#i'm so so sorry this took so damn long

[ask-vocalandroid-miku]

Hello! It's very nice to meet you-- Oh. How odd. I don't really feel like myself...

HM: "What's going on...? I feel kinda different...what is this?"

[dawnthefluffyduck]

New game interest unlocked

(crow in bottom right belongs to @patchwork-crow-writes)

[definitely-not-an-alb]

ooh, how do you think molly would grift essek?

Alright. Let’s grift Essek.

First I need to note that any objection along the line of ‘Essek is too intelligent to fall for grifts’ is unnecessary, because whatever you think of Essek’s specific characterisation, assuming you are to intelligent to fall for a grift is one of the major ways people fall for them, in a ‘renowned high pressure social group researcher proclaiming on twitter that Sissy Porn is real and dangerous’ kinda way (look it up it’s some hysterical terf bs).

Gonna use that joke as a sidenote that if I am conflating grifts and high pressure social groups in this, it’s ‘cause as far as I care the difference is how self-aware the people running the show are. Watch any MLM-Doku (and I think we can all agree MLMs are grifts) and you’ll inevitably get to the part about weird aspiration culture bs and group pressure. It’s all one soup.

With that out of the way, let’s establish a baseline: What’s Molly’s reason for grifting Essek? Probably money and also the fun of it/being bored. Considering Kingsley abandoned his perfectly fine shipping company job to run off to be pirate king, I don’t think ‘Molly keeps grifting long after the M9 have become financially stable for shits and giggles and because Jester enjoys it’ is too outlandish a projection. Additionally, I don’t think Molly is great with impulse control nor this whole thing where current actions cause future consequences.

Now; why would Essek fall for a grift. Grifting relies on the dupe wanting something more than having good sense about it. Most people want money, so most girfts are structured around greed, but we know money is no object to Essek (though this does make him a juicy target – what he would barely miss might make a good haul for any grifter). We do know he is primarily motivated by knowledge instead, as well as a desire to be recognized as intelligent and exceptional. Additionally, we know he needs (in the character development sense) The Power of Friendship. Lastly, I think it’s fair to say he subconsciously longs for excitement (happy, fulfilled bureaucrats don’t become heretic spies; nor do they befriend a gang of mercenaries; implicitly, Essek is happier living the life of a wayward refugee-adventurer wizard than that of an Evil Gay Vizier Court Wizard or whatever papers a Shadowhand stamps nine-to-five.).

Being a paranoid bastard makes him a harder target, though the fact that we know he has fallen for someone’s bs before (I’m counting the spectacularly bad decision that is him allying with the Assembly as falling for a grift here. That’s a stupid decision to make!) makes him an easier target. Being so socially isolated makes him an easier victim, too, though his general rejection of people and clear discomfort with social interactions makes him an unlikely target for something like a romance scam. Essek’s relationship to tolerating bullshit is a weird one; on the one hand, he does put up with Jester’s (and the rest of the Nein’s) shenanigans, on the other he clearly knows how to and dares to tell someone to fuck off, and there’s that time he just ditches everyone via teleport (hilarious). So boundaries-wise, he could go either way. Lastly, I’d argue he’s at least somewhat impulsive or at least not risk averse. Always remember we are looking at an NPC next to Sword’n’Sorcery Adventurers – Essek might look cautious next to ruin-trawling wizards, but compare him to Gundula, 55, who works in Insurance and just clicked on a phishing link to claim her Totally Real Oilve Garden Gift Card, and you’ll see what I mean – most people are too risk-averse and unimpulsive to, again, commit treason via international conspiracy and then run off without a moment’s notice to dig around a cursed-ass ruin to save the world from a Cronenbergian nightmare.

Conclusion: He’s rich, he’s bored, he loves pretending to be a spy or grand discoverer, he wants to buy your dodgy foreign papers and incredible discoveries about the Luxon so, so badly and he has absolutely no one left in his life who’ll tell him it’s a bad idea.

So, for example, Molly could Voynich him. All he needs is a battered notebook and some writing supplies, whatever knowledge of what wizards’ and alchemists’ and spies’ scribbles look like he can easily pick up from traveling with the Nein and an opportunity to ask Essek to have a look at this encoded notebook he’s been lugging around all over the continent with him, why, he was at this party in Zadash and everyone else was some boring old pompous wizard (such a bore!) so he pickpocketed one of them, just for the fun of it, but, well, turns out neither Caleb nor Beau can make head nor tails of the weird sign code it’s written in (how tragic, if only someone happened to be so much cleverer than both of them!) and if Essek wants to have a look Molly would be more than happy to lighten his pack. For a small pittance, of course.

What’s small change to Essek is probably pretty nice to have for Molly, even by that level and especially if we’re mostly doing this for the fun of it. Essek gets to fall face first into his desire to show up Caleb, Beau and potentially an unknown Assembly member with his clearly superior decoding, espionage and wizardly skills and gain Secret Knowledge, maybe even Assembly Secrets on top of that.

Arguably, this one does rely very heavily on the fact that it’s hard to prove a negative, or in this case, hard to prove a barely-literate conman’s scribbles are just that. Do keep in mind Essek doesn’t know Molly is a habitual conman, but even so, it’s not a fantastic con (Essek isn’t dumb and knows his arcana after all and Molly doesn’t, or at least not enough to make a proper Voynich).

You could make it a better Voynich by getting Caleb in on it, but instead let’s pep it and turn it into a proper Real Stradivari by changing the hints that this manuscript might be legit to being alchemy-related and adding in a shill. Let’s go with Jester, because she’s down to clown, can lie and has a way with Essek’s boundaries.

So this time around, we aren’t asking Essek outright to buy our bogus notes – instead Molly gives him the whole spiel, hands him the notebook, fucks off with as little time to actually look at it as possible before Jester enters the scene to ask what THAT is and go oh it’s about ALCHEMY well, that DOES look like the signs she saw around Yezza’s house, pretty suuuure, oh, do you think it might be Yezza’s? Do you think Yezza might want it? Do you think she should ask Molly to sell it to her so she can give it to Yezza as a present to be nice because she’s such a nice friend who does nice things?

Honestly, the money part is optional if this is wholly about making Essek look up to see if the ceiling does indeed say gullible (and if Jester is involved, it might well do so! Always better to check, with her!), but a proper Violin Drop concludes with the Grifter returning to take their worthless thing back only to be asked to sell by the victim, who thinks the grifter doesn’t know what worth he has. If it was real, offering to buy the notebook would mean Essek outsmarted a minimum of three people (Beau and Caleb can’t crack the code, Molly is too dumb and illiterate to know valuable research notes from the morning paper) and gets his hands on potentially unknown-to-him luxon-related secrets! Alas, it’s not real, as he will realize soon.

So these are two (related) ways to scam Essek. But there’s a third one I want to mention one that is a lot of cinematic fun and I didn’t know had a name until Wikipedia told me no one does it irl (boo! That’s no fun!). It takes a lot of prep, math, and a lot of people and combines Essek’s obsession with the Luxon’s secrets and Molly’s penchant for passing himself off as psychic.

Molly would need something people in Rosohna bet on, like some kind of sport, preferably one with only two results and places people do said betting on said sport in groups. I’m assuming this exists on account of gambling and sports being culturally pretty universal concepts that love to go together.

Anyway. Imagine you’re Essek Thelyss, and one day a bunch of weirdos show up in court with a piece of the god you’re atheistically-heretically obsessed with. A few weeks later, you, having your ears to the ground about new developments regarding said not-god-pieces, hear one of the weirdos has made a name for himself as a outright oracle, correctly predicting the outcome of Fantasy-Dodgeball (Rosohnas’ favourite sport) perfectly six weeks running. He swears it’s because proximity to the Luxon amplified his inborn and long-trained psychic powers to predict the future.

Now, this is obviously bullshit. Except if Essek, being regrettably acquainted with the weirdos, were to ask, Molly would certainly confirm that sure, he has mystic powers and certainly they were amplified by the Luxon and predicting sport results is a hobby of his wherever they go, does Essek want to see? and lead Essek to a bar where every regular can swear on whatever he likes that Molly has correctly predicted the results of Fantasy-Dodgeball since the first week of being in Rosohna, in fact since before he himself knew the rules or track-record of any of the teams. Not only that, but there’s a second bar full of people Molly can introduce him too. And if he wants, he can certainly come back for a drink in one of them again next week when Molly has done it once more. Just call on Molly, he’ll tell you the time and date to meet some true believers, not all of whom can possibly be his shills.

(And, incidentally, barely worth mentioning, really, since Molly’s psychic blessings from the Luxon are so accurate, he has Exciting Business Opportunities for anyone willing to place more than their weekly betting budget in his trust, and he’d love for Essek to take a look at his powers. For a small compensation of his time, of course.)

Of course Molly can’t predict the results of Fantasy-Dodgeball. Instead, the first week of downtime in Rosohna, he found out what people like to bet on in Rosohna and where, picked one or two places in each district, go there and make predictions with a fifty-fifty split, then eliminate each watering hole where he was wrong each week, slowly cutting his audience back to only people who are getting to know him as That Outlander Who Always Knows The Results of Fantasy-Dodgeball, all the while escalating the story from him being just some dude betting and drinking with the guys to the whole Chosen By The Luxon thing. Considering this is a double-scam involving a faith aspect, he might very well still cash in in places he’s been wrong once only since victims of faith-based scams are very likely to overlook inconsistencies in their scammer’s stories or promised results. By the time Essek gets involved Molly’d be down to one or two places of true believers coming to him for ‘always accurate’ tips and a bunch of other people all over Rosohna he might get some money off based on the faith-aspect. And now perhaps one intrigued high-ranking government official who’s more than willing to overlook the hereticism inherent to the whole thing and is instead very likely to fall in the academic glue-trap of trying to disprove something clearly bogus that you do kind of want to believe in because like.

Wouldn’t it be cool? If the Luxon had more awesome powers? And one of them happened to fall in Essek’s hands, with no oversight and no need to cooperate with someone like Trent or Ludinus? Would he not want it to be real?

Anyway. The real answer to this question is: Enlist Beau to send bogus stuffed bills to Essek’s secretary. Bureaucrat on bureaucrat violence, let’s go.

[secondsonaym]

The Book of Leshy - 1 [Leshy 3]

(read on Ao3 here)

-------------

It wasn’t too long of a wait before Father Edvard brought in the people he had referred to. A looming yellow skunk followed behind him, their loping pace indicative of their aged and weary body, while a few feet behind trailed a purple skunk, looking as if she had to force herself to take each step.

“Leshy, I would like you to meet Tyler and Aster.” Father Edvard explained, gesturing to each of the new arrivals in turn.

I examined them carefully, noting the scars covering Tyler’s face, and the one that crossed over Aster’s eye. Tyler also looked me over, eyes narrowing slightly before they folded their arms, not very interested.

“V-Vessel Leshy?” Aster piped up, a mix of awe and apprehension on her face. “Th-The one chosen by Lady Zuriel, the b-br-brother to the heretic--”

Tyler raised a hand, putting it in front of Aster’s face and making her fall silent. She flinched back, realizing her error, and closed her mouth, looking to Tyler to take the lead.

“A pleasure to meet the both of you.” I managed, making sure not to forget my manners. 

“So you want me to spend my time teaching this kid how to fight.” Tyler grumbled, looking to Father Edvard, who nodded.

“He is of the age where some basic defense would do him some good, and you’re the best one I can think of for the task.” Father Edvard replied.

“Father,” Tyler snorted, pinching their brow. “He is a worm.”

“U-Uh, actually, a ca-caterpill--”

“He has no bones.” Tyler interrupted, snapping a sharp look at Aster. “His anatomy does not exactly scream ‘agile,’ you know.”

“Perhaps for typical combat, but are we truly followers of Chaos if we do not adapt?” Father Edvard raised an eyebrow.

Tyler let out a sigh, closing their eyes for a moment.

“I am willing to try.” I forced myself to say, puffing my chest out a bit. I didn’t want to seem weak, or scared, in front of Tyler. I wanted to show to them I was capable.

It was a good few moments before Tyler finally heaved another sigh, setting their hands on their hips.

“I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises that you’ll be a warrior by the time all’s said and done.” 

“Brilliant,” Father Edvard said, clapping his hands with a small smile. “I entrust you with Leshy’s potential, Tyler.”

“Don’t blame me if things don’t turn out how you want.” They replied. “Now, is that all?”

“For now.” Father Edvard nodded. “Thank you, Tyler.”

“In that case, come with me, squirt.” Tyler suddenly turned and began to head to the entrance. Aster followed close behind, only glancing back to make sure I was following--which I did with haste, barely managing a wave farewell to Father Edvard.

“The sooner we start your training, the better.” Tyler announced when we stepped outside into the clearing. “The question is… What kind of combat would you best suited for…”

That was….  Certainly quite the question. I couldn’t exactly punch or kick like most others, given my limbs were quite short. 

“Are you ever going to metamorphize?” Aster asked, a finger to her chin. “There’s definitely options if you were to become a butterfly…”

“I… I’m not sure.” I admitted. “Lee is an adult, but she’s still a caterpillar herself, and I never knew my parents, so…”

“No sense dwelling on it, then.” Tyler scoffed. “As for what can be done right now, I think equipping you for range is probably the best bet. You don’t have to worry too much about your mobility, for one.”

“So, like bows and arrows and stuff?”

“If that’s what you want to try. But there’s a few different classes of range to experiment with, like with staves or lances…”

“Those can be pretty heavy, though…”

Tyler sighed, folding their arms. “Well, we could always try to--”

It was then we all froze, hearing an eruption of shouts. We turned in the direction of the noise, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

“DON’T LET HER GET AWAY THIS TIME!”

“DEATH TO THE HERETIC!”

It was Lee. For some reason, she was back--Why?? Why would she make herself known, when she knew what had happened last time?

A group of people had surrounded her, screaming insults at her as she desperately looked for an escape. I had never seen her so scared before, not even when Zuriel had attacked her…

A squirrel lunged at her, pinning her to the ground. She squirmed, but was helpless against the others who swarmed in closer to kick, punch, and claw at her. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears and my fear spiked, knowing full well the crowd had no intent on being merciful.

“H-Help me stop them!!” I choked out to Aster and Tyler before rushing to the crowd, pushing my way through the tangle of legs in order to reach Lee. I could feel a few blows on my back, but I didn’t care, I just focused on protecting my sister.

A few people faltered when they saw me, unsure what to do in my presence.

“AS ZURIEL’S VESSEL, I COMMAND YOU STAND DOWN!” I hollered at the top of my lungs, just before receiving a hesitant punch from somebody. At my command, they backed off, as did the rest of the crowd, confused.

“Leshy?” Lee managed, looking up from her hunched position. “What are you--”

“I should be asking you that!” I hissed under my breath. “Why did you come back so soon??”

“Well, I--”

“Why are you protecting the heretic, Leshy?” Somebody in the crowd asked, followed by a murmur of agreements. “She seeks to stifle Lady Zuriel’s Chaos!”

I turned back to the crowd, trying my best to still my shaking body. I could see over the shoulders of a few participants that Tyler and Aster had done nothing to help, merely staring at the scenario with disinterest. So much for their assistance!

“I…” I managed, keeping my voice as level as I could. “I am working on reforming her. Teaching her the true wonders of Chaos.”

“You’re what?” Lee hissed.

“Go with it! Unless you want to die!” I returned, before raising my voice to the crowd again. “So please… Keep your distance, and leave it to me…”

Silence echoed after I closed my mouth, everyone else looking carefully between me and Lee. I was certain some of them didn’t buy it--But it’s not like they were in any position to go against me, being Zuriel’s right hand. 

Then, finally, the group began to disperse, most heading in the direction of the temple to pray. The rest hovered for a moment, still looking at me with unsure expressions. They only went to tend to their own business when Tyler and Aster approached, surprised looks of recognition crossing a few of their faces.

“You’re lucky they didn’t call your bluff.” Tyler scoffed.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t exactly very helpful.” I spat back, turning to help Lee stand up. 

“Wanted to see if you actually had a spine in there, that’s all.”

“Tyler. Aster.” Lee said curtly. “Long time no see.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised that Lee actually knew the pair, but none of them elaborated. Perhaps it was best to not get into that at the moment, anyway.

Instead, I repeated my earlier question, “Why are you back so soon, Lee? You said you were going to be a few hours.”

“I was…” She started, giving a wary glance to the other two, before lowering her voice to a frustrated mumble. “I was looking for Haro.”

Tyler’s mouth twitched, like they wanted to say something, but they remained still. Even Aster, who kept quiet to begin with, started fidgeting with her fingers upon hearing the name.

“After they left last night, I just couldn’t get over all the stuff they said, so I wanted to find them, or at least Decarabia. No such luck, of course. Seems they only show up if they want to be found.”

“Well, if you’re done looking, you’re just in time to see Leshy start some of his training.” Tyler finally managed through a tight jaw. “We were actually discussing what weapons might be best for him, before we overheard the commotion.”

“Weapons?” Lee’s antennae sprang up straight, showing the true level of her shock. “Leshy’s--Why would he--He’s too YOUNG to--Why??”

“I want to.” I interrupted her stammering, trying to sound assertive. “I don’t want to be helpless, Lee! You’ve had to protect me for so long, and you can’t keep it up forever! I need to learn some independence! I.. I need to be brave.”

“This isn’t because of what Lady Zuriel said you to, is it?” Lee pressed, voice softening. “Because you don’t need to be brave, Leshy--I mean, you don’t need to put yourself in danger to prove you’re brave.”

“Lee, face it!” I snapped. “You literally just got attacked, and what if I’m not there next time? I don’t want people to look at you and go, ‘oh, there’s the heretic, we should kill her,’ I want people to know you’re my sister, and that they should think twice before hurting you again! I can’t do that if I’m still a weak little bug!”

Lee just stared at me, still worn down from the attack, and not really having much energy to argue with me. I could see a tired pain in her eyes, a thousand retorts being drummed up and waiting to jump from her mouth, but… After another glance to Tyler, she just sighed.

“I guess it has to be sooner rather than later, at this rate.” She said quietly. “Because frankly, even if you do become strong, it’s not like I’ll be around to help you for very long.”

I blinked, and almost asked her what she meant by that, but Tyler suddenly clapped my back, making me stumble forward a bit.

“Well, with all that out of the way, how’s about we get to what we were planning to do in the first place?” They said, forcing a smile. 

With not much else to say in protest, I gave a nod, glancing back to Lee, who was now waiting for Tyler to lead the way.

“C’mon, then.” Tyler prompted, beginning to walk once more. “I know a spot where we can try out some different things and figure out what’s best for you.”

[revasserium]

118 with daichi? ::

reqs are open :)

118. the power of goodbye

daichi; 2,349 words; teeth-rotting fluff u__u 4 times you say goodbye, and 1 time you say hello instead "what was it like to lose him? asked sorrow. there was a long pause before i responded: it was like hearing every goodbye ever said to me -- said all at once" -- lang leav, love and misadventure

01. “bye! see you next week!”

you’re waving at him, standing on your tiptoes, your other hand caught in your mother’s palm as daichi waves back just as furiously. you are both seven years old and somehow, both your mothers had thought to sign you up for after school art lessons.

“see you!” daichi sighs as he turns back to peer up at his mom, frowning slightly, “mom… i don’t think i’m very good at drawing…”

“ah? but dai-chan, i thought you liked coming to art classes? you’re always so excited!”

daichi furrows his brows as he and his mom start on their slow trek home, up two blocks, turning right onto the main street where daichi knows he’ll pass by the convenience store he likes with the iced milk pops.

“i… i like coming here cause i like my friends! but…” he kicks at the ground, a half-crumpled picture clutched in his other hand. his mother laughs lightly, taking the picture and smoothing it out with her hands.

“mah… as long as you’re having a good time, i think that’s all that matters.”

daichi pouts, pressing his lips, because yes… he supposes having fun is… well, fun, but being good at something is fun too!

he thinks about how your eyes glitter whenever the teacher hands out a fresh, new piece of paper, how eager you are to grab at the crayons and markers, how your tongue gets stuck between your teeth when you’re scribbling color across a page, like you could take the whole world and put right there on the shiny, white surface. sometimes, he thinks you can.

he wonders if he’ll ever find something that makes him feel like that.

“do you still want to come back next week then?

daichi starts, looking up at his mom with wide eyes.

“of course i do! i wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

02. “so… practice, right?” you ask, your hands laced behind your back as daichi shrugs, laughing, scratching at the back of his neck.

“yeah… but i’ll see you after your traditional arts club right?” he pauses at the end of the hallway that leads towards the volleyball gym. you teeter on the balls of your feet, your hair in twin pigtails near the nape of your neck. once, daichi had felt the urge to tug on them constantly, back when the pair of you were still in elementary school, but now that he’s in middle school, he’s decided that it’s high time at like the grown up that he is.

so he settles for a shy smile as you nod and wave at him, jogging off back towards the school’s main building.

“see you!” you shout, even as you disappear from around a corner and he’s left with his hand aloft, blinking after you.

“sawamura? what’re you staring at?” ikejiri blinks as he peers around the doors to the gym.

“oh! nothing — coming!” daichi blushes as he hurries to join ikejiri, casting one last look over his shoulder at the place where you’d been standing.

03. the summer sun blows itself out over the flat of the horizon, the july air sticky with humidity and the lingering taste of possibilities.

“so… where are you going next year?”

you turn your head to look at him, your hair done up in two neat plaits, the ends pinned to the sides of your head so as to keep them from tickling your neck. he tugs lightly on one of the loops; you let your head lilt to one side, offering no resistance as he pulls his hand back.

daichi casts his eyes up at the dying light of a fading sky and grins.

“karasuno! remember when we saw them on tv the other day?”

“oh yeah! they’re the team that went to nationals in tokyo, right?”

“yep! and… i wanna go there one day!”

daichi catches himself, feeling a blush work its way into his cheeks as he looks back down at his hands, resting over the worn old volleyball in his lap.

“don’t worry, you will.”

your voice is a splash of cold water, and he finds himself shivering. he looks up to meet your eyes, and he almost doesn’t want to ask. he doesn’t want to know —

“so… where are you going?”

you purse your lips.

“mom said her job’s moving her to tokyo so…” you shrug, “probably somewhere there…”

and then, painfully, startlingly, you laugh.

daichi’s head jerks up at the sound.

“but when you make it to nationals, then… you’ll be there too!”

he blinks at the smile on your face, too bright for the darkness of the oncoming night.

“r-right! so, i’ll see you then!”

he lets out a laugh too, though it sounds a bit too loud, a bit too forced. you smile nodding.

“i’ll see you then.”

it takes daichi half the walk home to realize that you hadn’t said “if” but “when”.

04. [daichi]: dont stay up too late studying! college entrance exams aren’t till next year!!

[you]: easy for u to say (¬_¬)… u’ll just get a sports scholarship or something…

[daichi]:… p sure im not but okay

[you]: p sure national-leveled athletes get scholarships bUt oKaY

[daichi]: p sure we haven’t made it to nationals yet

[daichi]: go to sleep.

[you]: no, u („• ֊ •„)

[you]: did u fall asleep

[daichi]: (－_－) zzZ

[you]: okies gnight! (─‿‿─)♡

daichi stares at the heart at the end of your message for way too long and tries not to read too much into it.

he stays up all night reading into it anyway.

05. “so… she’s gonna be here. at nationals. to watch you.”

“yes suga. that’s what i said.”

“okay but i wanna make sure you know what you said because from what you said, it sounds like she’s super into you and you’re just refusing to —”

“it’s not like that! w-we’re just old friends —!”

“ah… i know it might not be my place to say this but… it does sound like she might be interested…”

“ha! see? even asahi says so!”

“wha — when did this become a group discussion?!”

“huh? what are you guys talkin’ bout over here? is it that girl daichi-san’s always texting?”

“nishinoya! don’t say that so loudly! and — i’m not always texting her —”

“wait!!! are we finally meeting daichi-san’s mystery girlfriend?”

“tanaka! shut up! and she’s not —”

“daichi?”

daichi freezes and the next moment, several things happen all at once — suga gasps, tanaka stops dead in his tracks, asahi nearly bowls him over, and nishinoya smacks straight into asahi’s back, sending all of them toppling forward like a series of badly placed dominos and it’s all daichi can do to sidestep the mess before they drag him down as well.

but there you are, standing feet from him, watching all this unfold with that same amused smile on your face, with the same bright, sharp eyes he’d always remembered, and god — you look so similar and yet so… so different.

two and a half years has never looked so good, he thinks, as he swallows hard and tries to find something to say.

finally, he settles on, “h-hey! long… long time…”

you laugh, and it’s all he can do not to melt into the sound. because that — that hasn’t changed one bit — the sound still warm and sweet as a spring morning. it shakes through him, breaks him open like the sun over a cracking dawn — he takes a deep, steadying breath.

“yeah, no kidding! but…” you trail off as you take a few steps closer, your eyes flickering over his face, lingering on the broadness of his shoulders, the straightness of his spine, “kinda feels like no time’s passed at all, hm?”

daichi can’t help it — he blushes, clearing his throat as he averts his eyes.

behind him, suga is muttering something and he hears the distinct sounds of the rest of the team being shooed away and for once, he’s thankful that suga pulls his weight as vice captain when it really, really matters.

“i mean, two years is a long time,” he says, feeling suddenly too young and too old all at once, his stomach roiling inside him. he thought he’d have mastered nerves by now; he’s faced down mountains that no one had ever thought they’d summit but somehow… this… this is different.

“it is… you look good,” you say, grinning as you take another few steps forward, as if testing the waters, pushing the line of demarcation closer, and then ever closer. he doesn’t step back though it takes almost everything inside him to hold his ground.

“wow, you’re taller,” you laugh, looking up at him, now close enough for him to touch — reaching out a palm from the top of your head to just below his chin, “much taller…”

your voice is softer, then, like a sigh, a whisper, an admission of sorts. and it’s only then that daichi notices he’s not the only one blushing.

he coughs, swallows, flexes his fingers and forces himself to speak.

“y-you look different too — i mean, good different! you’re… uh — your hair is — longer and —”

daichi fights down the urge to curse, to turn around and run, to lay down on the ground right then and there and pray for the earth to carve itself open so he can fall into it’s dark, unending depths —

you blink, a slow, teasing smile spreading across your lips and daichi finds himself caught, as a thread on a chain-link fence, he looks at you and laughs, helpless, shaking his head.

“sorry… it’s just…” he casts about for words he isn’t quite sure he has. you shake your head, grinning.

“no, it’s fine — i know… it’s a little weird, isn’t it? i mean, two years is a really long time.”

“yeah but… like you said, somehow, it doesn’t really feel like… any time’s passed at all.”

daichi finds his hand reaching up before he can stop himself, almost like second nature, his fingers grazing the ends of your hair, now skimming halfway down your chest, twisted in a loose braid over one of your shoulders.

“it really did get longer but i cut it recently — you should’ve seen it before —” you laugh, looking down at where his fingers are still outstretched, reaching up your own hand to tug at the freshly trimmed ends.

“so… do you uhm — you still do art, right?” daichi asks, tucking both his hands into his pockets.

“yeah! and… you finally made it to nationals. congrats!” you wave an arm around the pair of you, and for a second, daichi had almost forgotten where the two of you were, standing in the bustling entrance hall of one of tokyo’s largest gymnasiums, all bright lights and excited voices.

“yeah — i guess i finally did… took us a while, but… we made it.”

you smile.

“i knew you would.”

daichi chuckles, letting his shoulder shrug up as all the awkwardness falls away between the pair of you, the years falling away day by day, month by month, until it’s just him and you and an entire future of the bright unknown, laid out at your feet.

“yeah, you never did doubt us… even when i did.”

you open your mouth, but someone’s voice cuts through the fray.

“daichi! we gotta go warm up!”

daichi jumps as suga waves at him from down the entire hall, looking both apologetic and exasperated.

“ah — sorry —” daichi turns back to you, his heart halfway to his throat as you nod, the pair of you suddenly tossed back into the present, like a movie caught in fast forward, the frames scrambling to catch up to the here and now.

“no! no — it’s okay! go! i’ll —”

“i’ll text you — see you after, okay? i mean, i don’t know how long — or if you had plans —”

“i don’t! text me — i’ll be here —”

“okay! good! that’s… that’s good!”

“daichi! c’mon, seriously!”

“sorry suga! i’ll be right there —” daichi turns back to you, caught between a frenetic panic and excitement, “i’ll… see you later, yeah?”

you nod, a blush high on your cheeks, nodding, “yeah! good luck! i’ll be watching.”

daichi opens his mouth, wonders if he should say something else, but suga is yelling for him again, and then there’s something warm pressed to his cheek. before he can think, you’re pulling away, your lashes dark and fluttering, your breath hot against his skin.

and then, you’re pressing a hand to his chest, pushing him into motion.

“for… for good luck. now, go!”

“y-yeah — uh — bye!”

you laugh, waving, pressing your lips together as you watch him stumbling rather blankly towards where the rest of his team is waiting for him.

“see you later!”

daichi raises a hand to the place on his cheek where your lips had been, feeling as if you’d smacked him across the face, in all the best of ways.

he looks stares down at his hand, and then back up at you, standing there, still waving.

“don’t — don’t go anywhere, okay?”

you laugh, nodding, now shooing him off proper as he reaches his team and suga starts to drag him bodily from the hall. daichi can’t help looking over his shoulder one more time before you disappear into the crowd, but he finds you immediately, standing on tip-toe, waving furiously at him.

“i won’t! i’ll be right here!"

[cant-get-no-worse]

some habs media content for u

https://x.com/CanadiensMTL/status/1776354373074829738

K wheen I tell you the first things they said in that car completely eludes my grasp of the French language. Didn't get a single word. Did it matter though? No because their voices are deeper than barca's underground children cave and I'm a simple woman. Unbelievable, on my way to steal them from your grasp Justin TRUDEAU, shipping them to France. Manu'll know how to welcome them right. He loooooves having athlete's phone numbers.

I'm also really jealous beecause your hockey jerseys are so cool, colors and fit and everything. I can't possibly wear one here cause people will CACKLE OUT LOUD and shout aRe YoU cAnAdIaN (the French experience in 3 words). But I'm very much in love.

My favorites moments :

LA PANIQUE!!!

The guy punching the donuts box to make them all fit "eT VOILÀÀÀ"

*jams hands in jean pocket in the most nonchalent way* bonjour.

vous ne nous reconnaissez pas? NON.

them 2 guys just standing at the window smiling. don't know what they're doing. don't know why they're here. fully enjoying it. the perfect embodiment of guys being dudes. Wonderful.

Also the little brown haired one reminds me of a rapper we had here who I used to have a crush on so I may have let out some giggles at some point WHO'S TO TELL.

[teamphobia]

<Rototo!>

<Something is happening~ You all love to watch, yes?>

<Then Watch.>

<Uploading Pictures...>

<Pictures Uploaded! ...File Corrupted?>

[systemadministratorclu]

[ 04 ] tucked away in the bunks of a tiny spaceship

From the sci-fi settings prompts

The Atlantis boys + Doom (unless you want different muses!) (also I used a random number generator to pick for us and this is what it came up with xD)

@the-haunted-office

The crew quarters wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny either. The lights were somewhat dim, to go with the ship's somewhat beat-up, rogue appearance. To anyone who didn't know the vessel, it seemed indeed to belong to some kind of rogue or smuggler. It fit in better in the seedier parts of the galaxy, the more remote areas, than it did in the bright shiny city areas.

The place definitely looked lived in, though. The bunks were covered in various covers and blankets either salvaged from derelicts or acquired from various markets (legal and illegal) on multiple worlds. Such were all the other furnishings on board.

The only exceptions were bits of technology one couldn't see just by looking at the vessel. It was modified using Rovarian technology, including its control/computer systems, combat/defense systems (including a cloaking device), and engines/flight tech. These were certainly not the only additions, but they were the most important ones.

This was the Zeleya Maru, whose name no one on board knew the origin of, whose original creators no on on board knew the name of, and who was currently home to two humans and their ghostly friend. Currently the two humans lay on the bunk they shared, Rourke's arm draped over Milo, who had fallen asleep with his glasses on again. Both slept fully clothed, removing only shoes, socks, and any gear or sidearms, though both left their crystals on.

The other bunk had been left for their friend. Not that she had a need for sleep, at least not like they did; it was meant more to give her a space of her own, like they had.

A soft chiming sounded beside them, and Milo's eyes fluttered open.

"mmmm, alright, Maru, I'm up. Cancel alarm."

"Alarm canceled." came the soft voice of the ship's computer from the speaker beside them. Milo slowly eased out from under Rourke's arm and sat up on the side of the bunk, careful not to wake the bigger man, despite it technically being Rourke's vessel.

"Morning, Doom." Milo said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Take it nothing happened while we slept?"

[dryeyed]

starter call. / @xplosionbomb.

things hadn't been easy lately, not for a while now - distantly shouta is able to connect to how his students could possibly be feeling, even moreso with the stress of an impending raid. of the impending battle between some major figures, some enemies that have been a thorn in everyone's sides for far too long. he knows what it feels like to only focus on training, to throw oneself so much into quirk improvement and combat and field training that they'd lose all sense of self otherwise.

so he watches. he keeps an eye over every single one of these teenagers, so bright with purpose and determination that it felt as if he'd been staring into the sun most days. he guides them whenever he can, a gentle or a firm voice whenever need be. but it isn't above him to notice how he keeps a tighter watch over three students in particular, a concern-driven notion fueled behind a hidden life's mistakes and lessons learned.

it isn't unusual he starts with bakugo first, a calmer sort of way about shouta's attitude as he calls him over once his sparring session had ended. fire must be met with water, indeed, but there had been an overall shift in the way bakugo behaved. in how he interacted with others, his very nature seemed to be evolving.

" bakugo. do you have a minute? "

[ferromagnetiic]

Marry. But not because of romance. Only to be annoying <3

【 ⚙ 】  |  【 always accepting. 】 fuck, marry, kill meme @akagamiko

The fact that he has been told by nine separate people that they openly, actively want to kill him, and he has not been particularly bothered by any of it, and for the most part, has been relatively nonplussed by the entire event, even entertained by it at parts.

But this. THIS. THIS has single handedly upset him more than ANYTHING else he has heard tonight.

❝ ...Right.❞

He sniffs, sharply, drawing air into his lungs.

❝ I'm going to divorce your SOUL from yer FUCKIN' BODY. ❞

Fuck: 0 Marry: 2 Kill: 9

[spamtoon]

(Out of nowhere, you are approached by a familiar lightbulb-headed Cog.)

Ah, it's you, cat. Thinking you're oh-so-slick. Muttering and whispering under those raggedy whiskers of yours... Thinking I am unable to hear it all...

Well, you've simply underestimated my fantastic hearing. You probably want to know the reason why I'm here, taking a 'break' from my incredibly important scientific breakthroughs? It's quite simple, really!

(She gets close, and squints her eyes.)

I know what you are.

Farewell, now!

(She then leaves the way she came from.)

(Spam giggles immensely, covering her face... it always seems like she's giggling, isn't she? This lasts... at least thirty seconds. Longer than usual.)

And I know what I am too, Sparky! You broke through something, that's for sure. Really, broke through...

(She looks down, continuing to laugh nervously.)

You know, I find it odd you Havent tried to bulb blast me into the stratosphere by now. I mean knowing how you acted with Frostbite. Is there something peculiar about me that you perhaps can't quite track? Something about me that you... don't know what I am?

I know, I know, I'm talking to nobody again. But you were there when I had a moment today with the one the only Frostbite The Bravecog. You may be remaining. Lurking in the shadows. Knowing about these thoughts that I'm thinking.

(The giggling resumes, lasting far shorter this time.)

Your brother's a piece of fucking barp, by the way

(She braces for impact for a few seconds, wincing while smiling, before comically looking around to realize nobody's there. She sighs.)

Wow, okay maybe toony superhero show logic doesn't apply in this situation. Cool.

WAIT I JUST FUCKING REALIZED WHAT SHE MEANT but like. Dude if she meant that then what's the point I mean the whole ahh sellbot department barping knows unless you're Really low on the ladder. Heheh... maybe she did mean what I thought she meant.

Oh i'm so fucking screwed. What kind of bitch gets filament fever

[handicappedbuenchico]

it's only a dream! (Dealer's choice)

"Like fucking hell it is, these dreams ain't like the usual ones you have. These dreams are deadly, Finney. If you die in his dreams, you die in real life, and the kids here seem to be dropping like fucking flies after they fall asleep," Carlos's brown eyes darkened as they stared into Finney's, eyebrows scrunched downwards to nonverbally show just how serious he was being at this moment. He knew how strange the concept was, hell, just a few days ago he was in the same mental camp as Finney was right now. Now, he knew just how wrong that thought was. These weren't just dreams anymore, this was a matter of life and death that they were dealing with.

[manasurge]

for the otp asks: 4, 8, and 17 for ya girl? 🥺💕

OHH HI SARAH!!! ;v; <3 (sorry this was so late, I was waiting for a day where I had more energy to write laskjfd). Original Post My only current OTP: Mourynn x Caithe (I still need to figure out a proper ship name for tags lksjdfdlf)

4. How did they first meet? In the Dream ;w; While the circumstances beforehand are a bit different (being trapped in the Dream for a year), and her portion of the Dream was cut off/bubbled (visualized with a giant closed Physalis flower), sort of in the same concept as like.. the Reboot™ game cubes that isolate a certain area), and as that began to weaken and Mourynn got closer to waking up, the Shadow of the Dragon was finally able to attack the weakened Physalis barrier to try and break through it. In a similar vein to the in game personal story, Caithe is sent in via the Pale Tree's help to help fight the Dragon and to get Mourynn out (and bc they had the same Wyld Hunt Dream, which TECHNICALLY it was supposed to be that they shared the same Dream too, but due to scion attachment issues, Mourynn's involvement got delayed and cut off, hence the Dragon attacking again even though Caithe had already experienced her part of the dream). So she met Caithe when she was able to intercept her Dream at the right time so they could fight the Shadow of the Dragon to help and get her out (which was mostly just Caithe saving her more than anything as at this time, Mourynn was physically very weak after all the changes going on in her body, so Caithe was essentially her hero AND the first person she ever met after being alone for so long alsdkjfldf). 8. What’s one way their personalities compliment one another? They both share similar Nightbloom personalities (loners, secretive, socially distant, introverted, etc), so they more easily compliment each other in this way since they're more or less on the same level, and they can be avoidant of large groups of people together. Individually, Mourynn never suspects anything suspicious of Caithe's flighty or cryptic behaviour (since she's probably overly-trusting of her lol), and Caithe is one of the few who can easily understand/decipher Mourynn's weird quirks and eccentricities (it took a little while at first, but after seeing some things from her PoV, she kind of caught on to her train of thought and how she processes things. Ex; most of the time she's very literal). I think on some level, Caithe finds her entertaining too. They're both also very patient, and while Caithe is trying so hard to bring everyone together (as she keeps losing everyone she's close to), Mourynn is also desperate for a connection with someone who understands her (and thus they kind of keep leaning on each other, to possibly unhealthy degrees lol. Co-dependency at it's worst best). They both get to be angsty neurodivergent weird-girl™ disaster lesbians together.

17. Who fell in love first? Definitely Mourynn. As stated above with the abridged awakening/meeting story, the fact that Caithe was like a hero of sorts to her was the first spark. After that, it was simply other reasons, such as knowing they have a shared Wyld Hunt and are connected in that way, as well as both of them sharing some similar personality traits. But also Caithe was already with Faolain at this time (as Mourynn was again, a year late with awakening), so in that sense it would have to be Mourynn first regardless lksjdf. There's also the toxic throuple era with all 3 of them together that's indulgently delicious to myself.

[seedlessmuffins]

Hello footblr: hockey department! 👉👈 I saw on here a whileeee ago about you comparing crosby/ovechkin to messi/cr7. I always kind of compared ovechkin to neymar with them both being kind of flop artists (trophy wise) but crowdpleasers who really showcase their sport. (Also they’re both set to break Gretsky/Pele’s goalscoring records before they retire 😋 ) I didn’t grow up watching hockey or football so thats kinda my own uninformed opinion and I was wondering your thoughts. Is there a better Neymar equivalent in hockey that I can look out for? I haven’t watched hockey since leaving DC but I’m in North Carolina now so… really considering jumping on the bandwagon for next season. 

hi anon, i think this is one of my favourite asks i've ever received, so first of all thank you so much for this!

(the rest is below the cut if you want to read my analysis! sorry this is so long anon)

it's hockey season! ask me questions!

when i was comparing messi&cr7 to sid&ovi, i was mostly comparing the rivalry not the individual players. the rivalry is similar in the sense that since like 2005ish, they have been competing for the same titles not only with their club teams but with their countries and individually. they also have very similar play styles, messi as a false nine/cam who produces play and assists (as well as scoring goals) matches well with sid, who is a center who creates plays and assists (as well as scoring goals). cr7 as a winger who primarily scores goals, although he does assist and create plays occasionally (although more when he was younger then now), is very similar to ovi, who is also primarily a goal-scoring winger.

neymar, however, is kind of a thing of his own? i don't think there's any really good comparison for a skiller who is arguably the third best of his generation who is leading his country. the closest comparison i can think of is connor mcdavid, he is a skill player who is currently the best in the world, and he has the expectation to lead canada to greatness but he hasn't been able to play at international competitions for reasons that aren't his fault. if you are looking for skill players who play beautiful hockey with lots of tricks, may i recommend highlights from the sedin twins, connor mcdavid, connor bedard, and trevor zegras? they have some gorgeous plays and some impressive skills that are so fun to watch.

in terms of teams, if you are in north carolina now i truly recommend the carolina hurricanes! they are a really well built team, who plays gorgeous clean hockey with great defensive work. technically, as a team, they are the most fun to watch for me because visually, they are hockey tactics in motion and i adore that. stunning, stunning team to watch, and they are slated to do quite well so they will go far! i am slightly biased as i recently jumped onto the canes bandwagon while doing research for another friend here, so i have a lot of canes content on my blog if you scroll (or you can dm/ask me anything about them! honestly i love talking shop). if you're looking for a team with many blorbos you can obsess over, the pittsburgh penguins are a great team for that! many players you can obsess over, and shoutout to pensblr fr i love it over there they are so much fun to interact with. i always like to advertise the canucks on here, i think they are a fun team to watch! very high scoring, lots of skilled play although a bit sloppy. lots of drama, lots of goals, what more could you ask for in a team! and for one more option, the florida panthers are quite scrappy and surprisingly good, their entire team is like an underdog that somehow keeps winning! they're fun to watch and though i am not a fan, i am keeping half an eye on them after their playoff performance last year.

those are my recommendations! please let me know if you have any questions about teams or players, i enjoyed this so much! if you decide on a team, let me know if you want links to watch!

[thomine]

🐠🪸 :3c

( from show us some published works! )

🐠 a funny quote from a published work

« Instead, you receive a note on your desk a few weeks later. I ran out of food. - You know who »

— in the nick of time (wanderer)

omg this took a while because like... am i funny enough for this 😭 first thing that came to my mind was in the nick of time (wanderer). it's not a funny line, per se, but i guess it is the punchline, and in context it's funny (promise). i don't think i'll ever be able to write a line that's by itself funny. always got to be in need of some context or something.

🪸 a great closing line from a published work

other than that closing line from in the nick of time (wanderer), perhaps another favourite closing line of mine would be...

« [Ayato] did not comment on Thoma calling you his partner—although whether it remains as work partners is an answer Ayato cannot give. »

— sincere sins & serious schemes (thoma)

it's not a very punching line, but i feel in the context of what i hoped was conveyed in the fic, this line can cause some damage. throughout the whole fic we sort of see that they're tight, but are they really though because reader hides things from thoma and thoma was able to do things behind reader's back. we sort of see at the end that ayato is the mastermind for some of their most intimate moments, which leaves the question: what are they? and it's not the whole romantic lens of "are we dating" although on the surface it is.

at the end of the day, they are partners. they are work partners. but whether it becomes something more or less, ayato has done what he wants and it's up to thoma to pick up the pieces and put it back himself.

[solomon-tozer]

I don’t know if you are still accepting requests from the intimacy prompts, but could I ask for number 6 with Rossier, please?

Here you go anon!

Rossier - 6: sharing drinks

There are servants who could do this, Francis knows, but James insists on making the cocoa himself. He returns, bringing two steaming mugs of it into the drawing room, and presses a hot cup into Francis's hands as he settles next to him on the overly comfortable seat. There is still a winter chill to the air—nothing as bad as in the Polar regions, but still a chill nonetheless—and Francis is grateful for all the things that help chase it away.

"This will help warm you up," James tells him with a confident little smile.

Francis can't help giving a smile of his own in answer. It's the gesture and closeness that warm him more than anything else. "If only you'd put your steward's skills to use out there," he teases. "We'd have been living like kings."

James's laugh is sweeter than anything Francis has ever tasted. "What, and have my secret known by all and sundry?"

His expression softens to a smile, his gaze bright as he regards Francis and gently taps their mugs together. "No," he says softly, leaning in closer. "I serve only you, my love."

There's not much closer he can get, but James leans in anyway, and Francis hums as he accepts the kiss, lost in it.

A splash of fire against his thigh tears him from his comfort. "Damn!" he curses, realising it's his own fault.

James is laughing again.

"I could be grievously injured!" Francis despairs, mopping at the spill that isn't actually all that bad.

"Are you, though?" James grins.

The cocoa was not boiling. Hot, yes, but it was more the shock than any true scalding injury. Francis relents with a sigh. "No."

"Good," James decides, giving Francis another kiss. "Now, how about we enjoy our cocoa, and then head up to bed where we can warm up properly?"

And that, Francis thinks, is the best idea he's ever heard.