#i love my red string and cork board

[thetoastedalmonds]

But that's just a theory

A...tumblr..theory......?

(Accs this relates to are @ask-twisted-samurai and @holy-mothers-servant)

[time22kill]

oakworthynators please stretch before making huge reaches about todays ep in regards to them 💕 /JOKE

[kakusu-shipping]

Hi, I would like to understand why do you ship Mario and Luigi? You don't have to answer if it's not comfortable for you. 🙂

This soooooo immediately reads as a bait question, but I'm trusting you here anon I'm trusting you asked this in genuine good faith which I don't know why you would but if you want to know;

The short answer is Because I Want To and I Like Them. Plain and simple, there doesn't have to be a deeper reason. Sometimes we just ship things because we want to. Understood? Okay cool.

A slightly longer answer would be because they're the kind of Ship Dynamic that brings me the most comfort. I love a ship where they are each other's other half, they understand eachother and support eachother and just get eachother in ways no other person ever could. Loving eachother, being together is all they've ever known, they can't imagine a world where they're not together, side by side.

Platonic or Romantic aside, Mario and Luigi are a perfect pair, that's their entire thing. Mario is Reckless and Headstrong, Luigi is Calculating and Sturdy. Mario charges forward, Luigi holds the line. Mario picks mushrooms out of his spaghetti, and Luigi eats them. They fill in the gaps the other leaves, they compliment and communicate and trust one another undoubtedly.

I love a love like that. Of course it's you. It was always going to be you. It could never be anyone but you. I am not me without you, and you are not you without me. They are eachother's everything

They are a bonded pair, do not separate.

[dyelwi]

Did a quick outline for my ace attorney color symbolism post and. Wow it’s gonna be a lot!! Will probably start actually working on it this week and hopefully the power of my ace attorney special interest will help me power through to the end fast!!!!

[countdown-til-sanders-take-over]

I miss chnt bro

Wanna play chess?

[ghost-onthealtar]

Incredible how after like two or three videos an entire group (of mostly teenage girls) absolutely clocked those two british idiots as gay.

[birchtreecat]

fuck it. moot and moot in law sleeepover bring your infodump topic, how you will infodump (yapping, presentations, red string on a cork board, etc) and stuff you bring to get cozy!!! if you don’t wanna infodump that’s okay!!!! come hang out!!!

I’m bringing my Nintendo switch so I can show off my pokemon because they’re the bestest babies ever and I love them i love all of them!!! will also be bringing chamomile tea and my piles of plushies as they always make me happy (*´ω｀*)

feel free to tag mutuals!! even if they’re not moots with me!!

@hy4c1nthh @queenoforeos @vee1021 @ki-2-your-heart @carro179 @piecrust-87 @leatheslay + anyone who wants in :3

[ectoplasmer]

recent brainrot. private investigator ryou

[nipuni]

Nipuniiii!

Did you see the new drops for Dragon Age?! How are you feelinggggg

Hello, I did!! All the news caught me in the middle of a migraine episode that I'm just starting to recover from so I've been just watching and liking the posts I find but I'm excited!!

The game looks really good. The stylization and tonal shift of the first trailer was odd but it looks great in game honestly. It made me so nostalgic for Inquisition. Solas looks amazing and exactly how I was hoping he would!! The Tarot cards are back and all the companions look fantastic. Everyone looks so fun to draw which very important to me!! I love Emmrich already. I heard the character creator is very extensive and that you have to create your Inquisitor in it too and I like the implications of that. The prologue looks like it mirrors Inquisition's almost exactly. I'm already seeing parallels and symbolism everywhere I'm pulling out some red string and pins for my cork board as we speak.

The combat looks fluid enough, the environments have a lot of verticality and grandeur to them that I enjoy, the fashion is amazing, the offline and more linear playstyle sounds promising, the facial animations look terrible but the hair looks impressive. As for the story, it looks like it's going the way I hoped it would! The prologue had a lot of awkward overly expository dialogue but it's understandable given the circumstances I suppose. I know we were all expecting the Evanuris to be released and the Veil to fall in this game but it happening in the prologue took me by surprise lmao. Rook just immediately making everything worse five minutes into the game is so funny to me.

The scope of everything and the amount of locations and factions seems so ambitious. I have to wonder what really happened during production because at one point it really seemed like Bioware was going up in flames and half the team was fired and now people are talking about how amazing an experience this was and how it was the best team they have ever worked with and I'm so confused. I guess it's not long now until we find out.

The game looks bigger than ever, so I'm excited and a bit apprehensive. I'm hoping for the best and I look forward to it!! 🥰

[power-handmaiden]

Day 30: Reamed By My Reaction To The Title Of This Book

A little treat from my past self of years ago, I happen to own this one in audiobook form. So, yeah, I'm obviously going in with an existing affection for this tingler. It deserves it though!

Listening to this one today, I think of the ever-present discussion over how "serious" tinglers are, and Dr. Tingle's recent explanation of how they are meant to be absurd with funny moments, but not comedy. This tingler is a great illustration of that: we start with a wild premise and completely explore the logical consequences of it: if the protagonist is reacting to the title of a Chuck Tingle story that he is in, he must encounter the quirks of living in the Tingleverse, learn that he is a character with limited time in a short story, and deal with the emotional weight of such a revelation in a heartfelt way.

This tingler is a great commentary on the public reaction to tinglers as they were growing in popularity at the time of this story. I remember how the book covers and titles were shared widely. Even the title and the cover themselves pose a superficial message to all of those people who only shared the image and didn't ever delve deeper: yes, your gawking and shock have been noted. There is even a character who represents this phenomenon, inadvertently kicking off the events of the story. While the cover stares directly at all, for those of us who actually open tinglers, the narrative of this one also breaks the fourth wall and intimately reaches for the reader in a way that no tingler up to this point has. (Though I know several will in the future.)

All of that and I also have to note, PRESIDENT YULDOK MENTIONED AGAIN. "Pounded By President Bigfoot" also mentioned- IS "POUNDED BY PRESIDENT BIGFOOT" CANONICAL RPF? Also, is this the same Buck Trungle from "Pounded In The Butt By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt"" or a different one?? In addition to everything I love about this story, it also has me pulling out the red string for my tingler cork board. Truly one of the best!

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

My brain is scrambling to try and put together a list of what Selina’s trying to do. Some I do not like, some I’m interested in and some both. My brain is going to be that one cork board-red string meme.

Selina stood in the long 'gallery'. A long open walk way with plush carpet, not mildewed and dated ued by the big bosses in the company for conferences once upon a time. And sipped champagne.

By the time Bruce got here to "Rescue" you, you were going to be a hysterical mess. Sobbing and blubbering. Ugly and annoying. So satisfying. He wouldn't have the patience for that. It would show him you weren't cut out for this life. That you weren't-

She never even saw it coming. The steel fucking chair to the back of her head. "You stupid fucking cunt," you spit, "if you'd stop scheming you'd realize-"

"Ugh," Selina rubbed the back of her head and whirled around to strike out at you, "you would make this difficult." She'd have to settle for beating you into a sobbing mess. A different kind of satisfying. But before she could connect, Superman's hand wrapped around her wrist.

"I don't think so," he growled. "That's enough."

"I don't want him," you snort. "I don't even know why you want him. I love him. But every time he talks I wanna punch him in the throat... I even went to Metropolis and just left to give you a chance. If you fucked it up anyway, that's not my fault."

"Said what you wanna say?" Clark asked, putting her in cuffs.

"I'd like to beat her with the chair until it gets boring but," you break off and shrug, "it doesn't seem fair if her arms are behind her back."

"Gee, thanks," Selina huffed.

"It's better than you deserve," you snort.

"Shut up, I was never gonn let anything actually happen."

"I wonder if the 'It's a prank bro' defense works for anyone other than the Joker," you muse, looking up at Clark.

"I guess we'll find out. You'll be okay for a minute?" he asked. "I'll take her to the cops then come back for you."

"I can walk-"

"I know," Clark said. But he wanted a chance to talk to you. To make sure you were okay himself. BEFORE you had to face Bruce or the cops or the press. He'd been so frightened. And now he just wanted to get you home and tucked into bed where he could make sure you were safe.

[homestuckreplay]

psychoanalyzing rose’s mother (because rose won’t do it)

(page 903-910)

The Skaianet Laboratory Unestablishment countdown ticks from 1:43 down to 1:34. I see those 413s being snuck in. I am genuinely at a point where if I see a number that isn’t 413 I get suspicious.

I love Rose so so much. And I love that she’s into psychoanalysis (kind of). But her saying ‘this incongruous thing? I pretend I do not see it’ is just like her saying there is ‘nothing to psychoanalyze’ about her mother’s love of wizards (p.360). She’s going in with preconceived expectations and not willing to interrogate the unexpected.

Like. Let’s look at the facts. In this massive, empty lab with thousands of twinkling boxes and no people, somebody has left a pink plastic table and chairs, a tea set, a scarf, a pink and white bed with cat, flower, heart and paw print designs, a princess themed dresser, cat stuffed toys, and WIZARD DOLLS. Pretty pink masters of the arcane with their long beards and pointy hats. Kind of a giveaway as to which local wizard-loving woman might own all this.

Rose’s mom has brought all this down to the lab, where she either works or just spends time. And she’s probably lonely down here and trying to recapture a childhood, whether that’s her own or Rose’s. We know from the pretty princess doll (p.363) that Mom likes to buy traditionally girly gifts for Rose, so this could even be old toys of Rose’s that she doesn’t even remember, her mom still playing with them to remind her of when she used to play with Rose. If Mom works here, then she’s up at this meteor terminal thinking about how one day, her daughter and anyone else they both care about are both going to be in danger from this upcoming apocalypse. And maybe she wants to hold on to the time she’s had with Rose before everything changes, or maybe she wishes she could be the one being taken care of, miles from the nearest town and with no partner or other family at home. She’s looking for comfort, she may well want to escape her own daughter’s judgment, and ultimately she has to parent herself as much as Rose does.

All this very important content is immediately overshadowed by the tiny kitten. There is a kitten hiding in the teapot. A TEAPOT SIZED KITTEN. I thought I was over this but I am not. A SMALL KITTEN!

Page 909 is composed similarly to Jade’s furry thoughts on page 797, but with the opposite emotion behind it. But clowns is clowns, and I don’t think John is scared of finding a bunch of regular ass harlequins like Dad might keep downstairs. That also wouldn’t explain why John’s always been kept from going in Dad’s room (and I could be wrong but it seems uncommon to not even know what’s inside a parent’s room). I think John is scared that his dad has a different secret. Based on the contents of Dad’s safe (p.544) I wonder if Dad is an amateur investigator who’s been looking into some of the strange phenomena associated with Skaia. Maybe John is about to encounter red-string cork boards and more tidbits about meteors, and find out that his dad is way more involved in current events than previously thought.

In page titles, ‘ascend’ first appears on page 660 and ‘descend’ not until page 840 (though the word is used in passing on both page 358 and 361). ‘Ascend’ also appears on page 759 in Nanna’s prophecy, where she states that ‘together [the Heir, Seer, Knight and Witch] will Ascend’. On page 909 the narrator treats ‘descend’ as an expectation, but it’s a fairly recent one. It’s one of my favorite things about serial fiction to see these tidbits of patterns and lore be dropped in and then woven through the narrative as if they’ve always been crucial, until it’s impossible to divorce the two. But it’s still possible to see that Homestuck characters weren’t ascending on day one.

> John: Examine room.

[becauseplot]

Hi hello yes more thoughts about this hgduo pre-canon, hunger games/wars au(??) because my brain is rotating them at incredible speeds. (Obligatory cannibalism tw because yeah the lore do be like that.)

Bad originally finds Cellbit while the kid is trying to use a dagger to carve up a body to eat---key word trying. Bad stands back and watches him struggle for about thirty seconds before speaking up: "You're holding that wrong." (The kid jumps about two feet in the air. "WhhUH---") "Also you're not supposed to carve with a dagger, silly. You should really be using a knife. Here." And Bad passes him one of his hunting knives.

Bad mentally dubs Cellbit "Dagger-Kid" because he doesn't know Cellbit's name. When Cellbit later admits he doesn't know his name either, Bad officially dubs him "Dagger-Kid" or "Dagger" for short. ((For the rest of this I'll be calling Cellbit "Dagger")) ((Also I'm not 100% on this name yet but we'll see.))

I should note that I also think it would be funny that every time Dagger does something notable or reveals a new quality about himself, Bad tries to give him a new name. Like, they scavenge a piece of chocolate off one of their victims and Dagger loves it, so Bad tries to suggest, "Oh oh! What if we called you 'Sweets'! Or 'Chocolate'? 'Coco,' maybe?" all of which Dagger (playfully) rolls his eyes at. Bad rotates through nicknames regularly, but Dagger personally sticks with the first name Bad gave him.

Dagger was on his own for two months before he met Bad. He is injured and half-starved and utterly exhausted. The first time they make camp together, Dagger promises he'll take the first watch, but he nods off before even Bad can fall asleep. It's the first time Dagger has felt safe enough to truly relax, so his body just crashes. He sleeps for twelve hours.

This one's honestly more of a general qsmp headcanon I have but it goes here too: Bad teaches Dagger how to throw knives (for combat) and how to do knife tricks (for fun). Current-day Cellbit still remembers how to do the tricks, and he'll often use them as a way of fidgeting when he's thinking---with a pen or pencil instead, though.

One of Dagger's natural talents is stealth. He's not as quiet as Bad, but he's definitely good at it; his cat-hybrid traits definitely lend him a hand here, too. It's the main way Dagger survived before meeting Bad, stealing supplies out of camps while people were sleeping.

Bad, being a demon, doesn't need to eat, drink, or sleep as much as mortals do, and certainly not as much as a teenage boy. To him, it only seems practical that he gives himself smaller portions of their rations, or takes longer nightwatch shifts. But Dagger (who can scarcely imagine ever being not hungry or not tired, much less at the same time) is still grateful and feels somewhat indebted to Bad, even after Bad explains.

Dagger (a cat hybrid and a little more than a bit messed up) bites to show affection. Usually Bad's arm. Any normal guy would be injured by the force of Dagger's bite---Dagger doesn't really seem to understand that not-biting-hard is an option---but Bad doesn't really mind it.

(The truth is that deep down Dagger really wants to hug Bad, but he knows Bad isn't a very cuddly person, and yeah Bad might give him a hug if he asked but he's too afraid to ask so all that affection stays bottled up until it rises rises rises and he just doesn't know what to do with it anymore and it needs OUT---)

Bad thwacks Dagger upside the head with his tail whenever Dagger is being a "little rapscallion" and eventually Dagger starts retaliating. His tail isn't as long or flexible as Bad's but he definitely does try.

Bad has a lot of stories to tell. Some true, some made up on the fly. He's always liked telling stories, and Dagger is a captive audience. He learns Dagger loves mysteries, and suddenly, all of his campfire stories are about spies, and detectives, and red-string cork boards and espionage.

The thing Dagger fears the most is that one morning he'll wake up and Bad won't be there because Bad decided Dagger slowed him down and thus abandoned him. He thinks about this near-constantly. (The thing Bad fears the most is that one morning he'll wake up and look at Dagger and start caring like he used to a long, long time ago. He does not think about this at all.)

[immoralimmortals]

A Song With Ten Names

Chapter 56: Um, It's Kind of a Lot (3)

Chapter 1 ☆ Next chapter ☆ AO3 ☆ Featured song playlist

Chapter Summary: The hardest thing of all is to accept that maybe, just maybe, you're not as unlovable as you want yourself to be. So what do you do now? Kisame has two very difficult conversations, talking to others about aspects of himself that he wishes weren't there.

Author's Note:

The song for this chapter is Um, It's Kind of a Lot by Will Wood. Content warning for allusions to sexual encounters, but nothing graphic is described. This is, I think, the first chapter where the performer isn't present but merely mentioned throughout. @mabzerie beta read this for me c:

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I'll twist my words, a clever turn of phrase

Sorry, darling, please excuse my constant need to self-aggrandize

Coddling my narcissism, M.A.D., come ride my A-bomb

While I beg you to say I'm okay

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It is with a heavy heart that a heavy mean with a heavy sword must confront the inevitable.

...Heavily.

It’s been a boggling prospect. Ever since that talk with the girl… Ever since he put the pieces together… It’s like Kisame sees him more. It’s like Hidan is around more, somehow even TALKS more. But what’s more is that he is near...her. Since it’s all just red string on a cork board, so to speak with what he has actually seen, the swordsman has second guessed that which he knows, deep down, is true.

“Aw,” an innocent coos to the unholy, “Thanks, Hidan!”

The shark watches through the entry of the kitchen as she beams. Her smile is beautiful, bright, just like the sun. He watches the line her gaze makes towards the other face. The barbarian of a man with silver hair doesn’t smile back, no, but his expression is telling. The softening of eyes, the easing of brow’s usual tension, the slight pink that powders the high points of his cheeks. Yes, indeed, the bastard’s gone soft for her, too.

Gods help her for luring the wasps in with her honey.

“Yeah, whatever,” the reaper throws over his shoulder.

And at that point Kisame has to retreat lest his heart burst.

The thoughts are rampant thereafter, if they weren’t already before. It’s like when they went to that damned hydrangea festival but tenfold; it is CONFIRMED and it is PERSONAL. Closer to home than when she was a stranger. More dangerous knowing it’s him.

Hidan is not known to be a gentle man.

She’s wonderful. Even after everything...she smiles at Kisame, the low-down and dirty likes of him. It’s as if nothing has happened— no...it’s even better than before. How can that be? A man who lusts with no boundaries, as selfish as him…

Kisame’s like her?

Polyamorous, polyamorous. Strange word, even if a self evident one, what with “poly” meaning multiple and “amorous” meaning love. Kisame has never understood himself as well as she and Itachi seem to. Attraction is enigmatic; not just men, not just women, and like the vast stores of his chakra it doesn’t seem to run out just because love shows up in one place— still plenty of room for another. But he still has tastes. Tastes and boundaries and people that don’t strike the match for him quite the way his longing heart craves.

Hidan is exactly one of those people.

The way that man nudges her. Bumps shoulder to shoulder, shoves too rough in play, physically looms and intimidates with what height he has over the performer. Before it was merely disdain, caution that the kiri-nin felt seeing it, but now these displays mean another thing to him entirely. That guy— that idiot, knucklehead, vicious devil with not even a pretense of holding back his evil... Him. The princess allowed a demon to know her, know her in a way so intimate and visceral that haunts Kisame's dreams? Hidan. Him.

And most perplexing of all, she doesn’t seem to mind. That’s where so much of his doubt comes, as to what happened between a priest and disciple. What does he know? What did they do? And what's more, and to Kisame’s greatest dismay…

...What does Hidan have that she could even love? That’s why he suspects that for the reaper, love may not be involved at all. That’s how the knight finally sucks it up and starts the hardest conversation yet.

“Hidan.”

The name of someone Kisame is less than happy with; it’s owner looks to him, and the shark stares back with his small, beady eyes.

“...Let’s spar.”

Hidan perks up from his seat on the couch— of course he does, hasn’t had a proper fight in ages! The excitement covers up how curt Kisame sounds compared to his usual manner of speech.

The snow flurries with each swipe of the weapons, each swish and slice and clink sounding sharper with the cutting cold there to grind against. It’s just them— Kisame invited no witnesses, deep in the white-laden forest, and Hidan didn’t consider the consequences of being outside, alone, with a fellow beast.

Kisame never holds back in a fight unless told to, and today is no exception.

It isn’t long before the reaper is panting, chin tilted up as he grips his triple-bladed scythe with one hand and claws his fingers with the other, ready to keep up the fight. That weapon...that’s the one Hidan said the woman's killed with. Blood red, slayer of hundreds if not thousands... Was that true, too?

The thought makes Kisame swing harder, and Samehada utterly chews on the chakra around them.

“You’re really—” Hidan takes a second to breathe, though his uppity tone never wavers. “—Sucking me dry here, huh?!”

Kisame isn’t the tease he usually is. The stretching his mouth forces to bare teeth isn’t a smile. Something about that stands out just enough, and the silver haired demon’s eyes widen.

“You’re distracted…!” Hidan finally notes, reveling in curiosity. It’s oh so delicious the way the shark’s expression further twists. “You got something on your mind! Well? What is it?! What’s the big bad shark thinkin’ about, eh?!”

Is it far enough? No. The anger is still burning inside him, and he needs to smoke it out before they can have even a semblance of a civil conversion. The fight goes on. Tree tops shake, the winter-time birds shriek and flutter from their nests in fright. The color of the sky changes, and perfect white snow has become scrappy piles dyed with the oranges and purples of the setting sun. It isn’t until Kisame begins to lose his breath, this much later, that it’s decided this is the closest he’ll become to being worn out. One of Hidan’s hooded eyes twitches as his mouth gapes to catch air. Scratches on his body from the start of the spar are already gone. The few Kisame have retained have begun to scab.

Kisame offers Hidan a hand and yoinks him up. Finally, finally...the fish begins to grin. “Are you still curious?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Wait— about what?”

This is already the hardest conversation of Kisame’s life. He shoves the idiot away, a disdainful click of the tongue under his breath.

“Maybe I shouldn’t even bother.”

“Hold on now, what’s all that about?! We fought ALL DAY, asshole! I’m cold, I’m hungry, I’m fucking tired! Least you owe me is an explanation. What? You ain’t doin’ this for fun?”

“You could have called it any time,” Kisame retorts, looking over his shoulder as the reaper picks himself up— all on his own this time— from the cold ground.

Soon as his palms are off the frozen dirt, Hidan spits. Give up? Who does he think he is?! The immortal has too much pride for that...and Kisame knows it. That’s why the shark chose this avenue; that’s why he knew they’d spar until all the hate’s left out of him. Despite himself, despite all his instincts to close off, not let HIDAN of all people know...Kisame turns around and faces his enemy with something in common.

“It’s true. I do have something on my mind. And now that you’re nice and tired, I can do whatever’s closest to killing you if you so much as lie to me.”

“Eh?”

Samehada is thrust down, making the earth itself break and become its sheath. Stomped-down snow becomes the seat for the sword’s owner, too, as he rests his wrists over bent knees.

...Hidan glances side to side before matching the tone, sitting down on the ground, too, with that oh-so familiar pout he perpetually carries.

Time to rip off the bandage.

“Back at the hot spring…” Kisame begins. “You said some...particular things. Do you remember any of that?”

“Yeah,” Hidan lies.

“Was it true?”

“You callin’ me a liar?”

This is all too vague; Kisame has to confirm: “Do you remember what you said about Takara?”

Hidan squints, makes faces as he thinks. What’s there to think about?! Is sex really such a flippant matter him?! “...Yeah?” he finally drawls.

You can almost hear the snowflakes fall, soft as the woman’s feelings, in this kind of quiet. ...Finally, a sigh.

“...Tell me again what you said, why don’t you?” Kisame presses, incredulous. Hidan can’t help but scrunch his face now.

“That...she’s…”

…

…

It’s fucking infuriating. He can spit all he wants, shoot at the hip any words, and he won’t even care about it later. On Hidan’s end, the only thing that comes to mind is how Kakuzu embarrassed him. What a dick the guy is, after everything that’s happened…! Wait. Hidan hums, long and slow and nearly happy.

“Oh yeah,” he mumbles, remembering how to the fight with his partner started that day. “We were talkin’ about fucking her.”

The trees tremble as a blue fist with a yellow ring slams in frustration beside him. Hidan hums again, though this time in confusion at this sudden outburst. Despite that show of violence, perhaps even a threat...Kisame’s tone of voice does not change. “No. YOU said you did that. That it had happened.”

“...Oh? Well, I guess so?”

“You guess so?!”

“What, you jealous, fishy?”

Kisame is far beyond jealous. The indignation...the disrespect...the smug smile on his face… The swordsman’s own feelings for her be damned, why is it that the man who deserves her the least has gotten the most?

Hidan’s getting a nice, long look at the series of expressions that wash over the other shinobi's face. It’s now that he says something so stupid that it’s incredible: “You want help?”

The blue one jerks his head so as to look him on with full attention. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“It’s not hard to see, you know," Hidan answers, and something gleams in those magenta eyes. "You like her. And as long as you’re nice, maybe I’ll play along?”

“You’re disgusting," Kisame recoils.

“Am I?”

And is he? Is this proposition so terrible if the woman herself has vocalized this kind of affair? Where men and women can be with whomever they want, as long as they’re happy? Kisame has defined himself— this aspect about him— as being disgusting, after all. So the question of Hidan’s chivalry becomes something else. Kisame mutters it, nearly too soft to hear, just a little bit of a shake in his voice as he uses every ounce of his great power to manage speaking at all:

“Were you...gentle?”

Hm? What a question. Hidan’s expression changes, brow raising. “Whatcha mean?”

“Did you hurt her?”

Oh.

Immediately, the reaper's face contorts into repulsion.

“No! No, no. What do you take me for, a sleazeball?! She didn’t WANT it to hurt, so it didn’t!” A snort. “Geez, you really DO care, huh?” And it’s only now, where Hidan has been brought from bragging to tenderness underneath his thin skin, that he too begins to feel a bit more like how Kisame does. “...Why do you care?”

“...I thought you said it was easy to see,” Kisame mutters, horribly desperate to be told what he is.

“Well...tell me what you want from me, and maybe it’ll make sense.” A bit of a nonsensical statement...but the point is understood; keep ripping off the bandage, Kisame. You can't stop halfway for nothing.

“…You were right,” the kiri-nin admits. “I do want your help.”

The yu-nin in response folds his arms and cocks his head. How insufferable he looks. It’s always horrible to see him think he has the upper hand. Thing is though...he does. “Why should I help you? Didn’t you think I should have nothing to do with the lady? Now look at ya!" An arm is thrown forward recklessly, a gesture to point out exactly, precisely, how pathetic the man before him is; least he can do, after all that Hidan's had to put up with just to stick around. "Crawlin’ to me for advice! So? What’s in it for me, fishy?”

Selfish. As. Ever. But if the lady sees something in him, Kisame’s still gotta try to get through somehow. He can do that— he can manage it for her sake. “You and I...we share a commonality now. She’s...gone out of her way for me," he tries to explain.

Another scoff. “Is that right!”

“I mean it. It’s...beyond doubt.” Unlike Hidan, he’s unwilling to divulge details unless needed, not even so much as a kiss. “It’s her decision, whether we like it or not.”

“Who’s we?”

...

...

What?!

“Well, there’s your first problem, fucker! You don’t WANT her?” And under his breath with an eye roll: “Certainly’d make my life easier.” And louder again: “No, no. I know ya like her. So stop actin’ like you don’t!”

Kisame’s utterly and hopelessly confused grunt is enough permission for Hidan to continue.

“You’re talkin’ like you don’t have a SAY! Like you don’t want her. But you do! So fuckin’ quit it, alright?”

It’s a bit...boggling, really. Here the shark thought that he’d have to fight harder to get this sort of truth out of the younger man— metaphorically, that is, mentally. Does it bother Hidan to have a rival in this…? Doesn’t it…?!”

But he’s smirking. It’s like the Jashinist is merely happy to have someone to tease and toy with. The reality sets in. Not only did the...event...happen, but Hidan…

Doesn’t.

Mind.

...Sharing?

Kisame’s silence says everything the woman’s first lover wants to hear. That terrible curl of his lips keeps on stretching.

“That’s what I thought. You DO like her. So you DO get a say. So,” he drawls again, and his head tilts the other way, smirk so wide and devious. It’s less fitting for the pervert he is and more like a child planning on pulling down your pants in front of the class. “Advice, huh? Certainly need it ‘cause you definitely got nothin’ to gloat about over me.” A point. “Here’s what you’re gonna do: You’re gonna get her alone, and yer gonna get riiight behind her ear and offer to lick her pussy like a popsicle. Long as you keep your teeth where they belong, she’ll melt like butter.”

…

…

…

This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the worst idea Kisame has ever had. His heart begins to race, cheeks pinprick as they turn purple. But somehow an embarrassing nightmare only gets worse:

“You’ll get double the chance of gettin' laid if you get that moody partner of yours to tag team in, I bet.”

Kisame’s patience has quickly turned to glass, and it’s only seconds before the window shatters. The reaper grunts questioningly, upturning his chin as the giant abruptly stands to his feet, reaching to sling his sword over his back. “Do me a favor and forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Eh?! Wha— Oh, I see." How does he get more insufferable each passing second?! Hidan mimes locking his mouth shut and throwing away the key. "Alright, pal, my lips are sealed!”

“Whatever makes you shut up,” the knight exhales, exhausted enough for many lifetimes by now.

“One last thing though?”

…

The quirk of Hidan’s voice that makes this statement into a request gets the better of Kisame’s inherent polite nature. One last glance over his shoulder, brow furrowed in preparation of being disappointed yet again:

...It’s longer than expected for such a talkative man to finally spill the beans. For the first time in this conversation...he’s grim. A swallow bobs in the man’s throat, just behind his slashed headband.

“You...love her...right?”

A jolt as Kisame reacts with shock. “I—” Of course he does! Of course. But...but should he let the likes of him know? After all, Hidan has never spokne of love himself. Kisame realizes he hasn’t indulged one last question of his own, the worst one of all: “...Do you?” he returns.

And serious as can be...the sitting man stares through the falling snow...and nods.

What a strange tension. Two people, disalike as can be, joined together by two things: their horrid ability for violence and a shared adoration of someone who deserves better. Hidan, however, is at least good at pretending he has no doubts. Kisame still has a long way to go.

“I got my eye on you,” Hidan speaks before Kisame can. “Take care of her, yeah?!”

And heat still on his face...the swordsman nods back. “And you the same. Or else.”

“Yeah. Or else.”

The wind picks up. A flurry of flakes in the breeze...and Kisame’s back is turned and he’s on his way. The reaper exhales now that he’s more or less all alone.

“Ah, Jesus…” he swears under his breath. Shortly, however, he perks up and apologizes as if someone is listening. “I— I mean— Jashin!” A smack of the palm to the side of his head to shake out the heathen lord’s name. “Fuckin’ angel… Gonna have to atone for that one...”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

So here's one last lyric to sum up these thoughts I struggled to come up with

To make me sound deep and smart, and then I promise I'll shut up

Wait, let me think, hold on, I got this

Anything but "I'm in love with you"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Horrible, horrible things are now living in the knight’s head. Why did he say that? Why did Hidan SAY THAT?! Itachi...Itachi…?! Why did he mention...Itachi…?!

A forehead protector is made proper use of as its owner abruptly slams his head into a tree nearby. The brittle cold helps the bark splinter and the wood underneath break. A desperate hand claws the cloak over his chest, right where his heart is pounding. His face grimaces so hard that he’s going to feel it later. He’s never acted out like this before, not as an adult, but there it is— evidence of his rage and harm in front of his very eyes. He’s breaking. He’s breaking—!

“Kisame.”

A gasp and a turn, and there someone is. The someone that redefined his life. The someone that a blue-toned rogue is actually happy to share a title with. Someone that some time ago gave the swordsman hope that maybe he's good for something after all.

“I-...Itachi-san,” he stutters, trying and failing to maintain composure. Those gorgeous, soft black eyes crawl over his skin, observing him. How much can he tell? How much do those Uchiha eyes see? Is it really everything?

And if it is, does Kisame want him to see everything?

Shoulders rise...and fall.

Rise...and fall.

Seconds pass, and Itachi seems to wait.

…

…

A swallow of pride, a strengthening of will. “Will you go for a walk with me, Itachi-san?”

A moment of silence...and the crow nods his consent.

Step, step. The snow crunches, seemingly never-ending how fresh it is. Soon as it’s trampled up, more comes. Though maybe this isn’t even where he was before at all, maybe never a place that had his prints in the first place. The branches begin to look too piled high with the white— too untouched to be near where he was letting off steam. It isn’t until they’re halfway there that Kisame realizes where he's going; then, it makes all too much sense.

The lake. It’s beautiful like this, fogged over like a mirror you breathed at too close, absorbing the light of the crescent moon rather than reflecting it back as this place often does. Frost layers over the top of water like lace. Heaven knows if it’s really as delicate as that; you can guess forever how thick it is, but you never know until you place your feet.

...That’s kind of like how Itachi is, after all this time. Isn’t it?

“I don’t know how to tell you this.”

Somehow the tall man seems so small standing next to his partner— partner, superior, better half, Itachi’s all of it. The girl’s been a distraction, yes, but sometimes when you don’t stare at something directly, it grows much bigger than you could even imagine. Itachi has been on his mind as long as he's stood by Kisame's side. That makes it so much harder. Brings so much more guilt.

“I don’t know how to tell you anything.”

Kisame didn’t get his obedience training from no where, good guard dog he is. The princess only has a knight because some time before, a prince had put Kisame in his place. Standing here...all that’s missing is a dock. It’s like when they first properly met. He’s even more handsome now than he was back then.

Kisame says...he needs to tell him something. The bravest thing he’s ever done is reach for his hand, little by little, one pinky around the other. Delicate, hardly there, afraid to break the ice.

“Itachi-san…”

And in disbelief himself, Itachi can’t bring himself to look. Men like them are taught to suffer, stay silent, be willing to be unloved. But maybe that’s not the way it needs to be.

Itachi can love two people at once, too.

“Kisame,” he whispers, and unbelievably, his fingertip curls ever so slightly. Is he holding him back...?

“I love you,” Kisame says, before Itachi can cut him off, before he can get too scared to say it at all.

The way the Uchiha's eyes close is always so slow, purposeful, always looking to see if the bloody red is needed before opening back up. This time is different. Black eyes shut tight, so tight that the knight can see them shake underneath the lids. He fucked up, didn’t he?

Then why is Itachi not letting go?

“Kisame…” he repeats, an urgency steeped in his voice. “I’m going to die. You know that...don’t you?”

...An unspoken truth, at least up till now. The medicines. First one, then another, then another. It’s unending. He’s seen into Itachi’s room; the containers are everywhere. He's never had the guts to ask; no reason to if the answer is obvious. Breath leaves Kisame’s mouth, visible like smoke from a dragon, an unwitting exhale to release at least a bit of this sadness, however futility.

“I do,” Kisame answers simply. The konoha-nin abruptly grunts, leaning forward by the shoulders. Is he in pain?!

...Of a sort.

The teardrops will freeze as soon as they fall atop the ice. He’ll be a part of the lake forever, in a strange, little way. The sight makes the taller man panic.

“I’ll die with you—”

“Don’t—!”

A raised voice is rare from this one, and so Kisame can’t help but let go—

But Itachi blindly reaches for his hand and grips like the remainder of his life depends on it.

“Don’t ...Kisame.”

Reality is difficult. One can’t change the fact that Itachi is going to die, most likely before Kisame will and especially before their favorite girl. Love won’t bring someone back from the dead, or even the brink of it. But what it can do…

“Promise,” the pale raven stutters past his solemn tears. They shimmer like stars as the frigid air tries to freeze the tracks upon his cheeks. “That you’ll be there for her.”

...is convince one to stay alive.

“Of course, Itachi," Kisame vows. As if he’d have any choice. As if he'd ever want to tell him no. “Of course…”

…

“But...Itachi?”

Finally. Finally he says his name. No honorific, no inherent need to be respected or for him to forgive. Slowly, a beautiful man raises his chin, and someone just as handsome in his own way cups his cheek. Kisame gives his best smile; least he can do, even if it shows too much of his teeth. Least he can do, as a diligent knight finally speaking out of turn.

“May I have permission to love you anyways ?”

…

And the blackbird breaks. Slowly, but surely, stagnated and done step by step, little by little. He begins by smiling...then chuckling...and then his shaking head leans into the chest of his best friend. As he’s wanted to all these years, Itachi allows himself to be held, and Kisame lets himself squeeze as tight as he’d like.

Sometimes dreams aren’t entirely bad if they become true.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I love you so much it scares me half to death

How should I put this, how did this happen, baby?

Oh, I love you so much it scares me half to death

The other half I guess I'm giving to you

Oh, baby

(Uhh, I mean, it's...

...Kind of a lot...)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

[gackk]

TMAGP THEORY DUMP

coherency is not on the agenda so good luck trying to decipher this mess

I love overanalysing every episode of tmagp it’s so fun

POV: me having a look at these cases, maybe noting down some connections, pinning them up on my cork board, circling some key dates in bright red, connecting them all with string, and staring at them while moodily sipping bourbon

But like, house full of fog? Lonely? Maybe a victim of mag170?

Malnutrition? Maybe like Darrien #1? Possibly from a separate dimension?

Ok now I’m really clutching at straws but daffodils symbolise rebirth so.. she came back to life, or maybe was “reborn” in this new universe

Also GEORGIE

(“Who keeps taking Georgie’s face?”kinda ominous)

Anyway might reblog later with other thoughts but that’s all I have so far lol

[sparklingcid3r]

wut is paul like around seeing cherry w soda? like thinking about bob bc like his friend did legit die. but also about darry bc soda looks like him and gets tb happy and tht makes him miss darry. tht being said soda does not fw him bc he knows wut paul did to darry

TY for the cherry cola asks, they’re consuming my life so bad I literally made a playlist for them that I exclusively listen to while walking around campus🙏

This was also just a really interesting question bc usually it’s people wondering what Darry feels toward the relationship and I’m always down to yap about my fav loser bitch Paul 🥰🫶

At first I looked at your q and pulled a face like Man would he really think it’s that deep? But you’re right, it IS that deep. It’s just convoluted asl bc how do you explain that it bothers you that your dead bsf’s gf is dating the brother of the accomplice/witness (however Pony was described) of said dead bsf’s now-dead murderer.

I bet he’d feel a vague sense of betrayal from Cherry, but those two weren’t exactly close, especially after Bob’s death. Her dating Soda probably confirmed his own hatred of her and that he was right to tell her off during the manhunt for Johnny and Pony. Since he gaslights her during JFT (her and Pony never held hands), I wouldn’t put it above him to gaslight himself into thinking Cherry and Soda were going out while her and Bob were a thing or something outrageous like that.

UNDOUBTEDLY it’s all because of Darry. Paul’s got a cork board of pics of people in his life and every red string around the thumb tacks leads back to Darry. Paul’s world pretty much revolves around his ex now, and it’s not like he made it that way, like lowk it’s not even his fault lmfao. He can’t get away from the sound of the (wo)man that loved him fr (pls get that reference yall i trust u)

Soda never fw Paul and he has no problems airing those issues out w Cherry, who also drags his ass. They’re snakes together they HATE that man. She tells Soda about what Paul said to her after Bob died and he’s getting up like aight what’s his addy babe imma beat his ass

Soda would want to match Cherry’s energy bc he absolutely can when it comes to hating Paul Holden, but he doesn’t want to say why bc that would out Darry so he just eggs Cherry on and gets creative with the insults

I love cherry cola BAD guys it’s so personal for me they have my entire heart and soul🫶❤️