#because 1. it’s not like she doesn’t know my stance on this and we didn’t have a big fight last trump election?? oh how quickly they forget

[titsthedamnseason]

my mom (a north carolina voter in a swing county): if i knew you weren’t going to talk to me if i voted for trump i would have voted for kamala

[d-z20]

The Agent Next Door part 2 (NSFW)

Pairing: Agent Rio Vidal x Reader

Summary: You've not seen Rio since you moved back into your apartment, but a prank leads to you two going on a proper date which ends well. Very well indeed. -OR- You guys go on a date and end up fucking all night because you've missed each other so much

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, smut, fingering (R & Rio recv), strap on (R recv), oral (Rio recv), switch Rio & reader

Words: 2.4k

A/N: The voice of the people asked for smut, so smut you shall receive. I've kept it light for this part to establish more of a relationship and then there's a darker theme in the next part.

AO3 | Part 1 | Part 3 | Master List

Fire Drills and First Dates

The days after staying with Rio feel oddly quiet. You’re back in your own apartment, and though everything is fixed now—the door, the shower—you find yourself missing her presence. You hadn’t realised how much you’d grown used to having her around—her sharp wit, her teasing smiles. You’ve only exchanged a few texts since she’s gone back to work, and each one leaves you wanting more. It’s silly, you think, how you’re craving her company. It’s not like you’re avoiding her, but you haven’t had a proper excuse to run into her yet, either.

That is, until one evening when you’re lounging in your pyjamas—an old, baggy tee and some basketball shorts—when the shrill sound of the fire alarm pierces the air. You nearly jump out of your skin, fumbling to grab your phone, keys, and—out of pure panic—a spatula that was on the counter. You bolt for the door, clutching it like it might somehow help.

The hallway is already filled with a few confused neighbours milling about, but it’s Rio you nearly crash straight into.

She’s in a sports bra and shorts, hair mussed like she’s just rolled out of bed. “Well, well,” she says, her grin wide and teasing as she eyes you up and down. “Didn’t realise we were dressing for the apocalypse.”

You look down at yourself, realising just how ridiculous you must look in your mismatched, oversized tee, clutching a spatula like a weapon. "Oh, so you're a fashion critic now too, are you?” you shoot back, rolling your eyes. “And in case of emergency pancake flipping, I’m clearly prepared.”

Rio laughs, the sound echoing down the hallway. “Pancake flipping? Were you planning to defend us from the fire with that?”

“Hey, you never know,” you retort, waving the spatula in the air. “Could be a very specific kind of fire.”

Before you can respond further, the building manager appears, looking exasperated. “False alarm, folks. Some kids pulled it as a prank.”

Rio gives you a sidelong glance, smirking. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

“Speak for yourself,” you say with mock seriousness. “I risked life and limb to look like this.”

She snorts, shaking her head as she turns to you, stepping closer. “You know, we haven’t actually spent time together since you moved back into your place,” she says, her voice softer now, a hint of something else in her eyes.

You raise an eyebrow. “Was that your way of asking me out, or...”

She huffs a laugh, reaching out to tug lightly at the hem of your tee. “How about we go on a real date, then? Somewhere that doesn’t involve fire alarms or broken doors.”

You grin. “I’d like that.”

—

You meet at a small bar a few nights later, dressed up for once, but there’s still an easy, casual air between you. The place is cozy, with dim lighting and an impressive drink menu. Rio’s leaning against the bar when you walk in, looking effortlessly stunning in a tailored black suit with a sleek blazer and matching trousers. Her hair is neatly styled back, accentuating the sharp lines of her outfit. The deep neckline and confident stance make her presence magnetic, and you can’t help but stare. Her eyes light up when she sees you, extending her arms to embrace you in a quick hug.

“Well, if it isn’t my favourite neighbour,” she greets, flashing a smile. “You clean up nicely.”

You had chosen a soft, striped blouse paired with wide-leg pants that cinch perfectly at your waist. The relaxed fit feels comfortable yet polished, and the delicate necklace at your collarbone, paired with a few understated rings, brings a subtle touch of elegance. You catch Rio’s approving gaze as she takes in your look, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Thanks,” you say, sliding onto the stool next to her. “Figured I should leave the spatula at home this time.”

She laughs, leaning in a little closer. “Probably a wise choice.”

The date flows effortlessly. You banter back and forth, teasing and flirting like it’s second nature. You tell her the story of your worst first date, and she counters with a tale about a stakeout that went horribly wrong, involving a coffee spill and a suspect with an unfortunate penchant for karaoke.

At one point, she leans in, lowering her voice. “You know, I was worried we’d have one of those awkward first dates where we run out of things to talk about.”

You smirk, taking a sip of your drink. “Rio, you broke into my apartment and saw me half-naked. I think we’re past awkward.”

She chuckles, her eyes sparkling as she reaches across the table, taking your hand. “Fair point.”

The night ends with you walking back to her place, the conversation never once faltering. The city lights cast a soft glow over everything, and when you reach her door, she pauses, turning to face you fully.

“So,” she says, her tone a little lower, more serious. “Do I get to kiss you goodnight, or would that be too forward?”

You tilt your head, pretending to think. “Well, you did promise me a real date. I think that earns you a real kiss.”

The moment her lips meet yours, it’s like everything else fades away. She pulls you closer, her hand sliding up to cup the back of your neck. It’s soft at first, but then she deepens it, her tongue teasing against yours in a way that has you breathless. She presses you back against her door, and you can feel her smile against your lips when you let out a soft, involuntary moan.

“Since you left, all I’ve been able to think about was doing this again,” she murmurs, her voice rough and low, filled with that same intense need that always leaves you breathless.

You smirk, pressing closer, letting your fingers trace the line of her jaw. “Oh, I noticed,” you tease, your own voice coming out softer, more vulnerable than you intended.

Rio’s response is a low throaty chuckle that turns into a deep, searing kiss. It’s urgent this time, no hesitation, like she’s trying to make up for every second you weren’t together. Her hands are already tugging at your shirt, her touch firm and possessive. You don’t waste any time either, and start undoing her blazer, pulling her closer until there’s no space left between you.

The two of you stumble back into her apartment, her hands never leaving your body as she guides you through the door. You push her up against the wall first, fingers threading into her dark hair, tugging slightly. She groans against your mouth, and you can feel her grin as you take control, sucking at her lower lip before trailing kisses down her neck.

"Bedroom, now," you whisper against her skin, and she doesn’t argue, practically dragging you to the bed.

The second you reach the mattress, she spins you around, pushing you down firmly before climbing on top. Her eyes are dark, pupils blown wide as she looks down at you. "I love it when you try to take control," she purrs, her voice dripping with amusement as she straddles your hips, her hands sliding under your shirt.

You arch up, letting her peel the fabric away, but before she can continue, you flip her over, pinning her wrists above her head. She lets out a surprised laugh, a glint of delight flashing in her eyes. “Oh, taking charge now, are we?” she taunts.

You lean down, nipping at her jaw. “You got a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” she breathes, her voice catching as you kiss your way down her neck. Her legs wrap around your waist, pulling you closer as you grind against her, both of you groaning at the sensation.

It’s not long before she reverses the position, pinning you to the bed with a smirk. “My turn,” she says simply, and her mouth is on you again, hot and insistent as her hands slide lower, making quick work of your pants.

You lose track of time, caught in a fevered rhythm of give and take. It’s heated and frenzied, the two of you constantly switching who’s in control, neither willing to yield completely. Her hands roam your body with a knowing touch, exploring every curve like she’s memorising you all over again. You respond in kind, your fingers gripping her hips, nails digging in just enough to leave a mark.

She pushes you back against the mattress, pinning you there with a smirk that turns into a hungry kiss. You gasp into her mouth as her fingers slip lower, finding you already wet and wanting. The first touch makes you arch up into her, a strangled moan escaping your lips. Rio takes her time, working you with slow, deliberate strokes until you’re trembling beneath her. She watches you with hooded eyes, clearly enjoying the way you fall apart under her touch.

But you don’t let her stay in control for long. With a quick movement, you roll her onto her back, pinning her wrists above her head, your lips trailing down the line of her throat, sucking at the delicate skin. Her breath hitches when you move lower, slipping your hand beneath the open blazer to reveal the smooth expanse of her stomach. You kiss your way down, taking your time until you reach the waistband of her pants. Her hips lift, silently begging, but you pause, teasing her just like she teased you.

“Patience,” you whisper against her skin, loving the way her eyes darken with desire. You take your time, fingers tracing the waistband slowly before unfastening her pants with deliberate slowness. You tug them down inch by inch, letting your knuckles brush against her thighs, teasing her as her breath catches in anticipation.

You gaze down at her, taking in the sight of her matching green lingerie. “Did you put this on just for me?.” You ask, pulling the thin strip of fabric covering her pussy to the side, making sure your knuckles brush over her clit as you do. You bite your lip at the sight of just how wet she was, letting out a low moan as you try to compose yourself.

When you finally take her in your mouth, her reaction is immediate—a deep, guttural moan that sends a shiver down your spine. Her hands tangle in your hair, pulling you closer as you work her over, the taste of her intoxicating. She comes undone beneath you, her entire body tensing, back arching off the bed as she gasps your name.

You barely get a moment to catch your breath before she flips you over again, her mouth crashing down on yours in a heated kiss. She slips her hand between your thighs, her fingers finding your most sensitive spot and circling there with a relentless rhythm. The pleasure builds quickly, leaving you breathless, moaning into her mouth as she brings you to the edge and then pushes you over.

“Fuck, Rio,” you cry out, your whole body shaking as you come apart, clinging to her.

She grins, looking utterly smug, as she kisses you again, this time slower, more intimate. “I could do this all night,” she murmurs, and you believe her.

It’s a cycle of heated kisses, whispered praises, and a desperate need to touch and taste each other. You take turns pinning each other down, exploring every inch of skin like it’s the first time, making good on every unspoken promise from the last time you were together. The bed creaks beneath your movements, sheets twisted and tangled around your bodies.

At one point, you find yourself straddling her hips, guiding her hands to your waist as you rock against her strap. She looks up at you like you’re the only thing she wants in the world, and the intensity of it makes you falter for a second. But she steadies you with a firm grip, thrusting up against you, making you cry out as you ride the waves of pleasure.

You both end up tangled in the sheets, panting and laughing in between gasps and moans. You soon find yourself on top of her again, pressing kisses down her chest whilst you curl your fingers inside her, your name falling from her lips in a way that makes your heart stutter. It’s messy and passionate, filled with half-formed words and needy whispers, other fantasies from your mind playing out in real-time, surpassing even your most vivid daydreams.

By the time you collapse beside each other, the room is filled with the smell of sweat and sex, and the only sound is your ragged breathing. She pulls you into her arms, still catching her breath, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“You good?” she asks, her voice soft now, almost tender.

You nod, curling into her side, feeling the beat of her heart beneath your palm. “Yeah,” you murmur, a lazy smile spreading across your face. “Better than good.”

She laughs quietly, pulling the covers up over both of you. “I’m glad to hear it, sweetheart. Why don’t you get some sleep now, hmm?” she says, her fingers tracing circles on your back.

You don’t argue, letting your eyes flutter shut as you sink into her warmth, feeling more at home than ever.

—

The next morning is slow and blissful. You wake up tangled together, her arm draped lazily over your waist. When you stir, she presses a kiss to your shoulder, mumbling a sleepy “Morning, sweetheart,” that makes your chest flutter all over again.

You smile, turning over to face her. “Morning. Did I keep you up last night?”

She smirks, eyes still half-closed. “Worth it.”

You both spend a while just lying there, talking about nothing and everything. Eventually, you get up, pulling on one of her shirts that’s much too big for you, and pad into the kitchen together to make breakfast.

It’s domestic in a way that surprises you—easy and comforting. You’re cooking pancakes while she makes coffee, the two of you moving around each other like you’ve done this a hundred times before. When she hands you a mug and leans down to steal a kiss, it feels like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

“Brunch at home,” she says, raising her mug in a toast. “The best kind of date.”

You clink your mug against hers. “Here’s to many more, then.”

Rio grins, pulling you in for another kiss. “You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon, you know.”

And for the first time, that thought doesn’t scare you at all.

remember to like and reblog if you enjoyed <3

Part 3

[toto-the-cactus]

Primarchs + Daughters (2)

Finally finished the damn part two. Been kinda busy here and there with my new job but lo and behold, the one yall asked for. Soon enough, yall find out why it took me a while writing this one for the two main guys I had to add here.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Konrad Curze

A’right, I’ll open this one with the fact we all know that this man shouldn’t even be legally allowed to have children. I’m gonna be real for a hot second and admit that I stared at the screen for HOURS not knowing what to write because any poor little girl that is born from this guy will have the dubious privilege of being the most sheltered and hidden secret the Primarch ever kept close. With all those visions of death and inevitable doom mixed with the sudden power rush that fatherhood gave him, it left in its wake a perfect storm for this lunatic to develop a paranoid and obsessive need (NEED) to keep his daughter safe; something hard to achieve when he already knows the essence of his Legion. His fatalistic nature regarding his own future would suddenly clash violently with the Primarch’s new found protective stance concerning his child. It's almost sad to consider that this poor man GENUINELY wished to avoid becoming the monster his visions showed, but knowing that he’ll be balancing in the thin line of one day hurting his precious girl (or worse than that) it'll put him in the hard decision of having to let go of her eventually. He is no Perturabo, for that matter. In the rare and far away moments of lucidity, I can see Konrad choosing to protect the innocence and life of his child by trusting in the last person ANYONE might expect the Night Hunter would seek help: Vulkan. Honestly this is just plain sad, man.

Sanguinius

This is it! The golden boy, yall! We all know the kind of person Sanguinius is, but add a precious little daughter in the equation and all you get is the perfect example of textbook girl dad. No matter how busy this man is, somehow he’ll squish some playtime with his baby and enjoy every bit of it. Seriously, this guy acting like a dedicated father is worth being in a stockphoto image. His baby girl asks him to play tea party? Some astartes will find their Primarch hunched over, awkwardly holding a comically small cup between his thumb and index while his precious princess pretends to pour more tea for herself. The daughter of Sanguinius doesn't go a single day without knowing that her papa loves her a lot and when the man isn’t around, the Blood Angels Legion are close to keep her company to the point that even she calls them ‘big brothers’. No one is safe when she wants to play dress-up. The single problem I see with Sanguinius when raising his little girl is that he sins of being completely oblivious to the more mortal side of his daughter’s needs. He easily gets so wrapped up in his role of The Perfect Angel that he doesn’t realize his tiny princess has boundaries that are being constantly crossed, but since she feels the need to prove that she can be like her father, endures all those problems and refuses to seek help about anything. It becomes a kind of toxic mix considering how much Sanguinius is loved and adored by others, to the point that his daughter becomes like a coveted gem too by relation, making her need to prove her own ‘perfection’ an unconscious action the older she grows. I’m not even gonna touch with a ten feet pole the “fun fact” called the Red Thirst on this one because, let's be fair, that would require for me to write more than 3 pages with ONLY Sanguinius and his daughter in the spotlight and that’s only assuming his baby girl didn’t inherit it. I specialized in visual arts and marketing, not psychology jfc.

Ferrus Manus

It took me a while but after some investigating and more reading I can safely put this man in between the Papa-tier and ‘tough love’ guys. His practical mentality and belief of the strongest are (oddly enough) healthily separated from his parenting skills. This is one of the few Primarch that can see their daughter as an individual of their own and makes sure to be as present as possible in her life but the loyalty of this man to the Emperor is his own flaw. Not in the case that he’ll choose the Imperium before his little girl, but because it’ll put him in the dreading and guilty notion that he’ll always prioritize his daughter despite his oath to serve for the Great Crusade. Most of his brothers (except maybe Jaghatai and Konrad) just assume or don’t even think about the long term future of their daughters or simply presume that they will become a great part of the Imperium’s well oiled structure. Not exactly their fault since they never grew up with anything resembling normal. On the brighter and wholesome side (whiplash change!), this is a man who finds handmade gifts more meaningful and always makes sure to explain the reason behind them mostly out of the enjoyment of watching his little princess look so amazed at her papa’s skills. More often than not, Ferrus’ belief of the strongest would falter a little as he perceives the true fragile nature of his daughter and, even if she share the resilient blood of a Primarch, that isn’t enough to convince him that she isn’t vulnerable but instead of letting the worry fester, he’ll try to teach the girl the art of fighting. That’s where the ‘tough love’ kind of guy I mentioned comes out to light. He will not spare kind words during those moments of teaching, as he wishes for his princess to prevail any difficulty but he’ll make sure to always end any sort of training with “I love you so much that the idea of one day not being there to protect you, pains me beyond any form” to make sure that his harsh actions have a reason behind. Honestly, it's the kind of father-daughter relationship that possesses so many shades that makes its own drama novel. Good thing that uncle Fulgrim is always there to smooth the hard edges that may come in the future and makes up for the lack of spoiling the little girl deserves. Ferrus is not amused by it. Forgot to mention that the Primarch will be even more motivated to take off the metal of his hands, for he has yet to truly feel the warm and soft flesh of his baby’s hand. It's the one feeling he keeps missing and craves so much.

Angron

Oh man, another of the hard ones. Okay, if I managed with Konrad, I can tackle this bitch too. You need to comprehend that we are talking about a guy that has been so intimate with the meaning of pain that it's amazing he’ll be capable of ranging through other emotions that don’t involve fury into that combo too. That being said, this whole shitshow of being the father of a young girl can only be described as sad AND tragic. First off, Angron’s daughter wouldn’t even be allowed to leave her chambers at The Conqueror for obvious safety reasons and having her stay on Terra can’t be an option too, as Angron would rather be death than leave in a silver plate this one single pittance of good he helped to create under the light of the Emperor. That being said, any little girl born from Angron would be terribly isolated and one can’t even blame the Primarch for that as he, despite his disposition, finds his daughter as a genuine reflection of what he could never ever dream to have or be. That sometimes results in him feeling short and spontaneous moments of anger from the impotence of not being able to be close to his daughter, let alone console her with anything resembling compassion. This is a man that is horribly aware that he’s away from one sharp stab of the Nails to his brain to end up killing his little girl in one single swat of his hand. The moments of anything resembling fatherly love are few and very tense, for Angron has to constantly be focused on not letting the pain control his actions and that always looks as if he’s dismissing his child’s love language or actions. What else can I say that most people don’t know already? This is just a sad story waiting to end in tragedy and had it not been for how Sanguinius ended during the heresy, I can see The Great Angel taking Angron’s daughter under his care as the only consolation and promise to his corrupted brother before his demise. After becoming a Daemon Prince, Angron’s only genuine and foggy memory of his little girl is her crying while calling him with heavy despair. Goddamn I almost tear up with this one.

Roboute Guilliman

Look at my big nerd! One of the few guys that actually is humble enough to feel more human than any of his brothers… sometimes. I gotta say it, Roboute has the vibe of what happens when someone incredibly autistic suddenly becomes a parent; expect lots of books to try and be prepared for what entails to take care of a mortal baby. He’ll have a wholeass strict routine of activities and diets that you AND the baby must follow to ensure both of your health along with “fun facts” regarding a toddler’s development that half of the time lack the keyword ‘fun’ in there. Honestly, Euten will be a BLESSING sent, for she’ll be the one railing back the most extreme attempts of her adoptive son to try and raise his little princess like she was just another task of paperwork. Over all his quirks, the Primarch of the Ultramarines is absolutely trying his hardest to be a good father just as the one that raised him, but this is a man that half of the time ends up clumsily trying to spend time with his little girl only for it to backfire as he simply doesn’t understand how to entertain his daughter. Good thing the child will simply be happy to spend time with her papa despite his weird personality. More often than not, some of the astartes will see the young lady at her father’s chambers in a little booster chair beside him, doodling on some papers to pretend that she’s a big girl helping her papa with his very important job. It's probably the most adorable sight anyone can ever get the chance to see. Just like most of his brothers, Roboute isn’t that good at expressing his love towards his daughter with words, so he simply let his little princess be on his lap and hug her as if it will be the last time.

Mortarion

I’ve written enough of this man being a father that you all can get a wild idea of how he will be when confronted with parenthood. Even if he believes himself to be undeserving of anything resembling happiness thanks to his perception of being nothing but a tool of the Emperor, this guy will only need to see his precious little flower and feel like everything in the world can be forgotten, including his ever festering negative emotions. His daughter is the single light of love that he selfilish believes is his right after such torturous upbringing although that mentality rarely affects his princess, as he simply shows nothing but care and tenderness towards her. He may be a nervous trainwreck, fully aware that his Legion and himself aren’t exactly safe-hazardous, but that never has stopped him from doing his utmost best to protect the little girl from anything that may hurt her. Like most of his traitorous brothers, Mortarion would not hesitate to bring entire worlds into devastation if it meant that his family can be safe, even if that’ll end up making a terrible gap to grow between him and those he loves. It's quite terrible and sad to know that, unlike Fulgrim or Angron, Mortarion was the closest to his daughter and showered her with as much genuine love as he could in an attempt to avoid being anything like his supposed father (adopted or creator equally), so when he turned into a Daemon Prince, the festering and rotting resentment that consumes him sometimes simmers down when he remembers the laugh of joy his little princess often released when he would carry her up in his arms. Oh yes, some good ol’ gut-wrenching emotional damage, teehee.

I will not apologize for being a mean bitch by writing sad shit. XOXO

[shanastoryteller]

Happy valentine's day! Could we have more female Naruto?

a continuation of 1 2 3

Naruto clocks Gaara the moment she sees him.

She keeps her smile wide and stance easy, putting her hands on her hips and squinting at the Sand kids. Sasuke and Sakura shift uneasily before deliberately relaxing, picking up on her attitude even if they don’t know why. “My dad told me about you guys! We should stick together, being the kids of kages and all.”

Her father had told her to be wary but hadn’t told her why. She has to believe he doesn’t know. The other option is that he somehow thought that she wouldn’t notice.

“You must be Naruto,” Temari says with a false friendliness that Naruto might not have been able to pick up on if she hadn’t spent her whole life with people loving her or hating her and having a disturbing habit of masking one as the other. “These are my brothers, Kankuro and Gaara. Are these your teammates?”

As if her father hadn’t warned her about the hosting kage’s kid. “Yeah, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.”

Neither of those names garner any reaction, but they wouldn’t. Sasuke’s status as Uchiha is obvious at first look and Sakura comes from a civilian family.

“Hi,” Kankuro says shortly.

Gaara says nothing at all, looking at them with those wide, empty eyes.

They’re going to be a problem. He’s going to be a problem.

~

Naruto knows better than to go to her father with anything important and if she tells her mother then she’ll try and pull her from the chunin exams, which is the last thing any of them needs.

She hates how often she ends up crawling back to her ex-fiance for help.

“Naruto-hime,” Kakashi greets, unruffled at her vaulting in through his window and landing on his counter in a perch.

This place is so depressing. She gets why her mom wants to put in some wallpaper or something so badly, but Kushina is still mad at Kakashi for weaseling out of their engagement, so she just grumbles and complains but won’t do anything about it.

“You’re proctoring the second part of the exam,” she says. The format of the exam is supposed to be secret, but it’s not like that’s ever stopped her from breaking into her father’s office. “I need you to rig the fight.”

He raises his eyebrow. Or maybe he’s raising both of them, but she can’t see under the headband. “That’s cheating.”

“Cheating’s allowed,” she counters. “I need you to make sure I face Gaara.”

He blinks slowly. Or winks. “Your father will kill me.”

“It’s supposed to be random,” she says. “How will he know?”

His silence takes on a decidedly guilty air.

“He told you to make sure I didn’t face him,” she guesses, not bothering to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“He’s worried about you,” Kakashi says.

Too little too late as far as she’s concerned. As if his worry has ever done her any good. As if his worry has ever done anything but get in her way, just like it is right now. “Fine. Make sure he faces Sasuke then.”

“There are easier ways to get out of an engagement,” he says. “You don’t need to arrange to have him killed.”

Her eyes narrow and it takes everything in her not to growl. Growling is one of those things she’s not allowed to do because it’s too much of a tell. “I suppose you’re the expert on that.”

Kakashi doesn’t say anything. He’s spent her whole life not saying anything and it never gets less infuriating.

“Just do it,” she says. “What do you care anyway?”

Naruto is halfway out his window when he says, “I care,” and he can’t see her so she doesn’t bother to hold back her eyeroll.

That’s never done her any good either.

[melrodrigo]

Tardy, part 4

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11

Tara Carpenter x Fem!Reader

Summary: You take Tara on the long awaited first date, how will it go?

Warnings: Suggestive themes, so much fluff you might throw up, teeny bit of angst

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: This is purely a filler chapter because R and Tara deserve a break, here’s some fluffy shit. I’m not really sure how I feel about it, but as always; thank you for the love!

In the end, it doesn’t take you that long to plan the date.

It might be because you’ve been dreaming about this moment for months, or it’s just that easy being with Tara.

There was a famous festival happening soon, and you’ve always wanted to take a girl there. Do all the cliche things, win her a bear; ride the Ferris wheel; make out in a secluded alleyway.

“So where are we going?” Tara muses as she sidles close to you.

You raise an eyebrow at her, “That desperate already?”

She rolls her eyes, “I think we established that already.”

“What are you two lovebirds whispering about?” Mindy asks from the couch. Sam’s eyes immediately narrow.

Please don’t mess this up for me, Mindy.

“Oh nothing, just talking about how hot YN looks today,” Tara answers quickly, smirking as you turn red.

Sam grimaces at her statement, mumbling something not-so-nice under her breath.

Chad’s also been particularly gloomy today, after overhearing a conversation between Mindy and Tara about your date.

He’s shut off every attempt Tara’s made at small talk, shooing her off with a not-so-subtle glare.

You can see it in her stance, her shoulders somewhat sagged; she’s burdened by it.

You wait until Tara leaves (gets forced) by Sam to go for a grocery trip.

Sam claims it’s for “sister bonding time”, all the while Tara is screaming and crying trying to get out of her sister’s grip.

You manage to calm her down by pressing a kiss to Tara’s forehead and whispering that she should go. She pouts but hesitantly leaves.

As soon as the door closes, you turn and make your way to Chad in the living room. Mindy gets up, shooting you a look before leaving you guys alone.

You sit beside Chad on the couch, feet bouncing; eyes staring at the ceiling.

He’s silent; too silent for your liking.

A few minutes pass before you think that maybe you should bail, you didn’t have to do this right now.

“Did you have to mess everything up?” He finally speaks, voice hot.

You roll your eyes, of course, he was going to be dramatic.

“Tara picked me. Respect her opinion bro.” You say, malice laced with the last word.

He doesn’t budge, ”She would’ve picked me if you didn’t swoop in. I was this close.”

He makes a gesture with his hands, pinching them together. You feel the anger rising in you steadily.

But for the sake of Tara, and peace altogether; you don’t make a scene.

“The heart wants what it wants, I’m sorry.” You whisper.

Chad groans, but you can tell he softens up a bit; body language opening up.

He hesitates before speaking again.

“I’m- I’m sorry, really. I didn’t mean to fall for Tara. I just couldn’t help it, you know?”

He looks like he’s fighting tears. You can’t help but feel bad; he was just a lovesick boy.

You sigh and pat his back gently.

“I know,” You murmur, “And I get it, truly I do. But Tara’s made up her mind, and I’ve certainly made up my mind; so stop acting like a man-child and be a good friend. She’s going through a hard time right now.”

Your words linger in the air before Chad breathes out heavily.

“You’re…you’re right. I hate to admit it but you’re right.” He says it like he’s just realizing it now himself.

“I’m sorry too, I know it’s hard to see happen right in front of you..” You trail off, reminiscing on a certain someone from your past. You snap out of it when Chad speaks again.

“I won’t be a jerk to Tara, I promise. Can’t guarantee I won’t be a little snappy to you though.”

You breathe out in relief, nodding and sticking your hand out to him.

“That’s fair.” Is what you say, and he takes you in a firm handshake. Laughs a little bit.

“I can’t believe Tara likes a dork like you.” He says, gesturing to your hand with a nod of his head.

You chuckle slightly.

“I can’t either.”

-

The butterflies are fluttering so wildly in your stomach at this point you think they might just force their way up and out your mouth.

It’s the date.

You fidget with your fingers, sitting on the couch waiting for Tara to come out. You check the time on your wristwatch, you guys have to move soon if you want to fit all the activity plans you’ve set up.

“Tar? You done?” Your voice cracks a little, and you’re extremely grateful Tara can’t see your face right now.

You cough to hide it.

“Wait! I’ll be done in five.” She yells. You would believe her if it wasn’t the millionth time she’s said it in the past hour.

“Yeah, five hours.” You mumble.

“Shut up!“

Your ears perk up, blushing in embarrassment that she heard you.

You sit obediently until Tara opens the door, dressed in black overalls with a white t-shirt inside.

It’s not much, but it’s not like you have to do much when you look like that.

Your breath catches in your throat, and you feel your heartbeat race impossibly faster.

“You done? Or are you just going to keep gawking at me til I make you move?”

God, she was annoying.

You shake your head, snapping out your love-filled daze. “Yeah yeah, let’s go superstar.”

The drive there calms you down a bit. The minute you got into your car Tara had taken hold of the AUX, happily DJ-ing for the trip.

You’re quite the music freak, but you didn’t mind her controlling it this one time.

You knew it was worth it when you watched her scroll through her playlist, eyebrows furrowed; a slight frown on her face in concentration.

God, she was adorable.

You blink, surprised by your own thoughts. Jesus, this was worse than you thought. This girl had you saying shit like that?

Tara finally stops scrolling and presses one triumphantly. Glue song by Beabadobee and Clairo starts playing.

It’s a cute song, and it relaxes your nerves and helps you loosen up.

By the time you’re there, you feel normal; good even. It’s just another day with Tara, comfortable, and loving.

It’s hard not to smile like an idiot, taking her hand in yours and dragging her over to the carnival opening.

It’s amazing. The lights, the endless games, the mouthwatering food.

You stand agape, unsure of where to go first. Thankfully, it looks like Tara’s in the same boat.

Her eyes lock in on something and she gasps.

“There! There’s a haunted house over there, let’s go!” She’s like a child with the excitement that radiates off her.

You raise an eyebrow.

“We just got attacked by Ghostface and you want to go into a haunted house?”

She shrugs, disregarding your statement.

“Doesn’t matter, I love haunted houses.”

Hm. That’s kind of psychotic. You decide it’s sort of hot.

You nod, and Tara brightens up; practically dragging you over in a hurry.

“Two tickets please.” You tell the teenager working the booth; who looks like they would rather be doing anything but this.

She hands you the tickets and you and Tara stand hand in hand, waiting in front of the big house.

“You scared?” Tara smirks, eyeing your nervous mannerisms.

“In your dreams.” You return.

Turns out, you might’ve really been in Tara’s dreams because that was one hell of a haunted house. You’re pretty sure you almost shit yourself at some point.

It’s not so bad when you remember how Tara would flinch and retract back into you though.

It’s pathetic how a single touch could turn scary into euphoric.

You guys scour the whole carnival after that, giggling as you bump tiny cars with each other, ride all the rollercoasters; well, all the rollercoasters that allowed a 5’0 person to be on.

Tara pulls you into a tent, lights dimmed and kisses you like her life depends on it. Hands grabbing at your face, a soft groan leaves her lips as you bite down on her bottom lip.

You briefly feel sand beneath your feet, and you don’t pay much mind to it; until the sound of big theater lights turns on and shines into your eyes. You and Tara practically jump away from each other, startled.

You’re met with the sight of children and adults alike; staring straight at you. They’re sitting on connecting chairs, mouths wide open.

You look around for the first time and notice the humongous red ball, the striped hoops, and the elephant hiding behind the back curtain.

Oh.

You speak fast before you can make it much worse.

“Sorry ‘bout that folks, consider it a little preshow!” You bow, and quickly take Tara’s hand, running out of the tent and into the carnival again.

Tara’s giggling so hard that she has to stop and catch her breath.

“Oh my god, I’m going to cry.” She manages to squeak out as she puts a hand over her stomach to calm down.

The rest of the night is spent in bliss, the food is amazing, and the lights reflecting on her face makes her somehow more beautiful.

You manage to win her a little teddy bear, and she beams as she pulls it into her side. She doesn’t let go of the bear for the rest of the night.

When you guys get back to the apartment, climbing in by the window to avoid Sam; Tara’s still giggling slightly.

You pull her forward and wrap her in your arms. It isn’t a very “first date” move, but the beer you had at the carnival must be making you extra confident.

“How was that for a first date?” You muse, brushing your nose against hers.

Tara looks flushed as she answers.

“It was good.” She says, voice high. It only helps your confidence boost higher.

“Would you want to go on another one?” You whisper, eyes flitting down to her lips and back to her other eye.

Triangle method, gotcha.

Tara leans impossibly closer, centimeters away from your lips.

She’s breathing heavily, and it takes everything in you not to kiss her. You want to make sure she wants it; you’ll let her take her time.

“I definitely would. Are you gonna ask me to be your girlfriend?”

Her words take you by surprise, eyebrows raising.

“Bold,” You murmur. “But yes, Tara, will you be my girlfriend?”

She nods, but it’s barely visible because she’s so close to you. It’s getting harder by the second to not just take her face in your hands and kiss her until she can’t breathe.

“Absolutely.” And she closes the gap between you two, kissing you softly; with emotion, with passion.

You sigh a little at the kiss. Who knew Tara Carpenter was such a romantic?

It turns heated fast, and you guys don’t stop, not even when you hear the front door open and the sound of Sam’s voice ringing.

It’s not until Sam actually opens the door to Tara’s bedroom that you break away and try to turn your face.

The look on her face is mixed with disgust and that lingering suspicion she always has when she sees you.

You can’t stare very long though, because Tara’s already pulling your face back; desperate to keep your attention and taking you in a searing kiss.

You hear Sam scoff, but it sounds a million miles away.

“Go away, Sam,” Tara says against your lips, and you can’t help but smile at her daring attitude.

Surprisingly, Sam does. Walking to her room with a sigh, probably knowing that if she started an argument she would lose.

Tara doesn’t waste any time pushing you down on her bed, straddling your waist; lips still fused together.

She grinds on you just slightly as she lets out a huff.

“You’re in for one long night.”

-

Tara’s a little wobbly the next day, and you’re shining; proud glint in your eyes.

You both look like crackheads, smiling bright; and you can tell it bugs Sam by the way she leaves the room when you enter.

When Tara walks over and sits directly in your lap, it seems to send Sam over the edge because she stands abruptly; announcing to everyone that she’s leaving to go to the station.

“The police station? Why are you going there?” You ask, cocking your head to the side.

Sam grabs her phone and wallet as she answers, “Detective Bailey called. He says he wants to meet me. Talk about something with Ghostface.”

Tara perks up in your lap, “Ghostface? Does he have leads?”

Sam shrugs and continues making her way through the hallway and out the front door.

Tara turns to you and gives you a quick peck. She doesn’t have to say anything, you understand her perfectly. She’s going to go with Sam.

You nod in understanding, letting go of your hands around her waist.

There’s not much to do when Tara’s gone, so you decide to go take a quick shower. Trying to make breakfast was a disaster, and there might’ve been a couple of flour stains and egg yolk on you.

It’s nice, peaceful. You feel like you’re on cloud 9, yesterday and today was like a dream.

The illusion shatters when you step out of the shower and find 3 missed calls from Tara. Worry immediately pangs in you.

You hurriedly click into her contact and press the dial button. It’s cut off immediately.

“Shit.” You mumble, wrapping a towel around yourself and rushing out of the bathroom.

You get dressed in record time, don’t explain to the rest of the gang where you’re going; curious eyes on you.

The trip to the station is a short one, well it’s short because you’re literally speeding there; hands gripping the steering wheel so tight your knuckles turn white.

You practically burst through the doors, startling the hoard of officers sitting down.

You stop, hold a hand up; and catch your breath for a second.

“Where’s…where’s Detective Bailey?”

A worried-looking front desk officer is the one who answers you. Leads you to the interrogation, makes you wait in front of it.

You fiddle with your thumbs, head low as you wait in front of the tiny room. They take 10 more minutes, but it feels like hours to you.

When the door opens, you leap out of your seat and take Tara in a bear hug.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t answer, I was in the shower.” You mumble into her hair, and you’re so caught up with being rejoiced she’s alive that you don’t notice that she doesn’t hug you back.

She pulls away, and swerves your attempt at kissing her, turning her head so your lips only brush her cheeks.

Sam looks at you; angry energy radiating off her body.

You suddenly feel weird, like the atmosphere has shifted.

You frown and peer down at Tara’s face. Her lips are pressed into a thin line, tight expression.

“Tara?”

“Let’s just go home. I’m not going to do this here.” She says.

Your brows furrow. “Do what?”

She doesn’t answer, but she does let you entwine your pinky fingers as you walk out, and you rejoice a little.

The walk to their apartment is silent, only interrupted by a couple of jabs from Sam at you.

It isn’t until you enter Tara’s room; door closed that she turns on you, with an expression you don’t recognize.

“Why did they find your DNA at the crime scene?”

[xaldalneir]

Spoilers for Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Episode 12

Hi Tumblr! So, I’m breaking, like, a FIVE YEAR bout of silence and shit, but I can’t just sit quiet about this one. Witch from Mercury has been one of the best Gundam Series I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Today, the last episode of this cour ended on a heavy note. Now the majority of takes that I’ve seen have been saying that Suletta was either totally cavalier in what she did to Nameless Grunt Number 5 or that Prospera activated her somehow with her typical ‘move forward, gain two’ line. So, mainly to fight the opinion that Suletta is now just suddenly a murderous psychopath, I’d like to point out a few things. I’ll be laying out evidence from the series, from the Prologue story, Cradle Planet, and my own observations. So, first and foremost, Suletta has shown to act very impulsively whenever Miorine is in any sort of danger (slapping Guel in episode 1, her confrontation with Shaddiq in episode 9). She trusts Miorine implicitly and after last episode, after having been separated from her after a really tender moment, she’s undoubtedly panicking about whether or not she’s okay. Even Prospera can see that, because she makes sure to namedrop Miorine when she tells Suletta that if she gets in Aerial she can save everyone.  The GUND-bits told her that the transport and Earth House is safe. She activates what I assume is Permet Score 6 (same tetrahedron shield as ep. 9, along with Prospera telling Delling in ep. 11 that that’s as high as Aerial’s PS went during the Grassley duel), and is able to locate Miorine. I find it hard to believe that she didn’t also see Delling and Nameless Grunt Number 5 (because I’m guessing that the bits identified them via their personal Permet ID). She came into that room hard and fast, and Aerial immediately adopted a combat stance. That wasn’t the entrance of someone who knew the danger was over and was going to enter through a proper airlock or hanger. Then, of course, we get to the slap. I’ve seen people talk about how she could’ve just blocked or captured Nameless Grunt Number 5, but he had just overcome his shock at Aerial’s arrival and leveled his gun to finish Miorine and Delling. He was about to kill them. Suletta didn’t have time to think ‘Oh I can solve this nonviolently’. With everything we’ve seen from her so far, I’d be shocked if her first and only thought, and the one that she and Aerial acted on, wasn’t ‘Miorine is in danger I need to stop him’. Then, she gets out of Aerial. There’s blood everywhere, she trips and falls. Suletta, who we’ve never seen properly navigate any kind of social interaction ever. Suletta, who just minutes ago was in shock, nearly shut down over her mother having killed Nameless Grunts 1-4. Suletta, who just watched Nameless Grunt Number 5 try to kill Miorine, does not have the emotional capacity to deal with all of this. So she does what she’s had working for her so far with Earth House. She plays it off as clumsy, as silly. Suletta Forgetta indeed. A brief side bar on those who think the motto ‘run, lose one, move forward, gain two’ is some kind of trigger phrase, the Prequel story Cradle Planet shows us that Suletta has been using that since the age of nine to get over things she’s afraid of. She comes to Aerial one night because the elders at the Mercury colony don’t respect or trust her. She’s in tears. She climbs into Aerial’s cockpit, and she repeats that phrase until she’s brave enough to face the world again. Flash forward, she’s 17 now (last age given in the story was 15, but with context clues we can assume this next part is right before ep. 1). Prospera’s putting her plan into action, Miorine is being married off to whoever claims the title of Holder at Asticassia. Suletta comes to Aerial again. She tells her about what’s happening (Aerial knows already, Prospera told her the night before. Aerial doesn’t want Suletta to go, doesn’t want her to be used for revenge). She starts to panic, she’s anxious. Then she tells herself, ‘If you run, gain one. Move forward, gain two. Right, Aerial?’. She uses the words to propel herself forward once again. Just as she has done before, and just as we see her do so many times throughout the series. Suletta is clearly coded as neurodivergent. Whyever that is and whatever she’s specifically coded to be, I’m not going to speculate on, but she doesn’t understand social graces. She doesn’t always know the right way to respond. She defaults to a lot of reactions (hiding, playing it off) because those are what have worked for her. She’s not some manic psychopath suddenly and gleefully happy to kill, and she’s not the Winter Soldier waiting to be activated (that might be Aerial, if the red eye stickers in the Gunpla kit are any indication). She’s just doing her best. And that’s not always going to be the right thing to do, as we saw. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[m3nt4llyr4v3d]

Miraculous and Redemption

You know, I think I understand what my issue is with this show’s stance on redemption. It’s not specifically who gets the redemption, even the hypocrisy of who does or doesn’t get redemption/forgiven is only one part of the issue.

It’s specifically how they treat the characters who don’t get redemption.

I have seen, in media, where terrible characters who’ve done terrible things get a redemption, and the mean characters, who are just mean, don’t change at all. That’s fine! People are complex, some change and some don’t, some have done horrible things and some are just school yard bullies. It’s fine to showcase this, I mean hell, in the Owl House, Boscha was still an asshole in season 2, and this was past the point that characters like Lilith were forgiven (Lilith isn’t really terrible in Season 1, she just has done a lot worse than Boscha)

Miraculous’s massive issue with this, however, is that the narrative/the authors treats those mean characters as worse than those characters who’ve done horrible things.

I mean, what other media has one of the creators say that some high school bully is comparable to Trump when her literal rich, corrupt, politician father is right fucking there?

Usually the media where a terrible person is redeemed and the mean character isn’t doesn’t treat it as a moral issue. It’s not “oh well this person can’t change” or “oh this person is even worse!” It’s usually “they’re mean, and that’s annoying, but oh well”. That media never treats the character like Satan incarnate, or treats their meanness compared to actual villainy as a moral issue. When characters are around them, they aren’t treating that mean character as literal scum compared to the former villain, the narrative doesn’t treat them as more than an annoyance or, for lack of better words, “small fry”. I mean, while Owl House acknowledged that Boscha was still a prick in season 2, they didn’t act like she was worse than Belos.

Miraculous treats Chloe and Lila, some petty, mean teenagers, as the literal devil compared to other characters. Lila is a master manipulator who somehow convinced 3 people she’s their daughter and has a trillion disguises! It doesn’t matter that that twist came out of nowhere, and it makes it a little weird that this teenager has multiple disguises that she uses around the city apparently, one where she looks like a 20 year old, making people theorize she’s an adult because how on earth is she smart enough or resourceful enough to do this. Chloe is a villain comparable to Gabe, even when she was a hero! Her backstory doesn’t justify any of her actions, but for literally everyone else, we are going to justify their actions! If they don’t do that, they’ll just sweep their actions under the rug completely! It doesn’t matter that she’s consistently being manipulated by the fully grown adults around her, she’s terrible don’t think about it! She neglected her father somehow (???????????????????) so it’s fully justified to send her off with her abusive mother! We aren’t even going to acknowledge that Andre literally had a part in raising her and her turning out this way, because somehow he did no wrong! And what sucks is that it’s succeeding at making those characters appear that way, because some fans are completely genuine when they say that Gabriel is more sympathetic than them. I mean, if you frequent the Reddit (which you absolutely shouldn’t, one way or another it will melt your brain), you’ll consistently see character rankings with Gabriel, Lila, Tomoe, and Chloe in the same category. Somehow the show put the bullies in the same categories as the literal abusive terrorist and his helper in these people’s eyes. You will constantly see these literal teenagers be put on the same category as adults who have done infinitely worse. Even Andre, who is a corrupt politician and terrible role model and literally RAISED CHLOE… is “woobified” by some fans, even going as far to say that Chloe abused him! Nevermind how that would even be possible when she was like, 5-7 when her mom left! I can’t point my fingers at the fans for this though, because the show goes out of its way to place all of its sympathy on the adults, even when they don’t deserve it, EVEN WHEN THE PAST WRITING LITERALLY PAINTS THEIR ACTIONS AS BAD

(It also doesn’t help that the fully grown adult’s actions are all forgiven but god forbid you’re terrible as a teenager, then you’ll get sent off to live with your verbally abusive mother while your basically deadbeat father adopts your half sister literally right after wiping his hands of you)

I will talk about the hypocrisy in redemption at some point, and how bias and forgiveness is handled, but godDAMN, this sucks

[lotus222]

Okay.

I only meant to make one SJM post cause Ik how certain girls like to tussle

But since the gwynriels and elucians decided to mess w me EVEN THO I SAID TO LOOK AWAY IF YOU GET EASILY TRIGGERED…

There is only one thing to do:

Talk more about why Elriel is not based in delusion — unlike some ships (not naming names, if you take offense that’s your mind questioning things)

Again, I am giving my PERSONAL OPINION. I even said at the end of my last post that I am not the author and I will love & respect whatever SJM does, which some of y’all can’t echo. That’s sad. This is a fictional world.

DISCLAIMER: if you’re easily triggered by elriel/elucian/gwynriel…l o o k a w a y

DISCLAIMER#2: I am unapologetic cause this is my page :)

Also, stop hitting my line with the “I wasn’t going to respond to this but…” or “you’re so anti…” like 1, if you weren’t going to respond, then don’t. It’s not that serious where the world is BEGGING for your opinion. And 2, I’m not anti anything, I’m pro-logic, again if that offends you then that’s a convo for you and you not you and me.

Now onto the main event…

Azriel

My mans is being dragged through the mud both in the books and online. We say we “love him” but are ignoring what he wants and babes, that’s Elain. If you don’t like her personally, that’s not how Az is feeling, that’s how YOURE feeling. Gwyn has one chapter (+1 sentence) of where I can even attempt to grasp at what Gwynriel’s quote as bible, but again, AZ AND ELAIN HAVE 3 BOOKS. Y’all are acting like Rhys in Az’s bonus chapter and if Rhys couldn’t make his stance acceptable, y’all definitely can’t.

Elain

Again, I say, if you do not like the lady pictured above, stop reading ACOTAR cause she ain’t going anywhere. To be so for real, I didn’t mind Elain at first, meaning I didn’t care whether or not she was included in any story whatsoever. But as I read ACOWAR and ACOFAS, I started realizing that there’s something so lovely about having a character who is innately good and wants/practices peace in a world of animosity and ugliness. She brings beauty in all areas of her life and I think that there’s nothing bad about being “boring” cause that just means your life ain’t a dang mess (*cough* *cough* everybody else in this book)

So here is where I debunk all the claims I have grown tired of ignoring:

• #1 - “He hadn’t gotten that far into his planning beyond the fantasies he’s pleasured himself to.”

(Picture credit: unknown) Get a good look cause that’s what he’s doing at night when he thinks about ELAIN. (It’s canon, so cry to yourself)

So, y’all really think you got us here, huh? So, my man Azriel blatantly admits to thinking of Elain when he wants to be intimate and y’all STILL want your girl to be with this man?

Ugh

Anyway, so Azriel hadn’t planned a relationship with Elain…OKAY???? Did you expect this man to have a map laid out about how he’s going to steal Lucien’s mate??? Do y’all even know Azriel? Like, be so for real rn.

Idk about y’all but when I have a crush on someone, I’m not thinking about how to steal them from the rest of the world, I’m imagining kissing them or going on cute dates. Not how I’ll actually make it happen. And ik y’all do that too with your favorite celebrities so stop playing.

He has a crush. Can you let the man figure out if Elain even wants him to act on it before he plans a 12-step mission on making Lucien disappear forever?

Azriel doesn’t want to force his emotions on anyone (as seen with Mor) so of course he’s not going to act or plot without confirmation that the other person in the party wants that. I.E. why he hadnt tried anything with Mor in all the CENTURIES that he liked her.

So, yeah, consider that point invalid.

• #2 - Lucien is Elain’s mate

(PC: @shauna_the_author) *sigh* This one cannot be dubunked, unfortunately, because it is true. You got me here.

BUT

Elain is more likely to marry Nuala and Cerridwen before she spends the rest of her life with Lucien.

And it has nothing to do with Lucien. It really, really doesn’t. Elain simply doesn’t like him. Y’all were in my comments like “oh he didn’t really sell out Elain and Nesta, he didn’t know”. OKAY. But Elain literally says in ACOWAR that she knows Lucien as two things: Feyre’s friend and the MAN WHO SOLD THEM OUT TO HYBERN

Who cares if it isn’t true, that’s what Elain thinks and with her in mind, you can’t say that this bond means anything more to her than Lucien having some ownership of her which she doesn’t like at all. She even tells Graysen that she doesn’t care Lucien is her mate (“I belong to no one, but my heart belongs to you.”)

Whereas with Azriel, my girl is practically skipping into his arms; talking with him about her dream garden, getting him not one but two solstice gifts, almost-kissing him, recoiling at Cassian’s dagger but actively using Azriel’s…

Idk about y’all but if someone who was fated to be with me was acting this way with another girl, I’d drop him like a hot potatoe. AND AS LUCIEN SHOULD. He deserves someone who wants him, not someone who, as even Lucien said in ACOWAR when he was questioning if Elain was “worth it”, is shackled to him.

I harbor no ill will toward this dreamy man, but it ain’t gonna happen so do Elain a favor and lose her number, k?

• #3 - Sarah wouldn’t do the 3 brothers with 3 sisters, it’s too cliche

Write your own book then. Fan fiction is a thing. If the ONLY thing preventing you to see reason is the possibility of a cliche in a book about kingdoms and fairies and magic then your priorities are so out of shape I won’t even spend the time explaining it to you.

This is SARAH’s WORLD. If she wants to be cliche and have the three female protagonists end up with the three male protagonists then let her. Omg.

• #4 - That Gwynriel scene tho

(NOTE THE PICTURE) Oh, you mean the bonus chapter that featured thoughts about Elain? Not that one? Oh, then maybe you mean the other bonus chapter that featured thoughts about Elain? No? You mean the scene with Gwyn…hmmm

OH! You mean the 2 page conversation about training and why he couldn’t sleep (cause of Elain) and the subsequent regift of Elain’s present to Gwyn. Yeah, I know about that but why are we talking about it? Cause that means Az likes Gwyn? Huh?

That’s how delulu y’all sound. And if I hear another “you’re the ribbon Az”, one more time I’ll scream. THE RIBBON WAS ABOUT TRAINING NOT GWYN WANTING TO SLEEP WITH THE MAN. We are talking about the same girl who hadn’t left a library in god knows how long because of a sexual trauma and y’all are forcing her onto another man??

Gwyn was focused on coming into herself and mastering the ways of the Valkyrie. Nesta meant Gwyn found another obstacle in Az that she would have to overcome to become a Valkyrie. The only man Gwyn was concerned about was Cassian and that’s cause he was getting it on with Nesta. Again, be so for real right now.

I refuse to acknowledge this point until the opposing ships acknowledge the 3 books (+ ACOFAS) of build up between Elain and Azriel.

• #5 - Elain doesn’t belong in the Night Court

This is the last point I’ll mention cause I actually feel bad for dogging the Gwynriels like this, but it had to be done. (Elucians get a pass bc at least their ship is based in evidence)

Elain doesn’t belong in the Night Court, okay, yeah Cassian said that the colors drown her out, I’ll give you that.

But Elain doesn’t know where she belongs anymore, just like Azriel has said about himself. She’s still figuring herself out and what she wants, so it’s okay she looks odd at times or feels at times out of place. Azriel keeps his shadows out 24/7 for the same reason. He doesn’t let anyone past the front he puts on unless he knows it’s safe to. They’re both figuring out how to live their best lives in their current lives.

I’ve heard Dusk Court theories and others but I won’t even repeat those (even tho they’re so good and you should definitely look into them). They just need to find their place in this world (and Cassian was right, Elain DOES NOT BELONG in the Hewn City).

Just like how Nesta didn’t believe she belonged in the Inner Circle, I believe there’s a place for Elain and Azriel where they can be themselves. They just need to find it I.E. their book.

-

Okay, that’s enough slaying of my enemies for one post. Again, this is just my opinion/theories and at the end of the day I’ll be happy with whatever Mrs. Maas gives us as long as she gives us something.

Act correctly or else I’ll be back.

[damn-stark]

Chapter 15 The start of something new

Chapter 15 of Sugar

A/N- Two of the strongest sorcerers make jokes about dicks and boobs 😗

Warning- Swearing, angst!!, FLUFF!! Talks of death, violence and blood, spoilers, long chapter.

Pairing- Choso x fem!reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Takes place during- Before 2x06

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*1 YEAR LATER. 2018*

From Unknown: Y/N Gojo, we will grant you and your allies who were a part of the Night Parade last year, a complete pardon from all crimes if you execute the vessel of Ryomen Sukuna, Yuji Itadori.

“What happens when this gets in the way, huh?” You tease Mimiko as you move strands of her long bangs over her eyes.

Mimiko chuckles, and you proceed to give her a gentle but pressing reminder. “Remember to put it up when you’re out on missions, okay? As long as it doesn’t go with your technique it can just get in the way.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mimiko brushes you off, letting you let her go to walk to her sister standing across from her. “Now you, remember what I told you.”

Nanako sighs and steps back before shifting her feet to get into her fighting stance. “Distance,” she mutters.

You nod. “And quick on your feet,” you remind her and nudge her foot forward with yours so she can get in the proper position. “You lag when you have to use your technique, so quick thinking okay?”

Nanako nods in comprehension, and you step to the side to watch them both. “Weapons up,” you tell them as you rest your hands on your hips.

“This is heavy,” Nanako complains as she lets her blade falter in her hand.

“It’s an extension of your arm,” you tell her. “And it’s for your benefit. For the both of yours. My friend Mei-Mei’s technique also isn’t ideal for fighting, but that’s why she learned to swing her axe, and she’s the best at it. She’s a grade 1 sorcerer because of how skilled she is. You guys are almost there, just a bit more. So arms up, light on your feet,” you advise them and feel your cursed worm spirit wrap around your neck as it crawls down from the branch. “Firm grip, but not too—”

“Tight,” Nanako groans, making you smile.

“Oh, you got it?” You chuckle. “So why am I seeing your knuckles whiten?” You rebuttal with a smirk that the worm on your shoulders mimics. Meanwhile, Nanako glances down at her hand and huffs before she loosens her fingers around the handle of her blade.

“Okay,” you breathe out as you notice that their stances are good to start another round of sparring.

Nevertheless, just as you part your lips again to tell them, a sweet voice calls out for you. “Mama!”

“Oh no,” Nanako grumbles.

You blink and glance over to see where Satori’s voice came from, and much to your surprise you see your brother grabbing Satori upside down by her ankle.

And of course, your daughter is amused by your brother's crazy antics and laughing her little head off.

“Look what I found on the way here!” Satoru shouts as he points to Satori with a beaming grin that matches your daughter's smile.

He’s not supposed to be here, he’s supposed to be out on a weekend-long mission. So the question begs to be answered, what is he doing here, and why didn’t he give you a heads up?

Is this about the message you got a few days ago?

It has to be.

“Why does he keep walking in the house unannounced?” Mimiko asks as she moves over to stand beside her twin sister.

You sigh. “Trust me I’ve been asking myself that same thing for years,” you mention as you watch your brother approach you and your girls. “He would barge in my room like that when we lived together.”

Satoru finally reaches you under the vibrant tree and grabs Satori’s hand to lift her and hang her around his shoulders instead.

“Brother,” you greet with a puzzled look. “What are you doing here? You didn’t call or text.”

Satoru shrugs and holds onto Satori’s hands as she hooks them under his chin and rests her cheek on the top of his head. “I thought I’d surprise you guys, you know? I finished my mission early since it was easier than expected and I wanted to come visit.” He smiles and looks up at your daughter. “Like the surprise?”

“I love it,” she of course agrees because she loves the man. They’re inseparable when he’s over, or when you’re hanging out with him. And he acts like how you imagined, a man child, they’re like best friends.

Then again it’s a good thing that he has fun with her, he seemed to help her through her grief. And she helped him relax from all the stress he’s put through. Or so you like to see it that way.

“Oh! And he brought me a gift!” Satori shares enthusiastically. “And he brought one for Nana and Mimi too!” She adds and lifts her head to look at her sisters. You follow her line of gaze and see the girls avoid eye contact so as to not look at your brother or acknowledge him.

“They’re inside,” Satoru tries to talk to them. “I’m sure Satori can show you. So why don’t you, Sugar?”

You stiffen and swallow thickly at the sound of the nickname he calls her. Out of so many he could’ve come up with, he chose that one after it started off as some joke when he told Satori about how you would call Suguru that in your youth. He found it fitting for Satori, or maybe it’s a way to be closer to the best friend he lost, but he’s called her that ever since that day.

And you can’t say that it bothers you in a bad way, because it doesn’t, it just reminds you of him so you don’t feel upset that he calls her that. It’s sweet really. it just always catches you off guard when Satoru calls your daughter Sugar. You half expect to see Suguru…

“Really? Okay!” Satori obeys and lets Satoru help her off his shoulders. When her feet hit the ground she grabs Mimiko's hands. “Come on, come on!”

“Nanako, Mimiko,” you call out sternly.

The twins know what you mean by your voice alone and sigh before they peer back. “Thanks,” they both grumble at your brother before they follow Satori back inside the house.

“I’ll win them over soon enough,” Satoru interjects as you both watch the girls retreating figures.

You huff out softly and turn around to face your brother and change the subject. “So are you going to tell me what’s up, or what? You sent Satori off so I’m sure this isn’t some leisure visit.”

Satoru watches Satori for a moment longer before he slowly turns and faces you with a sly smile. “Aren’t you smart? And why do you keep lugging that thing around?” He points at the worm around your neck.

You shoot him a glare and caress the cursed worm's chin. “He’s my son,” you tell him again. “I’m so serious.” You laugh softly.

“It’s…off-putting,” he grumbles and you see his nose scrunch in disgust.

You roll your eyes and glare at him. “You’re off-putting,” you sass him.

“Whatever,” your brother mutters before he points at the path towards the lake. “Walk with me.”

This is about the message, isn’t it? It has to be. He’s being too serious, and too mysterious.

“Is everything okay?” You can’t help but probe as Satoru begins to get ahead.

Satoru shrugs lazily. “Depends on your definition of okay. I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent rise in curses and accidents at the school.”

You keep your pace behind him and respond honestly. “I haven’t been following up on recent news if I’m honest.”

Satoru peers back and you see his eyebrows knit together behind his eye cover. “You haven’t talked to Hakari or Kirara?”

You nod. “Yeah, I have. I was just with them this morning, but we didn’t talk about that. At least it hasn’t been brought up. All I know is that another one of your students was supposed to be killed but wasn’t. You had a hand in that?” You ask kind of rhetorically since you know the answer.

“Yep,” Satoru agrees with pride. “Actually that’s why I’m here.”

Wait! Does he want you to train another student?

You’ll gladly do that again, Hakari and Kirara turned out to be a blessing in disguise if you’re honest. They’re like your kids—no they are your kids. It hasn’t been a year since you met them, but they never made it hard to get along with, they actually accepted you pretty quickly. Of course, they had their suspicions, but you bonded quickly. Even if they knew that you had a hand in what they call the Night parade.

“Need me to take in another problem child?” You ask kind of hopeful.

Satoru scoffs softly. “No. It’s not exactly like that, it’s more of a job really. I…need your help.”

You blink in disbelief and stop in your tracks, Satoru hears you and stops to turn and face you with a frown

“Don’t make it a big deal,” he mutters as he sees how fast your mind is beginning to churn.

“You need my help?” You ask for clarification as a smirk tugs on your face.

Satoru sighs. “I do,” he admits quietly. “These higher-ups have been busting my balls trying to undermine me to kill this kid,” he explains and turns to continue, causing you to do a little jog to reach his side now—“recently they had the kids from Kyoto try and kill him at a school event.” You exhale deeply and he lifts his hand to swipe his eye cover off as he brushes his hair back.

“They didn’t manage to hurt him, but they got close before these smart curses working with some mole interrupted,” he adds, piquing your interest more than you thought possible.

Then again why should you be surprised?

“Sounds like you’ve all been busy,” you comment lightheartedly. “Is everyone okay?”

Satoru nods. “Some destruction, but everyone’s okay, they just went in to steal three of the nine cursed wombs and other cursed objects.”

Your smile falls and you watch your brother with concern at the mention of those Cursed Wombs. But it passes quickly and you grow smug. “You should’ve let me take them when I had them,” you remark.

Satoru feigns a laugh. “Funny. Anyway! With this mole, with the higher-ups wanting to kill this kid, and with trouble brewing, I need your help,” he says again, making your cockiness fade and a soft smile tug on your lips.

“The kid is strong, but I can’t put anything at risk anymore with what's unfolding. I wanted you to watch over him, be like a shadow. You won’t help him in missions unless some serious threat cuts in, or you see that it’s actually dangerous. So you’ll be like a glorified assistant manager, and with more responsibility,” he continues as you reach the lakeshore.

“What about Nanami?” You bring up and watch your brother sit on the bench facing the lake. “Can’t he help?”

Satoru sighs. “He mentored the kid for a bit, but this is different. I don’t need him, I need you.”

You stay on your feet beside him and scoff softly. “I’m a retired sorcerer now Satoru. This,” you say and steal a glimpse at your community. “This is me now. I don’t do that now.”

“You’re semi-retired,” he points out. “You still go out on missions.”

“Yes!” You quickly argue. “But that’s to train Hakari, Kirara, and the twins. I’m not…” you trail off and drop your head. “I’m not who you’re looking for. Not anymore,” you whisper and think about Suguru.

“Whether you like it or not, who I’m looking for is still there,” Satoru says softly as he picks a pebble off the ground. “You help people, y/n, they need your help, so don’t do this for me. Do this for them, for your own future. What’s happening beyond these walls might just put in danger all you’ve built.”

You pull the cursed worm off your shoulders and hug him against you. “Does this threat have to do with Sukuna and his vessel Yuji Itadori?”

Satoru skips the pebble across the body of water before he shifts around and meets your gaze with a perplexed look. “Yes…exactly, how did you guess?”

You feign a laugh and pull your phone out to show him the message you were sent recently.

“They found me,” you tell him. “I don’t know how, but they did.” You scoff and shake your head in disapproval. “They really think I’m going to be at their beck-and-call.”

Satoru hums and drifts his eyes to you. “What did you say?” He asks almost hesitantly as if he doesn’t want to hear the answer.

Yet when you lean over you begin to grin, so he pushes his doubt aside and leans close to you as you point at your clever response that consists of, “(.)(.) boobies.”.

Satoru then turns his whole body to meet your gaze seriously, but that only lasts a few seconds because you both then burst out laughing like immature teens.

That shared moment lasts for a few minutes, and when your laughter dies down you both proceed to look out at the lake, and you watch a pair of swans land on the water.

“I won’t force you to help,” Satoru says seriously once again. “I mean you have your life here and your job out there, I’m glad that you do, so I won’t force you to disrupt what you have going on. Not after what happened.”

“Not even with the power I hold?” You quiere.

Satoru nods softly. “Not even with that,” he whispers. “Not after what you’ve been through, I owe you that much at least, don’t I?”

You snap your eyes away from the swans to watch your brother with a soft and watery gaze.

Ever since you’ve reunited, the topic about the day he broke your heart hasn’t come up. It’s been a thorn in your sides that holds a tension between the both of you. Not letting you try to mend what’s clearly broken.

“What will you do with the kid?” You have to ask.

Satoru sighs. “Feed him all of Sukuna’s fingers and then execute him…unless there’s some other way to keep him alive and still kill the curse inside him.”

“Risky,” you mutter. “But you can’t shoot down an idea until you’ve exhausted all other options.”

Satoru nods in agreement before he adds. “He deserves a chance anyway.”

“Yeah,” you add without even knowing the kid. All you know is that he’s young and he’s…one of the people you told yourself you wanted to help so many years ago. But even now that dream of helping young and old sorcerers is still very much alive. That hasn’t changed even through everything.

Besides, doesn’t your brother deserve to be helped? He’s not one to ask, not as soft-spoken or as serious as he is now. So doesn’t he deserve to be helped even if he’s hurt you, and you’ve hurt him?

“And…” you begin to lean towards your answer. “Do you think I’ll be well received back in Jujutsu Society? I am a wanted criminal no? You have orders to kill me?”

Satoru smirks. “Yeah, so what? I’ve had them for a year and never lifted a finger. Nor will I. You’re my sister through it all. I can't protect you if you’re dead now can I?”

Your throat begins to sting as tears well in your eyes. Hearing him say that after all that has happened is surprising. It’s relieving to hear too.

“But if you accept,” he says. “I wouldn’t worry about it. They won’t dare and touch you, you’re too strong, they need you. The message they sent proves it. You’ll be okay. It’ll all be okay. I know it.”

There’s those special words, “it’ll all be okay,” so simple yet they hold so much power because there are times when those words are uttered and everything is the complete opposite. That’s why you hate those words. They don’t ease you anymore, they actually make your breathing a bit deeper as you’re struck with uncertainty.

But you don’t share that negativity, you just hum and walk around your brother to sit beside him on the bench. Silence proceeds to fall over you, causing the worm curse to drape back around your shoulders.

You should really debate about what he wants from you, it can be dangerous. This isn’t some ordinary kid, he’s carrying Sukuna, the worst curse of them all, the famous and legendary King of Curses. But how can you say no to your brother?

“Okay, I’ll help,” you assure your brother.

Satoru glances at you and protests. “There’ll be risks. Not only with Yuji, but with the other curses I’m sure, I mean—”

“You can explain it all to me later,” you cut him off. “I’m sure there’s a lot to tell, and there’s shit I need to catch up on.”

“Y/N.”

“Satoru,” you brush him off. “I know the risks. Being a sorcerer is about risks. Besides, this—no, accepting your offer is to follow my dream. He’d be upset if I didn’t. And I want my kids to see that. All five of them,” you laugh softly and look over at your brother to meet his gaze. “I need them to see me fighting for what I believe in so they can continue to do the same.”

The corner of Satoru’s lips tug to a soft smile before he grins. “You’re crazy.”

“Huh?”

He shakes his head. “It’s just crazy hearing you say all this. I knew you’ve always been the kinder one out of us, but I don’t know,” he shrugs. “It's weird—You’ve grown up. I’m proud.” He says and touches his chest as he feigns a sad look

You roll your eyes lightheartedly and nudge him to the side with your shoulder. Satoru laughs and you both continue to smile softly.

“I’ll say this before I bore you with what’s happened,” Satoru interjects. “Be nice to Yuji Itadori, I think he’s a fan of yours.”

You snort. “Why do you say?”

“Well not so long ago, we were out, and uh,” Satoru laughs. “We passed by this magazine stand, right? He stops and picks up this fashion magazine and points you out. I will not repeat what he told his friends,” he grumbles with slight disgust, making you chuckle.

“But!” He continues. “He knew you, he’s a fan, so be nice.”

You shoot him a pointed look. “I’m always nice,” you counter. “You’re the annoying one.”

Satoru smirks and mumbles. “They don’t know you’re a sorcerer or my sister so it’ll be a great surprise. I’ll definitely earn some cool points.”

You hum softly. “I’m sure,” you whisper happily while you look back at the pair of swans with a soft smile, and watch them swimming towards each other from across the lake with growing relief in your heart over this sweet moment that you shared with your brother.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

Breathe, breathe, after all, you've already done the hard part, you walked through the school barrier, you’ve walked up those hundreds of steps, and you’re on school grounds. You’ve done the hard part, so now all you need to do is continue moving down the path of haunting memories. You need to move on and brush the pain away that threatens to paralyze you. You need to stop thinking about the moment you lost him. You need to continue being strong.

Just…breathe.

You let out a deep breath and look up from the ground to look at the building ahead. There’s someone you need to talk to before you meet Yuji Itadori and the rest of his first-year class. Albeit you’re nervous to talk to her, with every step you take towards the med-bay your heart races a bit faster, and your throat feels like it’s closing up.

She’s going to be upset. It’s been 11 years since you last talked to her. Eleven years!

You would turn back and avoid Ieiri Shoko—Dr. Ieiri Shoko, but now with this new job you’ve taken for your brother, you’ll be at school often so you’ll run into her, and if you don’t then you’ll just be thinking about her. So it’s better now. Plus, you’ve been meaning to talk to Shoko, you’ve just been nervous.

But it all ends now! You just need to walk into her medbay and talk to her!

Alas, when you reach the door, you hesitate. What if she hates you and doesn’t want to try and be friends again? What if she can’t get past her disappointment?

But you also miss her, you miss gossiping with her, you miss your inside jokes. No one—not even Yuki has been able to take her place throughout the years, Shoko has always been your best friend and you miss her, so you need to just grow some balls and walk inside.

Hence after a deep breath, you slide the door open and take a confident step inside. And luckily the moment you walk in the medbay, you see her with her back turned to the door, with her long brown hair neatly draped over her doctor's coat and a mug in her hand.

“Take a seat, I'll be with you in just a moment.”

Her voice has changed since the last time you saw her, and compared to those videos you have of her and you on your phone from your youth. It’s a lot more soothing now, she seems to have managed that for her patients and students.

“I hope you can pencil me in,” you break your silence and walk over to the bed, noticing her shoulders tense and her pen stop moving—“it seems that I’ve stopped eating my apples.”

You hear a soft scoff before she drops her pen and sits up. You sit on the edge of the bed and put the present you brought her next to you.

“It’s been a while, Gojo,” she addresses you nonchalantly.

You scoff. “Last name bases? Come on, we’re closer than that,” you tease.

Shoko lets out a feigned laugh and spins her chair around to face you now, letting you see that she's grown into quite a beauty. Albeit she also seems to have grown more exhausted, her eyebags are visible and concerning.

“We were,” Shoko quips. “You stopped talking to me for 11 years, so it begs the question, what are you doing here?”

You grab onto the edge of the bed and shrug. “I came to see a friend,” you mutter. “And I told you I’ve stopped eating my apples.”

Shoko rolls her eyes.

You smile. “It was funny,” you refer to your joke.

“Ehh, I’d hardly call it a joke,” she counters. “But it’s passable, I guess.”

You smile wider, but it quickly falls into an apologetic frown. “I know it’s been a while,” you get right to the matter. “I know I should’ve called or texted. I did want to, trust me I did, but I was scared of how you’d react.”

Shoko’s eyes narrow to a puzzled look and she doesn’t hesitate to probe. “Why would that matter?”

You drop your gaze and shrug. “Because you’re my best friend. I mean I had the others, but your opinion mattered the most, you were my person…that’s why it mattered—it matters.”

You slowly lift your eyes and see her studying you with a small frown.

“Sounds more like you’re in love with me,” she retorts.

You snort and chuckle. “Hilarious. You wish I was. Too bad I’m too much into dick, or else I definitely would’ve married you.”

A sly smirk tugs on her face, but then that expression tugs to a scowl. “You know, I understand why you kept your distance. You were let down, you probably just wanted to distance yourself from it all, and I admired you for that, but then I came to find out that you and Mei-Mei have been talking!”

Your jaw drops and you quickly explain yourself. “Listen, listen it was not on purpose, she ran into me, okay? And I guess after that, I don’t know, we would hang out occasionally. She was my source in some way. And!” You add and slide off the bed. “I told you it wasn’t easy talking to you. I couldn’t handle your disappointment.”

Shoko draws in a deep breath and averts her gaze to exhale and drop her faint scowl. “Why would I be disappointed?” She asks.

“For leaving with Suguru after what he did, and for what I did all those years after.”

She hums and stays quiet for a moment. You step back and lean against the bed as you wait patiently, as you watch her thoughts churn behind her dark eyes.

“Nah,” she says. “Did I think it was stupid? Sure, but I was never disappointed. I was hurt, you know? When I found out you had a kid, and when I found out you got married, I guess it hurt not hearing that from you. That’s all, but I was never disappointed or mad at that.”

A shaky breath escapes past your lips and you nod softly as you take in what she said, and as her words hurt your heart. “I’m sorry,” you whisper and cross your arms over your chest. “I should’ve told you, I wanted to but I was scared, and I’m sorry. And I could say how much I wish that I could take it all back, that I wish you could’ve been there for all those things, but what’s the point in dwelling in the past? We can’t,” you sigh deeply. “Turn back time no matter how much we want to. So I’ll just tell you that I want you to be in my life from now on. I miss you. No one has ever been able to take your place. No one.”

Shoko holds your gaze gleaming with tears and stays quiet for a moment before she offers you a teasing smile. “So you are in love with me,” she teases.

You chuckle.

“I,” she continues more seriously. “Missed you too. I mean I would see you all the time on magazines, screens outside stores, and you know, runways, but it was never the same. You were unreachable.”

The corner of your lips tug to a soft smile and you can’t help but fill with bliss.

“But I’m glad you’re back now,” she says and finally gets out of her chair. “Utahime works in Kyoto, so it’s boring here.”

You giggle and run over to throw your arms around her. Shoko seems caught off guard, but she doesn’t fail to gently return your embrace.

“Let’s never do that again,” you coo. “I really did miss you.”

“I missed you too, y/n.”

You grin and pull back but grab her shoulders. “You need to sleep more,” you point out and study her face from up close. “And eat more.”

Shoko laughs softly. “Are you mothering me? I kinda like it, it's hot.”

You flash her a smirk and step back. “I assume Satoru told you then?” You probe.

Shoko nods. “Yeah,” she says. “That’s all he talks about when he can. He’s like an old grandfather with those pictures in his wallet. He talks about how they have matching slippers, and what games they play.”

You beam at her and nod. “Yeah, they’re pretty inseparable,” you muse. “He’s good to her.“

“Not surprising considering he’s a man-child,” she disses your brother.

You hum in agreement and she then reaches over and grabs your shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she says in a soft and sorrowful voice. “For what happened. And I’m sorry I didn’t go help you through your grief after. I’m sorry.”

You swallow thickly, and don’t dwell in that grief…you can’t. So you draw out a deep breath and take in what she offers with sincerity. “Thank you, Ieiri. I’m…okay now. Thank you.” You sigh shakily and step back towards the bed to pick up the gift bag. “This is for you, Doc. Just something small that I hope you like.”

You step forward again and you’re about to hand Shoko her gift, but your phone buzzes so you take your phone out in case it’s one of your kids. However, you see that it’s actually your brother.

Satoru: Where are you? We’re waiting for you!!!

So many exclamation marks. Tsk.

You: I’m here and on my way now :)

You proceed to sigh as you put your phone away and hand Shoko the gift with an apologetic smile. “I need to go,” you let her know. “I'm late to meet the students, but! Let’s hang out. Let’s go for a drink tomorrow night, yeah? We can catch up and have some fun!”

Shoko smirks and doesn’t hesitate to agree. “As long as you pay.”

You scoff softly and nod. “You bet,” you say and hug her one more time before you head to the door. “I’ll see you later, okay? My number is in the bag.”

“The gift is not just your number, is it? I’d chuck something sharp at you if it was,” she remarks.

You snicker and shake your head. “No?” You tease. “Maybe. Find out.” You laugh mischievously and quickly walk out of the room. Once you’re down the hall you can’t help but smile with relief.

Finally! After a decade you’re finally talking to your best friend again. It feels amazing after so much gloom. So now you can continue with your day and meet this kid with a more upbeat attitude and not so much worry that you’ll face some awkward and tense situation.

Hopefully, he doesn’t hate you after what you did last year. He might’ve not been here last year, but the word spreads so here’s hoping he doesn’t have any odd feelings about it. Hakari and Kirara didn’t, but this kid could be different.

Regardless, when you start approaching the courtyard where you’re meant to meet up, you begin to hear voices travel up the hill. They’re loud and you mostly only hear a girl and boy arguing, whilst your brother's voice interjects.

When you make it up the hill, not one out of the three students notices you right away, your brother does though. “You’re late,” he complains.

You shrug. “I was catching up with Shoko,” you brush him off.

Finally, the students stop arguing and look over at you to see who has caught their teacher's attention. And the moment their eyes land on you, the girl with short ginger hair grabs onto the tall guy with pink hair and begins to shake him gently.

Your brother had described who they were so you can place a name to a face right away; the girl shaking the boy is Nobara Kugisaki, and the boy with pink hair is the guy you’re here for, Yuji Itadori. And lastly, the tall skinny guy lurking behind them both is none other than Megumi Fushiguro. You know about him the most, he's Toji Zen’in’s son.

They look identical—except for the hair actually, Toji had oily flat hair, and this kid looks like he has a sea urchin on his head.

“Hello!” You greet the students warmly and offer them a small wave.

“You’re late!” Satoru repeats.

You hum in agreement and just ignore him as you strut over to reach the students.

“She’s coming over here,” you hear Yuji Itadori whisper before he snaps his head to the side and whispers sharply at the girl. “Stop stabbing your nails into me!”

“Stop talking,” Nobara Kugisaki hisses.

You stop before them and offer them a wider smile. “Hi, I’m Y/N Geto,” you introduce yourself without thinking about what you said, you just smile and bow.

“Yes,” Yuji says breathlessly as his eyes grow wider and stick on you. “You are.”

Nobara pushes him aside and bows quickly before she throws her hand out. “I’m Nobara Kugisaki, call me Nobara, huge fan since your first ever feature in the vogue magazine!”

You shake her hand and flash her a sweeter grin. “Thank you, that’s very cool. That was a long time ago, you make me feel old.” You laugh softly.

Nobara drops her hand and her eyes widen with panic. “Well, you don’t look it. You look great! You look amazing.”

You snicker. “I was just pulling your leg. It’s okay,” you assure her.

Nobara lets out a nervous laugh before her eyes roam your long-sleeved denim coat you wear as a mini dress, and then fall on your expensive knee-high brown boots that coordinate with your purse from Prada.

“I love your whole look,” she muses. “It’s amazing.”

You shoot her a beaming smile. “Thank you so much. You’re sweet.”

One of the guys behind her snorts, and she slowly twists her head around and shoots them a glare before looking back at you. “You look pretty.”

“And old,” Satoru cuts in with a teasing look.

You glare at him and snap back. “Says you. Anyway,” you sigh and step towards Yuji. “You must be Yuji Itadori, nice to meet you.”

The boy blinks repeatedly before he bows. “I’m Yuji Itadori! It’s very nice to meet you too!” He proceeds to stand up straight and you study his face for a moment before you move to Fushiguro before you can dive in and study Itadori harder.

“And you…god,” you gasp in disbelief. “You look just like him.”

“Right!” Your brother agrees with you.

“Hello,” the boy mutters nonchalantly. “I’m Megumi Fushiguro. You must be Gojo’s sister.”

You smile and nod. “Yeah. So he did tell you about me, good. He sucks at explaining shit,” you say before you flash Fushiguro a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you too.”

Fushiguro glances at Satoru, and your brother simply smirks.

“Wait, wait,” Nobara cuts in and steps in front of Fushiguro. “You’re his sister. There’s no way!” She laughs.

“Yeah, I know—”

“You’re too cool to be his sister,” Nobara cuts Satoru off, causing him to scoff, and you to smirk proudly.

“Hey!”

“Yeah well don’t I know that,” you play along and step back to face all four of them better. “Well, can I just say I’m honored to meet you all. My brother has only said great things. Uh,” you breathe out. “I’m sure there’s questions, but let me ask mine first. Itadori, can I take a closer look at you?”

The boy doesn’t hesitate to nod his head, letting you get closer and narrow your gaze to take a closer look at the slits under his eyes.

“So he just lives inside you,” you ask, hoping you’ll get some reaction from the famous Sukuna that you’ve only read from history books in your family home, and heard about from different sorcerers. “That’s…so cool. Weird, but cool. I am sorry it happened though, it must be annoying.”

“Yeah, he’s just there talking all the time,” Itadori shares. “He’s super annoying.”

You hum and step to the side to face Itadori directly, causing his cheeks to slowly grow a pink tint on them as he holds your gaze with a widened look.

“It’s okay,” you assure him. “I won’t hurt you. Just curious. My husband would’ve gotten a kick from your situation.” Your smile falters, but you don’t show your sorrow, you just step back and smile at Itadori. “Amazing, truly, I can’t wait to get to know you more.”

Itadori’s cheeks grow redder before he quietly mumbles, “Likewise—”

“Wimp!” A sixth voice cuts him that's a lot deeper and huskier than what you’ve heard anyone have here, so you know who it is right away.

“Was that him?” You probe in awe.

Itadori covers his cheek and nods stiffly. “Yep, like I said, he’s annoying.”

“Why don’t you step closer you jezebel,” the voice cuts in again, and this time you see a mouth growing on the back of Itadori’s hand. “I’ll give you something real to look at.”

It's strange, odd even though you find yourself charmed and allured by the sound of his voice; even if he just insulted you with some old derogatory word.

You still gasp in disbelief though, and feel slightly offended by what he just called you, whilst Satoru chuckles like he's heard the funniest thing in the world.

“That’s not funny,” you grumble at Satoru. “He’s an asshole, I—”

“Whore.”

Your jaw drops but this time you spat back right away. “Dickhead at least I have a body of my own and don’t rely on a child to stay alive. Prick.”

“Do you want to say that again?” Sukuna snaps.

You part your lips, but Satoru walks over and pats your back. “Just leave it alone, he’ll be relentless.”

He turns you around and you grumble. “I’d like to see him come out.” You then peer back and don’t see Sukuna peek out anymore, so you drop your shoulders and focus on the kids instead. “So questions? I hope Satoru let you know why I’m here.”

“I did.”

“Yes he did, he said you’d be helping me until the special grade curses are exorcized,” Itadori says as the three of them begin to follow you down the hill to finally head out and do what Satoru had planned. Which should worry you because he’s being ominous about what you’re going to do. He did make a promise about doing what you want to do to bond with the students, but he’s him, he likes to butt in and be inconvenient.

“But,” Itadori adds. “When he said sister, I never thought it’d be you, Mrs Geto.”

A smile twitches on your lips at the sound of that title being used for you. Yet no matter how much you like it, it hurts to hear it when it’s not coming from Suguru’s own lips, when he’s not whispering it in your ear as he tries to seduce you or make you smile. It slips from your own lips, but it’s when you’re not thinking, it hurts later on when you think about it.

Plus, Mrs Geto is too formal, especially because Itadori is not your student or anything. And he and his friends might feel more comfortable if it’s just your first name. “Just y/n, please.”

“Oh. Really?”

You look back and nod softly

Itadori flashes you a bright smile that causes you to be hit with a sweet deja vu. However, it’s not him that flashes in your head like if you’ve lived this already, no, you actually see…Haibara. Seeing Itadoris smile felt like seeing Haibara show off that sweet and charming smile of his again. It feels so surreal.

“Okay, thanks, y/n!”

You offer Itadori a soft smile and let your gaze linger on him for a moment longer as you keep seeing your friend in him.

“Can I ask,” Nobara interjects, making you slide your eyes to her now—“What are you doing here? You’re a famous celebrity, so why are you here? I know I wouldn't be here if I had your fame.”

You hum softly and answer honestly. “Well, modeling is more of a hobby really. Something I set myself to do,” you share proudly. “It was always a dream so I went out and tried it. Plus I knew it’d piss my parents off that I was everywhere so that’s another reason why I pursued that career, but, it’s not really my job, I help sorcerers, like yourselves. That’s why I’m here, I’m helping. You can do both, you know.”

“Cool,” Nobara whispers.

“I guess,” Satoru grumbles.

“Uh, Gojo, mentioned what you do in a short and terrible way,” Fushiguro interjects, “so could you explain it? I’d like to know before we get sent out on whatever mission Gojo has up his sleeve.”

Mission? He never said anything about any mission.

“Well I have an elemental manipulation cursed technique,” you share and turn around to walk back so you can roll your sleeve up and show them the dragon mark on your arm. “I can create flames using my cursed energy,” you continue and tap into your fire, making the dragon glow red-orange before the flames travel to your fingers and make the veins and flesh under your fingertips glow before flames bask them.

Nobara and Itadori gasp in awe while Fushiguro stays nonchalant.

“And I can also manipulate it,” you add. “Just like air, water, and the earth, but I can’t make any of that, just fire. That’s pretty much the gist of it.”

“That’s what I said,” Satoru rebuttals.

You make the flames disappear before you spin around to face ahead as you continue walking.

“You just said she was like a real-life avatar,” Fushiguro counters, causing Satoru to pout.

“Well it’s true,” he whispers.

You giggle and as you’re nearing a crossroads you come to a sudden halt and feel your eyes widen, and a bright grin spreads on your face as you catch Nanami walking over.

“Kenny!” You exclaim as if you hadn’t talked to him just last night.

Said man stops walking and lifts his head, and before he knows it you run over and wrap him in an embrace.

“What are you doing here?!” You ask excitedly and pull back to face your best friend.

“Now that I am here,” he says nonchalantly. “I’m having a terrible feeling. Your brother called me and said it was an emergency.”

You scoff and walk around him to slide your arm around his shoulders and face the others now around you two.

“You know her too, Nanamin?” Itadori interjects as he points at you, causing you to scoff with amusement as you hear the nickname he used.

“How come you didn’t say anything?!” Itadori demands to know.

You rest your chin on Nanami’s other shoulder and smile as you glance at him as he retorts. “Was I supposed to?”

“Yes! She’s famous!”

Nanami shrugs. “Well, here she is. Y/N is my best friend. Y/N, I hope your brother introduced them.”

You nod. “We’ve all introduced ourselves. But anyway, Kenny and I were classmates,” you share without shame. “We were in the same year. I’ve known him since his emo phase.”

“Stop.”

Itadori and Nobara grow curious and you grow enthusiastic. “He had bangs and long hair,” you giggle. “And he was always so moody and angsty…”

“Stop.”

“I think I have a picture. Do you have one Satoru?”

Your brother nods eagerly and you both reach for your phones, but before you can get them, Nanami steps away from you and he interrupts louder. “What is this about? Why did you call me, Gojo?”

Satoru smirks and keeps his hands in his pockets. “I told you already just some fun bonding stuff. I wanted y/n’s return to be a surprise, but it seems you already know—”

“Told him the moment you left,” you interject proudly.

Satoru hums with discontent. “Well you ruined it but anyway. My plan is still going to happen, so Nanami, please put on a smile, we're not high schoolers anymore.”

You snort and Nanami snaps at him. “I’ll punch you.”

“Gojo!” A familiar voice suddenly calls out.

You look back and see Yaga walking over to your brother, and he doesn’t take long to spot you amongst the crowd.

“Girl Gojo?” He mutters with disbelief.

You shoot him a pointed look and press on that with smugness. “I still hate that.”

“What are you doing here? Satoru explain this right now—”

“I hear you’re the principal of this school now,” you cut Yaga off whilst you continue walking to the car. “No wonder it still looks like shit.”

Yaga’s lips curl to a scowl, and you simply smirk before you look away and lean toward Nanami to whisper, “Satoru didn’t tell them I was coming did he?”

“Based on that reaction, no. Somethings never change.”

You hum in agreement and don’t wait for Satoru to catch up, you end up reaching the car and you run into another friend.

“Ijichi, my man!” You greet excitedly as you let the students climb to the back of the car first.

Ijichi’s face grows red and he gapes like a fish.

“Maybe this surprise thing was worth it,” you tease the man before you climb in the car to sit behind the driver seat, while Nanami sits beside you behind the passenger seat.

“Y/N,” Ijichi mutters as he gets in the driver's seat. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, you know each other too?” Itadori cuts in as he leans forward.

You cross your leg over the other and nod. “Yeah, he was a first year when Nanami and I were second years. We’d all hang out.”

Itadori hums. “I would’ve thought Ijichi was older,” he says.

You laugh softly. “Satoru stresses him out, huh?”

“Well,” Ijichi parts his lips. Yet before he can continue Satoru appears, making Ijichi go quiet as you watch your brother jog to the car to catch up.

“Hey,” you add curiosily and lean forward to grab Ijichi’s shoulder. “Do you still have a crush on Ieiri?”

“Y/N,” Nanami warns.

You brush your friend off and nudge Ijichi. “Aw come on, we all knew. So tell me are you still in love with her?” You laugh, and from the corner of your eyes, you see the door open as your brother gets in.

“He totally is,” he quickly butts in. “He blushes like crazy when she talks to him.”

You giggle, and Ijichi grips onto the steering wheel.

“How’d you even hear?” Ijichi mumbles to Satoru.

“Uh, Nanami’s window is open,” Satoru points back as he closes his door.

Ijichi sighs and starts the car with a long and worried frown on his face.

“Hey, do you kids like boba?” You ask as you start planning where to go and eat. “I think I’m feeling some boba.”

“I love boba,” Nobara and Itadori both exclaim.

You smile and sit back. “Maybe some ramen after some leisure activities? We could go to that ramen place we like to go to that has that nice old lady cook, Ken?” You ask.

“Yeah,” Nanami agrees. “That place is good. Not sure how she’d feel when you walk in without Satori,” he points out.

The car starts moving, and you hum. “Yeah, that’s true, but oh well. We can go back with her another time.” You then look back over your seat to speak to the students. “Do you guys like ramen? I was thinking maybe we could get some lunch after we do what I have planned. Unless you guys want something else.”

Itadori and Nobara look at each other with disbelief so Fushiguro cuts in for them. “Ramen is good, miss.”

You giggle at the title but nod in comprehension. “Cool, now, Satoru, did you bring your wallet? I forgot mine at home.” You lie as you look at him and put on your seatbelt.

“No, I’m not paying for anything, you waste too much money,” Satoru quickly rebuttals.

You gasp and lean forward. “Huh? Come on, it’s my birthday month, you owe me! Ten years worth of presents.”

“No.”

“Come on,” you try to bribe your brother. “Just today. Plus it's not just for me, it’s for all the students and me,” you add with a small smile. “And Satori. And the twins.”

Satoru hums before he deadpans, “no.”

You cross your arms over your chest and grumble under your breath. “Suguru would never do this to me.”

You proceed to look out the window and watch the passing cars, you lift your eyes and see the cloud-littered sky rolling in grey and thicker clouds as rain begins to approach. You then glance at the people around you and you can’t help but smile down at your lap as you feel nostalgic.

Being in a car like this, being driven by someone in a business suit, and having your friend and your brother riding with you reminds you of your days as a student. And it should be bad, it should make you sad since in that time both Suguru and Haibara were alive, but when you look back at that time now, when you ignore the bad parts, you can’t help but feel all warm and happy when you get hit with past memories.

“I’m surprised the twins didn’t come along,” Nanami breaks the silence.

You look away from your lap and meet his gaze behind his goggles. “They’re with Larue today. Plus, they don’t like Satoru, so they avoid spending time with me when he’s with me.”

Nanami hums and then follows with another question. “And Satori?”

“Well,” you roll out and check the time on your phone. “Right now she’s supposed to be with the horses, so she should be taking care of that pony she was gifted,” you direct a bit spitefully at your brother.

Satoru hears your tone and quickly rebuttals. “She said she wanted a pony, so I got her one. And you have horses on the farm, so what’s the big deal?”

You lick your lips and explain as patiently as you can. “The deal is that you didn’t ask if you could get her a pony. You came with the pony.”

“I said. ‘I’m buying a big gift. Is it okay?’ You said yes,” he argues.

You sigh deeply and maintain your cool. “No, no. You didn’t specify. I thought you were going to get her a bike, or rollerblades. Not a pony, come on, Nanamin, back me up.”

“No, I'm staying out of it.”

You groan and continue nonetheless. “All I’m trying to say is that you have to let me know when you want to do that kind of stuff, okay? That’s all I’m trying to say.”

Satoru draws in a deep breath, and just as he breathes out to respond, Itadori cuts in with a question.

“You have a farm and horses?”

You peer back and nod softly. “Yeah, I have a community for sorcerers,” you let him know and notice the curiosity glimmering in his eyes. “It’s not big, we’re fifty people strong, but they have their own homes. We try to be as sustainable as possible without relying on non-sorcerers. We grow our crops, we have a greenhouse.” You add with a soft smile. “We have a farm with chickens, goats, cows, and horses.”

“Oh, that’s so cool! I want to ride a horse,” Itadori says as he leans forward.

“Maybe you and your friends can come over one day and go horseback riding, you can see the community for yourselves. Now I might be a bit biased, but our community is really beautiful and nice, so I’ll definitely arrange dinner or something so you can all see it!”

Itadori hums and blinks before he probes. “Is that why you hardly answer questions about yourself in interviews?”

You chuckle and nod. “Yeah for the most part. The other part is that I just don’t like non-sorcerers.”

Itadori laughs but you don’t mirror him, you stay with a serious expression on your face, so he quickly realizes you’re not joking.

“Is that what you mean by not relying on non-sorcerers?” Nobara cuts in as she catches that you’re being serious too.

You don’t back down and try to downplay your emotions for their sakes, you simply nod and give them your harsh truth. “Yeah, that's exactly it. Sure there’s still things they make that we use, you know, like my clothes. I’m not as strict as my husband was with that.”

“Can I ask,” Itadori says in a serious way now and with a perplexed look on his face. “Why is it that you have indifferences with non-sorcerers.”

“Itadori,” Fuhisguro warns quietly.

You shake your head and spare him a glance. “It’s fine. I don’t mind,” you assure him and look back at the pink-haired boy. “I have bad experiences with non-sorcerers. I think that they’re the reason curses are born, they're why—they’re the root of this plague we have to take out, that we risk our lives for, and that we lose our lives for. Perhaps they’re not all bad people, but I can never find it in me to care for them again, it’s that simple.”

Itadori’s lips part, and his eyes furrow slightly as he takes in what you said. As this image of you probably breaks the person you really are comes out and burns away that illusion.

Perhaps this is why they say you should never meet your idols.

“I’m sorry if that ruins any illusions of me,” you try to comfort him. “And I know that nothing I say will make my views any better, but just know that I would risk my life for people like you, and you,” you point at Nobara, and then look and point at Fushiguro. “And you. I fight for sorcerers, I built my community for sorcerers so they can find a home in this mess, so they can find help where there is none because people fear them. That’s my truth.”

Itadori’s eyes slowly drift down as he stays quiet and thinks, letting you sigh softly and take one last look at all of them processing your words before you turn back around and continue to look out the window.

This time instead of feeling nostalgic as you reminisce about your youth, you feel your heart ache as you think back to that group mission, the one where Suguru found you beaten and disheveled by that non-sorcerer. He saved you that day, he was your light in that void of darkness. And he’s gone now, he can never be that source of comfort to you ever again.

You sigh deeply and look at your left finger for comfort, for a piece of him, but you remember now as you look at your naked ring finger, that you took your rings off after you couldn't handle the deep ache that you felt every time you looked at them.

They’re safely tucked away in your jewelry box now. And his ring…is with him forever…

“Y/N,” you hear Nanami call out, so you lift your head and meet his gaze. He’s wearing his goggles so you can’t see what he feels, you only see a simple and faint frown, so you take that as concern and offer him a soft and assuring smile.

When you glance out the window again to see if you’re close, you notice that Ijichi passed the exit you need to take to get to the shopping center you wanted to go to.

“Wait!” You interject and sit up straighter as best as you can. “We missed the exit. We’re supposed to go to the shopping center.”

“What?” Ijichi asks worryingly. “But Gojo said we’re going to the mission.”

You snap your eyes to your brother looking out the window with a shit-eating grin on his face, and at that moment you know that he’s been lying. He was never going to take you shopping, or let you bond in a good way with the students, he’s taking you on a mission!

“You!” You growl and slam your finger down to unbuckle yourself and jump over behind his seat to slap your hands over his eyes. “You liar! I’ll burn your eyes out!”

Satoru cackles and grabs your wrists. “I never said we’d go shopping.”

“You could’ve said!” You sneer. “I am not dressed for a mission. Liar!”

“Please, sit down,” Ijichi quietly tries to cut in,

“We’re going to crash,” you hear Fushiguro mutter before Nanami interjects too.

“You’re embarrassing yourself y/n.”

“Only person who's going to be embarrassed Is Satoru when he can no longer use those six eyes of his!” You snap and press his head back, making him laugh harder before he suddenly goes quiet and you feel something wet and squishy on your hand.

“What?” You gasp but stop as you realize it was your brother's tongue that touched you. “Ew! Oh my gosh, ew!” You shout and sit back down but keep your hand out as you feel his saliva on your palm. “That’s so gross!”

You turn to try and wipe your hand on Nanami, but he catches your wrist and shakes his head. “Don’t you dare.”

Your disgust grows, and Satoru laughs menacingly from the front.

“Nanami, it’s drying,” you whine. “It’s drying on my hand!”

“You’re being dramatic.”

You gag and squirm your hand away and turn, making Nobara lean away, and causing a laughing Itadori to lean towards Fushiguro so you wouldn’t touch them either.

“I need hand sanitizer!”

“Here,” Fushiguro says in his nonchalant voice and reaches into his pocket to take out a small hand sanitizer.

You lean over and he squirts some on your palm, letting you rub your hands together rapidly so you can get rid of your brother's saliva before it becomes a part of you or something.

“Thanks, kid, you’re a lifesaver,” you tell him and sit back down.

“You’re almost 28 years old,” Nanami points out.

You shoot him a narrowed look and shrug. “So? That’s still gross and they’d understand if they have siblings. Do you guys?”

“No,” Nobara and Itadori share.

“Yeah,” Fushiguro is the only one that shares that similarity.

“Older or younger?” You ask.

“Older sister. But we don’t get along like that.”

You hum and muse, “yeah, because she’s your sister. An older sister would’ve been nice. Instead, I’m stuck with this rare case.”

“I am a rare case, I’m special,” Satoru says,

You scoff under your breath and nod. “That you are my dear brother. That you are,” you say sarcastically.

——

*LATER*

Abandoned amusement park? Does he actually want to accomplish your death sentence and kill you?

“Is this your idea of a joke?” You sneer. “You should’ve told me.”

A smirk twitches on his lips. “It was a surprise. Surprise.”

You narrow your gaze on him and he lifts his hand to lower a veil.

“Bond with them,” he says and steps back to lean against the car. “We can go wherever you want after. I’ll even let you use my card.”

You huff out and keep your eyes on him until the veil lowers and you can no longer hear him.

“There’s no point dwelling on it any longer,” Nanami says over his shoulder as he follows after the eager students. “You should’ve seen this coming too.”

You flip your brother off before you swiftly turn on your heels and storm after Nanami.

“I'm not changed for this,” you complain, “nor did I pack clothes or the right shoes for this.”

“When are you ever wearing the right shoes?” Nanami quips, making you roll your eyes over to him and groan dramatically.

Nanami drifts his eyes to you and a faint teasing smile tugs on his lips.

“I hate you both,” you grumble and pick up your pace to get past the entrance of this ugly and desolate park. “You kids need to be careful. It’s too quiet here so either the curses are hiding, or they’re waiting to attack. Eyes peeled and stances ready.”

You proceed to reach into your pocket and pull out a small and rolled-up worm curse. He figures out you need him without needing to be told and unrolls himself into his given size, letting you drape him around your neck and scratch his chin thereafter.

“So do you guys have any more questions?” You ask the students.

Itadori slows down and slowly peers back, he parts his lips but when his eyes land on what’s around your neck his eyes widen and he shouts. “Hey! Watch out, around your neck!”

Both Nobara and Fushiguro look back and they look just as confused, but you look at them nonchalantly.

“This?” You point to the worm. “He’s okay. He’s mine. His name is Worm.” You smile and scratch the top of his head, causing it to lean towards your touch, and making the students look at it disgusted.

“He’s very cool and convenient. Suguru took him in a decade ago, and after he died we bonded,” you let them know and walk past them as they stand there in bewilderment. “Now he’s with me all the time. If he’s not on me, he’s in my pocket.”

“That’s so gross—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” you cut Fushiguro off. “He’s helpful. He’s very helpful.” Plus why is he being so judgy? His father owned the worm before Suguru and you did.

“Don’t listen to them,” you tell the worm. “They just don't know you yet. You helped a lot in Egypt.” You smirk and give it one last pet before you sigh and glance around at the abandoned rides invaded by greenery, and ugly-looking by all the rust build-up.

Chills run up your spine as you spot a clown ride hidden between the tall golden grass. “Ew, if we run into a clown cursed spirit I will burn Satoru’s eyes out of his skull.”

“Whatever it is,” Nanami interjects. “It’s big so you might just have to do that regardless.”

Your friend falls beside you and keeps an eye out for any curses while you lean over and whisper. “Don’t you think Satoru relies a little bit too much on his students? He or you could’ve come to do this mission alone. I mean they couldn't identify what grade the curse lurking here was.”

“I suppose he trusts you with them,” Nanami says, making you avert your gaze. “But sometimes, yes I do. But…it’s his way of teaching. He’ll never let anything happen to them that’s for sure.”

You hum and mumble with disappointment in yourself. “I wouldn't know really.” You’ve only seen him interact with your daughters, and he’s nice with them, but you don’t really know what he’s like with his students. It’s a consequence of being apart for so long.

“He wouldn't let anything happen to them,” Nanami reassures his statement.

You hum again as you nod.

“Hey!” Nobara interrupts from behind. “What are you two talking about over there?!”

You peer back and quickly throw something out. “Taxes?”

“You suck,” Namami whispers.

“It’s October,” Fushiguro points out.

You shrug. “I’m a millionaire, I have to start somewhere.”

“Tax evasion,” Nanami says, pulling your attention back to him. “Add that to your list of crimes.”

You feign a laugh and push him to the side. Nanami smiles again, and this time you hear gasps coming from behind you as they see that rare gesture on a serious man.

“I can list my crimes,” you joke.

Nanami scoffs. “It’s nothing to show off actually. So focus, or…maybe that clown curse will sneak up on you.” The corner of his lips tug wider as he walks ahead, and you fake more laughter.

“Can I ask,” you hear Nobara say as she walks up to you. “Why did you defect from the school? Was it for that husband of yours?”

You laugh softly and shake your head. “No, he helped me leave, but no…” you exhale deeply and glance at Nanami. “I decided to leave after I failed to save my friend. It was on a mission, but I failed to save him. I failed my own goal of helping my friends, so it was my last straw. Some things happened after but that’s why I left. I knew I wouldn't be happy if I stayed at school, I couldn't be who I wanted to be so I defected and never looked back. I’m better because of it.”

Nobara ponders for a moment before she quietly brings up something. “But you’re a special grade.”

You nod softly. “Yeah, I always have been. But that’s because of my technique and its potential. I unfortunately had a lot to learn about myself,” you share with her. “I wasn’t naturally skilled like my brother, my technique took a while to really grasp and control. The elements…” you pause and lift pieces of dirt off the ground and spin them around on your palm with the wind, so she can see.

“…Are hard to control,” you continue. “They’re alive, they’re strong, so I struggled, but I learned. I’m still learning, but I’m strong now,” you say and drop the dirt and let the wind go. “Just like you will be too.”

Nobara meets your gaze with disbelief and you nod confidently.

“I’ll tell you something,” you whisper so she could be the only one to hear. “As a woman, many people like to doubt us and our power. They see us and even if we’re special grade or first, they see weakness. That’s why we can gain the upper hand and show off how strong we are. Never let anyone tell you that you can either be strong or a woman. You can be both. Be both and beat their ass.”

Nobara grins and nods eagerly. “Nicely put, I like that!”

You smile and when you meet her gaze your smile falters. “You’re not freaked out? By my views I mean? I understood if you were.”

Nobara looks away. “Well I can’t say I agree with you, or that I ever will,” she says. “I can’t see you the same as before, but I like to think I'm a good judge of character. If you were bad you wouldn't be here risking your life for Itadori. Besides, Gojo talks about you all the time. He might be weird, but if you were bad he wouldn’t trust you with his students.”

Your eyes widen with shock, and you have to quickly pick on that matter. “Really? What does he say?”

It’s probably just about Satori though.

“Well,” she says. “He likes to talk about what you’d do as kids. He’d talk about the things he’d teach you, and that you were always his best student…”

Your eyes begin to sting and a smile tugs on your lips.

“He mentions your uh, years in high school. He really likes to tell stories about his youth with you and his friends. I just never thought it’d be you. He never said your name, and even if he did I never pieced it together. And he likes to mention that we can have lives outside of being sorcerers, just like you.”

She’s a first-year, so you can't know if he’s talked about you to his other students before, you’ve never asked Hakari or Kirara. But now that Nobara has mentioned it, it just seems unbelievable; he’s never mean towards you when he’s at your house or when you spend time together because of Satori, but deep inside you always think that he is mad over the things you’ve done, over the life you chose to live.

The doubt is still pretty much a lively thing. You feel it poisoning your mind every time you see him or talk to him. It just repeats itself over and over again. He’s still mad at you. He's still mad at you…

He’ll never forgive you or look at you the same.

It’s a pesky thing really.

“Hm, well how nice of him,” you muse nonchalantly. “I wish he’d follow his own advice and live a life for himself.” You look ahead and notice a tent ahead so you aim for that to check for any curses. “Now, do you think Itadori will…talk to me again?” You look back and see him walking beside Fushiguro. “He’s been quiet since I’ve talked about my views in life.”

Nobara follows your line of gaze and shrugs. “Yeah once he sees you’re not bad, he’ll warm up again. Just give him time.”

You stretch your arms out and share a comprehensive hum before you sneak over to the tent.

You don’t sense any cursed energy, but you have to make sure so they don’t get a jump on you.

Nevertheless, when you open the flap and peek inside you just see trash.

“Nothing,” you let everyone know before you look at the three students walking over to try and take a peek too. “Do you guys sense anything?” You question them and step aside.

The three of them pop their heads inside and stay quiet as their eyes roam the inside.

“No,” Fushiguro answers for all of them.

You nod. “Good. Always keep your guard up. When there are strong curses they hide. And then they attack when they see your back turned,” you give them some friendly advice before you step out.

“Another thing,” you add. “Clothes. This will apply once you’re out of school mostly. If you decide to stay as a sorcerer that is then clothes matter. Right now your uniforms help, but once you’re out you’ll find something that helps you with your technique, or just simply when you’re fighting. For example, I have two outfits, my jumpsuit, and a dress.”

“A dress?” Itadori questions.

You nod. “It's a light dress that helps me feel the flow of the wind,” you explain right away so they don’t think you’re weird for fighting in a dress. “It helps me also with the flow of my cursed energy, and transferring it to the elements around me. Of course,” you say smugly. “If you see me wearing my dress you should run the other way. I only ever wear it when I mean business. When the fight is extreme. So mostly against another sorcerer.”

“So,” Itadori interjects and walks forward. “Do you change mid-battle, or how does that work?”

“Uh, I burn off my jumpsuit. I wear my dress under my things. Or I use it over the jumpsuit, I just fix it you know so it’s not obvious and it looks like a part of the jumpsuit. It’s cool.”

“You burn it off? Nice.”

You smirk and nod. “Except that I have to carry extra clothes with me everywhere, but!” You exclaim and pet the worm's head. “That’s why I have him, he keeps everything for me.”

The worm smiles and you beam at it, getting weirded-out reactions from the kids.

“Y/N,” Nanami calls out and pulls your attention to him—“there. Pay attention.”

You follow where he points to and see a closed-off roller rink. Before you can reach the entrance you all come to a stop and search for any sign of a curse.

And right away when you focus, you sense a big amount of cursed energy that makes you think it might be a first-grade curse.

So it’s dangerous. For the students.

“Itadori and I will go around the back, you, Fushiguro, and Nobara take the front. Let’s do it like we did in the old times, yeah?” You ask with a small smile.

Nanami sighs but nods in agreement. “Sure. Be careful.”

You nod and then point ahead before you lead the way around the back of the roller rink.

“What do you mean like old times?” Itadori queries.

You smile over at him. “We’d surround the curses,” you reminisce. “Try and get a jump on it and just coordinate our fights so we could work as a team. It’d work all the time…” you trail off and frown as you think back to the one time and the last time it didn't work in your favor.

“We’ll do that again,” you brush off the sorrow. “You take the right, I’ll take the left. Meet up in the middle and jump it. If it gets too bad you take your friends and wait for Nanami and me outside though, understand?”

Itadori narrows his eyes and seems to want to argue but he sighs and nods stiffly. “Fine,” he mutters.

You scoff in amusement and look at the back door you’re approaching. And just before you can reach it, you think of getting out a blade and reach for the worm.

Without any hesitation, the worm opens its mouth and pushes out your blade that you pull out without thought.

“Oh, what?!” Itadori freaks out. “How did it do that?”

You narrow your eyes on the doorknob and slowly wrap your hand around it as you answer. “That’s his skill. He can keep stuff inside without changing size, something as big as a car and down to a penny without ever losing it,” you whisper as you open the door. “That’s why he’s a good companion.”

The worm turns his head to look at Itadori beside you, and from the corner of your eyes, you see Itadori reach for the worm's mouth.

“No,” you stop his attempts. “It doesn’t work that way. He only works with whom it’s bonded to—or serving if you want simpler terms. You’ll just get swallowed or a handful of sticky saliva.”

“Ew.”

“Yeah, but it’s cool.” You smirk and the worm smirks too.

Itadori nods even if you see that he looks creeped out by the worm and you with matching expressions. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “It actually is.”

You proceed to reach for the worm's mouth again, and this time you pull out two daggers. “Here,” you nudge Itadori. “Use them. Just in case. If you don’t need to use your cursed energy, don't waste it, be resourceful, your life may depend on it. Or if that’s not your case, then it’s always just good to carry something extra just in case.”

“Oh,” he mouths and gently grabs the weapons. “Thank you…they’re sticky.”

You glance at him and nod. “Yeah, you get used to it.”

You then tap into your fire and summon flames to your palm to bask the length of the blade in flames so you can see through the darkness that invades the roller rink.

“I’ll go right, you go left,” you remind him a bit quieter. “You get into any trouble, shout, or text me,” you pause and reach for the worm’s mouth to pull out a card. “Here.”

His eyebrows raise in disbelief and he whispers loudly. “For me?”

You nod. “We’ll be working together a lot so it’s better to be friends than acquaintances.”

Itadori meets your gaze and nods with a look of surprise on his face. You offer him a tiny smile before you begin to move towards the right side.

The roller rink is quiet so you make sure to step quietly to keep it that way and double-check the rooms you pass so there aren't any curses hiding around.

And for the most part, the ghost is clear except for when you reach a bathroom door and follow a blood trail to the end of the bathroom. Only a curse isn't lurking there eating a person, there’s only a person bleeding out from his side.

“Help,” he says hoarsely as he slowly looks up at you. “Please something attacked me—oh, I know you. You’re famous, yeah?”

You study the bleeding man and don’t sense any high levels of cursed energy so it means he’s a non-sorcerer.

“What attacked you,” you ask as you come to a stop a few feet away.

The man clutches onto his side and begins to cry, making your face slowly twist with disgust.

“I don’t know,” he cries, “my friend was attacked by something invisible, and it tried to get me too but I managed to run away! Please help me. Please.”

You slowly lower the blade in your hand and lower your chin to express feigned pity and concern.

“I will,” you lie and slowly stride to him as the flames that basked your blade dies and leaves the bathroom dark. When you step on a pool of his blood a smirk tugs on your lips and a menacing look paints in your gaze. You proceed to reach for his hand, but before you can touch him you swing the blade and slice his throat.

“Time for lunch,” you mutter nonchalantly to your worm as the man falls limp on the cold ground. “Come find me when you’re done,” you let your worm know as you pull him off your neck and put him down by the dead man.

One thing you doubt will ever change throughout your life is your hatred for non-sorcerers. You can’t exactly find any easier way to rid this world of them without the help of Suguru, so you’ve put that dream on hold. But that hatred will never change.

Nevertheless, you walk out of the bathroom and ignite the blade again. Before you can walk out of the hall and come across the rink, you hear a creepy cackle, meaning they’ve found the curse. Great.

It better not be some clown or a large spider-like curse. Please, please no.

You reach the double doors and let out a deep breath before you slowly push the door open. As you peek through the crack you groan as you see a large body with a ridiculous dull clown costume, and bright red hair sticking out the sides.

Really? Really?! A fucking clown?

Clowns are fucking scary…

“You’ll pay for this Satoru,” you whisper and drift your eyes past the clown curse and spot Nanami in front of it with his blade out, but you can't see Nobara and Fushiguro, nor can you see Itadori around.

Which is good. No matter how much you should teach them, why should they be on the front lines facing something above their grade if you’re here?

As long as you can, you’ll protect people like you. Even if you hardly know them.

Which is why you tiptoe out before the students get angsty, and quietly watch Nanami kick the clown in the rink.

The clown quickly tries to swing its claw for hands at your friend, but Nanami dodges and slides past it. When he lands behind the clown curse he spots you walking out the back doors, so you hastily point your eyes to the side so the clown won’t see you so you can catch it by surprise.

Nanami nods stiffly as he reads what you want without being told, and pulls the clown's attention to the side, letting you continue to quietly maneuver past turned-over tables and broken wooden chairs. When the clown turns abruptly you quickly go down and hide behind a table.

And as you do you spot Itadori at your far left side hiding behind a booth with greenery growing around it. His brown eyes find you and he steps forward to help his mentor, but you put your hand out and he stops. You don’t want to give out your presence so you mouth to him.

“Wait.”

Itadori quirks one eyebrow up in confusion, causing you to sigh deeply before you close your hand to signal him to hold.

He understands now so he mouths, “oh,” before he nods once in agreement.

You scoff in amusement and continue to move on ahead in your crouched position. When you reach the rink you finally spot Megumi and Nobara on metal vents above ground. So it means Nanami is actually following along with your old plans.

It’s surprising that he is. Even if you agreed to it moments before you still can’t help but be surprised since it’s been so long since you’ve worked together. It makes you happy and eager honestly.

Regardless, you step into the rink and before the clown can see you, you scurry over, and when you get close enough you change your pace to a sprint before you hop off your feet. As gravity pulls you back down you pull the blade up, and just as you get close you rapidly swing down with force and slice down the clown's back, making it cry out and try to swing its arm back.

Yet before he can touch you, you push yourself off his back to land on the floor swiftly and slide back.

The clown's eyes land on you, and it begins to growl, showing sharp black teeth. It then tries to turn completely, but you use your technique and trap its feet using pieces of the ground. Nanami then follows by swinging his blade across its chest.

And the power of his swing is so strong that the clown goes flying back. Albeit just before you can see it hit the ground, a large brown bird shikigami appears from nowhere and grabs the clown with its talons. It then takes it across the rink and slams it against a wall to zap it with purple electricity before it lets it go and disappears through the shadows.

The wall behind the clown crumbles, welcoming in natural light from the outside, while the clown itself tumbles down.

You know it’s not done yet though, it got weakened, but it’s done fighting. However, Nanami and you still approach it cautiously. And just as predicted the clown suddenly throws its hands out and they suddenly stretch out towards Nanami and you.

You get ready to attack, but then in a blink of an eye, you’re surprised by how fast Itadori slams his body against the clown’s arms before he wraps his own

arms around one and pushes it towards the other. When the arms are pressing against each other a dozen nails impale both arms.

Nobara lands before Nanami and you, and with a simple snap the nails implode and blow both arms to pieces.

“Wow,” you gasp through the silence with a proud smile. “Satoru once again has an impressive bunch here.”

“He owes us for lying though,” Nanami mutters.

“Yeah, he’ll pay,” you agree and listen to the clown begin to cackle again. “Careful,” you warn the kids. “It’ll probably heal its arms back.”

Megumi jumps off the vents and lands beside Nanami, while you narrow your eyes on the clown and begin to walk towards it. The clown then suddenly goes quiet, and before you know it the clown throws its body out as it enlarges so big its head hits the ceiling. It then reaches for a flower on its chest and when he presses it water shoots and aims at Nobara, so you change your pace to a run.

However, when you get close to her you slide forward on your feet, and then lift two fingers to use your technique and split the water in half before it could touch Nobara or you.

The clown cries out at its failure, and you flash it a cocky grin while you also manipulate the water to travel around Nobara and you.

“Cool,” Nobara muses before you shoot the clown's own prank water at its eyes.

The moment water hits the clown's eyes, you see steam rising and watch the clown try and grab its eyes as the water seems to melt away his eyes.

“Well,” you joke to lighten the mood. “Good thing we didn’t get splashed by that huh?”

Nobara scoffs, and Itadori uses this time while it’s distracted to run over and throw it a strong right hook that hurls the clown to the side. And rather than stumbling, you see Megumi meet it with a punch that sends it back to the left.

You take advantage of this moment and sprint forward before you hop and impale the curse through the jaw.

The clown begins to laugh menacingly, but before it can attack, both Megumi and Itadori come at it from the sides and use the daggers you had handed Itadori to impale the clown's eyes.

With that last move, the clown goes limp and you pull your blade out and let yourself fall to the ground. When Megumi and Itadori land on their feet, the clown's corpse begins to disappear, bringing an end to this fight.

“It's over,” you assure them and let out a deep and relieved breath. “Good job.”

“Save it until we see if the veil fell,” Nanami counters you and walks past you to walk to the gap left on the wall.

You quickly follow after him and push yourself past his side to poke your head out. Luckily rather than seeing a dim sky you can’t help but smile as you see the vivid blue sky and fluffy grey clouds.

“See,” you nudge Nanami. “Over!” You spin around on your heels and shoot the kids a grin. “Great job everyone, you all did amazing. Great teamwork, and great quick thinking!”

They all seem to look a bit surprised by your compliment but they smile softly and take your compliment with a sweet thank you.

Your worm curse finally shows up and the moment he sees you he drags himself as fast as he can to reach you.

“Why don’t we get out, huh?” You suggest. “Maybe get some well-deserved boba.”

When the worm reaches your feet you pick him up and hang him around your neck before you put away your blade and step outside through the gap.

“Y/N,” you hear Itadori call out before he falls beside you.

“Hm?” You hum and look at him with a curious look.

Itadori holds the daggers out and offers you a faint half-smile. “Thanks for letting me use them, they came in handy.”

“Oh,” you say and smile. “No problem.”

Instead of grabbing them, you offer him an assuring nod, and he grins and tucks the daggers in the worm.

“Sick,” he laughs.

You smile softly at him in admiration as you see a flash of Haibara again. They also have the same sweet look in their eyes, that warm kindness and bright glimmer even after they’ve seen the worst thing imaginable.

“Look,” you interject softly. “I’m not sorry for the way I think. I have my reasons, I won’t preach my views to you either, I just hope,” you sigh and earn his undivided attention. “That we can look past our indifferences. At least while we work together. It’d be very awkward if we had tension.”

Itadori drifts his eyes away and looks ahead before he responds in a kind voice. “I don’t agree with the way you think, but I’ve gotten to know your world and I can say that it isn’t easy, and I can never know what happened that made you think the way you do,” he says in such a deep and wise manner even though he's only fifteen years old.

“But I do respect you,” he continues, catching you by surprise. “You helped fight this curse today. You didn’t have to. You helped Nobara and you didn’t have to. For that I respect you. Besides, Nanami and Gojo trust you too, and I trust their judgment, so I trust you too. Plus you’re so much cooler now that I’ve seen you in action.”

You laugh softly.

“I’m looking forward to working with you, y/n,” he finishes saying, making your smile soften.

“I’m looking forward to working with you too,” you mirror sweetly.

Itadori offers you a tiny smile, making you pat his shoulder and give him another compliment. “You did good kid. Now, do you want to see some pictures of Nanami when he was in high school? I have videos saved here too.”

“Oh, can I?!” He exclaims.

“Y/N, don’t you dare!” Nanami shouts.

You peer back and pull your phone out in a taunting manner. Your friend glares at you and you turn your phone on and unlock it before you go to your camera roll.

“You never change,” he mutters.

You smirk. “You’re so annoying,” you mock him by saying what he’d tell you all the time when you were students yourselves.

“You’re almost 28.”

“You’re almost 28,” you mimic him, making his lip curl to a soft scowl. “Anyway!” You laugh and click on the folder where you have the old pictures. “This is us. And that’s him.”

Itadori takes your phone away from you and laughs. “Whoa! Nanamin your hair!”

You giggle and see Nanami clench his jaw.

“I want to see!” Nobara exclaims before she runs over and pushes Itadori slightly as she holds the phone to look too.

“You can scroll through that folder,” you assure them. “You’ll find Ieiri and Satoru there too.”

“Hey, look, it's Master Gojo!” Itadori shouts excitedly, making Fushiguro quietly walk over to look at the pictures with his friends too. You, on the other hand, slow down to catch up to Nanami.

“Reminds me of us,” you muse softly.

“Except neither of them is a spoiled rich girl,” he tries to get back at you for revealing pictures of his youth.

“Your hair is pink and super short!” Nobara points out.

“It was a phase!” You counter.

“A mistake,” Nanami corrects you and laughs quietly. “I told him it was too light.”

You giggle. “He got the measurements all wrong. He wasn’t good at math.”

Nanami shakes his head in agreement with your comment. “No. No, he was not.”

You sigh deeply and your smile fades. “You think everything’s going to be okay?” You ask quietly as you watch Nobara, Itadori, and Fushiguro talking and smiling as they look through the pictures and watch the videos you have saved—“they deserve better than what we had.”

Nanami lets out a deep breath and nods stiffly. “They do, but there’s no way of knowing,” he doesn’t hide the truth.

You’re thankful for that even if it gives you a bad feeling in your gut.

“All we can do is hope and fight for them to get better, right?” You add another question to feel some comfort through the bad feeling forming like a storm.

“Yeah,” Nanami whispers. “That’s right.”

You hum softly in comprehension and continue to watch them with admiration and a soft smile even though the storm continues to brew within you.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N- Let’s enjoy these moments :/….

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154

[captain-mj]

Vampire Pt 5

CW: suicidal ideation, non typical self harm, smut, Ghost finally drinks from Soap

We're back!!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Ghost stared at the new people. His discomfort was immediate but subtle enough that only the people who knew him would pick up on it. He immediately sought out the places of exit and sunlight before finding Johnny. 

“Now. Why were you all scolding my familiar and why is there a werewolf in my home?”

Price stood up immediately. “Well, Simon-”

“Ghost.” He corrected, glaring down Farah. She shrank back from him, a healthy respect in her eyes. No fear despite here stance. When he noticed the shaking and unconscious woman in Alejandro’s hands, he realized why. She was protecting someone. He glanced at Johnny, partially for answers and partially to make sure he was there.. 

His little familiar stared at him and Ghost tried not to preen. It was just because he had never seen his face before. And judging by the dumbstruck look on his face, he was probably surprised by how much he was scarred. Soap definitely was wondering how great of a warrior he was. Unfortunately, those days were far behind him, though Soap’s reaction to him made him feel fearsome in a way he hadn’t in a long time. Later, he’d assure Soap that he never, ever had to be afraid of him. 

Ghost had to look away from him briefly when he heard Alex bursting in. 

“Ah. Damn. Nevermind, you’re on your own.” 

“Alex!” Farah growled at him, sneaking glances at all of them. The atmosphere felt tense and incredibly awkward. 

Ghost moved slowly. The floor creaked beneath him as he walked. He went closer to his Johnny and noticed how he was standing. Hands behind his back. Perfect posture like he only had when he had done something wrong. 

Rather than call him out in front of everyone, he circled him. 

His hands. 

They had ash. 

Ghost knew immediately something horrible had happened. But his friends were all here and very much alive. Whoever died… well. 

They could cross that bridge when they came to it. 

His own hands were ungloved. Now adorned with sharp nails. He wrapped his hand around Soap’s throat, careful not to squeeze. Ghost only wanted to feel his pulse beneath his fingers. 

Soap let out a breath and everyone else tensed. 

Farah immediately stepped forward. “Wait, I dragged him into everything. Alright? He didn’t even want to do it.” She had her hand up, eyes on Ghost. 

Ghost hated when people looked at his face. The only thing worse than being seen was retreating though. 

“I’m not going to kill him. You can all relax. I need him to make me a new mask anyway. My last one was ripped.” He twisted and leaned his head down to look at Soap and continued to speak only to him. “Shame. I really liked that one. You can replace it right?” His thumb rubbed gentle circles into his skin. The tan flesh of Soap’s throat made him feel warmer. Maybe there were multiple uses for humans. 

Soap must’ve noticed his pointed ears and nodded. “I’ll find a way to work around everything, sir.” 

Ghost moved so he was speaking directly in his ear. “Good boy. And later, we can talk about this, huh?” He grabbed Soap’s hands, discreetly dusting them off before turning to everyone else once again. 

Interviewer: So how you feeling?

Soap: I’d never be so fucking horny in my life. He called me a good boy. 

Interviewer notes that Soap is still flushed: Right. He didn’t even care that you murdered someone

Soap: He just covered it up for me! That’s so against Vampire Code but he just brushed my hands off. And did you see his face?? 

Interviewer: He’s prettier than I was expecting.

Soap: So pretty! I can finally draw him accurately. He’s a lot paler than I was expecting, but he is British. Also, he doesn’t have any scars. That also caught me off guard. He constantly mentions them but I didn’t see anything. 

Interviewer: Maybe they’re not on his face? Or he means mentally?

Soap: He’s so dreamy. And when he put his hands around my throat… What a man. 

Interviewer: You know what, I think we’ve covered everything for now. 

Everyone was squabbling. Ghost used Johnny as a stress ball, squeezing his arm carefully before letting go and repeating. The louds noises and the air on his face was… what was the word Soap used that one time? 

Overstimulating? That was it. Overstimulating. 

“What do we do about the lady?” Alejandro held up Malika. “If someone finds out we were part of a plot to steal a familiar, it could mean banishment or being forced into the sun.”

Ghost considered their options. With the vampire dead, he would have to convince them not to take Malika back. They could just cover all of this. 

Price nodded. “Well, obviously we have to take them back.”

“No. If we take them back, it implicates us. The best thing is to just get rid of her.” If she was gone, no witnesses. 

Farah snarled at him. “Absolutely not.”

They’d have to kill two werewolves too. And then Laswell. Ghost did not want to get rid of Laswell. Neither did he particularly think they would be capable of killing Laswell. 

Rodolfo hummed. “What if we just let them keep her? As long as everyone agrees to keep quiet, you can punish Soap and we can all move on.”

“Exactly!” Alejandro nodded. “No need to kill her for no reason. Clearly, Farah here went through a lot effort to get her back.”

“Wait, how do you guys know my name?”

“We’re good friends with Kate.” Price whispered to her, standing up. “Look, maybe I’m a little more traditional, but do you really think this is wise? Really?”

Ghost shrugged. “We knew nothing. It’s daylight. No vampire is going to be looking for her.” He rubbed the tips of his fingers together, feeling ash and bone dust. No vampire indeed. 

Price shook his head. “I understand you got your claws and all, but I’m the oldest here. If someone stole Soap, would you seriously be okay with it?” 

Ghost tightened his grip so fast Soap yelped in pain. “I’d never let my familiar get to such a state. I’d also never hold someone against their will.”

Price narrowed his eyes. “Implying something, Simon?” 

Rodolfo gently pushed their guests to sit down. “Don’t ruin this for me. I’ve been waiting for these two to fight for ages.” He settled in. “There’s coffee in the kitchen as well as soda.” 

Gaz materialized on the couch. “This is the perfect way to end a night fellows.”

Interviewer: What did you mean by that?

Rudy: They’ve been walking around each other for centuries. As long as I’ve known them, there’s been this… tension. I always assumed it was sexual ya know?

Interviewer: Uh, okay.

Rudy: But I’ve been waiting decades for them to just blow up at each other. 

Alejandro: Anytime they’re alone with each other, it’s especially bad. It’s mostly from Ghost. I’ve been dying to know too. I think Ghost is angry about being turned. 

Rudy: Why would Ghost hate being turned? Being a vampire is amazing. You don’t regret being turned, do you?

Alejandro: Mi noche, of course not. 

Interviewer makes a note that Alejandro looks a little sad when Rudy put his arms around him. 

Ghost hissed at him immediately. “Ghost. I told you my name is Ghost.”

“Will you let it go, Simon? You’re not human. I’m sorry that I was so selfish.” Price sounded so condescending. 

“You were!” Simon shouted. “You were selfish!! I was supposed to die on that field. I was fine with it. A hero’s end. Cut down by an enemies blade.”

“I didn’t want you to die.”

“Why? Why not? What made you decide to change my fate there? I was just a soldier! I wasn’t important!” 

Price shook his head. “I put so much time into you. Trying to make sure you were okay. Keeping you from dragging yourself into the sun. Do any of them know how many times I had to feed you because you ripped your own fangs out? Tore at yourself until you barely were able to heal? Why can’t you just be thankful you’re alive?”

“Because I don’t want to be!” 

The awkward silence that filled the room was suffocating. 

“I wanted you to let me die. Just give me a fucking reason. You told me it was because I was special and then that I was the only person alive which I know wasn’t true. Then it was that I respected you. Wasn’t afraid. What was the real fucking answer? What reason did you have from taking my humanity away from me?”

Price stared at him before sighing. “I didn’t have a reason. I saw you among the other dying men. And that was it.”

Ghost stared at him. He felt the pinch of his fangs. The agony of ripping them out by the root. Feeling cold blood fill up his mouth and gush out from between his lips. He was always careful not to swallow because of how horribly sick it would make him. Wouldn’t fucking kill him though. 

“You weren’t special, Simon. I just noticed you, lying on the ground, bleeding out. I thought you’d be appreciative.”

Ghost felt his ears ringing. “You thought wrong.”

“Clearly, Simon.”

“Ghost. Simon died a very long time ago.” 

Price had brought him people. Random victims. He remember being unable to control himself once the blood started flowing. Price had encouraged it. Had tried to teach him how to survive. Unfortunately for Ghost and fortunately for Price, survival instincts did eventually step in. A year of trying to kill oneself with no luck… it still does things to a person. 

“I didn’t kill you. You’re still right here.”

Ghost scowled. “You made sure of that. The girl leaves. They can have her. You’re not part of this coven or this household. Do any of them people who belong to this house have an objection?” 

Rodolfo, Alejandro and Gaz all shook their heads in sync. All five of them were enraptured. Malika had just started to wake up but even she showed some interest. 

Price frowned at him and he quickly stepped closer. “I’m sorry. I went too far there.”

Ghost yanked Soap along. “Tell Kate I said hi.” He was starving. The second hand blood from Rudy had already been ran through. He would’ve been fine until tonight if he hadn’t been woken up. But now, he couldn’t wait. 

Soap jogged to keep up with him. “Sir…” He sounded hesitant, hand gently coming up to clasp on to Ghost’s arm. “That was pretty… intense.”

Ghost grabbed him and yanked him into his room, lifting him off the ground like a marionette. He set him on his coffin. “Johnny. Take off your shirt.”

Interviewer: So what went through your mind in that moment?

Soap: God I hope I don’t cry during sex with him. 

Interviewer: Dios mio…

Soap slowly slipped his shirt off like he was unwrapping a present for Ghost. He looked shy, as if he didn’t regularly walk around shirtless during the summer. Before Ghost could even comment, he snapped the chain of his cross necklace and tossed it to the side. Big sign of trust dedicated to a person who planned on eating him. 

“I can’t wait until nightfall. I’m not going to take too much.” Ghost grabbed him by his hair and forced his head back. His nose pressed right against his neck, seeking out his jugular and each of the little veins. It wasn’t really a question, more of a courtesy heads up that he would be feeding from. While doing this, he pressed himself between Johnny’s legs, trying to close the gap between them. He was just stealing warmth and he could always blame it on being hungry and upset. Other people loved when Ghost talked about his feelings. 

Soap flushed impossibly bright. “Oh! Oh, yes, of course. Take what you need from me.” He buried his hands in Ghost’s hair. “Is this okay? I don’t want to touch you too much if you’re no-”

Ghost’s fangs slid into his throat. Just to the left of one of his jugular so he wouldn’t puncture it. He worried it would bleed too much and Soap may black out. Or worse. 

Blood was never sweet. It was always savory or salty. Diet was a big part of it too. Healthier diets tasted better. Salt filled diets meant saltier blood. So on. So forth. 

Soap was… Good. Really good. It made sense. He took good care of himself. But it surprised Ghost just how perfect he tasted. 

Ghost groaned and sank in deeper. A leech. Maybe a tick would be better. Clamping his jaws into Johnny. Holding him so tight and drinking him until there was nothing left. Stealing the warmth from his veins. 

Soap whimpered and Ghost slowly retracted his fangs. He closed his mouth over the wound and started to drink. His arms cradled Soap to his chest, enjoying how soft and hot he felt. The hands in his hair tightened their grip but they pulled him closer instead of pushing him away. 

“I got you, Ghost.” Soap muttered to him and Ghost melted into his grip. He pulled away slowly to lap at the wound instead. Blood dribbled down Soap’s chest and his head ducked to follow the droplets back up his chest with his tongue. 

Soap’s breath caught and Ghost felt him pressed against his hip. Humans get turned on by the strangest things. 

Ghost finished feeding and pulled away once he was sure there was no more blood coming from the wound. He thought of ignoring the little problem Soap was having, but he thought it would be more fun to bother him about it. 

“Into biting?”

Soap blushed. “I… I…”

“It’s a normal reaction, Love.” Ghost didn’t move. They were pressed against each other. “Do you need help?”

Soap just stared at him as Ghost undid his zipper. Maybe getting older came with personality changes. Maybe he was just more sadistic than he realized. Or he was looking for a distraction from earlier. 

Soap made real pretty noises when Ghost got his hand around his cock. He wiped his mouth to use the little bit of blood and spit still around it as lube. Ghost stared down at Soap as he slowly moved his hands up and down. When Soap tried to look away, he grabbed his chin and made him look at him. 

“Johnny. You killed someone today didn’t you?”

“It was on accident. I swear.”

“I know. I believe you. My little bodyguard huh. Protector of the innocent.” He sped up his hand and the way Soap’s thighs trembled wasn’t missed. Every time he reached the head, he’d play with his slit, using his precum to make the slide even better. “Never would’ve thought you’d have that in you. Bet you have a lot of secrets from me.”

“No. No, Ghost.” Soap grabbed his shoulders.

“You hid you were a perv. Getting off on being bitten.” Ghost spoke calmly to him, watching those ocean blue eyes fill up with tears. “Broke your necklace you were so desperate. So desperate for me.” He slowed his hand and Soap keened. “You were delicious by the way.”

Soap thrust up into his hand and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Maybe I should feed off you more often. Litter your neck with bites.” Ghost sank to his knees and deepthroated him. He forced Soap to be still since it had been a while since he had done this. He bobbed his head once he had adjusted and he purred around him when Soap finally came. 

Soap was mumbling something and suddenly Ghost’s skin burned. He yanked back with a snarl and sank his nails into Soap’s hips, making him cry out. 

“Do not bring up religion right now.”

“Sorry.” Soap squeaked out.

“You’re lucky you tasted good.” Ghost got up with a huff.

[companionjones]

The Beginning of Us (2/5)

Pairing: 36!Joel Miller x 23!Fem!Reader

Fandom: The Last of Us (could be applied to the characters in the video game or TV show)

Author’s Note: This is an AU where it’s normal times and both Sarah and Ellie are Joel’s (alive) daughters.

Summary: A few people talk to you about their stances on you and Joel. You’re surprised about what they say.

Warnings: Cursing, eventual smut

(1/2/3/4/5)

*******

It had been two and a half days since that night with Joel, and you hadn’t seen him since. That was exactly how you wanted things to be. They weren’t your proudest moments, but the few times you’d exited your apartment, you had taken extra care to make sure no one else was around, especially the residents of the apartment across the hall from yours.

“There you are!”

Your luck had to run out at some point, you realised. Sarah had caught you sneaking out of your apartment around noon.

“Hey, Ellie! Y/n finally showed her face!” she called to her sister.

Suddenly, you were being bombarded by two assailants on your way out to your car.

“How did things go the other night with our dad?” Sarah curiously asked.

Ellie jumped in, “He won’t tell us a thing. All we know is that you two didn’t bone.”

Both you and Sarah were taken way off guard by that statement. “Ellie!”

She defended herself. “What? Sarah, you heard Dad go to bed alone that night. I’m just stating facts.”

Sarah agreed, “Okay, but that doesn’t mean that you need to put that image in my head…Seriously, Y/n. We just want to know if you two…kissed or something.” She switched gears.

“Girls, I gotta tell you something.” You caved in, and stopped in the hallway.

Both of them looked at you intently.

“I am only 23,” you let them know. “It would be highly inappropriate if anything were to happen between me and your father…and I would honestly hate to put him in that position.” Figuring that was all they needed to hear, you continued down the staircase.

Understandably, that truth bomb silenced both girls for a few moments; however, the (surprisingly) wouldn’t give up on you yet.

Ellie called after you, “So what?”

“Yeah,” Sarah joined in, “Who cares? Age is just a number, right?”

Both girls barrelled down the steps after you.

You just laughed, “Age is not just a number when I’m 23 and–How old is your father?”

“Only 36!” informed Sarah. “That’s just 13 years.”

“Who gives a shit?” Ellie comforted colorfully.

“Come on, Ellie. Language,” you rolled your eyes. “Why do you two want me with your father so much?” you asked without thinking.

“Because…” both girls started.

Ellie continued, “Because it’s been so long since we saw dad happy.”

“He’s happy with us. We get it. But we want to see him happy with someone, y’know?” Sarah clarified.

“I do,” you sighed, “But I’m too young for him. I’m sorry, girls.”

At that point, they had followed you all the way out to your car. You got in your car, and waited until the girls were back inside the building before driving off. 

You went out grocery shopping, and returned home two hours later. You were preparing dinner when there was a knock at your door. You almost dropped the pan you were holding.

Please, don’t let that be Joel.

Thankfully, it wasn’t. But it was still somebody almost equally as surprising.

You opened your door. “Hey, Tommy. Is everything alright?”

He nodded. “It is, thank you. I was just wondering if I could talk to you about something.”

“Of course.” You stepped aside so he could come in. “Please, sit down.”

Tommy remained standing. “No offence, but I don’t think I’ll be here that long. I’d just like to talk about Joel.”

“Oh.” You froze. “...Did he tell you?”

“The girls did, yes.”

“Then, you have to know. I would never want to do anything that would hurt him or his reputation.”

Tommy stated matter-of-factly, “I know that, Y/n.”

Again, you didn’t know what to do. “You do?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did you come here?” The question rolled off your tongue before you meant to ask it. “I’m sorry–”

“No, it’s alright,” he told you, “It’s a valid inquiry. I just…I don’t know, Y/n. I think you should go for it.”

“Tommy—!” you gasped, not believing your ears.

He backtracked. “I know. I know it sounds crazy. Hell, maybe all this is just those two little girls whispering in my ear. But Y/n. I can’t remember a time when I saw Joel more at ease than he was when you were helping them move in.” Tommy turned and started moving back toward the door, and you didn’t know what to say. Tommy turned back around to offer you one last sentiment. “I work with the guy every day, and I know my brother. I know when he’s got something he can’t get off his mind. Goodnight, Y/n.”

“Goodnight,” was all you were able to choke out before Tommy shut the door behind him.

(1/2/3/4/5)

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, check out my masterlist. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

*******

Tags:

@dbnightingale24 // @kyuupidwrites​ // @minjix​ // @xxmusic13luverxx​ // @junmsli​ // @mmeerraa​

[cyanoticfireflies]

Hazbin Hotel - Rewatch Thoughts (Episode 1, Part 1)

Notes: As I’ve been re-reading some of my favorite things (as in, not necessarily just fanfics, but other stuff that I enjoy) I got part of the way through @canary3d-obsessed’s “Restless Rewatch: The Untamed” and thought to myself that I should do one of these for Hazbin Hotel!  I can’t do a first time reacting to, because by this point I’ve watched it a good eight times -_- But this way I can point out some of the things that I’ve noticed on multiple rewatches, some of which prove just how clever the team behind this show is!  Also, you will get unapologetic Huskerdust shipping.  This is just my life now.

__________

Episode 1

So we start off with Charlie giving us the background story on Heaven, Hell, daddy Lucy, mama Lili, and all of that.  Heaven was “good,” Lucifer was a dreamer who thought of free will, the elders of Heaven said “nah,” Lucifer said “but what if yea,” and shit went sideways.

As someone who likes watching reaction videos on YouTube, I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have watched this intro and gone “Who’s Lilith?”  And then there are the ones who say they heard about her from Diablo 4.  I feel like Lilith isn’t… rare lore?  I don’t know where or when I first heard about Lilith, but that kind of supports my stance of surprise?

(I tried to show my religious friend Hazbin – leaning on the “it’s about redemption” point – and it was actually the mention of Lilith that first triggered her?  Because “you have to get really deep into things to find out about Lilith”?  I am confused.)

I won’t go into my theories too heavily at this point – I’ll put up a final chapter for those so I can take it down in humiliation when the show laughs in my face later – but Eve looks very, very evil when she gets that fruit…

Anyway, Luci and Lili got exiled, Luci developed depression, Lili developed magic song powers then fluffed off seven years ago.  Don’t worry, Charlie – your mom just went to go get some milk and cigarettes.

Genuinely, is Lilith being a song demon why everyone in Hell has pre-choreographed musical numbers?  If she “empowered demon-kind” with her songs, does that include giving them all baby song powers?  We know that these songs aren’t reality breaks because at the end of “Loser, Baby” the sharks comment on the song.  (There’s also Vaggie and Angel’s discussion in “Happy Day in Hell” but since that’s in-song it feels like a less-strong argument.) 

So it turns out that Charlie has been speaking this whole prolog bit aloud to herself.  Relatable, girl – me dictating to myself the entire course of actions it takes to get through my email inbox.  My officemate wears headphones so she won’t think I’m talking to her when I start talking to myself.

Also, poof – kitty! 

I love KeeKee (pronounced “key-key” because, and this is true, she’s a key).  But I also don’t know what the point of KeeKee is?  If it’s just to give Charlie a pet, that’s totally fine.  She also has Razzle and Dazzle, but Charlie could be one of those people with two cats, a full fishtank, a canary, and a husky and that’s totally chill.

(Why yes, my in-laws’ place is a zoo, why do you ask?)

I think I saw somewhere that KeeKee is the key to the hotel?  But when Lucifer pops up later he immediately coos over KeeKee like Charlie has had her forever, so she obviously didn’t come with the hotel.  Did Charlie change the locks on the hotel to KeeKee-compatible locks after she bought the place?  I assume this is a metaphorical key? 

(Lucifer and KeeKee in episode 5.)

Vivienne has said that KeeKee is a “physical manifestation of the hotel” but even that doesn’t make a lot of sense with the timeline…  *Shrugs*

Charlie and Vaggie talk, and I honestly get so much amusement out of people who are like “Is that her sister?  Are they best friends?”  And I know that they didn’t, like, make out in their opening scene.  But I didn’t ever suspect that they weren’t girlfriends?  Maybe it’s just because I read into pretty much all media from a queer lens.

(Right here, ma’am.)

Charlie will go on to call Vaggie her girlfriend much later in episode 5 and make it official-official, but if you don’t go into everything with a straight-is-default mindset I’m not sure how you miss it.

We blip into Alastor’s take on a commercial for a hotel.  Which is thoroughly enticing to exactly… Alastor.

(Quick question on the sinner designs – and I won’t stop every time we see a cluster of sinners to do this.  But everyone’s design has something to do with how they lived or died, right?  Angel is from a “web of crime” family, Husk is an unlucky black cat [I know, he’s a tuxedo cat not a fully black cat], Alastor was shot by a hunter like a deer… was grenade man some type of bomber?  A war criminal?  What is his story???)

His little hand-drawn picture is kind of cute, but it also makes me laugh because we actually see another character do something similar later on: Vox!

(And, yeah, Charlie obviously.)

I want someone to write the fic where Alastor and Vox’s relationship started in an introductory art class before descending into the chaos we see in episodes 2 and 8.

Vaggie does not like Alastor’s sense of humor and starts yelling at him.  Charlie tries the *kindergarten teacher* nice feedback.  “I love your use of color,” she says, staring at his construction paper covered in scribbled blobs of blue and orange.  “Very creative.”

(“Maybe if you crumpled your drawing into a little ball like this, it would look better in the trashcan, honey!”)

Alastor doesn’t see the problem here.  Alastor seems to have exactly zero capacity to accept anything that isn’t Alastor’s way, so this is unsurprising.

And then, with the sultry wail of a saxophone, we’re introduced to the bestest spider (and the only spider this horrifically arachnophobia author actually adores:) Angel Dust

Angel is totally willing to shoot an amateur porno right there on the sofa if it will help draw sinners to the hotel for Charlie.

And this would actually probably work in Hell, honestly.  The horniest sinners actually would be knocking the walls down if they thought that with every night’s stay you got a free round with Hell’s most famous porn star.  “Cum to the Hazbin Hotel for some ‘quality time’ with our singular resident.”

I am curious what Angel’s concept for his porno commercial was.  Just him and Alastor banging dirty on the coffee table in the foyer?  Night in the life of the brothel that is Angel’s bedroom?

(Also, I know Val owns Angel in the studio and Angel has some freedom outside of it, but does that include shooting his own pornos?  Is it okay if they’re not for money?  Or is it still not okay because Angel doesn’t own rights to his own image?  Would Angel have to charge so Val could get his cut?)

Charlie doesn’t want to exploit Angel that way, but Angel starts listing off all of his highly exploitable attributes.  He lists the legs twice, which is hilarious, but I’m immediately zeroed in on “the gag reflex.” 

You’d think that for someone who makes a significant amount of his living sucking dick that it should be “the lack of a gag reflex” but the thing about Angel is that he’s not exactly sucking dick for the nicest guys around.  Honestly, the fact that he does have a gag reflex and therefore will be gagging and choking and drooling is probably a turn-on for his usual partners.

We’re interrupted from Angel attempting to “keep going all night, baby,” by Lucifer calling, and the fact that his contact image in Charlie’s phone is a rubber duck in Lucifer’s top hat is honestly too cute?

Angel wants to know why Alastor can’t just make people stay in the hotel.  And the timing on this animation is actually a little weird.  After he says that he can, Husk chimes in with “Why do you think I’m here?” but Alastor is already moving to see around Vaggie as Husk starts talking.  Has he primed Husk to be his hype man if someone starts asking questions like this?

Here's Alastor, looking at Husk before Angel and Vaggie even turn their heads – and Alastor had to move his whole *torso* to see around Vaggie.

A: “Now, remember.  If anyone starts asking if I’m big and bad, you say yes.”

H: “Sure, Alastor.”

A: “I mean, I’ll say so first.  But then you jump in and talk me up.”

H: “Yeah, all right.”

A: “But, like, right away.”

H: “Uh-huh.”

A: “Should we practice?  We should practice.”

I do find it funny that we know the timeline – Alastor, Husk, and Niffty have been at the hotel a week per Vaggie’s words earlier.  But Husk is already grousing about them bitching and moaning all the time.  It’s been seven days?!  How much bitching and moaning are you guys doing?!  And it’s not just listening to, like, Angel bitch and moan.  It’s “you fucks.” 

(Or “you fuck’s” because Amazon doesn’t know how to pluralize a swear word?) 

Vaggie didn’t even want a bar, but I’m betting it took her about two piscos on the rocks to be over that.

We also get our official series intro to Niffty here when she says “I like being forced!” in her happy little voice with a wide smile. 

(God, I want the Niffty episode.)

Angel starts hitting on Husk, but (YMMV) I feel like at this point Angel isn’t trampling all over Husk’s boundaries the way he does later.  He’s just throwing passes and Husk is kind of engaging him?  By responding?  He threatens Angel, making it clear that the flirting is unwelcome, absolutely. 

But I kind of want to see where the conversation would have gone if Vaggie hadn’t stepped in.  At some point it might have gotten snappier, but Angel wasn’t in meltdown mode like he is in “Masquerade” so they probably could have kept bickering for a bit.

Vaggie and Angel start talking about the core premise of the show.  Is Hell the end of the road?  Maybe, but also maybe not.  Charlie thinks that it’s worth trying so that’s what Vaggie is going to do.

We as rewatchers know that where you end up in the afterlife isn’t as permanent of an assignment as the show makes it sound.  And Vaggie I’m sure highly suspects so as well.  This conversation is literally happening with one person who was in Heaven and now lives in Hell.

Though I do have to wonder if there’s a teeny tiny part of Vaggie that hopes the hotel fails, though?  If Sinners really can be redeemed into Heaven, then she has to double/triple/quadruple think about what she’s done as an Exorcist.  If the Sinners prove irredeemable, it doesn’t *justify* what she did or anything, but it could potentially relieve some of the guilt for her.

(Blake Roman’s delivery on “crack is expensive” is my favorite moment from episode 1.)

If we didn’t know that Charlie was drowning in daddy issues, I feel like we get a good demonstration at the end of her phone call.  Yes, she’s excited and happy and hopeful.  But she also says “Okay” and hangs up. 

Maybe Lucifer said, “I’ll talk to you soon” or something and she said “okay” back.  But I never hang up after a call with my dad without a “love you, bye.”

IDK why Charlie calls Vaggie over except to show her hyperactive squirrel brain going wild.  Alastor and Angel are staring at them and seem like they can hear every word even after Charlie had Vaggie come around the corner.

Vaggie knows that Charlie means Adam, right?  She has to.  Charlie says “the leader of the angel army” and as of now, I mean… that’s Adam.

Also, initially I missed the detail that Adam was the one to call the meeting. 

Was he going to inform Lucifer face-to-(virtual)-face that they were moving up the next extermination?  Do Lucifer and Adam meet regularly?  I think not from some of the dialogue in episode 8, but then what is the Heaven Embassy for?

(We'll pick up in Episode 1, Part 2 due to Tumblr's 30 images-per-post limit.)

[redditreceipts]

i feel like i do agree with most radfem stances but then some just don’t make sense to me

like stating that someone’s bf begging for sex or acting sad he isn’t getting any is akin to rape/coercion into sex? it just doesn’t sit right to me because i got assaulted and it was .. forceful, i didn’t get to decide ‘oh i feel bad for this person, guess i will just do it!’ i didn’t want to and i was forced to. i feel like the many posts about how having consensual sex you regret because you consented for bad reasons making it ‘rape’ are disrespectful towards anyone who actually got assaulted/raped.

then there’s also the thing where Tifs are treated like they are just harmless deluded girls, when most tifs are homophobic and gross- you constantly see them mocking gay men and talking about how they want to go ‘stealth’ and would be fine tricking a gay man into sex. but radfems ignore that and mostly talk about tims.

i also don’t get if most radfems are pro gay or not because i got told multiple times that women who have consensual sex with men or who got married (by their own choice) to a man and had kids with him are also somehow ‘lesbians’. it just sounds like they think lesbian = manhating bisexual with trauma. idk most radfems on here i agree with until it comes down to these 3 points.

hmmm, so I can't speak for all feminists here on tumblr, but I can just give my personal opinion on these points.

So I don't have much authority on the first point, because I've never experienced that (well, I haven't experienced it so far lmao). But I think that the problem is that we have very few words for very different experiences of sexual violence. We have "molestation", "rape", "sexual violence", "coercion", "sexual assuault", - and... well, I'm not a native speaker so I don't know all of the terms, maybe, but most of these terms are just polite descriptions of sexual violence. I think we should invent new terms to differentiate. Maybe one umbrella term like "sexual violence", and then a term for coercion with physical violence, coercion with verbal violence, coercion with manipulation, coercion with threats of taking important things away from a person, coercion from an authority figure via their authority, rape of an inebriated person... Like with violence via physical impact, where we have the terms "punch", "hit", "strike", "nudge", "slap", "beat", "smack", "thump", "pound", "smash", "slam", "hammer", "box", "bump", "spank", etc. Imagine there was just one term: "to hit". But if there was just this one term "to hit", one person would say "I was hit" when they have been bumped into, and you would say "I was hit" when you had been punched in the face. It would of course seem crazy to act as if these two experiences had been similar, but the problem is not someone appropriating someone else's terminology, but the problem is that there is just one word for violence via impact. Maybe that's the problem?

Second, I do think that there is a difference between TIMs and TIFs. 1. Men are more violent than women and there is no reason to think that this would change with transition. There are violent women, yes, but not as many as there are violent men, so violence in men is far larger problem. 2. Also, a woman who is violent against men is less likely to be able to do harm because she will be smaller on average. 3. The general attitude toward transgender people among gay men and lesbian women is very different. While lesbians and bisexual women tend to welcome straight TIMs with open arms (and get to feel the repercussions of that), gay men tend to be much more confident in excluding women from their sexuality. Almost every subreddit for gay men would be labelled as a "TERF"-subreddit if it was women behaving in the exact same way. While gay men have basically the entire internet to talk about how they hate vagina, lesbians have carved out this very little space to talk about how they hate dick. so that's why this is much more frequent, I guess 4. most people on here are lesbian and bisexual women. So I guess that venting about transbians is more common because trans gay men don't invade our spaces. If they do, that's shitty nonetheless of course.

And on the third point - well, many women get married to men they are not attracted to. So if you marry a man you don't like and you do it because of internalised homophobia, you would still be a lesbian. If you are genuinely sexually attracted to him, you would be bisexual. But I've not really seen that happening, but if it did, I'd be happy to get a link because that's of course nonsense, a person who is genuinely attracted to men is not a lesbian.

I hope this answered your questions a bit :)

[news4dzhozhar]

President Biden’s inconsistent stance on death penalty. Hate is a crime, but apparently not for all - Opinion

https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article297493173.html

**Biden has been a flip flopping hypocrite for ages. 1 of his biggest campaign promises had been to abolish the federal death penalty entirely should he be elected. Once he was however, selective amnesia kicked in and he's only taking half assed action now that he's on his way out. Commuting most of the current sentences does nothing for anyone going forward. Half measures and hypocrisy is all he was ever going to deliver**

Trying to discern a principle behind President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 notorious killers to life in prison, but not three other multiple murderers is hard. It is not that the death penalty is wrong or that its use targets minorities regardless of the severity of their offenses, and it is not because we aren’t sure of the guilt of those we’d use the machinery of law enforcement to kill.

If it was one of these principles, Biden would not have left these three men on death row, among them Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Muslim convicted of the Boston Marathon bombing. He is widely considered to be the junior partner in the killing who would not have been sentenced to death if his brother, the mastermind of the plot, did not die before he could be arrested.

In a White House statement, Biden said the commutations are “consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”

To Biden, terrorism is what justifies Tsarnaev’s continued death sentence, while hate is what justifies the planned state killing of two more: Dylann Roof, the murderer of nine innocents praying in a Black church, and Robert Bowers, who targeted a synagogue in his antisemitic murder spree that left 11 Jewish people dead.

The death penalty in Biden’s view should not be about body count or the vileness of your actions, but rather what we think of your motives.

Consider the following commutations of sentences: The aptly-named Philadelphia drug dealer Kaboni Savage was convicted of personally killing or ordering the death of 12 people. Protecting your drug racket that preys mostly on Black people is more acceptable than killing nine because they are Black.

Former police officer Len Davis ordered the killing of a woman who had the temerity to file a complaint against him with the New Orleans Police Department. There is nothing more destructive of American society than a police officer killing a Black woman because she stands up for her rights. The killing of innocent Black people by racist cops is about the oldest form of terrorism you’ll find in America. But worse than that is the fact that somehow killing Black and Jewish people is hateful according to the logic of Biden’s commutations, but sexually targeting women or killing people because of their immigration status doesn’t count as hate, like these other commuted sentences to life in prison:

Iouri Mikhel killed five immigrants from Eastern Europe after holding them for ransom. In some cases he killed them anyway even after receiving the ransom he demanded. If that’s not hate, I don’t know what is.

Richard Allen Jackson was found guilty of kidnapping, raping and then killing a 20-something jogger. He didn’t do it because he liked women. Like Jorge Avila-Torrez, who sexually assaulted and then killed two little girls, his crimes were born of a deep-seated hatred of the fairer sex.

Biden’s White House statement says, “ I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” That would be fine with me. If Biden had commuted the sentences of all the scum who sit on death row and left them to rot in prison for life, I could have respected his decision. I have my own doubts about the justice of our death penalty system.

But that is not what he did. He kept the death penalty for the worst of the worst as he defined it but used completely irrational standards to show mercy to despicable hateful killers. Women and immigrants deserve the same protection from predatory hate that Black and Jewish people do. Biden should be ashamed of his double standard.

[inriospocket]

ugh daisy!! i hope you’re doing well love. i know requests are closed but i thought of this shit while i was walking back from the train in the city and i started chuckling in my head. the idea of the reader dragging rio to couples therapy/marriage counseling because she has been hassling him about it for a min because he’s always away and he’s juss like im not doin that shit so the reader tricks him into going by saying she has an appointment nonchantly on the way back home... (1/?)

(2/2) and when he finds out what the deal is while he’s sitting there he’s not having it. legit he’s like “why tf did you bring me here?” “see this is what i’m talking about.” Agahahah. his s/o is just rambling on about a bunch of tangz he’s been doing as of late/been an issue in their relationship and he’s just like “that’s not me. iunno do that.” with his lip all twitched up in disbelief that is happening and that she’s airing out their dirty laundry...

---

Again, sorry this is so late but I hope you enjoy it anyway! :)

One session

word count ♡ 1,042

summary ♡ Your marriage with Rio is struggling and you push the idea of marriage counseling.

situation ♡ angsty

---

Your chest was heavy as you stood bent; your hands on your knees to catch your breath after your run. You used to hate running but after a while, it felt like you were finally able to run from your problems. 

At least just around the neighborhood for a while. Not to mention the high it gave you. The high that reminded you of what it felt like to be with Rio for the first time.  

Now, every day you wondered if you’d ever get it back.  

You found yourself feeling the bed for him, or looking out the window to see if his car was still there but soon, you got used to just being merely a roommate rather than his wife.  

“I think we should go to therapy together.” You brought up one day as you caught him before leaving out like usual. He stopped in his tracks, thinking for a moment until he went back to grabbing his stuff.  

“I don’t need nobody telling me how to run my marriage.” He said, shutting it down quickly.  

You sunk into your cardigan, gripping the knitted material as you grew upset.  

“Run?” You huffed. “Like this was some sort of business arrangement?”  

“Y/N, I’m not doing it.” He said for the last time and closed the door behind him.  

You felt nauseous when he said your name. Where was the mama? The sweethearts, the darlings, the baby girls? You wore this gigantic rock on your finger but it’s like you were married to a stranger.  

You started to question if he really loved you anymore and that was the last straw for you. Could there have been someone else?  

No, you couldn’t think like that.  

But what you could do was book an appointment because whatever the hell was going on, you were going to figure it out the most logical and reasonable way, at least you hoped. You were slowly chipping away, and you needed someone to listen.  

You texted him later in the day to see if he would drop you at your “appointment” because your car “broke down”. Of course, he tried to get Mick to do it, but you insisted he did it and eventually he gave in.  

Rio wasn’t an idiot though because once he pulled up to a completely different building than your usual provider’s, he figured it out.  

“No.” he said, keeping his foot on the brake and refusing to park.  

“One session, please,” You looked at him with desperation. “Just one.”  

He wasn’t doing it for you, you suddenly thought. He was doing it to prove you right that it would be a waste of his time and-  

“I just don’t know when we became at odds with each other.” You sat across from your counselor uncomfortably.  

Julie immediately noticed Rio’s apathetic, condescending stance. He clearly didn’t want to be sitting there.  

“Can you elaborate on that?” Julie asked, her warm eyes looking into yours. A small gesture feeling infinite after everything you’ve been carrying.  

“He’s just always gone, and doesn’t care to listen and,” You sighed, almost feeling defeated.  

“Okay, let’s try rephrasing that. Instead of saying he doesn’t care to listen, let’s say ‘I don’t feel like I’m being listened to.’ We’re going to be focusing on individual responses and then we can come together. Does that make sense?” Julie explained.  

You took a deep breath as Rio irritated a sigh. “I feel alone, like a stranger to him. I feel like there’s something missing, and I want to be listened to because how I feel should be important.”  

Before Julie could get a word in, Rio gave his input. “I'm so sorry you don’t think I listen.” he said, condescendingly.  

“Don’t you dare make me feel crazy.” You said, your ears burning as you saw his cool stare.  

“See this is the shit I be talkin’ about.” He shook his head. 

Again, before Julie could interject, you decided fuck it to keeping your cool. Rio knew he was in for a treat when you casually started to laugh.  

“When you were fucking dirt broke, who had you even though I was piled in debt? Huh? When your brother let you go to jail, who put money on your books and drove 2 hours after my night shifts to make sure you were good?”  

“Cousin.” He had to correct, and you were a pinch close to losing it.  

 “I am the first person you call when something goes wrong regardless of what it is, and I got you and you continue to gaslight me and patronize me. I won’t condemn you, Christopher because I never have to worry about money and these lavish things but it’s all material,” You hesitated after you said that hoping Julie would take over, but she knew somehow you needed this.  

“All I wanted was you and you want something, or I guess someone else,” You pressed your eyes shut hoping it couldn’t be true, but your intuition is a hell of a feeling. You felt the old you, the vulnerable young girl, knowing the only thing she could trust is herself. 

Rio’s expressions turned into guilt once he felt the pain radiating.  

“You’re never home anymore. You don’t touch me. Why does it always have to come down to this?” You broke down.  

“It was one time.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his hand under his chin.  

You bit your lip to fight back the rest of your tears. “Thanks for your time.” You told Julie and walked out.  

You walked back to the car, wanting to throw up as he called your name again.  

Rio knew he fucked up but not like this. A part of him was in denial about what could have happened next.  

“Look at me, mama.” He said and it felt so foreign to you. You looked up at him, and he knew in that moment you would never in a million years look at him the same.  

Looking at him, you knew; your intuition was telling you.  

“The craziest thing is, Rio, I know you wouldn’t do it again,” You chuckled through your pain.  

“It’s just never going to be enough of a reason for me to stay.”          

[thelamb1429]

IMPORTANT

Topic: The election

I know I don’t post a lot, and honestly I didn’t plan on saying anything at all. But I need to clear some things up for folks.

1. I know I don’t have a ton of followers. Regardless, if you voted for any Republican candidate (especially Trump), stay FAR away from me and my content. Unfollow me, block me, just get away from my blog.

2. We need to have a real talk with some of yall so called “leftists”/“liberals” out here.

What happened to protecting one another?

More so, what exactly is this whole calling the red states “Dumbfuckistan” about? What is the praying for the south to be completely destroyed by natural disasters about? What the HELL is praying for the muslims to get deported about?

I say this as a minor who would have traded every breath i have left in order to be two years older so that I could have voted for Kamala. I say this as a minor in Mississippi that could not vote because I’m too young. Many of us WANTED to vote for Kamala. She wasn’t perfect, but she was our best shot.

Take into account for a second the fact that the south has some of the highest amounts of felons in the country. And think about how many people under the age of 18 that would have given anything to vote for Kamala, to have a chance at saving ourselves too.

This leaves MILLIONS of people in the south and other red states who wanted her in. We prayed, we tried convincing our parents and other family and friends, we did everything we could do.

We’re just as mad as the rest of you, possibly even angrier. Because we can’t vote to save this country, but have to feel the catastrophic effects of this election regardless.

Was voting third party a dumbass decision that several people made? Dear God, yes it was. Historically speaking, of course no third party was ever gonna win. It just doesn’t work like that.

But when young leftists trapped in these red states, especially the deep south, see everybody else saying that we all deserve to be killed in horrific natural disasters, it doesn’t make any of us hopeful for a future where we can finally vote and make a difference. When we see people saying we should deport the muslims because a handful voted third party, we see exactly where yall actually stood the whole time with human rights. When yall post about how you’re gonna turn a blind eye when women in the south are bleeding out from ectopic pregnancies, we’re gonna remember how you were never actually here for all women at all.

People in the south royally screwed everyone over. Ourselves included.

What you don’t realize is how living in a blue state is a PRIVILEGE that thousands of us would die just to have for a year. Unfortunately yes, we are outnumbered down here. We’re horrifically stuck in our ways and there’s too many older people voting for our states to actually prioritize any marginalized group of people.

But over these last few days, it’s become increasingly obvious that nobody’s giving a damn thought about the people in red states who cannot do a damn thing about it except for begging their families to change their stances on stuff. Nothing except for rallying and volunteering and praying and begging that maybe, MAYBE, somebody would change their mind.

Many of us won’t be lucky enough to leave the prisons that the red states truly are.

We hate us just as much as yall do.

But wishing harm onto EVERYBODY down here does not, in any way, reflect the values of the left that I grew up learning from.

People who weren’t able to have a voice of their own during this election need yall more than ever. We need yall from here on out. We need yall to fight and vote and speak up until we’re able to, because we want out just as much as yall do. We haven’t had ANY rights in a long, long time.

I haven’t seen many issues on Tumblr, but I say this because I’m seeing it everywhere else on the damn internet. On almost every other damn platform in the world.

Be angry and be loud and pissed off because yall deserve to be, but don’t forget about the rest of us here who never once asked for this. Those of us in the most dangerous states for any minorities to be in. Those of us who’ve never had a chance to openly hold hands with a partner, even in our own homes. Those of us who’ve had to practice any faith they’ve ever had in secret because Christianity is drowning us everywhere we go. Those of us who’ve lived through the negative consequences of the reproductive laws passed down here.

When you think about the red states, think about the people who had no voice, who wanted freedom and feminism and acceptance, and will suffer from this election anyway.

Thank you.