#character study kinda??
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kuroo tetsurou - not a mama's boy, not a daddy's boy, but a third, secret thing (a grandma's boy)
he's 8 years old, just moved to tokyo. his dad is at work, and his mother is... he doesn't know where she is, really. wherever she is, his sister is too, and the house is quiet and lonely.
tetsu-kun, his grandmother calls through the empty house, and he follows her voice to the kitchen.
she peers down at him with kind eyes when he rounds the bench. she doesn't have to look far - even at his young age, he's nearly as tall as her. although, her short stature didn't make that much of an achievement.
she holds something silvery in her hands which she shows to him.
mackerel.
kuroo sits on the bench by the stove, watching as she grills it with practised skill. he's focused, intent on not missing a single step. so you can make it for yourself one day, his grandma tells him. she makes it look so easy.
the two of them sit by the window to eat, watching the odd person walk down their street. there's a slight chill to the house, courtesy of the crack under the new front door that lets in a small draught. his dad keeps promising to fix it sometime soon.
but the fish is warm, and pleasantly salty on his tongue; and his grandma sits beside him, letting him nestle into her side like he did when he was really young.
she presses a smacking kiss to his cheek that rings in his ears, and though he grumbles and wipes away the moisture it leaves behind, small chuckles escape them both that float away on the cool air.
and just like that, the house is no longer quiet, nor lonely.
#i just think abt them alot :(( <3#character study kinda??#𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ 💭 musings#srce ₊˚ෆ#⌕ showing results for: hq!!#kuroo tetsurou#haikyuu
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More Hawks suffering
#iykyk#comfort character who’s never had a day of comfort in their life#i made other versions of this imma post them next#bnha hawks#mha hawks#my hero academia hawks#takami keigo#fanart#mha#mha fanart#bnha fanart#bnha art#mha art#mha memes#bnha memes#boku no hero acedamia#my hero acedamia#wing hero hawks#artists on tumblr#shading and folds study kinda#digital drawing#mha spoilers#bnha spoilers#mha 426#meme redraw#dartbread
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you know. I think the reasons it feels so literally narratively wrong when people refer to charles as being straight (such as in interviews where his love life comes up and so on) are that A) he’s never deemed outright straight in the show, so it’s just an assumption that he must be straight by default (which is silly in a show like this), and B) what he says following edwin’s confession. I know I’m biased, but even when I try to look at it as neutrally as possible, the way he reacts in general and the specific words he uses just don’t sound right when you imagine them being said by a Totally Definitely Straight guy.
first of all if you actually listen to it instead of absorbing the scene superficially it’s not particularly a rejection at all, and the actors have stated that themselves– it’s not him saying no, it’s him saying “I can’t give you an answer right now, but I will eventually”. that’s not an interpretation, that’s literally just the truth of what he said (and again, the actors agree). can you imagine a straight guy saying that, or possibly even more damning, “we have literally forever to figure out the rest [“the rest” meaning anything that goes beyond the kind of love charles already solidly has for him]”.
imagine you’re a straight man who’s unwaveringly confident in his orientation and your gay best friend confesses his feelings for you. you would not respond with the implication there is a “the rest” to figure out. since the main, obvious obstacle would be your solid lack of attraction to men, that’d probably be essential to your response– it wouldn’t be a “I can’t say–“ it’d be a “I can’t be–“. and on top of all that, I feel like the whole thing would have to sound far more apologetic– “I’m sorry, I love you and that’ll never change, but I just can’t love you the way that you love me.” something like that, right?
tldr: this is a rare instance in television where assuming a character is straight by default makes Less sense than the alternative. and charles’ choice of words in the confession overtly suggest that he is, at the very least, unsure of his orientation.
#rambling#thinking about this cause I saw another post about how weird it is to see people assume him to be straight and consider his being bi#more of a fandom headcanon- ie; less legitimate. and also that he just seems bi to such an extent that it doesn’t feel like a headcanon–#and I am here to say that yeah. he feels that way for a reason. and that reason is because he has not been portrayed in this show as a#straight character. like just flat out. that’s not to say he’s being overtly portrayed as a bi character (yet) either BUT I think it is#completely within reason to say he has been overtly ambiguous. and rarely does that mean a character is going to end up being straight.#anyway I have brainrot I need to go. do something. and get off my phone probably#charles#charles rowland#dead boy detectives#IN MY DEFENSE I am literally a film studies major. analyzing characters and scenes and etc. is kinda. what i do
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satoru gojo knows he's not wanted. only needed - a weapon for killing curses and curse users, day in and day out, the lynchpin of jujutsu society.
he's fine with that, most of the time. the truth is, when suguru left, he thought that was the end for him. he was never very good at friendship in the first place, at making people like him.
he has a difficult personality, and he doesn't want to change. people willing to deal with him as he was were few and far between, and they never had that immediate connection like he did with suguru.
even if it left him unbearably lonely. it's just not in his nature to mince words, to hold back, to play nice. if he couldn't be satoru gojo, then what else did he have left?
and it's fine, most of the time.
but some of the time, it's not. it's really, really not. sometimes, it's worth it to try, just the tiniest bit, not to be a complete ass and drive away a pretty face who seems unbothered by his attitude.
that's how he ends up with you - a non-sorcerer. he hasn't told you about sorcery in general and doesn't want you to know.
to him, your shared penthouse is his safe space. he never walks or drives there, only ever teleports so that no one can trace him there. no one, not even at the school, knows that he primarily lives there.
he spends every spare hour (sometimes even just ten minute) he can there. finishing missions early, darting off after lessons, eating there whenever he can.
satoru only sleeps whenever you sleep. he never showers alone, never does his nighttime routine on his own.
that's all precious time he could be spending at your side.
washing your hair, your face, cleaning up alongside you. laughing and splashing and making a little more of a mess if he can get away with it.
here, there are no curses, no former friends turned traitor, no one who needs his help.
you smile as soon as you see him, hear him, run up to hug him if your hands are free.
he's on the lock screen of your phone. once or twice he's caught you just staring at it, delight painted all over your lips.
all you want from him is his company -
and god, is he ever aware, you're the only one alive who does.
most of his coworkers dislike him to various degrees. even his students have mixed feelings about him sometimes.
he does his best, he really does, but he can't bring himself to get attached to someone who might one day leave.
you won't, though (you can't), so he's free to love you all he wants.
he'll freely confess - he's overcompensating. pouring all the missed opportunities to bond, all the awkward moments where his attitude turned other people away, into the dam that is your relationship.
you don't mind his funky schedule (too much), you're a huge homebody who likes having date nights at home.
you smooth off all the rough edges of his personality - the arrogance, the smarmy comments - with a laugh and a taunt, a hand in his hair that he can't help but lean into like the domesticated pet he is.
god, he loves you. he loves you so, so much, unreasonably so - loves coming home to a "satoru! welcome back~", loves bringing home meals from different places and watching you try them with delight (you joke that his mysterious job must be as a delivery man, which he laughs at more than he should), loves coming home to your unnecessary attempts at cooking every now and then, something indescribable curling in his chest.
he loves sitting and talking with you about the latest show you're watching, telling you about his "coworkers" and "juniors" (sometimes he has to stop himself from giggling about it) and how annoying his latest day at work was.
sometimes it's sort of vague and vapid but it's fun when it's with you. sometimes it's deeper stuff, real stuff ("my oldest friend passed away recently" "one of my juniors at work has a complicated family situation") and you seem to always know just what to say. talking to you always makes him feel better.
he worries, sometimes, that he's not as good to you as you are to him. he tries - god, does he try - to show you the extent of his love, if he can't afford the words or time, then in deeds.
you're taken care of for the rest of your life, that was a given. the penthouse is in your name, various trusts set up in the impossible event of his death.
you have full access to a joint account that was actually just yours, set up for you by him - he just didn't feel like trying to convince you to accept the money.
he buys you things, of course. food mostly, to eat together, but also little trinkets and manga and souvenirs of the various places he goes to. little pieces of his life to share with you.
and when he can, he does do dates. every second he gets to spend with you is like gold, and he spends them all fully invested, eyes locked on you and yours, walking on air the entire time just from your presence. ready to talk about anything you had an interest in.
he's just that infatuated. satoru could talk for days to anyone, but you're the only one who'd listen, who'd chatter back just as enthusiastically. he wants you on speed dial every moment he's away.
shopping trips, too, he's always happy to play dress up, to dutifully compliment you even though privately he thinks you look best without any clothes -
and that, too, he does for you. he makes no secret of his affection for your body. spares not even a second getting to his knees, nuzzling against your thigh, cheeks flushed as he looks up at you with pleading eyes won't you feed me, pretty please, i'm starving~
he shows you he loves you. with hands and mouth and body, as a sorcerer should. silent curses falling from his lips as his body joins to yours.
it seems almost cruel of you to let him have this. why can't he live here forever? why can't he always be inside you?
satoru gojo knows he is the absolute last person who should be complaining about this, but why is life so unfair?
why can't he spend every minute of every day by your side? touching you? talking to you?
in his wildest dreams he's not killing curses or sorcerers or changing the world.
he's in bed with you, by your side from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep. that's his dream, just you being there, always.
he worries most of all what he'd do if you ever fought.
you're not the type - you "need space to calm down" sometimes, which is usually just you going back to your room. you "want to have a calm discussion" where you sit and listen to him and talk about feelings, and you have this way of making him talk.
you're good at communicating, at making people feel better, and understanding others. sensitive in a way that he's not.
you're never out to hurt him, even when he can tell his time away is grating on you, his constant absences and flightiness rightly off-putting.
you never argue with him, never make demands, and that's how you got together in the first place, the perfect match.
(it scares him, really, being made for battle as he is. where's your fighting spirit? wouldn't you cry and scream and beg if he was going to leave you? wouldn't you go to war for your love? he knows he would.)
but deep down he knows it's there. a massive part of his life is hidden from you - things that are important to him; his mission, his students, his power.
he doesn't know what to do, really.
he wants to keep you safe, unworried. he wants to keep this island of peaceful, mundane happiness in his life.
he wants you to love him, wholly and completely, for all that he is. he wants to hear you tell him he's doing it right. that you're proud of him.
there's so much he wants now, compared to when his life was just teaching students, killing curses, and waiting for the day he'd have to kill his only friend.
satoru isn't sure which one is better. because even though he hopes he can have you how he wants, and the rest of his life too -
he's starting to think it might not be possible.
#jujutsu kaisen#satoru gojo#gojo x reader#lemon#hints of yandere#really gojo is just Kinda Silly#but mostly he is sad and lonely#fluff#relationship study#mayyybe character study#the smut is very light but it's still there#if you saw the typo in the FIRST SENTENCE of this post when it went up... no u didn't
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Good skeles, like you lots (Patreon)
#Doodles#Handplates#UT#Sans#Papyrus#Gaster#Finally a set mostly featuring the brothers! Yay!#I love their dynamic so muuuuch and they're both so cuuuuuute ahhhhhhh <3 <3#I made that first one based on some half-remembered doodles from my Very First time around drawing UT characters - going way back!#I never posted any of them - I do actually have some studies from back then from various artists including Zarla haha ♪#And I think the original sketches for the pixel bouncies I made of them? :0 There's a lot of good stuff back there! Been a while tho lol#Really tho I've just kinda been on a big-eyes-and-swirly-cheeks kick lately haha ♪ They suit it so well! Especially Sans#Very fun to put down strong lines about ♫#Hugging <3 Always hugging <3 <3#I'm really pleased with their hands there actually haha - Papyrus pulling Sans in and Sans' hand on his ribs not pushing just a little space#They're so cute <3 Even some of my first doodles of them were them giving little donk-pecks on their cheek or forehead#Y'know - since they don't have lips lol#Also probably not a shock but I've pulled out my own colour cube(s) to play with out of inspiration lol#I am So out of practice lol#Sleeping on each other - it is The Classic! I love Papyrus' little paw thing with his plated hand while he sleeps haha#I personally really like the inverted Soul look on Monsters but in Handplates they're right side up! What do!#There must be a happy medium to strike somewhere hmmm#Just put them sideways and upset Everyone lol#A silly little set with Gaster of the two ''flying'' - does that activity actually have a name? :0 I don't know it#Gaster is not about to have them playing anything that could end up with 1-s falling though - not that he'll listen lol#''Because I told you to!'' Lol#And finally trying on clothes in their house! Papyrus is getting weird vibes off this shirt with how it ties in the back and hangs loosely#I'm pretty sure? I've been drawing him with his scar but it can hard to tell even looking at it myself lol#I'm not exactly careful with the delineation of his neck bones so the line can get lost#Needs a shirt that will compliment a scarf or a cape for sure
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Sleep Paralysis.
Vaguely inspired by this unfinished fic.
#Hi-Fi Rush#HFR#Chai Hi-Fi Rush#Kale Vandelay#Macaron Hi-Fi Rush#Panic Attack#Unsettling#Jinx Draws#I do kinda wish I knew how this fic was going to end lol but it was a really interesting study of Chai's character post-everything#I think it would be interesting to talk more about the consequences of the game events??#Ranging from 'wow we really did just kill a bunch of dangerous people' to 'wow they really did perfect a mind control AI'#It's really interesting but I do also appreciate the more lighthearted energy of this game#If it were all doom and gloom I wouldn't enjoy it the way I do#But sometimes it's fun to study the more serious bits!#Anyway RIP Chai
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when are yougonna post nick's bobbies
dan nicky yuor bobbie s [held at gunpoint writing this]
#// suggestive#<- kinda#cheez rambles#my art#fanart#fandom character#nick l4d2#l4d nick#left 4 dead#left 4 dead 2#// figure study because TWO OF YOU who I will not name in front of the class (👁️👁️) asked for shirtless nick for ''headcanon reasons''#// i believe you!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Albert Wesker in Resident Evil Remastered (2002)
#crimson's gifs: resident evil#resident evil#re#Resident Evil 1#RE1#Resident Evil 1 Remastered#RE1R#Resident Evil Remastered#Albert Wesker#Albert Wesker (RE1)#Wesker#One of the most interesting things I noticed studying the game and the appearences of Wesker throughout is that when it comes to him#He only seems to be fixated on Chris#Hes a lot more confrontational and engaged when Chris confronts him#Notice the little smirk he makes before he turns around to greet Chris at the private residence#With Jill hes more focused on the tyrant and practically bored but hes a lot more gleefully insane (and emotional) when its Chris#Really set up the whole Chris Fixation wesker has quite well imo#I dont like wesker that much personally and yall already gathered i HATE Chris' character but I have to give credit when its due#Its a shame they kinda wasted it#If they are remaking 5 I hope they expand on that more#The post credits in 4r of Wesker watching Chris in Revelations on the screen was another good setup#CVX hooks onto RE1R perfectly and that 4r cutscene also hooks onto that great its just that re5 kinda drops the ball a lil#Because Wesker is blindsided by Chris when thats supremely out of character for the man absolutely obsessed with him#To not know where he is at all times#I kinda believe he only took Jill to make sure Chris would find him eventually#Anyways this is the last character focused set. Last ones are just alternative outfits now which is just Jills 3 alts and cowboy rebecca
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Have to say how much I loved the q!Phil and q!Tubbo argument today about Forever and ultimatums, because it really showcased who they are as people. Neither are wrong nor bad, it's just how they are.
Philza doesn't trust many people, but when he does, it's utterly and wholly. To him, It's important to try to fix things first because he knows firsthand you can't come back on a decision like that. If Forever was said to do something like hurt the eggs, it's obvious it's not Forever, it can't be, so has to try to fix it first.
If it came down to it, he'd end it because there's no other option, but only after they tried everything else. It's about hope and trust, and knowing you only have so many people so you can't lose them unless you are sure.
Meanwhile, Tubbo is very easy to give trust, but he also retracts it at the slightest sign of anything negative or going wrong, and almost always chooses the nuclear option first because he feels the need to neutralize the threat.
If someone does something wrong, they fucked up and need to go, if someone is dead then they're gone that's it, if he looses something he cares about then it's fucking time to destroy the world.
Tubbo would throw himself on a bomb to save others, Phil would try to disarm it.
Please Reblog and not just Like so people will see this, Likes do nothing at all!
#qsmp#tubbo#qsmp tubbo#philza#qsmp philza#character study#i could also get into how these#are very reminicient of DSMP days and how it#kinda connects to how their characters were played#and you can tell the cc's def have a style#and tbh one of the reasons why i like to connect both smps#but im aware not everyone#wants to hear about dsmp so ill keep it to#myself lol
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chilchuck character study + headcannon doodles :)
i was kinda figuring out how i want to draw him as i went along with these, so some are better quality than others lol
#chilchuck tims#dungeon meshi#character study#headcannons#dungeon meshi fanart#chilchuck tims fanart#my art#digital art#artists on tumblr#delicious in dungeon#dungeon meshi spoilers#? kinda#peachsoda art
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hi to you too?🤨
#i dont care if he doesn't wear that he wears a worn out trench coat and jumper#source? my delusions#my art#art#digital art#undertale au#utmv#undertale#sans au#sans#digital drawing#horror sans#horrortale#horrortale sans#i was bored recently and decided to kinda do a character study type thing? idk i felt like i didnt have a good grasp on his personality#so it felt appropriate to draw horror#i need to draw horrortale more man its my fav au 😭#ut#ut au
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“kuroo tetsurou, son of zeus” “kuroo tetsurou, son of athena” SHUSH ✋✋✋
kuroo tetsurou, son of hermes.
hermes, god of travellers and crossroads; and his son, who guides his peers through their own journeys. a conduit for tsukishima, for kenma, for lev and shibayama to recognise for themselves their potential. hermes’ son, who makes it his life’s mission to inspire and lead as many people to volleyball as he can, enticing them down the path until they realise it’s not just the club they thought it was.
hermes, god of messengers and connection; and his son, captain of a nationally-ranked volleyball team that prides itself on a rock-solid defence based in communication. whose central principle is to be blood, and circulate oxygen so that their brain may function at his best. a team whose maxim is to connect.
smart, quick-thinking hermes, god of wit and cunning and trickery; and his smart, quick-thinking son, who can watch someone for two minutes and know just which buttons to press to rile them up. who can exchange banter with an easy, feline grin that, if you were to study for a bit too long, starts to look like bared teeth that could eat you alive if their owner so pleased. whose hazel eyes constantly flicker with mischief, and you wonder if what you’re really seeing is a flicker of his father.
kuroo tetsurou, son of hermes.
#i think that's all i had to say#i have very strong opinions abt this#if there's even any overlap of the pjo/hq fandoms then thank you for coming to my ted talk#character study kinda??#𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ 💭 musings#⌕ showing results for: hq!!#⌕ showing results for: pjo#srce ₊˚ෆ#kuroo tetsurou#haikyuu#pjo
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forever conflicted between the idea of asexual todd anderson because i genuinely think it makes sense and works so well and the idea of allosexual (non-asexual) todd anderson because we can't keep only headcanonning shy, introverted people as asexual and i need todd awkwardly struggling with his sexual desire and having to allow intimacy and physical touch
a battle i fight on the daily
#if i ever write smut ever in my life it would probably be with todd because it would be interesting in like a character study kinda way#dps fandom#dps#dead poets headcanons#todd anderson#asexual todd anderson#allosexual todd anderson#dead poets society
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Would anyone be interested in reading a Jean x Scott x Logan fic where the center of the love triangle is Scott and not Jean and also Jean and Logan are just friends?
#I'm the jeanxlogan hater but really its just a joke#I kinda wanna do a character study? but its in Jean's pov/interpretation of Logan rather than any canon character study#and Scotty's bisexual awakening#and maybe they have a threesome? but the attention is purely on Scott#Jean 🤝🏻 Logan for their mutual love for Scott#jeanscott#scottjean#scogan#logan howlett#scott summers#jean grey#cyclops#wolverine#marvel girl#phoenix#(technically)
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As a collective I think we really ought to talk more about this mandrill baboon sign Mickey has in his room that is clearly stolen from a zoo. When did he get it? How did he get it? Why did he want it?? And perhaps most importantly, is The Lion King his favorite Disney movie and Rafiki his favorite character? I just have so many questions.
#these are the things that keep me up at night#mickey's room is basically a character unto itself#it could be studied for years#has anyone ever written this fic????#i kinda need it now#mickey milkovich#character study#shameless#season 1#gallavich
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goddess
"what am i, jesus?" "yeah"
(tashi duncan x f!reader)
The essay is crumpled by the time you reach Tashi.
The infirmary is a small building; plain and tucked away between some trees at the far end of campus. Simultaneously inconspicuous and irrelevant. At best an after-thought, only identifiable from the words “health center” plastered across the front.
It’s surprising you didn’t miss it, and you can’t help but feel indignant at the fact that this is where they brought her. But the feeling is quickly washed away with the growing sense of dread that gnaws at your chest.
Abruptly, you’re hit with the idea that you’d walk in to not find her at all. That there would be no sign of her existence within those four walls. It’s illogical and unfounded, but the thought lingers as you force yourself to the door.
You have a faint memory of meeting Tashi. A blurry recollection of bumping into her at the dining hall and a vague outline of the conversation that followed. The only thing you actually remember are noticing her hands.
It wasn’t anything physical about them that drew your attention. You couldn’t care less about how they actually looked, you were captivated by her movement. Instinctive yet deliberate. As if every action was simultaneously spontaneous and methodical. A dichotomy that gave each motion an innate intensity. A power hidden in the folds of the universe, which only she could reach.
You didn’t have to watch Tashi play to know she’s special, you just had to watch her hands.
You knew that from that first moment alone.
The rubber soles of your sneakers squeak against the tiles as you walk into the room, your breath coming out in short little pants from the run. Your hands flex against the papers in your hands, as a breath of relief slips out upon seeing her.
Tashi sits on the cot, eyebrows knitted pensively with a frown staring at the brick wall in front of her. Her arms are crossed against her chest, heaving in a melancholic rhythm. For a moment you expect her to scream on the top of her lungs or burst out crying, but she remains stoic.
Her knee is wrapped in what looks to be yards of gauze that is blinding under the overhead fluorescent lights. It beckons your attention with its unsettling glow and you drift to it’s call, your vision flooded with white.
In the periphery of your view you see a tan movement, followed by the noise of a soft shuffle. Your eyes instantly dart back up to Tashi to see that she is already looking at you, her eyes slightly red and swollen.
Your heart drops.
You want to carve your knee from its socket with your bare hands and leave it beside her. Give it to her as a replacement. If you could, you’d do it. Maybe give her your whole leg if that is what she wanted. It’s not even a question.
You told Tashi you’d be late earlier in the week, during one of your yoga sessions. An important part of her routine she roped you into. And while you had no real interest in yoga, you also had no interest in ever denying her. Struggling through asanas was unimportant.
“He said he wanted me to stay a bit after class to talk about my paper,” you explained, voice somewhat strained from holding your breath and hands slightly trembling from trying to keep yourself in downward dog.
She came down onto the mat beside you, releasing the position into a sitting one. Her hands moved to your waist, gently coaxing you into the proper formation and you exhaled instantly at the contact. “He didn’t say about what?” she questioned absently, preoccupied with your pose.
Your professor had a tendency to be vague via email, one of those people who never truly started trusting the internet. As a result his emails were brief and unintentionally ominous. This one simply read:
Hello, Please stay after next class to talk about your mid-semester paper. Sincerely, Professor Thatcher
“Just that he wanted to talk about my paper” you responded as her hands moved away from your body, a sense of loss pooling in your stomach. “I’ll just be a bit late to your game,” you frowned, coming down onto your own mat to sit beside her.
Tashi shrugged, as she moved her foot to rest on the opposite thigh. “You’ll come after?” she said, adjusting her other leg in the same way, settling into the lotus pose.
“Of course,” you responded without thought, and caught her eyes flick up to yours with a half smirk on her lips before falling back to your lap. Her hands reach towards you and she begins to move your legs as well.
“What class is it again?” she asked, also contorting you into a lotus. A futile effort, although that doesn’t deter her.
“Asian religions"
She hummed, getting you halfway into the pose. Her gaze pulled away from your lap back up to your face with the same half-smirk. “I swear you do more for this elective than any other class,” she remarks amused.
“Who realized religion is complex?” you sarcastically retorted, a smirk on your own lips now. She laughed in response and little wrinkles formed at the edge of her eyes, the sight turning your smirk into a soft smile. It dipped to a frown as soon as you remembered what the conversation was about in the first place.
You were flippant with routine. Always eager to skip a class and never the one to follow your parents to mass every weekend. But you were always consistent with her games. Routine was only mundane without her.
Tashi’s hand reached to push a lock of hair behind your ears. “It’s only one match,” she whispered looking into your mind. You took in a deep breath and met her gentle eyes, the disappointment morphing into a knot in your chest. The sense of dread lingered as she smiled softly. “How interesting can playing Pepperdine be anyway?”
The dramatic irony isn’t lost on you, it’s just too tragic to acknowledge.
You should have taken the knot in your chest as a premonition.
Her hands tremble. A small, involuntary motion that makes you feel ill.
You’re seated across from where Tashi is on the cot. You ache to be closer, but the only seat next to her is already occupied by Art. Somehow having wormed his way into a place he doesn’t deserve.
Like always, his presence and proximity bother you, but there is also a small joy in the fact that it is only Art. Tashi had told you Patrick was visiting for the game, but at the moment was nowhere to be seen. You don’t ask about him either, not one to question small blessings.
Only the sound of breathing fills the poky space. Art is watching you, probably as vexed by your presence as you of his.
(Sometimes you wonder if all the Apostles quietly despised each other as well. You’d understand why.)
You don’t have to turn to already see the impassive expression on his face, so your eyes remain glued to Tashi’s hands. Watching the little erratic tremors as you bit back nausea. There is no fluidity to the uncontrolled movement. It’s just hollow.
“What’d he say?” Tashi suddenly asks, breaking the unnerving silence. There is an inflection in her voice which is both bitter and pained, an aftertaste of the day’s events. There is nothing to indicate the tone is directed towards you, but you flinch anyway.
“Huh?” you mumble, not having processed her words.
“Your professor,” she starts with an exhale. “What’d he say about your paper?”
Your eyes dart down to the wrinkled papers on your lap, thumb pressing down on one specific crinkle in the vain attempt to straighten it. It feels insignificant. The essay. The professor. Pointless to even think about, much less discuss.
When you look back up, you see Tashi is looking at you with a desperate wide-eyed interest. She bites the inside of her cheek in unsettled anticipation and it dawns on you that she is trying to fill the room with something besides the obvious torment. Without much of a thought, you murmur “Something about nuance.”
“Nuance?” she questions, a vain attempt to continue the conversation.
You nod in response. The interaction is blurry, the moment charged with the desire to leave the game and the memory clouded with the panic of finding out about the injury once you did. But you remember him mentioning nuance. “He told me I needed to be more nuanced,” you repeat, with another small nod in her direction.
“What was the paper on?” Art asks, also picking up on her need for a distraction.
You swallow, pushing some hair back from your face, “the living goddesses of Nepal.”
Kumari was the actual term. A connection between humanity and the divine was how Professor Thatcher described them. “An incarnation of the celestial for a few years,” he said in lecture, although you didn’t catch anything after that. Drifting off by then, your mind already thinking of someone else.
You’re grateful that Art doesn’t probe on why you chose the topic. Although, you’re sure he would have understood.
You think anyone who knew Tashi would.
You told her once.
“You’re like god,” you whispered to her drunk in the living room of Kappa something, too drunk from whatever concoction made by the frat brothers for their Halloween party. You were dressed as a cat, fallen to the ground while dancing inebriated, and clinging onto the soft, white fabric of Tashi’s angel costume as she tried to help you stand. You looked up to her, blinded by the flashing lights of the room and her radiance, and whispered those three words like a prayer.
She had no verbal response, just pulling you up with a small smile and soft laugh. Her hands moved from your arms to your cheeks, gently cupping your face and tilting it.
She pressed a kiss to your forehead.
The infirmary has settled into another, heavier silence. There is no sound loud enough to fill the space. None of you try.
Her hands still tremble.
The paramedics arrive eventually, whisking Tashi off to a proper hospital for examination. You take the name of where she’s gone and walk to your dorm, using your essay as a stressball as you plan on how to visit her the next morning.
A wave of exhaustion hits you the minute you cross the threshold into the room, and you walk straight to the bed. The tiredness sinks into your bones when you sit down. The day's events smothering you at once as your fingers play with the corner of the page.
You look down at the shriveled papers in your hand and take your first proper look at it all night. Red pen scribbled all throughout, little notes on grammar and word choice, but at the heading in all caps is written WHAT ABOUT THE AFTER?
Oh right. That’s what he said.
“It’s an informative paper, just…” Professor Thatcher started when you went up to him after class. His voice trailed off as he debated the right word, finally deciding, “just a stale one.”
“Stale?”
“You lack nuance,” he clarified, with a flick of his wrist, looking back down to the red marking on the paper.
Your eyes darted to the clock on the wall and then back to him. “I mean…how much nuance is there…” you said with a forced smile, a weak attempt at a joke to resolve the conversation and leave for the game.
If he noticed the attempt, he made no comment. “You don’t consider the after,” he remarks, looking back up to you. His eyes narrowed as you snuck another look at the clock.
“The after?”
“Yes,” he reiterated. “The after.”
“What... after?” you asked, eyes flicking to the clock once again.
“Well you mention how they lose their status after puberty, but don’t actually talk about their life…sans godhood,” he explained, watching you carefully. Daring you to look back at the clock.
You weren’t present enough in the moment to process what he was saying, but felt the need to defend your work anyway. “Well..when you’re worshiped like that…i don’t think you can just let it go…it’s what everyone knows you for”
“Exactly.”
You waited for him to say more, but were only left with an awkward silence. Your eyes darted to the clock once more, and heard a scoff like noise from his direction. He pushed paper into your hands and with a hint of irritation said, “Just re-write it based on the feedback I wrote. Give it back to me next week.”
You left the next second without a second thought.
WHAT ABOUT THE AFTER?
The words are a taunt.
You put the paper down on the bedside table and let your exhaustion carry you to sleep.
The hospital is a bus-ride away from campus. You’re on it by the time the sun starts to rise, trying pointlessly to distract yourself with the sky’s pinkish hues.
It’s a large hospital, but it doesn’t take much to find Tashi. You tell the lady at the front desk her name, and her face flashes with recognition. She points you in the direction to go and sends you off.
Three minutes and an elevator ride later, you stand in front of her hospital room. You knock on the door out of courtesy, but quickly push yourself in, unable to handle the distance anymore.
Tashi is laying on the hospital bed looking out the window. There are dark circles around her eyes and her lips a fine straight line. Her head shifts to acknowledge your presence, before she turns back to the window.
You don’t move a muscle.
Your mind goes back to when she kissed your forehead at the Halloween party. She spun you after that, dancing to the music with her in your arms. You clung onto her to keep yourself upright.
If it wasn’t for her, you would have fallen.
“They took a couple x-rays” she begins, finally breaking the trepid silence of the room with a low, solemn voice. She looks away from the window in your direction, without properly looking at you.
You inhale apprehensively, swallowing slowly before you speak. “Yeah?” The question you can't bring yourself to ask lingers in the air.
She turns back to the window, watching the sun finally reaching its rightful place in the sky. Her eyes go distant and you wait for the words you fear.
“They said I might not play again,” she whispers, eyes still on the sun. Her finger imperceptibly pulls at the sheet on the bed. Your focus is on the subtle motion, watching the way she pinches it between her thumb and index. “I might never play again,” she repeats, her voice louder as if properly hearing herself for the first time. Her brows furrow as she confronts the possibility, trying to reconcile it with everything she’s known.
Her hands move to push back her hair in a swift, intuitive motion.
“It doesn’t change anything.”
She lets out a shaky, humorless laugh, before turning to face you. This time your eyes lock and she gives you a small, sad smile.
She knows what you mean.
You both know it’s true.
authors note: about a month ago in the midst of Navaratri a frat boy ran into my friend's "Religions of Asia" class and rolled down the lecture hall as if acting out the "Jack and Jill" nursery rhyme. the incident was so off-putting to the professor he decided to turn the entire class virtual from that point on. as a result, my friend now plays his lecture videos while we eat together each Wednesday and this idea was conceived during one of those lunches (so thank you frat guy ig?). this is more experimental than anything else i've written, so i am very curious to know what you all think. i hope you enjoyed it, or at least understood what I was trying to say lol
art credit: taken from the French poster for Satyajit Ray’s Devi
#playing fast and loose with tenses here...my bad...it'll happen again#i think i should have worked on developing this idea bit more but i really want to share it ...so here y'all go#diya vs writing a fic which is also a character study#(spoiler alert SHE LOSES)#reader kinda hates everyone except tashi and yk what that is okay#tashi duncan is a living goddess 😆😆😆#tashi duncan is a living goddess 😔😔😔#i think about the kumaris of nepal for a little bit too long and get very sad#challengers#tashi duncan#tashi duncan fic#tashi duncan x reader#art donaldson#patrick zweig#zendaya
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