#he hasn't done form 6 or 7 yet though :(

[torilaa]

So I have a hard time imagining lightsaber fights with the forms for writing and found this guy who has choreographed some of them!

I just love how they all look like ballet/a dance! It helps a lot :)

[the-music-maniac]

Because of this,I have a cracky ff7 fanfic idea. Or just a funny idea in general. This is legitimately one of the stupidest things I've ever thought up. Do not take it seriously. I haven't slept in two days.

I didn't play all the games yet so if this is inaccurate don't come at me. It's supposed to be stupid anyways lol.

I'm gonna say this happens before Sephiroth kills Aerith cause I love her, so this is the time when all his damn clones are running around tryna get the black materia. Meteor hasn't happened yet.

There's a portion of the population post Nibelheim that form a cult surrounding worshiping Jenova (alien, trying to summon a meteor, lauds themselves as a god, low hanging fruit here. And before you try to tell me it wouldn't happen I want you to look me direct in the eyeballs and try and tell me there aren't people that would worship the source of their own destruction) They also have a following for Sephiroth since Jenova kinda just operates through him. There is a question of how they know about Jenova bc I don't actually think the general population is super aware of what's happening as it's going on, so like. Let's just say hearsay and misinformation and stuff about the promised land blah blah, creates an inaccurate picture.

A bunch of things occur in succession, including but not limited to:

1. The rapid spread of wildly inaccurate origin stories of Jenova and Sephiroth that people argue over. The actual origin story is deemed as the most inaccurate of them all. Literally no one in the cult believes this one, even though there is evidence. This both confuses and annoys Cloud and Co., who should theoretically be the ones to consult on this, but sure whatever, believe the guy who hasn't showered in five days with a tinfoil hat on over the group trying to save the planet.

2. People start passing out hilarious pamphlets and flyers on the street. While the notion of the cult is infuriating, most people just view these individuals as crazy and ignore them. The cult doesn't exactly hide that they think a meteor would somehow lead them to the promised land. The pamphlets have hilarious depictions of what Jenova supposedly looked like. This is sometimes accompanied by a picture of Sephiroth that was clearly cut from old Shinra propaganda posters and haphazardly glued into the pamphlets.

3. This happens during one of the lulls when Sephiroth is off doing his own shit. He isn't aware there is a cult initially.

4. Sephiroth is bewilderingly uncomfortable with the weird cult and very confused as to why they remind him of the silver elite cough cough not that he remembers. He would like to just kill them all and be done with it. Jenova does not let him, because she thinks they might come in handy. Son, if they are willing to hand us this planet why would you turn them against you? Make this easy for yourself. Sephiroth does not pout or whine about this. He does not.

5. More people join the weird cult. It is purely because Sephiroth is hot.

6. The rapid growth of the weird cult starts to actually hinder Sephiroth's ability to get shit done. He's monologuing at Cloud, one of the members interrupts his speech to pledge eternal devotion to him. Can he kill the guy? No, mother says get him to do your bidding. He needs to socialize more, you catch more flies with honey. Why though, he's perfectly damn capable of doing his own bidding thank you very much. Cloud is hovering awkwardly because his Zack instincts are telling him it's poor etiquette to stab a guy when he's trying to shake someone off the hem of his cloak.

7. Shampoo and conditioner sales spike sharply. Supposedly the cult found the old files compiled by the silver elite. Go figure

8. Half the members of the cult seem weirdly keen on helping Cloud due to Sephiroth's fixation on him. The other half is passive aggressive (jealous???), but harmless otherwise. Cloud's not sure how to react to this, so he just chooses to not deal with it entirely.

9. Mother, please just let him get rid of some of them. Like. 30% of them at least.

10. People start selling merch. There are posters. There are donation boxes. There are more godforsaken pamphlets.

11. Very little of the cult is educated on materia use or knows what the black materia looks like so their helpfulness is minimum. They keep handing Sephiroth black rocks. He's still not allowed to kill them.

12. Back in my day I managed to wipe out the Cetra by convincing them I was on their side blah blah. Sephiroth does not care. Someone just chucked a black rock at his head because he was flying and they couldn't reach him to hand it over.

13. Aerith, the person who actually has any form of connection to a goddess, finds this entire thing hilarious. She keeps taking the damn pamphlets that members hand to her. Cloud's convinced she's collecting them now. Like trading cards.

14. Sephiroth murders President Shinra. This information gets out somehow. Now all of the cult is convinced Shinra is the root of all evil and is hellbent on ensuring its downfall. Barret and Yuffie begin to look at the pamphlets with a worrying amount of wary consideration in the eyes. Sephiroth frankly couldn't care less about the details but it is kinda nice that they're trashing it all on his behalf.

15. A Sephiroth bodypillow goes into circulation. Call Seph old fashioned but he's pretty sure that's a form of blasphemy. Is this how people treat Gods? Maybe he's quite fine not becoming one. He's still not sure how people are finding this many black rocks to give to him. Some appear to be going with the principle of 'size does matter' and have attempted to give him black boulders. Wtf is he supposed to do with that.

16. Someone hands him a pot of pumpkin soup. Is it coincidence? Did this information survive somehow? Did some asshole tell the tabloids when Sephiroth was still Shinra's weapon? He doesn't know but now he's holding a damn pot of pumpkin soup with a blank expression on his face. It is obvious to everyone but him that he's trying not to cry. Cloud is once again hovering awkwardly in the background trying not to show how uncomfortable he is with the entire situation.

-----

I want to make it clear that this isn't some ploy for the cult to help out Cloud and Co. under the guise of worshiping Jenova. No. They are genuine in all of this. They truly believe they're helping. And it's fucking up all of Sephiroth's plans in the most hilarious way. He feels like he's been saddled with a group project with a bunch of incompetent teammates. Not unlike how he felt anytime he did paperwork in Shinra.

And I dunno how it happens but somehow this leads to Jenova being destroyed and the planet being saved.

And also Sephiroth being saved. I don't care if it doesn't make sense, or if he deserves it, I want him to be happy. This is my idiotic crack post, it is happening.

Btw despite the origins of this idea, I'm not making a commentary on real life religious groups and/or cults so don't take this post as such.

[walkingstackofbooks]

Trying to decide what I want to work on right now and so to procrastinate I thought it'd be fun to share my current WIPs with you all (omg how did I get so manyyyyy)

Feel free to shout encouragement at me if there's any that particularly pique your interest! :P

Anyway, in order of how recently I've worked on them:

1. Prompt - what if Kukulaka got broken and Garak repaired him?

Coming soon? 80% it'll be done in the next week: I'm hoping to just bash it out at some point, but even though it's short and self-contained, it's hardddd...

2. Unexpected Chapter 2 of Imprisoned. Absolute Sloanshir rot: Sloan provides Julian with more "help", Julian gets increasingly confused/grateful/flustered/fucked

Coming soon? Almost 100% you're gonna see it next week - I am hype and should should should get to the end once I have an evening to myself ;)

3. Prompt - "I don't trust myself to be good to myself right now, but I need someone to be good to me." Conversations between Miles and Julian at various points in the series when they've hit rock bottom and need pulling out.

Coming soon? No... I've written one post-DBIP scene but I'd at least want the post-Argrathi scene and the rest of the DBIP stuff to be done before I put anything up, if not the whole thing... It's definitely a long fic I'll be returning to in fits and bursts. (sorry, prompter...)

4. Prompt - Garak and Julian's first conversation post-IPS/BIL.

Coming soon? It's a strong contender for next week - I was super hype for it when I started but then work interceded and I just haven't got back to it yet. It is a priority, though!

5. Pre-DBIP: a few moments where Julian's unspoken issues with his parents cause friction for him but go unnoticed by his friends. Post-DBIP a similar moment happens and is recognised for what it is. Featuring Julian + beets.

Coming soon? I really don't know. I've got a strong vision for it and scene one (of four) is done, but it's kind of stuttered since then.

6. Julian starts to neglect his self-care, leading to him passing out in the infirmary. Sisko would like to know what the hell happened.

Coming soon? It's already on tumblr in a rough and ready form, so editing to put on AO3 might well happen in the next week - and I'd say a 50% chance of something extra with that?

7. Chapter 2 of At Their Mercy. Alpha!Garak takes over with Omega!Julian where Kira left off... 😉😉😉

Coming soon? Gahhh, I have written this several times over in my brain, but getting the start of this chapter has been proving difficult. Definitely not until after the Imprisoned chapter is done.

8. Why Leeta Kept Kukulaka And How Julian Did Try To Ask For Him Back. Just cute, fluffy gap-filling; I love both of them.

Coming soon? Probably not. Only the outline has been written tbh and this hasn't caught my fancy in a while.

9. "Acts of God": A runabout crashes on a planet where medical intervention is outlawed. Unable to help his injured friends and forbidden from alleviating the suffering he sees around him, Julian has a very bad time...

Coming soon? No, I think this is probably going to be an after-VIsion-Awry project rather than a can-i-get-it-done-first one.

10. "Sloan's planet": Sloan is Julian's s31 handler, sending him out on all sorts of missions... but the missions are fake, Sloan using the holosuite to manipulate Julian pretty much any way he wants...

Coming soon? Possibly. This has more of a series vibe maybe with a few distinct one-shots, so if I get a short idea I might bash it out 🤷‍♀️ Sloanshir's often just so easy to fall into.. 🤣

11. Keiko + Molly + Julian + drawing post-DBIP. Julian's not very good at it, and it's a bit feels but a lot of fluff.

Coming soon? Well I haven't touched it since April but I do smile whenever I remember it exists (and looking at the file, more was written than I remember!)

Welp - and that's not even counting the myriad other ideas floating around my tumblr/ in my head! Or the fact that I have probably another 15-20k of Vision Awry to go... Well, here's looking forward to my August of writing!

(Which I'll definitely have... if I stop procrastinating! :P)

[typellblog]

alright i finished my HF rewatch last night so time to talk about the adaptation, specifically scenes that were cut or changed

gonna be focusing mostly on illya and kirei as i like them and they got done the dirtiest

other characters to consider here are rin, sakura, shirou

rin i think was served well in these movies considering that she's a secondary character with a relatively straightforward role

sakura and shirou are two of the most complex characters in the entire novel, and inevitably some of that is going to be lost in translation, but Sudou heavily focused on ensuring Sakura was not misunderstood and that really shows. as a result there isn't much to talk about with those two in regards to cut content

for illya, though -

the first thing to note here is that she's almost entirely absent from the first movie asides from her initial appearance to fuck shirou up (which is altered slightly w/ her appearing earlier and actually talking to saber outside the church, i liked this change)

but yeah the first movie adapts up to roughly day 9 of the novel, which should include shirou meeting illya on days 5, 6 and 7

instead what happens is that the FIRST meeting with illya occurs in the second movie

now i'd say this adaption of the first meeting is alright, we have shirou's initial hesitation because of her trying to kill him earlier (altho he's a bit more forceful in the VN and illya has to ask whether he hates her or not which is a nice parallel to their first meeting in the Fate route).

the interesting bit here is the ending - shirou asks if she knows kiritsugu and her face goes blank and she walks off

this happens in the VN but what happens next is that Shirou asks illya if he can meet her again. illya is somewhat surprised and mollified by this and as a result tells shirou that she does in fact know kiritsugu - she wants revenge against him and shirou.

this leads really nicely into their second meeting where illya is actually surprised that shirou would turn up after hearing that

it establishes illya's internal conflict between wanting to see shirou but also wanting to kill him/having the duty towards the grail war

she tries to distance herself from him by admitting her real objective but shirou meets her anyway because he can see that she doesn't really mean it - if she actually wanted to kill shirou she could just do it then and there

the rest of their second meeting is taken up by illya showing shirou the way to her castle by projecting his consciousness which is neat but largely cuttable (although it does have a brief moment of illya acting in a older sister-like way towards shirou, which is always nice to set up for later)

the important part here is really that they're having multiple meetings at all, that they're building a relationship alongside whatever shirou is doing with sakura and rin

but the thing is that in the movies the last part of their first meeting is cut - illya doesn't admit to wanting to kill shirou or knowing kiritsugu

this is saved for the next time they meet in the movies which is when shirou is wandering around in the rain wondering what to do about sakura

basically their more extensive relationship in the novels is turned into this 2 beat thing where 1. illya is kind to shirou but scared off by the name of kiritsugu and 2. illya admits that she wanted to kill shirou because of kiritsugu but now she's totally on his side

indeed the dialogue kind of implies she's on his side because he's trying to save sakura, when what's really going here is that he hasn't made the decision yet but she's unconditionally on his side anyway, due to the bond they formed in previous meetings

illya knows that shirou is a kind person who tries to help those close to him. that's really all she needs to like him and seeing someone have that much faith and support for him is part of what prompts shirou to do the same for sakura. i'm worried this isn't conveyed as effectively in the movie version

the thing is that their third meeting (before this one) is actually really important

shirou forgets to come to the park so illya chases after him. she's actually mad he forgot about it instead of being surprised he'd bother with her at all. she's quick to accuse him of being a liar and breaking his promise because she's used to people betraying and abandoning her. shirou has to try and make it up to her (if you choose the wrong option here she actually bad ends you in your next meeting)

there are two versions of this scene, one where shirou invites her back to his house and they go on a quick tour that ends with illya crying when she realises kiritsugu really isn't there anymore. she's alienated from her emotions, surprised to see her own tears

the other i'd consider more important - shirou promises to be illya's 'servant' and follow an order from her. it turns out that all she wants is to go shopping together

what illya wants is a normal family life that she's been denied for so long, and the tragic thing about that scene is that she still can't have it, she still has to put on a strong face and pretend to be happy even as they both realise that once this is over they'll have to go back to being enemies. this is where shirou realises that her usual persona is something of an act and she's actually far more resigned to despair than any other character in the story

this scene is remarkably similar to another scene that comes up later (which is also cut from the movies lmao) called Lorelei - it occurs after Illya gets rescued and is living with Shirou. Here, they also go shopping. Here, shirou also questions illya's cheerful facade. But this time he actively asks whether illya wants to stay at his place after the war, and she has to confirm to him that like him and sakura, she's basically doomed. her lifespan isn't that long. the difference is that nobody is trying to save her in the way that she wants to save shirou or shirou wants to save sakura.

some of that dialogue is put into the movies near the end, when shirou is about to leave to go fight sakura. it's a nice little movie-original moment, with illya having shirou lean down so she can pat his head, and re-emphasizes the elder sister-like tone of her half-joking request to 'bring sakura home with him before it gets dark'. that line is really elevated in this context, it's a good change

but the subsequent stuff just doesn't hit as hard without the full awareness of illya as a tragic character, someone who fully accepted her role as a grail, who accepted that she was going to be used by zouken and sakura, who shirou has to actively try and convince to not give up on her life, and in the end only comes to save him because of that influence

there are a few other illya scenes that are skipped during the day 11-14 period (i.e. second half of movie 2). none of them are terribly important but i think taken together you begin to see that illya is almost as important to shirou as sakura, that he's aware of her nature as a homunculus and as the grail and as someone who had a very strong reason to want to kill him - and he doesn't care. he still sees her as a person

now i want to talk about kirei for a bit but hopefully i get back to illya before the end

all of kirei's important scenes are there in the movies in some form, but a lot of important dialogue gets lost

when shirou goes to see him in the church the second time, after fighting rider, the focus is on kiritsugu (which is admittedly important) but we lose kirei's 'advice' to shirou, when he expresses discomfort at the whole concept of the grail war. he says that everyone has wishes that they want to fulfill, that even in everyday life people fight to do so. obtaining the grail is simply a shortening of that process, a completely natural action. for kirei, fighting and trampling over other people's wishes is only a matter of course. the most 'worthy' is the one that obtains the grail in the end

i think this is an interesting piece of characterisation for him, and he feels flatter without it

similarly, the mapo tofu scene is changed quite significantly, as it's moved to the second movie when normally it would be within the parts covered by the first. as a result, much of their conversation is taken up by talk of the Shadow (which hadn't been revealed fully before then) rather than the more interesting part in the VN, Kirei's discussion of his wish for the grail.

he says he doesn't have a wish but a goal, that his goal is pointless if he achieves it himself, and then goes on to compare himself to shirou, saying that as neither of them have clear wishes, they can't reach salvation.

i think this is actually key to understanding both kirei's motivations and the similarity between him and shirou - neither of them really know what they would use the grail for. kirei knows that he desires despair and destruction, but what he really wants is to know whether a broken person like himself has the right to exist

shirou knows that he wants to save people, but he can't just use the grail to wish for people to be saved - he wants to become a hero himself.

moving along, kirei's backstory is also heavily truncated, skipping over much of the discussion of his childhood. i find this part interesting in the VN because it notes that the real issue for him was not his twisted nature directly, but rather his common sense that made him realise his feelings were unnatural and wrong. if he had been a pure kind of evil, unaffected of the opinions of society, created specifically for the purpose of causing destruction - in other words, like the Angra Mainyu that he is trying to make Sakura give birth to in HF - would he still have regrets? would he be able to forgive himself?

the second part of his backstory occurs during his fight with Assassin, where he reminisces about his wife, who killed herself to prove that he loved her, but failed, as he didn't feel sad because of her death, instead wishing to have been the one to kill her

the details are all the same in the VN (but note that 1. he was on the point of killing himself before claudia did the same and 2. her death was what put him on the path of embracing villainy. this is relevant because her death did actually have a massive effect on his life, if she meant to stop him from killing himself with it then it worked)

however, the narration is much less clear about the verdict, here. the movie narration ends with 'i wanted to kill her myself'. fade to black, question closed.

in the VN the question of whether i really loved her is something that continues to pursue kirei even into the present day. he tries not to think about it, because despite everything he doesn't want to consider her death as worthless

the thing about having kirei as a parallel to shirou in Heaven's Feel of all routes is that this is the one where Shirou abandons the part of his nature which Kirei considers similar to himself

and so the question remains of whether kirei could do the same. he doesn't, of course. the time has long since passed. claudia was his sakura.

but when he confronts shirou in that underground cavern you have to understand him as someone who failed to do something that shirou is currently risking his life for

this, really, is the point of their fight. Kirei insists they are the same. he likes doing that, because it makes him feel a bit less alone in the world.

kirei has this line in the VN that goes something like 'this fight is pointless, because we're both going to die anyway. neither of us have a purpose or a wish to be fulfilled at the end, we're just following the same empty way of life that we've had all this time'

but shirou knows they're not. he's fighting for something beyond himself. he wants to protect sakura, not simply destroy angra mainyu.

in the VN kirei is absolutely kicking shirou's ass. it's not even close. Shirou is hard to kill because his body is literally made of swords, but kirei completely outclasses him in terms of physical ability.

the fight is not about overcoming kirei, its about shirou being able to overcome himself and endure longer than kirei does. in the VN what gives him this burst of strength is memories of sakura.

shirou can't die if he wants to save sakura. sakura can't be happy without him. that's the point of the kirei fight, it's why it doesn't appear if you're on the road to the normal ending, it's the thing that shirou can only overcome if he wants to live

does this come across in the movie version at all? i struggle to imagine it

and it's vitally important to the next scene as well, where illya steps in to save him. the whole point is that shirou learns the value of his own life and is capable of honestly wishing to live because he finally, finally gets the point that other people care about him too, and would be hurt if he was gone

the resolution of Heaven's Feel, and Fate/Stay Night as a whole, is in Shirou learning to be a person rather than a sword, realising that the kind of hero he wants to be is one who protects the people he loves

sakura, in this route, is afraid of hurting shirou, but not just on a physical level - she admires his heroism, she sees a great inner strength in him, and she thinks that if she makes him pick her over everyone else that part of him will be broken

shirou is the one that has to walk towards her, while sakura attempts to push him away with self-deprecating words, even though she deeply needs him to save her

this dynamic is given physical expression in the final liberation scene, after sakura and rin's fight is over

angra mainyu attacks shirou, trying to push him away as sakura can no longer fully control it. she's afraid of hurting him so she tells him to leave, that she can die on her own

and the tendrils skid off shirou harmlessly. his body is almost completely metal, now. he can endure most things

shirou comes right up to sakura, and with a smile on his face tells her that it's alright, that he's doing this because he wants to, that he's not breaking himself for her, this is actually the purest possible expression of his ideals

in the VN, you don't get to see shirou very often. you constantly look out at the world from shirou's PoV, are confronted with the faces of everyone besides him - people he has to fight, people he has to save

and here, in the culmination of three routes' worth of character development, he turns around and looks directly at the reader, the first time we see him smiling

they don't include a reproduction of this CG in the movie. i guess it wouldn't really have the same impact.

still, i'm a bit sad about it

[compo67]

Wincest 34 💜

[Hello, my dear! I hope you don't mind that I delved into the Chicago Verse for this one. <3]

#34. to pretend.

*

It's a tough day in physical therapy.

None of the exercises come easy to Dean, and what's more, he had to be up by 6 AM to make the 7 AM appointment. Sam would ordinarily quip at Dean that if he didn't want to go to PT, then he should keep up with his exercises at home.

But seeing Dean wince and growl in pain during basic exercises and stretches hits Sam square in the chest. He hates seeing Dean in pain, but they both know--from experience--that if Dean doesn't move, the pain will only get worse.

Today's unlucky physical therapist is Devon, a lovely young lady who could probably find easy work being Zendaya's stunt double. Dean hasn't snapped at her... yet. She's been exceptionally patient with him, and has refrained from pushing him too hard. But Sam knows Dean could snap at any moment. This is partially why Sam came with today--to smooth things over if/when Dean needs it.

And to provide support. Though Dean won't ever admit that he needs Sam to be at his PT appointments. That's fine with Sam. They each have their own security blankets of denial.

"Easy," Devon says, keeping her voice as calm as a dinosaur trainer. "Remember to breathe."

Sam watches Dean grit his teeth during each clam exercise. Clams involve lying down on his side and pushing his top leg up. They look like a terrible ordeal, but Sam won't ever admit that.

I hate this so fucking much.

I know, it'll be over soon.

Not soon enough, she's killing me.

Ask for a break.

And extend this torture session? I think not. Fuck!

"Ow!" Dean blurts out. "I'm done, done with these clams--"

Before Dean can launch into a tirade, Devon pats his thigh and nods. "You're done. You did well." She hands him a red stretchy band.

Dean reluctantly sits up. He slips his feet and legs into the band, until the band sits mid-thigh. His job is to open and close his legs using the band--twenty times.

The phone up front rings and the receptionist asks for Devon to come over.

"Call of duty," Devon sighs. She looks at Dean, then at Sam. "Can you count for him? I'll be right back. Here. Sit in the chair of honor." She stands and motions for Sam to sit in front of Dean. "You two just count to twenty."

Puh. 'Just count to twenty,' she says. Like it's so damn easy.

If you do it in little pieces, it's not so bad, Dean.

"I can't take advice from someone who jogs five miles a day," Dean moans, squeezing his eyes shut. He starts with two stretches, then peeks his eyes open. "For pleasure, no less."

Sam sighs. He keeps up his exercise regimen because it makes him happy. The endorphins are worth it. His mood is different when he exercises. He feels a certain sense of satisfaction after a good run. Apparently, not everyone thinks this way.

"Let me help," Sam offers. "Just keep your eyes closed."

"That's easy," Dean grumbles. "Eyes closed. Now what?"

"Now count."

"Duh, Professor, that's what I was doing--mmph!"

Sam leans forward and smacks a kiss on Dean's lips.

One.

Dean whimpers and bites his bottom lip. Two. He successfully completes one whole stretch.

Three. Sam kisses him yet again.

Four. Brow furrowed, Dean struggles, but succeeds.

Five. Sam licks into Dean.

Six. Dean is anywhere but here.

Seven. Encouragement comes in the form of a deeper, longer kiss. Sam even nips at Dean's bottom lip--daring him to continue.

Eight. Dean opens his mouth a little more and tosses the reigns to Sam.

Nine. Sam takes control over every kiss.

Ten. Dean shudders.

Eleven. Sam tosses a picture out there--the front seat of the Impala--and works to shift their attention. They're sitting on the Impala's leather seats, side by side, with the radio on. There's Springsteen in the background and the windows start to fog up.

They can play pretend--they're anywhere but here.

By number fifteen, they're basically making out, with Sam's hands over Dean's hands on the edge of the table.

By twenty, Sam needs a breather in order to... collect himself. He bumps their noses together and opens his eyes. No more Impala. But Dean's eyes are still shut, which means he's still in pain, but dealing with it, and working on coming back to reality.

Sam sends over a wave of calm and relaxation.

Little by little, Dean opens his eyes. He looks at Sam with a vulnerability in his eyes Sam both hates and loves to see. Sam runs his right hand through Dean's hair. He tugs on Dean's left ear.

Two steps away from their station, Devon clears her throat.

"Little unorthodox," she comments, sneaking a smile towards Sam. "But I think y'all counted to twenty."

"Twenty-five," Dean says, loosening his grip on the table.

Sam nods. "Twenty-five."

Devon charts this. She wonders out loud if maybe Sam could accompany Dean next week. Just to see if a certain technique will work again.

When Sam brings up concerns over her coworkers and other patients bearing witness to this new 'technique,' Devon merely smiles.

"That's what these curtains are for," she says, drawing one over her shoulder. "Privacy."

Later on, Dean decides he likes Devon.

Sam decides he likes her, too.

[nagia-pronounced-neijia]

First Lines

Tagged by @laiqualaurelote and for once I have the energy. Thanks for the tag!

Rules: list the first line(s) of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there’s a pattern

1. Laus Veneris

The scents coming in off the East River are a particular kind of awful this morning, all rotting fish, old sewage, and frying algae. Even if the sun hasn't quite risen yet — it's still peeking over the horizon, casting long shadows over the city — the early summer heat means that Bigby smells everything.

2. The Distance Caught Me By Surprise Again

If Trevor were ever going to be completely honest about the fuckshow shit-circus that this most recent assault on Dracula's castle has been, he would probably admit that he'd always expected it to go poorly.

3. Unto All Men A Chosen Land

So, apparently, Trevor has somehow missed the end of the goddamn world. Weird. He'd thought for sure there were supposed to be trumpets, and something about armies of angels, or maybe the faithful?

4. This Rising Tide

Himura's blow may be what sent him crashing to the floor, but though Aoshi will never forget the searing pain of that impact — the burn of metal into his skin, a thousand times worse than any gunshot — it's not the pain that keeps him there. That takes the realization of what he's done.

5. Just Play Your Part

It's a surprisingly quaint little farm, the kind of thing some traveller from the far-away west might paint into his little journal and tell all the Belgians and Austrians and French about.

6. When There Is No Star In Sight

Those first few days of pale, pink-cheeked spring are gloriously, luxuriously perfect.

7. This Doesn't Hurt

They trudge into Camp Dragonhead under the cover of night. Pale snowflakes blur with paler stars in the blue satin sky; Alphinaud tastes the cold with his first breath, sharp on his tongue and crisp between his teeth.

8. there where the good man is not good

The thing about being a Belmont is, the job means you die.

9. When The Chaos Calls Me Out

So, the thing is, it wasn't supposed to go like this. He gets about four seconds of, "oh shit" when he puts his foot down inside what was apparently a circle of something.

10. If You Won't Go Under

Yuffie learned to climb and fall and roll so early that she had stopped having those weird dreams where you feel yourself fall, and then have to jerk to to wake up, by the time she was twelve.

(First line is actually narrator death, so here's the non-awful first.)

Most of the first lines are pretty punchy, but some of that may just be narrative voice. Speaking of, most of these openings have very distinctive character voices, with the (deliberate) exception of "When There Is No Star in Sight." This doesn't really surprise me and tbh probably isn't all that noteworthy for me, considering that I write extremely close third, with narration as a window into the narrator's thoughts. It's not just conversational prose, it's a conversation the narrator could conceivably be having in their head.

My openings also tend to get to who the narrator is pretty quickly. This is a writing habit I formed waaaaaay back when FF.Net published writing advice columns/articles on the front page. One of them tore into an author for playing coy about who the narrator was and delaying using names, and apparently I internalized that, along with basically all of Limyaael's rants.

I don't typically tag people, so if you see this and want to join in, please do!! Also: feel free to include your original projects or unposted wips. I'm not the police.

[fandoms-in-law]

Stories Chapter 8

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7

Summary: Steve finds his own way to making his rooms his own, by inviting everyone around

the penultimate chapter

/\/\

The house wasn't finished and with every room where furniture was changed now the painting was all done, Steve felt more uncertain just as much as he felt like the house was becoming a home. It just didn't feel like his yet. 

The dining room felt like it belonged to Hellfire, but after Robin heard that thought a dinner party was arranged. 

The kitchen had always been Steve's or felt like that anyway. Even when his parents came home and sometimes tried to rearrange it to whatever taste they'd heard recently he'd put it back to his liking as soon as they left. 

Using that to relax him before spending time in the redecorated rooms worked as a bridge to helping him view them as his own.

"So this isn't meant to be some big fancy deal, right?" Nancy asked as she and Jonathan were let in, looking around. 

Steve grinned, "If anything it's a group date. Robin invited Vicky too and Eddie should be here soon, but it's just Robin's way to get me used to the new rooms via a dinner party."

"Better not mention you avoid the pool or she'll be insisting on constant pool parties." Jonathan teased, gesturing further into the house. "Want us to wait in the living room while you finish cooking or do you need any help?" 

"Go distract Robs from trying to help please. She'll be causing a fire if she tries to help too much I swear." Steve grinned, laughing when a cry of protest came from the kitchen.

"Sorted, we'll keep her distracted." Nancy nodded, a smirk forming.

It was a small gathering, but getting to host, being the one at the head of the table (at Eddie's insistence when he tried not to be) and just laughing with his friends as they tried to copy the poses Eddie and Will had painted them in made it feel more like his home than any paint or furniture could.

…

The bathroom should have been the last thing to be finished. It wasn't just repainting or changing furniture after all. It included getting plumbers in and measurements being taken before any changes could be made and then there was the structural change added for Steve's bath to be lowered slightly. That did amuse everyone a little when they could now see where the ceiling was lowered for the plumbing and the tub when in the right room downstairs. 

Essentially though it made Steve believe it was his from the start because the change being arranged was a nightmare of stress and letting strangers through his room and in and out of his house constantly over a couple of days. 

And that was enough for him to make sure his own room wouldn't have the furniture changed until after it was done.

Plus he already knew how to make the space full of good memories and would see anyone he wanted included at some point while working. 

"So I'm planning a spa night next week. Everything in the bathroom should be finished and set according to the plumbers and you're coming." Steve stated, nodding at the stunned look Will was giving him. "I've already checked with Joyce it's okay and as long as I get you home before 11 you're good to come." 

Will still looked hasitant as he asked, "So who else is? And why me?"

"Cause this redecoration wouldn't be half as good without your murals and just Robs and Eddie. We're making face masks and lip balm. Having pedicures or something. I'm still deciding but it's going to be a spa night just to relax."

"And paint our nails." Robin agreed, coming back over to the counter where she'd been reshelving videos. "He included that, right?" 

"Not yet. He also hasn't told us when he's picking us up." Max called, her head appearing from behind a shelf a moment later to Steve's surprise since he didn't know she was in the store, let alone so close. 

He still huffed in response. "You can't just invite yourself along." 

Will glanced between them, "But she can if I'd feel weird being the only younger teen with you 3, right? Besides you already paid me for the paintings. You don't have to invite me to anything else."

"Okay. 5 for spa night on Friday. I'll fetch you both around 5:30 and get you home on time. No, you aren't making this a sleepover Max. Thank Will for getting to invite yourself." Steve agreed, gesturing for the kids to talk and straightening as the door chimed for another customer coming in. 

…

Even while driving the 2 kids to his, Steve was muttering over the things he thought would make a spa night perfect and that they'd be able to improvise for themselves. 

"Have you done this before? Your list of home spa ideas is just getting longer." Will asked, snickering slightly at the idea of Steve having done it while still a jock ruling his school. 

Steve met his eyes in the rear view mirror, amusement in them too. "Carol was quite insistent that my house should be taken over for her friends to have their own spa nights a few times. She could forbid Tommy from making it a party but could never kick me out of my house, so yeah I've done it a few times but not with anyone else for years now."

"King Steve was treated like one of the girls? Is that how you got the sleeps with everyone rep, cause your charm doesn't seem effective." Max teased.

"Hey! Don't assume you know who I was. The Harrington charm just doesn't need using constantly to exist, okay. Besides, there's no insult there. Those girls are scary in the amount of skin and hair care they know." He countered but grinned as he pulled up outside his house. "Besides I could have you smearing anything on your skin tonight. I think you want me to know what I'm doing."

"I definitely do. I don't trust these magazines Nancy keeps suggesting Robin read. Isn't Nance meant to be a scary journalist?" Eddie agreed, somehow knowing what was being said even as he was the one to open Steve's door. 

That got Steve laughing even more. "Only when she's got a mission. The magazines were her way of practicing. She'll rewrite anything to make it more serious or empowering for her specifically. Not sure why she's decided Robs likes them though." 

"It's how she knows to bond with other girls. Apparently her and Barb used to trade them and laugh over obvious lies or gossip that seems more suited to the cafeteria than anything trying to report news." Robin called from where she was hanging out the door. "Enough on that though, I want a face mask and a pedicure."

That was enough to get everyone inside, following Steve up to his bathroom while Will and Max clammered with questions over if they were doing each others or if there was a plan for spa treatments. 

As Eddie took the kids home and Steve focused now on washing Robin's hair, everyone could agree that it was an evening well spent and they'd be keeping their eyes out for things to bring to future spa nights.

chapter 9

[kelsijax]

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 | 𝐊.𝐒𝐉 ✞

"Up" Margo said, causing Jin to walk over to her cupping her face with his hands as he bent down and attaching them to her sweet cherry tasting ones. Giving Margo small pecks on the lips leading all the way down to her neck. Jin didn't pull back but hid his face in the crook of her neck instead. As the elevator door closed behind them, announcing each floor as they elevated.

Floor 1

"No one else can make me feel like you do." He whispered close to her ear, his warm breath tickling her honey skin. He was right, she hadn't felt this feeling in a long time.

The feel of monarch butterflies swarming her stomach, the feeling a warm pool forming in her track pants, and the feeling of her knees feeling like they would go out at any second. It was a feeling that she missed, one she could get drunk off, making her get on this high that he could only bring her.

He then slid his hand down to the waist and began rubbing small circles moving up and down, caressing her body's curves.

"Jin?" She whined.

Floor 2

Jin hummed in response and began to leisurely place wet kisses all over her jaw and neck. Something that he did do often with his other partner, but with Margo it was different, her felt he could be transparent with her and she was fine with it because as much as she wouldn't admit it she come be also do the same. Margo sighed and closed her eyes.

Letting him take her and giving what she hasn't felt since she first left him. It felt so nice, but she was a woman with status. This wasn't something she could just casually partake in, due to her husband's well know persona. Something like this getting out would be bad for the business, not that she cared that much but it was also her money and lifestyle at risk.

"Jin not here." Margo breathed out and Jin's grip tightened around her, pulling her even closer to him.

Floor 3

"Who says we can't, no ones here" he kissed his way up to her lips again and bit her lower lip teasingly. Margo opened her mouth to let out a small moan, finally letting her dark desires and alcohol consumes her, while Jin took this as an invitation to slide his tongue into her.

Floor 4

It wasn't the first time they've done this, but it certainly felt different from the previous times. The only difference was that they weren't together, she was tied to someone else and he wanted her, making it impermissible. Moving his tongue around as he pleased and Margo trying her best to keep up with him.

Floor 5

Jin kept kissing her again and again, pulling away for seconds to catch his breath and then diving right in again. It had been so long since he tasted her plump lips that tasted of brown sugar and honey and he just couldn't get enough of it.

Floor 6

Slowly losing herself into the kiss Margo grasped Jin's waist for support and to pulled him even closer. Jin leaned back one more time and examined Margo's face. Her lips yearn for more and her eyes barely open. A small trail of saliva descending from the corner of her mouth to her chin caught his attention.

Floor 7

He smirked down at her and wiped it away with his thumb. "You have to tell me you want this." He asked smugly.

"J-jin don't tease " she stuttered out.

"Come in baby you the drill" he said kissing up her neck and groping her ass.

Floor 8

"J-jin" she moaned out and he continued to touch her yet deny her what she wanted.

"Mmmh" he hummed.

"J-jin, I want to do this. I want you."

Floor 9

"Theirs my beautiful bad girl" He praised making her insides tingle. Jin then pressed the top floor of the building as they both anxiously waited.

Top floor

Once they made it to the top floor Jin gracefully took her hand in his, leading her to his room.

Once he had her laying down underneath him on his bed he kissed her again. Margo's arms snaked around his neck and her legs parted to leave some room for him. He happily settled down between them and teasingly grinded against her core.

Just once though, enough to make her feel his growing boner against her. The contact sends shivers up her body.

"Jin" She whispered, earning another small thrust. Margo bit her lower lip to keep herself from

moaning and glare at her ex-boyfriend who is snickering quietly at Margo's reactions.

"You like it when I rub it against you, mhm?" He tilts his head. She knows his little games all too well and grows somewhat impatient.

"Stop being such a fucking tease" she speak shyly.

It's Jin's turn to bite his lip now. He loved when she got all sexually frustrated and flustered under him. Back when they were together Margo was usually so feisty around him and everyone else. It felt good to be the only one who gets to see this side of her, since it was a rarity to see her so submissive and it drives him crazy.

"If it feels that good then, why don't you ask for more?" He teases her more knowing it will do nothing but piss her off.

Looking away to try to muster up the courage, she breathes in and out to calm herself before glancing back at him with a determined expression.

"Please Jin, I want t-to feel you against me." Margo didn't even get to finish when he was grinding up against her again, slowly.

She was so into it that she didn't notice Jin's fingers in front of her face until he lightly pushedher lips apart.

"Open up, doll." He spoke softly, but she knew it was an order.

She quickly obliged and opened her mouth, sucking and swirling her tongue around his long fingers all the while maintaining eye contact with him.

Margo knew he was starting to get all worked up by the way his eyebrows were slightly furrowed and his movement became rougher down there.

"Fuck." He breathed out as he could feel his trousers tighten and were slightly damp. Pleased with her he pulled his hand away from her mouth, a small trail of saliva connecting her tongue with his index finger, pulling down the zipper of her jacket revealing her breast that were barley cover with her black lace bra. Jin then took his thumb and grazed it over hard nipple

"What happened to the piercings?" he asked twisting and squeezing her nipples waiting for her answer as she released a breathless moan.

"N-noa" She couldn't even get his name out but Jin knew actually who she was talking about.

"Oh what did he do to my beautiful bad girl" He said as he spanked her thigh earning a moan and whimpers that followed. "Do you still have the pearls?" He asked to which she nodded frantically waiting for him to use her.

He stopped grinding into her and playing with her nipples and scooted back a little laying her on the bed taking his hand and grabbed the hem of Margo's track pants along with her soaked lace panties and slowly pulled them off, throwing them somewhere in the room.

"We won't be needing those," he said with a devilish grin.

Her walls were clenching in the air in anticipation. Finally, his hand came down to her aching core and he whistled upon feeling how wet she was while also searching for her princess albertina that was decorated with a pearl, to which he soon found. Without a warning, he inserted two fingers into her brushing up against the jewelry, as her walls immediately sucked him in and clenched around him.

"Ooohh, that's my bad girl." He basically purred as he began to pump his fingers in and out of her. "Come on baby, that's right." He cooed. "Feel good on my hand, come on."

Margo let out a moan when she felt Jin's fingers curl and uncurl inside of her. Jin quickly brought his free hand up to her breasts continuing to play with her nipple and placing his mouth in the other as she let out moan after moan and whimper after whimper.

He loved to see her whimpering and squirming under his hand, and he knows just how much the thought the situation turned her on, married woman in helpless marriage comes to ex-boyfriend to get fucked senseless, sounds like a porno.

His fingers kept moving at an even faster pace now, the sloppy noises of her wet cunt and her muffled cries being the only thing that could be heard in the room. It was then when Jin began to rub her clit with his thumb and her hips immediately shot up, trying to get more of that delicious friction.

"Are you going to come for me, Angel?" He asked, leaning down to get a closer look at her face. Margo's cheeks were burning red and some tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.

She felt a knot at the pit of her stomach and she knew she was close. Desperately she nods at Jin, silently pleading with her eyes for him to go even faster. Giving her what she wanted he licked his lips and slammed a third finger into her and picked up the pace.

Her moans were muffled as she bit down on her lip as a trail of saliva could be seen falling down her chin. It took a couple more thrusts for her to come, as a wave of pleasure washed over her whole body as her hips shot up once again and her legs shook helplessly.

"Good, baby, that's it..." Jin praised her, riding with his fingers through the remains of her orgasm.

Margo whimpered under her ex-boyfriend's body and sighed in relief, a small satisfied smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"How do you feel baby?" He whispered close to her ear, lovingly kissing her neck and jaw.

"I-it was good," Margo allowed herself to be frank, still high from her previous orgasm and the alcohol that still ran through her system.

Jin hummed in contentment and brought his fingers to her mouth to lick them clean. Once she had licked them clean for him he kissed her as a reward for being such a good bad girl for him so far. Her taste still lingering in her mouth only further driving her sex drive.

"Please, Jin. Fuck me."

"Wow, someone's eager," he teased with a cocky grin as pulled his trouser off revealing his manhood that was constrained by his boxers. He firmly grabbed the base of his cock, scooting closer to Margo and placing himself at her entrance.

"How bad do you want it?"

"Bad" She were basically begging at this point, but that what Jin wanted, her wanted her to beg for him.

"You think I should just give it to you like that?" He Said teasing her entrance as his tip hovered over it and slightly touched it.

"Please" she moaned out wanting to feel him.

"That's all you got? Come on I've heard better begs from you"

"Jin, come on, I need this"

"You're lucky Im horny" And with that Jin slammed himself into her, his full length filling her up and stretching her out painfully, unused to his size. Margo gritted her teeth at the feeling. Thankfully she was pretty wet so the pain was minimal, making things easier.

"Oh, fuck!" Jin grunted, his hands were holding her so tightly by her arms pinning them above her head so that they could bruise, to remind her of her devilish act the next day. "You're so fucking tight, baby." He breathed out. He was trying his best to hold back and not just go feral on her from the very start, allowing her to get used to him, which Margo was very grateful for, since he was larger than Noah.

His eyes darted upwards, scanning her face for any sign of discomfort or pain. Margo's eye were closed, but they eventually opened to meet Jin's. She gave him a small nod, letting him know that she were ready and so Jin began to move his hips slowly, pounding  in and out of her with every movement.

The pleasure began to build up inside her once more as his movements got faster. Jin wasn't one to make many noises during sex, but the way Margo were clenching around him and sucking him back in every time he pulled back had him grunting and breathing very heavily.

"Jin." She cried out his name, missing his lips on her. He looked up at her and sighed with a smirk, more than happy to comply with her whims. He kissed Margo hungrily this time and snapped his hips even harder, hitting deeper and deeper inside of her. Unable to let her voice out, Margo moaned into Jin's mouth, who swallowed her screams and cried with pleasure.

Jin felt himself getting close with each thrust so he roughly grabbed her thighs and pulled her legs up, folding her up so he had an easier access to fuck himself into her. Margo broke the kiss and gasped for air, feeling like he could break her any second now.

"Jin, I-I'm close." Margo cried out his name and placed her hands on Jin's wide shoulders, scratching the tan skin.

"I know, baby. I know," he said as he continued to pound into her. "I'm close too." The bed was squeaking and shaking wildly with each of Jin's violent thrusts. That along with Margo's desperate whimpers and moans and the sound of their wet bodies slapping against each other was like music to Jin's ears, slowly driving him closer and closer to his climax.

"Jin!" She shouted his name as one particular thrust hit deeper than the rest, making her arch her back and cum all over Jin's cock. Her insides were desperately sucking him in and squeezing his cock as Margo came. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her leg wrapped around Jin's body.

"Fuuuck, baby-" Jin let out a strangled moan as Magro clenched on his cock. "Hold on for me baby, I'm almost there." He said, frantically pounding into her with all the force and speed he had left, desperately chasing his own pleasure now.

Margo was losing it, the over stimulation causing her to tighten herself around him unintentionally.

"Yes! That's good, keep doing that, oh fuck-" He gave her one last deep thrust and hid his face in the crook of her neck, biting down harshly on her delicate brown skin as he came deep inside of her.

Margo gasped and shuddered at the feeling of being filled up by Jin, and dug her French tips deep in his back.

Once he was done cumming and shaking he fell limply and exhausted on top of her. The two of them being were a sweating mess and the sheets stuck uncomfortably to their bare and damp skin.

Margo placed her hand on top of Jin's hair, scratching his scalp gently just as how she

knew he liked it. He hummed in response, his whole body relaxing at the familiar and comforting feeling. In response he kissed the skin where he had previously bitten her and rubbed her thighs with his hand up and down, feeling them shake ever so slightly under his touch.

"I missed you." He said, prompting himself up with his elbow so he could look at her. That after-sex look Margo knew all too well. A thin layer of sweat coating his face, hooded eyelids laced with lust and those plump lips she wanted to devour hers. Damn that gorgeous face of his.

"Jin, just hold me."

[pathfinderofparadise]

Lays on the floor, staring up at the ceiling

Has the haze of brain fog been due to me lacking in something physically? Is it really starting to clear now that I've started taking vitamins again? Was the answer to me feeling like trash for months that simple?

Whelp

On that note, I am sorry for vanishing suddenly. Aicken's muse was extremely hard for me to pick up, let alone wield, in that stagnant funk my brain was in.

In the campaign, we finished Jak and Daxters world, a few weeks ago. Aaaand now we're at... The Land of the Sun. Or something like that. Emperors New Groove.

Met Pacha, he's a sweetheart, uuuh. Aicken saw Yzma, met Kronk. Kronk saw him in his darkness form, was very casual about it, more concerned about if Aicken was stuck in the wall or if he was good. Proceeded to roast Yzma within an inch of her life as he was describing his encounter with the rest of the party. Didn't get too much further into the plot, since bf got a booster shot and it kicked his ass after awhile, but we'll continue it on Friday.

Aicken loves that world as a whole, though. Lush greens everywhere, the culture and styles remind him of home, the heat of the place is wonderful, the only thing missing is the technology. Plus? He kinda looks like royalty in the get up he's in. It hasn't come into play yet, but it might just!

He also has a cocoa bean now that he intends to grow into a tree.

Unrelated to the above: I've also been slowly working on my alien/ fantasy race of musical gecko-raptors. I've had them for YEARS now. 6-7 I think? My project at work inspired me so now I have a new character for the race, as well as some new references done for them!!!! I love them a lot c:

[variousqueerthings]

okay now I'm like... headcanons for trans!daniel training with terry... I haven't really gotten deeply into these thoughts yet, so... very vague for now... most of it starts out with some thoughts I'm having generally about 80s terry and transness (which is different to 2000s terry and transness I think, purely because of the ease of accessing information)

some content warnings for what silverrusso would be like if daniel was also trans, just mainly that like... I mean terry's, you know. terry. he's always gonna be a bit weird about how he approaches stuff -- surprisingly not as dark as you might think based off of that?

nothing graphic

but also cw for thoughts along these lines: transphobia in the forms of fetishism, objectification, and invasive questioning, mentions of different kinds of surgery, brief mentions of possible violence

1. in this scenario Terry finds out that Daniel is trans

2. terry -- perhaps surprisingly, unless you know him a bit better -- knows more about trans people than most.

3. he's been with trans sex workers and he's hyper-fascinated in trans bodies, in a way that he thinks is fine, because what he thinks he's doing is relating

the idea of creating your own body is his whole Thing. It's what he did after the war. Ownership over your own life. Creating something beautiful. Godlike. Metamorphosis.

4. it's fetishistic -- he likes touching bodies that are trans, studying them, analysing them. He's even paid for a few bottom surgeries and facial hair removal procedures, cosmetic surgeries, and implants (lips, jaws, around the eyes, breasts, butts) and oestrogen, curious to document the changes. He didn't build himself this way, and yet... it feels familiar

it's also complicated in the sense that Terry usually considers himself gay. He's had sex with cis women, but mostly only because it's expected (he's even been into sex with some cis women but they don't keep him interested for long), and he's had sex with trans women who consider themselves post-op, but in his head there's a part of him that thinks they're somewhere else in terms of classification -- they're women, but they used to be men, and that's much better than other women

5. curiously he hasn't come across many trans men before, or at least, not consciously. the spaces that trans men tend to exist in aren't quite the same as Silver's hunting grounds for the most part.

they're not as much in gay spaces, (often they begin in lesbian bars and Terry isn't interested (or wanted)) nor does Terry clock them when he's out looking to pick up a trans woman, because he's not looking for those bodies

twice though, when he was cruising in gay bars and picked up a boy, he realized that this was different. this was special. They were boys on T who were stealth. He could tell that first time that there was fear for a few seconds, when he told him -- waiting for his reaction.

(he's gotta admire the balls (metaphorically) of these people going places with men like him, the women and the men. It's not like he couldn't hurt them real badly if he wanted to... and that power is hot too)

6. it was special. With those boys. Special in ways he could never really figure out. He got rid of 'em quickly, like they were more dangerous than anything else he'd done.... so it was only those two. One by accident, one on purpose

7. and Daniel.

almost

8. at first he was just gonna destroy the kid. Then he saw him

9. he didn't know that Daniel was trans, then

10. god, he was beautiful. He blushed easily, tanned easily, bounced when he walked, looked wary at first, but trusted much, much to easily

he fell in love with Silver -- he had a good eye for that sort of thing, and Daniel was never subtle. He'd sensed there was something he was holding back and figured it was that Daniel had probably never told anyone that he liked men before. Never kissed a man before

(Terry had never been anyone's first since John -- certainly not since he built this body for himself)

11. and then... Daniel apologized, practically ran out of the dojo, and while Terry wasn't gonna lie and say he hadn't been hoping for an evening of something more, he knew he just had to take it slow. He was his first. That was all this was. Jitters

12. meanwhile Daniel was spiraling because this was different to Ali or Kumiko. Sure, there was danger there, they could've rejected him, hell, they could've (but he never thought that of them) told everyone if they'd wanted to, but this... it was much, much more terrifying

he couldn't say what about it, exactly. Yeah, Silver was a man and his experience with men in the last year had usually been beatings and death matches, and if he thought about it (which he didn't, because he was sheltered from that) there might have been some kind of fear that Silver could get violent because of this, but it wasn't that...

it was just... for some reason he didn't know if he could trust him enough to tell him

which he immediately told himself was ridiculous, because if you can't trust a guy whose tongue you just had down your throat, then who can you trust? (Oh, Daniel...)

13. Daniel being Daniel (easily trusting, jump first ask questions later, bold, beautiful, brave) told him the very next time they met up, mentally steeling himself for... something

14. that never came. Because Silver (and he really oughta call him Terry at this point, but he couldn't really) was delighted. How long had he known? Who else knew? What kind of changes had he made to his body?

15. Daniel, unfortunately, was pretty young, and pretty overpowered and hey, Silver was cool with it so he owed it to answer him, right? So he did

16. much later on, Daniel can comfort himself that they never had sex. Not in the ways he'd define it, anyway. Not all the way

there was... stuff... and he knew that if he hadn't gone to cancel the lessons -- if he hadn't felt like it was too much and too fast and something was wrong about just punching some guy in the face and he was very sorry, but he was gonna have to quit, and then the other shoe had dropped -- it would've eventually happened, if Silver had kept on pretending at that moment, if it hadn't been about getting him to fight in the tournament above everything else

if Silver hadn't dropped the façade, Daniel knows he would've. He wanted to...

17. curious though, that Daniel had been prepared for Silver to tell everyone. Prepared for ridicule and expulsion from the AVT and probing questions into his highschool records and issues with his IDs and violence (the threat of violence became present all too suddenly)

and he never did

18. eventually the fear that Silver would use this against him at some unexpected moment (when he started dating Amanda, when he began to do well working in dealerships, when they opened their own, when they filed for their permanent house... every celebratory moment included a twinge of fear that gradually lessened...) disappeared, just as surely as Silver himself did

19. everything was fine

20. (Terry had done what he had to -- he was a good soldier, putting John first like that. And John had left him anyway. Which left Terry with nothing but the truth -- if he'd been a weaker kind of man, maybe he would've shared it, spilled it away like it wasn't the most precious thing, but Terry didn't like sharing beautiful things

that was one concession to himself, even after years of therapy and cutting out the bad habits, and metamorphosing yet again -- this precious thing that Danny had given him, he'd keep it for himself, as a memory

21. everything was fine)

[spidxysense]

Back to You | 14

Summary: He broke your heart, but you’d always love him. Two souls that not even the universe could tear apart, even if you wanted it to at times.

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader x Timothee Chalamet

A/N: Yay I updated! I hope you guys like this one, I was stuck for a bit there but once I sat down and got to typing, I really finished it in one sitting. I was just planning on updating it bit by bit lol. Let me know what you guys think, Love you!!!!!!

Word count: 2,591

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

In a few short months of your movie premier with Timothee, you were finally able to release your double-release album, and the response was massive, to say the least. You'd been getting calls from different show hosts' upcoming awarding ceremonies. Still, you couldn't for life in you accept, all except for the Oscars, which your manager told you was a must since you'd be attending in the first place anyway and that performing at the Oscars was a big deal given that you also starred in films and shows.

You turned in bed, facing Timothee's sleeping face. He had been in town for a week now, back on a break from filming in Hungary. Then he'd be back to film in England in a couple of weeks. After your talk on your premiere night, it was to an agreement that whatever you had going on was just two people exploring and experiencing things with someone they had strong feelings for. There wasn't a need for a media circus to cover anything about you two except your movie.

You move his arm, placed it over your waist, and sit up slowly in bed, making sure not to stir Timothee. The jetlag must be shit. You stretched your arms in front of you, glancing at the clock that read 2:07 AM. You get up, grabbing Timothee's white shirt from the floor, and, putting it on, walking over to the bathroom. You looked at yourself in the mirror, touching some of the reddening parts of your neck courtesy of Timothee, and then you notice the toothbrushes… there were two. From this single thing alone, it had you catching everything about the bathroom, how there were two towels, one black, and one violet, which just so happened to be your favorite color.

You walked over to the nightstand beside the bed, putting on your skinny jeans, turning on the lamp, and noticing his wallet. Inside was a picture of you. Opening the closet doors, the ones hung up were various suits, jackets, and even dresses you've worn to events. Why didn't he just send these back? Why would he let you keep your stuff in his house?

You drag your feet downstairs, noticing small details you'd been blind to before, like the large dog bed positioned by the door despite Timothee telling you he could only ever get himself to take care of a tiny dog. You noticed the colored mugs and bowls, a deep dull navy blue color, the same as the ones in your house. Suddenly, everything feels as if it's moving too fast. You both agreed there was no relationship, and there was attraction, but why does his home feel like it's become yours as well?

You sit down, taking a few deep breaths before deciding to stand up and grab your cardigan from the coathanger, opening the front door and closing it behind you as you waited for a taxi to bring you to the more active part of the city at night.

You just couldn't deal with a relationship right now. You couldn't let your heart get broken again, so you have to find ways to distract yourself.

The car stops in front of you, driving off into the night and dropping you off by a club that Troye agreed to meet you at.

You and Timothee had an attraction, but you both agreed there was no label; ergo, there was no intimate relationship even though you both have done everything together. No boyfriend means you were free to do whatever you wanted without worrying about him. But if you were honest with yourself, this was more of you suggesting something you already knew Timothee wasn't too keen on agreeing with but would just because he thought that having something with you was better than absolutely nothing. You saw Troye waiting out by the back entrance for you when he spotted you and called you over. Almost like clockwork, every time you snuck out away from Timothee, everything in you screamed to turn back, to clear your head, and for the first time, you listened.

You motioned for Troye to go ahead and sent him a text that you'd probably just head home because you weren't feeling well. He gave you a knowing look before looking like he finally approved of your actions and sent you a quick and short 'Good." text, and headed inside.

You walked around for a while after that. Soon it was already just about 5 in the morning, and even though you wouldn't let yourself come to any conclusion as to what you even wanted out of this almost relationship with Timothee, you still found yourself back at his front door.

You took out the keys in your pocket, slowly opening the door only to find Timothee sat on the couch, his knees up to his chest as he stared off into space, either deep in thought or trying to keep himself awake… maybe even both.

When he saw you enter, a soft smile formed on his face, and for some reason, that made you smile too.

"Hey, you." He spoke softly.

You sat down quietly next to him, instantly he set his feet on the ground and reached over to embrace you in a hug, the familiar scent of Timothee that never left you that evening even more evident… It felt and smelled familiar, and right now, while your mind was a mess, familiarity was what you needed.

Timothee lifted his head, worried, "Hey, are you alright?"

You sighed, "I don't want to hurt you."

He murmured quietly into your neck as he peppered kisses, "You could never."

You pulled away, feeling guilt in your bones, "Aren't you even a little bit frustrated that we've been like this for months? That even in private, we can't even say that we're in a relationship?"

You gave you a reassuring look, "We both wanted this Y/N."

You sat up, "Except we didn't… You didn't." You corrected yourself, "You're bringing your mother to the fucking Oscars next month because I told you we couldn't be seen together at carpets for Pete's sake."

You stood up, starting to pace back and forth, "We have to coordinate outfits for the sake of not matching, and we never go out because I can't be seen with you in fear that we're going to get found out. I'm a terrible fucking person, and I don't understand how you're so okay with this."

Timothee was grinning, sleep still in his eyes, "I'm okay with it because I love you, Y/N."

You froze in your spot, "You what?"

He nodded and got up, walking over to you. The blue light of the early morning peaking through the curtain made this moment feel and look ethereal, "I said I love you, Y/N. I've known that I loved you from the moment I met you." He kissed the top of your head as he embraced you.

You shook your head, "No, no, no, you don't. I'll even list more shit I've done to you just so you understand how and why you don't love me."

Timothee chuckled, "And yet despite all this... all that's registering in my head is the fact that you've been thinking of me and only me this whole time. You've been worried about how you're hurting me because you don't want to."

And that's when you realized that Timothee was right. This whole time you've been thinking of Timothee and how much you wanted to protect him from you, but he never wanted to be protected from you because he knew that you could never hurt him. You rested your forehead against his.

"I-I need to go. I need to think."

He smiled sadly, "I'll be here when you're ready. I'll always be here Y/N until you don't want me to be here anymore."

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

You sat in your house, since leaving Timothee's earlier, you had been sat there lost in thought as you argued with yourself. It was true, the last thing you wanted was to hurt Timothee, but you were confused because it's like you couldn't understand your feelings. After all, a particular person still held a large part of it in his hands.

Timothee was there for you. Late night at the recording studio, whether through being there physically or even calling you or skyping you, he was always there. He was there with you when you bought all your albums from Target, and he was also the one who insisted you find another target that hasn't sold out your CDs so he could buy all of them too. Timothee was there with you when you had interviews that you almost felt like you could puke from nervousness backstage as he watched you talk about another celebrity you were getting linked to, and he was there with you to giggle about how stupid talk shows were. Timothee was always there. Whether it was dancing, kissing, or even fighting in the rain, he was always with you. He always wanted you around. Even when you rode the subway to get to a press conference of his or a promo for his upcoming movie, he always wanted you with him. He'd run with you in the rain, and he'd kiss away the sadness when you didn't want to speak with him. He was there with you when you get the sudden urge to buy all the popsicles from the nearest whole foods, and he was there with you when you got sick with the flu, which he also got from you. You'd spend afternoons walking around a far-off hill as you two put flowers in your hair despite knowing that you two probably had your busy schedules. Nothing mattered when you were with Timothee. Nothing mattered except each other. A part of you felt hurt that these memories you had kept of you and Tom were slowly being replaced by everything Timothee, but a large part of you also knew that the person you have now had no doubt that you couldn't ignore your feelings. You couldn't have to take Timothee out of your life.

Making up your mind, you got up, got dressed, and left for where you were sure you would find Tom.

He was in the middle of filming a new movie, but the second he saw you, he immediately asked to stop filming, a familiar, loving face plastered on as he walked over to you before being stopped by the director. They looked to be having a bit of a disagreement before he pointed you out, and the director looked at you in realization, patting him on the back and allowing him to jog over to you.

"Hey." You paused, your hand grasping your arm, and Tom took notice right away.

His eyebrows furrowed, "Hey, what's wrong?" He pulls you to sit by the curb as you two sat side by side, "You only do that when you're having a hard time saying something."

You gave him a look, "Well… I came here to ask you if it was alright if I try things out with Timothee."

He looked taken aback, "Oh, well, honestly, I thought you came by to sort things out between us…." He took notice of the way you looked down in guilt, "I don't think you could do anything with another guy that wouldn't upset me… but I don't really get that prerogative anymore, Y/N." He sighed, wrapping an arm around you to comfort you, "The fact is, you're trying to grow into who you've always wanted to be, and I'm trying to do that too for the sake of us and what we could be. If that means that you need or want to date someone again, I'll fully support you, but the most important thing is, does he make you happy?"

You sighed, looking out onto the filming lot, and nodded slowly, not noticing the slight upset look on Tom's face, "I catch myself sometimes smiling to myself when I think of him… But it's like I can't do anything because I don't want to let go of what we had."

Tom took a gulp, deciding that what was important right now was you, more than what he wanted, "What we had and what we were isn't important anymore Y/N. I'm working towards what we could become. What we had was co-dependency and a constant need to be in each other's presence to prove that what we had was perfect. I want us to find each other again in the future and know that no matter how far apart we are, if hopefully, we get together again, there is nobody in this world we'll love more… and that's what I'm encouraging you to do. I want to grow with you and grow for each other, and if that means you dating other people to understand yourself more, then I support you."

You looked at Tom for a second before hugging him and pecking him on the cheek, "I really needed that, Tom. Thank you."

He hugged you tighter, "Anytime. I'll always be here for you, Y/N."

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

You gripped your seat in the car in pure nerves. You were on your way to the Oscars with your assistant constantly telling you about your performance and what not to mess up and things to remember, especially about reporters who wanted an interview with you. To say you were all nerves today was an understatement. You hadn't spoken to Timothee ever since you told him you needed time to think, so today would be the first time you would ever come face to face with him. You thought long and hard about everything between the two of you. Still, you think you're finally ready to actually put some time and effort into this… and if that meant doing things that would significantly make Timothee happy, then you'd do it.

Your assistant watched a live feed from the Oscars as she gave you updates on how Armie was on the carpet. Saoirse was on the carpet, talking about how she hoped to make a movie with you and various other stars. You were a few minutes away from the carpet when she spoke up again.

"Timothee has just arrived." then she looked at her phone and back at you, doing a double-take as you gave her a sheepish smile, all she could do was smile approvingly at you before going back to giving you live updates.

A few minutes later, and your heart didn't feel like it was going to slow down anytime soon as your assistant gave you a pep talk, "Y/N. You are gonna rock that carpet, you'll turn heads, and most importantly, you're gonna be the talk of the night. There is nothing that could go wrong tonight. Just take deep breaths and don't trip."

Luckily you were still coherent enough to understand what she said as you took deep breaths to calm your nerves.

"Alright, three… two… one." The door flew open as one of the large men in suits grabbed your hand and helped you out. Your dress was not providing you much flexibility to move, and for almost 15 seconds, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as everyone was quiet. You found Timothee busy with an interview as the crowd looked from you to him, the topic on everyone's minds for the past few months. As if this were the only proof they needed, they held their cameras in their hands as they snapped pictures of you and a commotion started as they started asking for Timothee.

You think you gave them a quick, charming grin as you told them he was in an interview before walking towards the interviewer and Timothee. She was the first to notice while Timothee talked about how his mom stood him up as his Oscars date, something you arranged a week earlier and something Timothee's mom was more than happy to comply to.

The interviewer looks ecstatic as the only one and the first one on this carpet to get whatever the scoop was here, as she wasted no time when you slowly approached them, "Timothee! You said you were stood up, but you never told us that your backup would be late!"

Timothee shot her a confused look before he felt your arm slowly snake around his arm, "Sorry I'm late." You quickly whispered to him.

His face looked shocked. Almost as if a reflex, he almost pulled away from you before getting a good look at what you were wearing. His jaw looked like it would drop to the floor as he looked utterly awestruck.

The interviewer giggled nervously, already knowing her interview time was slowly coming to an end without any payoff to the two of you, "Timothee, you look to be speechless at Y/N's dress tonight." She looked at you hopefully, "Could everyone here assume this is date night?"

You smiled shyly at the lady before giving her a tiny curt nod, "I know it's a bit cliche to match outfits, but when I saw that Timothee was going to wear a harness, I just couldn't let him take all the attention for tonight, so I apologize, but I've kept this secret from him too just to make sure he doesn't do anything to take the spotlight, that's why he looks like he's just had a heart attack." you giggled.

He gave a quick, playful tilted look to you before blinking multiple times, "In my defense, I didn't even know that this was a harness... They told me this was a bib."

"Bib or not, you two look like the sexiest couple on the carpet, and I just so happen to be the luckiest interviewer tonight." The interviewer looked ecstatic as can be as she jumps up, more energetic to interview the two of you, "And well, Y/N, one look at you, and it's hard to believe anyone would still have the ability to speak. You look gorgeous." She winked at the camera, "But I can't help but notice you just confirmed this is date night… Is it safe to assume what everyone has been wondering for the past few months? That you two are dating?"

Somehow, Timothee finally snaps out of it and looks at you, a questioning look before you leaned over and spoke into the mic, "Yeah. We're together. We have been for a while now." You smiled sheepishly as you saw Timothee's face glow as he wrapped his arm around your waist, "I apologize for keeping quiet for so long, but we think it's the right time to go public now that we've decided to take things to a more serious level."

The interviewer waves a hand in the air, "As long as you two let us in on the secret, there's no problem there." She faced the camera, "You heard it here first, folks. Hollywood's newest and hottest up and coming power couple. From both Y/N and Timothee themselves, now going public with their relationship."

As you two walked away from the interviewer for more pictures, Timothee embraced you, uncaring of the cameras flashing in your faces, "Are you serious?"

You nodded slowly, "I'm ready to be with you completely, Timothee. I'm sorry I took so long."

He shook his head like a puppy, "As long as you're here with me now, Y/N, I don't care."

He pulled away at the sound of your name and his in the same sentence as the photographers asked for your attention. He quickly kisses you on the cheek as you shut your eyes and grinned, cameras going off and commotion started up at you two, the young hot couple everyone had wanted more details on.

Timothee clutched your waist tightly, almost like he was afraid that if he let go, this would all go back to how everything was before.

Before entering the venue, he pulled you to the side, "Are you sure about this? I don't want you to force yourself."

You shook your head, guiding his head to yours, "I think I'm in love with you too, Timothee. I'm all in with you." And then you kissed him.

[koulakoukoula2003]

Kiss Me, Kill Me: Part 2 (Levi x OC)

Pairing: Levi x OC, Levi x Reader, Levi x Y/n, Levi x You

Summary: Eleanor has been sold to many households in the Underground as a servant and housemaid. She had had many masters to serve, always a victim of human trafficking in the dark underworld of the Underground.

But what happens when Levi lays his eyes on her, and immediately decides to save her from her cruel fate?

Trigger Warnings: Mention of Human Trafficking, Slavery, Eventual Smut, Violence, Gore, almost A/B/o dynamics but I do not mention them, Submissive OC, Dom/Possessive/Overprotective Levi.

I haven't proofread it, sorry

A/N: It takes place in the Underground, before no-regrets so Levi is a thug, Furlan hasn't yet joined him. This fic is also published on ao3

Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Part 4 > Part 5 > Part 6 > Part 7

His hold around her wrist was tight. But she had no room to complain. This man had just saved her. Even though, she had no idea what he was planning to do with her. She owed him her life. She had naught but to do exactly as he wanted. She was at his mercy. He was her protector, and her master to serve. Eleanor had known nothing less in her life. She had been sold too many times amongst households and bars. Being a slave was something she was particularly used to. She had known nothing more than that. She never met her parents. They sold her away when she was a baby as if she meant nothing.

She was nothing.

And she had accepted it. She was just a product that now belonged to this man. He was protective though. For the first time in her life, she walked within the streets of the Underground and she could ignore the hungry eyes of men that lingered on her form. But her fingers tightened around Levi’s anyway. He kept himself from staring at her in surprise. He was expecting her to be hesitant, but her fingers only tightened around his own. She was scared. He could feel her body shaking behind him.

They reached his house with no trouble. Or at least, it was an abandoned place that he currently called his own. He was alone. He had one good friend. But for now, he was living alone. His friend, too busy taking care of his dying mother. The golden coins he had stolen from the man were going to save him the trouble of a few days of jobs. He had just killed the man who gave him the jobs he needed to survive. Dammit. He should have just minded his business. He should have just left. One unpaid job wasn’t going to do much damage. Levi could last a day without food. Or two. Instead he had taken another mouth to feed within his small house. Dammit.

And he had no idea why he had done it.

There was something about that woman. He couldn’t explain it. But there was something about her. He lit up an oil lamp as he walked her in. She was still dirty and in ragged clothes. She had bruises and wounds to get treated.

“Get cleaned up,” Levi nodded his chin towards the bathroom that was no further away and he finally let go of her hand. “You’ll find soap and water in the bathroom,” He sighed. “I’ll go buy you some clothes,” He turned around to walk through the door but she stopped him.

“W- Wait!” She grabbed his hand. “You’re going to leave me here alone?” Cold, trembling fingers caught his own and her lower lip quivered.

Levi looked down at her hand that held onto his own so tightly. He honestly thought she didn’t have the energy to hold his hand that tight. But she was right to be scared. Even if he locked that door, anybody could break in. He looked down at her. She was surprisingly shorter than him. Even a shirt of his would probably feel like a pretty short gown. He sighed.

“Alright,” He closed the door and drew his hand away from her own. “You’ll settle in my clothes for the time being,”

Her eyes widened. She was about to offer to sew up her ragged clothes and scrub them clean and stay into them. She expected anything but him to offer to share his clothes with her. At least for a day. That was such a small act of kindness, but kindness did not exist in the Underground. She knew that well. She was born down here, like him, away from the day of light, and being tossed around to different owners that treated her like an animal, like a pet. She had barely managed to save her pride, but now that she was here, with this man, she had no idea what was going to happen. He was stronger than her. She had seen it when he fought those men effortlessly. When he had killed the man he was working for.

Levi was an independent man, and she was about to be dependent on him. She barely knew why he had done all this. She barely knew why he’s go through all this trouble to save her and take her in. She could only guess one thing. He needed her for that same thing that every man ever needed her. He needed her, because he needed someone to use for carnal pleasure. And she was unique and untouched and innocent. Something that most women lost in the Underground way too fast in their short lives.

Eleanor spoke of none of this. She did as he had asked. She washed up. She dried her body and her damp black hair and she put on the clothes he had given her. His clothes. They were clean and much bigger on her small, frail body. She was shorter than him. Thinner. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a proper meal. No. She never had a proper meal in her life.

And when she was done, she walked out with his shirt thrown on top of her body and a pair of black shorts. Levi was in the kitchen, brewing himself some tea when she walked out and he turned and looked at her and he almost dropped his cup on the floor. He never thought that a woman wearing his own shirts could look so breathtaking. Bright purple eyes met his own, but averted his gaze right away. She bit her lip and wrinkled the ends of his shirt with her fingers awkwardly. A sign that she was nervous and uncomfortable and she didn’t know what to do.

“Come here,” Levi said and she almost flinched at his gruff voice. Commanding. Now she knew what she had to do. As much as she could, she kept her attention locked anywhere else but his eyes. She approached him on the kitchen counter where his mug of steaming hot tea rested. A hand was holding onto it, the other, hanging to his side. His eyes were on her. It drove her insane not knowing what he had in mind, but she was already scared to find out. “Closer,” He ordered. She shifted closer to him. Her eyes, still refusing to meet his own no matter how much he searched for her attention. “Look at me,” Levi ordered again and that was the only order that took her a second to respond to.

He could do whatever he wanted to her. But she didn’t want to see it. She didn’t want to look at him in the eye whilst he had his way with her. She didn’t want to see that repulsive hunger that all of them had whenever she’d enter a room. But she didn’t want to infuriate him. He was a silent man. A composed man. And if composed men lost their composure, they could be scary. She wasn’t experienced with men, but she knew that much.

“I’ve no intention of harming you,” Levi took a sip of his tea. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows. His brown waist coat and black pants complimented his body just right. Stoic silver eyes met her own. She couldn’t tell what he was feeling, what he was thinking. She couldn’t tell whether he was looking at her with lust or indifference. He let down his cup. “That said, you’re under my protection now,” He approached her. Her hips pressed back against the edge of the counter as he trapped her against it with his body. His hand reached for her cheek. Her breath, erratic. Terrified she was as he ran his fingers down her cheek. His eyes fixated down on her lips. His breath brushed warm down her nose as he leaned close. “Which means you don’t leave this building unless you’re with me. Which means you don’t do anything I don’t tell you to. Is that clear?”

He saw that terror in her eyes. That fear. The shaking. She looked so helpless right there, beneath his touch as he ran his rough thumb across her cheek and trapped her between his body and the counter. Her eyes were wide in panic. He was supposed to hate it. He was supposed to not even be touching her. He should be keeping his distance. But there was something about her helplessness that drove him insane.

His hand slipped away from her cheek and reached down. Rough, slender fingers found her throat. He didn’t squeeze. He didn’t cut her air. But he let her know that he could. The only reason she was breathing was because he was allowing her. Her life was in his hands. He could take it if he wanted to any moment he wished to.

“When I ask you something, I expect an answer,” He spoke huskily, threateningly. He would not tolerate disobedience.

“C- Clear! I- I’m so sorry,” She stuttered. Her heart, beating faster than ever.

He let a low chuckle and he pulled his hand away from her throat. He reached for his cup as if none of this had happened. As if he hadn’t threatened to choke her to death just because she was too petrified to utter a word. She was right to be. Good. He never thought he’d draw so much satisfaction from somebody being so scared of him. The entire Underground was scared of him. Levi. Everybody knew his name. He had made sure he taught them well. He was going to find a new job really soon.

“Good girl,”

༻❁༺

The house looked clean. Too clean. Cleaner than any other house she had been into in the Underground. If she didn’t know better, she would wonder whether this man really was a thug, killing people and getting his hands dipped in the blood of his victims. But now, she was way too aware of that. He could kill her any moment now. He could kill her whenever he wanted to. She was powerless against him, and she knew it. But why kill her when he could just use her? So long as she was helpful around here, then he wasn’t going to kill her.

So, Eleanor got right to work. She cleaned the house – even though it wasn’t very much needed. She cooked a pot of soup with whatever vegetables he had stored in the kitchen, and he did not complain when he tasted it. He never thought anybody could made a vegetable soup, taste good. He was rubbing his knife clean with his handkerchief when he eyed her as she washed their dishes, then dried them clean, and placed them back in the upper shelf. She was already learning what the shelves and drawers kept in the kitchen, even though, there wasn’t much to memorise. Her cleaning was surprisingly to his standards. Her cooking, impeccable. She had served many masters before him. She had learned a lot in the vilest way possible.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to take her in after all. Maybe this house needed a woman’s care for once because he wasn’t always around to keep it clean.

With that final thought, Levi stood up and left his knife down. He approached her from behind and the ragged cloth she used to rub the dishes dry, slipped off her hands when his arm slipped around her waist and her back came in contact with his chest. Goodness, she was beautiful right there. His shirt covered her breasts just barely, and the two unbuttoned buttons already gave him a nice view from where he was standing. He would have ripped her clothes off and he would have had her right here, right now, bent over the kitchen counter and squirming. But he was better than that and he had no intention of scaring her.

Actually, he didn’t know what his intentions were. He didn’t know why that woman was here, right now. He didn’t know why he was so close to her whilst normally, he wouldn’t even look at women in the eye. He had no idea why he was trying to make her feel accustomed to him and comfortable when with him. He needed her to want this. He needed her to want him. But she was trembling beneath his hold. She was scared and terrified and he should be trying to keep that from happening. He couldn’t tell what kind of sick delight he got when he watched her lip quiver, and her eyes widen in panic, and her breath hitching halfway down her throat. She was bringing out a side of him that he never thought existed.

He brushed her long, black hair out of the way and his lips found that small part of her shoulder that was exposed. She flinched beneath his touch, but he did not stop. His lips found her neck. He pressed another kiss there, and another one right beneath her ear.

“Let’s go to bed,” He spoke huskily against her ear and her eyes widened.

She knew this moment was coming. She knew he was going to fuck her when that time would come, but she had tried to hard to keep her mind away from this with the chores. She occupied herself just fine the last few hours and he hadn’t bothered her, but now that she had nothing else to do, and now, that it was what looked like an hour before midnight, now she was going to lose her pride, her dignity, something she had tried so hard to preserve the past few years. And her heart almost leaped out of her chest, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. She could not escape this man. No matter how tightly she held onto his arm around her waist, trying to pull him off of her, he wasn’t budging.

He caught her hand and led her to his bedroom, and she unwillingly complied. She followed him with heavy, hesitant footsteps. Her head, numb as she tried to think of ways to escape this. She tried to think of ways to kill him or just jump out of a window. Anything to flee, even though that she knew that the moment she’d cut ties with him, she was going to be exposed alone in the dangerous world of the Underground. Or maybe she was just going to accept this. To let this man have her and use her, and make her his toy, his housewife, whatever it was that he had in mind. She’d carry his children and hate everything about her life, but she would be safe beneath him.

And her paranoid thoughts were interrupted when he scooped her up in his arms. He did it so easily. She shouldn’t be surprised. She was skinny and weak and barely weighing anything above 50 kgs/110 lbs. But why was he carrying her? Was it his last card of making her want this? She had no idea. She just knew she felt an unfamiliar heat rising upon her cheeks when she realised she was staring up at him and he was staring down at her. She quickly averted her eyes away from his. Her arms, around his neck, his shoulders, holding tightly, afraid he was going to leave her to crash unceremoniously down on the floor any moment now. She did not expect any kindness, no tenderness, no gentleness from this man, from any man down here.

Yet he still carried her to bed. A gesture that she shouldn’t be blushing about at all. And he laid her down the one side of the surprisingly double bed as if she was a fragile infant that if he handled differently, she was going to break. He let her down gently and her eyes met his own again, and she cursed herself mentally for staring up at her captor as if she was staring up at a saviour, who was going to protect her from everything and he had just saved her from a fate that no woman deserved. And maybe he was that.

He ran his knuckles across her cheek and this time she didn’t look too frightened beneath his touch. She wasn’t breathing abnormally. Still shaking, but not too much. He didn’t let himself stare at her for too long. He did not mean to scare her in any way.

“I’m sorry,” He said and her eyes almost widened at the two words that she had never heard anybody utter. “I don’t have an extra bed. You’ll have to crash in with me for now,”

“I- It’s a- alright,” She stuttered. He cupped her cheek, making sure he had her attention. Her bright purple eyes met his own again, even though, she was about to look away from him again in shyness.

“I’m not going to harm you,” Levi said assuredly and he stood up. He began unbuttoning his waistcoat and his shirt. “Unless you want me to, that is,”

Her eyes widened on the last part but she kept her mouth shut. She was lying on the one side of his bed, watching him as he unclothed. He kept his back on her anyway. His back muscles, adorned with scars here and there, they flexed with every move he made as he slipped his white shirt down his shoulders and replaced it with a white sweatshirt. He slipped his belt off and kicked his shoes. He lied down beneath the one blanket that he had.

She was very willing to stay out of that blanket. Lying on a ridiculously clean bed was already more than she could ever hope to have. Usually she’d sleep in the streets beside the rats in dirty ragged clothes and nothing else to cover herself in. She turned her back on him and folded her body. Her thighs, almost touching her chest as she buried her face in the pillow and shut her eyes closed.

“Oi,” Levi called out. “What are you doing? Get beneath,”

No. That was the last thing she wanted right now. To get beneath the sheets and get closer. To have her body closer to his own, beneath the same blanket. But she couldn’t object, could she? What was he going to her if she tried to object? He would probably grab her with a bruising touch and force her. She didn’t want that either.

Eleanor hesitantly rolled over so that she was facing him. She pulled the blanket over her body just barely and she looked at him. His black, silky hair, smashed between his head and the soft pillow. He had a hand tucked beneath his pillow, right beneath where his head laid. Silver eyes met her own and she quickly averted her eyes away from his own. Who knows where the hell she would be now if this frightening man hadn’t saved her. She couldn’t tell whether working in a brothel was going to be worse than being under this man’s protection. She didn’t yet know him. She didn’t know what he was planning to do with her. She was surprised he wasn’t yet onto her, kissing her and parting her legs and having his way with her.

Instead, he gave his clothes, clean water, food, a bed to lie on. “Thank you… Levi,” For the first time, uttering his name.

And that was the last thing he expected to come from her. She’ll come around. He told himself. He closed his eyes. A small smile curled at the corners of his lips. “Sleep, Eleanor,”

A/N: Thanks for reading! Lemme know what you think!

[sweetescapeartist]

DBS COLORING BOOK CHAPTER 73 REVIEW

Alright... let's do this.

The first 4 pages are good. Good flow, not too many pages, no dialogue (thank God). Page 5 is where the paneling gets unnecessary. The last 2 panels aren't needed.

Page 6 is absolutely stupid. Goku & Granolah are flying at extremely high speeds, Goku is firing ki blasts that are moving at a higher velocity than he is currently moving, Granolah moves even faster in order to dodge Goku's ki blasts, then Granolah is using his scarf that is wrapped around a tree to swing around the tree & get behind Goku... A SCARF.

The scarf would tear apart instantly if Granolah tried to use it to catapult/swing himself around faster than Goku can perceive.

YOU: "The scarf is probably really strong tho!"

Sure let's assume that. In that case, the tree would be uprooted from the velocity Granolah is moving. Either way, it doesn't make sense. If this was early Dragon Ball and Yamcha did something like this when fighting Goku, then yeah it would be reasonable and look cool. With the power these characters are at now, it just looks ridiculous and inconvenient. It doesn't work here. Granolah could've easily dodged on his own and much faster that wraping his scarf around the tree.

So Granolah swings around and kicks Goku through tons of trees. (Saiyans killed his ppl but Granolah is killing his planet. Ironic)

Hey look! Another stupid page 😒

Page 7. Goku got sent flying back at a speed capable of easily cutting through tons of trees, but he slows himself down by grabbing a branch & swinging around it? Why? Again, at that speed, Goku would yank the limb of the tree clean off or uproot the entire tree. That wouldn't slow down his speed. He would be better off just stopping in the air on his own as if he applied the emergency breaks. Characters have done that plenty of times. Again, stuff like swinging around trees and tree branches is stuff they would had done in OG Dragon Ball.

Why is Goku blocking like that?? He isn't reinforcing his arm, he's holding his wrist whole his forearm gets punched. That would damage his arm and/or wrist.

*Boom boom! Bam bam!* They hit each other some. But are you ready for this? Pages 11-12...!

Why did Goku yell as if he is transforming? He is using Ultra Instinct, right? You don't yell to power that up. Remember the Moro arc? He calmly breathes to go into the state. Remember the chapter before? He calmly closes his eyes to focus. Why is he yelling then tapping into UI? Because Toyotaro can't write consistently. This page was...! just dumb...

Also... What is this SSB with Ultra Instinct then? You remember the SSB aura around UI Omen in the Moro arc? What's the difference between "Blue plus Ultra Instinct" & "Ultra Instinct plus Blue?"

Granolah says he can read Goku's blood flow and cell movements. That should come in handy later when he could potentially find a weakeness in Goku using UI. Hopefully Goku doesn't tell him he can't stay in the form too long. 🤞

SSB with UI is more focused that lower forms in combination with UI. Goku should be nearly untouchable. Pages 13 - 14 show how well Goku can dodge. Looks like ballet in a way, like Goku us dancing around him. I like that. Then he uses a point blank Kamehameha. Looks cool. But it turns out that Granolah simultaneously hit Goku somehow. Not a complaint here.

Pointless panels of Oil being blown back by the force. Pointless panels of Vegeta not paying attention to the fight and looking around. Pointless 2 panels of smoke clearing away. The entire page doesn't add anything at all. Page 17 could be omitted & it would flow better.

Goku is on the ground for the... 3rd time in this battle? I wish it would at least have Granolah say he didn't realize how difficult UI with SSB would be for him, but he barely saw an opening. That would be some sort of respect for Goku and did some clever foreshadowing. But we get Granolah insulting Goku instead. Whatever.

This "vital points" nonsense is so stupid. Everyone in DB has nearly identical vital points. Majin Vegeta knocked Trunks out by chopping at his vital point. These characters know what vital points are and know them well as we have seen when they were in combat since early DB. Granolah should be saying "My right eye will always find an opening." But maybe its a translation error or something. I won't be too harsh about this one.

Wait wait wait. Lemme get this straight...

Whis trained Goku, then Goku is able to use UI in the ToP.

Merus trains Goku to use UI Omen at will.

Goku later masters UI with silver hair.

Whis points out new flaws that didn't exist then trains Goku even further.

Goku has been trained by 2 Angels to the point of being able to go into Mastered UI at will and recieved further training after mastering the Angelic power. How is it that Goku has the gull to say "No, Ultra Instinct should have no weaknesses. If anything's lacking, it's gotta be my training."

And he's telling Granolah that he is vulnerable for some reason...? He's just foreshadowing for the reader that he will lose. The last 4 or 5 panels of page 19 isn't needed.

Whatever. Let's move on. So on page 20, for some reason, Goku has a confused look & a question mark in his speech bubble after Granolah blames Saiyans for killing his ppl. Maybe Goku doesn't understamd why Granolah is repeating himself for the 3rd or 4th time? Or he wasn't listening the earlier times. Can't blame him. Granolah's speeches bored me too.

Granolah copies Moro & makes lava rise from the core of his beloved home planet in order ro hurt Goku. Poor Sugarians. I wonder if there will be a "You're becoming the bad guy now, Granolah." type of story. Dont really care though. Goku escapes by teleporting. He mentions how Granolah has Moro's move. I guess Granolah is supposed to be like Cell and have others techniques... like Moro before him... They are both altered copies of Cell who is much cooler than both of them combined...

Well, here they are making Vegeta look capable (somehow?). Also its interesting that the bloodthirsty Granolah is allowing Goku & Vegeta to chat about their discovery of who his ppl are. The the ex-detective Vegeta quickly figures out that Maki & Oil fooled them. That was rushed. "But Vegeta was suspicious of them before." Yes, but there was no reason or anything we heard that would make Vegeta suspicious. The writing is bad. Also it's convenient that Oil has a drone all of the sudden to eavesdrop. The last 4 panels of page 24 are pointless.

GOKU: "Hey let's talk to him and clear things up."

VEGETA: "Nah. He's probably too stubborn. Just fight to move the story along instead."

Goku says he hasn't used his full power yet & Vegeta is surprised. How does Vegeta not realize Goku hasn't used his full power, Mastred UI? Then Vegeta says "Tch... Gotta resort to that in the end, huh?" Toyotaro is having Vegeta downplay UI in order to hype up Vegeta's fight next chapter. Bad writing. There's better ways to hype Vegeta up. Toyo chose one of the worst ways to do so.

Granolah... Just standing and waiting for Goku to come back. What a patient revenge fueled man.

UI Goku through the fog looked cool. (And his wounds heal? Ok...) But, seeing that made me realize something else. It would be much cooler if it went from page 22 then skip to page 26!

We don't need Goku & Vegeta chatting. The reveal of UI would not have had a pace breaker. It just happens & you see that Goku is serious now. Show don't tell.

GRANOLAH: "I can't perceive... any vital points?!"

That sounds stupid, so I do think it is a translation error.

GRANOLAH: "I can't perceive... any openings?!"

Now that reads much better! (I also edited the dialogue to "openings" in the pic above.)

Great... Goku conveniently exposed a weakness in UI that Whis had conveniently made up in CH 71. Although, in CH 59 Whis said that Mastered UI doesnt have the stamina issue that UI Omen has. Then in CH 64 it shows that the stamina issue is gone with Mastered UI during the 3 chapter battle with Moro. Goku never looked fatigued or weak in this form. Only time the form went away is when "planet" Moro drained Goku of his energy.

But now Goku & Whis say otherwise. How suddenly contradictory. Page 26 of this current chapter (CH 73) would be better if the last 2 panels were omitted.

Mastsred UI Goku easily takes down Moro- I mean Granolah. Also Goku tries to chat now after attacking Granolah. Should've said something before you start kicking ppl in the face. But this is shown to prove Vegeta is right about not being able to reason with Granolah. Even if it makes no sense.

Cool dodging & aikido type movement from Goku.

Goku using "the force" & stopping Granolah's movements was cool. Reminded me of Goku doing something similar to Broly in the DBS movie. Or more similarly, like Zamasu did in the manga.

I guess Toyotaro is suggesting that the quick flurry of punches is a Master UI kind of move. (Although it originated in the anime when UI Omen Goku was punching back against Jiren & when he did so to block attacks from Jiren in EP 129.) I hope this move isn't over used that it ends up losing its flare.

Vegeta pretends to be upset that Goku defeated Granolah while in the previous chapter, Vegeta told Goku to fight first.

Somehow Vegeta is able to sense that there are 2 Granolahs. You can say because he has spirit control, but Goku has been through that kind of training with Roshi, Kami, & King Kai (possibly some with the Yardrats too which helped him control Super Saiyan at the level he could). And with Instant Transmission, Goku must be an expert in detecting ki. He can feel ki in different realms and locate ppl from far across the galaxy Goku should sense this too. All this writing is doing is trying to make Vegeta appear as the more capable fighter & get Vegeta fans hype for his next battle. That's all.

The switcheroo (I think I used that wrong) of a fake Granolah was a kinda clever idea. But Goku not knowing what "split" means is asinine.

Goku literally says "Split...? What's that mean?"

Goku has seen firsthand when Tien split into multiple Tiens, Goku knows the Yardrats can split themselves into many ppl, he saw merged Zamasu split himself, & he saw Moro split himself. Why is he written so stupid? I need answers Toyo.

Page 40....

HOW IN THE HECK did Mastered UI get caught off guard?! Ain't it supposed to automatically grow sturdier as necessary?! Boy oh boy, this writing... A positive is that the punch looks like the 1 inch punch Goku did to Golden Freeza (inspired by the legendary Bruce Lee).

So if actual Granolah is twice as strong and can one shots UI Goku... Vegeta doesn't stand a chance. But the bad writing will make a way for Vegeta to look somewhat capable.

Granolah says UI becomes less sharp over time. Only problem is that Goku fought longer against Moro. This fight of UI Goku should have been longer. If the fight was longer when in the UI "transformation" then I would be more generous about Granolah finding an opening. Speaking of openings, Granolah says "opening" instead of "vital point." Must be a translation error.

Goku is in a near death-like state and Vegeta is like

VEGETA: "Leave that fool alone. Fight me instead."

Vegeta threatening Granolah is either stupid or smart. Smart = Vegeta provoking Granolah to get an advantage mentally. Dumb = Vegeta reverting to his Cell saga overconfidence that Toyo always does.

IN CONCLUSION:

STILL NO IMAGE OF FREEZA... I guess he isnt that important to the story after all. And this storytelling is so bad because Toyo can't stay consistent at all, he doesn't understand the characters, & he can't come up with anything besides "this form also drains stamina." You can say he & Toriyama write this together but I doubt it. Toriyama corrects his art & just gives the story a pass.

Recently it seems that Toriyama is more interested in the DBS movies being produced. Toriyama just writes an outline, Toyotaro & Toei write their versions of the story around that, Toriyama corrects Toyotaro's art & Toriyama also corrects or adds to what Toei thinks up. Example being when Toei created Kale & Toriyama created Caulifla in response.

I'm not excited for the next chapter. I don't care what Vegeta does. How is Vegeta going to win against someone who one shotted Goku in UI. Either the writing will be kinda smart or just plain stupid. I'm expecting stupid.

Idk if I'll review the next chapters. The bad writing was too much for me. I wrote this review last month right 1 day after the chapter came out, but I didnt want to read the manga again to get the images I need for this review. So I put it off for almost 1 month.

I wanna take a break from this bad manga...

[iamoncewas]

By the end of KH3 Sora has become aware of his "fate". He says he knows that it will lead him "home". YMX told Sora he was done, and his time in this world was over. We see in the secret ending that he is not home, and is, I think, in the "abyss." Where no one should be able to find him. So why would the intro monologue suggest his mental state when he seems to be in a not great situation?

Sora's home is Destiny Islands. I believe Sora, Kairi, and Riku and their name choices reflect the island itself, land in the middle of sea and sky. The island itself then, is Riku. Their home. So one of the intended meanings of this statement, I think, is that Sora now knows that what he feels for Riku is beyond friendship, or romance: it's fate. He knows that they are fundamentally connected, and even though they are seperate they are a greater whole. They were destined to be by each others' side. He shows that he kind of instinctively knows this in DDD, but he doesn't yet understand the scope. But Joshua gets it.

Even though Sora is lost in the deepest darkness and no one should be able to find him, Riku does. They are seperated, but they aren't. This is what the Power of Waking was intended for, traversing hearts to reach worlds. Riku was led by Sora's heart. Sora also used the power correctly when he opened the door to the Realm of Darkness following Riku and Aqua's hearts, and when he woke Ventus.

When they do their Mark of Mastery exam, which Sora only agrees to after hearing Riku question if he himself is still worthy to wield, it culminates in Riku literally unlocking Sora's heart. Once Sora is freed from the Armored Ventus Nightmare [which I think was Vanitas possessing Ventus's armor] he sinks deeper into his heart's darkness. Riku picks up Sora's dropped Kingdom Key, which was once his, to do this, instead of using Way to the Dawn. Keyblades could be said to be the key to ones heart, and he gave his to Sora. He then used it to unlock Sora's heart, freeing him. This is literal and metaphorical, and I think this is why, in KH3, Sora can now Formchange instead of using Drive Forms. Drive Forms incurred a penalty for overuse in Anti Form. Formchanges do not, and I think this is Sora's true power as a keyblade wielder, the ability to change the manifestations of his keyblade, and to be able to wield so fluidly. Which is why they no longer incur a penalty, because Sora is using his powers as a keyblade wielder properly for the first time. Final Form has been replaced with Ultimate Form, which is Sora's true... ultimate form.

So Sora did achieve the Power of Waking during his exam, and like Ventus said, he never lost it.

So then why the hell did Yen Sid only name Riku a Master if Sora achieved all this power? Why did he send Sora to find the Power of Waking when he already had it?

Because Riku discovered the source of true strength, which is what truly matters; true love. His motivation is Sora.

This is that "untold power and wisdom" Kingdom Hearts holds that people covet so much and start Keyblade Wars over. It's just the power of true love. And it resides in every heart.

While Sora was affected by Riku unlocking his heart, Yen Sid knows that he hasn't yet discovered what the source of his true strength is, his love for Riku. Which is why he sends him right on over to Hercules, so Herc can tell him about his act of sacrifice for Meg. Yen Sid knows what's up, which makes me think he might have the Book of Prophecies and is aware of Sora and Riku's ultimate importance.

While Sora derps around Olympus, Riku and Mickey talk about his newfound inner strength, his resolve, and how it comes from his desire to protect what matters. Sora. When Way to the Dawn breaks, this is reference to him completely overcoming the darkness within him, his jealousy, fear, doubt. It manifested from Soul Eater, which manifested from his heart's darkness. His new keyblade is Braveheart. It has 9 notches, the 7 at the tip I believe representing the hearts of the 7 Princesses, the 7 Pure Lights. And the other 2 near the hilt representing himself and Sora. It also has a Mickey token, whereas Way to the Dawn did not. This is significant because the only other keyblades with Mickey tokens are the Kingdom Keys. So Braveheart is of the same nature as Kingdom Key, directly tied to Kingdom Hearts. And Riku and Sora's combined keyblade, when complete, has a Hidden Mickey near the hilt.

It's hard to tell when Sora actually realizes that's hes meant to be with Riku. In the tunnel, after rescuing everyone's heart but Kairi's, when he finds her, he gives her all the credit for his surviving. So this to me implies that when he said this, he didn't get it yet, since he doesnt mention Riku at all. And he says the light was her even though he instinctively called out Riku's name when he first saw it, contradicting himself.

But right after that it shows scenes of Rapunzel and Eugene, and Anna and Elsa after their respective acts of sacrifice. Specifically, it shows the joyful embraces afterwards. In Arendelle that scene went like this:

This is when he realized what exactly Riku was saying to him through his act of self sacrifice. Which was, "I love you." And I think he also realizes that love is what reversed death in both of these cases. Like Elsa says, "Of course. Love!"

And then upon arriving back, this happens.

When he reached for that light, I think he saw Riku reaching out to him [which has kind of become his... signature stance, reaching out his hand to Sora]. Even though Riku isn't standing there when they arrive. Nobody is. Which is why he looks so flabbergasted that theres nothing there. Sweet Kairi then asks him if hes okay, and shes talking about on an emotional level. Kairi knows Sora had a profound realization through this ordeal. Kairi knows. So I think Sora also knows at this point, which would have been the turning point in the timeline. So in the first timeline that ended with Riku's death, he apparently didn't get the message for whatever reason. He never heard Riku's "I love you." Or, if he did, he did not take it seriously enough. [I'm now convinced one of the stars in the Final World was the Riku who died in the original timeline, and he showed Sora those visions. If it was, this would have been why Sora didn't get the message originally. Because Riku wasn't dead yet. So this Riku star is waiting in the Final World for HIS Sora, the Master of Masters. Who isn't dead. Once the MoM gives his heart to the present Riku and is healed, I believe he will pass on like Repliku did, and join his Riku in death. He won't need to exist, because the world already has Sora. Like what Repliku said to Riku.][Also, its heartbreaking that Riku had to die for Sora to realize how much he means to him. Keep in mind the meanings of the Re:Mind title Nomura gave: reminder, being reminded of something, reconfirmation, confirming it AGAIN, and hearts regeneration.]

Data-Namine said Sora had very painful memories that would be too much for him if he became aware of them, but they are not his memories. I believe there are memories in there related to the fact that he was going to have to choose between Riku and Kairi eventually. He originally sacrificed Riku to save Kairi and he lost everything. In chess, any piece except the king may be sacrificed.

Kairi's sacrifice allowed Riku to live in this timeline. [I see people refer to what happened to Kairi as fridging, but really, it was a sacrifice that I believe she was aware had to happen. A noble act of true love, just like Riku's act of self sacrifice] So to me this confirms my suspicion that Foreteller Ava is Kairi/Namine/Xion. Which is why she never appeared in the Epilogue. She carried out her role, which was to ensure the survival of the light. And she did. Riku survived through Kairi's sacrifice [showing that Kairi holds immense love for both Sora and Riku]. This is why, when she questioned the Master about her given role, if she were the right person for it, he replied thusly:

The 7 hearts that must be saved not only referred to Sora's friends after their death, but also to the hearts of the Master and his 6 Apprentices. Ava has been saved. She is safe, or the... many manifestations of her are. The others still have parts to play, and Sora is now following his heart to Riku, [his fate] and as long as he does that, they will be saved. I also find Ava to have the most devotion to, belief in, and trust in their Master than any of the others. I find this parallel to Kairi's unwavering belief in Sora. Only Luxu may have equal devotion, weirdly enough. He went through quite alot at the will of his Master, and his face shows it.

Gula's role was to find the traitor and stop them. I believe Gula must be Demyx. This just sounds dumb, since Gula is so cool and Demyx is a goon. But there is one Demyx moment everyone remembers because it was so very out of character for him.

While many Org members referred to Sora as traitor in reference to Roxas, I believe this is a hint to Demyx's past, now that its confirmed that hes an ancient keyblade wielder. And like he says to Sora:

So Demyx/Gula will play a part in Sora and Vanitas's reunion. If Vanitas's heart is lost Sora will never be complete, so they must unite in order for Sora to become what he was destined to be, the Master of Masters. Along with Riku, the True King, they will be the World's defenders, just what Kingdom Hearts made them for, and what their entire journey has led to. Everything happened exactly the way it had to for them to become what they are.

Almost like it was their fate or something.

[crabnby]

ok @the-defiant-pupil i'm just gonna go ahead and make a new post bc this is about to get too long for my adhd ass

(context: continuation of this post)

1. funny thing is, i've actually read most of your sources already. they get really, really boring after awhile though, bc all of them start to say the same thing: yes there are differences, but there are also similarities, and scientists have yet to figure out the significance of this.

i'm not gonna go through each and every one of your sources, and i shouldn't be expected to either. when it comes to biological research, find the most recent articles with the most solid evidence/conclusions and call it good. don't dredge up an entire archive. i could find you sources that only characterize lichens as 2 symbiotic organisms rather than 3, but that wouldn't be correct bc the most recent research says otherwise. so yeah, just bc you CAN find that much info out there doesn't mean all of it is viable and should be used.

also, you can't just list a bunch of sources and expect it to be enough. you should contextualize them, explain them, tell your audience why each one matters. if you're really going to have that many, then be prepared to give a short annotation for each one bc i can guarantee you no one has enough time on their hands (or in my case, attention span) to read that many sources

your "plain as day" source by the way?? says this as well:

this is what i was talking about earlier!! do you actually read, contextualize, and analyze what you read? or do you just find the first line you agree with and run with it?

bc what i got from reading that article is that even after years of research and the largest study to date, scientists STILL don't fully understand what they're looking at, and they might never. so we, as people Not Actively Researching This Subject should be incredibly hesitant to draw our own conclusions when even the researchers can't do so.

i also like that the author mentions how socialization can affect brain structure and development — did you know that domestication causes visible differences in gene structure between the ancestor and current-day species? bc of selective breeding, humans changed the genetics of dogs, cows, crops, etc.; genetics changed bc of domestication, domestication didn't come about bc of a change in genetics. and i KNOW that you're going to tell me this has nothing to do w what we're talking about, but it does hold a similar concept: it's not just genetics and bodily functions that affect behavior, the environment has an equally important role.

similarly, gene expression in almost every species is highly regulated by the environment just as equally as it is the body (and for clarification: environment means anything external, body means anything internal). as are hormonal responses, reflexes, emotions, etc. all of which can have subtle but lasting impacts on the body! i don't actually think that anti-transmeds are trying to deny science when we say that how your brain developed is not the only thing that affects gender identity! i think it's kinda actually the opposite!

2. i've haven't heard of this tumblr biologist, so please direct me to their publications, i'd actually really love to read them

3. science literacy is a whole other beast than literacy in general. like, yes, you have to be able to read, but suddenly specific word choice and HOW you read articles becomes important. it goes from reading chronologically (english literacy) to reading section by section and contextualizing what you've read in previous sections and articles so that by the end you understand the initial hypothesis, if the evidence ACTUALLY proved it, if their methods were sound, and why it matters in the particular field.

i'm not trying to say that people who aren't studying science can't read peer-reviewed articles and understand them, but you do have to realize that it's a completely new skillset you have to practice over and over again, not just something you can pick up on the fly

4. i think you completely missed my point about the anti-vaxxer movement. the reason it started was bc McBastard Wakefield published his article and before any other research could be done to refute it or back it up, the greater population picked it up and ran with it. 7 or so years since it's been debunked and he lost his medical license, but people still believe him bc he got published, and to some of the most accredited journals at that.

my point was that just bc the research exists doesn't mean we should accept it at face value until the medical/scientific community can undeniably say "this is what this is, and what it means." and they're STILL doing further research, which means that hasn't happened yet. bc the whole point of science, and by extension research, is to never be satisfied w your results, and instead continue to look for more than you can currently see. or at least that's what i've been taught.

bc to look at published articles and assume that they MUST be true bc it's PUBLISHED SCIENCE is...exactly what the anti-vaxxer movement began on. and i'd rather not repeat that.

(please show me, by the way, how """tucutes""" 1. actually exist and 2. harm anyone by simply living their own damn lives)

5. yeah """""tucutes""""" don't have any science bc uh.....there really is none. science is a process, and we're currently in the research phase which means NO ONE should be using it as proof. it's good to say "hey this exists" but to completely invalidate someone's existence based on studies that scientists are still trying to understand? that's called abusing and misconstruing results

6. i'm guessing you don't actually care, but sure. i'll explain mating types of fungi to you.

in short: genetic diversity is advantageous for survival, and fungi are nothing if not crafty little bastards, thus 1000s of mating pairs for better chances of sexual compatibility

in long: each mating type is determined by a set of genes. really, you can think of mating types as extended alleles, since each distinct allele has a distinct mating type.

so as for 5 different mating types and how they're different...there you go. that'd be like asking me to tell you 5 different alleles of the same gene and how they're different. the only difference is in sequence and then how they're expressed due to differences in sequence.

usually we don't categorize every single mating type since that'd be a bit...much.

however, we can and do categorize fungi by how they reproduce! i.e., what kind of syntamy do they display? can they go through diploid selfing? can they inbreed or only out cross? what's their primary stage of life: diploid or haploid? do they rely on sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction? if it's an ascomycete, do they form pericarps or ascocarps?

in fact, one of the main differentiators between fungi is their life cycle, most of which is geared towards reproduction. that's why although basidiomycetes and ascomycetes are the only fungi that can form macro fruiting bodies (as well as many, many other similarities), they'll always be categorized differently.

but i digress. the reason i compared fungal mating types to brain morphology and "sex" categorization is bc i was making an analogy. i'm not a neurologist, as you can probably tell at this point, but that doesn't mean i haven't taken any classes that covered the brain pretty extensively.

what i was really trying to say was this: everything that i've read so far says that although there's definitely some differences between brains, there's also a significant amount of overlap, so much so that when you try to categorize the brain into two distinct types, you're still going to have an incredible amount of variety.

likewise, you could, theoretically, do the same to fungi. you could sequence the genes from each mating type, determine the different SNPs, and categorize them into two distinct groups based on what SNPs they do/don't have. it wouldn't make sense to do so, though, bc there'd still be too much variety within each group.

this was just me trying to relate it to what i personally study but tbh i can see how that would've been confusing, so i apologize for that

[shanie-the-toyaddict]

For anyone who was wondering...

Shanie's List of "Totally Not Straight-And-Narrow" Wrestling Guys.

[Note: The only qualifications for this list are that I, Shanie, know enough about them to form an opinion and that none of them have a confirmed queerness on their Wikipedia page]

List under cut and in no real particular order

MY BI GUY TRIFECTA!

Kenny Omega (DUH)

Kevin Owens (He doesn't even try to hide it)

Triple H (He literally outed himself on TV)

THE REST OF THE LIST

4. Eddie Kingston (I'm pretty sure he's at least bi) 5. Sami Zayn (If I had to give him a label, it'd be Demi) 6. Seth Rollins (Mostly straight but not narrow) 7. Jon Moxley (Not Straight, but even he hasn't figured out what he is yet) 8. Bryan Danielson (Kinda. He's straight but he wanders off the path when bored enough) 9. Randy Orton (See Bryan Danielson) 10. Wheeler Yuta (He has young queer energy written all over him) 11. Damien Priest (We aren't going to mention the other half of this equation though) And finally. 12. Shawn Michaels (He'll probably either deny it or claim to be ex-gay but we all know he still has feelings for Hunter.) Bonus Entrants 13. The Miz (I'm not convinced enough to call it but BY GOD THE VIBES!)

14 & 15. The Young Bucks (They're either genuinely queer or they have been playing a long game for most of their damn careers.)

16. Kota Ibushi (I don't know a damn thing about Kota outside of The Golden Lovers but that's plenty enough to get a spot here.)

Honorary Mention to William Regal who is too much of a gentleman to put on this list but holy shit the Chaotic Old Gay energy of that man.

Anyway, hope this list brings some of you enjoyment. Like I said, none of these theories or entrants are officially confirmed by the people outside of Kenny and Hunter (and potentially Kevin who has Done and Said Things and Stuff that gesture heavily in that direction without ever actually confirming it). Outside of them, this list is strictly by my opinion and my takes based on what I've seen in and out of the ring.

Try not to be offended.