#no idea where Knell is in all this

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Self-insert shenanigans scene that won't get out of my head even though we're a million years away from actually writing it: Frey: *talks about Cuff, calls him that* Flick: ...Cuff? Cuff: It's her ridiculous, demeaning nickname for me. You would do well to ignore it. Flick: Well of course, it's plainly unsuitable. Cuff: Thank you. Flick: You're more of a bangle, really. Cuff: *splutters* Frey: *dies laughing* Cuff: ...I'm going to disassemble you. Again. Bobbi: Put him back right next time? Cuff: No. Flick: I'm just saying, Boss— *goes jewelry mode* Bobbi: *almost drops him* woah woops hi hello. Flick: *jewelry form is an ear cuff* —I should be called Cuff! Bobbi: *snickers* Okay, we're keeping him. Cuff: No we're not. Frey: Shut up, Bangle.

[alwayscorvus]

A hug for a precious teammate

A hug for a precious teammate

malereader x Jiyan, fluff;

i already have an idea for a longer post ("normal" 4 my acc) but for now just a quick short. Jiyan can be a little out of character

He stood alone in the middle of a field, surrounded by emortia flowers. His green robes blew gently on the wind. With his back turned to you, he looked into a distance. Onto a horizon where an outline of Jinzhou city painted itself.

You approached him at a distance of few steps.

-I knew I would find you here.

Hearing your voice, chills went through Jiyan. But not the unpleasant ones, rather those of excitement.

He turned his head back, looking at you over his shoulder. Warm rays of setting sun gushed on both sides of his face, trying to escape past his figure. As a result, his face shimmered with a bright, yellowish glow of light. Messy strands of his hair (which, as always, managed to break out from not-so-perfect ponytail) flew in all directions. His facial expression represented surprise. You saw him taking a sudden gasp of breath after a spin. Yet, at sight of you, corners of his lips lifted slightly upward.

Even though an image in front of you was breathtaking, you put your focus on his eyes. They showed so many emotions. Sadness, grief, suffering. But also some sort of gratitude and relief.

A desire for touch, for warmth of another person.

You involuntarily spread your arms in an inviting gesture. And Jiyan instantly spun on his heel.

It took just a seconds. Jiyan immediately seized an opportunity. He ran into your embrace.

Before you had time to realize, your body was being squeezed tightly by a man's strong arms.

You looked down. Jiyan was stubbornly snuggling his head into your chest, avoiding eye contact.

-I'm sorry. I should be there with you.

You said with a genuine remorse. Now you deeply regretted not accompanying him today.

You knew that returning to the past by experiencing Riverside Games could be painful for your man. However, you hoped that if you let him go alone, he wouldn't be limited to only your company. And that he might be able to reintegrate with other rangers. On a different level -not only restricted to work and duties. Besides, this wasn't your festival.

That's why you decided to go to work.

However, after that decision, for a few good hours, you suffered with great guilt. You couldn't concentrate on your job. Especially after you found out that the festival got suspended. You were unable to complete any task properly. You were basically useless. To the point where your supervisor - Mortefi ordered you to leave.

Jiyan rapidly shook his head in denial. He didn't loosen his grip even slightly. You were slowly running out of breath. But you knew it was the only thing you could do for him at that moment.

-I planted a seed - he said quietly, slowly choosing his words - With Rover

-But I want to plant one with you as well - he added quickly, this time lifting his face up and looking directly into your eyes.

His golden orbs sparkled slightly with hope. Somehow like with an anticipation of approval.

-I know I know -you changed your voice to as calm and tenderful as possible- We are gonna do this

You placed your hands gently on his back and slowly began to make a circles on them. Trying as much as possible to soothe his nerves after today's events.

Jiyan dropped his head again and tightened his grip more. Even though, a second before you hardly believed that it was possible.

However, that gesture did awaken you. You looked around. And your eyes caught a glimpse of midnight rangers. Standing in the distance, guarding Knell Square. They weren't looking in your direction, not paying attention to you at all. Whether out of respect or ignorance.

But still, if this were to change, you had to do something.

Jiyan wouldn't want anyone to see him in such state. Especially his subordinates, to whom, as a general, he looked like a pure perfection. An example of someone unbreakable and with an unbelievable courage.

You were the first and last one to whom he deliberately showed his vulnerable side.

It wasn't often, because he mostly tried to play tough. Even outside of work, he felt a sense of responsibility. Though in this case, for the two of you. For your prosperity and well-being.

That just how his character was.

Sometimes, however, emotions took over him. Just like now. And Jiyan allowed himself to seek for a support in your presence.

With your right hand, you delicately grabbed his jaw and lifted his head up. His eyes were no longer glowing with ordinary sparkle. Shine came from a liquid that had accumulated inside them. Tears that he struggled hard to not let out.

-But we will get home first, okay?

Jiyan nodded and you leaned down to lovingly kiss his other cheek.

-Let's go - you said, moving away from him slightly and secondly putting one arm around his waist.

Jiyan tiredly laid his head on your shoulder and let you lead the way to your house. To your safe space.

[azsazz]

Hide (Part 2)

Eris x Rhysands!Sister Reader

Summary: Anon Req: Literally in love with every fic you write. I know your requests are closed but in the future, could you write something where Eris and the reader see each other and there’s a lot of tension and they’re secretly mates but no one knows? I’m curious to see how you’d end it!

Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1,428

[Part One]

Notes: Obsessing over this one.

_________________________________________

You swallow harshly at your brother’s question, eyes darting over to catalogue your mate. You try not to startle in your seat when a wall of harsh autumn winds slams between your bond. He’s only protecting you; you must remind yourself. There’s a fine tremble to your hands, so you clench them together in your lap. 

Azriel notes the move, your restlessness as Rhysand stares down your mate like these are his last moments on this plane of existence. You have no idea what Rhysand’s going to do to Eris, but with the thick darkness rolling from his shoulders and slowly filling the room, whatever it might be will not be good.

You cannot let that happen. 

“Rhysand—"

Your brother holds up a hand, his glare swinging towards you. The thin line of betrayal ringing his eyes makes your stomach roil. You hadn’t meant to break his trust and you never intended on keeping secrets from him, but with the courts on the edge of war…

“Do. Not. Speak.” Rhysand’s demand is a death knell of its own. When you were young, you remember how he’d always been the one to listen to any of your problems, even when they felt silly. He would always offer you a solution if you were looking for one, or a piece of cake if you only wanted to wallow in your feelings. 

The smell of burning wood answers his harsh words. 

Cassian shifts in his seat, eyeing Eris. He leans further back in his chair and places his hand on the table, the wicked curve of the short blade clutched firmly in his hand pointing directly at your mate.

Your bond flares, eyes going hard at the sight of the threat to your mate. You’re ready to jump out of your seat, scramble across the table to tackle the male, no matter how much you consider him family. You know all of Cassian’s weak spots, and your gaze is calculating as you decide which maneuver will draw him away from your mate.

The single look Eris sends you keeps you from reacting. 

Instead, you settle back in your seat, showing Eris your unfaltering trust for him. You will allow your mate to say his piece to your brother. You might be crossing your arms over your chest with a hard look all your own, but you will heed Eris’ silent ask of you.

Eris is a mask of nonchalance, and you wish he hadn’t blocked you from his feelings, but it’s better this way. He cannot have your reactions to your brother muddling his own feelings. It’s safer for the both of you to keep to yourself right now, no matter how much you hate the idea of being apart from him like this.

“I will ask you once more,” Rhysand’s voice is filled with smoke. “How long have you been putting your filthy fucking hands on my sister.”

Something flares in Eris’ russet eyes that makes you want to bite, to snarl at your brother for his cruelness. You gnaw the insides of your cheeks to keep from snapping. 

“Would hearing that answer please you, High Lord?” Eris snarks back. He sits easily in his seat as if this isn’t an interrogation at all, as if they’re all bantering over the weather and Rhysand isn’t looking at him like he’s about to unleash the beast within him that he keeps on a short chain. The only give to Eris’ temper are the burnt handprints on the armrests of the chair he’s lounging in. “To know that the fires of autumn light the stars of night?” 

You want to hiss at him for his words. You should’ve known better that Eris would do nothing but taunt your brother. He is nowhere near as powerful as Rhys, especially since he is still under the rule of his father, but his specialty is that mouth of his. 

You try not to think about how he uses that mouth when he’s with you, the yearning for him flooding your body so deeply you clench your thighs together. Another motion that Azriel tracks, cocking his head a little as he watches you with that unnervingly stoic face of his. You shoot him a pleading look but are unable to make out how he reads into your pleas not to hurt your mate.

Rhysand bares his teeth in warning. The flare of his nostrils and the stars winking out of his eyes tells you that he’s moments away from unleashing his wrath upon Eris.

“Two years,” you blurt and all gazes swing your way. You don’t look at anyone else except for Eris, your eyes soft and pleading. His eyes flicker back and forth between yours and his shoulders slump a little, cracking the steel trap blocking your bond to send down a cool rush of apology that you accept with a soft nod. “We’ve been mated for two years.” 

There’s a sharp exhale coming from your brother but you can’t look away from your mate. Two years since you offered him that dessert from your favorite bakery the one time you’d been able to sneak away from your brother and his friends to meet Eris at the portal where Night crossed into Autumn. 

Two years of fiery, passionate nights, hidden away in your own solace. Two years of a fresh breath of autumn, of copper hair and russet eyes and the warmest hands you’ve ever had the pleasure of touching. Two years of unyielding loyalty. Two years of too much time spent apart—

No more. You won’t have it. Rhysand can act as protective older brother as much as he wants but it isn’t going to stop you from being with Eris any longer.

Darkness of your own ekes out of you as you plant your hands on the smooth surface of the table and rise. You stare Rhysand down as the tendrils of black wind around his, Azriel, and Cassian’s wrists, pinning them to their spots. You are in no way matching Rhysand’s power, but he seems at a loss for words as you stand up for yourself, watching with those all too calculating feline eyes of his, allowing you your time.

Stalking around the table, you don’t break the High Lord’s gaze. You hold your chin high even if there’s a pinch of terror in your gut for this continued betrayal to your brother, to your court. But he has no idea what you’ve given up for this bond, how you’ve suffered being kept from your mate. 

One day, you hope Rhysand will understand. Will understand why you halt a step behind where your mate is still trapped to his chair. Why you place a hand on his shoulder, the feeling of him after so long filling your lungs to maximum capacity. You haven’t ben able to breathe fully since you’ve been away from each other. 

He’ll understand why it is that your actions look like you’re swearing fealty to another court, when you’ve already been a patron of autumn ever since you and Eris completed your mating bond. 

“What are you—“ Your brother breathes when he realizes the severity of what you’re doing.

“I will not be kept from my mate any longer.” Your words are loud and sure. You think you’ve done a good job at standing up to Rhysand, until his eyes flicker and the house shakes on its studs.

All of the air is sucked from the room at your words. The strip of skin you’re touching on Eris’ neck warms, but it does little to settle you. You’re not out of the clear yet.

Slowly, all too slowly, Rhysand leans back in his seat. The way he’s looking at you makes you shift in your spot, the disbelief and  in his eyes a bright streak before he snuffs it out, returning to the easy role of High Lord he’s practices meticulously for centuries. 

It hurts to see.

With a careless flick of his hand he breaks through your shadows with ease. All of the darkness in the room dissipates, ever faithful to their master. You only hold an ounce of power compared to him. 

The corner of his mouth curves, and if it’s a smirk or a snarl you don’t know, but neither is as harrowing as the words that slip past his lips. “I wonder which will get you killed faster—your loyalty or your love.” Rhysand stands, turning his back on you as he stalks towards the door. “Get out of my court.”

_________________________________________

Tagging those who commented if you don't want to be tagged on this just lmk <3 Some of you couldn't be tagged btw

Hide Taglist: @littlestw01f @aelin-thefirebreathingbitchqueen @naturakaashi @lexluvswriting @chybay22 @roseliey @acotar-thirst @teenagellamaangel @minaethrym @tothestarsandwhateverend @coolepowersthings @lena-davina @xyzmeh @meritxellao @shadowdaddysposts @callsigns-haze @mrs-azriel @eminvelaris @daily-does-of-sass @kennedy-brooke

[koiiiji]

author's note ; a terribly trivial trope with gods!au but i still like this idea. my first attempt to write for jjk so be nice... please?🙏🏻🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

pairing ; god of war!Sukuna x goddess of love!reader

tw ; suggestive, possessive, mentions of blood, Sukuna himself is a trigger warning.

first art credit to ryoza on X, third unfortunately i don’t know, i just took it from pinterest, if u know the artist let me know.

the world outside your temple is dying.

you feel every heartbeat snuffed out like a candle in the wind, every soul extinguished under the weight of Sukuna’s brutal assault. the prayers of your people grow weaker with each passing moment, their pleas mixing with the acrid smoke rising from your city. a city, your sacred haven, you swore to protect, everything has fallen. as the goddess of Love you can do nothing but listen as your people are slaughtered by the god of War, Sukuna, and his vicious army.

yet here you stand, in your temple of marble and gold, powerless against the force that rages just beyond its doors.

then, a low groan of ancient stone pulls your attention. the great doors shudder before they’re forced open, and the breath catches in your throat. he has come.

the god of War strides into your sanctuary, and with him, the violence of the outside world bleeds into your sanctuary. his presence alone warps the very air, thickening it with malice and death. you feel it immediately — the oppressive weight of his aura, so unlike your own. it’s as if the divine purity within you is recoiling, trying to retreat from the darkness he carries with him.

he is the storm to your calm, a god forged in battle and blood, and it feels like the very walls of your temple groan under the strain of holding him. his aura is suffocating, a constant pulse of violent energy that seeps into every corner, every crevice of the sacred space, corrupting it just by being there.

delicate floral incense that used to fill your temple is swallowed by the acrid stench of blood. the faint scent of burning flesh seems to follow him, clinging to his skin and weapon. it turns your stomach, and yet all you can do is back away.

his eyes — deep red, smoldering like embers — lock onto yours with a dark amusement, the corners of his mouth lifting into a cruel grin. where you embody love and gentleness, everything about him is violence and possession. there is nothing in his gaze, but only burning hunger.

you stand before him in white, light robes, the embodiment of purity itself, but his mere presence in your temple feels like a violation, like he burning your delicate skin with his dirty, bloody hands. you can feel the sacred energy of the space twisting, recoiling from him. soft tapestries that once shimmered in the glow of the candles seem to sag as if under the weight of his power. the statues of you that line the walls — once symbols of hope for your people — seem to dim, the light in their eyes snuffed out by the God of War's corruption.

Sukuna takes a step forward, and his shadow seems to stretch across the entire hall, swallowing the light. aach step echoes like a death knell, the sound of his boots on marble a cruel reminder that he has defiled everything that was once pure. his bloodied hands drag across the white stone altar, leaving streaks of crimson on the sacred surface. It’s a deliberate act of desecration — he wants you to feel it. wants you to know that nothing here is untouched by his violence.

“you’ve built a lovely sanctuary,” he muses, voice low and mocking. “so pure. so fragile.” his eyes gleam, sharp as blades. “but like everything else you’ve created, it will fall. just like your people. just like you.”

the divine power that fills your veins feels cold now, diminished in his overwhelming presence. you, the patroness of love and purity, can do nothing to stop the wave of blood and death he brings with him.

his aura presses down on you, crushing and suffocating, smothering the breath from your lungs. it’s like standing before a predator who takes his time savoring the moment before the kill.

“look at you,” he sneers, stepping closer, his voice a twisted mockery of gentleness. “all of this love… yet you reek of weakness.”

your hands tremble at your sides, fingers curling into the fabric of your robes as if it could somehow anchor you to this space, to the divine essence that has protected you for so long. but even that protection feels fragile now, brittle under his relentless gaze. his eyes burn into you, full of something darker, more twisted — obsession.

you can feel it, his claim sinking into the very fibers of your being. Sukuna is not here to simply conquer. he has razed cities, destroyed armies — but you, you are the prize that he truly desires. his fixation on this idea, thick in the air, and it terrifies you.

“do you feel it?” his breath is hot against your skin now, his body towering over yours, radiating raw power. his voice is soft, almost intimate, as he leans in, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. “you can’t escape me, Goddess. this temple, your city, your people… they were nothing more than a prelude.”

his fingers, stained with the blood of your followers, trace along the line of your jaw, leaving a smear of red on your pale skin. touch burns like fire, sending a violent shudder through your body.

Sukuna’s grin widens, sensing your fear, your hopelessness. “you were never meant to be untouchable,” he whispers darkly. “not from me. you, with all your love, purity and light… it was always meant to be broken.”

“be broken by me,” he continue, hissing venomously into your ear, voice thick with satisfaction…

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Follow You Anywhere 3

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, obsession, controlling behavoiour, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You’re online existence threatens to leak into your real life.

Characters: Captain Syverson

Note: thank you all for reading this one.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Asking for more or putting 'part 2?' is not feedback.

Love you all. You are appreciated and your are worthy. Treat yourself with care. 💖

You grip the container of uneaten French toast as you make the interminable walk across the restaurant. It’s as if you can hear the death knell calling you to the scaffold. Sy follows behind you like a lion at hunt.

He reaches over your shoulder as he comes close and pushes the door open ahead of you. You step outside, stilling a jitter in your hands as your eyes blear in the sunlight. You’re all out of ideas. Your groceries are in his truck and the meal he bought you is in your hands. He’s entrapped you with sustenance.

His hand brushes your lower back as he ushers you towards his truck. You’re too terrified to speak. This is the moment where you give into fate. Your fear of saying no has finally done you in. Well, how long could you survive without a spine?

He pulls open the truck door and you feel his gaze on you. You can’t bring your own above his chest. His broad, muscular chest. He’s so strong and you’re so weak and oh god!

“You okay?” He asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Mhmm,” you hum and balance the container in one hand as you grab onto the door interior and haul yourself up. He puts a hand on your hip to steady you before you quickly swing into the seat.

He shuts the door gently and you shudder. You rest the container in your lap and pull the seat belt across your body. You buckle in as he gets on the driver’s side. You’re in a strange trance, helpless to the world around you as if you just watch it move around you. He says something and you nod again but you’re not sure what he said.

He pulls out, placing his hand on the headrest behind you as he cranes to see behind him. He straightens the wheel and settles into his seat. He flips on the radio, filling the static silence, though the music sounds far away.

As he steers onto the street and comes to the first corner, an epiphany chills you. He didn’t ask where you live. Either he’s not taking you home or he already knows.

You look back and forth, taking in all your surroundings. As he turns away from your building, you make note of streets and landmarks. You want to be able to remember them all as the former fear comes true. You’re not going home.

He is completely unbothered by his daylight abduction. You wonder if he’s done this before. He seems so sure of himself that you think he might have. Is he even really a soldier?

He rolls the wheel with his thumb and swerves into another lot. You look ahead at the marquee with paw prints stamped across it. A groomer?

“You wanna come in and meet her?” Sy’s voice breaks through the ice that’s encased you.

You look at him, still too stunned to really understand what’s going on. Her?

You say yes but it doesn’t feel like your voice is working. As he undoes his seat belt, you do the same. He’s smiling. He’s happy. Surely that means he won’t murder you. Not right away. He definitely wouldn’t bring you to a pet groomer to do so.

Unless it’s some cover-up. A shell of a business used to cover up misdeeds. Like the mafia. Oof, you watch a lot of television.

You get out parallel to him and meet him near the door. Again, he gallantly opens it ahead of you. You enter and he calls above you in greeting to the woman behind the counter.

“She ready?” He asks.

“She is,” she trills back, “and she was so good.”

“Mmm, yeah, good,” he approaches the counter and takes out his wallet, “she can be nippy.”

“She’s a darling.”

The woman calls back through the open doorway behind her before turning her attention to the till. She keys in to the system and Sy pays in bills. She accepts them and he tells her to keep the change. As weird as everything’s been about this morning, this is the most inexplicable part.

“Here she is,” another woman emerges from the back with a leash in her hands. You catch a glimpse of blonde hair before she comes around with a prancing German shepherd. 

“Aika,” Sy squats to greet the dog buoyantly, letting her sniff his beard before he stands again. Both turn to face you. You glance between them nervously. The dog nears you with a wiggle snout. “She likes you,” he assures.

You hold out an open palm and she smells it before scraping her tongue across it. He reaches to pet her roughly, shaking her fresh coat.

“You got the green out,” he says over his shoulder.

“Oh, we did,” the woman scoffs, “she looks amazing.”

“Well,” he wraps the leash around his hand, “we should head out. She’s restless.”

“Okay,” you babble dumbly and head for the door.

It’s your turn to hold it as you emerge and lodge your foot in front of the frame to keep the door open. Sy walks out proudly and Aika dutifully walks at his side to the truck. He opens the back and she hops in. You linger by the bumper before getting in yourself.

As he claims the driver seat, he gives a whistle through his teeth, “Aika, nose to yourself.”

You peek back as the dog retreats from your groceries. You almost forgot. 

“Right, let’s go home,” Sy declares, though you don’t know if he’s talking to you or the dog.

Home? Who’s home? His? 

If you could breathe, you’d be hyperventilating. Your head begins to pulse as he turns at the first lights. You inhale. He’s driving towards your apartment but that’s not any better than the alternative. That’s your home, not his. Perhaps he only means to drop you off before returning to his own.

You manage to eke out each breath, slow but enough to keep you from passing out. The streets grow more familiar and as he rolls onto yours, the tension only heightens. You’re not in the clear yet.

He drives into the lot and parks in a visitor spot. He turns off the engine. Shoot.

“Alright, what d’ya think works best? You grab Aika, I grab the groceries?” He suggests.

You just stare at him. What is happening? He doesn’t wait for a response before he gets out. You can’t give him one.

Numbly, you climb out of the truck and stand frozen on the tarmac with your breakfast in hand. He comes around and takes the end of Aika’s leash as she jumps down. He hands it to you.

“She’ll listen to ‘heel’ or ‘sit’,” he explains, “pretty much anything.”

You accept the looped end and wait as the dog patiently hovers beside you. Sy takes the grocery bags and spins on his heel. Confidently, without any hesitation, he marches towards your building. He has the certain type of staunch gait that assures you of his profession. You don’t think he lied about that.

You follow behind him, much less certain. Aika keeps at a pace, not tugging a single bit. She’s as obedient as he says. As you get to the door, you let the leash slip onto your wrist and fish out your keys. Are you really letting this mad man inside?

Yes, yes you are.

You take the elevator and just stare at the doors until they open. It puts you more on edge that Sy seems to know exactly where to go. Down the hall at the very end. Your key slides in much too easy again and you turn it as your last defense gives way.

You step aside and let him in. You watch him enter and just stare. You drop the leash as he goes into the kitchen to put down the bags. He comes back to you to remove his boots and shuts the door. He frightens you as he flicks the toe of your mary jane flats.

He reaches for Aika and unhooks her leash. You look down as he takes the container from your hands. He is all too quick to welcome himself in.

“I’ll put everything away,” he steps past you again, “you just relax. You got a stream planned tonight?”

You nearly choke on your answer; no. You bend to undo the straps of your shoes and step out of them. You glance over as he opens the fridge.

Aika begins her exploration of your apartment, sniffing along the mat and into the front room. You wring your hands as you near the doorway and stare at Sy. He reaches into the bag, unpacking each purchase and tucks it away in a cupboard or the fridge.

“Um, it was kind of you to drive me home but…”

“This is a nice place,” he interrupts you as he snaps the cupboard shut, folding up the first bag with a crinkle. 

“Yeah, uh, I guess. But what I was saying, I have some work tomorrow–”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way. Let you get your editing done.”

Silence. Frightening realisation. He has no plans to leave.

“Er, do you live around here?” You gulp, your throat painfully tight.

“Nah, actually, I never been here before I found you,” he explains breezily. “It’s not too bad though.”

“What do you… what?”

“Yeah, well, they sent me home but you know, without a home,” he says as he folds the second bag, putting both in the recycling. “It’s hard. You give yourself to the forces but they don’t always give back.” He turns to you, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck, “I’ll grab my bag outta the truck later. All that grease made me sleepy.”

He slaps his stomach and nears. You back up to let him past. He strokes your cheek as he crowds you. You’re quaking.

“I waited so long for you, sweetie, hard to believe I’m finally here, huh?” You back up against the door. He tilts his head and squints, “what’s going on? You’re acting strange.”

“I… I just… I think the sugar upset my stomach,” you lie.

“Ah, you should come lay down, we can watch something,” he offers.

“No, I should catch up on chores,” you say breathily.

“Hm, well, you change your mind and you can join me,” he winks and runs his thumb along your cheek.

He strides away as you remain paralysed. How is this happening? How have you let this happen? He’s invaded your life so quickly and you’re certain he has no plans of retreat.

The couch springs squeak as he flops onto it with a sigh. You glance over as he swipes up the remote to your forty-inch and flicks it on. Aika comes up next to him and rests her head on his middle. He lays with his head against one armrest and his feet propped over the other. He pets her as he flips through the menu.

Do you call the police? Would they even believe you? You can barely believe it yourself.

You flit into the kitchen and stir around in your cross-body bag. You pull out your phone and hover your thumb over the emergency call button. You just stare, hovering, uncertain. You don’t want to get in trouble but this is an emergency, isn’t it?

“Sweetie,” Sy calls to you, shaking you out of your stupor. “Can you grab me something to drink? I’m parched.”

You put your phone down. You don’t even know what you would say. ‘Hello, can you send the police? I let a man into my apartment willingly and he’s using my Prime subscription.’ Really? ‘Oh, and he’s a veteran who just returned from combat’. That will go over well.

“Um, water or guava juice?” You cringe as you chime back. You don’t accept this but you don’t know how to reject him. He could break you in half and from the fleeting surges of his temper, you don’t doubt that he would.

“Water’s fine, thanks, sweetie,” he replies.

You focus on the simple task of filling a glass from the faucet filter. You carry it into the front room and place it on one of the clam shell coasters. He sidles up against the armrest and reaches for it. Aika lays dutifully before the couch.

“I don’t mind if ya do make a few videos, I’m not shy,” he offers before he swigs half the glass.

“Um, no, I don’t have anything… to shoot,” you wipe your sweaty palms on your overalls.

“Right, I think I’ll finish this episode then hop in the shower. Been a long day already, y’know?”

You just nod. It has been a long day. A ludicrous one. 

You really hope this is a nightmare. Please, wake up soon.

[quaranmine]

not 15 y/o me throwing shade at some writer on ff.net who never finished a fic i liked 💀

dear readers, not only did i not finish mine either, i never even started it

i wish there was a way to open google docs without pulling them up to the very top of recently opened documents. because sometimes i want to cause myself psychic damage with old writings but also they should just stay buried down in "last opened 2019" you know

actually post cancelled i just figured out you can make it sort by "last modified" instead of "last opened" which is probably more useful sorting metric for me anyway

[howi99]

A story of a Knight and a Yokai (part 1?)

(Btw, if you are a touhou fan, go read Osana Reimu. And if you are not, still go read it. It's the entire reason why i'm writing this)

RK: *waking up on a road* ... Wha... I'm alive? ... Guess the poison wasn't strong enough to kill me. *Get up, still feeling weak* Damn, what DID she put in that soup? It's like being inside a bullhead... *Looks around, not seeing Juniper... Or anything remotely recognizable* Is that... A temple? Where am i?

Nothing but the wind answered him

RK: Tsk, that's just great. No, really that's just perfect. I so wanted something new in the pile of crap that is my current life. Now i need to find Juniper and go save those kids before the cat can... *As he spoke, Jaune felt like something wasn't right* Uh... *Looking at the sky, something was missing* wait, where's the tree?!

*crack*

RK: *turning to where the sound came from, his broken sword now unsheathed* Ok, seems i'm back in the real world. So Grimm's are back in play. *Small smile* Can't be harder than a manticore or a dragon.

A woman comes out from the forest

RK: ... Or i could also just be paranoid. *Sigh, re-sheathing his sword* Who comes there? And can i also get a direction to the nearest town or city?

The woman looks at him, perplexed

RK: ...! Oh uh yeah, the armor. Don't worry, i am not a bandit, i'm just lo-

Woman: Aren't you afraid of me?

RK: ... Why, you don't really radiate bloodlust or anything, so i don't really get why i should be afraid.

Woman: *looking at him even more perplexed* You... Do you know who i am?

RK: No idea.

Woman: Aren't you from the village?

RK: *look at himself then at her* I look like i just came out of a fantasy book, why would i come from anywhere near here?

Woman: But it doesn't make sense! How did you survive the Yokai?

RK: The what now?

Woman: *roll her eyes* Vampire, ghost and all that.

RK: ... Sorry to ask a weird question, but... Are we on remnant?

Woman: What?

RK: ... And here i hoped i was finally out of hell. *Sigh* Well, can i get the direction of the tree? I need to go kill a curious cat.

Woman: ... What tree? And cat? You mean Chen?

RK: Who the hell is Chen? No i mean the literal curious cat. You know, a trickster psychopath but in a literal cat body?

Woman: I mean... I never heard of him. As for the tree, i mean there's the forest of magic, but it's not like there's one specific magic tree.

RK: Isn't this the ever after?

Woman: ... No? This is Gensokyo.

RK: ... Tell me, is the moon shattered?

Woman: *sigh* Why would it be?

RK: *to himself* So either i'm before the gods left or... *Look at the woman* Last question, are the brother gods still living among men?

Woman: ... Who?

RK: *crestfallen, thinking to himself* I can't believe it... First i have to kill a friend so the world doesn't end. Secondly, i fell through the world and ended up in fantasy land so i could fuck up again by getting sent back in time. Thirdly, i waited centuries to get back to my timeline but discovered i was the hero from a book, try to follow the story only to get poisoned and now this? Is this a joke? Can life stop being a bitch for once?

Woman: *noticing the knight looking unwell* uh... You ok?

RK: *let himself fall face down to the ground, his aura protecting him by reflex* I think i will lay down and let myself die.

Woman: ... *Sigh, then mumble to herself* How low the most feared yokai has fallen. Can't believe him doing this... *Approach Jaune* Oi, get up.

RK: *face in dirt* Lef meh di.

Woman: *sigh again, then knell down to pick Jaune up like a sac of potato* You can't just die in the middle of the road. What would the people coming to the temple would say?

RK: *says nothing*

Woman: Tsk... Name's Rumia, if you were wondering. *Waiting for an answer* ... You are supposed to tell me yours, you know?

RK: ... I don't remember my name.

Rumia: Ah! What a joke! You look no older than 30, no way you forgot-

RK: *sigh* I'm centuries old, my aura kept me young by repairing any damage made to my body.

Rumia: *interested* What's that?

RK: What's what?

Rumia: Aura.

RK: Ah... Of course, new world new rules... Aura is the manifestation of the soul. It can protect, heal and make attacks more powerful.

Rumia: *nods* Seems useful.

RK: Yeah, there's also something called a semblance, which is derived from aura. It's an ability which is unique to every aura user with some exceptions.

Rumia: Hm, we have something similar here. But why would humans need this?

RK: ... *Sigh* Fine, i'll explain to you everything about my world, can you put me down?

Rumia: Will you lay down and wait for death again?

RK: I'll... find a better place.

Rumia: Oh, but can you wait before explaining everything? I know someone who will really want to listen to this!

RK: ... Sure.

Rumia: *putting him down* By the way, if you forgot your name, what should we call you?

RK: *shrug* I don't really care anymore. But the book i'm from called me the Rusted knight.

Rumia: *looking at his armor* Doesn't look that rusted to me.

RK: *shake his head* Well, they meant my sword... I assume.

Rumia: The broken piece of junk? Why didn't you throw it away?

RK: *thinking back at what he did* Long story and a part of my life i will never forget.

Rumia: Yesh, not a fan of talking about your past i see.

RK: Oh i don't mind talking about all my adventures, just... Not what came before.

Both of them start walking

Rumia: ... I think i should tell you that i'm technically a dangerous Yokai who eats humans.

RK: ... I see.

Rumia: You don't see surprised or upset.

RK: Well, you didn't try to eat me and i can see you are trying to make me less... Hateful toward myself? So i'm guessing the technically mean either you eat bad people, which i don't care for or you stopped... Which i'm fine with.

Rumia: *placing her arms behind her head* Second one. Got beaten half-dead by the drunkard who runs the place *sigh*

RK: *nods* Sounds rough. So she got you on a leash or-

???: Rumia!

RK: *look at the top of the stairs, seeing a woman wearing... A box for a mask?* ... I assume she's the drunkard?

Rumia: *smile* Yep, she's the one.

Crazy Woman?: *sigh, shaking her head* And here i was wondering where you were. Reimu was panicking when you bolted away. *Now noticing Jaune* Oh? You brought company? I never saw you in the village.

RK: I'm not from around here.

Crazy Woman?: Yeah, like half the village.

RK: Half the village comes from a world where animals talk, fruit make you travel in time and a giant tree keep bringing people back from the dead with a better body but no memory?

Crazy Woman?: ... Uh... N-no?

RK: *shrug* Eh, was worth a shot.

Crazy Woman?: *look at Rumia* Is... Is he... You know....

RK: I'm not mad... *Seems to think a bit* Nevermind, i meant i'm not that crazy. Living with no human interaction for centuries did drive me a bit crazy. Just enough to accept a lot of weird things as normal. Like your head accessory... Is that a donation box?

Crazy Woman?: Speaking of! *Walk down the stairs* You got money for the temple?

RK: *look inside his pockets* I got a copper piece, two silver drakki, a couple of gold coins and... Well, now i know where she found the poison. *Take the silvers and give them to the miko*

Crazy Woman?: *take them quickly* Oh oh! Nevermind the first impressions, i think i already like you, now!

Rumia: *getting impatient* Can we get going?

Crazy Woman?: Oh yeah, of course! *Goes back the stairs, humming a happy song*

RK: She seems happy.

Rumia: Well, you just gave away the equivalent of what she gets in a month.

RK: ... *Shrug then start walking up the stairs* Fair enough, i'd be happy too... I think? I completely forgot the value of money since silver was the least valuable in the ever after.

Rumia: *following him* Then what's the most valuable?

RK: Mithril, but i didn't have any on me. At least in money form.

Rumia: You got some?

RK: *point at his armor* It's mostly made of it. It takes years to rust and even then it only takes a bit to get rid of it. It's a good insulator, so it keeps me warm when it's cold and fresh when it's scorching hot. It's not really stronger than steel, but with my aura, i don't need it to be.

Rumia: *nods*

RK: It can also repair itself. Slowly, but it's better than having to wait for a smith to be available, you know?

Rumia: I honestly can't since i don't wear armor.

RK: Speaking of, what is the technology level here? We have scroll or?

Rumia: Scroll?

RK: Phone?

Rumia: In the human world, i think they have those? I'm not sure.

RK: Electricity and heated water?

Rumia: oh yeah, we got those.

RK: *sigh in relief* After all these years, a nice hot bath would be nice...

[aihoshiino]

So I actually only just found out that OnK ended and I think I only read up to where S1 of the anime finished, so imagine my horror when I learned that not only did AquaRu happen (technically? I know there was a kiss, at least), but that Aqua dies after coming up with what's probably the stupidest plan I've ever heard of. I'm going off of this from the wiki, btw, so feel free to correct me if I'm missing anything, but I thought this story was going to be a critique on the entertainment industry mixed in with a "catch the killer" plot when I first started, yet it just looks like nobody learned anything by the end of it and the villain's defeat was underwhelming.

Good news! AquRuby did not really happen.

Bad news! AquRuby did not really happen.

Honestly, to this day, I have no idea wtf Akasaka was cooking when it came to the AquRuby stuff... my best guess is that because Oshi no Ko was influenced pretty strongly by Mengo's past works & Aka was trying to emulate some elements of it (to good effect, sometimes!) the AquRuby stuff was inserted to appeal to her and it actually playing out on page was them being like "lalala, playing with our toys" and wasn't ever something the two of them took really seriously.

By coincidence I ended up rambling about this off tumblr the other day, so I'll just grab what I said and slap it here so I'm not just repeating myself;

I'm gonna be so real, I don't think an AquRuby ending was ever something anybody on the series including Mengo ever took all that seriously as a direction the series was going to take. Despite what a lot of people will try and tell you, Ruby and her relationship with Aqua were just never really written remotely in the sort of way you would build up your endgame heroine. Prior to 123 it wasn't really something the series tabled in any meaningful way and even past 123, Ruby's apparent attraction to Aqua is largely just played as shallow brocon gag fodder. It's only when the manga talks about her love for Gorou that it takes her remotely seriously and even then that's dropped like a rock past 150 and never addressed again. The biggest red flag for me though is that the series never actually addresses the concept of incest in the context of Aqua and Ruby's relationship. It is the one big major roadblock to a hypothetical romance between them but the roadblock that is actually, textually floated by the narrative is Gorou and Sarina's past life age gap which is, as Ruby repeatedly asserts, no longer an issue. It's honestly bizarre to see a series have a whole ass subplot about a character falling in love with their blood related twin and pursuing it to the point of forcing a kiss on them and just... never ever address the concept of incest??? It ends up feeling kind of deliberate - like, Akasaka knew that the second the obstacle that is the social taboo of incest came up on-panel it would be the death knell for being able to shiptease AquRuby (and thus, get clicks and attention from hyping it up for better or worse). So we get the... whatever the hell he was cooking that happened on page.

[In response to a comment asserting that Ruby was "absolutely written as the main heroine" as refutation to the above;]

When I say that Ruby was not built up as the main/endgame heroine, I mean moreso in the sense that for over half of the manga, she and Aqua just... don't really have a relationship that is given weight and consequence in the story in comparison to their individual relationships to the other characters. Even before the story was seriously teasing the idea of a romance between them this was always a point of critique in the fandom - hell, if you go back and read comments on it from around 2022 onwards, Ruby's sidelining and the lack of meat to her and Aqua's relationship is always something people have (imo, rightfully) had issue with. And like, sure, maybe Akasaka just wanted her status as the final/true heroine to be a surprise but even if that's what he was going for, there were tons of opportunities in the first 120+ chapters of the manga to properly sow those seeds. I know this is The low hanging fruit to point at and I know we're all aware that Aka deliberately orchestrated this moment to make sure Aqua and Ruby wouldn't discover each other's past identities before he decided it wanted to happen, but it's still characterization that Aka chose to put on the page and informs Aqua's character - Akane and Ruby found a literal dead body and instead of checking in on his sister, Aqua chose to spend time with (and kiss!) Akane. It would've been extremely easy to include Ruby more prominently in moments like chapter 68 when Aqua thinks about living a normal life free of revenge, or when Gorou confronts him in 65 about his 'happy life filled with love'. Even in the anime which makes a point of emphasizing Ruby more in Aqua's 'happy memory' montage from chapter 50's material fails to do this. Or hell, maybe even have it be a point of conflict during the AquAka 'real dating' period, that he ends up prioritizing Ruby more than Akane to a degree that it causes conflict in the relationship and clearly betrays where his real feelings lie. But none of that really happens. Hell, even after 123, Aqua and Ruby still barely interact and all the newfound intensity in that relationship comes primarily from Ruby doing brocon gag bits every time they make eye contact. Even the kiss is difficult to really take seriously because it has absolutely zero impact on Aqua and Ruby both individually and as a duo. It does not affect any change in the series whatsoever to the point where I legit don't even know whether it's been retconned out of continuity or not. That just doesn't feel to me like a 'main heroine' whose feelings and relationship to the main character are being taken seriously by the author. That's why the whole "btw i was reincarnated to be ruby's attack dog them kms" resolution at the end of the series feels so jarring and would have done with or without any AquRuby ship teasing. It was the story trying to cash cheques vis-a-vis the twins' relationship it hadn't bothered to write.

[vermillionson]

Now that I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual workload, I thought I'd share an idea that's been kicking around in my head for around a year or so.

For whatever reason, I've loved the idea that the Splatoon world that we see in the games is just a mask hiding an ugly dystopian society. I'm not just talking about how it's a post-apocalypse, more that the humans' fate was a cautionary tale to the cephalopods: our consumerism and warlike politics were the downfall of our society, so please don't make the same mistakes!

But that's the thing: they missed the message. They didn't just miss it, they went even farther than we did.

Octo Expansion touched on this, but I've done some outlines detailing a story where the world is arguably worse off in the Mollusk Era than the Human one. Where the world isn't just dying, it's too far gone to save. As if motivated by the death of their planet, ancient human automated warfare machines grind back to life, continuing a struggle over scraps of desert and wasteland that nobody cares about anymore. The cephalopods flock to cities, shield their children from the horrors of the world, but scramble for their own escapes because they know there's nothing they can do but wait for the end.

And that's what we see in the Splatoon games: an attempt to keep up appearances. That everything is great and fun... but it's not that hard to prove otherwise. The tides are rising, the Salmonids are running out of safe places to hatch so they charge the cities, and old human technology is returning to ring the same death knell they rang all those millennia ago. The cephalopods wonder for whom the bell tolls, and they simply cannot fathom that it tolls for them.

It's probably way too much for a Nintendo game, but I'd love to take a crack at writing a fic or two with this premise.

If I can find the time.

[generallemarc]

This is why I like and defend My Hero Academia's Ending

We're in a new Iron Age. We have been for years now, maybe longer. Really, the idea of Marvel Zombies should've been enough to make us realize it. For whatever reason, comic books are always feeling like they need to constantly be one-upping how evil each new villain is, and it's just so damn depressing. This whole video is about Reed Richards turning into a villain who commits multiple genocides and tortures alternate versions of himself for potentially infinite amounts of time just out of ego. And if you think this is a problem limited to Marvel then I have three words for you: Dark Nights Metal. Aka "how can we make Bruce Wayne into a monster worse than the Joker seven different times?" Yeah, I'll admit that The Batman Who Laughs had a sick-ass design, but dear God, if I wanted that much grimdark hopelessness I'd be reading a Warhammer novel, not a friggin' Batman comic. Y'know, Batman, the guy who saw his parents die in front of him and devoted his entire life to making sure as many people as possible didn't have to suffer the same fate? The guy who took in a child he had no connection to and raised him as his own son solely because said child suffered that same fate and he(Batman) didn't want him to have to go through life without a family like he did? The guy who managed to, through endless heroics, gain a new family filled with people who he saved and who all truly love him? Where's that been? And what about his best friend, the guy who literally has a character that translates to "hope" on his chest? Sure ain't been much of that in superhero comics lately, has there?

This is the state of superhero comics. Infinity this, Crisis that, and it's always the end of the world but only in the grimdarkest of ways. HeroAca had an arc like that once. Where Japan was collapsing into anarchy, with hundreds, probably thousands of villains freed from prison and sent deliberately to roam the streets and harm as many people as possible, and the protag was forcing himself to fight them alone, running himself ragged and isolating himself from his friends "to protect them". And it ended with those friends hunting him down, chasing him, and manhandling him into a position where he was physically incapable of running away in order to inform him that no, actually, he will not be doing this alone. Why? Because they are here. And they always will be, no matter what, because that's what it means to be both a friend and a hero. HeroAca never, at any point, stopped having a message of hope. The ending of HeroAca is a final statement of that hope-the death knell to the initial problem of a quirkless society that certain people just can't ever become heroes. Sure, the tech was so expensive that, without the "end of the world" budget for All Might's suit it took them eight years to save up to get it made, but in a world of super science that'll change a whole lot faster than in our world. And heck, even in our world things like cars and tv's(they first popped up in the 30s) went from toys for the rich to staples of everyday life pretty darn quick. The ending of HeroAca isn't just that now Deku can become a hero, it's that now anyone can become a hero. The next Batman, Iron Man, Blue Beetle, Mister Terrific-there are endless possibilities, and in a society now transformed with a better understanding of heroics, the Syndrome problem normally stemming from everyone being super won't even show up. That's the kind of soul comics used to have, the kind they ought to have. Stories of endless darkness and torment aren't the kind of story that people like Jack Kirby, Stan Lee or Siegel and Schuster would have wanted to tell. They wanted to inspire people, to give them hope. And that's what HeroAca did, right up till the end.

[sergeifyodorov]

this was the first leafs offseason I have been following since the 2019 loss... what a comeback though. between kniesy & jw I thought this was finally the year we were fuelled by the power of love as opposed to the regular mix of anxiety & pressure, so once the news about the injury broke out it did seem that we fell out of fortune's favour. hope everyone stays silly, looking forward to a mitch marner antihero edit. (& feel free to delete this, just needed to vent!)

no i love u anon ... one of the few ppl in my asks that isn't going "and WHERE would MITCH MARNER GO..." (nowhere hopefully. come on now)(sidenote if you put those asks in my inbox im just going to delete them. im not entertaining that sorry !)

anyway.... this year wasn't our Real Best Chance but it felt so hopeful all the same... the power of love grows stronger every year and it is still, somehow, never enough. the triad of injuries to the big three (starting with mitch's ankle/the death of our power play. also against boston for some reason) were our real death knell and i'm both shocked (it is genuinely impressive) and not (leafs) that they managed to claw back to seven. next year will be a real crunch but the hits from kyle dubas' draft (which he was, in fact, quite good at doing) are starting to develop into Real Players which is gonna be good... im SO excited for minten + cowboy + nikita you have no idea... let's all stay silly. we still have time. and i'll keep saying it until we don't. we still have time. go leafs

[shainachantake2]

The VAT introduction on private school tuition is about to hit the fan.

Until this year, tuition to private schools was tax free. But Labour came in and literally the first thing they did was introduce a 20% tax on private schools, with the idea that everyone can just go to public school. Typical socialist kind of thinking. Since it's the UK, public school just like everything else is overtly xtian, so farewell to other faith based education. Farewell to special need schools. All of these were already struggling thanks to greedflation but this is a real death knell. Parents are also struggling from rising interest rates destroying mortgages, and can't afford tuition. There is a large group of schools in the process of suing the government over this, but who knows...

In the meantime, we're looking at a 20% increase on fees. For our one daughter in school, that's from about £7500 to £9000 a year. It's absolutely insane. I have no idea where we're supposed to get this money. I've seen tuitions in the US being this high, but we don't make as much as in the US. Salaries are much lower, and taxes become very punitive over £60k. Of course, the super rich who make money off of debts and whatever other voodoo aren't affected or maybe even profit, and let's not even discuss the large multinational companies. 🥲

Anyway we have a parents meeting on Sunday and yeah I'm not looking forward to this at all.

[opencommunion]

"The political agitation begun by Kasa-Vubu in August 1956 was to culminate in Lumumba’s mass rally of December 1958. Immediate independence had now become a national goal; the problem was how to obtain it. The working people of Kinshasa, including the lumpenproletariat, gave their solution on 4 January 1959.

The trouble began with the Belgian mayor of Kinshasa. On Tuesday 30 December 1958, the secretary of the local Abako section sent a letter to the mayor informing him of his party’s intention to hold a meeting on the YMCA premises, not too far from the place where Lumumba had held his rally, on the following Sunday, 4 January 1959. The letter reached City Hall on Friday 2 January. On the pretext that the letter did not explicitly ask permission for the party meeting, the mayor’s office replied on Saturday 3 January that if the proposed meeting did not have the ‘private character’ its planners seemingly intended, they would be held responsible for any consequences.

... When the crowd gathered as expected at the YMCA on Sunday, Abako leaders, including Kasa-Vubu himself, went over there to explain that since the meeting was not authorized, people should go home and reconvene in two weeks’ time. The crowd refused to disperse peacefully, and responded with violence by throwing rocks at the police and attacking passing white motorists, European-owned shops, and all other symbols of white privilege and authority. The entire African section of Kinshasa joined the rebellion, which lasted three days. ... Although official figures obtained from hospitals and burial services indicated only 49 people dead, all Congolese, and 116 injured, including 15 Europeans, estimates of people killed were as high as three hundred. Many Africans were buried by relatives and friends without any formalities, and all the people injured did not seek hospital care.

If 4 January is a public holiday in the DRC today as ‘Independence Martyrs Day’, it is because the mass action on that day in 1959 sounded the death knell of Belgian colonialism in the Congo. ‘Indépendance immédiate,’ the slogan of the Kinshasa protesters, soon became a nonnegotiable demand of the national independence movement all over the country. The revolt marked the beginning of a new and truly revolutionary phase in the movement, the phase of the radicalization of the struggle. This is a phase in which the initiative passed from the petty bourgeoisie to ordinary people. The Kinshasa revolt was entirely spontaneous, with the urban masses taking their own initiative to make the slogan ‘immediate independence’ a reality. The entire course of Congolese history was changed by their action.

The Belgians were extremely shocked by the violence of their presumably happy subjects. Faced with the people’s demand for independence, the lack of political will in Belgium for an Algerian-type colonial war, and an international context in which decolonization was the order of the day, they had to accept the idea of a negotiated independence."

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History, 2002

[bambamramfan]

A fun read, even if you don't entirely agree with the thesis. Full of delightfully illustrated examples. I'd rate it 75% correct.

I'd add examples of what it used to be like going to used bookstores looking for that one out of print book, vs searching amazon now. Or what I previously wrote about World of Warcraft optimization.

For the other 25%, well...

Sam Kriss wrote a while ago about the death of hipsters.

The hipster was an information-sorting algorithm: its job was to always have good taste. The hipster listened to bands you’d never heard of. The hipster drank beers brewed by Paraguayan Jesuits in the 1750s. The hipster thought Tarkovsky was for posers, and the only truly great late-Soviet filmmaker was Ali Khamraev. The hipster bought all his toilet paper from a small-batch paper factory in Abkhazia that included small fragments of tree bark in the pulp. The hipster swam deep into the vastness of human data, and always surfaced with pearls. Through its powers of snobbery and disdain, the hipster could effortlessly filter out what was good.

Almost any economist will tell you, that information gathering is just a different sort of price people pay for products. They can pay $300 up front for a good experience, or they can spend hours scouring and networking to find a similar quality experience for $100. If they find these two bundles equivalent, then that information gathering labor was worth $200 to them.

The difference is, when the naive consumer just pays *someone gets those extra $200*, whereas if the information gathering is labor (big if), then that extra labor doesn't actually pay anyone, and the world is just $200 of effort worse off. So, cetera paribus, it's better if everyone knows all the good places and at least the local industry is reaping the surplus.

So this is the death knell of hipsters, as all the information they had to seek out is accessible by everyone and just goes into rents for the producers.

...

Except we know from experience, it doesn't *really* work like that. For one, a lot of us ENJOY the hipster information gathering experience. It's a fun activity in moderation, and we even develop an identity for having a personal research base to use as a resource. How do you calculate the labor surplus lost if you're having fun? Well, I'm sure the economists can find some way to.

The other problem is that Freddie is only talking about a certain class of hipsters. The same ones Sam refers to in his essay. You can look at it as a sort of pyramid.

Top: quasi-autistic savants who are on Discords talking about secret places, or going out and mapping territories themselves.

Middle: hipsters who casually seek out new things they heard about and report back in indy magazine columns.

Bottom: the great mass who do one google search and flock to whatever they are told "the best deal" is.

(Now it's more complex than that. To be honest these three are probably only the top 25% of people, and the real base of the pyramid has no idea what any of this is about. And there's networks and lines of communication between the different layers. But you get the idea.)

For a while in the 90's and 00's, being a hipster became easier, and maybe that middle layer grew a bit in both directions. And then in the 10's the process Freddie describes ramped up, and so the value of just being a middle-tier hipster shrunk again.

But there are still a lot of secrets out there. You just have to be a much more dedicated information gatherer. Being in the top tier - which in travel might be as simple as driving places instead of flying to them IME - will still find you things where no one else is there.

This month I'm going to visit the cement factory where they filmed scifi movies like the Crowe and Super Mario Bros, and I expect to be the only one there.

[anaer]

fic writer asks: 4, 14, 24

✍️ more fic writer asks!

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

SO MANY. Sukugo lives rent free in my brain. Here is a (not at all comprehensive) list of some of the Sukugo fics I have planned:

The main one on my list is a pre-Shibuya "Sukuna seduces Gojo to evil" fic that I've been thinking about forever. It will be no longer than ten chapters. Ideally, eight or so.

I do also have a big dark, alternate canon stsg/sukugo fic I've been planning that goes AU when Gojo kills all the cultists in Hidden Inventory before Geto gets there, and Geto gets radicalized in the opposite direction supporting the higher ups over Gojo and lowkey gaslighting Gojo into accepting the ensuing punishment and the disastrous way that impacts everything and the resulting fallout which mainly happens when Sukuna incarnates years later. Cuz Gojo is pissed. No one will be good or nice in that fic except probably Yuuji who doesn't ever deserve to be involved in any of this, hahaha.

Then, I also want to write just some toxic no powers AU filthy kinky smut with like 18-20 year old Gojo trying (and succeeding) to get into Sukuna's pants. Not BDSM because nothing about them should ever be safe or sane.

Then there's immortal crime boss Sukuna who kills this pesky guy getting in his way, but plot twist: Gojo is also immortal and pops back up. Annoyingly.

I have also actually started the coffee shop serial killer AU lol, but it feels like I haven't because I only have one page written.

I have more, but these are the main ones directly on my list. This is of course not including the ones I'm already writing. I actually have a written list of JJK fic ideas, for various different ships. Sukugo is just my favourite.

14. where do you get your inspiration?

My hyperfixations, fml. But also talking to other people.

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

When it comes to writing, I don't really have a way of recharging? But I rarely don't feel creative, and if I don't, I try to just write a little bit more anyway. Or I'll rewrite what I've got word for word. Or I'll just jump to a different fic: I can't stay stuck on one fic nonstop; it wears me out on that particular story. I do get distracted with video games, but that doesn't help my creative process at all, hahaha.

If I feel particularly drained by one fandom, I will usually end up jumping ship to another, and finding something new that hits will always recharge my creative batteries. I.e. the reason I'm not writing DC anymore: I feel like I used up all my good ideas, and the comics also started just wearing on me. I'm mostly surprised I still feel like writing for JJK at the moment because when a story disappoints me as badly as this one has (and I could write an essay on all my issues with the storytelling that have brought us to this point), normally I tap out. I feel drained, canon isn't really giving me anything new, I'm honestly not even engaging with canon directly anymore. I hear about what's going on through my friends. That's way past the death knell of my time in a fandom, but. Idk, man. Something about Gojo keeps me going; he's a character I could write forever. I have so many ideas, and I find writing them more rewarding than engaging with canon, which has never happened to me before.

[ivanttakethis]

Before Round 7 - Tov’s Log

Daiki (?) vs. Tallis (?) - ??? Win

————————————————————

Aurien was gone.

So was Solei.

The only thing left behind was the bloody stage.

Tov learned about all of the new security measures in a message from the production team the next morning.

Each contestant’s threat level would be reassessed. The number of guards patrolling the complex was doubled. Anyone who misbehaved would be collared permanently.

Agents from the AREPH had set up a satellite base in the complex to continue their investigation and deter any further escape attempts.

The rescue was a miracle for Aurien, and a death knell for everyone else.

No one was coming to save them.

There were only two ways out.

Win or die.

Tov didn’t sleep. She didn’t eat either.

To someone on the outside looking in, she likely appeared stoic. But there was a storm simmering just below the surface.

It had been brewing since Azure took his last breath, ebbing and flowing like the tide as the season dragged on and claimed more victims.

Now it was Tallis’s turn.

Whatever fate the stars had for him, Tov would be there to witness it.

Her biggest regret had been not getting to see Moran one last time before her round. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Even if it ended in the death of another one of her stars.

Trying to convince Cassio to let her go with them would be the hardest part.

There was a rhythmic knock at her bedroom door.

“Tov?”

“Come in.”

Cassio opened the door just enough to peek their head in and smiled. “Ah, good. You’re already up and about.” They said. “Would you like to join me backstage for Round 7?”

Tov blinked. Cassio blinked back.

What?

There was no way it was this easy.

She was expecting pushback, a counter argument, outright denial, something.

But all she got was a little smile and slightly raised eyebrows expectantly awaiting her answer.

“Uh,” Tov struggled to recover from the blindside, “Sure?”

“Wonderful. Get dressed then, we’ll need to leave soon.” Cassio said, shutting the door behind them.

Tov felt… uneasy.

After Cassio’s insistence that she stay home for the last three rounds, she thought for sure she would have to fight to go this time. Or at the very least, she would have to be the one to approach the topic first.

Why are you asking me to go now?

What changed?

It didn’t matter right now. She could figure out Cassio’s motivations later. What mattered was getting to Alien Stage and seeing Tallis.

———

Tov was back in the maze of hallways that made up Alien Stage’s backstage area.

She wasn’t as frantic as she had been during Round 3.

Some of the signs and marked doors rang familiar as she passed them.

Despite the lack of sleep and sustenance, Tov’s head only got clearer the further she wound her way through the tunnels.

She knew what her goal was and had a general idea of where she needed to go.

“The contestants will be in their dressing rooms by the time we arrive.” Cassio had told her. “They’ll be situated at the end of a long, wide hallway and around a corner on the first underground floor. It’s secluded, so you should be able to speak freely without fear of being overheard.”

The last part of their explanation had caught Tov off guard, but there was no time to question it.

She waved her badge over a card scanner and pushed open the electronic doors to a long, wide hallway. It was completely empty.

Tov felt her heart skip a beat.

“At the end of a long, wide hallway and around a corner.” She muttered to herself, quickening her pace and making a sharp left.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she turned the corner.

In front of her were two matching doors side by side. Both doors had a white card tapped in the center with a name written in black ink.

On the left: Daiki.

On the right: Tallis.

Only one door separated Tov from one of her closest friends.

Tov knocked three times. One for each of them. Tov. Himei. Tallis.

“The door is open!” A familiar voice called from the other side.

She slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Tallis was at the large vanity with his back to her. She could see him worrying his bottom lip between his teeth in the reflection of the mirror. A nervous habit he hadn’t grown out of.

Tov stepped closer, making her presence known, “Tallis?”

Tallis’s eyes widened at the sound of her voice and he quickly turned around, his mouth slightly agape.

“Tov?” His voice was soft around the edges, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” She said.

Tallis nodded, trying to collect his thoughts. “Well, here I am.” His voice wavered a bit at the end.

She could tell he was nervous, yes. But there was something else underneath it.

They didn’t have time to dig any of that up. Tov wasn’t even sure how to.

She and Tallis stood there for a moment, looking at each other.

There was so much she thought about saying to him once she got here, but the growing lump in her throat refused to allow it.

She would just have to show him.

Not wanting to waste another moment, Tov closed the distance between them and pulled Tallis into a hug.

He stiffened at first, likely from shock, but wrapped his arms around her in return. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

He was warmer than Himei was when she hugged her. His heart was beating faster too.

Tov couldn’t remember the last time they’d hugged. Now she wished they had done it more often.

The very thought made her heart ache.

Tov wasn’t the type to beg. But if she could ask the stars for anything, it would be for Tallis to survive.

Please. She chanted. Please please please.

She pulled back from the hug just enough the cradle his face in her hands. His cheeks burned against her palms.

Up this close, she could see the different shades of green in his irises and all of the freckles across his nose.

Growing up, Tov was jealous of them. Tallis’s freckles looked like the clusters of stars she worshipped.

She remembered trying to count them all when they would lounge under the shade of the big tree in Anakt Garden, or when she couldn’t sleep during nap time. They were fascinating.

Tallis was fascinating.

She never told him that. There were a lot of things she didn’t tell him. But there was one thing she wouldn’t let go unsaid.

Their eyes met, and Tov held his gaze like a lifeline. “Do your best.” She said quietly,

“I love you.”

————————————————————

So anyways, I cried while writing this. I love that even though Tov and Tallis aren’t the most talkative people, they share a deep understanding of one another that’s unique to them 🥹

This is also the first time that Tov has told Tallis that she loves him. Usually she shows she cares through actions, but she wanted him to know exactly how she felt.

I didn’t want Tallis to say too much because he’s not my oc and I don’t want to mischaracterize him, so the ending is basically me kicking this over to @lookatmysillies if they want to expand on it (no pressure, of course).

Tallis, Himei, and AREPH belong to @lookatmysillies.

Solei belongs to @solei-eclipse.

Aurien belongs to @aurienneirua.

Azure belongs to @azureitri.