#Did this because my creature is sick (again) and can't sleep

[kirain]

@lkblackham I wanted to write a little follow up for the fic I wrote here.

I hope you enjoy it! TwT

The Fade bled.

Emmrich ran through the twisted, ever-changing landscape, his breath ragged, heart drumming in his ears. The air shimmered, warped by fear and magic, and the sky above pulsed like a dying star. In the distance, he saw her—Atash.

She was weeping.

He shouted her name, legs burning as he sprinted across the ground, which shifted like sand beneath his boots. Shadows tore at her from all sides—monstrous things with no faces, only claws, teeth, and endless, echoing laughter. One by one, the creatures latched on, rending her spirit, until her body flickered like a broken mirror—shattered, pulled apart by the Fade itself.

"No—no, Atash!" he cried, reaching out.

But his fingers met only smoke.

She was gone.

-----

Emmrich jolted awake with a gasp, nearly choking on it. His chest heaved, and sweat matted his hair to his brow. Eyes wide, wild, he barely registered the hands that landed on his shoulders.

"Emmrich," came a soft voice. "It's all right."

He screamed.

Thrashing in panic, he tried to throw off whoever was touching him—but the hands held firm, patient.

"Emmrich, it's Neve," she whispered. "You're safe. You're with us."

"Atash!" he cried. "She—she isn't safe!"

"She's not here, but she's not in danger. We're going to find her. Remember?"

His breath stuttered. Slowly, as if he'd nearly drowned, he blinked and focused. Neve's face came into view—calm, steady, eyes brimming with compassion.

Behind her, a tall, solemn silhouette leaned against the wall: Taash. They hadn't left after laying him down. Arms crossed, jaw tight with worry, they stood vigil.

"You're in your room," Neve murmured, carefully guiding him back against the pillows. "You collapsed."

Emmrich winced. "Collapsed?" His voice rasped like scraped stone.

Taash scowled. "Because you're stupid. And pushing yourself too hard."

He tried to sit up, guilt rising with him. "I'm sorr—"

"Don't," Taash snapped, stepping closer. "If you're sorry, you'll stay in this damn bed."

Emmrich shook his head, glancing at his desk. "I have to get back to my research. If we're going to save Atash—"

He pushed himself up, arms shaking with the effort—but Taash caught his shoulder.

"Lie down," they growled.

His body gave out immediately. With a groan, he slumped back, eyes squeezing shut as pain lanced through every limb and muscle.

Taash reeled back, horrified. "Shit—did I hurt you?"

"N-no..." Emmrich whimpered. "I can't. Not now..."

"What?" Taash barked, confused. "What's going on—what's wrong?"

Neve leaned in, her hand gliding to Emmrich's forehead.

She frowned.

"He's burning up."

Taash's eyes widened. "He's sick?"

"Not with illness. Stress, more like."

Neve closed her eyes briefly, mumbled something in Tevene, and when she touched him again, her hand was cold as ice. Emmrich sighed in relief, the tension melting as her palm came to rest against his brow.

Then the room fell quiet—save for his slow, laboured breathing.

A long moment passed.

"...I'm sorry," Taash muttered. Their arms folded again, but their posture was less daunting. "I didn't mean to start that argument downstairs. I just—"

"It's all right..." Emmrich said hoarsely. He didn't open his eyes. "I also behaved poorly. I shouldn't have. I'm just... so damn scared for her."

"We all are," Neve said, her voice like flowing water. "But if you don't rest, you'll be no use to her—or to anyone."

Emmrich swallowed, his next words slurred. "I drew up... plans. Ugh... to pierce the Veil. Neve, would you... take a look?"

"I did." Her lips quirked in a small, proud smile. "They're brilliant. I've already asked Davrin to start smithing the dagger. Once you're better, you and I can try infusing it with magic."

"Thank you. We'll need... lyrium, and—"

He didn't finish, breath soft and shallow as sleep claimed him once more.

Neve didn't move, her hand still gently pressed to his forehead, her eyes heavy.

"We have to get Rook back," Taash warned, turning away. "Before he kills himself looking for her."

Neve didn't hesitate.

"We have to," she repeated. "And we will."

-----

Warmth.

That was the first thing Emmrich noticed when he stirred hours later—a real, solid warmth pressed against his side. Not the feverish kind that had wracked his body earlier, but something natural and soothing. He cracked his eyes open, his vision hazy, and was greeted by a sea of feathers.

Assan.

The baby griffin lay sprawled across the bed beside him, his downy chest rising and falling in deep, contented sleep. One clawed foot twitched occasionally, and his beak parted slightly with a snore, but his wing hugged Emmrich like a blanket. The older man flushed, stunned by the comfort of it.

Then he sensed another presence.

Manfred stood by the bed like a silent sentinel, one skeletal hand outstretched, holding a cup of water. His bones had been polished recently—Neve's doing, no doubt—and the wisp that bound him glowed faintly at the joints.

"He's been fussing over you for hours," a voice said.

"...Neve?" Emmrich rasped.

She nodded, seated at the desk on the far side of the room with a half-dozen ink-stained diagrams spread across its surface. After a moment, she stood and walked to the bed, then helped him sit upright. His muscles protested—weak and sore, though no longer searing.

"Thank you..." he panted. "And I'm so very sorry, Manfred. I've... neglected you these past few days."

"Drink," the skeleton squeaked, as though he understood.

Emmrich managed a small smile and accepted the cup. The water hit his throat like a balm—cool, clean, and so vitally needed that he drained the cup in one go.

"I... didn't realise how thirsty I was," he admitted, voice still strained but no longer fraying.

"That's a signal from your body—that you're overdoing it."

The door creaked open.

Taash strode in first, followed by Lucanis. Both of them halted mid-step when they saw the older man awake and sitting against the headboard.

"Oh, about time," Taash huffed, striding over. "How're you feeling?"

He hesitated. Atash was still gone, but—

"...Better."

Neve leaned in and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Fever's broken," she confirmed, relieved.

"Good," Taash said, gesturing to Lucanis. He stepped forward and eased a bowl into Emmrich's lap. "Because you need to eat."

Emmrich's pupils dilated. Roasted sweet potato salad—golden chunks tossed with herbs, goat's cheese, leeks, spinach, pomegranate arils, pecans, and pumpkin seeds. Steam curled off the top, teasing his nose and tickling his taste buds.

"I... can't remember the last time I ate."

Lucanis gave a wry shrug. "We figured as much."

Before Emmrich could take a bite, the door slid open once more. Davrin entered, cradling something swaddled in cloth as gently as a newborn babe.

"Ah! You're up," he beamed, stepping closer and unwrapping the bundle to reveal a lyrium-threaded dagger—rough, but unmistakably shaped to match Emmrich's sketches.

"Your designs are incredible," he said excitedly. "This is a prototype. It'll still take a few days to perfect, and I don't want to use full lyrium until you're there to monitor it, but I swear on my honour as a Warden—I won't stop until it's an exact replica."

Emmrich opened his mouth to speak, but Taash raised a hand.

"No. No talking about daggers. Or gods. Or the Fade. Not until he eats."

Davrin paused. "Right. Sorry."

Chastened silence settled over the room as Taash glared at him like a scolding parent.

Slowly, Emmrich picked up a fork and took a bite. It was delicious—sweet and tangy, with hints of sage and garlic. It felt like bliss in his belly, like coming back to himself one bite at a time.

He looked down at Assan, still snoozing against his leg, then to Manfred, his emerald gems gleaming. Neve was seated again but watching closely. Taash stood with arms crossed but no longer scowling. Lucanis encouraged him to eat more. And Davrin clutched the prototype with an air of confidence.

Tears welled in Emmrich's eyes.

"Thank you..." he sobbed. "Thank you."

They all smiled.

"We'll get her back, Emmrich. For now, just rest."

[hyzenslay]

Judas kiss

[harumwahsa]

Since his demo's title is "When the Crows Perch", I've done a little digging around about the symbolism of crows. I only knew that crows are related to death and misfortune before, so I was curious if there were actually other symbolisms.

I have puked out my brain. 🙂 I made the important parts in coloured fonts, so I hope it'll be an easy read.

So! About crows.

Known for their intelligence and their capability to adapt to different environments, crows symbolise changes and transformation. They're also believed to be spiritual messengers; thus, seeing them is a sign to take a different perspective in life.

Other than that, crows are sharp and cautious creatures, which is why people deem that a crow's presence is an omen. A bad one? A good one? Either is actually possible.

In Harumasa's demo, however, what we saw wasn't just any crowーwe saw white crows. Is there a difference? I did more digging. White is a symbol of purity and seeing a white crow is a rare occurence, so a white crow is believed to be a symbol of fortune. In other words, it can be interpreted as: there will be a good change ahead.

Now, let's look at the white crow that appeared in the demo.

It has yellow eyes. Like Harumasa. Is it on purpose? Could it be that it's also a representation of who he used to be; a child with pure intentions who people saw as their hope? Was he the white crow of his family/wherever he came from?? Actually, he could very much still be a white crow for those people, considering the fact that he is a prodigy since young.

I have that thought because in the 1.4 Special Program, they mentioned that a lot of expectations were placed on him. While it could be worn like a badge of honour, the weight of the sense of responsibility that comes with it could be like shackles. Ouch.

Anyway...

Speaking of changes, I took a look at these pictures again.

(1) "Something he can't get over or leave behind." Can't blame him. People expect a lot from him, and he also went through terrifying experiences. None of these things could be dropped so easily.

(2) BabyMasa is in the brighter side of the room, while the man is in the darker sideーin fact, the man is in grayscale. The only thing coloured is that syringe filled with unknown red substance, hidden behind his back. Suspicious lil shーanywaaaaay. I think it's safe to assume that this picture conveys that the man is the one who tainted the white crow image Harumasa has been carrying.

Soooooo.

White crow is a sign of fortune, but to Harumasa? Absolutely not. Everytime he encounters white crow(s), he's painfully reminded of the monster inside him. Something he keeps refusing to accept. ⬇️

Scribbling over his medical reports. I can be delusional and say that his doctor was the one who did that out of boredomーbut yeah. Let's be real and drown in agony instead. Harumasa probably reads his medical records often. That thing was on his bedside table with his pills, somewhere easy to reach. Can't sleep? Bedtime story. Oh, would you look at that! I'm sick!! 😦

Let me dump a whole packet of salt into your wounded heart as well while we're at it. I just want to point out the changes of his pictures in his medical records.

18th July.

First scene: A picture of his adult self in his medical records. Harumasa woke up without his choker on. Curtains were closed. It was raining outside. Choker on. Maybe this would contain his nightmarish thoughts? Wrong. Even while he was fighting against the Ethereals, he saw himself in them. Arrow shot, injecting his younger self. In the Special Program, it was mentioned that he has to clock off on time, even in battlefield. I guess we can say that he doesn't want to be surrounded by these things that remind him of his condition.

Second scene: A picture of when he was a child in his medical records. More scribbles. Harumasa woke up with his choker on. The rain has stopped. Maybe the thoughts would stop this time? Oh. Mirror crackedーa sign of misfortune. Horrors persisted.

No picture in the last one. He was also not on his bed in the last scene. The curtains were left opened, there were lights streaming in. The birthday message came in. I would say that he was out and celebrating, or that he was doing a mission. But, I doubt someone would leave their phone behind if that were the case.

"Congrats on making it this far." Did he really? He couldn't accept himself in the current time. He couldn't accept his past either.

.... I don't need to spell out what this particular scene could imply, right?

MOVING ON.

His choker is used to cover up the injection marks. I wonder if they deliberately made four of these marks, given that 4 ('shi') means death. We Harumasa lovers live in constant worry. Actually, scratch that. We Harumasa lovers live in constant FEAR.

Even with the choker on, he still covered his neck with his hands when he was called a monster. It could be that he was recalling all those times he was injected, God knows how many times, by chemicals. It could be an attempt to deny the existence of those marks. It could be a way to reassure himself, to tell himself that he's still a human. Or it could be all of them together.

This "Look closer... it's YOU." scene is also stuck in my head. I just think it's intriguing. This scene could have two meanings, no? "Look closer... it's YOU." WHICH?!? The heroic Harumasa, or the monster he became? Both...?

If this "Look closer... it's YOU." message was from the white crow, then it might be referring to Harumasa being a saviour, regardless of what he is. BUT, the way he interpreted it? Of course he couldn't see himself as such. Not when fear consumes him, nope. All he sees is a murderous monster, through and through.

Okay. I'm done vomitting words. My head is empty YAAAY. 🥳 Thank you for reading! Let's heal ourselves now with a handsome picture of Asaba Harumasa. 💛

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

Sinus Rhythm

This is the last part of my Sean Wallace childhood friends to lovers anthology series.

No obligation to read tags: @darklydeliciousdesires @lovemissyhoneybee @daydreaming-belle

Contains: Injury, medical inaccuracies, fluff.

1.4K words

There are some things Sean can't forget.

They didn't know if the car accident was a planned hit or really just wrong place, wrong time; all they knew was that Sean's ribs were broken so badly they needed to be set with plates and screws, that he missed shredded lungs by the miracles of millimetres and that he had a concussion that would require serious monitoring.

There was an anxiety you couldn't name, and the smell of disinfectant and sickness blended together to form a thick patina on the walls that made your skin crawl. The doctor wouldn't let you into his room to wait with him, that was for immediate family only, Billy told you he get you the moment Sean opened his eyes. The ticking clock in the waiting room seemed to mock you, the seconds passing into minutes, which eventually bled into hours until you took off your jacket to use as a pillow and curled into a ball to get some sleep on the rock hard chair; it was going to be a long day.

****

When Sean awoke, he only had a vague idea of what was happening, all he really knew was that he was in a hospital and that his side ached like he had done ten rounds with an ogre. There was a man sitting by his bed he almost knew, like his identity was dangling too far away to reach but then again, everything felt like that right now.

He must have been someone because the second Sean asked who he was, the man paled and rushed to get a doctor. The doctors told him it was post-traumatic amnesia, that in twenty-four hours, he should be back to normal, then there was a click from one of the machines attached to him, and a pleasant warmness lulled him back to sleep.

When he woke again, the name he now knew was his brother was still with him, sipping on a coffee as he read the paper. "Your brain still all empty?"

He shrugged. "Mostly." He looked around, it was a nice room, one only the wealthy could afford. He could see people passing by through the window along one wall, the mix of nurses and doctors growing boring, that was until a woman walked by in civilian clothes, and his heart rate monitor beeped just a bit faster. "Who is that?"

Billy looked up from his newspaper at his tone and chuckled when he saw your tired face. "That's y/n. You don't remember her?"

Sean shook his head. "No, but she's the most exquisite creature I've ever laid my eyes on. Please don't tell me she's your girlfriend?"

He held back a laugh, an evil idea forming in his mind. "No mate, I'll go get her, try not to pop a stitch."

He watched through the window as Billy talked to you, your face awash with so many emotions and he was overcome with the urge to wipe away the wetness that was gathering in your eyes. He did his best to straighten up as you walked in, the doctors had his bed in the raised position to take pressure off his ribs, and he was grateful that it meant you weren't looking down at him when you sat on the edge of the bed. "Billy said you can't remember shit."

His brain was screaming at him to say something, but he was so struck by your beauty that he found himself rendered mute. "Sean."

He blinked. "Yes, but as I'm sure my brother told you, I'll be back to normal by tomorrow. Now who are you?"

You nodded. "Billy didn't…" A glance at his brother showed he was barely holding back a smile. "Who do you think I am?" You didn't want to say it was payback for the fright he gave you, but it was.

He grinned. "Well, you must be my girlfriend." You had to be, there was no other reason for this strange feeling in his chest.

You shook your head, and a lump formed in his throat. "We've been best friends since we were six." No, that couldn't be right, there had to be something more, especially when your hand linked in his and it made him feel like the whole world was sucked away. "You're stone off your gourd and hurt. You'll remember everything in the morning then you can go back to giving me shit for my taste in men."

You turned to Billy and raised your eyebrows. "Can I speak to you outside for a moment?"

He stood up and left but as you went to do the same, Sean stopped you, grabbing your hand and holding on for dear life. "Please don't go, I don't want you to leave."

You squeezed his hand and smiled. "I'll be back in five minutes."

He let you go with a frown and you went outside to talk to Billy. "I get it, but really dude?"

He grinned. "He almost died, now's a good a time as any."

You sighed. "We were just happy being cowards, why do you need to interfere?"

He shrugged. "Because I don't want sister in law I can't stand. Mother's going to push him to marry sooner or later, better it be to the woman he's been in love with since he was a teenager."

Your eyes went wide. "It's really been that long? I thought…." It grew obvious Sean had feelings for you months ago, but you had both been dancing around it, for what reason it was hard to say.

He slapped a hand on your shoulder. "Yep, now get back in there before he hobbles out to get you. I'll go home and get you a change of clothes so you can freshen up."

He raced away before you could say more, and you returned to Sean's bedside with a sigh. "What do you want to know?"

He grinned as best he could. "Everything."

****

Things came back in slowly, fading through the fogginess of his mind until the memories felt real. But Sean didn't stop you from retelling all your favourite stories from your friendship if only to hear them from your perspective. The heart rate monitor's beeping was infuriating, the flash of sound letting the whole world know each time he had a rush of emotion. It went on for hours, Billy sitting guard outside to make sure no one walked in to interrupt, he even shooed away their mother.

But the more the amnesia wore off, the more it became clear to him how close he was to dying. He wasn't a man to take things for granted, not after everything he had to do to get his London back in his family's hands and yet, you still remained unaware of his feelings, even though he caught you looking at him when you thought he wasn't paying attention. He took a deep breath, unwilling to betray his nervousness with the audible untick of his heart. "Y/n, I have to tell you something."

You knew it was coming, the way he was looking at you made that much clear. "Yeah?"

He took your hand in his, his thumb drifting over the backs of your fingers as he gathered himself. "I have been lying to you." He took another deep breath. "The last thing I thought about before I passed out was that I was never going to get to tell you the truth and I must remedy that now."

You held up a hand to stop him, placing your hand on his cheek before leaning down to kiss him. He accepted, his lips soft as he linked his fingers in yours. "You don't need to say anything, I know, I love you too."

He kissed you again, firmer this time, his teeth nipping at your lower lip as you fight the urge to grab at him. But the second he went to do more, his side lit up like someone had stuck his ribs on the stove. He did his best to hide it, but you pulled back with a smile. "We should stop."

He was positively miffed, like someone had yanked his favourite toy away. "The second I'm back in fighting shape we are going to.."

You shook your head to stop him. "I know."

He grinned and slowly shifted across the bed so you could sit next to him on his uninjured side. "You can stay here tonight, with that we're paying them they can't complain."

You pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'd like that."

Fin

[moonsb1996]

How much do we trust this information?

Hello everyone, I haven't been into MHA because I'm currently hooked on Kaiju #08 (it's so much fun, I'm afraid it'll end). What I'm back with this time is my own question, and that is:

quirk singularity

From my little monkey brain diving to understand, it is a Doomsday belief of AFO's psychopathic doctor who owns this idea and it was not accepted as much when it first came out. But there are quite a few people who believe in this. Because even foreign cults (Movie3) and Overhaul still mention it.

There's even a Bible!

And from my monkey brain (I may mention monkeys often, Wukong is strong, sorry in advance) what I can understand is Humanity who have quirks when they give birth to the next generation, the quirk will be more powerful until it cannot be controlled. Movie03 spoiler: A cult releasing a type of chemical weapon / drug (sorry, I threw out all the names) caused an incident where people released quirks like crazy until the city collapsed. In Movie03, the people who survived this incident were the ones who did not have quirks.

I won’t go into the possibility of a Doomsday belief from a psychopath (what was that guy’s name again, never mind), but what I’m posting is: How much do we trust this information?

From what I've researched further, being a stupid monkey, from the information of the great Hori (I'm being sarcastic) with "tell, don't show", the only person who believes the psychopathic doctor is AFO, which you can argue with me because AFO stole a lot of quirks so he sees the possibility, and we see from Shigaraki/AFO who transforms like Akira.

But… it's just two old men and a cult??? who believe in this with all their hearts?! Yes, it might be possible, but in the world of MHA where quirks have become a major driving force of superhero society, it would be impossible to have two old men one is a scientist who later became a psychopath and the other is an old man who is a Bracon who never graduated (I think) with no history except for being born to be evil and a cult that believes that the world will end because of an uncontrollable quirk and to make matters worse, it comes from a disease caused by rats being the carriers of the disease! (A quirk is a disease that people in this era see as normal!?)

Okay… If quirk is the big driver of the world in MHA, with 80% of the population having quirks (sick people) and 20% not having quirks (healthy people) If it's something that everyone talks about, why are there only 2 old people and 1 cult that care about it? Wouldn't there be anyone else talking about it? To say that only 2 old people are smart enough to understand the problem of extinction of humanity on Earth, leaving only the best creatures that survived natural selection. Wow, I'm a stupid monkey who should be thanked, because we don't have the right to survive?

This is very convincing information (even if my brain is a monkey, I can be sarcastic, you know). Okay, here's my next topic, and that's Quirks have the effect of controlling people's personality (Are we in the era when kids were excited about which house they belonged to in Hogwarts?)

Wow, Horikoshi Kohei will not "show not tell" , right? Okay! Here we go again. Choosing to enter Hogwarts house through the use of Quirks. What kind of person will you be? And what will you become from your Quirks without having to sit and create your own identity! Starting with Toga Himiko (I hate her) A girl with the cutest smile in the world. But her "like" for Quirks related to blood makes her have a desire to get "blood" of that person to satisfy what is called a personal feeling that she calls "love". She can't stop that desire because her Quirks need blood. So she takes a box cutter to slit the throat of the male student she has a crush on and sucks his blood until he bleeds to death.

She was able to stop her desire for "blood of love" because Twice wasn't dead yet because Toga never cut his throat while he was sleeping to suck his blood. Okay…

Next up is Tomura Shigaraki. With Quirks (spoiler: he got it from AFO), he has a desire to destroy everything he touches, so he has no other desires except destruction. Okay… And the belief of many MHA people is that this is my Quirks, my expression, my identity.

I wonder if there aren't any witch doctors or fortune tellers opening shops where parents can take their kids under 4 to see if there are any Quirks. Don't you think this is a good business to invest in? But yeah, what parent would take their kid to a fortune teller to see if there are any Quirks? It's not credible at all (like the two old men and the cult that believes in Doomsday). And like the leader of another cult that believes in liberation to create a world where only the strongest predators will survive because the stronger the Quirks, the more likely they are to survive the extinction of humanity. Alright everyone… This monkey will take his leave. Let's talk about what you think: How credible are both stories in the MHA world where the possibilities are so regrettably thrown away… And most infuriatingly

[zaceouiswriting]

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans - Ch.40

Character: Sky x male reader, Riven x male reader, Brandon x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in Winx Club/Saga

Warnings: None

"Your Majesty!" I hear someone call out. This is nothing new because in my dreams (as in real life), the soldiers almost always call me that, even though I told them not to. Sometimes, they did it because they were supposed to, and sometimes, they did it to annoy me. It always got my attention. I ignored it and delved deeper into another dream, just waiting to be explored. "Your Majesty!" The persistent voice has grown louder, annoyed even, in a deep, crisp tone dripping with sarcasm and an aura of entitlement.

"Go away, Corey! Can't you see that I'm sleeping?"

“I see that, you idiot, but it’s morning, and classes start soon!”

I grit my teeth and crack my eyes open just a slit, hoping the older one wouldn't see it. But like the truffle pig he is, as soon as I do, his searching nose must have smelled the water in my eyes because his stupid face is immediately in mine. Irritated by his behavior so soon after waking up, I put my hand on his face and push it away, only to turn my head and lay it back down.

"Ouch!" I scream as I feel a sudden pain on my forehead. Reflexively, I open my eyes fully, only to be blinded by the piercing morning sun as if it were some beacon light shining directly in my face. As soon as I could see again, I stared straight into Corey's emerald eyes. Those eyes are the mark of the Jaton family. Our current capital in the Black Mountains is part of their territory and has only served as our vacation palace in the north until the catastrophe. But after our ancestral seat sank along with most of our world, we settled within this palace's walls. My family was just lucky that we were visiting the Jaton family, or the Jade Panther family, as they are known among my people. The Jade is their family stone, and beneath their capital is a cave containing a floating emerald stone that keeps their capital intact with an abundance of magic, while the mentioned Panther is the nickname of their founder, as he was as fast and vicious as a one on the battlefield. Few people could ever surpass the speed of a member of the Jaton family.

Looking into those eyes, I can clearly see concern but also a form of disappointment. I couldn't believe it! How dare he be disappointed in me when he slaps my forehead! Just as I'm about to turn the fires of death on him, he does it again. Instead of reacting to the slap, I hit back where it hurts the most. Watching his eyes widen, a breathless cough escaping his mouth, and his knees hitting the ground has to be one of the most satisfying things I've ever seen or done. I was finally able to stand up to this good-for-nothing bully.

To make matters worse, my little friends, awakened by the ruckus around them, are staring at Corey, baring their fangs and hissing at him, ready to attack. I wonder if these creatures would make useful soldiers in my future army. Just the thought of them wearing tiny suits of armor with tiny weapons brightens up my ruined morning.

The whole time I keep my eyes on the suffering ass on his knees. Maybe I should kick Riven in the balls, too. But I'm afraid he'd enjoy that, like everything I do to him. What a sick, twisted psychopath. I once threatened to step on him, and his face will haunt my nightmares forever. Even though I think he does this shit on purpose, I don't want to risk it. Otherwise, he'll end up marking me like a dog or something, and I'll never get rid of him.

"I swear by our Leviathan, as soon as I can stand again-" Corey's threat was interrupted as the little critters jumped on him, biting and nibbling at him. "Get off me!" He was about to smack them away.

Furiously, I grab his hand just in time. Pressing my tongue to my teeth, I whistle to the animals. They immediately jump back to me, land on my shoulders, and rub their angry heads against me again.

"You may still be tired, old friend, but if you or anyone hurts one of them, I will kill you because these little animals are more important than almost any other being, living or dead!"

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, I remind him that they are Skerools, the back and bones of our planet. But it took a few moments for his head to snap back. His eyes widened, switching between them and me. He quickly lowered his head, apologizing to the animals, and I, as my ancestor who had discovered what these creatures could do, declared them sacred beings to our Leviathans. Since they were sacred beings, they were equal to the royal family and protected from anything and everyone. Not even one of the Jatons can dare to stand against them.

Although I can see the uncertainty in the animals' eyes, probably because they couldn't understand Corey's words, I explain it to them as best I can with a few whistles and clacks. I learned their way of speaking as a child when my best friends couldn't play with me. Back then, I didn't particularly like dealing with people, and my siblings were too small. So I went to the garden to play with the Skerools. They came right away, loving me being around. Even the first time, they treated me as one of their own.

Smiling, I rub the heads of some of the Skerools. They had their eyes closed when I did this, so I waited until they opened them again to stroke Corey's head as well and loudly accept his apology. The little ones quickly notice. But their incomprehensible chatter is interrupted when one of them, clearly their leader, steps forward; his status is evident because of his black fur with a white belly and a brown stripe that divides his head, while all the others are brown, some with faint black details. Little Skerool carries himself with dignity. He raises his little hand and strokes the side of Corey's head.

My honorable friend couldn't believe his eyes but said nothing or did anything about the insult. When I hold my hand out to my new little friend, though, he doesn't seem to want to let go of Corey's hair. Shrugging, I turn to the others and pet them, to my delight. It's not long before a furry butt sits on my face, and four pairs of eyes stare down at me in disappointment. Without hesitation, I grab him by the neck and lift him from my face. I sit back up and tell the others to leave me so I can put their leader on my lap and pet him as much as he wants.

"Why are you here, Corey? You would have sent my roommates if it was just because I was late."

I hear a sigh from my side before he explains that he already sent my roommates; however, no matter what they tried, they couldn't get over the wall. But when he tried, he managed it immediately. Speechless in the face of this information, I try to understand how this is possible until, a few moments later, the realization dawns on me. Shortly afterward, I jump up from my stone bed, where many of my new little friends are still sitting, and go to the wall. With my hand on the stone, I feel clear vibrations; a slight grin crosses my lips because my suspicions have been confirmed. No wonder no one else got through except Corey and me.

With a knowing grin, I turn back to the older man. Although his face is stern, I can still see a certain softness in his eyes. "Have you spoken to your little brat of a brother?" He immediately becomes tense, so his conversation has not gone well.

„He believes that you left him without even a goodbye,“ Corey mutters, averting his gaze. Just as I'm about to say something, Corey beats me to it and tells me something that stuns me, so I ask him to repeat it. "My brother doesn't even know he's dead."

Suddenly, my head is spinning, my eyes showing me once again the day I lost control—how my stone spikes impaled him, just timidly in the corner of my eye. I didn't even notice it then, not until it was far too late. I didn't even hold him in my arms when he died, not until his body was already cold. Now, I remember it clearly: I kept fighting, and only when the skirmish was over did I look for him to celebrate, only to realize what I had done. It was the only time I cried on the battlefield. But how could my and his best friend not know that he was dead? He was a war hero, even though we had to leave his body behind as the enemies received reinforcements.

Corey must have noticed my distress because he came to my side and held me so gently that I almost saw the old him again. Only to shatter my world even further. "Almost no one outside the lower classes knows about the war.“

It should be impossible, but the way Corey said it, I knew it wasn't a lie. But how could this happen? My men bled and died for this, and our people don't even know about it? While raging inside about this, I suddenly fall limp. Another realization hit me like a mountain. Were all these people just cannon fodder? No, no, that can't be; my grandfather wouldn't do that! Or was it an attempt to get rid of me? Why else was I the only high-ranking noble on the battlefields? My hands fly over my mouth, unable to hide my shock any longer.

“Corey?” I ask breathlessly.

"I think so too," he replies as if he can read my mind. "I only know about it because I eavesdropped on a conversation between your grandfather and my father. But there was nothing I could do to help you." There are tears in his eyes. Seeing them, I freeze in that moment. Just a second later, he starts crying. "And when I saw you at Red Fountain without hearing a word from you for years, I just couldn't stand it; I was so angry!"

"I send letters twice a week," I interrupt quickly. This silences Corey, although it doesn't stop his tears. "I actually wrote you and your stupid brother two letters a week."

We both know they were intercepted without either of us having to say it. And I thought my family couldn't sink any lower. Shaking my head, I grab his arm, ready to confront my best friend with this new information. If anyone can figure out who is to blame, it's him, with his endless network of acquaintances.

[Masterlist]

[kitsu-katsu]

I'm gonna make this post as condenaed and abridged brainrot to explain why Victor Frankenstein is my boy from 200 yr old media prompted by a tag question from @samathekittycat in a post I reblogged because that highjacking would've been too much

So. Basically every adaptation ever is way off, Victor in the og novel is a guy from a rich family, yes, but one that has it's own fucked up occurrences that shape him even though he says his life is the peak of idyllic and that can lead to really good character analysis

He becomes an alchemy fanatic at 13, completely obsesses over it, even harder when his father claims the whole subject to be trash and he's in general somewhat fascinated by natural occurrences as well, so he gets it into his head that he wants to change the world by attaining the alchemist dream of basically defeating death, and this is all exacerbated when he's about to be sent away to study in Ingolstadt at 17 and just days before his mother dies of an illness his cousin-sister-future wife (it's complicated, it's a whole mess with hiw mother's involvement too) contracted first, so his trip is delayed a bit, but he never really processes his grief and is not that interested in actual science at first until a professor he meets there validates the alchemists ambition and he starts to hyperfixate on science so bad he's surpassed his professors in 2 years, and with all this baggage, at 19, he decides he's going to decode the secrets of death basically, because as he sees it at this point, if applied enough in the right direction with a scientific method any mediocre man could change society

So he builds his creatire after 2 years of isolating himself completely to do it, so he finishes it at like 21, and the thing is, the guy basically did all of this in a hyperfocused state he started at 19 and influenced by All That Baggage and grief he has Not Processed, so he wasn't really thinking about the consequences of anything. So his creature opens its eyes and suddenly the weight and terror of everything falls upon him along with a good mix of uncanny valley, and he just. Collapses. He sleeps a bit, his creature's still there, and he's so scared he runs away from his dorm room and by chance meets with his bff who was back in Geneva with the rest of his family he hasn't talked to in 2 whole years, his creature sneaks out while this is happening, and when going back, Victor is so mentally collapsed and strained and also scared he mighr be called crazy that he's just glad that the creature's gone and enters a fragile state where he's just completely physically sick and done for for a Big While, he can't take care of himself anymore and can't even look at anything relatingnto science anymore

When he's getting better, he has to go back to Geneva because his brother died. Whoah-oh, it was the Creature. He confronts it eventually and it asks for a bride and promises to go away with her, this is a Whole Conflict, because Victor can't reveal what he knows or he'll be labelled insane, he also doesn't wanna finish the bride because she'll also be her own person and what if she doesn't wanna run away with og Creature as his bride? While all of this is happening, one family servant is being accused of the murder and trialed, Victor is squealing in a corner

Basically, he's very autistic, he's seen a hysteric, his creation of the Creature can be analyzed from so many different angles, from teenage pregnancy and postpartum depression, trans experiences (both transmasc and transfemme! I've seen excellent analysis from both perspectives, though I have a personal bias towards the transmasc reading), the process of artist in general (like, that point when you start drawing something and you start zooming into every detail for hours and once you zoom out again you realize you don't like how it came out at all even though you put so much time into it), his illnesses and disabilities both mental and physical are really interestingly depicted as well, overall, he's a very meaty character who was FAR from making everything right, in fact, he did a lot wrong, but he's also a victim of his circumstances, a teen/young adult in the whole duration of the thing, and is suffering tons of pressure from everywhere while losing his purpose and selse of self to his opposition to his own creation. They are the definition of "they can make eachother worse" and Victor loses everything. He's a tragedy. A tragedy that a lot of people wanna ignore and just say he's plain evil because the Creature must be plain good and they feel smart if they say the typical "Small brain: Frankenstein was the monster vs Big brain: Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster vs Galaxy brain: Frankenstein was the monster all along" and they completely skip out on all the depth this character has

I went super aurface level in a lot of parts here, but I hope it's somewhat understandable

I recommend reading the novel though! It's Good

[fazfacts]

TYKE & SONS LUMBER CO. SENTENCE STARTERS!

feel free to change these as needed.

❝ Well, little [___], the day has come! ❞

❝ No, not the beginning of summer or your coming of age, but me throwing you out on your ear! ❞

❝ That's what my father said to me when I was your age. ❞

❝ No one knows where [they] went. Really weird, if you ask me. ❞

❝ You'll soon be let free from this prison you call "home." ❞

❝ It's time for you to explore the world. ❞

❝ I'm going to be watching you from a safe distance. ❞

❝ I am a professional. ❞

❝ Now, get lost. ❞

❝ This is your time to shine! ❞

❝ Promise to make me a proud [parent], will ya? ❞

❝ This is as important as me teaching you how to walk on two legs. ❞

❝ I need a Mixchiato to-go, quick! ❞

❝ I ordered a Mixchiato, not a regular coffee. You really need to listen closely. ❞

❝ I expected more of you. ❞

❝ For real, if you fail this, I will ground you forever. ❞

❝ I would help, but I'm waaay too busy complaining over the simple things in life. Like weird-tasting coffee. ❞

❝ Now go! Go and make me proud! ❞

❝ The moral of the story is that you can make cocktails, even without the ice. ❞

❝ [___] is going to ruin the whole thing for me. [They] will expose me. ❞

❝ I can't let that happen. ❞

❝ I have to get rid of [them]. ❞

❝ That won't be too much of a problem. I've done similar things before. ❞

❝ I will continue to take care of those who find out more than they need to know. ❞

❝ I'm a mastermind. I can't fail. ❞

❝ Did I just have a stroke? I actually forgot my name. ❞

❝ I'm gonna get you, [___]! ❞

❝ I'm always ahead of you, you little brat! ❞

❝ Tomorrow is another day, where I hope nothing unexpected happens. ❞

❝ Please don't make this difficult. ❞

❝ What's a car? ❞

❝ Move now or I will take out the taser. ❞

❝ [___], do something! ❞

❝ Don't drag your [child] into this. ❞

❝ And that, [son], is how you avoid the cops. ❞

❝ Something isn't right. I really don't recall doing something illegal this time. ❞

❝ We need to get to the bottom of this. ❞

❝ YOU need to get to the bottom of this. Because I'm old. ❞

❝ Who told you that I would actually pay you with money? ❞

❝ Bad things happen from time to time. I'm just happy that I'm still alive. ❞

❝ Go take a look. You will like what's down there. ❞

❝ Listen, I need your help again. ❞

❝ You still owe me one after the coffee incident yesterday. ❞

❝ Go fight the robot. Or make it go away. I don't care. ❞

❝ Something happened that really upset me. ❞

❝ I was supposed to get trashed, yet I am working perfectly fine. ❞

❝ I woke up here in the dump this morning. ❞

❝ You animals wanted to trash me. ❞

❝ Look at my six-pack. I'm ripped. RIPPED! ❞

❝ I am going to crush you. I'm going to smash you to the ground, sit on you, tear you apart, and make lumber out of you. ❞

❝ You think you can stop me? ❞

❝ I knew you could do it! ❞

❝ Overall, a pretty neat battle. I give it a seven out of ten. ❞

❝ I was young once, too. I know what's hip. ❞

❝ I would strangle you if I could. ❞

❝ Nobody can ever know what my deal is. ❞

❝ Ahahahahahaha! I'm so evil! ❞

❝ Where have you been!? I was slightly worried. ❞

❝ I have something interesting to show you. ❞

❝ That's it! You're under arrest for sleep disturbance and murder! ❞

❝ Murder? Since when is that a topic? ❞

❝ Man, we really need a television. ❞

❝ Oh, [___]. Violence isn't always the solution. ❞

❝ That's what your mother would say. ❞

❝ That was a sick move. Good [boy]. ❞

❝ What. ❞

❝ ...they all died...blah blah blah...screams...blah blah blah...magic creatures and all that stuff...blah... ❞

❝ And then I sold them on the black market because the company wasn't paying off. ❞

❝ I don't like unannounced visitors in here. Get out! ❞

❝ I didn't know who was the right person to turn to. ❞

❝ I was tricked, I tell you. ❞

❝ The day would come where I would have my revenge. ❞

❝ That's what actually happened, for real! ❞

❝ We had a fight afterwards and [they] THREW me out of the window. ❞

❝ I landed on my head and they had to give me a new body because I would have died. ❞

❝ I look like a Minecraft Creeper now. ❞

❝ He looks like something that died under my bed and was stored in my fridge. ❞

❝ Agh, I'm just not a bad person. ❞

❝ Oh, boy. I think we're in for a treat. ❞

❝ I do have an answer. Yes, I really do. The answer is very interesting, [___]. The answer is complex. However, I'm not gonna tell you what it is. ❞

❝ We know that we're the good guys, and that counts, I guess. ❞

❝ Good night, and don't let the monsters get you. Hahaha. ❞

❝ Seriously!? How dumb are you? ❞

❝ I came to the conclusion that the best solution was to just lure you down here, and that was easier than I thought. ❞

❝ Don't worry, I won't just kill you off. ❞

❝ You're trapped, after all. What can you do? ❞

❝ I just wanted to experience what it felt like to be the star, for at least a moment. ❞

❝ I've had it with you!!! ❞

❝ Wow! You need to teach me that! ❞

❝ Sorry for being such a weirdo. ❞

❝ It's not like there has been any lore, ever, that took more than five years to solve. ❞

❝ If anyone needs me, I'll be in the underground disco. ❞

[frogofalltime]

23.02.2024

today i had no classes at all so i let myself sleep in without an alarm. i had around 10 hours of sleep and when i got up i felt a lot more well rested than i have in a long time.

i brought my notebook, pens, and ipad to the kitchen and got started with studying immediately after eating breakfast. this was a very smart idea because normally executive dysfunction means i procrastinate for hours between tasks, but today i had all the things i needed to do my work straight away.

i watched and took notes on a lecture that i missed last week, it was about jawless vertebrates (lampreys and hagfish) and it was very interesting. i drew lots of weird little creatures.

then i took a break to use the bathroom, pray, and eat lunch. i didn't bother getting changed out of my pyjamas, because i was feeling very sick from The Plague™️, and i wasn't planning on leaving the flat, and i also needed to shower before i could put clean clothes on anyway because i was a Stinky Rat Boy

after that i started working on a coursework project that i should've started months ago but it felt too daunting. it took many hours and i sent a few rants to @etherealspacejelly and @mollusc-consultant but eventually i got it done. there's just one more task i need to do for that project which is a mock interview, i am still putting that off because Autism™️, but the deadline is in just under two weeks so i have time. when i've done that it will hopefully be ready to submit.

i also looked on the university website to find out when all my deadlines are and i put them into my reminders app so i would not forget. this made me feel a lot more organised and on top of things rather than like i was drowning under stress.

then i put away my laundry which had been hanging to dry in my room all week; i didn't realise how much it was stressing me out until it was all put away and i finally had space to move around in my room again. you know what maybe marie kondo is right and an uncluttered home is the most important thing for mental health after all

after prayer time i decided to cook a proper meal for dinner and i called my mother while i did that. she gets worried if i don't talk to her a few times per week. little things did annoy me, like how she said "i always love hearing from my daughter", and when i compared myself to the cat saying i was "so sleepy all the time like meery" (because i keep having to take naps recently) she was like "yes he's a sleepy boy and you're a sleepy girl" :/ but oh well it doesn't matter.

i ate dinner and i was reading percy jackson when my Cool Gay Flatmate walked into the kitchen. she was wearing a really nice outfit which was similar to the kind of clothes i usually wear, and she's dyed her hair green and cut it shorter, and she has a nose ring and other piercings, basically she's exactly the kind of person i want to be friends with, but i Literally Never See Her because she's always staying at her girlfriend's house or visiting family and stuff. i have such a huge platonic crush on her :')

she noticed i was reading percy jackson and got excited about it and we both nerded out about it for a while, which was super fun !! she likes one of my special interests omg !! but she had to go because she was going to be late for something, which was sad because i really want to spend more time with her !! also i was kinda embarrassed because she always bumps into me when i'm like. in my pyjamas and sick and desperately need a shower. but i want her to see me when i'm wearing my daytime clothes and not Dishevelled™️ so she thinks i am cool aaaaa

then i washed my dishes and went to take a shower but it was hard and i procrastinated a lot. afterwards i felt a lot better though. being greasy and stinky is Not fun

i put on clean pyjamas and went back to the kitchen to eat a snack before bed. i have such a huge appetite recently, i can't stop eating, and it's kind of scary, but i am trying really hard to honour my body's needs. i ended up eating twice as much chocolate as i had intended to eat, but i have to remember that it's okay. i'm finally eating what my body wants after more than ten years of neglecting it and i think that's extremely important.

@parasite-2 sent robin a mathematics challenge and robin asked me to help, so i spent two hours puzzling over it which was So Much Fun. i forgot how much i enjoy doing maths questions. its probably also good for my brain, right ? maybe i should do this more often as self care.

then i finally went to bed, i changed my pillow case because i had just washed my hair and that's the Rules. i was feeling very ill again, i couldn't stop coughing and my back hurt a lot, so it took ages for me to get to sleep. i think i finally fell asleep around 2am.

[squilfmybeloved]

always the fool (with the slowest heart)

finally letting this chapter breach containment guys, lmk what u think <3

warnings: canon typical violence, vomiting, nightmares, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts?, trauma in general

tags: hurt/comfort, eventual rengiyuu and inozentan, demon!tanjiro

Chapter 1

The stench of blood coated Tanjiro's nostrils and throat. The blood was sticky and cold, and he could feel it all over him. Tanjiro gagged, lurching up and vomiting- was that blood?- in the snow. He hardly registered footsteps behind him and a hand holding his hair back, coughing and wheezing. "Wha- wha's goin' on," Tanjiro slurred, voice hoarse (from disuse or overuse, he didn't know).

The person holding his hair back sighed. "You don't remember, kid?" "No," Tanjiro whined, frustrated and confused, "I jus' feel sick." The person sighed again, holding a water bottle to Tanjiro's lips. "Here. Drink slowly, just small sips, or else you'll make yourself sick again." He wanted to cry because he was so confused, but obeyed anyways. Tanjiro took the water bottle in shaky hands, drinking slowly and sniffling. "Please, jus' tell me what's goin' on," he whispered through shaky breaths.

"Listen...," the person with black hair sighed (they seem to do that a lot), looking at him expectantly. "Oh. Tanjiro," he said, "that's my name." "Okay, Tanjiro. My name is Giyuu Tomioka. Your sister's resting right there, she's okay," Giyuu looked away from him, guilt painted across his face. Tanjiro turned to look at Nezuko. She was sleeping peacefully against a tree, hair down and a bamboo muzzle covering her mouth. How did I just now notice her?

Tanjiro scrambled over to his sister, immediately grabbing onto her and holding her close to his chest. "Wh- what did you do to her," he demanded. "Why isn't she waking up-" "Do you know what demons are?" Giyuu interrupted. Tanjiro paused. "What does that-" And then it all came together. The overwhelming scent of blood, death. Why he was covered in blood. Why his family wasn't with him, just Nezuko and Giyuu.

"No," Tanjiro choked out. "No. Where are they? Where're my siblings? Where's m' mom? " He couldn't breathe, wheezing out the words. Tears blurred his vision, and he could feel his whole body shaking, panicking because he couldn't breathe. Tanjiro could faintly hear the man's- Giyuu's- voice filtering through his ears. "Deep breaths, kid." He felt Giyuu grab his hands and press them against his chest. "Can you breathe like I am? In and out, that's right."

Tanjiro wheezed his way through deep breaths, panicked sobs eventually coming down to quiet cries. He let his head fall into the man's chest, Nezuko squished between them. She had woken up at some point and was petting Tanjiro's cheek, concerned little noises coming from behind the bamboo. Gentle fingers carded through his hair, and he leaned into the touch, sighing.

"Okay, kid," Giyuu said, pushing himself up off the ground, "we can't sit here in the snow forever, come on. I'll explain on the way." Nodding, Tanjiro stood up as well, holding a small Nezuko in his arms. As they walked, Giyuu inhaled and started his explanation. "Okay. Uh- I'm part of a group of people called demon slayers. Our job is to kill any demon we come across to save humanity. Demons are creatures who- well, for lack of better wording, they eat people.

"A demon is what.. did that to your, uh- family," Giyuu winced, but continued on. "It basically turned you and your sister into demons. That's why you both have long, sharp nails and fangs," he explained, looking cautiously at Tanjiro, as if expecting another panic attack. "Oh," Tanjiro said, maybe too calmly (he didn't have the energy to be suprised anymore), "okay. So why are we still alive? Your job would be to kill us, right?" "You're right, it would, but neither you or Nezuko have displayed any bloodlust towards humans; I believe that you're different, somehow.

"However, you're both still demons, so make sure to stay out of the sun, or else you'll die," Giyuu warned. "You should be fine right now because it's cloudy." A wave of guilt then crashed over his face. "And I uh- I buried your family for you while you were sleeping," he said quickly. Tanjiro just inhaled shakily and nodded, "thank you. Um- where are we headed?" Giyuu nodded jerkily back at him, and explained, "to find shelter for the day, then we can travel at night. I'm taking you to a man called Urokodaki. He can train you to be a demon slayer."

"Oh. Okay," Tanjiro said, eyes fixated on the path ahead of them, face void of any emotion. The three of them headed down the mountain to find shelter, and that was the last time Tanjiro set foot on the mountain that he had previously called home.

okay i think im gonna end it here! pls let me know what u think, im really happy with this chapter and i hope everyone else is too <33

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

Chapter ten: A revelation, pt. 02

.

“You better have good reason to wake us before even the sun is up!”, grumbled Zhū Bājiè, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Sūn Wùkōng rolled his eyes: “Oh, don't start whining! You sleep too much anyway, lazybone!”

Shā Wùjìng was more concerned than grumpy. “What happened, Eldest Brother?”, he asked. “You said it was an emergency, but Master is here and safe.”

Tripitaka just let out an unintelligible grumble.

Bái Lóng Mă and Liù'ěr Míhóu looked drained. No wonder, after all the latter had been crying all night and the former had comforted him all the while.

“It's a different kind of emergency, Old Shā”, Wùkōng explained. “Liù'ěr Míhóu here-”

“Sūn Wùhuàn”, corrected Tripitaka (oh, he was finally awake enough to talk!).

Wùkōng rolled his eyes again. “Whatever. Anyway, he has something to say.”

“He?”, echoed Tripitaka.

Liù'ěr Míhóu had paled and was staring at Wùkōng in horror. “You-”

“Yeah, yeah, I was awake. Now spill!”

The Macaque looked like he wanted to sink into the ground, but Bái Lóng Mă gave him an encouraging nudge and he took a deep breath.

“I …” Hesitation and another deep breath. “… I'm not … I'm not a female.”

Tripitaka was visibly nonplussed, Bājiè looked like he didn't give a fuck and Shā tilted his head in curiosity.

“My body and voice are feminine”, Liù'ěr Míhóu continued. “But I'm not … I'm not a She. I'm a He.”

An icy silence fell over them.

For a few moments the six of them sat like that, five of them staring at the Six-Eared Macaque, whose ears and tail twitched with anxiety.

In the end the silence was broken by Bājiè: “Okay.”

Liù'ěr Míhóu gawked at the pig demon: “What? 'Okay'?! No mockery? No telling me that no, I'm a female? No telling me, that I'm sick, confused or a freak? No disregarding my identity? Because that's what they all do!”

“Bullshit!”, snapped Wùkōng. “And another thing: you have some explaining to do, Mister! Why did you never tell us you're actually a guy?! You never corrected us, when we used the wrong pronouns and got your temperament¹ wrong! Why?!”

“Would it have made a difference?!”, spat the Macaque. “Would any of you have accepted my gender and taken me seriously, or would you have continued treating me as a woman, like literally everyone else does?! Except for two creatures in all of China, no one has ever accepted me for who I was! Why would you be different?! We don't even like each other! What makes you think I'd trust you with my true self, when I can't even be certain, that you won't kill me in my sleep?!” He sniffled. “Fuck this! What's even the point of telling you all that? To you I'm just an impersonator and a robber, am I not? The only beings in creation who care are Bái Lóng Mă and a female crow demon² I haven't seen in decades!”

He sniffled again, but didn't break into tears.

Now Shā stood up, came over and sat near the six-eared monkey.

“Six-Eared Macaque?”

The white monkey glared up at the river demon.

“Please don't make assumptions about us, Youngest Brother.” Shā's voice was gentle, but firm. “We're not so shallow as to reduce people to what they look like. Just take a look at us and tell me, if we'd have much ground to stand on, if we did.”

“…”

“What I mean is, we accept you. And if you need time to believe that, that's okay. Just don't tell us what we think and what we don't. If I understand you right, you thought that if you told us about your true temperament, we'd believe it to be just another lie. But don't worry, Youngest Brother. If you say you're a man, then that's what you are. Eldest Brother is just grumpy, because he has been wrong about you the whole time and didn't realise.”

Wùkōng held back a smile; dear, understanding and sensible Shā!

“What about slaphead?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu asked and pointed at Tripitaka.

The monk was still staring at him, like he had grown another head.

Zhū Bājiè scooted over and waved a hand in front of Tripitaka's face. “Master? Can you hear me? Helloooo? Wood Mother³ to Scripture Pilgrim? Are you in there?”

No response.

The Pig Demon sighed. He looked completely done, as he turned to the rest of them.

“Guys … I think we broke our master.”

.

---

.

Tripitaka.exe has stopped functioning. Please reboot your Scripture Pilgrim.

1) The Chinese word for temperament (xing) can also mean gender (the characters are different, but pronounced the same way). I actually learned that from a post from this account: https://www.tumblr.com/antidotefortheawkward (I swear, the things I learn from hellsite ...) 2) The female crow demon is an OC that will appear in later chapters. ^^ 3) Wood Mother: one of Bajie's many nicknames in the novel.

[zeldabecameaqueen]

inspired by BadBoyHalo's stream "Sweet Dispair" (18th/02/2024)

↓ description below ↓

disclaimer :

• i'm only talking about the characters here, not talking about the admins or ccs behind them

• also it's clearly my opinion, my pov, not a fact nor the official feelings

🍄top part : last goodbye for Richas. Richas on his boat for his last goodbye to his tio, blowing into his horn. I'm really sensitive to sounds and it felt to me like the last goodbye, even though i knew bad was addicted to qsmp and would never leave us alone at that moment. Also, it felt heartbreaking because Richas acted somehow distant, even though he still was there for his uncle and siblings, but i think he lived so much heartbreaks with his family that the fact that an immortal being like bad was getting deadly sick felt for him like: for every person i love, for every bit of myself i give to them, no matter how strong this person is, i'm going to lose them (my pov oc). So here he is, back to the sunset, blowing the horn of another life that ends, another adieu. Idk i didn't expect to hear that and it just felt, like angst

🦋left part : no sleep for Pomme. Bad put Pomme to bed that night, but we all know she's a no-sleeper, she's insomniac and i really don't think she found sleep that night, except maybe by crying herself to sleep. She's in her bed, holding the last plushy her dad gifted her, her new backpack named 'hope' just below, and gazing at the ceiling. I mean... she can't see the ceiling because she has blurry eyes caused by the tears, she only sees her nightmares pinned with blood just above her. She never had the chance to be a kid, day one she was buried between four walls of stone, and ever since she felt like she had to put herself in danger so that the others may live. Her insecurities, her worries, her traumas but also the very best and sparkling memories ran before her eyes that night. It was angst over again. But she had hope so i guess she could sleep.

🪻right part : the Halo's flower field. The flower field + the arch of heaven. I know it's non-canonical, it's two completely different places but it was my way of depicting the purity of the Halo's family's love, and its strength. A lot of people on Tumblr already said that but turning back on heaven/peace/apparently what he was looking for for so long but couldn't get to get back to your kids who need you, despite the risks of living with more pain and losing those you came back for, i mean... he's the most angelic demon. and a priceless father/tio. This flower field was chosen for them by them, it represents their diversity and their unity, flowers are for friendship, family, love, hope, regret, pain, and death, but it's also the cycle of nature, it'll always come back one way or another

🔔center part : the bell of spirits. Ghosties were put in this bell by Bad, they always followed him and have been a part of him, they are multiple lost souls, caring creatures of the underworld, they came and went as Bad lived his adventures, and as the eggs were growing. They were always there, always following. When Richas blew in that horn, it was like the wind carried his despair indirectly to the bell, and Bad dying was the final release for them to be free. Yet, free was more like lost, without guidance, panicked and afraid. They stayed together though, like they were one being, one connection, because they lived so much together, and went finding a familiar face. They gained strength in the material world to the point the kids could sense them when they never did before. (the 'honk' is for Richas' horn but in my imagination the bell didn't make a sound in the material world)

🍎~🍄~👻~🍎~🍄~👻~🍎~🍄~👻~🍎~🍄~👻

french translation:

inspiré par le stream de BBH "Doux Désespoir" (18 février 2024)

description en-dessous

• je ne parle que des personnages ici, je ne parle pas des admins ou des ccs derrière eux

• c'est également clairement mon opinion, mon point de vue, ce ne sont ni des faits ni des sentiments qui ont été partagés officiellement par les ccs/personnages

🍄haut : le dernier adieu de Richas. Richas est sur son bateau lors de son dernier au revoir à son oncle, il souffle dans la corne. Je suis très sensible aux sons, et j'ai eu l'impression que c'était comme le dernier au revoir, même si je savais que BBH était addict au qsmp et qu'il ne nous laisserait jamais seuls à ce moment. C'était également déchirant parce que Richas était distant d'une certaine manière, même s'il était toujours là pour son oncle et ses adelphes, mais je pense qu'il a eu tellement de peine avec sa famille que le fait qu'un être immortel comme BBH devenait mortellement malade, c'était comme si: pour chaque personne que j'aime, pour chaque part de moi que je leur donne, qu'importe à quel point cette personne est forte, je vais la perdre (bien sûr ce n'est que mon opinion). Donc le voilà à présent, en contrejour par rapport au coucher de soleil, soufflant dans la corne pour cette vie qui se termine, pour ce dernier adieu. Jsp, je ne m'attendais pas à entendre ça et c'était juste, horrible et à glacer le sang

🦋gauche : pas de repos pour Pomme. BBH a mis Pomme au lit cette nuit-là, mais on sait tous qu'elle est insomniaque, et je pense vraiment qu'elle n'a pas trouvé le sommeil cette nuit-là, sauf peut-être en pleurant jusqu'à s'endormir. Elle est dans son lit, tenant la dernière peluche que son père lui a offert, son nouveau sac à dos nommé "espoir" juste en dessous, et elle regarde au plafond. Enfin... elle ne peut pas voir le plafond car elle a la vision floue à cause des larmes, elle ne voit que des cauchemars épinglés avec du sang juste au-dessus d'elle. Elle n'a jamais eu la chance d'être un enfant, dès le premier jour on l'a enterrée entre quatre murs de pierre, et depuis elle a l'impression qu'elle pouvait risquer sa vie si ça permettait aux autres de vivre. Ses insécurités, ses inquiétudes, ses traumas mais aussi ses meilleurs et plus étincelants souvenirs défilaient devant ses yeux cette nuit-là. C'était à nouveau l'angoisse. Mais elle avait de l'espoir et j'imagine qu'elle a réussi à s'endormir.

🪻droite : le champ de fleurs des Halo. Le champ de fleurs + l'arche du paradis. Je sais que ce sont deux endroits complètement différents mais c'était ma façon de montrer la pureté de l'amour de la famille Halo, et leur force. Beaucoup de gens sur Tumblr l'ont déjà dit mais le fait de tourner le dos au paradis/à la paix/sur ce qu'il cherchait depuis longtemps apparemment mais ne pouvait pas avoir pour retrouver ses enfants qui ont besoin de toi, malgré les risques de vivre avec encore plus de douleur et celui de perdre ceux pour qui tu es revenu, je veux dire... c'est le démon le plus angélique. et c'est un père/oncle sans prix. Ce champ de fleurs a été choisi pour eux et par eux, il représente leur diversité et leur unité, les fleurs sont là pour l'amitié, la famille, l'amour, l'espoir, le regret, la douleur, et la mort, mais c'est également le cycle de la nature, ça reviendra toujours d'une façon ou d'une autre

🔔centre : la cloche des esprits. Les Fantômes ont été placés dans cette cloche par BBH, ils l'ont toujours suivi et font partie de lui, ce sont de multiples âmes perdues, des créatures bienveillantes du monde souterrain, elles allaient et venaient au fur et à mesure que BBH vivait ses aventures, et que les oeufs grandissaient. Ils ont toujours été là, toujours suivi le mouvement. Lorsque Richas a soufflé dans cette corne, c'est comme si le vent avait porté son désespoir jusqu'à la cloche, et que la mort de BBH avait été la libération finale pour eux. Mais plutôt que livre, ils étaient surtout perdus, sans repère, paniqués et effrayés. Ils sont restés ensemble, comme s'ils formaient un seul être, un seul lien, parce qu'ils ont beaucoup vécu ensemble et ils sont partis à la recherche d'un visage familier. Ils ont gagné en force dans le monde matériel, au point que les enfants pouvaient les sentir alors qu'ils ne pouvaient pas auparavant. (la "corne" est celle de Richas, mais dans mon imagination, la cloche n'a pas fait de bruit dans le monde matériel).

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Healing Ties - Chapter 26

*Warning: Adult Content*  

Fanner hovered in the doorway for a moment after Yore had left and then took a tentative step outside.

If he didn't leave the cabin now, he would probably just hide himself away and drown in his worries until Yore returned.

Yore's cabin was on the outer edge of the settlement, set away from everything else, so there was nobody around immediately outside.

Besides, it was still quite early in the morning.

Were werewolves typically early risers?

Wolves were usually most active at night, weren't they?

When Fanner had come by, Slone had been awake but Yore had been sleeping.

Fanner could hear the sound of a running river, so he headed down a slope, through some trees towards it.

He eyed the water suspiciously when he reached it and made sure to keep a couple of steps back from the bank.

He didn't think he would ever trust a body of water again after that thing had tried to drown him.

Were there a finite number of known threats or did the people who lived out here just have to hold a certain level of suspicion towards their surroundings at all times?

Yore had said he'd never seen anything like Cookie before.

He'd taken it in stride, too, like seeing a new type of creature wasn't a rare occurrence for him.

Maybe if you were as big and powerful as a werewolf you didn't have to worry about it too much or perhaps this area was just much safer than some of the other ones they'd passed through.

From what Yore had said, it sounded like the latter was the case.

Fanner was pulled out of his thoughts when he rounded a corner and saw a man sitting on a wooden dock, hefting a netful of still flopping fish out of the water.

Fanner hurried towards him.

"Um, hi. My name is Fanner. Can I help you with anything?"

The man was large enough that he was clearly a werewolf and edging towards middle age.

He levelled Fanner with a dispassionate gaze.

"Do you know how to clean out a fish?"

Fanner shook his head.

"How to cut it up for drying? How to hang it?"

Fanner shook his head again.

"Then I guess you can't help me."

Fanner stood there awkwardly, his hand twisting in the hem of his shirt.

Should he just walk away now?

"You're a fuckin' bully, Morren," a voice said from behind them, and Fanner jumped.

He turned around to find Slone, Yore's brother, heading down the path to the dock towards them.

The man, Morren, shook his head.

"How's it bullying to tell him I don't need his help?"

"You coulda found something he could help with or fuck, I dunno, coulda taught him a new skill."

"We have plenty of kids of our own around here to teach."

"Yeah, 'cause you're so busy with that. Where's your kid? Want me to go find her so you can teach her howta dry a fish?"

"Why don't you teach him, then?"

Slone waved a dismissive hand.

"Oh, I dunno how. Hardly know how to cook one, honestly."

"How do you manage to spend so much of your time on your own and not die?"

"Well, I'm pretty fuckin' decent at catchin' fish. Don't see any need to cook 'em."

Morren made a face.

"Do werewolves..." Fanner startled to say, then faltered when both men turned to look at him.

Somehow, he hadn't expected to actually draw their attention.

"Sorry, um. Do werewolves eat prepared foods, like humans? Is eating raw fish unusual?"

"Eh..?"

Morren shrugged.

"Won't make us sick. It's a bit like growing a nice vegetable garden, then when all your vegetables are ready you sit down and eat three whole, raw carrots. You could munch on a raw one here and there and nobody would find it strange but if you only ever ate them raw because you don't fucking know how to cook then people might think it's fucking weird and you should maybe learn to cook."

Slone yawned, unconcerned by Morren's animosity.

"I could prob'ly manage to fry one but it always seemed like a lotta work. I'll butcher a bigger animal that I can't eat on my own but why bother with a fish?"

"Oh, um, Slone," Fanner said. "Is Cookie still around?"

"She stuck around and ate my unwanted deer bits but she didn't seem too interested in comin' near the village. I packed the meat up and left it in your cabin, by the way, Morren."

Morren nodded.

"I'll get to it after I'm done here. Who or what is Cookie?"

"Somethin' that crawled outta the swamp. Ain't pretty to look at but she's a sweetheart. There was this lizard hangin' 'round while she ate everything she could fit down her throat and when we were done she picked the thing up. I was sure she was about to eat it but she just put it on her head like a fuckin' hat an' wandered off."

"She's strange but... I like her," Fanner murmured.

"I like anything that comes outta that swamp, 'cause usually it means some animal fell in there and the Fae took the opportunity to mash it together with one of the corpses in there and give it its life back. One less fucking corpse in that soup is fine by me."

Fanner watched as Morren slammed his knife down against the neck of a fish, severing its neck.

He didn't like the sound it made.

"There are corpses in the swamp? Don't they rot away?"

"Living corpses," Slone clarified. "That's what put an end to the war. An army of the dead. Kinda takes the fun outta killing each other when the dead rise right back up and try to kill ya all over again. When the fighting finally stopped, the dead marched off into the swamp and buried themselves in the mud. They've been there ever since, grabbin' at anyone who gets too close."

"But they don't come out?"

"Nah, nah. Some reckon the Fae leave them there as a warning or like a backup plan in case things get too rowdy again but I think that taking life away just ain't something the Fae can do. Like, they'll warn us about vampires or whatever, tryta get us to help deal with that shit but I ain't never heard of them just making one be dead on their own when they wanted it to be, y'know? I don't think they can."

That was the swamp he and Yore had passed by.

It wasn't that far from here.

"That's unsettling. That the dead are still there, I mean."

"I don't fuckin' love it," Slone agree. "Had nightmares about them when I was a kid. Still do, sometimes. When I was younger, like a teenager, I found this rusty old spear and I went out there and I would stab 'em through the heads. That kills them, if you do it right. I figured I could make a project of it. If I killed ten, twenty here and there, one day there wouldn't be any left, right?"

Fanner nodded. That made sense.

"Fuckin' dangerous game for a kid to play, I'll tell you that. Did it for years, though. Killed hundreds of the fuckers. They definitely died and stayed dead 'cause I could see 'em rotting where I left 'em but there never seemed to be any less. Then one day I got too close to a spot where the mud seemed a bit deeper and one of the fuckers grabbed my ankle and it pulled me down... and down..."

Fanner gasped.

"Wasn't so much mud there as muddy water. And it was fuckin' deep. Couldn't see shit but I could feel 'em grabbin' at me. Never felt the bottom, just a writhing mass of bodies. Kicked my way free somehow, got out of the water and I gave up on killin' 'em for good. Too dangerous and too many of 'em for what I was doing to make a damn bit of difference."

"That seems wise. I'm glad you survived. That sounds like an awful way to die."

Slone grinned.

"Aw, thanks. I'm glad I survived, too. So, didya get a look at that rock golem?"

Fanner nodded, his mind flashing back to the monstrous thing.

"It was huge and it had the form of a man but it was made entirely out of stone. I thought it was nothing more than a pile of boulders when it was laying down."

"And twice as tall as me at least, right?"

"I'd say so. You're quite tall but it was massive."

"We didn't know what to do about the thing. They're hard to kill because well... I'm not sure how much they're even living things. They're stone all the way down. No organs. Not even a brain. Just rocks and enough magic to keep 'em moving. The only way to put 'em down for good is with explosives or heavy projectiles. Not exactly things we keep handy."

Fanner tensed.

"So it's still wandering around out there?"

"Nah, nah. See, I came up with a plan. I know those swamps. Lured the thing over to that deep spot I got dragged into that one time and it stumbled right on in. Lotta people I told that story to over the years doubted it was as deep as I said but there were four other people with me and they all saw that thing sink and not come back up."

"Did it... did it drown?"

Slone shook his head.

"Ain't got lungs. I sat there for an hour, though and I'm pretty sure it can't get out again. Banks are too steep, water is too deep and it's too heavy to swim. I'm hopin' it flails around down there for a bit, killin' all the dead it comes into contact with, then slowly sinks into the mud and never escapes."

Fanner let out a slow breath.

"I hope so."

"Don't let that shit scare you. We get weird shit showing up from time to time but territory like the swamplands that don't belong to anybody is way more dangerous than places like here or the mage camp."

"Something tried to drown me, too," Fanner said. "It was like a child, only... watery?"

"Ah, those fuckers," Morren said. "Stupid little things. They wash through sometimes. Not too often but maybe don't go swimming alone."

"It thought I was a human."

"They think anything vaguely human shaped is human. Like I said, stupid. They'll let go of us if we shift because that's a bit too not-human even for them but I always keep an eye on my kid when she's in the water even though she can swim just fine because I'm worried she'll panic and forget."

"There was one that hung around for a couple months when I was a kid," Slone said. "Damn thing would realise we weren't human and let us go when we shifted, then forget and do the same thing all over again five minutes later. My mum tried to keep me out of the water at first but I just thought the whole thing was funny."

Morren beheaded another fish.

"You have a bad sense of humour."

Slone shrugged.

"Either that or don't swim for two months. Lots of folks did that. Everyone got all worked up and wanted to find some way to kill the thing but it washed away with the next heavy rain and that was the problem solved."

"Do you think they can be killed?" Fanner asked.

"Might be a way," Slone said. "They were gonna try catchin' it in a tub an' then boiling the water. Mighta worked. I reckon they're like the rock golems. Not alive, so you can't kill 'em but there are ways to destroy 'em."

"The thing in the water talked to us, though. How can it not be alive?"

"Guess it depends what you mean by alive, right? Gets kinda complicated this side of the border an' I ain't sure there's any clear line."

Perhaps, for Fanner, whether something was alive would depend on whether he could and could not heal it.

He could heal both Yore and Cookie, two very different beings and they were clearly alive.

He doubted he would have been able to heal the rock golem or the watery child.

He didn't think they were even able to sustain injuries.

At least not in the traditional sense.

Fanner realised his attention had wandered, and while he was thinking his eyes had locked onto a fraying rope in Morren's net.

"Um... I could fix that. If you like."

"Huh?" Morren asked.

"The frayed rope. I...I could fix it before it snaps and the whole thing comes apart."

"Huh. Sure. You can watch me clean out and cut up these fish for drying while you're at it. Learn something new."

Fanner nodded and kneeled to get started on the net.

"Okay."

Fanner was bad at focussing on one thing but he was actually slightly less bad at focussing on two at once.

Well, depending on what they were.

What Morren was showing him seemed simple enough.

Fanner had never gone through the whole process of cutting up a whole, fresh fish before but he had a decent amount of cooking experience that he figured should translate at least a little bit.

He kept getting distracted and forgetting to work on fixing the net but he did that whether or not there was more than one thing he was supposed to be focussing on at a time.

"Um, here," Fanner said when he was done with the net, holding it out to Morren. "It's fixed."

Morren took the net from Fanner and examined the rope.

"Huh? Now that bit looks better than the rest of the net."

"Sorry it doesn't match," Fanner murmured, though he wasn't sure whether that had been the point Morren had been trying to make.

"I can clean and fix the rest of it if you like or if you have anything else that needs to be done..."

"Hmm, might do."

Morren looked the net over one more time and then set it aside.

"For now, I want you to have a go at this. Here, take this knife and cut this fish's head off."

Fanner laid the fish out on the wooden board Morren had been using to cut them, held it steady by the tail well out of the way of where he would be cutting and brought the knife down against the fish's neck.

It only made it halfway through.

"Sorry. Maybe... maybe I'm not strong enough?"

"A lot of strength is up here."

Morren tapped his head.

"That's why you'll find you're suddenly a lot stronger when you really need to be. Some of that's your body protecting you, making sure you don't hurt yourself but in your case I bet you've been taught you're not meant to be physically strong."

"Well, compared to you..."

"You don't need to compare yourself to me."

Fanner ducked his head.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Try again."

Fanner held the fish down, swung the knife and... missed entirely.

The knife lodged in the board and Slone had to help him pull it free.

Fanner offered Morren the knife back.

"Maybe this just isn't for me."

"You've tried twice and already you want to give up? How do you think people get good at things? Try again."

Fanner nodded.

He held the fish down, swung the knife and it lodged deep into the fish's neck.

"Good," Morren said. "Now rock the knife to cut the rest of the way through."

Fanner obeyed.

He could hear the crunch of tiny bones, the sensation of the knife slicing through the soft flesh... he yanked his hands away and hid them under his armpits.

He remembered being tied down, remembered the knife coming down against his finger.

Remembered Whelan rocking the knife back and forth to fully sever the digit while Fanner screamed and begged him to stop.

There had been blood everywhere.

Fanner had been able to see the splintered bone through the top of the wound.

He'd bandaged it securely so that it wouldn't brush against things.

He didn't know whether it would regrow.

He only hoped, at the very least, that the skin would grow back to cover the exposed bone.

He couldn't live with that sticking out of his finger.

It looked completely normal now, like nothing had ever happened but Fanner could still feel it.

That slight numbness, the tingling sensation that ran through it when he bent it sometimes.

"What happened?" Morren asked. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Fanner shook his head but he kept his hands hidden in his armpits, kept hugging himself.

"Sorry. I... I don't think I'm very good with knives. Can I fix something instead?"

Morren studied Fanner for a long moment and then shook his head.

"Don't you worry about that. Come on. We'll take a break and I'll fry you up a nice fish."

[muddyorbsblr]

secret notes part 4: dandelions

Series Masterlist See my full list of works here!

Summary: Your closest friends find out about your secret life as The Lonely Avenger.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: none, really [but in case i missed something, please let me know!]

Things to be aware of: idiots in love, mutual pining, reader in denial

If there was one thing that Natasha could bet on, it was that you were a creature of habit. Every morning, you would reach for your little pink mug with the kindly fuck off lettering on the side and make yourself a cafe mocha with white chocolate syrup. On the days that you were lacking in sleep, that would suddenly become the strongest black coffee on hand in the tower.

And you'd been consistently drinking black coffee every other Sunday morning for the last two months. 

It was this pattern that had her ready to grill you this fine Saturday morning, seeing that you were wearing a gray sundress with wedges, your hair and makeup done in such a way that suggested…

"Are you seeing someone, Y/N?" she blurted out as you were making your white chocolate mocha for the morning. She hid a smirk as she heard the unmistakable sound of Loki choking on his cup of tea as he heard her question. You turned around, facing her with wide eyes, clearly hiding something. "Pretty dress, heels, you actually did your hair and put on makeup. You're making an effort for something. Or someone. Spill. Tell me everything about him." You raised an eyebrow at her. "Or her…" 

"Drop it, Nat," you answered her cautiously, spurring her questioning even further. "Can't I just want to not look like a mess and a half? Actually put in an effort to look like a person instead of a hermit who spends her free time tapping around on the internet and watching videos of cute little animals the whole day?" 

"Darling, it is a compliment to the hermits if you believe you resemble them in your form of, as you've worded it, 'a mess and a half'." He raised his cup in your direction and you gave him a soft smile in return, ducking your head as you took a sip from your coffee to hide your blush. 

"So…there's no date?" the Russian spy kept prodding you. "You really expect me to believe that you put in all this effort…for fun?" You shrugged, giving neither a confirmation nor a denial. Just like you did every time someone asked you about how differently you dressed up every other Saturday. "But you are going out somewhere today, right, babes? Because there's no way you expect me to believe that you did all this and you're just staying in the tower all day." 

"No you're right, babes, I am going somewhere," you replied casually. "Just running some errands that's all. Might pass by for some groceries on my way back. Any special requests?" You pointed your hand in Loki's direction. "I already know, another box of your tea." The dark-haired god looked like he was just about to raise his hand in your direction as you said the words, making him break out in a smile Natasha suspected he didn't intend to ever show around others, except perhaps you.

"If we're still making cupcakes for St Patrick's Day…" she trailed off. Your only response was to tap your nose and then point your finger in her direction. "You're the best, babes." 

"Oh I know," you shot back with a wink. "I guess I'll see you all again…tonight." 

They watched as you practically skipped out of the kitchen, your jolly mood still jarring even Natasha. She was so convinced that you were seeing someone but if you really were, you would've told her and Wanda already. By now they should be sick of hearing how good you were getting dicked down on a regular basis; they should be stewing with "I want that, too" energy.

But you were silent. You were coy. This wasn't a new relationship. This was something else. And as your best friend, she thought it was only right to make sure that you were being careful with whatever this outlet of yours was. So the expert spy did what all expert spies did, and what all best friends did.

She followed you.

The establishment she found your car parked outside of was one you'd never gone to before, at least not with either of your closest friends. She would know, and after a quick text to Wanda, she confirmed that the sorceress had never been there, either. "A rented recording studio?" she thought to herself. "What're you up to, Y/N?" 

Natasha walked up to the fresh out of college receptionist at the counter, his eyes widening as he immediately recognized her. "H-Hi, Miss Romanoff. I'm a huge fan." 

"Thanks…" She eyed the name tag on the boy. "Lance." She stifled a chuckle at the bright smile that colored his face at the mention of his name. "A friend of mine told me to meet her here but--"

"Oh say no more. You mean Miss Potts, right?" She tilted her head at him. "Yeah. Miss Morgan Potts, at least that's the name she gives when she makes her reservation. She's in Booth 3, last one down that hall." He pointed her in the direction of the hall closest to them. "There's a listening room. Door to your right." 

"Thank you so much, Lance." She walked towards the listening room and stepped inside, bracing herself for what ever secret you could have been harboring. A lot of possibilities were running through her head. Gossip podcast about the team? No, you would never betray them like that. Audio pornos? She definitely thought your voice could go that direction if you really wanted to. Narrating children's books? Complete opposite of the other option, but she could still see it.

What Natasha wasn't prepared for, however, was hearing the voice of The Lonely Avenger in the listening room, recording a song that hadn't been uploaded on the internet yet. And when she looked through the two-way mirror inside the room, she saw you singing into the microphone. A smile started forming on her face.

You were The Lonely Avenger. You were confessing your feelings for Loki on the internet and nobody knew it was you. You'd stopped recording your song, so Natasha turned on the mic from her side of the room and started clapping. "Bravo, babes." 

It was just a bit after lunch when Morgan was greeted by Wanda as the little girl walked into the kitchen to swipe a packet of pop tarts from Thor's stash. "Hi Auntie Wanda." 

Wanda was currently munching on a bowl of cereal and  listening to The Lonely Avenger's channel once more, trying to narrow down why the voice sounded so familiar not just to Tony and Loki, but also to herself. It felt like a voice that she should know. 

Could she have been hearing on the radio? One of those television personalities that they come across when winding down in the common area? 

"I love it when Auntie Y/N sings," Morgan commented. "She's like a Disney princess," the little girl said as she put her pop tarts in the toaster.

The sorceress froze at her words. "What did you say, baby Morgan?" 

"Auntie Y/N. She sings to me all the time. That's her. You're listening to her singing." 

"Baby Morgan, you are a genius." The smaller Stark smiled brightly at her. "Why don't you come with me later and we can all talk to Auntie Y/N about what you just told me." She nodded her little head excitedly. 

A few hours later, Wanda and Morgan heard you walk in to the common area, setting down grocery bags as they were playing their third game of Uno. "Ah, Y/N, Natasha, welcome back you two," she greeted you both. You waved as you started setting aside the ingredients you'd be using for cupcakes in a few weeks. "Morgan and I want to talk to you later, Y/N. Natasha, you should probably hear this, too." 

"Uh huh, sure." 

Once you and Nat were done, Wanda led you to a small meeting room where you all sat down, Morgan perched on her lap so that the child could see you all above the table. "Y/N, we know you're The Lonely Avenger." 

"Oh. That. Natasha already knows," you deadpanned as Wanda dropped the bomb on you. "How did you find out, though?" 

Wanda motioned toward the child in her lap. "She knows your singing voice." 

"I knew you were the singing lady on the YouTubes!" Morgan squealed in your direction. "You like Prince Loki!" You couldn't help but smile at her excitement, imagining that to her, it was like a Disney movie coming to life. "Now both of you won't be lonely anymore!"

"No, baby, that's not how it works." You struggled to find a way to explain it to her. "In order for us to have the Disney happy ending, that would mean that we both like each other. That's--that's not what's happening, sweetie. This…this is real life. It's not Disney. I wish it was." 

Wanda and Nat exchanged a look that you didn't quite understand, but then the Sokovian shrugged and said, "So you seem hell bent on keeping this channel of yours a secret. What do you need?" 

You were struck with an unfamiliar emotion to you. Part of you expected that they'd be itching to tell the rest of the team straight away, but instead…"You're going to help me?" 

"Duh," Natasha answered, lightly shoving your side. "What did you think we were gonna do? Run outside going 'Hey Laufeyson, guess what? Y/N's your mystery lark, do with that information what you will'? We're your best friends, you idiot. Your secret is our secret until you decide that you don't want it to be a secret anymore."

"Or until I have definitive proof that Loki likes you back, which in that case, all bets will be off and I will go rogue and play Cupid for you two since you seem to be determined on denying yourself happiness even though he literally kissed you already, you absolute dummy." 

"Wait, Prince Loki kissed Auntie Y/N??" Morgan squealed again, and you only answered with a small nod. "Auntie Wanda's right…you are a dummy." 

You feigned shock at Morgan's words, trying to keep the mood light and addressing your friends again. "I just need you to keep my cover. I don't know what that means yet, since I didn't exactly plan this out to be some big covert operation." 

"Girls nights," Wanda offered. "We could go with you to that recording studio Nat tailed you to and the rest of the team would at least know that we're out together instead of you disappearing every other Saturday. That way there's no pattern, and you don't have to keep pretending you're seeing somebody named Lance. Honestly Y/N, of all the names, it's so…bland." 

"Oh no, Wan, Lance is quite real. I met him," Natasha teased, making the sorceress' eyes widen. "It's just that our little babes here isn't seeing him, per se. He's just the guy she talks to for making her reservations. So 'thanks Lance I'll see you on Saturday' was setting an appointment, not a date." 

"That's rich," Wanda giggled.  "Let's use that…sparingly. But for now we can break your recording pattern and reserve on off days so that you don't spend the entire day in the booth, and it's harder for people to suspect something happening with you since your pattern's changing." 

You felt like you were drowning in this overwhelming sense of comfort, as if there was a weight lifted off your shoulders now that you didn't have to carry this secret alone. Now you had people in your corner; turned out you always did. You never actually had to face all this alone.

You looked at the little girl on Wanda's lap again, holding out your pinky to her. "Morgan, baby, nobody outside this room can know about this, okay? Not even your father. Promise?"

Morgan made a show of mulling over her decision, looking so much like Tony in that moment. 

"She'll make you the flower girl at her and Prince Loki's wedding if you keep her secret now," Natasha teased, making the little girl squeal and throw her tiny body across the table to lock her pinky with yours.

"I PROMISE!" 

A/N: Once again, Morgan Stark coming at us with the cold hard facts. Like how YN is a dummy, but we knew that already.

Taglist:

Everything: @lokisgoodgirl @lokischambermaid @imalovernotahater @mygfloki @lucylaufeyson3 @thomase1 @springdandelixn @fictive-sl0th @mochie85 @laliceee @xorpsbane @gigglingtigger @silverfire475 @cabingrlandrandomcrap @vickie5446 @salempoe @lokixryss @sinsandguilt @lokidbadguy @alexakeyloveloki @glitterylokislut @arch-venus25 @freefrommars @littlemortals @cakesandtom @girl-of-multi-fandoms @mischief2sarawr @thedistractedagglomeration @five-miles-over @goblingirlsarah @peaches1958 @huntress-artemiss @lilibet261 @iobsessoverfictionalmen @holymultiplefandomsbatman @lovingchoices14 @avoliax @devilsadvocactus @purplegrrl27 @lokiprompts @sititran @imherefortomhiddleston

[absentmindedadmirer]

>×> I loved your headcanons for the 3-A so I wanted to know if you had any for the 3-B as well

If we're being honest- then no!! I did not have any on hand at the time of ask. However, I did let my brain go ballistic at 3AM again so... here we go again.

CLASS 3-B HEADCANONS

General Headcanons:

Nazuna is so damn done with these people (except Kuro and possibly Tsumugi).

Kanata likes patting Nazuna on the head while talking to him. Nazuna noisily complains it but if Kanata ever stopped, Nazuna would find it pretty weird.

Tsumugi likes to sit down and sew with Kuro sometimes. Wataru often interrupts such sessions by claiming that he can also make scarves and proceeds to pull out a neverending chain of them out of his sleeves.

Once when Nazuna bit his tongue, Leo had concluded that he was a space invader and threw a pencil at him.

Nazuna likes sending "Get Well" cards with cute stickers and doodles whenever one of his (when they were his current and still when they are his former) classmates are sick.

Kanata likes to take naps on peoples' shoulders, usually Rei or Wataru, but he has slept on everyone in 3-B various times.

Leo often comes up with script ideas and askes Wataru to visualise them for him. It mostly ends up dragging everyone else into it.

Kanata likes hearing peoples' voices in conversations (Rei probably has his favourite voice, by tone) so he closes his eyes while he listens to them and then doesn't end up responding because he fell asleep.

Kuro holds leo underneath the arms like a rabid animal to stop him from causing havoc.

Nazuna has had a hyperfixation on flower language after trying to decipher the message Wataru would send when he kept on giving people different coloured flowers [There was no reason, Wataru just likes those flowers at the time]

Tsumugi likes sending out cards after important events for each classmate. They're usually something from a cornerstore like a card with a puppy on it saying "I'm PAW-SITIVELY proud of you!"

Nazuna likes buying stationery on impulse but he hates when Leo finds out because then he begs to use it and it always ends up with glitter, marker, and stickers on the floors, walls, and both of their faces.

Rei likes to use a "secret language" with Wataru and Kanata so that he emphasised certain words and is very cryptic in speech. Nazuna just looks at him in confusion, Tsumugi and Kuro don't pay it any mind, and Leo asks if he's an alien. Wataru and Kanata don't actually know what it means either, they just like playing along.

Leo jumped into the ocean after seeing Kanata walk in with his clothes on. He immediately found an unidentified creature and wrestled with it, it omitting his vision, until Kanata peeled the octopus off his face.

! era:

Leo has called Kuro mother before. It was probably after something simple as Kuro chiding him for drawing on the desks on the rare occasions Leo did show up, but nobody's letting Kuro live it down.

Rei now calls him mother to tease him, as well as Leo who now frequently does it. Kanata does it with no malice whatsoever but because he thinks it's fun. He just playfully goes, "ok, 'mother'" whenever Kuro says something to him. Tsumugi tries to console Kuro on the fact but ends up accidentally calling him mother anyways. Nazuna wants to tease Kuro but he simply can't bring himself to call Kuro mother. Wataru, on the second Sunday of May, showers Kuro in bouquets as he walks into the classroom, wishing him very loudly a "Happy Mother's Day!! "

Leo was really interested in Rei's vampirism and spent a whole week trying to act like him. Eventually, he tried to sleep upside down like a bat [Despite Rei telling him that he, in fact, does not do that.] and Nazuna walks into the classroom that day with Leo falling on top of him from the ceiling.

Kuro, after some persuasion from Nazuna, embroiders and customises different types of fabric for his classmates.

He gifts Nazuna a little hankerchief with detailings of bunnies. He makes a towel for Kanata customised with various sea creatures on the edges. (Kanata barely remembers to use it, his hair always dripping wet anyways) He gifts Rei a pillow to place into his coffin because he assumes that it couldn't possibly be that comfortable in that thing. It's victorian styled (because he asked Shu for an idea) with little bats on the sides. Tsumugi gets a blanket in a clean geometric pattern. Wataru gets a cape with doves embroidered on the sides and it's very flowy. He showingly whirls it around and uses it in some of his performances. Leo got a scarf, but in the process of making, Leo kept demanding that it would be longer and longer. Kuro argued that if it reached his feet, Leo would trup over it, but Leo would keep on insisting so kuro would shake his head as he continued stitching. Leo did indeed trip on his face when he ran outside the first time he wore it.

Leo once shot an arrow into the classroom and used the rope attached to it to slide in through the window from the tree that he just happened to climb that morning, scaring the shit out of Tsumugi who was already in the classroom.

They held a puppet show in their classroom for funsies!!!

Leo had tought of it and ended up manifesting a script out of nowhere. Wataru looks it over and encourages everyone to participate to bring the vision to life. Tsumugi helped with the stage and Kuro made the puppets. Rei said that he was doing important work by supporting them (which just meant he wanted to watch it and do nothing) Kanata didn't know what everyone was doing but he likes putting the puppets in his hand and wiggling them around. Nazuna becomes the second unpaid actor forcibly. After the rehearsal, they do, in fact, force 3-A to watch it.

Nazuna likes to doodle on his notes when he gets bored, and Tsumugi when he notices, made Nazuna little charms that resembled his doodles and gifted to him.

Tsumugi did not find the need to mention his birthday, but when everyone pried, the class found out and Wataru pulled out party supplies, streamers, and balloons out of a hat he just flourished out of nowhere and strings them across the classroom so they can celebrate.

Wataru likes to enter the classroom in various different ways.

Once he jumped out of jack-in-the box set in the middle of the room and knocked Nazuna on his ass.

Tsumugi keeps a first aid kit on hand in case his luck acts up again, but he ends up lending it to Kuro a lot of the time, when he pricks his hand on a needle working with them in class again.

Nazuna forced Kuro to sit in the front with him because he was too short to see from the back and did not want to be alone.

Rei simply suggests that they stack books on a chair for him to sit on and Nazuna scowls (Rei doesn't even go to class!!)

Rei, in an attempt to outdo Eichi's 3-A field trips, suggests places for the group to go to, but ends up dying when it comes to actual event because he's in broad daylight.

Wataru likes to hold scavenger hunts throughout the school by leaving clues and leading everyone along. Nazuna ends up being the most invested.

Nazuna wanted to paint his nails in a cute style when he saw nail decals in a store window. He attempted to get Kuro to do it for him, but Wataru insisted he do it instead when he found out. It turns out surprisingly well, and Nazuna hesitatingly asks him to do more.

Kuro refuses to get his nails painted in any colour but black and runs away when Wataru points a glitter coat bottle at him.

Leo once asked Nazuna if he could be in charge of one of the broadcastings. Nazuna relented and that morning everyone could see Leo messily vlogging his day.

Like, "I climbed a TREE this morning, guys!! And thennnnnn I had a bagel--"

Tsumugi likes holding little trivia games in the classroom when they're all present (rare! also they don't do actual classwork I refuse to believe)

Kuro wins all the time. Tsumugi is the host but when he taps in, he only gets a close second surprisingly. Wataru, Rei, and Kanata always fail the pop culture sections. Leo answers the same thing to every single question and gets frustrated when Tsumugi shakes his head and tells him that's not the answer.

!! era:

Rei keeps on asking Nazuna how his phone works and Nazuna feels like he's talking to his grandpa.

Wataru still likes leaving cryptic notes in his old classmates' belongings and encourages them to finish the quest.

Kuro complains about being too old to do scavenger hunts anymore but still plays along. Nazuna doesn't want to show he's invested but curiosity gets the better of him.

Tsumugi somehow flounders and Rei and Kanata are the first ones at the end of the quest where Wataru holds a party. Wataru has to guide Leo specifically so the guy doesn't get lost.

Nazuna formed the groupchat when he was sitting in college, bored. He often gets frustrated when he doesn't get a response in the next 0.001 seconds.

Tsumugi usually responds first and Kuro follows with them asking how Nazuna's day was. Wataru likes entering the chat with a bunch of sparkle emojis. Rei misspells things frequently and accidentally sends random gifs. Leo just likes sending random voice and text messages about what he sees in his day, ignoring any logical progression in the chat.

Leo usually contacts Wataru when he wants to do some cool (vandalism) pieces on the walls of ES for the sake of art (and mostly so Eichi would be less mad).

Kanata asked Nazuna to puka puka with him in the pond. Nazuna didn't feel like saying now so now he spends the rest of the afternoon getting algae out of his shorts.

Rei likes to collapse on the floor during little meet-ups they'd have in a cafe or similar space for attention. Nobody really seems bothered by it and he usually cries out that the kids of this generation have no heart.

Nazuna once accidentally smacked Tsumugi with a door. He profusely apologised but became more erratic when Tsumugi simply responded that he was used to it.

Kuro has the same instincts to call his old classmates out on thing (like a mother hen-)

He sees Leo run around and wants to grab him by the scruff of the neck. He sees Nazuna biting his nails, he wants to swat it. He sees the Oddballs goofing around he wants to comment.

Kanata takes everyone on a trip to the aquarium.

Leo likes pressing his face against the glass. Nazuna keeps on pointing to cute fish that he sees while Tsumugi talks about little facts about them as Kuro listens. Rei fell asleep so Wataru drags them across the floor by the shoulder, loudly exclaiming at all the fish.

Nazuna wanted to get matching bunny keychains and decals for his phone with Kuro but Rei heard it and begged to be included. Nazuna didn't think he'd still have it but when Rei pulls out his phone in Rhythm Link meetings and Nazuna sees the bunnies, he gets psyche damage.

Aahhh. This class is interesting. In the way that none of them show up to classes and their interactions would be. stagnated somewhat. But I like them, they're eepy.

Thankies for the ask!! I love asks, they make me think more than I ever have in school- More Enstars Headcanons: Class 3-A Headcanons || Marine Bio Headcanons

[bellarkeselection]

Can I request kayce dutton or rip where reader screams and they run in and see its a spider and laugh

Happy Halloween my readers 🎃 🧡

You're Cowboy Will Protect You

I enjoyed Halloween as most people did. Getting candy as a kid and eating so much you almost got sick. Doing haunted houses with your friends. Pretty much all the normal stuff but I still couldn't stand spider's. No how old I got I still didn't like them. Entering the bathroom of my husband's room I rubbed the sleep from my eyes suddenly screaming at the tiny creature hanging on the door in the corner. Boots banged on the wooden floor of the Dutton household for my husband to enter the room panic written on his face. "Y/n, what's the matter!" Shuffling my body up against the wall I pointed down to the little eight legged creature near his right boot. "The spider, Kayce. Get it out!"

"Honey it's a tiny spider. You do realize a horse could do more damage than this guy." He started chuckling with a shake of his head at my childhood fear. Crossing my arms over my chest I scoffed as he removed his hat sitting it on the countertop bending down on his knees. "I thought we agreed during our vows to not judge the other. No matter what. You are a liar Kayce John!" The small spider moves towards him where I jumped back up onto the toilet wanting him to get rid of it already. "Can you get him out of here now please." I am slightly embarrassed at myself not being afarid of racing fast on a horse but I draw a line at these things. I didn't like them like my mom does. Snakes and the others are fine but never a spider.

Kayce reached up grabbing his hat from the counter. He pushed it underneath the spider as he crawled up on the tip. He then walked through it the house and I followed needing to see him put it outside the front door. "See he's gone now." He started to sit his black hat on my head but I snacked his hand scolding him. "Burn that hat. You can't wear it ever again, Kayce!" He raised a brow turning it around in his hands confused. "What's wrong with it baby?" Throwing my hands up I can't believe he didn't understand why. "Because you crazy man the spider was just on it. Get rid of it!" He ignored me starting to put it on his head until he smirked down at me and I knew he was going to do something I wouldn't like. "It's fine...oh wait no. Oh god he's still on it. Look!" I bolted through the living room with him chasing after me laughing the purest laugh I had ever heard on him. "Hell no, Kayce. Keep the spider hat away from me. I mean it!" Somehow he corned me wrapping his arms around my waist trapping me in between him and the fireplace. He sat the hat on my head kissing me quickly even though I scowled at him. "He's outside I was playin' with ya." Hitting his chest I scoffed smiling alongside him anyway. "You're an ass sometimes, Dutton." He leans down planting a kiss to my forehead. "And yet you still love me no matter what. Happy Halloween darlin'."

Comments really appreciated ❤️