#also unrelated but i have to find a job .. so it begins

[thursdayg1rl]

finally my period didnt come at the worst possible time for once

[makethemmilky]

I want you to imagine how it would feel if your own breasts looked this. Imagine the weight as they hang heavy from your slight frame. Imagine the sense of pressure, at first barely imperceptible, but soon growing into an urgent, throbbing ache that will come to dominate your thoughts if not addressed. Look down at your significantly-expanded tits and marvel at their size and the way the milk rapidly filling inside them keeps them firm and jutting outward.

Trace your hands wistfully across the network of blue veins crisscrossing your mammaries, a product of stretched skin and quick growth, and then at last down to your dusky aureola. They had once been a girly pink color, now they are dark, womanly color that communicate to all who see them what your body is capable of producing. The pressure is almost unbearable now. Your tits are stretched and achy, and the urge to be fed from, to have a hungry, unrelenting mouth suck away at your nipples, is all-encompassing. But there is no man around, at least not yet.

Gingerly, you bring your thumb and forefinger to your nubs, bolts of sheer pleasure traveling to your pussy with a ferocity never previously experienced. Even before your hands are in place you feel a moistness��your letdown is beginning. Soon milk is spraying from your breasts, the pleasure accompanying every tug and spurt only encouraging you to knead harder, deeper, faster. After a while you find your tits no longer spraying. They are softer now, and a little smaller, which actually disappoints you a bit. But you also know that the more you drain, the more your body will make as a result, and the bustier you’ll get. You were blessed with big tits for a reason.

They are there to be groped and fondled and sucked on, and ultimately to produce milk. Your job is to make milk because deep down it is in your feminine nature to want to feed others and use your body to make them happy. And you know that your body will reward you for these acts by making them so pleasurable and so rewarding that you’ll never want to stop.

[wlwcatalogue]

Chinese GL Webseries & Shorts for the Wuxia-Uninclined

Have you ever wanted to venture into the world of Chinese GL webseries and short films, only to find yourself at a loss about where to begin, or intimidated by the unfamiliar tropes and terms of the wuxia genre?

Well, worry no more! Here's a selection of non-wuxia webseries and short films curated by yours truly. Now you too can enjoy the lavish costumes and location shoots of these Chinese productions, so rarely seen in F/F works outside of feature films and the occasional TV series~

By the way, these are all translated and subbed by the inimitable Douqi (@douqi7s), whose immense contribution to the English-language baihe fandom is surely in breach of anti-monopoly laws. Offer up your thanks at her Tumblr and Twitter!

At-a-glance list

Webseries:

Ye-Mu Season 2 (1 hr 20m total, 2023) - standalone

The Vampires (41m total, 2022)

Ye-Mu Season 1 (27m total, 2022) - standalone

The Lost World (1hr 5m total, 2023)

Short films - order corresponding to the pictures above:

A Tale of Yearning (5 mins, 2022)

"She Brought Colour Into My World" (2.5 mins, 2023)

"I'm Her Weapon" (3 mins, 2022)

Miss Shen and the Woman Warlord (6 mins, 2023)

Women's Script (5 mins, 2023)

The Caged Canary (5 mins, 2023)

The Beauty of the Law (6 mins, 2023)

Flowers Bloom; Flowers Wither (9 mins, 2022)

Commentary under the cut!

FYI, I've opted to link directly to the subtitled versions since they're probably more difficult to find than regular anime, TV series, movies etc. If a link is broken, please refer to Douqi's blog directly.

Important note for the uninitiated:

It’s a bit difficult to talk about canonicity in relation to live-action works made in the PRC, as things which would normally be used as evidence of canonicity all fall under the censorship regulations— explicit references to romantic relationships or queerness, declarations of love, kissing etc. are all off the table. So while these may not look canon in the most traditional sense, they are intended to be read as such and should certainly not be dismissed as queerbaiting or yuribait. Also, the creators can get very imaginative, so this is less of a problem than you may think – see the entries on Ye-Mu Season 2 and The Lost World in particular!

1. Ye-Mu Season 2 / 叶穆 2 (32 episodes / 1hr 20m total, 2023, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Despite the name, Ye-Mu Season 2 is completely unrelated to the first season; the only thing the two share is the cast, crew, and focus on Penthouse-style melodrama.)

Determined to take revenge for her mother's death, Xu Baiqing (Sheng Wei) marries a wealthy and much older businessman in the hope of finding evidence to put him behind bars. But first she must assuage the suspicions of his cheerily hostile second daughter, moody youngest son, and estranged eldest daughter (Ye-Mu Zhixia, played by Wang Laoji), the latter of whom Xu Baiqing dated in university and who is currently seething at the sight of her former girlfriend marrying her father...

If you want to get a sense of the potential breadth of Chinese GL webseries, this is a pretty good place to start. It does a decent job of matching the tone and presentation of a melodrama you might catch on TV (and in fact looks higher-budget than some I can think of), while committing to something that can’t be done on TV yet— namely, featuring an F/F exes-to-stepmother storyline and delivering on the drama inherent in such a premise. Of particular note is how the framing and behaviour of Ye-Mu Zhixia is very much consistent with that of a male romantic lead; thanks to some clever writing, it’s basically impossible to deny the nature of her relationship with the main character. They don’t even lean on the plausible deniability afforded by the label of “friendship”— in fact, in an early scene she is incensed when the protagonist refers to her as “[her] only friend”. There are a few caveats – the main character ends up in a lot of scrapes that her ex-girlfriend has to save her from, the reveals are often rather unsurprising, and the story shifts more to a mystery focus around halfway – but it’s still worth checking out if a Korean-style melodrama with an F/F take on a romantic storyline sounds appealing.

 (CW: violence, murder, attempted sexual assault)

Note: See The Lost World (below), from the same creative team, for an even more impressive example of Chinese GL pushing the limits of censorship.

Links: MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation)

2. The Vampires / 吸血鬼鬼盲盒 (7 episodes / 41m total, 2022, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Spoilers for the first 15 minutes or so, because otherwise the summary would be “They end up locked inside with the monsters on board”, which wouldn’t tell you much more than the title already does)

Every night, Tianyue (Ye Miao/夜喵) has been having dreams about the mysterious cruise ship docked at the pier. Convinced that there is treasure hidden inside, she and her exorcist-cultivator girlfriend Xiao Ling (Wei Miao/微渺) sneak on board only to find that they are trapped there until the sun comes up. Things don’t seem too bad at first: although they run into two vampires – the cute, cheeky Xingming (Yang Fuyu) and her elegant mistress Su Tanya (Sheng Wei) – they are able to call a truce, on the condition that the humans help search the ship for the latter’s beloved (Fu Cha, played by Wang Laoji). But when Fu Cha wakes up without her memories, it is clear that something is terribly wrong, and that the ship and its inhabitants harbour more secrets than expected.

For a webseries, The Vampires takes a while to get started— it’s a bit difficult to tell what kind of story or indeed what kind of tone it’s going for just based on the somewhat campy and comedic first section. But after that wobbly beginning, it manages to pull itself together to tell a compelling – and sometimes genuinely tense – tale about a motley band of humans and vampires, and the truths they have to face together. While the ending is no happily-ever-after, I found it satisfying and hopeful, and surprisingly affecting. Also, a bunch of the characters have real polyam energy, and this is reflected in the narrative beyond mere flirting!

(CW: abusive parents)

Links - MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation) / YouTube (compilation)

3. Ye-Mu Season 1 / 叶穆 (12 episodes / 27m total, 2022, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Ye-Mu Seasons 1 and 2 are standalone stories; each season is entirely self-contained and the second season is not a continuation of the first.)

The head of the Ye-Mu family has died, leaving the next generation to squabble over the inheritance. It's a web of secrets, lies, and hidden resentments, as the characters dig out old grievances and fresh accusations in a desperate attempt to one-up each other. They're tangled up together to an almost incestuous degree, and indeed, the F/F subtext here is the ambiguous relationship between eldest daughter Ye-Mu Nanzhu (Sheng Wei) and second daughter Ye-Mu Nanmo (Wang Laoji) (rest assured that they are at least not biologically related).

Those who prefer darker stories and don't mind the pseudo-incest or other content warnings will find a melodrama which makes good use of its short runtime to deliver on twists, turns, and an explosive - if tragic - conclusion. That being said, the story is about the family drama in general, so do note that while the relationship between Nanzhu and Nanmo is narratively important, it is not fleshed out in great detail and certainly not the focus of the series.

(CW: suicide, ableist trope (spoiler – disabled character turns out to have been faking it), ableist language)

Links - MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation)

4. The Lost World / 夏夜知道风的甜 (1hr 5m total, 2023, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Spoilers for the purpose of flagging triggering content, as it’s particularly easy to trip into for this show. Also, some vague spoilers for later episodes in order to highlight in order to highlight the themes etc.)

This webseries feels like two shows smushed into one: apart from the very beginning, the first half is a gritty, bullying-focused take on university life, while the second is a true-blue romantic comedy (aside from one blip – see the note below for details). But even if you’re wary of the bullying, I would still recommend watching the back half – which is basically standalone – as it’s a very funny and heartfelt story about two childhood friends finally getting their act together. Without further ado, here’s two blurbs!

From episode 1 onwards: After saving a classmate from the class bully, popular college student Xia Huaichu (Yang Fuyu) is subjected to a lengthy harassment campaign by the latter. She is suddenly faced with having to protect her reputation in the face of false allegations and fake nudes– despite the fact that all she wants to do is focus on reconciling with another classmate, a high school best friend whom she had previously lost touch with (Mu Qingfeng, played by Wang Laoji). From episode 14 onwards: Childhood friends Xia Huaichu (Yang Fuyu) and Mu Qingfeng (Wang Laoji) are caught in a weird gay purgatory where each has feelings for the other, and suspects that the other has feelings for them too. But both are exceedingly stubborn and want the other one to take the initiative in confessing, leading to ridiculous displays of I-don’t-care-isms and lots and lots of UST. (Does anybody use that term anymore??)

As you may have guessed, I’m not too keen on the first part of this show, nor the decidedly unnecessary attempted rape segment, though that’s partly on me for not checking the content warnings beforehand. And yet I’m very glad to have stuck with it, because the second half is not only hilarious, but also a masterclass in censorship-dodging that needs to be seen to be believed. Not just in terms of the suggestive scenes, of which there are many, either— the story is literally about two women starting a relationship and having to reckon with parental disapproval, homophobia, and other obstacles which platonic friends wouldn’t have to deal with. I honestly don’t know how this ever got approved, and can only applaud. Bravo.

Note: For those who want to avoid the triggering content, I’d recommend starting at episode 14, but make sure to skip episodes 19 and 20 as there is a foiled rape attempt.

(CW for entire series: bullying (incl. violence, fake nudes), sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, fatphobic language, homophobia

CW for episodes 14-24: attempted sexual assault in episodes 19-20, homophobia)

Links - MEGA / Dropbox

SHORT FILMS

Quick note: Click on the English titles for the subtitled versions, and the Chinese titles (which are really just the video titles) for the originals. And yes, although the majority of these are shampoo commercials, they really do hold up as short films in their own right. Give them a try, you might be surprised!

A Tale of Yearning / 一见误终生，不见终生误 (5 mins, 2022, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – A bittersweet story about a literature-minded young woman (Sheng Wei) and a Chinese opera performer (Ai Ye) who bond over their love of fiction, only to be torn apart by harsh reality. Tragic ending, but I liked the more literary turn of the dialogue. Shampoo ad. (CW: homophobia)

“She Brought Colour Into My World” / “她走后，我的世界又失去了颜色” (2.5 mins, 2023, dir. Zou Hui Qu Le/走回去了) – A very restrained short film (actually, more like a music video) set during the late Qing era, wherein a sheltered young woman (Xiao Yu Za/小宇咂) falls for her female neighbour, recently returned from studying abroad (Sheng Wei). Lovely use of music and visuals to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Tragic ending. Not a shampoo ad.

“I’m Her Weapon” / 我是你手里的一把刀 (3 mins, 2022, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – A moody, interior piece about an assassin (Ai Ye) who yearns for some sign of affection from her handler (Sheng Wei), only to be left devastated by her new assignment. Surprisingly not a shampoo ad.

Miss Shen and the Woman Warlord / 我们是孤独行走的钟，但也要做敲响希望的钟 (6 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – I’d like to describe this as being inspired by the story of Mai Jia’s novel The Message and the aesthetics of Kawashima Yoshiko (1990), but most Tumblr users would probably find those references deeply unhelpful. Basically, a female spy (Sheng Wei) disguises herself as a male soldier and infiltrates the mansion of a Republican warlord. There, she meets the warlord’s daughter (Ai Ye), who quickly realises that there is more to the promising young officer than meets the eye. Shampoo ad.

Women’s Script / 纵使“科考”无女子，无碍红袖书香，星辰有光 (5 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – While sailing down a river, a girl (Zhi Chun He/至春禾) catches sight of a woman writing poetry on the riverbank (Sheng Wei), and is fascinated by both her beauty and her flaunting of the rules against women’s literacy. Shampoo ad. (CW: domestic violence)

The Caged Canary / 如果这是一场骗局，那我也只愿意输给你 (5 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – The protagonist (Ai Ye) is sent by her parents to beguile a wealthy young man into marriage, but ends up developing feelings for his modern-woman sister (Sheng Wei) instead. Shampoo ad. (CW: attempted sexual assault)

Flowers Bloom; Flowers Wither / 她们一个被铁链禁锢，一个被男装束缚，直到救赎彼此 (9 mins, 2022, dir. Qian Li Min/千里明) – Takes the romance between a cross-dressing noblewoman (Du Ruo/杜若) and her supposedly-mad stepmother (Rou Lian Cheng/肉脸橙) to tell a story about the restrictions placed on women in historical times, and how resistance, even when futile, can still have meaning. Tragic ending, obviously. Not a shampoo ad. (CW: domestic violence, misogyny, accidental misgendering, gender dysphoria)

[windvexer]

This is also why I don't know how to recommend spells to people because to me most spells are just:

Find a Guy who's really good at the thing (probably other people talk about how good he is)

Ask him to do the thing for you

Provide auxiliary support to make his job easier (and say please and thank you!)

And one Guy can often do a lot of things. Like, Rosemary can help with memory problems, sleep, cleansing, protection, healing, and nightmares.

So you can show up and say, "Rosemary, when I drink this tea of you, please infuse me with good memory so I can remember important details of this upcoming conversation."

Or, "Rosemary, when I hang up this sachet of you, please stand as a sentinel of my sleep and guard against bad dreams."

Or, "Rosemary, when I place your pot by the front door, please cleanse the air of all sickness that may enter, and keep the home healthy."

(And yeah, there are Techniques to this, but that's not what this post is about)

But the problem is that sometimes, the Guy might not be that helpful until you get to know him a little more and things get chill between you two. Or he might show you hidden aspects to himself that are not common and not talked about by other people.

So you can get into a situation where you've been hanging with Rosemary for a while and have a really weird dream and all of the sudden, Rosemary can make other people tell you the truth.

That's not a Rosemary correspondence and it's probably not something that other people can do with Rosemary.

But it's something you can do with Rosemary because you've gotten to know each other on a friend level.

A missing factor for me, and maybe for other people, was treating spellwork like a potion-making game where you just gather X amount of Y-aligned correspondence and if you mix enough of them you get a Potion of Y.

Like if you need protection, you just go to a correspondence list and find enough Protection-aligned plants (regardless of how they work or their personalities or attributes) and put them together in a bag and saying an unrelated charm or prayer that you say no matter which plants you put in the bag.

Which is how people end up with 50 little jars of dead plants that stay dead because they have no connection to them, still looking up what ingredients to use in which spells.

Which is fine, but it's also like... not necessarily what everyone is looking for.

So my point is that if correspondences are reduced to 4-5 purposes on a chart, then you get the correspondence brainrot which is like "which kitchen herb is a gentle cleanser, and which kitchen herb is a strong cleanser," when the reality is that if a guy can Cleanse he can show up gently or strongly in his own unique way,

And it all makes more sense by just treating him like a Guy and asking him to do what you need to do.

I genuinely think that if a practitioner is looking for something deeper and more relational in their practice, a really good way is to scale everything back and start using like one activated (evoked, prayed over, petitioned, etc.) Ally in each spell and just asking if he, as a Guy, can or wants to do something for you.

Like if you go absolutely bonkers over a good cup of Chamomile tea, what's the harm in asking Chamomile to cleanse for you? What's the harm in asking Chamomile to protect your home, or bless your sleep?

At the very least you're going to begin learning a lot about Chamomile in an interpersonal way, where you can begin understanding the "correspondence" for yourself. And you can also learn some fucking cool stuff, like, isn't it weird that when I ask Chamomile to protect my home, we all started finding little bits of cash we had lost?

Idk. Magic is just easier when more things are Guys.

[lilacxquartz]

Those Late Summer Nights I Final Chapter

Satoru Gojo × Fem!Reader × Suguru Geto

ABOUT: You moved to Tokyo over the summer to take a teaching job. As you get settled in, you find yourself entangled in a toxic dynamic.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Nothing stays the same forever, but the consequences of the summer will last a lifetime.

Trigger Warning: graphic violence, (implied) dub-con

< Previous Chapter •

19. Reminder

The moment that Yui recognised you the second time, a peculiar thought ran through her mind. Initially, she was going to move on and finally bury the past.

But also, she couldn’t quite resist at the same time.

Old habits died hard, she supposed.

Pausing for a moment in her tracks, she rolled her eyes and surrendered to the temptation of a light jab, “You’re really getting around, huh?”

Her sights fell on Suguru, momentarily acknowledging his presence although not letting her gaze wander as much as she did with Satoru.

Suguru sized her up as well, keeping his comments to himself as he assessed the situation. Just like Satoru, he was already quite familiar with the old money type of person due to his interactions with the Gojo clan even if he wasn’t from a wealthy background himself. Yui to him, in short, was predictable. Maybe even boring. She was almost even unworthy of being the blood staining his hands, but he wanted to do right by you—so he made an exception.

“Ah, [name],” Suguru began, clicking his tongue, “it’s almost kind of insulting isn’t it?”

He couldn’t help but help but surrender to his old teasing habits, just barely grown out of them. It felt nostalgic in a way, to let the neutral, even brooding mask slip away and reveal his true colours. Perhaps there was something cruel in the face he truly wore underneath the exterior he put on, but it was finally beginning to wither away and he was going to be transparent with you at long, long last.

Continuing, he let go of your hand as he stretched out his arms and cracked his neck from side to side, “You really let yourself get talked down by something like… that?”

Yui in response simply blinked in slowly growing annoyance, “I beg your pardon?”

Suguru wrinkled his nose in mild disgust, eyeing up the low grade spirits that loitered within her shadow. So this was Yui in the flesh. The person of the unrelenting torment throughout your childhood that haunted you deep enough into your teen years.

Regardless of whether or not she was worthy of his own rising bloodlust, he was going to have fun dirtying his hands for your sake. His only regret was that in the midst of this sleepy town, that he didn’t have a worthy audience to watch him put on the show of a lifetime.

(Oh, how he’d love to put civilians in their place. Make them watch. Remind them of just how unforgiving sorcerers can be—rather, should be in the face of those unworthy.)

There wasn’t a single chance that he was going to let this waste of oxygen off as easily as Satoru did. No, he had already settled on what had to be done. In his eyes, this wasn’t over while Yui still had a presence on this earth.

She had to go.

He scoffed at the thought. There was going to be something extra satisfying about this kill; to take someone who believed that they were everything and return their existence back into the bleak nothingness that their consciousness was pulled from.

Despite this, Suguru couldn’t help but wonder exactly how it all ended up this way.

In truth, he wasn’t all that sure what to expect of you when Yaga introduced you to the faculty. He found your quick to please personality just a little annoying, but then a switch flipped and he grew to understand that you weren’t actually all that different.

(You were hurt before.)

It was as if something dangerous stirred within him; something violent. Though, maybe that much was way before he even met you. He had a certain sort of feeling brewing for a while. A slowly festering type of disdain for the people of the world that he was assigned to supposedly protect based on the capabilities he was given.

There must have been either something wrong with him or the system in place, because no matter what, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of lingering resentment rather than pride settling deep into his core when he thought about his so-called heroic responsibility. It was more of a chore; an obligation forged from his own existence, one that he was expected to adhere to without question or challenge.

(And what bullshit it all was.)

As far as he understood it—the “good” people of the world didn’t deserve such kindness. At least not most of them. Especially since they didn’t even understand the basic world mechanics and order of the very world they lived in, nor the sacrifices that sorcerers had to take on to deliver the very peace that they took for granted to begin with.

He scoffed as he took a step forward, rolling up his sleeves. Maybe this sort of feeling had been always developing for him. Maybe it was dormant all along. Maybe, just maybe, all you did was finalise a point that he had left unanswered in his mind; confirming that people (or rather, non-sorcerers) weren’t the answer for where his goals in life truly lied.

(Regular people didn’t matter to him, after all. His chosen family did—his friends? Other sorcerers did, because they got the systematic inequality in the world. His girls mattered; both victims to ignorance. You were important too, the woman he loved.)

That’s why he had to go through with this.

To finally fix things for good.

Finally walking over to Yui and closing the gap, Suguru felt as though he was suddenly a passenger in his own damn mind.

The feeling so undeniably strong and intense that giving into such burning hatred almost felt like a memory to him.

It was already a blur.

That’s how insignificant her life was to him and he didn’t even think twice about the sickening crack of splintering bone when he snapped Yui’s arm clean behind her back. Nor the sound of her almost breathless scream that followed. He knew it hurt, for her voice to decline so suddenly. It was all white noise to him regardless; he was simply cruising by in his own self assigned mission to destroy the person who made your life a living hell.

No, he didn’t feel a shred of sympathy as he threw her down to kiss the pavement, dampening the asphalt with a crimson gleam.

You could only simply stare of course; so helpless and so dazed as the scene played out before your very eyes. Unable to even blink as the moisture withered, so fixated on the sight of him almost enjoying himself with her life. He wasn’t smiling—he wasn’t happy, but his dark gaze lit up with a fixation of finding excitement within suffering that betrayed his stony expression.

Suguru was relishing this moment; dragging it out for as long as he could get away with doing so.

Making sure that it lasted.

Finally, he pulled back ever so slightly as Yui sat on the edge of death, snorting as he took in the sight before him.

“You know, even… regular people are supposed to see these things right before they die,” Suguru spoke up, his voice hoarse and bitter, “but you don’t deserve the fun ones.”

Scoffing again, he glanced over to the side, deciding on a small group of low grade cursed spirits that were muted yellow in form. The cluster hovered over her body, pulling and tweezing at Yui’s flesh as she stared straight ahead, just barely responsive, “You get these things instead, enjoy suffering a death knowing that you will be remembered as a hideous corpse.”

Flicking his eyes back towards you, he finally snapped himself out of seeing red. Slowly, he walked back to you as if calculating his movements. He had snapped, he knew that much. Maybe he shouldn’t have let you seen just exactly what he was capable of but it was a necessary evil in finally understanding who he wanted to be.

Your eyes drifted from the spirits who worked mercilessly on Yui’s skin to him, taking a small step back.

Sensing your discomfort, he softened his tone for you, “I’m sorry that you had to see that.”

“I-I… didn’t expect you to-” you stammered in response, unable to properly word it.

Suguru hummed, “—to kill her? Thought you expected it.”

“...I did, just not so… brutally?” you quizzed, your head falling to the side as you tried to process his actions.

Suguru snorted in response, “It’s how it had to be, she didn’t deserve a quick, peaceful death.”

You didn’t say much in response but nodded your head, feeling conflicted.

“But,” he said, catching onto your attention just before you zoned out once again, “you can take these,” he added, placing his car keys into your open palm and folding your fingers over them, “go and wait in the car, I’m going to… settle something.”

“Something…?” you asked as you pocketed the keys.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured, “I just don’t want you to see the ugly parts.”

(The part where he had to make her fully disappear; the part where he had to permanently silence any nosy witnesses that he caught peeping from the moving curtains of nearby houses and the like.)

You didn’t bother asking for a follow up, feeling a whole slurry of emotions course through your body. With a quick stride, you beelined for the town square, not daring to look back for even a second.

Yui hurt you. So much. Yet seeing her in that sorry kind of state made you almost regret his actions on her behalf. Was there something wrong with you for wanting to intervene for even just a split second and to… help her? You didn’t get it. You didn’t understand it a single bit, but it was too late all at the same time. You kept your mouth shut and now she was gone; her existence nothing more than an exorcised ghost from your past.

Swallowing the pain and pushing the guilt away was easier than facing it, so that’s what you did.

In a country that was filled with mysteries beyond the public’s understanding, that only a select few of the population could see; mysterious disappearances were actually not that often questioned to the same extent as anywhere else. It wasn’t too unheard of that people would vanish seemingly into thin air, regardless of their status in life.

If they were people, then that was the deciding risk factor alone.

So maybe, just maybe, it would all be fine.

Maybe you could both get away with this.

You sat in his car once you got to it and stared off into the dark parking lot, not quite sure what to make of the entire summer thus far. Initially, you hated Suguru for what he did to you, but now you weren’t quite sure. You didn’t hate him as much, you supposed. He still hurt you and he was wrong for that, but in your trapped circumstances, you understood fully well that any positive feelings you had for him at this point weren’t real.

(But you had to cope in some way.)

After a while, Suguru returned at some point, holding out his hand in silence as a gesture for you to return his keys.

Doing so, your eyes narrowed as they caught glimpses of his sweatshirt. Parts of it were now stained with a reddish brown tinge. The smell of copper hung in the air, although it didn’t quite settle due to the coolness of the night.

Regardless, the evidence was at least somewhat retained.

Proof that he actually had killed her.

The drive home was initially carried out in silence and in eerie calmness. Suguru initially kept to the freeway but then just like his initial first moment in the car with you, he couldn’t help but surrender to thoughts he probably shouldn’t have. But maybe, just maybe, this time you would actually not quite mind.

Gradually pulling you over somewhere dark and secluded, he stopped the car entirely, letting it settle in the dead of the night.

Turning his face towards yours, he stared at you in a particular way, silently hoping to himself that it was finally going to be reciprocated and to his luck, it was.

(Or at least, you didn’t turn away. You were numb. You were broken. He could have probably driven into the ocean and let the car sink to the bottom and you’d be fine with it.)

Suguru didn’t wait around for you to change your mind as he tapped his fingers along the steering wheel, surrendering to his true desires. You didn’t deny him that time as you felt his palms brush along your thighs, fingers slipping below the fabric of your shorts and just below the cloth of your underwear.

Your mind flashed you images of just how he looked earlier. It was the first time that you saw him have a light in his eyes; the first time that he had a glimmer of hope and it was when he was extinguishing another’s existence.

Feeling yourself almost pulsate in-between your legs, a new feeling formed; was it intimidation, or was it arousal? Was it both?

Whether or not this was right or wrong, it didn’t really matter anymore.

Continuing to give into you; he unbuckled you from your seat, pulling you over his lap as he feverishly continued to undress you, leaving you a dishevelled mess. He next grabbed onto your hips, positioning you near his exposed erection as though to tease you, but more so himself. He rubbed the tip of his throbbing cock along your slick entrance, taking a good couple of seconds before lifting you and seating you over him at last.

Fuck, you felt so good.

So wet and just for him alone.

It was surely cramped though, but that much didn’t matter.

Straddling over his hips, he sank his fingertips into the meat of your ass as he eased into your core; grabbing—pulling away at your skin like he owned you. God, he was so hungry for you.

He grunted as you thrusted upwards into you, pounding against your cunt as you couldn’t help but whine against his slamming impact. Your fingers curled at his shoulders, breathlessly whimpering while he bucked his hips. Fuck, he felt so good. So fucking good as he rocked himself senseless—letting the heat of the moment guide him, so warm, so deep.

“You’re so good for me,” he murmured, surrendering to a spank against your rippling flesh, biting his lip while rutting mercilessly into your legs.

“Fuck,” he continued to hiss, peppering sloppy kisses against your neck as he grew closer to his release while your body just barely kept up with his rhythm; just barely gasping, almost panting out each time you felt him slam within.

“I-I… Sugu-“ you stammered in response, unable to form anything at all coherent.

“—just focus on me,” he silenced you with a kiss as his tongue invaded your mouth, his breath so hot as he breathed hot air into your senses, “focus on me, on me,” he continued, wanting nothing more than to simply just blur with you.

Surrendering to the sensation, you almost whimpered as your thighs clenched as you got closer—your legs quivering, your body shaking as he brought you over to the edge, his thumb tucked against your clit, running circles to help you keep up with him.

His hands moved up to your waist, holding onto your torso as tight as he could get away with while he worked to achieve an almost brutal climax. His thrusts were almost frantic—bordering violently feral as he finally released into you, melting into the confines of your body, gasping as he filled you with every single remaining drop he had to give.

You both took a long breather after that, his arms lifting you up ever so slightly that you could get off of him, despite still being sat on top of him.

Nothing was said before, during or after as the passion was quickly concluded, but now something else brewed in the aftermath.

You considered going back to your seat, but he didn’t let you go just yet, keeping your body leant over his for just a moment longer. It was warm and comfortable despite the sweat that blended and soon after, you started to feel drowsy as the afterglow of everything else finally hit. He kept you locked in place, holding you tight as you fell asleep in a protective embrace.

After a while of being asleep, you awoke on what seemed to be an old towel as you came back to your senses in the passenger seat. You were buckled in and using a bunched up sweatshirt as a pillow against the window.

Almost back home.

To his though, not yours.

(That was the one thing you couldn’t fully accept.)

~~~

Shoko tapped her foot restlessly as she stared into the screen of her burner phone; her eyes fixated on the glass, hoping for a quickly delivered update from the same shady person who helped her secure her medical licence. Utahime sat beside her, rubbing her back in easing motions to settle her building concern.

Sighing deeply, Shoko grew restless staring at the device, “Think this’ll work?”

Utahime brought her in for a side squeeze for added comfort, pursing her lips deep in thought, “I think we have a solid chance, Sho.”

She sighed along with her as she considered the situation. When Shoko called her up at roughly three o’clock in the morning, she half expected a drunk dial or her to be the victim of a spontaneous night shift. What she did not expect in the slightest was for her to ask her out of the blue if she could help get you out of a potentially dangerous situation.

She did her best getting back to Tokyo on a whim. Whatever summer plans that had remained could wait. Shoko was her good friend, after all. She wouldn’t carelessly make such a bold claim unless she had a good reason to do so—especially not towards her long term friends—people that she had known since she was a teen, in fact, against people that she otherwise swore she could trust just months ago.

If Shoko had a hunch, then something big was up.

It wasn’t too long after that contemplation that the phone vibrated and the screen lit up either.

“Fucking finally,” Shoko muttered as her eyes practically burned into the screen, a deep and heavy breath escaping her lips as the text offered confirmation.

Utahime leaned in to read the text as well, “Good news, I take it?”

Shoko hummed in acknowledgement, “New identity’s sorted, yeah. Kicker is that she’ll only be able to move in when the secondary deposit is secured though.”

“So that was the documentation…?” Utahime asked, somewhat reluctantly keeping up with Shoko’s connections.

“Yeah, the documentation,” she sighed, “the secondary deposit handles things like a roof over her head, references, a job she can immediately settle into and the like.”

“Dare I ask how much something like this costs?” Utahime blinked.

Shoko snorted, running her fingers through her hair, “Not unless you want to go grey early.”

Utahime simply nodded, her brows furrowing, “I see…”

“Can’t believe I’m sending her to Osaka,” Shoko sighed.

“It isn’t a bad place to be,” Utahime comforted her while her thumb rubbed soothing motions over her wrist, “but let’s focus on getting her to the lake house tomorrow first, then thinking about the big picture, alright?”

Shoko gave a weak smile, her tough and aloof exterior cracking a little bit, “Right. If she accepts it, of course.”

“I’m sure she will,” Utahime reassured, trying to remember what were like during the brief time that you met her, “we’ll do what it takes.”

~~~

The next day, be it morning or afternoon—whatever it was, you were back in his bed again. Despite what you felt the day before, it was almost as though shame had crept back into your life, making you regret how you reacted around him just last night.

Sitting up, you eventually pushed yourself out of bed and reluctantly accepted a freshly brewed cup of coffee from Suguru’s hands, as if he had anticipated for you to be up right at this very moment.

He seemed happier and much more at ease, but you still felt quite wrong.

“So, yesterday in the town… did you…?” you asked, hoping he knew what you were talking about, needing to hear it in person for it to finally settle as reality. That you didn’t somehow imagine exactly what had happened and that he did do what he promised.

“Yeah, she’s dead,” Suguru confirmed, “you’ll never be bothered by her again.”

You nodded in bittersweet understanding, acknowledging what he did and why he did it. Still feeling an aftermath of something that might have resembled dread; still remembering both the look your mother gave you as well as the sight of Yui getting beaten to a pulp.

“Anyway, I’m gonna head out for a bit to pick up the girls and then…” he trailed off, wondering how to drop off the big news onto you, “then we’ll be on our way… away from here. For good. It’ll be a fresh start, alright?”

“Where to?” you asked as you took a sip of the coffee.

“I have a place in mind,” he vaguely replied, tying his loose hair into a half ponytail, “it’s okay though, I have something figured out that can be good for all of us.”

“Yeah?” you asked, trying to feel hopeful.

He nodded, lingering by the door before slipping away somewhere outside. He knew he had to be quick, but he also didn’t want to rush the girls too much after a long trip away.

After a while, you heard a set of two different footsteps enter the home. It didn’t quite sound like Suguru somehow though, so you immediately sat up on the sofa and felt a little on edge. Jumping up to your feet, you swiftly turned around only to find a familiar pair of faces.

Shoko was the first person you saw spilling into the room and Utahime was closely behind her, although she resigned to the doorway as though to keep watch. Her expression was unreadable but her body language gave it away; she was nervous, tense. Afraid, almost.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay,” Shoko said, attempting to assure you.

“Shoko…?” you asked, “what are you doing here?”

“Look, [name],” Shoko began, “I need to get you out of here before I can properly explain, can you do that for me? Cooperate? I have a very limited window to do all of this before he’s back.”

“Before Suguru’s back…?”

“That’s right. Before Suguru returns. Look, I know about everything, [name],” she urged as she hugged you, bringing you forward, deciding it was better to coax you out, “I’m here to save the day, so you can thank me later but for now we have to move.”

Trusting her above everyone else, you nodded a little weakly. You took her by the hand and followed her out of the door as soon as you kicked on your trainers, guided by her soft and reassuring whispers that looped in a hushed mantra; promising you that it would all be okay.

“Down the emergency stairs, the alarm won’t go off,” Shoko directed you both as Utahime closed the door, beginning to follow. She kept glancing back every now and then, hoping that Suguru would never catch up because while she could hold her ground, she still didn’t want to fight him.

Just as the door closed and as you groggily descended down the stairs, Utahime’s heart did however skip a bit as she caught a glimpse of Nanako and Mimiko racing towards the apartment door, just barely missing Suguru's gaze by a split second as he turned the corner.

“We’ll have to hurry,” she whispered down the stairwell, “they’re back so it won't be long until he notices.”

“God, this is so scary…” Shoko admitted despite trying to keep a brave face on for all three of you, herself included.

Finally out of the door, Shoko eased you into Utahime’s car and slipped into the backseat with you. She tensed as Utahime attempted to get the vehicle started, every passing second feeling like minutes against the clock but finally, the car got itself running and they were soon on the road.

“My heart might just leave my body today,” Utahime muttered as she gradually cruised onto the freeway out of the city. Her chest fluttered intensely and only seemed to settle down when she was certain that nobody was on her tail.

“Yours and mine both,” Shoko sighed, pulling you in closer to her side as she settled into the back of the car, “he’s not following, is he?”

“Doesn’t seem it,” Utahime replied as she adjusted the rearview mirror, trying to see if she could see anything out of the ordinary, “it’s rush hour soon, so it’ll be good luck to him if he does follow.”

Shoko nodded, turning her sights back to you, noticing how your phone vibrated in your pocket but you didn’t pick it up. It was likely for the best, she thought, you didn’t deserve to listen to Suguru’s entitlement, so she didn’t press you on that particular matter, “And you’re okay, right?”

It took a while for you to adjust to the whole situation, feeling a bit dazed from the whole rush but you eased into a nod eventually, “Yeah, um, how did you know he’d be out…?”

“Kept in touch with him,” Shoko replied, “asked if he was back from the trip and he confirmed it, letting me know that he was about to have you meet the girls. We were already both nearby, because it’s something I’ve been… well, planning for a bit now.”

“Oh…” you replied, unsure how to follow up with it—everything felt surreal, almost, you were almost certain that you were to be trapped in this life with him forever, unable to break away and yet, here you were, “so you knew?”

Shoko sighed, feeling guilty for not telling you sooner, “I found out about… I want to say, about… two weeks ago? I’m so sorry I had to stay quiet. They’re both so perceptive that any hint of hope would have probably been sniffed out by the two.”

“Y-yeah, I guess that’s true,” you replied, thinking back to how Satoru gave you a bitter reminder or how Suguru kept making decisions for you without your input, forcing you into a life you didn’t quite want.

“We do have a way out for you, if you’re up for hearing it,” she added, her eyes squeezing slightly as she bit onto her tongue, gauging just how receptive you would be to her proposition.

You nodded, still dazed but attentive.

Shoko sighed, sagging her taut demeanour at last. She shot an eye to the back window and then at Utahime who seemed content to be driving before taking a deep breath figuring out how to word it to you exactly. She knew that she had to be thorough, even when you were so out of it. Your mind would fill in the blanks as needed and she’d remind you again and again as much as she had to.

With that in mind, she started from square one. The lake house and how you’d be surrounded by a deep lush forest that was nearby one of the more prolific lakes, how Utahime was so kind to let you use it, how you’re going to love it there. To think of this whole summer as a bad dream and now the real vacation was starting. How you’d love that, wouldn’t you? So safe, so far away. How she even secured you a whole new identity and how you’d get to be whoever you want to be this time—that’s something you wanted, wasn’t it? You wouldn’t be able to be a jujutsu teacher anymore, but your qualifications could still secure you a teaching job anywhere in your new home city.

You nodded through it all, pretending to light up your eyes at the parts that she tried to make out to be exciting, but you knew that it wasn’t as great as it all seemed. That once again, you had to leave behind the life you knew because just like always, you somehow messed it up.

“So yeah, you’re okay with this? Like really?” she asked.

“I am, I promise,” you replied, although you weren’t too sure. You were still numb. Still processing it all.

“I know it’s not ideal,” Shoko sighed, sensing slight hints of your dishonesty, “but I’ll always be there for you.”

“I know,” you replied, feeling at least comforted by that statement.

The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence with Shoko finally drifting off to sleep against the window. Utahime seemed more at ease too, especially when she got onto the quieter roads and nobody seemed to be following her at all. You personally on and off looked at your phone, taking your time to scroll through the many missed calls from Suguru that devolved into texts.

“You’re serious?” one of them read.

“This hurts, [name],” another said.

The responses were all a mix. Some bordered on hateful, even resentful while others were simple, just asking you why. They did die down after a while though, after one conclusive message.

“This isn’t over.”

You resigned to the side of the window too as you turned your phone completely off, feeling your eyes give into the pull of exhaustion. At least for now, you were safe.

Suguru in the meantime boiled away in his apartment, putting on a mask of there being nothing wrong at all on for the girls. He joked with them and interacted with them just fine, never once making them feel like something was wrong, but on the inside, he was slowly coming undone.

He fumbled around on and off with a piece of fabric he found caught in the door at the end of the hallway after noticing that the girls were focused on something. A piece of red fabric, caught in the heavy door. The colour alone and the material was something he recognised from Utahime’s miko outfit, specifically from her hakama trousers.

Utahime was here. That meant Shoko was too.

This all in all meant that Shoko lied about not intervening.

Which meant that she likely stole you away from him, despite promising not to get involved.

He scoffed as he settled on his plan, getting up to move out anyway. This part of the city was dead to him; his life was his own to reclaim elsewhere, somewhere different. Without the influence of jujutsu society weighing him down and if it had to be without you temporarily, then so be it.

But it wasn’t over you.

Not by a long shot.

~~~

[4 months later]

You remained at the holiday lake house until the end of summer, just barely adjusting to your new reality. It was initially hard to come to terms with, but Shoko did as she promised and as did Utahime with being there for you.

A bad dream, indeed. The concept of what happened to you alone now seemed to be fading away like a distant nightmare; present in your thoughts as an unwelcome memory, but with the lingering sensation that it didn’t truly happen at all. You fought on and off with nightmares of being in bed with either of them, feeling things you both wanted and didn’t want at the same time, waking up in a guilt-ridden, sticky, cold sweat each and every single time.

By the time Shoko’s next deposit went through, you found yourself settling into the heart of Osaka under a new name.

You were to be called Hina, a common enough name in the region, disguising you pretty well deep in the city with a popular surname.

You would live in a decent neighbourhood, nothing flashy but you wouldn’t get yourself into trouble when the sun set either and finally, your job would still be teaching, but it wasn’t sorcerers this time around—just regular old people, something you didn’t mind as it would give you a chance to allow to teach more to stand up for themselves if needed, something you could have surely used when you went to a regular school.

In fact, no, it was all fine. The autumn took a while to adjust to and as the warm nights turned into chilly evenings, the fever dream that was the summer slowly froze away, leaving behind the past as one unfortunate blip.

Shoko took care of the rest, redirecting your out of office salary into an offshore account, something that Jujutsu sorcerers had the opportunity to do, keeping up the illusion that she was never even involved at all.

Yet one night, while you were walking back home from the end of a school day; having marked down all of the work, tired and weary as can be. You could have sworn to have caught a glimpse of a familiar sight, burning like an intense blue fire against the dark.

Stopping, you rubbed your eyes, thinking nothing of it, especially as the sight was gone from your vision. The busy week and the rainy night must have been messing with you. The exhaustion from the summer still must have lingered, planting ghosts in your mind.

But then you heard it as clear as day, as a familiar sounding voice felt hot against your ears, “Thought you could run away from the trouble you caused, did you?”

Freezing, you swung around. You saw him. Eyes so watery blue; a once mellow ocean now raging with the heat of overwhelming fire, seemingly kindled by you.

Taking a step back, you gulped away all of the comfort you built so hard to have despite your circumstances, “S-Satoru?”

“Great, you remember me,” he purred, taking a step closer, “although, it has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“W-what are you doing here?” you just barely choked out.

“Suguru’s had his fun,” he cooed as he walked you back into the street, his eyes flicking over to someone as if giving a silent command, “it’s my turn now. I did tell you, remember?”

You stammered out noises that could have counted as replies, but nothing really stuck. You sounded more like an incoherent mess instead.

“I’ll remind you then,” he scoffed, pushing you back into a vehicle that was parked to align with his pursuit, his hand moving over to the sliding door that was left open, “you’re mine too,” and as the slid the door shut, it all came crashing down.

Maybe the nightmare never ended to begin with.

Maybe all this was, was purgatory and Satoru’s unexpected arrival was a simply reminder that you never actually had left the depths of hell.

That you were never free at all.

~~~

ao3 • chapter directory • masterlist

A/N: bleak ending, but not the true end; a sequel is on the way and is actively being written. thank you very much for reading. i tried to make the ending to the first part in the series as much of a standalone as possible, but fear not, the cliffhanger will be settled soon enough.

[eluxcastar]

Begging for some romantic Pierro x readers if that’s okay !! 😭💕

Domestic fluff with Pierro

── ୨୧：pierro x reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: brainless domestic fluff because yes

୨୧﹑genre :: fluff

୨୧﹑content :: gn reader, they're married because I said so, soft pierro (also because I said so), pierro is so quality time love language, neither of them know how to cook either, not proofread

୨୧﹑words :: 1.5k

ok something more chill to write. this has actually been on my mind cause I love this man sm Idk why I've got two Pierro posts back to back but this turned out way cuter than I originally thought?? maybe I just really like domestic fluff but the only thing able to interrupt that was the thought that reader is probably a dilf and/or milf and I can get behind that

side note reader would go GREAT in the little rumours fatuus pass around ruu and I were talking about because like. the instructor??? the jester's MARRIED to the instructor??? can you imagine being a fatuu in training and learning that your instructor is married to THE guy in the fatui

Entrusting you with training new recruits was a good idea. It's a place where you are not restless but not in so much danger Pierro would worry. With subtlety and perhaps a little tapping into his knack for deceit, you had been stationed somewhere close and where he needed to travel regularly for unrelated business, usually to pass through, but the detour to see you is always a plus. 

He likes to see you working hard, especially if you clearly enjoy your work. He also likes that you take a break when he appears to spend some time with him before he goes. 

Pierro is always mindful that you have a job, much like him, and that it is of equal importance within the sphere it affects as his job is to the Fatui as a whole. If not for the two of you, the Fatui would suffer tremendously. In his mind, you're even a little more important. Your job is to weed out the weakest links into administrative duties and help the strong flourish. Without you, trainees would never get put in increasingly dangerous situations with someone strong to back them up and keep them comfortably on their feet rather than vastly out of their depth. 

Besides, the Fatui would never turn down the capable people you can produce with your methods.

Pierro seldom sees that training in operation, save for when he first arrives and just before he leaves. You spend the time he's there with him, settled inside where it's a little warmer and where you share whatever he brought for you to enjoy. For some reason, Pierro feels the need to bring you gifts whenever he visits, little things he saw that made him think of you or food he knows you enjoy but can't get your hands on out where you're stationed. He almost stockpiles them in a way and gathers them all just before he leaves.

There are a few rare times of year when all of your students are shipped off to their respective sectors of the Fatui. During that special little time, you return to your home where your husband is always waiting patiently for your return so that you can begin to interrupt his work days and bring him lunch when he tries to get away with not taking breaks.

Whenever you show up, he does almost the exact same thing you do. He drops everything to be with you, even just to talk for fifteen minutes to check up on him when you're back in Zapolyarny Palace on unrelated business that so happens to include a trip to wherever he might be on such occasion. Most of the time, that means finding him in his office where you'll waltz right in regardless of if someone's in there and who that is. If you're feeling generous, you might even kindly wait until they leave to press a kiss to his cheek and ask how his day is.

Some people's first reactions to finding out the two of you are married are…interesting. Even your students are in the dark until they start panicking because suddenly the infamous Jester is at their instructor's doorstep unannounced, and his subjectively endearing case of resting bitch face never helps that seem like a good thing.

Of course, there are the people who are used to it and positively despise it—mainly because it means they have to be on their best behaviour—but it's hard to pay them much mind when you are caught up spending what little time you can together before he inevitably has to leave. The simple truth is that caring about who is suddenly in a bad mood takes up too much of your precious time that could be better spent waving a pita pocket in his face, coaxing him to try just a few bites of it before he turns his nose up at it.

Besides, anyone who decides to interrupt your little lunch sessions is not getting through their conversation without it being interrupted by you stealing his attention a few times while the other person is still talking in the background. You'll be patient if he asks, but more often than not, the boring trifles of others can wait until he's heard what you have to whisper in his ear.

More often than not, he is a shell of himself because, around others, he is reserved and colder than in private when only you can see his slight smiles and the softening of his eyes at the sight of you. Once you return home, he behaves like you haven't been tending to training reports all day because, as long as you're loitering around Zapolyarny, that's probably what you're there for. Compiling your notes into a readable fashion for whatever miserable souls have to subject themselves to sorting through them is, unfortunately, a necessary contrast to the fun you have actually teaching. Despite being subject to many more inconveniences on your off days, he would rather make sure you're taken care of than let you take care of him, though he allows you to return the favour to a degree. 

You hate it, and it's taxing, he will reason, as if he isn't annoyed by half of his duties either. Unfortunately, he manages to be just a little bit more persuasive than you. For better or for worse, you will be the closest to spoiled he can manage, even if it means sweeping you off your feet only to put you back down the moment his back makes him regret that. One day, he always swears he will be able to pick you up so that he can quickly get you out of any danger you might find yourself in if need be. Today, however, is still not that day.

Most of your time after work is spent making whatever you will call dinner that night, as you both pour over whatever recipe you choose and try to make something that tastes good when you're not on the verge of starvation. Neither of you are exactly in positions that allow that. Still, the experience of making the food is what matters. The taste means nothing in comparison to listening to him behind you, chopping the vegetables to add to the soup you're absently stirring while he asks some probably commonplace question about the recipe as if you're supposed to have the answer. At the same time, you talk about your respective days and exaggerate the details to sound more interesting.

At the end of it, you're met with edible food. Perhaps objectively, it isn't the best, and never in a million years could either of you work as chefs if this whole Fatui career doesn't work out, but it's made with love. What matters is that you made it together with the time you set aside for each other. Though cooking together can be entertaining, the two of you struggling to feed yourselves for upwards of an hour is not the pinnacle of relaxation when most of your focus is on not burning down your house and him not cutting himself trying to slice onions at a snail's pace.

Mediocre food and a night in are so familiar and comfortable by now, pushing work aside for some future version of yourselves to deal with, though the stories of your students and their endeavours make it in, as do those of the many characters Pierro deals with in a day. Those sources of entertainment can slip past every now and then while you laugh over the strange ideas of rookie fatuus trying to figure out the ropes.

It is softer and sweeter than anything else in your day, draped over his lap like a tired housecat while he reads you a book you found on the shelf you thought might be interesting. He'll rest the book on your stomach and somehow always manage to spot you reaching to touch his cheek or brush his hair out of his face out of the corner of his eye. 

It also happens to be one of the only things the two of you do that you could call soothing, save for a bath together or falling asleep like that. Even better, falling asleep in your bed where you should be and where you'll inevitably steal all the blankets and force him to cuddle up to you for warmth. 

Getting to wake up to see you so peaceful and safe is as good a reason as any to get up in the morning, though it certainly will not be the thing prizing him out of bed anytime soon when the option to stay right there by your side is so much more appealing.

[wolfiesmoon]

Binding the book

duke!gojo x fem!reader

This is in a manhwa au?? I don't want to call it a royalty au since neither of you are royalty but its essentially your average manhwa plot

I've decided to write something completely unrelated to the canon plot of jjk since I'm still in the process of watching the anime lmaooo

i feel overwhelmed by this anime tbh someone save me , i might just skip to the second season since i've already seen the first one back when it first came out but lowkey forgor everything😵

He's talking to her with that smile on his face again. You really shouldn't be bothered by this anyway, so why do you keep staring? You know how this story ends for you anyways.

You quickly turned around, not wanting to invade upon Satoru's buisness any further. You weren't outright bothering him, but you have a feeling he wouldn't enjoy you staring at him from behind the corner like some stalker. Not when he has better things to be looking at.

You've been married to Gojo Satoru for exactly 3 months now. It was a marriage born of neccessity, pure interest to stop marriage pressure from your families. Atleast on his side, it was. He made that clear during the marriage proposal.

"Well, I'm mostly just doing this so mom stops nagging me about finding a wife already. I'm sure the same applies to you."

Those words have been replaying in your head for a while now. You've known Satoru only for about a year at that point, and even then it was mostly through social events you attended that he also happened to be attending.

So needless to say, it was simulaneously a complete surprise and completely expected when he suddenly gave your family a surprise visit to offer his hand in marriage.

You knew there was zero romantic feelings involved from the very beginning, so you know you shouldn't be surprised if Satoru wants to leave you for Lady Ichikawa, the girl he talks to almost every day. But your heart can't help but clench at the sight, and you wish Satoru could...

Nevermind.

You should be attending to your duties anyways.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You sighed, practically collapsing on your bed. Finance is not fun, to say the least. Being the Lady of the house is a suprisingly tiring job, and definitely gives you more respect for your mother.

The servants had already helped you change into your night gown, and you were perfectly ready to hit the hay right now.

As the servant put out the lights in the chandelier, you thought about Satoru again. The guy is an annoyingly persistent thought in the back of your head, that's for sure.

You haven't even talked in a week.

Sure, the two of you tend to get busy, but this essentially just proves to you what kind of marriage this is. If he did care about you, he would've checked up on you atleast once, wouldn't he..? You don't have a right to complain about it anyways, since you were the one who agreed to the marriage in the end. You should be grateful you even had a say in it.

As the servant closed the door behind you, you clutched the pillow in your hand. Maybe if you keep being useful, he won't discard you. You've only been thinking of yourself up until now. You just now realise that if he leaves you for Lady Ichikawa, you'll lose your family face.

This is shaping up to be a nightmare.

Suddenly, you hear a knock on the door. "Oiiii, can I come iiiin?"

Well, speak of the devil. You would recognise that voice anywhere. "Sure, come in." you said so, but did you want to face him right now? You felt conflicted, both really happy and really nervous.

As the door opened, you turned your head, his silhouette, illuminated by the lights in the doorway coming into view. "Man, it's dark in here. You're going to sleep so early?" he said casually as he turned on the oil lamp on your table.

You only nodded in response, looking at him with half wonder half suspicion. Why is he paying you a visit all of a sudden? "What..? Can't a husband visit his wife?" Satoru furrowed his brows, noticing your dimmly lit expression and sitting down on the edge of your bed.

"I'm happy you're here." You assured him. And you truly were.

"Right, of course you are." Satoru smirked boldly at you, but somehow, you could tell that he was relieved to hear it. He looked in front of him.

"I got you this." he said a little more quietly, handing you a book as you sat up in bed. But it wasn't just any book. "No way... how did you even get your hands on this?!" you blinked multiple times in the dim light, making sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you.

When you realised how loud you just were, you quickly covered your mouth, and Satoru laughed at you for a bit before saying "I have my ways."

"That... doesn't answer the question. How much did this even cost?"

"...You shouldn't worry so much."

That idiot... You took another look at the book in your lap, the rare book you were trying to get your hands on for 3 years at this point. You can't help but wonder if the emergency finance work you had to do today has something to do with this.

"...Why?" you looked back up at him.

"Why what?" he flashed his usual smile at you, his white lashes fluttering as he gazed at you. This all seems... odd.

"Why did you get this for me? Why would you spend so much money on me? How did you even know I wanted this? What are you trying to do... here..." your last question died off as you saw his expression slowly shift to one of concern.

"You're... my wife? And I happen to know you want this? What kind of questions even are those, seriously." he scoffed, shaking his head.

"But... Lady Ichikawa..." why would he spend money on you when he could be putting it towards his future with Lady Ichikawa? Wait, why did you even start assuming that he'll leave you any minute to begin with? Gosh...

"Oh, her? Wait... are you jealous?" he raised his eyebrows playfully, leaning back. "Not really, I just thought that you... like her more than me." it felt strange finally admitting this to him.

"Ehhh.... She's just a friend, ya know. And I actually mean it. Why would I like her more?" Satoru looked as unaffected as ever, smiling at you. But beneath that nonchalant attitude and those shining blue eyes of his, you could feel confusion, doubt, and something else.

"You said in your proposal t-that... So I thought Lady Ichikawa..." all the turmoil that had been building up inside you for the last three months finally let loose, with you trying your best to speak through your tears. Isn't this pathetic?

"Shhh, I know what I said back then. But now that I actually have you, I dunno anymore. I wanna try out this whole love thing." Satoru moved up on the bed, moving over to your side and gently petting your head.

"In other words, you can stop crying now. Because I'm not letting you go anytime soon."

i dont like this one all that much I'll be real, but then again when do I ever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

this is actually based on a very specific manga plot, if you get it right I'll give you a gold star ⭐

[darlingofdots]

Formal vs Informal Address in German Temeraire Translations: a report

So I have picked up my German copies of the Temeraire books for the first time in over a decade for reasons unrelated to this post but I immediately got distracted by the matter of formal address in German and how translators have to make a very specific and important choice when translating from English. German (like French and many other languages) has two forms of direct address in the 2nd person, an informal one for friends, family, children etc., and a formal address for strangers, teachers, colleagues, professional contacts. It is famously a Whole Thing when you switch from formal to informal with somebody: usually the person with a 'higher' position in the relationship has to explicitly offer it and it can be a big deal! A common instance might be when you've worked at a new job for a while and your colleagues tell you to use informal to indicate they consider you Part Of The Team, or your girlfriend's parents do it when you've been dating a while and they signal that you're part of the family now. In translation, this can be a really tricky choice! For instance, I have not watched Elementary in German but I would say Sherlock and Joan would absolutely start out addressing each other formally (Sherlock calls her "Watson" most of the time), but by the end of the show there is no way they would not have switched. Obviously English-language media does not have an explicit conversation about this and the closest analogue would be switching to first names when they've only ever used last names before, but you can't rely on that and translators end up having to make choices about characterisation and relationships based on like, vibes. With all that said!

In the Temeraire series, there's a lot of formal address around, such as among officers; I knew Laurence would be addressing his cadets formally because even though they are like, 9 years old, they are his officers and deserve to be treated with that respect. I only have books 1-5 in German but I'd be willing to bet that this doesn't change even Emily's been with him for nigh on ten years, and the same goes for Temeraire. Also Laurence uses formal address with both his parents, in case you were wondering.

What I was not sure about was a) how other people address dragons and how dragons address each other and b) the finer interpersonal relationships among aviators. Jane addresses Iskierka formally but Temeraire informally; the dragons of the formation are formal with each other but Temeraire, Lily, and Maximus are not, and Temeraire quite happily scolds Iskierka like a misbehaving child. I would LOVE to find a bit of, say, Laurence talking to Lily or Berkley to Temeraire!

Among the aviators, Laurence and Jane are informal with each other once they've slept together, but I just saw that Laurence is also informal with Harcourt but not with Chenery, which is interesting but I suppose makes sense if you go by the dragons' relationships too. What really fascinates me is that at the end of Victory of Eagles, Laurence and Granby are still formal, which makes sense because until five minutes ago Laurence was his superior officer, but if I were the translator for this series I'd have them switch to informal with the beginning of book six but unfortunately I do not have that on hand so I can't check.

Now for the main event: Tharkay uses formal address with Laurence when he leaves to fetch more ferals at the beginning of book 4, and I thought he switched for the infamous "Laurence, what are you doing" which would have been exactly the right moment if you'd asked me, but in fact there is one random informal when they're out rescuing Granby in London (loose quotation: "that is [Woolvey's] problem and for those who would weep for him, even if they are close to your [informal] heart")? And then he goes right back to formal all the way to "Laurence, what are you [informal] doing" and finally switches properly, at which point Laurence follows his example. At first I thought that was weird and I am not sure if it was done on purpose, but on second thought I kind of like that he tries it out first when speaking of something personal (Laurence's concern for Edith) but isn't sure of it yet and retreats back to familiar territory until he realises that he needs to shock Laurence out of his war crime depression.

It's interesting to me that Tharkay was the one to take that step. Traditionally, like I said, it would be on the person in a position of authority to offer or, like with Granby, Laurence could have just switched once Granby was confirmed in rank to indicate that he wants to be friends now that he doesn't give orders anymore. Of course it makes perfect sense that Tharkay would not care one bit about rank, and he's not really an officer anyway and he certainly does not consider Laurence to have authority over him. I love that the translator (Marianne Schmidt) recognised that moment on campaign for what I think it is: not so much a turning point in their relationship but one that cements a degree of intimacy that Laurence doesn't have with anyone else. They would not have had access to book 6, I think, when they were working on book 5, so it very much is a deliberate choice based on their interactions up to this point. I made a list recently about people that Will Laurence calls by their first name (former first lieutenants, Catherine Harcourt, 1 FWB, and Tharkay) and now I feel like I need to make another list of people German!Will Laurence uses informal address with!

[chemicallady]

I WANNA FEEL LOVE AGAIN

Part 1 ; Part 2 ;

Couple: Noah Sebastian x Fem!Reader

Content Warning: I made a little homage to three fanfiction I really love! I leave you to find the references ;)

Taglist: @ada-clarence , @badalmondzzzz , my wifey @starsomens , @raventherockstarhippie @blacksoul-27 , @somewhere-diamond

Summary:  This is just cute. I swear.

But you never promised me to be wiser of better.

Time flies.

Two years passed by so fast that you almost didn't notice. At first, your job was not demanding at all, compared with the rest of the crew. You have to accompaning Noah or any other member of the band to attend the interviews, most of them for radio stations. Taking notes for integrations on their website. Keep an eye on publicize enough any tourdates or merch drop, find sponsor for bigger venues and check at the end of the day if the guys need something for the day after.

You had to spend a lot of your time on the band socials, especially instagram and twitter, which you have always shared credentials with your brother and the rest of the band. You also create their TikTok and take care about the creation of fun contents.

It was way easy before the release of Death of Peace of Mind. After the beginning of 2022, you were on the road more than at home. A lot of famous hosters started to ask for an interview with Noah. All the lights switched on the future promise of rock music when Just Pretend became one of the most used/listened songs on TikTok.

And now, in the middle of the summer of 2023, the band is still rising. More money bring more responsabilities, the necessity of arranged a better shows, bigger interviews, more publicity, more interaction through the socials.

Everyone has to work the double, you included. Speaking with radio manager and small magazine specialized in all metal subgenders was a thing.

But now the band is too huge to stop at this level. And you werent trained enough for all this pressure, but it started to grow on you month after month, tour after tour. You are the guardian of Noah's schedule. You are not charming enough to compete with others PR, but since the crew is more similar to family meeting than a serious ansemble of professionals, you became competitive.

Hard work got big results like the european tour with Bring Me the Horizon. Oli wanted Bad Omens to open for him but you were the one who put all her soul and time on the project. On the papers. Because behing any tour there is a mountain of burocracy, sponsor phone calls and publicity. You had to team up with Matt, Miles and Davis so many times that at some point, that it's like having more than just one older brother.

From june 4th, the last day on tour, you are on vacation. You have nothing to do with music creation or audio/video sound checks. You just need a laptop, a lot of patience every time you scroll your emails, and the fantastic mojito your neighbour Brianna makes. A good reason to work on your balcony, along with the sound of the ocean, is her company. You don't have many friends but she is amazing. She moved from Minnesota after the shutdown, and she is an actress. Small roles, but as she always says, small roles bring bigger ones.

《 and it would have been ever better if my prick boyfriend didn't show up and basically assaulted the casting director》

You have heard this story at least ten times, but it's still amazing how boys can be idiots. 《 Why are you still with him? He's a bomb ready to detonate, Bri》 , you know that your concern will not help her in resonate, but you can't shut up.

《 I can't afford either the apartment or the car and you know that, y/n. Also, he is not that bad when he's sorber.》

《 But he never is! 》 you place the now empty glass on the outdoor table, disappointed in seeing her almost offended expression. It's a fortune that Matt isn't around. He has to deal with Jim at least twice a week. 《 You're my friend, Bri. The only one unrelated to my job..... I can't sleep over this situation anymore. I can help you. Move in with me and Matt, take care of my plant and Lucifurr for me while we are on tour. We don't want you to help with the rent. You just need to tell that dick to fuck off.》

《.... but he drives me to every casting》

《 and he's the reason no one is picking you in a very first place. This relationship is too toxic》

《 y/n I think you're crossing the line.》

《 He's gonna kill you one of these days!》

You both muted for a couple of seconds, the now tense air between the two of you being thick as a wall. Yeah, you cross the line but like Matt, you're no good in resonate with people who don't want any help. And like Matt you can't stand injustice, not at this rate.

But you know that you have to excuse yourself, simply it's hard to find the right words. You are not going to apologise for speaking your mind, but just about the way you did it.

《 y/n? Are you ready?》

A raspy voice catch you off guard. It's already seven??

《 Shit, Noah. I'm outside》, you yell in response, before turning again towards Brianna. She already reached the empty glass and without a word, and she comes back to her apartment. 《 C'mon Brianna. I'm sorry, just-for the fuck sake.》

Noah is standing right next to you when Brianna shut the door loudly.

All you can do is sigh out loud - a bad habit you inherit from the tall man on your side - before bringing your hands to cover your face in frustration.

《 What's going on, here?》 He asks , munching a candy.

《 I don't understand women.》

He gives you a funny look. 《 Damn, that's the real deal, man. Not the chicken/egg question, or what's our purpose on earth.... but why you girls act so weird. 》

《 Shut the fuck up, Noah. Not now.》

Your relationship with Noah also changed drastically in the last two years. It required some time and a ton of patience, but he open up to you and from thenon, you became a sort of confident of him. In return, he is the one you call when things are not going well. It was a bit embarrassing, the first months, but your friendship now is stronger than youve ever immagined. You feel like you can tell everything to Noah without being judged. Sometimes he laughs at you, of course, but he knows when a situation has to be manged seriously.

He cares about you with all his heart.

He doesn't aspect nothing in return, but he is dear to you on a level than only your brother have always been.

And he knows you deeply, that's why it is so easy for him to detect how worried you are.

《 Do you think he beats her? I mean, Steve is a scumbag, but I can't figure him being actually that violent. He is always too high to have some form of coordination.》

Since his arrival - Noah has the keys of the apartment so he can come and go as he pleased, especially when both you and matt are not in town and someone has to take care of Luci- Noah asked you questions on Brianna's situation.

He knows you're concerned and he also can't pretend he is fine with your neighbors yelling at each others on daily basis.

《 I don't know but he is getting more and more jealous. She told me he's sabotaging her auditions, now.》

Noah takes a sip of the iced tea you offer him, before grab your hand on the surface of the counter. 《 Start to call the police on them, when they argue. Maybe you're right. He is not beating her yet. But he could start.》 You nod slowly, thanking him with a soft smile. 《 By the way, do you feel okay? Wanna postpone our date?》

He loves to joke around with you, because he knows how this helps in rising your moral.

You pretend to get offended. 《 I would never, ever decline a date with you. Let me change in a more adequate outfit.》

《 take your time, the limo's driver can wait downstairs.》

You giggle, before leaving him in the kitchen, reaching your room for a quick change. In five minutes you're ready: a ponytail, red joggers and a tank top.

《 Ready to run, pretty boy?》

《 I'm always ready, chicken butt.》

Noah has never told you the real reason why he has taken the work out so seriously, but you're glad he did, because you joined him on his program and honestly, you feel at your top right now. It's not a matter of aesthetics, but you feel healthy. You are less tired at the end of the day, and you can endure the - at least- 15 working hours while Touring. Back at home, it became a habit of the two of you going out for a run daily during the sunsets since Noah is not an early bird and you'd rather work in the morning.

The place you chose is on the street that runs alongside the beach in Malibù. One of reason why you got used to LA is also the precious view of the ocean while the sun sinks in it and paints the sky in gold.

There is a small beach, hidden in the stunning nature of the Pacific Coast, that has become your spot. Every day you reach that beach, stretch a little and then go back to your apartment when usually Noah showers before leaving.

Today is a Saturday and even if you don't have big plans, Noah sometimes takes his chances on a Saturday night. Even God took a day off on Sunday, right?

《 It's the red hair?》

You ear him chuckles while you bend, grabbing the tip of your toes to stretch your back.

《 No red hair as far as I can recall》

《 So... the girl you helped at that dive bar?》 You rise again, bringing your arms to the sky 《The one who broke up with her cheating boyfriend? Or maybe your neighbour? I like her. I remember you told me she was so happy when you sent her our merch.》

Noah pushes you a little, making you loosing your balance while a giggle leaves your lips. 《 You're making me look like a fuckboy!》

《you are a fuckboy, always surrounded by beautiful women. And don't look at me like that! I know you like it that way!》

Noah is young and awesome. You got a crush on him in the beginning of your partnership. It's more than obvious that he has a significant number of choices when he wants to spend a night out.

This used to hurt you a bit, but the feeling of jealousy or envy - you still don't know what it was - disappeared in the moment you realised what you have.

All this girls can have noah for a night or two.

You can have him fully, you can call him in the middle of the night if a guy screws on you and Noah will bring you to buy ice-cream to McDonald's. You two can talk for hours about the absolute nothing or regarding the most difficult life choices.

You can mocking him, make him laugh in the golden light of the dying sun, in this very moment.

And that's more than enough.

Maybe you and Noah are not meant to be lovers, but he is your person and you are his. Like twin Flames, that doesn't matter how far they are.

They always burn bright.

《 I don't know, I was thinking for something casual. Like Netflix and chill.》

Lucifurr jumps off the sofa in the moment he hears Noah entering in your apartment. Your cat totally ignores you and starts to purr to the tall man that interrupts everything to kneel and cuddle the black ball of furr.

Satanic animal...

《 Then you should text the neighbor. She is the sweetest of yours hooks up.》

《 Then I can simply ring the door on my way back.》

《 Call her, Noah. Don't be a prick. The world doesn't revolve around you. Maybe she is planning to go out.》

You can hear him sigh in his annoying way. 《Can I shower here, anyway? I smell bad.》

《 You always smell bad.》

《 Am I???》

You exchange a glaze with him and immidiatly know its time to run. In the moment he leaves Luci alone, he is following you around the house while you yell for help. But matt isn't back yet, so you're on your own. As soon as noah reaches you (very soon, his legs are longer than yours), he huggs you tight, trying to put your head under his armpit.

《 NOAH STOP IS DISGUSTING!》 , you try to defend yourself hitting him on his back and between his legs with small slaps.

《Ei! Low blow! Don't slap my nutts!》

《 Don't sweat on me, you piece of-》

A yell interrupted the both of you, follow by a long cry and some smashed dishes. Noah realise the grip on you and sighs deeply looking at the wall that divides your apartment from Briannas one.

《 Is it always like this?》

《 almost every day, now.》

And there is something that broke in your cracking voice that completely shattered Noahs heart.

《 let's call the cops》, he says with a soft voice, hugging your shoulders. 《 I'll stay. We can watch a movie togheter.》

You look at him in surprise while he is reaching his phone. 《 and your date?》

《 you're my date》 , is the cheeky replay. The both of you smile, and you need a second. Not only because you're worried about brianna, but also because these small situations make you feel.... weird on your feelings towards noah.

You don't want to admit it, but a real date would be all you desire.

....but at what cost?

[odyssean-flower]

The Chief Justice and the Worst Painter in Fontaine Chapter 1: The Beginning

Pairing: Neuvillette x Gender Neutral Reader Summary: It was supposed to be your time to relax and get in touch with your (extremely) buried creative side...but then your boss showed up. A/N: hey guys here's my new fic. it's something different this time since i want to explore new things (and i need to cook on my other yandere ideas a little more) Masterpost here

You can read the fic on AO3 as well

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 (Bonus Scenes) || Chapter 4

tw: none except the author's attempts at humor

Your first-ever painting session was going wonderfully.

The sky was a deep blue without a cloud in the sky, and the winds were calm. The only sounds you could hear around you on the shores of the Great Terrestrial Lake were bird cries and the mechanical footsteps of the Meks patrolling the roads. You were far away from the hustle and bustle of the Court of Fontaine, which was just what you wanted.

The bright white canvas in front of you seemed to be brimming with possibilities, waiting for you to put your brush to it and create something beautiful…you hoped.

“Ah,” you sighed. “I don’t get why more people don’t do this.”

“I concur,” a voice said from next to you. It sounded vaguely familiar. “It’s unfortunate that the beauty of Fontaine’s waters is underappreciated even by the citizens.”

“Right?” you said excitedly as you turned your head to beam up at this newfound kindred spirit. “But I suppose it’s all for the best, considering that—”

The rest of your sentence got stuck in your throat. Because your eyes landed on the last person you had ever expected to see.

The long white hair with blue streaks (or were they horns, as you’ve heard rumored?), the elegant and flowing blue robes, the piercing violet eyes…you might not have ever seen him up close before, but everyone in Fontaine knew who this man was.

The Chief Justice of Fontaine, the Iudex—Monsieur Neuvillette himself.

That’s right. Your boss was standing right next to you as you were supposed to be enjoying your relaxing day off.

You were a low-level bureaucrat working at the Maison Gestion. Your days were confined to your small desk and typewriter, sitting in your chair as you typed up document after document, reading memos, and then re-typed what you just wrote.

It wasn’t a bad job, all things considered. You liked your coworkers, and it was fun to complain about your workloads together. It paid well enough too. However, your work-life balance was terrible. You got home late even without doing overtime at the office, and spent your days off sleeping in. Not to mention the disturbing cracks your back made whenever you straightened yourself up…

After seeing one too many of your coworkers sleeping at their desks overnight in order to make a deadline, you decided that there needed to be a change. You were going to get a hobby completely unrelated to work and enjoy your life!

The problem with spending so much of your time at work was that it was difficult to find out what you actually enjoyed doing in leisure. You barely even remembered what your interests were before you started working. It was a depressing realization…but at least now you had the money and maturity to find new interests.

You briefly considered doing a physical activity like rowing or diving, but quickly decided against it. You were a desk worker and had the physique of one as well. But on the other hand, you didn’t want to do something where you were indoors and stationary all the time. That would be no different from your time at work.

After trying out several activities, you finally decided on painting. Painting would allow you to leave the city and spend time in nature. You could sit but also wander around as you pleased. And you could create something of your own instead of being confined by other people’s rules. Yes, painting was the perfect hobby to pick up.

With that brilliant idea in mind, you happily bought painting supplies and set out for Fontaine’s beaches on the weekend. You were looking forward to a day of relaxation and artistic joy.

But now…

“M-Monsieur Neuvillette!” you stammered, jumping out of your chair and nearly knocking it over. “I-I-I had no idea you were here! Please forgive me for not noticing you!”

You were suddenly extremely aware of your appearance. Since it was your day off and you weren’t expecting to be around anyone else, you were dressed in well-worn clothes (read: frayed and faded), and your hair was matted with sweat after carrying your heavy painting tools all the way out here.

“There is no need for you to apologize,” Neuvillette said. His calm demeanor was completely at odds with your panicking self. “I should be the one apologizing for startling you. I was simply happy to see someone else enjoying one of my favorite spots to watch the sea.”

“Oh, no, not at all! You shouldn’t apologize! I’m the one who—” This isn’t going anywhere, the rational part of your mind screamed.  

Driven by the survival instinct of saving yourself from dying of embarrassment, you quickly gathered your painting supplies in your arms and stood up. They seemed a lot more unwieldy than before. “I’m sorry, Monsieur. I didn’t know you frequented this spot. I will move myself somewhere else so as to not disturb you.”

“There’s no need for you to inconvenience yourself in that way,” a furrow formed between Neuvillette’s brows. “You will no way disturb you. I’m perfectly fine with you staying here. In fact, I would welcome your company.”

“Oh, no no! I wouldn’t be good company for you at all, Monsieur! I'm terrible at talking and am not interesting in any way! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall leave you be!” You blabbered on as you backed away as fast as you could. A shadow passed overhead. You looked up and saw clouds. Where did those come from?

You had made it some distance away, cursing yourself in your head all the while, before you heard the rumble of thunder. The sky was now covered in clouds, and it looked as though it was going to rain at any minute. That was weird. The weather forecast said that it would be sunny today, and there wasn’t a trial today, so you had assumed that it would be clear skies today. As the first drops of rain hit your face, you suddenly remembered something: you forgot to take your chair.

You would rather jump into the sea than go back there, especially after how you acted. But on the other hand, wouldn’t leaving my chair there make me look like a careless slob? What if Monsieur Neuvillette thinks that and decides that I’m not fit for my job? And then I’ll get fired and get thrown out onto the streets and then no one would ever hire me again and—

More rain fell, shaking you out of your panicked thoughts. You took a deep breath and calmed yourself down. You were a grown adult who was capable of behaving in a normal, mature manner. You would simply walk over there, politely greet Neuvillette, get your chair, and then calmly take your leave. Simple.

Repeating those steps in your head, you ran back to the spot (because the rain was really coming down now) and to your surprise, found Neuvillette still standing there. He didn’t seem to have moved from where he was when you last saw him. The rain was soaking into his hair and clothes.

The sight made you feel a bit lonely.

You steeled yourself and walked up to him. The chair was still there. You resisted the urge to grab it and run away, and then cleared your throat.

“Excuse me, Monsieur Neuvillette…”

He turned around with a start. For some reason, the rain lightened up a bit at that moment. “Oh, you’ve returned. I thought you were going to move somewhere else to paint?”

His voice was as emotionless as his face, but you thought you could detect a bit of hurt in it. It must have been just your overactive imagination.

“I was just…” the words got caught in your throat. Somehow, it felt wrong to tell him that you only returned to get your chair. But surely he’d understand, right?

The defiant part of your mind chose that moment to make its appearance. Why are you acting like a scared mouse? You were here first, and you had no idea that this is his favorite spot. This place is big enough for the two of you.

“Pardon me,” Neuvillette’s voice snapped you back to reality. “But I believe you were about to say something?”

“Oh…oh, yes. I was just going to say…” you forced a smile on your face. You must look ridiculous right now. “I was just going to say, I decided to come back here because, well, if the Chief Justice says that this is his favorite spot, then it must be scenery worthy of even someone like me to paint.”

Neuvillette’s face still didn’t change, but it seemed to soften almost imperceptibly. The rain stopped completely now.

“I’m honored to receive such a compliment, though undeserved,” he said. “I do look forward to your work.”

You nodded, even as you were thinking, Crap! He’s going to be looking at my painting!?

With shaking arms, you set up your easel and canvas, which had miraculously remained mostly dry. The chair, on the other hand, was soaked, so you had to stand and paint. You moved the setup several times to make sure it wasn’t getting into Neuvillette’s line of sight before dipping your brush into a pot of paint.

The clouds were all gone now, like they were never there.

Though you technically answered to Neuvillette as an employee of the Maison Gestion, you had never actually talked to him or even seen him up close before. Your desk was on a separate level from his office, and he was always busy, so even the higher-ups rarely saw him. You had seen him sitting in his high seat during trials at the Opera Epiclese, but that was about it.

So, this was your first time being in such close proximity to him.

The sun felt like a laser, or maybe a spotlight, beaming down on your head. The gentle breeze ruffled your hair but did nothing to dry your sweaty hands that were gripping your equally sweaty paintbrush. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears.

Yes, you were definitely feeling very relaxed right now.

You sneak a glance at Neuvillette. He was gazing out at the blue waters. He hadn’t attempted to watch you paint even once. If you hadn’t known any better, you would have thought he was a statue. It was warmer now than before. Doesn’t he feel hot in those robes? You thought.

The painting was nearly done. It was, in your opinion…definitely a canvas with paint on it. You had tried to capture the shimmer of the waves and their unknowable depths, but you hadn’t come close. It felt almost shameful, considering the view here really was beautiful. You could see why Neuvillette liked this place.

You wouldn’t have cared at all about the quality of your work if it hadn’t been for him, since this was supposed to be a way for you to unwind. Resentment bubbled up within you, but you quashed it down. There was no turning back time now. You comforted yourself by vowing to completely avoid him at all costs after this. It wouldn’t be that hard to do.

After you put the finishing touches, you stepped back. The painting was not hanging on the gallery walls anytime soon, but it was done. You turned to Neuvillette.

“Um, Monsieur Neuvillette. It’s finished.”

He turned and looked at your painting. His violet eyes scanned it carefully from top to bottom, like it was a piece of fine art hanging in the museum. You shifted your feet nervously. It felt like you were being judged. Was he going to fire you if you didn’t meet his standards? That was an absurd thought.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to you. “The way you captured the light on the water is quite inspired, [Name]. I can see that the meticulous and detail-oriented mind in your work is also present here.”

You blinked. Three thoughts rushed through your mind at once.

He liked your painting.

He knew your name.

He knew your work.

A light, airy feeling filled your chest. It felt like you were floating. Maybe you were actually watching this from above your body, considering how surreal this felt.

“T-Thank you, Monsieur Neuvillette,” you managed. “I-I, just really love the sea. It’s so, um, cool.”

Neuvillette nodded solemnly. “I can tell that. If you would like, I can show you other scenic views of the sea that might inspire you further.”

“Great!” you exclaim before you knew what you were doing. “I’d love that.”

Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but you could have sworn Neuvillette’s lips curved into a smile. “Then it’s settled. Next week, I will send you a note with directions to another one of those spots.”

You nodded, even as if you were thinking, Next week?

And so, your artistic journey with the Chief Justice began.

[fallenrockstars]

INTRODUCING MY FURRY GUYS I GUESS. OR WHATEVER.

Kicking off this account I guess with a selection of (at this point, quite old) Toyhouse icons I did of my miscellaneous OC’s. All from basically the same universe, but some of them may be part of different unrelated stories from one another

Below the cut, I’ll give a super brief description of my main OC stories and who each character is is.

—————————————— I have three or four story projects in active/current development at the present, but I’ll introduce the two most developed ones.

My main one is currently in need of a new title, but it’s a horror dramedy / murder mystery. about my fictional band with the tremendously on-the-nose name Dead Celebrities— whose rise to fame also coincides with a series of strange murders of several other prominent musicians in town. The story basically revolves around the members of the band trying to deduce who may be responsible for the killings, all while trying to stay alive themselves. The further they investigate, not only do they begin suspect one of their own may be the culprit, but that said culprit may be involved with even more sinister forces than they could have imagined.

My second one is called The Devil You Know, which revolves around the lead protagonist Nico who aspires to be a famous rock musician, but feels stifled by his chronic ailments and lack of skill. Through a boredom induced ouija board mishap, he finds himself summoning a demon who makes a deal with him to grant him otherworldly musical skill— unfortunately this leads to said demon possessing Nico, so now he must live with the experience of having the world’s worst roommate and a parasite wrapped up all in one ancient evil entity.

——————————————

As for the individual characters, I’ll introduce each in picture order from left to right.

1 / JESSE: Grumpy, broody, moody guitarist for an 80’s rock / heavy metal band called Dead Celebrities. Deep down very kind and sensitive despite what his aloof, offputting demeanor may indicate. Many wild town rumors circulate around him due to his mysterious nature, all of which are far more interesting than his actual life. Main protagonist of my murder mystery story. Also the main one trying to investigate the murders.

2 / CHERRY: One of Jesse’s best friends and member of Dead Celebrities’ rival band called Lost Daughters. A sarcastic spitfire and also her band’s lead singer. Is basically everyone’s wise older sister… even if she’s a bit smug about it sometimes. Part of the murder mystery story.

3 / PINK: Part of a story somewhat unrelated to the two I mentioned. His story takes place in the late 2000’s-early 2010’s. Former teen heartthrob kid’s sitcom actor turned somewhat washed up emo singer and social media personality. Has been cancelled every week for the past several years. Has made multiple YouTube apology videos. He’s kind of a fuckboy asshole (but he does redeem himself somewhat)

4/ WILEY: Weirdo bassist for Dead Celebrities and armchair paranormal expert. Professionally mentally ill, couch surfs and does odd jobs for income. Freaks out his roommates by doing seances in the apartment. Part of the murder mystery story. Is Donnie’s older half-brother.

5/ MEPHISTOPHELES: Demon. Nico’s parasite. Will drink all your pepsi and call you a bitch. Is the eternal spirit of a former musician. Part of the The Devil You Know story.

6/ DONNIE: Dorky rhythm guitarist and occasional keyboardist for Dead Celebrities. Painfully earnest and sweet. Has an unrequited crush on Jesse. Chronic nervous wreck but overcompensates with extreme friendliness. Overcaffeinated, sleep-deprived med school student. Part of the murder mystery story. Is Wiley’s little half-brother.

7/ EDDIE: Dead Celebrities’ drummer and casanova extraordinaire. Good with the business side of the band stuff. Gregarious, excitable, goofy personality. Really having fun with the whole rock-star persona thing. Think Jack Black type vibes. He’s also Cherry’s boyfriend. Part of the murder mystery story.

8/ RIOT: Part of a story partially connected to the murder mystery one. Goofy himbo glam metal party boy who don’t want nothin’ but a good time. Clinically oblivious.

9/ NICO: Perpetually anxious, poorly socialized shut-in with chronic illness and barely any exposure to the outside world. Craves a change of pace in the form of fame, but unfortunately a deal with a demon to gain said musical prowess resulting in said evil entity taking up partial residence in his body wasn’t the kind of shake-up he was wanting. Not to mention, the effects of acute demon possession have been taking a serious toll on his health… Part of the The Devil You Know story.

[greatqueenanna]

Hey, so do have a history of Hans' development in Frozen? I keep seeing so many posts about how Hans was actually meant to be a good guy and he was Elsa's romance in Frozen or Frozen 2 and what-not and I'm just trying to look at actual sources and facts regarding his character, since I want to write my own analysis, but I think that Hans fans are too biased to provide actual good info.

My What Came Before Analysis details the information I was able to find about Frozen's early development throughout the years.

In terms of Hans specifically, I do have this twitter (X) thread about misinformation within the Hans fandom pushed by a few extremists that you can go ahead and take a look at.

However, since you asked, here are some tid-bits regarding Hans' character throughout the years leading up to the first film.

-----

Hans was most likely conceptualized around the time Anna and the Snow Queen became Frozen and switched form 2D hand-drawn animation, to 3D animation. Before Anna and Elsa were written as sisters, Hans was written to be the true villain of the story, as a way to help redeem the Snow Queen character. This was around 2010-2011.

Frozen was to open with a prophecy that “a ruler with a frozen heart will bring destruction to the kingdom of Arendelle.” We’re then introduced to Anna, our pure-hearted heroine, and Elsa, an unrelated evil Snow Queen. We learn Elsa is a scorned woman; she was stood up at the altar on her wedding day and froze her own heart so she would never love again. Both Elsa and the audience assume she’s the villain from the prophecy. Fast-forward to the final act: Elsa creates an army of snow monsters to attack our heroes while Kristoff has “a Han Solo moment” and comes to help Anna. To halt Elsa’s attacking army, the two-faced Prince Hans (Admiral Westergaard) triggers a massive avalanche—not caring that the avalanche also puts Anna, Elsa, and all of Arendelle in jeopardy. Anna realizes Elsa is their only hope, so she convinces her to use her powers to save the kingdom. The twist is that the prophecy from the beginning is actually not about Elsa, but about Hans—he’s the one with a metaphorical frozen heart because he’s an unfeeling sociopath. Elsa’s heart is then unfrozen allowing her to love again. - Peter Del Vecho, Entertainment Weekly

After Elsa and Anna were re-written as sisters, the story changed so that Hans and Anna were about to get married, until Elsa kidnaps her from the wedding. The ending was the same as far as I know, with Admiral Westergaard triggering the avalanche to stop Elsa's snowman army, leading to the destruction of Arendelle as well. You can see a tid-bit of this Elsa in the video below -

Eventually, after Let it Go was written, Hans was apparently written as trying to get a job in Arendelle, and Anna was trying to get Elsa to agree but she wouldn't. Then it was changed to the quick engagement plot instead. For the life of me, I can't find the source for this so you can take it with a grain of salt.

Then, Hans was changed to a Prince, and rather than being a reckless, uncaring (and a little dumb) villain that was willing to destroy Arendelle and its people to stop Elsa, Hans was changed to a more cunning villain who was trying to win the throne by emotional manipulation rather than by force.

This is what Jennifer Lee meant when she said the following -

So no, Hans was never a good guy or Elsa's romance interest. And that's everything I know about Hans' development based on sources.

[piracytheorist]

Episode 31 reactions!

Okay, first off, mind. blown. There's some VERY good action in this one!

Yor's coworkers are at the "Well, we're still better off!" jealousy stage. It's a small thing but something I can definitely see people like them do. Sharon seems to be the most passive-aggressive one, so it was a bit revealing that she was the first one to go like "Hey I got beer and sausage, I'm not jealous at all!" Our truest selves come out in the hardest times...

A very beautiful shot of the ship!

By the way, if Yor's coworkers knew what she was going through, they'd definitely stop being jealous.

Yor appears a little too nervous, if you ask me. Granted, we only saw her once before working, and when she was imagining what she'd tell Anya she sounded quite secure in her abilities. But now that she's been living in a family, her way of work has indeed changed, if anything else because she's worried they may find out the truth about her.

At first I thought McMahon had kicked her in the shin, but upon rewatching I realized he kicked the leg of the chair. I'm sure if it were the Shopkeeper he'd probably kick her leg, if not stomp down on her foot just to get her to focus.

Gram was sneezing again? Should I pay attention to this or is it just a baby being a baby?

Yor is smart to try and think how the enemy would think in order to be prepared for their plan, but she doesn't take into account the fact that some of the assassins are actual psychopaths who don't care about taking innocent people's lives in their effort to do their job. That's what being too kind of an assassin will do to you XD

And it's driven to the point even more with Yor being cute like that - and probably remembering the times she played with Yuri when he was little - and Olka saying she doesn't look like a criminal. She really doesn't. Sweetest assassin ever <3

The "mmm" Yor made at the end was the exact same "mmm" Anya made while stuffing up her face with food XD

Loid is not impressed, and this is only the beginning.

It's so fun having the actual, physical copy of the manga in front of me as I watch the episode! I notice here that when Anya talked about Yor missing, she also told Loid "You miss dinner all the time", but the anime omitted that. STOP DENYING US THINGS!

Anyway, Anya calls him out for catching feelings, and Loid is quick to drop his voice a couple octaves to show how secure he is.

I AM NOT LONELY I AM NOT.

Sure buddy, sure.

The office guys are on the opposite side of relaxing and actually enjoying themselves on this trip, going out and drinking a little too much, while the "Greys", Yor and McMahon are walking on eggshells.

The anime team obviously had enough time available for this chapter, as they have a couple of added lines from the office guys, so I doubt they omitted Anya's line about Loid missing dinner due to time issues. I wonder what might be the reason - it's not like they're trying to make us think he doesn't miss dinner? We know the guy's schedule is tight as a drum.

Anyway. Assassin-ing time and holy shit.

I'm pretty sure I gasped at this.

And the rest of the scene, of course!

Obligatory mention that it's been proven time and again that torture is not an effective means of interrogation. People can and do lie while being tortured for information, so the things they say may or may not be accurate. Torture may make them speak, but whether they speak the truth or not is another issue, unrelated to torture itself. So while there can be various goals of torturing someone (illegitimate, of course, like punishment, making an example out of a "traitor", or in very few real-life cases, gratification), obtaining information has proven to not be a feasible one. I understand the point of the scene was to show McMahon's abilities and to establish that there are multiple people on board after Olka, I just needed to say that.

I've been certain they'd go the "dumping bodies into the ocean" route. A cruise is a great setting for that!

The knock on the door was intense! Especially since it's put right after the scene of McMahon and Furseal walking back to the room, but just those few seconds of slowed down tension make you think "Oh no. It's not them. It's them".

I expected the "Oh, it's just room service!" and of course, I expected the "I didn't order any" reply.

Great animation of the attack and Yor protecting Olka and Gram though I'm begging the animators to look a bit into trigger discipline, at this point whenever I see a gun my eyes go immediately on the trigger and I go D: whenever there's a finger on it that shouldn't be

But oh, McMahon is good, and resourceful!

The assassin points his gun at them, Furseal freaks out while McMahon marches on.

We also finally see one (1) eye under the reflection of his glasses. I get that the reflection makes it easier in animation and such, but still I appreciate this detail, especially in such a moment.

And more action! Yor being a badass and at the same time caring for the baby!

"I can excuse murder in self-defense but I draw the line at scaring a baby"

THE GUY WAS STILL WIGGLING. WHILE HE HAD A DAGGER THROUGH HIS SKULL.

(probably last uncontrollable movements from his dying nervous system but still. it was fucking chilling and I love it)

Also, I can understand Yor being strong enough to break the door. But I think it takes a different kind of strength to throw an object, even a sharp one, and make the object break through the door, a human skull, and then latch onto a wall. Absolute unit.

Seeing the body was freaky, too! If I'm correct, I think this is the very first time we see a person being murdered on screen in the story.

Ah no wait we do see a guy in the second episode getting a dagger to the back and falling down. But it was much more palatable than seeing a dagger go through someone's skull and practically nailing him to the wall.

I'm gonna think about this for a long time, lmao. It was brutal!

I just noticed this on my rewatch! McMahon is wearing a ring in the shape and place of a wedding ring! He then goes on to tell the ship's services that the "mister and missus had a fight" though in the manga he says "me and my wife" so is his cover that he's on board with his wife?

And here's the same thing that shows Yor's side. She sees assassins as people doing their job and "cleaning out trash" especially in her case, not people who do this job just because they have no issue killing.

I mean, I don't want turtleneck guy to defeat Yor, but he's got my respect for now.

He also says there are other members from the gangster family on board? Just how many people did manage to get on this ship XD

The eavesdropping guy tells turtleneck guy that he sells his information equally and practically tells him good luck getting ahead, so now I'm thinking, there's another eavesdropping guy, or is he selling all his intel to other assassins that weren't there in that scene?

Also, good luck getting them to work together without getting greedy and/or paranoid, lol

Furseal was actually blushing while wearing the mask XD and the plague doctor mask on the baby!

The poison guy thinks he's some dude. He has no idea who he's dealing with.

This arc will be perfect for creepy shots of Yor, won't it XD

Furseal asks for his button back and dude! Priorities much? This button saved all your lives XD

Blonde mask guy tries to go for Olka right in the middle of the crowd like wtf and the moment Yor grabbed his hands I went like "BREAK THEM. BREAK HIS FINGERS." And then she did <3 We stan <3

That's it. That's their dynamic in one shot.

While Anya is having an overdramatic tantrum, we see how even when Twilight is trying to not be on the lookout - he even says he just has to stay away from suspicious people - his skills are so fine that they kinda work subconsciously. He spots the listening devices (I mean, there are a ton of them) and notices all the suspicious people even if he doesn't make a conscious list of all of them.

Then Twilight has a fucking breakdown over one (1) silly keychain. I mean it is a skeleton keychain so his mind immediately went "IT'S EITHER THAT OR MY OWN DEATH" is anyone even surprised

Anya is still learning how easily Twilight overreacts. And like the scene with the sandbox in the hospital, she realizes she caused him a little too much anxiety and tries to take some burden off.

This entire tension is going on and Twilight is still stuck on whether he should buy a stupid keychain. This man is incapable of relaxing, you tell him to relax and he goes like "Okay spy mode on standby, parent with anxiety mode is on".

I love how this reads a bit like "Papa considers hating frogs as much of a dealbreaker as being an assassin!"

It's so weird - though fitting - to think that Anya believes she can keep this up indefinitely. She has no idea how easily they could discover each other's identities and believes she can stop that from eventually happening. It makes sense for her age, though.

It's also a bit sad, how quick she is to think that she would be abandoned if they found out about each other. It's probably what makes her go "I have to keep this up as long as possible". Her young mind can't comprehend an alternative.

And oop! Taking part of the next chapter too, I see!

I might have lost it during these shots.

"You go around having battles" is definitely something Anya would come up with. It's why she's so hard to write and why Endo should receive an applause for how accurate to her age and experience he writes her.

Next, Twilight's biggest foe; the unreadable expression of a five six year old who is trying to take responsibility for her actions.

I love how when Twilight is facing actual danger and difficult missions he's all cool and collected. Meeting Desmond? Piece of cake. Taking down entire groups of people aiming guns at him? No problem. Anya acting unpredictable? THE WORLD IS ENDING.

However funny the scene is, it slowly drifts into a sadder territory. Twilight actually worries over Anya's mental state, and though he has no idea Anya is having the time of her life, there must be a part of his understanding of her trauma that is true. Now why he undermines completely his own trauma... It's projecting, isn't it?

Anyway, he concludes that the Handler knew from the beginning that Anya needs some vacation in order to recover from her trauma, and for some reason, instead of going like "Yo give her a break" she conjured up this entire idea for a vacation... But in reality, the Handler was only saying that in order to justify his time off in paper.

Like, the man can be so off sometimes that I want to shake him and then hug him because god I cannot imagine going your entire life like this and not even comprehending the idea of actual time off.

Anya: Have fun! Twilight: Cannot compute!

Like yeah it's funny but how am I supposed to not feel just a little bit sad with how he's completely unfamiliar with the concept of relaxing and having fun 😭😭

This is going to be a disaster XD

Anya prepares to run for it, realizes he can change and wear everything within seconds, and freezes... But then Overanalyzing TwilightTM takes control and he starts spending long minutes in front of the mirror freaking out about how his weird ensemble will manage to fix Anya's mood.

This truly is his most difficult mission. Anya is the perfect age to teach him about how sometimes he cannot control how people will react to his manipulations... and then there's the mind-reading, too.

Anyway. I love how Anya goes like "That's not how I expected to win some time but it works" and just steps back into the corridor XD

OH MY GOD

I love me a good fight choreography! Here Yor pushed Olka down from the shoulders, and at the same time pushed Furseal's knees to the front so they'd bend and he'd go down just enough to miss the sickle. Awesome!

The guy just starts a fight right in the middle of the crowd. And Yor has no choice but to stop him, Anya has to hide and also keep Loid from coming out of the store...

That IS a very interesting cliffhanger! I nearly screamed when it ended there, lol. It even ends in the middle of the page! I had to cover it with my hand to avoid spoilers XD The things I go through in this crazy experience XD

Overall, awesome episode! Though I felt that the Twilight panicking scene dragged on a bit. I don't know why. Maybe it's just that I'm an angst ho and I wanted a bit more angsty vibes from that scene. It's not bad, but maybe I still haven't realized just how much on comedy the show belongs in. It has a peculiar but for some reason very efficient balance on everything.

[valentiinexo]

ive been doubting elriel lately, like what if im wrong and they aren't endgame? 😭

hey there! 💖

first of all, and most importantly, it’s totally okay if you have doubts, absolutely no judgement here love!

there are a lot of factors about elriel that make me confident in their endgame status, but namely the following:

we know that each book will follow only one couple. there are multiple instances between acosf and the feysand bonus chapter that absolutely scream to me that elain will be the next leading lady. like seriously, elain saying “find me when you wish to begin” and feyre saying “let’s focus on one sister at a time” could not be more in your face obvious about the direction the series is going. additionally, we learned a lot about elains goings on! very importantly, we learn that she’s friends with nuala and cerridwen and appears to have been learning stealth/spy things from them. why is this so important? there is literally no reason to have elain be friends with (and to hint at training with) the twins, if not to connect her to azriel. it would have been just as easy for sarah to write that elain made friends with other fae down at the local gardening center or make up whole new unrelated characters, but she didn’t! she’s specifically made her closest to azriels spies, so to then not have her paired with azriel doesn’t really make sense textually. it’s no different than feyre befriending mor and amren during acomaf. there are other things that i could say, but i’ll end this bit by saying, per her own words, acosf showcased that elain is ready and willing to be a working member of the night court in their efforts against koeschi.

so, we know elain is ready to be our next fmc, which only leads us to figuring out the second pov. in all honestly, there’s not much to say here. azriel has now gotten his own bonus chapter as well as a majorly prominent role in hofas, which had important setup for the next acotar novel. prior to acosf, cassian also had his own bonus chapter, as well as chapters in acofas. we’re following the exact same pattern. additionally, azriel is now way too tied into the entire asteri/daglan/cauldron corruption/etc plot to not have a pov in the next novel. there is literally nobody else that could do it.

i won’t get into the reasons that i’m confident lucien won’t be the second pov, all i’ll say on it is that he has no setup for it in acosf (or even hofas), when that setup could’ve easily been written in if that was the direction sarah was going, and i’m not only talking romantically.

thank you for sticking it through to the end of my ramble! there are many many many other elriel blogs that do a much better job at articulating these things than i do, but i still hope it made you feel a little better anyway 💖 (p.s. if anyone else would like to add any additional information that you find important/ think i missed, please feel free to hijack this post!)

[ganseyenthusiast]

anyways since the theme of post-TRK seems to be that every single character ignores any development they had and gets worse, I'm listing everything out here + with a rating of how likely I, the authority of everything ever, think it was. greywaren spoilers obviously

1. Declan: Decides Dad was good all along, disregards real actual emotional abuse and parentification as "misremembering" how great Niall was. 6/10. CDTHEU Declan is a very different character to TRK Declan, I still think he's been too self aware throughout to suddenly walk it back THIS severely. I predict a severe breakdown for him age 30 since I've never witnessed someone do Denial as their last stage of grief.. it’s gonna be explosive

2. Ronan: Disregards his family for the majority of his arc, is worse to them than in TRC. does not call gansey for months. finds a new FP instead of a therapist. emotionally worse off. does find himself via terrorism I guess? 9/10. pretty on brand for Ronan to go scorched earth and suffer zero consequences. I do wish he was made aware of his birth circumstances and displayed the same love/grief for aurora/niall that he's shown in every book except greywaren. are you telling me he can look at the New Fenian and be OKAY?????

3. Adam: ‘Reinvents’ himself, suffers, lies, suffers again. Does not call gansey. Suffers in the VoidSpace, apparently with no lasting consequences. becomes a narc. 7/10. I was hoping for a more self aware adam post TRK but him choosing to pull a Henry Cheng is also pretty on brand. wish he'd actually broken up with Ronan for at least a week. him becoming a narc is unfortunately pretty accurate to character but government jobs are not famously well paying so it really does feel random? the only thing he’s done that’s close to sleuthing is inventing pedo murder charges for his teacher/keeping with the bryde stuff. plus he's still not utilizing his magic skill so this just feels like a continuation of the Harvard arc for the rest of his life which is REALLY baffling when u compare how many times TRK insists he's a magician and will remain a magician/psychic despite everything. seems he's growing MORE disconnected with himself. i’m all for negative development but it’s really being framed as a happy ending which is baffling ngl

4. Gansey: has a sociology degree + is only associated with blue (and nobody else) in the 4-5 years since TRK. Completely reversed his stance on henrietta being home, on "I'd take all of you anywhere with me", on his dedication to history/archeology. does not seem too concerned about Ronan going insane, still odd despite the time he's had to get used to it. 5/10. horrible representation of gansey but I DO like that he's focusing on himself instead of raising pynch. as i say this i remember the ring thing and grit my teeth. complete ignorance of Henry AFTER his whole "friends forever and ewer" TRK thing gives me a good playground to make things worse so I like it but it's definitely weird. how did being a teenager specifically suck for you king because I think Being Dead trauma is unrelated to age

5. Matthew: nearly found independence + love in the abrasive way that lynches give it, then was disregarded emotionally and still not given an apology for the Everything from declan. 8/10. extremely on brand for the lynches to not hold each other accountable. Matthew seems to have improved somewhat + Declan is less overbearing about him, so I like it, I'll take it

6. Henry: went into Seondeok's black market low level mob business, got divorced?, does not speak to bluesey. 10/10. it’s so bad. absolutely off brand for the entire theme of him rejecting the Orders his mother who Literally Forced him to come to henrietta gave him (did not begin this game looking for a friend etc). refutes the entire "find your own something more" theme, refutes the "three of us" theme, refutes the "im going to make something great" motives. and I love it. TRULY my worst ending for Henry is becoming yet another fairy market nepotism casualty. he will Literally never escape and it’s FANTASTIC it is so much fun. Ha Ha You Have Become Your Mother

7. Fenian/Mor: live at the fucking barns now. 1/10. you are telling me a series whose entire THING is based on growing up/overcoming grief/moving on ends with THE FUCKING LYNCH FAMILY BACK AT THE BARNS?????????? WHAT THE HELL???? WHY IS EVERYONE OKAY WITH ANY OF THIS??????????????????????????????????????????????????

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Beyond the Bounds of Infinity: An Anthology of Diverse Horror

Release date: 10 July 2024

Genre: adult cosmic horror anthology

Synopsis

Welcome to a world of horror viewed through a kaleidoscope lens. Embark on a journey to untangle the writhing tendrils of human terror in a dimension where the possible and impossible blend; an unstable realm where comfort can be found in the coldest pits, and dark gods feast upon the sweetest suffering, where infernal sounds birth silent letters that drift along midnight shores and the unexplained lurks beneath crumbling urban structures. Step over the edge of what you think you know, and find yourself…Beyond the Bounds of Infinity!

Featuring stories by L. Marie Wood, S.A. Cosby, Jessica McHugh, and Mary SanGiovanni. alongside newer voices like Cassius Kilroy, Jessica L. Sparrow, and Vicky Velvet—Beyond the Bounds of Infinity offers a collection of weird fiction and cosmic horror stories that are diverse down to the cellular level. From Taíno folk horror to the horror of identity in a world that just doesn’t understand, from cozy to apocalyptic, and everything in between, let these authors show you what fear really is, and what it means to them.

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

This book begins with a foreword by the editor about how he was inspired to create this anthology; to put together a collection of diverse cosmic horror stories by diverse authors to push back against the genre's racist and xenophobic origins.

This anthology does exactly that. There are a good variety of authors of different races, orientations, genders etc. and the stories are also incredibly varied in terms of character diversity, plots, and Horrors™️. This anthology recasts marginalised people as the protagonists of their stories, with some stories even subverting cosmic horror's xenophobic origins to portray the oppressors as what they are.

My enjoyment varies from story to story, as do the writing styles, but for the most part I found most of the stories to be at least interesting and engaging. Some of the stories take on more experimental approaches to storytelling, though some attempts are more successful than others.

I'm going to go ahead and shout out some of my favourite stories from this collection, in no particular order.

My personal favourite was The Silent Letter by Chris Nelson. The author does an excellent job of setting up the premise and nails the writing. I was totally unnerved reading it and had to take short breaks between sections.

Effigies of Monstrous Things by Pedro Iniguez begins quite straightforwardly, but the set up pays off big time. The twist is excellent, and the gore was gruesome. I am not good at visualising in my head, but the descriptions were so vivid it gave me the ick. In a good way!

Another story I quite enjoyed was Fractures of Her Reflection by Amanda Headlee. Although I found it to be among the less terrifying stories of this collection, the premise is really interesting, and I found the protagonist to be rather compelling. I wish there was more of this story, I would love a whole book of this, but I suppose the beauty of short fiction is that it makes you crave more. Unrelated, but while I was reading the hospital scene the song Chihiro by Billie Eilish came on, and it was like watching the epic climax of a movie with an amazing soundtrack, which elevated my experience of this story for sure.

The Things We Did in the Dark by Julia Darcey was rather straightforward, but surprisingly tender and sad.

In the House, There Were Teeth and There Were Eyes by Ichabod Kassius Kilroy is super weird, possibly the weirdest story here. I have no idea what's going on, but I liked this. I think. (Also the author has the coolest name ever.)

I have included the list of stories, as well as content warnings, although it's possible that I may have missed some, and I'm straight up not sure how to warn for some things without giving spoilers, so do be warned.

The Birth of Sound - Timaeus Bloom

CW: none?

Fractures of Her Reflection - Amanda Headlee

CW: gaslighting from a medical professional, medical content, hospital, injury, past death, car accident mention, past abuse

Live Free or Die - Danny Brzozowski

CW: transphobia, hate crime, blood, injury

The Silent Letter by Chris Nelson

CW: death, coma, gore, body horror

Effigies of Monstrous Things by Pedro Iniguez

CW: body horror, gore <- every other story has this, but take this one seriously

Six Underground by Vicky Velvet

CW: death, violence, confined spaces

You Have Joined the Livestream by Jessica McHugh

CW: sexism, misogyny, implied murder

Cracks by Mary SanGiovanni

CW: death, injury

The Things We Did in the Dark by Julia Darcey

CW: blood, death, darkness, confinement, confined spaces

In the House, There Were Teeth and There Were Eyes by Ichabod Kassius Kilroy

CW: blood, death mention, body horror, blood, bodily fluids

A Dampened Embrace by Christopher Hann

CW: death, body horror

24 Points by S. A. Cosby

CW: death, gore, body horror, injury, self-mutilation

On the Shores of Midnight by Marnie Desdemona

CW: death, starvation, vomiting, drowning

Like Ants We March by Jorja Osha

CW: death, off page police brutality, gun violence mention

Burning Slumber by Jessica L. Sparrow

CW: self mutilation, eye gore, colonisation, mentions of sexual assault, murder

Passage by Cyrus Amelia Fisher

CW: death, starvation, non-graphic cannibalism, self harm for ritual purposes, blood

The Comfort of a Cold Pit by Michelle Tang

CW: past physical parental abuse, non-explicit eye gore

Gyges by Vaughn A. Jackson

CW: blood, fire, severe burns

Beggars Can't be Choosers by L. Marie Wood

CW: a little blood, held hostage