#i wrote words again

[psychoticgirl]

A gravely injured Sif sees a glowing door appear against the snowy backdrop of Alfheim.

For Day Three of @sifkiweek and the prompt Variant.

Originally started for my @mischiefandmistletoe assignment but I had to default last year.

[torsamors]

On Seatbelts and Sunsets - Hanif Abdurraqib

[cowboylikeyouu]

writing fanfiction on paper is so fucking therapeutic

[kazumist]

THE NAME OF LOVE .ᐟ

✩ — the three times hoshina soshiro dismissed his feelings for you as something that friends do and the one time he realized otherwise.

✩ — request: IVE BEEN WANTING TO REQ U SOMETHING FOR SO LONG NOW I HOPE U DONT MIND !! can i ask for hopeless romantic reader and hoshina soushirou.... the way he... is...... (LOVE PESSIMIST 🫵) I'm a sucker for hoshina falling first or confessing first but it is truly up to you!! i genuinely have no idea where im going with this so pls feel free to change anything to your liking

✩ — includes: hoshina soshiro x gn!reader. fluff. cw: uhm funky pacing bc this is just pure word vom LAWLZ. wc: 3583 (i did not expect for it to be this long i swear). reader works for operations and is considered as second best to okonogi (is also okonogi's assitant). ikaruga and okonogi cameo yipee! hoshina is bad at feelings ™. reblogs and feedback are much appreciated !!

to love is something you cannot name.

that’s a saying that stitched itself onto your brain because it just makes sense. loving someone has way too much depth, depending on the person who is the one lending out their heart and who they are giving it out to in the first place. it could be named as anything, depicted as anything, or interpreted as anything.

especially for you, who had witnessed, watched, read, and consumed all sorts of media that named love as numerous things. sometimes love is tragic, making two people feel so much just for them to get pulled away from each other when they were so close to running into each other’s arms. sometimes love is mirthful, having two people become the best versions of themselves around the person they love because they feel safe becoming vulnerable with the other. yet sometimes love is bittersweet, accepting the art of letting go as it was for the best—accepting that things weren’t just meant to be but not forgetting the emotions the person made you feel.

well, how were you supposed to know what love really is? a hopeless romantic is hopeless for a reason.

having a day off is quite rare, even for the employees of the operations department. the work was quite demanding, as any job involving the JAKDF was. but you still made time to relax and enjoy your rest from time to time, whether that was rewatching a good old romcom film from the 2000s or reading a new romance novel you decided to pick up.

it was normal for a hopeless romantic to dream. to fantasize. that maybe they could experience an extraordinary love like it is portrayed in films or described in songs. so naturally, as a hopeless romantic yourself, you weren’t any different. you just wanted to experience love—to be loved.

then again, liking someone does count as experiencing romance in a sense. admiring someone with traits the public doesn’t really notice is… rare. but that’s how it always went with you. though you wouldn’t really say that you actually acted upon your feelings, they're usually be gone once that person has stepped out of the current environment you’re in.

that’s how it was before.

vice captain hoshina was a respectable man. he is talented, and he sure as hell knows it. as the ton put it, you and the vice captain had a strange relationship—nobody really knows what to call you two. as the secondary leader of operations and okonogi’s assistant, it was only natural to be in the presence of the vice captain most of the time. but there’s just something different when it comes to how you two treated each other.

from flirtatious remarks and confusing gestures that you aren’t sure if you’re supposed to interpret as romantic, just what were you to the vice captain? you’ve observed long enough that he only does this to you. though you don’t really hate it. in fact, you like it that he’s only like that to you—but you weren’t supposed to like him, you swear! but honestly speaking, how could you not? you had plenty of reasons to like the vice captain in that way. you just pray that no one has really noticed it.

however, okonogi wasn’t stupid. she gets praised for her analytical skills for a reason and you wish she didn’t have to use those skills when it came to your romantic interest in the vice captain of all things. she promised to keep it a secret, though, and keeping secrets is a thing okonogi was really good at (to your surprise).

— — — — — — — — 

the first time hoshina denied his feelings for you was when he overheard some rookies talking about you.

“(l/n) is such a blessing to the third division, don’t you think?” one said as the other hummed in agreement. “i know, right? they’re so nice! did you know that they helped me once? they gave me tips on what i should do to enhance my combat power for my fighting style; it was really helpful too!” the rookie beamed. hoshina had an unsettling feeling churning inside of him as he eavesdropped on the conversation. but he quickly shook it off, thinking that he probably ate something funny earlier.

but why hasn’t he received such treatment from you? you were closer to him than some rookies, right? 

right?

wait, what the hell is wrong with me? hoshina thinks, snapping out of his earlier thoughts. he was not jealous of some rookies. those were just rookies, for christ’s sake! hoshina walks away, only to be greeted by the sight of you and ikaruga talking this time.

“thanks again for the film recommendation the other day, (l/n). i didn’t expect to enjoy it so much—you were completely right! it did suit my preferences,” he excitedly says. hoshina watches silently, observing everything in detail. and one thing he notices is that ikaruga is standing close to you—way too close than he preferred.

“really? i’m glad you liked them, ikaruga. feel free to ask for more film recs when you’re free.” you laughed at his enthusiasm. ikaruga had always been a fun person to converse with, in your opinion. and you two bonded over films! but it was really nothing more than that. “will definitely do!” he replies, giving you a two finger wave as he excuses himself.

he was definitely not jealous. why would he be jealous in the first place? you two were just friends.

and friends don’t get jealous like this.

— — — — — — — — 

the second time was when he was undergoing recovery after the whole fiasco of the tachikawa base raid. everyone was exhausted. it was fortunate that the third division didn’t get any casualties during the incident; the majority of the troops were only injured for the most part. soshiro was counted among the severely injured troops but he doesn’t regret it one bit.

or so he thought.

soshiro wakes up slowly, blinking and squirting his eyes at the sudden brightness of the light above him. he felt a weight on the side of his bed when he tried to get up, as if something (or someone) was pressing down on the blanket. looking down, he wouldn’t mistake your hair for anyone else. he knew it was you with just a glance.

and there you were, sleeping softly on the side of hoshina soshiro’s bed. soshiro takes note of your appearance that he could see right now—which was really just your messy hair. he gets up, making sure that you don’t wake up. it is likely that the operation has not had much sleep up to this point, which is why you ended up sleeping in his hospital room of all places.

he feels bad. a hand slowly reaches out to your head, stroking it ever so gently. if he were to be honest, he was worried for he operations team during the attack. he recalls regularly checking in to see if things were okay on your end, and you kept reassuring him that everyone was unscathed. his other hand reaches out to his phone on his bedside, checking to see if he missed anything. he was unconscious until now, he thinks. and the text from okonogi just confirmed all of his suspicions.

you’re probably still unconscious by the time i sent this, but they’ve been there every day since you got admitted. 

that’s all the message contained. soshiro glances at you again, a soft smile tugging on his lips. he doesn’t get why okonogi felt the need to send him that text, but the thought of you waiting for him to be conscious again made him feel… warm inside. but it all went away as he pulled back his hand from your head as you stirred awake. you raised your head, adjusting yourself to be in a more comfortable position as you rubbed your eyes with your knuckles. 

shock was an understatement when you realized that he was finally awake.

“vice captain! i—sorry, i didn’t mean to sleep on your bed. wait, are you okay? does anything hurt?” he just stared at your eyes, trying to process something. shock was still present in your eyes, and relief was mixed in them too. you noticed him not answering anything you said. worried that he might be suffering from some aftereffects, you asked him again. “uhm… vice captain hoshina?”

he snaps out of it as soon as he hears his name. “sorry, i was just thinking. what were you saying?”

“er… is there something on my face? you’ve been staring at my face the whole time since i woke up…”

hoshina blinks once. twice. then thrice. before he focuses his gaze on something else, looking away from you. you held back a laugh at the sight of red tinting his ears as he apologized for his actions. 

“i’m glad you’re alright, vice captain.”

hoshina freezes. he didn’t expect those words to have a bigger impact on him than they do now. but this is all natural, isn’t it? friends worry about each other. friends wish and hope that the other is okay.

yet why does he feel bitter when he labels this as something that friends—no, snap out of it. he thinks.

“i’m glad you’re alright too.”

— — — — — — — — 

the third time was when you were sent to work to the first division of all places. he was completely against it, of course, but he doesn’t have any concrete reason to actually protest against it. 

it was quite boring to not have you there. he didn’t really have anyone to disturb anymore. and the sudden change in the vice captain’s demeanor doesn’t go unnoticed by the platoon leaders. sure, he still had the same toothy grin on his lips, with his fang peeking out ever so often but deep down, you can’t really point out if it was genuine.

after all, hoshina soshiro was good at concealing his emotions and thoughts.

but then again, okonogi wasn’t stupid. it pains her to be the one who’s stuck between the vice captain and her subordinate. soshiro was the same as the night he didn’t get to neutralize kaiju no. 8 back then. shoulder slumped, arms crossed, a slight pout on his lips, and an expression that clearly stated he was pondering about something—or perhaps someone?

“you miss them, don’t you?” okonogi suddenly asks as she organizes the paperwork in front of her. working with hoshina when it came to paperwork wasn’t really new, except for this time because you would also be present in times like these. “miss who?” he decided to play dumb (or is the right term indenial?)

“please don’t make me spell it out for you, vice captain.” she replied, pushing up her glasses.

hoshina doesn’t reply, zoning out as he thinks about okonogi’s words. well, it wasn’t really false that your sudden absence had changed things in the vice captain’s usual routine. he doesn’t see you making a cup of coffee after he finishes training in the middle of the night. nor does he see you drowning yourself in research at the library when you’re not in the operations room, where soshiro would personally lend you a hand and provide his own insights on whatever you’re researching.

oh. 

oh.

he does miss you.

but that’s just normal, right? friends miss each other. and friends tend to leave sometimes but they will always come back when the time is right. however, the head of operations for the third division didn’t have to be some kind of genius to put two and two together. 

the vice captain has some sort of interest in you as well; he just hasn’t realized it himself.

— — — — — — — — 

the day you returned from the first division was the day everything went back to normal for soshiro.

it was currently a quarter after one in the morning, and he had just finished his training. he ended up going more overtime than usual, but if he hadn't, he probably would’ve missed the open door to the library at this hour. and of course, being the ever so curious man he is, he takes a peek in.

and again, there you were. but this time, you were drowning yourself again in research. your hair was a bit messy, and the eyebags doesn’t go unnoticed by him. yet in spite of that, soshiro still found your appearance to be lovely. maybe it was just the fatigue from his training, or perhaps it’s the thought of you being so determined in your work that sparked such a thought in him.

regardless of what the reason actually was, soshiro found your appearance lovely despite it all.

“you should head to bed soon.” he says, approaching the table you were currently working on. you looked up, surprised to see him awake at this hour. but you put your focus back on your work, not even giving him a second glance—which surprised the vice captain. he reads on whatever you were working on, noticing that they were mostly reports of kaiju no. 9. 

“researching on kaiju no. 9, i see. need a hand?”

“there’s just something off about him and i can’t put my finger on it. also thanks, but no thanks. i can handle this myself, vice captain.”

“it’s almost two in the morning, are you sure about that?”

he didn’t quite catch on to what your reply was, but he was positive that you just declined his offer either way. hoshina decides to pull up the chair beside you and grab the small stack of reports in front of you. he rotates the lamp a bit in his direction, but just enough to leave some light for you to read as well if you needed to.

you sigh at him. “vice captain, you really don’t have to—”

“but i want to. it’s the least i could do.”

truth be told, you really can’t bring yourself to be in the presence of the vice captain now. everything was just confusing. you were aware that the vice captain doesn’t really like paperwork in general (who even likes paperwork in the first place?) but you don’t get why he’s so insistent on helping you every time he finds you here.  

you don’t get why he likes your company so much. you considered yourself to be plain, a bit mundane for someone to actually spend some time with. especially when your interests don’t really spark any others for the most part. 

and while you may be a hopeless romantic, you weren’t foolish. even if you like the vice captain who’s currently making an effort to help you with your work, he’s just way out of your league. he’s too high to reach, and you were sure as hell that he would never actually look at you in that way. not now, not ever.

but why? why does a part of you keep saying that maybe he does? he wouldn’t do all of that if he didn’t actually look at you in that way, right? hope is a dangerous thing for someone who doesn’t know how to stop. for someone like you who refuses to give up on most occasions. it was stupid. foolish. naive.

not now, not ever would hoshina soshiro actually look at you that way.

“vice captain, please get some rest.”

“i could say the same to you.”

god, why is this man so stubborn? is he not tired from all the late night training he does? you thought, slowly getting frustrated. hoshina tells you his observations based on the reports in his hands and shares his hypothesis on the matter. he had some valid points and he’s lending a great hand at the moment. but frustration was just getting the best of you at the moment from your numerous trains of thought.

“the fact that he can adapt so easily is scary in itself. and the recent report of him breaking in the operations room in the first division states that—”

“why are you doing this?” you cut him off.

hoshina stares at you, dumbfounded at your question. he opens his mouth to answer, but no words actually come out of him. he chuckles bitterly in his mind. soshiro would like an answer to that question as well. but then it dawned on him. every flashed across his mind in seconds, and he finally realized it.

yet the result of that still scared him.

he was in love. hoshina soshiro is in love—with you nonetheless. the person he swore was just a friend. it took him quite a while to realize it, always being in denial that it was just normal for friends to act the way you two were. but he was in love. and that scared him. because what is he supposed to do when he finally realizes that you have consumed him? he never wanted this to happen, not in a million years.

but perhaps he was in love with you long before he started tripping along the lines of being friends and something more.

why are you doing this? your question echoed in his head. because i love you, he swallows back down his throat. he can’t say it. there’s no way things would work out. he could die any day and he’d rather not see you miserable because of his death. it would be better if you found someone else—but how ironic. he couldn’t really handle the thought of you being with someone else in the first place.

why are you doing this? your question echoes again. “because i love you.” he finally says, hesitant even. hesitant to know what you’re reaction was going to be. your eyes went wide at the sudden confession, and hoshina was certain that you wouldn’t believe him (well, he couldn’t really believe it either). “you’re kidding me,” you replied.

“i’m not.”

and surely enough, the look on the vice captain’s eyes said it all. he was dead serious. "i... why?” it's ten past two in the fucking morning, and you were too scared to accept that all of this was occurring right now, so you were afraid to ask. you were too scared to just randomly wake up and realize that maybe it was all a dream. too scared to believe that your feelings are being reciprocated.

“because you’re different—different to me, if that makes sense. it’s like you have this effect when it comes to me. food tastes better whenever i share a meal with you; my day just feels more peaceful whenever i get to see you’re doing fine, and i realized that maybe i haven’t actually looked at you like a friend or coworker for as long as i can remember; i was just too stupid to realize it earlier.” he avoids his gaze for a moment before looking at you again.

“i love you. i want you to look at me and love me too. we’ve come too far to turn back. i’m already too deep into you.”

you were speechless. 

he loves you. he loves you. he loves you. it repeated like some sort of chant inside of your head as you processed everything. hoshina soshiro loves you back—who would’ve thought? you hadn’t realized that he was sitting so close to you. the tension was so thick, but you easily cut it down as you started with your response.

“you’re an amazing man, vice captain, and i truly cannot grasp how you could feel such feelings towards me, but i love you too.” you could see hoshina jump in his seat in shock at your confession, but you continued. “i love you in ways you have never been loved, for reasons that you may not have been told, for longer than you think you deserve and with more than you will ever know existed inside of me. yet i can’t help but still wonder… how? why? wait no, why was already answered—”

he chuckles at you. stopping you with your words. “what’s so funny?” you pouted at him. “it’s nothing. i just can’t believe that we’re seriously having this moment at two in the morning.”

“sorry, i think that may have been on my part. i kind of snapped there because i was just so… confused.”

“confused?”

“yeah, confused if we’ve crossed the line between friends or lovers without actually realizing it. crazy, right?”

hoshina moves a bit closer to you, making the distance between the two of you smaller than before. he puts his forehead against yours. “not really, but i look at you, and i just love you, and it terrifies me. it terrifies me what i would do for you. i’m in love but i’m also terrified—that’s what i think is crazy.”

“then let’s be terrified together,” you whispered to him.

a soft laugh leaves his lips this time. “i like the sound of that.” he whispers back.

he loves you.

and you love him back.

that’s all what matters.

love, in general, can make you feel all sorts of things. joy, confusion, anger, fear, and many more. it can also make you do all sorts of things. it can make you do things you never really imagined doing for or with someone in the first place. it tends to be irrational—ridiculous, even. but the thought of doing all of it for the person you care most about? you finally realized that’s simply what love is all about for you.

to love is something you truly cannot name.

[opikiquu]

imagine if they all had wifi but the Only app that worked was Tumblr in the elevator

[ironunderstands]

Sunday’s worldview sucks, his outlook and perception of himself and others sucks… and that’s why he’s so interesting

In honor of his drip marketing releasing tonight (or maybe yesterday for you depending on when I get this out), I’d like to talk about why I think Sunday’s beliefs and perspective is very, very flawed and how his own biases rather than the actions of those who oppose him are what led to his downfall.

Sunday is entirely responsible for his own failure, and that’s exactly why he’s incredible.

This contains mentions of leaks and spoilers for the Penacony quest line… you have been warned

To start with, oh my lord do Sunday’s preconceived notions kick him in the ass. 

I think the best example of this is his conversation with Dr. Ratio in which Ratio pretends to betray Aventurine, selling out his plan to Sunday. Now, what’s incredibly interesting about this exchange is that Ratio doesn’t fully lie to Sunday once in this exchange, rather he says half truths and makes vague statements which Sunday himself interprets as being in support of him. 

Take what Ratio said the whole, “A scholar knows their position and wouldn’t forsake it for the sake of petty pride.” In retrospect, we know this line is actually referring to Aventurine- aka Ratio is saying he’s not just going to sell him out to Sunday for the sake of information about the Stellaron (which he would get anyways if the IPC attained Penacony, plus Mr. Incredibly Dedicated Knowledge Spreader probably has other means of gaining it then through The Family). 

However, since Ratio answered the invitation Sunday gave him, Sunday assumes that Ratio is on his side, believes his cause is righteous, and that he won Ratio over with offering him information about the Stellaron, therefore making that previous statement of Ratio’s null, because Sunday interpreted it as, “convince me this is worth my time + prove to me you’re correct,” when it really meant, “there is no way in hell I’m about to sacrifice my friend to you, and there is nothing you could offer me to make me do so you crazed lunatic.”

But why did Sunday not weigh the options? Why did he unquestioningly believe his perception of the situation was the correct one?

Well- partly it’s because Ratio and Aventurine were doing their damndest to make it seem like they hate each other and that their plan was going off the rails.

But the more important part is that even without Ratio saying a word or even accepting the invitation, Sunday already believes he’d be on his side. 

Let me demonstrate this through Sunday's perspective:

I am a righteous person, I am doing the correct things, my worldview is the correct one. Dr. Ratio is also a righteous person who seems to be doing the correct things. Therefore, since we are both on the side of good, and Aventurine is clearly not on that side considering his status as Stoneheart and his negative relationship to Ratio, then Ratio will naturally want to be on my side. After all, the good guys work together, do they not?- and together will vanquish this evil villain.

This perspective is a simple one, but Sunday’s unshaking belief (up until the end of 2.2) that he is 100% in correct and in the right, that any and everyone who he also perceives to be in the right (like Ratio) would believe/side with him without truly needing to be convinced. Sunday doesn’t come out the gate offering the Stellaron information- he only keeps it as a backup just in case. 

However, this is complicated because Sunday is also not an idiot, and he’s extremely paranoid, so he’s going to make sure that the way he views the world is 100% correct on the off chance he’s wrong which could foil his plans- which is why he invited Ratio in the first place. Nevertheless, this isn’t him hunting for new perspectives, but rather him desiring to prove himself right again, which is a bad thing because Sunday is very much not right. 

A perfect world is a perfect pris- *gets shot*

Reference that approximately 2 ½ people will get beside, Sunday’s ideology that he is fully confident in.. sucks. It sucks ass, it’s terrible, and let me explain.

I’m not going to try going over all the little intricacies to how the dreamscape works because I a) don’t know and b) don’t particularly care because they aren’t relevant to the argument I will be making- which is that Sunday’s ideology is inherently flawed and immediately falls apart under scrutiny.

Essentially, he desires to create the perfect fake reality, enveloping the whole galaxy in Ena’s dream and fulfilling their every desire and whim within it, with himself as the sacrifice to allow it to exist. The seven rest days, no illness, no pain, no challenge, you get the idea. 

And, this perfect world paradoxically sucks ass because of its perfectness.

Improving society is great, eliminating hardship is great, increasing quality of life is great.

But declawing reality itself- absolutely not.

I’m going to try to explain this through my favorite strangely specific anecdote- the process of obtaining diamonds in Minecraft.

Stay with me now.

You essentially have two options- go out and mine them yourselves the hard way, which takes hours, gives you less diamonds per the amount of time spent on it, and likely with you exhausting some of your resources like food, torches, and tools which you will need to replenish.

Or.

You can just.. get them from creative mode or commands, and you can get as many as your heart desires.

However, despite the fact that option one is harder, gives you less diamonds and takes significantly more time, I, as well as hopefully you, would pick it every time (at least in a survival world, although honestly idk why you would even need pure diamonds in creative).

And that’s because the first option is rewarding. 

You did not earn the diamonds you easily and magically summoned into your inventory, there is no struggle, no journey, no challenge to it, therefore it feels entirely unremarkable, as compared to the feeling you (hopefully) get from mining diamonds, which makes you happy because you earned it. Yeah, it was harder, but the process itself is fun- the anticipation of not knowing when you’re going to find them, if at all, the danger, the fighting and digging and mauvering you will have to do in the process.

And with this unconventional example, the fatal flaw with Sunday’s ideology is revealed- it’s boring. 

It’s boring as shit.

Yeah, for the first few months or even years it might be enjoyable- having everything you could ever want served on a silver platter. However, humans are a) inherently a bit greedy and b) desire challenge, and this scenario fulfilles neither of those things. Naturally having everything means your desire for more can never be fulfilled, leaving the wanter forever unsatisfied, whereas in the real world, things are truly out of your reach, meaning that even if you never end up getting them, they are still a tangible thing just out of reach… as strange at it sounds, we like being tantalilus-ed more than you think. After all, if what you want is so easy to get, you will never run out of things to want, and eventually that gets draining. 

Continually, if everything is easy, if everything is just right there whenever you want it- existence itself no longer has stakes. 

And that’s the problem, because much like how a story with no stakes is extremely hard to find compelling, a life with no stakes feels boring at best and downright pointless and meaningless at worst.

I’m just saying, there is a reason why the Nihility was such a strong presence and problem in Penacony.

Anyways, like with the diamond problem, a lack of stakes means that nothing you do feels rewarding, because you didn’t truly earn it. 

Which is where the Sunday’s idea of a “perfect” reality falls apart, because the most enjoyable reality for humans to live in is not one literally devoid of any possible flaw.

So why does he believe in it? When it’s so clearly flawed?

Well, it’s because Sunday doesn’t think a better alternative exists.

The world made you this way.. and you chose to continue what it started.

I’m sure I don’t need to repeat the story of the Charmony Dove all over again because trust me, we’ve all heard it before. Nonetheless, it reveals something important both about Sunday’s personality and his ideology- he’s fundamentally a defeatist.

He doesn’t believe that there is any alternative for the dove, that it could ever be able to fly again with its deformed nature, so instead of being “cruel” and letting it “inevitably fall to its death,” he’d rather keep it in a cage all its life where it has no freedom, but at least it would he alive and “happy”.

And this is where his defeatism reveals itself- Sunday doesn’t believe reality itself can get better because improving it when there are so many factors and things out of your control is hard at best and impossible at worst. Therefore, he resorts to creating an escapist, false version of it- a perfect golden cage, because constructing that is far, far easier than trying to help the dove fly again. 

The universe has endless possibilities, if Robin and Sunday had tried hard enough, they probably could have found a solution. Sure, they were both children, so the capabilities necessary to even attempt that were likely far out of their reach. However, it was still possible, but Sunday doesn’t believe in possibilities- he believes he’s right above all else, which is where that stubbornness and arrogance comes into play again.

Sunday doesn’t think better solutions than his exists, and he believes everyone would could possibly stand in his noble way are either villains, or horribly misguided; so it’s his job to show them the light.

This is why he lets the Express Crew + Firefly try to change his mind- Sunday wasn’t actually interesting in shifting his perspective, or really what they wanted to say. Rather, he just wanted to let them say there peace, because well, Sunday’s a good, righteous person (at least from his perspective), and good, righteous people listen to others. Good, righteous people will let these poor, ignorant souls offer their foolish words before exposing them to the harsh truth- or at least that’s how Sunday sees it. 

Moreover, this also explains his arrogance. If he believes his worldview is the sole correct one, then why listen to anyone else? He’s this world's savior, or at least he’s been raised to believe that- so why not relish in it? He enjoys punishing Aventurine, enjoys the bastard who stood in the way of Sunday’s plans, shrinks away in “defeat” and get what he “deserves.” Despite how miserable it sounds, Sunday also takes pride in having to be a martyr to bring about his beautiful dream. The belief that he is a selfless, good person is a selfish desire of his, even if a genuine one, and it’s what leads to his downfall.

Sunday could have actually listened. He could have reevaluated his loss to Aventurine and realized it was not through the others clever deception, but through his own biases. He could have actually taken the Express’s and Firefly’s advice. He could have looked for other avenues to help the people he truly does care about. 

Despite Gopher Wood’s manipulation- Sunday’s decision to go forward with the pain is entirely his own, because he truly believes- even with all the evidence for the contrary- that he is correct.

And that’s why he fails. Not because of the Express. Not because of Ratio. Not because of Aventurine. Not because of Gopher, or even the rest of The Family.

No, Sunday fails because he is flawed, and he is wrong, and he is the arrogant, selfish and biased one, and his worldview is wrong.

So what now?

This might have seemed like I think Sunday is pure evil and irredeemable, but I think it’s quite the opposite.

He has very good intentions, and he does genuinely care about it the well being of other people around him. He gives Aventurine a chance to prove his innocence, even if he never intended on changing, he does listen to what the Express + Firefly have to say. He pauses when Robin shows up, as she’s the one person (until the very end) he’s actually willing to accept the perspective of. The whole reason he ended up here in the first place is because Gopher Wood twisted Sunday’s good intentions into a fatal arrogance and utmost belief in a flawed worldview. 

However, what really sells me on Sunday’s goodness is when eyes widen at that final moment, the light draining from him as he realizes he is wrong. 

And once Sunday realizes he is wrong, those flaws that bind him can finally be examined and improved upon, as they all stem from that worldview he no longer believes in. 

His whole life, Sunday has been enacting out someone else’s plan for him, even if he’s come to internalize it over time, at the end of the day- it was never his, and without it, he’s empty.

Which is exactly why the only place he can go now is the Express, and the only thing left for him is redemption and growth.

Dan Heng is right- Sunday has a noble soul, and now that he has stopped believing in himself, he’s no longer shackled by the past either. Improvement or utter demise (in a likely nihility-flavored manner) are his only options remaining.

I understand a lot of people want to see him become a Stellaron Hunter, but imo, that just does nothing for him. He’d still be following someone else’s path/script, and Mr. I Will Sacrifice My Whole Existence To Become The Sun To Illuminate These Wandering Souls probably wouldn’t be so on board with the whole.. terrorism part of being a SH. Like yeah, they are our friends (kinda), but they absolutely kill innocent people and cause millions of dollars in property damage to people who don’t deserve it. 

Also, being on the Express Just Makes Sense. This is a game about choices, a game about accepting the mistakes of your past, but not letting them define you in order to move on and forge a better future for yourself and others- with the Astral Express + Trailblaze as a concept being the literal embodiment of it. There’s a reason when you switch to the Trailblazer’s POV in stories, it includes Kafka’s most important words to us- “When you have the chance to make a choice, make one you won’t regret.”

Therefore, I hope the choices Sunday will make in 2.7 are ones he’s proud of, and I can’t wait to see how exactly they get him on board with the crew, because there still is a LOT of development he needs to do before then. 

Anyways, thank you so much for reading, and if you have any thoughts I’d love to hear them. This was a stream of consciousness mess, but I hope it was still valuable nonetheless! Also if you are reading this on the day it was written, I hope we don’t get disappointed by his drip marketing!

[fairydrowning]

– Diary of "fairy_drowning", October 15th, 2024, Time: 10:17PM

[TEXT ID: Flowers are growing inside my body and I wish to be with you so I can cut them out and give that to you. A bouquet of unsaid love is now turning into grief. END ID]

[hanafubukki]

Silver’s Curse Changing

Thinking about it, but have we ever considered that Silver’s curse becoming worse is not solely one person’s fault nor is it based on self-perception only but a collective change that made it worse?

Most tend to blame Lilia for Silver’s curse becoming worse or because of Silver’s self-depreciation.

But I don’t think that’s fully the case. I don’t think the curse becoming worse is entirely Lilia’s fault nor do I think it’s because of how Silver views himself being the only reason.

As we saw in part 5, Silver accepted he was loved at the end. And for Lilia, while yes, to a degree he’s at fault because he hasn’t accepted his importance in his boys’ lives which in turn had a cascading effect. The curse becoming worse isn’t solely his fault.

What do we know about the curse? We know that it became worse as Silver aged.

But what else happens when you age?

We change. We place boundaries. We open/close our hearts. We have identity issues. Etc.

This is what I think caused his curse to become worse.

From outside looking in, Diasomnia is a tight knit family.

But when we look at them? Time has changed their bonds. So is it surprising that Silver’s curse changed with him?

Malleus -> who has always been alone and isolated, who helped take care of Silver, who taught Sebek and Silver magic, who loves Lilia -> became “Lord Malleus” to Silver and Sebek, his knights, in a way this places boundaries, didin’t it? I have no doubt that Silver probably called him something else when he was younger but that probably changed with time as well. With Lilia, it went from someone who could hear his cries to “you should act like a prince” and “you have to do better to get along with humans”

Lilia -> someone who has always kept secrets, someone who changed, who leaned to love, who hatched Malleus and woke Silver, who continued to learn and travel -> became someone who went from “Toto” to “Father”, someone who was limited to visiting Malleus and had to place boundaries as his “caretaker”, someone who is aging and dying so he distanced himself, someone who ran away from his problems when he would face it before.

Silver -> someone who loves openly, giving Lilia acorn bracelet, who knows Malleus and learned to dance from him and magic -> someone who calls Lilia “father” and Malleus “lord”, someone who had a crisis about his identity, someone who is “reserved” (Malleus can read him easily)

Silver’s curse didn’t only get worse because he wasn’t loved or didn’t believe he deserved it.

But also because of how his relationships changed over time.

The curse like him aged and changed with him. It changed as he changed.

A big factor to breaking this curse I believe is communication.

Something that we see is an issue right now with Diasomnia. And something that, as we go through our developing years, have issues with as well especially when it comes to being open and communicative with family.

While their love for each other is never in question (to us the audience), their communication with each other is the root of the problem.

Diasomnia might be a blabbermouth about each other, but it doesn’t mean they are blabbermouths to each other.

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

daniel clocking armand at polynesian mary's as louis obvious partner, asking "so you just climb in it, close the lid, and bang?" and then immediately after asking, "so am i the first guy you've brought back here?" means two things to me:

he was desperately trying to figure out louis' and armand's sexual habits and behaviors for cough cough no reason. not so he could try to picture it in extreme detail later or anything like that

he thought it was baby's first night swinging and he was like. that's okay man i'll show you the way ❤️ i don't even mind your freaky coffin thing and in fact i like it. you can love me forever ❤️

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

In Stars and Disco

(Disco side of the swap)

[auuwmk]

"you are what you eat" fits all of yoohankim if you think about it.....I'm not insane alright.....you create what you have seen in creation.....you become what you consume…..you resemble it……is this anything

[thesarcasticism]

i really love the romance scenes in p3p for many reasons. ryoji's is sad, akihiko's is sweet, aigis' is adorable.

and then there's shinjiro, who's like, "if you don't get out of my room, i'm going to fuck you."

and you're just like... "promise?"

[jay72664]

You called me

TW: Use of alcohol.

Okay, maybe Dazai was a tiny bit jealous.

But he wasn’t like, that jealous.

In fact, he was more upset by the fact that he couldn’t go to sleep.

After all, he’d probably have to pick up his drunk ass husband any minute now.

He tries to focus on the TV.

Any minute now.

Yeah, he was impatient, he had run out of things to do and just wanted to cuddle, and maybe annoy, his Chibi husband.

But no, Chuuya wanted to go out drinking with friends because he needed free time.

He was probably just annoyed with him.

He was awfully clingy.

And tended to actively try to annoy him.

Not to mention he was way overly affectionate, even in public.

Wait, what if Chuuya met someone at the bar he was drinking at?

What if he loved them more than he loved Dazai?

Dazai’s phone rings, and he checks the number before putting it to his ear.

“Hello.” Dazai says to his husband through the phone.

“Heeey.” He mumbles, words slurred.

Dazai can’t help but chuckle.

“Are you drunk?”

“Mh-hm.” He hums, though it was quite groan like.

“I’m coming.” Dazai promises softly. “I love you.”

He already knew which bar Chuuya had gone to, because he had told him before he left.

So he got in the car and headed there.

When he got to the bar Chuuya was slumped over the counter sobbing, Tachihara was awkwardly patting his back.

Dazai almost laughed.

“Why’s he crying?” The brunette asks the mafioso.

“I’m uh, not sure.” He says awkwardly, not really knowing how to talk to the detective. 

“I’ll uh, leave him to you.” He flashes a tight smile and gets up to head out of the bar himself.

“Chuuya.” He taps his shoulder to get his attention.

“S-Samu? You’re back?” He slurs sitting up, though he nearly falls over, and slumps his head against Dazai’s chest.

“You called me, of course I came, silly.” He coos teasingly.

“You left me all alone.” He mumbles, there were still tears streaming down his cheeks.

“What are you talking about Chibi? you’re the one who...” He hesitates at the end realizes what the ginger was talking about, as he wiped away his tears with his thumb.

“Come one, let’s go.” He offers his short husband his back, who climbs on, his arms falling over his shoulders, as Dazai’s arms slip under his legs to keep him up.

“Where are we going?” Chuuya asks, hiccuping as he speaks.

“We’re going home.” The lanky man explains, stifling a laugh at his husband’s stupor.

“Oh.”

Dazai drives Chuuya home, the later nearly falling asleep on the way there, and so when they get home, Dazai just guided him to their bed, taking off his shoes, and socks, and his hat and coat, before tucking him into the sheets, and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Unable to sleep himself however, Dazai goes and sits on the couch, replaying the interaction in his head.

You left me all alone.

He knew Chuuya forgave him for what happened.

He knew it.

Yet found himself doubting it.

He knew he couldn’t have stayed in the mafia.

Knew he wouldn’t be happy.

Doubted he would have married Chuuya.

Yet he stilled felt guilty whenever he thought of it.

Of Chuuya being betrayed yet again.

Of him being the one to doing it.

Of bringing him such pain.

He made Chuuya cry.

And he hated himself for it.

[moeblob]

Yeah! I haven't read any fics focusing on them but I have seen that they exist! And also there's like a five sentence interaction in a fic I read ages ago that lives rent free in my brain. I think about it all the time when I draw Sixty.

[child-of-the-cosmos]

Part 1. > Here. Part 2. > Here. Part 3. > Here.

The daycare was shut down a long time ago, replaced by some... movie theater thing? Not that it matters to you, for all you know, the daycare itself could just be a rumor. One of those things that get made up into a story somebody tells the other person.

You tried searching something about it up on the web. Of course, you came up empty. But... those teens yesterday. They were talking about it- them?? Something about this big animatronic that used to watch over them as a kid. And you were sure they said something about a daycare.

But... maybe you were mistaken?

You sat down a semi heavy box in the storage room connected to the back of the theater, located in the plex.

It mostly just held old dvds (as if people still used them anymore, but you guessed it was better than paying those high subscriptions most companies had nowadays), and other stuff the theater might need. Including exrta cleanings supplies, and whatnot.

Just, the usual stuff you'd see in a place like this.

You thought back to the daycare. You don't know why, but something bothered you. A manic bot? But those teens were obviously recalling only good times with... whatever it was. Missing kids? You couldn't find anything about that. And... they just, removed a whole daycare???

You thought about how many people would kill for a good babysitter these days- most bots that are programed for that, well, that's all they're programmed to do. Maintain the health and safety of the child until their guardian came home. Something like that, at least.

But the bot those teens talked about? It- they?? Sounded... animated. More... involved with the caretaking.

...

You were really started to feel bad for just, listening to their conversation like that. But it was interesting! Who wouldn't be interested in something like that.

You could name quite a few people. But weren't one of them.

You stretched, looking around the dimly lit room. It was big. Spacious. Had a lot of boxes piled up. None of them named, though. You guessed the maintenance bots had something to do with that.

You pursed your lips, looking around again. This place... was once connected to the daycare, right?

You took a step deeper. No one was around... didn't see any cameras... geez, there was dust everywhere. The stuff in here had to be old.

You stretch one more time, before letting your arms fall to your sides. Yeah, you were definitely about to snoop.

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

It had been about a full tem minutes of snooping, which was a lot on work time. But, whoever was over you barely ever kept up with you... so... yeah.

You could hear some animated movie distantly playing in the background. Thin walls. They must have just quickly built something up to have somewhere to put the theater.

You sigh. You still hadn't found anything. Zip. Zero. You were losing hope. And fast.

You were about to leave, but then something catches your eye. Something shiny?

You walk over to a pile of boxes, much deeper in the storage room. They were stacked on top of each other, as most things were here. But that didn't matter to you. No, what mattered right now was the shiny bell hooked to some sort of red ribbon, hanging a little out of one of the boxes.

Definitely not something for the theater.

You smiled. Finally, something interesting.

You carefully removed the boxes on top, finding even more stuff. Shirts, cups, even glowing the dark wrist bands. All having the same sun or moon themed design. Oh, yeah. Jack pot.

As you took out the contents of each box, you were careful to put it back just the way it was. Gotta be discret. Or at least try. Finally, you get to the boxes with the ribbons.

You take one out, feeling it. "What is this? Silk? Some sort of satin?" You quietly mumbled to yourself, flipping the fabric in your hands.

You decide to take one with you, there were tons. One wouldn't hurt... maybe. Hopefully. If they take it out of your paycheck, it's fine. The little bell on the end made it worth it. You found yourself shaking it a little as you walked around, looking for more boxes like the ones you just went through.

Your eyes don't land on it at first, in fact, you miss it three times- far to absorbed in your little mission to find more cool or interesting stuff. I mean, a glow in the dark jacket?? That was nice. It was also themed like everything else you found so far.

But then, you see it. Something. On the farthest back wall. Laying haphazardly against some more boxes. Like it was just, thrown there at some point. One of its triangles??? On its head, had act poked through a box.

You wanted to run. To just turn around, pretend you didn't see anything. Go back to the theater, glance at the movie every now and then.

But you couldn't. You were in too deep now. You needed to see this thing up close.

You take out your flashlight that was hooked to your belt, and point it at it. It was too dark in the place they had set it in to get a good look at it without it.

Wow. Okay. Yeah. Creepy.

Tattered clothing, blank eyes, horrifying smile... you didn't get why any kid would want to get close to this thing. At all.

You walk closer, there was a crack on it's left eye. If you looked closer, you could pin point exactly where the impact-

You slip.

You reach for air as you fall, any box being too far away to grab.

Your head lands on it's chest with a loud bang.

You grab it in pain, failing stand from how much it hurt. Bone to metal definitely didn't mix.

When you had hit your head, you faintly remember hear some sort of... click. Almost like when you click a pin. It was quiet, but not quiet enough to be unnoticed.

You squint at it's chest. A button? Oh, it had more than one.

You sigh, beginning to stand back up, but freeze.

Your eyes lock with its. And it speaks.

"Who... are you? W-where... am I??"

[lemonwrap]

Imagine that Ghost lives long after Soap dies. When Ghost finally dies and reunites with Soap, he finds that they’re both the same age they were right before Soap died—because that was the happiest time of both of them had ever been in their entire lives.