#eph is tagged

[jemtokall]

Missing Link? More like Linked By a Tragic Past

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

family visit 🏝️

(ghosts can be haunted too)

[Scala script translation in alt text]

[purroowl]

third years in college bokuroo, a silly little idea that somehow turned into whatever this monster is

happy holidays!

——————————————————————————————

"bokuto-san, i think you should see this."

"what's up, akaashi?" bokuto looks up and is surprised to see the unreadable expression on akaashi's face. they're sitting at the college campus cafe, studying. there's no reason akaashi should be looking like that. "see what?"

akaashi's quiet for a second, his lips pursing. "honestly, i didn't know whether to talk about this or not, but... it concerns you."

he pushes his phone forward, and bokuto looks down to see it's paused on some sort of video. akaashi had paused it on a particular timestamp, too, three quarters into the whole length of it.

from the little visible, bokuto can see two very familiar mops of hair.

his eyes widen. "is this one of kenma's streams?"

"yes." akaashi sips at his coffee, nodding. "he did a livestream yesterday and kuroo-san joined him. they were playing a game and talking and... stumbled upon a topic."

"okay?"

"i think you should watch this part of it." akaashi concludes. "you can watch the leadup to it on your own, if you want. but i thought this part was more important.''

bokuto frowns. "is it... bad?"

"if you're asking for my opinion... no, i don't think so." akaashi doesn't sound like he's lying. it loosens the nervous knot in bokuto's chest some as he nods, slowly.

"okay." now that he knows it's probably nothing bad, bokuto can feel excitement growing inside him. he brings the phone closer and settles comfortably into his chair.

then he presses play.

"he likes you."

instantly, kenma's voice filters through, clear as day. bokuto's brows raise in surprise.

"what?" kuroo's voice responds, distracted. a few low disgruntled noises follow as bokuto watches him jerk around like he's fumbling frantically with his mouse. the sound of keys being smashed comes next, loud enough to get picked up by kenma's ultra-spec microphone. bokuto wonders what game they're playing and streaming to the thousands of viewers kenma already has. he would look, but he's too focused on his two friends taking up the bottom half of the screen.

"owl guy. he likes you." kenma says, deadpan as ever. bokuto starts to smile at it, but the sudden loud curse bursting from the phone screen startles him, and he almost drops the device in his hand to kiss cold hard ground. akaashi eyes him wearily.

"please be careful, bokuto-san. that's my phone you're holding." bokuto laughs, sheepish as he re-adjusts his grip and mutters a soft 'sorry'. he's not looking to die by akaashi's hand today; no matter how much patience akaashi has for him, it's not limitless. that much bokuto knows.

"what are you - what?" kuroo is obviously shocked when bokuto glances back at the screen, his mouth hanging open. a robotic voice follows not a second later, announcing that 'player 2 has been eliminated'. he sees kenma roll his eyes, seemingly unfazed that he has to continue the game alone.

"you heard me." kuroo's straight out gaping now as he stares wide-eyed at kenma. bokuto doesn't think he's ever seen kuroo's hazel eyes quite that wide before.

"kenma, are you crazy? you know - you know who we're talking about here, right?" the last part is said in something close to a whisper, as if kuroo was talking about a secret. bokuto furrows his brows. "you're saying owl guy likes me? my best bro, that owl guy?"

kuroo's tone is funny and it holds bokuto's attention for long enough that it takes him another moment to realise they're talking about him. akaashi's face is carefully neutral when bokuto glances back up at him, but honestly bokuto isn't sure how to feel. kuroo's reaction is... he can't tell if it's good or bad.

"yes. i'm not repeating myself." the same robotic voice from before almost covers up the words, a cheerful ding accompanying the 'level cleared' that echoes out of the phone. even through the screen, bokuto can tell that kuroo is all tensed up. it's amazing how kenma can keep at his game while holding that kind of conversation with kuroo.

"you must be mistaken-" kuroo says next, but he's cut off by a subtle huff from kenma.

"i'm not mistaken. you're the one that's mistaken, kuro." there's a tiny pause, nothing but the sounds of mouse clicking and keyboard tapping as kenma probably advances in his level. "chat, does owl guy like kuro? be real."

"kenma-" this time, urgency bleeds into kuroo's tone quite obviously. bokuto can see that kuroo's gearing up to say more, his usually smart mouth parted and his brows pressing together in the way it does when he's about to argue a point.

the words never come. kuroo suddenly freezes, and if it weren't for the continuous tap-tapping still coming from kenma's end, bokuto might have thought that the playback cut off. kuroo's eyes seem stuck to his own screen, barely blinking but roving from left to right as if he were reading something.

bokuto manages to get the few seconds needed to realise he must be reading comments of some sort, probably in response to the sudden question popular streamer kodzuken just casually threw out.

bokuto doesn't manage to get time to wonder if the answers are leaning more towards yes or no when a weird notification sound chimes from the stream.

"owl guy definitely likes kuro-kun, i'm willing to bet with the $500 i just donated lmao. kuro-kun, if i were u i would have married owl guy long ago lol"

the first thought that bokuto has is 'five hundred dollars???', followed by a weird emotions mashup of confusion and humour at the monotonous voice enunciating 'lmao' and 'lol' dryly.

but none of that matters. all of it fades away once bokuto catches the spots of colour rising high on kuroo's cheekbones. kuroo's fallen abnormally quiet, his mouth finally closed. he's shifting weirdly, too; bokuto understands why once he sees the telltale redness over his ears.

he's flustered. kuroo's flustered.

in his peripherals, akaashi also shifts, probably knowing he's at the important bit and trying to give him some more space. a part of bokuto wants to look up and ask akaashi what he thinks about everything, but bokuto can't look away from the blush sitting pretty on kuroo's cheeks. he can see it even if he's just watching a video playback of one of kenma's streams.

"kenma." kuroo's voice finally crackles, a little staticky with how low he speaks. he doesn't say anything more, and it has to be one of their best friends telepathy thing happening as kenma mutters "kuro" back, equally as low.

"level cleared." the robot voice cuts into the moment, followed almost instantly by, "i also think owl guy likes kuro-san! but the real question is, if kuro-san likes owl guy back owo"

that must be another donation comment, bokuto thinks. kuroo has a hand over half his face in the feed, only his eyes visible as he sinks into his chair.

"ok, chat. i'm ending the stream after i clear this level. before you guys break kuro forever." kenma announces in the video, still steadily clicking away. bokuto taps the screen to check the remaining minutes on the video at the same time the voice comes through with another 'level cleared'. that must be a new record with how fast kenma just did that.

true to his word, kenma starts wrapping things up, kuroo quiet next to him all the while. the video runs for another three minutes and bokuto's pretty sure kuroo won't be saying another word. he has that look on his face when he's thinking deeply, bokuto recognises it from his eyes.

he exits the stream and locks the phone, frowning. "'kaashi, kuroo didn't answer the question in the end."

"he didn't." akaashi agrees, slipping his phone back into his pocket once he takes it from bokuto. "but kuroo-san didn't even realise you liked him that way until then."

"if he even realises! he seemed pretty disbelieving."

"i think he'll realise it now. i'm more surprised that kuroo-san's that oblivious. you're not the most subtle person, bokuto-san."

bokuto frowns deeper, shaking his head. "kuroo was blushing. you think he was embarrassed? or... he could...?"

the words trail off. bokuto doesn't know how to ask what he wants to, but it's akaashi. akaashi gets him.

"you would know better than i do, bokuto-san." there's a sigh that leads bokuto to think akaashi won't be saying any more, but to his surprise more words follow, "but if you ask me, i think it was only a matter of time."

bokuto blinks. "what does that mean?"

"it means you and kuroo-san have always got on like a house on fire," akaashi shakes his head, a little exasperation in his eyes, "too much fire, sometimes."

"you're always making time to hang out with each other. kuroo-san always makes it a point to plan something special for your birthday. he remembers the brand of tea your family likes and brings some over whenever he visits. you told me that, bokuto-san."

kuroo does do that. bokuto remembers the first year of college, when he unfortunately fell sick on his birthday. he'd been visiting home for the last few weeks of summer break and had ruined the outdoor barbeque party kuroo planned for him. but kuroo hadn't even batted a lash, only bringing the party indoors and calling all their close friends over to bokuto's.

bokuto can't forget kuroo's smile as he heartily proclaimed that they were going to have a blast. he'd brought a box of his family's favourite tea then, too.

it had warmed bokuto's heart so much.

"but that could be bro behaviour," he pouts. even as he says this, though, his heart is blooming with hope. if kuroo returns his feelings... if kuroo feels the same, bokuto would be the luckiest man alive.

"maybe." akaashi concedes, and it bursts bokuto's bubble a little.

"'kaash, this is the time to be hyping me up, not bringing me down!" he whines.

"i'm not done, bokuto-san," akaashi interjects. there's a tiny smile on his face, bokuto swears sometimes akaashi likes to leave him on tenterhooks as some sort of payback for always having to deal with him. but bokuto knows there isn't anything serious behind the action, nor in akaashi's sighs.

"maybe it could just be 'bro' behaviour, as you say, and nothing more. but that was before. and whether it is or isn't, kuroo-san will probably figure out that you like him romantically soon. or at least start to question it."

oh, god. that's a terrifying thought.

"i think the question is, what you're going to do now, bokuto-san."

"... what i'm going to do...?" he mutters, soft and mostly to himself. akaashi answers him anyway, a benevolence on his part.

"let's say kuroo-san does realise you like him like that. knowing kuroo-san, there's a chance he'll just run away." bokuto sees akaashi pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing again, "even if he likes you back."

"so the question is, what you're going to do now that you know kuroo-san's already starting to think about it." bokuto sees kuroo's deeply thinking eyes in his mind, and he knows akaashi's right.

akaashi's right about more than one thing, actually. he'd said bokuto wasn't the most subtle person out there and bokuto knows that, too. in fact, bokuto hasn't really been trying to hide it. not from anyone, and that includes kuroo.

kuroo really is oblivious and it's as much maddening as it is endearing.

the worst outcome would be kuroo running away, as akaashi had curtly but kindly pointed out. bokuto doesn't want that to happen. maybe it's the hope still ballooning inside him, too, that leads bokuto to such an easy decision.

"i think..." he pauses, rolling the thought around in his head for a second more. he nods decisively, "if kuroo allows, i think i'm going to woo him."

he's not going to let kuroo second-guess anything. it's been at least 24 hours since the stream was live. at least 24 hours of kuroo thinking on it and coming to whatever conclusion his big yet silly brain could come to.

since it's already come to this, bokuto wants kuroo to know that kenma's fans were right. to have no doubt about the feelings that have felt inevitable since the day they met.

"even if kuroo says no, and he doesn't feel the same, i'm sure we'll still be friends."

it'll hurt like hell, but their friendship is strong. bokuto has unshakeable faith in that.

akaashi stares at him for a long second, his features softening as he breaks out into a little smile.

"i'm proud of you, bokuto-san." he says, instantly erasing any hesitance bokuto might have had.

kuroo deserves to be loved right. he's one of the best people bokuto has ever known and probably will ever know. bokuto hopes he can be given the chance to love kuroo like he deserves, but before that...

he has to talk to kuroo.

[serenedash]

Waiting, again,

An old snippet from my drafts about Ryou and Ephemera, enjoy!

Ryou trudged into his room, pulling off his accessories and dumping them unceremoniously onto his dresser. He tugged off his bow tie and vest, trying to kick off his shoes at the same time without falling over. He dropped his vest on the edge of his bed and fell face first into his pillow, one shoe still hanging on his foot but he shook it off and it landed with a dull thud.

He flipped over onto his back, letting out a loud sigh as he closed his eyes. Exhaustion seeped into his bones, making him feel too heavy to move. He had no idea what time it was; his pocket watch was still in his vest and he wasn’t going to get up to check. He knew it was pretty late though, probably nearing the late raid hour.

It was yet another day that seemed to blur into the next. He did his daily missions, checked on his party members, participated in the daytime raids, even bought some new medals, but nighttime was still the same as he waited hour after hour for Ephemera. Again. And he still didn’t show up. Again. And Chirithy had to force him to go home to sleep. Again.

And Ryou was so, so tired. Normally he welcomed such a feeling; it was the feeling of a full, accomplished day-- but not anymore. Now exhaustion followed long, painful days of monotony and loneliness. He was even finding it hard to be cheerful around his party members as the rumors of war continued to surge through town. Not that he cared for such rumors-- or at least that's what he told himself. He had bigger things to worry about like managing his party and waiting for that stupid guy at the fountain.

And now there was also that girl Skuld… he was going to look for Ephemera with her tomorrow.

He closed his eyes, willing himself to focus on sleep despite the swirling thoughts in his head. Maybe he would do his dailies in the morning before he met with Skuld. He could do them after but that might get in the way of waiting for Ephemera… and he didn’t want to risk missing the boy…

He forced his thoughts to stop, slapping his hands over his face and groaning in frustration. He’d be of no use to anyone, least of all Ephemera, if he was still this tired tomorrow.

Here's to another stupid day in the books.

[ro-sham-no]

@wincestwednesdays | july 24th: sunshine / rock and a hard place

ephelides, a poem by me.

[wearily-confused]

Also what is it with me leaving songs in another tab or the watchlist and never getting around to it anytime soon

But most often than not those songs are such bangers too

[gltownsend]

First Line Tag

Tagged by @simonnebethel, thank you!!

The first line of Ephemera (book one):

Nikora's hands shook as he cleaned the dried blood off Anahera's arm. He dropped the cloth and cursed. He had to try twice to pick it up.

The first line of Dissonance (book two) (working title):

Nikora's hands were steady and confident as he cleaned the blood off Anahera's cheek. He almost wished they weren't, that they would tremble the way they used to. That it wasn't a muscle memory he fell into so easily now. That he had to stop and think before he moved.

Tagging (again no pressure, and sorry if you've already done it haha) @shadow-of-tea-and-tea @fincheswrites @chaptersbycaz

[sleepyblr-heart]

'man, this would be a lot easier if there was a way to do this easier' he says, as there is a way to do it easier

[lightandfellowship]

Ephemer being forced to "kill" his friend (Player) who got "possessed" by a Darkness at the end of KHUX -> Ephemer's descendant Xehanort being forced to kill his friend (Baldr) who got possessed by a Darkness at the end of KHDR.

History repeating itself, and Eph's line is just destined to suffer, apparently.

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

creating a spreadsheet of the trio's lines in the webnovel vs webcomic (as one does), and. i am on the FLOOR their characterisation differs so much from the webnovel and webcomic?!?!??? 😭😭 they took away all of hestio's flavour!!! and Ephael is a lot more stereotypical sunshine too i am losing my mind

Gone:

In the toy mansion, Ephael said that Tesilid was not just his friend, but his "best friend", so Ailette gave him more food. Hestio got very visibly sad and angry.

Whenever they're in battle, Hestio kind of talks to Ephael like he's a P*kemon ("Ephael, go and bite them!" / "Uh... okay.")

Ephael is pretty quiet and subdued throughout the toy mansion, while in the comic he's very artificially cheery.

ALMOST THE ENTIRETY OF HESTIO'S LINES WHEN THEY SNUCK TESILID FOOD IN PRISON IS GONE?!?!?!?? 😭😭😭😭😭😭 THE VIBES ARE SO DIFFERENT

Webnovel has BOTH Hestio and Ephael handing over food (in the webcomic only Ephael brought food. I dunno what Hestio was doing there.)

ONLY the webnovel has Hestio's extremely cute "What? Are you going to refuse the food because the rules are important? (annoyed but also genuinely scared)" / ".....I thought I'd have to shove the food down your mouth if you refused. Well, eat up."

The webcomic has Hestio suddenly ruin the entire mood by saying "🙄😒 did you know 🤓 the vatican is taking things out on you bc you refuse to kill heretics. also idc if the heretics are actually evil or not, what matters is that the vatican wants to know if youre on their side." like stfu please 😭 In the webnovel Hestio only brings this up because Ephael went "cheer up! if it werent for the city making a fuss, the vatican wouldn't have done this" and Hestio corrected him bc he wanted Tesilid not to misunderstand his situation with the Vatican.

What did they make comic!Hestio so callous for !!!!! 😭😭😭 Hestio is a SOFTIE with a mean streak and sharp tongue!!!

[eclipsenoir]

Nether Spring, nature's Queen. My Artemis — Art by Jung Ephraem.

Artemis, lover of woods and the wild chase over the mountains. You'd sprung from seeds of cypress and fragments of flint with a bow and arrow at hand, the Lady of Wild Things, a sui generis born for hunt and chastity alone. You were the syntax polyvalent your father gifted the earth. You raised your quiver and then warriors of men, then killed the ignorant few for their gall towards your storm. You turned boys into girls because only in this way could you spare their innocence. A champion to the masses, Huntress factotum. Boring many a names, they would forever sit on your shoulders like a volley of silver arrows. They would be yours as much as they would not at all be, however merciful, because you would be slain by your own resolution.

Cynthia, Diana, and Selene. If Artemis be thy name, I pledge to you my loyalty. And then you were Hecate (the goddess with three forms), she who became you in the dark. You embraced her as she did you, a passing shadow on the Moon. On earth you were Artemis or Cynthia, in the skies La Luna. Hecate waited in the lower world, and she would wait in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness. An awful divinity, you would be and I would revere your putridity. No longer lovely, nor pressed warm under branches of cypress you considered most holy. Stags and humanity mattered none in the dark.

Hecate of Hell.

Mighty to shatter every stubborn thing.

Hark! Hark! her hounds are baying through the town.

Where three roads meet, there she is standing.

My Artemis. Shall I be the Torch in your heart?

(cr)

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

history 101 💛

This was originally just supposed to be me having fun exploring what Ephemer would be like as a teacher but it got a bit out of hand in a good way (but I think I spent way too long on this lol)

Notes:

I wholeheartedly believe that teaching is Eph’s true passion. While writing Overmorrow, I came to realize that his role as a teacher/master is necessary in ensuring that light and the will of the keyblade lives on, but it’s also something he would just genuinely enjoy doing on a personal level. Aside from being able to infodump to his heart’s content (that’s a big deal! 😄), he can also help, inspire, and lead as a teacher! I think if he does actually establish the Keyblade order/academy in canon, it would be his pride and joy

Eph’s actual classroom may not have looked like kh3/dr’s, but I like to believe it was probably similarly designed. (He learned a lot about teaching from Hestia 🥰)

Lyra first appeared here :) the rest of the students are new, I made them up on the spot

my ass could not have handled making Overmorrow as a webcomic

[quixoticmirror]

Elaborating on this in particular as someone who’s worked in medicine. First line treatments are what we understand based on clinical success and (cough cough insurance kickbacks), but it’s not always the correct option. Insurance wants the most bang for their buck and that means skimping on newer medications / more expensive ones even if they have better efficacy. I was lucky to receive some 40k+ treatment because I was so sick but now I can’t afford other medicines and will accept I’ll just crumble up and die

I’ve got my tumblr inbox turned off so I really have to commend the person who actually emailed me to let me know they don’t like the things I’ve posted about the UnitedHealth CEO being murdered on their commitment to their beliefs.

But seen as how you emailed me from a dud email that appears to be bouncing back replies and I really wanted to address something you said to me about violence begetting violence:

My migraine medication, the medication I was given for my debilitating neurological disease that has gotten so bad I spent most of this year actively suicidal, costs $1300 a month.

My insurance covered it. But only because my doctors office went to fucking war for me because I’m a high anaphylaxis risk for the drugs the insurance wanted me to try.

Because that’s the thing.

My doctors knew, based on my documented medical history, I likely wouldn’t be a good fit for the “first line” of preventative migraine drugs, but because of insurance, I had to be given drugs that were contradictory to my other life threatening conditions, because otherwise insurance wouldn’t cover anything else.

I failed them. Spectacularly and with an anaphylactic reaction to one of them. And I was still warned insurance would fight me because I hadn’t tried the remaining drug they wanted me to try.

A drug which I would have to take in an ER waiting room because my mast cell disease is unpredictable but insurance wouldn’t cover in-patient treatment to let me try it safely under medical supervision.

Is that not violence?

Were all the times I was denied coverage for vital and necessary procedures that could have prevented my disabilities from worsening not violence?

Maybe not in the sense you mean. But I assure you it felt very much like violence to me.

Do I condone murder? No, obviously. But I’m also sick and tired of people pretending that what is happening to the American people every day isn’t eugenics through class warfare.

Violence begets violence.

It sure fucking does.

Maybe these insurance companies should have thought of that first.

[wearily-confused]

i wish it was acceptable to ask to dtr friendships

like are we treating this as bfs or acquaintances or talks casually every other month or every day gm and gn or what

like please tell me what amount of energy and care you are willing to reciprocate without pingponging between loving me and not even giving a fuck if i die, just stop with all this hot and cold bs

[gltownsend]

Last Line Tag

(Tagged by @mister-writes, thank you!)

This is pretty nothing without context, but:

In the darkness, his fingers--slick and numb and useless--almost missed it.

I have no clue who's done this because I was tagged... a month and a half ago... but I assume your last lines have changed since then- so I will tag @inkhelm, @writingrosesonneptune, and anyone who wants to do this!

[esperidiaoimoveis]

 Griffe Campo Limpo