#i got my whole villager setup and everything

[scrolling-here-is-a-sin]

Cutlery

[cuubism]

my kingdom for a kiss upon your shoulder

Stockbroker Hob x Musician Morpheus, 80s AU, part 3 / 3

By the time they get downtown, night’s properly fallen. Morpheus leads him through the Village until they reach a narrow side street, where they descend a set of stairs into an actual properly underground club called White Horse.

The bouncer clearly recognizes Morpheus, and they’re let in easily. Hob takes everything in as Morpheus leads him backstage by the hand.

The place is small, with tables and some open space for dancing; low lighting, and a bar along the back wall, but altogether pretty low-key. Granted, it’s not too late yet, so it’s still mostly empty. One thing Hob does note is that there’s not really a stage, just a mic and amp setup that’s level with the rest of the floor. Anyone standing in the front could just reach out and touch Morpheus as he performs. Intimate.

“This is where you ‘promote depravity’?” Hob asks as Morpheus brings him ‘backstage’—really just a hall at the back of the club—and Morpheus actually lifts his hand to his mouth and bites him. “Ow!”

“Be respectful,” Morpheus chides. He leads Hob into what could maybe be considered a ‘green room’ but is more like a combination office-break room-random storage space servicing the whole venue. There, he finds a bottle of already-opened white wine in the small fridge, uncorks it and takes a sip directly from the bottle.

“Real professional operation going on here,” Hob notes, as Morpheus offers him the wine, and Morpheus finally cracks a smile.

“It’s not Madison Square Garden. But you will find the usual crowd sympathetic.”

“I’m glad you brought me along,” Hob says, quite genuinely. “I wanted to hear you sing the moment you said you were a musician.”

Morpheus’s smile is genuinely sweet. “Hob, I do believe you are obsessed with me.”

“You could tell?”

Morpheus’s expression softens further. “Do you know,” he says, no longer teasing, “I cannot remember the last time someone was… simply interested in me, the way that you are.”

“Do you know you’re the most interesting person I’ve met in a very long time?” Hob says.

“I enjoy your attention,” Morpheus says, gaze dipping down to Hob’s lips, and back up. He steps closer, panther-like. Takes the wine back from Hob, and takes another sip, lingering on the mouth of the bottle.

Hob raises an eyebrow, even as his pulse jumps in his throat. “Don’t you have to get ready for your show?”

“We are here already.” Morpheus sets aside his wine. “I do not need much more time.”

And he kisses Hob, hungrily, tipping Hob’s head back. His mouth is tart with the wine, his kiss needy and dominating. He’s clearly comfortable here, the king of his domain, willing to take whatever he wants. And Hob is thrilled to be what Morpheus wants.

Morpheus steals in even closer. Slips his hands under Hob’s shirt, tugging it out from his waistband. His hands are cold, and goosebumps rise along Hob’s belly and sides in the wake of his fingertips. Hob lets Morpheus push him up against the office door, growing quickly hard in his jeans. Before, Morpheus had wanted Hob to fuck him. But Morpheus is so alluring and powerful here that Hob is seriously contemplating the reverse.

“Would you let me have my way with you?” Morpheus murmurs. It’s almost a purr. “I think that you would.”

Hob thinks that Hob would, too. But as Morpheus leans in again, gaze fixed on Hob’s lips, a knock sounds at the door.

“Oi! Morph! None of that, we’ve got sound check in five.”

“Morph,” Morpheus mutters irritably.

Morph, Hob thinks with glee.

“Go on, Morph,” he says. “You’ve got music to play.”

Morpheus nips his lower lip in chastisement, but does open the door with a sigh. The grizzled older man waiting in the hall rolls his eyes when Morpheus pulls Hob out with him, but gestures them on. “Boytoy can come too, just don’t make me late.”

“As you insist,” Morpheus says, but is very long-suffering about it. It’s all very entertaining to Hob. And he makes sure to snatch the wine bottle off the side table before Morpheus drags him off.

-

Morpheus’s wrangler-slash-stage manager—or whatever he is in a place this small—whom Hob learns is named Merv, manages to get Morpheus to the makeshift stage to test the mics and so on. Hob worries it might feel awkward to hang around and watch, but it’s not, really—mainly because there’s no one really here yet. A few people have trickled in and are hanging around the bar, but the place is mostly empty for now.

Hob gets the sense it’s a place mostly frequented by regulars, people who feel comfortable here and know the deal. That seems to suit Morpheus. It’s more like a secretive club, rather than a massive stage with strangers to impress. He’s clearly comfortable here. Hob had thought he was comfortable at the party, or at least making himself comfortable, asserting his right to exist anywhere—but this is different. It’s his habitat. It makes Hob smile to see.

Oh god, he’s feeling fond. He’s going to be absolutely ruined when this night is over.

He puts it out of his mind for now. He wants to enjoy the present. He’s done a terrible job of staying in the moment, these past few years. And there’s little point in setting yourself up for the future if you don’t enjoy the present.

By the time Morpheus and Merv are finished with soundcheck, the place is significantly more busy. Morpheus greets a few people who pass by, but doesn’t seem particularly close to anyone. It gives Hob a moment of pause. A fault in his assumption of Morpheus’s comfort. He’d been figuring Morpheus’s freer lifestyle also came with more entangled relationships—but he’s reconsidering that assumption.

He’s... maybe reconsidering that about himself, too. Sure, Hob can get into any high-end party on the street… but nobody at those parties talks about anything other than sex, drugs, money, all the simple pleasures. If he mentioned feeling aimless, like all that success wasn’t even meaningful… he’d be laughed out of the room. Even if, deep down, others might feel the same.

Hob had been assuming he and Morpheus didn’t have much in common. But maybe he was wrong.

Having finished with the setup, Morpheus comes back over to him. “Are you alright?”

“Just thinking,” Hob tells him, shaking himself out of his head. “You all ready for your show now?”

Morpheus’s eyes glitter. “Yes. And I think you will enjoy it.”

Oh, Hob’s sure he will. That’s if he fucking survives.

As the lights go down, Morpheus steps away from him again, back to the mic. He holds Hob’s gaze until the stage lights break his line of sight, but until then he shines. Hob wants to pounce on him. Instead he holds that desire close, simmers in it, and enjoys the glory of Morpheus in his element.

At the first low, melancholy notes of the song, grating bass and backing piano, the crowd finally falls quiet and draws in. Morpheus waits until he has most of their attention and then presses his lips to the mic, as Hob had imagined, and pulls them the rest of the way in with his voice.

And God, his voice. Hob had only gotten a hint of it in that low, intimate song Morpheus had sung directly into his ear. The full power of his crooning words strikes Hob right in the diaphragm, resets the pace of his breathing, taps into the rhythm of his heart.

It’s pitch dark, now, and all he can see is Morpheus, Morpheus and the distant lights speckled high up on the ceiling that look like stars. Morpheus is, of course, the brightest of them, and Hob is utterly transfixed, watching his long fingers on the mic, the movement of his lips, the elegant crane of his neck. He thinks of that mouth under his, and that throat, and the rumble of Morpheus’s voice when he speaks. God, he is beautiful.

Morpheus doesn’t pause when the first song ends, just sort of slides right into the next one, though he does glance over at Hob and wink. Hob, realizing he’s just standing there dumbly, not moving, loosely holding that bottle of wine from the back room, takes a long drink to steel himself.

It doesn’t work, of course. It only makes him think more about Morpheus’s mouth. But thinking about Morpheus’s mouth is pleasant. Thinking about Morpheus, in general, is lovely. Hob lets himself sink down into the spell Morpheus has created here, this enchantment of baritone darkness, lets himself float on the currents of Morpheus’s voice and the memory of his clever hands in the shower and the sounds of his pleasure.

Morpheus’s music is meditative and hallucinogenic. The crowd is relatively quiet, but totally in Morpheus’s thrall. Hob doesn’t comprehend a single lyric of any of the songs. He might be dissociating. It’s lovely. Why’s he been doing drugs again? Why’s he been going to meaningless parties? He should have been here, in Morpheus’s temple, basking in the radiance of him.

He realizes distantly that he’s finished the wine. He didn’t notice, too busy watching Morpheus and just kind of lifting the bottle mechanically to his mouth. He sets it aside, sways pleasantly on his feet, and catches Morpheus’s eye again just as he’s dropping into the final bars of what Hob thinks must be his last song. Morpheus’s lips curl into a smile, and he swipes his sweaty hair back from his forehead, baring his throat as his neck cranes.

God fucking damn Hob to hell.

And then Morpheus steps far enough into the crowd to grab Hob by the arm and tug him back towards the makeshift stage. Hob stumbles after him. Morpheus wraps a hand around the back of his neck, twists the other in the front of his shirt, eyes glittering with so much life even as the supporting band plays on in the background without him.

Hob’s whole focus narrows in on him. He gazes at the sweat gleaming on Morpheus’s throat, the dark smear of his lips, his heavy-lidded eyes, feels Morpheus’s palm on the back of his neck like a collar dragging him forward, and when Morpheus pulls on him he just goes.

And the thing is… Hob’s always just a little bit… careful, when he’s in a new place. At a party like the one where he had met Morpheus, no one really cared, and the ones who might were too drunk or high to notice anything going on around them. But when he’s somewhere he doesn’t know he plays it closer to the vest. Because Wall Street is still a boys’ club, and this might all be legal now but that doesn’t mean Hob won’t be kicked out of his firm on his arse, and he’s always been too much of a realist, too much of a survivalist, to edge too close to that cliff.

But as Morpheus drags him into a kiss, someone in the audience whoops.

Morpheus is smiling against his mouth, and Hob finds himself grinning, too, and then laughing. Part of it is this floating feeling of seeing Morpheus so unburdened, at least for this brief moment, and part of it is just— just pure joy. Pure joy and freedom in Morpheus’s beautiful voice and his lovely mouth and the live wire of his performance.

Hob curls a hand around his hip, kisses his neck, tasting the sweat there, murmurs into his ear with all the fire that’s inside him, “I want you.”

Morpheus shivers under his hands. He gives the audience an absolutely theatrical bow, and then disappears into the shadows, towing Hob behind him.

-

They tumble into the back hall to the echoing sounds of applause in the main venue, and Morpheus pulls Hob into him, crashes himself up against the wall and yanks Hob’s mouth to his.

Hob moans as he kisses him, absolutely drunk on the high of Morpheus’s performance, his fluidity, his raw appeal. He wants him. He’s desperate for him. He pushes Morpheus’s hips into the wall, grip tightening, and Morpheus gasps.

“You were perfect,” Hob says. Morpheus looks down at him from under his lashes, panting, sweaty hair stuck to his forehead. “You were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Here,” Morpheus says in response, pulling Hob to him so their erections grind against each other. “I want you.”

“In the fucking hallway?”

Morpheus nods deliriously, already tugging on Hob’s shirt, but Hob takes him by the arms and stills him as clarity cuts in. Lord knows he wants this as badly as Morpheus does, but the idea of just… just fucking him in the back room or something feels wrong. It’s not what Morpheus deserves.

“No,” he says, “come home with me.”

Morpheus whines. “It will take too long—”

Hob drags a hand through Morpheus’s hair. “I’ll call a cab. Won’t make you wait long, darling.” He kisses Morpheus’s neck. “I want to show you how you made me feel.”

“Oh.” Morpheus tilts his head to let Hob mouth his way up under his jaw. “How is that?”

Hob tugs him away from the wall and leads him down the hallway. “Come home and find out.”

Turns out there’s a side entrance that will let them get out without having to go back through the crowds—it’s technically an ‘emergency exit’, but no alarm sounds as they tumble out into the alley. Morpheus hangs off him, leaning drunkenly on Hob even though Hob’s certainly the one more intoxicated between the two of them, as he flags down a cab out on the road and bundles the both of them inside.

Once they’ve set off for Hob’s apartment, Morpheus leans against his side, whispers in his ear, “I believe I am doing better on this night than I did after my last show.”

“Bit of an upgrade?” Hob says, grinning.

“A bit. I’ll be terribly disappointed when I have to lower my standards again.”

Don’t, then. Hob thinks. Don’t go back. Stick around.

“Seems like you need better standards.”

“Mm. Perhaps.”

Traffic is heavy, and the drive feels particularly long with Morpheus leaning against his side. Hob can smell the light tang of sweat from his performance, and Morpheus’s chaotic hair is brushing his cheek, and he’s slipped one hand between Hob and the seat and has begun secretly playing with his waistband, tapping his fingers up and down Hob’s back like he’s practicing a scale. It’s maddening, and almost makes Hob wish he’d just caved and fucked Morpheus back in the green room like he’d wanted.

But when he imagines, instead, laying Morpheus out on his bed, worshiping him, bringing him to near-dissociative bliss the way Morpheus had done to him with his music, proving, if he can, that this is more than just cheap sex—then, he knows he made the right choice.

When they finally pull up in front of his building, he pays the cabbie, bundles Morpheus inside, and by the time they’re back in the endlessly-mirrored elevator he can’t resist anymore.

He pushes Morpheus up against the wall, kissing him deep, pinning him by his hips. Morpheus moans and caves to his touch. Hob slides his hands up under Morpheus’s shirt—no, it’s Hob’s shirt, his, Christ—framing that narrow waist. He pushes their hips together, breath catching at the press of Morpheus’s erection against his. And for a few minutes, during the elevator’s dizzying ascent, he loses himself to Morpheus’s clever hands in his hair, his lax body, the electricity buzzing off him after his performance.

When the doors slide open on Hob’s floor, Morpheus says, smiling sharply, “Do you think you can pick me up and carry me?”

“That a fantasy of yours?”

Morpheus nods, arms draped over Hob’s shoulders, and so, gamely, Hob hefts him up, hands under his thighs. Morpheus squeaks and clutches at his shoulders. He’s tall and gangly but somehow Hob manages it, gets them through the door to his apartment and into the bedroom. And in that moment he feels the same way he’d felt when he turned from making coffee and saw Morpheus sitting on the kitchen counter like he belonged there. His apartment, his life, washed into a haze and only Morpheus left. Like coming home to home the way it was meant to be, like he’s carrying not just some hookup, but his lover to bed.

He lays Morpheus out on the bed, which is still rumpled and unmade from that morning, unties Morpheus’s boots and socks and slides them off his feet as Morpheus watches, rapt, hair fanned across the pillow. He does his jacket next, urging him to lift up enough to slip it from his shoulders, then his jeans, unbuttoning them with care and tugging them down his slim legs. Finally, his shirt, tossing it somewhere on the floor—and then he just has Morpheus, the full glory of him, and he has to take a breath to calm himself.

“Are you coming?” Morpheus asks, raising an eyebrow, when Hob just hovers at the end of the bed.

“You’re just really beautiful,” Hob admits, and Morpheus smiles, a true, pleased smile, the slightest tinge of a blush rising to his cheeks.

“You truly think so,” he says.

“Yeah, of course I do.” I’m not blind, Hob thinks, but it seems like it’s more than that. Like, maybe, Morpheus wants Hob to see him, not just the shape that he’s in.

Morpheus reaches for him, and so of course Hob goes, kicking his shoes off along the way. He settles between Morpheus’s legs, and Morpheus’s thighs come up to bracket his hips, hands framing his face, and he pulls Hob down into a kiss, long, deep, and sweet. The way Morpheus moves under him is heavenly. Hob thinks he could kiss him forever.

Morpheus tugs at his shirt, and Hob lifts up to pull it off over his head. Then Morpheus’s hands are all over his chest, running through his hair, over his shoulders and down to his belly. It’s a quick, feverish, addicted touch, and Hob can’t help but bask in it. God, the idea that Morpheus wants him so much… it’s heady. He could never get used to it. But he wants to get used to it. Oh, imagine getting used to it.

Morpheus’s hands go to the button on his jeans, then undo the zipper blindly as Hob kisses him again, deep, swiping his tongue into his mouth. Hob groans at the release of pressure as Morpheus takes him out.

“Normally I would detest any interruption to my performance, but there was much of me that wanted you to simply do whatever you were thinking when you were watching,” Morpheus confesses. Hob grinds into his hand, his lovely hands with those long clever fingers, already undone by him, and by the revelation of what Morpheus was thinking about during his set. “Drag me off and have your way with me.”

“I was enjoying your performance too much to interrupt it,” Hob says. “Distracting an artist at work? How selfish.”

“How selfish,” Morpheus echoes, eyes glittering. “Perhaps you ought to be selfish.”

“Oh, I’m plenty selfish,” Hob says, and to prove it, kisses him again, taking his mouth, delving deep and pressing Morpheus down into the sheets. His lips are soft, his mouth giving, he kisses back with easy pleasure, one hand still lightly working Hob’s cock, the other twining through his hair. So often Hob’s kissed just to get to sex, but with Morpheus it’s a pleasure in itself. He moves against Hob with passion and skill, that clever mouth that weaves spells with his singing now set to catching Hob and holding him there for his own pleasure.

Hob almost gets lost in the music of him—he could easily let his arousal build just grinding into Morpheus’s body, moving over him, but he wants more, and Morpheus wants more. So he pauses, catching Morpheus’s mouth in nipping kisses as he moves off him, shucks off the rest of his clothes and reaches for the condoms and lube he keeps in the bedside drawer.

Morpheus watches him with dark eyes, tracking the movement of his hands. He looks hungry. It’s an absolutely addictive look on his face.

Hob settles himself back between Morpheus’s legs. “Like this, or—?”

“Like this,” Morpheus says. “I want to look at you.”

Oh, Hell. Hob is not going to survive him. He wants that too, though, wants to see Morpheus’s face as he comes, and kiss him as he fucks him.

He hovers over him as he presses a slick finger to his entrance. Morpheus groans, fingers wrapped around the back of Hob’s neck and tangled in his hair for balance. He angles his hips up into the contact, pushing himself down onto Hob’s finger. Wanting, needy thing. He’s so lovely, he’s perfect.

“I want,” Morpheus demands, voice rougher, now, a register lower, “you in me. You will fill me so well. I know it.”

Hob has to swallow hard to clear his throat at that. “Patience,” he manages.

“Now.”

“Patience.” But if he wants it rougher Hob can do rougher.

He pushes in a second finger and Morpheus cries out. “Yes, yes, Hob—”

His words peter off into a groan as Hob works his fingers in and out, flushed with heat over the sight of Morpheus writhing at his touch. It’s tempting to just give into Morpheus’s demands to fuck him now, but it feels so important, so so important, to make it good for him. He wants Morpheus to cry with pleasure. Wants to take care of him, this strange thing he’s plucked from the wind.

Morpheus keens as Hob presses down hard on his prostate, thighs shaking, arms wrapped tight around Hob’s shoulders. Hob kisses him, catching the sound of that beautiful voice in his mouth. “Now,” Morpheus pants, lips against Hob’s. “Now, please—”

Hob kisses him again, long and lingering. Then sits back to roll on the condom. Morpheus watches him, eyes dark, chest heaving, sweat prickling along his temples and curling his hair. That intense gaze stays trained on Hob as he leans back over him, bracing himself by Morpheus’s shoulders on one arm as he lines up and finally, finally, pushes into him.

He has to bite his lip hard to steady himself at finally being surrounded by Morpheus’s tight heat. Morpheus tips his head back on the pillows, gasping, clutching at Hob’s shoulders. “Yes,” he breathes. His fingertips dig into Hob’s skin, legs wrap around Hob’s waist.

Hob presses his face into Morpheus’s throat, breathing in deep. “Fuck. You’re perfect.”

“I knew you would fill me well.” Morpheus’s voice is right in Hob’s ear, and a shiver runs down his spine. God, Morpheus’s voice, Hob will never get enough of it. “I imagined it, in the shower. How you would feel, holding me down to the bed. Fucking me. The way you’d dreamed of it.”

“Fuck, Morpheus—” Of course he can’t just sing like sex, he’s got to keep speaking it directly into Hob’s ear too. “That’s what you want? Want me to show you everything I was thinking about? Everything I was imagining?”

“Yes. I would have everything—” his voice breaks off into a moan as Hob gives an experimental thrust. He continues, more hoarse— “everything that went through your mind.”

Hob thrusts into him again, harder this time, shifting Morpheus up on the bed. Morpheus moves against him, pushing back onto his cock. Together they find a rhythm, Hob rocking into him, Morpheus meeting each thrust. They move together and it’s everything Hob fantasized about when he carried him to bed, it’s hard and intense but full of feeling. It feels right. Morpheus feels right against him, and when Hob kisses him, it doesn’t feel like a fleeting thing, it feels like it should last. He wants Morpheus to stay.

He drinks in Morpheus’s panting moans, pushed from his lungs every time Hob nails his prostate. Loses himself in the heat of Morpheus’s pleasure, of his body. Groans as Morpheus pulls him in with both hands on his ass, urging Hob ever deeper. Morpheus has no more alluring words then, only calls of “yes, yes, more”, only whimpers and whines as Hob fucks him. In between breaths Hob finds himself saying nonsense, endless streams of perfect, perfect love, you’re so good, you feel so good, tasting the sweat on Morpheus’s neck. It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

Morpheus tangles a hand in his hair, brings Hob in for a searing kiss, much like he’d done at the concert. Hob feels it like a claiming, Morpheus leaving a lipstick mark across his mouth deeper than a bruise. The shock of pain as Morpheus’s grip tightens in his hair yanks Hob over the unexpected edge of orgasm, and he gasps into Morpheus’s mouth as he comes.

Morpheus comes too with a stuttered cry, his spend smearing over their stomachs. Breathing hard, world spinning, Hob collapses onto Morpheus’s chest. Morpheus’s heart races under his ear.

Morpheus pets his hair as they both come down, not unlike he’d been doing when Hob woke up that morning. When Hob’s finally gathered himself enough to lift his head, he finds Morpheus already studying him. His dark lipstick is smeared across his cheek, eyeliner smudged under one eye. He looks utterly glorious.

“Well,” Morpheus says, and the word would be a rich purr were it not for how he’s still out of breath, “that was satisfying.”

Hob laughs. “Oh, yeah? Satisfying?”

Morpheus’s lips curl up in a smile. “Remarkable.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Hob rolls off him as Morpheus laughs. He gets out of bed, but can’t resist leaning in for a quick kiss before he goes into the bathroom to dispose of the condom and grab a wet cloth. Morpheus preens into the kiss. And Hob thinks, it’s nice to do that. Kiss him easily like that. It’s nice to feel like Morpheus isn’t going to just disappear, like hookups so often do when the fun is over.

After he’s cleaned them both up, he lies beside Morpheus in bed again. Morpheus rests against him, fingers tapping up Hob’s side like he’s playing a piano. He probably can play piano, come to think of it. Maybe Hob will get to keep him long enough to see it.

Perhaps it’s a mistake, hoping Morpheus will stay longer. It will only make it hurt more when he leaves. But Hob can’t help it. He’s always been greedy.

“Stay for breakfast again,” he says, hushed in the darkness. “I’ll even cook for you this time.”

“In your empty kitchen,” Morpheus muses.

“Well, we’ll have to get groceries. I can actually cook, you know. Just... never do.”

Always too long at work, Hob, and not for necessity but for enjoyment of the game of it—or maybe to not have to think about how this could be just at his fingertips, if he made space for the risk of it, the vulnerability of it. The much greater complexity of wanting it.

“I’ll look forward to it, then,” says Morpheus. His lips curl up in amusement. “But don’t expect help.”

“No, I can only imagine you sitting on the counter, sipping your coffee and sampling things off a spoon. Like a prince.” It’s an appealing image, Morpheus sat there and setting the whole kitchen aglow.

Hob wants it. And not as a temporary pleasure. But having slipped past the madness of arousal, and the euphoria of Morpheus’s performance, it’s a more frightening thing to want. Hob’s life isn’t like Morpheus’s, his underground clubs and tiny secret worlds where he can be whatever he wishes. The space he’s grown himself into is different. The person he’s grown himself into is different.

“Did you ever consider pretending you were… different?” he asks quietly.

“Perhaps when I was a teenager,” Morpheus says, picking up on his meaning. “But I would not have survived if I did.”

“You’re barely surviving now,” Hob says before he can think better of it.

Morpheus’s lips slant in a sad smile. “Yes, well. Even more so.” He lays a hand on Hob’s chest, plays with his hair. “Are you pretending?”

“Maybe.” Hob’s not ashamed of who he is. Never has been. But he’s built all he has so carefully that it’s hard to contemplate risking it all imploding. He could keep Morpheus a secret, that is assuming Morpheus wants to be kept in any capacity in the first place. But he doesn’t deserve to be squirreled away, hidden like Hob is ashamed of him. “Never had anything worth changing that.”

Morpheus hums in thought. “I’m hardly preoccupied with social change,” he says. “But, once, my sibling, in a very rare moment of wisdom said something that I occasionally think about. ‘If no one takes the first step into the light, then the light will never fall on us.’ Perhaps we are beyond the first step. But there is still the next.”

Hob, too, is hardly preoccupied with social change. But perhaps he ought to be. Perhaps he ought to be doing… more, than this. If not for any grander purpose… then at least for himself. For how he felt, watching Morpheus sit on the kitchen counter, outlined by light. For the simple sake of wanting.

“Sounds wise,” he says, and Morpheus’s lips tip up in a wry smile. 

“Will you change, then?” he asks. “Stop pretending?”

“Don’t know,” Hob says, honestly. It’s hard to want to commit to the risk. But, just last night, he had been lamenting to Morpheus that he’d been feeling bored, aimless, unfulfilled. Perhaps it’s time for a change. Perhaps there’s more to lose here, in this one moment, than there is in the entire rest of his life. “Maybe with a good enough reason.”

He tucks a long strand of Morpheus’s hair behind his ear. Morpheus looks at him, eyes almost aglow in the dark. He seems at peace now, in contrast to his malaise and despair the prior night. Hob wishes he could keep him that way. Keep him happy.

“Stay and I’ll cook for you,” he says again, softer.

“I agreed to already,” says Morpheus, but seems to pick up on the added inflection in it. He captures Hob’s hand where it’s still playing in his hair, tangles their fingers together. “What will you make for me?”

“Anything you want.”

“Hmm.” Morpheus considers. “Crepes, perhaps.”

“Wow. Start easy, why don’t you?”

“With lemon and sugar,” Morpheus continues, unrepentant, “and strawberries.”

“Alright.” Hob can’t help smiling at him, though. “I’m making the grocery list.”

Morpheus plays with Hob’s fingers, pressing his lips to Hob’s knuckles. He looks up at Hob from under his lashes, eyes dark. God, he’s devastating like that. “How long would you have me stay?”

“Long as you want?” Hob says. He feels very daring. He can feel his pulse in his throat. “Suppose I have work on Monday, but, you know.” It feels insignificant now. How’s he supposed to walk into the office next week when he knows he could be here?

Maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he really shouldn’t.

“The financial markets shan’t manipulate themselves,” says Morpheus, with a smirk. Hob’s going to get flack for his career every day from this one, he just knows it. Fond flack, but nevertheless.

He thinks he can live with that.

“They really won’t,” he says, and Morpheus chuckles. “Someone’s got to crash the economy.”

“Someone has to,” Morpheus agrees. Then, “Hm. I’ve changed my mind. It does sound somewhat entertaining. There’s a certain appeal in… bending the world. If one has the stomach for the results.”

Hob’s not sure he does have the stomach for it, not anymore. The race has become tiring. The coffers full of sand. “Should put that in a song.”

“Perhaps I will.”

“Don’t ever stop making music, Morpheus,” Hob says, full of sudden fervor. He remembers what Morpheus said last night. About being very tired. He doesn’t think he’ll ever forget it. “Even if it doesn’t fix anything.”

“I don’t think I would survive it,” Morpheus says.

Hob is feeling very invested in Morpheus surviving. The feeling isn’t quite so desperately sad as when he was drunk, but he still can’t stand the thought of anything happening to him. Especially at his own hand.

“Stick with it, then,” Hob repeats. Stick with me.

Morpheus tips his face into Hob’s hand, so Hob is cradling his cheek on the pillow. “I have not had crepes in some time,” he observes. “Not had someone make them for me, anyway.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it,” Hob says. Having Morpheus around to cook for… a small thing shouldn’t feel like such a privilege, but Hob has become so used to people, to feelings being ephemeral that the thought of Morpheus here for another morning feels so special. He wants to seize it and not let go.

“Perhaps…” Morpheus says, a questioning, hesitant look on his face, “you might make a habit of it?”

Hob’s heart soars. It should be embarrassing, to be so affected, but it feels so good. “Yeah,” he says, smiling too hard to manage anything more eloquent, “yeah, okay.”

Morpheus’s expression opens in a gorgeous, light smile. He kisses Hob’s palm. And Hob draws him in, helplessly, into a hug.

He imagines coming home to an apartment that instead of being empty has light and music in it. Imagines Morpheus sprawled on the couch picking lightly at guitar strings as Hob makes actual use of his kitchen cooking dinner. Sitting on the balcony sipping wine over dinner and not worrying about Morpheus leaning too far over the railing. Listening to Morpheus write music late into the night, the city lights bright through the windows. Morpheus’s jewelry on the nightstand and his makeup cluttering the bathroom. Morpheus curled up in bed wearing one of Hob’s t-shirts.

It feels good to want again, even if it’s frightening.

It feels even better to have.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep4 Musings - Loumand

Assad was NOT. PLAYING.

Put those village feeders AWAY, sir~! 😍 You look ready to start lactating, omg! Assad NEVER misses a day at the gym!

What happened to y'all being so in sync, fellas?

Armand seems WAY more delusional here than Louis, for once. Which is telling--Armand had long been "failing" to hold onto his coven, and his authority.

Louis reading about Death while his daughter's arguing for her life, I can't.

And this little shrug when Armand punished Claudia, omfg, he is giving weak-willed-mother-who-lets-the-mean-stepfather-run-roughshod-over-her-kids-cuz-the-peen-is-too-good-and-he-pays-all-the-bills.

So we go from Lestat's "the Meat" and Claudia's "Kill Juice" to Armand's "Cattle."

NGL, I'd be pissed if I was the coven, too. How you gon' have this dude sit there not needing to follow the rules, while all of us are stuck wearing clown makeup and having our makers killed cuz of your dumb rules?!

I REALLY like this mutinous angle AMC's using, fleshing out the tension in the coven more, cuz it really makes sense.

I get that Louis would want to be around, but omfg cut the umbilcal already! I agree with the coven: like, WHY are you there exactly? Not even the worst helicopter moms are allowed to sit in class with their kids all day, so wtf? And I agree that Armand needs to draw MUCH thicker lines in the sand. Coven business is coven business--if Louis' not gonna even be allowed to speak up in Claudia's defense, then he shouldn't be there at all. ESPECIALLY if he's gonna flaunt how much he doesn't GAF about their rules--their CULTURE.

Aw crap, you got the homie Estelle mad, too?!

You done effed up, Louis--that's the smile of a psychopath. XD

Oh, he's keeping SOMETHING tight, he ain't lyin! 😜

👀

LOUIS! The ONE time you should've lied, omfg! 🤦 It's called making a UNITED FRONT, ffs!

Louis said Hot Girl Summer--literally.

🔥🕯️ FIRE GIFT LOUIS THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ️‍🕯️🔥

Louis said it only works when he's PISSED OFF, OH LAAAWWWWD!

This bit scared the crap out of me--at first I was like the coven's gonna jump y'all in your skivvies!? 😂 Then I was like wait--was that a crew member?! How did y'all not catch that in post!?

And then it all became clear.

*crosses self* HISSSSS.

CLEARLY it's not "great," when your man's man is throwing shade at your whole setup in Louis' head. 😬 Armand, you're barking up the wrong Rebound Tree, my guy.

The face that launched 1000 undead theatre kids into a blazing inferno. THE Louis of Troy, yaaaas~!

MESSY QUEEN.

🔥 FIRE GIFT LOUIS LFG. ️‍🔥

And this is likely why Louis believes what Armand said about him teaching Lestat the Mind Gift, cuz Armand taught Louis the Fire Gift.

Oh trust, we know you do, Armand. But how much does LOUIS know? 👀 ESPECIALLY when he doesn't go on hunts with y'all.

This can only end well.... 😬😈

AMC knows what they're doing--you knooooow that would've hurt Les to his core, if he knew Lou said ILY to Armand after only 1.5 years, when he (allegedly) never said it once to Lestat in 30. U_U Cuz you don't effing deserve it yet, Lestat! It's no skin off Lou's back to say that to Armand, cuz he's not REALLY giving up anything. He's not joining their stupid coven, and he's fine with them killing him. But Lou admitting that he loves Lestat means he'd have to take accountability for his COMPLICITY in everything that went wrong in his life, and that he chose Lestat over his entire family, his religion, his self respect, his sanity, ALL of it, for some heinous blonde Frenchman, lord have mercy. 😔 It's a hard pill to swallow.

And he's REALLY in the deep end now, if he expects his imaginary (boy)friend to start keeping promises. 🤦

[kyufessions]

animal crossing

synopsis: on seonghwa’a day off, you both cuddle while playing animal crossing

pairings: boyfriend! seonghwa x g.n. reader

genre: domestic fluff

word count: 0.9k

a/n: i’ve had this idea for several days so here it is !

general taglist: @jwnghyuns @eaudenana @soobin-chois

whenever there’s a day off, it’s normally spent doing cute couple things you both never get to do such as cafe dates, shopping for the apartment together, etc. but having four days off in a row was new for both of you, so you ultimately decided to have a lazy day in when the rain ruined the picnic date you both planned out. since the day was still young, you decided that as seonghwa changed you would quietly move around furniture to make a makeshift fort out of couch cushions, blankets, and anything else you can find. just as you were adding the finishing touches and making sure everything looked as perfect as can be, you heard his footsteps coming closer and turned around to see the excitement in his eyes at the setup.

two hours later and you were both cuddled underneath the fort, the thunder outside bringing a sense of comfort as random music played in the background. you sat between his legs, your head on his stomach as you played on your nintendo switch and seonghwa on his as his back propped up against the back of the recliner. you were never one for animal crossing growing up, but after meeting seonghwa you understood the hype. it was an amazing time waster and definitely brought you a sense of joy; it was such a comforting game to you. and playing it together with your boyfriend made it even better, even if you two did play it differently.

the entire time you’ve known and dated seonghwa, he’s only ever restarted his island twice. meanwhile, you were currently contemplating on restarting your island for the eighth time. if seonghwa ever got bored, he would just redesign his entire island or house. but if you ever found yourself needing a new challenge in the game, you just restarted the whole thing.

deciding to just restart your game, you watch the screen anxiously as you await your starter villagers. a grunt left your lips as you noticed who the starters were, earning a small jump from your boyfriend. “sorry,” you automatically said after feeling his movements, looking up at him for a split second to place a quick peck to his lips before continuing on with starting your island all over again. “i just restarted my island.”

“again? that’s like the fifth time-“

“eighth.”

his eyes widened, his eyes looking down at his screen as he continued making new clothes at Mabel’s. “do you not miss your villagers when you start a new game?”

you shake your head as you roamed the island, taking note of the cherry trees growing and smiling to yourself. “no, half the time i restart my island because of the ugly villagers.” a gasp from him throws you off guard, making you look up at him with wide eyes. “what-“

“there’s no such thing as ugly animal crossing villagers, y/n.” his voice sounds offended and shocked all at the same time, making you confused.

“ there most definitely is, hwa.” you fully sit up, ready for this heated yet unnecessary discussion about to take place. “you’re telling me you don’t find villagers ugly? not even some?”

he shakes his head, his eyes sparkling under the minimal lighting being provided. “no, i love all the villagers. they’re all so cute in their own way.”

“even benjamin?” he nods. “ tiffany?” another nod. “pietro?”

“who doesn’t love pietro?” he responds, crossing his arms over his chest as he raises a brow at you.

“me!” by this time you have already put down your switch, your entire focus on the man in front of you. “i just restarted my game because i didn’t like him being on my island.”

“how do you not like pietro? he’s literally one of my favorites.” he quickly saves his design at Mabel’s and starts running across his island in the game, running towards pietro’s house and finding him walking by the river. “look!” he starts conversing with pietro, letting out small giggles whenever he hears him say his catchphrase. “how could you hate a villager that says honk honk?”

“i didn’t say i hate him,” you start, watching him play his game adoringly. “i just said he’s ugly.”

a dramatic gasp is heard out of seonghwa, making you laugh as he closes his game and puts a hand over his heart. “how dare you say that about him knowing he can hear you? he’s very cute and handsome, you’re just missing out.”

you laugh, wrapping your arms around him and laying your head on his chest. pecking a small kiss into the center of his chest, you pick back up his switch and turn it on. “come on, show me your island. it’s been a while since i’ve seen it.”

for the next hour, you both sit there as he shows you around his island, catches some bugs, and digs up some fossils. even with some villagers you did like, seonghwa gave you speeches about each one and why you should love them just as much as the ‘cuter ones’. he even helped you redesign some of your new island, only stopping just to order some food and put a stop to the four hours of screen time you both accumulated. you’d be lying if you said you didn’t end up regretting restarting your island to let go of pietro, but you just hoped he’d end up back to your island someday just to show seonghwa.

[hidingoutbackstage]

so im coming to you, the leading scientist in ashley graham-ology, to say you are SO right. there is literally no difference between ashley in the original and the remakes. they didn't make improve on her characterization, they just gave her scenes that endear her to the player, and even though they're very sweet moments... they don't give us anything new? i mean, it's nice for her to have moments where she can express her feelings, i mean she's been kidnapped and taken to a foreign village so thats going to be at the forefront of her mind, but we get nothing deeper about her. frankly, we get more new characterization from the sorority sticker on her phone and her casual outfit than we do in most of the new scenes. everyone else gets retooled stories, and she is very much the same. and, imo, at best she is a slightly more polished version of her old self (which is not saying much because she was never given a lot to begin with), and at worst she feels like she falls into only being important when it comes to leons development. anyways srry 4 rambling but yes! I agree with you!

You’re right in every way ugh I hate it so much. Like they COULD have expanded upon her in a way that both fit the context and the narrative while still making her a more fleshed out character. Luis got a whole ass backstory and people keep drawing cutesy art of him with his old team of Umbrella researchers who we never knew and don’t matter, but people only talk about Ashley in the context of Leon.

And the problem is that the game does this too! It isn’t just fandom misogyny this time (though that’s obviously at play sometimes) but everything Ashley does is just her being a victim, or relating her to Leon. Even the funny and cute stuff brought over from the og doesn’t get to be about her! Ashley operating the wrecking ball is a setup for Leon to comment on “what they’re teaching kids these days” when in the og it’s unexplained and that kinda implies it’s just something she knows how to do. And it’s funny without context, but in the game the context they give just makes her look stupid for comparing it to driver’s ed.

She helps put out the fire on Leon after his fight with Mendez. See? She’s helpful now! She tries to hit Leon with a candelabra when he shows up instead of cowering in terror like in the og. See? She’s #girlboss now! She doesn’t flirt with him or call him a pervert for acting like a pervert. See? She’s mature now! She says “We can protect the U.S. from all threats!” See? She’s patriotic now! She’s mind controlled and holds a knife up to her throat instead of panicking and running in fear. See? She’s less of a crybaby now! She gets one (1) good outfit (that only came with preordered games) See? She has personality now! (except it’s entirely cosmetic and has no effect on how she is in game) She now has a slimmer face, blue eyes, obvious makeup on, and her hair covers her “dumbo ears.” See? She’s attractive now!

But she doesn’t get a motherfucking personality, when she’s the ONLY character who didn’t get one. Luis gets more backstory, Krauser gets more (incorrect/conflicting) backstory, motherfucking SALAZAR gets more backstory. But not Ashley! Not the g-d damn, entire focal point and center of the entire game, not the main female character, she gets g-d damn nothing!

Here, off the top of my head, here’s little bits of dialogue that could deepen her character yet still fit in the game

A: I can’t wait to see my dad again. I miss him so much.

L: You two close?

A: Yeah. He’s a great dad. He had to be, we’re the only family each other’s got

L: I promise I’ll get you home safe, Ashley.

or, alternatively

A: I’m so nervous to see my dad again. I hope he isn’t mad about the kidnapping

L: Mad? It’s not your fault

A: I know, but…it feels like it is. It feels like I did something wrong. I shouldn’t have been caught.

L: It isn’t your fault, Ashley, and I’m sure your dad won’t be upset. He’ll be happy to see you

A: I hope so

or, again alternatively

A: So, how’d you become an agent anyway? My bodyguards, [name and name] say you’re the best in the business.

L: It’s a long story

A: Tell me when we get back, then?

L: Sure. It’s not very fun, though

A: What’s that supposed to mean?

L: Nothing, don’t worry about it…let’s just say, it involves someone you remind me of

(there so all the fangirls can cry about how emo Leon is while Ashley gets confirmed to have relationships)

or,

A: I can’t believe I went to that party. I didn’t even want to go.

L: Why’d you go, then?

A: My sorority sisters told me to come. I wasn’t gonna turn them down.

L: They good friends?

A: Not really. More like colleagues, I guess

or,

L: They took your jacket

A: Yeah. They can keep it, honestly. I never liked that thing

L: Why wear it, then?

A: Dad says it looks good for public appearances

See? Would it have been that hard?

[bigbarabelly]

I love the 2 oc poly couples you have! can you describe or say anything related to one or both of them?

WAAAA ty anon

Regis, Leo, Ace and Adam are a super hero group with my buddy Writes.

Ace is the son of hades and Lucifer. JFKDLSA no interest in being heir and theyre not retiring anytime soon as immortals. Went top side and fell in love with a Demi god of war and fertility Leo, and a poster boy Superman mess of a government experiment Regis. Ace has like demon hubs up top in forms of brothels and casinos etc. he frequents one sex club since it’s his whole thing as a sort of incubus god. Leo and Regis battle it out over Ace for awhile before figuring out oh shit they like that fight in each other too and the three get together. Adam is another government military superhero experiment baby meant to be a backup if Regis ever went rogue. Regis and him hate flirt until Adam snaps cause hes jealous of how happy the three are. Ace being the love god fjdksla eventually wins Adam over first while Leo teases Regis for trying sooooo hard but still being last to kiss him. Ace is stoic, Leo chill, Regis mr >:3 and Adam the wibbler

Leos basically always pregnant. Bit Loki like in it could be anything and everything. Has a battle Pegasus that was his first “child�� in his ascension to godhood. Gave birth under a sacred tree of his village that was felled and transformed into a battle axe for him. Got his revenge on the invaders and sort of world traveled until meeting the boys and settling down.

Regis is/was trans. Aces whole thing is like self love? Can rearrange parts and feeds off sexual energy. Didn’t really have any of his own until hitting puberty and decided he liked being cis. Gave Regis that d he always wanted LMAO. Leos trans, happy with his setup. Adam was a ticking time bomb of a cis guy. Finding out what ace did for Regis sort of broke him and he went to one of the demon clubs to figure his shit out after hearing about the underground shit they do for powered people indulging in their fantasies. He’s a dude but always wanted to carry his own kids. Ace got called by his “employees” since he’s the bosses son lmao to come deal with Regis’s rival. They talk, ace gives him the womb he always wanted and brings another stray dog home to his pack JFKDLSA.

Big mix of ace/regis more or less knocking each other up. Everyone’s happy with their parts but sometimes ace’s powers manifest outside of his control and theyll all wake up with things swapped around, indicating the fates deem someone specific is to carry. A lot of Leo and aces kids end up being demons and beast ish sent off to the ether of their destinies. Eden is ace an Adam carried him. Aiden is Regis and Leo carried him. Ace carried moros. Chimera of him Regis and Leo before they met Adam. Moros spends most of his time in hell with grandpas and Eden and Aiden are doing superhero stuff up top. Everyone is vaguely immortal so timelines and aging are all over the place

BREATHES anyway 2nd poly group fdjlsak

Mason, Archie, Heath and Dandy are a group of werewolves living in rural Texas/vague USA south. Masons the oldest. The local mechanic. He’s pack leader, alpha omega mix and constantly Tired dealing with it LOL. In general he’s quiet and more an observer but very protective of his family, letting Dandy run a tight ship as second in command. Dandy is a beta and masons closest partner. Runs the local bar and cuts hair on the side. Dandy is bubbly and witty. Bit picky and whiny about getting dirty or scuffed up, but doesnt hesitate to mom friend everyone and get shit done. Heaths an omega Mason accidentally turned during a moon and he more or less does odd jobs and just assists Dandy and him since he’s the youngest and most unstable with his wolf status still. He’s loud mouthed and naive. Constantly getting his ass kicked in bar fights but eager to please under his bitching. Archie is a wanderer. Bar hopped and hustled pool across the states to hide his status as another omega wolf. Heaths dumbass knocks him up in crossing during a moon and Archie stays to figure out what to do with their pup Bill. Works out though and the pack grows. Ends up working with Dandy at the bar.

I’ll give Bill siblings at some point but it’s also just really funny he has 4 dads and is an only child LMAO. He’s very spoiled and loved though. Ain’t much money to go around but his dads work their ass off to get him an education and make sure he’ll be comfortable no matter what happens to them. Bill has Archie’s keep it cool droopy eyed default vibe and heaths hyperactive adhd. They might not be his bio dads but he gets masons work drive and dandy’s bright attitude

[rubylarkspur22]

Thank you for answering my previous ask.

I have read your take on main antagonist!Nezuko, and that gave me an idea. What about an AU where Nezuko is the main protagonist instead? Not role swap (or at least Nezuko remains a demon).

How do you think that would effect the plot of KNY and what do you think would Nezuko´s character arc be about?

No problem!

Funnily enough, I have an idea for something similar to what you're asking about. It's more a "Nezuko and Tanjirou Are More Co-Protags" or "Nezuko Got Her Memories and Personality Back (And Maybe Conquered the Sun) Immediately After Her Coma" AU. Basically what it says on the tin, Nezuko's pretty much back to her human self after her little coma(minus the whole demon thing), and is a lot more active as a character.

Everything past the cut is quite long, so be prepared for that!

So, Nezuko being the main main protagonist? Let me brainstorm some ideas. Starting with setup:

Nezuko still becomes a demon, as you said. However, we need to pull some strings to pull Tanjirou away from center stage. Let's say he got injured sometime between the start of Episode 1 and meeting Urokodaki(so either by Muzan or the Temple Demon). Badly enough he can't use a sword(best bet is either a respiratory injury, or some sort of paralysis. Limb loss just makes him a less edgy version of his beta self.), and his new inability to use a weapon/Breathing Style or fight altogether is noted by Giyuu and/or Urokodaki. Therefore, he's barred from training, but he still wants Nezuko to become human again.

After realizing Tanjirou is in no condition to fight demons, but still wants to cure her, Nezuko takes matters into her own hands. Starting with a coma. However, it's shorter than canon(let's go with 6 months to a year) because she pushes herself to her absolute limit to pretty much speedrun her season 1-3 development(making herself resistant to her demonic instincts and sun-proofing herself are her main priorities). When she wakes up, she gives everyone a heart attack by walking outside.

After everyone calms down when Nezuko doesn't burn, she asks to be trained. Urokodaki is hesitant, but can tell Nezuko has a very strong resolve. She wants to help her brother attain his goal of turning her back into a human, and also seeks revenge on Kibutsuji. So he agrees to train her. It's difficult to train a demon in a Breath Style, but Nezuko's will and determination makes it easier for her to perfect her moves.

Tanjirou helps where he can, maybe even remembering the Hinokami Kagura sooner and teaching it to Nezuko when he does. But he's also a worried big brother, despite Nezuko's assurances that she'll be okay. He definitely tried to take up a sword at some point, but ended up getting a hefty scolding from both Urokodaki and Nezuko when they found him.

Starting from there, what effects would there be on the story?

Demons are hella confused. Who is this girl? Why does she give off the presence of a demon, yet wield one of their blades? And if she is a demon, which some doubt she is, how dare she turn on her own kind and help those who would sooner kill her than work in tandem with her? (this is especially fun on Mount Fujikasane, during Final Selection ÒwÓ)

Muzan takes an earlier interest in Nezuko when they run into each other in Asakusa, perhaps even sending one of the Twelve Kizuki after her. Luckily, he still doesn't realize she's conquered the sun until the Swordsmith's Village, so she's just considered a rogue demon until then.

Zenitsu is far less forward with his affections, and is force fed respect women juice. His and Nezuko's relationship is a lot more mutual and starts with friendship. Inosuke tries to behead Nezuko in the Tsuzumi Mansion, but they sort it out eventually and Nezuko becomes Inosuke's favourite minion/sparring partner.

The mental breakdowns that will occur during the Hashira Meeting. A good demon? And she can walk in the sun?! Perhaps the sky is falling down, someone check!!!

Nezuko not only fighting the demons, but desperately trying to avoid capture by them. If they get her back to Muzan, it's all over.

She's also a fair bit more powerful, as I imagine her cells would start photosynthesizing after she conquers the sun. So Nezuko can gain plenty of energy from sunlight, enough to use her full demon form and Blood Demon Art for extended periods of time without a lack of usable energy making her hunger a problem. Where she could beat up Daki easily, and had a struggle against Hantengu's emotion clones in canon, I'd say she's on Douma's level (maybe Kokushibou's if she really pushes it) at her peak in this AU.

Rengoku probably won't die. Assuming Akaza gets sent to the Mugen Train. If he doesn't, that may be a different story.

While Tanjirou doesn't fight, he still keeps running into demons. Or rather, demons keep coming to him. Poor guy can't catch a break. Muzan found out about Tanjirou somehow, and thought he could either turn Tanjirou and get the same results he wanted with Nezuko, or that he could use Tanjirou as part of a trap and kill the eldest living Kamado once Muzan had Nezuko. At first, Urokodaki is protecting Tanjirou from any demons that show up. Then Urokodaki sends word to Giyuu at some point that they need to transport Tanjirou to a more secure location because demons keep knocking down his damn door looking for the poor kid and Urokodaki's too old for this BS!

As a result, Tanjirou is brought either to headquarters or the Butterfly Mansion, as both locations are top secret and surrounded by anti-demon security measures.

Nezuko might be influenced by Genya to start eating demons. She sees him chomp a tree, and decides she might as well do the same because why tf not? Demons are surprisingly nutritious. She only has a minor crisis while wondering if the humans the demons have already count for her human consumption count.

Eventually, the Infinity Castle Arc happens. Nezuko ends up against Kokushibou with Sanemi, Gyomei, and Muichirou. Genya gets sent to battle Akaza with Giyuu and Rengoku. Both battles would be hard, but they'd ultimately emerge victorious, with a couple close calls on both ends. Not sure if Mui survives, but Genya sure does!

Most of the final battle is Muzan trying to capture and absorb Nezuko, and Nezuko is using his flesh as kindling. The majority of the human Demon Slayers' injuries are far less severe thanks to Nezuko's BDA burning out Muzan's poison. And at some point, she gets the antidote, which ups the ante. She needs to finish Muzan before she turns back into a human and loses her demonic strength, but she can't get too close lest she be absorbed and all her hard work be for nothing.

As the sun rises, Nezuko become a human again just when Muzan goes to devour her. Her final attack costs her an arm, but she survives and wakes up after the battle to her teary-eyed big brother and the friends she made on her journey surrounding her.

Nezuko's arc would mostly be learning not to rely solely on the strength and power she received as a demon, as it will only last so long and will go away once she's human again. While she has no intention of taking the antidote until the final battle, it's still something she needs to remember.

She also learns to lean on others for help in this quest to restore her humanity. Whether it's asking others to help her get blood, or stepping back while others take the fight, she doesn't have to do everything on her own. Even if she's a demon, and can handle a lot more than any human, she can still let the humans handle it.

And lastly, dealing with the guilt and self-hatred she's bound to experience. Her mother and younger siblings were killed, and Tanjirou got injured, all while she couldn't do anything. As a result, in wanting to do more to protect her last living sibling and the new family she's built with the Kamaboko Squad, Nezuko overworks herself to a point that would kill her if she was human. Someone(probably Kanao, Shinobu, Mitsuri, or Muichirou) eventually has a talk with her about what she's doing, and helps her work through her trauma.

Those are all the ideas that I managed to spitball off the top of my noggin, and I am open to more.

[equinoxts2]

Another Rambly Announcement

After a couple of weeks mulling things over, I have decided to convert Kulo Sena into a solo roleplaying setting and start an entirely new simming world for TS2. It's still very much in concept stage, but I wanted to share some of the ideas I had with you. Hopefully typing it up will make me feel a tiny bit more enthusiastic about the work involved... I'm not looking forward to having to recolour all those hairs.

My first idea for this new hood: no humans! I've said many times before, I find it difficult to think outside the modern neurotypical box when there are human genetics in my game, so this is the perfect opportunity to start with something different. I'm only going to be using binned unnatural hair colours and non-human skintones, and I'm editing all my default face templates to have elf ears. That's mostly SimPE, so I feel more at ease with that than Photoshop - but I do happen to hate setup, so it's slow going at the moment.

For other visuals, I'm going to go for more colourful, patterny clothes and quirky decor. Most of the content I like in that regard is designed to be modern, so I'm just going to shrug and go with it - I'm tired of the Kulo Sena aesthetic of "everything's green, brown or grey" - although the cultural aspects will still be my trademark non-modern, somewhat tribalish setup, and there will be lots of plants and nature all about. I'm thinking more of a rural/pastoral type world than going urban fantasy style, so I'm going to have each lot be its own little village (though not apartments, they don't work for me, gameplay-wise) and having each village be pretty much self-sufficient, since I hate tracking supply chains.

As far as gameplay goes, I'm trying to refluff/reinterpret some of the core aspects of the game. I've created a mod that changes the terminology for "romantic" interactions - for example, "kiss" interactions are relabelled "share breath," and "flirt" has been renamed "compliment" - and I've got a mod that disables marriage wants, so I can come up with my own equivalent. That equivalent is called pathbonding, and although it's based on love, it's completely non-romantic and non-exclusive - I've decided to use kestrellyn's Found Family mod from MTS to represent pathbonding. My idea here is reversing modern expectations, so in this world the ultimate expression of love is choosing not to do any of that romance stuff (or whatever it is in this hood) with someone.

I'm even working on healing some of my gender scars - my plan is to ditch family names altogether and have the sims' last names be more descriptive of them as individuals, so the whole matrilineal lineage thing stays out of it. I want to get back to the sort of play experience I had in the early days of KS, before those scars were a thing, when all my sims, regardless of gender, just followed their own quirks and passions. 

I'm really looking forward to playing now that I've rambled about my ideas! Guess it's back to SimPE and Bodyshop now though - see you around!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball GT 51

✨GT Stands For Gull Tactics✨

✨Positivity Page✨

Normally, I have a hard time coming up with something for GT to stand for with each episode, but this one has an embarrassment of riches.  Gyre Turbulence, Girl Tornado, Gross Tentacle, Guzzling Tequila, Grabbing Trout... I can’t lose.  So props to Episode 51 for satisfying a dumb bit I came up with 26 years after the show went off the air.

✨"Good" "Ideas", Poorly Executed✨

So it’s finally time for YOUR favorite Shadow Dragon.  The people have spoken, and it’s Oceanus Shenron, also known as “Princess” and “the one that looks like a chick.”

In fact, Oceanus looks a lot like a slimmed down version of Haze, but he uses spinning powers to cast an illusion.  This leads to the big issue I have with the episode’s plot, and Oceanus’ character.  Let me back up and explain the setup to this.

So Giru has tracked the next Dragon Ball to a quaint fishing village, but he runs out of power before he can pinpoint its exact location.  Before anyone can act on this, fish start dropping from the sky.  Pan flips the fuck out and screams for like... a full minute?  It felt like it anyway.  Pan, you’ve been to space and you’ve seen your grandfather nude.  Your parents got possessed by alien eggs and they tried to murder you.  It’s just fish.  Calm down.

Everyone in town rushes out to gather up the fish in wheelbarrows so they can make a quick profit selling them in town.  But one local kid, Bish, isn’t so happy about the situation.  Ever since “The Princess” started dumping free fish onto the village, the fishermen have stopped doing any work, and now they just drink all day and wait for more fish to fall from the sky.

Bish’s dad, however, disagrees with his son’s assessment.  His counterargument: “Shaddup, you blasphemous ingrate, or I’ll throw my hip flask at you.”  From what we see of Bish’s father, I’m pretty sure he’d be a surly drunk with or without this whole “free fish” deal.

Anyway, he throws the flask at Bish, and Goku catches it in his teeth because he won’t stand for child abuse.  You can bring your grandkids along on dangerous martial arts adventures, sure, but don’t throw shit at ‘em.  That’s where Goku draws the line.

Bish explains the whole bit to Pan while Goku cooks fish and then gives his frying pan to Giru.  Aw, this is kind of nice.  Everyone’s just chillin’ out, havin’ a fishfry.  I’m not sure why Pan is so bummed out, but Bish is worried because he doesn’t know who Princess is or where she came from, but he doesn’t like what she’s done to his village, and also the seagull population has been terrorized lately.  Bish has tended to their injuries, but they all hide inside a drydocked boat, because they’re too frightened to go out to sea. 

Bish thinks there’s a connection, and he’s right.  As soon as Giru recharges, he locates the Dragon Ball, and it’s on the forehead of the village’s Princess, who flies into dump more fish on them.  Goku and Pan recognize her as a Shadow Dragon, and it’s clear that this is just part of their “destroy the world” agenda. 

Here’s my question: How long has Oceanus been at this?  I say this because the Shadow Dragons only came to be back in Episode 48, and Goku and Pan have been tracking them down ever since.  They found Haze very quickly, and it seemed like they immediately went looking for Rage and found him without much delay.  So I just assumed that Episodes 48-51 all take place in the same afternoon.  Actually, if the entire Shadow Dragons Saga is just a single day, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. 

And yet, everything about Oceanus implies a long con.  Each Shadow Dragon seems to have picked out a “home base”, where they go to work ruining things.  I almost get the sense that they’re competing with each other.  Haze threatened to expand his territory until it covered the whole world, which would make it a paradise for himself.  Rage claimed to have stolen the whole world’s electricity.  Their individual goals don’t seem to mesh well, so I wonder if this is some deal where they’re all out to destroy the Earth, but only one of them gets to do it.  And this is all some weird contest to see who gets to pull the trigger.  By that logic, Oceanus seems to be doing her own thing her own way, but it feels like she’s been at it for a lot longer than the others. 

Like, okay, the disguise is a neat bit.  I just like her “Princess” design a lot better than her true form.  I wish the other Dragons had similarly diverse looks to them.  But why does Oceanus need a disguise at all?  Apparently she’s been giving free fish to the villagers for a while now.  They’re so used to it at this point that they call her a goddess and have given up working for a living.  She warns Goku that no one has ever seen her true form and lived to tell about it, which is a cool line, but not for a villain who’s only a few hours old.  Who else has seen her true form?

The premise for this story suggests that she’s been at this thing for weeks, or even longer, but that just doesn’t add up.  Maybe Goku and Pan stopped at a Holiday Inn between Episode 50 and 51. So at most, Oceanus has been operating in Bish’s village for a full day.  And yet the whole town has already gotten accustomed to her routine.  It doesn’t add up.

And what’s the point of this whole charade?  This is her only appearance, so she dies before we can find out her plan, but it seems like it would take forever to pull off. I mean, I guess her plan involves corrupting the village’s fishermen and damaging the local ecology, but wouldn’t it make more sense to just... I don’t know... use her wind powers to break stuff?   That’s what the other dragons are up to.  Haze was making land uninhabitable, Rage was forcing people to abandon cities, and when we get to Naturon we’ll find him digging tunnels and wrecking cities in the process. 

Oceanus’ strange tactics might be explained by a quirky personality, which brings me to the Underwear Wish that created her.  The Dragon Ball Wiki has a lot of words devoted to trying to connect each Shadow Dragon to the wish that birthed them, and while I respect the effort, it’s a lot of reaching.  Someone might suggest that Oceanus uses the Princess disguise because Oolong’s wish was so frivolous and pervy.  And maybe her weird plan is supposed to be tied to the nature of the wish.  Like Ooong only asked for panties in order to stop Pilaf from wishing for world domination, so maybe that has something to do with it. There are people who spend a lot of time trying to connect these dots, but it just doesn’t make sense.  

For example, Haze Shenron originated from the wish to revive Bora.  What does any of that have to do with pollution?  What does the wish to revive Goku have to do with electric slime?  Nothing.  These were just trivial matters that Toei slapped together. There is no underlying explanation for Oceanus Shenron.  Someone wanted to write a morality tale about a fishing village corrupted by a false goddess, and so one of the Shadow Dragons was tailored to suit the role.  It didn’t matter that the Shadow Dragons were only a few hours old, or that this one came from a wish for panties.  It all just got slapped together.

✨Is This Episode Worse than "The Roaming Lake"?✨

All right, so how is the fight?  Well, it’s a step up from Haze and Rage, but that’s not saying much. 

Goku gets his clothes shredded by her initial attack, but Pan has a spare dogi in her backpack, so they’re back in business.  Then Goku figures out that Oceanus just spins a lot, so he starts spinning too, and then they slam into each other really hard.  It’s very dumb, but at least they’re hitting each other.

Oceanus still gets the upper hand, though, and manages to keep Goku pinned down.  He just can’t get past the wind she creates.  It blocks all his attacks, even the Kamehameha.  You’d think Goku would try transforming to even the playing field, but maybe Rage Shenron spooked him out of that.

Anyway, all hope seems lost until the seagull Bish was carrying suddenly flies out of his hands and divebombs Oceanus from above.  It can’t do a whole lot to her, but it does manage to get through her defenses, which gives Pan an idea.  She flies directly over Oceanus and fires a Kamehameha straight down on her head.   It’s like how there’s no wind in the eye of a hurricane.  Oceanus is defenseless from that angle.

They make a lot out of this Kamehameha, like it’s Pan’s first, but I’m pretty sure she’s used it before in GT.  This is the first time she’s used it to win a battle..... or it would have been, except Goku fires his own Kamehameha at Oceanus to finish her off.  I don’t know if Pan’s was just meant as a diversion, or if the writers decided that Goku had to be involved in the finish because of Kozo Morishita’s rule against Pan actually getting to win fights or do anything cool. 

The main point I want to make here is that none of this would be possible without the seagull literally showing our heroes where to shoot.  As with the last two Shadow Dragons, Goku and Pan just sort of screw around the whole time, wondering why their attacks aren’t working, and then something else comes along to save them, like the underground spring Giru found, or the raincloud over Rage’s city, or this seagull. 

After the fight, the fishermen thank Goku and Pan for showing them the error of their ways, and all the seagulls come out of that one boat.  But they don’t have the budget for animating a flock of seagulls, so they use a bunch of still images instead.  Hey, maybe don’t write stuff into the episode if you know you’re not going to be able to animate it.

Bish asks Pan to teach him how to fly next time, and Pan responds by inviting him to Mt. Paozu for lessons.   Well that’s a brush-off if I’ve ever seen one.  Why should he schlep all the way out to Mt. Paozu, Pan?  You’re the one who can fly!

Then the episode ends with this shot of the four remaining Shadow Dragons.  This is the first time we’ve seen them since the arc started.  Episodes 48 and 49 had some shots of Rage and Oceanus, but the rest weren’t shown, which leads me to wonder if they hadn’t finalized their designs until this point.  But that’s a problem for later. 

Anyway, this episode is a lot better than the two that came before it, but that isn’t saying much.  I’m still annoyed with the way they used a seagull to expose Oceanus’ weakness.  Also, it’s kind of dumb that Oceanus’ weakness is just “attack from overhead”.  Imagine if you could defeat Frieza that easily.  But you can’t figure that out on your own, you need a seagull to demonstrate first. 

✨The Blade Braxton Memorial Haiku*✨

Can Goku restore

The cracked Dragon Balls? Or will

They Break like the Wind?

[clevermird]

Review: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

Robin McKinley has done numerous fairytale retellings in her long writing career, and this time she tackles Sleeping Beauty! In an unnamed country, magic permeates everything, to the point that it’s an everyday annoyance for most people – collecting as dust in the corners, turning teapots to mice when you’re not looking, and manifesting in babies as a variety of strange and disruptive phenomena. Pretty much everyone knows a fairy and most of them spend their time undoing the various magical shenanigans around them. When the evil fairy Pernicia casts a much larger, more malicious spell onto the infant princess on her name day, visiting young fairy Katriona agrees to help spirit the girl away to be raised in her home village as her cousin. But as the young “Rosie” grows, it becomes clear that she’s anything but princess-like, and that Pernicia will stop at nothing to find her, no matter how well-concealed she is.  In terms of tone, Spindle’s End is more similar to Rose Daughter than it is to Beauty. The prose is lighthearted and humorous, the worldbuilding based on an abundance of magic, and the story focuses on small-town interactions and a large cast of minor characters. As is typical for McKinley works, the feeling is cozy and strangely down-to-earth for such a magic-saturated story and I loved the focus on the female relationships in the story, both friendship and familial. The worldbuilding setup was fun and the first part of the story, as Katriona desperately tries to hide the princess, was tense and exciting.  However, the back half of the story doesn’t hold up. The middle segments drag and the finale is a confusing mess, leaving me frequently confused as to where the characters were and why they were doing what they were doing. A character will try something for reasons that are unclear, and it will work or fail to work for equally murky reasons, and eventually this all adds up to a conclusion somehow.  A large part of this stems from questionable worldbuilding. While the initial setup of a magic-saturated land is strong, McKinley doesn’t give enough focus to how magic actually works, what its limits and rules are, or how this affects the world beyond a few set-dressing quirks, so when the finale depends on characters using and countering magic, it can feel as though new rules are being created on the spot simply to resolve situations rather than being an organic part of the world. By the time everything reached its conclusion, my only response was a flat “okay, sure, I guess”.  Worse still are the love interests in the story. McKinley’s work is often very romantic, but the actual romance plotlines are typically fairly basic. This is taken to an extreme here, with one of the major characters’ love interest coming so out of left field that I barely realized he was supposed to be a love interest until the last few chapters. The other two are better set-up, but are so unimportant to the story that I struggle to remember if either got any speaking lines.  While Spindle’s End was a charming read from chapter to chapter, the shaky worldbuilding, confusing finale, and lackluster romance plotlines leave the whole thing a bit unsatisfying. 

Warnings: One of the romantic relationships in the story involves a 20+ year age gap (with the older party having known the younger since infancy), which may make some readers uncomfortable

Rating: 6/10 stars

[thefirstknife]

Additional stuff because I finally got through the whole quest and got all the lore from the dungeon! I'll put it also under read more:

The final three lore dialogues are super interesting in relation to the stuff about Fikrul so I'll transcribe them in full. First of the batch:

Crow: "Uldren had history with the House of Kings. That's what led to the Scorn in the first place." Petra: "I'm familiar with your history, but the banners here are ancient." Crow: "Like from the Dark Age? You know that Warlord - the skull promised her anything she wanted. She offered that promise to surrounding villages. For tribute, of course - brokered their wishes and protected them against consequences. Naeem's reputation spread, until... any guesses, Petra?" Petra: "She drew attention form the House of Kings, who coveted this power."

This summarises the lore from the Ghost shell and adds some stuff. Like the House of Kings banners that appear all around the castle. Crow and Petra explain that Naeem's bargain with Hefnd brought the Kings to the castle. One of the dialogues before these final three also explains that once Kings came to the castle, Naeem did not survive, but that with her final breath "she wished ruin on their House, that 'her vengeance follow them into the grave'."

The second dialogue:

Crow: "This all feels... personal. Uldren links to the Kings, both link to Fikrul. My one dangling thread." Petra: "Step back from yourself. New Scorn rising drew Fikrul's attention... Kings, no less. What if this was a diplomatic envoy? The Witness's Scorn are empty flesh made weapons. But the Scorn here appear to express a crude culture." Crow: "Fikrul's followers have always been different... capable of learning. Maybe he saw that potential here." Petra: "Then maybe you can still get through to him."

This was also hinted at in the lore tab for the exotic weapon I posted earlier in this post, but this is some extra stuff and it's truly wild. And super interesting. I am very much hoping that this is setup to Crow reaching out to Fikrul. The revelation that Fikrul does not like the Witness and isn't working with it is incredible. And third dialogue:

Crow: "This has to be the castle from Saladin't story. The Scorn have to be Kings. It's the only thing that makes sense. Hefnd was buried here since the Dark Age, but the instant he could, he lured the Taken in... Poisoned himself, feeding off their ties to the Darkness, their want. He found a loophole to raise the Kings into Scorn and enact his friend's dying wish for revenge." Petra: "Holding onto that anger for what... centuries? Just to destroy itself with Taken corruption - of course. Vengeance is an ouroboros. And everything cyclical is doomed to destroy itself, eventually."

This gets us back to the whole story. Naeem died to Kings and wished for their ruin that would follow them into the grave. Hefnd used that wish to turn them into Scorn. These Scorn drew attention of Fikrul, who wants the Scorn to rally around him so that they wouldn't be killed or influenced by Darkness. And now we were sent here to clean up the whole mess and end the cycle of violence, release Hefnd from the wish of vengeance and let him rest.

At the end of the quest there's one more dialogue. You get teleported to a special room with Hefnd's skull and Hefnd tells us a little bit more by using... Shaxx! Because after all Shaxx IS involved here: he was the Warlord who killed Hefnd in the first place and told Naeem about this castle. I did think that Shaxx may have been that Warlord, but mostly just because we've been thinking the dungeon might have something to do with him. It could've been anyone really. There was nothing pointing to him otherwise. But it's Shaxx and we get lines from him at the end, which I will transcribe (DLV doesn't have any dialogues from this uploaded yet):

Petra: "Something is different about this one..." Shaxx: "And so, the Great HUnt claims the life of another Ahamkara. You slew me 14 times, Wish Dragon. I landed a killing blow only once. Hardly seems fair. They say that to draw a weapon against one of your kind is to wish for victory. Even if the beast is slain, the wish is granted. The dragon wins either way. Perhaps that's why they send me on these hunts. Because... I do not wish to do this. The Ahamkara are a force of nature. To blame you for an ill-conceived wish is like blaming fire for burning down a house. And yet, when a fire rages out of control, it must be extinguished. There is no joy... or ambition in it. Only the knowledge that it must be done. Rest well, dragon. Let this castle be your tomb, one befitting a creature of your stature. That is the closest thing to a wish you'll get from me. Crow: "Shaxx is the other Warlord?" Petra: "Saladin never mentioned that? It's sweet, in a way. That this is the way Hefnd chose to speak to us." Crow: "Well, Hefnd, I'm sure the Guardian found you a worthy opponent too. We were glad to hear your story. Who wants to ask Shaxx about this?"

Feeling feelings and things about an Ahamkara who bonded with a Guardian and about Shaxx and about everything that happened here.

Dungeon is really good! I'm enjoying it immensely! Everyone in the mood for some fantasy ACTUAL dungeon crawling DnD style will love it! Beautiful location, really fun encounters that feel WAY more fair and approachable than many other dungeons and some incredibly cool lore.

The way you collect lore is also interesting; you can't just get in and grab what you need to understand everything, it's tied to a quest that requires multiple runs. This may be annoying if you don't have your own fireteam, but it's a really nice way to experiment with lore delivery; with each clear you continue a quest and can search for hidden rooms and then inside you get a collectible and can listen to dialogue that is explaining the stuff about the dungeon. The only lore tabs are on the exotic weapon and the exotic Ghost shell; everything else is dialogues to listen to. I'll put the lore tabs below and also add some stuff that I've learned so far. I'm missing final three dialogues as it takes some time to collect everything for the quest. Spoilers under:

First of all, the speculation was wrong! Nobody was correct! The castle isn't Shaxx's and Shaxx wasn't involved and he's not on comms. Strange, but I personally don't mind it that much. The dungeon is led by Petra and Crow, mostly because it's focused on an Ahamkara. The setup is that Scorn were detected on Earth where they haven't been before and then it's discovered that they were drawn to an old Dark Age castle that used to be owned by a Warlord. This Warlord is a new character called Naeem and she lived there with an Ahamkara (Hefnd) with whom she struck a deal with.

The Ghost Shell (Zira's Shell, I assume Zira was the name of Naeem's Ghost) explains that another Warlord killed Hefnd and then told Naeem about the whereabouts of its bones and she went there and claimed the castle and the Ahamkara. She made a deal with the Ahamkara to feed on her, infinitely (because she can just keep dying over and over), instead of making other people suffer for the wishes they make. So like if someone makes a wish with Hefnd, the backfire should go to Naeem. Hefnd agreed. Super interesting insight into Ahamkara. While super grim, it shows that Ahamkara are capable of partnership with people instead of just messing with them for no reason.

The Scorn are interesting because the first boss is called Rathil, First Broken Knight of Fikrul. In one of the lore dialogues, Petra and Crow also discuss Fikrul and it's finally explained that he simply vanished from the Reef and nobody knows where he went. So this is some really interesting setup going on right now, which makes sense given that the second episode is going to be about him (barring any changes in schedule and plans ofc). Furthermore, Fikrul is featured on the lore for the exotic weapon from the dungeon and it's the first and most comprehensive answer to the question of where he is and what he is doing. And it's kinda sad ngl! Rathil was a Scorn guy he called "son" and tasked with bringing back Scorn from Earth because he didn't want Darkness to "claim them." I assume that refers to taking. It's interesting because it would mean that Fikrul is not very fond of the Witness and isn't working with/for it. Speculation for now, but that's how it read. The first dungeon boss and some of the enemies needed to activate damage phases are all Fikrul's guys from the lore tab.

The final boss is a chimaera manifested by Hefnd and we defeat it, but the bones remain and they're being siphoned by Taken energy. The Taken appear half-way through the dungeon and it's unclear what they're doing and why they want the Ahamkara. Perhaps to prevent us from messing with Ahamkara to get through the portal? I assume the Witness would know that Ahamkara could help us follow it, so some sort of contingency plan. Super excited to continue playing tomorrow and get the last three dialogues. Really loving the Fikrul update. It feels so good to know that they're laying the groundwork for the hinted episode that will feature him.

Zira's Shell lore tab:

Buried Bloodline lore tab (exotic sidearm):

[svfttachi]

Some romantic/sweet things he does with his S/O hcs

TYPE: GN!reader, Lots of Fluff, Non-Mass AU

WARNING(S): None

WC: 514

NOTES: Please, I got carried away writing these because there is just so much that I imagine Itachi doing with his s/o. Like, the list could go on forever if I could keep writing it, honestly. I hope you enjoy!

I know for a fact that Uchiha Itachi is a man who will spend all of his time with you and only you. Like, this man will drop everything in the event where you wanted to cuddle, talk about your day, or spend some time together.

This, in turn, brings up the idea of at-home dates, and there are many throughout your relationship.

Now, I’m sure Itachi isn’t considered a good cook, but for this, I know he would try his best to cook you a five-star meal right from the comfort of your home. The cooking would be accompanied by a candlelit dining table and rose petals scattered across the floor. This would be Itachi trying to bring the date to you rather than you to the date which makes this 100x more romantic in your eyes.

Mornings together are the best because Itachi would wake up first to feel you clinging onto him due to the warmth his body produces daily. He wouldn’t dare to move, not even an inch, since he would disturb your sleep, and he would rather watch your sleepy face resting right in front of him, anyway.

FLOWERS, CHOCOLATES, SWEETS, literally ANYTHING… he will get it for you if it’s for an occasion or just because he was walking in the village and was reminded of you upon passing by any of these things. Honestly, he would love gardening for the sole purpose of making you a bouquet of his freshly grown flowers every couple of weeks.

When you were too lazy to get ready for the day, Itachi would volunteer to make your hair for you, and it feels especially nice when he gives your head a massage. Nevertheless, you do reciprocate the feeling by doing the same to his head and hair, usually after he comes back from missions.

Speaking of missions, Itachi definitely checks up on you with his crow whenever he is gone from missions for too long, and sometimes, you’d get a visit from the crow at home only to find a freshly picked rose in its talons with a small note attached to it.

Oh right, Itachi writes love poems and notes for you… like he would write, edit, revise, and reread it a couple of times before giving it to you because he’s so hopelessly in love with you that he feels the need to express it through writing. Bonus, you keep every single note and poem he has written in a small box in your closet.

I feel like I’m writing a lot, but I don’t care… this man will go on evening and late night walks around the village! Oh my, imagine walking into a setting where he has a whole late night picnic setup done in the grass that sat underneath the stars. Please, I’m getting emotional thinking about this!

To sum this up, there are a lot of things that Itachi does that are romantic and sweet gestures in your relationship, and I feel I cannot even list them all. He’s a romantic at heart, for sure.

NARUTO MASTERLIST

WRITING MASTERLIST

NAVIGATION

[bestiesenpai]

youtuber Sukuna

I beg you to read the shitposts I made about this, they are delicious. You don’t have to of course but...if you loved me you would :) s/n = screen name, and I hope you chuckle at Sukunas screen name

Content warning: uhmhm lowkey incel shit(mean internet comments and whatnot)

part two --- part 3

Name: Sukuna. Age: 25. Height: 6 foot 5 inches. Occupation: toxic Youtuber, fitness trainer and hot guy.

Sukuna wasn’t exactly known for being kind. He wasn’t nice to others, rarely having anything good to say about anyone, and he’d made a successful Youtube career out of it. First starting as a fitness trainer at his gym, through encouragement from his clients and the notion of a quick cash grab, he started Youtube.

He didn’t care about it and that reflected in the quality of his videos and editing. He didn’t have consistent uploads, just filming and posting videos whenever he wanted, analytics be fucked. But somehow, that worked out for him, and he quickly found himself with over two million subscribers just frothing at the mouth for his next video.

And those subscribers were some of the worst people. Sukuna didn’t care about fostering a safe space online for others, not in the slightest. His comment sections were atrocious, both on his Youtube and his Instagram. It was full of toxic men one-upping each other constantly and dragging on each other for not being able to work out as much as Sukuna did.

Sukuna was a large part of why his fanbase were so toxic. He himself often made bad comments about others, whether fellow creators or people that happened to appear in the backgrounds of his videos, and on more than one occasion he’d been ‘cancelled’. None of that mattered though, all he cared about was shitting on other people and making money.

Sometimes he played video games and posted it, but not too often. Sukuna often stated he wasn’t so much of a fucking lonely loser that he’d play video games all the time, and so the gaming videos he did post were few and far between. He played angry shooter games and GTA, mindless button clicking he could get lost in for a few hours for a video.

Laying in bed one night after uploading his most recent video, one where he rages at 12 year olds on GTA online, Sukuna was just scrolling through his phone mindlessly. After he uploads video game content, like clockwork, he gets recommendations for gaming channels. He only watches a few of them, mostly leaving mean comments saying what losers they are, but one catches his eye.

He’s never been recommended this kind of video before. The thumbnail is light and bright with some pink aesthetic lights in the back. But the most enticing thing is the person in the middle, cute pink cat ear headphones on and a bright smile.

“Let’s see…” Sukuna mumbles to himself, mindlessly clicking the video. He hasn’t even read the title, he only clicked it because they were cute, and here he is nearly blinded by the bright setup they have.

“Hi everyone, it’s (Y/N) here and I’m really excited today! We’re going to be playing this new game I found!” Sukuna is immediately enraptured by the sound of your voice, watching how your face changes as you talk. His eyes drift off to the decor behind you, cute plushies and healthy plants, and some twinkling fairy lights. There’s books as well, and your chair is one of those ergonomic gamer chairs he has as well but in pink.

Sukuna watches the video dumbly, totally in the dark about whatever you’re doing, but loving it all the same. All he knows is that he likes the sound of your voice, and when you laugh and smile at a funny part in the game, it makes a light flush come to his cheeks.

It only takes one video for Sukuna to spiral into more of your content. He watches a video on your gaming setup, and he’s surprised that so much technology can come in pink. He watches a video on how you edit, a few of you cooking in your kitchen, and even a few vlog videos.

He quickly subscribes to your channel, and when you plug your social media, he immediately goes there. Pulling up your Instagram, he stares at your profile picture and almost audibly coos at you for being cute.

Your profile is just as cute as your videos are and Sukuna barely remembers to follow you before he’s going through your whole feed, liking every picture he sees. Sometimes he leaves comments, only one word though, ‘cute’. He’s never liked something so outright cute before, it wasn’t who he was and it definitely didn’t fit with his brand.

Falling asleep after following you on every platform, Sukuna wakes up thinking about you as well. And he also wakes up to hundreds of comments from all his accounts, bombarding him with questions and screenshots from last night.

‘SUKUNA WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS SHIT?!’

‘OMG Sukuna liked (Y/N)s posts!!’

‘Sukuna is so gross and toxic, you better stay away from (Y/N)!’

‘SUKUNA YOU GAY NOW’

‘EW why the fuck do you like this bitch?’

There were hundreds of comments that he waded through. Most were from his fans, expressing disgust at how many photos of yours he’d liked and wondering why he, Sukuna, most heterosexual alpha male on the planet, would like a pretty in pink Youtuber who had bubbly intros and whined when their animal crossing villagers wanted to move away.

Other comments were from your fans, some in awe that he would like you considering how much he said he hated overly cute things. Other fans expressed concern, worried what this might mean for their favorite Youtuber. Did Sukuna want to cause problems, potentially hurting you? He did have a reputation of bullying others, so this wasn’t far fetched.

Checking your Instagram, you didn’t make any comment about it. There wasn’t any update or anything, but on his end he was being tagged in endless Twitter threads with screenshots of him liking your posts and commenting under them.

“For fucks sake.” He grunted, clenching his phone in his hands. The amount of notifications he was getting were starting to upset him and he nearly threw his phone to get them to stop.

Ignoring his phone for the rest of the day, Sukuna went to the gym like he always did and trained with his clients. Some of them brought it up to him, asking him if he had a mind break last night and forgot what he was doing. Sending them harsh glares, Sukuna refused to talk about it.

“Oh my fucking god.” Sukuna nearly wailed when he got home, finally checking his phone. His name and yours had begun trending, and the hashtag #protect(Y/N) was also. Muttering angrily under his breath, Sukuna turned on Instagram live.

“Okay what the fuck!” He shouted, seeing the live become instantly flooded with people all screaming about you and him. “You’re all fucking annoying, you know that?” Glaring harshly at the camera, he read some of the comments that went by.

‘WHY’D YOU LIKE (Y/N)S POSTS FROM 2017’

‘Are you two secretly dating??’

‘COLLAB!’

“Who gives a shit why I liked their stuff, you’re a fucking weirdo for keeping track of me. And we aren’t secretly dating, dipshits.” Rolling his eyes, Sukuna scoffed as more comments came in begging for a collaboration. “And think about it you morons, why would we collab? Our shit is too fucking different, what would we even film about?”

Sukuna stayed on Instagram live for nearly an hour answering questions asking about you. Every time he had to answer that you weren’t secretly dating, he got a little more annoyed. Not at the comments themselves but at the fact that it was true; you didn’t even know he existed.

Ending the live in a huff, Sukuna didn’t feel any better than before, and it was made even worse by the fact that everything he said was being relayed to Twitter, and you were tagged in every tweet.

“These idiots!” Staring at his phone, Sukuna couldn’t believe what he was seeing. On your Instagram stories, you’d posted a q&a for your followers, and nearly all of the comments were about Sukuna.

“Hi everyone! No, me and Sukuna aren’t dating!” You said, laughing a little to ease how uncomfortable you were. “To be honest, I’ve never even heard of him before! As you know, my content is very...different from his, so our circles don’t exactly intersect. But I’m always happy to have new followers and potential friends!”

“Fuck me.” Sukuna groaned, cringing at how uncomfortable you looked having to address the sudden onslaught of questions. For once he wished he’d actually given a shit about his online presence, so that maybe one day your circles could intersect. He knew he scared you, he scared a lot of people, and this was just proof.

“Uh, Sukuna if you see this, hi it’s nice to meet you!” You said in the next slide, puffing out your cheeks and waving cutely at the camera. It made Sukuna blush, and he hated it. “Thank you for following me and liking my content! I was very surprised that you found me!”

“Of course I did, idiot, you’re fucking cute.” He muttered under his breath.

“I know a lot of people are asking for us to do a video together and I know our content is really different, so don’t feel pressured to respond or anything, but the offer is open! If you’d like, we can collab on something.”

“On what?” He asked like you were there.

“I cook sometimes, and I know you cook too! Maybe we can make a cooking video? You can teach me how to make healthy food or something!” Sukuna could tell a fake laugh when he heard one, and you definitely had one right now. “Anyways, thank you! Bye Sukuna!” But hearing you say his name cutely like that made him not care.

He nearly responded right away, accepting the collab offer now that you’d spoken about it, but he didn’t want to seem desperate. He watched through the rest of your Instagram stories, going back and replaying the parts where you talked about him over and over and his heart clenched every time when you said his name.

In the dead of night, Sukuna DM’s you after watching your latest video and leaving the simple comment ‘check your DM’s’.

“Fuck, what should I say?” He’s suddenly stumped as he looks at the keyboard. Typing and retyping a message, in the end all he can say is hi. He doesn’t expect a reply, ever, but when he gets a vibration on his phone two seconds later he jumps to read it.

(S/N): hi Sukuna! :)

(cursedgod): hey

Real fucking smart, repeating what he just said.

(S/N): is there something you wanted to talk to me about?

(S/N): I hope you haven’t been annoyed at all the notifications you’ve been getting!

(cursedgod): No it’s okay

(cursedgod): we can collab if you want

Good Sukuna, good. Play it cool, don’t let them know that your fingers are actually trembling because you’re nervous.

(S/N): do you want to?? I don’t want to pressure you! I know we’re pretty different haha

(cursedgod): yeah, let's do it. Cooking?

(S/N): sure!

Looking around his home, he was suddenly assaulted with the fact that he didn’t have any furniture. He barely had a proper bedroom, just a mattress on a bare frame and a dresser. His lounge room was the same with his computer setup in one corner and then nothing else. There was only a couch, a mounted TV and a fold out table and chairs for his dining room.

(cursedgod): I know a studio kitchen we can use, I’ll send you the address

Thank god he’d done promo work for a brand in a studio one day, otherwise he’d be fucked.

(S/N): awesome! I’m free next Saturday!

And just like that, it was a date. Well, a meeting. Sukuna knew it wasn’t a date, but his heart still thumped like it was one. Confirming the time, he ended the conversation with a curt goodbye and obsessed about it throughout the night.

When the day to meet you came, Sukuna nearly ran late trying to pick out his clothes. He’d never cared about looking good or presenting himself well in front of others, whatever version of him he turned up in was what they got. But for you, he wanted to try a little harder.

Waiting outside the studio space, Sukuna rubbed his hands together nervously. You’d messaged a day or two ago offering to put the video on your channel since it probably wouldn’t fit his aesthetic, so he didn’t have to bring his shitty camera equipment.

“S-sukuna?” Snapping his head up, Sukunas mouth fell open looking at your curious face a few feet away, an Uber driving off behind you. You were even cuter in person, just his fucking luck. How was he expected to act like a normal person when his recent obsession was here looking better than he could have imagined.

“Hi.” What comes out is a grunt, not the smooth word he’d hoped. He can see you eyeing him up, taking in all the thick and corded muscles of his body. It made his chest puff out a little, he worked hard for this physique and to have you so openly looking at him made him happy.

“It’s nice to meet you!” Sticking your hand out, you smiled politely at him.

“Same.” Shaking your hand with a firm grip, Sukuna could feel the difference in your palms. Yours was soft and nicely moisturized and he had callouses everywhere and a few cuts and scrapes.

Opening the door for you, Sukuna led you to the studio space he’d rented out. It was a clean and modern kitchen, not unlike his own, but it had appliances and looked actually lived in. Helping you set up a few camera angles, Sukuna felt a pang of nerves hit him in the stomach.

“Sukuna, can we take a picture together?” You asked before starting, and Sukunas brow furrowed deeply. Why would you want to take a picture with him? His expression must have scared you, because you quickly backtracked. “F-for promo for this video, on Instagram and stuff!”

“Sure.” God, did he feel bad or what. He shouldn’t have made that face at you, now you wouldn’t look him in the eye. Crouching down to get the right angle for you, Sukuna watched you pick a cute animal filter.

“Just do what I do.” Throwing up a peace sign, you cutely tilted your head from side to side and smiled. Sukuna tried to do the same but he looked awkward, and most of all he was blushing pretty bad.

You snapped a multitude of pictures, some at different angles and some with different filters, and in all of them Sukuna was blushing at least a little. He managed to smile more as it went on, even laughing at one of the filters.

“Thanks! I’m going to post these really quick and then we can get started!” Giving him a brief smile, you turned back to your phone and set about editing some of the pictures. Looking over your shoulder, Sukuna could see that he looked like a blushing high schooler meeting their idol for the first time and not a grown man.

Once the photos were posted and you tagged him in everything, it was time to start. Setting up your marks on the floor, you took a generous drink of water and cleared your throat.

“Are you ready for the intro? I’ll start it and introduce you, okay?” You’d actually prepared a script for yourself, and showed Sukuna as well.

“Okay.” Stepping in front of the camera, Sukuna bristled at feeling you so close to him. Your arm brushed his casually as you were fixing your shirt, and Sukuna was glad he’d worn his most expensive cologne for this.

“Hi everyone, welcome to today's video! As you know, I’m (Y/N), and today we have a special guest today!” Throwing your arms in the air, you motioned to Sukuna.

“Hi.” He nodded, barely cracking a smile. He could feel you looking at him like you wanted to say something, but he didn’t look.

“So, many people have been asking for us to do a collaboration and it’s finally here!” Clapping your hands lightly, you rocked on your heels and nudged his shoulder with yours. “Do you want to tell them what we’ll be doing today?”

“Uh-” The playful nudge you’d given him was enough to make Sukuna short circuit. “I-I-” He suddenly couldn’t remember how to speak. “Rice?”

“Let’s try that again.” You laughed. “Do you want to tell them what we’ll be doing today?” This time, you didn’t nudge him with your shoulder.

“We’re gonna…” the words were on the tip of his tongue, they wanted to come out and be spoken but he couldn’t do it.

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Nodding reassuringly, you took a deep breath in and out, and Sukuna shakily copied. “One more try?” When he looked at you, Sukuna expected to see a hint of annoyance in your face, but there was none. You were just smiling softly at him, waiting for his answer.

“Yeah. I’ll uh, I’ll get it next time.” Stepping away from the camera, Sukuna took a drink of water and cleared his throat. Cracking the bones in his neck, he took a deep breath and came back. “Let’s do it.” No more fucking embarrassments.

“Do you want to tell them what we’ll be doing today?” You asked for the third time, slightly swaying your body side to side this time.

“We’re gonna make katsudon today.” Finally, the words he wanted to say came out.

“That’s right! As you can see, Sukuna is really fit!” You immediately hopped in, giving his arm a brief squeeze. “And he knows how to make a ton of healthy meals!”

“Mhmm.”

“So I asked if he could help teach me, and all of you at home, how to make it!” Smiling at the camera, you waited a few seconds before relaxing and turning it off. “Did you like that? We can refilm it if you want.”

“No, it’s okay.” Running a hand through his hair, he pointed to the bag of rice he’d brought. “Let’s get started on this shit.”

Taking fifteen minutes to film the two of you filling up the rice cooker, when it was over, you set about getting aesthetic shots of the other ingredients. Sukuna tried to seem casual off to the side on his phone, but he was really watching you.

Getting started on chopping the ingredients, Sukuna somehow managed to say the things he was supposed to without stuttering too badly. He was amazed that you could make the things he was doing sound so interesting, your narration as you held the camera and tried to do things yourself was impressive to the man that barely knew anything about cameras.

“Sukuna, I need help cutting the meat.” You whined, tapping the meat on the cutting board with a knife. “I don’t remember how you showed me.”

“Here.” Without thinking, Sukuan grabbed your hand with the knife in it and moved it for you. “You just have to move your wrist more, it’s not that hard.” Doing it a few times, when Sukuna felt your chest expand with air against his, that’s when he realized how close the two of you were. “S-sorry.” Immediately jumping back, he stared at the floor.

“Thanks!” Giving him a smile, you kept at it.

“I’ll fry the meat.” Stepping in as soon as you were done, Sukuna already had the hot oil ready. He was eager to cook and do something with his hands instead of - what he felt like - was awkwardly watching you off to the side.

“Okay!” Grabbing the camera, you focused on the pan. “You’re really good at this, Sukuna!”

“T-thanks.” Staring directly at the pan, Sukuna didn’t look away. Even with the hot oil popping up from the pan a few times and burning his fingers, he didn’t flinch at all.

“Ow!” But you did. Your hand had gotten too close, and when Sukuna flipped the meat, some of the oil had gotten on your hand.

“Shit.” Abandoning the pan, Sukuna was ready to drag you over to the sink for some cool water.

“I-it’s okay, it was only a little.” Shaking your stinging hand, you point to the food. “But I think the meat might burn.”

“Shit!”

Narrowly avoiding disaster with the meat, when it came time to cook the eggs, you made a joke about how you liked your eggs in the morning and Sukuna burnt them almost immediately. While not an overtly sexual comment, the implications of the words still affected him.

Somehow, he managed to make the dish come together and while his plated dish didn’t come out the best, yours looked at least halfway decent with overcooked meat and burnt eggs. The only things not messed up were the rice and vegetables, and even then Sukuna was surprised.

“We did it everyone, we made katsudon!” Holding up the bowls, you smiled big and nudged Sukunas shoulder again. “You saw we had a few mishaps along the way, but that’s okay, that’s what made it fun.”

“Yeah, it was fun.” Sukuna chuckled. Despite him being more nervous than he’d ever thought possible, he had fun cooking alongside you.

“Sukuna, will you try mine? I made it super pretty and everything.” Holding your dish up to him, Sukuna wasn’t expecting you to do that. Now he felt bad that his looked so ugly and like a teenaged boy made it; he almost said no.

Eating yours though, somehow it tasted better than he was expecting. It must have been how you prepared it, and the fact that you cared so much about the presentation. Eating it in silence, he let you eat in peace as well for a few minutes and compliment the food to the camera.

“Alright, that’s the end of the video!” Putting your bowl down, you turned to Sukuna. “I had so much fun today, thanks for filming this with me.” Now was his chance to make everything better. Putting his bowl down and bolstering himself with confidence, Sukuna threw his arm over your shoulder and pulled you close to him.

“Thank you (Y/N), I really did enjoy today. I hope we can film again soon!” He squeezed your shoulder and smiled really big at not only you but the camera as well. He knew he was blushing, he knew that even the tip of his nose was a nice rosy shade, but he didn’t care. If people teased him for it, then so be it. But he wanted you to know how he truly felt.

“R-really? You want to?” You asked, looking up at Sukuna from your place smooshed against his body.

“Really.”

“Aww, well you heard it here first everyone! Sukuna wants to shoot another video with me!” Clapping your hands a few times, you waved at the camera. “Okay, bye everyone!”

“Bye.” Sukuna waved too, waiting a few seconds before letting you go and turning off the camera.

“Sukuna, did you really mean it? You want to film another video with me?” You were in utter disbelief. All this time, he’d just seemed very standoffish, if not a little awkward around you. You were happy to film this video with him, he had way more followers than you and it would help boost both your channels, and to hear him say that just made it even better.

“Yeah, I was serious.” Sukuna spoke around stuffing his mouth with the food he still had left. He was more hungry than he thought, the nerves doing a good job of twisting his stomach during the video. Now that it’s over, he can finally relax.

“That makes me really happy.” Eating the rest of your food as well, you leant against the counter. “This is gonna sound kind of mean, but I was really scared to film with you today. I thought you were going to be really mean.”

“Shit, you did?” He grimaced, letting out a sigh. “Sorry I had you worried.” He could already imagine the comments you would get from his fans.

“It’s okay! You’re actually way nicer in person, I was surprised!”

“That’s good.”

“And you’re really buff, you have muscles in places I didn’t even know were possible!” You laughed bashfully at that comment, and avoided looking at him when he stared at you in shock. “I couldn’t help but notice…”

Were you checking him out? Had you been checking him out this whole time and he didn’t even realize? He had seen you eyeing him up when you first met, but were you looking at him like that at other times as well? Now he’d really have to watch your video to see if it was true.

“Thanks, it’s my job.” Could he have said that any lamer? “My job outside of all this, I mean. I’m a trainer at this fancy gym downtown.”

“Oh, I’ve seen some of your videos at your gym! I know which one you’re talking about.”

“You do? You’ve seen my videos?” If he wasn’t surprised before, he was now.

“Yeah, you know I had to do a little research beforehand.” You nodded, beginning to clean up the dishes around you. “And I know you’ve already watched almost all of my videos, so it only seemed fair.”

Did you have to bring that up? Now Sukuna was embarrassed again.

“Y-yeah, I did.” Clearing his throat, Sukuna helped gather the dishes. He took up washing them, another task he could do to get his mind off you. As you took down the camera equipment, he nearly broke several dishes and utensils from scrubbing too hard.

“I’ll call you an Uber.” He said when all was said and done and you were back at the front of the building.

“You don’t have to, it’s okay.”

“No, I want to.” Quickly calling you a ride, Sukuna fiddled with his phone a little more. “Uh, could I- could I-” His voice kept leaving him, and he had to cough a few times. “Can I get your number? I really liked your camera shit and I want to improve mine.” Okay, it wasn’t a total lie. He did like your setup and wanted to make his just as good, but he really wanted your number to potentially talk to you more about things outside of Youtube.

“Sure! Go ahead and type it in.” You were quick to give him your phone, a cute pink phone case on the back of it. Typing it in, he can’t help but notice the little devil emoji you add by his name. He wants to ask, but your ride is already pulling up.

“Bye!” Setting all your camera gear inside the car, you turn and wave goodbye.

“See ya.” Just as you’re about to close the car door, Sukuna gets a burst of confidence. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

“Okay!” And off you go. Sukuna watches the car drive off until he can’t see it anymore. He takes his time getting to his own place, eagerly awaiting your message with every step. But even when you do message him, all he can do is send a thumbs up back and nothing else.

It’s about two and a half days after that that you text him again, letting him know you’re done editing and that you’re going to post the video soon. It wasn’t a very long video to begin with, so the editing was simple enough. Sukuna replied with what appeared to be a lackluster ‘can’t wait’, but on the inside he was shaking. He’d already screenshot all the pictures the two of you took together and added them to a folder.

“Here we go.” As soon as the video went live, Sukuna watched it. He was mortified as soon as it started at the blush so evident on his cheeks, and how it stayed throughout the whole thing. He groaned at the part where he helped you cut up the meat, he almost wishes you’d cut it out. Every little detail that made him embarrassed was there, every little nuance of his actions you’d managed to capture and make it cute.

(Y/N): How do you like it??

You texted him after twenty minutes, eager to hear his thoughts.

(Sukuna): it’s good, good editing and stuff

(Y/N): yay! I’m going to read comments in a few hours, you should too! I bet people will be really shocked!

(Sukuna): yeah no doubt

Oh, he was definitely going to read the comments. Whereas you were going to wait for a fair few to come in before commenting, Sukuna frequently refreshed the page and read the new ones as they came in. You were right, a lot of people were surprised, but he also saw a lot of his fans as well.

‘Ew Sukuna really cooked for that bitch? They can’t do it themselves?’

‘Yeah, why do they have to rely on him? Useless as fuck lol’

‘Sukuna only did this to get laid, (Y/N) looks like an easy fuck’

All of those comments, and many more, made his blood boil. Usually, he wouldn’t care at all about the comments, letting them fester in his comment section and spiral out of control. But for you, it was different.

‘Fuck off and die you pieces of shit. Leave (Y/N) alone or say it to my fucking face’

Sukuna sent that message, along with a variety of other threats, to all the people that insulted you. He didn’t care that this wasn’t his channel and that you would deal with it in whatever way you wanted to. He needed to defend you against the unwanted audience he’d brought you.

Luckily, after seeing Sukunas messages, all of his fans backed off. They knew how serious he was about his threats and there were many rumors that he actually did go and beat people up who said things he didn’t like. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of his torment.

With Sukunas name attached to the video and his heavy presence in the comment section, the video easily went viral. It was easily the most viewed video on your channel, getting on the trending pages of several different platforms.

(Sukuna): hey

It’s nearly a week after the first video that Sukuna messages you, and the hype is still going strong, and your follower count grows greatly from it.

(Y/N): hi! What’s up?

(Sukuna): do you want to film a video for my channel now? We can play a game, I have a few

(Y/N): sure that sounds fun!

Oh how wrong you were. The game Sukuna chose was a scary game, a shooter game with scary zombies and a lot of possible jumpscares. He doesn’t tell you either, so on the night of filming - he insisted on it being nighttime to get the full scary effect - you were caught off guard.

“I don’t know about this.” You whined once you saw the title. The two of you were video calling alongside playing the game together, and Sukuna’s eyes flicked to your figure on the screen.

“It’ll be okay, I’ll carry you, don’t worry.” He had started filming as soon as he’d set up the game, and you were filming yourself as well for him.

“You promise it won’t be too scary?”

“If it’s too scary just close your eyes and I’ll protect you.” Smiling softly at you, he started up the game. The beginning was fine, just a quick introduction to the game, but as soon as things started to get moving, you were scared.

“Sukuna a zombie is eating me!” You screamed, frantically pushing buttons in an attempt to get it off.

“It’s okay!” He quickly got rid of it, and made sure to stay close to your character as the story progressed.

“(Y/N) stay by me, there’s about to be a whole lot of them.”

“Close your eyes there’s about to be a jump scare here.”

“Don’t worry about getting that item, I’ll grab it for you!”

Sukuna nearly forgot he was being filmed, saying sweet things to you to help encourage you and make sure you weren’t overwhelmed. There were many parts where you screamed in fright and Sukuna was there to coo at you and tell you it was okay. He made sure that your character never died, making sure to keep you close until the end of the game.

“Sukuna, that was so hard!” Squishing your cheeks in your hands, you looked at him through your phone.

“It was fun though, wasn’t it? I had fun with you.” Completely abandoning the game, he stared down at his phone with a soft smile on his face.

“Yeah, when there weren’t so many zombies.” You stuck your tongue out at him, and it made him laugh. Leaning his head into his hand, Sukuna grinned when you yawned.

“Aw, are you tired? Better go to sleep soon.” His voice dropped to a lower volume, like you were right next to him.

“I will.” You yawned again and it made Sukuna yawn as well.

“Get off the phone and go to bed, you’re making me tired too.”

“Fine.” Whining out the word, you waved sleepily. “Goodnight Sukuna, I’ll send you the video files in the morning, okay?”

“Night.” Waving back, Sukuna waited until you hung up to turn his stuff off as well.

In the morning, Sukuna was ready to edit. What usually took him a week to edit out of laziness, he took only a day to edit this video with you together. Rewatching the footage, he nearly gagged at seeing how soft his face got when he looked at you, and most of those parts were left in because he couldn’t stand to watch them and fix them.

(Sukuna): videos up

The next day, he messaged you. Once again Sukuna patrolled the comments, swiftly deleting any that said even a hint of a bad thing about you. There was less this time, what with Sukuna adding a warning at the beginning of the video threatening anyone that talked down at you.

This video, like the first, went viral. But for a much different reason. Since Sukuna was emotionally unable to deal with how sappy he was and edit those parts out, everyone got to see how soft he was for you. If the comments weren’t mean, they were screaming about how you and Sukuna must be dating now, because why else would he look at you and talk to you like that?

And much to Sukuna’s dismay, there were also fancam edits of you two together. Any clippable moment of him being sweet on you in the videos you’d made together along with the photos you’d posted on Instagram were edited together and posted on Twitter. You both were tagged in every single one, making sure Sukuna saw all the videos of you and him together. He saved all of them too, delighting in the way you looked with him with all those pretty filters.

By the end of the day, people were trying to put a ship name together for the two of you and he’s seen you repost a few fancams with cute messages of thanks as well. Seeing you receptive to the fans screaming about the two of you made him happy, even if he was still too nervous to text you about anything outside of Youtube.

As more comments came in, people on Twitter were begging him to do a vlog with you. You had quite a few on your channel, going to cafes or filming what your day or week was like. Sukuna had watched them all and was jealous of every single person that appeared alongside you.

(Y/N): hey I’m doing a live on Instagram if you want to join me! I know people really like us together lol it’ll be great for views

(Sukuna): sure

Did you want him to join now? He’d just gotten out of the shower and thrown on a pair of sweats, he wasn’t exactly decent. But he didn’t want to waste time getting ready only for you to end the live.

“Hi Sukuna!” You smiled and waved when he appeared on the screen.

“Hey.” He waved back, not caring about the angle he was holding the camera in. He saw hearts begin to fill up the screen and comments started to fly by, almost all in caps about the fact he was shirtless talking to you.

“Guys, don’t be weird! Who cares that Sukuna is shirtless?” You tried to stop them, but it was clear you were flustered as well. You weren’t looking at him, peeking at him through the screen a few times.

“God you’re all thirsty as fuck.” Sukuna finally looked at himself on the screen. He was shirtless and in bed, hair slightly damp and tousled on his pillow. Reading a few comments, he shot up. “Of course I’m wearing pants, you nasty fuck!” Storming out of bed, he stood in front of the only mirror in his house that wasn’t in the bathroom and turned the camera around. “See, look!”

“Oh.” Gasping softly, you were glad Sukuna didn’t notice you screenshot the live. Clad in only gray sweatpants, Sukuna’s freshly cleaned skin gleamed in the light of his bedroom and every single muscle and edge of his body was on display.

“There, told you I wasn’t fucking naked.” Rolling his eyes, he flopped back down on the bed. None of the comments had gotten any better, all of them talking about how hot he was and how you were so lucky to know him in real life.

“L-let's talk about something else.” You stammered, not showing your face on camera for a few minutes. Sukuna laughed at the comments teasing you for being embarrassed, agreeing with some of them under his breath.

“So, what the fuck are you all doing here?” Sukuna posed the question at the chat, but at you as well.

“Well before you came everyone was talking about you...and you know how everyone has been begging for us to vlog?” You started off slowly, peeking an eye at his face.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to call you to ask how you felt about that?” How he felt? Why did you want to know?

“You couldn’t have texted me that?” That wasn’t necessarily what he wanted to say, but it made you chuckle, so it was okay.

“No! I wanted to ask so everyone could know!”

“I don’t mind it.” If you wanted to vlog with him, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“So…” Worrying your lip, you looked off camera for a few seconds before looking directly at Sukuna. “Would you like to be in a vlog with me, at a cafe? It’s outside the city, kind of far, but we can rent a car or-”

“Yes.” Sukuna interrupted, nodding his head quickly. “I’ll come. We don’t have to rent a car, I’ll drive.”

“Really?” The comments were just as shocked as you were. Sukuna never filmed anywhere but his home and the gym, this would be a monumental occasion.

“Did you want me to say no?”

“No!” You screamed immediately, nearly dropping your phone. “I just- I wasn’t expecting you to say yes!”

“Well I did.” Sukuna bit his lip, running a hand through his hair and flexing his arm. “So I guess it’s a date, huh?” His normal asshole confidence was back now that you were appearing through a screen and not right next to him. A surprised sound came from the back of your throat, and you nearly dropped the phone again.

“Y-yeah! A date!” It felt good to have you flustered for once and not Sukuna. Laughing heartily at you, Sukuna smirked at the comments.

“Was that all you wanted to ask me or was there something more?”

“No, that was it!”

“Alright.” Licking his lip and letting his tongue hang out of his mouth a little, Sukuna watched you bite your lip as well. “Well I’m gonna go, I got stuff to do, but I’ll text you later (Y/N).” Dropping his voice as he said goodbye, Sukuna left the livestream.

“Holy fuck.” As soon as his phone was off, Sukuna let out a breath he’d been holding in. His heart was pounding hard despite how confident he was in his actions. Flirting was nothing new to him, but with you it felt different and like he’d never done it before in his life.

He watched the rest of your livestream while he finished getting ready for bed, laughing at the comments still teasing you about getting flustered with him. The notifications for Twitter were going off as well, and he knew for sure that there were new fancams for him to check out later.

(Y/N): Sukuna!! You’re so embarrassing!

Texting him after your stream, your cheeks were still burning at the memory.

(Sukuna): hey, you said it would be good for views and it was

(Y/N): I know…

(Y/N): did you really mean it, about coming with me?

(Sukuna): of course. If I didn’t want to I would have said no

(Y/N): that’s good lol!

There was a lull in conversation, and Sukuna nearly fell asleep waiting for you to either text him again or for him to figure out what to say next.

(Y/N): so, a date huh? Are you going to bring me flowers?

Now he was awake. He didn’t expect you to bring that up again, and his eyes flew open. Sukuna’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, mind going blank on what to say.

(Y/N): lol just kidding! I know you only said that for the stream! I’ll text you later about the details, I’m about to knock out

(Y/N): goodnight :)

Well shit. Now he definitely wanted it to be a date.

[archon-maenad]

the red grail finally got fed tf up with the two-who-are-one, and in a scheme equal parts ambitious and desperate she managed to convince the horned-axe to use that formidable power of knock to open a doorway to what I'm calling the forbidden histories (aka the naruto world) and help kick their shared enemy through it.

below the readmore was my attempt to summarize this au that got waaaaay out of hand, but I'm too excited to pare it down so here you go, word vomit about sakura haruno being eldritch! enjoy!

so the twins got lured into a trap and then decisively evicted from the secret histories. in their panic to not dissolve upon landing in the elemental countries they anchor themselves to the new realm as quickly as possible via a native soul (shh no I don't know the details of how this works play along)... and only realize after that they're now both tied to this randomly chosen mortal body and cannot leave.

so sakura haruno is replaced by the witch-and-sister and sister-and-witch, both of whom are mad as all hell about being tricked and trapped into a set of histories so dangerous they're almost more taboo than nowhere, because the lithomachy over there was ultra mega worse. like the foundations of the mansus being damaged worse.

no, I don't know what fuckery could actually lead to that happening. but I needed a setup for kaguya to ransack the mansus, gobbling up as much of the glory as she can, therefore leading to chakra's existence and tying the cultist simulator world into the naruto one.

a portion of the woods managed to break away relatively whole and eventually evolved into the summons world, but everything else in the mansus, yes that includes nowhere, was torn to shreds and either consumed by something (kaguya was not the only post-battle looter) or just now saturates the waking world.

shit's fucked, basically. the forbidden histories are a well kept secret for a reason in this au. and now the twins are stuck there, locked into a single mortal body.

canon takes one look at them and runs away screaming, obviously. sakura haruno's body can't channel much of their power without burning out, but it doesn't need to. these mortals aren't even playing around with the leftover energy from the mansus imploding, they're playing around with it's further diluted evolution from millennia later, and the twins were Hours.

so of course they wipe the floor with danzo when he tries to kidnap them at the ripe age of five for being what he thinks is the start of a new bloodline, and it's only downhill from there for the rest of those poor shinobi. the other villages may be grabbing popcorn right now to watch with glee as konoha implodes (except for kiri, they're busy with all those genocides) but that tune is gonna change real quick once sakura sets off on their continent-spanning coming-of-age odyssey to find a way back to the mansus.

the rest of my plot for this au is just a bunch of question marks interspersed with moments such as "sakura's travels and research are subsidized by the konohan government in an order that tsunade didn't even have to bully anyone into because they all want her to be Someone Else's Problem that much," and "gaara has an existential crisis over his 'mother' being scared of something because shukaku's long disused self-preservation instincts are screaming bloody murder when he touches that girl's chakra."

it probably ends with the twins returning to the mansus and cryppys (my beloved 🥰) holding their jacket while they beat up the red grail or something idk. anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk.

not me dusting off my old documents of misc concepts to see if there's anything worth sharing and being bombarded with all of the batshit insane niche sakura haruno ideas I used to regularly write.

no seriously. do you want a sakura with sixteen personally tailored disco elysium style skills in her head? do you want a sakura who is actually two codependent eldritch gods from cultist simulator in one body? do you want a sakura who is supernaturally forgettable a lá what I now know is a fledgeling antimemetic?

do you want a sakura? any sakura? I probably have it!

there are also dozens of other weird but cool ideas I will probably share at some point (the promised neverland full score trio reincarnated as team 7 has Potential), but somehow I forgot how fucking obsessed I used to be with sakura haruno and I'm now going to make that your problem as well.

[eyemarked]

potential ending theory: a world without fear

i have a theory about a possible ending of the magnus archives that i think would be satisfyingly horrific, thematically appropriate, and well-foreshadowed. i’m sure that someone has already thought about this basic concept, but my reasoning is a bit elaborate so i just wanted to lay out some thoughts and document my own theory process. 

i think that everyone in the world is going to become fearless like georgie, killing the entities forever. this will also involve the extinction. reasoning under the cut:

(given how many different connections i’m making here, and how long this post ended up being, i’ve bolded important words/phrases in some sections for accessibility. this whole post is the equivalent of a messy red string board, so i hope it makes more sense this way!)

the setup

georgie barker is established in ep 94 dead woman walking to be fearless, and thus immune to the effects of the entities. this trait of hers is due to an encounter she had with the end, which affected her deeply and changed her on a fundamental level, removing her fear.

there’s a fundamental question here that has not been addressed by canon: how and why would an encounter with the end remove a person’s fear in such a unique way? why would the end benefit from georgie’s state of fearlessness?

jon establishes in ep 164 the sick village that “[the entities] can’t be destroyed while there are still people to fear them.”

oliver banks establishes in ep 168 roots that the end will eventually consume all of humanity, leaving the world a lifeless husk and starving the entities to death in the absence of anyone to fear them.

oliver also speculates that “[as] the other Entities grow in their awareness of their own end, the grotesque ripples of their own impossible panic shall glut and feed my master, gorging it to the point where – perhaps it will even surpass the Watcher in prominence.”

note how the phrasing implies a level of sentience and consciousness! according to oliver, the entities themselves can feel fear - specifically, fear of their own death.

various people in season 5, most notably jon himself, have referred to the apocalypse as “the change”.

the extinction, also known as the terrible change, was speculated by adelard dekker to be an emerging power fueled by the human fear of, quote ep 134 time of revelation: “catastrophic change. A change in our world that will wipe out what it means to be us, and leave something else in its place ... leave us something alien and cold. We will press a button that in a moment will destroy everything we have ever been.”

in ep 94, georgie explains that her encounter with the end initially took away all her emotions and left her numb.

the very first adelard dekker statement was a manifestation of the end that initially appeared to be the extinction.

in ep 157 rotten core, adelard dekker speculates that the extinction might be “an existential fear that flows through the others like a vein of ore.”

in ep 168, martin, who had spent the entirety of season 4 studying the extinction, mistakenly refers to oliver banks’ end domain as “the rotten core”.

as established in ep 111 family business, the flesh is a relatively new animal fear of slaughterhouses. it manifests as body horror to humans because animal fear “gets weird [when it] gets mixed all up with human neuroses”.

in other words, if a fear originates in one type of mind, its manifestations can get weird and oblique when applied to a different type of mind.

in ep 175 epoch, while they are in a domain of the extinction, jon indirectly references ep 168: “Everything ends, I suppose. Even this place. Can’t last forever. Eventually… it will die as well.” 

notably, this is seemingly the only instance in season 5 of jon independently bringing up the conclusions made in oliver’s report.

the theory

the extinction is not entirely an entity in its own right (or maybe it is; fear soup!). in fact, the extinction is a manifestation or offshoot of the end, filtered through the minds of the entities themselves.

in other words, the extinction is the “entity” of the other entities’ fear of their own death.

the entities can only die if there is no one left to fear them; the extinction is actually the fear of this scenario - i.e. a world where no one fears them.

when filtered through a human mind, this fear becomes the “extinction” manifestations that we’ve seen in the podcast, in the same way that the fear of slaughterhouses becomes the flesh when filtered through a human mind.

georgie’s encounter with the end in university was actually a manifestation of the extinction; in fact, georgie herself is now a manifestation of the extinction.

georgie’s existence as a fearless human being, completely immune to the entities, is a constant memento mori for them - a reminder to the entities that they are capable of death (specifically, death by starvation). the end/extinction uses her to fuel and feed off this fear.

the apocalypse ritual in 160 did, in fact, kick off the full manifestation of the extinction, in that the state of the world has now gone from “the entities might hypothetically be capable of dying” to “the entities will inevitably die and will eventually be fully aware of this fact.” 

the show will end with the fulfillment of the extinction - all of humanity stripped of fear, as georgie was (and perhaps of other basic emotions as well, in the same way that georgie’s encounter initially left her lacking all feelings). this will kill the entities, but also fundamentally change the nature of humanity forever.

to tie this back around to what i’ve been saying: the extinction is described as the fear that humanity will end, or change in some way to become unrecognizable and alien. and a human race completely without fear would definitely be exactly that.

the thematic relevance and narrative closure

the entities as a metaphor for capitalism has always been in the subtext of the show, but as other, better meta has noted, season 5 has seriously ramped it up and made it much more obvious and present. what better way to resolve the podcast and the problem of the entities than by destroying the entire fear system at its foundations?

demonstrating that individual action and even system-wide reform (i.e. jon's plan in ep 194 parting to take over and appoint "good" people to avatarhood) will not ever lead to real long-term change, and that the only way to truly defeat the system is to rip it out at the roots? 

as well as acknowledging that doing so is far from an ideal solution due to the immediate inevitable harm that the upheaval would cause to countless innocent people, but would potentially lead to a better and safer future for humanity in the long run?

oliver banks’ statement from ep 168 has not yet become relevant. given how big of a game-changer it is in terms of the stakes of the decisions the characters are making, i would be baffled if the finale didn’t involve it in some way.

going by the way that tma’s writing and structure has previously set up its big twists, georgie’s fearlessness should factor into a plot point in a major way. this has not yet happened, and so given how close we are to the finale, it’s got to be a part of the finale if it’s a part of anything at all.

obviously, i might be wrong; all of this could be complete nonsense. but given the amount of setup for the concept that the entities will die if no one fears them, and the fact that this scenario hasn’t been brought up in-podcast as a possibility at all yet, it feels pretty probable to me. at the very least, regardless of whether my elaborate redstringing about the extinction is correct or not, i think we’re getting an ending involving a world without fear.

[writteninsunshine]

He’s Going The Distance - Chris Redfield/Ethan Winters - SFWish

Title: He’s Going The Distance

Author: Reno

Fandom: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Setting: Medbay, Post-Dulvey Incident

Pairing: Chris Redfield/Ethan Winters

Characters: Chris Redfield, Ethan Winters, Random Nurse

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Rating: M

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 1386

Type Of Work: One-Shot, Part of the For All These Times series, Whump Bingo Fill #2

Status: Complete

Warnings: Gay, Slash, Yaoi, MLM, Pre-Slash, Canon-Typical Violence, Dissociating, Blood, Deep Wounds, Trans Male Character, Trans!Ethan Winters, Possible OOC for Chris, Medical Equipment, Medical Treatment, Stitches, Sutures, I.V.s, Pain Meds

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

Summary: Was Ethan truly so used to pain that he didn't notice that?

AN: Hey guys, it’s me again! Just thought I ought to say, if you want vague updates and to talk to me more, I have a writing Tumblr, too! Twitter is Sunshinecackle, and Tumblr is Writteninsunshine! I also have a writing Discord that is currently pretty dead. xD If you want it, please contact me on Twitter!

More whump fic bingo! I’m really enjoying these, they’re too much fun to write. Oops, I like to punish Ethan even if he doesn’t deserve it. He’s so whumpable. I hope you guys are enjoying this, I know I sure am. This one is for my editor, Gryph, who is the best editor I could ever ask for. MAJOR shout out to her!

Resident Evil Fic Masterlist

Ethan Whump Bingo Fic Masterlist

He’s Going The Distance

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There was an old thought resurfacing as Chris looked at Ethan. A man who could live through anything was what S.T.A.R.S. had wanted, Ethan would have been welcomed into the fold. The man was a machine when it came to surviving anything. Despite this, he seemed too oblivious to notice when something was wrong with him. All the healing fluid in the world couldn’t help the man with how much constant pain wracked his body. It was almost impossible to discern one pang of pain from the rest. That hand was a nasty wound, the staples not quite sanitary when they’d been secured into his skin.

But that wasn’t what he’d noticed just now.

“Ethan,” He began, his voice soft and wary as if speaking too loudly might shatter the other man. “You’re bleeding.”

“I am?” His voice sounded exhausted, hoarse, and so soft Chris barely heard him.

Tugging him closer for inspection, he unbuttoned Ethan’s shirt and pulled it away like a pair of curtains. Yanking up the undershirt he wore, Chris paused a moment to stare. Unable to help how his fingers splayed over the other’s stomach, eyes taking in the thick scars beneath his pecs. His thoughts turned away from the injury for a second, he only stopped when he reached the center of Ethan’s chest. He took in the soft peach fuzz there with a quirk of his lips he wasn’t in control of. Finally, his fingers fell over the thick gash leaking over Ethan’s pale skin, and the touch made Ethan recoil some. 

“Don’t,” Chris warned, eyes narrowing a little as he reached around, pulling Ethan close again by his waist, a hand on his middle back, “You’re hurt. I’ll fix you right up.” 

Leaving Ethan for a moment, he returned with a basin of warm water and a few washcloths. Where he’d gotten them from, Ethan didn’t know, and he couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

Dragging one wet cloth over the blood, he cleaned Ethan up despite his hisses and gasps of pain. What was the best option was going to hurt, so Chris started by applying a local anesthetic gel to the area around the wound. He must have found it when he brought the rest of his supplies, Ethan figured. He winced, flinching when Chris’s hands got too close to the weeping injury, but he sucked in a deep breath and bit the thin skin on the inside of his lip. It was all he could do to keep himself from making any more noise.

“I’m going to have to give you stitches.” Honestly, Chris was worried that Ethan was going to start leaking organs. It was deep, and he could almost touch the other’s rib bones. Ethan had really taken a beating, and it was hard to fathom how he hadn’t noticed this. Then again, he was in shock after everything that had happened, after all of the mental and physical trauma he had taken. Maybe it wasn’t such a strange occurrence. 

After all, he was a civilian. He hadn’t been meant to find these kinds of things. If he had stayed away, he would have been blissfully unaware, but there might have been a worse problem on Chris’ hands by the time they arrived at the scene.

“Okay.” Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Ethan nodded just slightly to save him from aggravating his pounding headache, “Just… Do it quickly. I don’t feel good.” Swaying, he felt his knees begin to buckle, and Chris caught him in a tight embrace. This wasn’t going to work with Ethan standing, anyway.

Hefting him up bridal style, Chris carried Ethan like he weighed nothing. Sitting him down on a nearby gurney, he removed his shirts and set them aside. They were stained, torn to hell, and bloody. He’d have to get him a change of clothes. Helping ease him to lay down so that his right side was facing out, he ran a hand over the other’s chest in a hope to help calm him. Maybe it wasn’t entirely innocent, but he was trying to stay focused here.

“This might hurt, but I promise I’ll be quick.” All Chris got in return was a soft murmur he couldn’t hear, let alone understand. If nothing else, Chris was efficient, and Ethan looked like he was going to faint. That might help him do this without Ethan bellyaching the whole time. Stepping away, Chris grabbed a first aid kit, opening it up and setting it beside Ethan on the cot. Digging out a needle, some antiseptic, and surgical thread, he worked the thread through the eye of the needle and set to work.

The laceration was likely already infected, if not by something typical, then by the mold Ethan had been exposed to. With a little sigh, Chris poured some of the liquid over it, making sure to use gauze to get it inside. The forceps he had grabbed entering it made Ethan grunt, but he was too tired to try and fight it. Chris diligently worked on cleaning him up, wiping at more blood before grabbing the sterilized needle. He wiped it down again with a clean antiseptic wipe before starting with the initial stick. Ethan didn’t seem to notice this, due to the numbing gel, and Chris was glad for it.

With the easy glide of the needle and his skillful hands, he made quick work of the stitches, hoping not to bother Ethan too much. Once they were tight, he cut the cord and cleaned up the wound once more, wiping away the gel with a few medical towelettes, before drying the area. To make sure it would stay clean, he rubbed another cloth damp with warm water on the site before running more of the wipes over it. A dry rag then worked over the glistening flesh, and he didn’t stop until he had patted him dry.

“Ethan, I need you to sit up. I have to wrap this.” Chris spoke, breaking the silence in the room they were in. Unfortunately, it seemed that Ethan had fallen asleep, or maybe passed out, so he had no choice but to gently shake him awake. “Ethan, you have to sit up.”

Ethan nodded absently, slowly pushing himself up with the other’s aid. Bracing himself on his shaking arms, he let Chris wrap him up with gauze from his stomach to his shoulders, surprised by his gentle hands. Once Ethan was bandaged up, he was allowed to lay back once more, and Chris didn’t think about his next action. Kissing Ethan’s forehead gently, he petted a hand over the skin and the other’s sweat-damp hair.

“You should be alright, now. I’ll keep an eye on this.” Voice quiet, he smiled slightly, hoping to keep him at ease. It didn’t seem like Ethan was going to panic, though, too worn down to do much but flutter his eyelashes. “Sleep, now. I’ll get you some pain killers when you wake up.” God knew he’d need them. Moving the gurney around so that he could be more comfortable and closer to the setup for the I.V., Chris sighed in relief. Already asleep, or so he hoped.

Settling in a nearby chair, Chris pulled out his phone. He’d be stuck here for a while, for sure. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, he’d been set to guard Ethan while his tests were being done.

Ethan didn’t wake for what felt like hours, and when he did it was with a groan of pain. Chris was quick to give him water and a shot of morphine that he was instructed to administer through the I.V. that a nurse had given Ethan. At the very least, he was going to be taken care of.

“Thanks.” Ethan managed, his voice cracking halfway through. 

“You need care.” That much was obvious. Chris combed a hand through the other’s blond locks once more. “If that means I have to do it, then so be it.” There was an odd fondness he felt for Ethan in this moment, watching him nod, his eyes glassy and distant. “You’ll be okay.”

With any luck, he’d bounce back from this. He’d been through hell already, what was another ordeal to save him?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: There we go! It’s not super shippy but I’ll still tag it, just in case. Also, this probably makes more pain for the start of The Village, but that’s okay. I might write something about it when I’ve seen more of the game. I got it preordered for my birthday but it’s at my friend’s house until I can see her again. I’ve been watching it, however, so I’ll get there eventually. I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Prompt: Ethan Doesn’t Realize He’s Injured