#the only spoiler I'll post until tomorrow

[assim-eu-sou]

Watching the finale like

[highhhfiveee]

mint (mike schmidt x reader)

*minor movie spoiler that isn’t a spoiler fr but kind of is*

tags: suggestiveness, swearing, fluff

oi. this is my first official piece of fanfic on tumblr and i'm excited but also super nervous. i never knew what characters i wanted to write for as most of my fandoms are obsolete tbh (teen wolf and maze runner, i'm looking at you 💔) but after watching the fnaf movie and falling in love with j hutch like i'm 14 again, i wanted to try to write for mike!

i'm sorry if this story sucks tbh. i wrote it pretty quickly, did not edit it in any way (watch for grammar and spelling errors!) and i'm still trying to establish characters and plot and do all this silly billy worldbuilding, but i'll get better! i'm also taking requests for both fluff and smut, so if y'all would like to send anything for me to write, i'll def accept! like i said in my last post, i think i'm gonna redo my tumblr layout so i can feel like a true fanfic/misc blog lmao so ignore its under construction phase ((: i hope y'all enjoy this though bc i've been thinking ab mike schmidt all night

i have sooo many ideas, but between last night and this morning, i’ve been thinking of abby’s babysitter!reader (bc fuck max).

you’ve been channel surfing in the living room since you put abby down, working with her to lock down a nightly routine. ideally, she’d bathe, eat dinner (god willingly), brush her teeth, and then you’d be able to get her to lay in bed and doze off. some nights, this required dessert.

“you just brushed your teeth though. it’s gonna taste gross.”

“not if it’s one of those mint chocolate things you always have.” you straighten up, eyes squinted at the child before you; she meant the small, sometimes melted, squares of Andes mint chocolate you always kept. they’d always been your favorite, a guilty pleasure in this fucked up world.

you hadn’t been babysitting abby for long, and you didn’t realize that she'd been watching you crush the chocolates like it was light work. they were easy to eat, and once you had one, you found out how easy it was to eat another one, and then another one, and then another one until there was a mountain of crinkled foil next to your phone and chocolate smeared on your face.

"please, y/n. just one," you didn't exactly know if it was a lie. abby was convincing, able to break you down with her eyes, pleading and puppy-dog like. "please."

you cave, leaning down to brush her hair back from her forehead and place a gentle kiss on the skin. with pursed lips, you whisper, "fine, but tomorrow night. i have to get some more."

abby does nothing but smile, eyes fluttering closed. you stay with her for a bit like you always do--watching the way her chest rises and falls, and how her features twitched with slumber. features scarily similar to mike's.

of course she'd look like mike. they were siblings, no shit, but the resemblance occupied your brain. there was sweet abby, with her colorful clothes and scribbled drawings and persuasive aura, and then there was mike.

you shake your head, giving abby another kiss before exiting her room. you didn't need to think about mike. he wasn't what you were here for. you'd come to abby's school as an aide and after she'd privately confided in you about her home life, you knew you had to help her. you would do anything for her, even if that meant taking care of her while suppressing the overwhelming school girl crush you had on her older brother.

mike was a bit older than you, which didn't scare you at all. guys in their early 20s were rarely mature, doing anything they could just to fuck; but guys in their late 20s, mike specifically, had only ever shown you couth, surprisingly.

for nearly two months, five mornings a week, the sound of the door being unlocked would ring out. you'd turn to see sunshine pouring into the living room, enveloping mike's brooding figure in a radiant golden glow.

he'd hang his coat on the wall hooks, drop his bag down to his feet, and give you a small but warm smile. you'd try to not to embarrass yourself as you two made small talk, packing up your things.

you always left unscathed, but recently it'd been hard. you were always thinking about him, dreaming about him even; how his hair would feel between your fingers, how his hands would feel on your face, how his face would feel between your thighs.

the thought is washed away, drowned out by the sound effects of a loud infomercial when the door opens, and you're turning and squinting against the wash of pale yellow on your face. mike steps forward with a, "hey, y/n" and you meekly raise your hand to wave.

he hangs his hoodie up to reveal his shoulder blades flexing under an uncharacteristically tight navy blue sweater. you can't help but stare.

"just wake up?" his voice is raspy, but he's still facing the wall, rummaging in his bag for something.

"um...yeah. brain's still turning on," you lie, tossing the thick blue blanket off your body. you didn't sleep at all, kept up with your thoughts and the last of your Andes mints (though you loved her, you couldn't give abby your last ones).

"hm," he mutters, finally turning to you but keeping his hands behind his back. something crinkles in them and you raise your eyebrow at the tired yet amused expression he takes with you. it's enough to make your body hot and you awkwardly pull at the collar of your shirt, fanning yourself off.

"hot?" the gravelly tone sends you into a giggling fit, shaking your head as you shoot to your feet. you have to leave before you do or say something you regret.

"uh, yeah, it was s-super hot under that...um...blanket. i shouldn't have worn sweatpants to s-sleep," you stutter, nodding your head along with mike as he steps closer to you. this couldn't be the moment something happens, right? it'd been so casual between you too, very friendly, and he'd never shown any signs of trying to do anything with you before. why would he choose right now, so spontaneously?

he stands before you, the slightest bit taller than you. you're able to see every pore, every freckle, every microscopic detail in his eyes and lips.

you open your mouth, hoping your heart doesn't fall out, to ask what's happening, when he reveals a bag of Andes mints, one bigger than you've ever seen.

your mouth stays open in surprise. "wh-"

"abby's been talking about them. i wondered where she found out about them but--" he nudges his head towards the coffee table, where a small mound of green wrappers lay. you swear under your breath, cursing yourself for not throwing them away like you usually do.

"i'm sorry," you whisper, blushing beyond measure as you begin to frantically pack your things. "i should be more careful with that stuff."

"god, y/n, you're saying it like it's coke," mike chuckles. he sets the bag down on the couch and reaches out to you, placing his hand on yours as you shove things into your tote. "hey."

his voice forces you to stop and look up. you melt under his stare just like you do with abby. the puppy-dog thing must run in the family.

"i feel bad about not being able to pay you yet, and i really appreciate all you're doing. abby told me that you loved those mints, so..."

"thank you, mike," you say over the sound of your pounding heart. you didn't care about the money, you didn't need it. being appreciated by someone who made your heartbeat resonate throughout your body was payment enough. "this is really sweet."

"thank you, y/n. you don't know how much this means to me." You scoff, throwing your tote over your shoulder and looking down at your feet.

"i'm always happy to help." you and mike stand facing each other for what feels like hours, the air as thick as molasses between you. his eyes were squinted, low and dark and intriguing.

you wished you could read his mind. what was he thinking? did his heart do the same thing as yours, wacking against his ribcage with no end in sight? did he stay up thinking about you when he was supposed to be sleeping, imagining how you felt, what you sounded like, how you tasted---

"see you later tonight?" his voice rocks you out of your trance. he's not thinking about you. he's tired, wondering when you'll leave so he can fall into his bed and doze off.

"yeah. tell abby i said i'll see her tonight." your smile is tight as you exit the house, cursing at yourself as you get into your car.

you didn't know how long you could go on like this.

ya, i know this sucks and it isn't really anything but we're gonna work our way through these fics and blurbs to really develop a cute relationship (,: i will still be writing other fics for mike, and possibly using another babysitter!reader in a different universe, but as for now, we're gonna be rocking with these two (: (thinking that we’ll label her as 🌱🍫!reader)

all notes are appreciated (: thanks for reading!

[ghosts-cyphera]

heyhihello everyone. since modern warfare III's early campaign access starts tomorrow (nov. 2nd), I thought to make a little psa about spoilers on my blog !!

I have early access to the campaign and will be playing it myself. my asks (both anon and not) will be closed until I've played it through. likely until around nov. 4th.

this is because I know that there are people who will stream it faster than I'll be able to play it, and I want to avoid spoilers.

if—and when—I make posts about the campaign (possibly already while playing it), they will be clearly titled with which mission I'm talking about. the post itself will be under 'read more' and tagged with: #lo plays mwiii + #mwiii + #mwiii spoilers. example:

mwiii spoilers until and including mission 8: (mission title ->) we're all gonna fucking die --- read more --- #lo plays mwiii #mwiii #mwiii spoilers

you can blacklist these tags in your settings! how-to -> here <-

I will re-open my asks once I'm done with the campaign. only my own replies can be placed under 'read more's, but every ask about the campaign will be tagged with the tags above + #lo talks mwiii. you can blacklist this, too, in your settings.

any questions? 💗

okay, then. *clears throat* I'm so fucking terrified though ?? how am I supposed to be able to play this fucking campaign without absolutely freaking dying ?? I swear I'll be tossing my controller aside seventeen times in the first hour alone. I'm so STRESSED but also very very excited !! AAAAA

thank you for coming to my psa. send me all your life updates and thoughs before I close my inbox tomorrow eek !! <3

[pomrania]

Time to actually start thinking about the Bestiaryposting creature of the week, if I want to get its design done today and the picture done tomorrow (because it was NOT fun, having to rush last week). This is the "narngreg".

Things actually mentioned about its physical description... it's beautiful, multi-coloured, "dabbed all over with very small circular spots [...] black and white colouring with eye-shaped circles of yellow", the young have sharp claws, gives birth to live young.

Things that are implied by what we're given.... Likely a mammal because of the whole "live birth" thing, but it could always be Something Weird (like a gryphon, which... honestly I'm not positive this isn't, like I don't THINK it's a gryphon but I can't be sure). It sleeps for a few days after eating until full. It's gentle and only has the dragon as its enemy... wait is this an elephant, because I remember reading that elephants were traditionally considered enemies of dragons in stuff like this; probably not, but I might use some elephant elements in this (claws and tusks are similar enough in concept, even though they'd be familiar with tusks from non-elephant animals because boars). Its breath smells sweet, and it's followed by other animals because of that, so it either naturally produces alcohol or it's a Disney princess. There's three offspring per birth, and only one successful pregnancy per animal.

...I'm kind of curious about how some bits are "Pliny says", "Physiologus says", and other bits are just plain reported as fact. @maniculum, if you've already information somewhere on this (that isn't a spoiler), could you please link it to me; otherwise, if you feel like rambling about what things were just described and what things had an appeal to a source, and why, I'd be interested in reading it. (No rush; I'll likely forget about this approximately ten seconds after posting, so I won't notice a difference between "near-immediate response" and "response half a year later".)

Most of the other features can be played around with -- even "sharp claws" is only specified for the YOUNG, it could be one of those things that falls off or gets blunted with maturity -- but the description is very specific about the colour and patterning. There's prolly a couple different ways to interpret it, but I've enough of a cognitive load with "designing an entire-ass creature based solely on vibes", so I'll go with what to me is the most straight-forward interpretation: the narngreg's base colours are white and black, in some combination, then there's yellow over it, like someone took paint to a zebra.

Now, what could the black and white stuff be like.... I mentioned "zebra", but I'm ruling that out for the very good reason of "I don't want to have to draw all those stripes". Dalmatian-type spots wouldn't fit the phrasing; something like pinto would, though, where it's large splotches. Looked up "tapir" because I half-remembered something, and that's definitely some black and white colouring; very distinct, white starting just behind the shoulders, continuing towards the rump, then stopping above the hindlegs (I can't tell if the tail is included in that area or not, and I don't care enough to keep searching further). "Orca" is another option, which has the added benefit of a light underside which is a feature I just keep coming back to because it is pretty.

"Eye-shaped circles of yellow"... I don't want to draw something that would LITERALLY look like an eye, because that would freak me out, which is undesirable for any piece I intend to spend time working on. Could be something like, I think the marking's called a "rosette", on a cheetah or leopard (can't remember which one it is). Could be almond-shaped; or, upon rereading the description, it might be something where the yellow bits are small enough I don't have to give them any detail.

So that's my rambling for the moment; ended up getting a few things figured out, and some other things where at least I've written down the possibilities so I won't have to go about it from scratch. Next update will be once I've gotten enough worked out in my mind that I can at least draw some options.

[changingplumbob]

Come meet the neighbours!

Keira and Marta have moved to San Sequoia, and live in a residential rental. There are six units so I thought I would introduce who lives where. Keep in mind, the Romero household is the only one I will be actively playing. I'll reblog this when I end up playing them this rotation but wanted to share what I've been working on the past few days.

I'm only showing the living spaces for all of them but they have 1 to 3 bedrooms and 1 to 2 bathrooms.

1 Dockyard Way Units - The Hanks Unit

Dr Xander Hanks and fiance Marissa Montgomery

Guess who? I finally got around to putting Dr Hanks in the world. I gave him a fiance who is as profession focused as him. She's in the business career so will be Eliza's coworker. They are engaged but not in a rush to marry, and don't plan on kids anytime soon. Good thing to as the unit is a 1 bedroom.

2 Dockyard Way Units - The Romero Household

Keira Foster and Marta Romero

Here are my happily engaged girlies. No interior shots until their rotation though because spoilers. If you are unaware Keira is moving here to work at the Marine Life Institute as a marine biologist. Marta is a part time barista and is working on planning their wedding.

3 Dockyard Way Units - The Staples' Unit

Stefan and Margarita Staples with their twin boys Oli and Vernon

Oh look it's my For Rent testing family! I missed y'all, couldn't leave you behind! Have fun in the background my darlings. Stefan is a gym trainer while Margarita works from home as an accounting assistant. The infants are of course infants.

4 Dockyard Way Units - The Wiley Unit

Wyatt Wiley and his wife Tianna

Two sims uploaded to the gallery by SimzZilla, aged up to elders. Wyatt and Tianna have been married for so long that they don't bother wearing their rings anymore. Deciding not to have kids the couple spent their life between work and travel. Now retired they are ready to forge some connections.

5 Dockyard Way Units - The Bolton's Unit

Marjorie Bolton with her husbands Sergio and Joaquin, and their cat Ginger

Yes you did read that right, it was not a typo. These sims were part of my rotations at the start, way before I even dreamed of posting the story anywhere, but I was finding the guys careers boring so moved them to the back benches. Marjorie is a 2 star techie, in the same career path as Joey. She fell for both Joaquin and Sergio and luckily for her, the men ended up falling for each other along the way. Joaquin is a 3 star celeb DJ while Sergio is a style influencer. Ginger the cat is basically their child but with a 3 bedroom unit they're not opposed to expanding their family with either humans or more cats.

6 Dockyard Way Units - The Ali's Unit

Harper and Lawrence Ali with son Roger, daughter Paola and cats Rudy and Minnie

I had these sims for testing... well I've tested a bunch of stuff with them. The blurb below them says MagicBlueDragon but I'm looking through my library and can't see them individually. We'll just say Harper and Lawrence were originally made by MagicBlueDragon to be safe.

Haven't set up too much here but I will say Kelly will find an enemy in Roger despite him not appearing on screen for this chapter. You'll read why tomorrow, or your today depending on timezones.

[multiverse-imagines]

Its ok!! take as long as you want to read the manga, I really didn't want to spoil any of the content for you so I asked first.

Well if I can request for something (without spoilers I swear)

How would Vash treat someone who appears tough and stoic on the outside but inside is actually a crybaby who usually cries for his safety and worries too much for him? I'm a person without much strong feelings but he makes me cry every time he does something stupid or just bc I love him. Feel free to delete if it makes you uncomfortable, though!

Concept based loosely on the post of Vash "if a man was a rubber chicken" this one kind of veered off the original idea I had, ending up being a bunch of little drabbles in one sort of coherent story. Please enjoy!

I also wanted to post this as a declaration that I've finished the manga! (And let me tell you I am screaming, crying, and throwing up in love and excitement.) You had an ask pertaining to the manga, and I wanted to be able to notify you that I can take requests from the manga with integrity now! Two birds and all that~

Reading between the lines

Your grandmother had always told stories about items that her grandmother had when she lived on Earth. The one that always stuck in your mind was called "A Rubber Chicken." A flailing piece of rubber that made a loud screaming noise, apparently not sounding at all like a real chicken.

It was always something so bizarre about the planet your family, your species, came from. They hadn't found it necessary to make such an item on Gunsmoke, so you were left wondering what an item would be like. 

That was, until you met Vash the Stampede. You were walking home from a day shift at work when you heard gunshots a few blocks down. Crouching by a barrel, a loud thumping was heard in the hardened sand of an alley. A gunshot almost made your ears ring, but it was drowned out by the noise of a screaming, spiraling, red coat that flew past you.

The man inside it almost seemed to slow down in mid air as you took in his features of spiked blond hair, and amazing blue eyes. His mouth hung open as the sound from his mouth seemed to be slowed. He flailed around the corner, only to be caught by one of the Sheriff's boys, and he scrambled off in the opposite direction. Once they all passed yelling something about their six billion double dollars, the street became quiet. 

"…What just happened?" You couldn't tell if you had said those words out loud or not. 

You stood once again, and made your way home. Flicking on the lights of your living room, you found the red coated man sitting on your couch.

"Thanks for leaving your key in an easy place!" He smiled, "say, you're that pretty lady from the alleyway! Sorry for scaring ya! You'll let me crash here until tonight, right?" He was giving you puppy dog eyes that made your heart swell. Did you really have a choice? This was Vash the Stampede. It almost seemed as if there'd be less of a chance that the town would crumble to dust if you just let him be.

"Sure, do whatever, I'm gonna be making dinner soon." You shrugged.

It was that next morning you were run out of town for your one time association with Vash. Luckily he hadn't made it far when he scooped You up on the Tomas he'd gotten, and began dragging you along on his journey. 

You had obviously hated the fact that people were so unwilling to help Vash, that anyone who even associated with him was a target. But if there was anyone you'd be okay with being on the run with, you were happy it was Vash.  Not that you needed to tell him that.

🙏

Despite your inability to show your true feelings, a problem you'd had since your neglectful childhood, Vash seemed to be a master at sussing out your real feelings. He was always able to react based on what you wanted your words to mean, instead of how they sounded to everyone else. 

Stopping in a town, the two of you stopped at a restaurant.

"Hey, I'm short on cash until tomorrow, can you buy us dinner tonight, and I'll buy your drinks tomorrow night?" He pressed his hands together begging; his eyes sparkling as he peeked over little orange glasses.  You couldn't deny the grumbling in your stomach, and you didn't want him to go hungry either.

"Go ahead and order whatever, don't you think for a minute that I'll forget those drinks you're offering in return." You grimaced and scratched the back of your neck, trying to hide you reaction to his cute face.

"Thanks! Well drink and have fun tomorrow night! The bar in this town has the best prices, and quality booze!" He laughed as the waitress returned to take your order.

🍗

During your travels, you got to know the red coated man in ways you didn't think most people ever did. He wasn't some scary blood thirsty typhoon that everyone presumed he was. You remember trying to swat down one of the buzzard-flies, only to have Vash grab your arm at an inhuman speed. 

"Please don't kill it. It's just hungry, like we are." He slowly released your hand and broke off a piece of the cooked meat he had made. The fly buzzed off, content with its meal. The astonished gaze of his inhuman abilities stayed on your face, but your heart swelled at his kindness towards everything, and the fact he shared such a limited supply of food with such a small, seemingly insignificant creature. 

👕

On a night you two had to share a room at an Inn, he finally showed you his scars. Your face couldn't emote the sheer curiosity, worry, and pity that stopped your heart, and strangled your throat. 

"I don't like to show them. It's the kind of thing I don't like pretty women like you to see." He blushed as he dug into his bag to retrieve a shirt from his bag. 

"Well. I don't think you'd be you without those lessons learned, and that would suck." You said harshly as you looked away to give him privacy, but the blush on your face told Vash all he needed to understand. You didn't see the reciprocal blush on his own face. As he slid the shirt onto his torso.

🍻

"Please, listen to me." Vash said, making you hunker down on The basement of a friend's house, "I need you to stay here. This is too dangerous this time. I'll come back for you, I promise." He explained as hastily as he could, curling a lock of hair behind your ear with the exposed finger of his right hand.

"Vash, let me help, I helped last time." You insisted.

"No. Not with my brother around. I… I can't let him get to you." His eyes conveyed such worry that you swore you could see tears pricking his eyes. 

"Make sure you come back to me. You still owe me that drink." Your voice shook for the first time since you were a kid as you felt a tear slide down your face. Vash's face raised in astonishment as he'd never seen you cry before. His face softened to a smile, eyes twinkling with something you could only describe as… love.

"We'll have that drink when I come back." He pressed a kiss to your forehead, "I love you." He whispered as he brushed another stray tear from your face and he slipped up the stairs of the basement and out of the house, leaving you alone.

🤞

You laid in the bed of the Inn, tangled up with Vash, your head on his chest. There wasn't a tense muscle In your body.

"Comfortable, Mayfly?" He asked, his hand rubbing small patterns into your back.

"My arm is asleep." You complained, but nodded as you ignored it and cuddled into him. 

[sleepy-wyvern]

The Love Interest | Ethan Landry x female!Reader

Chapter 3: 3 Missed Calls (~3.5k words for this chapter, ~10k overall)

Scream 6 re-imagined as the love interest of Ethan Landry! I included many scream 6 scenes (especially towards the end) so major spoiler warnings!!! This will be a longer, multi-chapter series I intend to write (WITH SMUT!) until the end of the movie plus a little epilogue. Be prepared for some angst and drama, I promise it ends nice!

(PS new Eddie request friends to lovers coming tomorrow! <3)

The entire fic is here on AO3!

This fic only contains characters that are 18+, and contains explicit content so please only interact if 18+!

Keep Reading for this chapter, I have decided Chapter 4 and on will be exclusively on AO3 (I'll post when I update!) since it contains explicit content and (semi)violence!

As your eyes take in the relatively small apartment you feel a weight lifted, finally back into your comfort zone. Except with one big change, there’s a guy there. A guy with shaggy curls and a suit of cardboard. A guy who played your heart strings like an instrument, perhaps unintentionally.

“Make yourself at home,” you say walking towards the bathroom “I’m going to finally take this wig off.”

You move to your dresser first, remembering you had to change in the bathroom. For a moment deciding what pyjamas to wear was actually important, rather than getting to just haul on whatever.

“I like it- your room,” he looks around at the various posters.

You decide with the oversized Halloween t-shirt and dolphin shorts. Safe enough.

You glance over at him, following his eyes to the pulp fiction one “that one’s mine, if you couldn’t tell.”

Anika had artsy models on her side, plastered beautifully with pictures of pastel beaches in paradise. It was a pretty sharp contrast against your movie posters. You liked the way they blended together though, the same way your different personalities clicked in a way.

Your dorm room was pretty small. Intended for temporary rooming during schooling, it was a large room with two beds and two desks. No kitchen, the entire floor shared one, you and Anika just had a mini fridge filled mostly with booze. The one bathroom was large enough though, something you couldn’t say about your crowded closet.

“Any spot on the floor is yours, sorry I wish I had a couch to offer,” you smile weakly and he returns the sentiment.

“Thank you,” his were eyes soft and warm when they met yours, making your cheeks bright pink.

Entering the bathroom you let out a deep breath as you close the door behind you. You take your wig off carefully, digging the bobby pins out of your wig cap letting your hair fall naturally against your shoulders. You run your fingers through your hair, massaging your scalp, thankful to finally relax.

You brush your teeth and wash your face, removing every trace of make up you could. Quickly you tidied up some of the sewing supplies left on the counter for your last minute costume adjustments, hiding the scissors, fabric and thread in the cabinet under the sink. The last thing you wanted was to come off as a total slob. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror as you tidy, noting how tired you looked, and how much you needed a well deserved sleep. Skipping class tomorrow was more tempting than ever, but if Tara and Sam were going you figured you should too.

You were nervous to let Ethan see you this way, sloppy without makeup and in pyjamas, but your other alternatives were to sleep in a bra, or stay hidden behind the bathroom door. So as quietly as you could, you opened the door, a bundle of clothes in your arms.

Ethan glanced over hearing the door open, his voice was almost a whisper as he was on the phone talking. But you were more taken aback by his removal of armour, in a pile by the door, he was left with his black long sleeved tee which seemed to frame his body perfectly.

“Yeah, I will,” He murmured into the phone.

You dumped your clothes into your laundry bin doing your best to avoid looking his way and act natural. He was looking up at you, sat on the floor up against the foot of your bed. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he traced your body, lips slightly parted showing a hint of his white teeth. Clearly not paying as much attention as he should to the phone call.

“I’ll talk to you later, dad.” He brought his phone from ear, hitting the end call button.

“My parents saw the news,” he explained, “apparently it’s everywhere.”

“I’m not surprised” you say, moving to your bed.

He averts his eyes as you walk by, sitting on the bed behind him. The old mattress creaked as it sunk down beneath your weight, the only noise in the quiet dorm room. Anikas bed looked at you from the other side of the room, unmade with soft plush blankets. For some reason, it gave you an odd feeling.

You leaned back against the wall, the coldness of it was comforting like flipping the pillow over during a warm night. You looked down at Ethan pulling your knees to your chest and you realise he’s wearing blue jeans to sleep in.

“I’m sorry, those must not be very comfortable to sleep in. We should’ve stopped by your place before coming here” guilt and regret rises in your chest.

He looked up at you with large brown eyes before looking back down, one leg was bent at the knee and the other stretched out straight across the floor, “I don’t mind.”

You took a pillow directly from your bed, handing it down to him “well, the pillows comfortable at least. I promise I frequently wash the pillowcases.”

He grabbed it from you gratefully, laying it at his side. It seemed you were both pretty wide awake despite knowing you well needed your rest. After the call with Anika at the theatre, you desperately wanted to sleep. Now being here in your bed, soft bed sheets against your bare legs, you couldn’t find it in you.

“You probably wash them more than Chad does,” he looked at you running his hand through his hair “not me, laundry day strictly every Wednesday.”

You roll your eyes at him, “how do you feel about some music?”

“Never a bad time for music.”

You put your phone on charge, offering a spare charger for him that he gladly accepts. For some reason, despite the tension in the air, it felt pretty normal just being here with him. You opened up a softer, calm bedtime playlist hoping it would coax you to sleep.

“Mind if I go to the bathroom?”

His voice and question surprised you. Being in this room together tonight for a minimum of 8 hours of course he would be permitted to use the bathroom. It was expected. Though considering it more, it was insanely characteristic of him to ask. He was shy, nervous, and kind. He didn’t want to have any missteps or mistakes, and did his best to be polite. Guys before him that you dated always just took, frequently without asking or considering how you felt. You let out a smile you couldn’t hold back.

“Of course. Careful you don’t get lost, it’s a pretty big apartment.”

He chuckles at your response, a sweet hearty sound as you caught him off guard with the quip.

Your grip on your legs tighten as you watch him walk across the room, somehow more confident and overall comfortable. Perhaps for this moment at least, you were more nervous than him.

You run your fingers along your legs, comforting yourself for the busy night you’ve been through. Murder, attacks, Halloween costumes, movies and a guy in your room. You try to relax as the music hums in your ears, washing over your body like waves.

You realise you should take the moment to call Anika again, given the momentary privacy. Tapping her contact, a bright picture of both of you with her throwing a peace sign, the phone rings and rings until her voice booms “Can’t come to the phone right now, leave a message after the beep!”

You roll your eyes doing as she said. The door to the bathroom opens as you’re typing vigorously, nails tapping against your phone screen, making him raise an eyebrow.

“Who's getting their ass handed to them now?” He asked, sitting back down at the foot of your bed.

“Anika,” you reply, “not texting back. She’s probably with Mindy, I shouldn’t be so worried.”

“I think you have a pretty good reason to be worried, considering everything that happened tonight.”

You knew he was right but still you didn’t want to be mad at Anika. She was really great as far as roommates went, despite just meeting her this semester. She was determined that, as roommates, you were to be best friends. So that's what you were slowly becoming. Albeit not there yet.

You let out a yawn, slowly starting to feel the sleepiness hit as thoughts tangle in your head, “it’s kinda crazy isn’t it?” You murmur looking at your Ghostface poster on the wall.

“Everything? On top of trying to get my Econ homework done?” He joked as he tilted his head back, resting it against the bed to look up at you.

You stretch your body out, laying your stomach down on the bed. You thought it was a good idea until you realise your head is a mere foot or two away from his. Suddenly everything mattered and made you nervous, the way you smelled, if your breath stank, if your hair looked too oily, if the wrinkles and blemishes on your face were too noticeable. Before your heart rate could raise any further, Ethan did the thing he inadvertently became so good at tonight; popping the cloud bubble of your nervous thoughts.

This time all he had to do was turn his head, neck muscles stretched, light brown hair cushioned against the mattress. His dark lashes framed his curious eyes, he looked at you as if he was trying to memorize every detail, every feature of your face. You were frozen there, temple pressed into the blankets looking at your reflection in his eyes. Your previous conversation was long forgotten.

“Thank you for watching the movie with me tonight,” your voice was quieter now as you were close, “it sucked, really, but you made it bearable.”

He smiled showing his white teeth, “you too. I had fun.”

“Maybe they’ll make another one we can go to and make fun of,” his thick eyebrows raised, making it a question.

You roll your tongue over your upper lip before speaking, eyes caught in his like an animal in a trap.

Yet you didn’t want to be set free, “I’d like that.”

You weren’t sure if it was the smooth, slow beats bringing you closer, the desire to forget all of the bad things happening around you, or the heat growing in your chest but his brown eyes were looking down at your lips as you moved toward him. You felt his breath against your cupids bow, hovering there to savour the feeling for just a moment, perhaps only an inch away. You move a hand to his face, brushing finger tips against prickled skin he let his phantom mask fall beneath your touch.

Your eyes closed as your lips met his, soft and sweet against you, electrifying. It was the first time you felt connected tonight, having only seen mere glimpses of the real him. There was a cold edge about him, something that sent shivers down your spine. But the taste of his lips was so intoxicating it overpowered the cold, warming you both. Your lips part as you go back for one more kiss, this time more confident from you both. The fire inside you burned for more but you pulled away before it could consume you.

His expression moves from a mixture of awe and shock to contentment. His eyes darted between yours, his breath was shaky as he spoke “you are so beautiful.”

You blush then, waving him off “I don’t know about that. But I would like to catch another movie.”

“Me too,” the look in his eyes showed a desire and loyalty of someone who would follow you anywhere. Having shown him a kind, gentle love that had perhaps been withheld or he had been deprived of in some way. Then and there you knew it was a two way spell, a dangerous one you had to peel yourself away from.

You sat up, grabbing a spare blanket directly off of your bed and handing it to him, “here, my knight. A token of my gratitude for escorting me back to the castle safely.”

He chuckled, brushing a thumb against his lips before taking it. You couldn’t help but notice how his expression had changed dramatically, from guarded and stoic to something softer. He stood stretching his legs and you couldn’t help but watch him as he set up his makeshift bed next to Anikas, respectfully leaving you plenty of space if you needed it.

You pull your eyes away before he could tell you were looking, snuggling under the covers of your bed. Somehow the little bed felt lonely and cold, more than it did the night before.

The quiet buzz on the wooden nightstand catches your attention and you move to check your phone. As you lean over the nightstand you didn’t intend to read his notifications but before you could stop your brain registers the names; a random number and Dad, 5 missed texts from both. Overprotective family, noted.

"Sleep well," his voice was a shy murmur.

"You too," you smile.

You lean back into your bed and it took all of your effort to not watch the way his muscles flexed as he moved, most if not all outfits you had seen him wear before had been so modest or layered you could never tell what he looked like beneath. Leaning your head back against your pillow you pulled your bed sheets up to your chest. The music hums a quiet lullaby and although merely a couple hours or so ago you thought this would be awkward it was nice. Peaceful. That was until your dreams had started.

The cloaked black figure pounded on your room door, eerily dark. Looking over the bed, Ethan wasn’t there. Never had been, the pile of cardboard armour vanished and your extra pillow and blanket lay beside you. Somehow the door had opened on its own in the time it took to take in your surroundings. The darkness in the doorway formed into shape; a cloaked figure clad in a white ghost mask, exactly the one from Stab except it was worn and broken, as if it had aged. You were stuck to the bed, by some immovable force paralyzing you there. You tried to scream but you couldn't. It was as if your mouth was wired shut. Step by step, it moved toward you. It was as if it glided along, the only giveaway that it wasn’t a real phantom was the black boots.

It continued closer and closer, and you realised you were in a trance and couldn’t look away. Fear fills your body and you wish you could move, scream, anything. It moved to the side of the bed, tilting its head at you. He brought one finger to his mask as if to shush you, bringing one hand to your face, cupping it gently. Tears streamed down your eyes, black gloved hand wiping the tear away with its thumb. The other hand came around holding a sharp, silver knife. His tear soaked glove held over your lips as he brought the knife around, thrusting toward the muscles of your back- Just before the blade touched your skin your body jolted awake.

Your body was cold yet sweating, shivers running from head to toe. Your music was still playing, humming softly. As you sat up in bed, Ethan looked over at you quickly, panicked.

“Are you okay?” he whispers still hazy from waking. His arms propped his body up, head tilted toward you taking in the situation.

You nod, voice caught in the back of your throat. You glanced back to the doorway, the cardboard armour sat quietly unaware of your panic.

He stands, moving like a ghost, to the minifridge. It took some digging but he hauled out a water bottle for you. Your hands shook as you took the cold water in your hands, cupping it gratefully. You twist the water cap off, tilting it back and bringing it to your chapped lips.

Ethan sat there avoiding your gaze, afraid to move or speak, or perhaps just thinking silence might be best. His curls sprang in every direction as he sat on the bed next to you. His eyes were focused on something across the room, glancing at you periodically as if he was checking your vitals in a way, making sure you were still breathing, moving and drinking.

“Just a bad dream, sorry to bother you,” you whisper.

His eyes connect with yours and you resist the urge to glance away “don’t be sorry,” he murmurs “with everything happening I would be surprised if you didn’t.”

You wait a minute to speak, “I usually try not to burden anyone around me with these types of… issues.”

He waits a minute to speak, tapping his fingers against his knee as if debating with himself internally on if he should bring up the topic or not “a.. Couple years ago my brother died. The one who used to watch spider-man with me,” his voice was a ghost of a whisper.

“When… When he died it felt like the world stopped. My family… I didn’t want to accept it. My grief, any support… but it’s not a bad thing,” his eyes glossy with sadness.

You moved your hand underneath his, threading your fingers together, yours warm against his cold ones. You run your thumb against the back of his hand and are rewarded with a soft, sad smile.

You lean your head against his shoulder, a bold move that sends your heart fluttering, “well, you don’t have to suffer alone anymore.”

His torso stiffened beneath your touch, as if he was scared he would startle you and you would move away but you didn’t.

Minutes passed before you needed a bathroom trip, “I’ll be right back,” you whisper, stretching your legs as you stand. Your hands missed the feeling of comfort from his hand as you pulled away slowly.

You walk to the bathroom, shutting the door behind you. After washing your hands you notice a strand of thread poking off of your Halloween tee. Bending down to the cabinet you search through the sewing scraps in the brown woven basket you had stored away. After a few moments of digging, you can't find them though you were sure you saw them earlier… You tied it to sleepy brain and decided to trot back out into the room.

Instead of on your bed, or next to Anika’s, he moved his pillow and blanket on the floor directly next to your bed. He leaned back into the wall, fumbling with his hands nervously. When you stepped into the room, moonlight illuminated his curls from the window on the wall above him, a light in the darkness of night. He looked over to you with concern, watching every movement on your face to study your expression.

You trotted past him to sit in your bed, secretly wishing he was closer, sharing the comforter and mattress under the veil of darkness. Instead, you took what you could from the moment.

“Thank you…” you whisper, “for helping me with my, uh, nightmare.” You were still embarrassed to admit you accepted help.

“Thank you,” he looked down at his knees “for uh, staying with me.”

You chuckle a little, “I should be thanking you for that, taking you away from your own blankets and pyjamas.”

You slide your body underneath the bed sheets, burying your toes in the silky sheets.

“I’d rather be here,” he followed your lead, pulling the blanket up over his waist. “Besides, I don’t think Chad needs all these muscles even if he was alone” he smiled at you, flexing his arm, making a giggle escape your lips.

“Good night,” you whispered.

“Good night,” he said, you could hear a curl of a laugh in his words.

This time sleep came to you more easily, closing your eyes at the sight of the shaggy light brown hair. Your peace kept the nightmares at bay, sleeping soundlessly until the light peaked through your curtains shining on you, slowly waking you from your slumber. You’re reminded of the presence below you, laying on the floor huddled in blankets.

Peering over you notice him, head back against the pillow and eyes resting peacefully. The last thing you wanted to do today was go to class. How you wanted to just stay here in this moment forever in a peaceful bliss. You watched his chest rise and fall with every heavy breath, eyes closed in a face of sweet innocence unobstructed by the world. You hated to wake him or make him stir, lest this sweet moment be lost to the daylight.

His phone buzzed startling you, and you noticed 3 missed calls from his dad, 2 from the random number. Just as the movie ended the night before, the lights had to fade on, the world had to turn. The truth of the horrible world had to come to rise eventually.

[askfallenroyalty]

Here's some more deleted scene panels that never made it in

sorry there's no captions, there's just too many panels to describe and i'm tired. hopefully i'll have the energy/rememebr to do so tomorrow ):

IM REALLY SAD THIS ONE DIDN'T GET IN. I even drew asriel shutting flowey in a box for this joke to work. There was going to be a visual gag of it being a "soap" box. Haha.

Asgore was originally going to tell Asriel to think of something nice to get his mind off of his panic attack.

Which, while funny, took away the feeling of intense panic the audience and asriel should have been feeling at the time. It just didn't fit the pacing/mood. It also showed that -well, i don't know if this is a legitimate grounding technique or if it'd be read as "its ok just think happy thoughts <3 then ur panic attack would end" which... is not.... how that works. Even if it was only to give Asriel a moment of respite, it's shown as effective until Asgore brings up a bad memory. So. bad comic sequence.

more stuff under the cut

I had a really, really hard time balancing the tone of the scene that is currently happening in the redraw. it's why i'm so behind in my drawings, so i'm only now sketching the next couple month's updates.

This chapter has gone through SO MANY changes. I feel that comes with it being the first chapter to completely diverge from the original tumblr version.

Asriel was originally going to have a very on-the-nose nightmare about Flowey feeling excluded from the family and fearing drowning. Now, the whole darkness/water metaphor for suicidal depression will be introduced when that stuff starts to come into play in chapter 4...

i mean, just to really hammer home how much i had to delete for this: i actually did sketch out the original tumblr version here. I had it all ready before chapter 2 began posting. But as I was finishing the color for the warship section I realized, shoot, I don't wanna repeat it.

When I first made the tumblr version, i was getting burnt out and the characters just became so much... meaner? rude? to each other. some bickering or annoyance is fine but I have a bad habit of going overboard. That's something I hope to correct in the rewrite -and focus more on less drama and more wholesome/loving moments.

(note the above scene is shown not in full. its jumping around a bit)

Even tho I was mostly keeping chapter the same the first time I sketched it for the redraw, I added this scene. The idea was that when the house was on fire, Frisk would of ran off to the right of the house to where you can see Old Home.

There, even tho Frisk can't verbally talk, the two have a nice heart-to-heart. Chara remember Frisk has [spoilers] issues. Chara was going to own up to their bad behavior.

Now well, hm. Chara's got a lot of shit going on. Frisk of course has forgiven them (like they do for everyone in the underground -_- oh frisk...) and it's going to be something that's addressed down the road. for now, they've held hands, and shown solidarity for each other. As kids, they're going to goof around and be buddies and not let the cruddy stuff chara did earlier matter. things are so much less of a big deal when you're a kid.

[inolienkiki]

hi there! [PLEASE READ THIS bc it has important information about what will be on my blog for the next several months]

so I've been mysteriously mia for the last week, and no it is not because my mom visited and also I'm finally getting therapy

It is actually because I randomly reposted a writing ask game and *people actually responded* and now I must stick by my word and work on 3 projects I will have trouble working on. and I haven't done that yet So I'll do at least a bit of that tomorrow! And send excerpts! And thank you @mx-quartz and @frankensteins-mt-dew and @kazoosandfannypacks for keeping me accountable abt this! Also I made a vague post about isles of the emberdark and it got 14 notes which is a personal record lmao

Anyway the very important information here is that I have finally finished 53 of the books on my reading list this year! This means I'm finally ready to dive deep into my giant Brandon Sanderson reread... that I'm guessing will probably take most of the rest of the year. And I am going to be reading everything affiliated with Brandon Sanderson. I'm talking the Infinity Blade books, Dark One Forgotten, White Sand Prose, Centrifugal, Hyperthief, HARRE, so on. If you're a Sanderson fan and you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's totally valid- the point is, I've found all the obscure stuff and I'm going to read it. Also the entire cosmere and everything else. (Except for Wheel of Time, since I still have only read the first 3 books and I have no intention of skipping to book 12 for no reason.)

Future posts on this blog may be associated with various Brandon Sanderson-affiliated works, and will have spoilers, which I will put below the cut. I will mention this on the applicable posts, I just want to put this information out there so you guys, my 3 followers, (hi! love you guys) don't click through and see something you don't want to see.

Other information: to stop myself from going insane, I am going to be interspersing the Sanderson works with various Warrior Cats books. I don't know which one is more likely to drive me insane, but I'm not sure they work in conjunction, so at least there's some hope for me yet.

I will be starting with The Rithmatist! Tomorrow, probably! (4/5/24) And then I will read Reckoners, including Mitosis and Lux.

This is going to be fun. After all, I'm going to need something to occupy me until the WoR kickstarter gets fulfilled and Wind and Truth comes out.

[hekates-corner]

Apothecary Diaries | WN Translation | Arc 9 - Chapter 16

Hi and welcome!

For a number of reasons I ended up here - I relay all that happens in the chapters, playing wine-aunt, as I translate to the best of my abilities.

That said, all the spoilers are down below - if you'd like some but not all, my dm's/asks are open.

New or missed a part? Check out the Masterlist.

I'll be dropping 3 chapters in a row this time! Please read the notes.

Please note that I only realized as I was translating this chapter, after posting 15, that they weren't going to explain what a Hitoban is. I went back to add the explanation in the notes of chapter 15 - if you missed those, it's a mythical peron-like creature that can extend its neck in some cases and detach its head from its body in others; depending on legend and country.

These chapters will make sense by part 3, please hang in there. I was as lost as you'll be, hence the delay.

Chapter 16 | Hitoban Pt. 1

It seems that strange rumors have been going around for about 20 days.

The first person who saw it was a servant after work.

As he were walking absentmindedly in the moonlight, he noticed something white floating in the air. When he looked closely, he saw a pure white mask (men).

Someone must’ve played a prank. The servant, who was tired, tried to pass by without paying attention. Then, the mask (men) turned to look at the servant.

The servant was frightened and ran away.

The next morning, the servant who had calmed down was tired and thought he’d seen something wrong/made a mistake. However, there was nothing where the mask (men) had been last night.

After that/Since then.

He began to hear stories about this strange sight from people other than that servant.

Some said that when they turned towards the strange sound, they saw masks laughing, and others said that they saw masks flying through the air.

And for the past few days a womans head has been flying down a hallway.

Therefore, someone said something.

In that aspect, he thinks it’s “Hitoban”.

⚫⚪⚫

Hitoban is something like a monster/yokai. As far as Maomao knows, it was a yokai that flew away at night with its ears like wings and only its neck/head.

“That’s why he asked me for advice.”

“Where and by whom?”

Lihaku explains that he’s talking about a little servant girl and (i think) says that the kid got used to him after he gave her candy.

Maomao thinks she’s not a cat or a dog.

Narrator-Mao notes that since he began attending the Verdigris House (Rokushoukan) Lihaku seems to have gotten a lot better at handling children.

She then adds in her head that, if the young servants don’t like him, he won’t be able to connect with Pairin.

As narrator she goes on that she doesn’t think that doesn’t mean he should show that strength in the faraway Saito/western capital. And also that that’s probably why the guards around the quack have been having so much free time these past few days.

“Of course, don’t think of it as some kind of monster. But if you leave it as is, you’ll be worried, right? If it’s your character, young miss”

Maomao thinks that he doesn’t have to say that/he doesn’t have to tell her that.

She wouldn’t have been concerned if he hadn’t told her. He “kindly taught her about it”.

In the end, Lihaku went “home” late at night, perhaps out of concern for her, just talking to her. If he knew that she was tired, maybe he would’ve waited until tomorrow—

The next day, while Guen and Tianyu were having breakfast, a small child hurriedly came to the temporary medical room.

“Where’s Bukan-sama?”

The childs face turned pale and she came looking for someone. It seems that the military officer who’s currently blocking entry is not “Bukan-sama”.

“If it’s Lihaku-sama, he’s not here.”

Maomao caught on immediately. Lihaku is in charge of night duty, so there is a different military officer in the morning.

Narrator-Mao wonders if the little girl he was talking about last night was this girl.

“I-I see.” - The girl shrank/shuddered and looked away.

Maomao glances at Guen and Tianyu.

“(Well) Then, shall we head over to Lihaku-sama’s place? I’ll guide you.”

Narrator-Mao lets us know that she was trying to be considerate given that Lihaku was concerned that the quack might get scared - so she was going to take the girl to Lihakus room, but then suddenly stops.

Maomao: … … Where is Lihaku-sama sleeping?

Tianyu: Uh-huh.

Tianyu points the way with his chopsticks, effectively misbehaving since it’s bad table manners. It’s the room closest to the entrance on the ground floor. (also got first floor)

Maomao says she’ll show the girl around for a bit. The quack’s like “Okay. Young miss, do you want to leave the dishes?”. Maomao replies that she’ll clean them up so he can leave them there - but Guen argues that if she won’t eat, he’ll clean them up for her.

The quack gives her a friendly smile and puts Maomao’s bowl away.

Tianyu, as always, hits where it hurts by questioning if it’s alright to let an outsider inside. Narrator-Mao even admits that usually she’d think that what he said was right.

However, now she was just thinking about the fact that Lihaku had gone out of his way to consult her.

In her mind she wonders if he’d thought about that beforehand given he’d told her about it - then groans as she leads the girl to Lihakus room.

“Yo.” - Lihaku was awake. As expected, after the night shift, he looks sleepy and rubs his eyes. His room’s just a room with a bed and a dresser - and Narrator-Mao wonders if the quack will try his best to renovate this one as well.

“Bukan-sama” - The girl approaches Lihaku, who’s on the bed.

The girl and Lihaku have a short exchange about the head having shown up again. As expected, our narrator notes, this is about the same monster.

The next dialogue between the girl and Lihaku is a mess to translate but in short: Lihaku asks where it appeared. The girl says at “her?” grandpas.

Lihaku says “I see. Okay. Where is grandpa, the gardener?” and the girl explains that he’s taking care of the garden.

Lihaku’s like “Got it. Alright, I’ll give you some candy.” and the girl’s like “Yay”

The girl then leaves the room and Maomao stares at Lihaku.

“Lihaku-sama, let me confirm something.”

“What is it?”

“Is this an investigation, not a curiosity?”

“Oh, you know.” (he’s amazed she’s caught on already)

Narrator-Mao notes that he admits it without showing any signs of trying to hide it. Mind-Mao then repeats that he doesn’t really want to talk to Guen or Tianyu.

As narrator she goes on telling us that the quack aside, Tianyu is hard to handle - but she doesn’t think Lihakus method is right and that she thought he’d be a bit more deft at it.

Maomao then asks aloud if he can’t do better since this is just making it all suspicious - but Lihaku argues that his original intent was different, with a bitter smile.

Lihaku goes on explaining that it doesn’t seem like Tianyu gets along with him very well. It’s not like he’ll start a fight, but it’s hard to talk with him. He ends that part by asking Maomao if she understands.

Maomao: … …

As narrator she adds that that was exactly what she’d felt.

She adds, out loud, that “In other words, he’s the type of person that usually doesn’t hit or touch you, but it’s difficult because of the close proximity. It’s fine if he’s the type that you can fight with, but what if he definitely doesn’t have that sorta personality?”

Lihaku’s like “Whoa, you know what I mean.” and then explains that it’s not like it’s elusive, he just can’t see the core of Tianyu. He can see the branches, but not the trunk.

Narrator-Mao notes that Lihaku instinctively sees Tianyus true nature.

(i’ll try to make sense of this ↑ whole thing in the notes, it’s a whole ass mess)

Lihaku goes on saying that while Maomao’s actions seem unrestrained, there’s a logic to them. They feel like medicine or poison or something.

Maomao interjects with “Please at least say medicine and poison in that order.” but as narrator adds that now at least she knows why Lihaku’s moves are bad.

She goes on saying “Tianyu’s personality is a bit problematic, but I don’t think it’s something to worry about.”

Adding her reasoning as narrator: For now, he’d managed to become a medical officer. Even if they were lacking staff, she doubts they’d have allowed him to come to Saito if his background/identity wasn’t cleared.

Lihaku argues that he understands that - he then apologizes before explaining that since he’s a military officer, he tends to think from a war perspective/in terms of war.

Maomao’s like “A war perspective?” - Lihaku explains that he knows when he can’t trust someone with his back, no matter what he does.

Maomao: … …

Narrator-Mao adds that she can’t/won’t say anything about Lihaku’s wild instincts - but notes that for now the story with Tianyu will be put aside.

She instead goes on to inquire if the Hitoban investigation came from “the moon prince” and Lihaku says that it did come from Jinshi-sama - Narrator-Mao notes that it’s a name he/she hasn’t heard from anyone else lately.

“Why didn’t you/Wouldn’t it have been better if you told me that from the beginning last night?”

“Sorry, sorry. Yesterday, after that (their convo), I went to investigate the neck. Since it’s you, young miss, if you’re interested you’ll try to keep moving, ignoring sleep and food. I was told not to push you too hard.”

Narrator-Mao notes that Jinshi is considerate in strange ways - even though his unreasonable/absurd requests/orders remain the same.

She thinks “And this time it’s about the flying head” (it’s neck, but we know they mean head).

Adding as narrator that he seems to still be bringing things like ghost stories to the table/up.

Lihaku’s like “That’s strange.”

Maomao wonders “What’s strange? The floating head itself is strange.”

Lihaku explains that the first time he heard the story the mask/men was floating - but the last few days he was often told it’s a “flying head”.

“.... that’s it” (?)

“Isn’t that interesting story?”

Hearing a voice from behind, Maomao turned around in a panic.

Tianyu was there. He’s smiling.

Lihaku’s expression didn’t change, probably because he’d assumed this to some extent.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, is it?”

“No, no. I was just wondering as to how long the two of you would be talking alone. After all, she’s an unmarried young woman.”

“Ah, no no no.” - Lihaku and Maomao deny at the same time.

“I know, right? I didn’t think so either.” - Tianyu enters Lihakus room without hesitation.

“Where’s the doctor?”

“He’s preparing after-dinner tea. He wants me to get you.”

Sounds like the quack. He was probably waiting for patients to arrive while chatting over tea.

“So what about the flying head? Sounds interesting.” (i think the last part I didn't include is him asking if he can be part of it)

“No.”

“Why?” - Tianyu lowers his brows.

I can’t figure out if Maomao says that he seems easy-going or looselipped but Tianyu goes on denying that. Maomao then argues that she believes he’ll get bored halfway through and let it be and he’s like “That could be true.”

Lihaku’s leaving the handling of Tianyu to Maomao. It seems like Tianyu is a type that he’s really not good with.

“I’ll be useful. If you think I’m useless or dangerous you’re just not good at handling me.” - honestly, he goes on asking if she can’t even handle a pair of scissors with dexterity. (see notes)

Maomao: … …

Maomao looks at Lihaku. He looks like he’ll leave it to her.

“Please don’t disturb us.”

“Okay.”

Tianyu’s eyes twinkled a little.

Notes | Chapter 17

These chaps, esp Tianyus parts, have given me grey hair.

I can't make full sense of the lines about what kinda person TIanyu is. What I understood from it is that he's provocative but you can't go in on him - which is hard, because they're so close together these days.

Like I mentioned at the start, these chapters have parts that are confusing until part 3. I was debating to clear it up, but it'd spoil too much so just keep track of the switching head, mask, it's not a mistake on my part.

Once again, we're back at Tianyu. The scissor comment has filled me with so much frustration and rage xD This cost me half the time I could've spent on a different chapter. It gets clear in the next, but it's like.. so silly that I still wanna strangle him.

The black, white, black dots were present in the WN, they haven't appeared before or since as a divider.

[inhcritance]

So! I'm not yet finished with the game but I'm two missions away from it (and only stopping rn because I really need to eat something before finishing it).

And without spoilering anything... I love everything so far so much. I was worried and instead I love canon Harry. And while the plan was to originally have two verses... I might actually have only one, with some small tweaks to accommodate what I've written so far. I'll decide when I've had some time to fully digest the game.

This said, I'm just an excited potato rn, cooking dinner and holding back the hype and the terror :")

I have posts queued until Wednesday but chances are I'll start working on replies tomorrow at some point.

I'll also post when I'm done with the game (so in a few hours at the longest I suppose xD) and then I'll be available for any and all screeching.

[erismor-iok]

My WIP for 'Who are you?' A CSM X JJK

Content Warning:

Major Spoilers for Chainsaw Man Part 1, so anime-only people, you have been warned.

Author's Note:

A fanfiction crossover between Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen! This idea would not leave my head so I thought, hey! why not make a fanfic out of it! I do plan on making a full-length fic and if this does well, I'll post it here on Tumblr! (Also there is like no JJk in this one so sorry!)

Word count: 986

Chapter 1: Welcome to your new home

September 12, 1997

"Open it."

Her word washes over him like a typhoon, drowning him in cold water. He feels as if he is stumbling through honey as it tries to drag him deeper and deeper into its sweet but deadly embrace.

His heart races as blood rushes into his ears. Her following words cut through it effortlessly, drowning everything out until only her words remained.

"You don’t have to think about a thing," she begins. Automatically, his eyes flickered to her face, searching for something. What is that thing? He doesn’t know himself.

"Trust me."

His body moves before his mind can even comprehend her words. ‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ His body inches closer to the door. ‘No thinking; that's why I came here, right? To be her dog?’

One footstep becomes two—only 5 more to go.

'When I open the door,'

4 more.

'When I open the door, Power will be there, smiling.'

3.

'She’ll pull a party popper, and she'll be holding a cake, and... Huh?'

2.

'Why would she have a cake?'

1.

‘-Oh, duh… because tomorrow’s my birthday.’

Power stands there with a white birthday cake in her hands.

"D-denji…"

"BANG"

September 17, 1997

He awakes with a gasp.

The heat bombards him, reminding him of its presence. Buzzing cicadas hum in his ears as he feels his shirt stick to his skin like a second layer. The sweltering humidity isn’t helped by the fact that the small girl is curled in his arms.

His wide eyes slowly drifted to her form, reminding him of the present. A small pang of envy is felt as not a drop of sweat can be found on her porcelain face. Unlike his, where he could already feel new drops racing down his blotchy, tan skin, His thin, straw-like hair was wet.

Maybe the heat is getting to him, or perhaps it’s the dream that led him to think about the last thing Pochita said to him weeks ago.

"...Grant the Control Devil’s dream." He softly mumbles, not realizing it until the words leave his mouth, flying off into the wind for no one but his ears alone.

When Pochita said it, he thought it would be easy. Make sure to raise her on love, not fear; give her room to grow normally; and give her lots of hugs. But now, staring at her, he doubts

 He feels a sliver of it embedding itself in his head. Whispering to him that this was all for nothing, that this would end up being another failure, and that his unluckiness will continue.

And the worst part about it is that he doesn’t refute it.

(His grip tightened as he pulled her closer to his body. Yet, somewhere deep in his body, there was a knee-jerk reaction to shove her off and run far away. Somewhere, her spiraling golden gaze may never find.

He wants to hug; he wants to push. He ends up doing neither.)

After all, there is already precedent for him destroying everything he loves.

September 25, 1997

It’s been a week since—whatever that was. (Of him hating a child—a child who used to be the lady who took everything from him and controlled him like a puppet since day one. Maki-)

"Denj-kuni,"

He hadn't even noticed that his hands were trembling. Exhaling a shaky breath, he turned his head to the girl sitting in front of the TV with her seven huskies. It’s a funny sight—a tiny, dark girl with a poker face lying on top of a mountain of fluff that can bark.

Subconsciously, he can feel his mouth pull into a small smile at the sight.

"Yeah?"

She opens her mouth before closing it and then reopening it. He watches in both confusion and faint amusement as this cycle repeats itself before she flops her head into white fur. Giving up.

"Can we have curry for dinner?" She mumbles into the fur, loud enough for him to hear.

"Eh? I mean…" Lulling his head backward, he mentally went through his checklist of everything he would need to make curry and if he had it in the fridge.

August 10, 1997

"-And now, we add the roux and let it dissolve into the curry."

Aki’s stern voice continues to drone on about how to make his admittedly very good- curry. 

His eyes slowly crawl toward Power as he lets Aki’s words turn into white noise. While he at least tried to pay attention to his lesson, Power gave up 30 minutes ago, claiming that the ‘great’ and ‘powerful’ blood demon "need not engage herself with such human things."

Now, She was sprawled out on the couch, Meowy on her stomach, as they engorged themselves in some animated cartoon about sponges and pineapples that live under the sea.

‘Not engage in human things, my ass.’ He thought to himself, staring at her from his seat on the counter stool.

"Now, cover it and let it simmer for... Are you even listening?"

"...No."

A shit-eating grin forms on his face as he sees Aki’s glare crumble right before his eyes, morphing into a disappointed but not-surprised stare. One that Denji takes great pride in causing.

Aki signs before his eyes light up with an idea.

"Denji-Kun," The smile he wore was almost always accompanied by some trap, an offer he knew Denji wouldn’t refuse. Yet, even with that knowledge, Denji thought the smile looked nice on him, made his eyes look less dull, and made him look younger.

It’s better than the ‘frown,’ at least.

Although Denji hasn’t seen the ‘frown’ in a while now that he thinks about it,

"Do you want to know my-"

September 25, 1997

"- Secret to how to make a good curry?" Denji asks, a twinkle in his eyes and ash in his mouth as he repeats what Aki told him that day. 

[swordbreakerz]

End of year book ask: 8, 10, 12, 19, 24

12 and 19 answered here!

8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

given the date i'm posting this i think my new years resolution to read the silmarillion this year is a bust, because i still haven't stared it and its going to take me One Million Years to get through it, but i read a whole shit ton of other books this year, which wasnt a goal but does feel really good

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

i almost waited to answer this until tomorrow when all the hidden paths comes out, because i feel like that one is going to hit me like a freight train, but as of literally right now the spot is taken by a power unbound by freya marske because i have, several times, physically closed the book and hit myself in the forehead with it when Something Happens. and i'm only on chapter nine! the joys of hardbacks

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

cracks my knuckles. i do not have the time or energy to type a full essay length answer on fool's fate by robin hobb, but by technicality i DNF'd it and will not be returning to read the last chapters for my own health. it's possible and probable i'll reread the book in the future, but i have made a piece of cardstock to stick into my physical copy of the book to act as a shield and a block to remind myself where to stop reading and to not go past the point where i swan dived off that boat in the first place. what in the absolute godamn was ms hobb thinking with the end of that book, respectfully, oh my fucking god. i'm hesitant to get into spoilers but suffice to say some of the ffucking decisions in that book keep me up at night, and one day i'm going to rewrite the ending for my own sanity, fuck

[forever-fan]

I'm going to the FNAF movie tomorrow! I'll be at my local theater with a few friends. I might be the only one in cosplay, but who cares! I'm looking to have a good time!

Please don't add any spoilers on this post until it's been at least two weeks since the initial release of the movie. I want everyone who interacts with this post to have a fair chance at enjoying the film before everyone starts spoiling it. Anygays, have a good rest of your night/day/morning/evening!

[cru5h-cascades]

I'm gonna be limiting how much I'm over here on Tumblr for a while starting tomorrow night in hopes I can avoid Side Order spoilers or at least minimize them to an extent. I'll probably only come back here to repost some interesting Fresh Season news and to remind y'all that the Marina/dedf1sh EP is out on the 22nd but other than that don't expect much until I finish Side Order. When I come back and ultimately want to post stuff about the DLC, I will mark the post with a spoiler warning and hide spoilers underneath cuts until the DLC has been out for a while and more people finish it.

Watch out for spoilers y'all.

[mattress-ing]

spotify ask game: 56, time!

I’m going to commit to >1k words for your drabble. Time is a good guess! Feel free to send an ask for what you're looking for and I'll see what I can do!

This song was actually added to my playlists because I had a mini fic moment in mind already but it wasn’t fitting in with any projects I was posting so I didn’t write it until now. (In the same timeline as Brothers: Verb: To Reflect With Violent Honesty)

JRWI Drey Ferin mini character study, contains mild spoilers from up to episode 112, mentions of guns, >600 words

Captain Beau sits Drey down rather firmly.

The captains quarters are normally cozy and welcoming, strange for a pirate ship but fitting to Beau. Now, it’s hard to feel anything but shame under the context of his actions, and Drey finds it difficult to relax his uneasy shoulders. He doesn’t apologize, just sits and waits for blame.

Jayson had been there on the dock. Drey had, for one moment, looked him in the eyes and felt entirely justified. He’s a pirate now, forging his own path, he doesn’t have to care what his brother thinks.

Then Jayson opened his mouth and it all went out the window as Drey dropped his shoulder and charged him.

It wasn’t a long fight. Jayson has been stronger than him for years, and Drey didn’t take the opportunity to go for his gun when it appeared.

Beau motions towards his gun and Drey sets it on the table obediently, long past behind afraid to be without it in his presence. “Tell me about it.”

Drey cringes at himself when confusion precedes relief. Still expecting rejection even after over a year of being met with only compassion.

It takes him a few moments to begin to explain. He didn’t fight as hard as he could even after promising the crew he would. He opens and closes his mount a few times before landing on, “He’s my brother. It-“ it feels silly to say it, but the captain understands the importance of honesty and impresses it upon his crew, “It’s his daughter’s birthday tomorrow.”

Beau just nods and sits back. Quiet but open, his eyes still full of trust.

“I’m feel like I shouldn’t just shoot him, if only for that.” Guilt pulls at him from every direction, hurt his brother, hurt the crew, hurt himself. Every path hurts his family. Why is it there are no options without casualties?

Sitting forward, Beau pulls an envelope out from his coat. “He sent you this. I’m sorry. It was a while ago, and I hid it from you.”

Drey's heart sinks. Both at the Captain’s lie and at the seal of the letter. Official. Crisp even after days at sea. He's being disowned. Formally.

“I-“ He shakes his head, reaching for the letter. He wants nothing more than to shrink away from it but he holds his head as high as he would in front of Jayson. “I think I know what this is.”

Beau nods again. “Me too.” His grip on the letter is firm but after a gentle tug he relents, “that’s why I wanted to hide it.”

They both sit quietly. Drey fingers the seal of the envelope but doesn’t open it.

“Finn cast anti-magic on him just then.” Beau says quietly. “He wasn’t going to be pulling his punches like you.” There’s a quiet you don’t deserve to be treated like that that lingers in the air. The sentence seems ever present when he talks to Beau about his family.

They sit in quiet again. And Drey finally opens the envelope, reading the letter and then rereading it when he blinks the mist from his vision.

“You’re stuck between two, Drey." Beau puts one hand on the letter and one on his pistol, "The hope that your family changes for the better and allows you to stay, or the hope for the independence you could gain if you leave and burn the ship you left on. Neither hope is safe. And there will never be a time that feels right to take either path.”

Drey opens his mouth but is cut off as Beau takes the letter, writing something on the back.

“-you don’t have to know now. And you don’t have to choose now. But I can see that the indecision is drowning you. So when you know which one you’re going to shoot for,” he pushes Drey’s pistol and the amended letter back towards him, “I’d better see you shoot that shit.”