#so he really tries to turn it into at least a less horrible experience I mean nobodies having a good time if they're there for er psych yk

[2005noroithecurse]

my bf being a therapist is actually really enlightening because I've learned a whole lot about how to spot a bad therapist

[wcters]

PERIOD COMFORT

pairing: christopher sturniolo x fem!reader

word count: 750+

summary: you have your period and chris tries to help you

warnings/contents: swearing, periods (for the girls with period trauma)

author’s note: sorry it’s so short but that’s the only thing that i could come up with that i didn’t find cringey at that moment

A lot of the time, you hated being a women. Constantly judged on how you dress and act, creepy men, unrealistic body standards, and more. But this time? It was periods. That time every month where your body lets you know you’re not pregnant but simultaneously punishes you for not being pregnant. Every woman hates it, every little girl wants it.

Usually spending time with your boyfriend and your best friends would help a little bit, just to make you feel less of a sack of uncontrollable emotions and pain, but that wasn’t the case this time. This time, everything was bothering you. You had left the triplets to take a nap in Chris’s room as to try and stop yourself from getting mad at them and breaking down for no reason, but you’re still bothered in here. The ticking of the clock, the air from the vent, every little noise was bugging you. You groaned and grabbed the pillow besides you, throwing it over your head.

Because of the object blocking your ears, you don’t notice the footsteps leading up the the bedroom door. “Babe?” Chris called out as he opened the door, “you okay?” You hummed and stayed where you were, too lazy and tired with everything to reply. “Y/n?” “. . . I think I’m dying.” You finally spoke, pain evident in your voice. “I need to be put down.” Chris quietly laughed at that. “You don’t need to be put down.”

“I may not need to, but I want to.” Chris grabbed your hand as he sat on the edge of the bed beside you. “What’s wrong? Is your period?” You never felt embarrassed when talking about your period with him ━━ you shouldn’t. You hated when some of your friends mentioned that their boyfriends would get grossed out when they talked about it. It’s a natural thing and it’s needed for them to live (as horrible as it is). You nodded, taking the pillow off your head and turning to face him. “I’m just so sick of it.”

“I know you are. And I would say I know it hurts but I don’t really know . . . At least not from experience.” You felt his hand brush up and down your back as you laid on your stomach. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked you, moving your hair that at fallen in your face. “My heating pad in the basket? Can you heat it up?” You groaned as a significantly sharp pain hit you and you curled up in the classic it’s bad pose. “Of course. Anything else?” Chris nodded. “Get rid of my uterus for me?” You looked up at him with a pleading smile. “Ask me later.”

You watched Chris as he moved to grab your heating pad and then open the door, slightly closing it but not fully as he left. While he was out, you figured you should change your pad. You did that, and stole a pair of loose boxers to put over top instead of the sweatpants you had on earlier. You were sitting up in his bed when he got back. “Are you wearing my boxers?” He asked you, placing the bag in front of you. “Yes. My sweatpants were bugging me and I was going to cry.” You grabbed your heating pad and leaned against his headboard, putting on your stomach and opening your legs. “Come here,” you patted the space between them, “I want to watch a movie.”

Chis knew better than to fight you, having dealt with you on your period many times before. It was you, but not dealing with any shit, and he didn’t want to make you cry. He took his shoes off and climbed on the bed and lied in between your legs. Before he put his head down, you put a pillow over your heating pad as to not burn him. “That’s really nice.” He commented as he lied down. “I know. That’s why I have it. Now, what do you want to watch?”

You ended up putting on a Disney movie (definitely not Bambi), any other movie would probably get you upset in some way, so you both cuddled up and pressed play. When Nick knocked on Chris’s door later in the night and got no answer, he opened the door to find you two asleep with Chris in your lap. He took a quick picture and left you two alone, closing the door.

“Matt, look at this.” Nick called out to his brother that was on the couch. “What?” He was shown the picture and a smile formed. “Those two are so in love, it’s sickening.” He shook his head. “I know.”

[cenomaso]

Drabbles by Daylight - Chapter 1: The Ghostface x AFAB Reader

Words: 1,367

Tags: dirty talk, vaginal sex, knife play, fear play, dubcon

Summary: Poor reader gets caught by Ghostface, who wants to have a new type of fun

Read on Ao3

Shit, you were sure that you had gotten a splinter from grabbing that fucking pallet. No matter, that was the least of your worries, in fact, you’d accept a thousand splinters if it meant you could make this nightmare end. 

The sky was dark and cloudy and there was the scent of wet dirt in the air. A strangely pleasant smell, or it would be if you were anywhere but there. The muscles in your legs burned from running, your lungs were sore, and sweat poured down your face. You weren’t sure who was left, you had been hearing screams all night, cries of horror coming from the other three unfortunate folks who had been brought there with you. 

You were sure that most of the others had been taken down at this point, the screaming had become less and less frequent. You run into an old cabin, and the generator there had not been worked on. It was a risky move, trying to fix it from the start, but you were too afraid to try and make it across the grounds. 

You got to work, pulling and twisting and pushing, somehow knowing what you were doing despite having no training in mechanics. You wiped your forehead as you panted, though you tried to keep quiet. The killer was a sneaky one, and could come around at any moment. You had already been injured once, one more strike and you would collapse. You bit your lip, the generator about half way done. 

A twig snaps, and your head turns. It was so quiet, not even the wind was audible. Your heart pounded, threatening to burst from your chest. You turned your attention back to the task at hand, but your blood froze as you caught a glimpse of the masked figure slipping into the cabin with you.

“N-No…” You stammer, standing up quickly and getting ready to sprint. 

The masked figure tapped the tip of his knife against the side of his head. “Sorry, little lady, looks like you’re fucked,” he spat, followed by a cruel cackle. 

You back away, holding your injured stomach. There were no bandages, so you had been leaving a trail of black blood. “Please, you can’t….” You start to beg, what else could you do? But you knew it was hopeless, you had been killed so many times, and the killer could never be reasoned with.

“Aww, are you frightened? Gonna cry? Gonna scream?” The Ghostface taunted, approaching you quickly. 

His arm shot out, and suddenly his hand was in your hair, grasping and pulling hard. You started thrashing, grabbing his arm and trying to pry him off as you grunted and cursed. 

“Now, now, that’s no way to act!” He growled, harshly throwing you to the ground. 

You coughed up blood, and your head was light. You didn’t even register physical pain anymore, the atmosphere of this place somehow giving you strength to carry on after being horribly hurt. In a way, it was a blessing, but it made you feel like you weren’t alive, weren’t human. 

The Ghostface kneeled down and put his masked face close to you. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Kill me? Like you have a hundred times?” You say angrily.

He laughs. “Nah, don’t think so, I’ve gotten bored of stabbing and slashing over and over, just for you assholes to come right back. I need a new experience.”

The gravel in his voice and the way he loomed over you made a familiar heat bloom between your legs. Were you really that desperate? Had it been so long since someone else touched you that you were going to settle for a killer?

“Mmmm, get on your back, bitch, and I might let you escape,” he said. 

You didn’t have much of a choice. You lied down on the hard floor, arms held to your chest. The Ghostface crawled on top of you, straddling your waist. “Knife? Or no knife?” He asked.

His wet blade hovered over your groin, and he cocked his head. “I’m thinking…knife.” He put the blade up the leg of your shorts, and started to cut. Soon, he was ripping your shorts away from you and throwing them aside. 

“Man, you still wear these?” He put the knife under your panties and quickly turned them to ribbons. “Thought you’d be better prepared for me by now, you’ve had to have known I’ve been wanting to fuck you for weeks.” 

Your cunt was soaked and throbbing, and your hips lifted almost involuntarily.

“So, so wet, all for me. What a fucking slut,” the Ghostface laughed. 

He turned his knife around and pressed the smooth handle to your folds. You close your eyes in aroused fear, and he slides the handle into you with ease. You let a moan escape you as he starts to pump the weapon in and out of your hole. 

“Dirty girl,” he purrs, taking a thumb to your aching clit. 

The knife handle glides in and out of your cunt, thick and warm. You didn’t care about the dirt and blood, only the feeling of it pushing into your g-spot. You start to drool, eyes half-lidded as your chest rises and falls rapidly. 

Your body writhes, on fire as your breath hitches. 

“Is my little whore gonna cum all over my knife?” The Ghostface says mockingly. “Nooo, she’s not, she’s gonna cum on my cock.”

He pulls the weapon from you and undoes his pants. A large, hard cock springs from his robes, dripping with pre. 

“Spread ‘em,” he orders, and you obey, spreading your legs out for him. 

He moves in between your legs and lines himself up with your entrance. “Dumb bitch, can’t believe you’re letting me do this to ya.”

He pushes himself inside of you in one strong thrust. You throw your head back and your mouth opens in a silent scream. You claw at the floor, nails leaving scratch marks on the old wood. The Ghostface lifts your legs and puts you in a mating press. 

“Now this is what I’m talking about,” he laughs, starting to fuck you hard and fast. “A good, warm pussy after a long day of killin’.” 

He returns his thumb to your hard clit, rubbing in quick circles. Your stomach tightens as his cock repeatedly slams into you. His free hand grabs your chin and forces you to look at his masked face. 

“I want you to say you’re a filthy skank,” he barks. “Do it or I’ll stop.”

Your face turns red as you consider. You didn’t want him to stop, no, you wanted this badly. 

“I-I’m a f-filthy skank…” you whimper, eyes rolling back as his cock brushes that sweet spot deep inside you. 

“That’s it, baby, that’s it. Say you want Mr. Ghostface to fill you up with his cum.” He says. 

You whine under your breath, and close your eyes. “Please fill me with cum, Mr. Ghostface…”

“Well since you asked nicely…” and he lets out a groan as you feel his warm release. 

The feeling makes your own orgasm hit you. Your body spasms as you cry out, moaning as you see flashes of light. Your greedy cunt milks him dry, and he rubs your clit as you ride out the climax. 

“Pathetic,” he mutters. 

Your head falls against the floor, and you stare at the ceiling. Your body is overtaken by a blissful  sensation as you come down from your high. Saliva seeps past your lips and your cunt leaks a mixture of your cum and his seed. 

“Well that was fun, sweetheart, but, I’m afraid I gotta get you out of the game now,” the Ghostface sighs. 

“Wait, but you said-“

“I lied,” he interrupts you and shrugs. 

He picks up his knife and plows it into your heart, your arousal still dripping down the handle. Your eyes shoot open as all the air exits your lungs. 

“See ya next time,” he cackles, giving you a wave goodbye.

As your vision fades, you can only think of how his cock felt, the girth and the throbbing. For the first time in a long time, you die happy. 

[spitdrunken]

im fascinated to know more of your thoughts on the winter king! Your first post and ideas were fantastic. If its okay I’d like to know about any kinks, suggestive, or overall possibly dark concepts you may have on his views/relationship with the reader! Like a continuation of some sorts of your first post! (Could be male reader or gn)

I will just write down some general thoughts here :')!! I'm glad to know you would like to know more of my ideas. I'll just start of with some NSFW headcanons I definitely have for him. These are just the main ones tho, I also have some somewhat extended petplay thoughts for him that I didn't put here.

notes: public / exhibitionism, CNC mention.

After being under the crown's influence for so long, Winter highly values the feeling of being in control. Especially in an intimate act such as sex, he'd want to at least feel like he's the one leading, at least the first couple of times. If he really, truly trusts you, he would be more willing to let you dom him. Based on some of the things Ice King says in canon, I do personally think he has a submissive side- An inclination for it, even, which is a remnant of Simon. His own experiences have shaped him to suppress any of such desires, though!

Winter does not shut up during sex. He's very, very talkative, constantly praising or teasing you, and describing how he's feeling! It's going to take a lot of pleasure to try and get him to shut up! Even when he's going cross-eyed with bliss, he's still babbling his needy little worlds. It melts his brain quicker if you're human, though. Your natural body heat would enhance the experience incredibly for him.

He's an exhibitionist in every sense of the word. Winter would get a lot of satisfaction of getting himself off in front of you, making a show out of it, but not allowing you to touch! He wants to see you squirm and shake with need for him so, so badly. In general, he'd try to have sex in, like, every corner of his palace. He assures you that his subjects, if they happened to walk by, wouldn't even be able to comprehend what they were seeing, much less talk about it! And if you'd let him, he'd absolutely just fuck you silly while having an audience in his throne room.

Oh, he just loves all kinds of roleplay! And if you indulge him, he will truly go all the way, with preparing costumes and lines of dialogue. It all sounds straight out of a cheesy porn, sure, but he's having the time of his life. He'd favour scenarios with darker undertones, and would be very interested in CNC if you wanted to try it out alongside him. Though he tries to ascribe any and all desires of the Ice King to the past, away from himself, he really wants to act out a kind of scenario where he's kidnapped you, his prince(ss)...! It gets him all kinds of giddy. Or anything else where he has an excuse to make you call him 'my grace / liege / King'.

As for any darker thoughts! Feel free to disregard these from the above if you aren't into it, btw. warning: emotional manipulation, dubious consent / noncon, depending on interpretation

He will try to guilt trip you into sex, if he wants to fuck you. Winter hasn't had sex in nearly a century, (....he doesn't count the times he's had encounters with Candy, the few times that has happened. He would label those moments as mistakes.) and a part of him is selfish enough that he just feels like he deserves it. He's put so much time and effort into trying to sweep you off your feet, got you food and a place to stay, plus everything else that you could desire! His hints will turn more and more thinly veiled, his touches lingering more and more. Dear, hasn't he done so much for you? Won't you be willing to indulge him, just this once? He's certain you'll enjoy yourself with him, he'll make sure of it! It's horrible, really, but Winter is simply not a very good person.

If you continue to deny him for long, he might create a mindless, stupid ice clone version of you, that's basically just a cocksleeve for him. A version of you that cannot deny him, and is always happy to be stuffed full of his cum. In all honesty, it lacks in comparison to what he believes the true experience to be like... It only makes him needier for you, in turn.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

✨ The space-loving scientist S/O [with a lovely sunshine personality] mysteriously disappeared one night, they're never to be seen ever again, that is until after so many years suddenly a spaceship crashes into a forest near their home in the middle of the night. When skelly comes to investigate, finally... He saw S/O... Injured and large scars all over, on their face and body, ones old and new, they looked so SO exhausted, their body trembles, dark eye bags under their eyes but as S/O stood up, their eyes widens in shock yet light up happily upon seeing skelly. Despite that they were hurt badly, blood dripping and body aching, it was hard to move, although, they couldn't care less at all, the love of their life they've been deeply longing for was in front of them even if so much time has passed, they ran, or at least tried to with the state that they're in, limping and reaching towards skelly sobbing... Skelly allows S/O to hug him, they both fell and broke down, S/O then muttered "My l-love...I-I'm finally home.." and quietly apologizing for everything...

S/O later explains that they were kidnapped by terrible and horrible aliens after accidentally wandering into their territory at night and forced to be their test subject and slave as punishment, spending such a long time being tortured constantly, forced to do terrible things for them and things they didn't want to do, however, S/O persevered, knowing that if S/O gave up and died then only the shitty aliens would win so they tried so hard and fought back that turned the situation into an endless war, surviving through it all, changing the sweet and kind sunshine who dreamt of reaching the stars to a tired soldier... All they ever thought of and dreamt was only to come back home, reuniting with their love...

[Hi!!! I apologize for writing this so long but I just had to tell ever detail because this idea had been stirring inside and rotting my brain with soo much angst! XD]

Undertale Sans - He's horrified. Honestly, he just assumed he did something wrong all these years that made you run away, he could never imagined, well, that. First, he teleports you to the hospital, then he warns Asgore because, uh, that seems like a serious situation a King should know about you know. He's not leaving your side after this, simply holding your hand as you recover. He doesn't know what more he can do to help, but at least, he can listen and be here for you. He won't stop apologizing for not being there when you needed it, even though he can't really go to space so there's not much he could do.

Undertale Papyrus - He's completely in shock. Papyrus assured everyone you were alive and didn't stop looking after you all these years, even though his brother and Undyne told him he was just hurting himself for nothing. Turns out he was right all along and just didn't think to check space, silly him. Welp, that happened. Sometimes everyone thinks you're dead, sometimes you get kidnapped by aliens. That's life. Now that it's over, everyone can turn the page and never leave again because he's now full of insecurities and literally terrified you will never get home when you go get groceries :D But he's fine, he hides it very well (no).

Underswap Sans - Omg. You fought aliens all this time and he was not there to see this. He's jealous, well, not too much of the "I was a lab rat part" but all the other sides. You went into space, and you beat up aliens! Is your spaceship still working? He wants to beat up aliens too! He's glad you're back home, and he won't stop asking questions. He has trouble understanding you need to recover from all this and that talking that much about this traumatizing experience is definitely not helping.

Underswap Papyrus - He breaks down in your arms. He doesn't care what happened, he's just so happy. He got confused after you disappeared, than angry, then sad, then depressed and he was very close from falling down because he couldn't understand why you left. He kept believing, just a little, that maybe you would come home someday, and he's so glad you did eventually. He's horrified when he learns you got basically tortured for years, but he is also in awe about how you managed to go home by yourself. He won't stop crying for a few weeks. He needs to recover as well.

Underfell Sans - He doesn't even know what to say. He grew angry after you, thinking you gave up on him like many before you and that he got tricked into a false feeling of security once again. But now you're back, and apparently, it's all his fault because he didn't think even one second you might have been kidnapped by aliens. He thought about a car accident or something but your car had been found unscathed after a while, he thought of a kidnapping but Edge assured him none of his rivals were in town when it happened, so he just assumed you left. He's not sure how to feel about all of this, he needs some time to think.

Underfell Papyrus - He falls completely silent. He searched for you everywhere. He thought you died somewhere and that he would never see you again. He mourned you. And now you're just... back? He lived the all thing like a giant failure because he wasn't there to protect you and he thought that maybe you got kidnapped and died all alone somewhere. Well, learning you got kidnapped by aliens doesn't help him to feel better, because he felt like it was his role to protect you, and he couldn't prevent this. He's glad you're home, but he is full of insecurities now, wondering if he's the right fit for you if he can't even protect you from something like this.

Horrortale Sans - Oh he was not worried. Willow kept telling him you were gone forever, but he could feel in his soul it was not true and he just kept forgetting you were gone for four years until you actually come back out of nowhere. He's just happy he got his S/O's back, purring like you left the house yesterday. He knew you would come back.

Horrortale Papyrus - Well that's awkward. You landed right next to the tomb he made for you in the forest, right next to Undyne's and Alphys' ones (that was supposed to not exist by the way because Monsterkind refused to give them tombs). Willow just thought it would be nice to have a place to remember you, since there was not really a body to mourn. He's now completely in shock, unsure if you are a ghost or no. Well, there's the spaceship, sure, but, that's a bit unbelievable. He doesn't even know what to say. He's happy, sure, but that doesn't feel real at all for him.

Swapfell Sans - He was really happy to discover you're actually alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere. Well, at least until you tell him you got abducted by aliens. Nox suddenly falls silent, then keeps looking between your face and your stomach. Nah man, that's too much for him. He runs home like the devil is chasing him and locks all the doors and windows. If your stomach needs to explode and deliver some random alien baby that will eat everyone, do it outside. He doesn't want to know. It will take three days to convince him you are in fact not infested with an alien parasite. He still doesn't trust you, but he tolerates you inside lol.

Swapfell Papyrus - Well the Rus you knew is not the same. After you disappeared, he kinda gave up on everything and lost the will to do anything. Instead, you meet with his brother, who is both terrified of you and relieved. When you go to see Rus, he thinks you're a hallucination and completely ignores you, and he will for a good month before realizing you're here to stay and sometime later that you're actually real. Little step by little step.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He's not sure is believing you, despite the spaceship. It's not that he doesn't want to believe you, but it seems too big to believe, and it feels like you're searching for an apology for giving up on him. Wine has trust issues and won't be fully the same anymore, even if he'll forgive you eventually and accept that something crazy actually happened to you. It's just... It still hurts. He struggles to forget the few years without you.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - Unfortunately, Wine finds you first. Wine is NOT happy you abandoned his precious baby brother and before you can even say a word, he attacks you lol. How dare you come back after all these years? Don't you know how much you hurt Coffee? Like hell he's letting you get close again! Eventually, he'll calm down, but not after beating the living hell out of you. First he hits, then he tries to understand. Well, that's very awkward when he realizes he had beaten you for something you're not really responsible for... At least Coffee is happy to see you. He won't let you go ever again. Poor guy is even more scared of being abandoned now.

Special mentions:

Horrorswap Papyrus - He's so relieved you're alright. He never stopped believing you would come home, despite everyone saying it's hopeless. He just knows. When he learns you got tortured for a few years though, he can't stop apologizing for you. The guy quite know the feeling, and he's so sorry you had to experience it as well. At least you two can try to recover together now. He's glad you're home.

Outertale Sans - Ah. First time? That happens. Those aliens are quite curious you know. Maybe next time take a beacon with you so, you know, he doesn't get worried and just knows you're actually just having a party with a random species? Ah, you got tortured? Ah... Uh... He looks at his feet and doesn't dare to meet your eyes again. Yeah, he forgot aliens could do that too.

[southangel]

Hello! Could you write about what it would be like to be Stan's and Cartman's younger sibling? Have a nice day!🎉

Being Stan and Cartman’s younger sibling

Warnings: none

Notes: This will be written platonically, and since you didn’t mention a specific gender i’ll make it gender neutral! Also, it is a bit short so I might modify it later. Sorry in advance!

Stan Marsh

Being Stan’s younger sister would be.. Interesting.

I don’t see him as incredibly protective or overbearing, but he would definitely care about you.

He doesn’t want to be a second generation Shelley to you, not after what he’s been through.

Considering how Randy shouldn’t even be qualified to be a father, he wants to take over that role for you.

Stan would try to let you have an enjoyable life, but not spoiled rotten.

If you’re ever upset, Stan would try his best to comfort you, but he isn’t the comforting type. The best he can do is play a song for you on his guitar, eventually cheering you up.

He might try getting you to get along with Ike, just as an excuse to visit Kyle more often.

He might let you play his guitar for a bit, as long as you promise not to ruin it..

I don’t think he would take you out to hangout with his friends, but maybe if Kyle manages to bring Ike along as well.

Once you start getting older and start experimenting with things, romance wise, he’ll start becoming weary of your decisions and choices in crushes.

Stan only wants the best for you. He just doesn’t want you to get your heartbroken or serve the same fate as him!

Stan wants you to understand that it’s for your own good. But then again, you’re his little sister, and he doesn’t want to hurt or restrict you in ways that he has been himself.

“I don’t think they’re right for you.. But if that’s what you want, go ahead.”

Eric Cartman

We all know how Cartman is, practically insane.

Him having a younger sibling would have many ups and downs.

There are times where Cartman couldn’t care less if you got killed or brutally murdered, and there are times where he would be willing enough to fight whoever made you cry.

Cartman is incredibly manipulative, just a horrible person in general, so it makes sense that part of him wants you to be like him.

You are siblings after all, and family is alike. He might tell you little things on how to deal with conflicts and what not, but you mostly don’t listen until he bribes you with something.

Unlike Stan, if you’re ever upset, Cartman could really be on opposite sides on how he could react.

He could either yell insults at you to shut up, or just try taking revenge on whatever caused this, there really is no in between with him.

Of course, Cartman’s hatred for Kyle is always evident. He tries to tell you bad things Kyle and whatnot, constantly insulting him in the process, but you really don’t care.

You don’t know the extent of what Cartman has really done, and Liane just brushes it off like it’s nothing.

Considering you don’t know everything he’s done, he’s still your brother, and that naïve part of you wants to believe or at least listen for a bit so he could hangout with you one day.

Cartman wouldn’t take you out with his friends, buy you anything, or really just do anything generous to you in general considering how selfish he is.

Although you are his sibling, part of him is still slightly kind to you. He helps you get out of trouble when you really need it, you get into trouble often because of what he’s taught you.

Unlike Stan, he isn’t slightly protective or weary of who you eventually start to like, unless it’s Ike.

Cartman doesn’t care much about what you do, as long as he doesn’t see you turning into any of his friends, he doesn’t care.

“If Mr. Kitty is ever bad, just yell at him. Bad Mr. Kitty! You have to do it like that or he won’t listen.”

[yuesya]

I honestly don’t know what pairing you have for Shiki, but imagine, in another AU, Shiki was just born a normal girl in the JJK universe, she goes to school, is friends with Itadori, still has her MEoDP, nonchalantly doesn’t bring up the fact that she knows curses exist and probably refers to them as “demons” or “monsters,” yeah, typical Shiki stuff. I wonder, if in this AU, if it’s okay with you, that Shiki and Itadori becomes boyfriend and girlfriend sometime before the Sukuna events happen? Like, they’re basically an opposites attract couple?

If that were to happen, I can imagine Sukuna probably being frustrated by Shiki’s presence or intrigued by her, mainly because of her ability.

See FAQ regarding pairings.

I think 'being normal' contrasts greatly with 'having MEoDP,' so if we do have an AU where Shiki is 'just a normal girl,' it would probably be a world where she never had an accident because [REDACTED] and so we have Shiki living a normal life without MEoDP.

... Or at least, as normal as someone like Shiki can be.

Shiki goes to school, but it's still hard for her to form connections with others. She also realizes very early on that there's probably something off with her when a late-night test of courage with some classmates results in them coming across a dead body, and instead of screaming her head off Shiki's only reaction is faint fascination. She wonders what it would be like to trail her hand through that red, red blood... but has enough awareness to realize that it's not something a 'normal' person would do.

And Shiki is normal, right? So she does her best to tuck away all her sharp corners in a neat little box to act like a normal high school student. One who doesn't have any fascination with blood, or sees strange monsters from the corner of her eyes. She's heard enough from her parents to know what curses are, and that her parents don't want any involvement with the world of sorcery. They don't want Shiki to be like her uncle, who turns up every once in a blue moon with scars all over his body, who's involved in dangerous work.

Shiki loves her parents. She knows she does. And this is what you do when you love someone, right? You do your best to meet their expectations. You want them to be happy.

... I don't really see Itadori/Shiki working out here, unfortunately. Itadori is fundamentally someone who cares about others, who tries to do good and help where he is able to. This clashes horribly against Shiki, who doesn't really care at all, and it's even worse in this 'verse because she doesn't have anyone who gets her, unlike in zenith. Itadori is many things, but he's not someone who would understand Shiki at all, much less this particular version of Shiki.

Unlike Ryougi Shiki, who wished to experience the happiness of a normal person, OC-Shiki has no such desire.

[littleabriel-blog]

Why You Shouldn't Watch Loki S2

With Season 2 of that show making its debut tomorrow, I thought I would make one last ditch effort to convince people not to watch it. It's not just because it's a horrible show that makes a mockery of my favorite Marvel character. There are a lot of problematic elements that contribute to the long list of reasons why people should not give Disney their money or ratings.

I am imploring people, one last time: If you must hate-watch the season, pirate it. If you must watch with some lingering hope that the real Loki will somehow make an appearance (and based on the reviews I have seen, that seems very unlikely), pirate it. Please don't contribute to Disney's ratings. Disney isn't going to care if you're hate watching or if you are only watching it hoping to get a glimpse of the Trickster we all know and love. They only care about numbers, and high ratings might mean we'll get stuck with another season of this utter dreck.

That said, here are some reasons why you should rethink giving this show your views:

It glorifies abuse and torture

In this show we are treated to the sight of Mobius using torture as "therapy", emotionally beating Loki down to the point where he capitulates to the TVA's demands, punishing him for having a crush on someone else by sticking him in a room for hours (at least) with an illusionary Sif who kicks him in the balls and punches him on repeat while further hammering the whole "you'll always be alone, you don't deserve good things" message, and generally working for an organization that subjects Loki to mockery, bullying, sexual assault (being stripped without his consent--that scene wasn't hot. It wasn't sexy. It was horrifying and I really, really have to wonder about the mental state of anyone who is at all turned on by it. Think about it, if Loki were a woman who was being forcibly stripped, there would have been loads of hatemail filling up Disney's servers), and slavery.

That's even before we get into the atrocious way Sylvie treats him. I've gone into how she treats him many, many times, how she belittles, invalidates, silences, and oh yes tries to kill him for daring to ask her to reconsider killing HWR. If the roles were reversed and Loki treated Sylvie like that? You ladies who love the ship so much would be boycotting Disney. It's no less abuse just because it's a woman doing it to a man.

It glorifies fascism

The TVA is very much Nazi coded yet they are framed as heroes...well, except when they're picking on Sylvie of course, since she's all pure and good and can do no wrong (Mary Sue powers activate!) They torture a character who is very much Jewish coded, an effeminate man who is very much the Other in the home he grew up in.

And what the hell is this?

As a Jew, I find this image deeply, deeply disturbing. It's a fucking gas chamber, y'all. It. Is. A . Gas. Chamber.

I don't know how anyone can NOT see how problematic it is.

It has Jonathan Majors in it

I really don't give a flipping shit if they're "only" allegations or if they wrapped up filming before the allegations came out. People boycotted Flash for Ezra Miller doing basically the same thing, so I don't see why it should be any different with Majors.

But then I know from experience that some of you so-called feminists out there are only about protecting or believing women when it suits you. Can't have a little thing like not supporting a domestic abuser get in the way of your wish fulfillment self-insert fantasies of beating the crap out of Loki before fucking him.

The first season was written by a total creep, and that same creep is producing the second season

'Nuff said.

Selfcest/Incest

I don't want to hear how "selfcest doesn't exist", especially in a fictional universe where you have sorcerers, witches, men with super soldier serum running in their veins, magic plants that turn individuals into superstrong Cat People, and talking raccoons.

And even without the selfcest, that ship is a very problematic one, as I stated above, and have continued to talk about at length.

It's just plain awful

The plot is predictable, full of holes, and not even that original (it's cribbed directly from a script Waldron wrote that was so awful, even SyFy wouldn't produce it, plus see my post with the clip from Batman Returns). Loki is grossly OOC in it...seriously, there is not a single hint of the character I had grown to love from Thor 1, Avengers, and the Dark World. He's nerfed all to hell (an Asgardian god who can take on Thor easily is beaten up by human rednecks?), and he's lost all his cunning, wit, intelligence, and grace all in favor of turning him into a sophomoric slapstick clown and the butt of everyone's jokes. The newer characters are poorly mapped out and one dimensional.

It's just...bad.

So there, that's my last ditch attempt to convince people to boycott this piece of shit. I realize my pleas might be falling on deaf ears, much as Loki's pleas fell on Sylvie's, but I had to get it out there.

Other Loki show antis can add to this or elaborate if they want. I'm too tired to be too coherent right now.

[rubykgrant]

(I'm still re-writing and editing the whole chapter, but I liked how this part turned out; a conversation between Jon and Martin while they're hiding out in Scotland, about love and their lives~)

If Martin didn’t know any better, he’d think they were just two regular people, out on a regular date.

“We could have been doing this for years. Just sitting together. Enjoying each other,” Jon murmurs, head resting on Martin’s chest.

“I would have liked that,” Martin says. He imagines himself and Jon before, how they were both awkward in different ways, how they each may have tried to help the other move past it, how it could have felt the first time Jon held him close, or how it could have felt when he realized he felt safe with Jon. Wanting to keep somebody, and also wanting to be kept, not being afraid to let it happen.

“We also could have had ANY other job…” Jon continues.

“One that, perhaps, wasn’t so hazardous to our health?” Martin finishes.

“Mmm, yes. Did you know- I nearly dropped out of university?”

“What, NO? Really? You?” Martin tries to picture Jon quitting, just leaving something behind, even something that was just causing him distress, and he can’t. Jon was more likely to “sunk-cost fallacy” himself to death.

“I was… struggling with a few classes, near the end. That wasn’t why I almost left, though. The university wanted me to see a counselor, just so I could have, as they put it, a ‘mental health refresher’. I, er- got a touch offended. And I decided for myself, I would either double-down and pass everything with top-grades, OR drop out. Because surely that would teach everybody a lesson,” Jon sighs, as if frustrated with his previous thought process. “If I had actually left, I probably wouldn’t have gone to work for the Magnus Institute. Who knows if we would have even met…”

“Wait, third option. What if you actually went for that mental health refresher?” Martin asks, and his voice quivers with a sudden attack of giggles. “B-because, Jon, I- I almost applied for a job as a receptionist at a counselor’s office!”

“Are you serious?” Jon is laughing a bit now, too.

“Yes! I wouldn’t have needed to lie on the CV or anything, either. The only reason I didn’t go for it- the job didn’t pay quite enough to afford everything I needed at the time,”

“So you’re telling me, we could have had an entirely DIFFERENT awkward encounter? With a whole other conflict of an inappropriate work relationship? Oh, if only, in another life…” Jon says in an overly dramatic, wistful tone.

“Hey, why would it be awkward? Or inappropriate?”

“Because, I would have walked into that office all- all pissed-off about everything, feeling insulted that anybody would even suggest I wasn’t absolutely FINE. If you thought I was insufferable before, you should have seen me while I was at university, especially near the end. I can promise you- charming I was NOT. I also couldn’t stop picking at the spots on my face,” Jon grimaces, thinking about himself.

“Fine, you were horrible. But so am I… if we did date back then, I would have been one of those people who always wants to get your acne spots for you. Now, what about the inappropriate part?”

“Well, maybe not entirely inappropriate, but… I’m sure it is at least frowned upon for employees of a counselor’s office to date the patients,” Jon isn’t sure what the rules would be (he’s certain the actual counselors can’t be involved with people they see professionally). “And even if that job would be less stressful for you, would you want to risk it for an awful little shit with a bad attitude?”

“Hmm, fair. Maybe I’d wait and see if the mental health refresher actually WORKED, and once you you stopped being a patient, I’d give you my number…”

“Making the first move, in this scenario?” Jon’s voice implies an attempt at sarcasm, but his face looks much more eager and intrigued.

“You’d be surprised how confident I am when I don’t have to worry about creepy-crawlies trying to eat me, or lying about my age and work experience on a daily basis!” Martin chuckles, and his laughter makes Jon bounce against him.

“Wouldn’t that have been a dream. I get a mental health refresher, you have a pleasant job as a receptionist, we go on a few fun dates, and start a happy relationship together, and you can indulge your pimple-popping fetish-”

“It is NOT a fetish!” Martin’s hug tightens around Jon, trying to squeeze the air out of him. For a moment, Martin sternly refuses to look at Jon, instead staring straight ahead (if he sees Jon’s face right now, he might laugh himself off the bench).

“Do you want me to stop washing my face?” Jon wheezes out.

“You’re the one who made a whole kink-list!” Martin reminds him. “And did I add anything like that? No, no I didn’t!”

“Darling… don’t be afraid… to be yourself… I’ll accept you…” Jon is gasping now, but it is less from Martin’s powerful hug, and more from his own laughter.

“I HATE you,” Martin informs him.

“I think we’ve come to the conclusion… that you actually LOVE me…” Jon snorts, like that was so clever or something, and that breaks Martin’s concentration. The attempt to hug Jon into silence ends, all the muscles in Martin’s arms loosen, and Jon melts into him as they both give in to the giggles that have been building.

Jon forces himself to take a big, deep breath, and once his chest stops hitching, he tilts his head up to give Martin a kiss. Around them, people pass, not even noticing, but anybody who had been thinking about sitting at that bench feels like they’d rather find a different spot. Jon and Martin aren’t unseen phantoms, repelling people from their space. Nothing as alarming as that; they’re just uninteresting shapes, on a bench that isn’t very appealing, for no special reason.

This allows them plenty of time to linger, and kiss lasts as long as they want.

In the back of his mind, Jon has decided that no matter what kind of life they could have had, if he still met Martin somehow, falling in love would just be an eventuality. How could he resist any version of Martin? How did he resist THIS version of Martin for so long? Jon is so deeply in love, it is hard to even remember NOT feeling this way. Despite his protests, mostly in reference to himself having such a bad habit of being a wanker, Jon is secretly a hopeless romantic. He’d die, over and over again, for Martin’s sake.

Martin, on the other hand, has different thoughts he’s keeping to himself. Them having a chance to be free of the Magnus Institute and still be drawn together is very nice… but even though he argued in favor of dating the “un-charming” Jon in another reality, Martin doubts it could actually happen that way. Maybe he’s being realistic, maybe he’s actually just a pessimist underneath all his optimistic layers. However, the fact that he actually HAS this with Jon now, against the odds and through all the crushing pain they’ve suffered, makes Martin treasure it even more. His rotten luck wouldn’t give him another chance like this. He’d fight for it, he’d break for it.

They don’t share these thoughts, so they never know how different yet similar they really are. Instead, Jon kisses the man he’ll always love, and Martin kisses the Jon he has, and both are happy enough to know that much.

When they begin their walk back, Jon comfortably links his arm with Martin’s again, sort of leading the way this time. Still a guard-cat, still protective and alert, but considerably more calm. Martin is pleased with himself indeed; he’s the center of Jon’s concerns, but that doesn’t need to be something strained or stressful. It can also be fulfilling.

[sleepyficss]

could you.....could yuo do painty x reader.... sorry im gay

painted bristles.

paintbrush x reader, romantic & angst/fluff

authors note:

i could've made this longer but i didnt wanna make it too excessive – i love them too much ;; + the art class & caring a lot about their bristles are both canon facts that i got from the wiki :3c

It had seemed like a peaceful day thus far, as you sat on the bed of your shared room at Hotel OJ. You had been spending the last hour or so practically doom-scrolling on your phone while your laptop played some show that you had watched before, being used as background noise – rather than bothering to pay attention to the scenes you had nearly memorised.

Baxter, the loveable little crab that Lightbulb had adopted a while ago now, rested next to you on his own pillow. You never thought you'd see a crab as spoiled as he was.

You'd usually spend your days with Paintbrush, the two of you getting pulled into one of Lightbulb's adventures or Test Tube's lab experiments, or even going out, one-on-one, to some sort of gathering as a date.

However, today Paintbrush was holding one of their weekly 'Arts n' Craft' classes. It was a new addition to Hotel OJ's activities, a solution that you had thought of and worked on with them to reduce the never-ending amount of stress they seem to always hold...

As much as you loved them, you had to admit that they cared a bit too much at times. Whether it was during the Inanimate Insanity competition, getting too worked up about winning; or while they stayed at the hotel, easily butting heads with the other guests over the smallest arguments.

These art sessions had only been ongoing for the past few weeks, but they seemed to actually be helping! You'd recently noticed that Paintbrush had been able to control their temper more, and held a lot more patience with other people.

At the end of each class, usually lasting a couple hours, Paintbrush would come looking for you to talk about how it went. It seemed that they had (mostly) only good things to say every time, lifting up their mood significantly.

Although, despite it being less than two hours, you heard the telltale rattling of the doorknob opening the door.

You didn't need to look up from your phone to know who it was, eyes still glued to your device as you blindly reached over to close your laptop, "Painty, is the Art Class finished already? You aren't usually here this early –."

As you finally looked up from turning your phome off, your breath caught in your throat at the nearly pathetic sight of them in front of you.

Sorrow, was all you could read from their face through the poorly concealed pout that rested on their lips. Their arms were loosely crossed, while you could've seen the mess on them from miles away. Wet paint stuck to their wooden face, dripping slightly downwards – yet, the substance landing on the carpeted floor was the least of your worries.

The bristles that were usually neatly swept back on their head were clumped together with more paint, and chunks of dried glue. Considering the amount of care they tended to put into their bristles, it shocked you that they managed to let it get this bad. You had to assume it was more than just a bad day.

To say it kindly, Paintbrush really did look horrible.

You rushed to push yourself off the bed, softly throwing your phone behind you, as you moved in front of them. From the closer distance, you could see the emotion brewing in their eyes, tears threatening to fall until you tenderly raised a hand to cup their cheek.

"Oh, Painty..." Was all that you managed to utter before the mentioned object threw themself further into you, hiding their face in your shoulder as the waterworks started.

While it wasn't difficult to get Paintbrush emotional... It had been a while since you last saw them this upset.

Choked sobs left their shaking body as they tried to speak, probably to explain their situation, but you quietly shushed them. You wouldn't have been able to understand them in this state, and it was better for them to calm down a bit before talking, you assumed.

Both your arms wrapped around them, one lifting up a bit higher to rub their back comfortingly. You reached a leg around them to kick closed the door for privacy-sake, and guided them slowly to the bed.

You both stood there for a few minutes, whispering comforting words to them, until Paintbrush's weeping calmed to just a few tears caught in their eyes. You removed them from your arms, pressing a chaste kiss to their lips to elicit a small smile from them, before stepping back.

"Could you make yourself comfortable on the floor for me? I need to grab a few things, then I'll be right back. Is that okay?"

A reassuring nod from Paintbrush had you hurrying to the room's bathroom, collecting an unused wash cloth from the cabinet, and throwing it in a small container that you began filling with warm water from the sink. Once finished, you returned to the main bedroom, where Paintbrush had wrapped a blanket over their shoulders and held onto Baxter while sitting on the floor in front of the bed.

You knew that Baxter was a big comfort for them, leaving a warm smile on your face at the sight of them looking a little happier.

Carefully holding the container to not spill any of it, you placed it on the bed as you climbed onto the mattress and behind Paintbrush. Once comfortable, you picked up the cloth from the container, wringing out the excess water, and began wiping through their bristles.

Slowly but surely, the chunks of glue began to dislodge themselves, and the clumps of paint wiped away onto the cloth. Pausing to soak the mess off of the cloth back in the water, you gently spoke up, "DO you... Want to talk about what happened?"

It was as if Paintbrush was just waiting for you to utter those words, as they took a deep breath, "It... It started off so well! We were going to do an activity that I had been planning all week, and everyone seemed excited to do it..."

You hummed along when it felt appropriate, bringing the cloth back up to their bristles. It crossed your mind that this would take a while to completely clean, as their head had ended up a real mess – but you didn't mind.

"–...f course he caused an argument about it, and started throwing supplies around! Of course everyone else started, too – I tried to intervene, but someone threw a painting palette at me, and when the paint got in my bristles I just... I..."

You understood what they were getting at. Paintbrush had probably lost their temper and began yelling at the other guests, and now felt bad about it.

"–...fter all the progress I've made... I just–just completely lost control! So easily! And then I felt bad, and just walked away from everyone... They're all probably still yelling down there, and I just ran away..."

They confirmed your thoughts, leading you to stop your actions for a moment, and placed a hand on their shoulder, "Hey... Painty, it's not your fault. You may have lost it a litte, but how long has it been since that last happened? Weeks? That's still such an improvement from how you used to be! And if the others are still arguing down there? That's their problem to sort out – you didn't start the fight, so you aren't indebted to fix it."

A sniffle and a nod was all you needed, before wiping out the last few pieces of gunk stuck in their bristles. Placing the cloth and dirtied water behind you, you ran a hand through their now-clean bristles.

You leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the back of their head, before leaning forward to embrace them from behind.

"You know none of them are going to think poorly of you because of this, right?" You murmured, "They know you Paintbrush, and they've also seen how much improvement you've made. One class gone wrong isn't the end of it all, okay?"

Paintbrush twisted their body and head towads you, capturing your lips with theirs. Smiling into the kiss for a moment, you then moved back to take a look at their face.

The object looked a lot better, both emotionally and physically, but they still had a few paint splatters over their face. You reached back to grab the cloth, before leaning in to gently rub at the messes.

Their face scrunched up at the sensation, a flustered blush covering their cheeks lightly as you held back a giggle from the expression. An annoyed groan left them as you finished up with a playful tap on their nose.

"Better now?" You asked, receiving an answer in the form of your own words repeated back at you.

"Better now."

Moving the cloth and container off of the bed, you gave a light pat to the spot on the mattress beside you, "Now come on, you deserve some cuddles after today."

A flustered laugh left them, passing Baxter to you from the floor as they balanced the blanket around them while they began to climb up next to you. You moved Baxter's pillow to the middle of the bed, before placing the crab upon it as he snuggled back down immediately. Poor little guy, carrying everyones emotions as a personal stress reliever.

Paintbrush crawled up next to you, on the other side of Baxter, and threw the blanket over the three of you. Pushing themselves to be closer, Paintbrush wrapped an arm around you (and over Baxter).

You tangled your legs with theirs, wrapping your own arm to reciprocate their position as you cuddled up closer to both the brush next to you, and the crab between you. You heard Paintbrush let out a sigh, unsurprisingly tired from the earlier emotional experience, and closed your own eyes as you savoured the familiar feeling of comfort.

[danlous]

https://www.tumblr.com/danlous/784533057805959168/i-hate-to-say-this-but-some-of-this-stuff-said?source=share

uh i don't know what that anon is talking about or why they're trying to blame sam for stuff (I see that behavior where people sometimes get angry at sam if he says anything more complex than "Lestat is bad"), but he's never said anything like "Louis and Claudia are exaggerating, Lestat didn't do anything terrible", so maybe let's not blame him discussing a complex character who isn't a simplistic villain for people's dumb twitter behavior? He pointed out a few times that we're seeing things from Louis' pov, and Lestat's pov might differ, and the show confirmed that in season 2. Louis was not lying, and nothing changed to make Lestat blameless or to make the drop less awful (as Lestat's monologue makes clear), but what we saw in 2.7 did shift our perspective a little on both the fight and Claudia's turning. Sam has said many times that Lestat abused Louis and that the drop was a heinous act that Lestat can't forgive himself for, so it's hardly like he's trying to excuse it. But seeing Lestat at least try to stop the fight (even though it's his fault it started in the first place--again, it's not about making him blameless) and seeing Louis be more actively violent than season 1 shows us is a shift, even if it doesn't change how inexcusable Lestat was to escalate to the drop.

I don't remember him saying anything about the train scene, but it's pretty clear that Lestat's actual motives and thoughts were often different from what Louis and Claudia perceived them as being. That doesn't change his actions and I doubt they'll show that Claudia was somehow wrong about what Lestat said on the train. If they revisit that scene, I think it would be more about Claudia thinking Lestat doesn't care about her at all, and us seeing that he actually does care about her even if that doesn't mean he isn't cruel and fucked up. I think from his pov, it's possible that we'll see that Lestat was motivated by a fear for her safety as much as anything to do with Louis or his own anger (again, doesn't change how horrible he was to her, it's just adding complexity to him).

The show has never made Louis or Claudia out to be liars, but it has shown us that Louis' perceptions of Lestat were not always accurate or the full story (which makes sense, apart from Armand messing with his memories he's looking back on everything thinking that Lestat eventually tried to have him and Claudia burned alive, and Claudia thinks Lestat never cared about her), and that we can add complexity or sympathy to Lestat without erasing his terrible, abusive actions. Sam's been clear in all interviews that Lestat was awful--are we really going to blame him for talking about the nuances of his character or the ways that perspectives can shift from character to character?

I just see people get angry at the actors, especially Sam and Assad, for talking about characters who do terrible things with any nuance or sympathy, and it feels weird and misplaced.

I think Sam could express some things better but yeah i don't recall seeing him saying that Louis and Claudia's stories are made-up/exaggerated or anything else that blames or invalidates their experiences. Wrt the scenes you mention i don't think they're even significantly different from Louis' story, just giving Lestat's (flawed) pov. I think it's fine for actors like Sam and Assad to talk about nuance their characters have as long they don't try to erase or excuse their abusive actions

It's a different discussion but i also think post s2 fans focus too much on the drop part in 1.05, as if Lestat's story in 2.07 showing Louis fighting back more means that Lestat wasn't abusive before the drop. Lestat still violently beat Louis up and forcibly drank from him, and Louis was still just trying to defend Claudia and himself. Agreed about the train scene, if/when it's re-visited it just probably reveals more about what Lestat was thinking and feeling which doesn't change the actual event or make the way he treated Claudia any less cruel and abusive

[badlydrawnrufioh]

Inbox is empty, and I haven't been very active in a long while, so I figured I'd share some relationships stuff (/≧▽≦)/

Kankri Rufioh finds his blabbing a bit much, and doesn't always get what's Kankri's actual deal, but he assumes best and tries to more or less abide. He respects him a lot and feels like he owes Kankri for a few things he'd done for him (and Damara) in the past, but since Kankri isn't making a big deal of it, neither is he. Overall considers their relationship good, and feels like Kankri's one of very few people who get him. Mutant buddies.

Damara Oh the tragedy of doing something stupid when you were, like, 13. Really, that whole drama follows them into their young adulthood, even though they both want to put it behind them (thanks, Meenah). Overall, they've got the top 10 most tragic moirallegiances in the history of Paradox Space, and they aren't even paledating. They were confused and traumatized kids. To Rufioh, Damara is probably the single most important person in his life and afterlife, but he's not able to fully face it yet. Mostly because of his guilt over hurting her in the past, and failing to take responsibility (they were getting there! buuuut stuff happened, thanks [REDACTED]), and then getting hurt by her, which, ngl, pretty traumatizing. He misses her a lot, but, as usual, won't confront these feelings.

Mituna He likes him, but does find his sense of humor a bit uncomfortable. They used to hang out more early in the game and with Kankri, too (mutant trio mutant trio), which was... an experience, to say the least. It might've soured Rufioh's opinion a little bit, as he was borderlne third-wheeling at times - Kankri and Mituna had their own relationship drama going on, and as much as Rufioh liked to ignore the issues in front of him, even he struggled with that one. But it wasn't his business, y'know? So it was just awkward. Eventually they drifted apart, and that was that. He still thinks Mituna's cool, tho, they just aren't close.

Meulin He thinks she's neat. Very nice - god knows that session could have used somebody like that. He respects and appreciates her cheerfulness even in difficult times. Definitely watched anime together and talked about ships. Just an easy person to be around. He also bonus respects her for defending Damara when Meenah was tormenting her.

Porrim Finds her extremely uncomfortable to be around. Aside from her culler-like tendencies which raised a lot of red flags in the first place, her "men are horrible and women are victims of everything" views also didn't endear her to him. And as somebody who struggles with agency and being stripped of it, the fact that she still can't take no for an answer (see: Kankri), makes him even more uncomfortable. Avoids like a plague.

Latula She's cool if a bit overwhelming. He respects her a lot, and I imagine they played games together. Turned out they were into similar genres, so before everything fell apart, they used to vibe. After Mituna's accident they barely interacted, though.

Aranea He finds her pretty cool, actually. Even when people are assholes to her and about her interests, she doesn't give up on them, and he respects that a lot. He also does find what she talks about interesting, and he'd love to get closer to her, but she's hanging out with Meenah too much for him to try. He thought exactly once (1) that Aranea deseves better friends, and banished that idea immediately, because that's an invitation to a conflict he doesn't want to take on. Viva la avoidance.

Horuss Second most important person in his life and afterlife, as messy as everything about their relationship is. He's not entirely sure when Horuss flipped a quadrant on him (spoiler: it was when Rufioh gave him an origami horse), but by the time he realized it had happened, he had no idea what to do about it, so he just... didn't. He did start occassionally avoiding Horuss, though - not as badly as he is now, but it's not such a new thing. Still, they spent most of the game together, and somehow it didn't help their extreme miscommunication problems. They were actually getting somewhere, but then everything went wrong, and they both fell back on their unhealthy coping mechanisms, and that's kinda how it stayed. F. He definitely cares about him, but the relationship is draining. Horuss went from somebody who saw him for the guy he was to another person with weird/perfect ideas about him, and it makes everything all the harder. He wishes they never got together and were simply friends the entire time. Horuss is pretty cool, otherwise. He's super skilled and smart, and Rufioh misses the times they were just vibing in Horuss' workshop, working on some fun projects. Well, Horuss was doing more of the work - Rufioh was just throwing ideas every so often, and making sure Horuss didn't pass out. Fun times.

Kurloz One word: complicated. He'd always found him a bit uncomfortable to be around, but had nothing to justify these feelings, so he just ignored them. Still, aside from that, their relationship was ok for the most part. [saying anything else is too big of a spoiler]

Cronus Rufioh was probably one of a very small number of people who weren't completely put off by him, which is somewhat surprising, given... literally everything about Cronus. Rufioh found his fascination with magic cool, actually, and was even willing to listen, and in exchange he'd talk about his anime & and recommend some stuff he thought Cronus could enjoy. They were surprsingly chill. Rufioh treated Cronus' flirting as a joke, which it partially was, so it also led them to have a pretty decent friendship. Nothing crazy, though. They were just ok, and eventually like everybody else drifted apart.

Meenah Even more complicated than Kurloz, somehow. She definitely makes him feel something different compared to everybody else. (It's hatred. He hates her guts, and it had long since passed the romantic stage. Now he just wants to gut her. On a very, very, very subconscious level, because, like most of his feelings, he ain't gonna deal with these. In other circumstances, maybe they could've been black one day, but it's far too late. He's not a forgiving type at all, and Meenah had crossed every possible line she could've in his eyes.) They're cool.

[fayeandknight]

Last week our agility instructor said she wanted Forte to trial soon. There's an AKC trial at our club in May and there are CPE trials in March and April. She wants us to do one of the CPE trials to get real trial experience without worrying about a Q and then trial for real at the AKC event.

My initial thought was oh shit, I'm not sure we're ready for that. Forte runs nicely most of the time but gets sniffy when I'm unclear on our next move (aka me getting lost on the course). He also still gets distracted when dogs/people come or go. Not enough to pull him off course but I can see the attention shift.

My biggest fear is that he finds a trial too much and bails like he did last year at the ACT. In that instance he ran three times, not cleanly - we NQed, but stayed with me for the most part. Mid fourth run members of my household showed up in a well meaning way, but they brought Faye and he heard her complaining in the car. He slipped through a gap in the fencing ring and went to run circles around their car. Compounded on that fear is anxiety around what might happen if he leaves the ring. Will he run past the wrong dog who in turn has a go at him?

As horrible as our first instructor was, I cannot unhear her telling me to be extra careful with Forte. If anything happens between dogs, the Belgian will be blamed regardless of him actually being the aggressor or not.

So I was nervous for our first run tonight and got lost on the course and in my mind. Forte responded by alerting and then going for a sniff when I brushed it off and tried to cue him to the next obstacle. We did the whole run but it was bad. Honestly we haven't had such a disjointed run in almost a year.

As we waited for our next run I waffled between confirming that we definitely are not ready and trying again to see if I could pull myself together. Our second run was indeed better because I didn't get lost but it still wasn't great. I still wasn't fully there with him mentally.

So for our third run I said fuck my anxiety. It is just him and I here in this ring. I trust our relationship and both of our skills and we absolutely have this. And just like that we had the cleanest, smoothest run we've ever had, even with the next class coming in. He never even flicked an ear in their direction.

I was on cloud 9 all the way back to our seat. Until a person and dog from the next class I've not seen before came in. Dog stepped into the room and immediately targeted Forte, body low and forward with teeth fully bared and low growling. I expected them to give us space. But no, the handler strolled pretty much right up to us - with less than a foot between the dogs.

I felt like I was moving in slow motion, watching Forte get stiff when this dog just kept coming into his space. I thought about how this is different from the overly reactive dogs he is fairly frequently called upon to play neutral dog for. This dog had serious intent to hurt him. I gestured for Forte to move to my other side to create more space, he did without hesitation but I could feel his weariness. The other person/dog moved behind us, closing the distance between dogs again. I had Forte come around the front of me and to the other side, again trying to create space. As Forte moved away this other dog shot forward to make a grab for him. I stood up to be more of a barrier and while Forte was clearly tense, he continued to not react and follow directions.

The other handler did then finally move away from us. It felt like the whole thing went on for five minutes at least but was probably much shorter. I can't say for sure because of the way time gets distorted when I'm that stressed.

And while I give Forte all the props for letting me handle the situation I'm not really sure how I feel about potentially going to trial. On the one hand, I do believe if I have my internal shit together he'll do well. And he's proven, again, that he will not engage with reactive and/or aggressive dogs - at the very least if I'm supporting him but probably even without that.

But I'm worried about a full trial experience because I don't want to put him in a situation where he's in danger from another dog. No ribbon or title in the world is worth having another dog go after him. We both worked so hard to get through his own reactive phase and I would hate to send us back to that. But I also know that when I'm stressed/worried I tend catastrophize and my perspective gets warped by it.

We will keep showing up to classes, because we both enjoy agility. But I feel more mixed up about potentially trialing than I did last week. Hopefully between getting my thoughts out here and having some good weeks going forward I'll feel more confident entering a trial. But if not, I won't.

As much as I would really love to earn an agility title my mindset is very much dog first, sport second. Though in our case it's more like dog first, service work second, and sports third.

[polyhexian]

Btw I do feel extremely bad for eventually!Darius. I love Darius! He's a very cool character with interesting motivations and flaws! And they're all coming to a head in this one, lol.

Darius is replaying the last time he ever saw Jasper on loop, and he's reevaluating every interaction he has ever had with Hunter, and he has realized he's fucked up. Darius has realized he's been consistantly fucking up for 16 years.

Maybe he tries to defend himself to himself. Brains tend to do that. I was grieving! Okay yeah valid but no excuse for bullying a child, actually. How was I supposed to know he was Jasper's kid? Oh come on you can't say you didn't KIND OF suspect with those eyes and that face and the hair, also it shouldn't matter WHOSE kid he was you still hurt a kid. I was subconsciously upset Jasper apparently had a kid and didn't tell me. Right but this all keeps coming back to you bullying a kid. It's not like he explicitly told me to look out for the next Golden Guard! It costs 0 snails to not be mean to the child soldier.

Darius is just…facedown on his bed, groaning. He hasn't kept up with his hair or skincare routine in two days. Eberwolf is getting worried; they've dragged MULTIPLE animal carcasses into Darius's bedroom and he hasn't complained ONCE.

Raine: We're not getting Eda involved, I refuse to put her in danger.

Darius: Sure! Of course! Perfectly understandable! I'm so glad you have the opportunity to look out for your loved one! Of course if it turns out you wildly misunderstand what she wants she may never forgive you, but hey, whatever you think is best! AHAHAHAHA.

Raine: Darius are you okay.

At some point when he's on speaking terms with Alador again, it comes up.

Darius: I've horrifically betrayed the man I love. He trusted me, and I let him down, badly. Now he hates me and he's never going to forgive me and I have to see him scowl at me from across the room and call me all sorts of horrible things and the sad truth is I deserve every single one of them.

Alador, nodding: I can tell you from experience that it's an awful thing to go through, but it is possible to eventually move on.

Darius: Are you MOCKING me??

Alador: No? I'm being genuinely sympathetic and supportive.

Idk if this is a universe where Jasper and Darius would be able to work things out between themselves - the hurt runs deep, Jasper honestly thought he could at least count on the one man who befriended HIM to look out for a kid who looked like him and was stuck in the same position, and instead Darius failed at just not being MEAN to said kid. Jasper didn't even realize the bar was so low. And Darius doesn't really have much time to fix his behavior and turn things around, and Hunter's real dad is here so there's no need for Darius to become an adopted father figure, and…yeah.

Jasper's relationship with Darius is so hostile, and once Darius realizes what's up he's just miserable and resigned and apologetic even though he knows it'll fix nothing, like a dog rolling over to show its belly. It's sad and hard to watch.

But if their relationship ever DOES progress to something less than hostile, it's entirely because Hunter's willing to forgive Darius, and Jasper can't deny Hunter anything. They can maybe work their way towards cordial neutral. Romance…romance may not work out here.

…Of course, Hunter has to tackle Luz when she catches wind of the situation. She starts rambling about the Parent Trap and Friends to Enemies to Lovers and orchestrating an Only One Bed situation and he is like NOPE, BAD IDEA, THAT IS HOW PEOPLE (mostly Darius lbr) DIE.

YEAH NO IT SUCKS TO BE DARIUS IN ALL TIMELINES HDDGJIKKIFDRH

I don't think it's.... TOTALLY unsalvageable if he plays his cards right. Like on the beach he realizes that's jasper and he's ALIVE. And jasper hisses at him like. If you ever threaten my son again I will rip you limb from limb. And he poofs and I'm sure Darius is left like SON??????? SON??????

And like back at the castle he has an existential crisis in the middle of the night before like. Oh my god. I've been bullying his son. What the fuck. Son??? He had a son???? Wh. When did he do that. And suddenly he has that same interest in hunter canon Darius has but... perhaps with a little more guilt and desperation. My dude is ALREADY planning to kidnap hunter and get out of there because holy shit??? Jasper???? Alive??????? Out of my way gayboy I have amends to make

Like... Jasper loses him after hollow mind. Hunter bolted and jasper couldn't catch him. So Hunter spends nine days homeless while jasper is having a fucking panic attack. Hunter is in so much fucking immediate danger rn. There is no more fucking around in the shadows it is GO time. Maybe he hates Darius, but Darius is strong, he knows the emperor's coven and hunter, and most importantly he fucking owes him.

Jasper has MAGIC now. He has Hunter's staff! He shows up at Darius' door like GET UP SCRUBLORD YOURE GOING TO HELP ME FIND MY FUCKING SON RIGHT NOW

Ohhhh my god the drama. The two of them working together. Darius is overwhelmed with guilt and confusion. Jasper is angry and hates him. Darius keeps asking questions like "how are you alive" "why didn't you tell me you were alive" "how do you have a son" "do you like legit hate me" and jasper is just fucking ignoring him. But then!! Labyrinth runners! Darius hears over, the like-- like the fucking coven group chat or whatever, that Adrian graye has found the fucking golden guard and jasper's like AHHHHHHHHH and so they both rush over but... it all happened so fast! They're too late! But now they get the full details of the draining spell because hunter told the kids and oh my god.... oh my goodddd. Jasper is like. I have to get hunter as far away from here as humanly possible. And Darius is like you literally don't even know if that would work. And also what about everyone else??? But obviously a worked up jasper is like fuck everybody else!! Gasp. Shock. You're mad at me for bullying you're kid when you're willing to let every kids parents die?? And he's like. Gasp. How dare you

But Hunter is already gone... and jasper is ready to go look for him, but... oh no! Did you think you could beat up a coven head and not face retribution?! There is like a whole outfit of coven soldiers on the way. Like the ones with Adrian were not like combat guys. They were just here to hassle some school kids. Now the school kids have committed fucking treason. And if Darius fights then his cover will be blown! And maybe even Belos will realize he needs to look for moles higher up! If nothing jasper does works then that is the only backup plan to stop the spell and save Hunter along with everyone else!

There's only one choice. Jasper has to stay and fight off a whole army so the kids have time to escape, and Darius has to go and find hunter. And jasper is like you fucker. You go and remember how much you fucking owe me. You remember that. And then wham! Bam! Sick moves!

And we know that hunter really wants Darius's approval... he likes him a lot. At this point we kind of lose track of them for a second because Luz and king go do the Titan trapper stuff, and then they go to the knee to hide out, then they get captured and Darius and co saves them and then the next we see hunter he shows up to say Darius told him to protect Luz so... I guess he's been staying with him? It's a little unclear. But ALSO.... where were Gus and Willow and hunter hiding??? How did they run into Darius and the CATTs?

Maybe they ALSO needed a rescue mission... maybe while fleeing from the school they got captured by a unit too, and Darius swung in and rescued them and brought them to the safehouse BUT also he got a really serious injury like stabbed or something, he's not like dying yet but OWWWWW... and no one in their crew knows healing magic!!!! He gets patched up but.... and you know. He's fretting over hunter. He's been homeless for nine days. He's hungry. He's malnourished. He's upset. Time for Darius to go dad mode for the first time but ALSO hes injured and he gets to finally have a big "I am so sorry Hunter that I let myself drown in my grief and turn into a person I never wanted to be and I'm sorry you were on the receiving end of that, and you might never forgive me but I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe now" and it's all very FEELINGS!!!!!!

But where is jasperrrrr???? Poor motherfucker has lost his kid AGAIN... and the thing is that from the time eda and Luz get rescued, it's only 24 hours until the draining spell!! Jasper does not fucking have a lot of time! He searches and searches but THEN.... THE SPELL... AND HUNTER IS UP THERE.... oh maybe he rescues Alador after the kids leave and he tells him they went up to the coven heads and he gets there and Darius says they went to go save Luz... and that's when he finally pops in just in time to protect the kids from a big dramatic Belos attack. And then of course he loses an arm and nearly dies and spends a week in a fever coma lol

[nardatd]

Spoiler for those who haven’t finished season 4 part 3/the last two episodes

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I just finished the last episode and my mind is a hot mess.

I’m probably going to miss some things but here are some of the stuff I have an opinion about:

1. Regarding armin/erwin my thoughts remain unchanged. Despite feeling strongly about it, I gave the series the benefit of the doubt when erwin got killed. I wanted to see if I was wrong. I would’ve been happy about it. In the end armin turned out to be as effective of a commander as a ten year old. The fact of the matter is that he couldn’t do much in the end. He had a number of breakdowns, he wasn’t able to control or utilize the colossal titan as well as bertholdt could in the past, he slipped up that time he was doing a little pep talk with yelena in the background, his biggest plan all along was always to “talk it out first” but that failed too, etc. Eren still did what he wanted and people still died. Except for blowing up the dock and when he tried to sacrifice himself so that falco wouldn’t get eaten by Connie’s mom, I don’t recall any other accomplishments that were of substance in season 4. It’s also possible that I’m just forgetting things because my mind is still racing right now and I’m still going through it emotionally, but for now my thoughts are unchanged. Can you imagine what it would have been like had erwin lived instead?

2. Connecting from the thought above, we can’t change that erwin died, but after finishing the series I can finally conclude that jean should’ve been the next commander. At the very least, he should have been made a vice commander. First of all it’s not impossible that floch survived all of that, but it’s pretty convenient that he did so he could shoot at the fuel tank in order to create a situation where the rumbling would catch up to them. In this situation it was also pretty convenient that Levi had been injured so badly he couldn’t be the one to fight, so as the commander hange decided she had to go, which was apparently a suicide mission because of the temperature around the colossals. I’m going to keep it 100% real here and say the circumstances leading up to this point of armin getting handed the commander’s seat were pretty convenient. Levi whose instincts were so great he managed to remain more or less unscathed for most of the series including when he had to fight kenny, he really didn’t see zeke using the lightning spear coming? And even then he couldn’t dodge it? Despite years of remaining unscathed under different circumstances that were just as if not more horrible? Levi who, along with mikasa, was the first to notice and to react to the replica of the beast titan throwing its shots at them? I just found it a bit hard to believe. And Hange said in the end, “The position calls for a certain quality― a mindset of continuously pursuing understanding”, and I admit armin did have this, but are we really going to ignore what hange also said earlier in the series just so it fits the current narrative? In season 3 when they were arguing about who to give the injection to, hange held mikasa back saying armin was indeed exceptional, but that he lacked the leadership and experience that erwin had. At least from my pov, armin didn’t really change much from the second half of season 1 to season 4. Jean on the other hand, has proven himself numerous times in this regard. He’s a quick thinker, reliable, practical, and passionate - all the qualities of a good leader. No doubt jean isn’t perfect, but imo he’s definitely more suitable. Let’s also not forget jean too has his moments of “pursuing understanding”. There are probably more than I can think of at the moment, but the ones that come to mind immediately are that scene at the end of season 1 which has really stuck with me ever since, when he asked armin if abandoning your humanity was the only way to win, and if eren did become that monster would that really be a victory for humanity, and then that other time when they were in the cell and jean asked mikasa and armin if eren hurting them had some sort of meaning behind it. I wouldn’t say jean is the smartest or the wisest character in the series, but he’s not brainless. Far from it. For some reason, and I’m guessing maybe because he can be short tempered at times, more often than not people don’t really talk about his quick thinking or about the important questions that he’s asked.

3. This is totally unrelated to the series and it’s about naruto so if you’re not into that or if you haven’t seen naruto just skip this part because spoilers.

Before eren’s intentions were made clear I already kind of guessed how it would play out because it’s reminiscent of how itachi wanted sasuke to be the one to kill him so that sasuke would be a hero of the leaf despite being an uchiha. Eren saw the crew as the people most important to him, and for itachi sasuke was even more precious than konoha itself. Eren committed genocide, itachi massacred his entire clan and more. Eren hurt the crew and especially mikasa and armin on purpose, itachi hurt sasuke on purpose. There was of course a huge difference between their executions, and imo itachi played his part much much more skillfully than eren did and for far longer, but it’s an interesting parallel.

4. I found the ending a bit weird. I can kind of roll with it but compared to the majority of the series and how it built itself up up until that point, it honestly feels off. I understand why people thought it was a bad ending, but I also don’t think the author deserved hate for it. And I mean like, there are some really angry people. In most situations, and I’m generalizing here, it’s alright to have opinions and it’s alright to feel a certain way but to direct those feelings towards the author himself is taking it a bit far. It’s his freedom to write whatever. Let’s be happy we even got anything from him. Without the author there would’ve been nothing at all. I know from personal experience it can be overwhelming at times, but it’s going to be ok.

5. I don’t have a particular attachment towards zeke but I felt sorry seeing everything that he had gone through. I’m mentioning this only because I’ve never really talked about it I think. I’ve talked about some of the other characters but not so much about zeke’s past from what I can remember. Grisha and Dina were terrible parents, and him calling Tom ksaver “father” was really sad. I know he’s not the only one and I really don’t even like him all that much but he really had it rough.

6. I felt that the love interests weren’t written very well. I get mikasa cause she’s been obsessed with eren from the start, but we really only started to see eren’s supposed “interest” in her in season 4, and only in glimpses. There really isn’t a lot of material to fall back on. I always felt he saw her as more of a sister? Of course he’s shouted at her before that he wasn’t her little brother or something along that line, but I always felt he just saw her as family. The only thing I can think of from earlier seasons to support this pair is that time when eren first wrapped the scarf around her and he was blushing. I always saw that as more of like, he was kind of embarrassed to do something like that because for him the act was a bit intimate and they weren’t too familiar with each other, but I guess you could also see it as him blushing because he had a small crush on her. On top of this they lived together in the same house and grisha has referred to mikasa as his daughter, so I just found it a bit weird. Obviously they’re not actually siblings but they were kind of raised as brother and sister for some time, so. A bit weird from my perspective. What’s more is the dynamic itself doesn’t seem to be very healthy. But I’m not mad at people who ship them. That kind of romance is definitely possible, and they’re technically not related, so it’s whatever I guess. They were also very young still so in an ideal world I imagine their dynamic might’ve been able to change for the better as they matured. On the other hand armin and Annie I found even weirder. It just felt too sudden. I get that armin ate bertholdt so that could’ve contributed, and I get that Annie literally only had armin and hitch as company most of the time for literal years, but it’s still weird for me. Like good for them but I wish it could’ve been a bit more fleshed out.

7. I’ve said this before but I didn’t appreciate the parallels drawn between Erwin and Armin. They are entirely separate characters with entirely different motives. Connecting to what I said at point 1 armin was never able to “replace” erwin. Of course the same can be said for erwin, he was never going to be another armin. I feel the same way about the parallels drawn between Sasha and gabi. Again two entirely separate characters with entirely different motives. I can appreciate parallels but only if they’re written well. These just felt like forced propaganda.

There’s more but for now I’ll stop here cause this is getting a bit long and I’m really tired

[shalalalalaw]

"What will you do now?"

Yor spits ash from his mouth, knees sinking in the snow, and he squints at the fey hovering at his side. Their voice is loud and clear where their form isn't.

It hurts to look at them now, despite them becoming his...benefactor. They feel indistinct. Looking as a willow's leaves billowing in the wind - wispy and airy. Whether they still count as his patron when he can already feel their warming fire fade from his fingertips and their name slip his mind, he's not so sure. Their contract has already been fulfilled.

Yor opens his mouth and instantly regrets it, the fresh burn across his face pulling unpleasantly.

The fey tsk's and a touch like his sister's numbing poultices covers the raised skin and he tries not to think about her. About leaving her behind in a hell of her own design with their Matron Mother's corpse and an entire House that would be turning to her. The burn stings even more in the cold. It was her choice. "This will scar. Hope you won't mind a pinch here and there."

Yor carefully brushes the archfey's hand away, wary of accepting favours he hasn't agreed to, "No."

He made the first contact for a reason. It was a simple transaction, for a reason. So he would be free.

"So, what's next?" The fey's voice rumbles low in their throat, unperturbed, and Yor catches a glimpse of warm, honey brown eyes as they lean away.

Yor rises to his feet, unsteady, unwieldy and much too stiff after running through half of Menzoberranzan and a good portion of the surrounding area before he was whisked away in the fey's arms with their laughter ringing in Yor's ears as the Carnak Manor burned behind them. The stinging snow wasn't doing his joints any favours either.

Yor blinks and refocuses on the fey, then away when their face swirls in nauseating patterns. He leans against the closest tree. He's so cold, with nothing but the singed clothes on his back and, oh, he really didn't think this through enough, "Why do you care?"

The fey laughs, booming, "You called for freedom! You craved to lose the chains holding you in the dark. You gave it all away, for a chance at this. I could do no less than answer. And now I hold everything you ever were, and everything you could have been down there in the gloom of Menzoberranzan. Is it so difficult to believe I want to know how you want to live now? To see you thrive?"

The scowl pulls horribly at Yor's burn but he holds it, "And what would you ask in return to know that?" The prospect of breaking past the constraints of Drow society, only to end under an archfey's thumb and dancing to their tune instead fills Yor with bitter sort of despair. He'd rather die.

They pause, and Yor feels more than sees the fey sink until their feet touch the ground.

"Nothing. Not truly. I know you. In a way you can't really grasp right now. But I want to know what you will see. What you will experience. How you will become yourself..."

Yor can hear something in their voice. Rue. A reserved sort of bitterness.

"...I always forget what it means to be yourself."

His brow furrows at their words. They walk precisely two steps, to stand before Yor where he can't avoid looking at their form that seems like a warped mirror - all colours and no form. Yor tries to focus on them through the glamour - if it even is one. He saw them just fine earlier this evening, when they answered his call, so why can he no longer see through it-

"It's a favour I'm asking for myself. Being selfish."

A flash of red. Bright against the snow, especially under starlight to Yor's eyes, so used to the Underdark.

"Let me come with you. Learn of the world away from the Feywild through your eyes, someone who also hasn't been here before. Let me experience this at your side."

A wide, brilliant smile.

"You'll have a companion to match any of them, a friend if you want one."

Yor blinks. They're short. At least, compared to Yor.

"That is my 'bargain', if you could call it that, Yor."

And they've been waving their hands all this time, almost pleading with him. Sturdy arms, with strong forearms and wide palms.

"I want a... a companionship."

A strong jawline, speckled with freckles of all things.

"I want to see how one can be themselves. So maybe I can learn to not forget how to be me again."

They are so earnest. It cuts away Yor's breath, as his teeth start to chatter.

And they are breathless. Looking at him with a plea that mirrors the one Yor was giving them earlier. Resolute, unafraid. Asking for a future.

And they laugh at his silence, "And, I guess, if that couldn't convince you, after everything of you that I have and know before it changes too much, then nothing else can?"

He can see their eyes clearly now, so warm...

"N-no, nothing else can..."

Oh, how beautiful their eyes look, even as they return to resigned placidity.

"But you won't need anything else."

Putting the stars to shame, they do.

"...oh, you're horrid!"

And they laugh, shoving him back and Yor can't help a little smile even as he sways precariously in place. His legs are numb and his hands are trembling, but he's transfixed.

"Then say my name! Call me to your side, and we'll have an adventure all our own."

Yor raises a brow, "With no contract? No... t-transaction?"

The fey shrugs, "Only if you wish for one. I won't demand anything more for this. You give me a place to be, I give you a friend to have."

"That simple?"

"It can be. It's how I am. Forgetting my nature when I can is how I live. That at least, I never forget."

Yor chuckles, "You, Shi'iduvelan Aran, are t-too odd for your own good."

And she smiles.

"And since that's a mouthful, you should call me Shi'n. Now come here, let me get you warmed up."

Yor thinks he laughs as he passes out in Shi'n's arms.

Finally free. To make horrible choices, maybe. But they are his.