#again he should not be the only one addressing this but

[grvait]

old art again!! this time a rough animation of sawyer and yarnaby 😎 (looks better if u click to view 😭)

im working on a short ppt animation rn. im thinking i should post it to my youtube channel, though im not sure if people here would see it. i think i can link videos on here?? idk

okay I'm gonna talk abt more chapter 4 stuff.. this time about prototype's previous identity.. ch4 spoilers and also a theory below..

hiding the solo yarnaby under here LOL

people theorized 1006 was elliot, which was recently disproven in the chapter 4 tape where poppy refers to elliot as her dad and wishes he were there. in the same tape she addresses prototype as a completely different person. also recall that elliot died in the 90s, meanwhile prototype met theo in 1989. so yeah, they aren't the same person

I've also seen people say rich is prototype, which cannot be true either. in a ch4 tape he speaks to one of the boys who eventually got turned into doey. the kid mentions his coworkers joking about him going missing. before the bbi, it would not make sense for this to be a common rumor at the company, which means this tape had to happen after harley was hired in 1990; at a time when the company would have a reason to silence people

prototype existed in 1989 at the minimum, but considering he says "it's always been about you and me" to poppy, he's likely the prototype of HER. she's elliots daughter, she died in the 60s, meaning prototype was probably created around that time as well.

this means that rich can't be the prototype because he was human long after prototype was made

if you want my take on who prototype truly is, i'd say his identity doesn't necessarily matter. i don't mean to say his origins aren't important, just that his name and specific role in the past probably doesn't mean anything in the long run. i've never believed he was elliot or rich, and maybe in the future i'll be proven wrong but for now i'll tell you the theory i've had since june of last year

elliot's daughter dies in the 60s. he divorced his wife in 1930, so his daughter is probably in her 30s when she dies. she gets sick or injured, maybe she's actively dying or already dead by the time elliot begins his research. he looks for ways to bring her back, but it doesn't work on the rats (as he mentioned a note in the 2nd chapter)

so what does he do? he tries it on something bigger as he said he would: a human. of course he's not going to try this experimental method on his own daughter, even if she's already dead, so he finds someone else to use it on. we know that elliot wasn't evil or anything, so it's unlikely he killed anybody to use for the experiment. considering the orphanage isn't open yet (it opened in the 70s, not the 60s), prototype probably wasn't an orphan child either. if i run with my simple version of the theory, elliot may have dug up a body in a graveyard and used that. maybe a fresh one, who knows. he tried it, it worked, then he revived his daughter with the same method.

this is likely what harley wanted to know about in the chapter 3 tape (the "i learn something new about you every day" one), and also what prototype is asking harley to figure out in the ch4 tape they're both in. in that case, sawyer never actually figured out how to revive people with the poppy substance. sure, he can transfer people into the toys, but he can't bring anybody back to life

more reason to believe prototype and poppy are of the same "batch" is because it seems they are the only two who don't need food. it's outright stated about him in the ch1 trailer, and insinuated with her saying the "toys will starve otherwise" when she's talking about how nasty them eating humans is. she refers to them, not herself. her and prototype are probably the only 2 who were ever brought back from the dead, which circles back around to his monologue and gives meaning to the "it's always been about you and me, poppy. what we are". when i heard him say that i felt like my theory was lowk confirmed 😭😭

no guarantee this is right, but it's been my guess for a long time

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

You mentioned how ace's dream was like a vague fanfiction addressing some fun fandom theories and ideas but I think whats the best part about it was how the progression up to that point made sense. Theyve dropped so many moments showing ace caring dearly for yuu to the point where this dream as fanservicey like that it was it feels natural for ace to have such a dream if that makes sense WAAGH I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

What did you think of the dream though ms raven? The dream made me wail so badly ough hes finally cried too m sure hes been through a lot 🥹 seeing cater talk to ace so sincerly it hits me so hard in the feels im so glad hes finally got to cry (a little anyways)

Ace’s dream felt like fanfiction, but at least it felt natural or like everything up to this point was leading up to this being his wish. I unfortunately cannot say that for several other dreams. Certainly ones definitely felt egregious or contrived. Some were largely fanservice (Savanaclaw Rook, dorm leader Cater, delinquent Deuce) or just excuses to make new cards (merform twins), even if it didn’t make complete sense for the character to wish for it.

dgjswvizjsowk I know you’re probably expecting me to comment on Ace in his own darn dream, but I actually have a lot more to say about Cater. Ace’s motivations + butting heads with the rescue squad were what I expected them to be (though I give him props for being the only character so far to resist waking up right away). More on my precursory thoughts in this post (but based the exact wording of your ask. I’d be tired to guess you’ve already read it 😅)! But CATER????? TELL ME WHY HE WAS THE GOAT THIS UPDATE 😭

Cater does SO much???? First he suggests the third years help Trey cook BBQ so the darkness is distracted while the others can isolate Ace and try to wake him. When that attempt fails, Cater pretends to agree with Leona’s proposal to leave Ace behind to bait Deuce to come after him to play as his support. Cater sitting down to have a heart-to-heart convo with Ace??? And then mercilessly using his UM to gang up on Ace and beat him up??? 😭 Him reminding Ace about his courage facing off against OB Riddle… Cater confessing he wanted to run, but being encouraged to join the fight because aaaaah his kouhai looked so cool and dashing!! Thanking Ace??? Finally verbalizing some of his feelings???!?!?!?!???! CATER PULLING ACE OUT OF THE DARK????? MY GOD… OTL ThE biG BRoTHER EnERGGY WaS SO DTRONgGGGGGggGGGGG

And he kept this up even into Trey’s dream???????? Where Cater once again does a TON. He volunteers to investigate since makes the most sense (he is a Heartslabyul student so it’s not shady to be in the dorm and his UM is useful for combat). Cater also the third years with him into the kitchen to have a look around. Him saying he’s impressed with Silver’s will and how he would’ve given up so much sooner if he were him???? Dropping interesting lore about Trey??? Cater admitting that he has always been a spectator and now realizes he should have done more than just watch events unfold???

CATER CONSISTeNTLY puTTING hIMSELF AnD THE THirD YEARS IN hARm’s WAy FiRST… StRAtEGIzING… mAnIPULATING… AND ACTUAL SELF-REFLECTION AnD SINCERiTY????

Cater got to shine SO much this update, especially in Ace’s dream. He really came off like a big brother figure to Ace. A little mean, but also able to be so very vulnerable with him. Him not wanting to give up on Ace even though he later says if he were Silver, he’d have given up on everyone a while ago… MAN. CaTER cARES SO muCHHHHHhhh 😭 This might actually bump him up a little in my tier list… I didn’t like him much before 💦

[crowsofdarkness]

Vaz Prizrak: Chapter Six

-gif not mine. credit to owner-

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Female Agent! Reader.

Content Warnings: language, 18 + implied smut, angst, fluff, violence, mentions of losing a pregnancy, thoughts of taking one's life, an attempt to take one's life. I will give another warning when that chapter is posted.

Summary: Bucky and Reader have been in their own solace while in Wakanda for years. They were finally happy to create the life they wanted and deserved. That was until a new foe came along to dust it all away.

Authors Note: This takes place during Infinity War and Endgame! If you haven't yet, please read Soldat and Dorogaya beforehand.

Tags: @globetrotter28 @sakuracyberhex @chinggay85-blog @bookofriverr @misatxox @that-blonde-girl @cats-chaotic-mind @wintrsoldrluvr @sebastians-love @pumpkin-babydoll @ordelixx @starfly-nicole @j23r23 @baw1066 @capswife

Soldat Masterlist | Dorogaya Masterlist | Vaz Prizrak Masterlist

FIVE. YEARS. LATER. 

The rain pelted hard to the pavement under my feet while I chased the cries of the man as he crawled away from me. Blood pooled from the hole in his stomach and he pressed a hand against it, hoping it would stop the bleeding. 

“Please, I’m not who you think I am!,” he cried, falling to his back. 

He looked up at me, horror in his eyes as he pleaded for his life in Russian. The language was still familiar to me after all these years. 

“I won’t stop until every single one of you Hydra dicks are bleeding out in the streets,” I hissed while pulling the large knife from the sheath of my black, leather suit. 

His screams seized when the blade gilded across his throat, blood splattering over the exposed skin of my face. I wiped the blade on the arms of my suit to clean the blood before putting it back to its place. The mask on my face had protected it against the rest of the blood spatter, thankfully, so I looked up into the sky to let the rain wash away whatever blood I had left. 

My fingers worked fast to braid my long hair to the side, the new length bothering me. A new message on my phone indicated a new address from my source and knowing that it was only a few blocks away, I let my heavy boots guide the way. 

“You’re my everything, dorogaya.” 

I shook the voice from my head, not allowing it to distract me from my current mission. 

The flame shield in front of me saved me from the oncoming rounds of bullets as I walked with ease to the men who were behind the guns. The shield evaporated in my hands while I pulled a gun from my belt, firing my own rounds of bullets; all hitting their marks. 

With their bodies lying scattered throughout the somewhat empty warehouse, I spent the new alone time looking through the countless piles of boxes, hoping to find what I needed. 

“I know you’re here somewhere,” I muttered, fingers working through the piles of papers. 

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” A man yelled, gun shaking in hands with clear fear.

I peaked over my shoulder and with an annoyed sigh, I threw a fire ball towards the new soldier of Hydra who appeared out of nowhere and watched as he fell to ash. 

“Weak,” I spat towards the pile of ash. “You’re all weak.” 

“Check the file cabinet, dorogaya.” 

Staring at the cabinet in front of me, I followed the voice's direction and once I opened the bottom drawer, I smiled in victory. 

A red leather bound book with the black star on the front. 

After all of the events in Germany, the book that had controlled the Winter Soldier went missing. There were rumors that Hydra stole it again, hoping to use it to create another Winter Soldier. 

I refused to let that happen.

Once the book was safely in my backpack, I slung it over my shoulder before walking outside and checked my phone for another update from my source. 

He’s at his house. It’s a four mile walk. I sent a car to your current location, and should be pulling up in seconds.

A slick black car pulled to a stop in front of me and with a smirk, I climbed into the backseat and gave the driver the address. 

The heel of my boot pressed deeper into the guards throat, locking him into place on the hard ground. He struggled to breath while his hands failed to claw at my legs. 

“Where is he?” I demanded. 

“Fuck you.” The guard struggled to breath under my boot. “Hail Hy-.” 

He fell to a pile of ash at my feet, the flames burning through the leather gloves. 

“Yeah, I’ve heard that line before.” I groaned, brushing the dust off of my boots. 

The large double staircase stood in front of me and my gaze followed the marble floors to a random doorway at the end of the hall. It didn’t fit well with the other doors and satire of the home. 

“Bingo,” I smirked when the door opened, showing a staircase leading somewhere underground. 

My feet went to turn left at the bottom of the stairs but the soft voice in my head told me to go right; it never steered me wrong. 

“I can’t believe he did it.” 

Spinning on my heels, I brought the flames to life as I stared directly into the eyes of the man I had been looking for the past five years. He was the head of Hydra in Russia and rumor had it, he had a hand in making Bucky The Winter Soldier. The grey in his hairs indicated that he was a lot older than I had imagined. 

He was the last one on my very long list. 

“Pierce? Yeah, old news,” I shrugged. 

The old man pointed towards my face. “You look just like Soldat, with his mask.” 

The mask over my mouth felt heavy with the utter of the name that I hadn’t heard in so long. Not only had my suit changed, all black leather, I had decided to start wearing Bucky’s mask, the one he wore when I first saw him again; when Steve and I were chasing him on the roof. 

“I heard he was a casualty of the snap,” the man clicked his tongue. “He became weak when he found you. I told them that it was a bad idea to let you in his life. Soldat didn’t need love.” 

“Man, shut the hell up,” I cursed, ending his life with a fast bullet to the head. 

I was so quick that he hadn't seen it coming; my powers intensifying my reflexes over the years. 

As I stared at the lifeless body, my shoulders slumped with a loud sigh. 

“Well this was very anti-climatic,” I mumbled. 

After stuffing my bag with a couple handfuls of stacks of bills, I maneuvered over the few bodies that had run cold as I made my way back outside. The rain had intensified, coming down from the sky fast. I was drenched from head to toe in seconds. 

“You’ve been busy.” 

Raising my gun to the new voice, my hard gaze met with a pair of solid blue eyes that stared at me with sadness. Even under the darkness from his umbrella, I could tell who it was. I would never forget what the softness of his face looked like. 

“Well if it isn’t Captain America, here to save the day. News flash, I don’t need fucking saving.” I seethed, pulling the mask off of my face. 

“You’ve left a lot of bodies in your path, Y/N. What you’ve been doing is dangerous,” Steve said, trying to take a step towards me. 

I jumped away from him. 

“They deserved it,” I merely shrugged, as if the thought of killing people without a second thought didn’t bother me. “Clint tell you where I was?” 

Steve nodded. “He mentioned that you two traveled together for a while before splitting up.” 

It was my turn to nod. “Which means that Nat also found Clint.” 

“I think you need to come home,” Steve said. 

“I don’t have a home! My home dusted away in the snap five fucking years ago!” I yelled, my screams breaking the glass of the house behind me. 

My screams have left Steve unfazed, almost becoming used to it. 

I had turned my back on him, ready to walk away, but his next words caused me to freeze in place. 

“We can bring him home, Y/N. We can bring them all home.” Steve's voice was soft but firm. 

In a quick instant, I had Steve pressed hard to the ground, pinning him with my hips. My sharp blade was pressed hard into the vein in his throat. I could end it all for Captain America with one quick slash. 

“Don’t,” my bottom lip trembled while I let out a shaky breath. “Don’t give me hope.” 

Steve raised a hand to move a strand of hair that had fallen out of the braid and with a longing gaze into his eyes, I felt it in my heart that he was telling me the truth. He had somehow found a way to bring everyone back from the snap. 

One mission had ended, another one began. 

[maleoventlover]

♱A Token of Blood and Gold♱

✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠

English Professor!Vampire x Human fem!reader

It was another day of class. Rain hit the aged auditorium glass with soft thuds as you sit within your lecture. You were an English Masters student, studying Rhetoric in Religious Literature from the 18th century. You specified in work from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, with occasional interest in main land Europe.

Your professor, a man seemingly in his late 30’s, early 40’s, spoke about the history of Manama and its importance in conversation such as religion, philosophy, and self expression. Professor Farsi was his name, and god was he beautiful. His hair was black and slicked back, a streak of silver etched into the many strands. His eyes were strong, beautifully brown like the perfect cup of coffee in the chilled morning air, glistening with wisdom from his years. His strong jaw covered in a sharp bearded goatee, gray strands running through the black hairs. His skin was a beautiful shade of honey.

The lecture would typically interest you, especially considering professor Farsi was teaching it. He had been your professor since your undergrad years. You figured as you moved to your masters his classes would decrease. Oh how your were wrong. People from around the world came to hear his lectures. Something about this made you feel a slight tinge of jealousy. You knew he was a well reknoened academic. Anytime he looked your way it felt like you two were the only people in the world. He made you feel something no other person had. The way his eyes gazed over you, you could’ve sworn he felt it too.

“That’s all for today class. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Everyone stood up, chattering about their first lesson with the captivating professor. You gathered your things and head towards the exits of the building, only to remember it was still raining. A sigh escapes your lips as you realize you forgot your umbrella. As your body becomes soaked with heavy pellets of water you hear the sound of an umbrella opening. The feeling of rain drops disappear, replaced with the feeling of a hand on your lower back.

“Miss Y/N, did you forget your umbrella again?”

“Professor. You know me too well.”

You hum. The smell of leather, musk, and amber. His scent was as intoxicating as his voice. Confident yet soothing, he always had a way with words.

Of course my dear. You’re soaked, let me drive you home

You could deny his sultry voice, his hand pressing in on your back, guiding you to his car. His other hand, gripping the umbrella shielding you from the rain.

Instances like this confused you. He was always so kind and giving towards you yet never confessed any feelings nor engaging in physical gestures. Yet, since your junior year if undergraduate there was always something.

Approaching the staff parking lot, your jaw jobs at the sight of an expensive black car, one a professor salary could definitely not afford.

Cadillac SOLLEI, black exterior and interior, a gift from a friend.

He mutters and opens the passenger seat for you.

Looking up at his face he looked a bit tired, something about the way his eyes lingered on you a second longer than they should. You smile awkwardly. It almost felt like he was sizing you up. Maybe it was just your imagination.

The next moment he is in the car beside you. You jump noticing his presence, you hadn’t even heard him get into the car. He laughs at your lack of attention, his laugh making you knees weak. Good thing you were in the car.

Soon the car jumped to life and he began leaving campus.

What is your address Miss Y/N?

You’re about to respond but stop. Your brain starting to feel good, relaxed. The rain gets louder, a little too loud. With every drop it pulls you deeper into this feeling of bliss.

khanam Y/N sadaye man ra mi shnevid? nah? khob

You don’t even know what he’s saying. You just smile as him, a giggle escaping your lips.

Your sight begins to fade. Black slowly creeps in from all sides, an all-consuming void. The last thing you see is Professor Farsi flashing a grin at you, but something is off. He had long fangs poking out from his mouth. Then you fade to black.

Your eyes shot open in a panic. Sweat slicked your brow as you sat up in almost complete darkness. A flash of light from the window shocked you, and loud thunder soon followed. A storm was raging outside.

“Outside…”

You murmur as you suddenly realize you have no idea where you are. Anxiety begins to creep through you as you look around. None of this looked familiar. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you feel your stomach drop. No. This was familiar, but not in the way it should be.

The room was decorated in a combination of 18th gothic Eurocentric interior and 18th-century ottoman interior. It was a spitting image of your dream room, a beautiful culmination of your studies and desires. You take in your surroundings more clearly. The bed you say on tested within a European bed frame carved from dark wood, intricate designs carved into its flesh. Beautiful, thin silk curtains rested on the sides of your bed, shielding you from air drafts and bugs. The room was adorned with religious and philosophical tapestries displaying stories from many religious texts you familiarized yourself with.

You slowly step onto the hardwood floor of the room, your legs and feet cold from the night air. Looking down at yourself, you gasp. You are not wearing the clothes you had on in class. In fact, you wore a night gown, your head adorned in a silk wrap to protect your hair from your restless slumber.

‘This is weird. Am I dreaming?’

You think to yourself as you walk around the dark room.

A candle and box, if matched, catch your eye as they rest upon the wardrobe in the corner. Quickly, you strike a match, the flame catching alight instantly. You lit the candle and promptly blew out the match.

Despite the weather outside and your better judgment, you decide to find a way out of where ever you were.

You jogged down the hallway to what you'd concluded to be a manor. The night sky adorned in thunderclouds slammed its assault of rain against the large glass panes that lined the walls of the hallway you traveled.

The need for escape coursed through your veins as you checked every door for an exit. Some were locked, and others led to dust-filled rooms, drawing rooms, and storage; it was all pointless.

As your legs carry you faster, your bare feet pattering against the cold marble, you see one room ahead. A soft, warm glow sealed from the edges. Something about it enticed you, drew you closer. Your jog became a walk, then a stillness. Reaching for the knob, you turn it slowly, carefully pushing the door open.

It was like something out of a book. A secluded personal library with a fireplace crackling as wood burnt to embers. Professor Farsi stood in front of the fireplace, holding a cup of amber liquid.

Y/N. I've been waiting for you sholeh ebdi man(1).

“Where am I?” You demanded, staying close to the door. Something was definitely off about the professor. You needed to stay close enough to the nearest exit in case things heated.

The door slammed shit behind you, a hush yet noticble locking noice could be heard.

You blood runs cold. How did he do that? What that even him.

Y/N, sholeh ebdi man, you need not fear me. I am merely making sure you do not run without hearing me out.

His back still faced you, the drink on his hand brought up to his lips.

“What do you want from me professor?”

The sound of him sucking his teeth and the shake of his head.

I do not want anything from you Y/N

He begins to turn. You blink, and suddenly, he's gone. You try to process where he went in less than a second. You feel a breath on your neck, causing you to jump and turn. He's standing right behind you, his stature tall and frame completely shadowing your own.

You are what I want. My deepest desire. My sun to my moon. My light in the darkest of hours.

His hand reaches upwards and caressed your cheek. You freeze in response. What is he talking about?

You are sholeh ebdi man, my eternal flame. At first I did not notice.

He began to pace around you, like he was stalking his prey. And honestly, you felt like a rabbit stuck in a foxes den.

It wasn't until I saw you today in class that I realized. You are the answer to my problems.

You could feel your heart racing as he steadily got closer.

My loneliness, my hunger, my desire. A mortal woman such as yourself woukd normally never peak my interest but…

His hands grabbed your hips and pulled you against him. Your back flushed to his chest. His rough and uneven breath hovered over your neck.

Your blood just smells so….divine!

The sound of his maw opening, something sharp snapping down onto skin, ripping through fkesh and muscle. Horror is etched into your face as a sharp pain erupts from the crook of your neck and shoulder. Large fangs dug into your flesh. His rough tongue lapped up your blood from the gushing wound. A scream rips from your throat as the man you admired feasts on your life source.

~fin-

sholeh ebdi man(1): my eternal flame

khanam Y/N sadaye man ra mi shnevid? nah? khob.(2): Miss Y/N Can you hear me? No? Good.

(A/N: Should I do a part 2)

[bestiainfinita]

I had a discussion on Instagram about Eurylochus and wanted to share it here , the post where this conversation happened is irrelevant but it was about Eurylochus and the end of the Thunder Saga, anyways I made a comment and this guy’s responded:

Then I responded with this across some comments (I chose not to use screen caps for most of my things because they are a lot of comments and it might be over the limit of them, and I had the stuff I said saved):

Lol what are you in buddy???

First of all, since the start Eurylochus has had one objective in mind just like Odysseus, Eurylochus wanted to protect the crew and to get them home while Odysseus wanted to go home to be with his son and wife, that’s the main reason the diversion between Eury and Ody happened, because Ody cared more about getting home than about the crew, while Eury cared more about the crew than getting home.

In ‘Full Speed Ahead’ (Song 03) he tells Ody that they are out of food and they need to feed THE CREW so he asks the captain / king what they should do, because that’s is what he’s supposed to do, he proposes attacking and just taking the food because he wants to ensure food for the crew no matter what, this is also proveen in ‘Polyphemus’ (Song 06) when the first thing he says is “There are enough sheep here to feed the entire fleet” he was thinking about the crew again. Then in ‘Remeber Them’ (Song 09) he’s the one who ask “But captain, what do we do with our fallen friends?” because he CARES about the crew.

Also he not only cares about the crew but he cares about Odysseus too (he’s part of the crew but anyways), this is better shown in ‘Luck Runs Out’ (Song 11); “You could be caught off guard and lose your life” “I just don’t wanna see another life end” “You are like the brother I could never do without”.

Then in the same song (‘Luck Runs Out’) we understand why he opened the wind bag. He was afraid, he was afraid of the Gods and what they might do to him, Odysseus and the crew; “You could be caught off guard and lose your life” “Or piss off this God and infuse us with strife” “Don’t forget how dangerous the gods are”.

Now the Circe thing, y’all have very selective hearing and didn’t understood Eury at all, he is still afraid during this song (‘Puppeteer’ Song 14); he’s afraid of a Goddess, of Circe, he gave those men for dead because they were captured by a literal Goddess, and he is also afraid of what she might to to Odysseus and the rest of the crew if they try to face her; “Think about the men we have left before there’s none, let’s just cut our loses, you and I, and let’s run” “What if she can’t be killed!? — Will you chose to leave?”

By the way, I would like to point out that in this song (‘Puppeteer’) Odysseus says “There’s no length I wouldn’t go, if it was you I’d have to save, I can only hope you’ll do the same…” and Eurylochus responds by literally doing that, by trying to stop Odysseus from going into that suicidal mission, (let me remind y’all that the only reason Odysseus stood his ground against Circe was thanks to Deus Ex Hermes).

And another thing, some of you people like to say Eurylochus wanted Odysseus gone or blasphemy like that, then why didn’t he killed him in ‘Mutiny’ (Song 24), he had Odysseus stabbed and defenseless but he didn’t killed him, he and the crew just restrained him and treated all of his wounds, they didn’t want him dead, they just couldn’t trust him anymore and therefore couldn’t have him as his captain.

Then they said this (ignoring stuff I already talked about):

And finally I finished the conversation and responded with this:

1. I literally addressed the Circe situation in my previous comments, and explained how he gave those men for dead because to save them they would have had to fight a LITERAL GODDESS (remember they just lost 11 ships / more than 500 men to another God), and again, the only reason Ody won / was able to talk it through was thanks to Hermes’s intervention.

2. Again, I believe the treasure was a misdirection, and the real reason was fear, as I have explained before / in my previous comments.

3. If he wanted to forget what he did and act like nothing have happened, he wouldn't even have confessed in the first place, so it's obviously not about that.

4. That part was a metaphor, see how it is similar to 'Luck Runs Out' in the way that one was talking as a friend and the other as his title, in 'Luck Runs Out' Odysseus is the one talking as a friend while in 'Mutiny' Eurylochus is the one talking as a friend (we know because he called him "Ody" instead of "Captain"), so he was talking one on one and Odysseus was responding talking about himself about how HE wanted to go back to HIS kingdom HIS son and HIS wife ignoring what Eurylochus was saying to him as well as his concerns (like he did in ‘Luck Runs Out’), then the crew jumps in showing Odysseus that all of the crew thinks the same, that they are all tired, that they are all hurt, and that they are all hungry, something that Odysseus's own suffering has made him oblivious to, and now he tries to talk to the crew, to calm them and convince them, but he has already shown them that his priority is himself, so they ignore his pleading and try to give themselves comfort in the only way they currently can, try so solve the only problem they as mere men are able to, and so they killed the cattle to eat.

[flightnight]

I need help understanding Sunday.

I feel that there's a rift between how the game expects me to see him and how I actually see him. Would anybody be so kind as to help me clarify these two points?

1. What did he ever say or do that would indicate that he realizes that he ever did something wrong? Bonus points for addressing his core harmful misconception that led him to become a villain to begin with.

2. Which of his actions do you consider admirable?

Explanation of why exactly I have problems with these points below the cut:

1. His whole thing during the Penacony arc was that, in his opinion, people shouldn't be trusted to live their miserable lives by themself; they'll only hurt themself. Everybody (including Robin) is too weak, and he's the only one who's strong. So they should be forever imprisoned in the perfect boring dream their benevolent lord and savior Sunday created for them. From what I understand, he was going to start with Penacony and then imprison the whole universe under his absolute control. Okay, great, typical "morally grey" villain motivation, very well explained, no problem here.

Most of the characters, as well as, hopefully, the player, understand that it's the wrong thing to do. Nice motive, still evil.

My question is: what are the things he said or did since we defeated him that indicate that he's changed? Does he ever admit or imply that he did anything wrong? That human lives are precious no matter how miserable and flawed they are in his opinion? and how valuable freedom is? How strong can people be?

Because so far I only see the opposite: instead of indicating that he was wrong, he doubled down. He literally told us that he's going to do some research and try again.

I don't know, maybe I blinked and missed him getting in a situation where he has to confront his misconceptions.

I had very low expectations. I expected "I might have done something bad, but I might be persuaded to forgive myself," or "it wasn't me, it was my evil past self," or "it was somebody else's fault," or "I might have tried to take over the world, but look, I helped a grandma cross the road, so that's okay now.". All of these would be bad. And we kind of get a tiny bit of all of these, but only as vague vibes.

I saw people saying that he helped Tingyun for free, and it shows that he's changed. Are people implying that he was so morally repugnant that he wouldn't have helped somebody for free before? Even I don't think so. Is basic human decency an achievement for him now?

His problem wasn't that he didn't care about fixing other people's lives. It was exactly the opposite!

That's exactly the kind of thing he shouldn't be doing as a show of how much he changed.

A moment of growth for him would be if he realized that another person is strong enough to solve their problems by themselves, without his involvement.

Let's look at other antagonists turned playable characters.

Bronya's main motivation is to save her people. Her misconception—she has faith in her mother. She faces the fact that her mother isn't the person she came to love and respect.

Topaz's main motivation is to help Jarilo-VI survive. Her misconception—she thinks that being owned by the IPC is the only way for them to survive. She faces the fact that the people of Jarilo-VI are strong enough to survive by themselves.

Sunday's main motivation is to save people from suffering. His misconception—it's only possible if he imprisons them in a dream controlled by him. Does he ever face the realization that he was wrong? I don't care how many Tingyuns he helped, his problem wasn't that he was unwilling to help people. IT WAS KIND OF THE OPPOSITE!!!

And later on, when he kind of helps us, it does nothing to address his core misconception, the thing his whole personality is built around.

He's not a generic bad guy who can redeem himself by becoming a generic good guy! You can't write a complex character and then completely neuter him in his supposed "redemption arc!"

2. What did he do that's worth admiring?

And I think DH's "about Sunday" line indicates how we are supposed to see his return:

"Whether he can achieve his dream or not, being able to let go of everything and start again is already admirable enough."

(btw I'd like to remind you that his dream was to imprison the whole universe. And he wasn't "able" to bravely let go of everything. He was forced to. By being defeated by us. Hello!!!)

What did Sunday even do? Nearly turned Penacony back into a prison again. Got hit by a train. Lost a boss fight (as a boss). Got saved by Robin. Got what he deserved and what he tried to do to others—imprisonment. Threw a hissy fit, got immediately saved by Robin again, and was freed by Jade. Got accidentally split in two. Told Robin to touch the grass. Graciously allowed us to give him a lift.

DH, which of those do you find admirable???? How bravely did he overcome being a villain?

What would we expect a lesser, not so "admirable" person to do in his place? And he hardly even had any agency in most of these events.

Let's look at other characters again. Firefly apologized for lying to us. Topaz and Bronya admitted that they were wrong and backed off. They made a conscious decision to stop what they were doing after realizing they were wrong. They weren't forced to stop by just being defeated in a boss fight and imprisoned. That's admirable. What did Sunday do that's admirable?

And what about Welt's "about Sunday":

"Having an ideal and pursuing it is not rare, but being able to start anew after that ideal is shattered—this kind of willpower will carry him far."

Gramps, the last time we had to hit him with a train several times to stop his willpower from "carrying him far", wdym?

And I'm sure the game's writers are planning to give him more to do later, maybe dragging him through some long overdue character development (I mean, why else are we carrying this piece of cardboard they turned him into with us to Amphoreus?) Because 15 hours of monologue during Pencaony, plus 5 more hours during his triumphant return, clearly wasn't enough. All these new upcoming characters will move over to give Sunday 10 more hours of pretentious monologue.

But on the brighter side, things like this make me appreciate the previous instances of bad writing. At least Firefly apologized. At least Topaz admitted that she was wrong.

And there is one thing that tells me that I'm not the only one having problems with this. It's the fact that in most dialogues there are options to be mean and distrustful of him.

[logan-sniper]

Angst fic 💛💙

I'm so evil for writing this 🤕

(Not my art 😋)

Jump

Byler angst, Mile wheeler angst, sadfic

*trigger warning! Suicide, depression, sad things :(

Info: this is mike's suicide note to Eleven a few days after will dies due to vecna

(This takes place before or during s5)

It's midnight when Mike bikes to Hopper's cabin where Eleven is staying. He leaves a crisp letter on the doorstep, pinned down with a rock so it won't blow away. Then he bikes away into the dark of the night.

Hopper wakes up early, and gets ready for work. He notices a white letter on the porch. He picks it up and reads the name it's addressed to. "Eleven, mail for you!" he hollers, and leaves it on the counter for he to read when she gets up.

Eleven wanders into the kitchen and opens the letter. She would recognize that handwriting anywhere. It was from Mike. Although the two broke up, they were still close friends. She sat down at the table, and began to read it.

"I was only 12 when I saw them pulling Will's "body" out of the quarry. I was only 12 when I attended his funeral, I was only 12 when I jumped off the that same quarry. I was only 12 when I wanted to be dead. The world was a cruel place, and I just wanted to join my best friend. You saved me, Eleven. You saved Will, too. You brought me happiness, and made me feel like a normal teenage boy! I wasn't normal though. I liked someone very much. But by the time I fully accepted myself for liking them, it was too late. I will never see Will in this life again. And to think I could've saved him if only I knew his favorite song. It was Boys Don't Cry, wasn't it? I should have been there for him, but I was too fucking worried that I would only love him more. Liking boys is a sin, I know that. I'm such a disappointment, tell my mom I'm sorry, will you? Will is dead. I'm still in shock, to be honest. From that day when I saw the lab workers pulling his "body" out of the lake, I knew he wouldn't last forever, but I didn't think he would have to go so fast. I know this is hard to hear, but in days, months, years, you'll forget about me. Don't be sad, I want to join him. I want to find him and apologize to him. I want to run up to him, kiss him and never stop, because I know he loves me back. Fuck, I know he does. Or did, I guess. El, I'm going back to the quarry tonight. By the time you find this in the morning, I'll be gone. Tell my mom I love her. Tell Nancy, Dustin, and Lucas that, too. And most of all, I love you Eleven. So don't worry about me, I just want to get to Will.

Love Mike"

Eleven dropped the letter to the ground, a lump in her throat, and a knot in her chest. "No." she whispered. He couldn't be gone. He couldn't be.

The quarry, she thought. That's where he was going. Is it too late? She sped out of the house, and dashed down the street. She didn't have a bike, so running was the only option.

Luckily, the quarry wasn't very far. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mike's bike parked at the very edge of the cliff.

"No," she whispered again, breathlessly. "No, no, no..." she peered over the edge of the cliff, and scanned to see if there was a body floating in the dark waters.

Nothing.

Suddenly, her eyes landed on a yellow blob. Was that Will's shirt? El didn't waste another second. She grabbed Mike's bike, and peddled down the hill towards the bottom of the quarry at full speed. When she got there, she ran towards the yellow. It was a body on the ground wearing in Will's favorite shirt, but it wasn't Will, it was Mike.

"Mike..." she sobbed, voice hoarse.

"Please," she held his lifeless, cold body in hers, and just sat there.

She just sat there, and cried.

How could he do this?

She wondered if he would actually meet Will in heaven.

She hoped they would spend the rest of eternity together. Happy at last. El wiped some of the dried blood away from his face. He had sharp, jagged rocks lodged into his body everywhere. Hours passed before she squeezed Mike's hand one last time, and then draped her cardigan around him. It was cold out, but Mike's body was cold enough.

"Goodbye, Mike." she choked out, before turning away and biking up the hill.

She hated to be the one to deliver bad news, but it had to be done.

El knocked on Mike's door, and when karen answered, she burst into tears again.

[youdontknowhowtodiequietly]

@tuehquestionmark hiya! i saw your comment and i'm addressing it in a reblog bc i hate writing long paragraphs in the comments (i'm on mobile so it's hell on earth)

Love the argument for Andrew as The Desolation. I can still argue for The Web and I'll get into that in this post, but The Desolation being his fear is actually such a good argument. I also agree Kevin can be The Web; I was actually going to say that in my initial post but I had just given The Web to Andrew and Neil so I thought it was a bit overkill. I think what we should bare in mind is these characters are sick as fuck (pos) and they have so many intricate little fears and I love them and Nora did such a good job RAHH-

Okay, enough with all that. Lemme explain my main point about why I think Neil is The Web, far more than I think The End is (I'm not shitting on your point, btw, I can totally see why his fear is The End as well)

I think The End was Mary's fear, through and through. It's why she ran in the first place. I know most people see The End as just the Death fear, but it can also 100% be the end of anything - a relationship, a project, a book. When it becomes a fear it is when you are terrified of what might happen After. Of what might happen to you, yourself, now that you have nothing you feel is worth living for. I think it can probably manifest itself a lot more in codependent relationships and the fear of them Ending.

Initially, Mary was not afraid of Neil dying, she was afraid of losing him and never seeing him again because she likely knew the conditions of the Ravens and the fact they have no contact with their family once they join. When they ran, however, it definitely also became about dying, but I think the core element of it was losing Neil for whatever reason.

So I think The End is Mary's fear, and I think her actions because of that fear contributes towards Neil's fear of The Web.

We see that Neil is a skittish little critter. He hadn't stayed in one place for probably for longer than 6 months, for about 11 years (I think he was 7 when they ran, and he was 18 when he joined the Foxes) until Palmetto. That shit 100% created attachment and commitment issues. He was terrified of getting close to people, because he saw that as a Venus Flytrap. He knew that if he got attached to someone, he wouldn't be able to run again.

The scary thing about The Web is, for the most part, you don't realise you've been caught until it's too late. A fly does not realise the predicament it has got itself into until it sees the spider coming.

Neil did not realise how close he'd got with everyone until it was too late and Nathan came for vengeance.

Nathan is just one side of Neil's fear of The Web. It's the one thing he's been Aware of for all those years. The Moriyamas' are the other side, and he did not see those coming until it was too late.

The Moriyamas', I think, are the true Spider in Neil's story. They have been watching for a very long time, but it wasn't until Neil got caught, struggling and screaming in their Web, that Ichirou came crawling down to see to its problem.

Neil gets out (some-fucking-how), but he knows that the Spider is only up the Web, waiting for his next slip-up.

Which I think is how Neil's fear can also be The Eye. Until Ichirou, his fear is being Known and Seen, and when Ichirou comes along, it's the fear of Always Being Watched. There's a bunch of fics out there of Neil getting injured on caught and think "But what about Ichirou?"

But I still think Neil's fear is The Web through and through.

neil josten's fear is The Web

andrew minyard's fear is also The Web

[teapetal44]

The state of the league of villains during act 3 is so sad man. Compress literally gave his ass for the league, got arrested and nobody gaf. Twice’s demise amounted to nothing, nobody cared. The whole discrimination arc Spinner was involved in was a mess. Suddenly Hori decided he cared about realism in his story so Toga dropped like a fly from a simple blood transfusion. Dabi is forced to sit and listen to Endeavor whine and yap about how sad he is about being an abusive pos, all the while nobody actually cares and he never got any real repercussions besides his family being (justifyingly) mean to him. Shigaraki was sidelined for a boring villain and was stripped off all his autonomy and agency.

[dykedvonte]

I think the most baffling thing about the Tulpar as a vessel to me is the fact that the ship really did only have a one way communication system.

I know it was cheap but even the most basic of vessels regarding major transport would have some way, shape or form for outside communication. Not only that but there was absolutely no form of innate emergency signal to show they may have been offline or in trouble despite clearly having a system to dock credits if they went off course. It's another factor that really shows that bad situations are made to get worse by design. One person who is required to relay all information to the crew and make all the choices without feedback. No way to update or call for help in case of a dire situation. No way to inform of inner personal conflicts and acquire procedures accordingly.

It really is like they are all in some sort of fucked up solitary confinement. They have their own world with strict roles that are meaningless in the end, as long as the cargo makes it, it doesn't matter what happens on that ship to the company. They don't want to hear anything and will come to conclusions on what happened based on how much pay they can withhold from the workers. Even what they do send is short, sterile and corporate to the extent it was likely written and sent out with a command by some random unmanned computer in an office.

There's something to be said about how unfair it is to force absolute power and control onto one person when you as an entity could do so much more to offload it but I've said it many times before so I won't again.

[szappan]

when watching any english language show and there's two guys the only thing you truly gave to consider is when they started to tegez each other

[goodsoldierandnothingelse]

alwaysaweapon​:

goodsoldierandnothingelse​:

   Dean had no idea where this belief was coming from, much like the one before it, when in reality Sam couldn’t have been more off. The very concept, especially the part about him being enough for their dad, had him scoffing before Sam was even finished speaking. And he was the one claiming not to be stupid nor blind. But then there came a sort of backhanded slap when Sam addressed why he was a disappointment in their father’s eyes, and whatever had been boiling in Dean’s throat died before it could form wholly.

   Dean quickly looked away from his brother then, lowering his gaze to the grassy ground so as not to be easily read. He knew the role he had played whilst growing up, the good soldier to a vindictive dictator, but despite his displayed loyalty and respect– Dean always knew John preferred Sam over him. Sam, he saw as a son and tried to treat him as such; him– well. He was whatever John needed him to be. Not exactly fair, but Dean decided early on to accept that position and try to live up to his father’s expectations. Unfortunately, he never could.

   “Sam–” He looked back up finally. “I know you’ve felt like an outcast in this family, not wanting to be stuck in this life… An’ when you decided to go to college, Dad didn’t exactly make an effort t’convince you otherwise. But– You’ve always been a Winchester.” Dean took a breath, looking off to the side momentarily before returning. “Yeah, you might’ve disappointed him from time to time, but you were never a disappointment. Even after you left…” He shook his head, thinking about how deep miscommunication ran in their family because no one ever said what they felt. Kinda like how tonight would have gone had Sam not finally admitted to what was bothering him. “As far as you an’ me go– If either of us is a burden, it’s me. I’m the one who dragged you back in.” He shrugged noncommittally. “’Cause I didn’t want to go at it alone.”

“Yeah,” he swallowed hard, sniffed at the remaining emotion threatening to escape again. His tongue pressed into his cheek and moved around for a minute while he worked out what to say in response. Of course, Dean had taken hold of what was said and turned it completely around, now claiming that it was him that was the burden in their dynamic. He looked up sharply at that, brow furrowing as he was trying to decide if he had heard correctly.

“You didn’t–” he sighed, shaking his head before taking in a deep breath the came out in a bitter laugh. “Whether you’d shown up at my place that night or not, Jess would’ve ended up dead and I would’ve– really, if not for you, who knows where I would’ve ended up? One of Azazel’s soldiers, or dead, probably.” He scoffed, biting his bottom lip as he looked back up to the night sky.

That alone should have been enough to prove the point he’d been trying to convey with this whole mess of a conversation. Nightmare aside, because at this point the line between dream and reality was blurred, the fact that if Dean hadn’t shown up needing help to find Dad that night he wouldn’t be–

“You think you ruined my life or whatever that night, but you saved my life. And you’ve been doing it over and over again ever since. Don’t you get tired of it? Of having to always keep one eye on me, because ‘Sam’s never going to be good enough to survive on his own’?”

   Was it obvious yet, the deeply-rooted father issues? Not just on his end, but his brother’s as well? On some level, now that they were both grown and gained distance from the situation, they understood why John had acted the way he had with them; while on others... Well, clearly, there was some trauma that they just would have to carry for the rest of their lives. After all, it is what ultimately shaped them into the men they were today. For better or worse...    Of course, there was only so much Dean could say in lieu of their now deceased parent, but he knew in his heart that Sam had never been a failure to him. John just...sometimes lost sight of the fact that he was their dad and not just their drill sergeant. Thus, the root-cause of their poor communication.

   Dean, however, could convey his side and argued that it wasn’t Sam who was the burden between the two but himself. A fact he had always known; not just in their relationship, either, but it was theirs that he would sometimes beat himself up over. If he had only had left him at college... How much life had he robbed him of?

   Just as he had turned the tables, he knew, even without looking at him, that Sam would try to take them back, but what he hadn’t expected was for him to laugh. Of course, it hadn’t been out of humor (well, maybe dark humor), but it still drew Dean’s confused gaze all the same, meeting Sam’s.

   Listening to his response forced him to view things from his perspective, and it became clear very quickly that he fully believed that he had not stolen but saved his life. Somewhere, at some time or another, Sam had looked back and reached the conclusion that his attempt to be ‘normal’ would have eventually imploded, with or without Dean’s help, and that he would have ended up in a much worse position than he was now had Dean not interfered.

   Up until now, Dean hadn’t factored in the demon blood and how differently that shit with Azazel could have gone down, and then factoring in the domino effect-- His head started to hurt. But he really couldn’t focus on that right then because his brother had begun spiraling again. “That’s bullshit, Sam, an’ you know it,” Dean said firmly with a matching expression, having raised his voice some. “I have never once looked at you an’ thought that.--I watch you ‘cause that’s my job. ‘Cause without you, I’m...” Emotion hit him then, causing him to clamp his jaw as he fought to swallow it all down. Once he felt like he had a handle on it, he looked back at Sam.

   “Sammy, just listen t’me, alright?” His tone had reverted back, now more gentle as he stared at Sam with a weary, pleading expression. “You could never be my burden. I don’t--” Exist without you. “I need you, Man. By my side, fightin’ the good fight. ‘Cause if you’re not...well...I guess I quit.”

[chuchayucca]

Discussions of implied fictional CSA & SA

I recently been wondering if there’s a chance Richard thinks Roy’s aggressive and distant behavior is normal and not a sign of CSA because he acted similarly to Roy when he was younger

Reasonings in the tags

[blueprint-han]

did i make a mistake?

[raeathnos]

.

[alexiroflife]

"in every life"

curse reincarnation, fluff

ryomen sukuna x reader

Synopsis: you, a former sorcerer and sukuna's wife, are killed in the heian era. sukuna does not believe in a life without you, so he takes it upon himself to bring you back a thousand years later

to sum it up: you are sukuna's life, and no matter how long he has to wait, he will bring you back to him by any means necessary

WC: 3,621

Warning(s): angst in the beginning, reader death (but you're revived), brief icky descriptions of a vessel's possession

-> ask | sukuna fic list

Sukuna remembers the exact moment you left him, soul fluttering almost gracefully from your eyes as your body fell limply into his four arms.

The moment replays in his mind as though it had only happened yesterday, or perhaps as recently as a few hours prior. Time has never been something the king of curses worried himself over, for his strength and existence exceeded such mortal constructs, but when his thoughts wander to you as frequently as air fills and deflates from his lungs, the very concept grows skewed and suddenly, time is a matter of great importance to him.

A king is nothing without his queen beside him, his rock, his partner, and that is what you are. That is what you were, but Sukuna refuses to address you in any form of past tense because your temporary withdrawal from the planet and from his side would never alter the fact that you are his, that you have been his, and that you will be his until the end of time. 

Sukuna has never been one for romantics, for connections that tie his free spirit down from the unfettered, terrifying rule that he leads, but when you entered his life, his opinions shifted and his ambitions changed, making room for you at his side upon his throne. 

The two of you had been married for years before you left him. Sukuna had never bothered to count, but now he finds himself mulling over the years’ contents in search of a piece of your memory that can stay with him until the time comes for you to return to his hand. 

When you were alive, Sukuna never fathomed you leaving his side. He almost feels he should punish you for so abruptly taking an absence from him without permission, castigating your spirit until he feels that the space you once occupied close to him emanates remnants of an apology, of guilt, of a promise to never do such a foolish thing ever again. 

When you were alive, you were a sight to behold, a perfect fit for the title of his wife. You were deserving of each and every privilege he bestowed upon you; of holding his face in your small, dainty hands, of pressing your lips to the textured plate of his face, of throwing your legs over his thighs as you settle onto his lap with a large, burly arm coming around you and securing you there for all of his servants and former concubines to see how high you sit amongst him and how low they remain beneath the two of you. 

You always said what you were thinking. While he ensured that everyone within and outside of his temple feared him, you were always unaffected by his intimidating presence. He remembers one instance in which you were lying beneath him, a mess of silk fabrics swarming your bare figure over your reserved place in his bed with your hair splayed out messily over the pillows and your eyes weighted with a foolish look of what he could only describe as enchantment and tender allegiance.

He feels the ghost of your fingers trace his jaw as he looks down at you quietly, dwarfing you in his mass. A smile touches your soft lips with a rosy hue swirling over your (s/c) skin. 

“Your eyes are quite beautiful.”

Your voice is a whisper of past enamorations through Sukuna’s ear as his brows arch in reminiscence. He remembers how he glared at you in confusion, face hard though he always allowed you to continue admiring him, to continue touching him without consequence. His eyes, which mirror the color of fresh, crimson blood as he has watched it gurgle from the mouths and limbs of his victims, staining the streets, his hands, and his monstrous legacy, are windows you believe to be… beautiful.

Your sentiments never failed to befuddle him. He never did understand why you associated such a ferocious beast with beliefs so light and pure. He is not beautiful, he had thought. He never desired to be beautiful. He is simply Ryoman Sukuna, enough of himself to be categorized in unique isolation, separate from your labels of aesthetic charm and peace. 

You’re silly. Silly with love and submission, he thinks, but he has never denied you of these admirations though he fails to agree. 

Besides, you are his wife. He would have allowed you to worship him in any way you pleased if you asked, and in truth, you hardly did ask. You knew what you were to Sukuna, how you and only you remained the only soft spot that the salmon haired demon withheld in his breast. You were beyond requesting approval to love him in the ways you saw fit, and Sukuna was pleased because you knew, in all spaces, that you were his and he was yours. 

Among all the trophies of battles won, of cities conquered, of titles obtained, you are Sukuna’s greatest prize. 

His love for you was always silent, long glances and grips of the waist, orders to slaughter on your behalf and the pat of his hand over his beefy thigh to beckon you over. His love was an unrestrained space for you to express your desires, to demand his attention, and his compliance with a veil of frustration poorly masking his easy willingness to give you anything you pleased. His love was long, sleepless nights, the marking of his territory by means of stinging bites and purple bruises over your smooth skin that no living being in his wake could mistake for anything but a reminder of your connection to him. 

His love was you incarnate, just a woman before hell’s greatest crown, but his love no less. His wife. His queen. His eternity.

Sukuna does not know why he mourned you when you died. He found himself reacting impulsively, in a short-lived panic when your blood spilled over his skin and your eyes lost the light that he’d been following through the tunnel of his rein for years. 

He knows death is a taboo concern only for mortals to fret over, but when you die, he feels as though he has died himself. Your life flashes before his eyes, your time with him, and this strange ache swarms his body and manifests as a ball in his throat as his ruby hues melt over you in alarm. 

He struggles to accept your parting. He’s viciously angry, a horrible wreck that his servants fear stepping too close into proximity as the time passes and your vacancy weighs itself over his temple and his body like a mountain. He had believed your death to be painful, but the period that follows, the period of waiting stings him like no pain he has endured before. 

A king needs his queen, and without you, no matter for how long, he feels empty. He rampages his heartache away, but it no longer holds the satisfaction it did when you were with him, watching from the sidelines and cheering him on. His estate feels colder somehow, the dent you’ve left in his bed losing its shape and the memory of you fading from others’ minds, but not from his. Never from his. 

Sukuna knows that he will see you again. In any era, no matter how much farther into the future, he will find you once more, bring you back to his embrace, and dust off the crown that he has reserved for your pretty head alone. 

He holds onto a piece of you, storing it safely, awaiting the time to revive you even within his own cursed slumber after having sealed himself for a millenia, severing parts of him and scattering it over the country.

You, however, remain stowed safely in one place. A place he will remember to return to when he reawakens in rebirthed flesh.

Now, a millenia following your untimely death, Sukuna stares emptily at the woman before him, curling and tossing around with bound wrists and ankles at his feet.

She’s crying, screams of horror rising into the starry sky as Sukuna’s eyes glint menacingly beneath the moonlight. He watches her carefully, curling his lips. He looks at this pest, this fragile, forgettable mortal woman and sees everything that you are not. For a moment, he hesitates, his fingers clutching over the ancient parchment wrapped object he holds protectively within his grasp at his side. 

His brows draw together in frustration induced by your vessel. He knows he picked wisely, however, he can not deny the hesitation that captures his mind when he contemplates whether this vessel will do your worth justice. Whether it will truly bring you back the way he plans for you to be. 

He holds up the object in his hand, your energy emitting from behind the paper and through his veins, easing into his blackened soul. You are practically calling to him, holding his hand, murmuring into his ear that it will be okay. 

Sukuna is reminded then and there solely by the spirit of you that nothing in this world could even begin to dwindle the brilliance in which you shine, that even within the body of a bird or a squirrel, your essence would burst through. You will reincarnate wholly as how you left him, and as nothing less. 

With a heavy exhale through his nose, Sukuna unravels the object, tossing the parchment to the ground, and takes a step forward to approach the young woman squirming in the grass before him. He walks over her, feet planted on either side of her figure, and bends down. Her eyes go white with terror as snot and tears dribbles over her nose and down her cheek. Sukuna looks into her coldly, grasping a hand over her face and digging his black nails into her jaw. 

She shudders an agonizing, shrill screech that is soon muffled by the manner in which Sukuna squeezes her cheeks inward and forcefully pries her mouth open. 

With a steely, disconnected glare, Sukuna takes the object imbued with your cursed energy, your ring finger. He pulls your wedding band from the decrepit digit and pushes it to the woman’s lips. Her eyes go wide as she chokes over her jaw’s lack of mobility, and the taste of something foreign and timeworn on her tongue. Her stuttered, whimpering gasps release and she gargles once Sukuna pushes the object down her throat. He slaps his hand back over her mouth as it slides down her throat and she twitches uncontrollably, eyes cracking with red veins. 

The king of curses holds her still as her body flops wildly, her chest lurching forward and limbs flying about. Her body can not handle the intrusion of a thousand year old sorcerer’s influence, so it fails. Her eyes roll into her skull and her fingers twitch once her limbs have stilled in the grass. A symphony of crickets chirping lifts into Sukuna’s ears as the woman beneath him goes completely silent, dead, still.

He waits. After a millennia of existence confined to cursed flesh, after years of the cold left in your wake nipped at his skin, after battling bodies for dominance over a vessel, he waits just a few seconds more for you.

After it seems as though he has lost you for a second time, the body’s eyes flicker. Sukuna stills above you, pupils shrunken in anticipation.

Movement shifts beneath him. A chest rises, and breathing begins steadily through it. The color of this vessel’s skin shifts, transitioning slowly, milking into the hue of gentle (s/c) that Sukuna once caressed with his rough fingers. Color flushes through pale cheeks, and irises of (e/c) roll back from the skull and stare widely ahead, directly into Sukuna’s gaze. Finally, your voice comes, a gentle hum of confusion and discomfort as you regain your lost senses.

Sukuna’s heart skips as the familiar warmth of your body emanates from beneath him again, and his hand is slowly sliding from your parted lips. He feels as though he’s just run a marathon despite his inability to wind himself. He breathes out heavily, gradually, and silence envelopes the two of you in the darkness of the late night. 

While Sukuna had planned this from the very moment you went dead in his hands, he feels somehow starstruck by you. You look as beautiful as you were centuries in the past, skin smooth, brows curled, lips soft as though you had not been gone from his life for more than a brief second. You have returned to him as he had thoughtfully calculated, and yet, he can not fathom the fact that you are here at long last, mere centimeters away, manifested into truth by his graze of your chin. 

The muscles in your brows pull together in disbelief, glimmering eyes shining over as you take in the sight before you. The last thing you felt was a blade slicing into your heart and ripping down through your body, the last vision of Sukuna racing to throw you into him as your opponent met his end with the selective mutilation of his internal organs at your husband’s hard, feral, red glance.

You blink hurriedly, shooting a hand out to your husband’s bicep. “...Ryo?” you whisper in a trembling voice, knowing him by gaze and presence and touch alone. 

The said demon’s brows angle and his body lurches forward with a sharp exhale upon hearing your voice utter his name outside of the confines of his mind’s nostalgia and imagination. He is overcome by the return of you to him, eyes fiery with longing for his once lost love and shoulders aching as the weight that had been crushing down finally releases. The sensation of your fingers curling over his arm sends chills down his spine, for time has never altered Sukuna’s course of existence, but time tells in the way he physically shivers when your loving contact revives on his skin after having been stripped of him for what feels like eternity.

Tears pool in your eyes and your shaky hands raise to smooth over his face, exploring his marked skin and familiarizing yourself with the structure of the being you fell in love with many lifetimes ago. Sukuna’s brow flinches as you feel over his face, and his own palm cradles over your cheek, dwarfing your head in the fashion it always used to as the back of his fingers skim over your heated flesh. 

“Ryomen,” you say his name again, voice crumbling and your shoulders jerking in awe.

He trips down into you, hands clutching over your head as you guide his face down with his hasty movements. Your name tumbles hoarsely from his rumbling voice, against your lips, and slotting into your mind in a haze as his lips meet yours urgently. 

You cry gently into him, lips parting and pushing back in as he kisses you fervently, savoring you, burrowing you into his body’s memory to recover the time he has spent deprived of you. Your hands fly over his neck, down his back, detailing the ridges and the muscles rippling beneath the fabric of his shirt that you know so well. He presses himself down into you, pulling you in closer by your head, flushing your chests together to intertwine your souls once more. Heady grunts and growls heave into your mouth between frenzied, stunned, satisfied kisses, and each time a tear of yours catches into the liplock, Sukuna is pulling it into his lips, saltiness swirling through the sweet release of his misery. 

He’s missed you. So very much, he’s missed you. He doesn’t know how he has managed to go so long without you now that you are here again, now that he is holding you again, kissing you again. 

“My king,” you whimper when you get a chance to break away, foreheads bumping as Sukuna shushes you gently.

“Do not fret, peach,” he soothes you, lips brushing yours as his now loving gaze spills into your own. “You are alright.”

Despite Sukuna’s ruthlessness and his wild murderous expeditions, as well as his blood-curdling tone that further accentuates the weight of his threats when thrown into the direction of others, Sukuna melts into calmness for you, his low voice mellow and meditative, enraptured in the peace that you bring him. You know all sides of your dear husband, and yet this is the rawest side of him that you know, that he treats you with. 

“What happened?” you whisper as his hands run over you, catching your tears and tracing the curves of your flesh. “Where are we?”

“In the garden,” he answers you easily, kissing the corner of your mouth gently. 

“At… at home?” 

He hums in affirmation, leaning back just a bit to stare into you. The pairs of your eyes shine as they absorb the image of one another, still and sincere. Grass tickles your ears and your arms, and you look down, realizing that you are lying in a patch of greenery. You slowly tilt your head to the side, and Sukuna keeps his gaze glued to you like you will disappear before him. Your eyes capture the stems of daffodils and lavender that sprout around your head, pointing into the night sky and swaying gently in the warm breeze. You recognize the plants as the ones you had always taken to tending by the creek behind Sukuna’s temple, which he had the servants fashion as a suitable garden for you to indulge in. 

You do not recall being here last. You recall dying. You recall your world going dark.

You turn back to meet his heavy eyes. “What did you do?”

He is silent for a moment, taking his time to study you before answering as though the question is the simplest one he has ever been asked. “I have brought my queen back to me. As I have always sworn to do if we were ever separated.”

“...How long have we been separated?”

“It does not matter.”

“How long was I away from you, Ryo? How long did I leave you for?”

“It does not matter,” he reiterates gently yet ever so firmly. “Do not think of it.”

“Please-” you frown, eyes shining over again. “I hadn’t- I didn’t mean to leave you. I don’t know how I even let it happen… I can’t imagine what that must have gone through…”

Ryomen catches the guilt in your gorgeous eyes and he is quick to gather you up in his arms. He pulls you up slowly, keeping your eyes locked as you allow him to lift you from the ground with his arms wound tightly over your waist. Your hands go to Sukuna’s shoulders as he kneels over you, keeping you steady and upright, face to face, nose to nose, eye to eye. 

“I refuse to allow the first thing you do in reincarnated life to be reminding me of what life was like without you,,” he says. “I do not wish to revisit it. It does not matter,” he repeats for a third time. 

You tilt your head with the tug of your lips downward sadly, threading your hands through his pink locks and holding onto the nape of his neck. The moonlight milks over you regally, as though the stars have aligned for this very moment, to illuminate you both in the universe’s joyous eye. You swallow hard. “Am I a curse?”

“You are my wife. I will not tolerate you labeling yourself as anything different..”

You inhale deeply, bringing your forehead back to him and closing your eyes. His arms pull you in tight, rhythmic breaths easing you into this reality complacent, affectionately, lovingly. 

“I’m sorry I left you, my love,” you murmur.

Now that he’s heard you apologize, seen your remorse sparked by something out of your control, he doesn’t fare well with it. 

You are not a plague to him, a burden, and telling him that you are sorry in his mind now insinuates such. Even after leaving him, after stealing away his warmth, after haunting his slumber and his consciousness for eons, he does not fault you. He would never fault the woman he chose to keep by his side in wellness and in death. 

He does not accept your apology. You have done nothing but love him, yet Sukuna is the one who should have protected you. 

He runs a hand over the back of your head, down your hair, and exudes his message of impenetrable love to you through his embrace and sweltering red eyes. “All I ask of you is that you stay. In this era and the next. Stay by my side as you are meant to be.”

You nod eagerly against him. “I will,” you whisper. “I will, I promise.”

Sukuna reaches down at his side for the ring he had set down. With one hand to your back, he pulls your wedding band forward and presents it to your twinkling eye. You gasp. 

“You still have it,” you sigh.

“In what world would I not?” 

You bring your hand down, spreading your fingers, and you watch as the kind of curses slips the rusted treasure over your finger, fitting it perfectly into place with the renewal of your marriage and the reunion of your hearts.

You admire the way it looks upon your hand happily, and Sukuna drags you back into his lips, pecking you tenderly before moving back in with his hands firm to you. You shift further up so that his arms can completely take you in, heads bumping as your lips swim together in commemoration of a rebirth into a new life.