enstars-selfship-event

[enstars-selfship-event]

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[enstars-selfship-event]

@enstars-selfship-event thanks mods r and m! stay strong!

Rating: 16+ for implied/referenced sex and light horror.

Genre: Supernatural, Black Comedy

Ship: Snakesling (Ibara Saegusa x Milton Pelage)

Notes & Warnings: Future AU (Ibara is 28). Thank you to my fellow Mod Apple for the consultation on Indonesian superstitions! Zeta is its super cool looking sona, please look out for the eldritch skrimbly on our blog!

What is Snakesling?

Ibara is 28 and Cospro President. Eden has gone solo for profit maximisation. He deals with that by letting loose at his new resort, Limbus Tropicae, and my sona Milton is unfortunately(?) the bartender. Read my yume intro to find out more about my setting!

Summary

Ibara has to personally represent Cosmic Productions at Startech Asia, the Met Gala of idol agencies. Each agency makes their name at the convention by a new prototype to revolutionise the entertainment world - and so far, the walking AI-assisted lifelike nuis of himself have been falling flat. 

Milton’s just added ‘spirit shaman in training’ to his CV, and is convinced he can add a little something special to the circuitry…

Part 2

“Jelangkung, Jelangsat…”

Even the flame of the lighter had begun to shrink at the sound of these words. With no moon in the sky, it only cast a dinner-plate sized glow over all three of their faces.

Betraying logic, Ibara began to count. He needed to make sure they were really alone.

“Di sini ada pesta…”

We have a party here,

Milton. Leaning into the flickering light, absorbed like a ten-year old child.

“Pesta kecil-kecilan…”

A small party.

Himself. Shaken from sleep, an even ghastlier presence than the crooked trees against the full moon.

“Jelangkung, Jelangsat…”

The Shaman, chanting, eyes like a fish behind that monochrome mess of hair…

“Datang tak dijemput…”

Come uninvited

…And of course, the doll.

The industry-standard chibi of cheap fabrics and flimsy seams. They were stretched to their limit on a crucifix of sticks in some simulation of a medieval punishment, a deeply uncomfortable sight considering it bore his face.

It knew he was responsible for its plight. That empty, coquettish stare made Ibara feel like he was the human counterpart that robbed him of a worthy existence.

“Pulang tak diantar.”

Go undelivered.

The sticks snapped as hard as the doll’s neck. 

“Pelage, watch out! Pelage – !!”

“...That all it’s supposed to do?”

The toy waddled across the mattress on its stumpy little legs. Barely half the length of an index finger, they struggled to keep its fully stuffed balloon of a head upright. Given the thing already moved like it was made of solid iron, this caused it to sway harder than a vagrant leaving a pub at one in the morning.

A slew of muffled, enthusiastic Japanese greetings left from somewhere in the factory-made mess. It then slammed itself repeatedly against his arm.

“It’s a work in progress.” Ibara sighed pointedly, covering the blanket over his bare chest.

“Dude, I’m gonna be real with you, a Tickle-Me-Elmo’s got more personality than this thing.” Milton winced and grabbed the nui by its swollen head, then sent it on its way to beat its outstretched arms on Ibara’s leg. “Oh man, look! The AI inside’s gaining sentience! ‘You fiend! Release me from this cuddly, marketable prison! Key-rey, or whatever!’ ”

Ibara clenched his jaw and switched it off. He held it by the scruff of its neck and inspected it with disdain, leaning it just very slightly over the basket with the Japan Post wrapping it came in. “Why does everything bad happen when I’m not around? Someone’s getting fired for this.”

“Woah, woah woah! We don’t need to go that far!” Milton yanked the nui out from his hands and set it towards the sunlight. “You said the sensors need some visual stimulation for the neural network to learn, right?”

“What do you think you’re –”

Milton opened the sliding glass doors to the verandah.

Once hit with the full force of the afternoon blaze, pinprick-sized lenses whirred to life. The Ibara nui turned towards its handlers in a slow, mysteriously lifelike capacity. Through the moefied façade of its embroidered face, a tinge of pensiveness, or even longing. 

“Go forth, Temu Tactician! Be free!” To the sound of Milton’s frat-loud cheering, one wiggle of its stub-leg became a leap, then a classic military goose-step that had Ibara take his reading glasses off. Not looking back at its cradle of packaging peanuts, it embarked forward on a journey of discovery - straight into the bottom of the nearby pool.

Milton blinked, and the real Ibara was gone too.

“This is the last time you lay a single finger on my prototypes, Pelage!” The President of Cosmic Productions nearly kicked the door off its hinges, his kitten-patterned boxers fully drenched and smelling of chlorine. The nui convulsed in his arms. 

“Huh, wha -” Milton protested, shocked himself by the sight of life leaving the doll’s eyes. Ibara was fuming with the grief of a mother for her child, and he didn’t know how much of his skin would be left on his body if he laughed. “Sorry, I was only trying to -”

“To bankrupt me next quarter, of course! What else!?” 

“I can fix -”

“Oh, do you plan to miraculously fix not just the circuitry, but overhaul the entire product by this weekend?” Ibara let Milton reach for the toy, then rolled his eyes and flinged it into the trash. “Be my guest. Considering your track record with the mechanics of the toilet seat, I have nothing but my utmost faith in you!”

“A toilet’s a toilet!” Milton huffed and fell back onto the bed. “It only needs ONE button, and that’s the flush!”

Ibara squeezed the bridge of his nose. A groan burst from his lungs.

“R&D busted their asses for this. If this doesn’t bring in any profit after Startech, people will lose their jobs. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Zoom call.”

The moment the door to the bedroom snapped shut, Milton dove for the nui. The waterlogged bundle of squashed fabric latched onto his hand while the rest of its body floundered about. Through the static, he could barely make out its barking of the same fifteen-second voice reel. 

To think that in this recession, a living person was soon going to be in the same state. Thrown aside with mild indifference despite all their efforts. He had heard enough from acquaintances-of-friends-of-colleagues in their tight resort community to know that in terms of work, Ibara and sentiment were oil and water. His ruthless efficiency and chronic tendency to sabotage were the tall tales told between shifts, until they became ingrained in Limbus Tropicae’s own peculiar mythology. 

However diluted this aspect of Ibara had become since his Shuetsu days – now a thin veneer of sarcasm and drunken disrespect – the parrot wasn’t going to stay quietly on his shoulder.

He flipped open his laptop, a heaving beast of burden of a Macbook smothered in stickers from college clubs, and began to search: “Startech”.

“The biggest entertainment technology convention in Asia, organised by Ensemble Square.” Milton whispered to himself. “Held at the Marina Bay Sands Financial Centre in Singapore - lame, all concrete and no cool stuff… 21st to 22nd of June!?”

Needing it on the weekend wasn’t just another figment of Ibara’s usual paranoia, after all.

Milton picked the nui up from the bedside table and held it up to the sun. It sagged between his fingers.

“By God, Temu Tactician, we are going to save those salarymen!” With a determined ‘hmph’, he folded its arm into a salute, spilling a few drops of pool water onto the blanket.

Ibara sucked in a breath. The dumbbell ghosted his training shoes. Keeping his head high, he ground his heels into the gym mat and locked both his fists around the iron bar.

“Knew I’d find you here, Goose!”

“You do realise they’re called shifts because they end, right?” Came Milton’s reply. “How long’ve you been here, anyway?”

The sound of a hundred kilograms falling a hair’s length from his toes elicited a furious yowl. He hopped back a pace, keeping his eyes facing forward and hissing at the voice behind him.

“You! What are you doing here!? Don’t you have a shift to perform!?”

Ibara darted to the clock: it was already two in the morning. If he hadn’t paused to check, it might as well have been two in the afternoon. No matter; he’d been twisting himself into knots all day with emergency meetings that any time not tossing in bed was time well spent.

“All night. I’ve been here all night, thinking about the mess you’ve…”

His head snapped behind him. The shaggy half-pint peered up from the rowing machine with dark eyes and a painted smile. Replacing his beach shirts and board shorts – a sorry excuse for a uniform – was a fine silken shirt and sarong adorned with gnarled bone jewelry.

Milton reached for Ibara, who had frozen still, and took his hand into his own. Smears on his palms glimmered a deep red and seemed to pour from his very flesh.

“I fixed it.’

Half the gym lights shut, leaving them in near-total darkness.

“...Elaborate?” Ibara recoiled. 

“I mean. I fixed it. Dude.” Milton drew out every word into a monotone. Smoke emerged with each whisper, coiling up and around him and blanketed the entire gym floor.

“Figured it out. Gonna take something out...”

 Ibara shuddered.

“And put someone in.”

“What the hell is going on!? What have you done to yourself!” Ibara kicked away the smoke and banged his fist against the wall. “Stop this shit now, or I’ll - ”

The lights came back on. It was Milton’s turn to freeze, caught with his lips puckering at the spout of an orange cartridge. The plastic case was adorned with slices of mangos and tangerines. Cute sea turtles swam around Turta’ Tango in wavy bubble text.

“...Are you kidding me?”

“It’s a work in progress. I can’t make the smoke ring with my mouth yet.” Milton shrugged and started scratching at the smears on his palms, which Ibara could now see were crude drawings of genitalia at various sizes. “Ugh, permanent marker sucks. I’m never letting Zeta draw on me ever again.”

Ibara still looked as if he’d been struck from the back with a hammer. His dark-circled eyes flared at the cartridge. It was no bigger than one of the highlighters he’d kept in his stationery drawer: on those late nights before big deadlines, that made them easier to disguise.

“It’s all local. Made from the spring behind the resort. What, you want a hit, or?”

“I don’t have time for this.”

Ibara flipped his towel over his head and spun sharply towards the showers. But before he could catastrophize about the inevitable press conference to explain the falling share prices, Milton ensnared his wrist around his arm.

And that’s where he found himself bounding past the doors of the gym into the damp wilderness of the jungle, until the sound of chattering guests petered out to the wild rush of waterfalls and the buzzing of mosquitoes. Despite every attempt to free himself or shake Milton out of his trance, he could only watch helplessly as civilisation floated further and further away. 

“Pelage, I am going to kill you with - What. The Fuck.”

The grotto of dead bushes wrapped themselves above and around his feet. He trudged through the leaf litter towards the only things he could see.

A lighter. A face. And something strung up next to a red marker and a sheet of paper, small and shrivelled and looking straight at him.

“Man, this is gonna be the best summer ever!” With Milton’s cheering, bats scattered into the sky. He took out his own lighter and began gesturing around.

“Zeta, Goose. Goose, Zeta.” 

Ibara had expected someone else entirely from the nature of the doodles on Milton. Instead, the face stepped into the moonlight and emerged a towering gentleman; or at least something in the image of one. 

His sarong of strange, tentacle-like patterns coiled around his waist. The entity’s limbs moved as though inflicted with late-stage rigor mortis, and the bleached layers of black hair didn’t exactly help with that impression. Below his porcelain expression was a chest that did not seem to rise and fall. 

Fixed on something far behind Ibara in the distance, he managed a curt bow. Milton tossed the vape over, and after catching without looking, took a slow puff. 

“This one wishes to trifle with the spirits?”

“Spirits!?” Ibara shrieked mid-bow, retching at the smoke. Milton covered his mouth.

“We SO do. After this I pass Shaman 101, right?”

“To qualify as a dukun, Milton,” Zeta shook his head, sitting back down and spinning the marker with intrigue. “You simply… survive.”

Ibara shook Milton off and barked down at him. “You were summoning ghosts behind my back!?”

“Since when did you believe? You need like, three peer-reviewed articles to accept any advice I give you.” The parrot shot back. “You’re cooked for Startech. Your team’s still banging rocks together trying to discover fire. You want it to move? We can make it do so much more. Goose, Temu Tactician.”

He pointed to the mysterious effigy they stood in a triangle around. When the clouds cleared and the moon shone through, Ibara nearly threw up. 

“We’re going to die.”

Caked in soil and leaf litter, the nui was crucified on two pieces of damp wood. A white cloth, strangely pristine, was wrapped around its mutilated body. At first it seemed tied to the wood for support, but on closer inspection, it was tied through it. The sharpened tip pierced through the top of its head, its wiry brain matter spilling out.

“Oh, come on. We’re doo-koons, not Build-A-Bear staff.” 

With a heavy groan of defeat, Ibara sat down. 

This wasn’t exactly his first rodeo. That demon of an instructor took sadistic joy in telling ghost stories. He’d then steal his night vision gear, making Ibara chase him into the forests to get it back. One misstep and he’d jump from the bushes, pinning him to the ground with a force he felt while dreaming and awake. 

He’d only find out it was Instructor through breakroom banter 10 years later. But it didn’t matter; just thinking about the experience kept the fear boiling in his blood.

“If this fails, Milton,” As per Zeta’s instructions, he stood on one side of the doll and held it. Milton stood on the other and did the same. “I hope it gets to you first.”

“Shh! It’s starting.”

The monochrome man began to chant.

“Jelangkung, Jelangsat…”

Even the flame of the lighter had begun to shrink at the sound of these words. With no moon in the sky, it only cast a dinner-plate sized glow over all three of their faces.

Betraying logic, Ibara began to count. He needed to make sure they were really alone.

“Di sini ada pesta…”

We have a party here,

Milton, absorbed like a ten-year old child.

“Pesta kecil-kecilan…”

A small party.

Himself, now sleepless.

“Jelangkung, Jelangsat…”

Zeta. Chanting, eyes like a fish…

“Datang tak dijemput…”

Come uninvited

…And of course, the doll.

It knew he was responsible for its plight. 

“Pulang tak diantar.”

Go undelivered.

The sticks snapped as hard as the doll’s neck. 

“Pelage, watch out! Pelage – !!”

The lighters went out, leaving them at the mercy of the eerie blue-gray mist that spread around them. The doll fell forwards and crushed Ibara’s fingers with the force of what felt like that hundred-kilogram dumbbell. He screamed. 

“Zeta!” Milton’s head snapped to his teacher. “What do we -”

“We embrace it. When we embrace it, we do not feel pain.” The dukun simply crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Another crack resounded in the grotto. A tree branch fell from above, pummelling his chest straight into the ground.

“Zeta! Shit!” 

Not a sound from him. After barely managing to lift Ibara’s fingers out from under the nui, which writhed on the ground with a force that tested the limits of its felt body, the apprentice dukun whipped out his phone.

“Milton!” Ibara shouted. “It’s all up to you - Oh, are you fucking serious!?”

“They know everything on there, okay!?” Milton frantically scrolled through a saved Reddit page on his phone. “Now shut up! Jelangkung jelangsat, disini ana pesta, peca kecil-kecilan, jelangkung jelangsat, datang tidak diundar, pergi tidak diantar!”

From being impossible to lift, the doll grew lighter. And lighter. Until it wiggled its limbs free from Milton’s and Ibara’s fingers, scrambling like a horse learning to walk. 

Then, it stood on two legs and saluted - with broken and rustling mechanics, poking like broken bones through the stitching. 

“敬礼～✰ この 「七種茨」を召還してくれて有難うございました！” Salute! I thank you sincerely for summoning this ‘Saegusa Ibara’ !

Ibara’s own voice was talking back to him - a little older-sounding and strained, but a near-perfect impression. It wasn’t playing through the voicebox. Not even from inside the nui, but from everywhere around them.

Milton gulped. Looks like they wouldn’t need the pen and paper anymore. 

“Uh. Last I checked, we’re in Indonesia. How is it -”

“Your pronunciation must’ve been so bad, the spirit world thought it was Japanese.” Ibara chuckled, then patted him on the back like all he’d done to save their life was just a run down to the market. “Anyway, good job. Your work is done here.”

Ibara then turned to the nui.

“Spirit!” The viper commanded in Japanese. “I, Saegusa Ibara, have returned you to the realm of the living. I present to you a contract: perform according to my instructions and entertain my guests. Then, as one of the wealthiest men in Japan, I will grant you anything you desire!”

He spread his arms out in front of the nui for emphasis. But with the doll no taller than three apples, Ibara was looking down. Rather than a grandiose speech, it seemed more like he was about to give it a big hug.

The nui responded with a slow, contemplative nod.

“Very well. I accept.” It hopped into Milton’s arms and switched to a refined English. “You, secretary. Bring me a warm bath, a fresh hakama and a bottle of Reikyo Absolute 0.”

“We only have one in our cabinet! And I’m not -”

“Yes, my secretary will do so immediately.” Ibara glared at Milton, smiling through gritted teeth as he picked up the unconscious shaman. “Quickly, now. We have some product evaluation to do~✰”

Hello! This is Mod Serpent. Day 7 took way longer and way more words than expected, but it was so worth it! I thought that with all the cute stuff coming out of the Nui prompt, I'd dare to be different. If you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading! Here's Part 2 for your convenience. I promise things will only get better for our two heroes :)

[enstars-selfship-event]

Rating: 16+ for implied/referenced sex and light horror.

Genre: Supernatural, Black Comedy

Ship: Snakesling (Ibara Saegusa x Milton Pelage) yume intro!

Notes & Warnings: Future AU (Ibara is 28). Thank you to my fellow Mod Apple for the consultation on Indonesian superstitions! Zeta is its super cool looking sona, please look out for the eldritch skrimbly on our blog!

What is Snakesling?

Ibara is 28 and Cospro President. Eden has gone solo for profit maximisation. He deals with that by letting loose at his new resort, Limbus Tropicae, and my sona Milton is unfortunately(?) the bartender.

Summary

Ibara has to personally represent Cosmic Productions at Startech Asia, the Met Gala of idol agencies. Each agency makes their name at the convention by a new prototype to revolutionise the entertainment world - and so far, the walking AI-assisted lifelike nuis of himself have been falling flat. 

Milton’s just added ‘spirit shaman in training’ to his CV, and is convinced he can add a little something special to the circuitry…

Cleaving through the morning mist, the cruise glided along the tide like a knife through butter. In the open-air lounge at the back, the nui stretched out its arms and legs on a u-shaped couch a hundred times its size. Milton crouched next to it and swung a large feather fan, drenched in sweat, while Ibara watched from the edge of the cushions with catlike amusement.

“Hey, can we just go insi -”

“And miss an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature?” The nui was now deep-cleaned with acetone and five hours of back-breaking labour. It raised its chest to mimic a deep breath and used its hands to tilt the corners of its squiggly smile. “The salt of the sea pairs exceptionally with my chosen aperitif.” 

“You don’t have a nose.” Milton retorted. The two-thousand dollar bottle of Reikyo Absolute was sitting warm, unopened and dripping with condensation. “Or a mouth.”

“Pelage!” Ibara snapped, then dipped his head towards the nui. “I apologise for my secretary’s rudeness. He has yet to understand the gravity of his privilege in attending such an event.”

“Doesn’t feel like it.” Milton grumbled out of the corner of his mouth and returned to swinging the fan at the nui, while it somehow managed a backflip with that chubby, cotton-filled head. 

Ibara’s head, too, was filled with cotton from the way he smothered that thing with compliments. Given how full of himself he usually was, seeing him show deference to anyone else was one of life’s greatest mysteries, even greater than the spinning breakdance his plushie clone just did. 

To hear someone different speak through the guy he had laughed and cried with over the most abhorrent things, and to make things worse, hear from colleagues that this had always been part of him - was he supposed to laugh or be pissed off at how pathetic Ibara actually was?

The parrot reached into his blazer and took the longest puff he’s ever had in his life.

“So, how’d you die?”

“Pelage!”

“No, it’s quite alright.” The nui shook his head and let out a sigh of nostalgia. “I forgot the exact cause, but I know in my life that I was destined for the stage. Perhaps that is what brings us together. A desire to not just grow and surpass, but lead others onto the same path.”

“You were an idol?”

“Something like that.” The fabric bundle chuckled and turned to Ibara. “And I cannot thank you enough for giving me the chance to take up an old mantle.”

The horizon unfolded into a glass and steel metropolis, a jagged contrast to the rolling jungle hills of the resort. A trio of buildings rose above the rest in a single file, balancing a long, boat-shaped steel structure on top of them. How was that even supposed to work? Milton instantly recalled Spongebob’s chrome-plated future: beautiful, but barely livable. He wondered if he was looking at their version of a banana split when Ibara’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“The Bay Sands Hotel. Tenshouin - God rest his soul - never failed to impress with his venues.” Ibara remarked. “But unfortunately, we will not be staying there.”

“Oh, thank God - ”

“Due to the recession, we’ve had to settle.”

Before he knew it, the three of them were swept through Greco-Roman columns, spinning in the bright gold revolving doors of an ornate marble palace.

“Seriously? The Fullerton is ‘settling’?” Milton shot Ibara a judgemental look through the glass from his quarter of the revolving door. He had begrudgingly hung the nui on his back. He didn’t feel as humiliated by the idol fanatic impression than the nui wiggling with delight the whole way, barely even trying to pass as a mere toy.

“What can I say, Pelage? We have standards.” Ibara quipped. “Something you could stand to learn once in a while.”

“Good point.” A dry chuckle from the parrot’s mouth. “Think we should start seeing other people?”

“Gentlemen, please…” The nui’s head lolled from side to side. “Dizzy…”

There was no peace from the moment Milton’s fingers left the glass of the door. Ibara had scheduled everything down to the minutiae of struggling with baggage locks to the time they each required to freshen themselves up with cologne. The last four and a half minutes he had to himself in that hotel, he lay spread-eagle on the bed and let his mind fizzle out in the darkness. 

“You’ve done quite well for me,” came a whisper in his left ear, sweet and inviting. 

“Mmhrmm…” Milton melted into the sultry caress of wandering hands. “You have fulfilled your tasks to the highest degree. Would a reward energise you in preparation for our big reveal?”

“But what about the… ” “Oh, he won’t mind.” A gravelly hum. “He’s well-taken care of.”

When the pressure from the elevators finally popped out of his ears, Milton trailed behind Ibara through the double doors of the ballroom. The nui had been placed in a box with a black cloth, which he held with one hand in front of his waist. With the other, he desperately tried to zip back the fly on his thirty-dollar dress pants. 

The kind of conventions he had been used to were flooded with greasy degenerates in Monogatari series t-shirts, huddled together in the aisles of Artist Alleys like a pack of rats. This was an outright Victorian soirée: booths of peculiar devices laid out on Scandinavian high tables amidst ice sculptures of great idols past, waiters swerving in and out with trays of caviar on crackers. 

The only sore thumbs were the guests themselves. With just a glance, he was sure he’d encountered hair of every colour on the visible human spectrum (though he and his rainbow-fade were in no place to judge). One of them was already drunk and whining about pachinko, while a shorter version of him carried him out on his shoulder. 

He dove away from the stampede and reclined against a nearby fish tank, only to find lime green eyes bulging back at him not through, but from within the tank.

“Bad “energy”.” The wannabe mermaid’s voice gurgled through a stream of bubbles, sending trails of his cyan beard flailing over his face. “You’ve been “bad”, haven’t you, Mr. Parrot~♪”

Milton screamed and ran over to the gazebo at the centre of the room, where Ibara stood with his hands on his hips. “Sorry, Goose! There was this guy crashing out, then this other guy asked me for ketchup for his champagne, then the fish man - !!”

Ibara simply laughed. “This is my world. You're just living in it."

A much taller man bumped into him from behind and took the box off his hands. His pure white mane cascaded down into a thick braid along his back, the hardened features of a Michaelangelo statue regarded everything but Ibara with cold indifference. 

“Nagisa and I will take care of this.” Ibara patted Milton on the shoulder. “We’ve both troubled you long enough. Why don’t you take the evening off back at the hotel?”

“I uh…” A tap of the mic, and a small crowd began gathering behind Milton. “Are you sure?”

“I’m certain. We’re about to begin - now run along!”

Milton was thrust into the droves of gathering idols and executives with a firm shove. He fell through the bodies like they were quicksand, sending him all the way past the doorway.

“It’s good to have you back, Ibara. ” The leader of Adam whispered with a slow, affirmative smile. 

“Thank you all for your participation in Starfest Asia!” Ibara went straight to addressing the crowd, causing Nagisa to raise an eyebrow. “Today, we have a very special announcement. Unforeseen forces have taken hold of our national economy, the very bedrock of our idol world.”

His fingers curled along the edge of the black cloth, eliciting ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’. 

“But today, we at Cosmic Productions will present to you the solution!”

The cloth was thrust into the air and unfurled like a bird set free, revealing the glass case… and the nui, slumped and lifeless against the cushions. 

A beat of silence, then another.

A wave of confused and mocking murmurs were silenced immediately by the clicking of Ibara’s heel on the platform - and the shattering of all the ice sculptures in the room.

“Indeed, I am shocked as you are.” Ibara stepped in front of the case. “This industry has lowered itself to a pile of mindless, consumerist drivel. These toys, made to endear us to our audience - ”

When his heel hit the ground, the nui burst into a pile of wood shavings and fluff. 

“Are an insult to our true purpose!” 

An executive scrambled for the door, and was flung across the room when it slammed itself shut. 

“Oi, Saegusa-san! What’s gotten into -” One of the seated idols, a well-built and rambunctious brunette clad in a bright red suit, leaped for the CosPro President. Just as his fingertips grazed Ibara, he calmly walked back to his seat, hanging his head. 

“Morisawa-senpai? Morisawa-senpai!” The olive-haired man next to him gave him a gentle shack, only for black ooze to coat his fingers. It spilled from every orifice in the ‘hero’s’ face.

The only source of light left was now the flame, engulfing the entire gazebo, reflected in the hollow blue of Ibara’s eyes. 

“Why do we perform? Why rise above the masses just to be seen as one of them?” His voice became so consumed with disdainful rage that it seemed to crackle and contort. Deepen, even, to an impossible baritone. “We are ideals. We defy, we destroy the limits of our own earthly humanity, and I see that in none of you. Not even ‘me’.”

The man shifted his body slowly to the one at his side, a smile twisted with admiration and possession.

“From this day forward, I will see it through that you all become shining stars. Because the ideal that I am means nothing if it cannot live through you. Isn’t that right?”

He turned to Nagisa, who shivered.

“...Y-Yes, father.”

Smoke billowed from beneath the doors. The hinges squealed when Milton kicked them open, red-faced and dead set on the phantom before him. ‘Ibara’s lip curled into a scowl.

“Ah, and here comes the kept man of my sole descendant.” The man bellowed. “A failure who dropped out of college to freeload off of his work, bartend and practice witchcraft in his spare time. If you had not led him astray from delivering an effective product, I wouldn’t have to be here.”

Milton’s knuckles clenched. Most of the executives seemed to have forgotten that they were all trapped, and that the very person they regarded with restrained condescension was the one who freed them.

“That foreigner… that’s why he’s overseas?”

“Saegusa-san’s been sleeping around? And with a man!?”

“Right!? I don’t care if I work here, I’m totally shorting Cospro stock!”

“How dare you insert yourself into his life - into our lives? He is a god beyond your understanding, like us all. But you made him weak to matters of the heart.”

Milton reached into his blazer.

“You made him incompetent.”

“Ideal, my ass!” The parrot scoffed. “You whined about having your two-thousand dollar sake the moment you came back to life. You made me come here so I could personally fan you in the heat. I don’t know how you think you’re above humans when even a child would be above thinking they deserve that sort of treatment.”

“Lies!” The man hissed.

“If you’re his ancestor, that means you deprived Saegusa of everything and made him claw his way back up to get it.” Milton minded the subtle press of Nagisa Ran’s lips, in shock as to how much he knew. With a respectful dip of his head, he gestured to Nagisa, who gave him a nod of understanding from the corner. “I’m not somebody. But I’m here because we’re trying to give back to him whatever you took away: his pride, his trust. Learning he’s not flawless is what’s getting him anywhere in the first place.”

“No, no… why isn’t it working!? Get him!” The man hissed. One of the folding chairs clattered to the ground. Streams of black still pouring from his face, the idol lumbered towards him like a marionette with broken strings. Then another, and another… until the whole crowd had been reduced to empty, twitching slates.

You just used him - all of us - as a tool to continue your reign.” Milton stood his ground and with a thumb, began lining up the man and his assailant with his thumb. “Way I see it, you’re the freeloader, bud.”

Ibara’s neck craned at impossible angles while a wretched scowl burst from his lungs. He floated an inch off the air as if being held up by the chest. The gazebo was consumed by a blossom of dark red flame. 

“Oi, Temu Tactician! Know what’s a good thing about being a useless, flawed human!?”

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Milton smirked.

“You’ve got lots of time to practice stupid shit.”

He took a long breath into the spout, and blew out Turta Tango into a roaring column of white. It sailed through the air, pristine and unharmed by the planks falling from the ceiling, unfolding into a perfect ring encircling the area around the man’s shoes.

The idols and executives batted away the smoke, their facial features returned to normal. He looked around and rushed to regroup with his colleagues. Meanwhile the man threw his head back, the roar of a hundred beasts replacing his cries. 

“Pure spring water from behind the resort,” The professional bum folded his arms. Each time the phantom tried to take a step out of the ring, tides of smoke rose and descended on him, blooming pitch-black marks wherever it touched. “Holy, in the Indonesian tradition.”

Ibara’s body hit the ground. On cue, the fire alarm echoed through the hall and doused the scattering crowd in water. 

Both Milton and Nagisa rushed to sling each of Ibara’s arms onto their shoulders. Indistinct and pained moans filled their ears until they got back to the hotel, where they stripped off his drenched blazer and wrapped him in a bundle of blankets. Not a trace of the black marks were found on his skin.

“...Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital?” Milton raised an eyebrow.

“Hm, you are free to try.” Nagisa mused. “I’m afraid doing so will only damage him more, as he inevitably wrestles from our grip.”

As if shot with a jolt of electricity, Ibara shot straight up on the bed. 

“ I fear we are not ready to see each other yet.” Nagisa trailed off sadly as he closed the door to the room. “But you do seem to be doing something to him… I pray that it works for you both.”

Milton turned to Ibara, who was busy rubbing his head and checking his watch.

“Huh? What? Where… Oh, no. We’re late!”

He pounced on Milton. 

“Wait, slow down -”

“Where’s that damned piece of scrap!?” Ibara shrieked. “If you let it out of your sight, I’ll - !”

“...Kill me? Tried that already.” Milton sighed and gently returned the hands on his shoulders to Ibara’s side. “So the con’s over -”

“Evidently!”

“You got possessed by Temu Tactician -”

“Excuse me?”

“And the spirit was some guy talking about idols being gods or whatever.”

Ibara sat on the bed, then in slow, stuttered movements, covered his face and slid his fingers through his fringe. 

“...Did he say I was related to him?”

“Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”

Ibara yelled into his palm for a full minute. Milton backed away slightly.

“Should I finish?”

“Just do it already! Things can’t possibly get any worse!”

“I saved you with this.” He shook the Turta Tango cartridge, which induced another minute-long screaming fit. He downed a glass of water in a single gulp, then screamed again for a few seconds.

He crawled underneath the blanket.

"...If you were being truthful about myself being possessed, how did you know it wasn't me, anyway?"

"Easy." Milton gave the bundle of linen a gentle tap. "You called him 'Nagisa' instead of some kiss-ass nickname I don't remember. And you never 'reward' me for anything."

"...Reward?"

Milton recoiled from him and squeaked.

"Wait, what do you remember?"

“Not much. As if I had received a concussion from an unknown assailant…” Ibara admitted, rolling on his side. “Firstly, I remember freshening up in the bathroom. I last witnessed you reclining on the bed and shutting off the lights… then nothing at all after that.”

It was Milton’s turn to sit next to him and yell into his palm.

“Please…” He croaked. “Please say you remember having sex with me.” 

Silence. Milton opened his eyes to find himself high in the air, caught in a suplex.

“You began relations with one, my ancestor.” He swore he heard something crack when he was thrown onto the mattress face first. “And two, the person who ruined my life!”

“To be fair,” Face still buried in the bed, he weakly raised up an index finger. “I was already doing the second one before you got possessed.”

Two pillows to his head, and it was the shaman-in-training’s turn to see total darkness.

Hello! Mod Serpent again. We've made it to the end of part 2. I really liked the idea of Milton being the one who articulates for Ibara despite him being very dense himself, being a personal testament to his growth and release from Godfather's legacy.

Hold on to that little thing with Nagisa because... I need to remember to write The Big One where he works his way towards seeing the rest of Eden again.

[enstars-selfship-event]

But Jade is banned and not welcome to use the prompts list right? Can you just confirm that, sorry I keep asking! Just trying to make everyone understand the situation because people keep telling them they were never banned and could use the prompts!

read the lastest post. they were never banned.

[enstars-selfship-event]

hey guys! we want to clear some things up, and then please leave the drama behind

jade was never banned from the event. they, or someone else, made that up. our personal connections have nothing to do with this event or who's allowed to participate. that is final. please stop sending asks about this, or spreading information about this.

again, our personal connections and accounts have NOTHING to do with the event. any selfshipper, (outside of proshippers,) is allowed to participate.

there is no proof of anyone being banned. the only ones unallowed to participate is proshippers.

if misinformation keeps being spread, however, we are not afraid to block accounts that bring negativity or drama to this account and event. this event is meant to be positive, open, and inviting for everyone in the community, no matter what, as a way of giving back.

thank you to all those who are participating, have participated, or will participate in this selfship week and future ones to come!

- sincerely, the mods <3

[enstars-selfship-event]

went straight to asking my friend after anon suggested the thing in the post previously, and my bestie responded quickly and now: yes there is two of us running this account!

we'll see if we can come up with a mod tag to show who's talking in asks or making posts! (the reblogging doesn't count, of course! sjssj)

thank you anon for the idea. you're a true legend. <3

[enstars-selfship-event]

hmm~ if you're having trouble with reblogging stuff posted for selfship week, might i suggest to have more people from different timezones to help you out for any future events? more mods means you won't have to run this all by yourself and having at least more than one person will lessen the work load and stress! (because i know that you're dealing with quite a lot of that stress lately. stay safe~ ❤️)

i have been thinking that, i just don't like relying on people as much. heh.

i might ask my bestie if he can help, then, seeing as he's on the other side of the world from me and such. (and we've ran an account together before. so...)

and thank you <3

[enstars-selfship-event]

Hey sorry to ask this but is there any chance you could say that Jade (edens-treasure) was banned from this event again but more bluntly just so people stop trying to say you didn't? Thanks!

that's because i admittedly haven't said they're banned. i've said this on main also: i'm in a tight knit with what to do, as, from what i have been told it seems as though no matter which action i'll take they'll make me out to be a villain or something anyway–

the drama is already making me panicky as is, despite me not saying it. i haven't gone through drama, so it's a real struggle for me, and everything is just putting me at a different points end on what to do.

i'm sorry...

but please know that i ~am~ talking with somebody to see on what i can do- and again: sorry for all of this going on. </3

and sorry for this rant, hehe. i don't know how to make thoughts short~!

[enstars-selfship-event]

enstars selfship week 2025 - day 4

i’m suuuper drained today lol but here i am still posting about @edens-treasure aka jade rose!

week run by the wonderful @maoisarap / @enstars-selfship-event !!

Day 4 | Dorm Situations!

disclaimer: this is just for fun so its unedited :P

Day 4 | Dorm Situations! – what is life like in the dorms for you both/all? are you chaotic and loud? or quiet and peaceful? has something gone wrong in the dorms and it's upto you two/lot to fix it? let's find out!

“your excellency, dearest jewel,” ibara’s voice rang out as he rapped on the door. after no response, he tried again, louder this time.

“… i’m coming, ibara,” nagisa finally replied. the door opened, and ibara frowned as he saw him, then schooled his expression.

“your excellency, you appear to still be in your pajamas,” he said, hesitating when nagisa gestured for him to come in. he took one look around and put his hands on his hips. “jun!”

“wha—!” jun startled from his spot on the couch, blinking up at ibara from his phone. “aw, c’mon, don’t interrupt our relaxation time… look…” he gestured towards the beds, where jade was curled up in the middle of their and nagisa’s beds, pushed together. judging by the space beside them and their arms around nothing, nagisa had been there before he had to get up.

“… your excellency,” ibara said as nagisa returned to the bed. “it appears you all have some plans that you have neglected to tell me about that also require missing our meeting.”

“… jade wasn’t feeling well,” nagisa replied, sitting on his bed and brushing their hair back. they made a soft noise, pulling the blankets further around them.

“i’m sorry, ibara…” they mumbled, tearing up a little. ibara pursed his lips then sighed, moving over to their bed and patting their shoulder awkwardly.

“i would much prefer i be let know in advance next time,” he said softly. jade sniffed.

“that’s my bad,” jun spoke up, frantically tapping away on his phone. “i should’ve told you when i found out, ibara.”

“and what of his highness?” as if summoning him, hiyori burst into the room with a fierce pout, making jun look up from his game and groan.

“fuck, here we go,” he mumbled.

“just what is going on here!” hiyori exclaimed, hands on his hips. “i show up for our meeting generously on time, and now i find out there’s a secret rendevous?!” he shifted his glare to each of them, faltering when it landed on a teary jade.

“… our jewel isn’t feeling well,” nagisa said again. hiyori’s demeanor instantly switched, and he made a noise of distress.

“why did no one tell me!” he moved past ibar over to their side, draping himself over them and cooing softly, kissing their cheek a few times. nagisa continued to pet their hair while ibara sighed tersely and checked his phone.

“you are all lucky that i can shift our scheduled for this,” he mumbled, which is probably the closest to agreeing to relax he could ever get.

“thank you, ibara,” jade managed through a smile and hiyori’s smothering.

[enstars-selfship-event]

enstars selfship week 2025 - day 3

two in one day since im behind hehe… about @edens-treasure aka jade rose!

week run by the wonderful @maoisarap / @enstars-selfship-event !!

Day 3 | Tour Day! | polyeden

disclaimer: this is just for fun so its unedited :P i didnt get into the logistics my baaaddd

Day 3 | Tour Day! – this one is a bit~ of a wild card. what are you and your f/o's like when going on tour for their or your song lives/"concerts" either around the country or across the globe? are you exploring new foods? tirelessly getting ready for a live? perhaps you're both/all trying to figure out what it's like to be in a tour bus for a certain amount of days, how small or big is the bus and who gets which bunk of the bunk beds?

“i’m really glad we don’t usually share a bathroom with hiyori…” jade mumbled, sitting down on the couch next to jun.

“you’re telling me. imagine having to deal with that bathroom hog for a year,” he said, stretching and putting his arm over their shoulder in a cliche made that made them laugh.

“… i am curious how the bathroom is handled between hiyori-kun and shinkai kanata-kun,” nagisa joined in, looking up from his crossword. ibara rapped on the door of the bathroom again.

“your highness! we have a very limited amount of water, which i outlined in our introductory meeting and the brochure. it would be kind of you to respect that!” he trilled, smiling even though hiyori wouldn’t be able to see. sick of seeing ibara’s failed attempts, jun rolled his eyes and got up.

“oi! ohii-san!” ibara backed off to the safety of the couch.

“just a moment, jun-kun!” came the sing-song response. jun put his hand on the handle.

“i’m coming in!” he called out, ignoring hiyori’s protests and entering the bathroom. the other three made various faces at each other as they heard the ensuing chaos; hiyori screeching, splashes of water, the shower shutting off and on a few times while the two argued. jade sank into the couch, and ibara sighed pointedly.

jun emerged a few moments later, his pants and shirt damp. he flicked his wet hair out of his face and gave a thumbs up and grin.

“bathroom’s free.” hiyori emerged a few moments later with a scathing look at jun, his clothes haphazardly pulled on and curls tight and messy. he shoved past him into the main bedroom.

“maybe ibara should just go into a bucket next time!” he called out. ibara moved past jun with a grateful nod and finally entered the bathroom.

“my gratitude goes to you, your highness! now i may relieve myself without having to wait for our next stop!” he said, then closed the door.

“maybe ibara should just go on your pillow next time,” jun muttered, trying to fix his wet hair but failing. nagisa beckoned him over, passing his puzzle to jade.

“… perhaps you will be able to answer six down,” he said slowly, running his fingers through jun’s hair and fixing it back into place. jade frowned at the page before gasping and grinning up at him.

“‘a precious rock with significant value’, 5 letters,” they smiled. jun leaned over the page, blinking at it.

“gem?” he asked. he was yanked back by an irate hiyori, who tutted over his hair and wet clothes and said that he’d just drip everywhere now.

“… five letters, jun,” nagisa reminded as hiyori rested his chin on jun’s shoulder. jun realised and let out a little ‘oh!’

“it’s jewel.”

[enstars-selfship-event]

enstars selfship week 2025 - day 2

i’m still very behind aahh… still posting about @edens-treasure aka jade rose!

week run by the wonderful @maoisarap / @enstars-selfship-event !!

Day 2 | Shine on the Stage! | polyeden

disclaimer: this is just for fun so its unedited :P i also havent read absolute for a while despite liking it so ignore any continuity errors

Day 2 | Shine on the Stage! – doesn't matter if you're a producer or just an ordinary person around ensemble square, you're being invited onto the stage with your enstars f/o's to sing! or~ if not a stage, then you're singing with your f/o's in the dorms common area with whoever you like to be in the crowd!

“well!” being the only one with english as a native language, jade stepped up to speak after nagisa rambled on, clapping their hands together. “we hope you enjoy our performance today!” the crowd seemed mostly confused, but once the music actually started, they were a bit more enthused.

the five of them weaved around each other, singing the lines with the usual vigor. they were all recovering from the stress of the past few days, but luckily performing always helped relieve stress.

while dancing, jade had a moment to point towards some of the purple lightsticks in the crowd and wave at them. they were always delighted to see the purple amongst the mixes of colours, and they were lucky that they had been increasing more and more.

by the time they finished the song, they all felt a lot happier. they immediately got into position for their next song, each of them smiling as the instrumentsls started.

performing was always therapeutic, but it was even more so now that nagisa was back with them. they could all perform as the proper unit again, covering each other’s missteps and smiling whenever they locked gazes.

jade, in particular, loved the sensation of being on stage the most. no matter their anxiety beforehand, they always shone the brightest illuminated by the stage lights and dancing with their partners.

[enstars-selfship-event]

ENSTARS SELFSHIP WEEK - DAY THREE

tour day !

headcanons:

tomoya and i first met and actually interacted during the bogie time tour, when ibara and tomoya accidentally fell asleep on each other on the tour bus

ibara likes to stay busy and focus on the live, but tomoya will drag me to food places and places to relax when we have a day off

moodboard:

- sorry about the lighting of the sketch, i literally drew and took a picture while i'm at work and in the dark because it's storming, lmao

- i really like the bogie time idea , ive been meaning to do an ibatomo bogie time au/rewrite but havent had the chance to do so yet

- i know bogie time was a variety show and not a tour but it was a tour event so idc sjdndjbs im pretending it was a tour

- the moodboard and sketch arent related to each other but are related to the two headcanons sjnd

- ibara did long hair no glasses ibara because... ibara wanted to

- ibara may ink or digitize this drawing in the future becausw it's very cute,,

[ @enstars-selfship-event ] [ @maoisarap ]

[enstars-selfship-event]

Day one of Enstars Self ship Week, Outfit Steal (with a twist)

@enstars-selfship-event

They all have such different heights that it would be impossible for any clothes to rightly fit each other (plus with Usu being absolutely against wearing anything but dresses kinda makes it difficult) so... The next best thing is him dressing his darlings up!

More silly stuff under cut

Usu is a practicer of tight lacing, which admittedly has fucked his ribs a tad bit n leaves him quite sore, so I imagined he would at least try his luck on Nagi and Iba with it

At first he would be looking all sweet tying the corsets and then pull the lace with all his might. Nagi is only used to Usu's corset looks so he thinks this is natural and let's it go.

Iba on the other hand is ready to tell usu to jump off a bridge <3 but she just gives him a glare... Which he smirks at and then ties her corset normally.

Although Usu does wear Lolita cords, mainly for lives or traditional occasions (festivals, new years etc), his choice of dresses are mainly victorian style dresses, and that is what he thought would be the most fun seeing His Ligeia and His Crow wearing!

This was all just a ramble, and although I don't really like the piece, I love the idea behind it teeheehee

[enstars-selfship-event]

cowboy's hat

words: 327 content: romantic fluff ! for the enstars selfship week day 1 prompt ! ship: mamajules ( madara mikejima x julian ) taglist: @fred-z-randall @strawhatwife @lovely-r0ses @moxanji-real @im-sorry-im-sorry | @enstars-selfship-event

A/N: i couldn't think of anything to draw for the event so here's a short fic instead! kinda sorta related in a sense? completely written on the fly & it's my first time posting my writing so im sorry if it's bad LOLOL enjoy! :)

"Ah... eh? Where'd my hat go?" Madara pats his head almost in a comedic way, feeling for that short fuzzy texture he's grown used to under his fingertips - but no such feeling shows up. He pats around the sofa he sits on. Sometimes when lounging in the office, he'd simply toss his hat to the side. He thought maybe that'd happen; but still no luck.

"Aw, not again..." With a dramatic sigh, Madara stands up. Expecting to go for a whole search around the office, his eyes suddenly catch on to a figure approaching in the distance. A familiar one, one that he was fond of - Julian! Though one thing about them was different. A striking cowboy hat rests on their head. "Ohhh, that's where it went! I shoulda known."

He chuckles to himself as he begins to walk towards them too, meeting them halfway. Julian gives him a bright and innocent smile. "Mama! I was looking for you!.

"Were you now?" "Yep!" "Haha, how funny! I was looking for something too!" "Really?" "Yep~ It's riiight... here."

Madara swiftly lifts the cowboy hat off of Julian, spinning it around on his finger before placing it back on his head. Julian's cheeks tint pink as they realize before they laugh.

"O-Oh! I completely forgot I put it on... S-Sorry!" "No need to be sorry, I'm just glad I found it!" Madara laughs along, "Why'd you take it to begin with?"

"Ah, well, I just curious as to how it'd look on me! Then I sorta forgot I was wearing it... a-and no one told me! Gosh, I must've looked silly."

Madara's smile softens as he watches the embarrassment wash over their expression. Almost as quick as he put it back on, he returns it to Julian's head with a soft pat. "Silly? Nah, I think you look cute!"

"R-Really?" Julian's cheeks burn darker. Their embarrassment washes away with a sudden twinge in their chest. Their eyes soften and their demeanor turns shy. Madara gives a nod and a chuckle, having to bend forward to press a kiss to their forehead. He murmurs against their skin, eyes closed as he enjoys their arms slowly wrapping around his waist,

"The cutest cowboy I'd ever seen."

[enstars-selfship-event]

https://www.tumblr.com/hsrwife/786459744988692480/cowboys-hat?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/mentally-eel-moray/786481390651883520/day-one-of-enstars-self-ship-week-outfit-steal?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/transgender-eichi/786628473832800256/tour-day?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/anormallifesworld/786886906823720960/enstars-selfship-week-2025-day-2?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/anormallifesworld/786889216225394689/enstars-selfship-week-2025-day-3?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/anormallifesworld/786990449306042368/enstars-selfship-week-2025-day-4?source=share

here are some that weren't reblogged~

OH HECK- okay!! i'm so sorryyy </3

i'll get to them as soon as!

[enstars-selfship-event]

@enstars-selfship-event Day 1: Uniform Steal

“Dude, check it! If I’m a parrot, does that make me a bird of paradise?”

“…Those are two entirely different species, Pelage. Now I believe I’ve been awaiting a martini for quite some time.”

Milton wouldn’t be able to resist trying one of Ibara’s old uniforms, although he’ll only get the chance when hell freezes over. Luckily for him, Ibara allows himself to keep a commemorative one and it gets sent to the resort’s laundry service every few months.

[enstars-selfship-event]

can u pls reblog everyones stuff? >_<

i've been trying and doing so! but if there's some i have missed out, then i apologise. i have said this on main a few times also: my notifications on here are very funky for some reason (it's not just tumblr either that it's happening on. i think i damaged my phone in some way due to something that happened a while ago sjsjs.)

if i have missed a post from you or someone else to reblog on this account specifically for the event, you can always send a link through asks or through messages! <33

edit: also please kindly remember that i am a singular person who runs three accounts already as is, and that mistakes and such are bound to happen! <3