#and i wonder if that’s how vessel feels sometimes under there. i know he also feels consumed by it (based on interludes) or even fearful

[excelsior9173]

i adore that in every interview of bands that have toured with sleep token they take the time to mention how kind and reserved the eepy boys are

because 1) feels good to know that like, i am riding hard for good people and 2) it’s just so funny to think of the dichotomy of them onstage vs offstage

like. you’ve got vessel being described as “quiet, gentle, so kind” and then he’s on stage being an absolute delight of a menace during the summoning solo, fighting people, messing with iii, grinding on iv ??

just. totally different person when he puts on that mask and i love it. i adore when people let loose like that and just feel and have fun

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: By Chance

In which Jungkook, simply by chance, meets the soulmate he didn't even believe existed.

Tags/Warnings: Soulmate AU, Idol!Jungkook, angst, fluff

Length: short

Additional Content: Short 1

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'Jeon Jungkook, the Idol without a Soulmate...'

'Fans suspect to have found Jungkooks soulmate, company responds...'

'The truth about BTS' Jungkooks soulmate-curse...'

Every article seems to be the same these days.

It's true that a lot of people call his soulmate bond a curse, and he himself sometimes believes it is as well. Because he's not only unable to see color until he looks into his soulmate's eyes, he also has a mark on his wrist, suspected by specialists to be a bond. A red line reaching out for his future partner and lover. It's essentially like a thin blood vessel that sits so high under the skin it appears bright red, and it develops in teens at around 15 years old.

The only issue?

His line looks more like scribbles. It's scrambled, chaotic, broken, doesn't reach anywhere. Research and multiple doctor's visits had only given him the most dire answer there could be.

A broken bond.

His soulmate had passed away before he'd ever gotten to meet them.

For a long time, It hurt. Knowing the only one who could love you fully wasn't alive.

He tried to maybe move on, but falling in love with a person that's not your soulmate is nowadays almost impossible. It's just not the same, and it's always stressful and bound to end in bad blood. It's been seen numerous times before, from celebrities and 'normal' people as well.

Jungkook has simply accepted it.

There's no use in crying over what he can't change, so he rather throws himself into his work and deals with it by distraction rather than daydreaming. He'd done that enough as a kid.

Fans always dream of being his soulmate, and he can understand that. He himself yearns for a partner just as much, so if his existence can give them a bit of a soothing feel, then he's happy to provide it. They won't ever have to deal with watching him find someone that's not them, after all. So he just calls himself everyone's soulmate.

It's him until they find their own.

It's dark tonight, windy, snow still on the streets, making everything a bit slippery, dangerous. He wonders how many people must've fallen at this point. He hopes no one had been seriously injured yet.

Just as he thinks that, something is heard in front of him, and he can only helplessly watch as a short girl slips and crashes onto the concrete, bag of groceries spilling out. "Oh God, are you alright?" He asks eagerly, forgetting for a moment that he shouldn't be seen out as an Idol, rather occupied with trying to attend to you, who's still shaking on the ground, holding your knee. Your black and slightly sheer tights had clearly ripped, stripes of broken fabric already decorating up to your thigh and down your shin. "Hey, let's get all that back into the bag yeah? Did you hurt yourself?" He wonders, because you're clearly crying.

Or are you? Because that sounds suspiciously like laughter.

"Oh my God!" You clearly laugh out now, head thrown back, cat-shaped earrings dangling freely as you cringe with closed eyes for a second. "What a waste of eggs." You giggle, looking at the few broken eggs already spilled out.

"A few are still okay. Is your knee alright? Anything broken?" He asks, a but relieved that you're not in too much pain it seems.

"Yeah yeah, just scratched. AND I can throw those out." You huff, pulling on the broken fabric now before letting it snap back against your skin. Your hands are bloody, just a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother you. "Thanks. God how embarrassing, I hope it's caught on CCTV at least so someone's got a good laugh out of that." You grin, slowly getting up to brush your clothes off of any dust and dirt.

He smiles to himself, putting all your things back into the paper bag- but it's ripped. There's no way you can carry all that on your own. "Uhm.." he says, showing the broken brown paper to you, and you whine bitterly.

"Oh come on!" You complain, crouching down next to him. "Maybe.. ugh I don't know. God I was looking forward to eating that shitty lasagna." You mumble bitterly, probably contemplating what to leave behind.

"I could help you carry some stuff?" He asks, and you look at him for a second.

"Really?" You grin, and he looks oddly frozen now. "You- huh?" Now you notice it too. Then your gaze falls down to the ground. To the orange light from the streetlamp. The green of the bell pepper, and the red packaging of the lasagna.

That's color.

"Holy shit." You gasp out, before you hear Jungkooks quiet voice.

"Thats.. not possible." He almost whispers. "My soulmate is dead." He murmurs more or less to himself.

"I-what? No, I'm clearly alive! Okay a bit scratched up but hey, damaged goods are still okay?" You joke, but he seems genuinely confused. He shows you his wrist, his oddly shaped bonding line, and you compare it to yours.

It's tiny. Barely there. Just a single, short line.

"Oh, I think I get it now." You say.

"Huh?" He wonders, looking at you. His heart is beating out of his chest.

"I had an accident when I was younger, around 11 or 12. They had to resuscitate me four times. I was basically dead for like, I don't know, really." You explain. "Maybe that fucked up your bond? I'm really clumsy, sorry." You laugh, and suddenly, he laughs too. Because One look at you, and he knows.

Not just because of the colors-

But because he would've fallen in love with your smile anyway.

♥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

[vamprlestat]

i bring you more vampire token!

@simpleapparition thank you for the idea to have IV asking one of the Vessels to feed on him. III was the chosen one skdsdjkfdg

it's also posted on ao3

can't believe i wrote this just in time for fangs on your neck friday :))) hope this is good!!!!!!!!!!!

It hurt. Of course it hurt when the vampire sank his teeth into his neck. But IV couldn’t help but hug him even closer, desperately rocking his hard on against the thigh that pressed so deliciously between his legs. He wasn’t sure which of them it was, but soon he felt another sharp bite on his wrist, contrasting with the feel of hands running all over his body.

“More.”, he moaned faintly. His delirious request was answered with a third bite on his thigh. IV felt as if he was about to explode, blood rushing fast as lightning in his veins and into the mouths clutched tightly to his flesh. He rocked his hips faster chasing that wonderful feeling of rapture that felt just out of reach. If only one of them would touch him…

IV snapped his eyes open as his alarm went off. The room was dark, just after sunset, and he was straining against his underwear. IV groaned frustrated and wrapped a hand around his leaking member knowing that it couldn’t compare to the dream and at the same time not quite knowing how to make that dream come true. He came fast in his fisted hand and soon got up to start his day.

Three months ago, IV had finally found Vessel, after months of Sleep filling his dreams with promises, amazing music and companionship the likes of which he thought he would never encounter. Needless to say, he fell hard and fast for the singer and his companions. But truth be told, IV was sure he already loved them before, in his dreams. He smiled softly as he descended the stairs.

“Come on, II… You know how I get. Don’t wanna freak him out.” III’s mumbled words carried very quietly up the steps and, upon hearing them, IV halted his step just before entering the living room. But, being the only human in a house of vampires, of course he didn’t listen to another word. They knew he was coming.

“IV, ready for rehearsal?” In a blink of an eye, II had a hand on his waist and was guiding him to the studio downstairs. Months now IV had been living with them and still an excited chill ran down his spine whenever they showed their vampire abilities. Sure, most of the time he could pretend they were normal human beings. They played music together almost everyday, III was always up for a videogame match, Vessel loved to cuddle in front of the TV and II, weirdly enough, was obsessed with cooking competition shows, of all things.

They also slept all day, sometimes moved faster than his eyes could see and their lips often felt like ice when they kissed him. And, annoyingly, they interpreted a lot of his reactions to the supernatural as fear. They couldn’t be further from the truth.

IV looked behind his shoulder as III tiredly rose from the couch. They thought he didn’t notice, but he did. The purple bags under his eyes, the sunken cheeks, the dull eyes. IV knew he was hungry , he just didn’t know why .

And that worried him. But he waited and watched. Until he couldn’t anymore.

It was late at night, really only the beginning of the day in this new life of his, and IV finally found III alone in his room, distractedly cleaning his bass. He climbed on the bed, kneeling behind him and resting his chin on his shoulder. III looked at him briefly and deposited a soft kiss on IV’s cheek as a greeting. IV was used to the pallor of death coloring their faces, but III actually looked sick.

IV’s face scrunched up in a frown. “III… Are you okay?”

“What do you mean? Course I’m fine.” III soon got back to polishing the glossy surface of his black bass.

“You don’t look good. What’s going on?”

“IV…”

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I am eating.”

“Not as often, clearly.”

IV was met with silence as III got up from the bed, crossed his arms around his body and started pacing nervously across the room. IV tried to be patient, he really did. But all that pacing was making him even more nervous. Drowning in helplessness, he decided to shoot his shot.

“If you need… You can feed on me.”

III stopped pacing immediately and looked at IV, eyes as round as saucers.

“What?!”

“You’re hungry. Feed on me.” IV felt more confident now that III was actually paying attention to him.

III ran his hands through his red hair and fell on his knees in front of IV. “You really mean that?”

“Obviously. But… I still would like to know why you’re not eating properly.”

III suddenly looked embarrassed. “Listen, the thing is… I get a bit too much into it when I’m feeding.”

“And that’s a problem?” IV chuckled, amused, as hecaressed III’s cold face with his hand.

“I suppose not. It just gets a bit… messy.”

“Messy?”

“You know… Blood everywhere.”

“To be honest, I thought that came with the territory of being a vampire.”

“Well, II said he would cover the couch with plastic film if I ever bring a victim to the living room.”

“That much blood?!”

“That doesn’t freak you out?” III looked at him intently through his lashes.

“I think it’s kind of hot.”

III laughed delightedly. “You sound just like Vessel. But, be honest, it doesn’t bother you?”

IV felt all the mirth leave his face and for a moment he seemed to be trying to find something in III’s eyes. “Why would it bother me? III… You know I’m not scared of you, right? Of any of this.”

“The other IVs left us, you know? They were afraid of us. That’s why I’m not eating as much, I didn’t want to risk you seeing it. I don’t want you to leave, IV. Your heart beats faster whenever we do anything vampirey near you or you shiver… If that’s not fear…?”

IV flicked him lightly on the forehead. He looked offended .

“Dumbass! I’m excited! I like all the vampirey stuff! Honestly! Afraid?? What do you take me for?” III’s smile was dopey as he listened to IV’s tirade about how tired he was that the others kept stepping on eggshells around him. “And I want some teeth on my neck, goddammit!”, he finished.

“Some teeth on his neck, he said.” III needed no more convincing and started climbing on IV’s lap until the shorter man was lying flat underneath him. III nuzzled his neck and inhaled IV’s scent deeply.

“I’ll go slow and I won’t waste a drop, I promise.”

IV rolled his eyes and grabbed III’s face between his hands to make sure he couldn’t avert his eyes. “III. Don’t you dare fucking worry about that. Now, come on.” He let go of III and threw his head back, showing the flushed expanse of his neck to the hungry vampire. “Take a bite.”

IV was no stranger to III’s lips on his skin, or his hands on his body, but he still shivered all over when III playfully nibbled on his neck.

“This is going to hurt. Are you sure…?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure!”

There was a sharp intake of breath in the room when III sank his teeth in IV’s neck. It took IV a few seconds to realize he was holding his breath. Then a long moan left his lips as III started sucking on the wound, blood flooding his mouth, a small track spilling into the collar of IV’s shirt. True to his word, III was careful, taking small sips, trying to make the long awaited moment last as long as possible.

IV’s heart raced to combat the blood he was losing and his head started spinning, so he closed his eyes. His hands were everywhere, not settling for III’s hair, his back or his ass as he tried to bring the vampire impossibly closer to his body. He was surprised that any blood at all would even rush between his legs, but soon he had a painful erection in need of attention and couldn’t keep still anymore. IV rocked his body and moaned with abandon as III feasted on him like he was the most decadent of desserts.

“So fucking sweet…” III let go of the bite, laying kisses next to it and moving down IV’s neck, smearing blood all over his skin. IV wrapped a leg around III’s waist urging him to move along with his body. III raised his head and gave him a bloody grin as he complied, closing his eyes and moaning in pleasure as IV’s taste lingered on his tongue.

“Ves is going to be so jealous”, he whispered as he squeezed the ample flesh of IV’s thighs and lowered his head to the wound on his neck that was leaking a constant, but weak streak of blood. He licked at the bite and closed his lips around it for a few more sips, relishing in the sounds coming out of IV’s mouth.

“III, touch me, please, please.”, IV started rambling. III nuzzled his face up IV’s neck until their lips found each other in a deep kiss. A strong coppery taste coated his taste buds, not exactly pleasant but IV’s eyes rolled in their orbits all the same knowing it was his own blood in III’s kiss.

IV moaned loudly when one of III’s hands grabbed his blonde hair pulling his head back and turning it slightly to expose the side of his neck that had been bitten. IV met dark lustful eyes that seemed to glow at him as they watched his blood smeared face, drinking in his reaction when III’s other hand sneaked inside his waistband to wrap around his dick.

IV’s limbs seemed heavy as he tried to meet the movement of III’s hand, his blood deprived brain unable to focus on anything more than the pleasure and the feeling of III sucking more blood from his neck. A particularly strong pull of his hair and the pressure of lips on his neck were enough to tip him over the edge and he came messily in his pants and all over III’s hand.

IV’s clouded eyes looked blindingly at the ceiling in post orgasmic bliss and, distantly, he could feel as III gave small licks to the bite on his neck, enjoying a last taste of the blood. He blinked a few times and looked at the vampire laying down beside him, the lower half of his face stained red.

With difficulty, he raised a hand to III’s face. “I think you wasted a few drops”

“Ha ha, very funny, sleepy head.” III gave IV a soft kiss on his forehead. “Close your eyes and go to sleep. I’ll take care of you.”

And IV let his consciousness fall into oblivion, surrounded by III’s now distinctly warm body.

[typellblog]

just watched elfen lied (2004). this is not a good show. i did not watch this expecting it to be a good show. sometimes, however, it's interesting to see how bad a show can get

it is a fusion of a gratuitously edgy scifi show and a harem show. this contradiction is embodied in the character of lucy, who has split personalities, one of which is a psychotic killer. stop me if you've heard this before

she swaps between personas based on head trauma, being confronted with her crimes, sleeping drugs, and whenever it is convenient for the plot. her other personality is a moe anime girl who does not understand language or how to interact with objects in the world on a basic level.

it's honestly kind of creepy how the show views nyuu as a legitimate target for romantic affection from the protagonist, especially when compared to lucy, who is both intelligent and actually possesses a complex internal life.

we do not get to see this very much, as she is largely a vessel for gory and pointless scifi battles rather than any character drama. so if you were wondering how the harem elements works with the scifi stuff, the answer is really that they do not

the normal human protagonists only avoid death by extreme contrivance whenever they interact with the deadlier elements of the setting, and remain unaware of much of what's going on until the end, thanks to extremely convenient personality switches on lucy's part

of course, if you were wondering how the harem elements work on their own, the answer would also be that they do not

kouta, the protagonist, is such a wet blanket that its impossible to interpret his feelings towards any of the girls until he is shown kissing them on screen. yuka, his cousin, has the emotional maturity of a deeply traumatised child, which is not a flippant comparison given that multiple such characters are depicted in the show. if she had psychic powers like the Diclonius she would probably end up being a mass murderer

which raises the interesting question of what the show's actual view on the creatures is. do they kill people out of irresistible instinct, as the evil scientist types claim? or are they simply lashing out at the people who hurt them, and would be able to adjust to normal life if properly supported by their family, like we might assume from the case of Nana?

the show doesn't really care, sweeping the awkward problem of how to deal with characters like Mariko under the rug by exploding her, but only after the sympathetic figure of her father forgives and accepts her, dying in the explosion with her to atone for his crime of trying to kill her in the first place. writing this out makes it seem more thematically coherent than how it actually comes off.

but back to the harem stuff. i know i'm swapping around a lot. don't worry, it is accurate to the experience of watching the show.

i suppose calling it a harem feels somewhat inaccurate since only two of the girls harbour romantic feelings for kouta, the other two being younger characters given a more 'daughterly' position in the household. these girls make no particular effort to grow closer to kouta, neither does he deliberately or accidentally woo them into liking him. they are simply drawn into his orbit by the sheer force of the show needing a bunch of girls to fill up kouta's stupidly large and empty house.

mayu is the most notable example, considering she has no connection to the scifi plot whatsoever, simply happening to stumble upon the house while in the middle of being homeless.

i feel like it's important to point out that she also walks around with no pants on for a decent portion of the show. if you pay attention it's implied she isn't wearing any underwear either. the reason for this is, and i am not joking or exaggerating, that her father was molesting her and forcing her to strip and she ran out of the house right after taking her bottoms off.

mayu wears a big jumper, so she has plausible deniability to both the audience and random onlookers. however, kouta and yuka invite her into their house for an extended period of time and then let her leave again without ever commenting on the fact that she isn't wearing any fucking pants

the show is filled with baffling decisions like this that erode any trust in the consistency or good taste of the character writing, much less any expectation that the characters' actions make sense on any level

they test the psychic girls powers by strapping them to a wall and firing cannonballs at them. this doesn't even turn out to be effective in-universe.

im very sleepy. what more can i even say about this show.

i think it's cool when girls get their arms chopped off. unfortunately it pretty obviously limits itself to only limbs on account of the characters being able to replace them using prosthetics combined with their psychic powers. i would have liked to see more guts

the opening theme is good and very creative. i skipped it every time

the way the show ends is functionally a non-ending. i'll have to look at the manga soon

multiple people have told me this was their first anime. it explains a lot about them in every case.

goodnight

[cicidarkarts]

So is idrees like— the victim or do you think he’s a villian(your opinion)

Before I start, I just want to say that I am NOT in agreement with religious extremist dogma, I do NOT sympathize with people who perpetuate these things and victimize ordinary people. I am only speaking about fictional characters in a fictional setting that is based on real life events. I would never wish to defend a radical of any kind, be they religious, political, etc. I would hope that people have the intelligence and nuance to understand the difference. This is not directed at you specifically, either. This is just a general CYA; don't come for my jugular because of my opinions on fictional characters.

That said… There is a difference between being a villain and doing villainous things. Idrees is intelligent and knows how to get what he wants; however, he lacks the emotional intelligence to see the bigger picture.

"Yes, Idrees, I was your teacher once. You were a good student." -Nurullah

His bio states he would give up this entire life just for a scrap of feeling loved and wanted. Far be it from my fangirl ass to look too deeply into it and make my own headcanons, but that screams no emotional intelligence, doing this for personal gain without realizing the true extent of his actions. Note the look in his eyes, his silence as the realization of it all dawns on him during the climax of his character arc. Before this, he never truly thought about his actions. But he's thinking now.

(My dude said get that gun out of my face you idiot)

The true villain of this story is not Idrees. It's the religious extremism, radicalization, insane dogma of the powers that be. Idrees is their vessel that helps keep people down because they promised him things that he could realistically never gain. It isn't until he almost kills Parvana and Shauzia does he realize that this isn't the life he wants. He's no murderer. He's not heartless.

But it's too late for him. He's carted off to war to be another cog in this rusty machine that would sooner crush him under the weight of its own greed than give him anything he was promised. Rather than freedom, acceptance, and belonging, he gets abuse, coercion, and death.

Is Idrees a villain? No. He's an antagonist. Not all antagonists are villains. And some antagonists, like Idrees, are misguided, hurt individuals doing what they can to survive. If you watch the movie closely, Idrees doesn't engage in any violence by himself. He never gets his hands dirty and gets other people to do the dirty work for him. I believe he's afraid, and is hiding under false bravado to pretend that he isn't. I also wonder sometimes why he didn't come back to harrass Parvana and her family after this. Remorse? Fear? Guilt? Who knows, but it's interesting he never persues her and possibly never interacts with her father again after the arrest.

Is Idrees a victim? Yes. He's been victimized by the very culture surrounding this ideology. Victimized by his family who cared not for him. Victimized by his uncle who didn't care about him, either (watch the brick'd clip again, his uncle is laughing in the background). Victimized by those in power promising this young man unobtainable things because they know they can use him to maintain power.

Does Idrees victimize other people? Yes. He victimizes Parvana by trying to use her to further his own religious beliefs, asking to marry her as he sees her not as a good wife but as a way to get into heaven. He victimizes Nurullah by sending him to the high security and horrific prison of Pul-e-Charkhi where the man is seen emaciated, filthy, and unresponsive. He victimizes Parvana's entire family by ensuring that their only way to survive, their father, is no longer in the picture.

Hurt people will always hurt people without proper introspection and control. Unfortunately, "He does not care whom and how he hurts along the way."

[dareactions]

Can we get some headcanons for bull and dorian (separate) with a male lover whose in their first mlm relation ship?For sfw maybe their concerned about wether or not the relationship should work differently than mlw And for just tapping into nsfw (no need to go into it) their worried about not being able to actually do anything good, and they start considering simply telling bull and Dorian to go find someone else for such things?

if you saw this get posted by accident, you didn't. Tumblr's new shit system messed me over.

the nsfw-esque bits under the cut :) !

Iron Bull: It's kind of cute in a way, honestly. Bull can't remember someone being that anxious about dating in years, especially not when it came to him. But he also has to wonder what goes on in that brilliant mind sometimes that shit like this takes such a large space in his everyday thoughts. It all reaches a point where Bull puts a hand on the Inquisitor's back one day in passing, leaning down to speak in hushed sentences as they glance at the chargers training. ''You know you're overthinking, right? Like a fuck ton.'' He starts with a laugh, and the Inquisitor's huff is just a bit too fucking cute. ''It's not different whatsoever in the romance department, trust me. It's not like we have to follow those shitty stereotypes people like to make up- we have to just exist, not much more. So stop worrying so damn much, you'll knock yourself out at this speed.''

Dorian: It's a relatable anxiety, in a way. There's not really any proper guides or books about it and he feels the gnawing need to do something but being unaware of what exactly to do. He knows that sometimes words aren't enough. But Dorian does know his lover, he knows his partner. So he gently takes his hand one night when they're sitting in the warmth of a fire and just lets the man he loves absolutely dump every piece of worry and anxiety on him about it all. Long winded sentences that make little to no sense make it into the mix and Dorian just stays quiet for a moment, sighing and smiling - because it's all a little bit funny in a way. ''It's not that different, really. We love the same, don't we? You're overthinking, an understandable thing, but you are overthinking this. A relationship between us are no more complicated than it would be if we were a man and a woman, maybe we'd get one less stare in our direction- and a few less scornful comments or whatever else. But this is as complicated as we make it, so get out of that thick skull of yours. We'll be fine.''

Iron Bull: Now, this fear he gets a bit more. While sex to him was about as scary and new as well- his reflection maybe? he gets it. He can recognize the anxious expression anytime his hands start wandering a bit too much and Bull will be damned if he doesn't know how to soothe anxiety regarding sex at least. ''Now, if you actually want this to be an open thing, that can be discussed- but I'm not just going to go fuck someone nilly willy because you're clearly not actually fine with it.'' He'd had arrangements like that in the past, in the end the romance department was more new to him than anything else. It's not like he had actually been in a relationship-relationship in the past really. ''But I'm not sure if you've been told this, but sex is awkward. It isn't going to click instantly, that's fine- the fun part is figuring things out and being able to laugh at yourself about it. You're going to do fine, you're going to learn and adjust and even if you figure out it isn't your thing sexually- we'll figure it out. Now take a deep fucking breath because I think you're about to pop a blood vessel.'' This was followed with far too many sex ed speeches, probably.

Dorian: When the Inquisitor suggests taking other lovers, Dorian almost feels a bit offended. Really? Other lovers? Did he look like he was that clueless to the Inquisitor's anxieties? ''You don't actually want me to do that, do you?'' He asks, glancing up over the spine of his book entirely unimpressed as the Inquisitor stares for a moment, glances away and shakes his head. ''That's what I thought.'' And he puts his book away and sighs. ''I understand being nervous, it's nerve-wracking with new partners. But I'm not quite sure if it's as complicated as you're making it out to be. It'll be a bit clumsy probably, for sure, but I think that's kind of fun in a way, don't you? Learning each others bodies, what makes the other tick.'' Well that is an interesting reaction there, the Inquisitor's nervous glance at his lips. Sadly Dorian had absolutely no intention of letting this go just for a quick make out session as tempting as it is. ''We'll talk through it, if you need to. I am actually an expert on gay sex, believe it or not- don't laugh, it's true. I'm an expert, we'll figure it out, one step at a time. Now get over here and lets figure out what concerns swimming in that skull of yours that I can quell.''

[kozykricket]

i really love how imagination based deltarune is, its about the whimsy of indulging in fiction, and... i wonder how much of that part of deltarunes like... well, one of its core deconstructions (i think its safe to call fiction That) but i wonder how much of that part was affected by UNDERTALE itself, because like

well i was reading an interview about margin of the strange, and its funny because. margin started as a thing before oneshot... but oneshot took some inspiration and ideas/tones from margin. but now margin is actually becoming a game, and it can learn from what oneshot did and i think ... its p similar to undertale and deltarune from what we know. like. deltarune hometown wasnt going to have any monsters in the original concept, as toby said. im sure he decided on that after he started making monsters for undertale... and, well, theres a lot of things, again theres a really big post on frisk, chara, and the player, comparing them to kris and the player... that i wanna make (will probably be an addon to this post) but this post right now is about...

im curious how tobys EXPERIENCE with UNDERTALE has effected his views of fiction. clearly he was already involved in like, indulging in fiction, yknow. as a Gamer and also in fandoms like homestuck... creation was no stranger to him but, had he created something incredibly massive? no, he hadnt. but now that he's created undertale, i feel like... surely, even if in subtle ways, that must've added to his perspective around the creation of fiction and ... him experiencing *firsthand* how your creation can grow so much that it almost becomes not yours. i just think its interesting to think of. ive said it before but ill say it again: i love when games' settings or themes are based around fiction, escapism, or just like. has stuff manifesting from imagination / thoughts. and to add to that, i think in general Creating Things about Creation is pretty cool. like, chicory is a game that talks a lot about being an artist and... deltarune may very well kinda reflect being a creator of stories, as toby does. i think with undertale under his belt, perhaps he has more to reflect and show in that sense who knows? all i know is that i appreciate when i can look into something that someone made when it like... really gives insight into what their values and thoughts are as a person. like ive said this before but i think... yknow, people who say "oh skies forever blue is a deltarune lore hint!!" is like. thats silly

but also, its valuable to, in a broader sense, analyze the ways that a writer like toby likes to think about. his perspectives and thoughts around metanarratives, the things he likes to do... like i think "the greatest living show" shows hes a fan of the theming of puppeteering of a living person, on a surface level viewing anyways. which of course we can use to be like "yeah thats definitely something that he's diggin into more in deltarune" and skies forever blue goes into... whaddya know, meta concepts in games. thats just like, something toby clearly likes. games and playing with their save files if anything, skies forever blue would tell us more about undertale than about deltarune. i hope what im saying in this part comes across well. its just like "you can look at a writers other works to find out more about what they like to write about, what they like to deconstruct, and what interests them in general" ...but anyways.. i really want to make a big post sometime about how i fully believe Kris to be a more refined take on something that was only a sort of Experiment in undertale: frisk and chara i think theres a reason its a headache to talk about those two in undertale, because... i dont think it was really the main focus of undertales metanarrative necessarily speaking. yes, they are the vessel for the metanarrative, but the metanarrative isnt ABOUT controlling a protagonist as a Player of a game. its... close, but its a bit more of a "first try" at what kris as a character does. is what i think anyways i have some good points ive noted down in a decent sized document about the whole situation with the red soul and the humans and the player and. yeah. part 2 to this post may come. (also i just think kris is really awesome and cool)

[voxofthevoid]

JJK 214 has healed me

I’m sure the upcoming chapters will fuck me up all over again, but that’s future me’s problem. Anyway, Sundays/Mondays now seem to be "Vox screams about the new JJK chapter” hours on my blog now. This time, it’s going to be “screaming about Yuuji” hours specifically. 

Spoilers, thoughts, and a shitload of images under the cut.

Yuuji???? Yuuji!!!!!!

That was my reaction from the first to the last page on my first readthrough, and honestly, it hasn’t changed much even after I reread a few times and processed...all that.

Seriously, Yuuji, what the fuck are you made of.

Sukuna also seems to be thinking that, which is hilarious. I have a feeling his standards for “twisted” are pretty high, so him calling Kenjaku that both cracks me up and makes me wonder what kind of alterations they made to Yuuji, exactly.

That said, I think I misunderstood the extent of Yuuji’s injuries last chapter. I got the impression, from the following panels, that Sukuna had punched through Yuuji’s midsection:

But that doesn’t seem to be the case. There’s some (inconsistent?) damage to his clothes from the punch, but Yuuji didn’t, in fact, become a donut.

No blood on Sukuna’s fist here. And, of course, there’s Yuuji himself in Chapter 214:

The front of his jacket looks intact (but isn’t that the part that seemed torn up in Chapter 213, or is that supposed to just look crumpled?), but there’s a hole in the back. Animanga cloth logic, I suppose. Other than inhuman durability, I don’t think Yuuji is healing himself. His little finger doesn’t seem to have grown back. And next chapter, I guess we’ll see if the tip of the ear Sukuna sliced off continues to be missing; the last panel showed it intact, but that could just be inconsistent drawing. Or maybe it’s the other side, who knows. Manga panels confuse me sometimes.

Anyway, even without being made a donut, the guy got punched through three goddamn buildings by fucking Sukuna, and Megumi definitely wasn’t fighting back then to lessen the damage. It’s frankly unreal how quickly Yuuji not only got back up but also covered the distance to where Sukuna and Hana are. He’s also displaying an insane level of strength. I just about lost my mind at this:

Hell, Sukuna seems shocked for a split second, and that really says something. It’s been explicit from the start that Yuuji’s physical abilities are superhuman, and the Kenjaku/Kaori reveal somewhat clarified why that’s the case, but I don’t think we’ve seen this level of raw destructive power from him before. The cursed energy-less fight with Higuruma was impressive though, and I think here, we’ll get to see what Yuuji can bring to the table with cursed energy in the equation.

Speaking of which, after the last chapter, I did see a lot of speculation on whether or not Yuuji would still have cursed energy after Sukuna left him. But the concept of Yuuji losing his cursed energy because Sukuna is out of him never made sense to me. Yuuji’s cursed energy isn’t Sukuna’s; if it were, he’d have a much larger pool to tap into. The first Finger Bearer’s reaction when Yuuji switched with Sukuna seems to indicate the two of them feel very different. And JJK has shown again and again how cursed techniques and cursed energy are tied to souls as much as bodies (Kenjaku being the prime example). So, like Gojou theorized, if Sukuna had stayed inside Yuuji, over time, he likely would have been able to use Sukuna’s cursed energy and technique. But as of now, Yuuji was the vessel for a little less than six months, and he’s only had 15 fingers’ worth of Sukuna for a few weeks. I’d say it’s reasonable that ingesting Sukuna just...opened Yuuji’s third eye, so to speak. Gave him access to his own cursed energy. The movie training Gojou did wouldn’t make sense otherwise either. The whole point there was to teach Yuuji how to harness his cursed energy and increase the output steadily. I don’t know if future plot developments will show Yuuji actually using Sukuna’s cursed techniques; I’d personally prefer if he didn’t, but regardless of how that develops, Yuuji’s cursed energy is his own.

Up till now, Yuuji’s been shown to be on par with Grade 1 sorcerers even without an innate technique, and his skill at cursed energy manipulation has been improving in leaps and bounds. But honestly, it’s his sheer sturdiness that’s blowing my mind, even if that has also been consistently highlighted (in the fights against Choso, Kenjaku, Hakari, and Higuruma especially). Maybe it’s because he’s up against Sukuna now, and Sukuna’s previous fights have done a great job of showing him as capable of curb-stomping anyone other than Gojou. The same guy now seems borderline creeped out by Yuuji—well, what Kenjaku has done to Yuuji more like.

Can’t blame him though. I’d also be pretty WTF if a guy kept walking without even changing his expression through this:

That is gonna live rent free in my head. Sweet fuck.

(If/when that gets animated, I'll expire.)

Back to the point, Megumi fighting back and lowering Sukuna’s output has probably kept Yuuji from being cut into little pieces, but those are still deep, bleeding gashes all over his body, in addition to the singular Cleave Sukuna used earlier. Motherfucker doesn’t even falter. What the fuck.

I love this kid. I am 100% willing to throw down with anyone who calls him a boring protagonist (looking at you, Reddit, but Tumblr too).

On another note, “Let’s see if you can chew up me and my suffering” is one of the rawest lines I’ve heard in a while. Excuse me while I lose my entire goddamn mind.

Hana and the Angel

They don't seem to be dead? Not confirmed dead at least. “Splat” doesn’t seem very reassuring, but it’s been hinted that the Angel can heal Hana, so I’m fairly sure they’ll pop back up. What I am confused about is why Sukuna just bit off an arm instead of, say, her head. Among the sorcerers left in that colony, the Angel is the only one who seems to pose an actual threat to him. Why would he waste the chance to end that threat? One possibility is that Jacob’s Ladder did its job to an extent in “stripping Sukuna away from Megumi,” internally at least, and that it’s Megumi’s influence that lessened the damage. But Sukuna doesn’t seem to notice Megumi fighting back / influencing him until the last attack on Yuuji, so I’m not sure how plausible that is. Other option is that Sukuna thought biting off an arm and shoving them off the building would kill Hana and the Angel with her, but given how durable sorcerers in general are and how the Angel can likely heal, this seems a stupid choice. I guess we’ll find out soon, one way or the other. Could also just be a simple case of plot reasons reigning over consistent characterization.

Megumi

I don’t have much to say here. Zero surprise at Megumi fighting back. It’d have been a very unceremonious end if he’d been crushed by Sukuna’s soul just like that, and the last chapter did highlight Megumi’s potential to suppress the guy. I didn’t expect it to happen this fast, but I do like how pivotal his influence is. Megumi and Yuuji ganging up on Sukuna from the inside and outside, respectively, sounds like a fun time all around. I don’t think it would be enough to beat the guy, but cursed energy output seems a pretty critical factor for sorcerers, and if Megumi can continue to mess with that while Yuuji hits like freight train, I think they can do a good amount of damage.

Yuuji’s Origins

Thought we were done with Yuuji? Lol no.

I have questions about this panel:

That’s the TCB translation.

This is the Viz one.

(I prefer TCB overall, won't lie.)

What in the world does this mean? The phrasing points to a different time period rather than some point in the manga timeline. The comment about Kenjaku being really twisted points to it too. I don't think (more like, I really hope) Yuuji is a reincarnated sorcerer, but something seems real fishy here. And I can't even begin to guess, honestly. But I have faith that whatever Kenjaku cooked up for his favorite son is going to be interesting—and traumatizing for all parties involved, especially Yuuji.

Back to screaming into the void, but at least they're good screams this time.

[emerxshiu]

Void Termina gijinka redesign

woke up and felt like drawing on paper, i drew a zan, fucked up and then decided it was finally time to redesign my void.

i dont tend to use his gijinka very much, in fact i only drew him 3 times, the original, a slight redesign, and this one.

well i suposse i should show it already

honestly i really like it! :3

tho i used to like the other one too, now i think its abhorrent, so maybe i end up hating this one too overtime. i didnt want to clutter it with too many things so i tried to not go overboard, tho i did struggle as i did not want it to look to plain or simple, im thinking i might change some stuff, like the sleeves, wich i think are okay but they feel way too empty to me rn, but sometimes i just need to let the design grow on me. and i dunno, do something with his legs i guess, also if you are wondering why are they shaped like that, sometimes i prefer doing them like this, and other times i prefer for them to look more normal.

the mask thing had stuck with me for various months so i didnt want to discard it. the 3 lines under the eyes is something i do in all my drawings (unless i forget :p) but here i tried to make them longer, and in fact, im thinking of making them red, 3 in each eye, 6 in total, referencing zero, btw, i only did this sketch, but void's body has more markings like those and such.

the lines in the sleeves around the shoulders dont represent anything, i just added them so the sleeves werent so lacking, but the bar codes like lines at the end of them, are indeed, a reference to Zero two's boss fight's background, and the small oval shape thingyes are too, but instead a reference to the blood vessels in 02 wings. 6 on each sleeve, i thought of adding a 7th one that was more blu-ish (i know this is a sketch without colors) and diamond like, in reference to the titular crystal shards but it didnt look good so i scraped that.

the heart is something that was in the original design, but in a slightly different place, at the end i that downwards line (i dunno how to describe it) , basically, make it look like the heart spear, i saw lots of void gijinkas have heart spears somewhere and i wanted to include one too, and eventually did it like that. i tend to draw inspiration from other gijinkas a lot of the time, since i sometimes struggle with making designs, tho im trying to better at it, and remake some gijinkas so they dont resemble others' so much.

the thing next to the heart is from void termina's phase one, in his titan body, next to their shoulders, in fact, it looks very similar to the one's the three mage sisters wear in their attire's.

the pointy thing in their shoulders wasnt originally planned, but while drawing i accidantally made it pointy there and ended up liking the idea, and having it like a section so to say

i was going to have the hair have the patterns, but remembered this was more especifically void, the grey one (tho here things from all forms are mixed kinda) so his hair has the rainbow cracks, and i ended up using the weird swirly patterns in the clothes, they are really hard to draw but it feels rewarding when getting it right and ends up looking nice.

around the knees, where the clothes end, there are these feathers, purple more especifically, as i wanted to include the mane he has in phase one but i didnt know how due to how i was making the neck area, then, i thought around the shoulders but it didnt look good, before eventually setting on to add them at the end of their clothes.

before i ramble more and more about my void in general, im going to talk about the original gijinka

yikes.

three years do sure make a difference.

im not gonna complain that much about style, since i wasnt consistent and have gotten beter at drawing and honestly the eyes being so close togheter and taking up like 95% of the face is something i still accidentally do on ocassion but...

just talk about the design, in the remake, i tried making the references a bit more subtle, i think thats mainly my problem with the old gijinka, the references are way too straightforward.

its way too simple to me, yet has too much going on the sleeves, especially the left one god i dont like it, but at least i can support it, for now...the right arm is probably where the reference problem is easier to spot, having a literal drawing of a dark matter, and an eye, and oh yeah i guess dark nebula is there too but who cares about that dude.

honestly i dont know how to explain why i dislike the gijinka now (i used to kinda like it back then) that isnt basically repeating points. also it looks weird, i dunno why (aside from the eyes) but it does, tho mad props to 2022 me for drawing the patterns all over void's hair, it was so unnecessary but i appreciate her efforts.

Now, now, lets stop talking about, that, and talk about my void

i dont think it can be like, my characters interpretation, its more like an AU, but not quite, im not sure so just like, yeah im going to use au since my interpretation of how characters are in canon vs what i do with them, as in fics, drawings, things i think of them, etc differs, especially with void,

ok so, they are capable of shapeshifting, i mean, that kinda canon, but we'll just ignore whats canon or not. i mainly just choose that, aside from making him have and eye on his face from time to time, because i still do like long-haired void, so he sometimes just switches from a hairstyle that resembles kirby, to a longer one (because extremely long haired gods are soooooo)

when their angry, their hair becomes spikier, they can make their fingers longer, pointier, same with every limb they have. it can become more straight when sad, stuff like that, i also like thinking that it kinda looks like it is made of clouds, or like, perpetually under the sea, like, the hair is perpetually floating or moving around, never staying still for long, with small chunks separating and dissapearing like if they were smoke. his face can contort at will and more typical void stuff.

the original gijinka was focused more on the void termina from the story mode, the pink one, while the redesign was more on thinking about all forms he has (including the titan ones) and also after he got purged of negative emotions by kirby, so he sometimes tries to resemble him, hence the hair thing (in fact, the slight redesing i mentioned that was second, was just me making him more like kirby, shorter hair and stuff, basically the note that i had written in the og design) and sometimes i might just call him niru or nil, when refering more especifically to the post-ksa void, because i headcanon he reincarnates and basically gets adopted

sorry for rambling way too much about void, i love talking about this guy so much alongside fecto elfilis (i have way too much to say about the dude, i literally know almost all their attack names from memory)

and also for the lack of posting, tho winter break i gonna end soon and ill have to go back studying and shit, i dont want to.

but uh yeah! Jambuhbye :D

[dansconcepts]

Megamind Komahina AU (MegaLuck)

I saw this post on Youtube by @/Mcdonalds-Qiqi and I was like I should 100% write about this. And that's what I did. It's not done, like, at all, but it's prob the longest thing I've ever written (6000 words is a lot for me). I rewatched Megamind for it and that was a fun watch and YES this is 100% just Megamind but with Komahina flavouring so have a little taste with some scenes under the cut.

(Also this wasn't gonna be my first writing post but I mean I'm silly at heart sometimes yknow.)

If someone asked Komaeda how he was doing, he’d usually respond with “Fine, but I’m sure my luck will kick in at some point.” Had they asked him now, he’d say, “Ah, I’m fine” and not dwell any further on what would be considered quite an unlucky day. Alas, good luck will surely come out of this, even if his body is used as a vessel to do so. 

Falling from a high depth does not feel like flying. 

It just feels like falling from a high altitude, and an instinctive part of himself still wants to salvage this, remain alive even after losing essentially everything. He always loses everything in the end, doesn’t he? This is something he’s prepared for his entire life. Yet, of course, it still doesn’t seem to curb that jolt of displeasure that permeates through his body, the uncertainty in knowing that you want to cling and push everything away at the same time just to preserve your… emotions, fickle as they are. [But he’s the reason he’s here, after all].

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When it came down to it, he was lucky to live, even if that luck is substantiated by losing his parents and meeting the other that had everything given to him on a silver platter. 

He and Naegi weren’t in the same class, but whenever his luck struck, Makoto was there to stop it, and everyone blamed him for the bad things that happened. He couldn’t hate them for it either. He blames himself too.

Some people don't really believe in such unseeable forces. Yet how else could he explain a plane going rogue, and being the only living being to see the terrible aftermath of it? Of experiencing being kidnapped, and being able to get out of that? Who else could it be besides Lady Luck?

Yet he is grateful to her. Otherwise, how else would he be rich? Be smart of mind, besides being tainted in health? He should be grateful...

He should be.

But he looks at his arm and only speaks to the metal that is there, the little characters on the screen being his only company. Everyone else stares at the teacher pointing at the board toward something he figured out already, when he last snuck a glance at it anyway. Now, he's left with his familiar position of facing brown wallpaper. It's a very boring brown. It's worse when he has to hear his classmates talking about him. They're all so void of doing anything useful.

"Can we pwease pwease pwease do something?! This is, like, soooo boring!"

The class hushes her, along with her fellow companion on the screen. Indeed, his classmates would be more useful in another way. They're so predictable.

In a quieter tone, the pink-haired girl looks up from the console in her hands to say, "You can go play the quiet game, Junko. That'll surely entertain you, I think." And immediately looks back down. Junko squawks her protests. He wonders if Chiaki is actually playing a game, or if the sprite's just for show.

Nagito hums. The AI instantly blinks at him, crossing her arms. "The fuck? What's got you looking so happy?"

"Hope is going to be plentiful today."

"What the hell's that supposed to mea-"

BOOM!

"OH HELL YEAH!"

"JUNKO!!!"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Hajime blearily opens his eyes. Light blinds his vision, and he blinks it away. As it clears, fluffy white hair and pale skin greet him, a white T-shirt hanging loosely off their thin frame. Their long eyelashes frame the entrancing evergreen eyes, with a foggy dreaminess melting into him. Is this an angel?

"Oh, you're awake." The voice says. 

Who...? "Leave me alone."

The person steps back. "Sorry, I'm not about to do that when you look that tired. Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it."

He stares outside. There's a beautiful moon out, and again, no stars. Typical. "...It's been a rough day." He cuddles the soft fabric closer. So nice and warm-

Wait... soft fabric?

He immediately looks down to the dark green clothing in his hand.

"Oh, yeah, you started shivering so I just gave you my sweater. You're free to keep it if you want."

His face burns, and he wordlessly tosses the sweater back. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Who are you? I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else besides Touko."

The pale man's smile turns serene. "Ah, I’m new, I started a while back. I’m helping Touko clear out some essentials since the building is getting renovations. It should be happening fairly soon, so let’s get out of here, shall we?"

"Really?" He doesn't recall anything like that happening, but he wouldn't be surprised considering Naegi is...

"Alright, I’ll come with you."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"Junko. Where the hell is Komaeda?" Hajime snarls.

Now, Nagito knows he should say something to that, but… He said my name.

"Uh…" He stutters. 

"Junko! Don't hurt him!" He hears his own voice say. He looks to his arm, where Junko's sprite sends a cheeky wink. He should probably figure out when she decided to record his voice later...

Unfortunately for him, Hajime only glares at him harder. "I will not fucking hesitate, you bitch! Let him go!"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Hajime’s taking quite a while. He doesn’t resent it, he shall wait however long he needs to, but this is a little unusual for him. If anything, Hajime’s quite punctual. He can’t even talk to Junko or Chiaki, since they seem to have closed off their connection with him.

The reporter finally shows up, a little messy. His ahoge is more limp than normal. He swiftly pulls the velvet chair to sit on. "God, sorry I'm late Komaeda." He huffs.

"Oh, it's no worries, Hinata-kun. I understand why you might not have wanted to come for trash like m-"

"No! It's not that!" He's quickly met with. The white-haired man easily smiles. So easy. The frown turns into a pout. "Oh, you're teasing me again."

"Haha, sorry. It's really fun." Hajime opens his mouth to protest. Ah, can't have that. "What happened?" He shoots out.

The other's mouth shuts closed. Olive eyes stare him down warily, and he tilts his head. The look is 100% his we're not done with this topic but I'm dropping it because you really love doing this shit, yet he really just wants to know what has Hajime so disheveled. If someone hurt him-

Hajime immediately dives into what happened within the past few hours, being tossed around by Fragment and how Fragment's his best friend while he's left with dread pooling within him.

"I love him, I do, but right now he really doesn't need these powers. The last thing he needs is another reason to feel perfect for Sonia. I’ve been trying to help him deal with rejection, but this really… really fucked with him. And shit went down."

Why would Fragment attack Hinata-kun, this wasn't meant to happen-

Hajime shuts his eyes. He rubs his temples. "I'd rather not deal with all this. Let's just eat."

He resists the urge to bite his lip. The temptation to comfort is so high, but knowing he was the cause of it...

Furrowed eyes meet his gaze, and soften. He gulps. A tanned hand reaches out, and he reaches out his own-

For his glass.

"To you, Komaeda, for being the not insane part of my life right now." Hajime grins, lifting his cup in the air.

Komaeda chuckles politely. If only you knew.

"I'm always happy to be with you, Hajime."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

[He's hoping to get lucky one last time.]

“Providing hope… feels pretty good.”

[evening-rose-309]

I'M GLAD YOU AGREE WITH BILL. I LITERALLY SHIP HIM AND RYAN LIKE CRAZY

I mean, like,

Okay. So we know how Ryan is kinda some way about relationships. He's like "I like you but you're too much work but I'm not gonna tell you that because then you'll leave me and sometimes I want to leave you but I'm not gonna because then I'd be lonely and a loser so I'm not gonna tell you anything so you'll stay and I'll pretend to like you always in the best way I can even" about people and ends up an asshole most occasions. He's genuine multiple times but not enough and to not enough people in his self imposed rolodex and you can see that in the games and the book, and it's not just Diane or Cohen. He's like that with Sullivan, who I think he cares for, but because he can't understand Sullivan all of the time and wishes he would stop being Sullivan on some occasions, he ends up undermining and underestimating his judgement. And it hurts him when Sully dies, you know, or at least that's what I gather from the book; whether that's a blow to his pride that the rolodex is thinning out or because of actual genuine emotional attachment is up in the air, but the blow is a blow.

Bill is the same. Bill, maybe Greavy too before he died. Ryan likes Bill a hell of a lot more than almost everyone else. Bill's death is the same clinical detachment as all other deaths in the games with Ryan, but in the book, well. Karlosky says it best:

He didn't see Bill die, like he didn't with Sullivan, but this time it was voluntary. This is more than a blow to pride. Bill was like his safe space, in some instances. Like in the dinner scene at Kashmir at the start, when he isn't thinking about going off to Jasmine, he's wishing Bill were there at the table and is even elated when he gets called away, presuming Bill is already on top of the situation.

(also in this scene is the tidbit where Ryan laments on having already been married and "Never again," is his end to that narration, and nobody talks about that I am chewing through drywall—)

Bill is the closest thing Ryan has to a friend, which is still a long ass stretch. Ryan likes Bill, but Ryan is Ryan, and that is the entire tragedy on the matter. No matter how much he's gone and loved, gotten himself attached, genuinely feels for a person, pride comes first. Pride, not even Rapture, not even the ghosts he was running from from the outside world, he doesn't even care when he becomes the very monster that killed his aunt and uncle on that train platform and forced him and his father into hiding, if only under a different name, which is entirely too fitting. Bill, Diane, Greavy, Sullivan, Jasmine, and even Cohen, presumably, end up dying because Andrew Ryan is a man who does not buckle, does not compromise even when he should.

You would wonder if he were a different man, maybe the sort who would build a city under the ocean not to run from taxes, but from the biased and alienist regimes of the government above, who didn't value capitalism over humanity, who actually lived up to the whole "no gods, no kings" bit, if we could have had him and Bill in that office where Bill quietly admits to himself that Ryan is lovely when he's just sitting at his desk with his glasses lost in work, if he would have let go of Diane and didn't hang her on a string, if he listened to Sullivan about the plasmids and Fontaine and Culpeper.

But that is the tragedy of Rapture, and I'm a sucker for tragedies and alternate timelines where things are different and Ryan reads fairytales to Jack in his native tongue and tells him about the things he will never have to face ever so long as Ryan is alive as he falls asleep, whilst Bill watches from the door, reminiscing on how far they've come.

Or alternatively where he meets a stranded Robert House in 1933 and gets his ass handed to him by an apocalypse approved civil engineer and Rapture looks like an art deco reef instead of just New York on green filter.

Or he's a vessel for some kind of Cthulu and Bill has to handle that and Fontaine is freaking out because the feds didn't tell him this op has eldritch monsters peeking in from the windows and half of everyone is stuck here under Ryan's dead eyes being slowly fattened up to feed to some kind of monster lurking just under Persephone and who's like "alright yes you can have the plumber and all these others for yourselves pet, but remember you have to feed the slugs." and the little sisters once turned become his children. you know. usual shenanigans.

TLDR; yes, I love the lion and plumber ship because the lion is just a big awkward nervous housecat when the plumber walks in the room and the plumber is surprisingly territorial like wow Bill, chill, Cohen's like this with everyone, hold your wrenches—

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 3x05 Second Skin thoughts (I'm re-watching, so there may be future spoilers)

"If you must know I'm waiting for Major Kira." For a date, right???

"I'm kinda looking forward to it." <3 Even though you hate holosuites, because you're spending time with Jadzia, right? :P

OH IT'S THIS EPISODE.... Time to traumatise Kira again...

That fake fellow prisoner telling her he remembers her... that's terrifying, being made to doubt your own memories like that

Sisko being so soft with her <3

There's a Garak in this episode! :D

I think this episode was better the first time round with the suspense, but it is interesting knowing what's going on and seeing what manipulations are at play

"I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a late night snack." WE know that that's code for I have something important to tell you but Julian doesn't, so is Garak offering a late night snack just a normal enough thing for Julian, or is he just oblivious?

Interesting the connections here of Iliana being very artistic, while Nerys is awful at art despite her djarra

Oh man, knowing Ghemor is not pretending but really believes she's his daughter makes him so much more likeable throughout the episode.

Sisko is very good at blackmail.

(I feel cheated we didn't get Garak and Julian's conversation and skipped straight to this)

"I'll go along on your fool's errand, but I want one thing to be perfectly clear. I have no intention of sacrificing my life to save yours. If it looks like we're in danger of being captured, if there's any signs of trouble at all, you're on your own." // "Mister Garak, I believe that's the first completely honest thing you've ever said to me."

Ghemor is a Good Parent

Kira's distress, ohhhh Kira 💔

How DOES Entek know about her private memory? (Can the Obsidian Order instil memories like they say, and they just gave her this one, specific thing when she arrived on Cardassia?)

"he quarters on this vessel are rather claustrophobic." Oh, Garak, that's possibly not just an excuse...

"It was just something I overheard while hemming someone's trousers." Sometimes I think this sort of line is overused in fanfiction compared to canon, but actually, no, Garak really is like this All The Time XD

>>>>> Also, the use of trousers is pretty British English, right? It's almost like Garak's spending too much time hanging out with a Brit.... 👀

KIRA NO MY HEART

"You're my daughter, Iliana. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. Even if it means losing you again." HE'S SO SOFT

Despite the Massive Stress she's under, Kira's still able to put everything together and work out what's really going on, what a legend <3

That Odo trick was Extremely Slick

"Don't worry, he's on our side... I think." XD Yeah, valid 

Tekeny <3 "No I want you to have it" - so sweet

"I realise now you're an honourable man. And I think your daughter must have loved you very much." Oh Nerys. My heart. The Feelings this episode creates... ❤️❤️

Fantastic episode. Kira is everything <333333

[sawdusst]

The Rainmaker Heist: Coroika Pirate AU Chapter 4

HI sorry this update is like--- a week late, I've kinda been procrastinating and also stuck on how to write this update lmao. Not much I want to say this time around, so please enjoy! :D

Here is a link to the main thread + other chapters!

Word Count: 1,768

====== [ ⚓ ] ======

[sail towards the ominous clouds]

“I hope you know what you’re doing Captain,” Half Rim mumbled.

“Of course I do!” Gloves reassured him as they sailed towards the ominous collection of clouds. 

As the ship slowly approached the shadowy cloud, it began to rain pale blue ink. Confused, Gloves held out his hand.

“Oh, it must be an ink storm,” he commented, “That probably means there’s pirates nearby…” There was a long pause before Gloves widened his eyes with shock. “There’s pirates nearby!”

“Well, judging by the direction the cloud is going… I say it’s recent and it’s almost straight ahead,” Straps chimed in, “We could turn around now while there’s still time-- or, we could keep going. So far I'm not seeing anything up ahead."

Gloves was handed a telescope. However, there was not much to see other than the bare ocean. “Let’s keep sailing forward,” Gloves insisted, “But slow down in case there’s something hiding under the water. So far I’m not seeing any other ships out here.”

Gloves handed the telescope back to Half Rim. He then reached in his pocket, pulling out Army’s manual. The ship slowly sailed out of the ink storm as the pale blue ink on board began to fade. Gloves spared a glance towards the pale blue ink on the ship’s deck. 

“I wonder if it’s written anywhere who’s ink color this belongs to,” Gloves wondered out loud. He flipped through a couple pages. There was a section with different pirate crews and a small swatch of their ink colors. Half Rim wandered over and peeked over Gloves’ shoulder. "I wonder if I'm in the manual. That'd be pretty cool."

“The ink color looks like— The X Blood’s,” Half Rim said as dead crept in his voice, “Captain, maybe we should head back—“

“The X-Bloods have bright cyan ink, not pale blue,” Gloves replied, “I don’t think any of them have an Ink Storm anyways. I would think they have something a bit more destructive, y’know? They’re cool like that.”

“Uh huh—”

“Captain! I see a ship!” Clips exclaimed, “Sea vessel at Twelve O'clock! It looks like… they’re parallel to our ship. They’re heading straight towards us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that flag before… it’s— different from the ones we usually see.” 

“What? Can I see?” Gloves ran to the side of the ship. 

Clips handed him the telescope as Gloves peered through it. It was a black flag with three pale blue squids painted on it. The pale blue was the same as the ink storm from before. 

“Huh, that’s a flag I’ve never seen before,” he said, lowering the telescope. “Let me check the manual.”

As Gloves flipped through the pages, Half Rim walked over too and took the telescope from Gloves. 

“Interesting…. It might be a cargo ship of some sorts,” Half Rim suggested, looking through the telescope, “Sometimes they hang pirate flags up to make them less of a target. Pirates would rather go after people who don’t know how to fight back, rather than someone who does.”

“Aw man, I'm not in the manual” Gloves said as he flipped through the pages, “Wow, I would think I have a page or two in here— Maybe I should write--“

“Would you please focus on the task at hand!?” Half Rim exclaimed, punching Gloves in the shoulder. 

“Right, right I know,” Gloves replied with a roll of his eyes, “So far there’s nothing, it might be a cargo ship like you said. But with that flag, I’m getting a feeling that’s not the case.”

Gloves snapped the manual shut and shrugged with nonchalance. He handed the manual to Half Rim, “Besides, even if they were some big scary pirate crew, it would already be in the manual!”

“Yeah, I would think so too,” Half Rim mumbled, “How interesting.”

Gloves looked up as the Ink Storm from earlier began to clear. He looked down at his hand at the pale blue ink. 

“Why don’t we steer around them?” Gloves asked, looking over at Straps who was steering the ship. He reached in his pocket, pulling out a compass, “It’s a bit too late to turn around—"

Gloves looked at his compass. Somehow, the bright red needle seemed to be spinning wildly. 

“What the— Is anyone else’s compass acting up or is it just me?” Gloves asked, looking around. 

Half Rim took out his compass. The bright red needle was spinning around in a disorderly manner. “Nope, it’s not just you, Captain.”

The crew perked up as the sea vessel in front of them drew nearer. Gloves squinted, noticing a large satellite dish tied to the crow’s nest of the ship. Gloves tucked the compass away in his coat pocket and looked over at Straps.

“Just hang on a second! I could try talking to the other pirates to see if they’re friendly,” Gloves said. He shrugged with nonchalance, “I mean, I guess it’s worth a shot."

The large ship rocked the waves back and forth as it approached. The sun was beginning to set, the orange skies reflecting onto the violent waves. Gloves took a deep breath as the ship slowly steered parallel to them. The vessels were so close they could almost place a wooden plank down and walk across.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Half Rim asked.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Gloves reassured, adjusting his coat, “I can handle this— in a cool way. Just— Keep the weapons prepared in case I mess this up."

Gloves walked over to the side railing of the ship. The other ship was mostly covered with the dark shadows casted by the setting sun. There were some inklings aboard but their faces were mostly covered by shadows casted from the sails. But, from what Gloves could tell— there was no emotion behind their eyes. Their eyes felt lifeless and monotonous. 

“Hello!” Gloves waved at the inklings, then pointed to himself, “My name is Gloves! Captain Gloves of the Dualie Pirates! Who are you guys? I don’t think I’ve ever seen your flag before.”

The other inklings didn’t respond, only staring back at him. Gloves tilted his head with confusion, looking at Half Rim and shrugging. 

“…Did I say something wrong?” Gloves asked with a puzzled expression on his face, “Which one of you is the captain of the ship?”

Gloves was met with nothing but silence. The inklings aboard all exchanged a look, but still didn’t say anything. Gloves couldn't tell if it was confusion or they were just choosing to ignore him.

“Ah… the silence treatment,” Gloves lowered his voice, looking over at Half Rim “Alright then… um— maybe they speak another language? I don’t know much of—“

Gloves was interrupted when a door opened on the other ship. Out walked a pale blue inkling wearing a peculiar looking headset. A visor covered his eyes with two antennae sticking out on either side of it. He looked different than the other inklings aboard. He wore a golden armband along with a black vest and black pants. He walked over to the side railing where Gloves stood.

“Oh! You must be the Captain!” Gloves exclaimed, “Nice headset, it looks cool.”

“I am! and thanks! I made it myself actually,” the latter replied with a smile. He spared a glance over at Gloves’ crew, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before around here, who are you?”

“My name is Gloves! Captain, Gloves of the Dualie Pirates!” He smiled, “Who are you?”

“Oh, pirates,” the latter mumbled under his breath. However, he gave Gloves a reassuring smile, “You can call me Hivemind."

“…You’ll have to excuse my crew as well,” Hivemind continued, “They don’t like to talk much. But don’t worry, they’re nice once you get to know them better.”

“Oh, I see,” Gloves said, “…So, Hivemind— I don’t think I've ever seen you around… or have heard about you before. Are you guys pirates too or—“

“I don’t like that word, pirates are nothing but filthy thieves,” Hivemind simply replied, “I wouldn't necessarily call us that. We just consider ourselves a... sailing crew, instead."

“Ah— Right—“

“What brings you out to sea? Are you looking for treasure?”

“I’m looking for the Rainmaker,” Gloves answered, “I read about it in— a book. I heard it used to be in the possession of the Headband Pirates but it was stolen, I don’t know by who though. It would be really cool if I could find it though!”

“The Rainmaker? Oh! I’ve seen it before!”

Gloves lit up with excitement, “You have?! Where?!”

“Of course! The Wireglass Pirates and I are good friends,” Hivemind grinned, “I remember they were telling me about the Rainmaker. It was aboard their ship, last I saw it.” 

“Woah!! Cool!!” Gloves replied, “I really want to see this thing for myself, I’ve only heard rumors about it! Where can I find the Wireglasse Pirates?” 

“Oh— That’s the thing,” Hivemind sighed with disappointment, “The Wireglasse Pirates… they recently got into a conflict with the S4. I’m sure you’ve heard of them too. It was a terrible fight, it left all of them badly wounded... I haven’t heard from them for a long time now.” 

Gloves was taken aback by Hivemind’s answer. He exchanged a look with Half Rim, then looked back over at Hivemind. “What? They were— defeated? By the S4?” 

Hivemind nodded. “From what I’ve heard, they hid the Rainmaker on their ship as a last ditch effort to keep it safe.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Months ago,” Hivemind replied, “I haven’t heard a single thing from them ever since. I really am worried about my friends, I hope they’re doing okay…” Hivemind sighed and rested his cheek in his palm glumly.

Gloves looked over at Half Rim, then back over at Hivemind awkwardly. Gloves looked behind him at his crew, who had been listening to the conversation.

Hivemind then perked up as if an idea had popped into his head.

“Hey, since you’re looking for the Rainmaker and I want to find my friends,” Hivemind began, “I’ll make you a deal. You help me find the Wireglasse Pirates and I’ll help you get the Rainmaker.”

“What?” 

“You said you wanted the Rainmaker, right?” Hivemind said with a smile, “We both want to find the Wireglasse Pirates for different reasons, but why not work together? I could help you get the Rainmaker, the Wireglasse Pirates are my friends after all— it’s not like they were using it anyways. I just need you to help me find them!”

‘You— You think that would work?”

“I mean, it’s worth a shot,” Hivemind laughed, “Once you find them, just bring them to me. I’m sure they’d be more than thrilled to see me after so many months apart. Then, I help you with the Rainmaker. What do you think?”

========

TL;DR: Gloves meets Hivemind, who says he's friends with the pirates that have the Rainmaker. He offers to help Gloves get the Rainmaker if he can find them.

Thank you for reading!!! :D I'll hopefully have the next update out-- on time, sorry to keep y'all waiting :"

[brooklynislandgirl]

"Maybe not contortionist but definitely a decade or more of yoga under my belt and some double joints." Ben likely meant it as a rhetorical question but she felt the tiniest bit of pride in herself for the structure, the discipline, and yes, being able to tease him about it. She does feel his confession is sweet but doesn't point out that for some strange reason, she is quite the opposite. Plants and animals always thrive around her. "I'll keep your secret." She time-shares between his face and his hands, the corners of her lips twitching as she fights off an appreciative smile. She recognises the movements if not the final product. Some day she might tell him about the thousands of cranes she made once upon a time. She finds his commitment to books, the enthusiasm for Dumas, endearing beyond explanation. Bites back the urge to say that most serial murderers are. "My question is how you kept yourself from smothering him in his sleep. I mean that's pretty egregious a crime. Right up there with Andy-" Beth stops herself short. She hoards memories of her brother like the greediest of dragons. "Maybe I'm basic, but my favourite was always Henry V. Macbeth of course, oh and the Tempest!" She half lowers her lids and gently clears her throat. "Not a soul but felt a fever of the mad, and played some tricks of desperation. All but mariners plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel, then all afire with me. The King's son Ferdinand, with hair upstaring then like reed, not hair- was the first man that leaped; cried 'Hell is empty, and all the devils are here'...." Once quoting Ariel, she chuckles with a hint of shyness in her tone if not features. "But...I'll take your background into consideration and absolve you of blame because...your dad." The blossom smiles fully, showing him hints of teeth and crinkles at the corners of her nose. Maybe it's the story of his mother. The sweetness and kindness of a woman sharing art with her son. Maybe it's the idea that they in turn encouraged their son to bring brightness to sick children. Beth always lauds paediatrics and the work done for children, has a soft spot for people who care about kids. "Has anyone ever told you how wonderful you are?" The question holds not a single trace of sarcasm. The sound of his laughter and the way it shapes his face sinks down into the pit of her belly and warms her through the core of her being. "I don't believe you've ever had a bad hair day. And I think letting it be a little longer than average is totally a power-move. Huge part of your rizz, as the kids say." Despite every urge to lean across the space between them and help him mop up is strong, she also knows that the last thing he needs is an extra pair of hands. It doesn't stop another laugh from escaping her, more sympathetic than mocking, and has her muttering a gentle apology between the delicate wind chime sound.

It's his turn to enjoy her own mirth tinted surprise. Delicate fingers splay out to cover her lips but the subsequent snerking sound is anything but graceful. Her lips tremble and a blush leeches into her face. Half a heartbeat later she does rake him with a smouldering look from his mouth to his knees then back. "That would be such a tragedy." She can't help but twitch when he jerks. A sense of guilt rises up to cushion the not quite bruised feelings further softened by understanding. Andy used to complain about her tactile nature but never enough to break her of the habit. What she wasn't expecting though is that he then returns the touch with one of his own, or how she finds herself wanting him to do it again. A ghost of his thumb lingers. Then is given company by his other and she can't help but notice how easy it feels, how natural, to be held between them. "I don't disagree, though sometimes... It's hard to keep that in mind when it feels like you're driving in the dark without a road-map." She's only vaguely aware of the intimate portrait they create remaining so close, so intertwined ~the side of her knee now nudges the space between his, only a little more space than their hands. Within the moment, Beth finds herself wondering if it would be so bad if she simply became Ellie forever. She smiles as he answers her with a refreshing honesty not depicting himself as a silver-tongued Casanova as many would without fear of being caught out. That makes Ben much more charming and that much more human. Relatable. She harbours no ill-will toward the historical Jess for bringing Ben good memories to look back on, for helping him figure some part of himself out. There are other things though that bloom into desire; to know how or why it had ended. What did he take forward from it, what helped him survive the heartbreak even if he had been the one to instigate it all. Had she gotten on with his family? Had his brother welcomed her at the very least? But Ben isn't a novel and she isn't entitled to answers. Maybe if he brings it up some day, then she'll have more solid ground from which to ask. Her other hand lifts. Past the swan/crane, past the drying drops of coffee on the table. Her wrist brushes his cheek and brings with it the faintest hint of something sweetly floral. She tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. "My wish for you, then, is that if and when you feel it again, and you will...you deserve to, that is brings you just as much happiness, just as much tenderness."

"Bendy? Am I dealing with a contortionist here?" Chuckling, Ben pulled a napkin from the dispenser at their side, then absently started folding it into the shape of a triangle. "As for my 'pisceside,' it's wholly innocent. I can't seem to keep anything alive for more than a couple weeks."

Keeping his eyes on his "hard work," Ben kept folding until his napkin resembled a kite. He hummed along at Ellie's alleged "short list," pleased with her choices. However, once she mentioned one of his own personal favorites, he could no longer remain silent. "Oh, Dumas!" he exclaimed, pleased. "I, too, was fond of The Count of Monte Cristo growing up. It was actually on a different summer reading list than mine, but I decided to...well...read all of the assigned materials for every different course level." He scrunched his nose, purposely crossing his eyes. "Did I mention I was an odd child? In fact, I recall Samuel teasing me by intentionally pronouncing Dumas 'dumbass.' The inference with that one was pretty clear."

Chuckling, Ben pulled up the thinner end of his napkin to reflect a neck shape. "As for me, you're probably unsurprised to hear I'm a fan of Shakespeare. Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew are my favorites, though I've often revisited Othello and The Merchant of Venice, as well." Creating a Z-shaped crease, Ben continued folding with verve, never lifting his eyes. "Anyway, I suppose I should share something modern that I enjoy...Tolkien and Gaiman are certainly good choices -- I enjoyed Stardust -- and I also love C.S. Lewis. My father's a preacher, so sue me."

Finished with his fiddling, Ben set an origami swan down in front of Ellie, pleased that the napkin hadn't been so flimsy that it couldn't retain its shape. "I also had a craft-loving mother who taught me a number of things to while away the hours -- when I was around fifteen, my dad would take me to the local children's hospital so I could teach the kids to make these. I've made hundreds, so I could probably create them in my sleep."

When Ellie spoke of glamor being responsible for masking her "inner troll," Ben laughed, his eyes crinkling warmly around the edges. "Well, remind me to give you a call on my bad hair days, because your glamor is really working." Though once she referred to his flaming sword, he'd tragically been taking a sip of coffee. The quip caused him to backwash into his mug, nearly slopping the dark liquid over said pull-over.

Using a fresh napkin to wipe up the mess, he grinned, sheepish and eyes shining. "I've never refused a dare in all my life, El, so those are dangerous words... Though whether for you or myself, it still remains to be seen." Setting his coffee off to the side -- better to be safe than sorry -- he wryly agreed, "I may do the occasional sit-up, but I certainly don't have a washboard going on under there, and I have to disappoint you by saying the sword isn't flaming. Otherwise, it'd burn a hole right through my slacks."

Ben didn't want to talk about "the other girl." High school growing pains were precisely that: pains, and none he wished to relive despite them mostly being harmless. Instead, he focused on the gentle movement of Ellie's mouth, soft and supple, and shining with the remnants of her own beverage. A part of him wished to wipe it away -- to cup her face, to hold her hand -- but the deeper these thoughts traversed, the more he physically curled away from the idea. Or rather, until Ellie reached for his hand of her own accord.

At first he jerked, startled by the contact, before idly skimming his thumb over the ridge of her knuckles. Ben listened to her speak, but just like before, his eyes kept darting toward her mouth, taking note of how hushed her words were and how this time, there was a mournful tension in her lips, almost as if she were physically trying to swallow back the confession.

Lonely? Yes -- yes, yes, he was lonely too. Unbidden, he curled his free hand over top of their interlocked ones, gently squeezing. "Those impulses aren't always wrong," Ben softly offered. "Sometimes, we're drawn to certain people for a purpose...out of fate."

Ellie remained curved toward him, edging closer still. Her eyes locked with his own, and a peculiar tickle formed in the pit of his stomach, much like the freefall on a rollercoaster, or momentarily losing one's balance. And then she asked that, and God above, his purposeful thoughts came grinding to a halt.

"I've...yes," Ben stammered, his mouth dry. "Once." Why had he admitted that? Wincing, he somehow kept his eyes on her face, a bloom of pink curling along the edge of his cheeks. "Her name was Jess. We met my first year of college, and she was just so...different. She never told me I was strange, and she actually seemed interested in everything I had to say. I'd never really had that before." Smiling, a hint of shyness bled into his gaze. "She had this cute little quirk where she'd play with her bangs any time she wanted to kiss me. I'm not sure why that was a correlation, but once she started fidgeting, I was compelled to reach for some breath mints."

Expression softening, Ben lifted his head more fully, appraising Ellie with a gentle openness. "I can't describe what she made me feel...just that when I was with her, I felt safe and free to be myself. I never thought I'd feel that way again." The unspoken words until you came along lingered on the tip of his tongue, incomplete and needling him, burning him to the quick.

[heliads]

I just saw your account and can I request Tobias x Reader?

Reader is from Erudite and she and Four are the same age. Both of them were top of their class and became trainers. The reader goes by the name 2 sometimes, as a joke. She has a younger sister who also join Dauntless and Reader and Four are just a total power couple. Reader is also Divergent and knows Four’s real name and that he is divergent too. So the day when Tris kissed Four, he moves so she only kisses his cheek. Tris then thinks that Four is shy and likes her. But the next day the reader is very tired from staying up all night helping a kid who was sick, comes and Four kisses her and gives her his jacket. So Tris is really heartbroken since she was the only one who didn’t know about their relationship. Reader and her sister ( who are really close) also hate Tris. Reader is pretty shy and sweet but she has a bitchy face that scares people away a lot.

I hope I am not bothering you… Feel free to tag my name

do you ever think about how tris is really just a y/n in disguise

masterlist

Tris does not know what is coming for her. 

Some time in the future, she may be able to look back on all that happened and realize what she never did back then. She’ll connect the dots with far more clarity than she ever could at the time. Hindsight is always easier to understand than the present moment. Tris cannot be held accountable for that, and neither can you. 

At the moment that Beatrice Prior became just Tris, your story had already long since begun. She was still in denial back in Abnegation when you made a decision in your own round of the Choosing Ceremony. She would not have been there to see how it all went down, but you were. 

Perhaps she heard about what happened through word of mouth. Most new Dauntless come from Dauntless with the exception of a wayward Candor or two that decide the truth is beneath them. You were an exception, then. When Beatrice heard about the sharp-eyed Erudite girl who dashed her blood into Dauntless’ vessel, do you think she thought about it later that night when no one else was watching? Do you think she heard about what you did and realized that she could do it too?

No one will know for sure, none but Tris herself. After what happened, you doubt she would ever be so candid as to let you know. You can guess, though. You can take your time and wonder about what might have gone down in a grayed out faction where a girl heard for the first time that she might be able to have a life outside of endless sacrifice. 

There is one story that she most certainly did not hear at the time, however, and this one would hit a little closer to home. At the very moment that Beatrice Prior was wondering what would become of this year’s round of transfers, another boy was making waves by switching to Dauntless. He was Abnegation too, and at the moment that he let his blood plummet into Dauntless’ bowl, he was as good as dead. 

Later, Tris will wonder how she didn’t connect Four to the boy she had met before, Tobias Eaton. In truth, it’s because every step was taken to ensure that nobody else would. Marcus Eaton’s son died the moment he got the chance to leave his old life behind. Tobias Eaton was buried in a shallow grave under the cover of night, left to the mercy of scavengers like time and poor memory to make up his legacy. Abnegation did not want its followers to think that escape was an option, so he was covered up.

Perhaps, then, the only one Beatrice heard about was you. Tobias was simply one in the crowd at that point, nameless and utterly without character. Every single facet of him had disappeared the second he chose to step away from Dauntless. The boy standing by your side in the Dauntless section of the Choosing Ceremony was staring at his bleeding palm and wondering whose history he could end next. He was no one, not until he remade himself again upon entering Dauntless.

Regardless of what Beatrice did or did not think of the two of you at that moment, your future was set in stone. You bid Erudite goodbye and ran out of the city center with the rest of the assembled Dauntless once the Choosing Ceremony was over. You had analyzed your decision over and over in the preceding months, so you had no regrets at the moment. All there was to do was run free and wild in the sun, and let your body think that it could do whatever you asked of it. 

Like Tris, you also had to leap from the roof and deal with the aftermath of what you found when you fell. Like Tris, your first encounter with the boy who was once called Tobias Eaton and would later be whispered of as Four was life-changing. You were one of the first jumpers, he was one of the second. It was the two of you in an empty hall, lingering by the edge of the net and watching the graduated Dauntless pace back and forth at the edges of the room. The horizons seemed to shift where the black-suited faction lingered to watch, and in the middle of all of it, you found one point of stability. 

Four.

You don’t remember what name he gave when he first jumped down, if he even gave a name at all. He didn’t seem to use one until he progressed into the fear landscapes and was able to be rewarded with his famous nickname. Perhaps he had gone by Tobias all that time before then, but if he had, it had never seemed real. Tobias was a prop to be discarded at a moment’s notice. It suited Four no more than the gray cloth still clinging to his back.

In the time to come, you would watch with the same awe as the rest of the faction as Four quickly rose up through the ranks of initiates. Obviously, no Abnegation would ever have a chance to learn how to fight, but that didn’t excuse Four from being uncannily good at it. He knew how to throw a punch from the moment he arrived, although that could have just been from watching someone else do it. Sometimes lessons are learned from watching the imprints of your own bruises flower on your skin.

Dauntless forgave Four of his Abnegation heritage quickly. You doubt most people even remember he once wore gray instead of black. To suggest that cold, deadly Four could ever have been giving or merciful is laughable. Dauntless’ Four is the pride of their faction. He makes no mistakes and he tells no secrets. No one could ask for anything more.

Why, then, would you? Why would you seek him out after that first meeting? Was the fall from the roof not enough of a rush for you, that you had to track down the one person capable of making your head spin? In the end, you suppose you’ll never really know why you chose Four, only that you did and it is the best thing you could have ever done for yourself. 

Choosing Four was choosing survival. You were Divergent and so was he. Maybe that’s why everything went so south so quickly. You were never meant to live past discovery. You should have woken up to a gun pointed at your head the moment someone found out that the dots weren’t connecting for why you were here and not in your home faction.

You always thought that the first person to figure you out would have been someone back from Erudite. They were always too damned clever, every single one of you. They delighted in figuring out people’s past mistakes, every single loophole they’d ever tripped. Death knows what they would have done to you had they known.

The only thing that might have saved you also damned you. See, Erudite was as sickly brilliant as a smoking gun, but so in turn were you. You knew the perfect answer to say to every question. You knew what to do in the aptitude test so no one would question you. To any onlooker, every bone of yours seemed to be laid bare, when in reality you hadn’t given a thing away.

It was the only thing you could do, but it was exactly what revealed you. Four knew you were as sharp as a blade, both in violence and in mind, and he knew that no one like you would have ever left Erudite if you didn’t have something to hide. What is the only thing in this world that would ever make you fear discovery? Why, the same thing that made him flee to Dauntless’ shadows as opposed to any other place to hide. Divergence.

He had to be the first one to say it aloud. You would never expose a weakness in yourself unless you had a choice. That was the initial moment in which you finally laid down at least part of your armor. In the weeks to come, you would shed more and more of it, until at last the young woman that you became could be the first one to say ‘I love you’ instead of having it be the other way around. You are not the Y/N that came into Dauntless, and you don’t know that you could ever be her again.

That is the wonderful thing about this faction, what it can do to change you. Beatrice learned this as well, you know. You were there to see it start to happen for the first time. She was just the right sort of ember to fanned into a flame around here, and you let it happen.

You should have known from the moment you saw Beatrice Prior become Tris that she would be a threat to you. Instead, you saw a girl not unlike yourself and you welcomed her with a smile. You had been trying to be more forgiving. That is Four’s worst curse on you.

Perhaps it’s because Tris reminds you of your sister. They’re the same age, they both jumped around the same time. In some better world, perhaps Tris would have turned to your sister for a source of friendship instead of looking to your boyfriend for some sort of comfort. That way, far less troubles would be raised, and perhaps you and Tris could see each other as hesitant friends instead of whatever has become of the two of you now.

The worst part is that you could almost see it happening. You and Tris are damned near identical. Both first jumpers, both Divergent, both fleeing a home that could never be truly yours, and worst of all, both in love with Four. How is Tris any better than you? How are you any worse? She made the exact same choices you did, but because you got there first, you get everything and she gets nothing. It is relentlessly unfair, but that is Dauntless; that is life. Nothing in this world will be yours unless you take it. In her defense, that is exactly what Tris tried to do.

Four told you the first time he suspected she had feelings. You and Four are nothing if not honest with each other. He wanted to let you know that something may happen, partially as a warning and partially also in the hopes of using you as a tool to stave off Tris’ crush. You’re a training instructor alongside Four and Eric, so it wouldn’t be difficult for Four to let you handle Tris instead of trying to teach her himself to encourage some distance. 

That’s what you did the first few weeks, at least, but Tris got clever. She really is like you, isn’t she? You can’t possibly hold that against her, but it’s not like you have any other choice. Tris tried too hard to have what she could not. There was no way the two of you could be anything other than enemies. That is what becomes of our doubles, cruel universe; you see yourself in another body and you cannot do anything but despise it.

Four dropped by your place late one night, later than usual. He had a haunted look in his eyes, the sort of guilt you only see on him when he wakes up with a nightmare, muttering the name of a boy long since dead. It wasn’t his fault, he says. He didn’t know what she was trying to do until it was already done.

Here is how it went down, from what Four tells you and what you can pick up from his social cues alone:  Tris had been in trouble. Four has always been a savior, he was certainly yours enough times for it to stick in your head. When Four had come across the scene, he would be able to do nothing if not help. Tris had been grateful, both for the rescue and what she took as a final confirmation of Four’s feelings. She had tried to kiss him. He had moved so she only kissed his cheek. Still, it was a touch that was not yours.

What can you do about that? Tris is not going to go away. Even after initiation ends, she will be a strong member of your faction. Obviously, Four doesn’t want this, but how does he put a stop to it? Eventually, the two of you brainstorm a solution, and go to sleep with no more guilt curled up on the inside of each other’s throats.

You’re helping in the medical wing the next day. Tris is there as a check up to make sure that she was alright after last night’s incident. You don’t treat her, as there are enough patients to fill up anyone’s schedule, but Tris is still there to see what happens when Four drops by. In a perfectly orchestrated move, he gives you his jacket the second you shiver and presses a kiss to your lips. It is a neon sign in the dark, she cannot miss it.

And she doesn’t. You can see Tris’ face crumble across the room, and she quickly turns away to hide her surprise and anguish. You had thought that everyone in Dauntless knew about you and  Four, but it turns out that is only true now. Tris might have been the last to know, but she’s learned her lesson now. You don’t have the heart to hold it against her.

At the end of the day, how could you? Dauntless trains its soldiers to fight for what they want. It is not Tris’ fault that you already did. She will go about her days with a sinking feeling in her stomach, a bit of blood spilled where her heart had previously been healed, but eventually she will be able to act as if nothing ever happened. Soon enough, it will almost be true. Tris will find a new meaning to fill her days.

How do you know this with such certainty? It is exactly what you would have done. 

requested by @sakuraazharuno, i hope you enjoy!

divergent tag list: @rogueanschel, @with-inked-solace, @gods-fools-heroes, @23victoria, @manyfandomsfanvergent

[suna-reversed]

Hello :)

Sukuna. fluff. Pretty please.

Could you write something about sukuna falling for itadori's best friend. You can throw some angst in there too because I am a masochist❤️

Sukuna x F! Reader 

oh god, this turned purely self indulgent halfway through. low key thinking of turning this into a series to give you the angst you deserve.

A/N: (reader is Itadori’s senior and is 18) (loosely inspired by the song “me and my husband” by mitski)

“And I am the idiot with the painted face

In the corner, taking up space

But when he walks in, I am loved, I am loved”

——-

- You had been one of the few poor senior students who had been victim to what had been Itadori’s “elevator pitch” for more people to join the occult club early back in high school. [the said “elevator pitch” being him jumping out at random people with a white bedsheet over his head saying “boo” as he handed you the club form]

- You didn't end up joining the club. But you somehow did end up getting joined at the hip with the chaotic mess under the white sheet.

- Whether it was you two rushing to the theatre to watch Jennifer Lawrence’s new movie,  or going to a revolving sushi place [only to get pocky from a nearby vending machine instead because revolving sushi is apparently expensive], Itadori Yuuji had become a comforting and very important presence in your life.

- So of course when he suddenly dropped out of your life, being the worried friend you were, you decided to poke around a little only to find out that he was...dead?

- Maybe a few months down the line, you would’ve started to slightly recover from the tragic news you had just gotten. Instead, what you got was your supposedly dead best friend popping up days later to tell you that he ate a finger and now he was the vessel for some centuries old curse,,,

- Um yeah...safe to say that Yuji did not expect you to go into the fit of emotions that you did [boy had the audacity to call you dramatic for fainting and then crying while hugging him once you gained consciousness] 

- some time passed and Yuji and you didn’t see each other much with him practically training to be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer. Still, simply happy to have him back alive, your brain managed to convinced itself that everything was still the same. 

- And it was when he’d sneak out a day or two from his heavy schedule and you’d be back to your normal routine of watching movies, stuffing your face with snacks, getting your face licked by the mouth on Yuji’s hand…

- ,,,wait what

- The first time the curse had made contact with you was simply out of annoyance of why the stupid brat even took the time to see someone as mundane as you so often.

- His plan was to simply scare you into leaving, knowing it would cause the brat pain.

- So he grabbed the opportunity when Yuji moved forward to brush off some popcorn dust on the side of your mouth, not only licking the side of your face but also being successful in slightly grazing his teeth against your tender skin. 

- Yuji had mentioned that being a vessel had caused some weird physical “abnormalities” for him. you didn’t understand it back then but at least knowing that had sort of prepared you for such an instance.

- So imagine the curse’s surprise [and an even further growing annoyance] when your eyes barely widened for a second before you burst into laugher, 

“Didn’t you train your dog to not bite?”

- by now, Yuji had jumped 5 feet away from you and was still halfway through his string of apologies, but upon hearing your reaction, he mused on your fake calm while letting out a chuckle himself, 

- “Guess I’ve got to get a leash for him” 

- By this point, the ever so indifferent curse had taken two teenagers talking about him like a mere annoyance as a personal challenge.

- And that’s how it started.

- He’d come out every now and then, licking your fingers as Yuji passed you something or making lewd remarks on anything and everything that you ever started a conversation about. 

- But you and Yuji barely paid him attention and it was an understatement to say that it infuriated the living hell out of him.

- Particularly you, who wouldn’t even be annoyed or sarcastic about his tactics anymore. Instead, treating him like a friend who was simply joining you and the brat to hang out. 

- He hated it. Hated how bright your laugh was. Hated how you made them stop every time you saw a stray animal just so you could pet it. Hated how your skin was as soft as a cloud and how you sometimes smelled like cherry blossoms. He’d kill you in an instant if he could ugh.

- it was a weekend and Yuji and you had been watching a movie, even though Yuji was barely paying attention. You knew he was tired as his large frame slumped over your shoulder. Pulling the blanket up to his face, you once again felt the wet feeling of the assaults you had grown familiar with on the side of your hand.

- “You could’ve just asked for a pocky if you wanted one, no need to lick it off my fingers you grumpy little thing”, you laughed as you stood up to go to the bathroom

- that snapped the final string. 

- Coming back into your living room, you wondered if Yuji had somehow gotten up in his sleep and managed to draw weird black lines over himself all in the span of 5 minutes. 

- ‘Yuji, what the fuck?’

- ‘Well well, now who’s acting like a grumpy little thing’ 

- The deep voice sent rumbles down your spine and you knew in an instant what had happened. 

- Even though your breath hitched in your throat and your body begged for you to run as fast away as you can, you held your ground as you simply tilted your head at the curse 

- “Well, I’d like my best friend back if you don’t mind.”

- You saw the smirk on Sukuna’s face falter for just a second before he crossed the space between the couch and you.

- Now as strong of a front as you managed to hold up until now, watching something like that stride straight towards you would have had even the strongest of sorcerers shitting bricks.

- Instinctively, you took a few steps backwards, but he simply continued to close the distance between the two of you until you were backed up against the wall.

- You flinched as he slammed a hand right next to your head and he seemed to gain immense satisfaction from that as he looked down at your startled face with a smirk plastered on his tattooed face. 

- Sukuna was sure that you’d be begging for his mercy any second now. His smirk widened and he was ready to mock your pleas as he saw you open your mouth to say something, 

- “ ...so much for a damn pocky.”

- All those other times you had caught the curse off guard were nothing compared to the “partially-confused partially-baffled” expression that he held on his face now. It almost made him look human. Almost.

- You didn’t realise just how long you were holding his gaze until Yuji took back control and apologized like a million times over, reassuring you that he would’ve never let you get hurt. 

- The curse didn’t show up for almost a week after that. And while you were grateful for not having to wash off your hands or face 14 times a day, you somehow felt anxious about its sudden disappearance. 

- All those worries were thrown out the window as he once again showed up while Yuji was passed out on the couch after a particularly tough session with Gojo sensei.

- Looking at the curse, you felt anger more than anything, how could he just drop out on you with no warning and then show up in the middle of your living room- ...wait a second, why the hell are you mad at a literal curse for not telling you he was taking a mental health break or whatever it was that he was doing? 

- While you sorted out through these conflicting thoughts in your mind, the curse seemed to be going through a similar crisis. 

- Having woken up in the brat’s fragile human body with no warning whatsoever, Sukuna wasn’t in the mood to see your face so soon again. He didn’t know why your physical presence unsettled him so much. All he knew was that he hated it. Even more now that he knew what you looked like all scared and small compared to his vessel’s towering build, and how you smelled even sweeter than what he had tasted, and how despite all that you still had the courage to stand up to someone as dangerous as him. Ugh, disgusting. 

- “The stupid brat passed out.”

- Such a simple statement caused you to snap your head up at him. But he didn’t wait for your reaction as he somehow managed to plop down on the couch while still looking graceful. Picking up the half eaten box of pocky, he warily pulled one out, eyeing it as if it was  a poisoned dagger before breaking off a piece and placing it on his tongue.

- “This is what you would risk your life for, brat?” 

- He turned his head slightly to look at you still frozen in place, staring at him with that doe eyed look that made his chest burn a little. Isn’t this what he wanted all along?

- “Are you simply going to stand there and gawk? I don’t bite-...well, not unless you ask me to.”

- He knew that would set you right back to your usual self,

 - “...maybe we do need to get a leash after all.”

- Sukuna internally grinned as he saw you move to the other side of the couch, ready to hear whatever more of the snarky comeback that you’d have (not that he was anticipating it, it was just the better alternative to being gaped at. Or so he told himself)

- “You ate the non chocolate covered part of the pocky by the way-”

- “As if a layer of this disgusting brown substance can make the rotten stick taste bette-”

- “Well aren’t sticks all you had to eat in yOuR TiME anyways?”- 

—-

- You somehow managed to fall asleep after the bickering, proceeding to sit in silence after you told him to not bother you while you tried to read. You wouldn’t admit it, but you were a little disappointed when he actually didn’t. Instead, he sat on the couch with a slight smirk still plastered on his face, continuing to simply gaze at you. your heart did lunges every time you slyly looked up from your book to take a peak at him. you wondered how many ways he had come up with to kill you so far. 

- On the other hand, the curse sat idly, watching you while his thoughts rumbled in his mind. Maybe killing you can be pushed off the agenda for now. There are much better ways to hurt the brat anyways aren't there? Perhaps he could use one of these brownish covered sticks to-...what is he thinking?

- He ultimately deems it stupid brat’s humane emotions and sheer stupidity that must be interfering with his thoughts.

- A loud sneeze snaps him out of his daze as he sees you slumped against a pillow, your book falling off your lap. And then he does something that he immediately decides that he would pretend to have not done for the rest of his existence. Luckily, the brat takes back control right after he does it anyways.

- But that thought slips his mind as he finds himself replaying the serene look on your face as he gently pulled the book out of your hands, and how his hands shook a little as you nuzzled your nose into the fabric of the blanket that he pulled over you. How could you have felt so calm around him?