#pretended as being an old spoken story

[artheresy]

I am currently manifesting a Myriad Celestia Trailer soon because the last one was August 26 with the one before being August 12 and yet we haven’t had another and I just want another one so so badly

The Myriad Celestia Trailers are outright carrying in terms of giving us the HSR lore and I need another one soon because I need more content to lose my mind over. And when I am y’know manifesting this Myriad Celestia Trailer, I want it to be one of two things

Either 1) I want it to be about Fu Xuan after already having her banner (which admittedly is much less likely out of the options given when the Kafka/Stellaron Hunters one dropped, it was only 5ish days after her trailer and Fu Xuan’s was dropped 10 days ago from today) specifically centering around her calling upon a certain Aeon if any of yall have read into her lore because h o l y f u c k or

2) I want one meant to be tied to Jingliu to follow her banner and release which y’know is coming soon. It can be specifically about JUST Jingliu (c o u g h maybe a lil Baiheng content too even then) which y’know her status wasn’t to scoff at OR OR OOOH if not her status on the Luofu then delving into what happened on the Xianzhou ship she used to call home, or (what I kind of would like a little more because more content of ALL of them esp baiheng-) it being a myriad celestia trailer that ends up being dedicated to just lore of the entire High Cloud Quintet, bonus if it’s being told like an old heroes tale being recounted by storytellers which I think would also fit with Jingliu’s release not only for the fact that she was obviously in the HCQ but also due to the fact that certain things seem to suggest coming with her in 1.4 is specifically quite a bit more of HCQ lore so

Of course, maybe we will be starved of Myriad Celestia trailers for a bit, but I love them and the style they have been presenting information in especially for the Xianzhou ships so far and I want another one before we completely move on from the Xianzhou for now :’D

I mean maybe they’ll end up saving the next Myriad Celestia specifically for once we leave the Luofu again to not overflood with just those trailers but like,,, I want more, i NEED more. The style they’ve used for specifically the Xianzhou ones is so *chefs kiss*

I dont want to think about the likelihood of it being Belabog (i forgot if thats how its spelled help) given the main quest because I want the next one to be for the Xianzhou so badly, like please even if its not tied to Jingliu, imagining Fu Xuan getting some lore drop in one would be amazing for me (but again probably unlikely given how late it is into her release)

[welcometogrouchland]

I also want to make it very clear that the spider-verse franchise has made miles one of the dearest characters ever to me. All of the spidermen in the movie are great. But despite all our differences in bg and identity Miles' story speaks to me like very little else does (w/ some rare exceptions I keep very close to my heart). I'm not really coherent enough to provide sophisticated analysis rn but just know that he is my everything and I adore him so so much

[raysrambles]

on the day the election results got announced, one of my friends wasn't at school. she was the friend that I had the most classes with, and I remember as the hours ticked by the painful knowledge that she wasn't sick, not physically, but that she just couldn't bear to be there that day.

i overheard classmates talking. "how are you?" asked one; in a broken voice, another: "I don't know".

"I'm scared," was the most common sentence I heard that day. "i can't live like this," said someone in the hallway; "we've still got each other," said another in what I desperately wanted to believe was hope.

"I prayed last night for the first time since I was five," said a friend of a friend; I looked out the classroom window at the cloudy sky and wondered if there was a god, and if he had heard them.

I watched people break down crying in the middle of class. by the end of the day, several kids had left school early.

"I need to get out of here," I said to my friends at lunch. "we're not going to make it another four years," said one of them grimly. how dystopian, how orwellian was it that a group of seventeen year olds were so casually discussing their escape from the country they had grown up in, the country that had raised them only to throw them to the dirt before they were even able to vote?

after school i drove to another school for a debate tournament. one of the judges who I hadn't seen in a year and with whom I'd only had one or two conversations came up to me and asked "how are you doing?"

"could be better," I admitted, "but I'm surviving." that was a bit of an understatement; there were tears in my eyes even as I spoke.

"I'm here," she told me, this woman who I hardly knew, and I realized that she was asking because she remembered one of our only interactions, a year ago, where I had casually mentioned being trans--

--and her gaze flitted down to my shoes, where back then I had had beads in the colors of the trans flag, beads that weren't there anymore, not because of any change in myself but that of the world around me.

"I'm here," she said again, and we stared at each other for a few seconds. I managed a "thanks", not trusting myself to say anything else.

that night I went onto Instagram. someone I hadn't spoken to since we fell out over a year ago had texted me a simple "I love you and am with you" type of message. all of my friends and even people I hardly knew were posting about the election, and I remembered

back when Biden was elected, the Republicans I saw online reacted with hatred, disgust, doubt for his abilities

but now all I saw from the ones who had lost this battle was fear

when the other side lost, they had the privilege of hatred

now that we've lost, all we can do is fear.

terrified sixteen, seventeen, eighteen year olds, in flurries of messages to long-gone friends and frantic posts. I had never felt more united, and yet I could not relish in our closeness because I knew it was not the closeness of friends but the closeness of soldiers too young for war, huddling close as their imminent death rained down from the sky, searching for some last comfort at the end of their too-short stories.

"I won't pretend this isn't as bad as it is," I typed out, "honestly I'm freaking scared. But we owe it to ourselves not to let this be the end of our beliefs.

"We still know we're right, even if the government doesn't agree. We're still all in this together.

"Love to everyone who's affected by this. I'm right here with you. Stay safe everyone."

I posted the Instagram story, praying to a god I didn't know that the words were true.

the next night when the house and senate election results came in, I cried, and it was not pretty crying, it was a child wracked with sobs in the dark on the floor of their room because they were only seventeen and terrified for their future.

I spent a long time writing that night, something I do to process my thoughts when everything is too much. I will simply offer this passage, which I think speaks for itself.

"Shall I tell them I am afraid because of the election? Shall I tell them that all day I have felt like a child masquerading as a man, scared of the boogeyman as i am scared of the fascist-like creature whose grasp is tightening and whose claws never cease, closing in on lives like a predator its prey? That I am a child scared of insignificance, of a fate I did not choose, of becoming a meaningless name among many, not of democracy falling but of not being the one who felled it?"

So to everyone celebrating the election, I'm glad that you're happy, truly I am. But I ask you to think of me and my friends, still children, most of us not quite old enough to even have our say in this country, as you laugh and rejoice and mock all of us who you defeated.

How many times must we cry, must we fall, must we watch each other die before enough will be enough?

Will it ever be enough?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for faking my death to get out of an abusive relationship?

Tw for verbal + mental/psychological abuse and suicide

I used to be in a discord server with some friends, there were about 40 people in it, only around 20 who were actually active. It was a while ago I can't remember. I was in that server for about 4 months.

From the start, people would occasionally get mad at me over something I didn't do. About every month or so someone would start a rumor about me and make the whole server gang up on me, I'd tell them it was false, but everyone would still avoid me for the next couple days.

I never did anything wrong, but I was always the center of the drama, and when I asked one person, R, why, he said he didn't know and that I didn't deserve so much hate.

About a week later R was talking in the vent channel about how I had manipulated him. I DMed him to ask why, and he told me it was because I asked him if he was my friend. I thought it was fucking stupid because it's not manipulative to be paranoid, but I pretended to be sorry because I didn't want him to be mad at me.

The server also had a bot where you could submit anonymous messages, and lots of people would use that feature to make up things about me to ruin my reputation.

After a while I left the server and only stayed in contact with a few people. However, every couple days another person would tell me I'm a monster and gaslight me into thinking I'm a terrible person, and every time I asked why they hated me they didn't give me an answer.

My only real friend, T, showed me some messages from the others after I left the server, and a bunch of people were making up stories about bad things I had done to them, and people who I had never even spoken to were saying that I had abused them and was dangerous.

Once someone told me thay they understood all the things R had said about me weren't true, but said it was still my fault anyway, and even told me that R had done nothing wrong (he lied about me in front of the entire server and is the reason I lost all my friends, and he yelled at me and called me evil because I was suicidal), and then they accused me of faking having amnesia because I had flashbacks.

Eventually, only four of my "friends" hadn't blocked me, and they almost never talked to me. Everyone kept calling me a terrible person because R spread lies about me and everyone else believed him instead of me.

It was to the point where I couldn't go one day without someone sending me death threats or trying to guilt trip me with false information, and I was getting very sever flashbacks of the stuff R had said to me, and I started failing classes because I couldn't focus on anything.

Eventually I had had enough, so I tagged them all in a tumblr post about how I was going to kill myself and then logged out of both that tumblr account and my old discord account forever.

(Also about a month after I had left, I got texts from irl friends, and it turns out someone on the server found the contact info of people I knew in real life just to ask if I was dead or not. And that scared the shit out of me.)

I've left out a lot of details of the abuse because of amnesia. I have a mental disorder which makes it hard to remember things, plus the brain often blocks out traumatic memories, so I'm sorry if some info feels missing.

The only reason I feel like I might be an asshole is because once I was gone, all of them switched targets and started to harass T. They said they hated him for being on my side, and sent him death threats on anon because he was mad at them for killing his friend. They started treating him the same way they treated me, and called him a horrible person but refused to give a reason as to why, and if I had stayed around they would've left him alone.

@should-be-dead (made a sideblog so I get notified when this is posted)

[midnight-bay-if]

(Follow up to the RO reaction ask where the MC had to do some fake dating for a mission, but it wasn't with the RO)

This is mostly for Taj and Umbra who were very unhappy about it but didn't directly comment on it to the MC like N as they can't enter their head. Though of course if you want to feel free to do it for everyone, as for the others I guess they may feel sort of guilty for their previous thoughts on it for different reasons and what not.

So... what if immediately after the mission, as soon as it's done and MC is back with the RO, they are like "sorry, do you mind waiting a bit before we chat, I need to take a long shower after that!" and going to do so without waiting? Cause like, they acted super professional and convincing about the whole thing during the mission, but it still made them feel utterly disgusted AND disgusting and they are literally miserable now. And well, it clearly shows just how bad MC feels about the whole thing - they can't even enjoy the feeling of a job well done after that. Though just as a mention, the person they had to do the pretend-date with didn't do anything wrong or bad! I'm really just talking about a MC who feels absolutely awful about even pretending to date someone who isn't the RO even if they were good at their job on the spot.

(So sorry about the wait! Hopefully, this is what you wanted. I turned them into two short stories. :) And they turned out much longer than I was anticipating, haha.)

Taj: Taj leans against the closed bathroom door, quietly listening to the water running from behind it. The moment you returned from the mission, you insisted on showering to wash away the icky feeling left behind by having to play pretend with someone else. Your response humbled them greatly. They felt... embarrassed. They were so angry, ready to pout, groan, and dwell in their self-doubt.

They never even considered the possibility that your experience had been even worse than theirs. Selfish. Idiot.

Taj sneaks a glance at the clock on the wall, pondering. It isn't too far away. If they run, they might make it.

With the decision made, Taj grabs their keys, pulls their favourite hoodie over their head, and rushes out of the apartment door. With quick footsteps honed over years of practice, they rush down the apartment block stairs two steps at a time.

At the bottom, Taj yanks open the main entrance for the apartment block, ready to rush out. The overcast sky doesn't appear particularly inviting, but if they are quick, they should make it before suffering its effects.

Pulling their hood tighter over their head to disguise their ears, they rush out into the street. Their feet pound against the pavement, sprinting to try and beat the trappings of time itself.

As they round the corner, they see the stand being gradually packed up. Taj picks up the pace, desperate to reach the elderly gentleman before he leaves.

"Wait!"

The man turns to look at them, eyes slightly wide as they take in their dishevelled appearance. "Can I help you?" He asks.

Taj inhales deeply, desperately trying to catch their breath as they take in the collection of homemade confectionaries on display. It's a stand you've spoken about often. The old man sells his homemade cakes, jams, bread, and an assortment of other goods all day on his stand to make enough money for his family. You always speak of the town's resilience with such... pride.

"Uh, yes," Taj says, biting their lip as their eyes search the goods. When their eyes are set on what they know to be their favourite treat, they sigh with relief. "I'll have two of those, please," they add slightly shyly.

The old man breaks into a grin. "Of course, of course," he replies, carefully bagging the items. "I've seen you before, haven't I?" He continues, scrutinising them carefully. "With MC."

Taj feels their cheeks warm slightly. "Does MC know everyone in this damn town?" They mumble irritably.

The old man laughs. "Pretty much. Those of us from this town take care of one another. Remember that."

Taj understands when they are being given a warning. "I will."

With that, the old man holds out the bag to them, a warm smile on their face. "Good luck to you, then. I know an apology when I see one."

Taj scoffs, though their eyes twinkle with something akin to amusement before setting off back down the street. They sprint as fast as they can, their eyes deadset on the direction of their destination.

Suddenly, the heavens open up, ready to serve their punishment. Rain pelts hard against them; they feel the water soaking through their hood and shoulders to the skin beneath.

"For fuck's sake."

They try not to bristle, keeping their feet moving despite droplets blurring their vision. Without thinking too hard, Taj shoves the bag beneath their hoodie to keep it safe from the elements.

With the apartment block finally in sight, they rush back into the building and up the stairs with superhuman speed.

Water drips onto the apartment floor as they fling the hoodie over their heads, keeping the bag tightly in their hands. The curls of their hair didn't survive completely unscathed, with water droplets gathering at the ends and dripping down to the floor below.

Taj runs a hand through the dark curls, shaking the water droplets out.

"Taj?"

They freeze, bag clutched tightly. They dare glance in the direction of your voice and see you standing there, towel wrapped firmly against you. They try not to stare. They have something to say first.

"Eh... I just... I-- Fuck," they groan, getting frustrated at their own stuttered speech. They hold out the bag to you instead.

"What's this?" You ask, gently opening the bag. The moment they see your eyes light up at its contents, they breathe a sigh of relief. "Is this from Mr. Dales stall?"

Taj coughs, rubbing their arm. "Yes? I couldn't remember his name. But I remembered you telling me about him."

The feel of your arms pulling them into a tight embrace, with a wide smile on your face, makes the wet hair, the burning in their thighs, and the uncomfortable conversation with a stranger entirely worth it.

"I'm sorry. I acted like a prick today," they mumble, tucking their face into the crook of your shoulder.

"You did?"

Taj scoffs. "In my head, I was an ass," they confess sheepishly. "I don't want to be that with you anymore. I want to do better. I won't always get it right... I'm fucked up, angry and petty, carrying a lifetime of hatred, but I want to try. With you. For you."

You stumble backwards slightly, a smile on your face. "Enough of that, you dummy," you say, caressing their face. "Let's enjoy these together, shall we?"

Umbra: Umbra paces the hallway outside of the bathroom. They hear the water running from the other side of the door, and the sound soothes the aching ball in their chest. It's not enough to stop their feet, but it's still pleasant to listen to. With pale fingers, they prod at the marks of their face, trying to determine whether they still stick in the ugly mask they wore at the event. They don't want to turn it on you, after all. It was for them. The one who prodded at you, laughed with you, dared to whisper so close to your ear...

No, no, no... Do not think of it. It was hard enough to smooth out the lines of their face the first time.

They find their mind catching on the way your lip curled in disgust the instant you returned home. You threw down your bag and coat onto the couch, mumbling and disgruntled. They didn't want to intrude on this moment with yourself, but they heard it regardless.

You didn't like pretending. It felt wrong.

It shames them. Seeing you with someone else created an ugliness in them they chose not to control, all while you were struggling to keep the smile on your face they cherish so greatly. How do they make up for that?

Before Umbrs can even question it, they pick up your mobile phone and search through the contacts, one button at a time. They hit the call button as soon as they see the name they were looking for. They can't afford to talk themselves out of this.

"MC? Is everything okay?" The gruff voice sounds out on the other end after just two rings.

"I... It is not MC."

"Umbra?"

"Yes."

Alek sighs, and Umbra can imagine how they are rubbing their face exasperated. "What is it? Why are you ringing from MC's phone?"

"I do not know what else to do."

"All right. Out with it. What's happened?"

"I... I am realising all the small ways I fall short. MC was unhappy today, and I did not see it. What good am I if I cannot even see that?"

A pause. A shuffle of material. Then, an exhale.

"Tell me about it, kid," Alek whispers, barely forcing the words through his breath. "It's a part of being alive. We don't always see the obvious."

Umbra almost quibbles with that bit of observation, but this conversation isn't about them. It's about you. "How can you tell? How do I ensure MC's happiness?"

"If I knew that, kid, these past ten years wouldn't have been so gruellin' for them."

Umbra shakes their head, clenching their free hand into a fist. "I cannot be you."

"Charming... but you are right. And you already aren't. Look, I don't know what happened today, but sometimes people are just unhappy. It happens. You can't always fix it."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"It isn't," Alek says through a sigh. "Now get off the phone to me and go talk to them. You have a habit of making a mountain out of a mole hill. Whatever it is you feel MC is upset about won't be solved by trapping yourself in your own head."

"I... Yes, I should. I am sorry."

"Stop apologising. You know how MC feels about the apologising."

"Right. Yes. Erm... Thank you, Detective Graves."

"Don't call again."

With that, the line goes dead.

Umbra tucks MC's phone back where they got it, just in time to hear the shower shut off from the bathroom. It doesn't feel like enough time; they still need to prepare what to say, how to express how today has made them feel, or how to prepare themselves to hear how today made you feel.

None of it matters the instant the bathroom door opens, and you are standing there, hair dripping, with a towel wrapped tightly around yourself. You are perfect—you are always so perfect.

"Umbra? Are you... all right?"

Umbra nods, then takes a deep breath. "Yes... Are you?"

MC raises a questioning brow. "Is this about earlier? I'm sorry for my mood. Today was just... a lot, and not a particularly enjoyable experience."

Umbra shakes their head, gently taking your much warmer hand in theirs. The feeling in their chest blooms as their pale, bony hands press against yours, and you do not pull away.

"It scares me," they begin, choking out the words. "The ugliness I feel when I see you smiling with another. It's grotesque."

"Umbra--"

"But I promised to be a person for you," they continue, a smile inching at the corners of their mouth. "I am sorry. I let my ugliness take hold today. You must have felt very alone." Umbra steps forward, pressing their forehead against yours. "If you like, we can talk through today together, or simply curl up together and forget about it all. Whatever you want, I will follow."

[mournings-stars]

all i've ever known, again

the fifth and final part to IF IT’S TRUE / the orpheus and eurydice fic :))

so i kind of lied to yall... cus pt. 4 was the last part of the prelude and i had a final last part already started LOL so heres kind of (very much up to you whether it is or isn't) an alternate ending to this greek tragedy-inspired story also thanks to this request: “a happy ending or continue the story like what happened after the reader failed to bring Lucifer back ect.” from @smnthvxe that gave me the idea to change it from a direct continuation to an semi-alt happy ending… i think yall will like this alt ending more than a canon-aligned continuation :)

includes: all that other stuff but fluff this time i promise….

tags: @lxkeee @viannasthings @majonla @sapphirecaelis

part one | part two | part three | part four

When he fell, you didn’t come to the trial. You couldn’t. You didn’t tell anyone about his indiscretions. You let everyone think you were still happily as close as you were, wishing it’d been more — that you had, did, and said more. You stayed in the house you shared, went on with your days as you had been, and slept in the same bed because you had trouble sleeping when he wasn’t there. 

But you didn’t speak. 

He’d try, and he didn’t go back to Earth for some time, but each time you tried, your throat tightened and you had to stop before you said something that would make both of you feel worse. You couldn’t look at him without expecting him to confess more of what he did, more of how he showed her things that were so special to you. You didn’t want to know what else happened, if he kissed her, slept with her, it’d only make things worse. But he told you he never did. He told you he comforted her, and she comforted him, and that was all. 

He tried giving you replicas of flowers when you accepted what he told you, but they didn’t mean the same as they did before, and the moment you took them, they began to wilt. “I’m sorry,” you’d try to say as he looked at the flowers in defeat, but nothing came out. He brushed it off, pretending it didn’t sting and offered to show you what he’d been working on, but you didn’t want to be the one he showed his pride to when there was no one else to go to. 

“I’ll never see her again,” he promised, his last attempt to fix what he’d done.  

“It’s okay,” was the most you said to him in weeks, but he wished he didn’t hear it. He wished he wasn’t hearing you tell him to be happy without you again. 

But he knew now; all of his doubtful thoughts, after he ruined everything, were true. He’d made them so. 

Yet, you still protected him. 

Until the very end, you protected him for years until you couldn’t without falling with him. Years, and you didn’t tell anyone. Years, and you started staying in your old home, alone. Years, and when rumors spiraled, he helped her flee from The Garden. 

Years, and he understood what your relationship had truly been as he began to spend years with Lilith. 

Years, and when you didn’t show, everyone knew the truth. 

He didn’t even try to fight falling. 

Then, it was months. You didn’t see Lucifer on the promenade, or in your garden. You didn’t even see him coming back from Earth. You hadn’t spoken in years, but you saw each other everyday, and you noticed quickly when you didn’t. 

No one told you he fell. No one told you he stood trial. All of Heaven was keeping you in the dark until you went to Sera. 

“Free will? You banished him for free will?!” You yelled at her, and she let you, having expected this reaction. 

“He was also unfaithful,” she said simply.

“We weren’t married.” She shook her head. “We were hardly together — Sera, you can’t do this—“

“You spent centuries together. Nearly a millennium, do not dilute that kind of love to excuse his sin.” Eyes appeared all across her being. She was more angry for you than you had ever been, and she wanted you to lose faith in him. Just as she had. 

“We spent that time together, yes, we lived together. We slept in the same bed, had meals together, held each other… But most of the kisses we shared were on the cheek, or hand. It’s not what you think—“

“Don’t do this, Humility,” she scoffed, “I won’t listen to you lie for him—“

“It’s true! Sera, please, listen to me. Free will can be good! We can root out the evil in humanity and send it down to this Hell you spoke about. Humans will understand right from wrong — they won’t just resort to evil without knowing that’s what it is. Let him explain, I’m sure he had the best intentions—“

“Intent means nothing when this is what happens!” You quieted at her stern voice and full angelic form, heavenly voice echoing off the walls. “You cannot fix this—“

“You have to let me try.” And again, years later, she watched you in defeat in front of her. First, you cried to her over what you were losing on Earth, and now what you lost because of it. Except this time, you didn’t blame the humans. “Please,” you begged, making her resolve soften as she saw the shine in your eyes. “Let me try, so I can show him I’d do the same for him, as he’d do for me.”

“What are you talking about…?” Her angelic form settled as she frowned at you. “Surely, you don’t blame yourself—“

“No.” You shook your head. “When the Earth began to change, and everything felt so bleak, he was there to help me back into the light with the garden.”

“What garden? Eden?” You shook your head again and she was even more confused. “Perhaps you could show me?” She got up, walked over, and put a soothing hand on your back. 

You were consumed in a golden wave of magic, transporting you to the garden you came to everyday. You blinked your glassy eyes at her, gesturing to the garden and the animals that came to you and hoping that would be enough to convince her. 

“I’ve never seen this place before,” she said, frowning, but soaking in the beautiful environment. “It must’ve been created by an angel…” She trailed off, understanding what Lucifer had done. “Humility…” 

Your tears fell in shock, wide-eyed realization coming to your face as you looked around. It all felt so familiar, so close to home. You thought it was because it reminded you of Earth before it changed, but there was a reason it helped you feel connected again; every flower you ever said you missed, every animal you ever treasured or showed to him, even the pond that two ducks circled. He recreated it all. 

You shook your head, looking down at your hands as a cloud of golden dust created a beautiful lily in them. The very same flower you shut him out for. Looking at it now, it was one of the most beautiful flowers you’d ever created. Poisonous or not, it stood out as something you would have loved. 

Sera sighed, peering down at the lily you cradled as if it could take you back in time. She avoided your sad eyes as she looked over your face, pondering the idea that was lingering in her mind. Perhaps you would finally lose faith in him if she did it — perhaps, he would prove that he did care — perhaps… there were too many outcomes that could come from this. 

But she said it anyway. “I’ll give him a chance,” she told you, watching the way your wings lifted as you looked up at her. “If you fail, he will stay in Hell… forever, but I believe you can succeed.”

She told you her test, bringing you to the golden gates and creating the stairwell you would spend days walking down — days, where all hurt feelings washed away the moment you set eyes on him and he looked happy to see you. Days, where you realized he had a ring on his finger. 

You were too late, you thought. He would never come with you, you thought. 

But he did, and you pushed yourself to leave immediately, following every rule until you reached the golden gates of Heaven and stayed with your back to the stairs as you stood in front of them, thinking he hadn’t followed you. 

You took a deep breath before you turned, seeing Lucifer step onto the clouds and feeling your heart race when you realized you made it through Sera’s trial.

He was still, unsure of what he was at liberty to do now that you were back. The adrenaline of seeing you after so long, seeing you so ready to take him home, that allowed him to hold you like he did before, had gone the moment he stepped inside that stairwell and replaced itself with overwhelming doubt that the moment you were back, things would be how they were; doubt, that convinced him he'd already failed. Doubt that convinced him to prepare to see you cry for him again. Doubt that convinced him he'd have to say goodbye—

He didn’t even have time to process your arms going around him, but he recognized the warmth of your wings, secure and tight around him, feeling like home. 

And, God, did he miss it.

His head tucked into your shoulder as his arms hugged your waist, holding so tightly that you had to speak up. “Lucifer…” He held you tighter. You held him close, fingers threading into his hair to soothe him. “I’m not going anywhere—” And you felt his shoulders tense as you reassured him, harsh breath and wetness hitting the crook of your neck before he lifted his head. 

“Forgive me for this later,” he muttered, hand going to your cheek before he leaned in. He didn’t give you time to think before he kissed you, lips urging and eager as a bright, golden warmth washed over you. You could feel Lucifer’s hot tears on your skin as his lips persisted against yours, your hands going to his cheeks to run your thumbs beneath his eyes as you kissed him back. The moment your wings unwrapped from him, he muttered a weak, “no,” and reached his free hand behind you to gently guide your wings back around him as he pressed his lips to yours once again. 

For the brief moment you were apart, you caught a glimpse of a light above you. You pulled back. “Luci—“ His mouth was back on yours before you could finish, but he paused. 

“What did you call me?” He asked hopefully, but you didn’t repeat yourself. Instead, you told him to, “Look,” pointing just above his head. His halo had returned, glowing brighter than ever. 

The glow settled after a moment, Lucifer’s gold and blue, beautiful angelic appearance returning to him for a brief moment as Heaven’s golden gates opened. 

You stepped away from him and he knew the moment was past, fingers grazing his lips as Sera appeared in front of you. 

“Lucifer,” she spoke. “I see you made it back…” She looked between you, then paused when she saw his halo. “I suppose I should listen to you now.” She looked to you, nodding, and you gave Lucifer a gentle smile before flying off as they went in the opposite direction. 

“I didn’t think you would be able to do it,” Sera admitted after a long silence. Lucifer had been looking back at you, watching you leave in the direction of your garden. He looked at her when she spoke up. “I wouldn’t have.”

“If I was leading, I might’ve failed,” he said. “But I had something to prove.”

“And everything to lose, yes.” She nodded with a grimace, looking down at the ring on his finger. “I’m surprised you came.”

“What?” He frowned up at her, then followed her line of sight to the ring on his hand. “Oh…” Sera hummed as he lifted his hand, pulling the ring off. “It’s not what you think.” He handed her the ring and she inspected it, looking at the inscription on the inside of the band. 

Music notes were engraved in the golden ring, and Sera could hear the song in her mind. “I haven’t heard this song in a long time — the Song of Love, isn’t it?” She handed it back, watching him slip it back on his finger. “But before that, it was—“

“It’s Humility’s song,” he said. “I made it a long time ago — when the world stopped needing it to change the seasons,” he admitted, twirling it on his finger. As he did, melodic winds flowed past them and sang the very same song. He stopped, the winds settling. “And for these past years, I wore it so that I might be able to hear it again. Even down there.” Sera pursed her lips, not responding to the admission. “Sera,” he sighed, “I never did anything with Lilith—“ It was her turn to sigh, as she’d heard it before. It was the only thing he fought against in the trial. “—I know how it seems. I know my telling Humility was a confession to being unfaithful, but I never did anything with her, and in the years I had with her, we’ve been nothing but friends. There was a connection, I can admit that, but it was nothing in comparison—” 

Sera laughed, shaking her head. “You should’ve realized that sooner—“

“—and I never acted on it. That was when I told Humility, when I realized — After Lilith told me she loved me, and it meant something different than the love I have for Humility.” Sera quieted, letting him continue. “I can live with Humility never trusting me again — but, Sera, all I ask is that you believe I’m telling the truth.”

Sera was quiet for some time, stopping their walk as she stared at the ring on his finger; just like the lily, it was like it brought him back in time. 

“You should tell Humility,” she decided, her belief would rest on that. Whatever you decided. Lucifer was quick to turn the opposite way. “Lucifer,” she called and he turned. “It was my intention to protect you both, not to plant doubt.” He could hear your voice repeating her warning of abandonment, the hurt and vitriol having replayed in his mind for years. And it finally stopped now. 

“I know,” was all he said before he left, heading straight for your garden. 

He found you there, sitting in front of the pond with the two circling ducks. Lilies floated in the water and sprouted at the bank, vibrant, warning colors surrounding you as you watched the water. 

Lucifer couldn’t bring himself to speak, wishing he could immortalize the beautiful scene as twirled the ring on his finger. Winds blew gently, guiding you to turn your head toward him. You could hear the faint song, a smile coming to your face as he came and sat next to you. 

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said. 

You shook your head. “Tell me tomorrow… Let’s just enjoy today.” You took a lily from the bank and carefully tucked it into his lapel. “It’s the first day of spring… Come to the Celebration tonight?” There hadn’t been one in years, and he knew it. You were asking him to spend the night with you, just as he’d done so many years ago. 

“I couldn’t miss it.” 

There was a long silence before he placed a zealous, maybe overly so, hand on your cheek. His thumb ran over your skin and he smiled faintly. “I missed you.” You placed your hand over his, turning to kiss the inside of his palm before taking his hand with both of yours. He pulled it gently to his mouth, kissing the back of your hand. “So much.”

And you could feel it. You could feel the truth in his words, and you could feel that there was a truth you didn’t know, one that wasn’t what you dreaded years ago, one that compelled you to twist the ring on his finger and make that symphonic breeze begin to blow as you went to remind him…

But he spoke before you could, taking the opportunity to finally remedy what he’d done as he held your hands to his chest. “I know.” 

And you couldn’t help but smile.

[zooone]

FREE ... (I GUESS) ... ?!

aka. reluctant trick-or-treating with toji fushiguro.

words ?! - 553

content ?! - no warnings!

an ?! - i really hate this but i feel bad for not doing day 4... im sorry guys ... im sooo tired ,. also his wife could be you or mamaguro, up to u ..

#znfspooktober mlist

"this is dumb.”

“toji!”

“i dont get it.”

“its free candy."

“... okay fine.”

famous last words. to toji, at least.

he was never one for holidays. during christmas, he would sit just sit there and enjoy the food that was provided. if one were lucky, he would be wearing a santa hat. maybe.

but now that his kids were old enough to actually trick-or-treat without crying and bailing out after two houses, he very reluctantly decided to come with. it was definitely not because his wife very politely asked him to and of course, he could never say no to her. totally.

he stood there, carrying all the coats and bags that no one else wanted to carry. the most he did costume-wise was let his wife draw faux scars and stitches and he pretended he was a zombie. megumi insisted on being a dog, and tsumiki a cat.

“can we go to this house next?” tsumiki asked, tugging on toji’s sweatpant leg.

“‘course we can. cmon megs.” he guided both of his kids to the house, snorting at the decorations. weird pumpkins and skeletons and witches, it made him roll his eyes.

little did he know that his wife was behind them, holding up her phone and recording the way that he gently rested his big hand against his kids’ backs. it was a domestic action that somehow came naturally to him.

“honey?” he turned around, one eyebrow lifted in a sort of confusion when his eyes locked with the camera. “what do you think you're doing.”

“nothing!” she giggled, placing the phone behind her back and batting her eyelashes in a fake innocence. toji glared.

“come. here.”

and she jogged up right next to megumi, who was already prepared in holding up his little bucket to receive his candy. he had barely spoken the entire night, but his lips were slightly curled upwards and he hadn’t complained much. tsumiki on the other hand was a chatterbox, telling stories that they already heard, but no one stopped her from telling them.

“you’re so cute, honey,” she giggled towards her husband, reaching up to pinch his cheek right up against a drawn-on stitch. she spoke in a mocking tone that made his eyebrows furrow.

“you’re overdoing it.” he groaned, but he held back a grin. he loved how enthusiastic she was. and if that came at the cost of his dignity, it was a price he was willing to pay. “this house better have some good candy.”

“my friends told me it doesn’t..” tsumiki chimed in, nodding her head matter-of-factly. her ponytail bobbed as she did so.

“what? then why the heck are we here?” his face curled up in a scowl as he tapped his foot on the house’s porch.

“i wanted to see the pumpkins..” she pouted, mastering the wide eyed look that made it impossible for toji to ever say no. not that he would to begin with.

toji turned around to see what tsumiki was talking about, and he scrunched the space on his nose. “the pumpkins are ugly.”

megumi didn’t have to speak, he just lifted his hand and pointed. and everyone saw the house owner in the doorway, crossing his arms and expecting a sort of apology or acknowledgment. but all he got was a,

“what. its true.”

10.25.24

SPOOKTOBER MLIST!

regular mlist

[pointy-spiral]

Ella OC post

( very unfinished but will be edited as i add to her character)

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Name - Ella Hvalheim

Class - First year Class C

Homeland - Norway

Height - 180cm

Birthday - Kept secret, because she hates parties and big groups of people. Only Jade and Ortho know, Ace and Deuce cant be trusted with secrets lol

Dorm - Ramshackle

Twisted from - Belle (beauty and the beast(grim lol)

Hobby - Reading and drawing and walks at night or during gloomy weather such as fog and rain.

Likes - Pretty scenery, sleeping, painting, and Pavlova.

Dislikes - Unskippable dialogue, bright light (the sun), people who mess up books and bend pages, and Crowley✨️

Best subject - Alchemy

Club - Mountain lovers club

Talent - Patience and really steady hands.. i guess?? And a big vocabulary hjdsfdsfhj very much "um actually-" potential

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A magicless person from a different dimension, stuck living with a direbeast in a run down dorm belonging to a prestegious school for magic. A terrified stranger to this world, Ella avoids people like the plague and is often found seeking comfort in the school library, or locked away in her room. Books are everything to her, wether its fiction, textbook, sketchbook, or picturebook, she allways has at least one nearby.

Despite being soft-spoken and anxious, she has trouble saying no when people ask her to join stuff, and ends up getting dragged along by her friends into all sorts of stupid nonsense.

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Smaller "fun facts" i guess??

She has snake bites, and pierced ears.

In her original world she had a lot of silver and steel jewlery, as it is worn for protection in old times in Norway out of superstition. ( mythical creatures were often thought to be allergic to the metal. Such as fae, Nøkken, etc) Though after being brought to twisted wonderland she really only has one neckalce and a pair of earrings, that she refuses to remove at all costs gjlkdfskjfdjk

She really REALLY likes studying folklore and myths, and the thought of being in a new world with new books to read... shes jittering alone in the dark of her room from chugging coffe so she can stay up and read more fdshkhdshdfsaslijisadoiu

She keeps a journal that she writes about her "new discoveries" in Twisted wonderland, writing down peoples names, birthdays, likes and dislikes, the plants that are simmilar to home, and stories about her new life here etc. Its all written in Norwegian so that nobody would be able to read it though teehehehehee

Other characters thoughts and interactions with her-

this part will expand as i remember and come up with stuff dfshdsksfd

Grim -

BESTIEE !! LITTLE KITTIE !! SO CUTE !! very much an emotional support cat. Lets her hold and pet him when she gets stressed. Pretends to disslike all the attention due to his pride, but deep down worries about her and likes being held. She brushes his fur and ties his ribbon for him all the time, its relaxing to her.

Grim takes on the role of "the beast" while Ella is "the beauty" as they live together in ramshackle. Like the beast, hes self centered, rude, inconsiderate, and deep down, very very lonely. Ella scolds him all the time for his behaviour, but not out of disliking him, rather because she worries about him. After a rocky start, they build a strong friendship.

Heartslabyul-

Riddle- He likes her since shes quiet, polite, and tries very hard with her studies. Though he wishes she would talk more, and not mumble so quietly all the time. Him and Ella get along, and hes even helped her with her studies a few times, taking pity on her for not being from this world, and explaining things to her. It messes with his ego slightly when she says hes "so smart!" when he answers her questions, saying hes such a cool housewarden. And yes hes a little upset about their height difference, but pretends not to be.

Trey- Helps him with carrying groceries during trips to buy baking ingredient from Sams,

Cater - On her first week of school she asked him where the school library was, two seconds go by and shes been draged into extroverted shenanigans including Lillia and Kalim. He felt a little bad after learning she has social anxiety, so sometimes he invites her to hang just the two of them.

Ace- Thinks its both boring and calming how she doesnt really do much, he comes to ramshackle with Deuce for weekly study time. Ella helps them with the subject they struggle with, and they help her with hers.

Deuce-

Savanaclaw-

Leona - Stepped on his tail and has been avoiding him ever since, she thinks hes still upset with her.

Ruggie- Wants to pet his ears really really bad.. but stays away from him for the most part.

Jack- She often sees him going for runs when she goes for her walks, hes invited her to join before but she has a hard time keeping up, she still joins him once in a while though. They bond over both being from a colder place, and they suffer together dyring the summer fdkjldfsjkfdsjfj. Ella is from our universe (real life lol) and is from north Norway, so both her and Jack sit in an iflatable kids pool full of ice during the summer sjhfdfdsfdh

Octavinelle-

Azul- Tried to hire her as a janitor for the lounge when Jade told him about her strong dislike for people, thinking it would pique her interrest to have a job with little to no people bothering her. But when he tried to ask her, his overly buisnessy talk and unnerving aura scared her so bad she ran away..

Jade- BESTIES They met when they were partnered up for a project in alchemy, and despite his.. creepy vibe, way of talking, and such, they start to get along, and eventually become friends.

Yes the slenderman drawing i made is the canon way he made her join the club, and yes she knows about slenderman ( cause creepy folklore stuff!! weeeeee!!) and yes she tought he might be real in this universe and almost cried.

Floyd- Had a massive giggle fit when she explained Nøkken to him, and now wont stop joking about drowning her in lakes, and asking if her and Jade found any cool lakes during club activities.

Scarabia-

Kalim- OH DEAR GOD WHY

She doesnt dislike him, he just.. hes a lot.. A LOT

Jamil- Very very thankfull for him keeping Kalim distracted when shes around fsahjsahfdhjgfh

Pomefiore-

Vil- no no no no no no

Rook - Her first meeting with him was when she was still a janitor at the school (before crowley let her and grim be students) when he was doing his usual Rook stuff.. and following people.. He gave her the school uniform she wears, it was a leftover pomefiore shirt and skirt, esetially dragging her off to Pomefiore to play dress up fsdkhfdss. As a hunter, he sort of takes the role of Gaston since shes based on Belle, but you know.. less gross.. Just yet another extrovert who haunts her fddffdshjfdsklgfkjlgfk

Epel- She had a massive giggle fit when he told her what his name was dsfdsjhfdshfds Epel sounds like saying Apple in norwegian but with a thick dialect.

Ignihyde-

Idia- Tec-illiterate normie.. but also a friend of Ortho, so he tollerates her fdshfsdsdfaiai

Ortho - Shes in the same class as him, he sees a lot of similarities between her and Idia, hes the first friend she made at the school willingly. Very much the "she said no pickles" friend, and has often talked for her when she gets too scared. Ella is almost entirely tech-illiterate and gives Idia a headache when she asks the most basic questions, but Ortho remains understanding of her situation of being from an entirely different world where not only tech is different, but icons, symbols and terminology as well. He at some point wrote down the basics for her on a sheet of paper that she now keeps in her journal.

Diasomnia-

Malleus- Nightwalk besties

Silver-

Sebek- Oh dear god no

Lillia- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- • - • - • - • - • - • - {•{•{○•○}•}•} - • - • - • - • - • - • -

[kining-the-evil]

Yandere Lisa cuddy you say? 👀 That's right up my alley. If your requests are open, could we get headcanons about her and yandere Wilson with a regressor reader? Platonic obvs

Yandere!Cuddy and Yandere!Wilson with age regression reader

Warnings: forced Age regression, Yandere!Cuddy, Yandere!Wilson, kidnaping, drugging, nonsexual age regression, gender neutral reader

AN: If I see anyone making the age regression sexual, I will block you. I wrote them separately, but if you wanted something different let me know.

House MD Taglist: @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @flowercrowns-goodvibes

House MD Masterlist All Masterlists

Lisa Cuddy

Lisa met you on a stop for coffee one morning, you were the barista, and it was your first day. She thought it was kind of cute how you fidgeted and were clearly nervous. She ended up giving you a large tip at the end of her order, even if you did miss it up slightly.

She began coming every day, timing it so that she could say hi, talk a little bit. She thought you were adorable, but not in an 'I should ask them out' way, more of a 'they need taken care of' way.

One night, while browsing the internet she finds an interesting concept. Photos and stories of adults regressing to younger ages as ways of relaxing or healing trauma, and she can't help but imagine you in that place.

She's a little ashamed of it at first, but her maternal instinct can't help but fantasize about taking care of you.

One morning, when she goes in for her morning coffee, she gets stuck behind another guy who is extremely rude to you. Even yelling at you until you cried.

Lisa decided she had to do something to help you. You clearly can't handle being an adult on your own, and she'll help you.

She waits until you're leaving work for the night and uses some meds from the hospital to knock you out.

After taking you Lisa pretends that you've always been there. She believes keeping a strict schedule immediately will help you settle into your life with her.

She really doesn't do drugging or anything, you're her baby, and she would never drug a baby!

She loves dressing you up, playing games, feeding you from a bottle, and anything that involves bonding.

Your room is perfect, a paradise of colors, toys, and stuffed animals.

Lisa is careful to not spoil you though, she wants a respectable, well-behaved baby.

You can try to act up, but Lisa is patient and puts up with all your 'temper tantrums' until you learn it's just easier to give in.

James Wilson

James meets you at the hospital where you're an intern. He notices quickly how soft spoken you are, how you never stand up for yourself, and he can't help but feel protective over you.

He starts a friendship with you but keeps it on the downlow the best he can. With how sensitive you are he doesn't want House anywhere near you.

While going over some medical books he ends up finding a phycology one that talks about age regression being used for therapeutic reasons. While you've never revealed some sort of trauma, he can't help but see you in the descriptions, and can't stop thinking about being your 'caregiver' as it says in the book.

Without thinking about it, James starts to buy little things he thinks you'd like. Small stuffed animals, toys, old Disney movies, and before he knows it, he's turned the spare bedroom into a nursery for you. It may not be the best one, but it's cozy.

James is meticulous with how he kidnaps you, planning it out for months before finally taking you.

He's unprepared when it comes to your reaction, however. He didn't expect the fighting, the yelling, the anger you direct at him. He does anything to calm you down, even drugging your milk to keep you calm for a while.

James isn't as strict about you looking or acting like a baby all the time. He doesn't want you to be an adult, but also recognizes that you are one and it would be difficult to just give that up.

James will spoil you, giving you your way most if the time. He's a lot less organized than Lisa.

[angelidiariess]

TO BE SEEN, TO BE HEARD, TO BE LOVED ⤹ gojou satoru

fic warnings. eating disorder, depression, mentions of suicide, profanity, illnesses, complicated relationships, mentions of emotional child abuse, + more to be updated

summary. with an arranged marriage in place, two estranged kindred spirits with opposite goals meet, one eager to put the pieces together and the other clinging to the thin thread of life. when their paths are pulled together, can they see through the schemes they create and remain unreachable or will they be in too deep?

tags/warnings𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔 f!reader x gojou satoru, childhood friends to lovers, mutual pinning, rivals, eventual romance, self help book disguised as a love story, complicated/toxic relationships, family issues, borderline codependency but we dont talk about it, growing up together sorta until she gets scooped away, angst with a happy ending, reader is a sorcerer, she's bat shit crazy, but we love her anyway, heavy mentions of mental illnesses (depression), requited unrequited love, gojo satoru is whipped yall, suicide attempt, + more to be updated

series masterlist ⟶ i. heart to heart?

PROLOGUE: THE BEGINNING

In the scorching summer of 2006, the world crackled with an electrifying sense of anticipation and adventure. It was a time of exhilarating escapades and spontaneous thrills as people reveled in the boundless freedom of the season. 

She remembers being a kid, unburdened of duties, happy to know freedom for the first time, saying  ‘We’ll be together forever’ as if it was something nice, something to be excited about, and not a weight sitting heavily on their chests. She pretends Suguru and Gojo are by her side, saying their name ever so softly, telling Gojo to wake up before they are late to class.  She remembers those moments all too well. Then, tragedy struck one person, marking a deep turning point in her life. In an instant, her loved ones were taken from her, propelling her into a stark new reality that she had to face on her own.

'RUN’ was the word that was cried out on that day. Perhaps they were spoken by her sister or the head maiden who was frantically pacing back and forth between the two rooms, trying desperately to find anything that could save their lives.

They knew that escaping was not a choice, not an option for mere defenseless women. They dared not dream of training or honing the innate powers inherited from their lineage, one of the three greatest families in Jujutsu society, the Zenin Clan. They could only stay where they were, unable to fight the special curse and threat, because they were never trained to control their curse power, unlike the men in the family. They were only taught to be obedient and docile, like stereotypical 'good' housewives meant for marriage and bearing children.

They could only wait as the footsteps grew closer, the voices of each agonizing screech nearby became louder, and her bracelet only grew tighter in her hands as if it was constraining her, taunting her for her weakness and the predicament that beheld them.

She remembered the words that were uttered years ago, "You must never remove that bracelet, for it may cause havoc upon those you love." That crusty old man merely went on and on about how they could not remove the bracelet, no matter how much they wanted to. But right now, her doom was inevitable. The metallic stench of blood only became stronger and stronger as every second seemed to pass by. So, who was she to be blamed for snipping the shackles from her arms? To finally stand up for once in her life and not let mere fate and the words of others determine her actions. Her defiance was palpable, a force to be reckoned with. Yet fate somehow held other plans for her.

The reader did not know that these shackles held down her power, kept it dormant. 

As soon as she ripped the shackles off her hands and stood up to protect one of the few people she had in her wretched world, a lightning-like sparkling curse power surged through her body. The surroundings began to glow from the power overtaking her. She looked at her sister one last time, fear glinting in her eyes, before the immense pressure of power blurred her vision. She had no idea it would be the last time she would see her beloved sister again. Her power became too much to control, overwhelming the floor beneath her. The pressure was so great that it created a circle of destruction.

Her sister, worried, rushed to her side, but before she could touch her, the pressure of her power became too much. An explosion erupted in the room, with her at the center of the chaos. Shielded by a force from her own power, she remained unscathed, but her sister whispered something to her—words she could not make out—before she collapsed from the intense pressure, her ears ringing and the room left in ruins.

・・・・・・ʕ ˵ ̿–ᴥ ̿– ˵ ʔ

Hushed whispers of pointed words from the distance awoken her from her unconsciousness. She could only make out slurs of hesitation from an older man, who she could not see due to the blindfold that disrupted her sense of sight. "The verdict must be disclosed once the perpetrator is conscious and ready for questioning," a man with a deep, authoritative voice explained. A crowd of protesters erupted in displeasure at the choice, loud enough to sting her ears to consciousness. "She must be held to a degree regardless of her prowess!" Another man said. "Do not fail to uphold her according to the law and disregard the crimes she had committed. Although she is a Zenin, she cannot simply do as she wants regardless of reason!"

At the mention of her clan, she perked up ever so slightly, making the crowd suddenly go quiet. In a split second, footsteps only came close to her in her rear sight, the harsh light illuminating a hand reaching forward to grab the blindfold from her face. The scene she saw when her eyes wandered was a surprise. What she expected to see was the head of her clan, Naobito Zenin, and the bastard of a father to be facing her, sitting leisurely at the seat center of the Zenin residence headquarters, yet what she saw instead was an old unfamiliar man furrowing their eyebrows at her as if she had murdered his cat. When she let her eyes wander around the room, it became more clear that she was certainly not at her own residence, but actually in the Jujutsu Kaisen headquarters restrained with shackles, treated as some sort of vicious criminal in question. 

 ‘No wonder I could not move,’ she thinks, cursing to herself.

As she searched the room, her eyes followed a familiar ocean-eyed man that she could recognize by touch alone, by smell; she would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. She would know him in death at the end of the world. 

Those ocean-blue eyes that once held so much loving and caring adoration now are ice cold, full of hatred, and hurt. She couldn't think of another time he’d looked like this, not since they’d first met. She swallows the next words that were uttered sending shivers to her spine.

“24 deaths,” the man continued with a nonchalant voice as if they did not just address a massacre. “7 casualties. Is that right, Zenin?”

She had wanted to scream in denial, to plead that it was all a misunderstanding. That there was a special grade curse had infiltrated their residence, forcing her to choose between the people she loved and the greater good. She wanted to so desperately tell them that she had no choice but to protect the people she loved, even though her attempt was futile as her fate, as they ended up as collateral damage in the end and left her all behind to deal with the mess that she made. But deep down, she knew that no amount of justification could wash away the blood on her hands.

Well as the saying, goes, you reap what you sow. In the end, she could not utter those words she longed to say for she knew better. She knew better than to label the whole situation as an accident for she had only herself to blame.

As they deliberated her fate, she contemplated confessing the truth, laying bare the guilt that weighed heavy on her soul. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to speak the damning words that would seal her doom. In the end, her silence spoke volumes, and the shadow of a death sentence loomed over her. Just as it seemed her fate was sealed, a powerful voice cut through the tension. 

Gojo Satoru stepped forward, his intense gaze fixed on her as he interceded on her behalf. “Her immense powers could be vital in safeguarding the world from catastrophic threats,” he argued, “and banishing her would be a shortsighted decision.” Acknowledging that she had misused her abilities for personal gain, the council reached a compromise. They decided to exile her to a remote location, her powers concealed by a powerful sorcery item that would strip her of her ability to wield sorcery. It was a harsh punishment, but one that offered a flicker of redemption and a chance to make amends for the lives she had taken.

She had wanted to be the best, to prove her father wrong, that she was someone worthy, someone who was more than a woman, more than what they saw her as: a weak, feeble marionette. She wanted someone to understand her, for a certain boy to kiss her, to save her little sister from the godforsaken place they called home, to be free. Free from the hallucinations when she was five, free from the pressure when she was twelve, free from the duties that were forced upon her like a noose since she was young and free from the lies she told herself now that she is sixteen. She had finally taken off the shackles and acted upon her life, but everybody was left behind. She had wondered then and there, ‘What was it all for?’

authors note: thank you for reading so far! if you have any suggestions or questions regarding the fanfic please let me know and i'll try my best to answer. hope you guys noticed the song of achilles reference in the chapter hehe. until then, see you next time^^

taglist: @eolivy, @kalopsia-flaneur

all rights reserved to @angel1blogg. please do not copy, repost, translate or modify my works in any platform. permission from the owner is needed for any alterations in any work

[mgopinoon]

there’s a bit in Kaia’s times article that reminds me or lends me to think that she wrote it about Austin and her.

There’s bits where she talks about reading a story about the end of a relationship and how that’s helped her, and 2 poets who while they’re relationship ended they still conversed through their poems to one another, or the bit about we are more than what people perceive of us.

None of those things have to mean anything, and we can’t know when she wrote the essay, however, given everything it’s interesting to think about.

Also the bit where she states “I knew I’d be invited into these spaces with rich older people” ah, did you now. And why is that, because you worked hard to achieve that for yourself or because people know you look like your mom and wanted to use that to their advantage

There’s also the sad bit where she talks about wanting to be perceived as capable of having grown up conversations when she was 16 and new to New York and working. Which, while I don’t condone her behaviour or things she’s decided to do or profited from, it’s still unfortunate to see her trying to change who she was or who she could have been to fit a role that other people assumed of her or expected her to be (daughter of a model).

I went to read her essay before answering and this is my opinion:

There are many contradictions in what she expresses as a person and what her philosophy of life and love is. It makes me very sad that she grew up with a family and in an environment where they did not let her be a child or live her "normal" adolescence (her family has the resources to not make her work at 16). She talks about how she decided to read to be a more intellectual woman and to be able to relate to adults that she considered intellectual (she has a serious problem with people seeing her as intelligent) and be part of that environment. She implies that this was in the past and that she learned from those experiences, but if that is so, why is she with a man 10 years older than her? and why does she change her whole personality to fit in with him? For me she is still the same immature girl who seeks approval from older people and who needs to show herself to be intellectual.

It is revealing that she has spoken about romantic relationships, how she would like them to be and how she takes a break. She quotes a phrase from a book that identifies her that says: "the only thing you can have left after a relationship is pain and an old t-shirt. But you would do it again anyway" where she basically says that she would repeat it because of the experience lived and what she learned. Then to fit in and sell herself as a "feminist" she says that she reads books by almost only women that this has helped her define how she likes to live a romantic relationship "I am realizing how important it is for women in relationships to be represented from their own point of view, and how useful that has been for me when I was young and discovered my sexuality and what it means to be in a relationship. It is common to be afraid as a woman of losing yourself in a relationship with another person, especially if that other person is a man in a patriarchal world" Girl let me tell you that if you lost yourself in your relationship that you want to keep even if it costs you your mental health and you have to pretend to be someone you are not.

Kaia then talks about a piece that identifies her that says “Even after they broke up, they continued to send each other poems and write about each other, posting stories of their love. I find it extraordinary that the end of their romantic collaboration didn’t mean the end of their artistic collaboration. With Gilbert being older and a more established poet than Gregg when they got together, seeing how much respect he had for her and her perspective on how things played out in their relationship is deeply meaningful; that’s the kind of love I believe in.” This screams to me that her relationship with Austin is broken, but that she wants to stay around and I immediately think of the life&style article and her psychopathic behavior to get Austin’s attention. Finally she talks about the societal pressure to look or be a certain way and that she’s no longer interested. Girl you injected your lips, you’re in questionable nutritional status and you take daily walks just to pretend to be something you’re not. This essay was about what you want to be or what you are? and that.

Sorry for the length, there were many things there that caught my attention, I must admit that you have the gift of the word and that they wrote a good essay for you. Remember that my language is Spanish, if there is something badly written or poorly expressed it is because of the translator.

[aangarchy]

Netflix atla live action review ep 1-3

So i was able to watch the first three episodes and i wrote down some thoughts. Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a big post. There's a lot i don't like, but it's not all negative. So let's get the negative out of the way first, then we'll get to the positive.

The cgi is abhorrent. Especially the green screen stuff where a lot of movement is happening. I'm specifically referring to the scenes of Katara and Sokka in the canoe as well as the Omashu railing system, and anytime Aang is flying on his glider. The bending may be better than the original live action, but it's not good either. Bending for me was always gonna be impossible in live action. I never feel like there's any connection between the moves the actor is making and the cgi element. In animation it's much easier to make the two connect, but an actor is basically staring at nothing and moving their hands around a bunch, hoping post will make it look good. This show also fell prey to the "ball of water is consistently losing water and yet remains the same shape and size" trap. I think out of all the elements the airbending looks the best and the earthbending so far the worst. The Avatar state looked very janky as well, some shots looked like there wasn't even an actor there anymore and it was all animated. And not animated in a good way either, some of the movements were way to wobbly, reminding me of that weird broom flying cgi in the first harry potter movie where the character is flopping about awkwardly bc it's badly animated. The animals also look pretty weird to me, i can barely tell where Appa's face is most of the time. Also for some reason they have momo making monkey noises instead of lemur noises? Like he legit sounds like a chimpanzee? I wonder what that's about.

The costumes are very hit or miss. They're very bright and i've often seen them fit awkwardly on the actors. Suki's headband was practically sliding off of her head while doing a fight scene, and in Omashu an extra's headscarf literally slid off of her head as she walked out of frame. Don't even mention Bumi to me either, that guy looks absolutely insane to me and i mean that negative. I can't suspend my disbelief enough to pretend that's a real guy. I liked Suki's makeup however, and i really like how they did Katara's hair and outfit. We got our first glance at Ty Lee and Mai too, and i like that Ty Lee is basically a carbon copy of her cartoon outfit.

Some story choices are.... interesting. Some of them, i'm not sure whether i like them or not yet. I'm confused as to why they combined three different stories into the Omashu storyline. We have Bumi, Teo and the Mechanist, as well as Jet all piled up in the same city, and somehow Zuko is there as well. The Jet story happened way too quickly, and i'm confused as to why Sokka was so upset at Jet's betrayal when he hadn't even spoken to the guy at all, he didn't even know his name. I don't like the choice of having everyone split up in Omashu. There was a lot of focus on Katara and Sokka and Aang barely appeared. I will say i really loved the no bending fight Aang and Zuko had in Omashu. Such a shame that their choreography barely got any time to shine due to the fight scenes being edited like marvel movies to hide mistakes. This has me excited for the blue spirit episode though!

I don't like the way they revealed that Aang is the Avatar in the watertribe. Why is Gran Gran the one that immediately knows? Just bc she's old? I liked that Aang revealed it himself in the original, but in this one it's just Gran Gran telling everyone who he is and Sokka not even believing her.

Then there's the opening for the first episode. I have very mixed feelings. I like that they showed the bond between Gyatso and Aang, and i liked the way they switched between Gyatso's last stand and Aang falling into the water. I'm sticking to my guns however with saying that we didn't need to see the attack on the airtemples play out. I liked it being this mysterious event that happened so long ago it's become legend to anyone alive today. But now, as a viewer, we have more information than our main characters. It also took away from the emotional turmoil of Aang finding Gyatso's skeleton. In the original, there's still this slimmer of hope, are they really dead? Could some still be alive? Only for it to be ripped away then and there. Now the audience already knows Gyatso is dead, we know what Aang is about to find. They also didn't really linger on Aang's emotions after this, like at all? He buried Gyatso and basically went "alright where to next?"

There also seems to be a lot less bonding time, making the relationship between the characters in episode 1 and 2 very weird. Katara and Aang barely had one conversation in the first episode, and Katara was already talking about Aang changing her life and helping improve her bending after only one day. It feels very weird and forced. It gets better by episode 3, but it was definitely bad in the first two.

I'm gonna say it again but i'm mad about Sokka's sexism arc disappearing. Suki was angry at Sokka for just comparing her skills as a warrior to him, when she hadn't even seen him fight yet. She also starts out as being weirdly enchanted by Sokka just bc he's an outsider. He's not even attractive at all, and they're trying to sell him as some sort of heartthrob. I like their bonding time while they trained, but i don't like how immediately Sokka is hung up on her. He still needs to meet Yue, and idk about you but to me it would be weird for him to already like one girl, and suddenly jump to the next.

I'm not sure why Kyoshi is being Aang's main Avatar guide here? I always figured it should be the Avatar right before you that would do the job, so why did Kyoshi get to Aang before Roku? And why did she already give Aang the speech about saving the world? What else is Roku gonna do? I know we get the Hei Bai story in this show, so what's the point of the Hei Bai story when it doesn't lead to Roku's dragon coming to Aang to warn him about the comet? I'm not mad at this btw, genuinely just confused. I don't understand the point yet.

Onto the acting, once again very hit or miss. So far Gordon (Aang) has been one of the best. He's a very good representation of Aang's character, and i like that he brought out Aang's sassier side right away. Kiawentiio (Katara) so far has been really good too, and i like her chemistry with Gordon. I was prepared for Ian (Sokka) to be much worse than he ended up being, and a lot of jokes in the first episode did end up landing for me. Unfortunately the opposite is true for Dallas (Zuko), i was expecting his performance to be better than what it ended up being. It's not bad per se, but definitely less refined than i was hoping. Same for Paul (Iroh). I don't like the way he delivers some lines at all (especially the Jasmine Tea lines, it's way too forced, i don't actually believe he likes jasmine tea rn. In the original uncle barely mentions which tea he's drinking, and only once asks for jasmine tea bc it's his favorite. Otherwise he always just says "cup of tea" and never mentions the flavor. Idk why but the emphasis on jasmine tea really bothered me lol). I really liked Azula so far. Elizabeth brought a very cutthroat energy, which is precisely what i'd expect from a character like Azula. Daniel Dae Kim was also just everything i was hoping for and more. I'm hoping to see more of him (for his acting... no other reason.......)

Idk why but i was elated at seeing the cabbage merchant and hearing him say the line. Best moment of the whole show so far (and that's saying a lot i think lmao).

The music is very good. Some of the placement of the more dramatic music is a bit awkward? Like moments that i feel should have a low quiet melody seem to have a more dramatic flow which makes the scene lose emotional value to me. Maybe that's just my preference though. I like the nods to the original music throughout the show, especially for Kyoshi, the fire nation theme as well as the avatar theme, and then the exact same credits music as the original. I love the more epic/dramatic version of the avatar theme.

Overall, i am enjoying myself. I wasn't expecting greatness from this adaptation, and so far i'm remaining kind of neutral i think. It's not absolutely horrible, and i'm not cringing every five seconds. Of course it's never gonna compare to the beauty of the original animation. That's always going to remain untouchable to me. And this adaptation obviously does not come close at all. But it's fun, i guess, so i'm gonna keep watching.

[ikykwklk-ash]

"How did you meet?"

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x fem!reader

W/c: 1180

Synopsis: A normal history and philosophy lesson with Professor Kim Seungmin and the topic "do opposites attract?" and the story of how y/n and seungmin met.

A/N: Hope you like it!! ♡

<<Professor I still do not understand why opposites attract! It does not make sense! We call them opposites, but they could also be equal in theory! >>

It was the twentieth time the poor professor had heard that question. Of course, if we talk about chemistry and physics, it is all different...but in love things are more complicated.

That was how that working day had started, a simple statement from the professor and millions of objections from his pupils.

<<Professor, tell us know what you think! We pupils are always talking, and you keep quiet as if you were in detention.>> One of the boys in the class had spoken only to say that sentence.

Seungmin looked up at him, adjusting his glasses that had almost fallen to the tip of his nose.

<<In my opinion: opposites attract.>> he replied simply, nothing more, nothing less.

<<Come on, teacher, which is not fair! Give us more motivation.>> This time one of the girls said.

What was supposed to be one hour of History and one hour of Philosophy had turned into two hours of debate without even meaning to.

<<I think: it is true that opposites attract, we can say that from many points of view, can't we? You did it in science. The north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of another and vice versa. We could summarise this in the practicalities of life as 'despite being different from you it attracts you' right? Do you agree? >>

The class had his undivided attention.

<<But if we apply this idea to life, it is not so because there are people who like people of the same sex and people who like people of a different sex.>>

<<Rightful observation, but surely the concept of 'opposite' should not be attributed to the physical but to character. However similar two people may be physically; they will never be equal in character. Consequently, opposites, understood in character, attract.>>

Of course, it was easy for him to attract attention with those words; teaching philosophy had served more than just teaching the subject.

<<Are any of you here engaged?> a third of the class raised their hands.

<<And you professor? He never told us anything about you.>> Cleverly someone took advantage of the moment to ask that question, which elicited a laugh from the professor.

<<I am engaged, but that is all you need to know.>> The pupils, obviously curious as they were, started asking a thousand questions.

<<Oh, come on professor, at least tell us if you are older than that!>> and the professor denied it.

<<Could you tell us whether your hair is curly or straight? And the colour? Does she wear glasses?>> They were flooding him with questions it was difficult to please everyone, Seungmin knew that in their own way they were building up a sketch of his girlfriend to see if she was someone from the school or from outside.

<<Hm let us see, dark curly hair, wears glasses yes, dark eyes, bigger than me by a little but I am taller. She is from Busan while I am from Seoul...>> and so on.

Paradoxically, he had just revealed that they were opposites.

<<And what does her girlfriend do? >> Someone asked in the middle of the crowd of guys who were no longer even sitting in their seats.

<<She is currently working in a bar to pay for his last year of university.>> They looked at him curiously.

<<But if she was older, she should have finished university like you! Prof do not make fun of us.>> He laughed with gusto at that sentence.

<<I graduated earlier than expected and the principal at once provided me with a job here at the school. What, you are not happy to have a young prof? >> he pretended to be offended.

<<Of course we did, but once in a while he could dress in a way that he didn't look like the usual forty-year-old father with three children prof.>> he laughed, maybe he did dress that way, but he liked it, and so did his partner, so he would continue to dress that way.

<<Prof tell us how you and your boyfriend met, come on! >>

He began to tell the long story.

Our two protagonists have known each other for a lot of years, by pure chance they met in the third year of high school following an educational trip to Seoul for the one in Busan and a simple field trip for the one in Seoul.

The teachers from both schools knew each other they had organised that 'field trip' together and so they spent the entire day together.

From small and quick glances, they went on to sit next to each other during lunch, talking and talking to no end, until they exchanged numbers. The two best friends of the little boy with the discoloured fringes soon found out about this and began to make plans to try and get them together. Somehow, they even succeeded.

<<Wait, so you have known each other since you were 16, and if he is 26 now...oh my gosh you have been together for 10 years? Congratulations teacher, I did not expect that to be honest! >> The last few minutes passed quickly amidst the chatter of the students until the bell rang and everyone started getting ready to change classes.

<<For tomorrow I want to bring in a little essay on what you think of the phrase "opposites attract" and I want some good reasons.>>

<<Of course, though, a boy from Seoul and one from Busan who are now in Japan... that is a beautiful story. I wish I had one like theirs.>> There were only two girls left in the class and without knowing it, they made Seungmin smile as he continued to correct the previous week's tests.

With his school day over, he could finally go to his favourite café to relax and spend time with the companion he had fallen in love with ten years earlier.

<<In what sense do your pupils know me?>> Y/n asked as he put the usual things, he always took in front of him: peppermint tea and handmade almond biscuits. <<In the sense that they practically interrogated me about you, honey. They are kids are more curious than Scooby-Doo was.>> he replied, drinking the tea, and making the other laugh.

<<You have biscuit crumbs on your chin love. Also... I understand you are the students' favourite. Where did the subject of us being engaged come from? >>

After wiping himself with a handkerchief he replied: <<From a simple sentence. "Opposites attract". I had intended to lecture but they didn't, so some sort of debate ensued and from there the topic "prof but are you engaged?">>

<<And I guess you did not hesitate to tell the whole story to lend credence to your thesis that opposites do indeed attract. Right? >> the boy sitting at the table smiled, also making the waiter smile, who kissed him lightly shortly afterwards.

[bee-the-loser]

₊ ⊹☼ THE GIG ☼⊹ ₊ ──────────────────── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ─────────────────── ₊ ⊹☼ Pairing: Jay x reader ₊ ⊹☼ Synopsis: Reader was invited by their friend to the gig, who just so happens to be the band's stylist, and manages to make eye contact with the electric guitar player. ₊ ⊹☼ Genre: Band au, basement gig, snarky characters ₊ ⊹☼ Word count: 1,023 ₊ ⊹☼ Warnings: None that I can think of ₊ ⊹☼ A/N: This is my first time writing fanfiction and honestly it's not amazing, but I'm here to learn and practice so oh well ╮(︶▽︶)╭ ──────────────────── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ─────────────────── Maybe it was the constant talk about relationships and the expectation that you were meant to fall in love someday that resulted in the overthinking you were doing right now or maybe it was the constant force feeding of romance that media shoves down everyone’s throats; either way it resulted in those words spewing out of your mouth before you could even stop yourself.

“They’re really hot,” you mentioned, “the one playing the electric guitar on stage. He’s got that effortlessly attractive look about them, like you know they don’t even need to try to achieve it.”

Leaning back against the sidewall you were standing against, you surveyed the crowded basement room that was lit up with red LEDs, almost like a warning sign trying to alert you to change your mind before it was too late. You didn’t pay much attention to them then, but reflecting back now on that night you wish you had taken it as a sign and ran away as you were now too far gone.

You hadn’t lied though and from the looks of the crowd surrounding the old makeshift stage you weren’t the only one who had noticed it as well. Both girls and boys alike were swarming and batting their eyes at each member of the band. Honestly it made you want to puke a little with how love sick everyone seemed. He was attractive though with his bleach blond hair and a simple yet somehow sophisticated look.

Even though he had managed to catch your eye, you definitely weren’t looking for anything, mainly mentioning it to have something in common with the girls you had been talking too. Love had never been your forte, never feeling much in relation to anybody, so sometimes you would lie. You would use pretty words spoken in a sweet tone as a way to weaponize love when moments like these came about. Making the topic into a double edged sword piercing both sides of the conversation equally. Pretending to have crushes on strangers allowed you the safety net that came as a result of never seeing them ever again. You can fake being upset until the girls successfully get off your back and then you’re free from romance and couples until the cycle inevitably has to start again another time. How no-one has noticed at all shocks you but hey, you weren’t going to attract attention to your little scheme for no reason.

The tipsy girls that were keeping you company started to giggle a little more than they would usually though, and that’s when you mentally clocked back into the scene and noticed those eyes on you. Honestly, fate seemed to be a little too cliché at that point as your eyes met. Unlike the stories though, there was no fireworks or tunnel vision, you weren’t the protagonist in some romance novel, where this would be the moment that you noticed one another for the first time. In your opinion, you suited the sidekick character a lot better, being able to provide the witty commentary and call out the others on their bullshit when things started to become too much.

You certainly weren’t here for love like any of the other potential hook ups waiting to happen in the crowd that were swooning up close, instead coming to support your younger friend who had managed to become a stylist for the band somehow. You had plans to hang out together after the night ended and he got the ticket free as a bonus. Niki had always been good at fashion, but you were happy he was finally being taken seriously after some past experiences. You weren’t looking to fight anymore pissed-off strangers who got upset after he commented on their outfits, although it was unlikely those would be the last times even with his new gig.

Finally, guitar boy as you had dubbed him in your head moved his eyes off you, and the set came to a close. While the others moved outside with the swarm, trying to catch the band members when they head out, you stayed put waiting for Niki to come find you.

You were never the most patient person in the world and when 20 minutes later he still hadn’t emerged from the backstage, you were tempted to storm in without a care. Before you could move and potentially get thrown out, guitar boy entered to pack up some of the sound equipment. He noticed you at the same time you did and again the two of you locked eyes.

“Fans were meant to have left 20 minutes ago,” he snarked as he made his way to you.

“Who said anything about being a fan,” you shot back, “I’m waiting for Niki actually.”

“Oh? And how do you know him?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but we grew up together, and we’re meant to have plans to hang out this evening so he better get a move on before I leave his ass here and just go home.”

Somehow the tension seemed to be rising between the two of you, and you hadn’t realised how close you both had gotten until the creak of the stage door alerted the two of you to the situation at hand. He took a sharp step back before anyone could potentially notice and finally, Niki stumbled through with his bags, running up to you in a daze ranting about whatever topic that his hyperactive mind was focusing on right then. “Ahh y/n sorry for the wait, we can go now.” As he almost skipped up towards the exit, he seemed to clock that you weren’t alone and casted a look over his shoulder shouting “Bye Jay, hope you didn’t give them too much of a hard time”.

You grabbed some of his stuff that he dumped for you to take and slowly made your own way up the dimly lit staircase, however, before leaving you turned around one final time to see guitar boy, now known to be Jay, watching you with a somewhat intense gaze and then the doors swung shut behind you.

──────────────────── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───────────────────

[matan4il]

To the Nonnie who wrote me about screenshots of two Palestinians talking, where one mentioned an exchange between his Palestinian American father and an IDF (implied Jewish) soldier from the US.

You rightly pointed out the duplicity in that exchange -

Why did he phrase it 'we had American citizenship', but the presumably Jewish idf soldier was just straight up American? As if to put distance between he and his father's American identity while framing the Jewish man as solely American and there fore undeserving of being in Israel.

I'll add to this, but first I wanna tell you that by chance, I saw the post you were talking about, and I have to raise the question of context. Because that's not just screenshots from any old conversation between two random Palestinians. That was taken from an anti-Zionist documentary. I've heard about it, I didn't watch it, I did see the trailer for it, which was pretty blatant in how one-sided it generally is. Any Jew who is pro-Israel is presented as a brainwashed, violent mad person, while only Jews who are anti-Zionists are presented as humane, and capable of showing concern for the Palestinians. Who cares if there are Jews, including Israeli ones, who are both? That docu is clearly not interested in letting the nuanced facts get in the way of its simplistic, one-sided conclusions.

That's incredibly antisemitic. To treat Jews who are aware of their history, of the Zionist nature of Judaism, of their native rights in Israel or their connection to Jewish communities everywhere, including in our ancestral land, as if they're motivated by nothing other than brainwashing and inhumane blindness, is at the very least to rob us of our agency, dignity and rights as Jews and as human beings.

I can also say that some of their more high profile interviewees are, in addition to being notorious anti-Zionists, quite unreliable in the way that they refer to the facts of this conflict. Oh, and one more thing about that docu is that it's guilty of spreading the libel that Jews only speak about antisemitism as a form of weaponizing it to protect Israel from criticism. This is such a dangerous form of delegitimizing the voices of a majority of Jews (including on this hellsite) which have spoken up about antisemitism of the anti-Zionist type because IT DOES ENDANGER JEWS. We speak up about it, not to protect Israel, but to protect our people (especially those of us who recognize that the intention to harm Israel has more to do with wanting to harm Jews than with any facts in this conflict, see this post as an example). It is gaslighting and antisemitic to undermine the voices of Jews when 90% of us raise them to speak up against antisemitism, just because we speak out against how anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic and is so often used to harm us.

So I wouldn't be quick to take ANY material from such a biased, antisemitic documentary at face value, including the accusations against the Jewish soldier and his behavior. Is it possible that the Palestinian man talking about his dad and the soldier, was telling the whole truth about the exchange, and nothing but? Yes. But I recognize that, knowing this is filmed for a propaganda piece, some or maybe even all parts of the story might be distorted, exaggerated or even downright made up. I have no way of knowing, and I do not trust that the makers of such a propaganda piece (only pretending to be a documentary) did their journalistic duty, and verified the truthfulness of all anti-Israel sources. More than that, I've seen how easily anti-Zionists lie about Israelis when they think their story can't be verified, or they trust that they're talking to clueless foreigners (kinda like how they'll have pics with Palestinians dressed up as IDF soldiers committing atrocities, and Israelis would be able to tell immediately that the uniforms are fake, but foreigners wouldn't), so...

Back to the exchange you mentioned. I fully agree with what you said about the duplicity. I'd even add to it.

According to historical research, there is an 80% chance that this Palestinian man's father most likely chose to leave Israel when this country's Independence War was started by the Arab leadership (unlike around 150,000 Arabs who didn't leave, nor attacked the Jews. They became Israeli Arabs, as this man's father could have been, too). Then the speaker's father further chose to go the US (rather than Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, etc) and get citizenship there. Good on him, but that means that as an idea, there's less of a distance between that man and his American identity, which he chose to pursue, and the Jewish soldier who was born having one, and chose to make the difficult decision of relinquishing the safe and comfortable life he had in the US, come to Israel (a country where financially he would struggle more), enlist in the army (which is mandatory for any Jew moving here), and put his own life at risk, all because Israel is his ancestral land. It IS two-faced to act like the Jew's American identity deprives him of a connection to his ancestral land, while the Palestinian dad's doesn't subvert his connection and claim to this place, but it's even worse when you remember the Palestinian man chose to walk away and move specifically to the US, while the Jewish guy did not, and it's even further a reversal tactic, when you remember that while Israel IS the ancestral homeland of all Jews, Palestinians (as Arabs) can are not native to this land. They came from Arabia and COLONIZED the Land of Israel (many doing so as recently as the 19th or 20th century). This is just pure and antisemitic historic revisionism, choosing to replace Jews as the natives of Israel, much like many other forms of antisemitism have chosen one form or another of replacement theory when it comes to our people.

I also found the way the Palestinian man framed the motivation of the Jewish soldier to be very antisemitic, degrading and reductive. "He just wanted to play Cowboys and Indians." And apparently, this American Jew couldn't find a good enough paintball team, so he HAD to make his life much harder, not to mention put it at actual risk, because he just HAD to play pretend with guns. It's not that this Jewish guy feels a strong connection to Israel, it's not that maybe he experienced antisemitism in the US to the point where he realized he had no place anywhere other than in the Jewish ancestral land, it's not that he felt deep kinship with his siblings in Israel defending our native rights here, no... The Jewish soldier MUST have just had a complex where mommy didn't let him play enough with space robots or something, so he decided to play out such fights in real life. Tell me that's not an incredibly patronizing, dismissive, reductive view of Jewish people and why we come here, even when it can be so much easier to stay elsewhere. It's an inherent racism, of seeing Jews as brainless puppets of "someone who told them this is home..."

Like, I'm a gentile but this wording is so frustrating to me. It plays into the untrue idea that the majority of Israelis are European or American when that is false and that jews are not from Israel. It's such an underhanded tactic imo. It's like they don't think the bad things some idf do or the Israeli government does is bad enough unless they add something else to it. It can't be war, it has to be genocide. It can't be soldiers abusing their power (something every army has trouble with) it has to be evil foreign, colonizers that don't belong bullying the pure, innocent native population.

You're absolutely right. War is always bad, horrible things will always happen, no army can control 100% of its soldiers 100% of the time (and that doesn't negate that the overall purpose of said army can be a good, worthy one, like how the atrocities some allied soldiers committed during WWII do not cancel the fact that the allies WERE the good guys in defeating the Nazis), every government can be criticized. But the need to turn the Jewish army into THE WORST, the Jewish implementation of our right to self defense into no less than a genocide (so what if none of the facts support that), the Jewish state into the greatest perpetrator of humanitarian rights crimes (again, with little proof, and while ignoring actual atrocities taking place on much greater scale around the globe) is just another form of antisemitism, of taking Jewish collectives and vilifying them to the point where Jews just no longer have their rights, including at the end of the line, the right to exist.

All of it is antisemitic and infuriating. I guess I'm just grateful that, even as a non-Jew, you can see right through most of that. Thank you for the ask, and I hope you're doing well! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Backstage Story Translation - Tasuku Takato SSR: A Story From His Trip - Part 2

tysm to fuyugumiyuri on twitter for providing a video of the story!

Tasuku: (Guess I’ve got some time to spare now.)

Tasuku: (Everyone went their own way quick… Reminds me of a training camp.)

Tasuku: The map of the park is... Found it.

Tasuku: Guess I’ll go… there.

-

Tasuku: First things first, the sweets corner.

Tasuku: The marshmallows are… over here.

Tasuku: You don’t see marshmallows this big in Japan often. He should be fine with this.

Tasuku: (At the time, I was just thinking about how this is the same old thing. But now that I think about it, Mikage’s request was the most specific and reasonable one.)

Tasuku: … Only the thing that inspires poetry and an interesting story left.

Tasuku: (For now, I’ll look at everything from top to bottom. There’s got to be something in a store this big.)

-

Tasuku: This is… the headdress area?

Tasuku: A headband like this would inspire poetry… Uh, will it, though?

Tasuku: (How does that guy get inspiration for his poetry, anyway?)

Tasuku: …

Izumi: Tasuku-san…?

Tasuku: Huh? Oh, Director. Being spoken to in Japanese startled me.

Izumi: Me too. I never thought I’d meet you in a place like this, Tasuku-san!

Izumi: … Are you interested in those too, Tasuku-san?

Tasuku: Huh? What are you talking about?

Izumi: Aw, you don’t need to play dumb. I mean, you’re holding it as we speak.

Tasuku: … Uh. No, you’re wrong. This headband is—

Izumi: I get it. I also feel like wearing one whenever I’m in a place like this.

Tasuku: You really don’t get it.

Izumi: Now’s a great time to wear one and explore the amusement park!

Tasuku: Hey, stop and listen to me.

Izumi: It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be shy now!

Tasuku: Don’t push.

-

Izumi: How’s this headband?

Tasuku: Ah, a cat? It suits you, I think?

Izumi: … You don’t really think that, do you.

Tasuku: Whatever’s fine. Just get something from a character you like.

Izumi: Sure, but if I’m going to wear one, I want it to be something that suits me.

Tasuku: I never said it couldn't suit you.

Izumi: I’ll believe you, alright? Then I’ll take one with cat ears.

Izumi: What about you, Tasuku-san? Is there a character you like?

Tasuku: Not in particular.

Izumi: I’ll pick out something for you, then!

Tasuku: *Sigh*... Alright. I’ll leave it to you. You won’t stop even if I tell you to, will you?

Izumi: Okay, you’ll wear… this!

Tasuku: Back up. Why does this headband have a ribbon?

Izumi: Because it’s a headband of the girlfriend of the character I chose.

Tasuku: Are you insane?

Choice 1: I’m perfectly sane

Izumi: I’m perfectly sane. I mean, it’s cute, isn’t it?

Tasuku: Just the fact that you chose something cute for me makes you insane.

Izumi: I don’t think so. Isn’t this the kind of thing that fits the people you’d least expect the best?

Tasuku: Even if that’s the case, surely you’ve got other options.

Choice 2: I thought it’d be nice for an adventure

Izumi: Since we came all the way to the US, I thought it’d be nice to try something adventurous.

Tasuku: This is way too adventurous.

Izumi: But I saw a lot of men wearing one on the way here.

Tasuku: … Looking back, there were quite a few of them. But they were all, like, families and stuff….

Izumi: Just pretend you’re practicing for a role.

Tasuku: I’m not falling for that.

Izumi: Wasn’t it you who said I could pick for you in the first place?

Tasuku: Yeah, but… can we at least switch our headbands?

part 1 | part 2 | part 3