There will be manga spoilers so please, read at your own risk😊.

First character I go through is... Ray.

He is one of the most complicated characters I ever saw (all tpn characters are, tbh). I always thought that people who have photographic memory are so lucky. Ray showed me that it's both a blessing and the curse.

Like in the picture above. You can clearly see that the first 2 kid waving at his direction. It's strange to know that there was a time when the Trio were one of the young kids and not the older ones. My first head canon is that Ray tried to save more kids, not just Emma and Norman when he was younger. When the blond haired boy leaves (first panel) he looks like he is about to cry (also the Trio is around 4 or 6) but when the other kids get 'adopted' Ray keeps his head low most of the frames (I'm convinced that when the second kid left he was already working as Isabella's spy.)

Ray coloration explained:

Purple eyes are self explanatory to me. I started draw him with purple eyes as soon as I found out he is Isabella's son. Purple in the hair and freckles? Well... I'm still very, very convinced that Leslie didn't die (at least not when he left the House). I always think about his situation, like what Norman got into with Lambda. The Ratri-clan is big but they need outsiders, to be soldiers, scientists, etc. And since girls from the Houses can only become Sisters and Moms... maybe some boys can become scientists and soldiers. (I can't believe I'm writing this but think about Andrew🤢... he was 100% not Ratri yet he could become an adult). So by this logic I believe Leslie could grow up too and (because I'm a sucker for happiness) he met Isabella again at some point.

Ray turning away:

On the second frame he is not looking at the girl who is leaving, but to the opposite direction. Why? Notice something else? Yes, Norman is missing too. Gilda has her winter jumper on so I figure Norman got sick again. Ray priorities his friends safety over everything else.

Also notice how Emma and Norman slowly get into the middle of the frame while Mom/Isabella get out of it? Pretty strong metaphor. It's the perfect example of 'Blood related family ≠ real family'. And while I'm a RayEmma shipper (obviously aged up version) I would never forget about Norman. He is as important to Ray as Emma. This Trio sticks together no matter what.

(older manga colouring ⬇️)

Now onto the hearth breaking stuff:

Ray's relationship with Isabella:

This deleted scene with Ray and Ayshe lives rent free in my head. Like there are two people with similar family situations and the one who lived int the middle of nowhere with a demon parent thinks positively about their parent, while the other, who grew up in a comfortable home like space with a human parent, thinks the opposite.

"But to me, she was always a monster"– Ray.

Like ufff... This sentence hits real hard. And it's low-key true from Ray perspective. He studied and read all the books in the House, not because he was interested, but because he had to. Norman is a genius, Emma learns real fast, Ray does everything he can to always get max points on his tests. But he also secretly planning his friends excape. Collects scraps of technology to build the device which makes them able to excape, plans his own 💀 carefully, so no one else will get hurt and on a top of that he is 'spying' for Isabella. Sacrifices people he wanted to protect. I can't imagine that inside panic when he didn't get max scores to that one test. I'm sure he was happy because Norman and Emma got their regular scores, but deep down he felt like he failed.

My head canon here is that Ray always gets nightmares if he is alone or in an unsafe place. And 'thanks' to his perfect memory his nightmares build up from actual memories (like we see that in the Seven Wall Arc). Also he doesn't get sick often but when he does... it's like a memory fuelled fever dream, with hallucinations and etc.

Ray's healing journey starts after the Jailbreak Arc. As soon as Mom is not around anymore, he ever so slowly starts to let down his guard and starts to show more and more emotions. His relationship with Yuugo/Mister is like a greatest archivment in his case. The playful, sarcastic 'arguments' and the way he openly said his opinion on things in front of Yuugo and Lucas. Shows how much he changed and opened up.

Isabella on the other hand... her change of heart and feelings were a mistery almost to the very end. To be honest I hated her most of the time, until the Back to Grace Field Arc. (Older manga colouring again⬇️😅)

Two things in this page which are very important.

1: Ray's guard is up again in no time, when he sees Isabella, while her emotionless mask is cracking. This is the first time we get a little inside of how she really feels about Ray.

2: Flashback of the two most important things that connects them. The song and the way they were forced to sacrifice others to stay alive.

The lullaby is very important, because it's calming and feels very intimate (like a normal parent-child relationship should be).

You also can't convince me otherwise that Ray didn't hummed this lullaby at least once in the B06-32 shelter to help the youngest kids fall asleep.

And now... onto the last picture. Their goodbye.

Saddest part ever! Never forgiving for this decision.

Ray and Isabella were never allowed to talk even two short sentences with each other without any consequences. In the House they had to play their assigned roles. Then they didn't see each other for almost 2 years. Finally they had to save half of the team from getting unalived... And they moment they would have time the last twist happens... leaving us with a sad ending.

Epilogue and Human World Arc...does little to compensate. Although I can't get over the fact that Yuugo's, Conny's and Isabella's 'ghosts' helped Ray found Emma in the Human World.

Speaking of finding Emma. My last head canon for Ray is the following;

When they found out that Emma lost all of her memories from the Demon World. Ray couldn't help himself but whisper a "I wish this happened to me". And everyone looks at him with an understanding smile thinking he blames himself for this... But in reality he really just selfishly thought (only for seconds) that he could forget everything happened on the other side.

Okay. That's all. Sorry for the supper long post and I'm forever thankful if you read through my brainrots 🥰😘. Also let me know if I should cover more characters like this. I'll obviously do Emma and Norman but if there any other characters you want to see please let me know🥰🤩💖.

[lostgracestories]

Double whammy -- like I said, the brainrot for the omen twins is strong so expect to see them a lot from me...! 😅

Anyhoo, for headcanons: How do Morgott or Mohg comfort their S/O?

Lowkey, you're a real one <3 (I'm keeping you, have some cookies)

Honestly, I LOVE comfort headcanons so BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP these are gonna be fluffy and cute <333 Also, they're kinda short cause I just got off work so I'm like, using half of my brain, lmao.

wc: 565 tw: tears/crying, implied violence, threats

Comfort

Mohg

If Mohg ever sees you crying, he'd lowkey probably have to force himself not to cry too. He hasn't been close to anyone since he was in the Shunning Grounds with his brother and thus, he hasn't had to provide comfort for tears in quite a while. Although he's unsure, he wraps his arms around you in a careful hug and allows you to cry it out. When you've calmed down enough, he'll ask if you are okay and what has happened, hiding the fact that there is a film of tears in his eye, threatening to spill.

Mohg is very protective of you, if there is a specific person who is the reason you need comfort, he will not hesitate to take care of them accordingly. "...and he called me fat!" Mohg with his trident behind his back: "Is that so..."

Mohg also for sure will pull you into his lap and draw shapes onto your back and neck with his nails while you cry into his shoulder or chest. And even though he won't kiss you (through fear of hurting you) he will allow you to hug him for as long as you wish.

Okay listen, Mohg may not be the greatest with words, but he loves to bring you blood roses. So when you're sad, they increase tenfold. He'll be carrying a bouquet that's 3 times your size and ask you if it's enough. He's so silly and sweet.

Oh, and he definitely found out that he can rub your noses together to make up for not kissing you or press his forehead to yours so he definitely does this to bring you back down from spiraling.

Morgott

So I mention this a lot, but Morgott although well-spoken, does not communicate his feelings very well with words. So when you're upset over something he will carry you to bed and wrap you in his cloak, even bringing you tea and sitting next to you while you ramble to him about what has made you so upset. And trust me, he listens and hears everything you say.

Every once in a while, Morgott is the reason for your sad state and he is so oblivious to it until you turn away from him when he comes to bed "My Queen? Prithee, if I have upset thee, tell me so I may fix it-" "...You told me to leave you alone earlier, so I am leaving you alone" He definitely feels guilty and brings you a love poem in the morning with a single erdleaf flower, leaving you with a kiss on the forehead before he goes to tend to his kingly duties.

Morgott, like his brother, is also very protective of you. At some point you had to stop giving him the names of those who so much as stressed you out because he'd practically threaten to maul them for even looking at you funny. And it was always in such a "proper" way "If thou art bemused by my queen's distress, then thou must wishest for death to befall thee" And it's always in letter form. Oddly, the thought of him caring so much does bring some comfort though.

Lastly, Morgott would kiss away your tears should he have you alone. He would whisper praises to you between each kiss until your tears stopped flowing and either turned into a smile, or you fell asleep against him.

[x-reader-things]

omg bro i’ve been actuallly dying for someone to do buff!reader x arcane characters headcanons - i’ve been working hard at the gym so i’d love to see it pay off with my fav characters pretty please !!

Hello! Thank you for requesting!!

I didn’t really get all of the characters on my list like I wanted to, so I just did Vi, Caitlyn, and Ekko. I lost motivation part of the way through and then Star Wars Rebels brainrot got to me and then I didn’t know what else to write, so this will have to to for now. I hope it’s alright.

I hope you enjoy too!! :DDD

“Look at you!”

Vi, Caitlyn, Ekko x Buff!Reafer [separate - could be perceived as either romantic or platonic]

Summary ; In which training hard gets their attention.

Requested? ; Yes

Warnings ; None

Word Count ; 831

——————————————————————

Vi

Vi is pretty buff in her own right as well as you.

I mean c'mon, we've seen her in a tanktop. We've seen her back muscles and arm muscles.

All that time running around the Undercity and keeping herself busy while she was still locked up in prison really paid off.

And while you didn't exactly have the time to train in a jail cell, you certainly did when helping Ekko with the Firelights. You helped him build, and train others since the start of it all.

You both knew each other before everything that happened with Vander and Powder - Jinx - Powder? Whatever she went by nowadays - and Milo and Claggor. You weren't as buff back then like you were now. So when Vi met you again years later after Ekko let her see the Firelight hideout properly, she was pleasantly surprised.

"Look at you!", she had said in quiet astonishment.

"Look at me.", you said back with a smile. She draws you in for a hug. You both squeeze each other tightly. It's been... a long time.

"You filled out well", Vi comments softly in your ear.

"I wanted to be strong like you were", you tell her. "Plus the muscles look amazing on me. Lotta hard work to look like this."

"Well your hard work really paid off - seriously, look at you!" She pulls back, looking at you up and down, eyes roving over the muscles you had toned for months now in endearment. "You're not wrong, they look great on you."

Caitlyn

Caitlyn has had training herself as an enforcer. She's toned herself, but lean all the same.

The muscles are still visibly there, though, of course.

Now you, on the other hand? Buff. Bigger muscles, more sculpted but not to the point of what looks to be like dehydration. You've been working for them for months.

Years, even, at this point.

You weren't an enforcer by any means, but you were consistent in visiting the gym that Caitlyn usually trains at. That's how the two of you met, afterall.

Training in the gym.

One of the days you were both there, she was spotting you on one of the newer equipment that the gym had recently gotten. Courtesy of Caitlyn using her nobility status for personal gain.

And using friend privileges with Jayce who worked with the Piltoven council.

She was watching you as you worked, and her eyes caught onto the muscle she's seen you make yourself over the years.

Thinking back on it, she never really paid too much attention to the changes. It was gradual. She was already used to how buff you looked now, and however you looked before - which was probably still buff, but not as nearly as much as now.

She hummed with a proud look, patting your shoulder when you got off the equipment. "Sometimes I forget how hard you really work. Let’s go take a break and get some water. And maybe some lunch. I'll pay."

You can read through the lines when she gives your shoulder a squeeze. And you caught the way her eyes glanced over you. She was really proud of you, wasn't she?

"Lunch sounds perfect."

Ekko

You’ve been training with Ekko and the rest of the firelights for years at this point.

Well, it’s been seven years, but still years nonetheless.

Your progress was gradual, subtle in the ways that Ekko was already used to you being buff, much like you with him.

He was buff as well, much like you were. But as said before, you both trained together with the firelights. It was normal to see him the way he was, the way he was determined to stay strong - in more ways than one - and disrupt Silco’s horrible Shimmer business and regime in Zaun.

But much like with Caitlyn, sometimes he notices your gains in strength.

How your training has paid off.

You’d be just moving boxes of supplies for everyone in the hideout with him, ranging from medical supplies and medicines, foods and stuff for drinks, and parts for whatever Ekko and a couple of the other engineers create. Even extra toys and supplies for all the other kids you guys kept safe in the Hideout.

And after setting a box onto a pile in the supply room, Ekko glances in your direction, and just stares for a bit, resting his elbow against a metal shelf in the room. A smile ends up pulling at the corners of his mouth, even more so when you notice him looking at you.

“Everything good over there?”, you ask, raising a brow. You turn away and pick up another, smaller box, and stretch up to put the container someplace higher.

“Yeah.”, he chuckles lightly, turning back to the shelf. He pushed a couple of boxes to the side, making room for another. “Everything’s good.”

He doesn’t say it verbally, but the glint in his eyes do.

You look good, and you work hard.

He was proud.

[ghoulishtomato]

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM KNOCKOFF MOVIE???

Under the "keep reading" tab, you will see a bullet list of my reaction to a movie I found at Half-Priced Books called Night at the Magic Museum. It'll be me pointing out things about the movie and what I enjoy and whatnot. I do my best to describe what happens in the movie but, again, it's mostly reactions, so not a reliable play by play of the movie's events.

First, the basic plot synopsis of the movie that they have in the back of the DVD case (which is completely true and accurate to the events of the film):

⚡ During a fierce electrical storm, lightning hits a museum creating a magical passageway between our world and the world within the museum's paintings. Ben and Kim (brother and sister) find themselves transported to a 17th century village under siege by Falco, an evil sorcerer learned in the ways of black magic. The kids learn that the evil Falco is in search of the village's most prizes possession: The Jewel of Polaris. With the Jewel, Falco will be unstoppable. Ben and Kim must save the village and return to our world before it's too late.⚡

Now, onto my actual (a little bit disjointed) commentary:

before the actual movie, there was a trailer that had some lovely 90s Fantasy Whimsy, and the scenes/compositions scratched my brain just right that now my hopes for NAT(M)M are probably way too high now. Also, the trailer was for something called The Tiny Kingdom, so ofc my NATM brain thought of Jed and Oct

LOVE the orchestra music that plays over a black screen as they list the credits. If they really wanted to rip off NATM tho, they coulda shown us B Roll of the magic museum. But it serves it's purpose and I love orchestra music so I'm not bothered.

We are now in 1632. A Sharp tongued British man named Falco is sneering at his subordinates (?) and my Red Dwarf brainrot has immediately projected Arnold Rimmer onto him.

Falco is kind of cunty actually. And also sounds EXACTLY like Rimmer.

Very obvious ADR for this one side character, but otherwise, not the worst production! I enjoy this!

This would fuck as an old anime, that's what the dialogue feels like.

It's probably impertinent that I tell y'all right now that I fuck with older shit and actively enjoy what people nowadays would likely call major flaws and "ruining the immersion".

hAHA ISTG THERE IS JUST SOME DUDE WHO ACCIDENTALLY FELL INTO THE SHOT WHEN HE DIDN'T MEAN TO, I LOVE LIVE THEATRE 💀

Some... Editing discrepancies... They say it is raining outside... No it's not 💀 And not enough for there to be flashes of blue lightning visible from inside. But luckily I possess a strong will for suspension of disbelief. And the blue lightning is just sort of a running motif through the movie as a reminder of the real world while they're in the painting.

Ben and Kim are mentioned in the plot synopsis, but they leave out the fact they have a little sister named Casey, who I argue is pretty important to the movie. Kim works at the museum and she has to bring Ben and Casey along with her.

Omg, Armour in a museum. Like Lancelot.

Okay VERY obvious ADR line that was supposed to be said by young teen Ben, but the ADR'd voice sounds like a grown ass man 💀? Quite a few noticable ADR moments that don't quite match up with what's on screen throughout the movie actually.

Alright, paintings can come to life because of lightning. No Egyptian magic here.

God, Ben is such a 90s teen boy.

Very clearly the draw of this movie is not the museum- like at all. It's this ONE painting functioning as a portal and the legit world it leads to. Not in any art style a la the black and white painting in Smithsonian, or the Escher painting in Secret of the Tomb. Just a straight up other world. Painting just sucks Ben and Kim in after lightning strike and spits them out into a hay pile in fantasy land.

There's a menacing guy who fell out of a painting and is now up and about in the museum (not important).

Older sister Kim is coming to ridiculous conclusions to blame Ben for the situation they're in (a la annoying big sister stereotype) but Ben's responses are so calm, candid, and reasonable that it's not annoying to me HAHA

Ben's so fucking funny actually HAHA. Everyone has had at least one surprisingly funny line actually

This Fantasy world low-key reminds me of The Legend of Zelda and I fuck with it. Just a little bit. (But everyone is basically human here; no fish people, or even fairies or hell, not even elves).

Falco is such a cunty asshole. Excellent villain so far oh my gAWD. He's so evil.

People keep mocking each other in this movie it's so funny.

HAHA, OKAY SO- They gave us a magician guy (M) who indirectly is responsible for Lincoln's assassination. This movie is so delightful. M is my new favorite.

M is there, btw, because Casey likes to draw, and he's basic her OC that they manage to get into the painting (in order to help Ben and Kim get home and whatnot) by sticking here drawing to the painting they're in. Yeah, Casey's just hanging in the museum with a security guard named Monty (who also play the magician M. The actor actually has some nice range in this movie!).

If you're like crazy about world building, I hate to tell you that s o m e of the stuff about this isn't real clear to me (like, it's implied the fantasy characters also existed in the real world or something but like??? That doesn't make sense here) so like 💀💀

Fun and creative puzzle moment near the climax :D Just one though. Also, Ben likes to roller skate, and that's helpful for this cave he's in to find some magic jewel to help him and Kim get home (and that he's gotta find before Falco).

Also there was a cave in this movie that Istg I saw in a dream...

There's this voiceover narration for some "Tests of bravery and intelligence" Ben has to do, and the narrator sounds like Crispin Freeman to me, heehee (it's def not him tho).

Btw, sister Kim has been delegated to prisoner waiting to be rescued but this is a late 90s fantasy movie so like... what do I expect.

The acting is kind of 1 Note, all on the same level for the most part. It's not bad by any means, of course, they've all been funny at least.

...... This movie had an extremely lackluster and borderline disappointing climax with all the fantasy land magic jewel shit... 💀 Falco deserved something more grand...

Btw, remember how I said there was a guy from a painting wondering around? Well he seemed to be after Casey for unknown reasons. But he was hardly in the movie 💀 He seemed to pose a threat near the end, but dispatching him was "super easy. Barely an inconvenience!" (A sword shot out of fantasy land painting for some reason and killed him before meeting him back into his painting).

So that's it. Literally NOTHING like Night at the Museum save for magic painting portal. Again, as mentioned in my previous post about the movie (and based on how the movie just looks and functions) it was made in like '99.

So what the fuck is the deal with the EXTREMELY NOTICEABLE Night at the Museum coattail riding???

Well, the company that released the movie (from what I can tell) is Moonbeam films, which wasn't founded until 2012- bUT it's parent company is Full Moon features, which was founded in 1988. So if I were to guess, perhaps Full Moon features made the movie, but Moonbeam released it on DVD.

NOW, THE ORIGINAL TITLE FOR THIS FILM WAS ACTUALLY Search for the Jewel of Polaris: Mysterious Museum. But when it was released on DVD in August of 2012, it was renamed to Night at the Magic Museum (it looks like it had a few other different names it could've been called as well, including just The Magic Museum or Mysterious Museum).

Both these production companies or whatever don't make like... The best films, I guess. Or at the very least, very tongue-in-cheek goofy ass movies that aren't trying to be cinema or anything (which is so valid of them). In fact, Full Moon features is known for shit like Evil Bong, Gingerdead Man, and Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong.

The point is- they're not particularly high quality or serious about their movies and productions if I were to take a lucky guess (cause I'm not gonna search THAT deep into this; I'm not a YouTuber who can get paid for it 💀).

SO- I THINK...

Moonbeam Films changed the movie title AND specifically designed the DVD case to match Night at the Museum as close as they possibly could (from the composition down to the font) YEARS after the movie was originally made/released, and a few years after Night at the Museum released it's sequel, Battle of the Smithsonian. Hell, the kid on the DVD cover doesn't even look like the movie's MC, Ben (left) 💀 They just grabbed some random white boy to pose SPECIFICALLY for this.

NATM had proven itself to be- like- EXTREMELY fucking popular among kids, families, and a bunch of gay people who want to see that tiny cowboy and Roman kiss. Like we see with lots of bootlegs, they were likely banking on riding the coattails of NATM's success in order to make money on their low budget crummy movie...

Except like.... Search for the Jewel of Polaris isn't bad? It's nowhere near the level Night at the Museum is production wise, of course. But it's got a homey feel to it. It's got an actual story it's telling, and the actor's do quite a good job! (Especially in the beginning of the movie). It is it's own, quaint little movie that I would like to watch a second time.

To ride on the coattails of another movie kind of shows insecurity about the movie's actual contents I think. I mean, that dinosaur, knight, pirate ship, and weird alien thing we see on the cover?? Not in the damn movie 💀 This attempt to be dishonest about what the movie has to offer while also maybe hoping people confuse it with another, successful movie in order to milk money out of it just looks bad on Moonbeam Films' behalf.

In conclusion: Search for the Jewel of Polaris is NOT a Night at the Museum ripoff, and could never have been, what with being made 6-7 years before the first NATM actually came out. It was rebranded in 2012 as Night at the Magic Museum for DVD releases by Moonbeam Films. It's a cute, simple little movie with it's own charming characters and concept, and you can feel the human touch/heart all throughout it 💛💛

Thank You for reading. ☺️✨ Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be thinking about Falco for forever til eternity.

[iamhereinthebg]

thoughts on the new chapter?

*salt about tbhk incoming* :')))

I already announced it on instagram but my interest in tbhk have dropped drastically since some time and I was gonna give the manga the benefit of the doubt because chap 104 was okay Ig?

Chapter 105 just showed everything I have been not liking about the writing in tbhk in one chapter youhou

let's go on the positive first!

I adore class 1-A I would die for them

The pages in black and white were cool, the art is perfect as always. Maybe seeing an Akane and Hanako team up would be fire af but with Teru here I doubt it so this is a tiny hope I will put in hell with everything else for now.

I love you Kou and Mistuba

Yokoo is rocking this outfit too. I like the fact that the clock being destroyed just stops everything and everyone's time (like a certain character but who has a limit *COUGHS* probably for this reason Ig)

them

Idk if I am strong enough to go on a full explanation on why my interest dropped since some chapters, this didn't start on this one, this one was just the last straw. I will just show the most obvious choices that I don't like ( my opinion btw this is just the feeling I have while reading, take this with a BIG grain of salt)

I've been reading tbhk for 4 years and I am tired of waiting for stuff the author litteraly won't do anything about and just stay in their comfort zone

No repercussions on the mcs for some choices they made, no repercussions on wounds/stuff that happened which should have need time to heal for the characters or for them to grow, giving us always the same team up so no room for real character/relationship development beside the obvious (and with how slow Hanako and Nene have been going honestly making the same characters always interact doesn't help at all apparently L O L), BIG difference of pacing for characters growth, making the story take always the same route with the same characters being kidnapped and the same ones doing the savings, putting characters in an arc they have no reason to be part of so just making them stand in the background like a caricature of themselves, making characters 'mysterious' or forgetting their character development just to use them as some sort of deus ex machina, and the worst of all:

Making Nene just a reason for Hanako to react and nothing else. No character development for her, no reason for her to be in some scenes, this is just sad to watch at this point. Aoi had this problem at the beginning of the manga for Akane mostly for comedic reason and they had growth, seeing they are putting Nene in this position after more than 100 chapters and her being the mc is just awful.

I honestly just want more diversity in the choices they are making in their writing, and the last chapter proves me that either it will come in a long time or it never will.

At least the art is pretty, and the worst part is that I KNOW AidaIro knows how use setup, they know how to write really good stuff and good characters, complex stories, and it's GOOD. So seeing this in the recent chapters just makes me even more tired x'))

Once again, my opinion, but the way Nene and Aoi are treated in the manga makes me wanna explode. AidaIro are capable of writing good female characters (thank you Mei and Sumire for being perfect from start to end), Aoi and Nene had wonderful time too, so idk why all of this is happening rn tbh. It's just sad.

Maybe the brainrot will come back, I still love the characters, but I really need to take a break from the fandom anyways (not gonna expand on this but oh boy how annoying a part of the fandom is, a lot of people are the sweetest but a part makes me wanna explode, I've been more than 3 years here and I think that the most I can take at this point)

ANYWAYS :DDD idk what I will do with this account for now ^^ I will probably still rb some stuff or post old tbhk doodles I never finished :00 Idk what I wanna draw now probably ocs stuff so I won't post them here I think ^^ I hope everyone is alright yay

[stridingseer]

Throwing my brainrot/general notes for the two Krauser fights in the CN dub. It is, some really interesting material to dig into and I can’t stop thinking about it. Everything under the cut

First fight in Chapter 11 (start at 32:07): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1rx4y1A7rX?p=11 Second fight in Chapter 14 (starts at 38:21): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1rx4y1A7rX?p=14

FIRST FIGHT (Mines)

- Rookie is not directly brought over as instead Leon is known as a new soldier (xinbing) compared to Marvin's new guy (xinren). Which means it's NOT a double meaning word to drive the knife in further. If anything, calling him a new soldier is more or less just his title and how he's technically below Krauser station wise, completely different energy than 'rookie' which can be read as an insult. - Instead of calling Krauser by Major, Leon uses the much more respectful and admired 'shaoxiao' for rank. It is even more respect than simply calling him Major (his title) and in a way implies that Leon looks UP to Krauser. Gets compounded by the fact that Krauser calls him a little kid and only by 'rookie', he never gives an opportunity to be closer and highlights this difference in rank. - 1:1 translation of the ENG fight for the most part though it's neat to see how CN Krauser doesn't sound like he's scolding Leon when he says 'didn't I teach you that knives are faster?' it sounds more like an actual observation than anything in CN and really a request that Leon to USE that knife. He sounds like a teacher I had in chinese school when he's disappointed. - Instead of the 'major! you're not thinking straight!' we get 'major! is your brain broken?!' Also it's MIDWAY into the fight that Leon calls Krauser by his last name, prior to this it is only the title. Regardless of which title is being used, it's not until Leon is PUSHED that he uses Krauser's name (kinda like how you don't call a teacher by their name unless it's told to you or if you're close enough to know it. Strangely enough because of how rare Krauser's name shows up, it's as if the fight gets MORE personal once Leon says 'Krauser') prior to this point, Krauser is 'Major' and 'Major' only.  - Krauser instead of saying that what he taught Leon was 'a waste' implies instead that this entire match they just had? A waste of time. Like straight up, he just wasted his time on all of this and maybe on Leon too (which considering how Leon is the student is oof) - Everything else is a 1:1 of the ENG fight for the most part. Krauser does a LOT of scolding.  SECOND FIGHT (Ruins)

- When Krauser says 'you can't save her, you can't save Anyone', Leon does the rough equivalent of 'shut up/stop' rather than a strong 'give it up Krauser!' from English. Also worth noting is how Leon turns this around retorts with basically 'and this can't save your men!' Highlight on how they both focus on the word 'saving' in CN rather than ENG's choice to use 'bring your men BACK' (from the dead) - Also, from this point onwards, Leon uses Krauser's surname. Meanwhile Krauser maintains the colder standpoint of only using new soldier (rookie) to Leon which gives them some distance.  - what IS interesting is how Leon uses brothers (xiongdi) which basically implies that yeah, he knew them too. Also quite normal since they would be battle brothers in a sense. It's not 'men', it's people that Krauser specifically worked with as if it were going for something more distanced/colder, you would be using soldiers (bing) instead of xiongdi.  - Krauser, before letting out fire at Leon, isn't saying to move out and draw fire. instead it's to metaphorically become his torch from a direct translation. - Leon's 'if I'd be dead if I listened to people like you' becomes one of those cheeky lines instead of a comeback in ENG through sheer tone. If anything he just wants Krauser to stop talking and he wants to press some buttons. - Krauser's 'anything to make the pretty boy feel special' literally becomes 'I prepared this just for the little handsome boy!' which is like, christ.  Prior to this, Leon says ‘you did all this for me? you didn’t have to!’ rather than ‘well, you’ve really gone all out for me. you shouldn’t have!’  - Leon, of course (you can hear bits of Kaeya in there), chooses to snark about how the arm must be hurting so much and maybe Krauser should get a break. - Now small difference but Leon's 'oh that's your true power? Oh I'd ask for a refund' becomes about how HE would get a refund. He's straight up returning the ticket over Krauser's true power. - Wanting to see Leon writhe is now about him begging for mercy - Leon's 'the way you're going, there won't be anything to protect! You'd have known that once!' the latter sentence becomes 'you STILL know that!' which is oh boy, loaded. Krauser is still the same man despite everything that has changed to Leon and to Leon, this change still means nothing because to HIM, he's talking to the same man as the one that trained him/worked with him - Krauser's 'do.... what you have to do.' becomes 'you KNOW what to do' - FINAL 'I trained you well... Leon' is now 'I didn't teach you for nothing.. Leon' which is like BOY. Mind you their first fight implies that Krauser wasted his time training Leon and to have this be the bookend to that is... certainly a thing. Leon then agrees with Krauser's final statement about how 'you didn't teach me for nothing' 

[nocturnalzhagreus]

8, 11, 22, 26, and 30 for Florence; 12, 14, 16, 23, and 28 for Henry :)

Oh boy its going to be a long one, lets just start with the girlie!

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

Florence is a type of person who gets curious and interested easily so she embodies this trait into cooking. Her personal favorite is to make cookies and pasta, which she likes experimenting with new recipes. In some occasions if she's a bit worn out she likes to make a cup of goat milk and read a couple novels to unwind herself

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

It all started when i got back to the twdak fandom and was also in a brainrot after reading agatha christie's novel "and then there were none". (Spoilers if you havent read it) I was a big fan of Old Justice Wargrave (or Laurence Wargrave) because he was such a well written villain with a strong sense of justice yet an "innocent" and calm sadistic demeanor. At that time i already had Florence in my drafts but i haven't got any good refs, so i decided to make my favorite old man as the refs for my girlie :>

22) Fight or Flight? Are they a lover or a fighter?

In a fight or flight situation, i do think she likes to take the risk. In making decisions or to put it simple, when she joined Krueger corp. she already knew theres no turning back because her father had already "given up" on her. So she will strive to prove that she's strong enough without him. So, a fighter.

26) What flower do you associate your OC with?

As much as i wanted to answer with wacky pretty flowers, i think daisies symbolizes her quite well, since it represents "innocence", loyalty, and ability to keep secrets

30) My OC and your OC are friends. This isn't a question. I'm not asking. (How do they respond?)

Theyre besties, your honor. Florence would really be grateful for Fiish's company because Albert could be quite a tiring boss, especially if he asks her to clean up the recent mess his patients did. Its just girlies supporting girlies yknow (and yeah they'll probably bully him also its part of the silly agenda lmao)

Now its time for Henry's turn!

12) Does your OC interact with other people's OC? If so, who's their best OC friend?

Yes. If you have seen the small comic i made with my friend (@im-bored-so-i-draw )'s oc, Jameson Heelshire, he's one of his homies. I dont know if they let me spoil another one but theres also another guy named Gabe, and he's also part of the group.

14) Who's a character your OC cannot stand! It's on sight when they see them!

With the events of him being rejected when he signed up for Myers corp, he absolutely despises Monsieur M. (Or just Myers in general) So everytime the tv at his press office has news about Myers he would reach put for the remote and change the channel to something else. He met Albert too at some point in while working, but he's still tolerable.

16) How's their relationship with their parents? Are they alive?

Henry's parents is indeed still alive. But the relationship is complicated. His mother was actually forced to marry his father because she was already pregnant before they were married. And Henry's mother was a scientist at Voorhees corp. And she was actually half-hearted when she had Henry. So they got divorced, and since his father regretted all of these occurences, Henry was taken in care by his uncle, Harlan. As for his relationship with them now, he still calls his dad and also his mom. Henry could only hope one day that his mother actually aswered the call when he did.

23) Is your OC reliable? Can I call them up at two in the morning if I have a flat tire?

Only if it also benefits him. Like if you call him with the said prompt he'll just reply "and what will you give me?" And if you answered something that pleases him (like you'll help him with his "work") he'll grab his sneakers and a brand new tire to run to you with aid.

28) What clique would they be in? (Draw them in the clothes of said group!)

I have really small understanding of english terms (it isnt my first language) so what i could gather is cliques are like those groups in highschools who has specific interests (?) So i would say he would be like a movie geek ig

(I dont know what they wear so apoliogies for not drawing :'>)

[major-wren]

God thank you for that last drawing is like you reached into my brain and pulled that out. I've been thinking these past few days and this enter the headcanon territories, about the shadow/maria soul(also emerl) ughhh i love the posibilities ¿how/what does it mean gerald put the soul of maria into these two? I know it probably wasn't that literally but </3 imagining gerald with help of some mystic force splitting her granddaughter soul, and since maria died shadow technically is the reincarnation of her? She lives through him/is the same essence/will always be part of each other. And i like gerald but you cannot convince me even if he had good intentions, that he didn't fucked over maria/shadow/emerl/the biolizard/sentinent experiments. The whole point of lab rats/experiments will always be go beyond to make a breakthrough no matter what, the biolizard questionable conditions of life is proof enough to me. So no i don't agree with people saying oh it was a totally happy life in the ark and a good/morally clean childhood for shadow uwu that makes what happened after more tragic, mhm we do not have certainty of that and glimpses of evidence point to things being more complex than that, lastly imo it feels like a disservice to maria/shadow/the biolizard etc characters stating that all was perfectly happy good before the tragedy happened, so sorry for this long ass essay my brainrot was too strong sorry anyways maria is shadow, shadow is maria my beloved.

Thank you sm!!

Yea even though it's not colored yet I really wanted it to be out there already cause I feel like I never see content exploring this interpretation of Shadow. Like I said in an earlier post, I believe the characters to be more symbolic than literal. I mean, yes, you can interpret them literally, they're definitely set up for that too and it'd also be correct, but I think there's deeper symbolic meanings standing behind the literal interpretation too. I think Maria is supposed to represent innocence and lost childhood, and so in my mind I always loosely interpreted Shadow and Maria as being one and the same- a part of himself that he lost, or a part of himself that was tarnished and forever changed but that he still has control over moving forward. Your "inner child" and all that.

And then in the literal interpretation of their story, they're still not quite pure simple siblings. Shadow was made for her, literally modeled after her- how could you not have identity issues over it? Or inner conflict from your partly artificial and self-conflicting personality? That inner struggle of being both a weapon and a cure, trying to accept such polar opposite halves of yourself, the consequences of your development literally being a game of tug-of-war. I feel like in interpretations like these, his inconsistent behavior throughout media can make a bit more sense. Also yeah, Gerald was crazy dude, and even if Gerald was a pure soul before grief corrupted him, there was still GUN fighting for control over Shadow the whole time.

[prettyboykatsuki]

when you start writing for ushijima >>>>>>>>>>>>>

can you tell im begging?

»» — { ♡ } —— { ♡ } —— { ♡ } — ««

inevitable | u. wakatoshi

➳ tags ;; fluff n smut, getting together, first times together, unprotected sex, intentional lower case 18+

➳ wc ;; 1.9k (WHAT THE FUCK)

➳ a/n ;; ask n u shall recieve (i had rlly bad brainrot tn actually)

»» — { ♡ } —— { ♡ } —— { ♡ } — ««

if you had to describe ushijima wakatoshi in one word, you think the word you would chose is inevitable.

in·ev·i·ta·ble | /inˈevidəb(ə)l/ adjective certain to happen; unavoidable

of all the ways you could describe a person, it's probably not the best word. you could think of a laundry list of other ones to describe - really. hard-working, dependable, strong-willed, mindful, cautious. he's a lot of things and you think that's why he's so good at what he does. he's powerful but he he's brilliant at where he uses that power.

you would also use words like that to describe him, if you had too. if you had to give someone the run-down of wakatoshi - you could probably give them a whole speech about his accolades. he's probably the kindest person you know and he does that mostly on accident. he helps little old ladies carry groceries and lets your niece climb his arms like monkey bars with the most plain look on his face.

he's a lot of things - funny on accident, charming on purpose. but of all the things he is - to you, the thing he is most, is inevitable.

it's not hard for you to admit that you weren't exactly.. welcoming to ushijima when you first met him. you were a barista and he was well.. a big, pro-athlete who came to buy straight dark coffee every morning. after his work-outs (or what you figured was workouts since he always looked pretty sweaty) he bought himself precisely one pastry and a bottle of water and went about his day.

and it went like that for months. obviously you found him handsome - the way you could basically autopilot your shifts but completely broke down when he was there was evidence of that. he was tall, broad, handsome and nice. the kind of man who meets your grandmother, you think.

he always asked about you and you gave him short answers. too nervous to elaborate but he made you anyways, somehow and some way. and he comes back to you every week with details of your life you'd only mention in passing. he'd chuckle - a soft little smile at the way your eyes went wide. for someone so dense, he wasn't all that out of touch when it came to you. one morning your hands trembling just a little more than normal when you hand him back his change

(he tells you later he paid in cash just to see you stumble)

and he asks you with a plain look. observant.

"do i make you nervous?"

that's when you knew, really. you stood no chance against the all-consuming force that was and is ushijima wakatoshi. the subtlety and nuance in all of his actions left you worse for wear and any suspicions you had about how he might be treating you were to be confirmed much later down that line.

he's dense in the same way avocadoes are fruit. it's true, technically - but in a lot of ways and functionally it's just not the same. you think that the better word to use for him is selectively intelligent - like he doesn't bother thinking about anything that doesn't interest him for more than two minutes. but on the rare occasion it does interest him, i.e how you interest him - he becomes some kind of expert.

you've always been a little stubborn when it came to love. heartbreak does that to you - and you were overly cautious with ushijima. you let your heart walk on eggshells. you didn't let his gestures or touches or glances mean anything to you. you didn't let yourself be swayed by the smell of his cologne - sweet and woodsy on the back of your throat. not by the way he placed his hand on your lower back to walk past you on days off.

and when he took you out, to see the movies and stargaze, you told yourself it isn't a date. you tried your best really. because there is something really unbelievable about ushijima wakatoshi liking you - beyond the fact that he's some pro-athlete.

there's something about him that's a little unreal. not that he's perfect, but that all of his flaws make him more attractive. it almost bothers you but he doesn't seem to understand when you give him those lengthy explanations. hands making all types of gestures, flustered as he smiles. he doesn't take anything from your little lecture that day, just gives you a once over as he drives you home.

"oh, so you find me attractive?"

you didn't stand a chance. he was, and is, inevitable. everything about him has this powerful but subtlety all-consuming nature to him. you think the best way to think of it is like letting yourself float. the way you release the weigh in your body and inevitable give into letting it hold you. even if waves came - you'd probably stay in that state.

ushijima is like that. a constant presence and overwhelming force. you get swayed without even thinking. he could probably become president, if he really wanted. lucky for everyone else, he just wants to play volleyball. you think that it's a shame in equal parts that it's a gift but you digress.

the point is that you could never really be away from ushijima. and as hard as you tried to avoid the growing affection - you find that ushijima is always a few steps ahead. always reaching far beyond you with big, strong hands.

you try so hard, to avoid the inevitable. you do it with your whole soul. you're honestly just.. intimated. you've never felt something like him before - not once in your whole life. you're afraid of what'll happen when you succumb to the waves so you dodge the deep sea for weeks and weeks.

he found you after your shift one day after 3 weeks of dry texting and avoided phone calls. wearing a suit and a purple shirt and a nice watch, he has flowers too. and you're in.. a barista uniform with tousled everything and smudged mascara.

inevitable is really the only word. as you stop dead in your tracks, and as ushijima pulls you aside with the mostly gentlemanly smile. you kind of wanna cry when you look at him.

"i've waited a long time but i don't think i can much longer,"― he shifts a little. he almost looks nervous - it's the first time you've ever seen him look anything but overwhelmingly confident ― "i like you and i'd like to be with you,"

he doesn't really offer you much other than a confession and his hands. the frustrating thing is that he doesn't need to. it's the first time he's seen you cry but he handles you well, does it easily like he does everything else. like somehow he's just good at it, soothes you while you sob into his chest and melt into his presence and let yourself fall underwater.

in a probably not so surprising turn of events, you find that ushijima fucks with the same approach that he does most other things.

with careful consideration that seems effortlessly. it makes you feel a little hopeless that he feels good at everything. even at comforting you.

the first time you have sex, you take off his shirt for him. and he takes your hand and puts it up to his chest. gives you the most gentle look. his heart-beat is rapid.

"you make me .. nervous too. just so you know,"

the one thing about ushijima is that everything about him is big and wide and broad. he kisses you like he's trying to circle the solar system - there's a slowness to it. a vastness as he has you seated in his lap with his hands exploring up your body. his hands are everywhere. he's good with them. not too gentle but not too rough as the spread your thighs open.

he cups your pussy and it fits in his whole palm. his middle finger teases your slit as his kisses travel south, down your jaw and onto your neck. they latch onto your chest with a little breathless sigh - like he can't even breathe. it makes you clench when he talks to you - raspy.

"you're.... beautiful,"

he makes you shy. so shy as you lean forward a little and rock into his hand - a burning need nipping at you. and his eyes widen and his cock stiffens and his breath hitches and you think this is the first time you've caught him off-guard before. you wanna bask in it but you're too desperately so you latch onto his lips again.

ushijima does everything right. with knowledge in it. he kisses you and sucks on your tits and plays with your clit with this.. knowing. he likes seeing you fall apart he thinks. he likes how you get when he takes it much slower than he needs too - how he drags you through one orgasm to another with this lithe. he lets you lean over his shoulder when he fingers you - and his two fingers stretch you out like four of your own.

his cock is big. bigger than you think any person could ever take. you stare at it for a long while, gaping at it. your hands barely fit around it and that image burns itself into ushijimas brain like a permanent memory. your mouth falls open and your eyes look hazy and ushijima thinks that he's never wanted to be inside of something so bad before.

"it's so big," ― you whisper, hoarse ― "i-it won't fit,"

"i'll make it fit," ― is his only reply, kissing the crown of your head ― "sit tight,"

he does, by the way. make it fit. he makes it fit good - makes it stretch your pussy out but you don't feel like you'll break. there's a little pressure inside, and your clit swells with desire and blood - but it fits. and his eyes are glued to the way your cute little cunt seems to be swallowing him like it's nothing. it's enough to make him lose his mind.

"c-can i move?"

you nod and he does. slow at first. he draws the noise from you - a slow and soft moan leaving your lips as he drags his cock in and out of you. but it gets faster, goes much faster than you thought it could.

eventually he has you bouncing in his lap, on his cock, with such force that you feel like you can't breathe. it feels unbelievable, sets off a supernova in your gut like at any moment you could come undone. you feel like you're breaking and ushijima doesn't help, soft grunts and whispered affections.

"you're so beautiful," and "im so happy" that make you feel dizzy. you'd probably give him anything he asks for. he bounces you on his cock and lets his thumb just rest on your clit and you're so close you can almost taste it.

"cum for me," ― like he's begging ― "please,"

what choice do you have anyways? you cum on his cock with a silent scream, like your voice is tearing a blackhole into space and you shudder while he holds you in place. he finishes only seconds afterwards.

"did it feel good?"

you give him a wide-eyed look. he's dense at times. you don't know how to hate him for it so you just sigh and nod, cozying to him.

"y..yeah,"

he kisses your forehead, sweaty and tired.

"good,"

yeah. you were right.

you never had a single chance of winning against him.

»» — { ♡ } —— { ♡ } —— { ♡ } — ««

[fruit-salad-ship]

I got thinking about what team Peach would bring to take her family down, and the type advantages that could work, and remembered Grey has some water specialties. Sudden image of Peach fighting and getting knocked to the ground, storm raging overhead, her back to some coastline cliffs (I don’t know if that’s even close to where her family lives but the brainrot happened) and a weak Val held close to her chest. She’s backpedaling as hard as she can, family slowly stepping toward her, knowing they’ve won, maybe monologuing. All of a sudden a huge wave rises up and crashes against the cliffs and all the gyarados from the island are there, staring down the entire family, and Grey climbs up to the head of one, and a little flash of hope appears in Peach’s eye. Plum comes in too somehow, maybe Boadicea carries her while Missy flies alongside

This feels so anime I’m so sorry lol

This turned out longer than i planned. I wanna draw bits of this SO BADLY.

It'd be Robbie, the last remaining cousin, who catches peach out, eager to remove the heir from the bloodline, he's twisted and devious, and thinks if he can kill peach, he has a better chance at leading. He's know for the most brutal tactics, and always gets his way, through manipulation or force. Peach severely underestimates just how far he'll go to wipe her off the face of the planet. She was just sneaking closer to gather information, had no intention of engaging with any of her people, didn't prepare enough, wasn't ready for an unfair fight, odds stacked against her and the handful of pokemon she'd brought for recon, not a war.

In a brutal turn of events, Peach sees one of his team fire off a huge hyper beam, through another of his own pokemon who was unfortunate enough to be between him and the professor. She dodges, but Rob's own pokemon does not, the hit is fatal but out of desperation Peach tries to get to it to help in some way. Sure it was attacking her earlier but the betrayal makes her blood boil. Inner doctor kicks in, gotta try to help. This is of course a trap. Robbie calls one final attack on her, Val raising a shield, but it's not enough to take the full hit, shield takes the brunt but cracks, blasting them both back. Booker's on one knee exhausted, totally out of it, Val is in a bad way, standing but heavily injured, Minerva is trying to keep the hoards of specially trained pokemon back with ferocious kicks and speed, but it's just not enough, theres too many. Peach has already been knocked out of a bonded form, leaving her out of energy and totally vulnerable, everyones too tired to keep this up.

He backs her up to the cliff coastline where she once nearly got eaten up by a sharpedo, grabbing Val, taking Minerva's hand, leaning into Booker as reassurance, realising this was probably the end. Tears prick up looking at her team, gut wrenching regret bringing them here. A last ditch thought, to potentially save them from certain death. She apologises, before returning them all, instinct to fight to get back out, too weak to break free. With a strong arm, she throws all her pokeballs out to the ocean. They'll float, and soon after, their emergency beacons would go off, someone would find them in due time, they'll wash up on some distant shore, and find help.

Alone, furious, scared, foot feeling a little ground slip from under her, looking back to the fatal fall into rocky outcrops, ocean churning at the base, as a giant charizard snaps, its throat white hot, she can feel it radiating heat comparable to a furnace. Robbie has that twisted grin on his face, finally able to remove all viable competition. Theres nothing left to do, several pokemon closing in. With her last little bout of defiance, she points to the body of the pokemon who got taken out by friendly fire, looking at all his other mons, one or two wavering, but otherwise ignoring her desperate attempt to help them see they hold the power, too afraid of their trainer to rebel.

A final 'fuck you' at Robbie, middle fingers up, terrified but defiant to the end. Three of the pokemon ahead of her begin to charge attacks point blank. A sudden burst of cold air, water spray, too high up to be the ocean, the sound of earth shaking roars, tearing the attention of her foe away from peach briefly, looking now behind her. A shadow covers the whole area, engulfs her, forcing the woman to peer behind, towering bodies blocking out the drop, the horizon line, everything. Blasts of water push them back, several Gyarados moving around her like actual waves, they're all familiar, all of them give her a side eye as she staggers back a little, some form of relief, hope letting her legs give out briefly. Robbie shouts at his pokemon, pushes them further, but they don't stand up to the sheer number of hydro pumps relentlessly pushing them back. Some slip and fall, some tumble backwards, a couple take to the skies, followed closely by a duo of Gyarados, not limited to the water or the ground, but the clouds too.

"Dragons hey?" A hand on peach's shoulder feels familiar, warm, looking back to Grey who'd brought the cavalry. He looks at her softly, but you can see theres an anger behind that, redirecting his gaze to the fight, that anger increasing by the second, making sure to command the hoard with competence, keep them informed, supported. Behind him, Boadicea comes into view, big broad wings creating wind as she lands on the ledge, Plum tentatively on her back, tolerating the flight despite how sick it made her feel. She hops down from the back of the charizard hybrid, wobbly legs but fine, stooping down to the woman on the ground. The pokemon itself is quick to examine all the injuries she's sustained, worried as any youngster would be. "Don't lose these." Plum murmurs, eyes on the cuts and bruises, handing back the pokeballs Peach threw out of desperation, her team within.

She can't help but cry, unable to hold it back totally, trying to stop the tears, helped up by the ranger. She was so certain she was going to die there and then, suddenly surrounded by reinforcement, love. The recon mission had gone very wrong, and somehow these two found her just in time, against all odds.

Pushed back, shouting obscenities at both Peach and his own team, Robbie is left on the cliff face, the trio returning to the skies behind covering fire, escaping for the time being. It would not stop him trying again, but for now, there was time to recuperate, heal up, prepare better. Peach is fully aware that he'll change his tactics to handle the water types next time, but for now, they were all alive and together.

[ryosmne]

Three brats??

Dad!Sukuna x f!reader

So this is basically a comfort fic, featuring dad! Sukuna because the brainrot was too much. Ok so, the reader and Sukuna have a son together, yes their son is Yuuji, I know this is usually the single father Sukuna trope, but I wanted to give it a go, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for brainrotting with me @likeab-o-s-s cause this is the reason this exists. That's all from me enjoy reading.

Warnings: none really, just family, heartwarming fluff.

The air was crisp and fresh, unusually refreshing for the beginning of summer. Parents were already gathered outside the daycare, Yuuji, y/n's and Sukuna's son attended, patiently waiting for their kids to run in their arms again.

Sukuna arrived a couple of minutes before the final bell on his motorcycle, he took off his helmet, leaned back on his bike and waited for the familiar little pink head of hair to come wobling to him.

The three mothers next to him, scooted a bit closer to him to get a better look nothing he's unfamiliar with and no one can blame them, Sukuna is a sight for sore eyes. Leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, extenuating his board shoulders, exposing his tattoo covered skin, v neck white t shirt, allowing his toned chest and even more of his tattoos to show and a simple black pair of pants hugging his muscular thighs in the best of ways.

In the past some of the bolder ones had mustered the courage and asked him if he was a single father since they had never seen his son's mother, but with a laugh Sukuna brushed them off telling them how his lovely wife was a working parent and her schedule just didn't match the daycares. Maybe the very unconventional wedding rings they got weren't the best idea in this situation, even though they were extremely beautiful and unique.

"I really admire the work you put in the little guy" Sukuna's gaze met a woman who attempted to strike a conversation, oblivious to what she had meant by her statement he replied, maybe these three minutes would pass faster talking about normal things and not stressing about work.

"Don't we all put work on our kids?" He spoke calmly with a slight smile that he always wore when talking about Yuuji.

"Yeah, we do, but it still must be hard I can't imagine what you're going through" Sukuna's mind went to the worst scenario. Was Yuuji a trouble maker at school? He is a very well behaved child, both him and y/n made sure to teach him proper manners and how to be polite, that couldn't be it right?

The bell rung, and kids made their way out of the daycare, Yuuji in the blink of an eye was hugging his father's leg, exited to see him after the hours he was gone. In a swift motion Sukuna put Yuuji's little backpack on his own back and scooped the boy up in his arm.

"Yuuji's a pretty good kid, hes never been difficult" Sukuna smilled again resuming in the short conversation with the woman next to him. "Single father's like you don't get the credit they deserve". She spoke again smiling sadly down to the little pink haired boy who seemed too fixated on the earrings his father was wearing.

Sukuna finally understanding what this whole thing was about, chuckled, this had happened before after all, he should've known.

"I'm not a single parent, speaking of that your mom said she has a big surprise for you after dinner" he said directing his attention to his son again, the woman next to him quickly fumbled an apology for missundertanding, to which Sukuna replied to with a simple 'dont worry about it'. He placed Yuuji on his bike, put on both his and his boys helmet and drove off.

Y/n was still stuck at work, thankfully her husband would cook dinner tonight cause overtime was killing both her and her mood, good thing she finally had a day off tomorrow.

Y/n checked her phone to see how close she was to going home only to find a text that Yuuji's teacher had send her that was obviously meant for her husband.

Hello Mr Itadori, this is Mrs Laura from the day care. I was wondering if you wanted to get launch with me after school tomorrow, you can bring little Yuuji too, I'm awaiting your response, have a nice night.

What the hell was that? Well y/n's number was in Yuuji's contact information, she chuckled at the words displayed on her screen but she couldn't really blame the teach, Sukuna was a walking temptation, she knew that first hand, hell she fell head over heels for the dangerous looking guy who hid a heart of gold under his hard exterior, but the teacher could at least check who the number belonged to.

Y/n run her last errands and made sure to pick up Yuuji's surprise before heading home, she even tipped Sukuna off so their son wouldn't know what hit him.

Y/n made her way inside the family house, tossing her keys somewhere on the living room couch.

Yuuji immediately after hearing her car in the driveway came rushing down the stairs, jumping around her like he always did when she came home.

"Mom, mom you're home." The happiness was evident in the boys face, his smile was wide when y/n dropped to his level to pick him up and spin him around

"Yes I am little devil, did you give your father hell like we agreed?" She spoke in the happiest of tones with Yuuji still in her arms. Another set of arms engulfed her frame making her halt on spinning the little boy.

"So you're telling him to be a little brat now huh?" Sukuna's breath tickled the side of her neck and ear as he rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. "Welcome home love" he spoke again giving her jaw a ghost of a kiss.

"Daddy is the food ready" Yuuji spoke from y/n's arms, Sukuna only laughed at his son's appetite, and directed both him and y/n to the kitchen where he had already set everything up.

"Mommy, what is a single dad?" Yuuji asked in the middle of dinner in typical fashion of his, any question he had from something he heard through the day would always come up during dinner.

"Well Yuuji, single fathers are the fathers who raise their kids alone." The young boy seemed to think about his mother's words before speaking again. "So its just a daddy ?" Yuuji asked again with his eyes growing a bit sadder, his mother nodded, and Yuuji's eyes started to water.

"Baby what's wrong?" y/n asked. "Hey buddy what's going on?" Sukuna was growing quite concerned too. Yuuji burst in tears leaving his seat, climbing up his dad and hugging him tightly. Sukuna was rubbing his back to comfort the young boy and y/n's hand was stroking the kids hair in an effort to calm him down. "B-but why did that lady c-call you that, is m-mommy l-leaving?" Everything seemed to click for Sukuna, y/n was still confused but in the calmest sweetest voice said "Yuuji, baby look at me, I'm not going anywhere ok?" And the boy left his father's arms and clung on to her like his life depended on it.

Sukuna cracked a few jokes and lightened Yuuji's mood so he could enjoy the rest of his dinner, which went pretty well, he was his smiling adorable self very soon after his parents reassured him that none of them were ever leaving his side and the boy was now drawing with crayons in the living room. He seemed to have completely forgotten about the surprise his father mentioned when he picked him up.

Y/n and Sukuna were doing the dishes in the kitchen, each one talking about their day, Sukuna explained the awkward conversation he had at the daycare that sparked Yuuji's sadness, y/n took a turn in talking about how her son's teacher, basically asked Sukuna out on a date but messed up and texted her. "How about you set up a date and you show up? I mean it's you she texted right?" Sukuna joked "Babe, that's cruel" y/n chuckled at her husband's mischievous nature.

"So you've got everything ready?" Sukuna asked. "yeah who'll bring him over?"

"You do it I'll keep Yuuji busy."

Sukuna joined Yuuji on the couch. "What are you drawing little brat?" Y/n heard him ask their boy in the usual sweet tone he had with him. She made her way down the basement, where she kept the surprise since she came home. Yuuji was going to love this, Sukuna was too, she knew she was already in love as well.

Y/n climbed the stairs quickly, and snuck up behind her son, who was occupied by his dad, she gently tapped the boys shoulder.

"A PUPPY" Yuuji announced exited making sure his voice was still soft not to scare the eager dog that his mom brought to his arms. Yuuji gently held the puppy that was licking his face as he was in a fit of laughter and excitement. Sukuna was as exited as his son and y/n had a huge smile on her face too. Their son had begged and begged for a dog ever since his best friend, Megumi got a black German shepherd puppy. Of course y/n and Sukuna wanted to comply to Yuuji's request right away, but they took time to teach little Yuuji everything there was about the responsibility of owning a dog. They took him to dog cafes and shelters, so he would be the perfect little dog owner, they taught him patience and responsibility beforehand. Sukuna visited the local shelter and decided with y/n on a white Shepard puppy that Yuuji always pointed out in your visits because 'he looks like Megumi's puppy they can be friends like we are' who can say no to that little adorable devil?

The puppy momentarily left Yuuji's arms to lick Sukuna's face. "Now we've got two little brats and a big one in our house." He laughed, enjoying the moment.

Y/n was admiring her son and husband as well as the newest member of the family with a smile plastered wide on her face, life was indeed beautiful.

The next day, both Sukuna and y/n were waiting for Yuuji to finish school, since y/n had the day off. Sukuna had his arm protectively around her because this time, others were staring at what was his, but he was proud to show her off to everyone, even in a place as mundane as his son's daycare.

[adarlingmess]

Ugnayan

Summary:

Filipino word, noun: connection between persons, groups, countries, etc.

A collection of works detailing a manananggal clan’s relations with the Treses, and their allies.

III: Hiraya

Summary:

Filipino word, noun: imagination, vision, illusion; the fruit of one’s dreams, wishes, and aspirations; a dream.

Basilio knows there’s a line he’s crossing, and he’s at the point of no return.

Words: 4144

Characters: Basilio, Sabina (OC), Crispin, Hank Sparrow, Alexandra Trese, Anton Trese, Reyna Manananggal, Dominic Villaceran (mentioned only), Mama Grande (mentioned only), Gog (mentioned only)

Relationships: Basilio/Original Female Character

Language: English, with a few Filipino words and phrases sprinkled in.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Strong language, sexual themes, discussion about past about non-con

Author’s Notes:

I am: back on my bullshit again (1)

Umagang kay kalat sa inyo, here’s part three of my Basilio x OC fic. Who knows, maybe I’ll write a proper story one day, but right now my Basilio brainrot is back with a vengeance. This was sitting in my hard drive since September and I thought maybe a day before Valentine’s day was a good day to finally post it in public. I couldn’t decide which scene to draw for the art tie-in so I ended up with a two-page comic 😩

Spoiler warning for Verdugo: Takutan because this story heavily references its lore and events! The comics are known to be darker in tone, and so is this fic, so heed the warnings above.

In hindsight, Sabina should’ve saved her last cigarette for later.

Now, she has nothing to calm her down except for the water flowing from the motel’s sink. Gingerly, she presses a finger on a bruised patch of skin on her neck. Even with her regenerative abilities, it’ll take a while to disappear. It’s been a while since her last feeding, too. She’ll need something substantial soon.

It’s fine. The bruises are nothing a little concealer couldn’t fix.

She steps out of the bathroom in nothing but the towel the motel staff provided. The air conditioner’s hum and the idle chatter on the television reached her ears.

The aroma of food reached her nose, and with her eyes, she saw her childhood friend sitting on the bed and helping himself to a chicken leg while watching TV.

“Chicken arrived while you were showering,” Basilio says, grinning at her. “They said the rest of the food will come soon.”

As if on cue, the doorbell rings and Sabina answers it. An order of La Paz batchoy arrived courtesy of room service. She sets it on the table, where more servings of food can be found, and soiled dishes piled up in the corner. Sabina gathers the dirty dishes and hands them over to housekeeping with a quiet thank you.

The kitchen staff wasn’t sure whether they should be grateful for the patronage or frustrated at the volume of orders they received.

Of course a war demigod with an insatiable appetite and a ravenous aswang agreed to order everything on the menu.

Aswang metabolism will burn through all those calories like its paper. Sabina isn’t quite sure why the Kambal requires so much food to function, though. Fond memories of bonding over Hank’s cooking resurfaced.

Maybe she should visit the Diabolical again, this time for pleasure. Hopefully she can still request a plate of spaghetti from Hank, even though the place is a bar now.

Basilio reaches for the other chicken leg and Sabina has no other choice but to swat his hand.

“That’s mine,” she warns him, playfully.

With a pout, Basilio settles on the crispy pata instead. “Ang daya.”

“Anong madaya?” Sab crosses her arms. “You already had the other leg. Takaw mo.” Sabina sits next to him in the bed and helps herself to the food. She finishes the chicken leg in no more than a few bites. Then, she made a quick trip to the table to retrieve the steaming bowl of soup.

Basilio nudges her playfully when she sits back down to eat. “You’re one to talk.”

Sabina laughs and playfully rolls her eyes. She was about to take her first sip when Basilio’s arm quickly shot out to stop her. “Wait, this has garlic in it.”

“Duh, I could smell it cooking from the kitchen while I was in the shower.”

“Isn’t garlic going to hurt you?”

Sabina hums and takes a sip of the broth to show him she’ll be fine. Her face turns red, and not from embarrassment. “See? I’m fine. I’m pretty sure you had spicy food before, right?”

Basilio remembers that time he bit into a slice of siling labuyo in the vinegar that came with Hank’s crispy beef tapa. He nods.

“It burns, right? Garlic’s spicy when I eat it. I’ve built a tolerance to it to blend in with the humans.”

“No wonder smearing crushed garlic on a manananggal’s lower half would kill her. That must be one hell of a burn.”

Sabina laughs at the morbid turn their conversation took. “I mean, if I took crushed sili and smeared it all over a human’s wound, it’s going to hurt too.”

“What about waving garlic around to repel aswang? Why does that work?”

“It’s the same principle as humans cutting onions. It irritates our eyes, but the effect is stronger due to our sharper senses. So yes, before you ask, I could smell your feet the moment you took your shoes off earlier and somehow I still decided to have fun with you.”

Basilio pouts. “Oy! My feet don't-” he takes his foot up to sniff it- “ok, fine, it’s a little funky.”

For the first time in years, Basilio witnesses Sabina roar with laughter, lively and unabashed. “And a little is a lot to us aswang!”

Despite the teasing, Basilio laughs with her.

She rests her chin on his shoulder as she calms down.

A few years ago, she would’ve been resting her chin on Basilio’s head. She used to loom over him; a weeping willow drawn to his more outgoing nature. Then, she stopped growing when she was twelve, while somewhere down the line, the Kambal got a growth spurt and they’re almost a foot taller than her.

Life is unfair.

Sabina finished the last of her soup, and popped a piece of candy in her mouth. Basilio notices it, interest piqued.

“Hey, isn’t that the same candy you used to bring us when we were kids? I missed those.”

“Yeah. This was the last piece I had with me though.”

Basilio smirks. “We could share it.”

“Hay nako, Bas, you…”

Her train of thought stops when a news report interrupts regular programming. News of the stunt they just pulled off reached the airwaves. From the studio, the broadcast transitions to the scene of the incident. Then, it cuts to an angry Gog, Mama Grande’s eldest son, pushing reporters gunning for a statement aside.

Basilio guessed that if her son was pissed, Mama Grande definitely was too.

Sabina grabs the remote and switches it to the music channel.

“Uy, I was watching that!”

“Sorry. Bad memories.”

With a questioning look, Basilio turns to her. “Ex boyfriend?”

Sabina scoffs, furrowing her eyebrows. “Wasn’t even a boyfriend. Send Verdugo my thanks for taking out his eye. I’d say thank you myself, but he might turn me into a leather coin purse.”

“This Gog guy really hurt you badly, huh?”

Basilio guessed that his lady friend was pushing back horrible memories, and he was right.

“Can we drop it? I just don’t wanna see his mug.”

“Okay,” Basilio shrugs. He finishes the rest of his meal and adds the plate to the pile. After washing his hands in the bathroom, he plops next to his playmate.

“Why don’t you look at my mug instead while I make you forget all about him?”

Basilio’s chuckle was almost cruel when he saw Sabina’s eyes widen. The aswang princess is bashful in person compared to her self-assured demeanor when she’s either crooning or shrieking into a mic on the stage, or a gun when she’s perched on a rooftop. She reminds him of the candy she used to give him and his Kuya Crispin when they were young; they impatiently bit through the hard peppermint snaps, only to find molten chocolate in the core.

He buries his nose at the crook of her neck. Sabina smells of soap and that same peppermint candy, layered with hints of vanilla and a floral note he couldn’t quite place.

Basilio wants to eat her all up.

“Wait, you wanna go again? You already finished, Bas. You made me finish twice. Not that I’m complaining...”

Taking the empty bowl from Sabina’s hand, Basilio sets it by the bedside table, and he cages his old friend between his arms.

“Let’s make it even then.” He leans in to croon in her ear. “I still have some fight in me. We can go for a few more rounds if you’re up for it, pillow princess.”

A warm tongue lapping at a darkening bruise on her collarbone makes Sabina shudder. “Brush your teeth before you put your mouth anywhere near my-”

Before they knew it, they’re laying on the bed, an exhausted pile of limbs tangled with each other. Basilio cradles his lady friend’s head on his bicep, and he buries his nose in her messy crown of hair.

There’s blood on the sheets from when Sabina had clawed her lover’s back to shreds. Thankfully, his back has already healed. On the other hand, the loving bruises his mouth left on her skin aren’t going away soon. She’s panting, one leg over his thigh.

“That was not a few more rounds,” Sabina mumbles, catching her breath.

Basilio licks his lips, and draws her closer to him. “Princess, the fact that you can still talk means those weren’t enough rounds.”

A breathless laugh escapes Sabina’s lips. “Ugh, you are an incorrigible pervert!”

Basilio raises an eyebrow at her, and he smirks. “You’re one to talk. Where did you even learn that trick with your tongue?”

“I can’t give away all of my secrets.” Sabina smiles, content and sleepy. “The first time I got with someone in years and it got this intense…”

“We lasted more rounds than Manuel’s last boxing match,” Basilio chuckles.

“We sure did, you perv. How long have you wanted to do this?” Sabina asks, lightly pressing on a tender bruise on her neck, one of the many marks he left on her skin. “Para kang mauubusan.”

Basilio doesn’t choose to respond, opting to bury his face in her hair. Sabina didn’t have to look at his face to know that he’s wearing a satisfied smile on his lips.

She checks the time on her phone. Almost five in the morning. As nocturnal creatures, it’s the equivalent of bedtime for most aswang. She sends a quick explanation and an apology to her bandmates for suddenly leaving them the night before, and tosses her phone aside. Then, she takes off her glasses.

Their activities made her desperate for sleep.

Turning back to her lover, she settles in his arms, and notices a pattern on his right shoulder, extending all the way to his chest. Sabina traces it with a feather-light touch. “So, where did you get this tattoo?”

“It’s not a tattoo. It’s a birthmark, I think.”

“I haven’t seen it when we were younger, though.”

Sabina eyes it with curiosity, letting her thoughts occupy her so sleep couldn’t. She should be getting dressed and going home. She wonders why Basilio isn’t moving either.

“Isn’t Alex-” she corrects herself, thinking that using the Lakan’s name is far too casual for an informant like her- “I mean Trese going to look for you?”

“Shhh, let’s not think about work for now. C’mon. Get some rest.”

Stretching as she yawns, Sabina closes her eyes. “If you say so.”

Minutes later, she feels that his eyes are still on her, and she sticks out a tongue.

“Close your eyes,” the aswang mumbles, groggy and a little irritated, eyes heavy with sleep. 

“But I like you.”

“You can still like me with your eyes closed.”

Basilio began to play with her crown of wavy hair. Sabina huffs in amusement and snuggles closer to his chest.

When he pressed a kiss on her forehead, she felt warmth spread through her face. In response, she cranes her neck to look at him. Taken aback by the intimacy he’s showing her, her misty eyes search his pitch-black ones for an answer.

“Basilio, I…”

“I missed you, Sab.”

They share a sweet, drawn-out kiss as they lay entangled in each other’s arms.

It’s like the one she gave him the day she said goodbye, from a more innocent time.

“I missed you too,” she mumbles against his mouth.

Perhaps in the flurry of the night’s events and the haze of her feelings for the demigod, she had let her guard down.

They stopped being in each other’s lives all of a sudden, and just like that, reconnection was just as abrupt. However, the innocence from the days of playing tagu-taguan and bahay-bahayan is long gone. The warm camaraderie they shared grew to a smoldering fire.

The tension boiled over and neither of them stopped themselves from reacting to it.

Sabina had let him crawl under her skin, and Basilio knew this.

Basilio caresses her cheek, and her hand touches his arm. The princess’ eyes flutter shut, with tiny droplets of tears resting on her long eyelashes.

He reminisces about the day he and his kuya met her.

Peals of laughter echoed in the Diabolical Cafe as he ran from Crispin in a game of taya. Their footsteps pounded against the floor and the walls, which alerted Hank to their presence. He put his cleaver down and called them over.

A sutsot from Hank could mean one of two things: he needs to say something important to them, or he’s about to deliver a scolding.

The Kambal stops in their tracks, floating over to Hank.

“There’s someone taking a nap on the couch,” he tells them. “You two, be polite and keep the noise down.”

“A guest?” Basilio asks. “Why would a guest sleep on the couch?”

“Because they’re sleepy, duh,” Crispin retorts, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Before the two can squabble, Hank cuts them off with an explanation. “That’s the Reyna Manananggal’s kid. Don’t mess with her or you might end up as aswang chow.”

The two nod in unison, and float away from him to play somewhere else.

Curiosity gets the best of Basilio when he looks over his shoulder and sees wavy hair sticking out from the sofa. He sneaks away from his brother’s sight to investigate.

“A girl!”

Hank squints at him, an unamused look on his face. “Oy Basilio, I’m warning you!”

It was too late. Crispin comes over to investigate too.

The younger Kambal kneels in front of the sofa to get a closer look. The girl clinging onto a pillow, pressing it close to her chest. She wore her hair in low pigtails, the waves cascading down her shoulders. On the bridge of her nose, her glasses perched askew. Behind the glasses, Basilio could see that her eyelashes were long. She snored lightly. On her school ID, whose lanyard was tied to her purple school trolley, it says that she goes to “St. Agnes’ Academy for Girls”. In capital letters, her name is spelled out for Basilio: Sabina Marie A. Evasco.

“She’s pretty!” Basilio didn’t modulate his voice at all, and his excitement was to blame. “She doesn’t look like a manananggal… or even an aswang. If her mama’s a reyna, does that make her a prinsesa?”

Crispin puts a forefinger against his own lips and hushes his little brother. “Shh! We can ask her later when she wakes up! Let’s get out of here!”

Awakened by the chatter, the girl stirs and stretches her arms. She takes off her glasses and rubs the sleep from her eyes. There’s a small, blurry figure in front of her.

A kid like her. Finally, she was waiting for a playmate!

Hank said there’s a girl a few years older than her that she can play with when the grownups’ meeting is over.  Maybe they can braid each other’s hair. Sabina Marie thinks she’s small for someone older though.

When she put on her glasses, however, she found out that playmate wasn’t a girl at all. Hank had told her about two brothers who were around her age too.

She blinks a few times. Her sleepiness turns into surprise. “Ah! A boy!”

Crispin tsked. “Yan tuloy! Basilio woke her up!”

Basilio flashes a winning grin. “Hehe. Sorry I woke you up, Sleeping Beauty.”

From the kitchen, Hank couldn’t help but laugh. “Oy, tama na ang pick-up line. Magpakilala ka ng ayos.”

“Hi, I’m Basilio.”

“I’m Crispin. I’m his kuya.”

The girl looks at them back and forth, fascinated by the fact that they’re twins. Their features are identical, save for the lengths of their hair. The one more eager to talk to her, Basilio, had longer hair tied to a ponytail. The older, quieter one, Crispin, had his hair cut short and neat. 

She decides that they’re nice and gives them a shy smile.

“Hi. I’m Sabina Marie.”

“Your name’s too long. Can I call you Sab?” Basilio asks her, scooting closer.

“Um, sure!”

Gregarious little Basilio sits next to her on the couch, and the more reserved Crispin joins them. They chat idly, and not long after, they’re off to play a game of taya.

Hearing about their plan, Hank calls out. “Oy, you two, she’s not used to playing with boys so treat her gently.”

The younger of the two interjects defensively. “We’re not gonna hit her!”

“Promise!” Crispin adds.

Little Sabina Marie giggles as her new playmates grab her by the hand to lead her outside. “C’mon, let’s play!”

“Let me comb your hair later!”

“Whatever makes you happy, princess!”

The afternoon came and went, and by the end of it, they’re sitting on the table, red-faced, sweaty, and hungry from an afternoon of play. Each of them enjoyed a plate of Hank’s spaghetti with hotdogs and a tall glass of cold orange juice for merienda. Crispin is sitting next to his brother, while Basilio is sitting next to their new friend.

They finished their meal and Sabina digs around her uniform’s skirt pocket. She brings out individually wrapped pieces of candy.

“Do you want some?” she asks the Kambal, and smiles sweep across their faces.

“Uy, candy!” the two almost say in unison. Their grabby hands were more than eager to take them off Sabina Marie’s. They eagerly wolfed the peppermint snaps down.

“Oy, leave some for her,” Hank scolded them, chuckling.

“It’s okay, they can have it. My new mama- I mean, Inang Reyna has more in her office.”

Hank turns to the boys. “At least thank her for the candy.”

“Thanks Sab,” Crispin says with a mouthful of sweets, and his brother follows suit. “Yeah, thanks for the candy!”

At least the attempts to instill some good manners in the boys are working, and Hank helps the children clear the table.

“Are you gonna be back again to play tomorrow?” Crispin asks, passing a plate to his new friend.

“If Inang Reyna lets me, sure.”

“We could ask permission from her if you want,” Basilio suggests. “I’m sure she’ll let us!”

All Hank could do was rub the back of his neck.

They are Talagbusao’s children, for crying out loud. Everyone in the council is a little fearful of them, but the proud, clannish aswang were especially spooked.

Sabina hesitated. “Um…”

Multiple footsteps are approaching. Before the Kambal’s new friend can give her answer, all the children turn and see various members of the council emerging from the library. Among them was a tall, regal woman in a red business suit. Without saying a word, little Sabina Marie gets off her stool to greet her.

The lady in red crinkles her nose. “Ugh, Sabina Marie, what happened to you? Amoy araw ka. Did you play under the sun?” She made no effort to wipe her sweat off. Instead, a teenage girl comes forth to tend to her.

“I made new friends. We played a game of taya outside,” Sabina tells her, motioning to the Kambal. For a brief moment, the Reyna Manananggal’s composure wavers, lips twitching into a deep frown, before she clears her throat and places a hand on Sabina���s head. On the other hand, the teenage girl beside the queen wasn’t as subtle with her disapproval, eyeing the brothers warily and pressing her younger sister closer to herself.

“Maria Rowena,” the queen addresses the teenager, “go take your little sister to the car. I’ll follow shortly after.”

“Opo, Inang Reyna.”

Rowena ushers Sabina, grabbing her by the forearm. “Wait, Ate Weng. I haven’t said goodbye to them yet.”

“Those boys are dangerous, Sabina. Let’s. Go.”

Little Sabina Marie gives her new pals a haphazard wave goodbye, confused by the entire situation. “Huh? But they’ve been nice to me. Why are they dangerous, Ate?”

“I’ll explain in the car! Stop. Asking. Questions.”

“I will if you give me an answer that makes sense!”

The sisters squabble on their way out, and Crispin and Basilio are just as confused as to why their new playmate is suddenly being whisked away.

Being the bolder of the two, Basilio dares to ask the queen a question. “Can she come back to play with us?”

The queen of the Manananggal clan turns to him, crossing her arms. “No.”

“Why not?” Basilio asks. His Kuya Crispin comes forward, taking his place at his brother’s side in his defense; the Reyna Manananggal wasn’t looking at Basilio with kindness.

“Little boy, do you know what you are?”

The Kambal gave each other confused looks. Leaving the kitchen, Hank approaches them, ready to smooth talk the kids’ way out of trouble.

Thankfully, he won’t need to.

Anton approaches with Alexandra in tow. “That’s enough. Children should be allowed to play and live normal lives. That includes your new daughter, as agreed upon in the council’s emergency meeting.”

The Reyna Manananggal narrows her eyes. “Talagbusao’s half-breeds are a danger to everyone they meet and you know it. I didn’t adopt a new daughter just for her to become these warchildren’s plaything.”

“I can assure you that they’re being taught how to treat others with kindness and respect.”

“Is that so? Don’t take me for a fool, Lakan. I have my own connections. I’ve heard about their mother’s fate. What makes you say that these brats won’t grow up to take after their father?”

Anton’s gaze hardens to a glare. “Let’s not talk about that in front of the children,” he cuts her off. “I don’t like what you’re implying, Reyna.”

Crispin and Basilio looked at the adults back and forth the whole time, unable to make sense of what they really meant. Even with the violent ways they were exposed to, the innocence of childhood somehow remained.

The Reyna Manananggal glares back in response. “Don’t tell me it never crossed your mind, that any attempts at taming their desire for bloodlust and domination will not work.”

“I’ve made it clear in the past that I will be held responsible when they go out of control. Worry not about how I raise Crispin and Basilio. It’s Sabina you should worry about.”

“Are you questioning my parenting? I thought we already settled in the meeting that I’m more than capable of taking Sabina Marie under my wing. I’ve even agreed to postponing her initiation to the manananggal clan until she’s sixteen years old.”

“I’m not. I’m simply reminding you of what these children need. Family. Friends.”

The queen sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She crosses her arms again, taking one last nervous glance at the warchildren. “Fine. As long as you don’t meddle with how I raise my children, Lakan, I’ll allow their little playdates with my daughter.”

“As long as the stipulations are upheld, there’s no meddling to be done.”

“And if they lay a finger even on a single lock of her hair-”

“They will be disciplined. I’ll personally see to that.”

Conceding, the Reyna Manananggal uncrosses her arms and gives the Lakan’s lot one last look. “Hmph.”

Heels clacking against the cafe’s floor, she walks away, ready to be done with this sordid affair.

Once all of the guests leave, the Trese household settles down. Alex sat with Hank and they discussed what happened in the council meeting, while Anton tended to the boys. They were sitting on the couch, not a sound from the normally rambunctious pair. At the moment, they look like kicked puppies.

“Are we really a danger to anyone we meet?” the older of the two asks, frowning.

His little brother was affected by the queen’s treatment more deeply, pouting and looking forlorn. What she said got under his skin, horribly so. “Sir, what are we? Why are so many people afraid of us?”

Anton looks at Hank, then his daughter, and back to the twins. They all share a look of understanding. “Boys, I think it’s time that we talk.”

At that point, the now adult Basilio stops reminiscing. He didn’t want to reopen that wound.

He focuses on Sabina instead, who’s now fast asleep. She almost looked the same the day he found her on the couch. Sleep is the only time her face looks relaxed.

The realization sinks in, and so does the guilt.

Basilio just got intimate with his childhood friend, maybe his first love, if he can call what he felt for her back then love. Worse, she happens to be an aswang, the Reyna Manananggal’s daughter. Worst of all, Sabina is their informant; their informant for aswang activity, no less.

Bossing is going to kill him.

He closes his eyes. He’ll deal with that after some sleep.

Sabina’s soft breaths kisses his skin, and he thinks this was totally worth the scolding he’ll receive.

Crossing paths with his childhood friend again was a pleasant surprise. Holding her like this is a dream come true.

Basilio kisses her temple, and he holds her as slumber takes hold of him.

Translations:

La Paz batchoy - a local Filipino noodle dish with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles/miki

Ang daya. - That’s unfair.

Anong madaya? - What do you mean unfair?

Takaw mo. - You glutton.

Siling labuyo - a small chili pepper cultivar developed in the Philippines.

Hay nako - an expression similar to “Oh my”; some linguists say it comes from “Nanay ko po!” which means “Oh my Mother!”. Used to express frustration or exasperation.

Para kang mauubusan. - Lit. “It’s like you’ll run out (of me)”. Another way to translate this is “It’s like you can’t get enough.”

tagu-taguan - hide and seek

bahay-bahayan - playing house

taya - tag

sutsot - a hiss; a psst sound

Yan tuloy! - an expression when something unfortunate happens; can be translated as “Now look at what happened!”

Oy, tama na ang pick-up line. Magpakilala ka ng ayos. - Hey, enough with the pick-up lines. Introduce yourself properly.

Inang Reyna - lit. Queen Mother.

[innovativestruggles]

SouGou theories, thoughts and speculations based on canonical evidence

Alright, I know I am so epically late to the party just like I was with Haikyuu and TsukiYachi but I am here now and I am so sad that a lot of the SouGou shippers have...disappeared...

Regardless, I still want to put forward my own thoughts and speculations on these two because they have given me brainrot over the past few weeks. 

So much like the earlier post I did with TsukiYachi, this one will be similar, except I am basing everything on the anime as I have not read the light novel (tbh light novels aren’t really my thing so...). Just to reiterate, when I make any speculations and theories, they are always based on canonical evidence, and of course my own interpretation. I put forward solid evidence so people can see where I am coming from and what I am yapping on about. People are free to draw their own conclusions of what they see in canon, so just because I have a theory with evidence, it does not invalidate another person’s theory of the same evidence...if that makes sense?

Every time I watch a new anime, I always come in with a very neutral mindset. I have a fascination with relationships (hence my ship heavy blog) so I ship characters based on their level of chemistry and compatibility.

Because I am so fashionably late to the party, a lot of the speculations below have been discussed by other SouGou fans. Essentially when I read some of their posts, they pretty much validated what I saw. So I want to credit all those SouGou stans who did the hard yard first on their speculations of these two. This post may already have what was speculated, but it’s nice to have it all in one big post. I will of course add my own thoughts and interpretations as well. So, happy reading!

WARNING: THIS IS A VERY LONG POST

Gou’s Relationship with Other Characters

Sousuke did not make his debut until Season 2, so for all of Season 1, the focus was on Gou and the other characters. To be honest, nothing stood out to me in terms of shipping potential with Gou in Season 1. I do not go into watching anime with the intention of shipping characters - the shipping just automatically occurs when two characters have good chemistry. So with Gou in Season 1, all I saw was a manager being incredibly supportive, friendly, strong willed and determined to see her friends through the swimming club. You may have read my other post on Free! and toxic masculinity, but I did mention in there that what I loved most about Free! was the friendship and the emotional vulnerability. Because Gou is a side character, we never get to see too much of her and how she would develop as a character outside her obsession with muscles. But as viewers, we get the gist of her sweet personality.

Kyoto Animation

Before I dive into the speculations, I want to point out something with KyoAni. For starters, this studio is known for its amazing adaptational works of manga and light novels. When it comes to anime that does not purely focus on romance, they are so so so good with romantic undertones. As much as I do enjoy romance anime, I enjoy ones with subtle undertones of romance even more. I have watched a large portion of anime from KyoAni and I can definitely come to the above conclusion. Although Free! is not a romance genre, there is very subtle light teasing of potential developments between certain characters. Like I mentioned in my Free! post on toxic masculinity, I will disregard that just because the male characters are hugging, crying and showing vulnerable emotions to each other, it does not necessarily mean that there is a romantic development. The very subtle undertones of romance I could see is mostly between Gou, Sousuke and Momo (I will explain more later). So what I am trying to point out in this paragraph is that Free! does have minute traces of romance, because based on what other anime KyoAni produced, there are similarities in how they portray romantic undertones.

SouGou Initial Meeting

The initial meeting did not particularly stand out to me until I watched more scenes and interactions between SouGou later on in the series. What I noticed was the level of admiration Gou has for Sousuke. Again, this was not apparent when I watched the initial meeting scene on its own. I had to see a culmination of scenes between them to realise.

Oh gosh just look at how happy she is seeing Sousuke. If you go back and watch this scene again, she legit just shoved Momo out the way and ran to Sousuke. Lmao poor Momo!

Also....

Momo still staring at SouGou the whole time...

Momo getting pissy lololol (and super jelly)

Gou just looking so happy staring after Sousuke...ughh my heart....

Middle School

Just something I picked up. When Rin transferred to Iwatobi during middle school, it sounded like Gou did not go with him. So she stayed behind in the same middle school together with Sousuke after Rin left. See below.

Because Gou is one year younger than Sousuke, the scene above just sounded like he stopped talking to her when he left for Tokyo when he was a first year high school student and she a third year middle school student...and then the below scene confirmed when and the reason...

In the above scene, Sousuke explained that he hurt his shoulder in the summer of his first year of high school, and then he heard from Gou that Rin was visiting Japan at the time, so I am guessing SouGou must have stopped talking to each other around that time when Sousuke injured his shoulder. The injury was most likely why he stopped talking to her because he knew the consequences...that if Rin found out through Gou... then yeah... so to him it was better to cut off contact with both siblings...omg my heart...my poor baby Sousuke...

Anyways, point is they were definitely still talking when Rin went to Iwatobi and then later Australia. So I wonder how close they were to each other...? They do sound very close...wonder if they walked to and from school together...omfg my heart hurts again...aaaahhhhhhh

Childhood Friends

This trope is so cute and I really like the whole ‘he is my brother’s best friend’ kind of thing. Because we all know how overprotective Rin is of Gou and if there is anyone who is good enough for her, Rin would definitely think it be Sousuke.

LOOK AT HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE OMG. Love this official artwork of all three of them. And Sousuke has such a sweet gentle expression when he is looking at Gou...

Best part also is that subtle teasing of these two. Anime is always about camera work and specific panels as well, so it just looked like to me that they really wanted to emphasise this scene between SouGou. The snow, the Christmas tree, the childhood friends - all in one frame.

Indirect Moments

These are the moments that started me on the SouGou ship! 

Gou sees Sousuke at the train station right after he has been brooding about his shoulder injury

Gou sees Sousuke at the hospital

What I really really liked about these scenes is that every single time Sousuke was having a down moment, or a vulnerable moment in relation to his shoulder injury, Gou happened to be there and witness it. It may be coincidental that she always happen to be in a place and time when Sousuke wasn’t feeling great. I was initially wondering why she never approached him in the moment and then you look at Sousuke’s pissy face and that’s probably why lmao. Regardless, Gou probably knew his state of mind, and hence decided to leave him to it. The look she gave him was more out of curiosity rather than concern but because the anime never went into detail about what she was thinking at the time, it’s hard to tell. Most important thing is that Gou was there during his vulnerable moments, before anyone knew of his shoulder injury...

Jelly Momo

Ngl, I absolutely love Momo, not only because he’s a hilarious character but because Sousuke always unintentionally cockblocks him when it comes to Gou. I just find it so funny. The poor thing. And Gou just has absolutely zero interest in him....

The thing is, Momo knows that Sousuke constantly gets in the way...it has happened several times already and I think he is also beginning to realise that Gou is probably quite fond of Sousuke, hence his very vocal comment about paying attention to him. i just love it how the anime framed it like this because you know it’s a running gag going on between all three.

Also, the look on Sousuke’s face in that above scene...you can’t see it but if you go back and watch it, and it’s only a split second when Momo moves his head, it’s absolutely hilarious. He legit has a “wtf” look on his face 😂

Just going to put this above scene here where Momo gets dragged away. Poor thing. I think at this point, Gou is catching on to something with Sousuke...

After Momo bombarded Gou with his hilarious hobbies, these two just ended up alone together ❤️

Season 3′s ending credits depict a lot of parallels between characters as well as some level of competitiveness between them. So maybe it is just a coincidence here but Sousuke and Momo together probably continues to depict the hilarious running gag between them and Gou. LOL!

Gou’s Concern

No really, when Sousuke walked out and decided to swim with his shoulder injury, the concerned look on Gou’s face. This was the first time in the whole entire series (season 3 included) where Gou showed this much concern...my heart. 

When there are problems in the Iwatobi swim club related to a character, a lot of the issues and concerns revolved around the other characters helping each other (Gou would be excluded). She is just a supporting character that does not get a lot screen time. Aside from her managerial duties, we don’t see too much of her during important/significant moments for a main character - unless she is interacting with Rin in some way. So her very minimal “interactions” with Sousuke during his vulnerable moments are considered somewhat significant (even if she just saw him walking by) because they are more symbolic than anything.

Off Screen Interactions

Okay, the amount of times Sousuke talked about Gou...they clearly talk a lot off screen and whether that be through text messages, phone calls or meeting up, I believe they are a combo of all three. I have several reasons to believe that they do hang out together quite a bit. 

1. The amount of times Gou keeps bumping into Sousuke randomly (ngl the times the audience sees is probably only a fraction to what actually goes on behind the scenes) 

2. In the later episodes, they have been seen walking home together. 

3. Some of the things Sousuke said to Rin about Gou would warrant more of a face to face conversation rather than something through text message. I mean unless they talk on the phone (that would be so fucking adorable aaaaahhhhhh) 

4. In the CD drama, they have been shown to hang out just the two of them over mediocre stuff so I am sure that would have met up and talked more about other more deeper things with each other

Gou obviously confided in Sousuke how lonely she felt because her older bro was neglecting her

LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF TIMES HE TALKED ABOUT HER! That obviously indicated they do interact quite some bit off screen. Judging from the things they talked about, it sounded like she was filling him in with what’s going on in her life..and you know just every day stuff... I love it! They are so casual and so comfy with each other <33333333

Platinum Abs

Not counting the fact that I almost choked on my drink when I saw this for the first time, but I was curious to see what Gou thought of them. So I waited....and waited...and waited...and it never came, despite the fact that she was in his presence multiple times when he was looking like this....

And I came across several older posts that pointed this out and it totally validated what I felt as well. Gou, the muscle obsessive freak has not spoken a word about Sousuke’s nationally ranked swimmer’s perfect body. WILL YOU JUST LOOK AT THEM? HE’S FUCKING MASSIVE!! Like..all over....holy shit just look at those guns...like damn fine man.... anyways... so Gou, why have we not heard a single word from you about them? To her, they are probably the best of all the characters in the series ...

And my guess is... Sousuke is most likely special to her. She does not see him as merely an object of muscles (much like she does with the other characters including her own bro) but something more. And whether that is consciously or unconsciously, the outcome is still the same. Because when someone means a lot to you and if you like someone in that way, you are less likely to see them as an object of some fantasy...

The OVA

Yo not gonna leave this one out and if there is anything that really pushed this ship further, it was definitely the OVA.

Sousuke is so pedantic about what people call him (unless you are Nagisa...which he has almost no words for ...). So the only one who can add “kun” to his name is Gou <333333

I’m not going to delve too deeply into this as

1. It is self explanatory

2. A lot of people have already discussed this topic

But, overprotective Sousuke being a sweet guy and lending Gou his jacket is something out of a shojo manga. Even more shojo is that he;

1. Did it himself and not just giving the jacket to her

2. Got overly pissed off at Ai for drenching Gou

3. COULDN’T LOOK AT GOU WHEN HE GAVE HER THE JACKET....like the whole time....ksfklafkhgdshgjdsh

Sousuke isn’t very good with expressing himself, so this scene, out of his own sheer awkwardness, really played into the intimate nature of this potential ship. I’ll explain more later...

P. S. LOOK AT HOW ENORMOUS THE JACKET LOOKS ON GOU...she so schmol (and Sousuke is just massive...). Legit they look like a couple on a date...

Sunset Meeting

Ngl when I first started watching Season 3, this scene came out so unexpectedly I had to replay it just so it would process in my mind that it happened. But aside from the fact that it was framed in a shojo manga kinda way i.e. Gou running towards Sousuke, then walking together in the sunset and then talking about deep and meaningful stuff...you get the drift...I absolutely loved it how Gou was the very first person Sousuke told about his surgery’s success. Omg..swimming and the success of the surgery just meant so much to him and he was already telling Gou about it...

Everything about the particular scene was so so intimate. The scenery, the conversation, the tone of voice, the colours used......everything! Just look at how happy Gou is....

And damn they walked home together ... my heart cannot take it anymore aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Running Gag

I did notice this trend going on but it didn’t cross my mind until I read a post that it was like a thing between SouGou. Honestly it is so so cute! Gou has this excited pitched, giggle-ish, admiration-like tone every single time she calls out and runs to him. It’s so sweet. You actually never hear it ever when she talks or calls out to any other characters in the series, so Sousuke is indeed very special to her <3

Also...something about Sousuke walking alone and Gou either noticing him or running to him...

Gou and Momo’s Mistaken Date vs. Gou and Sousuke’s Mistaken Date

In Part 4 of the Free Take Your Marks movie, Rin walks by a burger shop and noticed Momo and Gou sitting together and having lunch. He mistakenly thought they were going out on a date, and before the rest of the Iwatobi team could come to the table after order their food, Rin gets a call from Sousuke telling him that he cannot find his way. So Rin dashes off to save Sousuke still with the misunderstanding. The episode is absolutely hilarious on Rin’s part.

Then in the CD drama, there is a story titled “Sousuke and Gou’s secret date.” Of course it is a case of ‘mistaken identity’ but as I stated earlier, these two would hang out with each other to discuss superficial things, so I am certain that they do hang out with each other on occasions to talk about other more deep and meaningful things as well. Considering the things Sousuke has been telling Rin about Gou, you can make an educated guess that SouGou do have their alone times quite a bit off screen.

Anyways, so this is the part where I believe Free has its subtle romantic undertones. I mentioned in my toxic masculinity post that when the male characters were being vulnerable, hugged or cried, that it does not necessarily mean they are gay, or that there would be any romantic development between the characters. You could say the same with SouGou as well, however, the difference lies in how the anime framed it, and the biggest tip that pushed from just a friendship kind of thing to a teasing of a potential romantic thing is the “secret date” part and the running gag between Gou, Sousuke and Momo. We know Momo clearly has romantic interest in Gou, and the interesting thing is...Sousuke being placed in between Gou and Momo numerous times throughout the anime to signify that there is a potential triangle going on. Does this make sense? It is the nuances as a viewer that you can pick up, and it is even more so if you can understand Japanese. I sometimes switch the subtitles off and really just watch what they say and it’s a completely different view. Hard to explain...but that is the vibe I get.

Extras

I just had to put this scene in. JUST LOOK AT GOU LOOKING AT SOUSUKE OMG. She totally loves him <3 YOU CAN’T TELL ME OTHERWISE!!!

I always love me some official artwork of these two, and disregarding the fact that there are four other guys around and Nagisa just being the little helper he is, SouGou wrestling is something I just need to have in my life <3 I just love the light subtle tease between these two. Thank you KyoAni! And them holding hands... I’m ded...

Sousuke’s Feelings

This is purely interpretation based on what I have seen so far and of course when I am writing a full post like this about SouGou, it does help piece the puzzle together a little more. Tbvh, I strongly believe that Sousuke has repressed feelings for Gou. My reasoning is quite complex. Sousuke is a bit of a difficult character. He is aloof, serious and can be standoffish. He is not good with expressing his emotions and feelings, yet he does questionable things if he thinks it is for the best for those he cares about. Obviously noticeable when he lied to Rin about his shoulder injury, and of course completely stopped talking to Rin and Gou after being injured. But he deeply cares for those around him, and will go out of his way to help, even if it is to the detriment of his own welfare. 

Sosuke hanging out with Gou and talking to her and being around her is already an aspect of his kindness, that he would do this to anyone he cares about. But what I meant about repressed feelings for Gou was more evident in the OVA, and I think that is where the slight nuances come into play. Sousuke is overprotective of Gou and he most likely sees her as a little sister, considering he grew up with her alongside his best friend. But I think when it comes down to more intimate moments i.e. giving Gou his jacket and just not being able to look at her, I think that small nuance does give a small insight into Sousuke’s feelings for Gou. It may be minute but it’s there, and the way the anime framed that scene, it evoked a host of response from the viewers. That in itself is enough for viewers to make a determination as to what Sousuke might be feeling towards Gou at the time ... and it was probably more than a platonic kind of way...

Just to let you know that Sousuke most likely would not act on these feelings because of who he is as a person. And if there is any possibility that things could go awry between him and Rin that concerns Gou, Sousuke would not put their friendship in jeopardy. So if there was ever a way that Sousuke’s repressed feelings for Gou could surface, it would be if Gou initiates.

Gou’s Feelings

If you read through this entire damn thesis so far I think you could see that Gou’s feelings for Sousuke is a lot more overt. She is so incredibly fond of Sousuke and it is just the way she behaves around him, speaks to him and looks at him. It sends a different vibe comparatively to when she interacts with any of the other male characters. Because Gou is a side character, as viewers we don’t get to see much of her, her development or her thoughts and feelings, especially in relation to Sousuke. 

Concluding Thoughts

What an incredibly long post. I didn’t realise how long it was until I scrolled back up. But really, this was so fun to write. I enjoy writing about side characters and the little hints that anime and manga give us as viewers. This is the best thing about storytelling, that is so much more than what you see before you.

The great thing about SouGou is the incredibly compatibility they have with each other. They have a lot of the common tropes found in anime that sets them up for a future pairing. I mean,, Free is not a romance genre so there wouldn’t be any emphasis placed on how one character feels about another in a romantic sense. So the anime has placed some gentle teasing in the background with its frame (usually what you see in shojo manga for example), official artworks, and CD dramas. It’s a very subtle undertone that the viewers would have to dig through and pick up out of the mass of fanservice and the storylines of the main characters. Yet this is the reason why I love KyoAni because of its numerous layers of stories and undertone!

In my opinion, if there was ever any pairing that comes out of Free, it would definitely be SouGou - it’s because the way the anime (and probably the light novel as well) set them up and emphasised on important aspects of their relationship without going into detail about it.

I gotta say, the reason why I love these two so much is because they remind me so much of TsukiYachi pairing from Haikyuu. There are parallels between the characters and I think I just enjoy shipping ones with that level of complexity and compatibility - the whole opposites attract kinda thing (and the height difference).

So what do you think? Are there any SouGou stans out there left? I’m keen to see what the 2021 Free movie will entail for these two and the potential release of Season 4 (most likely in 2022).

Fingers crossed for some excitement!

Also...I had to crop this <3

[cosmoboba]

6 Years Later....

Iroco, 2016...

vs....

Axelise, 2021~!!!

🎶

For you, I would travel to outer space Take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe For you, anything for you With you, all the years just fade away Like a dream in my arms, but I'm wide awake With you, whenever I'm with you

🎶

With you- Tyler Shaw

My my...what a strong 6 years...where do I even start with these two...it's just...so hard to pin point where I even feel like to... it's like each time I needed comfort I just start thinking of them... and even if I start to doubt them I just....I just manage to go back to thinking of them again.

I remember it as if it happened not long ago. Little me just plain being inspired of an oc from an lps and my bored ass suddenly thought of making that oc into a theme of an angel, and soon, a demon to be with her. Now at the time- I really, and like, really was, and you can bet I still am, a fond of the opposites attract dynamic, and so what did I think of? Demon x angel beans. Yup.

And that, my good homies, July 30th, was the day these two lovekitties were created.....

Oh, but it don't stop there, no no no....

during their first year of existence, I didn't really developpe on them just yet, personality and backstory wise, besides giving them children and a family of their own, but they were drawn a lot that year and wow....they were probably the first ship I enjoyed drawing, to which I still do despite not having much time tho!!! I even thought about them quite often too!! However....as I started roleplaying more with friends, especially during 2018, it started to build up personality on them, and eventually, their backstories of how they were made to be whom they were. And finally came their aesthetic...and I? Was in fucking love with how well they went together like puzzles pieces being connected together as whole. And overtime...they became such a huge brainrot comfort. And then came their design to which got changed to what it is now. Sure it was nice the way it was but....as soon as I started experimenting with their designs, the more I just kept smiling over how beautiful the colors of their furs and hair matched. And thanks to them, where it came my love for the male noire x female brunette dynamic.

And then came the new Iroco....Axelise, Axel and Annalise/Annise!

They've come...such a long way...longer than I even expected knowing how I would get insecure over them sometimes...but, as stated...I would only just be running back to them for comfort... and even if they've gotten this far- there's still so so much do with them. I'm still falling in love with these lovekitties and I'm still thinking of them each day a lot.....

If I ever stopped working on them, I would be stopping EU as whole. Elemental Universe wouldn't have been made if it weren't for these felines inspiring me on giving others ocs abilities, and eventually a whole lore based on where the abilities come from, and eventually a story together....the list would just go on.

is to a few friends but I suppose it's time that I share here and reveal how I truly feel... when I work on them and make more hcs about them, I feel like a proud parent, when I feel upset and I start to think of them to make me feel better, it feels like they're my caring parents whom would comfort me during the toughest times... It's honestly difficult to only be proud of only one of them to how far they've gotten. Axel and Annise are just inseparable, so when I think of how Annise or Axel had glow ups, I can't think of one without the other because really....they glowed up together as whole. Because these two, canon wise or not, just can't go without one or another...they belong with each other always, and that fact just makes me so soft 🥺💕

Axel and Annise...just furry felines...just a fictional demon and a goddess...and yet....they've done more than so much for me, they made me so happy. They're apart of my heart now and I can't ever think of a time to let them go.

Just watching my lovely sinners(affectionate) glow up each moment makes me so happy to see... each time they become cheesy... each time they become affectionate... each time they become lovey dovey... it....it really just makes me happy within each loving scenario I think of them in....

I just want them to keep their wings wrapped around me because of how warm and soft it feels to just have them in my life...it feels just as precious as Axel feeling Annise's heavenly auras... They've inspired and made me happy for so many times... the dynamics, the scenarios, the headcanons....so much more

Even if I got tired of furries one day...their dynamics will always pass onto another ship...their comfort will always stay and will always be in the next ship... even if my interest in furries leave one day...it will never leave for Axelise, no... my love for these two will stay, forever and always, because they've held both of my hands and will always continue to do so throughout their journeys in the future and what wonderful ideas I will get for my loving angelic babies...💗💗💗

Thank you 2016 me for creating and drawing these two on July 30th Thank you 2017 me for thinking about them often and never forgetting about them

Thank you 2018 me for developing and working more on them

Thank you 2019 me for discovering their aesthetic

Thank you 2020 me for never letting go of them and keeping the ties strong with them, even if you were told not to, and making a wonderful design for them

Thank you 2021 me for improving on them and finally realizing how much comfort they became to me

Thank you for everyone whom has appreciated and supported my lovely ship, you are part of the reason that they're still here today!!!

and finally....

Thank you for everything Axelise. You are my everything. Happy Anniversary Axelise <3💕

👼💗👿