#chpt.1

[ratsnu]

all bow to our lord and savior jamilmads

shoutout to @cyanspica’s fic: Three’s a Crowd

[deiaiko]

#20.8 Spar

"Are you up for a spar, Viole?" Novick asked after they finished snacking on the garlic bread. He was always competitive, especially when he was introduced to new people. However, Dan and Gyetang also looked excited to join. From what Agni caught, they were curious as to how talented Viole could be to have  earned his status as a slayer candidate, which was understandable.

Still, Agni huffed in amusement. His team still chose to train even though he had called today off. Though Agni wasn't against it. He felt like it'd be good for both him and Grace, since exercise always took their minds off things. Bam seemed a little reluctant, but he went along with it, especially after Grace said it'd be a good bonding experience.

Everyone moved to the training area and they made a quick bracket match. Grace reminded Agni not to overexert himself in this spar, even though Agni insisted that he was fine. But he understood why Grace was worried, since he would be too if Grace were in his place.

The first round was Dan against Gyetang. Both of them had improved a little bit from the last time Agni watched their spar. Gyetang was able to read Dan's movement the moment the spar began, and act accordingly to counter his attack. Though in the end Dan still gained the upper hand once he was able to render Gyetang's fuuma shuriken useless.

The second round was Grace against Agni, which would have ended fairly quickly if Grace used his reverse flow control. But since he didn't, he and Grace had shinsu enhanced martial art combat instead. Agni could tell that Grace was avoiding hitting his leg. In a real fight, Agni would use that to his advantage, but on this occasion he appreciated Grace's thoughtfulness. However, none of them went easy with the other, so they dragged out the fight until Agni ran out of stamina.

The third round was Bam against Novick. Despite it being the first match, Novick went all out on Bam by using his ultimate moves as a start. Still, Bam kept up with him, though he kept on the defensive. It wasn't until Novick and Grace encouraged Bam to attack that things finally got more interesting. Novick was slowly pushed onto the defensive, though Agni knew that Bam was still holding back. However, all of Novick's attempts at challenging Grace seemed to pay off, and Agni could see that he was still able to keep up. However, Bam's attack pattern was different from Grace, and one of his bangs took Novick off guard, allowing Bam to subdue him. Even though Novick was clearly still okay enough to keep going and break himself free from Bam, he raised his hand in surrender and ended the round.

Since this spar was for the team to get to know Bam, and everyone knew that Grace was the strongest, the fourth round was voted to be Bam against Dan. Having seen the first round, Bam was able to predict Dan's attack. However, that didn't mean that Bam was prepared to go against Dan’s speed. Bam tried to use reverse flow control on him, but Dan was too slippery to get caught in it. He was used to having to deal with Grace's, so he was able to read Bam's aim. Dan didn't waste time and successfully pinned Bam down to the ground the moment Bam let his guard down. However, it seemed to trigger a fight response from Bam, and he summoned a bang behind Dan. Agni intervened by creating a barrier to null the shot which could cause serious injury, but the bang had already been snuffed out before it exploded. Agni looked at Grace who exhaled in relief with his hand half raised, before calling the match over. Everyone else was too stunned by the outcome until Dan offered a hand and pulled Bam up to his feet. Then Gyetang and Novick finally cheered and congratulated them both.

As they waited for Bam to cool down after two matches in a row, Novick challenged Agni to a spar. It was understandable, since Agni usually was too busy to join their afternoon routine. However, Agni was still worn out from his previous match and a little under the weather, so he aimed to end this one as soon as possible, especially because Novick was a tank which would put Agni at a disadvantage if the match was dragged out. As soon as the match began, Agni activated his lighthouse flow control to stop Novick and teleported behind him. He froze Novick's limbs before he was able to reinforce himself with shinsu, and pointed a knife at his neck.

"Not going easy on me, huh?" Novick chuckled as he admitted defeat. 

Agni melted the ice on Novick's limbs and stepped away to the spectator seats. "I would be at a disadvantage, otherwise."

Since it ended too fast, Novick challenged Dan next. Compared to what he had with Bam and Agni, he went relatively easy on Dan. But in the end, Novick still came out as the winner since Dan was built for agility, not power.

As if saving the best for last, Novick finally challenged Grace for a spar. It went as it usually would. Grace was just humoring Novick, but at least he managed to make it believable and kept Novick on his toes. Agni had seen what Grace was actually capable of, after all. Practicing with them like this was actually wasting potential on Grace's part. He would grow stronger quicker if he faced an opponent that was on his level or above. But Grace looked like he was having fun, so who was Agni to ruin it?

The last match was Bam against Grace, which everyone had been looking forward to. Grace assured Bam that he could go all out with him, which prompted Agni to reinforce the barrier that surrounded the training area even more than usual. At first, neither of them made any move to attack, but it was interesting to see the differences in their mirrored stances. 

"You can have the first move," Grace taunted.

Bam summoned two bangs and released them toward Grace. They were easily blocked. 

"Is that all? I know that you can do better."

Agni thought it was harsh of Grace to say that. A regular on this floor that could control two powerful bangs was already considered a prodigy. But Agni understood the frustration. He himself had been far harsher on his younger self. Their teams were far behind, and would not survive had they lived during wartime. It was a scary thought.

Grace decided to step forward, and Bam switched to his reverse flow control stance. However, nothing happened as Grace kept on closing their distance. Bam frowned and ran forward, pressing his palm in front of Grace's chest. Grace didn't move away from the touch, looking at Bam with anticipation.

"Go on," Grace said when Bam hesitated a moment too long.

Bam bit his lip, before releasing his flare wave explosion. Grace's eyebrows twitched in pain. Even though Agni could feel the wave, it was not as destructive as he had predicted, even with his lowered standards.

"One more time, but you have to give it your all." Grace very rarely used his strict voice, but when he did, it was a clear warning that he was displeased. "If you refuse to, then I will start to go on the offensive."

Bam inhaled sharply and forced himself to release another flare wave explosion that was finally close to the level that Agni predicted Bam could do. Grace covered his mouth and coughed, and Agni saw a glimpse of red. However, Agni kept firm on his seat, since Grace was smiling at Bam.

"That's right, don't hold back." Grace jumped back to create some distance and got in his defensive stance again.

Bam got more serious after that, and his bangs were formed with more concentration. Grace carefully landed a few blows and slowly shifted to offense, while still creating some openings for Bam to take advantage of. Their exchanged blows got fiercer, and it was finally clear that they were having fun.

Not too long after, Bam was starting to run low on stamina, but at one point he managed to sneak behind Grace and hit him with another flare wave explosion. However, Grace saw it coming, so he repelled some of the waves to decrease the damage that he took. Unfortunately, it fired back at Bam and injured his arm. They decided to stop the match then, as Bam seemed really close to passing out. Grace held Bam's shoulders to steady him on his wobbly feet, and gently lowered him so they both sat down on the floor. Agni approached them just in case his help was needed.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked, getting more frantic when Bam suddenly looked like he was having a heart attack. Agni froze in his steps when a red exoskeleton grew and enveloped Bam, healing his injured arm. But Grace seemed less surprised and just comforted Bam until the exoskeleton disappeared.

Agni squatted down next to them and whispered to Grace, "What the heck was that?!"

"Blue Thryssa, incomplete form." Grace looked thoughtfully at Bam, who was staring back at Grace with a confused and scared look. "Your wound healed now, see? It's fine."

"Are you sure?" Bam rubbed his healed arm. He winced, "It's, uh…talking to me?"

"Hmm, maybe I can help you understand it." Grace sat down cross-legged and got in his meditative state, placing his palm on Bam's back.

Everyone else had come closer around them as well, curious about what was happening. A moment later, a transparent blue horn started to form on Grace and Bam's left temple. It surprised Agni because he thought Grace had lost the powers that he had absorbed when they traveled back in time.

When Grace opened his eyes, he gave Agni a look that said they would talk about it later. Bam came back to his senses a moment later. Dan and Gyetang could no longer contain their curiosity and began asking Bam and Grace questions, but the topic soon drifted to more general conversation because Bam was just as lost as they were. Agni called the sparring session over and Dan went to prepare dinner. Bam and Gyetang joined him in the kitchen, and the sight of them getting along together was heartwarming. 

Agni took a seat in the cafeteria, and Grace followed to sit next to him. Agni released the fish from his lighthouse bowl to roam around the kitchen, while Grace exhaled and stretched his arms. All the bruises on his skin were almost healed already.

"Well…?" Agni prompted Grace to start talking.

"Hm." Grace leaned back on his chair and rubbed the back of his neck, "After seeing what Bam is capable of, it made me think about how far I've come."

There was sadness in those golden eyes that tugged at Agni's heartstrings. Both of them had been broken so many times that no amount of fixing could bring both of them to what they used to be. Velt came and swam between them, nuzzling onto Grace's arm before settling on Agni's side. Her company was appreciated, and Agni gave her a few pats. Grace smiled as he watched them.

"About the Blue Thryssa though…" Grace stopped himself when Novick approached them and took a seat nearby.

Agni and Grace shared a quick glance. Honestly, Agni would prefer to talk in private with Grace when they brought up their time travel stuff, but it wasn't like they were actively trying to hide it either. Novick also didn't seem to mind, as his attention was more at whatever was happening in the kitchen.

Grace shrugged and continued their conversation, "It was like…I felt my own Thryssa resonate, and it said it doesn't have any recollection since, you know. It felt like I had just woken it up."

Agni hummed thoughtfully, "Could it be that you didn't actually lose them?" 

"Maybe? I couldn't feel any others though." Grace tried to do something with his left hand, then frowned when nothing happened. "I can't transform it either."

"Oh, hm." If Agni recalled, the transformation was when they were with the beastkin. "I guess you have to get yourself or Bam to get it from Doom."

"I thought the same."

"Well then, guess I will have to update our plan soon."

Masterlist

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☕ Buy me coffee ☕

[mangetsu-rush]

It is May, you all know what that means

[fractured-memoirs]

(Will attempts to return to the nexus)

-> the door opens easily, welcome back

[allgremlinart]

ao3 down but im ok. 👍

[lurkingteapot]

Kidnap novel thoughts: chapter one, "Real Stunt"

I don't know that this is going to be of interest to anyone other than myself, but I took notes on what I got from chapter one that weren’t mentioned in episode one (with the understanding that there may be differences between the two). I don't think anything here is spoilery as such, and my Thai isn't great so I may have misinterpreted things, so just to be safe, I'll keep it under a cut for a week or so, at least until ep 2 rolls around. Possibly longer.

Not tagging it with the show's main tag for now, either.

Anyway.

ages: Men and Khanomjeen are 17, Min is 23

in the novel, Min's clothes are in bad shape to the extent that James has noticed, and I wish they'd included that detail in the filming, too.

during the meetcute, Min has a complete “oh no, he’s hot and 100% my type visually and in another life I'd totally try to shoot my shot” moment in the novel and I’m glad they did not do the full slowmo or any of the other topical devices for it in the episode (though some of it is still there, judging by reactions in the tag). I thought going for the “staring at the picture for longer than perhaps necessary” instead was a smart move.

Yada is the one who had Q kidnapped; she’s also who owns the casino, and she knows a number of people who are higher up the pecking order than Kachaa (Q's dad) is.

Q's dad is the deputy commander (? รองผู้บังคับการตำรวจ) of the narcotics division and very much the "believes in due process and the law" type who doesn't back down to people with influence, and Q regularly gets into fights with him because this backbone frequently lands him (or the whole family, unclear) in dangerous situations.

Q thinks his dad doesn’t care about him and that’s basically why he gets on the flower selling kid’s case the way he does

Min has a moment of "is anyone even going to notice this kid is gone if we kidnap him? he's always alone" and cannot imagine what kind of life that must be

Min and Q rub each other the wrong way a lot— Min feeling like Q acts high and mighty/arrogant, Q feeling that Min is too blasé about ruining his jumper.

James has offered shady work to Min before but also feels Min isn’t really the type for operating between the regular world and the grey-grey area James inhabits. Min thinks of James as a big brother who’ll help in whatever way he can except for lending money.

Reading back, I should probably try and take notes while reading more ... and it's entirely possible I misinterpreted a thing or two because my Thai is not that good. We'll see.

[darlingrini]

Some fluffy @sterile-desires doodles of Detective Rini and my love for Storm and Alfred 🥺💖💜 and course Calliope too ;3cc my girl~

[lifesupreme-if]

hi!!!! really excited about your game and I’m super interested to know about dorothea!! care to share any facts about her? :)

KC!!!!!!! HI!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

i never get a chance to talk about dorothea so i'm very excited. she's in the upcoming chapter and while unfortunately that's the only contact you get with her for a minute, she is there!!!!!! i am excited!!!!!!!!!

• dorothea is 19, and her age shows! she copies the people around her to learn how to act, is susceptible to peer pressure, and is still surprised by behaviors that don't align with her surrounding community. also has an unfortunate obsession with the term "gonk."

• originally from a trailer park in thornton, colorado. born in the back of a thorton. drives a thorton. a walking reference to the amount of god damn "thornton owner's manuals" you can find around nomads.

• most likely to do a celebratory fist pump after a first kiss. bad at containing excitement. bad at containing any emotion, actually.

• on that note—comes away from any and all kisses grinning ear to ear. doesn't matter how many times she's kissed someone; excitement wins out.

• carrying a surprising amount of utility tools on her person at any given time. would do a butch proud.

• starts off ready to throw cho into the depths of hell. ends up with "cho + dorothy ♡" tattooed on her as a bestie tattoo. how the mighty have fallen.

• a stickler for the rules; acquires the name "no-fun dorothy" along the way. still, the rules seem to bend at odd angles, when push comes to shove.

[kessielrg]

“Hey, Riku?”

“Yep.”

“Who’s the waitress with black hair?”

Riku looked up from his pad and gave Ven a funny look.

“Who? Sabrina?”

“I… guess so.”

“She’s my cousin, in a sense. Why?”

Ven shrugged. “Just asking…”

Riku paused for a moment. He studied Ventus up and down in thought.

“She goes to an all-girl school out of town. Royal Prep, or something like that. She’s not going to give you the time of day unless she had to spend all day with you.”

Ven’s face lit up a bright red. “I-I wasn’t implying-!” he tried to stammer out. Riku gave a shake of his head.

“Didn’t have to.” the older boy said. “It was written all over your face.”

[bookwyrminspiration]

omg are we in the jane eyre trenches together

oh are you also reading jane eyre for class currently? if so, are you also under a pretty significant time crunch of your own making? because I am!

shout out to the free audiobook on youtube I can play at 2x speed while doing my chores and other homework, the ideal way to both read and to complete tasks (lying)

[satirn]

moree skecthes !!

[miss-wanna-draw96]

The Beginning of a Cursed Fate - Original story

CHAPTER 1: I'LL BECOME GOD

The shadow cried again, wondering why this had to be the end for its kind. Its kin were not evil. They were only brought back from the shadows to show the humans their deepest and most treacherous sin. So why were they attacking its brethren? It wouldn't know, nor understand.

In a terrible moment, it saw its father, its caretaker, get ripped away from it. It called out, "Verak Toma!" The father screamed something out, something in a language it didn't understand, what did he just say? It was too frantic, too angry, too much for a little creature with no mother. And in that moment, no father.

A shadow being, a shadow of a a lady who was consumed by her envy. So the little child labeled her as "Envy", but that's not her name. It's kind do not have names. They weren't allowed to have them, it was deemed so by their flesh husks. And it had broken the rules. And yet, it didn't know that.

The shadow shrieked as a flesh husk grabbed its arm and started to pull it. The flesh husk screamed something at the child, but it didn't understand. Finally, the flesh husk pulled it to the chest and called out to other husks. The shadow of envy's wisps of smoke grew, knowing that she could not save it. She couldn't save the rule-break. Nobody could.

The chunks of flesh spoke words to each other, their mouths moving with ease and quickness. It was almost graceful in a way. One was barking orders at others in blue suits, face were masked. They held weapons. The child wept, silky tears of red ran down the shape of it's face, or what should of been a head, the absence of a head shape. The ones that held it began to match towards a large metal box with wheels and smoke emerging from a long metal pole. The stench of something unfamiliar hit what should have been its nostrils. Thr smell was burnt, dark and left a bad taste in its mouth. Gas from fire and a liquid it couldn't identify.

It shut its eyes tightly, and turned away from the flesh husks. The monsters whom took it away from its kin.

It never saw them again. Forever trapped in a laboratory with no contact with the outside world, or its kind.

---------

In the near future, the present, a boy with dark skin winced as a more fair tanned girl, his age, brushed his hair out. The girl let out a groan of frustration as the comb got caught in his hair again.

She shook her head and said sternly, "Maxwell, you gotta start taking care of your hair better. Every single goddamn time that I do this, the comb always gets stuck in your knotted hair." The way she spoke made Maxwell want to curl up into a ball and cry. She didn't know what he had to do to become who he was today. She didn't know the cost of the surgery, nor the pain he felt when it was over. Or when it began.

The boy named Maxwell replied, slightly upset, "Paige, I'll have you know that my genes make it hard for me to do anything, especially since my eyesight has gotten worse. As for my hair, I'll do better. Just next time you're in town, you get me the... 'Clean Bean' honey and milk hair products. It works well with my hair."

Paige managed to wrangle the comb out of his hair as he spoke, but she sighed quietly. She gave a smile to herself as she replied, "Yeah, I can do that for you. But you owe me for this." She teasingly punched his shoulder, he chuckled. At least they had each other, and her older brother of course.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He paused before asking, "How is Nathaniel doing? It has been awhile since we've seen him." The smile from her face drifted away, then she looked away from his curious gaze.

"Nathaniel is still at his job at the family shop where mom and dad make him work to death and barely pay him anything! I'm trying to convince him to take a job at the local store near here, the bird shop, the one where Carson works at, but he refuses to because he's stubborn. He keeps saying that our parents need his help and I should help him too, but helping them is a total nightmare, Maxwell. He loves them too much to see the abuse that they put him through in the past and now. He just doesn't that they're using him and emotionally abusing him." It took her a moment but she caught her breath and continued her rant. "Carson and his manager, slash friend, James, are better than them and they pay better since they have a bigger shop and need new employees. I'm going to work there myself and I know that you're going to try to get a job at the daycare, which is fine because I heard that the other workers there are nice and the pay is fine. Just don't let anyone hurt you like my parents hurt Nathaniel." Maxwell had stayed silent throughout the entire rant she just told, because he wanted her to get her troubles and worries out. After all, roommates do that, and so do friends.

"I won't if you won't. Is that a deal?" Maxwell asked, his voice soft and comforting while trying to lighten the grim mood. And it miraculously worked. Paige held out her pinky and he took it in his own.

"It's a deal. Now, for the love of God, help me with your hair this instant before I lose my shit on you and your messed up, tri colored hair." Maxwell had burst out into a roaring laughter, and Paige followed quickly in his loud laughter. Their friendship was like no other where they lived. After a while, Maxwell and Paige had settled down besides she said, "I'm serious. Today is your first day working at the daycare and I want you to make a good first impression on them."

"Paige, I understand. Let's just pull my hair up into a low ponytail, okay?" A minor suggestion but Paige agreed to it. She took her last hair tie and started to brush his hair once more in soft and slow motions, until finally, she took his hair and slipped the hair tie on. She gave it a final brushing and stepped back.

"You're ready." She confidently stated as she stepped back from the metal stool he was sitting on. And like that, he stood up and glanced back to see her face.

"Thanks, I owe you big time for this." Maxwell took his sunglasses and sat them on his head. "I'm going now. Have fun convincing your bro to quit, I believe in you."

And like that, he left the dormancy, leaving Paige alone.

Well, for eleven seconds at most.

Paige turned around only to yell at a disfigured humanoid creature hybrid on her kitchen counter. The creature was terrified, eyes wide like a dog. The creature had a chain around its throat and around its wrists. That's when Paige noticed the scars on its body. The inside of each wound was a rich shade of black. Definitely not human. A shadow being had broken loose from its confines from a laboratory the government hid from people like Paige.

In perfect English, it whispered, "Are you... Paige Lockhart? Kin of Nathaniel Lockhart?"

-----------

A/N: Chapter name comes from the song "Shadow's Art" by Vane Lily. Give it a listen to mostly understand the entity in Paige and Maxwell's dorm room.

Notes: I do hope you enjoy this chapter and my story. This is no longer connected to TMC or anything like that. I pulled a Plushstarfever and made the characters OCs because you know what? I can do that. And each chapter will be as long as I want. Now, I'll outright say this: I'm inspired by @/mustangs-flames and @/missr3n3 on Tumblr. If it wasn't for them, this story wouldn't have existed, nor the reboot of the story. So, if they're reading this on Tumblr, thank you both for being so talented and amazing. You both have given me the strength to write more and to just write whatever I want in general. Thank you.

I have given both Nathaniel and Paige designs that I'm proud of and I'll post them in a new and separate art book (and on Tumblr). Love y'all ^-^]

[fractured-memoirs]

-> there is an unmarked purple door in a void.

-> what do you do?

[demonstars]

any time i see a post talking about loving too hard or being soft or caring about everyone or the world being cruel i think of dreamie 😔

SRSLY MOST LOVELY BOY IN THE WHOLE WORLD I SHOULD BLOW UP THIS WHOLE EARTH.

[the-trope-on-loop]

guzzle sink water

Why would you do that? It's too late to think about it though, you almost unwillingly turn on the sink, bend over, and let rushing sink water flow into your mouth as you start gulping. What is wrong with you?

[chitsangenthusiast]

alright here's a question:

5 7 8+1 fic but make it pwp.....and with a few of the scenes/chapters already being a minimum of 6k in their first draft forms....is the vibe to post it as one fic or make it a collection?

(follow-up question is posting it all at once or staggering them/posting them when they're finished lol)