almost like a side effect

With the debrief of sorts over, the second serving of coffee goes down more quickly. [Detective Galileo]

The thought occurs to you during a smoke break in the office’s back alley, after you’ve handed over to the evening team. [Link Click]

Whatever brought you back to those ruins, whatever lent you the courage to bury that tattered corpse — whatever it was, it can’t stand up to your fear of the small creature now clawing itself out of the grave. [Kitarou Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo]

“And what makes you think this… friend of yours is worth the investment?” [To Be Hero X]

Hyunjoon’s just picked up his toothbrush when Hyungyu appears behind him in the bathroom mirror, like an unreasonably handsome ghost. [The Devil's Plan s2]

It’s a minor altercation. [For the Emperor]

The screen door slid open. [Mushishi]

Toki is dead, Toshokai is finished, and the man he once knew as Kanetaka is making breakfast in the kitchen. [Hell Dogs]

The clan leadership’s monthly meeting is rarely an occasion for excitement, which is how everyone prefers it. [Natsume Yuujinchou]

The autumn sky stretches vast and empty above the shore. [Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai]

[image description: mid-conversation at an exorcist gathering, natori and matoba are distracted by osada genji (from kitarou tanjou: gegege no nazo), a tall ponytailed exorcist who is also voiced by ishida akira]

[image description: younger nanase wears a frock coat with black lace cravat, cuffs and other embellishments; the matoba siblings (as schoolkids) look on, shinobu particularly starry-eyed]

thanks again to @reittu, this time for the idea of young goth nanase..! went with elegant gothic aristocrat(-ish??) style instead of EGL since nanase is often in suits or neutral wafuku during canon

i do have thoughts on nanase and shinobu and gender presentation/conformity but i'm putting them under a cut (not sure if they align with yours, sorry)

anon, i just want to say that this idea is super compelling and i kind of want to write serious fic about it after hexfest..!! i think teen-natori's prickly vulnerability might surprise natsume, and seeing matoba as a teen could humanise him further in natsume's eyes

but in the meantime please accept this:

[image description: taki and matoba have tea and cake at a cafe, surrounded by natori merch. matoba expounds at length on natori's current career trajectory]

how about both?

[image description: matoba holds a small cat against his shoulder; he and the cat both regard the viewer with not particularly friendly one-eyed stares]

[image description: matoba, crouching, extends a hand to a hostile cat which has a scar over its right eye. the cat gradually grows less tense, and eventually nudges up against matoba's hand instead]

[image description: photo of a matoba acrylic stand in front of a plate of fruit-topped pancakes]

on the first day of my trip, i bought a single blind mini acrylic stand, got matoba... then forgot to bring him out for photos when the youkai stretch of my trip began orz

anyway i'm 1) back, 2) grateful for the hexfest ideas received (i'm working on them!!), 3) looking for even more ideas ;_; please feel free to send asks, anon or otherwise!

(some photos from the youkai stretch under the cut... i missed such great opportunities)

[image description: at a fansign event, shuuichi turns to the next person in line and says: "thanks for coming! to whom should i address this autograph--"

seiji, smiling in some black-and-lace getup with veil, says: "kuromine misa, please"]

*passive-aggressive sparkling intensifies*

[image description: shuuichi and shinobu, in similar suits, sparkle at each other in a not particularly friendly way. in the background, seiji pretends he's not there]

[image description: teenage matoba holds one end of a paper shiki chain to his lips, smiling; teenage natori is unimpressed; urihime sideeyes them both]