#Which I have no doubt will make his job a bit more complicated

[loofwoof]

Takao endings tend to be meh compared to Kazu and Masamune

Yet you can literally ruin his life if:

Kazu is dead.

You have a bad relationship with Masamune or don't pick his diamond scene in ep 9.

Mei having a limp and Takao losing his eye make this end more poetic to me because they are mirroring each other's scars. Bonus point because both lost someone important in this ending, so it's no wonder they are vulnerable toward each other in this particular ending.

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

Hii dillo! I was wondering if you've talked about the gang and their opinions getting married and whatnot, and if you haven't, could you? Thanks a bunch 🫶

A/N: I don't think I've ever done anything like this, so I hope you enjoy it! They're a little repetitive maybe, but I tried my hardest :)

DARRY CURTIS

I think Dare’s pretty open to the idea of marriage! Especially if he were to find the right person, he’d definitely consider getting down on one knee and popping the question

He’d be hesitant, at least a little bit, no matter how perfect or awesome he thinks you are because he knows his life is a little complicated and he’s not too sure if he really wants to drag someone into that

Like it’s one thing to be dating somebody and have the wild lifestyle Darry has, working multiple jobs to take care of his brothers and looking out for the rest of the boys in the gang, but it’s a whole other thing to actually be married into that

When he does propose though, I’d bet a lot of money that he would use his mama’s old ring cause ya know, it’s got that big sentimental value to him

I don’t think he’d have a big flashy proposal or even a big flashy wedding, just something sort of subdued and private so it’s a big moment for the two of you mostly, not a moment for everyone else-

His best man would probably be Sodapop, I’m thinking probably, I just love the idea of the two of them standing next to each other at the end of the aisle  

SODAPOP CURTIS

Sodapop is incredibly pro-wedding, and I mean incredibly pro-wedding, he wants absolutely nothing more than to have a nice wedding and settle down with the one he loves

I’m talking like- y’all could be dating for two weeks at most and you just do something small and sweet like bring him lunch at work and this boy’s hearing wedding bells and making plans

He just really loves you ya know? He loves hard and he falls fast and from the moment he sees you for the first time, he can picture his whole life with you, I’m not even joking

If y’all remember Sandy, if you care about Sandy at all or don’t remember her, I don’t really know, but I think she’d have a big impact on how he looks at marriage, especially if you’re the first person he’s going with after her

Like he’d be absolutely head over heels for you, but he’d hold back a little more in the relationship because he doesn’t wanna be hurt like that again

The hesitation wouldn’t last long, because he’s Sodapop and he’s like that, but if something went wrong, he’d remember the Sandy drama and be a little concerned about your future 

PONYBOY CURTIS

Imma start off by saying that Ponyboy is honestly a little too young to be spending his time concerned about marriage and honestly probably doesn’t spend much time planning a future wedding

This boy has his head in the clouds most of the time or his nose tucked in a book so I doubt marriage his high on his priority list, but I think he’d want to get married eventually

Similar to Sodapop, Ponyboy’s quick to fall for someone, which is something he’s not proud of, but like- he can develop a crush in about two seconds flat and be hopelessly pining over you within an hour of seeing you for the first time

But, he’s not gonna start wedding planning until a long while, he’s less concerned with figuring out what kind of wedding you’re going to have and more concerned on trying to get you to go out to the movies with him on Friday night

And even though it’s a long way away, Ponyboy knows he’s not going to have a big deal wedding, it’s probably just going to be a small affair either in his hometown or yours

His side of the room is probably gonna be filled with greasers and a few school friends he’s made over the years, but ya know, either way, it’s gonna be a really sweet wedding and he’s gonna make it all soft and sweet <3 

DALLAS WINSTON

To those of you who are fans of Dally…well, I apologize, cause bein’ honest with y’all, marriage isn’t a high priority on this boy’s list-

You could be dating for a million years, living in the same place, falling asleep and waking up next to each other every day, and getting married wouldn’t probably ever cross his mind unless you said something about it

Dal’s not anti-marriage per se, he just doesn’t see the need for it, especially if things are going just fine between the two of you, ya know? Why risk what you’ve got for something you don’t really need?

Most of his hesitations come from a minor fear of commitment and also just a general lack of care for doing things the traditional way, but the commitment problems do play a part in that, he’s afraid of tying himself down and dragging you down with him

If you did get married? It’d be down at the courthouse with the boys watching over you, teasing you both mercilessly the whole time

Also! When he gets hauled in and you show up to bail him out, he will refer to you as if you were married because sometimes he likes to be an asshole and mess with the officers who’ve tossed him in jail

JOHNNY CADE

Getting married? With you? Yeah, he’d consider going out and getting married and stuff, but it’d take him a very, very, very long time to work up to it, not dragging his feet, just trying to figure out if it’s worth it 

Not ‘cause of you, just ‘cause he’s seen what can happen in marriages, look at literally everyone’s parents, and he’s worried about that becoming the two of you guys, he loves you too much for that to happen, ya know?

Also because he’s like- way nervous- the boys have to constantly tell him that they’re pretty confident you’re gonna say yes when Johnny pops the question (sometime in the far future folks, he’s just a child)

Ironically, it’ll probably be Dally that final gets through to him, Mr. Almost-Anti-Wedding himself, mostly because he’s tired of Johnny stressing himself over a proposal you’re probably definitely going to say yes to

So eventually, he might ask you, but it’s gonna be a real private proposal, just the two of you. And the wedding wouldn’t be anything fancy either, probably down to the courthouse with the rest of the folks and then going out to celebrate afterward at the Curtis household

He’d be a good husband, I think, because after all, what is the position of a husband but that of a glorified boyfriend?? Johnny is a great boyfriend! He’d be a good husband!

TWO-BIT MATHEWS

Despite the hot mess of his parent’s marriage, Two-Bit does wanna get married and I think he’d start thinking about marrying you from the get-go, I’m talking as soon as he laid eyes on you, he knew you two were gonna get hitched-

Does he have any sort of solid plan? Absolutely not. He just knows he’s head over heels for you and is willing to get married whenever you want to say yes to him

Like he’s regularly gonna ask you to marry him but it’s more in that way of, you did something nice and he looks at you with heart eyes and asks you to marry him

Two’d really love a white picket fence life I think, or at least, he’d think about settling down with you one day, coming home to you every night, waking up in the same bed as you every morning, maybe raising a few kids, having a dog or two-

He’s not in a real rush to get married though, as enthusiastic as he is about it, he’s willing to wait until whenever you wanna go and get married, though he might hit you with a promise ring at some point in the game

The wedding wouldn’t be anything too fancy, just your people and his people, all gathered together to become one big family, he’d probably have one of the boys as his best man and his little sister would definitely be your flower girl if she was young enough still when y’all got married 

STEVE RANDLE

Similar to Two-Bit, he doesn’t have great experience with marriage, Steve’s parent’s relationship is kind of rocky to say in the least and he doesn’t have a great foundation to base it on, but he’d love to get married

His biggest fear about being married to be honest, is turning into his father, but he knows, deep down that he’s not ever gonna end up like that guy 

The only thing stopping him from getting married is finding someone to get hitched to, ya know? But along came you and…well we all know you guys are gonna be endgame

Steve and Sodapop, out of all the boys, are definitely the most likely to be the youngest to get married, if they’ve found someone to marry, neither of them see any reason to delay it any longer?

I’m getting this mental image of you swinging by the DX to drop off lunch for Steve or something, maybe you just came by to say hi, and some guy had been eyeing you, asking Steve who you are, and Steve’s like “My future spouse, actually”

You’d have a nice little wedding, maybe just a courthouse affair, but it’d be real sweet and he’d clean up just for you, no grease or motor oil in sight, his hair combed back all swirly and stuff, he just looks real good

TIM SHEPARD

Now I’ve got tons of opinions about a married Tim Shepard, mostly because I’ve talked about a married Tim Shepard at length with a very dear friend of mine (hello to Sophie, one of my bestest buds)

But anyway, Tim would totally get married, just as long as he found someone worth getting married to, but it’d take him a while until he finally asks, he takes his time, takes it slow, and doesn’t really rush into it

Most of his hesitation is just his assumption that maybe you don’t wanna get married, or maybe you weren’t gonna stick around forever, and he’s real worried about pulling you into his world, worried that you’re not gonna like staying

Especially cause like- he knows he’s got it rough, he lives on the rougher side of town, runs a gang for crying out loud, he knows he can’t always give you everything that you might want, but he’d sure try, and he’d do whatever he could to make you happy

When you guys get hitched, Curly would be his best man, no doubt in my mind, and he’d have Angela on his side too if she isn’t already standing on your side of the ceremony

He doesn’t really want a big fancy ceremony or anything? Whatever you want is more than fine to him, he just wants to marry you, he doesn’t care how it happens as long as you’re happy with it 

CURLY SHEPARD

Curly’s one of the ones who everyone thought was never gonna get married and settle down with somebody, but from the second he started bringing you around, everyone knew it’d only be a matter of time before you two got married

He wasn’t too sure about getting married at first? Didn’t have any sort of attachment to the idea or plans for getting married, but he changed those plans when you two got together

Curl’s absolutely obsessed with you from the get-go and the first time Tim meets you, he knows that there’s going to be a wedding at some point for the two of you, everyone sees it coming

Again, his parent’s marriage kinda sucked, but Curly’s one for taking stuff his own way and he was determined not to screw up your marriage either, even though he knows not everything is going to be perfect

When you get married, it’s definitely not going to be anything big or fancy or anything, but it’s going to feel like a real special day because it is a real special day and I’m gonna be honest with you, you’re going have a great time with everyone there

Curly sees you for the first time and he cries, not full-out crying but his eyes tear up quite a bit and Tim teases him about it for the rest of his life because who knew such tough hoods were really softies?

[haine-kleine]

dunno if I should call this a headcanon or a theory and I know Horikoshi just went with what looked cool but the more I think about Dabi's initial design when he came to the League in the context of what we learned about him and what we saw happen to him during the second war, the less sense it makes that his body was already in that state.

according to the anime, he was learning by watching Endeavor's videos online. before Sekoto, he wasn't learning from any source at all and went about his training intuitively, but after Sekoto I strongly doubt he would be actively practicing his quirk, for a multitude of reasons. his body was still healing from the skin transplantation, the trauma associated with accidentally burning himself to death, plainly not having a place to train a fire quirk, which tend to be flashy and to use your quirk in public, having a provisional license is required, otherwise he risks getting arrested. he did a very good job staying out of the public's eye for the 7 years since he escaped AFO, who was also implied to be unaware of Touya surviving for so long.

so as far as we know, all he did for those 7 years is lay low and be very online. which makes his remark to Spinner hilarious ngl, at least Spinner sprung up to action as soon as he saw something that had inspired him, while Dabi had spent 7 whole years sitting on his very personal trauma and not going to therapy.

when Giran brings him to Shigaraki, he doesn't share any information about Dabi save for him being very invested in Stain's ideology. no criminal records, maybe, but not even a word of his absurdly strong quirk? no mentions of arson at all? they did discuss Toga making it to the news, so Dabi being left out like that was a bit weird in the context of the conversation, like him seeking out Stain's contacts was enough reason to let him join the League. he won't be useful to you, Shigaraki, but he's got the spirit. please take him in, he has nowhere else to go?

if you really look at the way Dabi uses his quirk until MVA, it's noticeable how he seems to have no idea what he is doing. there's no technique, no finesse to his moves, just throwing out huge blasts of fire with his hands and hoping for the threat to leave him alone.

when Shigaraki attacked him (fully provoked) his reaction was too slow to summon any flames at all, and if it weren't for Kurogiri, that would have been it for Dabi.

When he is fighting Geten and starts going beyond his limit, he scares himself with the increased fire output. because, yup, overusing his quirk by accident was the source of his trauma.

the databook puts his technique as the weakest of his stats. his power is huge and eventually allowed him to become the strongest fire quirk user in the BNHA universe, but his technique was extremely lacking.

all of the above just doesn't paint the picture of someone who has been consistently mastering his quirk for 7 years. rather, it gives the picture of someone who had just started using his quirk for the first time in years, having background training from his childhood.

it's not even that Dabi isn't hardworking as hell or doesn't have the potential to be trained, because he's a complete opposite. continuously going beyond his limit, despite his own body getting in his way, mastering Enji and Shouto's complicated techniques they have worked for weeks/months/years on in a matter of minutes after just observing it. surely, he has been watching Enji and learning the way his father uses his quirk for years, but putting theory to practice? i doubt he even had the chance, before joining LOV.

he had to wait, because starting to actively use his quirk sets the clock into motion, counting down the time he has left. he is like a candle, destroying himself with his fire, until nothing is left at all. he had to make sure his plan of revenge will have a chance to succeed before fully committing to the 'Dabi' route, a slow and agonizing process of cremating himself by continuously using his quirk. because when he really starts using his quirk for long stretches of time? this is what happens to him.

to conclude this post, I know why the final design was chosen (because it's cool as fuck) but after analyzing the crucial points of Touya's story and his relationship with his quirk, I really think him joining the League with post-coma design would have made more sense. once he had started really using his quirk, his body would slowly degrade to the state Dabi's was in, because his fire literally melts his skin. but his body already having 40% surface third degree burns, when he didn't even use his quirk the entire time, perfectly holding up up until the first war arc and then quickly starting to burn down? idk, seems a bit inconsistent?..

anyway, i love the concept of Dabi's skin slowly and inevitably burning down after he had joined the League. him losing more and more skin until there's barely anything left, when he reveals himself to his father and is bitter at the lack of recognition, because burning himself to the point of being unrecognizable was one of the many sacrifices he had made to be finally seen by Endeavor.

also, more of this. because this was bittersweet as hell

[necrotic-nephilim]

Psst this makes no sense timewise but fucky Stephjay where teenage Jason briefly worked for Cluemaster to pay for food/rent.

I doubt Jason would be a drug runner as a kid but I can see him as a lookout or maybe bodyguard/errand boy for the Browns.

YOUR MIND MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD

Jason working for Cluemaster is *so* good, my god. especially if Jason doesn't want to be there and doesn't like it, but he has no other option to pay the bills (i think this would be a fun AU to keep Catherine alive in, maybe he's trying desperately to pay medical bills to ensure she keeps getting medication she needs which makes him even more desperate for money and willing to do things he wouldn't normally) so he starts working for small time villains, ones he thinks won't be as bad as Joker or the like. which lands him as a goon for Cluemaster and somehow, he's either useful or interesting enough to Arthur that he decides to keep promoting Jason. until one day, he offers a very high pay raise for Jason to look after Steph. it's not necessarily that Arthur cares about Steph or her mother, but he does care about his reputation so when someone threatens his family, he needs to save face.

i think this could be fun to explore before Jason becomes Robin (maybe making him Robin a *little* later just so he and Steph have a significant time together as teenagers). and Jason ends up sort of close to this spunky, angry kid of Arthur Brown who calmly tells Jason she is going to do everything in her power to get her father behind bars and she's sorry but not sorry if and when that lands Jason out of a job. bc maybe she's suspicious of Jason first, bc what kind of guy willingly works for Cluemaster, but then, as she learns more about where he is in life, she Gets it. she understands bc she sees the shady things her own mother, Crystal does to get by under Arthur's thumb.

when Jason vanishes bc he becomes Robin, Steph is disappointed but she gets it. Bruce Wayne suddenly publically has a new ward and hell, Steph can't blame a guy for taking that chance bc that kind of money will *definitely* help Catherine. Steph's life goes on with her father being her father.

it's a bit unrealistic but. i sort of like the idea that when Jason dies, Bruce is so caught up in grief and funeral proceedings and anger that he sort of forgets about Catherine. and Steph will be damned if Catherine Todd is forgotten about and left to rot as a childless mother. i'd love to write Steph and Crystal finding the money to manage to keep Catherine afloat as well and Steph getting really close to Catherine bc of it. also would be fun if Steph becomes Spoiler partly in honor of Jason bc (not knowing he was Robin) she wants to do the good he never got to.

and THEN the fucked up-ness of it all that Steph finds out Jason was Robin when she takes up the torch and so quickly dies afterward she never fully gets to process how she feels about that. how to handle her pride in Jason for getting to be more than what he was versus her anger at Bruce for letting him die. and on the horrible flip side, Jason comes back and finds out Bruce let another kid die as Robin, and that kid was *Steph*. he finds out it was Steph who kept his mom alive, Steph who died in a mantle that should've ended with Jason and he's even angrier at Bruce. i do think he'd kill Black Mask in a slow, painful way to avenge her since clearly, Bruce can't.

and then Steph comes back and there's all the complicated feelings i just. oh your brain this is such a good idea i want to write it so bad. anything that explores connections Jason and Steph could've had before Bruce because they truly deserve to be more entangled than they already are. let them be weird about each other DC.

[actual-changeling]

Do you think Crowley would be more emotionally open without Aziraphale? I’ve never thought about it, but I’ve just read the tags of your last ask and now I’m really interested

Short answer? Yes, absolutely.

Long answer? Also yes, but it's complicated. <- past me was correct, this got very long, my apologies.

What-if scenarios are always part canonical evidence/part subjective interpretation, because the only Crowley we know is the one who spent six thousand years orbiting Aziraphale.

Still, there was a pre-Aziraphale him, up until Job I presume, which is when they started being lonely together, and we do see what they were like!

The Starmaker is his 'before', the being he was before the doubt, the war, the fall. Before hell and the garden and Aziraphale. She is the blueprint the Crowley we know is built on. In the short time we have with her, she's incredibly emotive—with both positive and negative emotions—and her body language is soft, almost fluid.

Showing emotions is simply a natural part of being a person, and what exactly that looks like obviously varies; but this angel has never been punished for doing so. There are no consequences, it's safe to exist however she wants (though not much longer).

After this, we get Crawley what I assume is more or less a short amount of time after the fall. Everyone got settled in hell, and once the institution was functional, they now needed to actually have humans running around on earth. Otherwise there are no souls to torture.

Even here, Crawley is still open, still smiling, still soft, although a bit more covert in their body language. She laughs and—this is the important part—questions God right on there on the walls of Eden.

Even after falling for asking question, she does not stop, not for one moment. Despite the trauma they undoubtedly must have gone through, Crawley sees an angel, slithers up to him, and strikes up a conversation, trusting that he will not hurt them.

Now, this is where subjective interpretation comes in, because we have no information of what the fall was actually like. They got punished for asking question, for rebelling, for trying to change the system—but in my opinion, they never got punished for having emotions.

In the modern day, angels are terrified of making mistakes or asking question, but they are still emotive, they physically express their feelings. Some are more intense in their expressions, others subdued, but from Muriel all the way to Gabriel, they talk about emotions, they show emotions, and that in of itself is not a crime.

Hell is just as—if not more—emotional than heaven. Just remember Hastur when Ligur was melting and then later during the trial, or Beelzebub when ze summons Crowley in the first episode.

Yes, they communicate in code a lot, but only when it comes to very specific kinds of information and interactions, not when someone is going insane over the blaring alarm.

Why does all of this matter?

Because it proves that the level of emotional suppression Crowley and particularly Aziraphale have reached is not taught by either heaven or hell.

Instead, just like Aziraphale's claims that 'heaven is watching', it is a rule system instated by himself for himself, and by extension for Crowley; he set the requirements for interaction and forced Crowley to meet them if he wanted to be around him.

We don't see Crowley laugh the way he did as Bildad or the Starmaker anymore, we never see him carefree or joyous or sad. I mean for fuck's sake, he HIDES behind his glasses, a physical manifestation of the repression he's caught in.

Humans wouldn't notice his eyes in the same way the police doesn't notice them at the convent in Tadfield. The glasses show up during Job, and we know Crowley already had a plan to go against orders, so glasses it is. However, he doesn't wear them during the crucifixion, which comes after Job. Crowley tells us she spent a lot of time with Jesus, so you'd expect her to be wearing them, but she isn't—whatever her relationship with Jesus was, she seemed to trust him a lot, and Aziraphale wasn't around.

Aziraphale is the one who demands silence, who never wants to talk about anything he himself hasn't approved as a 'safe' topic, he and his fucking forgiveness whenever Crowley questions God, calling him a demon and pushing him away whenever he openly shows affection towards Aziraphale.

So yeah, of course Crowley cannot regulate his emotions and has no idea how to express himself now, Aziraphale has shoved a gag down his throat for six thousand bloody years and still wants it to stay in place. Our closed-off Crowley would not exist without Aziraphale's continuous presence in his life, and that is a hill I am more than willing to die on.

Crowley is getting his heart broken in the worst, most violent way imaginable both times. But now? His face is stone and steel, one third of it hidden away behind black-out glasses. No tears, no words, no desperation, no flying hands or fluidly moving body.

This is the kind of person you become when someone else forces you to make yourself small, when emotions are punished and affection withheld until you act the way they want. It's horrible, it's unhealthy, and it destroys parts of yourself that you will never get back, no matter how hard you try.

So, in conclusion, yes, without Aziraphale's influence, Crowley would be softer, more open, and we would still see remnants of the Starmaker in him—but we don't.

[sunflowersandsapphires]

Make a Mistake

Wake Up, Chapter 6

Series Masterlist           Next Chapter

pairing: Matt Murdock x fem!reader 

summary: In an attempt to stop the advances of an unwanted suitor, Matt Murdock accidentally condemns you to being his fake girlfriend.

warnings: smut-adjacent towards the end (steamy kissing), swearing

a/n: This chapter was so much fun to write! I tried to unpack Matt’s insecurities a little bit and I had so much fun with that. As always, like, reblog, respond, and request if you have feedback!!

w/c: 3.6k

It had been a few weeks since you survived an attempted mugging, the pain in your head having mostly faded. 

Matt had stayed with you at your place for the entire weekend, reluctantly departing for work on Monday—though he diligently checked in on you every hour. Your boss has been more than sympathetic to your situation, giving you a few days off and letting you work from home until you’d fully recovered. 

During that time, you were hesitant to be left alone. While you barely remembered the encounter itself, the fear surrounding it was still very present as you went about your days. Matt had become your anchor (to a higher degree than he already was, you supposed.) 

You replayed your foggy memories of that night over and over in your head, thinking back to how Matt had knocked a man unconscious to help you. Though, from what you knew about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, he was pretty practiced at that. 

After you pieced together the trail of clues he’d unknowingly left you, you began to care more about the public’s view of the vigilante, for obvious reasons. It had become a new obsession of sorts. Reading newspaper articles about the various criminals he had stopped, looking at images of “sightings” online, rabidly defending him in online forums against trolls. 

While others might feel betrayed or disgusted by Matt’s secret, you felt…awe struck. 

This man was devoting every single minute of his life to the people of the city that needed help. The people that needed him. He had saved hundreds of lives, including yours. He had almost died. Multiple times, according to some sources. You’d have to ask someone about what the fuck had happened at Midland Circle, though you doubted anyone would be forthcoming with the story. 

The knowledge of Matt’s alter ego made you want him even more, which was really complicating your role as his fake girlfriend. As was the fact that this sweet, savior of a man was now spending damn near every night at your place to make sure you felt safe enough to fall asleep. 

Sheepishly thinking back to the night two weeks ago when you’d called him sobbing after a concussion-induced nightmare, you couldn’t help but smile at the thought that he cared about you enough to check on you daily after that. In fact, you were expecting him soon for your weekly dinner, which he had promised would turn into another night at your place. For your security, of course. 

Groaning and dropping your face into your hands, you cursed your crush-happy little heart. Here you go getting attached to the man that you were in a fake relationship with. This was bad. Your feelings could jeopardize everything! And Matt didn’t deserve that. The poor man was working another job after coming home from the office and you were begging him to spend time on you for, what, comfort? Sure, you weren’t stopping his nightly activities from happening—if the way he leapt out your window after you had fallen asleep was any clue—but you weren’t exactly making his life easier. 

‘And you should be making his life easier’, you scolded yourself. All this man does is help others. He deserves to have someone looking after him for a change. Hell, he deserves a whole team of people to look after him, but if you needed to act as a one-man army, you could do that. 

A knock shook you from your thoughts. Putting your anxiety on hold, you went to retrieve Matt at the door. 

Picking at your dinner as your nerves tied your stomach in knots, you faked a smile and asked “How was your day, Matty?”

“Not bad. We got the charges on the Jones case dropped. Dismissed with prejudice.” 

“Oh Matt, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!!” Slipping your arms around him, you squeezed tightly. “Shouldn’t you be out celebrating?” 

“Eh, I was tired. Besides, a bar wouldn’t really be good for your head just yet and I don’t want to give you a migraine.”

You shook your head at him, smiling. “We aren’t sewn together, you know. You should've gone without me!” You gave his shoulder a light shove. 

Matt simply shrugged, burying himself in your hair. “I don’t want to go anywhere without you, anymore.” 

The statement caught you off guard, but before you could blurt out a response, he stammered. “I—I mean, you’re my girlfriend to the public. So it’s best if we spend a lot of time together around other people, is what I meant.” 

Your heart sank. “Yah. No, yeah that makes sense.” You were quiet for a moment while you debated whether to be honest with him about your growing affection. After a bit of deliberation, you choked out “How did you get the charges dropped? I thought that case was a disaster.” Cringing internally at your cowardice, you pulled away from Matt and back into your own seat. 

Matt frowned, hands clenching momentarily before his expression evened out. “The court's error was big enough for us to turn their main argument on its head. The judge didn’t think the case was worth the time after that, I guess.” He gave a mirthless chuckle, staring at his lap. 

“Good thing you discovered that error then!” You squeezed his knee and his expression brightened a little. 

“I did the easy part. It was all Foggy and Karen, really.” 

“Well, you’re a team! So of course they would—“ you tried to reassure him but Matt interrupted. 

“Honestly, I’m shocked they still want to work with me. I rarely pull my weight. They’re both so kind and devoted and I’m…I’m a mess.” 

You looked at him in disbelief, gently taking his hand in your own. “What do you mean, darling? How are you a mess?” 

Biting his lip, he refused to turn into your gaze. “I just— we won today but I felt so…ashamed. Like everyone was giving me all this credit for something I didn’t do. I feel like that a lot of the time.” He closed his eyes, body deflating. 

“Oh, Matt,” You cupped his cheek to try to bring him out of self-deprecation mode, but he wasn’t ready to step out of it yet. 

“And it’s not just work, I mean I have no idea why you haven’t run for the hills yet. I’m overbearing and temperamental and selfish. I just take and take and most people realize that and cut me off— but somehow there are some people that don’t seem to care that I’m bleeding them dry. But I can’t pull away because…I need it now. So I just sit here and take the credit and pretend that I’m helping, but I’m not.” To your horror, his eyes became glassy. 

“You are helping.” You began firmly. “And you are allowed to need help yourself, darling.” You tenderly gripped his nape, stroking the skin underneath his jaw with your thumb. “We haven’t ‘run for the hills’ because we care about you too. And, as much as you want to deny it, you are incredibly patient and sweet and thoughtful.” 

“But I—“ 

“Darling, I’m more than willing to hear you out, but I want you to acknowledge that this is just a flare up of your imposter syndrome and a side effect of your crippling Catholic guilt. Is there anything that you could be doing that would satisfy you? Or would you still be critical of yourself for not doing ‘more’?” 

Matt sighed, leaning into you and resting your foreheads together. You brushed some hair away from his forehead and gave it a firm kiss before letting it fall against yours once more. 

“I am honored that you trust me enough to talk to me about this, and your feelings deserve to be heard and acknowledged, but you have to cut yourself some slack sometimes. Have you ever had a moment where you felt that you were enough?” You posed the question as precariously as possible, but Matt still felt emotion well up in his throat. 

“No.” His soft voice cracked on the admission. 

“Why not?” You pressed, still stroking his warm skin. 

“Because…because—“ he drew in a ragged breath. “I’m just not enough. I’m just not and I never will be.” 

“And I can absolutely relate to how you’re feeling right now, but have you ever had a personal reason for feeling this way, or is it because it’s what you’ve been told?” 

Matt hadn’t revealed much to you about his childhood, but you knew that it hadn’t been filled with love or validation. As someone who had also lacked those things growing up, you expected his guilt and shame surrounding what he wasn’t doing stemmed from never being good enough for others. 

“Matty, darling,” you continued as he stayed silent, your concern and curiosity growing. “When was the last time you felt appreciated by someone close to you” 

“Um…probably last week when you—“ 

“Someone besides me, love.” 

Matt held his breath, wracking his brain for an answer that would appease you, but he couldn’t find one. 

“I don’t know.” A tear finally slipped down his cheek and you brushed it away. 

“Do you feel good when people do appreciate you?” 

Matt nodded against you. “Yah. I know I don’t deserve it but…”

“Matthew Michael Murdock, of course you deserve it.” You chastised, but your words held no real anger. “I know it’s hard to believe when you hear it so rarely but you are wonderful. And if I have to convince you of that all by myself, I will.” You repositioned yourself so that you were in his lap, running your fingers along his scalp, foreheads remaining glued together. 

“You are so compassionate. Everything you do is for someone else. I don’t know many people who would think about dropping their evening plans to console a friend after a nightmare once, let alone consistently care for them for weeks after.” 

“See? Overbearing.” Matt interjects and you push at his chest to interrupt him. 

“No! Not overbearing. Kind. And you might operate on a…unique schedule…” Matt flinched at this so you hurried to praise him again. “But! You are so effective and intelligent that you manage to juggle everything anyway! Like that week when you stayed home from the office because you’d fallen and sprained your wrist. You told me Foggy was upset with you, but you unraveled the opposition’s argument in less than an hour the day you came back. That was impressive. You’re impressive.” Matt flushed at your comment, burying his face in your neck. You smiled down at his adorable position before continuing. 

“And you’re so resilient! You’ve been through so much and you’re still trying to make the world a better place. So many people would’ve given up on the rest of humanity but you don’t. And I don’t think you ever will. You’re just so…good. So don’t ever say that you don’t deserve to be praised for what you do and who you are. You’re the best man I’ve ever known. And I will always appreciate you.”

“Thank you,” Matt spoke your name softly, gripping the top you wore as if it was the only thing holding him together. 

“Anytime. I mean that. If you’re ever having a bad day, I will gladly ramble on about your great body and incredible personality.” 

“I don’t believe you mentioned my ‘great body’ before.” Matt straightened up with a tiny smirk.

“Oh c’mon. You and I both know that you’re well aware of the effect you have on women. We’ve been fake dating long enough that you don’t need to pretend with me.” You scoffed.

“I know that other people have considered me attractive, hell, Foggy talks about my ass so much some people think we are married. But I don’t think you have ever said anything.” 

“Because I knew it would go straight to your head and i refuse to give you the satisfaction.”

“Weren’t you just saying that I should be complimented more?”

“This is different.” 

“How?” 

“It just is!” You laughed as he poked your side. 

“It sounds like you’re not ready for my line of questioning. We may have to revisit your testimony at a later date, if the opposition permits.” Clearly his wave of insecurity had passed, if the joking nature of his comments were anything to go by. 

You shook your head at his jest, tracing his perfectly sculpted jaw with your fingers. As you scraped your nails over his stubble he made a sound akin to a purr. Giggling, you did it again with a bit more force. “You like that, do you? Good to know.” Your brain signaled to you desperately. You are treading a dangerous line, ma’am. You ignored your rational side, continuing to stroke the lawyer’s face. 

Matt let his head fall against yours once more, the bridge of his nose pressing against your cheek. Your hand moved back to his scalp, kneading gently. Leaping over your own anxiety, you took a risk. He felt your jaw move as you spoke again. “You know, I’ve been thinking about all the preparation we’ve done, but we haven’t practiced something that seems kind of…big?” 

Matt nuzzled your ear, hearing your pulse throb under his touch. “What’s that, angel?” 

“Well, um, it’s just that—we’ve never, uh, kissed before.” You stumbled over the request, continuing to thread your fingers through his hair. Before Matt could say anything, your ramble continued. “I mean, you’ve kissed me on the cheek, I guess. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound needy or anything—I mean, it’s fine! We don’t need to do that. Forget I said—“ 

Cutting you off, Matt swiftly dipped your body so that you were lying horizontally on the couch cushions and positioned himself over you. A dark smirk crossed his face as your arousal grew. “Have you been thinking about kissing me, angel?” 

“No!” You squeaked, wriggling out from the trap his arms and provocative gaze had created. God, why was it so hot in here right now. Standing up from the couch, you paced away from him. “I just meant— It seems like something other people would expect couples to do, is all.” 

Matt’s sinister smile faded to a softer one. “If you wanted me to kiss you before, sweetness, all you had to do was ask. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” 

“Oh trust me, you don’t need to worry about that.” You brushed off the concern quickly before realizing what you’d just admitted to. “Uh—I mean—“ 

Matt just chuckled, standing from the couch and moving over to you. He softly took your chin in one hand. “You know, you’re cute when you’re flustered.” That statement did not help your feelings at the moment, but Matt wasn’t done. “You want me to show you what we could do, the next time we are at an event together?” 

You were nodding, practically breathless at this point. “Please, Matty.” 

“Well, a pretty girl like you deserves a nice experience, not just a quick peck on the lips.” Matt pursed his lips, thinking, and you fixated on them. Desire was pooling in your gut. Matt, seemingly, did not notice your growing hunger as he stroked the hollow of your cheek before continuing. “We’d want to get their attention, right? So, I think I’d start by pulling you close.” He tugged you into him, making you gasp. Smile widening, he slid a hand around to the back of your neck. “I’d want to hold you like this, I think. Make a real big show of how lucky I am to have you, ya know?” 

This man was going to kill you. He had to know what he was doing, right? Damn your lovestruck heart for initiating this. 

You shifted from foot to foot, a rush of pure lust making you a bit impatient. Matt frowned, “Sorry, too much? Need to stop?” His hand dropped from your nape and you whimpered involuntarily. 

“No!” You squeaked, cringing at how high pitched your voice sounded. “No, it was nice. Please don’t stop, I want to, um, prepare for the next event! Like you said.” 

Matt’s smile flickered back to life, his hand coming to rest under your hair once again. “Oh, I get it now. Did you like this, pretty girl?” He pulls you impossibly closer, breathing over your lips. “I’ll keep showing you what we could do, but if you stop liking what I’m doing, you tell me, ok?”

“Uh huh.” You managed, completely breathless now. Matt grinned, wrapping a strand of hair around one finger and giving a slight tug.

“Good girl.” You bit back a moan, keening into him a bit. Matt steadied you with a laugh, “Well, once we had everyone looking—and they would be looking, sweetness—I’d lean in…” He did so, his lips ghosting over yours. “And I’d kiss you until everyone in the room knew you were all mine.”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You forcibly closed the indiscernible gap between the two of you, wrapping your arms around him. As your lips met, sparks danced across your eyelids. You’d heard rumors, but you were still amazed at how skilled Matt was. He was an incredible kisser. Threading your lips together with ease, he gave your top lip an almost imperceptible tug before slowly pulling away. “Something like that, sweetness.” He panted, brushing a thumb over your lower lip. 

“I think I need another demonstration.” You murmured, hand coming up to his head to push him back onto your lips. His mouth parted in a broad grin as you desperately pressed your mouth to his again. Your knees were practically buckling, Matt was holding you up—hand still woven into your hair. 

Stubble scraping against your chin, you gently pulled at his bottom lip, mirroring the sensation he’d just created for you. His breath danced across your face, a small noise escaping his lips. His tongue gave the tiniest swipe over your lip and you mewled. 

Pulling away abruptly, your own noise acting like an ice bath, your eyes widened with horrific realization. Clearly, you were taking advantage of the position he’d put you in, and you were more than embarrassed at the thought of you getting off on it. 

“Oh god, Matt I’m so sorry—I-I don’t know what came over me!” You stammered, stepping away from him with your head falling into your hands. He let you pull away, but smiled after you, shaking his head. 

“You didn’t do anything I wasn’t more than ok with, sweet thing. I’d be overjoyed to practice that again sometime.” 

You peeked at him between your fingers. “Really?”

His eyes darkened with want. “Really.” 

“Are you absolutely sure? Because I don’t want to push you—“ 

Matt was on you in an instant, wrapping his strong arms around your waist and touching his nose to yours. “Please, angel, kiss me like that again.”

And you did. 

“So are we going to dance around the big fat elephant in the room all night?” You stirred your drink, avoiding Marci’s question. 

“What elephant? There’s no elephant.” You assured her, maybe a little too quickly given her knowing smirk. 

“God, you're a worse liar than Fog. Who told me after little to no pressure was applied that you and Matt are kissing now? Am I supposed to pretend that’s not a massive development?”

“Marce, it’s not like that. We were practicing for the legal conference next week.” 

“I’m sorry, ‘practicing’? You have to know how disgustingly middle school that sounds.” 

Burying your face in your hands, you heaved a sigh, knowing that Marci would not drop the topic until you’d satisfied her curiosity. She was ruthless that way. “I mean, when you put it like that—“

She laughed as heat rose in your cheeks. “Ok then spill! How long has this been going on? Have you told him that you like-like him yet?” Her voice rose in a sickeningly teasing falsetto. 

Ripping your head out of your palms, you looked at her in shock. “I do not like-like Matt. What are you—“ You trailed off, taking in Marci’s knowing look and raised eyebrow. Returning to the shelter of your hands, you groaned. “God, does everyone know? Does Matt know??”

“Foggy, Karen, and I have been speculating for a while. Matt seems to be blissfully unaware.” 

“Ugh! You can’t tell him, Marce. Promise me! It’ll ruin everything.” You pleaded, anxiety swirling through you at the thought of him finding out that you’d been infatuated with him throughout the fake relationship. 

“I won’t tell him.” Marci took your hands in hers, encouraging you to look at her again. “But, I don’t think it would ruin anything. In fact, I know that it wouldn’t. He likes you just as much as you like him.” 

“He does?” You bit your lip, warmth cascading over your face at the thought of Matt returning your affections. 

“Yah, babe. He treats you like you hung the moon. And, apparently, you two have kissed already…” 

You rolled your eyes. “Ok we kissed a handful of times in my apartment and once in public and we agreed that it was so it wouldn’t look awkward in front of Snyder in the future.” 

“Ok so that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You two have kissed multiple times in the last week and you still think this relationship is fake? I’m begging you to put an end to all of this misery and TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL.” She gently shook your shoulders to prove her point and you laughed. 

“Ok! Ok. I’ll do it. I’ll tell him.” 

“Thank god!” Marci downed the rest of her drink. “I'm going to hold you to this.” She pointed at you, sternly. 

“Yah, yah. I know.” 

Little did you know, Matt was getting an eerily similar lecture from Foggy and Karen on the other side of Hell’s Kitchen. 

Taglist: @maladaptivedaydreamingbum @scoliobean @harperdoodle @mattkinsella @leikelle @sweetbee0108 @dark-night-sky-99 @fallen-angels2213 @will-delete-this-later-probably @cheshirecat484 @thornbushrose @vernon-dursley

[izzysillyhandsy]

Ed and Izzy: Cleaning up the mess

As of the end of Ep7, Ed has left Stede and his whole life behind because "he doesn't even know who he is". And I'd like to suggest in this rambling essay that Ed's journey to self-knowledge and self-love can't properly begin before he's come to terms with what happened with Izzy.

Although Ed has steadily been trying to make amends, at the start of Ep6 he's still feeling unsettled and guilty as hell about the terrible things he did (was capable of!): killing his dad, condemning his whole crew to certain death, Izzy's toe, shooting Izzy, being "killed" by Jim and the crew with Izzy looking on...

There's a surprising amount of Izzy in Ed's flashback (I was honestly surprised the toe cutting made it in - somehow the whole discussion around "Izzy deserving it" made me think Ed thought so as well? But of course he doesn't think that. Izzy does.)

And while Ed's central conflict is his underlying self-hatred and self-doubt, there still is a daily reminder of all of his worst tendencies and (still very recent) acts right under his nose.

I think I got all the poison out of my system...

...or not. The indestructible fucker's still here.

Izzy is Ed’s walking and talking guilt room and no amount of deflecting, story-telling or sugarcoating can turn that poison into positivity.

Stede, I love you for your sometimes naive, sweet outlook on life (and Ed does too), but Ed and Izzy, that’s years and years of love and devotion, resentment and hate, building each other up and tearing each other down. They’ve just come out of the absolute worst breakup in history, with so many things unsaid and unknown they’d need the whole of S3 to talk it through.

Stede applying his motivational poster line to Izzy of all people is a little bit tone deaf, especially because it happens right while Izzy’s singing a bittersweet love song about/to Ed.

Which he continues, in French, while Ed and Stede are having sex for the first time so that's definitely not helping. I wonder how good Ed's French is, but it is honestly almost comical to imagine Ed cheating on Iz making love to his new boyfriend while his ex is singing his heart out about „It's only him for me, and me for him, for life - he told me, he swore to me, for life“.

So Izzy's still here. Izzy is still visibly hurting, physically (your fault!!) and mentally (your fault as well in so many ways). And you're already over it and having fun with your new boyfriend? Of course not.

Whatever they were/are to each other specifically, Ed and Izzy were as good as married. They spent almost every day together for decades. Izzy let himself be maimed and hurt over and over again out of love and loyalty. And Ed feels very, very guilty about it. Even if this guilt is not the first thing constantly on Ed's mind, it's certainly there in the background, simmering.

On the other hand, Izzy is the one who kept Ed stationary - they had a good, secure (for pirates anyway) life together, why risk change? I don't think Izzy had noticed (or wanted to notice) how bad it'd gotten for Ed for a long time. So there's also a lot of resentment there from Ed's side, all tied up with Izzy.

It's a very complicated mess and I think that all this is at least part of the reason for Ed's confusion and need to... just go.

But that's not all, by far.

History repeating itself...

...maybe this seems a bit familiar?

We don't know a lot of Ed&Izzy's backstory (apart from: it's a long one!), but I think it's (almost) canon that it is Izzy's job to make sure Ed is content and safe and, most importantly, to kill for Ed.

And even though their relationship (whatever it was) probably didn't start out as tender and sweet as Ed/Stede, I think they started out much more carefree and happy, possibly excited and adventurous. Until their lifestyle took a toll on both of them - Izzy as Ed's killer and constant protector and Ed as Blackbeard, who Ed started to resent more and more. In the end, all that was left were two broken people in a codependent relationship.

Now it seems like gentle, sweet Stede is slowly turning into Izzy 2.0 - swearing (as far as I remember, Stede almost never said fuck in S1), becoming a "real pirate", and worst of all, killing for Ed even though Ed almost begged him not to (seems familiar?).

Plus, this is happening when Ed, still freshly traumatized from his stint as pirate extreme wants nothing to do with violence in general and piracy specifically. Least of all he wants Stede damaged (or izzyfied).

Stede seemed like a way out of pirating, a chance for a loving, fulfilling relationship. Maybe even a way out of his relationship with Izzy, who I think Ed (subconsciously?) blames for the destructive path his life had taken.

Now he isn't so sure anymore if Stede actually wants this.

Talk it through...

...eventually, maybe. Hopefully.

Of course, not every obstacle Ed has to face, every step on the road to self-love and happiness is about Izzy. Vice versa, Izzy is much more than his relationship with Ed, and he has his own problems independent from him.

But this "marriage" with Izzy was Ed’s longest and most important relationship, and also the last relationship before Stede. The way their relationship became restrictive, damaging and unescapable in the end was both their faults. It'd be quite natural if Ed was a bit cautious with that kind of history. Am I a person who always ends up like this? How did we fuck up this badly? Is there a way out?

Most importantly though, a lot of Ed’s guilt and self-doubt is wrapped up in Izzy - if you're capable of doing that (and that, and that) to the person you love - what else are you capable of?

In conclusion, Ed and Izzy need real closure, one way or the other. Before that happens, Ed won't be happy on any way he chooses, and certainly not in his relationship with Stede.

At the moment, they're not talking, really. It's incredibly sweet though, the way they make these little concessions towards the other (Izzy doing much more than Ed, as per usual). They're almost shy, asking for advice, giving reassurance and understanding, and sharing bottles, smiles and looks.

Will they get a long heart-to-heart in the finale? Of course not, there's not enough time. I think we might get a symbolic moment though.

Ed already knows Izzy loves him. Izzy really doesn't know (on top of everything else, poor kid). The only thing he got from Ed was the "Sorry 'bout your leg", even the latch got a bit more.

Izzy needs to hear that too. "It's not your fault you're broken. You didn't break you. Just trying to do your job, weren't you?"

(btw, I love that Ed is softly blowing onto the latch here, while Izzy is doing the same to his little shark <3)

It's also possible Izzy will get his "I loved you, best I could" in person. Hopefully not exactly in those words. But, for both of them, this will be a start to open proper communication (which might happen offscreen between seasons).

And when we get S3, Ed will be (more) prepared to embark on his journey to happiness, with or without Izzy by his side.

[soleilnomoon]

Hello! May I get some strawberries and possibly some mango with a mai tai (Kidd) and songs 3,4 and 16 from the playlist please! Thank you so much!

hihi  ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡ i love writing for kidd, he’s so ridiculous all day every day. ty for requesting & i hope you have fun reading 💛💕

1k words (it wasn’t my fault), gn reader (no pronouns), nsfw, 18+ mdni; fluff (it’s there somewhere) & smut; feat. kidd & reader in denial bc that’s how i live my life, a lil fwb except is that all there is~, alcohol, kidd being dumb & that’s how reader likes him (tbh me too), rough sex (does kidd even know the definition of gentle? no?), kitchen sex, choking, a lil bit of a hand job, idk no real warnings except eustass kidd deserves his own warning bc *motions to him* have u seen that man in action (if u see spelling errors/grammar mistakes no u didn't 💕)

it’s not goodbye, you remind yourself for the fourth time that night, throat suddenly dry at the thought. the ice in your cup melted a while ago, so you toss the watered-down drink onto the sand before standing up. when eustass kidd insisted on throwing a party, you didn’t think much of it; how quickly you forget that pirates are notorious for their theatrics and kidd isn’t immune to that behavior.

a large bonfire blazes in the middle of the beach, the air warm and sticky; you hate how humid it is and hate that you let the others talk you into drinking. now your hair is tied up, to keep its thickness away from your neck and face, as sweat glides down your skin. without looking back, you leave everyone behind and make the short trek back to your house. you’re determined to shower and call it a night; you doubt your presence will be missed that much.

after downing another shot of tequila, a frown works its way onto kidd’s lips as he stares at the empty shot glass in his hand. he’d meant to just have a few drinks, but he got roped into game after game by his crew mates and he lost track of time.

now you’re gone.

it’s a sobering enough thought that he shoves the glass into wire’s hand, not bothering to explain himself as he goes searching for you. he doesn’t like that you left the party early, and he doesn’t like that he’s a little bit miserable because you’re not with him right now.

it’s foolish to feel that way and equally foolish to want to do something about it. he knows that, but it’s not enough to make him turn back around.

when he finds your backdoor unlocked — a nasty habit that he can’t believe you refuse to correct — a small wave of irritation surrounds him. you didn’t bother locking the door because you knew he’d eventually make his way over — you assumed it would be much later, but kidd is always unpredictable.

and because he’s incapable of stealth when he’s annoyed, you hear him rummaging through your kitchen. you stand in the doorway, hands on your hips as you watch him eat several pastries in a row.

the man’s stomach is an abyss, you’re quite sure of it now.

“there are plates, y’know,” you say lightly, a teasing smile sliding onto your face with ease, “and napkins too.” since it’s obvious kidd has no home training whatsoever. he doesn’t see what the fuss is, but he knows it drives you crazy when he does that — which is possibly why he keeps doing it.

“didn’t feel like using them.”

his answer should annoy you, but it doesn’t; if anything, it just makes you smile again, a little sadly this time. it doesn’t go unnoticed by kidd, however, who narrows his eyes at you.

“why do you keep leaving that door unlocked?”

you blink a few times, confusion briefly taking hold of you before you realize he’s serious. “you ask me that all the time,” you counter and walk over to him, voice airy as you decidedly stuff the rest of your complicated feelings for him into a tiny box. “and what do i always say?” you place your hands on his chest — soft and gentle, which only annoys him even more.

because you like to do that — touch him like you care, like you enjoy his presence. his mind likes to play tricks on him, so he refuses to believe it; except it’s hard to tell the truth from fiction when he leans down to kiss you. all those pesky, bothersome thoughts coast to the back of his mind when you lick a bit of powdered sugar from his lips.

when he kisses you again, a different kind of heat passes through you, making you press closer, practically melting against him when his tongue caresses yours. it’s in between sloppy tongue kisses that he asks you to come with him — the decision is rash, and he hasn’t thought it through all the way, but the idea of you staying behind only pisses him off.

your heart beats a little too loudly at the prospect of leaving home and going off with him, but your answer is lodged in your throat, unable to come out no matter how badly you want to tell him yes.

he knows how deep your stubbornness goes, so naturally he’s just going to have to help you make the right decision. when he hoists you onto the counter, you unzip his pants with hurried movements and kidd groans softly as you start stroking him. you like the luxury of having your own place, but you know you’ll be lonely when kidd leaves — more unpleasant feelings that you can’t seem to keep hidden.

you wrap your legs around him as he inches his cock inside of you — slowly, at first, before he pulls back and snaps his hips forward, thrusting roughly. your lips are on his again, fingers sifting through his hair as he fucks you harder.

“come with me,” he insists again and again, you shake your head and keep your lips pressed together because you know you’re so close to saying otherwise. he clicks his tongue and he grabs your throat so you can look at him. “why?”

you wish he’d let this go — but a small, much more selfish part of you is glad he’s pressing the issue. “because…” you gasp and moan when he squeezes your neck as he gives you short, brutal strokes. kidd’s stamina is unrivaled; he fucks you like he’s trying to break the counter, nearly forgetting himself and his brute strength. he eases up a bit and releases his hold, but you’re panting when you speak again.

“w-what if you get tired of me?” your voice is quiet, but he hears you perfectly clear.

kidd rolls his eyes before tugging on your earlobe with his teeth. “is that all?” a ridiculous fear, but he can’t really judge you, now, can he? kidd fixes you with a pointed look, one that says be serious. he almost admits that he could never be tired of you, not even if he tried.

you want to tell him that you’re being very serious, but don’t get the chance as his cock hits a spot that has you babbling incoherently at him. kidd laughs out loud because knows what your answer really is; he’s just going to keep fucking you until you can say it with conviction.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #379

I... actually got to bed on time last night. And I woke feeling relatively refreshed, too. Been a while since last that happened.

I went to work this morning, though apparently, it was totally by accident. I wasn't actually scheduled today. It's just that, on the app on my phone, today is marked with a little black dot. Days that I work are also marked with little black dots. And just below the calendar, where it lists the times, it said 9am-1pm, and I assumed that it meant I needed to come in.

...I didn't read the date next to the listed hours. That date listed the 4th of this month. And I forgot that both days I work and days that are considered holidays are marked with black dots. So, in I went.

...And it was good. Because apparently, I was needed. Ka, the department manager, was very pleasantly surprised when I showed up. But she immediately set me to baking cookies:

Today was very quiet because it is New Year's Day. For some reason, in my country, it is typically celebrated by drinking obscene amounts of alcohol the night before. I'll never really understand the appeal of beginning New Year's Day with a hangover, but... to each their own, I suppose.

Since most everyone was either spending time with their families or riding out a headache from hell, hardly any customers were in the store today. With the extra time that came of not needing to tend to people very much, I spent a non-trivial amount of time stacking big heavy piles of metal baking trays and lifting heavy boxes in and out of the freezer. I was allowed to stay for 5 hours today! And when I was done, I picked up a few things for my house and went home; I'm hoping to have energy to cook tomorrow.

I seem to have crashed pretty hard when I got home, though; no doubt because I still need time to recover from a bunch of days of missed sleep, and no doubt because my body isn't used to that kind of lifting anymore. I didn't have the energy to do anything. So I didn't!! Instead I got sushi. And it was good!!

Then J came home from his job. We went to Eggcellent after that. We got the coconut panna cotta and the regular panna cotta. Y'know, to compare. For science!

J liked the regular panna cotta (on top) more. I liked the coconut one (the other one, with the toasty coconut bits!). I wonder which one you would have liked...

I also got a coconut jasmine green tea with extra cream cheese foam:

...I wish you could have been here to enjoy these with us.

Once everyone else was out of the shop, Ea and Ch surprised me with a giant bag full of various beads!!!

...I guess some of their family members are moving, and so they are closing their jewelry shop. They weren't interested in selling the remains, but they also didn't want the remains to go to waste, and so Ea and Ch told them that they knew someone (me!) who would make good use of them!

...Despite the dyspraxia, I'm still somehow good with my hands. In addition to being skilled at weaving trees, I am also skilled at making beaded jewelry. It has been a very, very long time since last I did that with any kind of regularity. I still remember how; I can weave fairly complicated things together with beads. My mind is already somewhat overwhelmed with ideas, ahaha!

...Well. Delayed onset muscle soreness is already settling in my upper body. I'm gonna take some ibuprofen and get to sleep early; I'm probably a little too tired to be thinking anything especially profound today, so I'm gonna end it here before I ramble.

I love you a whole lot, so please stay safe out there. Please take better care of your body than I've been taking care of mine.

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[daddysfangirls-dc]

The Arrangement Ch.20

Ch.20 A Servant

Damian Wayne x OC! Female

Prev | Next

Kukuroo Mountain was far east tucked on the border of Russia and China it stood at 12,211ft and on this mountain was a large manor surrounding all of this were tall walls locked behind a very complicated and heavy set of doors.

This was the Minamoto Estate.

Syn stood before the gate she didn't want to go in but she had to. She had to. A couple pf days ago her father called to inform her that she new bound of servants had finished their training and she was return home to pick sevants for her new household. While she didn't like the idea of having her father or mother spying on her though servants she hoped it wouldn't be like that. 

"Hello, Miss Syn, Welcome home."

"Hello, Zebro"

Zebro was the 'grounds and gatekeeper." In quotations, because his main job was taking care of Mike, the guard 'dog'. Again, quotations because she was pretty sure he wasn't a dog. Normal dogs don't weigh 900Ibs and stand 12 feet tall on all fours. Or at least that is what her world travels taught her.

A lot of quotation marks around here.

Syn stepped to the gates. These weren't normal. Tall and heavy, it was bound by magic with a lock that could only be opened by those who knew the family's history. Placing her hand on the gate, the doors glowed, and pieces emerged. She moved the pieces accordingly, revealing the pieces of history it asked for, and the doors slowly swung open.

"How's Mike?"

"He's well. He has missed you." Zebro followed, stepping through the doors and walking through the forest. "Not many come down to be with him besides you, Master Killua, and Master Zeno. And they've been busy training and working. No time for Mike." Zebro sad sigh was a very big contract to the looming beast the emerged from the shadows behind him.

The long, shaggy black fur, Black beady eyes, and long snout with lips pulled into an almost formal human-like grin.

"Hi, Mike." Zebro stepped aside as Syn stepped forward, petting him. Such a good boy, so handsome. Yes, you are, yes you are." She cooed, and after a few more pets, he turned around and trotted back into the shadows. 

"No intruders for him to play with" 

"None would dare. Another time, Miss Syn." She waved goodbye as he walked off. 

Syn sighed before slowly making her way through the forest towards the manor. There was no actual path to the manor; the only walking path upon the estate led straight to the servants' quarters, which was best as she was here for a servant of her own. 

"Hello Canary"

"Hello, Miss Syn, Welcome back," The younger in her butler-tailored outfit stepped aside from her post to allow Syn through. Syn didn't move.

"how are you?" 

"I am well, Miss."

"How are the new recruits?"

"They are well trained. All are prepared for their positions. Silva and Zeno have picked and put aside recruits for you to choose from."

Syn hummed a bit as she looked at the girl before her. Yet, serving her ."And Mother?"

"Miss Kikyo had no part in the decisions of the recruits."

"Thank you." Canary gives a bow as Syn Walks away.

Canary was one of the servants that Syn favored, not because of any services or favors towards herself but towards her younger brother. Canary was kind to him, too kind even, and for that, she was grateful. Canary was one of the good ones. Hopefully, she'd get a good one.

Syn had hope as she walked up to the servants' quarters. Walking into the house, she found a line of recruits waiting for her. This was good, hopefully, she'd be able to pick and leave without crossing paths with any family members. She really wasn't ready for that. She was starting to get comfortable with the Wayne's she doesn't need anyone sewing doubt. 

"Hello, My name is Syn. Today, I will be taking one of you to serve me in my new home of Gotham."

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I was under the impression you'd be taking more than one," Gotoh said as he stepped forward files for each recruit in hand.

"Do you believe I need more than one? The estate I have is small. You don't think they'll be competent enough to take charge." 

Her Estate wasn't small. Truth was, she didn't want that many of her father's servants watching her every move. She can handle one. Plus, she was hoping to get a jack-of-all-trades, her own Alfred, perhaps. Hoppefully. He did it all on his own; why couldn't they?

Syn sat down on the couch as Gotoh handed her the files. She quickly flips through them, they're much, all with similar stories Orphaned or Abandoned picked off the streets after showing potential and trained to protect and serve the family. Come from nothing, given everything but ordered to serve for it. And Serve they did. Something caught her attention. She flipped back through the files and found it

"Kato"

A young Asian man stepped forward. He was found in China. He showed potential with martial arts interest, but when his tinkering abilities were discovered. And it made sense the gadets that he made that were on files were very unique. 

"You have talent." Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out some papers passing them to him. " Can you handle this?" blueprints of her estate. " Now, the outside can be handled by gardeners. And any big events or moves will include hired help.  It houses only two at the moment. If you can't handle it- "

"I can handle it."

" Good. Pack, we leave in 10."

-

Kato didn't have much, just a few notebooks, which made sense. Everyone was taught to not be materialistic but as an inventor one could not leave their ideas behind. 

They were high in the clouds, just as the sunset. Syn sighed in relief, having no run-in with her family and flying away from the possibility. A good day overall.

She sat across from Kato. " You'll have the first few days to familiarize yourself with the city, the in-laws, and the estate. I don't have much for you to do at the moment, the house is barely furnished as is." Kato simply nodded. " I'm hoping we'll get along. I don't want you to be my servant, I want your to be my friend. Okay?"

"Whatever you desire, Miss."

It would take some time, perhaps a long time, but she knew they'd be friends. Maybe she could ask Alfred to spend some time with Kato and show him the ropes. At least, it would get him closer to the family.

Syn looked out the cabin window at the clouds that passed by.

They'd make it work. 

One thing I love and hate about the DC world is its geography.

I hate it because it's so hard to pinpoint where some places are and how long it takes to travel, especially outside of the United States. I like it because it is great for fanfiction. The world is large, and the landscape is so outlandish yet vague that one can add anything they like.

DC x DP is one fanon that has used it very well. And now I will too.

[dross-the-fish]

I can't find it now but I saw a post where you said Erik's mask isn't a comfort item. Why do you think it isn't? Why would he get so angry at Christine if it wasn't?

Ok, I'm about to get ranty and it's not directed at you specifically so don't take it personally.

I hate the take that Erik's mask is his "security blanket" or his "comfort device" because it's incredibly LAZY.

It's fucking lazy. It's a lazy and reductive take and it almost always comes with the intent of woobifying Erik and villainizing Christine.

Erik does not find his mask comforting, he feels he has to wear it to conceal himself and if anything he gives the sense that he would much rather be able to live without it. He's angry at Christine for a few reasons and I speculate some of them are not even about Christine.

The most obvious and superficial reason is that his carefully laid plan has gone to shit

Erik believed whole heartedly that if Christine didn't know what he looked like that she might be compelled to return to him if he let her go. My guess is that he had planned to try and win her over and wait to tell her the truth after they re-built some of the lost trust...trust lost because he lied to her...and kidnapped her.

Erik is a wee bit unhinged.

But I also think there's more to his freak out. This may be headcanon on my part but I always interpreted this

As being something of a traumatized response. Not because the mask gives him comfort or something like that, but because when someone is deformed, especially back in that time period, people often stared or treated them like a horror novelty. Erik has no doubt endured a life time of people trying to look at his face as some kind of morbid curiosity to be gawked at and Christine snatching it may have put him back in that mindset and he is PISSED.

His bit about "Women being inquisitive" also strikes me as him referencing things that happened before. I almost wonder if Christine wasn't the first person to catch his interest and if he's tried this before with....horrible results.

It reads less like "Oh no! You took my safety blanket! Now I'm exposed and vulnerable!" and more akin to

This specifically is why I hate the whole "mask is his comfort item" take because it makes Erik sound like a toddler throwing a tantrum because someone took his binky and paints Christine as being somehow in the wrong for wanting to see her kidnapper's face.

A thing she had already demanded of him previously which he denied without giving any explanation whatsoever. I cannot stress enough that Erik is the one with the power in this scenario. They are in his house, he has her trapped and he has been the older mentor/protector figure in her life for some time. The scale is tipped in HIS favor, not hers. I've always felt that at this point in their relationship her taking off the mask is, in a way, her trying to level the field because he's had her at such a disadvantage this whole time.

And that's not to say that Christine doesn't have feelings of some kind for Erik. Christine's feelings for Erik are messy and complicated but there is an undeniable fear and discomfort that she expresses over her captivity. She does pity him enough to come back, I think she also feels a lingering attachment to him, despite everything, but Erik keeps making. The. Worst. Possible. Choices.

To be clear, Christine is not in any way to blame for "provoking" Erik. He is a victim of the the time period and the society he lives in but he is not in any way shape or form CHRISTINE'S victim.

Erik isn't to blame for how he's been treated by the world at large and he's clearly been through some shit, he deserves sympathy but that doesn't make his treatment of Christine ok or make it Christine's job to give him affection and companionship.

[speakeasyaoi]

Sedgewick Sable x M! Reader

> Requested by anonymous | I actually really enjoyed this prompt! I might go on to write some fanfic inspired by it, just because I had so many ideas...

PROMPT: The reader is Sedgewick's secretary.

He has to sit himself down with a bit of alcohol to contemplate and think once he manages to realize that he's falling for you. ...A 'bit of alcohol' soon turning into a bottle or two. His feelings are all mixed up and complicated when it comes to yearning for another man, let alone one who's working so closely with him, which leads him to have a bit of a personal, moral dilemma; this is all so new and strange to him, and he's completely lost on how he should handle his newfound feelings. You likely being his queer awakening certainly doesn't do anything to help that. As opposed to women, whom he's significantly more flirty and forward with, with you, Wick is more inclined to bury his affections under a front of nothing more than a typical professional relationship-- out of a cross between repressed queerness and fear of his feelings not being reciprocated. He's not opposed to it, just very...inexperienced.

With so much extra money at his disposal, he can't help but dote on and spoil you with gifts and raises in your pay (which would already be considerably higher than he would give to anyone else in your same position, considering how he feels about you). He tries to limit himself to more discreet, smaller gifts--knowing anything too drastic would give away his feelings, no doubt--but in the end it's rather obvious anyway. Fancy pens and pencils and office supplies to 'help with your work' soon progresses to buying you clothes and accessories and other, more luxury items, and eventually it wouldn't be out of place to find a new set of cufflinks boxed on your desk, or a fine pocketwatch, or a rock or geode that he found interesting. ...That last one is probably more meaningful in his eyes than it is in yours. But it's the thought that counts.

Oftentimes he'll get the urge to come by your workspace to 'check up on you' and make sure you're doing your job properly, which normally just consists of him standing over your shoulder for as long as he can without raising suspicion, paying more attention to you than he is to anything you're doing. He'll comment and make an attempt at sparking up conversation here and there, but he soon grows nervous he's being overbearing, and leaves you to your own devices with a hasty pat on your shoulder.

If you burn through your paperwork and manage to finish everything you need to do early, Wick gradually begins to ask you to do more and more mundane, everyday tasks for him just so he can get you to stay around him a little longer. And if he's feeling particularly bold, he might ask you to stay afterhours, just for some quality time.

He frequently comes up to you and adjusts your uniform, straightening your lapels, tightening your necktie or messing with your buttons, and while he tells you it's for the sake of maintaining your professional image, it's pretty obvious he just wants to be up close and make any sort of physical contact with you. His hands linger for a second or two longer than they need to.

He tries his hardest to foster a connection with you outside of the workplace. In his eyes, it heightens his chances of gaining your favor, and lowers the chance that his advances will be rejected. This initially starts out with him taking you out to a quaint little bistro or a nice restaurant to discuss business, and over time, the topics of conversation become more and more personal and intimate. It's most likely that he'll end up drunkenly confessing on one of these occasions, or giving away too much, which prompts him to fluster and apologize once he sobers up.

He always finds some way to join you on your smoke or lunch break. Maybe for the whole period, or a part of it, or even just dropping by to check in on you, but it's practically a guarantee that he'll be there. Half of the time he can't even muster an excuse or any sort of reasoning to defend himself, he just wants to be able to spend as much time as he can alongside you.

Other notes: N/A

[elacular-kink]

Hicvember 9: Royals

I've actually written about royal hiccups once upon a time, years and years ago, and I still look back on my girls fondly. But I decided to do something with a pair of gentlemen this time...which might end up turning into a larger thing? I might at least write a scene or two more with them. My dumb brain is plotting.

Content: Hiccups, mentions of death, the pov character is an assassin, threatening at knifepoint, enemies to friends speedrun?, inconvenient arousal, mention of infidelity, pejorative use of "insane".

Shale had been training for this his whole life. He'd learned how to use a knife before he learned how to walk. The meaning of words in thieves' cant came more easily to mind than those in normal conversation. He'd carried out his first assassination when he was twelve. So now as a grown man (albeit a young one), he shouldn't have been concerned with this at all. Granted, a prince was high profile, and kidnapping was significantly more complicated than a simple murder, but he'd seen family members pull off similar jobs in the past. With all of his training, Shale knew that he could do it...but considering that the likely result if he couldn't was death, he didn't begrudge himself a bit of nervousness.

With that in mind, Shale took a week to study and observe his target. Prince Armel very rarely left the castle, which his unmarked pale skin and dark brown hair with no sun streaks showed. He also had a regal rotundness that would make the kidnapping more difficult than it could have been. Not complicating anything were his combat abilities (or lack thereof). Though he was trained in fencing every day, that was nothing like a real fight, and he was terrible at it anyway. He seemed much more at home in the various academic fields he was also tutored in, not that Shale had a clue what he was learning about. Shale knew how to read people, though, and the frustration of Armel's teachers wasn't that of people having to humor an idiot, it was that of people being forced to deal with someone who thought they were smarter than them and may have actually been correct about it.

On a related note, Shale quickly understood why someone would want Prince Armel dead. Though he doubted this was actually a personal matter, the smug sneers and condescension he provided most people were absolutely infuriating, and Shale didn't relish the idea of being on the receiving end of his snark. If he could knock Armel out and leave with him unconscious, that would be a non-issue, but Shale wasn't built for feats of strength and he doubted his ability to carry the fat prince at a workable pace. So he'd have to get him to walk out of his own relative volition. Damn this job to hell.

Still, there was no such thing as an impossible task. There better not have been for Shale's sake. Everyone had their weaknesses, and he quickly became acquainted with the many vulnerabilities in the prince's defense. A number of his bodyguards clearly hated him and had never actually seen anything dangerous occur. Most of them seemed at least professional, and he appeared to actually be...friiieeends? With a few of the younger ones, but there were a few who paid far less attention on their shifts than they were being paid to do. The prince also slept incredibly deeply and hated being awakened. That would have made a proper assassination much easier, but again, damn this kidnapping job to hell. And the most obvious, most useful vulnerability was his habit of leaving his bedroom window open on hot nights.

Around nine days after he started his observation, Shale saw his first good opportunity. One of the guards, a middle-aged one with a wife (and more importantly, a mistress) had midnight duties that Shale had a good feeling he was going to either be late to or leave early. The night was hot and muggy, but smelly alchemical oils kept the bugs away from the prince's window, which he left wide open. So, when the crescent moon was high and the guards' shift change was near, Shale climbed down from the parapets of the castle that he'd become so well acquainted with lately, moving down silently along the rough stone without needing to use any of his ropes or tools, then widening the window just enough to slip his thin, small body inside. The prince slept soundly, snoring, but not loudly enough to be obvious in its absence. That was good. And when Shale crept to the door and peeked out into the hallway, he saw it empty, the previous guard gone and the new guard absent. Alright. This was probably the best chance he was going to get.

Almost all of Shale's body was covered in a set of loose, light clothing, currently with their stone gray side out rather than their dark blue one. He kept a tight hood up over his head, hiding his long black hair, and only his dark brown eyes and a hint of his olive skin were visible in the holes in his mask. He made certain that was still the case, feeling the cloth over his face before he took out a knife and moved to the head of the bed. As he looked down, the prince's pale, round face looked strangely innocent without his usual smirk on it. He had no scars, no wrinkles of age, no roughness from work. He just looked calm and peaceful, his large, soft chest and stomach rising and falling beneath his sheets with each breath.

...everyone had their weaknesses.

Shale shook his head, then placed one knee on the prince's bed, moving behind his head and putting the knife close to his neck. Then, in a quick motion, he put his free hand over his mouth. The prince made an abrupt, shocked noise, but then went quiet. He didn't try to fight, simply tilting his head back and staring up at Shale with his large green eyes. After a moment, his head jerked back and he made a small, muffled sound beneath Shale's hand. "Don't try to cry out," Shale said softly. "Your guards aren't outside the door."

To Shale's shock, the prince responded to that by rolling his eyes before pulling one hand free and reaching up past the knife at his throat to tap twice against the hand that was muffling him. As he did, he made another one of those strange noises, and Shale saw his stomach abruptly jolt beneath his blankets. Underneath his mask, his face felt hotter. The prince glared up at him and tapped his hand more insistently, and against all better judgment, Shale pulled his hand away. "I can s–*hup* see that perf–*uckt*–ly well from he–*urk*." With every interruption to his speech, his stomach and chest bounced, and Shale's whole body got even hotter. God damn it. Everyone had their weaknesses. "There's no sha–*huk* shadows in th–*hup* the light beneath th---the door."

Even though his brain was being pulled in multiple directions, Shale arched his eyebrows at the prince. Despite having just been woken up with a knife at his throat, he was observant enough to notice that and calm and logical enough to recognize what it meant? "Well then stop making those noises. They won't help you either."

The prince sighed. "Well, *hmk* you see, dear as--sassin, that's no–*hup* not really up to *hulp* me. Out of cu–*hurp* curiosity, do you seri–*uck*–ously think you're the fi–*hurk* first to try and ki–*hulp* kill me?" Shale didn't know how to respond, but he didn't end up needing to, as the prince's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "...no. No, you're no–*hup* not trying to ki–*ulk*–ill me. *hmk*. You could ha–*uck*–ave done so alre–*uck*–dy. You are the fi–*hurst* to get this close, I'll gi–*hic*–i-ive you that. *hmk*." Shit. "So what do–*hook*–o-oooh you want? *hmk-lp*. I'd frankly pa–*hup* pay you more tha–*uk*–an you need *hup* to get lost and le–*huk* let me go back to slee–*up* if these hic–*hups* allow it." Shale's body instinctively tensed at the word and he pulled his knife closer to the prince's throat. To his shock, the prince just rolled his eyes again. "Touchy touchy. *huk* Fine, so you don't wa–*hup* want money. Wha–*uck*–at's the plan then? *hmk* Just want to bra–*uck*–brag to your mates at *hmk* the assassin's guild?"

Well, as long as things were relatively cordial, considering that Shale would need the prince's cooperation, partial honesty may be his best bet. He really wished he didn't have to make these decisions with his brain so compromised though. "You're leaving this castle tonight."

"Can't it wa–*huk*–ait for tomor–*hurk*–row?" Shale gaped at the prince's almost petulant tone. After a few hiccups, he continued. "I'm se–*heep*–rious. *hmk*. Can we no–*hok*–not do this tomor–*hurk*–row? It's the mid–*hulk*–of the night and sn–*hnk* sneaking me out wi–*ulk* with these hiccups would be *hmk* a pain in the arse *hup* for both of us."

Shale was stunned and resisted shaking his head to try and clear it. "You...you want me to wait until tomorrow to kidnap you." The prince nodded. "So that you can tell your guards."

The prince blew a puff of air past his lips. "For a–*hulk*–ll the good they've do---done me tonight *hmk* I think that'd be poi–*uck*–pointless. Honestl–*uk*–ly, what's the plan? *hmk* I know you're no–*hok* not going to kill me *hmk* so getting me ou–*uck*–out means that you're bri–*ingk*–ing me somewh---where. I don't exa–*uck*–ctly go a lo–*hup*–ot of places. *hmk* Certainly not whe–*urk*–wherever your type goes. *huk-ulk*. So this seems li–*uck* like a learning ex---perience for me. *hmk-lp*."

"You're insane." It came out of Shale without him even thinking about it.

He shrugged. "Maybe. *hmk* But if I'm lea–*uck-ulk* leaving either way, *hmk* this strikes me as a bet–*er-hurk* better path for ev–*urk*–ryone involved."

Shale was fairly certain that he was insane too, because he was actually considering this. This pretty, petulant little prince and his absurd spasms that were scrambling Shale's brain...he had no idea how lucky he was. "I'll be watching you all day."

"Natu---rally. If I didn't no–*hup* notice you before now *huk* I doubt that an---nyone will be *hup* observant enough the ne–*uck*–ext day."

"I know how to code a message in speech. If you try it, I'll kill you."

"Counterprod–*huck*–tive, but I certainly *hmk* think you could do it."

"How will I get you out?"

"I'll te–*ulk*–ell my idiot fath–*hurk* that I want to go hu–*un*–ting. He'll be del---lighted, we'll ride o–*hok* off into the *hmp* woods on the ca–*uck*–stle grounds, I'll be te–*hurk*–rrible at it *hnk*, he'll go off *hup* alone, then you'll t–*hup* take me from there."

It...sounded workable.

As a matter of fact, it sounded good. Everyone in the country knew about the king's love of hunting. Slate had seen it himself in his short observation period. The king left every single day, and every single day he tried to get his son to go with him, and every single day the prince refused. And any guards that came along (probably a relatively small number to begin with) would put their focus on the king, not on the prince.

"May I *hup* be honest with you–*huk*, assassin? *hik-ulk*." Slate had no idea how to respond to that. The prince apparently took his silence as a yes, and he heaved out a sigh between hiccups. "If I am to be ki–*uck* kidnapped, with a no–*hok* nontrivial chance o–*hup* of my death," he paused, "though I do–*hook*–o-o trust you to *hmk* keep me alive for *hnk* some time at least, *huk* I'd like a cha–*up*–ance to get some af---fairs in o–*urk*–rder. There are pe–*hup* people I'd..." he was quiet for a few hiccups. "...*hmk* I'd like to–*hup* let know wha–*uk* what I feel ab---bout them. *hmk-mp* *hmp*."

...Shale was absolutely insane. But there were still no shadows outside of the door. No footsteps audible in the hallway. After a long, long couple of minutes (during which Shale couldn't keep his eyes from drifting to the prince's spasming stomach), he pulled his knife back, though he kept the blade in his hand. The prince exhaled and rubbed his neck, sitting up and cracking his back. "You won't leave my sight."

"I don't dou–*hup* doubt that."

"Nobody will know that I'm watching you."

The insufferable prince rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, *hnk* I don't doubt tha---that either. *hup* Will you let me get *hup* get up and light a c---candle? I won't be sle–*huk*–eeping anyway unti–*ulk*–il these things *huk* are gone *hnk* and I'd rather do so–*hup*–omething prod–*huk*–tive than sit ar---round bored and h–*up* hiccuping. *HMK-mmp* mmf." The correct answer to this question was "no."

...but Shale would be able to see his spasms more clearly in the light. The way that his head was knocked back. The way that his shoulders lept. The way that his round gut kept...bouncing inside of his silk sleeping robes...

"Fine."

Everyone had their weaknesses.

[morrigan-sims]

D&D OC Intro

(inspired by @goldenwaves's post!!)

[transcript under the cut]

This is FAR from everyone, but it's the characters I've played for more than a oneshot, and the ones I actually talk about.

TRANSCRIPT:

Zenara Raventhorn (aka Zen)

Tiefling Warlock (Pact of the Fiend)

The first D&D character I ever played.

Only got to play two sessions with them.

Unintentionally inspired by Critical Role Campaign 2

Backstory written between 1-3am on my phone.

Has an imp familiar who looks like a raven.

Occasionally gets possessed by their patron, and then gets given new powers as an "apology".

Fire theme.

Rook (Adrian Lockwood)

Half-elf Rogue (Swashbuckler)

First (and only) character to make it past 8 sessions. (So far.)

Disaster bisexual pirate boy with SO MUCH trauma.

Wields a magic rapier that was a gift from his captain + first mentor.

Enemies with a different pirate captain who wants to capture him.

Has decent charisma but relatively terrible social skills.

Bastard son of a nobleman. Has daddy issues.

Reckless and impulsive to a fault. Would die for his friends.

May or may not be cursed by a demon lord.

Asola Riava Ashmark

Aasimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

Made it 8 sessions before we switched campaigns.

Doesn't know she's an aasimar. Her powers show up when she experiences extreme emotions and it's only ever happened twice in her life.

Got briefly possessed and then force-shut-down by a literal god.

Has a habit of picking up stray traumatized young people.

The party's moral compass. Tried to keep them somewhat in line.

Believes that laying down her life to save someone else's is worth it. Swears she doesn't have self-worth issues.

Morana Novak

Witch (Curse Patron)

Character for an eventual Pathfinder game.

Named after a Slavic goddess of death and winter.

Necromancer, got kicked out of her hometown for graverobbing and experimenting on corpses.

Her familiar is a raven named Miro, who she rescued and trained.

Autistic as hell, which will be fun for me to play.

Very creepy and unsettling person.

One of her future party members nicknamed her "Mortician".

Cyra

Fire Genasi Barbarian (Path of the Storm Herald)

Newest character on this powerpoint.

Fights with a magical flaming quarterstaff that she can summon from inside herself.

Has a stolen, magically powered vehicle.

Formerly part of a cult. Only stayed around for their toxic then-girlfriend.

Somehow basically the least traumatized member of the party. That was NOT the plan.

Avra Shadaowbreath

Shadar-Kai/Reborn Rogue (Phantom)

Devout follower of the Raven Queen, has utter faith in her actions.

Used to work for an assassin's guild until she was killed after a job gone wrong.

Revived by the Raven Queen herself to be her assassin.

Sent to Barovia to kill a powerful lich.

Has complicated feelings on her own resurrection, but her faith in the Raven Queen is stronger than her doubts about herself, for now...

A massive hypocrite when it comes to other people being resurrected.

Odynia Adrasteia Erinys

Aasimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

Devoted follower of Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution.

Got transformed into an aasimar after being chosen to be Nemesis's eye on the mortal plane.

"And eye for an eye" but make it literal.

Has black feathered wings sometimes.

More than a little bit of a bitch. Very prickly at best.

Her name means "inescapable pain/grief" so that bodes well.

Hellbent on revenge... but why?

Aspen Vale

Half-Elf/Changeling Bard/Warlock (Glamour/Archfey)

Pied Piper'd into the Feywild as a child.

Learned bardic magic there, and made a pact with their patron, Fin, the god of death.

Sent back to the material plane with ZERO memories.

Named themself after the first thing they saw in the material plane - an aspen grove.

Carries a "broken" compass that Fin uses to guide them in the right direction without their knowledge.

Carrion Vice

Barbarian (Path of the Fractured)

Physically a tiefling, mechanically a Beasthide shifter.

He grew up religious and his birth name was Reverence.

Received his name after being left for dead and told "Soon you'll be nothing but carrion".

Transforms into an unrecognizable monster when he rages.

Transformations caused by exposure to Delirium (magically radioactive crystal) when he was a kid.

Current goal is to kill his former mentor, the one who left him behind...

[rainboneish]

more general Nobara thoughts (no recent manga spoilers, just a general character analysis post based on information we got up to the end of season 2 with some bonus backstory spoiler bits for some characters)

at the beginning of of the story, Nobara is the only one of the Tokyo students who technically has the option to quit being a sorcerer after graduation without major complications (which is emphasized during her introduction with the multiple mentions of being scouted by an agency, as well as her motivation of moving to Tokyo/out of the village not being inherently tied to being a sorcerer, as long as she can find a different way to support herself. This is further emphasized by the fact that her backstory itself isn’t really influenced by her being a sorcerer. Her story with Fumi and Saori makes no mention of her abilities, and while the negative feelings the villagers had about Saori can be connected to cursed energy, it’s a backstory that would fit into the real world with zero alteration. Nobara does come from a sorcerer family, but it’s not one of the major clan and as far as we know her Grandmother keeps her distance from the rest of the community and we don’t have any indication that she would pressure Nobara into taking up the family business.

While Yuji did grow up as a “normie”, his options were literally presented to him as “die now or be a sorcerer and die at an unspecified point in time in the future” (plus, unbeknownst to him and us at the time, he already had a finger inside of him and Kenjaku would have most likely helped things along if he hadn’t eaten that finger willingly

Megumi is tied to the Jujutsu world through his birthright and technique, as well as through the deal Toji and later Gojo made with the Zenin clan, as well as Tsumiki’s fate in general. Yes Gojo might have been able to get him an out (since the condition stoping his sale to the Zenin is just him being there and sound of mind, Megumi being a sorcerer is to pay off his debt to the school)

Panda is a Panda (cursed corpse edition)

Inumaki’s family situation isn’t clear enough to know if they would be an obstacle to a change in profession but the nature of his cursed technique complicates his situation, he could live as a mute person but we know how easy (/s) society likes to make things for people with disabilities

Maki might have been able to quit being a sorcerer, but it is unclear if the zenin clan lets their children go to a normal school (we never see her or mai wearing middle school uniforms and i feel like it is at least heavily implied that the clans homeschool their kids) and i doubt the zenin clan would make it easy for her to get any kind of official documentation. She could have probably become a mercenary like Toji, but as we saw in his case, even he couldn’t fully shake that world, to the point where it killed him.

(I’m not including Yuta here because he wasn’t present at the beginning of the story (outside of jjk0), he probably could have left jujutsu society after graduation in theory but his obstacle was his power being too strong (leading to political pressure) He also tied to jujutsu society through his bonds, as is made very clear in jjk 0, which is something he and Nobara have in common (like a certain other thing (a crush on maki sorry i couldn’t help myself ))

(this is just the situation at the beginning of the story, a lot has changed since then rendering a lot of these points moot)

so yeah, Nobara is the only one who is technically free to leave at any time, as long as she can secure a job (which is a pretty normal hurdle that anyone who isn’t born with inherited wealth would face). She has had a normal schooling before going to jujutsu high and judging by Nanami’s story, the school probably has the authority to give graduates the necessary paperwork to get into normal higher education or get a job that isn’t necessary for (idk jack shit about the education system in japan and i’m not going to research it for a sentence in a tumblr post)

Which makes it even more of a statement to her character that she actually sticks around and gives it her all.

Nobara is a character who can seem abrasive at first. She seems vain and immediately belittles Yuji and Megumi upon introduction. Then the scene with the kid happens and you start to glimpse that she is kinder than she seems. Through her backstory and her relationship with Yuji and Maki especially, as well as her relationship with Fumi and Saori, it becomes evident that despite initial impressions, she is a character who cares, deeply.

And while she later claims that she can only care for so many people (which is true to a certain extent), she shows a willingness to sacrifice herself for a little boy she never met and immediately agrees with Itadori that they need to help the people in the juvenile detention center (even if she isn’t as absolute as Yuji about it). As she says herself, she does not have Yuji’s compulsion to save everyone, but she isn’t selective to the degree Megumi is either.

She willingly goes back into Shibuya station, despite the fact that she has been told that she is outmatched in skill and seeing the devastation that has occurred while she was outside the veil, because she knows that Yuji, Gojo and other people she knows are still in there, something the others around her were unwilling to do at that point. As i said, she is brave, and she cares so so deeply!

When she is taken down by Mahito her last thoughts are dedicated to both her sorcerer friends AND her non-sorcerer friends. Nobara, despite what she said after Yuji’s “death” at the detention center connects with people fast (one could say that, like Yuji and his ability to touch the soul, she too represents her powers in that way, resonating with the people around her) That’s something we’re allowed to see about her early, her lip wobbling in spite of what she said, her dedication to Maki, her outrage at how other people treated Fumi and Saori.

I believe that Nobara is the person who had the best chance to leave Jujutsu society behind her if she hadn’t built meaningful relationships with her schoolmates… but i also believe that similarly to Nanami, she would have inevitably returned to it because she couldn’t watch people getting hurt and not do anything about it.

[good-beans]

YES thank you @kyanako5972 for your service 😤👏 (I was actually looping them both for a bit but I keep forgetting to run it lately ah...)

And hehe I have been ✨enabled ✨Have some Triage thoughts, and feel free to add your own!!

Starting off with my main praise of the song: “I want to be Innocent, I want to live.” I know the point of milgram is that all the characters are going to get worse, but I feel like this video is the first t2 song we’ve seen a prisoner get better. (People have talked about his savior complex being an issue but that’s coming after the inno verdict, in Triage he specifically says he never wanted this to be some kind of hostage situation where he has the power to save/kill people.) This is when we can finally see one of our verdicts go right. The others had an issue, or creeping guilt, or uncertainty, but Shidou gets over any uncertainty right then and there – he wants to live again!! In a series so full of death, in which half of the cast makes some reference to suicidal thoughts, plus two victims who did commit suicide, there’s something extremely profound about seeing one of them change their mind onscreen. We hadn’t gotten a moment of healing like that before, and I doubt we’re ever going to get one again.

The moment itself is shown very accurately and beautifully, in my opinion. His expression when he makes his statement about wanting to live is so unique. It’s not a smile, it’s not a grimace, it’s something in between. His voice is strained, but set. He’s not excited about it – when you’re in that mental place, it isn’t a cheery switch to wanting to live, it’s a grit-your-teeth and pick yourself up and make the tough choice. It’ll be so, so hard but by god you have a job to do. It made sense, given all the previous mentions of him helping Fuuta and Mahiru – he had a lot of complicated feelings about being a doctor, but he remembered that saving others really is his purpose in life.

And then the shock factor. Because of that moment and the family reveal, I think this video had the biggest twist of t2. The others had surprises, sure, but they were hinted at in the voice clips and vds, or they just exaggerated things we already knew about the characters. I was completely blindsided by Triage. Everything leading up to it paralleled Shidou with Mahiru, so I thought it was just a lover he’d lost (and maybe someone he’d just met or something). He had his moments with Amane, but I always assumed it was because of her connection to him, not vice versa. I assumed he was just overdramatic and killing people for some lady he’d fallen for, and then decided to take the easy way out and ask for death. So to find out he had a fully established family, wife and two kids??? To see his main character trait from season one was completely reversed??? (but in a way that wasn’t at all forced???)

Now, it’s much easier to make a character unlikable than it is to redeem them. We saw how quickly the fandom turned on certain characters, we felt pangs of horror for many of them. But it’s very difficult to make someone like a character they’d previously despised. Which is why I’m insanely impressed with the way those three minutes could undo months of my hatred toward Shidou, and bring me literally to tears over him. Suddenly his actions weren’t so selfish, as rash. He’s not taking the coward’s way out. He had incredibly good reason to do what he did, and now he’s taking accountability and choosing to face pain in order to atone. I’ll add more in a sec, but it’s not even that the video shows him as this perfect saint. Without holding back on everything he’d done wrong, it conveyed a real, grieving human that really moved me.

Of course the music itself was amazing – Shugo Nakamura sounds incredible. I don’t know too much about actual music structure, but the tone of both Shidou’s songs manages to be so fun and relaxing while simultaneously filling you with that profound sadness. It’s like an embodiment of his peaceful, sad smile. There’s something so human about his voicemail message, and it’s unique hearing different types of speaking parts in a song! But that moment is also foreboding. You wonder why he missed the call, and who’s calling, and you kind of already know, and you hear the three beeps as the line is dead. Then there’s the gut-wrenching return of those sounds, with the added visuals bringing to mind a dying heart?? Insane. 

And lastly, the visuals are gorgeous. Bringing back the flower/pomegranate symbolism in a similar but new way was perfect. The bright scenery and picturesque scenes really emphasized how happy he was. The video is so bright. His family is gorgeous, they’re happy. His neighborhood is sunny and warm. His house is comfortable and light. Which meant the dark scenes contrasted perfectly, driving home how jarring his loss was. And despite all the good things I said about him before, the video isn’t actually trying to paint him in an innocent light. There are literal graveyards behind him, showing how much blood is on his hands. The rotting food is such a disgustingly painful way to show what he was doing to people. He handed the tag directly to his son, showing full accountability: he gave his son his fate, he killed him himself. The images seem beautiful at first, especially compared to AKAA’s dark, bloody rooms, Backdraft’s grim tunnel, and INMF’s monstrous bees. But no matter how lovely it looks, it successfully  conveys a truly horrendous crime. 

In conclusion Shidou my fucking beloved. Go watch Triage again :3