#but it doesn't lessen the significance.

[freckliedan]

You think they are already married?

no dude we would know. that's public record in the UK and people still monitor it.

[megaderping]

I think one of my problems with the "Akechi dying is better for the themes of P5R and Joker's character growth and mourning" is like... Okay, but what about Akechi? That framing makes Akechi more of an object to Joker's character, IMO, whereas I think that him surviving in the max confidants ending has so much fascinating potential for Akechi having to live with his mistakes and move forward. He went in expecting to die, to have a simple final act of freedom... But I think him being forced to keep living, to face every day one at a time, to find ways to make peace with what he did and live in the world is just infinitely more compelling from a storytelling standpoint. For Akechi, I think it's a better outcome because it's lacking in elegant simplicity. Even if he lives, he was still willing to die for the sake of everyone's freedom. His survival doesn't erase that. It may "lessen" Joker's choice to reject Maruki's reality, but I think it also makes accepting that reality incredibly cruel, when a strong enough bond with him is enough to save his life and make a miracle happen. Mona describes the world itself as cognition. In P5's vanilla ending, he says it was the PT's bonds that allowed him to continue to exist as a cat in the real world. Given the significance of a maxed confidant making him appear in the postcredits, I believe that it is very simple to read his survival being because of that bond. That wish that they both shared, as confirmed by the Royal artbook. If you prefer exploring the grief and mourning, that's completely fair, but I think there are many ways to interpret Royal's themes, and Akechi living in a harsh reality where you can't escape your past but you can heal and do better is still very on point with what P5R is all about. Unlike P3, which centers more heavily on death, P5R simply touches on it as a part of its greater narrative. And even in P3, you can save a certain character from death via player choice and connections. So, yeah. :p

[onskepa]

Yay requests are open!

What about a platonic Ronal x scientist? Yes they study the planet but ronal cannot help but like them because they respect the culture, her medical skills and only seems to find the silver lining in her stiff comments. Like come on human I am trying to make you leave through the power of rude and you just gave me a freidnship bracelet? Wtf I imagine tonowari just snickering every night as she complains about her new best friend

Hellooooooooo darling~!!

Yes! Another ronal fic! Thank you for requesting and I hope this cute fic will satisfy you and everyone else! Enjoy~!

Irayo pt2

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

Irayo

“You are good to go, if anything goes wrong or if they are not very welcoming, just say the word and we will get you” the head director of the ocean na’vi program says. In front of him was the new girl. Determined and open minded to learn new things, and was given the ultimate task. 

Make the first human contact with the reef na’vi. 

Nodding in excitement, the new recruit gets into a canoe with her prepared items. Making sure she is set for sail, she looks at her comrades. “I will let you know everything. Hopefully, this can go well. If doctor Agustine has faith in us, we can't lose” she says with optimus in her voice. 

Saying her last farewell, she sets off to the Metkayina island. 

“This will be good, I can feel it!”

She arrives at the island, her eyes in awe as she gets closer to the shore. So many na’vi! They all stare at her, many in fear, others in curiosity, and many ready to fight her. Raising her hands, she gets out from her canoe and displays she is of no harm. 

“I come in peace, I bring no harm” the human girl announces in perfect, fluent na’vi. 

Many, from what she suspects are warriors, stare at her in surprise. 

“You are a sky demon! Leave or we will not be easy on you!” one of the warriors warned her. Another warrior follows after. 

“We heard what you did with the forest na’vi, leave! You only bring death and sorrow wherever you go”. 

The tension was building fast among the other people. Mothers protecting their children, might warriors standing in front of the weak. Any wrong move and she might end up dead. Which is a high factor. 

The crowd breaks as two significant looking na’vi walks through, from how they are dressed and the others willing to step aside, the human knew exactly who they were. 

And it gave her excitement. Already the first and she is seeing so much! 

The human was quick with the traditional na’vi greeting of “I see you”. In hopes that the tension can lessen if she displays their ways. 

The Tsahik and Olo’eyktan looked at her carefully. Observing her every move and detail. Small hint of disgust but also confusion as to why a human is here. 

“Hello, I bring no harm. I am here to learn your ways. Allow me to prove myself to you, perhaps you have heard of the dark stories of what the humans did to other na’vi, but I promise you that I only bring peace. Please, teach me your ways”. 

Ronal doesn't know what or how or even why. But after a lengthy discussion with Tonowari, they granted the human permission to enter their home. And learn their ways. As best a human can learn. While Tonowari was more loose on letting the human in, Ronal felt different, at first she came defensive and was always on alert should the human do something that seems bad under her eyes. 

But the human was aware where the line drew, only did what she was allowed to and dared not to push boundaries. Ronal wasn't making it any easier for the human. None whatsoever. In fact, Ronal planned to make things so difficult for the human that she would have no other choice but to leave. 

Now if only it worked that, and not Ronal making it harder for herself. 

 “Put more strength in your arms. It must be thinned out and easy to separate. Any thicker and it will be difficult to mix” Ronal instructed the human with a harsh tone. She was teaching the human how to make crushed, thin, dust-like green material. Very dry leaves that were thoroughly picked from their small forest.

The human woman smiled and obeyed, “alright tsahik”. Doing exactly what she is being told. That is the thing that irks ronal. The human doesn't fight back. She doesn't do anything! 

“A child can do a better job than you,” Ronal says with a snarky tone. The human just takes it, “I don't doubt it. This is more of their ways” the human replies with such calmness in her voice. Not a hint of anger, impatience, nothing. 

“Dont think this will be enough, there is still much more to grind down” Ronal says, as she places a lot more dried grass in the already big pile. The human stops for a few seconds to look at the bigger addition. Ronal smirks, surely this will be it? “Guess I better grind faster to finish all of these” the human says in glee and continues to grind. 

Ronal’s smirk left her lips, fine then. Tomorrow will be worse. 

Harsher insults, harsher training, harsher practice. Ronal threw everything at the human, but nothing breaks the human girl. And it infuriates her to the core. Why wasn't she fighting back? Why was she accepting everything? Why was she letting ronal belittle her? 

Ronal’s anger grew to where Tonowari had to enterfier. 

“Ronal, perhaps you are pushing her too far?” he asks her one day. Ronal scoffs as she does her small tasks in their home. “The human can bare it. Anything I give her, she accepts. That utter fool” she replies. Annoyance heavy on her tone. “She won't break so easily. Not made of sea glass” she continues. 

Tonowari sighs, walks up to her and places a hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps not, but your tolerance is thinner than these fibers. Perhaps by surprise, it will be you who will break first”. 

The human began to make and wear her na’vi like clothing to fit in more. And as she talked more with the other clan members, more began to welcome her with open arms and even into their homes. Adapting more into their culture and ways of life. They began to accept her. 

Ronal wasn't so ready to accept the human. 

Not yet at least. 

One night, after the communal dinner, Ronal took the human away from the noise and into a more quiet part of the small forest. Yet, along the way, the human not once asked where they were going. Never questioned ronal’s actions, her odd behavior. Nothing. 

When they arrived at a beautiful blue glowing waterfall, Ronal kept a bit of distance from the human. 

“Tell me human, why do you accept?” Ronal asks after a few minutes of silence. 

The human blinked once, “accept what tsahik?”. 

Hissing in frustration, Ronal turns to look at the human in anger. 

“Why do you accept everything?! I keep pushing you to do beyond what you physically can. Accept any insulting word I give you. Force you to do things clearly you are not very comfortable with. Why do you accept my harsh treatment towards you?” 

The human sees Ronal and sees how she truly feels. Taking a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders, the human does what she does best. 

Give her an honest smile. 

“You have every right to treat me that way. While I am not personally responsible for the thousands of killings of the na’vi, I still feel ashamed and guilty as if it were my own crimes. My kind has treated your kind terribly. So, I understand if you feel any anger or hatred towards me for simply being human. But I accept, I accept it all. If it means to be part of your world, your clan. I would gladly accept anything you throw at me. This is a dream come true for me. This planet, the life it holds. The environments, plants, animals, you. I love and respect everything about your world. All I desire is to learn how things are. From learning about Eywa to learning of the na’vi ways. My only desire is to learn. To have you personally teach me, it is a high luck I could never get anywhere else. So that is why I accept all that you give me. A price to pay for the things I can see and experience. So Tsahik, that is why I accept it. As my way to thank you” 

Ronal saw the human, looking deep into her eyes to detect any lies, but all she saw was the truth. 

“You fool…”

“Irayo, just in time for breakfast” Ronal welcomes her human friend. Irayo, that is what Ronal calls her ever since that night. It's been stuck to her ever since, not that she plans to defy the tsahik wishes. 

Irayo sits in the home of ronal and tonowari. Accepting the food, she begins to eat. But not soon after, she felt a little tug from her wrist. Looking down, Irayo sees little tsireya playfully tugging at her bracelet. Taking it off, she hands it to tsireya who tries to bite down on it. 

“Has tsireya began teething?” Irayo asks, ronal nods but gives a disapproving look.

“She will rip off the beads. You worked so hard to make it for us” Ronal says as she points to her own matching bracelet. Irayo laughs, “that is fine. It will give me an excuse to make better friendship brackets for us. I will even make another for cute little tsreiya” Irayo replies as she playfully pinches tsireya’s chubby cheeks, making the child squeal in delight. 

Tonowari sits down to join them. 

“Today irayo and I will attend to the elderly, tsireya will be under your care until noon” Ronal says to him. 

Tonowari nods, but couldn't help but smirk a bit. Leaning in, he whispers into Ronal’s ear. “Your friendship with irayo has improved greatly. I still remember when you called her many foolish names”. 

Ronal rolls her eyes and taps his forehead lightly. 

“I recall no such things. Irayo has been my good friend from the start”

Aaaaaaaaand that is all for this one! I hope you all enjoyed this fic! Until next time, see ya!

-------

Irayo = Thank you

[a-force-dyad-in-space]

So I've been rewatching the Twilight movies and certain scenes from them recently, and there's something that caught my eye while going through the post-battle scene in Eclipse.

We have Jane and the others show up, being like "blah blah blah, you guys did pretty well against all these newborns, how curious, blah blah" before Jane notices that one of the newborns is still alive, pointing out Bree.

Now, here's where it gets interesting for me. Because Jasper immediately moves and stands next to her protectively.

And yeah, sure, he's the newborn expert, he's in charge of all-things newborn vampires, so in that sense alone it makes sense for him to associate himself with her in that way, but I think it's a lot more than that; namely something that is always mentioned in passing in the movies, but never really pointed out as something significant (unlike Edward's telepathy and Alice's precognition, which are always mentioned first in terms of desirable acquisitions of power). I of course speak of his pathokinesis.

Bree is scared. At this point she has realized that she's a vampire and what that means for her life, but she has no idea if she will come out of this stand-off alive, so naturally, she is nervous.

And thanks to his pathokinesis, of course Jasper can feel that. So I think he's standing with her, almost protectively, not just because he's in charge of her, but because he can feel her fear and tries to comfort her with his presence (she with her vampire sight can of course see that his skin is decked out in scars, so that intimidating display alone probably tells her him being on her side is a good thing).

And then we come to Jane starting to torture Bree, and me having another observation.

When she falls to the ground and is screaming in agony, we can assume that Jasper can feel that, too (not the pain itself, but the mental anguish connected to it). And look how startled he seems when he sees her fall and looks from Bree to Jane.

This moment here makes me think that this is probably the first time he's ever seen Jane's power in person. Of course he knew about her, knew what her powers are. Alice probably filled him in in detail about the events in Volterra from New Moon, and I assume Carlisle has shared many stories over the years, too.

But hearing about something and actually seeing it first-hand are two very different things.

For someone like him, who can feel what other people are feeling, from their happiest moments to their most devastating mental pain, watching Jane not only use her powers, but relish in their effect without a second thought since she can't feel the pain she's causing, must be absolutely nauseating, for lack of a better word.

Jasper's experienced several lifetimes of anguish by proximity and is trying his best to make others feel better, while Jane deals blow after blow with her powers without any consequence. It must feel wrong and unfair to him.

Anyway, back to the point.

This is the face of a man who has fully realized what the antagonistic force is capable of, and he'll be sure to be prepared, next time they cross paths.

And lastly, something sad.

He turns his back on Bree, probably because he can't deal with watching her die on top of feeling her fear and pain. Neither he nor the other Cullens can stop Bree's death from happening without declaring war on the Volturi in the process (because I'm certain that's how Jane and the others would see their push-back).

So all he can do is turn away, and maybe make an effort to lessen her pain (it doesn't look like he did, but I think it would make sense if he used his powers to make death less frightening for Bree).

Anyway, rest in peace, Bree, you would have made a wonderful addition to the Cullen family. ♥

[irisbaggins]

Spoilers ahead for the finale!

An aspect of the final battle that got lost after Viola's amazing attack, was the fact that Tula nearly killed her son. And that, I think, is something I would really like to delve my teeth into, to properly look at what happened.

The thing that struck me the most during Tula's attack on her son, was that Jaysohn did manage to snap her out of it. In the context of the story, Jaysohn grappled his mom to get her to stop, and even after getting viciously bit by her, he still managed to get her back to herself. He managed to get to his mom fast enough, and used himself to protect the others from the mindless being Tula had become. And, even when faced with near death, this little kid manages to get back up and attack the creature that did this to his mother. Not once did he blame her, having understood enough about the situation to realise his mom was not in control. He knows, he understood, that this was Phoebe, not Tula. And so, the moment he is able to free his mom, still wounded and near death's door, he goes after Phoebe so that his mom won't be taken again.

Tula, however, was aware of everything she did to Jaysohn. She was painfully aware of how badly she hurt her son, how she nearly killed him. And, as Brennan describes;

She is broken, in a way she has never been before. She nearly killed her baby, used as a puppet because she's alive when she should have been dead. The Blue that keeps her alive is what nearly caused her to kill her son. Tula nearly lost everything, yet, once more, it was hope and love that brought her back once more. Her son brought her back.

However, she was silent for the rest of the battle until Phoebe finally fell, and Jaysohn nearly died. She was quiet, too horrified with what she nearly did. Perhaps, had more time been afforded to that moment with Tula and Jaysohn before he decided to retaliate against Phoebe, there would have been...something...that went on. A focus on the fact that it was Tula who went for another member of their family, whilst Ava went for the ground and the reactor. What would that do to her, I cannot help but wonder. What did that do to her, in the immediate aftermath, when she could slow down and process what happened. She must live with the knowledge she nearly killed her own child, and that, had he been just a little weaker or just a little slower, she would've succeeded. She might have been able to bring him back, like she did with Sybil...but she would have to live with the knowledge that she took her son's life. And that thought is horrifying.

Yet, it makes her gentleness with Lukas later all the more significant. Even with the blood of her son on her hands, she still chooses to hope for a better tomorrow. She still chooses to give Lukas - and herself - another chance, another tomorrow. Bad things could have happened, but they didn't, and they all made it out. The "what ifs" will remain in the shadows, in the nightmares, but in the daylight, she will keep her head high. It doesn't lessen the impact of her deeds or her burdens, but it can make them bearable. And, with the addition of her son's refusal to blame her, it makes it just the little easier. She deserves a new tomorrow, too.

[1864reruns]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ౨ৎ satoru, suguru, shoko, kento & older s/o's

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ2024 ©1864RERUNS

includingㅤ━ㅤgojo satoru, getō suguru, ieiri shōko, nanami kento

tag(s)&warning(s). drabbles, gn! reader, slightly suggestive, unspecified age gap

from vyon. writing nanami's hurt tbh.... he likes his lovers younger, trust me (his no. 1 favourite, sweetest, cutest, unrealest younger one true lover 🎀) on the other hand though..... he deserves to be babygirl'd so hard 😝

satoru, the strongest sorcerer in the world, goes out of his way to find older lovers; he admits he has a problem and he'll never be cured of it. he doesn’t even know he has a track record for picking out more disciplined figures, with an air of maturity that taunts him across the bar; he doesn’t know he ignores the cheeky winks that are thrown at him from the giggly bar patrons who look too young to even be there in favour of staring at the figure sat alone at the bar, making pleasant conversation with the bartender until shoko is kicking him, telling him to stop eye–fucking the poor stranger and just go up to them. he balks, stumbling through excuses when shoko hits him again and tells him that if it doesn't go well and they're not into wide–eyed virgins (ouch and just untrue) that he could always just leave with one of the many girls who were still giggling at him. she slides him the rest of her cocktail for courage and then sends him off, with a smile that is almost proud.

he does, strangely, feel like a virgin when he manages to catch your attention and he blames it on shoko for putting it into his head. satoru tries his best to come off as presentable, a smile on his face as he leaned on the bar and tells the bartender your next drink is on him. he realises later that you were just entertaining him, amusement coloured your face under the dim lighting around the bar. he manages to get your number somehow. the first few dates are great and he has to beg you to let him play for them all; you always give into him, a displeased look on your face as you tuck your wallet back into your pocket and he ignores the fact that he feels both ashamed to be faced with that scolding look and giddy that he gets his way.

what really helps him realise that he's completely smitten with the maturity and care that comes promised with an older significant other is when you're on your first official date. satoru, ever the gentleman, tries to pay. you narrowed a smile at him, calling him 'toru so, so sweetly and telling him to put his wallet back. now. and the order goes straight to his pants, whoops!

suguru is completely unashamed about it. it's a realisation that's slow in its trickling, suguru just realises that growing older, he had no patience for bumbling fools. it was fun when he was young, having a pretty little thing by his side to feel important, to flaunt his abilities as a man to keep an inexperienced thing happy. then, he gets to a certain age and he realises, it's more trying to keep someone who knows what they want satisfied. suguru loves it. strangely, he loves being the pretty little thing attached to the arm of someone older, more experienced, with shoulders set back, head tipped upwards, a clean, businesslike smile always polite on their face. your eyes always stern— even when trailing over suguru regardless of the position.

it's wonderful it is; the fact that he could allow you to mingle through the large hall without worrying that you'll let something slip through a loose mouth, he doesn't have to keep you by his side for fear of you ruining his life's work. you can mingle with the idiotic patrons he's accumulated throughout the years, you know how to interact with them, how to sway their beliefs, and rid them of any hesitancy they may have had about follow suguru's ideals. it's also perfect when it comes with dealing with nanako and mimiko; you love the two just as you love suguru. you've enough experience and patience to deal with two young girls on yourself, lessening the burden on suguru's shoulders.

you've got a wicked tongue that knows how to tell exaggerated promises, how to assure an unsettled mind. not that he likes you for what you've done for his ideals, but it is a plus. the experience you have also means you know when your tongue needs to be held back. because although suguru adores when he's chasing after the words dripping after your tongue, falling victim to your sweet orders, there's also stressful times where he needs to forget that you've your own tongue, powered by your thoughts and not his.

for shōko, age has rarely ever mattered. for a hedonistic woman like herself, she likes what she likes and allows little things to govern those likes. dating for her never comes long–term in all honesty— there are too many unspoken rules that grate her nerves, needing to share her location, reply in a timely manner, fancy dinner dates more than once a month? the ending of her relationships always seemed so one–sided. most of the time, it'd end over text or with them showing up to her apartment or where she worked and finally shouting all their frustrations at her.

though it might seem heartless, shōko rarely ever feels regret for the way she's behaved. she's made it clear on multiple occasions that she wouldn't be any of those things they wanted yet they stayed, probably thinking they'd be the one to change her and shape her into the attentive, caring figure they could show off to friends. even so, she still falls into relationships— it's never her fault that people spin their own fantastical storyline about their future together so she needn't punish herself for it. a recent relationship she gets into is one that she enjoys; it bares more resemblance to an adult relationship, she assumes that it's because you're older than her.

you're more realistic in this manner. you understand that shōko isn't one for fancy dinner dates, she doesn't have time to respond as quickly as you may want due to her job, she can't meet up whenever you want on a whim. you text at your own leisurely pace and let her texts stream in whenever she has a break or two. after a week of no contact, she begins to think the inevitable— further cemented by the fact that her doorbell is ringing at an unfathomable 1am and she knows no one else would be at her door but you. she grimaces, mourns the short–lived but pleasurable relationship, and then opens the door, bracing herself for your rant. it never comes. instead, you slump into her arms with an apology for showing up so late and showing up at all without saying anything beforehand, you tell her you miss her, and you'd like to stay the night. for reasons unknown to herself, she lets you in.

age isn't something that is high on nanami's radar when he looks at potential lovers. as long as it isn't dramatically different from his own, he allows himself to indulge. in his defense, it's not as if he'd turned a certain age and began swearing off those younger than him; nanami found that he still got along well with those who were two, three years younger than him, but never romantically. nanami's ideas of a relationship was fairly traditional; he found that this wasn't the case for many partners who had been younger than him. their ideals, morals, what they placed importance on, long–term plans were all too different. so nanami begins, subconsciously, striving after those who are closer to his age.

atleast, that's how it starts. it gets worse, you see, after he realises that dating in a more refined, mature, jaded age group brings something altogether different into his life. for the first time in a while, nanami is reminded that he's not even thirty yet and he starts to understand why so many doe–eyed, inexperienced girls flocked to him. there's a certain satisfaction he gets from being the apple of someone's eye— someone much older than him, who's lived long enough to have their pick of the litter yet decidedly stays with him, sensible and confident hands dragging down his sides.

nanami kento, all the way into his 20s, learns that he enjoys being pampered. he loves it. adores the unwavering focus he gets when he comes back home to your penthouse and gets to fall into your arms as you work out kinks in his shoulders; he gets to lay there, weightless, as you undress him, soft and slow, pressing kisses on any skin you get exposed before you're urging him up to put on something more comfortable so you can cuddle. that, or he gets to sulk on your bed, sending you pictures of what he was doing throughout the day whilst you were at work, only feeling worse when your texts are late. it's all worth it in the end, when you finally get home, allowing him to do as he wanted. though the wait is gruelling, your warmth surrounding him when you finally sink into bed with him, your touches more wandering and perverse as your mouth presses over fading bruises on his neck.

[underqualified-human]

Riddle, Vil, Rook, Azul: S/O kept their birthday hidden

→ Request: Hello 👋 I love your works so much 🥺 May I please request a headcannon GN!S/O w/ Vil Schoenheit,Riddle Roseheart,Rook Hunt and Azul Ashengrotto

'Their s/o never told them when their birthday and they forgot to ask until one day,they accidentally hear their s/o just celebrating by theirself.'

You can ignore this request if u want,if you DO this request then thank you~

~Shiro

→ A/N: So I added a little drabble in between the headcanons for fun!

→ Warnings:

→ Fandom: Disney: Twisted Wonderland

→ Genre: Headcanons/Drabbles

→ Pronouns: They/Them

Riddle Rosehearts:

I know for a fact how this played out

Riddle wanted to invite you to an unbirthday party. You were his significant other of course he wanted you to attend. He also wanted to show off a little bit, though it was only natural to want to show your partner the best of yourself. A few times you'd asked him to let you help with setting up. Those were his favourite times. He'd sent you a letter invitation - as he usually does- but you hadn't responded to it yet. There was a small ball of nerves forming in the pit of his stomach.

As he climbed the steps to The Ramshackle dorm, he heard laughter. With a slightly angry hand, he knocked on the dorm. His anger lessened ever so slightly you answered the door, still smiling. "Why didn't you respond to my letter?" 

He asked, trying to hide his fear behind irritation. He looked past you and saw streamers hanging from the dirty dorm ceiling.

"Well, today's my birthday. It would be pretty rude to show up to an unbirthday party on my birthday."

Oh.

The ghosts dragged him into Ramshackle and made him miss his own unbirthday party 

He felt so bad, but doesn't let it show too much

Constantly beats himself up over the fact that he didn't even ask you

He gets you a gift the next day to try and make up for it

Marks the date on his calendar with a bright red heart

Vil Schoenheit:

The photographer had called for a 15-minute break and Vil had quickly checked his Magicam feed. On there he saw you'd posted a photo of a cake you had baked yourself (he could tell). There was a caption under the photo which said 'Happy Birthday To Me!'

Oh boy strap in

Is honestly upset with both you and himself. You because 'why didn't you tell me?' and himself because 'why didn't I just ask?'

Forces Convinces you to join him on a spa day when he's done with his work

Goes shopping with you and lets you pick out almost anything you want to buy

Makes sure to always remember the date from now on

Rook Hunt:

Rook likes to watch you from afar. This is not new information. The Frenchman is almost always nearby, just observing. It brought a sense of calm to your life knowing that he was never too far away. Whether you’d just grown accustomed to the feeling of him being around, or he’d gotten much better at hiding, you couldn’t feel his eyes watching that day. You saw him later walking in the hallway, but you never interacted with him that day beyond a small wave and a smile. You can’t always spend time with your boyfriend, life is busy sometimes. So, you spent the day with yourself and your friends. He popped up later that night, in the middle of your own little birthday party. How he found out you had no idea, maybe he didn’t know and just wanted to spend time with you. Whatever the reason may be, he was here and you were happy about it.

Honestly thinks it's funny that you managed to keep this a secret from him for so long, but still tries to hide it.

Bakes a cake/whatever else you want with you [macarons, he also makes macarons]

Your birthday is now one of his passwords

Takes you on a cute little picnic date the next day

Azul Ashengrotto:

Azul hadn't seen you all day and he'd started to get worried. You didn't have a lot of classes that overlapped, but you would normally spend lunches together. Today was a weekend, which made him even more nervous.

Luckily or not, weekends were when the lounge was most busy so he threw himself into his work to distract from the growing thoughts that swirled in his head.

He made it until past noon before he left to go look for you.

He checked all your usual spots but couldn't find you or your friends. When he finally checked your dorm, he heard loud laughter from the backyard. He walked along the side of the house and spotted you and Grimm having a water balloon fight. One hit you in the face and you slipped, laughing all the way down. 

When Grimm spotted him, his laughter died down. You turned your head to see Azul standing at the entrance to your little overgrown garden.

Before he could ask what was going on he saw a small cake on one of the nearby tables. You hit him in the face with a balloon, the plastic sticking to his glasses.

Congrats! You now have to comfort him for hours on your birthday because he's sad 😢

But seriously he knows well enough what it's like to be alone on your birthday and feels horrible that he'd unknowingly subject you to that. 

Spends the rest of the day with you doing what you want

At the end of the day, he has a little impromptu dinner at the Lounge, free of charge! (The price is actually a kiss on the cheek)

Tagging: None

[pokemonshelterstories]

You know how, sometimes, when you work with certain pokemon, they can sometimes imprint on you? And that leads to either the pokemon seeing you as a parent (if this happens while it's young) or seeing you as a potential mate (if this happens while it's older)? Well, I have a friend who is currently rehabilitating a dull and chronically rusty Skarmory, and this seems to have happened to him. Big ol' metal birdie has taken a liking to him.

Unfortunately, she has started getting aggressive whenever female staff members interact with him in her line of sight, doing things like flaring her wings and screeching. She hasn't actually attacked anyone, but the staff are worried nonetheless. Even dull, her wings have cut through whole trees in her enclosure before.

They have the equipment necessary to deal with a hostile Skarmory, but because of her dull and rusted state, some staff are concerned that it might just hurt her.

Is there anything you could recommend? Either a way to dissuade the Skarmory from its amorous feelings for my friend, or to keep her calm while she's being cared for?

this is something we see happen with human-raised skarmory on occasion. skarmory are not social pokemon by default and will typically only bond with other skarmory during mating and nesting season, after which they split off from each other and live solitary lives for the rest of the year.

this is about the time of year when skarmory begin breeding, especially in areas with warmer climates, so she's going to be hormonal and aggressive regardless. this is on top of her not feeling well, which often makes pokemon more quick to lash out.

for their safety and her emotional well-being, the best thing they can do for her is to really just. leave her alone unless she's actively getting treatment. don't let anyone linger around her enclosure. anesthetize her if they need to get hands-on. ball her if they need to enter to put out food or clean the enclosure. if he's the only person she'll tolerate for things like daily visual checkups, then assign him to focus solely on her as much as they can. for rehab purposes, skarmory is classified as an inherently dangerous pokemon (they fall under subclass Ib- pokemon with territorial aggression- and IIa- pokemon with whom physical contact can cause immediate harm), which means that she should not be handled in free contact unless proven not to pose a significant risk of danger. because of this, they should always have a barrier between her and staff unless she is under anesthesia.

you can't really argue with a skarmory's feelings- and it isn't safe to try, because it doesn't take much for a skarmory to cause severe injury to a human. even their bonding behaviors with their mates, such as preening and wing-slapping, are unsafe for humans because of how sharp their bodies are. hopefully as her hormones settle and as they lessen contact with her, she will become less aggressive. until then, though, the best way to prevent injury is to not give any opportunity for it to happen.

[thethirdromana]

Subscribing to Letters Regarding Jeeves and the Woman in White Weekly has left me preoccupied with the role of servants. So here's a bit of a ramble on servants - and particularly Dracula's servants, or lack thereof.

Jonathan comes from a time when being middle-class means having at least one live-in servant. But the number of servants per head of population in the UK was falling - from 1.38m in 1891 (4% of the population) to 1.27m in 1911 (2.8% of the population). That's why, in Jonathan's time, employing one servant means entry to the middle classes, but 30ish years later, the fabulously wealthy Bertie Wooster also has... one servant.

(To disgress: admittedly Jeeves is likely to be a lot more expensive to employ than the entry-level maid-of-all-work that a middle-class household would have, and there's also no indication that Wooster couldn't afford more servants, but I think it's still significant that he's happy with just the one. Wooster is gently snobbish about being appropriately dressed and going to the right restaurants and so on, but he doesn't see only having one servant as a problem.)

Dracula is a medieval nobleman. I don't know much about Transylvanian history but I would expect that in life, his castle would have been swarming with servants, both as a necessity (it takes a lot to keep a castle warm and clean, and its inhabitants fed), as a duty (to employ people from the surrounding area) and as a status symbol. And I would expect much the same to be true of a living nobleman on his country estate in 1890s Transylvania as well.

So why doesn't Dracula have any servants?

Well, obviously from a storytelling perspective, it's fucking creepy. I think the impact is lessened from a 21st century perspective because "there are no servants" is the default state for most of us, but this is the 1890s equivalent of being in a city and suddenly all the street noise goes silent. And I fear I am myself the only living soul within the place goes hard in any century. From Bram Stoker's perspective, I don't think this needs more justification and if I wasn't analysing every aspect of this book in the minutest detail I don't think I would give it any further thought.

The other obvious answer is that, being dead, Dracula doesn't need any servants. But I don't think that works. He may not need to eat or stay warm and presumably he doesn't produce any waste, but he still wears clothes that need washing and has horses that need to be cared for. Any old building needs an exhausting amount of maintenance just to keep it from crumbling. There's a lot of work that needs doing and I think we can assume that Dracula doesn't want to be doing it himself.

Perhaps he can't have servants. If serving at the castle means death (which presumably it does) then maybe the locals just refuse. And while Dracula has ways to pressure people, I can imagine that he would see that as beneath him just for the sake of having someone to wash his shirts. Maybe as much of that work as possible is done outside the castle, free of charge, by the terrified locals.

So then I find myself wondering, what is the state of the castle usually? Has Dracula spring-cleaned for his visitor? Has he brought the bed-hangings and linen out of ancient storage chests, replacing the moth-eaten ones that usually sit there, decaying? Has he dusted? There is an enormous amount of work involved just in getting the castle to the standard that Jonathan sees. Is there magic involved? Does Dracula usually live there like Sleeping Beauty with the castle crumbling around him? Or is the sumptuous luxury that Jonathan sees just an illusion?

[bestworstcase]

rolls over

yeah yeah, the ruby-salem grief weapon parallel, we've all seen it

salem offers up the staff as a votive to the god of darkness after telling him of her story and what she hopes to receive in return. he deems this a fair bargain and grants her wish; salem drops the staff at his feet and rushes to ozma's side. do ut des. this is an act of prayer, of worship. salem knows what she's doing—she's pious—and does everything correctly.

(including making an offering of something she must have put some serious thought into: she gives the god of grimm her most precious possession and a token of her suffering.)

and what she asks for in return is ozma's life. the staff was precious to her only in ozma's absence, because it represented her lost love. had the god of darkness answered no, salem would still be obliged to leave the staff in his domain—just as she left light his flowers, you don't take back an offering if the god's answer is not to your liking—and to part with it and walk away empty-handed would have been devastating. but the moment she sees ozma again, the staff means nothing; she lets it fall from her grasp without a thought.

she chose to make herself vulnerable to that pain, offering darkness her own heart as a fair sacrifice for the mere possibility of ozma getting to live. and he tells her to rise and see her faith rewarded.

<- faith.

ruby is in pain. ruby is grieving and boiling in guilt because penny died again and ruby could do nothing to save her again. the sword is all she has left of one of her best friends. and then she offers it up to the toy soldiers—who have come to take them to the red castle—in exchange for, er… being taken to the prince's birthday celebration so that she can present the sword as a gift.

why?

"look, we may not know exactly what's going on, but for whatever reason, this place is putting us on a similar path as a book we all read as kids. i say we follow it—and stop pretending we know what we're doing."

the consequence of this choice of course is that any emotional or spiritual significance this offering might have had is elided by the toy soldiers' grift and the red prince is a child who throws the sword away in a fit of pique: "how could you!?" ruby whispers, before swallowing that pain and stunting around in a scramble to keep the story on the "right" path.

<- fate.

rolls over again.

salem had faith. ozpin believes in fate.

faith is—asking. trying. communion with something greater than oneself. but to believe in fate is to believe in a single narrow path which must be followed no matter the cost because…because.

this is what "look how you've diminished" is about. how you've lessened yourself—and for what? ruby tears out her own heart in a futile effort to appease a spoiled child who kicks it away out of utter indifference—and for what? because the story said so. because she's afraid. because she doesn't know what else to do. she's lost her faith.

[icyg4l]

Pick-An-Image: Messages from the Altar

To wrap up this Black History Month series, I will explore messages that the ancestors have to give for those with an altar. If you don't know what an altar is, it is basically a sacred space for you to connect with your ancestors. You should include the four elements (earth, water, fire and air) in this area. The altar is a place where you can lay your burdens, future plans and daily thoughts without human judgment. I will use the Hoodoo Tarot deck to conduct these pile readings as done before. So without further ado, let's get into it!

Left-to-Right (1-3):

Pile 1: You need to spend more time with your grandmother, whether she is alive or not. Connect with her by going shopping or lighting a candle and sitting a fresh cup of water on the altar. Your ancestors also want you to know that you should lay off on the coffee, it’s taking too much of your energy and your coins! You’re going to be someone special. Your ancestors are proud of the progress you’ve made. The people in this pile could struggle with some type of addiction or mental health issue. You may also struggle with some type of codependency but you’ve been working through that & your progress is being seen/admired. It is your responsibility to carry the torch! You were chosen to break generational curses and bring in new traditions. Don’t just say you’re going to do something without putting in the work. You’re going to have a breakthrough soon, just trust the process. And, if you have recently gotten into a relationship, your partner is ancestor-approved! The name Megan could be significant.

𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚍: 𝙰𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜, 𝚃𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜, 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝙰𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜.

Pile 2: You need to cancel that subscription that you forgot about. You also should stop paying for self development courses because the work that you need to do can be found within you! You don’t need a life coach to tell you that you’re a mess. We all are! You like to carry a reputation of pride and virtuousness; you’re a real stand up-guy. It’s a shame everybody ain’t like that, huh? You could have recently gone through some type of betrayal. But don’t let this stop you from accomplishing your set goals. Keep your head held high. You need to let loose though. Shake your shoulders. Dance. Let the energy in your body flow. Minor setbacks aren’t meant to last forever, you know? This level up is about to go crazy. And congratulations in advance ;)

𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚍: 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚃𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚐 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚁𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚗.

Pile 3: You got that monkey on your back, chile. You know what attachment you need to get rid of. It’s messing with your ability to see clearly. Prioritize your self-esteem so that the words of other people won’t get to you so easily. For those of you that recently had a baby, she (female friend/older cousin that passed on) wants you to know that postpartum depression shall pass. The name Samantha could be significant. It will not break you, my love. She will make sure of it. Clean up the conflict or else your money problems will worsen, especially if you have beef with a coworker. You need to set boundaries with your father, especially since you’re grown now. Dealing with your physical ailment is terrible, I know. I wish I could be there to lessen the pain. It hurts to see you suffer this way.

𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚍: 𝙰𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜 (𝚁𝚇), 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚂𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜, 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙽𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜.

[pen-observing]

the brothers react to you losing love for them

a/n: I haven't opened this game in a while so it made me think about this angst!! enjoy it

Lucifer has this tendency to over analyse everything that goes around him and truth be told, you are no exception to that. Did you really think he wouldn't notice that you've grown doubtful of your own love? That you've suddenly found more and more excuses not to spend time with him? He can see how painful this is for you. Your eyes still sparkle when you see him and your heart skips a beat but somehow it lessens to where that shine becomes dimmed. He finds it funny, how, in his experience, it is humans who lose feelings quicker than him and those so much older. Lucifer has principles that he holds everyone and himself to - and one of those is lessening your burdens. Your feelings have changed and you are trying to come to terms with that but he doubts you would ever approach him about it yourself. So, he brings it up first.

And when he does bring it up - it is on the most mundane night. The two of you did not travel to a special place, you didn't even leave the house. He invited you in his study to simply see just how much his company is no longer a complete comfort. And when he lifts his head up from those pesky papers, he sees you staring out the window.

It hurts him but he still says: "You're allowed to leave." He can see that you're confused. "You're allowed to leave me, my love." He can't stop himself from calling you that. Here he is, lessening up the burden for you, telling you to break up with him - but it is with everlasting love that he makes this easy for you.

Mammon simply refuses to believe anything has changed. For someone so intrinsically impulsive and naturally intuitive - he lies to himself and would gladly do it forever. 'Yes, my human's hand doesn't grip mine as tightly as it did before.' and 'Yes, they're sometimes lost in their own world but..they're human! Humans are known for this!'. You have to be the one to do it. Mammon simply wants to live in this love forever. Some have looked at him with pity for it but he has no problems. As long as they don't say anything. As long as he can believe his own love is enough - he pays it absolutely no mind.

Except, he has to listen to you. And even you were not sure how to bring it up. However, while he was resting his head in your lap during a 'throw-whatever-movie-on' night; the couple on the screen broke up and it was like something got lost between the two of you. It started as a simple debate over if the couple should have broken up at all. Mammon and you were on opposite sides of course and it caused an argument. After it escalated he simply yelled 'break up with me already. stop being dishonest!'. It simply flew out. He never wanted it to be said by anyone but he couldn't like anymore.

And break up you did. It was odd, you had to comfort him about it, you had to live with him and hear him crying, you had to see his puffy eyes. And Mammon kept protecting you still. Just...give him time. Give him forever if you can. Forgive him when he introduces you as his significant other, forgive him when a loving nickname slips out and forgive him for when he simply looks like he is begging for your love while you call him 'your best friend.'

Leviathan somehow ends up taking it far easier than you would have imagined. He always live in this state of thinking that the worst is coming to him and, it is not a betrayal, that he imagined you breaking up with him several times. He has had nightmares about it and he has had intrusive thoughts. But, the difference from this time vs any other - is reality itself. Before, he would open up to you about his nightmare and you would hold him dearly. You would chase it all away. You would reassure him that his doubts were just the worst parts of him coming to surface.

But, this time, you have to comfort him about the reality of his situation. His doubts were grounded this time and they came true. His love and his tries were simply not enough.

Now, you have to give him space. Too much space. How does he rationalise wanting to see you all the time and never wanting to see you love someone else?

It truly doesn't matter what you or his brothers or even he himself does - he will end up hurting for a long time. But, it is fine...his love has no place to go, but he thinks that letting you go proves just how strong it is.

Maybe one day - you will come back to him.

Satan thinks it is a curse to be able to tell when someone doesn't want him around. And the worst part of it all is the fact that you are not even aware what you feel. He can tell. He could always tell. You don't know why time with him spent seems longer and longer nor do you know why you are not fulfilled as you were before.

Satan has not changed nor has his love - but your feelings are starting to become lost instead of grow. You still look at him with loving eyes but he constantly asks himself 'how much longer? how much longer until they realize it? until they leave me?'. That is no way to live and sustain a relationship and he brings it up first during an expensive dinner. You are trying to properly cut the meal and he looks at you from across the table.

"Do you remember what I told you once during our morning tea?" "I...I don't think I do. Which morning tea exactly?" "When we first started dating." He can tell you do not remember so he continues. "I told you that if your feelings ever start to change you should immediately tell me."

It is...pitying how you look at him in such a confused way. You haven't figured it out yet. But after this you will.

"You will regret breaking up with me." His old habits are hard to break. It seems like an angry sentence but it is not a threat or anything of the sort. He says it as an observation - as a hope to himself.

"My feelings have not changed. Even if your own probably have. But, please remember everything I have said."

The two of you continue to eat dinner. But something tells him once this is over - nothing will be the same as before.

Asmodeus will never not equate your love lessening to him not being good enough. And that is precisely why he takes it the worst out of any person you could know. Asmodeus has so much love to give, and his identity and pride center on loving and being loved in return. He tries everything he can. More expensive treatments, better skin care, fancier dates and bigger romantic gestures. He even reads books on how human emotions change and every single time he turns onto a new page - his heart breaks. He can notice even the smallest signs that lead up to it.

But, when the signs are small, he figures that he can fight them with just grander gestures. That your doubt is temporary and soon all of your love will find its way back to him.

But Asmo never likes fake flattery or fake love extended in his direction. If your words are not true - don't say them at all. If your love is lessening - at least respect him so much that you are honest about it.

"I never expected this..." "Hmm, Asmo? You never expected what?"

The two of you are in his bed, cuddled up close.

"I have had people not fall for me at all - but I never expected you would fall for me so hard and then slowly lose your love." His arms tighten around you as he says it. What is there left now?

Beelzebub has always been so kind to you. That the realization of your lack of love comes as a natural thing after a long time. Why? In his kind nature - he never demanded anything of you. Beel accepted what you would give and never made you feel uncomfortable with what you were not willing to do. In simple terms, his whole being adjusts to you. And when he sees you shy away, when he sees you get lost, when he sees even the slightest hint of hesitation - he stops. And with it, the two of you carry on with the title of a couple but the parameters change. You two are definitely in a relationship it doesn't matter that your kisses lessen until they almost disappear. All that matters is that you find comfort in one another's presence.

Others have tried to bring it up but your love is simply confusing to everyone around you. It is like the both of you are oblivious to the changes until one day, when your own heart skips a beat when you see a stranger on the street.

And then you realize it. Somewhere, you've lost the title of a couple. You've simply transformed into great friends without realizing it. So, by the time you bring it up - both you and Beel are fine with it. This breakup doesn't cause either of you pain and...hurting him would be the last thing you would want.

Except, you will never know that Beel has realized it a bit before you, that he had to get over you before he was ready to let you go.

Belphegor never sees his love lessening and he cannot imagine it ever would. So what if he notices the signs? It doesn't mean that he will act on them. He has written papers on humans before and he is wiling to call this one of your 'temporary changes' that would later on make you realize just how much you actually love him.

But he gets impatient so quickly. He is as he always was in this relationship but you are slowly creating a distance between the two of you. He can tell how you are going to talk to him about your feelings soon and he absolutely hates it. He can see it coming when you look at the ceiling with empty and insecure eyes; and instead of letting you speak, he holds you so tightly that he buries his face into the pillow.

"Don't do it. Don't you dare tell me."

And you immediately know what he is referring to.

"I don't wish to hear it." And you want to tell him that he has to. That its been a long time coming.

"Let me sleep instead; stay in my arms for a little while longer."

Your break up with him has no chance of ever being pretty. He will simply tell you 'no' and 'don't you dare make me listen to that.' and 'let me love you a bit longer.' But, after you finally refuse to listen to him and tell him how it is - over time, he will find it in himself to forgive you. But he needs so long to actually get used to you not being there for him to love anymore.

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Ok so, I love all the shorts you post on here, you are building up a background of Competent Officer but Emotionally Stunted Price and Emotionally Intelligent and Badass Nik. Cool, fabulous.

But I've got to ask; what is Nik's sore spot?

With the extra decade it does make sense that he is more sure of himself and his relationships generally but you did touch on it with the body image/food one and mentioned it in passing with the how they met bit. Does the age gap get to him sometimes? All the loud machines (and guns) is he worried about his hearing going?

Or, his English is pretty good but does he sometimes get lost with fast speakers/strong accents?

What about something more silly? Is he fine with spiders but gets freaked out by daddy long legs (like me)? Is he wildly afraid of moths? Is he fine with big injuries but if he get a papercut is it the end of the world? Does he suffer terribly from Man Flu?

On a more domestic note, what irritates Price about him? I mean, no one is perfect right?

Does he always leave the bathroom in a state? Do all the broken noses mean he snores like a bear with a head cold (admittedly that might apply to Price as well)? Is he like my Dad and has very strong opinions on adverts and regularly go on rants about how the ad has nothing to do with the product? Does he like Marmite and Price hates it (or vice versa)?

Some excellent questions. I think Nik's weaknesses or vulnerabilities are tied up with his strengths, which I know sounds weird, but hear me out:

- This man is mad intelligent. He speaks eight languages, he canonically can fly pretty much anything (from what I've seen). He was significant enough in knowledge and skills for MI6 to go for him twice. Weakness: his intelligence can sometimes make him coldly logical. Look at how he didn't even blink twice at terrifying Butcher's family; I think that feeds well into Price's ruthlessness. He cares deeply about those he loves, but if you're not "his"? He won't even blink when pulling the trigger if it will help meet his goals.

- Linked to the above, he values his physical strength and his intellect. They make him worth something and he doesn't feel he has any intrinsic worth just as Nik. (Overbearing and demanding Soviet General father made it clear Nik needed to earn his place in the world.) If he feels they are declining or lessening, this is going to throw him through a loop. Big time. (Well noted from the food ficlet.)

- I think he was hugely, perhaps even suicidally, depressed when he turned informant. That conflict of loyalty and morality would have been difficult for his mind to process. I think that explains his apparently unflinching loyalty to Price and Laswell. In his eyes, they saved his life by giving him a purpose. (Nik you stupid fuck you literally set up Chimera and you're a hugely wealthy arms dealer off your own back wtf mate.) Nik never really had time to heal from that, he papered over it and got on with the job. I think as he settles down with Price, he will need to go to therapy. A lot of it.

- He is untidy (not unclean) at home. Laundry on the floor by the basket, never puts books away, gets fixated on a project at the expense of other things. It's like he left the military and his psyche rebelled against the bits he hated the most. Price can't compute how he can be so clinical at work and yet a complete clusterfuck at home. The garage is full of vehicles and appliances he disassembled and never put back together. Man's lucky he's dynamite in bed.

Nik is a "good" man in so far as he can be in a morally grey position. I write him with Price, through Price's lens, so we see "hero protagonist Nik" because that's who he is to/with Price. However, I do have a little ficlet tucked away when a jealous Ghost confronts him in Paris, and he tells Ghost, "If you take a shot, boy, you better not miss, because it will not happen again", and Ghost realises just why Price chose this man as his life partner. He's exactly the same level of ruthless.

[sonnet009games]

Okay, yeah, I'm sending more... But in my defense, it's about your answers to asks posted since then!

^ About that one... Would you believe me if I told you "I actually did"? Well, not WHEN he appeared, but later on. After chapter 4.5 I was racking my brain trying to know who was the person who found Flea at the end, and he ended up among my top options. Here's my thought process: first I assumed it must be a character we as players "met" in the story, otherwise it would lessen the impact. Then I asked myself it it seems to be a well-intentionned character, a neutral character (somone who has been met but who doesn't have a significant relationship with with Flea or the detective) or an antagonistic character. But I realized well-intentionned wouldn't make sense. It would have to be either the detective or Ted. Narratively, making it to be the detective wouldn't make for an interesting chapter 5, and Ted would have told the detective immediately so same result. Antagonistic characters (sort of) that are still alive could be J or Little Red. But if it was Red, the detective would have learned about it soon enough too. As for neutral characters... Yusuf was probably coddled by his parents, Sandy and Average Joe are a no because of their fate depending on player choices, the server at MC's usual diner would have told MC soon enough, the girl the MC and Flea helped move away is... away. And the various club bouncers would be TOO random as picks... Which literally ONLY leaves "blowjob guy" if you think about it. Unless I forgot about someone but if I did it served me well.

So my only two options were J and that guy! I'll use this opportunity to mention I really liked Jack! And I love the fact he KNEW as soon as his saw Flea and the detective interacting (in regards to that question of mine you answered). I thought he could, but it's nice to have confirmation.

Also, related to that answer you gave to an anon:

Did Flea start to think it may not have been that by the end of the chapter? And would THAT depend on how the detective acted at that point / phrased it?

Haha! Send as many as you like. ^_^

I’m actually so stoked that you had Jack on your shortlist of possibilities for the mystery cameo in Chapter 4.5! And you were such a detective about it.

As for the second thing… I’m not sure anything could change Flea’s mind on this one. This truly was his lowest point, in a ten year span of almost nothing but low points, and I don’t know that he could bring himself to believe that the detective was anything but disgusted by him in that moment in the car, even with distance and hindsight. Not yet, anyway.

[moondustinfj]

As the new season is coming out soon, i want to establish something.

Louis and Armand love each other.

That's it and that's the truth. I have read the books and yes. Every relationship is very complex and most of them run very deep. But no one in both louis and armand's lives can lessen the fact that they love each other. Just look at how obvious their love is in the books:

And it's something else, which is irrational and unexplainable and satisfies only me.

Which is?

That i love him.

You have me. I love you

Who else, knowing us as we know each other, could do anything but destroy us? Yet we can love each other

Armand went wild. He turned and began driving his fists into marble with fury, cracking the marble tiles, the blood splattering everywhere. Until Marius gripped him and drew him back away from the wall. A long low moan came from Armand. Armand was like something broken as he lay aganist Marius. Again I was not thinking, I was merely knowing that Louis, the most vulnerable of us all was in the grip of that monster. Or already dead.

It seemed alltogether impossible that the pain would stop, and alltogether impossible that it could go on.

'You never loved him. ' Armand said bitterly. 'You were cruel to him. I protected him from you. '

I want you. I want you more than anything in the world.

I felt a longing for him so strong that it took all of my strength to contain it.

And it occured to me, if louis does end his life, if he does bring his supernatural journey to conclusion, how will I ever answer for it to Lestat or Armand, or myself?

It was the love of Louis which had at times crippled Lestat, and enslaved Armand.

Do you see how ruthless I am in love?

I fell in love with him hopelessly

He loves you. He loves you. He would have you. And he would not have me standing in the way

I see his power in your eyes, I see your misery, your distress, the love for him you can't hide

You don't need my forgiveness

You need it. Therefore, I need it

They have different kinds of relationships with many people. It doesn't change what they feel for each other. It doesn't take away from it.

The reason i wanted to say this is because i think people don't always understand the significant role they play in each other's lives. I know it's seen as a threat to most popular ships in this fandom but it's the truth.

Of course it is somewhat toxic and it has its highs and lows. But so does every other relationship in the series

[dyaz-stories]

okay so i fucking hated the airport scene and i need to exorcise it by explaining why and making it everyone else's problem

jujutsu kaisen spoilers up until chapter 236

Okay, so to preface this, my main issue is that this part of the chapter strongly clashed with my interpretation of Gojo's character and, in my opinion, isn't a suitable farewell to him. I know that some people will read this and think "Oh, so you're just mad that things didn't go the way you wanted" and... yeah. You know, I didn't like that something I didn't like happened. That's not unexpected, but if you're not interested in reading that, I totally get it! I just want to go into more detail about why I wasn't happy with the way this went.

I also want to add that I have no qualms with Gojo dying. I'm not thrilled by the way it happened, but this happening is fully expected within shonen codes. I get the significance of it and why it needed to happen for the story Gege wanted to tell. That's fine by me.

Now, to the airport scene.

We'll start with the first panel, mostly as an illustration. This panel shows, from the uniforms to Gojo's glasses and his expression, that we are in the presence of "high-school Gojo". This is reinforced by the presence of Geto, particularly because the only time when we've seen the two of them interact normally was during the Hidden Inventory Arc.

On top of that, Gojo, throughout the airport scene, acts more 'naturally' than he does in the manga, Hidden Inventory Arc excepted. I'd argue that with his students and with everyone following Geto's defection, he tends to have this 'wall' up (both literally and metaphorically). He doesn't talk to them with this kind of ease.

My issue with this is that it very much reads like character regression. It's been a decade since high-school for Gojo, give or take, and for his farewell I don't find it interesting to portay him not as he was, but as he had been.

The obvious answer to that is that this depicts Gojo in the time period during which he was the happiest. I don't wholly disagree with that — especially considering the emphasis in this arc about 'the loneliness of the strongest' and the fact that this was likely the only time when he didn't feel lonely.

I just regret the lack of distance with this idea. Even if it was the time when he felt happiest, he wasn't his teenage self anymore. I wish this had been reflected more. Like I said — this, to me, doesn't feel like a farewell to who he was at the moment of his death, because I'm not seeing the Gojo I'd seen throughout the manga.

Another, less obvious counter-argument could be that this emphasises that Gojo was stuck in the past and couldn't move on from his years in high school. I don't think this is particularly proven as true through the manga. The importance he gives to training his students and his belief that they can become stronger than him seems to show an interest in the future, not the past.

This is the next one. My issue isn't with Sukuna being stronger than Gojo (I don't care about that). Considering the central part Mahoraga plays in Gojo's demise (as Sukuna states right after)

the line about the Ten Shadows feels icky to me, but whatever on that front as well. No, what annoys me about all of that is that considering all of Gojo's confidence up until the end, it... makes him look like a cocky idiot? Which, okay, isn't that far off when it comes to his characterization, I'll give Gege that, but it was always warranted up until that point. Being unable to see danger coming to that degree, especially with the Six Eyes, is kind of ridiculous.

It also lessens the importance of Sukuna's supposed admiration for him, imo.

It cheapens both his death and his character to me.

I'm fully aware that people have used this as proof of Gojo's selfishness and essentially as showcasing his adrenaline addiction, and I get that it would make sense if that was your read on his character, but it came out of left field for me.

Another answer to that argument could be that this is Gojo's perception and doesn't reflect the reality — maybe he thought that but Sukuna didn't — however considering the timing I can't help but feel that we, as readers, are at least supposed to receive it as fact.

This one is less of a criticism and more of a note. It's not uninteresting as far as characterization goes. I think it doesn't come as a huge surprise that Gojo would feel that way but I do regret that this was never explored before. I'm not convinced it was hinted at all that well either, and it doesn't help that the one example we have of him being 'adored' is Miwa being a fangirl. Once again, I regret that we don't see anything about his students here. I think it would have been warranted.

This is probably my favorite panel out of the bunch, which I don't think is going to come as a surprise. This feels like a callback to him being a teacher. I like it.

Okay, this is probably my least favorite part of this. Nanami has said things of this nature before, he's called Gojo egotiscal,

so it's not new that he believes that. However, that is echoed by Haibara (and other people apparently, hence "we all thought that") and also by Geto, since he's the one who concludes "was just proven right by your actions a second ago". I have to assume Geto, in saying that, is referring to Gojo's fight against Sukuna.

I kind of fucking hate that. First of all, what Nanami says is something that I considered to be blatantly untrue in the manga. As far as I'm concerned, Gojo was constantly portrayed as caring deeply for his students, wanting to leave them a better world, and while I don't think he wanted to protect people the same way Itadori does, it's not like it's absent from his motivations either.

(The second panel is him asking about the people that got trapped in his domain expansion, while in Shibuya. This showed he was worried for their well-being. His decisions in Shibuya were also motivated by his decision to limit human losses.)

Geto essentially agrees with what Nanami is saying, which I think is intended to tell the audience that Nanami is right. That's who Gojo is, the person who knows him best even tells you that. Again, this feels very high school Gojo, without the decade of character development and of caring for kids that he has necessarily done since then. It's also telling us that Gojo fought Sukuna because he thought he would enjoy it, not for any sort of higher purpose (I do also hate the "I had fun" panel that comes earlier, in case you were wondering lol).

I also think that this removes any notion of responsibility which Gojo would have shouldered by choice, which I think contradicts other parts of the manga. Honestly, to me, Nanami's take here is so far removed from what I had received from the manga up until that point that it's kind of jarring.

As mentioned before, due to Geto's intervention, I don't think this can be interpreted as "just Nanami's opinion". Due to Gojo's lack of disagreeing and the fact that this chapter is his last, I do think it's intended as the 'true interpretation' for Gojo's character, by the author that is (is it going to stop me? No, but I think authorial intention is interesting to look at/try to find).

This one I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to, because considering Gojo's conversation with Nanami at this point, he could be talking about Nanami. If he is talking about himself (and I do think that is the case), I want to put it on the record that I also hate it! Again, Gojo not caring about the students he's leaving behind, to me, does not feel 'right' or in character, and they're not mentioned once save for that one throw-away line about Megumi.

I'll discuss this real quick before concluding: is it a dream? I don't think it's that important here. Regardless of whether that's Gojo's hallucination in his final moments or truly the afterlife/the antechamber before reincarnation, considering the position this half-chapter occupies in the story, I don't think it alters my reading of it.

With that being said, I'm leaning towards it not being a dream in part due to Nanami's line about Haibara, which echoes exactly what we saw when Nanami dies.

This line is for the audience in my opinion, not for Gojo.

So where does that leave us? Well, to me, the heart of it is what I said earlier: this feels like a goodbye to high school Gojo, not the one we see through most of the manga, and that was who I wanted to see, and the one who I believe deserved this farewell.

On top of that, for the most part, the characterization of Gojo as done by other characters borders on character assassination, in my completely personal and admittedly biased opinion. It's not at all what I would have wanted him to go out on. Leaves a very bad taste in my mouth and makes me feel silly for caring.

What a sad way to go.

I typically conclude these kinds of posts by saying that I'm happy to discuss what I've said if you disagree, however for this one, I hope I've made it clear that my issues lies with the disparity between my interpretation of Gojo and this scene, as well as just what I would have liked to see, and it's therefore very personal. I do think that if Gege wanted me to have this interpretation of Gojo he didn't do a good job of getting me there, but if you disagree and you liked this scene, you know, more power to you. I don't think that means you're wrong. I just had a bad time reading it and I wanted to talk about it. With all that said you can 100% disagree obviously, but I'm not looking for a debate.