"okay, now hold Y and suck up those tiny squares. they'll automatically go right into your backpack— er, inventory. you're basically looting the environment!"

it's rather intuitive for jiwon—whose imagination knows no bounds, for better or worse—but not everyone's brains are wired the same way. maybe it would help to give jin-ho a mission!

he presses the button as instructed, watching as the ditto - looking human takes his newly made squares.   ❛❛  this is different.  ❜❜   jin-ho doesn't often play these exploration farm type games, but he knows enough. usually anything he mines or collects just automatically goes into the inventory.

› prompts from rachel gillig's novel the knight and the moth (2025). feel free to tweak as you see fit , bartholomew.

❛ you don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you. ❜

❛ when you do the right thing for the wrong reason, no one praises you. ❜

❛ we all want to be special.”

❛ what is right and wrong depends entirely on the story you’re living in. ❜

❛ which is more intricate? the designs of men, trying to reach gods, or that of gods, trying to reach men? ❜

❛ people who love you for your usefulness don't love you at all. ❜

❛ you want to throw me down. ❜

❛ i, prideful, disdainful, godless. ❜

❛ i want to drag you into the dirt with me. ❜

❛ you know this story, (name,) though you do not remember it. ❜

❛ to tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn't it? ❜

❛ it's hard to see who i am when i am lost in what's expected of me. ❜

❛ fear not, (name!) every day has its dog. ❜

❛ if you only ever look up at something, can you ever see it clearly? ❜

❛ it is easier, swearing ourselves to someone else's cause than to sit with who we are without one. ❜

❛ take my hand, you strange little creature. ❜

❛ it sounds awful when i say it out loud. ❜

❛ you are more special than you realize. ❜

❛ i would do anything for you. ❜

❛ i cannot decide which i like best. the sunrise, or the sunset. ❜

❛ i was losing my faith in everything. ❜

❛ the two of us meeting… it felt almost divine. ❜

❛ i think her quite the bitch. ❜

❛ how undignified. ❜

❛ did anyone see me fall? ❜

❛ i want someone to see me. ❜

❛ i want it to be you. ❜

❛ no honor among thieves, and even less among gods. ❜

❛ i’ll do anything you ask of me. ❜

❛ if i were beside myself, there would be two of me ❜

❛ oh, (name.) he's dreamy. ❜

❛ do you want to know how it ends? ❜

❛ does it end? ❜

❛ it ends when you kiss me. ❜

❛ why do we do these things to ourselves? ❜

❛ you’re an incomparable fiend, (name.) a truly accomplished asshole. ❜

❛ i’d like you better if you were on your back again. ❜

❛ it is not like me to be the bearer of bad tidings. ❜

❛ am i all that you imagined? ❜

❛ your hands are marked by the blood of my metamorphosis. ❜

❛ whatever my soul was made of was frail. ❜

❛ violence is a craft. so is compassion. ❜

❛ no is a sufficient answer. ❜

❛ anger is a fine weapon. ❜

❛ now have some soup. ❜

❛ i will shoulder any weight you give me. ❜

❛ would that things were different. ❜

❛ i think i would like to stop promising myself away, or else there will be nothing left of me to give. ❜

ˋˏ °⋆˚𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘⋆˖° 　 　 　 𓏧 　 　 　 @absolutione ✿ ❚ ⋱ ↘ 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞 - 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 ( 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 ) .

" it isn't mine. "

　𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐈𝐓𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 ( … ) the plausibility of violence, the reality of ache. there is an ephemeral moment, no longer than a few seconds, where she almost forgets that she is meant to act: dark lashes flutter above the unnatural pallor of freckled cheeks, but her vision is both blurred and much too focused at the same time. her tremulous gaze trails many paths at once, from one crimson stain to the other, as if connecting each dot into the grotesque shape of a familiar albeit ensanguined constellation ; in their bloodied midst, she searches for the source of it all. a larger smear, any indication that an open wound is still copiously bleeding beneath the brittle cover of his shirt ...

but then he speaks, and the idol is suddenly dragged out of the dark depths where she had been helplessly drowning. her gaze finds its own, eyes of molten gold shadowed by the lingering remnants of doubt and concern ; for someone so little accustomed to violence, it is arduous to accept the existence of such a treacherous, cruel world. her hand reaches out, swift and demanding, hasted by the surging of a thousand feelings at once: the singer takes hold of his hand, giving him the gentlest tug. ❝ what happened to you ? are you⸻ are you really certain that you don't need to see a doctor ? ❞ and then, as if it was naught but an after - thought. ❝ oh, please come in ! do you need anything ? some water ? ❞

if he were into gambling at all he would probably be able to pull a winner's ticket with his luck   ⸻   his ability to escape ( mostly ) unscathed from dangerous situations is one that, in any other scenario, scientists would likely be interested in studying ... that is, if such a phenomenon were even real. to him it is though. it's very real.   ❛❛  i'm okay i think.  ❜❜   despite how horrible he must look he doesn't actually feel too bad. his joints ache and his head hurts, but those seem to be common problems for him anyway.   ❛❛  part of the stage ended up falling and some people got injured.  ❜❜   he can tell by her expression that words alone are not enough of a consolation given the circumstances, but he would rather not get any more blood on her than he already has by trying to give her a hug.   ❛❛  i'm fine, see ? and no one died.  ❜❜

her apartment is spotless and he feels guilty for the mess he has quite literally dragged in, grip on her hand tightening as he crouches down.   ❛❛  can i ... please have some water then ?  ❜❜   one half of him wants to ask if she has anything that will make the stinging in his brain subside, but he already has another request lined up that he considers to be more urgent.   ❛❛  and maybe use your washing machine too ?  ❜❜   he definitely can't go home looking like this   ⸻   his aunt would be on the phone with the medics before he could even open his mouth. at least the idol is giving him a choice on if he wants to see one or not.   ❛❛  sorry about all this. i'll clean up. i hope i'm not intruding or anything ... i just didn't know where else to go.  ❜❜

"okay, so you just— not like that. you have to look up first. no, that's too far up."

teaching is nothing new for jiwon. he instructs entire classrooms of children (and adults, on occasion) throughout the week, and he has yet to truly fail anyone. with enough time and patience, even the most novice student can achieve greatness. but something about jin-ho is.. different. maybe their brains tune in to different rhythms, or maybe they're each accustomed to distinct styles of learning. where jiwon thrives with open exploration and experimentation, jin-ho seems to seek out objectives and set timelines. but it's all going to be okay because pokopia combines the best of both worlds!