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surielstea · 7 months ago

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Words on Paper

Based on this request.

Pairing: Azriel x Fem!Reader

Summary: Azriel’s jealous over a male in your book and it’s hilarious.

Warnings: Just fluff, short Drabble :)

1k words

You and Nesta hadn't shut up about the men in your books all morning. The new Sellyn Drake novel had come out less than a week ago and the both of you couldn't stop raving about it, you swore you had dreams about the characters, and when you weren't caught up in the plot you were analyzing the characters, the male love interest specifically who Nesta and you were all but frothing at the mouth over.

"I need him, unfortunately," Nesta sighed, looking over to me as we held our planks. Valkyrie training seemed to go a lot faster when the both of you got the chance to debrief over chapters and share what you were passionate about, Cassian didn't seem to care as long as we stayed on task and kept up with the movements.

The exercises had become second nature to the both of you, sure it wasn't as mindless as breathing but after it's been part of your routine for weeks it truly does come naturally, like a second language that only the two of you can speak.

Azriel was slow to insanity at this point. He couldn't seem to adjust to the idea of you taking interest in anyone but him. With Mates, the rule is that if the bond is accepted then there's no one else for that person, intertwined by fate.

So why was he so irritated when you rambled too long about a guy from a book?

"Are you two working out your mouths too?" Azriel stands above you, arms crossed over his chest. Slowly, you look up at him with a wide grin. "Sorry, sir," you tease. Nesta shakes her head in exasperation and you giggle.

It took one minute of silence until Nesta and you were whispering amongst each other again.

Azriel seems to have given up days ago, his eyes narrowed at you from across the sparring mats, Cassian next to him as they drink their waters.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Azriel asks his brother, continuing to stare at both of their mates. “Does what?” Cassian turned to him with an arched brow. “That they’re so obsessed with those men from their little smut novels,” Azriel mutters and Cassian nearly laughs at the death glare the Shadow Singer was saving for the fictional male, who as of late was threatening to take his wife away.

“It’s just words on paper,” Cass shrugs, bending down to place his water on the ground. “I know but, the idea of her wanting anyone else gets under my skin,” Azriel argues and this time Cassian does laugh, it was so odd to see the revered Spymaster so torn up about some guy, who wasn’t even real. “What’re you jealous of him?” Cassian scoffs through his laughter. Azriel rolls his eyes and puts his water down. “Whatever, just don’t come crying when you can’t satisfy Nesta anymore,” He grumbled.

“I doubt that day will come,” Nesta hums from behind the Shadow Singer. He knew she was there, you with her, but he needed to get his point across. “Hey hun, you ready to go?” You dip under his arm, placing a hand on his bare chest. He only nodded in reply.

“Hey, remember what I said, it’s just words Az,” Cassian said before you got the chance to winnow him away, he nodded once more then you took him home.

You didn’t want to know what the General was going on about, you could tell from training Azriel was a little irritated but you couldn’t remember doing anything to irk him.

“You gonna tell me what’s wrong or just keep pouting like a baby?” You ask and he scowls down at you. You smile, hands coming to his jaw and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, he barely has time to reciprocate it before you’re pulling away.

“What’s got you so tense?” You smush his cheeks together and he just stares at you in reply, so you begin to guess. “Something Cass did?” You ask and he shakes his head no. “Something I did?” He doesn’t move and you deflate, flinging your arms over his shoulders and melting into him. “Can’t you just tell me what’s wrong, please?” You sigh into his neck, already admitting defeat. “Do you like him more than me?” He blurts and you stiffen, pulling away to look up at him confused. “Like who?” You utter. “The guy in your stupid book,” He grumbled and you openly cackled before slapping a hand over your lips. “It’s not funny,” He groans backing away from your touch and plopping down onto the sofa, where he could sulk in peace. “I know, I’m sorry Az,” You say, taking deep breaths to control your giggles. “I’m just saying, what does he have that I don’t?” He frowns and you walk over to him, sprawling over his lap and straddling his hips. “Perhaps a control on his emotions?” You tease and he grumbles beneath his breath like a child, looking away from you.

It was true that Azriel was quite explosive. One would think he’d be less reactive as the Spymaster and yet he might’ve been the quickest to action out of all the inner circle. It was a weakness, something he was working on. It was rude of you to point it out but you make up for it by peppering a line of loving kisses up the side of his face.

“I love you, okay? Only you,” You reassure. “Those men, they’re meant to be thirsted over, you understand that don’t you?” You ask and the male nods. “I just don’t want you wanting anyone else,” He looks at me and my grin widens. “Awh, Az,” You wrap your arms around him and squeeze him tight. “I’m all yours, don’t worry,” You muffle into his neck. “Yeah? All mine?” He asks and you nod rapidly before saying, “Promise,”

“Now stop acting like a big baby,” you pull away from the hug and hold his face in your hands. “I’m gonna go bathe, you gonna keep moping out here or do you wanna join me?” You tease. He doesn’t answer and instead picks you up from where you sit and walks you straight to the bathing chambers.

General Taglist: @fxckmiup @olive-main @iluvyewman-blog @gaymistakeboi @glitterypirateduck @amara-moonlight @impossibelle @fauxdette @going-through-shit @glam-targaryen @cauldronboilme27 @sarawritestories @tele86 @rogerbarnesxx @azriels-shadowsinger @stinkinstuffie @sandramalikstyles-blog @sassyangel16 @lilah-asteria @starsinyourseyes @inloveallthetime @melsunshine @nighttimemoonlover @ireallywannasleep127 @cumuluscranium

Azriel Taglist: @coolepowersthings @lovely-giggles @quiettuba @ilovewarner45 @judig92 @tothestarsandwhateverend @je-suis-prest-rachel @call-me-a-fool @brieflyclassymortal @cherryjain17 @stqrgirlies-blog @chelsiemp @nyxbranwenn @dnfhascorruptedme @summerandsalt @annamariereads16 @thisiskaylin @itsbonniebabe

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myerssimp21 · 8 months ago

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Batcave Meeting (YAN!Pt.3)

Romantic!Yandere!Batfam Part 3. Part 1, Part 2 here (context: Tim Drake purposefully got aphrodisiac'd when fighting Ivy and then went over to Darling's apartment to smash. This is a batfamily meeting about that and how to move forward.).

As you obliviously drifted to sleep, the live feed of you doing so was being projected onto a big screen in the BatCave while members joined together at a table, casually watching you as you yawned and readjusted against your pillow. The imposing man situated at the end of the table clasped his hands together, regarding the young men in front of him. Once everyone was seated, the imposing man began speaking to them, noticing how many of them had their eyes glued to the screen.

"We're going to discuss what happened the other day and plan for next week," he announced, and the pouty brunette who had had a frown on his face now crossed his arms.

"Allow me to explain it from my perspective first, Father," he said, sporting a moody expression, "You and Drake were unexpectedly out of commission during your patrol, which, while not typical, is understandable given our line of work."

His eyes flicker over to Tim and Jason, narrowing in contempt and disgust.

"Todd and Drake both know how important our duty to Gotham is," Damian continued while making eye contact with Jason, "But instead of prioritizing that, they let their impulses get the better of them. Drake especially for instigating the situation. Using Ivy's aphrodisiac to... indulge with our darling? It's selfish, reckless, and disrespectful."

"Damian, hold on a second," Jason interjected, "I had no idea about the aphrodisiac. It was my night off so I was sleeping in and missed Bruce's calls when he and Tim got doused in it. I only woke up because the audio feed from her apartment was turned up and I heard them together. I blew up Tim's phone and went over when he left because I was pissed, and I didn't realize that was why she couldn't get enough. I feel really bad about it now that I know."

Damian's expression softened subtly as he absorbed Jason's explanation. Despite his composed demeanor, the tension still lingered in his features.

"I appreciate your honesty, Todd," Damian conceded, his tone slightly softer, "It's still not acceptable that she was acting strangely and this was not analyzed, but I understand that the situation was...unconventional."

As Jason and Damian had a moment of newfound comradery, Tim finally spoke up, "I understand your frustrations, but you need to know that I researched Ivy's aphrodisiac extensively before I ever considered using it. I made sure it wouldn't have any adverse health effects on anybody and appropriately calculated the risks."

Damian's expression darkened further, his negative feelings towards Drake beginning to truly show. "This isn't just about general safety or the safety of some substance!" he exclaimed, "It's about respect and her consent. You had no right to manipulate her like that, whether or not it posed a physical risk."

"Come on, Damian," Tim retorted, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his voice. "She didn't find out about the aphrodisiac, did she? So what's the big deal? It's not like we hurt her or anything. She's fine, and she doesn't even know what happened. In fact, she likes us even more because I made a move for us. Why are you making a big deal out of nothing?"

Jason scoffed, his distaste in Tim at this point evident. "Seriously, Tim? You're gonna act like a douchebag just because she didn't find out? That's messed up, even for you."

"It's not just about the immediate consequences," Damian shot back, his voice angrier. "It's about the long-term impact on her. I bet you didn't even stop to consider how your actions could affect her, or how they could undermine the trust she has in us. And what about the ripple effect it could have on her relationships with all of us? He's playing with fire, Father, and he needs to be held accountable."

"Let's not overlook the bigger issue here," Tim said, his voice defensive, "What I did was perverted, I admit that. But let's not pretend that bugging and wiring her apartment is any less invasive. That's hardly consensual either."

"Don't you dare deflect the issue!" Damian's voice rose, and he was now yelling, "We implemented those measures for her safety, not for our own entertainment! It's a gross violation of her privacy, but at least we did it to protect her!"

"Oh? And having two separate cameras staring at her bed is going to what, protect her from bad dreams?"

"Dami, Tim, let's try to keep our cool here," Dick interjected gently, easing in to defuse the tension, "We're all on the same team, remember? We need to work together to figure this out."

Damian turned to Dick with a measured gaze, "I want to hear your perspective on this matter, Grayson."

Dick sighed, solemnly addressing Drake. “Tim, what you did wasn't just a mistake. It was a deliberate breach of trust. She relies on us to keep her safe and instead of focusing on that, you exploited her vulnerability.”

"Also," and Dick seemed more pained at this part, "You betrayed our trust. We all care about her and you influenced her desires for your own gain."

Tim sat in silence, his expression filled with shame as he began to realize the gravity of his actions. He knew he had acted irresponsibly, and the weight of their words hung heavy in the air. Jason and Dick exchanged silent glances, their disappointment evident in their expressions.

Damian took a deep centering breath before focusing his attention back on Tim.

"This isn't about whether she found out or not, Drake. If you still don't understand that, then we need to take more drastic measures to address and punish this behavior. Father, I appeal to you to implement anything you deem necessary to prevent such behavior in the future. We cannot allow such indecent actions against her to to be repeated."

Bruce, understanding the severity of the situation and having now heard everyone's perspective, nodded solemnly at Damian.

"Tim, in light of your actions, there are going to be some consequences," Bruce stated firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You need to schedule therapy with Dr. Thompkins to address the troubling attitude that led to this situation. While we have taken invasive measures to monitor her, as Damian pointed out, your actions went beyond that."

He paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in before continuing. "Until you've attended and Dr. Thompkins deems it appropriate, you will be restricted from having any contact with _____."

Finally, Bruce's gaze softened slightly as he looked at both Damian and Tim. "And Tim, it's imperative that you and Damian eventually reconcile. We're a team, and we need to remain united in our goals and overall behavior. I expect both of you to work towards rebuilding your relationship for the sake of the team and our darling."

"Damian," Bruce addressed his son, "since Tim will no longer be able to have contact with her, I'm assigning you a new responsibility. You will substitute him as her school friend and be someone she can rely on for assistance with homework and company. I want you to pick a class of hers that sounds interesting to you and make sure you're there to support her. It's important that she has someone she can trust and rely on, especially now. It's an opportunity for you to show her that she can count on us."

As the meeting continued, Damian spoke up, "I'll join her art class. It will allow me to assist her with her assignments and ensure she receives the academic support she needs."

Bruce nodded in approval. "Good choice, Damian. Make sure to approach this responsibility with care and dedication."

Turning to Jason, Bruce's expression grew serious. "Jason, I need you to be especially understanding and supportive towards her. If she feels troubled or has any lingering negative thoughts about what happened, I expect you to be there for her."

"Of course, Bruce," Jason says, eyes fixated on the now-sleeping figure of their darling on the cameras, "I'll do whatever it takes."

Dick now spoke up, "Can we talk about introducing me as Jason's roommate?"

Bruce shook his head, "Not yet; I want to make sure Damian successfully integrates first. You can still frequent around her job but no more interactions than that."

"Except for as a vigilante?" Dick replies hopefully, and Bruce gives him a measured gaze similar to his son's.

"Yes, although I expect you to exercise patience and primarily work in Blüdhaven for now."

Damian cuts in, "And don't be like Drake and fabricate a reason for her to need you."

"Damian," Bruce says in a tired voice, "I've made myself clear."

Damian looks down with an expression like he's biting his tongue and contempt is bright in his eyes, "Sorry, Father."

With that, the meeting concluded, each member of the Batfamily knowing the roles they had to play in ensuring their darling's well-being and trust remained intact.

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belovanat2 · 16 days ago

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Our new chance, pt 2

Agatha and Rio are given a new chance.

It's age regression, if you don't like it, don't read it.

Alice is the reader's name, unrelated to the show.

I'm going to write several chapters, so it may take a while for the story to unfold.

English its not my first language.

Alice.... This name has haunted them both for years, ever since Nicky left.

The two pull themselves together, and return to the questioning.

"What are you doing in our house, Alice..." Agatha continues with her questions.

"I... I... I promise I wasn't stealing anything, I was just hungry," the girl starts to say, trying to keep calm.

"Alice, come on, let's go to the table and talk," Rio says, urging the girl to get up. But Alice backs down.

"Please don't call the police! Please, anything but that!" She begs, and tears start to flow again.

"Nobody said to call the police, calm down!" Agatha says harshly. Rio rolls her eyes, her wife sometimes only made things worse.

"I promise that if you get up and talk to us, no one will call the police," Rio says, holding out his hands for the girl to get up, who accepts shyly.

"Finally..." Agatha says, sitting down and leaning on the table.

"Agatha, calm down..." says Rio, glaring at her wife.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry" Agatha says making a peace sign.

Alice felt a little safer to sit down in the chair where Rio was pointing, but she was still scared that she had been caught. She didn't trust these women.

Rio sits down next to her wife, and they both face Alice.

"Okay, let's start at the beginning... what do you want here?" Rio is direct in her question and Agatha laughs, where is her wife's calm?

"I told you... I was just hungry and your house was the only one I could get into, I'm really sorry," Alice replied with a trembling voice.

It would be a lie to say that the two witches weren't touched by the girl's tone of voice, they were increasingly holding back so as not to give in to the girl's cuteness and innocence in front of them. But that would be trusting too soon.

"And why did you have to come into our house to eat, that's what we don't understand" Agatha slams her hand on the table, a little harder than she meant to, as Alice slumps back in her chair.

"It was my last option, I had nowhere else to go and I was hungry," Alice says, analyzing the reaction of the two women. They were scary, but something made her feel that they weren't evil.

"Where do you live?" Rio asks, and from Alice's expression she sees that she's asked the right question.

"It's a long story..." says the youngest, fiddling with her hands anxiously.

"We've got plenty of time, don't worry," Agatha replies.

"I don't have a house.... Not anymore," Alice says with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Rio asks, and Alice lowers her head.

"I had to run away, so I don't have anywhere else to go, that's it..." she gives up and gives away a bit of the situation. The two women look at each other worriedly. Why would a young girl like that run away from home?

"How old are you?" Agatha asks, clearly calmer and more touched by the situation.

"17..." Alice slowly raised her head so that she could look at the women again, "that's why I'm asking you not to call the police, I'm begging you," her eyes were pure despair and fear.

"Relax, we won't call the police," Agatha replied.

"Really?" Alice looks at the woman in surprise "Thank you! I promise I'll pay for the grapes and I'll clean up what I broke and..." Rio interrupts her.

"How long have you been away from home?" The woman was worried, even though the teenager in front of her was almost an adult, she seemed helpless and smaller than any other teenager.

"About two weeks, I think..." Alice replies and the two women stare in shock.

"And where were you staying?" Rio asks, and the younger woman shrugs.

"I had to cross two cities to get here, I stayed on the street anyway," she says with unexpected normality.

"That's dangerous!" Agatha says indignantly. Rio nods in agreement.

"I'm fine..." Alice says without much certainty, and she looks at herself. She clearly wasn't well. She had lost weight, was dirty, hungry and cold.

"You're hungry, I'll heat up some food for you," Rio says, getting up, and Alice gets up with her

"No need, I don't want to get in your way any more than I already have…”

"No, you're going to stay there and eat," Agatha replies, staring at the girl, leaving no room for complaints.

"Okay..." she replied in frustration, sitting down again. But she wasn't going to lie, she was starving.

The three of them stay in silence for a while, a very uncomfortable silence for Alice, until Rio brings the girl a plate of hot food.

"Here you go, enjoy," Rio says smiling, and sat down next to Agatha again.

"Thank you" The girl then picks up her fork and starts eating. That food was wonderful. She devours the food quickly.

The two women were happy to see the scene and to see the little girl enjoying her food. The poor thing must have not eaten for days.

"Do you want more?" Rio asks and Alice says no with a shy smile.

"I'm full, thanks," she replies as she takes a sip of water, then makes a thoughtful face.

"A penny for your thoughts," Agatha says with a sarcastic but not malicious laugh.

"I don't know your names yet..." Alice says, staring at the two.

"I'm Agatha, and this is my beautiful wife Rio," Agatha says smiling at her wife.

"You have very beautiful names" the girl says sincerely.

"Thank you, dear," Rio replied, "your name is very pretty too."

It was true, they both loved the name Alice, it was part of their story, even if they didn't understand why.

"Thank you for everything, for the food, it was very good, but I think I'd better go now" Alice says with a sad smile, heading for her backpack.

Agatha and Rio looked at each other, not knowing what exactly to do. They weren't going to call the police, but they didn't have any duty to the girl either, right? It wasn't their responsibility... of course it wasn't.

"Alice mom, I told you, her name will be Alice!" Nicky corrects Agatha for the hundredth time

"Do you promise you'll take care of Alice mom?" Nicky asks Rio

Memories come back to them... there was no connection! It was just a silly story their son told.

"No, stay!" Agatha replies impulsively, even she is startled by her own invitation. Alice looks at her in confusion.

"You don't have to..." the younger girl starts to reply.

"Spend the night here and then we'll talk more, okay?" Rio insists. They couldn't leave the girl alone on the street.

"I don't know if I should..." Alice replied uncertainly, she didn't want to abuse the women.

"Just one night and then you can go," Agatha said, and Rio agreed with her. The older women looked pleadingly at Alice, who gave in.

"Okay, I can stay for the night"

#agatha x rio #agathario #Mommy!Agatha #Mommy!Rio #agathario x reader #agatha harkness #rio vidal #sfw agere #little!reader

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ch3rriiii-bunn · 2 years ago

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All mine♡

Kokushibo my beloved♡

Warnings: female bodied reader, drunk sex (consent is given before), humor (i think its funny), dom kokushibo, standing up sex (whatever u wanna call it lmao), reader is kokushibos wife🫶🏾 and human, dirty talk from kokushibo, man handling(?)

Kokushibo disappearing most nights was something he had informed you about from time, since he was in the twelve kizuki and working for a man he couldn't say. Just as you were done washing up and heading to your shared bedroom and saw him sitting on the porch looking at the sky. "You're not being summoned by that man tonight?" You walked closer to kokushibo sitting beside him. "No... "He" does not require my presence tonight, and I already did my other tasks. I assumed you were sleeping already, " he said bluntly.

"Is that so?" You smiled, resting your head on his shoulder "well I was planning on having a drink by myself tonight, but since you're here, why dont you come inside and join me?" You asked, resting your hand on his thigh.

Kokushibo looked at you with a slight blush on his cheeks and wrapped his arm around you're waist "I am a demon.... I won't be nearly as drunk if I have the same amount as you do, " he said. "So you have a whole bottle to yourself then. I'll have my amout, and you have yours, " you chuckled.

Kokushibo was never the one to make fun suggestions when he's with you since his type of "fun" was fighting death battles. So he would agree to whatever ideas you had since he found enjoyment in what you had planned and how much effort you put into your plans with him. Despite him being a literally demon and straightforward, he loves you so much he could never Refus you without good reason.

Once inside, you brought two bottles of sake out holding them in each hand and sat in front of kokushibo. He gave you a questionable look, and you giggled, "Don't worry, I didn't buy this alone. I was with a friend today after work. Come to think of it, I've never seen you drunk. Are you a Cryer?" You teased

"Demons usually get aroused when we drink.. it's been hundreds of years since I've drake sake...so I don't believe it's strong enough to get me to that point, " he said and took the sake bottle, analyzing it in his hand. "Well, if you do, then we can have sex." You giggled "joking" around but looked at kokushibo with puppy eyes. Kokushibo looked at your face and then eyes trailing down your body. "I accept," kokushibo said, making you chuckle at his response.

After 10 minutes, kokushibo had drank the entire bottle and some of yours and sat there in silence, not moving a muscle. "Kokushibo?" Your voice slurred out his name and crawled to him "hey you there? Helloooo, " you said and poked him."y/n.... sake really has changed over the years...." He said, moving his hand to your cheek and then to your ear, playing with it between his fingers.

"Stop it, that tickles!" You laughed, crawling onto his lap to straddle him,"you're ear... it's so cute I could eat it, " he said with all his eyes resting. You looked at him, shocked and a bit scared. "Oh okay, um. Let's not say that since you are a man eating demon, " you chuckled nervously. All of Kokushibo's eyes widened, and he gasped softly but also a bit dramatically. "Oh noo.... no, no. You are a human whom I'd never eat... never eat, " he said, still playing with your ear, but this time sticking his finger inside your ear.

"Don't do that either!" You slap his hand away but held it intertwining your fingers with his laughing hard."My god, you're so out of it, aren't you!?" You said and kissed his hand and looked at kokushibo. After looking at each other in silence, kokushibo couldn't help the smile curling from his lips and started to chuckle, eventually turning into low keep laughs.

This is the first time you're seeing your husband laugh, let alone smile. You couldn't help but laugh along with him, loving the feeling of him being relaxed and comfortable with you. Kokushibo hugged you tightly, and you did the same while rubbing his back. "I love you," kokushibo said. "I'm.... happy I found a human like you." He said not only drunk but actually coming from his heart, and you give him a kiss."I love you too, silly. That's why we are married, " you giggled

"I am not silly." kokushibo slurs his words and kisses you back but more passionately and slowly moves both hands to your ass. You placed both hands on his face, kissing back with tounge, letting out small "mhms." Kokushibo pulled back, breathing heavy. "It looks like I was wrong.... I did get aroused" he said taking your hand and places it over his cock "but I can't help but lust for you" he said "then take me" you said teasing his tip with your thumb

"Y/n, I told you to stay still. You'll fall if you don't" kokushibo said while flicking his tounge your clit while holding your waist keeping you still. "Kokushibo- It's too much! I'm getting close, " you moaned, grabbing onto his hair to push your pussy more onto his mouth. Kokushibo sucks on your clit and thrusts his fingers inside your wet pussy and made sure to curly them in the right places, making you cum on his fingers seconds later.

You rest your body against the wall and look at kokushibo out of breath "kokushibo I can't stand anymore," you said with shaking legs. Kokushibo licks his fingers clean and then starts to kiss up your body. "I was not planning to make you stand any longer," be said, grabbing both your legs and picking you up. You gasped in the moment, underestimating how strong your demon husband is. Kokushibo used one of his hands to hold your whole body and the other hand on his cock rubbing his tip on your hole "hold on to me" he whispers "I can't hold back. I want to fuck you until you're screaming" he said and puts its in making you let out a squeal.

Kokushibo groaned, grabbing your ass tightly with both hands. "I have not been taking care of my gorgeous wife, haven't I? You're so tight" he said thrusting his cock slowly yet deep inside you at frist "I apologize. I'll make you feel so good, trust me. " kokushibo moans low in your ear and starts fucking you missionary style while making your whole body bounce on his cock.

You held onto kokushibo tightly, letting out loud moans and screams of pleasure in between with glossy eyes from how deep he is inside you, hitting your spot more aggressively. "I love your beautiful voice, ngh- haa~ and that fucked out face you make for me" kokushibo moans thrusting his hips faster "you're so close I can feel your pussy sucking me in, needing to cum all over my cock.... mhm, am i wrong?".

You nod you're head yes in reply "kokushibo, kokushibo please I need to cum. Don't stop, " you begged and kissed him, moaning in his mouth.

You could tell he was close too from his soft whimpers in the kiss and eyes squeezing shut. You felt his thick cock pound your pussy harder until kokushibo let out a long hum in the kiss filling you up with his cum while you having an orgasm around the same time.

The next day came around with the hours passing by, and kokushibo had to be summoned by "that man" again. Kokushibo pet your head and then cups your cheek. "I'll be back soon," he said, and you nodded with a smile.

Kokushibo rubbed his thumb on your cheekbone and leaned down to your ear. "You seem different somehow. Can you still feel me inside you, darling?" He asked with his other hand on your hip, making you hide your face in his palm and nod yes to answer his question.

Kokushibo grinned and kissed your forehead. "I see" He said and disappeared into the night

#demon slayer smut #kny smut #upper moon 1 #kokushibo #kokushibo smut #kokushibo x reader #x reader

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kamiversee · 8 months ago

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The F*ck List (semi-official) Breakdown.

The following was submitted by my lovely ☃️anon, & I needed to make this it’s own post given how long it is, my replies & clarifications are written in between this breakdown & theory (Ex: A/N > Etc.).

Here, you’ll find majority of details you may have missed & maybe even more to think about. Enjoy :)

(wc; 5.7k) (content; spoilers ofc)

holy shit Kami. i literally had to take the entire day to process everything. before anything else, i need you to know that you've created an absolute masterpiece. TFL was the first fic i ever cared to keep up with and it has set the bar impossibly high for any other writer out there. please take your time with TFL 2, i'm so excited to read your other work!! also a break sounds like it would be so good for your mind considering how long you've dedicated yourself to this story 😭😭😭 you're seriously impressive. heads up, i didn't proofread this at all bc i finished typing this at 4 am LMFAO so forgive me if it's all scrambled and makes no sense.

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A/N > Thank you for taking the time to write this breakdown, I seriously appreciate it so I wanted to take my time in responding to it & engaging with you :)

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now, on to the yap. i deadass cracked my knuckles before typing all this out.

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A/N > You’re so real for tht ngl

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i reread the entirety of TFL from chapter 1 and my brain is so melted from analyzing that i'll prob find more details tomorrow after i sleep on some theories 😭 BUT HOLY FUCK YOU REALLY WEREN'T KIDDING WHEN YOU SAID YOU WERE HINTING AT GOJO'S OBSESSION SINCE LITERALLY THE FIRST CHAPTER??? the fucking hint being that "Gojo's desire for you is so strong it's almost frightening." GIRLLLLLL 🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵

your foreshadowing and referencing is insane. idk if you intended a lot of it, but a lot of it caught my eye.

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A/N> I TOLD YOU GUYS IVE BEEN DOIN IT SINCE THE FIRST CHAPTER !! Okay not exactly but like there was a vibe I had from the first chapter & when I later came up with the twist & went back and saw that everything would connect perfectly ^.^

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chapter 7; the reader and Gojo have lighthearted banter about how the reader "started this" situation.

"I made a mistake." [reader]

"A good one."

"Bad one." You correct.

this was regarding a completely different situation but it baffled me how much it connects to the plot itself; the reader making the "mistake" of leaving her door open, and how it lead to months full of trauma and love. probably completely unintentional, but such a good detail.

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A/N > Very intentional btw, it’s supposed to be known that, in a sense, Gojo x reader is forbidden :)

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Choso's still staring at you intently, "What version of you would someone not like?"

The way he words his question only furthers that little feeling in your chest. It's almost as though he were implying that any and all versions of you would be acceptable in his eyes. - Chapter 16

THE WAY WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT CHOSO WOULD STICK BY US REGARDLESSSSSSSS AAAAAA WE'RE SO BLIND!!! i just hope this stays true to the sequel :')

"No, I wish you didn't have to hate me." He says, shutting his eyes again and sucking in a deep breath, "B-But... it's uh, It's okay. I can live with you hating me." - Chapter 21

AAAA WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!! WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS WAS FORESHADOWING OUR FUTURE WITHOUT GOJO 😭😭😭 how he can live with the idea of the reader hating him so long as she's happy with Choso, especially considering his later revelations of how twisted his actions were and how if you stuck with him, he'd view you differently. fuck.

You despise the fact that he loves you. To you, it's almost entitled for him to feel like he has that right. How dare he hold such a strong emotion for you? If he felt this way, why is he forcing you to sleep with people for him? It makes no sense.

Why would someone claim to love you and put you through so much?

If he's been in love with you all this time, why start the list in the first place? Why couldn't he have just tried to win your heart from the beginning? Why the list? Why the blackmail? You don't understand him. - Chapter 23

i'm crushed. we didn't understand because we didn't know that Sukuna was involved. that could mean a million other things. i have some far-fetched theories about this but hear me out later!!!

the entirety of chapter 23 had me fucking floored while i was rereading. THE FORESHADOWING WAS EVERYWHERE!!! EVERY FUCKING WHERE

"No sweetheart, Sukuna's an asshole but..." His expression flickers and his smile fades away. He swallows and then clears his throat, "I'm pretty sure he'll satisfy you just fine."

...

You narrow your eyes at him, "Are you sure?"

...

"Fuckin' positive," Gojo suddenly sounds pissed and you grow concerned. The arm around you gets a little tighter while he walks you through some crowds and you keep looking at the man confused.

There's a vein popping out along his jawline because of how hard he's gritting his teeth.

of course he's aggravated because he knows that Sukuna is the one behind the list in the first place 😭😭😭 I'M SORRY WE DOUBTED YOU SATORU, FUCKKKK

——FIFTEEN MINUTES. That was the exact amount of time it took you to seduce Sukuna. The act was way too easy. Actually, it was suspiciously easy.

BECAUSE HE FUCKING KNEW 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"What all did you plan on doing tonight aside from getting harassed by strangers?" Sukuna suddenly questions against your skin.

You ignore how close he is and the way his lips make you tense, turning your head to face forward. Chuckling at his last comment, "Same thing as everyone else here." You reply, slightly confused by his question.

"Bullshit," He utters, "Nobody dresses like this without the intent of gaining my attention," Sukuna claims while his hands slide back down along your body.

this 100% could be just him being cocky and Sukuna, but the recent reveal just makes this feel like an extra demeaning interaction. but of course, it's Sukuna.

chapter 24 is so fucking shady too with everything we know. i know you addressed some of these points already bc i brought them up in previous anon messages, but these things still had me paranoid;

the way Sukuna leaves us and tells the reader to go to his room after a certain amount of time (i know he could have just been tidying up real quick but everything about this man has me on edge)

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A/N> A lot of people are on edge about this but I’ll be honest, there’s nothing crazy that happens in between this time period. Not saying nothing happens but nothing crazy— it’ll be addressed later (in the next fic most likely)

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the way he's been consistently on the phone since the reader entered the room, which is shortly after she messaged Gojo saying that she'll be able to cross Sukuna off of this list by tonight which he wasn't happy with at all.

no seriously, he kept diverting his attention to something in the bathroom and then came out, still on his phone. maybe he's talking to literally anyone else but STILL I'M PARANOID

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A/N> This is to show the fact that Sukuna is a very socially active individual, & hints to the theory (I think you later state) that he has connections.

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this happens in chapter 25 but the way he keeps smiling while the reader kisses him is just so smug of him especially considering the original reason as to why the reader's even interacting with him

then the spicy chapters with Sukuna…

the foreshadowing that the lack of knowledge of Sukuna's reputation will come back to bite her in the ass; first with the knowledge that he is abusive, and then her finding out that he is the curator of the list, knowing the full details of her blackmail and even threatening her again.

WHO DID HE FUCKING FIGHT HELPPPPP MY MIND IS BOGGLING there's no way it's Gojo, right? they're both too unscathed in these next few chapters for there to have been a fight between the two of them.

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A/N > It’s not Gojo. 🙏

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THE FUCKING MOMENT WHERE HE CONTEMPLATED SOMETHING WITH THE PHONE IN HIS HAND??? I FUCKING KNEW IT. I FUCKING CALLED IT WAS SOMETHING SHADY AS HELL.

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A/N> The other Sukuna hint I was talking about is right before this moment btw, you’re welcome ;)

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then he has the audacity to hold his tongue right afterwards?? it's such a big hint towards the fact that he knew about the list from the beginning UGHHHHHHHH.

the way he tried to humor the reader about her "job" even though he was in on the whole thing. UGH. SUKUNA WHEN I GET YOU SUKUNA?? 👊👊👊👊 especially with that "whore" joke right afterwards. i can't stand him. i know that it's implied that he has a twisted view on women from having abusive women in his life (his mom and his ex who he punched) BUT STILL. he's so lucky he's fictional and hot.

the fact that we're able to pick up on the fact that it's a "crazy coincidence" that he continues the whore jokes UGHHHHH HE HAS BEEN PLAYING US FROM THE STAAAAAARTT

Gojo got upset at something from Sukuna's party, he didn't want you to call yourself a whore all of a sudden, Sukuna seems to have believed that was your actual job, and you remember how pissed Gojo seemed as he thought about you sleeping with Sukuna-

Holy fuck. Are the two connected somehow? Is something going on? What does Gojo owe Sukuna? Does Sukuna know you only slept with him as payment to clear Gojo's debt? Is-

GIRL YOU WERE ALMOST THERE!!!! YOU ALMOST HAD IT!!!

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A/N > I love teasing in my narration by nearly spoiling things 😹

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seriously though, these chapters killed me. the official end obliterated my heart. it's so fucking bittersweet i want to scream at the top of a high building. the reader ends up happy and with someone she loves, which is fantastic for her. she deserves that after everything she went through. Choso treats her so, so well.

but Gojo. with the theories i have, i feel horrible. i was so harsh towards him as a die hard Choso girly but these endings changed me. i just hope i'm right.

the fact that his healing journey is harsher than ours makes this ending sting so much. he's healed, and you can see it with his demeanor from the call and the way he interacted with the reader.

we were always made aware of the way he looked at us such deep attachment. the initial gleam shows that he's happy to see us, but that he's not reliant on us for his happiness anymore. he's finding that on his own, and it's a grueling process for him. i wished the reader gave him a hug, but that would probably make me feel even worse.

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A/N> He gave her a lil side hug (with his arm over her shoulder) & was resting his head on hers at the end if that makes you feel any better 😅

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"Through my blackmailing, I fell for you but I also did it because I loved you from the start." i'm gonna throw up bro i'm so sad. i'm proud of his growth. his obsession was so, so strong but he always prioritized the reader's happiness over himself. i know that being self-sacrificial is so core to his personality but it doesn't make it suck any less. i'm devastated. i started blasting mitski in the car on my way to work after reading this.

i thought i was ready for the journal burning. i was so ready for this tie to be severed, for them to finally move on. but i failed to realize that it could ultimately mean a life without each other. it makes sense as to why, but it still sucks.

kami i need that poly ending before i cry my eyes out at 4 am rn. you know i can't handle angst, but bittersweet endings lowkey hurt me even more. i need all my babies to be happy. i desperately need it.

but that alt ending... fuck. in a horrible, sick, and twisted way, i'm relieved. i'm a Choso girly from the bottom of my heart but i can't let this Gojo go omfg. even if he shows up for one more chapter, i think i'll be alright. BUT IT BETTER NOT BE FOR DEATH KAMI!!!! I HAVE A FEW EXCERPTS THAT SUGGEST DEATH FLAGS BUT I AM SIMPLY NOT LOOKING AT THEM. DON'T DO THIS TO ME KAMIIIIIII. i need this boy to be frolicking in a field of flowers or something. my heart can't take this.

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A/N> I know I reference death a lot but that’s just to add a sense of how dramatic the characters are 🫶

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okay, time for my mind-fucky theory. pls bare with me. if it wasn't obvious by my last post, i'm 100% on board with the theory that Sukuna's blackmailing Gojo, which started this whole thing. but the thing that is getting me is how this all connects. i have some assumptions that could make sense, but there are a handful of gaps. here's my thought process;

Sukuna's blackmailing Gojo by using his obsession/love against him.

we are already familiar with the fact that Gojo has liked the reader for years. there was a chapter where Gojo mentioned that it started off as a "crush" but he was so oblivious to his own obsession up until the reader mentioned it to him. it's to the point that he didn't understand what was wrong with the idea of hurting people for the reader. who's to say that Sukuna didn't catch him in some sort of heinous act regarding the reader like stalking?

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A/N > You’re cooking with this one and I almost, almost had to go get the fire extinguisher :D

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Gojo didn't understand the difference between love and obsession until later on in the story. this would be consistent with the implication that Gojo just loved her so deeply that his morals were askew as we have yet to find out how far his love goes.

what if Sukuna caught him in the act of doing god knows what, and brought up the fact that if the reader found out about this, that she'd get super freaked out and would do everything she can to get away from him (considering probably barely knew each other, if at all, at this point). but why would Sukuna devise such a plan over a money bribe? well, Sukuna's already revealed to be wealthy, and maybe he was bored. the same line that Gojo kept repeating to the reader whenever she questioned him as to why he did it. what if Gojo asked Sukuna why he's blackmailing him, and he said the exact same thing; "I was bored." we see how much Sukuna mirrors Gojo's speech by calling the reader "sweetheart" often, what if Gojo did the same thing?

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A/N > Gojo & Sukuna do have a few parallels in this story & they will be addressed more in the sequel.

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we wondered in chapter 23 how Gojo reaches out to these men to ensure their debt is "paid," but considering how oblivious everyone else on the list is to Gojo owing them anything, it would make sense that he only reports to Sukuna as he is ordered to do so. but two things stumped me on this theory overall.

the reader said that she used to party a lot and get involved with boys before Gojo. if he was stalking her for so long, why did he wait so long to approach her?

what specifically would be the blackmail that Sukuna has on Gojo?

regarding the first point, it's been mentioned that Gojo has been "scared of women" and was shy when it came to approaching the reader. he knew of her for so long, but was able to constantly slip under her radar. considering how much of a pervert he is, it wouldn't have been surprising for him to sneak around and watch in on the reader hooking up with other guys. after all, these guys were probably complete strangers to him and all he cared about was you. remember how Gojo was basically able to tune out his own best friend, Suguru, when the reader was hooking up with him in their living room? it wouldn't be wild to assume that he was able to do the same for your other hookups as he spied on you.

to connect this with second point, what if Sukuna caught Gojo being a peeping tom on the reader during a party hook-up? while being so distracted in the act of spying, Sukuna spots him. the reader wouldn't be alright with the fact that someone who's barely an acquaintance (if that, depending on the time this occurred) to her has been perving around and watching her have sex without her consent. she would do anything to get away from Gojo, and of course that would crush him. Gojo tried to buy Sukuna's silence by any means necessary. so, Sukuna generated a list of people that he and Gojo mutually knew for the reader to fuck. the reasoning for it would be the fact that Gojo has to sit through the process of having the girl he likes fuck a bunch of guys besides him, and the fact that Gojo knew all these men would make it sting more. plus, he has a reputation for hookups. (chapter 8)

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A/N > You’re like RIGHT there with it and yet not there at the same time omg 😟

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but why would Gojo agree to this deal with Sukuna, and why would he also go with the method of blackmailing the reader? it's basically a guarantee that the reader would be scared away regardless. but again, we could recall that Shoko mentioned that he was too "scared of women" to approach the reader at first. this was his chance to finally approach her. plus, "once that video is gone, there is no excuse he'll have to be around you." (chapter 8)

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but the more i thought of this reasoning for the two points, the more bizarre it felt. so what if instead of Gojo being a peeping tom, it was Sukuna. we get so many hints that Sukuna has eyes and intel everywhere. we get an indirect implication of this when he called us out for rolling our eyes during our phone call with him. yes, it could be completely by chance, but it's still a great hint that he "sees everything" and "knows everything." we get an even bigger hint towards this in the alt ending when he directly references The F*ck List.

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A/N > Others have taken note of how Sukuna knew she rolled her eyes but trust me, that’s just to show that Sukuna knows the reader’s body language more than he’s let on & paid attention to her a lot during the time they were together.

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it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume that he has some shady videos taken of people without his consent, some possibly acquired through other people (like how Gojo was revealed to have sent Sukuna the video of the reader from the first chapter). what if Gojo caught Sukuna with the video, threatened him to delete it, and Sukuna counterthreatened to have it be sent and posted everywhere. it would be highly ironic, but consistent with the way that Gojo and Sukuna practically mirror each other at times. the reasoning for the list choices would still be the same for this theory, too.

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my citations for these theories ☝️🤓

“You once asked me if I love you because I blackmailed you or if I blackmailed you because I love you and my answer is both,” Gojo confesses as he turns to meet your gaze, “Through my blackmailing, I fell for you but I also did it because I loved you from the start.” - Chapter 56

loved you from the start; his obsession has been consistent from the start (supports Gojo being a peeping tom theory) or he has always had a deep concern for you (supports him wanting to stop Sukuna from spreading blackmail of you instead).

“I’ve sacrificed everything for you, y’know.”

“How? What’s everything that you’ve sacrificed, hm?”

“You. I sacrificed the woman I love to make her happy.” Gojo admits, and of all he’s said thus far, that feels like the truest statement.

“I could’ve been happy with you.” You remind him.

He laughs, “Yeah well, I’m an idiot.”

You scoff, “That’s all you have to say?”

“Yup.” - Chapter 56

is he an idiot for being a peeping pervert instead of just approaching you normally? maybe. how does this make her happy? she ends up finding love through Choso, through the list, through the blackmail.

But deleting the video means ... he has no more leverage over you and can't force you to help him with the hole he's dug for himself. - Chapter 8

the hole being the blackmail set against him by Sukuna.

Gojo's behind you cursing at himself for being unable to tell you the truth.

He's so scared that you'll never help him without the blackmail and, well, he has every right to be because you're pretty sure that if it weren't for those videos he has over your head, you wouldn't be doing any of this. - Chapter 9

the videos he's referencing is the original video from chapter 1 and the fake video he lied about with Suguru, but he can't tell the reader the truth because it's too twisted and risky (supports Gojo peeping tom theory).

He silences himself in thought. There are so many ways he could go about answering such a question but the possibilities of how you may react are endless. Plus, you're drunk and if he's going to admit or explain anything to you, it'll be while you're sober.

"Because..." Gojo's voice gets so quiet that you almost don't catch what he says, "...I don't have any other choice." - Chapter 21

if he didn't go through with his list, Sukuna would have went through with Gojo's blackmail, thus resulting in either you getting as far away from Gojo as soon as possible or Sukuna's video being sent around.

He let something slip abruptly, "W-Wish I c-could tell you everything, sweets..."

Your brows furrow at that.

Are you missing something here? - Chapter 22

YES GIRL!!!! SUKUNA'S BEHIND THE WHOLE LIST, HE'S BEHIND THE BLACKMAIL GIRLYPOP

"Anything," Gojo says, meeting your gaze. He's so serious that it's almost dark the way he looks at you, "I'd do anything for you." - Chapter 29

"I meant it when I said I'd do anything for you."

You follow his motions and then end up right back in his arms, "Right..."

"I'd sacrifice the very thing I love just to see you happy." Gojo claims proudly.

You scoff, "Thought' I was the thing you loved?"

"You are."

His words bewilder you, "Then that makes no sense."

"It won't." Gojo shrugs. - Chapter 29

🧍‍♀️

anything. even if it means putting your body, heart, mind, and career on the line. directly supports the theory that Sukuna initially had blackmail on the reader.

"We're the same, y'know..." He suddenly says, his voice breaking again, "We both want someone so terribly bad but our situations prohibit us from getting that person."

"You could've prevented all this though..."

Gojo sniffles and you feel a drop of wetness slide down his cheek and slip against your palm. The man was crying? Why? - Chapter 30

this whole time we've been told that Gojo and the reader share more similarities than the reader realizes. what Gojo is to the reader, the reader is to Choso. while Choso now knows of the men that the reader slept with, he doesn't know why. he doesn't know about you being blackmailed. you know that you had to sleep with these men. you don't know why. you didn't know it was because of Gojo being blackmailed.

"For loving me, Satoru. It's not a crime," You say, mocking a comment he made to you earlier, "You're allowed to love me. So, for that, and that only, I forgive you."

Those words healed so many more wounds in his heart than you realized. It was like that was all he ever needed to hear. If Gojo's mistake was loving you and that's what caused this, then you forgive him.

If in some twisted way, his feelings started the list, you forgive him.

COME ON NOW.

There’s so much going unspoken but the two of you knew what either was saying, you understood each other more than either of you realized. - Chapter 35

“Well,” Gojo sighs heavily and then draws your hands off his face, leaning down to you a bit, “Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made in exchange for one’s happiness.”

“Are you telling me that all this was for the greater good?” You quiz as you raise a curious brow.

“Something like that, yeah,” He shrugs. - Chapter 45

You tell him, “If I had one wish, it’d be that you did that from the beginning.”

Gojo opens his mouth to say something but then he swallows his words down. He nearly fucked up.

“All you had to do was talk to me,” Your shoulders raise into a shrug as you move a hand to the doorknob, “Things could’ve been different if you did.”

“Even if I’ve been obsessed with you since the beginning?” He questions and he’s stepping closer to you again. He can’t possibly wrap his head around that possibility-

You laugh a bit, “Especially if you were obsessed from the beginning,” You didn’t know it but that statement right there made the man feel as though his world was falling apart, loads of regret tumbling over him as he stares at you with wide eyes, “Satoru I think you forgot but, before all this started, aside from Shoko… I was lonely.”

Gojo’s throat goes dry and he fails to form a response to that, “I…”

“If you had just talked to me one time, and more than a hey or how are you,” The way your eyes soften, a slim sheer gloss of tears coating your gaze as you speak to him, “I would’ve fallen for you.”

He grits his teeth, “Don’t tell me that.”

“But it’s true.” You say.

And just like that, Gojo was crumbling all over again. If only you knew how much he regretted everything after hearing you say that. - Chapter 46

if he had just spoke to the reader before all of this, maybe she wouldn't have gone to those parties, hooked up with those people, and caused whatever kind of blackmail Sukuna had on Gojo (or on her).

He wishes he could take it all back, his feelings for you included. If only he could go back and stop himself from ever being curious about you. That’s what started it after all. Because, at the end of the day, Gojo knew who you were before you knew who he was— hell, even before Shoko knew who you were. - Chapter 53

then what is the timeline of his obsession starting? has it been before Gojo? could his blackmail have taken place even before Shoko introduced you two, adding to the weight of the threat that Sukuna held over Gojo's head (regarding the peeping tom theory).

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A/N > The timeline on Gojo’s interest, not obsession just yet, on the reader will be addressed in the sequel so this’ll be answered there <3

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but there were certain parts that stumped me and my theories so i have some weird reasonings around them;

It's selfish of him and seriously fucked up but, he's said it before and he'll say it over and over again-- you're all he has. He made promises to everyone on that list, promises of delivering a woman to them at some point, and of course, he couldn't convince anyone he knew to do such a thing.

So again, the situation with you just happened to be a coincidence.

The problem is that Gojo hates that it's you. He hates that you're the one he ended up doing this to. - Chapter 8

Gojo's known to be a silly guy so it could make sense that he actually did promise these guys hookups for reasons unrelated to his blackmail. after all, he does have a reputation for getting people hookups. the coincidence is that Sukuna now has dirt on Gojo and wants to toy with him. by making the reader sleep with them the guys he coincidentally owes hookups to, he fulfills his role/reputation and relieves his debt at the same time. two birds, one stone.

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A/N > As we later learn that some of the “debt” Satoru claimed to have isn’t real, we can also infer that his reputation & the promises he’s made to these men were done out of coincidence. Take Toji for example; tell me you can’t see an interaction between him & Gojo where Gojo gets a bad grade and wants to get it up so he taunts his professor with the idea of getting him a hookup & Toji would laugh it off considering Gojo’s reputation ;)

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another thing that stumped me is why Gojo got so worked up with the reader referring herself as a whore, and the connection to Sukuna. my delulu reasoning is that once Sukuna threatened Gojo with blackmail by either of the two theories/methods i mentioned, Sukuna casually referred to the reader as a whore. that caused a major fight between the two, possibly even getting physical (which can refer back to the implication that Gojo has hurt people for the reader).

the fight could have increased the tension and severity of the situation, so Sukuna decides to add Choso to the list knowing how easily attached Choso gets. in chapter 5, the reader and Gojo were discussing the list and Choso specifically. Gojo was even noted to be relieved when the reader had mentioned that they'll just have to hope that Choso doesn't get attached, as he obviously holds deep feelings for the reader. Sukuna knows that by going through with the blackmail with Choso involved, Gojo most likely will not end up with the reader if Choso get attached and the reader reciprocates those feelings.

also, the counterargument that Sukuna and Gojo are actually friends/allies in this situation just doesn't sit well with me. it would make for a crazy twist but it just feels too out of character for Gojo. but then again, how would Sukuna specifically know about The F*ck List? but idk, it just feels so wrong to me. maybe i have too much faith in Gojo lmfao. after all, he has consistently shown a great dislike towards the guy since chapter 23. but maybe it's my denial speaking. i really don't want to think of Satoru going through this whole arc only for it to reveal that he truly is a piece of shit. pls don't do this to my pookie my heart cannot handle it </3

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A/N > Remember, Gojo is a good actor & you go a long period of time in the book not realizing he’s not as much of a villain as he pretends to be 😉

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there's that moment after the reader fucked Sukuna that still messes with my brain. with my theories, my brain's thinking that he contemplated on collecting even more blackmail on the reader. for what reason? idk, to be an ass? to torment Gojo further and add more to his blackmail? but maybe he decided not to because he already has plenty of blackmail on the reader (if the theory of Sukuna having a video of her from way back then is true) and fucking her knowingly made Gojo pissed considering all the dirt Sukuna has.

so why can't Gojo tell her the truth now? why does he want to wait years in advance? maybe he's hoping that by that time, not only will you forget and not care about the situation overall, but maybe Sukuna will forget all about it as well. the chances of Sukuna holding on to the reader's blackmail for that long is slim and the reader would most likely be in a situation where she is completely separated from Sukuna depending on her job and living situation with Choso. the stakes are lower than if he were to reveal everything to you now, at a moment where your life is still so uncertain. it would go against his wish for you to end up happy.

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A/N > Maybe Gojo doesn’t tell her the truth because he can’t, just as he said 🌚 Perhaps he’s not allowed to yet. After all, why would Sukuna even tell the reader he made the list in the end? ^.^ Just some food for thought!

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regarding the future of TFL... fuck, bro. i have no fucking idea. i'm too caught up in the (presumed) past. i'm mourning fr. i love this fic sooooo fucking much. whenever you decide to pick up on the sequel, i will be there. if you choose to publish anything else in the meantime, i will be there. thanks for such a fun and memorable read, Kami. i'm excited to bookbind this soon 🤍🤍🤍 now, i need to watch blue lock to shove these feelings down.

yap fin (for now)

-☃️

A/N > I love you sosoosooooo much for this. These theories are like reading an entirely new fanfic sometimes except, I know all the answers & what’s going to happen next, which only makes me more excited ^.^ Thank you for taking the time to make this, thank you for reading, thank you for supporting, just, THANK YOU.

This right here is exactly what I write for; people like you :)

To the others reading this breakdown & theory, thank ☃️anon because she’s a damn godsend & ilhsm ^.^ (definitely showing favoritism rn, sorry not sorry, ily all I swear)

Edit; Since you’re watching Blue Lock, I can’t wait to bring my Shidou fanfic here because a lot of the drama in TFL has inspo from that fic, which I wrote first ^.^ & I could totally see you enjoying it because not only is it a childhood friends to lovers than enemies & back to lovers troupe BUT it also includes Itoshi Sae x reader which ofc, adds hella drama :))

P.S. It’s two am as I finally post this and omg sorry it took me a while, I wanted to answer other anons first before unpacking this badboy, again, tysm!!

#the f*ck list #tfl!theories #tfl spoiler #tfl #k!ans: ☃️

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glisten-inthedark · 5 days ago

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Mike and Will x Mike and El on Giving and Taking

Ok, so I want to preface this by saying anthropology is not my wheelhouse. I understand enough about the subject because my dad has a P.hD on Anthropology and has been teaching me it since I was old enough to understand it, but I'm by no means well versed enough on the subject.

Second point, this is not meant to be read as conclusive evidence on anything, it is merely an interpretation of what has been provided by the show and therefore something I decided to take the liberty of analyzing from the lens of something I'm familiar with but that again, is not what I graduated and specialized on.

If you're not interested in reading it, I'd suggest you skip because it might get a little bit deep and some words will be used that I will explain so they make sense.

This is not a necessary read per se, is more like an interesting one.

Firstly, I want to start by introducing Marcel Mauss – one of the most important names in Anthropology and the person that inspired some of Levi Strauss' most important work.

Marcel Mauss developed what we call the theory of reciprocity or the theory of giving.

Said theory was based on the observational studies he did on native cultures where he noticed how indigenous tribes would often exchange things of no value with one another - for example bones or stones -. And he started a process of trying to comprehend why they were behaving in such a way, especially because what was being given had no actual value as we understand as a society.

After studying multiple indigenous tribes, he realized the true value lied within the act of giving and he postulated that the reason they would do so was because these cultures believed that by giving someone something - whether it wa s bone, or a stone or an artifact - it was implied that a part of their souls was being given as well.

The inherent value was in the act of giving, but that value couldn't exist on itself. Mauss also established that what has been giving, must be returned - reciprocity. Many cultures believe if they get something, another thing must be given in return as a way of saying a part of their own soul was given as well.

He believed that gifts are asynchronous - meaning there's a time period between given them and receiving something in return - and in kind - meaning that they aren't measured in monetary terms.

So the gifts you get and you give back during holiday season? That's the reason why. The more you know.

But why I am talking about this, you may ask?

For this reason.

This is the monologue Mike shares with Will:

"It was the first day of kindergarten.

I knew nobody, I had no friends – and I just felt so alone and so scared. But I saw you on the swings and you were alone too.

And I just walked up to you and I asked –. I asked it if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes.

You said yes.

It was the best thing I ever done".

Now, when we talk about this scene is important to note a few things. Mauss' theory wasn't limited to objects, but rather to bonds.

So Mike asked Will to be his friend (he offered him something, a literal chance to form a bond), and Will had the chance of saying no - to deny this attempt of forming that bond and therefore to deny a part of Mike's soul - and yet he said yes (he accepted the offer and in turn gave him something back, his friendship). From that moment on, something sacred was forged.

When Mike tells Will that, he is also offering again a part of himself. A knowledge he has kept hiden up until that point, an information he presents as new and doesn't expect anyone return, but gets a hand being tapped against wood.

When Will presents Mike with the painting, he claims it belongs to El.

So here, we are working with a physical representation- with an actual gift -, that was always meant to be Will's but that he'd later assign to El.

But the thing about Mauss' theory applied to this scenario. Firstly, El isn't there, she's not the one giving that proclamation nor was the one who actually feels those things.

The painting isn't her, the words aren't hers, she didn't commission.

So yet again, is not a part of El's soul Mike possesses, but rather a part of Will's. He tried to assign it to El, but that's not how it works. There's a transactional aspect to this, the symbol of giving can only represent is true meaning if it comes from the person who is actually giving them.

So had she commissioned, had she actually said those words, had she given the painting herself, that's a part of her Mike will always get to keep – something sacred and that is just her. But those weren't her words, nor was the painting hers as well.

If Mike truly believes they came from her - especially after what Will says when El was choking -, what he has holds no meaning if he assumes it comes from Eleven. Because what he assumes doesn't matter, what is the truth does.

But more importantly than that, Mike has absolutely nothing of El's. There's a clear distinction between the walls covered with Will's art, the binder full of his drawings, and Mike having absolutely nothing of hers.

We can't know for sure why, but Mike seems to make no effort into keeping parts of El soul with him, seems to make no effort in exchanging with her - his words of love and everything else.

Why is Will's art - parts his soul - the things that he keeps and why can't he seem to be able to do the same with El when he supposedly loves her so much?

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #byler analysis #byler endgame

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soupthatistohot · 1 year ago

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BSD 110: An Absurdist Analysis

The fate of Aya Kōda

Since my post analyzing BSD 109 in accordance with Asagiri's absurdist storytelling got so much love, I've decided to continue analyzing the chapters thru an absurdist lens when I deem it relevant, and making predictions accordingly. I think that not only is it an effective way of reading BSD, it gives us readers a bit more hope that things will turn out okay when the plot is... like it is right now (lol).

I recommend checking out my BSD 109 post if you haven't already this since I explain the philosophy of the absurd in depth there :)

BSD 110 spoilers below!! Obviously! Also TW for discussion of suicide.

So. I really don't think the ten year-old girl is going to die.

On top of Aya being "the last hope" (more on that later), suicide is one of those things that absurdists really frown upon.

Aya's plan as I understand it right now is to add her weight to the table in order to pull the sword from Bram's body, this is why she jumps. If this works, the sword will be dislodged and she, the sword and the table would fall to the ground, which is very far below -- she would likely die upon impact.

Absurdists really don't like suicide as a solution to hopeless situations, most absurdist storytellers have their characters commit suicide because they have "given up". It's submission, giving into the meaninglessness of our reality rather than rebelling against and embracing the absurd.

We see this with Oda in Dark Era, his suicide mission is framed as him giving up on life because the orphans were killed. Of course, it also served as catalyst for Dazai's character development, compelling him to escape a situation that would have likely ended up in his own eventual suicide. All this to say that even though Asagiri chose to make Oda go on a suicide mission, the overall narrative purpose still lent itself to absurdism through Dazai's decision to defect. It needed to happen for the story to move forward as it has (and as we know from BEAST, there literally cannot be a universe in which both Oda and Dazai are alive).

So, if Aya dies now, what message does this send? It's almost certain that the world will literally end if she does, meaning that everyone's efforts up until this point have all been for naught, which, as I explained in my BSD 109 post, is the opposite of the entire point of BSD as an absurdist text. Aya is really the "last hope" right now, with all our other main characters pretty much screwed or just not present.

"Nothing is impossible for a warrior of justice. We beat the bad guys and save the world, no matter what happens."

What Aya says right here is something I'd liken to the Dazai quote I brought up with my BSD 109 analysis: "The ones who actually make the world turn are those who scream within the storm of uncertainty and run with flowing blood." Both communicate the idea that there's never an acceptable point in time to give up (suicide), that there's always something more that you can do, even when things seem bleak. Those who "make the world turn" are one in the same with Aya's concept of "warriors of justice."

Aya may not succeed exactly the way we expect her to, but she absolutely is not dying like this. On top of the absurdist storytelling reasons, she's just a child. Of course, we know Asagiri isn't above killing kids, but Aya is a bit different than the other children we've met in BSD. Her character has been built up and developed, she has a fleshed-out backstory, and we've spent a lot of time with her. To kill off a little girl we've come to care about a lot would just be cruel, plus her death wouldn't really serve a narrative purpose right now.

So, what could happen?

One prediction is that Aya adding her weight to the table does dislodge the sword and she falls, but she is saved by another character. We know Kenji and Tecchou are out there right now, we haven't seen Yosano or Kyouka in ages, etc. etc.. Basically, there are definitely people out there that could come to her rescue.

But there's an option I like a lot better: Aya's ability manifests.

Aya Kōda was a 20th century Japanese novelist and essayist, and the namesake for the Aya we know in BSD. As far as we know, all the characters who are named after real-life authors possess an ability inspired by the life/work of said author. Aya doesn't have an ability yet, so logic follows that she will develop one by the end of the series.

I'm not sure where I read this, so take it with a grain of salt, but I believe that in BSD the character's abilities manifest because of trauma. Not only does Aya live in a somewhat emotionally abusive household, but she's literally been thrust into the middle of a conflict in which the world could literally end and has decided to jump off of a tall building to try to save the world -- I'd say that's pretty traumatizing!

I'm not familiar with the irl Aya Kōda's works enough to speculate about what her ability would actually do, but there's a decent chance that because of the current situation, her special ability will manifest in order to prevent her from dying and/or dislodge the sword from Bram. This would also fit absurdist storytelling very well, she's literally doing jumping off a building as a complete last ditch effort, it's a crazy plan that probably won't work -- but her other option is to just accept death, and that's not acceptable. If she were to manifest her ability in this moment, it would reinforce the idea that rebelling against the absurd has value, that even when things seem at their worst there's always something you can do.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts! Please feel free to add anything you find relevant, especially if you're familiar with Aya's irl counterpart! See you next month ;)

Here's the BSD 110 translation I pulled the panels from.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd 110 #bsd 110 spoilers #bsd manga #aya bsd #aya koda #bsd absurdism analysis #soup rants #but seriously tho how narratively amazing would it be if aya manifested her ability rn #like when everything seems hopeless she attempts smth absurd and is rewarded for it basically #RAGHGHGHH #asagiri i wanna kill u and kiss ur brain simultaneously

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chemblrish · 3 months ago

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Subatomic particles from a chemist's point of view - part II: the proton

[part I: the electron]

Proton

In my subjective opinion, the runner-up in this informal ranking of subatomic particles that are important in chemistry. Protons may not form chemical bonds like electrons do, but they still play an important role in many chemical reactions, especially in organic chemistry. But their most meaningful task that places them right below the electron on my list is this: they quite literally define the elements.

Atomic number

Let’s put our Mendeleev hats on and have a look at the periodic table. Here, I’ll upload it for you so you don’t have to google it:

It doesn’t take a genius to realize the elements are compiled in an orderly fashion rather than a random one. What is the property that generates this order? You could say mass – that the elements are arranged by their increasing mass – but that’s not quite true. Sure, most of the time it is true, but there’s a handful of oddballs that refuse to fit this scheme. Argon and potassium, for example: argon has a mass of 39,948 u (units) while potassium has a slightly lower mass of 39,098 u. The difference isn’t big, but nevertheless if we want to arrange our elements by mass, we have to place potassium underneath neon and argon underneath sodium.

Obviously, we can’t do that. The cool thing about the periodic table is that there are several trends encoded in it, one of them being that the elements of any given group are usually fairly similar to each other. Group 18, where argon normally resides, is reserved for noble gases that are extremely chill and not eager to react (they might’ve taught you in school that noble gases never ever react with anything ever; THAT’S A LIE! But it is true that their chemistry is scant and their reactions rare). Potassium could never fit in with them. Fucker explodes in water the same way sodium does – which is yet another proof it belongs in the same group! Also, COOL EXPLOSION HERE!

This isn’t the only such strange pair in the periodic table: cobalt and nickel are like that too, and so are tellurium and iodine. It isn’t much – but it’s enough that we have to look for some other physical property to define the order of the elements. For some time, chemists and physicists had to accept this discrepancy (not that they were happy about it; I imagine they’d wake up at night drenched in sweat, screaming, “GODFORSAKEN ARGON!”). The atomic number, this sort of ordinal number that put every element in its place, was actually random, as in, not based on any known physical property. Yeah, potassium has an atomic number of 19, but why?

ENTER HENRY MOSELEY!

Henry Moseley conducted a series of experiments in which he zapped various elements with X-rays (I’m so jealous), then analyzed the resulting emission spectra. It turned out that the atomic number is proportional to the square root of the emitted radiation, which in turn depends on the proton count in the nucleus. This is what defines any given element: the number of protons it has. This is THE definition, the one you learn very early in your chemistry journey. The number of neutrons may vary among the atoms of the same element (because isotopes) and atoms can gain or lose electrons by becoming ions, but that doesn’t turn them into different elements. Only the number of protons is always constant for one and the same chemical element.

Organic chemists love protons too

And for more than one reason at that – because hoo boy, does a proton stir some shit in ochem!

My ochem lab instructor pointed to the mechanism I’d written on my lab report once and asked, “What does the acid do in this reaction?”. Very plainly I said, “It’s a source of protons which act as a catalyst,” to which he gave me his standard shit-eating grin and said, “They all are.”

And he wasn’t wrong! If you analyze a bunch of organic reaction mechanisms then you’ll see they very often begin with a proton (so H+) attaching itself to the substrate (or a lone electron pair on the substrate to be precise, because Coulomb force, right?) and thus initiating a chain reaction of sorts that leads, frequently through many infuriating steps, to the product. Take a look at the synthesis of aspirin, for example:

[via wikipedia]

You don’t need to understand everything that happens here. What matters is this first step I circled: a proton attaches itself to one of the substrates and starts the whole reaction.

The second reason I have in mind for why organic chemists love protons is NMR: nuclear magnetic resonance. NMR is a method of instrumental analysis and it’s cool as all fucks actually (as long as you don’t have to analyze the spectra because what the heck are those spikes), but this post is about protons, not NMR, so here’s the gist: you put your organic sample in the NMR spectrometer. The spectrometer drenches your sample in a magnetic field (which is probably why small dogs with metallic collars aren’t advised in an NMR lab). The spins of the protons in your sample (yes, protons have spin too!) go wooo! and align themselves in a specific manner. The computer connected to the spectrometer spits out a spectrum that tells you what your sample looks like.

Properties of the proton

Charge: positive one elementary electric charge, the exact opposite of an electron (how convenient!): +1.602×10^(−19) C

Mass: 1.673 × 10^(-27) kg – which is roughly 1837 times the mass of an electron. I want you to say, "Whoa, that's a lot!" right now because shit, it really is! And that's a great thing, because it gives us cool stuff like the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.

Radius: 0.841 fm (femtometers), but make no mistake: just like electrons, protons abide by the wave-particle duality, because they hate us all. I just remembered when my quantum chem professor told us during a lecture that even buckminsterfullerenes exhibit wave-particle duality. These are molecules made up of 60 carbon atoms. Sixty carbon atoms!! I almost cried, but I was sitting in the front, so I had to compose myself.

#mine #op #studyblr #chemblr #chemistry #stemblr #sciblr

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sparklyshakespeare · 1 month ago

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the case for hyper-femme hotspur

this is my tumblr blog and this is like kind of just what we do heresies

OK so basically okay so

first of all i think anytime there is a character who is so strongly associated with an extreme form of gender expression in our collective zeitgeist (i.e hotspur and hyper-masculinity) there’s something not only extremely fun to play with but incredibly valuable about analyzing the story from the opposite end of the gender performance specturm. also canonically there are like 3 female characters in 1h4 and that sucks. also also don’t you want to see hotspur in pink glitter? i know i do and this tumblr is not a democracy!!

in this hypothetical dream sparkly version of the play, both hotspur and worcester would be women. not played by women, i mean textually explicitly women. this is important!!

worcester should be very nancy pelosi hillary clinton-esque in the way that this is a middle-aged woman who has been taught that to be successful in her field (politics) she will have to strip herself of most of her femininity and perform a certain level of masculinity in order to be taken seriously. this creates a whole other layer to the hotspur/worcester dynamic when all of a sudden this young, hyper-feminine woman is being taken more seriously and being given more praise than someone who has worked and fought through the bullshit and done it all “right”. she hasn’t earned her place, she hasn’t had to struggle - and worcester resents her for that. (there’s like a whole dissertation to be written about how much of 1h4 changes when only worcester is genderbent, i love you queen worcester you are everything not in this version here you kind of suck lowkey)

henry iv is just a misogynist he just kinda sucks but like this is something we all knew screw that guy

ok now we can talk about hal because i know hes like the one all you little gay people care about.

to me, it’s never made sense why the Henriad is framed as hal’s hero’s journey. maybe it’s because i’m queer (i’m like actually positive that’s why), but leaving home and finding acceptance and family from a group of outsiders who society has deemed as worthless is the path i’ve watched so many friends walk. having to leave that and return to your shitty dad because “duty calls!” and THEN leaving behind and disavowing the same community that opened its arms to you? i don’t see that as an awesome coming-of-age about learning how to handle responsibility, that’s deeply, deeply tragic. and far farrrrr too true a reality for most members of our LGBTQ+ community here (Bible Belt). SO guess where this version of 1h4 is set!!!!!! anyways, its the Medieval Revival of the ‘70s in the Bible Belt south, the Boar’s Head is a gay bar, and hal is trans.

hal is trans-masc in some way and this needs to be incredibly explicit (like pronouns pin with trans flag on costume explicit). and then when the news breaks, when “I’ll to the court in the morning.” (we’re cutting the text so this is where that scene ends. cool? cool. cool!), hal takes the pin off. it needs to be like A Moment. it should make me cry, and i cry really easily so that’ll probably be pretty easy to do, but this is a gut punch.

oh and lady percy is still a woman, they’re gay, because i said so. blah blah blah because look hotspur and hal really were so alike all along and look hotspur is fighting so voraciously because she’s hungry for a world where she can openly and unabashedly be with the person she loves but ultimately because i love lady percy and i love lesbians and this play doesn’t need another man. but also because look hotspur is fighting so voraciously because she’s hungry for a world where she can openly and unabashedly be with the person she loves. worcester and vernon should also both be women and have the blossoming of a relationship but be a lot more discreet about it (worcester should be extremely hesitant). now we get a cool split between younger and older generations of activists in both the feminist and the gay rights movement oooo themes oooo motifs oooo lady gagita

as far as hal/hotspur parallels go, it’s probably pretty obvious at this point. your dad constantly praising someone who represents, at least in his mind, the ideal concept of a woman, disappointed you can’t be more like her, all the while you’re coming to terms with the fact that you’re not a woman, but he’ll never see that, so what the fuck are you supposed to do?!? it’s a LOT! but i think there’s also something to be said about the less obvious parallel. which is that hyper-femininity is NOT an attempt at ideal polite womanhood or self-Stepfordization, hyper-femininity is in fact the extreme performance of womanhood in rejection of that. hyper-femininity is queer in nature (also hotspur quite literally has a wife but i guess hal wouldn’t be able to tell that just by looking at her) there’s something to be said about the moment hal and hotspur see each other, and then the moment hal and hotspur seeeeeee each other. and go hey, you’re just like me. this person who you’ve been constantly compared to and made out to be lesser than because you dare to be deeply wildly madly truly you is in fact exactly the same. we’re the same. and oh my god, in another world wouldn’t it have been lovely to just like go dancing together? sucks it’s not another world now we’re going to gay fight each other i guess

#also thinking about the line “Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name” in this context #my dream version of 1h4 has a lot of cuts/mix and match line reassigments #but that felt like A LOT to get in to #and frankly after a six show week with two PR engagements a girl is TIRED!!!#i hope you liked this i hope it made sense!! im going to go do my hair for the second of those aforementioned PR engagements now by interne #1h4 #henriad #shakespeare #henry iv 1 #shameless self plug if you like this you should read my play mwahahhaahahaha!!!!#ambomsaqbime #a merry band of misfits save a queer bar in medieval england #henry iv part 1

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shygirl4991 · 10 months ago

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Chapter 3 Colorful confession

A shout out to @cody-the-cat enjoy seeing the idea come to life! All art is by @b-r-i-n-g-x do not repost! A Four Chapter special as thank you for all the support you guys have given me!

Last Chapter Final Chapter

Summary: SMG3 just wanted to make himself a nice cup of coffee before the work day began, but when he takes a sip from his freshly brewed coffee and passes out he will wake up to a huge surprise. Three other versions of himself now run wild in the mushroom kingdom and he has to stop them before the world learns all his secrets.

Tags: Love Confessions, Enemies to friends to lovers, Romantic comedy, fluff and angst, tw blood

They panic and run hiding behind a building as SMG4 passes them, Heart sighs trying to get up only to stumble. Book catches Heart “Hey now you're still weak, there's no way you can go to Four in your state.” Heart frowns seeing how panicked the man is, SMG3 sighs turning around and looking at his three personalities. “Spade, Book cover me and Heart we are switching clothes.” They stare wide eyed at him before Heart slowly walks away from Books hold “Dont be to mean, im sure the man is worried seeing his friend run off crying.”

Three nods as they switch outfits. “I will tell him that i removed the contacts due to crying, stay out of sight till i get rid of him.” He felt awkward being dressed in pink, he was so used to being in dark clothing that it felt off as if he was screaming at the world to look at him again. SMG4 turns noticing Three, with an awkward wave Four ran up to Three, his concern written all over his face “Three! Thank the memes you're okay, what happened, why did you run?” Three was feeling overwhelmed by his emotions as he closed his eyes, he needed to come up with a story here and now. “Today…is the anniversary of when I lost Terrance when it clicked I just lost it,” his eyes start to water as he forces himself to face the memories he held back. The gifts Terrance would make to help him kill SMG4, the rocket ship he made because he wanted to see the world with him. His final words, that one hurt the most hearing him say he loved him and knowing he never got the chance to tell him the same. SMG4 frowns, pulling Three into a hug, Three’s face goes red from how close he is and starts to regret accepting his feelings.

His heart was ready to jump out of his chest, lucky for him it's the organ and not the personality. Heart smiles watching the interaction, he was starting to feel life slowly come back to him as he watches the pair. Spade blushes looking away, he felt himself glow and let out a chuckle “He is really holding back…huh?” a group of piantas walk up to them smirking, Spade starts to growl at them showing his sharp teeth. Hearing the growl, Heart and Book turn surprise to see the group, they look at the three of them as if they were studying their prey. Heart’s eyes turn red while walking in front of Book “Do you need something?”

One of the piantas walks to the front of the group, removes his fedora and smiles “yes, so you see we were walking around when we notice SMG3 walking with what seems like clones of himself. Funny story we lost an experimental cherry power up that when a person drinks it makes copies of that person.” he points at the group and lets out a dark chuckle. Spade and Heart glared at the group while Book was analyzing his words. He takes out his notebook and writes the information down “A power up that makes copies…but we aren't copies..so how?” The leader claps, breaking Book out of his thoughts “Give us the power up Three, no one has to get hurt.” Heart was getting ready to fight when Book pulled him back. “Heart, something isn't adding up, we aren't copies which means if these people learn what we are..they might kill us and use our body to make more of whatever made us.”

Heart bites his lip looking at the group, the leader was getting sick of the waiting and takes out a gun pointing it at Spade. The pair jump up in surprise “You won't share then i will get rid of your little clone!” Spade smirks and sprints right at the leader surprising the man, opening his mouth he bites the gun in half, the leader stands there staring at the broken gun in shock “The…fuck?” Spade spits the other piece of the gun out of his mouth, he lets out a dark chuckle “Sorry looks like I have more bite than bark!”

The leader looks at the group again, his eyes wide seeing how they are dressed. “You're not copies…” he starts to laugh, making Heart and Book nervous. Spade rolled his eyes, annoyed by the group, the man stopped laughing as he gave the group a dark look “You're not copies, you're something different, boys look like we are getting something out of this capture them we have new test to do.” Spade growls seeing the gang members approach them “Book take Heart and warn the original, i have some rage to get out,” Heart frowns grabbing Spades arm “What if they catch you, remember what you are to him!” Spade chuckles, pulling away from Heart he snaps his fingers summoning Eggdog. The pup looks around surprised seeing multiple versions of his father, Spade smiles softly at the pup “Want to help daddy kick some ass?” he barks, becoming an egg sword for spade. Book and Heart frown watching Spade walk from them “ALRIGHT FUCKERS MESS WITH ME AND YOU GET ME!”

The leader steps back as his members charge at Spade, he dodges the swings of their baton to smack them back with Eggdog. One of the men runs grabbing the personality only for Spade to laugh headbutting the man, he holds his head in pain seeing this Spade runs up kicking the man across the field. Seeing they weren't winning close combat one takes out a gun, Spades eyes glow as he stares at the man. Seeing all of them distracted, Heart and Book run off trying to come up with a plan to get SMG3 help. Spade slowly walks up to the man, seeing the personality keep walking forward with a murderous expression he begins to shake in fear. Spade smirks grabbing the gun and pulling it out of his hand tossing it “You fucked with the wrong man.” Book sees Three and Four separate, Heart watching that Four was far enough threw his hat hitting the man in the face to make him notice them. They wave their hands in a panic as he stomps over “What the hell are you gu-” he feels sharp pain on his side, confused he touches his side to see blood looking up he then notices one of the personalities was missing “What happened to Spade!?”

Heart takes back his hat back then takes SMG3 hand “Some weird guys approached us and he is fighting them off we need to hurry!” with a nod they all run back to Spade. Spade breathes heavy as he stares at the last three members, the leader claps “I'm impressed by your skill for a clone, heh which means.” he walks forward, seeing this Spade gets ready to fight distracted he gets smacked by the other member. He growls as the leader grabs his ponytail and smirks down at him “You're nothing but a plague, you're not complete but I can complete you!” hearing this Spade reaches for the knife hidden in his boot and stabs him. The man screams as his grip weakens giving Spade a chance to escape the man, he was feeling panic build up in him. He was weak from all the fighting, he wasn't sure he was able to keep this up, he got up growling again as his mind flashes to SMG4. He blinks surprise by that “Wha…four…grr I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU FUCKERS WANT BUT YOU CANT HAVE ME!”

The leader pulls out the knife glaring at Spade, before he can make another move they hear a gunshot. They turn to see SMG3 standing holding his gun “I suggest you leave,” he points the gun at him making the man clap as the last standing members go to pick up their teammates before leaving. Three holds his side as he walks over to Spade “You okay?” he gets a chuckle out of the personality as he drops to the floor “I’m perfect, i mean did you see the other guys?” Three lets out a chuckle and nods as he bends down checking Spade for wounds to help care for, Heart frowns seeing the state Spade is in. Book shakes his head “We need to fuse now, things are getting dangerous. Whatever happened to cause all this came from the cherry power up, we don't know how it got us but as long as we are out and about we are in danger.” Book looks down, shaking.

SMG3 finished taking care of Spade “Your right we need to get this over with this day has been long, now we have this strange experiment with cherry powers..i don't want to deal with this shit.” Heart glares at them shaking his head, he knew what he was going to say was crazy but he had to say it he won't be ignored again. Spade seeing the conflict in Hearts eyes he nods with a small smile, seeing this Heart speaks up “I don't want to fuse yet! I know it's risky and not logical but everytime we follow your lead Book we regret the choice, we lost Terrance and by logic we shouldn't have let him get close but it happened!” Book sighs looking at Spade, seeing that everyone was now looking at him to give the final answer he thinks over what happened. The moment he thought he was going to die he could only think about SMG4, the regret that he ever knew how he felt. He blushes as he looks down “I….i want to confess to that idiot, uh not because of what heart said! I..when i thought it was the end for me all i could think about was that dumbass, then i realized i regret him not knowing how we felt…original i know it sucks but lets confess to SMG4.” Three’s eyes go wide hearing Spades words, he looks at Book then at Heart letting out a sigh he nods “Ugh fine, let's do this before i change my mind!”

Heart smiles and nods “Bad news, given we are being hunted doing a normal confession won't really work. We need the crew,” hearing this Spade and Three stand up blushing “NO WAY!” they both shout. Before they knew it the personalities were sitting in the cafe waiting for Three to collect the crew members that he trusted with this mission of love. Three sighs as he walks to the cafe shaking, he turns, giving his friends an awkward smile “I brought you here cause I know you guys can handle this, don't freak out but this morning i was drinking coffee when i felt off. I passed out and I woke up to three other versions of me. A lot happened today and I need your help with…ugh as my heart likes to call it operation gay.” Meggy nods giving a supportive smile at him “Yeah you said some guys were after you cause of it, so where are they? What are we helping with?” Three opens the door nervous on how they would react.

Heart seeing the door open runs out excitedly “Hey silly’s! The name is Heart. I'm the romance trait of SMG3!” Meggy’s eyes go wide seeing Heart smile at them, Melony gets excited and takes his hand “You look so cute!” Heart smiles at the comment showing off his pink overalls. Tari awes at seeing the other Three, it reminded her of the time she met other versions of herself. Then spade walked out glaring at the crew, Meggy seeing the way he was dressed was a blast from the past “Are you supposed to be Three’s villain side?” Spade rolls his eyes “Yep, guess that's why you're labeled as the smart one huh squid? I'm Spade the evil trait of SMG3.” hearing the other two do their intro Book gets up and walks out. Tari waves at Book as he gives a small smile “Hello im Book the logical side of SMG3, while i'm not a fan of this i have no choice in the matter. Do you all know the plan?” The three of them shake their heads, making Book look at Three. SMG3 felt himself break into a sweat seeing the personalities waiting for him to explain the plan, he really wished they just fused and forgot this whole confession.

He looks around then sighs blushing as he holds himself as he looks down. “I…i want to confess my crush on SMG4, but i need some stuff in order to do it. So I need each of you to protect my personality while they get the things I need.” The girls stay quiet for a moment before running to hug SMG3. The man can feel his face go a darker shade of red as the girls hug him “Aw Three i knew you liked Four! OF COURSE WE WILL HELP!” Meggy’s words made him feel even more embarrassed by the admission of his feelings. Heart giggles at the display while Spade watches in horror, Book taps the girls to get their attention. “We are losing sunlight, we need to get the items to get this confession done by tomorrow.” With a nod they separated and walked out of the showgrounds leaving SMG3 back at the cafe to write his confession. Heart was looking around the shops excited as Tari jogs to catch up to the personality “Okay Tari, our mission is to find the perfect flowers for Blue!” she smiles and nods “You seem to really like Four!” Heart nods “Of course! He may have been an asshole to us in the past but his growth really made us see him in a different light, he..may have ruined our life but he made up for it by saving us later on.” he gets excited seeing fresh roses. Tari smiles softly at the sight then notices something from the corner of her eye, she turns and sees someone staring at them. Nervous, she grabs Heart hand. “We should go in, someone is watching us.” with a nod they step into the store to buy some roses for Four.

Spade and Melony walk around the shopping center trying to find a place for them to get the ingredients for spade to make fireworks. Melony was looking around excitedly when she had a chance to look at new beds, Spade chuckles as he gently grabs her arm to help her keep focus “Come on Mel we have a job to do, but maybe if you do good helping me make these fireworks i will help you with bed shopping.” She cheers as they enter a shop to get what they need. As they step outside both of them turn, seeing someone staring at them, Spade growls showing his teeth as Melony summons her sword glaring at the men watching, they jump up in panic and run off. Meggy watches as Book pays for the paper and colorful pens for SMG3 to write his notes on, looking around she decides to ask the man something “So you have no idea how you three came to be? If this could happen to any of us?” Book grabs the bag with their items as he thinks over the events earlier. “All we know is that something called a cherry power up is the cause but we don't know anything else other than that. I have gone over my notes and I can't figure this out.” Meggy hums thinking then snaps her fingers “Why not ask Mario and Luigi those guys are always eating power ups!”

Book smiles nodding his head “Your right, we can get the original to ask why didn't i think of our avatar!” As they stepped outside two men were waiting for them. One grab Book by surprise, Meggy was going to take her splatgun out but gets knocked out by a third one that was hiding, Book glares at the men “I won't tell you anything, so do your worst!” The men laugh as they get ready to tie up Book. As they reach for him a bomb gets thrown in front of them, they scream as it explodes blinding the men. Spade dashes through the smoke grabbing Book and Meggy while Melony knocks out the men. “Your fucking lucky there was a bed shop here and we found you both in time,” Book shaken up hugs Spade making the personality blush “geez it wasnt that bad you big baby!” he pats Books head as Melony comes back with the bag of stuff that Meggy and Book bought.

They head back to the cafe to see SMG3 sitting at the table freaking out, Heart walks up to him gently giving him the bag of items “Now you can write your feelings down, then we see what the future holds…since we will be back home for that.” hearing those words made him frown. It's been a day with these three personalities all he wanted was them gone so he can live his day, with everything happen he notice it felt nice to be near others he can just be himself with.Thinking more on them going back he notice he was going to mess the chaos of these three being with him, he takes the bag “It’s weird, i think when this is over i'm going to miss you guys.” he looks at the personality as they all give sad smiles at him. Heart lets out a soft giggle “We will still be with you silly, just close your eyes and feel.” SMG3 looks at the color pens and hands three of them to the personalities. They look at him confused. “Write one sentence to Four, it is our confession so you guys should have a word in to.” They smile as they take a piece of paper and write their line. He could feel his heart race as he took out his phone sending a message to SMG4 to hang out, he waited as he watched the dots on the screen disappear and reappear as Four texted back. Then the text he was waiting for “Sure let’s hang out at the castle,” Three felt his face go red as he thought to himself if they can really pull this confession off.

As time moves forward, Three gathers all the notes for the confession and reads through them. He can do this, he looks at the others giving him thumbs up as he gets ready to see Four “Wish me luck!” He walks over to the castle, he opens the door letting out a shaky breath as he walks to Fours room. SMG4 turns around and runs up to him excitedly “I see your feeling better now! I got some fresh memes just for you so we can keep spirits up! Three lets out a soft smile “cool but i called to hang out for something else, it's important.” Four nods sitting on his bed giving his full attention to him, he takes out his notes shaking “ugh this is going to suck ahem i wrote my thoughts down so here we go. SMG4 the reason I'm standing in front of you is because my heart was annoying and wouldn't do things my way, it may seem like i'm lying when i say this but know its the truth.” He blushes then looks up to see Four focus on him. “I have fallen for you and I know how gay of me but I couldn't help it. Getting to know you I found out how amazing you are and it hit me hard seeing everything you do. You captured my attention and no matter how much logic i put in it..i can't find the explanation as to why. We aren't just linked because of our guardian powers but everything we went through together..i care deeply for you and i hope you feel the same.”

SMG4's face was bright red hearing the confession, he let out a shy smile taking the confession in. Three could feel his whole body shaking from his nerves, unable to stand it he was going to leave. Seeing this Four jump up and grab him “WAIT!” They stand there frozen, after a few moments SMG3 awkwardly turns around to see Four still red in the face “I care deeply about you too.” Three’s eyes go wide, they smile at each other before going in for a hug. Back at the cafe Spade and Book were drinking coffee and chatting, while Heart was looking out the window. He felt himself glow along with a warmth he had never felt before, he smiled widely looking at the castle “We did it!”

#Love Confessions #Enemies to friends to lovers #Romantic comedy #fluff and angst #smg4 #smg34 #smg3 #shygirl4991 #smg4 smg3 #smg43 #smg34 fanfiction #alianarepasa #tw blood

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hajihiko · 1 year ago

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Ahhh, I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, but I'm curious to know what changed Hajime/Izuru's mind in the universe your art takes place in? Like, what made him go from not caring about anything because everything was boring and meaningless, to trying to enjoy life?

I don't really remember what it was in the anime, but it was probably hope. And like, that makes sense if you think about it, considering that's the definition of hope, but hope doesn't usually just happen like that, you know? Especially not to someone who probably had never felt it since the whole Ultimate Hope thing (ironically). In my mind, it's hard to imagine what it could have been, considering nothing ever phased him. I know that whatever gave him hope doesn't have to be that deep, because that's how it is sometimes, but I was wondering what you think it could have been (or more importantly, what you consider it to be in your art)!

Also, this is kinda unrelated, but I find it so cool how much your art makes me really think about the characters. It's amazing how you're able to really see how you've fleshed out the characters through you art, and honestly, you are probably one of my favourite artists because of it.

But anyway, sorry about this long and random rant 😭 Idk why I spend my time analyzing the character and point of view of fictional characters, but I guess sometimes the ADHD brain goes brrrrrr.

Thank you for sharing your art; I hope have a great day or night!

depends on the universe! But I'll assume you mean my general post-game stuff.

I've said it somewhere before so if it's old bread to you bear with me, but basically, it was a genuine dedication to face the big horrible awful feelings that come with trauma and life in general, and also the brain boost of getting to skip the slow growing part even for just a while.

My idea is that Izuru and Hajime are not two separate identities, rather, an amnesiac and horribly traumatized boy was given a moniker he didn't care to accept or deny. It's not like he had any other name to go by. That was Izuru Kamukura.

The brain has these neural pathways of how it responds to things, and his all got burnt out so he could respond with an appropriate talent each time. As a very simplified example, someone might respon to threat with the Flight response, because it worked in a dire situation and the brain decided "that saved us, this is how we will respond from now on".

Hajime, in the game, gets a sudden bump out of those pathways, enabling him to feel things properly and be fully present in his life. Thematically, the big Super Sayian moment is him deciding to not fall into old, but true and tried, brain patterns, and instead taking on the horrific experience of being human, with all the messy Emotions and Failures that comes with it.

When he wakes up from the game, he still struggles, but the artificial boost from his old thinking as well as a conscious, strenuous, painful effort to not repress himself anymore but instead face the things that he did and were done to him, make him able to carve himself into a new Him.

Not the same, in the sense that WHO could say they're the same as they were before a simulated murder game that revealed that you were a killing machine terrorist and so were your friends. But the same as in, he's Hajime Hinata and he decides what exactly that means. To want is an emotion, and he wants to become someone who can experience life fully, and chasing that single feeling of Want opens up the doors to everything else. You might've heard this before but "before you change, you have to want to change".

So in short. What enabled him to get Hopeful so to speak was the combination of a brain kick (you could call that a metaphor for outside help), and a concrete decision to try to do the difficult but right thing. Sounds kind of boring maybe, but everything else comes later - like his interest and care for his friends, an enjoyment of philosophy and the arts, a pleasure from being useful and helpful, a serenity from accepting things as they are, and a thrill that comes with strong genuine emotion (from my own life, sometimes a single moment of !!!! can carry you on for months).

Yes the whole thing is a metaphor for getting better with mental health stuff. It's personal to me okay 😂

(also I like the idea from Miggys fic that his human connections override the apathy and distance so as long as he's around the people he loves he can hold onto what keeps him going)

I love thinking about and building on characters too! Spending tons of time inspecting them like a specimen 🤝 people (and therefore characters) are very interesting to me so I just like rolling them around my brain. Thank you for your interest and kind words!

#not an art #Talky talky #Hioe this answer suffices

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mana-jjk · 4 months ago

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tw: referenced death

jjk spoilers !!

nothing too in-depth, but referenced to the light novel and recent manga chapters

i think the best way to understand toge comes from trying to write him.

canonly, he’s one of the characters we know the least about. we know the hint of a tragic backstory, but we’ve never seen it. we know he can’t speak without hurting someone, but we are never given a situation to reference or the parameters of such. we know he speaks in safe words, but we don’t know why he chose them or why he didn’t choose another way to communicate.

when i write toge, sometimes i pause in between onigiri ingredients and think, why doesn’t he just learn sign language? why doesn’t he just pick up a pad of paper and a pen? why doesn’t he ask anyone to explain the meaning of his safe words? isn’t there a better way to communicate than with words that won’t be taken seriously?

and that’s how the think piece spiral starts. if you go back in my account, you’ll see way too many posts dedicated to analyzing toge, picking his character apart, headcanons and canon divergences devoted to understanding him. it’s hard to understand a character that was created because of a joke.

maybe it’s a bit too much of thinking that makes you attach to toge, the boy who has such an innate aspect of his humanity designated to be a weapon. why doesn’t he find a different way? i think maybe, because for him, every other way calls for the acceptance of seeing this crucial part of himself as nothing more than a tool to harm others.

can it be that easy? to live your life in isolation, trapped in your own mind, with the knowledge that your existence burns the people around you simply by existing — can it be so easy to simply find another way?

maybe it would be easier if his voice wasn’t weaponized.

if he simply couldn’t speak rather than having the capacity redirected into channeled danger. Never having a choice, born into this role with seals marking his fate, marking the danger he poises to curses, complete strangers, the people he loves most. It would be easier if his voice came as an unintelligible whisper, easier if a simple phrase didn’t have the capacity to slaughter the people around him. easier if the capability to harm did not extend beyond his own intentions.

i think it hurts.

beyond the physical wounds, beyond the copper behind his teeth and the taste of cherry cough syrup on his tongue. i think it hurts him to know that the only time his voice is ever heard is when it causes pain.

it’s like never raising your hand unless to hurt someone else. it’s there, you can feel it there even as everyone else tries not to see it. there’s bad connotations with that hand. because if you raise it, everyone knows that someone will be hurt. they try not to see it, yet simultaneously it’s all they seem to see. bloody hand, bruised knuckles, the evidence of your cruelty. if you want them to be afraid, maybe you relish in the obedience. but obedience is not respect, it is not love, it is a base understanding of the capability of your inhumanity. for someone like toge, that bloody hand has been innate since the moment he came into the world. bloody, bloody hand with danger far beyond the stature of such a small child.

i think with the elders, they see his voice as that bloody hand. he opens his mouth and there is terror without uttering a word. his existence is a stark reminder of his capability, even if he never raised a hand, not on purpose. it doesn’t matter. with a whisper he can explode living beings, twist limbs until they’re crushed beyond recognition, steal life within a second, before anyone could realize what is wrong.

snake in the grass without a warning rattle. less than a bite, less than the coiled danger, less than the venom secreted fangs. cursed speech users are an invasive species within the jujutsu world. that’s why they were managed. how were they managed? outlaws or invasive, dangerous or venomous, to die out or kill on sight. bloody, bloody hand, hissing, hissing rattle.

that’s why, i think he insists on speaking, even if no one would ever understand him.

the elders may never trust him, but for the people he cares about, there has never been an ingrained fear of his voice. because when he opens his mouth, they don’t focus on the sigils marring his tongue. they don’t flinch when he speaks. they are surprised when he uses his abilities. they are surprised when the boy who speaks in silly ingredients can completely pulverize a cursed spirit. they are surprised not at his humanity, but what he can do in spite of it.

when yuuta was afraid of him, it wasn’t in fear of what a single vibrating note from his voice might cause. raised hands, perceived irritation, a shadowed expression. never his voice.

even when he exploded up to hundreds of spirits at once, with one singular word. never fear, only awe, only interest, only hopes to understand him in a way that the self-inflicted barriers tried to deny them both.

i think in this case, yuuta is much the same.

if he knew that being around people, being around girls or rowdy classmates especially, was dangerous because of rika, why didn’t he stay away? if he knew, why did he even consider being around maki? because that meant accepting that his entire existence would forever be limited to the harm that befalls others. how do you accept yourself as a cause and effect? a calamity in skin and bone, blood red inside and out.

so he found other ways. please don’t touch me, please and thank you. i won’t speak as long as you tolerate being around me. manipulate the situation, manipulate the cursed remnants of a little girl until she thinks the way she needs to. the way you need her to. for the safety of those around you, even though you know there’s another way, a simpler way.

don’t speak, don’t be.

what’s left of them? how much do you sacrifice if only to not be alone?

so toge speaks to empty ears, to condescending eyes, to upturned noses who refuse to comprehend beyond the harm he may poise. to ignorant bystanders, who will never know the potential vibrating under his skin, waiting with snapping jaws at the first hint of intention. starry eyed children who latch on to the secret language, with sticky fingers and pure intention. confused tourists who try to follow along, who unintentionally give much needed attention. wary peers who hear of his technique long before they hear of him, who see the danger long before they see him.

he exists to contradict, to take the reputation speared upon him and turn the tables with bloody hands that all eyes only seem to focus on. for these reasons, he turns to intentions, turns to kindness that can be conveyed much farther than words.

be kind, be oh so kind, be so kind that you never have to speak a word.

sacrifice your blood and sacrifice your time, sacrifice as much as you can if only to be understood. a crying baby who cannot begin to register the harm of their shrill cries, a marked child trying to convey the words they were never taught, a one-armed teenager laying down what’s left of their life.

don’t kill him, he told nobara, sacrificing his self-imposed rules for a man who knew the weakness of his technique. because he couldn’t stand the idea that she would have blood on her hands. sacrifice a little more if only to convey how much you care.

because the tragedy of toge is that every word he says has the potential to become a dangerous reality. because he cannot warn others, he becomes their shield. because he cannot vocalize how much he cares, he becomes what they need most. because he cannot tell them who he is, he has to sacrifice everything to show them.

he was never going to let yuuta fight alone. because the beauty of yuuta is that he was always afraid for the wrong reasons. afraid of toge not because of his capability to be a weapon, but because he was afraid that he hated him.

can you imagine? every moment of your tired existence, trying to prove yourself as anything more than your bloody hands. to have someone not afraid of your blood crusted fingertips and split knuckles, but of your capacity to tolerate a walking cataclysm.

yuuta is so saturated in blood and despair that he cannot even begin to fathom caring about bloody hands. of course he sees them, sees them in the potential they hold, in the pain they’ve inflicted, yet also endured. holds them in his own like they’re delicate, sees the splits and scars and bruises, not as evidence of his capability, but in his durability. to be treated as breakable with such potential to shatter the world around him.

when i write toge, i always find myself in this train of thought. i think that’s why i love yuuta so much, i love how much he loves, even if it means the world burns.

on a happier note, i’ve been binging in nostalgia with the new fairy tail anime coming out !! i literally rewatched all 328 episodes lol it was one of my first anime i watched, and even if it’s a 180 from jjk, i’m of course thinking of crossover au’s because lol just look at me. i think i have a million au ideas and 27 posts in the draft <3

#inumaki toge #yuuta okkotsu #inuokko #jujutsu kaisen #ottoge #all i do is yap #am I toge’s biggest fan probably #jjk spoilers

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heliza24 · 1 year ago

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Wilhelm, The Look (™), and Endings

The recent poll on the confessions blog about the ideal end of the series (King Wilhelm vs leaving the line of succession vs the end of the monarchy) got me thinking about endings. In trying to think of what my own answer to this question was, I ended up reflecting on the way that Season 1 and 2 end, and that got me thinking about the infamous straight-to-camera Wilhelm looks that bookend each season. I’ve always loved those moments and found them crucial to the visual language of the show, but I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped to analyze why. But if I’m trying to decide how I feel about the possible endings of season 3, I should probably stop and figure out why I feel the way I do about the ending (and beginning) shots of season 1 and 2, right? So let’s take a minute and talk through these shots, and what I think they do for story structure and Wilhelm’s character.

I think the main thing those glances to camera do are establish Wilhelm as a protagonist with agency. Just for a second, he’s aware that he’s being watched, and that awareness means that he’s going to make active choices about what happens during his story. I think this makes sense when we realize that the first look to camera happens when Wilhelm is giving his first press interview. Wilhelm has always been in the public eye as a member of the royal family, But this is the first time that the attention of the press has been directed directly at him. It’s the first time that he has been asked to answer for his actions, and the first time he’s had to take responsibility for something like an adult. The camera catches him right as he makes his first decision: to follow his parents’ wishes, do the press conference, and go to Hillerska. It’s not a look of rebellion so much as it is a look of acceptance. All the growth that comes after as part of season 1 comes as a result of the awareness that starts in that moment. I think it’s significant that the gaze at the end of season 1 comes right after Wilhelm has made a very similar decision to the one he made in episode 1. Once again he has obeyed his parents, given the statement to the press that he was supposed to give, and toed the party line. It’s only in the fourth wall break that we know that something is different. We see all the rage and disappointment and heartbreak he has in that look, and we know that moving forward something is going to be different. But the season ends simply on this promise, and doesn’t let us see the payoff. Before we knew whether or not we were getting a season 2, I remember thinking that season 1 felt like a complete story (if not a happy one) but I would be mad if we never got to see all that Wilhelm was promising us come to fruition.

I think the gazes in season 2 function in much the same way– they emphasize Wilhelm’s agency and show us how much he changes over the course of the season. At the beginning of the season Wilhelm is literally ready to burn it all down, as he stares at us in the mirror as he burns August’s photo. But the look we get at the end of episode 6 is much more calm and confident. He’s taken the rage that fueled his initial revenge quest against August and turned it into the bravery he needs to tell the truth on his own terms. This last look once again acts as a promise; Wilhelm is swearing that he will live authentically, no matter the consequences. But once again the season ends before we have a chance to see him follow through. We know that there will be a whole host of difficulties that arise from his confession, and that last look gives us the confidence that Wilhelm will rise to meet them. But we don’t see any of that, or at least we won’t until season 3. The fact that the season ends here really emphasizes that what was most important about the season was Wilhelm’s growth. The fact that he grew to a point where he could give the speech and stare down the barrel of the camera with confidence meant that the story the season was trying to tell was complete, even though we might expect a longer denouement. I know it’s common fandom knowledge that there was at least one additional shot filmed, of Simon and Wilhelm walking away together. So I think it’s significant that in the edit Lisa and Co decided to end on The Look (™) instead. I don’t want to suggest that the Wilmon relationship isn’t hugely significant to the show, its ending, or to Wilhelm. It is, and I think that’s represented when they lock eyes right before Wilhelm’s final look to camera. But there’s something about Wilhelm growing just enough to tell the truth in front of everyone that means that this chapter of the story is now closed, with no additional Wilmon scene needed.

The other thing that first glance does of course is establish us, the audience, as part of the public that is watching and judging Wilhelm. We’re in the audience for the press conference he gives at the beginning of season 1, and we’re in the stands watching him give the speech at the end of season 2. The relationship this creates between Wilhelm and the audience is really charged. Those looks create an intimacy which makes us care about Wilhelm as a character. But they also implicate us as part of the reason why Wilhelm is always being observed. We’re part of the oppressive force Wilhelm has to deny in order to live truthfully and claim his agency. When Wilhelm looks into the camera he’s defying *us*. He’s daring us to stop him from getting revenge on August, or disobeying his mom, or telling the truth about the video. We’re brought in as co-conspirators in the same moment that we’re sized up as an enemy.

Circling back to thinking about season 3, I think it’s a fair guess to assume that the season will begin and end with The Looks (™). I also expect that the last moments of season 3 won’t tie up every single loose end, much like the end of season 2 didn’t address the fallout from Wilhelm’s speech. I expect that last look to feel like a promise, like Wilhelm saying “I’ve got it from here.”

In general I’m not huge on making super specific predictions. But if I were to guess how season 3 will end, I would predict that any questions about the larger fate of the monarchy will not be answered fully by the show, and will instead be covered by The Look (™). I think this holds true whether or not Wilhelm decides to remain in the line of succession, but that his character arc will feel most complete if he makes the decision to leave.

If Wilhelm does make the decision to leave the line of succession and this does have national implications, I don’t imagine that we’ll see them fully play out. Wilhelm growing enough to leave will mean that the story that Young Royals is telling is complete. After a lot of consideration, I think this is my desired outcome for the show and my best shot at predicting the general shape of the season 3 finale. I want Wilhelm to grow enough to leave (with Simon) and I want the show to end with us confident that he’ll be able to handle the consequences of that decision, even if we don’t see them all play out.

#young royals #my meta #wilhelm young royals #prince wilhelm

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queen0fm0nsterz · 1 year ago

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So, if you are accepting any asks, I have a small question.

Who do you think was longer in The Spiral? And which kids were "born" there? Sorry if this is a stupid ask, or if someone already asked it.

Feel free to ignore! I just really like how you analyze and theorize 'bout everything of The Little Nightmares world; you realize things that most people most likely don't notice, and that's admirable to me!

Thank you so much!!! This makes me very happy to hear, I'm very grateful you enjoy my interpretations of the games. Your question is not stupid at all; it's a very good one, and I see there is a few misconceptions about children who are Nowhere born and children who come from other worlds.

I have seen argued that most children we meet must be kids of the Nowhere due to their ability to survive; for example, a child as young as the Toddler was able to survive for at least a while before being snatched away. However this is not an indicator of them actually being Nowhere born.

Noone herself explains how this is possible in episode one of the podcast. Quoting:

"I turned away from the window, which was only a hole in the stone wall of the curved passageway, that stretched on a long ways. This- odd feeling, told me to get up. But I couldn’t stand because the ceiling was so low."

(...)

"That same feeling told me I was lost inside a giant."

They are being guided by this strong instinct. Which explains why children as young as a Toddler can get around without dying near instantly: they inherently seem to know what to do and they are constantly on the move. If anything, children who are stagnant are more likely to be Residents or becoming Residents; they are the odd ones out. Remaining still means certain death, after all, unless you intend to join the Nowhere.

Here's a diagram to show in short who is what based on what we know about the world. The ones with the * are those who are uncertain.

Visitors

These are the most common kind of children one can meet in the Nowhere: the ones brought from outside, either by the Ferryman or from other forces. Remember; the Ferryman is a guide, not the means.

In Episode 3, Noone was pulled into the Mall, an outside force, and in Episode 4 the Ferryman was not present at all. He is not the only way for one to get inside the Nowhere, he's merely somebody with enough power to intercept some of the children coming in to bring them away with him. I don't doubt that his role is incredibly important, as he's the reason why many children even reach the Nowhere alive, but... he's a harbinger of death, no doubt.

All these children are the nameless ones. The ones whose full journeys we'll never get to see: just segments and fractions. We saw the beginning of Noone's, and the end of RCG's and RK's. Nothing more, and nothing less.

The campfire children in particular are highlighted because of two reasons:

The comics were confirmed to be partially not canonical. Obviously not everything was cut from the comics, since the Ferryman and Mirror Man are both physically there and implied to exist, but due to the vague answer we were given, we'll have to take their tales with a grain of salt.

We could only hear two of four stories; as such, only the Humpback Girl's testimony can be counted as her not being a child of the Nowhere. We can attest this because of a few lines given from her friends:

This place is haunted, though, as well as being sealed. Someone locked the mirrors away a long time ago, but! Interestingly enough, they did not break them. Maybe whoever sealed this place away was hoping for someone to come back?

Considering that Low and Alone are also involved with mirrors, I wonder if Mirror Man's abilities are on par with the Ferryman's, meaning he too can cross the bridge between realities. It could be a reason as to why the Ferryman does not intervene until the very end here. This post is not about him though, so moving on!

Nowhere Children/Residents

Now we're getting to the interesting part of the ask. As you can see in the diagram, we only know a few children who are Nowhere born, and of them, only one of them is 100% factual. Let's go through them one by one.

The Pretender was born and raised in the Nowhere. Period. She has her own mansion, pictures with her parents, and on top of that her family at the very least part of the bourgeoisie.

While powers are not necessarily an indicator of one's belonging to the Nowhere (if Low's powers are of any indication), the Pretender herself has quite the number of supernatural abilities that seem to have been present since her youth, making it hard for her to form meaningful connections with others. She's a very lonely child. This means that these powers most likely developed from her naturally rather than being acquired from the outside, like Six's and possibly even Low's.

(Even then, one can make a small argument to counter with Six developing a small power of her own... but there's a reason as to why I set her aside from everyone else.)

Now, here's someone a lot more interesting to discuss (both on this topic and in general): Mono.

He's a real special little guy. Taking into context the etymology of his name, the meanings we get always tie back to the idea of there being one of him. A single, unique little boy. Looking at the descriptions we were given of Mono, we can find out some more about him and his backstory:

Interesting as this is on a character perspective, what I would like to direct your attention on here is the mentions of the world. Here, it's mentioned that Mono is aware that the world outside hates him. Being a single minded child living in the Nowhere this makes a lot of sense; what is interesting here is the wording.

There is never the mention of "another world" in Mono's descriptions, unlike Six's descriptions in which it is directly mentions her not originating from the Nowhere.

For Mono, it's not a world: it's the world. Almost as if there is no other world he knows by now.

His nature is also rather unique. You see, Mono is a glitch. Not in the traditional Glitching Remain way, but still not entire enough to be considered a human being. For one, he quite literally glitches multiple times: we see it happen everytime he is near a Remain and is about to absorb them, whenever he gets too close to the Thin Man, he even glitches as he channels his powers to use them.

The Thin Man causing him to glitch is especially interesting because when he motions to grab him, Mono does not split in two like Six does. There is no body to be left behind: instead, he flies into Thin Man's hand and you can visibly see his body go both entirely glitchy and instantly limp.

(You can see it for yourself in this video; pay attention to him struggling when other enemies grab him vs how quickly he stops moving as soon as the Thin Man gets his hands on him.)

This indicates his nature as not being human the same way Six is, for example, but rather a product of the Nowhere. Due to how his cycle works, this makes sense: for the Tower to have a continuous of energy supply and access to the power of the Transmission, Mono needs to live through this experience over and over for as long they deem fit. This could also explain some other odd factors of his, such as not having to take a break when running and his almost grayish skintone.

While it can be argued that at the beginning of this whole mess Mono was a Visitor rather than a Resident, at this point in time many factors point to the version of him we play as being a Nowhere child.

The Refugee Boy is, as for the campfire kids... complicated to expand on due to the dubious nature of his story: nevertheless, I will still bring forth my evidence.

When the children begin telling Six their stories, the Refugee is the first to narrate his tale and he begins doing so by showing her a memento of his previous life outside of the Maw. This comes across as being peculiar on its own as no other child that we know of has anything of the like.

As you can read here, children in his village are given charm against the North Wind that one day suddenly stop working. This implies that, unlike the Mirror Man, the North Wind has always been a tangible threat looming over their birth land.

It could be easy to chalk this up to N.W. being a local legend where the boy used to live and he had a nightmare about him, but it is then mentioned that he and his sister have been running away from him for years. Much longer than any of the dreams Noone ever had.

This was a long pursuit. We know thanks to the LN III trailer that "normal" looking adults and cities existed in the Nowhere; this explains away both the Refugee's village existing and the other groups of people that chased them away when they brought around the North Wind.

While this evidence is good enough to stand on its own, it has a couple of points against it, which is why I marked the Refugee as "unsure".

The narrator could be considered unreliable. In this same screenshot I added right above, the narrator states that the siblings were welcomed everywhere, but we can visibly see them be chased away by the villagers. This can be interpreted as meaning "they were originally welcomed, but when the North Wind arrived as a consequence, they were chased off", but we don't have enough substance to back this up.

^ Supporting the above take, the narrator also says that the children have been running for years, but we visibly see that they remain the same during all this time. The sister not changing makes sense as the Ferryman has taken her place, but the Refugee also doesn't change at all. We don't know how fast time passes in the Nowhere, so it could also be attributed to that, but it must be mentioned for fairness' sake.

The Refugee's words: I'm not running anymore. This sentiment has never been echoed before, nor will it ever be echoed again. As I said earlier, being stale in the Nowhere only leads to two things: death or permanence. His surrendering could indicate that he has chose to remain in the Nowhere after being stuck in it for a long time, thus becoming an official Resident. If this is the case, he could classify as a "Visitor turned Resident".

With this, I suggest we move on to our last and currently final segment:

Visitors turned Residents

This one is an interesting breed. We don't get to see the act of a child turning into a permanent part of the Nowhere all that often; Noone could count as that, but we don't yet know if she ultimately decides to be still in the Nowhere or if she'll regret her choice.

We do have the most importantly character of this narrative as an example to this, however.

Six, my dearly beloved... what a terrible path she's gone down to. I have already displayed the evidence stating that Six is from a different world than the Nowhere up un Mono's section so I won't dwell on it.

Thin Man splitting her in two is what doomed her and, as hard as she tried to fight it, her trip to the Maw was the nail in the coffin. No matter how far away from it she gets: she will never be free from the influence it had on her person. When it comes to the LN I ending, this is what the writers had to say on it:

(From this interview. It's an interesting one; they also confirm that the Signal Tower and the Maw were not places that were "built" but that exist for various reasons, which supports the idea that they are entities rather than buildings.)

I think Six is not leaving the Nowhere anytime soon. If at all. She might have left the Maw, but at this point, she's ventured too far in to turn back to the person she was before. To think none of this is even her fault is saddening, to say the least, but horrifically realistic.

Sisi... is an incognita. I've only put her in this category to be fair, since we don't know anything about her. There is a possibility that she has grown up to become a Resident, but it's just as likely that she may have died off somewhere, like many others before and after her.

I will not be dwelling into the adults for now, but we do have reason to believe that some of them are most definitely Visitors turned Residents. Most notable is the Lady who, in her character description, directly expresses discomfort with how nonsensical the Nowhere is － a sentiment only someone who knows alternatives to it can have.

It also indicates a surprising level of self awareness to some extent; most Nowhere inhabitants do not question the nature of their world, not even important and powerful beings like, say, the Thin Man.

I hope this answers your question!

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