#THIS WASNT MEANT TO BE THIS LONG

[steveshairychest]

Eddie gets Steve for the party's secret santa and instead of just going out and buying him a present, Eddie spends the whole month making something personal for him, something to remind Steve that he is absolutely adored by the people around him. He's seen the way Steve dismisses any and all comments from the kids about how awesome he is, he's seen the way Steve curls in on himself whenever he's complimented or praised and it hurts to see.

No matter what they say, Steve doesn't seem to get it through his thick skull that he is the party's centre of gravity. Everyone, including Eddie, finds themselves pulled in by Steve's overwhelming love and care. He is their sun. He drops anything and everything the second he's needed by anyone but if they offer the same to him, he shies away from it, brushes it off and says he can handle it. Eddie can't remember a time where Steve actually willingly accepted his help; he usually has to forcefully grab a grocery bag from Steve to stop him from trying to take them all inside himself.

So, for his present, Eddie decides to make him a book, a book filled with everything the party loves about him and everything they appreciate him doing. It's a big book of love and all that love is for Steve. Some of the kids fill pages and pages of things they love and appreciate about Steve, Dustin draws a whole coloured comic that spreads over 5 pages and some of them just fill one page but that's okay. Eddie and Robin write enough to fill the whole book; they actually have to add more pages to the book because there's no room for anyone else to write after Robin goes full sap mode.

Nancy writes one page but forbids anyone else to read it, says it's only for Steve to see and they respect that. They leave the page next to her's blank so that no one sees it. Eddie's only mildly surprised when Jonathan asks to write in the book. He doesn't write a lot but from his sneaky glances, Eddie can tell Jonathan is extremely grateful for everything Steve's done for the kids.

When it comes time to actually give the gift to Steve, Eddie is extremely nervous. He's scared he's overstepped, that it's going to make Steve uncomfortable. Maybe he should have just gotten him that cute sweater or made him a mixtape.

Eddie opens his gift, it's a custom hellfire guitar pick and new strings; stuff he'd only talked about around Robin. He smiles knowingly at her but she acts the fool, pretends she has no idea who his secret santa was but her giant smile gives her away.

And then Steve is reaching for his present and Eddie feels like he's going to pass out. Everyone's smiling and shoving each other excitedly as Steve tears the wrapping paper off but all Eddie can do is nervously look between the present and Steve, watching for the slightest hint that it's too much, that Steve doesn't like it.

The room is so silent, the only sound is pages turning and Eddie's almost panicked breathing as Steve reads through every single page without looking at anyone in the room. He can't get a read on him, can't figure out if he loves it or hates it and then Steve's crying, his chest heaving as he gently closes the book and covers his face with his hands, tries to hide himself away from everyone. Oh, God he made Steve cry on Christmas. He feels like absolute shit.

"Steve, I'm sorry -" He doesn't get to finish because Steve pulls him into a hug so tight he can barely breathe. He feels Steve's tears soak through his shirt as he cries into Eddie's chest and Eddie can do nothing but hold him and try to read Robin's lips as she tries to communicate something to him from across the room. "Spoiler alert, I was your secret santa, but I can't tell if you hate or like your present. Just tell me straight up, I don't mind." Eddie whispers into his hair as he gently rocks them side to side. The book he made for Steve sits discarded beside them and from this angle, Eddie can see that Steve dog tagged a few of the pages. He'd been too focused on watching Steve's reaction to notice him do it.

Steve sniffs and pulls back, his eyes red and puffy. "I loved it." He moves away from Eddie and sits back in his original spot so that he can see all his friends, see all the people that filled a book with words he never thought he deserved to hear. "I really loved it. Thank you. I especially love the comic where I fight 40 demodogs even though I'm pretty sure it was only like 4." He says this while smiling at Dustin, who puffs his chest out with pride and boasts about being Steve's favourite part of the book.

"I think I wrote a whole novel in there." Robin says while scooting closer to Steve so that she can rest her head on her best friend's shoulder. "Did you even read all of it?"

Steve rests his head against hers and points to the dog tagged page in the book. "I've saved it for later. I didn't want to get snot and tears all over the page."

"Ew, you're disgusting." She shoves at him playfully but Steve catches her arm and pulls her into a hug, a hug that they both relax into, a hug that says a million things no one but them will understand.

Eddie feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders now that he knows the present wasn't one big mistake. He doesn't know if Steve read the pages he wrote, doesn't know if Steve will feel the same, doesn't know if confessing his feelings in a secret santa present was the right way to go but he can't bring himself to regret it. Seeing the way Steve pulls all of his friends into a hug and whispers something to all of them, something only meant for that person to hear, brings a warmth to his chest.

He hopes that Steve understands now. He hopes that having all of their love for him in physical form helps him realise that he is more than just a babysitter, more than a human shield, more than a bad ex boyfriend.

And to Eddie, he's more than a friend. He poured his entire heart into that book and he hopes that Steve will handle the pages carefully and that when he's ready, he'll answer the question Eddie wrote on the last page of the book.

'Will you let me love you?'

[southern--downpour]

[ink-the-artist]

I love your artwork so much! Your colors are so vibrant and none of the white speckles in the paper ever shows, its so impressive and I really dig it! I was wondering if you use any sort of blending medium? Like baby oil or anything? Either way, I really enjoy looking at your artwork and I'm always excited to see whatever you'll make next

I use a colorless blender (prismacolor, which is wax-based so baby oil probably wouldnt work) but my scanner is also rly bad about picking up white specks in a way photographing the art with my phone isnt, so I usually have to do some digital editing to get rid of them as well.

I do this by duplicating the layer, setting the one on top to "darken," and using the mixer brush to blend out the white spots + just use the eyedropper tool to select the color of that area (needs to be a slightly lighter shade of it) and color over the white spots with the brush tool

i edited a small bit of the original scan to show what i mean

original:

with the edited layer:

heres how it looks set to normal instead of darken, I used both the mixing brush and regular brush just to demo it

[sammyloomis]

until dawn fans 8 years later crafting the most insane elaborate character headcanons and aus for 8 dumb idiots who were made specifically to be horror movie stereotypes and nothing more

[bananonbinary]

as a certified Diagnosed Autist(TM) i cannot stress enough that i am not only pro- self-diagnosis, but also pretty anti- legal medical diagnosis. it is, at best, a cruel hoop we have to jump through so privileged people will deign to give us what we need. don't fucking do that shit unless you have to, it was disgustingly expensive, fucking humiliating, infantilizing, and dehumanizing, and would probably actively cause problems in my life if i didn't have some really good allistic (-passing) people in my corner and also wasn't so fucking disabled that it mostly doesn't matter.

literally get that diagnosis if you need it for job/school accessibility shit or SSI or whatever, and otherwise dont tell the government SHIT about yourself. there is zero good reason for them to want that information. that's between you and the people you want in your life.

[clairenatural]

hey sorry to ask you but what is the destiel lamppost thing? if u know what it is

Hi anon!!! I wasn't ignoring you I just wanted to be able to sit down and type out the lore.

So "why lamp"/the destiel lamp thing starts with 15x10, The Heroes' Journey, in which Dean and Sam are stripped of the luck/protections that being written as protagonists gives them by Chuck (very meta) and Dean ends up needing cavities filled.

Garth gives him laughing gas for the procedure, during which Dean has a dream of a black and white 50s style dance sequence. It takes place in the bunker and while initially it's Dean dancing with Garth, eventually Garth leaves and Dean runs over to pick up a lamp from the corner of the room to dance with. Here's the whole thing:

But once it's Dean and the lamp, the dance becomes markedly more romantic - he's dancing with the lamp as a partner, not like the tap dancing he and Garth do side-by-side.

Also important to note that they're dancing to "Let's Misbehave," which is about sex and also was written by Cole Porter, who was gay. This is a really good breakdown of the dance itself, the significance of the song and Cole Porter and its connections to old queer Hollywood.

At the end of the episode, Dean sees Bess and Garth dancing in their living room through the window and says "You know, I always thought I could be a good dancer if I wanted to be."

This is pretty clearly associating the dream sequence, and Dean dancing with a lamp, as about Dean longing for a partner and therefore the lamp as a stand-in for that partner.

NOW. Meta was written as soon as this episode aired with people linking the lamp to Cas, and there has continued to be much better meta than I can write here - this one is in-depth and connects it to themes across the seasons and Dean's years-long character arc. "Cas is Lamp" even has its own superwiki page.

But besides all the normal meta deancas reasons and the fact that this comes at a time when Dean's character arc had been building both to him wanting to settle down with someone AND that someone being Cas (this is the episode right after The Trap and Dean's "I should have stopped you/of course I forgive you" prayer), Cas (and angels broadly) is associated with light and lamps throughout the series, perhaps most iconically in 4x16.

So, after 15x18, "the lamp thing" was something frequently cited and that we held onto as another thing they'd dropped alluding to (nay, ensuring - because they'd surely somehow have to wrap up Dean's own arc of wanting a partner to settle down with) a happy deancas endgame where Cas is rescued and they live happily ever after.

And then. 15x20 happened. And "why lamp" took off as part of a long list of "if they were just never going to mention Cas again, let alone resolve the confession or this very key part of Dean's story arc of wanting to settle down, why did they include [long list of things that make no sense with the ending we got]." Why lamp has become shorthand for a long list of missing links and loose ends and things that just don't add up. If deancas wasn't going to be the happy endgame, then why lamp. Why did they drop so many clues and work up to a very clear resolution for Dean's character arc if they were just going to drop it. Why lamp. It's one of those things that will haunt us because we will never get an answer. Okay grandma, let's get you to bed. But why lamp.

[ftmsimonriley]

im still thinking a lot about how ghost's comic seems to imply he was blackmailed into joining the 141 by shepherd and also that there's no mention of knowledge about that at all in soap's journal (or even knowledge of ghost's past at all. like all soap seems to know is that he's just some weird guy who's really good at his job)(unlikely that this was intentional but we're assuming it is here) so i'm just imagining soap finding out about it after ghost and roach get killed that ghost was involuntarily placed on his taskforce and is left with the fact that he was inadvertently helping shepherd while also never knowing if he had improved ghost's life to any extent. like obviously joining the 141 prevented him from spending the rest of his life in an american prison (or whatever else could have happened considering the fact that he had violated laws in 3 countries, but i'd assume breaking into an american army base and killing an officer would take priority) but also soap never will find out if he at least made the time between then and his death bearable or if ghost was just tolerating it

[books-and-dragons]

I'm so sorry, I'm kinda drunk and dropping another idea, do with it whatever ye will.

Yknow how in the beginning of the game, Sojiro tells Ren he won't take care of him when he gets sick?

Consider: he's not used to city germs/being that closely shoved against other people on the train. He DOES start to get sick around Kamoshida's Palace, powers through it, and then is SUPER sick just after it's over.

He plans on sucking it up and hiding it, but Futaba hears his hacking coughs over her bug even when he's upstairs, followed by wheezing, maybe even a little weeping. He's constantly in and out of the bathroom, and he's starting to run out of tissues.

Futaba nervously texts Sojiro that the kid they took in sounds awful. Sojiro is gruff at first and says he's not a baby, he can take care of himself. She responds by sending him the audio and suddenly Dad Instincts kick in

y/n

obviously it's a YES, our brainrots continue because early-game ren and sojiro dynamics break my heart every time how dare you get me so invested in this idea, this post got too long so it's going under a read more

listen listen look i love sojiro and the coffee family okay, but early-game?? sojiro could catch these hands

ren has already been though so much by the time he arrives in tokyo, to then be put into a dusty old attic like a spare part would absolutely fit in with ren's own perception of himself at that stage. it would be almost too easy for him to put his own health on the backburner kinda like he's already used to it

very used to not taking up space, 'not being a bother', and then sojiro really reinforces this message when ren first gets to leblanc- so when ren inevitably gets ill a month into his probation, it's already doomed for maladaption

tokyo would be such a breeding ground for sickness compared to the countryside, and ren just doesn't have the consitution to deal with it. the dusty attic and poor eating habits don't help matters, and then we have the stress of kamoshida and the metaverse?? ren is not having a Good Time™

at first it's something he thinks he can shrug off, and is adamant that ignoring it is the way to go. a cold, it's nothing, he can handle this alone, no need to bother anyone else with it.

inevitably, he gets worse, because that's what happens when you don't rest and let yourself recover. a tickly cough becomes a tightness in his chest, mild congestion shifts into an attack on his senses and blurriness- but maybe that's the dizziness. he's not really sleeping, either.

it's something that's becoming increasingly difficult to brush off and hide, he even relented to finally getting some medicine (nothing as strong as he needs by this point, that would eat too much into his limited funds, but some painkillers to take the edge off). once or twice he's tempted to stay off school, at morgana's insistence, or a too close call where he definitely blacked out for a minute, but then sojiro's voice will ring in his head 'i won't be the one looking after you if you get sick', 'your parents got rid of you for being a pain in the ass', and all his worst insecurities come rushing back and he's resolved to deal with it on his own

meanwhile, futaba's been making use of her hidden audio bugs- normally they're a comfort for her in the daytime, but since the new kid- ren- has been staying at the cafe (part-timer her ass, how gullible does sojiro think she is?!), she's been listening more frequently. when ren gets sick, she figures it out quickly.

time goes on, he's not getting better- he's actually getting worse- and futaba starts to wonder if she's the only one who knows

(there's something in his sharp contrasts- the quiet kid who shuffles through the cafe and takes sojiro's scolding, to the coughing kid who cries into the silence of night when he thinks there's nobody there to see it- that stabs through her numbness. it feels like a companion to her own ghost)

one night she swears the kid gets up to be sick, and there's hardly any sound heard from the attic all night. if nobody's gonna help ren, then she will (futaba used to like helping, once upon a time).

she texts sojiro the next day, when ren doesn't say anything again, and goes off to school with what she bets is a fake assurance on his face

and you're so right, sojiro dismisses her concern really easily, claims the kid can 'take care of himself' and he won't 'baby' the part-timer. insists ren needs to learn some disipline, then maybe he'll stay out of trouble

frustration wells in futaba- if she was less fixated on what was going on with ren, she'd register it's one of the first changes of mood she's had for months- and she responds with nothing but an audio clip, an attached explanation that this is just from the past few days- it's been going on for weeks, then she waits, and hears the distant sound of her compilation through one of the bugs, a hitched breath from sojiro, curse words under his breath-

for all his earlier postulating about not helping ren if he gets sick, sojiro is immeditely struck with a pang of concern- it sounded bad, and if futaba's words were anything to go by, this had been going on for a while. the kid's at school now (at school, being as ill as that and he was still going to class-), so sojiro will talk to him when he gets back. there's a chance he goes a bit too over the top, between the variation of medicines he purchases, supplies he grabbed from home- if you accused him for over-compensating after maybe being too harsh on the kid in the beginning, you'd be right

and you just know ren would be so resistent at first to help, or even just the offer of staying off school. in his sickness-induced fugue, ren's filter-less in rattling off how he can't stay off, what will the students and teachers think, and he has work that afternoon, and a test soon, and he doesn't want to get in the way-

sojiro's heart just shatters

this kid, whose been silently carring the weight of the world and has apparently been falling to pieces for weeks now and sojiro didn't even notice?

(a part of it reminds him too much of the other kid he's got at home, the countless ways he's already failed futaba, and now ren too? he feels useless)

sojiro focuses on what he can do, and that's making the kid rest. work will understand, school can wait, ren isn't an inconvenience, he guides the kid to bed, calls takemi immediately (who rushes over, despite the fact she's technically closed at this hour, and refuses to take any payment),

even still, there's this stilted awkwardness between them when the quiet pushes on too long- they hardly know each other, afterall. sojiro is still figuring out the 'caring for kids' thing, and ren isn't familiar with any kind of parental affection, so some of sojiro's care veers a bit too close to clinical or mechanic, and ren still struggles to communicate what kind of help he needs, but it's enough for now.

for now, sojiro is there. he's trying, and at least ren's getting some colour back on his skin. for now, ren's willing to take a few days off and have some medicine, but he's over-apologetic and definitely tries to make up for his sickness once he's healed. it's gonna take them both a while yet, but luckily there's always their guardian hacker, ready and able to call them out when needed (and maybe some day she'll be able to keep an eye on ren and sojiro in person)

[orbmanson7]

Mm, there's so many things I want to say about the new asides episode, mainly because it was so obviously based on the secret santa scenario from the patreon livestream a little while back...

The only thing Thomas really changed was Logan being the organizer instead of Janus and then Patton's gift to Remus. Most of the chat said he'd get Remus an octopus plushie or a slime stim toy, but I agree with the change because it works really well and rounds out the message at the end, too.

Something that the chat had also been insistent on was giving Logan a Perfect gift, and since Logan was the character hosting the stream, he kept insisting that while Virgil knows his interests, it probably wouldn't be something perfect (pretty sure we decided on a space-themed Lego set that was definitely not specifically my own idea I had put out there or anything 👀), so it was fantastic having that turned around into a fun little puzzle which not only got us some tasteful angst but also gave Logan an interesting and unique present that he would absolutely enjoy, which is exactly what we all wanted!

Again, all the other presents were more or less the same, with maybe less gore involved in Remus' present to Virgil, and with about the same responses, too, which was great! Patton genuinely enjoying his present even though it was meant to be a joke, Janus actually getting a second real present that benefits him, Roman not immediately on board with his gift because it's not extravagant but then realizing the freedom and flexibility that comes with it is its own reward... It was all wonderful.

It also, as with the last little asides episode, gives us a great idea of where everyone stands (I guess both literally in Thomas' mindspace as well as, you know, narratively).

It feels significant that Logan insists that Janus and Remus be included in their activities, but acknowledges that they are traveling there, implying the dark sides don't just hang around or anything, they come and go, which makes sense.

Virgil still vehemently hates Janus but isn't making barbs about his inclusion like he has in the past, and Roman still seems uncomfortable with his brother being around while Remus just seems delighted to be included at all. Roman still has animosity with Janus, understandably, but he's already kind of begrudgingly making his way towards acceptance with him.

Now for the more interesting details - first, Janus and Remus purposefully trying to egg on Logan's anger. Not the first time, but they seem more excited about it here rather than teasing him about it as they have before, which definitely implies confidence that it's not only prevalent but also definitely plot-relevant for the future, not that that was even a question at this point.

Next, it's interesting that Janus and Remus seem to be able to bounce off each other even with how very different they are, but the light sides are so full of discontent that there's a natural discourse with their gifts until there's a chance to explain... It shows that the light sides do not have natural trust in each other, which should be obvious but here it's on display in front of the dark sides, too. They are so clearly at odds (even if they can eventually come around) when the dark sides seem to have figured their shit out.

Also, it's nice to see Patton's gift did, in a way, emulate Virgil's gift from the first Christmas episode, as it also kind of implies Janus' acceptance in that way.

I was actually quite delighted to see that Logan's gift to Roman wasn't just the joke from the livestream, but that it showed Logan did genuinely put thought into the gift but realized he wasn't going to be able to meet the expectations of someone with a limitless imagination and instead played into that fact rather than try to war against it, using something not only practical but unconventional to someone like Roman, something he wouldn't expect but would be able to appreciate with time... And also something that technically takes the decision-making tension away from Logan and makes it Roman's problem instead, though Roman wouldn't be one to overthink and view it as a problem, so it works out extremely well. Finding balance and all that.

And then, of course, the end card scene being really adorable and sweet - that Thomas was thinking about gift-giving because he'd wanted to get something perfect for Nico, and I will agree that he did a great job, adding a tiny bit of (somewhat fresh) nostalgia and catering to Nico's interests...but then wanting to make what is usually perceived as a Big step in what is still a budding relationship, ooh boy... That's definitely some plot setup right there!

Overall, a fantastic episode, based on a lot of ideas from a wonderful livestream - I genuinely loved this. It makes me very hopeful for the season finale, whenever we do eventually get it!

[theokusgallery]

Oh my god Nick and Sunny make out already

I have some great news for you anon

[sonknuxadow]

sorry i dont really like the shadow is silvers dad theory/headcanon/whatever and part of the reason for it is that people keep presenting it as an actual thing that could be possible even though it makes no sense and all "evidence" people use to back it up is easily disputed

[menhera-info-archieve]

do u know of any more masc pieces for yami/menhera? a lot of stuff is moreso fem looking so maybe you know of any pieces thatd be nice :)

hi anon! tbh I think most menhera pieces can be masc if worn/styled the right way! I have a lot of thoughts about that and might make a post about that in the future. For now though, I'll give a few pieces and shops that feature more masculine models :)

Most things by Sexpot Revenge are unisex/can be styled either way. Most of their new products are modeled by genderless or fem models, but hopefully they still feel like good examples.

source1 source2

ankoROCK is also pretty unisex! their current stuff isn't being modelled as "masculinely", so I'll also link to this post featuring a past release to show what i mean :)

source I think this one shows a silhouette i see a lot in masc menhera (aside from joggers and other pants with a skinnier leg)

I don't keep up with this brand as much, but Amatsukami Tokyo is also unisex! A lot of their current stuff seems to be revolving around a "language of flowers" theme

source 1 source2

For a Western brand, I'll shout out Puvithel! What's cool about this brand is they have a variety of clothing types, so for masc stuff I can highlight their joggers and "dad" button ups :)

source1 source2 source3

i hope this serves as a good starting point! I'm sure there's more I missed, so if anyone has any recommendations feel free to add them!

[bubbyisatitagain]

Freedom fries au that I won't provide context for idk shout out

[mispelled]

Ough thumbs up 👍

[withlovefics]

How they would react to you getting poisoned 🧪

Characters: Shinobu, Rengoku, and Gyōmei

Content Warnings: Being poisoned and needles. Possibly some light angst? I'm not fully sure. This may be a little out of character because it's been a long time since I last wrote fanfiction.

Gender-neutral reader ♥︎

Word Count: 1,670 words

How you were poisoned: You and Shinobi were fighting a demon together, and you got hit by the blood demon art. The demon art was purple petals that flew at you and then dissolved once touching your skin. At first, you thought nothing of it because it was only petals. As the two of you continue your fight, you began to feel a tingling and numbness all over your body. You started feeling frozen and clammy.

How you were poisoned: You and Shinobi were fighting a demon together, and you got hit by the blood demon art. The demon art was purple petals that flew at you and then dissolved once touching your skin. At first, you thought nothing of it because it was only petals. As the two of you continue your fight, you began to feel a tingling and numbness all over your body. You started feeling frozen and clammy.

How you were poisoned: You and Shinobi were fighting a demon together, and you got hit by the blood demon art. The demon art was purple petals that flew at you and then dissolved once touching your skin. At first, you thought nothing of it because it was only petals. As the two of you continue your fight, you began to feel a tingling and numbness all over your body. You started feeling frozen and clammy.

She was pissed, (she's the only one allowed to poison you jk) and, that demon is going to wish it wasn't born...

After killing the demon, she turned all her attention to you. Her mind racing with what happened, what poison it could be, and how to treat you. She’ll panic, cry, or whatever once you’re ok. She’s not going to lose you.

“Y/N you are going to be ok, please try to stay calm.” She says to you while picking you up to take you back to the butterfly manor.

Your hearing and sight were starting to dull, and you felt your heart racing. You wanted to talk, say something, scream, but your mouth felt full of lead.

The journey back to the manor was a tense one. You were trying to calm your breathing, but your anxiety was just increasing and increasing. You have never felt like this before. By the time you reached the manor, you couldn't even stand. You had lost all power in your legs.

“Y/N can you tell me what you’re feeling?” She said while poking you with a needle and drawing your blood.

She calmly told you what she was going to do and that you will be ok. You couldn't really hear her, only the weaker and weaker beating of your heart.

She was impressed by how long you were holding out. If her hunch was correct, you just got poisoned by one of the deadliest ones. She tried not to show it, but her hands were trembling at the thought of losing you.

“I’m going to give you a shot now. It should be able to help.”

You softly groaned as she injected you.

“Shinobu I'm scared.” You mustered saying, your voice sounding weak to your ears.

Her heart broke at the sound.

“It’s going to be ok. You’re going to be ok. Please try to take some deep breaths for me. Please.” With the last please, her voice cracked.

She was good at not crumbling under pressure, but this...this was unbearable for her. She couldn't lose you.

At first, the shot didn't have any effect, and you felt so exhausted that you didn't really feel scared anymore. You felt peaceful and accepting of your fate...

But then felt your heart begin beating faster and stronger. Your airways expanded and you could breathe deeply again..

“Shinobu...how did you do that?”

She smiled and cupped your face. “I know my poisons, and I’ll always be there to heal you.”

Rengoku Kyōjurō: 643 words

How you were poisoned: While fighting a demon solo you had paused to try and catch your breath. As you panted and tried once again to do total concentration breathing constant the demon turned to you. The demon art hit you as a white powdery substance, and the demon began to cackle. You coughed, but after a minute you powered through and decapitated the demon. You still felt the white powder on you.

When you stepped into the Rengoku family home, you had been weak on your feet. Your throat stung, and you felt incredibly agitated and anxious.

“Y/N! How was the fight with that demon?” Rengoku asked with a bright smile on his face. He was so happy that you came out unscathed!

You sent him a glare. Why you weren't sure, but you felt like biting his head off. Why was he so chipper?? Wait...why are you so annoyed? This is your partner and lover, the person you love, but at the same time, he was pissing you off. Then you began to feel pissed off that you were feeling pissed off because you didn't want to be pissed off!

“Love, what’s wrong?!” Rengoku asked coming up to you.

When Rengoku put a hand on his shoulder, he was surprised by the weird texture. He looked at his hand to see it covered in an almost translucent white powder. He stared at you with concern in his eyes. You hadn’t responded yet, and something was differently wrong.

“What happened during the fight?” He asked.

“The demon blew some sort of powder on me!” You practically yelled.

“A powder?” He exclaimed (the two of you don't know how to use inside voices.) You could practically see the cogs in his head turning.

He began to push you towards the bathroom. “You have to take a bath to rinse the powder off of you. I will dispose of your clothing!”

You wanted to complain, fuss, and more, but you felt your heart pounding in your ears. The anxiety bubbling in your chest.

“What do you think this is?” You asked as you began to take off your clothes. Powder fluttered to the ground, and Rengoku took a step back.

“Poison I’d guess! Though I don't know as much about it as Shinobu does!”

He stared at the powder on the ground. He felt anxious himself, as he wasn't really sure what to do, how does one treat poison? What kind of poison would this be? How much of it is already in your system?

“Stay here!” He said before hastily leaving while you sat preparing to rinse and clean yourself.

You sighed as you began scrubbing at the powder. You felt your body begining to burn hotter and your muscles aching. Your jaw and arms felt rigid, and you felt exhausted but restless.

Rengoku came back into the room. He was carrying a glass of water and a bag to put your dirty clothes in. With a gloved hand, he handed you the water. Then he scooped the clothes into the bag, making sure not to touch any powder.

“It is odd that the powder remained after you killed the demon.”

You hummed in response, not really wanting to talk. You weren't sure what you wanted to do. You wanted to sleep truthfully but felt like you couldn't. You took the glass of water and chugged it. While you were busy he left to let you bathe in peace.

The second you stepped out ,he practically pounced on you.

“Y/N! How are you feeling?” He practically shouted and you could hear the concern in his voice. In his arms, he had your favorite food.

“Please eat this food! I'm not sure how to make you feel better other than to wait it out. I want to do more. Please drink this water as well!”

Himejima Gyōmei: 534 words

How you were poisoned: While fighting a demon with Gyōmei, it splashed a liquid into your eyes. It was a strange and unnatural color. You had screamed and staggered back, falling to your knees. The world had become blurry, and you felt intense fear as you saw it looming over you. Before the demon could attack you, Gyōmei chopped off its head.

"Gyōmei. Gyōmei." You muttered anxiously trying to grab at him. "I can't see, it hurts, it hurts so badly." You began to furiously rub your eyes.

You felt like something was in your eyes, and you kept trying to force your eyes open as they kept closing.

"Y/N breathe for me. Breathe deeply. You have to calm yourself." Gyōmei calmly said while swooping you into his arms.

"Why is this happening?" You sobbed. Gyōmei stroked your hair and began to run. He knew that you had to rinse your eyes out before it was too late. Sobbing himself he held you close to his body repeating that you'll be ok.

He knew it would take too long to reach a house to rinse your eyes out in the sink. You'd have to rinse your eyes in a river. Gyōmei strained his ears for running water.

After minutes of running, he could finally hear it! Water. While he was running, you had been trying to take deep breaths and calm yourself. You felt anxious and panicked, but you knew that Gyōmei would help you.

He placed you gently on the riverside. "Dear, please lean your head forward, closer to the water." You mutely nodded.

You couldn't see the water, but you heard it rushing by. You forced your eyes open, staring blankly at blurry water. The stinging and pain in your eyes were almost unbearable.

Without warning, Gyōmei splashed water into your face. You gasped and recoiled.

"I'm sorry," he said, and you knew a flow of tears were streaming down his face. You both were crying. You felt his large hand comforting and rubbing your back.

You felt Gyōmei's hand sliding on your face close to your eyes. You felt his finger gently and gingerly pulling your eyelids up. You were startled despite how gentle he was, you hadn't even realized that your eyes were closed.

"Y/N, I will make sure you will be ok. I will always protect you. Nothing like this will happen to you again. I'm sorry I didn't protect you from this."

You wrapped a hand around his arm, you couldn't speak as he was still splashing water into your face. How long had it been? Minutes, hours, or days, felt like an eternity. You couldn't speak because of the almost constant splashing in your face.

After a few minutes, you tapped on his arm with your fingertips. "It's no longer burning."

The two of you sat back, exhausted from this ordeal. You felt Gyōmei's hands cupping your face, comforting and rubbing your face. You rubbed your eyes before opening them slowly. There in front of you was Gyōmei. You smiled gently and leaned into his big hands. "I can see you Gyōmei."

You watched as a smile appeared on his face and tears fall from his face.

Hi ❤︎ This is the first time I wrote fanfiction in a while. I liked writing this, that's for sure. I got super invested even though I made the stories short. I didn't want to write a whole long thing more just headcannons on what they'd do. I hope you enjoyed this! The symptoms were vaguely based on real poison symptoms.

[stellarwaffles]

Happy valentines day