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#i like only few specific mushrooms

tofixtheshadows · 10 days

Text

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Kabru deprives himself.

Kabru as a character is intertwined with the idea that sometimes we have to sacrifice the needs of the few for the good of the many. He ultimately subverts this first by sabotaging the Canaries and then by letting Laios go, but in practice he's already been living a life of self-sacrifice.

Saving people, and learning the secrets of the dungeons to seal them, are what's important. Not his own comforts. Not his own desires. He forces them down until he doesn't know they're there, until one of them has to come spilling out during the confession in chapter 76.

Specifically, I think it's very significant, in a story about food and all that it entails, that Kabru is rarely shown eating. He's the deuteragonist of Dungeon Meshi, the cooking manga, but while meals are the anchoring points of Laios's journey, given loving focus, for Kabru, they're ... not.

I'm sure he eats during dungeon expeditions, in the routine way that adventurers must when they sit down to camp. But on the surface, you get the idea that Kabru spends most of his time doing his self-assigned dungeon-related tasks: meeting with people, studying them, putting together that evidence board, researching the dungeon, god knows what else. Feeding himself is secondary.

He's introduced during a meal, eating at a restaurant, just to set up the contrast between his party and Laios's. And it's the last normal meal we see him eating until the communal ending feast (if you consider Falin's dragon parts normal).

First, we get this:

Kabru's response here is such a non-answer, it strongly implies to me that he wasn't thinking about it until Rin brought it up. That he might not even be feeling the hunger signals that he logically knew he should.

They sit down to eat, but Kabru is never drawn reaching for food or eating it like the rest of his party. He only drinks.

It's possible this means nothing, that we can just assume he's putting food in his mouth off-panel, but again, this entire manga is about food. Cooking it, eating it, appreciating it, taking pleasure in it, grounding yourself in the necessary routine of it and affirming your right to live by consuming it. It's given such a huge focus.

We don't see him eat again until the harpy egg.

What a significant question for the protagonist to ask his foil in this story about eating! Aren't you hungry? Aren't you, Kabru?

He was revived only minutes ago after a violent encounter. And then he chokes down food that causes him further harm by triggering him, all because he's so determined to stay in Laios's good graces.

In his flashback, we see Milsiril trying to spoon-feed young Kabru cake that we know he doesn't like. He doesn't want to eat: he wants to be training.

Then with Mithrun, we see him eating the least-monstery monster food he can get his hands on, for the sake of survival- walking mushroom, barometz, an egg. The barometz is his first chance to make something like an a real meal, and he actually seems excited about it because he wants to replicate a lamb dish his mother used to make him!

...but he doesn't get to enjoy it like he wanted to.

Then, when all the Canaries are eating field rations ... Kabru still isn't shown eating. He's only shown giving food to Mithrun.

And of course the next time he eats is the bavarois, which for his sake is at least plant based ... but he still has to use a coping mechanism to get through it.

I don't think Kabru does this all on purpose. I think Kui does this all on purpose. Kabru's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be understood as informing his character just as much as Laios's autism informs his. It's another way that Kabru and Laios act as foils: where Laios takes pleasure in meals and approaches food with the excitement of discovery, Kabru's experiences with eating are tainted by his trauma. Laios indulges; Kabru denies himself. Laios is shown enjoying food, Kabru is shown struggling with it.

And I can very easily imagine a reason why Kabru might have a subconscious aversion towards eating.

Meals are the privilege of the living.

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Kabru #Kabru of Utaya #Laios Touden #Dungeon Meshi meta #you can have him in the tags too. as a treat.#Dungeon Meshi spoilers #this was directly inspired by livelaughlaios's post about Kabru self harming but I decided it got too long to make it a direct reply #this is a theory I've been working on for weeks because I kept noticing this while skimming for screencaps #I'm hesitant to trigger tag this because of the way certain subcultures on tumblr operate #but if anyone needs me to add a content warning please let me know #also I included image descriptions! I did my best #I think they even help illustrate my points but my god were they sad to write. Kabru is so fucking sad you guys #musings with Dea

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gallusrostromegalus · 6 months

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Hi Gallus, I'm doing some worldbuilding and you seem like you could be connected enough for me to find an answer to the problem of dwarven agriculture. Many problems are created by the requirement of no sunlight, as even the common response of mushrooms still need light to break down decomposing matter as a primary energy source. Currently, we're thinking that they use a special type of mushroom that breaks down rocks in an energy-producing reaction, giving them enough energy to absorb nutrients and grow - this would serve a second purpose in explaining why building a massive hollowed-out mountain fortress doesn't produce an equally large amount of gravel.

Any thoughts? We're grasping at straws kinda lol

Well, some thoughts:

There's plenty of cave systems (especially Karst Systems) that are at least partially open to Sunlight- especially the kind that have rivers running through them, which is something else that's really helpful for agriculture.

For Example: This Cool AF Sinkhole cave in china that has an entire Forest in it

Now There's a view to put outside the city Gates!

Karst specifically is a landscape where underground rivers hollow out the limestone underground and then the cave roofs fall in. This kind of landscape answers your gravel question nicely: the hollowed out mountain does produce an equal amount of gravel, but the gravel turns up as the sandy banks of the river system hundreds of miles away.

So, there's your sunlight that can be used directly, or reflected or magically transferred deeper into the cave system.

Or they just put more holes in the roof! Unless your dwarves are also vampires, there's no reason for them to not hollow out a few Skylights into the mountain too.

But let's talk some other cave ecology and agriculture!

For starters, your dwarves could be sitting on top of a literal gold mine that would allow them to trade for a lot of needed materials and crops.

And by gold mine, I mean Salt Mine.

Historically, salt comes out of hollowed-out mountains and is worth more than gold.

Also something the humans have historically fought a bunch of wars over, so there's some free political tensions if you needed that!

I can also mean the possible fucking enormous piles of bat guano that accumulates in Karst caves, which is the world's most insanely good fertilizer, and ALSO something that has been worth more than it's weight in gold.

Speaking of Gold, another thing that often lives in sinkhole caves in abundance is BEES. turns out, limestone stalactites are a terrific place to build a hive that is difficult for predators to reach, stays dry and the stone substrate means the hives can reach many tons in weight before they start having structural issues. That sweet, sweet insect-derived liquid gold is already important to Dwarves in a lot of folklore- it's really hard to have a Traditional Dwarven Mead Hall without the honey to make the mead, you know?

So you got your mushrooms, you got your sunlight-grown sinkhole crops, you got your traded goods and you got your source of alcohol- the only thing really missing from an ancient food pyramid here is a staple carbohydrate. To that end, may I propose our good Peruvian Friend: The Potato.

Grain crops aren't actually all that nutritious and were kept around in ancient societies more as legal tender that kept the peasants busy, because wheat or rice takes months to grow, an enormous amount of labor to harvest, and wheat also needs to be milled before it can be turned into food- all enormously time-consuming processes that keep peasants busy and easy to rule tyranically over.

Potatoes though? Pop one in the ground in spring and you can dig up fingerlings all summer, and if you make potato towers, you can harvest up to 40lbs of delicious, easy-to-prepare-and-store carb out of a single plant- a real space-saver for the limited sinkhole skyspace.

If your dwarves have cheese, the potato makes even more sense, because Potato+dairy is the easiest, most nutritionally complete survival food there is.

Finally, consider: Dwarven Vodka.

This post is open for anyone to comment suggestions on, but that's my take: put your dwarves in a Karst-sinkhole cave system, give them a highly in demand resource like salt or guano, bees, and taters. Boom. Whole agriculture, economy and political scheme starters.

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ceruleancattail · 4 months

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CERU!! HI HI :D

i have this one silly idea i think you might like!

so so, imagine you share classes with cater/jade/floyd (sitting next to them, if you will), and when they glance at your notebook, it's filled with tiny doodles, specifically them

or!! you saw their notebooks littered with doodles of you instead!

this one was when my friend found my philosophy notebook with a smol lilia in a gamer box corner lmao

take all the time you need if you decided to do this one! :D

Doodling

Cater x reader, Jade x reader, Floyd x reader

Cater

Cater finds his attention waning, occasionally. Twisting his pen around, he does his best to fight the urge to check his phone. He’s already done it five times this hour. Horrible habits die the hardest.

As sneakily as he can, Cater leans into your side, head leaning into the curve of your shoulder. His emerald eyes straying over the pages of your notebook, trying to find something to amuse himself with.

The moment you felt his gaze on you, you froze up. Hands hastily fumbling across the table, shielding the contents of your notebook from view. As quickly as you managed to react, Cater still managed to catch a tiny little glimpse of what you’ve scribbled onto those lined pages.

Little doodles of… him? Cute tiny drawings doodled onto the very edges of your notes, surrounded with miniature diamonds and quite a number of rosy red hearts.

Immediately, Cater turned away. Covering the lower half of his face with his palm, in an attempt to hold back his squeals of excitement. That’s just so cute of you!

Do you have any more? He’ll love to see them! Cater’s immediately wiggling a little closer to your side, poking at your notebook until you let him flip through the pages.

Aw, why are you embarrassed? You make him look totally adorable in those doodles!

Cater tries to draw a little sketch of his own right next to one of yours. A little doodle of you, standing right next to him. If you ask him why, he’s just going to chuckle and shoot you a playful grin. Avoiding the question the best way he knows how.

The truth is?

He just doesn’t feel right if you’re not next to him, so just indulge him this time, ok?

Jade

Jade is quiet. Almost silent, even. With his slender frame, he cuts through water with all the elegance of a finely honed blade. Silent, deadly. Even on land, his footfalls are as soft as freshly fallen snow. You’ll never hear him coming.

Which unfortunately works against you most of the time. He seems to relish the feeling of shocking you back to the present, whenever your attention starts to wander. Normally, you’ll hear him snigger, or if he’s feeling a little more teasing that day, the sensation of his ice cold fingers, tracing down the nape of your neck.

Today, it was the latter. As you yelp, reaching for the back of your neck, Jade is silent. His attention currently fixed onto the open notebook on your table, pages fluttering, beckoning him closer.

Gingerly, his fingers reach for the pages. Tracing every stroke on the paper, especially that particularly long stroke of hair framing the subject’s face.

It’s him. In every page.

Little doodles of Jade in the corners, peeking out from every margin. Drawings of him, in the midst of doing various tasks around the Mostro Lounge, along with some particular goofy ones accompanied by giant mushrooms… and hearts. Quite a number of them, actually.

The latest drawing is of him facing forward in class. Eyes narrowed in concentration, chin on his palm. How utterly adorable of you, to capture every single detail of his appearance within a few strokes. You must observe him very dearly.

Jade turns his full attention to you, leaning so much more closer to you than before. His lips curl up into a sly little smile, beaming at you. Now, you don’t have to be so secretive about it, you little artist.

You know he’s always more then willing to pose for drawings.

Well, only if you’re the only asking.

Floyd

Floyd shifts around quite a bit, during class. Normally, you’re pretty eager to chat away with him. Unfortunately, today you seemed a little more preoccupied listening to the lesson instead of Floyd.

Now, what fun is that? He’s so bored just sitting around. Well, you being next to him helps, but come on! You’re not even paying him one bit of attention. Instead you were hunched over the table, pen scribbling away furiously.

Floyd stares at your hand as it moves around, his own hand absentmindedly following suit. While his dance danced in circles in the air, Floyd muses silently. It’s hard to see how those sweeping wide strokes of yours could possibly form words.

Leaning towards you, Floyd dips his head onto your shoulder. Curling his lips into an “o”, before puffing a gust of wind onto the skin of your bare neck. Shuddering at the sudden chill, your pen clatters against the table.

Seizing his chance, Floyd’s hand darts over. Those slender fingers of his wrapping around the pages of your book, yanking it sharply to his side.

Leisurely, Floyd flips the book open. Ready to see what his lil’ shrimpy seemed ever so eager to hide.

Sketches of… him. Toothy grin as bright as the sun, beaming away. Y’know, most people find his smile scary. Not… as endearingly as you seem to see it, illustrating it as sweetly as you did.

You drew him zooming around the Night Raven College, leaping into antic after antic. Little hearts follow every doodle, trailing after tiny Floyd. Ain’t that cute?

Aw, shrimpy! You never told him you could draw. That isn’t too fair, yeah? Hogging all the fun to yourself, sketching him on the sly.

Floyd’s elbowing you playfully, stretching out an upturned palm towards you. Huh? What’s that look for?

Give him a pen, he wants to draw you too!

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #cater x reader #cater diamond x reader #cater diamond #cater #Jade leech #jade x reader #jade leech x reader #jade #Floyd leech #Floyd leech x reader #Floyd #Floyd x reader #lucky potion 🔷

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yamujiburo · 1 month

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I can see a very specific way Jessie is a bad cook, and one that would be hard for her to learn out of between the logic involved and her personal history:

She overloads her dishes.

If something tastes good in a dish, she will add it, even if she's already added three contrasting flavors. She makes a curry, and adds poultry, potatoes, carrots and onions... And then adds apples and honey because that adds a good sweet flavor. And then she adds eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms because Delia got fresh produce and farm-fresh veggies are always a good option! And then she adds some salmon, because seafood curry is delicious, and some worchestershire sauce to bring out the saltiness of the fish and umami of the veg, and on top of that Delia's own trick with coffee is a spoon of instant coffee but that one twerp friend of Ash's, Brock, always recommends a block of chocolate, right? Well, both go in.

She ends up making this gelatinous _mass_ that's only edible by Ash's Muk by the time she's done. Her attempts after are still not good but not as bad as the 'Dark Type-Curry', and she and Delia ended up having takeout instead.

YESSSSS this is so good! She just gets too excited in the kitchen 😭

I feel like there's been a few episodes in the show where does exactly this. Like she just starts dumping random food into a dish that's probably already done and then when everyone eats it, she's the only one to not think it tastes horrible

#ask yam

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hyyukas · 5 months

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cutie!hyuka <3

smut mdni

warnings: the dom & sub dynamic is a bit less prominent in this drabble, Kai's a virgin and reader is not, readers gender is not talked about and neither is their specific genitalia, dacryphilia ? praise, penetration, friends to ? big dick Kai, belly bulge, I don't really like how this turned out just because I fussed over it so much :/

your best friend was a virgin. huening kai was a virgin. he told you so himself, with flushed cheeks and teary eyes from embarrassment. he looked so deliciously pathetic you almost felt some sympathy for him. the only thing that was stopping you from feeling that sympathy was the sudden and overwhelming urge to fuck him into the couch.

and he was just so appreciative that you'd help him out, like the sweet best friend you'd always been.

kai was breathless after you pulled away from his lips and started kissing down his throat. every sensation felt like euphoria to him. his skin under your fingertips burned like nothing else ever had. every time your lips touched him he felt like he was being transported to heaven. nothing could ever beat this feeling.

"y/n. . ." kai whimpered as your knee brushed against his crotch. you chuckled against the skin of his neck, grinning like a cheshire cat when you felt his hips lift up in order to feel more of you.

"gotta be patient baby" you whispered in his ear whilst your hands continued to run all over his body, gripping and groping places you knew he'd keen for more of. and just as you expected your words were met with eager nods and cute little whimpers.

god he looked so pretty. his brown eyes filled with lust pleading up at you, begging for you to just touch him already. and his glossy lips that were parted just right, they were practically demanding to be kissed until bruised.

"so fucking beautiful. . ."

you'd never really felt this way about your best friend before. he'd always just been huening kai to you, huening kai your goofy best friend. but now as you stared at each other, hips pressed desperately against one anothers, you couldn't help the way your heart fluttered. (or maybe it was just the horniness getting to you)

"please, need you to touch me. . . it hurts" Kai mewled out and started to squeeze the flesh of your plush thighs, hands feeling anywhere they could reach. you shivered under his touch and quickly gave in, pulling his sweats down along with his boxers which he gladly helped kick off.

it was a little perverted but after having those words whispered in your ear and a kiss pressed right below your jaw you couldn't help but hurry along with your movements, you'd never tell Kai but you were desperate to have him.

to say you were stunned when your eyes landed on Kai's dick was an understatement. he was fucking massive. you unconsciously bit your lip and felt yourself clench around nothing, would it even fit ?

you shamelessly stared down at his crotch, thirsty eyes drinking up his fat mushroom tip that just looked so yummy. you could only imagine how heavenly it would feel to have him poking that good spot inside of you. "fuck. . . you're so big Kai"

your words alone had him twitching against his stomach, he swore he could come right then and there. but he decided to hold out once he noticed you pulling down your trousers and undergarments.

the next few minutes were a blur. there was so much teasing and touching that it made Kai's mind numb, all he could do was sit there prettily and huff out high pitched mewls into the crook of your neck whilst you did what you wanted with him (which was mostly just fondling and worshiping everything above his hips) but you made sure to bring him out of his daze once you started bouncing up and down on his cock.

it was loud to say the least, your ass smacking against the meat of his thighs every time you came back down, the sound of slick and sticky skin rubbing against each other, and of course the sound of both of your whimpers and moans mingling in the air. you wouldn't blame your neighbours if they came knocking at your door tomorrow.

Kai's head rolled back against the sofa and his lips parted in a silent moan, the way you were squeezing so tight had him borderline delirious, god why hadn't he done this sooner ? he cursed himself in his mind and prayed to god that his dick was good enough to have you coming back for more, now that he'd felt your velvety insides there was absolutely no way you could have an innocent friendship anymore.

"you're making me feel so fucking good" you groaned out in-between curses and moans. he was rubbing up against you so well, his fat cock stretching out your greedy hole which was more than pleased to swallow all of him.

he stared up at you, hips bucking and quivering once he saw how blissful your face was, he had no doubt he probably looked the same. " 'm so close, gonna come. . ." Kai whimpered and scrunched the cushions between his balled up fists.

you took note of his words, how he twitched inside of you and slowed your movements, taking to grinding yourself against him instead.

"not yet, baby. you've been so good for me, just a little longer yeah ?"

your halt in bouncing and your words had him shaking his head and whining out. "can't ! you feel too good, please don't stop !" at this point your languid movements were bringing tears to his eyes, his delicate lashes clumping together with the liquid, but he knew you liked that.

he knew because of the way he felt you flutter around him. and because of the way you let out a gutteral moan, lifting your body to start jumping up and down on him again.

"shit, your dick is absolutely perfect,, can practically feel you in my stomach." you whispered before slamming your lips onto Kai's and letting your mouths swallow each other's shameless sounds.

the last straw for Kai was when you grabbed his hand and pressed it against the bottom of your stomach, making him grope the small bulge he was creating. he let out a choked wail and bit down on your lip, stomach twisting in pleasure as he spilled inside of you. he knew for sure you would be doing this again.

series mlist

tag list is open ! @cinnikoi @zzstar @mini-mews

#© hyyukas #txt smut #txt hard hours #txt x reader #txt hard thoughts #txt drabbles #txt scenarios #huening kai hard thoughts #huening kai hard hours #huening kai smut #huening kai x reader #hueningkai hard thoughts #hueningkai hard hours #hueningkai smut #hyuka hard thoughts #hyuka hard hours #hyuka smut

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rebeccathenaturalist · 9 months

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hey there! fellow naturalist (albeit less experienced!) here! in regards to the AI-generated ID guides, do you have any advice for helping the general public learn to recognize them? are there any giveaways other than incorrect information a layperson might not pick up on that we can tell people to watch out for?

Hi, @fischotterkunst! It's a messy topic, to be sure, but here's what I've been seeing of these AI-generated texts, at least on Amazon:

--If you sort your search for "foraging book" or "mushroom hunting" or whatever search string you use by "Newest Arrivals", you'll notice that there is a glut of books that have come out in the past few weeks. Yes, there are always new books, but this is at a higher than normal rate, which suggests AI is behind at least some of them. There ARE occasionally real authors' books that just happened to come out recently, so don't dismiss every single book that is a fresh release. Use the other criteria below.

--They will invariably be self-published or from some publisher with zero online presence. Not a problem by itself; my own chapbooks are self-published on Amazon KDP. But they come out every three months, not every three days, because I am researching, writing, and editing them all myself, rather than churning out content with AI.

--The titles and subtitles are often very long and stuffed with keywords. They are obviously optimized for search engines rather than being descriptive of the book and they have a rather clunky fashion.

--Look for obvious typos and other errors; for example, in the image above we have "WILD MUSHROOM COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNER: The complete guide on mushroom foraging and cooking with delicious recipes to enjoy your favorite". It should be "for beginners", and the subtitle just...ends prematurely. Favorite what? Favorite mushrooms? Favorite cartoon characters? Favorite color? Also, while there are lot of variations on name spellings, "Magaret" instead of "Margaret" stands out as a possible fake in combination with other clues. (All her other books also have this spelling, though.)

--This is a BIG one: Who's the author? Check their bio. In the above image you'll see that "Jason Cones", the author of "The Wild Edible Plants Forager's Handbook: A Beginner's Guide to Safe Foraging, Including How to Identify Edible Plants, Learn About Their Medicinal Properties, and Prepare Them for Cooking", has a very generic picture and bio that has pretty obviously been generated by AI. If you search for him online, the only page for an author named Jason Cones is the Amazon author page--no website, no social media, no interviews, nada. Even a brand new author will at least have something other than their Amazon page, and they'll mention experience, credentials, other biographical info.

--Look at the author's other books. Magaret seems to focus on cookbooks of very specific sorts, but again they've all come out in a very short time. They also tend to often be on really super-specific niche subjects--this, again, is not a red flag in and of itself, but it's a common pattern with AI "authors". Jason Cones, on the other hand, has written over two dozen books not just about foraging but anger management techniques, acupressure, and weed gummies, and all of his titles have come out since last December.

--If all the books have the same cover but slight differences in title, it's also a big red flag. There are reputable publishers of regional foraging guides like Timber Press, but their books are written by multiple authors and have come out over a long stretch of years (plus they're a well-known publisher with a solid track record, online presence, etc.) Also notice the typos in the title and subtitle; everyone says "Mushroom Foraging", not "Mushrooms Foraging", and "Keep Track Your Mushroom Sightings" is missing "of".

--Compare the descriptions of multiples of these new books and you start seeing patterns. If you look at the images above, you'll notice that both Lorna K. Thompson's "Foraging Recipe Cookbook" and Kevin Page's "The Ultimate Foraging Guide for Seniors" have a very similar formulaic description. They start with a brief story about a person in a town or village who discovers some foraging secrets and then transforms his life, and then a list of things you're supposedly going to find in this seemingly miraculous book. This basically reads like "Hey, ChatGPT, tell me a story of a person who improved their life with foraging in two hundred words or less!" Also, the ends got cut off of my screen shot, but they both end with "GET YOUR COPY TODAY!"

I have not purchased any of these books to verify how awful the content is, but what little content I can see in the previews is uniformly formulaic and, again, reads like someone asked an AI to write content on a topic with some specific keywords thrown in. Needless to say, I do NOT recommend any of these books.

Also, I feel really bad for any actual authors who released their books in the past few months. They're likely getting drowned out by this AI junk, though hopefully they're getting enough attention for their work through their publishers, social media, etc. to get some sales. Support your real-life authors, and boycott AI!

Finally, PLEASE reblog this! It's really, really important that people know what to look for, and the more posts we have floating around with this info, the less likely it is someone's going to get poisoned by following what these books have to say.

#fischotterkunst #AI #Ai sucks #chatgpt #foraging #mushroom foraging #mushroom hunting #wild foods #nature #mushrooms #plants #fungus #fungi #books #self publishing #Amazon #PSA #poisonous mushrooms #poisonous plants

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eldritch-spouse · 3 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/eldritch-spouse/711450406570573824/imaging-a-baby-mushroom-rolling-around-so-cute

Imagine morell’s and his s/o’s kid just losing their little mind after realizing their mamma isn’t a mushroom like them

Kid: mamma what’s wrong with your cap

S/o: I don’t have a cap baby

Kid: but all mushrooms have a cap

Morell: your mamma’s not a mushroom kid

Kid: 😟…what

Maybe getting a haircut before having this conversation wasn't such a good idea, if your kid's recent distressed wailing was anything to go by.

Your poor little troublemaker, blessed with daddy's fat cap yet distinctly humanoid facial features, looks between you and Morell like the most disturbing news have just been revealed. They wipe their own tears now that they know mommy's not dying.

The shroom-hybrid reaches up on the couch, standing on short chubby little legs to gently, very cautiously, grab a piece of your freshly styled hair, stroking it in the same way you'd pet a frightened animal.

The gears in that tiny mushy brain start kicking and they take a few horrified steps back, quickly walking towards daddy.

They look at you anxiously, then huddle closer to Morell, who has crouched to reach them more easily. They then strain to reach their father's face and start whisper-screaming in a way only a child would believe is effectively sneaky.

" ... Why's mama not a mushroom? "

Morell starts holding in laughter.

" 'Cause daddy fell in love with a human, baby. "

You pay attention to the conversation. Specifically the way Morell refers to you as a human in this occasion, not a piggy or a piglet. Different meanings entirely, already creating the distinction in your child's mind that some humans are food, and others are to be loved, like mommy.

" Buh... But- "

" Mama's head has this thing called hair, baby, an' it's all pretty an' soft, right? " He pets the kid's cap comfortingly.

" Uhuh. " They nod.

" Well, it ain't like what we got. Ya can cut it jus' fine, it don' even hurt. "

The hybrid looks at you again, squints, puzzling it out. Finally, they reach a conclusion.

" So mommy's super strong!! "

Not the brightest conclusion, but who are you to kill the stars in their eyes?

" N-No sweetie, mama- " Morell tries, but it's in vain, the kid is already hyped up about the news and is racing to the middle of the living room.

" Mommy's SO STRONG! " They prepare to roll up. " Her cap- She doesn't NEED a cap! "

You and Morell watch, dumbfounded, as they go off rolling around the house, each bump followed by giggling.

#Morell oc #tce rp ask #You: *comes home with a new haircut*#Your kid: *horrified screaming*

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cherryfennec · 4 months

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what are some of your favorite Super Paper Mario headcanons?

I wasn't sure how specific you'd want those to be but I tried to think of a few that I personally enjoy/tend to apply myself!Includes spoilers.

Some general headcanons:

SPM takes longer than than a day/few days (maybe about a month or two)

Flipping into 3D is a nauseating experience and it takes time to fully adjust to it (especially for Mario, he never really managed to get over it).

Pure Hearts emit a comforting aura, a sense of warmth and calm, while the Chaos Heart feels like a thousand voices are whispering in your ear.

Some character specific headcanons:

Mario finds himself confused and lost more than he ever did in his life during this adventure. His usual confidence and grounded attitude are shaky because almost everything in these other worlds makes no sense to him, which is rather frustrating, especially at the beginning of his journey where he's completely surrounded by strangers and forced into the hero role. (Seriously, Mario couldn't even go home if he wanted to because he's stuck not on an island but between dimentions where he was TELEPORTED IN. There isn't really a door that leads to the Mushroom Kingdom.)

Peach's parasol is hardened by steel and enhanced by magic with a sharp tip at the end. She changed her heels to something more comfortable on the Flipside and put her hair up so it doesn't get in the way during travel and unavoidable combat.

Bowser takes his 'marriage' very seriously. He cares more about Peach than Mario in the team so when she's trouble he'll dash to assist her (he can run when he really wants to huh), but if the red plumber's in trouble he'll pretend to not see it or brush it off. (unless his lovely wife nags him about it).

Luigi, after landing is the Underwhere, finds lots of stuff in his pockets that he doesn't remember squirreling away like firecrackers, bolts and a small screwdriver. He is in fact very confused.

Count Bleck isn't very emotional. Most of the time he only has one, sad and dull expression. Any type of larger emotion showing through means that you've REALLY pushed it to the extreme.

The minions know the kind person that the Count is deep at heart so they're not put off by his frown, except for Mr.L. A default reaction that the brainwashed soldiers get as a 'bonus' from Nastasia is the highest respect for the Count, yes, but also fear of him. The fear ensures that they are most obedient but it's more of a failsafe than anything. You can imagine how it looks when Mr.L, an exploding and tempered personality, runs around the castle causing havoc like a brat and then suddenly just FREEZES on the spot at the sight of Bleck.

On the topic of the quirks of Nastasias ability, usually a person only needs to be brainwashed once. HOWEVER due to a certain someone who likes to provoke the man in green and his subconscious she is required to sometimes strengthen the control on Mr.L as she doesn't trust the magician with keeping his mouth shut. At one point she directly orders L to actively stay away from the jester, even forcing him to follow her around when she works.

Dimentios poncho and hat are covered in glitter and his mask is porcelain-esque, also the idea of him being the "son of the magician". I just think this theory is quite fitting and I like the thought of him being actually 3000 years old. He's not very popular at the castle but everyone has a silent agreement to not bother him. He however bothers everyone and likes to stare. When he's intrigued he tends to tilt his head slightly.

Mimi enjoys designing clothes and tries to give fashion advice to her teammates (to absolutely no avail because who cares we're literally ending the world, we're evil and depressed blehhhh). She and Dimentio have an 'annoying sibling' dynamic and she wouldn't hold back against him in battle at all for all the times he's messed with her. She also enjoys filing her nails to be super sharp.

Nastasia is a very strict person who takes her duties seriously but she does have a side for fun. You just need to search for it a little.

O'Chunks likes to spar with Mr.L in his free time. Mr.L is in general one of the few people he can do this with since Mimi says that 'she doesn't want to ruin her dress over such a stupid thing' and Dimentio always finds an excuse or simply dissapears.

Post SPM headcanons:

There is little conflict with the neighbouring kingdoms after the void incident. Peach, Mario and Luigi use that free time to have fun and just relax after everything that happened. They need eachothers support for the time being.

'Team Bleck' still meets up often after everything and hangs out. They don't necessarily talk about the Count but it's nice knowing that there are other people who understand what you're feeling right now. *They've been trying to have a full group reunion with Luigi included for some time now. Things are a bit awkward among them but it's still nice when he agrees to come along.

Luigi inherits some of Dimentios mannerisms which shine through from time to time such as laughing patterns, hand gestures and a rather malicious looking grin... A bit more unrelated and physical change is that his hair tends to turn white when he's around strong sources of power. (Dream Stone and Dark Star levels kind of powerful ykyk maybe Super Star as well or stardust in general cause star child origins) and the eyes somewhat darken.

He's also never really informed about the specifics of his Mr.L and Super Dimentio arc. Mario doesn't really want to burden his brother with something that was in the past and not a necessary in his eyes knowledge since it wasn't truly him.

The Chaos Heart isn't completely gone. It rests, slowly regaining power within it's host, accumulating all the scattered fragments like puzzle pieces. Try all you want but you can never fully get rid of chaos, it's an inescapable force.

I might gather up some more another time but I'd say that's it for now! You might've already heard some of these before but I hope it was at least a good read.

#spm #super paper mario #myart #askbox

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twisted-wonderland-but-gayer · 10 months

Note

kinda part 2 of the suicidal yuu thing, uhhhh that is a request?? kinda??? i really want to here your thoughts about it and one of the reasons why i sent it to you is because i think you have something amazing to add. (also because i love sad yuu)

Missing Yuu

How they mourn over the loss of their best friend— I kinda inspired/off topic sorry

TWs: GN Yuu. Mostly platonic Some have romantic subtexts like pining and such. In Vils, Jamils, and Idia’s it is implied more explicitly that Yuu took their own life. There are references to songs and movies from Yuus world, specifically Ponyo Time/Space +Mary by Alex G and BaBopByeYa by Janelle Monae. Game refernced but theyre listed in Idias section. (Also for any nerds ik that isnt how MKW’s ghost data works but shhh imagine the angst,

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul thought he was done mourning. It’s been years since you died, he actually remembers that entire month vividly to this day. How he was in his office, sorting through some papers and awaiting his tea from Jade. It took longer than expected. He would surely accept this from Floyd, but Jade of all mer? Disgruntledly, Azul gets off and goes out to look for the eel. He was only a few steps out of his office when he hears some faint sobbing. Oh dear, that's not good for business…

“Yer lying!” Floyd sobs as Jade holds onto his brother with a particularly grim expression, everyone in the lounge gone silent, each patron not daring to disturb the conversation unfolding out of pity. “Floyd, there is no reason to be mad at Deuce, he’s only the messenger.” “What’s going on here?” Azul asked sternly, getting ready to shoo out the Heartslabyul member. “Ah, there you are Azul.” The spade said, with defeat in his voice.

Nothing Deuce said registered in his head the minute he heard ‘Yuu is dead’. The words strung together were incomprehensible to him. Yuu? Gone? As if! That little prefect was always in everyone’s business! They went up against blots for the sevens sake! They couldn't be dead! But as Deuce continued to speak, the reality started to set in as they handed Azul a small box. “They wanted you to have this.”

The Lounge was closed for a few weeks afterward, the entire school seemed to be in shock. That entire month he couldn't even think right, his mind seemingly blocking out the existence of the prefect he grew to adore. It was only when he saw the twins mourning in their own ways, did it remind him. How Floyd would always keep the handmade eel plush Yuu made on his person, keeping it in the best condition possible despite his messy personality. Jade had a new accessory on his person as well, a small bag shaped like a Fly Agaric mushroom, it went with him everywhere even if it wasn't the most practical. In the gardens, Azul found himself wandering over to your small plot, where you kept your own crops, sitting next to Jade as he continued to care for your plants after your passing.

It was because of you, did he and the tweels he worked alongside closely become friends after all these years. A few years ago he couldn't even imagine seeing them as such, they were merely business partners, a means to an end. Yet now the three of them actually hang out or just… talk.

When he is alone at night does his mind wander as he opens the beat-up box to look at his own gift, memories flooding in from the device in hand…

You were in the VIP room, he doesn’t even remember why, when he heard you reference a few movies from your world. “It was good I ended up being summoned with some of my things, I honestly don't know what I’d do without anything from my world, especially my comfort shows.” They mentioned offhand, chopping it up with Floyd.

“Though we don't have mermaids in my world, we do have a lot of TV shows about them. I wonder how they hold up here?” Azul continued to scribble on his papers as he eavesdropped. “Oh, I know! What if we have a sleepover and binge-watch some of them, maybe you guys can rate how accurate or offensive they are!” Floyd practically squealed with glee at the idea, and he knew he had no choice in the matter.

It was the end of senior year now, and he was packing his things to head to his home in the Coral Sea. He also never thought he would go back there too, but he supposed spending some time with his family should do some good. As he packed everything out of his safe, he examined the box that he was given on that fateful day, old and torn up, and he opened it up again.

An alien laptop attached to a projector was inside. On a piece of paper were the password and log in. It was also ironically one of his best projects to demonstrate his magic comprehension. One of his finals was to prove he knew how to do a proper protection spell, and what better to protect than one of his most prized possessions, more valuable than the coins he loved to collect?

Azul remembers the praise he was given by one of the professors that visited NRC. The spell was one of the most powerful he’s ever seen! Not even a fingerprint could be left on the thing, and it was completely waterproof as well! But what was he wasn't expecting to be praised for was the device itself. “Now did you make this thing, Mr.Ashengrotto? I must say it is quite impressive! I have never seen this sort of technology before!”

The mage was blindsided by the praise, not even knowing how to react. He wanted to stop the professor, correct him, say that his friend was the one who made it, but the words seemed to die on his tongue. If he talks about you right now, he would cry, and if he cries that means you mattered to him, and he still doesn’t know how to feel about that. He didn’t even call you his friend when you were alive, calling such a term now seemed unfair. And yet you were. You are arguably the first friend he ever had. The first friend the trio even had, and he didn't even have the courage to consider you one until you died.

Azul held onto the box as he and his friends pass through the mirror, promising to all meetup and hang out again soon as they made their way home. His mother was the first to greet him in a tight hug as she rambled on about how much she missed him and how proud she was of him, how she made his favorite, and how she can't wait to celebrate his graduation. His grandmother greeted him from the kitchen as he and his stepfather carried in the few boxes he took with him back to his room.

His mother soon came in to help him unpack, and she stumbled across the old torn box from earlier. Azul didn't even realize she opened it until he heard it open and a familiar tune played.

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, Little fishie in the sea~

Tiny little fishie, who could you really be?~

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, magic sets you free~

“Ahahaha! Is this some sort of kid's show, shrimpy?” “Hey! Ponyo is for all ages, firstly! Secondly, it's my favorite movie and it's mermaid themed!” The prefect defended themselves from Floyd's teasing. Azul chuckled in agreement with Floyd's words as he made himself comfortable on the couch with Jade. “Well so far there is nothing offensive in this movie, however, I do find it offensive that you see us as children, Yuu.”

“I don’t! Im just trying to show you my favorite movie first!” Yuu bit back at Jade's snark as the tune plays, the prefect messing with the computer and the projector attached to it to project it onto the white curtains of their dorm. Azul never expected to even care about some stupid kid's movie, yet as it drew out he was completely invested. The brightly colored film even manages to keep Floyd enraptured until the end. Jade commented on how much of a delight it was.

They continued into the night, watching show after show, some corny, some fun. “This is far from accurate!” Azul huffs, “People actually watch this where you're from?” “H2O Just Add Water was a big deal for a while actually!” “I’m curious prefect, is this how you thought mers were?” Jade teased, leading to another mini-argument.

“Haha! Imagine if we actually turned into mermaids if we touch water though! That would be funny~” Floyd chuckled, reaching onto the table filled with food and snacks and shoving a handful of candy into his mouth. The atmosphere was lively, and the night was perfect, he had never been so relaxed before, especially around his dormmates, it felt almost domestic in a way— was this what it was like to have friends?

The very next day it was back to normal, but that stupid little movie kept playing in his mind. He would rather die than admit it was his new favorite movie, however, but it seems Yuu always knew. Their gift proved that.

Azul seemed to freeze in place as the sound from the laptop continued. “Son?” His stepfather asked as he watch the mer shake. He thought he was done mourning. A sudden sob of anguish escaped his throat as he nearly screamed, years of guilt and sadness coming out all at once. Azul sobbed into his parent's arms, choking back sobs as he apologized, stuttering out gibberish as he inked. He never told them about you, he never even told him about his overblot, but tonight, he will, you would have wanted him to heal.

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, Little fishie in the sea~

Tiny little fishie, who could you really be?~

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, magic sets you free~

Oh pretty fishie, will you swim back to me?~

Jamil Viper

His parents never gave him the time to mourn, even when Kalim told them it was okay. “You need to watch over him!” His mother scolded. “He is our employer's son! If anything happens to him—“ Jamil blanked out at the rest, his mind immediately shutting when he was getting yelled at for the sin of grief. If he wasn’t so exhausted, he would have probably yelled at them. Actually, he wished he did, it’s what you would have wanted for him.

Jamil never expected to be so close to you of all people, and he especially never expected you to understand him. But, you did. In fact, you stood up for him. He remembers how you would often distract Kalim for his sake, allowing him to get some much-needed rest from being at his beck and call 24/7. You helped him with his chores as well. He doesn’t even remember when you officially became his friend, it just felt so natural.

Finally, after all of these years, he had someone that cared about him, that listened to him, that understood him. He could never confide in anyone until you came around. He remembers vividly talking about his parents off-hand while you were in his room. He didn’t mean to vent about them, you just asked how they were doing since they sent him a letter and it all came out.

They barely even wrote to him, they only asked about Kalim, it's like he doesn't even exist! They don’t do this to Namja, not that they should, he loves his sister, but it is just so… frustrating. It’s just like he's just an extension of someone else!

He didn’t even realize he was crying until you put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m… I’m sorry.” Jamil whispered. “Don’t be.” You smiled at him, a warm, genuine understanding smile. You didn’t speak as he vented, and you didn’t try to offer solutions or pity, you just listened and validated him, the very first and only person who has ever done that. The topic soon changed to music, he thinks it's because you brought up some of the headphones he had in his room, and you both exchanged your opinions on the subject.

“The music here is so similar yet so different from my world, it's good don't get me wrong, it's just… strange.” “What is the music from your world like?” He asked as you swung your legs on the edge of your bed. “Uhh, what's genre you like? I’ll try to find something similar on here.” You held up your phone as Jamil started describing music he listened to.

After a moment, a song played from your phone. Beautifully unique instrumental unlike anything he's ever heard started playing. He started to understand what you mean by similar but different. The singer began to vocalize, but the words were utterly incomprehensible, the language unlike anything he has heard.

“Oh right, I forgot, language barrier, different dimensions, hold on!” The student took off the enchanted necklace given to them at the beginning of the year and handed it to him. Jamil hesitantly took it, clasping it around his neck. The minute it clasped around him, the lyrics suddenly started making sense.

I hear echoes of your laughter

In the corners of my mind

As I memorize each detail of your intricate design

In your hair, there is symphony

Your lips, a string quartet

They tell stories of the neon valley street where we first met

Now somewhere time pursues us

As we love in technicolor

But I dwell in silence of your words that move me like none other

This time I shall be unafraid

And violence will not move me

This time we will relax

This time we will stay in our movie

“Woah…” Jamil whispers. “I know trippy right?” You asked the interdimensional gibberish from their lips suddenly making sense. “Hearing you speak my language sounds so surreal, it suits you though!” You smile. “Oh if you like this song, I know another one you're gonna love!”

You were such a great friend, you still did everything you could for him despite your own situation, so he reciprocated. You couldn’t eat today because Crowley had you run all his errands? Good thing he made an extra lunch today, for no reason of course. No time to study because of that overblot that happened? Oh no, it sure would be a shame if his old graded assignments with the correct answers written on them got mixed up in your stuff.

He didn’t explicitly state his intentions, it would take him a while for him to truly open up and say what he meant because of his upbringing, but you didn't care. You understood. And he was here for you the same way you were there for him. When you complained about your master's most recent demands, he was there to listen the same you did when he complained about his.

He was devastated when he heard the news of your death. If it wasn’t for years of keeping his composure, he would have fallen apart then and there. He felt sick, the earth was suddenly spinning around him. Everything Crowley announced after was a blur, Jamil didn’t even realize Crowley was talking to him until he said his name for the third time. A small box was held out to him, note attached to it in Yuu’s handwriting.

Jamil took the box and continued to stare off into space until the announcements came to a close. Kalim was inconsolable as they walked back to the dorm. Kalim wiped his tears holding onto his own box, and both wordlessly went into their rooms, needing time for themselves. The minute the door shut behind him, Jamil let out a cry of pure agony, collapsing onto his bed as he wept.

For the next few weeks, Kalim tried his best to not rely on Jamil, even ordering him to take a vacation though he didn't have the power to do so, it was ultimately up to his family. Still, Jamil appreciated the sentiment. Kalim would try to cook for himself and do his own makeup, even if it wasn't the best. It was ironic that even in death you continued to help with Kalim, your death making Kalim more independent, and mending their relationship by proxy

Jamil hadn’t opened the box yet, nor read the note. He hasn't had the courage to, but tonight was different. He opened the small box, peering at the device inside. It was an MP3 player of sorts, he assumed, along with a pair of high-quality earbuds. His eyes watered too much to read the note properly, but he did see the password to the device. Pulling out the device, he noticed that the necklace Yuu used was also in the box.

Jamil clipped the necklace onto himself and entered the password. He placed the earbuds into his ears and swiped through the device. He paused as he saw the albums you created for yourself with all sorts of names. Study Playlist, Rock, Love Songs and Pining, and one simply titled For Jamil.

He shakily tapped on it. More tears rolled down his cheeks as he scrolled through all of the songs you put in it, all of them songs of genres or vibes you thought he would have loved. It would be too much to listen to it right now. He tapped back to the list of albums and kept scrolling though, abruptly stopping at one album.

This Time I’m Really Gonna Do It, it was titled. He tapped on it and immediately started the playlist. Most songs were about loneliness, homesickness, derealization, self-harm. Jamil sat, hunched over, laser-focused on the lyrics of each song.

Mary is the one that leaves you to rot.

She says I am real and you are not.

She says

I am real

And you are not…

Jamil began to sob again as he listened as it all sunk in for him. You were gone, and for the entire time you were here, this is how you felt. You were always there for him. You always comforted him. And he couldn’t do the same for you. If he was just there a little more, if he just truly asked and truly listened would you still be here? If he asked about your family and your home, would you have been able to find it easier here? If he were more honest…. As he sobbed another song started playing, lyrics resonating deep within him as it played.

Hold on tight to this time this place,

Cause everything you know will be erased.

You were born inside your head.

And that is where you’ll go when you are dead.

Vil Shoenheit

When he received the news of your passing, he decided to take a break from the spotlight, announcing his hiatus to his manager and his social media. He was less strict in ruling dorm, and much more forgiving of Epel's outburst of rage, knowing that he was mourning in his own way. Rook was a blessing with how much he understood and stepped up to give Vil a break, an unspoken thank you between the two of them.

Vil kept you in his mind while doing everything for a while. Even as he applied his skincare he found his mind explaining it to himself as if it was his first time. He imagined explaining the process to the overworked prefect who seemed to never have enough time to care for their skin, or afford it. “Now exfoliate gently in circles like so,” his mind would say, and he would close his eyes and pretend he was doing it to you. He never even got the chance to gift you the cleanser he made for you.

As he prepares his salads, he finds himself making an extra one on the side. He remembers how you would occasionally complain about skipping meals because of Crowley, and he would imagine that if you were still here, he would have given the meal to you while lightly scolding you.

When he applies his makeup, he experiments slightly in the way you would. You seldom wore makeup with how busy your schedule was. The few times he saw you with it, he remembered you mentioning that one of your friends did it for you. If you were given the materials and time, how would you have applied it? Would you use a brush or sponge for your foundation? Perhaps your eyeliner would follow the trends from your world?

As he led his club, he remembered what you would mention about the shows from your world and how you viewed magic from an Outlander's perspective. He found himself looking at some of the graphic novels and manga from your world that you lent him before you passed. You said they were made into movies, some good but most bad. As he flipped the pages he saw the sticky notes you wrote on each one, translating the foreign language for him. Your handwriting was comforting.

He wondered which one of these were your favorite as he read, admiring the storylines. How did movies work where you were from? Did you miss them? This comics would make for a good one, maybe he can direct one based on them…

Vil didn’t want to use social media, but he opened it up to go and find yours. Going onto some of the freshman’s socials, he found you in their followers. You were a private account, and he couldn’t see any of your posts. He mindlessly requested a follow, not expecting to be let in immediately— you must have already been following him, and he couldn't help but go through your entire account.

You didn’t follow a lot of people, and only your friends along with a few bots followed you. Most of the posts were of photos around NRC or of friends along with some inside jokes. Some posts consisted of memes or images that weren’t like anything of that of his world, captions talking about how much you miss home. The horrible realization of you being an Outlander seemed to sink in even more at the caption. No one here truly knew you, you had very few to remember you. Your family will never even know what happened to you, that you died. Vil shut off his phone, regretting his decision to reopen Magicam.

The Dormleader even found himself eating a bit unhealthily, in moderation of course. He remembered how you would practically shove everything down your throat before having to go off and do your next task without any etiquette whatsoever. He even remembers Epel saving up to buy junk food and sweets to give to you as gifts. Apparently, you couldn't afford them or had nothing like them in your world. He even remembers the captions of you complaining of only eating one thing all day and such.

He requested Epel to tell him some of your favorite desserts you enjoyed or the ones he planned on getting for you, perhaps he could understand you more if he ate them, or perhaps consume them for you since you never got the opportunity to enjoy them. Epel had no use for his gifts anymore, so he shoved most of them into the communal fridge.

In one of his runs, Vil noticed that the freshman’s mood seemed to sour more as his phone continued to ping. “Epel. Your phone. Either turn it on silent or respond.” Vil reprimanded. “Ugh, I can't! They keep finding me on everythin’! Even harrasin’ my folks at home!” Vils brows knitted together, “What are you talking about?”

“Ever since you followed Yuu or something like that I’ve been getting a buncha DMs and stuff asking if I knew anything about you or who Yuu is to you, seriously it’s driving me insane! It's happening to Ace and the others too! Assholes doxxed me and even got my number so I can't just block em.” Epel wiped away a tear that threatened to fall. “Can't even be left alone to mourn…”

“Let me see them.” Vil opened Epel's social phone, seeing notification after notification pop up. Opening his social media, he saw that even with the restricted access and privating of his account, almost all of the comments were about him.

>Hey! Hey! Hey! Do you know Vil???

>Please DM me for an interview!

>Hello there Mr.Epel, do you know a person named Yuu?

>Do you know who Yuu is to Vil??? Are they like together or something???

The sight made Vil feel sick as he turned off the phone and handed it back to Epel. “I’ll take care of this Epel, I’m sorry you have to put up with this.” Vil knew making a simple announcement wouldn’t be enough. He sighs as he sends a message to his manager, requesting her to get him an interview.

***

Vil sits up straight on the seat across from the interviewer, going over introductions and greetings as the camera rolls, broadcasting everything live. The interview goes smoothly. Vil already has his answers to simple questions about his career memorized. “So, Vil, I’m sure you are aware of the recent news going on about who you followed.” Vil nods, throat suddenly going dry. “Yes, I didn’t know that it would blow up if I’m being honest.”

The interviewer laughs for a moment. “So who’s this ‘Yuu’ person now? It’s not every day you follow a private personal account, they anyone special?” Yes, yes they are Vil thinks. Vil takes a deep breath. “I actually want to address the recent drama regarding them,” Vil pauses to hold back a stutter, it was strange, why was he being so emotional now of all times?

“Yuu is…” There were so many ways to describe them, but nothing came out. “They are no longer with us. They have passed away recently and…” Vil wiped away tears forming in his eyes. “I want to ask everyone to please stop harassing everyone, they are all— we are all mourning their loss and…” Vil suddenly chokes back a sob, and the weight of it all suddenly starts to sink as grief envelops him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to stop this interview here, I need… I need some time for myself…”

Vil stands up and goes off-screen, covering his mouth with his fist as he walks off. On the car ride back to NRC he hesitantly turns on his phone, looking at the notifications that pop up. Opening his Magicam, he looks through some of his comments, most of which are now apologies from overbearing fans and inquiries about his mental state. One notification stands out from the rest, a small red dot near his messages. Tapping on it he sees a DM from no other than Neige LeBlanche himself asking if he was alright and that he was always here for him.

“How could you forgive everyone around you for mistreating you?” The blond asked the prefect in front of them. “Everyone here has treated you horribly.” The prefect merely shrugged, “It’s much better to make a friend out of an enemy than to destroy them, after all my first meeting with Ace and Grim was far from perfect.” They chuckled before sipping on their drink as they sat across from the model. “If I started shutting out everyone because of a few bad experiences, I would have never met you. Besides, I can't let things get to me that easily!” The last part is now ironic as Vil reminisces.

Vil wiped another tear, before pressing accept on the DM request.

Idia Shroud

It was like it never happened. You were just offline, the Shroud reasoned upon seeing your profiles on everything no longer active. To an outsider, it was like Idia didn’t care, he continued on his computer without a tear shed.

To Ortho, however, it was obvious that everything he was doing was to preserve what was left of you. You were summoned with a few items, one of them being some portable gaming device that was now his. Idia remembers when you first showed it to him when he was curious about how games were from your world. He remembered you were a bit upset that you couldn't play a majority of the games together as it required two devices, and Idia being as tech savvy as he was merely snickered before hooking up the device to his computer and copying the files.

A bit of coding and emulating later, the young man now had an entire library of interdimensional games on his pc for him to enjoy, and now he can join your sessions online. From farming sims to FPS, he thoroughly enjoyed all of it, fascinated at how similar yet different everything is. Certain buttons are mixed up, common gaming terminology from his world wasn’t used.

He would often join you in all sorts of random games. Even games he never thought he would enjoy like that weird ‘Skate 3’, ‘Power Washing Simulator’, ‘Raft’, ‘Animal Crossing’ or even ‘Stardew Valley’. It was fun to visit your farm or island, or to skate with you, or even to power wash things. There were so many fun and unique games that your world had, and since your passing, he wanted to try and share it with everyone. He didn’t have time to mourn with how busy he was!

The games you brought over made him happy, and now he wanted to share that feeling with everyone else in a way to honor you. The media wondered why STYX of all companies started releasing a bunch of free games to download. The only thing they charged money for was the soundtrack, where all of the proceeds went to mental health and suicide prevention programs.

All the time he spent on his computer was him testing every game you had and adjusting them to work on these world’s devices with ease. Occasionally when he got to a game you especially adored, he would add a few features that he remembered you mentioning wishing were in it before uploading them. Each game's credits had you listed in them as one of the creators as well.

When he wanted to take a break, he ended up playing his new favorite game, Skate 3. He didn’t necessarily care about the gameplay however, rather it was a feature he learned about only after you died. Even when your friends were offline, their character would occasionally appear and skate with you. It was the only way he could ever hope of playing with you again, and every time he finds your character, he pretends that for a moment you are in your dorm on your couch hopping on with him.

He still on occasion opens your other games and cares for your Animal Crossing island, your Minecraft dog, or crops in Stardew Valley. Ortho would also occasionally play one of those multiplayer games with him too like Mario Party, Halo, Terraria, or Smash Bros. Ortho was mourning you as well, you were like another big sibling to them. He would still play the Minecraft world you all shared and visit your house, adding decorations to it as he progresses to include you in a way.

The kid hated whenever someone misinterpreted his brother's actions, often passionately correcting before getting emotional over the thought of what he was doing. He's preserving them, but why did he have to do so already? They were so young.

Idia was on the last few games he needed to upload. He looked over at one of the first games you introduced him to, an emulation of Mario Kart Wii.

“Yeah it’s pretty old but it’s pretty nostalgic to me. I used to play it with my family all the time! It’s one of my favorites! I managed to move all my ghost data onto here too! Still, hold the record!” You beamed proudly as you showed the two brothers. “Ah, you appreciate oldies too huh?” Yuu nods. “If only I downloaded more before I came here. I think you would have loved some of the classic games we had.”

Idia loaded up the game with you, hooking up your device to the big screen in his room so you could all play. Ortho grabbed his favorite controller, and you all chose your characters to race as. Sure, you had the home-field advantage, but he’s played tons of racing games before! He has this in the bag.

The pair never stood a chance. With every map, you seemed to know a perfect shortcut, a perfect glitch, a perfect setup to always come out in first place. Even when the two said you had to play fair and you complied, you still easily beat them both while humming the music under your breath. Yet despite the frustration, it was still fun, especially since you included Ortho in everything as well.

Idia loaded up the game again, for old time's sake. He didn’t put much thought into the map or character he chose, he was too busy imagining that day you all were together, laughing and exchanging the things you loved. Rainbow Road was loaded up, the hardest track in the game and your favorite one, he remembered how much you laughed at his misery when he played on it. A few extra carts appear in the track that weren't the bots he was playing against, they were translucent much like ghosts, and had names over each one.

One of them he recognized as yours. As he began, he saw the ghost carts glided across the road. It was then he realized that these were the previous top three records that were saved. Idia wasn’t thinking, as his competitive streak overtook him. In the very first round, he beat the one in third place, putting in his name ‘Gloomurai’. He played a few more times, each time optimizing his route and techniques to get faster with each run. He’d even watch your racer’s techniques so he could copy.

After what felt like hours, he finally beat your character's time, and mentally celebrated when the option to put in his name popped up. The small smile on his face suddenly faded for a moment as he thought back to what you said. “I used to play with my family all the time!” You said. “It’s one of my favorites!”

Idia’s hands shook. When you showed him this game, it was obvious you adored it. He even caught you playing it by yourself a lot. Those other names, were they your family? Your friends? The realization hit him. This wasn’t your favorite game just because of nostalgia, it was because you still play with your family.

All those other ghosts he beat, they drove the exact same route, the exact same way your loved ones did and he overwrote them, and now, he overwrote you on your favorite route. Not only did he get rid of you, but he got rid of the only trace you had of your old life. Panicking, Idia dove into the files of the game, looking through everything he could see if there was any way he could save your data, frantically scanning each line of code. He knew the answer in his head though, the minute that box popped up, it was deleted instantly.

Idia suddenly stopped, clenching his fists. He didn’t care that your ghost was probably on other tracks. That one was your favorite one. He got rid of you. He got rid of you on your favorite game. The sadness finally caught up to him, he was too exhausted to keep coding at this point.

“Idia?” Ortho called into his shared room with his brother. “Idia? Your heart rate is acting up on my scanner—“ Ortho creaked open the door to see his brother with his head in his hands, violently sobbing. “They’re gone.” He mutters. “They’re gone.” Ortho shut the door behind him, floating over to where his brother was, and pulls him down to hug him. “It's okay,” the boy soothes. “They still live in you.”

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #azul ashengrotto #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #vil shoenheit #vil shoenheit x reader #jamil viper x reader #jamil viper #angst #suicide tw #tw suicide #suicide

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berrieluv · 1 year

Text

Love isn't a test.

summary: Steve thinks your relationship is one-sided, because he has all the right answers when he's asked about you, while you ramble a lot while talking about him and struggle to get the answers right. cw. this is a very specific talk about food i'm sorry. mentions of reader having attention deficit.

Steve knew you were a picky eater. He notice how you would always tart your meals minutes before everyone in the table because you were busy taking off the things you didn't like it, cutting your fruits because you didn't like how you tooth felt while biting from it.

Nancy saw how Steve was taking off the carrots and mushrooms, eating them from your plate or simply putting them in his, making sure to just leave the chicken and rice for you to eat.

Eddie entered the Wheeler's kitchen a few seconds later and laughed at Steve.

"You're customizing the food for your pretty picky girlfriend?"

Steve scoffed, trying to get pass the constant reminder that Eddie had a crush on his, in fact, pretty picky girlfriend.

"Don't you get tired?" Nancy starts, handing the food over to Jonathan who was placing the plates on the kitchen. Nancy liked you, you both were friends, but she could never stop with the snarky comments about you, like if she wanted you both to break up. "You know everything about her, but what does she know about you?"

Steve frowns, licking the chicken cream from his fingers and looking at Nancy, ready to speak, being interrupted by Eddie.

"She doesn't have to know about him. She's so pretty. She's making him a favor"

Steve frowns, hitting the back of Eddie's head with his clean hand and grinning at Nancy "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean what I said" she chuckles, waiting to speak again as she hears the door crack, noticing it was only Robin entering the kitchen "Ask her anything about you, she won't know how to answer"

"What're we talking about?" Robin said, sneaking into the counter to stole one of the cupcakes reserved for dessert, the ones she's been eyeing since Vicky started baking "My God, these are amazing. If I could I'll marry that woman. Probably when we're 80 or sum"

"We're talking about how Y/N never pays attention to Steve when he's talking"

"But that's because everyone knows she has a short spawn of attention" Eddie defends.

"Dude, seriously, what's this thing you have for my girlfriend?" Eddie just shrugs "And Y/N knows everything about me. I'm an open book"

That thought hold onto Steve's mind. He enjoyed the food next to you, the table share jokes and everyone laughed. It was the perfect moment, everything felt so warm and homely but Steve's mind always came back to 'Ask her anything about you', thinking about how he has ever hear her comment on something he liked, while he couldn't take her, or her likings out of his mouth, because she was everything he could think about, day and night.

"I want to buy a shirt" He commented out of the blue while driving his car back to her home "For the, um, the dinner at Vicky's place"

"There's a dinner at Vicky's?" You asked, turning your head to Steve and smiling at him. "It's the one for her birthday party?" Steve nods and you rest a hand in his thigh, waiting for the traffic light to change to green. "How do you want it to be?"

"My favorite color"

He simply answer and you nod, taking back your hand when he starts driving again. "black?"

And Steve felt maybe more hurt than he had to. His favorite color was not a big deal, he wasn't even sure if he had one but black wouldn't to it. Maybe for Eddie, maybe even for Mike or Max but he has never show any particular interest towards black.

"That's not..." He whispers "That's not my favorite color"

Steve glances at you and sees you frowning, as if you were sure that's his favorite color, "... green?"

"God, do you even know...?" He snaps, holding the 'me' back in his throat, not wanting to make a big deal out of this, his hold in the steering wheel tightening, his words and tone sounding more harsh than he wants too. "How can you not know? That's a basic fact about... well, everyone"

"You've never mention it"

And the rest of the night, back at his home, in his own room, Steve tries to remember all of your conversations, trying to get to the one when he mentions what his favorite color is.

"Hi, Stevie" You smile, your face being the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes "How did you sleep?"

And if you knew him well enough, you should've known, he hates being wake up.

"Fine" he answers, his voice lacking that soft, loving tone it always had when he talked to you, you placed it in the excuse he was still sleepy. "I slept fine"

He pushed you to the other side of the bed to take off the blankets and get off the bed, walking to the bathroom without even kissing you.

The 'good morning kiss' was something Steve never forgets, he claims he needs it after spending the whole time he was sleeping without your lips; 'I don't mind you, just you, waking me up if it's with a kiss. If that means I can get to see your face first thing in me morning'.

He said one day, so now you weren't understanding what was so wrong that he couldn't even spare a smile at you.

"Stevie, are you alright?"

And if you knew him enough, you would have known he hates when someone calls him Stevie. It's childish, it takes off the strong meaning of his name and makes him feel like you were taking a bit of his masculinity.

But if he wasn't too stuck in that state of mind, he would've remember how he turned into a cry baby when you stopped calling him 'Stevie' after hearing that he didn't like it, only to tell you that you were the only one allowed to call him that.

He passed his hands though his face and started the shower, waiting for the cold water to come out and slowly putting his body inside it, feeling the warming drops travel down his body.

"Stevie, are you alright?" He mocked, in a lower tone, sharpening his voice to an annoying tone, missing your silhouette standing on the door frame. "M' fucking alright"

You frown, being new to this kind of anger, or whatever feeling he was demonstrating. "If you don't want me here I can go"

You let out, the hurt in your tone being demonstrated as you saw Steve's head peaking out of the curtain; "I said I was fine"

"Yes, and I don't doubt you I'm just saying if me being here interfieres with you being fine I can just go"

Steve scoffs, getting his head back to the shower and growling under his breath.

"If you were a... better, no, not better, you need to be good to be better" He starts "Maybe if you were a good girlfriend, you wouldn't interfiere to me being fine"

"You don't think I'm a good girlfriend?" You ask, clearly hurt, fighting back the tears because if Steve was speaking to you like this, that meant he was going through something, and he didn't mean to be rude, he was just feeling overwhelmed "Alright..." You started, in a soft voice, not wanting to leave his side if something was bothering him "How can... how can I start being a good girlfriend, then?" You asked, bitting your lip while trying not to cry because Steve is never like this. "What can I do?"

And if he wasn't too stuck in his own delusional thoughts he would've notice how much he was hurting you, how he was doing the thing he never thought he would; making you doubt yourself.

Because Steve was your number one fan, he was there in everything you did, he was there to cheer for you and make a big fuss when you got what you wanted and he was there to blame it on everyone else when you got sad for not having the expected results.

"What can you do?" He asks, incredulous, as if this was a problem your relationship had been dragging for too long. And maybe it was, you weren't sure anymore. "Maybe you could start for... I don't know, being more like Nancy was. Hell, even Robin could act like a better girlfriend for me and she's a lesbian"

There were too little things you couldn't possibly stand from Steve. And Nancy was one of them, not because you didn't like her, but from the beginning of your relationship you were always self-aware she was hard to fight against. And you weren't competing to see if you could make Steve love you more than Nancy, and since the beginning of your relationship he never make you doubt his love.

So Steve has been thinking how would it be to have other girls as his girlfriend, because if he could shout that as fast as he did, maybe he has thought it over.

"I don't know what you want me to do"

You answer, your voice low and broken, now tears were streaming down your cheeks and Steve only groaned at them, as if your feelings weren't valid in that moment.

He pushed you out of the bathroom and saw you standing there, glossy eyes and body tensed "Maybe you could start by knowing me, or paying attention to me. I mean, that's so basic and you can't even fucking know what's your boyfriend's favorite color. How pathetic is that?" You miss his face when the door is closed in your face. "Fuck me if I ever find a girl like you again"

He ended the conversation with a high note, and you could only think about the fact that he broke up with you, locking you outside of the bathroom and making you feel like the worst girlfriend ever.

And there you were, hours ago thinking you were fine. Because he made it look like.

The rest of the day was hell, you sat on your bed waiting for some sort of miracle to happen and tell you this wasn't real. The fight never happened and the love of your life didn't point out you were a terrible girlfriend before breaking up with you.

"Where's Y/N?" Eddie asked, watching Steve arriving to his trailer for movie night, the only ones there being Robin and Vicki, who always arrive early to pick the best sits on Eddie's couch and not having to sit on the floor. "I don't want you to think we're friends just because you bring her around but... where is she?"

"I think we broke up" Eddie opens his eyes and Robin runs to the door as soon as she heard "Well, I think I broke up with her"

"Why the hell would you do that, you asshole?" Robin snaps, looking at him incredulous, wondering why he would ever break up with the love of his life.

"Well, like you guys said the other day, she doesn't know me"

"We didn't say that, it was Nancy" Eddie defends.

"Yeah, but she was right, she doesn't know me"

"And how did you found out this?"

"For a lot of things" He snaps "She didn't even know my favorite color"

"Black?" Eddie answered.

"Green?" Robin tried when Steve looked at Eddie frowning, only to look at her looking even more offended.

"Those are not my favorite colors!"

"And why are you wearing them all the time?"

"All the time?"

"You always use those ugly old sneakers with the green light, your pants are always either black or dark jean. The shirt you wear the most has this green circle around your neck, your socks are always black or white with green or black lines"

Robin was wrong, Steve favorite color was dark purple but Robin knowing all of this meant he was still right; "How do you know that?"

"Because when Y/N was looking for something to buy for you for your Christmas gif she made all this analysis just to conclude that your favorite color was green or black"

"Steve..." Eddie started "No one really knows what you like I mean, you built your personality around Y/N. You started to let your hair grown because she said once, once!, You looked better with long hair. You decided rom-coms were your favorite because she said she enjoyed them more when you were around. You stopped liking soda when she suddenly decided she wouldn't drink them anymore"

"How do you even know that?"

"You told us!" Robin shouts "All the time, is the only think you talk about; 'Y/N and I cut soda off out diets', 'Y/N and I have decided we're just watching rom-coms by ourselves so don't chose them on movie night', you're unbearable"

"I think I made a mistake" Steve regrets.

"Oh, did you, Sherlock?" Robin answers.

Steve left before Eddie could add something, getting on his car and driving to your home. Suddenly feeling thankful to live in Hawkins and having clear streets.

He nocks on your door, one, two, three times, your cries are too loud and your face is too stuffed in your pillows to hear him.

Is your mom who ends up letting him in, not knowing everything that was going on between you two.

Steve is nice enough to nock on your door, but he enters anyway, not waiting for you to respond, and he looks at your glossy eyes and red nose.

"Baby..." he tries.

"What are you doing here, Steve?"

"I'm sorry" You don't look at him, but you don't stop him either, so he sits next to you in the mattress and caresses your hair before you slap his arm and cover your body completely with the blanket. "I was a shitty boyfriend"

"Well, you had to show me how bad I am"

"You're not a bad girlfriend at all, darling" He sighs "I was, I was stuck in my head. My mind wouldn't let me alone and I thought you didn't know me and I was the only one putting some effort into this relationship"

"That I didn't know you?" You ask, emerging from the blankets and looking at him, frowning "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I know you, I know you never act like how you did yesterday, I knew something was going on but you wouldn't talk to me about it, I tried to address the situation and fix it but you made it bigger. I know you don't care if I know what your favorite color is because you change it every week. I know you don't play D&D but your curiosity is killing you. I know you really, really, want to drink soda again but you don't do it because a part of you thinks you owe me that. I know you scrunch your face when you're confused and I know you cried when Eddie graduated because you thought maybe he couldn't do it."

"M' sorry" He says, embarrassed, hiding his face on your lap covered by the blanket.

"Steve... love is not an exam. I don't need to have the right answers and you don't either. If you don't know something about me, it's not a big deal. You, we, have plenty of time to find that out, and if you forget I would spend the rest of my days reminding you what my favorite color is. And I would spend every week learning what's your new favorite color" You kiss his nose "I love you, and I don't have to know you as much as I love you"

"I know you almost as much as I love you"

"Because knowing me is how you show me you love me. Sticking around you, being there for you, going everywhere you want me to, is how I show you I love you"

"I'm sorry I was a shitty boyfriend" He said, holding you into a thigh hug "I'm sorry I made you feel like a bad girlfriend, you're amazing, you're more than what I deserve"

"I know" You pat his back "I'm sorry I believed it"

He chuckles, holding your face with his big hands and kissing your lips; "and I'm really sorry I let your pretty lips spend so much time far from mines"

#steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington angst #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington drabble

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https-furina · 11 months

Text

✎ for life.

ft. tighnari x fem!reader

w.c. 5.4k words

content: sickenly sweet fluff, human!reader, little bit anxious nari, mutual pining, confessions <3, reader is an amurta scholar, injuries (mild), reader is hinted to be shorter than nari, tighnari 100% has separation anxiety — unedited + not proofread.

notes: kicking my feet, crying, sobbing. please i just want a tighnari - apologies for any ooc nari there is

he’d first seen you before you’d even considered the amurta darshan. you were obsessed with nature; all the fauna and flora that there physically could be. you spent so much of your time studying in the avidya forest, it wasn’t particularly rare for tighnari to stumble across you while he was doing his patrols. in fact, you were becoming a highlight of his patrols. tighnari couldn’t help but flatten his ears to his head when he turns the corner and you aren’t sat under the same usual tree you always were. the next day you’d be sure to be there, apologising profusely to the fox as he’d became just as much a part of your routine as you had his.

you found him fascinating, albeit maybe perhaps of his ears and the fluffy tail that protudes from his lower back but also because whenever he stumbled upon you, he was keen to speak to you about your studies. he was like a walking encyclopedia and you loved it. if there was a mushroom variant you wasn’t particularly strong on, you could guarantee tighnari was. after a few meetings with him, you started to purposefully sit in spots that you knew was on at least one of his patrols. you was hoping he’d never noticed.

meeting almost daily, the two of you realised you’d never exchanged your names. you always referred to him as ‘the fox’ to your friends at the akademiya and tighnari would refer to you as “the student” to the forest rangers at gandharva ville.

“beautiful day for studying,” the familiar voice mused in a playful tone, causing your head to shoot up from your books, “what’s the topic today?”

a smile graced your lips at his arrival, his ears perked and tail swaying in the breeze. your eyes drifted down to the books surrounding you, especially the one on your lap. your smile turned sheepish, letting a little laugh out.

“actually, i’m preparing my first thesis - i chose my darshan the other day and i’ve been up to my head in classes since.” you sighed loudly and perhaps a little dramatically. tighnari quirked a brow, one of his ears twitching in curiousity; so that’s where you had been these past few days.

“oh? congratulations, that’s a big achievement,” he grinned, finding himself sitting in front of you on the grass, “which darshan did you choose?”

your cheeks flushed with heat that you blamed on the sumeru heat but it clearly wasn’t the reason. you averted your gaze from tighnari embarassedly, clearing your throat. you were officially fully aware that tighnari was an alumni of the amurta darshan, he was still the talk of the school with them referencing his works. he’s your elder now officially and that made him slightly more intimidating.

“o-oh - uh,” your obvious shift in mood made a smile crack at tighnari’s lips. he knew exactly what darshan you’d choose from the moment he met you, “i’m officially an amurta student.”

you announced it with an ounce of pride, lifting your chin high to which amused tighnari. he wasn’t stupid - not that you’d ever claim him as such. he just wanted you to hear you say it himself, his ears tingling at the words.

“i knew the answer. i just wanted to hear you say it,” he chuckled, running his fingers through his tail fur as you stared at him, flabbergasted, “did you truly think i’d help your studies in the avidya forest’s specific flora if you were going to run off to any other darshan?”

he found the sheer embarassment on your face funny but he wouldn’t voice it right now, it’d only make your fever and racing pulse worse and he didn’t want to carry you back to gandharva ville with all of your books.

“well…” your voice trailed off, fingers nimbly fidgeting with the pages before you. you huffed a little, your stubbornness coming through as tighnari looked down at you proudly. you avoided the eye contact but tighnari didn’t mind.

“can i ask for your name now?” he hummed, his question causing you to finally give him your completely undivided attention. you felt yourself starting to smile again. unbeknownst to you, he found your smile contagious and within seconds, tighnari was also smiling.

“y/n.”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

“y/n never wants to study with us anymore,” your friend poked your shoulder, the voice teasing as the rest of your friend group laughed, “we’ve been replaced!”

she dramatically threw her head back, the back of her wrist to her forehead in an “oh the agony!” moment. you rolled your eyes promptly, continuing to study from tighnari’s notes he had given you.

“when do we get to meet the lucky man?” another friend perked up, causing you to choke on oxygen momentarily. you sent a death glare across the table at him.

“there is no lucky man - it’s just more peaceful to study in the avidya forest than listen to dumb and dumber over there bicker all the time.” you nodded your head to the twin siblings, sat looking ever-so-innocent. they couldn’t fool an archon though, all they have ever done is cause mischief and chaos for everyone.

the truth is tighnari had started invited you to gandharva ville. as sumeru entered winter, the avidya forest was prone to less humid thunderstorms and more simple rainstorms with a freezing temperature. he would hate to see you get caught in one at random and freeze to death so why not come sit in his hut? at first it was mildly awkward. tighnari would sit over his desk, grinding up herbs and plants for remedies and incantations while you studied, the hut almost deadly silent other than the sound of a wooden mortar and pestle in tighnari’s gloved hands.

you wouldn’t admit it, especially not to your friend group but you spent a lot of your so-called ‘studying’ watching tighnari. you would watch the way his tail swayed in a rhythm, his hands working meticulously on a remedy that he had recently ran out of - or perhaps he was marking collei’s homework for the week and his ear was twitching occasionally. you loved the way he’d reach up and rub his ear, pulling it down sometimes as if he was grooming it.

tighnari would chuckle to himself as he watched you leave gandharva ville, your books hugged to your chest. he knew you were unaware but he knew perfectly well that you was watching him during your time in his hut. he figured you’d understand his kind well enough considering your intricate knowledge of fauna but he perhaps underestimated how much you knew on foxes. this is exactly why he’d cunningly got you researching and studying foxes, a cheeky smile on his face as he’d passed you his notes on his kind that you accepted happily.

the more your eyes scanned the yellowed pages, the more you realised exactly what he was putting you through. the characteristics of bushy tails, big ears and superb senses… it was all tighnari. the words all began to drown out your friend group’s quarrelling at the table. your tongue poked the inner of your cheek, holding back a smile at the thought that tighnari had done this on purpose. closing his notes, you began gathering your belongings with a new found urgency to speak to him.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

gandharva ville was ever busy on its feet, forest rangers rendezvousing at previously confirmed locations before they set out on their patrols for the day and the odd scholar scratching down notes into their parchment. despite the weather being beautiful and just the right temperature, you couldn’t spot the one person you was looking for. the occasional forest ranger would greet you as you passed, wide grins on their faces as they recognised you. you’d politely smile back, continuing towards tighnari’s hut.

but behind the leafy curtain, there was no forest watcher you were searching for. your brows knitted in concern, finding yourself frowning as you glanced over his belongings. he didn’t usually patrol at this time of day - in fact, this was usually the time of the day he’d be discussing collei’s studies with her.

“y/n?” the melodic hum of the young girl drifted from behind you, waltzing you around on your heels to meet eyes with her, “if you’re looking for master tighnari, he recently left to deal with a withering zone just north of gandharva ville.”

“alone?” you quirked a brow as she nodded. that sounds incredibly stupid of him, you think as you bid farewell to collei and began walking to where tighnari should ultimately be. you had stayed clear of withering zones, always sticking to the paths when traversing through the avidya forest and it was always because of the warnings tighnari would reprimand you with.

hugging the top layer of your student robes closer to your body, you couldn’t help but feel a sudden chill amongst the air. a sudden rainstorm? surely not. you frowned, catching sight of some dark fur on a nearby branch. your fingers plucked at it, holding it up to confirm that it belonged to the man you’d been searching for. was he in danger? you looked around, scanning the area for any more hints or signs that tighnari was here.

you took notice to how dry the grass was, crunching beneath your every step as you clutched tighnari’s fur in your fist. there was the sound of a bow amongst the darkness, followed by the occasional groan and frustrated grunt. a silence followed. it was like warmth washed over you, bringing over a fever as humidity returned to the area and the grass coloured lush green, the flowers flourishing once more. had that been a withering zone?

in the distance there sat a figure on the grass, shoulders hunched and defeated. his ears were flattened, bloody hands hugging his tail close.

“tighnari?” you whispered. his ears lifted, perked as you hurried over to the male, “are you okay?”

he smiled, grimacing somewhat as his gaze finds your worried eyes. he raised a hand, waving you off as you start searching his body in attempt to find where the blood came from. it certainly wasn’t from the terrors that lurk in withering zones which could only mean tighnari was injured. tighnari’s tail twitched in his hands, awkwardly looking away from you.

“it’s just a scratch, i promise y/n,” he chuckled meekly, clearing his throat as he scanned the surroundings, “although, could you help me back to gandharva ville? it certainly isn’t safe to stick around in the wild with the scent of blood.”

and so you lifted the male up, wrapping one of his arms around your shoulders as you both stumbled back to gandharva ville in the most ungraceful manner possible. the height difference between the two of you most definitely did not help. he’d been out long enough now that gandharva ville was basically empty - people were sleeping by now and you’d narrowly avoided the night patrols. you could feel tighnari’s muscles relax when he realised he could make it to his hut without people seeing him in such a fragile state; hell, it was killing him to allow you to see him like this.

tighnari was quick to settle onto his bed, groaning out as he finally let his tail drop and you could catch the gash he had on his side. you scowled, surveying his hut that you had been in many a time now. you figured you’d know it well enough, wandering subconsciously to his desk. tighnari watched, a little perplexed at what you could possibly want by his desk but he watched you tiptoe, fingertips dancing and gripping at a vial of cream on one of the highest shelves. your spare hand was holding your weight up against his desk and tighnari swallowed the lump in his throat.

he wasn’t sure what he found more attractive in the moment, your stubborn attitude unwilling to ask for his help reaching for something or the fact you’d just grabbed the correct vial from the numerous ones on his shelves. he hadn’t even taught you about any of them let alone include you in his remedies.

“how did you know which vial-” you cut him off with a laugh, helping him shrug off his cloak so you could look closer at the wound he’d acquired from being so stupidly bold into thinking he could handle all these withering zones alone.

“i usually end up watching you work when i’m here studying,” you mused but you were embarassed to admit it to him directly, “i remember the time a forest ranger came in with an injury on their calf, you used this one - i can’t forget it because the vial is so pretty.”

tighnari hummed, chuckling despite it hurting him. you shot a glance up at his face to catch him already looking at you as you applied the cream. you was about to question what made him laugh - perhaps a little defensively as you’d just let out some considerably embarassing information but tighnari spoke first.

“you’re just like collei.” tighnari said no more and you decided not to press on the matter if it meant you got to avoid talking about how you watched him. you dressed his wound in a bandage, fingers working ever-so-gently to avoid hurting the fox.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

“i’d rather kiss fungi.” collei puffed her cheeks, her lips pouted as you laughed at her response. you’d pulled her to sumeru city for the day with tighnari’s permission. collei couldn’t contain her excitement but she was a little hesistant on the matter, unsure if she should spend time away from her studies. you assured her that one day wouldn’t halt her progress forever and you even promised to teach her some things on the way back to gandharva ville, as her senior of course.

“why not? i thought he was pretty cute.” you giggled, raising your drink to your lips as you tapped your fingers on the table, looking around at the bustling streets of sumeru city for another possible suitor for collei.

“like how you find master tighnari cute?” her question threw you off guard, your eyes widening and the drumming of your fingers suddenly stopping. collei’s smile turned into a tight, smug grin that had you glaring in her direction.

“who says i find tighnari cute?” you huffed, letting out of a dramatic sigh - with sounds included, “kids these days.”

collei simply wouldn’t drop her grin however as she watched the way you looked away sheepishly, the tip of your nose dusted a rosey hue of pink. you were pouting your lips ever-so-slightly and your eyes wouldn’t stay locked on one thing for more than a few seconds. you could deny it all you liked but collei knew otherwise. she had been in master tighnari’s hut while you were also there studying, she hadn’t missed how you sneaked glances in his direction while he questioned her on her homework.

“collei?” a male voice chirped up, oddly a little familiar to you as you both turned in his direction, “tighnari let you leave gandharva ville?”

“oh! mister cyno!” collei beamed at the general mahamatra, leaving you even more flustered than you’d been before, “aha, yes he did - on terms that y/n teaches me too.”

cyno’s gaze flickers to you and you hold your breath, he was incredibly intimidating to you. you’d seen him multiple times around the akademiya on the way to your classes and all you could ever think was how you didn’t want to end up on the bad side of his polearm. yet collei knows him and even more so, he knows tighnari. he catches on to how stiff you’ve turned in his presence but his gaze only softens minorly. so this is the girl that tighnari will not stop yapping about in his letters? he isn’t surprised at all. he’s spent many nights drinking with tighnari and he’s heard the intoxicated ramble about tighnari’s quote-on-quote ‘ideal type’ more times than he can count his genius invocation tcg wins - you fit the ramble perfectly.

“so this is y/n.” cyno hummed, wondering if he could stir tighnari’s awful babbling even more by involving you. you quirked a brow but nodded regardless.

“it’s a pleasure to finally speak to you, general - i mean, i see you around the akademiya sometimes.” your words slowly turned into a mumble, scoffing mentally at how you struggle with social situations like these. especially when the focus was on you.

“when you’re actually there,” collei pokes with a teasing tone, “you spend more time in gandharva ville i swear.”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

you had expected all the days and nights writing theses to take its toll on your body but not like this, you sighed as you sprawled out on your bed. your whole body ached as if you had studied yourself to death but today you had submitted your final thesis - the one that determined everything about your time at the akademiya. you’d spent countless all-nighters in the house of daena, buried in books that you could barely skim through with your current attention span.

you simply wanted to sleep for months, perhaps years however that would not be wise if you were about to assume position as a scholar. you’d worked so hard for this, it’d be wrong to suddenly hibernate your life away in celebration of it. despite your mild joy at the situation, you couldn’t bring yourself to celebrate. your body simply would not move, lacking energy you’d have any other day. as much as you wanted to celebrate, you wanted to see tighnari and tell him about your final thesis more.

it had been months since you’d visited gandharva ville and with tighnari’s lack of presence outside of the avidya forest, you hadn’t ran into the fox at all. your fingers twitched suddenly, as if craving the male’s company. you scowled, turning your head to admire the night sky outside of your window. he most likely wouldn’t even be awake right now even if you did drag your sorry ass out of bed but it had been too long since you walked barefoot along the grass on your way ro gandharva ville, basking in the sounds of nature.

you didn’t truly grasp how much you’d missed these minor feelings until you was doing them again, retracing your steps to the familiarity of gandharva ville. fireflies danced in the clammy air of sumeru’s night, summer barely around the corner as temperatures began to rise again. you hadn’t even reached gandharva ville when you landed sight on someone amongst the leafy greens of the avidya forest and he too noticed you. there was a flush of warmth running through your blood like a spur of energy, heart racing at the sight of him again. there was no conscious decision as you ran towards him, grinning at the sound of his laugh as he hugged you tight, the two of you almost toppling over at the force of your hug.

“well look who it is,” tighnari teased, a hand on his hip as you awkwardly separated from the hug, “isn’t it amurta’s newest scholar?”

“how did you know?” you tilted your head, watching how his ears twitched and lowered slightly.

“did you forget that i know cyno?” he hummed and suddenly you remembered well enough, “not only that but disappearing for months? i could only assume you were in the stages of your final thesis.”

tighnari would not admit it to you but the past few months had been nothing but living hell on him. he craved your presence daily, still checking every spot you had been known to perch at on his daily patrols - even going as far as taking both the morning and evening patrols in hopes of seeing you. he knew you could just as easily turn up at his hut but he figured you’d spend your time in a much quieter spot like the ones he met you at but he never found you. there was never even a sign that you had been there.

so he began desperately writing to cyno about you, asking if he’d seen you around the akademiya by pure chance. tighnari couldn’t bear the idea that something awfully had happened to you even though he knew you had studies to prioritise. something could have happened to your family, anything. he had to be reasonable. little did tighnari know, cyno had already been keeping his watchful gaze on you from across the house of daena or puspa cafe. he kept his eye on how you’d work yourself to death to finish your final thesis - he kept those details to himself however. tighnari was becoming an avid worrier about you, fidgety at even the slightest mentions about you. the least he could do was hold his tongue on things he knew would spiral tighnari completely out of control.

“i definitely did not forget that you knew cyno.” you muttered, looking down at the ground between the two of you. tighnari’s tail swished in amusement. of course you’d forgotten when you had so much studying on your hands.

tighnari wouldn’t know how painful the months were for you, on the other hand. he wouldn’t know how you piled yourself in books only to lose focus the second you pulled apart the pages. the text looked nothing like his handwriting, you’d think, slamming it shut in a futile attempt at keeping tighnari alive in your memory. if you could focus on a book for more than a few words then it wouldn’t be long before your thoughts drifted away, daydreaming of a much simpler time when you would sit on the grass with tighnari and bask in the sunlight.

you thought back to the times he’d mentor you - except he never liked to call it that because he never wanted to take the role of your mentor. you recalled all the patrols you’d tagged along on, your feet aching but you couldn’t care less as long as you had tighnari with you. all so you could watch his tail wag as you walked, his ears turning at the slightest of noises. he was always so aware, ensuring he never got you into danger once. because what would tighnari do if you’d got hurt under his protection? he couldn’t grasp how guilty he’d feel at the mere thought of it.

the silence between you both was deafening other than the small huffs of breath you took from your run to him. tighnari’s sweaty hands clenched the fabric of his cloak just as you played with the hem of your skirt, the two of you blurting out “i missed you” at the same moment. taken back, the two of you let out nervous laughs.

“y/n can i be honest with you?” tighnari asked in light of the situation. you nodded, the rate your heart was going at could break your ribcage, “i really like you - and i want something with you but-”

“foxes mate for life and that’s a big commitment for a human?” you finished his words, a lump in your throat as tighnari’s eyes met yours. he looked bewildered, brows knitting.

“yeah… i- how did you know?” he stumbled his words a little. you hadn’t exactly rejected him so he couldn’t feel down at the bottom but his ears flattened in worry that you caught onto quickly.

“i borrowed your notes once and you’d left that specific part highlighted unlike the rest,” you studied him just as much as you studied his works, you mused to yourself, “i really like you too, nari.”

he didn’t know which part in particular had made his ears perk up as quick as they did or made his tail wag as if it was caught in a windstorm but he admired you more than he had ever done before - not only that but you called him by his nickname. not tighnari and certainly not master tighnari as collei had once got you to jokingly call him but nari. your face met the material of his clothing once more as he pulled you back into his chest, his arms tight around you. he buried his face into your soft hair, drowning himself in your familiar scent that he’d been longing for so long.

at that moment, tighnari couldn’t care about the rustles of nearby bushes or the splashes of a frog leaping through a puddle not far from your feet. he simply cared about your touch and warmth at his fingertips.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

you hummed, tapping your pen against your lips as you re-read the text in front of you again. it must have been the fifth time you had read the same sentence but it wasn’t quite sticking. you were growing frustrated, after all this particular textbook was key to your ongoing research into the origins and scientific families of the kalpalata lotus.

“i can almost hear the cogs turning in your head.” his voice chimed as the leafy curtain of his hut lifted, the fox stepping out into the sunlight with a wide arm stretch. you’d risen early to accompany collei and some forest rangers on a patrol in tighnari’s place, letting him sleep longer than he usually gets. after the patrol was over, you’d opted for sitting outside his hut with your studies instead of hovering over his desk.

“can your brilliant hearing read this damn sentence for me?” you replied with sass, too tired for his taunting this early in the morning. tighnari chuckled, brushing your hair back with his hand before he placed a kiss to your forehead.

“it’s not even midday and you’re like a boiling pot of water on a stove, dear.” tighnari could tease you all day if it was permitted but he knew your boundaries. you sighed, exasperated as you realised you’d began to overwork yourself again. the pen you was holding found its way onto your parchment and tighnari’s lips curled into a smile as you wrapped your arms around his waist.

“you know, i could always do with a research partner.” you mumbled into his stomach. tighnari raised a brow, running his hand through your hair.

“is this your way of inviting me to do a research project with you?” you nodded wordlessly in response to his question, listening to his hum as he pretended to debate your offer, “i don’t see why not. not many scholars get to say they’ve released work with their partners, after all.”

#꒰꒰・♡ soft pillows #genshin impact #genshin #genshin fluff #genshin x reader #genshin tighnari #tighnari #tighnari x reader #https-heizou

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weekendviking · 1 year

Text

Further adventures in Experimental Archaeology.

So, throughout my many years as a reenactor and aspiring bang the rocks together experimental archaeology adjacent loon, it's always interesting to be at the cutting (or bruised, bleeding or dazed) edge.

So when this paper crossed various blogs, we couldn't resist:

Collins, R., & Sands, R. (2023). Touch wood: Luck, protection, power or pleasure? A wooden phallus from Vindolanda Roman fort. Antiquity, 1-17. doi:10.15184/aqy.2023.11

After reading the various hot takes, a few of us decided that it was worth trying out the various non bodily penetrative possible uses of the item to see if we could match the wear patterns.

Construction: We don't have readily available European Ash where we are, so the green roundwood to hand this weekend was Poplar, of which I'd felled a sapling to supply billets for the spoon carvers. I roughed out the taper with a side axe, and then used one of the early medieval utility knives I made earlier in the week to whittle the phallus down to about the dimensions described, but a little larger to account for the variously cited 5-8% shrinkage of ash as it dries, and a little more for post burial archaeological shrinkage.

Part of the build montage:

It was very quick to make - around two hours from first cut to finished object. Would take a little longer in seasoned wood or hardwood.

Because the different possible uses of the object may leave different wear patterns, more than one will need to be made. First proposal: It's a Pestle, and any wear patterns are from the pounding of food or mineral materials, rather than the pounding of the denizens of Vindolanda.

As we were about to cook the evening meal, some coarse salt needed to be ground, with a spare bowl standing in for the mortar, and the freshly carved phallus as pestle:

It works really well as a pestle, and reduced 4-8mm grainsize coarse salt down to a sub millimeter size in a minute or two, and was a comfortable shape to use, with the slope of the glans against the base of one's palm, and thumb and middle finger on the underside of the shaft, forefinger on the top near the bulge of the base for control.

While a single use isn't going to show much wear, because this is fresh green poplar, the base quickly started rounding, with a distinct patch of abrasion obscuring the tooling marks from my whittling knife:

I'll continue to use this in my kitchen mortar for a few weeks, and see if it develops any more distinctive wear patterns. Just from this weekend's use, one could see a little wear and high points on the shaft beginning to pick up use marks from my hands, mostly just discolouration from soot and so forth on my hands from being busy around an open fire cooking site:

This is an ongoing project, and there will be further iterations, with each replica only used for one tool type, to see if the wear patterns are specific to the different uses:

Drop Spindle, to see if it functions as a dealgan type drop spindle. Personally, I think the detailing on the glans section is a little light to provide an effective tye point for use as a drop spindle.

Mallet, for woodworking, driving chisels, etc. Probably unlikely, as this would leave very distinct impact marks on the flared base, especially if it was used while still greenwood.

Darning mushroom, for repairing knitwear. Some of us think this is quite likely, so it's a hot favourite.

Further details will be posted here :-)

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novasdarling · 1 year

Note

Ok this will probably sound like a weird request, but maybe Mahito as some type of dark fey/fairy that likes to deceive and hurt humans, and he ends up capturing a very naive reader? Sorry if it's too much specific, either way I just love how you write him

It doesn't sound weird at all! I sorta dialled it down(I kept rewriting this ask and idky), so I just kinda leaned in more with forest monster being able to handle this one human(reader) and hating others.

Though I will say your request now makes me wanna write for other characters and him as fairy/elves creatures... Hmmm

Forest Creature

TW: Monster. Kidnapping, Drugging(with a plant), Female Reader.

The woods could get dark and dangerous when you ventured too far. Predators, unclear paths, the threats you were cautioned about growing up. The warning words of your parents vanished as you embarked further. It would be fine, it always was. You always tended to make your way back home, no matter how far you went. Coming back with a full basket of berries, roots, and herbs. After the first few times, people would question your ability less and less when they saw you emerge from the woods with a full basket. Many assumed you just had an innate skill for foraging and navigating the woods. It was best to let them think that, rather than revealing the truth. That it wasn't you, that you had no real skills in the woods. Rather it was all thanks to Mahito. A strange man-creature who seemed to take pity on you the day when you were lost in the woods all those weeks ago.

Mahito was a tall slender man. Taller than any man you had ever met. Most of the time you found him leaning towards you when you spoke. Bending down so his face was now aligned with yours. He made you feel so small, yet by the looks of him. It appeared you had more weight to yourself than him. So tall yet so slim. One of the features that captured your attention during the first encounter. There was no helping the stares when you first spotted him. He seemed so terrifying, yet at the same time. You couldn't peel your eyes away. You watched him move around the trees. Picking plants and mushrooms. Stuffing his pockets filled with various plants and twigs.

Mahito's clothes were another peculiar part of him. They were none you had seen. Or at least, none that were styled properly. Sometimes his clothes appeared more human-like, but the first time you met him. His clothes looked made out of natural material. Moss detailed his pants and shirt. Climbing into his hair. You were sure if he stood still enough, he would blend in with some of the plants and trees around him.

He seemed so awkward that day, bending under branches. Letting his arms reach further than they should have. It was marvelling and uneasy watching him. Especially when the sun had peaked through the treetops. Shining down on the grass and him. That was when you noticed his skin. It wasn't any colour you had seen on a living being before. Rather it reminded you of the bodies of those who died from the great sickness years ago. You were just a child, but those images were burnt into your mind. The way the bodies lay in the mass grave. Too many dying to hold individual funerals. Their bodies lay cold and pale in the grave. Some in makeshift coffins, others loose in the ground. Some had died so long ago their skin had turned a cold pale grey and began peeling. While others had only been dead a few hours. Still appearing to have some life to them. Mahito looked like a cross between the two. Skin pale with a hint of grey, but still flushed and holding life. It appeared like he was toying with the line between life and death.

That day, he had caught you staring behind a tree. Lurking towards you before you figured out he knew you were there. Fear had coursed through your veins when he stared at you, hastily moving towards you. Your feet wouldn't run, but then what use would that be. He was so fast and his limbs were longer than yours. He would have no problem with retrieving you. However, when he did. He didn't harm you, he didn't curse you. No, he was kind and sweet in such an unnatural way, but it was still welcomed. Since then, you had met him almost every day to gather alongside him. He was your trick for foraging. Your walking, talking being of knowledge.

Today was like the others. Making your way through the dark woods. Trying to get to your usual meeting spot. It was the same location you had met him all that time ago. A nice area with plenty of plants to search through. Following the path, Mahito had shown you, avoiding every raised root or rock. It was a miracle that the first few times you went this way, you hadn't gotten seriously hurt. Though as you made your way through, you couldn't help, but get what you had heard earlier out of your head. Your neighbours had warned you today before you left. Not the usual warning of being careful in the woods. No, this was more. They had warned you about the missing people from other villages who shared the same woods. It would seem there had been a few people who had gone missing in the last few months. News only reaching your home now. You would need to warn Mahito about it. Fearing some bear or wolf had gone hungry and was now hunting anything it could find.

It wasn't long until you arrived, only to already see Mahito already there, sitting on a rock. Gazing at something in his hand. He always had some odd trinkets to show and give you. Some had been hair pins, and bracelets, while others you had never seen before. Beautiful little novelties Mahito would show and tell you about. Though always vague about how he had gotten it. Unclear on how he had come to collect some human items.

"Mahito" You waved as you walked towards him.

Mahito looked up, giving you a toothy smile as he watched you walk toward him. Had his teeth always been so, pointed? Sometimes you felt like no matter how many times you looked at him, there would always be something new.

"You're back?" He had stood up, pocketing what was in his hands and making his way to you. "Good, it's been too long."

Mahito had wrapped his arms around you. Bending himself over you in order to pull you close. Wrapping you completely in his embrace. He had to bend over almost completely in order to embrace. Though, he always did more than needed. Always engulfed you more than what was required for a hug from friends. It oddly felt more intimate than you cared for, but then again. He clearly wasn't fully human, chalking it up to him not knowing better.

"I missed you, my dear." He was pushing his face into your hair. Inhaling your scent.

"Hmmm, yeah? I missed you too." You let out an awkward laugh, trying to push him off of you to no avail. "Can we sit? I need to tell you something?"

Mahito let go reluctantly. Though his hand never left your body as he brought you to a log nearby. Taking a seat, only for him to pull you close down beside him. The way Mahito looked at you always made you anxious in some bizarre way. It was filled with an intensity like he was trying to see every thought you had with just a look. Yet, there was also another side to it. Curiosity, such intrigue with every word you said. With every move you made. It seemed like he wanted nothing more than to watch it all. You wouldn't admit it, but it was nice to be admired. Even if it was from him.

"Mahito, my family and friends are becoming nervous about me entering the woods now." Mahito narrowed his eyes at you, already knowing he wouldn't like where this was going. "You see, umm, there have been some people going missing in neighbouring villages."

You missed the change in Mahito's expression as you rambled on. Trying to explain your and other's concern. How you would need to limit your trips to him, or if there were more reports in the next few weeks. Perhaps you would need to stop completely for a while.

"There is nothing to fear." Mahito sounded so confident. "No one from your village has been hurt or has gone, right?" You nodded. "Then there's no worry. You are safe with me."

Staring at Mahito, knowing there was no arguing with him. He was always set in his ways. Hopefully, he would understand the severity of the reports. Understand that you aren't like him. You are at the mercy of the woods and every being living within it. A reality you never thought he would understand, but he did. He truly grasped your vulnerability, but would never let you know.

Mahito dropped the topic. Instead, leading you through the day's actions, showing you new plants he had found, and telling you their uses. Helping you fill your bag with food and herbs for medication. You marvelled at his ability. Looking at him like he was a god among men. A look he loved and would do anything to gain and keep.

Hours had passed. The sky was beginning to get darker. Indicating you would need to get home before you couldn't see your way anymore. Parting with Mahito was a difficult process. He would drag out the goodbye, insisting there was still more to collect and look for. It was better to start before you actually needed to go.

"Mahito, it's getting dark."

"Oh," Mahito looked at the sky. "You're right."

This was strange. Any other time when you mentioned the sky or the nearing of darkness. He would always insist you were wrong, that there was more. More time or more things to do, yet here he was. Agreeing with you for the first time.

"Before you go. Here."

Mahito opened your palm, placing something in it before closing your hand. Wrapping both of his around yours. Opening your hand, taking a look at what he had given you. It was a plant of some sort. A green stem connected to a small pale blue flower. The shapes of the petals were different. You'd never seen a flower like this before. They appeared pointed at the end before twirling in on themselves. It was extremely beautiful. Before you could ask anything about it, Mahito spoke.

"Eat it."

"What?"

"Eat it. Eat it."

Mahito lifted your hand with the flower to your mouth for you. There was no real-time or a chance to not do as he wanted. The flower was shoved in your mouth. For a moment you stood like that. His hand wrapped around your wrist. Flower in your mouth, simply sitting on your tongue. Unsure of what to do. Did he really want you to eat it?

"Chew and swallow."

It looked like he really did.

For a moment you just stared. The longer Mahito looked at you, the more you were convinced to follow his orders. You knew it would be best to just do as he says. It was most likely one of his herbs that would help you stay healthy during illness season. He tended to know when an illness would strike before anyone in your village did. Taking in your assumption, you chewed and swallowed the flower.

"Good girl." Mahito brushed his knuckles against your cheek.

You questioned what it was. Wondering if you were right. However, you weren't met with an answer. Not a real one, not one you wanted. Rather, he just gazed at you. Smiling down at you while his touch didn't leave. Finally, words left his lips.

"It's something from where I'm from. Something that makes you belong."

Before you could question him, your head felt heavy. It felt like you weren't able to hold it up anymore. It was quick and sudden. You weren't prepared for it.

"Ma-Mahito, I-I"

"What is it? You don't look so well."

You were so concentrated on staying upright that you missed the look on his face. The way he smiled, it wasn't filled with softness like it usually was with you. No, it was loaded with malice and delight now. Like he was the happiest he had ever been with you. Delighted by your willingness, by the way you trusted him so. How you simply did what he said with little hesitation. It was a breath of fresh air. Humans could be so stubborn and cruel, but you weren't. You were something else, something different. Not like those other humans who had crossed his path. They had been cruel, taking from the earth without caring, without giving back. They deserved what occurred to them. It was a shame his work was posing a threat of keeping you away from him, but not anymore. No, you were his.

As you began to give into the plant, falling into his arms. Shutting your eyes, it was easier than trying to stay awake, than staying upright. Your trust in this strange creature would be your end. It would be how you become the first in your village to go missing. To fall victim to the woods. However, unlike the rest. You would survive. After all, if he thought you were like the rest, you would have been dead long before you saw him that day. He had shown and given you so much. This would your way of saying thank you. Of giving back and he knows you'd agree with it when you wake later. After all, he had taught you the importance of giving. Of making sure you replace what you take. You had taken him, made him love you. Now, he was taking you. His dear little human.

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