#lmk if there's anything else i should tag this

[bibbiosis]

Been seeing this headcanon on twitter that hua cheng's true form is actually terrifying but since xie lian is a fool in love all we see in his perspective is a really handsome guy

[ID in plain and alt text: 2 page comic strip of xie lian and hua cheng.

Xie lian stands in front of hua cheng with a bright smile, saying to the camera "Isn't my husband the cutest?". Behind him, hua cheng is drawn in an analog horror-like fashion with dark shadows covering most of his body. One eye opens eerily at the viewer.

Same pose as the first page except xie lian slightly turns behind him to smile widely at hua cheng, eyes closed. Hua cheng also slightly turns to him with his eye closed and small blush marks drawn on his face. 3 floating hearts are drawn above them. End ID]

[zyxwvutbackwards]

Having sad hours and listening to music when this pops up! I can’t believe it’s the first time I noticed they use the word firefly in the lyrics as a pet name - anyways, it got me thinking about what ifs. More specifically, what if the moment Mycheal finally became attached to someone, when he loves them as much as he can, when they don’t want to leave and everything is right, his person dies? The creator has said that when he reaches this point on his “affection scale” that his yandere tendencies would only be triggered if you tried to leave. If you left by dying, one way those tendencies could manifest is him being unwilling to bury or stray far from your body and feeling a deep, soul-wrenching upset every time he notices a new aspect of rot set in. In the hours following your death, as a yandere, he’d probably be in shambles - would he be disoriented enough to forget about rigor mortis? Would he reach for your warmth after stepping away for a moment to collect himself, only to return and find you devoid of it?

So many possibilities

Mycheal and Mushroom Oasis by @/deerspherestudios

[shepscapades]

This one was a freaking doozy. If I keep talking i think i may be in trouble

[hellspawnmotel]

Thinking about Deltarune and how it plays with gender roles made me think about something; when people insist on assigning binary gender to the protagonists, I’ve noticed people usually treat Frisk and Chara as “girls” and Kris as a “boy”. I’ve seen vanishingly few instances where it’s the reverse. I wonder why that is

I've noticed the same thing! I remember occasionally seeing chara referred to as a boy back in 2015, but otherwise it's extremely consistent. I think it's due to a combination of things- one that frisk somewhat resembles madotsuki from yume nikki, so maybe early reviews or playthroughs that came from indie gamers assumed frisk was also a girl and it caught on. I have no way to verify this but it's what I personally always thought. there's also the fact that treating frisk as a pure self-insert was extremely common even after finishing the true pacifist route, and most of the younger members of the undertale fandom were teen girls (or at least they were girls then. many of them are not girls now lmao). so there was a really large community of portraying frisk not just as a little girl but a young woman, usually to be shipped with sans (cuz y'know sans was a hot commodity back in the day). and finally, and probably the most influential reason- undertale came out just after the rpgmaker boom of the early 2010s. and when you think about classic rpgmaker games that involve a young, vulnerable and often voiceless child exploring a dangerous environment (ib, the witch's house, mad father, and again yume nikki, among others), what do most of them have in common? yup, all the protagonists are girls. so I think for people who didn't have being nonbinary as an option at the front of their minds, it would be far more likely to assume frisk was a girl too and not give it a second thought.

(edit: I'm an idiot the most obvious answer is just that frisk has long hair. like it would be considered long on a boy I mean. and people assume any hair length past the ears = girl, so like of course people would see frisk as a girl. and you could argue that kris has longer hair too but still gets seen as a boy, but kris has kind of that emo teen thing going on which is one of the circumstances you might expect a boy to grow their hair out in. and generally younger kids don't have as much freedom with hairstyles.)

as for kris I think it has much more to do with assumptions of gender roles in a story, which is part of why I harp on it so much. in the light world, kris appears to be a depressed loner in a fashion more commonly associated in media with teenage boys. in addition, in their sprite their upper body appears somewhat wider than their legs and hips. in the dark world, kris is dressed as a knight, a traditionally male role, and is the silent leader commanding a party, also a traditionally male role (in JRPGs). given those things I think it's much more likely this was deliberate on toby's part, since he already knew players would leap to label a genderless protagonist as "one way or the other" and there isn't really a way to design a character that is able to convince a lot of people otherwise. so like, might as well use that as part of the meta. (I THINK, anyway. obviously I don't know for sure. I could be totally overanalyzing all this)

[cj-the-random-artist]

Let us dance into the night as the fire rages on....

Gonna add a greyscale version, the sketch this was based on under the cut, but all I really have to say about this is that this is the first time in a long time. Maybe even years. That I've sketched up a simple doodle and had it grab me by the soul and rip and illustration out of me. This is also the first illustration in a long time where I enjoyed the whole process. I also tried different techniques and stuff here and I'm in love with how this turned out actually

But yeah greyscale version and sketch this was based on under the cut

I was gonna add some rambles down here about the way I think about Narinder and the Lamb's dynamic and the stuff going on in the background and other things but after spending like an hour and a half writing and rewriting this caption. Uh. Nevermind lol

Enjoy the chaos that is this drawing and, if you're reading this, may something good happen for you today

[mymblesbuir]

what if the vast majority of Lasat are somewhere around the purplish-greyish colour range, but "blond" Lasat do exist, a little bit like leucistic animals irl — they're just rare.

what if Zeb and Kallus haven't even talked about adopting a kid together yet but they meet someone short-term fostering an orphan with this condition, who jokes that the baby's colouration makes them look kind of like Zeb and Kallus could be their parents —

and suddenly they're both filled with this deep need for that to become true.

but I'm also thinking that realistically, such "blond" Lasat would probably face higher levels of bullying, as is unfortunately the case for humans with non-standard pigmentation (albinism, vitiligo, large hyperpigmented birthmarks, etc) irl. Kallus might worry that having the only human parent on Lira San would only open them to even more teasing and ostracisation. but perhaps Zeb would argue that their own experiences of being odd ones out (Zeb isn't an odd one out now, other than in having a human partner, but he sure was before Lira San) would make them the best equipped adults to help the kid through that kind of thing...

[starflungwaddledee]

kirbytober 2023 11 + 13 + 17: another dimension + ancient + knight [ prev || next ]

wings.jpg the comic

scene from an AU where something happened and you hope it was a miracle, but probably not!

[riverwritez]

movie night (with the boys).

a/n: hello! I’m river (or Lilly) and I’ve written like one thing on here and plan on writing more so! It’s nice to meet you all and I hope you enjoy this and what’s to come. Also be nice, I’m really rusty with writing.

warnings: fluff, I think that’s all.

edited: a little tiny bit

matt x fem!reader.

With the boys schedule being jam packed with various different meetings, events and video plans- you and Matt rarely found time to be together besides late at night when he came home, and early mornings when you woke up for work. Especially with Nate being in town, alone time was scarce.

But you and Matt finally found a sliver of time that you guys could have a small date at the house. Just a simple movie night with snacks, and neither of you complained, just wanting to be with the other for as long as they could.

“Ok, your pick tonight, what movie are we watching?” Matt asked as he jumped over the back of the couch and settled next to you, arm around your shoulders as you placed your head on his chest.

You tapped your chin as you thought for a moment, smiling as you looked up at the man next to you. “Tangled!”

Matt shook his head as he laughed. You always chose Tangled if the offer was on the table and he never complained, finding a sense of comfort from the movie ever since you two got together.

As Matt turned the movie on, and you both got comfortable with a bowl of popcorn next to Matt and various other snacks and drinks on the table, you both heard the front door swing open.

“No dude, you definitely cheated! I would’ve won both rounds if you didn’t do the stupid granny.” Chris complained as Nate and Nick followed behind him, scoffing and arguing back at the claim.

Matt groaned as he ran a hand down his face, annoyed at the intrusion and the fact that the group obviously didn’t listen to his pleads. “Oh my fucking- Can you guys be quiet or go somewhere else? I specifically told you guys to stay out so we could have a movie night!” Matt exclaimed as the three men stood in the living room, looking at the two of you together.

“Sorry, but we can’t bowl all night, plus Nick was bored so we just got a Uber back here.” Nate explained as he walked behind Matt and looked at the screen. “Ooh! You’re watching-“

“Tangled! Oh my god!” Chris said, rushing over to the other side of the couch, grabbing a blanket and getting comfy, already having his shoes off and eyes glued to the screen. You shook your head as you laughed at him, Nick soon invested as well as he sat down next to you and stole some of your blanket. Nate shook his head as he went to the fridge and got a Pepsi for himself and Chris.

“Ok, nice seeing you guys, now leave. This isn’t “date night plus the guys!”, this is date night with me and my beautiful girlfriend! Now fuck off!” Matt hissed out as Chris nodded along, yet not making eye contact once as for his eyes were still connected to the screen in front of him.

“But you have pizza! And plus i bet y/n doesn’t mind, right?” Nate asked after as he looked at you with wide eyes, full of hesitation and hope, slowly grabbing a piece of pizza from the box on the table.

Laughing at the situation, you shook your head as you leant into Matt’s embrace more. “The more the merrier!”

“Thank god, I’m already comfortable and I forgot how good this movie was.” Nick said as he leaned onto you for support as he grabbed chocolate that was already on the table.

Sighing, Matt buried his face into your neck, whining in annoyance as his brothers and best friend sat in the room, interrupting something he specifically told them not to.

“Love? what’s wrong?” You whispered at him, rubbing the back of his head as he nuzzled deeper into your neck and wrapped you up tighter in his embrace.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. It was supposed to be only us, but these idiots always need to be involved with whatever the others have going on.” Matt whispered to you, placing a gentle kiss on your jaw as you smiled down at him.

“It’s ok baby, I promise. As long as you’re here, I’m good. They’re fun to have around…. when their not being annoying-“

“I heard that!” Chris commented, his eyes never leaving the colorful screen as the animated movie continued.

“She isn’t wrong.” Nick added, offering you a piece of chocolate you politely declined.

Matt sighed once again, and took in the scene. His younger brother on the edge of his seat, intrigued with a movie he’s seen how many times with his best friend next to him. The oldest leaning against you as he snacked on chocolate and made little comments at how hot Flynn was, which made all of you roll your eyes at one point. And finally you, snuggled up under the blanket with him, drowning in his hoodie you had slipped on earlier while he held you tightly.

Sighing, Matt melted into the couch cushions and placed a kiss on your head, accepting what has become of the date he planned.

“I guess this isn’t too bad.”

[zorosdimples]

MORE, PLEASE, ALWAYS, FOREVER

pairing ༄ simeon x gn!reader

warnings ༄ minors: please do not interact! i will block you. suggestive content, religious/sacrilegious imagery, corruption, manipulation, dubious consent, drugging. simeon calls reader “little one” and “darling.” please let me know if i’m missing anything!

word count ༄ 771

notes ༄ this is my first time posting my writing, so please be kind! this drabble is darker than what i usually write; i’ve just been thinking about simeon and corruption for months… i have fluffier pieces in the works, i promise! <3

“but s-simeon,” you whispered, afraid to raise your voice lest desire drip from each syllable—as if the angel couldn’t see your trembling thighs or the glint of hunger in your gaze. your skin glowed, he observed, all dewy with want; he had never seen anything so beautiful, so vulnerable. your chest heaved as though you couldn’t catch your breath. “you’re an angel.”

“yes?” he hummed, trying not to sound too eager—all while his blood sang for you.

your tongue wetly floundered for a response, brain unable to comprehend anything other than the fierce fire that licked at your very core. oh, if he did not relish your sputtering, dumb state. you hung onto his every word as if he would lead you to salvation.

that’s what angels were created for, right?

“angels, humans, demons—we all have more in common than you think. we all have similar urges, similar needs,” simeon stated, lithe fingers traveling down your sides to dig into the soft flesh of your hips, forcing a breathy sigh from your lips. shame would have eaten you alive had it not been for your desperation.

“but you humans are rather self-centered, no?” he asked with an experimental squeeze that had your eyes fluttering dreamily. “you assume that your corrupted moral compass applies to the other two realms.”

you shivered as simeon leaned so close that you could smell the sweetness—caramel?—that clung to his skin. his lips brushed your ear as he whispered, “angels, as god’s chosen creatures, are encouraged to love deeply.” his fingertips grazed your belly as you swallowed thickly. his hot breath melted your resolve while his thinly-veiled words had your nerves thrumming in anticipation.

patience was a virtue that simeon usually embodied, but the thrill you inspired within him was cracking his restraint. he couldn’t help but push: push himself, push you. he needed to hear you to say it.

he gently cradled your chin between his thumb and forefinger, angling your face to meet his expectant gaze. if you had been in the right state of mind, perhaps you would have noticed how his azure irises were unusually dark, pools of midnight you could drown in.

the smile that tugged at his lips was almost wicked as he probed, “what do you need, little one? tell me.”

the endearment fell on deaf ears as you leaned into simeon’s grasp like a simpering pet. your eyes flickered down to his lips instead of answering his question, biting down on your own almost hard enough to draw blood.

“ah ah,” he chided, pinching your chin, still a hair’s breadth from your face.

you looked like a wounded animal for a moment, eyes wide and shimmering, staring down the barrel of a hunter’s gun. you tried to wriggle from his grasp in embarrassment.

the angel’s grip was unyielding, though. he was certain there would be bruises on your tender flesh come morning—the thought only heightened his arousal. his honeyed chuckle, like a potent sedative, lulled your movements.

“as much as i appreciate your enthusiasm,” simeon said with featherlight strokes to your burning cheek, “i need you to use your words, darling.”

you whimpered in response. your brain was fried, incapable of intelligent thought. all you could do was feel and act—instinct usurping rationale—more animal than human. all you could muster was a breathy and pathetic “please,” punctuated by the unshed tears that sparkled in your eyes.

“please what?” he cooed with faux sympathy. his free hand skimmed down the slope of your shoulder and the curve of your arm to ultimately settle on the fat of your thigh. the movement caused a tremor to ricochet through your body.

he looked at you like he wanted to devour you, to pick your bones clean, to consume you so wholly that not even your soul remained. and maybe it should have frightened you. but all you wanted was to lay yourself bare and let the angel feast on you until there was nothing left.

“i need you, simeon,” you finally breathed, soft as a prayer.

as soon as the words left your bruised lips, he lifted you onto his lap, wrapping your legs around his waist. you exhaled a warbled moan when he dipped down to scrape his teeth against the column of your throat. “that wasn’t so difficult, was it?” he murmured into your skin.

you were too far gone to answer—not that simeon cared. he finally had you where he wanted you, writhing and whining prettily. he made a mental note to thank solomon for the spell that had his little human begging for more, please, always, forever.

[dredgen-dumbass]

Deleted the rant but I am wishing all of you a very good if you took the r slur out of your vocabulary but still use brain damage as an insult you are not an ally to the disabled community, you changed nothing, you win nothing, you lose, good day sir.

[snowflake-sage]

Outrageous Fortune

Kofi reward!

[beneathsilverstars]

Siffrin+Loop system backstory/timeline for my modern AUs!

Age 4 - ▮ is in a major car crash with their family. Their eye is injured, and their parents and sibling die. They split; ▮ has most of the memories, and is inconsolable when they front. ▯ only vaguely remembers events from before the crash without much emotional attachment, and explains that ▮ died along with their family, and being a ghost hurts. They're adopted by their grandmother.

▮ fronts and has a meltdown whenever they hear their name, hear anything about their family, or are forced to drive in a car. Their grandmother gets their legal name changed (to something she knows was on their parents' potential-baby-names list) and moves to a city with great public transit. After going a while without encountering their triggers, ▮ fades out. ▯ mostly fronts at home and a different alter mostly fronts at school.

Age 11 - Their grandmother dies and they enter foster care. ▯ misses their grandma and has trouble adjusting, so they go dormant. The composition of the system changes to adapt to changing circumstances as they're moved between foster homes. Mal stays the most consistent through this time period; it doesn't front often, but its memory is the least spotty, so it tries to keep the rest of the system somewhat organized and consistent and careful. It's kinda annoyed by everyone else coming in and out and making a mess, but better them than it.

Age 16 - They get a shitty part time summer job, and Siffrin pops up to front for it. He's very disconnected from the rest of the system; he doesn't remember anything he wasn't fronting for, and he can't access the same headspace everyone else is in. He's good at quietly adapting to whatever situation he finds himself in, at least. Mal is the only one who can pop over to Siffrin's headspace and talk to him, and it pulls Siffrin away from the front for someone else to take over when it's time to go home. The job ends and he sleeps for a while, and then they get another job and he fronts for it again.

Age 18 - They leave the foster care system and move into an apartment with some college students. Without school or a foster home to return to, Siffrin stays at the front unless something triggers someone else out, which happens less often as Siffrin gets better at holding onto the front and avoiding triggers. They spend the next couple years moving between shitty apartments and shitty jobs.

Age 22 - Siffrin becomes almost-sorta-friends with two roommates, and they stick together for the next lease term. He lands a job with slightly better pay than normal and a decent shift lead, but a particularly cruel manager. One of the roommates starts dating someone who's kind of an asshole.

age 23 - The other roommate unexpectedly has to move out of town, leaving the remaining two with higher bills. After a couple months with no luck finding someone new to sublease or at least move in at the next lease term, the roommate's partner moves in. The roommate often gets into fights with their partner, who is turning increasingly abusive, and Siffrin can't do anything to help. Some headmates from the childhood subsystem start fronting more often again, which is stressful to Siffrin since they have no idea what happens during that time, on top of their own increased dissociation. Mal isn't being very talkative, either, and what it does say is pretty harsh.

age 24 - The decent shift lead at work quits and gets replaced by someone worse, but Siffrin can't afford to change jobs and make any less money, since the abusive partner isn't contributing to bills. After a particularly bad incident between the roommates and then a disastrous attempt to convince the nice one to leave, Siffrin splits into Loop and a new version of Siffrin.

Loop keeps the memories of ages 22-24 (and nearly nothing before that), and copes with them by thinking of all people outside of their system as empty things acting out their roles, rather than real people with feelings and the ability to change. Siffrin keeps the memories from before meeting the nice roommate (though they're a bit foggy by now), and his personality resets a bit accordingly to what he was like three years ago. Loop is fairly aware most of the time when Siffrin is fronting and can chat with him, but Siffrin still totally misses anything that happens when he's not at the front. Loop continues fronting at work, and at home when either roommate is home, and just pulls Siffrin to the front when it's safe. The childhood subsystem stops fronting entirely now that someone else is here to deal with everything.

Since Siffrin is now free from the work/home stress, they're able to find and work a second job, and then another which allows Loop to quit the first. Siffrin mostly fronts for these new jobs, but Loop steps in when Siffrin gets too anxious. When the lease at the current place is up, the two jobs together are enough for them to get a shitty studio apartment with no roommates to worry about.

Age 28 - Siffrin and Loop have found a decent balance. Loop's not fond of Mal, but Siffrin chats with it sometimes. Both Siffrin and Loop still refuse to go anywhere in a car; Loop knows it's some sort of major trigger but doesn't know why, while Siffrin just happens to always choose a different option no matter how inconvenient. They've switched jobs a couple times, and none of them are great, but it could be worse. They've stayed at the same studio apartment this whole time, which also isn't great, but it could be worse.

Mal can still choose to hang out in either the Sif+Loop headspace or the childhood subsystem's headspace. At some point, when they're feeling safer, headmates from the childhood subsystem (especially ▯) will start fronting a tiny bit now and then when triggered by reminders of important memories. Loop is just as cut off from them as Siffrin is, and the moments are so tiny that it's hard to differentiate them from just zoning out, but eventually they'll figure out that there must be at least one more headmate they don't know about.

Find more info on the "current" state of the system in my original headcanon post!

[water-you-doing-bro]

Just for you, @wisegirl1448 a wip <3

The whole thing is about 3.8k and currently completely unedited. It's not my best writing, but my only thought going into it was jason, piper, leo, frank, and hazel get confirmation that the insane stories they've heard abt percy/learn about some of the insane shit that percy's done and they all proceed to have meltdowns about it while percy is confused and annabeth is crying from laughter on the floor so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ uhhhh enjoy?

~

The seven sat scattered across the galley of the Argo II during a rare moment of quiet on their journey to the Ancient Lands. Coach Hedge was keeping watch up on deck alongside Festus and Buford, which left the demigods to relax. 

They had started out in different parts of the ship, but eventually, they had all wandered into the galley. That’s not to say that they started hanging out as a group, it was more like there were several smaller groups hanging out in the same space. 

Leo was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall as he tinkered with random bits and bobs he pulled from his toolbelt. Frank and Hazel were sitting next to each other at the long table in the middle of the room, talking quietly. Annabeth was sitting tucked into the back corner of the room, her laptop balanced on one knee and Percy’s head resting on her other thigh where he lay stretched beside her as she ran her fingers through his hair. Piper honestly couldn’t tell if he was awake or asleep. 

Meanwhile, she and Jason were sitting at the other end of the table, their backs to the door, as Jason ate a late lunch and Piper crossed her arms on the table to put her head down, content to quietly watch her friends relax. 

Then, Annabeth made a soft noise of frustration and drew Piper’s attention. Percy blinked open his eyes with a questioning hum. Annabeth muttered something too softly for Piper to hear and Percy craned his neck back to study whatever was on her laptop screen. He squinted at it for a moment, his brow furrowing, before wiggling around so that he was laying on his stomach rather than his back. He propped himself up with one arm, his chin now resting on Annabeth’s thigh as she turned the computer so he could see it better, and pointed at something on the screen. 

He mumbled something about it through a jaw-cracking yawn that made Annabeth’s eyes go wide in realization. She smacked a hand to her forehead with a groan. 

“Gods, I can’t believe I didn’t see that!” she said. Percy just mumbled something incoherently and flopped over onto his back, looking like he was already half-asleep again. Annabeth giggled (honest to gods giggled! Piper wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to seeing Annabeth ‘I Won’t Hesitate to Cut a Bitch’ Chase fucking giggle) and leaned down to kiss Percy’s forehead. “Thanks, Seaweed Brain. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She gazed down at him fondly, her expression impossibly tender, and despite herself, Piper couldn’t hold back her wistful sigh. 

Unfortunately, said sigh managed to draw everyone’s attention (except Percy’s, who had turned his head to bury his face in Annabeth’s sweater) and Piper felt her cheeks flame as they all looked at her. Leo and Jason looked confused, and Frank looked vaguely startled while Hazel bit her lip trying not to laugh. Annabeth just raised an eyebrow at her, making Piper blush harder. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting up to begin gesturing vaguely. “It’s just—I mean—you—oh gods,” Piper cut herself off and buried her head in her hands with a groan. 

“Careful there, Beauty Queen. You having a stroke or something? Do you smell toast?” Leo said and poked her cheek, having apparently gotten up and wandered over to her. 

She lifted her head to glare at him and flipped him off. Leo just snickered and dropped into the chair on her other side. 

Jason laid a comforting hand on her back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts. When she opened them again, she found that Frank and Hazel had moved closer to her and Jason’s end of the table while Annabeth was in the process of dragging a disgruntled, bleary-eyed Percy to sit at the table as well. 

Piper sighed and reached up to fiddle with her hair, starting a small braid as she began to talk. “Look, it’s kind of silly, but, well, it’s just a little baffling to me,” she said, abandoning her braid to gesture to Annabeth. “Seeing you with Percy. It just kind of makes me realize how little I actually know about you two, about all of you. I mean, I think Leo and I were friends before peacock bitch messed with our heads, but I can’t be sure because she fucked with our memories. I feel like regardless of that, though, I at least got a few months getting to know Jason for real and, I don’t know, resettling? Reconfirming? My friendship with Leo, trying to figure out how much of what I know about him from my tampered memories is real.” She ran her hand through her hair and let out a frustrated huff. “But with you guys,” she gestured at Frank and Hazel, “I mean, I don’t really know anything about you guys. And you two!” she pointed at Percy and Annabeth, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t even get me started!” she groaned. 

Percy blinked owlishly at her, clearly at a loss as to what was going on. Annabeth, annoyingly, looked like she was barely resisting the urge to laugh. Piper glared at them. 

“Annabeth, you were so serious and angry all the time! You were almost never at Camp and if you were, you didn’t really talk to anybody. I mean, gods, you kept your emotions so locked down! But then we get to Camp Jupiter and you pretty much just straight up attack their newly minted Praetor right in front of them, something I’d have never thought you’d do. And now that you’ve got Percy back, you-you're so open all of a sudden! You giggle! From what I saw of you while Percy was missing, I never would have thought that you’d be the kind of person to giggle and make some of the sappiest, most love-sick expressions I have ever seen.” Piper waved her hands around, aghast. 

Annabeth gave up holding it in and burst into a fit of laughter. Hazel was trying to hide her quiet giggling behind her hand while the boys just gave Piper matching wide-eyed stares. She ignored them and pointed an accusatory finger at Percy. 

“And speaking of you, Percy Jackson, I cannot for the life of me figure you out! I mean, you were all anyone at Camp would talk about, and they told us all these insane stories about shit you supposedly did. If I’m being honest, I kinda expected you to be at least a little egotistical, maybe even a bit of a self-important asshole, y’know?” she said, only to get cut off by Frank, Hazel, and Annabeth bursting into roaring laughter. “Hey!” Piper sputtered indignantly. “I feel like that was a fair assumption to make! Especially about a guy who ‘supposedly’ fought the god of war at twelve and won.” Piper crossed her arms and huffed. 

Hazel and Frank’s laughter choked off and they turned to stare at Percy with horrified expressions. Annabeth howled and fell off her chair, clutching her stomach. Percy himself was too busy giving Annabeth an affronted look to notice. 

“I mean, are we really supposed to believe that he managed to kill the minotaur with his bare hands before he even made it to Camp? Or that he almost single-handedly took out a Titan? Like, come on! There’s no way any of that happened.” Piper glared at where Annabeth was still rolling on the floor. “And then we meet Percy and he acts like he’s just some guy! He doesn’t act like he’s anything special or like he’s done anything crazy. But then he and Jason get possessed by those spirit things and I mean, that was terrifying! They almost killed each other, and Jason would have died if I hadn’t managed to get that pegasus to knock Percy out. So he’s obviously pretty powerful but, again, he doesn’t act like it!” 

Annabeth had managed to pick herself up off the floor with Percy’s help, even though she was still laughing, and was now wiping tears from her eyes after laughing so hard. 

“Piper,” she said through waning laughter. “Those aren’t bs stories. He actually did those things. I was there. Plus, those aren’t even some of the craziest stunts this dipshit’s pulled.” She jabbed a thumb at her boyfriend who just rolled his eyes at her. 

Piper’s mouth dropped open in shock as she heard Leo drop whatever he was tinkering with and Jason choked on something. Hazel gasped and Frank started sputtering. 

“So that’s what that was about!” Hazel cried, pointing at Percy with wide eyes. “You didn’t even remember it, but you just knew that you didn’t like him!” 

Annabeth’s eyes narrowed and she whipped around to glare at Percy. 

“Percy,” Annabeth said, voice dangerously low. “What is she talking about? What did you do?” 

Percy blanched and started to sputter out some excuse, holding his hands up placatingly, but Frank cut in before he could manage to form any full sentences. 

“He hadn’t even been at Camp a full day and we’d just won war games because of him, and then Mars showed up in the middle of the field,” Frank said. “The rest of us immediately dropped to our knees but this guy stayed standing. He just stared Mars down and said ‘I know you. You’re Ares. We’ve met before. We fought on a beach.’ I swear, I thought Mars was going to incinerate him on the spot. I was also pretty sure that Percy might have actually tried to start a fight with him if I didn’t jump in. That’s when Mars claimed me and told us to go to Alaska. Well, he told me to go and then said that I would be bringing the ‘disrespectful punk’ along, too.” 

Annabeth smacked Percy upside the head and he just pouted at her. 

“Come on, Wise Girl,” he whined. “I was tired and stressed out and I’d just carried Juno disguised as an old hippy bag lady across the Little Tiber, which washed away the Curse of Achilles and then used said river to destroy with extreme prejudice Medusa’s sisters. I hadn’t slept or eaten properly in like, a month at least, Octavian had been a little bitch and butchered my Pillow Pet like, an hour ago, and I was just confused as fuck about literally everything going on.” 

Annabeth sighed and shook her head before turning to Frank and Hazel. “Did he get any better on the quest to Alaska?” 

Hazel let out a small laugh and shook her head. “We met Phineas, the blind seer. Dirt face had brought him back, I guess. He had information we needed. We had two vials of gorgon’s blood, and Percy made a wager. Phineas would write down the information we needed, and then he would pick a vial. He would drink one, and Percy would drink the other. One of them would die, and the other would get ‘healed.’” 

Annabeth turned furious eyes back to her boyfriend, but this time Percy crossed his arms and glared right back. 

“Phineas thought that Gaea valued him enough to guide him to the vial with the cure.” Percy shrugged. “I figured she valued me more. And I was right.” 

Annabeth shook her head and sighed again. “You, Percy Jackson, are going to give me gray hair.” 

Percy grinned. “I’ll have you know, Annabeth Chase, that you already gave me gray hair. Or did you forget?” He ran his fingers through the grey streak of hair that stood out starkly from the rest of his inky black locks. 

Annabeth groaned and let her head fall backward as she slid dramatically down in her chair. 

“I have wondered how you guys got those,” Leo pipped up, “But Jason told me it’d probably be rude to ask. Do we get the story now?” 

Piper glanced to the side and saw that he was practically bouncing in his seat. Piper had to admit she had also been curious about the twin streaks of grey hair the two older demigods sported but hadn’t wanted to ask. 

Percy’s grin widened and his eyes glinted mischievously. Annabeth just groaned again and sunk further down in her chair, covering her face with her hands. 

“Okay, so we’re like, thirteen—” 

Percy immediately launched into a crazy story that had the rest of their jaws on the floor. The more Percy talked, the more Piper felt like her head might explode. First, he just kinda glossed over the fact that he got stabbed and poisoned. Then, apparently, Annabeth tackled a monster off a cliff, the Hunters of Artemis and Artemis herself showed up, and Percy had to deal with an energetic ten-year-old asking him questions like ‘if Annabeth is so smart, why’d she fall off a cliff?’ and try not to kill him. This was then followed by Percy sneaking out of Camp to follow along on the quest Artemis’ lieutenant had received to rescue Artemis (except Percy just wanted to rescue Annabeth, which had a part of Piper that she refused to acknowledge cooing). 

When Percy mentioned killing the Nemean Lion with freeze-dried food packets stolen from a museum gift shop like it was no big deal, Piper thought her eyes might pop out of her skull. 

When he told them about how he’d wrestled Nereus, Jason choked, and they had to stop to make sure he was okay before continuing. 

By the time they made it to the part where Percy, Zoë, Thalia, and Grover had made it to Mt. Tam and discovered Artemis trapped beneath the sky, Piper had almost forgotten about the grey streak thing. 

“I knew Artemis would have a better chance against Atlas than I would, so I told her to give me the sky.” 

“You what?” Frank gasped, sounded as shocked as Piper felt. 

Percy shrugged. “I’d seen in a dream that Annabeth had taken the sky from Luke before Artemis came to take the sky from her, so I knew a demigod could do it, and I knew that I'd do it anyway out of sheer stubbornness and determination if nothing else. Artemis had a better chance of protecting my friends and getting us out of the situation alive than I did and she needed to be freed. So, I took it.” 

Piper felt a little like she’d just been punched in the gut. From beside her, Leo made a weird squeaking noise reminiscent of a dog toy. Jason looked like he’d had the air knocked out of him, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Further down the table, Hazel had one hand over her mouth and the other clutching Frank’s sleeve, staring at Percy, aghast. Frank, for his part, had dropped his head back and was staring blankly at the ceiling. 

“That’s it,” he said, sounding resigned. “I’ve finally cracked. All the pressure and weirdness finally got to me, and I cracked. Hazel, I love you, you’re like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’ll come visit me in the psych ward, right?” 

Hazel made a strangled kind of noise in the back of her throat and her eyes widened from shock into horror. “Frank! I would never let them lock you in an asylum! I would much rather take care of you myself, even if you really had ‘cracked’, before letting one of those . . . places get you!” 

Alright. Piper was confused. And, to be fair, Frank looked utterly bewildered as well. For a moment no one said anything, but then Percy snapped his fingers and pointed at Hazel with a wince. 

“Oof; forties asylums. Yeah, I wouldn’t want myself or a loved one to end up in one of those either. But asylums don’t really exist anymore, attitudes around mental health have changed pretty drastically and mental health problems are handled much better now,” Percy said gently. “There aren’t lobotomies anymore, and ‘electric shock therapy’ is pretty frowned upon.” 

From beside him, Annabeth made a small sound of realization before nodding and chiming in. 

“There are still people who are gonna be assholes about it, but for the most part, people are pretty understanding. Mental institutions, like psych wards, are meant to be places of healing where people who are struggling can get help and care.” 

“New Rome actually has numerous therapists available to legionnaires, current and retired, all of them retired legionnaires themselves. And I’m sure that after all this is over, they’d be more than open to helping any demigod, no matter which camp they’re from,” Jason added, smiling gently. 

Piper resisted the urge to sigh. Gods, she loved him. He was so sweet. 

They all gave Hazel a moment to absorb and process the information before Percy continued with his story. 

“So, I took the sky from Artemis. Most of the fight is pretty hazy after that, I don’t remember much of what happened while I was under there.” Percy shrugged the sentence away like it wasn’t a big deal, but Piper was struggling to remember how to breathe. “Eventually, someone punted Atlas back under the sky and I was able to let go. Man, my shoulders ached something fierce and I was pretty down for the count. But there was still fighting going on and stuff to be done, so I got up and joined the fight. We killed the monsters, Thalia kicked Luke off a cliff, Annabeth was safe, Artemis was free, Atlas was back where he belonged, and we had won. But we lost Zoë. She’d been poisoned earlier and then further injured when she fought Atlas, her father. Artemis turned her into a constellation, The Huntress, and Thalia became her new lieutenant.” 

Again, he said that like it was no big deal, but Piper couldn’t begin to imagine how painful, or even how tiring, it must have been to hold up the sky for even a few minutes. To then jump immediately into battle without a chance to recuperate or anything? Oh, yeah, and you can’t forget that Percy was only thirteen when this happened! Gods, Piper thought, Percy really is just . . . like that, huh? 

She’d heard whispers, between the stories of Percy’s impossible feats. Heard mutterings and murmurings, seen knowing glances and eyes filled with awe, felt undercurrents of fear just barely lacing someone’s voice. It had just been bits and pieces at first, and Piper had still been under the impression that everyone was just pulling her leg and making crazy shit up about the infamous Percy Jackson. 

But now . . . well. Now that she’s seen him fight, and now that she knows all the stories she’d been told were true and likely not exaggerated, those whispers and looks of awe, that hint of fear? They all made sense.  

Maybe Percy Jackson was just a bit more god than mortal. 

“Okay,” Leo piped up and startled Piper out of her spiraling thoughts. Annabeth was watching her with a knowing glint in her eyes and a small, knowing smirk twisting the corner of her mouth. “Okay, so that story was wild, I think we can all agree,” Leo said, then held his finger up when Percy went to protest. “Not you, you don’t get an opinion, you are weirdly nonchalant about doing insane shit, let the rest of us freak out about it.” 

Percy shrugged and closed his mouth. 

“But!” Leo continued. “You still haven’t told us where the grey streaks came from, dude.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Percy snorted. “Souvenirs from holding the sky. Mortal bodies aren’t built for that kind of burden. A normal mortal wouldn’t have stood a chance, but demigods can survive it because we’re half god.” he shrugged. “It puts immense strain on your body and mind, and I doubt most demigods would be able to manage anything longer than a few minutes.” 

Annabeth snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and the grey hair is the least of our ‘souvenirs’,” she said blithely. “We both ended up with fucked up wrists and backs from that little adventure. Percy usually wears wrist braces on bad days, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Hera deemed those unnecessary or something when she snatched him, because he was wearing them the last time I saw him before he went missing and now they’re gone.” she said, and narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. 

“Hey, you haven’t been wearing yours, either, Wise Girl. What’s your excuse?” Percy huffed, pouting at her. 

“I was too worried about you,” she said quietly, ducking her head in a way that had it been anyone else would have made Piper think she was hiding a blush. “I couldn’t think about anything else while you were gone, and the pain in my wrists paled so much in comparison to the pain of not having you at my side, of not knowing if you were safe. Finding you was the only thing that mattered to me.” 

Percy reached out to gently cup Annabeth’s jaw with one hand, the other grabbing her hand and guiding it to rest over his heart. “Well, you have me now. And you’re never getting away from me again. As long as we’re together, yeah?” he said softly, lifting her chin so she would have to meet his eyes. 

Annabeth let out a light, watery laugh, leaning into the warmth of Percy’s palm. “As long as we’re together,” she repeated, voice just as soft, and matched Percy’s answering grin. They leaned their foreheads together for a quiet moment, then shared a tender kiss, and Piper thought her head might explode. 

Okay. Literally what the fuck. How were they so perfect together? Like, that had to have been one of the sweetest things Piper had ever heard. It was sickening. Leo, apparently, agreed with her. 

“Okay, there’s no way you guys are real,” he said, sounding slightly hysterical. “The pain in my wrists paled in comparison to the pain of not having you at my side’? ‘Finding you was the only thing that mattered’? ‘As long as we’re together’?” he threw his hands up in the air before thunking his head down on the table. “You’re making the rest of us look bad!” 

Percy laughed and Annabeth rolled her eyes at Leo’s dramatics, her head now tucked into the crook of Percy’s neck where she leaned back against his chest. 

Well, one thing was for sure. Piper was never going to doubt a story about Percy Jackson again, if only to save herself the heart attack that came from listening to him tell the story later. 

Oh. And she really needed to up her game.

[friendsinsolitude]

anyway i think if rui was the only witness to mizuki committing manslaughter, after a moment of internally freaking out i think he’d steel himself to see this to it’s end, and help her hide the body and get both of their alibis straight and etcetera.

i think accomplices-to-a-murder mizurui scenarios work best in middle school, cause their lives are already fucked and they can’t imagine it getting better, but still want to avoid it getting worse, and seeing as they have absolutely nobody else to vouch for the quality of their character yet are known outcasts with seemingly plenty of motive, they’re absolutely fucked if it goes to trial. even if they’re acquitted, for any of the myriad reasons they should be, like being minors who acted in self-defence with no intention to kill (which i think is the only way this happens in a canon-adjacent setting), their lives are over! it’ll follow them forever! not only are they weird! they’re murderers 😂 ! right. so getting caught isn’t an option. hence, they cover it up as best they can and live with this secret tying them together for eternity. maybe they run away together. yikes 😍!

[nomorethoughts]

mcyt-inspired bracelet of the day #4: infinitedrift!

[tanyakennedy1899]