Writing is great you go from great descriptions of people and places to âwhatâs the word? You know people stealing??? *10 hours later* KIDNAPPING!!! THE WORDâS KIDNAPPING!!!!
I was always taught to write âELEPHANTâ when you were missing a word like this*, to keep up the flow of writing and just ignore it / dismiss it from memory. Youâll always forget words as a writer (or character names, or place names), and rather than rifle through a dictionary or a bunch of documents or your own mind, you just write âELEPHANTâ and keep going.
Because hereâs the thing, when it comes time to fixing up the chapter, you just search for âELEPHANTâ and provided you arenât actually writing about elephants, youâll find every single instance and be much more clear-headed and able to find the words youâre looking for.
Plus itâs actually really cute to see a bunch of elephants in your chapter. e.e Just standing there, waiting for attention later, lol.
(But also yes the original sentiment itâs so true, like the most obvious words fucking vanishing all the time like what is writing).
*This technique will definitely be too frustrating/distracting for some people, for sure. YMMV. I just liked it.
This is a gift fic for @crescentmoonriderâs Edo AU which is a lovely historical AU
Thank you so much Crescent for being so patient about this fic, as I promised them back in February that I would write this and here we are almost April. I hope you enjoy reading my friend!
Reigen walked into the sparsely decorated room. Well sparse in the way it looked like people barely lived in it, save for the small figure lost in peaceful sleep on the cot and the boy who kneeled beside him.
âHello, I am Reigen, the medicine seller that your parents asked to check over Shigeo.â He smiled warmly as he stood just outside of the doorway.
Ritsu looked up with a fierce glare, honed and practiced over the years that his brother had lain immobile for any doctor who dared to step inside the room.
âYou donât need to be here. You are a fraud and a liar like the rest of them. They all say that they will fix my brother and then they donât. So leave now and save us both the trouble.â
Reigen took a step into the room, his bare feet crossing the threshold of the doorway. He saw the way the boy looked- like a cat in a cactus patch fearful of taking another step.
âI gave my word to help however I could in waking your brother up. Those other doctors perhaps they tried their medicines and just couldnât help him. But they are not me and they do not have my medicines. Donât you want me to at least try and see what I can do?â
Ritsu stood up suddenly, his entire stance screaming how heâd love to bodily shove Reigen out of the door and out of the house and out of his life. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath before letting words fly like daggers.
âYou and all the other doctors are the same. You are all fraudulent liars. Wonât or canât it makes the same difference. My brother is still asleep and he hasnât woken up for years now. Not even with every doctor my parents have sent, no one has been able to fix him. So Iâm saying it again, go away you fraud and stop wasting everyoneâs time.â
Reigen stepped out of the way as Ritsu marched out of the room, letting him go without another word in his defense. After all, the child might be right. Reigen might not be able to help his brother and it is clear that despite his vitriol he had believed that the doctors could help in the past.
Reigen pulled out his box and sat down next to the mat on the floor.
âWell then, that didnât go nearly as planned. But letâs see if this might go a little better.â
He settled against the side of his box, preparing for a long night to keeping an eye on the sleeping figure, as well as lightning incense to clear the air. Even if the last of his incense was the strange smelling stuff given to him by a client as payment for him reliving their headache.
When he saw a black haired boy floating upside down, Reigen almost believed that he surely slipped into sleep while on watch and was dreaming. He startled and crawled backwards slightly on his hands.
âHello. Oh you can see me?â The small spirit asked and Reigen nodded. He made three assumptions then and there.
1 The thing floating in front of him was a spirit.
2 The spirit was the spirit of the sleeping child he had promised to watch over.
And 3 by virture of 1 and 2 was that Reigen was going to get blamed for the fact that the once alive boy was now currently a spirit and he was in massive trouble because he would get blamed for the childâs death.
âYou can see me! Listen, you need to take me to the forest outside of the village, please.â The spirit smiled slightly and floated closer as Reigen almost bit his tongue as he cut off his yelp for fear of waking anyone else in the house.
The thought of the others in the house lingered and he turned to look at the spirit child puzzled.
âBut I- what about your family? And your brother? Shouldnât I wait for them to wake up?â
The spirit shook his head. âNo, thatâs probably not a good idea. Ritsu might not like it and he might fight against you moving me. He once kicked a doctor in the face when he put my hand on a scalding teapot.â
Reigen gathered up his box of supplies and stood, surveying the situation and looking from the childâs body to the spirit, whose name he was certain was Shigeo. Then Reigen made a decision that he prayed would be the right one. He turned to Shigeo and asked, âCould you please explain to me again what I need to do?â
Shigeo smiled brightly and quickly instructed Reigen on how to finally wake him up after five long years.
âOh thank god,â Thomas says, laying his helmet down. âBecause I kept thinking on the climb up here that this was going to be a really awkward first meeting, and its stupid to expect you to fall in love with me just because I saved you.â
Lucinda gives him a surprised look. âYouâre rather weird. Usually I get guys that demand I fall in love with them because they âsavedâ me. Which by the way, you didnât actually do.â She jabs a thumb towards the direction of the dragon. âSheâs trained. I tell her to keep assholes away from me, but if I tell her to let you in, she wonât do anything to you.â
âOh.â Well now he feels a bit better. âBut um, the whole lesbian thing? I uh⌠god this is going to sound weird, but would you consider dating my sister if I brought her to you?â
Lucinda blinks, opens her mouth, and then shuts it. She finally settles on, âIs your sister cute?â
âUm, I donât know? I mean to me she is, because sheâs my sister. But um.â
âDescribe her.â
âRed hair, freckles, five foot⌠two, I think? Likes to make dresses and pretty headdresses out of flowers, her favorite activity is scrapbooking. Sheâs nineteen and looking for a nice girl to settle down with.â
Lucinda admits, she sounds tempting. âFine, Iâll meet her. But why are you acting as the go-between for your sisterâs love life, exactly?â
Thomas grimaces. âDad wants to marry her off, and sheâs⌠kind of a lesbian too. Except dad thinks if he throws her at the right dick, sheâll suddenly want that, so⌠yeah.â
Lucinda cackles. Â âOh my god, you climbed a tower to wingman for your sister?â
âUm, yes?â
She stands, brushes her dress off. âI like you. Show me this cute little sister of yours. Weâll take the dragon - letâs see what that old man of yours thinks when a stolen princess shows up riding a dragon wanting to marry his daughter.â
âI think heâll have a heart attack.â
âEven better. Now letâs move. Pudding, come!â
So since 5 Times has finally finished here is my guide to what everyone will and wonât eat! Since trust me I have had to think about this a lot.
RULES OF EATING FOR THE STARKIDS:
Mob WILL NOT EAT: Anything alive. Spoiled milk.
LIKES: Milk, ice cream, ramen, takoyaki, cheap food (Reigen this is your fault)
Mob will mostly stick to normal human food when given the option. He doesnât like to eat a lot.
Teru WILL NOT EAT: Anything that got him really sick before. Oysters. Garbage.
LIKES: Batteries, electricity, toothpaste, everything he can get his hands on, Mob
Seri: Never a lot of any nonedible thing. Not really anything spoiled or burnt.
LIKES: Human food, pottery, clay, grooming (Seri that is not a food thing)
Like Mob, Seri also does not like to eat a lot.
Shou WILL NOT EAT: Important things (according to someone else). Heâll eat anything else.
LIKES: Things that no one else does. Things that have been through fire or on fire are his favorites, lava rocks, charcoal, burnt wood.
Touichirou WILL NOT EAT: Anything that makes starkids sick. Weak things. Overcooked meat. Does not prefer fire and things on fire.
LIKES: Iron, metal, steel, carbon, tar, steak (bloody rare with a hint of singe)
The second best pun Iâve ever encountered in the wild was when I was walking down the street in a âhipâ part of Seattle and saw a couple of Budweiser cans thrown into a bush. And I said to a random stranger walking nearby âdamn, the local beer harvest is really poor this yearâ. And the random stranger responded âgive it time, theyâre only budsâ.
Somehow this thing got 1k notes while the previous post, which was about the best pun Iâve ever encountered in the wild got 3 notes. Anyway:Â I was TAing an electrostatics lab. The experiment was to see what happens when you rub wool on a bunch of rods of different materials and then bring the rods near scraps of paper.
One studentâs lab report had this observation on what happens when you try to charge up a metal rod:Â âpaper remains stationeryâ
and yet again I try to draw cool shit but cant decide what to go with in the end
also dont let yourself be fooled by the art bc hereâs what I think abt it: this can be fucking hilarious
so heres a list of hcs aka a list of things I might have to draw sometimes later bc its ass oclock rn and I gotta travel tomorrow but this is rly good AU why is organization-type AUs so good
A character archetype I cannot stand is the âslimy conman who takes advantage of a kid/someone less manipulative than him with powers that would benefit the conman, and is generally just a Loathsome Human Being until thereâs a moment where the conman has to Prove Himself to the kidâ.
I hate the archetype, because these types are just generally not good people - even though the narrative would have us believe they are. Theyâre perverts, immoral, and just generally not people Iâd feel at all comfortable leaving a kid/someone impressionable with for any amount of time.
And yet - despite the fact that Reigen seems to fit into this trope - heâs my second favorite character in the entire series, and this conversation shows why.
The narrative doesnât try to disguise the fact that Reigen is very much a fraud. It doesnât hide the fact that heâs taking advantage of Mobâs powers for his own gain - in fact, Reigen as much as admits it in the above conversation!
But - and this is the important part - it doesnât hide his good side, either. The narrative doesnât wait until some âopportune momentâ to show that Reigen is actually a âGood Guyâ, like so many other shows/what have you that use this trope do.
Mobâs power is useful to Reigen, but then he also turns right around and says but itâs useful to so many others, as well.Â
He tells Mob that the kid has done some frankly amazing and wonderful things with his powers, and that itâs wrong for him to think that only bad things can ever come of them! Because Reigen has seen with his own two eyes the sort of good Mob can and HAS done.
Reigen reminds Mob that just because he has to be careful, doesnât mean he should hate himself for what he can do. That he shouldnât ignore the good heâs done in lieu of the bad.
Look, Iâm just so glad that Mob found someone like Reigen. I really am.
Five Times Shou Eats Something He Shouldnât (And 1 Time He Doesnât)
This is part 6 of a series based off the MiB AU! From bakanohealthy and qcatter Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
(And the one time he didnât)
The door swung open and Reigen greeted the two cheerfully and ushered Serizawa and Shou into his apartment.
âCome in, come in. You two know where the ice is.â And Reigen was so very thankful that bottomless pits like starchildren liked cheap plain old ice as a snack.
Serizawa smiled and looked around, noting the curious lack of other apartment dwellers. âAre we the first to arrive for movie night?â
âYep, Mob and his brother are doing something and they said that they wonât be here for another hour at least. And Hanazawa is probably seeing if he can manage to buy some snacks before we start.â Reigenâs smug grin made the edges of Serizawaâs lips twitch upwards as he tried to hide a chuckle behind his hand.
âDid you buy more rechargeable batteries?â Serizawa gave up trying to hide his mirth and smiled widely at Reigen.
âYep, along with a few other precautions to keep his thieving hands away from my stuff.â The words were harsh but Reigen said this jovially. So Serizawa continued to chuckle as Shou broke off from his side and shifted into his starform.
Reigen suddenly turned his gaze toward Shou, a slight smile still playing on his lips.
âHey Shou,â he waited calmly for Shou to turn his three eyes toward him, then Shouâs body twisted to face him as well. Shou cocked his head like a curious bird. Reigen handed the Starchild a box of four florescent lightbulbs. âDo you want to go around and doublecheck the ceiling lights for me? I thought I got them all, but I donât want to have to deal with getting the stepladder out again. Iâll even let you eat the extra lightbulbs that you bring back.â Reigen offered to sweeten the deal.
After using the test lamp with Hanazawa and hearing how he yelped and left the next lightbulb alone instead of scarfing down the lightbulb and the rest of the pack; Reigen happily bought enough to replace his entire apartment with them.
It was worth it if not to lose another lightbulb.
Even if he did have to give up the rest of his normal lightbulbs to the second bottomless pit that had so recently graced his home.
âCool!â Shou chirped happily, his bird whistles trailing off as he floated down the hallway to check all of the lights.
Reigen glanced over to Serizawa before clapping his hand to his shoulder. âDonât worry Serizawa Iâve got some ice cubes for you in the freezer. Iâll go grab them.â He smiled, figuring that Shou would take a bit of time hunting down all the light fixtures in his apartment. He decided to snag some pre-movie popcorn as well. âAnd popcorn.â
Serizawa had no desire to stand in the kitchen while the microwave was going so he decided to tail after Shou. He was certain that Shou would double-check every single socket in order to get some of what he claimed were treats, however Serizawa knew that Reigen wouldnât say no to a third set of eyes.
Shou had a headstart and so he meandered from room to room noting the new lightbulbs in every fixture and waited for Reigen to finish dumping the ice out of the trays.
Shou laughed as he found a third lightbulb that Reigen had missed and quickly substituted the old one for the florescent, eagerly tossing the older lightbulb into his mouth and crunching on the glass and filament.
Then he floated down towards Serizawa, grinning wildly. âWell I think thatâs all of them!â He chirped and again the sound of whistling birds filled the room.
âGood, Iâm sure Reigen will be happy to have kept Hanazawa from eating his lightbulbs. Letâs go back to the living room and we can set up camp there.â
Serizawa had turned and was about to leave when he noticed Shou was still holding the last florescent lightbulb. âOh and you can give that to Reigen, Iâm sure heâd appreciate the spare.â
âWhat? No way, he said that I could have the extras. So Iâm gonna eat it.â Shou squeaked like a guinea pig in his mirth, not seeing Serizawaâs puzzled frown.
âBut Shou-!â Serizawa cut himself off, reaching up to grab the lightbulb from the Starchild. Shou hovered confused and surprised. He had never seen Serizawa grab anything from him before.
âDonât eat this it-â Serizawa began before he was cut off by the weight of Shouâs starform pushing against him. The high pitched squeaks and whistling from earlier suddenly replaced by a much deeper growl. Serizawa reacted to the obvious demand in Shouâs noise.
His gentle waves began to become louder, rivaling Shouâs growling, as he struggled to keep the florescent lightbulb away from Shou.
Shou had tackled him to the ground but in the blink of an eye Serizawa had flipped their positions and used his smaller formâs density to his advantage. Serizawa sat on Shouâs back as the Starchild under him squirmed desperately, trying to find some sort of grip to get Serizawa off of him.
Meanwhile Serizawa psychically propelled the florescent lightbulb to the far end of the room.
Reigen walked into the room. He was greeted with the sight of a sunset colored struggling Shou pinned by Serizawaâs density.
He decided to glean the facts of the situation before he did anything more than lean against the doorframe. Because this was his life now. And if he going to walk in on two tussling starchildren he ought to know just why they were fighting.
Though it was more common to see Teruki and Shou fighting. Seeing Serizawa deciding to stand his ground made a thread of worry run through him.
âOkay, what happened in here?â
Shou answered with the growl of a pissed off house cat, squirming and writhing under Serizawaâs dense starform.
Then came Serizawaâs flustered reply. âErm, Shou was going to eat a florescent lightbulb and I know from experience that those hurt!â
Reigen was about to say that Serizawaâs answer didnât explain why the two were currently in their starforms, nor why Shou was trapped against his floor. But Shouâs voice snarled out a reply to Serizawa before he could even get the words to come together.
âWhat right do you have to tell me not to eat something? You get sick off a pack of batteries! Iâve eaten worse and been fine.â
Shou dug his clawed fingers into the wooden floor of the apartment. He was tired of being pinned to the floor. And Reigen cared about the state of his apartment so maybe he would tell Serizawa to get off of him.
However Serizawa merely shifted and tucked Shouâs arm underneath him before he could do any real damage. Â
âI remember being sick for two days!â Serizawa curled his tail around Shou protectively suddenly worried. âWhat do you mean youâve had worse?â Â
âExactly what I said. The florescent lightbulb just has a nice crunch with a lingering afterburn. Nothing like the microwaves.â Shou squeaked a little as tried to wiggle out from under the other starchild.
Even though Serizawa had three eyes, paws for hands and feet and very little to go off of for fascial expressions Reigen could see the look of utter disbelief that had overcome his friend.
âMicrowaves?â Serizawa choked out. âWhat possessed you to try eating a microwave?â
Even without his delicate stomach Serizawa knew full well that microwaves just screamed bad news. Even standing in front of a leaky one could be enough for their fuzzy clingy energy to rub off on you. Eating one was unthinkable.
âTry?â Came Shouâs insulted scoff. âExcuse you I ate two microwaves! We can eat anything. Sure it wasnât all that great at first,â Shou paused looking down at the floor for a moment before he looked back up, grinning fiercely like he had just won a race. âBut I figured out how to eat the second one!â Â
âShou thatâs- How are you- What I mean is-â Serizawaâs questions overlapped as he tried to spit all of them out from the jumbled mess inside of his head.
Reigen decided that as of the only other guardian of a starchild, that they knew of anyways, he would help his friend. And maybe get a few answers for himself too.
He knelt down so that he a little closer to Shouâs eye level and looked him in his three glowing eyes.
âShou why did you decide to eat a microwave?â Even Hanazawa the least picky being Reigen had ever met had balked at the idea of even thinking of eating Reigenâs microwave.
Shou glanced downwards, suddenly interested of the grain and the slight indent his hand had made on the floor. âIt was there. I found it. And then I ate it.â
âYou found it? What do you mean by that?â Reigen took a deep breath trying not to guess at what exactly Shou had meant by âfoundâ not until he had heard the boy out first. Even if he could imagine in horrifying clarity Shou eating things he had simply found tossed away on the curb.
Even stuck under Serizawa Shou squared his shoulders. âLook I didnât eat anything important, okay? Nobody wanted it. And we can eat anything.â
Reigen felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard the same four words that Shou had repeated to anyone who knew what he was. The first few times anyone caught him eating dirt covered rocks or pens empty of ink, he would always cackle with laughter and say âWe can eat anything!â Looking back now the once playful words were tinged with the new horror and sickening flop of his stomach.
Because Shou really did mean that he would eat anything.
Serizawa made a low pained noise, almost like a wave crashing over you while you were underwater.
âShouâŚâ He trailed off, unsure of what to say. He settled for just curled his tail more over Shouâs as if he were attempting to protect Shou from the memories of things that he had eaten.
And the worst part of it all was that he couldnât bring himself to scold Shou for eating such things- except for the microwave of course, no starchild in their right might would look at that tangled mess of energy and think it was a good idea. But eating things no one wanted?
Serizawa had worked for Touichirou for almost three years. He knew full well that the man did not like to share his food.
But he had fed Shou. Serizawa had seen it. So what drove Shou to such desperate measures?
The sounds of crashing waves filled the room as Shou squirmed again from underneath Serizawa.
âListen Shou, you donât have to eat things like microwaves anymore. Or whatever you find that people donât want.â Reigen said. And his voice was even and level, like he was around a skittish horse.
Shou frowned and all of his eyes got big and wide. Then he glanced down and away from Reigenâs gaze and spoke in a quiet hesitant voice. âThen what should I eat?â
And Reigenâs heart broke in his chest because if he was telling Shou that he didnât have to eat the scraps of things that no one cared about and Shou couldnât think of anything else to eat⌠It painted quite the picture that Reigen wished had never been dreamed up in the first place.
Serizawa made the sound of waves crashing under the water again and entwined his tail with Shouâs. Shou made no move to resist or push into Serizawa and that forced him to speak with one word almost blurring into the next with how quickly he spoke.
âShou weâll buy you a cartful of groceries or you can have some of my food or you can raid the kitchen like Hanazawa does with Reigen you donât need to eat garbage.â
Reigen nodded. âWe can feed you when youâre hungry, I mean look at me and Hanazawa. Surely you know that we can give you food, right?â If that last word was had a little bit more desperation in it than he wanted well no one had called him out on it.
âYeah, I know.â Shou said this with as much certainty as he had when he said that he could eat anything.
So why did Reigenâs stomach give an uneasy twist as he said those words?
âSo youâll come to us if youâre hungry?â Serizawa said hopefully, and Shou gave a wide practiced smile at the words.
âOf course.â
And so it seemed like that was that. But Reigen knew that he would be making sure the kid ate a lot more in the future. Even if he had to hand Shou the food plate by plate.
Then he looked at Shou again and resisted the urge to smack his forehead. âSerizawa.â He said, getting the otherâs attention immediately. Reigen made a small shooing motion with his hand as he pointed down to Shou.
âOh! Sorry Shou, here let me help you up.â He quickly jumped off of Shou and detwined their tails. Shou declined Serizawaâs offered hand and floated back into his upright position.
âNow, I know I have a bowl of ice in the kitchen, do you wanna go get that Shou and start snacking?â Reigen smiled brightly and Shou raced off towards the kitchen.
As he did so Reigen stepped closer to Serizawa, who had shifted back into human form and had a very morose expression on his face.
âI-Iâm sorry I didnât know I didnât realize I didnât, didnât think- And Shou he looked fine I-â Serizawaâs voice broke and Reigen slung an arm across his shoulders.
âHey, listen, I know. You didnât know. I know you want to go back and change the past, but whatâs done is done now.â Reigen gave his friend a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and smiled softly. âBut we can shape the future. Together. We can feed him ice and other better things on hand. And he knows that weâll feed him if he asks now.â
Serizawa smiled and reached up to hold the hand that was on his shoulder, squeezing Reigenâs fingers tightly. âThanks Reigen. Iâll remember that.â
Reigen smiled widely, and pulled the other into a hug. âWeâll figure this out, you and me both.â
Then Reigen heard the tell-tale sound of a piece of ice splattering onto the floor and he pulled away from Serizawa a half smile playing across his lips. âCome on, letâs go make sure Shou leaves enough ice for you too.â
Serizawa laughed quietly and followed Reigen into the kitchen.
(what is this? i fought my through my mostly healed carpel tunnel to write a fic for Mob Psycho 100?  You bet.  Or as I should say⌠things i want to see written: Let the Kageyama Brothers talk, auras, as many headcannons as i can fit, Ritsu has many reasons for hating Teru #1 more headcannons.  why did Mob not notice his own brother was now an Esper, and more!)
Mob was focusing on the equations in front of him.  Or, at least he was trying.  There was an odd tension in the air, like a stretch rubber band getting pulled to its limits.  He had already turned off his lights and moved to catch the fading light from the window, but the odd noise continued to chime in his head and he didnât want to ask his parents to turn off the TV.  Mom had washed the dishes herself after dinner, saying that even if Ritsu could unbend the spoons, it still made the metal weaker.  Oh, wait, that was it.  Tilting his head to catch the noise, not with his ears, but with his other senses Mob turned toward his brotherâs room.  Faint, like a wind chime across the street.  Definitely Ritsu now that Mob knew what to listen for.  Staring at the half finished worksheet in front of him with a slight crease in his brow Mob thought.  Right.  If X is the missing variable, and since you need to solve FOR X.  Wouldnât that make X the answer?  So instead of X/6+23=25.  We need XâŚby itself, so everything needs to be done backwards.  Scratching away at the problems and double checking his notes Mob pushed away the thoughts of Ritsu practicing his own abilities.  Ritsu already made so much progress.  Mob never thought about trying to un-bend the spoons.  The air cracked.  Twitching slightly Mob glanced at the window before frowned at the mark on his paper.
