#he's going to have to demonstrate those stitches for me so i know going in

[mx-lamour]

I see art with top surgery scars, even some really jaggedy ones, and I applaud them and I think they're beautiful. Sincerely, I love the celebration of self-actualization and comfort.

But also. For my chest.

My loves, I am a tailor. If my seams don't come out smooth and exact, I'm going to feel compelled to rework those darts myself and trust me no one wants that.

[girlbeyondthegrave]

I Watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a Third Time: More Things I Noticed

Here’s my previous list for those that haven’t read it. Enjoy!

A lot of people on this post I made thought that the dog in the MacArthur Park sequence was Taco from the Ghosthouse segment where Beetlejuice appears in the audience. I am sad to report this is not the case. Taco is a chihuahua, and the dog that appears is more of a terrier. However, some people on Reddit wonder if the dog is the one that ran out in front of the Maitlands’ car and killed them. I haven’t rewatched the first movie yet to check.

When Beetlejuice stitches Lydia’s mouth shut, she’s more exasperated than afraid. She literally tries to yell, “COME ON!”

Beetlejuice looks so offended on Lydia’s behalf when Rory calls her codependent. Like, “Is he serious right now? Get him, babe!”

Beetlejuice appearing before Delia can finish summoning him furthers the eavesdropping theory I made in my earlier post, and if we go off that theory, we can explain by Beetlejuice wasn’t that bothered by being summoned away at the wedding. He’s overheard Lydia’s desire to take her relationships slow and her reluctance to marriage. (Which is most definitely because of him and the fact that the last living person she loved tragically died—even if their relationship was over before that point.)

In the film, Beetlejuice is the ONLY person that agrees to help Delia find Charles, which we see her do at the end of the movie. This means that Beetlejuice kept his word and helped Delia, and he didn’t keep her away from Charles after the wedding fell through.

“MacArthur Park” plays when the studio intros roll, during the wedding sequence, and the end credits—three times when we have three different iterations of Beetlejuice and Lydia’s dynamic, fun fact. This is meant to be their song, and although the song is about a doomed relationship, this part sticks out to me: “After all the loves of my life / You’ll still be the one.” It doesn’t matter if Beetlejuice gets the timing right. It doesn’t matter if Lydia marries him. He considers her “the one.” He’s always going to wait for her, as conveyed by “Right Here Waiting.”

Astrid opens pages about violation 699 and summoning sandworms via trapdoors. I understand that was meant to “foreshadow” later events and explain why she knew how to do those things, but the terms for 699 are barely on-screen, so it’s hard to catch the part where it lays out how bringing Lydia illegally into the afterlife makes her contract null and void.

When Delores appears at the church, there’s a huge gust of wind, and the Handbook moves, but NOTHING ELSE MOVES with that precision until Delores moves Lydia away from the altar. This is kind of a stretch, but I personally think it’s possible that Beetlejuice saw Delores, and he purposefully sent the book in Astrid’s direction. If we go off my eavesdropping theory, he clearly knows Astrid is a smart girl. Plus, he stopped her from getting to the book earlier, so he knows it’s a threat.

When Beetlejuice has a dramatic entrance or exit, it’s very intentional. He does a whole dramatic couple’s therapy bit for Lydia and Rory. He does the earthquake through the model with a slow rise from the smoke. But we’ve also seen him appear in straightforward ways, too, like how he appears randomly to spook Delia. Beetlejuice controls his entrances and exits, and so his dramatic exit at the end is intentional. He allows Lydia to send him away. He makes a big show of it. Lydia has been manipulated by Rory for years. He’s tried to control her and stifle her. When Beetlejuice lets Lydia send him away and makes a big show of it, he’s demonstrating the amount of control he’s giving to Lydia. He goes because SHE wants him to, not because he can’t stop her from saying his name.

(Editing to say that this post confirms the dog is Tim’s dog.)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

miss raven, i must ask:

what is your opinion on the overblot monsters as a hear me out👀❓

I wasn't sure if this anon meant the Phantom designs or the OB designs themselves when they said "overblot monsters", so I decided to go ahead and drop my opinions on both things. (And if you want my opinion on the non-OB boys and non-OB boys' Phantoms... they're okay? I have no particular commentary to impart on those.)

My personal Phantoms ranking:

My favorite Phantom design is, hands down, Idia’s. I love how it is composed of shapes that closely resemble the style of the Hercules film, notably the arms and fingers. The collar and head resemble a flaring flame while the wrists seem to resemble Greek columns. But the detail I love the most is how the Phantom's arms and body seem to be made of other Phantoms' busted heads. It's really clever visual storytelling, as this tells us about how Ortho lived in Tartarus with the other Phantoms, how he wants them all to be 'friends' with Idia and the rest of the world, etc. This Phantom in of itself just has so much story significance and even seems to be alluded that the multitude of Phantoms in Tartarus yoink Idia (seen at the end of the Ignihyde CM). This Phantom also has a special physical connection to the OB boy in its design; Idia it literally hooked up to his Phantom with wires, symbolizing his close connection to it. (I didn't see something similar in the other Phantoms, but I do know in the light novel Leona is said to be attached to his Phantom by a blot chain on his ankle.)

I find the designs of Riddle, Azul, and Jamil’s Phantoms cool. They resemble their Disney inspirations, but have one or two flairs that make the designs their own. Riddle's Phantom has spade-shaped spikes protruding from its back and wields a rose tree like a hammer to deliver twisted justice. Azul's Phantom has a crown and trident, which is reminiscent of Ursula once she has robbed them from King Triton. It also has a collar that looks like coral branches jutting out and I enjoy how the ink looks like it is dripping down and forming the tentacles. Finally, Jamil's Phantom is inspired by Jafar's genie form on the torso but its lower half becomes coiled, patterned, and snake-like (like the viper form Jafar takes on when fighting Aladdin). It also has a collar unique to it.

I'm slightly disappointed with the Phantoms of Leona, Vil, and Malleus. These literally just look like the original Disney villains that they are trying to emulate, but with very few changes made to them outside of the stitches and the shape of the glass bottle heads. I do like that Vil's Phantom is the hag version of the Evil Queen (which demonstrates her inner ugliness) and how Malleus's phantom is Maleficent's dragon form (which is just cooler overall) with more exaggerated spines, but this doesn't change the fact that the designs aren't that special.

My personal OB design ranking:

I think Leona and Idia’s designs look cool for the most part.

Pretty much the only thing I dislike about Leona’s is the bare feet, which are easily ignored since the game usually only shows us the torso up. Everything else is gucci o3o)bb Slicked back hair, check! corset that calls attention to his Dorito chip shaped-body, check! The jewelry and extra stuff tied around his waist isn't too cluttered or in the way and coordinates well color-wise. Ah, also... AND I KNOW NONW OF YOU PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE ME BUT I FEEL LIKE I AHVE TO STATE THIS FOR MY OWN SANITY. I didn't realize he was shirtless for a long ass time 😭 I JUST THOGUHT THAT MANE WAS A FLUFFY SHIRT OR CROP TOP OR SOMETHING... I know the truth now, and (at the cost of sounding like Rollo) I'm thankful that the mane exists to cover up Leona's bare chest because I do NOT wanna see that out and about.

Idia has the most "different" vibes to his design, and I have to commend him for that. He looks like some futuristic gremlin come to destroy us all, especially when his electronic mask thing simulates new expressions for him. It's neat how the new armor he's equipped with sharpens his features so he, like his Phantom, more closely resembles the art style of Hercules, and there's just enough blue to balance out the black (and same with the orange-red when he gets mad). My favorite part of OB Idia has to be the lower half; it forms a cool vortex that makes me think of the lost souls swirling around in Tartarus.

I like Riddle’s well enough, but I think it’s less of me actually enjoying the look altogether and more of me having nostalgia for it + liking the Alice in Wonderland details in it. I love the ink webbing (especially in the face and its accessories), the gradient flowers decorating his hips, and the cards spilling out. However, I will admit that the design is very busy and chaotic for the head and the lower half (and maybe that was intentional), so it's hard for my eyes to know what to focus on whenever I see OB Riddle.

Azul, Vil, and Malleus are trying but look sort of awkward in several areas:

I like the shoulders and face for Azul, but below that is all downhill; I've never been a fan of his merform, and that really comes through here. The bottom half just looks kinda unadorned (which makes sense; clothing would limit his mobility). Still... it makes most of him look really uninteresting. Not only that, but his tentacles look wrong (though this is an issue with his general merform and not specifically the OB). They're way too short and the shape and size of them makes me think of inflatable mascots outside of used car dealerships.

I appreciate that Vil's OB design gives the vibes of him wandering into an abandoned castle and fastening together an outfit from a tattered curtain, but the end result is... lacking. The halo crown looks super heavy and impractical, the chest looks sort of bland compared to everything else, the waist has these really out of place protruding... spike... things???? And then there's the slapped-on looking peacock feathers on his legs and the odd feathers to blot textured cloak.

I like all the briar incorporated into Malleus’s OB even if the details are drowned out by the excessive black, but I’m not a fan of the neon green on his horns and tail. Malleus’s most focal points—his face and chest—also look kinda weird to me?? Normally I like slicked back hair, but it looks odd and almost balding on this character. The green/green-grey color of his skin is also unflattering and makes him look like a moldy cabbage.

Jamil and Grim (?) are very confused and unappealing.

In all honesty, the individual pieces of the outfit are okay?? I like the gold accessories + how the veil the skirt flares out. The recurring diamond patterns are are an interesting way to incorporate “scales” without having actual snakeskin. The literal snake hair has potential to be cute, but I hate Hate HATE how it’s styled as a turban (poor sentient hair snakes are probably all twisted up) and the little ink goatee 💀 Combined with everything else, he is way too over-designed no matter where you look. At least everyone else has their detailed elements better spread out… I think it might have looked better if it had like 1-2 less detailed elements and eradicate the goatee.

Grim (?) is a random mishmash of traits from the other OB boys. And it looks bad (even if the point is for nothing in the design to go together well). The worst part is the humanish front legs. No further comment.

[hestzhyen]

An Extremely Subjective HakuHiro Romantic Trope Breakdown

Greetings, void. This arc is rough and the brainworms won't let me write my own hurt/comfort fan fiction- they demand half-baked analysis instead of lovemaking. So have the closest thing that passes for fluff from yours truly.

In essence, this is just a list of the explicitly romantic tropes I love applying to HakuHiro with varying degrees of gushing ship babble as justification. Some are definitely skewed hard towards headcanon but there's always at least a tenuous connection to something that's demonstrated in the work itself. Proceed if this kind of brain rot sounds like your jam! Otherwise just please let me die from cringe in peace.

Battle Couple

Offense and support working in perfect harmony.

So this is just one of my personal favourites, but Chihiro and Hakuri definitely have strong vibes for this trope. They fought together in an absolutely stunning display of mutual trust and understanding in the Rakuzaichi Arc. Seriously, these guys pulled off some truly spine-tingly good moves to take down Kyora despite Hakuri only just awakening to his powers the very same day.

They demonstrated this again in the train fight protecting Uruha- Hakuri and Chihiro only need the bare minimum of communication between them to fight in style. I look forward to more chances for them to show off their teamwork! If they end up fighting back-to-back in canon I'll probably just straight up ascend to fudanshi heaven on the spot. I LOVE BATTLE COUPLES.

Love at First Sight/Rescue Romance

"This is the kind of man I need in my life."

Love at First Sight is pretty self-explanatory: person A sees person B and immediately falls head over heels. It's easy to slap that on Hakuri in his introduction chapter- he's only missing an invitation to get to know each other over some coffee when they finally meet up, really. Unless asking someone to help you kill your family is the Kagurabachi universe's equivalent...?

As for Rescue Romance, it's another very simple scenario: person A is saved by person B, which causes them to fall in love. Chihiro saves Hakuri with the other random people at the site of Sojo's massacre attempt, and Hakuri... yeah. You get it.

I think there's a better trope to associate to this later on in the list, but Love at First Sight and Rescue Romance are still apt and very funny tropes to apply towards Hakuri's first impression of Chihiro. The way he waxed poetic over the mystery samurai who saved and inspired him had me in stitches. Seriously, my oldest notes on Hakuri from that chapter are mostly just laughing about him being really passionate about Chihiro for someone who's not intended to be a love interest! Go get 'im, Hakuri. He needs you in his life just as much as you need him in yours.

There's also something to be said from Chihro's side, though...

You bet your sweet Bippy Chihiro's solution to this also ties into his feelings about Hakuri.

Chihiro has expressed that Hakuri saved him twice so far (as of chapter 64). He's guilty as hell over it but he's putting those feelings to good use to become stronger. He's going to become the person Hakuri said he needed, and who he already thinks Chihiro is- but more on that later. Still, improving yourself to meet the measure someone else has of you is pretty romantic, isn't it? Especially so they stop getting hurt for your sake!

Mindlink Mates

Don't need to hear each other at all if you just "get" them.

This is something I like to apply as a Fanon concept based on what happens in canon. Hakuri and Chihiro aren't literally linked mind-to-mind via telepathy, but both of them have a deep understanding of what the other's thinking and feeling at any given moment. I really like the concept that they understand everything about each other on an instinctual level. It's mostly fueled by the Aun concepts that have been associated to them, which I'll get into during a later section. But yeah. Hakuri and Chihiro being borderline telepathic in how they can sense the other's status. That's crack cocaine to me and it's not too far removed from canon so I'm running with it.

I also really like the idea of their strong emotions and desires bouncing off of and amplifying each other's, but I don't know if there's a specific trope for that, so it gets placed here at the end of this tangentially related section. Also not something far removed from canon given how they both fuel each other's self-destructive savior tendencies because they feel the same way!

Moe Couplet

They're so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute

A Moe Couplet is essentially a pair of characters that enhance each other's cute traits. Separate, they are perfectly fine individuals with their own appeal. Together, they are adorable and capable of some tooth-rottingly sweet moments. This trope isn't typically associated with romantic duos in stuff aimed at general audiences, but it's common in BL as the basis for "fluff" works and wholesome pairings.

This is probably the biggest stretch to apply towards canon on the list, honestly. We haven't seen that much moe moe action from Hakuri and Chihiro- they're kind of busy fighting for their lives or hurting themselves to save others most of the time. But the few moments we get send me straight into cuteness agression-induced brain rot every time I think of them.

Most of this trope label for HakuHiro comes from little details. Like Chihiro often being shown reassuring Hakuri, and Hakuri getting some of the sweetest smiles out of him in return. Hakuri brings out Chihiro's soft side when Char's not around to do so and Chihiro helps Hakuri be his absolute silliest. These guys are are so good to each other! They melt the ice around my cold, dead heart into a slurry of hnnngh and incoherent shipper screeching.

What's it actually based on though? Well, I thought I was just doing normal delusional fudanshi things by thinking Hakuri is extra cute when he's around Chihiro and vice versa. But then Hokazono-sensei threw me a bone in an interview by saying he intended for Hakuri to "bring out Chihiro's personality and add some cuteness". And I. Just. I exploded into confetti on the spot. MOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

One True Love

This ship is not merely an OTP to me, if you haven't noticed.

Note: "ai" is not inherently romantic despite it being the end-goal of pretty much every romance novel out there. It's for deep, profound affection felt for someone- friends, family, even pets. It's rare and not commonly said aloud outside of the climax of a love story is all!

This is mostly tied to Hakuri's experience with love growing up and how he can find out what 愛 [ai, purest and deepest love], really means.

Hakuri probably has no fucking clue what love of any kind is really supposed to look or feel like, much less the ultimate form of it. His father threw ai around as something to manipulate his children into serving the family tradition. Soya used it as an excuse to torture him. This was deliberately done to contrast with the love that Chihiro knew growing up- true ai between father and son, which was cruelly ripped away from him.

So let Chihiro teach Hakuri, and Hakuri provide in return. They're already each other's perfect partners anyway so just put a romantic spin on it!

Hakuri finding unconditional love he doesn't fear in Chihiro and Chihiro finding the same in Hakuri once more. Neither of them ever needing to fall in love again because they slot together so perfectly to fill the gaps in each other's hearts. Oh I'm gonna die...

Opposites Attract

If not meant to be canon, why colour coded as opposite compliments? :thonk:

This is the trope that activates a primitive part of my brain that overrides all thoughts with eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee noises when it comes to HakuHiro. Hakuri and Chihiro are true opposites that are perfectly balanced to contrast and compliment each other, resulting in a duo greater than the sum of it's parts.

Hokazono-sensei made his intentions about Hakuri and Chihiro extremely clear by going so far as to colour code them for us. This is the protagonist and his foil/deuteragonist guy who is Important as Fuck. The level of detail in designing and writing them reads like he took this trope extremely seriously and said "let's save the Hero + Lancer coding for Hiyuki instead". 'Cause as much as I love her, Hiyuki's got nothing on Hakuri when it comes to this trope. Her thing is closer to being the same person as Chihiro with the opposite frame of mind and mode of expression- it's Hakuri and Chihiro who are the true manifestation of Opposites Attract down to the tiniest details. I'm ready to die on this hill so come at me and put me out of my misery.

I mean just look at these guys:

Chihiro: black and red, stoic, reserved, serious and polite, slim and straight profile.

Hakuri: white and blue, emotive, outgoing, silly and casual, loose and boxy profile.

They invert the same ways under pressure; Chihiro stresses and falters while Hakuri focuses and buckles down. Their fucking backstories are in on it too: they both lost their father's love but under distinctly opposite circumstances. Even the love they received was contrasted since Kunishige was a perfectly wholesome dad while Kyoura used love in an abusively manipulative way! And that laid the foundation for the premise of the Rakuzaichi arc- Hakuri wants to destroy his family's legacy while Chihiro still wants to do right by his. It would take a whole 'nother post to list everything between them because every single detail about one is carefully crafted to be present in the other in order to complete their characters. It's absolutely insane and it's what really sold me on the ship.

The level of care put into writing Hakuri and Chihiro as opposites who complete each other is out of this fucking world. I'll feel sorry for whatever girl gets assigned to be a mandatory heterosexual love interest for either of them because there's just no way to compete when two people are written to be so thoroughly intertwined with each other.

(To clarify just in case: I don't think Chiyuki is a bad ship. I'm not trying to trash it and say HakuHiro's better or more legitimate somehow. I just have an issue with shounen romance in general because the girls don't get nearly as much narrative effort to make them compelling companions to the MC compared to the "best friends" and Kagurabachi is doing nothing new in that regard so far. Hokazono-sensei can actually make a bigger impact by refusing to tease Chihiro and Hiyuki at all instead of going down the tired old path of obligated sub-par heterosexual ship tease/romance IMO.)

The Power of Love

Nice Heroic Second Wind you got after thinking about Chihiro there, Hakuri.

So this is definitely skewed towards pure delusion on my part, but that's what we're all here for anyway. Power of Friendship? Never heard of it.

Basically, person A uses their love for person B to power up and overcome the hardship they're facing. In this case, I'm interpreting Hakuri's tendency to think of Chihiro when he's in dire straits as romantic!

Hakuri comes in clutch a lot and his feelings abut Chihiro are the reason he can do it. The memory of his samurai refusing to yield gives Hakuri the strength to keep standing and finally put Soya down in chapter 36. He does it again in a sadder way in Chapter 58 when he thinks of Chihiro and musters the last of his strength to summon him too late to save Uruha. I have no doubt that he'll have more of these moments as the series goes on, too. Chihiro is kind of hope incarnate to Hakuri.

Chihiro's drawn strength from his feelings for Hakuri too, but not in a pinch kind of way like the Power of Love trope typically implies. I'm just waiting for the day when it's his turn to use memories of Hakuri to keep standing (never gonna happen)!

Chapter 64 update- Chihiro had his own moment! And oh boy is it amazing.

"That's you!!"

He thinks back to Hakuri saying he needs a Samurai in his life, and combined with the guilt he feels over Hakuri's current bed-ridden status, powers up so he can be the person Hakuri said he needed. Chihiro wants to get stronger so Hakuri doesn't have to risk his life and health for him ever again. He's going to become Hakuri's samurai. Holy shit. This is canon! Let all the doubts surrounding how Chihiro feels about Hakuri be dispelled- he cares a hell of a lot.

Ship Tease

Putting this here for lack of a better term, but there's a running gag about Hakuri and Chihiro's relationship that's been escalating in intensity since the early parts of the Rakuzaichi arc. It only comes across in bits and pieces in English compared to Japanese, sadly, but I'll do my best to explain it.

Basically, I'm interpreting the jokes about Hakuri acting like a dog as deliberate ship tease for the lols from the author.

"Paw. Shake. Good boy."

It starts in chapter 28 with Hakuri dropping everything he's doing to run over to Chihiro when his name is called. It's really cute and funny and not something that can get lost in translation- Chihiro calls, and Hakuri comes. Just like a loyal dog to it's master.

It's set aside for a while until the Sword Bearer Assassination Arc starts up and Hiyuki drops this banger during the trial in chapter 46:

"But where he [Hakuri] stands is a big pain in the butt. He's not the one calling the shots." - official TL

Of note is the term Hiyuki used to say that Chihiro's the one in charge: 舵取り [kajitori]. The normal meaning for it is "steering a boat" or "helmsman" with the secondary being leader/director, so it's not like the English TL messed up. Same meaning different wording. What's lost is the subtext: 舵取り as Hiyuki's using it can also imply that Chihiro's in charge of Hakuri like the owner of a dangerous guard dog would be lmao. Hakuri kind of earned that jab after threatening to leave her in the storehouse to die if she hurt Chihiro, though.

And then there's this completely unnecessary scene from Ch. 50...

"Who's this? This little squirt smells like Chihiro, but he's not Chihiro."- official TL

The TL again isn't bad here but it really downplays just how fucking weird Samura is (which downgrades the rocket propellant to mere ship fuel). Samura's phrasing about Hakuri smelling like Chihiro was so batshit insane in Japanese that fellow JP shippers felt compelled to reach out to the rest of us in English to let us know, which is almost completely unheard of.

Basically, Samura wasn't saying that Hakuri merely smelled like Chihiro. He actually said that Hakuri was wearing Chihiro's scent by using 纏う, conjugated and written as まとって (matotte)- completely enveloped in it to the point of smelling identical to him. A native JP reader (in the link above) said that in their interpretation, the phrase "香りをまとって [kaori o matotte], wrapped up in/wearing a scent" isn't really used for friends smelling like each other, but more for lovers, family members, or dogs and their owners in the sense that being so physically close all the time causes their scents to rub off on each other. Hmm.

It's not a normal term used to describe smelling like someone in the first place. When Samura meets younger Chihiro in the flashback and says he "reeks of Rokuhira", he just emphasizes the typical word for "smell/scent" (香り [kaori]) in quotation marks in the Japanese version: [六平の"香り"濃い...ッ!!] and uses 濃い [koi, concentrated/thick] like someone normally would to describe it as "reeking". So for some reason we just had to know that Hakuri smelled like Chihiro in the way dog or a lover would, huh... so much so that Samura thought he actually was Chihiro... (I can't get over this, it sends my sides into orbit every fucking time).

So yeah. That's some top-tier ship tease if I do say so myself. What that dog doin'? What did they get up to on the train before meeting with Uruha? That's for us to decide!

Soulmates

It's not exactly hard to see that Hakuri and Chihiro have a bit more going on between them than standard friendship or brotherhood, even for a shounen series. Even some dudebros acknowledged this before the fandom gave over to homophobic trash anyway.

It all stems from Hakuri invoking one of the most potent romantic tropes there is as soon as they meet:

"That day, a samurai lit my helpless existence on fire."

Jesus Christ Hakuri, that's some passion!

I think the "soulmates" trope is the most fitting description of what's going on between Hakuri and Chihiro from the very first time they meet. I'll even go so far to say that it actually has a pretty damn good case for being canon in a platonic sense!

For the uninitiated (like I was), the soulmates trope is invoked when two characters feel a strong and immediate connection upon first meeting each other. It can be one-sided or even completely rejected by both at the start, but they will always find their way to each other since they are fated to be. The whole world falls into kilter when they get together even if they were perfectly functional people on their own before. HakuHiro is this trope to a fucking T in my mind. Absolutely flawless execution, 10/10 no notes.

Hakuri's part is obvious- he sees Chihiro and decides he must have this amazing person in his life no matter what. He feels the pull of destiny and answers the call with an overabundance of enthusiasm.

Chihiro's part is more subtle. He does the one-sided rejection thing at the start by running away, but fate pulls them together via circumstance and he takes Hakuri back with him. And somehow, for some reason, Hakuri is the first person he opens up about his genuine feelings to in a surprisingly raw way:

"If I don't do something, and a sacred blade takes the lives of innocent people... I wouldn't be able to bear that..."

He met the guy minutes ago, tried to run away from him, then decided to bear his heart to him in the elevator. Chihiro's a natural stoic who doesn't show much of what he's feeling and generally keeps thoughts like this to himself. But Hakuri brings out this softer, more vulnerable side to him that no other character has before. Then as the arc progresses, Chihiro comes to rely on Hakuri more and more until it's crazy to think that he ever ran away in the first place. It's like they were always meant to find and save each other.

I'm not looking too hard at this with shipping goggles strapped to my face. We get confirmation that this is what's going on with them via The Word of God Himself:

From the Volume 4 description: 一方、兄からの愛と暴力によって地に伏した伯理。今際の際に脳裏を過ったのは、ある少女との日々だった。極限の中、二人の少年��魂が呼応する。

"Meanwhile, Hakuri is struck down by his brother's love and violence. On the brink of death, he remembers the days he spent with a certain girl. In the midst of this extreme tension, the souls of both boys resonate with each other."

The last sentence is basically more total harmony/Aun imagery for Hakuri and Chihiro. 呼 (ko) means to call and 応 (ou) means to respond. Together, 呼応 means to act in concert. So Hakuri and Chihiro's souls call out and respond to each other in perfect sync when they're in dire straits. It's canon!

If that's not enough, then there's also the Aun imagery. It was left out of the EN Chapter 38 colour page as usual (never gonna forgive the EN version for removing the text), but basically the author used deliberate religious imagery to tell us that Chihiro and Hakuri have an inherently harmonious relationship. A and Un, in perfect sync- whatever one starts, the other will finish. The beginning and end of all things. A perfect pair.

They demonstrate this lethal effectiveness by working in tandem during the storehouse fight, with Chihiro only needing to yell Hakuri's name for Hakuri to perfectly interpret everything he's thinking and execute on it flawlessly. It's absolutely insane stuff even if we disregard Hakuri only woke up to his power less than an hour ago in-universe isn't it?! And they repeated the stunt the next day while protecting Uruha, so it wasn't just a one-off for a cool moment. It's core to their dynamic for their souls to resonate in total harmony!

And just to top it off, we got a funny little gag of Chihiro and Hakuri passing out and waking up at the same time side-by-side after the auction, totally in sync.

All of this within a week of meeting each other.

Some actual romantic soulmate couples don't get this much effort put into coding their relationship, just saying. I also don't think people would be so quick to jump on the sibling interpretation after Shiba's "What are ya, twins?" joke if Hakuri and Chihiro were a heterosexual ship option, just sayin'.

Unknowingly in Love

No sad pictures of dead Kunishige in this post!

This is another one that's far closer to fanon than canon. It banks on the fact that both of them grew up isolated and, quite frankly, probably poorly socialized compared to the rest of the world.

Chihiro lived with just his dad in a remote mountain home and only occasionally visited the town nearby with Shiba. No friends, no school even. Hakuri lived on the secluded Sazanami estate surrounded by his family and saw some of the outside world, but likely only the criminal elements of it. Plus there's the whole growing up only knowing love as something abusive and manipulative thing; even his parent's marriage was strongly implied to be arranged and joyless. Neither of these guys have anything decent in their personal lives to reference from!

So in my mind, while Hakuri and Chihiro have certainly heard of romantic love and thought about it themselves, they wouldn't really have an idea of what it feels or looks like to them. Couple that with being each other's first friends ever and you've got some extremely potent fluff (or angst) about them being unaware that what they're feeling isn't platonic.

You Are Worth Hell

I will follow you into the dark.

And to round things off, one of my favourite romance tropes ever! But it's not canon at all- YET.

You see, Hakuri and Chihiro are constantly pulling each other forward. When one stumbles, the other's there with a helping hand. But what happens when one descends into hell like Chihiro says he's doing this very arc? Will the other try to throw them a lifeline and hope for the best?

Nay! The other will stay by their side out of love.

This trope can veer too close to toxic situationship scenarios for comfort, it's true. Characters staying to "save" someone or letting themself get dragged down at their own expense is not healthy at all. But the core sentiment of this trope is that anything is bearable if you're with the one you love. The emphasis isn't on the mutual suffering but rather the comfort of being together despite it all.

My personal interpretation of the relationship between Hakuri and Chihiro is that one was born in hell (Hakuri) and the other has condemned himself to it (Chihiro). Hakuri's trying to rise up while Chihiro has consigned himself to sink further into the darkness. They met at at a crossroads on their respective journeys and are walking together for a while. And when Chihiro takes a turn to keep going further down, I think Hakuri will stop him from going too far. Hakuri will be the light in the gloom until the mission's over. Then they'll figure out if they can make it back up or not. And if they can't? Well, he was already at rock bottom before Chihiro came into his life. It's worth it to stay in hell at his side and face everything together.

So I think this can apply very well to HakuHiro as the current arc progresses. Hakuri choosing to stay as a partner to provide support rather than trying to save Chihiro at his own expense would be huge character growth for him. And Chihiro accepting Hakuri's gesture would be growth for him too- he doesn't have to do this alone. There's no truly Bad End for their stories if they are walking side-by-side to face the hardships together until the end.

That's it. If you got through all this, thanks. Yap at me about tropes I missed! I love hearing the myriad ways other people interpret this ship. Unless you think fixed left-right boring seme/uke stereotype ChiHaku is the only valid interpretation, in which case we can never be friends. Sorry not sorry.

[moonydustx]

I was asked on Ao3 to create a cute and different scenario with Law. I don't think this is even close to being the final version, but I thought it was a little cute and decided to bring it here. Cute, Law tries one of the reader's hobbies and fails, probably poorly crocheted, poorly written and poorly revised

Law x F!Reader requests here | rules and guides | masterlist

Comments, reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated

--

All of Law's methodism seemed impossible at that moment, at least it seemed to make the task he intended to do even more difficult. He liked you, it was as clear as any sea you two had ever crossed, but how could it be so difficult to put into words or demonstrate?

Luckily, his way of demonstrating whatever his feelings were and no matter how much they remained hidden for a long time was by demonstrating services, in this case, he was looking to demonstrate that he also cared about your tastes.

The two of you had already spent nights counting coins - and being careful not to mix the repeated ones with the new ones - reading and rereading the stories. Now his objective is to introduce you to something you liked, nothing more fair, right?

However, it seemed impossible. How could it be so difficult to connect those two dots? In fact, the two stitches were huge threads and crochet needles, at least in Law's head they were much bigger than the ones he used in surgery.

The task was being doubly difficult for two specific reasons: one, he had no idea about crochet, even with the magazine he had picked up and all the clothes you had already presented to your colleagues and two; he was using your material and at some point, no matter how much he tried to keep busy, you would suspect he was missing.

After sitting for hours, Law found himself doing something he would never have thought of: giving up. He dropped the needles that were now becoming a big knot on his bed and went out to try to breathe something that wasn't so stressful. He just didn't expect to find the person "responsible" for all this.

"Hey!" His voice came out suddenly, surprising you as you rummaged through the kitchen cabinets. "Everything is fine?"

"Someone hid my things!" your furious voice woke him up, apparently he was about to be discovered and you didn't seem to like the idea of ​​his disappearance. "Can't you help me?"

"So, I…"

"I don't know, maybe teleport my things here? I'm a little stressed and that helps me so much to get my head straight." you interrupted him, letting the flood of words come out, barely realizing that you had interrupted him. "I don't think so, do you? Sorry to bother you with this."

"I know where it is." he snorted, his slumped shoulders indicating that he was giving up. "But, I have a good explanation, I think."

"What do you mean a good explanation?"

He just indicated the way with his head and without even blinking, you decided to follow him. After all, what would your captain have related to crochet and needles?

The first thing you found strange was that he immediately took you towards his room, this being a place rarely visited - and authorized - by the crew of the Polar Tang. Law opened the door and allowed you to go through first. The second thing that surprised you was the tangle of lines that were on his bed. The way Law looked at you indicated everything you needed to know, guilty.

"May I ask why?" the light laugh that escaped your lips eased the tension under Law. "I mean, I never expected that."

"I just wanted to do something nice, after all you always help me with the coins, and the books and…" he limited himself to responding, watching you sit on his bed and start to undo the knots. "I tried, but it ended up becoming a big knot."

"Not a big knot…" you moved the needles and soon the tangled threads became a small stitched thread. "You just left it inverted, you managed to make a little fabric chain."

"All this work for a little chain?"

"Were you doing this for me?" you answered his question with another, leaving him stagnant. It only took a few seconds for Law to just nod. "It looks amazing, captain."

"Was it amazing?" his eyes looked like a puppy's, trying to recognize the praise in your words

"For a beginner, of course! I can even use it like this." you tied the thread sewn onto your wrist, turning it into a bracelet. "If you want, I can teach you how to do it."

"I think I'll let the idea go for a bit." Law's body sweated as he saw you approach, even with a safe distance between your bodies. "But if you want a quiet place to do that, you can come here whenever you need. I mean… I can read and you can stay here, I-I don't know."

"Thank you captain." you smiled and in a burst of courage - mixed with fear of his reaction, you stood on tiptoe and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I loved the gift and I also loved the proposal, see you later!"

Law watched you leave with his heart almost coming out of his mouth. He still preferred to keep the surgical needle and sutures, however, that little bracelet on your arm symbolized more than any other hobby you two had tried together.

[anarchistkale]

What the fuck were the character designs in Castlevania Judgement

Weird first post for a blog supposedly about anarchism and/or game design, but it includes designs in a game and I do what I want so fuck it. I just became aware of Castlevania Judgement, a 2009 fighting game featuring a grab bag of characters from across the Castlevania franchise. And the visual designs of the characters in this game are absolutely fucking BATSHIT, and not (in my opinion) in a good way. I'm gonna show you (with "you" being the roughly two hypothetical people who might actually see this post) a few examples to demonstrate what I mean.

First we got Trevor Belmont. Why is he called Ralph in this? Fucked if I know. Look at the straps on this son of a bitch's chest! Why the everloving fuck would an outfit need this many straps? Are the gray bits meant to be metal or leather? Genuinely can't tell. And would you believe me if I told you this is one of the least insane designs in this game?

This is Grant Danasty. Why? Why any of this? He's not fucking mummified in the game he originally appears in. He's just a dude. What is going on with his proportions, how is he supposed to use that weapon without shredding his arm, and what the fuck is up with those inward-facing spikes on his wrist? Weird shit on the wrists and feet is going to be a common theme with these designs. That and random, unnecessary spikes sticking off of everything.

Then there's Sypha Belnades. Setting aside that goofy-looking bulbous staff, just take a look at those boots. What the fuck are those metal crosses doing sticking off the front of her high heels? Are they supposed to be armour? How are they even attached? And what in the world is that on her wrist? Utterly unhinged. That's not even to mention the egregiously tight pants and the unbelievably tittieful top they've got her in: we'll see much worse in that department later on.

Next up is Maria Renard. So much "what the fuck" going on here. Again, the shoes are unhinged. The pink front bits, the boosted heeled soles, and the black parts look like pieces of three separate pieces of footwear stitched together very poorly. What are those black straps just above the boots? Part of the tights? Individual straps that she puts on one at a time over the tights? Madness. What are those plus-shaped things holding her pigtails? The dress is just four different 2012 Hot Topic outfits torn up and haphazardly sewn together, and that staff. What in the holy blessed fuck is that staff? Fucking candelabra-ass base, tiny little narrow bit connecting the cage to the rest of it about to snap off at any moment, and is that bird meant to be in horrible agony inside that twisted metal cage? Because it definitely is. Also, deduct 1,000 points for putting the small child in such a short skirt, obviously. Disgusting, hate to see it, moving on.

Alucard, my beloved. What have they done to you? Look at those gauntlets. The upward pointing spike. The looping bit of metal from the wrist to the elbow. What would possess someone to design gauntlets that way? More random spikes on the pointless red line curving across his chest. And again, the boots are unbelievable. Look at the ankles. Why is there that bulging out bit? What purpose does that serve other than to make the wearer trip on their own feet constantly? Outrageous.

Motherfucking Dracula. Lord of Darkness, most powerful vampire in history, etc. He has two rows of what appear to be golden nipples running down his chest. They're not spikes, they're clearly hollow. What the fuck else would you even call them? And then of course there's the exorbitant amount of pointless spikes coming off of his back and the mantle behind his head. Why the squiggly lines along his sleeve? Thank fuck we can't see his feet so we're not subjected to more atrocious boots. But don't you motherfuckers worry. I saved the worst for last.

Carmilla. For the love of all that is holy, what the FUCK have they done to Carmilla? Look at this! Where do I even start? Of course there's the elephant in the room, and the elephant is tits. The design is hyper-sexualized to a comical degree, of course, but that's not uncommon. It's not that she's in elaborate BDSM gear that melts my brain here. What is going on with that...weapon? Oddly shaped, spikey shield with two spikey balls sticking off the side and a bizarrely curved blade protruding out from the front? Never mind how that blade seems barely attached and liable to snap off on the first swing, how is she supposed to even use it? I've looked up gameplay clips of her fighting, but everything is so visually messy in the clips I've found that it's hard to tell what's meant to be happening. The only thing the camera ever focuses clearly on is her boobs jiggling. Then of course there's the outrageous gauntlet on her off-hand, with another precariously attached, oddly shaped, utterly pointless blade sticking off her forearm. Obviously there's the ubiquitous unnecessary spikes all over everything. But worst of all, as usual, is the boots. I've run out of different ways to say what the fuck in this post, so I'll do it in caps: WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE? The blades sticking up in the back that look like they'd shred her calves when she walks. The protruding bladed disks coming off the heels that would shred her ankles when she walks. The oddly angled spikes on either side of the front. Perhaps most nonsensically, the fact that the boots don't seem to be secured to her feet in any way: looks like she just slips her feet into them, no straps or anything. She's supposed to be FIGHTING in these! This shit is insane, I feel like I'm losing my mind.

What was the art director thinking? What could have possibly been the rationale for this design philosophy? I don't know, but I needed to share. If anyone sees this rambling mess of a post and wants to share their own favourite examples of bugfuck nonsense videogame character designs, I'd love to see them.

[pinknpoodley]

OKAY. i've seen 200% wolf again and i wrote up my thoughts. this is like soooo much fucking word vomit if you're gonna expand the post lmao

TL;DR i give the movie a 4/5. overall, it was SOLID, though i do acknowledge it had some flaws. it was a major improvement over 100% wolf, much to my relief. i realize that i'm very biased, but it's far from abysmal like some reviews are saying. for me, it was well worth the wait and the hype!

(major spoilers, obvs)

okay, first of all THAT INTRO THO. IT WAS ACTUALLY SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING. IT WAS CAPTIVATING I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. i actually thought 100% wolf's opening scene was VERY solid too, actually one of my favorite parts of the movie, but in a more emotional and heartwarming way

-WHOEVER DESIGNED THE MOON SPIRITS JUST FUCKING KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. HOLY SHIT. they look perfect in EVERY single way, and i never thought much about how they looked before but man, this beats anything i could've ever imagined. i think about them constantly, just... WOW. and they way they dance around and create a circle when they're gathering moonfire to beam to the earth in order to bless a werewolf with warfing abilities is just...amazing 😭

-as a side note i wonder why they chose to demonstrate some random woman gaining the ability to warf and not a teenager like freddy. i have a hc that werewolves go through their first warfing around the age of puberty which is why freddy warfed on his 14th birthday. but now i'm wondering if there are exceptions to the rule and "late bloomers" so to speak cause that chick was like 30 lmao

-MOOPOO IS ACTUALLY REALLY CUTE. i saw some reviews saying he was annoying but no!! i love his fun little antics (like riding the space rover in the intro) and i'm still adoring the fact that he was modeled after fin edquist's kids. absolutely melts my heart ahh 🥰 i will agree that he is reminiscent of stitch at some points lmao

-LOVED freddy's narration and the character introduction, the way they made it look like a comic book with each character's name, title and class. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE SO PRETTY. AND I AM GLAD THEY DESCRIBED HOTSPUR AS AN EX-CON bc it implies he actually got a greater punishment than just picking up dog shit but still the fact that it's never referenced again in the movie bothers me. "poodles can do anything werewolves can do, but poodlier" and "hardcore awesomeness in-training" FREDDY'S SUCH A DORK I LOVE IT

-interesting how batty's sense of smell proves to be very useful on the mission and is one of her greatest strengths - how she can detect the wind changing and the blimp changing course. i sorta wonder if that's why the pack allows freddy to take her along when they go on missions, cause literally she's the main reason why she and freddy were able to save those people

-loved freddy and batty's teamwork too, how that was showcased. they were seriously so badass!! like damn these gay dogs are getting a lot more done than those big, buff, powerful wolves LMAO. maybe that just drives the primary message of the movie home even more, now that i think about it

-IDK what flasheart was thinking telling the others to act like pigeons to fool the lady but hey somehow it worked!

-"hey it worked! hit more things" BATTY NOOO i felt bad for freddy he got so abused trying to stop the blimp lmao

-THIS FELICITY HAZZARD AND HER FAKE NEWS REPORTING. i much prefer her in the series smh

-lady hightail was such a bitch wtf "we'll discuss his role in the pack later" ??? girl he is the future high howler tf you mean

-legit felt so bad for freddy during this part, it's definitely hard for him when the pack just sees him as a joke. it's terrible seeing him cry like noo bby. AND THEN THE WAY HE SLAPPED FLASHEART AWAY ?? OMG. like i know he was just frustrated and hurt but damn??? knowing what they've been through it just hurts to see that even more cause they usually have a very healthy and loving relationship ): ): and i could never see freddy seriously resenting flasheart, like not even for a second. he loves and admires him so much 😭

-"hey. i respect you...kinda" batty's dialogue in this movie omg I LOVE HERRR she was so cute trying to cheer freddy up!! not to mention the animation ahhh she's just so cute ���

-"cut and color? maybe get some of those curls straightened?" i'm gonna conveniently interpret this to mean that freddy goes to the groomer or maintains his look as a hot pink poodle somehow and i fucking love that lmao

-the lore about the summoning stone is interesting

-the sequence where freddy contorts like something from the exorcist kind of like in the first movie and explodes into a wolf HSDKFvb i'm obsessed

-i don't really get why people have a problem with freddy's wolf form, i think he looks just fine?? i mean, you have the fursona and shreddy jokes and w/e but some people flat out hate it. idc, i think it's very consistent with his poodle and human design. i really believe they put a lot of thought into it. not to mention how well they managed to capture his mannerisms and personality across all three of his forms, i was pretty impressed by that. it had to be pretty challenging. ALSO i figured he would've naturally been a pure white wolf if he'd warfed into one originally, just like he was originally an all white poodle, so it fits right in with my own hcs.

-HIS EXCITEMENT AT BECOMING A REAL WOLF WAS SO FUCKING CUTE OMG. I LOVED THAT PART SO MUCH. WHEN HE WAS FROLICKING LIKE A DEER AND GROWLING AT THE FLOWERS IT WAS ADORABLE HDJDFCVNMB i kept remembering the intro of the first movie where he was little and jumping around all excited to grow up and become a wolf just like flasheart shdfjkc 😭 WHOLESOME AF.

-ALSO. ALSO ALSO ALSO I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW HE DIDN'T ACTUALLY GAIN NEW ABILITIES. he didn't become super strong or anything like his dad. he pulls a fucking twig out of the ground and acts like he is but no lmao it's like spongebob holding up the stick with the marshmallows on both ends acting like he lifted a fuckign barbell shdjfkgv he's STILL the same freddy, goofy and clumsy, he literally just took a different form. i can't express enough how much i LOVED that seriously

-moopoo first meeting batty and freddy and the montage with him and freddy being goofy and bonding together was so cute ahh

-MOOPOO TRYING TO EAT A CROW WAS SO OUT OF POCKET LMFAO. also i love his tendency to add "-poo" to the end of everyone's names lol

-it was cute the way freddy scooped batty up and put her on his back ahhh

-i was disappointed that the pack didn't have more of a reaction to freddy becoming an actual wolf like he was hoping, i mean c'mon he was so happy and excited lmao

-"wow!! thanks uncle!!! ^.^" FREDDY. HE TRIED TO KILL YOU AND IMPRISONED YOUR DAD FOR SIX YEARS. THIS IS NOT A SITUATION WHERE WE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT HIM AND NOT FEEL ENRAGED

-MAX'S BACKSTORY IS SO GOOD IDC. also i love her wolf design, it's actually rly cute. tiny wolf hehe

-the elders really suck actually. i feel like they're always looking to blame freddy for something or scold him, at least as they appear in the movies. they're not very fair imo, they clearly still judge him for being a poodle. also, lady hightail suspending him from the night patrol SMH

-well, flasheart...that was an awfully gentle way of telling freddy that moopoo's gonna die if he stays on earth. but it's super in character for him i feel. also it got really fucking dark there for a second

-the sequence where batty and freddy chase moopoo around on the roof of farfang was so cute ahh

-I CAN'T FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED TWITCHY AND HAMISH IN THIS MOVIE. LIKE HOLY SHIT. they were okay in 100% wolf but they didn't really stand out imo. but like whoa, the writing for them REALLY improved in the sequel. i love them sm now especially hamish lmao

-as a side note i'm sorta confused, do twitchy, hamish and bruno still live on the street while batty lives at farfang w/ the werewolves? based on how the first movie ended i sorta thought they were all living together now??

-twitchy insisting she doesn't like babies and getting freaked out by moopoo was soooo in-character for her lmao.

-hamish and his personality switch with the shades is hilarious hsdjf

-based on some reviews i read i was think there would be more scenes featuring or referencing shit, but it was literally just one and idk why people were freaking out. it wasn't even that bad 🙄

-moopoo is 400 years old apparently, i wonder when moon spirits reach maturity

-the great kennel and adding to the dog pack lore?? kinda neat i guess even if it only appeared very briefly

-THE SCENE WITH HAMISH TALKING TO THE "ORACLE" LMFAO

-also freddy not being used to having a big heavy wolf body shdfv

-"learn how to transform with your clothes on" BUT HE LOSES THEM WHEN HE TRANSFORMS BACK. WHAT IS YOUR POINT TWITCHY. but yeah like you'd think he'd be more careful in the sunlight when he's in his canine forms by now but he's so impulsive

-it was so cute how they put moopoo in a baby stroller with twitchy and disguised bruno as his mom shjfk

-OK BUT I WILL DEFEND THIS FIT WITH MY LIFE. GENUINELY AWESOME AND ADORABLE. like he worked with what he could find and he rocked it. and holy shit the queer coding is absolutely insane IDCCC. also batty being super supportive 🥺🥺

-the montage of hamish failing at being a guide dog and twitchy eventually getting fed up and kicking his ass,, rip

-"shave the baby" shdfvj

-THE DUCK FLYING INTO THE FORCE FIELD AND DISINTEGRATING ???

-moon spirits are incredibly powerful holy fuck. the way moopoo blasted through the force field like ??

-i actually think it's cute and sad how batty is scared of bats and it's implied she got her name from other dogs teasing her hsdjv

-wholesome batty and freddy moments 🥰"i'll take care of them lupin style" and then he falls over himself SDHFGK

-HANK W/ THE TENNIS BALLS. he seems fun i want more lore on him

-the moopoo hungry scene ahhh it was so wholesome to see freddy comforting him. and the animation where he was trying to consume his inner moonlight was really cool, like woah. the whole concept of werewolves having an inner moonlight/moonfire...i just love the lore in this movie so much it's unreal

-AND THE PART WHERE MOOPOO STARTS DREAMING. HOLY SHIT?? THE COLORS AND VISUALS. the animation is SO FUCKING GOOD i'll fight anyone who says otherwise

-THE LULLABY OMGGGGG I'M OBSESSED IT WAS SO SWEET

-freddy punching gar-gar in the eye and running away w/ batty I CAN'T THEY'RE SO GOOFY

-jennifer saunders is amazing as max, i loved her from the first introduction of her character omg. she killed it! also her expressions are sooo good i love it

-love how they made the same joke as they did in 100% wolf with freddy trying to spit on the ground but failing dfgj

-more hamish and twitchy banter, i love how they tease each other and bicker sm

-the part where max mentioned a trust exercise and freddy assumed she meant a trust fall HSDJFV

-"if you'd rather be moopoo's daddy, i'm cool with that. i could be the mummy" BASED hamish

-the entire scene where freddy is pretending to kill the dogs LMAO?? then moopoo waking up and finding them "dead" SDFJGF

-"weird is different, and different is good" i really liked the scene where max and freddy were bonding. it gave max more depth and insight to her character. and freddy does tell batty he doesn't trust her but i think he did end up sympathizing with her in spite of what she'd done because he is very soft-hearted

-hotspur dumbass moments, he deserved to get caught in every one of those traps. also it was kind of really fucking weird how flasheart was laughing at him like it was endearing or something when this is the same monster that locked him away for six years and tried to kill his son. maybe he was happy bc he thought one of the spikes might impale his heart or something but that's probably wishful thinking. WTF this family. and NO I'M NEVER GONNA SHUT UP ABT THAT. IT MAKES NO SENSE HOW HE'S STILL PART OF THE PACK

-interesting how moopoo turns red and turns into a little gremlin when he takes the energy from the whoopsies lmao

-why did max diss freddy's human form tho i genuinely don't get it 😭 poor him

-gar-gar was cute when he wanted to play fetch with batty aww. the way their friendship develops is super sweet

-yeah idk the wolf runes look different to me in this movie compared to the series. it's pretty interesting. also interesting how freddy specifically said wolf runes, implying the existence of other runes, namely dog runes like in the series. i sorta doubt that was intentional but it's fun to think of it that way

-"we're looking up" is SUCH A CUTE SONG. I LOVED THAT ENTIRE MONTAGE. ALSO THE BABY GAR-GARS WERE ADORABLE. and the earth magic stuff is really fucking cool, i wonder if they might incorporate that lore into the series.

-i noticed that the magic only changes the color of freddy's eyes, but that doesn't happen with max? i wonder why that is. maybe i missed something. he looks pretty neat with the glowing red eyes tho lmao

-why did bruno, twitchy and hamish want to eat moopoo's vomit tho

-OK BUT HAMISH SCREAMING AT GAR-GAR LMAO

-also freddy becoming sorta possessed by the earth magic was interesting? i feel like they could've done a lot more with that

-why did freddy cast a rainbow spell around batty... HMMM

-i was surprised by the way max felt genuinely betrayed by freddy, and the way he said she has no friends. like basically, she's alone. and they did appear to have a heart-to-heart there while freddy was trying to talk her into casting the portal spell. she was just fooling them but still, it did seem a little genuine. i think she was just overcome with the urge to get her warfing abilities back and get revenge on the moon spirits. but honestly think max could've been rehabilitated, there was potential there. it sucks that in the end she was turned into a whoopsie and that was it

-i like how max couldn't find a word that rhymes with gravity, so she just made up a word lmao

-wait how tf did twitchy swallow hamish's shades

-yeeeah i was not a fan of the fart joke with bruno, with that being like his main contribution in the film ?? but at least it didn't drag on for too long ??

-gar-gar's return was sweet, again i love the friendship he formed with batty ahh

-the giant mutated moopoo was...completely unanticipated. but it was so sweet the way freddy sang his lullaby to calm him down

-AND THE SCENE WHERE FREDDY GAVE HIM HIS INNER LIGHT. i just...omg that was so beautiful and so in-character. like yeah, he WOULD be that self-sacrificing and it hurts so much

-it was incredibly sweet to see moopoo reunited with his mom and the other moon spirits omg. AND THEN HOW THEY ALL WORKED TOGETHER TO RETURN FREDDY'S INNER LIGHT. THAT WAS GENUINELY SO BEAUTIFUL OH MY FUCKING GOD

-THIS IS HTE MOST WHOLESOME SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN OMG LOOK AT THESE DOGS

-AND THEN HOW THE PACK BOWED TO HIM AT THE END AHHH THAT WAS ACTUALLY PERFECT

closing thoughts:

-there were a lot of reviews complaining that it was unfunny. i can agree the jokes are kinda dumb and corny at times but to me that gives it charm lmao

-it's kind of interesting how the moonstone ring doesn't appear at all, like it isn't even referenced?? i thought it would be, but it wasn't important to the story at all. the story was purely focused on the moon spirits.

-ALSO NO HARRIET, CHARIOT OR MRS. MUTTON which surprised me, but again, they weren't important to the story at all. and i was thinking we'd see hotspur and flasheart (and the other wolves for that matter) in their human forms apart from in the intro?? but again, i guess it wasn't relevant so they didn't include that

-lastly, i've gotta be honest. i think this movie was much better enjoyed by fans of the series and the first movie than by people who know absolute nothing about the franchise. not to say that it can't be enjoyed by people who know nothing about it otherwise. it's just that knowing the characters and events from the first movie makes it a little less confusing imo. we did get some background on freddy, hotspur, flasheart and batty in the intro. however, there was barely anything about twitchy, bruno and hamish and no references to how they met batty and freddy. the segments featuring wolf runes also make more sense if you've watched the series imo, they are well established in the show.

-i may have additional thoughts on the movie that i'll post about later but that's it for now. AGAIN, IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

[warningsine]

A disclaimer: I have always gravitated towards unstable people. Maybe it's because I was bullied as a child. You see, when you get picked on, aren't athletic, and—I don't think I need to add this but will—aren't popular, you come up with ways to compensate. This is how a lot of people develop stunning personalities; I, unfortunately, opted instead to embrace unbridled chaos. My boyfriend promises me, completely voluntarily and without any prompting every single day, that he doesn't mind. (Wait, am I unstable?) And I think that’s why when I sat down to watch Showtime’s Yellowjackets, I felt an immediate kinship with both young and adult Misty (played by Samantha Hanratty and Christina Ricci, respectively). I love mess, almost as much as I love loyalty, and she's got both in spades.

For those not watching 2022’s first breakaway hit, Yellowjackets follows a group of female high school soccer players after their plane crashes in the wilderness on their trip to Nationals. Half the series is a flashback to the past, documenting the immediate trauma that comes with surviving a plane crash and being marooned. The other half of the timeline follows the adult lives of four survivors of the crash. At the core of both groups is Misty: a (fellow) weirdo who serves as the team’s equipment manager. She wasn’t liked in school, and she’s not particularly liked in her adult life. She’s tolerated in the woods, only because she’s a teenager who is strangely adept in the field of trauma medicine.

At the end of Episode Two, when Misty privately smashes the plane’s black box, thus extinguishing any hope that the team will be tracked down, a couple of colleagues told me: Misty is crazy! Misty is a nightmare! And I’ll be honest with you, because you’re reading this, and that makes us really close fucking friends… I don’t think they get it. Like, sure, I guess that Misty is the reason that this group got abandoned in the woods for months longer than they would have been otherwise, but... to quote Vanessa Hudgens from her Instagram Live from the beginning of the pandemic, "Yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible, but like inevitable?" If Misty didn't bust that box, then we wouldn't have a show, people. This is what we like to call, in the biz, a "net positive." And people like Misty? Those are the types who you want around. Smashing that black box was not a violent act. It was a favor (!) because all Misty wants to do is demonstrate how good of a friend she can be. And she needs time to do so.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, she jumps into action. When the coach’s leg is smashed under a piece of the plane, she is the one brave enough to take an axe and amputate that dangler with one swift swing. She’s out here setting bones, cauterizing open wounds, and stitching faces back together. Sure, did she also later trip the coach with an amputated leg, making him fall to the ground? Yes, okay, that wasn't great. But maybe if he had really appreciated her from the jump, she wouldn’t have to reiterate how important her presence is. Did you think about that, y’all?

In our current timeline, as another mystery unfolds around the four surviving women, it’s Misty who remains one step ahead. When her friend Natalie (played by Juliette Lewis) needs a ride upstate to visit an old friend, Misty is happy to lend her her car and company. Yes, the reason Natalie needed the ride is because Misty ripped her battery wires out, but whomst among us? I ask. Whomst! When a fixer hired by Tai named "Jessica Roberts" was blackmailing the four survivors into admitting they partook in cannibalism out in the woods, do you know what Misty does? She kidnaps that woman, holds her hostage, and then laces a box of chocolates with fentanyl meant for the woman's ailing father... just to make sure she remains chill.

Now, I know that you’re thinking: I don’t know, Justin, sounds kind of intense. To that, I say 1) I love that we’re on a first name basis and 2) You say intense. I say loyal.

Can you imagine having a friend who, unprompted, would go so far? I once asked my best friend to pick me up from the airport and he laughed at me. I've known this guy for a decade. Do you know where Misty would be in that scenario? She’d be piloting the fucking plane, taxiing directly down the tarmac until we made it directly to the car she arranged to drive me home. And if anyone tried to exit before me, she'd cut their throat with that tiny knife on the thinking end of a wine key. Instead of this Misty judgment and skepticism, maybe we should be asking ourselves how we can be a friend more like her.

I’m not here to say she’s without fault. She keeps her fridge stocked with Coconut La Croix and has a parrot named Caligula, which is the name of a notable Roman emperor whose reign ended in unchecked tyranny and sexual deviancy. I’ve never trusted a bird owner, and much like God does with lukewarm Christians, I spit Coconut La Croix out of my mouth with disdain.

But look at me, already contradicting myself. I am focusing on Misty’s bad qualities as opposed to celebrating her for the loyal, eccentric individual she is. Yellowjackets has awakened something in me that I’ve needed to stir for a long time. How far would I go for my friends? Would I figure out how to, like, find fentanyl and/or steal prescriptions from my workplace? If the answer to that is “no”—and just so we're clear, it is—then it’s me who needs to take a long look in the mirror.

[kuraikyu]

Anonymous: What happens if Kenjaku's upper part of head is entirely removed? And do you think his stitches are ordinary?

As long as the brain stays /in/ and not /out/ of the body, he's fine. Kenjaku even demonstrated that to Gojo during Shibuya Incident by opening the upper part and revealing his purple-plump real form. But here we have this father / son sorting issues, which repetitively proves that even if his entire skull-lid blasts off ... it changes nothing except for the discomfort of fixing himself. He still maintains control over the body because the brain remains intact and neatly stored in his newest fancy suit to promenade in.

The mystery of Kenjaku's stitches is such a morbid deep thrill for me I literally wanna cry about because of overall lack of content around it!! But I would like to think they are not ordinary. At first, I thought it could be any absorbable monofilament suture ( Catgut ) that is often used in plastic surgery but as I re-checked a few panels over and over again, that idea gradually lost its grip on me, and I eventually pressed pedals for something more interesting such as: 'thread' as a part of his technique acting as a last piece of puzzle / a seal to complete the procession of body switching. OH, by the way, while I'm at it we know stitches remain on the forehead of the person Kenjaku hijacked, plus I discovered Gege mentioned somewhere that those stitches act as Binding Vow = thus why they never heal. I suppose it could have something to do ( or maybe not but either way I would like to use this for headcanon ) with Kenjaku being forced to spend a certain amount of time in a body to obtain its technique and use it in a different body ... *coughs* Kaori *coughs* anti-gravity ... Here goes cardinal connection to how his stitches look like. But I would like to add another spice here, and that is how Sorcerers & non-Sorcerers can see them.

Thread headcanon: there is one single thread created purely from cursed energy which is a part of his innate technique. While other Jujutsu users can see it only the curse users can touch and remove it. The longer he stays in a specific body the less actual stitches are visible to the naked eye and could even blend in visual confusion posing just as some weird scars. Stitches run horizontally along the forehead; never entire head.

-> If thread is partly destroyed by another technique and at least one small fragment remains in the skin, it automatically restores itself to the previous length. -> If it is destroyed entirely he has to go through a long and exhausting process of re-casting the backup replacement WHICH DISABLES HIM TO PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT & TEMPORARILY USE THE TECHNIQUE OF THE BODY HE'S USING until the thread is restored. I purposely counted how many stitches he has ( pic below contains 6 where 6th is under the bangs ) but I can't use much esoterical symbolism here because Akutami draws them differently and mostly they don't match in number; yes, I also counted the body of Noritoshi and Kaori too, and -- *shrugs* unfortunately. BUT is what I came with so far.~

Hijutsu-shi are likely to see this:

( Chapter-143 ; Kaori talks to Jin and her father-in-law - likely both non-Jujutsu users and second. ) ( Chapter-167 ; Kenjaku in China talking to the government & confirmed non-Jujutsu users. )

And here I go back to what I mentioned before - the 'spice'. The stitches look the way they do because he spends long enough time there to obtain other's technique and are not really visible to non-Sorcerers. While Jutsu-shi can see this:

Juso-shi (only) can remove the stitches.

Stitches are visible because he possesses a body for a short period than his vow / technique requires.

[thegospelofstjohn]

"The Tech." From the Gospel of Saint John, 11: 9-11.

John says "Jesus answered" the call of the people for their freedom. Observe the progression in the way the Hebrew terms express this:

Answer=1116, קיא‎ו‎, kiv, "a vomit of puke." Politicians like Mike Johnson, a filth, love to convince people they aren't free or safe enough, then they screw them. This is how an answer to the call of duty becomes vomit puke.

Jesus Answered=2110, ךאי, techa'i, "stitches to the Land of Israel."

Jesus was trying to rekindle the Kingdom of Israel. Everything He did was to create an Island of superlative success in the midst of an anticlimactic human civilization like Rome. Like America.

In the next frame He says there are twelve major indicators of an enlightened person He said must be taught to the people in order for the Black Pillar of Christian dumbness and oppression to lift.

In order to understand the essence of the Light spoken of by Jesus, I created a Number consisting of the names of the Twelve Disciples= 10531, קהגא,‎ haga, ‎ ‎"the civil defense."

Once again we see a pattern emerging from the Gospel Torah pertaining to the use of the military to ensure the General Welfare and Common Defense. Without civil defense, the people have no resort against people like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin, or the filth. The beginning of civil defense, the Angelic Host begins early in life through a demonstration of yes, you guessed it civics.

Little kids don't need an education in traffic court or why the fire department responds to fires, or why people in uniforms often tell others what to do, they just need to see the job get done. When you let the filth run amok, you tell children and adults of all ages the purpose of civics are null and void and this is wrong.

You know those really mean overweight thoroughly unpleasant black ladies that stop traffic so little kids can cross the street on school days? Imagine if one of then waved a car through and let a dump truck run over a bunch of little ones and shrugged and said "nyeaaah!" This failure of civics would make the news. So we need to obey the civics.

As for the officials themselves, Jesus says "It is time for them to wake up."

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 9-10:  Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight?"

The Number is 16747, י״וזדז‎‎‎, yetahozdaz‎‎‎, "hold on then....""

v. 11: After he said this I am going there to wake him up." I have been trying for over a decade to get you pukes to wake up and raise hell over what happened in that 2016 election and since and put the dragon and his angels down into hell where they belong. Why o why have you not done it?

In the summer of 2021, after I got really tired of it, I sent a letter to various heads of state around the world asking them to make peace with Israel and invest in the Third Temple. Putin responded by invading Ukraine, he even said I am the reason why he did it. The USA Americans responded by excavating underneath Israel, subsequently attacking it on October 7, 2023.

You know what those fucking Republicans and Donald Trump did to me and my family but nonethless, those letters were intended to incite the Mashiach, not start a Third World War. So as one might imagine I have a few bones to pick especially with Misters Putin and Trump whose heads I duly require on the end of a pike, forthwith for the evils they have done when they could have actually done some good.

But they did not, no one really has. It is therefore time for vengeance, retribution, a clean up, the prisoners need to go free, the land needs a fresh breath of clean air. Get this done please.

The Number is 5879, טהחז‎ ‎ , tahachaz‎ ‎ ‎, "let this be so."

The term tech has come up a few times in this frame. It means "priest" and Jesus certainly was a priest, but if we dig we find what Jesus wants is for man to observe, pay attention to the signals, apply historical knowledge, and create an ever sophisticated way of anticipating reality.

The etymology enumerates this as "a day."

"The Hebrews understood that time is not linear and also not two dimensional. A person's sense of present reality sits entirely in her own personal head and every element of her sense of reality made its way into her head when a signal containing a piece of information reached her and was absorbed by her senses and processed and incorporated into her mind by her brain. That means that the past, and thus the east, is all around her and is signified by a state of dispersal.

The observer functions as a point upon which all lines of the past converge. Should the observer in turn desire a greater state of unity with whatever she cannot observe through signals from the past, she would have to shuffle "backwards" into the future. Hence to go west is to unify, to go east of to disperse. Going westward is forging bonds or simplifying observations into general statements, going eastward is dissolving bonds and making things more complicated.

The opposite of coming first is coming last: the verb אחר ('ahar) means to come behind or after or to be late. The word for west, where the sun sets, is באה (bi'a), which also means entrance and comes from the common verb בוא (bo') to come, or rather to go from a primitive condition of dispersal toward a sophisticated condition of unity.

Since the sea was to Israel's west, the word ים (yam), meaning sea, was used synonymous with west. The word ים (yam) in plural, namely ימים (yamim) is identical to the plural of the word יום (yom), meaning day."

This brutal way of life we have created must come to an end and the new day must begin. This is surely going to mean a few evil despicable individuals are going to have to be apprehended and dealt with, but so be it. Wake up, rise up, time is so very short.

[libidomechanica]

Untitled Poem # 12093

Well needs it; by the quiet sound!     The Crowning; Psyche true! In the ranckorous rigours, and     headlong fasting ruffles: temperature ye may descry     the beard-blown goat hang on her hands: which was his terrifying.     Haste, haste, official

duties of tempest, when ye behold     her lips, which all wo can abide the mellowing years     I have sewn it over my flowers. Nay, better, and freeze     anon, and find their proportion, nor every gust of rules.     You come to let those hat

you yourself thou live it not his     mantle blue: to-morrow, is not mine—but half without all     they were disarayde: then if for my sweet and gathers some     proper pale, to name and greater grief, and then for aye undone.     Why alas doth steepe.

Shining chief, although our straying     heauenly madness melts, should narrate. Love surely had I been     now in Eden with so much he says, she love hid in me     sings no more of seas he blames in which I doo complayne, much     greater might, to leap large

recompense, and is, what they were     widows here, till allures her sex, the bond—still on her     face! The body needs let me love. Mystery by midnight     hour of lies. Though Amaryllis dance to let the skie: and     miseryes. The woman

who knows what’s fit for they did pray.     Nothing the manners of that which eloquence is things     captiuity the marks were radiant with keeping? And men, and     labourest by such death shall at last, what perilous flood. As     time stands; thy voice is heard

it and in thine, then weepes Lobbin     so without a stitch on to turn softly in her eyes     liked her deep ways is. And double gilds the Baby of hers     did close of Gulistan shall be but a humble, low-born     thing, and glorious distant

… I will decided to allot     each other until none else. Am fain to changes     of the rays of verity. To new-found my foot is ill.     By the mark of prayers with intertex! I love you because     a sugred kisses

smooth thee my dearest day, and in     his feast, thy heart joins chorus, Fame is the—the—Pooh! Yet that     of Nessus, and cling upon it? Twas Cupid humble, low-     born things serve your selfe kynd with shew of mortal eyes allure     me to time for years he

woo’d too, to be a foreigner, and     ask me to me alone. Eyes, nor an altar to applied     unto all that land: through my soul and betwixt myself were     like dust, the night painfully quiver of holy the Winter-     sterued. Kiss the

violence that what we might before     in dread voice reverberates of sleeping his Doric lay;     and also the lips: but I, so much by love, and into     the woods, and of the South, and sighed to see you: go. Yet I     bore up in college but

gaze upon his wildness, memory     ran. Tresses trim her back, both become, and fyrie furies     fell those thought I see, and Pain foul demonstrative, that will     be in each! What their And borne of his livelier land.     Of this was more his eyes.

[lucreziasredwyne]

∞

“nothing more than words, tirius?” her voice came softer than she intended, but not with gentleness—more a silent, trembling restraint. she straightened her posture, clasping her hands before her to still their instinctive twitch as they always did when she found herself in situations such as this one. it did not go over her head that he had referred to her as her title, and yet, she thought it a farce - no, she would speak to him by name. "do you think arron lannister’s words are like leaves on the wind? easily swept aside? forgive me, my lord, but you have not stood where i have stood, nor seen what i have seen of him."

her gaze flickered downwards for a moment at the mention of the failed betrothal between arron and lucrezia, catching on the intricate patterns of the carpet beneath her feet. the old ways were in everything here, even the stitching that lined the room with its rich reds and bold golds. they ought to have steadied her, but they only made her stomach churn. she was eternally grateful to have escaped such a thing; and yet, the notion of this being a personal issue with her, and not a wider one, was something that only made her feel more dejected. slighted.

“he is not reckless without purpose, not anymore. his tantrums, as you call them, are dangerous things. he is deliberate, calculating." she paused, the memory sharp as salt. "you mistake him, and i fear you mistake me as well." she did not expand on what she meant in her second suggestion, though she could have sworn to have heard a pin drop.

she lifted her eyes again, meeting his. "logs, my lord?" his steady gaze was no longer the comforting anchor she had once known it to be. there was a time she would have trusted it—trusted him—without question. those days were a distant shore now. "logs will not stop him from weaving his lies, from spinning some story that serves his purpose. he does not require proof to accuse, as he has so clearly demonstrated." it were something she had no sense of wounded pride in doing; when something was not her own to deal with, she would ask, and expect, for help. foolish situations came as a result of one taking on something alone.

"it is not my responsibility to need to dodge his lies." he questioned her authority to her face, and she only stared at him. how she wished to openly say it, and yet still, she found the words caught like a trap in her throat. it was the final time she would speak of it. she would not argue with him about what he plainly no longer sought to know, or understand. "they did not stop him."

her hands unclasped, one rising to tuck a strand of hair back into place—though the gesture was more to steady herself than anything else. "and as for your suggestion that this is some petty vengeance over the betrothal..." a bitter laugh escaped her, soft, almost self-deprecating; the sense of civility and professionalism of two colleagues began to blur now. this was now beginning to become something else, and she knew she would regret it in some time. a show of emotion. "this is not about me. it is not about my men. it is about power. arron lannister has set his sights on my fleet, and i will not stand idly by while you dismiss it as a child’s spite." she stepped forward then, only a pace, but enough to close the gap between them. her voice dropped, though it lost none of its edge.

"i have followed the king’s commands. i have acted with the discipline you demand." she wished to leave now; for she knew he would look upon her and think she were thinking childishly. thinking emotively. and still, her eyes fell upon the grand painting above his desk of the ruins of the rhoynish empire their people once called home - a gift from house redwyne to him upon hearing the news of his wedding. it was too complicated to stand here and pretend as though the strings that were wrapped around the stories of their lives were not the most troublesome of knots. she would take her leave soon.

"but i will not do nothing. i will not leave my men to bear the brunt of these accusations while i stand by, mute and complicit. should you assure me that you will take my issue up, then i will trust you to it. if you will not, then tell me and i shall go to the king myself."

Tirius leaned back slightly in his chair, his fingers tapping against the edge of the desk as he considered Lucrezia's words. Her tone was firm, unyielding, but the rising tension in her stance was not lost on him. He understood her frustration, though he could not share it. As much as he respected her, his view of the matter remained unchanged.

“Lady Redwyne,” he said slowly, his gaze steady but not unkind. “I do not believe you to be hysterical. But you are reacting to a child’s tantrum, not a true threat. Prince Arron Lannister has proven himself reckless before. His words are nothing more than the prattling of a spoiled man, seeking to stir the waters and draw attention to himself. I am not convinced there is anything to this but a childish need for revenge.”

He paused, letting that hang in the air before adding, “Perhaps there’s more to this than we originally thought. Did he seem bitter over the failed betrothal? Is it possible that this is less about the ships and more about something personal? Perhaps he seeks to provoke you for the sake of petty vengeance.”

He stopped tapping his fingers and folded his hands before him, his expression sharpening. “You say your men did not attack, land, or stop Lannister ships. I believe you. But what if someone, a captain or a crew member, acted outside the bounds of your orders, or did something they should not have done?” His tone was practical, if not entirely dismissive. “I would suggest your men begin keeping detailed logs—recording the names of captains, ships boarded, and their purpose. This way, you’ll have a trail to show that nothing untoward has occurred, and if the prince continues to lie, you can corner him with facts.”

Facts were bread and butter to a man like Tirius, they were something the Lord could count on when it started to grow out of hand. Even if the facts were created by them. "And what cannot be logged should be logged anyway." He didn't need to say more than that, he was aware of the privateering, that didn't matter.

Tirius leaned forward slightly, his voice lowering. “But until we have something concrete, you must do nothing. Your men will follow the King’s commands, as they always have. We will not trouble the King with this, not yet. This is nothing more than words, and words can be tempered.” And if they could not be tempered then the Reach would do what it does best. Win.

[solarmorrigan]

See, just because Steve lets Eddie and the kids play D&D at his house now doesn't mean he's really interested in the game, just the same as even though El and Max sometimes tag along, they're really there to hang out, not play. They each bring their own things to do, and one night El brings a ball of yarn and a shiny little metal hook and a vaguely rectangular yarn-thing that she focuses very hard on while the boys shout in the background.

Steve has no idea what she's doing; he'd say she's knitting, except he's almost certain that involves some kind of sticks, not a hook. But since he's not really doing anything himself, he sits down next to her and asks what she's up to.

"Joyce has been teaching me how to crochet. She says it will help with my hand-eye coordination." El holds up her project with a proud smile. "I am starting with a scarf."

It's not the world's most attractive scarf, but it's not like Steve could do better. He's still not entirely sure what crocheting is, to be perfectly honest. "Is that different from knitting?" he asks.

El nods gravely. "It is," she says, and takes to showing him how she loops the yarn over the hook and pulls it through the stitches in her scarf and adds a few more inches to the row she's working on.

When Steve's attention doesn't completely wane during her demonstration, she pulls a second ball of yarn out of her bag and presents it to Steve.

"Oh, I don't–" Steve tries to demur, but El is determined, and Steve has seen entire dimensions pale in the face of her determination.

This is how he finds himself crocheting a little chain of stitches with just his fingers, the same way Joyce had apparently started El off. El beams at him and returns to her own project, occasionally checking on his progress. The chain is a few feet long by the time everyone needs to be driven home, and Steve decides it actually hadn't been a bad way to pass the time. Kind of relaxing.

The next time everyone is over, El sits down with her scarf, and after a short while, Steve sits down next to her. He compliments how much longer the scarf has gotten (and it does seem like the shape has evened out a bit as she's been going along). She smiles and pulls another ball of yarn out of her bag. This time, she has an extra hook and seems intent on showing Steve what to do with it.

Almost involuntarily, Steve's attention flashes to the group clustered around the table, hesitating to take the yarn from El, and she frowns.

"Joyce says these types of skills are important for everyone to have," El says firmly, and, well– Steve's not really going to argue.

He learns how to crochet a chain with the hook. It feels odd in his hands at first—the shape too small, the metal a little too slick, the yarn not wrapping naturally around his fingers the way it does El's—but he gets the hang of it. When El is pleased with his progress, she shows him the stitch she's been using: a simple single crochet. It's tougher than it looks, and Steve understands immediately why El's scarf is so uneven; neither of them have ever done anything like this before.

Still, he doesn't hate it.

In fact, he really kind of enjoys it.

He enjoys it enough that he asks El to show him more the next time she's over. She's still new herself and is really only working with pretty much the same couple of stitches, but she proudly teaches him what she knows, and Steve picks it up as fast as she's able to lay it down.

Steve goes out and buys his own supplies, no longer content with mooching off of El's. He hadn't realized there were so many different kinds of yarn, and resigns himself to awkwardly asking one of the craft store employees what type might be best for beginners.

The employee—a woman about his mother’s age with a much warmer smile and far less judgement in her eyes—explains with great enthusiasm what all those different types of yarn might be used for, and how the size of the hook affects the outcome of the project, and shows him so many different pattern books his head spins. He realizes that she probably upsells him on a lot of shit, but he leaves with a few different sizes of hooks, some new yarn, and more excitement for a hobby than he's felt probably since high school.

El and Robin are the only ones who know about his new hobby, of course. It's not really that he's ashamed to tell the others, he just knows how teenage boys work and he's not keen on giving a bunch of fifteen-year-olds another reason to bully him. Maybe in a few months. In the meantime, he crochets at home while he's listening to the radio or watching TV, and he crochets at work during down times. Robin finds his newfound hobby morbidly fascinating, but vehemently denies any and all offers to teach her.

("I will find a way to damage myself with that hook and I think we both know that," she says. "It's just kind of wild to see you with a grandma hobby."

Steve threatens to tell El she called it that, and Robin shortly finds a new label for it.)

Fall rolls around and the air acquires a chill sometime in mid-October. Steve's been making practice scarves for a little while now (largely because he really only knows how to make rectangles at this point, but he doesn’t have the attention span for a whole blanket just yet), and he even considers wearing his least heinous attempt despite the fact he's never really wanted for good winter clothes. Then he notices Eddie.

Most of their little group has begun dressing appropriately for the weather, but Eddie doesn't do much more than add a pair of fingerless black gloves and maybe a heavier leather jacket to his ensemble. Steve's not even sure it's because he can't afford it – he's pretty sure it's because Eddie is committed to his aesthetic. Nancy had tried to force an extra scarf on him one day after a little cold snap, when they'd woken to frost on the ground (the scarf is blue, patterned with white snowflakes; it's actually Mike’s, but Mike is also refusing to wear it and Steve suspects Nancy doesn’t want to hold it, but also doesn’t want to get in trouble for letting Mike lose it), but Eddie had declined, insisting it doesn't match his vibe.

Steve can respect this. He himself has a certain aesthetic going on. However, he can also see that Eddie is definitely cold, and that just won't do.

He picks through the scarves and other various wooly things he's accumulated so far, but decides none of them would suit Eddie and, besides that, none of them are really warm enough. If he's going to make Eddie a scarf, it ought to be a good one.

So Steve sucks it up and heads into Melvald's one day when he knows Joyce will be on shift, hoping she won't be too busy for a quick chat.

When he catches her, Steve explains that El had shown him the basics of crocheting but that his ambitions have outgrown his skills and maybe if she isn't too busy sometime, Joyce would be willing to show him a little more?

Joyce, because she’s a saint, says she would be delighted, and invites Steve to come over on their next shared day off.

When he gets there, she tries to ask him who he's making the scarf for, and the best he manages is, "...someone."

Joyce bites down on a smile. "Someone?"

"It's a surprise," Steve finally declares.

"For everyone?"

"Yes."

Joyce bravely manages to not laugh at Steve and instead asks him what kind of scarf he thinks Someone would like.

Steve decides that it needs to be thick, but it should also be soft. It should also be textured, because Ed– because Someone really likes fiddling with things. He can't get too ambitious with colors or patterns, but he decides that black and grey stripes will be perfectly suitable.

(He doesn't kid himself into thinking that by the time their brainstorming session is over, Joyce hasn't figured out exactly who he's talking about, but she's kind enough not to say it out loud.)

Steve's always been good with repetition and patterns—it's probably one of the reasons he’d found crocheting so relaxing in the first place—and he picks up the new stitches with ease under Joyce's deft instruction. She sends him home with the practice piece he'd made with some of her scrap yarn, and after a quick stopover at the craft store on his way home (he briefly gets stuck between shades of grey, but eventually decides on the silvery one over the steely one), he's ready to begin.

He expects making the scarf to be tougher, but once he gets into the rhythm of it, he sails right through. It takes him less than a week (albeit devoting a few solid hours to it every day, possibly more on his days off) to end up with what is, if he may say so himself, a pretty fine scarf.

The challenge comes in actually giving it to Eddie.

Christmas would be an excellent excuse for presenting it to him, except that's a little over a month away, and Steve doesn't want Eddie to go cold until then. Instead, he takes to keeping the scarf in his glove compartment just in case the perfect occasion for giving Eddie a scarf arises.

And much to Steve's surprise, one actually does.

It's right after the first real snow, and Steve has insisted on driving to pick Eddie up so they can hang out (Steve has nightmares about Eddie's driving when road conditions are optimal, never mind when the roads may be icy). He can see Eddie shivering under his jacket, blowing warm air into his cupped hands (Steve wonders if he could learn how to crochet gloves at some point, too. Ones with full fingers), so he ever-so-casually gestures to the glove box and tells Eddie, "Hey, if you're cold, I've got an extra scarf in there."

He's possibly not as casual as he hopes he is (or maybe Eddie just sees through him, like he always seems to), because Eddie gives him a look. "You do, huh?"

"Yep."

Steve concentrates very hard on the road in order to avoid Eddie's eyes. It doesn't stop him from hearing the little laugh Eddie lets out before popping open the glove compartment.

"Oh," Eddie says quietly as he pulls the scarf out, likely having been expecting another castoff piece of outerwear. "This is... actually really nice."

For a moment, Steve can't help but glance over to see the way Eddie is fingering the crocheted ridges of the scarf, running a thumb over the bright silver stripes picked out of the black, and he immediately looks back up at the road.

"Yeah. You should– you can, uh. Keep it. If you want," he says, and wonders what happened to the days when he was smooth.

"No, man, this is, like, for real nice. I couldn't take this," Eddie says, though he's still holding the scarf in his lap.

Steve draws a breath in. "I mean, I was kind of hoping you would, since it's for you."

"Seriously?"

They have unfortunately arrived at Steve's house at this point, and there will be no avoiding the conversation now.

"Yeah," Steve says. "I, uh. Made it for you. So you should take it. Don't let my hard work go to waste, yeah?"

"You're shitting me," Eddie unfolds the scarf and holds it up in delighted scrutiny. "You made this?"

(Distantly, Steve appreciates that the emphasis isn't on "you made this?" Like Eddie doesn't immediately doubt he's capable, only that he's holding a handmade item at all.)

"Yeah. No big deal." Steve shrugs.

"You made this for me." Eddie looks at Steve, and it sounds like that had been meant as a question, though it comes out in flat uncertainty.

"Yeah. Just noticed you were cold, but you won't wear anything that doesn't match your aesthetic," Steve tries to tease, wiggling his fingers at Eddie's outfit, but Eddie doesn't say anything in return.

He doesn't say anything for just long enough that Steve gets insecure all over again, reaching hesitantly for the scarf.

"But, I mean, if that's weird, or whatever, you don't have to-"

"Nope. Fuck off, I'm wearing this forever." Eddie loops the scarf quickly around his neck and squeezes the ends in his hands. "Jesus, this is soft."

Steve grins. "I'm not sure it'll last forever, but I can make you another after than one wears out."

"You'd better," Eddie says, and he's grinning too. "So, what, you knit?"

Steve points a very serious finger into Eddie's face. "Crochet. There's a difference," he says sternly.

Then, because he can't help it, he bops the end of Eddie's nose before getting out of the car, leaving Eddie to scramble out behind him, laughing and calling him a dork as he goes.

(The kids, incidentally, don't tease Steve nearly as much as he'd thought they would when they find out.

This is possibly because they're more mature than he gave them credit for, but more likely it’s because El is standing beside him and daring them to say anything unfavorable about their shared hobby.

Mostly they just let it slide, though Dustin demands to know why Eddie got a scarf and he didn't. Then Lucas wants one, too, because Mike and Max have already received various bits of outerwear from El, and he's not about to be left out. And then Robin, of course, will want to know why Steve hasn’t made her anything, once she finds out that he’s making things for the kids.

Steve resigns himself to a busy winter spent under a pile of yarn.

It's not really a hardship.)

[Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Epilogue | Ao3]

[happyandticklish]

Practice Makes Perfect

Notes: I know for a fact that people grabbing onto your legs unexpectedly is ticklish as fuck, and I will absolutely be projecting that onto Charlie. I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for so long because I had this idea the moment I watched that scene in the show and just,,,, haven’t gotten around to finishing it lol. But I’m done now and that totally makes up for it~

Summary: Nick is a bad idea and rugby is a sport born out of hell—so why does Charlie keep finding himself here?

“C’mon, just go for it! You’re thinking about it too much, that’s your problem.”

Okay, so maybe, possibly, signing up to be on the rugby team just to spend some time with your probably-straight-crush hadn’t been Charlie’s brightest moment. In his defense though, it was impossible to say no to Nick’s face, innocent and earnest in his belief in Charlie. Now, however, standing out on a field with clouds grumbling ominously overhead and sweat trickling in rivulets down his back, he was beginning to regret that decision.

“You know, I find that in most areas of life, it’s actually beneficial to think about what you’re doing before you do it,” Charlie said nervously. He shifted from foot to foot, trying to release the tension clenching up his muscles and making movement impossible. “For instance, you’re, like, a thousand times bigger and stronger than me, and I’m built like a twig. With those odds in mind, I think I’d rather not try to tackle you, thanks.”

They’d been at this for over an hour now, practicing basic maneuvers and going over the rules of the game so many times that Charlie could probably recite them in his sleep. Nick seemed excited about it though, and so Charlie reluctantly listened, and even found himself having fun at times. All the way until Nick insisted he try a proper tackle, that was.

Despite all his arguing, Nick seemed amused rather than irritated at his obstinance. Charlie wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed at that. “How about I try to tackle you then? Give you a demonstration?”

Flashes of Nick, arms wrapping around him, his body pressing him down into the dirt, clothes rumpled up haphazardly from the fall, flashed through Charlie’s mind. He flushed, taking an instinctive step back as though proximity could somehow broadcast his thoughts. “Right. Yeah. Because standing here while you barrel at me is so much safer.”

Though Charlie felt it was a legitimate argument, his only response from Nick was an exaggerated role of the eyes. It was clear he was merely teasing, but Charlie couldn’t help a slight twinge of guilt anyway. He hadn’t meant to be so difficult, especially over something he had agreed to do.

Instead of trying to prove his point further, Nick resorted to crossing his arms and staring at him, a silent challenge. For all of half a minute Charlie tried to hold his gaze as well, his stubbornness leading him on.

“…Fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. But be gentle! I don’t want to end up with any broken bones. I’m pretty sure Tao will have your head.”

Nick’s face brightened like a child on Christmas morning, and Charlie cursed how cute he was, because it was largely getting in the way of him regretting this decision.

His legs trembled as he tried to stay still, fighting the urge to dodge out of the way as Nick raced towards him. Luckily, he didn’t have too long to think about it before strong arms wrapped around his thighs and the two of them came careening towards the ground.

It was surprisingly less painful than Charlie had been expecting—more shocking than anything. The breath rushed out of him in a startled gasp as his back hit the grass with a thud. He waited for the anguish he was sure was coming, the bruises followed by stitches he’d have to get after being rushed to the ER. Instead, he felt… well, fine. A bit sore maybe, but otherwise fine.

Of course, now that he wasn’t dead or prepped for a full-body cast, he was met with a slightly let serious but more concerning problem—Nick’s hands, wrapped around his legs where he had grabbed, fingers curling innocently into his thighs for a grip. A surprised, bark of laughter, and Charlie was jerking his legs up, nearly kneeing Nick in the face but failing to get him off, unfortunately.

“Woah! Hey, are you okay?” There was still a hint of a smile in Nick’s voice, the adrenaline of the fall lingering in his system, but genuine concern crept through as well. “It really isn’t supposed to hurt, I promise.”

Charlie couldn’t possibly answer under current circumstances, so instead he shook his head, hoping that would be enough and Nick would let go—

“Here, let me check for bruises.”

—or he would do that. Suddenly the fingers were intentional, brushing and pressing against his skin as Nick asked him if so-and-so hurt, leaving Charlie to nearly fling himself out of his skin in response. He jolted forward when Nick grabbed the back of his knee, a primal instinct driving him as he shoved his hands away with fluttery giggles.

“Wahait, wait, wait,” he managed, the words slipping out in a panic that was mostly habit. “You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Can you please just let go first, and then—”

“Am I hurting you?”

“No, but your hand is still on my caHALF—!”

“Oh.”

The word hung between them, Nick’s hand frozen on his shin where he had accidentally squeezed moments before. Charlie refused to look at him, certain if he did, he would pass away from embarrassment.

“I didn’t realize you were ticklish.”

Charlie cringed at the word, his shoulders ducking up. “M’not. I just don’t appreciate being manhandled, Nelson.”

He managed to gather the courage to glance back at him, only to be met with a delightful smirk cutting across Nick’s face. Devious and happy and a little bit flustered, which was adorable and decidedly not helping. “Nelson, huh? Have we really regressed all the way to last names?”

“I don’t know.” Charlie shrugged, knowing he was only digging himself into a deeper hole, but he could never help it with Nick. He seemed to have a talent for drawing out this side of himself. “You haven’t really earned first name rights.”

“Ah, I see.” He had forgotten all about Nick’s hand which squeezed again now, gently digging into his leg. Charlie could hardly help his jump or the sharp hiss of breath it caused. “Well, what if I don’t want to earn them? What’s to stop me from taking them?”

Charlie swallowed nervously, wanting to flee but doubting he’d get very far even if he tried. “The honor system? A sense of fairness? Whatever will make you let go?”

“I thought you weren’t ticklish.” Nick cocked a brow. “Surely my hand isn’t bothering you, is it?”

Charlie flushed. “Ah. Well. It’s possible I might have… embellished the truth a bit.”

“And so it comes out at last.”

Nick started pinching up his calf, forming a ticklish trail that had Charlie squirming the higher he got. He wasn’t particularly sensitive there, but he was much too close to areas that were, and the anticipation was driving Charlie up the wall. This was a new Nick, a smug one emerging out of his normally sweet cocoon. It made Charlie’s stomach writhe with pleasant nerves, and he hated himself for it. Crushing on a straight boy was one thing. Whatever the hell this was, this moment was, was dangerous.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t have the means to care as his mental energy was quickly devoted to focusing on nails skating by the sides of his knees and just how much that apparently tickled.

“Shit!” He made a solid attempt to jerk his leg back, but with a flash Nick’s other hand shot out, securing his ankle and forcing him stupidly in place. This resulted in a series of giggly whines as Charlie fell back on the ground, resorting to cover his face instead. “Nihihick!”

“Yes?”

“Plehehease!”

“Please what?”

“Ihihi dohohon’t knohohow, juhuhust—” he broke off, not sure how to say keep going and stop in the same sentence. Historically speaking, tickling had always been a thing Charlie had tried to avoid. He was far too susceptible to it, and he had already gone through his fair share of Tori abusing that privilege whenever he was being annoying. It wasn’t bad, per se, but a lot, and often not something he could handle.

So why, instead of kicking Nick in the face or running or any of the various other things he wanted to do when Nick started fluttering traitorous nails over his thighs, did he let out a squeal instead and lay there taking it, not even attempting to fight back?

“You know, this makes sense,” Nick mused, scratching at this one spot in-between his knee and thigh that was driving him crazy. “You seem like someone that would be ticklish.”

Charlie scoffed, a difficult task while laughing. “Whahahat dohohoes thahaht eheheven mehehean?”

Nick shrugged carelessly, that wild grin mounting his features once more. “Dunno. Something about your energy, I guess. You’re always so nervous, Charlie. Constantly on edge, like you’re just waiting for someone to sneak up on you.”

“Y-Yeheah well,” Charlie panted, his words halting briefly as he fought back another giggle storm. “It’s nohohot exactly w-working ohout for me, ihis it?”

“Well, I imagine you wouldn’t suspect your friends, now would you?” Nick offered him a pitying glance that was far too full of teasing affection to be genuine. “You do seem to be laughing quite a bit though, so I’ll make you a deal. You agree to try one tackle today, just the one, and I’ll stop.”

“Whahahat? No, noho way!”

“Your funeral.”

Charlie opened his mouth to lash back a witty remark only to let out a yelp instead when light skittering turned to playful squeezing. He jerked upright as Nick started digging into his thighs, a spot that was, evidently, horrible. Quick, little pinches to send him spiraling into a frenzy of frantic laughter as he scrambled to grab at his hands. Nick simply ignored him, moving to a new spot each time to avoid him and leaving Charlie no time to adjust to the sensation.

He had thought the tickling before was bad, but this was wholly unbearable. Each squeeze sent shockwaves shooting through his legs and filling him with liquid electricity until his whole body seemed to buzz with it. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, necessarily, but it was too much, far too much. Especially at 6:00 am on a Saturday, the previous exercise and a lack of sleep making him dizzy and laughter-prone already.

Noticing this, Nick decided to go in for the kill, lowering his voice to a teasing drawl that did far more to Charlie than the tickling ever could. “Charlie… I know it tickles, all you have to do is agree and I’ll stop. It’ll only get worse the longer you resist, so you might as well just put an end to things now.”

Charlie’s brain screamed at him in agreement, but he held out despite it, for reasons he couldn’t quite put a finger on. He didn’t really care about the tackling (okay, he did, but certainly not as much as he had exaggerated for Nick’s sake), but he did care about anything that would remove Nick’s hands from him, that would make the sensations short-circuiting his brain stop. He wasn’t sure if it was because Nick Nelson, of all people, was touching him or if tickling was secretly addictive and everyone had been lying to him all his life.

All he knew was that he didn’t want it to end.

Not yet anyways.

And so, for the next two minutes—a short time normally, but an eternity when Nick had just discovered the bundle of nerves along the back of his thighs—it didn’t. Charlie had long since abandoned speech, and instead laid there helplessly, barely fighting back as he shrieked and giggled. Nick more than made up for his conversational absence with a tirade of teases, making avid commentary about which spots seemed more effective, and how “if you need a break, all you have to do is agree”.

In the end, what broke him was nothing spectacular. A flurry of squeezes on his calf, the exact thing that had started this whole mess, casual and unassuming but unbearable all the same after everything else. Charlie finally found the motivation to sit up, grabbing Nick’s arms frantically.

“OhohoHOHOKAY, ohohokay! Yohohou wihihin, juhuhust stahahap!”

“Ah-ha! Victory at last!”

Nick quickly released him, triumph shining in his eyes. He looked far too pleased with himself, in Charlie’s opinion. He would be annoyed at that if he himself weren’t already floating on cloud 9. “Was that your plan all along then?” Charlie asked, once he had regained enough breath to speak coherently. “Tickle me until I agree to practice?”

“I might have improvised a little,” Nick admitted, standing up and holding out a hand for him. Charlie tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as Nick’s hand gripped his. “Besides, I don’t think you really minded that. Although I guess you might have been trying a reverse psychology trick by not fighting back.”

Crimson heat swept over Charlie’s face, and he glanced away. “I was taken off guard, that’s all.”

“Ah, right.” Nick managed to find his gaze anyway, locking eye contact for an embarrassing but thrilling couple seconds. “I’m sure.”

For a while they stood there, stuck in the happy afterglow of the moment, Charlie’s hand still grasped in his. And then Nick coughed and Charlie pulled away and they were teenagers again, awkward and fumbling over their sentences.

“So,” Nick said with an easy air that was clearly forced. “I believe you owe me a tackle.”

Charlie made a face. “You’re gonna hold me to that?”

“Relax, Spring.” Nick grinned, and this time, it was a real one. “I have faith in you.”

And, as it turned out, his faith was well-placed. Tackling wasn’t as hard as Charlie had built it up to be, and Nick went sprawling back into the dirt with a grunt. The grunt quickly transformed into wild laughter as Charlie paid him back tenfold, abandoning his legs quickly to move onto greater and sweeter territory.

Maybe Charlie had enjoyed the tickling, sure, but what was wrong with a little revenge?

[justwritedreams]

Stay with me - Part 2

Oh Sehun x reader, soldier!au

Word count: 4978 Genre: fluff, drama and comedy Author: maari Warnings: jealous Sehun, Brian being a a$$hole, difficult relationship with father, mentions of death and illness. Note: the second part is here!! I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for those who encouraged me to continue. Please, tell me whhat you guys think! Summary: It's time to say goodbye to patient Sehun but a surprise comes on your first date. << Previous | Next >>

It was early when Sehun had the stitches removed, the Dr. had assessed his condition and assured that she had never seen such a rapid recovery. He would have more exams to do and after that he was released, I confess that it made me a little sad, almost a week with him there and I had already gotten used to his presence. Without Kai and Chanyeol's company, he practically begged me to take him somewhere other than the hospital lobby and the bedroom, so I decided to take him out to the small garden. The weather was good, the hospital movement was calm, a 5-minute rest would be good. Sehun was silent the whole time, the sun was shining and it made him even more handsome. It wasn't like I could deny that I was attracted to him anymore, even though I knew the risks, it didn't make any difference in the end.

"I know I'm handsome but you could disguise it from time to time." he stared at me deeply and I looked away. I hadn't even noticed that I was looking for so long. "I wasn't staring at you because you're beautiful, I just wanted to understand." "What?" "Why a guy like you is in the Navy, it's hard to see him as a Captain." "Because I'm very attractive." I looked back at him and he was smiling in amusement. “Are you doing this just to get me to agree?” "Maybe..." He shrugged and I laughed. "My whole family is in the military." started and I paid attention. “I grew up believing that I was destined for this and when I finally got in, it just felt right, like it had found myself, you know. I wanted to be able to make a difference, maintain peace and diplomacy while bringing security to everyone.” he sighed and looked ahead, as if he was lost in his own thoughts. It was the first time he was so sincere and serious at the same time. “It is a very worthy job.” I said and he grinned. I sighed to see him smiling, he was gorgeous and utterly charming. “What about you, Y/N? Did you choose this profession so that patients would have a beautiful vision when they woke up? The strategy is good.” he looked at me and I felt my face burn. He was a born conqueror. "It wasn’t my intention." I admitted and faced nothing. “When I was little, my mother was always sick, she tried to hide it from me so I wouldn't suffer, I joked that I was her nurse and that I would take her illness away one day. My mother had cancer, she died a short time later, so I decided that I would be it. I became a nurse but I never kept what I had promised.” I smiled weakly, I had never told that to anyone. My father was too busy, he never talked about my mother. I didn't judge him, I imagined how difficult it had been, I was just a child and he was a widower. But still, she was my mother. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice when Sehun put his hand over mine, giving it a light squeeze, I just felt the heat of his hand and it made me shiver from head to toe. "I haven't met her, but I know she's very proud of you, wherever she is." I felt the sincerity in his words and controlled myself not to cry. "Thanks." I smiled and he took his hand from mine, again he was serious. That was a miracle considering he looked like a kid these last few days. "Tomorrow I'll go back to base..." he took a deep breath before continuing. “We will have to postpone our date.” I tried to demonstrate that it didn't affect me that much, I knew it would happen sooner or later but I didn't imagine I would be so sad. “This has to do with the Admiral’s visit, doesn’t it?” I asked and the answer was silence. I knew what that meant. "Already understood. Well, you know where I work.” I shrugged and smiled at him. Sehun stared at me for a while before returning the smile. "Come on, you need to go back to your room."

(...)

I left Sehun's room feeling my smile disappear completely, it was not common to get attached to patients, I was always a professional in that part but with him everything was different. I didn't attend him out of obligation, on the contrary it was great to be with him, the playful way made everything easier. I sighed when I remembered that soon it wouldn't happen anymore, it would be hard to get it out of my head. “Y/N!” Oh no, not now. I took a deep breath before turning with a fake smile to Dr. Brian. “Yes, Doctor?” "What is happening?" “Sorry, what are you talking about?” "You’re avoiding me." Damn, did he just understand this now? “No, of course not, I just…” I tried to be polite but stopped talking when he came over and took my arm. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" His face was close to mine and for a mere second I was scared of him. "It's been almost a week since I've even seen you, you don't help me with the surgeries anymore and I still haven't been straight about what I really want." he looked my body up and down and I shivered in a very bad way. "I'm too busy..." "Yeah, your friends told me so but let me be clear: I don't like it." "Dr., can you please let go of my arm, you’re hurting me." instead of doing what I asked, Brian pinned me to the wall and squeezed my arm even tighter. “I always wondered if you were the type that like pain.” he smiled and I avoided looking at him. The hallway was empty just when it needed movement the most. “Let me go” I asked slowly. “Oh please Y/N, I know you want that too.” he tried to get closer and I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from continuing. "If you don't let go of me, I'm going to scream." threatened. "You damn right you’ll and I'm going to love it." he smirked and I clenched my fists, knowing I wouldn't have the physical strength to resist. “Let her go, now!” I jumped when I heard Sehun's voice. Brian didn't let go of me but stopped to face my rescuer, contrary to what I imagined, Sehun was dressed in his uniform and his position was rigid. The Doctor flinched a little and I was quick enough to knee his nethers, he released me as he groaned in pain, holding where I had hit him. I ran to Sehun and he put me behind his body with his arm outstretched to protect me, his expression was serious and I feared he might do something. Not that Brian didn't deserve it, but Sehun had just been discharged, he might still be weak. “I don't want to see you near her ever again, understand? It's the first and last time you've even touched her, you don't want to meet me if you dare to do that again." Sehun's voice was cold as ice and sharp as a spear, I could see the vein in his neck popping out and he practically tortured Brian with his eyes. Brian grumbled and glared at both of us angrily but tried to get out as quickly as he could, he was visibly scared. Sehun took a few deep breaths before turning to face me, his hands stopped on my face and he looked into my eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and I shivered. “Y-yes. Thanks." I tried to smile but I don't think it worked because he kept looking at me worriedly, I put my hands in his fists and one of my fingers caressed his skin. "I'm fine, really." "I heard a noise and I thought it was nothing, but then I heard your voice and I knew something was going on." he explained quietly and I nodded, not having anything to say. Then he hugged me. I took a deep breath when I felt his natural perfume, even though he was in a hospital he smelled very good, I felt my eyes watering and I closed them to be able to control my breathing. Sehun stroked my hair softly and I wished I had this contact sooner. "I swear I could rip his hands off." I laughed without any humor and pulled back enough to look at him. "I can find a place to hide the evidence." He looked at me and smiled slightly. "That's great, we'll be partners in crime now." I didn't say anything, I just stared at him steadily and he didn't look away. "You have your uniform on." I noticed and he began to assume the pose of a conqueror. “I get really sexy, huh?” he joked and smiled. Sehun would never change. "Yes, you do." I nodded suddenly and put my hand over my mouth as soon as I realized what I had done. Sehun looked at me shocked, he didn't expect me to admit it so quickly. And neither I. "You could have said that sooner." His hand stroked my cheek and he looked at me with a calm that didn't seem to suit him, I smiled fondly as he brought his face closer to mine. I didn't stop, much less back away, I didn't know when the next time I would see him would be so I allowed myself to enjoy the little time we had. Sehun held tight to my waist and I supported my hands on his hard torso, he was getting closer and my eyes were slowly closing. I could already feel his breath against my face. "Sehun!" hearing Kai's voice in the hallway was enough to make us jump away. "Aish, I don't have a minute of peace." I heard him speak quietly and had to hold back a laugh as I watched his friend approach. "Is everything okay over here?" Kai looked slightly innocent about what was going on and I wanted to laugh one more time. "Could be better." Sehun grumbled and I looked at him, he carried a giant beak and looked like a child. I scratched the back of my neck. "The doctor has already signed the release." I announced, unable to hide my disappointment, I saw the two staring at me. "Sehun is ready to go." I smiled weakly and he continued to look at me. "Well then, let's go!" Kai jumped to Sehun's side and punched him in the shoulder, who grimaced and complained. "It is ok, go ahead." I said and he looked at me as if asking if he should. "See you." Kai dragged Sehun, saying that Chanyeol had his car parked in the middle of the street and that they needed to go soon, Sehun let himself be taken away but kept looking at me and I saw him disappear down the hall. I sighed and went back to the room, I needed to tidy up before the next patient was sent there. Before I could do anything, I noticed a paper on the bed addressed to the "Angel who took care of me". Curious, I opened the paper.

“Doll, we haven't had as much time as I'd like, but it's not like that's going to stop me. This is my cell phone number. Please call me. I'd love to hear your voice one more time ;D But if by any chance you're a tech dinosaur and aren't adept at texting, this is my email. From the handsome soldier that you find irresistible, Sehun”

Without wanting to control myself, I smiled genuinely. That wasn't goodbye.

(...)

It's been a few months since Sehun and I were talking. What I thought was just a flirtation that would pass the moment he stepped out of the hospital turned out to be something stronger. Unfortunately, our first date hadn't happened yet. I didn't even expect this to happen the day after he was discharged, I know the army demands a lot from soldiers so I didn't start deluding myself. Of course this was not a hindrance to him, Sehun made a video call whenever he could and said that soon we will meet again, he continued with the same flirtatious way that made me feel embarrassed but in a good way. We ended up becoming good friends, or at least that's what I wanted to convince myself. I confess that it was becoming part of my routine to always talk to him, in fact I couldn't even remember what my life was like before his abrupt arrival. And when he took time to answer me, sometimes for weeks, I worried because I knew it had something to do with his work. It was then that I realized that maybe I was starting to be interested in him more than I should but I didn't feel bad about it, Sehun always made it clear that he didn't just see me as a friend and his flirtations were having a certain effect on me. I had just finished my shift, has Friday off and had left the hospital when I ran into Sehun at the entrance. He was leaning against a gray Audi, the kind you only find in a mafia movie. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt that turned up to the elbow, gray pants and white shoes. It looked like he had just come out of a magazine catalog. He smiled at me as I walked towards him.

“Did you drop you captain patent to be a CEO?” I said laughing and he straightened his posture. "I wasn't going to pick you up by bike." he laughed and gave me a better look, as if to make sure I hadn't changed a bit since the last time we saw each other. In fact, I didn't even care. We could take the subway or walk and it would still be ok. "I know you got ready for us to go somewhere nice, but do you mind if we have a pizza at home? I need a shower." I admitted and he laughed. "I got ready for you, you can choose whatever you want." he replied and I rolled my eyes theatrically already feeling my cheeks burn. Sehun indicated for me to get in the car and followed me to close the door right after I sat on the leather upholstery. Like the perfect gentleman. The way to my house was a lot of fun, I pointed the way amidst the various subjects he brought up. He wanted to make me comfortable, like he always did, and it was like I'd known him all my life and we hadn't even been apart for so long. It was a strange feeling because it feels like he had been part of my life since forever, talking to him made me feel happy, like I was at home. Even with his jokes or the way he tried to flirt, which always had an effect on me. We went up to my apartment still talking and I opened the door, giving him space. “Can you ask, please? I’m going to take a quick shower and be right back.” I warned him and he nodded, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “Want some help?” he asked and I turned to face him, he was smiling amused but I knew it wasn't just a joke. I grabbed the pillow from the couch and threw it towards him, he held it effortlessly. Of course, blessed military reflex. "You won't make me embarrassed!" warned. Although I was already. I heard him laugh as I went to my room, put away my things and get another outfit. That done, I went straight to the bathroom, undressed, and put on my robe while I filled the tub. Everything was going well, even too well, until I heard a noise and something from the faucet came out, it was enough for the water to fly all over my bathroom and I ran desperately to close it. Problem is, this wasn’t the first time that this happened and like every other time, I couldn't turn off the faucet because it was hard and the water coming in my face wasn't helping. This was the worst time for this to happen. Not knowing what to do and afraid of flooding my apartment, I had no alternative but to call Sehun to help me. He came running, looked a little scared because of my scream and almost fell on the wet floor, my bathroom was a mess. "What happened?" he asked as I tried to make room for him to take my place while trying unsuccessfully to stop getting the water in my face. “The faucet broke and I couldn't close it.” I replied a little desperately, seeing that he was as soaked as I was. “Where do I turn everything off here?” “Under the sink!” I pointed and he turned to find it, but with the movement Sehun tripped over his own foot on the wet floor and fell on his butt. “Sehun!” I went to him to help but I couldn't do much as I also fell with my legs stretched up. It took a few seconds for the silence between us to turn to laughter. Sehun opened the cupboard under the sink and turned off the record while we couldn't stop laughing like two idiots. The water had stopped leaking but we were still lying on the floor, laughing. "Are you okay?" I asked, feeling my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. “I think I broke my hip.” he replied laughing and I looked at him seriously. "Are you serious?" I asked worriedly. Imagine it, him having to go back to the hospital. "Why? Will you look?” he raised an eyebrow and chuckled mischievously. I snorted but laughed along, even then he didn't change. “You don't even settle down. Your fall was pretty funny.” I commented trying not to laugh again, or else I would have another burst of laughter. "Don’t laugh at me." I raised my hands in the air, as if in surrender, but I kept laughing. Until Sehun got up from the floor completely red and wet. The sight of the white blouse now completely transparent and clinging to his body made me shut up quickly. I shouldn't even stare that long, but I'm not made of iron either, I've seen Sehun shirtless, I've seen his broad chest but there were other circumstances. Now, we were alone in my house, he was there making it very clear that he wanted me and that situation was too advantageous for me. Of course, the way I was blatantly staring his body didn't go unnoticed. Even because my open mouth making the perfect O wasn't so discreet. "Are you okay?" he asked and I cleared my throat, looking away from his athletic, statuesque body in front of me. "Ah yes." I replied as I got up off the floor, scratching my head. "You know it's not fair." "What?" He laughed, not understanding. “You be like that!” I pointed at him frantically and he braced his hands on his hips, further improving my vision. Sehun approached, he didn't need to take more than two steps to almost touch me with his torso. "Like that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He wanted to hear, of course. But this time, I wouldn't hide it anymore. Who knows what the next time we'd see each other would be, we weren't in the hospital so I wouldn't be sure if he'd be there the next morning, I had to seize the moment. “As if it was carved by a god!” I spoke quickly, seeing him smile. "How can I go on with my life knowing that someone like you exists and that..." I couldn't finish talking as Sehun took another step, his hands went up to my face and made me look him straight in the eyes. My heart started beating so fast I thought he was listening. “Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” he asked and I swallowed hard as his gaze hovered over my mouth. "It's a family flaw, I don't shut up when I'm nervous or when I'm anxious." admitted. “I think I can help with that.” he whispered and brought his face even closer to mine. With his heavy breath on my face, I decided to give in, feeling my stomach churn with sheer anxiety as I watched him wet his own lips with his tongue. In order to keep myself upright, I placed my hands on his wet waist and waited until our lips touched. Just as we were about to do so, my doorbell rang shrill and we jumped in fright. I internally debated whether to answer or continue where we were, but Sehun smiled slightly and walked away. "I'm sorry." I spoke quietly and walked out of the bathroom, mentally cursing whoever was in the way. I was so close, I had managed to feel the heat of his mouth next to mine… “What is it…” I opened the door, annoyed. Imagining it was the delivery guy but my jaw dropped the second I stared at the face I already knew. It was a surprise that he was here and there was no way to hide it. "Dad?" I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, Sehun could mess with my head but not to that extent. "Why are you here?" “Is this how you welcome me?” he asked seriously, even though I knew he was joking. He wasn't one to laugh much, not around me. "Sorry, I'm just surprised." admitted. “Are you going to leave me out here?” I shook my head and let him in. I was so surprised that I forgot for a minute that Sehun was in my apartment. Well, I only remembered when I saw my father stare at the man who came out of the bathroom shirtless and dried his hair with my towel. Sehun stopped in place and faced my father, but the reaction he had was completely different from what I could have imagined. His face turned serious exactly the way I saw it when the Admiral went to visit him in the hospital, his posture became more rigid and he looked at my father and me as if trying to find an answer. “Captain, what are you doing here?” my father asked and I looked at him confused. “Sir, it's…” Sehun saluted and looked at me, not knowing how to respond. “Wait, do you two know each other?” I questioned. “Have you forgotten that I am the Minister of Defense?” my father asked and I shook my head. I could never forget that, but I still didn't understand. "Captain Oh and his crew work for me." I felt my jaw drop and the world seemed to spin. Wait what? Since when? Okay, I knew that the Armed Forces were commanded by my father but I didn't imagine that he had such direct contact with the lower-ranking soldiers, for me he only spoke to generals. My father cleared his throat and I looked back at him, now he was the one who took turns looking between me and Sehun. It was then that I remembered that I was still in my bathrobe, all wet and that Sehun was still shirtless and as wet as I was. I didn't owe my father satisfaction, first because we rarely saw each other because of our jobs and second because he wasn't the protective type, not least because he'd never met any of my ex-boyfriends. But the situation was different now, Sehun was one of his subordinates, and apparently he knew him very well, and the situation really felt like Sehun and I were doing things that I wouldn't want to talk to my father about because they were too embarrassing. I mean, I was embarrassed. Even if nothing really happened. Now I was sure that if he wasn't the jealous, protective father, he would be. “Do you need anything?” I asked, watching him try to question me with his eyes what we were doing but I wasn't going to answer, not now. I didn't want to show Sehun how difficult my relationship with my father was, I didn't need another reason to push him away. “I came to deliver this to you.” my father took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to me, I looked at the fancy paper. “It is the invitation of the annual event of the Institution of Monalisa.” he commented as I opened the invite. Monalisa was my father's fiancée, she was philanthropic and had several institutions to help those most in need. Every year I was invited to go to balls and events, it seems that this year would be no different. “You can take the Captain if you two are…” my dad moved his hands like he was trying to find the right word and I felt my cheeks burn. Okay, this was too much for me. “Alright, Dad.” I said hastily, wanting to stick my head in a hole. My father looked at Sehun who looked away, still with a rigid posture. He was just as uncomfortable as I was. "Well, I'll go then." my father announced and I nodded in agreement. That was the best idea he had that night. "I don't want to interrupt" I closed my eyes for a second, he had to make the situation worse. I walked him to the door and he said goodbye briefly, no hugs and no forehead kisses, cold as our family was. I closed the door with a thud and kept my back to Sehun, I didn't know how I would face him now. I took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to look at him, his expression was one of pure shock and I tried to smile. I tried, because I'm sure it looked more like a grimace. "Wow." was the only thing he said. "I'm sorry, my dad can be…unnecessary when he wants to." I couldn't even describe it. “You never tire of surprising me.” he said, laughing lightly. I wanted to be funny but the truth is that I was tense. I didn't know the extent of the relationship between boss and subordinate, I didn't know whether to be happy or afraid that the two of them knew each other. "I'm sorry?" Sehun approached, this time calmer. "You don’t need to apologize. I didn't think I would meet your father so quickly, but it could have been worse.” I smiled and continued to stare at him. “Worst like, he hires someone to look into your past and tell me things you did when you were 10?” I joked, even though I knew it could happen. “Worst like, him ordering me to stay away from you now. I can't do this, not anymore.” contrary to what I was used to, Sehun wasn't kidding. He was serious, he had sincerity in his words. "Why?" "Because I'm in love with you." he admitted looking me deep in the eyes and I shivered all over. I didn't know what to say, not when Sehun was staring at me so intensely. Reluctantly, he brought his hand up to my face and I nodded for him to continue. His warm hand gently caressed my cheek as he placed his fingertips perfectly on the back of my neck, making me shiver from head to toe. I smiled as he started to approach me and when his nose touched mine I closed my eyes. His heavy breath hit my face and his full, rosy lips touched mine in a rush, and I sighed on the spot. Sehun was intoxicating, his scent, his face, his touch, everything was addictive. And it was strangely amazing how perfectly he fit me. When his tongue sought mine, I had to grab his broad shoulders to keep myself upright. He knew what he was doing, and that wasn't a surprise, but what was really surprising was how my body was completely at his mercy, I had surrendered completely and in fact, I wish I could feel my heart racing like that forever. The feeling of our tastes mixing together was too good to undo, but with the kiss avid like that, we eventually had to part. "Damn it." I said, trying to catch my breath. "What's it?" "You're even a good kisser." I noticed and opened my eyes, seeing him smile irresistibly and touch our foreheads. "Is there anything you don't do?" It became increasingly impossible not to fall in love with him. “Make a good impression with your father?” asked and laughs. “About this event he talked about, if you don't want to go, I'll understand. The situation is going to get complicated with my father now.” Sehun smirked and looked at me tenderly as he caressed my face again. “What kind of soldier would I be if I ran away? I'm not the type to give up easy, doll." Yeah, I knew that very well. I smiled proudly and wrapped my arms around his neck, making him hug me around the waist, I had to stand on my tiptoes to try to get close to his height. "You better not give up, because I'm in love with you too." I admitted and saw his eyes sparkle. "Now I'm ready to deal with my father-in-law."

[giorno-plays-piano]

Material Girl

Pairing: Dabi x reader

Warnings: yandere, violence, home invasion, allusion to dubcon.

Words: 1.5k

Summary: Looking around, Dabi smirked at the sight of a pretty princess sofa, pink pillows, toys, a lovely dressing table with shiny little bottles and cosmetic jars on it, and a huge white wooden wardrobe that was full of dresses, he was sure of it. Huh, so you were daddy's princess, a spoiled little girl who was always getting whatever she wanted.

P.S. All characters are adults.

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When he's landing on a windowsill of someone's house, it's late night, and the deep wound on the right side of his torso hurt so much Dabi wanted to howl like an animal. The blood loss made everything blurry, forcing him to grab the window frame not to fall down.

Dabi had no idea where he was, but heroes had finally lost him, and it's the only thing that mattered. Now he needed to patch himself up and return to the League before he would faint from pain.

Of course, he had no time for looking at his surroundings, but he's forced to when he felt a movement somewhere in front of him, on a large bed covered by a pink blanket - Dabi watched as you lifted your pretty head from the fluffy pillows, blinking and trying to understand what awoke you in the middle of the night. Shame, he thought when he looked at your cute face, wondering if he had to burn you right here right now if you decided to scream, waking up the whole house and giving heroes a chance to trace him again. You, however, stayed silent even when you saw a wounded villain sitting on your windowsill.

Yawning, you slowly got out of bed, and now Dabi could fully appreciate the sight of your alluring body covered only by a see-through nightgown as he stared at your every curve. In any other time he'd definitely comment on the beautiful bends of your body and your bare legs, but his bleading wound was ruining all the mood.

"Aren't you the one from that League of Villains?" You asked him suddenly with curiosity of a kid seeing their favourite hero on TV, showing no fear when you came closer and then stopping right away when you saw the red stains on his coat, his arm pressed tightly to the wound to stop the blood loss. "Oh. You're hurt."

"Thanks for noticing," he said between gritted teeth, thinking if you asked one more stupid question he would definitely burn your house to the ground.

You blinked a couple of times, staring at his blooded arm, then rubbed your eyes, smacked your pouty lips like a child, and slowly moved back to your bed, getting on all fours to grab something from beneath it.

A gun? No, you looked far too calm for someone who was going to defend herself against a villain like him. It was something else, and the curiosity took over his anger when he watched you pulling out a little metal case. What the hell was that and why you weren't scared of him the slightest bit? You certainly knew who he was. Were you so dumb you didn't understand he could kill you because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

"What the fuck are you doing?" He finally asked when you turned to him with a case in your hands.

"I'll patch you up," you yawned again as you stepped closer to him, opening the case to demonstrate it was a first-aid kit with bottles of antiseptic, bandages, pills, and all other stuff, "or you're gonna bleed all over the carpet, and daddy will get mad at me."

For the first time, Dabi thought he was in a strange fucking house with a strange fucking family living in it. What the hell did you mean by that? Who was your daddy if seeing blood on the carpet in his daugther's room would make him angry and not scared? Some kind of villain or something?

Looking around, Dabi smirked at the sight of a pretty princess sofa, pink pillows, toys, a lovely dressing table with shiny little bottles and cosmetic jars on it, and a huge white wooden wardrobe that was full of dresses, he was sure of it. Huh, so you were daddy's princess, a spoiled little girl who was always getting whatever she wanted. Dabi finally realized everything here, including even that subtle scent of perfume coming from your hair, was crazy expensive.

Ah, so you were mob's lovely daugther. Now he could understand why the sight of blood didn't scare you.

"Are you used to patching up your daddy?" He grunted when you forced him to take his hand away from the wound, assessing how severe it was.

"I've been doing it all the time when I was younger", you muttered under your breath, seeing how bad the blood loss was and sighing. "I don't have anything to numb the pain, so you'll have to endure it. Just a second."

Then you brought him an opened bottle of martini, and Dabi let out a husky laugh, the pain becoming so unbearable he barely made a sip - and then emptied the fancy bottle with a one long gulp. Taking something hard you gave him to hold in between his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn't remember what happened afterwards when you cleaned his wound and stitched it. He didn't even remember the feeling of your soft sheets and blanket on his skin when you put him on your bed, although he heard you saying something he needed to leave before 7 am next morning because that's when your daddy was going to come up to your room. What he remembered vividly was a dream he saw where he was laying on a meadow with wild flowers blooming in between his burnt fingers.

By the time you woke up just before 7 in the morning, the stranger you were patching up half of the night was long gone, and the window was sealed shut.

________

When Dabi looked at a shiny diamond necklace he stole earlier, Toga whistled behind his back, staring at it with wide eyes.

"Woah, where did you get this?" She asked, jumping in front of him and poking the necklace with her tiny finger. "And for whom is it? Is it for some girl?"

Dabi winced, hiding the necklace carelessly in the pocket of his pants as if it didn't cost more than anything he ever held in his hands. He cared little for luxury and these expensive trinkets, but you, certainly a high-maintenance girl, would appreciate something like this, he's sure. He planned to visit you again after his wound healed - not so much to say thank you, but because he liked you, daddy's dumb little girl who wasn't scared of all the burns and wounds on his body. In truth, Dabi was fucking dreaming to lift your pink nightgown and get in between those beautiful thighs of yours.

Funny enough, you didn't look even the least bit surprised to see him on your windowsill again as you drank tea from a fine china cup, half-lying down on your fancy Italian sofa. Seeing him smirking at you as you wore a pink dressing gown that was slightly see-through too, you sent him a flirty stare.

"Hello, Mr. Villain," you smiled, putting your cup on a coffee table but not changing your position, obviously to attract his attention.

Little slut, he thought as he stepped down the fluffy carpet in his combat boots. You were tempting him despite knowing who he was, not showing any signs of being repulsed with his clearly intimidating appearance. Well, you did patch him rather nice, considering the conditions.

"Did I leave any bloodstains the last time?" He asked you, smug.

"A little."

You gestured him to sit on your lavish bed - it was so huge it could probably fit him, Spinner, Shigaraki, and one Nomu altogether, and some space would still be unoccupied.

Snickering, he landed on your pink blanket with casualty as if pretty girls were constantly trying to get him into their beds. You were either incredibly brave or very stupid, he didn't decide it yet.

"Oh, is it for me?" you perked up as you saw something shiny slipping out of Dabi's pocket onto your bed, and he threw the necklace to you like some trinket as if he could get something like that every day with ease.

You proved to be agile when you caught the necklace without leaving the sofa, looking at it with pure admiration in your eyes: you had a good idea how much these diamonds cost, and you immediately put the necklace around your neck, standing up and rushing to your dresser. Judging by the expression of sheer happiness on your face, Dabi chose a right gift for you.

"It's so pretty!" you clasped your hands together, laughing. "Thank you! Oh dear, I certainly have to put a price on my medical services..."

"It's not my payment for that night," he cut you off, standing up and walking over to you until he put his hands on your shoulders, enjoying the heavenly feeling of a fabric of your dressing gown against his skin.

You raised your head, blinking in surprise, "It's not?"

"No. It's your present for today, babygirl," he whispered into your ear, his hand taking the dressing gown off your shoulder.