#i wrote this months ago i'm going insane /pos

[pencilofawesomeness]

Guys I'm having such a bizarre moment. I didn't expect to win like this, or to have my personal headcanons be confirmed so directly, but I also feel simultaneously robbed because Akutami is reaching into my head /jk

We received so little about Sukuna, but those brief brief brieeef moments of existentialism really caught me and I've thought about him for so long because of it. He was a fantastically terrifying villain, but there was always that dissonance there, between some of his words and actions, that portrayed that aimless longing and hurt and what that meant as a characterization point, and I'm honestly so hyped we turn around and get this in 271:

(scanlation for this panel because I think it gets the sentiment across better)

Followed by

I'm—

Y'all I started my draft for my Sukuna Reincarnation AU months ago and I never expected canon to validate me. They leave it easier and more open-ended, of course, but I'm coming on the record to say I wasn't crazy for my stretch of a character exploration and also I called it.

I won't go into the specifics of my "study Sukuna like a cockroach" notes now I just wanted to come grab the mic and announce that I beat Akutami to it >:D /lh

I'm being a good noodle and not stretching myself thin by starting a new multichap now, but I've had With the Storm in the works since January, and in light of the end of JJK and this lovely little tidbit, I'm tossing a sneak-peak from Chapter 7 because why not:

But maybe it could be. Maybe, just maybe, Uraume could accept this proffered hand and continue to hope.

---

Yet… things were different now. Things changed. Uraume changed, Sukuna changed, and even though they were still themselves, there was a myriad of shifts that piled on their shoulders until something gave way. Maybe a subconscious part of Uraume had braced for that to be a crash, but instead, Sukuna had been nothing but accepting and open. It only made them more nervous about losing him, just as they feared losing Pops. Uraume was not used to wanting, or hoping, but there was a powerful need in their chest that childishly demanded that they should get to keep both their kinder father and this happier Sukuna close, even if that may not be possible.

They nodded, not trusting their words at the moment, and Sukuna relaxed slightly.

“Good. Though that reminds me… You never really answered my first question. What do you want to do? With this life, I mean.”

There was that want again. Uraume felt the pull at their lungs until it was unbearable. They knew what he was asking; the question didn’t hinge on his involvement anymore, just them. Sukuna said he wanted to live peacefully, so what, then, was Uraume’s answer?

As much as they felt like a coward saying this, maybe that was okay. Sukuna felt the same way, after all. “I like this life too…” Uraume answered, and it was very different saying those words aloud. “Pops isn’t a shaman at all, and he’s good company and a good father. If I wasn’t able to find you, or you were not of this world, then… I would stay as his family.”

“That’s good,” Sukuna agreed, lifting yet another anxious weight from their chest. “I get that. Nobody else in my family are shamans either—at least, not really—and they’re all good people. It’s a good life, and even though I would have never expected it… I don’t want to lose it.”

It was amazing how similar they were, then and now. Uraume…really shouldn’t have worried about a lack of understanding. Sukuna didn’t have to say it, but it was clear that their thoughts had wandered down a similar road yet again. Their families, full of normal people living normal lives, were an unexpected treasure; to willingly become a monster, to become a scourge upon the world for whatever reason, would forfeit that. More than that, having people to care about made the desire to spread destruction lessen, rather significantly. Maybe that hurt and rage and bitterness was still there, in between their ribs, but in the ones that were dead and buried—a part of them, but also not quite there anymore, like when a scar ceases to constantly itch and ache and becomes only a mark on functioning skin.

They didn’t have to be monsters anymore. There were calmer, kinder things available to want—available to receive, even.

“This is so weird,” Uraume blurted, staring at their small hands and thinking of the strange miracle their lives turned into.

Sukuna barked a quick laugh before it was muffled into something like a snicker. “I know, right?” He leaned back in a stretch, his face catching the sun and lighting him in something that wasn’t a fire, but equally bright. “It’s not bad though.”

It was weird, to be a child, to be without some far-off goal, to be loved and happy, in the sense that it was absurd and foreign and absolutely unexpected. It was a breath of fresh air after years and years of having frozen lungs. Weird, surprising, but unmistakably good after so long of believing that no such term, deceptively simple, could have ever been applicable.

“Not bad at all,” Uraume agreed, a bright and blooming thing in their chest as their life began to slot into a new place. Still open-ended and perhaps a little terrifying for it, but Pops accepted them, and Sukuna accepted them, so maybe they could truly accept themself now, and whatever that will look like.

[thearoaceshark]

Remember the polyamorous ship we created out of nowhere in the group a month ago? Well, here are more Incorrect Quotes about them!

Usagi: Valentine’s day is just a consumerist holiday that holds no real value other than drive people insane buying heart shaped chocolates for their significant others and pos-

Leona: I wrote you a poem.

Usagi, already crying: You did?

~■☆■~

Lotus: Smart is attractive. Educate me on something I don't know!

Casey: The mouth of a jellyfish is also an anus.

Usagi: Stop.

~■☆■~

Leona: I think I'm falling for you.

Usagi: Then get up.

~■☆■~

Leona: Are you ready to commit?

Casey: Like, a crime or a relationship?

~■☆■~

Leona: Do you want to know your gay name?

April: My... my gay name?

Leona: Yeah, it's your first name-

April: Haha. Very funny Leona-

Leona: *gets down on one knee* And my last name.

April: Oh- oh my god.

~■☆■~

Leona: Can you cut me some slack, Lotus? I’m sort of in love.

Lotus: I’m sorry, but that’s really not my problem.

Leona: I’m in love with you.

Lotus: *blushes* Oh. That brings me in the loop a little.

~■☆■~

Leona: I have feelings for you.

Usagi: Why? What's wrong with you? Are you sure you're okay?

~■☆■~

Leona: Look at me straight in the eyes and tell me the truth, Usagi!

Usagi: You can’t expect me to look into your eyes and be straight.

~■☆■~

Casey: Being gay is a constant battle between "I wish to sit on a window bench with my lover, our legs tangling as we listen to the birds" and "Hey, let's go throw rocks at fascists" and I think that's very sexy of us.

Usagi: If the window's open and you time it right, you can do both.

~■☆■~

Lotus: We have fun, don’t we, Usagi?

Usagi: I have never been more stressed out in my entire life.

~■☆■~

Lotus: How do I make a date really romantic?

Casey: Be mysterious.

Lotus: Okay!

*later, while on a date with April*

Apeil: So where are we going?

Lotus: None of your fucking business.

~■☆■~

Lotus: So, I heard you like bad girls… I time travel in Animal Crossing.

~■☆■~

Judge: Does the defendant have any special requests?

Lotus: Death penalty.

Casey, from the gallery: Lotus, it’s just a parking ticket.

Lotus, whispering into the mic: Please kill me.

~■☆■~

Usagi: Come on, Lotus. Nobody actually believes that April is in love with me.

Lotus, to the rest of them: Raise your hand if you think that Apeil is helplessly in love with Usagi.

*Everyone raises their hand*

Usagi: April, put your damn hand down.

~■☆■~

Leona to Lotus: First rule of battle, little big one... don’t ever let them know where you are.

Casey, shooting out of frame: WHOO-HOO! I’M RIGHT HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE! YOU WANT SOME O’ ME?! YEAH YOU DO! COME ON! COME ON! AAAAAH! Whoo-hoo!

April: 'Course, there’re other schools of thought.

[ghostputtyarchive]

oh my god! You character page is the most insane thing over (ever). HOw long did it take you??? Also, I can't wait to read all of it. It's gonna take me forever, esepecially with the ADHD, but I'm gonna do it. Or at the lv ves very leasy least try very hard.

I'm so excited for your story!! Having that many characters... damn, I can't even imagine it. And the length of time it would take to write up all those bios?? Damn. Like, just doing the one page would have taken a long time, but all of that??? Insane. (/pos)

this is getting very repetitive and rambly, so I'm going to shut up now, but I love it, and I'm so incredibly impressed and excited!! <3

AKSNSJSN THANK U SO MUCH <33 !!! i started working on it a little over a month ago i think? also i was actually using different pages for the character descriptions but they kept Breaking so i had to switch them all over ;-; but yeah !! the most grueling part was definitely writing most of the backstories, but i wrote those in bursts and then just revised them every now and then

[rsmrymnt-tea]

「 🐳 」 i'm glad you enjoyed my mini “playlist” from a while ago (☆^ー^☆) i don't believe that you're predictable! instead, you can interpret it as me paying very close attention to what you have to say ^^ and if it helps ease you a bit, those around me have had mixed, awe-filled reactions towards the way i accurately describe things that they couldn't lay a finger on.

i often do this for my friends or mcs that have piqued my interest, but since you mentioned that you have trouble filling in gaps for your own dolasach playlist, i've decided to cultivate a playlist based on how i interpret her :3c

please, ask questions if you have any! it doesn't take very long to make playlists like this since my brain kinda catalogues immediate potential matches for the tone i'm trying to set, but believe me when i tell you that i did try to include as many vital pieces as i could in accordance to dola's lore. ^^

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6LvYBHX31J3Mb4F4kl3SB6?si=343c9594a7ab44f2

and speaking of dola, i'll go ahead and tell you what i think of when i look at your art! i recall that when i first saw art of dolasach a few months ago, the only thing i could genuinely think of was how cat-like she appeared to be /pos

there's a certain way her facial features are angled that makes it appear very small and rounded, like a cat's face. the more art i saw of her the more it validated my thoughts on her because the way you draw her makes her seem so agile? a small frame, but the resonant anger in her voice trickles onto her lips and she spits out venom from a place she didn't know she could reach, much like a small animal lashing out in an attempt to protect itself. that's the impression i get from her, at least.

and speaking of that, it reminds me of a passage i wrote for my mc's mother. maybe it'll strike a chord within you, too, since you could apply it to dola methinks

“[blank]'s mother was a serpent trapped in its own snakeskin. it could be big, it may be beautiful, you might even come to love it, and its fangs may hold the most potent of venoms—but it was nothing unless it would shed. there she was, still writhing and wriggling to be free from her own body all these years later.”

going back on course for your art! it's almost like i can taste damnation on my tongue like a thick coin made of iron; there's a haunting presence about it, like violet eyes rimmed in black and gold that stare at you from out of the mirror that are no longer yours, or the scratch of a record player fighting through the dust and cobwebs to live. i believe that you also express this through your writing as well.

as for the new event ... i think it's enjoyable for the most part, albeit satan slightly disappointing me unfortunately. it's less of how it's written and more of me eagerly trying to look in-between the lines for what everyone's yokai outfits mean to them, particularly solomon's and barbatos'.

i'd say go for it, especially for the cute sol & mc moments. there was a scene early on where they went back and forth telling each other how stunning the other looked and asmodeus didn't even care lmfao he just wanted to take a picture with both of them

NONNIE!! Idek know where to begin with this one sdhfkjdfhg this was such a pleasant surprise to get y'know??? omg and I thought you were going to be a one time sender before disappearing into the nether, never to be seen again after you sent me an insane mini playlist that one time sdhjkdfhgkjdfghkdfghdfkg I'm going to take your word for it that you're just insanely observant and intuitive and I'm not just very easy to read and predict lmao

ALSO! THAT PLAYLIST!!! NONNIE YOU INCLUDED GW2 OST??? YOU INLCUDED GW2 OST OMGMGOGMMG NONNIE!!!! NONNIE!!!!!!!! And it's Maclaine Diemer's stuff too sdfjkdg idk if Jeremy Soule's material is even in Spotify but I'm so shook shdjkdf tbh I've only just gotten to listening to the playlist (been really busy fghdjf) and just from the first song + those two gw2 songs, I'm already like... :0 holy shit??? Thank you so much for going through the trouble of building this playlist nonnie omg... Thinking about how the title 'The Pact Laid Waste' would mean something else for OM!Dola aaaaaaa goodness... I'm pretty sure River of Souls is the song that plays when you've died too so >.< I'm so excited to listen to this tonight omg the way it looks like these are all Game OSTs... You're speaking to my soul, nonnie ;w;

I'm curious, like... Did you know about GW2/the music before making this??? kind of going nuts dhgkjfg my brain seens GW2 and Dola and I'm frothing at the mouth sdfjkdhg What was your mindset when you were making this playlist? :0

(I'm about halfway through the playlist right now... The songs that remind me of Celtic music (all the songs from Unravel)??? Nonnie was this intentional because I mentioned some time back that Dola's Irish because of her name??? Granted I think they're actually Scandinavian music because of the artists' names but still jkdfg)

I'm also so curious... What was the piece of Dola art you saw? Admittedly the resemblance to a cat is on purpose... I wasn't exaggerating when I said I tailor made her for Satan sdhfjf though back then I didn't loathe how much he's become just catboy because it wasn't quite as bad >.>;; Things also just ended up working out into her being even more catlike as I kept developing and workshopping Dola. But I still think of an observant cat eyeing the people around it from its perch up high when I write Dola sometimes. With some mix of judgement and curiosity in her eyes lmao

Jaw dropping at how you described her??? I really do think she becomes almost like someone else entirely when she's angry and lashing out, and if she doesn't have an obvious target, the anger turns inwards and burns her senses to nothing, the impulse to hurt something in some way overtaking most of her logic. And if you've brought her to that point, you won't be spared, and depending on what you've done you probably won't even get the chance to explain yourself. I think I like... sort of explored that in that one horror-ish fic I wrote from the POV of the demon Dola killed with Lucifer's help? But not really since it's all from the POV of her victim <.<;; >.>;;

hdfjkdhg that passage about your MC's mother... I think it really does apply to Dola because while I think her self-loathing drives her to constant growth, it also means she's rarely ever truly happy? it gets better over time (in love, several hundred years' time) but yeah... In the end her own greatest enemy is always going to be herself because it's so hard for her to think that her perceived inadequacies aren't objective fact that she has to change.

Nonnie are you and 🐝 nonnie friends or something?? goodness >w< I haven't gone on this much about Dola in a hot minute shjkdfhsdkjhf

THOUGH NONNIE OMG I feel like that's like... A lot for my art??? I just draw faces sdhjkdgh I haven't even made anything that carries enough atmosphere and emotion that feels like it's earned that kind of description... Thank you so much though??? That's the mood I always want to go for but I've genuinely never really been able to actually make what I want that conveys all that in the way that I want to. Desperate to do more than portraits >n<

hfghdfg also I get what you mean... Like, hatred for catboy!Satan aside, I feel like this event's outfits kind of nail more of why it's so boring to always stick him with the cat costume and cat gag? With the rest it seems like there's an interesting deeper symbolic meaning of their yokai costumes (I know Mammon and Levi's costumes seem like obvious choices because Mammon's familiars are crows and we associate Levi with water but it's not nearly as hammered in as Satan's cat bullshit; Mammon was a tiger in his Paws&Claws outfit and Levi was a giraffe ffs we have literal catboy Satan twice now and whenever there's space for a cat motif for him it's there :/ his Yukata and Onesie outfits are all cats too like come on)

I'm currently halfway through the story key route and tbh I've like... pretty disappointed with how they've done this? You'd think there'd at least be more fluff to it before we get to the story key route because its HDD.5 but some of the chapters legit feel like 10 lines of dialogue before it ends and I'm like??? That's all I get after 2 dance battles?

I like the little bits of food I can get with Sol/Dola/Tan at least, but like... That's kind of it. Aside from a possible horror rewrite of the story key route in page 3 >w<

Anyway!!! Thank you so much for this ask omg??? Sorry it took a while to get to, been shockingly busy the past few days >A<