#its so embarrassing to admit i like squid game but

[auxwired]

Squid game fandom where are you I need you. What happened to the squid game fandom everyone's gone

[petriwriting]

Finally. - Theodore Nott X Reader

Summary/Prompt:

You: Do you hate me or something? Theo: Not at all. I’m actually quite in love with you, really.

Oneshot. Theodore & you confess feelings for one another in front of everyone at a party.

The crowd is shuffling in and out of the Slytherin Common room. Music is playing, there's laughter and the murmur of people chatting and flirting. It's busy, everyone's enjoying themselves one way or another, everyone's faces are illuminated by the candle light and the reflection of light from the candles bouncing off the waters of the black lake, illuminating the room with a soft glow. Theodore is sitting across from you in the large bay window sill, gazing out, somewhat hoping to catch a glimpse of the giant squid. You have a drink in your hand, and so does he. Neither one of you are drunk, but the alcohol, even in a smaller amount gives you courage. Theo sighs, taking a sip from his cup. "You wanted to talk?" he says, smiling slightly. "I just wanted your company." you say. luckily the bulk of people are far enough away to where you can hear each other despite the crowd. You sighed, slightly defeated. "Do you just, not like me?" You ask, a wash of regret coming over you, you had just asked your longtime best friend, and secret crush if he didn't like you... you'd be terrified for whatever theo had to say. "What?" he asked quickly, leaning in slightly closer. "Do you hate me or something?" you ask. Theo looks at you and tilts his head, with a slight confusion. His eyes look so dreamy by the candle light, you hate yourself for thinking that. "No." he says quickly. 

You took a deep breath of relief and finished your drink. "oh, I just kind of thought..." you trailed off, partially because theo interrupted. "Not at all. I'm actually madly in love with you," he says, sarcastically, it kind of stings for him to joke about. But it is at least somewhat truthful.  "no, but really." he corrects himself. "I just..." he starts, as you listen intently, you pull your knees to your chest after crawling up near the window to sit by him. "I was scared of the feeling at first, which is why I avoided you like crazy. but then I came to accept it." he explains.

Theodore Nott is the kind of guy to be quiet, mysterious and brooding at first. It takes some time to open up for him, and feel comfortable. Despite his reputation among friends as one of the chatty popular slytherins, There was more to see than just a facade. You were grateful to see beyond his facade, It is why you liked him so much. Especially when he would open up about his thoughts and feelings, which he had done with you many times, even without a cup of liquid courage. 

"I feel so stupid." you say. "You are not stupid." Theo defends. "I just don't know how to express how I feel... so I'm trying," he says. you feel sort of warm. It's comforting. "This is so embarrassing," you admit, looking at the students around the common room, chugging, dancing and having fun. "I've really liked you since we first met." you said. "I always thought it was unrequited." 

Theo smirks, he's getting cocky and gaining confidence now. "It's not," he says. "I just never knew how to say it." he explains. "Say what?" you pry, leaning into his confidence to boost his ego. "hm?" he smirks again with a slight chuckle. "That I love you." he says. "Then don't say it." you say. He looks at you, finishing his drink. "What are you on about?" he asks. "Don't just say I love you... show me you love me." you tease. 

Thedore smirked, knowing there were prying eyes. This little game you were playing would just become a lot more fun. He leaned over you, and kissed you, deeply. Instinctively your arms outstretched over his neck. After some time, his hand found its way to the small of your back. The drinks you had were just enough alcohol to make you carefree enough to kiss at a party, in front of most of the slytherin house. It was exciting, exhilarating. When he pulled away, Theo was practically on top of you. You stayed like that for a moment, you could smell his musky cologne and feel his body heat. your cheeks flushed with warmth.

Unfortunately, the moment was cut short when you heard your friends. Pansy was smiling widely from across the room, while Blaise had hollered at you two "Ow ow!" he called out, the two of you were embarrassed but shrugged it off. "Finally, Merlin, the sexual tension between you two." Draco snarled, he didn't mean it to be rude, but was being brutally honest. "How cute!! Carry on, ignore us!" Pansy called out, directing everyone's attention away from you and theo. 

"I've been waiting for you to do that for a long time."

[ladyqueendrag]

“How About You Use Your Body To Pay?”

Part I

Squid Game The Salesman x OF f reader

This is an expansion to the Drabble I wrote

Pairing: The Salesman x OF Reader

Rating:NC-17 but this chapter doesn’t have the sexy part yet 😩 bare with me, you sexy assholes, you!

Warning: smut, stalking, blackmail, dubcon, The Salesman being a sexy creep, reader is an OF girl so ya know, dirty talk, oral, a slap, just dirty, you guys, it’s just filth.

Summary: The Salesman was told to pick the next player… And he messed up badly.

You play the game and win. That’s all they have to do. Play. And just maybe win.

“Good luck.” Said the Salesman to himself in a smug way as his eyes skimmed the streets of Seoul. He was looking for a particular face in the crowd. Your face. He was given a list of names of those down on their luck. And it was finally your turn to play on his list.

He sat down on an empty bench and opened his briefcase, looking at the picture of the girl he was searching for. Your face. He wasn’t going to admit it; quite frankly he wasn’t allowed to admit it, but the second he saw your picture, he felt a little flutter as his eyebrow cocked to the side and a quick tightness in his slacks.

He knew your face, your place of employment, and where you liked to hang out. That was more than enough for him. And if the worse was to happen, he had your home address as well.

He put your picture away in his briefcase and made his way to the foreign bookstore he knew you worked at. The small chime on the door dinged and he heard a soft voice. “Welcome.” A soft women’s voice said in a heavy American accent.

Bingo. He found you.

You never took your eyes off the task at hand, even when greeting customers. You were too miserable to be courteous. You were a struggling woman in the heart of Seoul trying to get by; you moved to South Korea with the prospects of being close to your friends and getting a good job where you didn’t struggle paycheck to paycheck. And then all of that went to shit. After borrowing all the money you could from friends and family back in the states, you picked up a job at a small book store. But that’s wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to make ends meet.

What is a girl to do who’s shit out of luck and can’t catch a break? You did what you would hope no one ever would find out; you became a camgirl and did sex videos to make money.

You became numb to your schedule. Bookstore for the majority of the day, then rush home and turn on that camera and get naked. Quite frankly in the beginning you didn’t mind it too much. Other than the occasional paranoia of someone you care about finding out what you do, your sex drive made the humiliation tolerable.

You were throwing your usual pity party as you got on your knees and started to sort out books by alphabetical order, not realizing the pair of eyes that were watching you closely. You self-consciously tugged at your mini skirt and pulled up your tight blouse, knowing better you should have packed an additional set of clothes and not worn your “other job’s uniform” to work. But you didn’t have the time today. You never wore such an outfit to the bookshop but you were strapped for time and your work slacks were in the wash.

“Pardon me-“

“AHH!” You screamed and dropped the books as you turned around on your knees, glasses almost falling off your face.

The man in front of you in a suit and tie gave an amused look, smirk plastered on his handsome face as he took a step back.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He said as he squatted down to retrieve a book that made its way in front of him. Your cheeks flushed and you adjusted your glasses as you took in the gorgeous stranger in front of you.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, I startle easily, I think.” You said, trying to push past the embarrassment as he handed you the book in his hand.

“Well, try not to. It’s not like you’re alone here.” The man said as he smirked, knowing full well she was in fact alone today in her day shift.

“Oh, well I actually am today.” You said as you placed one book on top of the other, your cheeks feeling like they were on fire.

“What? You are?” The man bullshitted in false pretense and even let out a small tsk. “Well, I do apologize for startling you, ma’am.” He gave a smile and held out his hand to you. It was only then that you realized you were looking for support to stand up from the ground. Could this get anymore embarrassing?

You took the stranger’s soft hand and stood to your feet, smiling back until you heard a small pop.

More embarrassing? Well, it just became absolutely, painfully humiliating.

His eyes went wide as he narrowed down to your chest. A button had popped off your top, revealing the top of your breast and the lacy red bra underneath. You slowly looked down at yourself and then brought your gaze up to the man’s surprised face.

“Well, now that I have made a complete and total fool of myself, twice, I’m gonna go back and do my inventory before my skirt falls off or I throw up.” You gave the gentleman a bow and turned around, wanting to drop dead at that very moment.

“Oh, miss, I don’t scare easily. At all.” You turned around, holding the books to your chest like some school girl talking to her crush.

“Actually… I was wondering if I could talk to you for just a second.” He said while slipping a hand into his pocket and placing his briefcase on the floor.

Your eyes went from the briefcase to his face a few times. “Sorry, we’re not soliciting anything at the moment, sir.” You said, pushing the glasses once more up your nose.

He grinned again and you felt your pussy spasm. What the fuck, bitch? Why are you so quickly smitten by any handsome man that shows you interest? But there was something about this man… This Salesman?

“You know, I get that a lot… But I would love to steal a moment of your time.” You bit your lip at his words, your high heels tapping against the tile floor loudly.

And the Salesman couldn’t help but to take in your figure, feeling like a fucking perv at that moment.

“I… I’m-I’m so sorry, I really need to get back to what I’m doing but if you have any questions about any book…” you started to turn around, starting to feel a bit nervous but his voice made you stop on your track.

“There’s no one here… Y/N.”

Your eyes went wide and you were struck with fear. You did not own a name tag for anyone to know your name. What. The. Fuck?

You slowly turned on your heel, removing your glasses and you felt your heart pounding in your ears.

“… Who are you?” You said in a shaky voice. And of course, that caused the man to grin wickedly.

-

………

“You want me to do WHAT, now?!”

You both were sitting on a desk behind the bookstore, your feet tapping once more as you listened to this man’s ridiculous words.

“I’m asking for you to play a game with me.” He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out two envelopes, a red one and a blue one. Why the hell was this man smiling so damn much knowing he was scaring the fuck out of you? And why did he have to be so fucking handsome?

“For money?” You asked, earning a nod from him.

“Against you?” And that earned another nod from The Salesman.

Your eyes went from the envelopes to his eyes, your breath caught in your throat. “What’s the worse that can happen, Y/N?” He asked, cocking a brow as he tilted his head slightly.

You swallowed hard, silence filling the store for a moment.

‘It would be so easy, Y/N. And you can give up your second job.’ You thought deeply for a second. A shaky hand reached up to his, slowly inching up to the red envelope when you stopped yourself.

“… No. No, thank you.” You said and stood up, fearing the worst about this game and where it would lead.

That took The Salesman by surprise and he gave you a confused look.

“Aren’t you sick of working in a bookshop, living paycheck to paycheck with no end in sight?”

So he didn’t know? About your second income? What a fucking relief!

“Actually, sir, I don’t live paycheck to paycheck. Not anymore. Thank you for your offer, but I’m gonna have to respectfully decline. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

‘Second income? She doesn’t have a second income.’ He thought to himself as he placed the envelopes back in his chest pocket.

“There’s no need to lie, Y/N. I know this is your only source of money and you need it badly.”

There was a switch in your brain the second you looked up at the old grandfather clock. It was time to clock out and go to your second job. It was as if another personality took over your body and you slowly turned to face him, a sensuous look on your face as you started to approach the Salesman.

Now it was his turn to swallow hard as he gave you a quizzical look. You strutted to him, hands at your hips until you were inches from him, and then you trapped him against the desk, hands slamming down on each side of the desk.

“If only you knew.” Your voice changed, your nose just a hair away from his and his eyes went wide.

“Wait, what are you doing?” He asked as he pulled back away from you.

“I make more than you probably do, sir. Way more… And you don’t wanna know. Trust. Me.” Your nails dragged against the desk and you pulled away from him, leaving the Salesman with confusion and a hard-on he wasn’t expecting.

“Now, lock up!” You threw the store keys at him, his hands barely catching them as you stood tall with dripping sexuality. “I trust you to have a goodnight, dear sir.” You grabbed your Louis Vuitton from beside the desk and strutted away, slamming the front door. And he was so damn confused. A second form of income was not at all in your file.

“Well… That’s a new one.” The Salesman thought to himself, eyes moving rapidly in confusion.

‘She’s lying. And I’m gonna make her play the game. One way or another.’

[pricklynoodle]

real or not real

Itadori Yuji/Fushiguro Megumi pairing | Squid Game AU | Rated T | warning: implied character death | ANGST

( yes, writing instead of doing school lol, squid game ruined me so if you want to read this then be warned of SQUID GAME SPOILERS. There's no graphic death, but its sad as hell either way TT)

---

“The player who takes all ten marbles from your partner wins.”

Megumi had always kept to himself, never saying anything unless spoken to, never stuck to groups, and never took the choice to attach himself to something. Everything had an expiration date. Unnecessary things like friendships had never appealed to him. He only needed his sister, and it wasn’t like she had the choice to have him as her brother. But the fact that she still stuck around caring for him until she worked herself to a coma.

So honestly, it’s a surprise why he feels his heart drop when the announcement tells him he has to go against … whatever 310 is to him.

He hardly knows 310, and doesn't know anything about his life actually. Other than that he’s crazy strong, has an impressive pain tolerance, but also the loudest kid he’s ever met. He's always around him, sticking to Megumi like a persistent piece of gum stuck to his shoe. But he doesn't dislike him, but he can't say he's thrilled with him either.

But would Megumi kill him?

Stupid, he tells himself.

“Oh, fuck, I honestly didn’t see that coming,” 310 says with a grimace, looking at Megumi guiltily as if he was the cause of Megumi’s inner turmoil. He sits down on one of the stone benches. The whole setup was supposed to mimic a typical neighborhood, something Megumi wasn’t fortunate enough to grow up in. The bastards even made the effort to add in the sounds of cicadas from the fake trees, as if this was a completely normal summer for a couple of teens.

Megumi doesn’t say anything, he feels dizzy. He drops down to the bench, away from 310 as possible.

“I’ve always wanted to say this,” 310 says as he rests his elbows on his knees, looking at Megumi seriously, “This whole thing reminds me of Hunger Games.”

Megumi looks at him with furrowed brows.

“You know, Jennifer Lawrence?” 310 pushes. Megumi says nothing. “...Tall girl, big ass? The one with the arrows?”

“Can you shut the fuck up,” Megumi deadpans, then he shakes his head. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He counts to ten, then glances down at his hand. 10 marbles. “Just tell me how to play this game.”

“I don’t know either,” 310 admits, sounding sheepish. He shrugs carelessly, “This is more of the games my gramps used to play, but he was too busy being sick to teach me though.”

Megumi looks up at 310. He looks tired, but nostalgic. Like he was thinking of a good memory.

310 perks up, grinning at Megumi brightly, “though they said that we can make our own rules. I’ll think of something.”

Megumi nods solemnly. The silence stretches until 310 lets out an ‘aha!’.

“Let’s bet everything and just play one around,” 310 says, even dropping his fist down onto his hand as if it were the best idea ever.

Megumi freezes, staring at 310, was he going to trick him? He doesn’t even know him. They’re not friends. Of course, everything still is a death tournament at the end of the day.

310 seems to pick up Megumi’s reluctance, he jerks his head to the side. He points towards the pair of men competing against each other, looking frantic and panicked.Their faces are sheened with sweat, t-shirts drenched in sweat. It’s… it’s a pathetic sight.

“Fine,” Megumi relents. “What are we playing?”

“Calm down,” 310 chuckles, “are you that excited to kill me?”

Megumi stays quiet.

“We have a lot of time left,” 310 says breezily, pointing towards the timer mounted on the wall. “Let’s do it at the last minute.”

“What do you suggest we do till then?” Megumi asks with a scowl. “Sit nice and pretty, twiddle our thumbs and shove these marbles up our asses?”

“Jesus, man,” 310 laughs, “no just… talk.”

“Talk,” Megumi repeats.

“Talk,” 310 smiles, looking down at his hands. Megumi looks at them too. He remembers the hard calluses on them, when they shook hands. They’re thick and sturdy, and hold a lot of power. He really could have killed Megumi before, just wrap his hands around his neck and it’s all over.

Megumi also shakes away the filthy thoughts of what else those hands could do. Get a grip, Fushiguro.

“Things we couldn’t tell other people,” 310 says, smiling wistfully. “One of us is going to die here anyways.”

Megumi swallows the lump in his throat.

310 smiles wider. He’s always smiling, Megumi notes.

“There’s no reason to feel embarrassed if that’s the case,” 310 tells him, “I promise I won’t laugh when you blush like a tomato.”

“I don’t,” Megumi denies, but he can feel the heat already rising up to his cheeks.

“You do,” 310 says, “but I think it’s cute.”

Cute.

“So, uh, you have someone back home then?” 310 asks.

“Yeah,” Megumi says.

“...like a girlfriend or something?”

“Sister,” Megumi says quickly, “no...never a girlfriend. Impossible for me.”

“Ah, okay,” 310 says, nodding. “Just your sister?”

“I had a dad, but he … never came back.” Megumi confesses, “he was a shitty dad. He was never really home, but he gave us shelter and food. He had a bad temper, but he never hit us. He never liked to be around me especially. I … used to think he hated me.”

“What changed?” 310 asked.

“I… I became him. I understand why he did what he did,” Megumi says, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket. “Doing dirty jobs, stealing, never at home. Hiding from danger. Hiding us from danger. Protection.”

310 nodded, he slid closer to Megumi. Thighs brushing. Silence continues.

“He came here,” Megumi says, looking up at the ceiling. It’s painted a pink-orange gradient, like a sunset. “I found half of that business card in one of his jackets. The last two digits were cut off. I dialed every possible number until I got here.”

“For what?” 310 asks.

“Find him,” Megumi says, “punch him. I would have killed him, I think, if I found out that he left us to rot. Then steal all his money to pay for my sister’s medical bills.”

“Oh, she’s sick?”

“Coma,” Megumi clarifies. “Some rich bastard from work hit her on her way home. He got off easy because of money.”

“I see,” 310 says, clenching his fists. “That’s terrible.”

“Yeah,” Megumi says gruffly.

“You’re still getting money though,” 310 says. He doesn’t say but you don’t get your dad back. “What would you do with it?”

Megumi doesn’t even hesitate, “pay for my sister’s medical bills. Buy a nice house for us to live in. A car, if I can.”

“If you can?” 310 says, “where would you drive your car?”

“school,” Megumi says simply. “I would use my car to drive to school.”

310 blinks. “You know, you can do much more with that 40 billion. You really don’t want anything else? Don’t have a destination?”

“I’d go to Sendai.”

“Wh—Sendai? I’m from Sendai. Are you kidding me? Are you going to drive there with a shiny new Toyota Yaris?”

Megumi blushes furiously, “enough about me, ugh, it’s your turn anyways.”

310 shakes his head, but he’s giggling like a schoolgirl. “You really have to think bigger. Have you ever been to the beach?”

“No,” Megumi says.

“You should, one that’s got nice soft sand and blue water. With palm trees too. And you should get piña coladas.”

“What?”

“C’mon man, you don’t get to be frugal with 40 billion. I’ll teach you how to splurge once we get out—”

Ah.

“Right,” 310 breathes out, laughing to himself all silly. “Only one of us leaves.”

Megumi grunts.

Silence.

“...Ever seen a dead body?” 310 asks.

“...I’ve been answering all these questions. You haven’t answered at all,” Megumi points out, feeling far too exposed for running his mouth.

“Ah you’re right! Uh, I don’t have anyone.”

“But your grandfather—”

“He’s dead. For a while now. My mom and dad. Also dead. My brother is on the run. He’s, uh, killed a lot of people. He got the death penalty, so yeah, haven’t really seen him around.”

Megumi looks at him.

“I don’t think he counts,” 310 says, scratching his face. Megumi realizes the scars on his face aren’t from the previous games. They looked healed, puckered and faded from time.“He looks a lot like me, though. A lot of people can’t tell us apart. He hated that. He’s only a bit taller than me, and he loves to brag about it. He has a huge ego.”

“I see.”

“Yeah,” 310 says, but he doesn’t look awkward about it. Just mildly inconvenienced. “Oh, have we really been talking for that long?”

Megumi looks at the time. They have less than 2 minutes.

310 stands up, swiping the dirt off his pants. He pats around for his marbles. “Okay, so you see that wall over there?”

Megumi nods mutely. It’s quite far, maybe around 2 meters.

“Okay, we throw one marble, and the one closest to the wall wins, okay?”

“Okay.” Megumi nods, easy enough.

“Okay, you go first.”

Megumi scowls.

“added rule, we do it together,” he says, jaw clenched.

“Eh?” 310 looks at him, confused.

“I’ve been doing things first, so it seems rather fair if we do it at the same time, with our best effort, okay? I have the blue marble, you get the red one.”

“... okay.”

“Don’t give me a weak ass toss, alright, that doesn’t count,” Megumi says gruffly, narrowing his eyes at him. “Do your best.”

310 nods, giving him a thumbs up. “Okay!”

“On three,” Megumi says.

“Okay!”

“Three.”

“Two,” 310 continues, positioning his arm.

“One,” Megumi does the same.

They both throw their marbles. Megumi’s heart leaps out of its chest as he watches his marble in the air.

Clack!

Clack!

Clack!

Megumi looks down on the marble that lands right next to his shoe.

It’s red.

“Ahh, shoot, I threw it too hard,” 310 says with a pout.

Megumi sees red.

He shoves 310 against the wall. “Are you fucking with me?”

“Whoa! No, you won f-fair and square, man,” 310 stutters. “I did my best shot, like you said!”

“Any idiot would know that shit would bounce right back if you threw it like that!”

310 laughs, “I must be some one of a kind idiot, then.”

Megumi shoves him further into the wall. “I’m gonna fucking kill you.”

“You can’t kill me if I’m gonna be dead anyways.”

“THEN I’LL KILL YOU IF YOU DIE.”

“See, that doesn’t really make sense—”

“Shut the fuck up! Why did you do that?!”

310 slumps against the wall, body lax. Not looking at him.

“Answer me!”

“You… you have a lot more to live for than me,” 310 says quietly. He looks up at Megumi, tears in his eyes, “what kind of asshole would I be to deny you for a life?”

“You have a life!” Megumi snaps.

“I don’t, not anymore,” 310 sobs, a wobbly smile on his face. “Before my grandfather died, he told me that I should help others. That when it was my time to go, I would die surrounded by others and not end up like him.

“I should use my strength to help others, that’s what I’ve been doing here. Out there, no one wants me to help them. No one wants the face of a killer to help them. No one wants me to be around them. I can’t go to places, I’ve… I’ve always hated what Sukuna did to me. Made me carry his sins, his crimes. The way people looked at me as if I was him. I can’t move forward, not like you.

“I… I never went to school either, y’know. Or I never graduated. When Sukuna became a wanted man, I became a target. I stayed in my room. The doors were locked. The curtains were always down. It was like this for years. I received no support. The only way I could get by was doing interviews with journalists, feeding the narrative. Making people hate Sukuna more, making them hate me more. That’s no way to live.”

Megumi felt the back of his eyes burn, his teeth aching from being clenched too tight.

“Even if...I had the money. I can’t erase what my brother did. I can’t erase my existence in the world. I would just keep doing the same thing everyday. I don’t… I don’t want a bigger house, not when it’s just me who lives there.”

“You and I are not so different,” he says, looking up at Megumi.. “I think that’s why… I want you to win. You get to experience all these normal things, and feel… happy. You have a chance.”

Megumi wipes his eyes harshly, “Shit.”

“That’s true.”

“... What’s your name?” Megumi asks.

“Itadori Yuji,” 310—no, Yuji says. “My name is Itadori Yuji.”

Megumi takes a shaky breath, he raises his hand for him. “Fushiguro Megumi.”

Yuji grins, he clasps his hand onto Megumi’s. “That means blessing, right?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

“I’m glad then, Megumi. That I’m friends with you even through this hell. That itself is a blessing in a disguise.”

“Shut up,” Megumi punches his shoulder.

A guard suddenly arrives, carrying a gun in his hand. Waiting.

Yuji looks behind Megumi’s head. “Ah, I wish we had more time.”

Megumi bites his lip. “I wish I’d… met you sooner. I don't know anything about you.”

Yuji jaw drops, “Okay, I’ll … summarize this in ten seconds! I’m twenty-years-old, my favorite color is green, my favorite manga is Bleach, my type is tall people with big butts! Uhh, I really like watching action films—”

“Not … whatever, nevermind,” Megumi says softly as he listens to Yuji ramble on about himself.

Yuji pauses from his ramble looking winded, “uhm, Fushiguro, can I hug you?”

Megumi freezes.

“I just haven’t had a hug in a long time—” Yuji trails off before he gets cut off with Fushiguro hugging him desperately, clinging to him.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot!”

“...Hey, Fushiguro Megumi, live a long life, okay?”

Megumi lets go.

He turns around.

Eyes burning as he stares unblinking down the path. Footsteps. Silence. Breathing. He feels something salty on his lips when he licks them. It's not sweat.

He... he got attached. He stares forward, he doesn't regret it. Not at all. He got to know Yuji Itadori, the real him, and the pain in his heart is the best he can give back. A reminder that he was more than what people saw him. Yuji Itadori didn't deserve what the world gave him, they did not deserve his cries. The fact that... no one would shed a tear for him.

...Ah.

Megumi notices the dark wet spots on the dirt.

“Thanks for playing with me.”

[shiyoneko]

[TL Summary] Hanasaki Miyabi Marshmallow Reading (4/8/2021)

Get To Know Hanasaki Miyabi!! I’ll do QnA Marshmallow! [Hanasaki Miyabi/Holostars]

I reccommend watching the stream too!

He first greets the fans by telling them it’s been cold lately. After a cute head swaying and the usual KonbanMiyabi~, he then mentioned how there are new people who starts watching him lately, or maybe even those who had following him for long, and might not know who he is – for he doesn’t know himself much either, said by him – and he direct this stream for those who wants to know him more deeper.

There are many marshmallows sent to him and he might unable to answer it all.

 ・The mallow sender is very fond of Miyabi’s cuteness; The part of him that shows how good he is at games, the part of him that is nice to his Hanamigumis, the part of him that likes Temma a lot, the part of him that can’t read kanji well… The more they see him from different angle the cuter he looks and they wonder how can he be so cute and what is Miyabi’s own definition of cute.

Miyabi answered with how he doesn’t actually aiming to act cute, he’s just living as he is. He just showed how he actually is. So he concluded that probably he’s probably being cute just by living. He described it with how you usually saw a beautiful flower blooming on the side of the road and thought how cute it is.

Tho, he doesn’t like it if he’s being praised cute too much.

By re-reading what the mallow sender thought of him as cute, he said maybe to this person’s eye, he’ll probably be forgiven for almost anything at this rate; even if he ate his food messily and can’t clean it by himself, or when he got very fat, the sender might just think of it as cute.

Chat: I wouldn’t like messy eating… Miyabi: Yes! That’s how it should be. I think I’ll be a goner if you all don’t get angry for what I did wrong. So you all should get angry to me if I got overboard, okay. I think human is like that.

Comment: Then please don’t mute yourself when you’re sneezing Miyabi: That is one of the only thing I will never do.

Looks like even if we throw him red SC, he won’t change his mind.

 ・The sender wants to know what kind of bag that Miyabi usually use when he go out.

He answered, when he was in elementary school he used a aqua blue and white backpack with a strap of stuffed Disney character doll on the side. After he entered middle school, he felt a little embarrassed wearing it and decided to use a shoulder bag. He sometimes still use shoulder bag until now. And now, for some reason, he goes back to occasionally using the aqua blue and white backpack. He likes how it can hold many goods at once. And what he usually use now is a red, white, and blue colored backpack. And he still bring the same stuffed Disney character doll. He also said he put the Kyomu Suzume keychain too.

His mother had said to him that wouldn’t his age doesn’t suit for him to still hanging around a character doll on a bag, and he replied with “But I like it!!” In the end, his interest is still the same from when he was a kid.

Chat said that dolls has no age limit and he agrees. He also imagines a situation of him meeting someone wearing the same character doll strap and will quietly say in his heart “Ahh, you too huh. That doll is cute, I understand~!” and wouldn’t it be exciting to see someone who brought the same goods as you!

He also imagines a future where people with Holostars goodies glancing at each other’s merchandise and form a conversation of fellow Holostars fans, and said how exciting it will be – tho since Holostars had released their own goods, he find it possible to do even now –

 ・The sender told him about the new Among Us map and wondered if Holostars will play it again.

Miyabi answered this question vaguely by saying he’s preparing for things and told us to wait for it.

  ・The sender has bought food from convenience store a lot lately and wondered about Miyabi’s recommended convenience store items.

Miyabi answered with how he likes and often goes to buy stuff from convenient store. He mentioned how there are many types of convenient store, but the one he goes the most is Seven Eleven. He recommended a section beside the onigiri section, in the French bread section where you can find bread with cream cheese and salmon filling. Tho, he mentioned how it depends on the place whether they stock the same food or not. The next on his recommendation list is salad with pork shabu-shabu, and he also recommended season-limited food and drinks, like zavas cocoa and the likes. He also recommended flank steak. Also microwaveable squid, or those that could be use as side dish like smoked salmon. And spicy dried squid. For the drinks, he recommended cola. He told of normal occurrences he usually had where, despite all of the food and drinks mentioned before, when he reached the cashier he’ll eventually buy more goods and the total price would be over 3K. And after he got home, he’ll eat it all in just a day. Especially if there’s an update to the game he played.

Chat: And this is how you gained 5kg weight… Miyabi: Stop it everyone! It’s supposed to be membership-only secrets!

In the end, he admitted it and said he would like do a diet. He said if there’s a convenient store nearby, Temma will definitely go there too but alas there’s none near his house.

 ・The mallow asked him what does he likes from Temma.

Since it’s embarrassing for him, Miyabi decided to keep the answer in membership-only content. Instead, he told the viewer to ask Temma what does he likes from Miyabi.

 ・The mallow asked what kind of clothing does he usually wear when going outside, and who’s the most stylish out of all Holostars members

Miyabi said he often wears parker and mentioned how he likes checkered pattern. His pants and shirts are mostly checkered. (Tho, not all full-checkered) He also used to wear jeans, but the jeans he bought last year no longer fit him and realized that he’s gaining weight. As for the stylish member, he mentioned Astel is a stylish one. He also mentioned Shien is also stylish, but both Astel’s and Shien’s style are different kind of stylish. Aru-san’s is just Aru-san-like. He doesn’t know much about Temma’s yet, since the two rarely met offline. Miyabi said how Shien’s style is able to bring out his personality with a sense of adultness and not too eye-catching. The other day when they both went out, Miyabi saw the sneaker Shien was wearing and it was white-purple, and he felt a strong Kageyama Shien-ness from it. In the end, he keep glaring at Shien’s shoe. Miyabi said he likes shoes. When he wanted to ask Shien where did he bought the shoe so he can bought the red-yellow one, chat told him that it was a birthday gift from his fans. When chat asked about shoe size, he refused to tell it since he doesn’t want people get surprised if they knew his shoe size is bigger or smaller than what they imagined.

To conclude the answer about what does he wear when he goes out, normally he doesn’t go out much either so there’s not much of it. He mentioned that he has about another 9 of the same white shirt he’s wearing right now and regularly changed it based on time and circumstances (refers to his 2D model, not his rl shirt)

Chat suggested him to buy outfits online. Miyabi said that if he were to buy clothing, especially shoes, online we can’t measure out the size for our size. Shoe size can also change depends on the maker/designer. He doesn’t do online shopping unless for things he really wanted.

He likes Nikes. When he was gonna search for a particular item, he didn’t realized his browser was on the stream screen. He panicked and quickly closed it, and said that now everyone knows he usually uses Yahoo search engine.

 ・The mallow asked about is his character setting of not being able to be 18 is the same being forever 17

Miyabi said it’s a very important question. If he told about it, he might be erased from this world. He leave to viewer’s own imagination.

 ・The mallow asked does he likes chocolate mint or not. Miyabi: Now then, question! Does Hanasaki Miyabi likes chocolate mint or not!

*drums roll*

Miyabi: The correct answer is………………………..I really really like it!

When he goes to Baskin Robbins, he usually orders chocolate mint too. Chat: Then, that means I need to fight Miyabi Miyabi: Why?! I don’t want a fight. Will this be a world-scale war?

Some chats said that they really hate chocolate mint, and Miyabi said that it’s not nice to bluntly said show your hate, especially if they’ve never tasted it before. Chat linked it with coriander (teasing about Miyabi’s curry topping stream) and Miyabi said coriander gave him another different punch that sent him straight into a temple. When chat said that he will someday conquer coriander too, he’ll maybe try going into temple and eat it there to see if he can do it. Or other alternatives of eating stuff based on coriander and not eating it straight as a topping, just like there are people who didn’t like the actual tomato but are fond of tomato sauce.

Chat: I’ll be waiting for the coriander picnic at temple Miyabi: I need to search for temples that can support streaming first then ww

 ・This marshmallow asked what words he usually use when he does egosa.

Miyabi checked his recent search bar in twitter and mentioned みやびくん (Miyabi-kun),  ゆるすた(Yurustars), 花�� (Hanakishi), ホ���スタ(Holostars), 花咲みやび (Hanasaki Miyabi), 花咲の森 (Hanasaki Forest), 住人スタンプ (Hanasaki Forest’s Residents Stamp), 花見組 (Hanamigumi), モンハン (Monster Hunter), モモコブロッサム(Momoko Blossom).

When he checked the Momoko Blossom word, his eyes fell upon a fanart that depicts Momoko Blossom gijinka and showed it on stream. He said its really really cute and showed his Miyabi-ness, especially the ribbon part. He decided to RT and liked it. He also wanted to see more gijinka of other forest residents too. Miyabi mentioned that he always like gijinkas. He showed another cute fanart on stream and thanked the author.

 ・The mallow asked whether Miyabi is a streamer that tends to remember his fans or not.

Miyabi said that he quickly forget people’s names, but if the person came to his stream a lot and commented, he’ll tend to remember them. Also people who mutter on Twitter a lot, draws fanart, and other stuff. If he see a new name on his stream he will know that they’re newcomers too. He encouraged people to comment more during his streams so he can remember their names.

Chat also mentioned that they usually remember other viewers’ names.

 ・The next mallow: I love you, Miyabi

  What did you eat for dinner yesterday?

Miyabi answered that he ate Jiro Instant Ramen at 3 am, but he can’t remember what he ate for dinner. He’s able to remember Jiro Ramen because it left a huge guilty feeling in him for eating it at midnight and could possibly make him gain more weight, especially he’ll sleep after that. Miyabi mentioned that Jiro Ramen also has vegetables in it. A chat said that sleeping after you fill your tummy is the best and Miyabi agrees. Apparently he drinks all the soup too and is guilty for adding up more fat for him to burn.

A chat recommended him to store the soup for the next day and then add rice and eggs on it, and said it’s enough for 2 portions. Miyabi said it’s a great idea and will try it next time.

 ・The next mallow asked is it annoying to send a letter to him every month.

Miyabi answered not at all, in fact he wants fans to send him one every day. Chat said that the letters are most probably gonna be compiled and sent at the same day. Imagining that, Miyabi becomes a bit scared. A chat asked whether the content of the letter will be checked by management before it reached him, and he answered yes. So there are instances that if management finds the letter dangerous, they might block the sender. Temma and Shien had told him about how great season-based letters are and Miyabi agrees. He mentioned that his letter will be compiled in the office and sent to him once every 3-4 months. He said that the last time he received his new batch of letters is a week or two weeks ago (judging from this stream’s date, it’s probably about April 1st or March 25th) and the letters he received that time were new year greetings. And so, if fans wanted to send regular letters, he suggested sending it every 3-4 months. He mentioned that his, along with Holostars, will have 2nd anniversary soon and he said he will receive a batch of letters that time too.

 ・Next mallow asked him about foods he recently hooked into.

Miyabi answered that lately he’s been buying soy milk. When couldn’t finish all the milk, he’ll put them in dishes like hamburg and annin tofu. He’s been trying to make soy milk-based dishes. A chat asked what does soy milk taste like, and Miyabi described it as tofu being squished and mixed with a bit of sugar. He also said soy milk hot pot is great. It’s a hot pot with a soup of soy milk with consommé, with chicken breast meat and Chinese cabbage put in it, also put a bit(?) of cheese in it and it’ll be super delicious. He reminded us that we shouldn’t put too much cheese for such a healthy dish. He said he’s been trying to cook by himself lately and made omurice, tho the dish he’s good at making right now is still instant cup ramen. He really likes cheese and would put them into hot pots, mentioned how it’ll taste great with tomato hot pot. He tried to not do that too much, thought.

He shared a story of where he tried experimenting what ingredientsb suits pasta more to his liking, and found out about ochazuke-no-moto pasta recipe. He claimed it as delicious and everyone should try it too. After you boil the pasta and drain the water, you put it in ochazuke-no-moto soup and warm it. It’s also cheap. He said he made it a lot when he was in middle school, but not recently.

 ・The next mallow asked about Miyabi’s first impression on other Holostars members, like their fashion impression. They also wanted to know Miyabi’s fashion as well.

Miyabi said that the first Holostars member he had met offline was Roberu. He described his first impression on Roberu as… still Roberu. When he was alone waiting for everyone while looking at his phone, Roberu suddenly greeted him with his usual tone, while Miyabi was all surprised and greeted politely. The next member he met was Rikka and Aru-san. He described Aru-san as… still Aru-san. His character model wear a pretty uniform-like clothing, but the offline Aru-san he saw wore a more free style clothes and Miyabi thought “So Aru-san can dress like this too.” He also wore masks and glasses and to Miyabi it was a bit scary and didn’t believe it was Aru-san at first ww Rikka’s is just Rikka. The next members he met is Astel. Miyabi said he was scared when meeting him at first “This is… the aura of an extrovert! This is bad!” Miyabi’s introvert radar rang danger signs ww But after Miyabi talked a bit with him, he realized Astel is stil Astel. On the way home, he got on the same train as Astel and talked about the future for a bit until they both reached their own destination. The next member is Shiepi. He said he likes Shiepi the most. They both likes the same thing and able to talk about the hobby, and Miyabi could talk with Shien more easily. He could feel more calmer when he was talking and being beside Shiepi. The last members he met are Izuru, Temma, and Oga. Miyabi described Izuru as the one who is much kinder and calmer than others. Mentioned how Astel Izuru are usually loud when they stream together, but offline Izuru is very quiet, he’s like a cat. Sometimes Izuru whispered to him that the town is scary, and Miyabi finds it cute. Miyabi said his walking pace is fairly slow, Izuru would sometimes turn at him and asked if he’s tired. Even after Miyabi told him to go on ahead, Izuru adjust his pace and walk along with Miyabi. It is a surprising side to him. As for Oga, Miyabi described him as someone who has big bro energy. His build is big too, but despite that he keeps tries to keep talking in a friendly matter to Miyabi, and is very kind. The last is Temma, but he doesn’t really understand him yet. When he first met him offline, Temma was very nervous and he couldn’t talk much with him. Miyabi mentioned that he met offline with the others are not personal, and was actually a Holostars offline meeting, so he didn’t have much time alone with Temma to understand him further. When he glanced at Temma, he always looked like his gaze was heading towards somewhere far away. He was shaking in the corner. Miyabi tried talking to him, but both of them were very nervous. Next time Holostars do an offline meeting again, Miyabi is determined to properly talk to him.

 ・The next mallow asked where would he go when Miyabi and Temma went outside together.

Miyabi said it’s probably restaurants and such. Mentioned that the only personal offline meeting experience he had was with Astel and Shien when they go to Disney together, and the only member that he met offline just the two of them is only Shien, watched the new Fate: Grand Order movie. With Temma, both are probably will be too nervous to talk to each other and made it awkward, so they’ll bring a third-party, Aru-san to come with them and have lunch together. He said it’ll be much more easier to talk if there’s more people.

 ・The next mallow asked Miyabi to beg cutely so the sender could give him pocket money and spoil him more and more.

He has a side of losing interest of doing something when he were told to do it, so he apologized that he won’t do it. He do likes and wants money but directly asking for it to his viewers felt wrong, so:

Miyabi: …Give me money, please. Ww

Chat: *Superchats Shower

Miyabi thanked all of the superchats and said he’ll use it as funds for Hanasaki Forest.

 ・The mallow sender noticed that there’s many bird-like creature in Hanasaki Forest and asked what kind of bird does Miyabi likes

Miyabi answered with bird thight, bird liver, bird skin, bird wings, parts of birds that could be eaten. Was surprised that they weren’t talking about birds to eat, but living birds in general ww

He said that a warbler has been living nearby his house and he often heard it’s chirps, and start liking warbler. He also likes penguin, chicks, and sparrow. He likes cool-looking birds like eagle and owl. He mentioned that when he was still in elementary school, he kept a pretty big peacock. It was gone when he graduated. He wanted to try eating a big fried egg using ostrich eggs and wondered how many servings he could make with just using one egg.

 ・Next mallow sender noticed how Miyabi chooses his word carefully in minds of the person he talked to and could sense kindness from it and is awed by it. They asked whether that kindness of him is just natural or he tried to be as careful as possible when talking to people, and said they wanted to communicate to people as kind as him.

Miyabi said that it could be coming naturally from him, but there’s one point in his life that made scared of people to the point he couldn’t go outside of his home. That made him developed a personality that tries to observe the person he’s talking and finds out what could possibly make this person happy and sad and angry, and tries to blend in with the people around him. He don’t know if this could be called kindness, since all he wants to do is get along with everyone and don’t want any fights. He has confident that he can befriend newcomers easily with this trait and he might be the best to read the room. He said by being afraid of people and observing them that probably we could get less fearful of them.

But because of this, he also said that collabing with Holostars members are quiet difficult. But he decided that it’s fine for him and thought that it’s one of the good part of Holostars.

 ・The next mallow mentioned that Miyabi always changed his (L2D) outfit not bounded by the current season and asked if there’s any particular reason when he wanted to change outfit, or is it just depends on his mood.

Miyabi said that he didn’t think much of it. He decided on the spot what kind of outfit he’ll use before stream starts. Tho there are times where he wanted to fit his outfit with the theme of his stream, like marshmallow reading such as this might draws in more new viewers who is curious of him so he want to wear his default outfit, or when he plays horror games he’ll use casual clothing like his summer outfit to give a feeling that he’s playing at home.

That was the last mallow! He said that it’s still not enough and he plans to do more at a later date. There are still many mysteries of him that he himself still doesn’t know too. For those who want to know more of Hanasaki Miyabi’s charm, he encouraged you to watch his streams more.

 Thank you for reading~

[savagematchmaker]

violet poppies (deaf!Shintaro AU)

@rxxshintaro i wrote you a lil something! (lil meaning like 4k hahah.) hope you’ll like it! this is the first chapter:

also found at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25107196

Kano was having a bad day.

     Really, it was that simple. It had started with him waking up because of a damned mosquito, which had managed to get itself into his room at some point during the night before proceeding to incessantly buzz at his ear only when his palms were too far away from the fiend for him to utterly destroy that fucker. And, of course, when he went downstairs there were no mosquito repellers left. And, of course, that when he went to the coffee shop at six A.M. they were out of cocoa, therefore unable to satisfy his hot chocolate cravings. And, of course, that on his way back home, a random dude wearing noise-cancelling headphones would block his way. Of course.

     So yeah. Kano was having a bad day.

     “Excuse me?” he tried for the third time, still keeping his polite smile on. He was way too tired for conflict.

     The teen before him remained silent, staring at his phone’s screen as he took multiple pictures of some poppies on the side of the road- he was probably even unaware of Kano’s presence.

     Sighing, Kano contemplated inching past the boy. But no, if he tried passing through he’d most likely end up in the other’s personal bubble, squeezed against the other- which he definitely did not want to accomplish. Which meant there were only two options left for him:

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

     While option one was very tempting and probably the more advantageous option of the two, it also meant admitting defeat. Although Kano didn’t know the boy before him, a part of him bristled in indignation at the thought of giving in to the other’s despotism. No. Kano would not give in— he would bypass his usual mentality regarding his aversion to human contact and he’d (shudder) pat the other’s shoulder to get his attention.

     A sigh.

     “Excuse me?” he asked once more, this time lightly tapping the teen’s shoulder while ensuring that the rest of his body was a healthy distance from him— wary of giving the other the wrong impression, whatever that would be.

    It was just a light tap, even by Kano’s standards, yet the boy violently flinched away. Confused, Kano took a careful step back, his hands lifted in a nonthreatening manner; the other took a deep breath, his frame relaxing when the distance between them lengthened. Kano waited for him to take off his headphones, yet they remained on. Instead, the stranger just pocketed his phone, then, with his fist, made a circular motion on his chest.

    Once, then twice.

    It was during the third circle that Kano realized what was happening. His bad mood suddenly disappeared, replaced by burning regret, and he agitatedly shook his head.

     ‘No, I’m sorry,’ he signed to the other.

     The black-haired teen lightly smiled and stepped aside, clearing the way for Kano. Signing a small ‘Thank you,’ the blonde passed him and continued his walk back home, shoulders slightly hunched as he attempted to fight off the lingering embarrassment.

Shintaro regretted many things, starting with him getting in the accident that led to his deafness and ending with him letting Ayano convince him to come visit her home.

     A terrible decision, really. He came off as dark and brooding at best and misanthropic at worst; there were few exceptions to this general rule, like Momo or Ayano.

     Ayano, who was currently grinning at him as if he’d just told her he was getting married. Not a very good comparison, but still. Weren’t her siblings sixteen? Didn’t teens that age hate absolutely everybody and everything? Or was that thirteen? Shintaro could no longer remember, but his belief did not waver. Ayano’s siblings would for sure hate him; that meant that Ayano would soon hate him too.

     Taking a calming breath, Shintaro hit the breaks in his spiraling. Everything would be fine. He’d live for a couple of months in his room until people forgot his face— he could ‘borrow’ from Momo’s dried squid reserves.

     At his side, Ayano was still smiling, slightly facing him at all times to make sure that he could read her lips. They’d abandoned ASL after some disastrous accidents rooted in Ayano’s attempts to learn it, and although lip-reading wasn’t that accurate, there were very few people who knew sign language well enough to communicate with him. Stifling his swelling apprehension in face of the imminent awkwardness, Shintaro fidgeted on the spot.

     “I’m home!” called Ayano as she toed off her shoes. A couple moments later, her siblings showed up, all of them hosting wary expressions bar one. The familiar blond’s eyes were wide in recognition.

     ‘Hey,’ signed the blond. Beyond his cheerfulness there was defensiveness Shintaro was pretty familiar with, piled upon what was probably fierce protectiveness of his sister.

     Shintaro decided not to get into either of them. ‘How come you know ASL?’ he asked instead.

     ‘Was bored,’ replied the other, grinning dismissively. Then, his eyes suddenly flicked away from him and towards a green-haired girl; someone had asked something and Shintaro had missed it, <strike>as always. Torn between reading the girl’s lips and the blond’s, Shintaro hesitated for a moment before settling for the boy. “...met him yesterday, on my way home. Want me to introduce you guys?” the blond said.

     Shintaro felt Ayano tense up at his side. He knew her well enough to know that she was feeling jealous for not being the one to introduce Shintaro and hating herself for it. Probably a lot too. 

     Pulling in his usual reservation, Shintaro comfortingly took her hand in his. She tensed up, then relaxed and smiled at him. Reassured, he turned back to her brother. 

     He was staring at them strangely, but went on and signed anyway. ‘I’m K-A-N-O.’ He pointed to the green-haired girl. ‘K-I-D-O.’ Then to the tall boy. ‘S-E-T-O.’ And the small, white-haired girl hiding behind Seto. ‘M-A-R-Y.’

     ‘Nice to meet you,’ replied Shintaro, trying his best to smile politely. Damn his awkwardness and social conventions. The latter most of all.

     Why was he here again? How should he handle this? Did normal people even ask themselves these things? What was ‘normal’ though—

     Ayano elbowed him and his spiral screeched to a stop.

     “Anyone want to play Mario Kart?” she asked, her eyes sparkling in fierce competitiveness. “I’m really good at it now.” As a rare show of caring, his competitiveness reared its head at the statement.

     ‘I want to be Princess Peach,’ he declared, slightly smiling. Really, he’d smiled a lot today. Weird.

Competitiveness brings out the worst in people. This is known well enough by countless people everywhere: professional or amateur, young or old. Kano supposed that their game of Mario Kart was proof of that fact. Kido, as Luigi, had been kicked off-route so many times that she’d finally huffed in exasperation and blamed her lack of proficiency on her remote. She dumped it in Seto’s lap, then got up to make lunch. Seto was relaxed, Ayano was fierce yet three laps behind. And Kano and Shintaro… Kano and Shintaro were the living proof of the aforementioned universal truth.

     Once more, a shell knocked into Kano. Once more, the air around Shintaro started stinking with smugness.

      Kano was gonna destroy this bastard.

      Easier said than done. For the third time in a row, Shintaro won first place, Kano second, Ayano third, and Seto a very much left behind fourth. He didn’t seem bothered by it. Only smiled at Mary and handed her the remote, asking her if she wanted to try playing.

     Just as Kano opened his mouth to demand a rematch, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed Shintaro turning to Ayano and signing ‘Should we help your sister?’. 

     Ayano seemed surprised by his offer. “No, she usually does it herself— she really likes it. Once, she kicked me out of the kitchen, saying that I was too clumsy to help her cook,” she replied, laughing at the last part. Shintaro’s shoulders slumped in relief.

     So Kano’s initial opinion of Shintaro had been true. The guy really was a selfish bastard most of the time. 

     He’d have to keep a close eye on him.

To protect his sister, of course.

[out-of-this-dimension]

Ooh can we kick off the positivity fest with fun Star Wolf headcanons?

Yes!  We!  Can!

^ This is a gif of Wolf going straight to Happy, Funtime Land, btw

Star Wolf Headcanons – Fun Edition!  

Some of these have served as inspiration for Burning Stars, so please enjoy.  Oh, I will also be covering Star Wolf throughout its multiple renditions, not just SF64 or Assault Star Wolf.

Wolf is actually incredibly athletic.  When he lived on Eladard as a scrapper (a guy who goes around and salvages parts from space carriers, mostly ones abandoned in Meteo or in the nearby space zone), he would spend some of his free time playing ball in the back alleyways.  He was pretty good at it and enjoyed the competition.

Pigma is an incredibly lucky individual.  He’s survived multiple encounters in which he should have ended up dead.  He’s actually noticed this and somewhat thinks he can just luck/wing his way through life.  He took his luck to some of the casinos on Eladard once and ended up pretty rich.  And… then he blew it all on various things.  Relatable, but not entirely wise.  Oh well, that’s Pigma for you.

Leon gets cold very, very easily, as he is from a warm-temperature planet.  When the team does missions on cold planets like Fichina that involve them getting out of their Wolfens, Wolf usually lets Leon either stay behind or makes sure he is wrapped up super tight.  Wolf sometimes bundles Leon up too tight and Leon can’t move his arms at all (think like that kid from A Christmas Story).  

Wolf is pretty lowkey into spa days– being covered in mud and blood just reminds him of Bad Memories™ so he always makes a point to shower after every mission if possible.  He doesn’t let the others know for awhile… until Panther stumbles across Wolf using a bath bomb.  From then on, Panther secretly buys Wolf more bath bombs and other spa things just because Panther is a man who can appreciate wanting to be clean and beautiful.

Panther likes to go sight-seeing and takes selfies.  His phone is pretty much mostly out of storage space because of how many selfies he takes.  At one point, he sends a friend request to Fox on Lylatgram.  Fox accepts it because, you know, it’d be a great way to spy on the enemy if Panther’s constantly taking selfies of where the Star Wolf team is at.  One day, after a skirmish between Star Fox and Star Wolf, Fox looks at Lylatgram and sees that Panther somehow managed to take selfies and fight at the same time and is both baffled and intrigued.

Leon CAN in fact change colors!  Sometimes it’s emotion-based, sometimes it’s environment-based.  Leon tries to keep a good grasp of his emotions in order to keep himself from spontaneously changing colors, but it can be very difficult at times for him to do so.  He prefers not to change because he thinks the others will make fun of him for it. 

Before Wolf became the leader of Star Wolf, he was a fairly infamous space pirate.  His schemes and stunts garnered him a lot of fans and sites dedicated to idolizing him appeared.  Andrew, while he would never admit it nowadays, was an avid fan of Wolf’s and was super excited to meet him in person.  He may or may not have run a small shrine fansite for Wolf at some point…

Along that same line, occasionally when the team is bored, Pigma will read off quotes from fans about Wolf to the rest of the group and they all laugh… except Wolf, who is usually super embarrassed. 

Krystal expects she will have to clean up everything when she joins the team and goes to their hideout.  She’s shocked to find that the team is probably neater than Star Fox, keeping the Sargasso as immaculate as they can.  Each member has their own chores.  Panther does dishes, Leon dusts and sweeps, and Wolf wipes down all the counters.  Krystal is left to vacuum.  She is lowkey impressed by their organization.

Andrew’s room is surprisingly normal.  The others don’t have as many things in theirs, but Andrews is surprisingly full.  He has an older generation gaming console, a bean bag, a bed, and a desk with a chair in his room.  Pictures hang on the walls, mostly family photos.  He keeps one of himself with his mom and uncle near his bedside.

When the team gets really bored, they all watch soap operas together.  Panther and Wolf get especially into them.  Leon finds them incredibly asinine but watches them regardless. Krystal is usually the one in the middle eating popcorn and trying to ward off the others from stealing it all.

Once a year, Wolf takes the team to a vacation spot.  He thinks Zoness is bad luck since he was arrested there, so he never takes them there.  Their vacation spots include, but are not limited to: Aquas (Pigma almost got eaten by a giant squid), Katina (Pigma convinced Andrew to eat some mushrooms and Andrew got messed up and had to go to the hospital.  They didn’t tell Andross about it), Fortuna (Leon and Panther got lost in the jungle), Eladard (Wolf was pissed af but Panther wanted to gamble, so they went there and ended up chased out of the city by the end of the second night), and Sauria (Krystal wanted to show them around and Leon was mistaken for a SharpClaw by the CloudRunners and nearly roasted alive). 

Star Wolf is a bunch of memes that try to act tough, but we know better.

Hope you enjoyed! :D 

[delcakoo]

ems.. so I did something embarrassing today and I can't stop thinking abt it. earlier our adviser was speaking and he cracked his voice and I accidentally like, laughed it was a laugh more like a snort and it was so quiet everyone heard it including him, IDK WHY I KEEP EMBARRASSING MYSELF ISTG. I KEEP DOING THINGS THAT'LL STICK WITH ME UNTIL I DIE. but besides that I'm okay, I JUST CANT BELIEVE I COULDN'T HOLD THAT IN, AND BESIDE ME WAS A MALE. HES SOOO ANNOYING. IDK HE PROLLY MADE FUN OF ME IN HIS HEAD CAUSE I LAUGHED. I FUCKINsbfausbfo. sometimes I wish I just disappear. ISTG I HATE ATTENTION THIS IS WHY I HATE ATTENTION. ALSO WHY I DON'T LIKE SPOTLIGHT CAUSE IM AFRAID, OF JUDGEMENT. I'm scared of letting A LOT of people know me cause then they'll know everything and if I embarrass myself or do something wrong they will know they'll see. I WAS RETHINKING THIS WHETHER I SHOULD TELL U OR NOT BUT ISTG I CANT STOP THINKING ABT IT. Idk maybe the ppl in my class prolly forgot abt it but the problem is I can't cause I'm the one who embarrassed myself, I hate embarrassing myself cause it'll stick with me. I'll prolly think about it randomly when going to bed and mentally slap myself. I FEEL BAD FOR DOING THAT TO MY ADVISER. ITS NOT HIS PROBLEM. REALLY, ITS ME IDFK ANYMORE.

I don't know how I'll calm myself, I mean I am calm rn I just can't process anything right now. I'll read your content, watch movies/k-drama, prolly take a nap to distract myself from today😔updating you is actually making me feel better. everyday when I have time to update you and I do, I feel stress relieved. oh and the k-drama I'm currently watching is cheer up, its quite interesting. I saw it on tiktok and wanted to watch it because of the drama😭

anyway, besides that congratulations on 1k!! (forgot to congratulate you earlier) f2f is over for me (for now) how's school? I hope you're okay! 💙

-m💙

LMFKJSNCKJNS MOONIE PLEASE, I TOTALLY GET HOW YOU FEEL BUT I RPOMSIE YOU ONE DAY YOU WILL LITERALLY FORGET THIS EVER HAPPENED PLEASE DONT WORRY TOO MUCH. IM TELLING U RN EVERYONE COMPLETELY FORGOT YOU DID THAT LIKE FIVE MONUTES AFTER IT HAPPENED OKAY??? NAHHSHHUSNAH ITS HONESTLY A BIT FUNNY CMON YOI HAVE TO ADMIT. BUT ALSO YES I GET WHAT YOU MEAN, BUT FR THIS IS A UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE 😭 EVERYONE HAS EMBARRASSING MOMENTS THAT RANDOMLY COME BACK T US LATER, ITS OKAY LOVE HSKUSNSN

AWW, im glad updating me calms you down shdjdh yes go watch a new show or smthn!! UGH NGL I HAVENT WATCHED ANY KOREAN SHOWS BESIDES UHH ALL OF US ARE DEAD, SQUID GAME AND SWEET HOME :( I ALSO WATCHED A FEW EPISODES OF SKYCASTLE BUT IT WAS LOWKEY ASS 💀💀💀

AAHH THANK YOU DEAR I APPRECIATE IT!! mmm, schools okay ig 😭 i’m just very bad at studying 😭 i keep procrastinating i’m like “i’ll do my hw later” THEN IT JUST KEEPS GETTING LATER UNTIL I GO TO SLEEP AND THEN I END UP NOT DOING IT 💀💀💀 but uhhh IM SURVIVING (besides gym and math 💀) !!! ✊✊ ON A BRIGHTER NOTE I FINISHED SOME BRAINSTORMING AND BEGAN WRITING MY NEXT LONGFIC WHICH IS GONNA BE FOR JUNGWON !! i’m vv excited, i dunno if it’s gonna surpass behind the net’s word count tho 😔😔😔

[smokingtomas]

#25 sorina? Please

Hiii dearest anon! Your wish is my command! Again, this one is related to Akai Ito and set after XVII (I seriously need to have another idea god dammit). This prompt is highly inspired by (I think) the other anon’s dream I called ‘Lovely Dreaming Anon’, @kpchrs‘ suggestion.

Warning: Borderline M

25. “What the hell were you thinking?!”

Everyone in Polar Star dorm knows when the annual game of truth or dare is held, things could get pretty wild, including Yukihira Soma. And oh boy, how he lives for it.

“Make out with the person sitting in front of you for one minute.” Alice rolls out the paper she drew from the dare jar before tossing it away, “How easy.”

“Ooooh! Daigo you lucky dog!” Shoji elbows his dark haired friend furiously.

“Just try not to catch feelings because I’m such a great kisser.” Alice flips her hair for Daigo, whose face is full of anticipation.

“I’ll try not to.”

So that’s how she ends up crawling to his lap and sticks her tongue down his throat. People are cheering, fanning themselves, snapchatting how lusty they’re getting, even drinking to that- both sure can’t keep their hands to themselves.

And that’s not the craziest thing tonight; After the gang gets over the oooohs on Alice’s and Daigo’s lip action, of course Shun has to take a belly shot off Ikumi, Isshiki (who cleared his schedule just to attend the “youthfully prestigious” event) running around campus with only fundoshi, which nobody thinks is a fair dare for him, Takumi giving Akira a lapdance, or how Yuki is forced to gulp down Soma’s squid milkshake creation.

Yes, majority of them picks dare to make the night even more lunatic, but as Soma has mentally guessed, Erina picks to do truth– man, the fuck would happen to her if she was to draw the remove-three-article-of-clothing paper?

“Who is your first kiss? Do not leave out the explicit details.” She reads the paper, and now she’s a deer in the headlights.

All eyes are set on her. No more cheering, or booing. And of course the crimson shade scattered through her face excites the redhead– damn, he never thought the day Nakiri Erina tells a tale of that warm summer night where he took her first kiss in the pool would come so soon.

It was a memorable night, a little wild if he’s asked, and he knows she realized it too with the way her amethyst eyes nervously divert to his direction once in a while. This will be fun, alright.

“It was Tsukasa Eishi.”

Wait, what?

“Tell us more about it, Nakiri-san!” Ryoko shrieks. “I bet everyone wants to hear the story.”

Aight, what the fuck is going on?

“I-It was after our first date. We were at the balcony of his apartment looking at the skyline, a-and then… it happened.”

That ain’t the real story! That’s bullshit!

“Did you guys do the deeds right after?!” Yuki blurts out, but Megumi quickly signs her the that’s-not-the-way-to-go hands.

“Th-That is absolutely out of the question, Yoshino-san! I have fulfilled my truth duties!” Erina fold her arms, clearly trying to avoid a certain redhead pissed off gaze, “Can we please move on to the next person?”

And when the party does, god knows what kind of witchery force Soma uses to  display his most nonchalant face through the rest of the game. He’s not even intrigued when Megumi is forced to challenge Ryo to a shokugeki on the spot, which he should be since things are getting somewhere outside that friendship line with her.

But then again; why does he feel this irritated?

Which is what he’s going to find out the second Soma sees Erina alone in her old room just looking out the croaky window after the party’s halfway over.

“Great party, eh?” He tries to sound as casual as possible when standing next to her.

“Huh? Oh, it’s you.” She responds, but quickly turning her head back out, “I suppose it is more interesting than last year.”

Yeah, you tell me. “Y’know, for someone who doesn’t know how to play truth or dare, you’re pretty good at fitting into the crowd.”

“What are you talking about? I do know how to play truth or dare! Didn’t your blind eyes see me there?”

“I saw you, aight. I saw you telling a big fat lie right there.”

She sighs as if she already saw this one coming, “Is this why you come here to my room?”

“Your old room. You don’t live here anymore.” Soma snaps. So much for keeping the rage in. “But I guess you decided to lie. Embarrassed to admit your first kiss’ nothin’ but a diner brat?”

“Yukihira, you are the first seat. It was in the past, and there’s no use on bringing–”

“Aight, I see how it works; if it was in the past, it didn’t happen for ya, right?”

When Soma sees Erina taking a deep, pissed off  breath like she does when someone coated a fresh lobster with mountains of american cheese, he knows he’s pushed that button.

“Alright.” The blonde lifts her chin in defense, “J-Just– what do you want?”

“I wanna know. Did you forget about that night in the pool? Was Tsukasa-senpai a way better kisser than me that you decided to left me outta the picture?”

Now she points irritatedly, “Hey! You’re the one who said it was a mistake! Are you angry because I was hiding the night you called a mistake from everybody?!”

Jesus, why in the fuckshit can’t this girl understand?!

“But just because it was a mistake doesn’t mean you can lie about shit like that!”

“Okay, why is this even bothering you so much?! What do you care about what I do or don’t say?!”

“Nakiri, you’re screaming.” He drops a level of his tone when she rises hers. Though as expected of the haughty Erina, the girl doesn’t care a tad.

“Do I look like someone you can control?! Just because you took away my seat and me being in a seat lower than you don’t mean you’re a better cook or–

“Nakiri, please.” He says when he’s pretty sure her voice can probably be heard through the entire dorm.

“Hey! Don’t you dare cut me off! You have no right to-”

Damn, does she always have to be this close when she’s yelling?

“Oi, Nakiri!”

“No! I am not going to be that person you can consider someone below you, and-”

It happens really fast– and out of his control, but when Soma finds himself cupping her face and having their lips crashed, all he can hear is a gasp on Erina’s end before she reciprocate his kiss and turning it into a primal frenzy. Soft lips are nibbled, tongues snaking in and out, chests are bumped, it’s all far cry from the word gentle, and each second gets more carnal with her slim fingers tangled through his red hair and her back against the window.

He kisses her like her lips are made from the oxygen and her skin is its particle. He always want more. He’s always in need of the feeling of her supple skin against his hot palm, and when he finds her leg feebles, he takes the initiative of catching it by the thigh.

That moan of hers- he swears it could even make a dead man intoxicated.

Damn, his fogged up head. Damn his damned fingers that move in accords to his own gusto- he doesn’t even know they’ve roamed a little too far between her thighs until Erina swats his figure away, but what really jolts him is that stinging heat coming harshly from her palm.

Ouch.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” She manages to bark even with that lust-heaved, cherry red face. Even Soma can barely stand up straight.

“Shit, I thought you–”

“Do not even think that I’ll do such a favor for someone who thinks with their dick.”

Double ouch.

That Erina sure knows how to shut him up, alright. And he knew better than to let her fled away like this without a word of explanation of how fucked up he is.

But first, he has something to explain to the one that stops Soma’s track in the middle: the blue-haired girl that has seemed to be standing on the edge of the stair for  a while.

A/N: Has Soma always been this asshole-y through his high school years in Akai Ito? xD thank you for reading!!!

[emeatocannoliii]

Vectazar Fanfic Ch. 3

*THE SAGA CONTINUES*

   The walk to the car wasn’t terribly long. The two men stopped once they got to small, orange, rather cute Slug Bug-looking vehicle. It didn’t look like much, but if it survived the trip to the convention, then it’s good enough for anywhere.

“Here we are! Say hello to the Vector Mobile!” Vector told Bratt, staring at the car with pride and joy.

   Balthazar observed the vehicle a little bit, noting some of the damage he could see on the outside (specifically with the hood having some faded paint that didn’t belong). He also noted the fact that there were some stuffed sea animals on the dash, much like how some people would have a bobble head or something like that. Bratt chuckled a bit and caught the nerd’s attention.

“What’s so funny?” Vector asked, feeling a bit embarrassed by his new companion’s sudden laughter.

“Oh nothing,” Bratt admitted, pointing to the dash “I just think it’s cute how you have some stuffed animals in there.”

“Oh. I love animals, especially sea animals, as you can tell.”

“You do you, I guess. So, we gonna admire the car all day or get some burgs?”

“Oh yeah!” Vector exclaimed, “Burgers it is! I’ll be driving.”

   With that, the men got in the vehicle. Vector started the car and started to drive off while Bratt was in the passenger seat, eyeballing everything in and out of the orange piece of metal. He reached over to the dash and grabbed a seal plush Vec had, it was spotted. His mustache formed a smile at the sight of the toy; Vector noticed this as they stopped at the stoplight.

“You like seals do you?” He asked the man in purple.

Balthazar quickly looked over with a surprised expression on his face, “Oh yeah, yeah I love seals. Especially leopard seals; I wanted one since I was around 10. The people who worked with me on Evil Bratt refused to get me one, probably for the best. I heard they are extremely dangerous, I still think they’re cool though.”

“Really?” Vector was interested in the fact that Bratt wanted a seal. “Well, I have an actual shark at my place.”

“You do?!” Balthazar was stunned by this piece of info. He heard of other villains having some of the most bizarre pets out there. But a shark … he wondered what it was like to live with one.

“Yeah, I know. Very impressive I say. Anyways, we’re here.”

   Vector pulled into the parking lot of small burger place, something like a Burger King in terms of shop size. It was called Little Leo’s Burgers, Bratt started to feel a bit iffy on the place by its appearance and name alone. It all seemed like it would be somewhat childish to the two men, but it didn’t seem to be a big deal to Vector who was looking at the ex-actor.

“Is something wrong, Bratt?” Vector asked.

“Are you sure this place is even good? I mean, I don’t want to be rude and all to a fan but … it seems to have a Chuck E. Cheese’s kinda feel to me and I don’t like it,” He explained.

“Don’t worry,” Vector replied, “This is nothing like Chuck E. Cheese. Think of it as more of a McDonald’s or Burger King.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

   The two quickly got out and headed inside. For the most part, Vector did keep his word to Balthazar; the place wasn’t filled with wound up kids nor did it have much kid-targeting mascots, games, or anything like that. There weren’t even that many people in the restaurant at all; it was just Bratt, Vector, a few folks at a table here and there, and some employees. With the 80s man’s mind at ease, he began looking through the menu and deciding what he wanted. Vector took the time to do the same and within a few minutes, they were ready to order. Both of them decided to get the same meal idea; a burger for each, a thing of fries for each, and two drinks. Once the order was said and done, Bratt attempted to pay for the food, only to be stopped by Vector.

“No,” the man in orange told him, “This is my treat.” Vector then gave the cashier the money that was needed.

“Well, um, thank you then, Vector,” Bratt said, he was a bit flustered by this.

This guy’s actually really nice. Bratt thought, I haven’t had a treatment like this in a LONG while.

They quickly got to a table near the front window (not like it was necessary, noting how few people were in the place) and began talking with each other once they were seated. They discussed various things about each other; Bratt talked a bit about his life during his Hollywood career and about what he was currently up to. Vector talked some of his own personal interests like video games and the many different sea animals he can name off the top of his head.

“I didn’t know humans know more about the moon than the oceans,” Bratt said in amazement, “I always thought it would be the opposite.”

“Tell me about it,” Vector replied, taking complete interest in every piece of information being exchanged.

   Their order was called out and Bratt hurried over to grab it and return to his seat. Bratt took out his gum before starting to wolf down his meal. The men still continued to talk a bit, but was limited by how much they were eating.

“So tell me,” Vector said through a bite of his burger, “Why did your show get cancelled, anyways? I was wondering what happened to it once season three was halfway completed.”

Balthazar stood there for a minute, frozen in place like a dog that knew it was in trouble. A moment passed before he drank some of his soda and replied, “Well, *sigh* during season three I started puberty and that just caused a whole mess of problems. I honestly don’t like to talk about it, but by God I looked horrible.” Bratt placed his hands over his face as he leaned back into the chair.

“I bet you didn’t look THAT bad,” Vector said, being very sincere to his friend.

Bratt quickly took his gloved hands away from his face, revealing a somewhat offended-looking face. His mustache hid his mouth but was shaped to match the rest of his expression. He let out an angered sigh and quickly pulled out his phone. He typed some stuff in and handed it to Vector before putting his hand over his eyes. Vector looked at the phone to realize it was a photo of Balthazar in his teens. Bratt seemed to have all the curses of puberty: acne, some stubble where his mustache would later be, and he even noted braces on his teeth. Vector didn’t know what to say; Bratt definitely wasn’t the most handsome boy then, but at the same time, he knew there were far worse cases of acne and body hair than what Bratt had.

“Well, I still think you looked fine to me,” Vector confessed. The man in purple lifted his hand a little bit at his comment. His face changed from embarrassment to surprise.

“You … You do?” Bratt asked.

“Absolutely. I’ve heard and seen far worse.”

“But I was rejected by Hollywood! They stopped caring after that! What would say to that!?” Bratt replied, getting slightly infuriated.

“Well, that was their fault then. They didn’t want you for what you were capable of. I think you’re still the ‘baaaad boy’ you were on TV.”

   Bratt started to smile, he hasn’t heard anything that sweet being said to him by anybody other than Clive for the longest time. With that, what the nerd was saying really meant a lot to him. Bratt’s eyes attempted to form tears at this.

“Thank you,” Bratt said, sounding very joyous to what Vector was saying,” Y-you have no idea h-how much that means t-to me.”

“I know it does.”

   The two then finished their food before heading outside. Once outside, Vector showed off his Squid Launcher to Bratt who in turn showed him his Rubik’s Cube and Keytar. Both were impressed with each other’s weapons and styles. Suddenly, Bratt got a call; Vector let him take the call.

“Oh hey Clive!””Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I met this guy at the convention and he offered me food and I guess I just forgot to tell you about it.””Okay, okay, I’ll text the address I’m at for you. Alright see you then. Bye.”

“Sorry about that,” Bratt told Vector,” My ride’s coming in a bit.”

“That’s fine,” Vector said, “I had fun either way.”

“Yeah, me too,” Bratt agreed, rubbing the back of his neck.

   Vector was about to get in his car before pausing. He wanted to do something real quick; he grabbed the stuffed seal from Bratt’s seat as well as the pen and notebook in his bag. Balthazar crept closer to the man as he dug through his car, only to be greeted by Vector being in his face. Their noses nearly touching.

“Son of a Betamax!” Bratt yelled,”Don’t do that!”

“Sorry,” Vector said, “I just thought I’d give you something and have us exchange phone numbers.”

“Oh, alright then. Do you have anything to write with or do you want me to say it out loud?”

“No, no, I got pen and paper.”

“You’re even prepared. You know Vec, you never seem to stop impressing me.”

   Bratt then grabbed the book and wrote his name and phone number on the first page. He gave the book back to Vector who wrote his name and phone number and the next page. Vec then ripped out and gave it to Bratt along with the plush.

“Are you really giving me the seal toy?” Bratt asked.

“Yeah,” Vector said, “You seem to like seals more than me. But don’t worry, you can keep that little guy. I prefer sharks anyways.”

“Well, thank you. I think I’ll call him Bowie. Like David Bowie.”

“Okie dokie!” Vector smiled at him, “Well you and Bowie get home safe. I’ll text you tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Bratt replied, “Okay, my ride’s pulling in. I’ll see you later!”

“See ya!”

The two waved goodbye before they drove off in different ways.

Boy, oh boy. Vector thought, What a day.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

what are your feelings on the buffahuman book?

Short opinion: I can admit that there are some cool concepts in this book if I’m willing to overlook its three or four glaring plot holes.

Long opinion:

It seems like Cassie’s books tend to be either earth-shattering adventurefests that sweep the plot of the series forward in leaps and bounds (#4 and Ax, #19 and Aftran, #29 and the YPM, #34 and Aldrea, #50 and the Auximorphs) or they are extremely random asides that have no connection to the main plot and never come up again after they’re over (#14 and the andalite PortaPotty, #24’s Helmacron battle, #44 and the Random Australian Field Trip, #39′s buffahuman) and there’s pretty much no in-between.  And yeah, this book is both totally random and objectively bad.

However, criticizing this book also kind of feels like swatting a fly: the poor fly already has enough problems what with being small and ugly and disease-ridden and only having 28 days to live, so smearing it on the ceiling is just mean.  I’m happy to lovingly poo-poo on the Animorphs books that have a fair number of admirers among the fandalites but don’t personally appeal to me (#41, #30) and the ones whose issues have Deeply Unfortunate real-world implications (#40, #46) but kicking this one while it’s already down is like… like shooting a buffalo that never asked to get accidentally turned into a freak of nature and is just trying to go about its buffalo life without bothering anyone.  Bearing that in mind, I’d like to start by mentioning a few things this book does right.

The Good

Once again, this book shows off Cassie’s strengths.  She can run and keep running for a long time while also refusing to compromise her morals (no matter how idiotic the resultant decisions might be under pressure), she can work well alone, she can do nearly-impossible things with morphing, and when necessary she can fall from the sky in order to squash her problems flat on the ground.  Cassie is awesome in this book, mostly by being Cassie.

This plot also starts with an emergency right in the first couple pages, and the tension does not let up until the very end.  The plot-driving problem is a pretty simple one, but it does excuse the Animorphs’ needing to run and keep running for several hours.  The entire story takes place in just a few hours, which gives this one a very tight feel with no room for unnecessary frills.

There are a couple of mind-blowingly simple tactics—throwing the morphing cube across the roadblock, shoving several controllers off a cliff, dropping an “anvil” on the helicopter—that the kids use to get around the yeerks, which I always have a soft spot for because it makes it feel realistic that six children could figure out how to defeat an empire.  They might not be the Justice League (and portraying them as chessmasters of strategy would be silly and unrealistic), but they get by anyway through coming up with creative solutions to complex problems.

I love that their plan to drop whale-Cassie on the helicopter fails.  I have a huge soft spot for plots in which the heroes’ grand master idea simply does not work (something that happens a lot in this series) just because, once again, it feels realistic.  There are a ton of risks inherent in their plan: Cassie could miss the helicopter, Cassie could end up unable to catch the helicopter at all, Cassie could hit the helicopter but be wood-chipperified by its rotors, Cassie could hit the helicopter and survive but squash her friends on the landing… The fact that it doesn’t go according to plan just makes more sense under those circumstances.

Speaking of the ending, I freaking love this dialogue:

«You missed all the fireworks, Cassie,» Marco said, swimming circles around us. «One minute we’re watching this whale the size of a FedEx truck dropping out of the sky and we’re thinking, Uh-oh, she’s not big,enough to take down that helicopter and live through it—»

«You weren’t thinking it, you were screaming it,» Rachel said sweetly.

«Screeching like a bad set of brakes,» Jake teased. 

«Emitting a loud and continual series of high- pitched shrieks similar to an unauthorized entry into a Dome ship air lock,» Ax added.

Silence.

«Well, it was an accurate comparison,» Ax said defensively.

It’s just so them.  We need a moment of lightness after the tension of the rest of the book, and the characterization is spot-on, especially because we can feel the giddiness of their relief that the helicopter is destroyed and they’re not all gonna die.  

If this book had found a different way to get there, the idea of having a nonhuman morpher explore the experience of humanity might actually be pretty interesting.  Science fiction has been all about exploring the boundary conditions of what it means to be human pretty much since Day One, and this series embraces that concept in spades with characters like Elfangor, Tobias, Aftran, Menderash, Toby, and Ax.  However, the buffahuman never does anything interesting or useful while it’s there on screen, and its very existence is rendered idiotic by the nature of its creation, so this book doesn’t exactly capture the same degree of uncomfortable meditation on human nature vs. human culture that, say, The Experiment does.

The Bad

The Andalite’s Gift called, and it wants its plot back.

Seriously, though, this exact same premise—the yeerks can detect morphing energy, and the only way the kids can keep from getting caught is through an elaborate game of keep-away—has already been explored, and better, in an earlier book.  

It would also make a fair amount of sense for the yeerks to make a second attempt at using a veleek, or a second pass at destroying the local forest, or to reuse any of their plans from earlier books.  Instead we get them arriving at a similar place through using Helmacron tech, which would fit better if there were any hints at all in #24 or #42 that the yeerks had access to Helmacron tech.  Which there aren’t.

Not only does this book present approximately the same conflict as MM1, but it also offers the exact same resolution: drop whale-Cassie on one’s problems.  Couldn’t the ghost come up with anything better than that?

«You had an aunt who tried to kill you with her pincers?» Rachel said, giving me a playful nudge. «Boy, and I thought Tobias’s family was bad.»

IS IT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO CRINGE SO HARD THAT YOU COLLAPSE INTO A BLACK HOLE OF SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE WRITER?  Seriously, what even is this line?  Why would Rachel even think that Cassie’s aunt would be hiding out in the woods in the first place?  Would she SERIOUSLY make a comment like that about Tobias’s abusive relatives?  Doesn’t Rachel already know Cassie’s family well enough to make the question “which aunt” (assuming charitably that Rachel actually wants to know) the more logical one?  For that matter, wouldn’t “are you okay” be a better fricking question to ask your best friend who just survived a near-death experience?  

Why does Cassie consider the buffalo “human” if it has morphed one?  

Rachel makes a really straightforward argument—that the buffalo is no more a human than she is a grizzly bear—and that should basically be the end of the discussion.  Jake makes the really straightforward argument on top of that that the buffalo could get them all killed/captured if the yeerks decide to infest it, and again that should be the end of the discussion.  Cassie doesn’t balk at predators killing seals to stay alive (#25), and she understands that sometimes you have to let a deer die to save a human (#9), so it makes no sense whatsoever that she is that obsessed with saving a creature which has the means to kill them all.

Also, Cassie doesn’t consider her ant-copy “human” like 15 pages later when she stomps it to death, and she doesn’t consider herself a wolf-human hybrid, so WHY does she keep insisting that the buffalo is a person?  It’s just idiotically unCassieish.

Also also: no offense Cassie, but this book ends with you killing at least two or three humans who are inside that helicopter.  When you factor in the yeerks, that is four to six murders at minimum and possibly as many as fifteen to twenty depending on the size of the chopper.  What makes buffaChapman more worthy of life than those people are?

Three words: deus ex seagull.

Tobias’s brief explanation about the sheer gross horror of birds sucked into jet engines is not sufficient setup to justify a seagull happening to meet an untimely end AT THE EXACT MILLISECOND it needed to do so in order to stop Cassie from getting food-processed, Marco and Tobias from getting eaten by sharks, and the others from getting squashed or shot to death.  

I’m actually a fan of the Animorphs getting accidentally assisted by real animals, since it fits well with the theme of the books, but the animals’ existence has got to be justified somehow by the plot.  In #27 the presence of the random-ass whale whose DNA lets them morph squids is justified by Crayak’s meddling, in #4 the random-ass whale who saves their butts from Visser Three is explained by their own desire to save it from sharks, in #36 the random-ass whales who try to help them out only to get shot by the Sea Blade are attracted by the calls of other pod members, my god I am only just realizing how many random-ass whales there are in this series… Anywhoo, the presence of the plot-saving seagull is not remotely explained by anything that happens at any point earlier in the book.  Couldn’t the author(s) have left out one of the 70-odd scenes with the buffalo sadly wandering around and thrown in some kind of setup for this ending instead?

The Ugly

That’s not how the morphing cube works.

In #1, Jake picks up the morphing cube inside Elfangor’s ship and only mentions that it feels “heavy;” he doesn’t mention the “tingle” that other people also describe when acquiring the ability to morph until he’s touching it at the same time as Elfangor.

The rule about needing to have one morpher touch the cube in order to “pass on” the morphing appears to hold true throughout the rest of the series.  David carries the cube around for a while but again doesn’t get the zap of morphing energy until he touches it at the same time as Ax (#20).  Tom doesn’t appear to be able to morph until after the battle in the hospital garage, given that the yeerk makes no attempt to acquire or use any of the oodles of hork-bajir or taxxon DNA lying around even when injured; presumably the yeerks later passed the ability from Alloran to him (#50).  The narration’s a little ambiguous as to whether Tobias is touching the cube at the same time as Loren when she gains the ability (#49), but Cassie or Rachel definitely has to be holding the cube for any of the Auximorphs to get it (#50).  

Point being, Cassie is definitely not touching the cube at the time when the buffalo brushes against it, and probably not when the ant crawls on top of it.

That’s not how acquiring DNA works.

If all it took was brushing against someone to pick up their DNA, then all the Animorphs would be able to morph their parents, their friends, various taxxons and hork-bajir, family pets, stray cats, head lice, baby goats from the petting zoo, skin mites, the school nurse… etcetera.  For that matter, Ax and Tobias would also be able to morph Alloran by now, which is the kind of incredibly useful morph that I’m pretty sure the series would have mentioned if one of them had.

The series mentions 700-odd times that acquiring DNA requires deliberate concentration on the part of the morpher.  Why would any self-respecting buffalo in a dominance-fueled rage be thinking “man, I should really try and shapeshift into that human over there”?

That’s not how morphing works.

Morphing requires concentration.  Jake first describes the process as “So I have to, like, meditate on becoming a dog” (#1), and any time the kids’ focus is interrupted, they’re unable to continue morphing.  The most interesting example of that is when Marco can’t morph normally at all because he’s so freaked out over his dad remarrying (#35) but the series mentions time and again that anything from pain to sudden noises can interrupt the process enough to sabotage it.  We’re supposed to believe that a buffalo was capable of directing sustained attention to an abstract task in order to morph, when no mammals other than humans have shown signs of this ability?

More importantly, morphing requires focusing on a mental image of oneself as the desired animal.  When first explaining it to Jake, Tobias says the key is “forming this mental picture of [the animal], right? I thought about becoming it" (#1).  When talking Marco down from nearly being stuck in morph, Cassie says “Focus on the picture of yourself. Form the picture in your mind. Let go of the fear and focus on the picture of your own body” (#21).  WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT AN ANT CONSCIOUSLY CHOSE TO PICTURE ITSELF AS A CASSIE?  

Morphing also doesn’t happen accidentally.  The only times we ever see involuntary morphing are when Rachel has allergies (#12) and when Ax has brain-appendicitis (#29).  So unless that one buffalo and that one ant both happened to be suffering from illnesses that led to hallucinations, this plot makes no sense.

That’s not how ants work.

The narration of the very scene in which the ant morphs Cassie describes all the ways that it would be pretty much impossible for an ant to imagine itself—and only one self—as a human being.  If an ant cannot wrap its little hive-insect mind around the idea of an independent consciousness, then it also should not be able to wrap that mind around the idea of only changing the one body it happens to possess into something different like a human.

Luckily for that one ant, it’s apparently an estreen, since it chooses to demorph just its pincers while keeping an otherwise human body.  Yes, ladies and gentlebeasts: THE ANT IS AN ESTREEN.  Why.  Just… why.  

Don’t get me wrong; I think that there are justifiable reasons to stretch or even break the rules of one’s own applied phlebotinum, provided that the resultant plot is cool enough or character-advancing enough or mind-blowing enough to be worth it.  This mess?  Is not worth all the rule-breaking that goes on.  It’s not the most Deeply Unfortunate Animorphs book, nor is it my personal least favorite, but it’s also not good enough to justify its existence built on a tower of plot holes and logic failures.  

[autotunedcats]

Rules: answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people you want to know better

Tagged by @glass-blown-eyes  

ill try my best cause i have no personality but okay. (thank you for remembering i exist though)

Nickname: none really. i mean I've HAD some but i think I've forgot them all. but ill call myself “z” here

Zodiac: Scorpio ( i think)

Height: i literally don't evne know I'm fucking short tho

Last Movie I Saw: uhh i think i watched bohemian rhapsody?

Last Thing Googled: "cool fantasy environment” because I'm a newbie artist.

Favorite Musicians: This is too hard cause i love way too much stuff. but the top three most important(i know kinda not answering the question) bands in my life so far(like past 4/ 5 is years?) prob have been.. Queen, Pink Floyd, and Skinny Puppy. okay i don't wanna admit it but nick cave(the birthday party and the bad seeds) was really important at one point for me too. and vitas. Oh the Doors too.. see i could go on forever. Mostly any classic goth/industrial i love rn though

Song stuck in my head: idk I'm listening to music rn 

Other blog:  @chainslaughter  is my most used (way more than this one) its become kinda my (shit) art blog(I'm gonna plug it anyway), but also i post music, video games, other nerdy things, basically my obsessions and dumb stuff i guess. also @thisisapileofgarbage which used to be my old music blog but its long dead tbh. also @frankenshit but its also long dead. (both those blogs are really embarrassing- hell this blog is super embarrassing if u dig enough- I'm embarrassing)

Do I get asks: nope- I've been here since like 2015 and i only have had ONE ever and it was an ask that said nothing but “cats!” and honestly? yeah. idk thats just a mood. (I'm super antisocial/anxious so..i get it)

Blogs following: 872- but i REALLy think that pretty much most of them have been long dead(and i don't clean it out oops) wait does this mean people i follow or people following me? cause 220 ish people follow this blog(same deal i think most are dead)

What am I wearing: pajamas- shirt with garfield on it and pants with cute owls and foxes and hedgehogs on them

Favorite food: idk im bad with favorites

Play any instruments: sadly no 

Languages:  english (i uhh used to know a bit of russian? Да😔 я тебя люблю 😘 but I've probably forgot most of it) :(  (oh same deal with latin and a biiiiiiit of german)

Favorite songs:  as I'm said I'm too indecisive 

Random facts: i like dolls/stuffed animals, i really like sea life(esp cephalopods like octopus and squid) I kinda hoard junk in general I'm a mess

Favorite  movies: idk i don't watch enough movies tbh :(  I'm inclined to horror/sci fi type of stuff tho ig?

(i don't have friends so you know what that means)

[gameboyrocket]

Splatoon: Meet The Outcasts

Name: Amber Nicknames/aliases: None Age: 18 Natural ink/tentacle color: Yellow-orange Eye color: Green Skin tone: Third-palest in-game shade Gear: Tinted Shades, Camo Zip Hoodie, Punk Cherries Weapon: Tentatek Splattershot (Suction Bomb sub, Inkzooka special) Profile: Amber had trouble getting into any existing team during the tryout season. Eager to get in on the next season of Turf War, however, and dreading the idea of resorting to freelancing, she decided she had no choice but to create a new team of her own, and hastily accepted the first – and only – applicants: quiet giant André Dorado, irritable junkie Marjani Kulevya, and unflappable, saccharine Felicity Quinn. However, she soon found out that the three of them were as desperate as her to join a team that would accept them, and had all adopted the same “beggars can’t be choosers” philosophy that she did. With little other choice if they all wanted to join the Turf War League before they ran out of time to register, though, their new team – the Outcasts – was formed, with rookie Amber as its captain, despite having no sort of win/loss record with the Turf War League. Unfortunately, due to their rashness and haste in forming a team, the Outcasts hardly know each other, and aren’t friends by any stretch of the word. This makes it incredibly difficult for them to work together and gain any wins in the League. Still, there’s some merit to be had from that: The publicity they get from being notoriously bad has made them popular underdogs among Turf War fans, the support from whom has boosted their morale. And hey, maybe they’ll even learn something valuable along the way to getting better. Maybe they’ve got more in common with each other than just being outcasts. Name: André Dorado Nicknames/aliases: Used to be known as “André the Kraken” (or, mistakenly, “André the Giant Squid”) Age: 19 Natural ink/tentacle color: Light blue Eye color: Yellow Skin tone: Fourth (middle) in-game shade Gear: Fake Contacts, White Anchor Tee, Tan Work Boots Weapon: Krak-On Splat Roller (Squid Beakon sub, Kraken special) Profile: It was thought that giant squids were all but extinct, until André Dorado was born with a mutation, causing him to grow to a far more massive size than a normal Inkling, both in terms of height and muscle mass. Towering several heads over other Turf War battlers at around seven and a half feet – and he’s projected to grow even taller before age slows the process – André is so huge that even his normal squid transformation is the size of some squids’ Kraken forms. Though he’s the oldest member of the team, he still has a couple of years left before he’s old enough for the adult league. Unlike other Inkling boys, André doesn’t tie his tentacles, letting them drape behind his ears and adding to his image as a savage behemoth. Since there are no official rules on a size limit for Kraken users, André swings around his Krak-On Splat Roller with one hand like it weighs nothing and transforming into a terrifyingly gigantic Kraken whenever he can, serving as an intimidation tactic as much as an actual advantage. The anchor logo seen on his t-shirt appears on the “forehead” of his Kraken form. Though he’s a big and brutish offensive player, focusing on splatting opponents to keep them out of his team’s way, André isn’t dull – a mistaken assumption that many who've never had to go up against him make – and can be surprisingly clever about how he plays, hiding in ink and biding his time with his iconic shirt's Ninja Squid perk to catch his opponents off guard rather than just rolling in guns blazing. He’s got more experience and skill than the rest of the Outcasts combined and is most certainly their best player, though he’s still shaking off the rust after spending a year away from the sport. Outside of Turf Wars, though, one would almost never guess that André is so barbaric on the battlefield. Though he can be quiet unless addressed, André is perceptive and not nearly as dumb as some people would think at first glance, and is jarringly eloquent when he does talk, though he has a propensity for using as few words as possible if he's talking to someone he'd rather not. He’s also quite a gentle giant, though he sometimes doesn’t know his own strength and can be a bull shark in a china shop. And as good as he is with children, his size and appearance can frighten them if they don’t know how nice he really is. He tries to save his angry face for Turf Wars, where adrenaline and frustration can be channeled at the opposing team for sport, though he’s also a stickler for punctuality and Marjani can really get on his nerves by blowing off practice sessions, among other things.

Name: Marjani Kulevya Nicknames/aliases: “Marjie” (by Felicity) Age: 17 Natural ink/tentacle color: Purple Eye color: Green Skin tone: Darkest in-game shade Gear: Skull Bandana, Black Inky Rider, Moto Boots Weapon: Heavy Splatling (Splash Wall sub, Inkstrike special) Profile: Marjani Kulevya has always had a combative personality, which got her into a lot of trouble in her earlier years in Turf War. These days, she’s an utterly shameless drug addict, and is nothing if not easily irritated. Her eyes are almost constantly bloodshot, a trait that tips off most Inklings to steer clear of this junkie. She no longer wants to get clean and those who know her personally have largely given up on helping her kick her vices, with the exception of her younger brother, Tendaji. She’s a self-admitted wreck, and stopped caring long ago. Marjani is not a team player in the slightest and hates almost everyone she knows, herself included. Many words can be used to describe her – “venomous,” “ornery,” “spiteful,” and “crude” among them. She swears like a sailor and never hesitates to voice her thoughts, no matter how mean-spirited, half-baked, or poorly-worded they may be. Her main concern is making enough money in Turf Wars to support her addictions. She's not fond of her teammates and often fails to show up for practice. To her, the team is just there to help her win and get the biggest payout as easily as possible, and the only reason she doesn’t want to quit the Outcasts entirely is because no one would hire her as a freelancer. She’s practically impossible to work with and constantly argues with Amber about it, always refusing responsibility for her numerous shortcomings. Name: Felicity Quinn Nicknames/aliases: None Age: 15 Natural ink/tentacle color: Pink Eye color: Blue Skin tone: Second-palest in-game shade Gear: Squid Hairclip, School Uniform, School Shoes Weapon: Classic Squiffer (Point Sensor sub, Bubbler special) Profile: Felicity is the youngest member of the Outcasts, and seemingly the most immature in her mannerisms, being enamored with the idea of her own cuteness. She can be pretty meek and timid on the battlefield, which is part of why she became proficient at using Splat Chargers, a talent which allows her to play the defensive sniper of the team. Her weapon of choice is the Classic Squiffer, complete with a Bubbler shield that she can use to protect herself when someone tries to get the jump on her. She hates confrontation and avoids it as much as possible, which is probably why she’s got just as much of a Turf War record as Amber – which is to say, none at all. Felicity tried out for a few teams, and, in spite of her stellar aim, she always seemed to clam up and forgot to use her Bubbler every time she had to face even mock close-quarters combat, resulting in rejection after rejection. In spite of her outwardly upbeat personality, she feared for a while that she would never be able to find a team that would keep her around. Naturally, she was surprised when Amber accepted her application for a completely new team without even a proper tryout to gauge her skills and strategies. Nowadays, Felicity does her best to pull her weight, terrified of the team kicking her out if she slips up one time too many, but she still lacks self-confidence and hangs back a little further than she should. Even so, Felicity is the glue that keeps the team together, doing her best to mediate the many arguments between Marjani and Amber. Her relationship is best with André, and they enjoy each others’ company because unlike the other two, they don’t yell nearly as much (although André can get pretty riled up and loud in a Turf War match). In an attempt to get Marjani to open up and be less belligerent, she coined the affectionate nickname “Marjie,” much to the latter’s chagrin. And even though Amber is the captain of the Outcasts, Felicity, being the best-off in her home life monetarily, has the most financial savvy of the team and is the one who manages their budget. Rumor has it she’s also a skilled dancer, and practices by imitating the Squid Sisters’ routines, though she’s easily embarrassed if anyone catches her doing it. Splatoon © Nintendo. I own no rights to the universe in which the game takes place, nor do I own any of the characters either from the game.