#anyways we have a bunch bunch more in the works

[nanenna]

The Best Laid Plans

Sleepy King Master Post (for my contributions anyway)

---

“I’m driving,” Jazz announced, snatching the keys from her dad as they all walked to where the GAV was parked on the city hall’s lawn.

“Young lady,” Mom started to scold.

“I only have a limited amount of time to drive with supervision before I’m off to college and driving all by myself.” Jazz gave her parents the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster.

“And I am more than happy to be that supervision,” Vlad said as he reached for the front passenger seat.

Danny quickly jumped into the back seat, as far away from Vlad as he could get. Jazz adjusted the seat and mirrors while she waited for her parents to get in. Then she looked Danny in the eye through the rear view mirror, “The engine doesn’t start until every last person is buckled in.”

“C’mon, Jazz! Even if your grandma driving somehow got us into a car accident we both know I’d be fine.”

“I’m not repeating myself.”

Danny grumbled as he buckled himself in, Jazz kept her smirk to a minimum as she started the car. While she drove them to Vlad’s home she half listened to her parents explain the situation to him, the other half of her attention being spent watching the cars on the road around her swerve and nearly crash around her. She pulled up to a red light next to another car, the passenger staring up at her dumbfounded. Jazz smiled and waved.

“So you’re telling me Daniel is now the Ghost King,” Vlad asked as they pulled up to his mansion.

“That’s what it looks like,” Dad agreed boisterously. “Right now it seems like a meaningless title, but we’re worried about him getting randomly summoned by those darn occultists!”

“A bunch of fanatics with ludicrous ideas,” Mom said with a sniff. “I’d hate to think what they’d try to do to Danny if it ever happens again.”

There was a pause as they all got out of the GAV, then walked into Vlad’s mansion together.

“That doesn't explain why you're here. Shouldn't you be in school, young lady?”

“Apparently it's school policy to send siblings home in these kinds of situations.” And Jazz was so thankful for that!

“And Danielle?”

“She doesn’t go to our school, now does she?”

Vlad nodded along before turning his attention fully on Mom. “I’m guessing you have a plan?”

“Of course,” Mom replied without another thought. “Since we’re pretty sure the title is attached to the crown, we’re going to destroy it and hope it destroys the Ghost King title.”

Vlad stopped in his tracks, “You’ll what?”

Dad patted Vlad on the shoulder consolingly, “I know, I’m sure Danny would be a good king too, but he’s adamant he doesn’t want to. And the risk of a bunch of wacko cultists kidnapping him is just too big.”

“It’s not like you want me to be king anyway,” Danny added with a smirk.

“Well… Little Badger, you’re so young!” Vlad blurted out.

“And it’s weird, you’ve had the crown for over a year now, but I’ve never seen you use it.”

Vlad sighed deeply, “I’ve tried, but it just doesn’t do anything.”

Danny just nodded, “So if it doesn’t work anyway isn’t it better if no one can?”

Vlad side eyed Danny before shrugging, “You do have a point. I shall go retrieve the crown, one moment.” He turned and left the sitting room he’d led them to.

The Fentons all sat down on various pieces of furniture. Their parents shared a couch, sitting as close together as possible, while Jazz and Danny each sat in a chair of their own. Danny sighed and slouched in his seat.

“Danny, have you let Sam and Tucker know what's going on yet?” Jazz asked. It seemed the easiest way to distract him while they waited.

“Yeah, kinda. I told them I was home safe and would explain everything after school.”

Jazz nodded, that seemed the safest.

“They promised to bring me my homework,” Danny added with a groan. “It's so unfair! I got kidnapped, shouldn't I get- oh shit!” Danny practically threw himself out of his chair.

“Language,” Mom chided.

“Don't sneak up on me like that!” Danny whined as he picked himself up off the floor. Then he froze, eyes glaring at seemingly empty space. “How did you sneak up on me? You didn't activate my ghost sense at all.”

Danny waited, presumably a ghost they couldn't see was responding. Jazz had learned from the Youngblood incident, she quietly pulled out a collapsed boo-staff from her purse.

“You don't know who I am?”

…

“Well yes, but ghosts don't usually call me that.”

…

“How about you tell me your name first?” After another pause he burst into laughter. “Are you for real?”

“Danny, is it Youngblood?”

“Huh?” Danny looked to Jazz, then back to the open space. He gestured, “You can't see him?”

Jazz and their parents shook their heads.

Vlad came back into the room holding a cardboard box, knocking a thin layer of dust from the top. “Here it is!” He looked up and frowned. “Who are you, and why are you in my home?”

Everyone paused for the response.

“He didn't set off my ghost sense,” Danny added, he turned back to the empty space, “Are you even a ghost?”

A window burst, shattering into many flying shards under Batman’s combat boots. Jazz instinctively covered her face and shrieked. By the time she looked up the blond man in a trenchcoat from earlier was climbing through the shattered window while muttering to himself.

“Was that really necessary?!” Vlad yelled angrily.

The blond man pointed at Danny and said something, dazzling light flew from his finger to hit Danny, leaving him standing there braced for impact but looking fine.

Mom squawked, “What'd you do?!”

“Danno! Are you okay?” Dad rushed over to check Danny over.

“I think I'm okay?” Danny said shakily as he straightened up from his protective curl to look himself over.

There was a familiar burning crown floating over his head.

“Huh,” the blond man said, “that was supposed to reveal your true form.”

“Congrats, this is my true form,” Danny said with an eye roll.

“Danny, above your head,” Jazz said carefully. Unfortunately that got everyone's attention, far more than Wonder Woman slipping into the room.

Danny looked up, “What? Where?”

“No Danny, it's the crown,” Mom supplied, coming over to stand next to him while glaring at the heroes and their pet wizard. (That was unkind, Jazz shouldn't think such things.)

Dany reached up and felt around until he found the crown, then pulled it down to look at. “Okay, crown retrieved.”

“We may have a problem,” Vlad said as he pulled an identical crown from his cardboard box.

“What.” Danny looked back and forth between the crown in his hand and the one in Vlad's. “Why are there two?” Danny turned to the pet wizard, “What did you do?!”

“I didn't do anything, that was purely an identification spell, it can't duplicate things!”

“Well clearly you did something wrong,” Mom said while glaring at the pet wizard.

Jazz extended the boo-staff and came to stand slightly in front of Danny, these guys may have powers but Jazz had helped fight bigger, badder beings.

Vlad started to step backwards, back towards the hallway.

“Oh no you don’t!” Danny let go of his crown as he ran over to grab the crown Vlad was still holding, it quickly turned into a tug of war.

“Vladdie? What are you doing?” Dad asked in confusion.

“You don’t need two crowns, and since this one was already in my possession…”

“Absolutely not, you fruitloop!”

“Danny!” Mom and Dad both chided.

The Justice Leaguers had all gathered together and were just watching, seeming unsure what to do after all their silly dramatics.

Vlad glowered down at Danny’s hands on the crown, then his eyes widened. He switched to trying to grab Danny’s hand.

Danny looked down, his own eyes widened as he curled his hand into a fist. “Is that the Ring of Rage?! What the hell, that should still be on Pariah’s finger!” Danny looked at the pet wizard in horror, “What. Did. You. Do?!”

“Danny, Vlad, stop it both of you!” Mom moved over to the two and tried to separate them, Dad joined her and was doing his best to cajole them both into backing down. For her part Jazz kept her eyes on the intruders while the rest of her family and Vlad squabbled.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the pet wizard said grumpily before raising his voice. “Shut up!”

[tench]

Veilguard is such a weird game.

It's not a Dragon age game, it's bately a role playing game. It's an ok action. Even though it is the most stable AAA release it is still just a bunch of barely tied together stuff in a trench coat.

The writing (insultingly dumbed down and absolutely incapable of taking itself seriously untill the last 1/6 of the game) is all over the place, the direction is nonexistent judging by the tonal shift from one quest to another. We can have very heart felt monologue about the fear of death sit right next to a conversation where a lot of things are told using one specific phrase (I really hope in a clumsy attempt at emphasis) repeated till these words lose any meaning to you.

There's also a problem of role-playing in this "rpg" and the Rook. None of your dialogue choices matter in terms of defining your character, no matter the option you choose, the general conversation will carry the upbeat silly tone. "Your backstory and class matter more than your race" works untill it doesn't, like when you are a dwarf but you are denied your own journey and realizations tied to the titans, and maybe it is not your journey to take yet you can't even try to be a part of it, even when Harding is actively reaching out to other dwarves to share this connection. It's also weirdly more interested in writing romance between npcs than for the main character (Lucanis comes to mind, it feels like the game is actively punishing you for pursuing him, you have to lose the whole shadow dragon faction, you won't get to hang out with Dorian and still you have bare minimum and he more interested in Neve anyway), that's extremely funny that this game is player-sexual yet completely player-aromantic. (And I miss the dai option where you can come up and kiss your LI whenever you feel like it).

I won't even touch on the weird and unnecessary sanitation of everything, like we can't allow people or factions to have negative traits whatsoever. And it's not "southern propaganda", it's "we are not engaging with complex topics for the sake of clear dichotomy between good us and evil overlords". Speaking of which

The whole plot.. The general idea of it is ok. You come to stop Solas, you make the situation go sideways, you have to work together to fix your mistakes and maybe learn to sympathize with the antagonist haunted by his own transgressions with the main theme being legacy and your relationship with your culture and the baggage it brings. But the journey is a complete disaster. Part of it works solely because the characters absolutely Refuse to make a plan and the other - because the main character has a blunt head trauma. Maybe it's related. Maybe it's all a mass hallucination. I may try to elaborate on how it's absolutely ridiculous how little the inquisition and the politics have any impact in this game yet somehow 8 people squatting in the Fade with no political affiliations are held responsible for providing for every faction they come across. I won't even try to make sense of it. It's the usual case of "the main character does everything".

The direction is not only absent in the writing. Some lines that are ok in text delivered in such a way you may think they were allowed only to use the very first take.

The music is absolutely forgettable. Also the odd riff during the dramatic reveal absolutely took me out because I thought I heard kazoo (but I bet Varric would love it).

The visuals are.. Ok. It's pretty on the first glance but the more you travel the more you realize that the general design of the locations are kinda lacking. They have this weird gradient that makes everything a little bit more unfocused and a bit washed out. There are also too many cases of the horisont just drowning in the fog. Air perspective is great and it suits locations like Necropolis, but I would argue that these establishing shots should be used for environmental storytelling in other places, with some focal points in the background, like during the final mission where you see the world absolutely drowning in the blight, devouring local statue of liberty. Or the dead Titan. Or the first shot of the Veil jumper forest (I forgot how it's called) where you see the ruins going into he sky. But because of the fog (or sometimes darkness) it feels like the game is more interested in cheating the optimisation than to hint on the bigger picture (like the chantry and the gallows buildings that you can see almost from all locations in DA2 or the andrastian/dread wolf imagery of inquisition)

So, in conclusion. Not the worst game I played, yet disappointing, even if we pretend it's not an installment of a beloved franchise that people were waiting for 10 years.

Ps. Also making such a game with nerfing all the lore only to nuke all the legacy locations is a choice I won't ever understand. It's like it is not for the fans and it's not for the new people but a secret third thing.

[pluckyredhead]

You have been posting intriguing things about Big Bad Wolf, and I always love a rec, especially when I'm having a rough year for books! If you care to, I'd love to hear what draws you to the books.

Ahhhh I'm obsessed with them!

Okay so Big Bad Wolf by Charlie Adhara is a series of five M/M paranormal romance procedurals, all about the same couple, Cooper and Park, and the first book is The Wolf at the Door.

Basically, Cooper Dayton is an FBI agent who right before the series begins is nearly killed by a werewolf, and that's how he learns that werewolves are real. So he gets transferred to the super secret werewolf division of the FBI (the BIA), and in the first book he's assigned to catch what appears to be a werewolf serial killer with a werewolf agent named Oliver Park. Full "oh no he's hot!!!" reaction goes here. Cooper is very very very bad at relying on anyone else or needing help but he and Park eventually figure out how to work together and also hook up a bunch of times before they eventually catch the serial killer. The rest of the series follows the development of their relationship as they solve various other werewolf-related murders.

I read the entire series in less than two weeks and it only took that long because once I got to the last book I drew it out because I didn't want it to be over that fast. And then I reread them all immediately.

Anyway! You wanted to know why I like them:

THE ROMANCE. I am not usually an established relationship gal but watching these two grow as individuals and as a couple is so rewarding. They both have significant issues (the first couple of books make it seem like Cooper's a mess and Park is perfect, but that's just because Park is very good at masking - he is actually even more of a mess than Cooper), but they grow so much as the series goes along. The conversations they have about their issues and their relationship in Book 4 are 100% not conversations they could have had in Book 2. It helps that they are both in their mid- to late-30s and like, they know who they are, and they are working very very hard to be better for each other. I'M SO PROUD OF THEM.

This is still on the romance part, but: also they genuinely LIKE each other. Like in Book 4 they have to go undercover at a couples' counseling retreat (for werewolves, obviously) and I'm like "How does anyone here think you guys are having relationship issues. You are BEST FRIENDS. Disgusting."

I specified that they are also procedurals because they are genuinely good mysteries! Sometimes when books combine genres it's sort of half romance and half mystery and not enough of either to be satisfying. These are ALL romance but they are also ALL mystery and Cooper is a very good detective. (Park is a pretty good detective but mostly he's great at biting people.)

They are extremely funny. Again, they like each other so much and this most often manifests in literally constant A+ banter. You know how I feel about banter!

The sex scenes are...chef's kiss. It's like Adhara was running down a list of my favorite tropes.

Anyway I HIGHLY recommend them and if you read them please come sit by me so we can talk about them thank you!!!

[supersecretmetalocalypseblog]

Always thought this shit was funny. So kidnapping is cool, stabbings are cool, killing random funeral attendees and attempting to brutally beat Charles to death, all cool. But, when the creepy mask wearing, brainwashed a bunch of people into zombies, angry violent possibly people eatin' man you work with kills someone WITHOUT your permission..... Maggie he was never listening to you, I know he was rolling his eyes every time you told him to do something. He's not like, a trained attack dog, hes some stray with rabies you found living in the woods, and he WILL bite you the second hes had enough of ur antics.

Like, what was Magnus's end-game? He doesnt want to kill DK, just have them be... not famous. Right? So what, they lock DK in with Toki and just wait till they arent famous? Or?? What was Magnus's plan? At least MMA knew what he wanted. He was just gonna brutally murder like, 7 ppl. That was his plan. Kill the band. Kill Charles. Possibly Abigail, though I dont get why MMA or Magnus have any beef w/ her. The band would've showed up to rescue JUST toki, idk why she had to tag along. But regardless. what was Magnus planning? Why does killing Ishnifus put him off so bad? Bad enough to confront MMA even after he watched him commit crazy acts of violence and torture and stuff? He BUTCHERED that tracker, presumably infront of Magnus? But that was planned? So it's ok?

I suspect that Magnus was like... not really planning anything. His plan doesnt make a lot of sense to me. More than all of that, I'm just confused about why killing Ishnifus was so far out of line? Is it really just what he said, and that Magnus didnt say it was ok to kill him? MMA was out of line? Questioning Magnus's authority or something? And that was too much? (which is sort of in character for Magnus, and I guess it makes sense for him to be mad about this, when we saw him blow up over DK playing the music a little bit different than he wanted. Hopefully unsanctioned murder pisses him off as much if not more as a band dispute)

Anyways sorry for my ramblings, I've had this thought one too many times though. I'm sure you can tell it's gettin late where I live lol

[lesinquietes]

Reworked the prologue of Thief to include more detail and a richer Dabi perspective. Trying to gently return from my Thief hiatus. This has definitely helped 😊

Thief: Prologue [Reworked]

Summary: As an inmate in a high-security institution for villains, your false sense of security amuses Dabi. He thought shrinks were supposed to be cunning. No one would let their guard down around someone like him — unless your carelessness is a subtle sign that you want him, too.

Pairing: Yandere!Dabi x Psychologist!Reader.

Warning: 18+ (kids and teens don't interact), angst, delusional thinking, implied noncon, kidnapping, misogyny, violence.

—

When you touch his leg, he fantasizes about you stroking his hard cock through his sweatpants. When you look him directly in his dark, callous eyes, he thinks about how sweet your lips would look, wrapped tightly around his length, and how prominent the bulge in your throat would be from how thick you make him. And when you grab his wrist to inject the medication he once so vehemently denied, he thinks about snatching you by the hair and slamming you down on the gurney, instead. He wants you to understand how much it hurts when you do this to him.

He supposes he can’t fault you for doing your job, though. When there’s a task to be done, the responsibility falls on those with the ability to complete it. You’re capable. You push yourself to the limit. You set your emotions aside to do what you know best. You’re a lot like him in those ways. But he can’t ignore the stark difference between you two, either. You’re far less jaded. Your career as a psychologist in this psychiatric unit has required you to shoulder the burdens of others. How do you do it? It’s as though you’ve adapted to the stress. It’s that superior nature of yours that equally pisses him off and drives him wild for you.

He quells his temper by telling himself that sooner or later, this dynamic won’t matter. You won’t be his doctor anymore. He won’t be a mandated patient. His scheme to escape from this daunting institution will come to fruition in the next few weeks, and then? Well, then, you’ll finally be his.

No more seeing other clients.

No more talking to your colleagues, friends, or family.

No more lingering glances from that bastard with the blue tie, who loves to hover over you when you’re so busy at work.

All you’ll have — when he takes you away from this terrible place — is him.

“Dabi?” 

Your voice penetrates through his vindictive thoughts like cupid’s sharpest arrow. He perks up, bringing his lazy, half-lidded gaze to yours. He casts you a lopsided smile.

“What’re we doin’, dollface? More shots?”

You’re sitting in front of him, clipboard in hand, staring intently across the table. He’s restrained; otherwise he would have his chin resting against his fist, inspecting your beauty for the umpteenth time. You’re wearing that blouse he likes today. He appreciates the effort you put into your hair, as well. It’s clear that you’re baiting him into complimenting you.

“Fuck, you look good.” He hums. “Who do you dress up for in this dump, anyways?”

The exasperation on your visage is evident. Maybe he misread you.

“(F/n) is fine.” You correct him with a casual wave of your hand. “No more shots today, just a questionnaire or two.”

But you don’t have to be such a bitch.

“Don’t feel like answering a bunch of stiff questions.”

And if you’re going to act like a brat, so will he.

“Okay.” You concede. “That’s fair.”

You reach down and pull something out of your bag. It’s a series of pictures. Dabi isn’t a stranger to this evaluation. You put a cap with electrodes onto his head and ask him about his reaction to each photo. In another room, a device records his brain activity. He fucking hates it. He feels powerless.

“Wanna do some emotion work?”

The control you have over him in this dynamic is enraging. He doesn’t do well taking orders from others. It’s part of the reason he nearly snapped at Shigaraki when they met. To lose authority is to be weak; to lose authority is reminiscent of a sordid childhood with his selfish father. If it wasn’t for the initial impression you left, he would have given up on attempting to speak with you long ago. 

The hospital sent you into his cell because you were their last resort. He wouldn’t talk to any of the other staff. He attacked doctor after doctor, orderly after orderly, until he was tossed into a cushioned quarantine room. He recalls how they practically shoved you through the door.

You stumbled into his chamber, wearing a vest that framed your figure and a long skirt that shone you in a matronly light. The moisture left his mouth for a moment; then, he jeered at you to get the fuck out. He didn’t know why you left him starstruck, and he tried not to care — until you asked if it was okay to sit down with him. 

He scoffed. He wondered who the hell you thought you were, sauntering into his domain and demanding him to cooperate. It was only when you told him you weren’t trying to force him to do anything that he ceased his verbal tirade to let you speak. He tested you, of course. He claimed he wouldn’t say a damn thing to a whore like you. He thought you’d cry. You didn’t. Rather, you did something completely unexpected; you inquired why he thought they let a whore into his room and not a registered psychologist.

It was the first time he laughed in months.

In the present, he gazes at you across the table. You haven’t changed since then. It wasn’t a mere ploy to get him to cooperate. You continue to respect his boundaries. You don’t press him when he tells you to back off. You don’t bullshit him about the consequences of his actions, but you do it in a manner that’s exponentially humane. He truly believes you’re one of a kind.

“Questionnaires are less of a pain in the ass,” he replies at last. “Let’s do those, doc.”

He doesn’t want to have electrodes on his skull while he’s admiring you. It’s too invasive. What if the technicians are in the back, reading his thoughts, transcribing all the filthy things he wants to do to you?

“I imagine so.” You comment, grabbing a stack of papers from your bag. “In that case, I’ve got some quality of life and aggression stuff for you.”

“Quality of life scale?” He grunts. “I’ll save you the trouble. It’s been shitty.”

You offer him a half-smile.

“We’ll start with the aggression scale, then?”

He could stand to explore his anger, as you so diligently put it one session. You want to see him improve. He doesn’t mind indulging in some work while he’s here, particularly if it gives you an opportunity to get to know him better. He just won’t say enough to give himself away; you can’t know his actual identity, yet.

“Whatever.”

You accept this as a cue to commence. You scoop one of the papers from your pile and place it on the table. He cranes his neck to read it. You snatch it into your grasp before he can.

“Okay. Zero means not at all, whereas five means to a great extent. Got it?”

He nods.

“In the last week, how angry have you felt?”

He thinks about it. He spent the week before this one in solitary confinement. He sat with his thoughts enough to feel like a lunatic. Meals never came on time, and his bed was little better than a stone slab. After getting out, they gave him privileges in the common area for his good behaviour with you. It was meant to encourage his rehabilitation. In fact, he was told that you urged the guards to be more lenient with him.

He’s heard you talk to other patients at the facility. You’re not nearly as kind. You don’t go out of your way to do things for them. Your tone barely takes on the precise smoothness that it does with him. It’s obvious that you have feelings for him.

Before you, Dabi never believed in the concept of a soulmate. He simply slept with who he pleased and kept to himself whenever they got attached. Relationships aren’t his deal. And then you came along, with your perfect hair and calm face, and your lab coat and notepad, and your dorky glasses and irresistible smile.

“Two.”

So, it hasn’t been bad since he was released back into the general pool of prisoners. He notices his rage is at a record low. He wasn’t sure that was feasible after the accident.

“How helpless have you felt?”

He understands the correlation between anger and helplessness. The two intermingle in a turbulent dance of self-depravity. He couldn’t decide which of them to act on when he was in the heat of his recovery, in the days, weeks, months, and years following his coma. Being locked in this ward, with few virtues and little humility, has done nothing for the restlessness in his soul.

“Five.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“Can we explore that feeling?”

He snorts.

“I’d rather not.”

You don’t compel him to extrapolate. You simply move on. You realize there’s no point in grilling him. If he isn’t ready to tell you, he won’t tell you. You resolve to return to the inventory at a later date. As far as you know, he won’t be going anywhere. You have all the time in the world to uncover what’s ailing his mind.

“How much have you wanted to hurt yourself?”

“Zero.”

Another uncomfortable question. He doesn’t want to revive chilling memories of the day he took his life. The pain was immeasurable. In his final minutes of consciousness, he prayed for it to stop. He had no idea that three years would pass wherein he remained in a state of limbo.

“And we don’t want to talk about what zero means, right?”

Inwardly, he applauds you for trying.

“Nah.”

“Got it.” You surrender. “Can I keep going?”

He shrugs. You pause to give him a breather.

“In the last week, how much have you noticed aggressive behaviour coming up?”

Surely you must be aware of his one day stint in solitary a couple days ago. Do you really not claim to know why he beat this shit out of his cellmate? The poor guy didn’t do a damn thing but existed in his proximity; the true culprit was the man who put his arm around your waist. Dabi saw him through the small window of his shared room. He still can’t explain the blind fury that coursed through him.

It took three guards to get him off the man. In the end, they had to sedate him. His mate is going to live, but he doesn’t get to have anyone else in his room anymore. That’s fine by him; he prefers silence over yapping.

“Three.”

You hum, putting the papers down on the table. He knows that adorable expression; you’re worried about him. Is a three that bad?

“Tell me what a three means to you.”

He shakes his head and attempts to lean back in his chair. His eyelids droop, drinking in the way your blouse drops above your breasts.

“I’d rather not, gorgeous.”

“(F/n).” You sigh. “And if you’re sure you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t push you.”

He deliberates indulging in your request. It’s about time he told you how he feels, isn’t it? For you, that is. Enough with the questionnaires. Enough with the pretending. He wants to make his intention to have you known, so that you can begin to envision what a life with him would look like.

"Okay, last question, and it's open-ended," you murmur, moving on without the knowledge of the horror he’s planning to unveil. "In as much detail as possible, can you describe a time within the last week where you've had the impulse to harm someone?"

You don’t know how deliciously this question is, as it sinks into the sludge of his vindictive, rotten mind. He could describe hurting his cellmate — that’s probably what you’re anticipating him to do — but he’s not going to. He’s going to illustrate how he would kill one of your coworkers. Perhaps then you’ll realize the chokehold you have over him, and why you ignite a sinister greed in his decomposing depths.

“You know that bastard with the blue tie?”

Confusion washes across your face. You contemplate. He uses more descriptors to aid in your reflection, including his hair and eye colour. Slowly, you register who he’s referring to.

"...do you mean Dr. Seagrave?"

His grin is unable to be contained. Seagrave. What a fitting surname for a man who will be dead in a matter of weeks.

“Yeah, guess that’s him.”

You process his admittance. He perceives a flash of some emotion in your pretty orbs, though he can’t identify it.

“You’ve thought about hurting Dr. Seagrave this week?”

“Every damn day.” He professes. “Whenever I see him touch you, it makes me want to press my palm against his face and turn him to ash.”

You seem disturbed by his show of love and possessiveness. Unfortunately, that doesn’t deter him. You need to hear this.

“Whenever his hand brushes over your back, I want to burn his legs to charred stumps, and then use his head as target practice.” 

You visibly grimace. The images are too much for you. That’s a shame.

“The worst is when he smiles at you. Heh. That’s when I want to grab him by his hair, press my boot against his back, and pull until something breaks.”

He doesn’t seek to give Seagrave a death devoid of agony. Maybe that’s his father’s genetics talking. When someone takes what’s yours, it’s imperative that they pay the price.

“And if he’s ever within reach of me again.” A darkness flashes over his pale, marred face, while cerulean eyes twinkle with sheer cruelty. “I swear I’ll fucking do it.”

“Okay!” You clap your hands, uncharacteristically interrupting him. “I think I get your point.”

Dabi snickers.

“I’m not sure you do, doll.”

You could never hope to grasp his compulsions. You don’t feel for him with the same degree of intensity as he feels for you. You will, though; he’ll make sure of it.

Hastily, you check your watch. There’s a jagged line of sweat on your forehead, highlighting your anxiety. This isn’t like you. Has he finally made you fear him?

“Let’s explore this more next time.” You say. “I think that’s enough for today.”

So skittish. So cute.

You pack up your documents and get up from your seat. Hoisting your bag over your shoulder, you walk stiffly towards the door. He’s never seen you act this way.

“You don’t gotta run, doc.” He snickers, a hint of unease in his tone. “You’re not on my shit list.”

You halt as you punch in your code to release the lock. Regarding him over your shoulder, you manage a small smile.

“That’s good to know.”

You bid him goodnight and leave the cell.

Your heels clack against the ground as you wander down the long corridor of rooms. Some of them are occupied. Many are empty. When you’re halfway down the block, you lose your composure.

The panic hits you like a tsunami. It brings you to your knees. Sobbing into your palms, you muffle your cries so that no one can hear you break down. A nausea bubbling in your gut threatens to boil over.

Your boss assigned you to Dabi’s case as a last resort. He didn’t show signs of obsession until recently. Your humanistic approach, combined with your implied validation of his existence, might have primed you to be the target of his affection. You must have awakened something inside him with your acceptance. He wasn’t shown this sort of care as a child; men like him find it difficult to establish platonic relationships with women because they unconsciously seek to syphon that empathy until it’s dry. 

You’ll have to remove yourself from his case to remedy this. You don’t want anyone to be harmed; particularly not your fiancé. Although Doctor Seagrave doesn’t deal with Dabi, you have a nagging sensation in your heart imploring you to confide in him about what occurred mere moments ago. The purpose is not merely to vent to your lover, but also, to warn him of the arsonist’s wrath.

You wipe your eyes and straighten yourself out. You focus on the air flowing into, and departing from, your lungs. It’s almost six o’clock in the evening. If you run, you’ll catch your boss. After that, you’ll head to your fiancé’s office. 

You try to soothe your flaring nerves. Everything will be okay. Everything will sort itself out. After all, this is what protocols are for.

You walk towards the East wing of the large building, serenaded by the rough, hoarse voice of a patient, somewhere on the ward. His raspy notes echo off each lonely wall.

“Like a thief in the night... I’m coming for your heart, I’m coming for your heart. This time it’s anything goes. I guess I’m just a selfish ghost.”

[nguyenfinity]

You would not believe what AU I cooked up with @posebean this time it's genshin

Additional notes:

Melt synergy (also reversed colors yahoo)

They run a tea house!! Hachimitsu Tea House :]

And they're married

They're sooo married (Niki's ring is holding his lil tassel)

Niki

Support/healer (anyone's a dps if you build them hard enough though)

Signature dish: Cinnamon baked apple slices (we'll figure it out don't worry about it)

Ascension mats: pyro cube, slimes, naku weed

Constellation: esuriens ursi

Rinne

dps (glass cannon style)

Signature dish: Honeycomb nikujaga (once again don't worry about it)

Ascension mats: bathysmal vishap, treasure hoarders, onikabuto

Constellation: fila fati

he throws his claymore at you and then decks you in his normal attack sequence

mr. master of deception keeping his vision tucked away and wearing red

mostly useless without his wife (see: passive)

[hinamie]

I'll give them shelter like you've done for me

[parafic]

Mostly it's that I've been reading and absorbing fandom personalities for them (Izuna dramatic and showy, Hikaku The Sane One) for... however many years, and I'm trying to do something a bit different with their personalities, but those standard ones are still ingrained.

So for Izuna, what caught my attention is that apparently he's described in the data book as something that gets translated as 'peace-loving' or 'harmonious' (and probably other things, but those are the ones I've seen). Which is kind of a contrast to the very little we see of him, in which he seems very eager to fight and distrusting of peace.

It could just be that he's in favor of peace generally, but distrusts the Senju specifically and we just don't see his opinion on peace otherwise. But I think, combined with how Madara and the Uchiha fell apart without him, it's also reasonable (and to me, more interesting) to interpret that as a reference to someone who values/is a source of interpersonal harmony. Izuna is the one who notices and redirects a conversation before an argument starts, soothes ruffled feathers, listens to peoples' concerns and persuades them to give Madara's latest strategy a try, finds an excuse to have a celebration when people need to be cheered up, notices if a clan member is being excluded and figures out what's up and how to fix it. He keeps morale up and everyone working together.

But the flip side of that is someone who's really conflict averse (emotionally speaking), and to do all that effectively for a whole clan, he's constantly putting on different personas. So like, that common characterization where he's dramatic and demanding might be how he acts around Madara, because Madara likes having a baby brother, but he doesn't do it around anyone else. And he'll have a bunch of other different ways of acting for when he's around younger shinobi, older shinobi, various groups of elders, kids, parents, etc, based on what they expect of him/like him to be. (Everyone does this to an extent, but I'm thinking Izuna does it a lot more than most.)

And at the same time, when things upset him, he's likely to let them go because he doesn't want to start an argument, people would be upset if he asked them to stop, etc, and if he just ignores it then nobody's upset so no harm done, right? So the end result is an Izuna who's barely (if at all) more aware of his own emotions than Tobirama is, he just has a very different mask.

So from a writing perspective, that is a complicated character to write anyway, and it overlaps enough with the popular characterization I see that sometimes I'm not entirely sure which I'm writing. Also this is a weird and extreme situation that Izuna has no preestablished way of acting for, so in-story he's struggling to figure out how to act to begin with. So it's a lot to balance, basically.

Hikaku is a little simpler! The way I'm characterizing Izuna overlaps some with Hikaku's usual only sane man/The One Who Gets Things Done role, so I want to give Hikaku some other traits so that he doesn't feel redundant. I also think he deserves to get to be Uchiha dramatic sometimes too, but I don't want to just give him a copy of Madara's/Izuna's/Sasuke's usual personality.

So I'm aiming for him being quieter than they are, but without just being calm, and more willing to argue and criticize (or just snark) than Izuna usually will be. But he's also starting out in an extreme situation that has him very off kilter emotionally, so he wouldn't be acting exactly like himself anyway, so I'm trying to figure out like, his baseline personality, and also how that's going to be affected by what's going on at the same time, so it's kind of doing two steps at once. (And is part of why I've been using his POV so much; it helps me work all that out when I can just write out all his thoughts as I go.)

Honestly the tunnel visioning is probably most of what ADHD Tobirama will mean for this fic; it's more that I just looked at how I usually characterize him and went 'yeah that sounds like ADHD'. Though Hikaku mentioning that Tobirama is "even rapidly bouncing his heel against the floor the way he seems to do when deep in concentration" is a bit more deliberate reference to Tobirama showing ADHD symptoms (since fidget toys are not exactly abundant in this setting, and he'd probably consider them too undignified to use himself anyway).

The sensing bloodline limit is all me! One of those headcanons that technically kind of contradicts canon a little but like. I prefer it. (Though @domoz is using a variant in the Hanahaki-adjacent AU!)

Basically the idea is that usually, a person's chakra system is like the circulatory system: it's more or less closed off from anything external, your body produces and uses it, but anything from outside is going through the stomach or lungs or something first.

But in the Senju, chakra is a little more permeable. It's a little more like, say, the water in a bay: it's distinct from the ocean but it's not cut off from the ocean by any means, and there's always some amount of flow back and forth.

So, because they're always having a little bit of chakra flow back and forth with the chakra around them (both natural and other Senjus' chakra), they get passive sensing. Which is not entirely as useful as it sounds; range is based largely on how much chakra a person has (though they can extend it or pull it back with conscious effort) but learning to distinguish chakra signatures and place their location is difficult and much rarer for someone to be good at. Hashirama for example technically has a bigger sensing range than Tobirama, but he can't distinguish signatures or estimate distance well, so it's not much use for him. (Though he will be able to tell that Tobirama is still alive while he's trapped on the island.)

All Senju (with this trait) do have the advantage of being able to feel when another chakra signature is present though, since basically no one else knows this is a sense to hide from. Senju can also read shifts in peoples' chakra the way that other people might read facial expressions, which again other people don't usually learn to control or hide, so the Senju get a nice edge there.

(In this headcanon the sensing jutsu, which Hikaku uses in this fic and is used in canon, was invented in the past to both give allies access to some of the same information the Senju had, and to cover up that what the Senju were doing was not a jutsu. Which is why both exist.)

Senju might also have a bit of an advantage at using elemental and/or sage jutsu, because their chakra is always a little bit bleeding back and forth with natural chakra, so it's more familiar to them. Not a huge advantage though.

The vulnerability is poison. Most poisons target the physical body and very few target chakra itself (with the exception of chakra suppressing poisons, which are more common). But when a Senju is hit by something that turns their chakra toxic, it will spread to every other Senju in their range, and then in all those Senjus' ranges, and....

So best case scenario an entire team gets wiped out. More likely it's several teams in the same area. Worst case scenario someone gets hit with something while Hashirama is alive, it spreads to his chakra, and from him it spreads to every other Senju with the same trait, and that's how the Senju clan disappears.

Tobirama escapes because he happened to be in his lab at the time, which is shielded against chakra going in or out, in case he accidentally invented something chakra toxic. And some Senju, presumably including Tsunade and Nawaki, just don't have the trait to begin with so they survive. But most of the clan falls over dead within about an hour, which Senju generations ago more or less saw coming, which is why they kept the bloodline so secret and tried to breed it out.

(Some non-Senju in allied clans that intermarried would probably also have had the trait and died along with the Senju too, but I have not planned anything detailed about that because that is the bad ending AU and I don't enjoy those.)

a lot more focused on the results of interaction than the often annoyingly intricate path to get there "correctly", except people put a lot of stock on the "correct" path of behavior and WILL react weirdly if you don't follow enough of it.

Yeah! Tobirama is very focused on efficiency and getting things done, and he thinks everyone else ought to be equally focused on practicalities, so he has no interest in wasting time on being indirect.

I do think he can be polite if he has to--he's a clan heir, he's going to get stuck doing politics and diplomacy to some extent, so he doesn't really get a choice about learning this, and he's the type to learn how to be excellent at it because it's important even if he hates it. (And he's aware of appearances, demonstrated by scolding Hashirama about dignity in public and such.) But getting him to use those skills when he's not in an explicitly diplomatic setting (or maybe in disguise) isn't likely.

(Which does again make him kind of the opposite of Izuna; Izuna is compulsively diplomatic, because he sees value in building rapport and connections with as many people as possible. Izuna is building a tightly-knit community while Tobirama runs a well-oiled machine.)

You're welcome, I'm glad you like the songbirds! If you haven't read it, you might like @denialcity's hanahaki AU, for adoration grow. Somewhere in there is a scene where Izuna sings for Tobirama and Tobirama discovers that music can make him Feel Things.

(I also have equivalent headcanons for the Senju and Uzumaki collective hobbies, but they're not musical.)

Sparring will lead to yet another culture clash, in which the Uchiha decide the Senju are insane and Tobirama is judgy (after he gets over being freaked out).

The Uchiha aren't having too difficult a time; Kagami isn't old enough to know most sharingan secrets, and Ruri is old enough to know what not to say. Plus there's a general politeness norm among shinobi of not asking about clan secrets when clans are interacting in a polite way, so all the kids generally know not to ask (and probably don't know too many secrets even if they were asked).

Tobirama is having a bit more difficult a time keeping Uzumaki seals hidden, because the Uchiha can copy any seal they see him make and that would be that. But again, the Uzumaki kids are mostly either too young to know seals or old enough to remember not to share them, so Tobirama mostly has to hide his own work. Which is a bit inconvenient, but he can just tell the Uchiha to leave so he can make a seal, and can sense whether anyone is close enough to watch him, so it's workable.

They also don't really care much about other clans' secrets. If a kid from one water country clan gives something away to a kid from another, that is not their problem and they have bigger things to worry about. Rescue your own kids next time if it bothers you. Aside from the Uzumaki the clans here are too distant to be allies to either the Senju or the Uchiha, so they have no obligation to care and are already doing these clans a huge favor by rescuing their kids, keeping them alive, and eventually returning them.

Thank you! The jutsu definition headcanon is mostly Domoz's, although I did adopt it immediately.

And there actually aren't really secrets to worry about in that case! The Uchiha know that if a Senju uses a jutsu, that Senju will probably also know several 'related' jutsu; that's not something the Senju could or have attempted to hide. It's basically a semantic difference; the Senju label something on jutsu and the Uchiha label it a cluster of related jutsu, but everyone's still aware that the options exist.

Izuna specifically has been expecting Tobirama to show up with a 'new' water dragon jutsu for some time, so his reaction is more along the lines of 'of COURSE you can do this now'. Though he WILL be annoyed at Tobirama insisting that they're all one jutsu. Izuna takes pride in how many jutsu Tobirama has invented to fight him with, stop trying to ruin his score!

(It will probably come up very late, though; the most likely prompt for this is Tobirama being introduced to the Uchiha jutsu library, and that is a post-relationship thing motivated maybe by Izuna and Hikaku innocently trying to give him a gift and possibly by hopes of interesting him in the sex jutsu section.)

Tobirama has at minimum collected some hints about Uchiha organization! He's trying to figure out exactly how hierarchy works between Izuna and Hikaku, and who Hikaku is that he seems to sometimes have equal authority to Izuna.

The Senju have basically one hierarchy: Hashirama at the top, Tobirama second, and everyone in charge of various things they've delegated answering to them. War and missions are all built into the same system, and shinobi are sent where their talents are needed, because the down side to having a wide variety of talents is that you often only have one or two people that can do any specific thing. So a Senju who's good at sneaking in and stealing things, for example, will be sent to steal the enemies' battle plans and that valuable vase some lord wants but can't buy.

The Uchiha basically all learn the same style of fighting, the same types of jutsu, etc; obviously there's some variety but nothing compared to the Senju. They also might just have more people in general. So they have basically two hierarchies; the war/battle shinobi (who are led by Madara and Izuna) and the mission shinobi (who Hikaku is in charge of). The two operate in parallel, and shinobi generally only are part of one, not both (other than kids/young shinobi still figuring out where they fit).

(This could also have gone the other way around, and had the clan head running missions primarily and someone else handling the war. But uh, Madara and Izuna are both very war-oriented. In other generations it's been different.)

As a result of that, since they're on a mission, Hikaku is actually officially in charge here. But Izuna is the clan heir (and functional co-clan head) in addition to co-head of the war, so Hikaku is used to deferring to him and Izuna is used to being in charge, and Tobirama's presence is another argument for Izuna to take the lead because Hikaku has no personal experience with Tobirama. So Hikaku and Izuna are kind of unclear on who's in charge here, which is fine because they trust and respect each other and agree on their goals.

So that's what was going on when they're trying to plan how to attack, and Izuna says he's outvoted and makes Hikaku do the negotiating instead; if Izuna was actually in charge of the mission he couldn't be outvoted. And Tobirama doesn't know exactly what's up there but he's sure something is, so he's Observing. (And also why he asked about whether Izuna would follow the plan he and Hikaku made; he expects Izuna to outrank Hikaku the same way Tobirama would outrank any teammates he had on a mission, and Tobirama wouldn’t necessarily be obligated to keep an agreement/follow a plan any other Senju made, so he thinks it’s weird and suspicious that Hikaku is making the plans instead of Izuna.)

He was also fishing for information during the "you deserve to suffer slightly less than bloodline thieves" exchange; he's trying to figure out Izuna's opinions on peace/alliance, since that's a thing Hashirama wants.

(But also yes, he feels very bad about giving away the healing jutsu thing and will try to apologize to Hashirama about it when he gets the chance.)

That works really well for the limits on Hiraishin! It did always seem odd to me that two unrelated people could use it but no one else. (Though for Typhoon Island it's just not invented yet, otherwise Tobirama could teleport off the island and we wouldn't have weeks of pining to inflict on them all.)

...are you trying to show off for the pretty guys, Tobira? >__>

XD Not quite yet! (I mean, he might have been trying with the first fish, but that was general pride + "see I am a Useful Ally, now how about we stop this whole 'war' thing".) With the second fish he's just very sneakily being a little shit, because he thinks them freaking out over An Ordinary Fish is funny. (And unimpressive. But he can judge them AND laugh at them just fine.)

(He won't admit it. But this is the Tobirama version of a prank.)

You're welcome, and thank you! I'm really enjoying getting to talk about all this.

@starstuffduster You are SO right about needing distractions, unfortunately I am working overtime so it will be even later than usual before I can write

(Do send me lots of asks though! I'm off tomorrow so I can write plenty then)

In the meantime, have a couple of incomplete later scenes from Typhoon Island (which will probably get rewritten but they're fun for now)

Hikaku finds Tobirama sitting under the ledge, where the rain is blocked but some light still filters in.  His eyes are closed, and his face is perfectly blank as he traces ink blindly over his face and throat.  A seal, clearly, though what it’s meant to do, Hikaku can’t imagine.

Tobirama is too skilled not to have noticed him, even rapidly bouncing his heel against the floor the way he seems to do when deep in concentration.  How Tobirama managed to train his skills so that he is always aware of the people near him, but has missed sunrise, sunset, food placed beside him, and being rained on, all in the few weeks they’ve been here, Hikaku still hasn’t figured out.  But a surprised shinobi reacts violently, and Tobirama is no exception, as proven by the times a sudden movement has startled him.

So Hikaku knows Tobirama is ignoring him for several minutes.  As Tobirama is currently placing the most intricate seal Hikaku has ever seen on his own face, and doing it blindly, that’s more than reasonable.

Tobirama stops abruptly, his heel landing sharply on the stone.  Hikaku doesn’t glimpse the handseal that pulls rain into a bubble over Tobirama.  The bubble bursts and splashes over Tobirama’s face, blurring most of the seal and drawing the ink in distracting trails down his throat.

Hikaku sets that aside for later.  “Difficulties with the seal?” he asks.

“Obviously,” Tobirama says shortly.  He wipes some of the water off of his throat, smearing the sealwork there further.

Hikaku still doesn’t know whether Tobirama is aware of his own rudeness.  He has learned that ignoring it is usually enough to end it.  “Would a mirror help?”

Hikaku doesn’t have a mirror, and neither does Izuna.  But they could probably work out something adequately reflective, if the seal is important.

“Hmm.  Unlikely,” Tobirama decides.  He unfolds from the rock he was sitting on and starts back toward the main cavern, and he’s still somehow taller than Hikaku remembers.  “The seal is meant to be used in groups, applied to each other.  The difficulty is in applying it backwards.  Seeing it would likely be a distraction.”

Hikaku will never comprehend the Senju mind.  “What sort of seal is it?”

Tobirama hums.  It takes several seconds for him to answer, and they get close enough for Izuna’s voice to reach them, slightly distorted, singing a children’s training song.  Several of the children have joined in, with a much larger range in skill than Hikaku expected children so old to have.

Mostly in the direction of less skill.  Do other clans teach their children nothing except to fight?

“It is a snorkeling seal,” Tobirama says.  “By drawing on the user’s chakra, it draws air from the surface into their lungs, and allows them to remain under water indefinitely.”

An incredibly useful seal, then.  It would be a deeply concerning one as well, except that most of its uses are pointless in Fire Country.  Fire Country has many streams and creeks, but even the Nakano, which is the largest river in the country, is only rarely deep enough for a person to truly hide in its depths.  Mostly, a submerged shinobi would only look like a fool, trying to hide a few feet below the surface of clear water.

But in a place like Water Country, much less these Whirlpool islands… Hikaku is glad that the Uchiha so rarely venture outside of Fire Country.

Still, it gives him an idea.  “If it is not given chakra, does it do anything?”

“No.”

“So it’s safe?”

The question earns a quick flick of Tobirama’s eyes in his direction, before they return to the tunnel ahead.  “Children use it.”

“If you were to draw it on me, then,” Hikaku says, and even having concluded there would be no danger, his heart rate picks up, “Izuna could watch, and draw it on you.”

Tobirama pauses, a fractional delay in his steps as he glances in Hikaku’s direction again, this time longer, almost actually looking.  But he shakes his head.  “It is an Uzumaki seal.”

“I have not yet found a limit on the complexity of what the sharingan can copy,” Hikaku says.

“The Uzumaki are protective of their secrets.”

Ah.  A different issue than Hikaku assumed.  The Uzumaki are Senju allies, but it’s not a seal for war.  “Is it that valuable?  I can’t see it being used often in Fire Country.  I’ve never seen a river or lake large enough to hide in.”

“Fire Country doesn’t have lakes; we only have ponds,” Tobirama says, as if reciting the opinion.  “Every seal is valuable.  If not for its own effect, then for what it will teach about sealing.”

“I see.”

Izuna stops singing the moment they reach the cavern, and most of the children break off after him, uncoordinated.  Kagami continues alone, his voice clear until he finishes the verse.

“Izuna-san is teaching us Uchiha music!” [Uzukid] announces.  Izuna’s face goes strained.

“Is it very similar to Uzumaki music?” Tobirama asks, apparently interested, which sets all the kids off.  Uchiha music isn’t much like Uzumaki music at all; the [idk water bloodline] have some similar music but it’s not [waterkid]’s favorite; the Hyuuga have the same song, with only a few different words.  Tobirama listens with solemn interest.

As soon as every child has shared their comparisons, Tobirama focuses on [Uzutween].  “[Uzutween], are you familiar with the snorkeling seal?”

She nods, looking slightly confused by the question.

“Good,” Tobirama says.  “Come with me; I am going to use it to go fishing, and I am not able to apply it to myself.”

--

“Look!  Abalone!”

[Uzukid] is grinning when Hikaku glances over, holding up a palm-length, brown shell with six holes in a line and oddly triangular spots.  She, of course, is looking at Tobirama, who pauses in his demonstration of prying mussels off the rocks to seriously examine the shell she hands over.

“Very good,” Tobirama says, and hands the shell back to her.  “Your family works with abalone, don’t they?”

“Yeah!”

Tobirama nods again, and turns to include the other children in his explanation.  “We likely won’t find many abalone here, but they’re valuable and harmless, so collect any that you see.  [Uzukid], would you like to explain how to identify them?”

“Yeah!”

The rest of the kids cluster around and [Uzukid] holds up the shell, pointing out the shape, colors, and shiny interior.  The Uzumaki eat the snails, and make the shells into all kinds of jewelry and decoration.

Tobirama listens, but his eyes keep sliding away, scanning the pool and the area nearby.  Izuna glances over, sharingan flicking on to catch the image of the abalone’s shell, and then goes back to hunting through a pool closer to the water.  Hikaku listens while he keeps prying mussels off of stone and tossing them up the beach toward dry land.

The kids spread out again, now mostly ignoring the abundant mussels as they stick their faces in the water and peer under rocks in search of abalone.  [Uzukid] turns rocks over a little more strategically, and keeps chattering.  “An’ when you grind the shells up really good, you mix ‘em in with ink and make star seals!  That’s what my family does, for the whole village!”

“What are star seals, [Uzukid]?” Tobirama asks.

“You’ve seen them!  On the roofs!”

“I have, but not everyone here has,” Tobirama says.  “Kagami, do you know what star seals are?”

“Not yet!” Kagami chirps.

“They’re sparkly!  And bright!”  [Uzukid] gestures, hands flying out in a burst of implied light.  “We put ‘em on the edges of the roofs so the old shinobi don’t fall at night!”

[Uzukid]’s descriptions make it sound as if every day is a festival in Uzushio.  It’s a shame, Hikaku thinks, that he won’t get to see it.  But the Uzumaki have been the Senju’s allies almost as long as the Uchiha have been their enemies.  Hikaku will no more be allowed to see Uzushio than Tobirama’s bedroom.

“What if they’re too bright?” Kagami asks.

“They’re not!” [Uzukid] declares indignantly.  “They’re star seals, not… not sea-glare seals, or something!”

Kagami nods seriously.

“Seals that create a bright light as their primary effect are called flash seals,” Tobirama says.

“Yeah!  They’re not flash seals!”

“But flash seals are one of the primary types of seal which Uchiha encounter,” Tobirama says.  “So it’s reasonable for Kagami to think of them.”

“And fire seals,” Kagami adds.

“Explosive tags,” Tobirama corrects.

“Izuna-sama hates those,” Kagami shares.  “He says fire’s ours so it’s not fair Senju can fake it without learning real jutsu.”

Tobirama smirks, a flicker at the corner of his mouth that vanishes before he raises his voice enough to make it carry.  “Well, next time he says that, you may tell him that Senju use fire jutsu, too; he just hasn’t seen.  And he should know better than to make assumptions like that.”

Kagami grins and nods.  A few other children giggle.

Izuna looks thoroughly annoyed, but he turns away instead of saying anything.  He’ll have plenty to say later, Hikaku is sure, once Tobirama and the kids are out of hearing, but for now he tosses his hair back and peers deliberately into the water.

“Are there lots of kinds of seals, Senju-sensei?” Kagami asks.

“More than I can list at once,” Tobirama says.  “Seals are even more varied than jutsu, only less commonly used.  Now, how many mussels have you found?”

The Uchiha are collectors of jutsu.  Every jutsu that any Uchiha has seen since the beginning of the clan is recorded, both in written form and in memories passed down across the generations.  Many of those jutsu are useless—there are dozens of campfire-lighting jutsu, invented by different clans in different countries and different generations, and the Uchiha only need one.  But they are kept anyway, for any who want to study jutsu creation, or in case an Uchiha needs to disguise themselves as a member of another clan.

Among those jutsu are thousands that have no use at all in war.  Jutsu to make food more flavorful, to shape wood and metal and stone with greater precision than a handheld tool, to send messages, to embellish dance, to amplify music or sensation.  Most Uchiha learn a handful of them.  Jutsu for singing and sex are the most popular, and those that are useful with various crafts.  Hikaku has at least glanced through most sections of the library, looking for interesting options.  Each recorded jutsu also records the source, and every Senju jutsu Hikaku has ever seen is for war.  Hikaku used to be sure that meant the Senju simply didn’t know or use jutsu for anything other than battle, sabotage, and the like.

But once this season is over he’s going to have to go home and add an entire new section to the library for jutsu that heal.  Not merely by shaping a needle out of a broken blade or pulling gravel out of wounds, but actively.  It’s still technically for war, but it’s an entire category of jutsu that the Uchiha didn’t even know were possible, which the Senju seem to have been using for generations, the way Tobirama acted about it.

So maybe, being a Senju, Tobirama doesn’t know the full variety of uses jutsu can have.  Or maybe the Senju are very good at keeping secrets, and seals can do things Hikaku hasn’t even imagined.

It really is a shame that he’ll never see the Uzumaki compound.

Hikaku pries the last mussel worth eating off the rocks, tosses it into the pile with the rest, and straightens.  The children are enthusiastic, but very distracted by all the unfamiliar creatures in the pools, and Tobirama is similarly distracted by watching and teaching them all.

Hikaku and Izuna, then, will have to do most of the foraging.  Which isn’t worrying, really; Hikaku is no longer concerned about starving while they’re trapped on this island.  But he’d rather not eat every meal from the same single fish for a week again, nor would he like to see what bigger fish Tobirama could possibly find. 

[this is followed by Hikaku picking up a blue ringed octopus, and Tobirama being Totally Rational And Calm And Not Panicking in response. As he always is, of course]

[pepperpixel]

I haven’t posted art in forever, (I am currently working on art tho!! It’s just taking me a bit cuz.. job..) but! But… what about if instead of the art u guys came here for. I instead posted pictures of the cool lil outfits I’ve been wearing recently that im rlly proud of… what about that???

[mc-tummy-blur]

Do I have any canonical proof that they were friends? No.

Am I going to believe that they were friends? Yes.

He’s showing her plants and she’s telling him the Latin name for them

Click for better quality

Check my pinned post to see links on how you can help the people of Palestine

[angiestown]

[du-hjarta-skulblaka]

Some mild existential dread in the house today

[agapestricken]

hello, hello, you all — so... i hope you all are having a great thursday thus far, and i thought i'd bring this up now since i hadn't before; but with ana's zombification comes some noticeable differences to his behavior as well as appearance. because, and don't get me wrong, he was already pale before... but now anastasiy's skin now has this pallor that takes on a sickly look. and it has become necessary for ana to have to apply some concealer to his skin daily to hide the fact that his lips are, indeed, sort of tinged blue + some veins (particularly around his eyes and mouth) can clearly be seen and it definitely isn't the most uhh. natural look, to say the least JSJSJ

now, i'll probably cover more about his behavioral differences later, but one thing is that this man does have these SICK and TWISTED urges to consume human flesh as a zombie would in typical fiction would... so that's lovely / j LMAO nahhh, i'm totally being sarcastic with y'all right now as that is actually horrifying. but anastasiy does try his darndest to resist giving into this temptation because cannibalism is a BIG no-no in society for a reason (because its absolutely terrible and extremely gross) + with... slightly mixed results 😬

[sonicenvy]

one of my favorite library kid encounters this weekend was a with a little Greek three-year-old named Andromeda. She and her mom came up to get her beads for SRP, and, as is pretty common, they start telling me about what they've been reading. Friends, this child and her mother have been reading the Odyssey in Greek together. The mom and the kid chat back and forth in Greek together about the Odyssey while picking beads (and counting them in Greek), translating bits and pieces for me as they go along.

Apparently, Andromeda's favorite character in the Odyssey is Penelope, which, uh, girl I see u!!!!! Obsessed with the vibes of this toddler who read the Odyssey in Greek with her mom FIVE times this summer because that's her favorite book! GOOD! FOR! HER!

Additionally the mom was like, "yeah we also read the Iliad this summer."

no notes. impeccable. there are days when i love our kids so much y'all.

[nikki-handholder]

hey can yall tag story spoilers or put it under read more. please

[waxflowerwoes]

obviously chandrilan fashion is influenced by traditional east asian garments (the first time i was watched andor i was thinking about how much it reminded me of korean hanbok but that bias is probably indicative of how i grew up near a koreatown) and i saw someone somewhere say that it's odd that the shirts are crossed right over left (the way to dress a dead person) instead of the traditional left over right

now this could be a cultural oversight on the part of the costume designers. it wouldn't be the first time hollywood (or even star wars) appropriated an aesthetic they didn't understand. but with the line "play it how you want. but i'm going to assume i'm already dead," also existing in this show, maybe it's not.