#i don’t think it’s a coincidence that all of these characters are some flavor of queer (explicitly stated or not)

[faroreskiss]

Unnatural Coincidences / Part 1

Parts 1 2 3 4 Epilogue

You have been in Hyrule for a while now, and some things just cannot stay hidden anymore.

General Info & Warnings: -This will be a four part story for now, with the last part (3&4) being the most explicit. There is a potential to expand the non-explicit parts, if there is interest. -If you are under 18, please do not read this. You have been warned. -Italic words like this mean the words in "your language", as they are speaking Hylian with each other. -Feel free to comment, if you think instead of (Y/N) this story should be written from first or second person POV (or it should be an OC) Pairing: Zelda x Fem!Reader x Link

It was another one of those early mornings, (y/n) has been hiking the mountains with Link before work, taking the scenery in. They stopped by the lake, and looked at how the sun sparkled on top of the water. This was simply unreal.

That’s because it wasn’t. At least, not from her point of view.

Around 3 years ago, she has somehow ended up in post-calamity BotW world, with most of her knowledge from our own world intact. It wasn’t that long that she came across Link and Zelda, who are living together but are not together (though one could absolutely feel the vibes there). Everybody has their own room in that house.

It is another story for another time, but those three are quite close now. She is now working together with Zelda & Purah, researching the history of Hyrule all the way back to Creation, publishing papers together and recording the knowledge. Link is technically still a knight, though the castle’s renovations are not quite there yet after the fight with Ganon.

“Heh, never seen a lake before? You seem quite amazed.”

Link didn’t speak that much unprompted, but when he did it always had a flavor. She chuckled, she absolutely had a crush on him but thought it was unfair. She had a crush on a fictional character, who absolutely had feelings for Zelda. It probably didn’t count, no? Not like she can’t enjoy a bit of harmless flirting every now and then either way.

“It just looks so beautiful, I’m also kind of tired after a 10 km hike up here. Not everybody has your stamina wheels and strong… bottom muscles, Mr. Hero.” she made a gesture, but did not stare, at his ass.

He did not register it at first.

“My bottom wha-… You creep!” he laughed.

Link and Zelda got used to the way she was talking. When they first met, they didn’t even understand a word she said, literally. She didn’t speak any Hylian, them being who they are (and Zelda also having scientific curiosity), they taught her Hylian, and with a little bit of help from the Great Fairies, enhanced her learning abilities to speed up the process. It was quite obvious for them that she had an idea about the world they live in, and more.

They know that (y/n) is from another ‘dimension’ (not that hard to believe for them I suppose, with all the magic and science simply existing together in this realm). They were the ones who found her in the Temple of Time, but the part that she knows them from a video game series, has not been discussed… yet. She wasn’t actively trying to hide it either though. So there was still trust between them.

She is thinking of breaking it to them at some point. There hasn’t been a big quest of “sending her back”, though she is sure Zelda has her own agenda, and Link is probably in on it. Good thing about them, they don’t pry if they feel like they are making you uncomfortable. They probably also do feel that you are hiding something from them, though.

“Aaaah, I’m just SO looking forward to this evening though!” she said while getting up and stretching.

“Wine and Lon Lon cheese at the cottage? Of course.” Link also got up and started filling his water pouch. “And having Purah create a game on the Slate. Can’t wait to try it!*”

Oh how cute he was trying to pronounce unfamiliar words.

“That, and how you and Zelda are going to act with each other after some booze gets into your system.”

(Y/N) giggled and Link was kind of red on top of his pointy ears. There must have been something off however, as what she said made Link stop for a second and looked seriously at her face, as if she… looked hurt.

“Something on my face?”

“(y/n)…”

“It’s OK, Link. I’m not blind. I can see how you look at her.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Nothing is that complicated, silly. If I were on the top of the Central Hyrule Tower, I could still see it from there without the scope. Still don’t get why you don’t tell her. So I’m hoping some wine would help. Or should I tell her?”

Meanwhile she started walking back down the path. The path was extremely steep.

“No!” he snapped and held her arm firmly to stop her. She has NEVER seen him snap before. Nobody did. He was the embodiment of self control. 

She was quite startled, so while yanking her arm off from Link’s grasp, she ended up tripping backwards on the slope. Link ended up catching her right on time to protect her head, but they rolled up a little bit down on the path, till they hit a tree to stop them. Thank Farore.

Now Link was on top of her, staring right into her eyes, intensely. It was… uncomfortably close. His knee was actually kind of between her thighs. If only it moved a bit more up... Oh Hylia, she was supposed to think of survival, but all she could think of was how the current situation could be something completely different right now.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-no I don’t think so. Are you…”

“I’m fine.”

They were both already breathing heavily from the fall. (Y/n) more so, she didn’t have the personal fitness level he had. Why did it feel as if they were getting even closer? Was this breathing certainly from all the rolling?

“Hey…” she spoke softly.

“Sorry, I kind of snapped.” He was still not moving from where he was, and the stare was still not broken. She knew she was supposed to say something, move or wiggle around. She felt so selfish. Link and Zelda belonged together. She shouldn’t get in between them. What if it affects the future of Hyrule or something? But again, not like there is a rule that they end up together anyway…

“It’s OK, Link. But what’s going on?”

“You mean that I am dense, but so are you.” he seemed serious. Oh Goddesses, why was he still on top of her?

“What?”

“You are right. I do have feelings for Zelda.”

It felt like a bucket of cold water trickling down from her head to her heart. She knew this, but it was never said out loud. Maybe a part of her did want to have something with him. But this, this felt like even that bridge was burned. Pandora’s box was opened. Her eyes started to water.

“News flash.”

“What?”

“Nothing, some dirt got into my eyes..” she broke the stare and looked at the side.

“(y/n), look at me.” he moved her head gently back to the center. She wasn’t able to speak. She didn’t know what to say. How can she ever explain it to him?

“Don’t.” (y/n) somehow managed to weakly get it out from her mouth. He stopped. The stare didn’t. He was staring into her soul. Trying to get some words out. Could it be that he…?

“But (y/n), I also…” he started. This, this was getting unbearable. For both of them it seemed. Still, she didn’t let him finish the sentence. So what, not like ZeLink was ever totally canon anyway? This is Legend of Zelda, everybody has their interpretation, right? But.. He was so close, his eyes were piercing through her (e/c) ones. Her hair was touching the grass, his leg between hers felt even closer to her center. She could swear, maybe it touched a little bit. She noticed his face was also red. No, it must be wind and cold. She was getting lost in her thoughts. She was going to take the gamble that Link was trying to say something good. At least, she could at least experience this in her life here. This selfish moment, she wanted for herself.

“Ah, fuck it!”

She pulled him into a kiss. Link did not even flinch at first.

...and then he started kissing her back.

She put her hands in his head, gently moving her fingers through his hair. His leg finally, albeit involuntarily, moved up, his knee brushing right between her legs. A silent yet soft moan escaped her. She could feel his smirk through the kiss. She took advantage and rolled him on his back, ending on top of him, using one of her hands on the tree behind them for balance at first. He pulled her in close once again and started kissing her neck and coming back to her lips. His hands were slowly circling her back. Still keeping it safe, what a gentleman. A gentleman with a bulge directly growing under her very lady-like parts. For her to feel.

This was also the wake-up call for her. She broke the kiss and looked at him. They were both panting. She finally crossed her legs to get off of him and quickly got up. They couldn’t look at each other in the eye. Link also got up.

“We… we should go.” she said, looking over the path down, pretending to fix her cloak.

“Y-yeah. You need to go to the lab, right?”

“Yes.”

They started walking down the path.

She was feeling quite conflicted, but damn, it felt so good. She wanted more. HE wanted more. Alas, there was sincerely no time. They had to talk about this later.

[ask-ikevamp-faust]

Some time ago I tried a IA that was supposed to roast me (haha) and it told me that I talk to much about you in my personal Twitter account (and is the true). I'm afraid I enjoy too much dissecting you in my own way in my free time. There is a lot I want to write about you but I tend to hold myself or bite my tongue, so is just me alone with my own thoughts.

I've been trying to recall where my fascination with your mythical figure started. I do remember I was about to visit the ranch of my family in the country side so I picked some books in the local library to entertain myself reading and I picked Goethe's "Faust". (Funny is that I also picked a copy of "Twilight" because the lovely girl in the store very enthusiatically recommended the book to me since it was the hot trend at that time. I already new of that book too because my friends love the Vampire genre and wanted to read it but that's another story. Anyway, what I found funny is that I got "Faust" and "Vampires" in the same day, interesting coincidence.)

I did read Faust first because it was my priority. I still think that Mephistopheles is my favorite character of that play, I find he was so delightful, he still gimme a good time because all the things he says. There is a lot of key scenes a love about the play, like when Faust creates a homunculous, when they visit the witch that will make Faust younger, all the drama when Faust wants to romance Margaret.

Some years later, there was a movie called "Faust" by Aleksandr Sokurov. Already knew about Sokurov because he was the one who filmed "Russian Ark". This Faust took some creative freedom and is a bit different from Goethe's version, but it was also very visually interesting in how the takes are deformed with a fisheye lend and some of the symbolism (Faust and Margaret literally drowning in pleasure and sin IIRC).

And I think one of my favorites so far is the classic "Faust" from Murnau. I was quite surprised because the movie is so well done and has incredible special effects for the era it was done, I love and miss when cinema was this level of creative, now everything is done with computers and graphics that makes things a lot more easy, but don't have the same flavor.

But I wonder how do you feel about all this fictional depictions of you since they are very different from the Johann I know. I'm still craving to learn about new undiscovered versions of you, but I also want to learn more about you in specific.

BTW, I was the one who wrote to the blog asking about what it was allowed or not about NSFW interactions and just asking questions because I'm not really familiar with roleplaying. I just thought it would be ok to say it since I feel like I'm already like three different people in your ask box, but now I'm only two (haha).

– @crowmero

I apologize for the long wait 🙂‍↕️ Thank you for your patience 💖

I’m not sure I completely understand what “roast” means. Charles explained it to me but it wasn’t very helpful. However, I do know what AI is, I have not used it very much myself; apparently it’s “the future”. While technology is useful I’m not sure it will ever completely replace real people, but who knows, I suppose it is a possibility. Anyway, I’m getting off topic… You say this AI said you talk about me too much and you admit that it’s true? How interesting, I’m flattered I occupy so much of your mind. There’s no better compliment than someone wanting to dissect me, please continue to do so. I see you have written much about me here already, if you’d like to continue sharing all your thoughts, don’t hesitate to come by and tell me. 

Ahh this is how you came to know my name, what an amusing introduction story. I’ve heard about these shiny vampires, they may be the most odd depiction of vampires I've seen; quite the coincidence you ended up with both. Since Mephistopheles is your favorite character here and you happen to enjoy his lines, quote 3 of your favorite lines from him. 

Both of these films sound both interesting and entertaining. They seem to do well in showing how you can take the same character and present them differently depending on the creative goals.

Actually, I haven’t interacted very much with the fictional depictions of myself. I’ve only heard whispers here and there whenever I go out. They all sound rather interesting, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn about them, maybe I’ll try it out sometime. I’ll use the ones you mentioned as starters, if you enjoyed them then they shouldn’t be bad. You’re always welcome to learn more about me, whether it’s myself or a different fictional depiction.

🌙 - Ohhh it was you?? Of course it’s okay! Thanks again for asking 😄 I was able to make more specific rules. I didn’t put any role-playing examples in the rules, I had some but didn’t add them since if anyone wanted to role-play that content, they would need to talk to me in the first place. I felt I could get more specific in DMs if needed. If you have more questions about it you can always DM me 😊

@crowmero

[osunism]

Daughter of Disgrace

"Is there any place where Heaven's bastard daughters are welcome?"

Rating: Mature to Explicit [for future sexual content and graphic depictions of violence]. Pairing[s]: Satoru + Sundari || Nadja + Sukuna Warning[s]: Smut, graphic depictions of violence, major character death[s], as well as some toxic relationship elements. Spoilers for the manga, so if you only watched the anime, turn back. Summary: In the aftermath of Satoru Gojo's sealing, Sundari must choose rebellion in order to free him. Lucky for them both, rebellion has always been her preferred modus operandi.

🪧 Be Advised: This is the sequel to BeastofNoNation. It's recommended that you read that fic first to get the context of this one.

𓃰 AO3 || OC Masterpost || Fic Masterpost 𓃰

𓃰 Chapter Five: Inversion

November 17, 2018, Tokyo No. 1 Colony

     Sundari, at her core, has always been a creature of sharp and unerring instinct. From the moment she was born, she was made painfully aware of how different she was from quite literally everyone around her. Not just in terms of appearance and power, but in how she chose to view the world. To her, there was never a question of whether to act, she simply saw a problem worthy of her attention and attempted to solve it.

     It was a happy coincidence that many of those problems could only be resolved with spectacular displays of violence and artistic amounts of bloodshed.

     She’s always had a keen gut instinct for trouble, and Sundari knows when a situation has gone tits-up.

     It’s why she’s entering one of the colonies for the Culling Games, now.

     The first thing that assaults her senses is the strange little creature that appears before her. It calls itself Kogane, and it asks her if she wishes to become a player.

     “Yeah,” she says tersely. “Yeah, whatever, I’m a player; let me in.”

     She can’t be credited with too much patience, but she’s pressed for time. Something is wrong, her gut is churning, and this little irksome shikigami creature is announcing to presumably everyone that she’s entered the game. That’s fine, she can handle whatever comes her way.

     “Sundari Hikmat’s life is worth 5,000 points!”

     Sundari is halfway to Shinjuku when she hears this announcement, and the echoes of it from other Kogane creatures nearby. The sentence bounces around in her skull like an endless refrain, and she allows herself an exhausted and defeated smirk before she turns her face to the sky.

     “Fuck you,” she whispers, wishing that curse user monk could hear her. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.”

     Not for the first time, but she regrets not unleashing all of herself in Shibuya that night. It seemed to work perfectly fine for her father. She makes a mental note to put skullfucking back on the menu when she crosses paths with the monk again.

     The first sorcerer to come for her head attacks her in a Cinnabon when she’s scavenging for snacks. They were clever in their approach, she’d give them that much credit, but their cursed energy barely warrants the effort, and she emerges from the abandoned shop, gnawing on a stale cinnamon bun she attempted to reheat in a microwave. It’s not much, but breakfast is breakfast at this point.

     The man hunting her this morning is a sorcerer by the name Genji Ishida, and Sundari regards him with a bored expression, her four-eyed perspective taking him in while keeping watch on her surroundings. She tastes his cursed energy, like corrupted ozone. She’s always likened it to ‘tainted’ magic. Other forms of magic have their own flavor, but jujutsu has always tasted wrong to her. Genji doesn’t have enough cursed energy to face her.

     “Look,” she says, “I don’t know what you think you heard, but this isn’t a fight you want right now.” It’s a warning, and she hopes Genji has the good sense the gods gave a rabbit enough to fuck off and find some other sorcerer to play with. Sundari isn’t sure if she will be penalized for not killing sorcerers, but she knows she can. In fact, the game encourages it, and that’s what she’s afraid of: not of losing, but of winning so handily that the blood will soak Tokyo for weeks. She knows what she’s capable of and she knows she’s trying very hard not to be like her father.

     She also suspects that’s why that dickhead monk has placed a veritable bounty on her head. He wants her to act up! Well, she will eventually, but she’s gonna offer as many ways to avoid it as possible.

     Genji is not a smart man. In fact, as she gets a good look at him, she can see that the lights are not all on upstairs. There’s a vacant look in his eyes, and she can see the dried blood crusted around his nose. She wonders if he’s overused his technique recently.

     “I need those points,” he says, and his lip curls into a sneer before he lunges for her. He’s faster than Sundari expected, and she rotates her body in a smooth pivot, taking his telegraphed strike and using his momentum to fling him effortlessly into the Cinnabon’s glass storefront. It shatters beautifully, as does the counter as Genji plows through it from Sundari’s powerful throw. Sundari waits to see if he gets back up.

     He does, stumbling out of the shattered Cinnabon into the street where Sundari has given up on her breakfast and dusts the crumbs off on her pants before cracking her neck and her knuckles.

     “You’re worth a whole five stacks,” Genji says, assuming a fighting stance, but Sundari sees him swaying unsteadily, like an uncertain serpent. He’s concussed. “No way I’m letting a steal like that pass me by.”

     Sundari snorts. “Well, come collect your bounty if you can, buddy.” She makes a come-hither gesture with two fingers. Genji lunges at her again and this time she’s certain his cursed technique is burned out. She rotates out of his way again, playfully rolls out one of her extra arms to shove him in the back as he stumbles past her. She can tell the man’s brain has been cooked, likely because he doesn’t have good control over his cursed energy or technique. Her other arm rolls back into her body before he can get up and turn around.

     “What the hell?” He mumbles. “Why can’t I make the fucking sparks come out?”

     Sundari sighs. Yeah, he’s cooked. Suddenly, the fight has lost its petty amusement, and she keeps walking, ignoring the muzzy curses of the sorcerer behind her. He’ll be dead before nightfall if he doesn’t recover his cursed energy in time to fight off the actual curses plaguing the city at night. But that’s his problem.

     Right now, Sundari has bigger fish to fry mainly, her father, whom she has just detected elsewhere in the colony. A massive burst of cursed energy that mirrors her own. Sundari’s focus tunnels down to that, and she takes off at a dead run, unhindered as she realizes her gut instinct is in fact correct again. However, being right isn’t always a good thing and Sundari finds utter devastation when she arrives.

     Yuji is down, injured from a recent blow, and Sundari is at his side before she realizes something is terribly wrong. Yuji looks up at her, tears in his eyes, but Sundari’s eyes are wide because the soft, red slits where Sukuna’s lower eyes reside are no longer on his face. His face, which is twisted into such anguish as he tries to get the words out through the thick, wet flood of his own grief.

     “He took them both,” Yuji says and Sundari realizes that not only is Megumi missing, but her mother as well. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming. He just…he took Megumi.”

     Sundari already knows the answer, but she asks anyway: “Who?”

     “Sukuna,” Yuji whispers, and there is anguish and contempt in his voice. “Somehow he managed to escape my body and took Fushiguro…and then he took Hikmat-sensei, and they escaped with a shikigami.”

     The fact that her mother is seemingly unable to kill her bastard of a father when it counts is beginning to irk Sundari. She is beginning to believe that her mother might still love the fucking bastard and that’s why she won’t strike when it’s time. Sundari clenches her fists and uses the menacing presence of her immense cursed energy to ward off any challengers who think to come for the prize on her head.

     “Can you stand?” She asks and Yuji nods as she helps him to his feet. Maki soon joins them, but she looks more irritated than disappointed.

     “There’s a price on your head, Hikmat-san,” Maki says. “Why’d you leave Tengen’s realm?”

     Sundari chuckles. “I had a gut feeling that everything was going to shit so I came to help. Looks like I was right, for all the fucking good it did anyone.”

     Maki shoulders her sword and heaves a sigh. “Yeah, well, that’s noble of you but now your cursed energy is going to be a flashing neon sign to any sorcerer stupid enough to try and claim the bounty.”

     Sundari grins. “I hope so. I need them so I can open the Prison Realm.”

     “What?!” Maki and Yuji exclaim in unison. Sundari waves her hand dismissively.

     “Not here,” she says looking around. Most of the city is quiet, and there’s destruction where the fighting has been heaviest in the first few days of the Games. Their current location is indefensible, and Sundari can’t think of where they can go to enact her admittedly half-baked plan. She knows she requires more cursed energy to do what she tried before, but without Sukuna here to intervene she risks truly killing herself in the process. Gods take his withered soul for his perfidy. Sundari feels a rage inside her like brutal magma, and she wants so badly to kill her father, to end his curse upon this world once and for all.

     Unless…

     Sundari shuts her main eyes, keeping her lower eyes open to regard Yuji and Maki, as well as keep an eye on their surroundings. Looking at Maki is a bit unsettling because Sundari can detect no cursed energy from her. She’s like a void in the flow of the world: invisible to sorcerers, and deadly to them. She begins to breathe slower, letting herself feel her own body as she inhales and then exhales.

October 3, 2018, Gojo Satoru’s Residence, 21:35

     Satoru manages to come home early one night. With the summer ended, and most troublesome curses exorcised, his schedule manages to free up only slightly, but it is enough that he no longer keeps exceedingly late hours. And so, he claims a rare moment of respite, eager to come home to the woman he has come to love so dearly. He can already taste her cursed energy, exactly like her father’s, and yet he would know her anywhere. Not just because of her energy, but because he sees her everywhere. He sees the shape of her lithe and svelte curves in the hills and mountains Tokyo is nestled within. He sees the dark glimmer of her garnet eyes if he focuses his vision just enough.

     He can almost hear her rich laughter in the wind, a sound from her belly, where her secondary mouth grins.

     It’s not until he crosses the threshold into his home, shuts and locks the door behind him, and pulls down his blindfold that he breathes her name like a secret he’s been keeping all day.

     “Sundari…” His voice is rich with eagerness. He wants her, wants to wrap his arms around her and kiss the sharp black ink of her tattoos on her neck, down to the tender spot between her shoulder blades.

     He follows his senses and finds her seated on a grassy rise overlooking the vast forest that extends endlessly. It is a hidden place, and Satoru likes to believe that it has become their place. Few know this location, and even fewer have set foot here. Satoru has taken great pains to keep Sundari hidden until he can smooth things over with the higher-ups, whom he knows will call for her immediate execution.

     An abomination, they’d call her.

     A goddess. He’d counter.

     Sundari’s back is to him, and he notices that she is nearly naked, clad only in what looks to be a—

     Oh. She’s nude and wearing nothing but a gold waist chain. Satoru bites his lip and shuts his eyes momentarily, letting out a small laugh.

     She’s sitting cross-legged, her main eyes are shut, the smaller set focused on the moonrise. All four of her arms are present, each of her four hands in a different mudra. Satoru’s asked her about them, and she’s explained their meanings to him, so different from the ones he was taught. Still, they are effective, and she seems to be engaged in some sort of meditation. The mouth on her belly is chanting, but the mouth on her face is neutral, full lips slightly parted.

     She’s doing intense breath work, and Satoru studies her.

     Stark black tattoos—Sukuna’s exactly—stand vividly against her almond-brown skin. Every part of her seems deliberately sculpted, a testament to her lifetime spent being raised as a warrior, as he was. He tries to imagine how Nadja, who has no cursed energy, had managed to raise someone as powerful as Sundari. He has so many questions, and yet all of that is doused out of him when he sees her main eyes open, and she turns to look at him over her shoulder.

     “Satoru,” there is a burgeoning smile in her voice, and her voice has a slight ring of power. His Six Eyes read the overwhelming flow of her cursed energy. It heaves and sighs like the ocean but moves slow like the earth. Each breath she takes draws it in, and every exhale pushes it out. He watches her rein it in tighter with each breath and push it out slower with each exhale.

     Her heart is beating strongly and steadily, and he can see the heat building in her belly, her cursed energy pulsing like a neutron star: blinding and overwhelming.

     But not to the strongest sorcerer of the modern age. No, he can bare the beautiful brightness of her. He revels and basks in it as if she is the sun, and he wants nothing more than to see her revel and bask as well. Creatures like them will never take to being slapped with a bridle and led by the nose. No, she—like him—deserves to run free.

     One of her hands beckons him closer, an elegant roll of her wrist, delicate but deadly fingers crooked and alluring; and he comes to sit beside her. They have established equal footing in more ways than one. He is not afraid to yield to her demands from time to time.

     “You’re home early,” she murmurs, even as her lower mouth chants empowered sutras in a soft and sweet melody that seems to blend so nicely with the deepening night. Satoru marvels at her when she does this. The secondary mouth does not strain her heart or lungs yet is as powerful as her main mouth.

     “Curses are incubating,” Satoru says, “and there’s nothing that requires my level of intervention. I can fuck off if I want.”

     Sundari snorts. “And this is you fucking off, is it?”

     Satoru leans back on his hands, stretching his long legs in front of him as he awards her with one of his feline grins.

     “Hey, I’m allowed to fuck off in any way I please,” he tells her. “And don’t act like you don’t like me fucking off with you.”

     It’s ridiculous, this exchange, but that’s sort of the nature of their friendship…and a core foundation of their continued attraction to one another. They burst into mutual laughter. Sundari breaks her concentration, and her cursed energy stills like a placid lake, blanketing the area, overlapping with his. Satoru sees it like moonlight dancing off the surface of her lake. It’s beautiful, how their energy blends so well together.

     “What were you doing?” Satoru asks. “Just now. I don’t recognize those sutras.”

     Sundari gives him a tender smile; a benevolent goddess answering a willing acolyte.

     “A breathing technique my teacher showed me. It helps cycle my cursed energy through my body more efficiently.” At Satoru’s expression she frowns. “Look, just because my dad was—is—a prodigy, doesn’t mean I was. I was just born with a lot of power and a unique physique. But I definitely wasn’t always good at it.”

     “Still,” Satoru says, “you’ve got an instinct for it. And your martial arts are impeccable. I’m more afraid of your hand-to-hand combat than your techniques.”

     Sundari smiles. It’s strange to her that he says this, because most of jujutsu society prides itself on whatever unique and powerful techniques manifest. But Sundari was raised amongst women whose value could be weighed in coin on the best nights. They were courtesans and warriors. Vanhi had been strict in having Sundari learn to be a cunning and powerful fighter before she trained her to wed those skills to sorcery. In retrospect, Sundari can understand why. She’s made a god bleed, and she’s faced off with the most powerful sorcerers and held her own.

     “I see,” she says, grinning. She adjusts her body, folding her legs under her and retracting her lower arms. They roll into her body in an incomprehensible display and then they are gone. A second black band manifests on her arms and wrists, and she looks at him in full. Satoru studies her beautiful face, the wide garnet eyes and the smaller ones beneath, which flare to the color of crystalized blood when she’s excited or angry. The stark black trishula symbol on her brow marks her as Sukuna’s own. As does everything about her.

     “You going to kiss me or what?” He asks. “Don’t make me beg.”

     Sundari chuckles, a rich and husky sound that makes him shiver.

     “But you’re so good at it, Satoru,” her tongue caresses his name tenderly and he swears he can feel it on his cock. He wants her to suck him off, right here under the stars. He wants to see those perfect, pouty lips wrapped around his shaft.

     Fuck. He might just beg tonight, but he doesn’t want to beg. He wants her to come to him when he calls her.

     Sundari stares at him, amusement giving an impish look to her grin. She’s going to play this game right alongside him, and he grinds his teeth a little. He doesn’t know it yet, but Sundari is more like her father than either of them realize. The same sinister smirk, the wicked glint of mischief in her four eyes, and the dimples in her cheeks giving her sharp and dangerous appearance a softness that Satoru has come to adore. A woman—no, his goddess—whose power rivals his own, and right now she looks as if a butterfly would be safe in her fight-ready hands.

     God, he loves her.

     “Come here,” he says to her, but he’s reaching for her, fingertips brushing the apple of her cheek. Sundari shuts her main eyes, leaning into his touch. He watches her breathing even out from his mere touch. Such a spitfire and yet she seems wholly trusting and ready to yield to him. She finally relents, and instead of leaning in, she crawls onto him to straddle him. Satoru’s arms come up automatically to wrap around her naked body, his palms smoothing up the sinuous length of her back. Her skin is so satiny and tender to the touch. He’ll never tire of touching her.

     Sundari’s ankles lock behind his back. The lotus position is her favorite, he’s learned. It’s his too: he loves being able to see her and feel her come undone as he holds her close. His cock strains in his pants, and he swears he can feel the heat of her naked cunt against the fabric. Her body always feels like she has magma running in her veins in lieu of blood.

     No. Ichor. Her mother isn’t human. Sundari is an immortal.

     “Satoru…” her voice has a warning note in it but is softened by concern. He’s in his head again.

     “Sorry,” he murmurs. “It’s just that you’re so goddamn beautiful, baby. Took my breath away.”

     Sundari rolls all four of her eyes, but her smile is fond, and he can see the heat blooming in her cheeks like a soft candle glow.

     “You’re not so bad yourself, handsome,” she says back, and she rewards him by kissing him. Satoru’s lips part even as he’s grinning, basking in her affections shamelessly. After all, they’re for him and him alone. He presses her closer to him, and she moans softly when her breasts rub against the fabric of his jacket. Her nipples harden at the contact, making her hiss.

     Satoru’s mouth leaves hers reluctantly, but his leans in to trace the sleek line of her jaw with his lips. He presses kisses so soft against her skin, Sundari nearly whimpers from the tenderness of it, shivering in his arms and linking her arms around his neck, her hands threading through his silvered white hair. Satoru purrs from the sensation of her nails rubbing and massaging his scalp.

     For a while there is only kissing, and caressing, and basking in the closeness of one another. They can do this for only so long before one or the other insists on taking things further. Satoru can be impatient, but Sundari is insatiable in her hunger for him. It’s only a matter of time before—

     Sundari rocks her hips and now he can feel the slick heat of her through the fabric of his pants. His mouth goes dry, and he swallows.

     “Fuck…” he whispers reverently, resisting the urge to pump his hips up just for the sheer sensation. He knows she’s wet, knows it as surely as anything, but he refuses to break first.

     “Satoru…” Sundari purrs his name in his ear, nipping his earlobe and making him shiver. He spends so much of his time being untouchable that these soft, intimate moments are a delicious indulgence for him that rivals his actual sweet tooth. He loves to be touched. Loves the sensation of skin against his own, of being so thoroughly entangled that their limbs seemed to blend. He needs to be inside her. He needs his skin on hers. Fuck, he’s going to break if she doesn’t stop.

     “Don’t you want me?” She whispers.

     “Of course I want you,” Satoru says. “I just…I’m learning to savor what’s in front of me. And you’re worth savoring.”

     Sundari smiles, leans in so that they can kiss again. “Sweet talker…”

     Satoru lets himself be smug. “I eat enough sugar for it. I’m the sweetest talker, baby…”

     “Shut up,” Sundari murmurs, but the grin in her voice is all too telling of how his words affect her. She clings to him as they kiss, Satoru’s hands running a circuit over every inch of her within his reach.

     Satoru grips her waist, pulls her down so that she bounces on the bulge of his cock prettily. He relishes in her surprised groan of pleasure, and there’s a wet spot on his pants where her cunt has grown slick as she rocks her hips to grind against him. He grins at her, and holds up one hand, his index and middle fingers crossed. Her eyes widen as she realizes what he’s about to do. They’re closer than ever, now, and Satoru wants to show her something he’s never gotten the chance to show anyone else in this way.

     “Ryōiki Tenkai…”

Zenin Estate, November 18, 2018, 14:35

     Nadja is not sure how long she lingers in the living, writhing shadows Megumi’s technique have dropped her in. She cannot see, but her senses strain for any sign that will give her a clue as to where she is. She does not have to wonder long, as the shadows surge beneath her, and suddenly she’s rushing up and up and up, until she breaks the surface, spilling onto the flagstones of a walkway. She recognizes the Zenin Estate instantly, and she can smell the death Maki left behind.

     She comes onto her hands and knees, her arms shaky as she vomits onto the stones, shaking off the last vestiges of disorientation from the living shadow that brought her here.

     “Still alive,” Sukuna’s voice spills down her senses like warm honey and she climbs to her feet, swaying slightly as she regains her bearings. She turns to look at the new face he wears, keeps her expression neutral as she realizes he has now possessed the body of Megumi Fushiguro. It is strange, but he looks nothing like Megumi. The vessels always get warped to reflect his true face in some way. His smirk is the same, though, and he tilts his head.

     “My fugitive of heaven fears not even the shadows, hm?” He closes the distance between them, impossibly fast, and Nadja is still too shaky to react in time as his fist collides with her ribs. All the air in her lungs is driven out in a rush, followed by a choking sound as she crumples to her knees before him. Sukuna stares down at her, fury banked in his wild, crimson eyes.

     “That,” he says, his rich voice limned in malice, “I owed you.”

     Nadja can’t help herself, even at his mercy: she laughs.

     “And when you have finished beating me to hell and back, what then?” She grits out, holding her injured side, already healing. She cannot rise from her knees, the pain in her ribs is too great. Sukuna doesn’t care, he reaches down to grab a fistful of her hair and shake her head roughly.

     “I will do it for as long as it takes.” He snaps. “Remember: I promised to repay you for every year you hid her from me and made me wait for you.”

     Nadja looks up at him, and for a moment there are no words, only a silent tension building between them, thick and cloying and choking out all other air in the world. Sukuna’s eyes are dark, drifting downward where he can see her pulse hammering like a trapped thing. He briefly remembers a time when the sight of her pulse hammering was because of excitement to be with him. Not this.

     He shoves her away with a disgusted sound, whether with her or himself is anyone’s guess.

     “Sukuna-sama,” the cool and even voice of Uraume slithers through the tension like a cold river cutting through stone. Both Sukuna and Nadja turn their gazes to them. Uraume does not even spare Nadja a glance, keeping their gaze respectfully downcast as they reported to Sukuna that his bath was ready. Sukuna’s stony expression melts into one of malicious pleasure. He glances back at Nadja, disdain flitting across his gaze before returning to neutrality.

     “Get up, we aren’t finished.” He snaps. Nadja cannot believe that after a thousand years the commanding growl in his voice still sends shivers down her spine…not all of them unpleasant. Not to be humiliated, Nadja climbs to her feet, steadier than before, her expression one of fierce determination. She steadies her mind and steels her heart. Whatever he sees makes Sukuna’s eyes widen slightly—briefly—before he turns on his heel and begins to stride off, Uraume following three steps behind. Nadja trails after them, and notes that she is still armed. Whatever reason for it, Nadja is certain Sukuna knows himself at an advantage here. She won’t kill him if he is using Fushiguro as a vessel, and he can’t kill her so he will find other ways to hurt her instead.

     But he knows every time he does hurt her, it is very real. Sukuna is cunning, and it’s what makes his cruelties particularly sharp and cutting. Nadja knows he will try to kill her in other ways. That fills her with apprehension. She will stay her hand, for now.

     They walk further into the Zenin compound, and Nadja can smell the sourness of Maki’s vengeance everywhere, but even more so, she can smell the utter rot coming from the large outbuilding that she knows to be the Zenin’s disciplinary pit. They’d made a habit of collecting and corralling curses, usually grade two or below, and tormenting prisoners and disciplining subordinates.

     And, Nadja remembers bitterly, torturing Toji. She remembers him telling her one night, and she wonders why thoughts of him make her heart constrict. She misses him.

     But her worst mistake now stands at the lip of the steps to that same pit, which no longer contains any curses. Sukuna’s presence is enough to frighten other curses out of the area, if he doesn’t exorcise them himself. Nadja comes to stand just behind his shoulder and looks into the pit.

     Viscous, living darkness bubbles and roils, smelling of death and poison. She clamps her teeth to keep from gagging from the stench.

     “Oh! You’re about to start without me?” Comes a cheerful and playful voice. Nadja notes the look of brief irritation flitting across Uraume’s face before she turns to see Geto—or rather, Noritoshi Kamo—coming to join them. Her gaze hardens. It is too much to hope that Sundari killed him in Shibuya. Still, she has unfinished business with him: starting with why he bound Sundari’s seal to her father’s incarnation.

     Geto wrinkles his nose, waving one of his sleeves as he covers his mouth and nose with the other.

     “Ick,” he spits in disgust. “What manner of bath is this? Is it safe? Does it even feel good?”

     Sukuna begins to disrobe, heedless of the bickering growing at his back as Uraume explains the purpose of the ritual bath. Nadja is horrified with every word she hears, watching as Sukuna wades into the roiling mass of tar-like liquid, until he vanishes beneath the surface, fully submerged.

     Silence follows, and for a while, he does not come back up. Nadja begins to wonder if perhaps the foul poison has managed to kill the King of Curses and then she remembers he is immune to poison and disease. He surfaces, and there is a look of resolute neutrality on his face, his eyes seem to look less human: red ringed with black. He ascends the steps as Uraume presents his clothing to him with a reverent bow. He pulls on his clothing, throwing his black haori over his shoulders before they move from the pit, leaving the poisonous bath behind. Nadja breathes a small sigh of relief as they put distance between themselves and that cursed place. It makes her soul shudder.

     Kenjaku speaks frankly of what has transpired since the Culling Games began. Nadja listens, keeping her face schooled to disinterested neutrality.

     Yuki is dead.

     Nadja tries not to let that show on her face but there is a brief tension between her shoulder blades as she absorbs the news like a blow, willing herself to compartmentalize the pain of such a loss. That leaves only Yuta, Satoru, and Sundari as the only ones truly strong enough to contend with this trio should she fail to complete her mission. But she cannot do this without at least trying to save Fushiguro. She thinks of Sundari’s abilities, and Yuji’s. How long did Sukuna soak in the boy’s soul? And the hard usage he put his body through…at least some of his techniques should be engraved on him by now. Nadja takes another breath.

     Choso escaped. Good. And judging by the fact that the world has not been swarmed with curses, Tengen is alive. Even this creature wearing Geto’s face is not fool enough to tamper with that. Not unless…

     “I brought you something,” Geto says, and Uraume makes a terse sound with their teeth. “A gift.”

     Sukuna’s brows raise in a silent question as they enter the estate proper. Sukuna has claimed it as his territory since the Zenins are no more, and he strides about like the lord of the entire place. Nadja cannot believe his arrogance once charmed her. It feels so petty, now. Still, there was somewhat about him that had staid her hand a millennia ago. And something that makes her hesitate even now.

     They find Geto’s gift waiting in the receiving room. Nadja’s eyes go wide, Uraume sucks in an affronted breath, and Sukuna laughs.

     Seated on the dais, clad in the funerary robes befitting his status as a powerful shaman, is Sukuna’s mummified body.

     For some reason, seeing it makes Nadja’s mind go white, and freezes her body. It is unnerving and unsettling. Here, standing before her, Sukuna fully incarnated in Fushiguro’s body. There, seated like some grotesque shrine statue, his original body, too powerful to be consigned to any sort of destruction, and so mummification and placement deep within Tengen’s layered barriers was the only way to contain the sheer power of Ryōmen Sukuna.

     Beneath the sleeves of his robes, all twenty fingers on the hands of the mummy are missing.

     “Is this your idea of a joke?” Sukuna asks, mildly amused. Geto turns out his hands in a helpless shrug.

     “Well,” he says, “it occurred to me that—oh. Nadja! What are you doing here, naughty girl? Sukuna, did you want us to leave you two alone?” Geto’s tone turns playfully suggestive and Nadja’s eyes narrow at him, unamused. Sukuna waves his hand.

     “She and I have unfinished business, yes, but that can wait.”

     Geto shrugs, but there’s something shrewd in his gaze that tells Nadja he does not share Sukuna’s nonchalance about her presence.

     “In any case,” he continues, his tone turning bright and conversational again. “It occurred to me that you haven’t collected all of your missing Fingers. Only one to go, correct?”

     Sukuna snorts. “It’s of little consequence,” he says. “One Finger won’t tip the scales in their favor. Let them come if they think they’re ready.”

     Nadja is certain none of them are ready for Sukuna who is nearly at full strength, and her right eye burns in the presence of his cursed energy. Fushiguro’s entire soul is a wickless flame, guttering and sputtering in the darkness in which Sukuna has subsumed him. Her heart aches for the boy, but there is nothing she can do for him right now. Her sword does one thing well, and neither Sukuna nor his vessel can survive it.

     “Shall I have the evening meal prepared, Sukuna-sama?” Uraume asks. Sukuna grins.

     “As always, you know my mind, Uraume,” he says. “I do not need to eat any longer, but I do miss the taste of good food. See what the Zenins have in storage and make do.”

     Uraume bows deeply. “As you wish, Sukuna-sama.”

     They are cat quiet as they leave the room. Geto watches them go, a look of vulpine fascination on his face. He meets Nadja’s gaze, and his grin seems too wide, even for the face he wears.

     “If there’s nothing else…” Sukuna says, a warning note in his tone. Geto takes it as his cue to leave. It seems whatever plans these two have laid will not be spoken of in front of her. Nadja watches Geto leave, and he gives her a simpering smirk. She cannot wait to kill him.

     The doors slide shut.

     Nadja and Sukuna are alone—truly alone—for the first time in centuries.

     They gaze at one another, a room apart. That strange tension is winding up again, like a spring condensing to its absolute limit. The neutrality of his face cracks just a little, and she sees glimpses—phantoms, really—of the man she once knew. Sukuna is patient, but seeing her standing there, looking exactly the same as the last time he saw her in such a setting, has his senses and emotions battling themselves to a pained and steamy gridlock. This is the woman whose presence had ablated a heart of iron to rust beneath the steadiness of her affections. This is the woman who had promised to remain by his side, no matter how far her damnable mandate took her.

     He thinks of Sundari’s face, her insolence, the way he saw so much of himself in her.

     He studies Nadja, takes in the svelte lines of her curves, not a glimmer of threatening steel visible on her, but he remembers how well-hidden and cunningly placed her blades are. And that sword, the one he knows is drawn only to kill, along the length of her spine. That tiny poisonous blade at the nape of her neck.

     The razor hidden in her mouth, somewhere against her tongue.

     The tension draws taut. Sukuna feels the power in him surge, the veins in his hands growing slightly more prominent.

     There is a split second where both wonder who will move first, and then there is a sound like whistling as both of them move simultaneously. Sukuna hears the hiss of steel derailing from its sheath, Nadja’s right eye begins translating Sukuna’s cursed energy to her nervous system in real time, and her body reacts accordingly.

     Together, they tear the receiving room apart. Sukuna hates that Fushiguro’s body is not as durable and acrobatic as the brat’s, but he makes do. Nadja moves like poetry, indescribably fluid and inhuman, as if she and the earth breathe as one, surging on the crest of her own immeasurable strength.

     And Sukuna finds it hard to detect her. When her blades are sheathed, they are sealed, and their cursed energy is hidden from his senses. And Nadja, possessing no cursed energy, can hide from him. He has fought many beings like her since last they met, and so finding her becomes second-nature.

     He simply looks for the space where cursed energy seems to stutter. He looks for a void.

     And he finds her.

     Nadja is mid-draw of her sword when Sukuna catches her by the elbow and swings her over, slamming her bodily into the floor. The floorboards crack and shatter beneath the force of the blow. Nadja is momentarily shocked, emitting a choked sound as her body bounces off the floor. Sukuna still has a grip on her arm, and he thinks to himself before the grip tightens, and Nadja cries out as her bones begin to give under the pressure of his strength.

     “You thought you could sneak back to Japan a thousand years later and I wouldn’t find you?” Sukuna growls, dragging her stumbling toward him. “You thought I’d forget what you did? What you took from me?”

     Nadja’s mind is hazed with crimson, pain the only note singing in her already high-strung nerves. Sukuna is patient, but for this, he will make an exception.

     He finishes his transformation, and Nadja finds herself hauled by four individual hands, grasping each of her limbs.

     “I should tear you apart, right now,” Sukuna says, his voice deeper, rumbling in her bones like an ancient god. How ironic to see him here and see his corpse just behind him.

     Sukuna drops her, and she lands in a pained heap on the floor at his feet.

     The transformation doesn’t last long. It reverts and Sukuna lets out a swear. Without his complete power, he cannot hold his true form for long. Nadja cradles her injured arm, climbing to her feet. Sukuna turns from her, walking toward his corpse.

     “Hm…” He muses, staring at his mummified face. Nadja watches him, and then is horrified when his hand snaps out, and tears his own head from his corpse’s shoulders. Even worse is that he brings it to his mouth and devours it. Nadja’s stomach roils at the sound of flesh and bone tearing and crunching. He devours his own head, and then turns to Nadja, smirking.

     “Much better,” he says with a satisfied sigh, and the transformation comes back. He grows, and his cursed energy wraps around him like a cocoon. When it disperses, he is as she first knew him, and she knows this time it’s for good. “This is a cause for celebration. And Nadja, what a happy coincidence that you’re here…”

November 19, 2018, Tokyo No. 1 Colony

     Sundari can feel them converging on her location, and she smirks as she sits down. She expands her awareness, and she can feel the distinct cursed energy of Yuji and the others, moving further away as she’s ordered them to do. Yuji was reluctant to leave her alone, but she needs them out of range for what she plans to do.

     She also doesn’t want them to see what she plans to do. It’s a gamble, but she trusts that it’ll work as it’s meant to; otherwise, she’s given them orders to retreat to safety if she fails.

     Sundari doesn’t think she will fail in this.

     It doesn’t take long, and Sundari slips into an almost meditative state, cycling through different levels of breathing, her cursed energy flooding the area like the gentle and powerful heave of an ocean. And at the center of it, her in utter stillness. She is like living statuary, and like any warrior during moments of peace, she prepares. Her eyes are open and unblinking, and that is when she feels them.

     Her challengers.

     They’re a cluster in one place, and she sees them, crawling out of the surrounding alleys like vermin.

     Like maggots.

     Sundari surprises herself with the snarling voice in her head as she regards the approaching sorcerers with disdain. She can already tell that they are not strong enough to last against her. She has tested her mettle against both Satoru and her father and has gained the respect and acknowledgment of both.

     She does not fear those who have not tasted true divinity.

     They hesitate. Her cursed energy rivals her father’s, and she realizes that some of these sorcerers must be incarnated from his era. They recognize his cursed energy and she can see their puzzlement. The cat’s out of the bag, as the Americans say: they know Sukuna has a direct descendant. The price on her head pales in comparison to the glory they will win for slaying the Princess of Curses. For some, it is just that: for glory. For others—the new-blooded sorcerers awakened by Noritoshi’s mad scheme—the points on her head are a temptation that can free them from this waking nightmare.

     Sundari knows this, and even so, she is determined to kill all of them.

     She waits until they’re within range, and then she rolls out her lower arms, the maw on her belly opening as she forms a mudra and begins to chant.

     “Ryōiki Tenkai: Tripura Purification.”

     It’s too late when they hear her resonant voice tolling like a bell, and there is no barrier for them to discern how far they need to run to escape. Out of consideration for Yuji and the others, Sundari makes a binding vow to restrict her domain’s normal radius, having learned from watching her father’s decimation of Shibuya. She is the epicenter of instant destruction, and her lower mouth continues to sustain the domain, while the mouth on her face stretches into a manic grin.

     Everything with cursed energy within the domain immediately withers away. The screams of agony die stillborn as Sundari absorbs all of the cursed energy in the domain. With her upper arms, she reaches into the pack slung across her shoulders and withdraws the backdoor of the Prison Realm, setting it in front of her.

     She makes another mudra, the memory of her once and only once touch of the divine. She has enough, she thinks. She can do it.

     “Hanten: Divine Mandate.”

     The world shudders.

     Sundari knows what she’s doing. She is half-divinity, after all. She is daring, reaching, up and up and up, until she places her metaphysical fingers on the divine pulse of the very universe. The eyes of the divine turn in incomprehensible slowness. Sundari is making a request the gods must answer, and in exchange, something must be sacrificed.

     She offers up the cursed energy gathered in the desolation of her domain, and the world seems to grind to a halt.

     The gods are considering her request.

     Sundari’s eyes glow white, divinity surging through her as the cursed energy doubles back on itself, becoming positive energy. The Prison Realm shudders. The binding vow of that damnable Genshin tugs at her own will, but then there’s a collective breath.

     The gods have decided.

     Sundari feels the scales of the universe tip in her favor, ignores the blinding pain behind her right set of eyes as her brain burns and reforms, burns and reforms, her technique burning and engraving itself over and over as the gods give their answer, and take the sacrifice on the altar.

     The Prison Realm bursts open in a spray of divine energy that burns Sundari’s tattoos as her father’s curse shudders against the force of such a powerful vow.

     A vow, finally broken and released.

     Somewhere, far away, the ocean boils, and something that witnesses would swear was a shooting star streaks into the sky, flying toward the smudge that is Japan in the distance.

     The world exhales as Six Eyes open.

     Sundari dismisses her domain, blood pouring from her nose as she slumps over, her vision fading to darkness. She’s distantly aware of Yuji crying her name, can see him running toward her as she shuts her eyes.

     Somewhere, deep within the Zenin estate, Sukuna grins at Nadja as if he has finally found an answer to a question that he has pondered for over a millennium.

     “Asura.” He says and watches as fear—true fear—crosses Nadja’s beautiful face for the first time.

     Sundari, what have you done?

˚⊱🪷⊰˚ Masterpost || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter ⤳

© 2024 Hajara Asiri. Do NOT copy, translate, plagiarize, repost anywhere without permission [reblogging posts is okay]. I only upload on Tumblr, AO3, and FFN. Title and footer banners by me. Dividers and support by @cafekitsune.

[ilcuoreardendo-fic]

Welcome. Ask is on. Anon is on. My inbox is pretty much always open for thoughts or thots, comments, ramblings, etc.

I take fic requests, but I’m a very slow creator with constantly multiplying ideas of my own. So, feel free to ask/submit, but know that it might not happen (or might not happen very quickly...)

Like what you see here? Give me a follow. I usually follow back. And I don’t bite (without consent.)

Lins. She/Her. Taciturn, introverted, word lover. Annoyed atheist. Jaded feminist. Pramgatist.

Been in fandom since I was a wee teen in the late 90s.

I have a low tolerance for BS. (Like ship shaming, fandom policing and fandom purity culture - just to name a few things.)

I tag liberally, so if you have a problem with something (kink, ship, whatever), you can block the tag. Curate your experience.

I’m currently living in the Star Wars fandoms, bouncing between the Prequels, Clone Wars and the Bad Batch. (Love the entirety of TBB, but I definitely have a huge soft spot for Tech, Echo, Crosshair. Especially Echo, my cyber cinnamon roll.) But I moonlight in others.

In addition to Tumblr, you can find me at: Archive Of Our Own | ilcuoreardendo Dreamwidth | raptureofthemoon (largely just a backup space)

I'm all over the place and not consistent on any one project (and I’m slow AF when it comes to creating new fic lately). 

But here are a few things I’m working on (and a few highlights for flavor). I’ll try keeping this up to date.

The Bad Batch

Most of my images/edits and gifs: TBB Media

One Shots

The Fall (AO3) S2. Tech, in that moment. And the moments that come after.

A Hole in the Universe (Tumblr) S3. Crosshair mourning Tech.

Nights Like This (Tumblr) S3, Post Series Finale. Some nights, they can’t sleep.

One Shot Reader Fics

Staring Contest (Tumblr; Crosshair x Jedi!Reader)

From Here On Out (Tumblr; Echo x Reader; post series finale)

Series

Written in the Dust (AO3)  [In progress] A fix-it series branching off of Season 1. Echo’s past finds him. Echo x F!Jedi. Maybe...some other TBB x F!Jedi...we go where the wind takes us.)

A Place Called Home (Part 1 of Written in the Dust) Meaningful moments Echo shares with his new squad as he thinks about his past and finds his place in the present. (Complete)

Rescue on Bernilla [Working Title] (Upcoming; Echo/Female Character/Fives)

Series extras

Untitled (Upcoming; Crosshair/Female Character/Tech) Crosshair and Tech’s shore leave on Chandrila.

TBB Headcanony Stuff

Gifset: “Care to introduce your new friends, Caleb?”

Mood Boards

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Codywan

A Clone and His Jedi (AO3) [One-shot] Cody. Obi-Wan. A moment alone, waiting for rescue.

Star Wars Prequel Era (Samples)

QuiObi

And the Force Will Lead Them (AO3) [Complete; Zine fic] After Obi-Wan's actions on Naboo, he and Qui-Gon drifted from one another. A rare disease and a mysterious Jedi master draw them back together and lead them to discover the depth of their bond.

QuiObiKin

The Sacrifice (AO3) [Complete] It's been a year since Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker, fell to the dark side. It's been nine months since the gifts started showing up at the Temple, addressed to Obi-Wan.

Vaderwan

Acquisition (AO3) [In progress] Wherever he went, Vader seemed to follow. And it became much too frequent an occurrence to just be coincidence.

[joeys-piano]

Trope Game

Tagged by my good man, @voxofthevoid. Who, in my egregious opinion, is the king for tropes I likely will never write for. I shall tag, if they humble accept, the following individuals: @somuchanemoia, @feu-eau, @bowties-are-cool3000, @fandomgirl394, @astralalmighty, @rebrandedbard, @flowercrown-bard, and any others!

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 -> don’t care either way

10 ->  very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged.

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Spoiler alert: I'm neutral with a lot of the tropes presented in this game because I strongly believe that the strength of the writer is often more important than the tropes they're using to tell the story. If I can feel the writer's confidence and I vibe with what they're giving to me in the summary, hell yeah I'll click and read on it. Tropes are nice to haves; they are not the be-all and end-all of a story and they don't compensate for what I identify as weak writing.

Age gap   0/10

If it's there, it's there. That's all there is to it. It's not a selling point nor is it anything I actively look for. I think it's a funny coincidence that some of my favorite pairings have had vocal hatred from certain pockets of the internet because "age gaps" -- the phrase -- is thrown so vehemently that the words themselves sound like a dog whistle for a specific type of person who is not only immature, but who seemingly doesn't understand that the internet and is what you make of it through what you show yourself. And if something honestly bothers you and it doesn't hurt anybody IRL, you can just fuck off and enjoy the things you like instead of pulling shit out for something other people enjoy and think that an "age gap" is some sort of valid argument.

Codependency   0/10

Depends on the strength of the writer. Like with age gaps, if it's there it's there. I don't actively seek it out and nor is it a selling point for me.

Enemies to lovers   0/10

If it's there, it's there. This would also depend on the strength of the writer, too and what type of introspection is going into the work. Because I'm more interested in the realization and what the characters are going to do about it. And if I can vibe with what the writer is doing, cool. But again, it's not a selling point for me and I don't actively seek this one out.

Enemies with benefits   0/10

I'm starting to get the trend that I'm a really nonchalant reader who sticks around if I vibe with the writer's direction and strengths. I would have to see the accompanying tags to determine if this is something I want to read, and well -- the summary, too. But the tag, on its own, doesn't sway me either way.

Fake dating/relationship   0/10

Depends on the strength of the writer. I don't often read these kind of stories, mostly because the summaries I've seen for these kind of stories doesn't draw me in. Not the tag, itself. So if I see a strong writer doing something in this space, I'll check it out.

Found family   -5/10

It doesn't interest me. I'll still check it out if I look at the summary and am intrigued with the writer's direction/writing style/writing strength. But other than that, I have no real interest for this trope. I prefer it being in the background than as the main focus of the work. I think if personally, I identified with found family in my own life, my answer would be vastly different. But in this current reality, I don't. I can appreciate and respect that it provides a welcoming space for areas in the queer community who often can't be heard in the crowd. And that it gives a space for those writers to come in with their own flavor and build into the fandom jungle.

Friends to lovers   7/10

More often than not, when I'm writing a shippy fic or am itching to read one, this is on my mind. I don't actively seek out this tag because this concept can show up in pretty much any kind of story in some way that just clicks as to why the characters involved have such good chemistry with each other. I have a soft spot for this one, explicitly defined or not.

Friends with benefits   0/10

If it's there, it's there. I'm not actively seeking it out and nor is it a selling point. But if I think the story has a stronger writer who knows what they're doing, I'll give it a chance.

Hurt/comfort   8/10

You must be mistaken. I don't seek it out. Rather, it seeks for me. I'm particularly picky about how this trope is handled, so your summary and opening have got to be strong in my mind or I'll be backspacing sooner than later to preserve time for a story I'll like.

Love triangle   nope/10

Hell no.

Mistaken/hidden identity   9/10

Oof. It's not a tag I seek out, but when I see these pop up on AO3 and there is a strong writer handling the reins, how could I pass it up? The shit slaps, peep.

Monster fu… relationship   9/10

Yes, I'm a monsterfucker. Next question. But if you sprinkle cannibalism on top of that, I'll shove my schedule into the dirt to make time to read this thoroughly.

Obsession, possessiveness, etc   -3/10

This is the interesting case of it's fun to write, but not so fun to read. Because it heavily depends on the writer. And frankly, I've read things I don't vibe with that I've resorted to writing my own stuff because I know what my taste is.

Opposites (like grumpy×sunshine, etc)    0/10

Depends on the characters, honestly. If I don't care for the characters, I ain't here for it.

Poly   3/10

I like ships. I like ships with Character A with Character B, and C, and D, etc... And if they can all be in a big loving thing, that's great. It grabs my attention because it's not that hard to find on AO3 when you see all the relationship tags. It greatly depends on the writer if it'll be enjoyable to read.

pregnancy   0/10

If it's there, it's there. I'll backspace when I stop vibing with things.

Second chance   0/10

Depends very heavily on the writer and what the plot is. Because it can get nasty (backspace nasty) real quick.

Sex to feelings   10/10

Gets my seal of approval. There's introspection, vulnerability, the emotional intimacy, and it's just - it's such a nice package. Doesn't matter if it's angst-ridden or so fluffy it makes you have cavities. Oh, such a delight.

Slowburn   -7/10

Bruh, unless the plot is really that good and the writer is baller, I ain't got time to just sit there and wait 50,000 words before something happens. Nah, I've got limited energy as is. I'll just skip on along to established relationship or something to get my fix going.

Soulmates   fuck no/10

You have to be a very strong writer with a very strong plot to get me to sit down and actually read this kind of thing. And I can only name one writer who's broken through this strong wall I have against this trope.

[fluffypotatey]

Silly/Dumb Things that Make Me Irrationally Angry

disclaimer: the key words here are “silly” & “dumb”

The “Narnia Kids are the Founders of Hogwarts” theory

The “it was all a dream” theory

Thinking protagonist = hero

When fandom villainizes a character simply because they’re “in the way of a ship”

Character in relationship starts pursuing a different character (typically the MC) but doesn’t break up with the character they’re currently dating?????

Speed running enemies to lovers trope (that’s a trope for slow burns wtf are you doing put it down!)

Calling Disney’s Beauty & The Beast a story about Stockholm Syndrome 

Calling any diverse media “woke” to undermine it

Misunderstanding how tags work on ao3 (particularly the / and & for pairings)

Misunderstanding the purpose of tags on ao3

Calling Lucy Heartfilia weak 

Forgetting that Dick Grayson was a mathlete

Basing all of Jason Todd’s personality on his anger and ruthlessness 

Misunderstanding Jason Todd’s anger

The DCEU butchering my boy Batsy

The “I was accidentally eavesdropping and left believing they were talking shit about me but turns out I missed the most important bits” trope

Being a military historian who loves the Civil War (I don’t trust you)

Using the word “females” to sound smarter (you just sound dumb also “women” is right there)

Spring Break being colder than usual (IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF MARCH IN TEXAS WHY WAS I SHIVERING)

Calling me by a nickname that I already refused to (you gotta earn that shit)

Ep 2.08 is never really touched on again after it’s “resolved”

vld’s lost potential (while i have made my peace, i will still bare my scars)

text blocks in fics

dialogue with no quotation marks 

“Oh lookie, we got this wonderful fantastical world (that takes some inspiration from history) with it’s own politics and world building BUT we keep the sexism and racial prejudice bc the inspiration we pulled was medieval times :)” <- i will fight you for sport

mistaking rivals to lovers for enemies to lovers (similar flavor just R to L is slightly tamer. can they blend? yes, but they are not the same thing)

the blatant disregard for internet safety on tiktok (why tf would you announce your age, show your face, and air out your dirty laundry to everyone??? where is your caution? this is not vine, lil beans, y’all are stressing me out. did you miss the pbs episode about the dino agents and stranger danger??? or the fever dream computer game our 1st grade class had to play at school???)

if you have the sniffles, for the love of all things holy, please stand up and get a tissue. no one cares if you get up. i honestly prefer hearing you blow out your nose than hearing you suck up snot every 5 minutes.

taking the backstories told by Macaque and Azure about the Monkey King in lmk at face value (biased narratives are a thing! unreliable narrators are a thing! i will give the biggest sigh if Sun Wukong is placed as the sole character at fault in another fic i read with this)

“redemption” arcs

“sympathetic” villains

missing the fucking point about why Batman chooses mercy and rehabilitation over baseless violence (this also coincides with my issue with how some people view Jason as the Punisher 2.0 bc it suffers through the same fucking glorification of justifying apathy of human life and rejection of 2nd chances)

missing the fucking point about what makes Superman super (here’s a hint: it’s not his fucking power)

the fact that i missed most of Vine’s peak bc i wasn’t allowed a phone until middle school

i lost my post canon script of Cinderella in the prince’s POV that i wrote in 6th grade (rip, i should have created a personal gmail so much sooner, i could have saved you T^T)

understanding a motive does not equal justifying or excusing said motive. you just now understand why a person did what they did. maybe you find justification in it, maybe not, but it’s not absolute!

[newagesispage]

                                                                           DECEMBER 2023 

THE RIB PAGE 

Happy Holidays!!!!! 

***** 

Micky Dolenz got the key to the city when he went to Athens, Ga. With R E M. 

***** 

The Rolling Stones have gotten the Brit Billion Award by BPI for an incredible career spanning 7 decades. They have had a billion career streams, the longest active artist to receive the award. They are the first band in Britian to gross a billion dollars. Hackney Diamonds is # 1 in the UK. 

***** 

JB Pritzker is making some moves. Is he trying to be ready in case Biden drops out? He is talking about abortion on a national level and has given $ to Virginia Dems and to Ohio and Nevada. He also started a non-profit, Think Big America. 

***** 

SAG- AFTRA has ended their strike. The pharmacy workers went on strike. 

***** 

Phish will perform at the Sphere in Vegas. 

***** 

Our national officials are chosen in order that they may protect the political and economic health of the American people. In a contest such as this there is no place for personal bitterness. A great attribute of our political life has been the spirit of fair play with which our Presidential contests have been waged in former years and the sportsmanlike spirit in which we have accepted the result. We prove ourselves worthy of self-government and worthy of confidence as officials in proportion as we keep these contests free from abuse, free from misrepresentation and free from words and acts which carry regret. Whatever the result, we remain fellow countrymen. -Herbert Hoover 

***** 

The Hollywood sign is 100 years old. 

***** 

Liz Cheney has a book, Oath and Honor, filled with revelations about Jan. 6. 

***** 

Red Lobster has apparently lost millions with their endless shrimp promos. Why the hell would they keep having it every year? 

***** 

Rupert Jee is retiring from the Hello Deli. The teams from Letterman and Colbert honored him … in the lobby?? The big names themselves were not there but now Dave decided to be on the Late show again. Coincidence?? 

***** 

There have been many complaints about Tesla auto insurance. Musk promised, “revolutionary” car insurance but most say it is anything but. This country sure has their share of snake oil salesman. 

***** 

Tiffany Haddish was arrested in Beverly Hills on suspicion of DUI during the holidays. 

***** 

Hooray for digital minimalism!!! 

***** 

Check out Super Chikan for some great blues, if you haven’t yet!! 

***** 

Did anybody see this yard sign? I am a Republican, but I am not a fool. 

***** 

Derek Chauvin, convicted of the death of George Floyd was stabbed in his minimum -security prison. 

***** 

Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. - Abe Lincoln 

***** 

So, Speaker Mike Johnson uses his son as his porn accountability partner?? Stories have surfaced that he has had no bank account or financial assets to disclose since 2016. He does seem to have a mortgage and is in the top 12% of earners in this country. 

***** 

People mag tells us that Patrick Dempsey is the sexiest man alive. 

***** 

Flavor Flav and Taylor Swift have become buddies, they say. 

***** 

Don’t miss Monk’s last case on Dec. 8. The whole cast is back! 

***** 

Rashida Tlaib was censured for, “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” 

***** 

Days alert: Still missing Jen Lilley!!** Days has been renewed for season 55!!!!** Always glad when Clyde comes back!! I don’t know why but I am really hating “Nick” as “Elliott.” Elliott and Stephanie have no chemistry. ** More Lucas please!!! 

***** 

I know that we think everybody is mentally screwed up right now and yes, people are struggling. I think that if you go down the film noir rabbit hole, you will find some really disturbed characters. We’ve always been a little fucked up! 

***** 

Perhaps the pro- lifers could take a break from harassing local pregnant women and help out with all the babies that need help in Gaza. 

***** 

The FBI is moving to Maryland. 

***** 

Jason Eaton is being charged with the attempted murder of 3 Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vt. 

***** 

Men should never suck anything through a straw. -Fox News 

***** 

Joe Manchin will not seek re-election in the Senate. 

***** 

What? A woman crashes into a house because she thinks it was a Jewish school. It turned out to be a Jewish hate group.  

***** 

Tim Scott has dropped out of the race and his staff learned about it by watching his announcement on tv. 

***** 

Trump’s poll numbers are up to 51% according to the NY Times. He likes the Times again, go figure!!** COSA (convention of states action) is looking to basically restructure the U.S. Government. ** It’s speculative but some may want to call up Article 5. If 2/3 of the state’s petition congress, it must call a constitutional convention. In this, multiple amendments could be proposed. ** Nobody’s hands are clean. -Barrack Obama** On Veterans Day, I learned from a former President that I was vermin. ** Hitler, Mussolini, he plagiarized those guys. -Stephen Colbert** Word is that some right wingers are using confederate code words in their plans. 

***** 

Hooray for independent redistricting. This body which is separate from the legislature that is responsible for drawing the districts used in congress and state legislative elections is a good thing. More of that!! 

***** 

Biden turned 81. I do think people should step aside if age hinders them. I’m not sure that applies to Biden. The Stones are heading out on tour and they are about the same age. Who fucking cares? Age is not the only thing that he gets shit about. Genocide Joe?? Union Joe??** His response to the cease fires, “It’s taking a little longer that I hoped.” 

***** 

The Grammy noms are here. My faves include The Stones (of course) for ‘Angry’, Rickie Lee Jones for Pieces of treasure in trad pop vocal and I am Everything for Little Richard. Other old timers nominated include Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Meryl Streep, William Shatner and Bruce Springsteen. Rage against the Machine, Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders were also spotlighted. Fingers crossed for the soundtrack of the Al Yankovik story. The comedy category is always tough, this year with Trevor Noah, Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Sarah Silverman. 

***** 

Sexual assault news: There is a lawsuit against the Lord’s Ranch, its owners and convicted counselor, Ted Suhl. Scary Clown 45 commuted his sentence. The suit alleges that 10-17 year olds were “regularly abused, physically, psychologically and sexually.” The Arkansas facility closed in 2016 .* * Fashion’s Peter Nygard was found guilty of sexual assault in Toronto. ** Sean Combs was accused of rape and sexual abuse. One case was settled but there are more. It has also been said that he blew up a car. ** Axl Rose, Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams have also been accused. ** Sebastian Chacon has been accused of sexual assault by 3 women. ** Josh Giddey was accused of sex with an underage girl. **Many of these are brought thanks to the Adult Survivors Act. 

***** 

Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma challenged teamster Pres Sean O’Brian to a fight at work. Bernie had to shout them down and remind Mullin he is a U.S. Senator. O’Brian has repeatedly posted comments about Mullin being a “moron” and being, “full of shit.” 

***** 

During the traditional Tuesday morning house meeting, it seems that Kevin McCarthy may have elbowed Tim Burchett in the kidneys. This was witnessed by NPR’s Claudia Grisales. The man was pushed right into her. Adam Kinzinger claims that McCarthy did the same thing to him. ** The ethics report about George Santos came out and it is not good. I’m not sure which is more disturbing, the Republicans defending him or the ones putting him down. To see these Trump zombies putting Santos down when they seem fine with Trump lying is sick. It is also crazy to see some defend him to the end. Yikes!!** America deserves God’s wrath. -Mike Johnson 

***** 

Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars again in 2024. ** Trump’s lawyers sent Kimmel and ABC news a letter demanding they retract the accusation that he lost $73 mil on his site. Truth Social has lost only about $31.6 mil. 

***** 

Old thoughts from football player Travis Kelce have surfaced. He seems fond of calling girls, “ugly.” 

***** 

Alia Shawkat had a baby in September. 

***** 

Jonathon Karl has a new book, Tired of Winning. Trump sure means a pile of $ to a lot of people.  

***** 

Hitler did a lot of good things. - Donald Trump (according to John Kelly). ** Why does a third or so of this country want to be told what to do by a dictator wanna be??** When the MAGA crowd tells us that they will leave us without a democracy, believe it! 

***** 

In the Georgia election case, Sydney Powell testified that there was a huge fight in the Trump White House as insiders could not find real evidence about the stolen election and started blaming each other. 

***** 

Insiders say that the DeSantis camp is fighting amongst itself over why he is failing and which one of them is to blame. He has had a recent up- swing but Nikki Haley is holding strong. 

***** 

Can’t wait to read Maria Bamford’s, Sure, I’ll join your cult. 

***** 

Nevada’s Attorney General is investigating false electors in the 2020 election. 

***** 

The NY Attorney General has sued Pepsi. 

***** 

Is Banksy’s first name Robbie and did the BBC know about it? 

***** 

Why do consumers think they must update tech so much?? The saga of our electronic waste is just sick and it never changes. 

***** 

Could a thing like an old -fashioned sounding commercial change the tone of this country?? I hear that Dunkin’, “everybody loves a donut’ jungle and it just seems so simple. Can we agree on donuts??** In another nod to tradition, the Macy’s parade had its biggest ratings ever. 

***** 

Curb your enthusiasm is headed back for another season. 

***** 

Daryl Hall has sued and also got a restraining order against John Oates. The court docs were sealed but it seems Oates wants to sell his half. They are the most successful duo in music history. 

***** 

Open AI has fired their manager and 725 of the 770 employees signed a letter to bring him back. But there have been some complaints about Sam Altman. 

***** 

There is great buzz about Glen Howerton in Blackberry. 

***** 

The government will not shut down for now. * * So far, all challenges to use the 14th amendment have went nowhere. The 14th bars from office those who swear an oath to uphold the constitution and then engage in insurrection. Judges have not agreed that this applies to Trump. 

***** 

Could we see the end of self -check out?? It won’t go away completely but we must keep pushing on that. It has actually been a big flop. Europe is already changing back to more cashiers and it is just beginning in the U.S. Theft has doubled since companies decided to make their customers work AND pay for their items. 

***** 

Schools are welcoming ‘The after -school Satan club’ in Virginia and Connecticut with more to come. The club views Satan as a “literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit.” They encourage kids to think for themselves . Activities include community service, puzzles, games and arts and crafts. The ACLU calls it a win for free speech!! 

***** 

Argentina has a new President-elect. The people voted in right wing Javier Milei who owns a cloned mastiff named Conan. 

***** 

The Supreme Court now has an ethics code that is 14 pages long. It is so funny to me that to be President or a part of the highest court in the land, there were no real rules. 

***** 

Chuck E. Cheese is getting rid of all the robot bands except one. 

***** 

On the final episode of the Circus, Bannon was interviewed and he absolutely agreed with all the mayhem that Trump asks for. He seems all about retribution. The reporters pulled no punches which caused other reporters to comment that they need to be harder on the crazies. Yea, like 10 years ago would have been nice. It’s pretty well out of control now. A bit late for that.  

***** 

Have the lawyers looked into Article IV, section 4 of the constitution which states the U.S. shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government?? It seems that Trumps antics would preclude us from having that. Why doesn’t that alone take him off the ballot? 

***** 

A number of high- end brothels were busted. The biz, based in Northern, Va. Has clients from Boston to D.C. James Lee, Han Lee and Junmyung Lee have been charged with violating federal sex trafficking laws. 

***** 

Henry Winkler for President! 

***** 

If in a free government, the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose,  It would go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves.- Abe Lincoln 

***** 

Another family with possible elder abuse issues is that of John Amos. His son and daughter are fighting it out. 

***** 

Just when I am trying to decide if I even want to watch Real Time anymore, Maher has Rob Reiner and Albert Brooks on. How can I say no to that??** Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore really did fuck up this strike thing. ** Rob Reiner has a podcast about JFK. 

***** 

Disney, Apple, Lionsgate, WB and Discovery have pulled ads from X. 

***** 

Stephen Colbert had to cancel some shows when his appendix ruptured. 

***** 

Resident Alien will be back with season 3 in 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

***** 

Rosalynn Carter is truly one of my personal heroes. I adored her book, First lady from Plains. Her honesty and her passion for politics just jumped off the page. The world lost one of its best people. What a beautiful soul. 

***** 

R.I.P. Adam Johnson, Shannon Wilcox, Peter White, Pat E. Johnson, Marina Cicogna, Matt Ulrich, war victims, Frank Borman, Karen Davis, Linda R. Hirshman, Johnny Brown, Dex Carvey, David Del Tredici, Radcliffe Bailey, George Brown, Suzanne Shepherd, Doug Ibold, Phil Quartararo, Shane MacGowan, Henry Kissinger, Frances Sternhagen and Rosalynn Carter. 

[beardedhandstoadshark]

If a film was made based on the plot of your characters, then who would play the main roles?

Like- like fan casting??? UHHH Icanonlyactuallynamelike5actorsbynameee

Not the characters themselves but the plot of the characters, aka the thing I‘m most struggling with, oof…

Deniz: His concept was videogame npc, and plot is struggling with the things that come with it. Ryan Renolds made a movie about/where he plays a videogame npc struggling with the things that come with it. The vibes don’t fit at all, but this coincidence is also right here, so. Ye.

As for the rest…

Yel: His plot is like a cloudy day with both rain and sunshine peeking though, it‘ll never be fully bright but despite everything, the rain never lasts after all. There’s a mellow softness here (or at least that’s the plan), and while the character isn’t that age, the plot itself gives me a similar vibe to "grandpa looking after his beloved small grandchild whose parents died“, so if there’s an actor who often fills rolls such as this, put them here pls

Red…the paragon hero that checks off every box on the list yet precisely because of that can’t live up to the expectations/refuses to force themself to adhere to them while still loving the job…close your eyes, and envision the first actor you think of when you hear "actor playing the hero lead role“; that’s the actor here now. …Then again mine was Robert Downey jr (probably because Ironman‘s basically the posterboy of Avengers) so…maybe this doesn’t work after all

I mean, Violets plot can more or less pass as the fantasy version of a YA dystopia plot (only with the character getting out of the shady elite constitution instead of in) soooo someone who’s often played roles in one of those movies? Your Divergent-likes, not Hunger Games, that is. Only that genre died off last decade so you end up with actors playing characters 20y older than them and that’s always preeeetty noticeable… yknow what, sure, let’s place the divergent mc actress here

For Mage, y’know how at the start of the movie there’s this type of character who is (more or less) normal but got not much to say about their past, and maybe they’re always trying to hide smth, or they are genuinely enjoying yourself and it really is a good time and they genuinely believe they’ve put it past them except for some stray nostalgic glimpses at photos but who doesn’t do that? But then there’s suddenly a new lead and all the shoved down emotions and obsessions and bad habits they thought died come back up with full force like a volcano that’s erupted and taking everything they’ve built with them, leaving only destruction?

That’s the plot for the guy who did a shady thing in the past and forgets about it until his family dies or smth and he goes on a revenge quest. It can also however be Mage‘s plot and boy is the vibe of his a different one. Less broody and more whump. 3rd act breakdown. Cards stacked against them yet this hell is of their own making. Not thought out at all tbh but that’s where it’s currently leaning. Idk, is this particular flavor even around in popular media enough rn to have a designated "yes this dude always plays this role“ actor? The brooding ones and dad-types got plenty, but the…what is this, Greek tragedy ones? Hmm.

[mayihavethisdanse]

“What is this, the Dark Ages?”

Or, Arthurian themes and allusions in the Brotherhood of Steel mythos as seen in Fallout 4. (But that’s a lot of words.)

Yep. We're doing this. 

First, some obligatory caveats: there is no single Arthurian canon, just 1500 years of assorted fanfic based on the whims of whoever was writing at the time. For this extremely highbrow Tumblr meta, I have ignored most of it and drawn on my favorites. Also Wikipedia.

Also, I am not an expert in Arthurian literature (or Fallout lore, come to that), and I preemptively beg the pardon of anyone who is.

Finally, in no way am I claiming that all these parallels and thematic echoes are deliberate or even significant. In fact, I'd break it down into:

Clearly deliberate allusions, whether in or out of universe;

Probably coincidence, but could be someone deliberately capitalizing on a coincidental similarity;

Almost certainly coincidence, but fun to speculate about; annnnd

Blatant Monty Python references. (Because of course there are.)

I'll start with the big one.

Arthur Maxson, boy king and unifier

(source)

So across all the retellings and variations of King Arthur’s life story, there are a few consistent elements, particularly in his early life and rise to power. Some of these threads are echoed in the Fallout universe, specifically (and unsurprisingly) in the person of Arthur Maxson.

Both the legendary King Arthur and Arthur Maxson were born with a claim to power lying in their ancestry, both were fostered away from their families, and both proved themselves in combat at a young age. 

King Arthur united the warring kingdoms of Britain into a single entity, making them stronger against outsiders and receiving general admiration and acclaim. Arthur Maxson united the divided factions of the BoS after the events of Fallout 3 and is held in similarly high regard by his men.

The name Prydwen is a reference to the ship of the original King Arthur. Presumably, Arthur Maxson (or someone in the BoS who anticipated his promotion) christened the airship in a deliberate homage to the Arthurian myth.

King Arthur is associated with his legendary sword. I think it’s notable that Maxson’s legend is associated with a bladed weapon, too. ("He killed a DEATHCLAW with a COMBAT KNIFE!”)

Probably coincidence, but fun: the historical emperor Magnus Maximus, who pops up a lot in early Arthurian legend, was known in Welsh as... Macsen. (⌐■_■)

Round Table, but make it dieselpunk

(Continued under the cut.)

Moving away from obvious allusions and into some looser parallels:

Like the Round Table, the Brotherhood is an exclusive knightly order with its leader being the one able to open it up to his chosen few.

Like the Round Table, the BoS sees itself as defending human civilization against forces of chaos. (I’ll touch on their tech-hoarding tendencies when I get to the Grail stuff.) This idea of civilization in the face of chaos goes back to the BoS’s founding, even though the level of isolationism we see in most of the Fallout franchise is not exactly what founder Roger Maxson had in mind: “Notably, Maxson's ultimate intention was to establish the Brotherhood as an organization that works closely with people outside of the Brotherhood, as guardians of civilizations, not its gatekeepers.” (source) In a lot of ways, Arthur Maxson represents a return to his ancestor’s original ideals.

Renegade knights? Internal politics? Traitors within? We gotchu.

In both the medieval legends and in all chapters of the BoS we’ve seen, there’s a big focus on bloodlines (ew). Ironically, it’s probably Arthur Maxson’s unquestionable ancestry that allows him to be more progressive than either of his East Coast predecessors when it comes to boosting Brotherhood numbers by recruitment (even though you can still see a clear division between “born Brotherhood” and recruited soldiers, but that’s a topic for another day). Maxson sees himself as an Elder who "cares for the people"—however misguided and patronizing that attitude might be—and whatever else you might say about the guy, you can't say he doesn't believe he has a duty. Which brings us to…

Know Your Enemy: Danse as Gawain

Before I start this section, an acknowledgement of authorial bias:

Gawain, as portrayed in the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is my very favorite of King Arthur’s knights. (Other stories aren't always as flattering, but like I said at the outset: I'm sticking to the ones I like.)

That poem is my very favorite piece of medieval Arthurian literature. In this section, I'll refer to the modern English translation by Simon Armitage.

...that’s it, I have no other biases to disclose. 

What? 👀

(Art: Clive Hicks-Jenkins)

All right. So in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you’ve got this himbo loyal knight of Arthur’s who finds himself caught up in... you know what, let me just paste in the Wikipedia summary. (The Toast, RIP, also did a pretty entertaining and more-or-less accurate recap.)

It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who dares any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving the lord and the lady of the castle where he is a guest.

Don’t worry too much about the plot details, though; for this post, I’m more interested in the thematic parallels. The Green Knight story is full of contrasts: order vs. chaos, civilization vs. wilderness, mortal man vs. Other... but let’s start with Gawain himself. 

Some stuff to know about Gawain:

He was "as good as the purest gold, devoid of vices but virtuous and loyal". Gawain took his principles more seriously even than the rest of Arthur’s knights, not out of pride but out of humility: "I would rather drop dead than default from duty," he says. 

He’s faithful and honorable and never even tempted to betray an oath, even when offered every variety of seduction and riches, except for a single moment of weakness in a desperate desire not to be executed for random shit by powerful forces for reasons he doesn't understand.  

Even though he doesn’t really understand why he needs to die, he sticks to his oath. Gawain's one weakness is a moment of desperate, private, human desire for survival. He'll submit to the headsman’s axe if he has to, but he'd still rather live. 

Above all, Gawain is the ideal of a human man: he might be the bravest and loyal man there is, but he’s still fundamentally human.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

A few more fun facts about Gawain that resonate with Paladin Danse’s story:

He’s got a bunch of really shitty brothers. (No comment.)

Gawain (SPOILERS!) doesn't actually end up beheaded, but he does willingly kneel for his execution and gets a cut on the throat as a reminder of his sin. And, uh, Danse can also get his throat cut! It doesn’t end as nicely but it’s, you know, a thing that can happen.

Gawain might be a really good guy, and he tries really hard to be one, but in the end he’s nothing more than that: there’s nothing supernatural about him, he has no special powers beyond his own principles and devotion. He’s just a dude doing his Best. 

Wait, why not Danselot?

Oh, that guy? Here’s the thing.

Lancelot personifies the continental ideals of courtly love that became popular in the High Middle Ages. Central to his story is the prioritization of personal relationships and romantic feelings in a way that you don’t really see in Gawain's, at least in the Green Knight tale. (Later stories hook Gawain up with an extremely delightful lady, but even that is a different flavor of romance than Lancelot's and has more to do with Gawain honoring his word and his egalitarian treatment of women (hell yeah). In the poem, Gawain is impressed by Bertilak's wife but resists her temptation; in fact, the biggest risk is not that he'll yield to her advances but that he'll be discourteous to her, i.e., violate his principles and cause dishonor to his king and his host.)

Lancelot is driven by passions over principles in a way that Gawain never really is (at least in the stories I’m talking about; later writers have committed character assassination to various degrees). Yes, you could argue that both Gawain and Lancelot betray their oaths, but Lancelot’s betrayal is never, um, blind. He knows what he’s doing and makes a deliberate choice to prioritize his love for the queen over his love for the king. It doesn’t make him a bad guy—he too is an ideal knight with one fatal flaw—but his character isn’t as comparable to Paladin Danse. 

Yeah, Gawain is (in most stories) a prince and a kinsman of Arthur’s, but he’s ultimately a native boy who doesn’t break the mold of a Knight of the Round Table. Likewise, Danse is portrayed as competent and valuable to the BoS, but not exceptional or breaking the mold of what a BoS soldier should be: he simply represents the ideal. Meanwhile, Lancelot is a foreign prince who was marked from childhood as special and fancy, and his storyline goes alllll over the place. (Much like this post.)

For example, Lancelot goes to absolutely absurd extremes to prove his devotion for no other reason than to prove it. (“I’ll do any useless humiliating thing you want. I’ll betray every oath except the one I made to you. That’s what love is!”) Gawain would never. Danse would never.

Ultimately, Gawain's tests are of his character and not of his love. And like Gawain, Danse’s devotion is to service and his principles, not to another person—even Arthur Maxson.

All that said, there are some similarities: both are beloved by Arthur, both are held up as the ideal of what a knight should be. And even if their fatal flaws are different, both make the point that no matter how good and brave and loyal they might be, no human being can be perfect. 

(Except Galahad. Who is, as a result, very boring.) 

I’ll conclude this section with a quote from someone else’s take on the Greek Knight poem:

I like Gawain. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying his best which is all any of us can do. He’s not like the other knights in the Arthurian legends who occasionally ‘accidentally’ kill women on their little adventures and then feel hard done by when they have to deal with the consequences of that. Gawain holds himself to a high standard – higher, it seems, than Arthur and his knights hold him to considering how hard they laugh when Gawain tells them how bad he feels about the whole thing.

I think Gawain is very relatable in this story. We all want to be better than we actually are.

And that, more than anything else, is Danse.

The Grail myth

What’s that? Lost relics of power? Better send some large armed men after ‘em!

The parallels to the BoS’s tech-hoarding ways are obvious enough that the games themselves lampshade them (albeit by way of Monty Python). But it also ties into the larger themes of “purity” versus “corruption” and the BoS’s self-image as a bastion between civilization and chaos. (See Maxson's line in response to the Sole Survivor’s quip about the Dark Ages: “Judging from the state of the world, it wouldn't be a stretch to say we're living in that era again.”)

But the ultimate futility of the Grail mission is also worthy of note. The BoS might want the power of prewar tech on their side, but they’re no more to be trusted with it than any other group of human beings. No matter how they try, the “corruption” of humanity can’t be overcome as long as they’re striving to harness power for their own ends. You can only achieve power by surrendering control of it.

The death of Arthur

The nature of gameplay being what it is, it's not guaranteed that the Arthur figure will be fatally betrayed, bringing Camelot down with him—but it's not unlikely, either.

Awkward.

Some final spitballing:

Outside the Brotherhood, there are some fun parallels of the Arthur myth with the rest of Fallout 4. Betrayal by one’s own son, for example.

The key difference between the BoS and the legendary Round Table: King Arthur’s knights, for all their flaws and human weaknesses, are usually presented as unambiguous Good Guys. The BoS is... a little more ambiguous...

...but damn if they don’t think they're the good guys. 

A-ad victoriam, fellas!

[strangestcase]

Im going to be honest I do clown a lot on the glass scientists for making jekyll and hyde twinks and whatnot but as someone who used to really like this comic ummm what’s up with all the (gestures vaguely towards Hyde) ableism involved here.

you as a singlet can’t slap DID/OSDD symptoms into Mr. Hyde (a character that has historically AND FAMOUSLY been used as THE evil alter trope, even if he wasn’t written as such originally) and call it a day, no matter how accurate or respectful you are. Specially if you’re somewhat accurate, showing you either know what you’re doing or you know shit and it’s all a ”happy coincidence”. It’s contributing to the stereotype of DID alters -particularly protectors and persecutors- being violent evil monsters… precisely because Mr. Hyde IS a monster. even if you portray him as being in the side of good and just hurting Jekyll since he “embodies his self hatred”. Which is you know. Kind of portraying him as a persecutor? (Not to mention he LITERALLY GOES TO HEADSPACE, navigates Jekyll’s memories as if they werent his, despite the narration implying the “”””split”””” happened with the experiment, and encounters a character that is coded to be a persecutor as well… and they spend the first six chapters or so in CO-CON)

that’s just the first seven chapters btw, I think very recently (I don’t read it anymore) Hyde “fronted” without transforming. Literally possessing Jekyll.

like Jesus Christ.

It would be just as harmful was grabbing, idk, a werewolf, making the wolf form a DID/OSDD alter in all but name, fixing up some of the narration to whip out the “it’s just dissociative depersonalization” excuse and calling it a day. That’s exactly what TGS does. Dumb example I know but doing that shit to a werewolf would be bad because even if the wolf is good, you’re likening symptoms of a trauma disorder that causes shifting to being a literal shapeshifting monster which, unless you’re plural yourself and reclaiming such a stereotype, is… questionable at best.

now you’re applying that same ^ method to one of the horror character systems get most compared to and ummmm. (:

so yeah, long story short, don’t portray Hyde as the evil alter trope (for the twentieth time…) because it is harmful.

I’m a singlet so I know I am missing stuff here- if any plurals want to say anything about this matter they’re very much welcome to! I’m just voicing my opinion that going “what if the evil character systems get constantly compared to as an excuse to justify being ableist, was, indeed a system?” is not only taking away the most interesting elements of the character but also perpetuating a rather dangerous vision of systemhood, and unless you’re reclaiming it OR being EXTREMELY TACTFUL and normal about it (which TGS. Doesn’t do, since Hyde 1) is a classic monster of early science fiction 2) does so much weird glittery mind bullshit in that comic he could be replaced with a fantasy demon at this point and the plot would remain the same) you just… Shouldnt try.

And again: he’s not even a system in the original book. I do see a lot of other J&H fans clown too on how unoriginal or boring or too-conventionally attractive or too similar to Jekyll Hyde’s design is but very few do actually go ”hey, he’s literally getting written as a fantasy flavored magical evil split personality…”

okay now for the petty cherry on top: that adaptation set back the reading comprehension of the fandom like 1000000 years and if I ever have to read another fucking “split personality” joke about Jekyll and Hyde I’m straight up snapping

[arvandus]

Icarus (Overhaul x F!Reader)

Ah yes, once again so late on this. This one gave me grief because the characters kept deviating from what I had originally planned. >.< But I worked through it, and here we are.

This is for the BNHarem's “On The Job” Collab for May, which you can find here.

Also, don’t judge my super simple title headings for my fics 😂 I always do these late at night when I should be asleep, so generic background with fancy text is the best I got to offer.

Trigger Warnings: 18+ ONLY!  1 instance of aggression/abuse (hair grabbing/pulling - nonsexual), unprotected sex (fun in fiction, dumb IRL), mutual masturbation, overstimulation, bondage via quirk abuse, degradation...

I think that about covers it.  Once again, I’m terrible at TWs so let me know if I missed anything or if anything is inaccurate. 😬 I just kinda write what I want and don’t really think about the labels when I’m doing it.

Pairing: Overhaul x F!Reader

Word Count: 8281

You hadn’t meant to get caught.  Really, you weren’t even sure what had possessed you to do it in the first place. Desperation? Horniness? Stupidity?

 All of the above?

 All you knew was that it was a poor decision brought forth by the gradual culmination of a single annoying, unavoidable fact: you were disgustingly, shamefully, sinfully attracted to Kai Chisaki.

You weren’t exactly sure how or when it started. There was no “aha” moment, no “big bang” of desire.  Instead, it was subtle, gradually coating your unsuspecting mind like layers of sediment. A shiver down your spine when he spoke your name.  The quickening of your pulse at the briefest of eye contact. And the ever-growing presence of intrusive, curious thoughts.

 Like his hands.  You always noticed them, the white of his gloves drawing your attention like a beacon whenever he was within eyesight.  They were dangerous hands, deadly weapons that you’d seen in action firsthand.  They were a thing to be feared and avoided.  But some strange part of you couldn’t help but wonder... what did they feel like?  You imagined they’d be soft and perfectly manicured, oddly delicate for such a violent man; gentle hands packed with destructive power.

 Or his lips.  They were always covered by his mask.  You never, ever saw him without it.  You imagined what your name would look like on them as he spoke, how they’d feel on your skin.  Would his lips also be soft? How about his kisses? Would they be cautious and controlled, or rough and hungry?

 It didn’t help that he was, in his own way, very attractive.  Just like how his dangerous hands were hidden within innocent white gloves, he was the devil hidden behind a pretty face. A sharp, beautiful jawline. Smooth porcelain skin. A crown of auburn red hair, closely cropped, but still long enough to run fingers through.

 You bet that part of him was soft too.

 The one part of him that wasn’t soft were his eyes.  They were beautiful, certainly… as gold as Heaven’s gates and framed in long, perfect lashes.  But they lacked the warmth of Heaven.  Instead, they spoke of cold arrogance. And if you stared into them long enough, you could see a barely contained disgust lurking beneath their haughty exterior.

 The disgust didn’t bother you, not anymore.  Everyone disgusted Chisaki, and everyone in the Shie Hassaikai knew it. He even made his closest confidants, some he’d known since childhood, wear masks so he wouldn’t share the same air with them.  

 He had you wear a mask too, of course. Simple and white, it covered only your lower face, much like his own.  That much you were grateful for, considering some of the masks you’d seen others wearing.  Your only explanation for the slightly less coverage was that your secretarial position made you a frequent point of contact for those outside of the organization.  You handled incoming calls, visitors, and scheduled meetings between Chisaki and his affiliates.  No doubt he wanted to ensure you were making a good impression while still operating within his mysophobic requirements.

 First impressions were everything to Kai.  Even more so since he took the Boss’s place under dubious circumstances. Still, his long-held reputation for extremist thinking and violence preceded him, and not everyone was in support of his unexpected promotion.  As a result, many people within the organization parted ways following Chisaki’s rise to power... and soon after they mysteriously went missing, never to be heard from or located again.  You had no doubt that it was Chisaki tying up loose ends by sealing loose lips.  After all, they say the mouth is the source of disaster.  And Chisaki valued confidentiality above all else.

 The message he sent was clear: adapt or die.  When given such colorful options, the choice on whether to go or stay became a simple one.

 So, you adapted.  As long as you followed orders, kept your eyes down and your mouth shut, you were safe. After all, it was better to be the right hand of the devil than to be in his path.  The only person you really had to fear was Chisaki himself, and you knew him well enough by now to know how to stay on his good side.

 And all in all, it really wasn’t all that bad.  Sure, you had to orchestrate the occasional clean-up when he disposed of someone who displeased him.  But that wasn’t much different than what you’d dealt with when you worked for the Boss, either.  Sure, the aftermath was messier and it happened far more often.  But violence was violence, and when you worked with the Yakuza long enough, you got used to it.  And despite the odd working conditions and ever-present undertone of danger, you remained good at your job. As such, Chisaki brooked no complaint. He tolerated you, and you tolerated him. Interactions were brief, words exchanged were polite and respectful even though they lacked warmth.  But it was just a job, right?  You didn’t need warmth.

 So why did you feel so dissatisfied?  Why did you constantly feel that something was missing, a longing you couldn’t entirely describe?

 The need only ever waned when Chisaki was in your presence, whether it was to discuss upcoming meetings or simply passing by your desk to get to his office. The dissatisfaction would melt away into a warmth that extended deep into your fingertips whenever the cold-hearted man bothered to look you in the eyes. And when he wasn’t looking at you? It was like being thrown into a winter blizzard, the aching cold returning to pull the corners of your mouth down into a silent frown.

 You craved his attention.  It was shameful and pathetic and you could only imagine the scorn he’d give you if he knew, but you didn’t care.  To be graced with the attention of a man who cared for no one brought a different kind of satisfaction.  The rare treats of attention Chisaki did grant you, whether intended or not, scratched an itch that only he could scratch.

 As time passed, the intrusive thoughts became more frequent, evolving from odd curiosities to shameless lust.  They began to occupy your dreams, forcing you awake with a hot ache between your legs. That was when you really began to realize how in deep you were.  It wasn’t just a simple “attraction.”  You wanted him.  At first you tried to deny and ignore, suppress and excuse.  After all, this was Overhaul.  Wanting him was like wanting the sun in your hand, and just as dangerous. Apparently though, it made little difference to your hormone-addled brain.  It didn’t help that the secretive, forbidden thoughts brought their own special addictive flavor of the taboo.  

 You began to act different in front of him.  Nothing too obvious, of course.  After all, you knew Chisaki wasn’t the type to indulge in desperate women. To be honest, you weren’t even sure Chisaki indulged in women at all.  All you did know was that whenever women tried to gain his favor through flirtation, Chisaki quickly and harshly shut it down.

 So, it was little things... the extra second to release a paper from your grip after he’d grabbed it, the lingering of a glance.  You didn’t so much change the style of your attire – skirts and blouses were already the norm for your position – but you changed the colors. A blouse that matched the purple feathery softness of his jacket, golden jewelry that matched his eyes.  Little messages waiting in secret to be picked up, yet subtle enough that they could be excused as nothing more than coincidence. It was risky, but the thrill of the game gave you an outlet for your roiling feelings.  In the end though, it made no difference.  There was nothing about you that seemed important enough to turn Chisaki’s head more than was professionally necessary.

 Which is where the state of things were when you found yourself alone in his office one evening. You had thought he was still working at the time. You’d stepped away to shred some incriminating documents and burn the scraps in the kiln outside.  It was your last task for the day, so you’d entered Chisaki’s office to announce your departure for the evening.  Except when you entered, the space was empty, with all traces of him gone.  No papers remained on his desk.  His gloves and plague mask were gone.  With an annoyed huff you had stood there, bothered that you’d missed him.

 Quietly, you walked to his desk, and gently caressed the mahogany wood.  It was immaculate of course, free of dirt and fingerprints.  You knew it would be because he cleaned his space every evening before he left, and you cleaned it every morning before he arrived.

 You sighed as you retrieved the paper towels and cleaning solution.  No harm in giving it a second scrub to save yourself some time tomorrow morning. It wasn’t like anyone would be foolish enough to enter this space without Chisaki present anyway.

 You should have just left it at that.  But as you walked around his desk to wipe the surface with the damp towel, your bare legs just below your skirt bumped his chair. Soft leather, still warm from where he had sat, greeted your exposed skin.

 That should have been your first clue.

 But your mental alarms never sounded.  Instead, you figured you had just missed him.

 You should have just left, but you didn’t. The warmth on the chair was enticing you. He was gone, right?  Left for the evening.  What harm could it do to indulge just a little bit?  With your heart pounding with excitement, you carefully sat down in the warm leather. Immediately the scent of Chisaki’s body wash and clean clothes cradled you.

 That should have been your second clue.

 But you were already too wrapped up in your enjoyment.  You relished in the sensations, leaning back as you closed your eyes.  It was the closest you’d ever felt to him, as if his very presence was there with you. Your desire purred deep in your gut at receiving its first nibble of satisfaction.  If you closed your eyes, you could pretend he was there, holding you.

 Your kept your eyes closed as your imagination began to take root like weeds in your mind, making your skin feel hot.  Your fingers grazed the inside of your thigh, dipping beneath your skirt while your heart pounded.  What if those were his fingers?  The vision combined with the sensations of touch and smell were delicious, and you wanted more.  You dragged the pads of your fingertips up even higher, your arm starting to push your skirt up with it.  Your legs parted easily, as you let out a shaky breath.

 You shouldn’t be doing this.  Not here of all places.  But there was something so sinfully satisfying about it, the danger only heightening the sensations.  After all, the reward was only as great as the risk it took to earn it.  And this was the highest risk you could take, short of literally throwing yourself at him.  Besides, it wasn’t like your fantasies were ever going to come true. Maybe satisfying yourself - right here, right now – would be enough to finally give you the peace of mind you needed.

 And dear God, did you need it.  You could already feel the heat growing in your loins, the moisture dampening your panties.  Your fingers finally brushed against the warm cotton fabric covering your sex and you let out a soft gasp.

 What Chisaki didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.  He was gone, right?  And you were going to clean up any traces of your little visit before you left.  He’d be none the wiser.

 Your fingers slipped beneath your underwear to meet the hot, slick flesh of your folds, your clit already plump and ready with arousal. You knew it wouldn’t take you long to cum, but you wanted to enjoy this, to savor it as the only opportunity you’d get.  You certainly weren’t going to do this again.

 So, you teased yourself, fingertips softly dragging slow circles around your entrance before dipping in.  A shaky moan left your lips, the quickening of your breaths matching the racing of your heart.  In and out you dragged your fingers, relishing in your sleek, sensitive walls, occasionally breaking your rhythm to spread your juices over your swollen labia. You revisited your clit and stifled your moan with a bite of your lip as you began to slowly massage it with practiced skill.  It felt so fucking good.  The scent of yourself mingled with the scent of Chisaki, and you spread your legs wider, leaning back farther into the seat.  You could feel the surge beginning to swell, and you knew it would be soon. Vivid fantasies danced on the inside of your eyelids, and you were fully enthralled, fingers skimming fast circles over your swollen bud as your other hand began to massage your breast through your blouse.

 “Fuuuuuckk....Kai....” You moaned.

 “What do you think you’re doing?”

 The familiar voice made you jump so hard, you nearly fell out of the chair as your eyes flew wide open.

 There was Kai Chisaki, staring down at you from across the desk – his desk. And there were you, sitting in his chair, spread eagle.

 Your breath was knocked out of you and you felt light-headed with panic.  You caught sight of the shoji screen behind him, wide open to the evening air.

 FUCK. Of course.  You forgot to check outside.  He must have stepped out for some fresh air before returning to his office.

 Shit. Shit, shit, shit.  You hadn’t heard him enter.  How long had he been standing there??

 “I asked you a question.” The man seethed through his plague mask.  His gloved hands were clenched into angry fists, and his eyes... eyes that you’d always craved to see you... well, they saw you now, and you were terrified.

 Immediately, you closed your legs and stood up from his chair. Your mouth babbled soundlessly before your voice finally came, tight and small.

 “I’m sorry.  I’m so so sorry.”

 “I didn’t ask for an apology.” He hissed.

 “I know, I’m sorry.” You blubbered.

 “Come. Here.” Chisaki demanded.

 You obeyed, struggling to adjust your skirt as you approached him from around his desk.

 “I didn’t tell you to touch your clothes.” His tone was quiet and constrained yet sharp as a razor’s edge, each word uttered with meticulous precision.

 You stared at him in shock as you slowly removed your hands from your rumpled clothing.  His eyes raked over you, top to bottom, and left you feeling... exposed.

 “Look at you...” he grumbled.  “Disgusting.”

 His mask was unnerving, blocking the lower half of his face and keeping you from being able to fully read his facial expression.  His gold eyes were threatening – predatory like a wolf.

 He was going to kill you.  You knew it was coming. He’d killed others for far less.  But you weren’t ready for it.  You didn’t want to die.

 You dropped to your knees and bowed low in front of him, shrinking yourself to fit beneath his harsh glare.  “Please, Mr. Chisaki-“

 “Overhaul.”

 “Overhaul!” you corrected, as you bowed your head lower to the ground. “Please forgive me.  I meant no disrespect.”

 “No disrespect?” he sneered.  “You debase yourself in my seat, my place of business, and claim no disrespect??”

 His left hand reached forward at lightning speed and grabbed you by your hair, forcing your head back until you were looking him straight up at him.  You winced against his harsh hold on you, yet clenched your teeth in an effort to keep your silence.  He glared down at you as his next words came out through what you could clearly hear as clenched teeth.  

 “Clean it up.”

 With that, he shoved you away from him. On shaking, clumsy legs you pushed yourself to your feet and made your way back to his desk, your skin hot with shame and your ears ringing.  

 You did as he commanded, grabbing the cleaning solution and spraying his seat before carefully, meticulously, wiping every inch of the rich leather.  Minutes passed in silence as you made sure that no spot went unnoticed, even ensuring that the table was once again cleaned as well. By the time you had finished, Kai’s temper seemed to have dwindled to a simmering flame.  His hands were no longer clenched in fists at his sides. Instead, they were tucked deep into his pockets as he supervised you.  It did little to comfort you though... you knew that Chisaki’s reflexes were faster than you could dodge.  He’d catch you before you even reached the door.

 Not that you’d try to.  You knew better.

 When the chair was finally pristine, you disposed of the last of the soiled paper towels in the wastebin and returned the cleaning solution to its home. The task was done, but you didn’t stop. You picked up the trash can with the intent of disposing of its contents; you knew Chisaki wouldn’t want it sitting in his office.  

 It was all to buy you time. Time to figure out what to say or what do to convince Chisaki to spare your life.  But you didn’t even make it to the door before Chisaki’s voice halted your retreat.

 “Where do you think you’re going?”

 “I... I was just...” you stammered.

 “I didn’t give you permission to leave.”

 You swallowed and set down the trashcan.  He approached you slowly, until he was a mere few inches from you. He was so close that you could smell his cleanliness and see the pupils of his eyes dilate as he stared at you.  Slowly, he grabbed the mask that was covering your mouth and nose and removed it from your head.  You stopped breathing.

 There was something... electric in the air.  You could feel it on your skin, making your hairs stand on end and your flesh tighten with goosebumps.  His eyes peered at you intently, taking in every subtlety of your face.  Your lips, your eyes, your skin... and beneath the weight of his stare, you could feel the fear start to transform, replaced by something else entirely.  Something familiar that’d been plaguing you for months, lighting your veins with fire and threatening to incinerate you if it wasn’t released.  After all, part of his allure was the danger. And he hadn’t killed you yet, which meant... something.

 Chisaki’s gaze began to wander beyond just your face, taking in your still rumpled clothes.  The top couple buttons of your blouse were undone, exposing the skin of your neck and the edges of your bra.  Your skirt was still askew, and although he couldn’t see it, you became acutely aware of your still-damp underwear trapped between your folds from when you had hastily closed your legs earlier.  You stared back at him, waiting for him to do something, say something.

 And that’s when you noticed it... a faint flush across his pale cheeks, peaking out from beneath his mask. His chest was rising and falling with each breath, and it was as if he were contemplating something, silently weighing a decision in his closed-off mind.

 A strange bubbling sensation began to build within your chest, foreign and oddly out of place.

 Hope.

 Finally, Chisaki spoke, his voice unusually calm considering the trouble you were in.  “Follow me.”

 Not one to disobey him, you did as he requested as he made his way over to his desk and sat down in his chair.  Then, with an open hand, he gestured at his desk.

 “Sit.”

 Confusion.

 “W-What??” you stuttered.

 “I said sit.” He replied.

 You did as Chisaki commanded, fitting yourself between his legs and his desk before hopping up slightly onto the surface you’d just cleaned. You were right in front of him now, your hands in your lap and your ankles crossed as you realized just how perfect this arrangement was for him to see directly up your skirt.  You worried your lip between your teeth as you watched him assess you.  His elbow was resting on the armrest of his chair, his fingers supporting his face along the jawline as he stared at you with his head cocked at an angle. If it were any other situation, you’d say he looked almost bored... but the glint in his eyes spoke of something else entirely.

 “Continue.” He stated.

 “What? What do you mean?” you asked.

 His eyes stared at you knowingly.  “You didn’t get to cum, did you?”  You shook your head, stunned at his words.  “Continue.” He repeated.

 “Right here?”

 “Where else?  It was good enough for you earlier.”  His tone dropped slightly as his eyes narrowed.  “Continue.”

 Your heart pounded in your ears as you uncrossed your ankles, and with shaky hands began to trace your fingers up your thighs just as you had done before. Except this time, the experience was entirely different. Instead of closing your eyes like before, you kept them open to stare at your observer, watching for his reaction.  So many times you’d fantasized about this... about his eyes being on you and only you... and you weren’t going to miss a moment of it.

 With your eyes locked on each other, you inched your way up to the space between your thighs, your legs parting to grant you access.  Chisaki didn’t look down.  Not right away, at least.  Instead, he continued to watch your face, his body still and silent.  With the heat of his gaze on you, you finally reached your center where your warmth greeted you.  It was still slick from earlier, your fingers sliding easily along your labia as you began to tease yourself for the second time that evening.  You let out slow, shaky breaths as your fingers rubbed slow, lazy circles over your glossy lips.  

 Chisaki still didn’t break his gaze from your eyes, and a part of you wanted him to.  You wanted him to acknowledge what you were offering him and know that he liked it. A small, devious smirk found itself on your lips as you pulled your fingers away from your pussy to show him the evidence of your arousal stretched across your fingers.  It caught his attention just briefly, eyes flicking to your display, before he watched you lick the glistening strands from your fingertips, the soft sounds of your sucking filling the empty, quiet room.

 Chisaki’s eyes narrowed, and the smirk on your face widened.  Soon your fingers were back between your legs, massaging your clit again as your skin began to feel flush with heat.  Round and round the pads of your fingers went, with painstaking slowness that you drew out just for him.  You wanted to show him how good his presence made you feel.  You wanted him to see how badly you wanted him.  Your lips became more swollen, your clit more sensitive. Already you could start to feel the tension build.  It was almost too easy, your body ready to surrender at the drop of a hat.  But you weren’t going to let it happen, not yet at least.  You wanted to draw this out, to savor it in case it never happened again.

 With half-lidded eyes you stared at him as you parted you folds for him, fully exposing yourself. For the first time, his eyes drifted from your face to stare directly at your desire for him – your tight hole open and waiting, every inch of your swollen cunt drenched in glistening arousal.  Chisaki was captivated and you felt your blood surge.  You needed more. With your fingers still spreading yourself open, you dipped your middle digit into your tight heat.   Pleasure bloomed within you and a soft groan vibrated from the back of your throat. With each draw of your fingers, your breaths quickened, your back arching as the tension began to build.

 You struggled to keep your eyes open, to watch Chisaki as you brought yourself closer to orgasm, but it became increasingly difficult. You were single-focused now, chasing your much-needed release with each plunge of your finger into your soft depths.  Your body accommodated it welcomingly, and so you added a second, once again relishing in the renewed stretch that caressed your inner walls. The faster you pumped your fingers, the better it felt until your nerves were singing that familiar hum.  You flowed seamlessly into the final phase, your wet fingers leaving your entrance in favor of rubbing hard, fast circles over your clit.  The finish line was in sight now as your body sprinted with tense, aching muscles and breathy moans.

 You came with a gasp, back arching and thighs twitching as you rode out your orgasm. As you neared the end of it, you dipped your fingers in one last time as your walls gave one last final spasm of pleasure.  Gradually the wave of your euphoria calmed, returning to the gentle, lapping waters of desire that still moved within you to the rhythm of your heartbeat.

 You opened your eyes to see Chisaki still staring at you silently, his eyes once again locked onto yours. The flush across his cheeks was very much apparent now, yet his posture remained unmoved. Still, out of curiosity, you dared a quick glance down to his lap to see his hand strategically placed over the bulge in his pants.  Was he trying to hide it?  Because he was failing.  Or was he stroking himself through his clothes when you weren’t looking?

 “Again.” He ordered.

 Your eyes bulged.  “Again?”

 He didn’t bother to answer, instead waiting silently.  You were a bird trapped in the golden cage of his eyes as your mind struggled to recover enough from the hazy aftereffects of your orgasm to think straight.  He wanted you to do it again?

 At first you were hesitant. You knew your body was still sensitive from what had just transpired.  But then again… your eyes stared at Chisaki’s crotch again as he waited for you.  No doubt he saw you staring, yet he did nothing, said nothing.  It almost felt like an invitation… or a dare.  Do it again and see what happens.

 Fuck. You’d already gotten under his skin... might as well see how deep you could go.

 Between your orgasm only moments before and the juices still coating your pussy, the sensations of your touch at first felt almost... numb.  Except for your clit.  That part was still sensitive, making your muscles twitch and your breath hitch in your throat as you moved your fingers over it experimentally. You kept your touch gentle at first, careful to give your body time to respond as you reawakened the lust that still lurked in your core.  With dark eyes you began to stroke yourself for him again, pulling soft pleasurable moans from your gently parted lips.  It was definitely more intense this time, and you could already tell that this next orgasm would surpass the one before it.  Still, you drew it out as you watched Chisaki.  Or, more specifically, watched his free hand.

 It didn’t take long... you watched his fingers grip around his hard-on through his pants, his hand slowly moving up and down his restricted length.  You bit your lip at the sight and immediately felt a generous wave of hot arousal bloom between your legs, your nipples hardening achingly.  It wasn’t enough to capsize you into ecstasy, but it certainly pulled a needy whimper from your lips.  

 You dipped your fingers into yourself, feeling your walls flutter as you imagined what it would feel like to have Chisaki inside of you.  With each curl of your fingers the heat grew, like the sun reaching its zenith.  You wanted it.  You wanted to cum so badly.  But you wanted to see him even more.  So, you neglected your puffy clit in favor of unbuttoning your blouse just enough to grant you access to your sensitive breasts.  You pushed aside the cup of your bra to free the plump flesh, the bud at its center tightly puckered.  With deft fingers you massaged the soft skin before rolling the nipple slowly between your fingers, pulling more soft gasps and gentle hums from your lips.  The more you groaned and teased yourself, the more Chisaki stroked himself as he watched you, his eyes glowing with hunger.

 It wasn’t until you began to lose yourself, your eyes beginning to drift closed as you moaned and whined to the ebb and flow of your pleasure, that your patience was finally rewarded.

 You could hear it over the sounds of your lewdity – the ‘click click click’ of a zipper being pulled down.  You opened your eyes, not even attempting to hide your eagerness, as Chisaki freed his cock from his pants.

 It was beautiful just like the rest of him; long with a slight curve, its tip red and shining with precum.  Veins stood out in relief, trailing his length like vines, thick and beautiful. You swallowed at the sight of it, desperately wanting to know what it would feel like to have that in you.

 You hadn’t realized your own movements had frozen until Chisaki’s smooth voice cut through your thoughts.

 “I didn’t tell you to stop.” He said, as cool and professional as ever as if he didn’t currently sit before you with his dick in his hand.  

 He was gloating, you knew it... your stunned silence at the sight of his cock stroked his ego just as much as you touching yourself for him did. And you knew that, above all else, Chisaki loved to have his ego stroked.

 “Y-yes Mr. Chisaki...” you whispered, before your fingers began moving again.

 You continued to stroke and play, penetrate and rub as you watched him take his long cock in his hand and begin long, steady strokes.  Even now, he still kept his gloves on, and somehow that made his every move even hotter.  He was no longer propping his face up with his other hand.  Now, he was sitting up straight, eyes on your needy cunt as you put on your show for him.  You could see it, the tension in his temple that came and went, hear the ragged, quick draws of his breaths through his mask.  Your own arousal grew in response, egged on by him searching for his own sweet relief at the lewd sight of you.  It blossomed like a watered seed as you drank in the man in front of you – his hand pumping, precum dripping.

 It was the push your sensitive body needed.  You came surprisingly fast, your orgasm crashing over your body with greater intensity than the first.  Moans and gasps ripped from your throat as your body spasmed, and you made no effort to quell your cries, too consumed by your own pleasure.  With eyes squeezed shut, your hips rocked as you grinded yourself against your hand, your entire body singing in unbridled bliss.

 You were given no respite.  As soon as the pleasure eased just enough for your hips to still, Chisaki spoke.

 “Again.”

 Your eyes, still closed, flew open to look at him with incredulity.  You weren’t even recovered yet, your cunt still twitching with the aftershocks of pleasure. You knew that touching yourself without some sort of break was going to lead you down a jagged, torturous road of overstimulation.  It made your legs start to close up instinctually in denial.

 Your mouth moved silently before you pushed the words out.  “B-But... I can’t....”

 Chisaki’s eyes narrowed, his brows lowering... and along the edge of his mask, you could see his cheeks lift slightly.  He was smirking at you. Cruelly.  

 “You can, and you will.” He said.  A wave of his fingers told you to reopen your legs for him, and you did, slowly, as if you were a puppet on strings.  “Again.” He repeated.

 Chisaki took a moment to remove the glove from his stroking hand before giving his cock a couple more languid strokes.  You stared at the exposed skin in awe.  It was everything you imagined it’d be... pale, smooth, nails clean and perfectly trimmed.  Between his hard cock and his ungloved hand, you stared in shameless longing as an excited chill coursed down your spine.  Maybe… maybe if you were good…

 You swallowed the dryness in your throat and returned your fingers to your core, flinching as you brushed against your sore, overstimulated clit.  Chisaki returned to pleasuring himself as you performed for him, his hand pumping steadily.  Watching him masturbate to you was delicious.  He didn’t rush, instead opting to taking his time, his hand moving smoothly from base to tip, occasionally pausing to run his precum over the head, the shine glinting in the light.  You subconsciously licked your lips, wondering what it would taste like. Would you lick it from his tip? Or his finger?  Maybe both?

 You matched your pace with his, letting his own strokes guide your hand.  The synchrony made your pussy ache more than ever, even as your body screamed for freedom – a break from the constant wave of stimulation that you were subjecting yourself to.  It made you feel closer to him, more connected - as if he were a part of your pleasure without actually touching you.

 But dear God, you desperately you wanted him to touch you.

 He continued his strokes, slow and easy.  Whether it was for him or for you, you weren’t sure... you weren’t even sure if he was aware that you were pacing yourself with him.  His speed gradually quickened, the muscles of his forearms tensed and twitching as he pumped his hard cock with growing fervor. It was the hottest thing you’d ever seen, his eyes starting to roll back in his head as he began to lose himself to the pleasure, legs twitching slightly as he came close... Your heart pounded with excited anticipation as you dipped your fingers into your core, feeling your walls flutter with need.  It was happening... he was going to cum...

 But he never did.  Instead, his pace began to slow as his eyes refocused on you. That was when you realized….

 Chisaki wasn’t trying to cum yet… he was edging himself.

 Maybe he was waiting for you.  Or maybe he had his own agenda.  But either way, it was clear to you that he was delaying his orgasm.

 The hypocrite.

 Still, you wanted to please him. You wanted to give him want he wanted, because then maybe he could give you what you really wanted.  But no matter how hard you tried, no matter how fucking hot the entire situation was, your own orgasm evaded you.  

 It was more than just the repeated orgasms and overstimulation.  The real issue was that your fingers no longer satisfied. Not after seeing what he had to offer, and certainly not after seeing how horny you made him.  You wanted him to touch you, to put his hands on you, to feel his cock in you... A frustrated whine escaped your lips as you felt your resolve break.

 “Please, Mr. Chisaki...” you begged.  Chisaki’s eyes left your open pussy to lock with yours.  Their golden depths burned holes into you, and you licked your lips under the heat of his stare. “Please touch me...”

 Chisaki froze mid-stroke.  “Touch you?” He said it as if the idea repulsed him, yet his eyes betrayed him as he looked back down between your open legs.

 “Please,” You begged.  “Don’t you want to?”

 His brow was deeply furrowed, and you knew he was having his internal debate, just as he’d had before.  After all, what you were asking was no small order.  You knew how he felt about touch.  No doubt he would have already been balls deep in you had it not been an issue for him.

 But that was why you begged. And pleaded.  And groveled.  Anything to make him set aside his golden rule, even if just for one night.

 “Please...” you whined one last time.  “I’ll do anything.  I need you, Kai...”

 Something about you using his given name did something.  His eyes widened slightly, his flush reaching down to his exposed neck.  Then his eyes narrowed, as he stood from his seat.  You watched with a mix of excitement and trepidation as he carefully removed his jacket and loosened his white tie.  He towered over you, his stare pinning you somewhere between his contempt and his hunger as he undid the cuffs of his black shirt and rolled up his sleeves to the elbows. It made your pussy throb and your heart pound as you stared back at him, completely vulnerable.  He stepped forward slightly, filling the space between your legs with his presence.  Even just the graze of his pants against the inside of your knee was enough to set off fireworks on your skin, causing your breath to hitch in your throat.  His cock was still out and hard, mere inches from your tight, needy cunt, and it took every ounce of willpower not to scoot down and close the gap between you.

 You waited.

 “Touch you...” he muttered through his mask, his voice low.

 Chisaki’s eyes raked over you, taking in every inch of you.  Your trembling, parted lips and large pupils; your exposed breast with its perky, hard nipple; your swollen and glossy cunt framed in ruined underwear that was carelessly shoved aside; the sweat from your thighs coating his desk.

 “So fucking filthy.” He breathed.  The profanity sounded strange on his lips, almost more like a prayer than an insult.

 He stared at one of your thighs as he slowly placed a warm, gloved hand on it. You reacted immediately, gasping at his touch, and his eyes darted to yours.

 “...And needy.” He added.

 From your peripheral you could see his other hand grip his cock and begin to pump it. You tried to watch... you wanted to watch.  But the heat of his hand on your thigh made nearly everything else fade away until it was all you cared about.  Your breaths began to come in hot pants as your body trembled beneath him.

 “I didn’t realize that you were so desperate for me.” He said calmly as he continued to stroke himself.  His gloved hand squeezed your soft flesh until you were moaning from the mixture of pleasure and pain. “Pathetic.”

 You were pathetic.  But you didn’t care.  You’d say anything, do anything, just to have him keep touching you.  And if he wanted you to beg?  To cry? To humiliate yourself to earn his cock?  You’d do that too.

 His hand slowly eased its grip as it began to move up, up, up until his thumb nestled in the crook of your thigh, just shy of your sensitive, swollen folds. Your hand immediately made way for his as you laid down completely onto his desk, your world spinning.  A warmth fell over you like a blanket, every fiber of your being pulsing at a low hum; you were a glass vibrating at a frequency just shy of shattering.

 Chisaki’s voice floated through your haze like a faraway song carried on the wind. “You were so eager at first.  So willing to shame yourself – shame me – to get what you wanted.”  He scoffed. “Now you can’t even do as I say.”

 You could feel his thigh twitch against yours as he began to pump himself faster. His cock was so close to your pussy that it was torturous.  It made you want to cry.  You could feel the warmth of fresh juices begin to flow from you, coating your entrance in invitation, as you prayed to all the gods above and below for him to enter you without mercy.

 But it never came.  And his hand never ventured further.  Slowly, your thoughts trickled back ever so slightly, and you realized he was waiting for you to speak.  Slowly, around a heavy tongue, you made clumsy words.  “I... I’m sorry...I’m trying... is hard...”

 Chisaki tsked.  “You’re afraid.  Afraid of pushing past your limits. So now I’m going to help you.”

 His gloved thumb crossed the threshold to your swollen bud, and your world exploded into color as a sharp zing of pleasure erupted from between your legs. You cried out, your body spasming, hips writhing to escape his touch. It was too much...

 “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

 Then he did something you didn’t expect – his bare hand released his cock and slammed down onto the desk.  The surface rippled beneath you, transforming until smooth arches of dark mahogany wrapped themselves over your arms, effectively pinning you down.

 Your heart pounded wildly in your chest, your breaths coming out in quick, panicked gasps.

 “Kai!” you protested.

 He bent over you and grabbed your jaw in his gloved hand, his plague doctor mask inches from your face. “You wanted me to touch you,” he whispered.  “Now you’re going to get what you asked for.”

 The look in his eyes wasn’t as controlled as before.  Sure, the disgust and hunger were still there.  But there were more emotions now, peaking through the cracks of his practiced façade.  Anger, contempt, fear, desire, longing... and something else; something wild and unhinged.

 Something within him was on the verge of breaking, of being set free, and you were the one responsible.

 He straightened himself up and returned his gloved hand to your sopping core, his cock once again in his bare hand.  His thumb found its home again, nestled firmly against your engorged clit.

 He wasn’t gentle, he wasn’t slow.  Instead, his thumb ran swift, relentless circles, the digit igniting every frayed nerve. Each swipe had you crying out as wave after wave of sharp, jagged pleasure assaulted you, without so much as a second of recovery in between.  And as Chisaki raced you towards that inevitable cliff, his own hand pumped himself hard and fast.  His strokes began to become erratic, his composure slowly slipping as you began to unravel before him, your whines and cries luring him to follow you to the point of no return.  You could feel his own legs began to spasm against your inner thighs, his hips beginning to jut forward with each drag of his palm along his hard shaft.  The gap between your two bodies began to close, until you could feel the tip of him brush against your core. In that instant, you came undone beneath him with his name spilling from your drooling lips.

 The temptation was too much.  He entered you as you came, his cock burying itself within your clenching walls with a single thrust.  Your legs wrapped around him instantly as your body exploded into a mess of tears, shrieks, and trembles.  With one hand on your hip and one working your clit, he fucked you through your orgasm as you cried and panted, his own grunts joining your one-person symphony as you felt every fiber of your being shatter with white hot pleasure. It was all-consuming, disorienting.  You weren’t even sure you were a person anymore.  You could feel nothing else, see nothing else except the man inside of you, hovering over you, filling your existence.

 It didn’t stop. Even after you were a blubbering mess, tears streaming down your cheeks, your thighs and cunt sore, Chisaki kept going, his cock reaching new depths as it dragged against your spasming, sensitive walls.  His breaths were heavy, each pant labored until he ripped his mask off his face.  It was like a switch had been flipped, changing Chisaki from a man in control to nearly animalistic.  Teeth bared, sweat beading across his forehead, golden eyes absolutely feral. His thrusts took you past your orgasm, unrelenting, and you cried and babbled for him to stop, it was too much, your body couldn’t take anymore.  But even as your string of incoherent words begged for the end, your body spoke of a different kind of freedom, your legs tightening around Chisaki’s waist in an effort to pull him impossibly deeper into you.

 Chisaki snarled, releasing his hand from your cunt as he continued to fuck you, and removed his remaining glove with his teeth.  Suddenly, the white fabric was being shoved into your mouth, gagging your broken words behind its white cotton that smelled and tasted of you.

 “Shut up.” He growled.

 You could see the hives breaking out across his damp, flushed skin now at the contact, but it no longer seemed to matter to him.  And it didn’t matter to you either.  You were wrapped up delirium, your eyes glossing over and rolling into your head with each drive of Chisaki’s hips. Your hips couldn’t even keep up with his thrusts anymore; his movements were too rough, too fast.  All you could do was lay there and receive him as he pounded you without restraint.  That familiar knot was forming again, a dark beast built from the broken pieces of the last. It was a terrifying thing, a formidable presence that you felt building within yourself that would surely decimate you.

 “This is what you really wanted, isn’t it?” Chisaki grunted through clenched teeth. “You wanted me to fuck you senseless, to ruin this tight pussy of yours like the greedy, selfish bitch you are.”

 His words washed over you and you gave the faintest of nods, your mouth still gagged.

 “So, you’re going to take what I give you. You’re going to cum when I say, as often as I say.”  His cock hit deep as his thumb gave a final press against your clit. “Now.”

 You screamed around the cotton in your mouth, back arching and arms straining against the wood trapping you as the tension finally erupted.  It tore through your veins, making your fluids gush and your pussy clench like a vice around Chisaki’s pumping cock.  Not a moment later, you heard him groan followed by the hot sensation of his cum coating your walls.  It only enhanced the waves of pleasure still wrecking you and your pussy milked him greedily as he emptied himself in you.

 The comedown felt like it would never arrive. Your nerves still sang too loudly, the aches echoed too deep.  But finally, Chisaki’s hips stuttered to a stop and your own body lay limp beneath him. It felt like you were submerged under water, every sense dulled or muted, as you stared hazily at the ceiling.  Chisaki was still in you, his dick twitching sensitively each time your body gave a weak aftershock. You had thought he would pull out, leave you there like the ruined mess you were to go clean himself up.  Now doubt he’d return to his senses any moment and be repulsed by what transpired.

 But he never did.  Instead, he braced himself over you, his heavy, hot breaths coating your exposed skin as he settled through his own comedown while you warmed his cock.  You felt the desk ripple beneath you and suddenly your arms were freed from their restraints, the wooden surface back to its original state.  A moment later, he filled your view as he leaned over you, and you had a brief moment of panic, wondering if you were next. Was he going to overhaul you now? After all, he got what he wanted...

 But he never did that either.  Instead, he removed the glove from your mouth as his eyes traced over your face, marking every feature, every nuance.  Your parted, chapped lips... your glossy, sweat-stained skin... the exhaustion in your eyes...  His thumb came up to wipe away at the tears drying along your cheekbones before running the smooth pad over your lower lip.

 Then he did something you didn’t anticipate, something that surprised you above all else. He bent down and captured your mouth with his, his wet tongue gliding into your stunned, open mouth.  It was strangely slow, uncharacteristically tender, and entirely unexpected.  The fog you’d been swimming in a moment before lifted slightly, and you began to kiss him back, your arm wrapping up around his shoulders before tangling your fingers into his damp, auburn locks at the base of his neck.

 Whatever it was, it was short-lived.  He brought a hand up to grasp the hand you had around his neck, his fingers twining with yours as he placed your hand back down on the desk, pinning you within his hold. He pulled away from the kiss and stared down at you with a dark smirk tugging the corners of his wet lips.  And his eyes... his eyes burned gold like the sun. Not a beautiful, gentle gold that kissed open delicate flowers and melted winter snow.  No, this was a force of unrelenting destruction, the kind that burned deserts, scorched forests... and melted wax wings.

 You were Icarus, fueled by foolishness and arrogance. You’d flown too close, fueled by a false sense of confidence that you could handle whatever it was that lurked within him, that your lust was enough to match his.  But you were quickly learning you couldn’t.  His fire burned too hot, his hunger too deep. He was going to devour you until there was nothing left.  And really, what did you expect from a man who denied himself every human urge in his quest for perfection?  

 The sun could never be controlled.

 And Pandora’s box can never be closed.

 Slowly, he lowered his face next to yours until you could feel his lips brush against the shell of your ear.

 “Again.”

[accio-victuuri]

BoXiao : Endorsement CPNs

Just listing a few of my favorites, where we clowned so hard with what appears to be bxg biased signs from brands. Mostly 2020-2021. This was supposed to be a simple post but it got a little bit out of hand. So. Here you go. Enjoy!

Note: If you don’t like CPN posts, just scroll along. If you don’t like BJYX — this is not for you. don’t hurt yourself and skip this post.

1. RoseOnly - I will not add the RoseOnly x Peace Elite collaboration here anymore cause most of the people reading this should be familiar. A little bit of my thoughts on that are here.

Now let’s move on to other clownery, cause when I said we did see some 👀 before, I meant it.

• GG’s campaign with them where he showcased a bunny with rainbow colored flowers. They could be showcasing all the kind of flowers they have or LGBT friendly advertising. After all, All love is love. 🌈

• For Roseonly’s 8th anniversary, GG had a campaign and VCR w/ them and that big 8 flower. 8 means bo. It’s truly used for the anniversary but of course we CPN cause we are clowns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGnDR4zspI

• During Web’s promo for rules of my world and when his teaser photos came out— RoseOnly released a photo of a black rose ( same color as Web’s clothes in the teaser ) with the caption:

You’re the coolest guy in my heart.

• When they were doing a teaser for their new endorser, some people were pointing out that the silhouette looks like Bobo. lol. Twins!

• All the references to the Lonely Planet and Little Prince for this promotion. We all know that they both love LP and whether this is CPN or a personal preference— we’re claiming it!

• The green rose they once advertised with the caption I ONLY LOVE YOU. and with the green rose symbolizing innocence, simplicity and forever young. Green and those keywords, who do you remember?

• In 2019, they did a selling bundle with Shu Uemura which was a brand Web was endorsing at that time.

• In a live, the color green and red rose were together — GG and Web colors.

• An Ad in their online store where the display is the Leo rose which is Bobo’s zodiac sign. and GG is holding Libra. Leo x Libra. And with the caption below for their advertisement. We know Web is the Leo of all Leos but it’s still 👀

The proud Leo has a child-like arrogant temper. Some people think they are not easy to get along with, but they don’t know that they just have not entered their hearts. Actually, Leo’s tenderness is only for the right person.

Some other thing that I will add here for reference but I don’t necessarily believe. Link from weibo.

• When GG was announced as their brand spokesperson and Web gave a clue in his post. Also GG making 3 different posts and kadian combinations.

I’m adding in this collab they had with Eleme, the same time Web was endorsing the brand.

I’m sure I missed a couple more from RoseOnly but that just depends on how clear your BXG glasses are. To me the most important is their Lonely Planet / Star campaign with GG last year.

2. Shu Uemura - This is one of the OG brands that Web endorses and who loves him very much. They signed him when he was not yet a big star and flew him to different countries. They treat him very well. 🤍

• The most recent one is from their Ad with Bobo and a red ribbon which made us all think of WWX. I can understand from an Ad perspective that it’s perfect to pair up with a red lipstick — but our brains are wired to CPN. Soooo. And this is not their first offense with stuff like this.

• This Ad featuring Bobo : - "博"君一笑 BJYX.

• For the promotion photos of this eyeshadow palette, the colors and look is similar to GG’s painting for the Guangdian album cover. Yes. This was done some time after the song was released.

• This one is more of a coincidence. Years apart, both on the same day, they posted about a collaboration with One piece. It’s their favorite Anime. GG as Luffy & Web as Roronoa Zoro.

3. Qeelin -  will be very lazy with this one and copy/paste from my jewelry post. Take note that this Bobo design is not new and had always been a classic from Qeelin.

4. Kai Xiao Zao - Ah! KXZ! The brand that loves GG the most. So what signs did they give?

• Their recent new product is wontons. Who do we know that likes wontons? It reminded BXGs of the unofficial BTS when Web was nagging GG to eat Wontons.

• They used a well known BXG idiom:

"你是夏日限定, 也是来日方长"

5. Chunzhen - Endorsed by Bobo, and this is under Mengniu. It caused some drama— cause GG & Web are technically promoting the same company. but like, there are so many other c-ent artists endorsing this brand.

• They posted for this year’s Qixi, stating in the Caption that Bobo is able to balance love and work. Really? How did they know? And they had made a character called XIAO ZHEN for qixi ( a cartoon girl with blue hair ).

• Zhenguoli ( endorsed by GG ) and Chunzhen drinks which are under the same company posted graphics of the two drinks together. 👀

• Also since it’s both under the same umbrella company, and both yogurt drinks— you can see their boxes together in shops.

6. Stride - In Bobo’s box set initial release, 3 flavors were included and one of them is passionfruit or bai xiang guo ( bxg ). Of course, bxgs bought it because we were represented. ✌🏼

Also in a message, the brand acknowledged BXGs but later had to delete it because of well— you know who.

Dear Moto/Passion Fruit fans,

Thank you for your support to Hyunmai's spokesperson~. The gift box endorsed by Yibo is temporarily sold out, it is recommended You first collect and purchase, if it is sold later.

Please buy it as soon as possible~

7. Swarovski -  endorsed by Web 🤍

• They had turtle charms and bracelets, which endeared them to BXGs.

• They had a bracelet where you can put charms and in their Ad, it spells YIBO. of course. However a BXG noticed that on their recommended letters to add next, the letters are XZ + heart with a dot.

• Last year’s promotion of a lock necklace— Web changed his Weibo header. ‘Lock love, lock you.’

• His May 2020 Mother’s day promotion video that includes a confession (?). I know this is far off but the line used:

“ I love you, want you to see. I am Wang Yibo, this is my unique confession" is so similar to GG’s Bazaar confession.

8. Budweiser -- What we basically CPN about them is that they are an LGBT friendly brand and it’s always a plus when our boys endorse those kind of companies.

• Here you can find the CPN on the can that GG supposedly created with them.

• Their ad about ALL LOVE IS LOVE.•

 An earlier Ad that had two male leads. and another one recently released with same sex couple. 🌈

Also they did a collab with G-shock which is a brand that Web endorses.

9. Man Han Feast Noodles

• The most recent one is GG playing the Guqin ala LWJ and looking out the window to see the moon ( again ala LWJ ). Best part is GG looking like he would burst out laughing and they kept in the Ad.

• In their Mother’s Day post one line says “if you love someone you’ll always encourage them to eat more”. Sounds like a familiar gesture right? Who do we know nags each other to eat?

10. Zenith Do I even have to explain this? 

• GG chose a rainbow watch from Zenith collection for Qixi Festival. 🌈

11. Mengniu - Oh well, just last week they had to clarify as an Ad from them was seen with the words: "并肩于雪山之巅" = BJYXSZD. (Side by Side at the snowy mountain top)

12. Anta/ Li-ning - I’m adding it here cause the store owners in this video brought out GG/Web standees together 😂 Context is, there was a BJYX gathering going on so they took that out cause they knew the attendees loved them.

Plus this shopping app that put them together.

I’m capping this post here and will update this sometime in the future. However the ones I added here stood out to me or I experienced when it came out. I wanted to add Luckin Tea / Lays / Olay but that will be for another time.

As with all the CPN, feel free to not believe any of these and just take it as a coincidence. Or people clowning and reading into things more than they should. lol. Whether these are intentional or not, BXGs are always there to support the boys whenever they can. 🙏🏼

[unit-zero-two]

Queer Representation in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

13 Sentinels was a game I picked up because the trailer looked neat. I had no clue what the gameplay was even like, I just felt adventurous. And I was rewarded with a fantastic game that constantly surprised me in the best possible ways. One of the ways I was surprised was in the actual textual existence of queer characters. Plural. And with a queer relationship developed and promoted prominently on screen between main characters.

Now, with the increase in queer media around the board, this alone isn’t worthy of praise. My enjoyment, and I suspect that of a lot of people, comes from the fact that there was no expectations or promises made, and yet the game still delivered. It was just there, causally, in a AAA game published by a decently well known studio. It’s a good example of what we’re asking for when asking for queer rep. It being allowed to casually exist and flavor games that aren’t just dedicated to telling these stories.

Like a lot of media if you go in expecting flawless queer representation suffusing every aspect of the game, you will be disappointed. This is a game with 15 main characters and most of the cast ends up in straight relationships. But not all of them. And past those relationships, there is still a queerness that is allowed to exist and be shown throughout this game that constantly impressed me.

I will work through the textual, on screen examples of queer representation one by one. There will be spoilers for this game in the post, so if that is something that you care about, please finish the game first before continuing. Due to the non-linear storytelling and gameplay nature of 13 Sentinels I can’t really set timestamps or anything. If you’re not done yet, but still curious to read, I personally feel like nothing I say here will ruin the experience for you. Through it’s strange nature, this is arguably a spoiler proof game and knowing what is to come can help you view the events in a different, but still enjoyable, light.

Textual Queer Representation in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

The place for us to begin will be with one of the 13 playable characters, Takatoshi Hijiyama. Hijiyama is very much a young man defined by when he was raised in the story. 1945 Japan in the middle of WW2. He is nationalistic and proud of Japan, it’s culture and tries to stand for it’s values. While training to be a Sentinel pilot, he falls for the demure Kiriko Douji, daughter of the professor in charge of the project. His prologue begins with him following Kiriko and finding her operating a time travel system. Kiriko reveals three things: 1) she’s the real scientist behind the project, 2) her real name is Tsukasa Okino and 3) she is a he. Okino leaves 1945 and Hijiyama chases after him. What then follows is a very clear romance storyline as Hijiyama works though self-discovery of his sexuality, his internalized biases and some good old jealousy.

Throughout his story, Hijiyama shows attraction to Okino both dressed as a woman and as a man. It’s made clear that the clothes and gender presentation aren’t the main defining factor for his attraction to Okino. He also shows attraction to some of the girls, implying a sort of bisexuality. But in the end, Okino is the one he directs his attention and dedication. The pair even share a robot in the final battle.

Next we have Takatoshi Hijiyama...of 2188. Through a data log Hijiyama finds during his story he finds out that his self of 2188 was in a committed, queer relationship with Tsukasa Okino of 2188. The two openly express their love for each other in the logs, and Hijiyama 2188′s final words are to mourn the death of his lover. The game makes it very clear what their relationship is. And watching this is a turning point for Hijiyama and how he views Okino. Seeing the death of Okino 2188 shakes him, and hardens his resolve and love.

Tsukasa Okino is an interesting character for many reason. We see him first dressed as a woman. When asked about it, he comments “Let’s just say some binaries work for me, and others don’t.”. Throughout the story, Okino alternates between being dressed as a man and a woman. He’s a very practical person and expresses several times his thoughts on both forms of dress and the pros and cons he finds in wearing them. But he never says, “I’m actually a man/woman or I prefer to wear men’s/women’s clothing.” To him, both forms are equal and he switches between them as he feels like through the story. There is also a point in the epilogue where Okino reveals that he can hack into the simulation and change his gender if he wishes. He then offers to turn into a woman and to sleep with Hijiyama. This is a very confident offer made by someone secure in their identity and sexuality. Hijiyama is understandably flustered at the teasing.

Okino openly shows sexual attraction to Hijiyama, mostly presented as teasing jabs at him. As with 2188 Hijiyama, 2188 Okino is explicitly in a Queer relationship and openly affectionate in the data logs. For the most part, present day Okino is busy during the narrative trying to save everyone from the Kaiju, but still finds time to flirt with Hijiyama.

Hijiyama and Okino are the clearest in text examples, but there’s one other stand out example. Iori Fuyusaka. For the most part she spends her story being boy crazy and confused by strange dreams, but there are two interesting moments with her. The first is during the battle section. One of the scripted after battle sections plays and it’s Iori tripping and she scrapes her hand. Yuki Takamiya helps her up and puts a bandage on her hand. It is a very slow, very tender and very deliberate scene. After Yuki leaves, Iori blushes and comments, “Whoa, what the...why is my heart racing right now? Wait, does that mean...? But I didn’t think I was...I mean, what if...” This scene makes it very clear what Iori is feeling and what she is discovering about herself.

In another scene near the beginning of the game in Iori’s story, she’s looking for a cat. She comes across Juro and Shu talking to each other in secretive whispers and embarrassed blushes.

Shu: Just listen. This is a first for me too. You feel it, right?

Juro: ...

Shu: I want to pursue this with you. Please!

Juro: I dunno...it's just...

The edges of the background softens and the camera shifts to center them, soft music plays, and Iori blushes. While the scene itself is a pretty standard confused for gay joke, it’s interesting to see it from Iori’s point of view. When caught, she says:

"I, uh...umm...I think as long as you love each other...it's okay..."

Juro is embarrassed and corrects things. Shu just laughs and is amused by the idea of dating Juro.

Juro: Do you believe us [about our dreams]?

Iori: Well, actually...I'm more surprised to hear that's all it was. Cause, I thought...

She blushes and is interrupted by the bell ringing and class starting.

And in light of the scene with Yuki, it becomes interesting in reflection that her thoughts would go there so quickly. Whether she was conscious of it or not, Iori is very aware of the possibility of same sex attraction. Whether that’s clever foreshadowing or just a neat coincidence is mostly irrelevant.

Uh...that of course brings us to Yuki Takemiya. So...Yuki will get her own post. Because there’s a lot there. Most of which I would argue is heavy subtext. I love the character and her plotline, but it it would be stretching to say that she is textual queer representation. But there’s still a lot to talk about.

13 Sentinels is a game that deals in all variations of relationships; familiar, platonic and romantic, and it’s great that it included queer representation into the text like it did. Hijiyama and Okino gave us a romantic queer relationship, twice, and Iori gives us a Bi-Sexual character who while not in a relationship with a woman is still queer. And that’s always good representation.

[blueknightdg]

Consideration and Generosity

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

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noire, DCU

Characters: Marinette, Damian

----------

She sat on a park bench that day; the weather was hot yet, cloudy.

Despite the uncomfortable sweat clinging to her being and the buzzing noise of her surroundings, she smiled happily. She would do anything for inspiration, even endure the blistering feeling of the sun.

Soon enough it has been hours since she began to sketch and draw designs for clothing she wishes to make true.

She feels her head is off, so she takes a break to answer a text from her mother.

----------

(Mom) Marinette, are you still at the park? It's been five hours.

(Me) Yep! Just taking a break.

(Mom) Just now? It's really hot outside, have you eaten? What about water?

(Me) Don't worry! I'm fine! I stayed in the shade the whole time.

(Mom) Okay, but I want a picture of you eating.

(Me) Okay, I will. I love you!

(Mom) I love you too.

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

Marinette, packs her sketch books and other materials a way in her bag. She stands up, only to tip over onto someone walking past her.

"Hey, you-"

The person stops to keep her from falling all the way down.

"Uh... I'm sorry, I guess I should have taken a break earlier."

She tries to break a way from the strangers grip. They let her go easily. They began to walk a little further a way with a eye in her direction. She sits down again to collect herself. She takes a few breaths and thinks about how to get up without falling and embarrassing herself.

"I wish I packed a water bottle or something, I knew it was hot but I thought I would be fine....", she thought to herself.

She checked her bag in case she just forgot. Lo and behold there was a water bottle in one of the outside pockets.

"Huh....? That's strange, I was sure I......oh well.", she shrugged it off as her forgetting.

Feeling a little better, she carefully stood up. Having not fallen, she smiled and picked up her full bag. She walks in the direction of a small restaurant to eat, since she wouldn't make it home before hunger got to her.

She walked like she wasn't being followed. Casual and slow, she took in the buildings a round her. The same as her memories told her, but still just as beautiful.

Once she got to an empty table, she sat her bag down in front of her. The waitress walks up to her with a smile.

"Hello! Here is the menu, please take your time. Though I do suggest today's special! Mushroom soup with broccoli, carrots, and rice."

"Thank you."

"No problem!"

The waitress leaves her be and she focuses on the menu. It seems that this restaurant is all about healthy living.

She hums to herself as she thinks of her order. However, everything sounded wonderful and she couldn't decide. Then she heard a waitress bring someone's order of a tofu and veggie stuffed bell peppers with a side salad. So she looked over to see the meal and found that it looked delicious. She also saw they ordered tomato juice.

Looking at the menu one more time, she located the meal, drink and picked out a dessert on her own.

As soon as she put her menu down, the waitress came up to her with her pen and notepad out.

"Ready to order?"

"Yes, I would like the Tofu and Veggie stuffed Bell peppers with a side salad, tomato juice, and the vanilla, soy bean ice cream."

"Would you like a topping?"

"Yes, let's see....oh! The coconut sprinkles and strawberry drizzle."

"To repeat: Tofu, veggie stuff bell peppers, side salad, tomato juice, vanilla soy bean ice cream with coconut sprinkles and strawberry drizzle?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we will right on it!"

Marinette took out her phone as she waited. She texted her mom, that she was at a restaurant nearby. Her mom reminded her to send a picture of her eating.

A few minutes later and her food was brought to her.

"Thank you so much!"

"It's no problem, dear, tell me if you need anything!"

The waitress leaves to let her eat. She sends a picture of her food to her mom, who responded with the words 'smile and heart'.

--------

Change perspective

--------

His day was normal. He woke up and dealt with the hooligans that plagued his life. He was currently in Paris as a part of a stake out group. His family dispersed during day to do individual actives. His father wanted him near by, but he argued that he didn't need to be monitored.

His father conceded by saying he must practice being considerate of other people and to update him on how it is going and if he needs help. He was more than reluctant to agree. Regardless, he did.

He didn't like the loose nature of his apparel for the day, but had no chouce due to the heat.

Though by no means is his clothing loose in comparison to others definition. He prefers to be dignified at all times.

Most of the day, he had nothing report to his father that was particularly considerate until he notice the ragged look of a girl a round his age. She looked dehydrated and ill. He scoffs at her lack of self preservation until he notice she was immersed in some kind of sketching. He also remembered his has to be 'considerate' today so he will say she was lost to passion. After all, this is Paris, the city known for passion.

He watches her as she unconsciously squints and makes a grim expression at times. She sways ever so slightly.

In his observations, she stopped her work to look at her phone. Her condition is not well. He walks a little closer with a water bottle he bought. The moment he walked next to her and she stood, he stabilized her and slipped the water bottle in her bag as she spoke, trying to clear her head. She was drenched in sweat.

"Father better be grateful, I am being more than generous with being 'considerate', disgusting.", he thought with distain.

He hurried a way from her only to stop a short distance a way to watch her more and to sanitize his hands; to rid himself of the horrid feeling of her sweat.

The girl swayed less than before, but after updating his father of what happened, he was ordered to tail her. What if she collapsed? His efforts would have been in vain if that was so.

He was slightly frustrated and her slow pace did nothing to help. He only felt a bit better at her choice of eatery. He saw that she was heading for a Healthy Living Restaurant and went a head of her to sit down. He typed to his father that the girl was trying to decide what to eat. He was instructed to do what he thought best if he were to interfere at all. So he picked the most sensible option for her condition, in return, she followed and added something to her order.

He ate quietly and finished before her. He then left a large tip; the service was quick, the food palatable, atmosphere was pleasant and he doubted the girl had much on her. Enough to pay perhaps, but she would then be left with nothing else.

She seemed to be middle class, and the middle class does not make much little wealth, to him at least. Sure, her clothing was quite good with quality, but her manners weren't all that remarkable and nothing else about her was either.

Polite, is what she was. Quiet, unnoticeable, and polite.

To him, she was a foolish girl that dreamed too much and did little for her own well-being. Truly the epitome of moronic whelps.

After he left the restaurant, he watched from a distance. Through the window, he saw her tempt to pay, only to be denied. He smirked, perhaps he should visit this particular restaurant again and maybe even invest a bit?

He felt his phone buzz, his father typed, wanting to be updating on the status of the girl. It became apparent that some of the hooligans are now aware of his sudden punish- mission. Yes, this is a mission.

Protecting such weak plebeians is the duty of his father and him, also the unsightly hooligans- not well in his opinion- but he shall add them this once.

"Father is surely proud of how 'considerate' and 'generous' I am.", he believes, "Excessively so."

------

The day ends with Marinette safely returning home and the still mysterious young man facing his mismatched family.

The young man remained considerate as he ignored the jeers of the hooligans until he realized, he didn't have to any more and retorted as though his words came from the high heavens.

---------

The next time he checked in on the young lady, he had some knowledge of her background he shouldn't and decided to continue to see to it that she is well taken care.

"It's called being an arrogant, egotistical xsshxle with a God complex. She doesn't need your 'consideration', she is not a charity case!"

One loud problem claimed as he tuned him out.

---------

The young man did visit the restaurant once more and she was there. She would visit often and order the same thing as he had the first time. There were times she ordered something else and he would try things she experimented with, minus the meat.

She ordered meat less and less the more she came to the restaurant, he noticed. He had no clue why, since she obviously had no problem eating it.

He didn't order sweets as often as she did, but he would on occasion, get something with a little bit of sweetness to it; like the dried fruit sandwich with any type of sauce it can come with. The sandwich had fresh, and air dried fruit. There would be other ingredients and such to change the flavor of the sandwich, making it a popular item on the menu.

------

Change Perspective

--------

She felt like she has seen the same guy a lot over the past two months and is slightly worried. After some thought to it and the more she believed she was over thinking it and that it was pure coincidence. She did know, however, he had good taste in food and art. Plus that animals are so cute!! He couldn't be all bad if animals liked him.

She would walk a little closer and sometimes walk a little farther from him and since he never moved, she felt better. It really was a coincidence to her knowledge.

Eventually, she would would stop seeing him. He was a tourist, so of course he would leave at some point. Still, she was a little sad.

Oh well, school is starting soon, maybe she'll make friends to fill the loneliness her pretend friend left her.

She liked to pretend this stranger was her friends and that they hung out, since she saw him in most places that she was. She saw him at the restaurant and sometimes the park and rarely he would be at the museum. Technically he wasn't everywhere and not as frequent as she made it seem like he was, but if was often enough to remember him.

"You should have talked to him, get his number."

"But then he might have thought I was hitting on him! I just wanted a friend..."

"Sweetie, look on bright side! Either you can cherish memories that made you happy or you can forget him and move on. You don't know what life has in-store for you, it could be fun!"

"Thank you, mom. You too dad, I will see what happens."

"On that note, want help me frost some cakes?"

"Yes!!!"

-----

The end.

[keykid-database]

Day 2 of @khoc-week 

Today, I gave a little more insight into each character via their pockets/inventory. I use those two terms interchangeably here. There is also a short fic at the end that ties in with it all! Enjoy! 

Day 2 Aug 2nd Inventory: What's in their pockets and/or bags, plus any equipment excluding weapons

Between these six, their inventories are mostly practical, but also pretty varied.

✦ Liefs pockets are mostly filled with practical things, primarily mission oriented. However, she always tends to have a small pad of paper on her person, for writing down mission details, party needs and issues, or anything she needs to remember. She lets Tagen use the pad to write stuff down when he needs to, but she wouldn't mind it if he got his own notepad. 

✦ Tagen tends to keep his pockets pretty empty. Not because he's unprepared, but because he is always on the lookout for those rare items when out on missions, and likes to have the extra room. He also never leaves home without his hat or glasses, finding both useful throughout his day, and also feeling like he's missing something when he forgets one of them. 

✦ Everest probably has the most extensive inventory, having everything from basic mission supplies to first aid beyond what most would have on them. He finds he likes to be prepared, but at the same time not weighed down. So while he has a good amount of supplies, he doesn't have everything. Good chances are however, he either has it at his flat or knows where to find what you need. 

✦ Kiti once again has pretty practical pockets, but they absolutely love to collect new bows, and have a small collection of them. Their friend Taffy helps them keep an eye out for new ones that Kiti doesn't have, and that they can afford, or are willing to enter the event to get. Really it's about the simple pleasures for them, even when things are frustrating. 

✦ Taffy’s love of sweets and her sweet inspired name are actually complete coincidence. She always has some form of candies on her, with fruit flavors, floral flavors, and even honey-flavored things being her favorite. Though she does prefer hard candy to any other type of candy. Taffy always has pieces to share, with friends, with party members, or just with people she meets throughout her day. 

✦ Dante also keeps his pockets mostly empty. Everyone thinks it's because of one reason or another, but Dante just likes to keep his pockets open so he can hold some of Taffy's things for her. It also means he can mooch off her candy, not that she would actually mind though. 

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

⇾ Story: Un-necessities 

The market plaza was bustling, keyblade wielders and shop vendors mingling together going about their day. Kiti, Taffy, and Dante were no different from anyone else there, strolling through the plaza just taking in the afternoon ambiance. Kiti and Taffy were sharing a small bag of clove flavored candies when Kiti suddenly paused midstep and quickly turned to look in the window they had just passed.

“Oh, my, lux. No way!” They said, shielding their eyes so they could get a better look in the window. 

“What is it?” Taffy asked, coming to join them, and trying to get a good like. She did her best to combat the glare on the glass, but it was awkward with one hand holding the small bag of hard candies. 

“That bow! It freakin’ lights up!!” Kiti pointed, excitement clear on their face. 

“Another one?” Dante, who had also stopped when Kiti spotted the window display, casually asked. “Do you really need it? Don't you have quite a few already?” 

“Yeah but not one that glows silly!” Taffy pulled away from the window, and playfully shoved her partner. 

Kiti nodded in agreement, smiley at their friends. “Exactly! This ones cool. I’ve gotta have it.” 

“Heh, alright.” Dante only shook his head with a smile, knowing there was no use arguing with Taffy and Kiti. They had done this silly dance before. 

Taffy handed off the bag of candies to Dante, as She and Kiti headed inside the shop with the display. It wasn't long before they reemerged with defeated looks on their faces.

“What up?” Dante inquired, before tossing one of the candies in his mouth.

Kiti slumped against the wall next to him. “Uuuhhg…”

“Something wrong?”

“It's too expensive Dante. Kiti doesn't have enough for it.” 

“Maann why do things gotta be so expensive..” Kiti let out an exasperated sigh. 

Dante only smiled. “I mean, it is a light up bow.” 

Kiti stuck out their lip at him in a mock pout, and giving him a gentle bap on his leg. “That's not the point, Dante. Maybe I just want nice things, and the dang Moogle charges way too much.”

“We could always try and earn enough to get it before it's not for sale anymore.” Taffy piped up. 

“But what if I don't want the bow?” Dante teased, only for taffy to stick her tongue out at him, knowing that he was only messing about. “then you can save it for something else doofus.” 

Dante only gave her a puppy dog face, which made taffy roll her eyes and grin.  “Am I really a doofus, Taffy?” 

“Oh shush goofball.”

“Gross guys.” Kiti couldn't help but smile at them. “Though that is a decent idea, Taffy. But taking on missions, and doing events just to afford the moogles stupid prices? Talk about ridiculous.”

“You’re the one who wants the bow.” Taffy only said, taking her candy back from her partner, then turning to help Kiti back onto their feet. 

Kiti only laughed, accepting the offer and taking Taffy’s hand. “I know. I say it's ridiculous, but I've done it before and I’ll do it again.”  

Dante shook his head, still smiling. “Then how about we get a move on.”

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Unabridged: 109 (1978)

The X-Men, those plant-loving mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 109) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Ororo not noticing Moira casually drowning Banshee or Wolverine being punted around by some poutine-roided idiot because she’s too busy eating the Piotr-shaped eye candy is such a mood.

I wonder what my ethnic curse would be. Perhaps: ‘By Mata Hari’s bedazled bikini!’

Plot-wise, issue 109 is not that dense. Half the issue deals with the X-Men coming home from their space-adventures, the other half has Wolverine dealing with the Canadian government coming to claim their lost asset. I mean, Claremont uses three pages to tie up some loose Shi’ar ends through flashback because the last issue couldn’t fit it all in. It’s by its very definition a breather issue.

Doesn’t mean it’s not awesome.

WHERE TO START?! Why not with plant mommy Ororo?

Storm’s secondary mutation has to be that her hair always looks like a fabulous follicular cascade, even during an indoor spring shower.

Look, if I had weather powers, I’d probably be using it for mundane shit like watering my plants and ensuring nice weather at my friend’s weddings too. (Okay, maybe sometimes I’d zap dudes who tell random girls in bars to smile more.)

While Storm talks to plants and takes all her clothes off, Kurt does the other thing I do after a rough day at the office: he calls someone for some nookie.

I love that Amanda is so extra that she gives out signed photos of herself.

Kurt just looks so fucking cute here. Look at those little fangs! Yeah, Amanda, get it.

Like a lot of people to whom communication comes as easily as breathing, Piotr is defeated when faced with a blank letter. Look at that trash can: he’s tried this waaaaay too many times.

Anyway, I think “Sorry I haven’t been writing, was busy saving the universe. Weather’s lovely” has a nice ring to it.

Star Wars had been out for around half a year when this comic was published, and it’s safe to say Claremont was a huge fan. You can tell by the direction these comics are taken: the whole Shi’Ar space opera is obliquely inspired by Star Wars and Star Trek and their aesthetics. I mean, Corsair asks to be beamed up and there’s even references to a captain “Spo’ock”.

It was the end of the 70s. Everybody wanted to be a Skywalker: space was big, y’all. Nightcrawler loving the movies is not a coincidence - I wonder if Claremont was also a fan of Errol Flynn.

Anyway, we follow Kurt one more floor down, where he spooks Scott, brooding at the window. The result is an unintentionally hilarious interaction, where Scott and Kurt discuss Real Issues Like Men while Jean comes out to her parents outside.

“Mom and dad, I’m… the Phoenix.”

“Honey, we figured you might be when you introduced us to Misty Kn… Wait, what?”

To be fair, being possessed by a cosmic force for rebirth is almost the same as being gay: it imbues you with fabulous new insights, you start experimenting with your wardrobe and ever so often, you want to burn down the galaxy because some bitches in a gay club have slighted you.

But all that will come later.

Anyway, Jean’s kinda silly coming out leads to a pretty honest heart-to-heart between Nightcrawler and Cyclops. Scott tries to give Kurt grief because of his happy-go-lucky attitude, and Kurt gives him a deserved put-down.

Life can be unkind, Scotty, so embrace the kindness provided to you by a wise little devil.

Scott prefers to brood and Kurt is hanging with Amanda, so it’s a foursome - maybe even a double date? Moira and Sean, Piotr and Ororo. Logan asks for a ride - not because he wants to eat cheese and crackers among ants, no, he wants to blow off steam.

The X-Men’s chicken or egg: did Logan’s sideburns decide the shape of his headpiece, or did the headpiece shape his haircut?

I started reading the X-Men just when the Marvel Universe was starting to reach the height of Wolverine saturation: he was simply everywhere. Like, at some point, he was in X-Force and the Avengers while also being a Headmaster of the Jean Grey school. Add to that him being the face of the Fox X-Men universe… Listen, it was easy to get sick of him. I kind of did.

But this? Original flavor Wolverine, who’s still kinda short, kinda ugly and kinda stuck being a loner? He works as a character. Chris Claremont is beginning to explore his duality: the wild animal who has been experimented on vs. the honorable man who would do anything for his found family. He gives me major Granny Weatherwax vibes: he’s the kind of person who doesn’t need people, but he does need people to know that he doesn’t need people.

So yeah, he's still cool.

Also, his healing factor hasn’t been kicked to superhuman levels yet - you know, being able to regenerate from a single cell or whatever - so he actually feels kind of anxious when he’s about to toss himself off cliffs etc.

Not happy about that red belt, though.

Anyway, Wolverine is out doing the noble hunting-without-killing-thing, and then this motherfucker wrapped in a flag shows up. Look, I know I have something against dudes who brandish their nationality as their superhero identity, but this fool is just… ugh.

James MacDonald = the worst. Trust me on this.

Major MacMapleleaf then punts Wolverine across the forest, right into the other X-Men’s picnic, and now we’re all caught up.

Out of all the X-Men in this issue, Sean gets the least amount of screen time but, hey, at least I can steal a joke from him.

Don’t worry, despite the martyr/pièta pose, Moira will turn out just fine!

You weren’t worried?

Anyone?

Look, is there anyone who genuinely likes Moira as a character?

James Hudson, being the worst, doesn’t give a fuck that he just cross-fired an innocent woman - er, innocent as far as he knows, at least - and just nopes out of there, too outnumbered to fight the X-Men.

Yeah, you better run.

He vows to return with Alpha Flight, which… Eh, he’ll at least bring some more interesting characters with him. (Snowbird!) Now that he has sown enough seeds for a future plot to pick up on, Claremont calls it a day. I will also call it a day, after a little fashion watch. Out of all of these character, who has chosen the worst outfit?

Scott. It’s Scott. Look, I get that those ruby quartz glasses make the world a different color for you, but you’re wearing a mustard suit and a bespeckled yellow shirt underneath. Even when considering Moira’s attitude, it’s still the most stank thing in the doorway.

Sean, just what do you see in her?