#that I absolutely want to understand better

[euthymiya]

Starting an internship at the company Satoru’s father owns but you don’t know who he is just yet.

He’s annoying. He always comes back from lunch late, lets his phone ring at his desk (that’s conveniently placed next to yours) past the three ring policy, writes emails with silly and immature sign-offs, cracks jokes during meetings, and somehow, despite always finishing his paperwork late, he never manages to lose his damn job.

You try to mind your own business. But you can’t help but feel him slowly grate at your nerves as he acts so unprofessional and for some weird reason, not one person seems to care.

He seems pretty intrigued with you, too, if matters couldn’t get worse.

“Hey,” he grins. You try to ignore the tilt of his lips in amusement as you just barely fight off rolling your eyes.

“Can I help you with something?” You sigh, “I’m currently in the middle of something that requires my full attention, but maybe we could—”

“You really love your office jargon,” he hums, cutting you off with a wider grin, “so dedicated.”

“Oh, my apologies,” you smile tightly. He seems to straighten a little, some sick, twisted form of excitement rushing through his system at the way he seems to get under your skin. “Allow me to use simpler language for you to understand: go away, I’m busy.”

Someone has to stand up to this prick, you think. He puts in half the effort, and somehow, you’re pretty sure your boss has a soft spot for him. You don’t understand it, and quite frankly, you’ll be damned if a lazy, lackluster man snags a promotion before your hardworking self.

“Oh wow,” he snorts, “breaking your strictly professional streak, are you? You must be really occupied. I guess I’ll borrow your stapler later.”

Gritting your teeth, you give him yet another tight lipped smile before grabbing the stapler off your desk and handing it to him. (A small part of you resists the urge to throw it square at his face. Maybe the image of him on the floor with a bloodied nose would make your day a little easier, but then you’re sure you’d be jobless).

“Here you go,” you say with as much kindness as you can muster. (It’s not a lot). “Please do bring it back when you’re done. Some of us actually complete paper work, so the stapler is a necessity.”

“Oh yeah?” He tilts his head, eyes sparkling with mischief, “don’t worry, I won’t hold your stapler hostage for too long. I wouldn’t want to disrupt the flow of your productivity.”

You watch with wary eyes as he walks back to his desk, stapling some small, tiny note of sorts before walking right back, handing the paper and the stapler to you.

“What’s this?” You raise a brow.

“Some paper work for you to fill out,” he grins, the vagueness of his answer making a vein all but pop in your forehead.

Before you even have a chance to tell him that you most certainly will not be entertaining whatever silly prank he’s playing, he walks right off, sagging into his chair as he does an obnoxious little spin and goes back to typing at his computer. Probably yet another email with a ridiculous ending, you think to yourself.

Against your better judgement, you stare at the note, eyeing the small flap he’s stapled over an index card. You lift it up, quickly scanning over his scribbled writing.

Want to grab coffee during lunch? Check your answer:

▢ yes! ▢ absolutely! ▢ most definitely!

Your eye twitches.

Grabbing a pen, you quickly add a box underneath his (very confident) options, checking it off and writing in neat, pristine handwriting:

▣ not a chance!

You stand, walking over to his desk and ignoring his perked up, excited little smile as you drop the note back on the table and head back to your own desk. A tiny wave of satisfaction weaves through your body when you notice him read over your response and deflate, a small pout forming over his lips.

Regretfully, a small part of you can’t help but acknowledge that he’s actually…kind of cute when his lips are curled like that. But a larger part of you shakes that thought away and cringes internally. It’s a shame his personality ruins the genetic blessings he seems to have been bestowed with.

And you think that’s the end of it—but of course, with someone like Satoru in the office, there’s never the end of anything.

You watch as an email pops up on your screen, opening it only to stare blankly at his name and roll your eyes at the subject line:

────────────────────────

Follow-Up on Submitted Paperwork

Greetings office neighbor,

Thank you for submitting the paperwork. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but notice that it does not fully align with the outlined guidelines. Could you please provide clarification or revise the submission accordingly?

Thanks a million,

Gojo Satoru :)

────────────────────────

And there he goes again with those obnoxious sign-offs, you think bitterly. Instantly, you’re clicking away at your keyboard as you type back an agitated response. Of course, you really shouldn’t entertain his ridiculous schemes, but something about him gets under your skin enough that you simply can’t help yourself.

You huff in approval at your response as you read it over before hitting send.

Instantly, as if he was waiting, you see his hand reach for his mouse and click on his screen to open your email as his eyes scan over your reply:

────────────────────────

Thank you for reaching out,

Unfortunately, I was unable to fully adhere to the outlined guidelines, as they are not viable in this situation. To address this, I adjusted the submission to align more effectively with a more practical outcome.

Hope that helps!

Your office neighbor :)

────────────────────────

Just when you think he’s given up, he rolls his chair over to your desk, causing a couple of annoyed heads to tilt up and glare at him for the noise before turning their attention back to their work. You pinch your nose as his chair rolls to a stop in front of your desk.

“Yes?” You grit through your teeth.

“Hey, office neighbor,” he hums, “just wanted to clarify your most recent email with you. I’m a bit confused.”

“Which part confused you?” You bat your lashes in faux charm, sarcastically smiling at him as he hums, grabbing a piece of candy from your little bowl of sweets at your desk and helping himself.

Your eye twitches a little at the gesture. Those are for you to enjoy throughout a miserable work day.

“Um…” he trails off as he pretends to think, “I’d say all of it.”

“I see,” you nod slowly, fighting every bone in your body not to snap at him with a colorful choice of words. “Essentially, the options in your original document did not highlight a plausible set of deliverables, so I corrected them for you with a more realistic one. Make sense?”

“Not really,” he sighs dramatically, pretending to scratch his head in confusion. You want nothing more than to grab those snowy locks and slam his face into your paper shredder. “Could you go over it one more time? I’m still lost.”

You’re just about to lose your patience with him when suddenly, the entire office seems to collectively take in a sharp breath, everyone scrambling to look as productive as possible while a tall, older looking man with suspiciously familiar white hair and blue eyes walks through the office. Something in your brain sets off alarm bells, but you can’t quite completely piece it together what it is about him seems so….recognizable.

“Who’s that?” You frown, scrunching your nose in confusion as everyone straightens up.

“That would be the final boss,” he snorts. You roll your eyes at his word choice before blinking and straightening up yourself.

“Oh my god,” you gasp, voice a panicked whisper as you ask, “you mean the owner of this company?”

“Yeah,” he drawls, raising a brow at you in amusement. “Never seen him before?”

“No,” you hiss, “I’m just the intern! Now go back to your desk before he thinks we’re goofing off, I’d like to keep my job, please.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” he hums.

You send him a nasty glare, just about at your wits end as you whisper-yell, “I am going to throw my stapler right at your—”

“Satoru, I need you in my office,” comes a stern, deep voice, interrupting you as you quickly shut your mouth.

“You got it, old man,” he salutes in mock seriousness. Suddenly, your spine goes rigid and your eyes widen. The man walks off with a firm nod as Satoru stands, giving you an innocent smile.

Suddenly, it dawns on you just why he looked so strikingly familiar.

“Did you just call him old man?” You blink, mouth agape.

“Yup,” he winks, walking backwards as his eyes stay trained on you while he heads for the elevator. “I’ll put in a good word for you when he’s in a better mood at home tonight. I think we can discuss the specifics over coffee during our lunch hour, yeah?”

[geschiedenisish]

I mean. I agree.

But fare evaders are literally making things more expensive for the rest of us public transport users.

That's literally like not paying your insurance because "healthcare should be free". Yeah, that's the whole reason we pay insurance, to keep the price low. If you opt out and the rest of us don't, you're an asshole. Yes the rich should pay more, but still everyone should still be part of health insurance! You're an asshole if you opted out and still expect the same prices.

Or when you don't join a union because "workers should have good labour conditions". Yeah, that's what the union is for! If you want good labour conditions, JOIN A UNION. Don't expect to get good labour conditions when you don't even have the decency to join a union!

And don't feel good for evading public transport fares. You're literally making the rest of us pay more. Yes, it would be better if we did it through taxes. But as long as that isn't happening, y'all are being huge assholes by making the rest of US pay for services YOU use.

As long as we don't actually reform the system, you don't get a pass for breaking the rules. "Oh wow, we pay so you can use this service but don't have to pay for it." THE GOLDEN RULE IS STILL IN PLACE!!!!!!!!!! If no one payed, the service would be GONE. I guess that's what you want, supposing you follow the golden rule like the rest of us...... Or maybe you only think about yourself and don't realize what your behavior would mean if everyone did it......

(I understand some people can't pay. But that's absolutely no reason to excuse fare evaders. That's a reason to make it cheaper and/or free. Furthermore, how many people actually avoid fares because they can't pay versus the amount of people who do it because they get away with it!? I know the answer for the city I live in.... (Source; literally everyone around me. I'm the only one who pays because they never check it so no one does it. But I do it out of principle.))

But I guess you're not like the other girls. "You want the pleasure without the burdens" my father used to call this kind of behavior. Well be proud of your hypocrisy and unwillingness to follow the golden rule. We'll continue paying for the services you enjoy. Whether that's through taxes or through fares. WE'LL PAY. It's just the question whether you will or not. And how you'll feel about it towards your fellow users of public transport.....

[source]

[theambitiouswoman]

I have been celibate for 3+ years & I wanted to share how this has helped shaped who I am.

Disclaimer: This is not me telling you what to do with your life and your bodies. It comes with zero judgement. I am of the belief that there is a season for everything, and we evolve into many different people in our life. I would be remiss if I didn't say that I definitely think it's a good idea to practice it. I do believe that psychologically, spiritually & emotionally having casual sex has a lot of negative implications for both men and women. However your beliefs around intimacy are purely up to you. Sex isn't bad, that's not what I am saying, but when you are having sex with someone you are absorbing their energy, and the energy of their past lovers too, so having sex with the wrong person can really ruin you.

Honestly the idea of anyone touching me if they do not meet my needs emotionally, mentally, physically etc absolutely disgusts me. I have never been of the type of let anyone "have me" but even more so now. Remember that when you start treating yourself differently, your perspectives and the things you are attracted to also start to change.

Maybe some girls don't understand this so I am going to say it. You do not have to sleep with a man for him to like you, love you, treat you well, or buy you things. If you haven't experienced this, you may not agree. But this is my reality and the reality of so many others, so yes it is actually totally possible.

I will say that the first year can be difficult but after that it gets much easier cause your mindset changes. I recommend taking that first year to really dive in and analyze your relationships, work on your wounds etc. Feeling lonely is something I see come up a lot, and while human beings are not designed to be alone, you should not feel lonely and that is probably a good starting point to work on with yourself if that is the case.

Anyway, these are some of the changes I have experienced:

1. Greater mental clarity and can focus more on personal goals, career & self development.

2. Reduced emotional turbulence. Creating better emotional balance and inner peace.

3. Realizing self love and self worth come from you, rather than seeking external validation. It reduces stress, increases self awareness & provides identity outside of others.

4. Higher standards, better boundaries. Intimacy is a choice, not a necessity. Being unable to control your lust is a weakness. Understand that falling in love purely through sex is lust, wounds and attachment / abandonment issues, need for validation, insecurity etc.

5. Insane increase to intuition.

6. Gives you control over your body and life. It allows you to be more selective about who you let into their personal space.

7. Increased creativity & passion to channel into art, projects, or other personal endeavors.

8. For those recovering from past trauma or heartbreak, celibacy can be a time for healing and self reflection. It offers the space to process emotions, heal old wounds and rediscover yourself.

9. No energetic enmeshments with toxic souls, which btw you are absorbing all of it. Grosses me out any time I think about it.

10. Even prettier than before (but i'm sure not entertaining toxic men and drama contributes to that as well)

11. People are even more drawn to be because of my strong sexual energy & pure aura.

[ennn]

Agatha x Rio Fic Recs

We're a couple of weeks out post-finale and I've read enough fics to recommend a new bunch! You can find my first pre-finale recs here – usual YMMV disclaimer applies. In no order:

— real hot ghoul shit – by @tadpoleeater

WIP. Rio's finally done pursuing. Agatha's been introduced to reality TV. It's hilarious with emotional gut punches – just like the show!

— one good honest kiss (and i'll be alright) – by @tadpoleeater

5 times they kissed. Messy, beautifully angsty, but hopeful at the end.

— now I understand, and it’s time to leave the woods – by @paddingtonfan69

Romantic, moving, absolutely heartbreaking, while also silly at times. This second chapter has perhaps my favourite backstory scenes.

— you’re here, there’s nothing I fear – by @paddingtonfan69

Titanic fic. Rio and Agatha chance upon each other on Rio's work trip. That iceberg is really inconvenient.

— you'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you – by @alilbitgaywrites

WIP. A fix-it fic but it's going to hurt a lot before it gets better. Also some of my favourite backstory scenes. The banter, the tragedy, the beauty, the heartbreak.

— you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me – by @alilbitgaywrites

For more fluff and less angst (there's still angst, it's these two of course there is). Rio wants a vacation but Agatha can't stop summoning her to her crime scenes.

— primal night – by Palmarion

AU. Rio is death, Agatha is human and they meet one Halloween night at Rio's bar. Nicky happens unexpectedly. A comforting romantic story.

— coven of chaos – by @trickofthelights

WIP. Crack but taken so seriously and written fantastically well. Rio/Agatha/Wanda and their very weird found family. Everyone lives!

— death is no parenthesis – by @littledata

WIP. This time it's Rio who's stuck in a spell and Agatha is the one doing the nudging. Too bad about the creepy dreams of death.

— A Wretched Soul – by @motherconfessors

WIP. Porn with plot... with a side of food? Agatha makes a new deal with Rio so she can get her purple back. What Rio's asking for is surprising.

— how the dead walk – by obsetress

Ghost!porn with plot. Agatha and Rio have a messy reconciliation. Ghost sex is really tricky, especially when feelings are involved.

— because i could not stop for death (she kindly stopped for me) – by shy_one

WIP. Their many meetings over the centuries, over numerous misdeeds and murders. A dark, beautiful, epic journey.

— the path ahead – by @a-couple-of-notes

A happier canon-divergent ending. Jen opens a school for witches, her remaining coven members return to help. Charming and hopeful and healing.

— Rabbit Heart – by @sapphoshands

Post-finale scenes featuring our favourite Señor Scratchy.

[gem-de-lune]

Flash Reading: SM's Statement on Seunghan

No intro lesgo aorry if there is any typos this was a very emotion heavy read and all the members are freaking tf out.

READ THE VIBE CHECK 11/15 PRIOR TO THIS READING FOR CONTEXT: HERE

How does Riize feel/what are they doing?

Do you recognize this Page of Cups? Yes. This was literally just in my Full Moon Reading regarding how this Moon was affecting Riize or rather their ultimate interaction with SM. They are going to make their emotions and intentions on this matter very very clear probably unexpectedly on SM's side. The 7 of Swords indicates they were blindsided, and the 10 of swords in this deck indicate they are overwhelmed with this feeling of being "put down". Idk how to describe this perfectly but it's like when you are so full of absolute outrage all you can do is stomp over to the person and literally seethe as you feel like you are being ignored.

How does Seunghan feel?

The Moon + Strength + The Hermit

Does he want this?

The Devil

Bro wants to hide away completely. He isnt sure what to feel. He was not blinsided here and he knew. But in classic Libra fashion he has been told what his options are and wanted to see if he could try. He is regretting it already knowing what he will have to do all alone by himself. He does not want to be a soloist. He is scared. He is barely managing to keep himself subdued. As I read this i am almost tearing up. He tried lying multiple times during the reading and If you read the way I do for individuals you know what I mean because you end up feeling what they are feeling physically and the cards don't make sense.

Anyways, he is so so so low in confidence rn. He at a point felt like it was kind of SM to even offer a solo debut, but now he knows its really a death sentence and strategy they are using to save Riize. He wants to help Riize, but he also did not want this outcome. I am so so sick to my stomach reading this bc he is so so sad and so so riddled with anxiety and fear of not knowing what will happen.

What will SM do in Response?

Knight of Swords

Extra pulls that flew out when asking for clarification and if their statement would be retracted

The Magician (flew) + King of Cups (fell out and didnt notice until i move my hand)

Recognize this Knight again? Yes this is the card pulled in Vibe Check for the full moon saying swift action will be taken. With the Magician and King of Cups we are seeing someone with the power and tools to do so taking action on the matter. With the King of cups we are actually seeing an ounce of empathy and understanding on a fundamental level (shocking).

But the fact that the Page of Cups for Riize and the Knight of Swords for SM literally showed up here is NOT a coincidence. It means this is all a part of the plan to turn things around unexpectedly.

Bottom of the deck:

The High Priestess

YALL IDK HOW CLEARER I CAN BE

She is saying to trust your intuition and follow that path with every ounce of your being. My intuition is telling me this isn't the end and the truth, and what is right will prevail. There is absolutely no better indication of that than the Priestess. If you have any ounce of intuition you KNOW what is happening right now and you KNOW what is right. Follow that feeling.

This is not the end. SM is trying to console people because they SEE the numbers, and they don't like it. This is the sale pity party prize they gave Lucas. I, for one, have had enough of their antics. This is where it stops. Do. Not. Fall. For. This.

[naamahdarling]

Pretty much everything about this is accurate, except SSI is a federal program overseen by the Social Security administration along with SSDI. SSI is the much more restrictive one, and it's a nightmare. I don't qualify for SSDI because I've never worked. I've never been able to. I'm fucking disabled. And yet, instead of supporting people who have never been able to work, who are by definition more vulnerable than people who can, they fuck us extra hard, and they really like it.

Right now the maximum SSI payment for one person is $943 a month.

They expect you to live on $11,316 a year. That is well beneath the federal poverty level, and the federal poverty level is already ludicrously fucking low.

Because nobody can actually live on under a thousand dollars a month long-term while living alone, one inevitably ends up breaking the rules somehow. Whether that's having to create a fundraiser for medical expenses, someone giving you money to put towards home repairs, whatever, everybody winds up needing a chunk of money all at once, sometime. It's unsustainable, and if you are forced into it, it is an absolutely miserable way to live. It's the only way you can survive, but you can't really live. They deduct 100% of "unearned income" from your benefits, which is pretty much any money that does not come from a job. If your friend wants to cover a $70 bill for you, legally, they have to hand you $1013 to make up for the money Social Security will take away from you. Money from a job is only counted against you by 50%. If you make and sell things on an occasional basis, but if it isn't your official job, and you aren't doing it for a registered business, and you aren't yourself either a registered business or keeping records and filing taxes, and withholding taxes from yourself at a self-employed rate, they don't count it as earned income. It doesn't matter how fucking hard you worked to make that thing or do that thing. You didn't earn it. They have no interest in it letting anybody be self-sufficient while on their programs, let alone helping them. You either take what they give you and go fuck yourself, or you don't sign up at all and go fuck yourself, but with slightly less money and a lot more dignity. I wish to fuck I could afford to go off it. I don't know where the shit I would get over $900 a month, though. If I could do that, I wouldn't be fucking disabled.

Not to be a complete downer or trigger anybody, but I am pretty sure that the only way this ends is with me killing myself when I get old enough or sick enough to go into a care facility, because if that happens, the care facility gets all but $50 of my benefits. I get to keep that $50, though. So fucking generous.

By the way, if you are hospitalized for too long, they consider that as you getting room and board elsewhere, and they slash your benefits the entire duration of your stay. Never mind that you have a whole entire other house or apartment, and the bills don't stop coming just because you aren't there. They will fully fuck you.

They have restrictions on what kinds of belongings you can have, yes. They understand that people may have wedding or engagement rings, which are never counted against you, they understand that you may have jewelry with sentimental value that you inherited, they understand that you may have some items that you have a personal connection to. But because they don't want you hiding money by buying up jewelry, precious stones, valuable coins, that kind of thing, they don't like you having that kind of thing. If it isn't functional, and isn't a thing they could reasonably deem sentimental, they really, really want you to get rid of it.

You can't put money aside for an emergency fund unless it is under $2,000, which isn't likely to be enough to fix a major disaster.

If they would simply remove the penalty for being married, things would get a lot better really quickly for a lot of people. But who fights for that? Who actually shows up?

Where are the equal marriage rights people now? They put the chairs on the tables and turned out the lights the minute the outcome of Obergefell v. Hodges was announced, and all the attractive gays were photographed against their pride flag backdrops, tastefully kissing for the covers of newspapers and magazines. Everybody ran a victory lap, and instead of rallying behind those of us who weren't covered by the ruling, they sat down and planned their cute weddings.

They ditched us. I personally actually never saw a single word, in any magazine, or newspaper, or on any news show, about people like me, despite disabled queers being a very large part of the queer population.

I just want to live. I want to live a normal life with the same access to the same rights everybody else has. I want to be able to get married, so that my only legal marriage isn't one that ended really badly. I want to get married so that we have all of the protections that married people have, without having to draw up a bunch of paperwork that may not even be respected when it's needed. I want to be able to have hobbies, take classes, maybe have a job two days a week that doesn't functionally pay under minimum wage because the shit-sucking government takes half of what I make. I want to be able to save up for emergencies. I want to be able to take money from people legally when there is a crisis. I don't want to have to hold myself separate not just from the person that I love, but from entire areas of life that other people take for granted and which are denied to people like me. Not by making them illegal, no, you can pretty much do whatever you want while you're on SSI. They actually don't outright stop you from doing all that much. They just fucking hold it against you until you either knuckle under or quit the program.

This is why I didn't lose my shit at the results of the election. It was several days before I figured it out. And then I realized it just didn't feel new. Other people I know felt shocked and betrayed, other people I know simply didn't understand how this can happen, I've been used to people not giving a fuck about me for 15 years. Yes, this is going to be very bad for people like me, the upcoming shitstorm doesn't feel like as much of a change for me as it seems to for other people. And frankly, if they gutted Social Security completely and I lost my benefits, I would be absolutely terrified, but a huge part of me would just be relieved. And maybe if that happened, something that affects people on both sides of the political spectrum, people might finally start to care. I don't subscribe to the let it all burn thing, leaving harm reduction, and in doing the thing that has a chance to slow things down. That isn't my style and it makes me pretty queasy. But I have to say, I'm starting to understand.

I'm so fucking tired.

[yuri-is-online]

Now I wanna know how Grim ranks the second years. Also I'm in pain from wisdom teeth removal

oh dear I have heard that really hurts, I hope you are ok!

The Great Grim's OFFICIAL Tier List: Take 2 (do not steal)

Riddle- 3/10. Grim likes Riddle a lot, but not in a "hench human should date him" sort of way. If Grim had the ability to understand dating beyond thinking it's cringe he would tell you he is concerned about how Riddle handles conflict and what that would mean for your relationship. He wants you to be with someone who will give you space to relax, and Rampaging Riddle isn't the best at that. Unfortunately, Grim isn't that articulate so he just says he thinks he's too short.

Ruggie- 6.5/10. Ruggie isn't someone Grim hates exactly? Sure you dating someone rich would be nice because then he could get better tuna, but the rich guys on this campus are kind of scary... the real problem with Ruggie is that he expects Grim to do his share of the work. And he isn't shy about how cute he thinks Grim's insistence that he is the one in charge, that stupid laugh will start haunting his dreams. At least the cooking is worth it.

Azul- 7/10. Grim knows he shouldn't trust Azul but he does sort of... look he likes what the sleazy Tako is selling alright? And once that sell starts turning towards a romantic relationship with you he will absolutely be a little shit trying to wing man for him with you. It's sort of pathetic watching how they interact, both of them are convinced they are outsmarting the other but really the only person who is winning here is you.

Jade- I am so happy for your ugly ass boyfriend/10. Grim would be very happy if Jade tripped and fell into a ditch somewhere. Unfortunately Jade is an eel so he would probably just swim out of it right back into your arms and fake cry about it. If he wasn't so scary he'd be a 0.

Floyd- 9/10. Grim and Floyd sort of get along? Or at least I think so, Floyd likes Grim and likes hanging out with him and Yuu. He's the most likely out of the octotrio to actually bribe Grim without some sort of trick or gimmick because he finds it funny to see just how many things the baby seal will eat. He misses a point because Grim doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of being perfect but that's ok, Floyd knows the truth c: (he's delulu)

Kalim- 9.5/10. Grim thinks Kalim is kind of stupid and keeps trying to feed him crackers, so he is a half point away from perfect but! Kalim has no problems spoiling Grim which is good enough for him. Most of the time, if he didn't have money Grim would have so many questions.

Jamil- 20/10. Jamil is cringey but he can cook. I think Grim probably would be happiest in the long run with the more "normal" guys and Jamil would probably end up being his favorite. He gets to eat good food, and while Jamil would still want him to work... work isn't something Jamil wants to govern his entire life so Grimmy would be very happy with Yuu's choice.

Silver- meh/10. I don't think Grim understands the appeal of someone like Silver tbh. If anything I think his blunt kuudere swagger scares the hoes, which includes Grim. Sure, Silver is pretty, but he also says some pretty fucking dumb things that make Grim wonder if he needs to be the smart one. Normally he'd love that but ah. He is starting to feel rather unqualified all of a sudden for some reason, are you sure you like this guy? What standard is he meeting exactly and can you maybe reconsider...

[sandwitchstories]

Full House

It will probably be quite a while before I write about the full family, but I wanted to share some of my silly little thoughts and see what you guys think. So.... Talk to me, goose!

For more adventures with Mouse and Dad!Sukuna, check out my Daddy Duty Series on my AO3 - Here! )

To read these headcannons on AO3 please click here !

Summary: Some of my random head canon's about Mouse's future siblings and their hijinks (thoughts and prayers for Uraume)

WC: 800+

CW: Reader referred to as Mama but not described, new siblings, Dad!sukuna, dilf sukuna, family fluff, SFW, toddler dad Sukuna, girl dad!sukuna, boy dad!sukuna, true form Sukuna (4 arms),

Blue Bow divider by : @thecutestgrotto

You and Sukuna ended up with three kids. That was it. You hit three and you were done. He was done. Uraume had been done. Three was the magic number. 

Your first child - Mouse - the adorable pinkette with audacity and charm who says ‘please and thank you’ after many things because she believes she cannot get in trouble if she is using her manners. She’s a wild child and she’s mischievous, but she does listen most of the time.

Your second child - Monkey - While he favors Sukuna in looks, that thick head of hair is the exact same color as yours. He is softer spoken than his sister and while he is not into everything because he is mischievous, he is into everything because he is curious and has one of those minds that thrives on taking things apart and understanding them. He’s a sweet little bookworm who tends to listen better than his big sister. Maybe someday he’ll rub off on her.

Your third child - Squirrel - Without the extra eyes and limbs, he is Sukuna’s absolute mini-me. He is outspoken and will stand his ground to literally anyone. He is into everything for the sheer sake of being into everything. He has absolutely no back down, no chill - just absolute chaos hidden behind chubby cheeks and a deceitfully angelic smile. In short, he is a walking middle finger. (I mentioned he is Sukuna’s Mini-me, right?)

Mouse was the one to give Monkey his nickname. It happened to be the very first time she met him.

“Hello baby! What’s his name, Mama?” Mouse leaned over to look at the baby. She had been asking for a name for weeks but you and Sukuna still had not decided. 

“We still haven’t decided yet,” you smiled, exhausted after the events of the day. You laid there with Sukuna at your side, Mouse in his lap poking her baby brother gently as you held him in your arms. You felt whole and at peace.

Mouse giggled as the baby grabbed onto her finger and made small noises. “Hmmm… He grabbed my hand and he’s got a lotta hair! He’s got long fingers and big eyes! Like a monkey!”

Sukua chuckled, “You wanna call your little brother Monkey, huh?

Mouse grinned and nodded at him, “Yeah, he looks like a monkey! A very cute monkey!”

“Then that’s what we’ll call him” Sukuna grinned, kissing his daughter's head as he reached over another hand to run his thumb over his son’s small head.

“No, absolutely not.” you said firmly, not even entertaining that idea.

“Not for his legal name. I am not cruel to my own children. Just his nickname, like she is Mouse. He is Monkey.”

You sighed, and looked down at the baby in your arms who now had his older sister hovering over his face calling his nickname softly in a funny voice. You knew then that you had already lost this battle. At least she is using her indoor voice.

You closed your eyes and rested your head back on your pillows. You turned your head to face Sukuna and opened your eyes. You smirked at him and said, “It’s better than Precious Three, I guess.” Sukuna was never living that one down. (a throwback to Precious Two)

Monkey loves to learn. Anything. He just loves to learn. Because of the fact that he is calmer, quieter and a better listener than his sister, Uraume allows him to help her cook. He was about 3 the first time you came into the kitchen and saw Uraume and him making rice cakes together. Uraume paused the food preparation for just a moment. They met your gaze head on and said with a straight face, “We can keep this one.” 

Monkey has a way with animals. Neither you nor Sukuna nor Uraume can explain it, but animals are just drawn to him. This includes other non human beings. 

Monkey befriended a 5 tailed Kitsune taking refuge in a shaded corner of your yard. He kept sneaking outside to sleep with it. About the 4th time you had to go outside and get him you told the damn thing to just come inside. And that is how your sweet summer child got you to adopt a 500 year old yokai. 

Welcome to the family, Tuna the kitsune!  (Neither you nor Sukuna had any idea why they chose that name, but it was a unanimous decision among the 3 of them and that was miracle enough for you both to roll with it. Always choose your battles wisely.)

Squirrel is called squirrel because he makes giant leaps from well, everything, and is easily distracted. 

It took exactly one time telling Squirrel to ask for things ‘nicely’ for that to become his version of ‘please and thank you.’ “Mama, up. Nicely!”

Squirrel who, as far as your two boys go, inherited all of his father’s agility has been caught numerous times trying to scale his way over the estate walls like a lizard. 

Squirrel is obsessed with rhinoceros beetles and frogs. He regularly tries to smuggle them in to keep as pets. 

You have watched this child stand physically toe to toe with his father, arms folded across his chest in an exact mirror of Sukuna, giving the giant man back his own mean mug more times than you can count. Obstinance, thy name is Squirrel. 

[naamahdarling]

You should see it. It isn't worth the risk of not seeing it if it's something that you might even remotely enjoy. Especially based on what one person says, no matter how much you admire or trust them.

He can dislike it, but if the unicorn had been buddy-movie grateful, disney-movie emotional, it would have been a very different, very shallow, MUCH worse movie. Like just, really really bad.

She's not bitchy or catty or cruel, she literally does not understand humans or their drive or their big emotions. She doesn't feel love, she doesn't feel regret. She doesn't have ambition, she doesn't desire or benefit from change. She barely wants anything. She's complete by herself. She is content.

She can't be ungrateful unless you expect what is essentially a...a kind of immortal spirit, a place, a forest in the shape of a creature, to be in any way at all human. She can't be a deity, that's an extremely human concept, but she is not a normal living thing in any regard whatsoever.

The entire point of the movie is change, and truth. Front to back, it is change and truth, and the destruction of illusions, and surviving it, and the toll that takes, and the gifts it can bring. It's full of tremendous and intense, unthinkable, incomprehensible, destructive, renewing, life-altering change. And also truth, and the unraveling of illusions, which are everywhere in the narrative, and are almost always dangerous, or hiding something that is.

The unicorn unravels everything around her by being the catalyst for change, and it is incredibly destructive. Things come apart around her. It leads to good things, usually, but it breaks everything first.

She changes on the road, she learns to care about humans enough to help them, to save their lives, and that is very much an expression of gratitude.

She just doesn't care about the wizard questing for greatness. It is irrelevant. Glory is useless. And she's right.

She doesn't experience a fundamental alteration of her nature until she is forcibly changed against her will to survive, and it is not a positive change. It ruins her. It is a tremendous trauma that leaves her empty and broken, and eventually, partly and unnaturally human. She keeps losing what she was, and it is tragic and painful to watch. Why would she be grateful for that? She wishes she had died.

She finally develops something like love, but only after she has forgotten much of what she was. Then she desperately grasps onto it as something to replace what she lost.

Her encroaching humanity is killing what she was (her first response to being human was absolute visceral terror at having a mortal, and thus actively dying, body) a trauma response that allows her to survive, to hide. An illusion.

Love is an attempt to make peace with it all, and it is beautiful enough, but also empty. You are never meant to cheer for it. Only feel for them both. It's a sticking point for some people that the romance isn't done well. It isn't meant to feel right. They leaned on it a little hard in the movie, the book does it better, but it was a "kids' movie" (it isn't) so that was a little inevitable.

Change destroys everything, and it breaks everything.

At the end, when she changes back, who is it she appears to, to acknowledge what happened? And who is it she visits and touches and loves and says goodbye to? She is grateful.

The movie/book does exactly what it set out to do, and I have to say that I don't necessarily trust the judgment of people who dismiss it out of hand.

Yes, I saw it young, in the theater, so I imprinted, but it has been a radically different movie at different parts of my life. I've identified with every character in different phases of my life, so it has had the depth to stand up to easily over a hundred viewings by a half dozen versions of myself. I know people have their issues with the style of animation which, whatever, I think it's gorgeous and I also don't consider that a reason to dismiss an otherwise good movie or show (I really dislike the animation style of Gravity Falls, actually, it bores the crap out of me, but that isn't the point). But the story itself is not like anything else I've ever seen.

If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. But wanting her to be grateful and kind is...really super duper extremely not the point, and would actually be antithetical to it and ruin the story as it is. And it's missing the ways she expresses those things. If that's what you take away, that she is somehow morally deficient, you literally did not understand it, or you haven't seen it, or you have a take so radically divergent from mine I am probably incapable of understanding it.

It is so, so good.

Following the author of The Last Unicorn on Facebook is the only thing that makes being on that site worthwhile.

(source)

[system-of-a-feather]

hi, i have been thinking about the topic of fusion, and what i want my long-term goals to be, and i was wondering. do you ever feel like being fused is exhausting? not the process of fusion, i know thats exhausting because healing is exhausting. but like. do you ever feel overwhelmed due to being all parts of yourself at once? i havent experienced any fusions yet (hopefully in the future!) but ive seen people talk about how even when fused, none of the parts disappear but instead are all part of the "you" that always exists. my only frame of reference for how that feels for myself is blendy cofronting, which in my experience can be pleasant with 2 or 3 parts, but any more than that gets overwhelming and disorienting

Actually? Surprisingly? No. Not really at all honestly. The funny thing is that I used to wonder the same thing so I absolutely understand the frame of reference and perspective and assumptions that go with it, but its extremely comfortable and LOW energy to be fused for me.

The actual thing that happens is that you don't really get that "too many parts in front" fatigue like... ever or fronting fatigue like ever - at least thats how it is for me.

I relax a whole fuck ton better as a fused whole and while a lot of fusion still has me having to learn my new / fused "me" and how I operate on a baseline, thats an entirely different thing than trying to balance all the differing and contrasting parts or trying to understand and negotiate that because like... They are all simultaneously me and I VERY freely and fluidly exist as and between all of them. There isn't really "compromise" I have to make because.... we just co-exist harmoniously as one without even needing to explicitly talk about it or discuss or put intention into coming to a shared understanding, we just... do and know and its really really really really fucking easy living as a fused whole compared to being multiple parts

Like even if you were to ask me just as ONE part versus how I am now, there is not a single part in our system that has ever actually been so comfortable and so not-fatigued existing as I am as a whole

Everythings a lot more balanced, managable and our window of tolerance is STUPID fucking large - and I don't mean that in a "relative to where we used to be" or "relative to someone with as much trauma as I do" but genuinely STUPIDLY huge compared to most generally neurotypical non-traumatized not-severely-mentally ill people and I largely thank that to Post Traumatic Growth honestly.

But like... tldr, not really at all for me surprisingly. Maybe really early post fusion when I was still figuring myself out a lot but like.... Thats more so the process of fusing than being fused itself imo.

(Side note edit: Sometimes I DO think itd be better to explore a situation and issue as independent parts and so sometimes I DO operate in a more system / plural way of existing for however long its beneficial, but thats less to do with fusion not helping me as much as it is that I think a plural lens and perspective has a lot of perks in navigating complicated situations.)

Anyways tagging a few others who might have a different answer / perspective on this since they are either in a different stage of a fusion / integration and/or have a different way of existing with their fused / integrated state than me.

@hiiragi7 @reimeichan @subsystems

[teecupangel]

OK, I know we got a few Star Wars crossover AUs here already, but like

What if Desmond gets reborn into Star Wars as a Zabrak? Specifically a female Dathomirian Zabrak. I say female cause the female Dathomirian's learn force stuff while the males are little more then slaves and do not learn force stuff- they're more warriors though.

Let's have Desmond be younger the Obi-wan but Older then Anakin here.

Desmond was old enough to have remembered his time in Dathomir, learning the very basics of Nightsister's magic and culture before, for some reason or another, he was taken off planet, and not long later, gets taken in by the Jedi due to his force Sensitivity. So about older then 3 but younger then 6 cause, if I remember, 6 years old is the oldest they may take a child in or af least the species' equivalent to 6.

I mention Desmond learning basic Nightsister magic cause, among the things Nightsister's are able to do, they can conjure up spirits of ancestors and other night sister's and such. And with Desmond being Desmond, despite only being taught basics, let's say he's oddly adept in spirit conjuring without even needing the Ichor Dathomir has. Meaning, Desmond summons his ancestors from his previous life, and their presence in general would cause confusion and chaos among the Nightsister even, maybe warrant Desmond being sent away? Unsure how or why he's away from Dathomir.

Least to say, the Jedi having to deal with a child born with Dark Side influences with their clearly Force Ghost they can summon- which, none of them can even understand them but can see the fact they are a good influence and, very reluctantly, do not do anything about Desmond's ancestors as he calls them.

Just- The Force pushing Desmond to interfere with the future events of the galaxy, first being him befriending Obi-Wan around the time Obi-wan is still new to being a Padawan and Desmond's on his way to obtaining his first lightsaber. Maybe they meet at the Archives cause Altair insisted Desmond to read as much stuff as he can.

We might have to mess up the timeline a bit but the reason Desmond was pushed out of the clan could be because the current Mother, Talzin, realized that Desmond is too rigid in certain ways.

They have no qualms with a sister who prefers to be called ‘he’. He was more gifted than most and, whatever he lacked, he makes up through sheer willpower and guile.

His moral compass isn’t black and white but there are certain aspects to it that do appear… impregnable.

It’s because of Desmond’s moral compass that the mother knew he would never agree to siding with Darth Sidius.

In fact, Desmond would absolutely lead them to a civil war if he learns of what Darth Sidius had done just to stop the clan from assisting the Sith Lord and then he’d definitely try to kill Darth Sidius himself.

Talzin knew the child enough to know that he would destroy the stability she was preserving if he remained with them.

But…

Desmond was also one of her most precious students. An orphan she had taken in and nurtured, answered every questions and trained personally.

She cannot kill him even if she knew that it was better than he died here, before he could reach greater magic than she herself could.

So she banishes him, made up some pathetic excuse.

And he didn’t call her out to it.

He didn’t try to plead his innocence.

It was unnerving.

The child knew that he was being banished by the one person that raised him as her own.

And it was like he was expecting it.

No.

That wasn’t right.

It was like…

He didn’t know it was going to happen but, now that it did, he wasn’t surprised by it.

As if it was a given that his mother would leave him.

They sent him in a merchant ship that would tell him about each planet they’d visit and he can leave at any time.

If he wanted to, he can work for the merchant ship and learn the trades.

Talzin believed that he would do well, whatever he turned out to be.

So when she heard of a nightsister wearing the robes of a Jedi…

When she saw a hologram of Desmond, older and composed…

Melding the Force and their magic fluently to destroy all who stand before him with the calmness of a Jedi and the merciless of a Nightsister.

She knew…

It was only a matter of time before he returned to them…

To pass judgment upon the people who abandoned him.

[visualtaehyun]

Hii sorry I absolutely just spammed your inbox with notifs 🫣 you're doing God's work with the Thai language meta, I love it because I speak zero Thai and reading your posts makes me feel like I understand those characters a little better 💕 also I saw that you're into pronouns and I wanted to ask, if you have some time - do you have any favorite pronouns, terms of endearment or in general ways to address someone that you particularly like? If you don't feel like answering it's cool! We can just pretend I wasn't here lmao

Hiii~ Lemme just say right out of the gate- I love your ask so much 🥹 And I'm always delighted whenever I spot someone clearly reading several of my posts in a row so don't even worry about spamming me or anything hehe

On to your question-

so many

I'm probably most partial to หนู /nuu/ but I'm fond in general of a lot of affectionate or sweet ways to address someone younger because I'm already fond of this in my first language, German :) (This isn't gonna make sense if you don't know any German lol but for example- I call my younger sister 'Hase' and will call kids 'Maus', one of my older colleagues likes to call us others stuff like 'Zarte', 'Kleine', 'Zartes Reh' (this woman is adorable), and my grandma calls me 'Liebes' or 'Kind'.)

Apart from หนู /nuu/, there's น้อง [name] /nong/ [name] which I love!! I remember how warm it felt to hear my great-uncle's wife who's Thai say กินเยอะๆนะลูก /gin yuh yuh na, luuk/ (=Eat a lot, child) while putting another serving of her homecooked food on my plate. I coo every time a parent character on a show drops a surprise animal nickname for their child like ลูกหมา /luuk maa/ (= puppy), ลูกหมี /luuk mee/ (=baby bear), ลูกแมว /luuk maaeo/ (=kitten). And while we're on the topic of animal comparisons- I think the word บ้อกแบ้ก/บ๊อกแบ๊ก /beok baek/ (=akin to 'pupper', someone cute with the vibes or energy of a doggo) is so cute and descriptive!

Then there's two habits I see often that both make for cute pet names: 1) doubling and 2) shortening. 1) Taking one syllable or word and doubling it makes it so cute! Like when fans call P'Zee พึกพึก /pheuk pheuk/, from his first name Pruk พฤกษ์ /phreuk/, when he's behaving like the cute but cheeky little brother he is at heart 😂 Or the nicknames Khanin and Charan give each other in The Next Prince novels, first jokingly to get on each other's nerves but later lovingly: อั่งอั๊ง /ang ang/ and ดื่อดื้อ /deuu deuu/ from 'uncle' and ดื้อ /deuu/ (=misbehaving, stubborn, naughty). 2) I see this mostly with originally English words for some reason? For example บี๋ /bee/, shortened from 'baby', and มี๊ /mee/, shortened from 'mommy' which is how a lot of Thai fans are called and call themselves.

And then we've got the funny ones! I love a good register-mixing, like Tan in We Are going คุณมึงครับ /khun meung khrap/ (=kinda like- "Mr. Dude, sir?"). And the word ควาย /khwaai/ (=lit. buffalo; idiot) will always, without fail, make me laugh! Most recently, on Apple My Love Natty calls Kris อีควายน้อย /ee'khwaai noi/ (=lit. you little buffalo; you little idiot).

Lastly, a special shoutout to คนเก่ง /khohn geng/ and คนดี /khohn dee/ which I find kinda hard to translate because 'talented one/person' and 'good person', respectively, just don't have the same sweet ring to it as the Thai! Especially when a character says it to their loved one like คนเก่งของพี่ /khohn geng khaawng phi/ (=my talented one) 🥰

Sorry I took so long to reply and now my answer's a ramble and a half slsdjkskls Thank you so much for this fun question though~ I highly encourage anyone who reads this to reply with their own personal favorite terms of endearment, no matter the language ✨

[eimearkuopio]

I didn't know it was a trilogy of songs until just before I lost my head. I put the first and third ones on my playlist for Catholicism.

(That one is for former enemies. Not the church as a whole, but there's at least one person this very much applies to.)

And of course the absolute banger released with perfect timing that I hope every senior religious person in the world gets to hear on a loop:

As for me? Another perfectly timed release of a banger:

Rambling about past month or so behind the cut.

Nobody else believed I would come back from what I was going through the whole time. But for me, I'd been through worse before with much less support. I once spent a month hiding in my brother's apartment playing video games and eating take-out. I'd lost too many people too fast to do anything else. I spent a month in second year of undergrad completely fallen apart, and nobody noticed - or if they noticed, they couldn't find a way to help that wasn't haranguing me into studying. People are amazed that I'm doing so much better in "so little" time, and it's because they never noticed how fucked up I always was. In their eyes, I was too perfect to have disabilities, to need extra support. My husband loves me enough to have held out hope that I could get better, because he knew full well that I was always a mess under the skin. I'm so grateful for him. He's the reason I bothered sticking around. And it fucking sucks that I'm still a mess, but I'm going to keep trying. For him. For us. We're worth it. But how did the whole world fail to pull through when I worked hard so to come back to it? Is this the best the world can do? I never have to feel responsible for the fate of the world again, because whatever I was supposed to do, I did to the best of my ability, and now I just need to do my best for me and my special loved ones. But I can't understand why the world turned out the way it did. People didn't think we would make it this far, and I can't understand why history keeps repeating itself...

Watch this guy who just played Portal for the first time absolutely lose his mind at the end credits song

[silamander]

People who hate Joker and want to see him gone for good are so funny to me because they clearly don't understand why Joker is so important to the Batman mythos and why he's Batman's arch nemesis.

It's the duality that makes them interesting. And the fact that Joker is right in the sense that one bad day made the two of them who they are.

Joker is nihilism incarnate, he believes that life is one bad joke and that deep down everyone is capable of being just like him, they just have to be broken down to the point of no return. He believes it's humanity and the corrupt system it created that caused him to become who he is. So he doesn't feel bad about the horrible things he does because in his twisted mind it's all just a game, and it's what they deserve. Joker believes Batman is just as insane as he is, and he's not entirely wrong. To be the living embodiment of a strict form of justice and devoting your life to it is pretty insane. Bruce doesn't HAVE to be Batman, he's a billionaire, he can live his life any way he chooses, but he chooses to dedicate his life to his crusade.

I mean what is he? Stupid? (I'm so sorry)

But that's the thing. While Joker is the embodiment of nihilism and cynicism, Bruce is the exact opposite. Underneath the Batman persona, Bruce is a flawed, broken man who at his core is someone who doesn't want to see anyone suffer the way he's suffered, and doesn't want anyone to die if he can help prevent it. The reason he doesn't kill his worst enemies, as much as he really wants to, as insane as it is considering how it contradicts his goal of keeping Gotham safe when Arkham is quite literally a revolving door, isn't because he'd end up killing non-stop or some bullshit like that. No, the real reason is because of his parents death, Bruce believes in the absolute sacredness of human life. He believes that everyone deserves a chance to live, no matter how wicked. He believes that everyone can become a better person if they're willing to put in the work to do that, and deserves to at least try that and give them the help they need. And no matter how horrible, cursed, or doomed to forever be a city where crime will always run rampant, Bruce never backs down on this belief, and will always fight for the people of Gotham. His one true superpower isn't his gadgets, or his money, or his plot armor, it's his empathy.

But Joker can't wrap his head around this. He's so deep into his own belief that everyone is just as insane as him but doesn't want to admit it, that he can't understand why he would save anyone of Gotham's rogues, especially himself, arguably the worst of them all. So Joker makes it his mission to break Batman, and drive him insane, to prove him wrong. To prove that no one is entirely good, and can be driven to the point of no return like he was, to go down a path of anarchy and mayhem. If he can push Gothams hero to insanity, then he can prove once and for all that he is right, and he'll have the last laugh.

The duality between them is one of the most interesting things I've ever seen (when it's written well, that is). Batman and Joker are two people who are so similar, yet they act in the complete opposite way. Joker kills anyone and everyone just for a laugh. He's a sadistic, narcissistic mass murderer who lacks any empathy for anyone and wants to see the world suffer the way he's suffered. Bruce will save anyone no matter how heinous their actions are, because he's a flawed, but well-intended man who believes everyone deserves a shot at redemption. He's a man who wants to prevent the suffering of others because if he couldn't save his parents, then he can at least try and save everyone else.

They're two sides of the same coin, and that's why they need each other.

[danielmolloystits]

break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored (2/2)

Summary:

“Armand?” Lestat looks at him very seriously, then. “He has neglected you?” Daniel laughs, though there isn’t much humor in it. “That’s one fuckin’ word for it, sure.” “Oh, mon ami.” Lestat’s eyes are round and wet like an animal’s. “A prize such as yourself does not deserve this terrible treatment.” He shrugs. “You get used to it.” “No.” Lestat grabs one of Daniel’s hands in both of his own, making such intense eye contact with the journalist that it starts to grow uncomfortable. “You deserve better. You must understand this.” “Okay,” Daniel agrees, shifting a little in his seat. Anything to move past this point in the interaction. “I deserve better.” “Good,” Lestat says, nodding resolutely to himself. “This is why you should let me fuck you.”

Pairing: M/M (Daniel/Lestat, Armand/Daniel) Rating: E WC: ~3,200

Daniel’s first thought after his climax is that Armand is going to kill him, for real this time, and his cock is still going to be twitching from the aftershocks when he does.

He thinks it’s probably indicative of something deeply, deeply wrong with him that it makes a spark of renewed arousal alight in his gut.

Quietly, he scrambles to pull his boxers and t-shirt back on. The other two vampires don’t appear to notice.

“Lestat,” Armand says, voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever. And, wow, Daniel really gets what Louis meant when he’d described this expression as ‘half-blank, half-apocalyptic.’ “It would be a good idea for you to leave now.”

The blond just raises an eyebrow at him, still holding Daniel in his hand, still absolutely covered in the mess Daniel made. “Can you not see that I am a little bit busy here?”

Armand’s jaw is clenched so tight that Daniel can hear the creak of bone on bone. “Now.”

“My apologies, mon frère, but someone has to ravage your fledgling, and if you’re not going to do it—”

In an instant, Lestat is flung off of the bed and into the wall at speed, the plaster buckling from the force of the impact. Daniel is grateful, suddenly, that their team sprung for a nice hotel; if this were a Motel 6, Lestat would be clean into the next room, easy.

“Guess we’re not getting our deposit back,” He says, because he can’t help himself. Because he’s never had even an ounce of self-preservation. Armand’s eyes cut to him briefly, his irises vibrating like a dragonfly’s wings, and Daniel’s stomach bottoms out. Mostly from fear.

Lestat, meanwhile, huffs a pained laugh and stands. “Well, I can see when I’m not wanted,” he says, his hands spreading in a gesture of appeasement. “Monsieur Molloy, do you mind if I borrow your room for the evening?”

Wordlessly, Daniel tosses him the key card.

“Merci, darling.” Lestat bows, then begins to take his leave. He pauses, however, as he passes by Armand, swiping two fingers through the stickiness that decorates his cheek and presenting them to the other vampire. “Parting gift?”

A muscle above Armand’s lip spasms in an aborted snarl.

“Fine then,” Lestat says with a shrug, popping the digits into his mouth instead and grinning once they’ve been sucked clean. “More for me.”

Then, he exits, closing the door soundly behind him, and Daniel and Armand are alone together for the first time since...well, since.

“So,” Daniel says, drawing out the vowel sound sarcastically as he sits up against the headboard. “The last time my dad walked in on me with a boy was a pretty long while ago—I forget, are you supposed to ground me now, or do we just pretend it didn’t happen and never bring it up again?”

Armand opens his mouth to speak, but Daniel doesn’t let him.

“Or is this more of an infidelity situation? Because I’m gonna be honest with you, Armand: I didn’t realize we were together. On account of how you fucked off immediately after turning me.”

“You’re angry with me,” Armand says, and it’s insane how quickly he melts from predator back into prey, all slumped shoulders and big, wobbly doe eyes.

“You think?”

The other vampire isn’t meeting his gaze, his own fixed somewhere on Daniel’s cheek like he can’t bear to look straight at him. “I didn’t want you to hate me. For what I did to you.”

“And you thought abandoning me to figure this shit out by myself was a good way to prevent that?” He asks, incredulous. “News flash, Amadeo: it wasn’t.”

“I’m here now,” Armand points out—hopeful, fragile, as though he’s afraid the words will shatter in his mouth if he isn’t careful.

“Yeah, and why is that?” Daniel asks, lacing it with all the righteous indignation he can muster. But despite his best efforts, he finds himself losing steam in the face of Armand’s complete and utter supplication. “Don’t tell me it’s because you’re into me.”

The other vampire finally looks at him head-on, his eyes piercing straight through to the core of Daniel. To the knot of uncomfortable, complicated feelings that sits just beneath his breast. “Is it really so difficult to believe?”

“Kind of,” He says, reflexively shifting under the weight of Armand’s stare. It’s ridiculous, he thinks, how easily the man sets him off-kilter. How easily he comes in and turns Daniel’s life upside down, as though it’s nothing to him.

Armand stalks towards him slowly, then, managing to appear at once like the nervous rabbit and the cat hunting it from the bushes. Like both the thing to be eaten and the one doing the eating, like both the consumer and the consumed. He approaches the bed until he arrives at the edge of the mattress, sitting down delicately atop it and never once looking away from Daniel as he does. His expression is painfully open; achingly earnest.

“You have no idea the things I’d like to do you,” he says, and Daniel understands why he was so cautious earlier, because the words come out cracked and fractured, the edges of them sharp enough to cut.

(Belatedly, Daniel wonders when exactly his life turned into a trashy harem romance novel. He thinks that maybe he ought to be more upset about it.)

“Hard to know when you don’t tell me,” he replies, his voice a lot rougher than it was mere moments ago. It’s humiliating, he thinks, the obviousness of his desire. The fact that he even still wants the fucker after all the shit he’s put Daniel through.

Armand slides the rest of the way onto the bed, crawling forward on his knees until his body cages Daniel’s from above. His gaze falls to Daniel’s lips. “I could tell you now, if you wanted.”

And he is simply too weak to say no to that, so instead he murmurs, “Yeah,” his hand reaching up to tangle in Armand’s hair. “That might be good.”

Armand ducks his head down to lay a kiss beneath the sensitive skin of his ear. “I want to claim you,” he whispers, before dragging his tongue over the spot his lips just brushed, “I want to make you mine.”

Daniel gasps, his fingers tightening in the silky black curls. “What else?”

“I want to taste you.” As he speaks, he grazes the tips of his fangs down until they rest at his pulse point. “I want your blood to fill my mouth; I want to stain my teeth red with the very life of you. I want to memorize how it flows over my tongue.”

“Is that all?” He means it to sound cool, nonchalant, but the attempt is belied by how each exhale grows quicker and quicker with every teasing touch.

“No.” He can feel Armand’s smile pressing into his neck. “I also want to fuck you,” he starts, his hand snaking down to palm at Daniel’s hardening cock through his underwear, “until you forget the name of every other person who has ever touched you.”

Daniel moans, hips canting into the contact; Armand rewards him by firming his grip. “Okay,” he says airily, as Armand licks a filthy line back up his throat. “I can agree to those terms.”

“Say it, then,” Armand orders, stroking his thumb over where the head of Daniel’s cock tents his boxers. “Say you’ll belong to me.”

If Daniel were any less turned on right now, if the scent of Armand wasn’t filling his nose all earthy and sweet like honeyed cloves, then maybe he could respond with something snarky. Maybe he would be able to say no. As it is, he rasps, “I’m yours, Armand,” as fervent and breathless as a desperate prayer. “I’m yours.”

Armand kisses him then, hot and raging like a wildfire. It sucks the air from his lungs and replaces it with burning smoke, lights every nerve ending in his body aflame. It consumes him, destroys him, unmakes him and reduces him to smoldering ash in the shape of the man he used to be.

What happens after that is a blur, soft and surreal like a hazy memory: Armand strips Daniel and takes him into his mouth, painting over the places Lestat kissed with his tongue until his spit is all that remains. He writes his name into Daniel’s skin like a promise, like a brand, like he plans on doing it to every inch of Daniel until he’s covered in reminders of Armand’s existence.

Then, once Armand has him reduced to a wanting, whimpering mess, he pulls Daniel into the cradle of his arms, spine to sternum, and fucks into him as though he’s trying to make a home for himself in his lover’s body. As though it isn’t enough for Armand to claim his lips or his throat or his skin; he needs to mark Daniel’s insides, too, his guts and his organs and the viscera that holds him together.

When Daniel comes, Armand’s fist wrapped around him and Armand’s cock buried deep in his ass, it is a revelation. It is an epiphany. Armand follows him shortly after, clutching him close and tight and perfect.

Daniel doesn’t think he ever intends to let go again.

After Daniel’s had enough time to recover and he can be sarcastic again, he jokes, “If I had realized that fucking Lestat would bring you back, I’d have done it a lot sooner.”

Armand looks at him with an exaggerated pout. “Hm. That’s no good.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

Then, the other vampire is climbing back on top of him. In between kisses, he murmurs, “You still remember his name. We’ll have to remedy that.”

And, well. Daniel’s not about to argue with him.

[impactrueno]

I saw your twt about holding back on telling stories with serious and deep tones and it reminded me of an issue I had a while back. Im a south park fan and I loved reading deep analysis of the characters. and south park being south park, people dont take it seriously and think its just funny so it doesnt deserve deep analysis like other forms of media. I always came across comments saying "its not that deep" or "doing all of that for south park" and I used to hate that so much because why are you commenting that under the authors post? In media there is like a "spectrum" of how deep you are in it as a fan, and it doesn't make you less of a fan if you like to binge watch the show when you feel like it because its funny. Someone who makes fan fiction and psychoanalyses the characters doesnt make them a better fan than you. I hate "it's not deep" because it is that deep to me, I enjoy it, but it dismisses critical thinking and discourages deep discussions about our interests. I want to learn more about the turning point for eric cartman and the friendship dynamics between the main 4. I want to read psychoanalysis of the characters and understand why they do the things they do. I loved reading fan fics with an author that understood how the characters work and put them in situations while making it believable. Whether the content was deep and serious or lighthearted and silly. I don't see those as cringe at all. What I see as cringe is trying to downplay someones time and effort. you dont care for it. cool, just dont make it our problem.

I believe in recent years, this cringe and its not that deep mentality is linked to media literacy/reading comprehension issues. On top of the fact, that fandoms right now has been "normalized", so alot of mean and rude kids and adults are in this space not having a mature and respectful conversation and discussions, as well as zero fandom etiquette. (I understand the past wasnt this magical respectful place but this behaviour has increased compared to past years).

Please don't worry about making deep content, its super fun and there will be fans of what you write/draw that will definitely be into it.

GOSH anon you are absolutely right. cringe culture has done some serious damage to people's creativity and freedom of expression. doing things in earnest is now cringe to so many people (specifically that 18-21 age where they think they're better than everyone else and everything is cringe to them, image is everything) and they actually give you shit for it?? it's crazy. the most harmless thing in the world. whenever my hey arnold comics would leave my target audience on instagram i would get the meanest comments for no fucking reason, because i was taking hey arnold "seriously" (nevermind that hey arnold is probably the nicktoon with the most emotional depth and moments besides ginger but i digress) but hey at least i'm not the one losing my marbles over some random cartoon comic on the internet.

i think rudeness in general has been too normalized not just in fandom, but in social media in general. it's sad. the only thing you can do about it is be kind as much as you can to counterbalance it. i'd like to think that rubs off on people just like how being rude rubbed off on them.

i said that thing about holding back because i'm admittedly too hard on myself sometimes. no one is calling me cringe or making fun of me for what i do, thankfully, people have been super cool and supportive. and it means a lot to me because i'm very earnest about everything i create, even when i try to hold back. i literally cannot help being myself. it's all i know how to do. i'm just glad i was able to grow a platform where i'm free to be openly passionate about the things i like, talk about them and why i like them, the little things that i find fascinating, the emotions they make me feel, all of that shit is awesome and i wish more people did that.