#not my fault nothing i can do i apologize i did say the group name in the intro bit tho

[avis-writeshq]

pairing: early seasons!spencer reid x sunshine!fem!reader genre: fluff, roommate au, childhood friends warnings: general criminal minds violence, not beta-read oops a/n: I renounce the MoReid shippers; they’re SIBLINGS !!!! also, apologies for lack of posts !! have been very busy with uni :( wc: 1.06k part 1 | part 2

Spencer was shot. It all happened so quickly– the sound of the gun firing, the grunt that he let out and the apprehension of the UnSub. Too quickly, but such is the fickleness of life. This was one of the rare occasions where the ballistic vest did not do its job, the bullet jamming into his side. Hotch was on the UnSub in seconds, the cuffs on his wrists before anyone could blink. 

“Shit, Reid,” Derek gasps out, watching the way blood seeps through his once pristine white shirt, and he presses his hand against the wound. “Shit, Hotch! Hotch! We need a medic!”

*** 

“It’s going to be okay,” Aaron assures as best he can. His face is grim and Derek is shaking his head in frustration, hands trembling and cold from washing his hands over and over again. “It’s not your fault.”

“We missed him,” Gideon mutters, “he was right there and we missed him.”

“And Spencer got hurt because of it.” Elle’s gaze is set on the hospital’s sign in counter. 

Aaron understands their guilt. They caught the UnSub in the end, so nothing was ever in vain, but it doesn’t change the fact that they didn’t anticipate that he was at the end of the hallway waiting for the perfect moment to strike– and Spencer paid the price of their mistakes. The bullet hit him in the side where the vest didn’t cover, the damage reaching his liver and kidneys. Aaron doesn’t think he’s ever seen that much blood before. 

“Excuse me–” a voice loud enough to cut through their brooding chimes from the reception desk. “Hi. Hello, I’m here for, um, Doctor Spencer Reid?”

The clerk glances at her for a brief moment before turning back to his computers. “We don’t have a Doctor by that name on staff.”

“Um, no–” a nervous laugh splits the air. “No, he’s– he’s not a doctor here. He’s a patient? I got a call.”

He looks at her up and down before raising an eyebrow, mumbling something. “Is that you?”

“Yes. Yes, that’s me, is he okay? I came as soon as I could.”

“He’s in surgery. He’ll be out in a few. Take a seat over there–” He gestures over to where Aaron and the others are sitting– “and the doctor will call you over.”

“Right. Right, okay, thank you.” 

Elle doesn’t try hiding her confusion, looking up at you from her seat with raised brows. “You’re here for Reid?”

You jolt in surprise, the heavy grip you have on your bag loosening in an attempt to calm down. “Hi? Um, yeah. He’s– well, we’re on each other’s emergency contact list.”

“It’s good to see you again,” Aaron says with a tight grimace. “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Derek’s jaw unhinges. “You knew?”

“Emergency contact list.” Aaron offers you a glance. “Are you okay?”

“I just–” your voice wobbles, a choked whimper leaving your lips. “I just want him to be okay.”

The team shares your sentiments. It’s not often when there’s an injury as serious as this on the field, but the risk is there. The room is tense with worry, the sound of doctors and nurses rushing around through the halls does nothing to ease their anxieties. You’re already fearing the worst. 

What feels like hours is only minutes as a nurse arrives in front of your little group. 

“Doctor Spencer Reid?” She confirms, looking sympathetic as ever. “The surgery was a success. The bullet grazed against his liver so he does need to stay for a couple of days for monitoring, but he should make a full recovery.”

“Is he allowed guests?” You blurt out hurriedly, the receipt in your hands crumbled in torn from incessant worrying. 

“He’s should be waking up now, but you’re welcome to see him. I’ll take you there.” The nurse offers a gentle smile. “Girlfriend?”

Heat roars against your cheeks and you shake your head adamantly. “No, no, he’s– we’re not– he’s my roommate.”

The nurse hums, a knowing smile on her face. “I see.”

After a few quick goodbyes towards Aaron and the rest of the team, you hurry after the nurse whilst clutching your bag of goods. She opens the door wide, letting you inside before closing it behind you while you pull up a chair. 

“I am– I am so mad at you, Spencer Walter Reid,” you whisper, gaze fixed on his resting face and the hair that mats his forehead. You brush a few strands away from his eyes, your lips trembling briefly. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“So you’re not that mad?” Spencer croaks out, his voice dry and his head pounding as he manages to lift his eyes towards you.

“Spencer.” Your arms are around his neck in an instant, careful as not to disrupt the wires and tubes that surround him. “I’m going to kill you.”

 “That’s counter intuitive.” He laughs quietly, wincing a little at the suddenness before allowing his free arm to wrap loosely around your waist. He finds it uneasy, the way your lips fall into a wobbly frown and how your eyes look red and puffy from crying. He’s only ever seen you look like this once before but that’s nothing compared to this. This time you look like that because of him– a silly little accident has lead to your pretty smile vanishing off your pretty face.

“You suck. I’m telling your mother.” He knows you won’t and he’s grateful that you’ve found it in yourself to make a joke. When you pull away, he immediately misses your warmth, watching as you rummage through your bag before handing him a sealed cup of red jell-o. “It was the last one they had.”

“You’re an angel, really, but I don’t think I’m allowed to eat for a couple hours,” he murmurs, his fingers grasping gingerly at the cup.

With a wordless nod in acknowledgement, you press a thick leather bound book into his hands, your eyes meeting his gaze. “Your favourite.”

He breathes out his thanks, glancing up at you through the dim lights of the hospital room. “Are you going to stay?”

“As long as you want, Walter.” 

*** 

From the other side of the door, Derek glances through the window at you and Spencer before looking back at Hotch. “They’re roommates?”

“Apparently.”

“No, but– they’re just roommates?”

“Unfortunately.”

reblogs are always appreciated !!

part 1 | part 2 | you are on part 3!

[vinylfoxbooks]

September 29 - Miss | @into-the-jeggyverse | wc: 530

“Is there anything that I can do to help out right now, Mr. Black?” A gentle voice that has rapidly become familiar says, just behind Regulus.

The teacher quickly gives his instructions to the student that he’s watching over before turning to the woman, “Not that I can think of, Miss Potter, but thank you.” 

“Oh, I meant to tell you,” she smiles, “It’s Evans now, the divorce has been finalised and I wanted to go back to my maiden name.”

“Of course, we can work that out with the school’s system at some point this week, I’m glad things have all been sorted out. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you and Mr. Potter divorce?” 

The woman smiles softly, “Oh Harry’s obsessed with his father, you’ve probably heard the world of him.” She shakes her head, “It’s nothing bad, we just… our love wasn’t romantic like it used to be.”

“I’m glad that everything was amicable then, things like divorce can be hard on children, and while I doubt that you’ll be giving him any issues, I’ll make it clear that I can be a listening ear for Harry.”

“That would be greatly appreciated, thank you, Mr. Black.” Then she furrows her brows, quickly leaning down to help a child with the craft that they’re working on, “You haven’t met my hu- ex-husband have you?”

Regulus shakes his head, “I don’t believe I have. I understand that he was helping out with today, but I don’t think he and I have crossed paths.” 

The woman takes a moment to gesture to where a group of kids are sitting around playing with some of the water toys at a table. With them is a man seemingly explaining how putting a block in the way of a channel of water stops the water from flowing, “That’s him.” And Regulus feels nearly frozen watching the man. He has a kind smile on his face and he’s talking to the kid with such kind patience. They’re near enough that Regulus is able to hear the man’s echoing laugh when the kid says or does something. He’s broad, clearly fit, and looks dorky in the outfit that he’s wearing alongside round glasses that sit low on his nose. 

Lily seems to pick up on his thought process, as she lets out her own gentle laugh, “He gets that a lot.”

“How did you manage to not get jealous all the time?” Regulus blurts before shaking his head, “My apologies that were… unprofessional.” 

“Your brother is dating my best friend,” Lily smiles, “I don’t think you need to worry about being all that professional with me. And to answer your question, I just had to get used to it. That man is loyal, almost to a fault, and incredibly oblivious to people flirting with him so I never had any reason to be… nervous about people flirting with him. And I mean, he was my husband, I understood.”

“You’re better than me.” Regulus hums, but leaves it at that, tearing his eyes away from the man smiling and playing with the children to help out the kids that he himself is watching over.

[sadistic-kiss]

🐺House of Alphas🐺

(Jujutsu Kaisen Omegaverse )

Summary: Waking up in a world that was not your own was problematic enough. Being the villainess was another. However, the possessive alphas might take the cake.

Disclaimer: Angsty but I ain’t Gege

Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sukuna x Alpha!Gojo x Alpha!Toji x Alpha!Nanami x Alpha!Getou

Chapter 80: Rabbit Hole

~

...

Uraume looked confused as you walked toward them and fell to your knees. 

“Sorry, I don’t have any curse energy but this should help your wounds.” Unscrewing the cap on the jar you offer the salve to them.

“What…” Uraume looked confused, looking at the offering as if it were poison, “….I don’t understand…is this part of the punishment?”

“No no! Like I said, There’s no punishment. I know it wasn’t your fault for the incident, someone had tripped me.”

Toji was shocked, “What?! Who the fuck tripped you?” 

Sukuna was just as surprised, “Yeah, I thought you guys might have bumped into each other… but someone tripped you? Now I want their head.”

“Who was it did you see them?” Getou inquired. 

You shrugged, “I think it was that blonde alpha… I forgot her name but it looked like combat boots… like the ones she was wearing.”

“No- that would not have been possible…” Gojo shook his head, “That alpha was across from us.”

“Yeah, I had my eye on her.” Sukuna added. “It was someone near you.”

Your face morphed into a frown, “Oh…I was for sure it was them… damn…who the hell tripped me?”

“Well that’s a piss-off, the culprit is out there thinking they got away.” Gojo was displeased by this injustice, and so were you.

Like who the fuck tripped you?! And for what?!

“Um…” Uraume made a noise looking at your alphas.

“Stop looking at us, your handler is right there.” Sukuna pointed to you making you roll your eyes.

“Don’t say it like that.” You chided the alpha.

“They aren’t my problem, you wanted them.”

“M-my apologies prime omega…” Uraume slightly blushed at the comment, thinking that it was you they were servicing.

Way to go Sukuna!

“That isn’t how - ugh, Uraume it’s nothing like that. I don’t want you to service me or any of my alphas. I wanted to help you. As long as you are in here with us you can speak as freely as you want.” You try to offer them the salve again, this time they take the jar with cautious fingers.

“Oh…” They began, “…I wanted to ask what it is you’d like me to do?” You watched as the omega stared into the healing contents without putting any of it on them.

You took the time to speak softly, trying to show that you were no threat to the omega. “I would like to get you out of here…” You paused for a second, not knowing if Uraume could have been brainwashed within this hell hole. So you withheld your desire to save them all and made it seem you were approaching this with more selfish reasoning. “…I would like you to be our second chef, your cooking is splendid. I never seen my alpha eat vegetables with such haste.”

Sukuna snorted, he and the rest of your crew, were still busy spreading their scent around the room.

Uraume looked even more confused, “If I may…-“

“Say whatever you want Uraume, like I said you won’t get in trouble in here.”

The omega nodded their head gently, eyes looking nervously to your alphas and then they rested right below your eyes, “Uh…your dynamic…is strange…you speak as if you are the alpha of your group…no offense.”

You let out a laugh, “Aha none taken~ Well we have a sort of different dynamic. I am in no way the alpha of the group but I most definitely have a say in things and get treated with respect. My opinions and feelings matter.”

“She’s our sexy commander.” Gojo grinned.

“Tch- I let her be a little brat here and there.” Sukuna had to insert in as if to not have his alpha pride wounded. 

He got secret yeah right looks.

Seemed like everyone knew he was wrapped around your finger except him huh?

“Whatever my princess says goes,” Toji smiled and then shifted as he gave you a stern look, “Unless it puts her in danger.” 

You flashed the alpha a smile.

“Weeee aren’t as outdated as these slugs down here.” Getou yawned as he lept into the bed right as Toji finished.

“Aye-Did you scent the bathroom?” Toji spoke while putting his fists on his hips.

“I did a lot already~.” 

“Go scent the bathroom!”

“Ugh-”

You shook your head as you looked back at Uraume, your alphas bickering in the back about who did what, and some words of tyranny were thrown in there.

“You see…” You continued the conversation, “…I do not agree with the way omegas are treated within this establishment. If I could I would have my alphas purchase you all.” You hated speaking in this way but you wanted to tread carefully until you knew where Uraume’s mindset was. As much as you wanted to save them and the others you didn’t want to say anything that would put a target on your pack’s back. Right now it just sounded as if your alphas are here for business deals and you were just a complaining prime omega. “Please, heal up your wounds. If anyone asks just tell them my alphas punished you so bad we had to heal you.” 

The first bait- if Uraume agreed then it would be your sign of rebellion. You just needed to know if that feisty fire was still within them.

Uraume, ducked their head, falling into silence.

You waited patiently for their choice, you had already said what you could say, and pushing them might cause distrust. 

You must be careful...

Come on… where's that bitchy bitch you knew from the game?

...

~

~Read More~

[cxsha-sicily]

He broke my heart, so why would i run back? part 2

synopsis: you're biker ex-boyfriend helps you get back home after a party. Do you run back or leave him in the past

parings: Geto suguru x reader

w. fem! reader, biker! Geto suguru, fluff, angst, modern au

previously:

he let me go because he didn't want to see me hurt.

" can i ask you a question?"

out of the corner of my eye i saw him hold his breath. I figured this is a sensitive topic for him.

"go ahead"

he hesitated at first. He didnt really know how i would react to the question he was about to ask. He swallowed hard before he spoke softly.

"did you move on? Found someone else?

i had moved on. It wasnt because of someone else, it was because i knew that i needed to move on with my life and not weep for my past lover.

"i moved on. i've went on a couple a date but nothing blossomed from them. They weren't the reason i moved on either."

His hands started to feel cold when i conformed. The fact that i've tried moving on made his heart sink. It made him feel a pang of jealousy that he had no right to feel, especially when he left you.

deep down he hoped that i would just wait around and not give anyone a chance. after one year, he still wanted me to be his. He hated the idea of me moving on and finding someone else, only because he couldn't bear the thought of me being with another man.

"That girl that you broke up with me for, was she good for you? Did she make you happy? Are you'll still dating or did you breaker her heart like you did mine? "

when we first break up, i couldnt stand seeing them together. I would see them everywhere simply because me and Geto have the same friend group. Seeing him playing with her red hair while he was talking to Gojo, or seeings her grab onto his upper-arm and cling to him. Eventually, i stopped caring.

he was stunned that i brought her up. His hand slowly lets go of mine. He took a deep breath before he decided to answer me honestly.

"No, she was just someone who i thought i could love. I could never love someone as much as i love you. and we broke up a few months after our break up.

His eyes were distant. He wasn't looking into my eyes as he spoke. It was hard for him to talk about it. He thought he'd feel some sort of guilt but all he felt was pain.

" i hated seeing you with her. everything that you two did together reminded me of us. The way you defended her name like it was your own when someone talked about her, the way you would carry her if it was raining so that she didn't get her shoes wet"

i took a pregnant pause, i felt the tears well up in my eyes but they went away just as fast.

"eventually i stopped caring and moved on with my life."

he saw the way i looked at him as his hand interwinded into mine again. He wanted to pull away, knowing how much he hurt me. but you continued to hold is anyways. We both sat quietly for a while.

my words made his heart ache. He knew that i saw how he was when he was with her, and he never forgot all that either. He never forgot how he would do anything for her, how he protected her, held her, and took card of her.

" are you seeing anyone now?"

i pulled my hand away from his. I was seeing someone. i Met him on a cafe run and we've been talking ever since. He was nice, protective, funny.

"yes, i met him at a cafe."

He felt his body went cold. The thought of you with another man never failed to make his heart ache. He wanted to scream and say that it should've been him. It was his fault that i found someone else, and he had no way to fix it.

"you met him at the cafe?"

he asked, he coudn't hide the jealousy. His hand gripped his own thigh tightly as he waited for me to reply

'i was getting coffee on my way to work when he bumped into me. My coffee tipped over and spilled all over my clothes. He bought me a new coffee and he wanted to take me out for an apology."

He swallowed the lump in his throat when i spoke. He hated how someone else would get to buy things and spoil me when it should've been him. he didn't want anyone else to touch me, or to be close to me. He hated it.

"what does he look like?"

"he has black hair with yellow on the ends of his hair. He has yellow eyed and hes roughly 6'2. He had both of his arms covered in sleeve tattoos"

he was jealous. He was upset. A tall, tattooed handsome man had his arms around you while he could only watch from afar. He wondered about his own looks. He had nothing that the other guy didnt.

" does he make you laugh"

he asked as he tried to hide the bitterness in his voice.

" he doesn't make me cry."

his breath hitched upon hearing that. He knows that i've cried more than i should have while he was with me. He still remembered how much you cried when he broke up with you over a petty reason like another girl. He felts his guilt slowly coming up to his head.

" im sorry"

he muttered quietly. he can't even blame me for not wanting him to hold me anymore. He wasn't any better than that tattooed man.

i nodded my head. i didn't know what else to say or do.

he didnt want to ask anymore questions, in fear of upsetting himself any further. His eyes trained onto the night sky as he silently fidgeted with his hands, while my hand stayed in his. he wanted to have me all to himself, even though he knew he will never have me the same way he did before.

i sighed and slipped my hand away from his and stood up from my spot next to his bike.

"i have somewhere to be tomorrow. i'll see you later Geto"

i wasnt adamant about seeing him later but it was a nicer way of telling him to go home.

he took one last look at him, his eyes were lingering on my face before it dropped to the ground again.

"yeah"

he muttered softly under his breath as he started the engine of his bike. He waited for me to start walking to my front door step before he drove away, leaving me alone.

this one is shorter than part 1, simply from the fact that i have 0 motivation to write. but i have you liked and enjoyed it.

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

sorry if i asking to many questions but what exactly did rhaenyra say to shireen that made them stop being friends and stuff

You're so good, I don't mind answering questions!

And that confrontation took place in chapter 18. I'll paste the specific exchange below a cut, but the tl;dr is that she disrespected Shireen to her face/invalidated her marriage to Yorick by consistently diminishing her to just Lord Boremund's daughter, got weird & territorial about Ella & Yorick, & claimed that her dynamics with them not being exactly like how they were as kids was Shireen’s fault (because why blame your dad for making everything awkward & pay attention to how people change as they get older when you can just blame "the interloper" who wasn't part of the core friend group due to physical distance?!)

“Rhaenyra, I believe this is a conversation that needs to happen. You want to know about Yorick, I am who will know what is on his mind, and-and I would very much like to talk to you.”

“You think you know Yorick’s mind.” Rhaenyra muttered, her words barely audible. Even so, they made Shireen bristle. Her mouth drew in on itself, her lips going tight and her jaw setting as she inhaled sharply through her nose. Shireen’s hands, perched atop the swell of her belly, tensed; her fingers curling to claw at the black and bronze fabric of her dress and the skin at the back of her hand. Her nails left angry, red lines in their wake.

“Yorick was my friend for a decade before we were married, a change in what our relationship is did not make us strangers to each other. I do not appreciate you treating me as if I am some interloper, especially not after we had been so friendly when you came to Storm’s End for my brother's wedding.”

When Rhaenyra looked up again, her attention was on Ella. “Let us just leave, you did not need to bring me to talk to Lord Boremund’s daughter. There is nothing to say.”

Ella's thin brows furrowed even deeper, and her lips parted slightly as she regarded her cousin. Rhaenyra had not been like this since Aegon’s second name day, but even then talking had sorted everything back out. She did not understand this change in her oldest friend, nor did she care much for it.

“What is your problem with me?” Shireen’s voice was raised, and there was desperation hanging on every word that left her, “I have never been anything but kind to you, and you reciprocated that when we were girls. Rhaenyra, I have not done anything to wrong you!”

“You took what is mine!”

“What?”

“Your father decided that you should have whatever you want, regardless of your lack of right to it! I was named heir to the Iron Throne, and yet you get what I am owed? Yorick is my friend, my cousin, and marrying you turned him against me! We fought because of you, it would not have happened if–”

“Get out.”

“Excuse me?”

“My husband will have no interest in whatever apology or friendship you offer him, not after you have spoken to the mother of his children so. There is your information as to his mind, you've no reason to be around undesired company now. So leave.” Shireen’s gaze was hard, eyes full of quiet fury that ran as icy as the Shivering Sea.

Rhaenyra balked, stunned into silence as she let the situation wash over her. Then after a moment she smiled, the expression equal parts disbelieving and satisfied. She completely bypassed talking to Shireen once more. “See, Ella, this is her fault. You wasted your time bringing me to Lord Baratheon’s daughter. Let’s go.”

[nomsfaultau]

I miiiight've skipped the last day. Which was yesterday. But uh. It's finee

DAILY ASK S2 №30

Theme: End

1. First of all, I am so sorry for skipping like 3 days and constantly sending the ones that I did send late. I know that it's all voluntary but gah. :(

I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to sustain the same 5 questions a day thing next year, so perhaps we can do something else? Do you have any wishes on what you'd like to do maybe? I can figure out how to do it.

2. To the fault crew: I officially apologize for my evil clone (even though it was technically WILBUR'S FAULT for summoning them >:( ) and to make it up I'd like to offer each of y'all a wish. No monkey pawing, you aren't gonna owe me anything, I don't need your name or anything like that.

3. Honestly I'm just really curious about how the aftermath of the Malewife tournament would go for Lambs since he realised that his kids aren't actually dead. But that's unrelated. They get a copy of Fault! Phil's cheese bunker.

4. To the 116 East Normal Street crew: Everyone gets turned into mermaids for a day. As a treat <3

5. I think that's everyone who I've bothered this time around. Oh, well, and you, of course. For you: thank you for taking part in this event! You get a magical tablet which allows you to watch any and all of your fics as a movie/animated series. Hypothetically.

Bro it’s so chill. And uhh I’m super eepy but maybe a one question/scenario thing would be easier.

2. Tommy asked for his friends happiness which seems simple but probably involves like the Foundation poofing and complete societal restructuring to be anomaly inclusive. Tubbo wants peace. Which could go bad if it’s like, ‘the only way to have peace is if one group doesn’t exist’. Or maybe people incapable of having disagreement/it’s all homogenous, revelations can’t start, humanity is complacent. Or we just say world peace and stop asking how that goes and assume it’s peachy. The Blade wishes for Freedom, so The Blood God is probably gone, Foundation is dead, he has a laptop, maybe teleportation powers? Philza wants to not be alone. Nothing changes. Potentially going forward has a system of overlapping Collection systems, but he already tries to do that. Wilbur wishes to be normal. Good ending, anomalies are normalized. Whether him becoming human ends well is up to Wilbur ig.

3. Lambs character development would highly change motives and schemes, but not much day to day. He’s still wary of being hurt and has plenty of evidence to suggest it’s likely. However, trying to earn the “children’s’” trust is more genuine. ‘They’ referring to…the Malewife contestants? Fault made it, so now he has a copy. Still on the run so can’t access. Lambs wants to cry from relief that no longer starving. Golden Apples- welp cheese goes great with apple slices so that’s just tasty. Reunion thinks it’s a security nightmare and sends in teams of soldiers to clear the bunker. They die horribly to The Cheese Monster. Lord! can summon cheese so finds it pointless. Adds extra monsters to it. Lanterns enjoys the centuries and culture spanning cheeses. Babies starts selling the cheese immediately to make lots of money. Weight in Gold thinks the cheese is gold. I don’t recommend correcting the misconception…

4. I think this is Squidkid hell. Can’t go on land he’ll die. Can’t be wet he’ll krakenify. I reckon Niki, Tommy, Michael, Tub-0 can get on same as ever. R4N800 has to be water proof or dead. Techno can’t go to college now! Crap!

5. I tend to imagine animation while writing so that’s gotta help with the writing. Mannnn that’d be so nice. If only….

Thank you so much for all the questions! It’s been a joy working on them!

[beoljibentertainment]

Stages of Grief - Depression

Pairings: Nara (OC) x Kangin (platonic)

Warnings: mentions of suicide but nothing happens and nothing explicit

w.c:  756

English isn't my first language, so it'll probably have some mistakes — I'm also trying to use quotation marks, but in Brasil we usually write dialogues with dashes, that's why it'll probably look so off

please interact with me, I'm dying to know what you guys think about her/the story/everything!!! I want to know your thoughts and asks and what more you want to see 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Nara couldn't hear her own thoughts over Kangin's loud sobs. 

He moaned brokenly “Gongjunim” over and over again. His knees touched the floor, and he bent his back until he was parallel to the ground. He couldn't look at her. He kept repeating his apologies. He said “I've ruined everything” and “Forgive me” so often that Nara didn't even understand what the words meant anymore, only how they sounded coming out of Kangin's mouth.

She tried to say something, but he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts of self-destruction, pity and guilt to hear what the woman in front of him was saying. He kept repeating his apologies for ending her life; he was a monster, he didn't deserve her friendship or that of anyone in Super Junior. She had just said that it was okay, that it would be their last album too, that they would go away, and it would be fine... but he hadn't really understood what she meant.

"I'm sorry, please. Forgive me, Gongjunim" he kept repeating over and over. He kept crying at her feet and his tears fell to the ground. His head felt like it was exploding with the headache he was feeling, but he couldn't calm down. “I didn't want this to be your last album. I'm sorry for ruining your life,” he continued to cry.

It wasn't because of him. Not at all.

Nara didn't know what to do. She had never been in such a situation before. She shook her head frantically, starting to get desperate and quickly got down, joining him on the floor. She tried to get him to sit on her knees so that they could talk face to face, but Kangin refused to look at her.

Then she realized that she herself was crying, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto her lap. She had to use the back of her hand to dry them. She couldn't imagine what was going through her friend's mind... It was his second DUI and, however much hate he had taken the first time, the chance of him returning to Super Junior was almost nil. He wouldn't want to hurt the group's reputation, even though it was the one thing he loved the most.

However, if he thought that Nara was going to walk away like the first time, he was wrong. The first time, Nara was a teenager who was still understanding the world and her friendships, but now she could see things in a very different light. “Youngwoon, please,” she asked and, for the first time, he looked her in the eye.

“I want you to know, to be sure, because some things need to be said and not implied, that my hiatus has been scheduled since I started writing the lyrics for my third mini-album,” her voice came out sweetly and, when she nodded, he repeated the moment in a mirror. "You're not ending my career. You're actually one of the people who made me strong enough to keep going... I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't welcomed me so well. If you hadn't welcomed me so strongly at the variety shows and made my belly hurt from laughing so much at the pranks we did together," she realized that he was going to cry more thinking about the past, so in one swift movement, she grabbed his hand so that he could keep looking at her. "I love you and don't think for a minute that what you've done is affecting me. We're going to take care of you and your problem, which we also need to give a name to so that we can deal with it: alcoholism," he nodded positively. He knew she was right. 

“Don't feel guilty about things that aren't your fault,” she finished, again mentioning her hiatus to make sure he understood that the hiatus wasn't for him, it was for her.

The crying had stopped. Nara did her best to hide the way her hands were shaking. She was terrified. She was afraid he would hurt himself if she left him alone. She made them both get up and pulled him onto the sofa, leaving his head in her lap, while they watched some cartoon on the television that had been on when they were both children. Her hand ran through the strands of his hair, caressing them.

For the first time in a while, Kangin was able to sleep, but Nara would only leave the house when his sister arrived home.

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ.ᐟ 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝟶 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 — 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦.

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑛𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦.

[ein-asahina]

OMEGA!

First Day (Part One)

It was a bit of an understatement to say that Zack was pissed when he received the explusion letter in the mail. It wasn't Ein's fault that he had gotten expelled- not at all. The higher-ranked werewolves had been trying to pin something on him for ages. He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

That could be said about a lot of things in Ein's life.

So now he's laying awake in his room, not daring to try and go back asleep. He doesn't want to have another nightmare.

He counts the imperfections in the ceiling. They were staying in a crappy old apartment for time being, at least until Zack found a house. But it's not like it would feel any different from this place. Or the last. Because nothing truly ever changes.

And the first day simply proved that for him.

Ein got out of bed around six. Earlier than he usually did, but laying in bed doing nothing was starting to get unbearable. He grabbed the uniform he was required to wear- a white polo shirt overlayed by a navy blue blazer. A golden pin embroidered with the letters PDH was clipped to the right side of said blazer. The pants were periwinkle and cut just above the ankle.

It was much too fancy for his taste.

After putting on the uniform, he examined himself in the mirror. His hair was freshly dyed, a dark blue. His favorite color. Ein tried brushing his hair, but it was no use. The thing simply refused to be tamed. He reached for the eyeliner pen he hid in the tissue box and shoved it in his pant pocket.

Ein would put that on at school. He wouldn't want Zack to find out.

6:20. He didn't necessarily want to go to school, but he certainly didn't want to be here. Ah well- it'd probably take a bit for Ein to walk there.

He should probably eat something before he leaves. Ein looked in the fridge for something, but no luck. Not anything he liked.

What can he say? He's picky.

Ein grabbed his backpack and the apartment key. He'll just wait until they open the doors to the school. It was still early enough, so the elevator wasn't too crowded when he got in. He and Zack lived on the top floor. He stood there for a minute or two until it finally got to the lobby.

The cool autumn wind greeted him as he walked outside. It wasn't cold enough for it to be unpleasant, but Ein still rolled his sleeves down.

He knew his way around town, but that was only because most of the time he couldn't stand to be cooped up in that place. Ein just wanted to move around.

The school was huge. It even had a fountain in the courtyard! People milled about, usually hanging to their groups. The only difference between this and his old school was that there were mei'fwa and humans here as well, not just werewolves.

Ein walked up the stairs and pulled at one of the heavy entrance doors, but to no avail.

"You're new, aren't you?", a girl behind him asked. He flinched, but then turned around to see who it was.

A human girl with dark brown braided hair and even browner eyes stood behind him, her arms crossed. She wore a golden sash on her forearm.

"Seems I have this conversation every year. They don't open the doors until 20 minutes from the bell! Easy mistake to make," the girl told him.

Ein nodded, careful to make sure his expression never changed from its neutral state. "Okay. Thanks."

She nodded. "Of course! I'm assuming you're a freshman?"

"...No. Sophomore."

The girl's eyes widened. "Oh my Irene, I am so sorry!", she apologized.

"It's fine," Ein sighed.

"Okay, uh... anyways! If you have any questions or need help finding your class, just ask one of us mentors! We have one of these," she said, pointing towards her gold sash.

Ein watched as she walked off.

Well, it was a good thing he put his headphones in his bag, because now he had to wait a good half hour before he could even go inside.

There were three stalls set up in the cafeteria, labeled "HELP", "INFO", and "SCHEDULE." Ein got in the line for the schedule booth. Luckily, it moved pretty quickly.

"Name?," a bored-looking man asked him.

"Ein Grey."

He shuffled through a stack of papers for a minute before handing Ein a sheet. "There you go. Next, please!"

His schedule wasn't terrible. English for homeroom and first period, biology for second, and- ugh, werewolf class just before lunch.

It was a naive hope, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad..? After all, he hadn't been marked as the Omega yet.

Though it was probably only a matter of time before something went down.

He'll deal with that when it happened. Right now, Ein had to find his homeroom. He wandered the halls for a bit until he heard a girl's nervous voice.

"--but what I'm not?"

Ein peeked around the corner to see a short, chubby girl on the phone. He couldn't exactly make out what the other person was saying, unfortunately.

The girl seemed a bit- suspicious, almost with her next response. "Just as friends, right?" Her brow was furrowed.

Another pause, longer this time. "And I want to do the same for you!" She was smiling slightly.

"I did, didn't I!" She said with a giggle. "Alright.. well I should head to class. Talk to you soon. Oh, and before I go- good luck at your new school, Aaron!"

She hung up and shoved her phone haphazardly into the pocket of her skirt, walking off.

Ein waited until she was around the corner to continue walking. There, on the ground, was the same phone the girl was using. He picked it up. It had a purple phone case protecting it, decorated by stickers of a shirtless anime guy.

He'd find a way to give it back to her. Just as Ein put it away, the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

(lmk what you think!! i wasn’t expecting to finish this chapter so soon 😭)

[hresvelged]

Their last conversation had ended on a good note, at least to him. The reaction he saw was a better start than if they had thrown around names left and right- even more since he never intended to share the truth in such a manner.

But now, he seeks her for something else. “Edelgard? I see that your team is back from Enbarr. Good to see you.” From what he caught by simply walking around the group, it seemed that even the capital was in a state of disarray. A troubling idea, but at the same time he thought it was good that Edelgard had been there to witness it.

“Though the territory my group had been sent to is not under your house’s rule, it is part of the nation you are to rule over soon…and so I thought it would have been sound of me to give you feedback from my experience. Take this as words from a knight of a neighbouring country.” Her poise was at least, reassuring enough. Let’s hope her words and actions are the same.

“Putting this bluntly, I saw more bandits and beasts roaming the town than citizens. I do not need you to apologize for the state the city was in, but I need you to become fully aware of what your country looks like. Not a single spot must be left blind, lest it is allowed to fester.” Unable to cross his arms as one sat in a sling, his free hand rested on his hip. “And if I may…I know Adrestia does not possess the affinity and tradition towards knights as Faerghus does, and I am not implying it should be the same, either. But among the bandits, I saw knights. Armors in decay, bodies frail as if left to starve. Their goal was invading homes and most likely killing its owners to claim it for themselves- in the end our only option was to kill the man.”

A sigh- and behind the fatigue and injuries, his gaze was firm. Not the type to belong to a teacher or even a knight, but perhaps something more- from one lord to another. Or maybe it was a trick of light, coming from a few torches nearby. “These men and women are your country’s bones, teeth and claws. The moment you abandon them, your nation becomes soft and defenseless as its own blade turns against itself- a bandit gang is a nuisance, a horde of knights turning to crime is the first step to a paramilitary group that can grow so fast that by the time your lords become aware of it, it is too late.”

“Care for your people, but do not turn your back on men and women whose jobs are to devote their lives to you. They know the layouts of every capital and fortress in this empire, including your palace. Careful, Edelgard.”

She is glad she went to Enbarr— To see its streets and glimpse the Imperial Palace. Most of all, to show the people she will always be at the ready to arrive. Their ally.

Edelgard did not ask for feedback. She receives it all the same and provides her attention. "Your knowledge as a knight is certainly extensive..," she muses as she carefully listens. "I'd have no reason to apologize even if I wanted to. I understand Adrestia has its flaws. I've seen it myself." The world obscuring her eyes is desolate; empty. "We do lack knightly tradition, yes. But, in return.. Our military might is far stronger than any other. The knights you saw must have become that way only because.. Well, that is simply the way of the world right now. I doubt that is any different in other regions." Her fingers tighten.

He spoke of endings— Of finalizing someone because they saw it as the only option. Of the Empire's unrest compared against Faerghus and Leicester. The girl sighs and crosses her arms. "You are saying the ends of eliminating someone was your only choice. I wasn't there, of course. But.. Was it? Without knowing their intents for certain, do you believe it just? I'm only curious on your perspectives."

She looks up, then away. Perhaps she is not so different, in some regard. ".. Never mind. Your answer changes nothing. This only proves that Fódlan cannot stay the way it is. The fault of that is neither yours nor mine."

No matter how much time may pass, her immovable will remains relentless. "If there is one thing you must know about me, let it be this— I will never abandon my people. As emperor, I will vow that to be so. Your caution is noted, nonetheless. I will take your words into consideration."

[stories-and-chaos]

Tarnished pt 26

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved.]

[Part 26/?? Word count: 1575 Cw: language, mention of drug abuse]

—————

There was an extended silence as Blitzø absorbed this information. “Ohshitohshitohshit, what the fuck do I do, are you girls sure, holy fucking shit I wasn’t even sure she was alive.” Blitzø dropped his burger and grabbed the sides of his head. His eyes went huge as he stared into nothing. “You’re absolutely sure it’s her?”

Dina nodded. “Pretty sure. If it weren’t for the horns I’d have thought you snuck into my group.”

“She sounds like you too. Never thought I’d hear someone else cuss like that, besides you,” Loona added. “I heard her checking in, said her name’s ‘Barb Buckzo.’”

Blitzø stood up, still not really seeing anything. “Fucknuggets, that’s gotta be her. I haven’t seen her in decades. She might not even remember me now, we were just kids…” He gripped the back of his chair, claws making scrapes in the finish. “Wait… if she’s in your group therapy Dina…”

Dina took a sip of drink before answering. “Yeah. Sounds like she’s been through some shit. And um,” she hesitated before continuing what she wanted to say, “she mentioned her brother during the session. But…it wasn’t anything good Dad.”

He took a deep breath. “I think I can handle it.” Whatever Barb had said about him couldn’t be worse than the other crap that had happened in his life, right?

“She said her twin was a ‘traitorous royal cocksucker’ and that he ‘abandoned his family to be a rich boy’s pet as soon as he could.’” Seeing Blitzø stiffen as if he’d been struck made her wish she hadn’t said anything.

Hearing what Barb thought of him, it made the bottom drop out of his world. He hadn’t expected her to be thrilled with him, but this level of animosity wasn’t expected. What in the Seven Rings had Cash told everyone? Was that why Fizz never responded to his mail?

Did his mom hate him too?

“I’m sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything-“ Dina started desperately apologizing. The imp cut her off.

“Not your fault Di. You warned me too.” He shook his head harshly. “I- I gotta get out for a bit. I’ll be back later girls.” He scooped up his phone and keys as he dashed out the door.

Loona opened a window to yell at him, “No driving the accident-mobile Dad!” He’d been about to hop in the van; instead he slammed the door shut. “Goddammit Loonie, FINE!” He jammed his hands into his coat pockets and walked off into the darkening night.

Dina, still at the table, was hunched down with her ears laid back. “Loona? Is everything gonna be okay? Feels like we shouldn’t have said anything.”

Her sister plopped back into her seat. “Nah, Blitzø is always kind of a mess. He thinks he’s a hot mess. He’ll be back.” She ran her hand through her hair and tossed a fry into her mouth. “I know I wouldn’t have been able to keep quiet about all this shit. And he’s such a busybody that he’d keep prying until we blew up at him.” Dina sighed and they finished the meal in silence.

Loona cleaned up the dishes while Dina put away the leftovers. They each took a side of the couch but left the television off. Instead they chatted about a web novel Dina had started reading while at rehab. Loona was catching up on it now and the sisters enjoyed discussing the plot and characters.

Neither of them wanted to head to bed until Blitzø got back. Dina mentioned that she almost felt like the parent right now, waiting for their kid to come home. The hours crept by with no sign of the imp. Just in case, Loona sent a text to Stolas. She didn’t go into details but let the prince know Blitzø had left the apartment upset.

Stolas replied that Blitzø wasn’t with him and not to worry unless he wasn’t back by morning. That wasn’t terribly reassuring for the Hellhounds.

Both girls ended up falling asleep on the couch before Blitzø stumbled back in around two in the morning. He was drunk and had gotten into some sort of fight. The lights were mostly off so he didn’t see the pair on the couch. Neither hound woke up; not even when he flopped on top of them.

Dimly, Blitzø realized the couch was both lumpier and fuzzier than normal. Those facts didn’t really stick with him as he passed out.

—————

In Sloth, Barb got back to her dormitory. She was staying at a sober living facility for now. She didn’t really have any place else to be or anyone to be with. Most of her friends were addicts and none were trying to get clean. Barb knew if she spent any time with her current circle of acquaintances, she’d be right back to square one.

The imp didn’t know who was footing the bill for her rehab. When she’d gotten sober enough to question the money situation, she was politely informed that an anonymous donor was taking care of it. While that was suspicious, she wasn’t in a position to question it. And what would she do otherwise? If she insisted on paying herself, she’d be neck deep in debt or kicked out.

Barb was suspicious, but not stupid. If this demon wanted to pay for her recovery, let ‘em. If they came looking to collect later, she’d deal with it then. At least she’d be sober for whatever came her way.

She had been thinking about who it could be. Not Mammon, that was for damn sure. Maybe Fizz? But she was pretty sure he hated her guts now. Cash wouldn’t be; she hadn’t been able to find out if her father survived the fire. If he had, he’d disappeared. Not likely he’d be paying for her medical bills if he was alive.

Her mom… Barb gripped the choker that she wore, that had been Tilly’s. Her mom would have.

Maybe one or more of the hospital staff she’d interacted with during Fizz’s recovery all those years ago? That was a long shot.

Blitzo? She snorted to herself at the thought. The jackass and his douche prince would have the money, but her twin had shown how much he cared decades ago. He didn’t even know she was still kicking, from what she remembered of the mail he sent Fizz.

There were other demons she’d encountered over the years. She’d worked odd jobs to fund her habit, with the legality of said jobs being questionable. She didn’t think she had made a good enough impression on anyone to warrant this however.

It gave her a headache to keep thinking about it and without more information, she didn’t have enough to figure it out. Scrolling her phone, she pulled up the pics she’d sneakily taken earlier. The Hellhounds she’d encountered at group therapy.

Barb had snapped at the first girl for staring. At the moment she’d brushed the girl looking at her so intently as listening in to her rant. Then she saw the other young Hound woman in the meeting room. Dina, as she learned at the introduction round, tried to hide looking at Barb. But the imp kept feeling her glancing over during the session.

After they broke apart for the day, Dina trotted up to the Hound in the waiting area. Seeing them side by side, it was obvious they were siblings and maybe even littermates. The only difference between them was height and hair length. The pair was very much trying to not look at Barb. The imp’s spines were raised and she glared at them before heading towards the dorms.

But she doubled back once she was sure the girls weren’t following her. She caught glimpses of them as they walked away. Then the girls slipped into a space between two buildings and Barb saw colored lights glow from the gap. She ran to the spot as the glow faded.

No sign of either Hellhound. A portal? For a couple Hounds? Most magick wielding demons were royalty or working for royalty. Imps, Hellhounds, and Hellborn in general didn’t have much to do with magick. Succubi on assignment to Earth used portals and illusions.

Whoever these girls were, they likely had a connection with blue bloods. And they were interested in her. Barb doubted they were connected with who was funding her therapy. Both Hounds seemed like they didn’t expect to see her. Like they couldn’t believe their eyes.

She scribbled down her thoughts in a notebook she kept in her room. Maybe because of the years of drug abuse, but she had difficulty keeping track of things. She was getting in the habit of writing down whatever was on her mind, since her notebook had a better memory than she did. During the day, Barb typed stuff into a notepad app on her phone, then reviewed it at night.

She was not up for any fancy journaling. No decorated grids, stickers, different color pens and fancy tape between entries. The words were lucky if she followed the lines on the page. Anything particularly important got circled or highlighted so she could find it easily as she flipped through the pages.

The Hellhound girls were an odd enough occurrence that she circled and highlighted her bullet list about them. If Dina was still in her group next time, she could try to find out more.

—————

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[diagonal-queen]

dia entirely forgot it was thungo thursday until mayoi reminded her and she dropped everything to watch the ep. here are all her thoughts, live-documented, in chronological order (apologies for this):

NOT RANPO CHILLING LIKE SHIT'S SWEET WHEN THE CAR HE WAS IN JUST FUCKING CRASHED LMAOOOOO

ranpo is so small next to minoura. he's so tiny and cute i just wanna cuddle him sm (and yes i am a little taller than him- height means nothing to me. we all know where the rest of his inches went YKNOW WHAT IM SAYIN YA FEEL ME)

'the police of this nation are idiots' yes minoura you're absolutely correct but consider this: the police of every nation on god's green earth are idiots

isn't it amazing how it was written in this magical reality-bending book that nobody would believe in the agency's innocence and in a couple minutes worth of running his mouth, ranpo just...undid it?? for like hundreds of police officers??? the sheer power of this man

god i forgot just how fucking fantastic this intro is. tbh this is probably my favourite intro of all of them. the colours and imagery and the chaos of it all MWAH (also kishow voice mm)

bones. was this panel too hard to animate properly?? did you read the fucking manga bones?? do you HATE US BONES??????

i could listen to ranpo talk for HOURS. literally hours, in a language i don't even speak, about anything he wanted, for hours, and i wouldn't get bored. his voice just...*kicks feet and giggles*

i missed you tecchou <3 please keep cooking for fukuchi. you're doing great sweaty xx

some loser: 'when do you suppose a life ends?' even bigger loser: 'when it becomes unable to adapt to change' fukuchi on his celestia ludenberg arc ok

IT'S BEEN LIKE ONE FUCKING WEEK AND THE UN IS ALREADY MAKING AN ANTI-TERRORIST GROUP??? THEY'RE FULLY READY TO FIND AND EXECUTE THE AGENCY MEMBERS IN UNDER A WEEK?? THE ICC LEGALLY CAN'T EVEN DETAIN CRIMINALS ON THEIR OWN IRL

i wish people reacted to seeing my posts on their dash the same way that the united nations reacted when fukuchi appeared onstage

congressmen will excuse mass shootings of gay ppl and then have shirtless fukuchi posters hanging above their beds where they half-heartedly fuck their wives and go to sleep before the thought of helping her also cum even crosses their mind

wait. *pauses and zooms in*. WAIT. YOU'RE TEL

YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT

TH

THAT ABRAHAM STOKER WAS THICC?????? THAT HE HAD A DUMPY???? THAT HE HAD SOME JUNK IN THAT TRUNK???? ALL THAT ASS INSIDE THOSE JEANS???? CURSE YOU FUKUCHI OUCHI FOR RIDDING THE WORLD OF BRAM'S CAKES

thinking about it, doesn't the decay of angels sound like a really cool name for an operatic metal band??

fukuchi: *enters room* ranpo: YOOOOOO STEPDAD GUESS WHO'S AN ENEMY OF STATE :DDDDDDD

fukuchi really is like 'you havent changed at all, boy' ranpo is literally eight years older than me. if he's a boy i'm primordial soup

fukuchi also said that ranpo's title of 'excellent detective' is self claimed. the thousands of people whose lives ranpo's probably saved must all be like 'say sike rn'

ranpo trusting fukuchi solely because the president said he trusts him. crying screaming throwing up ranpo GIVE ME ONE CHANCE (that's right guys we're back to this again)

fukuchi thinks he's hot shit cus he can jump high?? well my ocs can also do that fukuchi. sucks to be basic huh

IT'S NOT RANPO'S FAULT HE WAS BORN LATER AND THUS MET FUKUZAWA LATER??????? FUCK OFF FUKUCHI (also i love the way they're sitting they're all so silly mwehehehe)

omg ranpo also commented on the 'boy' thing lmaooo he and i are so good for each other <3 if only he'd give me a chance... </3

i wonder what portion of atsushi's budget goes towards emergency ramune. also imagine someone caring enough about you that they always keep one of your favourite snacks on you in case you get hungry or something. that's so cute i can't <3333

imagine coming up with a complex plan, twelve or so years in the making, to end the world, all because u asked ur friend out like thirty years ago and he said no T-T

fukuchi: *tilts neck* *minecraft skelly noise*

oh atsushi. i know other people won't like me saying this but you're so hot and i want to do the sex with you <3333333

wow bones. you've outdone yourself. this has to be the best fisheye yet- maybe even beating lucy's fisheye for how terrifying it is. i'm genuinely speechless

AKUTAGAWA

omg atsushi's speech on how loneliness is his biggest fear and how much he cares about his loved ones (kinnie moment), and the one thing he needs, truly needs right now is someone to fight alongside him to save all that he has to lose and the world as he knows it, and then akutagawa appears? soulmates. i mean it's not even like this is a surprise to me as someone who read the manga but, like, it's different when i'm watching it. soulmates. soulmates soulmates soulmates

and that's a wrap for tonight's edition of dia's thungo thursdays!! be sure to tune in for next week and see them cry tears of hopelessness and despair!!

[yunessa]

Roan: A listless necromancer.

This is a excerpt from my fanfic. I replaced the Martyr Zahcarius cemetary cultist with one of my own to have a foil for Yunessa in the Crusades. This backstory does contain some act 2 spoilers as a warning and descriptions of dead folks but nothing big. It does have Roan's background story and I felt the need to write out why Roan is a practically evil man with grey morals, rather than a cartoonishly evil necromancer with no morals. No spoilers for Yunessa's story, for the folks who are reading it.

Vassily Rathimus, Priest of Abadar was dead. Killed, most likely, when dropped by a gargoyle or one of the ghouls had done so. In the courtyard he lay still where he had fallen when the Commander’s companion struck him down.The outer courtyard was quiet. The only soul that remained there was Roan.

He had remained behind as the Commander’s group had moved on. The Commander allowed him to remain when he asked, showing no concern that the former cultist might run away. The bard’s mind was already on other matters, Roan assumed. Or maybe the Commander could see the wear and tear of the night would make the former cultist a dead weight. But Roan would make himself useful, even if he only wanted to curl up in the snow and close his eyes.

And so Roan worked to make a space the still-living crusaders could come to.

Provided the Commander found any of them alive. It wasn’t like there was anywhere he could go.

“Indeed.” Roan told the corpse of a dead crusader. “Where would I go?” The crusader’s body offered up no answers as Roan covered it with snow. He’d been gathering all of the remains up, moving them to lay side by side.

“There is no place to take me now. No home to return to.” Using a rotting board, Roan shoveled snow over the dead bodies. It might take days before Sosiel would return to cleanse these grounds, Roan guessed.

Roan was no stranger to cold and death, but by the time he;d finished covering the bodies with snow his fingers were an angry red. His rich green clothes torn and stained rust red in large patches. It didn’t matter to Roan that just a week ago he would have been trying to kill them. What mattered was that each body was set aside properly. Habit dictated the dead were put in place before he did anything else. It’s what Roan told himself as he worked. But it was only part of the truth. There was one body he was avoiding to put away, to properly tend to.

His own fault, really.

“Ghouls are not kind Vassily. I’m sorry.” His voice had gone from course to tattered like the fraying edges of a banner. He stepped around the puddles of red in the snow towards the last body. “You suffered. Considerably before you died. And then were raised and twisted like this.I remember- my teacher told me it wasn’t comfortable.”

It was an understatement.

Vassily’s greying beard was matted with gore. His once lively face was gaunt and twisted into a hateful expression in death. Maggots writhed from within Vassily’s broken skull.  They would die quickly in the cold. But they struggled to try and survive despite it. “Vassily.” Roan forced himself to say the Priest’s name.

But Vassily didn’t respond.

“Vassily, are you gone?”

No response. Roan’s mouth opened and he started to speak again. “Vassily.”

Again, Vassily remained dead and unmoving. The maggots writhed.

“Vassily.” Roan’s voice cracked painfully. And once more Vassily did not move. No reaction came, even when Roan gently shook the corpse. He was cold to the touch. Reluctantly, Roan put his hands underneath Vassily to drag his body.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. But nobody responded to the former cultist’s apology. “There’s nothing more I can do for you.”

Roan dragged his body to lay in front of the desecrated statue of Desna. Where the ghouls hadn’t damaged the chapel, they had desecrated the symbols there. Profane wordings, symbols of demon lords or mortal remains spread or hung over what was once holy. He folded Vassily’s hands over his chest, laying them over each other. “I’m sorry.” Roan sat a step below Vassily and watched his hands. “I should have pushed you aside somehow when they grabbed us. I-”

“Vassily.”  The cleric’s body bore evidence to his brief torture before he had died. Roan could see the defense wounds, the spike in his abdomen.

“Vassily.” His voice broke and his world heated up as Roan’s eyes stung with unshed tears.

“Nobody else is here, Vassily.” Still, Vassily did not move. Only the maggots moved. But Roan gathered up his magic so that when they tried to wriggle close to him for heat and each little white blob that got close would suddenly seize violently before going still. But a few maggots dying did nothing to inspire anything in his mood.

It became unbearable not to hear Vassily speak. So Roan forced himself to speak, to fill in the absence of Vassily. “I think we would have been good friends if we had made it to Drezen together, Vassily. Even when I spent weeks attending Cleric Vaenic’s church I didn’t feel anything knowing what would happen.”

“Or, well... That’s not accurate...” Roan tucked his hands into his sleeves to try and warm them. The wind had stopped blowing and only gentle flakes of snow fell down lazily from the sky alongside what looked like grey ash flakes.

“Better than the eyeballs that were raining earlier, eh Vassily?” Roan took a slow breath.  “I didn’t do it out of spite or belief in the cult’s Gods. My reason for helping the cult was easy. Simple. The same story as a lot of the cultists.”

“It was for money. Pure and simple. Money. A good necromancer outside of Geb will make a fair bit of coin Vassily. It came with a lot of risks. But the pay was absurdly good. Good enough. The lives of crusaders and people in Kenabres didn’t mean anything to me. Not when they caught me or when I was punished with service in the crusade. “

“The Commander said I could still make money. I won’t make as much as I did with the cult but now that I ‘ve been caught…” Roan shrugged and let out a hoarse laugh. “It’s either go to the jails and the tender embrace of Ioemedae’s mercies.” Ron’s lips twisted into a grimace as he reached up to rub his scarred throat. “At least with this I can still make some coins. Once Ioemdeae’s church get their hands into you then well, you’ve seen Ember, Vassily. When they got their hands one me- I’d call Ember intact in comparison. once they were done and saw me begging for repentance so i could die.”

“The church of Ioemedae’s brutal.It’s part of why the cult paid so good. You can’t make a man risk himself for pure faith alone. But if you have the coin? Well that’s a different story. People will risk everything for a large pile of gold.”

Roan shrugged. “But I’m going to far ahead. You wanted to hear my story, didn’t you Vassily?” He didn’t look at Vassily’s corpse. Couldn’t. It stung worse than the cold biting at his skin.

“I’ll tell you now.” No response from Vassily. Even as painful as it was to force his scarred throat to utter speech, words began to spill o

ut. “You would have found out anyway. But…when I was young, my family worshipped Erastil. They were devout. So devout that my life was already planned out. Why leave our little community, my parents said, when the cities are so dirty, when we have our own place here? But I hated it. I hated it and I hated Erastil eventually.”

“It was expected of me to marry when I got old enough. To take care of my parents and in turn, my children would take care of me. I could never express interest in another god.” Roan let out a low raspy note. “I found a symbol of Calistra near a crossroads for travellers once. Had to lie to my father and tell him I meant to throw it away anyway. But it looked like a wasp. Polished glass and beautiful. I wasn’t allowed to have another god in my life

that could take Erastil’s place. I could pay lip service. But the only other god I would be allowed to pay attention to was the Lady of Graves.”

Roan couldn’t stop the bitterness from seeping into his words as he talked. Years of pent up emotions spilled out.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t exist there Vassily. I had a large family. My mother was one of twelve. My father was one of seven. Countless cousins, aunts, Uncles, distant seconds and so on were always visiting. I hated them too. For so many reasons Vassily- my grandmother had children whose hands she’d fill with coins. Those children would waste it. Spend it on liquor, useless frivolous. In a town like ours they'd have been better off buying livestock or seeds, you know?”

“ I knew her children would never stop wanting their palms to be filled by grandmother. We even had people marrying the family and coveting my grandmother’s wealth. It wasn’t large by any means- the Gwerm merchant in the camp makes my grandmother look like a pauper. But frontier towns are different from real cities, Vassily. The salary the Commander said I’d have working in the condemned would be liveable at my childhood home. But when i was young, I didn’t want liveable. I wanted something I had no name for.”

“I struggled. I needed something. Anything to make that life bearable. The mask I put on to be like the rest of the family was breaking. I didn’t know what I needed or wanted. But I knew I needed it. I felt it down to the essence of my soul.”

Roan sighed as more of the snowflakes seemed to become grey flakes of ash. “Our family raised dogs in addition to crops. They’re very useful on farms. I remember as a child being delighted by the sight of countless puppies born from our four hounds. We had litters in the spring usually and by summer most would be sold to either travellers or others in the community.”

“I even saved one one from a wild animal and one year when she had her last litter I told my mother I wanted one. To my surprise, she allowed me to have one- none of my other family members my age got such a gift. Perhaps she saw me struggling or I was given a special privilege the other children were not. But, there was never a better companion for me. My dog listened when I was upset, followed me everywhere, even protected me once, when he thought someone tried to take my bag,”

“It gave my world something it had been lacking. My wanderlust was tempered by my dog’s presence. We would run through fields of grass, explore the woods, even attend our lessons together. The local priest was kind enough to let my dog sit next to me as we’d learn. For a time I was happy. If this was what Erastil would give me, for a time I thought I’d take it. What else could make me happier than my dog?”

“But one year he fell gravely ill. There was nothing to be done, I was told. My parents took pity on me. But the medicines we could afford and the local priest’s blessing had no effect. He just got more sick. I would carry him everywhere, cut up his food to mere slivers so he could eat, and carry him to the lake to enjoy the view with me. I’d even hold him in the water  at the lake so he could enjoy swimming. It wasn’t a burden. Not for my dog.”

“But I knew. I knew and I stayed by his side as he slowly wasted away. The time came when I knew the end was coming. So I prayed and prayed as I sat by his side late at night. We shared a bed made from my cloak and hay. He licked my face, comforting me even when I knew he was in pain. I heard his final breath close to dawn. I clung to his fur as I cried myself to sleep holding him. I fell asleep begging, pleading, praying, and wanting him back.”

Roan exhaled slowly. Vassily remained silent still as Roan focused on flexing his hands, trying to warm them up.. “When I awoke it was like they weren’t dead at all- they made noise, followed me and reacted just like my dog. As if they had never died. I was only sixteen then. I didn’t yet realise what had happened then Vassily. Scorn hound or not, it was my dog and they were back at my side again. But even knowing he wasn’t breathing I didn’t care. I was excited. So excited Erastil had listened to me, I ran to my family. Told them everything.”

Roan lapsed into silence as he heard the sounds of ghouls distantly and spells firing off. Ghouls shrieked as the sky seemed to lighten. His tired green eyes searched the sky for the first rays of the dawn. But finding none he resumed telling Vassily his life.

“That was the start of when- well, I suppose everything changed. I didn’t know if a god answered my prayer or if scorned hounds need someone with a bit of necromancy talent to return, but my family…” Roan swallowed. “They were upset and scared. More so than angry or furious. Perhaps it was because my dog didn’t like them now and snarled and snapped at them when they got close to me.”

“I refused to let them take my dog away. It was my best friend. My closest companion.But they did even as it bit their arms and scratched at them.. My mother cried as she held me back. My father got the priest. The priest was stunned when he saw the scene.”

“But, for years I’d worn this mask of the good older child Vassily. It cracked but with my dog I could bear it.  But it was when they told me that I couldn’t let my dog stay with me that I felt it break.”

“I remember seeing my Uncle with the board and the shock as he took away what made me happy. I remember being taken to the priest. Sitting in a chair as he paced around me and swearing I didn’t purposely do it. I remember his words. He prayed for me. Told me it wasn’t my fault and offered prayers for my dog. But what good is such prayer when I didn’t have my dog? I wasn’t thrown out of my family. Nobody wanted to burn me alive- what a twist huh Vassily?”

“They watched me carefully though. I wasn’t just my parent’s child now. Now I was ‘the one that raised that animal’ to anyone outside of the family home. My family didn’t hate me, I wasn’t burned alive or kicked out of the town. But I was marked then. I was weird now. Watched and side-eyed. ” Roan shook his head and smiled bitterly at Vassily’s corpse. “They never hurt me. Or mistreated me. But that put a space between me and them more than anything else. So I kept my head low, acted normal, and kept my mask on. But the loss of my dog a second time made my desire to leave become a  need. I needed to leave as much as I needed air. I knew what I needed to do. I had carved it into my mind when my dog was taken from me.”

“Outwardly I was still their child. But inwardly I felt myself shaking with the desire to leave. I felt it and kept it quiet until I reached adulthood. And so when I reached it, I took everything I could carry of mine and my money and ran away. Nobody can search for an adult who left of their own will. Nobody could force me to go back then.”

"I changed myself completely- name, hair, my body. Everything. The world waited Vassily and I had to find what I knew I’d always been missing. Went to several places,ran out of money, and when I was running out of options, met my teacher.”

“He owned land for a cemetery not far from Absalom- Diobel, if I still remember right- and also owned his own mortuary place to prepare the bodies. I helped him get food here and here. Bits and pieces that nobody would miss. No undead rising from their grave to cause suspicion, no large chunks of body gone to make anyone think the strange and solitary owner was doing anything amiss.”

“You might think a ghoul would be quite murderous. But my teacher was a leng ghoul and they are rather charitable.  Talkative as well. So I opted to stay and learn from them. They would teach me necromancy and I would help his front. Once you’re used to helping a ghoul eat then I… Well, it’s not as bad as you think. Ghouls are always hungry. Always craving more. But were I to take the choice Vassily, I would never go against my mentor in an honest fight. I would take the ghouls here anytime. ”

“I think leng ghouls must be very nearly close to human still. There’s some differences, but he was almost alive in the way he filled up a room. The ghouls in Mendev are more feral, more like a rabid animal than a man. But my teacher was human once you ignored the undeath and hooves and uh, the snout.”

“His magic was so strong that he blended into the crowd of living with no difficulty.. Nobody would see him if he didn’t want them to. Nobody noticed his cemetery always had space for another body. Once I got over the smell of rotting flesh I didn’t mind his company. The work took more time to get used to. But he was patient with human frailties- and happy to let me take on the unwanted work.”

“I won’t lie and say that it was a perfect job and he was a perfect teacher and boss. But It went well. He enjoyed teaching me what he knew, I think. Perhaps I could have stayed there longer, but when a decade had gone by  I felt the desire to move on once more. I wanted bigger cities, bars and taverns, libraries and flings. It itched at me like a rusted rail.”

“He took my  ah, quitting well. Once I handled a few other tasks I was on my way and he had a new apprentice. He told me goodbye the day I left. I think he knew I needed to scratch an itch. I like to think he found it as funny as he did with any of the eccentricities he found in the living.”

Roan took a while to let his voice rest. His hand rubbed at his scarred throat, trying to ease the pain that came with so much talking. “I went to Absalom proper. You’ve never seen a real city until you’ve seen Absalom. It’s so big and large. Ships come as far away as Tian Xia. It was filled with everything you could want.”

“I decided to just… live. I had money from my time spent learning under my teacher. And still something itched in me, begging me to find what I needed. I went to libraries, bars, restaurants, and even went to the Starstone Cathedral just to see the outside of it. I watched ships leave and enter the harbor in a dizzying array of color. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I was content.”

“I found what I thought was love. It was a perfect summer. I can still taste the liqour on my tongue. The sky burned like fireworks  and she was so beautiful it was shocking to hear she liked me too. We were love drunk. Promised to love each other forever, kissed all night as the world spun around us- day and night sometimes. She drove me crazy and I know she found me charming. We were young, drunk on love and it would last forever.” Roan reached into his jacket. A worn down brass ring rested in his palm. He turned it to show Vassily. The corpse continued its silence as Roan went on. A brief smile made him look less gaunt and bone thin for a moment. The smile faded as he put the brass ring away. “And then we got sober.”

“Then it was over.” The sky was definitely getting lighter. Roan watched it with mild interest. He was weary, stiff. “It turns out our love drunk summer left us with an unexpected surprise. She approached me, told me she wanted to keep the child.”

“I wasn’t upset that we had broken up. Sober, I could see how we fit like mismatched puzzle pieces. But I could not ignore a child. She presented me with a carefully put-together proposition. Well made, meticulous, with room for me if I wanted to be there. But I- I did not. I did not want to be a parent. I could hear my mother crying, my father shouting, and my dog-” Roan faltered. “I couldn’t. I did not want to be a father.”

“I made a suggestion- I did not want to be a father. But I wouldn’t deny my responsibility either. I’d help, provide coin and if she needed it, my signature on any form she needed. She agreed. By the end of that month we’d hired her a maid to help her out, moved her to a bigger space to live in and agreed upon names. There were no contracts to sign and force us into agreement. We parted on friendly terms.”

“We’re still amicable with each other, even after a love drunk summer and a child. Once matters had been settled I decided I would leave Absalom to pursue whatever I needed- and to provide for my child.”

There was a distant scream from behind the courtyard. A gargoyle? Roan canted his head to listen, letting his voice rest before he continued. “But in trying to find what I needed I just did things that kept paying more. I’m not the strongest necromancer. But I’m clever with my work and a skilled necromancer never lacks for work if they search.”

“But each job got a bit more shady. Instead of ‘can you lay this to rest’ it became ‘what if you did a slight bit of illegal activity’?” What if instead you did a little bit of illegal activity here and there? Well, even if I didn’t want to, legitimate jobs often pay less than what you deserve for your work.”

“The pay was far better. So I did those and after a few times, well, it doesn’t bother you anymore Vassily. Not like it used to. And eventually I found myself in Kenabres working alongside the cult.” Roan’s voice was nothing more than a whisper now but still the words kept spilling from his lips.

“Kenabres wasn’t my sort of city. But I did enjoy the church of Shelyn. They fed me when I was pinching coppers until the next payday. Sosiel was kind enough to heal some older aches and his friends are- were kind.”

“I remember I could sit at his church and feel content. It was like living in Absalom- if Absalom was a different city entirely. I didn’t like grey, dreary, dull Kenabres. But the people there that were kind made a difference. Provided you avoided the Inquisition and Iomedae’s church, then you could breathe easy.”

“But if they caught you then you were dead. Some of the cultists joked that Ioemedae tortured as a mercy. It became a joke among us. If one of us went missing we ‘met the merciful embrace of Iomedae’. If we were tortured and let go or escaped then we ‘felt her tender mercy’. The inquisition started to eye me, trail me to my place of residence.”

“So I started taking on extra work, both for extra coin and to try and avoid Ioemedae’s mercy. If all went well I'd either act when told to or run my contract out and then move to another place for added coin.”

Roan stretched, rubbing his legs before he started to rise up. Ignoring the noises his joints made as he did so.  The sky was indeed getting lighter now. The darkness was fading to the pale red, and bile-colored hues that signified the sun was rising in the worldwound. “I didn’t participate when the cultists overran the city. Rather, after I was told to reanimate whomever I could. Further the chaos and what have you. But they sprung the invasion when I was in the cemetery delivering some bread to the graveyard keepers.”

“I thought about going to take advantage of the chaos- I was getting a per-body bonus. But there were other necromancers working. So by the time I could even enter Kenabres, it was after the Commander had helped repeal the demons and cultists.”

“But where there’s death, there’s funerals! I knew if I waited I could  handle the undead at the graveyard. If I killed the Commander I’d have a bonus. But well. Now I’m here. Better, I think, than Ioemdae’s tender mercies.“

Roan studied Vassily’s corpse. Watched it for the longest time. The maggots still writhed, his robes were still dirtied with blood and frozen Viscera. But he saw that one of Vassily’s hands had fallen to lay upon the stone steps. It made him pause for a minute. Then he spoke again, turning his head to look southwards.

“I know if I chose to leave now I’d go, I think back to my teacher or to where the ghouls are in the inner seas region again. My master told me once there’s a place deep underground. Between Osirion and Thuvia, deep deep below the ground. It looks like where Kabriri dwells, my teacher told me. He told me, I think, because I was sick with ghoul fever at the time and trying to comfort me. I survived, but I never forgot what he said.”

Roan turned away from Vassily to walk towards the door where the Commander had left earlier. “I wish we could have gone to Drezen together. maybe this crusade is also what I need or was all the things I’ve missed, or perhaps it was a friend I’d needed all along. I can't leave though. So I’ll- I’ll try my best here. ”

---

Roan found the next body in the cemetery.  “I lost my honor in my homeland.” He whispered softly, reading one of the gravestones. “I regained it here.” Something in those words seemed especially poignant to him. He mouthed it to himself over and over as he carried the corpse back to the chapel.

Vassily’s corpse was gone from where he’d laid it on the steps in front of Desna. There was no sign of it. Not in the snow or burrowed into the snow by the corpses Roan had covered earlier.

Only the Priests’s symbol of Abadar remained in the courtyard. A small golden key lay on the steps, partially hidden by bloody snow. Roan leaned down to pick it up. The Mendevians had a interesting tradition of key necklaces wherein the bow of the key was shaped like the first letter of the wearer’s name. Depending on the money the buyer had the keys could get quite elaborate. Roan rubbed his thumb over the V, deep in thought for a moment.

And then he hid the key in his dirty robes.

“I’ll keep this.” He told nobody in particular. His voice was gone now and all that escaped him was a low low wisp of sound. The sky was bright enough that he could see through a broken section of the wall. He moved closer and saw a black speck in the distance.

Roan watched it go until it was gone.

[talesfromasnarkylisa]

Lacey: Chapter 14

James: August 18, 2023

So…Lacey was nice to me the other day. Yay? 

I mean, it was clearly only to save her ass. There was no other way out other than to convince the editors to open up. Succumb and apologize for sending a tampered draft and the editors would have had a black mark to use against her later. Either way, my reputation among them was still fairly decent. That was what mattered for my plan. 

Did I even have a proper plan, though, at that point? Lacey was no longer going to directly seek me out for advice on popularity. I nearly got her kicked from her cozy beta-reader position, after all. 

Then I realized something. While Lacey fucking Hannah did send me a message telling me she didn’t need my advice to succeed, she didn’t actually cut me off. In fact, she was more than happy to talk. 

This was the perfect opportunity to entertain her crush on me.

Archer J (08/18/23, 7:00 PM): Heya Lacey.

Lacey Hannah (08/18/23, 7:01 PM): Hi…

Archer J (08/18/23, 7:03 PM): Sorry about yesterday.

Lacey Hannah (08/18/23, 7:05 PM): That’s all you can manage lol?

Geez, I thought. Calm down. It’s half your fault anyways.

Archer J (08/18/23, 7:06 PM): Ok. I’m sorry that I didn’t try to hide my writing style better, and for sending you my revised draft several days late. Are we good now?

Much to my relief, she was.

Lacey Hannah (08/18/23, 7:08 PM): Of course we cool my lil’ broski

Archer J (08/18/23, 7:10 PM): So now you’re using texting language?

Lacey Hannah (08/18/23, 7:11 PM): We R texting, soooo…. XD

Archer J (08/18/23, 7:16 PM): Okay, I’ll relax. You hummingbird.

Lacey Hannah (08/18/23, 7:17 PM): That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.

She then told me about her day at work (boring) and her plans to submit to Writer’s Delight (useful). What I found out from there, though, was something able to make-or-break.

Corianna added Lacey to a group chat with my ex-partner, Betty aka Lovergirl. I call her an “ex-partner” because our relationship was intimate but never sexual. A romantic friendship, if you will. Both how we got there and later broke up are complicated.

Anyhow, Corianna wasn’t a huge deal compared to Betty. After all, Corianna had a follower count in the 10 thousands and Folkin’ was a rather niche indie music one at about 1.5 thousand followers. Compared to Betty’s 60k follower monopoly on both TikTok and Medium, Corianna was nothing.

Betty was the main problem. She’d act all refined and confident in her many public fashion TikToks and personal Medium essays. But in private? She’d be a total tease. Irreverent for just about everyone in the most cutesy way possible. 

It’s something she could afford to be, given her insanely loyal fanboys (and some fangirls as well). It also has the tendency to influence the people around her as well. However, this sort of behavior would get someone like Lacey or even Corianna in trouble. For all her snark, Corianna did know when to shut up. Namely, in the presence of any wide-reaching editors.

To be fair, Betty would probably lose major numbers of followers if everything she said in private about the shallow publication admins dominating the amateur writing sphere came out. No one would want to face the wrath of her undying group of stans, though.

On one hand, I thought, Betty might get Lacey to say something stupid. On the other, perhaps Lacey would be too intimidated to not shut up. If she chose option 2, her content probably would enjoy more popularity.

Either way, this sort of people manipulation wasn’t something I’d be ready to do when the sword was as double-edged as it was. Lacey was still well under my grasp, anyways.

I texted Oscar Winters later out of a morbid curiosity as to how his MGK article draft turned out so bad.

Archer J (08/18/23, 8:00 PM): Hello, Oscar.

oscar winters (08/18/23, (8:01 PM): …Am I in trouble again?

Archer J (08/18/23, 8:04 PM): No, you’re not. You’d get a text from one of the actual editors instead of me if you were.

oscar winters (08/18/23, 8:06 PM): Right. Then why are you texting me?

Archer J (08/18/23, 8:08 PM): I was kind of wondering what you were thinking when you wrote the initial version of your piece on MGK. Not trying to sound mean.

Oscar took a while to respond. Perhaps this owed to him being embarrassed by his own response.

oscar winters (08/18/23, 8:20 PM): I was drunk. Drunk and stupid enough to submit while hungover by vodka.

Archer J (08/18/23, 8:21 PM): How old are you?

oscar winters (08/18/23, 8:25 PM): 22. This is my first time.

I was pretty shocked to find out he was a year older than me. Yes, his pieces were incredibly well formatted and written. But his profile picture was that of a - and I mean this in the nicest way possible - that of a pretty blond boy.

Regardless, we hit it off surprisingly well. He told me about his short career on Newsbreak, where he said there was too much garbage spam masquerading as “news” for him to stand the platform anymore. It kind of reminded me of the trashy AI poems which would sometimes circulate on Vocal. 

Oscar’s response?

oscar winters (08/18/23, 8:45 PM): They’re all like that, these amateur writing platforms. The admins and publication owners keep ‘em around because the bots give them clout and money. Best just to ignore them and move on.

Truer words had never been spoken about the state of indie publishing.

(Wattpad version: ​​https://www.wattpad.com/1499541042-lacey-chapter-14)

[ivory-lamps]

A11: The Mouse That Can't Fit In

Characters: Yodaka, Nagi, Toi & Renga Location: Hama Summary: The protagonist has something to say to Nagi and visits Nagi and Yodaka’s room. Nagi is not in and they ask Yodaka when Nagi will return, but Yodaka struggles with an answer… Proofreader: Shay

ㅤ

Momiji / Kaede: Hello, sorry for barging in.

Yodaka: Welcome to mine and Nagi’s room, “A Wet Rat, Dries”.

Momiji / Kaede: The names of the rooms always surprise me no matter how many times I hear them. Like Toi-kun and Netaro-kun’s “Boar Priest”. Wouldn’t you have preferred a different room?

Yodaka: It’s fine. Nagi was insistent on wanting this room…

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ📍 Flashback

Nagi: I want “A Wet Rat, Dries”.

Yodaka: There are others like “Sheep of the Same Flock” an–

Nagi: I want “A Wet Rat, Dries”.

Yodaka: I asked him about it afterwards, but it’s apparently similar to the radio alias he uses.

Momiji / Kaede: Oh, Nagi-kun suits that sort of radio thing. He looks like the sort of person to listen to late-night radio shows…! Like Every Night JPN! I think that’s where his unique preferences are from!

Does he listen to celebrity radio shows at night?

Yodaka: Hm. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see him do so. By the way, what are you doing here?

Momiji / Kaede: Oh, right. I have some business with Nagi-kun…

Yodaka: He left for work just now.

Momiji / Kaede: Oh… I see. I wanted to discuss the destination for the Night Group’s research trip.

And… there’s also this.

Yodaka: That’s a box of sweets from a Western dessert store.

Momiji / Kaede: It is. Nagi-kun missed out on the cake during last week’s party. I cut out a piece and left it for him but…

It seems Akuta-kun found it the next day and I just found out today that he accidentally ate it.

Yodaka: Haha. It was inevitable since he’s a growing high school student.

Momiji / Kaede: We went to buy him another one as an apology earlier. 

What time does Nagi-kun usually come back?

Yodaka: Hmm… ……

…I’ll tell him about the research trip and the cake when he’s back.

Momiji / Kaede: Thank you. That would be great.

(Hmm, Yodaka-san took a while to reply.)

(It doesn’t look like he won’t know when Nagi-kun comes back, but it feels like he’s beating around the bush or something.)

(Did something happen…? Like this lifestyle itself doesn’t fit well with Nagi-kun…? Maybe I’m overthinking it.)

Yodaka: ……

Momiji / Kaede: Um, I’ll leave the cake in the fridge downstairs. I'll add a note with Nagi-kun's name on it so others won't eat it! I’ll be going, then…

Yodaka: Wait.

Momiji / Kaede: Y–Yes? What is it?

Yodaka: Why are you asking about Nagi-kun? Is there something on your mind?

Momiji / Kaede: Ahaha… Could you tell by my face? I’m just a bit worried.

I was the one who asked him to come here, so I’m worried if I’m forcing him to do something he’s not used to.

Yodaka: …I see.

…To tell the truth, I’m quite shy as well. It takes a while for me to get used to a new environment.

That’s what happens when you get so used to living alone. The space you allow for others vanishes in a blink of an eye.

You’re prying it open so it’s not easy. I’m sure it’ll be necessary to abandon some things too, but it should be a good thing.

Momiji / Kaede: Right…

Yodaka: I have a feeling we’re similar.

It’s no one’s fault. It’s just because that’s been our lifestyle for a long time. There is nothing you need to worry about, Manager.

Momiji / Kaede: (Yodaka-san is reassuring me. He’s so kind…)

You’re right. Thank you so much! I’ll do my best to help him out until he gets used to the place, so that he can enjoy his time here!

Yodaka: Right. Please do so.

Nagi: Alrighty…

(I’ve left the store to Sonia, so I’ll have a bath, grab a change of clothes, go back to the store and sleep there tonight again…)

Hm?

Toi: ……

Nagi: (Toi is on the balcony. It looks like he’s staring at me but…)

(We’ve already locked eyes. If I pass by him without saying anything, then it’ll look like I’m ignoring him. But he might just be lost in thought, so is it okay for me to bother him?)

(I must make a difficult decision. This is even harder than seeing someone you know on the train. What would be the correct reaction here?)

(In the meantime, no ignoring. I’ll look him in the eyes to show him I’ve noticed him… by blinking.)

Toi: ……

Nagi: (...No response. But I can’t turn back now. Someone might see me and Toi like this – the show must go on.)

Heey…

Toi: ……

(Toi leaves)

Nagi: ……

(He completely ignored me. Oh, well… I guess?)

Nagi: Ah…

Renga: O–Oh… Is my face that much of a shock…?

Nagi: …I didn’t think you would be here. So…

Renga: The bath is communal so you’re bound to see other people here. There are 10 people in here when it’s crowded, you know?

Nagi: I see. Sorry.

Renga: It’s not something you have to apologise for. Anyway, you don’t have to be so reserved.

We’re literally living under the same roof and we’ve been through a lot together… so we’re like friends, right?

Nagi: …Friends.

Renga: Yeah. W–We’re… friends…

Come on! Stop standing there in a daze – hurry up and get changed so we can go in.

Nagi: …Together?

Renga: Huh? Well, yeah, you happen to be here, so… Of course, we’re gonna sit in the bath together.

Nagi: Oh, right. Sorr–

Renga: You’re a weird one…

Nagi: …… Sorr–

Renga: …………

Uh, where is the clothes basket…?

Nagi: Here, use this.

Renga: Huh? …Thanks. But one’s fine. I don’t need five.

Nagi: Right. It’s too many. There’s still one extra if you use one basket for your shirt, pants, underwear and socks, huh.

Renga: ……

Nagi: ……

*Renga and Nagi get changed*

Renga: A–Alright, I’ll have a cup of water before the bath… Huh?

There isn’t a lot of water left in the dispenser.

Nagi: I’ll bring a new container right away. Wait here.

Renga: Huh!? Wait, that’s not something you have to do.

Nagi: Oh.

Renga: ……

Okay, time for a bath…

*Nagi opens the door for Renga*

Nagi: Please, after you.

Renga: …You finished taking your clothes off before me, so you should’ve gone in first. What’re you trying to do by being an automatic door for me?

Besides, aren’t you being way too considerate?

Nagi: ……

Renga: You even brought out a hair dryer and brush for me, too…

Are you planning on being a servant for everyone you see here every day?

Nagi: I’ll apologise if it felt unpleasant.

Renga: N–No… it wasn’t unpleasant at all! I appreciate you doing all this stuff for me… but!

Doing that every time will tire you out, right?

Nagi: Not really.

Renga: Uh, no, that’s not what I’m trying to say… You don’t have to do all this, you know…?

Nagi: Have to?

Renga: Uh, that’s not quite right, huh. How should I put this…

Nagi: ……

Renga: Um… damn it, I can’t find the right words. If only Liguang was here… The things he says tend to be pretty useful at times like these…

Nagi: ……

I think I get it. I’ll be careful in the future.

Nagi: Sigh…

(I don’t have to do that, huh.)

(I know it’s just words but Renga looked really troubled.)

(I troubled him. …I knew it.)

(I knew this would be too much for me. Being a ward mayor and living with other people…)

It’s all too heavy for me. It was impossible from the very beginning…

(But do I say no at this point in time? I even shamelessly participated in the party and had all that food.)

…Hm?

A note from Yodaka-san?

…… A discussion about the research trip and…

……

The cake wasn’t a big deal.

……

“You might have been busy with work so I chose not to send you a message on PeChat. Have a talk with the manager when you’re back” …huh.

……

Momiji / Kaede: Nagi-kun, welcome! Good job working today!

Nagi: You, too.

Toi: Oh… Nagi-san~...

Nagi: (Toi’s here too. Come to think of it, he ignored me on the balcony…)

(No. That was an appropriate response. Toi didn’t do anything wrong. Everyone finds it lazy to react back – it happens all the time.)

(Him ignoring me is nothing weird. So… I’m totally fine.)

Sorry for intruding.

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[kat-trash]

My hometown drama is going off, we have a 7 year relationship that ended, because the gf cheated on her “soulmate” bf with girl that also in the very small local music/alt scene. Later ex gf says it’s basically all his fault because “this girl fed her soul” and she’s “on her growth journey and needs to explore sexually.” It was bad enough that the whole friend group found out via group text from ex gf & then she left the chat asap; like before questions can be asked of her or she can read any response. She ends up leaving presumably now her ex bf to answer everyone’s shocked replies and questions.

Like this might as well be from a soap opera / YA novel because it sounds so fucking fake. Truly nothing gives as good as Phoenix, the shit people pull there like it’s normal adult behavior is criminal.

I waited like a week to call her out for her weird pity me posts, that no one is talking to her, she’s the victim in the situation. Some how she’s the victim because she was stifled in a long term (committed???) relationship and needs to figure herself out. 

1. We would’ve reached out if she didn’t abandon the chat asap.

2. We took that as a clear “I’m not talking about this in more depth” a pretty clear “I don’t wanna talk about it, especially with any of you” I’m not sure what we were intended to glean from the one paragraph of self-centered ranting of her shame that she already definitely already feels.

She commented on my vague call out post (where I mention no details/names/ specific pronouns/identifying info) “what do y’all wanna know?” And deleted it a minute later. Like if could actually ask any questions they might be something like: Why you thought any of this was the correct way to handle things?? Why did you leave him to do damage control with his ~20 friends that saw what you said in our group chat? An apology or literally anything at all besides “I’m the victim! 😭” or “I already hate myself and am disgusting and will live with this for the rest of my life.”

She likely deleted it because people that don’t know anyone involved, said that doing why she did was “disgusting” “shameful” “cowardly” “disappointing” and that I said nothing about her or pointed her out in any way & she realized she put herself on blast.

Girl BFFR you literally lost all but one friend, who is kindly letting you stay with her and she already says living with you is fucking awful, it’s been one week. Her bf bought her a brand new car because she couldn’t hold down a job and needed better transportation, he’s covered their mortgage payments on his own (yes he owns a home, it was a family member’s property before he inherited it) because she kept getting fired from jobs for being late; and she’d spend all her money on new clothes and hair dye because she has to change things up impulsively every week-month timespan.

She lost her house, a car, the vast majority of her friends, and her loving partner because she didn’t want to admit she fell/was falling out of love with her partner. She was the one initially way more into monogamy and the concept of soulmates, he was perfectly fine with having a monogamous relationship with her because he wasn’t that curious about polyamory. They’ve discussed why they’d do if they ever separated, he’d take the spare room or couch and she’d have the main bedroom so she’d have space and privacy. She chose to leave the house and refused anything from him, and now she’s using it as reasons to why he’s treating her poorly.

[neur0nom1con]

I dont often get involved with drama, so I apologize to my followers for this sudden and out of character post, it’ll probably be the last time I’ll talk about this unless some dickriders come and attack me or if I’m asked to talk about it again.

The fact that there are people nearing adulthood attacking CHILDREN for shittalking someone who deserves it floors me. I’m so sorry to anybody who’s innocent and just trying to protect the better party, this shit is unnecessary on the offenders part. To Tulip and Outkast, I’m so sorry you’re getting harassed over this. The other party could try and say you were handing this incorrectly, but what else were they to expect from children? This isn’t your fault, it’s theirs for bringing this situation to the public.

Not going to name names since I don’t encourage the harassment of others, but you’re a nazi, you have a school shooter OC, and you’ve done more deplorable shit than I can count on my hands and toes. Seriously? Holocaust jokes? Fucking gross.

So what if a kid is hurting your feelings? Just ignore it and move on. You claim sending death threats is an awful thing to do but I doubt you haven’t gone around telling people to off themselves either as a joke or because they pissed you off, your behaviour says you’ve told more people to die than either of these kids have in their whole time on the internet.

News flash!! you’re going to receive death threats regardless because that’s one of the cons it takes to being popular or even existing online. I’ve had my fair share of death threats, you know what I do? Nothing, because it’s not my problem. Like seriously, grow up and move on with your life, you’re 19 and acting like this is the end of the world. Have you considered that you were spoken to that way because your actions are despicable? That the things you say aren’t harmless and can very much hurt the people around you? Like have some self reflection, they’re saying this for a reason. “But.. But it was unwarranted…!” Did you maybe look back on your art or actions and think “Hmm, maybe this is socially unacceptable in the majority! Maybe what I’m saying can be triggering to others and I should keep this to a niche group or share this privately to people I know are okay with it!”. You could try and argue that what you said was a joke, but nobody in their right mind would try and dismiss that bullshit as a joke, you’re doubling down on something you can easily just admit your fault to.

Also! Quit blaming your behaviour on a personality disorder, because guess what! Tulip didn’t know, only people close to you knew! We’re not mind readers, we had no way of knowing that about you. It’s the equivalent of me going “I didn’t mean to cross your boundaries you very explicitly stated! I’m autistic so I don’t understand social cues!!”. It’s childish. You’re the adult in this situation, act like it and talk to us like a reasonable adult does instead of going online like a wuss. My family has a history of personality disorders, I’ve had to deal with that for my whole life. They can take accountability, why can’t you?

If the person i’m talking about happens to see this, I strongly encourage you reach out. Not by reblogging, but by direct messages. The internet doesn’t need to know that you’re beefing with children nearly 4 - 5 years younger than you. The way you’re handling this is baffling to me, so I’d much rather you talk to me like an actual person instead of pointing fingers saying “BAD BAD BAD ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK” like you’re at the salem witch trials. Also, don’t even think about publicly involving anybody with a huge following. You know the harm that can cause, literally anybody with a brain knows that.

Again, sorry for the change of posting, I feel quite strongly about this,, Victor over and out!

I’m 15.

Cope.