#its a school club thingy ^.^

[hoshigray]

Been thinking about this scenario a lot, but ex-husband! Toji, where you two are pretty chill with each other, even after five years of divorce. But the feelings between you two start to parade back after all these years, and it all comes boiling over after spending one night together.

A/n: Been a while since I've done one of these scenario thingies, plus this idea has been rotting my mind for a long time, and I needed it to get out, lol. I pushed back my Gojo fic to tmrw or Thursday because my brain was not feeling like re-reading 3-4k words while running on one hour of sleep. So, instead, we're dropping this in its stead. Sorry about that, and hope you like this while I fix the fic up later today :) Any grammar/spelling errors on this will be dealt with tmrw.

Cw: ex-husband! Toji x fem! reader - implied that reader is entering their mid 30s - starts out cute the first half but smutty the next, so minors DNI - implied that Tsumiki and Megumi are around middle school age; 12 (T) and 11 (M) - pining; Toji is whipped for you, I fear - Daddy kink - prone bone position + mating press - pet names (baby, sweetheart, sweetie, mama, princess) - cervix fucking - praise - itty-bitty-tiny overstimulation - closure; happy ending (?).

Wc: 3.4k (wow, way longer than the last one, lol)

Ex-husband! Toji...

...who you've divorced after being together for four years. It was a marriage built on love, convenience, and heartache. There is no denying that Toji loved you very much; if anything, the man would set the world ablaze if anything were to happen to you. Especially when you were the sweetest thing that blessed his presence and his two children who were young at the time — Tsumiki and Megumi at age three. The fact that you loved him as much as he loved you is beyond doubt in Toji's mind. However, somewhere down the line, you felt a "shadow" that you could not surpass nor fill — the late wife of Toji.

You could tell that Toji still had a piece of him that just couldn't let the memory of his late wife go, and you understood that. Hence why you chose to leave him, which was glum for all parties, but Toji understood where you were coming from and signed the papers.

...who's still chill with you after the divorce. You two promised not to act like complete strangers, especially with Tsumiki and Megumi being close to you. Just because the ring isn't on your finger doesn't mean you must change completely. The two of you are comfortable enough to be in each other's company, taking turns watching over the kids and acting like you're still married by poking fun at one another like the good days.

"Hey, big guy," Toji turns to the kitchen hallway where you're looking at him, his usual black coffee in his mug still sheltered in your apartment cupboards. "You look like shit; too tired to go to the clubs to find some minx to wow you enough like you used to?"

He snickers at your brazenness. "Shut up, brat. I could ask the same fr' you. Got some good dick on the side to help that attitude of yours, baby?" After checking around to see if the kids are nearby, you give him the middle finger. He chuckles before sipping his coffee.

...whose kids adore and love you so much that they secretly try to have you and Toji in the same place, which the two of you are entirely aware of. Five years passed after your separation, though that doesn't hinder the children from wanting you back in their lives again. Because to them, you are always a Fushiguro, and the love for you will always be there. It's there when you go to Tsumiki's soccer games and drag your ex-husband to find a better seat on the bleachers to watch her play. It's there when Megumi tells his father he "accidentally" left his baseball bat at your place and "unfortunately" now has to spend the night there (and you always receive them). And it's there when you promise to come along on family trips, like going to the zoo and taking pictures by the Panda enclosure with his daughter or going to the aquarium and listening intently to his son explain all the different types of jellyfish.

Toji can't blame his own kin for being attached to you because you are still a mother in their eyes. And so to his.

...who has his wedding ring on his dog-tag necklace but always tucks it under his shirt whenever you're present. It gives him a peace of mind when it comes to you because if he can't be there for you 24/7, he knows you're under his protection whenever you need it. But the thought of you knowing he still wears it makes him anxious, worried that you'll take it the wrong way and request he never wears it again. So, for his sake, he keeps you blind to this secret. And he wonders if you ever wear yours...

...who welcomes you without hesitation when you have to spend the night at his place because he notices you're too exhausted to go home so late. The only problem is that there's no other room outside the kids and Toji's. And as much you protest, expressing your satisfaction with taking the couch, your ex-husband disagrees and will carry you to bed, sneering to himself as you try to wiggle out of his stronghold until he smacks the bedroom door closed with his leg.

"I told you I was fine sleeping on the couch, Toji." You complain to him, yet your back is pressed against his chest with his arm around your waist.

"And I told you not gonna happen, princess." his hold around you gets tighter, pulling you closer for him to rest his chin on your shoulder. "You'd probably fall off and smack that pretty face of y'rs on the floor."

"I would not—You know what," you stooped from saying anything further to the man grinning behind your ear. You shift a bit to make yourself comfortable. "Goodnight, Toji. And thank you."

It takes every fiber in his being to not kiss your cheek then and there. Exhaling softly through his nostrils as he lays his head back on the pillow. "No problem, sweetheart."

...who the last time he had someone after your separation was not feeling it at all. You even said he is free to do whatever he wants when moving on to the next minx that caught his attention. You two are adults and shouldn't feel entitled to putting each other on a leash. Despite that, he knew moving on from you wouldn't be easy — especially in the bedroom.

The women he's had after you can only be counted on one hand. No matter how good the fun was with the others, his mind would always crawl back to you. It didn't matter how different their hair was, what they dressed that night, or how fucking good the sex was; you would cloud his mind in some way. They weren't you. They weren't his sweet thing.

...who's extremely perplexed in a nightclub when he sees you. He didn't want to go in the first place until Satoru Gojo barged into his apartment, dragged him out in his best attire, and left Nanami (another victim of Gojo's foolishness) to babysit Megumi and Tsumiki. And it was bad enough that Gojo snaked away from Toji to the dance floor the second they got inside, the raven-haired man almost popping a vein in vexation.

So the older man resorts to just doing the usual gig: walking around before sitting at the bar to ask for a regular beer. He stays there for nearly half an hour, taking sips of his bottle while sweet-talking to the ladies that occasionally find him and give him his number. Things got really loud when the DJ at the discothèque played "Up!" by Lil Vada and DonnySolo, all the party people crowding the floor, bumping and grinding each other while singing the lyrics. It was at this point that Toji had enough of the massive headache growing in his head, so he was about to down his beer and leave the club; Gojo be damned because the fucker could find his own way home and then some.

But midway through putting the beer bottle on his scarred lips, something in Toji's peripheral captures his attention. And his jade eyes go wide at what he sees.

Down to the right side of the dance floor are booths catered to bigger parties, so it's obvious to notice when a single person sits alone on one of the round tables while everyone else is dancing their hearts out. That one person was you, observing the dance floor with your head on your hand resting on the table.

To say that Toji was flabbergasted by the image of you in a place like this after all these years was tough for him to comprehend. Yet what really had him in a chokehold was how stunning you were. From where he stood, he could tell that you dolled yourself quite a bit. Your hair was kept in a style that displayed your face wholly, and you were wearing a beautiful halter-neck dress with slits revealing your thighs deliciously.

He forgets how to breathe when your eyes drift in his direction and find him. You're just as surprised as he is for a short moment, but you offer him a familiar smile and beckon him to come to your side of the club. The older man wastes no time, paying the bartender and making his way through the crowd to your table. When he's close enough, he can tell that your dress is backless, exposing your smooth skin that calls for him to touch.

And when Toji notices the ring on your left hand — the old wedding ring he gifted you — the world around him comes to a complete standstill.

"Hey, big guy." He snaps back to look at your beautiful face, your smile still there to blind him, and the booth far from the dance floor and music so he can listen to your sweet voice. You move to the side to make room for him to sit. "Didn't think I'd find you here."

"Me neither." He admits to you as he takes a seat, his green orbs never leaving your figure. "What are you doin' here?"

"Some friends dragged me out here for one of their birthdays. I figured I'd be here for a few hours and loosen up a bit, you know? But I don't know, I guess I'm just so used to being at my place that I'm out of practice with clubs."

Toji nods at your answer. "Yeah, I was dragged here, too. I'm with—"

"Gojo? Yeah, I thought so. He's right there dancing with my friends." He pans around to the dance floor to see commotion at the center. The snow-haired man was dancing as a crowd formed around him, getting grinded on by a woman with a "happy birthday" headband.

Gojo notices the raven-headed man staring his way, pulls down his shades, and winks. That's when the reason why Toji was brought here in the first place hits him. Gojo knew you would be here tonight because of your friend's birthday. And now that you two are sitting alone, the wink signaled Toji to make his move.

"....Wanna get the hell outta here?"

You giggle at his suggestion. "Yeah, I don't feel like watching my friends get pregnant on the dance floor."

Toji snickers and grabs your hand to lead you out of the booth. He then drapes his denim jacket over your shoulders to cover your exposed shoulders and back, and the two of you leave the club without anyone noticing a thing.

...who spends the rest of the night with you as if you two are on a date again. It's late, so many shops around the area are closed already, but that doesn't stop the two of you from having fun. From sharing a meal at a nearby diner, walking around a shopping plaza admiring the silent ambiance, and listening to old tunes in his car as you two share stuff about your day while holding hands. And the change of mood completely baffles Toji. Nevertheless, when he sees the smile on your face and hears the sweet tune of your laughter, the grasp on your hand gets tighter with every minute. All his intentions go into enjoying having you with him like this again.

...who stays by your side until he has to drop you off at your place, parked his car to walk you to your apartment door. It's 1 o'clock in the morning, way later than Toji ever intended to stay out. Not that it matters now, because it's all worth it being able to walk with you. He doesn't let go of your hand even when his heart dies a little when you two arrive at your door.

"Had a good time?" You ask while unlocking the door; your eyes showcase subtle exhaustion but are overshadowed by your smile.

"Sure as hell did since I saw you at the club." He confesses, your chuckles casting a spell on him.

"Hmm, I'm glad you were there too, Toji." You meant those words, your eyes gazing into his, and the man's plunged deep into your gorgeous orbs. A feeling that he now realizes he wants to be the only one experiencing with you.

An awkward silence for a few seconds prompts you to snatch your hand away from his, causing his stomach to drop. "Sorry, your jacket" is what you use to excuse yourself, moving to take off the denim jacket. But Toji stops you, his hands stationed on your shoulders to keep you still.

"No, it's cold, sweetie." His voice is hushed, only for you to hear. "You can give it back next time."

Silence comes back again, but the air is heavier this time. The awkwardness is replaced with something more solicitous, more affectionate. You notice it when Toji has yet removed his hands from your shoulders, his large palms warming you up to the touch.

"Toji—"

"It's alright, baby." His gruff tone is still a whisper, and butterflies flutter in your stomach. "I won't do anythin'."

"No, no," you don't know what came over you, but you place your hands on his chest. Then your finger touches something from underneath his turtleneck, having you pull his collar down to pull out the dog-tag necklace that still harbors his old wedding ring. Toji's blood shifts to ice cold when you see the accessory — his anxiousness spikes up to an all-time high, only mere seconds from combusting based on whatever your response will be. And it comes.

"I...I want you to do something, Toji." It felt strange saying those words with your shaky confidence, though it's what you wished to express. "I want you..."

And just like that, whatever restraint that the older man had for you was butchered away. Emerald eyes take in every feature of your anticipating expression, and his lips come crashing down on yours.

...who couldn't care less how late it is right now because he finally has you where he wants you after all these years. It's 2:30 in the morning, way too late for loud noises as they'll disrupt the neighbors next door. But, again, Toji doesn't care about that. When he finally has you lying under him on your stomach, screaming out his name while he drives his cock deep inside you, what is there to care about?

The two of you are in the prone bone position, where you lie flat on your belly on the cream-white satin sheets of your bed, your legs in between Toji's and bare ass out for him to have easy access to your creamy cunt that hugs onto him all so well.

Tears paint your wet and sweaty face, drool escapes from the corner of your mouth and meets the sheets beneath you. The harsh thrusts of Toji's pelvis hitting your ass with such precision have you see stars, and his big hands keep your arms still. All you can hear are the ecstatic cries of your voice and the noises of skin smacking together.

"Nnmph!! Haaaah!! Ahhhh, yesssss, Daddy, just like that," your voice feels strained from all the screaming you've been doing for the past hour. Lips are swollen from the constant biting, your butt stinging from the intense contact with your ex-husband's pelvis. It's hard to think of anything but the man above you and his dick rearranging your slit like his personal toy. You never thought you'd experience this exhilarating and rewarding sensation again. And now that you do, it's all you want to indulge in. "H-Harder, pleaseeee, I want mo—Ahhhnnn!"

Toji grinds his hips down to your ass, churning your insides and grazing your cervix to the point of incoherent babbles. "Mmmm, oooh, shit, fuckin' shit. You're too tight on me, mama." He gives you a sharp thrust when you least expect it, and the walls of your chasm clamping down on his length has him hiss. It's hard to believe you're permitting him to have you like this. It's been five years. Five years of respectful boundaries and keeping a platonic relationship. Five years of denying feelings of want and desire. All those years of heavy guilt suddenly lifted from his shoulders just for him to have you under his bow again, your body quivering and voice shaky because of his touch.

It feels so surreal...But, God, Toji missed this so goddamn much. Missing your eyes, your smile, your touch, your body. Just you. Only you. "Hnnngh!! Damn, you feel so fuckin' good, baby. Can never have enough..."

"Mnnaaaah! Daddy, I'm gonna cummm, I'm gonna—Oooohh!!" The tip of his shaft scrapes the upper walls of your vagina, your brain pounding so hard to the point it hurts. "Pleaseee, let me cum, Daddyyy..."

He can tell you're close and senses your orgasm climbing up with his. That's when the pace of his hips goes erratically fast, jabbing your sweet spots and tender cervix, causing more tears to come down and your peak to finally release for the third time that night. As you cream on his cock, Toji's not too far from his own crescendo. Your velvety walls contract around his member divinely, and the older man spills his load into your quivering figure.

You're allowed to experience the aftershocks of your orgasm as you two let your bodies calm down, Toji laying his chest on your sweaty, heaving back. He then slowly removes his dick from your chasm, and the essence of your unioned sex feels cold while sliding down your inner thighs.

"Haaaaah...Mmmm, thank you, Toji." You whimper out as he lays kisses down your neck and shoulders. "Thank you..."

But little did you know that it wasn't the last of it. Before you could apprehend what was going on, Toji already had you flipped over to your back, stationing your legs on his shoulders to a mating press. And you see that his cock is not limp yet...

W-Wait a damn second—

"T-Toji, wait, hold on!" You try to rationalize with the man who aligns his shaft to your gushing vulva, and your sweat runs cold. "It's getting late. I just came three times already! We should—Nmmmph!!"

The head of his cock slides right in thanks to the slick and come lubricating your opening. Adding his weight onto you as he pushes his length deep into your chasm again, you cry choked sobs when he meets your cervix again, and his pelvis rubs against your clitoris. "Sorry, mama. Just lemme finish here, 'kay? Daddy missed havin' you like this, so I wanna give you all of me while I still can."

...who has your fatigued self lying on his chest, rubbing circles on your back and placing soft kisses on your forehead as you feel the effects of sleep slowly creep up on you. The lights are now off, the moonlight bargaining from the curtains being the only light source as you two are ready to gather whatever amount of sleep you can get.

"Hey, baby." But before that, Toji wants your attention for the last time before you sleep.

"Mhmm?" Your eyes are closed, but your ears are still open to listen.

His eyes drift down to the left hand that lays motionless on his chest. The gem on the ring flashes softly for it to be distinguishable. "How come you were wearin' your ring at the club?"

A few seconds go by before you give him the honest truth. "Same reason you wear yours. I always wear it when going out somewhere or alone someplace. Gives people the idea that I'm not ready for anyone else."

"Then why not wear it when I'm around?"

You giggle breathlessly. "Same reason why you don't let me see yours. I don't need a ring when I have you with me. A ring doesn't compare to my big man who will love and protect me wherever we go."

And Toji doesn't ask anything else after that. He lets you fall asleep in his arms and listens to your breathing follow a melodic rhythm. Your words stick with him even when his eyes close, and he soon falls into a deep sleep.

It's far-fetched to think that you two will be married again. Maybe it's possible in his dreams, but not in the real world. Regardless, Toji knows he will always stand beside you and be there for you. With or without a ring that's merely evidence of your love to outsiders. He knows you love him, and that's all he needs to keep moving. And if he could have you as his wife again, he'd sweep you off your feet in a heartbeat.

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

the space between us

↖ navigation: enhypen masterlist || main masterlist

pairing: delinquent! jake x bookworm, gn! reader

↬ tags: slice of life with opposite attracts, can be considered as platonic or romantic relationship!, imo it's a good read (with no ending boohoo), finally finished watching love next door and its always friends to lovers that get me

summary: jake and you share a relationship so effortless that it’s hard to tell if it's deep friendship or something more

word count: 1.09k

prologue:

jake fell for you so naturally.

like the sun rising in the day and the moon chasing after it at night. like the seasons flowing and ebbing from one to another.

jake loves you like it's breathing. it wasn't difficult; it was practically second nature to him to seek you out wherever he went, second nature to have you with him.

though his pride and ego wasn't going to let him confess anytime soon, he revels deeply in the fact that you were always by his side, that you were always going to be giving him your fullest attention no mater what.

jake would choose you a hundred times over, in any lifetime.

----

"give me your physics worksheet."

like clockwork, you wordlessly slide your file folder over to jake, who sat down noisily at his seat. "you look worse for wear." you lightly commented, not bothering to give him your fullest attention as he languidly takes out his stationery and workbook.

outside, the sun had just started to make its appearance; the warmth from the rays outside indicating the start of a school day.

"yesterday, i stayed out a little longer to play online games with another group of friends; you know them. i wish you were there with me, but you're always studying. anyways, it's kinda surprising my parents hadn't said anything when i got home." even though you hadn't asked, jake provided context, just as he always did.

you never did minded his restless ramblings, and often times you knew he just sought a space to talk.

you hummed in response, preparing your desk for the first class, "yeah, that's because i told your parents that you were revising at mine." that lie you spun to his parents was one well prepared and rehearsed. not to forget, used very often.

"you're a lifesaver. did your parents question anything?" jake glanced sideways at you while flipping to the next page, no doubt to transcribe over whatever you calculated last night.

you shook your head, "they weren't home yesterday. i can't be covering for you all the time, you know?" wagging your fingers at him, jake appeared like a little puppy in front of you and you silently laughed at that image in your head.

"i know. too bad, i guess." jake shoots you a grin, earning him a hard smack from you.

----

"there you are. i've been finding you everywhere, literally all over the school." jake dramatically huffs and puffs at the door of the clubroom, not caring about the other pairs of eyes staring at back him momentarily. you felt heat seep from the center of your body towards the back of your neck and held back a groan at his sudden intrusion.

"jake, i'm in the middle of club activities..." you sighed. your club members were used to jake's antics, not batting an eyelid as they resumed with the issue at hand. he leaned his weight against the door frame, waiting for you to reply to him. you rolled your eyes at the way his face scrunched up in disgust, getting up from your seat to shoo him away.

"what are you doing here?!" you shoved him, no remorse in the way jake hunched over from your push, "hey! i was just reminding you that i'll be waiting for you after your activity-thingy ends. i'm bored playing games with the same people that aren't you."

you rolled your eyes at the way his face scrunched up in disgust, "yeah. i know." you hurriedly nudged him away, "go, go. we're trying to do something here." you tried and failed to hide the smile on your face and he mirrors your action.

"clearly someone appreciates me being here more than they let on. don't be late!" jake goofily salutes you, spinning on his heel and leaving. as soon as he left, everyone cast their gaze (full of mirth and surely humor) over to you as you re-entered the room and you bowed your head in apology, "sorry for the disruption everyone. we can get back to the discussion."

----

"gah...it's so hot!" jake slumps over at his desk, fanning himself with a worn out textbook, the bent shape definitely due to the number of times he's thrown it into his bag pack carelessly. he lightly tugs your forearm, "let's skip self-revision session and go for some ice cream. please?"

"i'm tryna do something here jakey. in a minute, yeah?" you gently pried his sweaty palm off you, totally focused on completing your assignment. you don't catch the way his ears tinge red at the tone of your voice. "okay. in a minute." he repeats your words, crossing and uncrossing his legs beside you.

the classroom was left with a few students revising for the upcoming test and of course, where you were, jake had to be there too.

he leans in close to you, warm breath tickling your ears, "are you done yet?" you flicked his forehead, "i will be if you stop bothering me." jake mimics a zipper over his mouth and puts his head back down on the table. a few times, you caught him fidgeting aimlessly beside you and with the same gentleness, you coaxed him to doing some sort of revision, though you were pretty sure he didn't want to.

he waits and waits: the moment your book flips close, jake perks up, "let's go!" he drags you up and out of your desk against your consent and you laughed at his antics, "yeah, yeah let's get going."

----

epilogue:

"hey, are you and jake a thing or...?"

you jerked up right at your friends question with an eyebrow raised sky high, "does it look like that to you?"

your friend shrugs, "y'all banter like lovers, yet somehow act like siblings. you two are always joined at the hip, even if it's going to the toilet together. he's stood up for you many times, and you have covered for him just the same."

your friend stares daggers into your soul, before leaning back against the creaky school chairs, "you're hiding something, aren't you?"

your silence goes noticed by your friend and almost immediately, "WAIT. do you like sim jaeyun, yes or no?!"

"i...we never put a label on our friendship. we do almost everything together, it would be weird to do it with someone else! i just...i just wanna be with him, you know?" you attempted to clarify, but with the way you were turning pink, your credibility went down as your friend cackled loudly beside you, "someone's in love~!"

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[mcytshipsandmore]

gripearl anon (however me calling them doomed yaoi/refering to any pearl ship as yaoi already gives out my identity quite a bit but oh well.)

I think! In evo everyone was like very young adults. I think pearl and grian went to high school together and grian innocently invited pearl to join evo like some sign up program thingy that they didnt know at the time was gonna be bad and irreversible-

I think pearl had a dumb teenage crush on grian. I cant even tell if its onesided or not. But it doesnt matter cause after the dragon fight he was gone. They took him away. Pearls best friend. Who welcomed him to the server, who had been there for him in a lot of personal important moments of their teenage years just like he was for G. Who introduced Pearl to everyone and gave him stuff to start out. Sure, Pearl is capable, doesnt need the help, but its so nice someone is so thoughtful.

And now that someone is gone. Pearl falls into a depressive episode for weeks, even months, with many other evolutionists trying to cheer him up. Eventually he does! Sort of. A happy christmas with friends.... before- the finale.

Before the world starts falling appart all around them. I picture this- purple sky, meteorites, parts of the world glicthing out, falling appart, eternal void, like the day they lost him.

And then they reach "safety", or so martyn and jimmy claim. Theyre the only ones who can speak to those *things* that helped them move to the new town. Never again like the old one. Thats for sure.

And Pearl- is trapped. In a cocoon. The evolutionist moth evolved, into a wolf. The dark shy closed off moth didnt work for the watchers anymore, they turned him into a happy and excited fierce dog, a man's best friend. That took him the whole season and so he missed 3rd life but he was there for last life and after scattering for resources-

Before meeting Scott.

He meets Grian.

After all this time. He sees Grian again. His best friend. His first love- and Grian doesn't seem to recognize him.

Sure, theyre both changed, physically and in demeanor. Just like Pearl grew taller and hairier, fluff replaced with fur, shyness replaced with open excitement and tons of energy. Grian had changed a whole lot. Hair, height, body type, it was as if theyd switched- except his face was just- creepy. Uncanny. It was still Grian just also- a completely different person.

He pretended like he didnt knew him. But that was a lie. Pearl knew it was a lie cause the moment he pushed too far trying to make him remember "evo and the old times", Grian snapped. He asked Pearl to not talk about Evo ever again, for his own good? Forget it ever happened.

And thus it became an unspoken rule between evo lifers to pretend like that never happened- some did better than others. Martyn surely forgot about the old days when he ditched Pearl at the end of DL session 1. Pearl didnt tho, and brought it up slightly to him at the Broken Hearts Club.

Even confronted BigB after finding out about the "secret soulmates" thing.

I like to think of Pearl, specially DL Pearl, a bit like Hera, specially EPIC Hera at least on her main song I heard. Viewing loyalty as so important and cheating as so horrible- cause lets be real, she just went off to the nether with a friend, the first one to claim someone else as his soulmate was Scott, but thats a whole other can of worms.

So when Scar, his only friend thats still by Pearl's side, brings up how his soulmate, GRIAN, is cheating on him- with BIGB of all people?

"BigB. I expected better from you."

Nothing else needs to be said. Because to have expectations is to think you know somebody. And Pearl thought he knew all his fellow evolutionists... seems not.

Oh but back to the gripearl stuff- the amount of rage Pearl must've felt finding out Grian was doing something as horrible as that to Scar, the only person he can rely on (cough snowblings crumbs)

Pearl officially hates Grian's guts. And he regrets ever even liking him in the first place.

Oh but when limited life hits and Grian looses his boys. His bad boys.

On one of their last nights, and they know it will be, BigB, Grian and Pearl, all sit behind those small barricades on the skyline (i forget what its called), reminiscing. Fuck rules. They all know theres a season after yet every finale does feel like the end of the world. The end of a world they know so well. Everything caving in and all they have is one another.

Sigh anyways thats it for life series gripearl. Also i think gripearl sounds like gripers and thats funny to me

Ah and in hermitcraft theyre much much sillier and way less angsty lmao

(Post is meant to be taken as gripearl /rom. snowblings(scar&pearl) /fam or /p. And pearl + bigb/martyn /p)(aka im not implying any other ships)

grian: well I'm sure this evo thing won't be bad in any way

Pearl: totally!

*years later*

Grian, eldritch horror:

Pearl, bloodthirsty victor:

Grian: want to kiss

Pearl: sure.

[will-schuester-hate-blog]

songs I think that klaine or kurt and blaine individually should've/could've sang and where they would've fit in the show

(alternate title: why olivia rodrigo's ''GUTS'' is pretty much kurt and blaine)

just my opinion please don't bully me i will delete all my social media if you do im literally weak af

first of all for klaine as a duet:

-SOS by ABBA. S6, getting back together after 2nd breakup. why? because it's kinda a getting back together song and I think it fits them and its also very silly. also I love ABBA (im gay af so) (fork found in kitchen)

-Paper Rings by taylor swift! works for that cut scene with the lil ring thingy and also just a really sweet song! fits probably anywhere where they're happy together but I'd say season 3 or 2 would be best.

-also, Helpless from Hamilton. I get that Alexander only has a small part in this song, but I think it would be rlly cute for s5 engagement <3

but now the better ones, kurt and blaine as solo songs:

first of all, for kurt:

-burn also from hamilton. idc if rachel has a better voice for it fuck u this song shoulda been kurt's. s4 breakup. self-explanatory.

-yet another breakup (for s4) song because KURT DESERVED AN ANGRY BREAKUP SONG IDC!!!! is ''the grudge'' by olivia rodrigo. PLEASE this fits so so well. Just like burn I think it's an angry enough breakup song that kurt deserved to have but also conveys the confusion, sadness, and stress that he also would have felt.

-another olivia rodrigo: ''love is embarrassing'' idk if it really would fit in anywhere in the story per se, but I think it fits Kurt about Blaine because it would be divided into the different sections of their relationship (ex: ''girl from high school'' in the beginning of the song would be rachel in blame it on the alcohol, and near the end of the song ''I'm plannin' out my wedding with some guy I'm never marrying'' could be near the s6 breakup. it fits trust trust ok.

-also, not klaine-related but he should have dueted chappell roan's ''pink pony club'' with santana because MY GAYSSS (but seriously i think it's a good song for them it's about queer joy and I think everybody needs some more of that in their life <3)

now for blaine:

-I Can Do It With A Broken Heart by Taylor Swift. I see this one a lot. perfect for season 4's Blaine, it really conveys how he was probably doing that season like, mentally.

-Making the Bed by Olivia Rodrigo (hehehehe again). Another one I see a lot. once again s4 blaine's mental health (poor guy)

-so many of these songs are such downers. why is my boy so sad. he needs a hug.

-now this is an unreleased song, and I don't know exactly where it would fit since in the time they're broken up, Blaine doesn't live in NYC. However I think it could work maybe during the s4 or s6 breakup just generally cause of the setting and vibe of the song (also its premise being about not being able to escape someone you've broken up with. not being able to move on. it's kinda good for s6 maybe ngl): The Subway by Chappell Roan. (thought about it for brittana but I'm not sure it works quite as well.)

-there's also some other taylor swift ones that fit blaine really well but um... i forgor 🥺 will update when I remember. just know that he is indeed straight from the tortured poets department

stay tuned for brittana version soon!

[galaxiadraws]

WACKKKKK THEY SELL MOREEE RAHHHHHH!!!

Earlier this morning in our school I went back to the booth to see what else do they sell. And to my surprise they sell more undertale stickers. Its sooooo cuuutttteeeee!

The student who's selling these stickers from the first day of school already recognized me when I approached their booth and they were filled with joy knowing that I'm also an Undertale fan. Now I have no escape in socializing cuz one day I might join their club thingy HAHAHAH.

Ctto. Fan art Stickers drawing isn't mine.

Undertale belongs to Tobyfox

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Comeback Celebration: Current Top Ten Sunmi Songs

I noticed, while I was working on this, that I talk about Sunmi the way orbits talk about Loona--I think you'll see what I mean as we go down the list! I think it's the admiration I have for how creative & well-crafted her releases are. "Heroine" was the song that got me into Sunmi, though her most recent comeback at the time was "Lalalay" (I remember because the ponytail dance was EVERYWHERE). My admiration was secured after her 1/6 album--even though her discography is still small, I think that album really fleshed it out, to the point where I finally felt like I could understand her as an artist. Happy Sunmi comeback to us all!

1. pporappippam

This is my "Butterfly". I remember when this song came out, I remember when it changed the world, it's all things divine, it's my conduit to a romanticized version of my teenage years, it's a supercut of all the most wonderful colors you've ever seen in the sky at sunset. In all seriousness, though--I really don't get how people find this song boring. It manages to be a soft, ethereal track and an addictive pop hit, a perfect balance of peaceful atmospherics and unrelenting pace. This one is really special to me!

2. 1/6

This is my "Loonatic". I got dream pop with this song--okay, "1/6" might not exactly be dream pop, but it's soft and dreamy in a way that made me finally see the appeal of that type of song, like why someone would want to get lost in that hazy sonic world.

3. Siren

"Siren" is a piano crashing into you from a third-story window. Like, I don't know how it's ever possible to be emotionally ready for this song. Its brute-force approach is just so goddamn memorable, especially because Sunmi doesn't overuse it in the rest of her discography--she usually goes for subtlety, but her vocals carry a powerful chorus like this one just so well.

4. Narcissism

This one's also in the brute-force category, especially because the production takes this really messy, maximalist approach--and fuck it, it works. I love this song a whole lot: the soft intro; the weird schoolbell-through-intercom-static sounds; the way the chorus hits; the way Sunmi navigates the song's rapid rises and falls. If you miss old-school EDM (read: if you obsess over Dreamcatcher's "Can't get you out of my mind" like I do), I think you'll really enjoy this one.

5. Call

Yeah, no surprise here, I always love club music. But this club classic is particularly intricate, built on a really interesting contrast: Sunmi's gritty vocals over an exceptionally pristine house beat.

6. Black Pearl

This song is just cool. Like, that saxophone solo is just really, really cool. Like, I want to be a guy who has this song at the top of his most-listened list. Maybe one day!

7. Heroine

Yeah, the beat drop is kind of wimpy, so that part didn't age all that great. But Sunmi's PERFORMANCE here?? That prechorus is one for the ages. Five years ago, the emotion of this song absolutely captivated me, and it still resonates with me today.

8. Lalalay

In contrast, this one aged wonderfully! Now that I'm not being constantly overloaded with beat drops in every other song (thank you, 2019 Twice & 2021 Olivia Rodrigo!), I can really appreciate how interesting "Lalalay" is! I used to think this one was boring and lacking inspiration, but now that I'm revisiting it, I think the dynamics of the chorus are pretty compelling (yes, I think the beat drop is compelling, sue me)--like, do you hear how the weird note thingie is fading in and out? how the volume shifts? I love it so much!! My favorite part is the bridge, though--the flight attendant bit remains iconic, and the segue into the final chorus is breathtaking.

9. Heart Burn

This will forever remind me of a song from my childhood--the melody of the chorus is vaguely reminiscent of Taylor Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart", which my mom used to play in the car--so this song hits unfairly hard for me. Like, it's already a reserved, mysterious summer hit, but to me it sounds like a half-formed image of your old living room, or the voice of an elementary-school friend whose name you can't quite recall speaking from the void. Cloudy, surreal, a bit unsettling, but altogether sweet. Also, the color scheme of this music video is super striking, so "Heart Burn", despite its simplicity, gets a LOT of bias points from me.

10. What the Flower

This is like the evil twin of Red Velvet's "Good, Bad, Ugly". They both go for the lounge-singer vibe, but Red Velvet have really pure, sweet-sounding vocals, while Sunmi's voice, and her work as a whole, have always been very savory (like, anti-saccharine?). Both songs are great, and I especially love how both allow for some wonderful piano appreciation (shoutout to the guitar in "What the Flower", too!). The singalong bit at the end of "What the Flower" is really striking, so this one has stuck around in my head over the years, even before I could really appreciate its quieter sections.

Honorable Mentions: 24 Hours (obligatory), Who am I, Curve (also obligatory), Tail (Sunmi's charisma wins this one), Call my name

[gargelyfloof118]

The Tale of Yesterday: A Saga in Most of Its Parts.

To start, I don't have the best luck with my vehicles. I tend to break things or just be the common theme among things that break. I have had 4 spark plugs blow, a gas pump die, a leaf spring pop, tread on my tire shred off, been hit by a cop, hit by a plumbing truck, the AC fail in the summer in Texas, among a smattering of other things that were simple to fix or cosmetic. We've been down to one vehicle since before school was out due to a failed starter.

Grandma offered to take a kid on Friday and asked for some eggs. My friend (let's call her A) wanted some eggs. All things I can take care of in one round!

I hauled the kid up, gave Grandma the eggs she wanted, and headed down to my friend's house. I decided to take back roads, thinking it would take me more directly to her house and I could have some much needed down time to myself at the same time. Two birds, one stone.

This particular back road is full of hastily patched pot holes. This particular back road has turns that could rival an A5 race track. I don't know if it was a factor, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I was about a mile from A's house when I heard it. The distinctive clank of something metal bouncing along behind the truck.

Eek! Pull over! What is that??? WHAT IS THAT?? Aw crap... that's not safe.

I get moving, going more gently than before and wincing at every clang. Call Hubs. "Hey, uh yeah, I know you want me home sooner than later, but something fell off the truck and is bouncing along under it. I'm leaving the truck at A's house. I'm sure she will take me home but I need to call her." Call A. "Hey, uh.. I need to leave my truck with you, can you take me home?" And she starts laughing.

She starts laughing for 2 reasons.

1. Her husband (who we will call J) is a mechanic. He does a lot of sidework to help out the family and this sort of thing happens often. He's our go-to mechanic and we are often over at their house. (Like I said, I don't have great luck with vehicles)

2. She had a friend just the night before in a similar situation. Apparently, A went out to book club the day before and her friend bought her home. On the way back, they hear a thud and then metal clanging. Her friend's car dropped its muffler.

So A goes "Did your muffler fall off?" "I think so?" "Is it a long tuby thingy?" "Yeah" "Just park it next to my friend's car, we will have matching pair" I'm trying not to laugh while she's saying this. What are the odds?? Two dropped mufflers within 24 hours! Both on the way to her house?!

I get there, park, take a picture for Hubs, put her eggs on the porch, and she takes me home in a fit of giggles.

I had to then call my mother-in-law and give her the news. "Hey... I need to ask you to do something that you might not like... can you bring the kid home?"

I explained what was going on. We have no vehicle. I, currently, have no way to come get my child. Can you bring him home?

She's not entirely comfortable with the idea. (Understandable) She doesn't have a carseat and hasn't had to drive the kids anywhere before. She might just keep him overnight. We will keep in touch.

Hubs got in touch with our neighbor (the same neighbor who has 2 horses in our pasture) and asked if we could borrow a car just in case. Of course!! Neighbor jumped on it so fast we had a spare car in 5 seconds flat! He's awesome! I was able to go get the kid and get him home. Grandma didn't need to do it, which I could see really made her shoulders relax. She's a good driver, but she was worried.

J decided it was easier to fix the starter in the Jeep than it would be to work on the truck. He came over after dinner and worked on it in our driveway.

Starter works now, but the battery is dead. Neighbor brought over a trickle charger and a jump box to help out. We figured out the battery has a fault and we need to replace it. Neighbor left his car so we could continue to use it. Hubs is supposed to go this morning, but isn't up yet.

On all these parts, I am extremely lucky that everything happened when it did. My child was somewhere safe. I wasn't in a rush to get back to him, and it wasn't necessary that I get him at a certain time. I was very close to my mechanic's place AND his wife was there to take me home. My wonderful neighbor was willing and able to lend a car. Even when I called Hubs to let him know what was going on, I didn't interrupt an important business call. It might not seem like a comedy from the outside, but everything landed so absurdly perfectly that all I could do was laugh the entire day. How odd a day it was.

[xxxg0ryygurlll13xxx]

making this college resume thingy in seminar really reminds me how little ive done in high school

i mean ive always been aware of the fact that for the most part im really only in the go home club w a few actual clubs here and there really only NAHS and anime club since model UN doesnt really have meetings. i also dont have any accademic achievements for one at my school anyone can join NAHS no academic requirement, ive never gotten on the honors list or any sort of award. im a painfully average student i get mostly 80s and some low 90s here and there. im only in 1 honors class and no APs and its been awhile since ive even gotten a perfect 100% on a test. it makes me nervous esp since most ppl at my school are doing significantly better than me (some are doing way worse tho i do know that) so it makes me feel a bit low abt myself tbh even my art imo is average or a little below

im just a very average student, basic grades, a couple clubs, no awards. its unfortunately the only average thing abt me. idk i just feel kinda awkward abt my grades esp since its my best, i try my very very best and all i get are Bs and maybe an A or 2 if im lucky. idk maybe i can get into college being average its just my seminar class makes it seem like i have to be exceptional to ever succeed. i just find that being average is a bad thing personally

[eggs-are-bricks]

a deatiled ecplaination of every anime ive ever watched part 2

part 1 i found talentless nana on a whim after geting bored of my 4th rewatch of school live club. it had simaler genres so i was exited. i dont know how to describe my love forr tn other then the fact i was so enraptered by it that i had to grab my sketchbook partway htough the seires. if you have not watched it DO IT RIGHT NOW, DON RESURCH IT JUST START IT!! !!SPOILERS!! i was so confued on eptisoed one i figured nano was just a weird pronouncaton of nana, even wheen nana was introdcued i just assumed they had the same name lmao; so yea end of ep 1 hit me like a fucking truck. i do not have words to describe my love for the trope of "cute/sweet character was actually putting on an act" for god sake the comic thats held me hostage for the last 4 years had it. as if that wasnt enough the fact even THAT is subverted laster on???? insane! i was ont the edge of me seat every episode. it took me until ep 3 or 4 to clue in on michinana, but i assuemd it wouldnt happen bc that would be bad for michieru. AND THEN THERE WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF JIN. THOUGH MICHIRU. y'all. i had to pause the show to cope. one must understand that TWO "cute character is actually putting on an act" broke my brain. the toxic yuri potenchal there. the "we look like besties/gfs but actually are holdingg eachother at knifpoint at all times" potenchal. the "*just stabbed her and about to do it again *waow shes pretty i wanna kiss her-I MEAN WHAT" potenchal. i was a shell of a man. then jin was reveled and i was once again destryed. littrally wrote in my doodle notbook "SHE IS GAY." as much as i love toxic yuri, i LOVE "yuri where one of them gets the other to question a deeply held beilf on accedent and now the only thing she can think about is her. and she cant even tell if its an exastencal crisis or a crush or fear or hate or all at once. and meanwhile the girl who broke her worldview is just happy to be around her and cares about her and doesnt know she is littrally a murderer." yah. i really love tn. as soon as i was at school again i begged my friend for 3 days straight to watch it and just called my other friend to force him to watch it and it was the only thingi could draw for weeks.

i didnt go out looking for new anime for a while. that is until a saw a video about so calle "loser anime" and decided to watch one of the ones mentioned for shits and giggles.

dress up darling is a bit hellish to watch, but i love it nonetheless. there is so much 2nd hand embarrassment, like actually almost killed me. Marin and gojou are unironically really cute. theres actual chemistry there. i like how at the beginning gojou sees marin as the epitome of what he lacks, she is open about her weird intrests and loved for them. gojou thinks he innately lacks something she has, making it impossible for him to have friends+ interests, but though tout s1 thanks to marins charisma and people starting to see gojous talent he finds more friends and people who appreciate his work. he doesn't innately lack anything and his biggest mistake was entirely giving up on finding friends.

and so it begun, my hobbee of finding anime i herd was bad and watching it to try to find some sort of narrative warrant within it.

so i had enjoined rachies cover of idol for a while without knowing the show it was from. i saw a video saying Oshi no Ko was good but impossible to recommend to anyone, the video said to watch it without knowing what it was about and i was intrigued. and oh my god. this anime dug a whole in my brain. listen most of it was fine and cool and not even boring, but. the first episode. [go watch it for yourself the les you know the better] SPOILERS!! seriously what the fuck kind of ferud bs was going on there. every second of that episode was fucking insane. "why is he to into that idol lol" to "HES FUCKING DEAD??" to "HES REBORN??????" to "HE CAN TALK????" to "freud couldnt even edge to this. straight up EXPLODED. clean up isle, his pants" to "what do you mean you being a girl before you were reborn means our privlaged to suck you moms tits what the actual fuck" to "waow they scared that babysitter" to "they wouldbe so cooked if their mom didnt asume they were smart" to "waow aqua is a lil freak i love him" to "waow shes really intersting and her trama responce allowing her to seced in her carreir while making her feel shalow is intersting" to "SHES FUCKING DEAD???" i ranted to my friend about it for about an hour and my voice was so score from walking laps while screaming about hoe W E R I D some lines were. didnt even bring up other eps. like i said they were fine but wow.

a while into the year i remembered a manga i really liked as a kid had an anime now, AND IT WAS DUBBED!!

i loved new game as a queer kid who would latch on to any media with wlw relationships. the anime was as i expected, same as th books. i didnt dislike it but it was more then a little boring. i think a lot of Kou and Rin's relationship was really queerbaity but ig not bc it got canonized at the end, witch is awesome. i havent watched or read it but hey we take a win. honestly i might pick it up again someday for the nostalgia.

summer 2024. from june to early aug i was on and off watching Hitorijime My Hero. witch. i would not reccomend: ITS NOT THAT BADD but it needs a

MAJOR TW!!: dont watch hitorijime or read my thoughts on if you dont wanna see: sa and victim blaming, grooming depicted in a morally positive light, age gap relationship depicted in a positive light, did i mention sa? theres a lot of it witch happens at various degrees of severity.

and even tough it pissed me off i was demanded to watch it. SPOILERS also ahead!! THE FIRST ARC ALONEE pissed me off so much. idc enough to google their names so hair color timee. ok ok the premiss was actually really cute. brunette dudes childhood friend(ginger) moveds back and has a crush on brunette but has no idea how to confess. brunette is oblivios and ginger is already a quite person so like ok theres a plot there this could be cute. episode 2 ends with ginger kissing brunette after brunette told him to stop and tried to push him off. then this bitch ass ginger threatens to end their friendship if if he cant (AND I QUOTE)"do whatever he wants to him" what gets me about the show is how realistic some of the reactions are. brunette is torn because he cares about their friendship but dosent want to be, like, assaulted more. he plays it off as a joke to keep the peace. i cannot express how accurately this depicts abuse, its what got me to sit tough so much of it. it was uncomfortable to watch but i told myself i would see it as a depiction of abuse and not a romance, because i under that context i genuinely think there may have been something to gleen from this narrative. ginger is mad at brunette for having friends so he threatens to abandon bruntte if he doesnt let him assult him again, and god the reluctant agreement from brunette hurt me. acceptance isnt enough for ginger, hes mad that brunette cant force himself to have feeling for him so ginger insults him in the worst way he can think of and ditches school for 2 days. maybe im projecting. the writing didnt seem to intend for this so come off as manipulative, as something to break down brunette till he accepts this reality. but can you blame me for sympathizing with brunette confiding in his other friend, clearly distressed, and being told in responce that it was his fault.h brunette's friend says hes wrong and brunette is the one who forced ginger to kiss him. i dont think its wrong at all to see brunette 'realize hes been wrong the whole time' and goes to ginger seemingly of his own will; and think this is a story where someone is broken down until desperation or stalkhome leads them to accept their abuse. there's no love there, its not a happy ending and writing about it makes me sick. but its feels realistic. normally i avoid seeing myself in fiction, but i couldn't help but relate to brunette enough where i had to take breaks while watching hmh because it made me sick. and that was the first arc. when i realized the rest of the show would be the student-teacher relationship with a 12 year age gap i decided 7 or so eps in i would drop the anime bc i genuinely couldn't handle it.

hmh moved me emotionally, it was impactful and i didn't want to end my quest for good anime. somewhere out there their had to be a school live! or a talentless nana i haddnt watched yet. i finally figured out how to find the stuff i loved watching! looking though lists for tropes or tags, usually older more underground stuff. its hard to describe but i have a watch-list witch brings us to now. its my junior year and i love anime. heres a list of animes ive watched recently, completed or not, and some thoughts on them!

welcome to the NHK was huge. hell it still is huge. i cant recommend it to anyone but god i will post about it here. (minor spoiler ahead) please i swear the scene where satou goes to take pictures of school girls panties is part of establishing the character its not fansevice i swearrrr. ok but like as awful as that stuff is it genuinely isnt fanservice. when satou is straight up joirking it for like 3 days we dont see what hes looking at, theres like one bit where yamazaki walks into satous house and it looks like misaki is giving him head but like from the top of my head thats all i can think of. when satou does freaky shit hes drawn like a freak! LOOK AT THIS MAN DO YOU THINK WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GOONING ALONG WITH HIM??

I CAN AND WILL TALK ABOUT NHK MORE SOMDAY BC I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON IT!

while stalking a facebook account i saw this image:

it reminded me of discourse i saw in 2022 over if femboy was derogatory to trans women. i see the argument, i really do, but honestly, i(a trans boy) LOVE the femboy/trap trope. first of all: 1st of all i like that feminine guys / gender nonconformity is thought to be generally cool within anime places(like even Facebook lowkey homophobic groups). second of all, i see where people see some "femboys" in anime as tras girl, its based like u do u boo. bu i think aspect of the femboy/trap trope are relatable to transmasc ppl too. for 1, there is literally NO transmasc anime. do not come at me with the guy in wandering son or that one mha character you know damn well thats not what i mean. in my quest for tboy rep i realized how much i realted to femboy characters. i too, constantly get mistaken for a girl and have the ability to embrace it or be upset about it. i will die on this hill but honestly cisgender 'trap' characters are better transmasc rep then any actual transmascs ive seen in anime just bc they are more interesting characters.

all that to say: i stated my teenage romantic comady SNAFU. its really good, very funny. Saika is litttrally me if i played sports. good times.

i also started princess jellyfish! Tsukimi is LITTRALLY ME!! no but for real i love this show i love how Tsukimi isnt conventually atractive. i love seeing her be autistic about jellyfish with her NEET roommates. i love her relationship with her mom.

and to wrap it up, the other day i binge watched another. its incredible and one of the best examples of how horror should be done imo. it doesnt rely on jumpscares, its keeps you on the edge of your seat every episode. SPOILERS AHEAD!!: i love how the veiwer is convinced mei is undead or somthing like that along with Kouichi, and when mei confims shes alive hes even an0olages he(and we) thought otherwise. not only that but i love mei in genrel. i love how she is just a freak and there isnt a lore reason. why does she watch the other students from afar? shes just like that. why is she so pale? shes just like that. shes just a weird little thing. why does she not run when somone is comming at her with a knife??? shes just like that. why does she withold the fact she knows who the dead person is when she could have saved lifes by specking up? she doesnt talk much. the fact she went into the whole exposition of the "i see dead things" bc of her doll eye and thats why she should be trusted to know who the dead person and only withi the last 15 mins of the last ep is like "o also i saw her fall in a lake" ?????? you couldnt have like??? started with that???? god i love her.

[anzynai]

I JUST FINISHED READING ALL THE BOOKS FROM THE GLORIOUS MASQUERADE

and i have some thoughts i’d like to share about it

(keep in mind there are spoilers obv!!)

SO FIRST OF ALL, apologies to that anon who sent me the ask about rollo a few weeks back (i barely knew who rollo was at the time so i didn’t know how to respond) BUT I WILL GET TO U SOON. literally binge read every book starting from FRIDAY. so i’ve been very very busy.

first about my love azul, i love his personality so much. i like how he sticks to it too, like call it selfish (it kinda is) but he doesn’t DO things for no reason. yet, i feel like even as manipulative he seems, he still has his pride. i also enjoy that his personality doesn’t get in the way of caring for his friends. ie. getting jade and floyd the gifts he gave them, especially catering the gift to what they liked. even though, he said he would technically expect something, i can tell he just genuinely cares for them.

despite that, i think it’s also pretty cool that he does THE SAME THING essentially for epel and deuce, even if it’s just to get on their good side. it’s just kinda a “classic azul” kinda scheme and i live for it!!

NOT TO MENTION, how cool he was??? i loved that he got to play such a big part in this event. like, making a deal with deuce for his magic??? SO SMART. love him. being so precise with his magic that malleus compliments him???? beautiful. an added bonus that he got a bit shy ab it too it’s so cute

also, i love how jamil takes every chance he can get to get a dig at azul. people always are like “jamil hates him!!” and all that but jamil always teasing azul suggests otherwise??? its pretty cool. obviously, i dont think its like (realistically speaking) theyre like besties or whatever but they definitely don’t hate each other.

i thought another thing that was nice was azul and idia’s relationship. it’s a strange kind of comfort between each other. idia ALWAYS finds him as some shady guy, but nonetheless, of all the people he would speak to, he seemed most comfortable and talked to azul the most. boards game club rlly helped out with team bonding.

another thing with idia is that i love how antisocial he is because it’s just such a core part of his personality but he makes it work!! yet, he’s not modest at all??? I LOVE THAT. like he knows his worth and it surprised me but i still loved it. like that scene with the exploding rag thingies, he was so proud of himself and had absolutely no shame in asking for compliments because he knew what he did was genius??? love him so much.

I LOVED that part where ruggie and jamil tweaked together to basically use the students from the other schools as human shields LOLL they weren’t lying when they said they were gonna use dirty methods but somehow it feels a bit refreshing knowing it’s not all “kiss and make it better” and then it actually gets better. like ruggie and jamil (two important characters) are not innocent and completely good, yk?? i really love that they did that.

also i adore their dynamic. they’re both so similar and they didn’t know it until this event and i just KNOW they’ll get along amazingly in the future.

i also enjoy jamil’s personality when he’s not around kalim. i really liked this in the first main story, but jamil just seems like this very monotone “do as told” kinda average person whenever he’s near kalim (which makes sense because he’s meant to make kalim shine) but it’s really nice getting to see his real personality away from him (a personality that pairs very well with ruggies and loves to tease others especially azul)

i officially LOVE malleus. i adore that he seems like such a scary guy, but he just wants friends. the way he was marking off the days in his calendar or even prepared a whole performance??? AMAZINF. and how he was so upset because the invitation wasn’t genuine??? like that’s so sweet to me, i don’t know.

also it’s hilarious to me how no one wants to get on his bad side. that one scene where rollo said he didn’t need to talk to rocks and malleus just sent him a glare and he immediately said “i’ll think about it” GOLDEN. or like how idia and azul were a bit cautious because they didn’t want to make him angry. it’s so funny

now, rollo. honestly, i feel like i expected worse. i think his story is really interesting and id like to get more info about it. i find it really cool that rollo and idia actually have a lot in common and idia actually hinted at it quite a few times.

honestly, i think it’s sad how i think rollo genuinely thought he was in the right??? or maybe he doesn’t know what’s right from wrong but there’s so many ways people cope and his was just.. not good for people. but ALSO the flowers don’t kill the people right??? i’m not sure i think it just takes their magical power. not really justifying what he did but i can understand WHY he did it. i really like him and i hope we can see more of him soon.

THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW. honestly, don’t really think anyone’s gonna read this but… it’s here anyway?? really enjoyed this event 🙌🙌

[c4rdkingd0m]

so uh. remember when we said we were gonna flesh out that high school au thing.

yeah.

cw//smoking and eyestrain

Based most of this off of myself and how i look in headspace (i woke up in a history lecture, system shit be like that, anyway jekyll /sys had an idea for what i would look like aaaand now here i am :P) plus some other concept art ideas and shit. Other facts i’d like to add in here

***

-the thing around his neck, the pink thing? its a neck warmer, xey use it to keep their spring neck safe (its super fragile and can break easily). xey use a sort of gold cast-looking thingy during gym (as you can see in the upper right drawing) instead of the neck warmer

-they live in a small flat rented out by his pseudo-adoptive parent-figure-caretaker-also-gym-teacher-for-some-reason guy, Seam.

-he met xeir best friend, rouxls, during theater club in 7th grade, and theyve been inseperable since

-theyre secretly crushing on the football captain, and actually considered being a cheerleader after watching a movie where the football jock and the cheer captain got together

-xey’ll eat basically anything, nobody knows how they havent died yet and people stopped guessing after he ate a 12 pack of batteries and didnt even get a stomach ache

-the only people who know his real name are the teachers and rouxls, everyone usually just calls xem Laplace, hence the nickname “Laplace’s Angel”

Yes i did in fact make will wood canon in my deltarune au whatcha gonna do about it

***

decided to name this AU the Angel’s Heaven High AU, after the name of the high school (duh), hopefully we’ll be motivated enough to make more stuff for this au :D

[awolfstudio]

lantern and maize for the autumn asks thingy

Lantern: Ohhhh so my best friends and I met through music. We were all in marching band together in high school. And if I remember correctly manga was involved. @tacowizard and I were already friends because we played the same instrument (go go trombone) and @magebomb was reading Fruits Basket. We were all into manga and anime at that point and started up an across the band converstaion through band camp that has lasted for me since high school. I love them and I miss them (curse living far away) But we still do talk, thank the gods for internet connection. Maize: So another college story (this is how I met my college roomies my freshman year). Me being a nerd with non-standard hobbies I made chain maille jewelry. It was how my mom got me to apply to colleges, she got me supplies and I put in applications (i really was against change and didn't want to go to college) But I was walking with box of my rings and pliers and was going to the university center to just sit, people watch in the big window area and work on making things. I saw a guy (he was tall and blonde immediate thoughts were ITS LEGOLAS) and he had a scale mail shit on. And I boldly (not so much any more) went "Hey I love your scale mail shirt." wanting to be a cool college kid. He did a complete about face turn. "YOU KNOW ABOUT SCALE MAIL!?" "Yup" and i raised my box of stuff "This has chain maille stuff in it. I make jewelry" and he got so excited, he grabbed my hand and went you're coming with me. He was going to a club and wanted to continue our talk. So that is how I met the dorm of programmers in the video game major and started learning to making scale mail shirts and showing him how to make jewelry. Nowadays the strangers come to me for art advice at work (frame shop) so thats a whoooole different ball of yarn to untangle and oh oh oh the stories I could tell.

[thewickedbohemian]

Another TV show idea poll

and no I didn't just make this one because of the circumstances and it having a political idea with a better president

Either way;

Some additional notes that couldn't fit in the poll blank

the faerie lawyer thing would be intended to provide a law counterpart to shows like Lucifer where supernatural-being-in-semi-disguise helps the cops and/or a fantasy counterpart (but that doesn't mean all its cases would be fantastical sometimes the fantasy would be reserved for the B-plot) to She-Hulk's whole superhero law thing, and I thought there's some obvious reasons why a faerie would be a good choice for the kind of supernatural being at the center of a lawyer show and not just all the puns you could make in potential title or tagline or w/e about "fair folk". Also my idea for this show is part of why I'm glad Elsbeth's eponymous show is a detective show as if she was still lawyering she'd be similar-enough-for-people-to-call-ripoff to my vision of this show's lead

the "gimmick" of the political dramedy wouldn't be just that the president's neurodivergent it would be that they're the sort of same kind of "quirky neurodivergent specialist" or w/e you often see in cop or medical procedurals (like to politics what someone like Shawn Spencer or Morgan Gillory would be to crime-fighting or someone like Gregory House, Shaun Murphy (at his best-written) or Oliver Wolf would be to medicine) and might even have no first-lady-or-gentleman if I can find an appropriate position for the slowburn to happen with to keep The Dynamic going

the token NT kid would be kinda the "viewpoint character" or at least audience-surrogate or w/e and every other member of the family would be a different variety of autistic (potentially ranging from someone who'd have what I grew up calling Aspergers whatever you call it now and basically be the super-smart STEM-inclined hyper-executive-functioned archetype you see a lot on TV and Sheldon's meant to caricature to someone nonverbal who uses the same sort of thingie as JJ from Speechless and everything in between)

if you didn't see my other posts about the idea with the multiversal video store basically the idea is when protagonist has parent win Nobel Prize for discovery of multiverse travel, protagonist decides to use that to save the Blockbuster-esque-but-independent video store she works at (my idealistic mind hoping this would make video stores cool again/come back again) by tracking down movies and TV from parallel universes (as who wouldn't want e.g. a version of a thing you already like where the gay subtext was allowed to be text) but sometimes the retrieval isn't as easy as it seems and the show would balance that with workplace animated-sitcom stuff with the whole thread of dealing with the fame that comes from this and the prize-win

the speechie teen drama is intended to have a bit of a Glee-at-its-best vibe (as best it could without the songs to sustain it) inspired by both me being a Gleek who did speech team in high school during its peak years and how apparently Chris Colfer was also a speechie and said in an interview that speech and debate for him was kinda what glee club was for Kurt

[jasminebutintaiwansojiemin]

July 28th, 2024 星期天 - Traveling to Kaohsiung, Meeting the Celebrity Cat, Somewhat Scammed by Sushi Restaurant

We spent a lot of this day traveling from Taidong to Kaohsiung. I packed a lot the night before, but when I woke up I also continued packing. Trying to get my stuff out of the hotel was a NIGHTMARE, especially because I had so much extra stuff from the typhoon. After struggling for what felt like forever, I finally made it to the bus.

For the first part of the ride, I played sudoku and listened to music to destress. At the first stop (a rest stop very similar to those on the Florida Turnpike), as we were walking inside, an old lady tried to take pictures of me and I was like hahahahaha no. I ended up getting a Starbucks drink just for the Taiwanese Starbucks experience. There was so much extra stuff on their menu from strawberry Frappuccino drinks, to ginger tea, to a wide array of Starbucks merch that one could definitely never find in the U.S. unless they were in Seattle.

After the rest stop, we continued driving for a while. During this part of the drive I worked on finishing my dance I’m supposed to be choreographing, so when we made our second stop I tried running it to see how it would feel. For the rest of the drive I played more sudoku and watched videos of the currently ongoing 2024 KCON LA convention.

Our first surprise stop was right by an elementary school, so at first I thought maybe Yeh laoshi was going to take us to her old school? But then we kept walking towards a train station, where the best surprise ever was waiting. The little orange train conductor cat Yeh laoshi always carries was there in the flesh managing his station. He was so cute and calm but i could see his little ears go into airplane mode and twitch when the beeps from different machines would sound. Apparently he (and by he I mean Mikan the Kaohsiung cat) only works one day a month, so we were lucky to see him. We even got to have him come outside to take a picture with the gator flag. After some more awwwwwing, we split up for lunch.

After some deciding, we got steamed buns from a nearby shop that also sold Mikan shaped buns. Cat bun place ratings: Spicy pork bun 6/10 Mikan Bao 4/10 very mid BUT it was cute so its okay. After eating we walked around for a bit more as there was coincidentally also a parade for a nearby Daoist? Temple. As we walked through some shops, we somehow got called over by one of the people with the temple to get free drinks. As we walked through the parade, we also ended up bowing to the gods of the temple (not quite sure which ones those were but alas). Eventually we escaped and headed down the street to the open fair area were there was some shops and a karaoke area. One of our classmates ended up doing karaoke which was very funny but he slayed down.

After that we all headed back to the station before going to the bus and heading to the Mikan gift shop near the high speed rail station we had passed through a couple of days before. After reloading our transport cards to work in Kaohsiung (I finally put the shark cat stickers on my card hehe) we explored the Mikan store. It was very cute and they surprisingly had a lot of options for merchandise. Something funny I noticed is that sometimes there would be pictures of the actual cat playing with or sitting on the items for sale. I also did notice in the train station earlier in the day that there seems to be a dedicated fan club for Mikan, having matching shirts and expensive cameras like he’s an idol or actor. I ended up finally buying a drink carrier from the Mikan shop.

After the shop, we headed to the hotel. It’s definitely the most modern hotel we’ve stayed in so far. After settling in, some of us headed out to try out a nearby sushi place. The sushi was pretty good but we’re pretty sure the overcharged us for something, which was very irritating. I ordered tuna and salmon sashimi, seared scallop and yellow tail, miso soup, a tokidoki roll thingy, a shrimp hand roll, and some peach seltzer drink. It was most definitely pricey, but when else will I be in Kaohsiung eating sushi *insert shrug*. After dinner we headed back towards the hotel, but I first stopped at Watsons to buy nail polish (that I literally ended up never using). I may or may not have gotten got by the cashier but I took the L and just bought two polishes. Then I went home and settled into bed to rest after a long day.

[lawfulgoodsir]

IMO the most intriguing part of the early-to-mid-nineteenth century (as far as British medicine goes) is how much the reputation of the "surgeon" was changing - and how influential Scottish practitioners had been in establishing that new professional status:

There had been intense discussions surrounding the capabilities of surgeons during the seventeenth & eighteenth centuries that ultimately led to several barber-surgeon guilds breaking up & surgeons establishing themselves as significantly more medically aligned than their former colleagues. Royal favor, in part, was helping to elevate certain 'celebrity surgeons' to a status previously held by physicians. Between French king Louis XIV's public gratitude to Charles-François Felix for relieving his anal fistula, and various political motions made by British surgeons to garner similar favor in their own court (see Cheselden, Pott, etc.), the combined thoughts of "hey, these surgeons might have useful knowledge of their own" and "because they have these medical connections, they're way different from barbers" meant that generally, more dedicated clubs & institutions were being created for surgeons to hone their skills.

There was also a huge shift in the perceived value of dissection and autopsy over the same time period! As just one example, Giovanni Morgagni's painstakingly-researched De sedibus et causis morborum (1761) has been credited with opening up the discipline of pathological anatomy - making the connection between symptoms, in life, and changes to anatomical structures, in death - and making the practicality of dissection-based study more visible.

Edinburgh (where the Goodsirs were trained) had a particularly long history of anatomical dissection - and by the 19th century, had become a renowned . As an example, the original Seal of Cause for the institution that would become the RCSEd (1505) includes a clause as follows, permitting the guild to obtain the body of one executed criminal a year to dissect:

"...that euerie man that is to be maid freman and maister amangis ws be examinit and previt in thir poyntis following, that is to say, that he knaw anatomell, nature and complexion of euery member humanis bodie...and that we may have anis in the yeir any condampnit man efter he be deid to mak antomell off, quhairthraw we may haif experience, ilk ane to instrict vtheris, and we sall do suffrage for the soule; and that na barbour, maister nor seruand, within this burgh hantt vse nor exerce the craft of Surregenrie without he be expert and knaw perfytelie the thingis abouewritten." (Dingwall, 2005)

(btw if you work with 16th-century text...I'm already in awe. If you work with 16th-century Scots text......I'm intimidated by your power.)

Interestingly enough, I think an anatomist or surgeon learning the trade around the time of the Goodsir brothers would have experienced a new, quasi-regulated dissection environment post-1832-crackdown on resurrectionist activity, sure, but also an environment that was slightly looser in legal terms towards the unclaimed poor. The Anatomy Act (as I read it) has some rather open-ended implications in its language, codifying the ability of whichever person had legal claim over a set of remains to agree to their donation and use, given no family member or friend came forward. I think a lot of historical discussions about autonomy after death tend to focus on broad moral attitudes towards dissection & less on the class stratification (& racial stratification, at least in the US) of exactly whose remains were more acceptable to utilize. An 1838 letter to the editor of the Lancet, quoted in MH Kaufman's article about Edinburgh's cadaver supply patterns post-1832, lamented not the lack of bodies but the unfair distribution of remains among the anatomical schools:

"Every unclaimed body which dies in the Infirmary and is unopened, is sent...to the anatomical rooms of the University, sent there indiscriminately, unwished for, and with the knowledge that they will be wasted. These rooms are filled with bodies, from many of which no one ever derives any benefit." ("Study of Anatomy in Edinburgh", The Lancet 1837-1838, 1:589-90)

Tl;dr I think Goodsir, having been trained at the Scottish epicenter of 19th-c. British surgical prestige, at a time in which the practical purpose of autopsy & dissection was made clearer, probably had experience at least viewing a dissection (if not participating in one or multiple) - even more given the family's proximity to prominent anatomists like Robert Knox and contemporary claims about the state of cadaver supply.

I don't know about TV Goodsir's technique, though. Totally with leadandblood that it looks quite inexperienced, but that might have been a character or direction choice. Blanky's amputation scene also has some basic surgical missteps that make me think (no shade!) that the prop team may have overlooked the wide variety of knives & precision instruments available to mid-19th-c. surgeons in favor of the arguably flashier toothed saws. I haven't yet found anatomical lecture notes from the period that would detail proper autopsy technique, but something about the scene doesn't entirely make sense.

Each time i watch Goodsir do the autopsy, it's worse. It really makes you realise that no. He is not in fact a doctor. I present to you my inner monologue:

Starting good. There's nothing you can really fuck up here! *remembers the Jartnell scene from the pilot script* *dies a little* ............... you're doing GREAT buddy!!!

oh god that's nasty why'd you do that-

THAT'S NOT WHAT THAT'S FOR

this would be so much easier if you switched instruments... my good sir (badum tss), why do you not have rib shears...?

HANG ON NO NO NO NO NO YOU'RE GONNA HURT YOURSELF THIS IS SO UNSAFE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING STOP IT STOP

CAREFUL WITH THE SCALPEL

*yeets liver* are you gonna... look inside or....?

[more-mitaori]

Act I: Bipolar Nightmare

"...So that's about it, Koharu. As I said over the phone. It was my, um... 'abilities' that allowed me to escape. But... I do not know why I said what I said. Something... came over me, I cannot explain it." Hanako was speaking in a hushed tone from her corner of the newly reopened Newspaper Club room. The window had been temporarily boarded up, much to Koharu's frustration, and the debris had been cleaned out entirely.

"Illogical. No reason to antagonize that girl. But ultimately doesn't change much." Koharu's brow furrowed as she stared at the boarded window, perhaps out of habit, then returned to her desk, tapping a pen against its surface. "We have to clear a guilty girl's name. Not guilty of this incident, but many more. Probably. Difficult."

"... I have no idea what to do. I should... consult with Mother about this," Hanako muttered, enough for Koharu to hear. "She would... know how to handle this sort of situation."

Koharu peered over in Hanako's direction. "It's a good idea. I'm sure she's defended the guilty before. Thieves, murderers. Bullies can't be any different."

"Whoa, bullies?! Which one of you is having a bully problem?!" Shinju, fashionably late as always to the club meeting, had slipped inside mid sentence. "If y'all have a bully, maybe I oughtta get involved." She made her way over to the desk Koharu was sitting at, setting her bag down.

Hanako's eyes widened, the air in the room going still for a moment. "N... No, Shinju. N-Nothing so serious as that. I-I'm fine. We're... we're fine, right? Koharu?"

"Rui Tomatsu." Koharu was as blunt as always, speaking as she ran her fingers over the cut on her forehead. It had healed quickly enough; Koharu was methodical about treating the wound, if for no other reason than to get Midori off her back, but it was clear that a scar would form afterwards. Koharu didn't mind this, but without her usual distraction, she resorted to feeling the wound, as if to check its progress manually.

"Tomatsu... y'mean that girl the school's trying to bury over the vandalism?" Shinju scratched at her cheek, staring down at her desk. "The girl we're trying to prove didn't do it? She's bullying someone?"

Koharu merely nodded. "Correct. That is our job, as Newspaper Club. To find the truth, then report it."

"I guess we can't just let nature take its course with this one, huh? It'd be easy, but then again, that's not who we are, huh?" Shinju sighed, leaning back in her chair to stare at the ceiling. "...Yeah, it wouldn't sit well with me either."

Relaxing a bit the longer Shinju spoke, Koharu turned back to stare at the board covering the window. "Any advice from your sister?"

"None, sorry. Couldn't really bring it up. She got called away right as dinner was done. I got a good window for it tonight, though." Shinju turned to face Hanako, who had stayed quiet this whole time. "If ya want, I can have 'Haku give you a ride home." It was clear that Shinju pieced together enough of the conversation to draw a conclusion as to what happened. "She won't mind, it's not even that far out of the way."

Hanako closed her eyes, focusing her breathing as the air returned to normal around her. "Thank you, but... I-I'm okay. Really. I'm not hurt or anything, so... don't worry about it, okay, Shinju?"

"If you say so. But that offer's always there, y'know. Oh, I almost forgot!" Shinju reached into her bag, digging out a stack of papers. "The club report thingies you wanted."

"Thanks." Koharu snatched the stack, flipping through the pages and seemingly skimming its contents. Nodding with a bit of satisfaction, she slipped them into the mess of a folder that Koharu had assembled. "Hanako. Can you report on the Fencing Club? Since you've joined it this week."

Hanako jumped a bit, but gave a meek nod in reply. "S... Sure. I don't mind. Though, I haven't really been to a meeting yet..." Sensing Koharu's gaze, though averting it, she cleared her throat. "But... tomorrow is my first meeting. I can... bring back something for you by the end of the week."

Koharu nodded again, staring at the clock on the wall. "And the second year class president?"

More prepared this time, Hanako handed a single sheet over to Koharu. "Yuzuki Tokai. But it's strange... the race was much closer than I, or anyone really anticipated. Satomi Yasuda quite nearly won."

"Stranger things have happened," Koharu replied neutrally, adding this new sheet to the pile. "I'll compile the paper as soon as I can. We can leave early I guess." Standing up, Koharu gathered her things, giving Hanako a rare, concerned expression before swiftly leaving the clubroom.

"Huh? I just got here! Man... oh well. I don't have anything better to do, so maybe I'll just go for a walk. Which way d'you live again?"

Hanako stood up, stretching her arms before grabbing her own bag. "Shinju... please, there is no need to worry over me. I... I'm a fencer now, after all, no?" She gave a sheepish little smile, which quickly faded. "...I'll be fine. I promise."

Shinju shook her head in disbelief. "I don't doubt that. But if that Tomatsu girl tries anything funny, she's gonna have to deal with me!" A confident smile lit her face. "So you -sure- you're okay? You're not just saying all this to put on a brave face, right?"

"...I'm shaken up, sure. But I am fine. Rui doesn't know where I live, and I doubt she's just... lying in ambush or something. Besides, I am... much more light on my feet these days. I... I've had to get into shape for my... new club, after all."

"Well, alright then. But just, if you're ever in a situation where you don't feel safe, just send me a blank message, okay?"

"Alright, Shinju. ...Thank you." Hanako nodded, giving Shinju a more authentic smile before leaving the clubroom, and soon after, the school.

Despite her confidence, Hanako spent a lot of her walk looking over her shoulders, for any hidden signs of Rui. And shadow that stuck out, anything out of place, anywhere someone could lie in ambush. She let out a sharp squeak as she felt herself collide with someone. Someone taller than her. Falling back, the first thing she noticed was that this girl was not Rui Tomatsu.

The girl in front of Hanako was wearing the same uniform, yet a neat ponytail held her pale blonde hair, lighter in tone than Hanako's. Her gray eyes were cold, but she flashed a gentle smile, holding out her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Ah, there's no need to be nervous. Unlike others in my class, I'm not out to pick on the first year kids."

Hanako hesitated, staring at this girl's hand before tentatively reaching out with her own. Slowly rising to her feet with the girl's assistance, she dusted herself off, looking away somewhat timidly. "I... I apologize. I, um... I wasn't really... paying attention, either."

The girl chuckled. "No harm done. My name is Esther. Esther Rinju, a third year." She spoke, as if trying to reassure and calm Hanako down. As if she were used to calming people down, Hanako noticed.

"...Hanako Sasaki," she replied meekly. "F... First year. ...Y-You already knew that."

Esther's smile faded, just a little, though Hanako noticed this. Her eyes remained cold, yet her expression was still calm. "Ah, an acquaintance of my sister Alice, perhaps?"

"W... We have met once or twice. But... that's all. Why do you ask...?" Hanako was put off by this question, but she didn't feel the same sense of dread as she did with her meeting with Rui.

"Oh, I'm just..." Esther trailed off a bit, looking back towards the school, behind Hanako. "I suppose I'm just overprotective of my baby sister, that's all. If you two aren't that close, then there's nothing to worry about."

Hanako was not reassured by Esther's words, noting the exact choice. She didn't reply for a quiet, tense moment. This was a different sense of foreboding, Hanako thought, than her experience the other day. Rui was imposing, yet her intentions were crystal clear. Esther, however, was hiding behind layers and masks, and it was impossible to get a read on her motives at all.

Esther would break the silence with another warm smile, one Hanako didn't immediately trust. "Ah, but I'm holding you up, aren't I? My apologies. I am on my way to take care of something." Hearing this, Hanako sensed what it was. She could feel the faintest, tiniest hint of a Witch's presence at the far edge of town. Turning her head, however, gave this away, and Esther couldn't help but chuckle. "I had a hunch. You're one of us too, aren't you?"

Jumping again, taking a step back, the air around both Hanako and Esther came to a dead stop. "I... I don't—"

"'—know what you're talking about', right?" Esther had finished Hanako's sentence. "Seriously don't worry about that. I've been a Magical Girl for years now. I used to help girls like you all the time." Something in Esther's tone had softened, somehow, as the subject had been broached. "Tell me, when did you make your wish?"

There was no sense in denying it. "...Last week. I've... been in a few battles now. It was difficult, but..." Without realizing it, Hanako had begun to open up to Esther.

"I see. Well, I'll make you a deal. I can help you out, if you ever need advice or even assistance out in the field. In exchange, all I ask is that you don't get too close to my sister. Fair?"

Once again, Esther had held out her hand. Hanako was silent for a long moment, only reaching out as she noticed a frown starting to form on the elder girl's face. Shaking her hand, Hanako looked away. "D...Deal."

Esther's smile slowly returned. "It's obvious, right? You two aren't close already. It's free help. You'd have been a fool to dismiss it." She took a few steps past Hanako, who hadn't budged. "I'll see you around, I think. Hanako, take care until then, okay?"

Hanako stood there in stunned silence as Esther's footsteps echoed and faded.

* * *

"That's about it, cat. Pretty basic stuff, really. If I keep hangin' around Alice, I'm riskin' the mentor of all mentors in Mitakihara beatin' the hell out of me." Yui was lying from one corner of her chaotically unmade bed to the other, staring up at the ceiling. She was twirling a drumstick, perhaps to keep hersel busy. "The band's not breakin' up, and Alice's my best friend. But if I get into it with her sister, it's gonna get bad. You'd get what you want, and we can't have that."

Kyubey was sitting on top of Yui's little TV, staring down at her, tails swishing behind it. "That is quite a predicament you've gotten yourself into, Yui Arashi. There is one obvious solution, however. If you bring this up with Alice directly—"

"—Then she'll get desperate enough to wish for you to end it. Nice goddamn try." Yui sighed. "The hell do I ask your opinion for, anyway? Your advice exclusively is gonna lead to you an' Alice. This weird chess game's getting old. 'Specially since you suck at it."

The creature showed no outward reaction. "Well, in a more unbiased suggestion, there is a Witch not too far from here. You might be able to clear your head after a good hunt. Fighting seems to be your pacifier."

Yui sat up, looking a bit surprised that the idea didn't cross her mind first. "...Alright, olive branch accepted. Esther's home by now, so no way in hell this is a ruse. Well then, I'm off." Sure enough, Yui had sensed the Witch nearby earlier, but her dilemma with Esther had caused her to forget about it.

It wouldn't take long for Yui to leave the apartment, given she didn't need to sneak out. Her grandfather was out tonight, another fight on the docket. It was the third this week, a new best for him, and he had another lined up later in the week. The money was good, and Garou Arashi often rode his good fortunes all the way until they crashed.

Transforming right outside her front door, she made her way in the Witch's direction. It was a short walk, and Yui could feel an immense animosity coming from the labyrinth. Cracking her knuckles, Yui felt herself settle into a fighter's mindset. "Make it a good one tonight, I really need a good one." It was a mantra that her grandfather often chanted to himself right before a fight, and Yui had adopted it once she became a Magical Girl.

Taking a deep breath, Yui bounced a little on her feet, rolling her shoulders to loosen up. Her weapon of choice in this line of work was an ornate golden staff, one that she could call lightning to from seemingly anywhere, even if there was no logical sky. She deduced quickly enough that this magic came from her soul, and that it was merely her subconsciousness calling the attack from the sky, rather than somewhere else, like her fingertips.

Someone like Yui wasn't usually philosophical enough to linger on a topic like this, but since it was something she had to rely on in a Witch's barrier, she had no choice but to study basic psychology. It was one of the few extra courses Yui decided to take in school this year, and ironically, the one in which she had the highest marks. Higher than the rest of her subjects, but still barely above average overall.

Before Yui could enter the barrier, however, she felt it shatter. As if someone or something destroyed the space itself, let alone the Witch inside. Smoke was pouring into the alleyway, and Yui could only make out the shape of an older girl standing in the center. Her eyes widened, and she lowered into a ready stance, though she was anything but. If Esther had beat her here, and if she were looking for a fight, Yui would have to think quickly in order to escape.

The smoke began to clear, and Yui blinked as the figure became more discernable. Yui didn't recognize the dark-haired girl standing where the Witch's dimension had once been. This wasn't Esther. Her stance didn't relax, however. That attack, whatever it was, was far too powerful to simply ignore. What was worse was the overbearing feeling of animosity. It hadn't come from the Witch, but this girl instead.

"Heh... now, that's a good start," the girl said quietly. She was facing slightly away from Yui, about ninety degrees to the side, staring vacantly at the night sky. She leaned her head back, eyes widened with a sort of mad trance, and she tilted her head to look in Yui's direction. "What, you wanna go too?"

Yui would soften her stance, lowering her arms. "Whew, damn. I was a minute too late, huh? Would've loved to see how that went down, though! The barrier goddamn exploded!" It was an act Yui had put on in the past to escape situations where she was in over her head. "Heh. I'll have to catch the next one, I guess."

The girl's smile faded and she turned to face away from Yui. "What a shame. And here I was, thinking I could have a little more fun tonight. Well, no sense in it, if you're not in the mood. ...Yui Arashi."

Yui took a step back, eyes not leaving the girl's frame, despite her being turned away. "You know me?"

"Who doesn't? You're the loudest, most obnoxious second year I've ever seen. Even worse than you were last year, too. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that someone like you fell into our world."

Yui shrugged a bit indifferently, despite the girl not being able to see it. "Well damn, that's a bit awkward. I don't really know you, senpai." Rui Tomatsu, Yui thought. A soul that dim was unmistakeable, and the proximity combined with Yui being in her Magical Girl form gave her a good sense of it. She showed no outward fear, but she also knew this was a fight she couldn't win. Fortunately, she had been of that mindset from the start, fearing an encounter with Esther.

"Rui Tomatsu. Since you asked so nicely, junior." She gave a dismissive wave, walking away from Yui. "Now stay out of my goddamn way. Mine isn't an anger that a bystander can handle."

Yui dropped her form as soon as she was sure that Rui was nowhere nearby anymore, hands in her pocket as she started to walk back towards her apartment. "...Can't argue with that. Man... I really messed up, didn't I? Koharu's gonna need some serious help, if that Rui chick does what I think she's gonna do."

<= Chapter 6 ~ * ~ * ~ Chapter 7 =>