the modern era was....overwhelming, to put it lightly. overwhelming and a place in which she did not belong. the lights far exceeded the brightness of the sun, the noise was as irritating as naraku's saimyosho and, above all else, it was too crowded. incapable of hearing herself even breathe, what could she do except leave? this city was not a village and the buildings offered little interest for her. what she craved was the woods. the tranquility of the silence the trees offered. a place to think and wonder: why am I alive again?
the strange object given to kikyō upon her resurrection (for what else could it be? she had made peace and yet she continues to live. ) is cast to the side. thrown upon the ground with no interest or care. whatever the wishes of these 'Stars' are, she cares not. there it rests upon the ground as the priestess moves to continue on, intent to walk until she escapes this wretched grouping of metal and living souls.
an unknown voice calls out to her, halting retreating steps. kikyō turns to spare a glance over her shoulder, eyes narrowed at the device held within the stranger's hands. the intention must be to return it. an honest one but pointless overall.
" Leave it. I've no use nor want for what this era holds."
the punch was, death couldn't help but note, the same shade of crimson of freshly spilled blood. swirling the large ladle through it absently also revealed it to be the same consistency of blood, that liquid and yet tacky pull. it was a good attention to detail, she had to admit. but then again, the entire place seemed to have been boiled down to the fine details, from the cobwebs in the corners to the spectacular outfits its attendees had arrived in. her own gown, of course, was no different, and she was being rather careful not to spill any of the red liquid on it as she sipped her goblet curiously. despite its appearance, it was a fruity flavor that bloomed across her tongue, pleasant and sharp. it was good enough, in fact, that it wasn’t long before the endless had managed to down the whole glass, and had begun to reach for the ladle again for a refill.
it was not the ladle’s slim handle she came into contact with, however, but rather the hand of another reaching for the punch.
❝ whoops! ❞ her voice was good-natured as she lifted her arm away, hand splayed in an act of surrender. ❝ you can go first. it is pretty good despite what it looks like, i promise. ❞
Really, Venti hadn’t been expecting his quiet mumbles of complaint to get him anywhere- it was more of a lamenting, really, for how he still felt the sisters’ eyes on his back in distaste.
“A replica?” Hm... it was possible. He’d have to get something that looked similar, but that would be the hardest part. He could easily imbue anemo energy into another lyre to give it close to the same feeling.
“I’m sure I can do that... but I don’t wish for you to be in trouble for it.” A sigh. “The illusion is going to wear off soon enough, and they’ll realize it was never truly fixed, you know.”
I've seen people say terf rhetoric is any hatred of men and I've seen people say terf rhetoric is anything transphobic said by anyone. the refusal to actually engage with the reality that terfism is primarily focused on oppressing trans women is in itself a form of transmisogyny. yes they hate all trans people, but it is quite easy to see who they primarily target with their words, actions and policies, you just don't want to care about trans women. claiming someone is a man hater doesn't mean you get to call them a terf or a radfem, thats an obvious, willfull dilution and denial of what terfs are.
this actually makes me so happy because we very rarely see purely platonic m/f friendships especially with this belief in society that ALL opposite gender friends have to have a crush on eachother
"Great!" Danny says, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. The dinner table falls silent as everyone looks towards him. It's a full house today and, honestly, Danny's a little nervous. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here today."
"It's dinnertime. In our house." Duke mutters, while doing a very bad job of concealing his yawn. He holds his fork poised over the braised beef, but, just like everyone else, still looks towards Danny before tucking in. It's intriguing enough to wait.
"Yeah, no one misses Alfie's dinner." Dick says, with a brilliant smile that Danny can't help but return.
"Precisely! What better time to talk to you all than when you're all actually here!"
"Wait, I thought you came round to work on our English essays?" Tim asks, blinking owlishly.
"I'm afraid I've lured you here under false pretences, Tim."
"This is where I live."
"I would still really appreciate help on that essay though, I mean, what the hell is Hamlet even about? I just don't get that old time-y language, like 'Hark! A ghost hath killed me!' - absolute rubbish, what does that even mean?"
"The ghost never kills anyone in Hamlet, he's there to tell Hamlet that he was murdered. Have you actually read it?"
"No, but it sounds like you have. Tim, I want this guy to help me with my essay instead. I know for a fact that you haven't read Hamlet, either."
"So? We don't need Jason, I've read the Sparknotes."
"Hi Jason, I'm Danny, pleasure to meet you, summarise Hamlet in three sentences or less."
"Am I auditioning to help you write your essays? I can't believe you’ve gone through your whole school life without reading it, it’s good!"
"Hamlet, along with a number of other classics, was banned in our house because it portrayed ghosts as intelligent and sympathetic beings rather than evil, animalistic beasts. I didn’t even get to see The Muppet's Christmas Carol until last year with Tim! It was surprisingly good, and I hate Christmas because everyone always argued and it sucked. But we're getting off topic. I—"
"No, no, please go back to that, because what the fu—"
"Boys, please." Bruce interrupts, looking to the world as if he wants to hang his head in his hands. "Danny, you were about to say something?"
"Oh, yeah, Mr. Wayne! Thanks!"
"Please, call me Bruce."
"Well, that very succinctly brings me to my point, because I'd actually really like to call you dad."
Nobody says a word. Nobody even blinks, all as shocked as the other, watching open-mouthed as Danny pulls his laptop out from beside his chair. Bruce can definitely feel a headache coming on.
"Before you say anything, I've prepared a 69 slide PowerPoint presentation on why you, Bruce Wayne, should adopt me, Danny Last-Name-Pending. Please save your questions, comments, and verdict until the end, thank you."
death crouched, one arm draped across her thighs while the elbow of her other rested on her knee, in an effort to better support the way her upturned palm cradled her chin. it brought her closer to the grimy asphalt beneath her boots, but the endless paid it no mind in favor of keeping her attention on the boy in front of her. sweat-damped blonde hair and an ashen complexion was all she needed to see to know that he was ill, the kind of ill that forced one to sit on the aforementioned grimy asphalt. death was intimately familiar with illness, had cradled many souls racked with the pain of it, and had eased many passings through it. it was for this fact that she knew that whatever was ailing the boy was not fatal, although clearly uncomfortable if the grimace on his face had anything to say about it.
and although technically outside of her realm of responsibility, that didn’t mean she couldn’t offer her help, however unwelcome it might be based on his response to her earlier question. his hostility was evident, but that had never deterred death before, and it was an easy decision to hold to her habit in her current situation. ❝ well, ❞ she reasoned, her tone even, ❝ you might not need it, but it seems like you’re a little worse off without it. ❞ her head tilted, eyes softening even as a warm smile curled the edges of her mouth.
❝ i can help, you know, if you’ll let me. i promise i don’t bite. ❞