#honestly are you surprised that error is angry

[kookiestiddies]

1 | first sightings

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x female reader

Genre: Enemies With Potential | Fluff, Angst & Smut

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: swearing, mild injury, reader is grumpy, mentions of flashing (???), attempted humour, if you see any typos and grammatical errors no u didn’t

A/N: there'll be no fixed schedule for this bcs I have commitment issues rip so good luck to ya'll honestly. happy reading! feel free to lmk your thots :8) 👍🏼

°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

3 years ago...

Fuck my life! 

That’s what you think to yourself as you try to catch your breath; an impossible feat considering the fact that you’re lugging along 3 monstrous and overpriced textbooks. And not to mention the fact that you’re racing across campus because it’s only the first day of your college career and you happened to be late.

Sure, maybe it could be considered your fault because you hit the snooze button too many times over the course of an hour before your class actually started. Maybe you only further sealed your fate by taking too long in the shower. However, in your defence, it should be decreed a social injustice for classes starting earlier than 11 am to be acceptable. Rest and hygiene come first about all else, yup yup. 

You were so focused on reaching your destination that you missed to sound of the bell ringing overhead the campus coffee shop entrance on your side, signalling someone’s rushed exit.

So imagine your surprise when you find that your race to the class that’s 2 minutes away from starting is brought to a halt when you’re suddenly sent flying perpendicular to the direction you were going in by an unseen force only to land harshly on the lawn in front of the coffee shop. 

You see it all happening in slow motion: you’re rapidly reaching the ground but not before you jut out your arms to hopefully prevent your face from getting too intimate with the muddy ground. Your ultra-premium textbooks leave your grasp to land in- 

Oh NO! 

A puddle.

While you sit there in shock, barely processing what just happened, you hear someone swearing nearby from the direction of the coffee shop. You look up towards it to find a pair of doe eyes looking back at you. The owner of said doe eyes is crouching ahead of you; a boy.

Before you can take a good look and process him, he’s already up on his feet and quickly picks up a bag scattered haphazardly next to him. You snap out of trance and call out to him as he makes a move towards the main campus buildings. 

“HEY!”

He hesitantly stops and looks around at you. “What?!” 

What’s with his tone?! 

“What do you meant, What?! You knocked me down! My textbooks are ruined!” you say as you get up haggardly, brushing off the mud on your elbows.

“I’m sorry, but I’m already late for my class, I’ve got to go,” he replies quickly and starts scurrying away. 

“WHAT?!” you yell to his retreating back to no avail. Oh, now you’re mad. 

The boy’s hurriedly retreating figure comes to a sudden halt and turns around, speeding towards you with his hands in his pocket. 

That’s more like it. Get your ass over here and apolog-

“I’m sorry about your textbooks, hope this covers it!” he rushes out and shoves a wad of cash in your hands. He doesn’t wait for your response before he darts back towards the campus building. 

You’re too stunned. You are simply. Too. Stunned.

An angry pout forms on your face as you mull things over and count the cash that he generously thrusted to you. A whole 50 bucks. The sheer audacity of that stupid boy. 

What the heck were you supposed to do with 50 bucks?! Each textbook cost atleast 90 bucks!

You pick up your bag and your now wet, smudged and ruined mammoth of a textbook set with a groan and angrily huff your way towards class, which you are now officially late for.

Imagine meticulously planning out your first day at college from hour-to-hour, only to end up becoming the loser that shows up to class late with a set of muddy textbooks, ruined hair and shockingly dirty clothes.

Operation Have A Positively Impressionable First Day of College: FAILED.

You would continue your run to class if it weren’t for the fact that your knee was sore as a result of you getting to 2nd base with the grass which led to you limping the rest of the way. 

Maybe people are kind, maybe it was the fact that your anger and annoyance were monstrously visible to anyone passing by, but thank fuck, everyone moved away from you as you stormed your way to class. Thanks to your encounter with that fuckhead of a boy earlier, your mood is now at its lowest setting and you simply cannot tolerate anyone else for the rest of the day probably. You curse him under your breath the whole way.

It can’t possibly get any worse, right? Wrong.

When you finally make it to class, you were 4 minutes late and three significant things happened one after the other:

#1 You had to face the embarrassment of 200 pairs of eyes, plus the lecturer’s, witnessing your walk of shame as you cautiously entered the class like a gazelle amongst a pack of lions. 

2# All the seats towards the front were taken up so you had no choice but to find an empty seat towards the back of the class. 

3# By your luck, you realised too late that you were seated right in front of an annoyingly familiar face.

He tried to hide from you. 

You know this because he looked at you straight in the eyes, visibly panicked and lied his head on the table with his hoodie and arms shielding him, pretending to be asleep. 

Tch, pathetic!

Thankfully, the rest of the class went by as smoothly as can be, though you did feel the heat of someone staring at you at the back of your neck. You tried your best to ignore it by forcing all your attention toward the lecture. 

When the end of the class came around, you were quick to exit the class. 

Frankly speaking, you’ve had enough of today.

As you turn down the hallway, you bump into Nayeon, a friend you’d made during the freshmen orientation. 

While you were still deciding on whether you should project a more introverted or extroverted personality onto all the new people you’d be meeting in college, Nayeon made the choice for you by taking up your neighbouring seat and starting a conversation with you about the shitty AC in the hall. In less than an hour, you’d already gotten to know all about her eight exes and how two of them almost gave her STDs and one of them almost gave her a whole baby. You were still contemplating which one would have been worse.

“Y/n! Oh, thank god you’re here! Y/nieee, today has been such a nuisance and it’s barely 12 pm!” she cries while sliding her arm in yours as you both start walking in sync towards the college cafeteria.

Hah! 

“You know, Mercury must be in retrograde or something because my day has been awful so far as well,” you say with a downward tilt of your mouth. 

“Oh? Does that have anything to do with your whole ‘I’m 27 years old with no prospects’ cosplay thing you’ve got going on? Lovin’ the limp by the way. It really adds to the whole vibe” she retorts with a cackle. You can’t help but giggle along with her until you remember the reason for your haggard get up.

You haughtily recount your morning’s incident to her and heave up your textbooks, now reduced to a damp and muddy stack of papers.

“Ew, what was his problem?!” she asks and you giggle at her disgusted look. You’re both quiet as you reach the cafeteria and get some food on trays. “C’mon, the gang’s over there,” Nayeon says as she leads you to a table that seats her friends whom you had also briefly met during orientation. 

You take your seat and set your food on the table along with your ruined textbooks. Hoseok peeks a curious look at them, you notice, but he doesn’t say anything. But his curiosity is abundantly loud, so you answer it for him anyway.

“Some turdball knocked me over this morning on my way to class and they dropped right into a puddle,” you say with a pout. 

“Oh? Does that also explain the Mother Nature cosplay you’ve got going on right now?” he replies with a cheeky grin and reaches out to you to pluck out a piece of grass that you hadn’t realised was in your hair

Geez, this is so embarrassing.

“Uh-huh, totally. It’s avant-garde baby.” you retort which sends the table in a fit of giggles, including Hoseok, whose laughter rings louder than the rest. 

“Also, what’s up with you guys and cosplays? Nayeon made a comment earlier too,” you bring up. Somehow, it causes Jimin to spiral into a choking fit and the rest of the group starts knowingly laughing. 

“Oh, you’re gonna LOVE this!” Chae bellows towards you. 

She’s interrupted by Jimin who whines “Chae, for the love of God, can you please shut up about that? It’s literally not even funny anymore!” 

“Oh yes it fucking is! Go on,” Nayeon urges Chae on.

“It’s an inside joke right. When we were in high school, he took part in a random Joker & Harley Quinn cosplay competition with one of our other friends. This idiot here was Harley and he flashed the whole audience with his ass hanging out from under his skirt the whole time!” 

The whole table hollers with laughter, except for a violently blushing Jimin. In between your giggles, you ask Jimin “Did you guys win though?” The table erupts in another round of laughter as Jimin mutter an angry “No.”

“Oh my god, there’s even a video! Nayeon, where’s that video Jungkook took?” Hoseok yells. 

“STOP!” Jimin yells but it’s too late. 

In lighting speed, Nayeon whips out her phone and shows you what truly is Jimin’s ass hanging out from under a skirt as he prances about the stage in true Harley Quinn fashion. There’s another handsome boy next to him dressed in a Joker costume. “That’s our friend, Taehyung, by the way,” Chae adds. 

“Jesus fuck, do you have that video on standby or something? You pulled it out so fast,” Jimin whines at Nayeon. “I have it saved as my live wallpaper babe,” Nayeon replies and sends a flying kiss towards Jimin which earns her a swear thrown at her face in return.

“Hey, where’s Jungkook? His class should have ended by now, right?” Hoseok asks Chae.  

“Hmm yeah, he was in the same class as Y/n actually. Did you see him?” Chae turns to you. Your attention is still focused on the phone in Nayeon’s hand as you reply, “Sorry, I was a little preoccupied to notice. Besides-,” you lift your head to look at her.

“-I don’t even know what he looks like,” you say with a smile.

“Look out for someone who looks like me, duh. I may be cooler than him, but we’re still twins,” Chae teases.

“Well, speak of the devil, here he comes,” Hoseok says and shifts his attention to look over your shoulder. 

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. I had to sort something out with my lecturer,” an eerily familiar voice says behind you. 

No. 

Fucking. 

Way. 

You don’t want to turn around.

“We gotta head out soon for the . By the way, say hi to Y/n, she’s watching your video of Tae and Jimin at the comic fest,” Hoseok says with a bright smile. 

“Huh? Hmm, kinda weird that you came over just to watch Jimin hyung’s ass reshaping the world’s seat,” the new guy acknowledges you and you feel him approaching from behind. 

“You’re all horrible,” Jimin says.

The table erupts in a fit of giggles and you suddenly feel a warm hand on your shoulder. 

Fuck.

You have to turn around now. 

You’re turning around.

“Hi, I’m Jung-” he stops halfway and his eyes widen as he realises who you are. 

You fake a wide smile and say “Hi Jungkook. I think we’ve met before,” you say harshly and look at him straight in the eyes. You’re pouring every bit of spite you have crawling around your body into this look. And it seems to pay off with how Jungkook gulps loudly and looks at you with doe eyes.

The whole table has turned to witness your interaction now.

“Oh, so you have? Small world huh,” Chae chirps.

What a small world indeed.

Your moments away from blowing a fuse and cussing him out in front of your friends who are watching your interaction, when the unthinkable happens, too fast to be stopped.

Jungkook immediately gets down on his knees in front of you, brings his palms together and shrieks out, “I’M SORRY!”

(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

[lyricpersonarts]

Hmmm I wonder whats happening...

old version! check out the animated gift here

[sbocconichilista]

"I am a warrior, but maybe this is not my fight."

[WWDITS S6EP5 SPOILERS!!!]

Just finished episode 5, and you can bet your ass I have some shit to say. As it is something I've already discussed and like analyzing, I'll go on about the Nandermo situation for now, but I'd like to talk about other topics too, maybe in another post.

This episode was a rollercoaster, and I think all my worries are now at peace (at least the one regarding Nandor's growth). I imagined that Nandor was just about to throw another ginormous tantrum about the stupidest of the things, but I was positively surprised when I saw his attitude towards the situation: he honestly had valid reasons to be angry, reasons I didn't even think about at first, but they came to me as a slap in the face as Nandor spoke, as I can imagine they did to Guillermo. Obviously, the solution wasn't war, but I can see why he would react like this. He was a warrior, after all.

"You live a thousand years, and you think you know what betrail is, what horror is, but then, in a single instant, you find out you haven't the slightest idea of what men is truly capable of."

This is what he says. And although it seems so extravagant and exaggerated, his pain is real. He was so sure about Guillermo's loyalty, not because he expected it as a Master, but as a friend, as a companion, given that he has always been loyal to him: "I may have done a lot of things, Guillermo, but I never got rid of you". He's right when he says so, and honestly I, as probably Guillermo, never really realized how much has probably costed Nandor to protect Guillermo from the vampire world, how much he risked to keep him safe. He really has done a lot for him, and he also finally addresses his mistakes.

Nandor felt betrayed and this time I can do nothing but agree with him. Guillermo tries to justify it all saying that it's the "human world way", but Nandor was human too, and the type of loyalty he shared with his comrades he expected from Guillermo: this makes me understand how he really perceives him in his life. He feels bonded to him, and reserved fidelity to him; not always respect or recognition, but fidelity yes.

Still, I agree with Guillermo about some points. At first he sees the whole thing as another big absurdity came out from Nandor's neediness and I can't blame him for having been prejudiced (i was myself), but then he understands how hurt Nandor felt.

Although, as he said in the previous episode, maybe this thing between the two of them isn't meant to be: he now has a new purpose, and he invites Nandor to start healing and find a new one too.

"I am a warrior, but maybe this is not my fight" it's with this statement that Nandor finally aknowledges that he needs to let it go too. The relationship between them started with all the worst moves, and it can't go any further without continuing to inflict wounds to both of them.

When Nandor tells Guillermo to go away using Alexa, these lyrics are used: "get out, right now, it's the end of you and me", and I'm starting to think it could really be like it says. Maybe Nandermo will never happen, and maybe it's for the best. Still I keep my hope close, and I wish that all of this was just a big demolition to build a new foundation for a stronger and healthier relationship, but I won't bet too much on it.

This episode was a huge statement fr. I feel like I've left out so many details, but I guess if something comes up to my mind, I'll just post about it later. Also, I wrote all of this as fast as I could, so please forgive me if you've encountered some errors.

"When one is burned, one feels most at home among the ashes" said Nandor, and I think I'll do the same and go cry about this while re-watching the whole series 😔.

[lizzyflowers]

I saw that one meme with DS!Nightmare and DS!Dream's faces slapped on pregnant women and it was really cursed, but it got me thinking.. what if it had lore...(aka real)? Something consumed right then and there at that moment and i went to the drawing app(procreate)... now i present you them but with a baby, p.s. this is super self-indulgent Also, this was also inadvertently caused by @1ka0oo when she made a drawing of DS!Nightmare and DS!Dream married lol (on twitter, since it's not posted on Tumblr, her twitter is @ashi_ashily. Go follow her!)(I personally apologise to my mutuals for having to see this but this is the person u followed):

Take what you will from this, the second picture with DS!Nightmare on the bottom right corner is from another timeline. But the other pictures are just him and Dream from the current timeline. Basically, what would happen if they just got married after they reconciled and began to get close.. Well, close enough that they got a baby now. No i will not explain myself, i don't know how my brain works either. More ramblings underneath:

What are the other's reactions to this? Ink is somewhat surprised, Cross is happy for Nightmare but at the same time wants to kill Dream, Error is just happy for them, Blue is... not surprised at all lol. Dream gets teased and bashed a lot by Cross and Error (most of the bashing comes from Cross) and Ink is just trying to process the information given to him right now (probably has a few existential crisis's because wow his boss has a child now does this change anything or what, he was not expecting this, first the marriage now the baby, what's happening anymore). Blue was kind of just waiting for it to happen, he's still somewhat banned from the castle but drops by here and there to talk to Nightmare and congratulate him or bother Dream. Dream immediately kicks Blue out whenever he sees him. Error probably knits clothes for the baby and Cross is going to be the best uncle/second-parent-figure that kid ever has. Random HC (Headcannon): Dream's wings are made of light right? I think that they'd get a flame like appearance to them when he gets incredibly upset or angry or just unstable. And if you're wondering how Nightmare got pregnant, uhhh, he's trans, but also magic, yeah. Nightmare hates everything and everyone because he's tired, he's grumpy and if Blue doesn't shut up he's going to kill him right then and there. He opts for more simpler clothing because he's too tired to clothe himself properly, and maybe he steals Dream's clothes or maybe just anyone's clothes because he just doesn't care at that point... Dream is more irritable but still patient, just very sleep deprived, more than usual anyway. Probably constantly worries about Nightmare and the baby, Nightmare feels a bit smothered by Dream's overprotectiveness but honestly just too tired to care. Oh yeah, that guy that Dream killed in the second drawing? I was originally going to expand on that with Nightmare arguing with Dream because Dream promised he wouldn't kill anyone or execute criminals anymore, but that happened impulsively so yeah..

This is super self-indulgent, i just like imagining them in post-reconciliation scenarios and what would happen if certain situations occurred. I just really like situations where it's just very domestic, or very painful and they're just trying to make do with it and heal from it.

[Fun Fact: It's my first time ever drawing DS! Cross, Error, Ink and Blue so i kinda had trouble figuring out how i wanted to draw them.. In the end i settled for something simple with a few minor changes, not that it's noticeable though]

[delulustateofmind]

Forged in Fire: A New World pt2

A/n: this can be read by itself but here is the link to part one in case you would like more context. It is loosely inspired by 'I stole the male lead's first night' I wrote this because I could not for the life of me sleep, so if there's errors then I apologize, also my requests are open!

Summary: You wake up in a strange place :) Azriel x Reader

Warnings: Mostly crack, Angry!Azriel, lots of cursing

WC: 3.1k

Taglist: @kksbookstuff

*****

You had failed to realize some rather... critical things that had led up to this moment.

For one, you couldn’t read the Prythian language, though you could speak it. Then there was your complete lack of understanding regarding the social caste system and etiquette. And, of course, visiting that suspicious fortune teller at the Renaissance fair three weeks ago—an absolute steal at five dollars—had somehow landed you in this otherworldly situation.

It was your third day in the Night Court. You sat by the garden, surrounded by beautiful flowers and basking in the sunshine. But the serene setting did nothing to calm the storm of your thoughts, especially with the absolutely terrifying shadowsinger sitting next to you. You tried not to lust over him, but Azriel was a sight to behold. The book did not do him justice, nor did the fanart. In person, this male was an absolute lethal god—lean muscles, absolute slut hips, and an ass that could stop traffic. You tried not to drool as you sipped your tea at the table, attempting to focus on the floral beauty around you. Azriel was reading reports, occasionally sending glares your way.

You knew he hated the Vanserras, and he probably didn’t enjoy this babysitting duty when he could be spending time with Elain or doing spy things. Until he finally spoke.

“What the actual fuck, Y/n?” His cold tone sent a shiver down your spine. You gulped the sip of tea you’d just taken, staring into his golden eyes that seemed like shards of ice. What did you do?

You just stared at him. How could you respond to that? How could you respond to the cold, golden gaze he was sending your way, or the way he kept playing with the ring on his... wedding finger?

Fae don’t do human weddings.

“Wait, you’re married?” you stuttered out, looking at him with wide eyes. He scoffed, smirking at your shock.

“Yeah, to you. We got married right before the war, in a private ceremony. We’re mates, for fuck’s sake.” Azriel was furious. He stood up, his wings flaring out in anger. His shadows twirled around your wrists, locking you onto the chair as he moved closer to you.

“How utterly convenient you lost your memory, you have a heart condition that you never told me about, and I don’t know the fact that you visited a witch right before our ceremony?” His tone was dangerously low, like the calm before a storm. He wasn’t yelling—no, that would draw attention. His words were like shards of ice, cutting through the air with a menacing chill.

“How come you didn’t say anything? I mean, I arrived like three days ago,” you said, trying to sound casual. Maybe you could play this off. Everyone here thinks you have amnesia, that you are definitely not from another world and have entered the world of a popular fae smut series. You got this.

Okay, maybe you don’t got this, as Azriel moved closer to you, tilting your chin up to look at him as he gazed down at you. You were honestly surprised you hadn’t pissed yourself yet. They don’t call him the spymaster for no reason. “What was I supposed to say?” he started, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I haven’t told my family that I was mated to a maid for the Vanserra family, who now turns out to be their sister.” Whoever’s body you had just taken over, can have their body back and deal with this mess.

You pleaded to yourself mentally as he continued. “You’re just so full of surprises. Honestly, it’s really my fault, to begin with,” Azriel said with a bitter laugh. “I mean, I should have investigated my mate, but I figured, no, my mate wouldn’t lie to me and then after the war not talk to me for three weeks because she nearly died at Autumn’s camp, which I didn’t even know you were there.” Oh, he was mad. Heated. The absolute rambling this male was doing—fuck, you should pay for his therapy for all of this.

“I’m sorry that I don’t remember you,” you began, feeling a strange tug in your heart—was that the mating bond? Perhaps mentioning it would make the lethal predator before you less mad. “I still feel the bond, though,” you whispered, pulling Azriel from his heated rage fit.

Azriel’s eyes flickered with something you couldn’t quite place, a mixture of anger and pain. “I just wish... you would have told me all of these things, that you would have prepared me for all of this,” he began, waving his hands as if showcasing the whole mess. “Rhysand knows we’re mates. I told him when you arrived.” Azriel scoffed, his bitterness evident. “I was surprised when it was you, standing there looking so shy, the way you bowed your head towards us. A Vanserra would never do that. That was the first sign that I knew you actually had lost your memories. That you were different.”

The rambling seemed to continue.

Azriel ran a hand through his dark hair, frustration evident in every movement. “You think I haven’t been trying to figure this out? Trying to understand why my mate would forget me? Why she would hide things from me? This isn’t just about the past three days. This is about trust. About knowing that my mate, my partner, would keep secrets that could get her killed.”

“I never wanted to hide anything from you,” you said softly, feeling the weight of his words. “I don’t know why this happened, but I’m here now. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right.”

Azriel’s expression softened slightly, the anger in his eyes dimming but not disappearing. “You have no idea how much I want to believe you,” he said, his voice low and filled with an emotion that made your heart ache. “But it’s going to take more than words. We’ll start with that witch, and we’ll go from there. But until then, no more secrets. No more lies. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” you replied, feeling the gravity of the situation settle heavily on your shoulders. You were in over your head, if you had to the chance to talk to whoever’s body you took over. You were going to scream and shout at them for this. 

Azriel’s wings folded back slightly, and he released your wrists from the shadows, though the wariness didn’t leave his eyes. “We need to talk to that witch, one of the spies said they found the location” 

You nodded as he took your hand in his, his wedding ring brushing against you. A reminder that you were not the one he fell in love with. Within moments shadows surrounded the two of you, as you appeared in front of a shop with a cauldron shaped sign and an old oak door. A sign that said ‘Come in: We can change your life! No Refunds!” hung on the door. 

Azriel gave you a look that said ‘Really? You went here of all places for magic’ he pushed open the door for you, you trailed behind. What was peculiar was that the lady looked exactly like the lady from the renaissance festival. 

The witch’s eyes flicked up as you entered, her lips curling into a knowing smile. “Ah, welcome back, dear,” she said, her voice smooth, like an eerie melody. “I see my spell worked.” 

Azriel gave you a confused look as you pulled him outside with you. “We will be right back,” you said to the witch before bringing Azriel outside. “Okay, you said no secrets, right?” The male simply nodded with a confused expression. You continued, your voice hesitant as you looked around to make sure nobody was walking the empty street. “I am not from this world. I am from a modern world where you and your family are a part of a hit faerie smut series.” You said it so bluntly that you didn’t notice the way his face looked. The look was unreadable.

“You’re saying that I am a book character?” he stated. You knew you sounded crazy and were praying that Azriel was not going to send you straight to the dungeons.

You nodded, feeling a sense of desperation. “Yes, and I don’t know how I got here. I visited a fortune teller at a Renaissance fair, and the next thing I knew, I was here, in this body, with no memories of this world.”

Azriel's expression shifted from confusion to something more guarded. “And you expect me to believe this? That my entire life, my family, everything I know is just... fiction in your world?”

“I know it sounds insane,” you pleaded, “but it's the truth. I’m not trying to deceive you. I just want to figure out how to fix this, how to make things right.”

He took a deep breath, his golden eyes searching your face for any sign of deceit. “If what you're saying is true, then this witch is our best chance at getting answers. But if you’re lying...”

“I’m not,” you interrupted. “I swear, Azriel. I want to find out what happened just as much as you do.”

He held your gaze for a long moment before nodding curtly. “Fine. Let’s see what she has to say.”

You both re-entered the shop, the witch’s eyes gleaming with interest. “Had to have a little chat, did you?” she asked, amusement in her tone.

“Yes,” Azriel said, his voice cold and authoritative. “And now we need answers. She claims she’s from another world, one where our lives are just stories. Can you confirm this?”

The witch’s smile widened. “Ah, yes. A classic case of cross-reality displacement. Rare, but not unheard of. The spell I cast was meant to fulfill her old self’s deepest desire, and it seems that desire was to escape her mundane life and find herself in a world of magic and adventure.”

“Old self?” you asked, your voice tinged with urgency.

The witch shrugged delicately. “The actual Vanserra. When I spoke to you, she had already set the spell in motion. It was only a matter of time for you both to flip-flop.” She said this in an amused tone, showcasing with her hands. “Your souls were swapped. Thankfully, you both existed in two different universes. At least you still look like yourself!” She laughed and muttered under her breath, “That’s not always the case.”

Azriel’s grip on your hand tightened, his expression darkening. “So you’re saying the Vanserra soul is now in another world?”

“Precisely, a human world to be exact,” the witch replied, still smiling. “Two souls, two worlds. It’s a perfect balance, really.”

You felt a wave of panic rising. “How do we reverse it?”

The witch’s eyes gleamed with a mix of pity and amusement. She moved to a back room behind a tacky purple curtain. “Now let’s check on the actual Vanserra using this doll.” She returned, holding up a rather awful sewing job of a cat with two buttons of separate sizes for eyes. “Ah, just as I thought, the Vanserra accepted the swap. You see, when she came in here, she would claim she was bored of this life. Bored of the mundane. She wanted a life of change, so I gave her your world. It’s more human, so of course, a shorter life span, but your world is rather peaceful.”

Azriel’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean she accepted the swap? And what does that mean for Y/n?”

The witch shrugged delicately. “It means that once one soul accepts the swap, the other must accept as well. The balance must be maintained. The Vanserra is content in your world, living a new life, free from the burdens she faced here. She has accepted her new reality.”

The witch handed you the poorly sewn cat doll. “You could always communicate with her via your dreams. Given the situation, she hasn't reached out, perhaps hoping you would accept this world. To do this, you must sleep with this cat.” She gave you a look that said, 'You want my help or not, kid?' You stayed silent as you accepted the creepy, poorly sewn cat doll.

Azriel eyed the doll skeptically, then asked, “So she can talk to her in this dream state, but if the other has accepted, what does that do?”

The witch shrugged. “Provides closure, knowing that you are stuck in this world. You said you wanted adventure, right, kid? Well, here it is.” She gestured grandly with her hands.

You began, your tone edged with annoyance. “I wanted adventure as in, I don’t know, changing my degree or winning the lottery. Not my soul being transported to another world.” You gestured to Azriel. “Let’s say I do accept this role. What do I have to do?”

The witch hummed thoughtfully. “You must do five cartwheels, a handstand while saying ‘I choose this life,’ and then your soul will be sealed, and both eyes on the cat will match.”

Azriel gave her a look of utter disbelief before turning to you. “Can you even do a cartwheel?”

You nodded confidently, flexing your non-existent muscles at him. “Absolutely. I’m practically a gymnast,” you said, trying to lighten the mood.

The witch clapped her hands. “Wonderful! Now, if you’re ready, you can begin. The sooner you accept, the sooner you can start living your new life fully.”

Azriel rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed but resigned. After the witch had swindled the two of you out of two hundred gold, he kept your hand in his as he winnowed you both to the Healer’s cottage.

“We’re going to bed and getting this whole thing situated,” he muttered under his breath, guiding you down the hallway to your bedroom.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” you began, but he interrupted, “I am going to sleep next to you to make sure that you are safe and sound.” The look he gave you was one of ‘Don’t test my patience.’

As you both lay in bed, you stared at the ceiling, trying your best to sleep but unable to quiet your mind. The song lyrics of Kendrick Lamar’s "Certified Lover Boy, Certified Pedophile" played on repeat in your head. Azriel, too, was wide awake, his presence a mixture of comfort and tension.

Slowly, sleep began to take you. You found yourself being led by a black cat into the dreamscape.

In the dreamscape, you met someone who could have been your twin, except she had the most perfect posture known to man, the exclusive Vanserra glare, and was wearing a ballgown.

“So, you’re the one who took my spot?” she said, looking you up and down. Surprisingly, you were wearing modern clothes in the dreamscape.

You nodded. She continued, “Your world is... perfect. I mean, I don’t have to worry about beasts or my abusive father. I have my own apartment, music that can play at my fingertips. Your world may not have magic, but it is... magical.” She sounded amazed by your everyday life, one that now seemed mundane to you, having always wished for fantasy and adventure.

“But you hurt your mate,” you stated angrily, remembering the pained look on Azriel’s face when he learned that the real Vanserra had accepted her life in a human world, that this world was not enough for her.

The Vanserra’s eyes softened with a hint of regret. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I was just so desperate to escape. My life here was a constant battle, a fight for survival. I didn’t realize how much pain I would cause him... or you.”

“You could have at least tried to work things out,” you countered, your voice trembling with emotion. “Azriel is suffering because of this. He loves you—loved you—and now he’s trying to figure out what to do with me, someone who’s not even from his world.”

She looked away, guilt evident in her expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about the consequences. I was selfish. But I can’t go back now. I don’t want to go back. Your world is everything I dreamed of.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” you asked, feeling a mix of anger and helplessness. “I’m stuck here, in a world I don’t understand, with a mate who’s heartbroken and confused.”

The Vanserra met your gaze, a newfound determination in her eyes. “You have to make this life your own. Embrace it, as hard as it may be. Azriel deserves happiness, and if I can’t give it to him, then maybe you can.”

You took a deep breath, preparing yourself for the ritual. “I guess this is it,” you said, looking around the dreamscape one last time before focusing on the task at hand.

One cartwheel. You felt the shift in the air, the magic beginning to weave around you.

Two cartwheels. Your movements became more confident, your resolve strengthening.

Three cartwheels. The world around you seemed to blur, the dreamscape fading into the background.

Four cartwheels. The energy of the ritual thrummed through you, a pulsing beat that matched the rhythm of your heart.

Five cartwheels. As you landed, you transitioned into a handstand, your voice steady as you declared, “I choose this life.”

The Vanserra twin gave you a smile, a mixture of relief and encouragement in her eyes. “Good luck, Y/n,” she said softly, her form beginning to dissolve as the dreamscape faded completely.

When you woke up, you surprisingly had tears in your eyes. Azriel was already awake, gently stroking the hair out of your face. The poorly sewn cat doll was clutched in your hands, and its once mismatched eyes now both gleamed evenly.

“Are you okay?” Azriel asked, his voice soft and filled with concern. His touch was tender, a stark contrast to the intimidating persona he often projected.

You nodded, still processing the weight of what had happened. “I... I talked to her. The real Vanserra. She’s happy in my world. She’s not coming back.”

Azriel’s expression was a mix of emotions—relief, sadness, and something else you couldn’t quite place. “So, this is really happening,” he murmured, his thumb brushing away a stray tear from your cheek. “You’re here to stay.”

You nodded again, feeling the truth of it settle deep within you. “Yes. I’ve accepted this life. I’m going to try and make it work. For both of us.”

He sighed, a sound that was half-resignation, half-hope. “Then we’ll figure this out together.”

You looked into his eyes, feeling the bond between you grow stronger with every passing moment. “We will,” you agreed, a sense of determination filling you.

Azriel pulled you into his arms, holding you close. “Welcome home, Y/n,” he whispered, his breath warm against your ear.

[missmarveledsblog]

I'll show you different ( joel miller x reader ) part 7

summary : she ready , she ready to finally stand up to the man that made her life hell only to find her grandfather is in a car wreck it doesn't take her long to figure out who it was and along with meeting two new friends the pen state protection while for once in her life she get her wish will she see her loved ones again ?

warning : mention of domestic violence in the past in the whole series , car crashes , intentional car crash , kidnapping

previous part

She wanted him  to  see her ,  to see his face show him she wasn’t scared   infact she  was ready to fight back especially as she watched the tow truck that was carrying the only thing she could actually say was hers . something she paid for the moment she was divorced yes her friends help her but it was her only hers.  He broke it , wrecked in a bid to scare her only it was the opposite she was pissed , sick of being frightened .   sitting in the car as joel drove and tommy was talking away about the new show he was watching some zombie thing on hbo  she barely heard him , eyes locked on the passing town til they got to the site she barely spoke when she got out o the truck heading straight to the office ignoring her grandfathers greeting.

 “ what’s wrong with her” he asked perplexed a rarity to ever see her actually pissed only time he ever seen her angry was when he didn’t take the medication doctor gave him . 

“ asshole trashed her car” tommy scoffed already wanting to get the prick himself , knowing he was so close and still slipped by . 

“ yeah she been like a bull since “ joel nodded  none of the three were exactly in the best moods . it was a theme of the day  as she stormed and stomped around the office getting annoyed at the little things that just weren’t going the way she wanted . then the mechanic called making her sick to  her stomach ask did she know there was a dead animal in her glove box and that sherif was by.  Of course the coward would kill something defenceless she  didn’t ask what animal it was she had to stop him explaining the  details . he was escalating almost a warning she was next but she was going to get him first . 

They all sat in the cell honestly surprise never in ten years did he  ask for anything , not even  a smoke . each owed him something big , each saved from more time or penalties , some even owed him their life as they stood wondering what it could be that would be a cause to meet . 

“ henry man you gonna tell us why were here” a man spoke soft chuckle trying to ease the tension . 

“ well i’ll cut to the chase man says he’s my little girls husband , prick something about him says she back here which isn’t good  , what ever or whoever he is scared her enough to come back to this place and i  wanna do right thing , i wanna be the man i should of all those years i want her protected , i want him gone” he looked at each man watching them nod. 

“ done , maybe we can get her to come visit too “ his cell mate  ray nodded. 

“ nah she ain’t gonna do that i hurt that girl too many time to count but  now while i got the chance might not be the right way but sure as hell the way its going” he scoffed pulling the pieces of paper handing it over .  she was standing in her grandparent garden only time his lawyer wasn’t a useless fuck . 

“ she’s beautiful , we will make sure she safe” ray stood as they others did the same all men who done wrong and wanting to make amend fix their errors and some did get that connection back  even if she never saw him again henry didn’t care he was ready to face his maker , face the gates of hell with smile on his face if he could just do the one right thing for her. 

Driving home never felt good , he wanted to be their for her , keep her safe and even though he knew joel and tommy would do that . john just wanted to do what was right for his granddaughter , he wanted the best life for her . that girl was given a life that would make the devil himself shudder at and it wasn’t letting up .  Seeing her becoming happy for first and it was wiped away like all those time she was taken home as child , how she begged him and his wife to keep her and yet he thought each time would be different till he got the call he feared the one that no parent should face.  The night his daughter life was taken , his granddaughter nowhere to be found til years later he received a letter she was happy and in new york . then she returned it was like looking at his daughter broken on his doorstep only this time the story was different. She was breaking the cycle , killing a past repeating and yet it was to no avail . he felt sick to his stomach he wanted to turn the car the road empty til a car in his rearview mirror approaching and approaching fast . he moved it would follow , to point he began speeding more and more locked in a chase .  his heart sending a shooting pain the ticker letting him know this was all too much but he knew peach needed  him more threw gritted teeth he kept push , speeding to get out of the chase he found himself in . yet it wasn’t happening , his heart and his fight fading  the other car clipping his own  over and over the wheel was trying to keep the car still. His fight strong but the stranger was stronger as the car began to spin smashing in it wake as david smirked watching the path of destruction in his wake. 

“ oh my little wife i will get you and everyone that gets in my way “ he sped off looking at the carnage in the rearview mirror. 

  Tommy felt like it was coming the part where she would get pissed almost snarling at the people in town as she got the stuff for dinner .  he seen them moment he walked into the store following her doing bad job on it til he got her to get something grabbing the two mens ares and hauling their asses to other side . 

“ why you following my friend and don’t lie or ill smash your faces of the hot sauce” he looked between the two. 

“ we’re protecting her , protection detail from the boys upstate” one spat out as the other groaned .

“ your here from her dad … for protection not her ex “ he looked between the two .

“ no but you know what he looks like because we wanna talk to him” the man continued. 

“ why is her dad doing this ?” tommy mused to himself . 

“ he and our boss want to right the wrong offer protection for women in shitty situation from monsters” the man explained. 

“ her father killed her mother” tommy deadpanned. 

“ he regrets it  so he wants to protect his kid” . 

“ he also used  to beat” 

“ look we aint going on the past he wants her safe and scumbag david  sorted so we are here” the other man finally spoke up . 

The sound of glass smashing sent all three men running almost pushing each other out of the way . 

“ miss you ok” a woman called as stood frozen phone to her ear , her face contort in a flurry of pissed and saddness , 

“ tommy we need to get to the hospital … who are they ? .. it doesn’t matter” she said pulling him out only to see the truck clamped and man driving off. 

“You  drive? “ she asked the men . 

“ yeah cars around corner come on peach “ the man said as she followed wondering how he knew that and who were this men . 

“ what’s going on ?” one of the men spoke up . 

“ my grandfather he was found car wreck was all the sherif said but something tells me it not an accident sorry but who are you too “ she asked getting in the car. 

“ mike and this is freddy “ he smiled almost like a big teddy bear . 

“ your dad sent them to protect you “ tommy admitted. 

“ tell my dad to fuck off  but i need the ride … please “ she looked between the men wondering what else life was going to throw at her .  this was something she would saw even on the cards of happening and now she was wondering what was in the letter  or was this a rouse in the fact to get her to talk at some parole hearing either way it needed to be pushed to the back of her mind . what was the forefront of her mind was her grandfather literally she had just gotten him back in her life   and it was now a possibility of being alone , that he would be taken from her. She barely was listening to the men that squabbled about being too close . 

She ran into the  desk ready to ask where he was as the sheriff was able to call her , he looked tired  and his face was something she was too familiar with . she remember the night he told her that her mother was gone something no one in town knew that night when he was a deputy how he let her run , let her make the life for herself she deserved . 

“ he’s in bad way but they have him stable .. who are they ?” he asked looking to see men he’s definitely seen before . 

“ friends .. i think what happened “ she asked panting having a feeling her ex husband had something to do with it that was for sure. 

“ he was rammed from the footage and the state of his vehicle it was like someones intent of to do damage” . 

“ david .. david was intent he’s trying to make me come to him “ she mused as she stood outside the room looking in to the real damage that was cause the one person that alway tried to make her safe , the one  who fought and no one believed  . the one who held  her when she cried to stay  before she was pulled away . one who risked his life to keep her safe even now and he was hurt by just being her family a man who done nothing but good a victim because of her , because of a man who just couldn’t get over being told no .    this needed to end and it need to end with her  no one else was going to get hurt  she promised that in that moment it was going to be the last time . 

She sat her head on tommy lap when joel showed up  the red puffy eyes and dried tears as tommy own face wasn’t too different . 

“Shit is he? “ joel asked . 

“ nah he’s  stable for now but it’s not looking good man “ he sniffled trying not to disturb her. 

“ i’ll kill the bastard” he growled . 

“ actually that our job .. he safe” a voice called as joel turned seeing two men standing with coffee . 

“ yeah my brother  joel this is  mike and freddy  penstate protection “ he mused taking the coffee. 

“ as in joel “ mike nodded to peach as tommy nodded. “ hey man nice to meet you “ he smiled widely. 

“ prison guards? “ joel asked . 

“ we know some” freddy sat on the chair .  

“ would you like some coffee” mike asked. 

“ joel ?” her voice croaked . 

“ yeah its me peach darling i’m here” he crouched the pure pain in her eyes made him want to search the bastard out himself put end to all this and yet her hand holding his told him that could wait . she needed him and hell if she needed him to burn the world he would  in that moment he would do anything . 

“ hey guys wanna go get food “ tommy stood fixing himself nodded to the door as freddy took the hint and pulled a clueless mike out . 

“Come here” he said pulling her into his arms listening to the sobs that  came it wasn’t first time she was like this position crying in joel’s arms .  she felt safe around him , felt safe enough to be so vulnerable  . it was something she didn’t do usually people never saw the tears locked behind the facade of being strong , nothing was happening , her own mask of sorts and not many saw the side one where she was able to cry so freely .  she stayed there like it was last time and it could be , see once she saw the chance she was going to get out and she was going to face the monster that haunted and hunted her down . she couldn’t let him hurt joel , tommy or the girls because he was petty enough to do so . her eyes looking up at the glass  she willed her body not to tense not to show signs of what she saw the very monster staring down at her , seething seeing her in the arms of another .  

“ hey joel  watch him for me i need to go toilet one that has a dispenser” she shyly said hating how good she was at lying as she slipped her phone into her pocket . walking out the door and heading off in the direction of the toilet completely before diverting  . she could feel his step coming , she almost felt his  breathe on the back of her neck . 

“ you know not to run baby i’ll always find you “ he smirked pulling her to the stairwell just as tommy and the men came around the corner completely caught in a conversation of the show he was watching . 

part 8

taglist : @harriedandharassed @missladym1981

[star-going-supernova]

I just thought of a banger fic idea for you.

What if Freddy is glitching and malfunctioning and the only way to combat it is for Gregory to be with him as it’s the only thing that comforts him. It ends up with Freddy carrying a half asleep Gregory around and giving everyone a red eyed glare when they look at him for too long as his systems are slowly rebooting.

Honestly the idea of Freddy, who is arguably one of the most dangerous animatronics when angry, gently holding his small fragile child while out of it hits just right.

They’re like bonded cats basically. You can’t separate them or else.

Coming at you with tumblr generated prompt number 55! We’ve got some Outsider POV in this one! 

Unspoken Things

Jamie had been a tech in Parts and Services for almost four years, and she’d earned her promotion to head technician for the band. Most days, she enjoyed her job, or at least didn’t hate it. The animatronics were fairly agreeable to work with, and it was rare for her to be faced with a problem bigger than mild exterior damage or little bug fixes. It probably wasn’t surprising that she saw Monty and Roxy more than Freddy and Chica. Dings from golf balls and dents from go karts were daily occurrences. 

But even rare errors did occur, and that was why Jamie was currently running around the pizzaplex in a growing panic, looking for Freddy. 

She didn’t know what had caused it, just that he had malfunctioned badly and in such a way that his aggression had been triggered. He’d already taken out two endos and three STAFF bots, and the last thing she needed was him going after a human next. The only reason he hadn’t gotten his hands on any of her techs was because Monty got between him and them, and was in his own repair bay now as a result.

Freddy’d taken off, literally breaking down a door to escape, before she could get him hooked up to her equipment. Which meant a strong, fast, angry animatronic was loose in the pizzaplex. 

If I was an out-of-control animatronic, where would I go? she asked herself. She hurried to the edge of the mezzanine, half pleased, half dismayed to find the atrium empty of Freddy. 

She had a small army of her techs searching as well, and the radio silence from their end meant he wasn’t in Rockstar Row or the band’s personal areas of Parts and Services. Unless he was roaming around the basement, Freddy being in a public space was becoming more likely. 

Jamie blew out an aggrieved sigh. She better not lose her job over this. 

It was just as she was turning to go check either the west arcade or Fazer Blast, other places that Freddy might be likely to visit while not in his right mind, that she overheard both the best and worst news. 

“Yeah, Eve said Gregory brought her a birthday gift. And, like, that’s sweet enough, but he somehow tracked down her cat.” 

“The one that’s been missing for two months?” 

“Yeah! So anyway, there’s a cat in the daycare today.” 

Look, if there was one thing Jamie’s job at the ’plex had taught her, it was when to keep her mouth shut and just accept things. Don’t ask questions about this, don’t point out that, just accept them. Gregory was only the most recent of those things. She didn’t know who he was, where he came from, or why the band had such an attachment to him. She never heard of or saw his parents, and he was in the building at all hours. He had the highest VIP pass known to man with permissions that Jamie was sure didn’t exist on any other VIP pass. 

And not only was Freddy Gregory’s favorite of the animatronics, but Gregory was Freddy’s favorite child. Favorite person, probably. Which meant that if Gregory was in the building, she knew exactly where to find a Freddy who was operating without any protocols or complex thought processes. 

Ambushing the two employees she’d overheard, she demanded, “Where is Gregory now?” 

• • •

Jamie’s heart gave a concerning stutter when she finally found Gregory. For Freddy had found him first. 

She hesitated, unsure if getting closer would set Freddy off—because for the moment, he seemed calm. And Gregory was fine, chatting away without a care in the world. 

He was situated in Freddy’s arms, one braced beneath him and the other wrapped around his back. He’d be dead in seconds if Freddy squeezed. 

Keeping an eye out for any hint of aggression, Jamie slowly approached the pair. Freddy, predictably, spotted her first. His irises flickered between blue and red as he watched her with an unnervingly blank stare. That the blue of his eyes had returned at all after the malfunction occurred was heartening. 

Gregory paused and frowned at Freddy before twisting to see what he was looking at. He waved. 

“Good afternoon, Gregory,” Jamie said, trying to remain calm. 

“Hi,” he said. “You work in Parts and Services.” 

“That’s right. I don’t think we’ve properly met before. My name’s Jamie, and I’m the band’s head technician.” 

“Cool.” 

She smiled. “Very cool, yeah.” 

“Is something wrong with Freddy?” he asked before she could figure out how to broach the subject. “He hasn’t said anything, which is really weird.” He frowned again at Freddy, whose eyes had settled on red. 

“Well spotted,” she said, stopping a few feet away. “Freddy experienced a malfunction earlier and ran off before we could figure out what happened.” She hesitated, not sure if she should mention that the glitch’s main side effect was severe aggression. She didn’t want to scare the boy, especially since there was nothing she could reasonably do to help him. 

Then again, Freddy was holding him carefully, not an ounce of violence to be seen when not half an hour ago, he did his level best to rip apart anything that got in his way. 

Taking a chance, Jamie said, “He was pretty unhappy earlier, but it looks like you’ve made him feel better.” Hoping she wasn’t literally dooming a child, she asked, “How would you feel about staying with Freddy while we fix him up?” 

“Sure,” Gregory said easily. He looked up at Freddy, in a calculating sort of way, before he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Freddy’s neck. 

Incredibly, some of the ramrod stiff tension in Freddy’s body loosened up. The red didn’t go away, but he stopped staring Jamie down. And when she started to lead the way back to Parts and Services via the employee-only hallways, he followed placidly. 

That was how it went for the entirety of the repair. Freddy never put Gregory down, holding him in some way or another, and an honestly terrifying growl rumbled out of his voice box the one time someone made an attempt to separate them. Gregory didn’t complain—in fact, at some point, Jamie looked up and found him nodding off, head resting against Freddy’s shoulder. 

There was a fascinating dichotomy of tension and ease in the air, everyone simultaneously worried for the boy caught in the animatronic’s grasp and less stressed because of his presence. Freddy paid little attention to anyone unless they stared too long or got too close to Gregory. 

It was blatantly protective behavior, and Jamie had no idea where it had come from or why it was so strong that even malfunction-caused aggression didn’t supersede it. 

Just another of those unspoken things. 

Finally, the manual code repairs were made, and Jamie initiated a soft reboot to enact them. As the update slowly progressed, Freddy didn’t lose his grip or his intensity. 

It was unnerving, in a way, nearly as much as it was sweet. Never had Freddy’s hands been anything less than gentle with Gregory, but that did not change the fact that his hands had inhuman strength. It was a bit like watching a lion curl around a house kitten and knowing that kitten could easily fit in the lion’s mouth. 

Jamie smiled and shook her head. And as Freddy finally cycled into a brief shutdown, she dared reach over and lightly tousle Gregory’s hair. He shifted but didn’t wake. 

“Thanks for your help today, kid,” she whispered, getting to her feet. She’d stick around just long enough to make sure Freddy was doing fine, but then she’d leave them to their rest. She figured they both deserved it. 

[autumn-leaves]

it's fanfic writer appreciation week and i wanted to take a minute to appreciate you!! i recently read your vld fic on AO3 and loved it so much. you're a very talented writer with creative ideas and great dialogue. you're also a delightful person to interact with in any capacity!! i think you have a lot to be proud of :)

I am. So genuinely touched by this, thank you 😭 I have been a very big fan of your writing for years now, and knowing you have read my writing is insane, and I'm especially grateful because I know you cut ties with that fandom a while ago.

Thank you so much for this kind message, I read it and blacked out and wrote a camp camp fic for you 😭😭 hope you enjoy, and thank you for being you!!! <3

(written all in one go and barely checked for errors, so my apologies for any mistakes)

When Gwen woke up that morning, she knew it was going to be a terrible day. She didn’t know the how or the why yet, but deep down something was telling her to roll over, close her eyes, and block out the world until the sun rose again tomorrow. 

Unfortunately for Gwen, that wasn’t how being responsible for a group of kids worked, no matter whether the kids in question were absolute shits or not. So, instead, she took a deep breath, forced her eyes back open and sat up looking over to David’s side of the shared councillors cabin. Normally Gwen would wake to the sight of David preparing supplies for the day’s craft activities, or planning the hiking route, or even doing some kind of strengthening yoga routine, which took entirely too much energy and willpower for five thirty in the morning, in Gwen’s opinion. 

Instead, what greeted her today was a vaguely David-shaped lump under the covers. Gwen blinked once, then twice, but the view didn’t change. In all the time Gwen has worked alongside David, she cannot recall a single instance in which she has woken up before him, and it does nothing to calm her nerves. 

Shrugging it off, she hauls herself out of bed and into the shower, and by the time she emerges David is up and ready to go, smiling and chattering away as usual, and part of her relaxes. Maybe today won't be so bad.

Typically, the day gets worse. 

That, in and of itself, isn’t strictly unusual for Camp Campbell, but it’s a different brand of WrongTM today, one that Gwen does not care for. That morning in the mess hall, a food fight had broken out, getting so bloodthirsty that multiple windows ended up smashed, shattering completely. Honestly? Gwen couldn’t care less; that was a problem for the Quartermaster. Their first activity of the day had been archery, which had ended in a flaming arrow planting itself firmly into their trash bin and starting a foul-smelling, impossible-to-put-out, literal dumpster fire. That’s whatever, if Gwen is honest. Lunch had passed in a blur, in which David and Gwen had had to ban knives, leaving the kids to poke aimlessly at their food with plastic sporks, but she thought maybe the little shits deserved it. 

Collapsing back onto her spot on the councillors table with David, she watched them wolf down their ice cream, clearly none of them willing to risk the rare treat by acting out, then looked sideways at David, pleasantly surprised to see him looking almost as exhausted as she felt. Don’t get her wrong; it’s not that she wanted her friend to be miserable, it’s just that he had this incredibly frustrating ability to remain the happiest, most chipper person on the planet in the face of the most infuriating circumstances. Sometimes it made Gwen feel insane, like she was the only one aware of what was going on in the camp.

Some of that relief faded, however, when David rested his forehead in his hands and mumbled, “How is it only lunchtime?”, with a weariness she’d never heard from him in her life. 

Frowning, she tilted her head down, trying to catch his attention. “What’s up with you?” She asks, and she doesn’t think it sounds angry until David is whipping his head up, plastering a - somewhat unnerving - smile across his face.

“Sorry, Gwen! Nothing’s wrong, today just seems to be a bit of a slower day today, is all. At least that means more time for fun activities, though!”.

She realises it’s meant to be reassuring, but honestly it’s downright freaky watching David put a personality on like a coat. 

“Are you okay, David?” She presses, voice slightly softer than before. 

“Of course I am, Gwen! Why wouldn’t I be? The sun is out, the birds are singing and I’m here at Camp-”

“Don’t bullshit me, David.” She says, her gut feeling from the morning coming back full force. “What is it? Was it Campbell? Are we getting more budget cuts? Or was there a complaint? Are we getting a surprise inspection, or - oh god, is our pay going down?” She asks, thoughts going a mile a minute about what could possibly have made David look so defeated a few moments ago.

“What? Gwen - no, it’s nothing like that.” David replies, a little startled. He sighs, and then he looks tired again. He’s still smiling, but it's smaller and a little awkward, and it’s so not David but somehow more David than Gwen thinks she’s ever seen him. “I’m just a little under the weather, that’s all.” He finishes, quietly, like he’s scared the campers might hear. Which - fair, Gwen can only imagine what those little assholes would do if they sensed weakness.

“Under the weather how?” She asks, sceptical.

He frowns, but seems to weigh his options and decide being honest is a better choice than keeping quiet, because he answers all the same. “A headache. And maybe a minor fever, some dizziness. I’m mostly just tired, so it’s nothing a little rest won’t fix. I’ll be right as rain tomorrow, don’t worry.”

Looking at him now, like, really looking, Gwen realises he’s pale and a little shaky; there’s bags under his eyes and a slight flush on the heights of his cheeks like he’s been rushing around, which he has, but she suspects it has more to do with fever than it does managing the kids. Part of her wants to reach out and press her hand to her forehead, but she gets the feeling David wouldn’t appreciate that, especially not in front of all of the children because god forbid he shows them that sometimes he isn’t having the time of his life, enjoying camp every step of the way. God forbid they see him as human, and not a punching bag only there for entertainment. 

“You know, I can handle the kids for an hour or two if you want a power nap? I’ll get the coloured paper and markers out and make up some bullshit about writing a letter to their future selves or something.” She offers, and the fact that David actually considers it for a second proves to her that he’s feeling worse than he lets on. Ultimately, though, he shakes his head. 

“No, it wouldn’t be fair to leave you to run camp by yourself. Besides, we’re supposed to be doing plant identification today, and I can’t deprive the kids of a valuable skill like that just because I’m a little poorly. I’ll be fine.” He says, decisively, like he’s trying to convince himself as much as Gwen.

Before she can argue the point further, the sound of the kids talking escalates to a volume that’s too much to tolerate as they get restless, dessert finished and their boredom rising. Standing, she shouts over the racket, “Everyone look at me! Shut up for a minute, would you?”. It takes a moment, but they do quieten and look in her direction, so she takes the win. “In a moment we’re going to head outside for our afternoon activity, okay, so everyone go and put your plates on the hatch for Quartermaster and then line up at the door.”

Predictably, there is no neat, single-file line like Gwen had asked, and instead a crowd of pushing and shoving by the mess hall doors. Shaking her head, Gwen lets them out, allowing David to start explaining what they’d be doing. In all honesty, Gwen tunes this part out, knowing vaguely that each group would have a plant identification book and a list of plants to find. Instead, she uses this time to study David, who’s energy seems to be waning quicker now that he’s on his feet. Max is giving David some kind of shit, and his plastered-on smile is faltering ever so slightly, the longer Max refuses to stop. 

Sighing, she shoots Max a look and he backs off, for now, but he doesn’t seem very deterred. David finishes up his explanation and sends the kids off in groups of four, instructing them not to go out of his and Gwen’s sight. A few moments pass in silence as they observe the kids, enjoying the peace for the first time that day. Around them, the kids seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves - the task gives them just enough freedom that they’re satisfied, goofing off as they look at plants half-heartedly and enjoy the sun, with the added bonus of letting Gwen and David take a backseat for a little while. 

The kids have quite a long time to find all of the plants on the list; they know their campers well enough to know that the work-to-messing-around ratio will not be equal, so Gwen takes a seat on one of the nearby picnic benches. She expects David to follow her lead and sit down too, and she hopes he does because he wasn’t looking too hot during his instructions earlier, but he remains standing. The feeling in her gut grows stronger, but she forces it down. She’s getting worked up over nothing, David said it himself, he’s just a little under the weather. David is a grown man; if he feels like he needs to sit down, he’ll sit down. 

Another fifteen minutes pass and the feeling only grows. She glances at her co-councillor again, but she can’t see his face from the angle of the bench. Before she can think better of it she’s standing and walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder with the intention of turning him towards her. However, the moment her hand touches his shoulder, her stomach drops. He’s so warm she can feel it through his shirt and, although they are standing in the warmth of the sun, that’s all they’re doing, there’s no reason he should be that warm. It’s a suffocating, dry kind of warmth too, one that makes her throat tighten and she steps round him, blocking the camper’s view if they were to look over. 

His eyes are cloudy and slightly unfocused, and he’s paler than he has been all day, swaying just slightly where he stands. His breathing is slightly wonky, like he can’t quite figure out a comfortable pattern and it takes him a while to track his gaze over to meet hers, and he shakes his head minutely, almost imperceptibly. Abruptly, she makes a decision. 

Whirling around to face the section of clearing that the campers are exploring, she raises her voice loud enough for all of them to hear. “Okay, David and I need to head inside to take care of some paperwork, so Quartermaster is going to take over for a little while. Do not give him any shit or I swear to god there will be hell to pay, understood?” She asks, waiting for nods before she’s satisfied. She turns back to face David, unsure if moving is a good idea right now given how pale he is. “Can you make it to our cabin?” She asks, quietly.

Something in David seems to click, and he tries to gather himself, swallowing hard. “Sorry, Gwen, I’m fine. There’s no need to worry, or- or bother the Quartermaster, I’m-”

“David I swear do not even try it. You look like you’re about the pass out.” She hisses, reaching her limit. “Now can you make it to our cabin or not?”

Chastised, David looks down, but nods anyway. “Yeah, I can.”

“Okay,” Gwen takes a deep breath, nodding as well. “I need you to stay here with the kids while I go and grab Quartermaster, can you do that?”

David nods again, but doesn’t protest when she leads him to the bench and sits him down. “Do not move.” She says sternly, then turns on her heel and rushes back to the mess hall, grabbing Quartermaster and dragging him out to the clearing, explaining on the way. He agrees in the weird, creepy way of his, and she has no doubt the campers will end up part of some crazy wilderness ritual, but she trusts him with the campers safety and that's enough for now. 

As they arrive at the activity spot, it’s just in time to see Max sauntering over to David, a glint in his eye that she doesn’t like. “Max!” She calls, intercepting him only a few feet away from the bench. “What do you need?”

Max regards her curiously, and she feels vaguely like prey. “What I need is to talk to David.” He says, and Gwen knows deep down that he has realised what’s going on.

She has two options now: lie and bullshit her way out of this, or tell the truth and hope Max doesn’t abuse the knowledge. 

Placing her hands on both of Max’s shoulders, she drops down to one knee, putting her at his level. “Look, Max, you and I both know why you can’t do that.” Max’s face lights up at the confirmation, and he opens his mouth to say something, but Gwen continues on, barrelling over him. “Max, listen to me, I need to get David inside, okay, I think this could be serious. I need to get him inside, and check his fever and maybe even take him to a hospital,” She says, looking into his eyes to try and drive her point home. She really isn’t sure if it will warrant a hospital trip, or even come close, but she thinks maybe that’s what Max needs to hear to back off a bit. “If I check him over, and he’s okay, I promise you that tomorrow you can have your fun with him, but you have to let me make sure he’s good first, okay?”

Max is silent for a second, eyes darting from Gwen to where David is slumped over, face in his hands now that Quartermaster is here and someone is keeping an eye on the campers. There is a solid ten seconds where Gwen thinks she’s made the wrong choice, that Max is going to grin and jump on the opportunity to trash the camp and make today even worse for David, but then he deflates and nods. “Fine. I’ll keep these assholes in check. But as soon as he’s feeling better there will be no mercy. So watch out.” He says, but Gwen has known Max long enough to know he’s concerned. Another beat of silence passes and then Max follows up quietly, “Do you…need help getting him inside?”.

A spark of surprise hits Gwen’s chest, alongside a feeling she thinks might be pride. She ruffles Max’s hair and he scowls, swatting at her hands before shoving his own hands back into his sweater pockets. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got him handled. You focus on finding those plants, okay?” She smiles at him, and Max pulls a face in return. 

“Ew, gross. I wasn’t worried.” He insists, and Gwen doesn’t argue it, just lets him walk back to his group.

Gwen forces herself to take some more deep breaths before she turns around, trying not to let her heart beat too fast when she finds David, arms braced on his knees and his head in his hands, eyes closed and breathing shakily. 

“David?” She asks softly, touching his shoulder. 

He lifts his head, blinking blearily at her, squinting in the sunlight. He doesn’t say anything.

“You ready to get inside?”

He nods shakily, standing up and immediately stumbling, but Gwen catches him quickly enough. Luckily, Quartermaster seems to have distracted the kids with some kind of dramatic retelling of a battle he had with some squirrels, and Gwen can’t quite tell if it’s made up or not, but it doesn’t matter because it means they don’t have an audience right now. (Except Max, and Gwen can feel his worried eyes tracking them, but she’ll have to deal with that later, because right now David needs to be inside and lying down, out of the heat of the sun and away from the stress of the children.)

She loops his arm around her shoulders, hooking her own around his waist and they begin to slowly walk - or stumble, in David’s case - back to the councillor’s cabin. What should have been a two minute journey becomes a five minute one, and the whole way Gwen can only think about how it got so bad so quickly. David is silent for the entirety of it, eyes closed and trusting Gwen to keep them on track. They’re barely ten feet from the door to the cabin when David finally speaks.

“Gwen, I think I’m going to pass out.” He chokes out, and she turns to find his face so pale he’s practically grey. 

“Shit!” She hisses, and she effectively drags him the rest of the way shoving the doors open, desperate to get him to his bed but he’s dropping like a stone the moment they’re inside, and it’s all she can do to stop his head from slamming down. His knees connect roughly with the wooden floors and she winces, knowing it’ll probably bruise, but there’s bigger things to worry about at that moment. 

Carefully, she lowers him to the ground and props his feet up on a nearby trunk, racking her brain desperately trying to recall her first aid training. She settles on checking his airways and, once satisfied, moves to the bathroom to grab their thermometer. It’s clear enough that he has a fever, but she needs to know what she’s dealing with and now is as good a time as any to check. 

The thermometer is an old thing, scuffed and peeling but it works and so she gently pushes it into his ear, waiting for it to beep. 103.1ºF. She sucks in a breath through her teeth. Not good.

Wasting no time, she gathers a washcloth and wets it with cold water, filling a glass at the same time. There’s a standing fan in the corner of their cabin which she manoeuvres to point at David and turns onto the lowest setting, trying not to shock his body too much, then places the washcloth on his forehead. 

Slowly, David stirs, eyes blinking open, cloudy and confused but he’s awake and a huge weight lifts off of her shoulders.

“David?”

“...Gwen? What- why am I on the floor?”

A flash of irritation hits her. “Because you’re an asshole who can’t wait two seconds to lay down in his bed and insists instead on passing out on the floor next to it.” She scowls, but the irritation is ebbing just quickly as it peaked, being replaced by concern.

“I passed out?” He asked, voice still slightly muddy from sleep.

“Yeah,” She sighs. “You did. And your fever is really high, as well. You scared me.” She admits, quietly.

David’s face crumples with guilt, and he tries to sit up but Gwen firmly pushes him back down. “Gwen, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I know you didn’t David,” Gwen placates. “It’s not your fault, it's just a sucky situation. You should have said something sooner, though, David. You could have taken a break, or even taken the rest of the day off and we could’ve avoided all of this. I’d rather have to handle those kids by myself any day of the week than for you to get hurt.”

David nods, wincing. “I know. You’re right, I should have said something I just - I just have some things to work on.” He replies, quiet and raw. “But that shouldn’t affect you, I’m sorry.”

They look at each other for a moment longer before Gwen smiles, softly. “Hey, what are CBFLs for?” She asks, nudging his shoulder, and David smiles back, touched. “And besides,” she continues. “You deal with enough of my shit, only fair I deal with some of yours. Now, think you can handle getting up and into bed? You need proper rest and I’m not letting you do it on the floor.”

“Yeah, I’m actually feeling a bit better now.” David says.

Gwen snorts, holding out a hand to help him up. “Tell me that again when you’re upright.”

As expected, David immediately pales again the moment he’s stood, but he smiles shakily and manages to get to his bed fine, so Gwen doesn’t worry too much. Once he’s sitting with his back against his pillows, she hands him the glass of water and grabs some pills from her own bedside table. Dutifully, he downs them, and then lays down, damp cloth back on his forehead. It’s mid-afternoon and still light out, but Gwen just draws the curtains and turns off the light, leaving the bathroom light on with the door cracked to allow her to see without aggravating David’s head too much. 

Gwen pulls her armchair over to be near David’s bed, turning on Bob Ross with the volume almost muted, just loud enough for the man’s soothing voice to reach them. Beside her, David’s eyes are closed and his eyebrows pinched, but there’s a small smile on his face and he looks comfortable enough. For the first time all day, the feeling in her gut subsides, appeased, and she lets herself relax as well.

Two hours later, Gwen jolts awake, eyes flying around the room before settling on David, still fast asleep where she’d left him. Bob Ross is still playing idly, and she grabs the remote to turn it off. As quietly as she can, Gwen finds the thermometer and takes David’s temperature again, breathing out slowly when it reads 100.5ºF. Still a fever, but lower. Despite herself, she runs her hand through David’s bedhead of red hair, shaking her head and then sitting back down.

She has just settled back in her chair when there’s a quiet knock at the door. Opening it reveals Max, shuffling awkwardly. “He’s okay.” Gwen smiles softly, deciding to cut the kid some slack, knowing Max isn’t going to outright ask about David.

“Pshh, I don’t care. I just came to tell you Quartermaster is doing a shit job. He taught us how to fight a deer and now he’s making us wash the outside of our cabins.” He complains, but Gwen can see a bit of relief on his face. 

“Hm, not a bad idea. Maybe I need to get him to plan a couple of our activities next week. The cabin thing, not the deer thing.” She clarifies, seeing Max’s face. “Maybe tomorrow you can complain to David yourself.”

Max nods, satisfied with the knowledge that David isn’t too ill, and Gwen knew that was what he’d been waiting to hear. “Yeah, I will. Uh, but I should get back before Quartermaster realises I’m gone. He’s way less of a pushover than you and David.” 

Gwen rolls her eyes, but waves him off. “See you tomorrow, Max.”

“Night, Gwen.” 

She closes the door, still smiling softly. 

Sometimes, the kids were okay.

[sakebytheriver]

There was drama behind the scenes in Community? Do you feel like you want to elaborate?

Oh my gosh there was so much drama 😭😭

I'm surprised you haven't heard about it, it's like the biggest dark cloud that hangs over that show.

Okay, so here we go this is going to be such a long post,

Dan Harmon and Chevy Chase were both competing to be the biggest dick working on the show, in the end Chevy won, mostly because Dan recognized the error of his ways and worked to change, but the point is Chevy saw himself as this big time Hollywood legend due to being one of the first cast on SNL, and so his over inflated ego did not enjoy the long hours on set or the way they were writing his character (of course a lot of how they wrote his character was in response to his own bad behavior) and so he acted like a little bitch all the time, if you've seen the show there's an episode where Pierce throws a tantrum and then goes to hide in a trailer the whole episode, that's basically how Chevy would act on set, most of the cast ended up hating him too because of his behavior and the writers had to find ways to limit his on screen time replacing him with a body double because he did not want to work as long as the rest of the cast and because Community was this insane show that had off the wall concepts for their episodes and scene concepts that would only last two seconds in the final product but would take entire days setting up filming locations and dressing the sets the days and the hours were Long af and so the more crazy concepts the show ventured into the less Chevy wanted to be there and so in turn he ended up clashing heads with Dan Harmon the other dick in this story, now Dan Harmon was the show runner and creator of Community, he is the mastermind behind the whole thing, but at this time he was pretty much at rock bottom for his entire life and his behavior, he was an alcoholic, he was sexually harassing a woman who worked under him, and he happily provoked Chevy Chase's little bitchiness in public, going as far as to play an angry voice message Chevy left him into the microphone on stage at a fan convention to a room full of fans and the media.

In response to all of this bullshit the studio fired Dan Harmon and replaced him with two guys whose only experience running a show was a racist show called Aliens in America about a white family that wanted to get a hot cool European exchange student to make their nerdy son cool, but instead got a brown dorky foreign exchange student with a funny accent and weird food, the show lasted one season and was promptly forgotten by the entire world for very good reason 😬

Anyways these two guys were brought in to showrun the infamous Season 4 of Community, otherwise known as the gasleak year. Now, these new showrunners weren't enough to make Chevy happy and he was still a little bitch most of the time and his coworkers were very unhappy with him for getting the guy who turned this show into a cultural icon fired. But they did season four and it was a big pile of shit, there's a couple episodes from that season that are worth watching, the body swap episode written and directed by Jim Rash is one, but for the most part this season is a write off, it's not that it was bad, it was honestly a lot better than most shows out there, but it was really really bad in the context of the rest of Community. It was a season desperately trying to be the show that came before it and it just utterly failed, trying to capture the magic that was Community without knowing how to do that.

Anyways, after this Joel McHale, the actor playing Jeffery Winger and a man who calls Community the best thing that ever happened to him went to the studio and said, "you gotta bring back Dan Harmon" and ultimately, the new showrunners were sacked, Chevy left, and Dan Harmon was brought back to the show.

Season 5 premiered with an episode called, Repilot that brought our now Greendale six instead of seven back together in a way that felt like coming home again after your first semester at college, bittersweet in that way that makes you feel like everything has changed, but nothing has moved. They lost Donald Glover in the fifth episode of the fifth season playing Come Sail Away by the Styx and now the show only had five of the original cast that made up the community we follow and by the end of season five the show was canceled at NBC and even when the giant cult fanbase raged at them they still refused to bring the show back for that iconic Six Seasons and a Movie Abed so often proclaimed in the text of the show

Until of course a streaming service that no longer exists called Yahoo!Stream came in and spent $42 million dollars for one singular season of Community (and two other shows apparently) and the fans were overjoyed to get their final season even if we also lost another key part of the main cast Yvette Nicole Brown to get it. Now the show had lost almost half the original cast, lost its showrunner, had a shit season, then got its showrunner back, got canceled at its original network, and now brought back for an internet streaming service in the days when Netflix still mailed people DVDs, and so this is the mindset they went into Season 6 for. The final season of the show had lost the fun whimsical tone of the golden age of the first three seasons, but still had the wacky zany adventures now couched in this sad feeling of reality that the end is coming soon, but then the last episode flashes a black screen that says "and a movie" and the fans had hope

Of course until Yahoo!Stream goes bankrupt and blames Community for it and that movie never comes.

Dan Harmon goes on to make Rick and Morty and a podcast called Harmontown where he admits to his horrific behavior on the set of Community and apologizes to his victim in a way that makes her feel vindicated and satisfied that he has changed his ways and moved forward with his life crawling his way out of his rock bottom to make a career far surpassing anything Community ever gave to him. While Chevy Chase has all but fallen into obscurity as he still does not accept that he did a single thing wrong ever. And now in the year 2023 we are getting the final chapter of the Community story in the form of a Peacock streaming movie that will most likely bring back almost every character and actor except for Chevy Chase

And that is the very very abridged version of the bts drama that haunted Community for six seasons and now a movie 😭😭

[namazunomegami]

okay so yuta coming back makes sense. i can get on board with that. i was pretty sure he wasn't dead anyways, that's cool

but shjfkglsdg "yuta uses kenjaku's curse technique to steal gojo's body" is a whole new level of wild.

it's interesting that gojo says to yuta what sukuna said to yorozu. "i totally would not lose but if i did i'd be dead. doesn't matter what you do with my dead body."

i'm so impatient for the full translation because damn, what did gojo mean by "catching up" on that panel of geto? is he like, trying to be an idealist like geto was, and "follow his path to the end" along the lines of what geto said? and that whole "becoming a monster" thing?

is he talking about potentially killing megumi? gege doesn't show us enough of gojo being isolated and lonely in the modern day for yuta's "he had to be a monster" line to really hit hard enough, imo.

he is just a silly guy with his students and sometimes murderizes evil curses or gets testy with the higher ups (even then he only bitches at the higher ups! he doesn't kill them!).

cw: me being angry for a hot minute, possible grammatical errors due to me being an impulsive bitch who’s mindlessly typing on her phone

Sadly, as I saw on tiktok and in the leak tags (I also found links to twitter porn, bruh, pls go elsewhere), some fans overestimate Gojo's relationship to others. Some of them, well… oversimplify human relationships. You can love someone but at the same time can’t understand them or can’t agree with them and even hurt them willingly or unwillingly. Humans are meant to be complicated.

We shouldn't forget about Gojo’s isolation, both in a physical and emotional sense. His connections are superficial at best (no, I refuse to believe that he’s a father figure to Megumi, he didn’t adopt him just supported him financially), he has no strong sense of identity. He didn’t know the answer to Geto’s ominous question.

I understand that a lot of fans are hurt because “everybody treats him as a weapon not as a person”. Umm… girliepop, Gojo wasn’t doing his best to improve the quality of his interpersonal relationships or even doing anything to stop others viewing him as a multipurpose tool. He might as well identified with the title of the strongest completely because that’s the only thing he has to center his personality around.

Like... a lot of people expected Shoko to object to the whole body hopping thing. Maybe Shoko didn’t expect him to lose? That’s why she smokes a whole pack of cigarettes during the fight like the self-destructive queen she is? But I dare to mention that to me, their relationship never felt that deep or meaningful. Sure, Gojo is respectful towards her compared to the rest of the characters but I could always feel a little resentment from Shoko. Gojo basically excluded everyone out of the collective tragedy of Geto becoming a curse user. He made it all about himself. It's his pain. His trauma. Nobody’s loss can be compared to his. He unwillingly isolated himself from everyone in that sense.

That’s entirely my hot take nobody’s obligated to agree with it.

I know that he’s the fandom’s darling boy but some fans give more dimension to the character than the canon sources do. Some of them have their idealised version of his character living in their head without all his flaws (you can love flawed characters, you can love said flaws too, you can love morally fucked up ones too it doesn’t make you a bad person). I’m not surprised, I’m not mad, but what they did to Yuta is honestly disgusting.

Yuta is actually the closest to know what Gojo has been through. He understands his loneliness, he went through almost the same experiences in life. Their relationship is much more intimate than the fandom realises. Heck, maybe Yuta understands him more than Geto does. Geto did view him as a weapon for a minute before his departure. You know, when he talks about how his goals can be easily achieved with his power. How he can make such impossibility turn into reality. But ofc that doesn’t mean that their conversation is not inherently about Geto making Gojo question his place in the corrupt jujutsu society, giving him a reality check and pointing out the hypocrisy in his statements.

For Yuta, taking Gojo’s body is not a choice. But a must. And a lot of people forgot about how Yuta has zero self-preservation. He was suicidal, he was ready to sacrifice himself in jjk 0 if it meant to save his friends from Geto and to free Rika. And he's ready to do the same again. Even if it meant to become a monster. Gojo has monstrous moments, and Yuta is his official successor in every aspect and it was told throughout the story over and over. This moment is his succession, officially taking his place on top of this weird sorcery food chain, carrying Gojo’s burden when he can’t do it anymore. Nobody’s “worthy” enough, except him. And this is actually the loveliest part of Yuta’s character: he’s a force to be reckon with, he has the ability to be a monster but his heart is filled with love, he strives to be humane, putting everyone’s needs and feelings before himself even in this dreadful moment.

At one point, Uraume says to Hakari that they can only win this fight if they abandon their humanity. Now, they have no other choice. Using Gojo's body is a mean to an end. Ofc, it's tragic, but it's tragic for both Yuta and Gojo. And we shouldn’t forget about that sorcerers are not good guys. They’re very fucked up guys actually. They’re emotionally and mentally damaged because they literally need to harness intense negative feelings for their power to work. Having a few screws loose is not just a mere expectation it’s a fucking requirement. They’re not morally good, they never have been.

I do want to be wrong when I say that jjk peaked in Hidden Inventory and Shibuya. You know, all the thought, nuance, symbolism and such.

Story wise and in themes I think Hidden Inventory and Premature Death is peak. Pacing wise I think Shibuya is a perfect arc.

But now I think Gege lost trajectory in his own writing. What’s the overall message of this story? Love and how it can turn into a twisted curse if not handled properly? How the youth is always forced to fix the mistakes of the previous generation?

What the hell is even Sukuna’s goal? Being evil for the sake of evil hardly works in a satisfying way in this era of writing.

My biggest beef with Gege is that he can’t handle his own characters (especially if they’re women), he can’t develop his characters and build their arc in a consistent manner. But now… my biggest beef is: from the moment he started this arc, he gave us no exposition, no buildup and no other story elements but instead immediately jumps to the action. It's utterly chaotic to me, like he didn’t do any planning beforehand and now just squeezing important details between fight scenes whenever he comes up with them.

Like, anything that happened in that one month before Shinjuku is shown through flashbacks, instead of you know... writing a whole ass buildup to the final fight, spend some time with the characters, showing us how they prepare and such so we can feel the desperation, we can know that this fight has stakes and requires tremendous sacrifice from the gang.

Maybe Gege writes the fight in this particular way because of shock value. And let me tell you, I hate pointless shock value. It reminds me of GoT season 8.

And maybe if Gege wouldn't use flashbacks as the only tool for writing, this arc wouldn't be memed like "oh shit, this character died too, who's going to face Sukuna after them? We're running out of cast lmao".

[tumblingghosts]

livia & sejanus time travel, livia pov

Livia dies shortly after (ex?)husband does, choking on his own blood in laughter, stampeded by the angry people he had wronged. She had expected as much, honestly, with how the second rebellion bas shaped out. What she had not expected was to wake up again, and certainly not at eighteen-years-old, at the beginning of her senior year at the Academy.

Livia decides that the best course of action to get one over Coriolanus is through Sejanus Plinth, so she approaches him, intent on getting him involved in her plan. Sejanus is already more caught up than she expects.

—

“I…” Livia falters. What should she tell him? She really should have planned this better. Should she make something up? Ah, screw it. “I’m from the future.”

Sejanus’s expression is one of open surprise. When he doesn’t immediately answer, she continues, “I married Coriolanus—politics, not out of love—and it was a nightmare. The rebellion happens after the 75th Hunger Games. It was far too late, honestly. I’m here to help you incite it earlier.”

“Right,” says Sejanus, dryly.

It doesn’t sound like he believes her, which, fair enough. 

She’s well aware of how insane what she’s saying sounds, and as naive as she’d clocked Sejanus to be, it has been many decades since she’d ever thought about him outside Coriolanus, and even then, they weren’t flattering thoughts. She knows her memory is faded and skewed, she just hopes it’s not to the point of error.

“Livia Snow,” he says, as if testing it out, weighing its worth, seeing how much he believes it. “75th…” there’s something like horror in his voice now. “75th Hunger Games.”

“He kills you,” blurts Livia. “Coriolanus kills you, alright? And I’m going to prevent it, this time around.”

Then, Sejanus starts laughing.

His head ducks, shoulders shaking. It doesn’t sound like it’s out of humor, but Livia finds herself getting annoyed anyway. She’s trying to tell him something important here, the least he could do is listen and focus.

“Hey,” she snaps, poking him in the arm to no avail. Sejanus is choking on them now, and it’s starting to sound like sobs.

Livia looks at him, properly looks at him, and thinks: Oh.

Sejanus knows this already, because she’s not the only one who’s returned.

[himmelsstern]

“Wait, you like me?”

There are definitely not enough stories about these two and I don't think this will be my last. But I feel like I never quite did Chishiya's character justice and there are fantastic authors here who can do that much better.

Still, I hope someone likes this one. Enjoy!

Note: English is not my native language and any errors in grammar and spelling will be forwarded to my online translator.

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Archive of our own link: rhttps://archiveofourown.org/works/44064697

Chishiya wasn't someone who let his guard down, and even after all the time they'd spent together, Arisu still couldn't manage to see behind the arrogant mask. So it was even more surprising when, out of nowhere, Chishiya put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a hard kiss after a game they had just barely made within the time limit. Chishiya left no doubt who was in control, but Arisu managed to pull away from him, if only a few inches.

"What was that?" Chishiya snorted, looking at Arisu with a cocky smile on his lips. "Don't tell me no one has ever kissed you before." Arisu blushed, and for a tiny moment Chishiya's eyes widened in surprise. "So I'm right. Interesting."

Arisu pressed his lips together and he looked hurt as he tore himself free from Chishiya's grip.

"Play your games with someone else." "Who said I was playing games?" "You always do, you play games with people to get what you want."

Chishiya tilted his head slightly, still with a smirk on his lips, and Arisu could feel this expression slowly making him angry. Not only had Chishiya been his first kiss, no, he obviously had to make fun of it. Arisu had actually naively thought that by now they were something like allies and there was peace between them but Chishiya proved to him once again that Arisu was too trusting. Niragi had said to Chishiya after the Hatter's death that he had a way of looking down on others, and at that moment Arisu realized once again how right he had been.

Arisu was about to turn to leave when Chishiya's fingers wrapped around his wrist and held him back. "You're right, I often play with people, especially when I can take advantage of it. In this world, it's eat or be eaten, and I don't like being the prey, It suits me more to be a hunter." Chishiya circled Arisu and stood in front of him and he actually seemed serious.

"I'm honestly sorry that I, of all people, was your first kiss, but I'm not playing with you." "You're not? Then why did you kiss me?" Chishiya's hand settled on Arisu's neck again, but the grip was loose and Arisu could have easily pulled away at any time, but he was frozen in place. Chishiya's fingers gently stroked the skin and goosebumps covered Arisu's body. "The game today was closer than usual. Closer than I would have liked. And I'm no one to regret anything. Dying without kissing you would definitely be something I'd regret." "I don't think I quite understand what you mean." "Don't make me say it." Slowly, Arisu began to catch on, but his final demand still seemed too grotesque. "You are one of the few people I care about." "Wait, does that mean you like me?" "I thought that would have been obvious." Arisu shook his head in disbelief. "You have a strange way of showing it." "I'm asking your opinion, incorporating your suggestions into my plans. I actually just count on myself and stay to myself, and yet I'm still with you. Why do you think I'm doing all this?" "I never thought about it." "You're smart, Arisu. You know why." Arisu felt as if thoughts were racing around in his head, so he did the first thing that came to mind. His lips rested just feather lightly on Chishiya's, almost as if he was waiting for him to take control again. Arisu was aware that Chishiya needed and enjoyed this control, and he had no problem giving it to him. In fact, it was pleasant not to have to think, that he was being led by someone else.

Apart from that, there was this fear of doing something wrong or embarrassing himself, because this was his second kiss and he preferred not to think about with how many people Chishiya might have had something in the old world. He seemed to have noticed his insecurity, because he loosened the kiss and lightly nudged his nose against Arisus, a tender gesture that hardly seemed to suit Chishiya. Arisus knew only his hard side, the arrogance and cockiness he let other people see. Chishiya was not gentle, he was ruthless. But just now he presented Arisu a side that made his worldview shake.

"Don't think." "But-" "Don't. Think." Chishiya pushed Arisu against the nearest wall, making him gasp in surprise. "I don't know if I'm ready for that." "Ready to kiss me?" Arisu felt the blood rush to his cheeks and he looked anywhere except at Chishiya's face. "No, for-" Arisu seemed to be searching for words, visibly embarrassed, and Chishiya knew immediately what he was talking about. "Don't worry, that wasn't my goal. At least not since I've known." "But that's what it comes down to. Is that what this is all about?" "Have you been listening to me at all?" "I have, but I just don't get it." "You're much more likely not believe me. Actually I should be proud, obviously I have a good influence on your survival instinct." It seemed they had reversed roles, because this time it was Arisu who stopped Chishiya from leaving. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should stop thinking." Arisu whispered against Chishiya's lips before kissing him again. "I'm always right, you should know that by now." Before Arisu could say anything, another kiss silenced him.

Chishiya was calculating, arrogant, and far too often self-absorbed. But that night, Arisu had learned that he was more than what he let others see.

They were by now lying in the kingsize bed that took up most of the room that Chishiya had claimed for himself. "How does this go on? You and me I mean." "In this world, it's absolutely stupid and dangerous to develop feelings. It makes you vulnerable and distracted." "Oh." "I wasn't finished." Chishiya's fingers gently ran through Arisu's hair and he promptly relaxed again. "You are the perfect example that my thesis can be disproved. You personify what I thought was a sure death sentence. You let yourself go with your gut and act irrationally even in the most dangerous and dicey situations, but it always worked out in the end. Cause you're here, and you're alive."

Chishiya engaged Arisu in a tender kiss before continuing. "What I meant to say was, I'm damn good alone but almost invincible with you by my side." Arisu laughed softly and closed his eyes in satisfaction. "I like you too, Chishiya."

[tobiasdrake]

I was expected a different world, but not this different.

Go ahead, Serai. Tell us everything.

Or, more pressingly, eclipse light. If it blocks one then I'd imagine it blocks all three.

OH OKAY

That's an even more effective barrier against an eclipse. Wow, he was thorough.

Do you even need to ask? We came all this way to do violence. You're just giving us more reasons.

Though we should assume that Aephorul knows we're here. He might not know where we are but he'll probably be able to glean something from the Guardian's final message of "IS THAT THE SUN--BZZZRKZZT".

So I doubt we have the element of surprise but unless his monitoring systems are extensive, we may have the element of guerilla warfare.

Shit yes. I'm down. Show me where you came from, Serai. I want to learn everything there is to know about you.

Alright, so Dr. Eggman is first on the Hit List, then.

We'll probably need to solve some things if we're going to get an eclipse going against Dread, though. Blotting out the sun and crashing the moon into the planet is pretty thorough as a way of marking Aephorul's territory.

If we can remove the clouds, the sun will shine again. Moon's going to be harder to deal with.

Unless the Amulet will let me hoist it out of the ocean by pure Lunar Awesomeness. That's a possibility. Worth trying. I am pretty awesome.

Starting with some reconnaissance. Good call. I'm eager to see what your world is like.

It's derelict. This place was fully operational and we tore that guardian apart into scrap metal. How dangerous could a derelict be?

We'll have a look around as we head out. I need to see everything for myself. Get a feel for the--

T-T My moon.... What has he done to you?

Guys, I... I need a moment.

Some sort of sky elevator? Maybe this goes to Fort Fleshy.

Oh no, this is definitely Fort Fleshy. So that Sky Elevator probably goes to Sky Base instead. That makes more sense.

There's two spooky things in the sky so it can be hard to tell which is which.

Serai called this a factory but it looks more like a guard station to control access to the port. Of course, it's a derelict factory so it could be a "Used to be X, now it's Y" situation.

Either way, I'm coming through. They can let me pass or they can find out what staff tastes like. I left all of my shits back in Mooncradle.

And I didn't have a lot to start with.

Alright team, short briefing this time. Camp looks wrong without Garl in it, but we're all going to have to get used to that.

This is a statement of intent. I want to be clear, and for there to be no ambiguity of any kind about what we are here to do or how far we mean to go. Because this is not a robbery.

This isn't even an assassination; Those are typically careful and surgical. We are here to commit a murder. The kind where you and your crew kick in the front door and beat an asshole to death while he's in the living room eating Fritos in his underwear.

The Fleshmancer has a debt to pay. I am owed a pound of flesh. We do not leave until we collect. Those are the parameters of the job here.

Okay, Serai. Take us to your home, so that we can figure out where to begin.

They locked the door. They think that will keep us out? We are very experienced at B&E at this point.

Like I said.

So if I know my future stuff, the way this works is we push any random button we happen to see and hope for the best. The future is notoriously user-friendly, right?

I'm sure this is unrelated.

Serai, you might have to lead the mission because as far as I can tell, this screen is just making up fake words. Honestly, I don't know why we didn't put you in charge to begin wi--

OH COOL WHAT'S THAT EVERYONE FOLLOW ME

I'm about to start making Angry Cavewoman Noises and bashing things with a stick if this place doesn't stop giving me error noises.

Oh sweet, Wall Meat. I've never wondered what wall flesh tastes like but now I'm intrigued. Angry Cavewoman is satisfied. +50 Patience.

I no longer think this place is being used to intentionally block access to the port. All of the security here seemed to be just that: security, rather than a garrison of troops. The abandoned factory does have the vibe of an abandoned factory and nothing more.

This may just be a product of poor urban planning. Brisk can relate.

In any case, Aephorul probably should have stationed a garrison here but his mistake is our gain. We've made our first foothold into this world, and I got some Wall Milk and Wall Eggs to go with my Wall Chicken. This was a successful infiltration.

[weareallgonnaliveforawhile]

your swap au is really cool!!!! I am rotating them in my mind like a microwave :] I have some questions about it, if thats okay :D (you don't have to answer ofc), will elq lose his memories while with the federation like canon qq did? how does the watcher react to qq rather than elq? what is the islanders relationship with qq - do they wind up liking him more than elq as they do in canon or do they just want their friend back?

I'm curious to see how the quackities' relationships with the federation play out; they don't seem to have the same role within the Fed, swap!qq feels more like an attempt at a permanent replacement than elq does..

(sorry for any errors or if i sound odd, it is quite late where I am ^-^)

No problem! I'm honestly just surprised that someone likes my au.

El does lose his memory but him with Amnesia is very different from Canon! Quackity with amnesia. While canon!Quackity was like a lost child, El was more like a feral cat. His amnesia was kept more of a secret because his friends knew how much he kept to himself. Those who didn't immediately find him once he was back only found out because they directly stumbled upon him and figured it out before someone could whisk the man away.

It's odd. To see someone who once was so full of energy and anger who once argued with you over nothing, look at you with nothing but fear and distrust.

-

The watcher and Quackity have a weird relationship. Quackity treats him oddly, like an old friend sometimes and a begrudging ally at others. Sometimes the Watchers requests are responded to casually but with excitement, and sometimes they're responded to with the same formalness that you'd reserve for your boss...

-

Oh my god, I love this last question. They fucking hate Quackity. Some are more tolerant of him than others like Etoiles who can't bring himself to hate someone who shares the face of one of his closest friends. But the others? Especially Cellbit and Roier? They want his head on a pike.

Quackity smiles more than El Quackity did. He grins and giggles and jokes in ways that aren't morbid and don't somehow threaten multiple children. They still hate him. His friendliness is a slap in the face more than anything else. They did not resent ElQ for his personality or behavior, far from it, they loved him because of it.

There is a happier copy of their friend. Their amazing paranoid friend who once stole Phil's door because he was angry at him. They don't want a copy, a cheap imitation of their friend, they want their friend back.

Guapoduo and Bad hate him the most. El was extremely close with Cellbit and Roier, and neither man could stand being around Quackity for long without a buffer. Bad and El had a...weird relationship that was mutually antagonistic and positive (Think Landduo but with a bit more murder attempts). Bad nearly took Quackity's head off his shoulders with his claws alone the first time he saw him.

They don't want Quackity's smiles which split his face with how hard he's smiling, they want ElQuackity's smiles which are small and wobbly from how hard he always tries to hide them. They hate Quackity's laughter which is loud with his head tipped back because they love ElQ's quiet laughter with his head tipped forward.

It gets worse when they figure out that Quackity is definitely in league with the Federation, but there was no possibility of love from the start. How could they love such a poor imitation when they knew the real thing?

----

For the last bit, I'm so happy that you caught that. You're absolutely right that they don't hold the same role, Quackity is a bit more... versatile than Canon!ElQ so he has a fairly different (but somewhat) similar role.

Thank you soooooo much for asking! I love questions so much.

[ecargmura]

Oblivion Battery Episode 7 Review - Yipsters Go Yip Yip

That settles it. Aoi is the best character in this show. He’s my favorite character in this show and no one else comes close. Learning about Aoi and his issues with yips really shows out psychological issues can be a big factor for ruining careers. Like, of all the characters here, he is the most fleshed out and it’s beautifully written in a way.

Aoi’s yips stem from a possible psychological issue surrounding his guilt about making a fatal error in an important match. No matter how many times he tried to overcome it, he never got better. Fortunately, the Kotesashi baseball club’s first year decide to resolve the problem by making him practice a lot harder. It turns out that his issue could be from not putting in more effort, said by Haruka, and that no one was there to help him when he needed it most. The baseball club he’s in right now decides to help Aoi overcome it by making him practice his throws. Yips can be recovered thanks to Kei being proof of that. When his mask got hit during the Teitoku practice match, he had a mild case of yips that he got over quickly. Had it persisted, the story would’ve ended (most likely). I think he got over his yips but not completely? I think it got a lot better than before?

Okay, fine, I do admit that Kei is funny in this episode, especially when he was talking about yips discrimination. It was so funny that Aoi’s sisters were laughing about it when they were eavesdropping on their conversation about yips. I also do admit that Kei’s attitude was needed as if he can overcome yips, Aoi can too. He doesn’t need to be so hardheaded about it. Props to Haruka for being Kei’s biggest hype man. He always thinks Kei’s jokes are funny, even if he doesn’t laugh at them. That’s a good friend right there.

The scene with Aoi and his senpai Takasu was really nice. They met each other again by coincidence. It seems that his senpai was never angry or hated Aoi for his mistakes at all. He was just surprised that Aoi is playing baseball again, but at a no-name public school. Despite that, Aoi’s senpais all went to different schools and are still playing baseball, whether they be starters or not. They’re all living their lives peacefully and still loving baseball. They moved on. Aoi decides that it’s time for him to do so as well. I love the final shot of him covering his face as tears pour out. I guess he finally found inner peace. I understand Aoi’s turmoil, honestly. I once made a mistake and it took years for me to find solace and finally move on from it. I’m glad that he has the baseball club to help him.

Next week is a recap episode, so there won’t be a new Oblivion Battery episode review next week. I’ll see you in two weeks. Let me know your thoughts on this episode.

[imakemywings]

I would like to discuss something with you. You know how Aragorn warned Bilbo of singing the 'Song Of Eärendil' in front of Elrond and how the fandom immediately flocked to the idea that Elrond held resentment towards Earendil because of that one line. Um, I find that weird and not aligned with Elrond's characterization because the Song of Earendil was said to be a revised version of an earlier nonsensical poem Errantry, which was also composed by Bilbo after his quest for Erebor. And if there is one thing I learned from lotr is that they see Earendil as a significant and symbolic figure of the First Age (Elves' most beloved star dude), and his son is a loremaster so the thought of someone making a lighthearted poem about a First Age figure, especially your dad's dad, without treating it seriously probably didn't sit right with Aragorn (who grew up with Elrond). Plus, Bilbo who was proud of Errantry's, thought he could incongruously make a fictitious poem of a legend of the First Age. Seems to me that Aragorn warned Bilbo not because Elrond would be offended/hate to hear his father's name, but rather because Elrond would be offended by hearing inconsistent facts about his father's life and adventures and what he did during the First Age, because ya know, Elrond is a loremaster.

Alright! Apologies it took me so long to get to this, it's been a busy time @.@

I can honestly say I've been lucky enough to avoid that particular interpretation of that scene, but I believe that it's out there.

I think it probably is more like Aragorn thought it was a bit cheeky of Bilbo to be writing poetry about Elrond's father in his own house. However, he seems mostly good-natured about it; there doesn't seem to be a concern Elrond will be genuinely angry or offended about it. Also, given Elrond's age and concurrent with your last point--he knows a LOT more about the whole thing than Bilbo or Aragorn, so he IS likely to notice any errors or inconsistencies. Aragorn basically warning Bilbo he better have done his research before dropping this poem XD

And to a point in your middle paragraph--yeah, Earendil seems to be held in incredibly high esteem in Middle-earth. He appears almost as a quasi-religious figure by Lord of the Rings, with Galadriel calling him the Elves' "most beloved star" and giving Frodo the phial of his light which saves his and Sam's lives multiple times, only dimming in the heart of Orodruin where Sauron's power is strongest.

Which makes sense, as Earendil had a significant role in saving Middle-earth from the domination of Melkor (a baddie far more powerful and malicious than Sauron), and because he has dedicated his life to sailing Vingilot. Earendil has been a deeply selfless person committed to the welfare of Middle-earth and he receives an appropriate level of deference from its residents in response.

However, Bilbo seems to hold very little in reverence outside tea-time and he seems to enjoy getting cheeky with the Elves, so it doesn't surprise me that he went on with the poem despite Aragorn's comments XD

To me, there is just no proof anywhere in Silm, Hobbit, or LotR that Elrond resents Earendil (for things that happened almost 8,000 years ago by the time Bilbo retires to Rivendell). People can headcanon it for sure, but I don't see any canon proof of it.