#this image remains one of the most cursed i've ever created

[neonscandal]

Manga With Me: JJK Crackpot Conspiracy That Makes Little to No Difference (While Maybe Making A Big Difference)

At this point, we're all aware that I, as the nerd aunt, watch a lot of my favorite anime with my niece and nephew and, against the better judgement of most adults, that includes JJK. During this rewatch, I noticed something that sparked an Aha! moment and now we all have to suffer that together.

Unrelated since I just wanted a Mahito gif but kinda related. This gif from S2E9 shows Mahito grabbing the red dragon mahjong piece. That of benevolence. 👀

⚠️: Spoiler warning through season 2 of JJK.

Ever since finding out that there are only five more chapters to JJK, I have not known peace. Which means I need to word vomit all the things that have been bouncing around my noodle expeditiously. This hypothesis, while making little impact on the chapters that remain, is still harrowing if you think about it too much, which I clearly have so follow me down this winding path. It's a little long but may be diabolically on point.

BASIS OF KNOWLEDGE

Let's start with what we know:

Curses are formed by the negative emotions humans harbor.

There are two canonically acknowledged events that created huge shifts in the balance between sorcerers, humans, and curses: Gojo's birth as a Six Eyes and Limitless user and Sukuna's awakening when Yuji ate the first finger.

The antiquated way the jujutsu society measures power plateaus at "special grade" which puts Gojo on equal footing with Geto even though power wise they aren't comparable. This is not to call Geto weak but, instead, to show that even in high school, the power scaling was faulty and left layers of nuance out of the equation.

HOWEVER, by the time Megumi, Yuji and Nobara enter Jujutsu Tech, some curses had evolved to verbally communicate complex articulations i.e. Mahito and Jogo.

Critically, throughout my constant poring over JJK I've gone back and forth on the why this is but the truth is in the rewatch and so is the outlier. The Earth (Jogo), the Forest (Hanami) and the Sea (Dagon) are highlighted to be the product of that which humans have always feared. This is where things get interesting and ultimately disproves one of my favorite fan theories that Dagon is a manifestation of Riko Amanai after death. Ancient curses, undoubtedly Special grade given the widespread fear they're born from and constantly replenished by. Bearing that in mind and with respect to Japan being regularly devastated by natural disasters, we as the readers can infer their relative power but also surmise that it is their age and subsequent fear that they garner that would eventually evolve them to where we see them now.

If Gojo's birth or Sukuna's awakening were the precipice for this evolution, wouldn't Dagon also be a conscious, articulate curse? Even Hanami is still in a middle ground of communicative competence. Notably, this is where the theory is born.

In this moment, Mahito is pleased to call these ancient beings friends. In explaining the way of the world to Junpei, Mahito goes on to say:

"There are spirits known as Special grade potential spirits. Cursed spirits are a culmination of cursed energy leaked from humans. An image of fear shared by the masses, even if not real... can manifest as a powerful curse."

Which we know to be true but... what fear does Mahito represent to be able to rub shoulders with the likes of such insurmountable curses?

It can't be that simple, can it? We've seen the curses yielded by abandoned, spooky and collectively stressful locations like schools and they don't hold a candle to Mahito.

THE MENACE MAHITO

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Fear the day that Yuji Itadori's heart breaks because the ensuing curse or subsequent rampage... his strength has been foreshadowed to be devastating. However, our focus in this analysis recognizes all the above and hypothesizes the origin of Mahito and their inextricable link to one another.

Ideologically, Mahito and Yuji are diametrically opposed in their assessment of life. Not really a spoiler to say that in recent chapters, Yuji's own words completely contrast Mahito's understanding of the world in his curious observation of it. 💡 If you want more insight into Mahito, the first light novel has an interesting vignette into him as a character and his motives that I didn't talk about.

Following the events of season 2, Mahito has deliberately dealt three critical hits to Yuji Itadori's soul. Delights in it, in fact. Junpei, Nanami, Nobara. Out of the ensemble cast of villains, only one character is responsible for all of the most gut wrenching losses in Jujutsu Kaisen (shout out to Mechamaru for that matter, too). It should be said that Mahito's own power, manipulating souls and recognizing the boundaries therein is, in my opinion, integral to the overall story.

Especially since we know, early on, that Yuji, as Sukuna's vessel, is a bad match-up for Mahito. It isn't until recent chapters that we recognize why that is even though it's been spoonfed to us.

Mahito vs. Yuji, Mahito's attempts to transfigure Yuji have no effect except getting into Sukuna's bad graces.

After years apart, Yuji instantaneously recognizes Yuko Ozawa despite massive cosmetic changes. (Massive shout out to the dude dressed as Nanami at Risucon that I nerded out about this with at my booth.) I feel like her introduction isn't for nothing. I assumed we'd see her again because that's how JJK typically rolls but what if she's already served her purpose?

⚠️ Implied spoiler: In later battles, Yuji is able to tune into the soul of his "opponent"

WILD CARD STRETCH: There's someone else in universe who can seemingly see a person's soul and it's Gojo.

ORIGIN HYPOTHESIS

Okay so, after all this, what is the point? Mahito is an anomaly of a curse and for him to have inflicted such big name carnage in terms of the plot shouldn't be ignored either.

At the beginning, I acknowledged the two main events that caused a major shift in jujutsu society as we know it. But in truth, there's one more major event that has been intrinsically woven throughout the fabric of this story. That being the death of Riko Amanai and Gojo's subsequent transcendence.

Due to the shift caused by Gojo's power up, the volume of curses that sprung up became burdensome that summer. Causing a further divide between Gojo and Geto and, ultimately, part of the wedge that sent Geto down his path to destruction. But, if Gojo's birth caused the scales to tip... how could the universe (encompassing sorcerers, humans, and curses) restore balance from an unmitigated windfall of power?

Spawning another aberration: Mahito.

Where curses are typically a byproduct of humans and beholden, in some way, to the conditions of their negative emotions, Mahito doesn't really strike me as something specific enough to be as strong as they are without some significant origin. Jogo, Dagon and Hanami all have physical attributes that are a nod to what they hail from.

While there could be cultural nuance or lore that I don't have access to as a Western reader, Mahito's heterochromia, patchwork skin and, at times, seemingly horse-like legs don't really strike me as a well known allusion to anything else. What if that's the point? What if he's not the product of human fear or negative emotions? What if he's actually the evolution of sorcerer's negative fears and emotions as a subsequent counter balance to Gojo?

EVIDENCE

As the initial fight between Nanami and Mahito unfolds, during his extrapolation of Mahito, is it not weird that even he thinks to compare them?

JJK exposition is typically executed so nonchalantly, in conversations that go right over the reader's head... until the moment it lands. So even offhand comments here and there tend to foreshadow something or someone that becomes critical to the plot:

The Occult Club's conspiracy about spirits on the field making people sick immediately shown to be true when Megumi shows up which demonstrated an existing sensitivity to the supernatural and ultimately ties in to Yuji's gigantic reveal of a back story which suggests even if he wasn't "in the know" he was always doomed for a life in jujutsu society.

Yuji's grandfather, on his death bed, trying to explain to Yuji about his parents falling on obstinate ears. LITTLE DID WE KNOW.

Megumi mutters to himself about Maki (as "Zenin") long before she becomes a pillar in the story, comparing Yuji to her in terms of birth/power. Meanwhile, Maki is cast as a reiteration of Toji and razes hell upon the birth line that created them both (if Itafushi is next gen SatoSugu, Maki is a restorative for Toji).

Megumi talks about Okkotsu being the only second year he respects. Those caught up on the manga are aware of Okkotsu's behemoth importance well beyond his role in JJK 0.

During the juvenile detention center arc, again, Megumi refers to the juvenile who killed a young girl while driving without a license and fan theories suggest that this could very well be the man who killed Rika Orimoto.

Frequently, we get a pin-size remark that casually provides some surface context but it never feels without reason and more than half of these are in the very first episode. It's also interesting that these expository moments are usually handled by largely straight laced Megumi or people like Yuji's grandfather and Nanami. Like Gege can only trust the plot in their overly serious and curmudgeon-y hands 😂

Cut back to Nanami's fight, Mahito's playfully torturous curiosity and taunts are that of someone who knows they've already won. Even as Nanami's cursed energy exponentially increases in overtime, Mahito is simply awed but not deterred from the fight trusting in the inevitability of their strength over that of any human's or sorcerer's.

Even this mirthful moment reminds me of Gojo testing Nobara outside of that apartment complex where he facilitated her first experience with a Tokyo curse. To see if she's really crazy because that's what survives as a sorcerer. But it gives way to another interesting piece of evidence.

In Nanami's assessment of Mahito, he surmises that, despite the strength of the curses it's a child. Relatively "young" compared to the ancient curses of the Earth, the Forest and the Sea and, yet, capable to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Isn't that odd? Can't just be born of undirected hate. After all, even Mahito's conversation about Love, Hate and Indifference in the scheme of Mahito's origin seems to muddle the fact that most people are satisfied with indifference until possessed by something else... like revenge. A convenient solution Mahito offers Junpei after this exchange and what ultimately set Junpei as a pawn in his larger plan.

Junpei: Don't you think that whoever first said "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference"... must be rotting in hell? There's no way hating people is better than feeling indifferent toward them. The opposite of 'like' is 'hate'. Complicating simple answers for the sake of meaning is such a Japanese thing to do. Mahito: People like wordplay. After all, people can't live without making excuses.

As their fight concludes in a draw, Nanami further exposes a possible timeline for Mahito's materialization which is why I've historically assumed it was in line with Sukuna's awakening but, to scale, that would have precipitated a grossly exacerbated evolution to the unfathomable body count Nanami surmises.

I can't help but note Nanami's reference to greedily enjoying one's growth is also on par with Gojo's attitude about power and encouragement to Megumi to "be greedier". Not only with how he fights but how he lives which is being echoed in the current events of the manga.

After all, nothing is included for no reason.

All things considered, Mahito's impression of their own strength and confidence very much puts me in the mind of Satoru Gojo pre-death of Riko Amanai but especially after his resurrection and mastery of reversed curse energy and optimizing Limitless. Gojo never really loses his playfulness but Gojo also never really gives in to the seduction of his own power quite as much. I mean, until he meets a foe he can go all out against.

So what if, in response to Gojo's insane and unprecedented power up, Mahito is born? What if Gojo precipitates a curse born of unheard of origins, that of sorcerer's negative emotions. A product of sorcerer's jealousy toward his strength, a product of Geto's own envy, a product of Gojo's guilt or shame in being left behind? Is it possible that the timeline Nanami surmises correlates with the events of the Hidden Inventory/Premature Death arc(s)?

Are Gojo's similarity to Mahito only surface level? In many ways, we've seen where this generation of first and second years are a second chance at resolving that which Gojo and Geto put into action with their own hubris. How similar paths they have walked but where Gojo's cultivation of Megumi in response to his own loss is coupled with the temperament of Yuji's soul and yields different results. There were many points in Gojo and Geto's history where things could have gone differently but their missteps landed jujutsu society where we are now.

But is that enough? Or is Mahito further punishment for SatoSugu's confidence before the fall? One that burdens the first current years as a test of their resolve?

Imagine if SatoSugu had just kissed and made up before. Where would we be now?

SUMMARY

TL;DNR: At the root of everything, including societal collapse, it all traces back to Gojo (and Geto) and, as we've known all along, Itafushi has the power to restore what was lost.

[j4gm]

SPOILERS!!! REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS IN F&C ep. 5: DESTINY

I'm a week late on this post because I had some stuff going on last week, but let's go!

The opening scene reintroduces us to Ice Finn, who was briefly cursed by Evergreen's crown. We see him abducting a family, who will become part of the pile of frozen bodies that made up the area where he and the Lich opened a portal to the Multiverse in Crossover. At the end of that episode Prismo moved the crown to the site of the Mushroom Bomb's explosion, freeing Farmworld Finn from the curse. But he remains a frightening figure in Farmworld's mythology, as demonstrated by this scarecrow that Simon steals his new clothes from.

Fionna telling Simon to relax because she's an expert at post-apocalyptic RPGs is ironic considering that Simon has survived and raised a child in an actual apocalypse.

Big Destiny appears alongside returning Destiny Gang members Tromo (far left) and Trami (fifth from left, just next to the mast). Tromo was assumed to be a boy in her first appearance; it's possible she's transed her gender. Big Destiny claims he was the one who defeated Ice Finn, which is most definitely not the case, but it seems like nobody is in the mood to dispute his claim.

This is Farmworld Wildberry Princess. She's a butcher just like her Ooo counterpart. Fionna also assaults Farmworld Starchy, and Farmworld Chet is the guy who was surprised to hear that Cake could talk. I'm not sure if there are any other recognisable characters amongst the crowds at the Farmworld meeting place, except of course for...

Choose Bruce! He was the person who gave Farmworld Finn his sword-arm in his debut episode, and is obviously the Farmworld version of Choose Goose. The evilness of his Ooo counterpart doesn't seem to have manifested in quite the same way, except that he is as shady a salesman as ever.

Fionna has a copy of a magazine called Mle, which seems to be the Fionna and Cake version of Ble. She also has Finn's iconic flute.

Peanut exclaims "magic fist" when he sees Cake use her powers, which was the name of Finn and Jake's wizard disguise when they entered the tournament in the episode Wizard Battle.

Peanut also mentions Fionna's missing nose, which is the first time someone has brought up the art style discrepency in canon. Fionna does in fact have a nose. It's just not drawn in her universe's art style.

Farmworld Finn's house is reminiscent of the Tree Fort, with its corrugated roof, haphazard wooden construction, steel chimneys, and the ladder steps leading up the trunk of the tree behind. But it still has its own unique design.

And here is Farmworld Finn himself! His retractable axe-arm is cool.

He is a widower with five children. As you probably already know, Jay (previous image) and Bonnie (third on left) are named after Finn's kids from Puhoy, who were themselves named after corruptions of Jake and Princess Bubblegum's names. The other three kids on the right are unnamed in the episode's credits, but have characteristics of some of Finn's other "children". The first on the right could represent Neptr, who Finn created in the episode What is Life. The middle on the right likely represents Stormo, who was spawned from Finn's DNA in the episode Goliad. The far right can't really be identified with any existing characters, but he has green eyes like Huntress Wizard, perhaps symbolising the potential of Finn's relationship with her or even being an explicit indicator that Farmworld Huntress was the mother of these children.

Jake is still alive in this universe. He was possessed by the Lich for a while, but was freed at the end of Crossover.

Finn throws a stick of bubblegum into the soup for some reason. I've seen various theories about what this is meant to mean but none of them really seem likely to me. It was probably just a nod to the fact that Princess Bubblegum doesn't appear anywhere else in Farmworld.

Old lady Marceline's broken laser gun and Farmworld Finn's sword arm are mounted on the wall, alongside other artifacts.

Bonnie has doodled a Candy Kingdom on the wall.

This is the first of at least two times that Cake suggests selfcest.

This is the crater from when the Mushroom Bomb blew up. Just like in its original appearance, it remains unclear why its impact was small compared to the bombs that exploded during the war. Perhaps time dulled its power, or perhaps the Lich's spirit was enough to make it more threatening than any conventional nuclear weapon. As previously mentioned, the crown got blown up here because Prismo teleported it here in Crossover. Out-of-universe, this was an explanation for a minor continuity error where the crown was present in a scene it shouldn't have been in during Finn the Human.

Little Destiny is afflicted by a lesser version of the curse of Evergreen's crown, since she's only wearing one of the jewels. This is why Jay says she feels cold.

Bartram! This is Farmworld Finn's beloved mule. He was reluctant to sell Bartram in order to pay off the Destiny Gang, which was the catalyst for his discovery of Evergreen's crown. It's good to see that he was at least able to keep his mule after that whole ordeal.

This show has conditioned us to expect blood when someone dies, so perhaps Farmworld Finn isn't dead despite this looking like a killing blow. Either way, I don't think we'll be seeing him again.

The dream in this episode's credits is a bunny with a sword.

[tsubasachroniclemonth]

honeymodoki

 “in just twelve short days”

And what with that?

WHY TSUBASA CHRONICLE MONTH OF COURSE MY DEAR OURAN FRIEND!

For any and all information please follow the links below. We’re also happy to answer any and all questions left in or around our ask box. 

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[tiaragqueen]

Can i request a yandere!tarzan! Jungkook? I've been thinking about it a lot lately but nobody seems to done it :""))

Champing At The Bit

✂ Pairing: Yandere! Tarzan! Jeon Jeongguk x Reader

✂ Word Count: 3,6k+

✂ Trigger Warning: Animal attack, blood, death, obsessiveness, possessiveness, sadism

✂ This story is fictional and for amusement only. I don’t believe any of the members would do this in real life. As always, thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day!

Donot re-upload my writing to another website or use it without mypermission.

[Edited]

***

Okay, so… I might have gone a bit overboard on this one. This is probably the longest one-shot I’ve ever written, but I don’t know. The edited version might be shorter, tho. Why, you look at that. It’s longer than the unedited one.

If you like mywriting, please support me on ko-fi!

“One way or another, I’m going to find ya. I’m gonna get ya. One way or another, I’m going to win ya.” – One Way Or Another [Blondie]

You didn’t know what to expect from this scene.

No, scratch that. You hadn’t expected this to happen at all.

You had always known that your baby brother was more sociable than you. It was a trait you had been long secretly envious of. There was something from him that easily attracted people to him, either from his smile or overall mannerisms. While you were approaching your early twenties, your social skills remained undeveloped. It didn’t help that you had a tendency to overanalyze things, too.

However, you would later learn that your introversion wasn’t a curse as you had initially thought. In fact, it could save you from the doom that would soon befall you.

“[Brother’s name], what… what are you doing? Who is he?” you asked, brows furrowed deeply and eyes widened in an overwhelming mixture of confusion, shock, relief, fear, and wariness.

“Ah, Noona!” your brother beamed once he spotted you and enthusiastically pointed to the stranger in question. “Look, I’ve got a new friend! His name is Jungkook, but he likes to be called ‘Kookie’.”

Your mouth slackened as you glanced at the pair back and forth, trying to make sense of their relationship. Well, it wasn’t like you misheard what your brother said just now. In fact, you heard it a little bit too clearly for your liking. But of course, what kind of a normal human being would immediately accept the fact that their sibling had befriended a fucking Tarzan in the middle of a forest?!

‘Kookie’ shrunk a little and bowed his head when you averted your attention to him, displaying his shyness towards strangers. At least, he wasn’t aggressive. That was a plus. You didn’t know what to do if there was a young man, wearing nothing but a dark ripped cloth to cover his lower part, were to attack your brother. You cleared your throat to distract yourself from the disturbing image.

“Well, that was nice and all but can we please go back to the camp? Mama has been waiting for you, you know?”

[Brother’s name] bit his bottom lip, and it didn’t take a genius to know that he hesitated to leave this ‘Kookie’. Was it possible to create such a close relationship with someone you just met? Was he really that interesting to your brother until he felt reluctant to go?

“Can we bring him too? He looks so lonely…”

You didn’t bat an eye on rejecting his ridiculous suggestion, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, [Brother’s name].”

There was no way in hell you would bring that guy to your parents. They might not panic much, but you didn’t want to deal with the consequences should something bad happened. He might get a panic attack – or worse, go on a rampage – if you forced him to meet other people.

“But can you at least introduce yourself first, Noona? Kookie might be shy, but he’s very curious about you.”

How the hell did he know that that guy was curious about you? Did he suddenly possess a sixth sense or something? And besides, that guy refused to look at you in the eye!

“Oh, um, I…” Fuck this shit. If you wanted to leave, then you better deal with this quickly. “Uh… Hi, Kookie. I’m [Name], [Brother’s name]’s older sister.”

Was that friendly enough? Could he even comprehend what you just said? Judging from the way [Brother’s name] grinned when he glanced at the said man, you assumed that he indeed understood. To some extent, probably.

“Kookie said you’re pretty, Noona.”

How did one accept a compliment from a Tarzan? You didn’t know, you never bothered to know, and you definitely didn’t expect to know how. And that was why your reaction was painfully awkward, even cringy if someone were to watch this whole interaction.

“Oh, thank you. He’s… he’s handsome too.”

That wasn’t a lie. He did look handsome. And cute too. With long eyelashes that framed his doe eyes, chubby cheeks, healthy pink and plump lips, down to the tiny mole that you almost missed. You had no doubt that he would gain a lot of admirers had he was more… normal. But what was normal for you, might not be normal to others. And with his fidgety mannerisms that just screamed bashfulness and awkwardness throughout, he might end up as one of those wallflowers or an antisocial that avoided people altogether.

No, actually, the latter seemed much more likely to happen. It was a miracle that your brother even managed to befriend him in a span of twenty minutes.

Another reason for you to be insecure about.

“Okay, introduction’s over. Let’s go back, shall we?”

[Brother’s name] nodded, satisfied with what he thought was a successful conversation. Linking his fingers with yours, he skipped down the trodden path that led to the campsite whilst smiling happily. With your back turned, you were able to sense Jungkook’s penetrating gaze as opposed to the occasional timid glances earlier.

A shiver slithered down your spine.

It had been days since your first encounter with Jungkook. And ever since that, your brother had been secretly meeting him under the pretense of ‘exploring the area’. Of course, you being you, refused to accept his excuse at face value, unlike your parents who had shown a positive reaction over his so-called adventure. They even made another comment on how you should ‘be more active like him’ instead of ‘spending your time doing useless things such as constantly playing your phone’, although they didn’t know what you truly did with it. Just because you often play your phone, didn’t mean you always searched meaningless things. Sometimes, you liked to explore stuff and looked up some facts.

Obviously, they didn’t understand that. Not that you wanted to. There was no reason why you should convince someone who was too stubborn to change their mind.

The latter was also why they decided to make this spontaneous camping in the first place, much to your dismay. You had initially planned to spend your whole summer working on that story you had been procrastinating for so long, but your parents thought that it was time for some ‘family moment’.

And because you cared about your brother, despite your envy, you’d decided to ‘join’ him. Your parents were excited and thought that you finally ‘opened up’ to the world. You had ignored their gushing and accompanied your sibling in meeting his new friend.

Jungkook, although shy, was very talkative once a close bond was established. You didn’t find this very surprising, to be honest, since you yourself weren’t much different than him in this aspect. But what astounded you was the fact that he seemed to take more interest in you, more than he did to your brother. [Brother’s name], being a naïve boy he was, felt happy with this development. Thus, he took it upon himself to act as the ‘accommodating guide’ by answering Jungkook’s silent questions that – frankly speaking – sounded more like hushed whispers and occasional hoots. You didn’t know that it was possible for someone to gain a skill in communicating with Tarzan within such a short time, but that was what set him apart from you anyway.

Slowly, but surely, Jungkook started to open up more and more with you. From light, albeit hesitant, touching to bashful smiles; he did everything he could do to ensure that your attention remained on him alone. He even tried to speak to you once, but your overt inability to comprehend his words prevented you from fully understanding what he said. It wasn’t as if you wanted to know, either.

Honestly, you didn’t know what to feel from this so-called development. On one hand, you were creeped out at the fact that Tarzan had taken an interest in you. But on the other hand, you were flattered that someone actually found you desirable for once. That someone would make an effort to get to know you, or by the very least, including you in their conversations and not neglecting you as most people did.

The last day of camping came at the blink of an eye. [Brother’s name] kept sobbing that he wouldn’t be able to visit Jungkook again, while you awkwardly patted his small back. Comforting people wasn’t your forte, but for the sake of people you loved, you were willing to do anything for them. Even if it meant handling their emotional outbursts.

“Come on, [Brother’s name]. We need to go home.” you murmured, yet he merely cried harder. Before you, Jungkook didn’t provide any assistance whatsoever except watching him for the past five minutes.

“B-but, I can’t see him again.” [Brother’s name] blubbered.

You wished to say that he would be able to meet Jungkook once he was a bit older, but you couldn’t exactly promise such a thing to him. Life sometimes got in the way of achieving what you wanted, and that was why you refused to go around spreading empty words unless the odds were favorable.

“Okay, well…” you glanced around, racking your brain to come up with a perfect solution that wouldn’t leave [Brother’s name] even sadder than he already was. “Why don’t you say goodbye to Kookie now? Who knows, you might feel a bit better.”

[Brother’s name] sniffled, but luckily, he obliged to your suggestion. Approaching the quiet Jungkook, he threw his small arms around his neck and sobbed into his bare shoulders.

“Kookie, I’m leaving now.” he croaked with a voice that broke your heart a little. You’d never expected to get teared up from witnessing such an emotional scene, even though Jungkook was nowhere near emotional. His face remained blank as he blinked repeatedly, as though unaware of a child weeping in his embrace.

Damn him. He could’ve at least made an effort to appear affected.

Sniffling once more, [Brother’s name] withdrew from the one-sided hug and smiled bitterly. “I’ll see you again, Kookie. Please don’t forget me.”

Jungkook stared at him for a moment before turned to you. His dark eyes were hollow yet piercing as if trying to gauge your reaction through your ‘friendly-sister-of-a-friend’ façade. Maybe he did, then that would explain why he kept watching you lately. If you could even call that ‘watching’ because it looked more like observing than mere watching. Still, it didn’t make the experience felt any less unnerving.

You simpered at him, nonetheless. Couldn’t show him your discomfort, could you? For all you knew, he could be planning something and a glimpse of your true feelings might be something he’d deeply anticipated. “Well, Jung– I mean, Kookie. I think it’s time for us to go. It’s been an interesting week, and I can’t say that I regretted meeting you.”

Just a little, though. You had always doubted that Tarzan existed, especially in such a modern world like this, but his existence proved otherwise.

Jungkook stepped forward and suddenly brought you into a deep hug. Stunned, you let him buried his head into your stomach. You could’ve sworn that you heard him purring too, yet that was the least of your worries. Jungkook had never been this bold before – he always retained some degree of shyness in expressing his affection – so perhaps he finally felt comfortable with you? Enough to embrace you without a warning like this?

“[Name]…” he mumbled against your shirt. Your eyes instinctively widened, while [Brother’s name] gasped in astonishment.

“He spoke!” [Brother’s name] squealed, clapping vigorously as if he had witnessed first-hand something extraordinary. That would be understandable considering that Jungkook never seemed to speak before. “He finally spoke!”

You didn’t know what to do in this situation. No, scratch that, you knew exactly what you wanted to do. You wanted to run – away from this forest and its nonsense – and never looked back. Being observed was enough to put you on the edge, and now he decided to call you by your name too? This should’ve turned on the warning bell in your head. And as much as you wished to shove him on to the ground, you still had the decency to gently push him away.

“Oh, did you hear that? Mama is calling us. Let’s go, [Brother’s name]!” On the spur of the moment, you came up with a not-so-believable lie and grabbed his hand.

[Brother’s name] sputtered in shock. “B-but, Noona, I didn’t–”

“Goodbye, Kookie!” you exclaimed with more vigor than necessary, or what would one expect from a farewell.

You dashed through the trees which homogeneity seemed to confuse you in each minute, determined to make it into the campsite before it was too late. Why did you feel this way when the forest looked safe? Honestly, you weren’t sure yourself. You just had this hunch that something was wrong the moment Jungkook averted his gaze to you.

Or maybe the darkness and desire in his eyes gave it away.

Either way, you couldn’t afford to rest even if [Brother’s name] had been panting since earlier. You wanted to prove to yourself that your hunch was incorrect; that it was merely a suspicion or a secret fear that Jungkook would try to harm you and your family. Maybe it was somewhat unfair to place the blame on him when he hadn’t done anything wrong than just being his shy, creepy self. But it wasn’t like you could trust someone you met a week ago. You weren’t that careless.

During your rushed journey, you’d prayed and prayed that your hunch didn’t come true. That it all just happened in your head. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could prepare you for the massacre that greeted you at your destination.

Bodies laid on top of each other, eyes glassy yet profound with the unfairness of being the innocent victims. Some of their limbs looked like they had been forcibly ripped out from their sockets, leaving bloody bones that protruded through the rugged flesh. Their clothes were torn, mouths opened in a silent scream that fell on deaf ears, and they were looking up the sky as though it could lend a lifeline to save them from their untimely dooms.

Bile climbed from the pit of your stomach as you covered [Brother’s name]’s eyes, afraid that he would be traumatized by the horrible sight. He was still young and pure; he didn’t need to see what his parents had become. Charred and torn beyond belief and recognition. Sure, you weren’t really fond of them due to their tendency to compare you with [Brother’s name], but they didn’t deserve to die. Nobody at this campsite did, honestly.

“Noona!”

You gasped when someone – or rather, something – snatched him from your grasp. A black chimpanzee stood in one of the branches and held him against its chest, shouting incoherent things to you. Despite your disinterest towards monkey and ape species, there was a hidden fear deep inside your heart that was reserved for the chimpanzees. Especially when they were cornering you right now, a helpless and panicked human. You didn’t know if chimpanzees could eat humans, but you did know about their cannibalistic habits.

And now, your beloved baby brother was held as a captive.

What kind of a shitty movie was this?!

“Do you still… want to leave, [Name]?” a breathy voice asked in a broken sentence, showing their slight inexperience of speaking human language.

Your expression went cold as you slowly turned around, wishing that the speaker was nothing like what you thought them to be. However, your hunch was proven correct once again.

“Jungkook,” you hissed, gritting your teeth in a refrained anger. As much as you wanted to lash out to him, you knew that the chimpanzees wouldn’t take too kindly of it. You just knew it. “What the fuck is this, huh? Explain this!”

“Calm… down.”

“Don’t tell me how to calm down, you piece of shit!”

As expected, the chimpanzees started to get hostile over your equally offensive approach. Some were already approaching you, ready to tear you to bits had Jungkook didn’t raise his hand. The clamor stopped as soon as it arose, but the aura they emanated was still murderous. Peering to Jungkook, you concluded that he must be a leader or some sort.

Would it be weird if you say that you weren’t surprised in the slightest?

“[Name], you have to… know that you can’t… leave this forest… as you please,” he explained without looking at you. Oh, so now he was acting haughty, huh? Where was the shy boy who couldn’t even see you without blushing?

“So what? People come here all the time, yet they’re free to go anytime they want. Why the fuck should I be any different, huh?” You pointed a finger in his direction and glowered, trying to display an aggressive body language despite your huge difference in power. Maybe those chimpanzees would back down somewhat?

Well, no. Because you could hear them growling in the background.

“Because… you’re special.”

You narrowed your eyes, clearly not amused with his half-assed excuse. If he thought that he could convince you with that, then he would be dead wrong. “The fuck–?”

As if on cue, the chimpanzee who held [Brother’s name] captive suddenly took a chunk out of his left shoulder. You froze in shock, watching the blood spurted from the wound like in slow motion. The sound of his agonized scream echoed in the forest, when not even a single cricket dare to chirp. All witnessed the chimpanzee brutally lacerated his flesh until the bone and tendons were visible to the naked eye.

“Stop! Stop!” you finally shouted after a moment of stupefaction, the aggressive facade shattered when tears started to trickle little by little. “Stop this, please! I… I’ll do anything! Just… just, please. Don’t hurt him. Please. I’ll do anything, I swear to God.”

Jungkook’s face lit up almost instantly. However, you were too busy worrying about [Brother’s name]’s state and dread over his looming death to notice it.

If only you saw his joyous face right now, or the smug smirk that closed your and [Brother’s name] fates…

But it wasn’t as though you could compromise his safety for the sake of your selfishness, right? No matter how much you envied him, no matter how much you wanted to be like him for just a little – a moment – he was, and would always be, your little brother. Your younger sibling.

Your beloved baby brother whose existence you’d been anticipating ever since your mother announced her pregnancy.

Your beloved baby brother who saw you for the first time with those sparkling doe eyes and pouty lips.

Your beloved baby brother who held your pinky finger and beamed that cute smile of his.

And most of all, your beloved baby who always made you smile and laugh when the world seemed to turn its back against you.

It was funny how easy it was to say ‘I love you’ to your exes, any time and any day when you had never said it to your own sibling.

What kind of a big sister was you?

“Really…? Then, I guess… you don’t mind if you become mine, right? I’ve been waiting… for this moment.” Jungkook inclined his head and smiled softly as if reminiscing something. “That kid… has been irritating me to no end.”

There was only regret and anger left in your constricting chest when Jungkook moved to hug you from behind. Regret for not being able to help your brother, and anger for being so fucking useless.

But what were you, compare to a horde of chimpanzees waiting for the right moment to strike?

What were you, compare to his authority and power?

And what were you, to resist your own fate?

You let those sturdy arms wrapped themselves around your chest like a straitjacket and sobbed. Resting his chin on your shoulder, Jungkook sighed contentedly.

“I’ve been waiting… to hold you like this… ever since… you appeared. It feels… nice.” He peered towards the damned chimpanzee as though he barely remembered that they were here in the first place, and their presence ruined his ‘peaceful’ moment. Never mind the fact that he was probably the one who had ordered them to ambush you.

“Everyone,” you stopped sobbing for a moment and waited with bated breath his next demand. What was he going to say? What was he going to do? Hopefully, he would release [Brother’s name] and allow him to live. After all, you had willingly give yourself to him. Surely Jungkook wasn’t that evil, right? There must be some humanity deep inside him, however small it might be.

… Right?

“Eat him.”

The chimpanzees immediately charged at [Brother’s name] from every direction without any hesitation whatsoever. You watched in horror their sharp teeth sunk into his skin and ripped it like a starved animal. He wailed and writhed in their hold, wishing anyone to help him.

To save him.

To rescue him.

“No, no, no!” At this point, you actively struggled against Jungkook’s much stronger grip as you kicked and screamed for them to stop. For him to stop. For everything to stop. “Why are you doing this?! Stop!”

“As I said earlier… you’re special. And I can’t… let that kid… get in the way of our happiness.” Jungkook buried his face into your sweaty neck and smiled, ignoring your resistance and cries of help. “Now, we can finally be together.”

[saturnsorbits]

This is a piece about two people and the void they occupy in the wake of losing a third. It is an ode to loss, a explanation of the unexplainable and a peak into the recesses of the things that effect us all and yet, remain elusive and escape our attempts to summarise them.

There is something inside of Marquie that allows her to tap into these emotions, to untangle them and offer them up to us on the palms of her hands and it leaves us with pieces like this. And what a fucking piece this is.

As far as opening lines go, you don't really get better than this: 'Levi doesn't get it, as much as he wants to.' This line, as well as the short opening paragraph we're offered, does an incredible amount of things at once. It introduces the tone, placing us firmly within this suspended, almost dissociative thoughtful head space that will carry through the rest of this piece. By using this tone, the piece is able to remain both present – as it continues to follow Levi on his journey to Erwin's room, but also keeps the work locked in the past and with the inciting incident: Erwin's death. This works to reflect the mind frame of these two characters as they navigate their grief, how it suspends them, keeping them both in the present of the moment and in the past, returning to an incident that they still struggle to understand.

Going one step further, this piece then combines that tone and sense of dissociative thought with some of the most subtle, brilliant character work I've ever had the joy of reading. Let's return to that first line. Levi is a man of action, he is instinctual – his Ackerman heritage kind of assures it – and we see that here as his feet lead him to Erwin's rooms, however, not content with allowing him to simply respond to these innate urges this piece demands emotional expansion and is more than happy to hold his hand and walk him through it. This is done here by exposing his inner monologue: 'Why did he do it? Why didn’t he just stay? He was a rational man, a risk taker yes, but never foolish. So why?' by layering these rhetoric questions and keeping each of the sentences short, the piece creates a chaotic depiction of Levi's inner world. It's quick, fast paced and relentless and yet, as the rhetoric nature of the questions suggests, has no answer, leaving him lost and once again relying upon those instincts. Instincts that lead him back to Erwin and coincidently: Reader.

The sentence structure of this piece is utilised beautifully too. Both within the inner monologues of the characters and in the described action, the piece adapts it's structure to aid the pace and tone needed. Long, meandering, more thoughtful sentences become short and tight to mirror Levi's inner dilemma's, only to open out again and stretch as he reaches his destination. A similar thing happens as he realises that he isn't the only person who has ventured to Erwin's quarters that night.

'There’s movement on the other side of the door. Who the hell would be in his office at this time of night? He curses himself for choosing the one night there may be an imposter to be out of uniform.' In only these three lines we're thrown forward, the pace increases, making us feel tight and panicked as Levi readies himself for an attack – it's a simple, but stunning use of prose and it's beautiful, forcing us, the audience to share in Levi's feelings in the moment...

Then, we meet Reader. While the world keeps spinning, despite Erwin's passing, two people locked within the same torment find each other. The entire interaction between these two people is absolutely stunningly written. It's a mirror image slightly changed and one that is immediately recognises by the other as Levi realises 'he's caught [Reader] in a moment'. It in this interaction that we see the starts of these two people come together. Reader's admittance that she 'thought maybe if [she] took [the book] tonight and reread it I could understand. I could figure out what happened. What he was thinking. Why he had to-.' It's eerily close to Levi's opening inner monologue, those rhetoric questions spoken in front of him and so... It all slowly begins to fall into place. It's a beautiful coming together as both people provide the other with a slither of what they need: company, understanding... And by the end, we see the effect. Levi is granted a slither of understanding, and Reader – Reader is granted a touch, something concrete to keep her from shattering... 'Levi gets it.' It hits him after seeing Reader, after understanding that the very same thing had brought him to this room at this hour, after all, 'isn't that why he's here too?'

This piece showcases just a slither of a moment, but it does so much. It's raw and real and messy and on a whole, provides us with an achingly deep peek into the lives of two people just trying to understand something that can't be understood. I don't have the words to tell you how beautiful this piece is, but it speaks for itself...

Take Solace in the Night

Levi x fem!reader

Warnings: talk of grief and guilt, oh angst I suppose, what do you expect with AoT fam?

WC: 1.5K

a/n: Don’t laugh at my banner I quickly made it to post this hdbdbdbdb. But here’s a piece about how two people can find comfort in mourning the man they loved. Levi, my beloved. How I have missed writing for you. I’ll come back to you soon my darling. ANYWHOO enjoy!

Levi doesn’t get it, as much as he wants to. As much as he tries to ponder and work through it while he wanders aimlessly through the hallways of Headquarters. His feet carry him to the same place every night. He stands in front of the big door of the Commander’s office.

Why did he do it? Why didn’t he just stay? He was a rational man, a risk taker yes, but never foolish. So why? Levi’s familiar with regret, knows about the hard decisions, knows that “following a dream” always ends in tragedy. Erwin had to have known it too.

It’s been a few weeks since the success of the operation to reclaim Wall Maria, and every night since then, Levi hasn’t slept more than two hours a week. His body is stiff, his mind never giving him a moment's rest. If only he knew why? Erwin’s defeated expression, a constant echo in his mind.

There’s movement on the other side of the door. Who the hell would be in his office at this time of night? He curses himself for choosing the one night there may be an imposter to be out of uniform. He’s dressed in his normal gray t-shirt and black slacks, his idea of “relaxing” to hopefully be able to get some rest. Levi removes the small knife he keeps in his boot and brandishes it menacingly as he places an ear to the door. There’s quiet tiny footsteps, maybe some MP bastard trying to be light on his feet, and a sniffle?

He turns the knob quickly and bursts swiftly into the office to see you sitting on the big desk in the middle of the room, clutching a book and looking terrified at his intrusion. Your eyes are glassy and your hair is down and wavy framing your face.You’re very surprised to see him standing there, holding a knife and looking ferociously at you.

“What the hell are you doing here so late? I could’ve killed you,” he growls and rolls his eyes.

You quickly wipe your face, trying to play it off as if you're wiping your hair out of your eyes. You close the book in your hands and clutch it to your chest, aware that you’re only wearing your thin cotton nightgown.

“I could ask you the same, Captain,” you say, trying to hide the emotion in your voice.

He sees your uncomfortable body language and realizes he’s caught you in a moment, a vulnerable moment that he was not supposed to witness. He closes the door quietly, trapping the two of you inside.

Levi gets it. You were always right with him, glued to his side before every mission,at every meeting,helping with every plan for a mission. It’s no wonder you would seek out the comfort of Erwin’s office and possessions.

Isn’t that why he’s here too?

Erwin had taken to you, had always talked about your mind and how helpful you were with mission planning. Not to mention your medical experience. He’d considered you a valuable asset and put you in charge of keeping control of headquarters while the rest of the scouts were out on missions.

Levi stares at you now, watching you shrink away from him, trying to hide your embarrassment and the book from his ever watchful eye. He feels and he’s not entirely sure if it’s the correct word, protective of you right now. He’s not sure why but seeing you curl into yourself and hide from him makes him feel worse than he did earlier tonight.

Too many seconds of you both staring at each other wordlessly pass and you finally sigh and say “I’ll leave you the room then.” You hop down from the desk, still clutching the book close to your chest and pass him to open the door.

He doesn’t want you to leave, he thinks, but he can’t find the voice –or rid himself of the pride–to call out and stop you from leaving. For the first time since Erwin’s death he doesn’t want to be alone. And for some strange reason, he thinks whatever he needs tonight, he can get from you.

So he doesn’t call out to you. Instead, he asks quietly as you slip past him “What’s with the book?” and watches as you stiffen and become uncomfortable again at his words.

“It’s nothing,” you mutter to yourself. You avoid his piercing gaze, trying to ignore the sting of tears as they gather in your waterline.

“Tsk, Judging by the way you’re clutching it like it’s the last piece of meat we will ever have, I know it isn’t ‘nothing’,” he replies, rolling his eyes at your naivety.

“Why do you care?” You ask, your tone growing annoyed, defensive.

“Because you look guilty, like you’re stealing something.”

“Is it actually stealing if it’s from a dead man?” You spit back at him.

Levi immediately picks up on the accusation in your tone and it hits him square in the chest. He doesn’t hold it against you. He blames himself too. You both are so good at trying to keep your emotions in check. Yet it’s so clear to the two of you that you’re both suffering.

Levi purses his lips and frowns deeply at you and you gaze into his eyes again. You’ve never seen him look like that before. Well not necessarily, you’ve only seen him look like that once, after he returned with the remaining Scouts from the mission to reclaim Wall Maria. The expression sends a pang of guilt and disgust for your own words to your stomach, but like Levi you’re too proud to apologize.

Instead, you puff out an exasperated breath and say “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and he flashes you a confused look. You show him the cover of the book and point to the title. The lettering is in perfect script in gold and the pages of the book are thick and have a yellow tint to them.

“Erwin…he…he gave it to me to read once. He said it was one of his favorites and that it could help see a bit into how his mind worked. I finished it in one night and got scolded for falling asleep during mission planning the next day, but I wanted to know how his mind worked.”

You stumble over his name as you explain, as if saying it would cause some sort of glass to shatter between the two of you, but as you continue to talk about the book, it becomes a bit easier to let it all out. If there was anyone who would understand what you’re saying right now, it had to be Levi, right?

“So I thought maybe if I took it tonight and reread it I could understand. I could figure out what happened. What he was thinking. Why he had to-“

You’re no longer able to keep the tears from flowing freely as they dribble down your cheeks and soak through the cotton of your gown.

Before you can finish, Levi closes the gap between the two of you and does something he’s never done in his life. He pushes your hair from your face, back behind your ear tenderly, wipes the tear from your right cheek and cradles your face, never breaking eye contact.

You gasp as you feel his rough calloused fingers caress your soft cheeks. Captain Levi has never touched you before. He’s never touched anyone, especially in this manner, but his body moves on it’s own. He’s suddenly desperate to have his hands on you, to caress you and keep you in his arms, to protect you, the way he wanted to protect Erwin.

He doesn’t know the nature of your relationship with Erwin, but he knows you were his. He’d had his eye on you and although he may not have acted on it, Levi knows how much you meant to him. Perhaps there’s a strange comfort in knowing you were the only other person Erwin was fond of. And because of that he can’t stop the thrumming of his heartbeat.

Your eyes are wide as you stare into his clear gray irises, questioning him but reveling in the comfort of his strong fingers. He is beautiful. You’ve always thought so but kept it to yourself, but the way he is looking at you now, it makes it hard to stop your lips from forming the words. Your lips are quivering as the moonlight illuminates the two of you and you whisper “I’m sorry.”

He moves closer to you, his lips inches from yours. You both know it’s because of your vulnerability tonight, but at the moment you don’t care. The only thing on Levi’s mind is how soft your lips will feel against his. It’s all he wants to know. He inches closer to you as you close your eyes and drop the book to the floor to wrap your arms around his shoulders. His hand falls to the small of your back and he pulls you in close.

“I’m sorry too,” he whispers before his lips meet yours in a tender embrace.